Chapter 31: The First Day After Halloween: The Crawler Who Isn't Picky About Food
The few men were indeed attracted by Jennifer's beauty.
Coupled with the police station's announcement of the Ghostface Killer's crimes, the men decided to take advantage of the chaos.
As they snuck over the wall, the three men's hearts were already racing with anticipation.
They thought of the curvaceous, beautiful, and sexy Jennifer, and also of the wealth owned by the property's owner.
It would probably be enough for them to live well for several months.
But before they could even enter the courtyard, Marcus, one of the three, heard violent breathing.
The breathing sound was like a rumbling engine.
Marcus could even feel heat behind him.
He mustered his courage and called out, "Hey, man?"
There was still no response, only heavy breathing behind him.
Marcus's fear grew, and he glanced at the light inside the house before slowly turning around, his eyes widening.
Holy shit.
A monster, covered in pale gray skin with crimson bone spurs, almost as tall as the second floor, was staring at him, still chewing something in its mouth.
The chewed remains looked like the lower half of his buddy.
That heavy breathing, like an engine, had clearly come from this creature.
Marcus tried his best to stay calm, not screaming to provoke the monster.
Instead, he pointed to the house: "Hey, man, there's something even better inside.
I haven't showered in a month—smell that? Or how about I become your servant?"
Danny looked at the guy trying to communicate with the alpha crawler and couldn't help but acknowledge his nerve.
He was actually thinking of offering himself and then deflecting.
It just made him even more deserving of his fate.
Wouldn't it be better for these criminals to stick to their own neighborhoods?
However, as food for the containment object, it seemed like a good choice.
Danny stepped out from the shadows.
Under Marcus's shocked gaze, the alpha crawler slowly lowered its head, offering its loyalty and submitting to Danny.
Marcus immediately dropped to his knees.
"I was wrong, please—"
Danny snapped his fingers, not wanting to waste another word.
Marcus didn't have time to scream.
The alpha crawler opened its bloody maw and bit down, leaving only half of Marcus's body.
It then bit down again, flung him into the air, and swallowed him whole, clothes and all.
This was the good thing about the alpha crawler—its digestion was powerful, and it wasn't picky about food.
In the house next door on the second floor, Emma witnessed the entire process.
When she saw the alpha crawler appear, she was indeed startled.
But when she saw all three men torn apart and consumed, excitement appeared in her eyes.
This excitement reached its peak after the alpha crawler bowed its head in submission to Danny.
This was the kind of person she wanted by her side.
If a normal little girl had seen the alpha crawler, she would've been scared to tears and run back to her parents.
But for Emma, a natural-born sociopath, seeing the alpha crawler kill only made her curious and excited.
It was far more stimulating than watching small animals die.
So, early the next morning, Emma got up early and rang the doorbell of Danny's house.
Danny, still half-asleep, opened the door to find Emma and asked somewhat bewildered, "Emma, is something wrong?"
"Can I come to your house to play?"
Emma showed a sweet smile.
She wanted to witness the monster's feeding again.
Kids here were generally more precocious.
Emma was only around ten years old, but she already looked twelve or thirteen.
"No, I'm still sleeping. Come back at noon."
Danny was not interested in entertaining this kid right now. He just wanted to sleep in.
Emma was given the cold shoulder, but she wasn't discouraged.
Emma believed that one day she would see that creature again, and she even thought that if she became someone close to Danny, she would have the power to arbitrarily decide the life and death of others.
The power to decide when a life ended held immense appeal to her.
She even felt that staying by Danny's side was worth sacrificing her father for.
This idea was outrageously disturbing, but this was a manifestation of antisocial personality disorder.
Deceptive behavior, aggressive tendencies, irresponsibility, lack of remorse.
Emma exhibited all four traits.
But she was particularly intelligent, unlike typical sociopaths, and she disguised herself so well that no one had discovered it yet.
Halloween officially arrived.
On Halloween Eve, most people wandered outside, but on this day, the vast majority chose to gather with their families.
This brings up the most common food for gatherings here: turkey.
On screen, families often gathered in movies, preparing roasted turkey for holidays.
Taking the freshly roasted turkey out of the oven looked delicious, making people drool.
But in reality, roasted turkey doesn't taste that great.
Danny had eaten it several times and could speak from experience. He felt the meat quality wasn't as good as simple roasted chicken.
No amount of seasoning could save it.
As for why turkey is so popular in America, he guessed it was tradition, or perhaps there weren't better options.
Jennifer went out at noon.
She was working on getting legal independence from her parents and establishing her own guardianship.
Danny even specifically arranged for a lawyer to accompany Jennifer, lest she get into a dispute and be taken advantage of.
No matter what, she was his girlfriend. He could tease her, but no one else could, not even her parents.
This moved Jennifer so much that she said she would have several kids for Danny after he turned twenty-one and they got serious.
Danny certainly refused.
It was ridiculous—he was only eighteen himself. How could he have children?
Plus, there were various immortal entities, demons, and supernatural threats.
In a sense, having children might become a burden and a weakness.
It would be better to adopt.
Someone like Emma, or a similar developmental case.
Danny was fully capable of this, even to the extent that the Hillickers he'd initially contained could easily handle protection.
He might not want biological children, but Danny was very happy to build a relationship with Jennifer.
After Halloween, Danny took a trip to California and also registered for Professor Goodman's public lecture.
Actually, someone on the horror forum had uploaded Professor Goodman's previous lectures, but an online recording couldn't compare to attending in person, let alone being able to ask questions.
He'd heard that this time, the famous Warren couple from the Church were also invited to answer certain questions.
So Danny had to attend no matter what, even if just for the Conjuring connection.
Not to mention, there were many like-minded people from various states and countries on the horror forum who'd heard about it and were preparing to attend the lecture.
Among them, he saw many familiar usernames.
Most of them were enthusiasts, and some had even traveled cross-country to explore and research at UCLA.
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