Alex was halfway down the glowing path, pointing out a particurly bright patch of bioluminescent ferns to a few cssmates, when he noticed the empty space beside him.

  “Uh… where’s Ethan?” he muttered, frowning.

  He looked around, scanning the group. Everyone was accounted for — Alex’s cssmates chattered happily, leaning over railings, pointing at glowing ponds, ughing at one another’s jokes.

  But Ethan wasn’t there.

  “Hey… has anyone seen Ethan?” Alex called, trying to keep his voice casual. A few heads shook, eyes wide.

  “Nope, he was right here like… two minutes ago,” someone replied.

  Alex’s stomach tightened. That’s not like him. Ethan always followed, even if he seemed distant. Always stayed close.

  He started retracing the group’s steps, moving through the soft glow of the paths. The faint hum of night insects and the rustle of leaves underfoot felt strangely heavy, almost suffocating.

  “Ethan!” he called again, louder this time. “Yo! Where the hell are you?”

  No answer.

  Alex’s frown deepened. Panic began to prick at his chest. Ethan wasn’t just quiet or pale tonight — he was gone. Disappeared.

  He checked near the glowing pond, then the bioluminescent flower beds, and finally the winding hedge-lined paths. Nothing.

  “Shit… this isn’t good,” he muttered under his breath, pacing.

  Alex’s mind raced. Ethan had been acting… off tely. Tired. Hollow. Alex knew something was wrong. Ethan joked about wanting fresh air, but Alex had brushed it off at the time.

  Now, alone in the glowing gardens, Alex realized maybe it wasn’t just exhaustion. Something was seriously wrong.

  He stopped near the edge of the path, eyes darting between the shadows and glowing light. “Ethan… if you’re messing with me, this isn’t funny, okay?”

  No answer. Just the whisper of wind through the trees.

  Alex swallowed hard. The thought that Ethan might have just bolted… or worse… pressed on his chest.

  “Okay. Stay calm,” he muttered, stepping carefully into the hedge-lined path, determined to find him.

  But deep down, Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different this time. That Ethan… wasn’t just missing.

  And the gardens, beautiful and glowing, suddenly felt like a maze.

  Eri moved quietly through the winding paths, each step careful, deliberate, yet filled with exhiration. Her tails fanned out behind her, swishing with subtle anticipation, brushing the soft grass and flowers as if testing the world itself.

  The moonlight glimmered against her silver eyes, reflecting the gentle glow of the bioluminescent pnts. She twirled lightly, ears twitching at the night sounds — the distant rustle of leaves, the faint hum of insects, the soft trickle of water over stones. Everything felt alive. Every sensation was amplified, every movement an extension of her joy.

  Her hands lifted to brush along her tails, stroking the soft fur, watching them curl and sway with a life of their own. The freedom of being her, finally, was intoxicating. She rolled her shoulders, stretched her limbs, and let out a soft purr of contentment.

  The deeper she ventured, the quieter it became. The faint chatter of the main group was gone, repced by the soft glow of flowers lining narrow paths. She leaned down to touch the petals of a luminescent orchid, marveling at the soft warmth of the light, and twirled again, letting her tails swirl in a graceful arc.

  It’s perfect… she thought, heart lifting. I could stay like this forever.

  But at the edge of her awareness, a subtle tension lingered — a nagging thought that she was not entirely alone.

  Meanwhile, Alex threaded through the hedges, calling out softly but urgently. “Ethan? Ethan, where are you?” His fshlight cast a narrow beam over the glowing pnts, shadows stretching unnaturally across the paths.

  He had been searching for what felt like minutes, retracing every step, every turn, every patch of glowing flowers. Panic was creeping in, tightening his chest. Something was off — Ethan wasn’t just quiet, he was gone.

  Alex’s voice broke the silence again. “Okay… calm down. He couldn’t have gone far.”

  Eri, too far along a winding path to hear him, continued to revel in the freedom of her form. She didn’t notice the faint crunch of leaves behind her, or the soft beam of fshlight light cutting through the dim night. Her attention was entirely on herself: the way her tails flowed behind her, the subtle twitch of her ears at every sound, the soft purr that escaped her throat as she stretched fully, savoring the moment.

  Her body, her senses, her very being as Eri were overwhelming and intoxicating — and she had no intention of leaving the secluded path anytime soon.

  The contrast between the frantic search of Alex and the blissful abandon of Eri heightened the tension, every step bringing the possibility of discovery closer, though neither fully realized it yet.

  Eri twirled again under the moonlight, unaware that the quiet thrill of being herself was only safe for now — that the next moment could change everything.