Mammoth Feed Blue Lagoon

I needed to write this down. Somewhere. Anywhere. Everywhere. Just in case. And now I’m glad that I did. There’s no Internet here. No signal out in between the trees. I don’t think anybody will make it in time, even if this post is sent at the miraculous last moment, and so I’ll just store it in drafts. Yes. That’s right! I’ll save it in drafts everywhere and just keep spamming send. A miraculous decision, Matty, maybe the best and last of your life. Now keep typing. Yes. That’s right. Keep typing. Type nonsense if you have to. Type, type, typedy. La la la. Don’t want them to see. Can’t let them know that I know they see.

September 5, 2020 at 11:59 P.M.

Mammoth Feed Blue Lagoon

September 5, 2020 at 11:30 P.M.

They’re coming inside.

September 5, 2020 at 11:01 P.M.

Mile marker nineteen. Left turn. Right turn. Left turn. Past Hortacres. Past White Valley. Past the bridge. Don’t take the bridge. Do not take the bridge.

September 1, 2020 at 9:53 P.M.

I never gave two fucks about hiking. The entire trip, sixty miles into the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but trees, lakes, and cow shit, with suitcases dominating the back and front seats, and an anxious girlfriend in the driver’s seat, and shitty techno music vibrating the tiny little Civic, I couldn’t escape the nagging question at the back of my mind.

Why was I here? Why did I care? I didn’t even like fish. Never caught one in my life.

But then the beautiful blonde that came to be my best friend and girlfriend smiled through a pair of cheap white glasses in the driver seat, and the reason became clear, just like that; I was in love. A helpless, hapless, and hopelessly devoted dumbass twenty-four year old in love.

“My dad’s going to like you,” Melanie shouted over the blasting radio for the fifth time. “You have so much in common.”

I asked her again about our destination and she just smirked. Mel liked to play secrets close to the chest.

September 1, 2020 at 10:20 P.M.

We arrived pretty late. Will try to post an approximation of our location in another note. Notes should tag it as well. Apple should be good for that much if this frigging phone ever catches a signal. Still trying to figure out the best way to order these updates. I might end up mucking it up in the end. Too many different formatting options on all these different social media.

A little backstory.

I dated Melanie for about nine months. The week-long camping experience was supposed to be a way for me to get to know her folks. I didn’t really know much about the details. They booked the trip and promised everything would be handled. I believed them.

The campground was beautiful, picturesque even, like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. There were a row of cabins positioned in front of the lake. Canoes and kayaks sat at the ready. Fishing poles were propped up against the houses. We settled into the largest house – a huge two bedroom with a wide stretching view of the water. We were ecstatic.

We spent the first night drinking and playing board games around the campfire. It went well. Turns out Mel’s Mom likes comics, and her Dad likes the Mets, which is two for two for me. My talking points rotated between Robert Pattinson and the state of the Metsies pitching rotation. I think I succeeded in both categories. Went to bed around twelve with a plan to go sightseeing in the morning.

September 2, 2020, at 2:20 A.M.

Noises outside the cabin. Thought bear (terrified of bears) but then heard people talking. Sounds like a lot of people talking. Melanie won’t wake up. Her parents are fast asleep. I really have to take a piss.

September 2, 2020 at 2:28 A.M.

Went outside to piss (no indoor plumbing, of fucking course) and there are indeed people outside. Looks like the cabin next door is rented by a couple college kids. We didn’t see them earlier. They asked if we had any fishing line. I hooked them up with a couple beers instead.

September 2, 2020 at 1:58 P.M.

Mel woke up early this morning and wanted to go into the nearby town (think it’s called White Valley) before the rain. We drove twenty minutes only to find that the bridge was up. Really weird. I guess they don’t want people traveling across in bad weather? No other way to get out of town. So I guess we’re stuck here for the time being.

September 2, 2020 at 9:59 P.M.

Spent the night drinking and attempting to fish with Mel, parents, and the college kids. They were fun. A couple of the kids managed to catch some trout. My father-in-law pulled in a bass. Melanie definitely looked disappointed that I didn’t walk away with anything, but we ate well that night, and nobody else seemed to mind the five or so lures I lost in the lake.

Another weird thing. I mentioned seeing the college kids last night. They acted like I didn’t know what I was talking about.

September 3, 2020 at 3:45 A.M.

More voices outside. Melanie is still snoring like a freight train. I don’t recognize them this time. Definitely not the college kids. And guess what? Have to piss again.

September 3, 2020 at 3:50 A.M.

Officially freaked out. Ran into two dudes outside wearing white masks. They didn’t look at me. They didn’t acknowledge my presence at all and they couldn’t have been more than five feet away. It was the strangest thing. They didn’t have flashlights. They weren’t carrying anything. Just two guys in black tracksuits, with white masks, walking through the woods like they had some place to be. One of them actually bumped into my shoulder and they just kept walking.

I went into the cabin and locked the doors. Not going to sleep much tonight.

September 3, 2020 at 9:01 A.M.

DIdn’t sleep at all last night. Woke up Mel at 6 sharp. Got her into the car under the guise of morning bagels and explained everything along the ride. She is officially freaked out now too. But guess what? It’s still raining. So the bridge is still up.

September 3, 2020 at 12:50 P.M.

Argued with Mel over whether to tell her parents about the guys in masks. She thinks it’s just the college guys. I know it wasn’t. But seeing as the cell service is shit, and we can’t even leave this miserable place for the day anyway, I might as well play along. Today we’re going swimming.

September 3, 2020 at 3:30 P.M.

Not going back in that lake. Something touched me. I know what I fucking felt. I was standing there, minding my own business, when something big and slimy wrapped around my ankle. Mel says I’m being dramatic. Her dad laughed at me when I screamed. Her mom says it could have been weeds. Regardless, my stock is trending downwards.

September 3, 2020 at 6:00 P.M.

Playing monopoly tonight. I own Boardwalk and Park Place. This should be a quick game.

September 3, 2020 at 8:00 P.M.

No one has seen the college kids all day. The light in their cabin is on.

September 3, 2020 at 11 P.M.

Still playing monopoly.

September 4, 2020 at 12:30 A.M.

Mel pulled the surprising upset. She capitalized her position early and made a killing off her mansions. Well played, indeed, going to bed now in Campground Hellhole. Pissing before bed this time. Fool me thrice…

September 4, 2020 at 3:30 A.M.

We have a bear on the property. I woke up the family just to let them know not to go outside. I heard the sniffing while laying awake waiting for voices. I caught him munching at the remains of our smore fire. Pretty cool. Doesn’t seem interested in us. I stayed awake for an hour or so just watching him from the safety of the second floor. Everybody else went to bed.

September 4, 2020 at 7:00 A.M.

The bear is dead.

I don’t know what the fuck they put in smores that can kill a bear but this guy is deader than disco. He has to be more than 500 pounds and the death stench is going to stink the hell out of the rest of our vacation. Who knows what kind of carnivores his meat could attract. I convinced Mel’s Dad to ride up with me to the bridge, but guess what, it’s still up; and it’s not even fucking raining today.

I think her parents are worried now.

September 4, 2020 at 1:00 P.M.

Hanging in the cabin. The sky turned black about an hour ago and it started pouring again. The light in the college kids’ cabin is still on. Nobody has seen them.

September 4, 2020 at 4:00 P.M.

Still raining. Folks are getting bored. Mel’s Dad is taking a nap. I guess he didn’t get much sleep last night.

September 4, 2020 at 6:30 P.M.

Mel’s Dad is up. He wants to investigate the cabins. Sky is still black. Unusual for this time of year. But he has a big ass flashlight, and two tennis rackets, so it looks like we’re ready to do some damage.

September 4, 2020 at 9:00 P.M.

Something is wrong. The college kids’ cabin is completely abandoned. But all of their shit is still here. We broke in through a cracked back door. There were half finished beers on the kitchen tables… food in the microwave…. clothes all over the place… but no kids. And no sign of a struggle. It’s like they just disappeared.

But where would they go?

Mel’s Dad says there are no other campgrounds on the Cape, and there’s no other way to get out but the bridge, so now what?

Call the police? How?

Mel’s Mom says the river empties out into the ocean at some point. Maybe if we get down it, we can find a signal. Gotta wait till morning.

I made sure to piss while Mel’s Dad guarded with his trusty tennis racket.

September 4, 2020 at 9:15 P.M.

I have been informed that the body of water next to us is in fact a lagoon and not a river.

September 5, 2020 at 1:30 A.M.

We all woke up this time. It would be impossible not to. Twenty fucking freaks in masks marched right by our cabin. They brought torches with them and they’re chanting something.

We watched from the window. They had to know we were there. Our campsite was not exactly a secret. It was like they didn’t care. The group paused at the water’s edge. They were blocking something from our viewpoint. After a moment of chanting, one of them stepped forward, and pushed the objects of their attention into the lagoon.

The waves broke. The freak shows chanted louder at this point.

And then something big leapt out of the water.

I didn’t see it clearly. But Mel did. And she won’t talk about it since.

September 5, 2020 at 8:00 A.M.

We went to the bridge at daybreak. Still up. Nobody in the control tower and not a fucking soul in sight. The sky is still black. So black that it almost looks like nighttime out here. The rain comes and goes. The thunder and lightning have not left since sometime yesterday morning.

Our ragged little group can only guess as to what will happen if we’re still here tonight. Melanie’s parents seem dead set on finding a way out. I don’t know what that will be. There’s nowhere to go. We’re trapped. Swimming across the channel in rushing water would be a death sentence.

At least we’ve got tennis rackets.

September 5, 2020 at 10 A.M.

The bear is gone. No one knows who took it.

September 5, 2020 at 2:00 P.M.

Some of us slept. Melanie’s dad is gone. The girls are freaking.

September 5, 2020 at 4:00 P.M.

Melanie’s Dad came back. The campground is surrounded by water on all sides. No way out. Good to know.

September 5, 2020 at 6:00 P.M.

The sun came out for a bit. Now it’s dark again. Can’t keep track of the weather here. Seems like a storm should have moved past us by now.

September 5, 2020 at 7:00 P.M.

We are barricaded in the house and ready to face the night (tennis rackets at the ready).

September 5, 2020 at 9:30 P.M.

I can hear them chanting. They’re close.

September 5, 2020 at 9:45 P.M.

The freakshows are back. Twenty people in robes standing at the edge of the lagoon once again. What the fuck is going on?

September 5, 2020 at 10:00 P.M.

They have somebody with them. Several somebodys. Not dressed in robes. Bags over their heads. Not conscious. Holy fuck, could this be…

September 5, 2020 at 10:05 P.M.

Found the college kids.

September 5, 2020 at 10:07 P.M.

They’re dead. Oh my God. They have to be dead. These poor kids are not moving an inch. One of the masked dudes is holding his hair like a fucking rag doll.

September 5, 2020 at 10:10 P.M.

More chanting. College kid number one is in the water.

September 5, 2020 at 10:12 P.M.

Something else is in the water.

September 5, 2020 at 10:15 P.M.

Oh my fuck, help me, his head is gone.

September 5, 2020 at 10:17 P.M.

Blood everywhere. More chanting. There is a headless fucking corpse is just floating in the water with his pants still on.

September 5, 2020 at 10:20 P.M.

College kid 2 and 3 in the water.

September 5, 2020 at 10:21 P.M.

Lots of ripping. A flash of teeth. Big splashes. More chanting.

September 5, 2020 at 10:25 P.M.

Two more headless corpses floating deeper into the lagoon.

September 5, 2020 at 10:27 P.M.

We are huddled in a room on the second floor. There are no windows up here. We have to try and hide. It’s our only option.

September 5, 2020 at 10:30 P.M.

It’s quiet outside. Maybe they left.

September 5, 2020 at 10:45 P.M.

I checked the window. They’re waiting. Twenty murderers in masks have surrounded our cabin. I should pray. I never prayed before.

September 5, 2020 at 11:35 P.M.

Goodbye.