1 Camping Out

A group of workers all went camping with their families during the weekend for a workday retreat with their bosses. All was going well until a child wandered off into the depth of the forest.

Hours passed, and it was starting to get dark, lost, and alone, the child started to run in all directions. Doing so, he lost his footing and tumbled downhill towards an abandoned building that had collapsed decades ago. Holding in his tears, he kneeled up and noticed blood falling from his head. Scared and alone, the child remembered once in a kid show to always apply pressure into a deep wound. He held his hands towards his head and froze.

He stood looking down at the floor, noticing all the blood trickling down onto the cold, dusty floor. A bright red glow emerged from under the pile of nature's trash. Moving everything with his hands and feet, the blood that previously fell all started moving towards the hidden crevice of the floor. Seconds later, a strong gust of wind forced the twigs, dust, and leaves to disperse outside the old building.

Astonished, as more of his blood continued to gush out, rolling towards the floor, the glow grew stronger and warmer. He felt safe from the glow, getting closer to the light, he kept allowing his blood to trickle out. The final step he took towards the middle of the building, the glow depleted, leaving behind a man with horns above his head and wigs taller than him appeared behind his back as he stretched his arms up.

The man looked around, patting the dirt off his clothing, he then spotted the child looking at him wide-eyed with a big grin. The demon proceeds to walk away, scoffing at the child he left behind. A few minutes into the walk, the demon noticed the child trying his best to catch up with him. Scolding the child to leave him alone, making sure he walked faster.

Half an hour passed and the moon has now risen into the sky. It was completely dark, and the Wolves were out howling and the demon. Although he is trespassing in their territory, the wolves kept their distance. For they know death would await them if they were to attack.

The demon found a nearby cave to settle down for the night, he once again saw the child wandering right outside the cave. He was collecting twigs and rocks, and he kept bringing them inside the cave near the demon. He didn't care if the child was following him, he faced away from the child and doxed off to sleep.

A few hours later, the demon became startled by the loud howl of one of the wolves. Resting his head down to sleep a bit more, he felt warmth coming from his back, it made him feel more relaxed. Hearing grunting along with crying coming from outside the cave. Trying his best to ignore the ruckus, he heard a loud thump along with loud shrieks of terror.

Fed up with the noise, he glared outside the cave, making the wolves' fur crawl up and running away, enough to understand that next time they will all die. He glanced at the child who had collapsed with a stick in his hand. Looking down near the fire, the child's bag has been placed in front of the demon, along with a blanket wrapped around him. It's the child's only source of food, and he was giving it away to someone he doesn't even know.

The demon finally understood that the child was protecting the cave while he slept. Giving him warmth in this cold, damp cave. The demon is a little intrigued with the human child now. He walked outside the cave, bringing the child in closer to the fire, and healing all the wounds the child had gotten.

"Does it not have a home or family to get to? You're quite young to be left out here all alone. Let alone summoning a demon, like myself."

Grabbing the chin of the child, he inched closer, licking the blood from his forehead.

"You, humans, will always be idiots. Your species are weakling compared to us demons. I can easily survive this cold temperature. Don't ever pity me, human."

Looking at the child again, the demon reached out and covered him with his blanket. Grabbing the child's bag, he snatched away the juice box and sat further away from the fire and the child. Annoyingly, sipping, and calling the human child an idiot multiple times.

A few more hours passed by, and the child woke up crying, for he was hungry and cold. The fire has gone out, and he couldn't see anything. The moonlight only reached so far into the cave. Crawling towards the area where he left his bag, he blindly tumbled around leaves and twigs until he was able to identify his bag, he began to look for his father's favorite lighter, but to no use.

He was so scared that the shiny man might have gotten up and left while he was out cold. He sat on his knees, quietly and slowly began to cry, afraid that he was left alone again and the wolves already knew where he is. Then heard snoring deep in the darkness of the cave. Startled, the child started to threw whatever he can grab at the mysterious sound, that's when he heard a yelp and the sound of the angry man.

The once dark cave suddenly became illuminated by the blue flame, the man had, on his hand. Relieved, the child ran up, hugging the man while tears fell from his face. The man tried everything to shift the child away from him, but he just wanted to sleep in a little more. He was finally done with everything waking him up.

Sitting near the area where the fire was, he placed his hand on the fire pit the child made, transferring the blue flames from his hand onto the floor. He proceeds to lay down with the child next to him, wrapping both with the blanket, both dozing off until the morning after