trip

/trɪp/

noun

a journey in which you go somewhere, usually for a short time, and come back again

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You awoke with a jolt as the door bell was rung a few times in a row, fading away throughout the empty house soon afterwards. Your heartbeat was heard loudly in your ears along with a small ringing sound as you slowly lay down again, trying to control your frantic breathing.

Unfortunately, another shrilling noise followed accompanied with a feminine voice shouting your name over and over again. She sounded quite eager and excited, also banging, probably her fists, against the wooden door downstairs.

''Come on, girl! Let me in already, we don't have all day!'' was what you could make out softly as it was muffled. You groaned as you ran a hand through your messy (h/c) locks, calm by now, but slightly annoyed. It was early in the morning, around 8am and it was clear that you belonged to the 'not a morning person' category.

Deciding it would be best to just let her in before she destroyed the door herself, you sat up and stretched, making your bones crack and pop in place. By then you were able to sluggishly get up and make your way to the mentioned door.

As you reached your destination, the banging was reduced to a soft knocking and annoyed moans on the other side. You opened the door and found none other than Valerie, looking like the energy was drained right out of her since she was slumped, her arms hanging down beside her lazily. She was your best friend since forever ago and always stayed by your side. She was like a sister, like family.

When she spotted your form in front of her, she sprung up and basically crashed into you, suffocating you in a tight hug. You got pressed into her curly and reddish-brown locks that smelled like vanilla and weirdly also a hint of cocoa. Like usual, she had them tied into a high ponytail, her favourite style.

''Finally! I thought I was going to die out here!'' She cried out, faking a small sob. But not a second later she started chuckling and grinning from ear to ear. ''Are you seriously still in your pyjamas? And not the sexy ones either. Shame.''

You rolled your eyes as you two parted from each other. Valerie didn't waste any more time and casually made her way upstairs, probably to your room to check what you decided to pack. Or rather to throw in more stuff than you planned to take with you.

''Val, don't you dare messing up my neatly packed stuff!'' You shouted as you closed the door behind you and followed her with a quick pace.

What you walked in to was best described as a mess however. You groaned loudly, alerting Valerie of your presence in the door way as she simply grinned at you, holding a thong in your direction.

''I'm not taking that!'' You glared at the uncomfortable piece of underwear. She, however, simply shrugged and put it in your suitcase anyway, stating it was 'just in case something happens, you never know'. You face palmed, not even trying to argue as it was hopeless.

While she went through your wardrobe and drawers, you decided it was a good idea to change into your prepared clothing for today. It was simple, nothing extraordinary: Dark blue, thin jeans that nearly went to your ankles along with a belt, a (f/c) top with your favourite motive on it and a sporty jacket that you'll take just in case. For now you tied it around your waist.

''You're really not prepared (y/n).'' Val suddenly said, turning to you with the most serious face you've seen on her in a while. You raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to continue. She slowly rose from her place on your bed and walked over to you, putting her hands on your shoulders. Her eyes stared into yours, before she finally spoke after a few agonizing seconds.

''Where are the condoms?''

You nearly choked on your own spit as you blushed slightly, trying to regain your breathing as Valerie instead burst out laughing, her serious facade long gone.

''Oh my god, you should have seen your face!'' She said in between her laughing fit, holding her stomach and having tears at the corner of her hazel eyes. You smiled and chuckled along a little bit, her laughter being contagious.

Soon you both calmed down and Val claimed she was done adding the 'important things' to your luggage. She patted your back and told you to hurry up as she was going to wait downstairs. Walking into your next door bathroom, you began to try to tame your hair, that you washed the evening before, and do your daily morning routine.

In record time you finished and went back to your room. Closing and locking your windows was the first thing you proceeded to do, then you grabbed your phone, putting it in your jeans pocket and finally glanced around the room one last time. You weren't going to see it for a while, since it was finally summer vacation and your best friend thought it was the greatest idea ever to drag you along to a trip with some mutual friends and acquaintances. You weren't too fond of it to be honest, but you certainly didn't have a choice. Valerie wasn't going to let you laze around alone at home while your parents were having fun in Spain on their silver wedding anniversary. Instead she made it clear that you're joining them on a one-week-stay in a wooden cabin somewhere in the woods, it was close to a beautiful bathing lake and apparently perfect for partying too.

You let out a soft sigh as you grabbed your suitcase and made your way downstairs to join Valerie, who was already relaxing on the living room couch and nibbling on a strawberry Pop-Tart. Simply rolling your eyes, you put down the suitcase near the front door and quickly jogged into the kitchen to grab something to eat as well before you died of hunger. Plopping right next to her, you both silently finished your quick meals.

''Okay, let's go!'' Valerie's sudden yell tore through the silence as she jumped from the couch with newly acquired energy out of nowhere. ''We don't want to be late. Or else they might just go without us!''

''I wouldn't mind that too much.'' You replied honestly, shrugging a little in the process and simply receiving a glare in return. She didn't offer you an answer, but instead forced you to stand and pulled you along with her. You nearly tripped, somehow managing to stay on your feet and also taking hold of your suitcase on the way.

You were surprised to find a bike waiting for you two instead of Valerie's usual black VW golf.

''What happened to your car?'' You dared to ask as you locked the door behind you, burying the keys in the other jeans pocket and turning to your best friend, who looked a little uncomfortable. She grinned slyly before shrugging and walking towards the bike. You could make out a 'nothing to worry about' and some soft, incomprehensible muttering.

Deciding it was best to leave it at that, you trailed behind her before voicing out your thoughts on the current situation. ''So, how are we both supposed to fit on that?''

She chuckled and focused on the luggage carrier behind the bike seat, where her own case was already fixed on. You managed to catch her stare and were shocked at her idea. Was she trying to kill you?!

''Don't worry, I'll go extra slow. So just hold onto your case. Andrew's house isn't too far from here, you'll survive. And believe me, I'm not too happy about this predicament either.'' She answered in a calm manner as if reading your mind just before. She proceeded to climb onto the seat and rung the little bell, which snapped you out of your thoughts.

''Fine, but if I die it's entirely your fault!''

So here you were now, clinging onto your suitcase for dear life and at the same time trying not to fall on the moving concrete ground below. That would probably leave nasty bruises that didn't sound too pleasant at the beginning of this vacation. Valerie indeed stayed true to her words and went quite slow, even though that didn't help in your case anyway. You nearly fell a few times due to losing balance, but somehow regained it with pure luck.

''I can see his house in the distance!'' Valerie informed you as she steered the bike in that direction, accidently going a little faster than before. Thank god it was early in the morning, meaning there were less people that needed to be dodged on the way.

Feeling her slowing down to a stop, you let out a sigh of relief; you actually survived without any wounds. You quickly hopped off the bike, seeing all the others already waiting at a silver van that was big enough to fit all of you inside for sure. You could make out five different, but known faces. No strangers at least. To your surprise you even saw an annoyed looking Michael, Valerie's younger brother that typed furiously on his phone.

''You even invited your brother?'' You asked Val, who held onto her bike and rolled it the rest of the way. She obviously was taking it along on the trip. She groaned at the mention of the 16 year old and pouted.

''No, I was forced to. My parents thought it was only fair for him to come along also. This is seriously a stupid idea. What if he snitches? We would be doomed! After all I doubt Judy can party without the hard alcohol. And I dunno if anything else is involved.'' She gloomily huffed, rambling a little bit.

''Isn't he the type to stay away from your friends though?'' She nodded at your words, thinking it through.

''That's true. But do you really think he'll stay away most of the time? I don't know. I just hope he doesn't snitch or else I'll give him hell at home.'' She chuckled darkly as you rolled your eyes. Soon both of you reached the others, greeting them happily. Some smiled and greeted back, one ignored us completely and one stood out the most by complaining on why both of you took so long. To be specific: Judy.

''Well sorry princess, but we had to manage riding a bike together with luggage and didn't get driven here by our sugar daddy.'' Valerie joked and grinned at her shocked and slightly pissed expression, it was clear she wanted to argue back but held back by biting down on her lipstick smeared lip.

Afterwards Valerie grabbed her stuff along with your suitcase and put it away in the van, also fixing the bike on the back with the help of Andrew to make sure it won't fall on the way. Judy in the meanwhile checked her freshly painted, pink nails and pouted beside her boyfriend. You could simply just describe it as clingy behaviour from her side, but that was nothing new.

After everything was in place and everyone was ready to go most of them rushed towards the car and you simply followed with a relaxed pace. As you reached the car, it was obvious that you'll sit beside your best friend in the far back, even being lucky enough in the end to get the window seat as well.

The drive in general took way longer than you expected. At first it was acceptable since it was on the highway, but currently it was on a narrow pathway through the woods with literally no other human being close by. Faye, a very close friend of yours with stylish blue hair and a green highlight, did mention that the cabins in this specific vacation area were a bit far apart, so we probably wouldn't see people on our stay. But they were connected through small forest tracks however.

''How much longer?'' Dan, the oldest of the whole group, asked quietly in a rough voice as he unplugged one of his earplugs. He has been listening to music the whole way so far, looking like he was asleep even. He was a good friend of yours that you cherished a lot; he was also strangely 'feared' by some people, which you couldn't understand at all. You knew him as a really friendly and funny person.

''We're nearly there, just a few more kilometres.'' Andrew responded straight away, keeping his eyes on the road and trying not to accidently hit any wild animals on the way. He was Judy's boyfriend of a few years actually, which was a surprise to you. You knew Judy as a person who couldn't stand to stay with one person for a long while. But perhaps you misinterpreted her after all. She was asleep currently, snoring quietly in the passenger's seat.

For the rest of the drive, everyone stayed quiet and you stared out of the window, into the dark woods just beside you, head resting on your hand. It was still day, the sun shining brightly, but the area inside the forest seemed eerily dark. You could barely make out the trees in the back, that's why squinting was your only silly option currently.

It was funny actually; you swore you saw a tree that looked like a huge, tall man with weird things on his side just a second ago. But obviously it was just branches. It was hard to make out anyway, but it was clear that your imagination went crazy, the usual.

Suddenly the brakes were hit and the car stopped, being parked neatly. It happened quite unexpectedly that's why you got pulled out of your thoughts immediately.

''We're here!'' Faye exclaimed happily, smiling softly. Currently, everybody scrambled out of the car, taking in the view: In front of you stood quite a big log cabin that looked comfortable and cosy, you wondered if the inside would be similar. It was surrounded by decorative but real rocks on the edges and on the far west side you could make out a power box exactly on the exterior wall. Obviously, it was in the middle of the woods as lots of trees stood proudly around the house. The most important thing this summer was right behind it however, you could only catch a glimpse though: A blue sparkling lake.

''What are we waiting for? Let's go inside!'' Judy spoke in an eager voice, breaking the silence and grinning as well. She started jogging on a beautiful laid out path leading to the front door, her long blond hair swaying behind her. Her boyfriend didn't waste any more time as he locked the vehicle, grabbed both of their suitcases and followed her soon after.

''Come on (y/n)! We need to get one of the good rooms before the others do.'' Valerie said in hushed voice as you both quickly got your suitcases, nearly running over the others by the way, and raced towards the door right after, laughing on the way. You were able to outrun her and saw the inside before her. It looked just as cosy as the outside, there was even a fireplace in the living room! There was a glass door leading to the lake as well. The walls around you had a few paintings or pictures on them, sadly you couldn't identify them; there were a lot of cabinets, tables and book shelves as well. The kitchen was connected to the dining room on your left, but you couldn't see it clearly. There were a few closed doors; you'd have to find out what hid inside later. And at last there was a huge staircase, which would lead you to the bed- and bathrooms upstairs.

''No fair, you cheated!'' Valerie shouted as she finally reached you, panting heavily. ''Man, sport kills.'' You laughed at her words, but agreed nonetheless.

''Can't disagree with you here, Val. Let's go upstairs now though, the couple probably already stole the best option available.'' You said as you made your way upstairs, being followed by an out of breath Val, who clearly just wanted to relax right now. The both of you checked out each room, beside the one Judy and Andrew decided to be in of course, and finally decided on the room far in the back. It was quite big with two single beds on both sides of the wall and even had a small balcony, which showed off the glistering lake down below.

''I'm taking the bed beside the balcony!'' You shouted as soon as you saw it, claiming it as yours and jumping on the bed right after. Valerie gave you a pouty expression as you simply chuckled, but accepted it anyway. You did hear her mutter a small 'meanie' however.

An hour passed and everybody decided on their rooms and unpacked a little as well. You were really content with the room choice as you relaxed on your bed. It was currently 3:23pm as you checked your phone, also noticing that you had a very poor signal and no internet connection at all.

''Great.'' You muttered, putting your phone down on the nightstand beside you, a lamp and a small clock standing on top of it as well.

The silence between Valerie and you got interrupted by a knock on the door, making you hum as you were too lazy to get off the bed. The person on the other side luckily heard you and entered. It was Faye.

''Sorry for being a nuisance, but Judy wanted me to get you guys. We wanted to try swimming or relaxing at the lake, since the weather is perfect.'' She said softly, smiling brightly. She was already in her swimsuit: A green one-piece.

''Sure, we'll be down in a few minutes.'' You nodded as you sat on the edge of the bed, watching her leave and close the door behind her. You glanced at Valerie, who still lay there lazily, not moving a single muscle.

''Are you coming along?''

She simply groaned and rolled over, that was a sign to you that she was. You got up and went over to one of the wardrobes, getting out a comfortable and, in your opinion, good looking swimsuit. It was (f/c) and a one/two-piece, it had to be your favourite so far. You quickly changed into it, facing away from Valerie. Good thing she wasn't paying attention anyway.

As you searched for two beach towels, Valerie managed to get ready as well. She chose to wear a purple two-piece with a cute pattern on the side. Soon you found the towels and threw her one, which she caught sloppily.

Both of you met up with the rest outside and noticed that it was indeed quite warm, even hot in the sun. Andrew, Faye and Valerie didn't waste any more time and ran over to the lake, wanting to swim badly. Judy lay down on one of the sun loungers, putting on sunscreen. She's clearly going to sunbathe. Dan got comfortable in one of the chairs and continued to listen to music. Strangely Michael wasn't seen anywhere near by, he probably stayed inside.

You casually made your way towards the lake as well, enjoying the view around you. It was more beautiful than you thought. There was barely any wind, just a soft breeze from time to time and the scent around you was intoxicating.

You put your feet in the water as soon as you reached it and closed your eyes, enjoying everything around you. It was peaceful.

You didn't know how long you stayed like that, but all of a sudden you heard footsteps close by. Not being able to make out where they came from, you opened your eyes.

But it was too late.

Somebody picked you up with ease and ran deeper into the lake before throwing you in full force. By chance you were able to hold your breath, but your eyes were wide open as you floated under the water in a confused state. You looked around, seeing everything as a blur, but swore that there was something moving slightly in the depth of the lake. As soon as you realized what had just happened however and nearly breathed in water, you swam up and gasped for air, laughter surrounding you.

It was Dan, who decided to throw you in, so you playfully glared at him.

''That wasn't funny!'' You hissed and crossed your arms, trying to look as serious as you could, the weird sight under the water already forgotten. But he and also your other friends in the water kept laughing.

They calmed down soon after, Dan even apologizing. But you shrugged him off, saying it was okay as he grinned at you. The rest of the day happened in a blur; you all had fun and decided to go back inside as the sun slowly began to disappear behind the mass of trees.

However, everybody agreed to explore the house a little further after showering, changing and eating dinner.

So here you were now, aimlessly walking around with Faye, since Valerie ran around and touched every single portrait, opened every cupboard and wanted to figure out, well, you didn't know what either. The rest either weren't too interested or looked around as well. Besides Michael, who fell asleep on the couch in the living room; he wasn't interested in your affairs to begin with and kept to himself so far.

Suddenly Dan caught your attention due to him finding something interesting. He was standing in front of an old looking book shelf, but he claims that one of the books he detected looked quite strange, out of place. Everybody stood around him as he tugged at the book.

At first nothing happened, you even saw Judy roll her eyes. That's when a weird noise was heard and the whole book shelf moved to the side, making you gasp slightly and move backwards. You couldn't believe your eyes, was this really happening right now? Are you imagining things or even dreaming?

''Whoa! I thought that only happened in movies!'' Valerie exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with curiosity and pure joy. She wanted to go in there for sure, whatever lay there. ''We have to go and check this out.''

''Do you really think it's safe?'' Faye interrupted her, sounding unsure about the whole ordeal and fidgeting with her hands and fingers nervously. She didn't want anybody getting hurt obviously.

''Of course it's not safe! No way I'm going down there, I'm too young to die!'' was Judy's response as she clung to her boyfriend's arm and stood the farthest away from the newly found entrance. ''Just look how dark it is, there's a staircase leading down. We can't even see where it's leading to! I'm not going.''

''That certainly wasn't in the cabin's description.'' Andrew shrugged, looking sceptically at the previously hidden way. But he grinned right after at his girlfriend and whispered to her, even flexing his free arm to show off his muscles. ''But don't worry babe, I'll stay here with you to keep you safe.''

You rolled your eyes at his performance as Judy swooned over him. Suddenly you felt somebody grab your hand and pull you towards them. It was Valerie, who looked eagerly into your eyes. She clearly wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity.

'Of course she would force me to go along.' You thought, also being unsure about this situation. Were you two the only ones going?
''I'm going with you two, if you don't mind.'' You were quite grateful and slightly relieved as you heard Dan's words. Unfortunately, Valerie made her way down the stairs as soon as she heard them, dragging you along with her; at least she was going slowly. Dan followed shortly after.

''Please be careful you three!'' You heard Faye shout nervously.

As it got darker due to the entrance being far away, both of the teens turned on their phone flashlights. You forgot yours in your room though.

''Look!'' Valerie whispered as you all reached the end of the stairs, it looked like a door from your perspective. As you reached it, Val didn't waste time and painfully slow opened the door; it creaked from the disuse over who knows how long.

You all stood beside each other after entering, taking in the quite spacious old room. It was a huge, dusty library with tons of other things scattered around.

''Well, I wasn't expecting that.'' You honestly said in a soft voice, the stress and tension leaving your body as your best friend let go of your hand as well, beginning to look around on her own. Soon Dan and you did the same. You stayed with him though, not bothering with following Val.

You found a huge amount of old books, some you even remembered reading about online before, some that were unique as well due to only one copy ever existing. There were strange books about mystical creatures like demons or monsters as well; you actually flipped through a few with the help of Dan's flashlight. You couldn't deny that this was quite an interesting find. There were a few boxes lying around as well, either containing more books or other various objects that you didn't touch.

After exploring the whole room, an hour and a half passed and you all met up at the staircase. You did notice Valerie looking quite happy with the whole thing, her energy wearing off a little though.

''Find anything interesting?'' You asked her, nudging her a little and smiling. You saw her nod actually.

''I'll show you all upstairs!'' was all she said, making her way upstairs even faster than before. What did she find that made her so happy? And 'show'', did she take it with her? You raised one of your eyebrows, but didn't question it further.

Reaching the upstairs, you were greeted with the others, who looked panicked and nervous. But as soon as they saw the rest of you, they relaxed. The curiosity was shown on all of their faces however, they wanted to know everything.

''There's an old library down there, a ton of old books.'' You explaining in a few words, seeing some of them nod. Then you turned your attention to Valerie, who now proudly showed off a bracelet, that she didn't have on before.

''Isn't it cool? It lay all abandoned in a corner on the floor, I found it by accident actually.'' She grinned brightly. It was made out of a kind of metal, fitting onto her wrist perfectly. It had six shiny, white pearls fixed onto it, half of each pearl having a sinking effect to it, like it was inside of the bracelet. In the light, it looked like each pearl had a different colour.

''Is it a good idea to keep it, what if somebody is going to miss it?'' Was Faye's opinion on the discovery. But Valerie simply shrugged.

''I doubt that, nobody's been down there in forever, looks pretty abandoned to me.''

The matter was let go and instead Judy suggested playing some games, alcohol included of course, in one of the bedrooms upstairs. You all simply agreed.

The rest of the evening was spend in Judy's and Andrew's room, playing random games and laughing like crazy. Everybody was having fun, but surprisingly nobody was drunk yet. For the first night, everybody came to a mutual agreement to not go overboard, since you all just arrived and had the rest of the vacation to do whatever.

Currently, it was a stupid game of truth or dare. Nobody really took it seriously or was too busy doing other things. Like the couple themselves, they were on the floor making out.

''Eww, get a room you two love birds!'' Valerie said, making a disgusted face at them as the rest laughed. You personally didn't care that much, they did that whenever they could anyway.

''For your information, we are in our room.'' Judy said between kissing, panting slightly and causing some to laugh harder. Even Andrew chuckled into the kiss.

They halted their make-out session soon after, staying close anyway.

As the game proceeded however, a loud noise interrupted everything, making all of the teens shut up. In the silence, nothing was heard at first. But soon after another followed, it sounded like a thud. Then something smashing and at last something you couldn't make out.

Silence followed, it was uncomfortable, eerie and suddenly unnaturally cold. Everybody was frozen to their place, didn't even dare to move a muscle, eyes wide.

That's when one brave individual decided to whisper, full of confusion and fright: ''What was that?''

It was a few minutes past midnight.