You could text the unknown number that invited you here, but you still don’t know who it is and would rather not have to stand around awkwardly as you wait for a response. They’re probably in the basement playing beer pong like the old days. You could just head there.
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Find your friends.
You could text the unknown number that invited you here, but you still don’t know who it is and would rather not have to stand around awkwardly as you wait for a response. They’re probably in the basement playing beer pong like the old days. You could just head there.
Investigate the situation with a couple friends.
You tell yourself to breathe – to calm down and think. You’ve seen enough horror movies, you know what not to do. Rule one: never go alone. You pull a couple friends along to come with you to check out the floor. You saw the girl running down from the hallway, but you don’t know which room she was in. There is a trail of blood leading down the hall and into a room on the left. Must be this room. Wow, you’re a real sleuth. You gingerly approach the room. With your friends close behind, you kick open the door. Best to come in hot, but your stopped dead in your tracks. There he is. Bobby, or so you assume, is laying in a heap on the bed. His body is covered in blood. Where does the blood end and Bobby begin. Movies never prepared you for the reality of this scene. You freeze, as do your friends. You can practically hear the crowd shouting at you to move! Run you stupid bitch! Why can’t you move? You should run, or grab a weapon, but your’re petrified by the pure and sickening shock of Bobby’s bloody body before you. THEY’RE BEHIND YOU! Fuck, they’re behind you. You can feel a fourth presence at your back. You turn your head, in between your friends faces is a third. It’s yellow and shiny with uneven eyes and a wide tongue waggling grin. it’s not a real face…it’s a mask! An emoji mask! 🤪 The emoji cuts with your friends throats with swift slashes from the blades they carry in each hand.
“No! Please no!! Don’t kill me please.” You plead, but you know fully well this is no emoji of reason. This is the zany emoji, the crazy eyes emoji, the Grinning Face With One Large and One Small Eye emoji. It does not know the meaning of reason. This cannot be the last face you see before you die. Except, it is.
The emoji has no final words for you. The zany stare of those crazy eyes say it all. With a one fell motion the slasher brings their two blades down on to your collar bones. They bring their masked face close to yours, as if to lick you with that dangling tongue, remove the blades and leave you to bleed to death beside your two friends.
Attempt to save Meredith
Whoever that is, Meredith certainly won’t be able to take it alone. You sprint off after her, screaming for her to stop.
As she approaches the campfire, she screams, the person — the creature — lunging for her.
But you’re almost there, too. You reach her at the same time, bodies crashing into one another and tumbling back towards the campfire. Without looking back, you and Meredith scramble to your feet around the fire, looking for a way out that isn’t the way you came.
But you’re stuck there, frozen in horror by the trees. Because they aren’t heavy with pine needles and snow — they’re heavy with people. Arms, legs, and torsos speared on sharpened branches, a primordial meat locker of drying human flesh.
And The Butcher, now back on its feet, has none of your hesitations. It is long and loping, fingers hooked and sharp. In the glittering fire it’s skin shimmers with blood and sweet, mangy hair covering everything except for a mouthful of bone-white teeth.
There is nowhere left to run.
A) Bumrush it again, bowling over it
B) Stand your ground
C) Push Meredith in front of you and run
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Look, we don’t have time to –” Steven’s words are cut off by a mangled scream in the distance.
“Oh god. It’s here.” Meredith is backing up, eyes brimming with tears.
The humming grows closer.
“What’s here? Is this some stupid Alphi Kai bullshit?” Look, just because people thought it was funny when you’re in school doesn’t mean it’s funny now. You didn’t come back to be messed with. “I’m not in the mood for games.”
“These aren’t games. This is… well, I don’t know what this is.” Steven sighs, and for the first time, you notice the blood trickling down his forehead.
“G-ggg-gg-guys…” You turn to Meredith, confusion and horror on her face. “Where’s Jackie?”
“We need to keep moving, now.”
“Steven! We can’t leave Jackie!”
“It’s too late to save her.
“Go if you want,” Meredith says, “Real friends hang together.”
They turn to you expectantly.
A) Go and look for Jackie with Meredith.
B) Get out of here with Steven.
Head towards the voices.
“I’ll be right over,” you call out. As you follow the sound of the voice, your flashlight catches something shiny, just off the trail. It looks like a watch, dangling from the trees. You can’t be sure, not in the snow, but it seems like it’s still attached to a hand…
Someone grabs you by the shoulders! In your panic, you trip and fall to the ground.
“I can’t believe you made it this far!” You turn to see three people, roughly your age. They reach down and pick you up, introducing themselves as Steven, Meredith, and Jackie. Their eyes dart around the woods worriedly.
“Thank god I found you guys! Started to wonder if I was all alone out here.”
“You’re not.”
Sheesh. Warm welcome. “I think the ropes course is this way,” you say, “I feel like I have my bearings again.”
“You don’t want to go to the ropes course.”
A twig snaps behind you. In the distance, a low, grinding noise echoes through the trees.
“We need to go, now.”
Go where? You did just meet these people after all. And something about them makes you nervous — their darting eyes and shuffling feet putting you on edge.
Go right, up onto the ridge.
Maybe you can get a better view from the high ground. You should always take the high ground. You start hiking, the sharpened branches closing in around the trail.
It’s steep. You’re practically climbing, scrambling up roots and rocks. By the time you make it to the top it’s nearly nightfall, and you can hardly see the forest floor. A light snow begins to fall, further obscuring your vision.
You fumble for the flashlight on your phone when you hear:
“Hey! Is that you? Come over here. Quickly!”
It’s not a voice you recognize. Still, your only other option is to backtrack into the gorge.
Find your own way to the course.
Screw waiting, you know your way The Glen like the back of your hand. You set off into the woods with a pep in your step.
It’s gotten dark since you left the dorm, as if the clouds were lower. Or maybe it’s the woods themselves. Even though the trees are stripped of their leaves, they block out everything — the sun, the wind, the sounds of campus. Your only companion is the soft crunch of leaves beneath your feet and the quiet, visible panting of your breath.
Before you is a fork in the road, and, for the first time, your memory fails you. Maybe you don’t remember how to get to the ropes course… To the left, the trail snakes down into a gorge, and you can hear the faintest sound of running water. To your right, the path shoots up along a ridge, curving away from campus.
Nature Walk & Ropes Course
“Careful,” the student says, smiling. “Rumor has it that The Butcher is back.” You smile at the old ghost story, a holdover from days spent hazing freshman every Halloween. It’s good to know the new students keep up traditions. No matter how long it’s been, some things never change.
Butcher or not, nothing beats an autumn walk in the woods. You thank the student and head down the old, familiar paths towards The Glen. You brush past the old, stone buildings you used to study in, each window black. For what feels like the first time, you see other people on campus, but they’re all at a distance, jackets pulled around their faces. No one turns towards you or acknowledges your presence, but you get the feeling that they’re watching you.
It’s a relief when you’re past the last building, it’s darkened windows behind you as you approach the path into the woods.
You look around for a group, but all you see is a note nailed to a tree. It reads:
“Dear Alumni, if you’re reading this, we’re already at the ropes course. If you know the Glen, feel free to find us. Otherwise, wait for the next Orientation Leader to arrive.”
So, what’ll it be?
“I heard you were back ;) wanna meet up at the spot for old times sake”
Your heart races. They remember you? Of course, you remember them — you remember the spot. How could you forget? All those hours spent talking, sharing, laughing… And the following Friday they were in the arms of someone else. You haven’t spoken in years, and why would you? You saw the wedding photos on Instagram and, even worse, the honeymoon. And yet, as you type your reply, you know that you can’t say no. You still think of those fleeting moments spent together when you close your eyes at night. You also wonder what would have happened… You were the closest of friends and then, one day, they just disappeared. Until now.
You grab your trusty flask– just in case — and head for the door, heart pounding.
You take off your boring winter coat and throw on your thinner, sexier jacket. Your cool jacket. Then again, you can hear the wind howling outside, and it was a chilly walking in. That said, you’ll definitely need to look cool. Which do you grab on your way out?
Homecoming of Horrors 