Hell on Earth

Chapter Eight - Things Go Slightly to Shit

Cynthia woke up and saw Nancy reading a book. She got up and sat next to Nancy. It looked like Nancy got out a book on predators. Nancy looked over at her then back to the book. Jonathan woke up next.

"Hey," Nancy said.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jonathan asked.

Nancy shook her head, "Every time I close my eyes, I just keep seeing that thing." She paused for a moment. "Wherever I was, that place, I think that it lives there. It was feeding there. Feeding on that deer." Her voice started to tremble. "That means that if, if Will and Barbara..."
"Hey," Jonathan tried to calm her down. "My mom said she talked to Will. If he's alive, there's a chance Barbara is, too."

"Besides," Cynthia stepped in. "We don't know anything about the monster. Eating people could totally be against its diet."
Nancy didn't seem to be listening to them, "That means that she's trapped in that place." She looked between Jonathan and Cynthia. "We have to find it again."
"You wanna go back out there?" Jonathan asked.

"That maybe doesn't seem like the smartest plan," Cynthia said. "Last time we were out there, you almost got trapped in whatever hell hole that creature came from."
"Maybe we don't have to," Nancy told them. "When I saw it, it was feeding on that deer. Meaning it's a predator, right?"

"Right," Jonathan nodded.
"And it seems to hunt at night, like a lion or a coyote," Nancy continued to explain. "But it doesn't hunt in packs like them. It's always alone, like, like a bear." She started to get more excited in her explanation. "And remember at Steve's, when Barb cut herself? And then, last night, the deer, it was bleeding, too." She grabbed her book. "One sec. Sharks can detect blood in one part per million. That's one drop of blood in a million, and they can smell it from a quarter mile away."
Jonathan took a moment, "So you're saying it can detect blood?"
Nancy looked down, "It's just a theory."

"It's a damn good one," Cynthia smiled. "Have I told you that you're the smartest person ever."
"We could test it," Nancy said. "But if it works, at least we'll know it's coming."

The door knob started to rattle and shook all of them from their realization.

"Honey are you up?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.

"Yeah," Nancy tried to think of an excuse. "I'm getting dressed."

"I made some blueberry pancakes," her mom said.

"I'll be down in a second," Nancy yelled back.

There was no response. It seemed like Nancy's mom had walked away.

"Your mom doesn't knock?" Jonathan asked.

Everyone just laughed.

After Nancy changed, they all knew that it was time to head out. They had a theory to test and a monster to catch. Cynthia went out of Nancy's bedroom window first, then Nancy, and then finally Jonathan. They ran to the back woods and clearing and then to Jonathan's house. Nancy and Cynthia had their bat and machete respectively. They put the weapons in the trunk. They all got into his car.

"So, are we heading to the shop that sells all the fun stabby, stabby, shooty, murder things?" Cynthia asked from the back seat.

"We're heading to the hunting shop," Jonathan said.

"So, the stabby, stabby, shooty, murder thing store," Nancy joked.

"Great," Jonathan chuckled to himself. "Now there's two of them."

The trip to the hunting store was pretty quick, but it was enough time to lay out a plan. All they needed was bear traps, gasoline, and bullets. Easy peasy. When they got there, the trio decided that the divide and conquer method was going to be the best. Cynthia went looking for the gasoline. She grabbed a couple of gallons. She headed to the checkout counter with Jonathan and Nancy. They set everything on teh counter.