Shadows stretched long and reaching, curling through the trees like grasping fingers, strangling the moonlight. A lone campfire crackled. Its light flickered—fragile. An oasis in the smothering darkness.

Courtney tipped back the last sip of her Coors. The bitter taste clung to her tongue as she tossed the empty can onto the growing pile littering their makeshift campsite. It clattered against the others, barely breaking the stillness of the night.

This was the great outdoors—so, of course, there was no cell service or showers for miles.  But at least there was no way for her overbearing mother to call and demand she come home. Small win.

And Christian was here.

That made it all worth it.

Dying leaves rustled in the treetops still clinging to their branches trying to pretend autumn wasn’t already here in full force.

Courtney tensed. A prickling raced up her spine.

Just the wind. Get a grip.

Damn Jessica and her stupid horror movie marathon.

Courtney burrowed closer to Christian, pressing into the fire’s warmth, but it did little to chase away the chill.

“Fall sucks,” she muttered.

Christian grinned, snaking an arm around her waist. His breath was warm as it brushed her ear. His lips? Even warmer.

“You know,” he murmured, voice thick with suggestion, “if you’re cold, we could use our body heat to stay warm. But… we’d have to be naked for it to really work.”

She giggled.

Okay, maybe this camping trip wasn’t going to be hell after all.

“Oh, yeah? What survival book did you get that out of?”

“The Kama Sutra,” he whispered. His ice-cold hands slipped beneath her puffer jacket, fingertips teasing along her bare skin.

Courtney shivered. Goosebumps flared beneath his touch. The smell of smoke clung to their clothes, thick and pungent—burning leaves and firewood. His lips pressed against her neck.

She gasped, tilting her head back—

A shadow darted across the fire. Just for a heartbeat.

Courtney jerked upright. Every nerve in her body snapped to attention. The warmth from Christian’s kisses drained from her skin, replaced by a sharp, needling cold.

“Wait.” She pushed his hand away, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Christian, did you see that?”

A shape. Black. Fast. It looked like an animal—almost. For a split second, she swore she saw teeth. But there weren’t any big predators in Grace Way. No wolves or bears. Just the occasional coyote. But that? That hadn’t been a coyote.

It had been formless. Like smoke.

Christian sighed and grabbed the flashlight. He flicked it on, sweeping the beam lazily across the trees. Their leaves, bruised red and gold, trembled on their branches, like they were trying to warn them.

A twig snapped.

Christian whirled around. The flashlight sliced through the woods, landing on… nothing.

Just more trees. Just darkness.

The forest stretched on, endless and empty, dissolving into shadows thick as tar. No animals shifted in the underbrush. No frightening creatures of the night.

Not even crickets were chirping.

Courtney swallowed hard.

Not a single sound—

“Nothing, babe,” Christian dismissed, clicking off the flashlight. “Must’ve been the wind or somethin’.”

But the unease didn’t leave. It slithered inside her chest. Curled tight.

She forced out a laugh.

“Yeah,” Courtney said, shaking her head as if it could shake off the eeriness. “You’re totally right.”

Grace Way was safe now. The newspaper said so. They caught whatever animal killed that doctor. There was no way in hell she was going to let a little creepy wind ruin her night out.

“I’m gonna grab another beer, ‘kay?” She said as she stood.

She barely took a step toward the cooler when the campfire snuffed out behind her.

The world plunged into darkness.

Her breath quickened. Her heart slammed against her ribs. She dug into her pocket and yanked out her phone. Her fingers fumbled, jabbing on the screen.

Come on. Come on—

The flashlight app flickered to life.

“Christian?” Courtney called out, voice trembling.

Silence.

A horrible, heart-stopping silence.

She turned.

Her phone’s light skimmed across the ground—catching on the underside of a boot.

Christian’s.

Was that… blood?

Oh God.

Her stomach twisted like something had curled up and died inside it. The light shook as she lifted it higher.

 Christian lay sprawled by the smoldering fire pit. Blood gushed from his torn throat; gurgling, he drowned in it. A wet, sickening sound. Trembling fingers, slick with crimson, reached for her. His mouth opened in a silent plea.

No. No, no, no—

A choked sob tore from her throat.

The night erupted with a chittering cacophony. Dozens of creatures skittering in the trees, the underbrush, hidden in the pitch-black shadows, just out of sight.

They were everywhere.

Something moved behind Christian.

Her body stopped cold. Like if she moved, something would see.

A black shape lunged out of the darkness. Bloody teeth clamped onto Christian’s shoulder like a bear trap and ripped him backward into the dark.

He was gone.

She ran.

Tears blurred the forest into a shapeless nightmare of shifting shadows. Pain sliced across her cheeks from rogue branches. Roots curled from the earth, clawing at her ankles. She stumbled, catching herself.

The darkness pulsed.

Something was in it. Hunting her.

The highway. She had to get to the highway. She didn’t want to die out here—

A roar rumbled from the dark. It ripped through her, vibrating under her skin, under her muscles, shaking her bones. Her legs almost gave out. That wasn’t an animal. It sounded like hunger.

Courtney pushed her legs to run faster.

“No, please,” she whimpered. It was barely a voice at all, more sob than syllable. Her throat was raw, her lungs clawing for air.

She glanced back—pain erupted, sharp and blinding, from her temple.

Everything went sideways. She hit the ground hard.

A breath later—

Pain.

She screamed as the first set of jaws sank into her calf with grotesque ease and continued to scream until another pair enclosed around her throat.

The woods fell deathly silent.

A figure strolled up to her mangled corpse. Tall and broad-shouldered. But all his fine features were shrouded in shadow.

The wet crunch of teeth ripping flesh and gnashing on bone filled the once-calm air. Blood spattered onto the fallen leaves.

He turned his nose up at the body. His eyes glinted like black diamonds in the starlight. Glancing toward the Orion constellation looming overhead, his breath misted white against the black of the night.

“Won’t be long now,” he murmured.