"A wendigo? What's that?" Harker asked.

"It's a Native American monster that's formed through cannibalism." Professor Seward explained, looking at her surroundings quizzically. "What it looks like is debatable, and whether it truly is a monster is also debatable. Some say it was simply an allegory for the greed and the hunger for power of men. Some say it's a cautionary tale to avoid natives from resorting to cannibalism, since hunger and isolation is common in the cold harsh winter of the mountains."

"I'm more inclined to the latter part." She frowned. "But something's off 'round here that got the natives acting so paranoid."

Harker meanwhile believed that it truly was a monster. The professor was still calmly scanning the area, while the guards looked to decide what to do in this situation. So Harker grabbed her hand and started running.

"Where the hell are we going, Jones?" Professor Seward was surprised by the sudden hand-holding.

"You heard the guy. We better find shelter. Whether it's a monster or not, I don't trust this place enough to be roamin' around while there's a snowstorm and the sun's about to go down."

They ran past the tall, barren trees as the snow began to grow thicker by the minute. Soon, they found a cave that could serve well enough as their shelter for the night, and went deep inside to keep out the cold and... Worse things that may or may not be out there.

"Got a lighter, Alejandro?" Harker asked. "I grabbed a few twigs on the way to make a fire pit."

Harker had set down these 'few' branches that were actually as large as logs. Professor Seward had no time to question how he was able to easily lift a ton of wood while running for their lives, and decided it would be best not to for now.

"We have something better, Sir." Alejandro said. "We never know what we may encounter. Move aside, please."

Alejandro took out a large rifle-like weapon from his bag...

And as he pressed the trigger, a burst of fire came and lit up the wood.

"Flamethrower. That's great, it might come in handy." Harker smiled. "You guys prepared well."

"We have also prepared some flashlights, sleeping mats, tents and rations of food and water." Alejandro gestured to the heavy bags that the big tough bodyguards were carrying around. "All to make sure that you're safe and secured as Sir Roland instructed us to."

Professor Seward raised an eyebrow as one of the bodyguards placed a sleeping mat in front of her along with blankets and inflatable pillows.

"So we're just going to camp here for the night? That's the plan?" Professor Seward asked.

"No. Only you will camp for the night and get some beauty sleep." Harker said, taking a flamethrower with him. "Some of us will go guard the entrance of the cave and check what's really going on. The rest will look after you as you catch some snooze. So you can rest without worry tonight."

"No way in hell, Jones." Professor Seward insisted. "I'm coming with you."

Harker gritted his teeth. "You can't exactly order me around anymore like I'm still your student, Prof. You stay here."

"What's the worst that could happen to me? Death?" She retorted. "I'm well past that and if this incident somehow links to Victoria, I need to see it with my own eyes."

Harker sighed. "Fine. Go take one of those flamethrowers. You do know how to use them, right?"

He turned to the other bodyguards. "And I still want the rest to stay here and stay alert. We don't know where exactly these wendigos will be coming from and we don't want our base to be compromised. You guys cover us from any attacks inside the cave, we take the outside."

"Yes, Sir!" They responded in unison.

They moved quickly and took their place to clock the entrance of the cave. The lights from where the tribe was were all off, and they can only see their teepee houses through the light of the full moon that shone overhead. Silence had seeped in after all that ruckus and hysteria.

But that silence did not comfort anyone. It only made the atmosphere in this snowy mountain even more unsettling.

Harker began to detect some sounds of movements. But they were very light and agile, and didn't resemble the sound of footsteps on the thick snow....historical

pαпdα-ň?νê|·сóМ Instead, they sound like the shaking of tree branches high above them. Not long after, they spotted several gray shapes from the pine trees, taking advantage of the camouflage that the snow and the dark trees gave them.

They were already too near before anybody realized.

"Fucking hell...." Professor Seward covered her mouth. "So these creepers do exist..."

"Looks like very thin gray zombies to me." Harker frowned, aiming his flamethrower at the direction of the nearest one to them. "Nobody moves until they do. I want to see how well they can sense us humans."

He had wondered too why these creatures wouldn't have easily attacked inside the homes of the native people. Why would they insist on hiding and finding shelter?

Harker saw them jump down from the trees one by one, sniffing about like rabid dogs. They all looked the same, unlike the zombies he had encountered.

There was no difference between masculine and feminine bodies. They all looked like very tall and emaciated gray humanoids with not a single bit of hair, unblinking eyes inside lidless sockets, and sharp, pointed yellow teeth. The shortest was 10 feet tall or so, and Harker didn't even dare to imagine how tall the 'tallest' guy would be.

"They seem rather slow." Alejandro noticed. "They're still sniffing around when we're just right here. If they have a great sense of hearing or smell, they would have noticed us by now."

"That must be why the locals just told us to hide." Harker said. "What I'm wondering about is where they came from, and if they had always been here or just newcomers like us. And what's up with the sudden storm appearing exactly when we're looking for Victoria—"

Suddenly, a shrieking sound came from one of these malnourished giants. It seemed that one of them spotted a deer rushing overhead and—

Just as one would blink, the deer had turned into nothing but carcass and gore. It was ravaged beyond recognition, with its guts spilling out and scattered like confetti in the pure white snow.

It happened so fast that everyone forgot to breathe for a second.

One of the bodyguards was so in shock that he jolted up from the ground where he was crouching. It was an instinctual action that nobody could have ever controlled. Still....

It was the moment where all hell broke loose.

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A/N: There's a new Privilege price list where you can get 26 chapters in advance at one go plus 90% discount! Plus I also plan to do a neat deal:

For every 100 Privilege chapters unlocked = 1 extra chapter

For every supergifts (Magic Castle and above) = 5-10 extra chapter