Rosé groaned as she slapped another mosquito off of her arm. “Did Jiwoo really get this far? Geez…”

Mark chuckled and plucked a leaf from her hair. “If I know Jiwoo, she didn’t stop to rest at night. So, yeah, maybe she did get this far.”

Rosé groaned again and cut a mark into the next tree they passed by with her knife. “Why did she have to go alone?” she grumbled. “None of this would’ve happened if her stupid dad just let me go with her.”

Yugyeom squinted into the trees in the distance. “Looks like there’s a camp ahead.”

“Really?” Rosé’s ears perked up. “Maybe we can ask them if they saw Jiwoo come by. Last one there buys dinner when we get back.” She giggled and bolted toward the camp.

“Yah—” Mark called after her as he and Yugyeom ran after her.

Rosé laughed as she ran faster and glanced behind at them. “Too slow!”

Because she glanced behind, she hadn’t noticed the tree root sticking out of the ground and tripped over it. She landed on what she thought was the forest floor and grunted on impact. “Ow,” she mumbled as she propped herself up on the thing she fell on. Her eyes widened when she noticed it had been a dead body and screamed.

She scrambled to her feet and looked around the camp with horror. Mark and Yugyeom ran up next to her in a hurry when they heard her scream. The entire camp was ripped to shreds. Everything was drenched in blood. There were four bodies lying scattered around what was left of the camp all motionless and torn apart. Each of the dead bodies throats was ripped open and deep gashes ran along their torsos from their chest to their stomachs.

Rosé turned away before she threw up as she desperately tried to wipe the blood off of her arms and clothes. Yugyeom swallowed thickly as he felt his body start to shake. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. Mark exhaled heavily and pulled the both of them away from the camp, heading toward the nearest riverbank.

Rosé sat quietly by the river after she finished washing herself off and tugged Mark’s jacket around her body. She couldn’t get the blood out of her shirt no matter how hard she tried and discarded of it. Mark had lent her his jacket to cover up. She stared at her reflection in the water and sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Yugyeom took the empty spot next to her. “Are you okay?”

Rosé looked at her hands in her lap and shook her head. “I’m worried.” She frowned. “If… whatever it was that attacked that camp is out here that means Jiwoo is in danger. I… hope she’s okay.”

Yugyeom put an arm around Rosé and rubbed her shoulder. “It’s Jiwoo. Of course, she’s okay.”

Rosé sighed and looked across the river. “I hope you’re right. I don’t know what I’d do if I found out she was gone…”

Yugyeom looked down and nodded. “I hope I’m right too.”

Mark cleared his throat as he plopped down on the other side of Rosé when he got back from investigating the camp and washed his hands of dirt and blood. “I don’t think what attacked them was an animal,” he said with a frown. “I don’t think it was a vampire either.”

“How is that possible?” Rosé asked.

“None of the animals in this forest would be capable of an attack like this. Plus, the claw marks weren’t of any of the animals that reside here.” Mark dried his hands on his shirt and looked to the other two. “And vampire attacks are usually cleaner. Vampires wouldn’t waste all that blood if they were hunting. Besides, I’ve never heard or witnessed a vampire attack where claws were involved. Vampires don’t have claws.”

“Then...what could it be?”

Mark sighed and looked up at the sky through the trees. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s dangerous. I think we need to report this to the leader.”

“Are you crazy?” Rosé asked as she stood up quickly. “If we go back there, he’ll kill us for leaving without permission.”

“I know that,” Mark spoke with a worried yet dangerous tone as he stood. “But we can’t risk that thing attacking anyone again or even attacking headquarters. We need backup before hunting it down.”

Rosé closed in defeat knowing Mark was right.

Yugyeom rose to his feet. “Let’s hurry back then. We have no time to waste.”

“But what about Jiwoo?” Rosé asked sounding hurt. They had left headquarters to search for Jiwoo and now they were about to abandon her alone in the forest.

Mark placed a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I know we came out here to find her and help her out, but we need to tell the others about what we discovered. Besides, Jiwoo will be fine. We just have to trust her and her abilities. She’ll be okay.”

Rosé looked down at her feet with a frown. “Yeah… I guess you’re right…”

“Let’s go then,” Mark said, holding his hand out for Rosé to grab onto.

Rosé shook her head and pushed passed Mark, nudging him with her shoulder. Mark sighed as he watched her walk ahead and glanced to Yugyeom who shrugged. Mark shook his head and they both trailed after her.