Revenant Girl
Chapter VIII—Tension
The screech of the enderman broke the tender reunion between the two friends. Jesse immediately got into a defensive stance while shielding Reuben. She scanned her surroundings for her target, and for a moment nothing happened. Jesse didn't let her guard down, though.
Holding the stained scissors close to her side, Jesse tentatively took a few steps forward with Reuben following close behind. Still nothing.
"Reuben, as usual, stay close. Don't ever wander off by yourself, okay?" Jesse ordered in a dead serious tone.
Just as her back was turned, the enderman teleported behind her. Sensing its presence, Jesse's shoulders tensed up. To nether with looking at it in the eye—she had already enraged it by attacking it.
With a cry, Jesse turned to face the mob while brandishing her weapon.
When she saw the mob however, she wished that it was just her imagination.
The enderman's neck was snapped, hanging limply on its right shoulder. To Jesse's absolute horror, its right eye was horribly mutilated. Purple fluid flowed out from the mush that used to be an eye like a waterfall. The mob stared at Jesse with its good eye accusingly as if blaming her for its misfortune.
It then opened its mouth and let out a ragged scream as it reached out towards her…
"GYAHH! STAY BACK!" Jesse screeched as she stabbed the enderman's hand. It quickly shrank back its arm, giving Jesse and Reuben the chance to escape.
What happened to that enderman? Who or what attacked it? Was it another enderman, or was it a human? Best case scenario: it was attacked by another enderman, while the worst case scenario:
It was attacked by someone or something else.
That was the worst part—Jesse didn't know who or what that was capable of inflicting that much damage to one of the most hostile mobs in the Overworld.
Was there an intruder, or…
Gulping, Jesse shook her head in denial. Now was not the time to allow her imagination to go too wild.
Jesse continued running, not daring to look behind. She focused on her sole destination: the comfy, secure bedroom.
Left, left, right, left, right, right. After this, she should reach the bedroom.
"Huh?"
To Jesse's surprise, she had stumbled upon a dead end.
But she was absolutely sure that she was going the right way! Maybe she made a small mistake along the way.
Left, left, right, left, right, left.
This time however, she ended up in a kitchen.
It's okay, Jesse just needed to try again!
Left, left, right, left, left, left.
The armoury? Never mind, she could still turn back her tracks.
Left, left, right, right, left, left.
Left, left, left, right, left, left.
Left, left, right, right, left, left.
Left, right, right, right, left, left.
Right, right, right, right, left, left.
Left, right, left, right, left, left.
(...No…
(This can't be!
(I'm…!)
No matter where she went, Jesse just couldn't end up at her destination. Even after going through all the possible combinations, the bedroom was just nowhere to be found. Heck, she couldn't even find any more spare rooms to rest in.
Could she be… lost?
That was clearly impossible; it was not Jesse's first time here. She had been running through these hallways when she was young, and she knew her way around at the back of her hand.
Reuben seemed to sense Jesse's distress and hugged her legs as a gesture of comfort. She knelt down and hugged him back, enjoying the comfort of a trusted friend.
Squish.
Turning around, Jesse's eyes widened. On the wall was a bloody handprint, along with three words written in red. Or was it blood?
SURPRISE
The duo scooted away from the wall in terror. This certainly wasn't the happy kind of surprise that one would get during their birthday party; there was a strong sense of malice behind it, and it was no doubt connected to the mutilated enderman that she saw earlier. Was it the work of a vengeful ghost?
But why would said ghost want to harm her? She didn't do anything wrong.
…
—with a shove-screamed-"I didn't do anything wrong!" —
…
"Godfather, where are you?" Jesse called out in a meek voice. If there was a time for him to appear, now was the time.
Only silence greeted her.
…
"Holy Notch, how big is this place?"
Petra took a sip of water from her canteen and looked around. So far she had pasted four notes and she had just pasted her fifth not long ago. It was already night, and she was worried about Jane assuming that she was scared of the dark like any typical girl. She would be expecting her to be cowering in a corner in fear, wanting to leave the fortress as fast as she could.
Though they would need to set shelter for the night before continuing their journey.
Petra didn't want to admit it, but her legs were beginning to ache after walking around so much.
As she turned a corner, she noticed a small pile of something red. Upon closer inspection, it was a piece of crumpled paper soaked thoroughly in a puddle of red ink, along with a red handprint etched on the wall. Judging by the size, it looked like a child's handprint.
The piece of paper had to be her notes to Jane. But why would it become the state as it is now? Perhaps Soren did this as some kind of warning that he wasn't accepting visitors. It was one heck of a strange warning, but it was surprisingly effective. The red ink looked so much like blood.
If that were the case, it meant that she needed to get out of here, and fast.
Suddenly, there was a low moan. It was very unlikely for it to be a stray mob; complete darkness was required for a monster to spawn.
She tightened her grip on the handle as she cautiously stepped ahead, another moan reaching her ears.
Splosh.
Out of nowhere, another red handprint emerged on the wall. Petra became extremely uneased by this phenomenon. This certainly wasn't normal.
"Who's there? Stop hiding and show yourself!" Petra yelled challengingly, baring her teeth as she glared at the darkness.
Seriously, was Soren really that annoyed by their presence? Then again, was it really Soren's work in the first place? Unless he was some sort of wizard, there was no way that he could conjure tiny red handprints out of nowhere.
Poof.
With a cry, Petra spun around and slashed her sword, a smile curving her lips when the blade sank deep into flesh. When she looked up however…
The black mob let out a scream as it lashed out at her face with its sharp claws. Petra deflected its attack with her sword, but it used its other hand to clutch onto the blade with an incredible amount of strength that she had trouble getting her weapon out of its grasp.
The enderman bent down to look at the redhead in the eye. It took all her effort to not throw up on the spot.
The enderman's right eye socket was completely clean of any orbital contents and part of its mouth was horribly mutilated with large amounts of purple fluid spilling out from its wounds. It flowed down its cheek, to its jaw, to its neck, to the floor and some onto Petra's outstretched arm. The cold fluid on her arm made her shiver in disgust.
"Let. Me. Go. You disgusting piece of shit." Petra demanded, trying to sound as threatening as possible. However, the mob still refused to give in, digging its claws deeper into the metal. "I said… LET GO!" Petra yelled. With a war cry, she exerted all her might and broke her sword free from the enderman's grasp, slicing its chin in the process.
It let out strangled cries and chokes as staggered backwards, its left eye rolling upwards. Petra remained in a battle stance, waiting for its next move. Seeing itself at the losing end, the mob turned and made a retreat. However, it only made a few steps before collapsing along with purple fluid pooling on the floor. The body and the fluids soon dissipated into white steam, leaving no trace behind.
Petra inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves. The events that had occurred screamed danger and possible death if she stayed. She needed to find Jane, now, before she gets herself hurt.
Splat.
(Oh no…)
Another handprint.
Petra glanced back and forth between the hallway and the handprint. She let out a horrified gasp as red words started to appear on the wall as if someone were writing them with a fine paintbrush.
YOU CAN'T RUN.
YOU CAN'T HIDE.
I'LL CHASE YOU TILL YOU DIE.
.
[NOTE: Illustration for this chapter is only available on Wattpad]
*Rises from the dead*
Holy Notch, I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging for months. Also, an apology in advance cause the next four months for me is gonna be hectic (big exam, getting attached to Attack On Titan fanfics [coughRirenficscough] and procrastinating… y'know the usual stuff), so probably no updates till mid-November. The best case scenario is an update before September, but I'm the procrastinating Queen, so that's very unlikely.
I'm pretty sure future chapters are gonna force me rate the story mature, just a heads up.
In the meantime, please entertain me with your comments/ theories and whatnot. You guys make me feel famous.
*Falls back into grave*