We Are the Night!

“We shouldn’t be here,” Mercury hissed, but Zara ignored him and powered forward. “Zara, I’m serious.” He would’ve spoken louder if he could, but the woods seemed sinister enough on their own. Mercury wasn’t ordinarily scared of forests at night, but this one seemed like something he needed to take heed of. The hairs at the back of his neck were up in hackles. He did not feel comfortable here. But if Zara felt any discomfort at all, he didn’t show it and just powered through.

“Zara, come on,” Mercury’s voice was a hiss in his attempt not to raise it. “We should go back.”

Around them, the trees rustled. In the dark of the night, their surroundings appeared to be pitch black. Occasionally, a leaf would shine silver here and there, but the woods were poorly illuminated. Of course, Mercury had seen them during the day, but he wasn’t creeped out because it was dark, but because he believed there could be something to be afraid of in there.

Zara, however, didn’t seem to share his sentiment.

He pranced around without a worry in the world. He’d even prepared — packed supplies, organized everything in his backpack, planned their time accordingly. He was ready for anything, except for Mercury to say no. And so, Mercury didn’t say no. Not because he respected Zara’s frankly impressive preparation, but rather because he couldn’t just let him go alone.

Zara turned around, then flashed Mercury a smile that had no business looking as carefree as it did. It was almost disarming, but it hardly hurt Mercury to be stern with Zara. He did think the smile was only almost disarming, after all.

“Zara,” he hissed again. The other man was holding him in a death grip by his elbow. Mercury couldn’t even appreciate how they both looked a little bit like boy scouts — perfectly dressed for adventures, hair tied up, ready for anything. Except, right, Mercury wasn’t ready for anything. He did not, in fact, want to be there at all.

“Mercury come on, it’s just a little glimpse,” Zara goaded him as he led them deeper into the woods. “I just want to see if the stories are ri—”

Whatever else he wanted to say had been interrupted by a rustle in the treetops above them. Zara made a stop immediately, then gripped Mercury’s elbow even harder — if that was possible — and then flattened them both to a nearby tree. Mercury’s heart was racing in an attempt to get out of his chest, but the sudden movement frightened him so much that he couldn’t find the strength to scold Zara at all. What was this? Did they become children over a few days? Why were they so afraid of nothing?

Or was nothing, truly?

“It’s here,” Zara whispered. “You know, the little critter kept feeding these days? It’s them.”

Zara sounded so convinced. So convinced. But Mercury was still the voice of reason among them, and he couldn’t just let the other man endanger himself because of an optimistic assumption. So when Zara moved towards the source of the sound, Mercury held him back, trying to convey his worry (and how dumb that would be with his eyes).

Before he could hiss a scathing remark out, a dark shape landed right behind Zara, and Mercury held him tightly before hauling him out of harm’s way.

And yet, no harm came.

No, the little shape — a little beast — seemed wholly uninterested in them. It sniffed around with its little snout, then approached Zara. Or, well… it was better to say that it approached Zara’s backpack, sniffing around, while Mercury and Zara stood still, unmoving in their surprise.

“It wants the snacks,” Mercury hissed in a whisper. “The bugs, or whatever you packed.”

“Oh of course!” Zara responded with a boisterous shout. “That’s why we came.”

“That’s not why we— Just get the snacks out!”

As Zara got busy setting everything up (presenting the jar to the little beast and opening it), Mercury thought that it wasn’t all so bad. The thing wasn’t dangerous, or at least it wasn’t hostile, and it was cute. He peered into its intelligent eyes and wondered if there was something else hidden there, something he didn’t see. He wondered if he wanted to know, but as the tiny beast played nice with them, he found that he didn’t mind it.