Birds chirp and frogs croak. The surrounding trees tower over them as they enjoy nature's cacophony. They are delighted to have made their way into the deep woods to escape the cruel sun. The kind branches with their overgrown leaves shield them from nearly every ray of sunshine.
"Aren't you hot in that jacket?" asks one of the men to a woman ahead of him. She is the only woman among the group to be wearing a UV sun cap too.
"It's already amazing that she would trek with us. How many times have you seen her out from her room?" another woman says.
"Oh yeah, that's true!" the woman at the back agrees. They begin to discuss about the number of times they have seen the woman in the UV sun cap in the outdoors with them, which can be counted by their fingers.
"I bet you don't like the sun, yeah?" some of them says. She nods, and adds, "It's not just I don't like it. I hate it." Everybody laughs.
There are five of them altogether. It is the summer break and after a long studious semester, they agree to enter the woods for a breath of fresh air. Jill, Tom and Aiko are in the trekking club, and so have been going on expeditions since their freshman years. They met Anton and Ayesha in a class since last year, and became bosom friends after a group project. It took them three months to convince Ayesha to join them for a trek. Ayesha agreed, and they further extended this daytrip into a three-day camp. Initially, Ayesha was hesitant, worrying over the length of the trip, but eventually consented after their pleas. This is their second day.
Dusk approaches. They no longer hear the frequent birdsongs, but the cicadas are still buzzing loudly away. They find a spot to set up their camps. As seasoned campers, Jill, Tom and Aiko are able to quickly erect the tents while Anton and Ayesha watch and learn. The procedure is, however, lengthened by the recurrent slapping on their own flesh as they go on a mosquito murder spree. Anton seems to suffer the most severely, to the point when he stops setting up the tent to hunt for the mosquitoes around him. The situation improves when Tom passes him an insect repellent. The sun has sunk. The moonlight shimmers through the trees. The cicadas have rested from the buzzing, but the mosquitoes are still raging with desire to suck these humans' blood. As a last resort, Jill takes out her precious lemongrass essential oil, which manages to repel most of the mosquitoes.
"Why do you only take it out now?" Anton grumbles slightly.
"It's all the way from Thailand, and I only have one left!" Jill exclaims. "And it seems like you're the only one attracting the mosquitoes?"
Anton rolls his eyes.
"The mosquitoes must really like your blood, lol," Tom scoffs. Anton shrugs. Jill adds, "Your blood must be the most tasty amongst us, hehe…"
"It may have something to do with your blood type, though," Aiko suggests.
"Maybe…I'm O positive."
"That's it. I heard mosquitoes usually suck the O type people," Tom says.
"Oh really? That's interesting," Ayesha quips in.
"Oh right! Speaking of blood types, do you know in Japan, there's like some kind of belief about a link between your blood type and personality," Aiko says.
"What? That's weird…Is there a connection?" Anton asks.
"Lol, I don’t think so, but that's what I hear sometimes when I go back. Like, I'll hear some of my Japanese friends say if someone is A type, they're serious about their stuff, takes things seriously, ya'know, like really responsible people."
"Whaaat?"
"Ya, and B-type people are strange, O-type people are kind, that sort of thing. "
"Huh! I'm A and I definitely do no take things seriously." Tom scoffs.
"What if you're AB?" Jill asks.
"Hmm…not sure, guess you get the best of both A and B type qualities!" Aiko laughs.
"Being responsible and strange, I'd like to be like that."
They finish their set up. Dusk gives way to the night. They start to prepare a simple dinner, only to realise Ayesha has gone.
"Hey, where's Ayesha?" Aiko asks.
"Oh shoot, you're right. I swear that she was just here!" They start looking for her in the tents, but she is nowhere to be found.
"Maybe we shouldn't have forced her to join along…" Jill says silently. They notice her discomfort throughout the trip. They thought they would have a nice time together.
"Yeah, she definitely did not seem well this morning."
"Should we go look around for her?" Anton suggests. They agree to go in groups, going in separate ways but in the vicinity to search for Ayesha. But they realise, soon, that they need not do so. Ayesha is seen to be about few metres away from them.
"That's her! Ayesha! Where have you been?" they rush to her, voicing their concerns. But Ayesha is looking away from them.
"Hey, are you okay? Sorry we force you to come along, we'll head back tomorrow!"
"Too late." they hear Ayesha said. Her voice sounds as if she has been parched for weeks. Instead of looking away from them, she looks down, her hair covering her face.
"Do you need water? Your voice sounds terrible."
"No. Too late too late." Ayesha says. She looks up at them, her eyes large, her face pale. She does not look like their friend. All of them take several steps away from her, alarmed by her looks.
"I told you all, that this is going to end badly, didn't I?" Ayesha says. Her voice menacing, with a tinge of sadness, but more so pity. They do not know how to respond, thinking that Ayesha has gone berserk. In a blink of an eye, Ayesha pounds on Anton, biting his neck. They run away as fast as their legs could carry them, but Ayesha appears in front of them, pouncing on another one. They run towards different directions, but the same thing happens, until Aiko is the only one left.
"Ayesha, please…I'm sorr-," Ayesha does not let Aiko finish her sentence and sucks her blood dry.
She looks at their bodies. She feels refreshed, full, energised. She feels sorry. All of them were her friends. But all of them, regardless of blood types, were delectable.