- A neglected daughter longs for another life.
- As a teenager, Lauren loses her friend Elena, in the White Woods. Ten years later, Lauren has taken on Elena's life and is going to marry the boy Elena was in love with. But the truth about what happened to Elena starts to come out, tearing Lauren's life apart.—Gislef
- Iron River, Michigan: 10 Years Ago
Teenage girls Elena Milak and Lauren sit in Lauren's room, and talk about sex and boys. Elena demonstrates using her fingers and Lauren's mouth, how Lauren can perform oral sex on a boy. After Elena finishes with her hair, Lauren tells her that she looks good. She explains that she made up her hair to look like five girls, who have their photos in Lauren's book about disappearances in the nearby White Woods. When Elena says that her mother called her "sweetheart", Lauren says that her mother has never called her that and Elena says to fuck her.
A local boy, Pete, tosses pebbles at the bedroom window to get her attention. The two girls run over and call him upstairs, and he and Elena kiss. Pete notices Lauren looking at them and stops, and says that Lauren's mother Faye is out on the couch. Lauren says that she works nights, and Elena adds that Faye drinks. She suggests that Lauren could go somewhere and give them privacy, and Lauren points out that she doesn't want to wake up Faye. Elena tells Lauren to go in the closet, and Lauren sits in the closet and covers her ears so she doesn't hear Elena and Pete.
Later, Elena opens the closet door and finds Lauren sleeping. She wakes up her friend and apologizes for taking so long, and that Pete left. Elena says that Pete left them a joint, and if Lauren wants to smoke it with her then she has to go with her to the White Woods. When Lauren objects, Elena says that Lauren lets Faye control her. She tells Lauren that she doesn't have to go if she's scared, and Lauren tells her that she's done with Elena bossing her around. Lauren angrily says that Elena just calls her when her "real" friends aren't around.
Shocked, Elena says that she'll go alone. She says that she'll see Lauren at school the next day and gives her her book back.
The next day after school, Lauren returns home and finds Faye there with Detective Leighton, Elena's mother Rebecca, and Pete. Rebecca is in tears, and Leighton says that he has to ask Lauren some questions about Elena. The detective says that Rebecca says that Elena didn't come home, and he asks Lauren if she saw Elena at the school. Lauren tells him that Elena wasn't there and figured she skipped school, and Faye angrily asks Lauren if she skips school as well. Her daughter insists that she doesn't, and says that Elena came over the day before after school but they just talked and then Elena left.
Leighton asks if they did anything they weren't supposed to, and promises that Lauren won't get in trouble. Rebecca coaxes Lauren to tell them everything, but Lauren insists that she told them everything she knows.
Ten Years Later
At a church, Lauren and Pete have the rehearsal for their wedding. Rebecca walks Lauren down the aisle. At the dinner afterward, Pete proposes a toast. He talks about how Elena brought him and Lauren together, and they grieved her disappearance together. Ten years later in med school, they met again. Once he's done, they eat
At another table, Danny talks about how girls have turned up decapitated after going into the White Woods at the hands of "The Lumberjack". Two of the women, Abby and Cheyenne, look over at Lauren and Pete. Abby says that Elena would hate Pete with Lauren, and Lauren was weird and they only tolerated her because Elena liked her for some reason.
Lauren comes over and sits down with them, and Cheyenne asks her if Faye was coming. Hesitantly, Lauren says that Faye isn't coming and her "real mom" Rebecca is there. Abby asks Lauren when she started calling Rebecca "Mom", and Lauren says that it was after Faye kicked her out and she started putting Rebecca's name as her mother on her college application forms.
Abby asks Lauren if she heard about the recent discovery of remains in the White Woods, and that the authorities confirmed they belonged to a teenage girl. She wonders if it might be Elena, and Lauren says that she would do anything to bring Elena back. Lauren suggests that they not upset Rebecca.
Later at the church, Lauren sits alone in a pew, the White Woods book by her side. She then goes to the reception hall and helps Rebecca decorate. Lauren asks if Rebecca heard any gossip, and says that she heard some. Rebecca says that she dreamed of expanding her horizons and being free, and wants that for Lauren. She gives Lauren $1,000 as a wedding gift and hopes Lauren can go somewhere she's never been.
Rebecca asks about the gossip Lauren heard, and Lauren says that Danny's girlfriend is pregnant. Her "mother" tells Lauren that she and Pete can make her a grandmother anytime they want, wishes Lauren good night, and leaves.
The next day at the church, Abby and Cheyenne read a report on the Internet about how the remains belong to an adolescent female, who died eight to ten years ago. Lauren is making up her hair and listening. She tells the two women that Rebecca really wants the wedding in Iron River, and hints that they shouldn't ruin it for her with discussion of her birth daughter's death. Abby notices that Lauren has made up her hair in curls like Elena used to wear it, and asks if she changed it for the wedding. Lauren says that she doesn't know.
Rebecca comes in with Lauren's wedding dress and says that the photographer will be there soon. She shows it off and says that it was handed down from her grandmother, and tells Lauren that she's the fourth generation of her family. Abby storms out, and Lauren and Rebecca notice.
Cheyenne goes after her in the church restroom, smoking a cigarette, and asks what the matter is. Abby says that she can't participate in the wedding and it's sick. She tells Cheyenne that Lauren stole Elena's life, and it's twisted how Rebecca plays along. Cheyenne agrees with Abby that Elena was her best friend, and Abby says that it was just the three of them until Elena "dumped them" for Lauren. Now Lauren is pretending to be Elena, and the police find Elena's body in the Woods.
Abby figures that Lauren is hiding the news of the discovery of the remains from Rebecca because she doesn't want anything to ruin her wedding day. She tells Cheyenne that it all fits,
Ten Years Ago
Lauren insists that she's not scared and she'll go to the woods with Elena. They slip out past the sleeping Faye, go into the Woods as the sun sets, and smoke Pete's joint. When Lauren chokes on the smoke, Elena laughs and walks her smoking it the right way. She slips away in the darkness, and Lauren goes looking for her. Elena laughs from the darkness, startling Lauren, and taunts Lauren that she's the Lumberjack and is everywhere.
Elena finally comes out, laughing at Lauren's expression. Lauren shoves Elena, and Elena shoves her back. Lauren shoves Elena again, and Elena falls down and hits her head on a rock. When Lauren realizes that Elena is dead, she sees a nearby axe left in a tree stump, gets it, and hacks Elena's body to pieces.
Now: Abby's Theory
Abby insists to Cheyenne that Lauren killed Elena and covered it up, then helped herself to the life she always wanted. Cheyenne asks what evidence Abby has, and Abby admits that she doesn't have any but knows someone who can.
Lauren looks at the pictures of the girls in the book, seeing if her new hairstyle matches theirs... and the one that Elena chose on the day she disappeared. She then smiles in satisfaction. Abby brings Faye in, and Faye tells Lauren that she "looks the part". Lauren wonders why she's there, and Faye sarcastically says that she heard her daughter was there. She tells Lauren to call her "mother" and demands respect, and tells Lauren to tell her everything.
When Lauren wonders what Faye wants, Faye says that she wants to know her daughter. Lauren tells her to get out, and Faye says that it's disgusting Lauren pretending to be a dead girl. The older woman says that Abby called her , and memories came back of the day Elena disappeared. Faye says that there was dirt on Lauren's coast, and she found Elena's scarf in Lauren's bedroom. She figures Lauren and Elena went to the Woods, and slaps Lauren and says she could never lie to her.
Lauren doesn't answer, and Faye asks what she did to Elena. Lauren says that they did but nothing happened, but Faye doesn't believe her. Rebecca, Cheyenne, and Abby run in when they hear the noise. After Rebecca comforts the crying Lauren, she rounds on Faye tells her to go. Faye says that Lauren should tell Rebecca how the girl's body ended up in the woods. Rebecca stares at Lauren' in shock.
10 Years Ago
Lauren warns that they shouldn't go out in the Woods at night, and Elena says that she'll protect Lauren and if she's brave, she'll tell her a secret. The two girls go out into the woods, and Lauren asks what the secret is. Elena asks if she's sure Lauren wants to know, lights the joint, and kisses Lauren. She offers Lauren the joint, and Lauren takes it and coughs. Elena tells her to do it again, and Lauren does so.
Elena slips away in the darkness, and Lauren goes looking for her. Elena laughs from the darkness, startling Lauren, and taunts Lauren that she's the Lumberjack and is everywhere. Elena screams, and Lauren runs after Elena and trips over her discarded scarf. Picking it up, she continues running.
Now
Lauren finishes telling Rebecca what happened, saying it's all she knows. Abby tells Lauren that she's a piece of work, and tells her to admit that she killed Elena. She doesn't believe Lauren's denial, and insists that Lauren killed Elena and took over her life. Cheyenne wonders how they can ever be sure it happened like Lauren said, and Rebecca walks out despite Lauren's attempts to stop her.
Abby pays Faye off for coming as she requested, and then Abby and Cheyenne leave. Faye tells Lauren that she doesn't want to know her and leaves. Lauren looks at herself in the mirror, then undoes her hair and gasps for breath. The church bells ring, and Lauren imagines running through the Woods in her wedding dress, calling to Elena.
In her imagination, Lauren finds a Hag sitting in the woods. The Hag tells Lauren that she knows what she needs, and should come with her. She takes Lauren to an old cabin, and there are axes lying all around. The Hag pours tea and tells Lauren to drink, and asks why Lauren ran. Lauren says that she doesn't deserve her life, and it's not hers. She tells the Hag that she did something awful years ago, and lied and never looked back.
The Hag asks why she didn't look back, and Lauren says that she wanted Elena's future. She figures that she did kill Elena in a way, and the Hag says she was a girl before and she remembers being just like Lauren. She talks about how she loved a boy, Andrew, who brought her to the Woods and she thought it was so they could be together. Andrew drove her there, had her undressed, then pushed her out and drove away. The Hag wandered for days, and says the world has also been cruel to Lauren.
When Lauren objects, the Hag hushes her and says that some have been given everything so people like them have to dig for everything. She asks where Faye is, and Lauren cries. The Hag tells her that she'd be a perfect daughter, and Elena Lauren comes into the cabin. Lauren looks at her younger self in horror, and the Hag angrily tells Elena that she's late.
Elena makes the fire, and the Hag says she wanted a daughter but got a cow instead. Lauren goes to Elena and tells her who she is. Elena stares at her, and the Hag says that Elena's vocal chords are frozen. The young girl writes on her chalkboard, "Pete?", and Lauren tells Elena that he misses her. Next, Elena asks about her mother. The Hag yells that she's Elena's mother and beats her with her cane. When Lauren intervenes, the Hag shoves her away and calls her a nasty girl.
Lauren tells Elena that they have to go, and the Hag grabs one of her axes and says that there many ways for girls to die in the Woods. She says that they'll be forgotten like her, and then says that they can do a trade: a daughter for a daughter. Lauren takes Elena's place. Elena writes out "Help me!", and Lauren looks at the Hag.
Later, Elena walks out of the Hag's cabin alone.
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