Red Hot Holiday
Hi.
Snap!
The sound echoed throughout the blighted forest, striking everything in its wake like bolt of lightning.
Snap!
It crawled along the ground, prowling amongst dead leaves and undergrowth; stalking around the unkempt roots rising from the earth like veins. It crashed throughout the vegetation in a sickly and jagged way, violating anything existing as rhythm or flow. It slammed against the cracked bark of trees barely living, climbing inside of their crevasse to seek out anything hiding within the splits.
Snap!
The sound returned as quakes, booming hideously against the soul of a victim. Aimlessly blundering into anything that stood in its way, this diseased thunder caused those listening to crumble.
Snap!
The dying of trees caused the forest to cry out in pain, the shuddering from their trunks twisting and moaning in unrefined ways. Until, finally-
Snap!
The count of the deceased grew…and the living dwindled.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
A new sound entered the playing field, and, with it, an anxious contender.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
A robbed and hooded figure twisted around the face of one tree, barely missing it as it barreled past the next. Running, not knowing where to, but, hopefully away from…something. That would be the appropriate thing to call it, 'Something' if not nothing or anything in particular. Particularly, anything belonging here.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Its footsteps crashed against the dirt, throwing disturbed matter into the air as the figure was propelled forward. It didn't know what was waiting for it around the bend, what sort of nightmare it would trade the danger for. All it knew, all it wanted, was that anything was better than Something. To burn to a crisp was painful albeit quick, to freeze brought a calming and peaceful. Even lightning, true to its nature, ended everything in a flash.
Snap!
Anything but this.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The figure stopped in its tracks, turning its hood to survey the surroundings.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Despite being a cornucopia of trees and flora, the woods were the exact opposite of plentiful. Perhaps it had something to do with the lack of any fauna, no signs animals upon the land or songs of birds within the air. Speaking of, the wind had long since retired to lost grave beyond this domain, leaving it in eerie silence. How one might put it is that this wilderness was surprisingly empty for a land untamed by man. Naturally strange for an unnatural existence.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Maybe it was also because the world of this forest was engulfed in the darkness of an unnatural night. Branches deprived of their greenery held up the moonless sky, clawing at the unholy night and holding it captive to the ground. The wicked gloom made its home a lakebed for murky shadows, drowning the trees in a sea of black water.
Snap!
Yet, even within this rotten place, every fiber of ITS existence came as a blow to the gut. A backhand to this forbidden realm, and its nervous guest.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The person in cloak dashed to the nearest tree, placing back against bark. Protected from the rear, the figure crouched low; running was becoming less and less of a viable option. The only thing possible now was to hide, or…
Snap!
The hood turned to one side, following the source of the latest disturbance. There was something close, Something was very near. Reaching over to ground, a fallen branch was grasped firmly in shaky hands. If the situation called for it, could it really defend itself against that. Sinking even lower to the ground, the figure wallowed in the simplest answer that came to mind
Thump-thump. Thu-
The heartbeat came short, this time…
Snap!
…just as the distance between the tree and the sound.
"…Don't look behind the tree." A voice came to thought, attempting to warn the cloaked person and ward off the impending danger. Failing, as time slowly started to unfurl the hideous future. "Don't look behind the tree…"
Unbeknownst to either, someone else was watching the event come to pass. Another hooded person, waiting for the inevitable end. He dared not speak, avoiding pulling the pin by breaking the silence. So in silence he sat as the tension rendered him motionless and still, gazing upon what were about to be the last moments of the other person. If only he could say something, if only they could hear him in time.
But it was useless, there was no way it would change the outcome; the window to this soul was closing. The watcher in the distance felt the rapid beating of his heart trying to escape the grisly scene that all of this had been leading up prepare.
So enthralled as to witness the evil spectacle, the second figure did not realize how he himself was being stalked. Failed to notice that he was not so obsolete of danger itself, that something else was preparing for its own conclusion as well. A shadow in the darkness rose behind the second person, silent, yet, foreboding in its ascent. It climbed above its unsuspecting prey, reaching a favorable height to launch an ambush. The cloaked person might've thought his robes protected him from the darkness, but the comfort it gave ensnared him for what night kept secret from soon to be victims.
Something was protruding from the shadow, something with a pointy end. A piece of its own body? A limb? A blade? No doubt the tool to end its hunt. It had been patient enough to wait for this moment, suffering urges to feed on the target. Desperate to earn the kill waiting below its perch...it had waited long enough for this moment, let it reap what was carefully sowed all this time. It swung its weapon towards the neck of the second person, aiming for the vital point that would collapse the prey. The penetration was flawless, true and savage in the act as the target was helpless to react in such a defenseless state. A scream of terror echoed into the darkness, shattering the night into pieces.
And everything changed in an instant.
Screw it, was going to drop a huge oneshot on you munckins, but I decided to punch myself in the dick and just cut it up into pieces.
Tired that Jaky is the only who knows about this fic, and I'm sick of leaving it to the side.
Sorry it's not the one shot I envisioned, but here's your holiday special.
Lemon's in the next chapter, perhaps when this is over I'll consider just combine it all into one.
Knowing me, that's not likely to happen after size is fully comprehended.
Happy belated Holidays.