Yup, this chapter is getting a complete makeover as well! For the old material here, I still have it saved elsewhere in case I want to reuse it somewhere else within this story. For now, enjoy this new chapter!
With centuries of practice and grace, Corbin lands in the forest clearing toes first before placing both feet onto the ground. The grass bends away from her, with dust and fallen leaves swirling into the air from the last few beats of her black wings. The unusual woman takes a moment to admire how the airborne leaves swirl elegantly into the air as the forest comes to life from the arrival of its new visitor. Birds chirp in surprise as large blackbirds 10 times their size start dotting the landscape, their croaking drowning out the usual bird song. Squirrels scramble through the leaves and twigs to retreat into their homes, recognizing the foreign being as a predator, which causes other lizards and snakes to scramble away as well. All the while, Corbin listens to the bustling life all around her before she strolls into the treelines.
The unusual woman takes in her surroundings, looking to the treetops where the sunlight peeks through in broken fragments to provide just enough light to see where she's going and giving her more than enough shade. A breeze brushes past her, carrying the scent of the fertile earth, wet grass, and freshly bloomed flowers. Corbin gives a slight smile when she picks up the familiar scent of moss and fish. She continues in the direction of the smell, keeping her ears open for the first sounds of running water. Corbin briefly pauses in her journey when spotting a wild huckleberry bush that looked similar to a blueberry bush.
When she tried a berry, she found it to be very much like the fruit it resembles. After eating a handful and handing some to her ravens, she takes out her bandana to use as a small bag to save some more for later. She pops another berry into her mouth as she reminisces about springs long since passed, where she and her cousin Elophia would be picking berries for extra food while Hedji supervises. As usual, when she thinks of her former tribe, a sense of melancholy accompanies each memory she has of them, of the home she left behind.
'Did I ever cross their minds?'
The inhuman woman wasn't so sure if any of her tribe would want to remember her in any way, not after what she put them through. What she put Lavinia through... Luckily, before the usual despair could completely sink its dark tendrils into her mind, effectively anchoring her mood down for the rest of the day and possibly the day after, she picks up the sound of some new song she heard with Darry recently.
"C'mon, c'mon, yeah, c'mon, yeah (uh oooh, uh oh oh oh)
If the party's where you're at just let me know"
Right behind some branches, there sat on the docks a middle-aged man with a thick trimmed brown beard with a fishing pole in hand; on his left, there was a mini cooler with a portable radio on top of it. Corbin tilts her head back as she inhales the air; the man isn't alone but another scent is just starting to fade, so his friend must've been gone for a while now. Despite having eaten two bodies a few hours ago, she could still feel that ever-present hunger gnawing at the edge of her stomach; however, it isn't so bad that she feels ravenously starving as she was the other day. On the other hand, she has her "mate" to consider and not because she actually cares for him in any way. No, he won't be pleased that she went out hunting on her own and not with him, despite being offered the chance. Maybe a peace offering would be enough to get him off her back and leave her to wait out the days, then again, why should she care? It's not like she'll be going into hibernation with him once the 23 days are up, wait...
Maybe she can't do anything directly to kill him, thus calling off their agreement/truce, but that doesn't mean she can't make it so she can't guide others to do so. It's going to be a long haul and with many casualties, no doubt, but in a war, it's inevitable that there will be spilled blood. Corbin looks back at the fisherman, no longer a potential meal, but a piece of a larger puzzle; not only as of the first breadcrumb for a trail but a way to be within the enemy's good graces for now.
'I'm sorry for what's about to happen,'
Corbin silently apologizes as she spills out the huckleberries from her bandanna to rewrap around her head before taking off her blood-stained Bannon sweatshirt. She then emerges from the treeline toward the water, a few meters from where the fisherman sat in waiting for a bite. He looks up from the lake, instinctively glancing toward the source of the sound to find a seemingly normal woman approaching the lake's shore.
'It's nothing personal.'
Seeing as he's got his attention Corbin then kneels down to submerge her shirt into the water, staining the surrounding water in a light red. She then takes out the soaked shirt then twists it, releasing more red to drip back into the water before submerging it again. The disguised woman didn't have to look up from her task to know that her intended prey is approaching her.
"M'am? Not to be rude or anything, but you do know there are other ways to do that?"
The man chuckles, clearly intending to be humorous in his approach. Corbin turns her head towards him, making sure to keep her front to him. She's already taking some risk of doing this without any clothing, besides her long honey-colored mane, to conceal her wings yet it wouldn't be the first time she did something like this. The most she has to worry about is not unveiling them too soon, lest she ruins the element of surprise.
"I'm aware but my washer machine wasn't working and I really needed to get this clean today."
Corbin responds in a light easy-going tone, not giving away any of her intentions. By then, most of the dried blood washed away into the lake, the red dispersing completely into the slightly murky water, leaving some dark burgundy stains on Darry's sweatshirt. Oh well, that can be explained as easily that it can be washed away. The bearded man looks over Corbin's only laundry, his raised eyebrow giving no indication that he recognized what she's currently washing off.
"Huh, you must have been really desperate if you didn't take any soaps or detergents with you."
"Well, I didn't want to contaminate the water and this sweatshirt is important to me."
The bearded man gives a quizzical look, but with softened eyes as if he's starting to pick up something that may be wrong.
"What's really wrong, if you don't mind me asking?"
The blonde gives a slightly tired sigh before she wrings her sweatshirt one last time and then spreads it out against a nearby rock to dry off in the sun.
"I... I just needed to get away for a bit, I hope you don't mind."
Corbin then runs a hand through her blonde tresses while looking back in the direction she came from. The bearded man takes a seat on the grass a few feet away from where Corbin sat.
"The name's Tyler."
"Nice to meet you Tyler, I'm Corbin."
Corbin "shyly" looks away from Tyler's warm smile that lit up his chocolate brown eyes.
"Hello Corbin, don't worry about me minding your presence, it's a free lake. Me and Alan wouldn't mind you sticking around here while we fish."
Corbin looks back over to where Tyler sat down earlier, noting the other fishing pole which only confirmed what she picked up earlier.
"Huh, I don't see him anywhere."
"That's because he forgot to bring the beer, even though I told him he was going to bring them even if he insists I was the one who was supposed to purchase 'em."
Tyler gestures with his thumb to the trail over his shoulder where, no doubt, he and his friend used to get to the lake. He then stutters to a stop in his ramblings when he glances back to make eye contact with emerald green eyes.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, you probably don't want to hear about my problems when you're the one that came out to avoid them."
The blonde raises a hand before setting it back on her lap in reassurance.
"No worries, this is helping to take my mind off them,"
Corbin gives a charming close-lip smile that's convincing enough for Tyler, but if he were to look closer, he would've noticed how her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. Then maybe he would've listened to the paranoid primordial voice whispering in the back of his mind. To be fair, how could he have known? Especially since the blonde woman in front of him showed no desire to harm him nor looks to have any weapon or firearm on her; as far as he knew, Corbin is one of those Amish folks with troubled home life. Still, there's no guarantee if his knowing would've helped him either way, but then he wouldn't have divulged the information he gave to the blonde.
"When should we be expecting your friend to join us?"
Tyler then looks over to his wristwatch, mentally calculating the time in his head, letting out a hum as he does so.
"Hmmmm... usually takes maybe about 30-45 minutes depending on traffic to get back to my place. So, I say in about 10 minutes or so, why you ask? Do you plan on murdering me?"
Both he and Corbin laugh at his quip, for completely different reasons.
"Heavens no!"
The blonde assures the bearded man, who smiles in response to the sound of her chuckling, finding the sound to be just as beautiful as she is. Said blonde then gets up from the ground, dusting off the dirt and dust from her jeans before rolling them up over her knees. Tyler observes as she then takes off her socks and shoes, setting them near her drying sweatshirt; next, she walks to the shore and into the water until it was halfway up to her knees. The man watches in confusion as she stands still enough to not cause a single ripple with her eyes locked on the water. The only indication that Corbin isn't some stone statue is the subtle twitching of her fingers from her raised right hand.
"What are y-"
In the blink of an eye, the strange woman slices her hand into the murky water, only to then pull out a large squirming bass in her hand. This all happens so fast that Tyler isn't able to comprehend the quick bite that left the bass limp in Corbin's hold, only that the seemingly normal woman he met is holding a freshling caught fish in her bare hands.
"It's how I fish, something I picked up a long time ago."
She answers in a nonchalant tone in response to Tyler's quizzical expression. Corbin giggles to herself at how his thick eyebrows, which reminded her of caterpillars, looked ready to crawl off his face from how high they're raised on his forehead. At the sound of the woman's amusement, the bearded man snapped out of his stupor to return an, almost, hesitant grin.
"Well, isn't that something? It's not every day I meet a gal that can catch a fish with her bare hands."
Corbin makes her way out of the lake to set the fish on top of the same rock as her drying sweatshirt, after moving the shirt enough to make room. She then walks back into the lake, turning her head towards Tyler as she addresses him.
"I guess, I mean, you don't see everyone going after game with only their hands, now do you?"
The bearded man scratches the back of his head before wiping the sweat off his brow away. He gives a burst of unrestrained laughter.
"I certainly do not. You, young lady, have a rare talent, I'm telling you."
The blonde gives a dismissive wave of her hand as she gives a wide smile, showing off her pearly blunt teeth.
"Oh stop, you're making me blush. Actually, if you like, I can show you how to do the same."
Corbin gestures to her left toward Tyler as he walks to the shore. Tyler scratches his beard while he hums lowly in brief thought before he shrugs his shoulders.
"Sure, why not?"
The bearded man then proceeds to mimic the blonde's early action before wading beside her. He notes, offhandedly, that the woman next to him is a bit taller than he originally guessed with her sitting down. In fact, she's got a few good inches over him, however, he doesn't comment on this in favor of listening to Corbin's instructions.
"First, you want to bend your knees and feel the ground with your toes."
"Alright,"
Tyler does as instructed, finding that a sock was left under the dirt with his feet. After removing that from the water, he waits for the next step.
"Next, you want to lean slightly forward, not too much or you'll alert the fish to your presence with your shadow."
Tyler then moves stiffly forward by barely an inch, hoping not to alert as many fishes to his presence as he could. Corbin puts a hand on Tyler's back to patiently explain his mistake.
"It's alright to lean more than that, you have a spine, after all. Here let me help."
The disguised woman pushes Tyler to crouch more before unsheathing her right hand's claws and digging them into his throat. Tyler gasps in shock as he turns to the woman beside him, desperately grabbing at his neck to staunch the bleeding. He points with one hand at Corbin, who looks on with an apologetic expression, before attempting to croak out.
"Y-you-"
Whatever words he attempted to form, die in his mouth at the sight of the, formerly, disguised Corbin unfolding her wings in front of him as she lets out a hiss with her, now, sharpened fangs. His hazel eyes are about ready to pop out of his sockets when she grabs him by the back of the head, digging her claws into his hair, to take in his scent. Corbin takes in long whiffs of his rising fear which, as always, made her internally drool at the delectable scent, giving Tyler a close view of her flaring third nostril. She then stops without warning to toss the dying man into the water, immediately staining the surface crimson.
Corbin then places her foot firmly on his chest, releasing more air from his lungs to bubble to the bloody surface. Despite the murkiness of the water, the sunlight provided enough light for her to see her victim's terrified expression at the realization, he is going to die. His screams are suppressed by the lake's water, so no one but the one holding him down could really hear him scream. Corbin digs her talons into the man's chest as he starts to uselessly flail around, unable to dislodge himself from the she-beast's hold. Unfortunately, Tyler's efforts cause him to release more precious oxygen to boil above him, some of which escape through his torn open neck that steadily continues to let out a crimson stream.
Corbin didn't really pay any mind that the man let out his last breath to ripple throughout the lake, as her mind slowly became submerged by her memories brought up by this act.
Red is the only color she could see... Red like Vadoma's burnt flesh... Red like the pond from which the holy man's blood was spilled.
"I-I-I have a family!"
"Vadoma had a family too, but that didn't stop you from ripping her away from her mother's arms."
The inhuman woman gives a twisted and satisfied smirk as she drops the corpse back into the red pond...
Corbin is pulled from her musings at the realization that he stopped moving beneath her. She looks down at Tyler's petrified face with an unreadable expression as she watches his once lively brown eyes glaze over. The inhuman woman gives a long sigh as she removes her foot from him, letting him float to the surface, her eyes still on his eyes as they stare back at her with questions that will never be answered.
How can you live with yourself? Why did you kill me? What did I do to deserve this?
Corbin couldn't answer most of those questions, but she leans toward his face, close enough as if to kiss him, to answer at least one of them.
"I won't ask for your immediate forgiveness or understanding but know that I'm sorry."
Corbin takes a breath to steady herself before using a hand to close Tyler's eyes.
"I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have some purpose in mind."
The inhuman woman then brings Tyler's corpse to shore to dig before digging around in his pockets. After killing a man as a sacrifice in a sense, robbing his pockets seem like small potatoes in comparison, besides, it's not like he'll using any of it. At least, that's what Corbin tries convincing herself for some sense of sanity.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! TYLER!"
Without a moment of hesitation, Corbin pulls out Tyler's fishing knife to throw it into his friend's, Alan, chest. He was dead before he, and the six-pack he brought, fell to the ground with a thud. A far less painless death than Tyler's own. She then gets up from the shore to fully drag Tyler beside Alan before getting to work. She's able to gather up to 325 dollars in cash from the two men along with both their fishing knives. Next, Corbin pulls out the knife she threw at Alan, allowing the blood from the damaged aorta to gush out onto the grass; she continues to then use the knife to slice open his wrists to let out more blood to flow out onto the earth. Corbin drags Alan's bleeding corpse in the general direction of where the Creeper's latest lair is, leaving a trail of his blood behind her. Just for good measure, she marks the trees with her claws following the path she's taking. When she comes to a stop under a tree, Corbin kneels places, Alan, down next to her before she digs her claws into the dirt below her. Once she had a large enough hole, by then the sun is starting to set, except for it being shallower than she usually makes it, Corbin gently places Alan inside of it. Corbin then collects enough wildflowers to make a decent size bouquet to settle under Alan's crossed arms.
"Se pou ou repoze nan lapè"
Corbin then closes Alan's eyes before using her tail to move the pile of dirt she dug out back onto the dead man, completing his temporary grave. After she scratch into the tree where the grave lied, the inhuman woman heads back to the pond to wash off all the dirt and blood that collected on her person, careful to not get her wings soaked. Once she deems herself clean enough, Corbin goes back over to Tyler to gently shoo away some young ravens who didn't get the memo.
"Off with you, this meal isn't for any of us."
While a few of them listen, a handful of them insisted on staying firmly where they are until they're given a strict croak from Beowulf. The one-eyed raven goes as far as to physically fly into the middle of the young ravens to push them away with his large inky wings.
"Palee-kervav-tukay, Beowulf."
The old raven lets out a squawk as if to say "You're welcome" as Corbin goes to pick up Tyler's corpse, fireman style. When she shoots off into the sky, the sky seemed to have caught fire from the setting sun temporarily, reflecting off Corbin's charcoal-colored skin as if she too is set aflame. Despite the extra weight, the she-beast can bend the winds to her will with her mighty wings without resistance, hardly needing to move them except for maneuvering or to lightly flap them with barely any sound. She's able to do all of this, even as her mind wanders off elsewhere; as she hopes that the local authorities aren't too thick-headed to pick up on obvious clues. Mostly, she's hoping for a particular Sergeant to understand and realize her intention, but she makes sure that her hope doesn't get too high for the human.
Speaking of, by the time Corbin lands back on the abandoned factory's roof, Sergeant David Tubbs is already on at the lake where Tyler and Alan were fishing. Just from a quick glance, Tubbs looked ready to collapse where he stands, and, knowing the circumstances, it's entirely understandable. Just earlier today, he was on, what essentially, turned to be a failed attempt in chasing down the monstrous S.O.B terrorizing his county with Sherriff Tashtego, or Danny as he personally knows him. An attempt that ended in tragedy, as all the men, or the "Creeper Hunters" as they're unofficially deemed, die in their impossible quest to kill the beast. He himself barely survived his second encounter with the creature by the skin of his teeth and Danny...
Fucking hell, he riddled that thing's body with enough holes to make swiss cheese and it still did nothing! All Danny got for his efforts was an ax lodged in his head and immediately tossed to the side by the creature. God, oh God, why didn't he just call it a day then and there? Why, with what's essentially fumes by now, did he decide to personally investigate this crime scene that closely matches the monster he failed twice to kill? Well, that could be summed up for two reasons: one, he can identify straight off the bat that it wasn't the beast itself. There's no way it would've ever dug a grave for one of the victims or go as far as to lay them to rest with flowers in hand. Two, he knows that their best defense against the creature is responsible for these two fishermen's deaths.
Should he really be surprised to find the remains of a gruesome scene? It appears to be whatever the hell she and that bastard are, with the lack of a hibernation cycle as the exception. At the very least, the other monster known as Corbin gave the poor man a quick painless death despite not taking anything from him at all. Wait a second...
'Why the hell would a man-eating monster not take anything from said man? Much less make it obvious where she buried the man.'
He looks over at the end of the trail of mostly dry blood that turned brown under the sun. It would appear to be a dead-end with no other scents for the K-9 units to follow, at least, without considering that the suspect has wings at her disposal.
'What are you trying to tell us? No, where are you pointing us toward?'
Tubbs looks up from the crime scene and up toward the now-darkened sky, receiving no answers.
If you follow my DeviantArt account, under the same username as my Wattpad account, then you'll most likely pick up some references to my short work "To know" within this chapter. This chapter was far longer than I expected at first, but it's a pleasant surprise as that means more meat in one slice! As for Corbin's plan and what this new plot thread will lead? Well, keep reading on and you may find out. Stay weird, my fellow humans.