Scott wasn't sure how far he and Mia had walked from Heather, Evan, and Rich. However, he only focused on finding the Scissor Eldritch and the other one that came after it. As far as he was concerned, the Scissor Eldritch threatened those living nearby his and his peers' current location. As for the other Eldritch, he didn't know if it is just as dangerous or not, but Scott was eager to find out. As he and Mia walked through the snow, he looked down at the ground and stopped as his red-haired friend bumped into his back.
"Why'd you stop?" Mia asked as Scott pointed at the snow.
Mia turned to where he pointed and her teal eyes grew wide when she saw a scissor-shaped crater in the snow. Meanwhile, Scott walked up to it and went on one knee to investigate it, furrowing his eyebrows at it as he did. Then, he placed his hands on the ground and brought his face closer to the crater so he can take a whiff at it. Once he was done, Scott lifted his head and stood back on his feet, dusting the snow off his pants.
"The Scissor Eldritch was here," Scott said, looking up to point his hand forward. "And from what I could smell, it continued north before taking a left."
In response, Mia nodded as her arms were crossed. But then, her head perked up and she put her left hand behind her left ear, listening for what she thought was a growling and hissing sound. With furrowed eyebrows and squinting eyes, Mia heard for it and suddenly, a loud screech and a chopping sound were heard and she gasped. That tore Scott's attention away from the path he was looking at, making him turn to look at Mia.
"Mia, what's wrong?" Scott wanted to know. No, he needed to know.
"I heard something from far away!" Mia replied, removing her hand from behind her ear.
"Is it the Scissor Eldritch?" he asked.
"I think so, but I heard something else!"
"Something else?" Scott repeated. Then, he asked, "What do you mean something else?"
"I-" Mia was disrupted when she heard the chopping sound again, and it was going on repeatedly. Along with it was a screech of agony. "I think someone found the Scissor Eldritch before we could!"
"What? That's impossible!"
"We need to get there immediately!"
With that, Mia started running, following the path of footprints with Scott behind her. As they ran, the red-haired woman listened as the chopping and screeching became louder and louder. Scott and Mia ran straight before taking a left, sprinting through the trees as they tracked the treads in the snow. But then, a squelching sound and another screech of pain caused her to stop as her eyes went wide with shock. Meanwhile, Scott was running until he was standing next to her and had a hand on her shoulder. Before he could say anything, he saw the expression on the red-haired woman's face.
"Mia?" Scott said before his nose detected the smell of metal.
The blue-haired man turned to his left, looking back at the trail of footprints. Removing his hand from Mia's shoulder, Scott continued to follow the path until he was in an area encircled by the trees. Upon entering the circle, his breath hitched at the sight of what he found. Lying in the snow was a tall and thin beast with red eyes and blades for fingers; it was the Scissor Eldritch. However, the Scissor Eldritch's arms were missing and there was a dark hole inside its chest. Scott even found that the snow was stained with black blood. For this, he looked around and thought, What the hell happened here?
As Scott looked around the area, his purple eyes spotted something, or rather someone, else. Standing above the Scissor Eldritch was a boy who looked about fourteen with messy dark brown hair that reached his shoulders. The boy was only dressed in a brown coat, pants, and boots. In his right hand was an ax and in his left hand was a glossy spherical object that emitted a red glow. The boy was also breathing heavily, most likely exhausted. However, Scott's eyes were only focused on the object in the boy's left hand, which somehow looked like a raven's talon.
Turning back to the Scissor Eldritch, Scott thought, He did all this himself? And his hand, it's not a human hand, that's for sure. He must be one of those rare late-bloomer cases. How can a kid take on an Eldritch himself?
Suddenly, Scott heard a crackling sound and he looked back at the boy. The fingers of his left hand were curled all over the shiny ball, which was showing visible cracks. The boy was squeezing the object, Scott realized. Before he could approach him, the cracks grew on the sphere. Then all of a sudden, it broke in his hand and the Scissor Eldritch's body became limp, the red light in its eyes fading to black. Scott was stunned at the sight of it, not knowing what to say or do.
Meanwhile, Mia slowly walked out of the trees to join Scott, only to find what he was looking at. She found the now-dead Scissor Eldritch on the ground before turning to look at the boy, who just stood in silence.
"Who's that?" Mia whispered to Scott.
"I don't know," Scott whispered back. "But you were right. This kid found the Scissor Eldritch and slayed it before we could."
"How did he do that?" she asked.
"Look at his left hand." Scott pointed to the boy's hand as Mia obeyed. "That's not a human hand. He must have some transformation ability that hasn't been detected. Also, he's armed with an ax, see?"
"What should we do?" Mia looked back at her friend.
"I'm gonna talk to him and make sure he's okay." Scott turned back to the boy and said, "Hey, kid!"
In response, the boy slowly turned around to find Scott and Mia standing several feet away from him. Once they made eye contact, the adults saw the exhaustion in his golden eyes. Scott began approaching the boy but stopped halfway before pointing at the Scissor Eldritch's body.
"Just so you know, that was our target you just killed," Scott said. "It must have been taxing for you to fight a beast like this yourself."
The boy didn't say anything in response. All he did was stare at the two adults with half-lidded eyes, which left the blue-haired man concerned.
"Kid, are you okay?" Scott slowly walked up to the boy. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to make sure you're alright."
Meanwhile, Mia looked at the boy with pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows. But then, she looked down and her teal eyes went wide at the sight of his right leg.
"Scott!" the red-haired woman called, getting her friend's attention. "Scott, his leg!"
"His leg?" Scott repeated before turning back to the boy.
He looked down and his purple eyes grew wide like dinner plates when he looked at the boy's right leg. On his right thigh were four long scratches, presumably left there by the Scissor Eldritch. However, these scars were pitch black and his pants were ripped and stained with the same black liquid. Scott stared at the boy's wound before suddenly, realization hit him like a truck.
"Kid, you're..."
Before Scott could finish his sentence, the boy's grip on the ax loosened and he exhaled from his mouth. Then, his eyes closed as his body was about to fall to the ground. But then, Scott sprinted up to him and caught the boy in his arms before he could fall onto his front. The blue-haired man looked down to look at the boy, but he sighed in relief when he heard him breathing.
"Scott, is he okay?" Mia asked as her friend turned around to look at her.
"He's still breathing. He's just unconscious," Scott answered.
"What should we do with him?" Mia's eyes turned to the boy.
With a deep breath, Scott propped the boy over his shoulder and said, "We're taking him with us! He needs medical attention!"
"What? Scott, you can't be serious! We both know what he is!" she exclaimed.
However, Scott walked past her, not saying a word. In response, Mia let out an exasperated groan before deciding to follow him out of the forest.
~~~~~
Evan patted the dirt with a shovel before wiping his forehead with his right forearm. With a sigh, he looked down at the other ten burials he made. While Mia and Scott were searching for the two Eldritch, Heather and Rich searched the house for survivors. Unfortunately, they only found the bodies of more dead children in every room they could find. The three even decided to bury the bones of whoever the other Eldritch devoured, which Evan buried last.
Carrying the shovel, Evan walked up to Rich and Heather, who were sitting together on the porch. Once he was closer to them, he put the shovel down and sat down to join them. Now, the three sat down in silence, a tense aura around them. Evan, Heather, and Rich were disappointed and shaken at the fact that no one in the house survived the Scissor Eldritch's attack.
"Damn," Rich spoke first. "I'm not gonna lie, that wasn't pretty."
"No, it wasn't," Evan agreed before suddenly, Heather placed a hand over her mouth and whimpered. "Heather..." he said once he heard her.
"It's not fair," Heather said, her voice breaking as she looked down. "These kids never got the chance to grow up and choose who they want to be in life. And they were orphans, too."
"It's unfortunate, but death never discriminates," Evan replied. "That's the sad reality we have to live with."
Rich could only sigh in response before turning his face away to look at the snow. Then, he wrapped a hand around Heather's shoulders and pulled her close to himself. With a deep breath, he let out another sigh before rubbing the blonde woman's back, hoping it would comfort her.
Suddenly, the three heard the sound of feet running through the snow. Once they looked up, Evan, Heather, and Rich immediately spotted Mia dashing at them, her breathing visible in the cold air as she ran. At the sight of her, they all stood up one by one before the red-haired woman stopped once she got closer. Tired, Mia bent over and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Then, she turned her head to the left and noticed the eleven burials that were made.
"No survivors, huh?" Mia said as she slowly regained some air.
"No, everyone in the house was already dead," Heather replied as she looked down.
"Buried that pile of bones, too?"
"Yeah," Rich said with a nod, watching as Mia stood up straight.
"Did you and Scott find the Scissor Eldritch?" Evan asked.
"We did, but..." Mia trailed off.
"But what?"
"It was already dead when we found it," Mia explained. "Someone slayed it before Scott and I could come over to do the job."
"Seriously?" Rich raised both his eyebrows as he received a nod in response.
"Do you know who did it?" Heather asked.
Before Mia could answer, another set of running feet was heard and the four turned around. Jogging up to them was Scott, who was carrying the unconscious boy over his shoulder. Mia, Heather, Rich, and Evan could only watch as the blue-haired man ran up to the car.
"Open the car now!" Scott yelled.
Meanwhile, Evan reached into his pants pockets and searched them until he pulled out his car keys. He pressed one of the buttons on the tiny remote, causing the car doors to click and unlock. With that, Scott opened the car's rear door and set the boy down. Then, he looked around the back of the car until he found a red and white box: a first aid kit. Scott snatched the box and opened it, pulling out several tiny packets of antiseptic wipes, scissors, gauze, and adhesive tape. First, he used the scissors to cut away at the rips in the right pant leg. Once he was done, Scott hastily ripped open one of the packets to pull out the wipe, using it to wipe at the boy's scars on his right leg.
Evan, Mia, Heather, and Rich stood behind Scott, watching as he treated the boy's leg. Then, the blonde woman, sensing the blue-haired man's feelings of panic, walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him stop what he was doing. Scott turned to his right to find Heather before his face softened into a calm expression and he took a deep breath. With a grin, she took the wipe and gauze from him and turned to the boy's leg. Once she did, she froze at the sight of the scratches and noticed their color.
"Heather, what's wrong?" Evan asked as he and Rich walked up to her. Then, they turned to what she was looking at and they became tense.
"Scott, what is this?" Rich asked as he turned to look at the blue-haired man with wide eyes.
"The other one," Scott answered. "This is the other Eldritch that came here after the Scissor Eldritch left."
"What?! You're serious?!" the purple-haired man exclaimed.
"I'll explain on the way back to the motel. But now, he needs medical attention." With that said, Scott walked back into the car, taking the right front seat.
After treating and patching up the boy's wound, the five drove away from the now-silent orphanage, making their way back to the town. On the way, Scott explained everything just as he promised, and as soon as he finished, the drive became quiet. Soon enough, the five were back in the town and were currently in the motel room they were staying in. Upon arrival, Mia and Rich went to the local sheriff's department to inform them of the Scissor Eldritch's fate. As for the other three, Scott, Evan, and Heather stayed behind at the motel with the boy, who was currently resting on one of the two beds.
Sitting on the adjacent bed, Scott looked at the sleeping boy with furrowed eyebrows, deep in thought. Meanwhile, Evan approached him with two water bottles in his hands and offered one of them to his friend. Looking up from the boy, Scott took one of the bottles from the green-haired man.
"Thank you, Evan," he said before twisting the cap off and putting it on the nightstand.
As he took a sip of water, Heather walked out of the bathroom with a vial of black blood--the boy's blood--in her right hand. "You were right, Scott," she said as Evan and Scott turned to look at her. "This blood sample proves that this boy is indeed an Eldritch."
"That means one thing: he's another Turning case," Evan chimed in.
Suddenly, the three heard the door open and they turned to find Mia and Rich walking into the room. As soon as Rich closed the door, he sat down on a nearby chair as Mia flopped onto the bed Scott was sitting on.
"We told the sheriff about what happened to the Scissor Eldritch," Rich began. "Though, we had to tell him that we did all the work."
"It was my idea," Mia added. Then, she turned her head to look at the boy resting on the other bed. "So, anything on the kid?" she asked.
"This boy is just another Turning case," Evan answered, gesturing to the boy.
"Another one, huh? We've been getting a lot of those nowadays."
"Scott, you said he killed the Scissor Eldritch before we could?" Rich turned to the blue-haired man.
"Yes. He held the Scissor Eldritch's core in his left hand and crushed it into pieces," Scott replied.
"An Eldritch killing another Eldritch, it's completely unheard of," Evan said with crossed arms.
Sitting up, Mia asked, "What kind of Eldritch is he, Heather?"
"I put a sample of the boy's blood in my analysis device, and it showed me traces of raven DNA." Answers Heather.
"You could've just said he's a Raven Eldritch, but okay. But then again, that explains why his left hand was the way it was when Scott and I found him."
"What are we going to do with him?" Heather raised an eyebrow. "As far as I'm concerned, we can't leave him here by himself."
"Yeah, and this kid killed no one but the Scissor Eldritch, so I don't think he's a threat," Rich said.
"You don't know that for sure," Evan retorted, scowling at the purple-haired man.
Meanwhile, Mia rolled her eyes at the green-haired man before turning to the blue-haired man. "Scott, you're our leader. What should we do with the kid?"
Scott only stared at the boy as he thought and thought until finally, he said, "I have one idea, but you guys aren't going to like it."