Again, thank you all for reading my story. I've been so concentrated on this that i actually dreamed of fighting a predator one night. XD But now... Lex meeting Scar is approaching. ;)
The shocking find had affected everyone present. They had soon gotten the body down from the tree and after a while, recognized it to be one of the forest rangers. The town's sheriff was called to the scene immediately. Though nobody believed that he could explain what was going on. Not on of them had been prepared to see such monstrosity.
The sheriff still had his duties so he started questioning people while Lex and Antonio watched from further off.
"Poor Mark", Antonio said with a low voice. "He's one of the gentlest persons I've ever met and doesn't deserve to see something so horrible".
Lex could easily believe that. Blond curls and kind of a skinny appearance made him look innocent, even though his bluish gray eyes were dark with pain. Antonio pointed at a slightly older, short-haired woman next to Mark.
"She's Annie. The others gave her the nickname the mother bear. She has almost adopted the young Mark here. Always taking care of him".
Despite the grave situation, this brought a smile to Lex's lips. The description was accurate, no doubt. Even now Annie was keeping close to her protégé. Especially the brown and rumpled hair was very similar to a bear's fur.
Lex glanced at Antonio.
"You know them pretty well, don't you?"
The man smiled sadly.
"Yes. This is as painful for me as it is for them".
Meanwhile the sheriff had stopped questioning Mark and turned to Antonio.
"We might be having some madman running in the forest. And if that's the case, it's unlikely that we find those missing campers alive".
He sighed deeply and scratched his head under the hat.
"The park has to be closed and the forest searched for clues. Or bodies.
Antonio put his hand on Lex's shoulder.
"And here's our insurance for the caves. Sheriff Benson, meet Alexa Woods, our specialist guide and environmental technician".
The aged sheriff shook her hand warmly.
"Welcome to our town, Miss Woods. Unfortunately this isn't the best time to be here".
Lex instantly liked the gray-haired man.
"Just call me Lex", she insisted.
The remaining forest rangers also introduced themselves.
Lex was left with a good feeling of all of them. This group could figure out what was going on.
While the humans were discussing inside, two pairs of invisible eyes were examining the area around the cottages. It seemed like Scar's work had gotten the attention they had wanted. The humans would gather together and come after them, hopefully ready to fight. Even Stealth had to admit that putting the corpse on display had been a good idea. Now they would just wait for the humans to make their first move.
"Neither of us interferes to the other's hunt from now on", Scar insured, still offended by the other hunter's meddling earlier.
Stealth smirked behind his mask.
"Agreed! I'll try to leave one for you".
Scar laughed sarcastically. But before he could answer back, the door to one of the cottages opened.
The predators froze, watching motionlessly as two men stepped outside. Both Scar and Stealth understood the human language, even though Stealth hadn't bothered to learn the difficult pronouncing. They were, however too far to hear what the humans were talking about.
Scar continued were they had left off.
"You just try to stay out of my way, or I might…" The rest of the sentence faded away as Scar suddenly stopped breathing.
During his big talk, he had seen more people coming out, mostly men, but also two women. The shocked predator couldn't take his eyes off of the other woman.
The woman, who he had fought alongside with in his maturity ritual and to whom he had given his combospear as a sign of his… respect, was now standing there. Scar couldn't believe that it really was her. At the same time, he realized another thing. She would soon become their prey.
The sudden change in Scar's behaviour of course didn't go unnoticed by Stealth. The observant warrior could have sworn this was caused by the women that had just come out. He couldn't explain, though, why Scar would have been so interested in them.
Well, maybe for one thing.
Now that he thought about it, his curiosity started to awaken. Stealth tried to imagine what it would feel like to take one of those small, soft-looking human women. The idea kept intriguing him. Perhaps after taking care of the human men, he could satisfy his curiosity without disturbance.
As the other predator was concentrating on his plans, Scar had finally realized that he had reacted too visibly. He could never admit that a measly human had thrown him so off balance. But what could he do? The only solution seemed to be that he would warn her somehow.
For some reason that made him more nervous.
At the moment there was nothing he could do. Scar knew, he would have to meet her when she was alone. After that he would have to see what happens.
Lex was lost in her thoughts. One body found and they had only just arrived. Sheriff Benson had promised to ask some people to join the search for the next day at the latest, but Antonio had been against it. He didn't want to get outsiders involved in the case, before knowing what they were up against.
Lex had agreed, especially when she already felt responsible for the group.
"Miss Woods?"
Hearing her own name made her snap out of it. Embarrassed, Lex became aware of the fact that the ranger walking next to her was staring at her, a little worried.
"Sorry. I was just pondering".
Keith Weis, 6.5 feet tall and strongly built, nodded sympathetically.
"The whole thing is spine-chilling. But we'll find that sick motherfucker and make sure there won't be anymore victims".
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Lex started, hesitating. "…that there's only one person behind this".
Keith looked at her with a serious face.
"Do you mean that there could be a whole bunch of those assholes out there?"
A shrug was the only answer he got.
The large man turned his eyes to the forest ahead and patted the gun on his waist.
"Well, we have enough firepower to stop any kind of group".
Lex didn't mention that she hated guns.
"Come", Keith motioned. "I'll show you the forest little bit".
"Do you think it's wise to be moving here without the others?"
"Why not?" The man grinned. "Everybody knows, psychos only hunt at nights".
They didn't seem to get anything done, even though they had had all day. The terrain and the rangers had become more familiar, but the fate of the missing people was still a mystery.
After sunset Lex was sitting in a simply decorated room, in a cottage they had given to her. She was unpacking and sorting the things she would need the next day. Her combospear was placed between two piles.
Lex wasn't sure why she kept carrying it with her everywhere. This time it could come in handy, though.
As answering to her thoughts, something moved outside. Lex grabbed the spear instinctively and sneaked to the window. A lonely figure stood in the dark.
The sight would have been worrying if the figure hadn't been familiar.
Lex tried to remember the name of the man standing outside. He came from Finland so his name wasn't one of the most ordinary. Lauri…something. She was interested in knowing what he was doing out there. It looked like he was just staring at the moon. It might have been so, but Lex was hoping he wouldn't have done that all alone. Not now when they didn't know anything of the danger in the forest.
She hadn't considered that danger could lurk indoors too.
A brief creak of the floor revealed that somebody else had entered the room.
Quickly as a flash, the woman spun around, ready to defend herself if needed.
"Whoa! It's just me!"
Lex calmed down a bit, seeing Antonio in front of her. The man stared at the weapon in her hand enchanted. "where on earth can you find those?!"
Lex was tempted to say that nowhere, since that was the truth, but of course she couldn't reveal that.
"May I take a closer look?" The man asked, eyeing the spear with great interest.
Hesitating for a moment, the woman gave it to him.
Letting out a long whistle Antonio inspected it and tried its weight.
Lex hurried to take it back before he would accidentally extend it and hurt himself. The man looked at her with inscrutable expression.
"Seriously, where did you get that?"
To avoid eye contact, Lex turned her back to the man and continued arranging her stuff. "From a friend".
Realizing that was all she was going to tell, Antonio changed the subject.
If you're not gonna tell me about it, maybe I could hear where you got those scars".
Lex was smiling secretly. Those were also from a friend.
"Did you come here for any special reason?"
The man sighed over-dramatically.
"I get the hint. I just came to tell you suppers ready".
Lex, or her empty stomach, didn't find anything wrong with that.
After about an hour and a big supper Lex got ready to return to her cottage. Before she left, Antonio gave her a walkie-talkie for quick communicating and a gun, though he had to persuade her for a while. She also got a new, handy belt where to keep them.
As she began to feel more and more tired, Lex was grateful that despite the somewhat ascetic furniture, the bed had been large and soft.
Entering the room she took off the belt and threw it casually on the bed with her other things.
An unexpected metallic sound drew her attention to the bed.
As she took a closer look at her belongings, Lex noticed something that definitely didn't belong to her.
A metal mask, with a very familiar mark in the forehead.
The sight made her blood run cold as the old memories came rushing back. She would've recognized that mask anywhere. The question was, where was its owner?
Remembering well the warrior's ability to turn invisible, Lex didn't feel so safe standing in the middle of the big room. What could she do?
Outside she would be even less safe and she actually didn't want to alarm the others.
"Scar…" The woman tried carefully.
The moment of silence felt like an eternity, but then Lex heard a series of clicks coming from behind her.
Slowly turning around, she faced the suddenly appeared predator.