Kris squinted into the failing light, trying to make out the shape of whatever was apparently hiding in the bushes not five meters from where he sat.

“Hey!” he called out. “Who’s there?” It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the light had faded enough to make it difficult to see exactly what was shifting around in the brush, especially with only the flickering light of the fire to judge by.

“Show yourself!” commanded Chen.

Xiumin shushed him. “Jongdae, we don’t know what’s out there,” he cautioned.

Slowly, a figure stood up and emerged from the bushes. It was tall and lanky, and tripped slightly as it made its way toward to fire. Kris scrunched his face up even more in an attempt to make out the details of the man who was now approaching.

“T-Tao?” stuttered a very surprised Kris.

“Hello, everyone.” Tao stepped into the light of the fire so that the other five people could finally see his face. He grabbed the seat next to Kris and sat down with a throaty chuckle. “Are you surprised to see me?”

“Yes…” admitted Kris in disbelief. “Very.”

“Well, after you all left, I decided that I didn’t want to stay sulking in my room all week, and that I should be having fun with you guys instead,” Tao explained with a smile. “So, I got some of the others to drive me out here, and then I found my own way to the campsite. Er, sort of.”

Tao glanced over at the formal entrance to the clearing, which was framed by a quaint wooden archway that hung over a dirt path leading into the woods. It was on the opposite side of the spot where Tao had entered the campgrounds.

“Didn’t you bring the map I left you?” asked Kris.

“No,” admitted Tao, “I forgot it, but I didn’t notice until I got here. Finding this place seemed like it should be straightforward enough, though. I didn’t realize how scary it would be after it started to get dark.”

“Seems like you went in a circle that took you to the side opposite the entrance,” said Xiumin with a giggle.

“Yeah…” said Tao shyly as he scratched the back of his head.

“The important thing is that you’re here now,” smiled Kris as he handed Tao a stick with a marshmallow on it. “I’m glad you decided to join us, but maybe next time you should try to come to that conclusion before the rest of us leave.”

Tao grinned at Kris’ playful tone before taking the stick. He stared at the flames as they at his marshmallow, turning it from a soft white to a cracked tan, and finally a deep, charred brown.

“Tao, your marshmallow is on fire,” warned Luhan.

“Just the way I like it,” said Tao as he continued to let it cook.

“Me, too,” said Lay as he pulled his own smoldering marshmallow out of the flames and blew sharply to extinguish it. “It’s better this way,” he continued, his mouth now stuffed with the gooey sugar.

A few minutes later, everyone laughed when Tao’s molten marshmallow slid right off of his stick and landed in the fire with a plop. Discouraged, he tossed the stick into the fire with a pout and crossed his arms.

«««

Abruptly, Xiumin and Luhan stood up and threw their sticks into the fire.

“We’re off to bed,” explained the later. It had grown much darker in the time it had taken everyone to roast a few more marshmallows each, and the night was now a full chorus of chirps, buzzes, and screeches. “Have fun stargazing with your girlfriend, Kris.”

Kris, who was sitting in the collapsible chair next to Tao’s, had put his arm around the younger man. He looked up in time to see Luhan follow Xiumin into one of the three tents with a smirk on his face.

“Hey!” Kris shouted. “I’m not the one who’s so eager to get to bed early with-”

“Sorry; can’t hear you!” Luhan interrupted as he zipped up the tent flap.

“Well, whatever,” said Kris as he leaned back to rest his hand on Tao’s shoulder again. “We can have fun without those two.”

“Actually,” said Chen, “I think I’m going to call it a night, too. I’m tired,” he yawned loudly. “And besides, I can’t tell my scary story now that Tao is here.”

Tao grumbled softly without taking his eyes off the fire.

“Ah, come on, Tao. I’m just joking,” said Chen with a poke to his victim’s ribs. “You coming, Yixing hyung?”

Lay shook his head. “I’ll stay up a bit longer,” he declared, although Chen could see that his eyes were already beginning to droop. A long yawn betrayed him, so he added, “Well, just little bit.”

Kris noticed that Tao continued to look dejected even after Chen had disappeared into the second tent, so he gave his friend’s shoulder a light massage.

“I’m happy you’re here, Tao,” he whispered.

«««

Inside Luhan and Xiumin’s tent, the two men rolled out their sleeping bags and prepared to go to bed. They slipped under their blankets before switching off the small lantern by the door and collapsing backwards.

“I’m glad Tao showed up,” murmured Xiumin into the darkness. “Kris seems to be having more fun with him here.”

Luhan had already curled up and closed his eyes, but he let out a soft “Mhmm,” before drifting off into some state between wakefulness and unconsciousness.

“I like it here. It’s so peaceful,” said Xiumin with his arms behind his head. He listened to the crackle of the fire and the low voices outside the tent until he, too, slipped into a peaceful rest.

«««

The next morning, Xiumin woke up to a blurry light filtering through the sheer fabric of the tent and Luhan’s arm splayed haphazardly across his chest. He blinked several times before slowly shoving himself up into a sitting position.

“Wake up, Sleepyhead,” he whispered. Luhan moaned and flailed his arms, allowing Xiumin to escape from his bedding. “Well, get up soon, at least; okay?” Xiumin continued as he gave the sleeping Luhan a gentle nudge.

Luhan responded by covering his face with his hands and rolling over so that he was on top of Xiumin’s sleeping bag. Laughing, Xiumin crawled out of the tent and into the crisp morning air. The remnants of a heavy fog were lingering over the campsite as Xiumin stretched and observed the scene in front of him. Lay had evidently shuffled off to bed at some point after Xiumin had fallen asleep, but Kris and Tao were still semi-entwined in each others arms next to the dying fire, the third tent sitting unused behind them. As Xiumin knelt down to poke the embers, he saw that Tao was awake and watching him.

“Did you two sleep well?” he asked casually.

Kris stirred and lifted his head off of Tao’s shoulder. He scowled at the rising sun before answering in a husky voice.

“We stayed up for a few hours to talk, and I guess we fell asleep out here.” He yawned and stretched, the joints in his back popping loudly as he did so. “I am definitely sleeping in the tent tonight,” he groaned as he leaned back in his chair.

Tao nodded in absentminded agreement without moving from his own seat. Xiumin had succeeded in reigniting a small fire from the leftover coals, and was putting a pot of water on to boil when Luhan came stumbling out of their tent, still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

“You’re up early,” Luhan commented as he walked past Tao and Kris on his way to use the bathroom.

“We slept out here,” said Kris, rubbing his eyes. This earned a chuckle from Luhan as he ventured farther into the bushes away from the campsite.

“I guess we should wake up the other two,” suggested Xiumin, who was now curled up into a little ball by the fire. Everyone agreed, but no one made a move to do anything; opting instead to sit in silence and enjoy the smell of the musky air and the sound of singing birds.

«««

The peaceful atmosphere was broken abruptly as a piercing cry came from inside Chen and Lay’s tent. Xiumin was the first to burst through the entrance flap, and he found Chen huddled in one corner of the tent, eyes wide and staring at the sleeping bag next to his. Lay was lying half-in-half-out of his bag, mouth agape and shirt off.

Xiumin instantly saw what had made Chen scream. Lay’s body was totally covered in a series of shallow scratches that created a sort of crosshatch pattern over his chest and arms. The cuts weren’t deep, but they were damaging enough for Lay to be blanketed with a thin layer of sticky blood, which was starting to seep into the sleeping bag that was partially covering his stomach. By now, Tao and Kris had joined Xiumin at the door to the tent, and the three of them watched with Chen as Lay groggily awoke to see his four friends gaping at him.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he propped himself up on his elbows. He winced at the pain that the action brought, looked down at his chest, and then back up at the three men at the front of the tent. There was a mixture of fear and confusion in his eyes before they rolled backwards in his head as he fell the short distance to his pillow.

“Yixing!” wailed Chen. “He’s dead!”

“No, he’s just fainted.” Xiumin tried to maintain an air of calm as he leaned in close to check Lay’s breathing, but the alarm in his voice was evident.

Luhan was the last to come running up to the crowded tent, and he gasped when he saw what was going on inside. Kris pushed past him, back into the open space of the campground, only to return seconds later with the first aid kit.

“What the hell is going on here?” Chen asked hysterically. “What the hell is going on?”

Shaking, he checked himself for any scratches or marks as Xiumin and Kris examined Lay’s injuries.

“What do you think could have done this?” Xiumin asked, bewildered.

“I have no idea,” replied Kris. “Was it some kind of animal? I can’t tell if these are claw marks, or… what.”

Luhan and Tao had both left the tent to pace outside, but the former now poked his head in to contribute to the discussion. “But the tent was zipped up when you found him, right?” Xiumin and Kris looked down at the softly breathing Lay, and nodded in unison. “Wild animals don’t zip up tent flaps,” stated Luhan.

All eyes fell on Chen, who looked up to meet them. “What?” he asked. He had calmed himself down after ascertaining that there was nothing physically wrong with his own body, but was beginning to panic again. “You think I did something? I didn’t do anything! What would I have done?” His breathing started to become erratic as he stared pleadingly at the three men who looked at him with questioning expressions.

Xiumin didn’t answer, but turned his attention back to cleaning and bandaging Lay’s abdomen. When he was finished, he pulled the sleeping bag down farther to check Lay for other injuries. He raised his eyebrows as he moved to get a better look at a mark on Lay’s thigh.

“That’s definitely not human,” said Kris, pointing.

Chen crept over to see what the two men were talking about, and Tao joined everyone else at the mouth of the tent. On Lay’s leg, just below the hem on the leg of his boxers, was a bite mark. The skin around it was bruised and puffy, and a few trickles of blood were still flowing from where the teeth had punctured deepest. Kris was correct, however, in saying that it had a completely inhuman shape. It was far too large to belong to any of them, and the jaws made an oval-like shape - too oblong to be the almost circular bite mark of a human. Most chilling of all, however, was the fact that there appeared to be a second, smaller set of teeth inside the first ring of markings. It was almost as if whatever had done this had not one, but two rows of extremely sharp, pointy teeth.

“What the hell is going on here?” Chen repeated breathlessly.