Prologue #2
The axe is ripped free and driven in again with brutal force. The blade tears deeper through his torso, shredding what little resistance remains. His body collapses forward as blood pours freely now, soaking his shirt and spreading beneath him.
Beth stumbles backward as her legs buckle beneath her. The air leaves her lungs in a single rush and her vision narrows until there is nothing but Chris on the ground. His body twitches once and then goes still.
The killer lifts their head and turns toward her. Snow clings to their clothes and blood coats their hands. They raise one finger and point straight at her.
Beth’s mind blanks under what she’s seeing. Whatever thought she had falls apart, and her body moves on instinct alone.
She turns and runs.
She runs until her chest burns so badly it feels close to splitting, each breath shallow and frantic.
Her calves scream with pain, muscles tightening and threatening to fail as her bare feet strike frozen ground, roots, and rock.
Trees blur together as she pushes forward, her breaths breaking into panicked sobs that barely keep her upright.
The chainsaw starts behind her. The engine catches with a rough, uneven roar that cuts through the forest and the storm.
The sound climbs rapidly, growing louder and more aggressive as the motor revs higher.
Metal screams against metal as the chain spins faster, the noise tearing through the air and closing the distance behind her.
“No. No. No. Please,” Beth cries, words tumbling out of her in raw sobs as she crashes through branches that tear at her face and arms. She slips on ice and mud, goes down hard, rolls, slams into a tree, then staggers back up.
The chainsaw roars again, closer this time.
Beth’s foot comes down wrong as she runs.
A jagged rock punches straight through the sole of her foot.
The impact steals her balance instantly.
Her ankle twists as her weight collapses onto the injury, and she goes down face first. Her chin slams into frozen dirt with a muffled crack that rattles through her skull.
Pain detonates up her jaw and into her ears, leaving her stunned and gasping.
She tries to scream and only manages a wet sob.
Beth scrambles backward, palms digging frantically into the ground as she fights to put distance between herself and the sound.
Broken sticks drive into her hands and wrists.
Blood smears across the snow in streaks as she drags herself away, her injured foot trailing uselessly behind her and leaving a thick red trail wherever it touches.
The chainsaw revs again.
Boots crunch closer, each step pressing into the snow.
The figure steps into view. They are tall, shoulders broad beneath dark clothing dusted with snow.
Their grip on the chainsaw is relaxed. The blade is still running as it drags behind them, chewing into ice and stone.
Sparks burst where metal strikes rock. The air fills with the stench of fuel and hot oil layered over blood and pine.
Beth crawls backward in terror, heels slipping, hands sliding through her own blood as she stares up at the figure closing in.
“Please,” she begs, her voice breaking as terror shreds what little control she has left. “Please. Don’t do this. Please.”
The killer lunges without hesitation.
The chainsaw slams into her side, the impact knocking the breath out of her lungs.
It doesn’t cut cleanly or deep enough to end her.
The teeth bite into her ribs and tear sideways, ripping flesh apart in a grinding, violent drag.
Bone cracks and splinters under the blade.
Part of her side is cut open in an instant, replaced by a spray of hot blood that bursts outward and strikes the snow in steaming sheets.
Beth screams as the vibration tears through her body, the force shuddering through her ribs and spine, rattling her teeth in her skull.
She rolls blindly across the ground, shrieking, hands clawing at her side in panic. Her fingers slide into tissue that shouldn't be exposed, slick and loose beneath her touch. Pain tears through her torso in blinding waves.
“Stop. Please. Stop,” she screams, her voice breaking down into raw, hoarse sounds that barely resemble words.
The killer lifts the chainsaw overhead.
For a brief, frozen moment, Beth sees her own reflection warped across the metal. Her face is streaked with blood, her mouth open in a silent plea, her eyes wide and glassy with shock.
Then the saw comes down.
It strikes her pelvis first. The teeth chew through bone with a brutal, grinding force, splitting her hips apart as flesh tears open around it.
Blood erupts upward as the blade climbs, ripping through her abdomen and shredding muscle and organs in its path.
Her body convulses violently, back arching off the ground as the last of her strength spasms through ruined nerves.
Everything inside her gives way at once. A final, soundless scream twists in her throat, strangled before it can escape. The chainsaw tears up through her with unstoppable force, and she feels every second of it.
Pain overwhelms everything, sight, sound, breath, until her mind snaps and her vision floods with blinding, merciful white.
The killer finishes the cut in one long, deliberate motion, dragging the saw up through the center of her body.
The chainsaw sputters once. Then it goes silent.
Beth’s body collapses in two broken halves.
Steam rises from the ragged ends of muscle and bone as blood pours freely, pooling thick beneath her and soaking into the snow.
Her limbs twitch once before falling still.
Snow continues to fall, settling gently into open wounds and pooling in the recesses of her destroyed torso.
The forest falls quiet again.
Figures slip out from between the trees, one after another, filling the clearing. Some clean their weapons while others check and reset their gear. Blades are inspected, traps are set again, and bodies are hauled across the snow, leaving long, smeared trails behind them.
The next hunt is ready to begin.