Chapter 59 The shadows
Lila pressed her face to the window, watching as the forest swallowed the road behind them. The place looked like it belonged to another time, it was distant, quiet, and entirely calm.The bus rumbled over the gravel path before grinding to a stop in front of a long wooden lodge. The fog hung low and heavy, curling like smoke between the trees.
When the driver cut the engine, silence wrapped around the bus like a blanket.
“Welcome to Oakwood Lodge,” Roy announced, stepping down first, clipboard in hand. “Please, everyone grab your things, stay with your group, and don’t wander off alone.”
His words felt practical, but his tone carried something else beneath, a note of warning.
Lila slung her camera bag over her shoulder and stepped into the cool air. It smelled like pine and damp soil. The sound of birds seemed far away, like they were singing from another world entirely.
Ava came up beside her, pulling her jacket tighter. “Creepy, isn’t it?”
Lila forced a smile. “You could say that. But it’s peaceful, too.”
“Peaceful in a horror-movie way,” Ava muttered. “I bet you anything like the Wi-Fi doesn’t work here.”
Lila actually laughed. “That might be a good thing.”
Ava’s grin faded quickly. “Maybe for you. For me, I like knowing I can call someone if I need to.”
Something in her tone made Lila pause. Ava’s eyes darted toward the treeline where the fog hung thicker now, pale fingers twisting between the trunks.
Inside the lodge, the air was warmer. The walls were lined with dark wood panels, and the scent of polish mixed with faint traces of firewood. A fireplace burned in the common room, crackling softly.
Students filled the space with chatter and camera bags. The noise felt almost too loud for such a quiet place.
Professor Mercer stood at the front, clipboard in hand, his calm voice cutting through the chaos.
“Everyone, listen up,” he said. “We’ll be staying here for three days. Each group will have assigned areas for photography such as the woods, lake, and meadow. We’ll begin field sessions tomorrow morning after breakfast. Tonight, you can explore the area, but don’t go too far. The woods are dense, and it’s easy to lose direction.”
He paused, glancing briefly toward the window. “Stay together. I can’t stress that enough.”
Lila caught his gaze for a second, it was calm, but searching before he turned to mark the attendance list.
She felt a quiet shiver crawl up her arms.
Rooms were assigned next. Lila ended up with Ava and two other girls, Carmen and Lydia, both photography majors, quiet and polite. The four of them dragged their bags down a narrow hallway to the last cabin near the back of the property.
It was a small space with two bunk beds, a desk, and one window that overlooked the forest.
Ava threw her bag on the lower bunk and turned to Lila. “I guess we’re roommates again.”
Lila smiled, setting her things down. “Looks that way.”
Carmen chuckled softly. “Hope you two don’t snore.”
“Hope you don’t,” Ava shot back playfully, her earlier tension fading for a moment.
For a brief second, the room actually felt normal.
Lunch was served in a wide dining area that smelled of soup and bread. Wooden tables filled the space, sunlight trickling in through dusty windows. Students crowded together, laughing and clinking cups of water.
Lila sat at the end of the table beside Ava, nibbling on her sandwich. Across the room, Damian waved at her with a bright, easy smile that drew more than a few jealous looks.
She waved back shyly, earning a low whistle from one of the students nearby.
“I guess the Golden Boy’s got a new muse,” someone muttered under their breath.
Lila ignored it. She’d gotten used to whispers.
Asher sat across the room, his expression unreadable. His gaze flicked briefly toward her and then to Damian with his sharp, assessing, and almost protective gaze.
Lila sighed quietly.”They’ll never stop circling each other.”
Ava nudged her elbow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Lila lied. “Just tired.”
Ava tilted her head, watching her carefully before turning back to her meal.
After lunch, everyone gathered outside again. The fog had started to lift, revealing rolling hills and patches of sunlight that shimmered over the wet grass.
Professor Mercer clapped his hands once to get everyone’s attention. “We’ll have a short orientation walk before dinner. Bring your cameras, take in the light, it’s perfect this time of day. Just remember, the woods start thinning out after the first half mile. Stay within that area.”
The students spread out in pairs and small groups. Lila walked with Ava, their cameras swinging at their sides.
The trail behind the lodge wound down toward the lake, surrounded by tall pines. Sunlight spilled through in golden shards, turning the water into glass.
Ava lifted her camera. “You know, this could almost be paradise if it didn’t feel like something’s watching.”
Lila froze mid-step. “What do you mean?”
Ava lowered her camera slowly. “You don’t feel it? Like the air’s too heavy.”
Lila looked around. The woods were still, there were no birds, no wind, not even the faint buzz of insects. Just the soft, rhythmic sound of their shoes on damp soil.
Then Ava laughed loudly. “Okay, that sounded insane, didn’t it? Ignore me. I’ve watched too many true crime documentaries.”
Lila smiled faintly, but her fingers tightened around her camera.
“I don’t think it’s insane,” she said softly. “Sometimes silence feels like it’s waiting.”
Ava looked at her, startled, then nodded slowly. “Yeah, exactly.”
They both laughed after that, trying to shake it off. But neither of them took another picture for a while.
By evening, they were back at the lodge. The light dimmed early, the fog returned, thicker now, pressing against the windows like breath.
Dinner was quieter than lunch. The chatter had softened into tired murmurs, and a few students complained about their photos not turning out the way they expected.
Lila poked at her food, half-listening to the conversations around her.
Across the room, Damian was talking with Roy about tomorrow’s schedule. He caught Lila’s eye again and gave her a small nod the kind that asked if she was okay.
She nodded back, even though she wasn’t sure she was.
Asher wasn’t at dinner. She noticed that too.
Back in the room, Carmen and Lydia were getting ready for bed, whispering softly about their project ideas.
Ava sat by the window, brushing her hair. Her reflection glowed faintly against the glass, framed by the forest outside.
Lila unpacked her camera, scrolling through the pictures she’d taken that afternoon. The trees. The lake. A few candid shots of Ava laughing.
For a second, she smiled and then stopped.
In one photo, something caught her eye.
Between the trunks, far in the background, there was a figure.
Blurry, out of focus, and too far to identify the person.
Her chest tightened. She blinked, zoomed in, but the image broke into static pixels.
It’s nothing. Probably just a shadow.
She turned off the camera.
The lights flickered.
Just once, a faint buzz, a dip in brightness, then back to normal.
Lydia gasped softly. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah,” Carmen said, frowning. “Probably just old wiring.”
Ava set down her brush. “Or maybe the ghost of campus followed us here.”
Carmen threw a pillow at her. “That’s not funny!”
Ava laughed, but her voice cracked at the end.
Lila didn’t say anything. She crossed to her bed and sat, facing the window. The glass had fogged slightly, her reflection ghostlike against the dark outside.
Beyond the tree line, the forest was a black ocean. Every now and then, the wind shifted, and she thought she saw movement like the faint ripple of something pacing between the trunks.
Don’t imagine things, she told herself. It’s just shadows. Just the wind.
But the feeling in her chest didn’t fade.
A few hours later, the lodge was silent. The others had fallen asleep with steady breaths filling the small room.
Lila couldn’t. She sat by the window again, camera in her lap, watching the faint glow of the outdoor lamps.
The fog had thickened so much now that the world beyond a few meters looked drowned in white.
She rubbed her arms, chilled despite the heater humming softly.
Then, she noticed movement.
A small flicker of light.
Her eyes snapped toward the trees.
It was faint, but she saw something like a phone screen. Someone’s flashlight or camera light, glowing deep between the trunks.
It wavered for a moment. Then another faint flash like a signal.
Her breath hitched.
“Who’s out there?” she whispered before realizing no one could hear her.
The light flickered once more. Then vanished.
Just like that.
The woods fell back into silence.
Lila’s reflection stared back at her from the glass. She looked pale, wide-eyed with her lips parted.
She told herself it was probably another student out late, maybe trying to get night shots. But something inside her twisted, heavy and cold.
Ava murmured in her sleep, turning toward the wall.
Lila glanced at her, then back to the dark woods.
The trees stood still again, patient and unmoving as if nothing had happened.
But she knew what she saw.
And deep down, she knew what it meant.
It always started with something small. A shadow, then a whisper, and a flicker of light.
Lila’s hand pressed against the cold
window, her breath fogging the glass.
Out there, just beyond the tree line for the briefest second the light flickered again.
And this time, it wasn’t a phone. It was the glint of a camera lens.