CHAPTER 12: THE LANDFILL ENCOUNTER
Courtney was fucking terrified, and Octavia didn't need to read minds to tell.
The hellhound was nervously pacing around the ring, hesitant to cut the distance between herself and Octavia. Meanwhile, the owl demon was perfectly comfortable. She was still considering what she should do to really shatter Courtney's ego.
She had the perfect idea! She would pin Courtney, take a selfie flipping off the camera, then upload it to Voxelgram!
Then she caught herself. The phone in her pocket wasn't hers. It was Courtney's phone, the one she had taken from the abandoned cabin. The selfie would have been awesome, but she was done for if she was caught having stolen from Courtney, and it was too late to return it directly. She'd have to remember to give it to Cole later.
"Fight, fight, fight, fight!"
The crowd's chanting pulled Octavia's attention back to the fight. Everyone was pumping their fists in the air; even Coach seemed invested. Some people were still rooting for Courtney. Good looks did wonders for reputation. Yet surprisingly, some people were rooting for Octavia.
That was a weird feeling, hearing people chant her name. It felt… nice.
Octavia squared her hips and brought up her fists. She just needed to punch Courtney half as hard as she had with Katya, and it would be over in one strike!
She rushed forward, not letting Courtney have any more breathing room. Courtney cried out, shielding herself as Octavia brought her fist back…
And punched Courtney right in her flailing arm.
The first hit didn't seem to do much, so Octavia took a second jab. This one connected with Courtney's ribs but, once again, didn't seem to do anything. Courtney merely shoved Octavia away.
Octavia looked at her fists as if they'd stopped working. Her hits felt weaker, but she didn't feel weaker! Where was that weird crackling feeling in her muscles? Was that adrenaline? It was like trying to throw a punch in a dream.
Courtney also seemed surprised by the lack of power in Octavia's hits. After taking two hits with no damage, Courtney became a bit more confident. She dashed up to Octavia, and the two grappled. They were a tangled blur of flailing arms and scuffling feet before Courtney grabbed Octavia's hair.
"Oh you bitch-" Octavia cried out before her head was abruptly yanked down low. She struggled in Courtney's grip as Courtney started smacking the back of her head with balled fists as hard as she could.
"Fuck her up! Break her shit!" someone yelled, though it was unclear who they were cheering on.
Octavia had no other idea how to escape having her hair pulled! Well, she could come up with one idea. It was dirty fighting, but Courtney was already fighting dirty.
It's a common misconception that, because females don't have balls, that means getting hit in the groin doesn't hurt. Wrong. There's a lot of nerve endings down there, and a well-placed strike can cause serious pain.
Octavia balled her fist up and slammed it into Courtney's groin.
The hellhound immediately yelped and curled up. "Owwww! What the fuck!? Foul! Time out! Coach, that was SO totally a foul!" Courtney cried, letting go and gesturing to Coach as she hunched over slightly.
Unfortunately for her, there were no timeouts or fouls. As Coach had put it, this was "fight club—I mean, wrestling," and there were no rules.
Octavia sucker-punched Courtney, knocking her against the ropes.
"You fucking whore!" Courtney cried out, before someone shoved her off the ropes towards Octavia.
Octavia stepped forward before bringing her knee into Courtney's gut, knocking the wind out of her. She then grabbed Courtney by the throat with one hand. Grunting with exertion, she lifted Courtney just an inch off the ground, but that was enough.
Octavia chokeslammed Courtney into the ground. She fucking chokeslammed Courtney. A tingly sensation of thrill ran through Octavia. She was a fucking badass!
She looked down at the prone Courtney, rolling as she gasped for air.
It was time.
Total. Humiliation.
Octavia stepped over Courtney and approached the turnbuckle. Campers gave her questioning looks as she approached, but their faces lit up like giddy children as she climbed up the ropes.
"What am I fucking doing," Octavia thought, "I should just pin her and move on." She set one foot down on the top rope, feeling it give slightly as she leaned on the turnbuckle.
She looked around in the sea of excitement, and she saw him. Cameron was gazing up at her, a look of utter admiration on his face.
In that moment, she remembered how he stood up for her when Courtney had viciously mocked her. Now it was her turn.
This wasn't just payback against Courtney. This was to show Cameron that she was on his side.
Octavia climbed up onto the top rope, turning around as the crowd's excitement rose. She pat her elbow once, then pointed to Courtney, who was trying to crawl away on her hands and knees.
"Eat this, shitface!"
Octavia leapt off the turnbuckle, soaring through the air. She brought her elbow out, bracing for impact as she descended and Courtney's figure disappeared under her.
Thump-crack!
Octavia's elbow collided with Courtney's face, and the crowd went ballistic. A few water bottles were tossed into the ring as the campers all lost control of themselves, even Coach was hopping up and down with far too much glee for someone his age, shaking the ropes with his big meaty hands.
However, the crunching sound hadn't come from Courtney's face. In fact, the elbow drop hadn't done nearly as much damage as Octavia would have thought. A normal elbow strike would have done more.
No, the crunch had come from under Octavia's rear.
At first, Octavia felt a flash of panic. Had she just broken her own hip trying to do something cool? That would have been even worse than losing the fight! She rolled over and stood, quickly realizing it wasn't her that had broken something.
Octavia winced as she looked at Courtney's arm, which had been caught underneath Octavia's hip and took the majority of the falling impact. It limply hung to the ground as if it was made of rubber. Her bony ass had broken Courtney's arm, literally!
Courtney's reaction was delayed. It started with a few horrified grunts, before the floodgates opened up. "AAAAAAAIIIIIGH!" she screamed, making everyone nearby cup their ears as she yowled and screeched.
Glitterfang shrieked in horror as they saw their friend's broken arm while Courtney crawled back to them. "I'M LITERALLY GONNA FUCKING SUE!" Courtney cried.
Coach scoffed, helping her to her feet and bringing her good arm over his shoulder. "I'll give you a twenty-buck Bedlam Bath and Beyond gift card if you don't tell Cole about this."
Courtney pouted, her face twisted in pain as Coach walked her . "I…I…hmph! Ow, OWWWW!"
Coach's eyes widened as he swore. "Oh yeah, before I forget." He walked back to Octavia with Courtney still leaning on his shoulder. He reached into his pocket, rummaging around, before dropping tokens in her palm. "Put 'em in a safe place."
Octavia counted the tokens. There were four of them, plus a bonus token. "Coach, I only beat three."
Coach motioned behind him to the rest of Glitterfang. Her would-be final opponent had passed out from shock. "Good fight. I didn't think you had it in you. Guess I owe Cole a drink." He looked around at everyone. "Welp, shows over, so is the wrestling trial. We finished a little early, so you all can do whatever you want for the next hour."
The crowd began to disperse, excitedly chattering as they returned to camp. Some glanced at Octavia with looks of awe. She hung back, hands on her hips as she breathed raggedly.
"Holy shit…" Octavia muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. Her heart was racing so fast that she was worried she might need to talk to a doctor about it.
"Holy crap is right!" Cameron said, spreading his hands. "Like, what just happened? I thought you were toast against Katya!"
"Yeah, I…" Octavia shook her head. "I have no fucking idea what I did or how I did it." She looked back up with a huge grin. "But that was fucking awesome!"
Cameron chuckled, scratching at his neck. "I mean- yeah! Maybe I need you as my bodyguard for senior year."
Octavia flashed a sly smile at Cameron. "Pff. Pay me."
"You're literally a princess!" Cameron cried, putting on a look of shock and disbelief. Octavia crossed her arms, turning her back on him as her tail feathers flared.
Cameron's hands dropped to his side. "Ugh, you're the greediest friend ever. We can go get pizza sometime, how about that for payment?" he asked, before giving a courtly bow. "Your Highness."
Octavia raised an eyebrow. He hadn't phrased it like they were going on a date or anything, just a friendly meetup, kinda like how Mum would meet with her friends now and then. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
"Maybe this friendship doesn't have to end when Summer ends."
"Fuck it, I'm down," Octavia said, turning to face Cameron. "We just gotta make it through summer camp first. Then I'm holding you to that."
"Fair enough," Cameron shrugged. "In the meantime, why don't we find something to do?" he asked. "The entire camp is open to us, and with how many people are still recovering from their hangovers, we've got almost everything to ourselves."
Octavia shrugged. She normally would have protested and just opted to sit inside on her phone until she was dragged outside by Maxson, but unfortunately, her phone was dead. "Well, I got nothing better to do. Long as it isn't something crazy. I've had enough adrenaline for one day."
"Hey, Cameron?" Octavia asked.
"What's up?"
"What did I tell you like thirty minutes ago?"
Cameron chuckled and shrugged as he hooked himself into the harness. "Come on, it'll be fun! Plus, how often do you get to go zip lining?"
Octavia looked over the edge of the platform overlooking the lake. There was at least a seventy-foot drop into dark, murky water. The cable, which had clearly seen better days, led from one side of the lake to the other.
"Well, have fun then." Octavia waved him off, heading back for camp. She didn't care if it took her an hour to walk back. She was not doing this.
"Come on," Cameron said teasingly. "Where's your sense of adventure? It'll be over in a blink."
"Nah, I'm good." Octavia looked off to camp in the distance. It had taken thirty minutes to walk all this way. Camp was still visible in the distance, but she couldn't help but feel like she was tresspassing. "Besides, we shouldn't even be this far away from camp. Won't we get in trouble if we get caught?"
Cameron crossed his arms. "No balls."
Octavia turned to Cameron with a half-lidded deadpan. "Seriously?"
"No metaphorical balls." Cameron corrected with a shrug of the shoulders, his sly smirk not leaving his face.
Well, that wouldn't do. Octavia couldn't have him accusing her of being spineless. Octavia turned back towards the cable, grasping her harness and looking it over. She inspected it closely. The ropes were mildly frayed as if someone had been picking at them absentmindedly.
Normally, she wouldn't even consider it. But she was still riding the high of her victory over her oppressors in hand-to-hand combat. She sighed, hooking herself in. "If the cable snaps, I'm gonna tie it around your neck and fucking hang you with it."
Cameron clapped his hands, beaming with excitement. "That's the spirit!"
Octavia tied herself into the harness, feeling her heartbeat quicken a bit as she stood behind Cameron. She had never had a fear of heights, but she was standing on the edge of a pretty big drop with only a partially mangled harness to hold her.
Cameron seemed to pick up on her hesitation, and his expression softened. "You know, you don't have to if you really don't want to."
"No balls," Octavia responded.
Cameron threw his hands up in mock exasperation, chuckling. He attached his hook to the cable, grabbed onto his harness with one hand and lifted both of his feet. The hook rolled against the cable as he slid forward with a metallic rolling sound.
Octavia took a deep breath, fastening her harness, and let herself slide down after him.
The wind rushed past her face as trees whipped by. She bobbed up and down slightly, unable to hold back an excited grin at the thrill of the ride.
She could feel the rattling of metal on metal as she flew past the treeline. She looked down to see the large lake beneath, about the size of a football stadium, maybe a little larger. She looked to her right, seeing camp back at shore, maybe a half a mile away. She wasn't sure.
She looked to her left, and saw what looked like a landfill mixed with a junkyard on the opposite side of the lake. She grimaced, seeing several mountains of trash about the size of a large cabin, much of it floating out from the shore towards the middle of the lake.
As she flew, she spotted movement in the trash heaps. She squinted through the wind, trying to make out what it was, but she just couldn't tell. It was probably just a wild animal.
The sound of her harness snapping, followed by the sudden feeling of plummeting, pulled her attention away.
"Whoa-SHIT! SHIIIIT!" Octavia screamed as she went into free fall, the whole world becoming a blur as she spiraled and flailed. She heard Cameron yell her name, before a wall of water slammed into her back.
For a moment, it felt like she had landed on solid concrete and descended into a cold brown abyss as the sound of rushing water filled her ears. She looked up and through the brown murky water, saw the rippling surface, red sunlight flaring through and reaching down to her.
Octavia kicked her legs and swam through the water, desperately clawing towards the surface. As she rose, it felt like the surface was rising, remaining just out of reach. Her lungs started to burn as her kicks became weaker.
Just a little further…
...
...
...
Her talons pierced the surface as she ripped herself above water, gasping for air. Her mind flooded with ecstasy as her lungs filled and greedily sucked in oxygen.
Octavia looked around, panting as plastic cups, beer cans and soggy paper floated past her. A thin film of sludge seemed to cover the dark water in sparse patches. She would have been disgusted if her heart wasn't busy beating out of her chest.
She saw Camp across the lake, but she was nowhere near it. She knew she couldn't swim that far, and drowning in trash water was out of the question.
She looked behind her, and the landfill was closer. Much closer.
With no other options, she swam for the landfill.
The water became shallow as she approached before eventually becoming shallow enough for her to wade through. She waddled onto the shore, sopping wet. Her clothes clung to her skinny frame, splattering polluted water on the ground.
As her adrenaline wore off, the stink set in. The air was acrid and sour with rust and putrid rot. Once, a servant had forgotten to take out the trash overnight, which Mum had verbally eviscerated him for. The trash-lake shore smelled precisely like that, except there was no escaping the smell. It lingered over everything like a toxic smog.
Her eyes scanned her surroundings. Past the shores in all directions were piles and piles of trash heaps. Each one consisted of paper, wood, plastic, and beer cans. Some of it looked recent, some of it looked like it had been there for a while.
However, upon closer inspection, she noticed very few trash bags. Each pile seemed to be shredded apart. An animal's work, probably.
"Octavia?!" Cameron shouted from a distance. "Where are you? Yell if you're okay!"
Octavia opened her mouth, about to call out for him, but stopped herself. The movement she had seen earlier came to mind. What if it was a wild animal? She had no interest in getting mauled by some junkyard bear.
"Octavia, I'm gonna go get help, hang on!"
Octavia looked back to the swathes of trees where his voice was coming from. It was too far away, she couldn't see him. That definitely meant that he wouldn't be able to see her, nor would her rescue team. She doubted the camp had the budget for a rescue helicopter.
"Octavia?"
Octavia perked up, her head slowly craning behind her. She swore she had heard her name…
"Octavia, are you there?" came Cameron's voice from behind a hill of trash
That wasn't right. Cameron's voice had just been across the lake mere moments ago. And why would he be in the landfill with her? Octavia locked up, her breath catching in her throat.
"I see you! I'm coming for you. Stay there."
The voice had moved. It was now a little further back. It spoke in Cameron's voice but the cadence was off. It spoke with a soft, flat tone that sounded like it was trying to coax a frightened puppy.
Octavia reached out very slowly, picking up a muck-covered beer bottle. She held it by the neck, gripping it tightly as she crept forward.
Shrk shrk shrk!
The sound of rustling trash from around the corner alerted her. She rushed around the pile of garbage, raising her makeshift weapon.
The only thing awaiting her was empty space, and a soda can tumbling down the miniature mountain of trash. She let out a sigh of relief.
Then, a pair of clawed hands grabbed her shoulders.
"BLARGHLEGHLEGH!"
Octavia shrieked and spun around, swinging the bottle with all of the strength she had left in her body. Marbles ducked under her swing and backstepped.
"Whoa, hahaha! Chica loca!" the black cat cackled with glee.
Octavia gawked before crying out in outrage and hurling the bottle at the nearest rock, shattering it. "Are you serious? What is wrong with you?" she scolded, clutching her heart. "Fuck… was that you?"
Marbles nodded, grinning like the cat that caught the rat. He said in Cameron's voice, "Maybe it was," before covering his mouth with one hand. "And hey," the voice suddenly appeared behind her. She whipped around to see nobody there. "Being able to throw your voice is a real cool skill. I gotta put it to use, right?"
Octavia slowly turned back to face him. She already didn't like him; he had a suspicious aura. And as if he weren't insufferable enough, his power as a sinner was the ability to be an obnoxious dickhead. She let out an exasperated sigh. "What do you want, Marbles?"
"Chill, chill. Relájate…" Marbles said soothingly, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was gonna ask if you're good. That fall was real nasty, chica."
Octavia scoffed, turning away. "I'm fine," she said, trying to get a good idea of where she was to escape the landfill and escape Brutus' right-hand cat.
He looked around and frowned. "Where's hombrecito? The lil' man? He's almost always with you."
"He's not here," Octavia sharply replied, crossing her arms. "Why do you ask?"
Marbles shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He forced a smile before taking in a deep breath. "Listen, Brutus and Cameron got some serious beef…" He gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "But that don't mean we gotta be so stiff, you and me."
"You want a truce?" Octavia asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I literally don't know anything about you. You already mean nothing to me." She glanced down at the hand on her shoulder and gave a disapproving look.
Marbles didn't pay her disapproval any mind. "Well, maybe you don't have to think 'nothing' about me…" He gave her a sly wink.
Octavia's distaste turned to indignance, and she swatted the hand off her shoulders. "Are you serious? I already told you to fuck off once!"
Marbles backed off with a cocky smirk. "Hey, repetition is the key to success. Can't blame a guy for trying," he said, shrugging.
"Fuck off. Seriously, dude." Octavia tried to conjure a scowl as nasty as her mother's. The nerve of this asshole! She wasn't a fucking Dowry to be won through trial and error! She already got that treatment from her potential suitors back home. She'd always thought it was a rich person thing to treat girls that way, but Marbles was proving it to be more of just a male thing.
Marbles relented. "Alright, alright." He stepped back, shaking his head as if she was the one in the wrong. "I wasn't here for you anyways; you just happened to…fall right into my lap." He grinned at his choice of words.
Octavia ignored that last part, knowing he was past flirting and was just trying to get a rise out of her to salvage his ego. "So you just go wandering around landfills in your spare time?" Octavia gestured to the mountains of garbage and filth. "Why are you even here? Don't you have a sensitive nose?"
Marbles nodded, walking over to a trash mound and rummaging through it. "I do. But I love the smell of landfills. Can't you just smell the buried treasure?" He shoved the bottles, cups, and cans aside, tossing them over his shoulder. Octavia grimaced, dodging the garbage he recklessly tossed over his shoulder as he scavenged like a raccoon. "I was the same way on Earth, chica. You can find a lotta good shit just lying around. Shit which rich girls like you toss like it ain't nothing."
He stuck his arm into the mound, and his eyes lit up. He pulled his hand out, salvaging a platinum chain necklace with a large, diamond-studded "I 3 Imp City" hanging from it. He put it on and wafted the air towards his nose proudly. "Ahhh, the smell of treasure..." He cleared his throat when he saw his humor wasn't winning Octavia over. "But nah, today I'm looking for something specific."
"I'm not helping you," Octavia immediately said. "Especially if it means dumpster diving. I'm not desperate like you."
For the first time, Octavia saw a flicker of annoyance on Marbles' face. "I wasn't asking for help," he said in a mildly frustrated tone. "I was just gonna say, if you see a pink phone covered in plastic diamonds lying around, gimme a holler."
"Courtney's phone?" Octavia asked, cocking her head. Once again, she was reminded that Courtney's phone was in her pocket. If there was anyone she didn't want finding out about that, Courtney was probably first, but Marbles was a very close second.
Marbles nodded, unaware that the phone was right under his sensitive nose. "Courtney's been looking for a good reason to ditch Brutus once summer camp ends. Imagine it: Courtney's in tears over her missing phone." He puffed up, putting a hand to his chest and raising his chin. "Then I, Prince Marbles, show up on her doorstep with it. I'm hoping she don't leave Brutus on the spot; that'd make things awkward between me and him."
Octavia blinked twice, her mind trying to keep up with what she was hearing. She scoffed, then let out a stunned chuckle. "There's no fucking way. Are you seriously trying to steal your friend's girl? What the fuck is wrong with you? You're an opportunistic asshole." She sneered in disgust at him as he continued landfill-diving. She tucked her hands in her pockets and kicked a can aside. "Also, why ask me out if you're already trying to hook up with Courtney? Pretty much everyone thinks she's better than me."
As soon as she said that, Marbles grinned, and Octavia realized her mistake in giving him an opening. "Don't be so sure of that, chica. I'd pick you over Courtney in a heartbeat. She's got the looks, but you got the bite. I like that kinda shit, y'know? Wouldn't mind settling down with that." He grinned before grimacing and pulling his hand out of the trash. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a tall container of hand sanitizer.
Octavia would have been flattered if she didn't hate the cat so much. From him, it just felt gross. Cameron may have let Marbles' behavior at the campfire slide, but she wouldn't forget the things he said about him. "I'm telling you flat out: We would never work."
"You sure?"
"I would kill you within a week."
"Oh?" he asked with a mischievous smirk. He waggled his eyebrows as he glanced down at her hips. "How would you do it? You don't really have tits, but that's alright, you could always smother me with that culo if you want."
Once again, Octavia could tell he was only half flirting and half trying to piss her off to salvage his own broken ego. It was times like this when she wished she was a dude. "I'd settle for a brick," she mumbled, deciding to ditch the conversation. And while she was at it, she would ditch the pervert asshole.
Despite his jovial protests, she continued marching away from him. She could see the treelines way ahead, though insurmountable piles of garbage lay before her. She didn't know how far the trash maze went, but if she just picked a direction and walked…
Shrk shrk…
Marbles stopped talking, halting dead in his tracks. Octavia froze as well. She turned around to see Marbles looking warily at a large heap of trash. "Brutus?" he called. "Holmes, is that you? Who's there?"
Octavia glared at him. "You're not funny, dude."
"That wasn't me," Marbles quickly said.
"Sure. You know, I might have believed you if you didn't show me you could throw your voice earlier," Octavia said, her annoyance rising. She'd had it with the fucking cat and his games.
"I'm not joking, that wasn't me!"
Shrk-shrkshrk!
The sound of trash rustling had moved to their flanks. This time, Octavia saw an empty pop bottle roll out from behind another pile of rubbish. Whatever retort she had planned on giving, it died in her throat.
Someone, or something, was there.
"H-hello?" Octavia said shakily, a bit more timidly than she would have liked. "Cameron? If you jump out at me or something, I will hit you. I'm not joking."
There was no response. No more movement. Octavia looked over at Marbles, who nodded. He reached into his jacket and pulled something out. It was slim, rectangular, and black. He pressed his thumb on a latch, and a three-inch blade sprung out.
Octavia's eyes widened. "Dude, no," she warned. "What if it's another camper? You can't just stab someone without knowing who it is!"
Marbles looked at her before sighing. "Hey, amigo! If you come at me, I'm stabbing the shit out of you!"
Octavia facepalmed at the genius plan of "stab first, ask questions later." She then recoiled as she realized she'd smeared her face with grime. "Ugh. Let's just go around together. Be careful with that thing."
The two slowly crept around the wall of rubbish. Octavia wasn't entirely sure what she would do if she saw someone on the other side, but she hoped that a scrappy teen like Marbles would keep them from doing anything rash. Though she eyed the knife skeptically, she had to admit it made her feel a little safer knowing someone had a weapon.
Step by step, they rounded the trash pile. Marbles suddenly dashed the final distance, fully encircling the pile and brandishing his knife before pausing. He lowered his blade in confusion. Octavia peeked around him, and she saw… nothing. Nobody was there.
"I see prints." He pointed his knife at the ground, tracing its trajectory. The prints led behind them.
Shrkshrkshrk!
Octavia spun around, expecting to see more landfill where their stalker was slinking around. Instead, as she turned, she found herself face to face with a gigantic insectile visage.
Octavia and Marbles let out shrieks of horror, their bodies jerking back in fear as a monstrous arthropod rose up on two digitigrade legs. Its face bore a striking resemblance to a cockroach, with large, beady black eyes and sharp, clicking mandibles. Below the neck, its humanoid body was encased in a tough, amber-brown exoskeleton with long spindly limbs. The creature stood at a height comparable to that of Brutus.
Octavia stumbled back and fell on her rear as Marbles fled. Octavia saw the creature's attention turn from the cat to herself. As it lay eyes on her, she decided that there was no better time to run as if she was about to be killed. Probably because that was a possible outcome.
The creature let out a raspy squeal before giving chase. Octavia heard the crunching of trash and thumping of clawed feet on mud behind her as she ran. She risked a glance behind her, only to see the insect monster's arms and legs pumping like a marathon runner as it closed the distance.
The haphazardly arranged piles of garbage made for an inconvenient obstacle course that the two campers struggled to pass through, all while the monster moved with natural finesse. It was clear they were on its territory.
Octavia and Marbles bounded over a mangled wooden pallet that obstructed their path. As Octavia's foot made contact with the pallet, the decaying wood gave way. She stumbled and plunged into the muddy ground, feeling the cold, wet earth enveloping her. She caught a fleeting glimpse of Marbles glancing back briefly before continuing on, heading deeper into the landfill, abandoning her to her fate.
Octavia cursed under her breath as she struggled to hoist herself up and staggered forward, her heart pounding in her chest.
The thunderous thuds of approaching footsteps grew nearer and nearer, sending a chill down her spine. As the pursuer closed in, Octavia veered to the left, evading the creature by a hair's breadth. The monster emitted a chittering screech as it attempted to change direction, its massive form clumsily colliding into a barrier of refuse, sending debris flying in all directions.
Octavia sprinted, trying to summon whatever mysterious power her body had conjured up during that wrestling tournament. She begged that crackling feeling to return to her muscles, giving her the power to sprint a little faster.
Yet it would not come. The beast's feet pounded the wet dirt, crushing trash beneath its weight. Octavia realized she would have to improvise fast.
Ahead, she saw a trash can protruding from the bottom of a garbage pile. As she ran past, she grabbed the can and wrenched it loose. The support being pulled from the bottom resulted in a trash landslide that collapsed on the insect as it made a desperate lunge. It was buried under the putrid deluge of rotting compost and loose trash.
Octavia wasted no time, well aware that the creature wouldn't be held back forever, only slowed down. She ran, her feet splashing through puddles and mud.
She reached a flat clearing of muddy ground, surrounded by towering trash walls that stood as if a snow plow had pushed them aside. The large clearing was like a vehicle graveyard, littered with several ruined cars, and at the center stood a large, rusty, decrepit shed.
Octavia heard a roar somewhere behind her. It didn't sound too far away. With her breath renewed, Octavia ran for the shed, weaving through the abandoned cars. The mud was slowing her, clinging to her feet like quicksand with each step. She pushed on, making it to the shed and ripping open the door.
The shed was engulfed in darkness, with only the faint light from the sky filtering through the holes in the corrugated metal roof. She frantically scanned the interior, searching for a place to conceal herself - a cabinet, a table, anything.
Then, her eyes fell upon a group of large metal barrels nestled in the far corner of the shed. It wasn't an ideal hiding spot, but she had no choice.
Racing towards the barrels, she spotted a wooden pallet and swiftly maneuvered it to stand upright, creating a makeshift barrier to prop against the barrels and shield herself from view. She breathed a trembling sigh of relief, turning around and sitting against the wall.
Her wandering gaze then met a pair of green slit eyes across from her.
She jumped slightly, biting back a scream. Marbles looked just as surprised to see her.
Octavia peeked over the barrels, then shot Marbles a glare. "You left me, you piece of shit!" she whispered sharply.
Marbles gave her an annoyed frown. "What, and you'd have saved me if I tripped instead?"
Octavia opened her beak to respond, then closed it. "Fair enough." Her feathers ruffled in annoyance, still unhappy with him.
Marbles raised his hands in exasperation as Octavia hunkered down with him. He shooed his hands at her. "This is my spot to hide! Find your own shed!"
Octavia looked at him in disbelief, fighting the urge to slap him. "What other shed?" she whispered. "This is all there is, you dick!"
"Skreeeee!" A distinctly insectile roar pierced the air, silencing both of them. Heavy footsteps thudded around the shed as the creature moved around the perimeter. Outside, Octavia could hear cars being lifted outside before being dropped, followed by a squeal of outrage each time.
"Fuck, I knew there was a reason this landfill was off limits…" Marbles muttered to himself.
"Quiet," Octavia whispered harshly.
It slowly made its way to the shed, stalking around the metal walls. Octavia could hear it on the other side of the metal wall.
"Kh-k-k-k-k-kh…"
Then, the footsteps ceased, and all went silent. The silence lingered for a minute, then two, and then four. No more sounds could be heard.
Marbles looked at Octavia, fear in his eyes. "Is it gone…?" he asked, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
"How should I know?" Octavia snapped, keeping her tone barely above a whisper.
SMASH!
The wall suddenly shook, and with another deafening strike, the brittle metal walls snapped and caved in, showering the screaming pair with dust and debris. Before them loomed the hulking silhouette of the monster, its shoulders coiled with tension. Its fists clenched as a low, chittering growl rumbled from its chest.
Marbles pointed at Octavia. "She tastes like chicken! Eat her, not me!"
"Asshole!" she yelled at Marbles.
"ENOUGH!" the monster bellowed, its voice booming through the shed.
Marbles and Octavia sat in stunned silence, looking up at the monster. They exchanged wide-eyed glances as if to confirm they weren't hearing things.
The creature growled and, with lightning-fast movements, seized them both by the scruff of their shirts, effortlessly lifting them up and dragging them out of the shed. Not a moment later, the shed groaned and creaked before collapsing in a cloud of dust and metal shards. The clattering and rattling rang through the landfill.
Octavia gasped, looking at the ruined pile of broken sheet metal and cinder blocks, then up at the monster. "You saved us-"
It tossed them towards a ruined car. Octavia hit the mud with a wet splat while Marbles banged into the car's door. Before either of them could stand, the creature was upon them, skittering towards them on its hands and feet like something out of the grudge.
"What are you two doing on my- kh-kh-kh-kh- property?!" It spoke in a harsh, chalky voice that was difficult to distinguish as male or female. Its breath wafted over Octavia and smelled worse than Maxson's. It smelled like compost and week-old trash.
"You can talk?" Octavia stammered in surprise, holding back a gag.
Its head cocked side to side as if trying to inspect Octavia's face from every possible angle. Its mandibles clicked. "The intruder thinks I'm a monster! Not surprising. Still insulting."
"What the fuck are you?!" Marbles blurted out.
The monster growled in annoyance, craning its head to the cat. It reared its head proudly, grinding its mandibles. "I am Hobicksiclax-duuratharix! One of the eldest of my kind and the all-seeing swarm-keeper of these lands! You may call me Hob."
Hob's beady eyes narrowed as it noticed the necklace that Marbles had taken from the landfill. Suddenly, its eyes widened in fury.
"Hrrrngh, you grk-krk-krk-STEAL MY TRASH, CAT THING! Take from my nest?! GIVE IT BACK!" it roared, lunging forward and slamming its hands on the car, making it rock back as it leaned over Marbles. Marbles yelped in fear as Hob brought its face inches away from him.
Hob sniffed the air, seeming to catch a scent. Its expression softened. "No, no…" Hob slowly backed away, shaking its head. "You bring me offerings. Gifts! For me?"
Behind his fearful expression, Marbles gave a puzzled look. "Uh, what-
"Do not lie to me, cat thing!" Hob snapped, slamming its fist into the ground with thunderous thuds. "You have it! My eyes see everything in these woods! I can smell it on your hands! Give it to me, or I will eat your toes!"
Marbles pressed himself against the car door as if he wanted to vanish into it. "I don't know what you're talking about!" he stammered desperately.
Hob bellowed in fury. "The cleansing ointment!"
The cat's eyes widened, and he swiftly reached behind him. Hob observed him cautiously yet eagerly as he produced a large container of hand sanitizer. "Do you mean the-"
Hob snatched the bottle out of his hands with astonishing speed, moving like a blur. Holding the store-brand sanitizer up to the sunlight, it examined it like a fine bottle of wine. A mildly displeased hum escaped Hob.
"Almost full. This will do," Hob declared, its voice crackling. It glared at Marbles. "Next time, bring full, or don't come at all! You may keep the shiny, but not one more!"
Octavia mustered all of her past experience in sneaking away from the dinner table, using it to try to creep away while the monstrosity lectured Marbles on the harms of petty theft.
Unfortunately, Hob was much more attuned to its surroundings than her father. Without even breaking eye contact with Marbles, it pointed at Octavia. "You! Bird thing! Stay put! Need to talk!"
Octavia stopped dead in her tracks, nodding. "Okay, okay," she said placatingly, not wanting to piss off the strange thing.
It grabbed Marbles by the scruff of his neck, ignoring his protests, and carried him over to Octavia. "Kh-kh-kh-kh…" it chittered angrily with fists clenched as it dropped the cat at Octavia's feet. "Stupid bird swims in foul, tainted water. Do you not know what's in there? I have seen what lurks about in the waters of Deadwood."
Octavia shuddered, dreading to imagine the giant monsters hiding out under the surface of the lake. "What's in the lake?"
"Tampons," Hob growled with all the seriousness of a war general.
Octavia blinked in bemusement. "Besides trash?"
Hob's mandibles clicked aggressively. "Grrr-kh-kh-kh-kh… Not trash! Dangerous!" it said. "What if the user has Aids? You swim in Aids water; now you also have Aids!"
Octavia rubbed her face. "That's… just not how it works."
Hob threw its hands up in exasperation. "It doesn't matter! Thousands of diseases in the water! And if you get sick or hurt, I get blamed!" Its hands fell to its sides, its insectile tone becoming dejected. It brought its large hands to its head and began smacking its skull. "I always get blamed for everything. Sickness, injury, death! I never killed anyone!"
"Alright, we believe you! Right, Marbles?" Octavia said, raising her hands in a soothing gesture as she looked to Marbles. The shaken camper nodded frantically, though they both had their reservations.
Hob cocked its head at her appraisingly. Its shoulders then relaxed slightly. Its voice lowered to a softer tone. "I have lived in these forests for centuries," it said, which Octavia and Marbles both went slack-jawed over. "In the past decades, I have been hunted by campers and counselors alike.
Marbles stammered nervously, "You're the Deadwood Monster? You're real?!" He groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck, wincing in pain. "Please tell me everything they say about you is fake!"
The tension returned to Hob as it stiffened up defensively. "I have been accused of many things. Eating campers, sacrificing campers to blood gods, implanting parasites into campers, and far more." It shuffled away from the two campers, approaching a small heap of trash and grabbing loose garbage. It began stacking trash onto the heap. "I do not care for your bodies; they serve no purpose to me," it growled. "I only care to tend to my home." As it finished stacking nearby trash into a new small pile, it held up the hand sanitizer and squirted some onto its large, clawed hands. It slathered itself, rubbing its hands together like a fly.
"Alright, sir," Octavia said before looking him… it? Before looking them up and down. "Sir, ma'am, whatever you are, are you even supposed to be here? I thought this landfill was part of Deadwood."
Hob growled. "Brh-r-r-ragh! Festering campers!" It aggressively squirted more hand sanitizer on its hands, slathering it over its arms. "You come onto MY land, skinny dip in the tainted river at night, then ask ME if I should be here? The lake was tainted even before your kind came here!" Hob filled its hands with two hand sanitizer pumps, smearing them over its chest and abdomen.
Octavia gave a sharp, confused look. "Why are you watching high schoolers skinny dipping from across the lake? And you never answered my question! Are you even allowed to be here?"
Hob squirted three pumps of hand sanitizer into its mouth, shuddering with delight.
Marbles looked on in horror. "Oh my god," he mumbled. "Jesus Christ."
Octavia shook her head at the bug's antics. "Alright, well, I don't do skinny dipping. I didn't even want to go swimming today."
Hob gave her an unconvinced look before swishing the hand sanitizer in its mouth like mouthwash. That was a bit too much, even for Octavia. "Can you not fucking do that?" she snapped, before realizing that she didn't need to be here. "Look, we're just gonna go now."
Hob spat out the hand sanitizer onto the ground. "Wait! Bird thing!" it called out, approaching Octavia. Its expression darkened, mandibles clicking. "I have a bad feeling this season. Dark times, strange times, dangerous times are coming."
Hob held out its hand, and a small bug flew onto it. He gently caressed its back. "My swarm sees dark shadows looming in the deep woods. They creep closer to us. Something is happening." Its tone became more frenetic and worried. "You need to go." Hob shook its head before suddenly standing at full height on full alert. "You need to leave! Leave this place while you still can! Leave and never return!" it yelled.
Octavia and Marbles both stumbled back as the insect monster growled, glaring at them. "LEAVE! GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!"
Marbles and Octavia practically shoved each other out the way as they ran. This time, Hob did not chase. It merely kept screaming, its voice sounding more distressed than angry. "Run! RUN AWAY! YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT HUNTS YOU ALL!"
They sprinted out of his sight towards the woods. Octavia didn't need to be told twice by the bug. They finally came across the edge of the landfill where trash met tree, and none too soon. Hob's voice rolled across the landfill. "STAY OUT OF THE DEEP WOODS!" it cried.
"Fucking shit, I hate this place!" Octavia cursed, stumbling over a tree stump. Octavia and Marbles sprinted through the dense, ancient forest, their lungs burning and hearts pounding as they dodged around towering trees and leaped over fallen logs. The ground was littered with a colorful carpet of leaves and pine needles that crackled and rustled beneath their feet.
Octavia risked a quick glance over her shoulder, her chest tightening with fear, but to her relief, she saw no sign of the monstrous, bipedal bug creature that had been pursuing them. It seemed Hob had stayed behind in his dark, forbidding nest.
Thump!
She suddenly collided with something firm and fell to the forest floor. She looked up to see head counselor Cole, standing above her with his arms crossed. He was flanked by Coach and Maxson, both wearing disappointed glares.
Octavia opened her mouth, preparing some line of excuses, but Counselor Cole merely rose a hand and shook his head.
"Young lady," he started, his voice flat. "You are taking a bath, then reporting to my office. You have one hour."