The walk to the lodge was a tense one. Never before had Y/N realized how many sounds a forest could make.

Branches snapped, leaves rustled, and the wind howled. 

"How do you feel?" Abigail said to Nick as the lodge pulled into view. 

He chuckled, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." 

She spared him a small smile, "I don't think we'll find a horse but hopefully we can get some granola." 

The prep groaned, "I hate granola." 

"I'll help you out," Ryan lifted Nick out of the wheelbarrow and passed him to Kaitlyn and Dylan's awaiting arms. 

"I'll catch up with you guys in a bit," Y/N pulled out her car keys, "I need to grab something from my car."

"No way are you going alone," Ryan furrowed his brows. 

She sighed, "Then come with me." 

Having him outside with her after two of his friend got attacked wasn't something she wanted but she knew that Ryan wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. 

Abigail frowned at the pair, her eyes going to the gun strapped on Ryan's back, "That's the only shotgun." 

"There's actually another one in Mr. Hackett's office," Dylan spoke up. 

The writer's eyes widened at the news. She never remembered Mr. Hackett owning a gun, let alone a shotgun.

One time there was a spider in the lodge and instead of squashing it, he captured it in a cup and placed it outside. Then he went on a rant about ecosystems and family. 

Ryan tossed Dylan the keys, "We'll meet you there in a second." 

With that, the couple walked away to the young woman's car. 

🦉

"Really? A taser gun?" the loner frowned, "Where did you even get something like that?" 

"I'm a woman driving by myself to a camp in the middle of nowhere," she checked the rounds in the gun before placing a few more into her pocket, "Why wouldn't I have a taser?" 

He slowly nodded, "It makes sense, but why a taser gun?"

"I mean for starters it's way cooler than one of those tiny handheld ones," she held up the gun with a smirk, "And it's badass." 

Ryan chuckled and gifted her with a small 'true'.

She couldn't help but match his joyful expression. This is how she wanted to spend the day, laughing with her boyfriend. 

Unfortunately for her life had another thing coming.

He peeked into her car before looking at her with a raised brow, "Do you need anything else?" 

She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes, her pupils drifting all over her car's interior.

Hoot! Hoot!

She had a combat knife in her glove department but did she really need it? After all, she already had her taser gun and Ryan had a shotgun.

She gave him a warm smile, "Nope. Let's head back."  

They idly chattered as they made their way back to the lodge. 

"How are Caleb and Kaylee?" she kicked a pebble, "I was hoping to see them." 

"Yeah, I think they left a day early," he shrugged, "I don't know. Mr. Hackett just said that they come and go, 'teenagers'." 

A small chuckle escaped her lips, "Those two have always been such free spirits so I'm not surprised." 

"How is your book coming along?" he asked as he adjusted his hold on the shotgun. 

"Finally got over my writer's block," she laughed bitterly, "Who knew it would be so hard to write about a werewolf stalking a group of college kids during spring break? It's literally the most interesting story ever."

How could she even call herself a writer if she spent most of her time just staring at a blank google doc? What was the point of having such a cool idea if you can't even write it?

She frowned and stared at her shoes, "I'm kinda thinking about scrapping it." 

"Hey," he gave her a small smile and wrapped his pinky around her own, "Don't say that. If you don't write about spring break werewolves then who will." 

She laughed, "'Spring break werewolves'." 

He rolled his eyes with a smile and threw his arm about her, pulling her into his side. "I can't believe you." 

She  returned his side-hug with a broad grin, "You love me." 

🦉

"Where are the others?" Ryan tilted his head as the duo saw Dylan standing near the fireplace. 

Dylan tossed him the keys, "In the infirmary. That creature did a real number on Nick." 

"We're going to go to Mr. H's office and call the police," she grabbed the keys from Ryan before turning her attention back to Dylan, "Did you get the shotgun from the office?" 

He nodded and smoothed back his hair, "Yeah, I strolled in there and got it. I'm basically a modern-day Rambo."  

"...Okay."

"I'm going to go back to the infirmary," he chuckled, "They probably need my inspirational aura right now." 

Ryan adjusted the strap of the shotgun, "We'll meet you there in a second."

The couple made their way to the camp leader's office with Y/N leading. She could hardly remember the last time she had been in the lodge let alone Mr. Hackett's office but the path to the office was muscle memory. Like riding a bike after not getting on one for years.

She quickly unlocked the door and they made their way in.

Wow

Everything in the office looked the same as when she was a camper. The chair was the same, the desk was the same, and even the old phone was the same. 

"I'll let you do the honors," she motioned to the phone, "I want to have a little look around." 

He frowned and picked up the phone, "Nothing is off about the office." 

"I remember Dylan saying something about a secret room," she raised an eyebrow before going behind the desk.

"It's not a secret room," he muttered under his breath as he dialed 9-1-1. "Hello? My friends were— Hello?"

The writer crossed her arms and walked over to Ryan, "What happened?"

He looked up from the receiver to her, "The line went dead."

"What?" she grabbed the phone from him and attempted to dial the police. 

Nothing happened.

"Maybe we pulled the power cord by accident," her eyes followed the cord all the way to where it was plugged snuggly into the outlet, "Oh my gosh, this is bad." 

"It might have been because of bad weather. Maybe the power went out." 

"The weather is fine outside, Ryan," she placed the phone back on the hook, "Someone doesn't want us leaving camp or calling for help." 

He shrugged his shoulders, "Things like this just happen sometimes." 

"Phones don't get cut off when you're trying to call the police," she huffed and ran her hands over her face, "We need to figure something out."

"There must be a reasonable explanation for all of this," he sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Please don't overthink."

She chuckled humorlessly, "I'm way past that. Something is happening here."

"This is not one of your novels, it's real life."

She rolled her eyes and walked out of the door, Ryan chased after her.

"Where are you going?" 

She looked over her shoulder at him, "I'm going to try and get all of us out of here." 

Her eyes darted around the hallway, hoping for something to give her plan.

The phone lines were dead, but their phones still worked. 

Maybe, I can try and get a signal if I'm high enough

She zoned in the window. 

Bingo

Hopefully she would be able to catch a signal from the top of the roof.

The writer opened the window and peered out at the dark night. What she was about to do might be the stupidest thing ever but it was better than being sitting ducks. 

The loner grabbed her arm, "What are you doing?" 

She shrugged out of his hold and lifted her leg through the window, "I'm going to see if I can get a signal."

"This isn't some movie," he frowned at her,  "We should wait here until Mr.H gets back."

"One of our friends is hurt and someone doesn't want us to call the police," she sighed when she noticed he wasn't budging, "Just wait here for me I'll be back in a second." She climbed out the window before he could argue. 

Ryan might have been skeptical but she wasn't. Something strange was going on in Hackett's Quarry and if she didn't uncover it she would at the very least survive it.

Her fingers gripped at the wooden paneling as her feet found holds to push her up. Slowly but surely she made it to the tip of the roof. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and smiled at the single bar she managed to get. 

Quickly she dialed the police. The phone rang once before she lost the single bar. 

The writer groaned, "You got to be kidding me." 

She stepped onto the very center of the roof and stood to her full height with her phone raised in the air.

"Please, just one bar," she muttered under her breath. 

A single bar appeared on her phone and she dialed the police one more. A single ring passed before she was answered. 

"Hello? I'm at—"

"Silas."

Her heart lurched in fear and she lost her footing, causing her to slip off of the roof. She held out her hands to brace her face and groaned at the feeling of them dragging against the rough wood. 

She cursed under her breath and stood up on shaky legs. 

What was that?

"Y/N!"

The writer looked back to the window to see her boyfriend looking back at her. 

"I'm fine," she picked up her discarded phone and rolled her eyes at the 'NO SERVICE' announcement. The writer quickly made her way to the window, "I just took a little tumble." 

"Did you manage to get a call out?" He held his hand out. 

"No, the signal is really lousy out here," she grabbed his hand with a grimace and allowed him to pull her inside the lodge.

His eyes widened at the blood staining his palms before he took a look at her hands, "Your hands! Are you okay?" 

She chuckled humorlessly, "I've been better." 

"Kaitlyn might have something for you in the nurse's office, let's go," the couple walked down the steps to the main part of the lodge. 

Dylan was waiting at the end of the steps, "So how long is it going to take for the police to show up?" he grinned, "Ten minutes? Five?"

"There is no police coming, Dylan," Ryan frowned, "The phone went dead."

"As soon as we called the police might I add,"  Y/N chimed in, "Something strange is definitely happening here." 

Ryan side-eyed here, "Nothing strange is happening. Like I said before it was probably just the weather." 

"Yeah and the 'weather' tore our Nick apart," Dylan rolled his eyes. 

"Guys, I don't know why you think something crazy is happening here," his gaze shifted between them, "Nick was probably just attacked by some wild animal. It happens sometimes." 

"Anyways, there still might be a way to call for help," Dylan spoke with a self-assured smile.

Y/N brightened up, "How?" 

The smile on the man's face widened, "The radio hut where I play my awesome summer tunes and give PA announcements has some gear." 

"Well, that's perfect," she looked between the two, "Let's go." 

Ryan stopped her in her tracks, "Dylan and I, are going to check out the radio station."

She frowned, "What do you mean?" 

"The more of us there is the greater chance of the animal attacking us," he gestured to the shotgun, "I have a shotgun and Dylan is the only one who can operate the radio. It's cut and dry." 

"So I'm just supposed to stay here while you risk your life?" she crossed her arms.

He gently grabbed her hand, "I'll be fine. I'll be back before you know it," he accentuated his words with a slight squeeze."

She sighed and squeezed his hand back, "I'm gonna hold you to that." 

He gave her one of his signature smiles before following after Dylan and leaving the lodge, not without a few glances back at her.

She could only hope that he'd come back to her intact.

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I'm back with another update. This story isn't abandoned or anything. For some reason I can't explain, writing this story is so hard for me. I feel like when I write the characters it doesn't flow or it's very dialogue-heavy with not a lot of stuff sprinkled in between. It doesn't help that there are literally like six characters in a single scene at some points in the story. But, yeah I will continue to write because I love Ryan. Updates for this book might be every other weekend. If you read this all the way through, thanks! Your prize: 🍪
~Pink