Kwai kwai nidobak! Here's a pretty long chapter for you readers out there. I hope you all enjoy it. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!
Chapter 4: The South will Rise Again
Within the house in the middle of the woods, three men were sitting in their living room. These men were Roy, Duke, and Cletus. Duke was currently tending to the fire while Cletus and Roy sat next to each other on the sofa on the other side of the room. Cletus was pressing a piece of wet cloth against the bite wound on Roy's shoulder to stop the bleeding he received from the self-named, "Granny Spider." None of them spoke since their encounter with their possessed grandmother; they just listened to the crackling fire and the sound of the rain outside. They were still trying to get over the initial shock of what they saw earlier.
"I think your wound's stopped bleedin'. We should take a look and check to make sure." the shirtless man commented softly, finally breaking the silence.
Roy nodded slowly before he looked down at his shoulder. He watched as Cletus removed the bloody rag from his shoulder. Once the shirtless man scooted away to give him some space, Roy rolled up his sleeve as much as he could so they could take a look at the two puncture wounds on his shoulder.
Both men's eyes widened however when they noticed that the skin around the two puncture wounds were deathly pale, as if the skin was dead. At first, they thought that it was some kind of spider venom that was causing this, but what happened next sent shivers down their spines. This infection seemed to slowly spread down the man's arm and over his back under the white shirt he was wearing. Even though they weren't doctors, they knew that any natural infection wouldn't spread like that.
"Wh-what the fuck is goin' on!?" Roy cried out in terror as he watched his arm look more and more pale and his flesh started to look decayed.
Duke looked away from the fire to see what the yelling was about and he bolted up from his chair when he saw the queer infection the poor man had. Roy started trembling heavily as the infection started to spread up his neck and his other arm started to resemble the already infected arm.
"Make it stop!" the skinny man screamed as he looked at his pale hands
"What is happenin' to him…?" Duke murmured quietly in fear as Cletus slowly stood up and backed away from the sofa.
As the corpse-like skin spread over Roy's chin and behind his ears, Cletus slowly grabbed the silver amulet that they used to bind their grandmother in the attic. He quickly held it out to the overweight man to his right, never once looking away from Roy. At this point, Roy's whole face was infected with this strange necrosis and his body started to look more and more like a corpse.
"Duke, take the amulet and hide it." the shirtless man ordered as Roy closed his eyes and groaned in sudden pain.
"What!? Why!?" Duke asked loudly; he was more concerned with what was happening right now rather than a piece of jewelry.
"Just do it!" Cletus shouted impatiently and he turned to glare at the overweight man next to him.
At that point, Roy's eyes shot open revealing that they were white and without pupils. He let out a demonic snarl as he quickly stood up and glared at them with sudden hate. Duke gasped fearfully before he grabbed the amulet from Cletus. Without looking at either of them, he sprinted out of the room as fast as he could, but he ran mostly to get away from the scene rather than to hide the amulet.
"Go ahead and run, you little bitch!" the possessed man roared as he watched Duke run out.
"Roy… you have to fight this thing…" Cletus spoke softly as he raised his hands to about chest level.
"Roy… isn't here…" the thing that was once Roy hissed with barred teeth.
The shirtless man gulped quietly as he watched this being move towards one of the nightstands. He felt his blood run cold as Roy picked up a meat hook that was resting on the wooden surface. His lips quivered fearfully as he eyed that meat hook. He told Duke to put that thing in the backyard this morning, but he must've forgot.
"Come here…" the possessed man half spoke, half growled, as he slowly approached the terrified man.
Cletus let out an ear-piercing scream as Roy swung the hook in his direction, but he dodged to the left to avoid the dangerous tool. His eyes widened however when the demon suddenly grabbed his throat with the other hand and squeezed hard on his throat.
Roy grinned cruelly and laughed as he slowly brought the meat hook up to Cletus' face, who was trembling heavily in fear. The hook came closer and closer to Cletus's face until the sharp tip was almost touching his forehead.
"I think it's time for Doctor Hellbilly to give the patient a lobotomy." the demon spoke mockingly.
The possessed "hellbilly" relaxed his grip just enough to listen to Cletus' screams as he slowly pushed th hook through the defenseless man's forehead and through the top of his head. The screams died down when the hook went through his brain and he went limp.
The demon chuckled as Cletus' body went limp and easily pulled the hook out of his head before dropping him. Roy's head twitched violently for a few seconds before he slowly walked out of the living room and into the hall Duke ran down. There was still one more human to kill.
Deep in the woods, Greg was walking down a muddy path as it continued to rain heavily. The African American constantly had his rifle at the ready just in case something came out to attack him, but nothing did come out to kill him. Since his time at the church, he's been thinking about what he saw and what that professor told him and Father Allard. It seemed so strange to think of some ghosts and demons possessing people, but he had to believe it after what became of his dog, Christmas. He was the kind of person who usually needed to see things for himself before believing in them, but after seeing his own dog trying to kill him, he had no choice but to believe Professor Knowby. With this in mind, he kept his gun at about chest height as he walked down the muddy path.
The rain had completely drenched Gregory's clothes, but his camouflaged baseball cap kept his upper face dry. But still, he was miserable out there in the rainy woods. He almost regretted helping that professor to the church, but he couldn't jest let some stranger wander around alone in a dangerous environment. After thinking that, he realized how ironic his own situation was. He even let out a soft chuckle, but it wasn't of amusement.
Greg continued to walk down the trail and his tan boots were splattered with mud stains as he walked. At one point, he passed by some picnic tables on the side of the road that still had some food on the plates. He figured that he was getting close to the camp. The sooner he found this camp, the sooner he could get those kids and camp counselors to safety.
The hunter quickened his pace and soon saw some tents around an unlit bonfire. There also seemed to be a few buildings in the distance too. The clearing that the bonfire and tents were in was circular in shape. The tents were made out of some waterproof plastic that had zippered flaps that were used as entrances.
"Is anyone out here!? Can anyone hear me!?" the armed man called out as he lowered his rifle and looked at the tents around him.
Greg heard the sound of a child giggling in the tent to his left and quickly approached it. He felt relief knowing that the Boy Scouts were alright. He held his rifle with his left hand as he grabbed the tent's zipper with his now freehand.
"I'm opening the tent, okay!? It's not safe here!" he spoke loudly so the child could hear him; the last think he wanted was for these children to be scared of him.
After saying that, the hunter proceeded to pull the zipper downwards so whoever was inside could come out. Once the zipper reached the bottom, he pulled open the tent's entrance and looked inside. He let out a loud scream of horror as soon as he did and quickly jumped away when he saw what was inside the tent.
A young boy could be seen crouched over the mangled body of a camp counselor. The corpse's face was completely skinned and was barely even recognizable as a human face. All that could be seen of the face was red muscles and splatters of blood. Considering how the body's mouth was wide open, Greg guessed that the counselor was alive when this happened to him.
The little boy that was crouched over the body was just as horrifying. The boy's skin was strangely tinted green with black veins visible throughout his flesh. The Boy Scout uniform he was wearing was in tatters and blood stains could be seen splattered all over it. Slowly, the child looked over at the hunter, revealing that his eyes were milky white and he was holding a bloody utility knife in his left hand.
"Oh my god!" Greg screamed with horror as he crawled back away from the tent.
The possessed boy wordlessly stood up and stepped out of the tent, still holding the utility knife. The hunter's heart beated quickly as he shakily stood up and pointed his Winchester rifle at the boy.
"Stay back! Come any closer and… and I'll shoot!" he screamed shakily at the child as he slowly backed away from it.
The child demon didn't reply and continued to stumble towards the terrified man. If he didn't do something now, this child he came to save would kill him. Feeling tears come to his eyes, the hunter screamed at the top of his lungs and squeezed the trigger. The rifle released a loud boom and a flash as it kicked back and shot a bullet right into the child's head. The boy flinched and fell to the ground before going limp; its white eyes staring up at the dark sky above.
Dropping his rifle out of grief, Greg fell to his knees and sobbed heavily. He couldn't believe what he just did; he just shot and killed a child. But he had no choice; he would've been killed if he didn't do anything. And what was worse, he had failed to save these children. Whatever evil that had been unleashed had gotten to the camp and most likely already killed everyone.
The hunter's eyes shot open when he heard a child's giggling coming from behind him. He trembled heavily in fear as he looked over his shoulder to see dozens of children coming out of their tents and each of them had green tinted skin and those horrible white eyes. Most of them were unarmed, but a few of them held knives, forks, thick wooden sticks, and one even had a bow and a quiver of arrows. He then looked forward to see that the child he just shot was slowly standing up and was looking at him with a cruel, toothy smile; it was as if it was mocking him.
Greg's breathing quickened as he shook his head and watched the boy stand. There was no way that he could fight off all of these children. There was much more of them than he had bullets. And this child just survived a bullet to the head.
The hunter's lower lip quivered as he quickly snatched up his rifle and stood up before he pulled back the bolt of his rifle to ready a new bullet. Some of the children laughed as they approached him, almost like a clan of hyenas. He wouldn't survive if he stayed to fight, so he turned and ran away. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the clearing and down a separate path that led deeper into the campgrounds. Judging by the various footfalls and giggling behind him, he knew that they were following him.
The muddy path led to a fork in the road, which led to either right or left. Gregory didn't really care where he went, he just wanted to be away from these demon children. He chose to take the right path and just as he turned, a stray arrow stuck into a tree right by his head. He let out a frightened gasp and briefly glanced over his shoulder at the children.
As he ran, Greg occasionally turned around and fired off a shot at the group of children. He missed mostly due to his shaky hands, but he occasionally shot one of the children and caused them to fall over. They sill kept coming after him however, and he was running out of energy to run. It was his adrenaline that mostly kept him going.
The hunter soon found himself in an archery range, which filled his heart with dread. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw many of the children grab some stray bows and arrows, most likely to shoot him with. When he looked back forward to focus on where he was running, he felt a sudden piercing pain in his shoulder. He let out a loud scream as he dropped his rifle, but he didn't dare stop to pick it up or investigate his wound, he just kept running.
The possessed children just laughed and howled as they chased after him. Greg could do nothing but run. He sprinted out of the archery range and down another path until he saw what looked like a supply shed. He ran as fast as he could towards this shed and slammed his body into the door to force it open before entering the small building. Once he was inside, he slammed the door shut behind him and braced himself against the door.
The children laughed hysterically as they too slammed against the door, but with his weight keeping the door closed, they couldn't get in. Greg gritted his teeth as he held the doorknob still with both hands and firmly stood against the door to keep those monsters from entering.
After what felt like an eternity, the banging and pounding on the door finally ceased. The hunter let out a soft whimper as he hesitantly released the doorknob and backed away from the door. There were no sounds coming from outside, discluding the rain. He let out a soft sigh before he looked over his shoulder to see an arrow sticking out of his back.
'This is gonna hurt.' he thought bitterly as he reached his hand around himself and grabbed the arrow.
The hunter took deep breaths to calm his nerves before he counted down from three. When he mumbled one, he roughly pulled the arrow out of his back and choked back a scream as he dropped the projectile onto the floor.
"Fffuck!" he hissed in pain as he rested his bloodied hand against the shed's counter.
Gregory panted heavily as he looked down at the counter and his hand slowly moved over to what looked like a bright yellow chainsaw. Since he didn't have his rifle, he was pretty defenseless at the moment. With a quiet groan, he picked up the chainsaw with both hands and pulled the cord. Nothing happened unfortunately and he pulled the cord a second and third time with the same results.
"Come on…" he whispered as he pulled the cord a few more times.
On the sixth or seventh attempt, the chainsaw finally roared to life and he grinned when he looked down at the now humming tool. He had no intentions of staying in that shed forever. He wanted to get out of those woods and back to his car, which was parked a few miles away. He also figured that this chainsaw might be a little more helpful against these monsters than his gun, considering how they could survive being shot in the head.
With this in mind, the hunter slowly walked over to the wooden door and rested his left, bloody hand on the doorknob. He took a few deep breaths before he pulled the door open. As soon as he did, a possessed child, the one with the utility knife, sprinted towards him with the blade raised in the air. The child laughed as it approached him, but he was ready this time.
Gregory screamed at the top of his lungs as he leaned back and swung the tool in a horizontal sweep. The chainsaw's teeth spun rapidly as they cut into the boy's neck and the child spasmed violently as a result. The man kept screaming as blood splattered all over his upper body and his pearly white teeth were coated in the red liquid. The chainsaw's yellow surface was also drenched in the contrasting red blood.
Once the tool's teeth had cut completely through the possessed child's neck, the severed head lifelessly fell the ground with the corpse in tow. The hunter panted heavily and noticed that the large group of children were all staring at him with those lifeless eyes. He felt his fear change drastically at that moment. That fear was replaced with anger… and the will to survive. With another thunderous scream, Greg sprinted towards the hoard with his chainsaw roaring along with him.
Duke trembled heavily in fear from where he stood. He was in the basement of his home and he was tightly holding the necklace that was given to him in both hands. The basement he was in was, like the living room above, square shaped, but it was smaller. The floor and walls were made of stone while the ceiling was wooden. And in the corner of the room, there was a wooden trapdoor that led to a second room even further below ground.
He had been hearing what sounded like screaming from Cletus earlier, which sent chills up his spine and he whimpered quietly. In a way, this was very ironic. Duke was usually the brave one of the family, but now he was whimpering like a kicked dog. He didn't care though, he was scared shitless and was hoping beyond hope that whatever Roy had become wouldn't find him.
After the screaming stopped, everything was silent and that silence lingered for a long time. The only thing that could be heard was the overweight man's quickened breathing. It was nothing short of a miracle that he didn't urinate from fright.
At that moment, Duke remembered that Cletus had told him to hide the amulet, which he still was still holding. He slowly looked down at the silver necklace in his hands and he suddenly knew exactly where to put it. Slowly, he made his way over to the trapdoor in the corner and opened it. The room below him was pitch black and he couldn't see two feet into the room. The darkness almost felt unnatural and it was as if the piercing darkness would spring to life and drag him into its cold, lifeless domain.
There was no way in hell Duke was going to go down there, but that seemed like the best place to hide the amulet. He then realized that he didn't have to go in there. Without a second thought, he tossed the piece of jewelry into the darkness before he slammed the trapdoor shut and locked it. He flinched from the crash of the door, but he couldn't stand looking at the darkness a moment longer.
Slowly, the overweight man backed up so he was in the center of the small room he was in and he looked over at the door that led to the rest of the house. He expected that thing that was once Roy to burst into the room at any moment, but nothing happened. He couldn't even hear any footsteps or anything. That crash he made was loud enough for anyone in the whole house to hear, yet nothing came after him. Waiting for something to happen was almost as bad as getting attacked and he let out a soft whimper as he stood stock still.
Suddenly, the overweight man felt something wet drip and fall on his shoulder. He let out a soft gasp and quickly looked down at his shoulder to see a small red stain on his already dirty tank top. Just as he was questioning what that red stuff was, a few more red drops landed on his shoulder.
Duke gulped nervously and slowly looked up at the ceiling to see that a red liquid was leaking from between the wooden boards that consisted of the ceiling. More and more red drops fell into the room and he had to raise his hand over his head to shield his eyes. It was as if it was raining inside the basement, which should've been impossible.
As this red liquid continued to "rain," the room started to smell like copper. It wasn't long after that when Duke deduced that this red liquid was in fact blood. He started screaming in horror as he stumbled around the room, trying to get out, but he slipped on some of the thick liquid and fell onto the hard floor with a pained grunt. He let out a soft groan as he rolled onto his side and rubbed his now aching back as the blood continued to fall into the room.
As it continued to rain more heavily and with nowhere to go, the blood began to flood the room. In order to prevent himself from drowning, Duke had to rise to his hands and knees, but he soon had to raise to his feet again as the blood continued to rise. It was hard to stand because of his aching back, but he didn't want to drown. The blood slowly rose up to his knees and he tried to make his way to the door so he could leave.
When his hand touched the doorknob, the rain suddenly stopped. The overweight man breathed heavily as he looked up at the ceiling to see that the wood was completely spotless, as if it hadn't just rained a torrent of blood. The walls and himself however, were completely coated in blood and the flooded blood was still up to his knees.
"Thi-this is impossible…" Duke spoke through quivering lips as he wiped some of the blood off of his face
Not wanting to stay in the basement any longer, the blood-drenched man quickly turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. As soon as he did, he saw the possessed Roy standing right on the other end of the door. He let out a startled yelp before the demon lunged forward and grabbed his thick neck by the left hand.
Duke choked and struggled in the possessed being's grip and watched as the thing that was once Roy lifted a bloody meat hook up to his face. His eyes widened and he started trying to kick the demon away, but he was too weak to get away. Slowly, the meat hook drew closer and closer until its point was lodged into his left eye socket.
As hard as he tried, he could not scream due to the possessed man's grip on his neck. Roy just looked at Duke with a cruel, sadistic grin as the meat hook went deeper and deeper into the mortal's eye and through his brain. Even as the overweight man stopped struggling and fidgeted as he died, the demon continued to push the hook deep into his skull and through the side of his head.
When he was finally satisfied, Roy released Duke's neck and the dead corpse fell into the blood that coated the floor. Those pupiless eyes stared at the meat hook still lodged into the body's head before the corpse disappeared below the red liquid. Without a word, the demon closed the door and began to search through the blood in an attempt to find the amulet. Of course, he would never be able to find the amulet due to the trapdoor being completely covered in the blood. Even though he died, Duke made sure that this Evil would not be able to release the self-named "Granny Spider."