Heart of the Mountain Ch. 14

Hey everyone, here's Chapter 14. I hope you enjoy! Please note that the chapters in this story will be shorter than my usual ones. My usual chapters are quite long, after all. I'm trying to stick to novella length chapters.

I haven't forgotten about Sisterhood 101 and Love in the Balance. I'm hoping to finish this one and then get back to those. Heart of the Mountain is nearing the end. Just a few more chapters. I also have to come up with an idea for the Halloween contest. Additionally, I'm outlining another Law & Ardor episode.

Comments and feedback are always appreciated! I read every single one. Also, please let me know if you spot any mistakes. I upload revisions all the time, and I will correct any errors that are pointed out to me. Just make sure to be specific so that I can find what you're talking about.

Please note that this story is a work of fiction. I might use parody names for pop culture references: including songs, books, movies, and celebrities. However, they are not meant to accurately represent the real people or media. This is a fictional universe. As always, this is a world without STI's, and everyone involved in sexual activity is at least eighteen years old.

-Witty

NOTE: If you're new to my stories, there's a timeline on my page that should work as a suggested reading order. Just don't judge my earlier stories too harshly! I was, and am, still learning.

WARNING: This story is pretty dark. Not dark like some aspects of Birthday Pool Party. It's violent and graphic. The story is meant to read like an old horror movie. If you're not into that, you might want to find something else. You've been warned!

~Thursday 23 July, 2026~

8:12 AM

Sheriff Daniel Harper had watched twenty-three minutes of trees and rocks. He had watched Madison Cole explain Deer Ridge and the story of the alleged monster. She and Tyler Norton hiked a trail they had been expressly forbidden from entering, investigated several completely ordinary noises, and speculated about an unidentified creature Harper had spent the last month insisting was an animal.

It had been especially infuriating to watch Tyler and Madison duck beneath the yellow tape, completely ignoring the two signs.

"AREA CLOSED -- DO NOT ENTER"

"DANGER -- ACTIVE INVESTIGATION"

Harper leaned back in his chair. "Idiots."

The camera sat beside his keyboard, a smear of dirt across one corner. A deputy had found it a few hours previously. Tyler and Madison's car had been located the previous night on a dirt pull-off not far from the Deer Ridge lot. Their families had been unable to reach them. A check of social media accounts revealed their web show After Midnight Investigations. Harper knew what they were looking for, and immediately ordered a search.

Tyler and Madison had not been found. What they had located was a dented camera, discarded clothing and backpacks, signs of a disturbance, and a lot of blood. If they were dead, that would be ten lives lost. Harper knew in his heart that they were dead, just like all the others. Harper felt like shit, and he said he'd review the footage alone.

Dan Harper skipped to another scene where Madison was explaining the known attacks and the various theories floating around on the internet. Tyler briefly turned the camera on himself, saying the Bigfoot theory had merit. Madison had yelled at him that the Deer Ridge Monster was something unique.

Skipping ahead again, Harper saw nothing but trees and rocks. He skipped again. Nothing. The file ended so Harper clicked open the next one. It was dark by then, so they had to record in low-light mode. The screen was black at first before the image appeared and stabilized. Madison was standing in the woods wearing nothing but a pink bra.

"Something to jerk off to after I dump you," the woman said, flashing the camera.

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Harper growled, reaching for the mouse.

Apparently having sex with a dangerous animal around wasn't enough; they weren't acting worried at all. Tyler was playing with the camera, filming Madison's butt as she bent over to retrieve her underwear. The two then discussed editing for their show and decided they were ready to leave.

Click.

Harper froze. The sound had been faint, barely there. Madison and Tyler had apparently heard it as well. Tyler reasoned it was probably a branch, while Madison remembered it was the sound the animal supposedly made. Harper's heart sped up; were they about to get the animal on video?

Click.

Harper moved the cursor, jumping forward slightly.

"RUN!" Tyler shouted.

Trees, rocks, dirt. The camera was moving to fast to make out more than the occasional detail. Tyler yelled for Madison to keep going, then she screamed his name in response. Madison briefly appeared on camera, still in her bra and panties as she took a step toward Tyler, the terror on her face obvious.

"GO! I LOVE YOU! GO!" Tyler screamed.

Then Tyler turned and raised the camera.

Something stood between two trees. The camera struggled to focus. The image blurred, sharpened, then blurred again. Finally; clear.

Harper pressed the space bar. He stared at the screen. The thing was tall. Tall and impossibly thin. Long arms reached almost to the ground, ending in long, branchlike claws. Skin like burnt bark stretched across a narrow chest. Its head was long and without a mouth, but it did have long, twisted antlers. Eyes that were completely white stared into the camera.

"No," Harper whispered, completely in shock.

He hit the space bar and the recording resumed. Tyler dropped the camera, preventing anything else from being seen. However, Harper could hear. He could hear the screams. He was right; Tyler and Madison were dead. They were dead, and Chloe Whitaker had been right. It was a monster.

Moving the cursor, Dan Harper once again brought up the Deer Ridge Monster and paused the recording. Chloe and Mike had described it perfectly. Harper's eyes traveled along the creature's side. There was a dark, ugly wound. That must have been where Ryan shot it, where Mike kicked it, enabling his escape.

Harper sat without moving, the clock on the wall ticking behind him. A cruiser passed outside his window, a phone rang, and someone laughed somewhere down the hallway. Normal sounds on a normal morning. All while Harper stared at the frozen image as he questioned his entire life. Years in law enforcement where he saw bears, mountain lions, rabid animals, and people mutilated by other people. There was always an explanation.

Until now.

He closed the video and removed the memory card from his computer. The small piece of plastic rested in his palm. Evidence. He should log it, make copies and send them to the State Police and to DEC. Eventually someone would send it farther. People would see it, would talk. News vans would fill Deer Ridge. People would panic, would wonder what else was out there. This could change the world.

And not for the better.

Harper picked up his phone and made a call. It rang four times.

"Dan?" Ranger Mike Carter answered.

Sheriff Harper looked at his computer, then back to the memory card in his hand. "I need you to come to the station."

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

"Just come in," Harper said.

"Dan-"

"Mike," Harper said quietly. "Come alone."

9:06 AM

Mike knew something was wrong before he entered Harper's office. Dan opened the door before Mike could even knock, and the sheriff looked terrible. He had a strange expression on his face that Mike couldn't read. Harper surprised Mike again by locking the door as soon as they were both inside.

"You planning on killing me?" Mike asked.

"Sit down."

"That's not a 'no,'" he pointed out.

"Mike," Harper grunted.

Sighing, Mike took a seat while Sheriff Harper walked around his desk and pulled out his own chair. Mike noticed the camera immediately. Black, dirty. It was scratched and slightly dented. Mike frowned as he looked at it before looking back up at Dan in confusion.

"Whose is that?"

Harper didn't answer. Instead he opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a memory card.

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"Two people entered Deer Ridge last night," Harper said slowly.

Mike straightened. "Who?"

"Tyler Norton, twenty-five. With his girlfriend Madison Cole, twenty-four," the sheriff answered. "We found their car parked a quarter-mile from the Deer Ridge lot. They run some kind of web show for alleged supernatural occurrences."

"Why wasn't I called?" Mike frowned.

"Because you're still off the overnight rotation."

"Dan!" Mike growled. "I'm a DEC Park Ranger and I've been involved in this case from the start. I should have at least been notified."

"So you could enter Deer Ridge while still injured? No."

"I'm fine," Mike insisted. "My bruises are gone and the doc cleared me."

"We had Rangers on the scene," Dan stated firmly.

Mike sighed but didn't argue. "Are Tyler and Madison missing?"

"Yes."

"The camera?" Mike questioned.

"It was recovered this morning," Dan Harper explained. "There was a lot of blood."

Mike leaned back. "Dan, what's going on? Why are you telling me like this?"

Sheriff Daniel Harper looked down at the memory card he ran between his fingers. "It'll be easier if I show you."

Dan inserted the memory card into the computer and opened the files while Mike waited patiently. The sheriff then started playing a video. Mike couldn't see the screen, but he listened as two people, who he assumed were Madison and Tyler, were talking. Madison was doing most of the talking, and it sounded more like the aftermath of a late-night hookup than a web show.

Then he heard it.

Click.

Every muscle in Mike's body tightened. "That's it."

Harper watched him. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Mike nodded.

Harper turned the monitor so Mike could see as well. He watched Maddie standing in her underwear, growing more and more panicked. She and Tyler soon decided to leave, eventually panicking enough to realize they needed to abandon their possessions and get the hell out.

"C'mon, leave," Mike's jaw tightened.

Neither person on the screen heard him. What followed was horrifying. Mike heard their fear, saw the image change rapidly as Tyler ran. Then Tyler stopped, he turned to face the attacker and he aimed the camera. Mike almost stopped breathing when The Thing in the Mountain appeared on screen.

Harper paused the video.

Mike chose to ignore the fact that it was a monster and focus on something else. "That's it. Its side. That's where Ryan shot it. Where I kicked it."

"Right," Harper agreed. "So, do we think there's any possibility this is a person in a costume?"

Mike looked at him. "No way in hell."

"You answered fast."

"Because it threw me fifteen fucking feet," Mike grunted. "Play the rest."

Harper hesitated. "You don't need to see the rest."

"Play it."

Sheriff Harper nodded solemnly and played the rest of the encounter. Mike listened to the final moments of Tyler Norton and Madison Cole. The camera kept recording, likely until the battery died. However, once the forest fell silent, Harper paused the video.

Mike didn't look up. "He knew."

"Yeah."

"He knew he wasn't getting away," Mike sighed heavily. "He sacrificed himself to buy her time to get away."

"It didn't work."

"No," Mike shook his head. "Who else has seen this?"

"No one," Harper answered.

Mike looked up. "The one who found it?"

"I got it from them and insisted on reviewing it myself," Harper said. "I didn't want anyone else to have to watch a bear rip people apart. I ended up seeing something far more surprising."

"What are you going to do?" Mike asked.

"Something I've never done before," Harper answered as he removed the memory card.

"And that would be?"

Instead of answering, Harper placed the memory card on the desk. Then he reached into his drawer and took out another memory card, one identical to the card with the footage of the attack. Mike frowned, unable to believe what he was seeing. Dan Harper would never hide evidence.

"This one's full of corrupted data," Dan pointed to the second memory card. "No one else is going to see this."

"Why?"

"Because if one frame gets out, Deer Ridge is going to go from a crime scene to... I don't fucking know," Dan growled passionately. "News crews, cryptid hunters, influencers. People with rifles who think they're going to kill Bigfoot! People with cameras who wanna get rich."

"We can't just pretend it doesn't exist," Mike reasoned. "People are still dying."

"I know," Harper nodded. "That's why we need to figure out how to kill this thing. It was shot, it bled. If it can bleed, it can die. We kill it, we burn the body until there's NOTHING left. Then we drink until we forget that thing ever existed."

"How do we even kill a mo-"

"Don't!" Harper hissed. "Don't... just, don't use that word."

"How do we kill something that took a point blank shotgun blast and walked away?" Mike rephrased his question. "How do we kill something that was barely wounded by rifle rounds? Something that killed four well-trained people?"

"That's why you're here," Harper answered, placing his folded hands on the desk. "Marcus is still in a coma, and Chloe is a traumatized teenager, so you're the only person to see this thing and live that I can talk to."

Mike looked at Harper seriously. "I have one idea, but you're not gonna like it."

"I don't think there's anything you could tell me that could freak me out more than I already am," Harper scoffed.

"Good point," Mike winced. "So, ah, Amber and I went to Deer Ridge on Monday."

Harper stared back. "Why?"

"Because I saw the same thing you did and couldn't make sense of it."

"And an archaeologist you want to sleep with helped how exactly?" Harper frowned.

"The stones," Mike replied. "Once I accepted that something, well, something unnatural was going on, then I accepted that I needed to explore an unnatural solution."

"You brought an untrained civilian to a place where multiple people were killed," Harper glared at Mike. "A place where well-trained officers were killed. You could have gotten that woman killed. You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"She said she was going with or without me," Mike shrugged. "And I figured the thing was still wounded."

"Then you arrest her to stop her; you don't help her!"

"And then what?" Mike countered. "I tell my boss there's a monster? They won't send in an army; they'll put me in a padded cell. And it's not like you can send tanks into the Adirondacks. I took a risk, I agree, but it was necessary."

"Necessary?"

"You saw that fucking thing!" Mike pointed at the computer monitor. "We need to accept evidence and revise our position; the way rational adults do. Normal methods won't work. Those stones were placed by Native Americans to stop that thing. They might help us stop it again."

Mike took a breath. "You're the one who knows why this footage can't ever get out. If people keep going in and treating it like a rabid bear with mange, then the bodies are just gonna keep piling up. Dogs can't track it, regular methods can't bring it down; the answer is NOT more rangers. The answer is, well, to treat this like what it is."

"And what the fuck is it?"

"Something supernatural," Mike admitted. "Denying it and refusing to use the right words doesn't make this go away. There's a monster in the Adirondacks. The military can't kill it; they won't even acknowledge it exists. Stein can't identify it. And we don't have an army. What we do have, is lore."

Harper took several moments before responding. "Did Amber Bennett find out anything that might be useful?"

"Maybe," Mike said slowly. "We should bring her in."

"Call her," Harper said in a resigned voice. "And Mike? If you ever take a civilian into a closed active search area again-"

"Understood."

"I wasn't finished," Harper sighed. "Just... get Miss Bennett here."

Mike nodded and started the call.

"Mike?" Amber's voice answered. "What's wrong?"

"Two more people are missing," Mike said, wincing when she gasped. "They have some sort of paranormal show and went into Deer Ridge."

"Oh, my God," she said in a quiet voice. "What happened?"

"We found a lot of blood," Mike admitted. "There's more, but we'd rather show you in person."

"In person?"

"Yes, could you come by the Sheriff's office?" Mike asked. "And bring your research."

"I can do that," she promised. "I'll leave in a few minutes."

"Amber?" Mike added with a small smile. "Maybe just bring the most relevant stuff."

Amber's musical laugh came through the phone. "It's all relevant, but fine. I'll go easy on you. See you soon. Bye."

Mike lowered the phone. "I know you just wanted us to see it, but we should show Amber that thing."

"Why?" Harper questioned.

"She needs to see what she's up against."

10:01 AM

"How much trouble are we in?" Amber asked when they met outside.

Mike considered the question. "A lot."

"Good."

His eyebrows lifted. "Not with Harper. He knows everything."

"Everything?" she wondered.

"Yes," Mike nodded. "We're in trouble because of the monster. You'll see."

Amber's eyes darted around as they made their way through the building. She was carrying a laptop bag and a backpack, both stuffed with research. Harper was waiting in his office. The door closed behind them. Amber looked at the door as Sheriff Harper locked it.

"That seems ominous," Amber commented.

"Sit down, Miss Bennett," Sheriff Harper said.

"That's more ominous," she replied with a small smile as she placed her backpack on the floor and sat in the chair Mike offered.

"Tyler Norton and Madison Cole," Harper stated as Mike sat.

"The two who went missing," Mike explained. "They have day jobs, but also make that web show."

"After Midnight Investigations."

Harper and Mike both stared.

"How did you know that?" Harper frowned.

"I like fantasy and I have the internet," Amber shrugged. "Plus, I've been researching this stuff more since, um..."

"Right," Harper winced, taking a seat. "Okay, we haven't found them, but we did find their camera."

"What's on it?" Amber asked.

"That's why you're here," Mike explained, reaching out to take Amber's hand.

"The recording is pretty disturbing," Harper said honestly as he took out a memory card and connected it to his computer. "Rather than make you watch the entire thing, I took a screenshot of the important part."

"Okay..." she trailed off nervously.

"Before I show you this, I want something understood," Sheriff Harper stated firmly. "What you're about to see does not leave this office."

She glanced at Mike before answering. "Okay."

"I mean it," Harper continued. "You don't tell your professors or anyone else at the university. Don't put it in notes someone else can access, don't tell a friend, don't tell your family."

Amber's expression hardened. "Sheriff-"

"Can you agree to that?" Harper asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

Mike squeezed Amber's hand as Harper pulled up the image.

Sheriff Harper turned the monitor.

Amber's heart nearly stopped.

It was tall with a narrow body, almost looking starved. However, nothing about it looked weak. The arms were way too long, with claws that almost fell to the ground. Twisted antlers and a long face with no mouth or nose. Those eyes! Piercing white and glowing in the low-light view the camera was getting.

Amber recoiled. "Oh, my God!"

Silence filled the office.

She stared at the screen. She'd spent so much time looking at the stones. The crime scene had been horrifying, the first hand accounts were even worse. Mike had caved and told her everything, even what he saw. None of that was the same as seeing the thing with her own eyes.

"What the fuck is that?" she finally asked.

Harper leaned back. "Something that shouldn't exist."

"Gerald," Mike grunted.

"What?" Harper frowned.

"Her nickname for it," Mike explained before pointing to the image. "Look at its side. That's where Ryan got it with the shotgun. It has other wounds from Eric and Maria, but the shotgun blast is the worst."

"So it's definitely the same thing," Amber nodded. "Uh, we're sure there's only one of them?"

"I damn well hope so," Harper grimaced. "One's bad enough."

Amber took off her glasses and rubbed a hand over her face. Ten dead. She sighed and put her glasses back on. "Who else has seen this?"

"Just the people in this room," Harper answered plainly. "The camera is back in evidence with a memory card full of corrupted data."

"I see," she said slowly. "What's the plan?"

"Well, Mike told me you and he trespassed on a closed trail," Dan replied.

Amber folded her hands in her lap. "I assume this is the part where I apologize."

"That would be refreshing," Harper smirked.

"I can apologize if you'd like, but I won't mean it," she said honestly.

"I figured as much," Harper nodded. "Good."

"Good?"

"We need to be on the same page here," Dan Harper responded. "This needs to be handled quietly so that no one else gets hurt and Adirondack Park doesn't turn into a circus."

"And how do we do that?" Amber asked, placing her hand on Mike's forearm.

Harper exhaled slowly. "Show me what you've found."

Amber blinked in surprise. "What?"

"The stones," Dan explained. "I want to hear your theory. I just saw an eight-foot nightmare on video, Bennett. It's killing people. I'll do whatever it takes to stop it."

Amber smiled and opened her laptop bag. "Let's get started."

Photographs soon spread across Harper's desk. Amber emphasized the proposal photo first. She explained the seven standing stones and their orientation. Then she talked about the smaller rock. Harper interrupted often, mostly with good questions. Amber walked him through how she noticed the small rock had been moved. She covered her theory.

"Either Emma or Jake moved the small rock," Sheriff Harper said.

"Yes."

"Then people started dying," Harper added.

"Yes."

"So, someone built a magic lock?" Harper asked.

Amber hesitated. "Someone built a lock. How it works... I have no idea."

"That distinction isn't helping."

"It's important," she argued.

"To archaeologists, maybe," Harper smiled politely.

"To everyone if we're going to try putting it back," Amber smirked.

Harper went quiet as Amber laid out the photograph showing all seven stones.

"At first I thought the carvings pointed inward because whatever mattered was inside the circle," she explained.

"But it isn't inside the circle?"

"I think I misunderstood what inward meant," Amber answered as she touched the center of the formation and moved her finger downward. "Not toward the center."

"Down," Mike added.

"The formation isn't incomplete," Amber continued quietly. "The seven stones are exactly where they're supposed to be. The small stone isn't an eighth marker. It's the key."

Harper rubbed a hand across his jaw. "So what's underneath it?"

"We don't know for sure," she began, "but we believe there's a cave or tunnel system somewhere beneath it. And from the way the creature can effortlessly scale sheer granite, we think there's a crevasse partway down the cliff."

"And the creature lives right beneath the stones?" Harper asked.

"Possibly," Amber answered.

"We know it takes the bodies," Mike added. "We know it returned to the clearing and went down. It makes sense that it took them inside that crevasse."

"The one we don't even know for sure exists," Harper smiled lightly.

"Okay, point," Mike winced.

"Only one way to find out if it exists," Amber reasoned with a shrug. "If we can find where it's taking the bodies, we may find whatever the stones were built over."

"And then we put the key back," Mike said.

"No," Amber shook her head. "Not unless we know where the creature is."

"Why?" Mike frowned.

"What if that's exactly what the stone does?" she asked with a raised brow. "Locks the creature in."

Harper understood first. "If we lock the door while the thing is still outside, it won't accomplish anything."

"Precisely."

Mike swore quietly. "So we really do have to find the crevasse."

"First we find where the creature belongs," Amber said. "Then we make sure it's there."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to kill this fucking thing?" Harper questioned. "We already know it can be hurt."

"We also know it's fucking fast," Mike crossed his arms. "If we could lure it into a kill zone or something, maybe. Keep it pinned down while repeatedly shooting it until it drops."

Mike sighed before continuing. "We'd probably need the equivalent of an RPG to kill it."

"A roleplaying game?" Amber frowned.

Ranger Mike Carter and Sheriff Dan Harper stared at her.

"A rocket-propelled grenade," Mike said simply.

"Oh."

"It seems like we have two options," Harper said. "Kill or trap. Both require us to know where the creature is. The problem with that is we have no idea how to track it or how to analyze its behavior."

"What do we know about it?" Mike asked the room. "It seems to primarily hunt at night. In the case of it attacking during the day, I think it was due to it being stumbled upon."

"We don't know that for sure," Harper shook his head. "For all we know, the thing doesn't need to sleep."

"We do know that it moves its kills," Amber spoke up. "Likely to its lair."

"For food?" Harper wondered. "Is it hoarding bodies for future meals?"

"That seems likely," Mike nodded.

"So, we go during the day and check the cliff face?" Amber suggested. "Can either of you climb?"

"I can," Mike grunted. "I know the terrain. I can climb the granite with the right equipment."

"Then what?"

"We document the location and leave," Amber insisted. "One step at a time."

Harper sat back in his chair and looked at them both. "Saturday."

Mike frowned. "Why Saturday?"

"Because I'll need to put together some things," Harper explained. "This won't be a repeat of Eric. I can get us stab-resistant vests, better equipment. Stuff I wish Eric had brought."

"Okay," Mike immediately agreed.

"And I'm coming with you," Amber spoke up.

"No!" Mike growled.

"Yes," Harper said at the same time.

The two men looked at each other.

"You were upset I brought her, now you want to take her again?" Mike questioned. "I thought we established bringing Amber was a monumentally stupid decision."

"It was, but we don't have a choice," Harper winced. "She knows the stones, knows how to find the lair. We need to get this done as quickly as possible."

"It's too dangerous," Mike shook his head. "I shouldn't have brought her in the first place. That thing took out a team of four, two of whom had guns."

"And we'll be better prepared this time," Harper insisted. "We can't send in an army, and we need to stop it."

"Also, Amber won't let you do this without her," Amber spoke up with a self-satisfied smirk.

"We go in daylight, with proper gear. I'll make the climb, and we'll get the hell out. Nobody enters anything we find," Mike stated firmly.

"If we find the bodies?" Harper asked.

"We document the location and leave," Mike insisted.

"If it's there?"

"We leave faster," Mike grunted.

Amber glanced at the image of the creature on the screen. "It's faster than us."

"Bring the right weapons; a shotgun blast to the leg might cripple it," Mike reasoned.

Amber suddenly gasped. "Chloe!"

"What about her?" Harper asked.

"She got away," Amber replied.

"Right, she crossed a stream," Mike grunted. "So?"

"Remember when we couldn't figure out why it didn't go after her?" she asked. "It didn't make sense that the creature just stopped."

"Sure, I remember," Mike nodded.

"That was when you were still looking for a rational explanation," Amber smiled.

"Okay, what's the irrational explanation?" Dan laughed nervously.

"You boys need to read up on your supernatural lore," she scoffed. "In a lot of myths, the monster can't cross running water."

"You can't be serious," Mike stated flatly.

"It's all over fantasy and folklore," Amber continued passionately. "Ghost stories, vampires in some traditions, witches in others. Spirits. Fairies. There are variations all over the place. Now that we know there's something supernatural out there, there are probably other things out there too."

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "At least a few of these stories must have some basis in fact."

"Getting shot didn't stop the thing from killing Ryan," Mike grimaced. "I got lucky that I must have hit it just right."

"And Chloe got lucky by crossing the stream?" Harper said.

"There is a stream not far from the clearing," Mike reasoned. "Maybe it's just a coincidence, but we also know this thing doesn't attack right away. It clicks, it gives chase. We fire a couple shots, we cross the stream."

"And we should be safe," Amber concluded. "Uh, hopefully."

"You're not inspiring confidence," Harper pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Chloe was bleeding, injured, and exhausted," Amber looked at the sheriff. "The creature had already killed three people. It had her."

Mike slowly nodded. "Until she crossed running water."

"And because this thing likes to give chase, we might be able to reach the stream before it reaches us?" Harper asked.

"That's the plan," Amber said.

"I suppose it's the best we've got," Harper sighed. "I just wish we had a better fallback."

Harper started writing. "We need climbing equipment, radios, medical, trauma kit, helmets, stab-resistant vests. Shotguns."

Mike leaned forward. "If we hear clicking we head straight for the stream, with Amber between us."

"Agreed," Harper nodded.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Mike grimaced.

"One step at a time," Harper said. "Our only goal for Saturday is to confirm if that crevasse even exists. Then we can work on a more permanent solution."

"We might die," Mike pointed out.

"Ten people already did," Amber countered. "If we show this image to anyone else, they'll just think it's a hoax. More people will go in to prove a monster exists, and they'll be slaughtered. We have to do this."

"Okay, I'll gather what we need," Harper said, pointing toward Amber and Mike. "You two take it easy tomorrow. We'll meet up Saturday morning."

"Sounds good," Mike nodded.

"I mean it," Harper looked at Amber. "Bennett? No archaeological felonies."

"That's not a thing," she laughed lightly.

"Then this should be easy."

Mike stood. "Come on."

Amber followed him through the door, then glanced at him once they were alone. "So what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Third date," she grinned. "I'm risking my life Saturday, so you'd better make it a damn good one."

"Talk about putting pressure on a guy," Mike deadpanned.

"Oh, I have no doubt you'll rise to the occasion," she waggled her eyebrows.

Mike just sighed in exasperation.