Philophobic : Tyler Galpin

10: I Believe You

Sunday, October 21st

[author's pov]

"Victoria, where have you been!" Principal Weems exclaimed as she neared the trio emerging from the woods. Her eyes widened as she saw Victoria's cut shoulder and turned to Wednesday. "Did you do this?"

A voice from behind them caught their attention as Weems turned back and saw Sheriff Galpin. "What's all the fuss about?"

Rowan, who couldn't be more lost than ever, knew one thing. He turned to Victoria, pointing, and said, "She saved me."

"From what?" Weems asked with a demanding expression.

"A monster," Wednesday said, turning to Sheriff Galpin. "Perhaps the monster that's been killing everyone."

Sheriff Galpin's face seemed to grow stern as he pulled out his radio. "Ten fifty-two here at the Harvest Festival. I'll need it at the north parking lot." He then turned his attention to the three students. "You three are coming with me."

A few minutes later, Victoria was sitting in an ambulance with her arm getting bandaged. Her mom stood worriedly at her side, demanding for questions while emergency responders were checking Rowan's eyes.

"-and you've got your performance in two weeks, what're you gonna do?" her mother continued to lecture. "You should've stayed away from Wednesday, she and her family are dangerous."

"I already told you, mom," Victoria said with annoyance. "It was a monster. I'm sure of it. And don't worry about the orchestra performance..."

"There's no way, it isn't possible that it was a monster," Weems said strongly. "You must've hit your head too. Can I request for a concussion check here, please?" she added, catching the attention of another responder.

"Yes, ma'am, if you could just give me a second," the responder said as they were talking to another one. "Hey, have you seen the other emergency kit? I swear it was just here..."

Victoria practically rolled her eyes as they were kept distracted.

Wednesday was the first to get questioned by Sheriff Galpin as Victoria watched from afar.

"Rowan ran into the woods. Then Victoria followed after him–and I was worried that they'd get lost in the dark so I chased after them," Wednesday began.

"Hold on- and you're saying this like you were hanging out before?" Sheriff Galpin asked. "Just the three of you?"

"No. Victoria was running a school vendor when she saw Rowan run into the forest. He was just at the vendor when he suddenly grew paranoid a few moments later and ran away."

Even though she was assuming out of context clues, she knew she'd get Tyler in trouble if his dad found out they were running away from some other pilgrim students. And it's not like they would mention their presence there if it meant they had to explain why they were chasing after Tyler and Wednesday with weapons.

"Go on."

"When I caught up with them, I saw Victoria tackle Rowan to the ground before I saw the creature," Wednesday explained. "It was large, on its hind legs when it reached for Victoria and Rowan. They hit their heads pretty hard and she defended both of them with a box cutter. I'm pretty sure that's when the monster grazed her with one of its claws... it was too dark to really tell what was going on."

"Where is this knife now?" Sheriff Galpin asked.

"I don't know."

Sheriff Galpin sighed. His men were already searching the grounds of the attack so he wasn't too concerned. "Since it was too dark to tell, are you positive with what you saw? I mean a- monster-? It couldn't have been a large wolf or coyote-"