Honestly.. I still don't know how to explain what happened. I'm not expecting anyone to believe me. I probably wouldn't believe it if someone else told me. But I need to write it down. Maybe just to convince myself i'm not crazy.

This was about two years ago. A group of us; six friends, went camping for the weekend at a spot we've been to before, deep in the forest a few hours from town. Nothing fancy. Just tents, a campfire, some booze, and no cell service. We'd done it a few times before; it was like our own special tradition. One last breath of freedom before summer ended and work and classes took over.

There was me, Josh, Mia, Devon, Casey, and Lexi. We met in college, mostly. A couple of us had known each other longer, but by that point, we were just one of those friend groups that stuck. Everyone brought something for the trip. Lexi always had the camping gear, Casey was the self-appointed grill master, and Devon... Devon brought the weird energy and an obnoxiously loud Bluetooth speaker.

The weird thing is, I remember us planning it as six people. I remember who brought what, who was in whose car. I rode up with Mia and Devon, and the others followed in Josh's truck. But when we got there and set up, there were seven of us.

There was this guy..

Aaron. That was his name. At least, that's what I remember calling him. He was quiet, kept to himself, but not in a creepy way. Just kind of... there. Sat by the fire, helped unload stuff, even played cards with us the first night. I didn't talk to him much, but I figured he was one of Josh's work friends or someone Casey had brought along last minute. We'd done that before. People brought plus-ones. It wasn't weird. Not at first.

Our second night there, after we'd eaten and cracked a few beers, we were sitting around the fire. Devon was telling a half-assed ghost story and Lexi kept interrupting with sarcastic comments to annoy him. I was sitting next to Mia, half-listening, watching the firelight flicker on the others' faces.

That's when I leaned over and whispered, "Aaron's pretty quiet, huh?"

She gave me this confused look. "Who?"

I motioned at him - he was sitting literally right across the fire from us. Hoodie up, staring into the flames. His face half-lit, half-shadow.

"That guy. Aaron?"

She stared for a second, then kind of laughed under her breath. "I thought he came with you guys."

"No, I thought he came with Josh."

We both turned to Josh, who was poking the fire with a stick. "Hey, who's Aaron?"

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

Mia gestured across the fire. "The guy in the hoodie. Sitting right there."

Josh blinked. "I thought he was with you."

We then asked Casey, Devon and Lexi, but one by one, each of them gave us the same confused shrug. None of them knew him either and not like, "Oh, I forget where I met him" kind of not knowing. I mean, none of us knew who the hell he was. And he'd been with us for two whole days.

I could feel myself starting to panic . Quietly, at first. My thoughts felt like they were moving through molasses. I was replaying the car ride in my head, trying to remember who sat where. Trying to remember the moment Aaron showed up. But the more I tried, the fuzzier it got. Like trying to hold onto a dream that slips through your fingers the harder you try.

Aaron didn't say a word the whole time we were whispering about him. He just sat there, still, listening. We all stopped whispering and kind of turned to look at him. That's when the silence got too heavy.. and he stood up. Slowly.

"You invited me," he muttered.

His voice calm. Flat. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, we didn't," I denied. I felt sick. My mouth was dry. My skin had gone cold. Everyone was just staring.

He looked around the circle. His face.. It wasn't distorted or monstrous or anything like that. But it was wrong. Too average. Like a face you'd see in a dream and forget as soon as you woke up. Like someone trying really hard to look normal.

"You never remember me," he grumbled. "Not until it's too late."

Suddenly the fire went out. Not slowly. Not flickering down. Just gone.

One moment it was firelight and dancing shadows. The next, nothing but darkness.

I heard people scream. Someone, I think it was Lexi, shouted to run. I didn't even think. My legs moved on their own. I sprinted into the trees, branches clawing at my arms, rocks and roots snatching at my boots. I didn't care. I just ran.

Eventually, I collapsed against a fallen log, chest heaving, heart hammering so hard I thought I might throw up. It was dark in the forest, no moonlight, no stars, just a black void so thick it felt like being buried. I sat there, holding my breath, until I heard another voice calling out. It was Casey. I followed the sound until I found them. One by one, the rest of us regrouped. Except for Devon..

We quietly called for him a couple times, but the eerie silence that followed each call was unsettling to say the least. Eventually, when we still couldn't find Devon, we started hiking back in the direction of where we parked our cars, thinking maybe he'd run that way. We moved fast, barely speaking. The forest felt wrong, like the shadows were heavier than they should be. Like the air itself was fleeing with us. It no longer felt like the forest we'd visited so many times before.

All night we kept moving, following the narrow trail by flashlight. We heard things. Sticks snapping in the brush. the sounds of something big was stalking us through the trees. But the worse were the voices, faint at first.

At one point, we stopped.

It sounded like Devon. Calling our names.

Josh almost shouted back, but something about the sound made us all freeze. The voice was off. Like it had too many teeth. Like it had never needed to use a voice before and was trying to remember how.

We all looked at each other.

No one said a word.

We just nodded.

And ran.

Branches tore at our clothes, and slapped our faces but we didn't stop until we saw the shimmer of the car windshields through the trees. By the time we scrambled into our cars, the sun was just starting to rise above the treeline.

I got into Mia's passenger seat, shaking so hard I couldn't close the door right away. She had to slam it for me.

As we pulled out of the lot, I looked back at the forest one last time.

There, at the edge of the woods, just standing in the shadows -

was Devon.

He was smiling.

But the smile was wrong.

It stretched too far up his cheeks, like someone was wearing his face and didn't know how it worked.

And his eyes? I swear to God - his eyes were solid black.

We drove straight to the ranger station, about five miles from where we'd been parked. We barged in and poured out the entire story, talking over each other. While we were trying to make sense of it, the ranger just listened without interrupting. When we finished attempting to explain what had happened, he leaned back in his chair, eyes heavy.

He didn't look surprised.

"We'll send a search party," he said eventually, but his voice was flat. Like he already knew how that would end. We were to shaken to argue, and thanked him for his help.

As we turned to leave, I heard him mutter under his breath:

"Sixth one this year. Sheriff's gonna be on my ass?"

I turned to look at him, but he was staring at his computer screen, shaking his head and typing, like he hadn't said anything at all. Rangers searched the woods for days. They found nothing. No tracks. No torn or ripped fabric. No signs of struggle. It was like he'd been swallowed by the forest itself.

The weirdest part though? None of us could even describe him properly.

I know that sounds insane. But when we tried to give a description, we couldn't agree. His hair color, his height, even his voice, it all felt like a blur in our heads. His photo on social media didn't help. It looked like a low-res version of him, as if it had been run through a dozen compression filters. Blurry, even when it shouldn't be.

We don't talk about that trip anymore.. None of us have gone camping since.

Sometimes, though? when I'm out at night, or in a crowded place, or just walking alone through the parking garage after work - I'll see a face. In a group. On the edge of the crowd. Just a guy. Hoodie up. Hands in his pockets. Not doing anything in particular.

And I'll think, Oh, it's just Aaron.

But then I remember.

And I run.