Chapter 5 #2
Krampus let out a deafening roar, blood streaming down his torso, staining the snow again in angry streaks of red.
He staggered for a moment, his fiery eyes blazing with fury as he snarled at us.
But even with his monstrous strength, the four blades lodged in his body were too much.
His blood flowed faster than his body could heal, and I could see the cracks in his confidence.
He ripped them out, but he was gushing blood.
With a guttural growl, he spun on his hooves and dashed into the trees, his massive frame surprisingly agile as he disappeared into the shadows.
“After him!” I shouted, taking off after him with the others close behind.
The chase was chaotic, the sound of his hooves pounding against the frozen ground echoing through the woods.
He was faster than I’d imagined, his powerful strides carrying him over the uneven terrain like it was nothing.
Branches whipped at my face as I pushed forward, my lungs burning with the effort to keep up.
We ran as fast as we could, the snow crunching underfoot, but Krampus was a blur in the distance, his dark shape weaving through the trees like a shadow come to life.
He was bleeding heavily—I could see the dark streaks on the snow where he’d passed—but his speed was relentless, and with every second he pulled farther ahead.
A few moments later, we burst onto a narrow trail, skidding to a halt. The sound of his hooves had vanished, leaving only the rustling of the wind through the branches.
“Where the hell is he?” I muttered, scanning the trail desperately.
In the distance, I saw movement. A lone hiker trudging along the path, bundled up in a heavy coat and oblivious to the chaos that had just unfolded.
But there was no sign of Krampus. There were no hoofprints in the snow or snapping branches to indicate where he’d gone.
It was like he’d vanished into thin air.
Aurora stepped up beside me, her breath coming in short bursts. “How the hell did he get away so fast?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, frustration gnawing at me as I looked around. “Damn it. Where is he?”
The others fanned out, scanning the surrounding woods for any clue, but the truth was painfully clear. Krampus was gone, and we were no closer to stopping him than when we’d started.
We began to spread out and look for tracks when Eve’s voice broke through the tense silence.
“Over here!” she called, crouching near a cluster of brush.
We turned toward her, and I saw her pulling back a tangled mess of branches, revealing a narrow opening to a small cave.
The entrance was well-hidden, tucked into the base of a rocky outcrop, and camouflaged perfectly against the surrounding woods.
We exchanged a quick glance before stepping inside, the cold air growing damp and heavy as we moved deeper into the shadows.
The space was tight, the ceiling low enough to make us duck slightly, but it widened into a small chamber.
The faint scent of damp earth and something acrid clung to the air. Blood.
The beam of Aurora’s flashlight swept across the space, landing on a haphazard stash of items piled against the far wall. We moved closer, the light revealing what looked like a grotesque collection of trophies.
Pictures of children sitting on Santa’s lap, their faces frozen in forced smiles, were scattered across the ground. A wallet sat open on top of the pile, its contents spilling out. A driver’s license and a few credit cards. Next to it was a battery pack, its wires tangled in a mess.
“This stuff… it’s Brody’s,” Nishi said, her voice tight as she picked up one of the photos.
I nodded, my stomach churning as I stared at the pile. “Krampus was here,” I said, my voice low, barely more than a growl. “But where did he go? How the hell did he get past us?”
No one answered, the question hanging heavy in the air. I turned in a slow circle, scanning the cave for any sign of an exit, a hidden tunnel, anything that could explain how Krampus had vanished so completely.
Eve knelt beside the pile, her expression dark as she sifted through the items. “It doesn’t make sense,” she muttered. “He was bleeding out. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
“But he did,” Aurora said, her voice biting. “He’s faster than we gave him credit for.”
“And smarter,” Nishi added, her tone edged with frustration. “He knew we’d follow him here, and he still managed to slip away.”
I clenched my fists, staring at the stash of Brody’s belongings as if they might suddenly offer an answer. “We’re missing something,” I said, my voice harder now.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, breaking the tense silence in the cave. I pulled it out, glancing at the screen. Tegan. I answered quickly, my voice clipped. “Yeah?”
“Hey,” she said, her tone strained, “I’ve done what I can, but I can’t keep Liam occupied for much longer. He’s asking too many questions, and Salima’s running out of distractions.”
I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly as frustration warred with worry. “We’re on our way,” I said, glancing at the others as they started gathering the scattered evidence. “Just… stall him a little longer, okay?”
“I’ll try,” Tegan said, not sounding remotely confident, before hanging up.
I shoved the phone back into my pocket and straightened, addressing the team. “Grab Brody’s things. All of it. We need to head back to Black Bounty.”
Aurora gave me an intense look. “What about Krampus?”
“Liam is about to come looking for us,” I snapped, already moving toward the cave’s exit. “We need to regroup.”
Nishi muttered something under her breath but didn’t argue, stuffing the wallet and photos into a bag while Eve carefully lifted the battery pack.
The tension was thicker than the cave walls, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Liam was too close to discovering the truth, and if that happened, everything I’d worked to protect him from would come crashing down.