“Push it Hinklebottom, go deep,” Falreath yelled as his chauffeur and bodyguard struggled to lift the bar, weighted down considerably. “Final rep!” He continued his encouragement as the man brought the bar once again to his chest. One final push and Hinklebottom racked the weight.

“Alright, my go.” Falreath said as he tapped Hinklebottom’s shoulder. The lean muscled man exhaled as he rolled off the bench onto his feet. He looked at the rack for a moment before he lifted the two extra weights for Falreath’s set.

“Are you sure you should be lifting today?” Hinklebottom asked as he secured the weights on the bar. “Aren’t you planning to go to practice?”

“ehh,” Falreath replied as he slid onto the bench. “It’s preseason, not like I’m going to be doing anything.” His hands wrapped around the bar and lifted. He proceeded to burn through his ten reps like they were nothing. “Besides it is a light day and I’m in top form.”

“gah, I can see that,” Hinklebottom answered as his body slumped a bit. He slowly slid the extra weights off his side of the bar. “You're going to kill me at the rate you’re going.”

“Who was the one who said they were going to overtake me?” Falreath asked as he pulled the weights off his side. “It’s not like I’ve made too many gains over these years.”

“As if benching over twice your weight isn’t an accomplishment already,” Hinklebottom mumbled as he slid onto the bench. “I don’t know what I was thinking, issuing that challenge.”

The bar was up, and the small talk faded once more. The two men focused on the task before them. Though Hinklebottom started off strong, he again started to struggle towards the latter end of the set.

“I don’t think so Hinklebottom,” Falreath yelled as the man’s arms started to shake and the bar slowed in its climb.

Falreath felt his body tingle as his mindset shifted. His heartbeat was steady as his lungs expanded for the next breath.

“You will lift that!” he screamed, his body reverbing from the effort. Hinklebottom’s arms steadied and thrust the weight up.

It peaked for neigh a second before it dropped to hit once again, bouncing off his chest. The man moved as if he had just started the set, the weights flowing through the air in rhythm.

Hinklebottom racked the weights once again and rolled to his feet. “That second wind was amazing,” he said, nearly shouting. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet as he placed the weights back on for Falreath.

“I can see that,” Falreath said a bit surprised as he let out another breath to center himself.

Hinklebottom’s effort seemed to fatigue Falreath slightly, though not enough that he couldn’t easily continue. He slid onto the bench and prepared himself for the twelve reps that would follow.

The room lit up as the sun continued to rise higher in the sky, the two men running through their Monday workout.

“I’ll need to head out in an hour,” Falreath said to Hinklebottom as he looked towards the clock on the wall. “So, do what you need to, to make yourself presentable.”

“Understood,” Hinklebottom replied as his tone shifted.

His form went from friendly to business in a matter of a second.

“See you in forty,” The heels clicked as the man made a crisp turn and walked from the weight room.

Farleath knew he was going to his quarters to shower and change, something Falreath himself would need to do. With that in mind, he moved to prepare himself for practice.

***

Eldridge’s hand glided across the trim towards the kitchen window. There was clearly wear on it from the years, yet none of them had that new gouge shine to them. That said a lot but was not definitive. He let out a sigh as he stepped back from the window and went for the porch.

There had been little Eldridge could gleam from the perimeter. Though the ground was still soft, there was little in the way of tracks given most of the house was surrounded in grass. The outside of the house didn’t have a crawl space access like he had suspected, though it did have some damaged vents. Nothing a man could enter though, at least no grown man.

“Well, you want to look in the attic next?” Byung asked in a gruff tone as he stood in the front doorway. “Or perhaps the upstairs bathroom. I mean you never know right.”

Eldridge laughed slightly before he spoke. “No, I think I’ve seen all I need to at this moment. I have your number should I think of anything else.”

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Byung nodded his head before he closed his door, followed by an audible sound of a bolt sliding in place. Eldridge sighed before he turned back towards his jeep. This case grew odder by the moment.

Byung, an advertising representative of a Vegas company, one Eldridge would have to investigate when he got back to the station, had his company laptop stolen within the week of him coming to town. At first glance this seems like corporate sabotage, and most likely it will be that. Eldridge’s instincts, however, told him there was something deeper.

If he was one to trust his friend C, then one must always trust their instincts. A soft rustle caught Eldridge’s attention and drew his head towards his left. On reflex he rolled at a diagonal as three deer charged towards him. Threading the needle between them he managed to roll to his knees with his hand going to his side arm on instinct. Not that the deer would be much of a threat now that they’ve run past him.

Surprised, Eldridge stared for an instant as the three deer turned so suddenly that they created some decent divots in the grass. The next moment saw them starting to charge once again at him. His training drove him to act, he charged towards his jeep as he pulled out his side arm and fired four shots aimed at the knee of the lead deer. He took in the ricochets and blood, unsure if his hits did any real damage.

Eventually, the lead deer tumbled as it tried to put weight on the damaged leg. The other two, however, were still rushing towards Eldridge. Eldridge spun on his right foot, as the deer on the right was about to impact him. Unfortunately, it hit him, still, he had managed to transform it into a glancing blow. He stumbled towards his jeep and steadied himself with his hands. Pivoting he saw the dear that didn’t hit him making its way towards him.

Through training alone, Eldridge steadied his aim and shot towards the deer’s face. He was taking no chances on this creature. The shots mostly hit true, almost blasting the lower part of the creature’s jaw off. The remainder bounced off the creature’s forehead.

“What is with these?” Eldridge asked himself as he unloaded another burst into the creature.

“Xenoid Nepo.” He heard in his mind.

The voice had a familiar sense to it which caused him to pause for a second. In that moment he felt the air burst from his lungs as a force slammed into him from the side. The world spun as he tumbled on the ground. His eyes finally stopped on the clouded sky above him.

“If you’re there, can’t you help?” He asked as he struggled through the pain.

He honestly wasn’t expecting much, mostly trying to distract himself from the burning in his lungs. His eyes locked onto the deer that hit him, its kneecap bloody.

“Strong hunt, Weak, No Interest” The feminine voice said into his mind.

Either he is going crazy, still on those drugs, or there very well might be something to that night.

“What does that even mean!” Eldridge screamed in frustration as he saw the deer charging at him. “Come on, just help me somehow.”

For all he knew this was another illusion of his mind, but he couldn’t act that way. His hand flung round to point his side arm at this foe. The body of the creature glowed in a bright light as it closed the distance.

The knee of it visibly healed as it now sped up from having all its limbs at its service. “Unable.” Eldridge heard as he wildly fired off a few shots.

His chest once again erupted in pain as hooves slammed center mass. He felt that familiar feeling, the one as air left his lungs and some of his ribs cracked. He was doubly glad he had body armor, as without it, the damage would most likely be far worse.

***

Byung closed, locked the door, and turned towards the window to watch the man walk towards his vehicle. Though he called the cops, he was still wary of them searching his house. He was a man that valued his privacy, something he didn’t get readily in Vegas.

He turned towards his kitchen, the officer clearly was leaving and there was no point in him being overly paranoid. He made it about ten steps when gun fire echoed through his living room. “What the…” He muttered as he spun and ran back to his front window. Before his eyes were three deer charging towards the detective. Well two now, one of them was tumbling onto the ground.

Byung did what any sane man would do at that point. He pulled out his phone and shook it twice which brought up the camera feature. An instant later, Byung began to film the scene before his eyes. This would surely get him some karma online. He watched as the detective dodged another attack, shooting off the face of that deer.

This is quite the attack, and from deer no less. His mind thought.

The detective was handling himself quite well. Far better than one might expect in such a situation. “oof,” He mumbled as the detective was tackled from the side.

As he saw the deer begin to charge, Byung realized he probably should help. He kept the camera filming as his head darted side to side looking for a weapon of any kind.

A flash of light drew his attention as he saw what could only be described as a faded laser hitting the deer as it was almost on top of the detective. His camera fell at that point as he rushed towards the door. Not because of the trick of the light but because he saw the beast rising into the air to stomp on the man.

He grabbed an umbrella near the door and slammed it open. “Yeaagag,” Byung screamed as he waved and opened and closed the device. He hoped it might scare off the beasts like that scene from Indy or at the very least distract them long enough for the detective to get a few more shots off.

Byung watched the uninjured deer dart off toward the forest, so at the very least he managed to help. His concern, however, were the two that stayed. Mainly the one that was preparing itself for another set of stomps.

He raced toward the creature hoping at the very least to tackle it while it focused on the detective. Shots rang out as he saw the detective empty his clip, or was it magazine, into the creature.

He saw the magazine fall out of the pistol an instant before the deer fell limp onto the detective. His mind turned towards the last remaining threat. The creature’s jaw had fallen off and it was bleeding heavily from said wound. It likewise turned towards Byung. He prepared his only weapon, his umbrella.

The beast took two steps before it fell to the side limp. A sigh fell from Byung as he dropped his umbrella. His glance drifted towards the detective who was in the middle of bench pressing the deer off his chest.