Weems was in the middle of forcing students back toward their tents when the scream tore through the woods.
The sound was loud enough to freeze the entire campground.
It wasn't a frightened scream or the kind caused by injury.
It was the sound of someone dying horribly.
Every conversation stopped instantly.
The noisy chaos surrounding the camp disappeared into complete silence as students, teachers, deputies, and paramedics all turned toward the dark forest at the exact same moment. Even the wind moving through the trees seemed to die with it.
Then came the footsteps.
Uneven.
Crunching through leaves somewhere beyond the tree line.
Something was walking toward them.
A shape emerged from the darkness first.
Then another.
The creatures stumbled out of the woods in twisted, unnatural movements, towering humanoid things with rotting flesh hanging from their bodies while burned cracks glowed beneath their skin like fire trapped underneath dead meat.
Their jaws hung far too wide, packed with rows of jagged teeth slick with blood and saliva while black smoke drifted from their mouths with every breath.
One of the younger students let out a quiet whimper.
Weems stared at the things in disbelief.
"What the hell…" she muttered under her breath.
In all her years at Nevermore, in all the monsters, outcasts, and supernatural horrors she had encountered, she had never seen anything remotely like this.
Then the creatures noticed the camp.
And screamed.
"SKRRAAAHHHH—!"
The sound shattered the paralysis gripping everyone.
Students immediately panicked.
People started screaming and shoving each other while teachers yelled useless instructions over the chaos. Some students bolted toward the buses instantly while others froze completely in terror as the creatures charged directly toward the camp.
Then something moved faster than the eye could properly follow.
A figure blurred across the clearing and crashed directly into the first demon.
BOOOOM—!
The creature's head snapped violently sideways from the kick, twisting almost completely backward before its body launched across the ground hard enough to destroy a wooden bench on impact.
Selene landed smoothly between the monsters and the students.
Before the second demon could even react, she grabbed it by the throat with one hand, spun hard enough to lift the creature completely off the ground, and smashed it directly into two more rushing from the woods.
Bones cracked loudly.
Bodies scattered through the dirt.
The entire camp stared at her in stunned silence for half a second.
Weems did too.
A very uncomfortable realization crossed her mind almost immediately.
She had assumed Ethan was the dangerous one.
Apparently he surrounded himself with people equally horrifying.
Selene calmly pulled out her Desert Eagle while ejecting the empty magazine with practiced ease.
"Principal Weems," she said sharply while slamming another magazine into the pistol, "you need to evacuate the students immediately. There are more coming."
As if responding directly to her words, more glowing red eyes began appearing deeper inside the forest.
Dozens of them.
Moving closer.
Weems snapped out of her shock immediately.
She wasn't a fighter.
But she absolutely knew when a situation had moved beyond control and straight into survival.
"Everyone onto the buses!" she shouted at full volume. "NOW! Leave your luggage behind! I don't care whose bag is missing, move immediately!"
Students shoved their way into the buses in complete panic, some crying, others trying to call parents with shaking hands while teachers struggled to force everyone into seats before the creatures reached the camp.
The inside of the bus was chaos.
"What the hell are those things?" Yoko asked breathlessly as she looked out the window toward the fighting outside.
"I don't know," Ajax replied while gripping the seat in front of him tightly, "but they're definitely not human."
Another scream echoed from somewhere near the woods.
Several students flinched instantly.
Enid pressed herself closer to the window, trying to see through the flashing police lights and people running across the camp. Then something suddenly felt wrong to her.
Her eyes moved across the campground again.
Selene was outside fighting.
Weems was evacuating students.
Teachers were forcing people onto the buses.
But Ethan—
was nowhere to be seen.
Neither was Wednesday.
Enid's expression changed immediately.
Normally, if something this insane happened, Ethan would've been the first idiot sprinting directly toward the danger while Wednesday followed beside him looking emotionally fulfilled by the violence.
The fact that both of them were missing made her stomach tighten.
"Where's Ethan?" she asked suddenly.
Ajax looked toward her. "What?"
"And Wednesday," Enid added quickly while looking around again. "They're both gone."
A heavy silence settled around their section of the bus.
Because if Ethan and Wednesday had disappeared during a supernatural attack—
then something had gone catastrophically wrong.
Meanwhile, hidden beyond the chaos near the edge of the forest, a hooded figure dragged Gomez Addams toward a dark van parked between the trees while another smaller unconscious body—Pugsley—was already lying inside.
The screams, gunfire, and panic around the camp drowned out every sound.
The figure shoved Gomez roughly into the van beside his son before slamming the doors shut.
Seconds later, the vehicle disappeared into the darkness unnoticed.
***
A/N: And on Patreon, The Boys arc started.
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