June 24: On a moonlit night, two teenagers, Max Brinly and Laura Kearney, are driving out in the middle of the mountains looking for the Summer Camp of Hackett's Quarry, which they have signed on to become Summer Camp Counselors for. Despite having made arrangements to meet with the head counselor Mr Hackett the following morning, they decided to drive out early to find the camp, but have gotten lost on the winding roads, the lack of signal in the mountains meaning they have no GPS and not seeing any signs for the camp. Whilst attempting to read either a map of the area or a pamphlet about the camp, Max gets distracted and swerves to avoid what seems to be an animal crossing the road in front of them, sending their car deep into the forest down an incline. Unknown to both of them, an old woman appears in the backseat of their car as they careen wildly down the slope. Though they manage to avoid a nasty crash, their car still needs some time for Max to fix it up and get them moving again. Whilst waiting for him to finish his repairs, Laura sees what seems to be a figure moving about between the trees around them, growing concerned that somebody is out there. Heading off to investigate, Laura comes across a burned poster for the fortune teller Eliza Vorez still stuck to a tree, as well as the junked wreckage of an escapology kit left lying nearby. Investigating further, she finds an old damaged cage in the tangle of trees, next to a burned sign advertising 'Silas the Dog-boy'.
Though Laura is unaware, the figure of the old woman moves around her out of sight but seen to the player, quietly whispering the word 'Silas' and unnerving Laura with impending dread. Eventually, as the ghostly woman whispers right in her ear, Laura flees in a panic back to Max, begging him to get them both out of the area. However, their car is stuck in the mud, and cannot drive away. At that point, they are confronted with a police officer who appears out of nowhere, scaring the pair of them. Though he helps them tow their car back to the main road, the officer's harsh and aggressive manner unsettles both teenagers, especially once he learns of their purpose in the area and desire to head to Hackett's Quarry. Instead, the officer insists that both teenagers will not head to the Quarry that night, but will instead head to a nearby motel he offers to mark on their map to them, making it clear he will brook no argument with the pair of them over this. However Laura manages to trick him into pointing out Hackett's Quarry summer camp before he can catch himself, and after their parting, the teenagers decide to continue on their plans to head to the camp that night, noting how creepy and untrustworthy the officer was and concerned the motel might be a dangerous place for them to go, with Max even citing that he thought he saw fresh blood on him.
However, when they reach the camp grounds, they find it locked up and apparently abandoned, with nobody on the premises. With Max citing that Laura should have phoned ahead to check with Mr Hackett to make certain it was ok for them to arrive early, he admits it might be a good idea for them to follow the cop's advice after all. Reluctant to just leave like that, Laura investigates the lodge, finding a door to the basement padlocked from the outside. Peering in through the gap in the door, she sees a figure moving about inside, which doesn't respond to her calls to them and vanishes into the darkness of the basement. Fearing somebody is trapped inside, Laura has Max help her break open the lock so they can descend into the basement. Investigating the seemingly-silent room, Laura heads further inside whilst Max waits by the stairs, convinced the room is empty and she was imagining things. However, at the end of the basement, Laura finds a bloodied collar along with the butchered remains of an animal, viciously gutted and devoured by some beast, before Max is blindsided and attacked by that same beast. Heading back to him, Laura find him badly-wounded and barely conscious from his injuries, as the monster watches them from the hiding spots in the basement. Her attempts to either flee for aid or drag Max to safety come to naught, as the beast attacks him again regardless, and whilst Laura is distracted, the officer from before sneaks up on her and sedates her with a needle, before reluctantly drawing his gun and putting three bullets into the monster, yelling out in anger over the kid's foolish choice to ignore him. As silence descends on the campgrounds, the only witness to what has transpired is the ever-watching Full Moon...
In an interlude, The player finds themselves in a fortune-teller's wagon in the woods, the only occupants the skulls lining the walls, a pet raven, and Eliza Vores herself. She greets the player, saying she has been waiting for them for a very long time, and offering to help them on their journey, to be their guide into the unknown, and saying how they can 'help each other'. Should the player find Tarot cards that are scattered around the areas of the story when controlling the character, cards which burn up upon being found, Elisa will take the cards and offer cryptic advice as to their meaning, how they relate to the player's journey, as well as offering a vision of the possible outcomes and future events of the player's choices in her crystal ball, before the story continues...
August 22: 2 months later, and all seems well at the Campgrounds. New counselors see off the last bus carrying the visiting children home, before starting to gather their own things to leave that same night.
