Back at the Jericho campgrounds, the quiet of the night had completely collapsed.
Police cars surrounded the campsite, flashing lights cutting through the forest while paramedics checked on the traumatized patient near the ambulance.
Most of the Nevermore students had been dragged out of sleep by the commotion and now stood gathered in nervous groups, whispering theories to each other while officers searched the area nearby.
"You're seriously trying to blame Nevermore students for this?" she asked sharply as she faced Sheriff Santiago near the ambulance.
Several officers nearby immediately went quiet.
Santiago rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Principal Weems, nobody's making accusations yet—"
"Oh please," Weems cut in coldly. "Half your deputies arrived here already looking at my students like they're suspects."
"One of my students carried that last surviving guy back here alive," she said. "If an outcast had actually attacked those cadets, there wouldn't have been survivors left to question."
The crime scene in the woods looked less like an attack and more like a massacre.
Weems folded her arms, visibly furious now. "My students are frightened, exhausted, and trapped in the middle of a nightmare none of them understand. "
"The last thing they need is Jericho law enforcement treating them like monsters simply because it's convenient."
Santiago sighed heavily. "I'm just trying to keep this situation under control."
"Then control your officers first," Weems replied immediately. "Because if I hear one more deputy implying Nevermore students are responsible without evidence, I promise this conversation becomes significantly less civil."
Santiago stepped away from the ambulance and motioned toward a group of deputies near the patrol cars.
"Get back into the woods," he ordered. "Find the bodies and secure the scene before sunrise. I want everything photographed before the state police arrive."
None of the officers looked enthusiastic about it.
Still, three of them grabbed flashlights and headed into the forest.
The deeper they walked into the trees, the quieter the camp sounds became until only the crunch of leaves and the sweep of flashlight beams remained.
One of the younger officers adjusted his jacket nervously. "Sir, I'm just saying… why are we always dealing with this kind of nightmare around Nevermore?" he muttered. "Normal towns get robberies. We get mutilated corpses in the woods."
The deputy leading them sighed tiredly. "Because whether people like it or not, most of Jericho's funding comes from outcasts and Nevermore tourism." He swept his flashlight across the trees.
"Town survives because that school exists."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it," the other officer muttered.
A few more steps into the woods and the smell hit them.
Blood.
The flashlight beam is shifted.
Then stopped.
Half a body lay against a tree.
Or what was left of one.
The torso had been torn open violently, ribs exposed while the lower half was completely gone. Blood soaked into the dirt beneath it in thick black patches.
"Jesus Christ…" one of the officers whispered, visibly recoiling. "That's the worst thing I've ever seen."
The deputy stared at the remains grimly. "Must be new around here," he muttered darkly. "Last year we had bodies turning up like this every week because of one homicidal monster currently rotting inside Willow Hill."
Then—
footsteps.
All three men froze instantly.
Something was moving nearby.
The deputy immediately pulled out his gun and aimed toward the darkness between the trees.
"Hello?" he shouted. "If someone's out there, come out slowly! We're police!"
The footsteps stopped.
For one second, nothing moved.
Then something stepped out from the woods.
The officers instinctively staggered backward.
It stood over six feet tall, its body twisted and unnatural, glowing red lines crawling beneath stretched skin while its jaw hung open far wider than any human's should. The thing's breathing sounded wet and uneven, black saliva dripping from rows of jagged teeth.
Then it looked directly at them.
And roared.
The deputy reacted instantly.
"OPEN FIRE!"
The gunshots exploded through the woods.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
All three officers emptied rounds into the creature as it charged straight toward them, bullets tearing into its chest and shoulders—
and doing almost nothing.
The thing barely slowed.
One round blew through part of its neck, black blood spraying across the trees, but the wound immediately began closing as the creature kept moving.
"Oh God—!"
The deputy tried to backpedal while reloading.
Too slow.
The creature reached him in a single leap.
Its jaws opened unnaturally wide before clamping down onto the deputy's shoulder and neck together.
The crunch echoed through the woods.
"AAAAAHHHH—!"
Blood exploded across the leaves as the deputy was dragged to the ground screaming, the monster tearing into him violently while he thrashed beneath it.
The other two officers froze for half a second in complete horror.
Then survival instinct took over.
"RUN!"
Both turned and bolted through the trees as fast as they could, stumbling over roots and branches while the screams behind them turned wet and distorted.
One of them looked back once.
Big mistake.
The creature lifted its head slowly from the deputy's body, blood hanging from its teeth while its glowing eyes locked directly onto them.
Then it started running again.
***
A/N: And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
The Patreon version is already updated with 46 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here:
👉 patreon.com/JamesA211