*Flashback*
"Look, I've already warned you. Fadon Forest is haunted! It's said that those who spend even one night there come out gibbering. Nothing good will come out of going there!"
"Yeah, right. You can't even tell us what haunts it, can you? It's nothing more than rumours and superstition. Even if there are ghosts, I'm sure the three of us can handle it."
"Fine. It's your funeral..." The exasperated North Face employee shook his head, muttering under his breath about foolhardy youths.
*End Flashback*
Leonard, Jake and Kaden, three teens just shy of 20, were friends who had known each other since early elementary school and were close enough to be brothers. All three were good athletes - Leonard ran cross-country, Jake climbed cliffs for fun, and Kaden was a gymnast. They were also extremely competitive, and occasionally, overly daring to the point of foolishness. Those last two traits were how the boys found themselves camped overnight in the allegedly-haunted Fadon Forest.
The idea had been originally brought up by Leonard, after hearing strange rumours about the mysterious forest from his track teammates. Soon, it devolved into claims of bravery and fearlessness among the three youths, and there was now a wager between them - first to balk would owe the other two a healthy amount of cash and bragging rights. And so it was that one fine weekend, the three of them found themselves camped in the middle of the forest, waiting to see who would chicken out first.
All in all, the experience had proven to be strangely disappointing. The afternoon trek to where they eventually set up their shelter had been perfectly ordinary - they didn't even see any animals other than birds and insects. The evening failed to impress, and though they had taken it in turns to stay awake for an hour each to keep an eye out for any supernatural events, the night slipped by entirely uneventfully. Soon, the first rays of dawn were filtering through the canopy - a tranquil end to an unremarkable camping trip.
"Hah! So much for being haunted!" said Jake dismissively, as his lanky, 6' 3" frame exited the tent. He yawned and stretched his sinewy arms, shaped by many hours of rock climbing and bouldering. "People get so scared over nothing."
"I'd wait till we're out of the woods before we say anything," Leonard punned with a grin. Wouldn't want to jinx it..." He put out the remnants of the smouldering campfire.
"Ah, there's absolutely nothing to be worried about," Kaden added, sharing the same nonchalant air as Jake. "Is that a hint of fear I smell, Leo?"
"There's nothing to be scared of anyway, since whatever it was got scared away by your snoring, Kaden," jibed Leonard. "I've always been surprised that such a small person could make such a loud- OW!"
Kaden had punched him in retaliation. "Weakling," he snorted. Even though he wasn't that tall (coming in at 5 foot 6), what he lacked in height he more than made up for in strength. He wasn't musclebound or bulky, but had a pretty toned physique. Some might've even said he was ripped.
"Children," Jake drawled, looking down at the other two. "Time to start packing up."
"Whyyyy? Eager to get out of here?"
"It's already morning. None of us lost. You can stop showing off your Leo's nards."
"Ah hah hah. Fuck you," Leonard gave Jake the two-fingered salute as he headed back to unpitch the tent.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. You guys can start first; I'll be back soon," said Kaden, before wandering a short distance away from the others through the trees.
Kaden was just about to start relieving himself when an abrupt breeze blew through the trees and he felt something run down the back of his neck. "Aah!" He jumped and spun around, startled - the sensation had definitely been a complete surprise! He noted several swaying vines, presumably set in motion by the wind. One of them had brushed the nape of his neck, and part of it had somehow gotten stuck to the back of his tee. The rest of the vine trailed down to the forest floor and off into the distance. "Huh," he mused, reaching behind his head to try and pull the vine away.
That's strange...
Kaden thought, as he felt his shirt also move in response. The tendril felt pretty smooth... so why did it seem like it was stuck to the fabric of his shirt?
He used his other hand to pull at his tee, trying to get a closer look, but the vine stayed out of his sight. "Damn." He tugged at the vine, hoping to dislodge it, but it stayed fast. Unable to see what he was working on, he pulled the shirt over his head in one quick motion, revealing his firm, muscular torso as he did so. Unfortunately, as he removed his tee, the rest of the vine came with it. The trailing end of it brushed his boxers - and was now also stuck.
Kaden felt a brief shiver of uncertainty before quickly reassuring himself.
It's okay,
he thought.
I'm sure there's plenty of plants I haven't seen before. This is just one of those weird but explainable things that scientists haven't come across yet.
On examining the vine and his tee closely, Kaden couldn't see anything out of the ordinary - there were no thorns or anything else that had caught at all, and the vine looked as smooth as it felt. It was just inexplicably adhered to the shirt.
Maybe there's something in the fabric that it's reacting to,
he rationalized while trying to separate his top and the plant. There was no progress to be made, however - it just wouldn't come off.
"Oh, fuck," he cursed as he glanced around.
My boxers are caught, too!
After several more minutes of ineffectual yanking, Kaden gave it up as a bad job.
I'll just have to get out of them and come back later with a knife or something. At least I have spare clothes in my backpack. And it's not like there's anything the other guys haven't seen before.
Before he could give himself enough time to second-guess his decision, he slipped out of his boxers. Clad in only his slippers, he quickly headed back toward the clearing.
"Right, that was very weird," Kaden said aloud - more to reassure himself than anything. "But I got away, and I'll be fine once I... hold on, is that thing
moving
?!" He watched, unsettled, as a long, thin, mottled vine sidewinded along the underbrush.