Chapter 3: Triple Trouble
"Should I be thankful that I reached adulthood before meeting my death?!"
Atasha's wails and hiccups were accompanied by the alarm as her background, creating a strange tune that soon covered the still mountains.
"It should be a happy occasion but what is this? I should be celebrating but what's with this mess? Don't tell me it's my gift. This is a curse! The shittiest birthday gift ever!"
As the sound of her cries became louder and harder, the inevitable occurred. A series of haunting howls of what seemed to be coming from a large pack followed her lead seemingly joining in for a duet.
A cold shudder ran down her spine, her tears retreated like a coward.
The fear-stricken lass abruptly hushed as it dawned on her how the noise she had produced could have potentially attracted more monsters in the area. She tried to stop the alarm but when she did, the screen could not be touched. Atasha started to panic. Her alarm was on repeat!
*Dadadada~ Dada~!
*Dadadada~ Dada~!
The tone continued ringing.
As it went on, the grotesque sound of growls and howls became more frequent which only made her tremble even more.
"Stop ringing! I already know it's my birthday! I'm still alive but I'll be good as dead if you don't stop!"
Atasha frantically tapped on the screen, but it didn't work. Her damn phone let all hell loose and break after losing its touchscreen sensor.
"I knew it! Advertisements are called advertisements for a reason. Freaking hoax. This brand C is nothing except for its uselessly dazzling exterior!" She cursed under her breath.
"There's no other choice." Atasha started digging in the snow until she reached the soil.
With all her might she throws the phone on the ground intending to smash it to pieces but the phone continues to ring even after a few attempts.
"Damn it! Why are you so uselessly durable when it's not needed?"
Atasha took a deep breath and decided to change her approach. She gathered her strength on her legs before taking a leap and stepping on the damn phone.
"Here goes nothing! Umph―ha!"
She launched in the air and successfully hit the target spot on.
Krecku―!
A hopeful light appeared on her chilly plump face when she heard something cracked and that was not her bone. Although her heart swells for breaking the device she bought for almost a thousand bucks.
What useless extravagance!
At the same time, even though the phone was still ringing it was now thrown off beat. Atasha thinks that she's making progress, so she continues to jump up and down a few more times making her extra tired. Her chubby figure wiggles in each of her jumps causing her to perspire and create a little heat on its own.
Atasha was already preparing for the last leap when her sight caught a pack consisting of 10-15 wolves a few meters away running on all fours and locking on her.
*Awooooo!
Due to her surprise and fright, Atasha lost her footing causing her to jump off balanced and higher than what was intended.
"Fuck!" she blurted out in panic.
Her mind wanted to start running but she missed the timing and jumped up instead! Worse, judging by her skewed posture, a sprain will be unavoidable once her foot hits the ground from a 15-inch height.
Atasha nervously closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself to become a feast of the monsters preying on her―or not.
A crisp, audible curse left her lips as she swallowed a mouthful of air. There's no way she will ever be prepared to become a monster's meal!
By sheer luck, she might have outrun the troll earlier due to its big body and the fact that it was rather a simpleton but not a pack of hungry wolves!
Atasha curled up and hugged her body. Thinking that if she miraculously rolled down to the river and drifted away towards the waterfall, then that would be better than becoming a lump of shredded meat under those monsters' teeth!
Trying to prepare herself for the worst, Atasha didn't expect that instead of cold hard ground, she would fall into a hollow pit and save herself from the clutches of wolves that were after her neck.
Atasha might have not seen it because her eyes were closed but if the huge wolf leading its pack hadn't missed its timing, it probably bit her in half and gnawed her flesh into smithereens.
"Ouch!"
Feeling the pain from her fall, the girl couldn't help but groan. Fortunately, she wasn't injured due to the erosion. When she opened her eyes, the large snout of a huge mutt baring its sharp fangs greeted her.
The girl acted like how a terrified person would normally do―shriek in fear.
"Kiyaaaah!"
"Grrr!"
The wolf responded to her screams with a series of sneers and snarls. It was crouching and biting in the air, desperately trying to reach her with its sharp canines.
"Grrr! Rawr!"
"Ah, shit! Shoo! Shoo! Go away damn it!"
She wanted to kick it off but was afraid that it would bite her feet. So, she grabs onto anything she can take ahold of. Atasha reached for some round hardened soil around her and shoved it off on the beast's mouth.
Upon doing that, the wolf stopped with looks of disgust. It quickly stepped away from the small crack and left like it was being electrocuted or something.
The sound of the wolf's whimpers started to make noise and a few moments later, it suddenly changed to maddening growls and grumbling. The other wolves begin to scratch the entrance of the tunnel trying to make it bigger.
"I―I should go, right?"
Seeing the agitated wolves, Atasha did not want to be caught and torn into pieces.
"Bye, doggies!"
As though she was possessed by a brave soul, she brazenly waved her still trembling middle finger to blow off some steam, but her actions only agitated those whom she thought were mindless monsters and further caused the wolves outside the entrance to snarl harsher at her.
"Grrr! Grrr! Growl!"
Atasha jumped in her seat like a scaredy cat that almost got chewed when the wolf once again bared its fangs and tried to tear her flesh off with its sharp canines. She quickly heads down far from the wolves' clutches while shouting in resentment.
"You're way better as a plushie!"
***
Atasha decided to go down the dark tunnel. She could still hear the monsters outside grumbling in protest after she left but why would she care? They're out for her blood!
She delved deeper to scope the narrow path, crawling and slouching just to move forward following the designated path. After breaking her phone, Atasha lost her only source of light, but she thought that it was okay.
Those monsters have huge bodies and it's an advantage for her to travel on such a narrow path. However, Atasha noticed the pungent smell getting stronger as she continued to go further along the way.
"Ah, no way," she shook her head and shrugged while her nose crunched.
She wanted to dismiss the idea inside her head, but the smell of the 'dried soil' and the reaction of the wolf earlier couldn't go off her head.
"T―there's no way those are dried-up excrements, right?"
She exclaimed in denial, but the thought of it made Atasha feel stressed and grossed.
What the hell! She even slapped her face after touching it!
"No! Erase! Erase! Like, what kind of unhygienic varmint would do such a thing!"
Somewhere around the deep chamber of the cave, a resting beastman felt his ears grow ticklish as if someone was badmouthing him for something undue.
Atasha was bewildered by the idea and decided to rub her face with her wet shirt which had also technically been exposed in the 'dried-up soil' that was scattered along the tunnel. She seems to totally forget that wild animals are different from domestic and trained pets that would just excrete wherever and whenever.
Atasha is still holding onto her belief and continues along even if she knows it doesn't make sense at all.
The tunnel extends quite longer than what she expected. In fact, the more she trekked, the wider the walls stretched. After crawling for about 20 minutes and enduring the nasty pungent smell, Atasha reached the end of the tunnel.
Finally! She can now breathe normally! No more wolves and trolls on the tail and no more smelly 'dirt'!
She took a deep breath and with a wide grin on her face, she felt relief for the first time or not!
When Atasha spun around, the first thing she saw amidst the darkness was a pair of crimson-colored orbs that locked on her.
'What in the world!' She felt horrified.
The girl's body turned stiff and left frozen in her spot. She held her breath and unconsciously took a step back. The tunnel was dark so she couldn't see what kind of creature it was, but she could never go wrong with those sharp squinted pupils!
'A sudden deep tunnel during winter means only one thing!'
Atasha closed her eyes tightly and cursed herself for being stupid. How could she forget and drop her guard down? She should've just stayed on that narrow path despite the smell. This spells trouble for her!
The long hissing sound solidified her hunch.
"H―hah!"
Atasha breathed out a mouthful of air, a hint of desperation enveloping her fear-stricken face, pale and trembling. The alarms on her head are all ringing and screaming for danger!
Judging by the height of those eyes, the beast was a few meters tall. Atasha didn't want to assume its actual size anymore! She can even bet with her chance of survival, which is non-existent, that she won't even fit the gap of its teeth!
Atasha was weighing the chance of begging it while telling the beast that she might look fat and juicy, but she's more of an inflated balloon and they won't get full by eating her!
What are the odds that they would not eat her?
What a dumb luck!
The girl felt like crying but even her tears were too scared to come out.
Was it all for naught?
Had she known that she would still end up in the stomach of another monster, she wouldn't have tired out herself while trying to run for her life!
After encountering a lecherous troll and a pack of hungry wolves, now it's a huge python! She might as well just jump into the river and freeze underwater!
And as if fate wanted to screw her up, not even a minute passed by when suddenly, two more pairs of the exact same eyes emerged unscrupulously from the shadows.
'T―There's fucking three!'