A-Plus Cassiopeia: Joshua's the kid shown in the first chapter that arrived in town with his family. As for Saul, you're saying it's crazy to warn someone about actual monsters living in the forests?
BookMast3r: Well, everyone has their faults. As for Joshua and Darnell, let's just see how that turns out in this chapter.
A Bogeyman girl lay perched on a tree branch, keeping herself hidden within the thickets of the trees. She was around twelve years old, and was rather spindly and wiry. Her long black hair fell down the sides of her head.
Currently, she was watching as a fox crept around the tree below her. Silently creeping across the tree branch, using her claw-like hands to keep herself aloft, she began to turn upside down on the branch. Soon, she was positioned right above the oblivious fox, who hadn't even noticed her.
Then, with an ear-piercing scream, she released herself from the branch and plummeted down towards the fox. However, her scream alerted the fox to her presence. Right before the Bogeyman could grab it, the fox dashed off away into the bushes while the Bogeyman landed on the ground roughly. She scrambled onto her knees, growling in disappointment.
"Devony."
The Bogeyman, identified as Devony, turned around to see Darnell leaning on the tree. The younger Bogeyman jumped a bit in surprise, having not seen Darnell arrive at the scene. She quickly began to brush off her dress, which had been dirtied when she landed on the ground.
"What brings you here, Darnell?" Devony asked as she cleared her hair of dirt and pebbles in an attempt to look fancy towards the other Bogeyman.
Darnell, her arms folded across her chest, barely hid a scoff at Devony's attempts to look impressive towards her. However, she set that aside to explain what she had in mind to her.
"So, Devony, I was near the human village this afternoon," Darnell explained, evoking a gasp of awe from the other Bogeyman. "While I was there, I saw another family move in. One of them was a boy your age."
Devony nodded in a similar manner to a young child, gesturing for Darnell to go hunting.
"I say we play your favorite game," Darnell said slyly, scratching the bark off of the tree she was leaning on with her claws.
"You mean, Human Hunting?" Devony asked excitedly. Darnell nodded in respond, a smirk on her face.
"Go tell my brothers about it," She commanded Devony, pointing a finger at the Bogeymen village. "We have one hour before we have to go home." Devony nodded and dashed off towards the village, leaving Darnell alone by the tree, smiling proudly.
(Ten Minutes Later)
Darnell, her brothers, and Devony hid behind a bush, staring at Joshua's house. Darnell's brother looked identical in every way, right down to their clothing. Both of them were eleven years old, and were smaller and thinner than Darnell and Devony.
"Is that it?" Devlin asked Darnell, pointing to the house. He was the younger of the twins by one minute.
"Of course it is, you idiot," Damion, the older twin, mocked and lightly struck Devlin across the head. Darnell, who had been staring intently at the house, turned her gaze to her brothers and shushed them.
"Silence!" She snapped, causing both of them to quiet down. Once all attention was on her, she pointed her index claw at the top window. "The human boy is in that room. We need to lure him to the window."
Devony, who had been scratching the ground, grabbed a pebble. "I'm a good shot," She said, holding the small rock up at Darnell. The older Bogeyman nodded, then pointed up at the house.
"Hey look, a girl's coming!" Devlin said as a brown-haired girl began to walk past the house. All four Bogeymen ducked behind the bush.
"Throw it!" Darnell urged Devony.
"But-"
"Do it!" Darnell ordered. Devony reluctantly got to her feet, took aim, and threw the pebble.
Joshua had just been putting the finishing touches on his new room, including his bed. His window hadn't been finished yet and was currently wide open.
Even as he tried to occupy himself with his work, he couldn't get the warnings administered from Saul and Maria out of his head. They haunted his mind, almost like a ghost.
"Calm yourself, Joshua," He tried to console himself as he straightened his bed sheets. "These people are probably just crazy. There are no Bogeymen or ghouls haunting this town." He forced a smile onto himself to confirm that there was nothing to be scared of.
Dink!
A pebble went soaring through Joshua's open window and struck the wall next to him, causing Joshua to snap up from his bed. He stared at the pebble, then at the window. Cautiously, he inched towards the window to see what was outside.
It was Maria. She was outside of his house, facing the forest.
"Maria!" He shouted down at her, diverting her attention up towards him. "What are you doing, throwing stuff at my house?"
Maria stared up at him, a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about?" She called up at him.
"You threw this pebble into my room!" He shouted, tossing the pebble out the window and down towards her. It landed at her feet. Maria stared down at it, then looked back up at Joshua.
"I didn't throw that!" She claimed. "I saw something approaching your house and- Joshua, look out!"
Before Joshua could properly respond, he was roughly grabbed around the collar by a clawed hand.
It was Darnell.
Joshua immediately began to struggle, but it was of no use. Darnell easily yanked him out through the window. As her spindly arms entrapped Joshua in her grip, she bared her fangs at him and flashed her glowing red pupils at him as they locked eyes. Below, Maria was screaming, both out of terror and to try and call for help.
Joshua screamed in surprise, but he knew he had to do something. Immediately, he lashed out and struck Darnell in the face, causing her to loosen her grip on him. The two of them tumbled off the roof of the house and landed on the ground, Joshua landing on top of Darnell.
Joshua got up first and ran towards Maria. "What is that thing?!" He cried at her, horrified.
"It's a...a Bogeyman!" Maria cried out in terror. As they did so, the other three Bogeymen leapt out of their hiding places and soared towards them, massive bat-like wings emerging from their backs. The three soared overhead of the two startled children, who huddled close together for protection. Occasionally, either of the two would try to strike out at the Bogeymen flying above, but it was of no use.
While the two were distracted, Darnell had gotten up off the ground, a hand on her sore side. She eyed the two children, and her eyes fell on Maria. Quickly, she lunged at the girl, but Joshua saw her.
"Maria, look out!" He cried, shoving Maria out of the way and causing himself to be tackled by Darnell instead. The two rolled around on the ground, and Darnell inevitably ended up on top of Joshua, pinning him to the ground.
Immediately, the other three Bogeyman stopped flying and landed on the ground, watching Darnell and Joshua. Maria was currently lying on the ground, injured from the rough fall.
Darnell was currently breathing heavily as she stared down at Joshua, her large clawed hands pinning his shoulders to the ground. Her fangs were bared like an animal, and her corpselike eyes burrowed into Joshua's own eyes. Joshua didn't even try to fight back; he knew it was pointless.
For what seemed like an eternity, Darnell kept her gaze onto Joshua as both prepared for what would happen next. Darnell widened her mouth to strike while Joshua braced himself for his end.
However, the killing blow didn't come.
Joshua felt the weight on him lessen, and he opened his eyes to see Darnell get off of him. Her breathing was ragged, but her expression calmed as her features became less tense. As he watched her, still lying on the ground, he saw how humanlike she looked when she wasn't acting threatening. However, he was still confused as to why she had spared him. The other three Bogeymen stared at her, just as perplexed as he was.
Suddenly, even heard the sound of an arrow get fired. Darnell looked up from Joshua and moved to the side as the arrow went soaring at her. She was fast, but the arrow still slashed into her arm, causing red blood to ooze from her wound. Darnell gave a gasp of pain as she held onto her injured arm. She looked up to see Saul and his cohorts, standing at the house, all three of them aiming crossbows at her.
Darnell turned to the other three Bogeymen and gave the slightest gesture in her eyes, signaling for them to flee. They obeyed and dashed off towards the forest. Joshua got on his knees and watched as they ran. He was amazed at how fast they were. They were like a blur of wind as they ran.
Darnell followed close behind, swiftly dodging the arrows flying towards her. As she retreated into the forest, for a split-second, she spun around, and her gaze locked onto Joshua. Then, she turned back towards the forest and vanished within.
And as Joshua stared off in the direction that she'd disappeared into, he knew one thing was very clear.
This wasn't the last he'd seen of her.
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