"Hahahaha!!" (Dave)
"You should have seen the stupid look on your face. It's just a bloody squirrel." (Dave)
Dave laughed out loud at Gael's reaction. Deep inside the tree hole, there was only a half-eaten squirrel.
"What the hell is wrong with you? That wasn't funny." (Gael)
Gael did his best to remove the squirrel's blood and guts from his hair. The rest of the group was initially frightened by what had happened, but after seeing Dave laughing hysterically, they joined in.
"You have to admit it was kind of funny, seeing you lying on the ground in shock." (Sam)
"Hihihihi ~"
The sudden chilling laughter made everyone fall silent at once, the skin on the back of all five of their necks standing on end.
"That's not funny, who's making that annoying sound?" (Dave)
Dave was the first to react, searching everywhere in the forest with his torch, cold sweat staining his back.
Everyone felt a knot in their stomachs, something they hadn't felt in years, when they were children and terrified of the dark. That fear from decades ago had returned after hearing that chilling laugh.
"It was a good joke, but it's not nice to play with other people's food."
All the torches were directed towards the source of the voice. High up in a thick tree was a small, naked child-like creature with blood-red skin and a sharp-tipped tail swaying from side to side.
Its sharp claws cleaned its fangs, and its yellow eyes glowed brightly in the darkness.
"I'll teach you what it feels like to be toyed with before being devoured" (Imp Language)
"What the hell is that thing?" (Christian)
Before anyone could react, the Imp jumped on Dave, its long claws embedding themselves in the skin of his head, piercing through the sides of his ears.
Its paws landed on his shoulders, and after opening its mouth wider than should be possible for a creature of its size, it bit off Dave's nose and spat it aside as if it tasted bad.
"Demon creature!" (Samuel)
*Bang!*
Samuel, panicking, fired at Dave's face, which would blow the Imp away along with Dave's entire head. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. The Imp jumped off Dave's face with enough force to take them both out of the line of fire.
"You'll kill Dave, you damn animal!"
"That thing will kill us if we don't kill it first."
"Why do we want weapons if we're not going to use them?"
"Hey, guys, where did that thing go?"
The red-skinned creature had disappeared into the darkness.
"Everyone surround Dave, Sam take out the flare and call for help."
Following Gael's orders, the remaining four took up their positions.
"Why is this so difficult?"
Sam's hands were shaking as he faced something supernatural for the first time. He had experience hunting in the deep darkness of night, alone in the middle of a desolate forest, but this was different. It made him feel helpless, as if he were once again that little boy running down the dark hallway of his house to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"Christian, how is Dave?" (Gael)
Gael remained strangely calm in this situation. He didn't have a mother, and his father wasn't an affectionate man. As a child, he didn't have the luxury of being afraid of the dark because no one would be there for him. He either got over it or he was screwed.
"He just ripped off his nose, and I have it here. If we get to a hospital in time, they can put it back on." (Christian)
Christian tried to calm Dave down as best he could and covered his wounds with his handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
"Sam, calm down and do it slowly, we'll protect you" (Gael)
After hearing his words and taking a breath, Sam managed to insert the flare gun cartridge, raised his hand high, and just as he was about to fire, a cry of pain emerged from his throat.
"Arggghhh!"
The Imp had jumped from the top of a tree right in the centre of their formation, grabbed Sam's hand with its four limbs and, with its sharp fangs, ripped off Sam's thumb.
Sam fell to the ground and began to scream as he thrashed about, the flare gun thrown far away.
"Get it off me!" "Get it off me!"
"Aaaargh"
Gale didn't think twice and kicked the Imp several metres away, but even though he used all his strength, it wasn't enough to hurt it. It crouched on the ground on all fours and growled at Gale, who held his rifle and calmly aimed it at the Imp.
Those were the slowest seconds Gale had ever experienced in his life.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gale wasn't a bad shot, but the Imp was too fast on all fours. It looked like a red shadow in the darkness, and each shot missed by several centimetres, piercing some trees.
*Pufff*
The blinding light of the flare illuminated the ground with its red light. The Imp let out a cry and jumped towards Christian, who was holding the flare gun. Its speed was very fast, and just as the Imp's sharp jaws were about to tear Christian's throat apart, Gael intervened at the last second.
"You won't do that!" (Gael)
He placed his body between the Imp and his companion, the Imp's powerful bite leaving obvious marks on the barrel of Gael's rifle, capable of tearing through steel.
The rest of his companions, who had regained some composure, tried to help Gael, but if they fired, they would also hit their friend.
It was only a few minutes of struggle, but Gael felt exhausted. Despite its small size, the Imp had strength equal to or greater than Gael's.
"Why are you standing there like a bunch of chickens in front of a fox?" (Galpin)
Galpin was the first to arrive at the scene, accompanied by his faithful tracking dog Elvis. With a powerful blow from the butt of his shotgun, he threw the Imp against the nearest tree.
"I don't know what the hell you are, but try to resist this!"
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Eight shots in a row left the Imp unrecognisable, nothing more than a piece of flesh and a pool of foul-smelling liquid.
"You and you take these two wounded men to the cars and from there to the nearest hospital. What's your name?" (Galpin)
"My name is Gael, Sheriff Galpin." (Gael)
"Will you accompany me to the second flare position? Where is your assigned dog?"
"He was the first to run away, sir." (Sam)
Sam replied, holding the bloody bandages in his hand. He had lost a finger, and it would have been more if it weren't for Gael, who pulled him away.
"Thank you very much, Gael. I'm sorry I made fun of you earlier."
"The dog will come home when he's hungry. Now let's go." (Galpin)
Galpin downplayed the matter of the missing dog and quickly divided the six remaining members of the group. Two would return with the two wounded, while Gael, Ted, and Sheriff Galpin would go to help the second group that had called for assistance.
(At least no one died... or at least not yet.) (Galpin)
Minutes before the first flare was fired.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Cass panicked at the sudden shots echoing through the cave. Everyone looked at each other, except David, who waited silently and aimed calmly. He didn't care about Steve, or at least he didn't show it in his behaviour.
"Should we go?" (Matt)
"No way am I going in there." (Cass)
"Roooaaar!!"
The beast's abrupt roar brought everyone back to reality and the danger they were in.
"Matt, watch out!" (Cass)
Cass was the first to see the small shadow that emerged from the darkness, shooting towards Matt. The pink object knocked Matt off his feet.
"My God, that's Chester!!!"
(Tsk, Chester turned out to be more useless than I thought, that's definitely not a normal bear.) (David)
The large hound's body had lost its head in a single bite, and guts and blood bathed Matt, who panicked and dropped his rifle, moving as far away from the bodies and Chester as he could.
David tightened his grip on his powerful .300 Winchester Magnum rifle. His hunting companion, who always accompanied him, was powerful enough to use heavy bullets that allowed him to deal with a large animal such as a bear.
He named it Caroline, in honour of a girl who was special to him. It attracted a lot of attention because of its bearskin case in which he always kept it. People thought he was strange when they saw him stroking the leather as if it were a living animal.
"That thing is coming this way, stop panicking like a bunch of girls, he's the prey, we're the hunters, it's been that way for centuries" (David)
"Get ready or you'll be joining Steve on the other side" (David)