"I think we're making an incredibly stupid decision," Kun ranted on to the group. "Are we even allowed to go in? This is going to be like the Forbidden Forest, and Aragog the acromantula is going to send off all his other reasonably large spider children to eat us like in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

Jisoo sighed. "Kun calm down—"

"'I don't like spiders,'" Kun quoted in a shaky voice. "Ronald Weasley, The Chamber of Secrets."

Jisoo roller her eyes and huffed, trying to conceal her own concern for what could be hiding in the forest at night.

"Hey," a voice called out to the large group of friends. "Where are you all going? You're not going into the forest, are you?"

As everyone turned around, they found Vernon jogging up to them.

"Our friends are lost in there. We have to find them," Johnny informed Vernon.

"You don't know what you're getting yourselves into." Vernon looked at all the people in the group. "It's good that you're going in a big number, but I think you need a ghost expert on your team. Since I know a lot about these beings, maybe I could help?"

"Thanks for the offer," Johnny started, "but a few of us also already have a lot of experience with ghosts and—"

To make him stop talking, Jisoo quickly elbowed Johnny in the side. He bent over to hold where she hit him and sucked in a deep breath through clenched teeth. "We would love to have you join us," Jisoo declared. "An expert like you would be very appreciated." She gave a small chuckle, unable to stop smiling at him.

"Awesome!" Vernon clapped his hands together. "Let's go get your friends out of that forest."

     "I thought you said you didn't want to deal with ghosts anymore," Doyoung mentioned. "You told us that earlier today."

     "I maybe have had a change of heart." Vernon chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his shoulder. "It's just, I don't want anyone else to go through that shit. So if I can help out in anyway, I'm going to."

"How are we supposed to kill these ghosts?" Mark asked. "Salt and burn their remains?"

Vernon nodded. "Bingo. The only problem is that these cult members made a suicide pact very deep inside the forest. They're not gonna want us going anywhere near that area. They're going to do everything in their power to contort our minds into a belief they want. The longer you're in the forest, the more they will mess you up... and it's worse at night."

"What if we never make it out and go insane?" Doyoung questioned.

"They'll keep going until we either kill ourselves or get out of the forest." Vernon swung his backpack around to open up the front. "I actually planned on finding you guys and showing you my supplies. I had a feeling you would end up in this situation and wanted to make sure you would be prepared." He tilted the bag to let everyone see inside. There was a giant package of salt, two bottles of lighter fluid, and a few packages of matches.

"During my first ghost experience, we burned the body with lighter fluid in the basement," Haechan told Vernon. "Johnny and Mark were there."

"So you have some experience. That will be helpful."

"Well, we didn't kill the ghost," Mark added. "We actually didn't kill either of them."

"Still, you know what it's like to be in the presence of one." Vernon zipped his bag back up. "Come on, let's start heading into the forest. The sooner the better."

Vernon stayed close to the front with Johnny and Jisoo.

"When did you become so fascinated with ghosts?" Jisoo asked.

"I used to not believe in them actually," Vernon replied. "It wasn't until I messed with the Ouija board with my friends that I really believed in them. Yes, I did sense something fucking wack in the forest when I traveled there before the Ouija incident..." Vernon briefly stopped just outside the forest's edge. His eyes traveled up the trees and into the dark growth. He sighed, taking a big step in. "I just pushed the memories out of my head and continued denying the existence of the supernatural. Like maybe if I didn't think about it, it never happened. The Ouija board finally made me come to my senses that I couldn't keep ignoring it."

"I take it that it was a pretty bad experience," Daerin joined the conversation. She wrapped her arms around herself, glancing around the inside of the forest.

"It already feels weird in here," Lucas added. "I can see my breath it's so cold." He then proceeded to huff large breaths into the air to stare at the fog it created.

"That's what haunted areas are like," Vernon stated. "They're freezing."

"Hey, Taeyong," Daerin started with a shiver. She was talking to her boyfriend without turning around so she could keep her eyes on the direction they were headed. "I need your warmth."

     Daerin's hand extended behind her, waiting for Taeyong to take it. Though, she never felt his hand in her's. Daerin glanced over her shoulder to look at him, but no one was behind her. Not a single person.

     "Guys," Daerin whispered in alarm, frozen. "Where are the others?"

     Johnny, Jisoo, Vernon, and Lucas also stopped in their tracks and discovered the lack of people.

     "Shit," Vernon spat under his breath. "They can't break off in this place! Do they not understand the dangers here?"

     "Taeyong!" Daerin called out. "Taeyong!" Her eyebrows were lowered in worry.

     "Wait, Jihwan isn't with us either." Lucas lost his once relaxed expression as it replaced with a panicked one.

     Johnny ran a hand through his hair in both frustration and fear. "Ten should know better than to split off considering he's experienced this before."

     "Can't we retrace our steps and get out of the forest to regroup?" Daerin asked, still hugging herself.

     Vernon shook his head, looking in the direction they came from. "We just entered the forest, but if you look back from where we came in, you can only see trees and no opening." His eyes widened, turning back to the group. "The forest is already working its way into our heads."