The Waterfall.
Everyone was waiting for the beast to come near the waterfall. Only the prey, Francis, was standing out in the open.
The others were hiding a little away from the trap. Charlie and Peter were hiding behind a rock.
"Charlie, are you sure this is its base? Or did it just come here because you are here?"
"I cannot say for sure. Even if this is not its base, there is a good chance it will come here. Haven't you heard in the stories that the werewolf appears at night? It was night when the beast attacked us as well. I believe it has a strong ability to track its prey. And besides, we lit a bit of fire to draw it in, didn't we? So there is a chance it may come here at any time."
Meanwhile, they heard the sound of dry leaves rustling from one side. They realized that something was coming that way. They stood ready to face it.
Everyone sharpened their eyes and ears in that direction. Suddenly, both wonder and disappointment appeared on their faces. Because the ones who emerged from the forest were Edward and Glenford.
The moment Charlie saw Glenford, he quickly ran toward his father and stood close to him. The others also gathered around them.
"Why did you come here, Father? Didn't I tell you I would return? What if something had happened to you? If that beast had harmed you, what would I have done then?" Charlie asked his father in frustration.
"How could I just sit there peacefully, son? I came here out of fear that something might happen to you. And when I called, Edward came along with me," Glenford replied to Charlie.
At the same time, Francis carefully climbed out of his trap and rushed toward them. That was when Francis noticed that Edward's leg was injured.
"What happened, Edward? Your leg is injured." When Francis said this, the others also looked at the wound. They briefly explained everything that had happened.
"You're sure it wasn't the werewolf?" Juliet asked them.
"Yes. Because if it had been a werewolf, we wouldn't be here now," Edward said.
"Was that wolf still behind you?" David (the police officer) asked.
"At some point, it seemed to leave us. After that, we couldn't hear any sound from it." While Glenford said this, Edward's hand was still resting on his shoulder.
"We cannot stay here talking for long. At any moment, that creature may see the light of this fire. So quickly, everyone return to your hiding places."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone went back and hid. Francis once again went near the trap. Charlie took his father and Edward to the rock where he had been hiding.
...
Using a small piece of cloth that Charlie had in his hand, he tied it around Edward's wound. Time was passing quickly. Their hearts were beating faster than time itself. Suddenly, everyone heard the rustling of the leaves again. From within the forest came a distorted, eerie sound. At once, they all realized it was the wolf.
Its voice grew louder as it drew nearer. By then, they could already see its burning, glowing eyes. It felt as though they were staring straight into their own deaths. Just as they had feared, the first to be caught in those red eyes was Francis, who stood as the prey. In mere moments, it dashed toward him. But Francis did not falter. He firmly believed in the trap he had set. By then, the breath of the others watching had nearly stopped for a while.
Its leg first touched the initial stage of the trap.
Four sharp blades, fixed at a 32-degree angle, instantly shot down around the creature from all sides. Yet, contrary to what they had expected, those blades did not drive the beast into the second stage. Suddenly, Francis fired a shot from the pistol in his hand. The impact forced the werewolf's leg into the vine of the second stage. Before that vile beast could even draw a single breath, the tightened log swung down and struck its abdomen with crushing force. The wretched creature was hurled against the nearby tree under the blow. At the same moment, its leg triggered the vine of the third stage as well. From amidst the dried leaves on the ground, two sharpened stakes shot out and pierced both sides of its chest, pinning it to the tree. Realizing that the final stage was his responsibility, Francis steadied himself one meter away from the beast.
Since one bullet had already been used in the second stage, there were now only five bullets left in the pistol. The pistol had space for eight bullets, but at that moment it held only six. After readying the pistol, Francis aimed it at the beast to fire. Before he could pull the trigger, the werewolf struck the pistol from his hand with its sharp claws, throwing it far away. Blood immediately spurted from Francis's hand, slashed by its claws. Francis screamed, and his cry echoed through the forest.
Fear gripped everyone. For a moment, Francis saw his death standing before him. Yet he did not feel fear. Because when he prepared this trap, and when he stood as bait within it, only two outcomes were before him: either he would succeed in killing the werewolf, or he would die at its hands. So Francis closed his eyes for a moment. He thought about how fortunate he was to be one among the few who had survived the sinking ship that carried more than a thousand passengers. Whether he lived or died now, he believed he was free. Tears began to flow from his eyes. He did not know why he was crying. Perhaps it was because he felt he had already become free.
.....
Seeing this, Daniel quickly prepared to run toward the spot.
But just then, David grabbed Daniel's hand and spoke softly:
"If you run there, what are you going to do? Kill it with your bare hands? Then don't just rush in like that. He himself chose his own fate. That means we cannot save him. We need to act quickly and do something else instead."
Daniel brushed off David's hand and looked ahead.
Watching someone about to die right in front of him was unbearable, Daniel couldn't just stand still. He tried to move forward again, but this time Robert also held him back.
"Don't put the others in danger because of your actions. You're a captain, aren't you?" Robert said.
Daniel quickly brought his anger under control.
Meanwhile, the beast pulled out the two sharp stakes that had pierced its chest. Blood, dark red mixed with black, began to pour down from its chest. By now, half its life was already gone. Then, roaring, it staggered toward Francis. Suddenly, a bullet pierced straight through its skull, forcing it backward.
At once, everyone's attention turned toward the one who had fired the shot. It was Edward. They all stared at him in astonishment.
"I was the first to see you here. And I will be the one to take your last breath. I do this for each one of us. I do this so that we can all be safe here."
As soon as he said this, Edward fired the remaining four bullets from his pistol straight into the creature's skull. With a final roar, the beast collapsed onto the ground. Edward looked into its eyes. The red in them still had not faded.
....
Immediately, everyone who had been hiding came out. They all looked at Edward with a mix of wonder and admiration. At that moment, Edward raised both his hands into the air and smiled at everyone.
Suddenly, Daniel ran toward Francis. At once, he tore a piece from his own clothing. Then, using that torn cloth, he tied it around Francis's wound. Two or three others pressed their hands firmly on top of the cloth. After a while, the bleeding stopped. The cloth was not removed, so that the wound would not worsen.
After this, everyone went near the beast that had terrified them, just to see it. But even as they looked at the dead wolf, the only feeling inside them was fear.
"We must take out its heart. Only then can we be sure it is completely dead."
As Francis said this, his face showed nothing but dread and disgust toward the creature. He knew that such a dreadful task could only be done by him. But his hand was not in a condition to carry it out. So he asked Daniel to do it instead.
Without any hesitation, Daniel got ready to do it for the sake of everyone.
"It's not as easy as it sounds, Daniel. You must do exactly as I say in order to take out its heart."
Except for the two of them, everyone else stepped back. Francis explained how it should be done. Then, with two sharp knives, Daniel went close to the beast. He stabbed the knives into two points on the left side of its chest.
Next, Daniel had to twist the two knives and bring them together at one point.
As Francis had said, it was not at all easy to do. Daniel gathered all the strength in his body into his hands. After a few moments of struggle, the two points finally became one.
Francis asked him to open the wound. Pulling the knives outward, Daniel split open its chest. Because the blood vessels had burst, blood spurted out violently. It splashed over both of their bodies.
To avoid getting drenched any further, they stepped back. Seeing this, Juliet suddenly vomited.
It took nearly two minutes for the blood to stop flowing. Then Francis told Daniel to put his hand into its chest.
Daniel did it with disgust. He pushed his whole palm deep inside. His hand touched the beast's heart, and he gripped it firmly. With a powerful pull, Daniel ripped it out.
The heart was black in color. At once, Daniel dropped it to the ground. The heart that was taken out still throbbed with life.
"You did well, Daniel. I've never struggled this much to take the heart of a man," Francis said in a casual tone. Suddenly, everyone turned their eyes toward him, but he didn't care.
"We can't just leave this beast here like this. And we can't eat it either," Charlie said, addressing everyone with the seriousness of the matter.
"Charlie, we all know that. We need to bury it here. Since we're near the waterfall, the soil here is moist it won't be too hard for me to dig a grave," Francis replied. Without wasting any time, he picked the best spot and began digging. They used four sharp knives to dig, while the others used pointed sticks. It took them quite a while, but together they managed to dig a fairly large pit. It took them about half an hour. To move the wolf to the grave, all eleven of them had to help except for Francis.
After burying the wolf, Daniel and Francis, carrying a torch, went down near the waterfall to clean themselves. Since it was night, they knew stepping directly into the water would be dangerous. So, they drew water from the edge of the falls and washed themselves there.
The others followed, carefully climbing down by holding onto the vines. Once everyone had cleaned themselves, they all returned back up. The fire they had lit to lure the beast was still burning faintly.
...
It was already midnight, so returning was impossible. They decided to stay there until morning. The thick mist made extinguishing the fire an unwise decision, yet keeping it burning meant none of them could fall asleep easily.
"Some of us should rest first, while the others stand guard. When those on watch finish, they can sleep, and the ones who slept will take over the guard. That's the only way we can manage now," Robert suggested.
Since it was a good decision, everyone agreed. Six of them lay down to sleep first. The ones who stood guard were Daniel, Francis, Robert, Edward, Peter, and Barry. Edward handed his gun to Francis, who tucked the pistol into his waistband.
"Can I ask you something, Edward? How were you able to shoot its head so accurately? Do you have any experience using a gun before?"
"I used to live in a very isolated place. There wasn't another house anywhere nearby. I owned a large farm there. Wild buffaloes and other animals often came and destroyed the crops. To hunt them off, I had to train myself with a gun. And besides… I live alone. That was another reason," Edward explained.
The others thanked both Francis, who risked his life to protect them, and Edward, who killed the beast.
"If Edward hadn't killed it, we wouldn't be sitting here in peace right now. I truly appreciate your courage," Peter said respectfully, looking at Edward.
"Have you all thought about this? The things happening here… these are things we've only heard of in stories. I don't think this island is an ordinary one. Something is very wrong here," Barry said, his voice filled with suspicion.
"You are right, Barry. That's why my mind tells me that we still have many dangers to face on this island," Peter said.
The others had nothing to say.
The six of them fell silent for a while. The fog was descending heavily. So they moved a little closer to the fire. To warm their bodies, they rubbed their hands together. Since Francis couldn't do that, he gave life to a cigarette from his pocket. As he smoked, he felt a sense of relief. The smoke from the cigarette mingled with the fog and disappeared. Except for Daniel, Robert, and Barry, the other three took turns smoking it. The moonlight still reached them only faintly.
To be continued.....