Summary

Ethan, Noah, and Hudson end up trapped in an oldgrowth forest. Waiting out a storm and the gang after their heads: the trip decided to set up a campfire and tell scary stories. Knowing the people after them will not follow because of it's reputation of being cursed. As the trip of friends discover some truth of those claims as they tell their tales.

Topics and CW: Body Horror, Creepy Atmosphere, Guns, Mentions of death and Torture, Uncanny Valley

Campfire Scares

2 heavy sets of foot prints trail blindly between lines of wild trees. Kilometers of territory left abandoned into old growth within a land the locals are too scared to enter. As three fugitives flee into Oaks that twist and bend the skyline dim, thick moss crunching into water by their hurried steps. The last of the bullets after their heads fading a few meters behind them. Sounds of thunder muted from the density of branches hiding any signs of the sky. One set of boots tracks these fugitives, his steps disappearing faster than the echoing voices of his gang screaming to the 3 fugitives successfully escaping.

“IT’S OLDWOOD, THEY WON’T GET FAR", an older voice breaks through the stowed gun fire, commanding the group of 15 gang members.

“TACE, DON’T BE DUMB, COME BACK!”, one of the younger men cut into the sounds of these men clinging to the end of the tree line, some of the members still making stray potshots at the shadows of these fugitives.

“TACE WILL BE DEAD. SAME FOR THOSE WHO THINK THEY HAVE ESCAPED SOMEWHERE SAFE", the same older voice bellowed, defeat in his tone as it failed to make anything stir at the edge of the old growth. It’s warning ignored.

Ethan was very grateful that Noah did not weigh that much. He was keeping up with Hudson relatively easily because of it. It was just that Noah was not the best piggyback passenger right now. He made space for his boyfriend on his back, holding onto his legs. Usually the space his katana rested, holstering his weapon to his hip to give his drunk partner as much space as possible to rest as they ran away for their lives.

Noah clinging fiercely to Ethan, mouth so close to the right side of his face for whispering that he was practically eating ear. “comme-on, let’s fine somewhere for me to ‘try’ that thing again for you, please. Please? Pleaseee...I Promise my gag reflex won’t get in the way again~”

Despite enjoying the sensation, and some of the stuff Noah was babbling in his drunken state; Ethan had to focus on running away from gang territory as fast as possible. Make distance for everyone’s sake, get somewhere safe. ….Maybe later indulge Noah when the threats are gone.

“How MUCH did he drink while I was doing recon??”, Ethan said, trying to bury his excitement as Noah was now fully nibbling his ear.

Hudson replied, face partially obscured by running with their equipment in both arms; “ENOUGH TO EARN DEBT!~ I Blame You this Time more than Anything!”. The mix of screaming in his reply made him loose breath faster.

“How would it be my fault THIS TIME?? IT’S NOT MY LIVER ON THE LINE EVERYTIME I WANT TO SHOW A LITTLE SPICE IN OUR ROMANCE!”, Ethan responded as commanding as possible, hugging the limbs he used to keep Noah in place, tighter.

Hudson stopped running first, before he gave a retort. Visibly dropping their gear as he caught his breath. The heavy bags thudding to the solid clearing with a dry heft to them, no signs of the foul weather or wet moss to ruin their gear.

“Oi-Oi, you said, and a quote: ‘If you are a good enough boy for me, I will let you try that one thing you have been trying to die for, again! I promise to let you go at it as LONG as Possible without backing Out!’-End Quote", Hudson replied in quotation marks with his fingers.

Ethan almost ran past Hudson in the clearing the small man stumbled on, 5 meters away as he dug his heels into the patch of dry soil.

“I Whispered that in that bar as an incentive for Noah! He needed a little encouragement to help ensure this missions goes, no, would have gone well!”, Ethan shot out in a hushed tone as he removed Noah from his back, holding him in front of his body like a cat.

“Well, it looks like you got plenty of incentive than, 10,000 Dollars worth of it In vintage SCOTCH!”, Hudson said in a laugh, as he messed with their luggage in desperation for a compass. “Fuc-k, how would I even use this, again?”, the small sober friend said as he pulled out a pocket dial that pointed in a direction he wasn’t sure led them to safety.

Ethan placed Noah to set by Hudson’s pile of their stuff, as the larger man re-holstered his weapon to his back. He wanted enough space on his body to gather large logs nearby for them to sit on. Trying to focus on their comfort, as well as their next moves for their survival.

“You don’t know how to read a compass?”, was all he said, as Ethan heaved 2 thick tree trunks into their clearing nearby. After getting the two legs opposite from each other, to leave room for a small fire, he rested his back on the one besides all their gear, resting his legs against the dusty forest floor.

“It is..pretty obvious where it is pointing, Ethan. But, I am unsure if that direction will lead us back home….or where we just came from", Hudson said, kneeling by Noah as he used a small flame from his finger to see the compass’s engravings. Before he could strain his eyes more, suddenly the pendant was gone, as an inebriated Noah grabbed it fast from Hudson’s fingers. Dusting himself off as he rose from his comfy resting spot of backpacks, Noah eyed the compass in the dimlight pointing eastward from the location of their camping spot.

“For 10,000 dollars worth of booze,….and...it barely kept me in the spirit for about 2 hours Fuckkkk, noww I gotta go to work because you 2 can’t remember the direction of our operation again! From this spot we need to go east, I think I heard the gang members mention that this whole forest is only a few kilometers big. We can def out of here, When, When the weather clears!” Noah said, trying to muster any confidence he had left as the alcohol was fading into nothing but a migraine. The unfettered sounds of the wilderness around him, and lightning above head, was returning the facilitates of his mind that tested his senses.

“Noah! Sit on this…Log for me, or at least rest against it so we can plan ahead. I don’t know if we will get trapped here due to any rain that can come. Rather than make it out of the forest, and into a downpour in gang territory" Ethan said, patting the old tree trunk with one hand as he rested his back against it, signaling his partner. Noah turned to face Ethan, his eyes trying to grasp more of his scenery in the dim glow of the fading noon light. The gathering clouds obscuring the remaining sunlight from the treeline.

He, scoffed a little, putting his arms in his chest as he fiddled with his fingers for a bit, contemplating going to rest by Ethan while he had enough courage inside him to not hate himself later for it. Hudson teased Noah, pushing him from behind slightly, “I’ll take my spot on the other log, after I set up a fire pit 1st. I know how to do more than manage a proper campfire-after all-eheeheheh", he said as he started scouring for large stones.

“A fire normally would be bad on the run, but the gang won’t track us here, like they screamed about. Besides, it will get colder if it actually rains", Ethan said, stretching his dense muscles under his now dirtied outfit. The sight of some of his toned body made Noah’s eyes wide, and mouth water just a bit, slapping himself for what he did next. As Noah remained next to his partner, Hudson was midway in getting some good looking rocks. Assembling them in a circle as thunder shook the branches shrouding their sky.

Despite still being in some kind of mood, Noah kept a small distance from Ethan. He could not tell himself why, even if the scotch was still very much in his system and the threat of many guns was avoided. Something about these woods had the worst parts of him on alert, and not because of his experiences in wilderness survival. Noah wasn’t sure about ever traveling in growth as old as this, but it made the parts of him he tried to bury be more alive than the forest floor he was resting on.

Only a few things stirred in the dimming light of their temporary camp: the booms from the sky, the shaking branches from the wind, and whenever they acted in these woods. It felt more like the heartbeat of a large animal, more than an unclaimed forest moving with the winds of a storm.

No... peeps from any birds, bugs, or critters talking to each other, or sounds of water as well. It’s as if the woods were just waiting for something to act. As it’s old foliage tricks Noah with images he did not trust, as other nonexistent noises began setting in. Faces in twisting lines of branches, their rustling calling to him at 1st before the sounds they made echoed a different similar rhythm. Insecurities ridiculed, almost as if the forest itself taunted Noah for his mistake today, and everything else wrong with the man. Their noise making him lose track of what made him feel so...wrong about this place, ignoring his gut, ignoring-

Noah did not even notice he began to shiver until he felt warm hands envelope his shoulders. He jolted a fist up in response from the sensation, as Ethan dodged his reactive strike like he’s been practicing. Before Noah knew it, he felt warmer, as he was enveloped in Ethan’s jacket. “We lost a bit there, we had been talking about to do next, and what we’ll have to plan around without that intent. But you ‘stepped out’ again for around 2 minutes straight without us realizing. Do you need anything, Babe?", Ethan said to his boyfriend.

Noah swallowed his spit at the sight of Ethan circling to face him after dodging his punch. His BF’s undershirt showed off his arms, and a part of his midriff, not to mentioned barely an hour ago he wanted Ethan to loom over him like this for...for something he wanted his boyfriend to try again. Now, he wanted to be home, and away from this place. The best he could settle for wouldn’t be that.

“May-maybe some food and water while we wait this incoming storm. Something is wrong here, and whatever it is; staying smashed will not help", Noah relayed as he hugged Ethan’s jacket tighter to keep himself warm.

Noah was met with a granola bar and bag of marshmallows to the face as Hudson threw them at him, as he laughed on his back on the ground. Before Ethan grabbed anything for his boyfriend, Noah snarled and threw the bag of marshmallows at full force at Hudson. His once laughing friend pushed to the ground by the sack of fluffy snacks. Hudson seeing swirls as he tried collecting himself from the ground, as Ethan grabbed the marshmallows from his face.

Ethan moving on to grab his and Noah’s bags from the backpack pile, setting them up near their log and away from the rock pit Hudson set up for his campfire. Grabbing a water bottle and placing it in Noah’s hands before went to throttle their friend.

Noah groaned, as he containing the vocalization as he chugged down the water bottle, crushing the empty plastic container to his forehead to try and ‘vent’ out his frustration at this. The water and the snack-throwing helping to ease his tension, despite how annoying the situation was still. “Thank you", was all Noah was able to mutter out towards Ethan as he stared angrily at their laughing friend. Ethan smiled, now resting beside Noah fully, using the chance as way to be close to his partner without the smaller man freaking out.

Hudson got up from his laugh as he started collecting brush and branches from around them. “I Guess we’re camping now! You lovebirds better save me some marshmallows, I packed those as a joke but I don’t think I have ever had one roasting over a campfire before. Regular fire, YES. But not ones when I camp with you too~" Hudson rambled toward his friends.

“I don’t think I have been camp, camping either. Mostly had to camp out at places before, but nothing as recreational most normal friends or families do around the summer time" Ethan said, cautiously putting an arm around Noah in a way that wouldn’t cause him to flip out. Noah was eating the granola bar before he responded, downing the dusty block of nuts and grain into his mouth.

“Well, from some people, outside of finding somewhere safe to rest, they-they do some activities to pass the time with people they like. Like, tell scary stories, I think?”, Noah managed to spurt out, still chewing some granola.

Hudson stopped piling the unlit fire-pit for a second, before he grew a wide grin that traveled ear-to-ear. He flicked a finger and watched the circle of stones now shield a wispy flame, now illuminating the trio of friends in their dry patch. “You two: keep the area secure for me. I will….be right back, I got to go get more firewood, to-to KEEP our campfire lit", Hudson spoke, trying hard to bury as his laughter.

Noah was about to protest at this before realizing just how physically close he was with Ethan at this moment. His dumb, sexy boyfriend, hugging him with strong, stupid arms in this creepy ass forest really took it out of him. His instincts of pushing him away weren’t kicking in yet, but his hesitation to this kind of affection still trying to kick his ass. They were ALONE, in an almost romantic set up in the woods, with a man that made Noah Happy! He was gonna try to let Ethan keep himself on Noah until Noah needed at least 5 bottles of 12% back home for this levels of confidence again.

Ethan felt a small change to the arm he was wrapping around Noah, as his BF moved closer into the embrace. Seeing it fully in the low light of the campfire. Smiling as he saw Hudson in the corner of his eye, winking at them.

“I’ll be Right Back~...AhehehehEHadshsvb”, Hudson laughed, the claps of lighting hiding his louder chuckle as he made it past the dense line of trees around 7 meters away from their clearing east. His purple hair quickly lost in waves of branches and moss, almost as if the forest digested all the foreign colors of his body with their overwhelming shades of vegetation. The density of their growth hid most sounds of foot traffic as Hudson likely walked not to far way, the lack of sound traveling on the ground floor creating the illusion that he ran deeper in. At least, that is what Noah tried to guess as he kept a good track of how deep Hudson sunk into the foliage before every trace of him vanished in it’s mire.

Ethan went for it, noticing the queue Hudson gave him to be more romantic, as he leverage his arm to fully maneuver Noah on top of his resting body. Distracted, Noah was stunned a bit in a grimace as he went from snuggling to one arm, to having Ethan to rest on as they laid against the tree trunk and small campfire. Thick arms wrapped around him, still warm from Ethan’s jacket; Noah’s mouth was caught in a neutral line from his own indecision. Does he…let this stop….Does he let it continue since it feels good? It distracted from the noises his mind was trying to trap him with, but at the same time it was dealing with other issues he was no longer drunk enough to handle.

Ethan felt his chance slipping, so he needed something to distract his BF to let him hold on longer. “Do you wanna swap scary stories??”, the taller man said looking down into the eyes of his perplexed partner.

“…..What" was all Noah muttered after seconds of silent staring, his eyes fulling looking into his BF.

“You said other people tell scary stories in this kind of thing. So why not give it a shot. We got the snacks, the fire, the creepy-as-fuck-setting; and each other, it can be fun if we let it!”, Ethan stitched together in a hushed joy, smiling deeply at his boyfriend.

Noah was definitely feeling the vibes their little dry patch, coupled with the sense of wrongness in his gut that wasn’t about this affection. He would have pushed away, or maybe even get some kind of physical in this state; but something about telling these stories could be a good distraction from the atmosphere he was trapped in. He breathed a little heavy, Ethan waiting for a response as he held his smaller boyfriend just a little tighter at the sounds of something he couldn’t recognize.

“you go first”, Noah managed to say, the distracted Ethan looking down into his arms to see a wide-eyed Noah looking deeply at his boyfriend.

“Wha, Me? You are the one who Told Me about this kind of thing?”, Ethan said, using his biceps to make the snuggle tighter, as he kept a playful curiosity.

“I would have forgotten if you didn’t remind me. So, how about you take the lead and try to scare me with a story, than I can do, then Hudson, as we wait out the storm" Noah said defiantly, trying hard not to get more comfortable in this hug.

Ethan obscured Noah’s mouth by raising his left hand to his chin, scratching his bottom face as he tried to come up with a debate for that argument of who should go first, before settling on thinking of a story good enough to scare Noah.

“ALRIGHT, HOW ABOUT THE BONE CHILLING TALES OF DAVY JONE’S LOCK-”, Ethan expelled loudly from his mouth before his chin was forced shut by the top of Noah’s head, the small man jumping up for an impromptu headbutt.

“NO ONE PIECE THEORIES, AGAIN, I DO NOT CARE HOW SILENT DA LORE HAS BEEN ON DAVY JONES BEFORE WATER 7, I DON’T WANT HIS BROUGHT UP AGAIN WHEN WE ARE HAVING A MOMENT”, Noah screamed from his comfy spot between Ethan’s arms. Getting snug into the dense limbs once more as Ethan laughed, rubbing his chin in apology. Their noise acting as the only sounds in the space around them.

“Aw, ahahahaha! Okay, okay, I got one to share! I...I know a good yokai story to share that actually happened to me~”Ethan cooed at the end of his statement, raising his hands to wiggle his fingers evilly.

“..What?” Noah said in response to that. “How are you still alive in this scary story if it was true? I’m pretty sure a lot of these things are like hear-say from randos in the story, family associates, or like 3rd eye witness that can loosely collaborate the campfire tale being true!”, Noah quickly pieced together a response.

“I’m pretty sure a story can be more scary if it’s true. That is the point, isn’t it? Mixing truth and suspicion to make it memorable, even if it’ll be the traumatic type of unforgettable", Ethan responded confidently to Noah, petting his head like he was an angry cat.

Noah, begrudgingly nodded, nestling back into his boyfriend’s warm embrace as he hugged him.

“Ahhh, that’s nice. Okay, so time for something….spooky!” Ethan said, raising his voice as lighting struck, small droplets of rains barely passing through the treeline.

Hudson laughed from somewhere in the woods nearby, Noah unable to tell which direction from the sudden rhythms drumming as as rainfall crashed into many hard leaves.

“This is the story of how I met Kuchisake onna, and made it out alive" Ethan said, keeping a bit of his silliness in his tone to hide a deeper sensation Noah could not sense. His taller boyfriend holding onto him as he looked into the dimming fire in front of their resting-log.

‘Kuchisake onna is a modern spirit, born from old cruelties. An urban yokai that spawns to those under-looked in cities: school-boys left abandoned by their peers, businessmen stumbling home drunk after hours, single mothers running home late. If you’re alone, there is a chance you will bump into a tall, and beautiful woman that blocks your way for a moment. Some say she can be very tall. Others short, But, a few patterns to her look have stayed the same: long black hair, fair skin, and a mouth obscured by cloth or a mask. I only learned about her from an internet search after remembered how-messed up it was for me to have encountered her outside of Japan. Maybe...she was after someone else and I was in the way.

I was on my own when I ran into her in my youth. When...Home was no longer an option. Starving and in my usual resting spot before I left my country to here. I thought at 1st I had run full speed into a neighboring granny who usually gave me a Takki’s if we passed, mostly because her hair was very long. Still black, and wearing a deep red overcoat that looked out of place for the city; any thoughts of that nice old woman got replaced with that of maybe an actor returning to their set in full costume. I didn’t see her face yet from where she knocked me on the ground. Just a flash of a medical mask covered by her longggg, black locks going down to her knees.

“am i beautiful?”, she asked me, as I was bringing myself up to face someone I swear was still taller than I was, even as an adult. I finally adjusted myself to see she was crouching to meet my eyes, leaning her body like a bent straw. Not to help. Not to fuss on the kid she tripped. Just waiting for me to respond to a question she asked that I barely paid attention too.

“am i beautiful?”, she asked me again, pale gray eyes staring into mine. Their wide spheres desperately searching my face for a response on this street I was desperate for someone to come by.

I stepped away.

She step forwarded, loud and fast.

I wanted to say yes, but something felt so off.

“A.m. ..I. ..Be.aut.iful?”, she asked again with more force. Raising to a fuller height from her hunching, her eyes following my trembling mouth.

That’s when I noticed what was wrong with her face again. In some of the seams of her black hair I noticed. A Deep red that was not just to her long overcoat.

But along parts of her neck and around her ears, was a dry crimson that seeped into curves that cut towards her earline. Closing back into her face as she breathed.

“II-IduNNo! Are You Supposed TO BE?” I screamed, trying to look for a way around her and somewhere safe. She stammered, confused to the point that her gaze dropped from me for a moment. Adjusting her face mask a little to show what I feared was underneath. A larger collected gash that curved from ear to ear with her mouth, flashed faster than a shot bullet.

I ran as she tried to re-adjusted herself.

As I made it further, and further down the long road, I feared she could easily walk a pace back in front of me.

That’s when I heard her approach another.

He responded yes to her question, maybe seeing something beautiful I could not place.

Than she asked again, and he screamed before I couldn’t hear anymore as I got away from that road.’

Ethan stopped speaking to feel Noah, feeling his arms get tighter with the tense parts of his story as the smaller man held him even more.

From the opposite side of where they last saw him, they saw hudson walk with 4 chunky logs of woods in his arms. Perfectly cut cylinders that look stolen from a lumberjack, the dim silhouette of his image forgotten by his friends as he stayed standing opposite of them by his resting-log. His darkened form staring unblinking at the firepit as he drew one log in, struggling to keep the rest of the bundle in his arms. The limbs shaking from the weight...like jelly. hudson stood by, watching Ethan and Noah from the opposite side as the fire rose to keep them warm from the rain. But not enough to….see more of hudson as he stayed standing.

After 1 minute of Noah freaking out in his arms, Ethan noticed the sudden rising fire caused by hudson. The frame of his best friend looking….off? He lost attention on his boyfriend for a moment as he watched hudson. He got the firewood he said he was after, but the logs were wayyy too perfect to find randomly in the woods. What’s worse was he devious blank stare he gave, unblinking as he kept eyes on Ethan and Noah with the shit-eating grin he kept whenever hudson was planning something evil again!

“That was fast, bro, where’d you get the wood from?”, Ethan said, holding his boyfriend like a prized teddy bear. Noah staring at his hugging boyfriend as he calmed down, thinking of what to say next.

hudson did not respond. He just turned his back to his friends, as he walked around away from the light of the campfire. His body, almost giggling as he escaped the light away from his friends. Something about the silence from hudson made Ethan….uncomfortable. He must be planning SOMETHING to try and scare them, since they are telling scary stories. Ethan decided to let him play it out, it might be a good bit to not see.

Before he could think of other reasons for the odd behavior And the gag hudson planned, he felt something in his embrace with his Bf. Noah shrugged one of Ethan’s hugging arm with a hand to get his attention.

“So…. Let me Get This Straight: you met the onryō ‘Kuchisake onna, who kept asking you Watashi, kirei, Until you basically called her kinda ugly. Than you Actually saved yourself like the legends by giving her that confusing answer to her question??”, Noah said, looking into his Bf’s eyes fully unaware of hudson.

Ethan was about to respond, before his gaze returned to where hudson approached again. This time he was holding a long wooden stick you’d find in a supply store. A thin rod of completely shaved wood that looked smooth to the touch.

“Nice...stick? The fire needed tending but I thought you’d use your hands or something with the whole fire power?”, Ethan said, quizzically.

“What? What is he doing?”, Noah said, turning his gaze from his boyfriend to hudson. Their friend stirring their firepit calmly with his unchanging smile, it’s light still too dim to display much of hudson’s unsteady form.

“He is just fucking with us, I bet. Probably taking the harder route for keeping the fire to bid his time in some prank, or something, Babe. I won’t worry about it….yet. Now, what were you saying?”, Ethan said, keeping a cautious stare towards his bestfriend. Trying to hard to pay attention to his boyfriend’s question.

Noah slapped Ethan back to focus, not worried on the enshrouded form of hudson, no matter how squiggly his body looked in the low light of the flames. “Hey, You survived an onryō from being dumb, How did you manage that??”, Noah said as he freed himself from the tension he was feeling from the story.

Ethan rubbed his face and laughed. “I was like 14! Cut me some slack. I only remembered recently how messed up that encounter was, AND to google about it like 2 years ago!”, Ethan retorted with a smile.

Noah was very comfortable in his boyfriends arms, any fear he had gained from Ethan’s story fading into a sense of pride. He knew of something similar he could tell him from his time growing up, something that could even scare senior cartel members like children. Noah closed his eyes, the last sight before the lids was his boyfriend’s gaze as he muttered from ‘fun facts’ about the yokai he encountered’

“Okay! I got a tale that will get you sh-”, Noah was interrupted mid-speech by a squealing coming from his immediate view. Past hudson’s log in their forest clearing was am uneven cry that blended the piercing cries of a dying woman with the circulation of an automatic can opener. Eyes wide, Noah looked to where the sound could have came from before it screamed again, about a dozen meters away from the silhouette of hudson standing by the campfire. Noah felt the world freeze around him, was his senses toying with his idled mind again, or was the reason for his tension finally showing itself too him?

The cries alerted the fugitives once more from the treeline, hudson swaying his standing body all the same. No matter how loud it’s cries got. Ethan, keeping one arm tight around Noah, fully knowing his boyfriend could tear up whatever approached them, but being on the defense for him regardless. Ethan’s other arm on the handle for his weapon, ready to unsheathe it. Noah realized that it was not just him experiencing this weird scene.

Before the thing could make another screech, he finally clocked a set of eyes in the upper branches of the treeline bordering their clearing behind hudson’s resting spot. He grabbed a spare rock by his side of the campfire without leaving Ethan’s side, and chucked it. Hitting...the branch where a Barn Owl decided to rest on, the scared aviary predator feeling further into the woods away from them.

Ethan released the hand grabbing his katana’s grip, placing it back onto Noah like he was hugging a prized teddy bear. The two partners sighing heavily at the scenario.

hudson stared at them.

An unmoving stare that shifted it’s view by moving the head downward rather than change eye movement. Focusing on the by dropping 1 more log of firewood, and stirring it with his long branch.

“We definitely need to leave the clearing soon, thankfully I feel less and less raindrops passing by our ‘shelter’, give it a little and we can go”, Noah said resting his head more onto Ethan’s chest.

Ethan let out a small chuckle, before looking down to Noah’s eyes again in response.

“so...Does that mean you can tell your story now?”, was all the taller man said as he slightly squeezed his boyfriend’s head with his biceps in their embrace.

Noah got a devious smile, as he spoke; “I have a story that many in the underworld of the western hemisphere tell each other for a good scare. Because it does happen, and no matter how powerful some narcos, or armsdealer might be; they can’t escape the vengeance of Bloody Bones”.

‘Despite it being an urban legend, it is far from just a myth where I come from. It is a warning to the powerful families that run the country where I am from, and many others who had crossed The Del Hierro Bloodline.

The Del Hierro’s were one of the most ancient guilds of weapon manufacturers in the western world, having been commissioned by the Spanish Crown for Arms needed to secure the El Camino Real. For hundreds of years, their forges and their factories operated in pumping out weapons across the Americas for every major conflict of war you can think of. This family clan of weapon-smiths likely making pieces of war that evolved just as the conflicts they were commissioned for.

Until the 21st century, at the apex of their influence. The Del Hierro’s declined to be in a merger for some of the most prominent cartels that had their pockets in many western governments. The once neutral family clearing taking a side for their own independence. And the unifying leaders of the cartel would not accept that.

Overnight, their factories would disappear: taken in explosions, scandals, sabotage. Their youngest heirs going missing. Marriages ending in shot out. Office spaces raided by government branches. Common workers even being afraid of being seen walking to their forges unless they wish to end up in a vat buried in the dessert. The Del Hierro legacy exploded faster than their impact in American history. The last of them, the patriarch and his 6 sons were all that remained as they were disproved of by the new cartel they failed to swear loyalty too.

In daylight, they were abducted, and brought to a warehouse around the area my family is from. Bound, limbs broke; the were fed to starving dogs who ate them down to the bone. Their gored skeletons still covered in bits of their tendons and other meat that wasn’t crushed under feral teeth. But when their executioners came to dispose of their body, came the reason for their legacy.

7 red-gored skeletons unable to be destroyed. Their bones refusing the melt in the acid they prepared. Their bodies staying intact no matter the amount of explosives, or gunfire they were put under. No amount of heat, or power could hide the atrocity those bones underwent.

So they were thrown into a new construction site, buried under wet concrete. The magic bones, seemingly disposed of once and for all. Until 1 year from the anniversary of their death, when a small drug house was targeted by 7 shadows caught on their cameras. The small operation with deep ties to the cartel that killed the Del Hierros, brutalized by means of dog mauling, sword wounds, and automatic gunfire. It continued for a whole week, to other operations, until they stopped.

Bloody Bones is what they are called now, 10 years later and those gory skeletons return for a week on earth to chip away at the cartel that took everything from them. Only leaving behind unexplained signs of violence wherever they strike. Their red frames whispered in passing from supposed camera footage and rumor. One rumor saying that after the 1st week of murders, the heads of the cartel responsible for Bloody Bones bought the construction sight they used for their burial to dig up the skeletons to ease their worries. To defeat any rumors of demons targeting their men. Only to find no sign of bones beneath the concrete.

I would have gone and believed it to be fake too, if not for what happened somewhat recently. On one of my jobs about 3 years ago, I was sent to clear out a den associated with this cartel due to some nastier business my client hated. As I arrived, I got hit with a deep stench of….Iron. Not just blood, but the processed smell of the metal too. My feet ran into what was left of this operation before I saw them, thick and wet blood staining outside their warehouse like water leak. When I managed to get into the place, it was as though I had just arrived at the end of a massacre. A well lit chem lab half blown up. Fresh bodies flung everywhere. I counted at least the remains of 46 heads, some of which barely remained any skull to them. Wounds of different makes for the lot of them too! Signs of dog teeth, longsword cleaving, buckshot, and automatic shelling too. But no sign of these attacks, just the aftermath. No smoke in the air, dog prints in the pools of blood, or bullet casings that followed the massacre I was desperate to walk away from.

Until I saw a survivor in the distance of that warehouse. He held his hands up to someone I could not see, as the light that captured his scared shadow told me what happened next. As his body was turned into swiss cheese; shredded beyond that of a human silhouette and into silenced slab of meat just like others in the warehouse. No signs of the bullets that did it marked the wall he was excited on, or even the sounds of the bullets.

Just one thing, the sounds of dry, and heavy bones rattling away as they walked somewhere deepened in the warehouse in the opposite direction of me. I did not stay to see if there was any other survivors, or to see what made that noise on the bloody floor. Bloody Bones has another name I referred to them by because of that. The Death Rattle: the rattling of their dry, red bones, being the last thing some narcos hear before they are gunned down without warning.’

Ethan shuddered at the end of the story, Noah feeling the hug he was comfortable in the whole time fluctuate in the strength his boyfriend put into it.

“So….You Also met an urban legend too, kinda?”, Ethan said, his voice shaking a little.

“Yeah, I think. Afterwards I stay clear of any job that week of the year, because you never know if the clients I could work with could have ties to Death Rattle’s vengeance”, Noah calmly replied with. Before his attention was nudged away, Ethan shook the smaller man in his arms as he realized something,

“Aww, What? Did I scare you that bad?”, Noah said in restraint from their snuggle. Looking to gnaw on one of Ethan’s biceps in revenge for almost killing their moments. Until he saw Ethan’s big goofy eyes tremble in a relaxation. “You said Bite-marks on bbbodies? Did. Did they kill the Dogs they used to maul the Del Hierro family too?? DId those dogs get sent to HELL with them too to comeback yearly to Kill People??”, Ethan muttered out frantically. More sad than scared as his goofy face went from viewable, to hidden in Noah’s hair as he rubbed a shivering cheek on Noah’s head.

“Babe. It’s Narcos. I assumed they would off their loyal pets and dump them in the same vats of acid as Death Rattle. Since they could contain human DNA in their poop, or on their teeth; or other bits that investigators could dumb enough to snoop on them could use. As for the Hell Bit, I mean. Animals going to the afterlife is a heavy-debated topic. They probably comeback one a year to avenge their deaths like the people they ate. I Guesss??”, Noah tried rationalizing to his hunky boyfriend. Ethan only whining at the response, not liking the answer at all.

Noah laughed a little, his small joy making Ethan hug him a little tighter before the hugged partner spoke again. “I just remembered. I told Hudson this exact story before! And he asked that question, and gave me the same response when I dished out my rationale. Remember, Hudson!”, Noah said as he parted his eyes away from Ethan.

His gaze twisting to hudson again. The dimness of his friend’s unblinking eyes catching his gaze back between them and the almost extinguished campfire.

“Pretty sure I told you Bloody Bones before, Hudson! So. Why not share one of your original scary stories? I know you’ve been hoarding a few since that one job when we started working together. It’s not like you need to retell any of them for long, since the rain ended midway through mine!”, Noah said, regaining more of his joy as Ethan began shivering less in their embrace.

Now that he was thinking about it, hudson had not talked to them for most of their time camping away from the gang they ran from. He got their firewood, but just stayed standing for the past 2 hours as they were waiting. Night was here at this point in this creepy forest, so he would have complained about sticking by here by now instead of being home.

Ethan caught on to Noah’s sudden observation.

“Ooh, so you noticed too, babe? I think Hudson is fucking with us, but I feel like the silence has dragged on too long to be….normal for him”, Ethan said as he shook Noah slightly.

Noah refused to look away from hudson. He looked funky. Partially translucent by the light of the dying campfire and the distance he kept while standing up away from him and Ethan. The borderlines of his frame like a vague sketch of his friend more than an accurate photo of Hudson.

Noah was squinting at hudson at this point. Unable to look away from his friend, the feeling of wrongness creeping in him again. “yeah, I think something is wrong with-”, Noah was saying midway until a monster appeared from the east side of them. Sparking up in a waving form was a beast of extra limbs and faces that moves stiffly. Twigs and barked charred smooth into the frame of a large, humanoid thing that creaked awfully as it screamed in front of Ethan and Noah. The Couple getting to their feet as they yelled in Unison at the wood demon before them. Ethan focusing to shield his boyfriend with his body instead of use his sword as the beast stopped it’s screaming because of...it’s laughter?

Hudson dropped the large wooden mask of his bark costume to let out his laughter bellow. He began heaving on his back from his laughing, pointing at Ethan who was putting down Noah from the fireman carry he was about to be placed in.

“What the FUCK, HUDSON! I WOUld of….CUT Yah if you were really a d-DEMON!”, Ethan exclaimed to Hudson with some semblance of bravery.

“YEAH! What THE HELL! When did you have the time to make that if you have been maintaining the campfire for us for the past 1 HOUR”, Noah joined in with his raising anger towards his best friend.

“Aahaahah, What are you talking about? I have just been chilling by the treeline carving up this getup to scare you too. Pranks by the campfire is an activity normal people due to show how much they loveee each other~”, Hudson said, getting up from his dying laughter as looked at Ethan and Noah. In front of the partners and their side of the campfire.

“What do you mean? You have been sitting with us for a while now, how did you even jump out towards us from the east side if...you already came back from the firewood you needed for the campfire because you didn’t want to use your powers!”, Ethan said as he looked to Noah in confusion.

“And you left….our sight for a while before coming back to hear our spooky stories and stand by your resting spot”, Noah said as he looked into Ethan’s eyes in fear.

Hudson held his hands out to his best friends, snapping his fingers as his wooden costume burned around him into ash. Keeping a small flame in his hands to remind them of an important fact.

“I Would Never Miss Out on Making a fire BY MYSELF, remember? I Don’t need firewood when I CAN BE YOUR UN-ENDING CAMPFIRE! I can definitely make it funnier to roast marshmallows one me too, if you are okay to launch some in ma mouth while I am on fire too!”, Hudson with pride. He had closed his eyes, opening them to see the fearful experiences of Ethan and Noah in front of them. Their stares of terror caught to something behind Hudson and the firepit he was in front of.

Hudson turned to see hudson.

Now that the real Hudson was nearby for a comparison, and the campfire was dying, was the differences in this copy so wrong.

hudson’s frame was squiggly and less solid than the real deal, like a crushed cup of jello. Parts of it’s outfit were off color, but hidden by the dimness of the light. It had eyes, a face, hair, and clothes; but not like a proper body. Like it’s body was the cardboard copy of Hudson covered in this gelatinous substance that gave it the illusion of volume as it stood. Its stare frozen forever in a glare of curiosity that did not blink because it lacked functioning eyelids. The squishy limbs that held those logs following the frame of Hudson’s actual body, but the digits were still coated in that translucent film that held up the lie by the lack of light to expose it.

Ethan and Noah froze closer to the now scared Hudson, the 2 partners now hugging the real version of their friend as they stared at the creature mimicking him for the past 2 hours.

Until hudson’s head split open from the forehead to the neck. A row of translucent, large, human teeth parted like a stretching jaw to burp. A long tongue expelling from the split illusion of hudson to spit out….A familiar boot in front of the real Hudson. A survival boot covered in whatever fluid was used to digest the rest of the person it was supposed to be attached to. The remaining leg bone and presumably that foot of the last man who was tracking them still stuck in the shoe.

“AAAAAAAIIII!”, the three friends said in unison of their hug. As Hudson grabbed the straps of their backpacks and began running ahead of his friends. Ethan quickly following behind with a screaming Noah in his arms. As the trio of fugitive friends ran in the direction of their home, the campfire they sat by expelled by the dying embers of the creature that made it for them. It’s unchanging stare watching as they leave out of sight.

Epilogue

Hudson was bummed out. After everything from the last job, the three of them were pretty much coming home in defeat. He would have felt better about their recent mission, but Ethan and Noah took off to their room at their base. Saying something like “I HAVE A PROMISE TO CASH IN-’, before Ethan abducted Noah. Carrying away a shy, and furious smaller Noah as he tried hiding the flush around his rageful eyes.

“DAMMIT! I KNOW WE ALMOST DIED THREE TIMES BEFORE GETTING HOME, BUT CAN YOU TWO WAIT TO GET A ROOM UNTIL I SAY MY SCARY STORIES!??”, Hudson Screamed out. Sighing out loudly as his friends disappeared into their base to do things he would hear no part in. Looking around their spacious home, he tried finding someone else to talk to.

“is...Anyone here! I got something fun to do before we get a new mission. H-Hello? Anyone?”, Hudson asked aloud. Hoping one of their other roommates if they wanted to share some scary stories.