Dave looked into Phil’s eyes lovingly and said,

 “You are just the cutest man I have ever met.”

 Dave and Phil were like any other Southern Californian gay couple. They enjoyed Starbucks, Americas Next Model, and small dogs they could hold in their arms. Recently they had decided that a camping trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range would be a great idea.

 “Dave, this was a fabulous idea”, Phil said while hugging Dave from behind.

 As they walked into the cabin, they saw each other couples that also came for vacation. While they continued to walk, they saw a couple having trouble with their luggage and arguing.

 “Do you need any help?” Phil said with slight amusement.

 The man looked up and glared at the two closely. With a huff the man said with a deep, irritated voice,

 “No thank you.”

 And with that, he seemed to suddenly have enough strength to carry both he and his wife’s bags.

 “That was strange”, Dave said with a puzzled look on his face.

 “I am just so done with people constantly passing judgments on us because of our sexuality! It has got to stop!” Phil huffed as his eyes filled with anger. 

 Dave noticed Phil’s sudden change in demeanor and did his best to calm him down.

 Once they settled into their cabin, Dave suggested that they mingle with the other campers around the campfire.

 They made their way there and were immediately greeted with enthusiasm.

 “Hey there campers!” Yelled a man in short shorts with a huge smile.

 “I’m Bob from Wisconsin, and I am so glad you two are here!”

 “Uhhh…thank you,” Replied Dave.

 Dave and Phil settled around the campfire and looked around at the other campers. Dave first spotted DeAndre. He was a burly man with a sturdy build, who looked like someone you didn’t want to be on bad terms with. He immediately knew he would be someone he wouldn’t forget.

 His eyes fell on Bob, the overly energetic man they had met when they first arrived. He was still dressed in shorts and a thin t-shirt, despite the chilly fall weather. He had a constant smile plastered on his face, but when he turned to face Dave, a shiver ran down his back. Something about him seemed suspicious, like he was hiding something serious.

 He brushed off his concerns and turned to look at the other people gathered around them. The bickering couple, whose names he heard as they continued to shout at each other, was Christi and Henry. They seemed to be in a constant state of disagreement, and Dave wondered if they decided to take this trip to reconcile some of their differences. If so, it didn’t seem to be helping much yet.

 The last two people Dave noticed around the campfire seemed to be complete opposites. The two were introducing themselves to each other, and Dave overheard their names as they conversed. Brittany, a bubbly blonde, was blabbering on about her two puppies back home while Xander, a reserved boy dressed in all black, pretended to listen. She appeared to be someone with good intentions, but she seemed to also have the potential to become quite annoying. Xander was someone he wasn’t sure about, and that he decided he’d try to get to know later on.

 After mingling for a while, everyone decided it was time to get some sleep. Phil and Dave made their way back to their cabin and settled in for the night.

 The couple woke up to a scream. They both sauntered outside to see a shocked Bob that was standing over a corpse.

 “What happened?” yelled Dave.

 “Christi is dead, she has bruises all over her body, and her neck is cut” replied Bob. Dave and Phil looked at each other with wide faces.

 “Where’s Henry?” said Phil.

 “We haven’t seen him all morning” replied Bob. The campers slowly came to realization that there had been a murder in the camp. They didn’t have cell service, so they were going to have to drive to the nearest town to get help.

 “THE GAS IS GONE” yelled Xander.

 “What do you mean the gas is gone?” shouted the rest of the group.

 “There is no gas in any of our cars we are stranded here,” replied Xander.

  The groups faces sunk, and they started to theorize who was the murderer. Henry had still not appeared in the group, and they all came to the conclusion that it was him. Suddenly out of the forest appeared Henry. He was carrying firewood, and greeted the group with a smile.

 “Hey guys, I went out to get firewood and decided to go on a hike.”
 The group’s faces were a mix between sadness and anger.

 “You are a murderer!” yelled DeAndre.

  “What do you mean?” said Henry.

  The groups face was confused and they sat Henry down to get the truth out of him.

 “Christi is dead; her throat was slit.” said Dave.

 Henry fell down to his knees and started to cry. For the next two hours he sat on the ground and drank out of his flask. Night had fallen, and he was still out there, his eyes had closed and everyone assumed he was asleep.

 The next morning the group went outside to try and comfort Henry. Henry was a pale white. The blood had drained from his body, and he was stiff. Phil poked him in arm and said,

 “Henry, wake up!”

 He did not move. He was dead.

 The whole campsite had a feeling of sorrow. Everyone continued the day distant from one another, and impatiently waited for it to be over.

 The frozen slick ground was becoming more and more frosted over as the dark of night quickly seeped into their campsite. Phil and Dave walked from cabin to cabin quietly and searched for any forms of life that may be lurking at this time of night.  Their bodies shivered against each other, huddling as they moved closer to the next cabin.

 The second cabin was abandoned and dark like every other cabin that they came across. Walking around the third cabin, Phil noticed that the once cold and bare fire pit has been engulfed into a raging bonfire. Brittany’s body was found roasting over the campfire. Her once annoying ditsy voice was transformed into the crackling and sparks of the open flames.

 “Who did this?!” Dave exclaimed with a nervous tone.

 “Hmmm… I’m not too sure, babe. Don’t worry too much about it though.” Phil replied nonchalantly while shrugging his shoulders.

 Dave couldn’t help but to wonder why Phil wasn’t as taken aback as he was. Dave didn’t let it bother him too much. He only wanted to get away from this situation, and fast. They then fled back to their cabin to hide until daylight showed itself.

 They arrived back at the cabin and swung open the door then shut it quickly, locking it behind them. They dashed to the upstairs walk in closet and laid down a blanket to fall asleep on. Soon enough they fell into a deep slumber.

 At this point, Dave was completely freaked out. He wanted to get back to California as soon as he could, but their car situation left them with no option but to stay. As he and Phil made their way back to their cabin when they came across something that made Dave’s heart nearly leap out of his chest.

 DeAndre and Bob were lying side by side, drenched in a pool of blood. Phil let out a startled screech as Dave stood in shocked silence. A million different thoughts ran across his mind as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. But one thing was for sure- Xander had to be the killer. He was the only one left, and there was no way Phil was behind all of the murders.

  Dave knew what they had to do. He and Phil had to stop Xander from killing them. Dave grabbed a shovel, and Phil found a hammer on the ground. They crept around the cabins systematically searching them looking for Xander.

 They opened cabin number four. The cabin was dark, and a spider web was in the corner. Dave slowly walked into the cabin, and Phil followed closely behind. Xander crawled out from the darkness and begged for them not to kill him.

 Xander’s eyes rolled back in his head, and with that, his life was over.

 Dave looked at Phil, and said, “If Xander isn’t the killer then who is?”

 Phil’s face turned into a smile.