Damian Scott had never liked crowds. To him, the throng of students cheering happily in the campus parking lot felt like a nightmare forced into reality. He stood on the edge, a backpack on his back, staring blankly at the buses that would take them to the mountains.
"You look like you're heading to an execution, not a camp," said Cedric, his talkative best friend, patting his shoulder too hard. "Come on, Damie! This is the last time we'll all be together before graduation. Are you going to miss it with a face like that?"
Damian didn't answer. He didn't need to. Cedric was used to his silence.
"Let him be," James interjected, his tone flat but with a sharp edge to it. "If he didn't want to come, he shouldn't have come in the first place."
"You know why he came," Cedric whispered, though not quietly enough for Damian not to hear. "Grade threat. Who wants to risk not graduating because they skipped this stupid camp?"
Damian clenched his hands inside his jacket pockets. Cedric was right. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for the threat of the faculty head, who also happened to be the TA for Abnormal Psychology, a course whose grade still hung by a thread. One mistake, and four years of college could be wasted.
"The Psychology Faculty Ghost is coming too, huh?"
The voice came from behind. Damian didn't need to turn around to know who was talking. It was Veronica, one of the popular students in their cohort. A small laugh followed the comment, a laugh that pretended to be quiet but was intentionally made loud enough to be heard.
Cedric spun around quickly, his mouth already open to retort, but James pulled his arm. "Don't," James growled softly. "It's not worth it."
Damian remained silent, staring straight ahead. The nickname had stuck since their second year. The Psychology Faculty Ghost. Because he rarely spoke, rarely showed up at campus events, and was always alone except with Cedric and James. Some people even joked that they weren't sure Damian truly existed.
It was ironic that for a psychology student who was supposed to understand people, he had become a mystery to his peers.
"Bus number three for Group D!" shouted one of the organizers. "Hurry up! We're leaving in five minutes!"
They moved towards the bus. Damian chose the very back seat, near the window. Cedric sat beside him, while James took the seat across the aisle. The bus began to move, leaving the bustling campus, entering the highway which slowly turned into a winding road at the foot of the mountains.
The journey took more than two hours. The higher they climbed, the quieter the road became. Dense trees flanked the narrow road, their branches like skinny fingers scratching the late afternoon sky. Damian stared out the window, noticing how the sunlight grew dimmer, filtered through the thick canopy of leaves.
There was something wrong with this place. He could feel it, a sensation creeping up the back of his neck, like being watched by something unseen.
"We're almost there," Cedric said, his voice losing some of its enthusiasm. Even he felt something. "This place is a bit creepy, isn't it?"
"Mountains are like that," James replied, but his eyes were also uneasy as he looked out the window.
The bus finally stopped at an open clearing surrounded by pine forest. The campsite. In the distance, barely visible through the trees, was a thin smoke, likely from the village the committee had mentioned, about thirty minutes' walk from here.
"Alright, everyone off!" shouted the committee chairman, a student named Adrian who was too enthusiastic for the situation. "Set up your tents before sunset! We have about an hour!"
Students began pouring out of the bus, carrying bags and camping gear. Damian followed reluctantly, helping Cedric and James set up their tent slightly away from the large group.
Night fell faster than they expected. The forest greedily swallowed the light, leaving them in darkness only illuminated by the bonfire in the middle of the camp and the flashlights brought by each group.
"Tomorrow we'll do some outbound activities and a group reflection," Adrian announced in front of the bonfire. "But tonight, let's just enjoy it. You're free to do whatever you want, but don't stray too far from this area. This forest is no joke."
The warning sounded hollow to most of the students who were already too busy chatting, laughing, and taking photos. But to Damian, the words hung in the air like fog.
He sat near their tent, slightly away from the crowd. Cedric was near the bonfire, trying to join the conversation even though no one was really responding to him. James sat next to Damian, staring at the fire with a vacant expression.
"Do you feel something strange?" James suddenly asked.
Damian turned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. This place gives me the creeps a little."
Damian didn't answer, but he felt the same way. The air was too still. No sounds of insects, no night birds. Only a pressing silence, occasionally broken by the laughter of the students which sounded too loud.
About an hour later, one of the students, a girl named Lisa, returned from the direction of the forest with an empty bucket in her hand. Her face was pale, her eyes wide.
"What's wrong?" Adrian asked, rising from his seat.
Lisa swallowed, her voice trembling. "I, I just went to get water from the small river there." She pointed towards the forest. "And I saw something."
"Saw what?" Veronica asked, a mocking tone still present despite the apprehension in her eyes.
"A house," Lisa whispered. "A luxurious house. Not far from here, maybe a ten-minute walk. In the middle of the forest. The architecture style is old-fashioned, but well-maintained. Like it shouldn't be here."
Silence fell over the group. Even the bonfire seemed to dim its brightness.
"A house?" Adrian repeated, his eyebrows furrowed. "There are no houses on the map of this area."
"I know what I saw," Lisa insisted, her voice rising slightly. "The house is real. Its lights were on. I think I saw someone there."
Cedric walked closer, his expression a mixture of curiosity and fear. "Why would there be a luxurious house in the middle of a secluded forest like this?"
No one answered.
Damian felt a chill crawl up his spine. He looked towards the forest that Lisa pointed to, into a darkness so thick that even the bonfire couldn't penetrate it.
And for a moment, just a moment, he felt like something was there, behind the trees, staring back at them.