Chapter 116 116 : Wrong Opponent
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*****
Night wrapped the cabin in fog. The trees creaked softly as something moved deeper in the woods.
Selene stood a few steps from the porch, both pistols raised, arms steady. Her eyes swept the treeline without blinking.
Next to her, Wednesday held the chainsaw in both hands. The machine rested quietly against her leg, but her grip on it was firm.
Inside the cabin, Ash cracked the dusty window open and leaned out.
He stared at the two girls standing outside like they were waiting for a monster to show up.
"Umm… need a hand?" Ash asked.
"No," Wednesday said without turning. "It has been a long time since I dissected a body. This will be a good opportunity."
Ash blinked slowly.
"…Okay."
Selene didn't react. Her guns stayed trained on the forest.
Wednesday pulled the starter cord.
RRRRRRAAAAHHHHHHHHH—
The chainsaw roared to life, the engine screaming as the chain spun around the blade.
The sound ripped through the quiet night.
Something dragged itself out of the trees.
A twisted mass crawled across the dirt, its limbs bent wrong, flesh hanging loose. Several faces were fused into its torso, their mouths twitching as they whispered.
Its head lifted.
Dead eyes locked on them.
The thing screamed and lunged forward.
Selene fired instantly.
Two gunshots cracked through the fog.
The bullets punched into the creature's chest, tearing holes through rotten flesh. Black blood splattered the dirt, but the thing kept coming, claws digging into the ground as it dragged itself closer.
Wednesday stepped forward.
The spinning teeth of the chainsaw screamed through the air.
The blade met flesh with a wet grinding sound.
The chainsaw tore into the creature's shoulder as Wednesday calmly pushed the saw deeper, the blade chewing through muscle and bone. Black blood sprayed everywhere while the machine howled.
The creature shrieked.
Multiple voices screamed at once.
"JOIN US—!"
Selene fired again.
Three more shots slammed into the creature, forcing it backward as its body jerked violently with each impact.
Still it crawled forward.
Wednesday pulled the chainsaw free, the engine growling in her hands as the creature lunged and tried to grab her, but she simply raised the saw and brought it down.
The blade tore through its arm and the severed limb spun through the air before landing in the clearing.
The monster howled again, its twisted faces crying and laughing at the same time.
"JOIN US—BE FREE—!"
Wednesday didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
The chainsaw chewed through another limb as the creature thrashed helplessly.
Selene lowered her pistols slightly as the thing collapsed in the dirt, its body shredded but still twitching.
Several mouths on its torso continued whispering.
"Join us… be free from your mortal shell…"
Wednesday calmly lifted the chainsaw.
The engine screamed louder.
Then she drove it straight down into the center of the creature.
The blade tore through the rest of the body as flesh and black blood exploded across the ground. The monster shrieked louder and louder until the scream broke into wet gurgling noises.
A moment later the thing was nothing but pieces.
Wednesday released the throttle.
The chainsaw dropped to a low idle.
Selene looked down at the shredded remains.
Then at Wednesday holding the saw.
"You seem good at this," Selene said.
Wednesday wiped a drop of blood from her cheek.
"It's mostly technique."
The chainsaw idled in Wednesday's hands while the remains of the creature twitched weakly in the dirt. Black blood seeped through the soil, and several pieces of flesh still moved as if the body had not fully accepted that it was already dead.
One of the severed heads rolled slightly.
Its jaw creaked open with a dry cracking sound, and its ruined eyes shifted toward Wednesday.
"You don't know…" it rasped slowly. "Your companion has already fallen to us… you can't see him… again…"
Dark blood bubbled from the corner of its mouth.
Then it began laughing.
The sound was thin and broken, a distorted imitation of human laughter that echoed weakly through the fog.
"Hah… hahah… hah…"
The creature seemed to expect fear.
Or shock.
Or panic.
Wednesday looked down at the head without changing her expression. The chainsaw in her hands vibrated steadily.
"You're not very good at acting," she said calmly.
"Even the soap operas my father watches have better performances than this."
The severed head continued its ugly laughter, the sound thin and wet as black blood bubbled from its mouth.
"You will break… your friend already screams for us…"
"You are attempting psychological intimidation," Wednesday said calmly. "It might have been more convincing if you weren't missing eighty percent of your anatomy. And the idea of Ethan being scared of you is frankly laughable."
"Unfortunately for you, he finds this sort of thing entertaining, and between the two of you, he is very clearly the more sadistic one."
The head tried to grin wider.
"You cannot stop us—"
Wednesday pressed the tip of her boot against its forehead, pinning it in place.
The chainsaw revved.
RRRRRRRR—
The head jerked under her boot.
Wednesday leaned slightly forward, studying it with clinical interest.
"Your performance reminds me of the villains in low-budget horror films," she said. "They speak a great deal before being dismembered."
Then she lowered the blade.
The chainsaw smashed into the skull.
Bone cracked under the spinning teeth as the blade tore straight through it. Black blood sprayed across the dirt while fragments of rotten flesh scattered across the clearing.