If Maya had known what really happened at Camp Hollow Pines twenty years ago, she never would've taken the job. She thought it would just be a summer gig. Free food. Some fresh air. Babysit rich kids who'd cry when their phones lost signal. Nothing scary. Nothing serious. She didn't know a girl had died here. Not just died been erased.
The camp gates creaked open as the bus rolled in. The road was narrow, just gravel and dust between two endless walls of pine trees. The sun was already sinking by the time they arrived, casting long shadows that looked like claws.
"Charming," someone muttered behind her.
Maya didn't say anything. She kept her earbuds in, music off, just so people wouldn't talk to her. She hadn't come here to make friends. She just wanted to survive the summer, collect her paycheck, and get back to the city. She looked out the window as the campgrounds came into view. The cabins were older than advertised. Weathered wood. Faded green paint peeling off the edges. The lake looked nice, though big, still, too still.
There was a large sign above the dining hall entrance:
WELCOME BACK TO CAMP HOLLOW PINES
Where Memories Are Made
Maya frowned. Something about that slogan felt, wrong. But it's none of her business. She's just here to make some money for herself. Inside the dining hall, the staff was already gathering. Counselors, kitchen workers, the groundskeeper, and Director Hayes, who looked like he was trying way too hard to seem enthusiastic.
"All right, everyone!" Hayes clapped his hands. "Let's make this summer unforgettable!"
Maya found her assigned cabin—Cabin 7—and dropped her duffel on the lower bunk. The air inside was cold. Too cold for summer. There was a mirror bolted to the far wall. Old, cloudy, cracked in the top left corner. She looked at her reflection and paused.
Just for a second, she thought she saw someone standing behind her. A girl.
White shirt. Dark hair. Pale skin. She spun around. Nothing. She chalked it up to travel fatigue. But to be sure she went outside to check again, but there was nobody in sight. She sighed and went back inside her cabin to rest before the opening of the camp's first campfire which is just.
That night, the staff gathered around a campfire for orientation and s'mores. It was the first time they really spoke to each other. There was Brooke, the energetic blonde who used to be a camper here and now acted like she owned the place.
Ash, quiet and twitchy, wore sunglasses even at night. Former head counselor.
Luke, the "cool guy" with too many tattoos and not enough shirts. And a few new faces like Maya fresh hires with no clue what this place used to be.
"So, you ever been to Hollow Pines before?" Brooke asked Maya, scooting closer with her marshmallow stick.
Maya shook her head. "First time."
"Lucky," Brooke said. "This place is magic."
Maya didn't respond. Because across the fire, she saw Ash staring into the trees eyes wide, hands clenched.
"You good, man?" Luke called.
Ash didn't answer. He stood up suddenly and walked off toward the cabins. Maya watched him go. The fire popped. The wind picked up. The trees were making scary sounds. This place doesn't seem right to her. But whatever. She turned back to the campfire and that was when she heard it. A whisper not loud, not clear, but close.
"Maya…"
She froze and turn around
"What?" Brooke asked.
Maya looked around. "Did you hear that?"
Brooke shook her head. "Hear what?"
"Someone just called my name now.
"No Maya, I didn't hear it. Broke said,
The fire crackled louder and the chilled voice came again
"Help me…"
Maya's blood turned to ice.
She stood up and backed away from the fire, her heart was racing. She scanned the shadows, her eyes drifting toward the lake. And then she saw it. There was someone standing at the edge of the water. A girl. White dress. Barefoot. Head tilted sideways. The figure flickered and disappeared. She jumped in fear almost falling on Brooke
"Watch it Maya, why do look like you have just seen a ghost? she asked.
"Did you see her? The girl over there Maya said pointing at the lake.
"What girl Maya? There's no one there, it's just the lake Broke said
"No, she was just standing there Maya insisted.
"You are hallucinating, let's go back to our cabin, the orientation is over, Brooke said heading towards her own cabin.
Maya barely slept that night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that girl. Her reflection. Her eyes. Her mouth opening wider and wider, like it was going to swallow her whole. She finally drifted off sometime around 3 a.m. She woke up an hour later to the sound of scratching. Long, slow, deliberate like nails dragging across wood. She sat up in her bunk. The sound was coming from inside the cabin. From the mirror. Maya grabbed her phone, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it at the mirror. There was something written in the condensation: Why didn't you help me?
She jumped out of bed, stumbled out the door, and nearly ran into Ash standing outside. He looked worse than before sweaty, pale, he was shaking.
"She's not gone," he whispered. "I saw her. She's still here."
Maya backed away slowly. "Who?"
"Don't say her name," he hissed. "She hears it. Every time."
"Who is not gone? Who is still here? Maya asked frantically.
"She's still here, she's calling me, she wants to to come to her. Then he turned and started walking towards the woods. Maya ran to hold him
"Ash, don't go. The wood is dangerous at this time of the night. There's nobody there Maya pleaded him. But he walks like someone that was controlled. And just like that Ash vanished before her eyes. Maya ran back into her cabin, she was shaking with fear. "I need to leave this camp, she said to herself.