❍ Cultch

[SHIVERS]

"With everything overgrown like this, I doubt the elevator's working but...
yeah we should definitely check, just in case."
Aubrey nods, and the two of you head over to it, keeping quiet.

"You mess with it. I'll watch y'r back."
The bat stands to the side, idly glancing over but otherwise leaving you to it.



You press the elevator button.
It buzzes quietly.

Still powered

The elevator looks to be up above, as best you can tell, but doesn't seem to be coming down from the call button.
You examine it a little more closely, and find what looks like a sensor just above the button.

Aubrey spots it at the same time you do.
"Damn thing. Gonna need a key fob or card or somethin' for it, I bet."
She sighs through her teeth. "Figures.
Well, keep y'r eye out."
"...yeah.


Hey.
Do... do your wings-
Can you--"
"Kid, y' Seen me?
These things aren't gonna lift me, I'm nearly three-hundred pounds.
S'what I get f'r bein' born a hybrid, I guess; giant tail n' me not bein' small in general makes these things close t' useless.
...Wish I could, though."
"Got it..."

You follow her as she makes her way towards the separate paths.








The bat puts a paw to the back of her neck, lifting her head in thought.

"...I think we should try the woods.
More enclosed, but it's on stable ground."
"Was bout' t' say th' same.
Don't trust that mud not t' be filled with things.
Not riskin' a fall.

Y' ready?"

You push past your nerves to speak up.

"...also, I had a dream. When I was asleep."
"You c'n share later, we shouldn't be waitin' around like th--"
"It's lining up with what's been happening."
" . . .
...go on, just make it fast."
"So I, don't remember all that much of it at this point, but...
I remember getting lost in fog, like what we walked through earlier.
And some kind of muck I sunk into a little as I walked.

There were all these different kinds of lights, and I followed one of them.
I tried to reach the light I was following,
but I got stopped by all this... vines or ivy or something growing on my legs.

A claw came up out of the mud and grabbed my leg I think,
but it pulled away the vines in the process.
I looked down into the muck and glowing eyes looked back up at me.

That's all I remember."
" . . . well, good thing we aren't goin' over by th' mud.
Don't read too much into it, though.
In n' out of here quick, remember?
Let's get goin'.

Stay behind me, keep quiet,
n' remember what I said earlier.
...n don't talk at all unless y' have to.
Tap me if y' need somethin'.
Got it?"

You nod,
she nods back,
and presses forward into the woods, with you behind her.
























 

▶ Flee
Siren 2

The scenery goes dark as the dense trees blot out most of the light.






Aubrey squints,
and turns back to you.

Her expression is some strange mix of surprise, confusion, worry, and slight annoyance
that you barely have a chance to process.







You realize what you'd failed to consider:

You Glow.





A slight bioluminescence graces your hide,
making you stick out like a sore thumb.



HOW DID I FORGET THAT I GLOW IN THE DARK
BARELY 20 FEET INSIDE AND THINGS ALREADY GOING WRONG--






The bat corrects herself, facing forward as she pulls you a little closer towards her back,
apparently attempting to hide you.

She picks up the pace.




Your eyes still haven't quite adjusted,
but you don't want to slow her down; you want out of here as FAST as possible.

You put your faith in her,
trusting that everything ahead is safe for-



You suddenly SMACK your snout into her back as she stops.







Her gun is raised.







You peek around her,

desperate to see why

squinting into the dark.





Your ears pick something up before you see anything.

Something bounding its way in your direction.



Your muscles tense.










A silhouette appears in the darkness ahead.

You barely have time to see it.



It has four legs.
And giant, glinting fangs.


And-




It LUNGES.




You wince.



















A strained, gurgling YELP comes from the beast.





You look for it.

Surely Aubrey must have killed it without using her gun?










It isn't on the ground.






Your eyes scan the dark.






















It's




floating.













Just ahead of you both.




Only a few feet away from making contact.













It rises up, further and further.

Certain body parts dangle, while others seem tensed to the point of complete stillness.










You keep staring.
You can think of nothing else to do.

Aubrey hasn't moved.










It rises up further and further towards what you can see of the treeline.




Just as it's almost disappeared,
you spot them:





Threads, or something similar.

Thin and dark,
but they catch the light ever so slightly.

There are many of them,
pressing into the



corpse of the animal that had been alive just moments ago.

Or maybe it isn't dead.
You can't tell. You can't see it well enough.

But it's deathly still,
being puppeteered skyward by some macabre, fishing line-like... things.











It's gone.















Aubrey's arm is shaking.
Her gun is still raised, but it's pointed higher than before.

Up at the treeline.







You can't see her expression, and you're too afraid to move.







You hear the quietest of gasps as you are suddenly
pulled down to the grass by a single of her arms.


You look over at her, beyond alarmed;
both of you on the ground now.





She points.















The threads are hanging all over just up ahead.
Gradually lowering from up above.


Most of them stop, about three feet from the ground.
A few of them dip down further.









The bat takes all this in.





She rises
only enough to see ahead.
You do the same, periodically checking above and around you,
paranoid that one of the threads will dangle too close at any moment.

They're so difficult to see in this dark.










You find Aubrey looking between two directions.

Almost everywhere you can see is covered with those threads,
including Behind you, now.
But, they stop up ahead; you think you both might be able to crawl under them,
if you are as CAREFUL as you possibly can be.

But you worry even touching One could be deadly.



To the right, though, not far ahead,
there's a fairly thin path where the trees must be too close together to allow the threads to dangle, as there are none along it.

There is an odd, white plant in that direction, on the other side of one of the trees.
...You Think it's a plant, at least.
It's really difficult to tell from your position.
It looks to be planted in the ground, so you assume it must be a plant,
but there's no way to know.
It stands out from the rest of this place with its off-white color, making it almost glow.





You need to think quickly.
Aubrey looks to be assessing the situation as well.