“I told you that we should have listened to the park ranger,” Ethan yelled at his friend, Dan. “He said that we needed two gallons of water.”

“Shut up,” Dan yelled back. “I used the regular amount of water I have used for my five years of hiking. Besides, forests aren’t supposed to be this hot.

“This place is a desert.”

Both Ethan and Dan wore their hiking gear as they traveled the forest. The leaves, while bright green, barely covered the sun above. Both men were bright red, with sweat on their brows. Ethan and Dan could only breathe heavily as they walked for miles.

They had both thought about what had happened in the morning of this day. It was like any other morning. Ethan and Dan were packing up in their cabin. Dan was looking at his packages of water, remembering the ranger’s advice.

“You need ten gallons of water,” the ranger said.

Unfortunately for Dan, he looked down at his map and backpack.

“I’ve been on tougher hikes,” he laughed to himself.

That moment kept haunting Dan, even if he didn’t want to admit it. In the present, Ethan had a scorched look on his face.

“Do you think we should continue?” Dan nervously asked. “We’ve been walking for hours now.”

“I don’t think we should,” Ethan replied. “It’s getting late, and I’m worried that we’re only getting further away the more we go. We should set up camp.”

“But it isn’t getting dark. How about a few more hours? We can even try to signal for help.”

“Fine then, but we have to set up a way that we can track our steps. Can’t use any of our materials we are already carrying.

“I can gather some rocks to lay out.”

After that, Dan and Ethan continued in the forest. The scenery had changed to less trees and more hard ground. By the time the sun was setting, both Dan and Ethan were pouncing. Dan in particular started to complain about a sour leg, making him slowly limp.

Meanwhile, Ethan, while quite tired himself, managed to throw all his supplies on the ground. He began to unpack his bags, strapping out everything he could to get in order to make a tent.

“You ok,” Ethan asked, looking at Dan massaging his leg on a rock. “I make the shelter on my own.

“But I would rather have your help.”

“Yeah sure,” Dan responded. “I’m just worried.”

“About what? You think that we won’t find our way out?”

“At least not before something bad happens to us.

“You can never predict the woods.”

“Hey Dan, don’t worry too hard about it. There aren’t any animals out here.”

“It’s not the animals I’m worried about. It’s the weather.”

Ethan didn’t even looked annoyed with Dan. His face lowered in acknowledgment of his concerns.

“Let’s just get some sleep,” Ethan said as he went inside his makeshift tent.

Dan hesitated for a moment, before entering as well.

“Hopefully someone will find us,” Dan responded.

They both fell asleep shortly after, with a few dreams haunting them both. Ethan and Dan were rocking back and forth in their bed, with a little bit of sweat coming out. For Ethan, he imagined himself back at his home. He was in his kitchen, which almost shined in how ideal it looked. However, just outside of his window was Dan, who was looking dead straight at him.

Meanwhile, Dan found himself in ironically a snowstorm. He was being stalked by an unknown beast, seemingly a monstrous hybrid of a deer and bear. It admitted a loud scream, sounding more like a car passing by. That was when Dan realized it.

Ripping himself out of bed, he breathed heavily as he looked back at Ethan.

“Ethan!” He yelled, startling Ethan in his deep sleep.

“What is it dude?” Ethan moaned. “Please tell me you realized something that could help us. Otherwise, I’m out.”

It was then that Ethan had his question answered without a single word from Dan. The sound of cars passing through filled their ears.

“Holy crap,” Ethan muttered. “Do you think what I’m thinking?”

“Yep,” Dan asked.

“Let’s just leave our stuff and go.”

Bursting out of their tents, Ethan and Dan ran out. Sure enough, there was still a little bit of light through the trees. Eventually, they found a dirty road. Unfortunately, there were no cars in sight.

“You jackass!” Ethan screamed. “You led us out into the middle of nowhere!”

“I’m sorry Ethan,” Dan cried out, his voice cracking. “I just thought..”

“Of what?

“We just abandoned all our stuff. All for some lights.”

“Look, we can just run back. We go back to sleep, and maybe come back here.”

“Fine, you’re right. This looks to be a road anyway.”

Ethan and Dan turned around to face their makeshift camp once more. The crunches of leaves beneath their feet echoed through the woods as they made their way back. The only relief they had was that it was a bit colder than in the daytime. Ethan himself became a little more sickly the more he walked. His face became paler and paler, and his eyes grew darker and darker.

Dan was slightly better. He simply breathed heavily as he walked alongside his friend. At most, he shivered a little.

“Hey Ethan,” Dan suddenly stated, narrowing his eyes like a preying hawk at the darkness. “Do you see that?

“Looks like a bunch of eyes.”

“Are you sure?” Ethan responded. “I can only see what my phone can project. Maybe it’s just your mind playing tricks on you.”

“Are you entirely sure?

I think I saw the eyes blink.”

“Yeah, your mind must be playing tricks on you. Come on, you need sleep. Otherwise, this will be even more difficult than before.”

“No, I’m serious. Look in front of you.

“They are right there.”

“Maybe you saw a deer. Again, you need to stop seeing things that aren’t there. It’s getting dangerous.”

That was when both Dan and Ethan heard a branch crack in the distance. It was a rather slow crunch, almost like whatever made the sound wanted it to go unnoticed.

That was when the forest became colder than it was before. Ethan was starting to feel extremely ill. Not just from exhaustion, but from something more unnatural. He started to become more pale and cold, to the point that standing was painful for him. Dan didn’t notice however.

He looked frantically around to see what could have caused the noise.

“Daniel,” Ethan weakly muttered, becoming more disoriented. “What’s happening to me?”

“What do you mean by that?” Dan nervously asked back.

“Oh Daniel, do you understand what is happening to me?”

Dan nervously turned around, fearful of what he would see. Much to his horror, it was exactly what he feared. Ethan was a completely different person now. His eyes turned pitch black, his body became frail as a skeleton, and his hair began to fall out. Even worse, Ethan had a smile that was wider than humanly possible.

“Oh come on Daniel,” Ethan’s voice said echoing.

“Aren’t you starving right now? I know I sure am.”

“Ethan!” Dan exclaimed. “What the hell happened to you?!”

He stuttered as he walked away from his old friend

“Haven’t you seen, I have achieved a greater form,” Ethan muttered.

“No no,” Dan repeated.

As soon as he did, he turned around and ran as fast as he could.

“Daniel!” Ethan shouted as he lunged at Dan on all fours. “Listen, I’m not sick.”

Dan wasn’t listening to Ethan’s speech though. Instead, he shoved away as many branches as he could to get away from him. Unfortunately for him, Dan became more disoriented as he ran. Eventually, he coughed up as he decided to slow down to catch his breath. Of course, Dan looked over his shoulder, hoping that Ethan wasn’t behind him.

Ethan thankfully wasn’t, and Dan could peacefully collapse close to a tree.

“This can’t be real,” he cried to himself. “This has to be a dream. I’ll wake up eventually.”

“Try pinching yourself,” Ethan joked.

Dan immediately looked up and screamed at the sight of his former friend, who had completely lost his human face and was grinning with too many teeth. Screaming, Dan tried to joint away as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, Ethan dragged onto him. He dragged him across the leaves on the ground, caving his elongated nails into his thighs. All Dan could do is scream in pain.

Ethan’s jaw then inlongated large enough to swallow Dan’s long. Dan clawed as hard as he could away from Ethan, crying as his nails chipped. Fortunately for Dan, he noticed a big enough branch to grab a hit Ethan with. Ethan screamed in pain , allowing for Dan to slowly wiggle away. He started to cry inhumanly, making Dan think that his old friend was back.

“Ethan,” Dan called out as he got closer. “Are you okay now?”

Unfortunately for him, Ethan was far from okay. He began to laugh before launching onto Dan once more. Ethan’s hand grew to overcome Dan’s face, with Dan only making muffled screams.

“Join me,” Ethan screeched.

Dan’s hand once again frantically grabbed onto whatever he could find. He then found a rock, sharp enough to hit Ethan with. Striking him in the head, Ethan let out a scream. However, he didn’t let go of Dan.

Dan kept hitting and hitting, hoping that eventually Ethan would let go. It was almost an eternity as he kept hitting his old friend. Dan could even hear bone cracking against weak flesh. Eventually, Ethan’s hand slid off Dan’s face, only to reveal a worse image. Dan nearly screamed as he saw Ethan, half-dead.

His face returned to a more human form, but was split in half. Ethan’s eyes were more hallow as he stared blankly. Regardless, there was no signs he was once a monster.

“Oh,” Dan cried out, shell shocked. “What have I done.”

He reached over his friend’s body. Before he could start to cry, he was startled by a dying breath.

“Thank you,” Ethan cried out. “For saving me.”

Those were his last words, looking at Dan as his vision became blurry.

Dan could see the exact moment that Ethan had died, letting out a scream in response.

“Come back!” He anguished.

Dan clenched onto Ethan’s body in what almost felt like an eternity. The sun apathetically rose in the distance, with it being colder than usual. Eventually, Dan became delirious from his fear and tears.

He didn’t notice the screams of a woman nearby, who noticed the crime and had called the police. Not even a park ranger demanded to come, frozen with Ethan. Dan was shortly afterwards arrested. The police tried to understand why he would murder his best friend.

Unfortunately for them and Dan, Dan didn’t have an answer. He claimed it was a mercy kill, that Ethan thanked him in death. That wasn’t enough to keep Dan out of prison. He did get released twenty years later, but was still haunted by his actions. Especially when Dan could still hear the creature, constantly whispering to him through his bedroom window as he tried to sleep