Gregory Wart is a supernatural myth buster, going across entire kingdoms and nations debunking the mythical creatures that locals talk about. He writes and documents these myths, showing the locals that the creatures they believe in are supernatural nonsense; then he shows these documentations in writings to wealthy patrons who love to hear about his work. Now he is going to debunk the myth of the "Banshee of Norwood Woods", declaring this killer specter a crazed serial killer, and that the Norwood family is being neglectful in bringing the long-time murderer to justice. Gregory goes out with his three helpers Johnathan Grimes, Jasper Taylor, and Hugo Snelling to find and debunk this strange banshee.
In the dusk Norwood Woods, Gregory and his colleagues stand in their black trench coats, black jeans, and brown work boots, setting up camp. They will travel around the forest at night to find the "Banshee of Norwood Woods" and prove it is not real.
Gregory's tan skin, light blonde hair, blue eyes, and fit body tense and wince in frustration as he sets up the camp. Earlier he interviewed Lady Norwood about the "Banshee of Norwood Woods", but she gave him vague answers about it, saying it is only a danger to foppish travelers who think nighttime is a good time to traverse. The more he inquired, the less she gave; he wondered why, and when he said to her that the banshee was a serial killer and that she was not doing her lawful job to protect the citizens residing around Norwood Woods, she told him to leave her castle, and that he and his men wouldn't be given any aid in their quest.
"Is everything put down," he shouts to his men.
"Yep," Youthful Johnathan says, "Tents are placed, and food is well stored."
"Good, and the lamps, are they ready to be lit."
"Going to put in the lights right now," Hugo, the big tall brute with black curly hair says.
Gregory made special lamps to help him find ghosts; their lights are brighter than normal and have helped him exposed fraudulent "specters" that rely and the darkness make their illumination seem easier. He believes these lamps will expose the crazed serial killer, having their full body appear before the lamps; then when he drags the killer before the townsfolk and Lady Norwood, they will see what fools they are.
"All right let's eat, then when its is truly dark we march," he says.
The four eat simple canned beans, dry meat, and cheese. They sit around a well-lit campfire conversing as they eat. When night comes, and the stars spread out across the dark sky, Gregory issues his men that it is time to leave. They take regular lamps to help them see, with the three special ones being held by Gregory and Jasper; one is held by Gregory and the other two by the old Jasper.
They wander from their lit camp, but travel in large circle around it so that they can still see the flames from a distance and not get lost. As their brown boots stomp on the Norwood Wood forest floor, the noise of the nighttime critters gets quieter. Only a hoot from an owl is heard every now and then. Gregory doesn't care about the forest scenery, he is determined to expose this fraudulent specter. He and his men walk around looking for any clues, but they stay where they can see the flames of their camp; Gregory isn't a fool, he knows that Norwood Woods is larger than the circle they traverse, but that would lead to moving around in the dark woods and possibly get lost. He knows that is an easy way for ravenous wildlife, or deranged killers to attack while he and his men are caught off guard; they even carry pistols just in case.
"Here specter, specter, specter," Hugo says whistling.
"It's not a dog you fool," Jasper remarks.
"Well I am trying to bring it out," Hugo says. "Boss we have been walking for a while and have seen nothing. Shouldn't we go back to camp and try again tomorrow."
"We will go back when dawn rises," Gregory says. "I want to find this so-called haunted specter during the time period it is supposedly about."
Hugo grumbles and the four continue their searching. On their fifth travel around the large circle, they hear a large shriek from the distance.
"Great it's far out of our reach," Jasper groans.
"Sounds like we won't find it tonight," Johnathan says. "Unless it possibly moves toward us.
Gregory stops and thinks, hearing the shriek again, his ear picking up where it is coming from. It sounds closer than even his men realize.
"Men I think I know the direction it is coming from. We must head toward it."
"Are you crazy," Jasper says. "And get lost in these woods. Even you know that is a dumb idea. Are you that determined to find this banshee and prove that noblewoman wrong."
Gregory grits his teeth in irritation. Out of all of the myths he had busted, this one he desperately wants to find. How dare that Lady Norwood be so stuck up, and ungratefully force him out of her castle. He sees her as a person of a dead age, living on the reputation of the noble Norwood family name to live her affluent life; if there was any justice—mainly after debunking the so called "Banshee of Norwood Woods"—she would be working as a clerk in one of the many popping up factories through out the kingdom.
"We are going after that shrieking noise," he says, his pride now clouding his judgement.
"Listen to me, its too dangerous. Norwood Woods has other dangers besides a wild specter. One bad turn and we could end up stuck in the caves and burrows that are well placed through out the forest," Jasper says, his aged mind calling upon wisdom to stop Gregory's foolish desires.
"I am the leader of the expedition, and I say we need to head deeper into the forest," Gregory says, "Who was it that led us in to the frigid tundra up north in order to find that crazed old witch that was stealing cattle, only to find out it was a family of wolves. We have faced way worse, now let's get going."
"Shouldn't we take a vote," Johnathan meekly remarks. "You did say this specter is a serial killer, I don't want to be wandering around in the dark with some killer on the loose."
"We have guns," Gregory says pulling out his pistol, "Plus the regular lamps and special ones are there to help us lead the way."
The three grumble, not convinced. Unlike Gregory, their minds still believe the "Banshee of Norwood Woods" is real. Even though Gregory has debunked many myths, they think the evidence for this specter is goes back too long. The myths Gregory busted were local ones that popped up recently in the citizens imaginations, rarely did they debunk a long-standing myth.
"Fine if you won't come with me, then I will go out alone," Gregory says. "Jasper give me the other two special lamps.
Jasper hands them, then walks back.
"Please Gregory listen to reason and come back to the camp."
Gregory scoffs and walks off. He is alone, the orange flame from his regular lamp lighting his way; the dark green and brown of the forest vegetation greet him as he walks. He doesn't hear another shriek, but he is moving in the direction his ears heard the first two come from.
Then he hears the shriek again, but not in the direction he is walking. Then he hears loud screaming that sounds like Hugo's. Gregory turns around and heads towards the camp. As he runs, he can't believe this specter was able to move so quickly and find his men, he felt like it was not close enough to where they were stationed. He gets closer and closer to where his camp is suppose to be, but he doesn't see the campfire flame he lit. When he gets to where is camp is suppose to be, his lamp illuminates that something put the fire out.
He frantically moves around the area to see where everyone is; his lamp shows the tents they set up are torn down and destroyed; lamps his colleagues held are crushed and broken. He then sees the head of Jasper, the body it is decapitated from only a few feet away, the blood of the aged man oozing over the forest floor. Gregory then manically moves the lamp around, thinking the serial killer is close, but then his light shows Hugo's body. The big oaf isn't dead, but Gregory can hear him breathing like he is at death's door.
"Hugo what happened?" Gregory says terrified, rushing over to big man's body.
"Banshee. R-real," he gasps. "Killed J-Ja-Japser. Stabbed me in h-heart. Ch-chasing Johnathan."
"Where did Johnathan run off too?" he asks, but Hugo closes his eyes, taking his last breath.
Gregory mourns his two dead companions, then remembers that he needs to find Jonathan. He can't believe a serial killer could do this, he doesn't believe Hugo's words. There is no "Banshee of Norwood Woods" in his mind. Gregory pulls out his pistol, and takes his two dead companions' pistols; whoever did this, will face an armed vengeful man.
"When I bring that killer's body before Lady Norwood, I hope she loses everything and is forced to be someone who is mopping my floors," he says to himself angrily.
Gregory slowly moves away from the camp, his lamp illuminating the dark forest in front of him. He doesn't even know where to start in order to find Johnathan; Hugo didn't point to which direction the young man ran. Gregory then hears a scream that sounds like Johnathan's. His ears pick up the direction the scream came from, and heads off to it. He walks in the dark forest, his eyes not knowing where the terrain leads.
He stops his walking, he thinks this is where Johnathan's screaming came from. He shines the lamp around the forest floor, trying to find any clues. Only the dark forest floor appears before him. He grumbles, not sure if he should continue searching, or head back to the camp. He suddenly realizes that he doesn't know where he is.
"Well I remember walking in that direction, so that must be the right way," he mutters.
Gregory is about to leave, when he hears whimpering coming from above him. He shines the regular lamp up. Its orange flame reveals Jonathan hiding in a tree; Gregory recognizes it is him, even if his black hair is stained with blood.
"Johnathan, are you safe?" Gregory inquires, his lamp showing his comrades clothes are torn and slashed, with bruises and blood stains covering his skin.
"N-no! Sir, we, I mean you are wrong. She is real. Th-the "Banshee of Norwood Woods" is real," Johnathan says his body shaking as he clings desperately to the tree.
"There is no banshee," Gregory says. "Johnathan some killer attacked us. Now get down, and let's get out of these woods. Tomorrow I'll drag that Lady Norwood and show her the bodies of Hugo and Jasper. Then she will know that a crazed serial killer stalks her woods."
"No that won't do," Johnathan sobs. "It's not a serial killer. She is real! A pale naked woman with a rapier killed Hugo and Jasper, destroyed our camp, and attacked me as I fled. I am only lucky to get in this tree, but there is no safety. She is playing with me sir. She wanders around here, and is going to murder me right when I regain hope."
Gregory rolls his eyes as the young man sobs. He does take some of Johnathan's words seriously. He pulls out his pistol, then places the three special lamps on the ground. If this killer is coming for Johnathan, then he want bright lights beaming right when he blasts hot lead into their hearts.
"All right stay right there Johnathan. I am going to kill it if it tries to attack," Gregory says.
"Sir we are doomed. Doomed, I say!"
Gregory ignores Johnathan's wails, as he continues to place the special lamps. When he finishes he hears a great moan. He thinks it came from Johnathan, but when Gregory shines his lamp at his comrade hiding in the tree, Johnathan's face stares out terrified.
"She's here," Johnathan whimpers.
Gregory shines the regular lamp, aiming his pistol. He hears wailing, followed by rustling in the dark forest. His eyes see the shape of a woman nearby. However, he doesn't believe it could be a lone woman who is causing all of this terror. And yet, the shape comes closer, but Gregory smiles, his trap will be set. He drops his lamp, then quickly lights the three special lamps; he knows their great white and green lights will shine the killer before him, and while they are exposed and caught off guard he will shoot them.
He lights all of the special lamps. The area becomes bright with the white and green lights. Not only can Gregory see the more of the area, he can see the killer clearly. His eyes can't believe what he sees, a nude pale skin woman, with light blonde hair, grey cape, red iris, and rapier, covered in blood is coming right before him.
"What the hell are you," he says, then points his gun at the pale woman.
She says nothing, but picks up one of the special lamps and tosses it at his face, the bright lights blind him, and the lamp hitting his head knocks him to the ground. As he tries to regain himself, he hears screams from Johnathan, followed by gurgling from his throat. Gregory then hears a crash on to the ground. Then he sees the light of the other two special lamps go out, hearing a rapier slash each one. His eyes regain vision, but he is left in the dark forest with only the orange light from his regular lamp.
He rushes to it and grabs it. He shines it around him, seeing the destroyed special lamps. His mind cusses, those were the only things that could help him.
His lamp then shows the body of Johnathan. Gregory knows the young man is dead, the lamp showing his throat has been slashed.
Gregory grits his teeth. He want's to know who that woman was. How could she kill his men so quickly? Why was she not put off by the brightness of the special lamps? And more importantly, where is she right now?
Gregory finds his pistol laying on the ground. He picks it up and points it frantically into the darkness. He tries to see if that pale woman is back, but he sees nothing.
"She can't be. That can't be the "Banshee of Norwood Woods"," he says. "She isn't real. There are no such thing as ghosts."
He then hears a wail.
"P-p-po-poor Gregory. Hun-hunter. Looking for me."
"Huh," he grunts. He can't believe it. Is she trying to taunt him?
"Come out and face me!" he then yells. "Who are you! You will pay for what you did to my men!"
He then hears a groan.
"P-p-poor Gre-Gregory. You can't ac-accept. Oh well."
"Accept what you nudist bitch!"
"My. Mine. My land,"
"Your land?" he says confused.
Then the shape of the pale woman appear before him. The flame of his lamp illuminate her nude body covered in blood stains. Her light blond hair flows calmly, a smile on her face.
"Tired, h-hungry," she groans. "No feast yet."
"Well you won't have me!" Gregory shouts, then points his gun at her, but he can't find the strength to pull the trigger.
The pale woman giggles.
"What is so funny! Why can't I shoot you," Gregory growls, his body feeling numb, almost like she has a hold over him.
"P-p-po-poor Gregory. H-how you l-life has stooped to."
"I don't understand. Come on gun fire!" he says, but his finger can find the energy to pull the trigger.
The pale woman gets closer, her red irises eye the myth buster. Gregory's body stands there frozen, he feels like he is going to lose his grip on the lamp on pistol. The pale woman grabs the lamp, studies the orange flame, then places it down. The light shows of her nude body stained with blood, as well as her eerie but naïve face. Gregory's mind start to think that he has seen her before.
"Do I know you?" he says.
"Y-you know my l-l-land," she responds.
"Your land. Wait a minute—!"
His brain begins to process quickly. He knows who she is.
"You! You are that Lady Norwood!" He shouts. "You bitch! First you show no hospitality, then you come around and murder my men!"
The pale woman says nothing only giving a creepy smile.
"You are responsible for all of the deaths! There is no "Banshee of Norwood Woods"! It is all fake! All of this is some stuck-up out dated noblewoman getting a sick pleasure of murdering people in her woods. Then you blame it on a ghost, and people who don't know any better believe your lies. Well you aren't going to get away with it! No, I'll stop you once I find the strength in my bones."
The pale woman says nothing to Gregory's threats. Her face looks at him as is she doesn't know what he is talking about.
"I am going to enjoy your suffering at the hands of justice!" Gregory yells. "I hope the executioner is faulty in his swings, and you bleed painfully out. No, I hope the townsfolk that surround these woods rip you apart limb from limb. Yeah, your death should the most sufferable!"
"P-p-po-poor Gregory," the pale woman responds, pacing around the entranced myth buster.
She then stops in front of his face, her red irises eyeing his face. She then bites hard down on his face, tearing of a little flesh, her tongue licking up some of his blood.
"Bleh," she says spitting it out. "Taste nasty."
"So you actually eat the flesh of you victims," Gregory growls. "Why? You have to express your sadistic nature in consuming your victims bodies. You shouldn't have any governing power Lady Norwood! You should be buried in an unmarked grave!"
The naked pale woman responds by destroying the regular lamp sitting on the forest floor with her rapier. The forest becomes dark for Gregory. He hears her move away, her feet crunching twigs and leaves. He feels his body find strength; he can move it again.
He quickly runs off. He doesn't care in which direction, anywhere that gets he him out of the woods and to some kind of civilization. There he will tell the people the truth; his dead comrades will be avenged, and that Lady Norwood he hates will face justice for her crimes.
He continues to run through the dark forest. He keeps his pistol close ready to shoot the pale woman. His head moves around to see her coming, but only darkness greets him; he looks up so that the stars can help guide him, but on the forest floor he has to hope his running will lead him through the dark vegetation and out of Norwood Woods.
Suddenly he hears a wail, but he doesn't stop. He knows to keep running and out run the pale woman. However, he suddenly feels a sharp blade slash through his boots into his flesh. He cries in pain and falls to the ground, but he doesn't drop his pistol. His back on the ground, he points it in the direction from where he was slashed and fires. He knows he hit nothing as he hears no scream, nor crashing of a body to the ground.
He stumbles to get up, but falls back down. The loss of blood and shock has taken away his strength to flee. Gregory sits on the forest floor, pistol pointed into the darkness, waiting to the nude pale woman to strike.
"P-p-po-poor Gregory," the voice of the pale woman says from the darkness. "Is th-this all worth i-i-it?"
"Yes!" he shouts manically. "I hate that these simple-minded folks are being terrorized by you! I hate that people believe in superstitious nonsense! There is a rational explanation for everything, including you, "Banshee of Norwood Woods". You aren't a crazed ghost, but a crazed woman who uses supernatural stories to cover your sick actions!"
"P-poor Gregory. H-ho-how little you know," the pale woman says from the darkness.
Gregory doesn't try to comprehend what she is saying, instead focusing on where he hears her voices coming from. He then picks up on her low wails. He fires his pistol in that direction until the gun has no more bullets; he then pulls out another pistol ready to shoot again. However, he doesn't hear the pale woman scream from getting hit.
"Impossible, how is she not being harmed," he says to himself.
In pain on the ground, he slowly crawls, but with each movement he can feel blood flow out of his legs. He stops; he thinks his best option is to wait it out on the ground until sunrise, then he can see the pale woman if she attacks, and also see where he is moving. He knows he has to survive, he knows she won't attack while he has his pistols.
Gregory pants hard, the pain sinking hard. He then sees from behind a light coming toward him. He feels hope, it could be another person. With their help he could leave this perilous forest.
The light comes closer, the light of the lamp illuminates a woman with light brown hair in a maid outfit walking up to him.
"Finally," Gregory says her. "Please you have to help me. Me and my men were attacked tonight. You won't believe me, but it is Lady Norwood who is the killer who haunts this forest. She goes around naked slashing people with a rapier. You got to help me. She is still here, but my pistol scares her. If we work together we can get out of here."
The maid stares at him unemotionally, then looks out into the darkness. She shines her lamp, the orange flames reveals the pale nude woman standing near them, her light blonde hair flowing in the dark.
"Speci-specialty d-di-dish, h-he-here?" the pale woman says.
"Sorry, not tonight, still need to recover," the maid says back.
The nude pale woman pouts, then gives a wail.
"You can do with eating the others," the maid says.
"What!" Gregory says. "What is going on. Why are you conversing with her? Why is she obeying your words?"
The woman looks at Gregory, then points the rifle—he should have noticed her holding—right at his head.
"Sorry you know too much," she says, then fires at him. The bullet blasts off his head.
The bodies of Gregory and his companions are found the next morning. Johnathan's, Hugo's, and Jasper's bodies are eaten by the "Banshee of Norwood Woods", however, Gregory's is left alone. Alexia removes the bullet that blasted his head off, so that the soldiers that find the body think the "Banshee of Norwood Woods" crushed his head. Word spreads to the cities of the great myth buster Gregory Wart being killed by the "Banshee of Norwood Woods".