(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Hobb's Spring Resort...
The air in the resort lobby turned thick, almost suffocating.
The warm light from the chandelier flickered,
Casting grotesque shadows across the floor soaked with blood.
Rod's grip around Toni loosened slightly as his eyes widened—
"____"
Danny.
His best friend.
His brother in all but blood… now walking in from the hallway,
Shirt half-torn, pupils dilated, skin pale.
But what froze everyone wasn't Danny—
It was who was beside him.
Sally's hand was wrapped tightly around his, almost lovingly,
Her fingers tracing his wrist like he was her possession.
Behind her came Jackson and the rest of the cannibal clan,
Their faces glistening with sweat and hunger.
Their expressions weren't human anymore.
They were predators, masking their madness behind grins that stretched too wide.
"Danny?"
Toni's voice cracked, hope and dread bleeding together.
Danny blinked at her—
"____"
Slow, unfocused.
For a heartbeat, there was something human in his eyes,
But it flickered out as quickly as it came.
He smiled, the corners of his lips twitching unnaturally.
"Hey, Toni…"
His voice came out hoarse, almost dreamy.
"You… came back."
Rod took a step forward, placing himself between Toni and the group.
"What the hell's going on, Danny? Who are these people?"
Sally giggled, her tone disturbingly sweet.
Giggle~
"People?"
She said, leaning her head against Danny's shoulder, eyes glinting.
"Oh no, Rod… we're family. Aren't we, Danny?"
Danny gave a slow nod, his hand still held in hers, fingers trembling.
Nod~
"____"
Then an another voice came.
It was none other than Jackson who has escaped from the Ghost Rider.
Jackson's jaw clenched,
His cold eyes flicking toward Rod and the others huddled near the stairs.
The air in the room thickened—
Tension heavy enough to choke on.
Sally's smirk widened as she added,
Smirk~
"Danny's friends got curious. Guess it's time we drop the act."
Rod instinctively moved Toni and his girlfriend behind him,
Gripping the spear tighter, his knuckles turning white.
Jillian's trembling hand clutched Nick's arm while Danny stood beside Sally,
His face expressionless—
Like a puppet whose strings were being pulled.
Jackson ran a hand through his messy hair, his voice low and sharp.
"You idiots couldn't keep quiet for one night?"
He snapped at Sally,
But his glare quickly shifted toward the terrified group.
"And you…"
His tone dripped with mock disappointment.
"You should've stayed in your rooms."
Rod's chest heaved.
"Danny… what the hell is this?!"
He shouted, his voice cracking with both anger and confusion.
Danny didn't answer.
"____"
He only tilted his head, eyes glazed and lifeless.
Sally laughed softly, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, he's with us now. He made his choice. We are his true family."
Toni's voice broke.
"Danny… please, no…"
Jackson exhaled deeply, cracking his neck as if preparing for what was coming next.
"Well,"
He muttered darkly,
"no point pretending anymore."
He gave a slight nod to the cannibals beside him.
Nod~
The two hulking figures stepped forward, grinning grotesquely.
Flashback...
Before Jackson return back to the resort after running from Ghost Rider.
As the van rumbled through the dark,
Narrow road leading toward Hobb's Spring Resort,
Jackson's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly—
Knuckles pale, jaw locked in frustration.
"____"
"____"
"____"
The air inside was thick with tension.
The two surviving cannibals sat silently in the back,
Their heavy breaths and faint groans filling the van.
The faint scent of blood still clung to them,
Mixing with the stale air and gasoline.
Jackson's thumb jabbed the call button again and again.
"Come on… pick up,"
He muttered under his breath,
Eyes flicking between the winding road and his cracked phone screen.
The call to Father went unanswered once more,
A hollow beep echoing through the speaker before the line went dead.
Beep~ Beep~
"____"
"Damn it!"
He slammed his hand against the steering wheel, the sound echoing through the van.
He tried again—
This time dialing another number.
Gladys.
The old witch who always seemed to have answers when the others didn't.
The phone rang once, twice, three times… then silence.
"____"
No answer.
No voice.
Nothing.
"Figures,"
He hissed, throwing the phone on the passenger seat.
After a moment of hesitation,
He tried again—
This time to Father Sal's mobile.
The line clicked, static buzzed, and finally,
A tired but composed voice came through.
"Jackson,"
Father Sal said calmly, though there was an edge of weariness beneath his tone.
"You sound… disturbed."
Jackson took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice but failing.
"Disturbed? You could say that. We were ambushed, Father. At the graveyard. That… that thing—a flaming monster—it killed everyone. Everyone! It mocked us like we were ants. I barely made it out with two of the boys!"
There was a pause—
"____"
Long and unsettling.
Jackson could hear faint breathing on the other end,
Like Father Sal was processing every word carefully.
When he finally spoke, his voice was measured and cold.
"A flaming monster, you say… and it let you live?"
"Yes,"
Jackson replied, gripping the wheel harder.
"It looked right at me—right through me—and just said, 'Run along, little devil. Tell your masters I'm coming.' Then it laughed."
Another pause.
"____"
Then a deep exhale.
"Listen to me carefully,"
Father Sal said.
"Do not return to the graveyard. Do not engage. Lay low until we can find Gladys. She's gone silent, and that worries me. The ritual she was working on might have failed—or worse, been intercepted."
Jackson's brows furrowed.
Frown~
"You're saying it's connected?"
"I'm saying…"
Father Sal's voice dropped to a whisper.
"…that whatever you saw may not have been from this side of the veil. Until Gladys resurfaces, keep your head down. Protect the others. No unnecessary bloodshed."
Jackson scoffed bitterly.
"Tell that to the monster, Father."
Then the line went dead.
"____"
For a moment, the only sound was the hum of the van's engine and the distant hoot of an owl.
Jackson sat in silence, the words 'from this side of the veil' echoing in his mind.
His knuckles tightened around the wheel once more.
"Lay low, huh?"
He muttered with a dark smirk.
Smirk~
"Yeah, we'll see about that."
He pressed harder on the gas pedal,
The van roaring forward through the mist as the distant lights of Hobb's Spring Resort began to glow faintly through the trees.
Present...
Hobb's Spring Resort...
The atmosphere inside the lobby turned heavy—
So thick with dread that even the flickering light bulbs above seemed to hesitate before buzzing back to life.
Jackson's boots crunched over broken glass as he stepped further in.
His shotgun hung low at his side, the metal still smeared with grime and dried blood from the graveyard.
His gaze drifted across the room until it landed on one of the fallen brothers sprawled across the floor—
Lifeless eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
For a moment, the faintest twitch of grief crossed Jackson's expression,
But it was gone as fast as it came.
Then his face hardened—
Cold, detached, almost mechanical.
"Kill them,"
He said flatly, pointing the barrel of his gun toward Rod, Toni, Nick, and Jillian.
"All of them."
The order hit the room like a thunderclap.
The cannibals behind him stirred immediately,
Their movements jerky and eager as they raised their weapons—
Axes, cleavers, and rusted blades glinting in the dim light.
Rod instinctively stepped in front of his sister,
Pulling her behind him while clutching the spear shaft from earlier.
Toni's breath hitched, her body trembling as she gripped his arm.
"____"
Nick and Jillian backed toward the wall,
Hearts pounding, eyes darting between the killers closing in and the only exit blocked by Jackson's men.
Then—
"STOP!"
The word came from Danny.
His voice cracked with desperation as he stumbled forward, his hands raised, eyes flicking from Jackson to his terrified friends.
"____"
"____"
"____"
The cannibals froze mid-step, their blades hovering inches from the air.
Jackson turned slowly toward him, one brow raised.
"What did you say?"
Danny's chest heaved.
"They—they don't need to die,"
He stammered, glancing at Toni and Rod.
"They didn't do anything wrong. Let them go. I'll stay. You want me? Fine. But let them walk."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Even the fire crackling in the corner seemed to dim under the weight of Danny's trembling plea.
Rod's eyes widened.
"Danny… what the hell are you doing?"
Danny didn't answer.
He just looked at his friends—
At the horror in Toni's eyes, the disbelief on Nick's face—
And gave a faint, shaky smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Go,"
He whispered.
"Please… just go."
His tone carried something final, something heavy with guilt and resignation—
Like a man who knew his future is no longer with his friends.
Jackson's lips curled into a faint, cruel smile.
"How noble,"
He muttered.
"But it's far too late for that, boy."
Jackson's jaw tightened as he stomped toward Danny,
The shotgun still in one hand.
His boots echoed off the wooden floorboards,
Each step radiating fury barely held in check.
He grabbed Danny by the shoulder—
His grip like a vice—
And spun him around to face the mutilated corpse on the ground.
The dead cannibal's twisted face stared blankly up at the ceiling,
A crude gash splitting his chest wide open where Rod's spear had struck.
"You see him?"
Jackson growled, his voice dripping with venom.
He jabbed the shotgun barrel toward the body.
"That's your brother, boy. Your blood. The one who bled for you, who hunted to fill our stomach, who shared his hunting with us!"
Danny's eyes widened, his breath quick and uneven.
"I… I didn't mean—"
Jackson didn't let him finish.
He slammed him against the wall, his face just inches from Danny's.
"And now,"
He hissed, his eyes burning with rage,
"you stand here defending outsiders? People not your bloodline?"
Rod tensed, holding Toni behind him.
"You call that home?"
He shot back.
"You're monsters—killing people for joke!"
Jackson's head snapped toward Rod,
And a twisted smile crept onto his face.
"You don't understand, boy,"
He said with an eerie calmness.
"This is family. You protect your own. Always."
He turned back to Danny, shaking him once more.
"And you,"
He snarled,
"you betrayed that. You betrayed us. Prove your loyalty Danny kill them. Prove you are ready to take family's mantle."
Danny's voice broke, a mix of guilt and defiance.
"You call this loyalty, Jackson? You've lost your damn mind. I didn't sign up to butcher my friend!"
For a brief second, silence hung between them—
"____"
Thick and suffocating.
Then Jackson's eyes darkened, and his voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"Then maybe you ain't family anymore."
He shoved Danny backward, raising his shotgun and cocking it with a metallic clack.
Clack~
The sound of the shotgun's blast tore through the air—
BOOM!
Wood splintered off the wall behind them,
The echo rolling through the empty halls of the resort.
Smoke and gunpowder filled the air as Danny gripped the barrel,
His face twisted with strain.
"Stop, Jackson!"
He yelled, pushing back with all his strength.
Before Jackson could regain control, chaos erupted.
One of the cannibals—
Foaming at the mouth, wild-eyed—
Charged straight for Jillian, his rusted cleaver raised high.
But Rod moved like lightning.
And hurled it with a roar.
THWACK!
The spear punched clean through the cannibal's skull,
Pinning him to the wall.
His body twitched once and went still.
"No mercy for you freaks!"
Rod spat, spinning to face Danny.
"Get back, man! We're getting out of here!"
Toni's voice cracked, desperate.
"Danny, please! Come with us—now!"
But Danny… didn't move.
"____"
His expression darkened—
Haunted, hollow, something broken flickering behind his eyes.
He stepped toward Rod slowly,
The knife Jackson had slipped him earlier glinting faintly in the flickering light.
"Danny?"
Rod frowned, lowering his guard slightly.
Frown~
"Hey, what are you—"
The blade sank deep into his stomach before he could finish.
Rod's eyes went wide.
"____"
A choked gasp escaped his lips as he stumbled backward, clutching the wound.
Toni screamed, lunging forward to catch her brother as he fell.
"Noooooo!!!"
Danny's hand trembled,
The bloody knife still in his grip.
His face twisted in pain and guilt, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
"I'm… I'm sorry,"
He whispered, his voice cracking.
"I didn't have a choice. You killed my brother."
Behind him, Jackson's cruel smile widened.
"That's my boy,"
He said, lowering the shotgun with satisfaction.
"Family first."
Rod gritted his teeth, pain surging through his abdomen as blood seeped through his fingers.
Grit~
Danny's knife had gone deep—
But not deep enough to drop him.
Gasping, he caught Danny's wrist just as his brother-turned-enemy tried to stab again.
"You little—"
Rod snarled, summoning the last of his strength.
With a guttural roar,
He shoved Danny backward, sending him crashing into a nearby table that splintered under the impact.
"Rod!"
Toni screamed, trying to support him as he staggered.
He winced but stayed upright, glaring at Danny, disbelief and fury mixing in his eyes.
"You really would've killed me, huh?"
He spat, clutching the wound.
"Guess whatever family you found here ain't worth much."
Danny's lips trembled,
"____"
But before he could respond,
Jackson barked—
His voice sharp and commanding.
"That's enough!"
He snapped, his shotgun still in hand.
His cold eyes darted toward the doorway, his expression darkening.
"We're wasting time here."
The other cannibals tensed, exchanging wary looks.
Sally frowned.
Frown~
"Jackson, what's going on?"
Jackson didn't answer right away.
His jaw clenched, and for a moment, the flicker of real worry crossed his face.
"____"
"I will explain later,"
He muttered.
"Gladys isn't answering. Father Sal asked us to lay low at the forest. That monster… is coming."
The tone in his voice was enough.
"____"
"____"
"____"
Even without details, they all understood—
whatever Jackson feared was far worse than a wounded boy and a few frightened outsiders.
"Grab the bodies,"
He ordered coldly.
"We're heading back to the castle. We've got bigger problems now."
As the cannibals obeyed,
Sally glanced once more at Danny—
Still sitting amidst the broken table, staring blankly at the knife in his hand—
Before following Jackson out.
Rod leaned weakly against the wall, breathing hard, Eyes filled with confusion and rage as he watched them leave.
"What the hell… are they talking about?"
He muttered under his breath.
While the cannibals were surrounding them.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
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