Chapter 9: The Terrifying Creeper
In the silent wilderness, Chris surveyed his surroundings.
With his excellent eyesight, he could see signs of human activity in a distant patch of woods.
When Chris got closer, he saw a dilapidated church with a red roof and white walls standing deep in the trees, and the surrounding branches were crawling with crows.
They curiously sized up Chris, the uninvited guest, their eyes filled with an unnatural hunger that seemed wrong for ordinary birds.
Such an eerie scene made Chris instantly realize he'd entered some kind of horror movie scenario.
Of course, the reason he had this realization was because the environment looked exceptionally familiar.
He clearly remembered seeing it in some slasher flick.
He just needed to confirm a few details, and then he could be absolutely certain whether this was the world he was thinking of.
Dropping his gym bag, Chris prepared to check the surrounding area to confirm his suspicions.
As he set down his bag, Chris felt a pang of regret.
If he'd known he would jump dimensions again, he should've packed some weapons so he wouldn't have to explore empty-handed.
But it wasn't too late to learn from this—he could make proper preparations when he got back.
As for whether he could return to the Family Guy world? Chris had no doubts.
Because he was now certain that what Stewie had mentioned must be related to his current dimensional jumping.
After all, he was someone who'd already lived another life, and Stewie had said he'd awakened some kind of talent.
So besides this dimension-hopping ability, what other talent could he possibly have that would interest a genius like Stewie?
It couldn't be Chris's talent for farting on command, could it?
With a plan forming, Chris slowly approached the side of the church, carefully observing his surroundings, and what he saw confirmed his suspicions.
Looking at the thick iron pipe jutting from the ground, Chris cursed under his breath.
"Son of a bitch! It really is the Jeepers Creepers world, and I just happened to stumble onto that monster's home base! What are the freaking odds?!"
Although he'd already confirmed in his gut that he'd jumped into the Jeepers Creepers universe, Chris, just to be absolutely sure, still walked to the iron pipe and peered down.
With his enhanced vision, scattered bones appeared in Chris's line of sight.
Combined with a sour, putrid smell wafting up the pipe into his nostrils, he was even more certain.
He remembered the basic plot of this horror movie: roughly, a brother and sister accidentally discovered the Creeper's body disposal process, and then the brother got targeted.
Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the specific details, only that the brother was pretty reckless.
Of course, the guy did die in the end—Chris remembered he went out pretty brutally, getting his eyes gouged out.
Recalling the general plot, Chris turned to grab his gym bag.
He remembered that this Creeper could only hunt for 23 days every 23 years, and in the movie, the thing had already been active for more than ten days.
So he only needed to lay low for a few more days, and this creature would go back into hibernation.
Therefore, Chris wasn't going to stir up trouble and provoke that powerful monster—something that could fly short distances and had insane regenerative abilities.
His plan now was simple: grab his stuff, find a car, drive far away, and quietly wait for his dimensional jump back.
After all, he wasn't some reincarnator with a system and mandatory quests to complete.
Decision made, Chris walked to the front entrance of the church where he'd left his backpack, preparing to get the hell out of Dodge.
Before leaving, Chris double-checked to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, knowing the Creeper had supernatural tracking abilities.
Once it caught someone's scent, it could track them for dozens of miles.
The reckless brother in the original movie got hunted down and killed precisely because he'd left his clothes behind.
After looking around and confirming he hadn't left anything, Chris prepared to leave with peace of mind.
However, just as he reached the roadside, ready to pick a direction and book it, he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.
Then he looked toward the source of the noise—a weird-looking truck.
The truck body was rusted and beat-to-hell, and with Chris's enhanced vision, he could clearly see there wasn't a single piece of glass on it—the thing was like an armored turtle completely covered in metal plating.
And Chris's face went pale when he saw this truck, because this was the vehicle driven by the Creeper itself.
"Shit, why is it coming back RIGHT NOW?!"
Estimating the vehicle was still a mile or two away, Chris turned and sprinted toward the dilapidated church.
With his running speed on foot, trying to outrun the Creeper's vehicle was clearly a fantasy.
So the only possible way to avoid the Creeper now was to hide in its underground cellar where it stored its victims.
Only that way, under cover of the overwhelming stench of corpses, could he possibly avoid detection.
Decision made, Chris quickly ran to the iron pipe, then jumped, sliding down into the cellar below.
With a heavy thud, Chris's body hit the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Fortunately, his gym bag cushioned his fall, and combined with his enhanced physique, he didn't twist anything.
After confirming his body was fine, he scrambled up and ran deeper into the cellar to avoid being spotted when the Creeper dumped fresh bodies.
But before Chris could find a decent hiding spot, he heard the truck engine shut off, followed by heavy footsteps.
Realizing the Creeper had already arrived at the pipe entrance, Chris held his breath and moved closer to a pile of debris, hoping to use the overwhelming smell of dismembered corpses to mask his own scent.
Meanwhile, the Creeper above ground, in a cheerful mood, carried two new victims toward the pipe.
Then it raised its arms and tossed these fresh additions into the cellar.
With the heavy thud of bodies hitting the ground, Chris knew those were the corpses that thing had just thrown down.
Next, if he remembered the plot correctly, the Creeper would go after the brother and sister who'd accidentally witnessed it disposing of bodies.
And he could seize that opportunity to escape, then either find help to deal with this monster or quietly hide out until his return trip—he could decide based on how things played out.
However, events clearly weren't going to unfold according to Chris's wishes—trouble always arrived uninvited.
After happily dumping its latest kills into the cellar, the Creeper realized its activities seemed to have been witnessed.
Turning to look at the departing vehicle, the Creeper wanted to pursue them.
It had spotted a tasty morsel it wanted in that car.
But just then, the crows in the trees cawed several times, and the Creeper's nostrils flared as its expression changed drastically.
"SSSSSHHH~!"
Veins instantly bulged on the Creeper's leathery face, then its insect-like segmented appendages unfurled, and its spread bat-wings emitted a hissing sound like cicadas.
Through the crows' warning and its own supernatural senses, it had already discovered there was an intruder.
It grabbed a long spear from the truck, then quickly moved to the iron pipe.
It wanted to see which idiot dared to play hide-and-seek with it!
If it weren't for the psychic crows it kept, this little snack would've escaped.
The Creeper leaped lightly, its body gracefully dropping into the iron pipe.
However, it didn't fall straight down like Chris had—instead, it landed smoothly on its feet.
Besides Chris's heavier build, this was also due to the monster having those bat-wings.
Even without spreading them, it possessed an extraordinary sense of balance, which explained their different methods of entering the cellar.
After entering the cellar, the Creeper looked around. Under cover of the overwhelming stench of corpses, it could only rely on its eyes to find its target.
Fortunately, the cellar wasn't that big—a quick scan allowed it to spot a suspicious area.
Raising the spear in its hand, the Creeper stared intently at the spot it had identified, then hurled the weapon with tremendous force.
Propelled by the Creeper's inhuman strength, the spear shot toward Chris like a bolt from a crossbow.
Seeing this, Chris abandoned stealth, raising his hand to snatch the flying spear mid-flight, and with a powerful push of his legs, he launched himself out from the pile of debris.
Looking at the spear shaft still vibrating from the emergency stop, Chris shook his arms to steady the weapon, then spun it around and gripped it properly.
"Screw this! You think I'm just some helpless civilian with no way to fight back? My 880-pound bench press isn't just for show, you ugly bastard!"
Looking at Chris's outwardly fierce but inwardly terrified posture, the Creeper revealed a cruel smile.
It hadn't expected this one to have some actual ability, and judging from the scent, he seemed exceptionally... appetizing.
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