Van made his way through the crowded hallway, scanning his surroundings for his locker. As he picked up his books and left unnecessary items, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned at once to see Kate standing with a smile on her face.

“Hey there,” she said.

Van gave a polite nod. “Hello.”

Kate stepped closer. “What’s up with ‘hello’? Do you have any other words in your vocabulary?”

Van shrugged. “Not really. Sorry.”

Kate’s smile grew wider. “Well, maybe you should start complimenting me or asking me to hang out after class.”

Van hesitated. He wasn’t interested in Kate, but he didn’t want to be rude either. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got a lot of assignments to take care of. Maybe some other time.”

Kate’s smile faltered for a moment, but then she recovered. “Okay, no problem. Good luck with your work.”

Van nodded and turned to walk away, but he could feel Kate’s eyes on him as he left.

As Van settled into his seat in biology class, he was relieved to see that Kate was nowhere near. He listened attentively as the teacher introduced herself and began the day’s lesson on cells. When class ended, Van gathered his things and prepared to leave, but the teacher called out his name.

“Mister Koelson? Mister Spotsman wants to see you. Please go to the faculty.”

Van briefly felt a jolt in his stomach as he made his way to the faculty office. Something that he was aware of and associated with something bad must have happened. Regardless, he ignored it as it passed quickly. He knocked on the door and was greeted by several teachers, including Mr. Waldon, the school’s athletic director.

“Ah, Mister Koelson, please come in and have a seat,” Mr. Waldon said, gesturing to a chair.

Van sat down nervously, wondering what this was all about.

“Have you considered joining any clubs or sports?” Mr. Waldon asked.

Van shook his head. “No, I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Well, I think you should. You’ve got a lot of potential, and we could really use someone with your skills for the upcoming regional contest.”

Van was surprised that the teacher thought he had something to offer. “What skills are you talking about?”

Mr. Waldon smiled. “Well, let’s just say that I see a lot of myself in you. When I was your age, I was shy and didn’t have much confidence. But when I started playing basketball, everything changed. Suddenly, I had fans and attention from all kinds of people. It was a real boost to my self-esteem.”

Van considered this for a moment. He won’t deny that he was interested in sports but he never really pursued them seriously. “I’ll think about it,”

“Great!” Mr. Waldon said, clapping him on the back. “I think you’ll find it’s a great way to meet people and develop your skills. And who knows, you might even become a star.”

Van left the faculty office feeling both nervous and excited. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for the attention that would come with joining a sports team, but he couldn’t deny that the idea intrigued him.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

***

Gilt decided to take a walk through a familiar route in the forest at eleven in the evening. His objective was to investigate the forest where most of the victims was found. The air was chilly, and the ground was soft under his boots as he ventured deeper into the woods. The trees were tall, and the branches were bare, casting eerie shadows on the path ahead. Gilt’s heart pounded in his chest as he listened to the rustling of leaves and the howling of the wind.

As he walked, he heard several footsteps and laughed not too far away from him. Gilt felt the need to see what those people could do in the middle of the night. Not too long he saw the fire, crackling and trailing smoke to the sky. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, and a thick haze filled up the entire place. Gilt sensed that something must have happened to the couple he saw earlier, but he couldn’t see anything due to the haze.

It all happened in a blink of an eye.

One of the gang members rose, questioning the cause of the sudden change of vision. Brandon, one of the gang members, was attacked by an unknown figure while taking a leak near the car. Before he could wake up the others, the figure killed him by lunging its claws to his throat. With the unfortunate luck, someone woke up by the scream and managed to wake up the sleeping people. They ran to the car, and as they tried to drive away, the monster attacked them, causing them to crash into a tree. Killing most of the gang.

Gilt knew by then that the monster was up to no good. He broke a part of the wood and fashioned it into a stake. The two remaining gang members were killed, and the girl managed to escape and run for help. The monster was about to catch up with the woman, but Gilt struck a stake in the monster’s stomach. Gilt pulled out the stake and kicked the monster’s torso.

“Oh no, you don’t. It’s just gonna be you—” Gilt said, also looking behind, talking to the monster who caused this “and me.” With that, a smirk was written on his face. Gilt pulled out the stake and kicked the monster’s torso.

The monster growled as it spread his devilish wings, and Gilt noticed the blood-drenched flesh on its mouth, its red eyes, and the twisted devilish horns on its forehead. The monster snarled, its tongue showing an excessive secretion of saliva, and charged toward Gilt. Gilt evaded it quickly by rolling sideways and aimed at its torso with the stake, but it wasn't deep enough. The monster lunged towards Gilt with its claws, and Gilt managed to evade it, scraping his shirt in the process.

Gilt tried to put some distance between himself and the monster and aimed for its wings. He threw his stake into the monster’s wings and succeeded in pissing it off. The monster grabbed Gilt by the neck, but he couldn’t be killed by choking, being undead. Gilt struggled, feeling the monster’s grip tighten around his neck.

He was confident with his regenerative prowess, not until the monster did something unusual. The monster’s mouth opened wide and leaned closer to his face, he could smell the foul and stinking odor from it, but that was the least of his worries. The monster’s eyes began to emit light, and the same happened to its mouth. Gilt felt a burning sensation erupted inside of him. Gilt pulled the stake out of his back and stabbed it into the monster’s jaw, piercing through its brain.

As soon as the gripped loosen and the monster was croaking for its dear life, Gilt ran, struggling to compose himself, knowing somehow he managed to escape the monster, but luck was on the creature’s side. Gilt could hear the monster’s familiar growl as he went on, ignoring the tendrils of trees that were cascading his presence from the monster. He was relieved that he survived the encounter.

As Gilt made his way out of the forest, he stumbled upon the girl who had escaped earlier. She was frantic and out of breath.

“H-help. Please. There’s a monster…”

“I know, I just took care of it,” Gilt said and nodded. The blood and scrapes caught her attention.

“Did you kill it?” she asked, disbelief written all over her face.

Gilt nodded again, “Yes, I did. But we needed to get out of there and report this to the authorities.”

The girl looked at him skeptically, “How do I know you’re not the monster?”

Gilt chuckled, “Well, I don’t think the monster would have just saved your life, would it?”

The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. Gilt led her out of the forest.

As they waited for the authorities to arrive, the girl turned to Gilt, “I owe you my life. Thank you.”

Gilt shrugged, “No worries.” Then he moved with incredible speed a short distance to her. His eyes lured hers. “But you won’t remember what you saw tonight. You’re going to tell the authorities that you were high, and you thought you saw a monster, but it was just a bear. Also, stay in school. Don’t do dumb things like going out at night or taking any drugs. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded.

Gilt smiled. “Good.”