Chương 209: B4. 10.5 - Monster Horror Flick

Enrico Haynes"Where the fuck are they?" Enrico Haynes carefully climbed over a small dune, gun in one hand, phone in the other. Once he reached the top, he surveyed the area for signs of his fraternity brothers, brushing his phone's light on the crests of the other hills. He pointed his gun up, ready to fire a warning shot at the first sign of trouble. Sand. Just fucking sand. Did he go the wrong way? Enrico was certain that the blue car parked by the store was driven by the two girls he saw at Barstow Station.

It turned out that Grayson decided to trail them all the way out here like a complete psychopath—Enrico wouldn't have known those idiots left the hotel if Tahir didn't message him. It took Enrico some time to notice the message, but he immediately went tearing down the road to chase after them. Unfortunately, he couldn't contact Grayson, Tahir, or any of the others because of the weak signal in this area.

It was pure luck that Corey rolled down the windows because he wanted to feel the rushing winds as Enrico pushed past the speed limits. Corey heard what he thought were gunshots. Enrico didn't hear anything, but he trusted Corey and slowed down. Which was a good thing, or they would've missed this abandoned gas station, instead continuing down the road trying to catch Grayson's truck that wasn't there. Enrico's heart dropped to his stomach when he next saw the blue car.

How did those idiots get the girls to stop here? They didn't ram them, did they? Worse, if his brothers shot at the car to make the girls pull over. Should he return to the car and check? That was wasting time! Seeing the broken window of Grayson's truck and the traces of blood, Enrico immediately told Corey to drive somewhere with a signal and call 911. At least one person was injured. Probably more. And Enrico was about to beat the crap out of Grayson… … if he could find him.

Grayson was proving himself to be a liability for the fraternity. No benefit to cancel out the headaches he caused. However, Grayson's father was a member, so they had to let the son in. And Grayson wasn't too bad at the start, Enrico recalled. That was before Grayson let the status and connections get to his head. Enrico focused his light on the ground to look for tracks. The hill was mostly sand with random shrubbery. Where were the tracks he was following from the side of the store?

The fine-grained sand should preserve footprints.

"This way…" Enrico muttered, finding disturbed sand. Only one set of footprints. Did the others go somewhere else? Their tracks might be on the other side of the store. They couldn't be inside it because the door was locked by old chains, locked by the owners decades back. Enrico hesitated for a moment, considering whether he should continue this way or look for more tracks. Follow these tracks, Enrico decided, moving faster. This might be one of the girls, escaping his stupid brothers.

She could point him to where they were. But more likely, this was one of the freshies who had tried to stop Grayson and was now limping after getting injured. Could even be Tahir. The only good news in this night of fuckery was that Enrico didn't find any more blood. He hoped that whoever was injured was only grazed by the bullet. But Enrico couldn't help but worry about the fate of the girls. Maybe I shouldn't have told Corey to call for help. He knew how sick that thought was.

Would he be forced to choose between protecting the fraternity and doing what was right? This wouldn't be the first time this would happen. He knew what his answer would be. A few years ago, when Enrico was a new member, a rival frat jumped his brothers at a club's parking lot. Enrico was supposed to pick up the drunk seniors—expected duties of a first-year—and saw the whole thing. Instead of helping, he stayed in his car like a coward.

He could've called the cops, which he didn't do because that would mean he witnessed the fight but didn't jump in to help. After that, Enrico vowed to himself that he wouldn't abandon his brothers again. He would uphold his vows no matter what. Time and again, his resolve was tested. And this would be his most difficult test yet.

"We're in the middle of nowhere at an ungodly hour," Enrico muttered, checking the time on his phone. If Corey succeeded in calling for help, the emergency responders would take a while to reach them. That wasn't counting the time it would take Corey to find cell service. Which meant Enrico could clean up his brothers' mess. Cleaning up would entail dirtying his own hands. Enrico gripped his gun, realizing what he had to do. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, but there might be no other option.

Would the girls accept money in return for their silence? Would threats work? Perhaps for a short time. Someday, whatever Grayson and the others did here would come to bite them in the ass. It was up to Enrico to make sure that the future wouldn't happen.

"Hello? I'm here to help!" Enrico called out.

"We met at Barstow Station." A pang of guilt hit his chest. He claimed he wanted to help, but he was ready to silence the girls for the sake of the fraternity. Six brothers here. He couldn't let them go to jail. And imagine the hit to their fraternity's reputation. Even alumni brothers would be affected, especially the politicians. Enrico continued to call for the girls to no avail. Were they also afraid of him? He then switched to shouting his brothers' names.

"Grayson! Where the fuck are you? Miles! Bridger." Next, Enrico called the freshies. There was still no answer. The tracks he followed led to a bunch of rocks—whoever this was must've realized they left tracks and hopped on the rocks. Enrico circled the rock formation, looking for the next set of tracks leaving it. Or should he just go back to the store? He was wasting time on just one person.

"Enrico!" someone shouted. Enrico almost jumped out of his skin. Thankfully, he didn't shoot.

"Yves? Where are you?" He pointed his light at the sounds. Yves was climbing down from a rock.

"Are you alone?" Yves asked. Had he been crying? His face was sticky with dirt.

"Did you see the others?" Enrico tucked his gun back into its holster and his shirt. He felt a sense of dread as he was about to learn what Grayson and the other morons had been up to.

"Corey is with me. I didn't see—""We have to go!" Yves had utter terror on his face. Enrico guessed that Grayson shot Yves, and Yves fled to the desert. Poor guy. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Enrico grabbed the shoulder of Yves.

"Calm down. Tell me what happened. Where are—?"

"Dead!" Yves blurted, his eyes almost bulging. He struggled to get away, but a confused Enrico didn't let him go.

"They're all dead!" Enrico frowned.

"I don't understand. What—?"

"There's an Adumbrae here!" Yves shouted in a high-pitched voice. He gasped and looked around, speaking in almost a whisper.

"Did it hear us?"

"Adumbrae?" Enrico wondered if Yves had said something else. He felt Yves jolt and then freeze. He heard it too. Faint sounds of crunching sand. Someone was approaching. Getting closer. Very light footsteps. Behind them?

"He-help me…" A girl? Her voice was weak.

"Please help… Anyone…" Enrico pointed his phone at her. Short girl. Thin. Long black hair. He had seen her at Barstow Station. She was the friend of the gorgeous blonde. She looked hurt, her face and clothes bloodied. What the hell did Grayson do? That asshole!

"Adumbrae!" Yves shouted, poking a hole in Enrico's inflating anger. The word finally registered in Enrico's head. He would've scoffed at Yves if he hadn't narrowly escaped an Adumbrae attack at La Esperanza a couple of nights ago. He was drinking at a bar when an Adumbrae showed up, spitting acid at everyone, melting bodies into a goop. Didn't Grayson say that these girls came all the way from La Esperanza? They were Adumbrae fleeing the city!

"She killed everyone!" Yves ran. Enrico let him go. The most logical thing to do was to follow Yves. But Enrico stayed. My brothers are dead? Anger ate his fear. This bitch killed his brothers? The fraternity was his life! He was willing to give everything for the fraternity! He had to kill this monster for revenge. And maybe, he could give Yves a chance to escape.

"Die!" Enrico shouted, emptying his gun at the Adumbrae charging toward him. Yves Goodwin Enrico's gonna die… Everyone is dead! Yves Goodwin ran away as Enrico's angry shouts echoed through the dark desert, punctuating the gunshots. There was no way Enrico would survive. If only Yves hadn't shouted, he wouldn't have attracted the Adumbrae's attention. He was so stupid! But since the Adumbrae was over there, the gas station should be safe. Corey was supposed to be there. Enrico's car—that was the ticket out of here.

There were no more screams. Yves ran faster back to the store, back to the gasoline station, his left knee hurting. The wind cooled his bruises.

"Sti-still no signal?" His voice cracked as he checked his phone. He sporadically turned on his phone's light just for a blink to make sure his path was clear. He had tumbled down earlier and wouldn't want that to happen now. Run, run, run! Warm tears ran down his cold cheeks. He felt like he was about to puke. His legs wobbled beneath him as his heart raced harder than it ever had in his entire life. Everyone was dead. He left someone. Again. He was a coward!

Earlier, after Yves had climbed out of the store, he ran into the desert without a second thought. He didn't have the keys to Grayson's truck, so that wasn't an option for him. He planned to hide in the desert until the Adumbrae finished eating and moved on. Five bodies for Twig Girl. That should fill her, right? Yves climbed onto a pile of boulders he found, slipping on the way up. He was too scared to venture further into the desert. What if he got lost? What if he were attacked by coyotes?

He heard there were coyotes in the Mojave Desert. Lying on the flat surface of the topmost rock, he prayed and prayed, trying not to think of anything else. He didn't even know what to think! How did this happen? What were the chances of meeting an Adumbrae? He cried tears of joy upon hearing Enrico's voice. Now, Enrico's dead because of me … Yves shook his head, trying to keep it together. Flickering his phone, he found that he had returned to the back of the store. His dead fraternity brothers were inside— No!

Don't think about that! The urge to vomit returned as his mind filled with images of dismembered corpses. He abandoned them all. Get to Corey! Blame himself later. He needed to survive now. Running to the front of the store, he found total darkness. The pickup truck didn't have its lights on. Weren't they on earlier? Something knocked on Yves' head, reminding him that he was forgetting something.

"There's Enrico's car…" Yves whispered after turning his phone's light on for a second. He didn't approach, seeing the broken window on the passenger's side. Corey wasn't here to meet him. Chills wracked Yves' entire body. Wooziness tried to claim him. He realized that, in his panic, he had forgotten about the person with Twig Girl.

"Hello," said a female voice, reminding Yves of his sore mistake. Yves slowly turned to the sound of the voice. A tingling sensation enveloped him as blood drained from his limbs and face. Everything was very cold, colder than it was before. He turned on the light. The light shook, his hand holding the phone incessantly trembling. Blondie approached him. Her stunning beauty almost beat back the sheer terror coursing through his veins. His lips and jaws trembled as he spoke.

"Are… are you human? If you're human, maybe you can—" He stopped himself. That's a stupid question. She definitely wasn't. Even if she was, she wouldn't lift a finger to ask Twig Girl, the Dune Stalker, to spare him. Blondie didn't answer his question. Coming closer, Yves noticed that she held chains. I'm dead… Yves collapsed on the ground. Was Blondie going to restrain him for the Dune Stalker to eat? He tried to stand up and run, but his legs wouldn't listen to him—they spasmed under him without any strength.

"What's happening over there?" Blondie asked.

"The gunshots. Was my friend hit?"

"Friend?" Yves dumbly repeated. She meant the Dune Stalker.

"The mo-monster? She—""DON'T CALL HER A MONSTER!" Blondie shouted.

"I'm sorry!" With trembling arms and legs, Yves bowed low. His phone was by his side, illuminating Blondie's legs. He didn't know what he should do. Someone needed to tell him what to do next! How could he survive this?

"You take back what you said," she said.

"I take it back!" Yves mumbled as he sobbed.

"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to call her that." His forehead was sticking to the ground. He closed his eyes, expecting any moment to be his last.

"Did you see her transform?"

"Tra-transform? Uh…"

"So, she stayed as herself. Good that she kept her promise. Did you see her eat someone?"

"No! No, I didn't! I ran away. I didn't see anything, I swear!"

"Hmmm. But she might've killed Enrico," Blondie mumbled, pacing beside Yves. The chains clinked in her hands.

"I'm sorry for everything. Sorry, sorry..." Yves repeated. He clenched his fists. Should I make a run for it? If Blondie were a human servant of an Adumbrae, he might escape. But if she was also an Adumbrae, he was dead. The second case was likelier. She had called the Dune Stalker her friend, and she had probably killed Grayson and Corey. On the other hand, Yves would be dead if he didn't do anything. He swiftly gathered his resolve. If there's a time for me to be brave, it should be now! He could surprise her.

Since Corey was inside Enrico's car, the keys were still be in the ignition. Yves could drive it! He'd run over Blondie, reverse to the main road, and drive away. She should be incapacitated enough not to chase him. But how to get into the car? First, I'll roll to the—"Don't try that," Blondie said, interrupting his feverish planning.

"Come along now. Let's see if my friend is done over there. After that, we can start extracting your spinal fluid."