"Who're you feeding, an army?"
Velvet froze, slowly turning away from the bakery's glass cabinet of donuts. Over behind the counter, the guy in the shark hoodie under his apron was wiping off the pastry case.
"My friend's got a real hankering for donuts," Velvet lied.
Well, it wasn't technically a lie, he thought, jamming more donuts in the box. It'd been roughly two weeks since his first civil discussion with Ant, and he'd gone through several dozen boxes of ramen noodles before the being had started complaining. Now, whenever he went out for groceries, he had to get enough food for his friends at home and the cryptid he'd promised to feed, and that meant buying a shit ton of donuts.
Shark Hoodie Guy brightened. "Good for them! Puffy's Pastries has the best donuts in town—oh, that'll be $24.96; there's a Fourth of July discount. How was your camping trip?"
"Not as deadly as you implied," Velvet said mildly, setting the heaping box of donuts on the counter. "Wasn't exactly exciting as I'd hoped. My friends' paranormal 'zine's gonna look pretty lacking."
Shark Hoodie Guy sighed in relief. "That's good. I just warned you 'cause my little brother actually went missing out there a few years ago, and... well, let's just say all that was left of him was a couple of chewed-up fingers, and all the photos of the place where they found him were weird. Usually I don't buy into the local legends, but after Dream disappeared..."
Shark Hoodie Guy trailed off, anxiety and grief hanging over him like a dark cloud.
"Huh," Velvet said.
He had a sickening feeling he knew exactly what had happened to Shark Hoodie Guy's missing brother.
"Y'know, my two friends thirst over you," he blurted, mostly to distract himself and lighten the mood. "I can get their numbers for you if you wanna have a threesome with 'em. What's your name?"
Shark Hoodie Guy balked, and his face went bright red. "Huh—"
Velvet snorted.
"Everybody calls me Foolish," the guy stammered awkwardly. "It's, uh. A nickname. Um. I mean if they wanna go on a date I'm totally down! I—I mean, yeah, I just—oh man, oh man..."
Foolish trailed off in a fit of flustered muttering.
"Tell you what, they come here all the time to stare at your ass," Velvet said, smirking as he slapped his cash down on the counter. "Bald guy in a frog hat and the walking Axe body spray can. You'll know what I mean. Keep the change, I've got another hiking trip to go on."
Foolish choked on his own spit. "B—be careful! Something's real fucked about those woods!"
Velvet resisted the urge to laugh. "Oh, there's something fucked in there, alright," he mumbled to himself, heading back up the street towards the trailhead.
This time, he didn't bother to take the trail. He marched straight off into the woods, wading through the bushes. After a while, the undergrowth seemed to part wherever he stepped, thorny stems and branches bending clear of his path on their own accord.
The trees whispered a welcome. Velvet grinned.
He kept quiet, tiptoeing through the forest. Part of him wanted to yell and announce his presence, but Gumi's words held him back.
Don't let your guard down, okay man?
Velvet frowned. Ant didn't seem like he was actively trying to get his guard down and eat him.
The poor guy just seemed lonely.
Ahead of him, a deer stepped out into the clearing. It was a young buck with soft, velvety antlers, its tail twitching as it bent its head to graze.
YOU ARE READING
Flip (OFFICIAL WATTPAD UPLOAD)
ParanormalWhen his cryptid-obsessed friends ask him to drive out to Buttfuck Nowhere, Oregon for the summer in hopes of him getting some photos for their 'zine, Velvet doesn't expect much to come of it. He expects maybe a few birds to scare the shit out of hi...
