The scorching sun hit mercilessly in the face. The pot was draining down the temples, the shirt under the coat stuck to the body. Alexander Fable walked slowly along the deserted highway, which seemed to dissolve in the trembling marve of the horizon.
- Well, thank you, horned, - he muttered, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. - From the fog straight to the fucking desert. It's just amazing.
He stopped, looking around the dreary landscape: sun-scorched fields, rare trees, an old slanted sign with an unreadable inscription. Not a soul around, only the shrill screams of some birds broke the silence.
"So, let's think about it," Alexander corrected his glasses, which were constantly slipping because of sweat. - "What kind of horror movie is happening on the highway in the middle of nowhere?"
There were a lot of options. "Do the hills have eyes"? "The wrong turn"? "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"? Or maybe some passable slasher from those that were stamped by the dozens in the 80s?
- The further, the more fun, - he grinned, taking off his coat and throwing it over his shoulder. - The main thing is not "Human Centipede". That would really suck.
Alexander continued his journey, reflecting on his strange posthumous fate. Who would have thought that after a life full of shit and an equally shitty death, he would become a toy in the hands of the Devil, hunting movie monsters?
"At least I'm not in debt anymore," he joked gloomily to himself.
Suddenly, his hearing caught the distant sound of the engine. Alexander turned around and saw a yellow school bus approaching. A shabby, but quite real way out of its current situation.
"School bus? In the middle of nowhere?" - something squeaked inside, but he chased away the vague anxiety. Now the main thing is to get out of this oven.
Alexander raised his hand while voting. The bus began to slow down, and through the windshield he saw an old driver with a tired face. The doors opened with a squeak.
- Where are you going, son? - the driver asked, looking at the strange passenger with an appreciative look.
- To the nearest city, if possible, - Alexander replied, climbing the steps. - Thank you for stopping.
- No problem. But we won't go beyond Perryville - I'm taking the team from the competition.
Alexander nodded, passing into the salon, and then he seemed to be electrocuted. The bus was filled with teenagers in sports uniform - the basketball team. Guys of different physique, age and ethnic origin, several cheerleader girls, a couple of adult coaches...
"Your mother," Alexander flashed through his head. "Jeepers Creepers."
He walked slowly along the aisle, feeling the curious glances of teenagers. His appearance - pale face, round glasses, dark clothes and the general appearance of a tired goth - clearly stood out against the background of sports youth.
- Hey, dude, are you lost on the way to the funeral? - shouted one of the guys, causing the laughter of his comrades.
Alexander silently followed to the end of the bus and sat down in an empty seat, ignoring the joke. His thoughts worked feverishly, remembering the plot of the film. Jeepers Creepers... Judging by the school bus, this is the second part. Where the monster Creeper hunts a basketball team stuck on the road.
"Devil, you're a sadist," Alexander thought, glancing out the window. If his memory did not fail, most of the people on this bus had to die quite painfully.
- Hey, are you okay? - a woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Alexander turned around. Next to him stood a girl of about seventeen, with short blond hair and a worried look. He didn't immediately remember her name from the movie.
- Yes, everything is fine, - he replied. - It's just hot.
- I see, - she nodded. - I'm Minxi, by the way. And this," she pointed to the guy with dark skin sitting across the aisle, "Diryu.
The guy nodded, looking at the strange fellow traveler with interest.
"Alexander," he introduced himself.
- Unusual accent, - Diryu remarked. - You're not local, are you?
- No, - Alexander decided to stick to the story he used in "Mgla". - I'm a researcher. I study... unusual phenomena.
This aroused the interest of teenagers sitting next to me. Several people turned in their direction.
- Like a ghost hunter? - asked the fat guy sitting in front.
- Something like that, - Alexander answered evasively.
- And what, did you really see ghosts? - another guy connected, with long hair gathered in a ponytail.
Alexander suppressed a smile:
- Ghosts are the least of the problems in this world.
- Oh, mysterious, - Minxi said with a slight smile. - What's the biggest problem then? Vampires? Werewolves?
"A flying demon that will use your organs to replace his own," Alexander thought, but said aloud:
- People. People are always the biggest problem.
It cooled the curiosity of the teenagers a little. Diryu nodded thoughtfully:
- There's something in it.
- So where are you from? - asked another guy, skinny and with short hair, bent over the seat. - And what did you forget here?
- The car broke down, - Alexander lied. - I decided to walk to the nearest city. I underestimated the distance.
- And what are you researching in our region? - the skinny guy did not give up. - There is nothing here except corn and pigs.
Alexander thought for a second:
- There is a local legend. About a creature that wakes up every 23 years for 23 days to eat.
He carefully watched the reaction of the guys. If someone learned the legend of Creeper, it would give him a clue about how close they are to the beginning of the events of the film.
But the teenagers only looked at each other with bewilderment.
- I've never heard of such a thing, - said Diryu. - And you, Minx?
The girl shook her head:
- No. Although it sounds creepy.
- It's just a legend, - Alexander shrugged. - Most likely, nothing real.
"Still like real," he thought gloomily. - "And you will all meet him soon."
- Did you win? - he asked, changing the subject and nodding at their uniform.
This caused a violent reaction. The guys smiled, began to pat each other on the shoulders.
- State champions, dude! - proudly said an African-American of large build from the front seats. - They smashed these jerks from the Central with a difference of 20 points!
- Congratulations, - Alexander nodded, although he didn't care deeply about their sporting achievements.
- Hey, people, let the man rest, - intervened one of the adults, whom Alexander identified as the coach of the team. - He is clearly tired.
The coach came closer and handed Alexander a bottle of water:
- Here, here. The heat is hellish today.
- Thank you, - Alexander took the bottle, greedily taking a few sips.
- I'm coach Scott Barnes, - the man introduced himself. - Sorry about the guys, they're just on the platoon after the victory.
- It's okay, - Alexander assured him. - I understand.
Barnes nodded and returned to his seat, but the teenagers did not leave Alexander alone. Now that the initial curiosity was satisfied, they moved on to more personal issues.
- What kind of outfit is this? - asked the fair-haired guy from the front seats. - Like, a coat in such heat? Are you really a goth or what?
- Arcs, get away from the man, - Minxi pulled him away. - Not everyone has to dress up like sports jerks.
- I just asked, - Dougi shrugged. - The dude looks like he escaped from a horror movie.
"If you knew," Alexander thought.
- A professional habit, - he replied out loud. - In my work I often have to deal with... unpleasant things. It's better to be completely closed.
This caused a new wave of curiosity.
- What unpleasant things? - asked the guy, whom Alexander identified as Dana Sov, one of the main characters of the film.
- Do you really want to know? - Alexander raised an eyebrow, looking at the teenagers through round glasses.
- Yes! - there were several voices.
Alexander withstood a dramatic pause, then said in the most ordinary tone:
- Blood. Interiors. Remains. Sometimes you have to literally immerse yourself in them.
This caused a predictable reaction - the girls winced, some guys pretended that they were about to vomit.
- Ugh, damn it, - Dugi squeezed out. - Are you like a forensic expert?
- Something like, - Alexander replied vaguely. - Only I study unusual deaths.
- And which ones? - Dane didn't get up.
Alexander looked him straight in the eye:
- Those that shouldn't have happened.
There was silence. Even the most talkative teenagers fell silent for a second, feeling something disturbing in his words.
The moment was interrupted by the driver's squeaky voice:
- We'll be in Perryville in about an hour. We'll make a stop at the gas station there.
Alexander turned away from the window, watching the floating landscape. Dreary fields, rare trees, abandoned farms. An ideal place for hunting an ancient monster.
He mentally went through the plot of the film, trying to remember the key moments. The creeper first attacks the bus from the road, disabling the tire. Then he starts hunting for stuck teenagers, choosing those who interest him - to replenish his collection of body parts.
"How can I change the course of events?" Alexander thought. - "And most importantly - who exactly should I save?"
The devil didn't bother to give him clear instructions. Technically, his task was to destroy the monster and save the main character. But who is the main character in this movie? Dane? Or maybe Jake, the younger brother of the guy who was killed by Creeper at the beginning of the movie?
"I'll have to improvise," Alexander decided. - "But first I need to understand what ability I have this time. Electricity is left, that's understandable. But the Devil promised to strengthen it, plus give a slow regeneration."
He quietly checked his palm, concentrating. A small blue spark slipped between the fingers. Yes, the electricity is still with him. He tried to feel something else, some new strength or ability, but he didn't feel anything.
"Apparently, we'll have to find out along the way," he thought gloomily.
- You're not from here, are you? - Diru's voice interrupted his thoughts. - I mean, not at all. Accent.
Alexander turned to the guy:
- No, not from here.
- So, do you really believe in all this bullshit? Ghosts, monsters? - Diryu looked skeptical, but there was a sincere curiosity in his eyes.
- Don't you? - Alexander answered the question with a question.
- No, - the guy shook his head. - There is always a logical explanation. Science, do you understand?
- Science explains only what it has come to, - Alexander remarked. - And there is a huge gap between what we know and what we know and what exists.
Diryu thought:
- Maybe you're right. But still, all kinds of fables about monsters are nonsense for children.
"Soon you will change your mind," Alexander thought, but said out loud:
- I hope you're right. The world already has enough real monsters.
- That's for sure, - Diry nodded. - Especially in this team, - he nodded towards a noisy group of guys who were arguing about something. - Believe me, some of them are worse than any monster.
Alexander followed his gaze and noticed that there was really tension between some members of the team.
- Problems in the team? - he asked.
Diryu hummed:
- You can say so. Racial issues, you know. Plus the usual teenage crap - who's cooler, who's the captain, who has what status.
Alexander nodded. Human nature did not change, regardless of the dimension or reality.
"But you're staying alone," he remarked.
- I'm trying, - Diryu shrugged. - I'm here for basketball and scholarships. The rest is noise.
"Smart guy," Alexander thought. "It's a pity that it won't save him from Creeper."
The bus passed another sign, and Alexander managed to read: "Perryville - 23 miles".
"Twenty-three," he said to himself. "Symbolic number."
- I like your style, - Minxi suddenly said, who has been listening quietly to their conversation all this time. - There is something... authentic about it.
- Thank you, - Alexander replied slightly surprised. - Although it's more functional than stylish.
- It's still cool, - the girl smiled. - Not like these, - she nodded at the guys in uniform. - All the same, like clones.
Alexander noticed that Minxi was obviously trying to flirt. A strange feeling for someone who has already died and now existed outside of normal human relations.
- Why are you with them? - he asked. - If you don't like them.
Minxi shrugged her shoulders:
- My best friend is dating one of them. Plus, you know, status and all that. In our school, athletes are kings.
- I understand, - Alexander nodded, although in fact he never understood this teenage obsession with social status. In his harsh life, there were more important worries.
The bus suddenly jumped on the pothole, and all the passengers jumped on the seats.
- Damn, Zimmerman, be careful! - coach Barnes shouted to the driver.
- I'm sorry, - he said. - The roads here are not in the best condition.
Alexander tensed up. In the movie, Creeper began his hunt by throwing a special weapon on the road - a star with blades, which pierced the bus tire. But it was supposed to happen closer to the evening, when it was already getting dark.
He glanced out the window. The sun was still high, although it began to lean towards the horizon. He had a few more hours to prepare.
- Is there a place to spend the night in Perryville? - by the way, he asked.
- There's a motel there, - Diryu replied. - But we're not stopping. The bus will take us straight to school.
- I see, - Alexander nodded, feeling the anxiety growing inside.
He had to come up with something. Convince them to stay in the city? But this will only delay the inevitable. Creeper will still find them if that's his goal. Maybe try to dissuade everyone from going further? But who would believe a strange fellow traveler with delusional stories about monsters?
"Devil, you drove me into a corner," Alexander thought gloomily. - "But I can handle it. Somehow."
He leaned back on the seat, covering his eyes. The bus continued on its way, taking them further and further away from civilization and closer to the inevitable encounter with the ancient horror.
- Are you okay? - Minxi asked again, noticing his gloomy expression.
Alexander opened his eyes and looked at her. A young, full of life girl who will most likely not live to see the next sunrise.
- Just tired, - he lied. - Long day.
- We'll make a stop soon, - she smiled. - You can warm up and buy something to eat.
Alexander nodded, not finding the strength to smile back. If everything goes according to the script of the film, the stop will be their last quiet moment before the start of the nightmare.
But maybe that's where he can do something. Warn them. Convince to change the route. Or at least prepare for what is coming.
The bus continued on its way under the scorching sun, and none of its passengers, except Alexander, suspected that they were waiting on this endless road.