He Brought Something From Camp (SWC)

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This post is written based on a contest by @jerrybanfield.

In my country, for a period of time at least, youths were sent on a program as soon as they completed school. It was mandatory. Some called it a summer camp from hell, some called it military training and some called it a waste of time. It was three months and we were sent to the middle of a jungle for an interesting three months.

Things started to go wrong at the start of the first night. In my culture, we believe that some people are more sensitive spiritually than others. A friend of mine, Lydia was one of such people. She said that the area was cleared without permission from the spirits. Personally, I thought that she was crazy. I was not alone, Ash and I thought the same. However, the screams started on the very first night.

Ash and I were chatting in our tents when we heard people screaming. As we exited our tent, we found 40 people screaming hysterically. Some were lying down and some were kneeling but all of them were screaming. It was hard to describe the scream, somewhat of a mix between fear and madness. It lasted for about 15 minutes. However, when all 40 of them awoke, none of them could remember what happened.

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The thing is, weird things started to happen one after another. There was the sighting of a girl dressed in white with a trail of blood. None of them really affected me initially, but I suppose some of us were affected in some way or another. My experience came when we were preparing for a night hike. Despite the mass hysteria and sightings, the people in charge for some reason decided to take us through a hike in the jungle. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

We were told to avoid doing two things. The first was not to call out each other's name and the second was to never destroy any of the plants. We started the track and everyone was just going through the motions. There is not much you can really do or see in a jungle at 11 pm. Well, that was not the case for Ash, he had a great time. He was running around making a fool of himself. He started by running off 'exploring' the jungle with his torchlight. The instructors were telling him off but he there were over 300 of us. Thus, the instructors left him be.

As if running around exploring was not bad enough, he decided to play a few pranks on some of the girls. He started hiding in bushes and calling people by name. Essentially, he broke all the rules set by the instructors. This went on for about half an hour and after that we did not see him anymore. Most of us thought that he was tired and so we left him be. We got to the end of the jungle trek when we noticed that Ash was missing. Most of us thought that it must be one of his pranks but the instructors were not taking any chances.

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The instructors gathered up a search team and we went back looking for Ash. It wasn't look before we found him in a clearing of a jungle staring up in the distance. We called out his name as we approached but there was not response. He just stood there, staring. I walked up to him and tried to snap him out of whatever that he was in. I tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around. His eyes were wide open, blood-shot. He gripped my hand tight and he kept repeating...

She's after me... She's after me... She's after me...

I tried to break his grip by twisting his thumb. No luck there. I warned that if he will not let go, I would break his thumb and so I did that. I heard the crack but his grip did not weaken. He was still holding on tight. It took two instructors and a few others to pull him away and calm him down. Someone in the group was chanting a prayer in his ear. For some reason, that calmed him down. When he came to, he was normal again. There was no fear in his eyes and he seemed calm. Although, he was whining about the pain. You know, the one where I broke his finger.

We left for base camp after Ash got on the bus. I was seated next to him. The instructor said something along the lines of, since you broke him, you take care of him. It was not funny at all for what came next. On our way back, Ash seemed quiet. He was staring out the window. I asked what was wrong and if he would like to talk about what happened. He said that as he was running around the jungle, he suddenly heard a voice calling his name. He thought that it was a prank and so he followed the voice to the clearing where we found him. When he arrived, he saw a lady dressed in white, she had long hair. Instinctively, he tried to run but as it turned around, she appeared in front of him. Her eyes were black as night and she had long sharp fingernails. She stared at him and asked..

Are you having fun?

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That was when he blacked out. I tried to comfort him and said that at the very least it is all over now. He looked at me, like I just told a bad joke. He said,

What do you mean it is all over now? She's sitting behind us.

I suppose, I am blessed. I turned and the seats behind me was empty. I believed him because he either was a very good actor or he has completely lost it. Either way, you can't fake fear in the manner that he did. He was trembling and cold sweat was flowing down his head.

Ash was never the same after that. He became a bit more feminine , as if he was possessed. I asked Lydia if she felt that something was wrong about him. She agreed, pointing out that something was following him around. In a way, this really freaked me out and so I made a decision to switch tents. The instructors were kind enough to oblige.

One night, after lights out, something caused to me wake from my sleep. As I turned to get out of my bunk, I turned to see Ash standing near my bed. He was staring at me and he grinned and said...

Don't you miss me? Why did you leave me?

Thank God I was not sleeping alone. Needless to say, the incident was reported and Ash was sent for counseling. We did not see Ash for a few weeks. He just vanished from the grounds. Some claimed that he was sent home, some said that he ran away. But some of us knew that even if he left, he brought something with him. I do hope that he is well, maybe he managed to get IT out of his system, or, IT is still with him, till this day.

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