The Devil’s Trail: Chapters 5-6 FINAL

Chapter 5

“We need to get the fuck out of here.” Dan mumbles under his breath as he grabs his back pack lying on the ground next to the destroyed tent. Tim was still standing there with the tape recorder in his hands. Dan is still mumbling and frantically packing what he could find.
Few minutes pass and Dan was already packed- he wasn’t going to stay any longer he was out of here and nothing would hold him back. The darkness of the forest alone had seemed to try and snuff out the flashlights as Tim stared at that recording. He then had the weirdest need to turn the camera back on and update the people who would watch this in the future, if he did make it out alive. Hell even then he felt if he can’t get out alive at least he can warn those who will eventually find this tape and save hundreds of others knowing he might be condemned to suffer the same fate as those who traveled on devil’s trail before him.
He aims his flashlight at the camera which was surprisingly still on the tri-pod. He grabbed the camera on its tri-pod and stood it up in front of him and a couple of thick trees in the back ground. He swallows his fear and tries to keep a straight face in front of the camera and turns it on and presses record button.
He looks into the camera and speaks.
“Hello, I am Timothy Wilson, I hiked up here to Devil’s trail with my brother Daniel Wilson and we have been here for only one night so far.” He looked into the camera and realized that he had a camera light on top of it. He reaches for the top light and turns it on. The shining light nearly blinds him until his vision adjusts, then he continues.
“We received an email from an unknown email address telling us of the paranormal activity here in Mount Lemon. First off – to whoever sent us that email-“ he smiles wickedly with displeasure-“ -I hope you’re happy-“
He looks over at Dan who was frantically and without delay packing Tim’s pack for him. He begins to cry. He knows very well he will die and soon as he stares into the camera once more revealing tears running down his filthy cheeks. Dan ignores Tim, runs behind him and retrieves all the equipment that was on the ground and not in use by Tim and runs back to the back packs by the tent. Obviously Dan wasn’t focused on whatever was around him but only on the fact that he was just as screwed as Tim was and they needed to get out.
“-I love you mom, dad, everyone that even gave a shit about us. And I am sorry for my arrogance and everything that I have done wrong. I just-“ He pauses. “I don’t want to die-“he looks down and wipes his tears with his sleeve of his shirt. “But I already know I will-“ He looks down and sobs silently for a small minute or two then he returns back to his normal stable self to explain the situation as he sniffles hard. He looks to the camera and speaks again.
“It was believed that ghosts haunted this place on a certain schedule: Once at sundown, twice around midnight, and three times at dawn. I might have been knocked out the second time midnight came around and-“ he looks at his digital watch and pressed a button to light up the screen revealing it to be 4:00 Pm.
“-we have a rough hour before me and Dan die or see the most terrifying thing imaginable.”
“Do. Not. Come here. –Whatever you do ignore the stupid legend just don’t come here- this place will destroy you… I am already half way there. And from the looks of it-“ He stares at Dan rocking back and forth and looking with intense paranoia at his surroundings, he was sweating like a pig and shaking like a madman, almost without coherent thought as to what he was doing a minute ago. “-Dan is there too.” He says with a final shudder. He turns back to the camera.
“So for the last time this is T&D Paranormal, saying goodbye.” He reaches for the camera’s record button and stops it.
“You ready?” Dan says standing only a foot away from Tim. Tim is startled as before him is the image of Dan with a slit throat once more. “Fucking Christ!-“ Tim falls back on his ass and wipes his eyes of the dirt mixed with tears on his cheeks.
Dan reaches his hand for Tim but Tim refuses. “Tim it’s me, listen we have to get out of here!” Tim opens his eyes to see Dan back to normal again. Tim sighs and grabs his hand and is lifted from the ground next to Dan who carried a red pack on his back and hands Tim the blue one. Tim reluctantly grabs the back pack and straps it on to his person. “Let’s ditch the camera – I have a feeling we won’t be using it anymore.” Dan just nods in agreement almost as if he could care less about the camera- he was calm but the eeriness of his calmness seemed rather chilling. He seemed to have been the one with the personality disorder- now making him react differently with each passing second. “Dan are you okay?” Tim asks him feeling rather uneasy in the presence of Dan.
“Yeah. Just –need to get… out of here.” He stumbles on his words and draws a deep breath and exhales violently. “Let’s just get out of here.” Tim says and the two were off leaving the camera behind. Time held his pocket flashlight and Dan held his FLIR cam with a light atop of it.
The two hike up what seems like miles of dirt road that was called the Devil’s Trail. Past the darkness of the trees blocking out the moonlight, the darkness appears to be crippling and causing Dan to stop every few minutes because he was either too tired or he felt too sick to continue. Tim was persistent on getting out- what was going to be a week-long trip turned into a death sentence and neither one of them felt like being on death row for long.
Tim was ahead of Dan, he was a bit more eager than Dan to get out of there. But as the two traveled Tim couldn’t help but think about what was wrong with Dan. What had happened to him, he may have been seeing things but even he wasn’t suffering this much fatigue or sickness as much as Dan had been. Maybe the ghosts had set him off in some way or maybe these ghosts weren’t even ghosts at all.
Of course it wasn’t a ghost. Tim had seen enough live exorcism videos and horror films to know that demons were very real and that growling noise he heard in the recorder was definitely demonic. No doubt about it. But wasn’t he just fooling himself. Was this whole demon thing just a bad horror movie playing in his head? Who knows all he cared about was getting off this godforsaken trail- Lord knows why they called it The Devil’s Trail, now Dan and Tim knew as well.
After at least an hour’s worth of traveling Tim was starting to realize that something was wrong. They have been traveling to the exit of Devil’s Trail for about an hour now from the campsite when it had originally had taken only twenty minutes to go from the entrance to the camp; plus Dan hadn’t stopped in a while so it couldn’t have been that of which held them back for long. He wanted to keep going but he felt as if the matter was pointless- would he still travel well after two hours? Maybe Three?
“Stop!” He stopped in his tracks and dropped his pack to turn to Dan who had already began to sit down feeling tired and frustrated. “What? Why did we stop?” Dan asked breathlessly. Tim looks down at Dan and looks back to the path they just traveled- the camp was out of sight and when he quickly turn around he sees that the path to the exit seemed nearly infinite. Neither camp nor exit was visible- just a trench of dark wood trees that spread out above him feeling as if they were closing in, narrowing his vision and crushing him alive. “We have been traveling for nearly an hour we should have reached the fucking start of the trail by now!” he yells at that direction of where the trail started- or finished? He didn’t know, both ways looked the same- filled with crippling darkness and cold.
Then Dan started to giggle, almost chuckle at Tim’s frustration.
Tim while still staring at the direction of the beginning or end of the trail had heard this strange laughter and slowly listened as Dan continued to laugh behind his back. Dan’s chuckle turned into a slow deep maniacal laughter. His voice beginning to warp and Tim’s stomach beginning to churn. “Oh shit.” He says to himself. He starts to look at his digital watch only to see it was glowing on its own and the digital numbers were changing rapidly it was like the watch was going crazy until suddenly the watch stops at six am. From behind him he hears Dan breathing but it was an abnormal kind of breathing, as if he was someone else.
“Leaving so early?” Dan asks, though Tim had a perfectly good idea that this wasn’t Dan speaking. Tim quickly turns around and see’s Dan sitting down. Quickly he pulls out his flashlight and shines it at Dan. Only to reveal Dan staring up at Tim with his throat slit wide open spilling a waterfall of blood and with dark, pitch-black eyes, and a cruel unusual grin.
“We still have so much more to show you…” He laughs heartily and loudly as if combining roaring with laughter.
Tim wasted no time made a run for it. He dashed violently for the starting of the trail for he knew that he was being chased down by Dan- his now possessed brother. He left everything- the pack his brother- just up and left. He knew his brother was gone and that there was only a small sliver of hope left for him.
The only thing he kept on him was his precious flashlight. Despite everything he had just seen he still held a deep fear of the dark. He couldn’t help but swear under his breath as he ran hastily up the mountain’s trail. Hi heart pounded with intensity almost fueling his need to run; for if he so much as rested for a second he was dead. The sad truth was he was never getting out and there was a very slim chance that he will ever get away from Dan.
Dan however was running, after him as well only it wasn’t Dan; what lies inside him now is merely darkness, an unnecessary evil added to the mix. A mix of hate, evil, and unholy power. This all dawned to Tim that there was no order of hauntings, just a bunch of fucked up hauntings that toyed with your mind. Of course the email was right on establishing a schedule but the only bullshit part was the number of times these things happened- thus explaining why there was no coverage on the other two hauntings rather than the first one with the blue orbs- the filmmakers must have died attempting to film it. And Tim felt like he was next on the long list of paranormal assholes about to be consumed by the trail.
“YOU CANNOT RUN MUCH LONGER!” yelled the now possessed Dan from afar. But Tim didn’t care he just kept running and running.
“SOONER OR LATER- WE ARE ALL CONSUMED BY THE TRAIL!” He shouted with a loud roaring laugh. Tim continued to run. Until…
Out of the dirt of the trail hands started to shoot up from the ground. Tim though startled tries to ignore the hands. Each one attempting to grab Tim and drag him down. He jumps doges and even runs at different directions and is still unable to escape the hands erupting from the ground. Each hand seemed to be missing some flesh and showed some bone, but more than all of them were a pale sickly greyish color. The hands soon multiplied- more and more had risen from the ground. Tim was heaving gasping for breath. He couldn’t do it anymore he just couldn’t run. He was growing weak almost about to pass out. He begins to slow down unintentionally and one hand has finally gotten ahold of his pant leg. He panics, yells even for help though he knows none will come. and before he knows it he is being covered by these hands shooting from the ground and pulled into the ground. The dirt pressing on his face with immense pressure and pain. He yells louder and louder for he knows that he was going to die. “NO NO PLEASE PLEASE!!!” He yells in panic at the edge of tears. “NO, GOD- WHY? PLEASE!!” But it is too late his entire body is covered by the hands and darkness swallows him whole. Ironic and almost tragic it is to die in the very fabric of your worst fear. Death by darkness.
Unfortunately for Tim- he isn’t dead. These things weren’t done with him just yet.

CHAPTER 6

“Noo!” he shouts as he is not pulled into the ground but is pushed right back out of the muddy landscape. He slowly rises from the dirt covered in it from head to toe. He coughs and spits and gasps for air as he sits up to catch his breath. “What the hell?” He asks himself as he coughs one more time. A few seconds pass and he looks up only to find that he is back at the campground once more. He panics as he stares at the shredded tent and the surprising change of lighting. Few of the trees had lit torches held onto the bodies of the trees. The place looked as if a ritual of some sort was about to go down. Tim begins to hyperventilate as he notices that the trail that he just walked was no longer there. Once again there was only forest-no trail and it seemed that he wasn’t going to escape just by going through miles and miles of trees. After al how far can he get without being sucked back here by those things? Hell how can anyone get far with these woods being so thick and dark.
Either way he was dead.
He quickly strands up and mumbles to himself in cold sweat. “No, no, no; this is impossible- no.” Though it was impossible, it had just happened there was no denying reality at this point. He turns around to see his camera-still on its tri-pod and playing some of the footage taken earlier. He was shocked and even scared that this footage started playing on its own. He was even more terrified to think that maybe this didn’t play by itself. Maybe Dan- or at least what was now inside Dan- had played the footage and hid somewhere before Tim and come up from the ground.
“D-Dan?” He stuttered in fear.
“Dan, What’s wrong?”
Tim said on the playback of the camera. Tim recognizes what this was and slowly makes his way to the camera in front of him. And just like that his heart drops as he looks closely at the camera to see the part where he was choking on nothingness as the red orbs surrounded both him and Dan on the camera.
He watches as he gasping for air in the midst of the red light.
“Am I- dying?”
“No-“ Just as Dan’s deep voice is cut off and the camera shuts down, Tim is greeted by another voice.
“-But you will be.” Dan says from behind Tim. He then swings his arm and sends Tim flying across the camp. Tim lands on his arm upon the dirt ground almost breaking it. He screams in pain and looks toward Dan- his eyes wide with fear. Dan’s eyes however, were dark and black with evil. To Tim’s surprise the open slash in his throat wasn’t there. What had happened? Did Dan heal all of the sudden or was he just screwing with Tim’s mind at first? Oh well who cares now was the time for escape.
Tim quickly tries but fails at lifting himself from the ground. The pain in his left arm was too great, “Give up now Tim- while you still have the chance.” Dan says in his normal voice smiling wickedly as he walks mockingly toward Tim. “No, go away, please!” he pleads but it is too late, Dan grabs Tim’s broken arm and pulls it behind Dan’s back. Tim yells and even cries in sheer agony as his already broken arm is being twisted and contorted in this cruel position.
“Say hi to the camera, Tim.” Dan says to Tim. Tim kept thinking that it can’t get any worse than this; Dan even when possessed cannot be this cruel or hateful. But sadly to say this was not the end of it. Dan lifts Tim by the same arm, dislocating it beyond repair. The bone is now piercing through the skin and even breaking more and more each second. Tim was on the brink of wishing for death, death though sudden and as bad as it sounds could stop this pain. He could end it right here, all he would have to do was ask for it.
“Please, please, just kill me.” He begs, wishing for death to take him there. His bone sticks out from his elbow like a knife and practically exits the broken limb leaving that part of the arm without this piece of the puzzle. “No you want that-oh you twisted son of a bitch! I thought you knew better?” Dan said as he shifts his grip to hang on to Tim’s shirt and to grab onto his forearm. “Don’t you see?- Death will take all the fun out of eating- your soul!” Dan yells as he separates Tim from his broken arm permanently leaving a bloody stump on Tim’s left side bleeding nonstop. Dan laughs wickedly as he drops Tim who now bleeds to his death, lying on his back facing evil itself-living within Dan. It was now Tim’s impression that Dan no longer existed- that he was gone and now there was this thing staring at him with his deep dark eyes and wicked grin.
Dan crouches down above Tim who could do nothing but wait for death to come. “You know, I didn’t know what was more stupid: you thinking that you were come out of this alive? Or you believing you were going to be famous for this stupid ghost hunting shit?” Tim groans, extending his other arm grabbing at dirt and trying to move his left stub that was bleeding uncontrollably. “What’s wrong brother? Miss ol’ lefty?” Dan laughs while Tim puts his last bit of strength into this final act of defense.
“You are NOT my brother!”
Tim yells as he grabs hold of the piece of bone that slipped away earlier and directs the sharpest end at Dan’s throat. In one swift motion Dan’s throat is slit open and blood from his neck runs down his chest and even splatters upon Tim’s face. Dan’s expressionless eyes turn back to normal again as the dark dissipates from his eyes. Dan gasps hard and long before he looks down at his brother.
“Dan?” Tim asks while dropping the bone onto the ground; for there was a feeling of hope- hope in which his brother was still alive inside.
But it was too late for hope. Blood has been spilt only to dry up once more. And as the sun rose up on the horizon shining through branches of the dark forest of Devil’s Trail Dan could only speak these words:
“I-I’m, s-s-sorry…” He collapses and lands next to Tim on his left in a puddle of Tim’s blood, and soon to be mixed with his blood as well. “I’m sorry too-“He says weakly, unable to speak anymore words. Not to mention the fact that his breaths were limited. He only had time to admire that the camera was there on the tri-pod aimed directly at the two dying boys.
Tim thought to himself, that his dreams to be a ghost hunter really were stupid. Honestly who would want to end up like this someday? Dying on a dirt trail next to your once-possessed brother? A trail named only after Lucifer himself. This was no way to die but at least, he thought, at least he could find peace in knowing that his brother was free of evil’s grip. He looks up and stares at the sky now starting to turn a shade of purple and orange almost like a reversed sunset.
Well this was nice. Who said death couldn’t be beautiful, or at least have a beautiful setting?
At the sight of the sky he could feel himself slipping away, his vision grows dimmer and his breaths become shallow.
At least we tried. He thought.
God, if only we have lived to tell others- then Dan and I would have been set for life. Doing what we loved and making money by doing it.
That would have been great.
Minutes pass as he is drawing closer to death and lays there in silence. Dan has been long since dead, Tim was only taking so long because his blood had clotted some of his veins releasing blood into his arm. He endures what was a slow, silent, painful, but peaceful death.
At least we got it all on tape.
He moves his eyes toward the camera fading in and out of his vision, until before his eyes the camera disappears into thin air.
END.

The Devil’s Trail Chapter 4

Chapter 4

4:00am, it is still dark out, the red orbs are gone and all that remains is the darkness of Devil’s Trail. The fire’s dead, the two lights that were in front of the tent are blown out and the coldness of the forest has already touched Tim and Dan’s feet and face with frostbite. Tim wakes up from his sleep on the forest ground. He gasps sharply and rises up from the ground. His mind is spinning his face is in a cold sweat. He can’t think he can’t even register what had happened in these past five hours here in his own personal Highway to Hell.

He struggles to get a clear image of things; it’s too dark and too cold to think. “Dan?” he speaks for his brother. “Dan-“ he says his name again. “DAN!” he shouts as a gust of wind passes by him as shivers from the cold. “Over here-“Dan says under his breath. Tim turns to the source of the sound. “Dan, are you ok?”

“Yeah, just fucking cold.” Dan swears but is still in darkness. “Dan I can’t see you; put on a light.” Dan struggles as he lay in the cold dirt floor of the camp ground to find a light of any kind. He tries to feel around for his camera but it isn’t near him. He pats down his clothing and feels around the ground for something, anything to shine a light in this darkness. He inhales large and sharp breaths as he reaches so far that he pulls a muscle in his arm. “Damn.” He says. “Don’t you have the FLIR?” asks Tim. Dan realizes this himself and reaches around the strap that still clung from his neck and follows the strap to the monitor then to the camera connected to the monitor. “Yes!” exclaimed Dan as he pushed the button on the camera, switching on a flashlight attached to the camera. The bright light illuminated the campground to an extent. Tim see’s this light and walks toward it. Dan struggles to sit up feeling sore around his arms his back and neck. “Damn I feel like I just went through a fucking meat grinder.” Dan moans as he grabs the camera and points it ahead of him t reveal Tim standing in front of Dan-covered in blood running down his neck. “SHIT!” Dan screamed as he threw the camera away from him toward Dan. “Woah woah! What the hell is wrong?” Tim yells at Dan as he whimpers in the darkness once more. Tim grabs the camera from the ground as Dan is still breathing hysterically with fear. Tim points the camera toward the sound of Dan whimpering. “Stay away from me!” Dan shouts as he shuffles backwards on his ass through the dirt ground. “Dan, what’s wrong?” Tim demands to know as the light is in Dan’s face. “Your neck-i-it-“ “My neck? Dude I am fine!” Through the eyes of Dan he can only see the light blinding his vision. Now, as Tim shines the camera’s light at himself the wound is gone, there is no blood, he is perfectly fine.

“Tim- you don’tunderstand, you were bleedingyour neck waswide open!” Dan mumbles and struggles to find the right words to say without sounding crazy. It was sadly too late for that. “Get up man, we need to get the fuck off this trail-“ Tim extends his hand to help Dan up and he grabs his hand and is pulled back on his feet. Dan grabs the camera and rubs his eyes with his other hand. Was he tired or was it the forest playing tricks on him?

“Tim, what happened?” Dan finally asked. “I don’t know we need to see the footage- but not yet we need to gather all the camp supplies- this investigation is over.” Tim says as he digs around his pants pocket for the light he brought only to find he had a spare flashlight in his left pocket, he pulls it out and turns it on. “Well fuck, could have used that earlier…” He points it at Dan as Dan’s camera was pointed at him. “Okay, lets salvage what we can and get out of here.”

“You look for the equipment and I will look for the camping stuff, got it?” Tim commands, Dan just nods and begins to find all the camping supplies.

Dan looks around the campground; it takes him a while to explore the dark for the tent but eventually he finds it-but not in the best condition. The tent is collapsed and torn to pieces. “Damnit, bears got to the tent Tim!” yelled Dan as Tim tries to find the equipment. Tim’s light searches the ground like a spotlight until he finds his tapeecorder- covered in blood. “Tim?” yells Dan once again. “Are you sure it was a bear?” for some reason this question had burst into Tim’s mind. Was it a bear or was it those things that tore apart the tent and attacked him and Dan? He reaches for the tape recorder and plays it. Through the playback he hears a gurgling, choking sound, a suffocating of sorts. Then comes the loud roar from the background. Tim’s mind reels backward spinning uncontrollably as he is unable to recall any of what happened or what was going on in the tape. Then comes silence, the dark static of the recording that felt deafening in Tim’s ears began to hurt his insides, twisting at his very core with fear. Then finally, a sound emerges. A silent moaning from one person, then a few more join with it. Soon the few voices became many and the moaning grew louder and louder.

They even grew to the point of yelling and screaming in blood curdling agony. Pain in every yell, hurt in every harsh whisper; “Go away!” they all yell “Leave while you can!” then comes the familiar sound of cloth ripping apart following a loud growling noise. Tim couldn’t hear any more and was sick with fear, the cold only making it worse and worse to cope with this new evidence of the paranormal. He stops the tape. And turns toward Dan and shines his light at his direction. He was sitting there in the mess of the tent and staring at Tim’s direction.

“Once again-“ he says. “-Are you sure it was a bear?”

The Devil’s Trail Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The two brothers sit by the campfire. The tent is set up, and here they are; roasting marshmallows with the audio equipment up and running and the camera on the tripod aimed right at them. Ted had set the equipment to start recording whenever unusual spikes of temperature occur. Each camera or tape recorder was ready for anything. Of course all this technology was not cheap.

Tim and Dan may have a large fan base but not nearly as large as the guys from Ghost Hunters so they weren’t paid by the hour for ghost hunting. This was more of a hobby. A side conquest while they were working their asses off for raises and more hours of work just so they can afford all this stuff. Driven by their belief in the paranormal they spend endless hours in said to be haunted places and then post the results on You Tube. Sadly to say these two have only 500 plus subscribers. Not nearly enough as the guys from Destination Truth or Ghost Hunters.

“Do you think that there are ghosts out there? Like the ones we saw here earlier?” Dan asks Tim. He sighs, “I don’t know, I replied to that guy’s email asking about what happens after sundown. No reply yet.” Dan looks at the campfire holding his kebab-like stick with his marshmallow basking in the fire. “Hey have you noticed that when we researched this stuff that the orbs were the only found footage that we were able to find?” Dan asks. “Yeah, it’s strange. How come no one has ever posted the stuff that happens at midnight or before dusk?” Ted shakes his head pulling his marshmallow out of the fire and blowing at it to extinguish any leftover flame. “Dan looks at his Marshmallow noticing that it was ablaze, like a burning torch. “Shit!” Dan shouts as he swings the black puff of sugar off his stick and lands on the dirt beside him. Tim laughs as he chomps down on his gooey mallow. Dan glares at him, playful jealousy now in his eyes. “Damn you.” Dan says under his breath while Tim laughs even harder. “You vetter vatch it bro.” Tim says with a mouthful of marshmallow.
Dan grabs another marshmallow from the bag and impales the sugary puff ball at the end of his stick and waits once again for his marshmallow to cook. “You suck.” He says to Tim. Tim finishes his mouthful of marshmallow and speaks. “Don’t blame me bro.” He says with his hands up in surrender.

The hours pass and it is closing in on midnight. The air is more chilled and Dan and Tim put on jackets to keep warm, even though this is Arizona it can get pretty chilly up in the mountains. The night sky fills with stars, the moon is nowhere tonight but that didn’t matter. Tim sits next to the triangular tent setting up lanterns claiming he was turning them on in case they have to take a dump in the middle of the night. Of course Dan knows that Ted needed to set up his nightlights before he went to bed while Dan took the first shift.

The two decided since the hauntings were so particularly scheduled they were going to take shifts in watching for any paranormal activity. After drawing marshmallow sticks, Dan got the short one and was forced to stay outside the tent and watch for the midnight ghosts. Dan was there sitting beside the camera, waiting and watching the void of the dark forest. The fire was still going but it was slowly dying. He looked at his phone and saw on the illuminated touch screen that it was 11:55 pm. It was almost time and he was prepared to see some midnight madness from the mysterious orb ghosts. He yawns, looks at the tent where Tim rested and then back at the camera. He is growing bored as he waits for the next few minutes to pass. So he fiddles with the camera for a bit. He scrolls through the menu settings and finds different effects on the camera, including the negative color effect and the heat signature detection; this setting would have replaced FLIR equipment if it wasn’t just an effect. He thought carefully about whipping it out just to mess around with it, maybe even catch a couple squirrels with it. But he ultimately decided he wouldn’t misuse the equipment.

He sets the camera to its normal settings again and leaves it alone. He looks to his watch. It is 11:59pm. “Oh, shit.” He said to himself. The big show was about to start, soon ghosts would be rising from the ground in bright shining orbs. He counts down the seconds on his digital watch on his left wrist which displayed the seconds next to the actual time.

20…21…22…23…24…25…

His eyes grow wide with excitement; quickly he starts to set up all the necessary equipment (EVP, FLIR, Camera, etc.) He faces the camera on its tripod at the distance of four feet away from the fire pit. He places the FLIR monitor and camera around his neck by a strap. Once that was ready he pressed record on both his and Tim’s tape recorders and set them at the floor next to the camera. He then rushes to his equipment bag and comes back to his spot holding a device with a similar appearance to a TV remote only smaller and with little to no buttons and a meter on top part of it in a display screen. He turned it on and it immediately started clicking with a steady speed. It was his EMF meter. And without a second to lose the loud clicks were becoming louder, rapidly increasing in pace.

The Ghosts are comin’. The ghosts are comin’! He thought. His heart was increasing in speed as well, going at least 85/100.

50…51…52…53…54…55…

“Tim, wake the hell up!” Dan shouts at the tent. Almost without needing to be shouted at a second time, he is up and stumbles to Dan’s position almost stepping on the tape recorders. “Watch it!” Dan warned. “Sorry, what’s up?” Tim asks as he leans in next to Dan beside the tripod. The red light was on the camera, the EVP’s were set, EMF readings climbing, and the FLIR pointed at the dark woods ahead of them. Just then Dan’s watch beeps three times signifying midnight had come. Dan grins and stares ahead. “Show time.” He says under his breath.

Within the next couple of seconds, the bright orbs had shown themselves once more. The glowing intensity of each orb appeared one by one, hovering over their position, growing in large numbers and surrounding the camp ground. The EMF stayed at a steady deafening beep. The camera was rolling capturing each orb in their position. Dan and Tim stare in amazement at the glowing orbs as they closed in on them. Nothing was being said or heard by either Tim or Dan. Then that’s when they noticed… the orbs were no blue this time. This time, they were red and not as harmless looking anymore. They looked more sinister than they do innocent. Dan thought it was the color maybe it meant something. Was blue the universal color of good and red the one for evil? Or were these souls the one’s that suffered the worst because they were already going to hell? Tim however, thought that this was just some strange thing with the light tonight and it didn’t mean anything. “Why are they red?” asked Dan. “It’s probably nothing.” Tim replied still looking at the orbs floating and rising slightly upward. Tim noticed that the EMF was still running off the charts so he quickly turned it off. “Why did you turn it off?” Tim asks. “It was getting annoying, plus we need something for the EVP’s.” He whispers back. “Dude, this is amazing… how the hell did anyone else not get this on tape or at least on YouTube for that matter?” Tim asks. The orbs start to rise higher off the ground along with the other orbs surrounding them. “I don’t know, I guess they got too scared of being out here; must have high tailed it out of here the second they realized the orbs changed color.” Dan suggests. That’s when he realized he forgot something.

“Shit!” Dan swears under his breath and quickly attempts to turn on the FLIR, he didn’t even so much as bother to turn it on when the haunting began.

“What?” Tim asks.

“I forgot to turn this damn thing on!” Dan explains sounding more than irritated.
He quickly finds the on button for the FLIR and clicks it on. The camera shutters and turn on, the monitor that rested atop it and rested on Dan’s chest started to turn on first presenting the FLIR logo and soon enough the video shown through the camera.

Meanwhile the camera started to show static images on its own screen and almost appeared to have stopped for a second then started back up again. The FLIR screen then revealed to Dan what was truly in front of him. Upon that screen was not just a few orbs. Dan’s eyes widen in terror looking at the orbs which were now floating ten feet in the air, and then looking back at the FLIR. Tim notices his reaction to the FLIR but felt his response to be strange since he did not know what was on the FLIR. “Dude what’s wrong?” he asks, the red light glowing against his face. Dan tried to speak but couldn’t he was too shocked. But what came out next was even more shocking than what he could have said.

“Hung…” Dan says quietly. Time just stares at him as he stares at the picture of heat signatures dancing across a screen. “What do you mean man, what’s wrong?” Tim asks feeling uncomfortable at the mere mention of the word “hung”.
“They died…look” were the only words to escape Dan’s mouth. Tim grew impatient and snatches the camera off its strap that was wrapped around Dan’s neck. What he saw next will forever scar his mind. Where the orbs’s red, sinister, light had floated high above the ground were the heat signatures of full bodied apparitions floating above the ground and hanging by nooses tied to the tree branches. “Fucking hell!” Whispered Tim with fear at the edge of his voice. “What the hell is this?” he asked. “I d-don’t know-“ he stammered under his breath. The white silhouettes of bodies hanging by the branches swung back and forth like a pendulum. The black background of the FLIR revealed the trees as darkness consuming the silhouettes.

“T-Tim, what is that?” Dan asks “I don’t know- I just don’t know-“ Tim replied as he gazed upon the monitor then back at the red orbs of light now descending. “Fuck, what are they doing now?” Dan looks up at the orbs with Tim, gazing at the crimson red light as it descends upon them. The two remain frozen in their positions as the red lights group together like an army. Tim snaps out of his trance and backs away from Dan who remains frozen with fear. Tim looks ahead then behind him only to realize the orbs are all around him and his brother. There were hundreds of these things everywhere; Tim felt claustrophobic as the orbs close in on Dan and his position. That’s when the suffocation started to set in the need to breathe grew and grew, leaving Time practically gasping for air and grabbing at his throat. He kneels to the ground and looks around for any trace of the Devil’s trail. Nope, nothing, there was only the color of blood. He struggles to look at Dan who was still crouching and looking up at the orbs of light who were sucking the air from the atmosphere. “D-dan-“ Tim gasps for Dan’s attention but he is caught off guard by the monitor that was visible from where he was standing. There upon that monitor was nothing but white, the silhouettes of the bodies hanging from tress must have descended with the orbs. Or maybe the orbs were these people. Questions stir around Tim’s head-

What are these things?
Where is the rest of the trail?
What’s wrong with Dan?
Am I dying?

From the mouth of Dan came these words in a voice that wasn’t his own: “No… but you will be-“

Before anything else is registered through Tim’s mind he passes out.

Devils Trail Part 2

Chapter 2

Tim slowly travels ahead of Dan as they start their journey into the darkness that is “the Devil’s Trail”. Tim looks ahead of him to see the trail wind up the mountain side, surrounded by trees that seem almost devoid of life. This same pattern of lifeless trees and clear trail seemed to go on forever and ever. Sunlight barely peaks out through the branches of endless trees. Dan was just carrying his load and is more than prepared for that adrenaline that will fill his bloodstream with fear. It was safe to say Dan was looking forward to it all, so was Tim, but he had a different idea on what being scared was like.
“Okay let’s start this bad boy up!” Tim says as he traces his fingers alongside the camera to find the record button. “Okay, here-we-go!” he finds the button and starts up the camera. On the screen of the camera was a red flash of light that signified that it was recording. Tim smiled and started to speak to the camera as he pans out the environment before him whilst he walks along the trail underneath the trees that acted as an overpass. “Devil’s Trail, September 26, 2014, T&D Paranormal is sent an email detailing instructions and lists of supplies needed to make the journey to Devil’s Trail here in Mount Lemon-” He explains trying to give the audience that documentary styled feeling to his speech. He believed that the more unrealistic and “Blair Witch” he sounded, the more captivated and entertained the audience will be; however he knew when it was time to knock that wall down and make important statements in front of the camera. He was an expert at this sort of thing but was also an amateur with his personality, giving the audience a different perspective on himself each time he spoke or stood in front of the camera. It was like watching someone go through multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, and ADHD all rolled into one, even though he had none of the above.
“-Along with the detailed story of how this trail is haunted by the many souls who have died here, and a detailed schedule of how often these lost souls appear to others.” Tim stops in his tracks and turns to Dan with the camera. Once the spotlights on Dan he acts naturally and he assumes his role in this part of the documentary. He stops as well and looks to the camera, smiles, then speaks: “Er- yes. We were told by this anonymous fan that these apparitions only appear three times a day and at very selective times: once during sundown, twice at midnight, and three times before dawn. It is, however, unknown to us for how long these intervals of haunting last and what they do during these times.” Unlike Tim, Dan was the true expert on Camera acting. He controlled himself, physically and personality-wise and he gave the information without unnecessary dialogue. Tim quickly turns the camera to himself without another word from Dan. “-It is now ten minutes to sunset and once that sun meets the horizon, this place becomes ghost central.” Ted then pulls out a digital stop watch from his pocket and flashes it in front of the camera. “Since we are unaware how long or short these hauntervals are (that’s slang for haunting intervals) I brought this along to record any necessary data along with my notepad and pencil by my side.” He winks at the camera and turns it toward the trail which has somehow changed.
For once you could actually see the end of the trail, or at least, see where the trail extends to a new turn and maybe even a small campground ahead. Ted is at a loss for words. What happened to the once infinite trail?
“Did you see that?” He asks. “See what?” Dan asks. “The trail changed itself. That campground wasn’t there last time.” Ted claims. “Dude, you probably didn’t see that last time; just keep moving.” Ted was still confused but alas he caught back on with reality; the adrenaline or promise of a ghost had probably made him foggy in his brain or something. “Okay- continuing; The Devil’s Trail is nearing its haunting hour and we will catch it all on tape; let’s go!” With these words he is back into fancy ass documentary maker mode.
They continue the journey and within at least fifteen minutes they find the camp ground that Tim had found earlier. Dan, having all the supplies and tent, started to set up camp as Ted kept on talking as if he had watched one-too-many documentaries on the History Channel. While Ted rambled about how ghosts were scientifically proven to exist, Dan was thinking to himself: If only he could stop flapping his jaws maybe he could help me set this fucking tent. The camera can catch this shit in its own.
The campground was pretty basic; where Ted sat was the stone bench and across from him was a small pit surrounded by dead tree logs and stones; this was assumed to be the fire pit. And nearly five feet away from the fire pit was where the camping packs lay beside a frustrated Dan while he tries to work the mechanics of this godforsaken tent.
“-Ghosts are an unnatural phenomenon, which is widely believed to be the work of fiction and horror stories. Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight we will witness how ever-so-wrong the former statement was, as we witness for the first time ever on T&D Paranormal actual proof …that ghosts, entities, spirits exist.” The unnecessary synonyms to the word ghost were just about the final straw for Dan. Dan stands up and throws the sticks to the tent on the ground. “Dude they get it!” Dan yells. He finds Tim panning out the tall dark forest that surrounded him but suddenly stops as he hears the comment made by Dan mid-monologue.
He sets the camera on the bench pointing toward Dan. This direction of the Camera wasn’t intended but was nearly an act of careless anger. The camera is still recording and Ted walks up to Dan feeling rather annoyed by his outburst. “Look what I say and do with the Camera gets views, it needs to be epic.” He argues. “We need it to be “real”; not the bullshit you put in front of the camera!” But just then Ted’s look of anger turned into one of awe as he looked not directly at Dan but at his surroundings. Dan didn’t look behind him he just asked what he was staring at. “Ted! What’s going on now?” He looks behind himself to see what was going on. As he turns his body away from Dan he sees now why he was so frozen in place.
Here, there, everywhere, sprouting from the ground all around the campground were hundreds if not thousands of white orbs of light. These lights hovered over certain spots of the ground; some emitted a sort of bright light with the brightness of the stars. Some even emitted a sort of series of lights, illuminating to a high brightness then decreasing in brightness again almost repeatedly. The lights seem to be friendly and harmless. Tim had a gut feeling that these were the ghosts that they saw on the YouTube videos, because these were the same white orbs that showed themselves at sundown. It was funny because he only saw the videos of these orbs during sundown; never were there any midnight spirits or early morning spirits.
He however didn’t care and immediately charged for the camera. As a cameraman’s best instinct he must film any and all activity that happens, especially if he is hunting for ghosts. He almost falls on himself until he catches himself once more on the stone bench and grabs the camera by the handle. He aims the camera at the ghosts and thank God they are still there. They are even appearing on the screen of the playback menu. “What we are witnessing right now is a rather strange event; these orbs suddenly appeared whilst me and Dan were talking. Luckily we caught them just now.” He waves the camera back and forth and in all directions to see every orb around him. “-It is to my understanding that these are the ghosts that we have been searching for and… my God. They. Are. Amazing.” He gasps and grins at the sight. Dan chuckles but then the chuckle fades somehow detecting something was wrong. Dan felt just as excited as Ted. He didn’t get that fearful jolt like he wanted but he did receive a feeling of uneasiness. “ Wait, wait…” Tim instantly points the camera at Dan. “What, what’s wrong man?” Tim asks behind the camera.
Dan sensed something wasn’t right, he had noticed that only few of these orbs had been increasing in brightness and decreasing at the same time. Dan immediately rushed for the pencil and paper in his pack and grabbed his tape recorder out his pocket and pressed the record button. Almost as quickly he sits on the bench, lays the tape recorder on the seat next to him and starts to write down a series of signals; dashes and lines only known as Morse code. During the whole time Tim keeps the camera on Dan, then at the ghost orbs and then back at Dan. “Keep watching them.” Dan whispers to Ted so that the tape recorder won’t pick up too much of his voice. Ted nods and turns the camera to the bright orbs of light that seem to be floating higher above ground now, maintaining that strange pattern of bright ness and un-brightness. He just looks around in awe, not speaking one word. Tim knows more than anyone that speaking during an EVP was a sin of its own.
After at least five more minutes of the orbs appearance, they disappear and fade into nothingness. Like dust in the wind. Tim turns the camera on himself and begins to speak hysterically, taking deep breaths with each word that he spoke and gasping them out after every sentence. “What we have just seen was bona-fide proof off the existence of ghosts, demons, the devil, God… all of that.” He believed that this one appearance had practically revolutionized the belief system of the world. But he still didn’t have enough footage to support this claim. God exists and so does the Devil no doubt. But basing it all on one small experience with the paranormal; it just won’t settle with the skeptics. More likely than not his footage will be called fake, a science fiction story, possibly a project for his computer class’s special effects program. Hell, he might even be called a fraud because he sucked so much at film documenting.
He turned the camera toward Dan who stopped writing and stopped the tape recorder all under a second. He was feeling uneasy; of course he enjoyed being scared, he was a fear junky, but this was different. He was rather un-happy with the results that he received from the Morse code test he had just established. He looks down at the series of dots and dashes. He scratches the top of his head, ruffling though his black, messy hair.
“I don’t like this…” Tim was interested although he didn’t feel as fearful or as discouraged as Dan, in fact he didn’t feel that way at all. “What, what is it?” He asked pointing the camera directly at Dan. Dan looked up at the purple sky as it was slowly turning dark. Then he turned back at the camera. “I learned Morse code when I was in college. I still remember it and well-” He says under his breath. “Speak louder man.” Tim insists but Dan just sighs and explains what he had found.
“Ok, the orbs of light were shining brightly then decreasing in brightness at an unusual pace. It was like it was trying to speak in Morse code so I wrote down what they were saying… or at least what I think they are trying to tell us.” He grabs his notes and looks to the camera. “Here is what I picked up:-“He sighs and continues. “Turn back, death lies ahead.” Dan sighs hoping that the message got through to Tim. But as the news sets in, he couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, the camera shaking along with him in laughter. Dan is annoyed and grabs the camera from him and points it back at him. “You’re such a prick dude.” Dan says under his breath. “You being the one who hates skeptics are becoming one yourself!” He explains. Ted stops laughing and stares down at Dan and the camera as if he had just been insulted. “Look I know ghosts are real and shit, but do you really think that these things can form a full sentence through Morse code; Because if that’s so then these fuckers can help with my math homework as well.” Tim jokes but Dan doesn’t laugh. “Hold this-“ Dan gives the camera to Ted and grabs the tape recorder from the bench. Tim aims the camera at Dan and watches as he shows the camera his tape recorder; which was a silver stick with a speaker and a mic at the end of it, along with a series of buttons used to play, pause, and rewind the audio. Dan pushes the rewind button and releases the button to play.
Out of the silence of the tape recorder was a faint moaning sound followed by Dan whispering to Tim to watch the ghosts then that’s when a faint voice of a woman began to say something. When first coming out it sounded all jumbled up but then Dan rewinded the tape some more to listen close. Thes second time they were able to catch the woman scream into the recorder:
“Go away!”
Dan stops the tape before going any further. Dan shakes his head in disbelief “Tim we have to leave-“ “No-“ he shouts abruptly.
“Fine you can do this shit yourself I am leaving. Chasing ghosts is one thing, getting ourselves killed is another-” Explains Dan as he grabs his red pack and straps it around his back. Ted turns the camera off for a minute and sets it down beside the concrete bench. It was drawing close to dark now and he needed Dan with him.
Secretly, Ted was afraid of the dark, when he and Dan were little kids he would always sleep over at Dan’s room almost every night. The two brothers were inseparable mainly because Tim would never let the two separate. He was clingy as hell and a great amount of his bravery came from having Dan around. If Dan were to leave now he would die out here. “Wait! Dan-“He said trying to get an answer from him but he remained determined to get the hell off of Devil’s Trail. “Wait Daniel I need you!” He speaks loudly at him and Dan reluctantly stops in his tracks for he was halfway off the camp ground. He turns around to face Ted who was standing before the fire pit. “Dan I need you, this is a once in a lifetime chance. The world will know, not just a small portion but the entire world will know that we have documented proof of the existence of the afterlife… we need this man. Please… don’t go.”
Ted pleaded, convincing Dan that this really was the big break that T.D.P was looking for, the kind that will get them on the map of the paranormal world. He also knew that this meant a great deal to his brother and that he probably would die out here without him. It was no secret that Ted was still afraid of the dark. He carefully decides what he should do in his mind:
Shit, we could very well die out here, who the hell knows what’s further down the road? But Ted really wants this, hell, I want it. But I don’t want to risk my life in the process.
But if I leave then I live to fight another day… but my brother won’t, he will want to stay despite his fear of the dark…
Fuck it.
“FINE!” he drops his pack and unzips it to dig for his campfire supplies. Ted smiles at him and sighs in relief; he can now sleep at night or at least stay up longer. Because the next showing was at midnight and who knows what the orbs have in store for them?

The Devil’s Trail Chapter 1

The Trail By Ryan Stratford
Chapter 1
“What the hell, Dan?” Tim yells at Dan from the backseat of the jeep. “Look I have this, okay? The fucking GPS is just taking a detour.” Dan yells back as he drives the run-down jeep down the dirt road somewhere in the cool forest of Mount Lemon. “A detour, on the mountain?” he asks sounding thoroughly not impressed. The two were on a journey, a somewhat strange and unprecedented journey; they only packed as much as they can into the small space in the back of Dan’s jeep for this trip. They have received an anonymous tip from a paranormal enthusiast such as themselves, claiming that there was a specific trail up north of Mount Lemon that was haunted by the souls of those who have died trying to hike up this mystery trail.
This anonymous tipper had sent them an email, giving instructions on how to get there, where to park, and what they will need to survive. This email also included detailed instructions on when to go. Apparently there was a specific time that these “spirits” show themselves. For reasons unknown, they prefer to come out once before sundown, twice at midnight, and three times at dusk; the spirits repeat this cycle on and on, supposedly haunting this trail on a very unorthodox schedule.
Dan and Tim had thought it to be complete and utter bullshit, but after an hour researching the disturbances of the trail (which goes by the name “The Devil’s Trail”) they were convinced by all the stories, news articles, and YouTube videos regarding these hauntings. Being that this was a spur of the moment thing they only packed half of what they were told to pack: an EMF detector, cameras, notepads, pencils, sleeping bags, tent, matches, flashlights, and the crew’s specially made FLIR detectors and tape recorders. The other half of the list was food and water supplies along with a couple of first aid packs and extra clothes. To which the two of them stopped by McDonald’s and a Circle K for food, water, and First Aid. Then they stopped at a Thrift Shop to pick up some clothes. They originally had an emergency fund for this type of stuff but due to the circumstances they had to dig into their own budget for extra clothing and a tent. As they ride along the rough terrain Tim feels pressured to get there, for they were approaching dusk and would miss the first appearance of these apparitions.
“Look we will get there I promise; we just have five more miles of dirt road to drive through and we will be there.” Dan shouts to the back at Ted as he taps his finger on the bright three-dimensional map that was the GPS. Tim was unamused, the both of them left their two bedroom apartment (or as Dan liked to call it: Their HQ) with the promise of a haunted trail and an opportunity to film it and become famous for revealing to the world of skeptics that ghosts were real. He wanted this badly, he even went days without sleep on his previous adventures with Dan, trying to prove the existence of all things paranormal. But now Tim was becoming skeptical himself, he thought that maybe this was all one big prank to try and get a rouse out of him and Dan. He almost wanted to call the anonymous prankster on his bullshit and turn around but at the same time felt hope for this “Devil’s Trail”. He thought that if this mystery tip was solid then both then the two of them will have had their own ghost-hunting show on Sci-Fi in no time.
Dan however, wanted all the things Tim wanted but was a little less serious than he; honestly he was in it for all the excitement and thrill of being scared shitless. He was one of those guys who got high off of fear and adrenaline. He was a classic horror fan at heart but was even more adaptable to fame, if he had gotten famous for filming and getting scared shitless, it would be a dream come true for him.
It was drawing closer to sunset and the sky had already started to turn a light orange as the sun drew closer to the horizon where the sky line met the mountain. Tim pulled himself to be right next to Dan’s face and points a finger to the orange sky ahead of them. “See that Dan?” He asks. “What?” Dan says. The road starts to grow increasingly bumpy and the trees seem to grow closer and taller blocking out some of the sky that Ted was pointing to. “That sky is orange; we don’t have much time and if we miss out on this first part of the cycle we will have to spend more time here than we intended and I am not looking forward to sleeping in a tent all week!” He says. Dan stands up for himself and talks back. “Look, I am not the one who suggested we go I just said it was possible we could go today.” “You basically insinuated it.” Tim replied back. Dan ignores this and continues. “We didn’t have to go today we could have stayed at home and planned ahead; you never think things through Tim!” In Dan’s defense he was right. There is always tomorrow and they were informed that these spirits haunted on an unusual schedule they don’t come and go whenever they please. But in Tim’s mind there was no tomorrow, it was always now or never, no matter how often these ghosts appeared, he was hell-bent and practically ignored Dan’s reasoning. “Just drive-” Tim ended the conversation as the GPS had announced that they were two miles from their destination. Equipment rattles in the back as Tim tries to keep it all steady. This was sensitive equipment; one pothole is all it would take to mess up a screen or accidentally lose a microchip. If that were to happen then this entire investigation could be jeopardized.
“Steady man, steady!” Tim warns. “Sorry, I’m just trying to get us there.” He replies irritated, “-Well can you get us there in one piece?” Tim asks, Dan just mumbles to himself in frustration.
“Holy shit!” Dan yells as he slams the breaks, Tim is launched out of his seat into the back of Dan’s seat. There was little to no harsh impact so he wasn’t in pain more so than he was annoyed by the sudden stop. The breaks squeal as the jeep scrapes off the gravel from below its tires. “What the hell!?” Tim yells. Dan begins to grin from ear to ear,it was a slow wicked grin that assured itself that there was indeed something to be happy about. “Dude look!” He says. Tim regains his senses after his brief run-in with the back of Dan’s seat and looks ahead of him outside the windshield.
There it was- the Devil’s Trail. It was a tall almost completely dark forest, the trees branches intertwining with each other making the forest seem almost infinite, as if this giant spread of green was all one tree shrouding and spreading amongst the forest. Before Ted and Dan’s jeep was a sign hanging by a nail upon one of the many trees arching over a clear path that was untouched by rock. The sign read: “the Devil’s Trail” in dried up red paint. Around them was a line of trees surrounding the jeep and the dirt road behind them, almost as if it was a giant dam, keeping the rest of the world out of Devil’s Trail.
“Get the tent and backpacks, I’ll get the equipment.” Without another word the two springs into action and grab whatever was necessary for setting up camp and recording paranormal activity. Dan grabbed all the food and water needed along with clothes for the two of them packed into two camping packs, one blue and the other one red.
Ted spent the time trying to get the basic equipment started up and grabbing the silver suitcases full of ghost hunting equipment. The basic stuff included a camera and the night vision lens. Ted had strapped both silver suitcases full of tech to a harness on his back and carried his giant film-making camera that he had gotten for his 19th birthday in the front, and just like that he was a walking tech crew. “You ready?” Tim asked. Dan closed the trunk and held the two packs in both arms. Dan nods and with that they embark on their journey into “the Devils Trail.”