THE RECORD: From Behind The Camera, He Keeps Watching
CHAPTER 22: The Villager

Author Note: Hello everyone, before reading this chapter, I have a recommendation for an exciting mystery horror novel! For those who like to think with spooky spices mandatory bgt read this especially horror lovers. Don't forget to stop by while waiting for an update from me ya🥰

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The crow sniggers from a distance.

I don't know what made the black man laugh. Maybe they were greeting the other crow, or maybe laughing at us who never found the end of the goal.

As I recall, we had to cross a wooden bridge to reach the village gate. But after almost half an hour we walked down this narrow path, the bridge was not visible. All that was seen along the way was a bush of towering trees trapping us in the darkness.

The sun helped our eyesight. But as if not allowing, dense branches cover the sky until the light is reluctant to enter. Only a single spot of light peeked out from the crevice of the leaves. Makes me barely able to tell if it's night or morning. Luckily the rain had gone down quickly.

“I think a lot has changed since the last time you came here.” Delilah broke the silence. I agreed to his words in silence. It's been seven years. Of course a lot of things happened as long as I left this place. That's just possible.

Although it sounds a little imposing, it is possible for villagers to remove the bridge to prevent last year's events. But it was impossible for them to drain the river that stretched under the bridge. There will be a tilas tread that is a sign that the waters once flowed from here. Like large river rocks and soil structures that jut down. And with this I conclude that we have not arrived.

Our trip felt longer than I remember when I first came here.

And I found this strange.

I don't know.

I could have remembered wrong, right?

Trying to think more clearly, I chimed in on Delilah's sentence. “Yes, it's been a long time. It's possible that the bridge is covered in bushes,” to my origin. I don't want to burden them by mentioning the possibility that we got lost.

After thinking that, Max suddenly exclaimed. “Oh! Wait, what do I see is a bridge?”

We all looked at each other in the direction Max pointed. Apparently a few meters from the east, a rope stretched loosely on two sides. There were several pieces of wood hanging and some were broken like porous teeth.

That's a bridge.

Which has collapsed.

“Crawford, is this really the bridge?”

The SUV slowed down and stopped near the bush to look at the bridge more clearly. The bridge is still connected and stretches from side to side, but the wood that has been broken makes this bridge lose its function. It's definitely not safe to use.

I nodded in response to a question from Primrose.

“Then what are you waiting for, let's go down. I'm going to morning. We should've reached Killington before night.” Rose prepares her luggage–gives aba-aba. The camera is already in his hands and ready to start live streaming again. As soon as we did what the girl did, Rose stopped us.

“This time let me. For solo live streaming we do in school,” his statement was firm.

After Rose gave Max the order to get ready to monitor us from the car, we went down and stood on the riverbank that turned dry. There are only traces of water remaining due to heavy rain earlier this day.

Rose turned on the camera, after a while of waiting, the camera was already connected to the platfrorm. The cold and indifferent expression that was previously polished on her beautiful face, had now changed masks once the first five hundred spectators had entered. Opening greeting in throw. With cheerful body language, the girl introduced us one by one.

Rose transformed from a thorny black rose into a sunflower in the blink of an eye. Sometimes I was amazed to see him play so easily.

“Guys, we have reached the village gate and now we will enter on foot to the school. Continue to accompany us ya~" Comments immediately race to enter the screen with enthusiastic cheers.

As soon as Rose turned the lens towards the river, her facial expression instantly turned 180 degrees back to its original. Maybe Noah noticed Rose's change, the young man took over the camera from Rose's hand gently. The gaze that was cast was full of an apology. 

"Let me, let me" the young man offered. Delilah and Ethan whistle seductively. A reddish hue was immediately reflected on Rose's cheek.

Of course, Isaac.

I don't know, what the bridge is still worth mentioning as a bridge seeing its old condition.

It would have been faster if we had crossed that bridge. The bottom of the river will hold us back because the mud fills the area almost in half. Of course walking on it is not a wise choice.

But we don't seem to have any other choice. The bridge looks more dangerous than going down into the mud. Rather than us falling and getting injured, it's better to be a little late.

With a step taken slowly, we limped down to sort out which parts of the ground were at least not sinking the legs. Our breath hunts along with the dry land that is not left.

"If you don't find it, m*ti us!"

The voice of someone coming from across stopped our steps. Two men about fifty years old in the beginning walked hurriedly closer to the bridge. Judging from his clothes as they are it seems like they are local residents.

The villagers.

Noah asked us to duck down and hide under a bridge whose wood was rare. Maybe it won't completely hide us but it's better than it looks before we start the first step.

Ethan hugs Delilah–hiding the girl in the deck. Noah swiftly hid Rose behind his back while I …

I'm looking. Seeing Isaac staring at the bridge intently above me. His arms that were clutching my back tightened as the two people approached. Faced with this, I don't know what to behave like. 

"Before evening, we must return soon." Again, one of the men spoke. We eavesdrop in silence.

From the bridge, they are seen walking hastily to set foot on the fragile wood of the bridge. Surprisingly, though the bridge swayed at once, but the mines tied the remaining logs firmly. His big swing, made us more and more ducked to hide existence.

"Wait, there's a car!" One of them exclaimed. The man pointed to Max's SUV parked not far from the end of the bridge. 

"B***! Max, the villagers are looking at you" Rose whispered frantically through the earpiece.

"It's okay, Rose. I can handle it. You guys run fast while I shift their attention" Max said calmly.

Hearing Max's command we waited patiently for the two men. After they passed by, hurriedly and soundlessly ran silently.

"Hey what are you doing here?!" From Max's earpiece, the voice of one of the villagers was heard. High tones full of threats hurled making us run full of tension.

But Max casually responded, "My car broke down. So I stopped for a minute waiting for the mechanic."

After Max conveyed the lie, the atmosphere was silent. Not a single voice returned to respond. I can imagine the two men staring at Max's basic answer. The heart is uncomfortable. The unpleasant feeling once again pestered my mind for a moment.

I turned my head, to make sure that everything was not as I thought.

But as soon as I looked …

In a slow motion, one of them took out something from behind his back pants …

Something that glitters when it reflects light.

Something made me stop the pace of that second as well.

Something I'm sure was there for a purpose.

A c*lurit.

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