Rule

Aaron stumbled out of the barn, still struggling to breath, he noticed that the sun was already setting, his grasp of time was completely off, how long as it been since he had entered Bell Forest?

The young man was barely managing to walk, the second the adrenaline fully dissipated, he would collapse to the ground for certain, he may have somehow managed to get the Stalker but he wasn't alone and Aaron was right in their den.

However, as it seemed that everything was turning as dark as his surroundings, colored lights showed up in the distance, approaching a road about a hundred meters away from where he was, or so it seemed, his vision was all blurry and wrong.

But he couldn't mistake the flashes of red and blue as anything else, help was right there.

It wasn't just one either, multiple of them in a line.

Aaron coughed, feeling his throat hoarse and incredibly painful, the pain had been numbed but it seemed like the Stalker had crushed his windpipe, if not treated quickly, he would die for sure.

Suddenly pumped up with confidence, certain that his predicament had come to an end, he started speeding up, still, he wasn't making much progress through the plowed field.

"Damned bastards, what are they all doing here?" Aaron stopped as both his flight and fight responses tried to kick in, leaving completely frozen as a hand grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around as if he was a swivel chair.

Standing as if nothing could bother him, the Stalker still had the screwdiver stuck in his neck, the mettalic part of the tool definitely going deep inside, despite this, the shadowy figure was unbothered by it, only displeased by the fact that Aaron, of all people, had actually landed such a good blow on him.

"There is a rule when you knock someone to the ground Aaron, you double tap, always!" with this, the Stalker struck Aaron on the jaw, no longer holding back for his sisters meaningless witchcraft, that single hit completely crack and disloged the young man's lower jaw and shattering most of the teeth near the point of impact.

"I may have never killed anyone inside of these woods, but trust me, I know how it's done!" maintaining Aaron standing, he repeatedly pummeled him, the only sounds coming from Aaron, the cracking of bones and destruction of flesh as the consistency of his whole head became not so dissimilar to that of the soil all around.

Many lights were shone on the scene of the beating, multiple men expressed disgust at the body laying on the ground as the Stalker turned to face the people all around him.

"Well, if it isn't the incompetent local police force? A dozen of idiots that have neither uniforms or firearms, moving around in crappy cars with some flashing lights on top" the Stalker taunted them as he turned to the only man here that was holding a gun.

"I know the budget isn't on you side, but even that guy on the ground had one, surely, if you all came together, you could buy one more? That way you would have enough bullets to kill yourselves" everyone but the armed man seemed pale, they were holding things like axes or baseball bats but didn't seem confident at all.

When the sheriff had riled them up, they had felt like the most confident men in the whole world but faced with this shadowy man and the results of a beating from him had erased any sign of this confidence.

The sheriff squinted his eyes at the Stalker, recognising his voice.

"I always knew you were up to no good, come on, raise your hands in the air, don't force me to shoot you" spoke the older man, he was holding a small revolver, six bullets ready to be shot at the Stalker.

"Oh, you sweet summer child" the Stalker stomped the ground.

"I will shred all of your and your guys flesh and pulverise your bones into powder, the harvest this year will prove if you truly were worthless or not" the Stalker made a sudden movement, too sudden, no one had any clue what he had just done until they flashed their lights toward the Sheriff, who had a blade piercing through his left eye and all the way to the back of his skull.

"What even was your name anyways?" the Stalker wondered aloud as he looked around at the other men, who seemed to have been drained of all their blood.

He raised his arms, waiting for at least one to try and take a swing, it was their best bet alongside trying to go for the gun, but it appeared like quivering and pissing themselves was the best they could do right now.

"Come on, I know all of you, I know where you all live, do something or I'll pay a visit..." he provoked them, if only a single one went for it, the others would most likely follow.

One holding an axe did just that, trying to swing it at the Stalker head and even as he was taken down by using the screwdriver that had still been stabbed through the shadow's neck, the others had already committed to their charge.

______________________

The 7th of July, 2019 was an important date for those that looked into the case of Bell Forest, the fact that the entire police force of the nearby town vanished that night, as they supposedly headed out to look for a fairly popular content creator, who also disappeared without a trace wasn't something that could be ignored.

Nothing had been found, no bodies, no vehicles, no personal items and no other traces, it was as if they had been erased from this place of existence.

The strange disappearances and death would continue for dozen of years, although few people still went during the summer, as it was supposed to be the most dangerous season to wander the forest, the place still attracted in mass, people who knew and didn't care or people that had no clue about its reputation.

Still, in the end, Bell Forest became the most infamous forest in the world and its monster, the Stalker, remains a legend.

A legend whose notoriety, according to some, was so great that others tried to imitate him.

Truly a legend of great reach and consequences.