Put That Kid Down

Chapter Fourteen

Or, they should, at least, have kept to a group. None of this mindless running that had split them up in the first place. Then, they might have had a chance.

David was sure to explain this to Third a minute later, when he was dragging his knife down their jugular, tracing the vein with eerie precision and splitting it open lengthwise with a purely satisfying torrent of accompanying blood, washing over his hands and dripping down his skin. The only reason he didn't lick his lips clean of spray was because he didn't want to admit to himself he was that far gone.

Now, there was only the fourth.

And Fourth appeared to have thought better of the whole throw yourself at David and see what happens strategy.

"You're a monster," they said, from somewhere in the shadows, and David recognized Derek's voice. He readjusted his grip on his dripping knife and listened, hoping to catch the sound of Derek's movement. "You're one of them, aren't you? One they've already let through."

This time the voice sounded from David's other side. There was no way Derek had crossed over that quickly. He remembered, abruptly, that Derek had always been proud of his ventriloquist dummy to the point of occasionally bringing it with him on duty and stifled a groan. He could throw his voice.

"As far as I know, I'm human, buddy," David informed him, searching the forest around himself carefully. There was no response. In fact, if David didn't know any better, he'd say Derek might have turned tail- yep, there was the sound of someone trampling through the brush, farther away than he would have expected to find it. Zeroing in on the sound, he ducked and weaved through the forest, following the trail until - "Oh, shi-" he cut himself off and retreated back into the darkness of the forest's edge. Gwen was standing outside, lifting the bowl he'd thrown from the ground with a worried expression.

David looked down at his bloodied outfit. Felt its slow crawl in his hair and on his face as it began to dry. Or congeal, in some places. He'd have to go around.

Fourth seemed to have had the same idea, luckily, as Gwen wasn't running off to call the police because a strange man had accosted her. Fo- Derek hadn't been into the camp very often, and never over to this far side, so he couldn't know where the tents were, and from the disturbed brush, he'd gone the wrong way. David could double back the other direction and linger in the forest near the tents, where Gwen wouldn't see him. Derek's search would inevitably end up there, and there was no reliable way to follow him once he'd left the forest. David was a pretty good tracker, if he could say so himself, but he wouldn't find much to follow on hardened dirt trails between decently spaced wooden buildings.

"Hello?"

Crap, he'd been noticed already? Plus it was a kid's voice- and it was Max, of course. Looking uneasily into the woods and belching a few playing cards from around a hand over his mouth.

"David?" Max ventured, and David was gratified to see that at least Max was holding some sort of heavy-looking metal spike - oh, that was a stake from that collapsed tent over there.

Within said collapsed tent, Dolph and Nurf snored in perfect harmony, oblivious.

"Yeah," David confirmed reluctantly, not wanting to edge forward into the light but needing Max to not be wandering around. He kept his voice hushed, as Max lowered the stake to his side, "Someone's on the grounds and you either need to go back to your tent or to Gwen by the counselors' cabin."

"So you're lurking in the dark of the forest watching over us while we sleep," Max said flatly, but his free hand came up to clutch at the other arm. "That's not fucking creepy at all. Would you please step the fuck into the light?"