The Haunted National Park: A Tale from the Peter Wood Multiverse
Chapter One: Escape From Camp

That was the second time that night that Peter had near been caught by one of the councillors. If he kept this up, though, he’d be back to the others in no time. He just had to be more careful…

Peter Wood was on a trip with his fellow sleuth scouts to a place called the Haunted National Park. It was supposed to be the most haunted place in the country and so far it had lived up to that promise; some of the staff of the campgrounds were spectres themselves and there was a petting zoo filled with an assortment of ethereal creatures. And at night when you looked up at the sky, you could see dozens and dozens of spirits darting across it like shooting stars.

But there were also other parts of the park that they were not allowed to explore, like the greater haunted woods surrounding the campgrounds. This was what Peter and his friends sought to explore that night. If only Duke Bansley hadn’t forgotten his safety pack.

It was for the best that he was the one that went back for it, though. Even aside from the fact that he had super-speed, he would have an easier time hiding in the shadows of the cabins thanks to his darker skin tone.

“I’m so sick of these night shifts.” Said one of the two camp staffers passing by Peter’s hiding spot amongst some bushes. “Every night for the past week we’ve had to keep an eye out for kids trying to sneak out and explore the out-of-bounds areas.”

“Yeah, it’s a real pain.” Said the other staffer. “Guess the old scare tactics don’t work on today’s kids.”

Once they had passed by Peter and were far enough away, Peter used his super-speed and began making his move again towards getting back into the woods. The annoying bit was that he couldn’t just zip past them all because they would see the blur of him passing by and know something was up. The risk for this outcome was made worse by the fact that there were just too many camp staffers walking amongst the cabins that night.

I’ve got to get back to the others, Peter thought to himself. He stopped again underneath the statue of a woman that was in the center of the cabins. A friend of his mentioned something about her being a daughter of a witch or something when she was alive, but he wasn’t sure.

There were now only a couple of rows of cabins between him and the outer woods. He zipped up to the nearest cabin when some staffers weren’t looking. Then a giant face popped around the other side of the cabin that caused him to yell, “Ah!” He clamped a hand on his mouth to stifle it but was worried the damage might have been done.

The giant head in question was of a waxy, green woman with a pointed hat and nose. She was a witch that was poking her head out at him, but she was swaying up in down as if she was just floating there in midair with her hands outstretched as if she were trying to scare him.

“Did you hear something?” said a woman that the side that the witch had come from. It couldn’t have been the witch herself, though. Her mouth didn’t move. Around the corner then came a woman who was dressed in the same uniform as the other staffers. Peter had just enough time to zoom behind the other side of the cabin before she saw him.

“Is anyone there?” came a man’s voice. “Do you see anyone? Is it one of the kids?”

“Nah. There are some footprints in the snow here, but no kids. No one’s here.” Said the woman. “They’re probably from some kid who came this way during the day. We probably just heard an animal or something.”

As they began to walk away, Peter got a better look at the witch in question. It was really a large wax figure of a witch. Peter then noticed the unlit neon light attached to the witch’s hat which spelled out the words, “COME JOIN ME IN THE WOODS! I NEED CHILDREN FOR MY SOUP!”

Peter could remember now, it was one of the scare tactics that the park had been using for decades as a means of warning kids away from the forbidden area of the park. There were several posters all around the park as well of her, all alluding to an old legend of a witch that started hiding out in the woods long ago. And with his nerves back under control, Peter continued his escape out of the campgrounds.

“I will say this, though,” said a staffer from somewhere behind Peter. “If any of those kids think they’re getting past all of us tonight, they are in for a big surprise. We’ve been here all night and there hasn’t been a single child sighting.”

“Yeah, you’re only missing seven of us, buddy.” Peter muttered to himself. And with that, Peter zoomed past the final cabin and into the woods to meet with his friends so they could begin their adventure.