All Roads Lead to Ruin

She coughed and waved the smoke out of her face, "Birthmark? What do you mean?"

"The freckles. Shit you were clawing it after I clobbered that thing. Sound familiar?" He said, taking another drag off of his stoggie.

"What does that have to do with this monster? Was this the thing doing the other killings too?" she asked.

"I don't know." He said honestly, exhaling a cloud of smoke as the ember neared the filter. "And, yes."

"It attacked me..." she spoke slowly, like she didn't buy it, "Because of my freckles..?"

"The other girls had freckles. It cut it off their back and stuck it to trees and shit like some kinda lost puppy poster." He replied, hopping out of his truck and very much into her personal bubble. He flicked away the cigarette, shouldering past her and closing his door. "I'm going to get a drink for the road, since you've ruined my chances of sneaking a refill, and when I get back you're gonna be gone. I've been more than accommodating." He replied, turning around and walking into the Taco Bell, throwing his hand up with two of his fingers outstretched.

Layla huffed, still not satisfied. She smirked as he left, an idea striking her as she took off around the back of the car.

Seth walked up to the counter, forking over two greasy dollars for a large cup. He went to the soda fountain, filling it halfway with ice and then the full way with Mountain Dew Baja Blast, oblivious to the happenings near his truck. He had a bit of a drive ahead of him, so the caffeine would come in handy, or so he thought as he strolled back up to his truck. He opened the door, climbed in, and lit a cigarette as he pulled out, turning onto the main road and following it out of the town.

Layla jostled around in his trunk, sorting through his things for something soft enough to rest her head on, letting the vibrations of the road rock her to sleep.

Squinted eyes peered forwards into the murky torrent, Seth's body bent over his wheel in an attempt to see through the storm. His highbeams cut into the inky blackness and his windshield wipers struggled against the heavy rain. A dozen or so miles back, he had cut onto this dirt road as a shortcut, trying to spare fifty miles by cutting through an unpaved road through the woods. Had he any idea this kind of storm was brewing, he would have just stuck with the highway. When rain falls, dirt roads become mud roads.

A balled fist struck the steering wheel in frustration, causing the horn to honk as Seth gritted his teeth. He gunned it again, tires spinning and trowing up mud by the bucket, digging the car deeper into its hole. He grunted and swung the gear into reverse, gunning it again to the same affect. After begrudgingly admitting to himself that he was stuck, and stuck good, he sighed, cracking his window and lighting a cigarette. He had a wench, and when the rain stopped, he could pull himself free. The smoke wafted out of the slim opening, small streams of water trailing down the inside of the glass. Fuck it. He thought, flicking his ash into the Taco Bell cup, the lid pulled off to reveal a very light teal mixture of water and residual Baja Blast.

Once he finished the cigarette, he tossed it through the crack before rolling up the window and wiping at it with a grimey towel, leaving it in the seat to soak up any remaining water. Pulling his hood over his head, he quickly opened his door and bolted around the truck, slamming the door and opening the back of the camper. He scampered in, closing the door behind him to ward off the storm. Thunder flashed and he saw another form in the darkness. His hand immediately grabbed the revolver from his pants, jerking it up as his other hand groped for the lamp, and upon finding it, flicked the switch. His eyes widened in shock, gun hand lowering slightly as his mouth was slightly agape, not sure how to process the situation. "You... what the fuck!"

Layla rubbed the back of her head where the bumping had hit her head on the trunk a few times on the way, "You weren't answering me, so I decided to find out on my own." she explained unapologetically, "Unfortunately, this was my best lead and your trunk was cracked open."

Seth blinked, looking somewhat in disbelief as he stared at her. "You... no. no, no, you can't be here. I'm taking you back. What the fuck are you thinking? What do you want from me? Shit." He glowered, his face falling into his palm as he stroked his temples.

"I'll just follow you again. I'm very persistent." she insisted.

Seth grimaced, staring at her for a few moments before leaning back against the door. "What do you want?"

"I want to figure out what that monster wanted with me, and what it was." She stated simply, "The same thing you couldn't or wouldn't answer." She stated simply, "Do I have to stay in the trunk?"

He raised his arms, gesturing at the meager and cluttered cabin of the truck. "I live in this trunk, thank you very much. " He said with a huff. "Honestly, if that's what you wanted to figure out, it would have been better to stay in your damn town. That thing was local. I'm not sticking around."

"I don't have any reason to believe you, and I'm not going." she insisted. "Why are we parked in the middle of nowhere in the rain anyways?"

He mostly ignored her as she spoke, but when she asked about why he frowned, sighing. "...I got stuck."

"You kill monsters all the time and you don't know how to drive through mud?" She sighed, "You have chains?"

He shrugged. "You don't know how often I kill shit. And, I got a wench- I'll pull us out as soon as the rains done. Me, I mean. Not us. You're not staying."

She laughed, "Leaving me out here would be the same as killing me. I have no idea where I am and you've been driving for hours. Besides, I'm just gonna follow you again."

He silently looked at her for a few moments, as if he were sizing her up. "So... what? You want to come along with me? Hunt, uh... things? If that's what you're thinking, you might want to rethink that. Its not... you don't want to do that."

"You're saying that because I'm a girl, aren't you?" she frowned, "Besides, you seem nice and happily broody with it. I don't have a home to go back to anyways. No one to miss me if anything happens..."

"Personal problem." He replied coldly, grimacing. "I do this because the grand order of the world fucked me over and I'm going to return the favor. I said it because you're a fourteen year old girl, who doesn't know a damn thing you need to for this. I have a hard enough time looking out for me, I can't be constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure the kid knows her shit." He said, arms crossed indignantly.

"One," she frowned, "I'm seventeen. You're way off." She crossed her arms over her chest, "And two, don't look out for me. I'm here to do my own thing. If I get killed or whatever doing it, then maybe that's just the way it works. If I've got a death wish, then I might as well go out swinging, regardless of whether or not the punch lands."