00:00Welcome back to Tales of Unusual.
00:03Tonight, I want you to imagine this, a forest, a campfire, laughter under the moonlight.
00:11Camping should be simple, a way to escape the noise of the city, reconnect with nature, sleep under the stars.
00:19But sometimes, the forest hides more than trees.
00:23This is the story of four friends, a camping trip, and a night they never came back from the same.
00:31This is camping.
00:33Liam, Sarah, Jonah, and Mia had been best friends since college.
00:39Every year, they planned one trip together, no phones, no work, no rules.
00:45This year, they picked Black Hollow Forest, a place Jonah found on an old hiking forum.
00:51According to Jonah, the place was untouched.
00:55No tourists, no rangers, no signal, just trees, a lake, and silence.
01:02Perfect, they thought.
01:03They packed their tents, marshmallows, beer, and ghost stories.
01:09They left the city behind as the sun dipped below the hills, laughing about how they'd survive a weekend with no Wi-Fi.
01:18By dusk, they reached the trailhead, a narrow path disappearing into the dark.
01:25The hike was longer than they expected.
01:28The map Jonah printed was old.
01:31The trail markers were missing, but they didn't care, not at first.
01:36The deeper they went, the quieter it got.
01:39No birds, no wind, just the crunch of leaves under their boots.
01:44When they finally found a clearing by a still black lake, they set up camp.
01:51Tents pitched, fire lit, beers cracked open.
01:55For a while, they were just kids again, telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows, daring each other to swim in the freezing lake.
02:05Nobody noticed how close the trees felt or how the shadows shifted when the fire flickered.
02:11After midnight, the fire died down to glowing embers.
02:16Mia was the first to hear it.
02:18Soft footsteps crunching the leaves just beyond the trees.
02:23Liam laughed it off, said, it was probably a raccoon.
02:28But then Sarah heard, whispering, low and distant, like a conversation carried by the wind.
02:35Jonah grabbed a flashlight and swept the dark.
02:38Nothing.
02:39They blamed the beer, the cold, the way the forest plays tricks on tired minds.
02:46They crawled into their tents, zipped up tight, and told themselves they'd laugh about it in the morning.
02:53But the footsteps never really stopped.
02:56At dawn, Mia's tent was empty.
02:59Her boots were still by the fire pit, her bag untouched.
03:04They called her name until their voices cracked.
03:07Jonah ran circles around the camp, yelling into the woods.
03:12Liam found footprints, Mia's barefoot, aiding into the thick trees.
03:18They split up to search.
03:20Hours passed.
03:21When they regrouped by the lake, Sarah was gone too.
03:26Jonah swore he'd only turned his back for a second.
03:30Their phones had no signal.
03:32The map made no sense.
03:33By sunset, Liam and Jonah were alone, and the whispers came back, louder this time.
03:41Liam wanted to leave.
03:43Jonah wanted to find the others.
03:46They argued until they heard Sarah's voice calling from deep in the woods.
03:51Help me, dot dot dot, please, dot dot dot.
03:55Single quotes.
03:56They ran toward it, stumbling over roots and rocks.
04:00But the voice stayed just ahead, always just out of reach.
04:05They found an old trail, half buried under dead leaves, leading them deeper and deeper.
04:12The forest grew denser, the trees older.
04:15They found symbols carved into the trunks.
04:19Circles, eyes, marks that felt too precise to be random.
04:23Then, they found a clearing they didn't remember passing through before.
04:29A circle of stones, a round burned-out ash.
04:32And there, by the ashes, sat Mia's backpack, zipped shut, perfectly clean.
04:39Liam wanted to run.
04:41Jonah opened the backpack.
04:43Inside were Mia's clothes, dry, folded, clean, and a note scrawled in dirt.
04:50It takes what you bring.
04:52A shadow moved between the trees.
04:55Liam and Jonah turned back.
04:57But the path was gone.
04:59The forest had changed around them.
05:02No trail, no footprints.
05:04Only trees that all looked the same.
05:07They tried to follow the lake's edge, but found themselves back at the same clearing again and again.
05:14When the sun rose, Liam was alone.
05:17He doesn't remember how he got out.
05:19Or maybe he does, but the forest keeps that secret for him.
05:25Liam came back alone, older, hollow-eyed, never camping again.
05:31He never talks about Black Hollow Forest or the friends he left behind.
05:36Some say you can still hear laughter by the lake.
05:40If you camp there on a moonless night, whispers between the trees, footsteps circling your tent.
05:47And if you listen closely, you'll hear someone calling your name, asking you to come closer, just a little deeper into the woods.
05:57So, if your friends ever invite you camping where the map fades to blank, maybe say no.
06:04Some places are better left unexplored.
06:07Thank you for watching, Tales of Unusual.
06:11Like, comment, and subscribe.
06:14And don't forget to check your map twice.
06:17Sleep well.
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