Out In The Woods

Chapter One

August 18th, 2003. It was a cold and windy night while heading back home to Otsego, Michigan. Home of the Bulldogs, a football game they had just won from an away game. It’s dark and the surrounding area is nothing but trees and the sound of water. A group of teenagers Doug, Travis, Roy, Linda, Stephanie and Sierra were listening to music, drinking and dancing in a Tata Harrier SUV. The driver, who was also drinking, was not paying attention and went to turn up the music on the radio while having his eyes off the road for simply 3 seconds, and had just hit something hard.

While still in contact and on the road, the driver Doug told his friends to stay put in the car. After a minute goes by they get out of the vehicle, its pitch black out and they turn on their flashlights from their phones, not knowing where Doug had gone off too. Linda begins walking on the side of the road hoping to uncover what it is that they hit. Not knowing right away she had seen red stains on the pavement and went to touch it, it was warm and gooey. She then realized it was in fact blood. Sierra was looking at the tires hoping to find anything. When she got to the front right tire she saw a heel stuck in it, she tried to pull it out but it was stuck. She was calling out for Doug to see if he had a spare and he didn't.

Travis went to call for help and ended up having no bars. While Roy and Stephanie were walking back to where the incident had happened, Stephanie had fallen out of Roy's hand. She felt wet and turned her flashlight back on to discover a woman's body. She was about 5’6, brunette and was wearing a low skirt with a white crop top covered in blood. Roy being a future medical student went to check her pulse and the woman did not have one. Stephanie ends up yelling and screaming while trying to put her senses back together, meanwhile roy tries to calm her down.

Doug had come back from the woods after getting sick. He knew what he had done and couldn't stand to be around it, asking what they should do and Travis had said “We can’t tell anyone, we’d be arrested for manslaughter”. Roy said “We can’t just leave her here, someone would drive by and see her”. While the boys were wondering what to do Linda mentioned “By the looks of it, she’s a hooker, if she would end up going missing, the police wouldn’t think anything of it”. “Why don’t we take her to the lake and put her in there, I’m sure no one comes out here to fish or hunt,” Sierra said.

Stephanie begins to hyperventilate “You're all crazy! How could you think about doing something like this, what if it was one of us!” Linda argues “Are you serious, we’re kids! Our families would be on top of it and you know it, for all we know she doesn't have any family”, “We can’t get arrested when we're one year away from graduating and getting out of this shithole of a place you like to call home!”. “Everyone just calm down!” Travis yelled. As the group started to communicate to each other they all put it to a vote. “Leave her here like this and anonymously call the police, say I”, Sierra said “I”. “Carry her body to the lake, and start walking home, say I”, the rest of the group said “I”. As the guys start taking the dead woman's body to the unnamed lake, Linda, Sierra and Stephanie grabbed two buckets out of Doug’s trunk and filled them with lake water, they began to wipe down the front of the car leaving no trace of the woman's blood. Travis slit the tire with his pocket knife to take the heel out, while his excuse would be that they had driven over a beer bottle of some sort.

The group had begun walking towards home, after around 10 miles, Linda saw she had service, and quickly called her older brother Tony. They continued to walk until Tony had seen them on the road and gave them a ride back. The following day, Doug had his car towed to the town's car shop to get his headlight and tire replaced. No one had questions as to why he had a smashed headlight, but if they did he would've made up an excuse to give. Stephanie had created a group chat with the rest of the group and told them to meet at this abandoned house outside of town. They set a time to meet, once they all got there they began to talk. “We have to make a pact, we are the only ones to ever witness what happened and no one can ever know”, “Roy initiated”. Linda starts “Hands together… repeat after me”, “I (your name) promise to never tell a soul about the night of August 18th”. And so they all obeyed.

After that winter the group would grow more independent with themselves, the girls would only meet up at cheer practices and games but would barely say a word to one another. Doug and Travis still hung out occasionally but never spoke about that night. Roy was always with his girlfriend Stephanie, they both thought they were all they needed. The summer came along quite quickly and only a few months would be their last year of highschool. The guilt was quietly eating Stephanie up inside but she knew if she were to ever say anything, everyone would be at fault, even her.

In 1999, Doug Freeman was 12 years old, he was best friends with Omar Dilwen, these two would go on their daily route to the creek, Rulsid. They would go fishing every other day between 5 pm - 9 pm. They were friends for 7 years, since 1st grade. One night on 1999 June 3rd, when Doug and Omar were out on the creek fishing they came across a plastic bag. They thought there was clothes, maybe even cash in there.They pulled the bag up onto the hill where they were fishing on and untied the strings, they sensed a horrific smell but still continued. After that, once they saw inside they were confused until they saw bones which were a decomposing skull. They immediately left the bag looking for an adult. Once they found a middle-aged man who was limping outside of a cabin they started yelling and panicking about what they had just found. The man looked frightened as well and took the kids inside to get a clearer statement. Once the man heard the story the kids had told him he realized he’s close to being in prison because the person in the bag they had found was indeed a little girl who this man had kidnapped and accidentally murdered. He had no other choice but to keep these little boys quiet, otherwise they’d end up as that little girl as well. These boys were scared and confused and had no idea what to do besides yell and run.

One week later, the two little boys had found a cabin in the woods with non-perishable food items and water. With no way to contact authorities or even their parents, Omar had found a flare gun which he knew about from previous stories his father had told him. Doug was hesitant on using it but the old man they had come across was possibly still out there looking for them. Omar knew this was their only chance at getting real help and he looked over what Doug had mentioned. Doug was scared and still in fight or flight mode he fought against him grabbing the gun and accidentally shot Omar, his best friend in the middle of his ribs with the flare gun. Doug had accidentally murdered his best friend, taking the flare gun with him and leaving Omar in the cabin alone and unprotected. A few days later Doug was still in grief and very upset and had found an outside town and shot his flare gun. He had told authorities after arriving only 30 min that he and his friend were attacked in the woods and he was separated by his friend. He heard a loud noise coming from a cabin he was nearby and saw this old man leaving. He went inside about 10 minutes after and found his best friend dead with a gun right beside him. He grabbed the gun to protect himself and at once shot a flare in the open air, he noticed it was not a regular gun. Leaving his best friend without justice.

Linda Shaw at 13 years old was a shy, independent young girl. She was constantly making videos of her singing and dancing. Although no one could see her, she was desperate for herself to be noticed. She wanted attention but couldn't find a way to be noticed. She would make posters and put them up around town and school calling herself “The unknown woman”. She would put details into where to go and what to wear and bring little items to be placed to know people had come to see. Not knowing these places would be recording, she would then have proof of who all came and supported her. At first people thought this was just weird and unusual but it wasn’t soon before almost everybody would go. She then thought maybe she could do an appearance at one of these places and show people her real self but disguised of course.

Around 3 weeks after her first poster went up, Linda went to an alley with one end that was surrounded by brick. She brought her lights, mask and clothes for her secret performance. 8 pm sharp, about 50 people had come to show her support but didn’t know the woman herself would be there. These people called more and more to come and so this alley was packed with more than 100 people. She performed her favorite song with a dance she had made with it. She did about 3 songs and dances for these people and they loved her. She had to quietly hide until everyone left so she could make her way home. Around 10 pm at night, Linda’s curfew was up at 11 and there were still a few people in the alley. She decides to take her disguise off and mess up her hair a little bit, sort of giving these people the impression that she’s homeless. This one guy noticed her stance and the way she moved and was thinking the unknown woman was this little girl. He ends up stalking her for days on end. Where she lived, went to school and her extra curricular activities.

Linda was kidnapped for a month at the age of 13. She was kept in an old cabin, windows dark, ate cold canned food and drank nothing besides water. She ends up finding a nail and sharpening the sides to use as a lock pick when the man would leave on his daily routes. With days of trying over and over again, she succeeded and escaped. She was 15 minutes away from town and found a road to walk on, one she remembered taking for her school trips. A few cars had driven by but never stopped, until a state trooper came. He instantly knew this was the missing young girl when he saw her face and immediately took her to the town’s police station. She made a report of the man who had taken her, he would make her dance and sing for him and sometimes made her strip to do it and in order to get fed, she had to obey everything he said to her. The man who was in town at the time heard she had broken free and was at the police station, he had made a run for it but didn’t know the road’s were blocked off because of it. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility for parole. Linda never continued “The unknown woman” and stopped singing and dancing because of this incident.

Sierra Kirkpatrick grew up in the suburbs, she was well known for her parents work being the only daughter to Dr. Kirk and Mrs. Kirk. Her father was a very good surgeon while her mother was a nurse. Sierra was mainly always home with her maid and housewife, even though she had plenty of friends, she considered her caretakers her family. She had this main friend, her old best friend, Caitlyn Coleman. When Sierra was learning how to put on make-up and dressing up fancy just to go to the movies, Caitlyn thought she would lose her eventually because she had no interest in doing those things. So to make sure she stayed friends she pretended to like the things she did and with good intentions. After about 2 years of Caitlyn pretending to be someone she wasn't, her intentions changed. Eventually Caitlyn started to think maybe she could be better than Sierra herself, dating the guys she was, eating the stuff she ate, Cailtyn had completely transformed into Sierra and Sierra didn’t think anything of it.

One night, Caitlyn had stayed over at Sierra’s and she waited till Sierra had fallen asleep. She was reading on how to make someone disappear, and further enough, Sierra woke up to her tied to her bed frame with tape over her mouth, she was very freaked out and confused. She saw Caitlyn putting on her clothes and had dyed her hair blonde just like Sierra’s. Caitlyn had confessed her plan on becoming Sierra indefinitely. For the first few days Cailtyn would hide out in Sierra’s room away from her caretakers, they would bring her food up and instead of going in the room she insisted on leaving it outside the door. One night her mother and father had come back from an away trip and went to her room and found Sierra tied up when Caitlyn was in the den. As soon as she heard Sierra she started to run, not long after that, the sheriff's deputy was informed of the incident and saw a girl look like Sierra standing at a payphone and took her in. Caitlyn Coleman was sentenced to 15 years in a juvenile detention center.

Travis Larky and Roy Benji, they grew up together as best friends and to this day still are. Every secret, every cheat, every game they had told one another. These two were as if they were one when it came to certain situations. 3 years before the accident on August 18th these two were at their local joint where they’d get served alcohol underage. They've been going there since they were 14 years old. When Roy drank he became aggressive and impulsive, Travis was more of the go with the flow kind of drunk. One night past curfew and still drinking they decided they needed to get back to Travis’s house, where his parents didn’t really care what he and his friends did. They decided to take a short cut across an abandoned alley and saw a woman in a tight red dress with long black boots. She was carrying a mini red wallet with her hair long to her waist. She was around their age and saw she was a fancy lady (a hooker).

They thought it was very odd being as she was only 15-16 at the time. Roy goes up and introduces himself with a stutter, when he’s drunk he starts to stutter his words. This girl thought it was weird because no one ever comes to talk to her unless they want something, and she was right because Roy did want something and she didn’t know it. Roy talks into Travis’s ear and tells him to hold her still and keep her mouth shut. Travis was confused at first and then realized what he meant and being hesitant at first, he seemed like he didn’t care cause they were alone and drunk. Roy and Travis had taken advantage of this girl and beat her. They had their turns and once finished knocked her out and left her there. On their way home Roy told Travis to keep what happened between them and so they never told anyone and no reports were made. They had gotten away with it and that poor girl was traumatized.

Most of these events happened in 1999, the group was not friends at this time. They all came together at the start of highschool in 2000. This ragtag group of friends would do everything together from bowling to road trips. So when things became very bad for them they decided to do what they’ve always done, stay quiet and move on. But in this particular case, moving on was not happening for them no matter how hard they tried. The truth always comes out even in the most unexpected cases.

Chapter Two

September 23rd, 2004 all of the senior graduates came together to come up with a theme for prom, this is their last one they’ll ever have. This made Sierra, Linda and Stephanie come back together despite what happened the previous year. They were talking about getting new cheerleading uniforms and even joining the cheerleading tournament, meaning new routines would be involved as well as during half-time they could perform the routines they would do at their try-outs. Roy and Travis decided to ask Doug if they wanted to go bowling later that night and have a drink, he agreed. Stephanie caught wind of this and got irritated with Roy, causing some issues between them when Roy told her he wanted to take her out that night. Travis said “Why doesn’t the group get back together and we all can go”. Stephanie was really shaky at first until Linda gave her a look. She agreed and they all decided to meet up at Michigan Polish Bowling at 8pm sharp.

The girls wanted to get ready together so they all headed to Sierra’s house, they were doing each other’s makeup and hair. The guys all went to Brewster's SmokeHouse to get an early start on drinking. After a couple hours of playing pool ball and darts the guys thought it was time to start walking to the bowling alley, so they did. The girls got there at the same time the guys arrived, they could smell the alcohol on their breath. After about an hour of bowling, Sierra went to the ladies room to fix up her makeup and her hair. Her phone went off and she received a message from an unknown number. “You won’t get away with what you did last fall”. Frightened and concerned, she ran out of the bathroom and headed towards the group. Travis and Linda saw her face and knew something was off. Sierra pulled the group to sit down and passed her phone to Stephanie. Stephanie passed it to Roy and so forth. Roy said it can mean anything, don't expect it to mean what you think it means. Sierra is confused and says “I was with you guys all last fall, anything I did it was either with you guys or for you guys”, I’m scared what if this means someone knows or saw us. Linda states “We can’t talk about that here in public, we need to meet at the house out of town tomorrow morning right before school”. They all left but the girls stayed together and the guys stayed together.

The next morning, they all went to meet up at the abandoned house and the last one to arrive was Linda. Nervous about heading in, she almost clammed up and left until Stephanie walked out to smoke and saw Linda. With the group being in the house they all sat down and had a talk. “Someone is out there terrorizing us, we have no idea who”, (Roy said). “Hell, it could be one of us” (Stephaine clamined). With the rest in shock, they all tried to calm down. “Whoever it is must know what happened last year and they're just toying with us, what if they get what they want out of us and then still tell everyone what happened” (Sierra pointed out). At that point all of their phones had gone off at the same time, but no one was on their phones when it happened. The text said “You won’t forget what happened, I’ll make sure of that”. With everyone in shock, they decided to leave, being that the house was not a safe place to meet anymore.

The group decided the best way to stay in contact was by creating a group chat. They agreed to not mention anything regarding the incident through the phone, and to not meet up unless it's in a public place. After a week of not speaking in public, Travis received a note in his gym locker. “What you have done is unforgettable, intoxicated or not.” He was stunned and did not realize what the note meant. He waited until everyone else had left before texting the group chat asking if anyone else had received another text or note. Sierra was the first to message back and said “no I haven’t, has anyone else?”. Everyone else said they haven’t but were now on the lookout if they do receive any. Linda told them to let them know if they get anything.

The next day, Stephanie and Roy were on their way to school when there was a tree in the middle of the road. They take the long way which is a back road, around 20 minutes longer than the freeway. They were confused because it wasn’t there yesterday and they didn't have a storm that could cause it to be there. Roy gets out to move it, because it is movable by hand. Stephanie is in the truck and receives a message from an unknown number, it makes her stomach turn. “This is what happens to murderers”, It’s a picture of Roy with his legs cut off and his guts smeared all over the tree log. In a state of panic, Stephanie calls 911 and hops in the driver's seat and takes off. As she was telling the dispatcher what happened they were thinking it was a prank and hung up. So she decided to drive there and explain. They call her parents and they come and get her, Roy’s parents show up and in concern they want to know where Roy is. Stephanie wanted to show them where so her parents said it was okay to go with them. When they arrived there, the tree was gone and so was Roy. Stephanie went to pull up her text message she got and when she did it was erased. She then began to apologize and cry out for help.

Roy’s parents took her back home and when she got in they were talking about mental institutions. She ran back out and started heading towards Sierra’s house. Sierra answered the door because her parents weren’t home and it was just the maid there. Stephanie explained what happened and Sierra just couldn’t believe it, if Roy is gone then most likely they were next. Sierra texted the group what happened since Stephanie wasn’t feeling up to it and they decided to meet at Sierra’s house. Doug and Travis were thinking about going to their teammates for help, the girls thought it would be a terrible idea and wanted to stick together from now on. The boys would end up spending the night together at each other's houses and the girls would do the same.

A couple days go by and no one has seen or heard from Roy and he was immediately declared as a missing person, even though Stephanie knows what happened, she ended up telling her parents that she needed time to think straight so she stayed with Sierra for a while. Before class, Doug was putting his clothes away in his locker in the gym room. As he was leaving he ended up texting Travis to meet him at his car in a couple minutes. Travis texted back that he was about to take an exam. So Doug ended up going alone so he could get his book for algebra. He received a phone call and answered it, the voice told him “It’s not okay doing things alone, especially when in the end the other one dies”. Somehow Doug knew the voice who told him that and the moment that came to mind was when he was younger with his old best friend. He ran back to the school and got his friends to tell him he knows who the person doing these things is, he hasn't remembered the name, just his face. Doug goes to tell his story and when he does he starts tearing up.” It all started with my old best friend about 5 years ago, we would do everything together and we were inseparable. We were out on the creek and found a bag and it had human remains inside, we called for help and no one was around, we went out to look and this man had kidnapped us because we found something he didn’t want us to find. When he left we tried to escape and ended up finding a flare gun”. He ended up taking a pause because he’s never said it outloud. “I killed my best friend by accident and blamed the man who took us”. They all just looked at him in shock, they were all speechless. He then explained that the man got life in prison and has no clue how he has gotten out in such a short time. Sierra looked up released prisoners within a year and Doug had seen the man known as Richard Blakes who was released on parole about 4 months ago for good behavior. So now the group has heard Doug’s devastating story and have a pretty good idea who is sending these threats and possibly murdered Roy.

Stephanie hasn’t been eating or had barely said a word since Roy’s death. No one believed her besides the group of friends that has been dealing with these messages and notes. They all had been looking behind their backs for months and they are scared, but are afraid to get help from the authorities and have no one believe them. Doug mentioned going to the old cabin where he was held and where he shot his old best friend Omar. Stephanie screamed “You wanna go back to the hell hole where this monster could be living at and where Roy’s body probably is, what are we going to do yell at him into confessing”. With that being said they all reevaluated themselves and everyone was going to think of a plan into dealing with this psycho.

All night long Linda and Sierra were up with Stephanie trying to comfort her. Hoping whatever it is ends with what happened to Roy. Stephanie kept telling them that they should all just go to the police since they wouldn’t believe her. Linda said “If we do that then we’d all go to jail for that women’s murder”. Stephanie didn’t say anything after that, instead she drank her last sip of water then tried to get some rest before school the next day.

Doug spent the night at Travis’s house, they got ready and headed to school together. On the way to school, they were thinking of strategies on how to capture this predator. Doug says “What if we just texted him back, has anyone tried that yet?” Travis said “No, I don’t think so, we can ask the girls when we get in”. Stephanie had stayed back at Sierra’s again for being up all night tossing and turning. Linda didn’t want to leave her alone but didn’t think the killer would attack her when the maid was there. As Sierra and Linda pulled in, they saw Doug’s SUV in the parking lot and took the spot beside theirs. They got out and hopped in the car with the boys, Doug had a plan and it involved one of them as bait. Linda said she would do it if they could guarantee her being completely safe. Doug said he and Travis would be around if she could text the killer back if she ever gets an independent text from him. When she does she would have to ask him if they could meet to try and make up for whatever they had done to him and to tell him she won’t tell anyone about it.

A week later, no texts or threats have come in and had the group thinking maybe he’s done. Stephanie has gone back to school but is closed off to everybody and has barely talked to the girls or to Doug and Travis. Linda has been going to and from school by herself since she talked to the boys.

After school ended and the weekend was up, she was heading home but instead of driving with the girls, she walked. Near Brookside park, she wanted to sit on a bench and study for her English test coming up Monday. After an hour of studying, she got a text from an unknown number, she had messaged the group before looking at it. Making sure they were online before trapping herself. When everyone texted back they were on their way to the park to keep an eye on her from a distance. Linda opened the text and it was a picture of her studying with a caption “Nowhere to hide from your mistakes”, she looked around and didn't see anyone so she texted back “What do you want from me, why can’t you come talk to me face to face”. She closed her phone and continued to study. After 10 minutes of silence and her shaking, she heard a twig break and saw a man walking towards her, she put all her stuff in her bookbag and when she did, the man was in front of her and he said “It’s about time you come with me”. He had put a rag over her face knocking her out, the boys had seen everything and planned on tailing him.

15 minutes out of town and the man stopped at a gas station, the boys parked on the side of the building and wanted to get some snacks, and Travis had to use the bathroom. While doing so, the man knew he was being followed and took a part from their car to keep them from continuing. After Doug got something to drink and Travis came out of the restroom, the man was gone and so was Linda. They hurried and got into their car, and it wouldn’t start. The boys had no other choice but to call the cops and tell them their friend was kidnapped and they saw the man who took her.

Travis called in the group chat to tell Sierra and Stephanie what happened and their hearts sank in disbelief. “You were supposed to keep her safe, how could you do this to her” Sierra said furiously. “I can't believe this is happening, what if he kills her like he did to Roy” Stephanie called out. Travis and Doug were panicking and told them they called the cops which made the girls freak out even more. Travis and Doug had to go to the station to give them the car, license plate and the description of the man and Linda. They were told to go home and that they would notify Linda’s parents and them when something comes up.

A couple hours into the day the group received a message at the same time, It is Linda and she is tied up half dressed and It’s captioned “Linda has a pretty voice, have you heard?”. The group couldn’t understand what it meant until Sierra thought about what happened to her a couple years ago. “Oh my, it can”t be”, “Doug, are you sure this is the same man that kidnapped you?” “Yes, I’m positive, I can’t ever forget his face and his voice, why?”. “Because Linda was kidnapped too, this man can’t be the same man can it?” Sierra said frighteningly. “Wait, what year did this happen to her? Was it in or around 1999?” I’m pretty sure it was, she was 13”. “That makes sense, I was only 12 when it happened to me and we’re a year apart”. But the man Doug and Sierra are talking about was locked up after the encounter with Doug, so the man couldn’t possibly be in two places at once.

After a little digging, they realized that it was not the same guy but how could this man know what happened to Linda if he’s never met her before? Sierra and Doug were thinking the same thing. Travis texted this guy back and asked what he wanted so he doesn’t hurt Linda, no response. They all were just waiting and it felt like years. They had no idea what to do and were very close to going to higher authorities to stop this man. Eventually, they got another message. “You all have secrets and they each are linked specifically to one another, to get Linda back unharmed, figure out what links your past lives, to now.”

As the group read the text they wanted to meet at Sierra’s house. When they got there they started talking about what the message meant. Doug said it might have to do with our past, “Has anyone had any trauma or secrets from back then?”. Everyone was hesitant on bringing up stuff they’ve hid away for years but when it came down to it, they knew it was the only way to get Linda back unharmed and so Doug and Travis could keep their promise to Linda.

Chapter Three

It has been 3 weeks since Linda’s kidnapping, no more threats, no more pictures and a lot of talking between Doug, Travis, Sierra and Stephanie. Every day after school and even on the weekends, they would meet and go over every little thing about their lives growing up. Sierra told the group what happened when she was just a little girl about her old best friend stealing her identity. Stephanie was shocked the most of all, nothing has ever happened to her that she remembered of. Doug told everything about him and his life but nothing out of the ordinary besides him murdering his old best friend. Travis would go on to say that everything he has ever done was with Roy and with Roy gone and possibly dead, he didn’t feel comfortable about telling their stories without him.

After they all talked they would go home and constantly think about how they are all connected. Linda was in a cold cabin again, and she kept remembering back when she was younger and how this is exactly how it was back then. Just a different man, the man would make her undress for food and water. He would tell her the stories about what she used to do when she was younger. But she didn’t understand how he knew all about it. Until the man had told her the truth, the man who did it first is his brother, and how he told him everything about her and that they both would get revenge. She then knew Doug’s kidnapper and her kidnapper were brothers, but Linda’s kidnapper hasn’t been seen so he’s most likely keeping an eye on the group while Richard was keeping Linda locked up.

Stephanie began looking up birth records, death records, unusual deaths and anything to help her stay stable in her mind. She started off with her and found out she was adopted by her parents. Her real mother’s name was Rosalie Coleman and she passed away 2 years ago. Stephanie was devastated and couldn’t say anything to her parents until she found a connection between everything.

Travis and Doug were in the town and just talking about stuff they had done. Travis felt comfortable enough to tell Doug what he and Roy did back then. -- To Be Continued