The Trail...A short story Suspense/Horror by Michael Kelso
Rated PG for violence.
Chapter 1 preview
J. T. dangled over the edge of the cliff. Peering down at the valley a thousand feet below. staring death right in the teeth, she didn’t really feel fear, just an odd weightlessness and great annoyance.
Sherri and Terra held her by her belt and were slowly pulling her back onto the trail.
“Please don’t do that again.” Terra said.
“What’s wrong with you anyway, short stuff,” Sherri said, “Weren’t your stubby little legs able to stay on the trail?”
“I guess not.” J. T. said.
“Are you alright J. T.?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“Okay then, lets keep moving. It’s another twelve miles to Lookout Point.”
“Why do we do this every year?” Chelsea whined.
“Because it’s fun.” Cassandra answered, receiving a hostile stare from Chelsea.
“Fun?” Chelsea said. “Climbing a dangerous trail twenty miles to camp out then go right back down the next day is fun?”
Cassandra laughed, “It’s not that dangerous.”
“Why don’t we ask J. T. if she thinks this trail is dangerous.”
“Okay,” Cassandra conceded, “But it’s still fun. Last weekend of the summer, all of us together for a campout at Lookout Point, what could be better than that?”
Chelsea thought for a moment. “Aside from the threat of imminent death, it would be fun if it really was all of us.”
Cassandra ignored the dig. “Yeah, I was disappointed George didn’t come too.”
“He still might make it. You know how he is, he’ll be late for his own funeral.”
Cassandra laughed. “You’re probably right.”
They continued to talk, carry on, and have a good time, as Sam led them up the trail. Chelsea stopped whining, and everyone seemed to be having fun. They continued to climb, reveling in the sights of beautiful mountain views. The fragrant flowers, mixed with the smell of pine had a very soothing effect. The squirrels chattering, and the birds chirping made them glad they had come on this trip. They reached a clearing, and Sam came to a stop.
“Let’s take a break.” He said.
They all found a spot to sit and take a drink. Out of curiosity, Sam pulled a pair of binoculars out of his pack and started looking around.
“Wow, you can see everything from here.” He said, “I can even see the parking lot where Sherri tried to kill me.”
“I missed you by a good six inches.” She retorted.
“How you got a driver’s license, I’ll never know.”
Sherri stuck her tongue out at Sam.
“That’s odd,” Sam said, ignoring her. “There’s another car parked there.”
“Maybe it’s George.” Chelsea said
“No, it’s not George’s car.” Sam replied.
“Oh well, someone else is walking the trail today.” Terra said.
Sam looked at the car more closely. There was nothing wrong with it, it just felt wrong and he didn’t know why. He shrugged it off and sat down to take a break.
“Umm, J. T., are you Okay?” Cassandra asked.
“I’m fine, why?”
“You have blood dripping down your chin.”
J. T.’s face turned red with embarrassment.
“It’s not blood, I carry tomato juice in my canteen.” She said, quickly trying to clean herself up.
“Okay.” Cassandra said, slowly backing away.
“Uh, why don’t we get going?” Terra said, trying to avoid watching J. T..
“Yeah, let’s get there so we can relax.” Sam said.
He looked at the parking lot one more time. The sign at the base of the trail that had read ‘Be aware of wild animals’, had a section broken off that was laying in the grass. He shrugged it off and continued up the trail, not knowing that the fallen section of sign said, ‘Bear mating season. Extreme danger. Do not use this trail.’
Chelsea was thinking as they walked up the trail.
‘Something about this year seems a little different. George is late, as usual. Sam is taking the lead, as usual. But the others…I couldn’t believe it when Terra tried to pack her laptop for the trip, but what’s really different is J. T.. Her and Sherri always pick on each other, but this year J. T. isn’t fighting back. It’s like she’s just quietly absorbing it.’
As they continued up the tail, J. T. hung back a little.
“Come on short stuff.” Sherri said, “Get those stumpy little legs moving.”
“I, um…have to use the rest room.” J. T. said hesitantly.
“We’ll wait.” Sam said.
“No, don’t bother. I’ll catch up.”
Half an hour later, J. T. still had not caught up.
“Maybe someone should go check on her.” Terra said.
“I’ll do it,” Sherri said, “I’ll be back, shortly.” She said with a smile.
Cassandra just rolled her eyes.
“Hey J. T.!” Sherri yelled. “Where are ya? We wanted to make sure you didn’t fall into an anthill or something.”
“I’m here.” She said from the bushes.
Sherri jumped. “Where?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not done yet.”
“Well, I said I would check on you, I’ve checked on you. I think I’m gonna backtrack a bit and see if George made it yet.”
“I’ll tell the others.”
“Thanks, short stuff.”
Sherri walked for a few minutes, oblivious to the shadow watching her.
She paused to look at the beautiful view, when a hand appeared and pushed her over the edge. She plummeted a thousand feet, screaming as she fell.
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