Official night guard and staff manager at Heckbear's Diner. Records experiences of various employees in the third person. Also sometimes draws. pfp drawn by @pixlokita on tumblr
Interests: Five Nights at Freddy’s, Miraculous Ladybug, Six of Crows, Ace Attorney (only watched the first trilogy thus far though), Bendy and the Ink Machine/Bendy and the Dark Revival, Rain World, Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, umm... fantasy
I will say this now, I have a main blog, and this is not it. Also, the only artwork I’m posting outside of the links to my AU’s are pieces of art that feature my friends on Discord. I might occasionally write little one-shots on here regarding my friends on discord as well, depending on when inspiration strikes.
I don’t know about y’all but my first draft is literally always my final draft and this has been the case since I started writing fics almost a decade ago. I proofread my works for typos, plot holes or grammatical errors but that’s it 😭
I do think it’s funny when headcanons are presented as objective character facts bc I get “He would not fucking say/do that” as much as the next guy but I must also humbly acknowledge its powerful cousin named “A skilled enough writer could make me believe he would”
What's this? Another commission? A continuation of the last one even? Surprise! Yet again, I've written for @gummy-axolotl!
Full fic under the read-more
Everything hurt. Gummy knew this was coming, of course, but it still sucked. Still, if nothing else, the Entity had returned their clothing, something Gummy was a bit relieved about. The injuries would’ve been hard enough to explain without-
Gummy froze. They weren’t bleeding anymore. Huh. Weird.
Then something even weirder happened. Gummy stared at the coiling tendrils as they deposited a body right next to worm. The man whimpered out a soft groan as he curled in a ball. Dwight?
Gummy opened their mouth to speak, unsure of what to say, when he burst into tears. Oh. Oh, it was definitely not qualified for this. “Dwight?”
Dwight stiffened, head snapping up to look at Gummy in a way that was almost unnerving. “Gummy?” He sniffled, wiping at his eyes. “Survivors don’t tend to hang out this far away from the fire. This is where the dead come back. It’s not…” Then he stopped.
He looked so grief-stricken that Gummy had no idea how to respond. “Uh, yeah? Doesn’t that happen to everyone eventually?”
A pained noise escaped his throat. “People think the time to stop protecting survivors from death is after their first death, but sacrifice never really settles in, you know. Don’t tell anyone you died.”
“Why?”
Dwight gave them a harsh look. “They only care if you’re new, Gummy. The shine wears off if you’ve died.”
Gummy blinked. Worm wasn’t expecting Dwight to be so cynical about it.
“Please?”
“Oh, alright. Fine. Only if you tell me why you were crying.”
Dwight’s expression flickered. “It’s nothing. Just…” He shook his head. “Nothing for you to worry about. Let’s get back to the fire before someone connects the dots about you.”
“Was it the killer or the trial?” Gummy persisted, and Dwight’s shoulders tightened.
“The survivors, actually.” Dwight shook his head. “I said not to worry about it, Gummy.”
“Who were they?”
“One of them was new,” Dwight muttered. “I told you not to worry about it.”
“New? Newer than me?”
Dwight nodded. “And he didn’t know he needed to unhook people. Which, it took us a while to figure that out originally, but…”
“So, he left you up there?”
Dwight sighed. “Yeah. That’s it, basically.”
“But why cry about that if you knew the reasoning?”
“How many survivors are in a trial, Gummy?” Dwight’s voice got faint. “How many?”
“Four. What does that-” Gummy realized it as they spoke. “Oh. Who were they?”
Dwight shifted uncomfortably. “I said not to worry about it, Gummy.”
“But they’ve basically screwed the new survivor over by leaving you up there! Shouldn’t everyone know who they were?”
“Gummy,” Dwight said with a pained sigh. “It’s more complicated than you think. Meg’s told you about favorites, right?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s an opposite to that. The despised.” He frowned. “And we were facing the Spirit. She hates Bill. I was bait. That’s all.”
“But…”
“You can see the other survivors when you’re on a hook, Gummy. He was trying to explain it to Steve, I’m sure.” Dwight shook his head. “And Jane didn’t even seem to realize anyone was hooked.”
“So, it was her,” Gummy said with a frown. “Is that why you were crying?”
“I cry every time I’m left to die on first hook.”
Dwight didn’t say anything else as they walked, and dread grew in Gummy’s gut. He was really bitter about it, wasn’t he? But Gummy didn’t know much about Dwight, didn’t know his deal. Hell, Gummy only really knew Meg’s deal, and that was somewhat stranger than this.
It was a relief when Meg appeared through the trees, even though her expression was off. “Oh. You found him already.”
Gummy just nodded, remembering their promise to Dwight. Don’t tell anyone. But surely Meg deserved to know? They were friends, after all…
“We’ve got a bit of a situation…” Meg mumbled, scratching at her neck. “There’s two new survivors, did you know?”
“Two?” Dwight’s expression darkened. “Okay. I’m assuming Steve got out of his trial then? Did all three of them make it?”
“Yeah…” Meg coughed. “And he attacked Jake.”
Gummy blinked. “Why?”
“The other new survivor, her name is Nancy. But, she was terrified out of her mind of the Doctor, and apparently she was just clinging to Jake this whole time, so…” Meg cleared her throat. “Well, she didn’t stop after getting to the fire.”
“And Steve knows her, I take it,” Dwight said with a resigned sigh. “Okay. Is Jake okay?”
“He’s sulking,” Meg admitted.
“So, not at the fire,” Gummy guessed, and both of the survivors blinked at them, seemingly having forgotten worm was there. “Would he be at the stream?”
“Friendly with Jake,” Meg mused, snorting. “Jake’s assigned himself as protective older brother for Gummy. It’s really funny.”
“Oh. Alright. So, Gummy can go talk to Jake, and we can try to sort out Steve,” Dwight decided, and Meg made a noise of agreement.
“Okay. Sure. Why not?” Gummy shrugged, starting off in search of the stream, vaguely remembering the direction.
All of this felt like whiplash, if they were honest. Going from living through their fantasies with Ghostface to… whatever was happening at the survivor fire was so disorienting. Nobody is normal here, Gummy decided.
Still, Jake had been relatively nice to Gummy, so it wasn’t like helping was a chore or anything. Honestly, Gummy was really kind of starting to get a feel for this place. They were having fun, even if other people clearly hated it here.
Best not to bring that up to anyone. Gummy had a strong suspicion that even Meg wouldn’t go that far.
Shaking their head, Gummy wanted to ask about the injuries disappearing, but since Dwight made them promise not to mention the death to anyone, it wouldn’t be able to get an answer on that front anytime soon. Jake was too smart to hear that question and not suspect, and Meg was already so close to figuring it out as well.
And Gummy didn’t really know the survivors all that well yet. Best not to bring it up to anyone but Dwight.
“I’m not in the mood,” Jake grumbled when Gummy got close.
“Pouting because you got outdone by a new survivor?” Gummy asked, and Jake’s head turned sharply. “I’d be mad too, honestly. Apparently he’s not too smart. Dwight said Bill struggled to explain the unhooking process to him in the trial.”
“He clearly figured it out by the end though, didn’t he? Three people got out,” Jake replied, shoulders slumping. “Why did they send you? Usually it’s Claudette or Nea.”
“Because I was in the area?” Gummy offered. “And Meg said you’ve assigned yourself protective older brother. Whatever that means.”
“That’s Meg being Meg,” Jake muttered. “Fine. But cheering me up is not an option. You can sit, but don’t…”
“Okay.” Gummy sat down, peering at him as they crossed their legs. “So, what even happened? You don’t look like you got beat up.”
Jake scoffed. “Injuries don’t stick in the forest, Gummy. Death wounds don’t either. Probably a precaution in case the killers wander over here.”
“Do they do that often?”
Jake frowned, pulling at the grass. “Some of them. Laurie says Michael lurks at the edge of the fire more often than not when he’s out of trial.”
“And the other stealth killers?”
“Don’t know.”
“So, Ghostface could be watching us right now? And we wouldn’t even know it?”
Jake regarded them with a frown. “I guess. Does it matter? He can’t kill us out here. And there’ve been killers who tried. Feel like the Nurse shows up every now and again to try to strangle people. But they all wander off once they get close enough to the campfire. Something about it wards them off.”
“Really pushing your luck out here then, huh?” Gummy asked.
Jake’s mouth tightened, and he didn’t answer.
“Any killer you’re hoping for?” Gummy continued, a slight smirk rising on their face.
“No,” Jake said sharply. “Gummy, just… don’t. I’m really not in the mood.”
“Okay, jeez.”
Jake closed his eyes. “It wouldn’t be a killer anyway,” he said softly.
“Oh.” Gummy wanted to ask more, remembering his feelings for Dwight. But Jake wasn’t in a good place mentally, so it was better not to. “I don’t get why they sent me, you know. Meg and Dwight both asked me to come here.”
“They don’t have anyone who can cheer me up, and there’s only so many survivors I can tolerate,” Jake answered. “Guess you’re in that list.”
“Guess Meg figured that out,” Gummy offered, and Jake’s mouth twitched toward a smile.
“Guess so. How was your last trial?”
“Uh, everyone died.”
Jake’s eyes opened slowly. “Who was it?”
“Ghostface.”
“So you got hatch then,” Jake mused. “Well, there’s something to be said for luck.”
“Haha, yeah…” Gummy glanced away as they thought of what Ghostface had done. “I sure was lucky…” Then a thought hit them. “Not to change the subject or anything, but wasn’t your last trial against the Doctor? What are those like?”
Jake made a face, expression darkening. “Awful. You tend to hallucinate in Doctor trials. Don’t know what’s real and what’s not.”
“Oh. And there’s no way around it?”
“None at all,” Jake muttered.
“Are you okay?”
Jake laughed bitterly. “No. Everyone’s too busy thinking about the fact that I got attacked by a new survivor to even realize that I was still suffering the effects of the Doctor and his shock therapy. I’ll be okay eventually. Just… I don’t want to deal with the stares that come with survivor fighting. Not while I’m still dealing with that.”
“Isn’t the fire supposed to… I dunno. Stop the effects?”
“It is, yeah. But that’s where Steve is, so I’m not going.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll just sit with you then. So you’re not all alone with your hallucinations.”
Jake’s expression softened. “Thanks Gummy.”
The knife was still stained in Gummy’s blood, but Ghostface was furious. Almost the moment Gummy’s breath left, the Entity seemed to notice that something had happened, and Ghostface hadn’t had a trial since. The pictures had been erased from his camera too, almost like the Entity didn’t like that. Didn’t approve.
He said something to Susie, and she blinked at him. “Oh, you killed them all?” She sounded nauseated, but she stuck around. “Like, without hooks?”
Ghostface tilted his head in reply.
“No, I just mean-” Susie made a face. “Did you burn an offering?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Offerings. You have to burn an offering if you’re going to kill everyone. The Entity always wants something, and if there’s not even a sacrifice, then she gets mad.”
“And takes my pictures away from me?”
“I guess.” Susie looked at her ruler sadly. “Killing everyone slowed down your trial rate?”
Ghostface nodded.
“Maybe I should try getting punished that way then,” Susie mused. “So I don’t have to do it as much.”
“Intent matters, I’d imagine.”
“Maybe a little bit, but I don’t know. Only one way to find out. We’ll be here forever. Might as well experiment.”
Ghostface didn’t like that implication, abruptly getting to his feet. “I’m going to the survivor fire.”
“Don’t get too close or she’ll send you away,” Susie said, still in her thoughts. “Be careful!”
Ghostface waved her off and set off in search of the sound of voices.
“What do you think I’d see if I was hallucinating?” Gummy’s voice made Ghostface perk up, and he peered carefully through the trees as he approached, taking care not to startle any crows. “You said everyone sees different things, right?”
The man next to them sighed, and Ghostface realized he was completely unfamiliar. How many survivors are there? He wondered, pressing up against the tree to look closer at the two survivors. Gummy’s shoulder brushed his sleeve, and Ghostface’s gut twisted.
“Gummy, I don’t think I have the faintest clue who you do and don’t know. You haven’t been here that long,” his voice was deep, rich. Ghostface ground his teeth, forcing himself to stay back. “Probably your friends from before.”
“Like Kap?”
The man sighed again. “Sure, Gummy. Like Kap.”
“Well, I had a list. I have more than one friend, for the record.”
“Okay.”
Gummy whacked him, and Ghostface silently seethed as the man chuckled. “Go on then. Tell me about your other friends from before.”
“Well, there’s Dulla, and Torch, and Nifty, and-”
“You’d probably be able to see versions of them dead, then,” the man interrupted, making a face. “Ask Meg, maybe. I… I’m not entirely sure I actually want to know what they’re like.”
“Well, it’s not like everyone’s as outgoing as I am,” Gummy said with a frown. “I mean, I’m sure you’d want to hear about Cloud at least. You guys are super similar.”
The man made a face. “Maybe another time. But just… ask Meg to help brainstorm what you’d see. I don’t think we know each other well enough for that.”
“If you say so,” Gummy said with a shrug. “But I think we do.”
The man wrinkled his nose, and Ghostface decided that he had to die any and all times he encountered him in matches. He shouldn’t be allowed to have this much of Gummy’s attention like this, not without at least showing courtesy to who he was talking to.
I need to get my head in the game, he thought as he went to go watch the survivors at the fire. I need to learn their weaknesses, not just my weaknesses.
“So, I have a question,” Gummy said, and Dwight rubbed at his eyes before turning to see Gummy come out of the trees.
“What kind of question?” Dwight asked. It was probably about their death, wasn’t it? That’s usually what it was about.
“If I was in a Doctor trial, do you think I’d see my old friends? From before?”
Dwight blinked, glancing at the groups of survivors chatting before patting the log next to him. “It’s not an exact science, Gummy. I don’t think-”
“Well, who do you see when you hallucinate in a Doctor trial?”
Dwight sputtered, unable to come up with any words. “What brought this on, Gummy?”
“Jake just got out of a Doctor trial, so I was talking to him about it. That’s all.”
“You were-” Dwight forced himself to take a deep breath. “You didn’t ask Jake that question, I’m hoping?”
“No, of course not. I wondered who I’d see, and he said he doesn’t know me well enough to know.”
“So, you thought you’d ask me.”
“Yeah. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be super smart and know everything about everyone?”
Dwight blinked. “That’s… not. No. No one person can know everything about everyone, Gummy. That’s impossible.”
Dwight gave it a wary look. “Gummy, I think you need to reevaluate your priorities considering what happened with him in your last trial.”
“I am considering what happened with him in my last trial,” Gummy said brightly. “I had sex with Ghostface.”
Dwight went rigid. “Gummy, I don’t think that’s what was happening.”
“No, it definitely was, but since we don’t keep our injuries, I can’t exactly prove it.”
“Gummy, the killers like to manipulate us. He just wants you to think that’s what was happening,” Dwight argued, ears turning red. “You know what, I don’t think you need to explain it to me. If you think it’s fine, nothing I say will stop you.”
“See? I knew you knew me better than you thought you did!”
Dwight’s brow scrunched. “What?”
“Do you see dead people when you hallucinate?” Gummy asked, and Dwight’s brow furrowed as he frowned.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Well, since you’re the only one who knows my secret, I figured I should get to know you better.”
Dwight’s eye twitched. “I don’t think that’s how this works.”
“I’m only keeping it a secret because you told me to,” Gummy argued. “And for the record. I am going to tell Meg. Because she’s my friend. Jake sent me here to talk to her, but since she’s in a trial now-”
“I don’t see people from before,” Dwight said hastily. “I just see the survivors here.”
“Even Jane?”
“Yes, Gummy. Even Jane. I don’t hate her, even though everyone seems to think I do.” Dwight gnawed at his fingertip. “I see Meg a lot, in my hallucinations.”
“Because she’s your best friend?”
“One of,” Dwight said quietly. “I don’t think I’d want to stick around if not for Meg, Claudette, and Jake.”
“Jake huh?” Gummy’s eyes took on a glint.
“Yes, Gummy. He’s my friend.” Dwight’s face reddened. “What’s that look for?”
“Bet you want him to be more than that. Bet you want-”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear the end of that sentence.” Dwight scanned the faces of everyone at the fire, desperately looking for someone to send Gummy to. “Why don’t you get to know Nea a bit better? She’s pretty sneaky. Maybe that’ll come in handy.”
“I don’t need to learn from Nea. I’m already learning from Jake,” Gummy said, dismissing Dwight’s words. “But I’ll go say hi anyway.”
Thank god, Dwight thought, rubbing at his face to try and make his blush go away as Gummy walked off. Am I really that obvious?
“Hi,” a survivor’s voice nearly had Ghostface jumping out of his skin.
The woman looked at him cryptically. “So you’re Ghostface.”
“And you’re…?”
“Nea. Gummy seems to think you’re a good killer.”
Ghostface rose to his feet. “And what do you think?”
“Seems like you are, if you haven’t stabbed me yet.” Nea regarded him approvingly. “How many survivors have you killed?”
“On the hook or…?”
“Gummy says you have a book. I kinda wanna see.”
Ghostface tilted his head. “I don’t bring it into trials with me.”
“Aw, rats. Well, I know I’m not in there yet, so if you haven’t caught me by the end of this one, I’ll stay back anyway.”
“How… gracious of you.” Ghostface was very confused. “There’s no stipulation for this?”
“Well, Min’s not here, so no. I guess if there’s a new survivor in here with us, maybe don’t kill them?” Nea shrugged. “I mean, it’s our mission to ensure that no one kills the newest survivors for as long as we can hold off, and I know you’re actively good enough to do that. I’ve heard the stories.”
“New survivor. How do I tell the difference?”
“Well, you’re Ghostface, aren’t you? I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“If you gave me a name, maybe-”
“Steve or Nancy,” Nea said dismissively. “Don’t kill them. I assume you already know not to kill Gummy.”
Ghostface stayed still. “Naturally.”
“God, it’s such work to make sure the new survivors don’t go through all that,” Nea mused. “See you later!”
Ghostface stared after her for a moment before snapping out of it. You’re a killer. So kill.
The man from earlier was in this trial. Ghostface knew it for a fact now, after he’d hit the man once and only gotten a faint, strangled cry. I will catch you, he decided in his head, wiping the blood from his knife with vigor. Obviously, he was going to behave a little bit. There was time enough for this one’s photo in a later trial, since he had to sacrifice at least one.
He was a squirmer too, his boot hitting Ghostface solidly across the jaw as he attempted to wiggle free. But it didn’t make a difference as Ghostface made it to the hook. He fixed his mask, swiping out at the survivor just because.
The man glared at him, silent as a ghost.
“You must be Jake Park,” Ghostface said idly. “One of the quiet ones. Sounds like no one has luck making you scream.”
Jake didn’t reply, still glaring. Ghostface could feel the intensity of that glare as he meandered off, finding another survivor.
This one went down very easily, and he cried like he’d never experienced pain before. Ghostface threw him on the hook with cold efficiency as a generator stirred to life. “Hate to hook and run, but well. Clock’s ticking!”
The survivor stared in confusion as Ghostface gave a little salute before running off.
Ah, he knew this survivor. “Hello Bill,” Ghostface said thoughtfully after Jake had broken the nearby hook. “Must be terribly boring to stay in the dirt all this time. Has anyone told him how inconsiderate hook sabotages are? Or how futile?”
Bill gave him a long-suffering look. “Slows you down plenty. I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Hmm. We’ll ask Nea next time I see her.”
“Good luck with that,” Bill muttered as the hook finished reforming. He cried out just the same though, and Ghostface wondered if it was just Jake who didn’t.
Still, he tried to seek out Nea, to at least hook everyone once, but he didn’t have any luck. So he threw the mystery fourth survivor on his second hook, knife digging into Jake’s back as he attempted to slow him down.
Ghostface crouched down. “You’re very cute. Those are some nice save attempts.”
Jake spat out blood and glared silently at him, unable to suppress the worst of his cries of pain.
“Aww, that’s absolutely adorable. Your hatred is very pleasant.”
“Can you have this conversation elsewhere?” the guy on the hook asked, gritting his teeth as he struggled.
“Oh, yes, of course. I need to kill him now.” Ghostface nodded vigorously, getting to his feet. “Ta ta!”
He finally caught Nea, but the timing made him realize that she’d revealed herself to him. “Very impressive. Except someone forgot to leave Steve alone.”
“I didn’t realize that was Steve,” Ghostface said with a shrug. “But he’s not dead.”
“No, and you’re super lucky Jake let himself die to get him free. I’m just a bit surprised you didn’t take his picture.”
“There must always be sacrifices,” Ghostface said dramatically. “Is Steve at a door then?”
“He’s opening one, yeah.”
“Then we’ll just wait, I suppose. For him to leave.”
“Yeah, you might wanna chase him out,” Nea said conspiratorially. “Survivors don’t just leave. We’re not allowed.”
“Who made that rule?”
“The same man who made the rule about making sure new survivors stick around as long as possible without dying. I’m still not sure why he thinks that’s best, since killers stop actively attempting to tunnel once a survivor has experienced death. Like, it’s not that big of a thing.”
“Very strange,” Ghostface said dryly. “I’ll go chase him out.”
Steve was not really a coward, as it turned out. He went down to the knife, and Ghostface had to wrench the lever down. Nea watched with bemusement as Ghostface carried him to the barrier.
“Just leave, Steve. I made a deal to let you get out this match.”
“He still hooked me.”
“Yeah, we do that. It’s almost like we’re killers or something.”
“Get going, Steve,” Nea waved at him, and Ghostface just whipped the knife across Nea’s face.
“I’ll just get it over with,” Ghostface decided, and Nea laughed as she died.
It made for a lovely photo.
Jake was sulking. Again, Meg would’ve interjected had she been around, but he wasn’t in the mood for that.
Gummy is mine, Ghostface’s words were still echoing in his ears, and Jake wasn’t sure how he was meant to interpret it, but he was pretty sure that meant he was going to start getting actively tunneled by yet another killer.
“Do you think there’s a bet going for how long it takes before every killer just decides to tunnel me out at the start of every trial?” Jake asked the open air, and a branch snapped behind him. “Hi, Dwight.”
Dwight coughed. “Meg said you just stormed off after your last trial.”
“It’s fine.” Jake wrapped his arms around his legs, nestling his chin against his knees. “Ghostface hates me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The threat he tried to make in regards to how close I am with Gummy,” Jake said with a sigh. “It’s not the normal break my hooks and I’ll rip you apart that I’m used to, that’s all.”
“Ghostface?” Dwight echoed, and a faint flush crept up his neck. “Ghostface said that to you?”
Jake nodded. “I don’t even know why he’d care. It’s not like Gummy and I would ever be…” He frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t. Nothing against Gummy, they’re just not really my type. Too much like Meg, you know?”
“I… guess?” Dwight’s face was getting more red by the second, and Jake wondered if there was any red in his own face. “Meg did say you’d assigned yourself as protective older brother, so that does make a bit of sense-”
“I did not.”
“Oh, well, that’s just what Meg said. That’s all.” Dwight scratched his neck. “He didn’t mori you, did he?”
“Just a hook death. I guess it’ll get worse if I spend more time around Gummy.”
“How does he even tell? We don’t even interact with survivors that much in… trials…” An odd look came over Dwight’s face, and Jake lifted his head.
“What? What’s that look for?”
“Do you think Meg’s in danger? They’ve been spending a lot of time together.”
Jake frowned. “I don’t think they are, but I guess if my conversation with Gummy could be misinterpreted, Meg’s probably is too. Dwight, what are you thinking?”
“It’s probably nothing.” Dwight’s voice was strained. “I’ll… I’ll leave you to it. I need to go find Meg.”
Jake blinked, shoulders sagging. “Well, okay. Hope you find her?”
“Thanks,” Dwight nodded to himself, half-jogging through the trees.
Meg’s eyes glittered as Gummy went in-depth about their experiences with Ghostface in the last trial. “Would you do it again?”
“Some parts. I mean, I’ll probably talk to him about what I didn’t like, but I don’t think he’ll care that much-”
“So this whole thing is 100% mutual?” Meg’s eyes widened as her grin expanded. “That’s amazing, Gummy. I just get one-offs on occasion, and I think the Huntress might be down, but I don’t know if she even knows what sex is, so when I feel like it, I find Susie or something.”
“You’d have to wait for a trial with her though.”
“Oh, no I don’t,” Meg said, shaking her head. “Did no one tell you? We’re in the same forest as the killers, Gummy. Ghostface is probably watching us talk right now.” She glanced at the treeline and waved.
Gummy blinked, half-expecting Ghostface to walk out of the trees. “What-”
“He can’t come this far into our campsite though. You’d have to go out there to meet him. Susie throws rocks sometimes, to get my attention. I think she learned it from Adam, actually.”
“Right, okay. You think he’s out there right now?”
“If he’s not in a trial. I mean, there’s always a chance that he’s not in a trial.”
“Hey, Meg, do you have a minute?” Dwight was fiddling with his tie as he approached, not making eye contact with either one of them.
“Uh, yeah, sure. Don’t wander off!” Meg gave Gummy a little wave as she walked off.
Gummy made a face. “It’s not wandering off to talk to Jake, is it?”
Meg shrugged, just giving a cheerful wink. So did she want Gummy to actually wander off? Gummy wasn’t sure. Still, it wasn’t like anyone was going to actually stop worm, were they?
Realistically, Gummy imagined the only one who’d stop it was Jake, probably. If he knew about it. But, Gummy was able to make their own decisions, so they stepped beyond the treeline.
“Oh, hi Michael. Fancy seeing you out here.”
Michael Myers didn’t say a word, impassively staring continuously at the fire.
“Right. You just… hang out there. I’ll be going this way.”
Michael jolted at that, shaking his head.
“No?”
Michael shook his head again and then pointed toward where Jake tended to hang out.
“No, I’m looking for Ghostface, actually.”
Michael rested a hand on Gummy’s shoulder and shook his head again.
“Is he in a trial then?”
Michael nodded.
“Oh. Well, tell him I say hi if you see him. I guess I’ll just hang out with Jake.”
Michael nodded again, seemingly satisfied with that response before pointing toward Jake’s spot again.
“Nice to see you too!” Gummy gave Michael a cheerful wave and walked off.
“Hey, Jake, did you know Michael is like, super friendly?”
Jake blinked at Gummy. “I feel like asking what you’re talking about would be a trap.”
“He sent me to hang out with you.”
Jake eyed Gummy skeptically. “You tried to go toward the killer fire, didn’t you?”
“What? No, of course not!”
Jake gave them a long look.
“Okay, well, maybe. But, it was to see Ghostface.”
“Why?”
“Well, he’s so friendly and awesome and cool. He’d probably be nice to you if-”
“No.”
“No? What do you mean no?”
Jake gave Gummy a flat look. “He hates me, Gummy. So, no, I don’t think I want to even attempt to be nice to him. I think I’ll pass. Shouldn’t you be hanging out with Meg? At the fire?”
“Michael sent me over here,” Gummy said stubbornly. “And I’m not allowed to look for Ghostface because he’s in a trial.”
“Was in a trial. Is Jake still moping cause he died?” Nea’s voice was bright and cheery as she appeared.
“I’m not moping,” Jake muttered. “Go away, Nea. Take Gummy with you when you go.”
“Oh, he’s 100% still moping,” Gummy declared, and Nea nodded. “Wait, did you also die?”
Nea nodded. “Is there still blood on my face? Shoot, I thought I got it all.”
“He didn’t see you all game. How did you die?” Jake asked, brow furrowing.
“Agreement at the beginning of the trial. He didn’t kill Steve, so I let him get the mori.” Nea shrugged. “He’s kinda friendly if you approach him early.”
“Apparently Michael is too.”
“Oh, only in these woods,” Nea said, shaking her head. “He doesn’t like tempting fate. He just watches. If we do enough naughty things, I’d imagine the Entity would-”
“Naughty, you say?”
Nea snorted. “Maybe not the right word, actually. Baiting the killers. If we do that too much, we might actually get separated. Michael doesn’t want that, obviously.”
“Oh, obviously. For sure. He seems to watch Jake a lot.”
“He watches Laurie more,” Jake replied. “You made a deal with him?”
“You got a problem with that?” Nea raised an eyebrow. “You’re just mad you didn’t do it first. Now you have to deal because he’ll be actively hunting you down- Hey, Ghostie.”
Ghostface was standing at the edge of the trees, regarding all three of them impassively. “Why is he here?”
Jake’s eyebrows furrowed. “Shouldn’t that be my question?”
“The boys are fighting, how sad. Anyway. This is Jake’s spot. He doesn’t like people,” Gummy said brightly. “What brings you to our neck of the woods?”
“Nea wanted to see the pictures I’ve been taking.”
“All of them?” Gummy asked nervously.
Ghostface shook his head. “Just the death ones.”
“Oh, cause that’s so much better.”
Ghostface sighed. “The Entity didn’t let me keep those ones, Gummy.”
“Those ones?” Nea and Jake said in unison.
“You didn’t get to keep them? That’s not fair,” Gummy said, shaking their head.
“I was given an explanation,” Ghostface replied. “I’m not showing them to him. He’ll probably steal the pictures.”
“I’m not a thief,” Jake grumbled. “Can’t you do this literally anywhere else?”
Ghostface looked at him for a long moment. “No. I think here is fine.”
Jake’s jaw ticked. “I hate all of you.”
“Feeling’s mutual, Jacob!” Nea said brightly. “So, which ones do you have so far?”
Ghostface and Gummy exchanged a look before he pulled out a leatherbound photo album. “I think I’ve gotten about half… I suppose it’ll be a while before I’m allowed to get Steve and Nancy?”
“And Gummy,” Jake added, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t take one of Gummy if you’re being merciful toward new survivors.”
“Wouldn’t dream of ruining that special little survivor protection they’ve got going on,” Ghostface said airily.
Jake scoffed. “Yet you want survivors to stay away.”
“Gummy is mine.” Ghostface’s tone darkened, and it shot a thrilling tremor up Gummy’s spine at the words.
Nea’s eyebrows shot up, and Jake’s scowl deepened. “Possessiveness for a killer either means you want to kill them or you just want them. So which is it?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Nea said, snorting. “God, you’re so blind, Jake.”
Jake’s eye twitched. “Gummy is still a survivor.”
“And Gummy is standing right here,” Gummy said helpfully, and the two men looked at worm. Nea just snickered. “I can speak for myself, Jake. Now, are you really so jealous that I’ve been spending time with survivors at the survivor fire, Ghostface?”
Ghostface stilled. “Well-”
“Oh, so you are. Aww, how sweet! Don’t worry. You don’t have to threaten Jake. I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”
“Gummy,” Jake said with a strangled tone. “Are you seriously suggesting that-”
“I’m his favorite,” Gummy said conspiratorially, and Jake shuddered in discomfort while Nea just laughed.
“Oh, that’s fantastic. Usually it’s Meg who’s the favorite around here.”
“Ghostface hasn’t met Meg yet, I don’t think.” Gummy said dismissively. “Oh, but she knows about him.”
“Is Meg the redhead?” Ghostface asked suspiciously. “I think I know what she looks like, but no, I haven’t met her.”
“Yup.”
“She’s Gummy’s best friend out here,” Nea said cheerfully. “Oh, and that one’s David. I can’t help but notice you don’t have a name written yet. Hey, did you want a list of the survivors who you haven’t gotten a picture with yet? I could totally-”
“Nea,” Jake ground out between his teeth.
Nea rolled her eyes. “Fine fine. Gummy could probably tell you the rest at some point anyway.”
Ghostface nodded, looking vaguely uncomfortable with how Nea leaned over his shoulder to look at the pictures. “Yes, I think that’d be… wise…”
“See? You two can get along!” Gummy said, and once again, Jake and Ghostface both shot them a look.
Oh, this was going to be very fun.
Ghostface didn’t anticipate things going so smoothly when he visited the river the second time. It was only Jake there this time, and based on the way his shoulders tightened, he knew Ghostface had arrived.
“What do you want?” he grumbled.
“It astonishes me that you can tell I’m here.” Ghostface dropped cross-legged beside Jake. “You gotta tell me your secret.”
“Don’t disturb the birds if you don’t want to get caught.”
“Boring. You’re just a forest man, aren’t you?”
Jake barely turned to regard him. “Why are you here?”
“Same reason as always,” Ghostface replied, wiggling his fingers. “Gotta kill and all that.”
“You’re not allowed to kill between trials,” Jake informed him, as if he didn’t already know. “So, why are you here?”
“Oh, why am I by the river? Truth be told, I don’t think most of those guys like me very much.”
“Shocking.” Jake turned back to look at the river. “Gummy isn’t usually over here.”
“But you can get them out here, can’t you?” Ghostface asked, and Jake’s mouth twitched.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because it’ll mean I’ll play nice next trial I have against your friends? Meg, Claudette, and… shoot, what’s his name?”
Jake’s shoulders tightened. “What do you even want with Gummy?”
“Is it so shocking that we’ve formed a bond?” Ghostface asked. “That our feelings predate our time in the realm, and we were always going to end up finding each other?”
Jake made a face. “A bit cliché, don’t you think?”
“But it’s the truth, and you can’t take away love.”
He got to his feet, shaking his head. “Fine. I don’t want to be anywhere near you for longer than I have to.”
“Too charming for you?” Ghostface said cheekily, and Jake scowled.
“Too… something all right. I don’t want to be out here if you’re here.”
“Well, I’d almost think you didn’t like me with that behavior!”
“You threatened to gut me and string up my insides if I spent too much time around Gummy. Before finding out that our friendship is not even remotely leaning toward whatever weird shit you two seem to be into.”
Ghostface curved his hands into a heart. “All in the name of love, Jake.”
Jake’s nose wrinkled. “Ugh. Don’t linger too long. I like my space.”
“All depends on how long you take getting Gummy here,” Ghostface replied, making a shooing gesture. “Go on. Fetch.”
The scowl deepened, and Ghostface felt a silly satisfaction in making Jake angry. But it was shockingly easy, and very fun. He disappeared through the trees, and a few minutes later, Gummy came bounding through the undergrowth, eyes glittering.
“Hi! You came back!”
“Guess I must’ve missed you,” Ghostface replied, fondness curling in his heart.
“Aww, I missed you too!” Gummy said, happily peppering kisses all over the white plastic of his mask. “You came all this way for me?”
“Just for you. Not everyone is this special.” Ghostface was surprised to hear the warm fondness clear in his voice.
“I’m special?”
“Somehow,” Ghostface replied with a sigh that he didn’t know how to interpret as Gummy curled up against him, leaning against his shoulder.
Its hand slipped around his, pulling his gloved hand into their lap. Worm traced the seams of his glove, and it gave him goosebumps. He shivered slightly, but Gummy didn’t seem to notice, humming happily to themselves.
“Your gloves are super soft. Do you treat them?”
“I… have in the past. I don’t think I need to here. Not as much as I used to, at least. Most of the blood seems to just evaporate and leave them better than before.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Gummy mused. “Getting rewarded for sacrificing us.”
Ghostface hummed in acknowledgement. “Gummy, who have you told about what we did in that trial?”
“At Pumpkin Hill? Well, I didn’t really mean to tell Dwight, but I did end up telling him. And Meg. But those are the only two who know the full story. Nea got hints about it, but I kept her out of the loop.”
Gummy shrugged, lacing worm’s fingers through his. “But I kept some of the details to myself. And I did want to address a few things.”
“Oh?” Ghostface tilted his head. “What sorts of things?”
“Well, I did give you permission to do whatever,” Gummy said, gesturing vaguely. “So I’m not entirely blaming you for not knowing. But in the future, can we not… Can we avoid going below the belt? At least until after I can’t remember or feel it?”
“You don’t like that?”
“Not at all,” Gummy said, shaking their head firmly. “Everything else was good though. Better than good, actually.” And Gummy beamed at him again, planting another kiss on his mask.
“So I didn’t put you off the idea of doing that again?”
“Most of it,” Gummy said, squeezing his hand. “Just those bits I mentioned are no-go.”
“Right.” Ghostface blinked. “We didn’t discuss that beforehand.”
“Which is why I’m telling you now. For next time.”
“Next time,” Ghostface echoed. “How long do you think we can get away with this before the survivors catch on?”
“Meg says the first four won’t stop falling over themselves to save survivors who got here after them,” Gummy said dismissively. “But I guess for everyone else, it’ll be once they actually witness it themselves.”
“…How sure are you that Jake is gay?”
Gummy beamed. “Positive. I just couldn’t say it then, obviously, because he was right there, but he’s been into Dwight for ages, and when I suggested Jake as a romantic partner to Dwight, he got all red and flustered. They’re both into each other.”
Ghostface nodded slowly. He knew he didn’t actually have anything to fear from Jake, not from that angle, at least, but it would be easier if he was definitively out of the way. Preferably with someone who wouldn’t serve as a reminder of how much Ghostface had alienated Gummy’s friends.
My priorities are completely ruined, he thought to himself, recalling that everything with Gummy was meant to just be meaningless teasing. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.
Although, he wouldn’t change it, now that he knew what it was like to have Gummy.
Hello hello! Guess who's returned with a commission this time? We've got murder, and death, and romance, and... well, you get the idea.
Commission for @gummy-axolotl! Click the read-more to check it out!
There was a note in the pocket of Gummy’s backpack. They weren’t the one to notice it, naturally. Cloud had too keen eyes for that, asking who’d given Gummy a phone number and no name.
Squinting at the handwriting, Gummy admitted to having no idea how that got there. Cloud frowned at it, texting something to someone Gummy could only assume was Kap before taking off.
Gummy stared at the paper, a curious frown on their face. It couldn’t hurt to call the number, surely? After all, it was probably someone else’s note, and if they didn’t call to say it went to the wrong person, there’d be some kind of huge understanding.
So, after class, Gummy kicked off their shoes and typed in the number on their phone.
“Gummy Axolotl,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.
Gummy raised an impressed eyebrow. “So that was for me.”
“It certainly wasn’t for your friend,” the voice said, chuckling. “If she’d picked up, I would’ve been disappointed in your initiative, honestly.”
“So it would’ve been my fault? How is that fair?” Gummy wondered, sitting down on the couch.
“You should know life isn’t fair by now,” the voice said disapprovingly. “Now, what’s your favorite horror movie?”
Weeks passed since Gummy started talking to the voice on the phone. They found it very productive and soothing when they were drawing and working on animation assignments to just ramble absently. Half of what they said didn’t seem worth remembering anyway.
Still, the voice said some strange things sometimes, and at one point, Gummy was on the phone while waiting for their friends to arrive for lunch.
“Kap’s going to the bathroom, and then they’ll be here,” Cloud announced as she and Avalynn slipped into the booth.
“Ooh, is that your mysterious friend?” Avalynn asked, leaning closer. “Hello there!”
“You’re still talking to them.” Cloud shook her head. Then she glanced up. “Over here, Torch!”
Torch happily took a seat, flipping open the menu.
“Gummy, why aren’t you concerned about Dulla?” the voice asked.
Cloud looked sharply at the phone. “You told them about us?”
“Yes, and they are a he, so it’s fine.”
The look on Cloud’s face seemed to indicate that it was not fine, and she ducked under the table, slipping around Torch before pulling out her own phone. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t call security on me!” Gummy called, and Cloud just made a face before slipping through the glass doors of the fast-food restaurant.
A few moments later, she was back, practically dragging Dulla to the booth. “I hope you had fun with that, Mystery Man.”
“You’re easy to rile from what I’ve heard. I just wanted to test that theory,” the voice replied. “Unfortunately, that means you were checking on the wrong friend, Miss Whisper.”
“What?” Cloud frowned, her eyes flashing dangerously. “If this is-”
“I think you and your friends should check on one Kappy Krow,” the voice said, sounding almost gleefully. “From what I understand, they were in the bathroom?”
“Gummy,” Cloud said. “A word, please?”
Gummy scrambled to slip out of the booth, leaving the phone for their friends to talk about.
“They wouldn’t do something so stupid, you know that,” Gummy insisted as they walked with Cloud to fetch Kap.
“Seems like an easy place to kill someone to me,” Cloud muttered. “Kap!”
“That’s me!” Kap blinked, grinning from behind their glasses. “I didn’t get that lost this time.”
Cloud was scowling at the table, not saying another word for the rest of the time they were hanging out.
In fact, any mention of the stranger had Cloud leaving in a silent rage most of the time, so Gummy decided to be a bit more careful about letting the two of them interact.
“You seem bored,” the voice remarked one night while Gummy was at their dorm drawing.
“Nah, just working on homework until Torch gets here. You know, we were supposed to watch a movie together.”
“Have you checked outside?” the voice asked.
Gummy rolled their eyes. “I’m not paranoid. That’s not going to work on me.”
“Even if you take two steps outside and step in a pool of Torch’s blood?”
“They make really convincing fake blood nowadays, you know.” Still, Gummy got up. “Convince me with a better reason than that. The Ghostface killings are not things like sweatshirts floating in pools of blood-”
Gummy nearly burst out laughing at the attempt. It was indeed a pool of blood soaking into the carpet outside the door, and Torch’s jacket was draped in it with stains on the pockets. “You can do better than that, come on.”
All Gummy heard from the other end of the phone was an angry cry of frustration before the dial tone indicated the end of the call.
“I can do better than last time,” the voice said irritably as soon as Gummy picked up the phone.
“You didn’t even kill anyone. Are you even trying?” Gummy asked, and the man huffed.
“I’m gauging your reactions! You don’t even seem scared.”
“I have some scary friends,” Gummy answered. “What’s the plan this time?”
“I suppose you’ll have to find out,” he replied. “Maybe I should just kill your scary friends so you’re more scared of me.”
“Good luck with that. Dulla and Cloud can take you in a fight. One on one probably even.”
The voice made an annoyed noise and hung up.
Cloud was being silent again, leaning against the tree. She didn’t seem to see Kap when they sat down across from her, and they knew this was a normal occurrence.
So they picked at the grass.
Gummy was running late, and Kap had the slight satisfaction of knowing they weren’t the reason Cloud was going to be in a mood today. But then again, there wasn’t much sass on days like these.
Kap raised an eyebrow at the phone pressed to Gummy’s ear, shaking their head. Bad idea.
Still, Gummy said something, and Cloud’s eyes snapped into focus. “Kap.”
“Hi!” Kap beamed at her, but she just rolled her eyes.
“I don’t get a hello?” Gummy asked, making a face.
Cloud’s mouth twitched. “Gummy, we talked about this.”
Kap heard the voice on the other end of the phone say something, and Gummy set the phone on the grass, hitting the speaker button.
“What did you talk about?”
Cloud’s eyes flashed. “I’m not staying if you’re here.”
“On the contrary. The first of you three to leave this little study session will die.”
Cloud got an intense look then, one Kap only saw on very rare occasions when they listened to Cloud’s story ideas. The particularly gruesome ones usually were scary, and if they didn’t know better, they’d think Cloud could give Ghostface a run for his money.
If she killed people, that was.
“What if two of us leave together? Does that mean you kill the third?” Gummy asked, unzipping their backpack.
“Regardless, it’s a threat. I’m calling the cops,” Cloud said.
“Wait, no-” Gummy protested. “I’ll lose my friend.”
“I’ll lose my sanity,” Cloud muttered, shaking her head as she wrote something on the page. “I can’t believe you two.”
“What did I do?” Kap cried out.
Cloud’s lips thinned, and she didn’t reply, pencil digging into the paper so aggressively Kap was sure it would snap.
The first flicker of nervousness flashed across Gummy’s features. Today was not a good day for this.
“So, um. Bad news,” Gummy said awkwardly. “They threatened to kill you if I didn’t bring them along today, Cloud.”
“Blackmail implies that you’re not good at intimidation. It’s a crutch,” Cloud informed the voice over the phone. “Do better.”
“Hey, I thought we weren’t supposed to say things like that,” Kap said.
“I don’t see Dulla. Do you?” Cloud replied flatly. “I’m going home. I didn’t even need this session.”
“It’s your funeral,” the voice said.
“Or yours,” Cloud replied darkly. “I’m not afraid of anyone who can’t fight their own battles without a voice changer. I bet you wear a disguise too, don’t you?”
There was no reply to that.
“I’m going home,” Cloud repeated, getting to her feet. “Walk me to the Student Union?”
“Sure,” Kap said, getting to their feet as well. “Gummy, are you coming?”
“You guys made them hang up!” Gummy complained. “I should’ve known better.”
“You should’ve. Phone calls with them can only end badly, Gummy,” Cloud replied. “Did Avalynn even see your text?”
“Nifty has class at this time of day. So does Dulla.”
“But no Torch?” Kap asked.
“Torch has been murdered and therefore cannot come to any gatherings,” Gummy said with a monotone voice.
Cloud just stared. She didn’t say a word before she turned away.
“I think you made her mad,” Kap noted, and Gummy just sighed.
“She’s usually more fun to tease.”
“She doesn’t like your “voice” over the phone. Did they try to make you think Torch died?” Kap wondered.
“Yeah, and I washed their jacket before I returned it. Wouldn’t want this joke getting old too fast, would I?”
Kap smiled, opening their mouth to speak when their phone rang. “One second.”
“Kappy Krow, do you have a favorite horror movie?” the voice asked.
Kap stopped walking. “How did you get this number?”
“How did I get your number? It’s not too hard to figure based on where you live and what you do,” the voice asked smoothly.
Kap watched Gummy run to catch up to Cloud, feeling a little sick. “My phone number isn’t even attached to this area. And I didn’t pick it in the first place!”
“I know. So it got me thinking about what four digits would mean something to your parents, and guess what? I was right.”
“This joke isn’t funny anymore,” Kap said quietly. “Maybe Cloud was right. We should’ve called the cops after the first threat.”
“I’m done threatening,” the voice said, and then the line went dead.
Kap felt feverish, looking around in fear. The trees that had seemed so calming just moments before were ominous shapes now. Even the sun wasn’t a reassurance.
They opened their mouth to call out to Cloud and Gummy, but a warm heat settled in their stomach. “No one threatens to call the cops on me and gets away with it, silly bird.”
Kap scrambled to grab at the black fabric suddenly wrapping around them, but the knife moved, and hot pain burned their hands as precise slashes appeared across their palms.
They sank to the ground, huddling around their injuries. It hurt, hurt in a way they couldn’t fathom as each injury seemed to pang in time with their heart. And their head.
Was this what migraines were like? The heavy, thundering pain expanding across their forehead made them wonder, really.
“You’re Ghostface,” Kap declared, stating the obvious. “I’m dying.”
“You are dying. Would you like an audience?”
Kap closed their eyes. “My head hurts.”
“Dying does that. Are you feeling weightless yet?” Ghostface asked, sitting on the grass beside them.
“I feel extra heavy,” Kap admitted. “Like I’m going to sink into the ground.”
“Maybe you can do just that. Unless I should speed up the process a little bit?”
“I’m going to die either way,” Kap said, not hearing him. “I guess nonbinaries don’t qualify huh?”
“Qualify for what?” Ghostface tilted his head.
“Can’t be a final girl if you’re not a girl,” Kap mumbled. “But Gummy’s your obsession. Does that mean Cloud’s going to be the only one to live?”
“Cloud will taste my knife,” Ghostface promised.
“So you’re not going to follow the rules?” Kap asked. “That’s not very nice of you.”
Ghostface said something in reply, but Kap didn’t hear. They were crumbling sideways into the grass.
Ghostface wiped his knife, nodding approvingly before picking up Kap’s phone. The password was easy enough to guess, with everything else going on.
Cloud was listed under favorites. Ghostface laughed. This was too easy.
Gummy watched the expression on Cloud’s face changed from outright anger to confused frustration when she noticed Kap’s absence. “Kap was right behind me, I thought.”
“Oh, I think you know what’s wrong, Miss Whisper. Not so clever now are you?”
Cloud spun on her heel. “Kap. What did you do to them?”
“Nothing I haven’t promised to do before. Although, it turns out the ground soaks up blood too easily. Take note for your stories. Don’t kill people on grass. It makes things less dramatic.”
“You-”
“Kap is right where you left them. Although, I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t leave them in a better condition than I found them. Most people don’t tend to.”
Gummy followed Cloud back to where they’d been studying.
“No,” Cloud muttered softly, shaking her head. “No, this can’t- There’s no one here to kill them!”
“Are they-”
“Well, they’re not breathing,” Cloud hissed. “Hello? 911? I have a body to report.”
Avalynn sighed as she reorganized the objects from the mysterious package she’d received earlier that day. The objects seemed to warm under her touch, and she couldn’t figure out why. Avalynn sent a text to her brother before pulling the first thing out of the box.
It was a strange CD, one that had instructions to go in a computer. How ancient is this thing? Avalynn wondered, but she got up anyway.
Her computer may not have had a CD port, but the ones in the library still did. Maybe she’d get something out of that.
Avalynn’s notes weren’t as interesting as Gummy’s phone calls. They never promised a death that would never come, instead promising immortality and never-ending beauty. She didn’t care about either of those things, not really, but she played along in hopes of meeting the stranger who gave her peculiar gifts.
“Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to be Avalynn Shade, would you?”
“Why yes, that’s me,” Avalynn said, turning around on the sidewalk. “I am a bit busy at the moment though. What did you need?”
Then the CD dropped from her hand. “Ghostface.”
“Surprise! If you want to live, I suggest you don’t scream or threaten to call the cops. I have had quite enough of that today,” he replied pleasantly.
“Uh, okay.” Avalynn retrieved the CD. “I hope you’re not going to interrogate me to kill one of my friends. That would be really unfortunate.”
After arriving at her house, Avalynn yelped as the knife pierced her sleeve. “Hey! I thought we agreed no murdering!”
“I said if you want to live,” Ghostface replied, “I never promised that you would get to.”
“Oh, that’s a nasty trick,” Avalynn muttered, the CD case falling from her hand as he thumped her on the top of her head.
When she awoke, she was tied to a chair, Ghostface regarding her carefully. “What was on that disk?”
“I don’t know,” Avalynn replied irritably. “You’re going to kill me regardless, so what does it matter?”
“The dead tell no tales,” Ghostface mused. “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t explain what Dead by Daylight means.”
“I didn’t get the chance to find out for myself,” Avalynn replied, composing herself. “I was on my way to investigate, you see.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“I don’t know,” Avalynn answered honestly. “A mysterious stranger finding ways to pass me notes. I left replies under my welcome mat since he asked me to reply. And he won’t be happy not to get a response to his gift.”
“No one controls when they die,” Ghostface replied. “This gives me an idea…”
Avalynn didn’t like the sound of that.
Ghostface hummed as the knife sank into Avalynn’s stomach. She didn’t scream, wondering if it would even matter. The knife cut jaggedly, something that was probably meant to hurt more, but after the wine she’d been sent by her mysterious friend, pain hadn’t hurt particularly badly. She watched the knife cut a line up her stomach through layers of muscle and skin.
“You missed a spot,” she noted absently, and Ghostface’s head jerked up.
“I know what I’m doing,” he replied indignantly. “How are you still focusing?”
“Because you missed a spot,” Avalynn answered. “I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, you know. Do you think you could do me a favor?”
“Not if you’re begging for your life,” Ghostface replied.
“Nothing so blatant,” Avalynn replied dismissively. “No, I was just wondering if you could put my heart in a box and leave it on the welcome mat.”
Ghostface paused. “There is something very wrong with your group of friends. I think Kappy was one of the more normal ones.”
“They are, I suppose,” Avalynn mused. “I do think nothing would prepare you for Gummy though. They’re a wild card.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ghostface replied mildly. “And I will put your heart in a box on the welcome mat.”
“Good,” Avalynn said, satisfied with having that sorted out. “I had a feeling you were planning to dismember me after I died, so I wanted my heart kept intact.”
“Weird note to make. Is it a confession of love?”
“I mean, I guess it could be taken that way,” Avalynn mused. “That’s not why, but I don’t really need to explain myself to you.”
“Not when you’ll be dead in a minute, no,” Ghostface agreed. “Feeling woozy yet?”
“Hard to tell,” Avalynn told him. “Maybe you should have slit my throat.”
“That’s hardly moving up from stabbing someone to death. Where’s the fun in that?”
“I don’t understand you,” Avalynn replied, but she was smiling as he finally relented and slit her throat.
Her gaze seemed to linger, even as she went fully limp in the chair.
Cloud wasn’t speaking. She rarely had since they’d gone back to find Kap dead in the middle of the park. There was something odd in her gaze every time. Dulla seemed to be one of the rare people she would talk to, but even then, Gummy was positive it related to classwork.
The funeral was a grim affair, made worse by odd way Cloud was watching the crowd. Her eyes were narrowed, suspicious.
Gummy wasn’t watching as closely as they could have been, of course. They hadn’t seen Cloud glare down at the unknown number flashing on her phone screen, hadn’t seen her slip outside to gather her thoughts. They hadn’t seen the masked figure follow her out either.
But Cloud had always had an odd sense for things like this. “Ghostface,” she said, voice level. “How are you not bored of this yet?”
“Gummy is a surprisingly good companion. I wasn’t ever planning to kill your friend, you know.”
“But you did,” Cloud hissed. “Get out. You’re not welcome, and if I see you again, I will have no qualms about killing you for what you did.”
“Violent, aren’t you?”
Cloud’s expression darkened. “Call it writer’s instinct. I’ve thought of countless ways to kill you without anyone being any the wiser. Get. Out.”
“Well, that rather defeats the purpose, considering I’m here to kill you.”
Cloud just stared at him for a long moment. Then, before he could brace himself, she punched him. “I think you’d die in the attempt, considering you didn’t anticipate that,” she told him. “Stay away from my friends. Don’t come near any of us ever again.”
“Unless I’m welcomed?” Ghostface asked, an idea flickering in the back of his mind.
“I don’t see why anyone would welcome you, so fine. If that’s your condition. Now, fuck off.”
Ghostface gave her a mock salute and slipped away, pulling the phone from his pocket. It wouldn’t be hard to ask Gummy’s permission, after all.
As with most days since the… incident, Gummy kicked their shoes off and went to grab their drawing tablet. Inspiration wasn’t exactly rare, but Gummy still liked to sketch out the ideas before getting a snack. They grinned at the rough sketch of the shadowy figure before ripping open the package of chocolates they’d bought between classes earlier.
After a few minutes, wrappers littered the counter, and Gummy crushed them in their fist and tossed them in the trash. The drawing called, and Gummy wanted to be able to describe it in detail to Torch later.
Torch found it funny that Gummy still liked the mysterious stranger over the phone. Their conversations had included it a lot lately, and while some of Gummy’s other friends seemed downright angry, Torch just grinned.
At least someone understood the need to keep things lighthearted. Kap’s death hadn’t been easy on any of them, and Gummy knew damn well who killed them. He’d apologized, saying he had anger issues and wasn’t normally like that. Well, so long as he stayed away from Cloud and Dulla, the anger would be a thing of the past.
The stranger read between the lines pretty well, Gummy thought as they started lineart. Gummy didn’t recall mentioning what type of chocolate they liked when discussing movies, but then again, maybe they said something about snacks at one point.
Anyway, that was all besides the point, because the phone was ringing. Gummy grinned, reaching for it.
“To whom do I owe this pleasure?” Gummy asked cheerfully.
“Guess,” the mysterious stranger drawled.
“Well, Torch obviously wouldn’t be calling right after we were in class together, so not worm. Hmmm… you’re too masculine to be Nifty, but she is the type to randomly call me, so with a voice changer, maybe. Although, I haven’t heard from Nifty lately, so it wouldn’t make that much sense for you to be her. And I already know you use one,” Gummy said. “Oh! You’re the mysterious stranger, aren’t you? Can’t I get a name at some point?”
“You sure talk a lot, Gummy,” the stranger sneered, but Gummy detected a hint of amusement mixed with something darker.
“What are you going to throw at me today?” Gummy asked, the grin spreading as it started adding color to the drawing. “You already emailed all my friends my self-ship art, and I don’t even know how you got that, considering that I never posted that anywhere.”
Gummy paused. “I’m glad we’re passed the threatening to kill my friends thing though, because that whole incident with Kappy was way too much.” That was an understatement. None of them had seen Cloud outside class since the funeral, and Gummy didn’t know how to get passed that. No one did really.
“I know many things,” the stranger replied, avoiding the implications. “Like how you keep your door unlocked in case your friends want to pop in unexpectedly. Or how you never put your shoes away and keep your socks rolled up all the way when you eat chocolate.”
“Okay, but that’s easy stuff. Everybody knows that,” Gummy replied. “I know we’re past movies and stuff, so can’t you come up with something… I don’t know… less obvious?”
A chuckle resonated over the phone. “I suppose telling you I know that you’re on your couch right now would also seem too obvious? Or the fact that I know you’re drawing me?”
Gummy flushed. “Well, maybe I’m predictable!”
“If only I was allowed to see the drawing itself,” the stranger sighed. “Alas, I’m kept away by a promise.”
“What kind of promise?”
“I’m not allowed anywhere near you or your friends since the incident. I thought she would’ve told you.”
“Who?”
“Cloud,” the stranger replied. “She nearly broke my nose when I tried to apologize, warning me off. Did you know, she called the police on me? There was no evidence, of course, so that was hurtful.”
“You did kill Kap though,” Gummy pointed out.
“It was a coincidence that I happened to be nearby to find Kap’s body,” the stranger corrected. “And I needed a moment to vent about how rude you all were. You understand.”
Gummy shrugged. The evidence was supposed to speak for itself, but there was none. And he hadn’t threatened anyone since then, so it was probably fine. “If I gave you permission, would you abuse it?”
“I just want to see the drawing.”
“Fine. You already know I leave the door unlocked when I’m home, but I’m letting you just hang out in here in your freetime. I have to be home, and besides, you don’t know my tablet password.”
“True enough. So you are certainly drawing me then?”
“Trying to,” Gummy replied, shifting slightly to support their wrist.
“You don’t even know what I look like, but that’s still pretty spot-on,” the stranger remarked, and Gummy realized the voice wasn’t coming from the phone this time.
They lifted their head to see a white mask and a gleaming knife. Oh god, Gummy thought, dropping the phone as they scrambled to their feet. A silver of fear shot through them at the sighting of the knife, remembering Kap’s blank expression and pained eyes. The stranger tossed a cellphone onto the couch beside Gummy’s before vaulting easily over the couch itself.
The stranger’s feet were silent when he hit the carpet. Blood roared in Gummy’s ears as they turned a deeper shade of red. This was not the appropriate reaction, but they didn’t have it in them to be angry. Not like Cloud did. So they succumbed to their natural instinct: attraction.
Go figure.
“Poor little Gummy,” the stranger drawled, waving the hunting knife slowly as he shook his head. His voice was way richer than the phone made it sound, and Gummy was outraged that he used a voice changer in the first place.
“You’re the Ghostface,” Gummy said, almost disappointed in themselves for sounding so calm. Honestly, they should’ve gone for something… more seductive.
Cloud would know how, Gummy was sure. She flicked that voice on like a switch when she wanted to, and Gummy knew that they had to make an effort if this was going to go how they wanted.
Of course, she’d also kill Gummy if she’d known they let him in, but really. How was Gummy supposed to know they’d attracted the attention of the Ghostface?
Ghostface gave them jazz hands. “You know it! And I’m not one of those pathetic impersonators either.”
“No, of course not. They would’ve screwed up by now, I’m sure. No evidence, after all,” Gummy wrinkled their nose at the thought of a fake Ghostface. “I’d be offended if you were faking.”
Ghostface chuckled at that, stepping closer. “My blackmail never works on you, Gummy Axolotl.”
“Maybe things were destined to be this way,” Gummy mused as the knife traced a line down their face and one of Ghostface’s gloved hands held their jaw in place. “I’m not bait, but prey.”
“Prey,” Ghostface emphasized. “Prey would be afraid in this situation, Gummy.”
“Oh, maybe instinct kicked in, and I’m just frozen in place…” Gummy sucked in a breath as the knife pressed hard into their neck.
“There’s the fear,” Ghostface whispered. “I doubt that you’re really so ready to die, Gummy. Why don’t you beg?”
Oh, you want me to beg, do you? It’s not going to be what you think, Gummy thought, a smile curling across their mouth. “I don’t have rope,” they said, letting the idea speak for itself.
Ghostface hesitated then. “What? That’s not-”
“I can’t play the part if you don’t tie me up,” Gummy said brightly. “Oh, I know you’re going to kill me, but we can have a little fun first, can’t we?”
“Huh? No, that’s not-”
“You’re not here to kill me? Dang, that’s disappointing. Then why bother threatening me with the knife? Seems like a waste of time considering all your other performances,” Gummy muttered, pretending to be angry.
The knife dropped away from their neck. “You’re not acting right.”
“I thought you claimed to know everything about me,” Gummy muttered. “Well, this is stupid. Just kill me if you’re not making it fun. Maybe you are an impersonator after all. Can’t believe you’d bluff like that, but-”
“I am Ghostface!” he shrieked, throwing his hands out furiously. “I have my camera right here, Gummy-”
“Then why am I still alive?” Gummy pestered. “Because you wanted me to beg, and I don’t like begging with a knife at my throat?”
“It’s about the knife now?” Ghostface stood dumbly.
“Let me text Torch or Dulla. They might have some rope,” Gummy muttered, shaking their head. “We’re going to do this properly.”
As it turned out, neither of them had rope on hand. But Dulla suggested asking Cloud, and she did in fact have rope. Why was another story, and Cloud would not give away what she used it for normally.
It should’ve been something to question, but given the fact that Cloud still had that odd look in her eye, it would be best to let her keep her isolation and privacy.
Cloud still managed to pull off skepticism that night, handing the rope over. “Don’t hurt yourself, Gummy. This isn’t meant to be used for… that, and you know it.”
“I needed rope, Cloud,” Gummy mumbled, face red as a cherry. “You understand.”
Cloud nodded grimly. “Don’t let the rope burns get too nasty, that’s all. This rope isn’t exactly clean.”
Gummy shrugged. “See you later.”
Cloud sighed, shaking her head. “Call me if you need a ride to the hospital. And I mean it. Don’t die for this, Gummy.”
With that, she was gone. Ghostface regarded the door with more interest than Gummy would’ve liked. “You’re not allowed to murder her. I think you said she beat you in a fight, actually. At Kap’s funeral. And she would kill you if you tried, assuming you were the one to kill Kap.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, I’m more prepared than I was at the funeral,” Ghostface replied loftily. “Maybe I should’ve grabbed her when she was here. Might’ve put actual fear in your heart.”
Gummy laughed nervously. “If you say so. Now, tie me up.”
“I still don’t get why,” Ghostface muttered, setting his hunting knife on the counter next to the open bag of chocolates. “You already weren’t going to run away so-”
Gummy rolled their shoulders back, offering their wrists. They had the pathetic wet eyes down. The only one who could resist was Dulla, and Gummy was pleased to know that it was only barely.
Kneeling after their hands were bound, Gummy bowed their head. “Okay, I’m ready to beg.”
Ghostface muttered something, and Gummy felt the cold press of the knife again. “Beg me for your life, Gummy. Beg.”
They lifted their head slowly, a pathetic curl to their lip and eyes wide with tears that hadn’t fallen. “Oh please, Mr. Ghostface! Don’t kill me!”
He laughed then, seemingly relieved that Gummy was finally afraid. But then he stopped, knife hand hesitant.
Then Gummy pulled the sultry voice from deep within themselves to say, “At least, not without a little fun first.”
Ghostface startled, the knife dropping again.
“You’re bad at this,” Gummy remarked, batting their eyelashes at him.
“You’re supposed to be scared,” Ghostface snarled. “You know what? I think I’m just going to go. This is not what it should have been.”
The knife was back in hand, and Gummy realized that he was going to leave, and-
And nothing. Ghostface had vanished right before their eyes. Gummy blinked, looking around for any sign of him, but there was only darkness. Oh. I’m dead, Gummy thought, tugging at the rope around their wrists. He did kill me. Huh. I thought it would hurt more.
All at once, sound rushed in around them, and they could see again. They blinked through the downpour that started and instantly soaked through their hoodie. Gummy looked down at their bound wrists, regretting their decision all the sudden.
Footsteps from their left made them flinch. Dark eyes settled on them, flicking quickly to the rope on their wrists. Irritation crossed the man’s face as he undid the bindings without a word before vanishing into the undergrowth.
Gummy rubbed at their wrists, wondering what that was about. They were prepared to attempt to follow the man when a hatchet embedded itself in the tree right beside them.
They didn’t have the presence of mind to run, staring in shock at the tall woman in the rabbit mask as she readied another hatchet.
The man from before reappeared, yanking Gummy into a sprint. “Are you insane?” he snapped. “Most survivors don’t try to get themselves killed in the first minute of a trial. Why were you tied up, anyway?”
Gummy’s face flushed red. He reminded them a bit of Cloud, somehow. Except he seemed more critical of Gummy, if that was possible. “I-”
“Nevermind,” he muttered, pulling them low to the ground. “Meg’s got it handled.” Disgust flickered across his face. “She’s good at making the Huntress let us go.”
Gummy wanted to ask what that meant, but a small figure was making her way toward them as well. “Another newbie?” She eyed Gummy suspiciously. “Did they try to stab you?”
“Nope,” the man said with a shrug. “It’s the Huntress. Find any totems yet, Nea?”
Nea shook her head. “It’s early yet. Didn’t even know who the killer was, so I wasn’t exactly looking.”
“You should always be looking,” he muttered irritably. “You’ll be in charge of them, Nea. Show them how generators work. I’ll start looking for totems.”
Gummy blinked. “I thought you said Meg was always able to-”
“Not with a new survivor in the mix.” The man seemed almost apologetic about that. “All killers are determined to get their taste of the new survivor first.”
“Oh.” Gummy blinked. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you… um.”
“Jake,” he replied. “And I would rather you didn’t see me.”
“Oh. Okay.” Gummy blinked again.
“What is your name, anyway?” Jake asked, fingers twitching like he desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Not that Gummy would stop him. He seemed very upset.
“Gummy.”
“Like the candy?” Nea wondered.
“You could say that, I guess,” Gummy mumbled, face turning red.
“Gummy,” Jake said cooly, “stick with Nea. She’ll keep you safe.”
“Oh.” Gummy swallowed harshly. “Can’t I just-”
“No.” His eyes darkened. “This will be better for you in the long run. Trust me. And Nea?”
“You’re not the boss of me, you know.”
“Keep them safe,” Jake said, ignoring Nea. Well, not completely since he was glaring at Nea as well as Gummy now. Fantastic.
Gummy did not have the chance to meet Meg during the trial, but afterwards, they found her to be a wonderful person. She linked arms with Gummy immediately, rambling on about how lucky they’d been that it was a Huntress match and not one of the more grisly killers.
Jake had made a face at that, stating that he needed to be alone. Nea rolled her eyes at that comment, muttering something about thinking Jake should talk to some guy named Dwight, but Jake looked ready to kill her at that, so Gummy figured he wasn’t going to do that.
Meg announced that she was going to take Gummy to see Dwight, and…
Well, it wasn’t as bad as meeting Jake, at least. Still awkward though.
Dwight at least smiled at them, introducing himself before launching into an explanation so confusing it made their head spin. Meg grinned, clearly used to this confusing explanation, jumping in at key points to elaborate.
When he finished talking, he asked their name.
“Gummy,” Meg said brightly. “Like the candy.”
Dwight blinked, hardly seeming bothered. “Do you have a last name, Gummy? It’s okay if you don’t. Jake doesn’t have one either.”
Meg’s eyes glittered with something at that comment, but she didn’t say a word.
“Oh, I have one,” Gummy said slowly. “I’m… My name is Gummy Axolotl.”
“Certainly a unique name,” Dwight mused.
“Says the guy named Dwight,” Meg snorted. “Come on, I still need to introduce Gummy to everyone.”
“Thought Jane was doing that now,” Dwight muttered darkly, but he waved them off.
“Who’s Jane?” Gummy asked. Meg shook her head, a tight expression crossing her face.
“Oh, we’ll get to Jane. But I’m going in order,” Meg replied, blue eyes gleaming. “And you can tell me more about yourself on the way.”
Ghostface clenched his fist as he leaned his head against the pile of cars. It was not fair. It was undignified, really, that he could’ve been kidnapped while trying to kill someone. And then the voice in his head had the nerve to give him instructions about his victims! As if he needed help! He could figure things out on his own!
Except this whole place was enclosed. There was no routine that they could possibly be comfortable in while here. Routine required safety. And if they already knew about the danger…
It’s not like it’ll be a challenge, he thought. Easier than most. They can’t call the cops on me.
Ghostface found himself wishing he’d kept playing along with Gummy’s strange scheme. Sure, they’d thrown him off balance, but the end result would’ve been the same… mostly.
He didn’t bother learning much about the survivors in the trial. Why would he? They didn’t live regular lives, defeating the whole purpose of his latest project. They weren’t creatives seeking to do something while struggling to survive.
Although, Ghostface was pretty sure he’d seen one of them in a movie before.
Cleaning his knife, he followed the instructions set in his head about where to wait for his next round with the survivors. Great, he thought, unenthused by the prospect.
Until a tall angry lady fell in step beside him, muttering angrily about a rough trial. She brightened slightly upon seeing one of the other killers wiping absently at his meat cleaver, announcing in no uncertain terms that there was a new survivor.
The man glanced at Ghostface before focusing on the woman. Outraged, Ghostface lifted his knife, but a cold hand wrapped around his wrist. Holy shit, is that Michael Myers?
Ghostface was too in awe to pull his arm free as the angry woman kept talking.
“If you’re not going to contribute,” the man with the meat cleaver said suddenly, “go bother Legion.”
“I think they go by the Legion, actually, MacMillan,” a short woman snarled from the ground.
“They have names,” a second man said mildly, but his expression seemed dull. “Frank, Julie, Joey, and… hmmm. Wasn’t there a fourth?”
“They came with a survivor. Jeff Johanson,” MacMillan drawled. “Michael, you can let go of him now. He’s not going to be able to do much that I haven’t already gone through.”
When the man rose to his full height, Ghostface should’ve shrank back in fear. He should’ve winced at the gashes marring the man’s arms and shoulders. But he didn’t, and MacMillan seemed unbothered.
“Go home, Michael,” MacMillan said sternly. “You’ll learn more about the new survivor when you meet them.”
A heavy exhale from beside Ghostface was the only indication that Michael Myers had been listening.
“Why did you fail, Anna?” MacMillan asked as Myers vanished. “You already have proven to be a formidable huntress.”
“Someone should smash his skull in,” Anna replied stiffly. “The saboteur does not allow for any error, especially not when my darling is present.”
“This? Again?” he growled.
“She is mine,” Anna snapped, lip curling angrily. “You have your favorites too.”
“I don’t let my favorites live,” MacMillan replied. “And I certainly don’t let them get in the way of killing the others.”
“We disagree.” Anna turned away. “Do you have a favorite?”
“My favorite isn’t here,” Ghostface replied evenly. “But if they were, I would enjoy their blood on my hands.”
Anna laughed, an unnerving sound. “That’s not what a favorite is, tortured one. Favorite is one you don’t kill.”
“He just said he doesn’t let the favorites live,” Ghostface pointed out.
“I don’t kill them,” MacMillan replied. “But there are ways to let our master reach through and kill if we are to… neglect the sacrifice.”
“Bleeding them out?” Ghostface wrinkled his nose, wincing as the action seemed to pull at his mask as much as the skin on his face.
“Or the skewering,” the other man joined in again, looking off into the distance. “Do you think the Nightmare would let me sit in one of the houses? Or would he try to kill me again?”
“You should ask him, not me, Philip.”
Philip bowed his head. “I may not return.”
“I know, Philip.”
“Frank is really vicious. I doubt Freddy could be worse.”
“He has claws for a hand. How is a hunting knife worse than that?” Anna replied, sounding annoyed.
Ghostface glanced at the knife in his hand, suddenly feeling inadequate.
“It’s how they use it,” Philip replied. “Rather, how Frank uses it. I do not wish to repeat that anytime soon.”
“But you do not protest me sending him to the lodge?” MacMillan mused.
“He has a hunting knife,” Philip said as if that cleared things up.
“I have claws. Doesn’t mean I handle Krueger very well.”
“Freddy Krueger?” Ghostface said, startled. “I suppose next you’ll say Jigsaw is here.”
“He is not,” another voice chimed in.
Ghostface blinked at the Pig. Sure. Why not, really.
“So I’m to befriend this Frank character, am I?” Ghostface asked cooly.
“I doubt you’ll get that far,” the woman on the ground remarked.
“Lisa, keep your opinions to yourself.”
“If you plan to kill the man with a blood-covered blade, at least have the decency to tell him you want him dead.”
“There’s not blood on it anymore,” Ghostface replied.
“I can sense your kills,” Lisa said dryly. “I don’t need to see the blood on your knife to know it’s there.”
A disturbing thought. But then again, she didn’t seem likely to report him to any authorities. Were there even authorities here for her to report him? Probably not.
“I think I can handle Frank,” Ghostface declared. “Where do I find him?”
“The lodge is further north.” MacMillan pointed absently. “Now, Anna. You mentioned a new survivor?”
Ghostface wanted to stay to gather information about the other survivors in this place, but the gleam in MacMillan’s eye didn’t seem likely to be amusement. And Ghostface wasn’t ready for confrontation just yet.
As it turned out, Frank wasn’t all too threatening. Sure, he had his own hunting knife, but he let his girlfriend hold it too much. And Joey didn’t seem to care much about anything but the fact that Ghostface had arrived. It was nice to be noticed, but Ghostface found himself displeased by the masks the members of the Legion wore.
Where was the creativity? They just wore masks with smiley faces drawn on, and sure, there was blood on Frank and Julie’s masks, but Joey just had a fabric covering dyed black in some places.
They didn’t even have the full costume, he thought irritably. His mind reached regretfully for green eyes filled with rage before he shook his head. He didn’t want her here. It would be nice to be a threat to Gummy, but not her. His nose still hurt at the thought of her.
Still, they didn’t try to murder him on sight or gush too much when he sat down. They each lifted their masks, as if that was a common thing. Yeah right. Ghostface doubted there would be a need for Jed Olsen here. No friendly smiles necessary to get a job and get the work done.
No, all he needed was his camera, it seemed. His master would handle the rest.
Julie was the first to speak to him. He found it uncomfortable, and clearly, so did Frank. “So… Ghostface huh?” She flipped the knife absently in her hands.
He didn’t bother to respond, and Joey was already on it. “Of course he’s the Ghostface! Just look at him, Jules!”
“Don’t call her that,” Frank snapped. “And how do we know it’s actually Ghostface? There were plenty of fakers out there before we got here.”
“That’s just it!” Joey said excitedly. “It’d have to be the real Ghostface if the Entity took him too! Remember what Mr. MacMillan said? ‘You have to do immeasurable damage to human life before you’re brought here to face judgement.’ It’s gotta be him.”
“Judgement,” Ghostface said, drawing out the word. “Ironic really. Since I was punishing people before.”
That seemed to catch Frank’s attention. “Punishing them? For what?”
Ghostface shook his head. “If it’s not obvious, you haven’t figured it out for yourselves yet.” He sighed. “These are not my typical victims.”
“Because they’re already tormented souls?” a shy voice asked from the stairs, and the Legion looked up seemingly instinctively.
“Susie! Get down here!” Joey cupped his hands around his mouth as the girl slowly lowered her hood.
Ghostface glanced at the weapon in her hand, intrigued. It wasn’t a hunting knife, not like Frank’s. And not a karambit like Joey’s. He did his best to get a closer look, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
Joey shuffled, patting the space beside him, but Susie didn’t take the offered place. Fascinating. So the other half of the Legion wasn’t as entangled as the first half.
“Mind if I look at that?” Ghostface asked, wiggling his fingers.
Susie glanced at her weapon. “Only if I can hold your knife.”
“It’s only fair, of course.” Ghostface noticed dried blood on the tip of the… ruler. It was a broken ruler with little needles taped to it.
What an intuitive design.
“How’d it go?” Julie asked, and her voice seemed more subdued.
Susie was holding Ghostface’s knife like it would bite her. She glanced at her friend with a weak smile. “All four.”
“Really?” Frank beamed at her. “You’re getting the hang of it? Finally?”
“Frank, don’t,” Joey said as Susie shoved the knife back toward Ghostface, slipping away without a word. “Now look what you did.”
“She doesn’t want to be here, I take it?” Ghostface asked.
Joey and Julie nodded. Frank just rolled his eyes. “She’ll adjust.”
“You need to stop goading her,” Joey replied, anger gleaming in his eyes.
“Well, I’m sure she has her reasons,” Ghostface said mildly. “As we all do. I think I’ll return this now.”
Julie blinked. “Oh, that’s… yeah, you should return it.”
He picked up his own blade, enjoying the perfectly fitted grip as he set off. It would be good practice for later, he thought.
Ghostface did consider how disgusting the little shack looked from the outside, but he also understood that it was cold outside. And inside. And anywhere, really. That fog left no room for warmth.
His feet were quiet on the wooden steps, and he regarded Susie’s huddled figure for a long moment before approaching. “Forgetting something?”
Ghostface put the ruler back in her hands. She took it numbly, staring at something in the center of the room. He turned to see, and-
Ah.
There were bodies hanging from a set of hooks, each holding a dead survivor. He did recognize one of them from his own trial earlier. Movie girl.
“It’s the sacrifice,” Susie mumbled, burying her face. “When you’re out of trials, you can find the basement and see the deaths from your latest trial if you just…” She trailed off, and Ghostface noticed the blood leaking from her closed fist.
“And these four were your latest victims?” Ghostface asked, crouching to look at the bodies with her. “They’re nothing special, you know.”
“That’s Dwight,” Susie pointed, not seeming to hear him. “And Min, Laurie, and David. If you weren’t new, I’d tell you you were wrong. They’re all something special.” She didn’t look at him then. “The others think I should admire you, I’m sure. But I know what killing is like. There’s no glamor in it, no matter how much you-”
“It’s not meant to be glamorous,” Ghostface interrupted. “And death is always…” He didn’t know how to explain it. “Taking lives is what we do.”
“It’s a nasty thing to do, you know,” Susie replied.
“But necessary, in our case,” Ghostface told her. “You understand why you must kill, surely?”
“To survive,” Susie replied, and there were tears in her eyes now. “I don’t want to. I’m sure your reasons are justified in a way mine can never be.”
“I was taught,” Ghostface said, shifting to cross his legs as they looked at the hanging bodies. “From a young age, I was taught to orchestrate death. Killing someone isn’t meant to be controlled, but my father showed me how to control it. How to make someone’s life end because they took it for granted.”
“The survivors don’t take their lives for granted,” Susie muttered.
“And that’s why I said I wouldn’t normally kill them,” Ghostface replied. “These aren’t my normal victims. They can’t be, not if our master decides to resurrect them all the time. They value their time alive. I know because they try to save each other.”
Susie tried for a smile. “How many times did you get blinded?”
“…Six,” Ghostface admitted, and Susie’s mouth twitched into a proper smile.
“They do their best to keep each other alive.”
“They’re better than most,” Ghostface mused. “I heard something about a saboteur.”
Susie’s smile vanished, and bitterness flickered in her eyes.
“Sore subject?” Ghostface guessed.
“If you think a flashlight is bad, you’ve not experienced Jake Park,” Susie muttered. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m not supposed to know that! Don’t tell anybody!”
Ghostface scanned her face. “Your favorite told you his name, I assume?”
Susie’s cheeks darkened. “I wish Mr. MacMillan didn’t have to call them that. It makes it feel…”
“That’s probably his way of coping. Something about us being punished and all that goes along with it, I’m sure,” Ghostface replied, dismissing MacMillan’s words.
“He ruins everything when you’re in a trial with him,” Susie growled. “Even Meg being herself isn’t enough to make me feel better in a trial where he’s there.”
“Meg is your favorite?” Ghostface guessed.
Susie nodded, biting her lip. “And Dwight’s one of her best friends. I didn’t want to kill him, but… I can’t keep compromising. The Entity is already in an eager mood, trying to rile us up for the new survivor.”
“Must be something special then,” Ghostface mused. “New survivors don’t tend to have that same fear of death, do they?”
“You want to be the first to kill them,” Susie realized. “Good luck with that. There are plenty of killers more vicious than you here.” Her hands twitched, clearly recalling something. “I’d kill to see Jake’s trials against the Doctor. Just the end result, honestly.”
Ghostface snorted. He was suddenly very eager to see what happened with this… Jake character. Getting to his feet, he clapped his hands. “Well, I’m sure this is a terribly entertaining part of your day, but I would love to learn more about the survivors in this place. Got any ideas about how I could learn such a thing?”
She blinked, pulling her mask over her face. Ghostface beamed as he saw something other than a face drawn in black paint. This was a work of art, something that very much matched the ruler in her hand. “We’re not supposed to go there, but Meg thinks that’s stupid anyway. She can lead us the rest of the way in, if you promise to behave.”
“Behave?”
“We’re not supposed to kill them in these woods,” Susie replied. “Frank tried once. He jumped Jake while he was out scavenging. Then the Entity…” Susie shuddered. “We just don’t do that. Best to be safe.”
“Right.” Ghostface was intrigued. If he could do a kill in these woods, then it would be a breach of the norm, but the survivors were used to being safe out here, so maybe…
It would be painful. That much was clear. Best not to try anything without knowing more.
Susie seemed more sure of herself the further they got from the lodge. Ghostface let himself wonder if he should be concerned about dying. But then he decided that she wouldn’t be strong enough to take him in a fight.
The snow melted as they continued walking, and pretty soon, Susie pointed through the trees. She didn’t say anything, but she stopped following the path and waited. Ghostface lowered himself into a crouch, eyes scanning the surroundings. Something broke branches in front of them, and Susie called out.
“Meg!”
“Susie!” the survivor slowed down, beaming at Susie. “Did your last trial go alright?”
“I may’ve killed… all of them?”
“They’ll understand,” Meg reassured her, but the smile faded slightly. “Who… who was in it…?”
“Dwight.” Susie twisted a strand of her hair. “Min, Laurie, and David.”
Meg exhaled slowly. “Hooks? Please tell me you sacrificed them.”
“Hooks,” Susie confirmed. “I wanted to come by to apologize, if that was okay?”
Meg considered it for a moment. “We’ll have to sneak you in. Camp’s not a great place right now.”
“Because of the new survivor?” Susie asked. “I heard about that. The Huntress wasn’t exactly happy-”
“That’s because Jake was there to ruin everything,” Meg replied, shrugging her shoulders. “And we couldn’t just let Gummy die in their first trial.”
Ghostface stiffened. He couldn’t have heard that right. If Gummy was here, why hadn’t they been in his first trial? That wasn’t fair!
He blinked, not catching what Susie said next. They were walking away, and Ghostface tensed, crouching after them as quick as he could.
Gummy was easy to spot, with that rich purple hoodie they seemed to wear everywhere. Mud seemed to be soaking through the bottom of their socks already, but blood was noticeably absent.
Ghostface’s hand tightened around his knife. His instincts stirred as he watched Gummy mutter something to the woman beside them. Ghostface’s eyes focused on Gummy’s nervous gestures and the uncomfortable twitch in their jaw. They weren’t in their home environment, something that should’ve satisfied Ghostface.
He would’ve been comfortable with it before, but now… His eyes flicked to a survivor fiddling with a line of rope. The line of rope from Gummy’s apartment.
Anger curled in his gut at the idea that a survivor could’ve taken joy in the idea Gummy had in mind before they’d both been taken. Ghostface reined in his anger, reminding himself that he had plenty of time to get revenge for what could have been.
Part of him wondered if he could lure Gummy away from the campfire like Susie could do for Meg. Surely he’d get his chance to tease, even if he wasn’t allowed to actually kill them.
Gummy’s muscles ached as they were thrown into another match. It was their first one without Jake, and while they knew they should’ve been more worried about that, Quentin’s tight smile was enough to keep the nerves at bay. For now.
They recognized this place from movies, and Gummy found it really cool how much seemed to be the same, especially the big Myers house on the side of the street. As Meg explained it, places like this were taken from memory, not from any actual real place or movie set.
It was still cool to see in person though.
“Hate this place,” David muttered, limping over to reach for a generator in the middle of the street.
“Why? There’s pumpkins everywhere. It’s festive,” Gummy found themselves saying.
David gave them an amused look. “Half the generators are in the bloody street. Not exactly ideal for keeping a new survivor alive.”
“I’ll be fine,” Gummy reassured him, but David just grunted, twisting a knob on the generator. “Is there usually a generator in the Myers house?”
“Upstairs in a side room. There’s always a generator there,” David replied. “Be careful.”
Gummy nodded, but they didn’t really care about being careful. Not in the way everyone else seemed to mean it, at least. Sure, they’d crouch and be careful with corners, but they weren’t going to avoid generators like everyone wanted. That just didn’t feel fair.
Messing with the generator, Gummy felt proud as the lights started flickering less. It was a sure sign of progress, even as Min screamed from a hook. Progress would get them all out of here alive.
And so progress was what Gummy worked on.
“Aren’t you more talkative than this?” Ghostface remarked, and Gummy startled, shocking themselves with the exposed wires. “Ouch, that looked painful.”
“This isn’t the same as my apartment,” Gummy said shakily. “Survivors aren’t supposed to-”
“Aww, who fed you that line? Meg Thomas seems plenty comfortable chatting with killers,” Ghostface pointed out, helping Gummy to their feet. “Surely there are more comfortable rooms here. I admit, I only know the lodge.”
Gummy shot him a look. It wasn’t proper etiquette. “I haven’t died to anyone yet. Isn’t it too soon to pick favorites?”
“You were more than happy to spend time with me at your apartment,” Ghostface remarked. “Besides, I only ever use the hooks. I’ve been behaving.”
“You killed Kap on purpose,” Gummy replied. “And then lied about it.”
“Well, if arrest was on the line, I’m sure you’d do the same,” Ghostface replied loftily. “Moving on so soon? I thought our friendship was enough to get you past my mistakes.”
“You do it here too.”
“Everyone does it here,” Ghostface replied. “You’re still not scared.”
“You’ve given me no reason to be,” Gummy said sourly.
“But you’re angry. It’s not a nice look, you know. I didn’t decide to call you constantly to make you angry at me.”
“Should’ve thought of that before you killed Kap.”
Ghostface threw up his hands in frustration. “I apologized! You and your friends just seem to have no regard for death, and I had to teach you all a lesson somehow!”
“Then why did you come to my apartment that night? It wasn’t to shower me in praises for learning my lesson,” Gummy said bitterly. “Jake says it’s something killers do, you know. Playing with their food, he called it. Did you do that with Kap, I wonder?”
“You were going along with it,” Ghostface replied angrily. “You were taking the lead. I don’t even know if I would’ve still killed you by the end of it.”
“Now you’re just saying things.” And not answering the question, Gummy noted, hurt panging in their chest. Was Jake right?
“You sound like Cloud,” Ghostface turned away. “I’ll let you go this once, but I wanted to actually talk to you, Gummy.”
Did he miss the chats? Gummy felt guilty then, but he’d already slipped away. Shaking their head, Gummy got back on the generator. Survival with the other survivors was the important thing. Progress, Gummy thought to themselves.
Ghostface knew he wasn’t acting rationally when he cut down the burly man to throw him on a hook. He wasn’t thinking properly, and his stealth was almost completely out the window.
Lingering on potential kills wasn’t what he was known for. He moved on, found another target and stopped thinking about them.
But the moment Gummy brought up Jake, there’d been a new feeling there. A very murderous one.
Someone unhooked the big man, and Ghostface’s anger exploded. They weren’t supposed to keep living! They were meant to die and never get back up again!
The tired boy walked quietly, and therefore he had to die. The little Chinese woman was too efficient, and she’d had to die. And the burly man… Well, he was just in the way.
There was blood on the cloak, and Ghostface realized he’d forgotten to take his pictures. The three bodies on the ground wouldn’t protest, of course, but it was out of the ordinary for him.
I have a new target, he decided, wiping his blade. Ready or not, you will die, Jake Park.
But first, he had to see how Gummy was getting along. It wouldn’t be good if they found the bodies with him standing amongst them. His knife wasn’t even getting clean from his hands anymore. He’d been far too messy, just like with Kappy Krow.
Frustration prickled at his skin as he snuck back to the Myers house. But Gummy was gone, and a roaring generator sat there, mocking him.
Sourly, he wondered why he cared so much. It wasn’t like Gummy belonged to him, but this overwhelming rage was new. He’d never felt it before Cloud and Dulla started dismissing his words and claiming Gummy needed to stop answering his calls. Nifty and Kappy did much the same, and they were the less dangerous alternatives. But after what happened with Kap, Ghostface had felt genuine fear of losing Gummy. It was why they didn’t know he’d killed Avalynn, after all.
That was it then. People who kept him away from Gummy made him angry, and Gummy created an odd fuzzy feeling. Gummy being mad at him made him feel sick and angry, but he wouldn’t dare push Gummy away further.
Not that it was really a bad thing, considering everything. Gummy was human, but they didn’t have that desire to live he’d gotten accustomed to. They’d started acting more self-sacrificing, and Ghostface knew that was a consequence of getting sent here.
Of course it was! Seeing their friends die constantly was never going to have a good impact on them, and the fact that all of these people came back when Kap never could probably made that wound sting worse.
Not for the first time, Ghostface was relieved that none of Gummy’s friends were here with them. It would’ve made things a lot more difficult, even as Ghostface went in a more careful search for Gummy.
They were, predictably, on another generator. Ghostface had a careful manner about him as he approached this time.
“I’ve done some reflection,” Ghostface said, and Gummy lifted their head, suspicion still clear in their eyes. “It was really a mistake to kill Kappy Krow, for the record.”
“You wouldn’t do it again, if given the chance?”
Ghostface shook his head.
“I guess that’s all that can be done.” Gummy’s hands slipped into their pocket. “You killed the other survivors, didn’t you?”
Ghostface nodded.
“Did I really make you that angry?”
“There was some reflection mixed in there,” Ghostface replied evasively. “I didn’t want to kill your friend, but it still happened. I went about this trial incorrectly, so I’m sure I will get a scolding regardless.”
Gummy pushed away from the generator, plopping down on the dusty bed in the corner. “A proper scolding?”
“Your friends have weird ways of talking,” Ghostface replied, nose throbbing slightly at the sentiment. “Is she actually American?”
“Who?”
“Cloud,” Ghostface shifted. “She doesn’t talk like one.”
“Sure she does! I think the British speak was more to annoy Kap than anything. She stopped calling flashlights torches after she met Torch Iiko, but she just says them a different way now.”
Ghostface just nodded uncomfortably.
“You can sit,” Gummy said. “I guess I was just mad. I haven’t been able to get things out of my system. Processing and all that.” They waved their hands around as they talked. “And Jake really gets in my head sometimes. He won’t leave me alone during trials.”
“Does that bother you?”
Gummy snorted. “He’s careful, that’s for sure. But Meg’s been really the opposite, which makes me think he doesn’t actually know everything like he tries to get me to believe. Seeing those two together, you forget they’re not related.”
“They’re that close?” Ghostface asked.
“Yeah. And I said you could sit, but now I’m going to ask you to sit because it’s really weird for me to just sit here while you stand ominously like that.”
Ghostface sat, his hands sweaty in the black gloves. “It’s confusing for me, you know.”
“What is?” Gummy asked, crossing their legs.
“This place,” Ghostface muttered. “You had no regard for death before, and that was the purpose for my punishments. Not that I needed to kill Kap to threaten you properly,” he said, worrying that Gummy would yell at him again. “But I did plan to kill you that night.”
“I knew I was going to die,” Gummy agreed. “Funny how things worked out though. I haven’t died yet, and now when I die, I’ll just get revived. It’s weird.”
“It’s weird,” Ghostface agreed, shoulders sagging. “My purpose in life was to prevent people from taking their lives for granted, but now…”
“No one here takes their lives for granted? And if they do, it’s to protect each other?”
Ghostface nodded.
“Well, I can’t fix that,” Gummy said, looking around. “But, if you really want, we can finish what we started in my apartment.”
“You’re not supposed to ask me to kill you,” Ghostface complained. “That just makes it worse.”
“So you don’t want to kill me?” Gummy asked.
Ghostface didn’t have an honest answer to that, and he replied by burying his face in his hands.
“Aw, no, it’s okay! You got three kills anyway, right?”
“I didn’t do it right.”
“But you normally do, right?” Gummy asked, giving him a hopeful look.
“I don’t think I have the energy to kill you,” Ghostface said tiredly. “I don’t think I have the energy to indulge you either.”
“But you just wanna sit here?” Gummy wondered.
“It’s as good a place as any,” he replied, knocking Gummy’s shoulder.
They slid off the comforter with a yelp, looking disgruntled on the floor. Ghostface managed a small smile, one Gummy would never see.
“I’ll just do generators then, I guess,” Gummy muttered.
“You’re not actually mad at me, are you?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Gummy replied cryptically. “About Kap? I don’t think that’ll ever go away. But the other deaths since I got here aren’t entirely your doing since they obviously don’t follow your pattern. And you’re kind of being forced to kill more frequently and out of the way you normally would, so…”
“Mixed feelings?”
Gummy nodded. “I mean, I’d be a terrible friend if I fully let go of Kap, but really, before I got here, I guess it just didn’t hit properly.”
“You found the body. And went to the funeral. Surely that’s closure.”
“Not if you’re in denial,” Gummy replied. “I’m just too used to things being okay. Like, I play video games with Dulla and Nifty all the time, right? So their deaths in games never really hurt, you know? And Kap played those games with us more often than not. And then Cloud had this saying-”
“I get it,” Ghostface said tightly, his stomach tightening at the thought of Dulla and Cloud, two people he wished he’d gotten away with killing. Of course, not that it would’ve gone over well, since killing any of Gummy’s friends at all hadn’t gone well.
“It didn’t hit properly until I was watching Meg recover from a broken ankle, or when I saw Claudette reattach Jake’s arm. Stuff like that makes things more real, I guess.”
Ghostface nodded. “Which is why you didn’t explode at me right after the incident.”
“The murder,” Gummy corrected. “I know you’re using my term for it, but we should call it what it is. Respect their honor.”
Ghostface nodded, huddling on the bed.
Gummy glanced over and smiled feebly. “It could’ve been worse.”
“I should’ve killed someone with a name that doesn’t serve as a reminder,” Ghostface muttered as a crow flew in from the window. “Don’t see how it could’ve been worse.”
Gummy’s smile dissolved, and they stopped working on the generator. “This really bothers you.”
“Is it that obvious?”
Gummy got up to sit by him on the bed again, even slipping an arm around him. “It kinda is obvious. You’re all tense and curled up.”
Ghostface shrugged. “I can’t do my job properly from here. And even when I was doing my job, I spent too much time getting to know you instead of doing what I do best.”
“Killing?”
Ghostface turned his head slowly. “In a normal case, you would’ve been dead months ago.”
Gummy grinned. “I’m just special then.”
“You are,” Ghostface nodded. Something in his gut twisted at the admission, but he hadn’t sorted out everything yet, so he didn’t know if it was disgust or delight.
Gummy rubbed their knuckles along the tense muscles in Ghostface’s back, and he fell silent, slowly relaxing into the feeling.
It was nice. Nice in a way he didn’t expect.
He wasn’t anticipating the sleepiness accompanying his relaxed muscles, but Gummy must’ve anticipated that as they adjusted to let Ghostface sleep against them.
As far as trials went, this one hadn’t been too bad.
Gummy was expecting the swarm of survivors when they got back to camp. Meg was there, naturally, as was Nea and a bunch of people whose names felt near impossible to remember.
Claudette was the first to step away, relief glittering in her eyes as she yelled for everyone else to give Gummy space. People glanced at her before continuing on to bother Gummy.
Meg tried to hold them at arms length, calling that Gummy was fine, and could people please let them breathe?
Not that any scoldings were working until Jake sent them a look. He hadn’t even moved from his spot at the fire, trusting Claudette’s assessment more than anyone else.
The first four, Gummy remembered, looking for any sign of Dwight. But David and Quentin were somewhere else too, and Gummy asked almost automatically where they were.
“Trial,” Meg replied. “Ghostface couldn’t find you, huh?”
“I think…” Gummy hesitated, looking at the people who were settling in. “He’s decided I’m a favorite.”
Meg blinked. “After one trial?”
“Guess I’m just that good,” Gummy replied, smiling slightly.
Meg’s eyes lit with amusement too. “See if you can figure out how to do that for other killers. It probably won’t be so easy. I think I died to Huntress twenty times before she started playing nice.”
Gummy grinned. “You can have the Huntress, Meg. I think Ghostface will suit just fine.”
Meg winked. “It’s fun if you can do it in more than one trial.”
“I believe it,” Gummy replied, but they were being honest. They didn’t need anyone else. Ghostface was special in his own way. That was enough.
“I wouldn’t go trying that until you’ve experienced death for the first time though,” Meg said, her tone more serious. “It will get you killed a few times.”
“I’ve been warned,” Gummy replied.
“Jake?” Meg guessed, and Gummy nodded. “He hates the idea of being a favorite.”
“Probably because he knows he can never manage it,” Gummy replied.
“You’d be surprised,” Meg told them. “I’ve seen the Trapper hesitate before.”
“He told me the Trapper likes to hang him from trees by his ankles and bleed him out,” Gummy answered. “I don’t know how that could be favoritism.”
“The Trapper doesn’t claim to have favorites,” Meg said cheerfully. “The Huntress says he gets creative about it, so I am almost positive Jake is a favorite. Dwight too. Except he doesn’t get bled out like a pig…”
“I can’t say I’d be much better,” Gummy confessed. “I came here with Ghostface, did I tell you that?”
“No,” Meg tilted her head curiously. “Let’s sit, and you can tell me all about it.”
So they sat, and Gummy fidgeted before explaining what had been happening when they were taken into the fog. Meg’s eyebrows raised, but there was still amusement in her eyes.
“That’s where the rope came from?” Meg asked. “Was it his rope? Jake said it’s only good for temporary stuff, but it would still burn your wrists if you were to use it for that.”
“Ghostface didn’t bring the rope. I asked a friend for it. She obliged and warned me to call them if I got hurt.”
“Good friend,” Meg commented. “But why did she have it?”
“I don’t know.” Gummy shrugged. “Better not to ask. I think she experiments.”
“Oh?”
“Not like that,” Gummy said hastily. “I mean, she could probably, but I don’t think she does. I meant she tests out what’s possible with the human body, and the rope was probably-”
“For human torture?” Meg raised an eyebrow.
“No! I think she used it on herself.”
“Masochism,” Meg remarked, sounding impressed. “Why does she experiment with that stuff?”
“She likes writing, and she likes it to be realistic, but she is infamous for despising research.”
Meg snorted. “So she experiments.”
“She experiments,” Gummy confirmed. “It was her rope, really.”
“And now it’s Jake’s rope. I think he was cutting pieces off it to try reconstructing pallets. It hasn’t been going very well, but it’s a nice thought.”
“Yeah.” Gummy wondered what had become of Cloud’s rope, and they felt a little sad that they wouldn’t be able to return it when they escaped this place, but escape itself seemed impossible.
“Oh! Did you still want to see if my shoes fit?” Meg asked, kicking them off her feet.
Gummy made a sad face, wriggling their toes only to see that the sock didn’t move. “I should wash my socks first.”
“Jake hasn’t taken you to the river yet?” Meg wondered.
Gummy shook their head.
“Let’s go. We can test the shoes after you get your socks cleaned up. Can’t believe Jake’s been letting you walk around like that.”
“He offered his boots, but they’re too small.”
Meg snorted. “Too small. Imagine that.”
“He doesn’t like short jokes, Meg.”
“Oh, I know,” Meg sighed, shaking her head. “Tiny angry man.”
Gummy suppressed a laugh. “That’s mean.”
“But true,” Meg replied, grinning at them. “Dwight says I need to stop bullying him, but I think he’s just taking Jake’s side because he’s in love.”
“Dwight would be gay, wouldn’t he?” Gummy mused.
Meg elbowed them.
“I’m nonbinary! I can say things like that!” Gummy protested, and Meg snorted again.
“Of course you can, but he’s insecure about it, so I wouldn’t bring it up to him. I’m forbidden from saying a word about it to Jake,” Meg replied. “Or Claudette.”
“Ah.” Gummy nodded. “We have to respect his privacy then.”
Meg nodded. “Not Jake’s though.”
“Fuck you, Meg,” Jake muttered, and Gummy blinked.
“When did you get here?” Gummy asked the man lying in the grass.
“I’ve been here,” Jake replied. “Just went to the fire for a minute to check up on things.”
“You’re scarily quiet,” Gummy muttered, but Jake just closed his eyes again.
“Did you need something?”
“Not from you,” Meg replied. “Don’t mind us.”
Jake grunted in reply.
“Do I just stick my feet in the water, or should I take my socks off first?” Gummy asked.
Meg peered at the rushing rapids. “I think you’d lose your socks if you took them off.”
“What are you two doing?” Jake asked, sitting up.
“Washing my socks!” Gummy replied. “Do you think I should leave them on and walk into the water?”
Jake’s mouth twitched. “It’s cold, so I wouldn’t. But if you don’t want to lose them, you could wear it on your arm like a sleeve.”
“How is that better than on their feet?” Meg complained.
“It’s easier to grip it with fingers,” Jake told her, getting to his feet. “But if you want to leave them on your feet, we’ll make sure you don’t get swept away.”
“Is that likely?” Gummy asked, suddenly nervous.
Jake shrugged. “It’s happened to David before.”
“But not you?”
“I know when to stay out of the water,” Jake replied.
“So you would stay out of the water in this case?”
“If the point was to wash myself rather than my socks, yeah.”
Gummy stared glumly at the dried mud. “Is there a calmer day with the river?”
“Sometimes,” Jake told them. “It’s usually fast though. But we’ll help you. You won’t get swept away, promise.”
He was right, of course. About both things. The rapids were strong and cold as hell, but Jake kept a firm grip around Gummy’s elbow to help balance them while they scraped the mud from their feet.
With chattering teeth, Gummy sat while Meg wrung the water from the mostly clean socks.
“They’re still a little damp,” Meg said apologetically.
“It’s fine,” Gummy replied quickly. “I just hope we didn’t do that for nothing.”
“Clean socks aren’t nothing,” Jake muttered, but he tucked his scarf carefully around Gummy’s neck to attempt to help with the cold.
It didn’t matter much though, since there wasn’t time to put Gummy’s socks back on before they were called into a trial.
Gummy glanced down at their bare feet with a sigh. It would be just their luck, wouldn’t it?
Dwight glanced at Gummy’s predicament with an apologetic look, but it soured when he saw one of the people at Gummy’s side. Jane Romero. He didn’t say a word as he slipped away, and Gummy just sighed again.
Quentin smiled awkwardly, saying something about the coal tower in the distance. “Be safe,” he whispered, patting Gummy’s shoulder before taking off after Dwight.
Jane was already moving, and Gummy glanced at the abandoned generator in the corner.
“Not that one,” Jane warned, shaking her head. “They always go for the ones in this corner first. It’s the easiest to check, since we almost always show up here.”
Disappointed, Gummy followed Jane to a different generator. “Not good,” Jane muttered, glancing around. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
“For what?”
“Stealth killers. Could be the Wraith, could be Myers…” Jane jumped to her feet. “Ghostface!”
Gummy looked around wildly, eyes settling on the white mask in the grass. A weird prickling sensation washed over them as Ghostface took off after Jane. That’s strange.
Their heart started beating wildly a moment later, and Gummy blinked in confusion. Nobody had explained anything to them yet, so they kept working on the generator.
Dwight and Quentin must’ve been working together, and they finished way before Gummy would’ve been able to. Jane screamed in the distance, and Dwight materialized out of the grass.
“Quentin will get her,” Gummy said confidently, and Dwight nodded, reaching to work on the generator.
“Have you seen the killer yet?”
“It’s Ghostface,” Gummy replied, and Dwight pushed his glasses up nervously.
“That’s not ideal,” Dwight murmured. “All the killers still are out for your blood in particular, Gummy.”
“I know. But it’s not worse than normal trials, surely?”
Dwight didn’t reply, his eyebrows scrunching. They worked in relative silence, only hesitating to look up when Quentin cried out from a hook.
“Is he avoiding this generator?” Dwight asked after Gummy slipped up and blew up the generator.
“Why would he do that?” Gummy asked innocently, and Dwight narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t know…” Dwight trailed off as Jane screamed as well. “Let’s finish this, and then you go get Jane, and I’ll get Quentin.”
Gummy nodded, and they ran off in separate directions.
Ghostface sighed impatiently as Gummy came into view. Couldn’t they leave well enough alone? He needed at least two kills in order to stay in decent standing, but if people kept unhooking his prey, he couldn’t keep his favor to Susie, and he certainly wasn’t keeping any promises to himself.
So he stalked Gummy, knowing they’d be surprised when he hooked them, but honestly. It was getting foolish at this point.
“I can’t just let you go,” Ghostface said, crouching to meet Gummy at nearly eyelevel. “I need two kills, Gummy. You keep unhooking people!”
“This is the first person I’ve unhooked!” Gummy protested. “And I could be one of your two kills you know.”
“I doubt your survivor friends will let that happened,” Ghostface muttered.
“You haven’t gone for Dwight either,” Gummy pointed out. “Don’t tell me you’ve got two favorites now.”
“Favorites,” Ghostface muttered with a laugh. “You know, I like MacMillan’s policy of doing special things to his favorites.”
“So Jake is a favorite?” Gummy wondered aloud.
“You’re trying to stall,” Ghostface muttered, slipping an arm under Gummy to hoist them up.
“What is your special thing for me then?” Gummy begged to know as they were thrown on a hook. “What- Holy shit that hurts!”
“Hooks tend to hurt. They sap your lifeforce,” Ghostface replied. “And for the record, the only reason I haven’t killed you is because the survivors will stop being so protective of you if you’ve experienced your first death because the killers stop gunning for you specifically!”
“Oh, so you want to be the only one to kill me?” Gummy mused, fingers twitching as they exhaled a pained breath. “Newsflash, there’s ways to make kills more special, you know.”
“Hanging you from trees is not my style, nor is leaving you for the Entity to kill,” Ghostface replied in annoyance.
“No, but we could have fun before you kill me! How about a trade-off? You get to kill me this time, but we flip a coin for how things go. You remember last time, don’t you? You let me go, even though it would’ve been really easy to kill me. So, we’ll just have some special bonding moments, and then you either kill me or let me go! It doesn’t matter, but if I’m the last one-”
“I have to let you go this time, if that’s how we’re doing it,” Ghostface grumbled. “I can’t kill everyone this time. I promised I wouldn’t.”
“Boring,” Gummy complained. “But next time?”
“We’ll try out your idea next time, sure,” Ghostface said begrudgingly.
“Why are you promising to keep Dwight alive this time anyway?” Gummy asked.
“Stop stalling,” Ghostface snapped. “I still have to get two kills, and you’re not even meant to be one of them.”
“Fine! Be that way!” Gummy yelled after him, but he was already slipping into a crouch, brushing against starchy white fabric as he crept through a bush. Ready so soon huh? Ghostface wondered as Dwight rushed to unhook Gummy. Good.
Jane fell easily enough, and Ghostface easily dispatched her with a few knife wounds before pausing to take a picture. It wasn’t as fun as it used to be, back before he’d come to the realm, but maybe creating a collection of dead survivors would make things worth it.
Where’s the other one?
Gummy sulked as they opened the door, and Dwight seemed displeased, looking around wearily. “He’s not going to show up,” Gummy told him.
“Killers can lie, Gummy,” Dwight answered, eyes still flicking around.
“Well, the door is basically open, so who cares if he shows up?”
“He could be stalking us right now,” Dwight countered.
“And here I was thinking Jake was the most paranoid one,” Gummy muttered, and Dwight’s jaw twitched. “Door’s open. Easy peasy.”
“Two deaths is not easy peasy,” Dwight replied irritably. “Let’s go.”
“I wanna say bye to Ghostface!” Gummy protested, and Dwight glared at them. “C’mon, please?”
“No,” Dwight sounded exasperated as he dragged them out the door back into the main forest.
He let them go immediately, which was just as well since Meg and Jake were on them in an instant.
“Are you okay? Did anything happen?” Meg asked as Jake handed Gummy a pair of folded socks.
“You might want to wash off again. You’ve got a bit of blood…” Jake trailed off, eyes narrowing. “You got hooked.”
Meg blinked. “Wait, you got hooked and Dwight didn’t…?”
“He unhooked me. I mean, he was waiting in the grass next to the hook. It was a miracle Ghostface didn’t see him honestly. I think he brushed up against him.”
An oddly vulnerable look flashed across Jake’s face for a moment before his expression shuttered. “But you’re okay?”
“I didn’t die, which is probably your main concern, so go see what’s up with him,” Gummy said, making a shooing motion with their hands.
Jake looked toward Dwight for a second, mouth twitching. “How did you get caught?”
“Got careless a few too many times with the unhooks. He really wanted Jane and Quentin for some reason.”
“So he only hooked you because you were in the way?” Meg asked curiously. “The Huntress does that to me sometimes. She tries to lure Jake out of hiding.”
“It doesn’t always work,” Jake said defensively. “There’s three people who can unhook in most cases.”
“She only tries it when we’re the only ones left!” Meg countered, and Jake made an irritated noise in his throat.
“So it’s universal, this hatred of Jake?” Gummy asked, trying to wedge their way back into the conversation.
“Some more than others,” Jake muttered. “I hate getting flayed alive and strung from a tree, but at least I maintain my sanity.”
“Little Jakey can’t handle his terrors in a Doctor trial.”
“I don’t scream.” Jake crossed his arms. “Did you want to wash off or not?”
“I probably should. I bet I stink.”
“You weren’t in a swamp trial, so it could be worse,” Jake said grimly. “Come on.”
The water in the river was still cold, as it turned out. But at least it wasn’t dangerous this time, and Jake actually stepped into the water to help support them.
Which was still a bit weird considering, well.
“I don’t know why Dwight’s in a mood,” Gummy declared as they dried off, and Jake frowned immediately. Then his expression turned blank. “And why do you keep doing that?”
“I’m not doing anything,” Jake replied swiftly. “But I thought you knew about his thing with Jane.”
Meg raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate on that one?”
Jake’s face twisted again, and then he composed himself. “You know it just as well as I do that he’s interested in her and she’s not giving him the time of day.”
Meg and Gummy exchanged a look.
“Okay, but what’s the real story?” Gummy asked, and Meg sighed.
“You’re an idiot, Jake. Jane has been bossing him around and ignoring the way we’ve done things, and it stresses him out. So he avoids her, but that’s all. If he was in a mood like you claim, Gummy, then it’s not that. Jane didn’t even approach you after the trial.”
“She died in that trial,” Gummy replied. “So it’s a power thing?”
“Pretty much!” Meg said cheerfully.
“I’m not an idiot,” Jake muttered. “But I’ll talk to him. See what’s going on.”
They watched him go before they spoke again. “He 100% is an idiot, by the way,” Meg said. “I don’t think he’s caught on.”
“I think he was jealous,” Gummy remarked.
“Well, at least Dwight wouldn’t have noticed he was avoiding him so much as being stiff toward Jane.” Then Meg paused. “So, to ask the obvious question, do we know why Ghostface didn’t hook Dwight at all?”
“He said he promised not to, but I don’t know who he promised what.”
Meg’s eyes glittered. “I think I know. Susie mentioned running into him once or twice, and she felt bad about killing Dwight in her big murder spree, so…”
“Probably Susie then,” Gummy determined. “I haven’t met Susie yet, you know.”
“No, you’ve just encountered Ghostface and the Huntress, haven’t you? I should probably teach you about the dangers of some of the killers…”
“Gummy!” Ghostface hissed. “I need a favor.”
“We’re in a trial, and everyone is still alive,” Gummy replied. “We do it at the end, we talked about this. Plus, then nobody feels bad for letting me die.”
“Not that,” Ghostface waved them off. “Is Jake in this trial?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Gummy asked, but a feeling sank in their chest. “I thought we said we were past killing my friends just for the sake of killing them?”
“Jake has a reputation as Saboteur, and everyone talks about how impossible it is to catch him.”
“Oh, you’re talking about your photo book?” Gummy asked. “I don’t think it’s fair unless I get to be in there, you know.”
“You will, when it’s your turn, but is he here?” Ghostface asked.
Gummy shook their head.
“Drat,” Ghostface muttered, and he vanished.
Gummy didn’t see him until the end of the trial when his knife trailed a line up their leg, starting right above their socks to slip under their shorts as his face pressed against their neck.
They were still, entranced by this behavior as Ghostface slipped a hand beneath their shorts and dragged them down, fixing his knife in its place afterwards.
“Sweatshirt on or off?” Ghostface mused, his voice huskier than usual.
“Um, I think-” Gummy’s breathing hitched as a gloved hand slid under their waistband. “I think it’ll just take more time if we take it off, don’t you?”
“So unimaginative,” Ghostface muttered. “Next time, maybe?”
“Please,” Gummy begged, and Ghostface replied with a low chuckle before his fingers tickled at Gummy’s thighs and slowly circled into gentle motions across Gummy’s clit. Tingling pleasure shot up Gummy’s spine, and they gripped back to the black fabric wrapping around the pair of them.
The knife moved then, the cold metal tip pressing toward Gummy’s hole. “Are you sure you want this first?” Ghostface muttered. “I’m not adverse to blood, as you know, but…”
“Fuck me unconscious, fuck me dead, for all I care,” Gummy wheezed. “You’re torturing me.”
“Alright,” Ghostface said, and there was a bit of breathlessness in his voice this time.
Gummy purposefully stumbled back, their ass hitting a very hard Ghostface.
“I know what you’re doing,” Ghostface murmured, but he kept up his motions. “I can do a lot more fun than this, for the record.”
“But a partner you can kill?” Gummy asked. “Surely there’s nothing more fun than that.”
“A partner that I can kill that comes back is a very limited luxury, yes,” Ghostface mused, and the first finger slipped into Gummy.
They gasped in relief as he eased it in and out, giving Gummy plenty of time to adjust. “I thought we agreed on the-”
“Let me stretch it first, Gummy,” Ghostface mused. “The longer you’re alive, the longer you can feel it. I would know.”
Gummy barely had the presence of mind to think about that, but they nodded, face twisting to mash their mouth clumsily against Ghostface’s mask. He laughed, sliding a second finger through the slick that had accumulated thus far, and Gummy felt a tightness as they stretched to accommodate the second finger.
His patient motions made Gummy squirm, but Ghostface was firm and patient as he accommodated the hole to fit the blade of the knife.
“This is where things get messy,” he warned, and Gummy felt the cold blade of the knife slide up, pricking at the edges, and warm blood started to trickle down.
“Good?” Gummy heard him say as their walls closed around it.
“MMM!” Gummy sagged in his arms as their body pulsed and cum streamed out of them.
“Oh, Gummy, my Gummy,” Ghostface murmured. “Are you up for a second round?”
Gummy caught their breath and whispered feebly that they were so ready. Ghostface chuckled disbelievingly before he eased them to the ground, knife covered in a combination of substances beside them.
Gummy’s eyes were unfocused as Ghostface lined himself up and started. “Oh, my precious Gummy,” Ghostface mused, sliding in almost effortlessly. “Look at you.”
A camera flashed, and Gummy barely processed it as need had them blubbering and begging for more.
“Want that hoodie off now?” Ghostface asked innocently, and Gummy begged, they begged like they’d never begged before. “Oh, you ask so nicely, my Gummy.”
His hands slipped under the hoodie, pulling it up while maintaining his rhythm. “No shirt underneath?” He clicked his tongue. “You are a little freak aren’t you?”
“The Entity knows what I wanted,” Gummy managed to say, moaning as Ghostface’s cock twitched inside them. “It knows.”
Ghostface laughed again, trailing his knife down their body to make little nicks and shapes. “These marks stay on you after you die?”
“All the- MmM,” Gummy struggled. “YES!” Gummy screamed as their walls closed around Ghostface for the second time, accidentally making Ghostface’s knife hand slip and make a deeper cut than he wanted.
Gummy sighed happily as Ghostface wiped up the blood and cum again with Gummy’s hoodie. He hadn’t pulled out yet, but since he was promised his own pleasure…
Ghostface rocked gently for a bit before sliding all the way in and then out again. Nerves that Gummy hadn’t known existed sparked again, and Gummy started babbling nonsensically some more. Another click of the camera before a deeper press of the knife.
Gummy trailed off in their babbling somewhere before the third orgasm, but Ghostface wasn’t done with his own pleasure. He roared happily as he finally came, caressing the corpse as it and the world around it began to fade.
He got one last picture of Gummy’s body after he cleaned up and tucked himself away.
