With the breaking of the greatest Pact--the revelation of the Safe Havens' collective existence--the barrier of every haven has fallen, leaving them open and vulnerable. Xirxine, the Avatars, and the Worthy are working around the clock to maintain g...
MacKenzie looked out the window of Gustav's car as she, Camilla, and the Serpian made their way through the Safe Haven Forest, bumping along the unmarked road.
"Where could he have gone?" Camilla wondered. "We've been searching for hours!"
"There's a lot of Haven, Camilla," Gustav reminded her. "He could be anywhere." He glanced over his shoulder and asked, "Anything yet, MacKenzie?"
MacKenzie checked her phone and bit back a cry of despair. "Nothing," she reported. "He hasn't responded to any of my texts or calls."
"Then we'll just have to keep searching." Gustav pressed a little harder on the gas—and then came to a screeching stop a second later as he nearly ran into a woman standing in the middle of the road with her back to his car.
"Unfh!" Camilla grunted as she slammed into the dashboard. "Owwww!" she whined.
"Es tut mir leid," Gustav apologized. "Hold on." He rolled down the window and called, "Pardon me, ma'am, but could you please move out of the way?"
The woman did not respond.
Gustav frowned. "Ma'am?"
And that was when things got strange.
The woman's fingers began to extend, growing longer and longer until they were trailing on the ground.
"Vas ist das...?" Gustav whispered, his eyes widening.
Then the woman began to grow, her legs and arms extending to ridiculous lengths so that, even as she fell forward on all fours, she still towered over the car.
Then her clothes and flesh peeled away, exposing pasty white skin stretched over a skeletal frame.
The "woman" turned toward them, exposing "her" face, which resembled that of a bald old man with wide ears and blank, pupil-less eyes.
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"GUS!" Camilla shrieked.
Gustav rapidly shifted into reverse and slammed on the pedal. The car shot backward, forcing Gustav to crane his neck in order to see the road behind them, dimly lit by the reverse lights.
The creature remained stationary for a brief moment, then began scuttling after the car at a surprisingly fast pace.
"What is that thing?!" MacKenzie wailed.
"One of the 'night terrors', I'd wager," Gustav said, grunting as he spun the steering wheel. The car made a 90-degree turn, narrowly avoiding getting a slashed flank from the creature's initial swing. "It's been hunting us. I thought I saw something in the trees a couple miles back..."
