During our graduation trip, we were playing a game. My boyfriend drew a "Dare" card requiring him to kiss the class queen bee. "It's just a game, Chloe won't mind, right?" Then I drew a "Truth" card. "Everyone sitting here tonight is going to die. I will kill you all." 1 Ethan unrolled the slip of paper in his hand and raised an eyebrow. The light from the campfire danced across his handsome, rebellious features, casting flickering shadows. A half-smile played on his lips. Seeing him stay silent for a long moment, Ben, sitting next to him, grew impatient. "Ethan, what did you get?!" As he spoke, Ben snatched the paper from Ethan's hand and read it aloud. "Kiss the second girl on your right for five minutes!" The group immediately started hooting and hollering. "The second girl on the right... isn't that Mia, our class queen bee?!" "Ethan is a lucky guy!" "Not necessarily. What if Mia doesn't want to?" Mia, who was poking the campfire with a stick, shrugged indifferently. "If it's a game, we have to follow the rules. I'm not a sore loser. "But Chloe, hey, you don't mind if I kiss your boyfriend, right?" Everyone's gaze instantly shifted to me. Feeling embarrassed, I squeezed my fingers together. "I don't think this is a good idea. How about we just say Ethan forfeits this round, and I'll drink his penalty." Saying that, I stood up and walked over to grab a can of beer. According to the rules, anyone who refused to complete a Truth or Dare had to chug a whole can of beer. I was a terrible drinker; even one sip made me flush. But I'd rather get drunk than watch Ethan kiss Mia. Seeing my reaction, the group started whispering, complaining that I was a buzzkill and too uptight to have fun on a trip. Ben curled his lip. "Like I said, you just can't have fun with a country bumpkin like her." 2 Before my fingers even touched the beer, my arm was suddenly yanked. Ethan stood beside me, frowning. "Did I tell you to drink?" He reached out, snatched the beer can, effortlessly popped the tab with his index finger, tilted his head back, and took a huge gulp. I breathed a sigh of relief. Ethan still cares about me, right? He won't kiss Mia, and he doesn't want me to drink. He won't put me in a difficult position. Unexpectedly, a soft sobbing sound came from behind us. I turned around to see Mia covering her face, her shoulders shaking. The moment she started crying, the other students immediately started trying to comfort her and guilt-trip Ethan. "Ethan, this is uncool. Aren't you just hurting her pride?" "Yeah, the girl said she was willing, and you pull this? Where is Mia supposed to hide her face now?" Ethan's body stiffened. The next second, he tossed the beer can aside, strode over to Mia, and grabbed her arm. Mia was pulled to her feet by Ethan. Her eyes were red and teary, looking like a wronged, innocent little bunny. "What are you doing?" Ethan lowered his head and kissed her. He passed the mouthful of beer he had been holding into her mouth. My brain exploded with a loud boom. A sudden gust of mountain wind hit my back, chilling me to the bone. Mia let out a soft moan and wrapped her arms around Ethan's neck. The two of them kissed passionately by the campfire while our classmates clapped excitedly. "Damn, that's intense! Ethan really knows how to play!" Amidst the cheering and applause, I stood frozen in place, utterly lost. My expression was awkward, my limbs stiff, like a pathetic clown who didn't know where to look. 3 The crowd watched them kiss with great interest. Ben's mocking gaze swept over me from time to time. "Some people really think too highly of themselves." "Exactly. Ethan and Mia have known each other since they were kids. Did she really think Ethan could stand to see Mia cry?" "Look, Ethan is even holding her waist. If you ask me, he probably likes Mia deep down." Their posture was incredibly intimate. Ethan had his arm wrapped tightly around Mia's waist, and Mia was on her tiptoes, clinging to his neck. They looked as if they wanted to merge into one another. Five minutes later, Ethan finally pulled away. He wiped the corner of his wet mouth with his thumb and smiled. "I just took a sip of beer to wet my whistle. Look how impatient you got." Mia, breathless and blushing furiously, pounded his chest with her fists. "Ugh! You're so bad!" Holding hands, they returned to their seats by the campfire. Seeing me still frozen in place, Mia called out to me triumphantly. "Chloe, what are you standing there for? Come back and keep playing." As she spoke, her gaze shifted from me to Ethan, and she covered her mouth with a laugh. "You're not actually mad, are you? Don't take it seriously, Ethan and I are just bros. If anything were really going to happen between us, do you think he'd still be with you?" That exact phrase—not just from Mia, but from Ethan and all his friends—had been said to me countless times. My ears had callous from hearing it. I had transferred to their school in my junior year. This group, revolving around Ethan and Mia, had been close friends since middle school. Mia was the only girl in their tight-knit circle. She was pretty, wealthy, and outspoken. Ethan always insisted she was just "one of the guys." Since Ethan and I started dating, we rarely had any time alone. He brought them along to every weekend hangout. If he excluded them even once, Mia would accuse him of abandoning his friends for a girl. This graduation trip was no exception. It was originally supposed to be just me and Ethan. But when Mia found out, she dragged this whole gang of misfits along, claiming that since we were graduating, there wouldn't be many chances to get everyone together, so we had to go as a group. 4 Mia was the one who picked this location, too. The dense, old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, a remote, rugged area known for vast stretches of untouched wilderness. It was rich in vegetation and rare wildlife, and it even had local legends about a "Wildman" or Bigfoot roaming the woods. Mia loved hiking and adventure. I, on the other hand, was timid and preferred the bustling energy of big cities. When we were picking a destination, Ethan saw a picture of this forest and immediately swiped past it. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's not go into the deep woods. It scares me." Hearing that, Mia immediately swiped back to the picture. "Ethan, let's go here. We've all grown up in the city. Aren't you bored of it yet? We should go explore the mountains and experience nature." As soon as she spoke, Ben chimed in to agree, saying cities were boring and only country bumpkins wanted to squeeze into them. Ethan nodded. "Alright, we'll go to the forest." There wasn't much entertainment out in the mountains. After setting up camp that night, it was Mia who suggested playing Truth or Dare. Everyone wrote a prompt on a piece of paper, threw them in a pile, and took turns drawing. Seeing me sitting there silently with my lips pressed together, Mia looked frustrated, as if she were about to cry. "Is it because I suggested the game that you don't want to play? Chloe, do you really hate me that much?" Ethan patted her hand comfortingly, then turned to glare at me. "Chloe, don't be a buzzkill. Come sit down." 5 Everyone's eyes were fixed on me. It was already 10:00 PM. The mountain forest was pitch black, and the cold wind howled, gust after gust, making the campfire flicker wildly. Seeing my lack of cooperation, Ethan's expression grew even uglier. "If you don't want to hang out with us, then get lost." Ethan had a terrible temper. When he got angry, he didn't care about anyone's feelings. Once, he drove me to the suburbs to go camping. Following the GPS, we took several wrong turns and ended up on a dead-end dirt road. I told him the GPS was wrong and suggested we get out and ask a local for directions. He insisted it was right. After a brief argument, he suddenly lost his temper. While I was out of the car asking for directions, he slammed on the gas and drove off, leaving me behind. It was almost dark, and he abandoned me in a strange, rural area. My phone and bag were still in his car. I walked for a long time before I finally met a kind older woman who helped me call my dad. Knowing his personality, if I made him angry now, he would very likely pack up the rest of his friends and leave, abandoning me in this deep, remote forest. Helpless, I had no choice but to walk over and sit on Ethan's right side. Ethan chuckled lightly. "That's better. Good girl." Saying that, he patted me on the head twice, like he was coaxing a puppy. The game continued. I drew a slip of paper, unfolded it, and read it by the firelight: "Tell everyone a secret." It was a "Truth." I tossed the paper into the campfire. Looking up, I slowly surveyed the circle of faces. In an incredibly slow, deliberate tone, I enunciated every word: "Tonight... everyone sitting here... is going to die." 6 The mountain wind grew fiercer. The burning wood crackled, sending sparks flying and illuminating the faces gathered around the fire. Their relaxed, smiling faces froze, stiffening instantly. After a long pause, Mia finally let out a shriek. She scrambled backward, shrinking into Ethan's arms, her eyes wide with anger. "Chloe, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?! "We're just playing a game, why are you randomly cursing people?! If you're mad at me, just say it, but saying everyone is going to die? You're too vicious!" The others quickly joined in, criticizing me from all sides. But Ethan just raised an eyebrow, a lopsided smirk forming on his lips. "Oh? We're all going to die?" He seemed highly amused. Pushing Mia away, he sat up straight. "How are we going to die? Give us the details." "Ethan, why are you engaging with her?!" Mia, clearly displeased, pinched Ethan's thigh hard. "She's crazy. I told you from the start to stay away from her. These girls from the sticks have something wrong with their heads, just like that Lin—cough, cough!" Mia cut herself off mid-sentence, covering her mouth and coughing dryly. She pinched Ethan again, whining playfully. "Anyway, you're not allowed to encourage her." Ethan hissed slightly and grabbed Mia's hand. "Princess, where are you touching? Dare to go a little higher?" Mia's hand had originally been near Ethan's knee. When he leaned back, her hand naturally slid up, her fingers nearly brushing his upper thigh. Her face turned bright red. She changed her pinch to a fist and pounded his chest thump, thump. "You are the absolute worst!" The two of them flirted and wrestled without a care in the world. Ethan caught Mia's fists, pulling her tightly against his chest, and looked at me as if nothing had happened. "Keep going, Chloe. Tell us why we're going to die. "If you can't come up with a good reason—" The smile vanished from Ethan's face. His eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint in his pupils. "You know I don't like it when people talk nonsense." Across the campfire, the two of them sat intimately entwined. Ethan's arm was wrapped tightly around Mia's waist, and she leaned back against his chest, practically sitting on his lap. The stinging light of the fire burned my eyes. I offered a self-deprecating smile and looked away. "You guys have heard the legends of the 'Wildman' in these woods, right?" I sighed and lowered my voice. "It's not a legend. My grandmother is from a village deep in this forest." 7 My grandmother lived in a remote place called Dragon's Creek. When I was six, after my parents divorced, my mother brought me back to the village, dumped me there, and left to find work in the city by herself. My grandmother was a fierce, fiery little old lady. She hated my mother for ignoring her advice and running off with a useless deadbeat. She didn't treat me well either. She gave me just enough food to keep me alive and completely ignored everything else. My aunt was always giving me attitude too, calling me a freeloader and a burden. Every summer, she would call my mom asking for money. When my mom refused, my aunt would stamp her feet, scream obscenities into the phone, and threaten to sell me. My mom's lazy drawl would come through the phone: "Selling a person is a felony. You try selling her, and I'll call the cops." "Felony? You work in the city for a few years and think you're a city slicker now? What did I even do? Call the cops, I dare you! I'd like to see who they arrest—you, the tramp who abandons her kid to whore around with men in the city, or me!" The two of them would scream at each other over the phone. Furious, my aunt would grab a piece of firewood from the stove and start beating me. I would scream in agony. My aunt would raise her thin eyebrows, looking incredibly smug. "You hear that?! Linda, if you don't send money, I'll beat your daughter to death." My mom would just laugh indifferently. "Go ahead and beat her. If she dies, you go to prison and get the death penalty. Pong! Hey, I called Pong on that! Give me that Three of Circles back." Infuriated, my aunt would pin me down and beat me even harder. Until her anger subsided, she forbade anyone in the house from giving me food. When I got too hungry, I had no choice but to go up the mountain to forage for wild berries. And that was where I encountered the Wildman for the first time. 8 I still remember, that day was incredibly hot. This area was at a high elevation. Normally, once night fell, the air in the mountains should have been quite cool. But that night, the entire village felt like it was trapped in a steamer. Heat radiated from the ground. I lay on a straw mat, my empty stomach burning with hunger. My back was scalding hot, my whole body felt like it was on fire, and the little energy I had left was rapidly evaporating. Acid constantly welled up in my mouth. Unable to bear the hunger any longer, I got up, put on my shoes, and prepared to head to the back mountain to pick some wild fruit. During the summer, the mountain had wild kiwis, wild grapes, and a fruit we called "August Burst." This oval-shaped fruit ripens and bursts open in August; the flesh tastes like a mix of banana and ice cream, incredibly refreshing. The few spots on the back mountain where they grew were constantly monitored by the village kids and had been picked clean long ago. I had to venture deeper. Normally, I would never dare go up the mountain late at night. But when a person reaches the absolute limit of starvation, when the brain is entirely controlled by an empty stomach, fear ceases to exist. I walked through the forest with a flashlight, stumbling with every other step. I couldn't even remember how many times I fell. Suddenly, a bizarre, eerie cry echoed from ahead. I had heard the adults say there were feral wolves, wild boars, and even black bears on the mountain, and they all ate people. Trembling with fear, I quickly switched off my flashlight and scrambled up a large tree nearby. The moon was very bright that night. The strange cries drew closer and closer, stopping right beneath my tree. "And then what happened?" Ben, completely absorbed in the story, couldn't help but interrupt. I shrank my neck, pulled my blanket tighter around me, and gestured with my hands. "I saw a section of intestines, about this long. At least ten or twelve feet. "Fresh intestines, still dripping with slimy fluids, radiating an incredibly strong, foul stench. The end of the intestine was tied into a loop, like a lasso." I paused, my voice trembling. "A massive Wildman, its face and body covered in black hair, looked up at me and smiled. "It swung the intestines in its hand, instantly looping them around my neck, and yanked hard. I was ripped right out of the tree." 9 The moment the words left my mouth, a cold, slimy rope suddenly dropped around Ben's neck. The rope jerked backward. Ben's eyes widened in sheer terror, and he let out a blood-curdling, agonizing scream. He tumbled to the ground, thrashing and wailing desperately. "Help! Wildman! A Wildman is trying to kill me—" Everyone else burst into hysterical laughter. Mia collapsed into Ethan's arms, laughing so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. "Oh my god, Ben, look at what a coward you are! Hahaha—" Ben opened his eyes in bewilderment. Marcus stood over him, one hand in his pocket, swinging a climbing rope in the other. "Hahahaha! Ben, you are such a wimp. You got scared that easily by Chloe's little story? Did you pee your pants? Let me check." Saying that, he went to kick Ben in the crotch. Ben, flushed with anger and embarrassment, covered his crotch. "Fuck off!" Marcus was a sports scholarship student. He was half a head taller than Ethan, built like a tank, with a violent temper and a love for pranks. However, his family was ordinary, and his dad worked for Ethan's dad's company. So, around Ethan, he was always very well-behaved, constantly calling him "Boss Ethan." To everyone else, he wasn't nearly as polite. Ben didn't dare take his anger out on Marcus, so he directed all his fury at me. He jumped up from the ground and aggressively rolled up his sleeves. "Dammit, you stupid bitch, do you have a death wish?!" Ben raised his arm, preparing to strike me. "That's enough!" Ethan interrupted him with a laugh. "I actually think this game is getting interesting. Keep going, Chloe. The Wildman caught you. Then what?"
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