The forest had a way of swallowing sound when Levi worked. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see what stupid thing he'd hammer into the earth this time after experiencing so much for the last 6 months.
The screeches that echoed through the night had changed. Where they'd once been triumphant, hunting calls, now they carried frustration. Anger.
The kind of sound something made when a game stopped being fun.
Good.
Levi crouched in the underbrush about fifty yards from the town's edge, his hands working quickly to set another snare. This one was simple—a loop of braided wire anchored to a young tree he'd bent back and secured. The trigger was a carefully balanced arrangement of sticks that would give way under even moderate pressure.
When it snapped, the tree would whip upward, and whatever stepped in the loop would find itself dangling ten feet off the ground.
It wouldn't kill them. Nothing he'd tried could actually kill them yet. But it would trap them until sunrise at best and frustrate them at worst, leaving them hanging like grotesque ornaments while their companions walked past, unable to help. The only way the trapped monster could escape from the snare was if it could cut the wire.
But the second main reason Levi was setting up trap, other than to annoy them, was to stop their games, their hunt.
That was the point.
To possibly kill them, Levi would need to be outside at night to soak them into fuel and then burn them. Something he wasn't willing to do anymore. Because that'd leave Ariana alone and scared.
"Hand me the wire cutters," he said without looking back.
Ariana appeared beside him, pressing the tool into his palm. She'd been silent for the past hour, watching him work with that focused intensity she got when she was learning something new. Her dark curls were pulled back in a braid, and she wore one of his older shirts over her jeans, practical, comfortable, his.
Even after eighteen months together, the sight of her in his clothes still did something to his chest.
Well, it didn't originally belong to him, but with so many clothes in the back of the diner being unused and Levi needing some, Ariana had decided to take some for him.
"How many is this?" she asked quietly.
"Twelve." Levi secured the final loop, tested the tension, then carefully camouflaged it with leaves and loose dirt. "Thirteen if you count the pit trap by the oak grove."
"The one with the spikes?"
"That's the one."
They worked for another hour, Levi teaching Ariana the basics of trap-setting while the afternoon sun filtered through the canopy above. He showed her how to identify good locations, natural pathways where the creatures tended to walk, places where the undergrowth would hide the mechanisms.
"They're not stupid," he explained, crouching beside a fallen log. "They'll learn to avoid obvious traps. So you have to be subtle. Make it look natural. Make them think they're safe until it's too late."
Ariana knelt beside him, her shoulder brushing his. "Like this?" She arranged a tripwire at ankle height with his help, barely visible against the forest floor.
"Perfect." Levi tested it gently. "What happens when it triggers?"
"The counterweight drops." She pointed to the heavy branch he'd rigged overhead. "Swings down at head height."
"And?"
"Probably knocks them on their ass." A small smile tugged at her lips. "Definitely pisses them off."
"Exactly." He kissed her temple, proud. "You're a natural at this."
"I have a good teacher."
They finished the trap together, then moved to the next location. By the time they were done, the sun had shifted considerably, painting the forest in shades of gold and amber.
Eighteen traps total.
them, quiet in the late afternoon light. A few people moved between buildings—gathering supplies, checking on the animals, living their carefully managed lives behind magical protections they didn't understand.
Levi and Ariana kept walking, heading toward the diner.
The building was busier than usual when they arrived. The lunch rush, such as it was. Maybe fifteen people scattered across the tables, eating whatever had been prepared that day. The jukebox was mercifully silent.
Behind the counter, a woman Levi recognized, Sarah? Sandra? Zora?
Dora…?
He'd never bothered learning names anymore, she looked up as they entered.
'Definitely not Dora.'
"Levi. Ariana." She nodded. "Here for supplies?"
"Just checking what's available," Ariana said, moving toward the kitchen area. "We're running low on a few things."
"Help yourself. You know where everything is."
Ariana disappeared into the kitchen while Levi waited by the counter. He could hear her moving around, gathering items, the familiar sounds of her being efficient and methodical.
"Need anything?" the… what's her name again? Levi thought, but decided to just go with the waitress. The waitress asked him, and Levi shook his head. He still kept his distance from everyone in the town and the colony house.
He didn't want to speak to them unless he had to. Because at the end of the day, they'd die either by killing themselves, as it happened two nights ago with a couple, or get torn to shreds by monsters, as it opened to some newcomers a week ago.
A moment later, Ariana came back, setting the bag on the counter. "Got what we needed. Plus a few extras." She looked at the waitress. "Mind if we take some of the fresh vegetables? For dinner?"
"Take whatever you want." She pushed away from the counter. "Actually, there's plenty of stew if you want some. Made a big batch this morning."
Levi and Ariana exchanged a glance. Eating here, in the diner, meant being around people. Meant conversation and questions, and the weight of too many eyes watching them. Something he wasn't comfortable with. But if Ariana wanted, Levi would happily eat together with her here.
And eating in the diner also meant hot food they didn't have to cook themselves.
"We'll take some to go," Ariana said diplomatically instead, a gentle smile on her face as she looked at him and back to the waitress. "If that's okay."
"Of course." The waitress disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with two large containers of stew. "There's bread too, if you want it."
"Thank you." Ariana took the containers carefully. "This is really kind of you."
"You're welcome." Donna's eyes flicked between them before going back to wash some dishes or something.
Back at their place, the gas station, dinner was quiet, comfortable. They ate at their small table, the stew rich and warming, the bread fresh enough to almost taste normal. Outside, the sun touched the horizon, painting the world in shades of orange and purple.
They finished eating as the light was starting to fade. Time to move. Time to descend into their hole beneath the gas station and wait out another night while monsters prowled above.
But first, Ariana stood and moved to their small kitchen area, washing the dishes with practiced efficiency. Levi joined her, drying and putting things away, their movements synchronized after months of this routine.
"Levi?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you ever think about before?" Ariana's voice was soft, thoughtful. "Before this place?"
"Sometimes." He set down the dish he'd been drying. "Mostly, I think about Dean. Wonder if he ever got my voicemail, or if it was too late by that point. Or if he read my journal."
"He did," Ariana said with certainty. "And he's probably looking for you."
"Maybe." Levi didn't let himself hope too hard. He was exhausted by this point. His priority had shifted from when he first came here. He had adapted to this place. He knew what he'd do tomorrow, but that was it. As long as Ariana was safe and sound, he was content.
"What about you? What do you think about?"
"My parents, mostly." Her hands stilled in the soapy water. "But also... med school. The career I'd planned. The life I thought I'd have." She turned to look at him. "It feels like a different person. Like I'm remembering someone else's life."
Levi wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." She leaned into him. "That life didn't have you in it."
"This life has monsters and death and-"
"And you." She turned in his arms, her wet hands finding his face. "This life has you, Levi. And that makes it worth surviving."
He kissed her then, slow and deep, tasting hope and grief and love all tangled together. When they broke apart, both breathing harder, the world outside had gone fully dark.
"Time to hide," Ariana whispered.
"Yeah." But he kissed her once more before releasing her. "Let's go."
The entrance to their bunker was hidden beneath a false section of floor in what used to be the gas station's storage room. Levi had spent months perfecting it, making it undetectable even if someone knew what to look for.
He pulled back the hidden panel, revealing the ladder that descended into darkness. Ariana went first, climbing down with practiced ease. Levi followed, pulling the panel closed above them.
The bunker itself was larger than most, big enough for a small couch for comfort, storage for supplies, and three separate emergency exits that Levi had dug himself. One led toward the forest. One toward the town center. And one toward the barn.
Options. Always options.
Ariana lit the lantern while Levi checked each exit, making sure they were still concealed, still accessible. Then he joined her on the couch, pulling her against his side.
This was their ritual now. Every night. Hide before dark, hold each other until dawn, and survive another day in hell.
"What do you think they're doing right now?" Ariana asked, her head on his shoulder. "Everyone with their talismans?"
"Sleeping, probably. Or trying to." Levi's hand found her hair, threading through the curls. "Pretending they're safe."
"Are they? Safe?"
He pressed a kiss to her temple, not saying anything.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Ariana tensed slightly. Levi's arms tightened around her.
"It's okay," he whispered. "I got you."
"I hate this part," Ariana whispered.
"I know." Levi pulled her closer. "But you're okay. We're okay."
Time passed in the strange, elastic way it did underground. Minutes felt like hours. Hours collapsed into moments. The lantern burned steady, casting dancing shadows on the dirt walls.
Eventually, from somewhere in the forest, came a sound that made them both smile.
A screech. But not the hunting kind.
This one was different. Higher. Angrier.
Frustrated.
"Which trap do you think that was?" Ariana asked, amusement in her voice.
"Hard to say." Levi pretended to consider it seriously.
"Maybe the pit trap? That one seems to really piss them off."
"True. Nothing says 'fuck you' quite like falling into a hole filled with sharpened stakes that won't come off."
Ariana laughed softly, the sound beautiful in the darkness. "You're terrible."
"You love it."
"I do." She tilted her head up to kiss the side of his neck. "I really do."
They settled in, Ariana curled against Levi's chest, his arms wrapped around her like he could shield her from the world.