Raven leaned against a tree, breathing hard, sweating, sore, and tired. But she had to keep going, the Lodge couldn't be that much further now.
She hoped that George was safe and alright. Hopefully he was already back in town and was getting help. If that was the case, she needed to keep going, least Blitzen catch up to her and God knows what that thing would do to her.
She took a quick drink of her water and then off she went again.
As she ran another flash hit her, causing her to stumble as she saw the forest rushing past her, she could hear snorting and heavy breaths before the flash ended. She then knew that Blitzen was coming for her, she had to keep going, she had to get to the Lodge where she would hopefully find help.
Or at least a more powerful gun to use, it was a hunting lodge so it would stand to reason that there was guns there. If she had time, she could've set a trap to slow the beast down, but she didn't think she did, given how fast the creature was. It also didn't help that the thing was following her scent...
That's it!
She went one direction, then another, then another, doubled back, left her jacket in a thorn bush, left a shoe up a tree, threw the other in a random direction away from where she was headed, left one sock in another thorn bush, and left the other in another tree before doubling back again and then off towards the Lodge again.
That should buy her a little more time, her feet may be hurting afterwards, but she'd rather her feet hurt to being killed by that thing that was following her.
After some time, she saw lights in the distance, the Lodge! She made it!
In the distance behind her, she heard Blitzen roar in anger and annoyance at not finding her, it wouldn't take long for him to find the right scent trail and come after her again.
So she booked it to the Lodge, leaping over a line of hedges that was waist high.
Only for an ankle to get caught in a steel trap that was covered up. She held her hand over her mouth to stop her scream of pain, if she screamed out, Blitzen would know where she was.
Despite the pain, she forced herself to calm down and look around, the night lights gave enough light for her to see most of the yard she found herself in. And she could now see raised leaf beds in all directions as though to catch an intruder or more like, a monstrous reindeer if it decided to come into the Lodge again and kill the people inside.
She pulled the jaws of the trap back with all her might to release her ankle. Once it was free, she carefully maneuvered around the other traps and up to the door that was lite up by the night light. She tried the handle, thankfully, it was unlocked and she slipped in and locked it.
Looking around, she didn't see or hear anyone else in the lodge, so they must've gone home for the night, someone simply forgot to lock the door as they left, which she was very thankful for. She left the lights off on the inside, the only lights that were on were the ones on the outside of the lodge, lighting up the surrounding yard and Lodge itself. She checked the windows and doors to make sure they were all locked or bolted.
She also checked the rooms and found no one else there, she then went to look for a rifle and ammo as she also looked for a phone, which wasn't easy given the limited light she had in there.
She finally found a landline and it was working. She got ahold of the sheriff in town who said that he'd be there as fast as he could and for her to hide and to arm herself with a rifle that was in the main part of the lodge that was like a large living room, the rifle was above the mantle and the ammo for it was just under it.
The rifle he said was there, turned out to be a double barrel elephant gun. It was heavy, but she could manage, the bullets also had some weight to them. But again, she could manage. Now she needed to find a place to hide. She saw some stairs that led up to the second floor. She went to them, taking the box of ammo with her, leaving her spear downstairs in front of the mantle now that she had some firepower that could do more damage to Blitzen than a handgun, she didn't need it anymore, she felt safer with the gun.
But she was still scared of Blitzen finding her. She tried the doors, but they were all locked, the bathroom wasn't, but she couldn't stay there, it did have some space, but only one exit and she needed to have another exit if she was cornered.
Not hearing anything outside or downstairs, she took a moment to use the toilet and wash her face. She washed her hands and looked under the sink for a first aid kit to properly bandage her leg, she had used her shirt earlier while looking over the yard.
Finding one, she took it with her, her shirt was holding up, but she would have to tend to it once she found a place to hide.
She found a set of stairs that led up to a third level of the Lodge that was the attic, more space than the bathroom and there was a window on either end that she could squeeze through to escape out onto the roof.
After she tended to her ankle, which was obviously broken, she splinted it as best she could with what she had, spare pieces of wood that was laying up there.
Once she got her ankle mended as good as she could, she loaded the gun and kept the ammo close to her as it had limited shots.
She sat there and she listened. Holding the gun close and trying to calm her breathing and herself so that she could think more clearly. Looking around she could barely make out what was in the attic with her, it was mostly bare, save for a few crates and a couple of old wooden chairs.
She hobbled over to the crates, making sure to keep quiet as she knew that by now Blitzen would be here. She managed to pry the crates open and found old furs of various animals. Some looked like they were once blankets or throw blankets. So nothing in there could help her.
Than a trap went off followed by a pained howl of pain that didn't sound human. Maybe she'd just wait for the traps to finish Blitzen off, or at the very least, break all four of his legs so that she could get away.
But than again, he could actually pretending to be injured and was making the traps go off another way to lure her outside so that he could finish her off.
Another trap went off followed by another pained roar from Blitzen which was followed by the sound of another two traps going off and a long pained roar before what sounded like a thud on the ground.
Maybe he was injured and could now no longer run after her. She could go down there and finish him off, put him out of his misery. She could still hear the pained half roars from the beast, so he must be injured, had to be, he wouldn't just keep making those sounds, and the sheriff would be there soon by now, right?
She couldn't sense anything wrong, so she slowly made her way back down, keeping the gun up and ready.
Getting to the door she came through, she paused to look out the window, she saw that Blitzen was on the ground, still making noises that were now whimpers. She waited another beat or two before finally opening the door and going out towards the fallen beast. She kept her distance, pointing the gun at him, not taking her eyes off him.
Then the flashing of blue and red lights drew her attention away to see with relief of the sheriff's car coming up the driveway, she carefully made her way over to him, her back to Blitzen.
The car sped up and then came to skidding halt, the sheriff came bounding out with his gun in his hands, pointing at Raven, who stopped and wondered why he was doing that,
" It's alright Sheriff, he's done. " She told him.
" No he's not! Get down! "
Those words made the blood in Raven's veins run cold as she instead slowly turned around and saw that Blitzen was standing, not injured at all from the traps that were set out in the yard.
" Get down! " The Sheriff ordered her again and this time she did, though it hurt like hell because of her ankle.
As the Sheriff fired at Blitzen; not all of his shots hitting their target, Raven crawled over to the cruiser, taking the gun with her.
Blitzen charged forward, not caring if the bullets struck him or not. Raven turned around and fired as well, she missed and called out in pain as her shoulder became dislocated from the force of the gun's kickback.
The only thing she hit was the tip of one of Blitzen's antlers, succeeding in pissing the creature off and run faster towards her and the sheriff.
She screamed as he leaped in the air and land on the sheriff, she took off back towards the side door of the lodge, dragging the gun behind her, she had to get back inside and get to the ammo that she had carelessly left in the attic.
She ignored the sheriff's cries of pain and dying breathes as Blitzen trampled him and crushed his skull with his hoof. She got to the door and got inside, she reflexively locked it and made her way back up to the attic.
She reloaded the empty side of the gun and hide behind the crates in the darker part of the attic and waited.
She could hear the beast outside, probably looking for the same wall that he had busted through years earlier, but that wall had been fixed and reenforced. But that didn't mean that the rest of the lodge was reenforced.
Blitzen began ramming the lodge's walls, trying to find another weak spot. Then there was the sound of glass breaking and sound of heavy foot falls hitting the wooden floor and stairs as Blitzen made his way up to where she was.
She quietly set up a defensive position, laying down and setting the butt of the gun on the floor, that way she wouldn't risk another dislocated shoulder.
She held her breath as the thuds came closer, closer, closer still, until she saw a the ends of Blitzen's antlers poking through the hole in the floor leading downstairs.
She watched as the beast came more into view until it was fully inside the attic.
She watched as the beast sniffed at the floor like a bloodhound, looking for his prey. But she was ready this time, she slowly cocked the gun and waited for him to get closer.
Once Blitzen had locked onto her, it charged at her, she waited a beat then pulled both triggers, sending two big bullets at the beast, she heard them hit and down Blitzen went, skidding into the wall.
She waited a few moments, not hearing any breathing from the beast, she sighed in relief and shouted at the beast,
" Fuck you Bastard! " She got up and hobbled out of the lodge and to the sheriff's car, she got in, doing her best to ignore the bloody mess that was once a human being. She was thankful that it was still running, all she had to do then was put it in gear and get to town.
WWWW
She had been driving no more than a few minutes when she happened to look through the rearview and saw Blitzen running at her! She floored it, pushing the cruiser to triple digits, but the beast was keeping pace with it, it tried to shove her off the road, but she held fast and pushed back.
It was back and forth between the two before finally Blitzen knocked her into a fish tail and she went flying into a tree, forced through the windshield and into the same tree...
She jolted awake from her hospital bed from the nightmare. She slowly laid back down and relaxed, she was safe, she made it.
She told the deputies what had happened, and they had gone up to the retrieve the sheriff's body and along with her friends that she believed to be dead as well. She told them that she had also killed Blitzen, they hadn't doubted her about the reindeer as it was a local legend.
She jumped when the branches outside her window brushed against it in the wind. The Deputies had yet to return to tell what she already knew about her friends and she was going to be a little on edge because of her nightmare.
She slowly went back to sleep and the next time she woke, it was morning. But it was quiet. Too quiet.
She slowly up from her bed and looked outside her room into the hallway. Nothing, no nurses, no doctors, not even a janitor.
What was going on? She slowly made her way down the halls and corners until she reached the main entrance of the hospital, the whole time she walked there, no one showed up.
She went outside and even the block was quiet, no cars went up or down the road, no one walked the sidewalks. Did something happen? Why was she the only one moving around?
Finally, a sound, but it was one she wished she hadn't heard, a snort, in the alley to her right.
The alley was dark, but when she turned to look, two red eyes shined back at her, she froze and watched as Blitzen slowly emerged from the darkness, two large holes, one in each ear, glistened with dried blood in the morning sun, she hadn't killed him like she had thought she had, she only wounded him.
" No. " She whispered as he came closer to her, her eyes widening more, her heart racing in her ears, her breath catching in her chest, but still managed to scream,
" NO!! "
Before Blitzen charged at her and before she could turn to run, one of his antlers caught her under chin, going through, exiting through her mouth, catching her.
She gurgled from the blood going down her throat and choking her.
With a mighty jerk of his head, Blitzen snapped her neck, another shake and her head separated from her body.
Another shake and her head slipped off his antler. It rolled until it joined a pile of other body parts. One of several throughout the town.
Blitzen snorted again and made his way back to the woods, and back to Nick's cabin and barn.
As he did, he was joined by a female elk and their many hybrid offspring that he had sired over the years. Offspring that shared in their father's hate and anger towards mankind, especially to those that had wronged them.
The End...Or is it?