Barbara's scrutiny was rather obvious, and Sam immediately caught on. "Actually, she's not my sister—she's our neighbor's daughter..."
But after just a couple of sentences, he trailed off. He realized his explanation was only making things worse! The confusion in Barbara's eyes deepened.
"She's really not—I mean, ugh..." Sam gaped, at a complete loss for words. The more he tried to explain, the worse it got.
Remembering the Winchester brothers' request, Bella decided not to let the younger Winchester suffer too much. What if he got so worked up he had a stroke or something? She smoothly changed the subject. "So this neighbor's daughter went missing?"
"Yes! Yes, exactly! That's right!" Sam nodded eagerly. "She's been missing for half a month with no contact with her family, and the police haven't found any leads."
He believed his neighbor's disappearance was caused by some kind of supernatural event, but he didn't dare say that out loud. He was afraid of scaring these three "ordinary" girls.
Bella nodded thoughtfully. Some neighbor girl had nothing to do with her, but for the sake of the Winchester men, if there was trouble, she'd lend a hand. If not, whatever.
"You mentioned danger earlier. What kind of danger?" Though she knew the Winchester brothers dealt with either the undead or demons, Bella still wanted to get the full picture.
"Half a month ago, uh, my neighbor's daughter and her classmates went to Crystal Lake not far from here..." Before he could finish, Bella suddenly shoved him hard.
Sam had no idea someone as tall as Bella could be so strong. He stumbled back more than two meters. Before he could figure out what was happening, a crudely made iron arrow shot straight through the spot where he'd been standing. If he'd still been there, he'd have been killed instantly.
Bella's reaction speed was lightning-fast—pushing him, drawing her bow, nocking an arrow, and aiming in one fluid motion.
With her enhanced eagle-eye vision, while the enemy's iron arrow was still in mid-air, her arrow was already flying toward its target.
The arrow hit with a soft *thud*, striking the enemy.
It was an extremely burly man wearing a hockey mask.
He held a bow and arrow—the shot aimed at Sam had come from him.
Now the tables had turned. Not only had he failed to kill Sam, but Bella had shot him instead.
He silently pulled out the arrow, tossed it aside, and turned to disappear into the dense forest.
"Who was that? Did you hit him?" Barbara and Heather asked simultaneously.
Bella hesitated, not quite sure how to put it. "You know my archery—I definitely hit him, but this guy..."
She couldn't think of the right words.
"Was it because of the distance?" Barbara assumed her strength hadn't been enough—that she'd merely hit the enemy without causing significant damage.
*Actually, I practically shot through him...* Bella nodded, accepting Barbara's explanation.
Sam Winchester pulled out the iron arrow that had been aimed at him and was now embedded in a distant tree trunk.
The arrowhead was lodged deep in the wood. Even with his adult male strength, it took considerable effort to pull it out.
"About three hundred meters away. This guy's got serious strength." As the only person present who knew archery, Bella explained the technical aspects.
In truth, based on Bella's assessment, this guy's strength, constitution, and speed had all exceeded human limits. The only reason the arrow's power remained within normal human comprehension was because the bow itself could only deliver so much force.
"Let's go. That guy's gone." She scanned the surroundings with her eagle-eye vision. Within a hundred-meter radius, she saw no sign of the big man.
Barbara pulled out her handgun, carefully watching their surroundings. Heather retrieved a small chainsaw from her bag—quite useful for cutting things while cooking, though she didn't start it, worried about the noise. This left the unarmed Sam feeling rather useless. These three ladies apparently didn't need his protection...
Their campsite wasn't far from the cabin Sam had mentioned. Originally, Bella had worried it might be some tiny shack in the woods, but up close, she could see it was a two-story building with about seven or eight rooms, including a garage and utility room—a sizable lakeside cabin.
There were currently three men and one woman inside.
A Korean man opened the door for Sam. Not far away on the living room couch sat a Black man. Both the Black man and the Korean man were dismissive of Sam's talk of a super-killer, lounging casually while reading adult comics.
As for the cabin's owner and another girl, they were upstairs engaging in some rather vigorous physical exercise.
Their sounds weren't quiet—you could hear them downstairs.
The arrival of Bella and the other two women startled the somewhat nerdy Black man and Korean, and the Black man couldn't help but whistle.
"Call them down. What time do you think it is? You guys have some nerve." Bella spoke in a reproachful tone.
The Black man and Korean didn't want to argue with beautiful women, but they resented the commanding tone. *Who are you? We don't even know you. Coming to our place and ordering us around?*
Bella didn't particularly care whether they lived or died. One warning was enough for her.
Sam Winchester, being more conscientious, went upstairs to knock on the door, wanting to call the two down so everyone could discuss countermeasures together.
But the response was extremely rude: "Get lost! Leave my cabin! If you don't get out, I'm calling the cops!"
His harsh words were punctuated by female moans.
Bella's heart sank. These idiots fit the profile of death-seeking youths perfectly—the type who wouldn't last thirty minutes in a horror movie.
Marvel Rule #5: In a wilderness cabin, always stay away from those who are especially arrogant and fearless, because when they get themselves killed, they'll splatter you with blood in the process.
"This place doesn't seem very friendly." Heather said. The way the Black man and Korean were looking at her made her uncomfortable.
Bella didn't want to get mixed up with these fools either. "Let's go find a new campsite..."
Before she could finish, a "Mmph! Mmph!" sound suddenly reached her ears. She immediately turned to see a girl desperately banging on the cabin's floor-to-ceiling window. The hockey-masked man was covering her mouth, apparently preparing to kidnap her by force.
"Whitney! I'm coming!" Sam shouted. Obviously, he knew this woman—most likely his missing neighbor.
Without a word, Bella drew her bow, nocked an arrow, her gaze razor-sharp as she quickly aimed and released.
The arrow shattered the window and flew straight toward the hockey-masked man.
This time he was prepared. He quickly jerked his head aside while raising the large machete in his hand and swinging it hard toward the incoming arrow!
*Crack!* The arrow snapped cleanly in half.
Cool wind from outside poured into the cabin. The Black man and Korean glanced over groggily, catching only a glimpse of a shadow before assuming they were hallucinating.