Ronald had no idea when he had fallen asleep but suddenly he jolted awake when Lucas yelled very loudly, “Wake up, bitch!” and hit two rocks together repeatedly to accompany his words.
“Dude”, Ronald groaned. His back felt sore and it was burning hot in the tent. The sun was up in the sky and had warmed up the tent. It was rather unbearable. Ronald was sweaty and still half asleep when he squirmed out of the sleeping bag, stretched a little bit and crawled out of the tent.
It was too bright and he had to shield his eyes with his hand as he looked at Lucas who was already heating up some can food for them by the campfire.
“It’s a beautiful day!” Lucas said happily.
Ronald felt even grumpier than what he looked. “Why are you in such a good mood?”
“I slept well, it’s a beautiful day, we have fresh air and tonight is full moon which means we can go take that picture where one of us is pretending to squish the moon while other takes the picture and fails and then the picture will become a meme and we will be famous! I even brought my camera just for that!”
“That was oddly specific”, Ronald said. “Isn’t your back sore, though?”
“Nah, I’m used to sleeping on hard mattresses.”
“This is so unfair”, Ronald said. “I feel like shit and– Oh! Did you hear the deer last night? Probably not, you were snoring.”
“I don’t snore!” Lucas protested.
Ronald snorted and raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, maybe I do, but just a little bit”, Lucas said. “But you were saying that you heard a deer?”
“Yes. I mean, at first I thought it was a human walking in our camp but now I’m pretty sure it was just a deer. Who would even be here, in the middle of nowhere, anyway?”
Lucas was silent for a moment and Ronald got a bad feeling. Finally Lucas said, “You can’t tell a difference between a human’s footsteps and a deer’s? Dude, they are nothing alike!”
That made Ronald frown. Now when Lucas had said it out loud it made sense. And he had first thought of a human. Shit, what if someone had really been walking in their camp in the middle of the night?
“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”
“I was scared shitless, I don’t know what I heard or did I hear anything at all!” Ronald said, feeling creeped out.
“You know what, let’s just forget it. It probably was just a deer”, Lucas said, clearly trying to make Ronald feel better. It didn’t make him feel better but Ronald appreciated the thought.
They washed their faces in the lake and that woke Ronald up once and for all. They walked in the woods gathering dry wood so that they could keep up the campfire and placed them on the ground next to the fire but of course in a safe distance away.
Lucas suggested they would play cards before going to swim again and Ronald agreed. They started playing but the game was interrupted when they heard people talking and walking towards their camp.
Four people, two girls and two boys, who were probably a few years older than Ronald and Lucas, stepped from behind the woods and they were chatting and smiling and laughing a lot with each other until they saw Ronald and Lucas. In that moment their smiles faltered and they looked at each other, looking annoyed.
“Oh, great”, one of the boys said dryly. “There’s other people.”
“It’s fine”, one of the girls said. “Let’s put up our tents somewhere further away.”
They continued walking with their rucksacks on their back and pushed past Ronald and Lucas without another word.
“Nice to see you too, hope you enjoy your time here”, Lucas said after they were gone because even he didn’t dare to start asking for a fight with older kids.
“Charming people”, Ronald muttered. They could hear the group setting up their camp near but it didn’t really affect Ronald and Lucas. They didn’t have a problem with the group, the group had a problem with them.
“I hope they won’t be taking the same picture with the full moon as we are because that would totally ruin the mood”, Lucas said.
“You’re weird”, said Ronald, meaning the fact that Lucas wanted to take that cliché picture with the moon like some common white girl. Lucas just shrugged and smiled.
They had a fun day hiking in the woods, fishing and swimming and playing cards. Ronald won almost every game but they were having so much fun that Lucas forgot to be a sore loser which he usually was.
They put more wood in the campfire at night and then when the full moon was on its highest point on the sky, they started walking towards the lake.
They passed the other camp as they went and saw the other group sitting by their campfire, roasting marshmallows and laughing with each other. They didn’t even look at Ronald and Lucas as they walked past but the two of them didn’t mind. They had nothing to say to the group anyway.
“Which one will take the picture?” Ronald asked.
“You”, Lucas said right away. “I want to squish the moon.”
Lucas climbed on a rock and Ronald backed away towards the woods, camera in his hand. He looked for a good spot and after searching for a while he found it, then he lifted the camera up and took a couple of test pictures.
It was a clear night, no clouds in the sky and the moon was shining bright, bringing beautiful silver light everywhere. Ronald inhaled deeply, enjoying the clear air that filled his lungs and then he lifted Lucas’s camera up again.
“Ready when you are!” he yelled at Lucas.
“Ready!” Lucas yelled and then he lifted his hand up and made the illusion of squishing the moon between his thumb and index finger. They could hear screaming from the woods but it was cut short and then it was completely silent.
“What was that?”
“Probably they are telling horror stories”, Lucas said. “Am I good?”
“A little bit to your left”, Ronald said, forgetting the other campers right away as he looked through the camera. “Good...Now lift your hand up a few inches– Not that much!” Lucas lowered his hand by an inch. “Great, perfect...Hey, why is your face like that?”
Lucas had frowned and stood still as if someone had poured cold water on his head. Ronald looked at him feeling confused. What was going on? Why was Lucas acting weirder than usual?
“B-behind you!” Lucas yelled, his voice trembling.
“What are you on? Stop fooling around–“, Ronald stopped talking when he heard growling behind him. Ronald went pale, he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears and slowly, he turned around and dropped the camera on the ground when a horrified look spread on his face.
He was staring at…some kind of wolf stooping just a few meters away from him. It was standing mostly on it’s hind legs, but it wasn’t standing like a human. It had a wolf’s features and no fur. It had body hair but it was thin and shred here and there. It had long thin arms which hung in front of it as it stood stooped. It had large sharp teeth, its mouth was red because of the blood that was dripping from its mouth and it also had crimson red eyes and pointy ears. It was bony and looked like it was starving. If Ronald didn’t know better, he would have said that it was a werewolf. But it couldn’t be, could it? It had to be some kind of a mutant. It had to be a rare, terribly big mutant who had escaped some laboratory. And now it was growling at Ronald, eyes following his every move.
“What the–“
The wolf-like thing lowered itself on all fours, then it kind of scrunched back, gathering its strength and leaped forward, jumping straight towards Ronald.
“Dude”, Ronald groaned. His back felt sore and it was burning hot in the tent. The sun was up in the sky and had warmed up the tent. It was rather unbearable. Ronald was sweaty and still half asleep when he squirmed out of the sleeping bag, stretched a little bit and crawled out of the tent.
It was too bright and he had to shield his eyes with his hand as he looked at Lucas who was already heating up some can food for them by the campfire.
“It’s a beautiful day!” Lucas said happily.
Ronald felt even grumpier than what he looked. “Why are you in such a good mood?”
“I slept well, it’s a beautiful day, we have fresh air and tonight is full moon which means we can go take that picture where one of us is pretending to squish the moon while other takes the picture and fails and then the picture will become a meme and we will be famous! I even brought my camera just for that!”
“That was oddly specific”, Ronald said. “Isn’t your back sore, though?”
“Nah, I’m used to sleeping on hard mattresses.”
“This is so unfair”, Ronald said. “I feel like shit and– Oh! Did you hear the deer last night? Probably not, you were snoring.”
“I don’t snore!” Lucas protested.
Ronald snorted and raised his eyebrows.
“Okay, maybe I do, but just a little bit”, Lucas said. “But you were saying that you heard a deer?”
“Yes. I mean, at first I thought it was a human walking in our camp but now I’m pretty sure it was just a deer. Who would even be here, in the middle of nowhere, anyway?”
Lucas was silent for a moment and Ronald got a bad feeling. Finally Lucas said, “You can’t tell a difference between a human’s footsteps and a deer’s? Dude, they are nothing alike!”
That made Ronald frown. Now when Lucas had said it out loud it made sense. And he had first thought of a human. Shit, what if someone had really been walking in their camp in the middle of the night?
“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”
“I was scared shitless, I don’t know what I heard or did I hear anything at all!” Ronald said, feeling creeped out.
“You know what, let’s just forget it. It probably was just a deer”, Lucas said, clearly trying to make Ronald feel better. It didn’t make him feel better but Ronald appreciated the thought.
They washed their faces in the lake and that woke Ronald up once and for all. They walked in the woods gathering dry wood so that they could keep up the campfire and placed them on the ground next to the fire but of course in a safe distance away.
Lucas suggested they would play cards before going to swim again and Ronald agreed. They started playing but the game was interrupted when they heard people talking and walking towards their camp.
Four people, two girls and two boys, who were probably a few years older than Ronald and Lucas, stepped from behind the woods and they were chatting and smiling and laughing a lot with each other until they saw Ronald and Lucas. In that moment their smiles faltered and they looked at each other, looking annoyed.
“Oh, great”, one of the boys said dryly. “There’s other people.”
“It’s fine”, one of the girls said. “Let’s put up our tents somewhere further away.”
They continued walking with their rucksacks on their back and pushed past Ronald and Lucas without another word.
“Nice to see you too, hope you enjoy your time here”, Lucas said after they were gone because even he didn’t dare to start asking for a fight with older kids.
“Charming people”, Ronald muttered. They could hear the group setting up their camp near but it didn’t really affect Ronald and Lucas. They didn’t have a problem with the group, the group had a problem with them.
“I hope they won’t be taking the same picture with the full moon as we are because that would totally ruin the mood”, Lucas said.
“You’re weird”, said Ronald, meaning the fact that Lucas wanted to take that cliché picture with the moon like some common white girl. Lucas just shrugged and smiled.
They had a fun day hiking in the woods, fishing and swimming and playing cards. Ronald won almost every game but they were having so much fun that Lucas forgot to be a sore loser which he usually was.
They put more wood in the campfire at night and then when the full moon was on its highest point on the sky, they started walking towards the lake.
They passed the other camp as they went and saw the other group sitting by their campfire, roasting marshmallows and laughing with each other. They didn’t even look at Ronald and Lucas as they walked past but the two of them didn’t mind. They had nothing to say to the group anyway.
“Which one will take the picture?” Ronald asked.
“You”, Lucas said right away. “I want to squish the moon.”
Lucas climbed on a rock and Ronald backed away towards the woods, camera in his hand. He looked for a good spot and after searching for a while he found it, then he lifted the camera up and took a couple of test pictures.
It was a clear night, no clouds in the sky and the moon was shining bright, bringing beautiful silver light everywhere. Ronald inhaled deeply, enjoying the clear air that filled his lungs and then he lifted Lucas’s camera up again.
“Ready when you are!” he yelled at Lucas.
“Ready!” Lucas yelled and then he lifted his hand up and made the illusion of squishing the moon between his thumb and index finger. They could hear screaming from the woods but it was cut short and then it was completely silent.
“What was that?”
“Probably they are telling horror stories”, Lucas said. “Am I good?”
“A little bit to your left”, Ronald said, forgetting the other campers right away as he looked through the camera. “Good...Now lift your hand up a few inches– Not that much!” Lucas lowered his hand by an inch. “Great, perfect...Hey, why is your face like that?”
Lucas had frowned and stood still as if someone had poured cold water on his head. Ronald looked at him feeling confused. What was going on? Why was Lucas acting weirder than usual?
“B-behind you!” Lucas yelled, his voice trembling.
“What are you on? Stop fooling around–“, Ronald stopped talking when he heard growling behind him. Ronald went pale, he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears and slowly, he turned around and dropped the camera on the ground when a horrified look spread on his face.
He was staring at…some kind of wolf stooping just a few meters away from him. It was standing mostly on it’s hind legs, but it wasn’t standing like a human. It had a wolf’s features and no fur. It had body hair but it was thin and shred here and there. It had long thin arms which hung in front of it as it stood stooped. It had large sharp teeth, its mouth was red because of the blood that was dripping from its mouth and it also had crimson red eyes and pointy ears. It was bony and looked like it was starving. If Ronald didn’t know better, he would have said that it was a werewolf. But it couldn’t be, could it? It had to be some kind of a mutant. It had to be a rare, terribly big mutant who had escaped some laboratory. And now it was growling at Ronald, eyes following his every move.
“What the–“
The wolf-like thing lowered itself on all fours, then it kind of scrunched back, gathering its strength and leaped forward, jumping straight towards Ronald.