Yes. Bodies. Dead Bodies were scattered all over the ground, and it wasn't a pleasant sight to witness.

Limbs were torn away from their torsos and heads were crushed with bones sticking out from every angle.

Blood had been splattered everywhere. Thick, dried blood. It was terrifying.

I cautiously took a step forward and nearly tripped on an arm. I gasped at the sight of the obstacle before I regained my posture and continued to move. And that was when it hit me, the powerful stench radiating from the rotting bodies hit me full force in the face that I staggered and instantly felt nauseous. The smell was sickening.

"This place stinks worse than rotten eggs." Miguel's face scrunched up in disgust, and at that, I couldn't help the flare of irritation that assaulted me. Could he be any less inconsiderate?

"They're dead people," I replied before turning to face him with a glare. "Be a little considerate."

Miguel stopped in his tracks and peered at me, taken aback by my sudden outburst before raising his palms in an apologetic manner, "Lo siento, chica. I can be an asshole at times."

I shook my head knowingly before blowing out a breath to release some frustration. "It's okay. Just try to keep your thoughts to yourself from here on, okay?"

He nodded. "Not a problem."

Silently, we all began to move around to examine the dead bodies. Some where hideous as others were just plain horrid. But a certain body frame caught my eye and when I got closer to it, I held my hand over my mouth to keep from laying out all my insides on the ground.

"Phoebe, you should really come see this. Hey, what are you looking...oh," John cut himself off the second he caught a glimpse at Joseph's disfigured body.

"What? What is it?" I heard Maddison's voice right behind me.

I tried to stop her from getting a closer look. "Maddison, I don't think you should see this." Too late.

"Urgh!" Unlike I had, Maddison seemed entirely incapable of holding in her vomit, so she puked her guts all over the body, making its appearance even more disturbing than it had been before.

I forced myself to swallow down my own vomit and put a comforting arm around her. "It's okay," I reassured her while rubbing her back as she crouched over the body, releasing all her insides out.

"Whoa, that's...intense," Miguel said when he saw Joseph's body. He still had a quivering Brittany clutched to his side.

"Wait... What about the others in the bus?" Maddison asked after she had stopped hurling on the forest floor. But before any of us could react, the man with the scar on his eyebrow, the doctor who I'd asked to take care of the weak ones in the bus suddenly staggered out from a bush, coughing and spluttering out blood.

"Someone help him!" I yelled, clumsily making my way towards his defeated looking body.

"They're all dead," he croaked out, tears filling his vision amidst the blood that dribbled down his face. 

"They're all dead..." he repeated hoarsely before finally collapsing to the ground.

I knelt beside his broken body and fought the tears that unwantedly clogged my throat at the sudden turn of events.

"What do we do now?" A man in his thirties asked softly as he approached me with a crying woman or presumingly his wife in his embrace. At the sight, I forced myself to let go of the notion that their child or children might've been part of those unfortunate souls who had died.

At his inquiry, heads automatically turned to my direction.

Clearing my throat to ease the tension in there, I said, "Simple, we get out of here." I felt my chest swell with emotion as I gently closed the dead doctor's eyes and got to my feet. "We won't become any sort of kill for anything as long as we stay together."

"But where to?" his wife asked softly, tears trailing down her cheeks. "The brochures we had said the first building is more than seventy miles from h-here."

"Don't worry, we'll have John lead the way." I nodded in said person's direction, and he, without hesitation, returned the gesture. "I don't know how long it will take but we have to start leaving now."

"But what will we eat?" Maddison asked, hugging her stomach. "We don't have any food."

"There are some berries and fruits just beside a path not far from here," John said, taking over from me. "We'll stop there to eat."

Murmurs rang out at the mention of food, grateful that there was something else to look forward to that could shove the vision of dead bodies to the back of each mind.

After assembling the others who had been lost in gazing at the corpses, John began to lead the way through the woods.

The walk from there was devoid of any chatter. The atmosphere was solemn as some mourned the loss of their loved ones and others silently hoping that they get to see their families again.

I kicked stones as I thought of what kind of monster would cause such havoc. I needed to know why this was happening. I needed to know why it was killing and since John was the only one who seemed to know more about this place than we did, maybe he had some answers.

I hope he does.

Confidently, I jogged to meet up with John who was walking ahead of the trail.

"John. Hey, John!"

He turned his head back to face me as I came closer. "What is it?"

"Tell me the truth about this place. The real reason why the natives called these woods the Black Woods of Lycanthrope."

He raised his eyebrows. "I remember telling you the history of it during the tour."

"I know, I know," I breathed out, "But I want to know what the natives had to say about it, not the historians. You've met them, haven't you? You said so, that you're the only one who they trust enough to tell you what really happened."

John sighed. "I would tell you, but then again, you said you weren't superstitious."

Well, I lied, okay? I freaking am!

"Oh no, I'm not," I lied, again. "It's just that with everything going on, I don't know what to think anymore," You know exactly what to think. "I want to know the real story behind this place, not the ones the historians fabricated. Some of what the history books say don't add up. Like the fact that the werewolves don't closely interact with outsiders and avoid them at all cost? That's trash!"

He nodded in understanding but instead he laid a hand on my shoulder and said, "Fine. But I'll tell you later tonight when everyone is gathered."

"But what if the beast comes then?"

"It won't, I'm sure of it. We'll hide somewhere safe," he reassured me. "So, for now," he pointed to the berries and fruits hanging from the trees, "let's go eat."

I sighed, a bit disappointed that I wouldn't be told the story tonight. "Fine." 

Then another thought came to mind. A thought that I'd wanted to dismiss came rushing back and I just had to ask.

"Um, John?"

"Yeah?"

I took in a deep breath. "How long does a full moon last?"

He thought for a moment before answering, his eyes twinkling in a weirdly mischievous manner, "Three nights."

☆~☆~☆

Once John and Miguel had gotten the fire going in our cave sanctuary, the other tourists and I gathered by it. Since we weren't that much, everyone had a space to sit beside the blazing fire as we all listened tentatively as John revealed the mystery and the original history behind the Black Woods of Lycanthrope. Things that the historians failed to gather from the natives.

No one spoke, and no one made a single noise.

We quietly watched the fire illuminate John's face as he cleared his throat before speaking, "There are different stories fabricated on how the first werewolf turned. Countless of stories, but this is what really happened. What the natives believed before they were all killed by the same kind of beast not long ago.

The first shapeshifter or werewolf first shifted here many many years ago. He was a hunter. A ruthless one. He enjoyed killing wolves for fun everytime. Some say he was delusional. He would shave off their fur and use them for anything he wanted. The wolves kept running and hiding from him but he still found them, bound them and slaughtered every single one.

He actually thrived in killing them at night. No one knew why. No one dared to ask him. They were scared, said he was crazy but he couldn't care less what they thought. It was his life after all.

He had this maid that worked for him. She was the only one who approached the hunter. The only one who ever spoke to him. People stayed away from her, wondering why she lived with such a man. But they didn't know that despite his reputation and bad deeds, she loved him.

One time he went hunting on a full moon. It was quiet, he realized for the first time. No crickets, no owls, no other animal life. Silence. But he didn't mind. He wanted a wolf, and he was gonna get one.

He walked and walked. Nothing. No animal in sight. Silence. It was cold but he ignored the weather and continued to walk.

He was getting tired, frustrated, but he didn't stop. He kept moving. Hoping he'd find one. He needed to find one. It was his addiction, his obsession. He wanted one, and by all means he swore he would get one.

But then as he was maneuvering through the forest, something caught his eye. It glimmered in the moonlight. He didn't know what it was and he didn't want to go near it, but it beckoned him, pulled him towards it. He dropped his gun on the ground absent-mindedly, and sauntered towards it.

When he got near, he picked it up and held it in his hands. It was a crystal-like stone shaped as round as the full moon. He was intrigued by it, he wanted to keep it and show it off with his wolf skin collection. But before he could take one more step..."

As soon as Maddison unsuccessfully tried to stifle a gasp, Miguel rolled his eyes and muttered 'kids', making a few others chuckle softly, but I was too engrossed in the story to join in. The little showcase of mirth soon dissipated as they stopped to listen to the remainder of the story.

"Before he knew what was happening, the wolves attacked. They came out of nowhere and assaulted him. He was unarmed, he had dropped his gun and couldn't reach it in time because the wolves were too fast. They pounced on him and bit into his flesh. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, but they showed no mercy, just like the way he hadn't shown any mercy while he'd slaughtered their kind.

They didn't tear him apart. It would've been too easy. They wanted to teach him a lesson. One he'll never forget. So they just bit him, about five of them, sank their fangs into his flesh. Blood oozed out like a waterfall, and he thought he would die, that that was his end, but then he didn't know that she was watching, and ready to help.

The maid had followed him like she did every time. She went over, picked up his gun and shot. The wolves reacted to the gunshots and began to back off, but not before the last one sank its fangs into the hunter's neck.

He screamed again, and she shot, but missed. The second the wolves went away, she ran to him and put her arms around him, telling him that he was going to be okay. But he was far from fine. The pain was excruciating and he didn't think he could bear it for much longer.

Then he felt something cold melt in his palm. He opened his palm and saw the crystal stone melt and mould into his flesh. As the melted crystal slowly moved within his veins, he felt stronger, his hearing became sharp, he could see afar, those images clear as day.

But something felt wrong, he knew it. His body started changing. The maid backed away and hid behind a tree as he grew taller and heavier. His legs grew larger and his arms morphed into forelimbs. His skin began to sprout black fur all over. He grew claws and fangs. He felt a wolf inside him. Another being appeared to be controlling his body, and it seemed like he couldn't take it. It was too much. He let out a howl as the wolf inside him took over.

The maid watched in horror as the scene unfolded. She closed her eyes and prayed. But as she did that, she felt warm breaths at the back of her neck. She trembled, but refused to run away. She loved him and wanted to stay with him, but he wasn't controlling himself, the monster in him was. So before she was able to open her eyes, he bit hard into her flesh."

Maddison suddenly gasped again, frightened about something.

I turned to look at her in order to reassure her that there was no need to be afraid. But at that same moment, I felt a weird sensation brush the back of my neck.

☆~☆~☆