The forest campsite exhaled an uneasy quiet under the weight of the night. Smoldering embers from the campfire pulsed faintly, their red-orange light flickering against the silhouette of Joseph, stretched out on his sleeping bag. His gaze followed the dying flames, his face shadowed and thoughtful.
Behind him, the sharp rustle of fabric announced Alice's emergence from Wade’s tent. She moved with a practiced ease, settling onto the ground beside Joe with a casual air that barely masked her restlessness.
“How’re you feeling?” Joseph asked, his voice low and gravelly.
Alice shrugged. “I’ve never had a problem with alcohol. College probably gave me a lifetime immunity.”
Joseph smirked, nodding toward the empty whiskey bottle abandoned near the fire. “Good for you.”
She studied him then, her gaze sharp yet playful. “That was some lap dance Penelope gave you,” she teased.
“No comment,” Joseph replied flatly, though a flicker of discomfort betrayed him.
Alice leaned in conspiratorially. “I figured you’d be, you know... getting lucky right about now.”
Joseph shook his head, motioning toward the dark silhouette of Wade’s tent. “I prefer my lady friends awake... and sober. What about you?”
Alice followed his gesture, scoffing. “He barely made it to first base before passing out. Probably for the best. I think the alcohol hampered my judgment. There are better fish in the sea, as they say.”
Joseph chuckled. “You and Penelope don’t pull any punches, do you?”
“We don’t have the luxury,” Alice said, her tone sharpening. “Penny and I are the only female lawyers in an office full of old boys and angry paralegals. Half my day is spent swatting hands off my ass or proving my... anatomy doesn’t make me a poor lawyer.”
Joseph raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a tough career.”
“It is,” she admitted. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Life’s too short for woulda, coulda, shoulda. When I see something I want, I go for it.” Her tone softened as she moved closer.
Before Joseph could respond, a distant scream shattered the stillness.
“Help! Somebody help me!”
Joseph bolted upright. “That’s Dave!”
He leaped to his feet and ran toward the edge of the campsite, heart pounding. The forest ahead seemed impossibly dark, the faint moonlight barely penetrating the dense canopy. Suddenly, Dave burst out of the underbrush, wild-eyed and clutching his shirt over his bare torso.
“Help me!” Dave gasped, his voice a hoarse wail. “Somebody help!”
Joseph caught him just as he stumbled. “What happened? Where’s Mandy?”
Dave’s eyes darted frantically toward the trees. “I don’t know! She was there, and then she wasn’t!”
By now, Wade, Ben, and Joon had emerged from their tents, alerted by the commotion.
“Mandy’s missing,” Alice informed them, her voice clipped with urgency.
“What do you mean, missing?” Joon demanded, his face pale in the dim light.
Dave took a stumbling step forward, his words tumbling out in broken, panicked fragments. “I... I don’t know, man! One second she was on top of me, and the next minute—” He stopped short, catching his breath.
Alice stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. “Dave, what’s that on your chest?”
Joseph followed her gaze, leaning in. A splatter of dark crimson stained Dave’s skin, stark against his pale chest.
“Is that... blood?” Alice whispered.
Joseph nodded grimly. “It’s blood.”
Wade’s face twisted in disbelief. “Are you guys into... the rough stuff or something?”
Dave lunged at Wade with sudden ferocity, but Joseph held him back. “No, you idiot!” Dave spat. “You think I’d hurt her? She’s the love of my life!”
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