Two figures moved single-file through the woods, boots crunching over dead leaves and twigs.
"You came all the way out to this godforsaken stretch of nothing. What the hell for?"
Boyd asked over his shoulder without slowing down.
"Looking for a friend. Nicoletta Goldstein."
Soren answered.
"Nicoletta?"
Boyd's voice dropped, doubtful. "You mean the crazy woman in the beat-up van who chain-smokes like it's oxygen and talks to herself about research labs and 'premium materials'?"
He kept walking, thinking. "Her van had that neon sign—something with 'Cry' on it—"
"Devil May Cry," Soren supplied.
"Yeah. That's the one."
Boyd stopped and turned, giving Soren a long, pitying look.
"That woman drove into town a while back and never left. Kept babbling about some research facility and top-grade materials. We told her not to go out after dark. She didn't listen. Grabbed her weird tools and ran straight into the woods like she'd hit the jackpot."
"Nobody could stop her. Nobody even tried."
Soren nodded. That tracked. Drop Nico in a strange place and she'd treat it like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"Why no going out at night?"
Boyd glanced back at him. "Every outsider who shows up asks that question. You'll find out soon enough."
The sky had gone completely dark while they walked. Fog drifted between the trees. From the blackness came distant sounds—half animal roar, half human screaming.
"Almost there. Right up ahead."
Boyd picked up the pace.
He led Soren to a narrow cave mouth hidden behind thick vines and brush, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. If you didn't know exactly where to look, you'd walk right past it.
Boyd pushed the vines aside and motioned Soren in first, then stood guard outside with his pistol ready.
Inside, the cave opened up just enough to stand comfortably. The air smelled of damp earth and old stone.
Boyd leaned against the wall and let out a long breath. The tension he'd carried the entire hike finally bled out of his shoulders.
"You're safe here, kid. Relax."
Soren looked around the bare cave. "Safe?"
The entrance was narrow and hidden, sure, but there were no wards, no runes, nothing magical keeping anything out. Just a hole in the ground. If something tracked their scent, this was a dead-end trap with nowhere to run.
Boyd saw the skepticism and pointed at the narrow gap.
"I know how it sounds. You won't believe it until you see it. Just wait."
Soren smirked. More riddles.
He peered outside.
Shapes were moving through the trees—slow, smiling figures heading straight for the cave.
Soren's eyes narrowed when he recognized the one in front.
Patty.
"Soren? Is that you? I'm so scared—"
She stood just outside in her favorite lolita dress, now ripped and streaked with mud and blood. Tears ran down her face. She looked small and terrified, staring through the gap like her heart was breaking.
"It's so dark out here. Monsters everywhere. I got lost, Soren. Please… take the talisman down and let me in. Please…"
Her voice cracked on the last word. The sight would've gutted anyone who didn't know better.
Soren scanned the cave. Embedded in the rock wall behind Boyd was a gray stone carved with strange symbols.
Boyd yanked his pistol free and aimed it at Soren. "Don't fall for it! That's not your friend!"
"These things wear the faces of the people you love most. They use your feelings to trick you into pulling the protection. The second you do, they rip you apart."
Soren listened, then raised his right hand. A sawed-off shotgun appeared in his grip.
He slid the barrel through the gap and lined up the crying Patty outside.
BOOM.
The blast filled the cave. The shot caught her square in the forehead. Her head snapped back hard enough to crack bone, but it didn't explode—just left a shallow dent in that pretty face.
Patty slowly straightened. The tears and fear vanished like they'd never existed. She stared at Soren with a cold, empty smile.
Boyd stared at the shotgun that had materialized from nowhere, stunned.
Before he could speak, Soren's hand moved again. Lightning crackled. Alastor, the greatsword, appeared in his grip.
Soren's eyes were ice. He drove the blade through the gap in one clean thrust and ripped upward.
The monster outside split from chest to crown and dropped in two twitching halves.
Boyd watched the entire thing, mouth open, brain trying and failing to catch up.
Soren flicked the sword and it vanished the same way it had come.
Nightmare Town.
Soren's brow furrowed.
He hadn't expected Nico to get dragged into this place.
From everything he'd heard, this was a looping, folded pocket of reality. One wrong step and you could end up decades in the past or some future that hadn't happened yet.
And these skin-wearing monsters came out every night to hunt anything still breathing.
The stone Boyd mentioned—the talisman—was what kept them out. Hang it inside any enclosed space with no big gaps and they couldn't cross the threshold. Houses, cars, tents… it worked.
These things weren't a real threat to him, but that didn't mean he could relax. If he couldn't find the way out, he could butcher every last one of them and still be trapped here forever.
He checked the communicator. Nico's signal was still active, but much farther away now.
Either she'd found something interesting and wandered off, or something had yanked her somewhere else.
Soren wasn't too worried about her safety. The weapons she built could make actual demons nervous. These things were just fodder.
For now, he needed to get back to town, gather information, and see if Nico had left any clues before she disappeared.