Move, I feel a move, someone is moving around me.

“Laugh, smile, it’s your last time.” I open my eyes, and scream, there is no one beside me , but who does this lullaby belongs to?

I start seeing a shadow, is someone standing here, staring down at me? The shadow keeps growing bigger and deeper and it surrounds me. I fall in this strong embrace and my world goes black for the first time.

Three wor...

I think it was a rustling outside the tent that woke me. I can’t be sure, my head feels as though it’s been replaced with cotton wool as I heave myself onto my elbows in an attempt to wake myself properly. It had been pretty windy when we’d turned in, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees acting as our lullaby as we attempted to find sleep. But now… There’s no wind.

It’s dark. So dark....

“Please, please answer me.” I dial my mom’s number and call her for the sixth time. “Mom, where are you? I’m really scar-“ I can’t talk. My throat feels like someone is pulling my voice out of it, and it hurts like hell. My face is drenched in tears and my head hurts so much that I just want to lay down and never get up again.

When I accept that my mother is not going to answer, I throw m...

“Hannah wake up” Roy shakes me out of my deep sleep. I crack one eye open. “What” I say as I roll over and stretch my arms out grazing what I think was his nose. I pull back my arm and drive it forward with full force. I hear Roy groan in pain.

“What the f—“

Before he has a chance to finish his complaint, I hear the sound of nails scraping along the outside of our tent.

“Come out, come out” an ...

My vision blurs. Beads of sweat are slick on my forehead, but an odd breeze forces it’s way across my neck. I blink the deliriousness out of my eyes and look for the source of the weird wind. The tent still stands around me, but 3 jagged lines tear the fabric. Shreds of moonlight scatter the floor of the tent.

I look around.

Where did everyone go?

A low growling resonates into my bones. The wi...

It took hours of staring at the dimly lit orange ceiling of the tent before Kai could actually fall asleep. Since when was nature this silent? Who could sleep without a few car horns or sirens going off? And the sleeping accommodations. He never realized sleeping on the ground would be so, well, hard.

Maggie and Asher, though, they slept like a baby with warm s’mores in their bellies and the prom...

I had drifted to sleep in our tent when some of us were still sitting around the fire. It was like someone had drugged me, because I was out for a long time. I woke with a start only to discover I was all alone.

My husband was gone, but his backpack wasn’t.

There was also no trace of my two sons, but their stuff had also been left behind. I tried not to jump to conclusions or panic. I grabbed my p...

I feel myself sitting up—gasping for air like I’m drowning—before I’m conscious of anything else.

It’s pitch black. Silent.

I’m still for a few moments as my higher cognitive processes catch up to my primal brain. My eyes begin to adjust; My ears pick up subtle sounds.

I’m in my tent.

No worries, I tell myself, you’re supposed to be in here. “You’re camping, silly goose.” Releived, I lie b...

I can immediately tell that something’s not right. A mother always knows. I sit bolt straight, dread overpowering my drowsiness.

I fumble around the dark tent, but I already know I won’t find what I’m looking for.

A muggy summer breeze hits me as soon as I step out of the tent and into an even deeper layer of darkness.

‘Jessie? You there?’

My voice comes out as a whisper, defeating the purp...

I woke up and immediately swore into the empty tent.

“They left without me!”

I checked all the rooms and found a note in the kitchen.

‘Sorry we had to leave without you! The game was starting soon and you accidentally used a sleep in spell on yourself.’

I pulled the wand out of my pocket and glared at it before checking the time.

“I could still catch half time…”

I pack my things and put a prot...