Patty took a small sip of the juice in her cup; her phone had already automatically shut down due to a low battery.
That cold, creeping sensation of being watched was growing stronger, leaving her feeling uneasy.
She desperately wanted to return to the RV, where the enclosed space might provide at least some sense of security, but then she remembered a certain law Sephirot was always droning on about.
Never be the one to go off alone.
She didn't know where he had heard all these things from, but he had never lied to her. Thus, she could only endure the shivering coldness and stay with the group.
Patty scanned the surroundings warily, Sephirot's silhouette surfacing in her mind.
If Sephirot were here, he would definitely be taking the initiative to search the perimeter, wouldn't he?
He might even be heart-to-heart chatting with some wild demons.
The humorous image of him with his arm around a demon's shoulder flashed through her mind, causing her frayed nerves to relax slightly.
"Hey! What are you thinking about?"
Scott approached, clutching a can of beer. "Come on, have a little drink to calm your nerves. Don't ruin everyone's fun."
"I don't drink." Patty shot him a glance, her tone leaving no room for argument. "And stay away from me."
Scott's smile froze on his face, a flicker of hostility passing through his eyes.
Being rejected again, and to his face by the girl he liked, was enough to make anyone feel humiliated.
"Scott, we're all students, drinking some juice is perfectly fine,"
Minxie quickly stepped in to smooth things over, even though she herself was holding a can of beer.
Just then, the consistently silent Brad stood up unsteadily. His face was a bit flushed as he let out a liquor-scented belch: "I'm gonna go drain the main."
He patted the grass bits off his rear and headed toward a large tree on the perimeter, his figure vanishing behind the trunk.
The campfire crackled in the silent darkness while Kevin sat to the side, tinkering with the radio.
The minutes ticked by.
Brad had not returned.
"That guy... does it really take that long to take a piss?"
Minxie set down her beer with a hint of unease, looking toward the large tree. "He didn't pass out, did he? He's always been a lightweight."
"I'll go check."
"Wait a minute."
Patty stopped her and grabbed her bag. "Let's all go together."
Seeing this, Scott sneered, "I'm not going over there to smell piss. Maybe there's something wrong with his prostate?"
Kevin remained silent.
Two of them arrived behind the large tree.
There was no one behind the tree; there was only a wet patch on the ground and a single sneaker lying lopsided in the grass.
"Brad?!"
Minxie picked up the shoe, looked around, and shouted loudly, "Brad? Where are you? Stop playing around! This isn't funny at all!"
Before her voice had even faded, a rustle suddenly came from the bushes not far from Minxie.
"Come out, Brad!"
Minxie walked toward the bushes with a look of impatience. The pitch-black bushes inexplicably reminded Minxie of various horror movie murders.
Though fear gripped her heart, it was outweighed by her frustration with Brad's childish pranks.
Patty, following close behind, slipped her hand into her bag.
The moment Minxie reached the edge of the bushes...
"Wah!!!"
A dark shadow lunged out from the grass, flailing its limbs as it pounced toward Minxie.
"Ah!!"
Minxie shrieked as she was knocked to the ground by the shadow.
Almost the instant the figure bolted out, Patty had already drawn the pocket pistol from her bag and aimed it at the silhouette.
But after seeing the shadow clearly, she quickly tucked the weapon away.
"Hahahahaha! Scared you, didn't I?! Hey, babies!"
Brad planted a kiss on the cheek of the trembling Minxie. "You guys are way too jumpy! Look at you, you've gone totally pale!"
"Brad!!"
Coming to her senses, Minxie punched her boyfriend hard in the chest, her face flushed with a mix of shame and anger. "You asshole! That wasn't funny at all! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"
"Alright, alright, my bad, my bad."
Brad hoisted Minxie up and straightened her disheveled clothes, offering a half-hearted apology while clearly looking quite pleased with his prank.
"Actually, I just saw a rabbit..."
Swish!
Before he could finish, the sound of something slicing through the air erupted from behind him.
From Minxie's perspective, the smirk on Brad's face suddenly froze.
A line of blood slit across his throat.
Splat!
Scalding liquid sprayed across Minxie's face in an instant.
She closed her eyes instinctively, the warmth of the blood momentarily making her feel as if she were washing her face with hot water.
She reached up to touch the viscous fluid on her skin as the metallic stench of blood flooded her nostrils.
"What... is this?"
She opened her eyes, dazed.
In front of her stood a headless body, its hands still instinctively reaching up to grope at its own neck.
On the grass by her feet...
Brad's head lay still. The smirk was forever frozen on his face, his lifeless eyes staring vacantly at Minxie.
Time seemed to stand still in that moment.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
A second later, a soul-shattering scream pierced the night sky, startling the crows in the woods into flight.
Patty raised her flashlight. Standing behind Brad's corpse was a humanoid creature completely draped in black cloth strips.
It wore a cowboy hat. Under the glare of the powerful light, the face hidden in the shadows slowly tilted upward.
It was a face as rough as tree bark, with dark skin and a mouth full of jagged teeth. The bridge of its nose had collapsed, leaving only a slit that rhythmically opened and closed.
Faced with Patty's flashlight, it didn't show the slightest intention of flinching.
Instead, it narrowed its eyes and curled its lips into a grin, flashing Patty the triumphant smile of a wicked child who had successfully pulled off a cruel joke.
"Shit!!"
Just then, Scott and Kevin, who had rushed over after hearing the scream, witnessed this scene straight out of Hell.
Scott looked at the headless corpse and the eerily smiling monster; the masculinity he had intended to display vanished instantly as he turned and bolted.
"Wait for me! Scott!"
Kevin's face was deathly pale, his legs shaking.
He looked back at the monster and Patty with every other step.
The survival instinct eventually won out over his feelings, and he stumbled after Scott toward the RV.
"Don't just stand there! Minxie, get up!!"
Patty ignored the two of them. Sephirot had told her that when people are about to die, they usually only have eyes for their own escape.
She grabbed the dazed Minxie by the arm, forcibly hauling her up and dragging her toward the RV.
"Brad... Brad, he's..."
Minxie's eyes were vacant as she whimpered incoherently.
"He's dead! If we don't run, we're next!!"
Patty barked at her, using every ounce of her strength to pull her traumatized friend toward the RV.
As Patty and Minxie crossed through the camp, they saw Scott and Kevin standing frozen just a short distance away.
Looking past the two men, she saw a figure standing atop the RV.
It stood there, looking down at them from the roof with cold detachment.
"A m-m-monster!!!"
Scott let out a yelp, his legs giving out as he collapsed to the ground, using both hands and feet to scramble backward.
Patty stood her ground, her deep blue eyes fixed quietly on the creature.
She had a premonition; this monster was likely coming for her. Brad was nothing more than collateral damage.
(Translated by yourtl.app)