Sylvia walked down the shore of the sunny California beach. The sun was setting, her day was perfect. She had spent the majority of her time on the Saturday downtown with friends. Now that the sun was setting, the weather became cooler and cooler. Parents and their children were packing up, older teens and couples have already left. Her and her friends had planned on camping out on the beach, it was in fact her job to take over the perfect spot for the tent when the family cleared out.
It wasn’t until near dark when the family decided to clear out. Soon after, the group of five pitched their tent. A fire was started and everyone began to gather around it. A perfect night began; funny stories and marshmallow fight erupted. The night seemed to be perfect until Jason, Syliva’s older brother began to dabble in scary stories.
“Anyone want to hear the story of Old man Halson’s murder?” He asked in a sinister tone.
“Mr.Halson didn’t die.” Janie, His girlfriend pointed out. “He still is the mail man, loser.”
“Oh, whatever, I meant the one about his wife.”
“He was never married!” Henry stated strongly.
Jason smirked and gave up, “What about the story of the Mass Lake Murders? Now, we all know that’s real?”
Sylvia shivered; Mass Lake was the lake they were camping out in front of, and the murders were real. They happened back where her grandmother was little. A man would kill people then throw their bodies into the lake. Her Grandmother would always tell her and her brother they story of when their great aunt and her boyfriend found a boy while fishing.
“Legend says that he was never caught.” Jason smiled, he loved these horror things.
“Grandma said they found him dead in his home!” Sylvia yelled back.
“Yeah, but they never truly had him in prison, right?” He shot back. “He killed fourteen people over the course of two years, it was a notorious crime, and it was all done on this here beach.”
Sylvia looked at Janie and shivered; Again, this whole thing creped her out.
Janie gave Jason a look. “Let’s just hit the hay, alright? It’s warm enough outside, so wecan pull our sleeping bags out here.”
That they did. The four placed themselves in a circle around the fire, and when set up, Henry put the flames out. Not even ten minutes later and everyone was out like a light.
Sylvia sat up fastly. The sounds of sloshing feet woke her from her usually deep sleep. She looked around, everyone was still sound asleep, but Jason was no longer in his sleeping bag. She checked her watch, 10:02.It wasn’t too late. She heard the sloshing feet again. Whipping her head from side to side, there was nowhere from the noise to come from. No one was near the camp. She shrugged it off, It was probably Jason just trying to sacer her, and drifted back to sleep.
She jolted awake again. This time, she could have sworn Jason screamed. She wasn’t alone this time. Janie and Henry were awake as well. She check her watch, 11:02. Janie gave her a look.
“Did anyone notice Jason leave?” she asked.
Sylvia replied quickly, “I woke up about an hour ago, and he wasn’t here. I heard foots steps too.”
Henry sighed. “Whether he is trying to trick us or if he is really in trouble,” he began to stand up, “We gotta go make sure he’s okay.” He then extended his hand to help scared and confused Sylvia up.
Janie stood up soon after. “He can’t be far. If we heard him yell then we should be fine.” She reached into her pocket, “Did anyone bring their cellphone?”
Sylvia shook her head. “No, I didn’t. My dad took mine away right before I came here.”
Henry soon followed after, “I did, but it’s dead”
Janie sighed, “It wouldn’t be so bad. We’re downtown, but everything is closed. There isn’t an actual home for about a mile. But, whatever; We’ll be fine. Meet up here in ten minutes, Split up.”
Cautiously, Sylvia walked towards the beach’s shore. The only light around them was the moon, which didn’t illuminate much. Larger objects were easily seen, such as rocks, but attempting to dodge everything on the ground was easy. She ended up face first in the sand over a piece of drift wood.
“Jesus.” She groaned as she rubbed her head. Plopping her hand back into the sand, she discovered something. Grasping what felt like a round hunk of plastic attached to a strip of tough fabric. She studied it in the dark, it was clear what it was, it was her brothers watch. There was no doubt, the fabric had a patch stitched into the side, It was Jason’s.
She stood up and brushed the moist sand off of her. She gazed into the ocean, it looked amazing in the moon light. Further studying the ocean, she realized there was something floating in the water, it looked like a body or something. Dropping the watch she began to paddle her way into the icy waters. Grasping the object she pulled It out if the water to find…