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  The giggling sounded again a moment later, and Erin didn’t know what she was meant to be listening for. Caitlin sighed and pulled herself out of her sleeping bag, unzipped the tent and then beckoned the other two to follow her.

  “I’m not going out there,” Craig said.

  Caitlin laughed again. “Come on! I promise it’s nothing. Just follow me.”

  She leaned down and grabbed a flashlight, and then led Erin and Craig towards the nearby stream before heading north alongside it. As they got closer and closer to where the waterfalls were supposed to be, the giggling subsided and became more of a gurgling sound.

  “See? It’s just the water gurgling up ahead,” Caitlin said. “Apophenia. Or more specifically, pareidolia.”

  “Apo-what now?” Erin asked.

  “Apophenia is when our brains make patterns in data that is meaningless or random. Pareidolia is a form of apophenia where our brains see or hear something that isn’t actually there because of its insistence on creating patterns. You hear the stream gurgling, and you don’t know what it is, so your brain tries to make sense of it. And you end up thinking you are hearing something else that isn’t there.”

  Caitlin paused and cleared her throat before continuing.

  “Like when you think you hear the phone ringing when you are showering. The sound of the running water produces a particular background pattern which makes your brain perceive a ringing sound. In this case, the gurgling water made you think it was laughing children.”

  “I suppose us already having been told that we might hear giggling children probably made it even worse,” Erin mused as her heart returned to its normal pace.

  “Yep, that’s exactly right. Kinda like when you tell someone to listen for something, and then they think they really do hear it, only because they’ve been told to.”

  Feeling much better now that they knew they weren’t in the midst of a real-life horror film, the group went back to the tent and got back into their sleeping bags. While Erin was no longer afraid, the nervous tension and adrenaline that had flooded through her veins had awoken something else deep inside of her; a desperate, longing urge to feel the touch of a man.

  It had been almost a year since her last relationship had ended, and she hadn’t been able to find anyone since, not even for a one night stand like Caitlin so often managed to get away with. She often felt that it was her own fault for not being skinny or pretty enough to attract a man, but deep down she knew it was because she was simply lacking in confidence. If I just knew a man was actually into me, I swear I would act differently around him. But how am I supposed to know? I can’t interpret all their signals.

  As she reflected upon how long she gone without being with someone, the adrenaline in her veins gave way to a pulsing warmth which surged through her, filling her core with heated, swollen desire. She desperately wanted to touch herself, but she didn’t dare. Her friends were right next to her, and she couldn’t masturbate next to them… could she?

  Tilting her head to the side, she saw Caitlin’s chest rising and falling with slow, heavy breaths, and from the other side of the tent she heard Craig already snoring. Figuring that they wouldn’t hear as long as she kept quiet, she couldn’t resist any longer, and her hands slid down over her belly and into the warm tracksuit pants she had chosen to wear to sleep.

  Letting out an almost-inaudible sigh as her fingers delved between her soft pink folds, she closed her eyes and located the sensitive nub of her clitoris, stroking and rubbing ever-so-gently as more and more heat rushed through her. She had been freezing earlier, but now she was almost sweating as she played in the valley between her legs, and she inhaled deeply as she threw her head back, almost unable to wait for the relief she was seeking.

  Her finger danced on her clitoris, drawing delicate little patterns over and around it that soon became faster and more urgent, and her stomach fluttered as her mind clouded with images of a faceless man with hard muscles and a thick cock, pinning her down and thrusting into her.

  As she increased the pressure on her clitoris, the man in her imagination suddenly made a sound, and she realised he was no longer faceless. It was Scott, the Deputy from earlier, and in her mind’s eye, he was sweating and letting out guttural moans and pants as he moved against her.

  Her body responded powerfully to the imagery, and jolts of electricity surged from the top of her spine all the way down to her lower lips. Biting her lip to stop herself from moaning and waking Caitlin and Craig, she arched her back and rubbed harder and faster.

  Warm spirals of pleasure began to soar through her core as she continued to tease herself, and all of the nervous tension from the earlier scare started to melt away as she thrust her hips up into her hand. Sliding one hand further down between her thighs, she dipped a finger inside herself, delving deeply inside her tightness and biting her lip again as she felt how utterly aroused she was.

  Slick warmth coated her finger as she slid it in and out, slowly but surely as she built up to a crescendo with the fingertip that was still dancing on her clitoris, and she no longer worried if anyone heard the soft, wet sounds that her body was making. The pool of bliss that was building in her core was agonizingly good, and she pictured Scott’s thick manhood plunging in and out of her again and again, stretching her and filling her more than she had ever been filled before as he moved on top of her, edging her closer and closer towards bliss.

  A second later, she reached a shaky climax, and sweat trickled over her brow as she tried her hardest to stop herself from screaming with ecstasy. Her inner muscles clenched around the slippery finger that was still sliding in and out, making the tingling over and around her clitoris even wilder, and she felt another flood of wetness explode from within.

  As the spasms of pleasure began to fade, she immediately felt guilty for what she had done. Imagine if they had woken up! I wouldn’t have been able to look them in the eyes ever again, she thought.

  A smile spread across her face as she tried to push the guilt aside. Whatever. They didn’t catch me. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep, and her dreams were filled with vivid images of the surrounding woods. In the last dream she had, she was standing by the stream near their tent. She was looking over at the dense trees on the other side of it, but her vision was obscured by a thick white mist that shrouded the area.

  Through the fog, she could just make out a glowing green light… two lights, in fact, right next to each other. She somehow became acutely aware that the glowing lights were eyes, and she peered further into the mist, trying to figure out what it was staring back at her. The moon came out from behind a cloud, throwing a soft light onto the mist, and a shadowy creature emerged from it, only to lunge across the water towards her.

  Before she saw what it was, she woke up, bathed in perspiration. Sunlight was peeking through the tent opening, and at the sight of that, she sat bolt upright. The zipper was undone, and Caitlin and Craig were still snoring next to her.

  Her heart thudding in her chest, she climbed out of her sleeping bag and got out of the tent to see if there was any evidence of anyone else having been in the area during the night. Craig stirred in the tent and emerged a moment later to find out what was going on.

  “What’s the time? And what are you doing?” he asked.

  “It’s just after eight. The zipper was undone. You didn’t leave the tent in the middle of the night to do anything, did you?”

  “Yeah, I needed to take a leak. But I definitely zipped it back up afterwards. Maybe it was Caitlin,” he replied.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  The unzipped tent was soon forgotten, and the group had a quick breakfast of muesli and bananas before hiking back to the car and heading back into the town center. The plan was to get Caitlin on camera interviewing some more locals, and to find out more about the shadowy, green-eyed creatures that were said to have stalked people through the forest before.

  After speaking with the owner of the local hardware st
ore, Craig and Erin felt fairly certain that the supposed creatures were either imaginary, or perhaps just wolves as the sheriff had said.

  “The only thing is… there isn’t meant to be any wildlife in the forest. So why would wolves be hanging around there?” Craig asked, furrowing his brows.

  “I’m not sure. It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Erin admitted. “I’m guessing if they are in there, it’s only for some of the year. Perhaps the packs move to other places depending on the season. I’ll have to look into it.”

  “Mmm, yeah. Well, if there are any, we should try to catch one on camera. Set some sort of bait or whatever and see what happens.”

  After a long day of interviews, the group bought some meat and materials to set up a lure for any wolves that might be lurking around, and then headed back into the forest. While the Sheriff and his Deputy had marked out several other spots to camp out at, they elected to set their tent up in the same place they had spent the previous night. They had a whole week in the town, so they figured they could spend two nights at each campsite, and by the end of the day, they were all exhausted.

  “Any idea what time wolves generally roam around? If there are any wolves, that is,” said Caitlin as she warmed her hands by the campfire.

  “They hunt during the day and during the night, so we should go and check the lure soon. Something might have already found it,” Craig replied.

  Earlier on, he had set up a camera in a nearby tree to capture any creatures that found the meat in the lure, and after grabbing a flashlight, the three trekked out to where the first lure was.

  “Hey! The meat’s gone!” Erin said, peering into the darkness around them to see if there were any animals around. “Can you check the footage, Craig?”

  Craig carefully pulled the camera down from the tree and ran through the footage at high speed three times before looking up at the two women, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.

  “There’s nothing here… except…” he said, seemingly unsure of what he was saying.

  “What?” Erin asked, grabbing the camera out of his hands and holding it up so that she and Caitlin could watch the footage.

  Craig was right to be confused. The camera showed them setting up the lure and leaving, and then three hours later, the meat simply vanished. Nothing had taken it; it had just disappeared into thin air. One minute it was on the camera, the next it was gone.

  “Well, we are watching it on fast forward,” Caitlin said. “Slow it down at the bit right before it disappears.”

  Erin did so, but again, there was nothing. It was as if some magically-fast creature had swept in and taken the meat so fast that the naked eye couldn’t detect it, even when the footage was slowed down.

  “At least we know it isn’t wolves… or any animal,” Craig said.

  Erin looked up at him, and noticed that his face had turned pale.

  “Come on, guys, there has to be an explanation,” Caitlin said, rolling her eyes. “Please don’t tell me that after this long, you two are gonna start believing in ghosts or whatever.”

  “I don’t believe in ghosts,” Craig snapped. “But there is definitely someone, or something, out here. How else do you explain the meat disappearing?”

  Caitlin didn’t reply, and the three trudged back to the campfire in silence. None of them wanted to say it, but they all knew that there was something out here, whether or not any of them wanted to accept it. In their time investigating paranormal activity, they had never come across anything that couldn’t be explained in a rational manner, but this… this was something else.

  By nine o’clock, their eyelids were drooping, and they got into their sleeping bags and closed their eyes. Within minutes, Caitlin and Craig were fast asleep next to Erin, who struggled to keep her eyes open, but couldn’t stop wondering what was out in the woods with them. Finally, sleep overtook her, and she drifted away into a strange land of dreams.

  She was awoken what felt like only five minutes later, but a cursory glance at her watch told her it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. Glancing beside her, she saw that Craig and Caitlin weren’t there, and she rubbed her eyes and stumbled out of the tent, wondering what had woken her.

  Caitlin was hunched over near a tree, retching, and Craig was rubbing her back and making soothing sounds. He looked up when he saw Erin, his eyebrows knitted together.

  “She has food poisoning or something. It’s really bad; there’s a little bit of blood in her vomit,” he said.

  “Oh, god… I think we should take her to the hospital,” Erin replied, hurrying over to them. “At least the blood is bright red. That means it’s probably not a major issue. But still…”

  “Yeah, I think we should. Although… the car is only a mile away. I can easily take her, and maybe you could stay here and look after all our stuff? The Sheriff said some teenagers still come out here, remember… I don’t want to lose everything to them.”

  “Um… yeah, I guess that would be wise,” Erin replied.

  A bolt of fear shot through her at the thought of being alone in the forest for a few hours, but she pushed it aside, knowing that now wasn’t the time or place to be afraid. Caitlin was sick, and needed urgent medical care.

  “Okay, sweetie, can you walk?” she asked, helping Craig sling an arm around her.

  Caitlin mumbled and wiped her chin with the back of her sleeve.

  “Yeah, I think she can. If not, I can just carry her,” Craig said. “I’ll call you when I know what’s going on.”

  He headed off into the forest, towards the edge of the road where their car was parked, and Erin stood watching as they left, shivering as goose bumps broke out over her bare arms. Twigs and leaves snapped somewhere in the distance, and her heart leapt to her mouth as she grabbed a flashlight and shone it around.

  “Hello?” she called out, hoping that she had just been hearing things.

  Dry leaves crunched again, closer this time, and a lump of fear formed in her throat. Someone else is out here. Maybe it’s just teenagers daring each other to do stupid stuff. I’m sure they’ve all heard by now that we’re in town filming.

  “Hello?” she called out again. No answer, but she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.

  Something had moved between the trees so fast that she couldn’t see exactly where or what it was, but it slowed down a moment later. Through the trees, she caught glimpses of what appeared to be an enormous wolf with bright green eyes and silvery fur that caught the rays of moonlight that were streaming through the trees every time it moved. Seconds later, it was gone, and her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she turned around, only to come face-to-face with a tall, well-built man.

  The shock of seeing him elicited a strangled scream from Erin as she dropped the flashlight, and then she realized who it was.

  “Deputy Scott! You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing out here?” she asked. “I just saw a wolf! Did you see it too?”

  Fear from seeing the creature had been overwhelming her, but now that the gorgeous Deputy was standing before her, it was quickly giving way to a familiar primal urge that cascaded through her body, making heat pool between her thighs. God, he is so sexy… wait… why isn’t he wearing a shirt?

  He didn’t respond to her question, and when his eyes began to glow a bright yellow-green a second later, the lump returned to Erin’s throat as she gazed up at him.

  “What… what are you?” she asked, the words barely making it past her lips as adrenaline spiked in her veins.

  “The monsters they speak of in these woods aren’t monsters,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “They are werewolves, as am I. That wolf you saw… it was me. When the moon is full in the sky, our kind needs to hunt, and hunt we do…”

  Erin gulped as she recalled the tourists who had gone missing in the woods.

  “Hunt? So… you’re going to eat me?”

  Scott laughed, a deep sound that mixed with a growl as it reverberated from his po
werful chest.

  “No. We must hunt for a mate. Most in my pack have found one, but I have not. And then you came along… a woman like you isn’t common in my town. I tracked your scent and came out here last night to find you, though I couldn’t get you alone. But now…”

  “What are you saying?” she asked, her legs trembling as she tried to comprehend the fact that werewolves actually existed. It was as if everything in her world had turned upside down, and everything she believed in had been called into question.

  Despite the fear that was still clouding her mind, a tiny stream of desire was beginning to trickle through Erin’s body. It started in the back of her head and spread slowly down her spine, and by the time it reached her core, it was a raging torrent that was quickly displacing the fear and turning it into blazing desire for the gorgeous man in front of her.

  He reached out and captured her shoulders, and her nipples tightened under her shirt as a bolt of electricity shot through her, heading between her legs as her clitoris swelled with arousal. No matter what he was, she couldn’t deny how her body was responding to his mere presence, and she stared up into his glowing eyes, waiting for his response.

  In one quick movement, her shirt was on the ground, and she couldn’t believe how quickly the werewolf could move. His hands went back to her shoulders and coasted down over her figure, and finally, he answered her question.

  “Now that we are alone, I want to mate with you,” he said, his voice now a raspy growl. “I need a woman like you.”

  Erin knew exactly what he meant by that, and she stared into his impossibly-perfect face, almost unable to believe that such a gorgeous man wanted her. For once, she was the one who would get the guy, not Caitlin or anyone else. The thought sent a spasm of pleasure through her belly, but there was something she needed to know first.

  “Just tell me something first,” she said, her voice quavering. “Those people that went missing…”

  “I had nothing to do with that,” he growled before she could even finish. “None of my pack did. They just went missing. Things like that can just happen sometimes. I promise you, I would never hurt a human. I choose to live as a human for most of my life, as you have seen.”