“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 my phone to the other corner of the tent. Gone. They’re all gone. Dad, Mom, Carson. They left. Or maybe they were taken. But I would have heard that happen, right? As I lay on my sleeping bag, my tears racing down my neck, I start to hear raindrops patter on the tent. “No. No, no this isn’t happening right now. This has got to be a nightmare.” I convince myself that it is, only a nightmare, and try to fall asleep.

But the rain falls harder, and suddenly I’m panicking. My breathing becomes short, and I’m continually gasping for air. All the while, more tears are falling and I’m grabbing my brother’s blue pillow and squeezing it as hard as possible.

“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening!” The rain is still heavy, and I lift my head up from Carson’s pillow after seeing a light. It had to be a light of some kind. A flashlight? Was someone out there? Could it be Mom, or Dad? The rain pour has eased into a drizzle. I look through the tent, and the light moves. It slowly goes left, then back to where it was.

I put the pillow down and reach for my phone. It’s 1:24 A.M. Nothing makes sense right now. Mom hates the dark. I know that she wouldn’t get up and leave the tent at this hour. Dad may act like he’s a camping master who has no fears, but he’s just as scared of the dark as Mom. And Carson... they wouldn’t have left me behind. I know it.

The light reappears, and I notice that it’s become brighter. I wipe my warm face, my head still aching from my tears. I get up to slowly unzip the tent, even though every part of my body wants to stay put. “What the-“. I hear a sharp ding. My phone’s screen becomes bright, and I pull it closer to my face. It’s from a number that I don’t recognize. I type in my password and go to my messages. There’s only one new message and it’s from an unknown number.

“If you go looking for answers, you’ll find something you wish you hadn’t.”

At this point, I’m shaking. I look at the time, which is now 1:27 A.M. To make matters worse, I’m in an area with very poor cell service. I begin dialing my mom’s number. As it rings, I’m trying to contain my breathing. “Please, Mom.. please be okay.” She doesn’t pick up. I try two more times, with the same result. “Dad, you better answer the phone.” My voice breaks as I say it aloud. He doesn’t pick up. I’m about to start sobbing again when I hear something move. It sounds like someone dropped a bag. I grip onto my phone hard, not sure what I should do. I hear footsteps, like someone is quickly coming to my tent.

I quickly grab my backpack, and pull out a book. This is the worst possible defense against an attacker, but what else do I have? That’s when the light I saw earlier shines right through my tent. Someone is standing right outside of the tent. My heart is pounding out of my chest now. They get lower to the ground, and start feeling for the zipper. I back up to the far end of the tent, holding my library book in front of my chest. The stranger starts unzipping the tent slowly. I close my eyes, accepting that I’m likely not going to make it through this, when the opening falls and I see a person crouched down in front of me.

“You don’t have to be scared, dear. Everything is going according to plan.”

To be continued, maybe?