As soon as his mouth shut, they both heard a low growl that seemed to be boiling inside the throat of whoever was menacing them in the shadows. It made George shiver violently as if his body was instinctively reacting to it. The growl ended in some struggled noise as if saliva was so abundant that it flooded the sound itself. What the hell could make that noise?

He took a step back into the shop, rising panic making him struggle to breathe properly. He grabbed Ashley’s wrist, tugging him towards him.

“Guys!” he whispered-yelled, not daring to turn on his flashlight.

“What.”

Chris flashed the two friends, making them wince as they closed their eyes.

“Turn off the light Chris!” he hissed. “Something’s outside!”

His announcement was met by complete silence, all the flashlights suddenly turned off. He kept his hand on Ashley, trying as best as he could to navigate into the shop without bumping into something or stepping on broken glass.

“What kind of thing?” whispered Eliott, grabbing his best-friend by the arm to bring him closer.

“Not human, for sure. It was growling like a wild b-”

He never had the time to finish what he wanted to say. The shop’s roof cracked abruptly as if something had jumped on it, and they all froze.

A beastly scream filled their ears, throaty, high-pitched, not unlike a scream that George had heard dozen of times on Bloodborne. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. What could make that awful sound?

“It’s not what we’ve seen earlier.”

Ridox’s voice was filled with anxiety. It did not reassure the streamer who winced as the beast above them made the roof crack another time. The building was going to collapse on them. Why Signe didn’t tell them what kind of monster they would have to deal with?! This was a fucking nightmare. There was no way they could kill that thing. To the sound of it, it was probably two or three times bigger than them.

“What do we do??” panicked Ezra as bits of the ceiling fell onto them.

“We get the fuck out of that place before getting buried alive.”

Ridox cocked her shotgun and George heard Chris do the same. They were going to shoot that thing? That was a really bad idea. Like the worst one they ever had, and they had just robbed a shop.

And just as he thought things couldn’t get worse, the thing laughed. It was not a beastly laugh, something that could be in the theme of the howls. No, it was a human laugh, a deranged one. It sounded like a woman. Ashley’s grip tightened on his hand and they did not hesitate any further. They sprinted towards the door, their heavy breaths and the sound of their steps echoing in their ears, as loud as their hearts hammering in their chests.

Pure terror washed over them as they reached the door and the ceiling suddenly gave in, collapsing violently right behind them, plunging their environment into a dusty cloud. Thankfully for them, nothing exploded, not that George thought otherwise… no… no. Absolutely not. But that was not a thought that lingered on his mind for more than two seconds. Eliott through the streamer on the ground, his best-friend instinctively protecting him.

George winced when his chin hit the ground, sending a bolt of pain inside his jaw. He grimaced, slowly rising on his elbows to look around. And it would have been a great idea if the lampposts around them did not break as the building collapsed.

He managed to grab his flashlight and turn it off, not wanting the creature to find them if it could see them. But his mind was racing. It was first of all processing the fact that there was a threat, right here, probably wanting to tear them apart. It was also processing the fact that this said threat was not human. And this information had some trouble being heard loud and clear.

“What do we do??” whispered-yelled Ezra, on George’s left. “We can’t fight that, can we?”

“No we can’t,” answered Ridox. “But I think that this thing is blind…”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t know that Chris, I deduced it,” she sighed. “That thing probably did not exist yesterday, right? So it never experienced sunlight, only pure darkness. Its eyes must be pretty useless right?”

George sighed. This was a good theory but she was omitting the fact that some creatures had a sort of night vision. Like cats.

“Let’s not assume it’s blind,” he answered, pushing Eliott off him. “And just get home.”

He slowly rose up, his shaky knees barely supporting his body. Instinctively, he looked around, not really expecting to see anything but his eyes met the worst eldritch nightmare he could ever imagine. And he was a big fan of the Lovecraftian universe, he knew some terrible things.

The creature seemed to glow slightly in the dark, like those plastic phosphorescent stars you could stick on your walls. It emitted a pale greenish light that spread unevenly on its body, probably following the veins under the skin. George could not see which color was its skin, everything looked grey with that light.

It was a beast. It definitely looked like some sort of animal, a disgusting mix between a wolf and a deer, with six long slender legs that looked like there was no flesh on it, some filthy hairs just hanging from it like nightmarish dreadlocks. Six legs were a thing but the paws were another thing. And George had not dared to look at the rest yet.

The beast had three long cat-like claws at the end of each leg, the only difference with a cat was that it had only claws and that those said claws were as long as his arms. It would rip him apart in an instant. The body was skeletal, with the dim light, George could grasp bits of really disgusting fur. It seemed sticky, but nothing natural, like some liquid, had merged with it to form gross tuffs. The creature had a long bone like tail that was almost not perceptible, only visible when it moved.

And the head. It was probably what frightened George the most. It was not really a head but a human torso attached by what looked like tenders to the rest of the beast. It was headless even though the streamer felt that it was looking right at them. And a second later, the creature indeed did.

Piercing the darkness, two glowing eyes appeared staring down at them. It was the signal. Without saying anything they all rushed to the exit of the parking, followed by heavy footsteps. Too late for the stealth, thought George, dashing in the empty street. If they didn’t run, they would die instantly. And that would be a shame. They instinctively divided into small groups, running in the streets that were still enlightened by the lampposts. Eliott, obviously, was with him. They could not run to their house, it was too far and if the creature followed them here, they would be, once again, super dead.

No. They had to find a hiding spot, somewhere that a big monster like that could never reach.

George glanced over his shoulder and froze. The beast was not behind them. It was following Ashley and Ridox.

“Fuck! What do we do??”

“Maybe if we shoot it…?”

Eliott frowned, looking right into his eyes.

“You are normally a pussy and now you want to shoot a big fucking monster? Have you hit your head?”

George rolled his eyes, taking out his handgun. He reloaded it, not really knowing how to do it, and cocked it.

“Their lives are at stake. I can’t be a pussy all my life.”

Eliott said nothing but he cocked his gun, stepping closer to him.

“Do you know how to aim?”

“No, but I’ll find out.”

“Beware of the recoil. Even if it’s gonna be lighter on your weapon, think about it.”

“How could I miss such a big thing?”

He missed. Two times. And if he was honest with himself, he was probably too far from the said thing to even scratch it. Eliott, who had also taken a shotgun, shot the beast in the leg then in the hindquarters. The beast let out a painful screech that made them both flinch. The sound was horrible, so high-pitched that it seemed like it could make your head explode.

The monster turned his glare onto them and howled again. Now George could see his mouth. And he instantly regretted that.

The beast had a head. But not in the place the streamer expected it. The human torso was not attached in the right way. The head was hanging downward, its terrifying eyes rolling in their sockets as if they had a life of themselves.

Disgusting. Its mouth was dripping with saliva, the liquid rolling down in the eyes before dripping into the translucent hair it had. That was gross. Terrifying but mostly gross.

“Now it’s time to run.”

They ran away as soon as they saw the beast prepare to jump, running as fast as possible. But outrunning a beast this size was a lost cause. Even more, now that it was injured. It was literally dripping with anger, the beast drooling pools of saliva mixed with blood.

They were going to die. It was ineffable at this point. Destiny was onto their ass and it would be damned if it did not eat it. Eliott yanked George aside and they plunged into a hedge, the pointy twigs scratching their clothes and face as they tried to go through it.

George heard the ground vibrate under the beast’s steps and he immediately stopped his friend, putting his clothed hand on his mouth to make him silent. The beast continued to chase what it thought was them, leaving the duo silent in the bushes.

Then they heard it. The most annoying and rubbish car horn he had ever heard followed by the screeching of the tires on the road, music blasting through the windows. George frowned. Were they trying to attract the beast?

Peeking out of his hiding spot, he saw the headlights of the van before seeing who was inside. The beast attacked quickly, not waiting any longer to identify its next meal. What for, it was going to end in its stomach nonetheless. At least that’s what George thought before he heard the first gunshots resonate.

The beast screamed in pain as the bullets hit it, blood slowly starting to pour on the ground as each shot found their target. Music still blasting, the car stopped and the doors opened, letting two people get out of the cockpit, gun in hands. The driver, who had similarly the same driving style as Ridox, was a young woman with bright green hair cut in a mullet wearing a long flower-patterned skirt, a blue and yellow puffy jacket, long yellow socks in combat boots, and a black beanie. That was surely the most colorful combat outfit George had ever seen. She was holding a shotgun and had another one suspended in her back like she was carrying nothing more than a harmless bag.

Her companion, a young man with short dark hair, looked like a teacher, wearing a tartan sweater under a long dark jacket with straight back pants. He had a well-groomed mustache that curled up at the extremities and was holding, like his friend, a shotgun.

Strangely, George felt safe watching this unusual duo walking toward the beast who was now backing up. But it did not go any farther, Chris and Ezra showing up behind it, shooting some more bullets that plunged deeply in its flesh.

50 cents still blasting through the van speakers, they finished the job with some more bullets, gaining confidence as the monster fell to the ground.

“Die motherfucker!” roared the young woman with the mullet. “That’ll teach you to not kill my friends!”

Hatred was dripping from her voice, giving her a snake-like tone. She kicked the carcass, tainting her skirt with the blood but seemed not to care, turning around to face the group that was slowly forming behind her. George gestured to Eliott to follow him and they got out from the hedge, jogging to join their friends.

Chris and Ezra seemed to be fine, both checking if their weapons were still working properly. Ridox and Ashley had joined them, looking a bit distressed but nothing more. Maybe some scratches here and there but nothing serious.

“Well, if this isn’t a delightful sight!” exclaimed their savior. She grinned wildly, all traces of hatred vanished. “Aren’t you a group of lucky dudes? Pleasure to meet ya, I’m Solaire, and this is my friend Lewis.”

Solaire extended her hand, her bright smile never leaving her lips.

“How about we team up, uh?”