"Micki's probably talking about what happened a couple days ago right on this highway—an old church that's been abandoned for a hundred years suddenly caught fire out of nowhere."
"After the flames died down, the cops found hundreds of bodies inside. They were all hung up on the basement walls like decorations."
"The scene was so bad some of the officers actually puked."
"Exactly!"
Micki snapped her fingers, happy her boyfriend backed her up.
She lowered her voice like she was sharing classified intel. "They say the bodies were specially preserved—every single organ gutted out."
"The craziest part? One body still had perfect skin, but the coroner dated the death all the way back to last century!"
"A body from the last century? With all the organs removed?"
Patty, who had been staring out the window, turned around. A spark of real interest lit up her eyes.
She'd grown up tagging along with Dante and seen more demon weirdness than most adults, so her radar for this stuff was razor-sharp.
"Seriously? They managed to keep a body from the 1900s perfectly preserved?"
Brad saw he finally had Patty's attention and jumped in. "Of course it's real. My cousin works at the state police department—he told me personally…"
"Hey everyone! Look at that!"
Scott suddenly yelled and pointed out the window, cutting the conversation off like a knife.
Patty followed his finger. A silver sedan was slammed sideways into a tree on the shoulder.
"Car accident?"
Brad hit the brakes. The RV rolled to a stop.
Out of curiosity—and to check if anyone needed help—the five of them climbed out and cautiously approached the wreck.
It was a private car. The hood had some leaves and a dent from the impact, but not much dust. The crash couldn't have happened long ago—maybe even today.
Patty peered through the shattered window. Keys still in the ignition, half-spilled coffee cup in the passenger seat.
Everything looked normal… except the driver was gone.
"Hey! Anyone in there?"
Scott knocked on the window.
"Stop yelling. There's nobody," Kevin pushed up his glasses with a shaky hand and pointed at the roof. "You guys… look up there."
Everyone tilted their heads and sucked in a sharp breath.
A massive hole had been punched straight through the roof right above the driver's seat. The edges of the metal were bent inward—like something had dropped from the sky and violently ripped through the car.
Then it had reached in and yanked the driver out like a kid snatching a toy from a claw machine.
"Look at this," Patty said, drawing their attention.
She pointed at the clearly deformed rear bumper. "There are obvious impact marks here."
"Duh, we can all see it was a crash," Scott spread his hands like it was obvious.
While Patty stared at the damage, one of Soren's old sayings popped into her head:
Never hang yourself on the same tree twice.
She used to not fully get it, but now…
She was starting to.
Patty stood up, studying the crushed grass under the car, then traced the marks backward to the highway. A long, curving skid mark stretched all the way from far down the road.
So that's what it meant—don't just stare at the end result. The process matters too!
She turned to the group still clustered around the wreck.
"Look at these skid marks. This wasn't an accident. It was deliberate."
Patty's face turned serious. "Someone rammed this car from behind and kept pushing it until the driver lost control and slammed into the tree."
"Then, while the driver was unconscious, something punched through the roof and snatched him."
As she spoke, she suddenly glanced toward the dark forest nearby. The feeling of being watched by a predator made her hairs stand on end.
She knew this feeling all too well.
Back when she was used as a decoy heir for that rich family, she used to get this exact chill whenever a demon or assassin locked onto her.
"We need to get out of here right now."
Patty looked at Kevin, who was still frozen in place. Her voice stayed calm and steady. "Kevin, it's time to fire up that radio of yours."
"I need you to keep trying to reach the police. Contact the outside world and tell them exactly what happened here."
Whether it was a real demon or some gang of psychos, this situation was way too dangerous for a bunch of college kids.
They had to leave immediately.
After hearing Patty's breakdown, Micki and Brad exchanged a nervous glance, fear clear in their eyes. They both nodded fast.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Scott jumped in dramatically, throwing his hands up like he'd just heard the funniest joke ever. "Are you serious, Patty? You've been watching too many horror movies!"
"We're in America—wide-open spaces, not that many crazies running around. This was just a normal car wreck."
"The driver's probably already been rescued. They just haven't towed the car away yet."
Patty didn't even bother arguing. She turned and walked straight back toward the RV.
Soren had once told her: never argue with someone whose brain never developed past middle school. They'll drag your IQ down to their level and beat you with experience.
Kevin looked at the skeptical Scott, then at Patty who was already walking away. As the group's most invisible member, he didn't want to piss anyone off. But the fear of the unknown won. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and quickly followed Patty.
"Umm, Scott…" Micki said gently, playing peacemaker. "Even if you're right and it's just an accident, this place does feel creepy. No signal either. For safety's sake, let's just keep moving. No need to waste time here."
She secretly agreed with Patty, but she had to protect her rich sponsor's ego.
"Yeah, yeah. We can set up camp earlier and do a barbecue," Brad added.
"Tch. Bunch of cowards."
Scott saw no one was backing him and cursed under his breath.
He felt his authority had been challenged but couldn't throw a tantrum. With a dark face, he kicked the wrecked car hard and reluctantly climbed back into the RV.
The engine roared. The RV shook slightly and started moving again.
But unlike the loud music and laughter from earlier, the atmosphere inside was now heavy and tense—even with the music playing. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Patty sat by the window, fingers flying across her phone screen.
[Little Lowell: Soren.]
[Little Lowell: We ran into trouble. There was a bad car accident and something feels really wrong.]
[Location sent]
The message spun for a few seconds, then a red exclamation mark popped up.
[Failed to send.]