It Lurks

Friday. Not the thirteenth, but from Kyle’s point of view it might as well be. He stand outside a large tent that he and Shane have propped up in a small clearing. Their campsite has a fire going and plenty of beer in the cooler. Kyle faces his fancy DSLR that rests on its tripod. He talks to it. “We are getting ready to scare the shit out of my ex and her… girlfriend.” He makes a face during the last word.

Shane kneels inside the tent, pulling things out of his duffle bag, starting with fake wolf ears.

Kyle continues to talk to the camera. “They’re on the other side of those trees,” he says, pointing off screen.

Shane pulls a snout, claws, and tail out of the bag. He shakes his head at the absurdity and starts to put his costume on.

Kyle pulls the camera off the tripod. Shane pokes his head out the tent. “Hey man, you know I love pulling this shit with you and I’m going to miss it.”

Kyle tilts his head like a confused puppy.

“I’m checking out of this shit hole town next month. I need a real city.” Shane only came to this realization the night before. He couldn’t do it. Yes, their city had a gay club but that was it. He wanted more people, more experiences, more opportunity to be himself.

“What? Why?” Kyle asked, stunned.

Shane steps out of the tent and walks toward his friend, stopping just a foot away. “Because I need a place where I can be myself,” Shane admitted, not having intended to.

Kyle gives him a confused look. Shane’s gaze lingers on Kyle’s lips. There is a long pause as they just look at each other. Shane leans in for a hug that lands somewhere between a bro hug and a more than friendly one. Kyle returns it for a moment and then realizes what he’s doing and pushes his friend away.

“Let’s do this thing.” Kyle turns his attention away to his camera, making sure it’s ready to get his shots. Assessing that it’s ready, he’s ready and Shane’s ready, he leads his friend through the trees.

Madison and Emma’s campsite is much smaller than the boys’. Their clearing is smaller but they’ve set up their belongings so that everything has a perfect place. The fire is low and unattended, as the women are inside their small tent.

Kyle motions for Shane to keep quiet as they make their way to the edge of the trees. Shane does his best. It rained the night before so the ground is soft, helping them with their stealthiness. They slowly emerge as they sneak up to the tent. Shane goes around the far side and Kyle toward the front. Madison and Emma are clearly awake a light shines from within the tent. Perfect. Kyle presses his camera up to a small opening that was missed upon zipping the front of the tent up. He presses record.

Madison and Emma lean into each other. Their lips press together, tongues engaging in a playful dance as they kiss. They both get handsy, because why not?

Crack! The sound comes from outside the tent. Emma pulls back from Madison. “Did you hear that?”

“No,” Madison replies pouting. She did not want to stop, especially not for a random noise in the forest. She moves herself closer to Emma, closing in on the newly created distance.

“Something’s outside.” To say that Emma is not outdoorsy is an understatement. Madison on the other hand has been camping a million times.

“We’re in the forest, Em. It was probably a squirrel.” She leans in to kiss Emma again. This distraction is helpful for Emma who kisses her back, forgetting about the sound.

Outside the tent Kyle snickers, careful not to be loud. He thrusts his arm around the side of the tent, motioning for Shane to start as he continues to record the women.

Shane starts to tip toe around the tent.

“Hey Shane…” Kyle whispers, just loud enough so Shane can hear but quiet enough that the women cannot. Shane stops. “I’m going to come with you.” Shane pauses as he figures out what Kyle means.

“Cool,” he replies quietly, a smile spreading across his lips. He continues to make his approach, into the position that seems best. He runs his fake claws along the side of the tent in his best wendigo impression, if he could even call it that.

At the same time, a large shadow appears along the side of the tent. It catches Madison’s attention, and now she’s the one to pull back from the make-out session. “What the hell is that?”

Emma turns and sees it. “Oh my god. I don’t know, maybe… is it a bear?”

Madison shakes her head, “More like a wolf.”

Emma grips Madison’s hand. Both are trying not to be the first to panic. Madison has never experienced a close encounter with wildlife like this, except maybe a deer or rabbit, but she certainly doesn’t want Emma to know that, knowing her girlfriend would likely melt down.

Kyle chokes back a laugh at their reactions. He gives Shane a thumbs up, not paying attention to whether Shane can actually see it or not. He is so engrossed in the prank.

On the other side of the tent, a rustling sound comes from above. Shane stops what he’s doing for a moment and looks up at the trees. They rustle again, but he can’t see anything, it’s too dark. Drip. Something splashes on his forehead. He puts the back of his hand to it, since his fingers are covered with fake claws. It’s blood. Shane stares at it. “What the…”

“Shane.” It’s a woman’s voice, saying his name in a sing-song way. It’s clearly coming from somewhere but Shane’s not sure where as he turns around and looks into the trees. He doesn’t see anything, either because it’s dark or because nothing is actually there. It’s hard to tell.

“Get a grip,” Shane tells himself as he spins back toward the tent. Clearly this prank is getting into his own head. Karma, he thinks, as he reconsiders his part in this.

Inside the tent, male laughter trickles through the crevice. Emma looks back at the front of the tent. “What was that?”

“What?” Madison didn’t hear it.

Emma puts a finger to Madison’s lips to encourage her to be quiet. The laughter grows a little louder.

Madison’s face falls as she knows exactly who’s laugh that is. “Asshole.” She scrambles to the entrance of the tent.

Smack. Madison pushes the camera out of the crevice as she opens the tent and crawls out of it. It whacks Kyle in the face. He drops the camera and rubs his noise. It hurt but he wouldn’t admit it. Instead, he’s dying of laughter. “The look… the look on your faces. God, that was fucking priceless.” He picks his camera up and brushes it off. No damage at least.

“It’s not funny, Kyle. You’re disgusting.”

Emma peeks out the front of the tent. “Kyle, what was that thing?”

“That thing was Shane. Though bro, his new name is totally gonna by That Thing.” Kyle continues to laugh.

“Don’t care me bro,” Emma replies, dead serious.

Kyle skips around the side of the tent. “Yo Shane. The gig is up.”

No answer. No Shane. Kyle calls out a little louder, “Hey Shane!” No response. “Well, where the hell did he go?” Kyle asks, spinning back to the women. Madison and Emma walk toward the trees, willing to help with the search. Kyle takes a few steps into the forest.

“Okay, enough is enough. This wasn’t funny five minutes ago and it’s still not funny now,” Madison complains.

Worry sets in on Kyle’s face though as he begins wandering through the trees. “Shane!” he call out again. Madison and Emma glance at each other, realizing this probably isn’t part of the joke. They follow Kyle into the forest.

An hour later, Madison and Emma saunter back to their tent, with Kyle following them but doddling. “We can’t just stop now,” Kyle whines.

Madison turns back to him. “He probably just went back to wherever you guys are sleeping.”

“You don’t think I looked there?”

Madison shrugs, she has no idea what Kyle thinks anymore. She gently takes Emma’s hand as they crawl back into their tent.

Kyle stand still as he tries to decide what to do next.

“Kyle.” It’s Shane voice, but sing-songy.

Kyle braces himself, he squints at the trees unable to determine where his friend is. “Shane?” Kyle asks without raising his voice.

The Creature runs through the trees, honed in on it’s new prey. It lunges at Kyle.

Thankfully, Kyle’s quick reflexes and great peripheral vision from years of sports cause him to see the Creature well before the attack. He unzips the women’s tent and dives in, quickly zipping it back up. Breathless, he turns to Madison and Emma who just gape back at him.

“What the hell, Kyle? Get out,” Madison growls.

“No way. Nope.” Kyle moves closer to the girls, visibly shaking.

“Why not?” Emma asks tentatively.

“Because there is a freaking wolf for something out there.”

“A wolf?” repeats Madison.

“Yeah, I dunno. Maybe. It didn’t really look like a wolf but…”

Madison and Emma exchange a look. Is he kidding? They can’t tell. The man must’ve taken acting classes or something because he looks dead serious.

Crunch, crunch. The noise comes from outside the tent.

“Did you hear that?” Kyle asks.

“Hear what?” Emma replies.

Crunch, crunch. They all hear it and freeze. A shadow appears on the outside of the tent. A Creature that looks much like the outline of the wendigo from Shane’s webpage. It creeps along the side.

“What is that?” Madison whispers.

“Kyle. Help me.” Shane’s voice calls out.

Kyle huddles closer to the women.

“Madison. Emma. Please. Help me.”

That does it. Skepticism washes over the women. Madison gives Kyle a shove off of her. “Are you kidding me? You and Shane are really not funny.”

“What? I don’t think that’s… that’s not Shane.”

“Bull,” replies Emma. She crawls forward and unzips the tent.

“What are you doing?” Kyle squawks. Madison and Emma each grab one of his arms, shoving him out of the tent.

“Leave us alone!” Madison is stern, as Emma zips the tent back up.

Kyle gets to his feet and glances around. He doesn’t see anything. “Shane?” It comes out as a whisper.

WHOOSH! The Creature darts through the trees toward Kyle. He sees it and screams. His jeans turn darker as he wets himself.