Beware the Winter Valley •3

His head turned slightly revealing black pools for eyes, "No, they will be rescuing just me..... You didn't make it."

His movement was sudden as he lunged, latching onto her arm with teeth now jagged, his head twisted and a chunk of her flesh was ripped and tore as she pushed him away splattering crimson on the dirt floor.

The assault was swift, a brutal reality that didn't fully register until the pain hit. A cry of disbelief tore from her lips as she stared at him in confusion. "Jack, what are you doing?" She retreated towards the entrance, her fingers closing around the cold metal of the pistol from their backpack. She stumbled outside, the weapon trembling in her grip as she aimed it at him. "Jack! Snap out of it! This isn't you, you're not Jack. Give me my Jack back!" Her voice echoed into the night, a desperate plea swallowed by the darkness.

His mastication ceased abruptly, the sinew and veins of her flesh jutting grotesquely from his mouth. He moved towards the door, his steps a dragging shuffle, yet executed with a swift, inhuman speed. His movements were so erratic, so unpredictable, that she recoiled, falling backwards into the snow, the weapon still trained on him. Her heart pounded in her chest, a staccato rhythm in the silent night. The cold seeped through her clothes, but she barely noticed, her focus solely on the monstrous figure before her.

He stood, a dark silhouette against the doorway, his head cocked in an eerie stillness. Then, with a grotesque relish, he resumed his feast, tearing into the raw meat like a ravenous beast. His head twisted and turned, gnashing and grinding, until, with a final, guttural swallow, he finished his gruesome meal.

Slowly, his gaze returned to her. His chest heaved, rising and falling in a rapid rhythm that mirrored his quickened breaths. His body swayed with each intake of air, his eyes locked onto her with an intensity that made her blood run cold.

"What are you!?" she demanded, her voice echoing in the chilling silence.

In response, he let out a sound akin to a bull's bellow. Two tendrils of perspiration burst from his nostrils, hanging in the frigid air before disappearing. His breathing ceased abruptly, his body freezing as if it were a part of the icy landscape surrounding them. The world held its breath, waiting for what would come next.

In an instant, the façade shattered, and he broke into a full-speed sprint towards her. She responded with a volley of gunfire, the first few shots a panicked burst of terror, her eyes wide and unseeing, not even aiming down the sights. Her shrieks intertwined with the deafening gunfire, creating a symphony of horror.

The final bullet from her frantic volley found its mark, striking his arm and slowing his charge to a halt. He paused, emitting a snort akin to a bull's bellow, before charging once more.

The brief respite allowed her to regain control, her next three-shot burst striking true - two bullets to the chest, one to the stomach.

He fell, the desolate landscape suddenly silent save for the adrenaline-fueled thudding of her heartbeat in her ears.

She exhaled a shaky sigh of relief, doubling over and shaking her head as she lurched, struggling to process the surreal horror of what had just transpired.

But her moment of respite was short-lived. The air filled with the sickening sound of Jack's bones popping and snapping, his flesh splitting as if being torn from the inside out. A monstrous form emerged, shedding his human husk like a snake shedding its skin. It towered over her, blotting out the sun, a horrific silhouette birthed from her husband's remains.

Before her stood a creature of emaciation, its eyes glowing orbs, its mouth a cavern of sharp fangs, its hands ending in lethal claws. It was a grotesque fusion of human and beast, its skeletal frame gaunt and monstrous, its face a visage of inhuman horror.

For a moment, she froze, her mouth slightly agape, her eyes wide with a bewilderment that bordered on awe.

Then, with a snap, she was back in action. She fired her last three shots at the creature. Each bullet found its mark, but to her mounting horror, the creature remained unfazed. Not a single feature on its face changed.

She spun on her heel to flee, only to collide headfirst with something solid, sending her sprawling back into the snow. Blinking away the pain, she looked up, only to realize that she had run into the creature. It had materialized behind her. With a swift, brutal movement, it clasped her hair, lifting her flailing form into the air above its head. It tilted its head back, opening its massive maw.

Her screams echoed through the air, a chilling symphony of terror, as the creature dropped her. Its teeth, sharp as razors, bit into her knees, severing her limbs with the swift precision of a guillotine.

The next crunch was deafening, silencing her screams as its jaws clamped down above her waist. Her organs tumbled from its chin, splattering onto the snow below.

One more and all that remained of her was her head and neck, still clutched in its claws. But then, a new sound emerged in the valley, cutting through the silence.

Whoop-whoop-whoop. The sound filled the air, growing louder and louder. A rescue chopper was approaching.

The creature studied the object in its hand, Amelia's severed head, tossing it once in its palm as a pitcher might a baseball. With a swift, calculated movement, it arched back, then thrust its arm forward, launching the anguished skull towards the helicopter.

Amelia's facial features were the last thing the pilots saw as the skull struck the front window, shattering the glass and sending shards flying into their faces. The helicopter spun out of control, plummeting to the ground in a fiery explosion.

The creature approached the crash site, tearing apart the corpses of those on board and devouring everything without interruption. Its grotesque feast complete, it turned and walked away into the woods, the smoke from the wreckage swirling behind it, shrouding its departure in a veil of mystery.

As Beatrix concludes her tale, she leans closer to the camera, her voice a haunting whisper in the darkness. "And so, dear mice, we are given an answer to the haunting question. Can love survive the darkness within us? Or does it too, become consumed by the ravenous hunger of our own hearts?"

With a wicked smile, Beatrix offers her answer, her words a reverie of twisted beauty and chilling truth. "Love, my little furry friends, is a fragile flame in the howling winds of fate. It can warm our souls or burn our very essence to ash. Choose wisely, for in the shadows of our hearts, even the purest love can be tainted by the darkness that lurks within.” Her smile fades away, “We all travel this wretched rotting husk trying to keep that flicker alive, one day a zenith will blow it out…. Or worse drop it upon yourself and be consumed in a pyre of your own machinations, screaming into the night forever ribboning meat off the bone.”

And with that, Beatrix Macabre fades into the shadows, leaving behind a lingering sense of unease and wonder in the hearts of her audience.

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