Constable Larson took the tape from the evidence bag. He carefully brushed off the dried mud, and put it in the player. He swiveled his chair to face the TV and pressed “Play” on the remote control.
The screen was blue for a second and then the first image appeared. A young man was adjusting the camera as he stood against a simple backdrop.
Then the man on the TV began to speak.
The woods at night are usually creepy to begin with. When my friends told me they were going to sneak off down the train tracks to have a bonfire, I had a great idea.
All week, I acted enthused about the plans. You couldn’t have found a bigger fan of bonfire night than me. I spent quite a bit of time telling scary stories about forests and camping trips and people out in the country.
In the meantime, I’d rented this monster costume. It’s pretty cool. Expensive, though.
The picture jumped and the primitive studio became a black background of trees. The man was now wearing the costume he’d demoed earlier and was speaking in an excited whisper. He was holding the camera now, and not doing a very good job of keeping the frame steady.
Tonight I called Laurie and told her that I wouldn’t be able to make it. Had to cover my tracks so they didn’t start wondering where I was. Then I drove out on my own and I’ve made my way from the road-side of the park.
So now I can see them, they’re all just ahead. I think I can see Chris dancing in front of the fire. Probably means they’ve started drinking already. Perfect. That’ll work to my advantage.
Hold on. Something’s happening. I think I hear something. Screaming? Yeah, that’s screaming.
That’s Laurie! What’s happening up there?
I’m going to try to get closer. Maybe it’s nothing. Don’t want to spoil the fun by accident.
The camera switched off again. Larson pressed pause. He’d seen the aftermath of whatever was going to happen next and was not sure if he was ready to see what had occurred. He closed his eyes for a moment, mentally preparing himself.
He started the recording again. This time the camera was moving wildly, and the man filming was clearly terrified.
Oh no. Oh no. They’re dead. They’re all dead. I didn’t do it. They’re in pieces. What did this?
There’s something out here. There’s something in the woods. Can you hear it? There! It’s over there.
It’s coming this way. It’s—. I can see it. I—.
No! No!
There it is. There it—.
The tape cut out abruptly as the camera had been clearly dropped. Constable Larson stood, shaken, and hit “Eject”. Then he picked up the phone and said the words that would eventually be used to summarize the entire case.
“It’s worse than we thought.”
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