Whipping around at the sound of Julia's cry, the three shined their flashlights on the source and caught sight of two headless bodies and one frightened face in the darkness.
"HEY!" Paulette roared, immediately breaking into a sprint towards The Collector. Her eyes went from confused to furious in an instant, her charge leaving her stunned friends in the dust as she instinctively rushed to her sister's aid. The Collector turned and broke off into the treeline, Julia's head screaming in her grasp.
A few seconds passed, Carly and Dianne struggling to process if that had really just happened and if so what they should do about it. Shaking off their momentary surprise at the same time both sprang into action, Carly sprinting after The Collector and Paulette while Dianne ran over to Julia's headless body, which was already attempting to disrobe and wander off into the woods as most of the discarded bodies The Collector left in her wake did. Dianne tackled it to the ground while it was still fumbling with the straps of its heavy backpack, its muscles weak from exhaustion (and also just being a generally weak 16 year old), and held it in place in case her friends came back with the body's owner.
Meanwhile, Carly was huffing along a fair distance behind Paulette and The Collector, only able to track their movements through the darkness by the path of broken sticks and deep shoe prints in the mud, as well as Julia's faint screaming. She couldn't tell if the head of her friend's sister was screaming purely out of fear or if she was consciously creating a racket to act as a sort of flesh homing beacon, but either way she was thankful for the teen's continued cries. Her thick combat boots sank deeply into the mud off the trail, further slowing the lanky young woman. "Hell." She said, one arm fumbling around behind her as she fished for her metal water bottle. "How the hell are they so fast?" She panted, doing her best to run, unscrew her bottle, and keep her flashlight pointed straight all at once.
If Paulette had heard her, she would've answered with a simple 'RAGE!' No one kidnapped her sister. No one was allowed to lay a finger on her. She may have been a whiny little overfed loser brat, but she was Paulette's little sister and as the big sister it was Paulette's duty to ensure that no harm came to her. Adrenaline and hatred carried Paulette forward, hot on The Collector's heels despite the headless woman's years of additional experience, advanced knowledge of the terrain, and supernatural stamina. "IF YOU DON'T LET HER GO RIGHT THIS INSTANT I'M GONNA SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS MY SHOE'S GONNA COME OUT YOUR THROAT AND BECOME YOUR NEW HEAD!" Paulette roared, vaulting a half collapsed tree that The Collector had slid under and sprinted sideways of in an attempt to break line of sight and escape.
"Help! Paulette, help!" Julia called as loudly as she could, giving away The Collector's position and spoiling her attempt to break away. The Collector silently cursed, digging into her pocket to find a rag or something to gag this head.
"I'm here, sis!" Paulette called, turning on a dime and sprinting in the direction of her sister's voice.
The Collector had miscalculated, the excitement of the moment causing her to take a wrong turn. She was now standing near the edge of a steep, muddy embankment, too slippery to navigate on foot without slowing to a crawl, which wasn't really an option given the fact that she was currently in the middle of a high speed pursuit. The Collector turned around, tucking Julia's head under her left arm while her dominant right got into a fighting stance. If Paulette wouldn't give up, The Collector would just have to take her head too.
Coming to a stop a dozen feet away, panting heavily but standing tall and ready, Paulette stood motionless before the ready Collector. "Give. Her. Back." She hissed, venom oozing from her lips between each word.
The Collector held up her index finger and wagged it in a "No no" gesture, then pointed to Paulette's head, her own neck, and then waved Paulette towards her. If she stepped up to her, The Collector would take her head too.
"I'd like to see you try." Paulette said, setting down her flashlight pointing towards The Collector, cracking her knuckles, and getting into a judo stance. While she'd only been taking classes for the last two years, she thought that her furious anger would give her the raw drive needed to break this bitch. The Collector didn't move, her right hand steady and ready to lunge for her neck the second Paulette got within range.
Paulette never got the chance to find out whether or not she could've taken The Collector in a fight. A glinting metal object burst through the foliage behind and to the side of her, sailing clear over her shoulder and slamming against The Collector's throat. It was an aluminium water bottle. "Carly!" Paulette cheered, turning briefly to find her friend dry heaving against a tree as she tried to recover from her run.
Turning back to The Collector, Paulette's heart stopped. Carly had done her job too well. The Collector reflexively dropped Julia's head as she clutched her throat with both hands, silently coughing from the impact and stumbling closer to the edge. Julia's head fell to the ground and rolled over the edge of the muddy ravine, the young teen screaming in terror as she rolled and skipped down the hill. "JULIA!" Paulette screamed, gathering up her flashlight and sprinting towards the edge of the ravine, paying no attention to how close she was getting to The Collector. She saw no sign of her, the slope too pockmarked and uneven to make out any dents that could've been made by Julia's head. What was worse, Julia's screams had stopped. All Paulette could hear was a deafening silence. Had Julia been hurt? Was she knocked out in the fall? Was she...
The Collector recovered somewhat, her chest still heaving and her neck sore with a slowly developing bruise. Realizing what had just happened, The Collector...
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