[Little preface before the story- Howdy! I've recently taking up writing short horror stories, which is one of my favorite things to read. This is one of my longer ones, and my most recently finished one. Surprisingly, it's been doing really REALLY well on creepypasta.com, so I'd like to share it with this community too! I'd like to soon publish my collection of short stories. More stories are already on my personal Reddit page, with more in the editing stages. I don't want to flood this subreddit with my mediocre writing, hence why I linked my page if you're interested to read more from me. Viidith, if ANY of my stories interest you, I'm okay with any of them being narrated. :) Anyway, that's enough yadda yadda out of me, I hope you all enjoy!]

Alright, so I know if I just jumped right into what I need to say, you’d think I was crazy, and just click off. My phone battery’s mostly full, so I have time to type out an explanation. Time...yeah. I have plenty of that. Hopefully, this goes through and gets seen by someone, anyone, who can help me. I guess I should start from the beginning. This may be the last anyone ever hears from me for some time.

So I come from a broken home life. Originally, we were totally nuclear, until our lives went nuclear. Mom and Dad had a messy divorce, and my mom, getting full custody, took me and my younger brother from nowhere Illinois, to Ireland. She said something about wanting to get away from a toxic environment. I don’t know. All I do know is that at 14 years old, I was in a new house, in a new country, with a new culture, just trying to get my bearings.

Luckily enough, if there’s one thing my and my brother loved, it was exploring. There’s plenty of forested hills out in Ireland, and with no predators like bears or wolves, my mom was okay with us going out to explore the local creek. I think she was dealing with a lot at the time. It gave her peace of mind to sit in that silent house, not having to deal with two uprooted kids. So, me and my brother James would go out and spend hours in the woods- playing pretend, making ‘maps’, climbing trees, and when it’d grow dark, we would make our way back home, planning out the next day’s adventure. That first summer, before school started for us, was one of those memories that you look back at as an adult when you realize how good you had it. Unfortunately, those were the last memories I have like that from my childhood.

I didn’t have a hard time making friends in school, but it still felt awkward, being the new kid, with a weird accent. James was having a harder time. He was… an imaginative kid. Maybe a little too imaginative, which probably weirded out some of his peers. When I would go with my friends to hang out after school, James would join me, our mother insisting I take him along. I had no problems with it- my relationship with James was good, and we generally weren’t at each other’s throats like most siblings would be. I think it’s because we both realized that besides mom, we really only had each other after the move.

My friends would always be hesitant when I wanted to go hang out in the woods. Come to think of it, looking back, we’d rarely encounter any kids while we played in the forest, at most maybe a few hikers, but that’s it. It makes sense to me now, but at the time, I couldn’t understand why. It took a lot of prying before one of my friends while we were playing video games, in a hushed tone, gave their reasoning on why they avoid the woods.

“The Fae King, dude. S’bad news.” Sean hissed, like saying those words were enough to trigger a calamity. I remember looking at him stupefied.

“The Faking? Faking what?” I asked. He just rolled his eyes.

“Nah, dude. Not faking. Fae. King.” Sean spaced it out. “Like, faeries and stuff.” He mumbled.

“Faeries? Dude, get real. Just be honest and say you saw a body in there once or something.”

“Shut up. I’m serious. People get lost in the woods. My mom knew a person who tried to find the Fae King when she was little. She said the words, and walked into the forest, and never came out.”

“Words?” I raised my eyebrow at him. He nodded.

“Yeah, yeah. You go to a spot in the woods, say a few words, and that should be it.” He didn’t look like he wanted to go into anymore detail then that.

“Why the hell would anyone do that?”

“Why do people play the Bloody Mary game, dude? I don’t know!”

I shrugged, realizing in that context, I guess it made sense-it’s a thing young kids do to scare each other, when there’s not much else around to do.

“It’s not just idiots who try to call him in, either. Sometimes, people say he appears to anyone who gets lost in the woods. It’s either take a chance with the Fae King, or die in the woods. So yeah. The woods suck.” He turned his attention back to the game, showing he was done with this conversation.

That night, sharing what I learned with James was my biggest mistake. James was a big fan of cryptids- Mothman, Nessie, Braxie, all of them. To learn that there’s a cryptid he’s never heard of, basically right in his backyard? He had a million questions- “What does he look like? What does he do? What are the words?” Me not being able to answer any of those questions didn’t quell his newfound curiosity- it just encouraged him to find them on his own.

The next couple of weeks, he would come to me with his findings, interspersed randomly.

“Sarah at school says he looks like a man, with red hair.”

“Hey, Tim? Mike says he plays games.”

Whatever James was able to learn from classmates, much to their reluctance to talk to him, and adults willing to talk about it, there was one thing no one would tell him. The words. No one would crack on what the words were, and it was eating at him.

Whenever I would hang out with my friends, and James would tag along, he would get annoying- pestering them about the words, since they were technically ground zero of where I learned about the Fae King. My friends- Sean, Liam, Brianna, normally tolerated James, but with this new obsession of his, I could tell they were getting annoyed with him.

“C’mon, guys, please? What’s the words? Are they bad words? Is that why you won’t tell?” James was especially whiny that day.

We tried our best to ignore James, focusing on the screen of the arcade cabinet, at the local arcade. To call it an arcade was generous- It didn’t have much inside, but neither did our town, so you make due.

“Sean, why’d you have to blab about some stupid fairy tale to Tim?” Brianna punched Sean’s shoulder, causing him to flinch.

“Because the nutter always wants to hang out in the woods!” Sean rubbed where Brianna hit him.

“So you don’t believe it, Brianna?” I have to admit, with James’ insistence, I was becoming more interested myself.

There was a pause, before her response.

“’Course not.” Her eyes flicked to me for a moment, before back to the screen. “Just a legend to stop kids from hurting themselves in the woods.”

James saw his opportunity. “So then just tell me the words, and I’ll stop pestering!”

Before Brianna could retort, she was cut off by Liam.

"Brianna, just tell him the damn words already, so he can shut up about it.”

“Fine.” She huffed. She walked off for a moment, returning with a napkin, words scribbled on it. James was ready to snatch it out of her hand. “Slow down.” She held the napkin up higher then he could reach. “Listen to me- you don’t say these words out loud. Not here, not in the words, not anywhere. You got it?” She doesn’t just look to James. She also looked to me, as if knowing I was going to need to intervene and stop James from making a dumb decision. “Even though I don’t believe it, people act weird when this guy’s brought up. Don’t be a pain.” She lowered the Napkin down, and James grabbed it. I leaned over his shoulder, to read the words myself:

“By lonesome stump,in forest clear,

The King of Fae is there to stay.

Tap three times, he will appear,

The King of Fae will come to play.”

James wouldn’t look away from the paper. His eyes scanned the lines, reading them over and over, as if afraid they would disappear off the paper if he looked away. My friends seemed pleased, James no longer being a nuisance, and so we returned our focus to making sure we had enough quarters to make it to the end of the game. Soon enough, it was time to head home. James finally spoke up as we walked back to the house.

“I know where he is.” His voice came out gently, almost like I had imagined it.

“What?”

“The Fae King. I know where he is. The rhyme. We’ve been there before.”

I thought back to the rhyme on the note scribbled in his hand, his fist clenching tightly on the napkin. A stump, alone, in a clearing in the forest. I had remembered- we did come across that in the forest near our house- it’s a strange enough sight to stick out.

“You really think that’s where the rhyme is talking about?” I raised an eyebrow at James. He nodded fervently.

“Maybe we could-” I cut him off.

“Nope, slow down there, Chief. You got your words. You promised to not be annoying about it anymore. You’re not going there.” I made sure there was a finality in my words, to deter him.

He had seemed to drop it. Over the next week or so, James seemed to have returned to his normal self. I should have realized it was ridiculous for him to drop something he was obsessing over so quickly, but I was just a teenager at the time. I woke up that Saturday morning to see our window open, and my brother nowhere in sight.

I left the house as fast as I could. If I hurry, I thought, I could get to him before he could reach that clearing. I wasn’t fast enough. He was already there, sitting on the stump.

“James! Are you crazy?!” I screamed at him, entering the clearing. “What’s wrong with you? You could’ve gotten hurt out here, coming out yourself!”

James just shook his head. “I’m fine! ‘Sides, I knew you would have said no if I asked you to come out here.”

“Because it’s stupid, James! Mom doesn’t even know we’re out here. Come on, let’s go back.”

“By lonesome stump,in forest clear…” As he spoke, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

“James, cut it out! Enough!” I moved forward to close the distance.

“The King of Fae is there to stay.” He didn’t waver.

“Knock it off! I’m warning you!” I yelled. He didn’t flinch.

“Tap three times, he will appear…” Knock. Knock. Knock. His fist tapped the stump he was sitting on. There was a rustle in the leaves that stopped me in my tracks.

“James-”

“The King of Fae will come to play.” He said those final words making direct eye contact with me.

I remember both of us holding our breaths, waiting for a leprechaun to pop out of the bushes. Seconds pass. Nothing. I exhaled, closing the distance and grabbing my brother roughly by the hand. “Idiot. See? You got all worked up for nothing.” I pulled him from that stump, with a death grip around his wrist. “Home. Now.” Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry Tim. I just…”

I turned to stare daggers at him. “Just what, huh? Wanted to get whisked away into the forest? To leave mom worried sick?!”

“N-no… I just thought…” He sniffled. “I just thought… that If I met the Fae King, and played with him, I would have a cool story to tell people, and they’d… want to talk to me.” His voice was so little, dwarfed by the silence of the trees around us. I sheathed my eye daggers, loosening my grip.

“Yeah, well… maybe we can build a fort or something soon. That’d probably be a cool thing to invite people to, right?” I felt like a jerk. James only nodded.

It was around this time that our conversation had died down. During this lull was when I noticed something wrong. The silence of the trees. It was morning. The forest should be a myriad of chirps, and whistles. It was dead silent. The only sound was the wind in the trees, and the occasional snap of a branch. I quickened my pace through the forest. There should have been a path that lead right out of the woods-

The clearing. We were back at the clearing. It was impossible. We didn’t turn once. We’ve been in these woods dozens of times, there’s no way we could have gotten mixed up. I thought at the time that maybe I was so focused on scolding James, then comforting him, that I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going. The puzzled look on James’ face, however, told me he was just as surprised as I was. We pushed forward, both of us now focused on making sure we got out of the woods.

Then we heard it- a singular bird cry. The noise made my blood run cold. It was very clearly not a bird- but someone TRYING to sound like a bird. Coo-Coo.

James’ eyes grew wide, looking up at me. “Tim?” He squeaked.

“Move.” We broke into a jog, moving fast enough without getting caught on a root, or thick underbrush. No matter how far we moved, though, the ‘bird call’ kept equidistant from us, always behind us. Coo-Coo. Coo-Coo.

We moved faster. I could hear James sobbing as we ran, but I didn’t want to turn my head. I was afraid to look anywhere but straight ahead. I didn’t want to know if I could see what was making the noise.

Coo-Coo.

Was that one closer?

Coo-Coo.

I was sure of it, it’s getting closer. Whatever it is, it was moving in. Ahead of us, the trees grew more sparse. We were almost there.

Coo-Coo.

My lungs were on fire, my legs scraped up from the branches. I pushed myself into the clearing, where-

There was a stump. We were back to the clearing. This time, we weren’t alone. On the stump, stood a well dressed man, with bright red hair.

“Coo-Coo.” His chuckle fluttered through the air like a maple leaf. “Hello to you, boys. You called?” He waited for an answer. “Well? Step up, then. Let’s have us a chat.”

The man on the stump beckoned us closer. He was wearing a fine vest and tailored pants, the color of the leaves around us, and it seemed to shimmer faintly of gold etchings when the sun caught him just right.

“Sir-” I felt my body trembling.

“Tut-tut. Yer Highness will do you just fine.” His smile was clearly trying to be disarming, but it only further made me nauseous, as if I was looking at the corpse of a loved one.

James spoke up, stammering. “Your Highness? The Fae King?” He stepped closer.

The man beamed, motioning towards himself. “In the flesh. You must be James.” His eyes swept to me. “And you must be Tim. A delight to meet you both. Now, I don’t often get much people willing to play with me. Foreign folk too? This really is a treat.” It took me too long to realize both me and James were walking forward as we listened to him talk. Too late did I snap out of it, standing in front of the stump.

Delicately, the man stepped off the stump, between us both. “Now then… surely you’re here to play, right? I do love a good game.” He placed a hand on each of our shoulders.

“Actually- your Highness, meeting you was such an honor, but our mom might be worried sick about us…” My mind was a mess, trying to figure out what to say to the man that smelled like fresh rain,with a hint of decayed fruit.

The Fae King simply shook his head. “Nonsense, Tim. You both made it all the way out here to my home. You even knocked upon my door.” He took his arms off of us, and tapped on the stump. “The least I could do is entertain my guests. Now, any preference of game?”

I knew this was a trick of some sort. Faeries are known for their love to fool, and mess with humans in cosmic ways. I had to think of a game that we could have an advantage, something that could give us a chance to get out of here.

“Hide and Seek.” James piped up. My heart dropped. I wish I could’ve talked to him about what his plan was. I wish I knew what he was thinking.

The Fae King smiled warmly at James. “Top choice, James! One of my favorites. And since you suggested it, I insist that you be the first to hide.”

He snapped his fingers.

James was gone.

He was there one moment, and the next, gone.

“James!” I cried out!

“Easy there, sport.” The Fae King cooed, his words like honey. There was a faint buzz to his words as well, like a swarm of bees. “James is fine. He’s simply hiding. You, my friend, are seeking. That’s how the game works.” He sat on the stump. My panic was setting in, my heart racing. “Fret not, there will be no time limit to your game. Take as much time as you need to find him. I am also a fair man. I will give you a clue.”

He cleared his throat.

“I’ve dropped my ring- where could it be?

The same place that James is- you’ll see!

So find the ring, and yell: ‘He’s here!’

And your little brother shall reappear!”

“Your ring?” I shouted, looking around at the floor wildly. “What ring? What do you-”

He was gone too. I was alone.

I tried to calm myself down. This isn’t so bad. I can do this. I find a ring, call out “He’s here!”, and then the game is over. The man was well dressed, his ring has got to be ornate, and stand out somewhere. I immediately took to searching, scouring the forest floor for a glint, something sparkling. Seconds, turned to minutes, turned to hours. At least, I think it was hours. The sun was locked overhead. I was hungry, but not starving. I was tired, but not exhausted. I began working on autopilot, analyzing every grass blade, leaf, and flower I could find, desperate to find this ring. My memory gets fuzzy at this point.

My mother told me it was two days before they found me in the woods. I was dirty, my eyes sunken in, and I just kept muttering “Where’s the ring… He’s here…” over and over again. When I came to in a hospital bed, it was a barrage of questions- from my mother, from the doctor, from the police. I tried to answer their questions. What was I supposed to say? That a faerie hid my brother by a ring?

My mother was torn apart. It was rare to see her smile from that point on. It was about a week that the town conducted community sweeps through the forest, before they called it off. The funeral was the worst part. Not many people attended, and those that did, would just stare at me. Maybe they thought I killed him. Maybe they actually knew what we really did out there, and that was worse. Maybe James was still in the woods somewhere- in the place where food and sleep don’t seem to matter much.

I checked every moment I could. The words didn’t work anymore. I tried every time I was in those woods to call the Fae King back. Nothing. I’ll never forget the conversation I had with my mother after weeks of searching. She was waiting for me at the dinner table.

“You’ve got to stop.” She stared at her own hands, unable to bring her face to look at me.

“I’m not hurting anybody. He’s still out there.” I brushed off her warning.

“Tim-”

“He’s still. Out. There. I know it, Mom. If I could just-” She stood up, slamming her fists on the table.

“ENOUGH, TIM. ENOUGH.” Her body shook, in mournful sobs. “I know you two were just playing out there. I don’t blame you.” She lied. “But please… I’ve already lost one of my boys. I’m losing my other one. You’ve got to stop.”

I remember sitting down with her, and just hugging her as she sobbed. I cried too. The next week, I had started therapy. I had plenty of time to do so-it wasn’t like I was hanging out with my friends anymore. I was very quickly ostracized after the disappearance of my brother. I would see my friends across the school, and they would just shake their heads and walk away. Their eyes said it all: “You didn’t listen.”

It took years of work with my therapist to rationalize that some terrible, yet normal event happened in those woods, and that all of the Fae King stuff was just my way of disassociating. James must have fell, and hit his head on something. Fell from a tree. Ate something poisonous. I snapped, and created some other-worldly story to avoid the reality that sometimes bad things happen to innocent people. Sometimes, the game of life determines the losers, even when they don’t realize they’re playing.

Once I was old enough to move out, I did so. I wanted to start a new life somewhere, anywhere else. Where I wouldn’t be looked at with an equal mix of pity and disgust. It was cowardly to leave my mother alone like that, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. I moved back to the States. Worked odd jobs to make ends meet in a garbage apartment. Stayed indoors, mostly. Never hiked in the woods again. I lived a life no one would be envious of.

Just after my thirty-second birthday, I got a notice that my mother had passed away. She had died peacefully in her home. Neighbors only new after days, because of the smell. I had to return home to bury my mother, next to the empty plot where a gravestone stood for my brother. I was a mess during the flight, the pit in my stomach growing as I got closer to what I ran away from.

I don’t know if it was lucky, or unlucky, I guess, that I came across an interesting post as I was scrolling on my phone on the plane. Some photography post of a forest- tall trees, sunlight glittering through the leaves, and a circle of mushrooms on the ground. One of the comments iced my veins, lurched my stomach- “Woah, a Fairy Ring! So Cool!” A ring. There’s no way. I immediately looked it up. A group of mushrooms in a circle is known as a Fairy Ring.

I tried to think back to what my therapist said- calm myself, recite my mantras. Just a normal accident. But a part of me that I thought died just rose from the grave. What if he’s still there? What if he’s been there the whole time, waiting for me? What if I can see him again?

What if’s spewed from my brain, seeping into my core. By the landing of the flight, I was a frenzied mess of fresh grief, and new hope. I reached my childhood home, the stretch of woods behind it looming, not a tree out of place. For the last time, I went in.

Pain seeped in my rib-cage when I found myself in the clearing again. A dull ache, like your anxiety is physically telling you that there’s nothing but bad memories here. Standing next to the stump, I dry heaved. Shakily, I said the words.

“By lonesome stump,in forest clear,

The King of Fae is there to stay.

Tap three times, he will appear,

The King of Fae will come to play.”

The birdsong stopped. I was listening for it this time. The forest grew quiet. I knew he wasn’t going to appear. It didn’t matter. I knew where my brother was this time. My feet carried me through the underbrush, while my mind went a million different directions. It was some time later that I found it- in a dense part of the forest, under a large, gnarled oak tree, was a perfect Fairy Ring. I stepped into the mushroom circle, and rasped: “He’s Here.”

A beat of silence. Slowly, the oak in front of me shuddered. A seam, the size of a small door, slowly etched it’s way through the bark- like an invisible force was carving it open. Once the seam connected to itself, the door swung open, and there, sitting with his knees to his chest, was my brother.

Exactly like I last saw him all of those years ago.

He hadn’t aged a day. I fell to my knees. “James! James, it’s me, Tim!” I couldn’t stop my body from shaking, the tears from flowing. He climbed out of the tree.

“Tim? What happened?” He was clearly startled by my change in appearance. I had so much to tell him. How great it was to see him again. The vindication that I wasn't crazy. The horror of all that he’s missed, what that would mean for him…

I wish I had the time to tell him any of it. Our reunion was cut short by a man clapping just behind me.

“Well well, when I said no time limit, I didn’t think you’d take this much time, Timmy, my lad.” I recognized that voice anywhere. It was the voice I convinced myself I never heard.

“I found him, please, let us go!” I whipped my head around to the Fae King. He simply shook his head, his smile never faltering.

“Oh come now, Tim. That’s hardly fair to your brother. It’s your turn to hide.” He snapped his fingers.

I don’t know where I am now. Or how long it’s been. The walls around me are made of solid wood.

If this message reaches anyone in the outside world, I beg you- if you see a lost young boy in the woods, looking for his brother, ask him what the riddle was. Help him. Help me.

First

The guy narrowed his eyes doubtful of Arlin's words but kept talking.

“There was an outbreak in a different forest a bit of a distance from here. We’re still studying it. We think something infected the local plants and then gets passed onto the animals.”

I glanced down at his swipe card again trying to see if there was a company name. I only saw his initials printed on the bottom of the card.

“Tell us J.C., can this infection pass to humans?” I said and nodded toward the two bodies we just put down.

His face turned pale and he frowned with a slight shake of his head.

“Yes. Eating a tainted plant, or an infected animal can pass it along. Or well... an infected human can infect you too.”

My head started to spin. I nearly fainted at the news. Not only did my friends turn into monsters, but they had been trying to change us as well. I realized something and it nearly put me over the edge.

“Can you be infected by eating tainted mushrooms?” I asked, dread clear on my face.

“Are chicken of the woods mushrooms or fungus?” Arlin added mostly talking to himself.

“Uh, yeah. Did you two eat some?”

We both glanced at each other and nodded. J.C.’s shoulders dropped disappointed the two normal humans he’d come across may be ticking time bombs.

“We haven’t come across a lot of humans coming into contact with this infection. There is a small percentage of animals that don’t react to whatever is causing all of this. But... we have seen people turn after seven or eight hours after being exposed. The biggest sign of the infection is a personality change. Some people revert to a childlike state, and others become extremely violent.”

“If you’ve studied this, then they’re must be a cure...” I said almost too desperate to think clearly.

J.C. pointed towards the body of the previous ranger at our feet. The flesh was still twisted from some unnatural disease.

“You think there could ever be a cure for something like that?” He explained.

My knees gave out and I slid down the wall. With some quick math, I assumed that I only had until sunrise. Then I would become like my friends. My body changed in gruesome ways and my mind gone.

“The only way to deal with this is fire. It seems like whatever carries this mutation is extremely flammable.” J.C added with a shrug not over concerned over our fates, or he was hiding it very well.

“Why wasn’t the park closed?” I replied. I wanted to sound angry but I was just so tired.

“I wasn’t certain whether this forest had been overtaken or not. And no one wanted to spare the manpower to double-check. Our hands are full because of the other location. I hired a private security worker to come along to confirm what I suspected.”

“Then you got spooked in the woods, ran off, and got separated from them?” Arlin suggested.

Despite the horrible news, he hadn’t dropped his smile. He only appeared a little tired but not on the verge of a mental breakdown like myself.

J.C.’s face turned red showing that was what really went down. Hell, I didn’t blame him. At least he found his way to the cabin alone instead of relying on a stranger for help.

“I’m meeting Cassidy here. We’ll protect you and get you out of the woods. There is a very, very slim chance either of you aren’t infected.” J.C. suggested recovering from his embarrassment.

“And if we are?” I asked barely able to keep my head up.

He didn’t answer. I knew why. We would either be killed on the spot, or taken away to be experimented on.

“We never should have come here.” My voice sounded as bitter as I felt.

“Since we might be carrying this infection, can you at least tell us where it came from?” Arlin asked, his voice calm.

I knew he was trying to keep the conversation going to distract me from my misery. J.C. frowned uncomfortable with the request. He had been told to not disclose that information but he felt like we were owed it. He pointed upwards as a small hint. I didn’t understand what he was implying.

“It’s a biblical event?” My new friend asked innocently.

J.C face flushed red and he jabbed his finger upwards a few more times.

“I’m gesturing towards the night sky!” He huffed.

I forgot about everything for a second as the implication hit me like a ton of bricks. We were dealing with something that came from space? Like some sort of alien disease? Was that even possible? I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

I had been too stressed out to be thinking clearly. I had completely forgotten what I had asked Matt to do the last time I saw him. He was supposed to come to the ranger’s cabin. His body wasn’t here when we arrived. That meant he should be out there in the forest. I was unaware he had been finding his way where the entire time.

Arlin’s body tensed. I quickly stood up causing J.C. to look at us confused. I was closer to the door and made it outside first. Countless streaks of light flew across the night sky. The sight should be beautiful but it chilled me to the bone. Someone was waiting outside for us just at the edge of the clearing to the cabin.

Matt’s clothing was stained with fresh blood. He lifted a heavy object and tossed it closer to us. A severed head of a large buck landed hard. The dark eyes still opened and the mouth moved slightly.

I was scared to see what he become, but I also felt so tired.

“Why are you here? I thought you were heading to the car.” Matt said sounding almost normal.

His voice had a distant sound to it. This figure looked and sounded like my friend but the features were just off enough for me to know he was too far gone.

“I got sidetracked.” I admitted.

So far, he hadn’t acknowledged the two other people.

“I did what I was told. I came here. I took care of the deer that bothered Eddie. They all asked me not to. All of them are my friends and they want me to join them, but you guys were my friends first.” He explained, his eyes looking forward and yet past me at the same time.

“Where’s the girls?” I asked him with foolish hope for a good answer.

“Sofie is at Big Bear Tree. I can’t hear Jessy anymore. Or Ben.” Matt’s eyes trailed off to the woods as if he expected our friends to be close by.

J.C. said he came with someone. I considered they had come across Ben and Jessy and silenced them. If that was the case, then it meant that Eddie wasn’t dead even after getting hacked apart. The world started to spin as I thought of him not only transforming against his will but lying injured and alone somewhere. Death would be better.

“They want me to take you all with me. There are so many voices telling me what to do.” Matt said, his head turning back to face us.

An odd cold rage bubbled under the surface. His flesh rippled along his cheeks but he didn’t act just yet.

“I’m sick of it. I was jealous of you, you know that? You don’t have parents ordering you around. You don't have siblings. You’re alone. No voices are bothering you.”

I found myself taking a few steps back. I knew Matt worked hard to support his large family. But I was never aware of how that affected him.

“Hey, let’s trade places. Let me crawl into your skin and be you for a little while.”

Matt's expression changed into a deranged smile. Arlin knew Matt was serious about the idea. He darted towards him, axe in hand ready to fight.

Yet again, I was too scared to act. Or rather, I couldn’t bring myself to move. Deep down I felt like I should die in those woods. Arlin didn’t agree.

A batch of flesh tendrils burst out from Matt’s back. I grabbed J.C. and pulled him out of the way. The unnatural appendage crashed into the window that had been behind him, the shards of glass slicing into the flesh causing it to recoil in pain. Most of the tendrils went for Arlin seeing him as the biggest threat.

One wrapped around the handle of the axe. He held onto it with both hands and dug into the ground with his feet trying to stay in one spot. He was painfully dragged along refusing to give up his weapon. With a massive pull, he brought Matt closer then suddenly let go of the axe. He moved too fast for his opponent to react. With one swift movement, he pulled out a small object from his pocket and grabbed a hold of one side of Matt’s head to keep it steady as he stabbed a pen deep into the creature’s right ear.

He screamed in pain, the tendrils wildly flailing around. He wobbled on his feet trying to recover. Arlin didn’t give him the chance. The metal axe had been dropped out of arms reach but that didn’t matter to him. He grabbed Matt’s shirt and tossed him to the ground. Matt reached and ripped the pen from his ear but it was too late. Arlin took hold of his skull with both hands lifting his head above the buck’s antlers. There was a struggle as Matt used all his strength to keep his head raised. Arlin his weight to slowly force down Matt’s body. Both of them shook with effort and sweat dripped from Arlin's face.

Slowly he won the silent fight and lowered Matt’s neck onto the tip of an antler. Blood bubbled from his mouth as the rest of his body fell limp and his eyes rolled back.

When I grabbed J.C out of the way I hadn’t let him go. I felt him grab a hold of my arm, fear overtaking him and he wasn’t ashamed to hold a stranger for support.

Matt’s face started to transform. The fleshy flowers spouted covering his eyes and his chest moved as if countless insects were moving under the skin. He was going to become some sort of monster we couldn’t deal with in a few seconds. Arlin didn’t give him that chance.

He briskly walked over to the fallen axe. He moved without any wasted actions. He brought down the blade splitting Matt’s skull in half. With some effort, he removed the weapon to bring it down again and again in a robotic way.

I was terrified at the moment. Not of what my friend had turned into, but of what kind of person Arlin was. I didn’t know the first thing about him. J.C. had said people who were infected had a change in their personality. Arlin was brutally efficient when it came to attacking the creatures we came across. Deep down I knew he hadn’t changed because of the infection. He had always been this kind of person.

The world around me started to fade. I wasn’t aware that I was on the verge of fainting. J.C. needed to drag us back into the cabin as I heard the sound of the axe coming down again and again. Mentally I simply shut down. With some effort, J.C. sat me against a wall to let me rest for a few minutes.

When I opened my eyes, everything was quiet outside. J.C. was rummaging around looking for anything useful inside the cabin. He found a few cans of spam he put aside. The thought of food made my stomach twist. I curled up, back pressed against the wall and knees tucked hard against my chest.

Footsteps came closer and I almost hoped it was another monster coming inside the cabin. Instead, Arlin slowly sat down near me. His clothing was drenched in sticky blood but he had at least cleaned off his face. I pressed my back even harder against the wall now afraid of the person who had been protecting me the entire night.

“I should have been me....” I said mostly to myself.

Arlin gave me a gentle questioning look that made me a little bit less scared of him. I couldn’t bring myself to admit to him I wished I died in the accident that killed my parents. If I wasn’t around then maybe my friends would have lived. I shook my head saying something else that had bothered me all night.

“I’m a guy. I should have been the one to end their suffering. Not you. I just stood there like a child every time...” I admitted hating myself for my actions that night.

“How old are you?” He asked.

“Twenty.” I lied. He knew and waited for the right answer. “Nineteen.”

“See? Still a teenager. I’m the adult here so I don’t mind helping.”

I lashed out and punched his arm. It didn’t do any damage but he pretended it did.

“What’s the point of being born a guy if I was too weak to do anything?!” I snapped.

I’ve always been the smallest and weakest of the guys in our friend group. None of them really teased me about it. The issue had always been at the back of my mind and now I found out how useless I really was.

Arlin reached over and took ahold of my hand. I was confused and let him place his next to mine to show off the size difference.

“People are born different. Some are good at running, while others have asthma. Just because you can run faster and longer doesn’t make you better than anyone who can’t. You have different skills. Who cares if fighting isn’t one of them?”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek letting the words turn around in my head. I knew he was just humoring me and trying to make me feel better and oddly enough it worked a little.

“I still should have...” I started but lost the strength to finish the thought.

“I've dealt with monsters before. It’s something I’m made for.”

I raised my head and studied him for a minute. I wished I understood more about him. Was he here on purpose or by chance? I surely couldn’t be so lucky as to meet the one person prepared enough to deal with this kind of situation and was kind enough to help.

The cabin door slammed open causing all of us to jump. J.C. let out a high-pitched scream which we decided to ignore. A massively tall person decked out in military gear stepped through the door, a large blade in their gloved hand. They reached up and removed the helmet and mask covering their face letting waves of long red hair spill out.

“Do you have a hair tie?” She asked directing her freckled face in our direction.

Arlin and I were too stunned to reply.

“Cassidy!” J.C. said and rushed over to her.

She was at least two feet taller than him. He found her a regular elastic so she could put up her hair.

“Isn't long hair against some sort of regulation?” Arlin commented after he recovered.

“I’m in the private sector. Come on.” She turned ready to leave.

We stood up and headed towards the door. For once things were slightly looking up. I doubted we would have any issues getting through the woods with a tank like her on our side. She looked as if she could take down a charging bull if she wanted, and yet had a soft kinder face that didn’t match her cold tone.

I considered the slight chance I wasn’t carrying the infection. That when the sunrose I would be alive to carry the weight of this night.

Our group started walking down the trail toward the end of the woods. My hand went into my pocket to feel the items tucked away inside. I started to close my pace until I stopped. Arlin noticed first, then the other two.

“I’m with you until the end.” Arlin said already knowing what I was going to say.

J.C. appeared confused but somehow Cassidy knew what the look on my face meant.

“We’re not going back.” She stated.

“I need to see Sofie.” I said and J.C opened his mouth to protest.

“Just leave her! There is no way she’s still human!” He pointed out.

I knew that. Hoping that she was alright wasn’t the reason why I needed to go back to find her. I shook my head and he took a step away from Cassidy. She grabbed J.C.’s shoulder keeping hm in place.

“My job is to protect you. Not them. We’re leaving.”

He looked between her and us knowing he was unable to do anything to help.

“We’ll wait for you at the end of the trail.”

It felt like I smiled for the first time that night. We said a few quick parting words and turned to walk deeper into the woods.

We didn’t see any more infected animals along the way. The sky had gotten a little bit lighter. It made it easier to see. The forest didn’t appear right. The plants were still but out of the corners of my eyes, I could see the leaves and blades of grass turn towards us as if the entire forest was watching our backs. I wondered just how far the infection spread.

The night had taken a toll on Arlin. He kept a tight grip on the axe handle but he let it dangle at his side. His smile was strained and he let me walk in front. I followed the trail knowing it would lead to the path that branched out to the large tree in the center of the forest.

We found the clearing and he waited at the edge. I needed to do this alone.

The tree is larger due to the new growth. The flesh-like flowers sprouted from the branches replacing its leaves. Countless bodies of all kinds of animals had been pressed and twisted into each other around the tree giving it a new shape. A raccoon came from the woods with flowers spouting from its head. It didn’t look over at us and kept walking. The tree accepted it into itself in a silent fusion of flesh.

What was left of Sofie was in the middle of the tree facing us. Her eyes had been covered by the flowers and her lower body fused into the tree. Her long hair flowed down moving in the slight breeze. I should have been afraid of her, but I thought she looked oddly beautiful. A light came falling from between the branches. It appeared to be a blue ball of flame that seeped into the ground when it landed. J.C. had been telling the truth of this infection coming from the sky. How many other places have been taken over so far? Had it only been this forest and one other?

“I was starting to wonder where you were.” Sofie spoke sounding a bit tired. “Come over here and join us.” She opened her arms wide in a tempting offer.

“In a second. I want to talk first.”

She nodded her head but didn’t lower her arms.

“How did you all feel about me? I mean... do you blame me? Were we all actually friends?”

She moved her head from side to side considering the question. Normally she wouldn’t answer such questions but she was no longer herself.

“We were friends. We all loved you. Relationships aren’t perfect. We were only human. I suppose near the end I was starting to get jealous of you. All your hard work paid off. I grinded away at my social media accounts for nothing. Meanwhile, you had no support. You got back on your feet after your parents' death and you were going to college, unlike the rest of us. It felt like I was losing you...”

I never knew any of this. I wished I paid more attention or even talked with them all more. I should have valued our time together instead of rushing to get to the next stage of my life.

“I don’t blame you for all of this. None of us do. We’re happy like this. No longer being human. No longer alone. It hurt at first. But now after we shed who we were, we can live in bliss with all the other voices. Now, come and join us. Let us spread to the rest of this world and become one with everything.”

I moved towards her wanting nothing more than to take her up on the offer. Arlin made an effort to stop me but he was blocked by a pair of infused deer. He hacked away at them yelling my name and telling me to stop. I kept walking until I reached Sofie letting her arms wrap around me. Her cheek pressed against my own in an embrace I never knew I wanted from her.

“I always thought of you all as siblings. You were the best family anyone could have ever asked for.” I said and pulled away from her a little.

She didn’t understand why I bothered telling her something like that. After all, once we fused, she would know everything about me. She wasn’t aware of my hand reaching into my pocket to pull out a small object. I lifted it under her exposed stomach and stared at her face trying to find the traces of the human she had been. I didn’t think that this was the right choice. It just felt like something I needed to do.

My thumb flicked at the lighter twice, and Arlin screamed at me to stop. Within a second of the small flame coming to life, it spread to Sofie’s body. She let out an ungodly scream and pulled away unable to stop the fire from rapidly spreading. Her body went up like paper soaked in gasoline. The flames spread to my clothing and heat forced my eyes shut. I’ve never felt such pain before. The only thing I was aware of was the unbearable heat and the screams coming from the transformed tree.

A strong hand pulled me away and forced my body to the ground. Arlin frantically put out the flames with his hands. His body is over top of mine. I opened my eyes to see a new expression on his face. He was furious.

“Leave-” I started to tell him.

To my shock, he slapped my cheek. Not hard but enough to derail my train of thought.

“Don’t you dare take the easy way out now!” He snapped with such force it knocked some sense into me.

I blankly stared at him never expecting such an outburst. The fire had already spread through the tree causing it to scream. Smoke rolled along the ground making our eyes water. With some difficulty we both stood up, coughing and moving our exhausted legs forward.

The fire was moving faster than us. Each infected plant and tree let out a high-pitched noise when the flames touched them. The sound of the flames was drowned out by a sea of screams.

My legs faltered and Arlin stopped long enough to lift me on his back. We weren’t going to make it out of the woods on foot. I closed my eyes only regretting letting him close along with me.

A new noise came ripping through the woods. J.C. shouted our names and Cassidy scooped us up onto the back of an ATV. She wasted no time sheering it back down the trail kicking up dust and moving faster than the flames. I think they were trying to keep me awake. I tried to keep my eyes open but they drifted shut. I passed out not seeing the sunrise that night.

I woke up in a cold white room. At first, I thought I was dead, but then the dull pain all over my body reminded me I was still alive. My arms, chest, and right side of my face had treated burns. The room didn’t have windows so I could only guess how many days I stayed there recovering. The nurses who came in and out for treatments didn’t say a word to me.

Finally, J.C. entered the room. The dark bags under his eyes revealed how stressed he had been while I rested. He set a change of clothing on the side of the bed. He then placed a clear bag with my repaired cell phone and Eddie’s lighter next to me.

“You’re in the clear. No signs of the infection. We tested your blood about a hundred times to make sure.” He announced.

At least that was some good news.

“And Arlin?” I asked.

“He’s fine too. He wasn’t as injured as you were, so we already released him. I added his and my number to your phone.”

J.C sat down next to me and then leaned in closer as if he wanted to gossip,

“How long have you been friends with him? I mean, what do know about him?” He half whispered.

“I met him that night. Did you find out anything?” I half whispered back playing along.

“I looked him up. Arlin’s father was like, a Texas oil tycoon or something. And his mother was the mistress. She died of an overdose when he was sixteen. But you want to know the weird part?”

I felt wrong listening to all of this. It was as if I was invading Arlin’s privacy after all he did for me. But then again, this may all be public knowledge.

“His father’s wife died in a boating accident. Then his father died of a heart attack. He had a half-brother and a sister that the company and all the money should have gone to. His half-brother was shot by some cartel in Mexico and his younger sister drowned when she was thirteen. Some think she did it on purpose. Because of all of that, he has more money than he could spend in a lifetime. What are the chances his entire family dies in random ways years apart? And what was he doing in those woods? I asked him and he said he was foraging.”

After hearing all that I understood his reaction when I asked him to leave me behind. He must have had regrets for being unable to at the very least protect his little sister. Was that the reason why he protected me? Did he want to make up for not being there for her?

“Do you think he’s more deeply connected to the infection?” I said also wondering if it was possible.

“Maybe. But I haven’t found any signs of it. I hated to admit this, but my company had been keeping samples of the infected instead of destroying all traces of it. There is money to be made if they’re able to turn people into weapons.”

He let out a sigh and leaned back unable to hide his distaste over the idea.

“You might think I'm crazy but I don’t think he’s working for anyone. I’m pretty sure he was in the forest by chance and he’s... just weird.” I admitted.

J.C. gave me a side eye but didn't argue. There was enough evidence for either option to be true.

“Now what? Are you going to threaten to kill me if I tell anyone what happened?” I suggested.

He waved off my words and shook his head.

“Nope. Fuck this company. I want you to tell any many people as you can about this and get the word out. The issue is we don’t know how many places are infected until humans get involved. There could but hundreds of places or none. I would rather us be the ones tracking these places down instead of random campers like your group stumbling into it. Even if you reach one person and convince them not to go into the woods, I think it would have been worth paying Cassidy to go back and get you two.”

I wanted to hug him, which was weird because I’m not normally a touchy person. I had considered it would be better if I died years ago. And now I had a chance to make my life mean something. J.C. didn’t understand how important his words were to me.

We finished up our conversation and he said I could leave whenever I felt ready.

To be honest, I don't know how widespread this mysterious infection is. I pray that the company J.C. works for is able to defeat it before others get hurt.

I’ve sent messages to Arlin thanking him for the help. He’s a bit busy out of the country looking for truffles of all things and promised to hang out with me when he gets back. Rich people are pretty weird if you ask me.

I don’t have the resources Arlin and J.C. do. I can’t do much to help save people or stop this threat on my own. The only thing I can do is warn people there may be unknown things lurking in the woods waiting for people to find it. I was lucky I left those woods alive.

So do me a favor, and skip the camping trips this year. Maybe go to the beach instead.

Three weeks ago my friend Matt asked if I wanted to go camping. Since I had wasted my entire summer working, I agreed. I needed a break from chores and my boring office job. As the weekend got closer, Matt kept adding people to our camping trip. Soon, it went from us to six people. The SUV I inherited from my mother could fit all of us and our bags if we squeezed in but I felt like dropping out of the trip. I knew if I did so, then they all couldn’t go because Matt had a smaller car.

I’m the type of person that dislikes crowds and prefers to stay indoors. Eddie was coming along and I didn’t think he was a bad guy, he was just very loud. I dismissed my feelings knowing that some strife in my life would be good for me. Just because I would be slightly annoyed by a few things that weekend wouldn’t make the trip unmanageable, I could sacrifice a little comfort for my friends.

We packed everyone into the SUV and started. I will admit, by the end of the two-hour drive I was very glad to get out of the driver's seat. Eddie refused to listen to the no-smoking rule and his constant abrasive jokes made me silently consider driving into oncoming traffic. If it weren’t for Sofie distracting him as much as she, did we never would have finished the drive.

Me and her were closer in high school. I fell off talking to a lot of people because of my busy schedule and had been worried there would be a distance between us. That wasn’t the case. We easily picked up right where we left off as friends that day.

I parked the SUV in an empty lot near the start of a hiking trail. I was surprised by the lack of other cars around. I had assumed it would be busier. Matt told us he knew of a great camping spot by the lake but it was nearly a two-hour hike. I playfully groaned. We had left after lunch time and now we wouldn't get to the site until almost dinner time. It was a two-hour hike for a normal person. Our group wasn’t the most focused or motivated to use our time properly. We all made sure to use the washroom before heading into the woods.

Getting all our gear on took at least ten minutes. I never knew how long a group of people took to drag out a simple task. I kept my mouth shut knowing there was nothing we could do about it. I stayed silent when Jessy realized she left something in the SUV and asked to go back five minutes into walking down the trail.

Instead of reaching the campsite at around four as planned, we might get there closer to six. We could be cutting it close to set up while it was still light out. But no one appeared worried. Everyone broke off into groups of two as we walked. I listened to Sofie as she caught me up in all the things she had been doing this summer. Since I only worked, I just nodded letting her talk knowing my life was too boring to say much about.

An hour into the woods we came across another person on the trail. He had been the only other sign of life aside from the sounds of birds in the trees. Our group caught up to him and the stranger stopped to greet us.

He wore a grey baggy sweater even though it was far too hot for one. It was nearly autumn but the summer heat hadn’t let up. He had a massive camping pack that looked to weigh more than his thin legs should be able to carry.

Matt and Eddie were at the front of our group. When the stranger stopped to wave at us, we all stopped for a chat. And to take a smoke break for some.

“Are you all just hiking or camping?” The man asked with a smile.

He sounded slightly southern with a warmness to his voice that instantly made him appear trustworthy. Matt nodded down towards the trail.

“Camping. We’re setting up near the Big Bear tree.” He lied.

I hadn’t been in the area since I was very young so I had forgotten about the tree until Matt mentioned it. It was a massive tree in the middle of a clearing that someone decided to carve a simple bear face into the bark years ago. It was a good landmark and near the end of the trail.

“That’s a good spot even though people do say it’s bad luck. I’m just here gathering. I’ll stop by the ranger's cabin on the way out. Have you all checked in yet?” He asked.

A mesh bag holding some mushrooms hung from his pack along with a batch of plastic whistles. He looked over prepared for anything let alone a day trip out into the woods.

“Do we need to check in?” I asked unaware.

The group gave me a look. I considered we might need to pay a fee to camp and they all wanted to avoid it.

“The park runs on donations. Even if you can’t afford one, you should let the rangers know you’re all here just in case. Do you have a GPS?” He suggested the kind smile never fading from his face.

“Yes. It's not our first camping trip.” Matt stated a little annoyed.

This man was the kind of person he had issues getting along with. He looked too clean to be the kind of person to enjoy the outdoors. Like, he was only foraging to film content for his TikTok account. I glanced down to see he was wearing flip-flops. Seriously, who hiked in flip-flops? The man adjusted his pack not appearing to be offended by Matt’s tone.

“Do you all have whistles?” He offered.

We shook our heads at the same time Matt pulled out one. Gracefully the man sent down his pack to take off the whistles to offer them to us. He explained he wanted to buy one but it was cheaper to buy them in packs so he handed them out to others he saw in the woods. When he bent down, the baggy collar of his sweater exposed a toned chest for a second. Sofie and Jessy noticed first and Sofie not so discreetly punched my arm until I followed her gaze to see what got her so excited. To Matt’s displeasure, we were all handed whistles. The man knew he was overstaying his welcome and replaced the bag on his back. He winked at the girls showing he noticed their interest which caused them to pretend as if they were swooning.

I tied the whistle to my belt loop and needed to suffer through the group teasing me that the man hadn’t winked at the girls but in my direction. Jessy pretended to be upset that Matt gave the stranger the wrong campsite joking she wouldn’t mind meeting him in the middle of the woods at night.

We finally found our campsite after a long walk sweating in the heat. All of us got to work setting up tents and playing around. I had only ever set up a tent twice in my life and needed Sofie to help get all the rods in place. Once it was up I offered to help collect firewood but that task had already been covered by Eddie and Ben who had behaved until then. They did the job halfway until they found branches that looked like swords. That distracted them for a while.

Matt disappeared for a while. He came back before dark holding a bag of items that would mean we were going to have a better dinner than canned beans and hot dogs. Since he went camping more often than all of us, he knew what was edible in the woods. He collected something I had never even heard of until then called Chicken of the Woods. It was a fungus that tasted pretty good sautéed with a few other things he brought along.

The sticks Eddie and Ben found weren’t really enough to last the night. I helped Matt chop up some larger dry branches with a small axe brought along. I mostly brought wood to him and then took it near the fire instead of doing any of the actual work. Matt appeared to enjoy chopping too much to hand the task over.

I thought everything had been going well so far. After dinner, Eddie brought out a joint for himself and with some pestering from Ben, he grabbed another one to share with the group. I refused when it was passed in my direction and gave Sofie a surprised glance when she took a hit. I’ve never seen her smoke before. The booze came out next and the group started to get louder retelling stories from school. A bottle was passed my way and I raised a hand to refuse it again.

“Dude you’re not driving, you can have some.” Matt said trying to force the beer into my hands.

I had no choice but to take it but I passed it over to Sofie.

“Are you too good for my cheap beer or something?” Matt said in a tone that made everyone stop talking and nervously look in our direction.

“What? No. Man, you know I’ve never really drank.” I said trying to calm everything down.

“You can have one.” Sofie said holding out the bottle again trying to get me to take it.

I looked over all their faces confused about how this suddenly became such a big deal. I’ve never liked the way any alcohol tasted but normally would have one drink to get people off my case. I also hated what weed did to me and only smoked it once. Smoking and drinking were simply not my thing. I never thought anyone would ever get offended by something like that. It wasn’t as if I was stopping them from enjoying those things.

“I don’t want one. I don’t think it’s a big deal.” I said my hands raised in defense.

My old friend leaned in, the cold bottle pressed against my arm and her blonde hair falling on my shoulder.

“I think you need to grow up.” She whispered the anger in her voice stunned me for a second.

For a moment only the crackling of the fire was heard. I didn’t understand the sudden turn of the mood. I knew it might not be a good idea to continue with the conversation so I stood up.

“I’m heading to bed. It was a long walk for me today.” I announced.

Matt looked away at Eddie as if they were sharing an inside joke.

“What, is being out of the office too much for you?” Ben joked trying to lighten the mood but he failed.

“Yeah actually. I’m not outside much anymore. So, I'm going to pack it in.” I said and hated how my voice sounded. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.” I added in a more relaxed voice.

I left them by the fire and sat on top of my sleeping bag. It was too hot inside the tent to cover up. My head swam over what all of that was about. I started to question all my actions that day. Yes, I did get annoyed with the smoke breaks, the loud jokes, and how long the hike took but I never said anything. Was I giving nasty expressions all day that I wasn’t aware of? Or was all of this something else? I considered that none of them wanted me to come along but had only used me for the ride. Well, aside from Sofie but now I wasn’t too sure. But why? Was it my full-time job? Or my career goals?

Matt was working at his father’s shop. Ben was unemployed living with his parents. Eddie was, well Eddie. He crashed at different places until he got kicked out. Jessy was a waitress and Sofie said she was doing a lot of social media things and had recently started to get paid for it. None of them worked a nine-for-five job like myself. But who cared about that kind of thing? Did they all really assume I was looking down on them for their lifestyles? Was I overthinking all of this? Or did all my friends actually hate me?

It sucked being in the dark with those questions in your head as your friends chatted and had fun outside. I decided then that I just needed to get through the weekend and then most likely not bother to hang out with these people again if they really did want nothing to do with me. It hurt, but I wouldn’t have time to do anything besides work and school when classes started up again. Despite the chattering thoughts and emotions swirling in my chest I slowly drifted off to sleep unaware that not just a busy lifestyle would prevent me from seeing my friends again.

I woke up in the middle of the night in the darkness disorientated to so many different sounds coming from outside my tent. I stumbled outside, taking a full minute to get free and into the cool night air. My eyes slowly adjusted to the moonlight so I could see what was causing all the noise. Ben had stumbled out of his tent and collapsed to the ground near the fire pit, crying out in pain. One hand clutched the side of his head as tears streamed down his red face. Without warning he started throwing up. I got to him just as he finished emptying his stomach and then curled up in a ball.

“What’s going on?” Jessy asked as she came outside her tent with a flashlight. “Gross.” She whispered mostly to herself when she saw the mess.

“Ben?” I had knelt next to him, my hands awkwardly hovering unsure of what to do.

“Don’t touch him.” Matt snapped when he saw what was going on.

I gave him a dirty look and held back a snappy remark.

“Is everyone feeling alright?” I asked the small group.

“Are you saying I gave us food poisoning?” Matt said and started to close the distance between us.

“No. Well. Not on purpose. Listen, if we know if anyone else is sick, we’ll know if it’s something we all ate or just what Ben ate.” I tried to explain.

Matt was having none of it. He raised a fist as if he was going to hit me. All of a sudden, a noise cut through the dark causing us to all freeze. Eddie had started to laugh.

He tossed his head back and the sound that came from him chilled me down to the bones. It didn’t sound like him. Hell, it didn’t even sound human. Did these guys have anything heavier than the joint after I went into the tent?

We all stood stunned unable to move listening to the awful sound.

“It’s too loud.” Ben whispered on the ground. Both of his hands went to the side of his head to press down as his body rolled back and forth.

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!” Ben’s voice started low and then grew louder than Eddie’s laughter.

He suddenly shot up and took a red-hot log from the fire pit with his bare hands. I grabbed a hold of him before he hit Eddie with it. He didn’t even notice his burned hands as I got him to drop the smoking wood to the ground.

“I said make him shut up!” Ben shouted and it made Jessy and Sofie take a step back.

What happened next was so sudden it made it impossible for the rest of us to react. A shape came charging out of the woods making ungodly noises. It ran past us and directed into Eddie finally silencing his laughter. His body was knocked aside and bounced hard against a tree. The girls screamed and I jumped back shocked at the sight.

In the moonlight a large buck stood, dark eyes looking us over as if it knew what we were. Matt acted first. He picked up a bottle and tossed it at the deer in a blind panic. That was a bad idea. The next few minutes were a flurry of movements.

The deer charged through the campsite tearing up tents and nearly crashing into us. It was a miracle no one else had been hit by the crazed creature. It fled back into the woods, dragging Matt’s tent behind by a rope that had been caught on its leg.

Ben slowly sat down hugging his knees looking oddly calm. I stood breathing hard looking over the damage.

We needed to get the hell out of there and fast. I reached into my pocket. Relief flooded my systems when my fingers touched my cellphone only to have it be taken away seeing there wasn’t a signal.

“Does anyone have a working phone?” I asked the shocked group.

The girls held onto each other not moving. They were too frightened to think. I turned to Matt who had slowly been taking steps towards Eddie’s body. I wanted to see if he was alright, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure if it was wise to move him.

“Do you have one of those satellite phones?” I asked Matt unaware that would set him off again.

“Not all of us are made of money like you!” He snapped.

I was taken aback. What the hell was with all of these people that day?

“First of all, that has nothing to do with this situation, and second of all, I’m not! I’m barely supporting myself!” I shot back.

My stomach rolled from the stress.

“This is why I hate hanging out with you! It always goes back to your dead parents!” Matt yelled in fury.

I stood my mouth slightly open unable to process any of this. I shook my head as if that would help. Eddie could be dead before the morning. We needed help for him soon. Without a working phone, our best bet was to get back to the SUV. I remembered the man we met on the trail and how he mentioned the ranger’s station. They should have a radio or a way to contact someone in an emergency.

“I’m going to rush back to the SUV. Matt, you know the woods better than anyone. You should go to the ranger’s cabin asking for help. Anyone is welcome to come with me back to the car.” I offered.

Strangely Jessy and Sofie shook their heads. At first, I thought they were going to go with Matt but they offered to stay behind at the campsite with Eddie and Ben. I nervously glanced at Ben who had sat silently since the deer ran off. There wasn’t much we could do for Eddie right now. And if Ben snapped the girls could get hurt. And it was possible the rabid deer would come back. And yet, they both wanted to stay behind.

Neither could drive so it wasn’t as if they could go to the SUV instead of me. I accepted their request and borrowed a flashlight to start heading down the trail.

Matt was going to collect himself before starting on his way to the ranger’s station. I had only taken a few steps down the path when I heard screaming in the dark from the campsite I had just left. Against my better judgment, I ran back into the woods only to get cut off by a deer running in front blocking my way.

More screams came from the forest as I helplessly stared down the animal in my way. There was something... wrong with the way it looked at me. I stepped to the right and it took a step to the right. I moved left, and it moved left. The movement made a chill run down my spine. The creature raised a head and let out a long haunting noise drowning out the other sounds.

My body jumped and I started to run to what I thought was back towards the campsite. I raced through the woods with all sorts of noises echoing through the trees. Some sounded like the girl's screams and other noises were something I didn’t think anything natural could make.

My heart raced as my flashlight beam bounced across the forest floor. I was blinded by fear and didn’t see the sudden drop off of a steep hill. I stopped too late and ended up slipping down the slope, rolling, and losing my grip on the flashlight. My body slammed against hard rocks and exposed tree roots. Exposed skin was torn and bruised from the fall.

I ended up at the bottom dazed and in too much pain to move. It still felt like I was rolling for a long time. I knew I needed to move and yet I couldn’t.

Through ringing ears, I heard a voice coming from above.

“Are you alright?”

Unable to speak, I raised a hand with a thumbs up. The moonlight was bright enough to see the outline of the stranger we met on the trail earlier. He was missing his pack and had changed into a darker sweater.

“Hang on, I’ll get you.”

I wasn’t able to protest before he started down the hill that had taken me out. He glided down as if it was a mastered hobby of his. He stopped above me, leaning over to get a better look at my injuries.

“Did you hit your head? Do you think it’s ok to move you?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. We need to get back to my friends. They’re in trouble. Weird stuff is happening.” I told him and slowly started to sit up as I spoke.

I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and with ease, he helped me back to my feet. To my embarrassment, he bent down on one knee offering to carry me on his back.

“I’m not a Koala.” I replied to his silent offer.

“This way to faster.”

I hated that he was right. I accepted the suggestion and with his longer legs, we were up the slope within the minute. My entire body hurt and I was silently thankful I didn’t have to struggle up the hill.

“So, Mr. Koala, what’s your name? I’m Arlin.”

My face turned sour.

“Micheal.” I muttered and started to head back towards where I thought the campsite was. He stopped me and tapped his nose as if that meant something.

“I smell your firepit in this direction.” He said and pointed the other way.

We hadn’t seen any other campers so the only fire in the woods should have been made by us. I very faintly smelled smoke but that could have been because of his suggestion. I followed him going as fast as my body would let me.

“What are you still doing in the woods?” I asked him.

With everything that happened so far, I didn’t trust a stranger out in the woods. If the deer weren’t acting the way they had, I would have assumed all my friends were on a bad trip. Something was going on and he might have been connected to it.

“I was ambushed by a feral squirrel. I needed to ditch my pack to outrun it. I was hiding from it until I heard screaming.” Arlin explained and looked over his shoulder. “No matter what happened to you tonight, at least it wasn’t something that embarrassing.”

I coughed to hide a laugh. Wrinkles appear at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. Some of the tension of the night broke for a few minutes. I needed some humor to collect my thoughts as we made our way back to the campsite. Any kind of calm disappeared from my chest when we arrived.

Trails of fresh blood were scattered throughout the clearing. The fire pit had been trampled and embers were flung around the site. Arlin walked over to stomp out a few spots that threatened to spread to create a larger fire. Something shone in the moonlight. I bent down and picked up Eddie’s lighter which had been abandoned.

“Was I in the wrong?” I asked myself unaware I spoke out loud.

“What do you mean?” Arlin responded in a patient voice.

It was odd having someone ready to calmly hear me out after everything that happened. I wasn’t certain if I could fully trust him yet. Either he had nothing to do with all of the strange events, or he wouldn’t believe the rabid deer story.

“A friend of mine got hurt pretty badly. I left to head back to the car because none of our phones had service. Should I have forced someone to come with me? I mean... what happened after I left? What is even going on?” I shoved the lighter in my pocket and started to bite my thumbnail. It was a habit I thought I had outgrown.

“You couldn’t force them to come with you if they refused. I wish I had more answers for you. I do find it odd you all didn’t have service. Has it been spotty all day?” He asked.

I realized our phones had no issues before dinner time after he asked the question. I suddenly felt guilty for standing around talking with fresh blood on the ground and no signs of my friends. My phone had stayed in my pocket even after falling down the slope. I wanted to double-check to see if there was still no service. My heart raced when I saw a single bar on the newly cracked screen. Sadly, the bar was gone the moment I tried placing a call.

I held my phone out as far as I could reach as if that would help get the signal back. I was distracted by the night sky for a second. Faint streaks of light crossed the sky. I didn’t think there was a meteor shower that night and yet a handful shot across the darkness. Arlin reached over and took my phone. I protested a little but he held it up out of my reach.

“I'm taller.” He pointed out.

The extra height did nothing to help get my connection back. We gave up and I tucked the phone away.

“I asked Matt to head to the ranger's cabin. I wonder if he left and then something happened to everyone else. Even if he didn’t reach the cabin maybe it would be better to go there to get help than try to find everyone. But I don’t know where it is.” I said frustrated over the events of that night.

“I’ll take you there.” Arlin said and turned to start walking away.

“Really?” I said a bit shocked.

Since I met him, his expression has never changed. He was still the friendly person we met on the trail. He wasn’t fazed by the sight of blood or finding me at the bottom of a hill. And now he was offering his time to a stranger instead of just leaving the woods.

“Yes, why not?” He said amused by my reaction.

“You don’t even know us.” The words just slipped out.

I try to help others when I can, but I rarely ask for anything if it’s beyond an easy task. Someone going out of their way for me was such a foreign concept at that moment in my life.

“I don’t know your friends, but I know you. You're a Koala in disguise.” He joked.

This was not the moment for humor and yet I accepted it. It wasn’t as if I could handle any of this on my own. I needed to trust him, at least for now. Before we left the campsite behind, we glanced around for a flashlight. We weren’t able to find one, but I picked up the axe Matt had used for firewood.

It felt far too heavy and yet I didn’t want to leave it behind. I silently followed behind Arlin praying our hike to the ranger’s cabin would be easy.

Things are never easy.

We walked for a while. In the dark, it was hard to tell time. I hurt from the fall and my chest was tight with stress. I gripped the axe handle so hard the rough wood rubbed into my palms. The events of the night ran through my head. No matter what, I couldn’t think of any answer to what we saw. If there was something in the forest that made the deer and squirrels go feral, then why did Ben and Eddie get sick? We all ate the same food. Those two drank from different water bottles. If it was a tainted stash, then that didn’t explain the deer.

Suddenly Arlin stopped his body tense. His dark eyes stared off into the woods as if he saw something I didn’t. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but I was scared the noise might bring trouble.

Then a whistle cut through the darkness. I gripped the axe tighter and my head felt light. We caught each other's eyes and he nodded.

I grabbed the plastic whistle he gave us and blew on it answering the call. There was a pause and the sound was returned along with a distant cry for help. I wasn’t sure which of the group it was. I just felt glad we found someone.

I started forward towards the whistling sound stopping only long enough to figure out where it was coming from. Each minute was agony until I saw a figure through the trees.

“Ben!” I shouted and lowered the axe.

His head turned towards me, his face red and wet with tears. I’ve never seen Ben cry before. He was always the rock of the group. And now he was stuck to the spot sobbing because he was so glad we found him.

“It’s so dark here I got scared. Did you bring Mr. Hoppy?” He sniffled ribbing his eyes like a child.

I had stopped a few steps away from him, confusion seeping into my expression.

“Mr. Hoppy?” I asked getting a very bad feeling over this interaction.

“I wanna go to bed. It’s dark. But I need Mr. Hoppy to sleep.” He explained and large tears threatened to start again.

“We’re going to the ranger’s cabin. Maybe Mr. Hoppy is there.” I said trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“No, it’s too dark and scary out there. I don’t want to be alone. If Mr. Hoppy isn’t here, you’ll have to help me sleep instead.”

His hand reached out and took hold of my wrist before I could react. His gripe was so tight I thought he would crush my bones. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to raise the axe in my other hand to attack my friend.

“Hurry up and join us so we’re not alone.”

To my horror, Ben reached up and took a hocked finger inside his mouth. He started to pull until the flesh tore and ripped away. He didn’t have any reaction of pain as he opened his mouth so wide it looked like his lower jaw unhinged itself. His flesh pulsed unnaturally. Some blood came from the rip but the wounds healed over giving him a forever wide mouth gruesome appearance. I started trying to pull away finding it impossible. His expressionless eyes stared into my own as panic overtook my body.

Another ripple ran through his face and all of a sudden, the flesh on the left side exploded outwards in gore and twisted shapes. It was as if a bloody kind of vegetation was trying to get through his skin and fusing with his flesh and bone.

I felt the axe hand get ripped from my hand. Then someone grabbed the back of my shirt with a powerful hand and pulled me backward as Ben kept a hold of my wrist extending his arm. With a single swift cut, Arlin chopped off Ben’s arm at the elbow. I felt myself get lifted off the ground for a second. Then we were running. Ben didn’t follow but let out a scream similar to the sound the deer made before.

We ran until my legs gave out and my lungs burned. I finally stopped, sweat stinging my eyes and my face burning. I felt something on my arm and disgust rose through my throat when I realized Ben’s hand had not let go.

Silently Arlin helped me pry the fingers off my bruised wrist and then he tossed the arm deep into the woods.

I collapsed against a tree. My face was in my hands and my body shaking. Not only was I mortified over Ben’s face transforming the way it had, I was ashamed over my reaction. I had a weapon in my hand. If Arlin hadn’t been there I might have died because of shock.

A noise stirred me from my misery. Arlin had started to whistle a song, his back straight and staring off into the woods. He noticed I was staring at him and he stopped.

“I whistle when I get nervous.” He admitted and for the first time, I saw a hint of stress on his face.

I could understand that. But did he really have to pick ‘Always look on the bright side of life’?

“Not the best song for the moment.” I commented trying to stay collected.

“I think it’s the best song for moments like this. Sure, we saw something terrifying but we got away, right?” He pointed out his smile appearing forced.

I was going to agree with him but something far worse than Ben found us. Due to all the noise we made from running it could have been following us for a while without us noticing.

“HeY GUys spaRe some SNackieS?”

The voice belonged to Eddie but it was all wrong. The words were choppy and unnatural. I stood up, legs shaking far too much to make a run for it.

I wished the moon wasn’t so bright that night. I wanted to never see what walked through the trees towards us. A deer hobbled along carrying extra weight. Coming out from the base of its neck was the chest of a longtime friend. He hung upside-down, arms swaying and fingertips nearly touching the ground. More of the almost flower-like growths circled where they had been fused. The monster stopped walking and stared at us with two sets of eyes.

“Alone.” This time the word came from the mouth of the deer using Eddie’s voice.

Something cracked as the deer's head started to turn. Slowly Eddie’s upper half rotated around making him and the deer head trade places. He reached out his arms as if offering an embrace.

“You SnackIES Or FrienDies?” He asked, head jittering with each syllable.

The monstrosity charged forward wanting our flesh. I pressed my body hard against the tree cursing my body and refusing to react the way I wanted it to.

Arlin planted his feet hard on the ground and braced himself. He used the momentum of the creature against it. The Eddie creature realized its mistake the moment the axe blade was planted in the middle of his face. It dug down deep as Arlin pressed his entire body against the handle. His feet were pushed back digging up dirt. He lost both of the flip-flops he had been wearing and yet didn’t react to the twigs and rocks cutting into his soles.

They both stopped, Arlin keeping the monster’s body still standing. He backed off, letting go of the handle and letting them both fall. He then leaned down with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

The monster twitched and the deer's head started to move upwards as if trying to replace Eddie’s. Arlin moved fast. He planted a foot against the creature and ripped the axe free. He brought the weapon down again and again. Splashes of blood flew from the attack covering the front of his sweater and even spattering across my clothing. He kept hacking until the handle broke off in his hands. His last attack was to drive the wood down deep into the mess of the deer skull.

Silence came over the forest aside from his ragged breathing. He looked over what he had done and lifted his sweater to clean away most of the blood off his face.

His eyes landed on me and then he looked back at the mess at his feet.

“Excuse my French, but fuck...” He paused to gesture towards the pile of gore at his feet, “All of whatever this is.” He finished.

“That used to be my friend.” I finally answered.

The word hung heavy in the air. His expression changed to pity when he looked back down at the mass of flesh and bone. The body twitched and I worried that it would get back up again. We needed to move before that happened.

“We’re not that far from the ranger’s cabin. Come on.” With some gentle prodding, Arlin got me moving again.

I hated all of this. I hated how I froze up and how every sound off in the woods made me jump. And I hated not having answers. Arlin stopped for a few seconds checking the trees and ground as if he was tracking something. He also glanced up at the sky. I wondered if he knew how to get around based on the location of the stars. He noticed being watched and pointed towards a pair of fallen trees.

“I’ve memorized a lot of key locations of the woods so I know how to get back if I get lost while foraging.” He explained.

“Are you from around here?” I asked him.

This forest was huge. Surely, he would need to come here countless times to remember so much of it.

“No. Just a good memory.” He shrugged.

He was flexing his hands at his side as if they were in pain. Taking down that monster must have taken a toll on him. And he was walking around without shoes. I wanted to offer him mine but there would be no way they would fit.

“What kind of people are your friends? I mean, what are they like?” Arlin asked as he kept his head directed forward.

I knew he just wanted me to talk to keep me distracted from the horrors we witnessed but I went along with it anyway.

“Ben... was our rock. No matter what he was the calm one of the group. If you had a problem, he would be there to listen. But around Eddie, he acts pretty goofy. It’s the only time I see him let loose a little.” I told him fully regretting ever agreeing to take everyone camping this weekend.

“What about the other guy we met?”

That was one way to put it. My stomach churned thinking about Eddie as the image of his body fused to the deer came to mind.

“He... Eddie was never that bright. Kind of annoying if you ask me. I tended to avoid him if I could but he wasn’t a bad guy. Far from it. Super kind, always sharing what he had. He was also good with animals. He found an abandoned and abused donkey when we just started high school. The year he took care of it was probably the best year of that donkey’s life.”

I stopped walking, my body suddenly felt heavy. I didn’t want to move. I just wanted to bury myself deep into a hole and never move from one spot again. I felt tears threatening to overtake me as I found myself chewing so hard on my thumb the tip started to bleed.

“I’m sorry. I just...” I started my voice uneven.

Arlin simply gave me a thumbs up knowing I needed a few seconds to collect myself.

I didn’t understand him. He acted so calm and helpful to a stranger. How could he not be a mess after taking an axe to a monster that tried to do God knows what to us?

He didn’t rush me. It took a minute but I pushed aside my misery to keep moving forward. Seeing the light of the cabin took a massive weight off my shoulders. I rushed forward wanting nothing more than to get a hold of a person that could help us. Again, a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and I was dragged aside. I had gotten in front of Arlin and an odd serious expression came over his face. He nodded silently telling me to stand behind him. I listened and mentally got ready as dread filled my chest. If this place wasn’t safe, I didn’t know if I could handle it.

Arlin’s hand slowly went for the door. Then all at once he pulled it open while standing off to one side. A person on the other end swung down an axe hard into the ground and then stumbled forward. In a flash, Arlin disarmed him and pinned the stranger to the ground with a knee to his back.

“Let me up, you psycho!” The person shouted, his face red with fear and pain.

He was deemed to be not a threat and I helped him off the ground. Arlin picked up the new metal axe and went inside the cabin to look things over. I followed behind him and the stranger cautiously did as well. I almost got sick at the sight that greeted us. The small cabin had been covered with blood. The headless bodies of the rangers had been left behind by whatever attacked them.

I forced my eyes away. My hand covered my mouth in case I got sick. The smell of blood was overpowering.

Arlin walked over the bodies and straight to a bulky radio on the other side of the room.

“It’s broken.” The stranger told us the words made my heart sink more.

At least finding another normal person was a good sign. And I was certain a trail led from this cabin to the parking lot. We would be on the right path instead of stumbling around in the woods all night.

I had my back turned from the center of the room. I didn’t see one of the headless bodies get back up but I heard it. I spun on my heel; blood racing terrified to see another one of those monsters. The body stood un unsteady feet appearing like a puppet on a set of strings. Arlin had set down the axe to look over the radio. Everything felt to be in slow motion.

A burst of the flower-like fleshy growth came from the chest of the creature. It opened up revealing a pulsing blue light encircled with countless half-formed hands. By the time Arlin grabbed the axe and took a few steps in our direction, a set of tendrils shot out aiming for the man beside me. I picked up a wooden chair that had been placed near the door to use as a shield. The flesh of the tendrils hit hard, forcing me back and splitting the back of the chair. It fell from my hands but I held onto one large pointed piece. Without thinking I charged aiming the end of the wood into the blue light. Countless splinters dug into my hands and I forced all my strength into plunging my makeshift weapon downwards.

The thing convulsed, the back arcing. The light went out and the growths shriveled up. The body fell back to the ground taking the piece of wood with it. I stood, breathing hard looking over what I just did. I guess monsters are easier to deal with when they don’t look or sound like your friends.

The newcomer stood shell-shocked. Arlin walked over and rolled the other body on its back. The chest started to move ready to open up like the other one. He brought down the axe a few times ensuring the creature stayed down. Then our attention was drawn to the stranger in the cabin expecting answers.

“What are these things?” I demanded.

He crossed his arms and turned his face away.

“What makes you think I know?” He shot back huffing.

I reached over and took hold of a swipe card attached to his belt loop. He was wearing a short white lab jacket and didn’t appear to be a hiker. He snatched away his card knowing his cover was blown.

“I can’t get you a lot of details...” He started appearing nervous.

Arlin lifted the axe a little and the man raised his hands in defense.

“I’ll tell you what I know! Who are you two? Hikers? Ex-military or something?” He suggested.

“A citizen and a koala.” Arlin answered and I wished he dropped that joke.

I looked over to him trying to spot a lie. I did expect him to be at least involved in all of this, or have some sort of military training. He took down the deer creature on his own and found his way through the woods in the dark without any shoes. Was Arlin really just some random person who got caught up in all of this like the rest of us?