Chapter 2 - The Village With No Light

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William walks around the village, spending too much time in the woods causes him to forget how to navigate the village. He then sees a crowd gathering for something, he squeezes through the crowd while apologizing. He then sees what the crowd was looking at, a large cow lying dead on the ground, it's pale body covered in bite marks, it's lifeless eyes staring at the sky, William approached the dead cow and examined it. "What killed the cow, Sir William?" a woman covering her child's eyes asked, "I'm not sure, but whatever killed it has mandibles that can pierce a fully grown cow." William answered while taking a closer look at the bite marks, the stench irking his nose. "Maybe the spiders from the mountains?" a voice spoke behind him, William recognized instantly who the voice belonged to, he then turned around and met face-to-face with the ”voice”.

"Crystal," William was surprised, "g-good to see you." Crystal is an adventurous 22 year old woman with blue eyes and blonde hair who William knew very well. "Good to see you too, Will." she smiles before gazing at the cow's corpse, "So what do you think killed it?" Crystal then steps closer to the corpse. "It couldn't be the mountain spiders since they won't go near the village, it couldn't be wolfs since the bitemarks look like they're caused by mandibles." William then notices a small trail of blood leading somewhere, “Where does that trail lead to?” William points toward the trail. “It leads to David’s barn, i think,” a person from the crowd answers, “Alright, let’s all go and bury the corpse of this cow.” A man from the crowd suggests, the crowd agrees and prepares to start a burial for the cow, William and Crystal helped dig up a grave to bury the cow.

A quarter of an hour passed after the cow’s burial, Crystal then approached William to talk, “So apparently nobody in the village knows what the heck killed the cow.” Crystal states while putting her hand on her hip, “Huh, so what now?” “I say we should go to Eric, he’s an expert in zoology.” Eric is an old friend of Crystal and William, though he is very distant to them nowadays. “Eric? Really?” William is skeptical to Crystal’s idea, “I know he’s been very distant but I think he can help us.” William then sighs, “Let’s go.” Crystal grabs William’s hand and drags him with her, The two run across the village and made their way to a house in the edge of the village, they knock on the door.

"Who is it?” a voice came from inside the house, “Eric, it’s me,” William answered, the door opens which reveals Eric, a black-haired, brown-eyed 26 year old man with a scar on his left cheek. “Oh, you two,” Eric said blankly, “What do you two want from me?” “Eric, we need your help with something.” Crystal said, “Oh do you?” Eric snorted, “C’mon, Eric, It’s serious, there’s a predator on the loose and it killed a fully grown cow!” William retorted, “And you came to me because?” William and Crystal knew Eric wanted nothing to do with the village, "Because you are capable of helping us figure out this creature.” "Why don't you go to Drew or Phillip? Why go to me?" William looked at Crystal before gazing back at Eric, "Whatever this creature is, it doesn't hesitate to come near the village. Meaning, it won't hesitate to attack anyone." William said, his voice sounding desperate. Eric glared at him before caving in, "Fine, I'll help y'all. Tomorrow." "Alright, we'll be off now. See you tomorrow" Crystal said. As Eric goes back inside his house, Crystal and William have a small talk, "Alright so I’m going back home, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” Crystal waves and walks away, “Bye.” William waves back, his face somewhat turning red.

It’s now 6 p.m., William is with Drew, Phillip, and a few other hunters, every Wednesday the hunters are tasked by the village council to do a night patrol to ensure the village is secure. A man named Ryan was orchestrating tonight’s night patrol, the patrol was split into four groups, each having three hunters. William, Phillip and Drew patrolled north, walking past houses, the three holding a lantern while their weapon of choice strap on their shoulders. “And the Enderman chased after him, before he submerge himself in a pond,” William stated, “Yeah… I’m not proud of it,” Phillip said, “I didn’t know you can’t look at it’s eyes.” Drew looked at Phillip and raised his eyebrow, “How the hell did you not know that?” “I mean, is it really common knowledge?” Phillip asked, “Yes.” Drew and William said simultaneously, both sounding annoyed. “Huh.” Phillip stared blankly, realizing his mistake.

As they were talking, sound of something crawling is heard. “Wait,” Drew paused, “you guys hear that?” he whispered, William listened closer before realizing it’s coming from above them, “There’s something on top of the houses.” he looked up. The three then took out their weapons, William grab his crossbow and loaded it with an arrow, while Drew and Phillip grab their swords. Drew saw a shadow went right above him, without thinking, he turned around and chased after the shadow, leaving William and Phillip behind. “Drew! Wait!” William yelled in the background, but Drew didn’t stop, he saw the shadow jumping from house to house, he didn’t realize that his lantern blew out, now relying on the moonlight to track it down. The shadow then jumped off the roofs and went into an alleyway corner, Drew then turned to the alleyway and blocked it from escaping, pointing his sword at it.

Drew looked at it, unable to describe what it was. Drew couldn’t move, his blood ran cold, his arms and legs trembling, his eyes couldn’t adjust properly. There it stood, backed against a wall, facing Drew while making a chittering sound in the darkness. Drew was so horrified that he couldn’t feel his own body, without realizing he dropped his sword. *Clank*. “Drew!” Phillip yelled, him and William finally caught up to Drew. They entered the alleyway corner and see Drew just standing, “Drew! What the hell, man?!” William angrily yelled at him but Drew just stared ahead with a horrified expression, Phillip and William then turn to look at the direction Drew is facing. They saw nothing. “Umm Drew? Are you ok?” Phillip asked while grabbing Drew’s right shoulder, but he just stood frozen. Before the two realized, Drew went limp and passed out, “Drew? Drew?!” William caught Drew after he passed out, “Drew, wake up!” His voice trembling, “We need to take him to the medical center.” Phillip said.

Continue to Chapter 3