Hidden In Plain Sight- Micheal Bandel

Aaand... Mike has published his first book!
He likes to channel his emotions into his work.
The whole story is about the government controlling the people by turning them into mutant-like creatures.
Here’s an excerpt:

“Alex! Alex!” my friend Jennifer called. “We’re gonna be late to the campsite!”
I yelled back, “Fine, but I’m only coming because you’re my friends. And I have the marshmallows!” I darted out of the house and to the car, with the camping supplies tucked under my arm. I opened the car door and sat down, closing it and sighing. Jennifer smiled at me, then turned her attention to Owen, who was in the driver’s seat.
“Ready to go?” Owen asked us.
“Yep!” Jennifer responded cheerfully. I shook my head because I was doing this against my will, but Owen didn’t pay attention to me.
He quickly put the key into the ignition, started the car, and pulled out of the driveway. Before I knew it, we were cruising down the road. Jennifer turned on the radio, and pop music started playing throughout the car. Owen muttered, and turned off the radio.
“Hey! What was that for?” she exclaimed, crossing her arms.
He replied teasingly, “Oh come on, Jennifer, we all know you have a terrible taste in music.”
“I do not!”
“Yes you do!”
“Guys, stop arguing!” I shouted over them. “We’re almost to the campsite, so it won’t matter anyways!”
I was right. As we pulled up to the small clearing and parked, I shuffled out of the car and dropped the stuff onto the grass with a ‘thunk.’ My friends stepped out after me. Owen ruffled Jennifer’s hair, smirking at her. She gave him a slight glare, but couldn’t help herself and laughed at him.
To my surprise, the campsite had already been set up. Three small tents were nailed to the ground, with a firepit in the center. A few bird chirps could be heard from the trees above, whistling through the air. Owen sprinted over to one of the tents before either me or Jennifer could.
“I call dibs on the green tent!” he laughed triumphantly.
Well, of course he did. It’s Jennifer’s favorite color, after all. She scoffed at him and stomped over to the red tent, but it was obvious she was trying to keep herself from laughing again.
“Guess I’ll take the blue one,” I mumbled, stepping over to the last empty tent.
“Alright, let’s calm down,” Owen announced, “everybody has an hour to nap before we start making hotdogs and s’mores.”
Jennifer agreed, “Yep, and I’ll wake everybody up when it’s time to eat. Is that okay with you, Alex?”
“Sounds good to me,” I responded.
After that, we all climbed into our tents and lied down. Those two acted so much like siblings that it surprised me they weren’t. We’ve all known each other for years, though. It made sense. I slowly closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A couple hours later, I quickly jerked awake and sat up, looking around frantically. Something woke me up, but I didn’t know what it was. Then I heard it again, and I could barely make it out: a small but noisy rustling sound. I slowly climbed out of the tent, using the flashlight on my phone to look around. After a minute of scanning the area, I still couldn’t tell where the noise was coming from.
And that’s when he tapped me on the shoulder.
I screamed and whipped around, blaring the light from my phone in his eyes, and refusing to look at him.
“Stop! Wait!” he said in a panicked tone, raising a hand to cover his eyes. I recognized the voice to be Owen’s, and slowly looked up at him, lowering the phone. Yep, that was Owen.
“Don’t scare me like that,” I muttered, still breathing heavily.
He mumbled, “Sorry, but did you hear the noise too...?” He shifted his weight onto his other leg, glancing around nervously.
“Yeah... and I thought Jennifer was supposed to wake us up. But it’s been more than an hour.”
Suddenly, the rustling started again, louder than before. We both jumped and turned out attention to the tents. Both of ours were the same as before, but Jennifer’s tent seemed to be... shaking. I glanced at Owen, gulped, and slowly took a step towards the tent.
The closer I got to the tent, the clearer the noise became. It sounded like growling, scratching, and rustling all in one. Sweat beads began forming on my skin as I slowly kneeled down.
I hesitated, before unzipping the flap to the tent slowly.
“Jennif-“
I immediately clasped a hand over my mouth to muffle my voice. My eyes widened at the scene.
There, sitting in front of me, with a pillow completely shredded in its mouth, was a creature so utterly horrifying that I froze in terror. It was definitely humanoid, and yet looked completely unnatural. Five towering horns were attached to its head, and it had claws as long as its teeth, which were AT LEAST several inches long. Its skin was pure black, and it had short, messy hair, the same color as Jennifer’s.
This couldn’t be my friend. And yet I could see the resemblance clearly.
The creature immediately turned its gaze towards me. I couldn’t move. My body was frozen, as if it was encased in ice. The monster slowly moved towards me, taking deep and raspy sounding breaths, until it was only a few inches away from my face. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tried forming words, and yet nothing came out of my mouth. It slowly opened its own mouth, revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth alongside the two fangs that could be seen sticking out of its mouth.
Owen quickly sprinted up behind me and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, jerking me away seconds before the creature snapped down with incredible force, barely missing my nose. He continued dragging me towards the car quickly, with an evident look of panic in his eyes.
“Come on! Stand up and make a run for it!” he shouted, his voice shaking in the process. I managed to get my legs moving, and I bolted for the car.
All I could hear was my frantic breathing, our footsteps, and growling behind us. The growling became understandable, and I was able to make out one word repeated over and over again. My name. Alex.
“Alex... Al-ex,” the creature groaned in a raspy voice.
I quickly opened one of the car doors, and Owen did the same. We jumped in and slammed them shut, panting heavily as the creature continuously called out my name. I felt myself shaking, and yet I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or something else. The creature slammed itself onto the window, scratching the glass with a hideous screeching noise. Again, it kept calling my name.
“Alex...! Alex! ALEX, WAKE UP YOU DINGBAT!”
I was awaken to Jennifer shaking me quickly and repeatedly. She backed away once I opened my eyes, chuckling at me.
“Come on! Are you gonna make hotdogs and s’mores with us or not?” she giggled as I rubbed my eyes. I sat up and just stared at her blankly, trying to figure out what had happened. Oh... was it a nightmare? That would make sense...
“Yeah, sorry. Give me a minute to get up,” I responded tiredly. Jennifer nodded, and exited the tent. I saw a glimpse of Owen through the flap before it was closed. Maybe I shouldn’t have come with them. Those nightmares only happen when I’m nervous, anyways.
I took a deep breath, sighed, and slowly crawled out of the tent as well. Jennifer was digging a marshmallow out of the bag, and Owen was sitting by the campfire, already roasting a hotdog on a skewer. Apparently I still hadn’t calmed down from the horrible nightmare, because he glanced over at me and smirked.
“Wow,” he chuckled, “you look like you’ve seen a monster.”

I hope you enjoy this!

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