Capítulo 264: Chapter 264
The night was dry and cold, but the air felt heavy, thick with an uneasy stillness. Out in the woods, a few girls — young, dumb, full of things they'd only half-understood — kept making the same stupid mistakes. It started with small crimes: petty theft, vandalism, broken windows, and stolen cars. Nothing that could get them caught. But then they got cocky.
At first, they thought they were invincible. They'd steal a pack of cigarettes, run a red light, laugh about how easy it was to slip past the rules. No one noticed, so they did it more. Robbing stores, lifting wallets from purses, causing trouble where it was too dark for anyone to see. But all their small crimes started to add up, becoming a wave. A wave that, as they found out, would drown them.
Maya was the leader of the group. Tall, confident, always pushing for more. She liked the power of it, the thrill that came from defying the rules. Her friends followed her lead, believing she knew what she was doing. They had no idea how deep they'd fallen into something much worse than they'd imagined. Maya didn't care, though. She was the ringleader. She was in charge.
They'd been stealing from a small bakery just off the road, taking anything they could grab while the old man who ran it was busy with customers. That was their latest target. They'd break in after hours, help themselves to bread, cakes, and a few extra coins from the cash register. The old man had no idea. But Maya had started pushing the line. She'd gotten greedy. That was always her problem. No amount of theft was enough.
It was late now, past midnight, the kind of quiet that only comes when everyone's either asleep or hiding from something. The group was gathered near the bakery, crouching behind a fence, waiting for the right moment to slip inside.
"We've done this a million times," Maya said, voice low, eyes glinting with something darker than usual. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"We'll get caught," Sarah mumbled, shaking her head. She wasn't as eager as the others, never had been. Something in her stomach churned, but she pushed it aside. The others wouldn't back down now. "I don't think we should."
"Shut up, Sarah," Maya snapped, pulling her along. "This is nothing. We're in, we're out. Easy."
Sarah's heart pounded. The moon hung high in the sky, its light filtering through the trees, casting everything in shades of gray. The bakery looked too quiet, like it was holding its breath. Sarah couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Inside, the bakery smelled of stale bread, sugar, and dust. It felt dead, too still for a place that should be full of life. The girls crept around, careful not to make a sound. The light from the oven was dim, casting long, jagged shadows along the walls. The place had an old smell, like it had been here too long, like time had forgotten about it.
Maya went straight for the register, tapping on the drawer. "Empty," she said, with a laugh that didn't match the tension in the air.
Sarah frowned, but didn't say anything. She just kept an eye on the door, her skin crawling.
Suddenly, there was a soft sound — the kind that only someone paying attention would hear. A faint shuffling from the back room. The girls froze.
"Did you hear that?" Sarah asked, voice shaking.
"Relax," Maya shot back, too confident, too sure of herself. She motioned for the others to keep moving. "We're fine."
But it wasn't fine. It never was when Maya was in charge.
The back door to the bakery creaked, the sound like an alarm. A man appeared in the doorway — old, bent, with a face like leather and a deep frown carved into his features. His eyes, though, were sharp, unsettling. They looked straight at them, as if he knew what they were doing.
The girls didn't move. The man didn't speak.
"Leave," he said, his voice deep and cold, like a storm that didn't care if it hit you or not.
But Maya smirked. "No. We're taking what we want, old man."
The man stood there for a moment, his stare never wavering. Then, he took a step forward, slow but deliberate. The bakery seemed to tighten, the air pressing down on them.
"You think this is funny?" he asked, his voice like rusted metal scraping against concrete. "You think you can just take whatever you want without consequences?"
Maya took a step back. But she didn't show fear. She wasn't afraid. "What are you gonna do about it?"
The man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped to the side, out of view for just a second. When he returned, it was with something in his hand — a basket. The girls didn't understand at first. It looked like a basket of muffins.
But as the man approached, the scent that came with it was anything but sweet. It was thick, heavy, rancid, like decay. Sarah's stomach churned again, this time harder.
"Take it," the man said, holding the basket out. "You'll take it, and you'll leave."
Maya's expression flickered for a moment, but she stepped forward. "What's this? A threat?"
The man's lips twitched, like he was smiling. "It's a gift."
Before Maya could say anything else, the man stepped forward and placed the basket in her hands. She recoiled, but it was too late. Her fingers had already brushed against the muffins, and they felt wrong — too soft, too warm, as if they were alive.
Sarah felt the chill in the room deepen. The air tasted thick now, like she was breathing in smoke. Her feet itched, a primal urge to run spreading through her.
"Maya," she whispered, but her voice caught in her throat.
Maya looked down at the muffins, then back at the man, her smirk still present but forced. "This isn't funny, old man."
The man didn't respond. He just stood there, watching.
Then Maya, with a flick of her wrist, tossed one of the muffins into her mouth, her teeth sinking into it without hesitation. The others watched in stunned silence, too shocked to move. The muffin tasted sweet, sickeningly so, but that sweetness quickly turned sour, like it was rotting inside her.
Maya's face twisted as she chewed. Then her body jerked. She gasped, eyes widening as she clutched her throat. Her skin paled, her body trembling, and the others took a step back in terror.
"What the hell did you do?" Sarah screamed.
But Maya couldn't answer. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She staggered toward the door, clutching her stomach, her face turning an unnatural shade of green.
And then, without a warning, she collapsed.
The man didn't move.
The air was too quiet, too still.
Sarah's breath caught in her throat. Maya's body twitched, fingers curling, her limbs contorting in unnatural ways. The girls watched in horror, their minds unable to make sense of what they were seeing.
"What… what's happening to her?" Sarah gasped.
The man looked at her, his expression unchanged. "The Muffin Man gives judgment. You all take what isn't yours. You all break what shouldn't be broken. And now you'll pay."
Maya convulsed again, and then the quiet shattered with the sound of her body breaking, bones snapping like dry twigs. Her scream — if it could even be called that — was like a sound from deep inside the earth, a cry that was both human and something else.
It was over in seconds.
Sarah stood frozen, her mind racing to understand, to comprehend. But there was nothing to understand. The old man was still there, watching them with cold eyes.
"You can go," he said, almost too calmly.
But there was no way out. The world outside seemed to be closing in. The doors were locked. The windows sealed.
The Muffin Man stood, waiting.
Sarah couldn't move.
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