Chapter 2

The light flooded into the room. I turned to the other side, but I knew it was of no use. Soon, the whole room would be bright. As much as I hate waking up early, I knew I had to. I simply dragged my feet to my bathroom and look a shower. The warm water did nothing to wake me up fully. After taking a shower, I put on my white shirt and a black trouser. I chose a black veil to wrap around my hair. When I went downstairs, my siblings were already eating. I joined them and quickly ate.

"What should we buy first?" Fatee suggested when we arrived at the shop. It is located just behind our house, so is easier to get to on foot. I was still feeling a bit sleepy, so I sat on a chair.

I opened my bag and brought out the list I jotted from school. Our teacher, Mr. Cameron, wrote a list of Items that we would use at the camp. "Let's begin with the top ones." I said and gave her the list.

"Ibraheem, get the torch and incest repellent." We started piling items on our trolley.

We spent quite some time there, before we headed back home. On our arrival, Mom had cooked my favourite food.

"Oh Mom. You shouldn't have." I told her.

"Nonsense. You know that I must do this. It's my job. Especially since I know that you love it."

"Thanks Mom. But it's not your job. You sound like those chauvinist on the T.V. Your job is to rest." I hugged her, and went upstairs to rest and freshen up before going out with some of my friends.

"Hey, guys." We greeted each other when I arrived at the shop near school where we were supposed to meet. It had always been our meeting place.

"So, what's new?" Carrie asked.

"Ugh. My siblings just annoyed me. Can you imagine? I asked them to choose between a black and brown coat. Guess what? They couldn't. Instead, Ken ran out to play with his Xbox and Jennifer left! Those kids are unbelievable." Jane said in one breath.

"Jane, stop overreacting over some coats. It's so cliche," I told her.

"Did you buy the items you wanted, Jams?" Aisha asked. She is the fashionista of our group. Brushing her hair, touching up her make-up, that's all she ever does.

"Yes. I bought a plastic plate bowl, socks, bedsheets, torch and incest repellent. I think that's all. The other items in the list, I already have them."

"What of blankets?" Peyton asked.

"Oh shoot. I totally forgot of that." I explained.

"Don't worry. I bought a few, so you could use one."

"Aww. Thanks dear Alexa."

"You're welcome." She replied in a high pitched voice.

Drew began telling us of his Dad, and how he warned him of listening to any of us.

"Oh and he said, do not and I repeat follow them anywhere. Especially those female classmates of yours." Drew finished his long speech of imitating his dad.

"I guess Mr. Hawk is still as tough as he has ever been," I said.

"Yes. And trust me, it's not nice." Drew replied. 

"I think it's late. We didn't meet up early today. We better be getting home." Ade suggested.

We said our goodbyes and headed home.

On my way, I stopped by the closest coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino. The shop was booming with different types of people. I looked around and found a small seat at the corner of the shop, overlooking the window. I set my purse down, when it began buzzing. Without looking at the name, I picked it.

"Ugh, who is this?" I asked lazily.

"Who? Me, chica. I'm fuming over her. I haven't seen my tablet," Nina said on the phone. I rolled my eyes, thinking of how Nina has always been careless with things.

"Ugh. You are so careless. Look for it in the closet." I suggested.

"The closet? Ok. I will. I think maybe... Oh it's here." She laughed.  "You're right Jams. Thanks. You know, I've been having nightmares since day before yesterday."

"SubhanAllah. What kind of nightmares?" I was astounded. Nina never had nightmares, at least that I knew of.

"Well, it starts like this. I'm in a forest. Everywhere is clear but kind of dark, and I'm scared. Then I hear a howl from nowhere. I turn and I see a person getting closer to me. I can't run. It's like my legs have been planted in the ground. Then I hear You, Alex and Mariyam calling me and telling me to run. The person gets closer and the place gets darker. And then the person puts out their arm towards me. I wake up immediately."

"Wow. That was intense. It legit gave me the heepy-jeebies. Don't worry, dear. It's just a dream. Keep praying ok?" I assured her.

"I know. But I have been having that exact dream for over two days. I'm even scared now to sleep, you know? I checked for this kind of dream online. Most of the pages didn't give me a nice result. Except for one. It said that this could be a sign that something bad is going to happen. And coincidentally, we are going on this camping. How super weird is that?" Nina explained.

"Please. It's just a dream. And besides those sites are nuts. Ok? If you are going to believe the internet, trust me, you would go crazy. Like legit crazy. Just try to forget about it. Do stuff that makes you feel better," I said.

"Yeah. That's what I have to do. Later, we're going to Carries'. It might make me feel better. Find time to come too. I have to go now."

"Ok. I also have some work to do. Ciao."

"Ciao, bellisima. Talk to you later."

UNKNOWN POV

"Madre, did you put these socks in my bag?" Natalya brought out a long blue piece of socks from her bag that looked like they were from the 1970's.

"Que? Mi amor, I thought you liked them." Natalya's mom came out of the kitchen holding a wooden ladle.

"No Madre. No me gusta. Its hideous. And when I wear it, I look like that maid from your favorite T.V. show. What's it called? Yes.  'Maria es mi vida'. Seriously Mom." Natalya pouted her face.

"Fine. Vale. Don't take it to the camp. Pero, recuerdo, when you come back from the camp, I will buy you a new one. And you won't complain about that one too. Vale?"

"Mamaaa". Nat stomped her feet on the ground and pouted her face again.

"Vale?" Her mother asked again.

"OK. Vale Madre."

"Bueno mi amor. Te amo mucho." Nat's mom kissed her on the cheek and forehead before going back to the kitchen.

"Phew. Thank God I'm not taking you with me anymore." Nat giggled as she shoved the socks into a pile of ironed clothes in her closet with the aim of throwing them in the dustbin as soon as her mom left the kitchen.

"Anne, you know I can survive one month without Pasta (cake) right?" Ibraheem whined as his mother stuffed a large black bag full of Turkish cake in the fridge.

"Actually, I don't Babayim. You have been eating this since you were small. You can't stop now. It's our traditional food. Ok? I don't want to hear any of that again!" With that, she left to bring in more food.

"Anne ok. But can you put some more chicken soup?"

"Tabii ki, my son. And don't forget to pray. Im very scared. I don't know why. I have written some more prayers for you, my dear. I will give them to you tomorrow morning. God be with you."

"Thank you so much Anne. You are the best! Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me, InshaAllah. I will keep praying. I will rest before the food is done."

"Ok son. Go up and rest. And keep praying ok?"

"Ok Anne!" Ibraheem ran up the stairs.

"I'm coming!" Carrie ran downstairs to the door and unlocked it.

"OMG. Katie. Why didn't you tell me you guys would be coming?" Carrie said as they hugged each other. 

"Well, we thought it would be a surprise seeing as we have all finished getting ready for the journey." Peyton said as she flew back her purple hair with pink stripes for the umpteenth time since arriving 2 minutes ago.

Carrie is neighbours with some of the students. That is why they all spend most of the time together and visit at any time. Unlike the rest, who are a bit far and have to get on a bus when visiting each other.

Carrie's house is adjacent to Ezra's, and is opposite Ryan's. The next house on the left of Ryan's is Louis's, while on the right is the Twin's, Alex and Alexa's house.

A two minute walk on the left will lead to Maria's house. While directly opposite Maria's, on the end of the street, is Tommy and Sarah's Houses. The only far house in the street is Mariyam and Juliet's which is only 6 minutes walk from Carrie's.

"I'm tired." Mariyam said as they went upstairs after greeting Carrie's mother. They all took positions in the big children's room and began discussing.

"I've packed everything since this morning and have been bored ever since," Joe said.

"Well, for me guys, you know, I haven't even packed anything. I'm waiting till tomorrow. I mean, there is no need to hurry right?" Daniel pointed out.

"Of course, we know you, Dan. Always doing everything at the last minute." Mariyam said while unwrapping a packet of KitKat.

"There was something about our camping that I want to discuss with you all." Sarah sounded scared. They all looked at her with a quizzical expression on their faces.

"Well, tell us already." Alexa said.

"Fine. But I think we should tell the others too."

"Cool. Let's see." Carrie took out her laptop.

***

I arrived home by seven p.m. When I arrived, Mom had finished preparing Sambusak for dinner. I had just eaten and prayed, and was hoping to sleep early, when my phone rang.

Ugh. Who is this calling me just when I want to sleep, I thought. 

"Hello?" I sounded angry on the phone.

"Hey. We just started a group video call. Check it." Carrie said.

"Ok. But I want to sleep now. I don't thin..."

"No. Its urgent. Well, according to Sarah anyway."

"She's there now?"

"Yea. The whole group is."

"I swear if this isn't worth it, i will kill her myself ok? Tell her."

"Right away!"

I joined the video call thinking of what could be so urgent. I know Sarah. She can be scared sometimes, but she is a strong person. Whatever she wants to tell us, must be very crucial.

I joined the call, and saw that almost all of us were either in Carrie's house, or have joined the call.

"Guys, the thing is, well, you know my uncle is a Sheriff right? So, he came earlier today to see us like he usually does. But..."

Dan cut her abruptly, "You mean you called us all to tell us this?" He said clearly getting angry.

I rolled my eyes. "At least let her finish Daniel. You can be so impatient," Peyton said.

Sarah continued, "He asked about our trip and I told him the area it is located. His face expression changed immediately. He called my parents to make sure. Then he said that the area we are planning on going to is dangerous."

"What? Dangerous?" We became confused.

"Yes. That's the exact word he used. He said that he worked some time ago at the area and there have been reports of some weird activities going on. He also said that he currently has files of missing persons, some being families, high school students, trekkers, tourists and even campers. It is still an open case."

We stayed quiet for a while. Our faces clearly showed how outraged and shocked we were. Of course, until Daniel broke the silence.

"Haha. You guys got to be kidding me! You need to see your faces right now. I wish I had taken a photo. Seriously, I hope you don't believe her."

"Daniel, what is wrong with you? Didn't you just hear what I just said? You think I'm lying? Ok. I'm gonna call my uncle and you ask him yourself..."

"Geez Sara. I don't think you are lying. It's just that I don't believe in anything like that. You are so naive. Fine, your uncle has some files still open on missing people. That area I'm sure, it's like a jungle. Basically, people get lost. And maybe they had an accident or something like that. Or maybe on their way back something happened. I don't know.  So your uncle can't just conclude something like that. He's such a part booper," Daniel said.

We chose to simply ignore him.

"I'm scared really," Alexa said. Her twin, Alex put his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Yeah. I think we all are. Of course, except Dan," I said.

"I can't believe that. My Dad did research and I'm sure he found nothing. Else, I wouldn't be going." Adriana said in a high pitched voice.

"What do you mean by you are sure nothing is wrong?" Sara began. Sara and Adriana have always been at loggerheads, although with Adriana, she is always fighting with someone. She feels too highly of herself because her Mom is the attorney General of the State and her Dad is the owner of one of the most popular hotels in the country.

"It's ok! We should think of the matter at stake here, not to involve our personal problems and emotions, if not we would not think clearly." Ade tried to intervene. He has always been the peacemaker of our group.

"Whatever. I'm done here." Adriana rolled her eyes and left the call.

"I think we should forget about this. It will just keep us awake you know?" Peyton suggested.

"Yeah." We all agreed.

"Guys, I think its late. We should head back. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day." Jamie pointed out. He had been silent, his face showing fear the whole time. I have known Jamie since we were kids. He has always been bullied at a tender age. Everyone in school refused to talk to him, except Nina and I. I guess that's why he is closest to the both of us. During one of the bullying he received, totally orchestrated by Adriana, he almost died. I still remember the blood that kept rushing from his arm. He must be really scared, I thought.

As I laid on my bed trying to sleep, one thing weighed heavily on my mind. What if it's true? No, it can't be, I thought.  I kept trying to make my mind disbelieve it. Maybe Sarah's uncle was too paranoid, too much work and began to think that there were wierd things happening. Wait, that doesn't even make sense, I told myself.

Tomorrow is the day. I know that if I tell my parents, they would definitely not allow me to go. I guess it's better to just keep quiet.