The air in the Connors' living room was so thick with the smell of copper and viscera that it was difficult to breathe without gagging.
Bee was huddled in a corner, shaken by tremors so strong that her teeth chattered. The floor around her was a mess, a tapestry of fresh blood and unrecognizable remains that were once her companions.
The girl they had followed, that creature who looked like a lost angel, was actually a horror with a cherubic face.
She had hunted them one by one.
"L-Lillith..." Bee's voice cracked, "Please, we can... we can talk. I know what you are, but we weren't simple humans! We can make a deal, cooperate...!"
"Cooperate?"
Lillith's voice came from a dark corner, sweet and childish, but devoid of all warmth.
"You wanted my blood, Bee. And I only wanted your fear... and I think I've won."
Bee clenched her jaw, the taste of bile rising in her throat.
It was over.
There was no way out.
With a trembling hand, she fumbled under her jacket and pulled out a black crystal pendant. It was her last card.
"Oh, Great Dorothy, your most loyal servant begs you!" Bee screamed, raising the amulet. Her voice had become sharp, fanatical, on the verge of hysteria, "I implore you to descend with your divine power and save your humble believer!"
!
The crystal burst into a red light.
Immediately, an unnatural cold swept the room, a bone-chilling cold. With it came a sickeningly sweet aroma, like expensive perfume sprayed over rotten flowers.
The red glow coagulated, and from it, a figure began to materialize.
It was a woman who looked like a vision of pure sensuality and mortal danger.
Her skin was pale as marble, and her snowy-white, curly hair cascaded around a face of supernatural beauty.
Her eyes glowed like hot rubies, and intricate crimson marks descended from them, as if she were crying tears of fresh blood that dried on her cheeks.
Her body was a masterpiece of voluptuous curves, an hourglass figure encased in a glossy black outfit. She wore a thick, black turtleneck sweater, with sleeves so long they completely hid her hands, giving her an almost shy air.
But that shyness died at her waist.
From there down, she was encased in a black miniskirt, so tight it looked like a second liquid skin.
It reflected the red light of the portal, highlighting incredibly voluptuous hips and thick legs that disappeared into high boots made of the same shiny material.
It was Dorothy, the Beautiful Demon of the Underworld. She radiated mature confidence and a sexuality so potent it was almost a weapon. An elegant and cruel smile formed on her lips.
Swish
In a blink, she was standing in front of Bee, leaning down to lift the trembling woman by the chin.
"Thank you for the invitation, dear~" her voice was a syrupy purr, like velvet, "But this service comes at a price. And your soul... I'll be keeping it."
Before Bee could scream, Dorothy leaned down and kissed her.
It was a slow act.
Bee's eyes widened, lifelessly, while her body withered in the demon's arms.
A trail of silvery energy, Bee's soul, flowed from the dead woman's lips into Dorothy's, who inhaled it with a sigh of satisfaction.
She let the corpse drop to the floor indifferently.
Dorothy turned around, wiping the corner of her lips with a finger gloved by her sleeve, and her ruby gaze fixed on the darkness.
"Well, well..." she murmured with a playful smile, "Look what we have here. A little fear thief."
Lillith stepped out of the shadows. Her eyes, large and innocent, observed the newcomer with genuine curiosity.
She tilted her head.
"Are you Dorothy?" she asked, as childish as ever, "You're prettier than they told me."
"And you are more adorable, little one," Dorothy replied, giving a slight bow. Her vinyl skirt did not move. "But tell me, what is a demon of your kind doing playing house in the human world? It's... unusual."
Lillith blinked and then suddenly let out a crystalline giggle.
"I have a master! He's great! He hit me really hard with 'purification,' and I stayed this way."
!
Dorothy's movement froze for a split second.
"Purification?" Her voice lost its playful tone, becoming sharp, interested. "Are you telling me that a simple human... controls the power of angels?"
…
The clearing on the mountainside was a perfect stage.
Just as the tension reached its peak, the sky split with a rumble of thunder, and a cold rain began to pour down abruptly, drenching both of them in seconds.
Lief and Jason remained motionless, staring intently at each other through the curtain of water.
"You know what, big guy?" Lief finally said, breaking the silence as he expertly spun the two pistols in his hands. "In a way, I admire you. Seriously. So many years killing in the same place, without missing a day... that kind of dedication deserves some respect."
Jason, of course, did not respond.
"But," Lief's tone lost all mockery, becoming cold as the wind sweeping the clearing, "your streak ends tonight. I'm not one of those unarmed campers you usually play with. I came prepared."
Swish
The last word had barely left his mouth when Jason lunged. He covered the distance between them in an instant, and the machete descended brutally, whistling in the rain, aiming to split his skull.
But Lief was ready. He threw himself to the right, the wind from the machete grazing his hair while Ebony and Ivory roared in unison, firing mid-dodge.
Bang Bang
The silver bullets cut through the rain, but Jason's reaction was just as fast. He raised the blade to block them, expecting the usual metallic sound. This time, however, the impact was not just sparks.
The moment the bullets struck the steel, they exploded in a blinding flash of bluish-white light, a unique power.
A muffled growl escaped from behind Jason's mask, and the sheer force of the detonation pushed him back several steps, off balance.
Lief landed smoothly, displaying a sneering smile. "What's wrong? That didn't feel so good, did it?"
Jason lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the machete. Fine cracks were now visible on the blade where the bullets had impacted.
He slowly raised his head, and through the holes in the mask, Lief could sense a murderous intent that had intensified into pure rage.
Roaring, he attacked again, this time with uncontrolled ferocity. The machete became a blur in the rain, a storm of deadly blows aimed at destroying Lief. But Lief moved with him, dodging and sliding in a mortal dance, his pistols firing again and again.
The infinite bullets from Ebony and Ivory traced lines through the downpour, each impact against the colossus resonating with that same purifying burst of light.
The assault continued under the torrential rain, and now Lief's purifying bullets were leaving their mark. Where the bullets struck Jason's body, the flesh visibly sputtered, releasing wisps of smoke that instantly dissolved in the humid air.
But the pain, if he felt it at all, only seemed to act as fuel; his attacks became wilder, more frantic, and the machete slashed with desperate fury, forcing Lief to retreat.
"Damn, you really are an immortal sack of meat," Lief muttered while narrowly dodging a cut that would have split him in two. "Alright, warm-up's over. Time to get serious."
He stopped retreating. Instead of dodging the next attack, he planted himself firmly in the mud, crossing both pistols in front of his chest as if they were a shield.
!
Just as Jason raised the machete for the killing blow, an invisible shockwave erupted from Lief's body. The telekinetic force struck Jason like a battering ram, lifting the colossus off the ground and launching him brutally backward.
He crashed with colossal force against a huge pine tree, and the trunk groaned with a tearing sound of cracking wood.
But before the echo of the impact faded, Jason ripped himself from the shattered tree. He straightened up, his mask still fixed on Lief, as if the blow had been no more than an annoying push.
"Seriously, you're a goddamn monster," Lief sighed.
And it was in that precise instant of tension, just as both were preparing for the next assault, that a new sound cut through the noise of the storm.
"AHHHH!"
Screams.
High-pitched screams, full of terror, unmistakably coming from the camp.
…
Minutes earlier, in the girls' dormitory, a deafening thunderclap had rattled so close it shook the cabin, jolting Carrie from an uneasy sleep.
She sat up suddenly in the bunk, her heart pounding at full speed.
The rain hammered the roof like an angry drum.
A quick glance around confirmed that her cabin mates were still fast asleep, but Carrie felt a stab of unease, a cold feeling that had nothing to do with the storm.
She silently slipped out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtain to look out at the camp.
The area of the administrators' cabins, which should have at least one porch light on, was plunged into total darkness.
It was an unsettling void.
She knew the counselors were supposed to take turns watching, and everything being off... it wasn't right.
She hesitated for a second, biting her lip. It was probably nothing, just the storm. But the sense of alarm was too strong to ignore.
She pulled her jacket over her pajamas, opened the cabin door with infinite care, and stepped out into the downpour.
The cold rain immediately struck her.
She crossed the muddy ground toward the administrators' cabins, and with every step, that feeling of unease in her chest transformed into palpable fear.
She reached the first cabin, and to her surprise, the door was ajar, softly tapping against the frame in the wind.
"Hello?" she whispered, receiving no response.
She pushed the door just enough to peek inside. The smell hit her first: copper and something else, something metallic and horrible.
Just then, lightning illuminated the room, and she saw it.
She saw a body on the floor.
!
It was one of the counselors, his chest torn open by something, and a dark, shiny puddle spreading across the wooden floor.
Carrie choked back a scream with both hands and stumbled backward, her feet slipping on the thick mud, and she fell onto her back.
It was the fall, the shock, and the horror that finally broke her self-control.
"AHHHH!"
The scream was bloodcurdling, and it cut through the night like a siren.
That sound woke the camp. The lights in the students' cabins began to turn on one after another. Doors opened and campers rushed out, confused.
"What's happening?"
"What was that scream?"
They saw Carrie on the ground, covered in mud and pointing at the open cabin. When the bravest peeked in and saw the scene... panic spread like wildfire.
"Oh my God! He's dead!"
"Quick, call the police!"
"The office phone is dead! It doesn't work!"
"I have no signal! No mobile signal!"
The discovery of the corpse unleashed absolute chaos.
Some students were paralyzed, crying on their knees in the mud, while others ran and screamed aimlessly. A small group attempted a desperate escape down the main road but returned almost immediately, terror painted on their faces, yelling that a huge pine tree had fallen and completely blocked the only exit.
"Calm down! Everyone, calm down!" shouted one of the older students. "To the dining hall, now! It's the biggest building and has the thickest walls, run!"
That suggestion caused a stampede. The mass of terrified teenagers surged toward the main dining hall, and Carrie was swept along by the human current.
But as she ran, her heart in her throat, her eyes frantically scanned the group, searching for a single familiar figure in the chaotic crowd.
She didn't see him anywhere. Lief wasn't there.
And then, with clarity, she understood.
She knew with absolute certainty that, knowing Lief's personality, he would never be hiding among the crowd. If there really was a killer loose, Lief wouldn't be running from the danger; he would be running straight toward it.
The very idea that he was out there, alone, facing the killer, made her heart clench with almost unbearable anguish.
Inside the dining hall, more than thirty students were huddled together in the center of the room, a trembling knot of collective panic. Outside, the storm roared louder, thunder boomed over their heads, and the rain beat against the windows as if trying to get in.
"What are we going to do?" sobbed a girl, burying her face in her hands. "We're going to die here!"
"No, no," said the same older student, though his voice was shaking. "We just... we just have to hold out. We'll barricade the doors and wait until morning. When the sun comes up, someone will come and rescue us."
But Carrie barely heard his words of false hope.
She knew something they didn't.
On this night of terror, the only person who could save them wouldn't come with the dawn. Their only real hope was the boy who, at that precise moment, was probably fighting alone against the origin of that nightmare.
She clenched her hands so hard that her nails dug into her palms, praying silently with a consuming desperation.
Lief, please... come back safe and sound.
________
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