Welcome to another installment of What is this Feeling or WTF for shorthand! Yes, I sorta knew what I thought when I named it that! Not really, hehehe. So anyways, is anyone excited for the Jeepers Creepers: Reborn? I know I am! Maybe won't be as good as the original, but you have to give credit for changing directors at least, and who knows, maybe it'll be a fun popcorn movie at least. Now on with the show!
Corbin swiftly flies back to the last campsite she finished hunting and pick up where she left off. The inhuman female approaches a middle age man whose throat she ripped out. A few ravens of hers are pecking at the man's open throat, greedily gobbling up the still-warm flesh.
"Shoo shoo."
Corbin gently pushes them away from her catch, much to one raven's dismay, who gives a croak in complaint but complies.
"Don't worry. I'll feed you some later if you like."
She assures which seems to pacify the raven and begins to preen its feathers. The dark woman crouches in front of the dead man, observing how his blank grey eyes stare up at his killer with an unnatural cloudy look that sets in after death. Corbin closes the man's eyes before she zips his sleeping bag closed. She then hauls both him and his other two companions on her shoulders before returning to the Creeper's truck, with some of her unkindness following her.
While she denies feeling any sense of accomplishment from hunting and slaughtering groups of humans, Corbin can't help but look forward to lying down for a while with a full belly. A luxury she can't or won't always afford, but one she'll indulge in to savor her victory over the other male. She's eager to see his stupid charming smirk fall whe-
'Wait, charming? More like slimy. What am I thinking?'
Corbin shakes her head, hoping to clear it of that thought before another enters. This one not being hers, though. However, she has no need to fear when recognizing the familiar presence that's been with her for as long as she can recall.
'Mistress, may I speak? This may make your interest peak.'
'Va, my old friend, proceed. What news you bring me?'
A couple of miles away, Beowulf is perching near the hiding place of a young teen named Charlie, who's trying not to hurl as he watches the Creeper devouring his father's innards. The young boy and Corvid are close enough to hear the moist, squelching noises of the Creeper pulling out and chewing on the older man's intestines. The man cannot do anything besides occasionally twitching while the color leaves his face, leaving a grayish pigmentation.
Just as a witness of a plane crash would, Charlie is too unable to tear away his gaze from the grotesque scene and unable to move his feet. They may as well have been stuck in dried cement as the Creeper's gaze looks up from his father's remains to him. The monster bears his teeth with sadistic glee as he takes the time to lick away some of the gore on his teeth, seemingly savoring the taste of his recent meal. Still, the teen could not, or rather, would not run even as the Creeper takes a leisurely step towards him. Charlie stumbles backward, seeing the monster's third nostril flaring widely with his head raised, taking in the teen's potent fear. Charlie would've probably met an end just as gruesome as his father on the spot if it weren't for his mother appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
Corbin watches through Beowulf as the older woman grabs her son's arm and then takes off running from the Creeper, not daring to look back. The latter only gives a barely perceptible huff and then takes a breath to gather himself. He then walks in the direction the parent and child run off, glancing up briefly toward Beowulf's exact position to give a suspicious glare before continuing his hunt. The Creeper finds himself too occupied with stalking down his prey to notice the same Corvid trailing him.
Beowulf watches for a good while as the male counterpart to his mistress continues to stalk, occasionally terrorizing the mother-and-son duo. Seeing as everything is par for the course, Corbin turns most of her attention away from her faithful raven's vision. She opts to, instead, rip away pieces of tarp wrapped around some of the Creeper's catch and take thin strands from the course rope he favors. Corbin then walks a good distance into the woods before she crouches down and gathers the dandelions scattered throughout the campgrounds. She gathers a good bundle of the flower and the roots, then wraps them in a makeshift pouch. Corbin repeats this process when taking a handful of dirt from one of the paths, gathering violets and their roots; mugwort leaves, a few sprigs of rosemary, digs up sweet flags to gather its roots.
While deciding whether to take some berries from a belladonna or seeds from a foxglove, the unmistakable sound of a gun going off makes Corbin's head shoots up in the direction of the noise. She does it just in time to find a thick murder of crows rising from the tree line and scattering into the air. The inhuman woman narrows her eyes at the crows before mentally turning her attention to Beowulf's sight.
'What is the current situation, old friend?'
Her faithful raven doesn't answer immediately, hiding within an abandoned hollow tree trunk out of instinct from the loud bang of a gun. He then lets out a croak before obeying Corbin's silent request and leaving his hiding spot to observe the scene below him. The mother of the family the Creeper is currently stalking managed to get back to the family's van, a pistol she remembered her husband having in the glove box compartment. The first shot she fired, mostly out of blind terror, made a substantial tear in the side of the Creeper's neck. The creature ran a hand over the wound when a bloodstream spurted from his torn jugular vein.
'Mother and son, no longer on the run.'
Beowulf finally relays. The Creeper gives the mother in question a glare that sends a primal shiver of fear down her spine as the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He then takes a running start towards her and pounces at the woman, wings spread open behind him for extra intimidation. The mother attempts to fire the gun again, finding it jammed, causing all color to leave her face. It probably would've been the end of the woman if it weren't for the axe that comes swinging out of nowhere to imbed itself deep into the Creeper's shoulder.
The force of the strike causes the creature to fall to the gravel ground, blood staining his clothing black. He's given no reprieve when Charlie, the one who hit him with the ax, stomps on his broad back and then starts swinging down repeatedly into his shoulder.
"AAaAaAAAAaaaAHHHHHHh!"
The teen's cries mix with the repeated wet thunk from his ax until he cleaves the monster's arm from his body. His mother then shoves him out of the way to unload her remaining bullets into where the Creeper's general heart area.
BLAM-AM-Am-BAM- BLAM
Then finally,
Click Click Click
The woman continues to pull the trigger a couple of times despite the clip being empty. Still, she rather be safe than sorry, especially with this monster! The woman doesn't hear the unnatural stillness surrounding her since the woman's ears are still ringing and pounding with a slight undertone of her breathing. She then takes a deep breath and rubs a hand across her face, feeling tears run down her cheeks. The woman drops the gun and takes a deep breath before speaking to her son.
"Let's leave this fucking nightmare and never go camping again."
Charlie stiffly nods in response to his mother. The woman then turns around to walk to the car with her son in front of her, but that would prove to be her biggest mistake.
The Creeper's hand springs to life and grabs the woman's ankle. He pulls at her ankle with enough force to knock her off the balance before taking a big bite out of her Achilles heel, exposing her torn tendons and a hint of bone. The woman lets out a scream, but with an otherworldly boost of energy, the Creeper crawls up to her to be faced to face to bite into her throat and tear it out with a sickeningly wet, tearing noise.
"MOM!"
Charlie cries out, running back with his ax raised above him, righteous fury and grief twisting his expression. The Creeper reaches into his tattered and bloodied coat with his good arm, preparing to throw either a knife or shuriken at the teen. He bares his teeth in a deep snarl, mentally daring the boy to try his hand again. The boy is too focused on the monster in front of him that he doesn't immediately spot the shadowy figure above him until he's only a few feet away from his target.
With a piercing shriek, Corbin slams her large talons into Charlie, making him stagger as he waves his axe until he falls to the ground. The dark female holds her wings and tail out behind her to avoid too much injury, which proves useful when the young teen takes a wild swing at her, planting the axe deeply into her shoulder. Charlie's face and front are splattered with warm black blood as the wind is knocked out of his lungs. He's left looking into two flaming embers and serrated fangs before his ears burst from Corbin's roaring into his face. Charlie then hears a loud CRUNCH and then nothing.
The Creeper watches with an amused grin as his mate twists the teen's head around, further splintering his already-broken neck and tearing it off with a moist RIIIIIIP in one go. Despite his missing arm, he easily catches the decapitated head with his remaining good one.
"Eat."
Came Corbin's curt command for the injured male. He takes a deep whiff of the fresh corpse's head, savoring the pungent fear that's still fresh. After a few more moments of sniffing, The Creeper tears out the head's tongue with his teeth and then devours the rest of what he needs until only bone and a few scraps of skin remain. He looks up to find his female counterpart setting up the mother and son's carcasses leaning against a tree, creating a tenderly morbid display.
Corbin then turns around and holds a hand towards the Creeper, who grins.
'Didn't know ya actually care, sweetheart.'
"I don't."
She then snatches the skull from his good hand, causing his balance to falter briefly but is able to upright himself. The Creeper watches curiously as Corbin delicately places the teen's skull atop the corpse's torn neck. She then picks some wildflowers off to the side and places them both on the mother and son. The Creeper wants to comment on how hypocritical Corbin is acting by displaying the meat's carcasses akin to trophies. However, by how she bows her head and claps her hands together, he can feel this is something important, almost sacred, to her, so he decides to say nothing.
The Creeper doesn't have to wait long before Corbin finishes her ritual and crouches beside him again. Taking that as his cue, he forces himself to start rising to his feet, groaning as he fights through the pain and how lightheaded he feels. The Creeper lets out an inquisitive rumble when he feels his mate wrap one of her arms around his waist with the other splaying across his shoulder. Corbin deliberately lets him lean against his good side, despite that side being where she still retains the gash in her ribs. The Creeper glances at the still-fresh blood leaking from her side, knowing first-hand how bothersome such a wound can be.
'You don't have ta.'
"Va, you're a big boy, but you took too long standing up."
The inhuman woman then looks over her male counterpart and takes a moment to sniff him over.
"Can you walk on your own?"
The Creeper nods and takes a few steps from Corbin toward his truck. She spots his arm and bends down to scoop it up to place it under her arm before catching up with the Creeper. The two walk in what could be considered comfortable silence. The monstrous male glances over to where the father he killed earlier still laid with his insides exposed.
'What a waste of meat.'
'There's plenty in the slaughterhouse on wheels that should fix you up.'
The Creeper gives a huff when looking over the crows pecking at the gutted carcasses. He assures himself that at least the crows have something to eat before continuing on without another word.
...
Tubbs excuses himself after looking at the familiar carnage; as soon as the rest of the officers are out of view, Davis gives out a strangled bellow and starts kicking at an exposed tree root. His entire face turns a bright red with a prominent vein looking ready to pop on his forehead.
"Fuckin' bastards! That bitch! Those sons of bitches! Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Shit! FUCK!"
He seethes through gritted teeth. He then switches from a root to the ground, kicking some leaves while a crow lets out a caw. The Sergeant immediately halts the cursed sound and snaps his head toward the black bird. He stares into its small beady eyes, dark as coal from the countless years of witnessing unspeakable atrocities. Davis feels his body heating, sick to his stomach as he could've sworn, those intelligent beady eyes reflecting its master's hunger and glee. The Sergeant couldn't stand this crow so much that he crouched down to pick up a sizable rock.
"Lousy buzzard!"
He shouts before hurling the stone at the Corvid, who flies out of the way in time with an indignant caw. Davis then turns away from the crow to rejoin his fellow officers and detectives, unaware of its beady eyes burning two holes in the back of his head. He's only aware of the sound of its wings flapping in the air as it takes off, most likely to join the rest of its wretched brethren.
"Give it to me straight. Are there any survivors?"
Are the first words to come out of the Sergeant when addressing one of his detectives, Detective Beatriz, without any inkling to his earlier breakdown despite what his disheveled appearance may say otherwise. Beatriz has been on the job long enough to know when to push or not, and this is not one of those times. Without a word, the detective leads Tubbs to one of the survivors, occasionally glancing at some of the bloodied former campsites.
"There's a handful of them, but most don't seem to remember anything, "
"I find that hard to believe."
Tubbs interjected. The officer beside the Sergeant quirks her brow at his statement, considering the more unbelievable events that transpired over the last week. Detective Beatriz clenches her jaw before she picks up where she left off.
"It's common for the human mind to protect itself by blocking out traumatic memories, believe it or not. However, this led to most of our eyewitnesses being so shocked when they woke up to the surrounding carnage that they, understandably, went hysterical. And it's hard to get any straight accounts when said witnesses are blubbering messes."
"Right, right, right."
'Jesus, Mary, mother of Joseph...'
Tubbs sighs as his shoulders sag, pondering to himself if this nightmare will ever truly end. Detective Beatriz glances at her superior officer with concern and sympathy for the man, hoping the next piece of information she has to share may alleviate his mind, even if by a small percentage.
"The good news, though, first respondents found a kid, Michael Smith, in a bathroom supply closet, blissfully unaware of what happened to his family."
"Am I right to guess that his entire family is dead?"
Beatriz pauses, as if reluctant, before informing the Sergeant.
"Yes, sir, unfortunately."
Tubbs pats at his uniform's pockets, wishing he had a carton of cigs on him.
"Anyone told the boy yet?"
Beatriz shakes her head. They then take a path toward a small hill at a fork in the road. According to the signs, both officers head toward the public bathrooms and showers.
"No, sir, only because he's asking for you by name. Do you happen to have any connections with the kid?"
Tubbs turns his head towards the younger woman with his brows set in a deep furrow.
"How can I? I've never heard his name before you told me. What could he possibly want with me, all of things?"
"He said he was told to ask for you by a "Nice dinosaur lady."
"What?"
Tubbs couldn't help but ask, mainly because his inhuman informer was being compared to a dinosaur. He then runs a hand over his balding head.
"Nevermind."
The two officers can spot the emergency vehicles and police cruisers by the flashing lights alone. As Tubbs and Beatriz make the small trek up the hill, they're passed by fellow officers and EMTs. The Sergeant easily spots the young boy sitting at the back of an ambulance with a shock blanket wrapped around his small form. Tubbs starts making his way toward him but is stopped by an EMT named Eduardo Muenez, according to his ID badge. The man pulls the Sergeant to the side, out of earshot of the boy, to speak at a volume only Tubbs could hear.
"It's been a rough day for Mikey. So please, if you're going to break the news to him, just remember he's still a child."
"Yeah, don't worry about it. This is far from my first rodeo.
Tubbs responds in a similar low tone before approaching the small child. Mikey looks up from his Power Rangers shoes as the older man kneels down to his height and attempts to give him a friendly smile; although, to the paramedics around them, it looked slightly forced.
"Hey kiddo, I've heard you've been asking for me?"
Mikey looks up from his feet to stare at the older man with large soft brown eyes much like a puppy's.
"Are you Tubbs?"
"That's right."
The Sergeant nods in confirmation. The young boy then outstretches his small pudgy hand to Tubbs to reveal a crumpled square piece of notebook that was in his possession all day.
"The dinosaur lady told me ta ask for you 'cause she had a super secret message ta give!"
The boy gives a wide smile with a noticeable gap from recently losing his baby tooth, proud of fulfilling his mission objective. Tubbs carefully takes the slip of paper and pockets it for safekeeping. He then starts questioning Mikey, hoping to find answers before he breaks the worse news in the kid's life.
"What did this lady look like?"
"She was black and had a tail! With really big wings and orange eyes a-and sharp black claws!"
Mikey bends his fingers in an attempt to mimic claws.
"At first, she seemed scary, but like my other dinosaur friend, she turned out ta be nice."
"Excuse me, what other dinosaur?"
Tubbs interjected.
"I saw this other dinosaur man in a hat, he also seemed scary but he was helpin' me find my soccer ball. We even played together!"
Tubbs eyes widen as his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline in disbelief. Most can't say that they survived an encounter with the Creeper, and those who did during the last 23 years are now dead. This kid doesn't even know how close he was to possible death. The Sergeant clears his throat before speaking again, hoping the young boy wouldn't be able to guess why Tubbs seems so shocked. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Mikey caught on quite yet.
"Where's the last place you saw both of your "friends"? Did they say where they would be going?"
Mikey shakes his head.
"They didn't say anythin' but I saw the one with da hat just outside the camp and, and, and I saw the nice lady here in da bathroom. Maybe they flew away home?"
The Sergeant gives an uneasy and forced grin as he starts rubbing at the back of his head.
"You-uh may be right there, son. But, what were you doing in a bathroom closet?"
"The dinosaur lady said we were playing hide and seek, so she showed me the best hiding spot and gave me the super secret message. It smelled really bad."
Mikey wrinkles his nose in memory before it's quickly replaced with a toothy grin.
"But nobody found me and I gave you da message so I won!"
Tubbs then takes a breath and scratches the back of his head before addressing Mikey again.
"Mikey, do you know where your family is at? Your mommy and daddy?"
Mikey shakes his head again, his expression betraying no dishonesty.
"Aren't they playing hide and seek too?"
'Jesus, he really doesn't know...'
Tubbs swallows and licks his lips, feeling like he just swallowed a big cotton ball.
"No. I'm sorry, but your mommy, daddy, brother, and aunt are gone."
"G-Gone?"
Mikey stutters. His eyes sting from the tears that threaten to come spilling out. The Sergeant calls upon the reserves of his remaining strength to get the next words out.
"They're dead. Some very bad people killed them."
As expected, the young child started bawling his eyes out with snot flowing out of his nose. He cries for his mommy, his daddy, his brother Charlie, despite knowing, deep down, they will never answer back. Tubbs is aware that they're being carted off to the Poho County Morgue. The boy hugs his knees tight to his chest, curling up tightly into a ball. Without another thought, The Sergeant leans forward to wrap his arms around the small child, rubbing at his back. It's expected Mikey would be devastated at the news, but it doesn't make Tubbs' heart any lighter.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, kid. We'll make sure you're taken good care of."
For as long as he's been on the force, Tubbs could never stand the sight of a child crying much less because he had to be the bearer of bad news. He's grateful that the county he has jurisdiction in is more a small quiet town where the most he usually had to worry about were carjackers. Yet, that doesn't mean Poho county is completely free of violence and death, long before the Creeper crawled out of some hole in Hell. They're far and few in between, but that makes it all the more agonizing to have to tell family members that their loved one is dead.
Eventually, The Sergeant moves out of the way to let some other first responders take the boy back to the station where, hopefully, his next of kin can pick him up. In the midst of his emotional exhaustion, while walking back to his cruiser with Detective Beatriz, he almost forgot about the paper the kid gave him until he shoved his hands in his pockets. He raises a brow as his hand brush against the paper, making him curious enough to pull out the small parchment. Tubbs is able to immediately recognize the cursive handwriting same as last time albeit, less neat and more rushed.
They see what I see
Follow the Conspiracy
Tubbs lets out a heavy groan at the message, not immediately noticing Beatriz leaning closer to him to read the paper.
'I suppose I shouldn't have expected a tiny map that points in big letters saying "I'M HERE". Still, what the hell does that even mean?'
He's left wrapped up in his musings that he almost doesn't notice a large inky black bird flying across his path until it nearly crashed into his face.
"GAH! FUCK!"
Tubbs jumps back, watching as the damn bird perches onto a tree. He glares hatefully at the bird as it begins to groom its wing before staring back at him. It's bigger than the crow he threw a rock at earlier with similar beady black eyes, however, these don't seem quite as gleeful. The intelligence is there, but it's more or less observing him. It's just watching.
"I swear, if I see another black bird, I'll probably have an aneurysm and die."
"That's not a black bird, sir. It's too big to be one, I believe that would be a raven. I have a cousin that owns one."
Beatriz adds in as the now-identified raven tilts its head at them as if listening to their conversation.
"I-"
Tubbs stops before he could finish his comeback, as something Danny told him not too long ago surfaces in his memory.
Follow the birds... crows, they travel when it does...
"What's to say she ain't the same way?"
"What was that, Sarge?"
Sarge shakes his head before pocketing the message for later evidence. He glances at the raven still perched above him and Beatriz still observing them.
"Just ramblin' to myself, but how much do you know about ravens and crows?"
I was wrong about Jeepers Creepers: Reborn... I didn't expect the movie to be Oscar-worthy, but I expected some B-movie fun, at the very least. I haven't seen the entire thing myself, just clips and some reviews which name it to have sunk lower than the Third installment. I don't even know how that's possible. Also, are there plans to send the Creeper to Space in the sequel?! Why? Just WHY? Why would anyone think to do that? Anyway, I'm going to eat some ice cream and weep for this franchise, so stay weird, my fellow humans.