sunday november 1st, 1987
October has come to a gruesome end in Shrike Heights as the annual Halloween Spooktacular has ended in twelve residents injured and three others dead. The town had been left holding its collective breath after the last vicious attack took place at the summer carnival, and while everyone was hopeful that that would turn out to be the last of the tragedy they would see in the town, the Halloween event sadly took its own very tragic turn. Two previously involved killers were reportedly involved in the attack last night, while three new and unknown attackers were also said to be the cause of the injuries and the deaths of some of our beloved residents. Authorities are yet to conclude whether or not these perpetrators were all working together, or if some of the incidents were the result of Halloween tricks gone wrong. On behalf of the entire Shrike police force, the sheriff would like to remind residents that they are working endlessly to put an end to such incidents, they wish to assure all that they are working to protect the town and its people, and they encourage anyone with any information to come forward and contact authorities as soon as possible.
saturday october 31st, 1987
As the end of the night nears, the residents of Shrike Heights who have chosen to attend the Halloween Spooktacular! are still enjoying the event and the many activities that it has to offer. Some huddle together around the bonfire, escaping from the night air that has been growing ever colder since Winter nears. Some are enjoying a spooky-themed drink at Julio’s pop-up bar. Others are revelling in their success at the Halloween costume competition. The event seems to be a much needed distraction for the townsfolk - but like most good things in Shrike Heights, it is short-lived.
Lark Delaney is the only one from their group of friends who makes it out of the corn maze for quite some time. It isn’t until they’re out in the open that they realise how claustrophobic the maze had been making them feel, with all of its twists and turns and dead ends. As they wait alone, they can’t help but feel anxious and uneasy by all of the jack-o-lanterns sitting on hay bales that surround them. They sit at various heights on the stacks of hay, some of which even sit taller than Lark themself. Their memory is jolted back to that early October night when they were almost attacked by the pumpkin-masked killer. They swallow hard as they attempt to shake the memory from their mind, but their heart stops as they swear they see a jack-o-lantern move. I have to get out of here, they think to themself. Of course they think it will be safer to wait for their friends in a crowd rather than waiting for them all alone.
So they start to follow the path back towards the start of the maze, but find themself frozen in place when they think they see yet another jack-o-lantern move. It’s all in your head. Come on. Before they can make another start - their suspicions prove themselves to be true. The Jack-o-Lantern steps out from behind a bale of hay, his boots thumping loudly against the dirt, which makes him sound a lot heavier than he looks. With a sudden gasp, Lark stumbles backwards, over a stone and onto their back. The sound of their own head hitting the ground startles them, and they don’t give themself any time to recover as they sit up and look for the killer. Their head spins and their vision is heavily blurred. Panic truly sets in as it seems jack-o-lanterns are swirling all over right in front of their eyes, though they know immediately that they can’t trust what they see. They quickly reach for one of the garden stakes that line the path, and scramble to their feet, struggling to stand upright with the way their head spins. Squinting in an attempt to regain the clarity of their vision, they’re almost certain they’ve got him with they swing the stake - but instead, a regular jack-o-lantern bursts into pieces. They take a step back, taking a shaky breath as they search desperately through the mess of their dizzy vision, and they swing yet again in hopes of hitting the killer. Pieces of yet another pumpkin go flying, and Lark is beginning to feel a real sense of hopelessness. They’re smart enough, however, to recognise that they have no chance of fighting in this state. They flee, stumbling back into the corn maze without looking back.
Similarly to Lark, Momoko Noguchi finds herself separated from her friends, much to her dismay. It’s unsurprising considering it’s her very first Halloween Spooktacular, the layout of the grounds isn’t as familiar to her as it is to some. Nearby the haunted house attraction, they run into one of their Karaoke Dokie co-workers, Nathan Berry. “Momo! I don’t suppose you want to go into the haunted house with me? N-not because I’m scared or anything, but because… I thought you mightn’t have been yet,” he asks her, voice a little high pitched as though he were in denial. Momoko has to think about it for a moment, but she doesn’t have to meet Akito for another hour or so, so she agrees to go with them. Being her first Spooktacular and her first Halloween altogether in Shrike, Momo wants to make the most of it.
Inside the haunted house, it’s so dark that they can hardly see their feet. The place is decorated heavily in cobwebs and fake spiders, and dimly lit electronic candles. Black lights light up spooky Halloween decorations and props, and every so often, spotlights turn on to illuminate the animatronics and cardboard cutouts that jump in front of them as they move through the house. The two of them find themselves startled by the initial jumpscare, but their yells are followed with laughter as they make fun of the low-quality props once they’re in clear view. With each room that they move into, the door behind them shuts and locks, so that they’re not distracted by the lighting and the music emanating from the room before them, and so that they’re made to move forward through the attraction. Momoko feels a thrill knowing there is no return to safety, but otherwise she feels safe, especially since she is not alone.
Once they reach the center room, and the door closes and locks promptly behind them, they find themselves in a ghostly-themed room, full of fake smoke and cool air being blown in their direction. Standing stationary, in the centre of the room, right in the walkway, is a person under a white sheet. Momoko is anything but impressed by the costume. Other than the sheet seemingly blowing in the machine-made breeze, there is no movement from the figure, and they begin to wonder if there is a person under the sheet at all. Nathan and Momo don’t hesitate to move forward, ready to move on to the next room. But as her co-worker takes a few steps ahead of Momoko, there is a rapid movement, and a guttural scream. Nathan stumbles back to reveal a large cut across their stomach, and blood pours down their front.
Momoko’s heart sinks, and she immediately turns on her heels to reach for the door several strides behind her. She desperately fumbles with the handle but it’s securely locked, a measure taken to keep the attraction running smoothly. The Ghost approaches her, and she instinctively holds an arm up to block an attack. The Ghost’s knife cuts into her arm. Before she has time to react, they grab her by the hair and slam her head against the door. She slides down, her head spinning so severely that she almost vomits. She starts to see double once her vision comes back to her, and right in her line of sight, she witnesses her co-worker desperately trying to escape through the door to the next room. But it’s too late. The Ghost is slashing her co-worker with the already bloodied knife. At least five more large, deep cuts are scattered over her coworkers body before they fall to their knees, their skin turning pale as blood drenches their costume and pools on the ground around them. He gasps and splutters, hands desperately going from wound to wound as if he can cover them all and hold enough pressure on them to stop the bleeding, but eventually he falls forward and goes still. Momo cries out as she watches him die, holding onto her own wound in hopes of not meeting the same fate. But the cry alerts the Ghost once more, and they turn back towards her. There is nothing that Momoko can do, but it doesn’t stop from her from trying. She scrambles across the floor until she can pull herself up, desperate to reach the door ahead of her. She only gets as far as her coworker before the Ghost slashes her across the torso multiple times, blood splattering the props around her with the flick of the knife. Momo doubles over in pain, hopelessly trying to hold her wounds, her head even dizzier before. But then, she collapses.
Across the commune, the ghost train ride is running on schedule. On board are Josie Taylor, Lake Wright Townsend, Teagan Mitchell, Ángel Gasol and Sage Kahn, who are all finding the ride slightly underwhelming, but not without a little fear, being a dark ride further out from the rest. It all seems to be running smoothly, when the train stops with a sudden jolt, jerking the passengers forward uncomfortably. “What the hell was that?” someone asks. “Have we stopped moving?” another chimes. After a few moments of sharing confused looks, the passengers begin stepping off the dark-ride train in order to investigate. Though at first they think perhaps it’s just a part of the scare, the way the driver is handling the situation gives them reason to be concerned. Ángel makes his way ahead of the other passengers, to the front of the train, where the volunteer driver is examining the tracks. There, he sees what has stopped the train. Bones are scattered across the tracks, which obstructs the path of the ride. “The rides emergency stop was activated due to the obstruction,” he says as he examines the bones.
The rest of the crowd still feels uneasy about the situation. And suspicions are proven to be correct when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a bone-clad figure swings a large femur bone and hits Josie harshly in the side. Before he even has time to register or recover from the first blow, The Skeleton figure swings again, and this time Josie feels a harsh crack in his ribs as he doubles over in pain. The other people in the attraction move quickly; some running towards the exit of the ride, others rushing to aid Josie before the Skeleton can swing at him again. Lake is the next to be hit, the Skeleton giving a full force swing of the femur right into her stomach. Lake is winded immediately, and she doubles over in pain until she’s hit once more in the shoulder, which causes her to straighten out. Tears sting her eyes and a desperate cry escapes her as she throws her arm up to block the third blow. It does nothing to help her. The collision sends a pain like no other through Lake’s entire forearm, and there’s no mistaking that the bone is broken.
Lake stumbles away from her attacker and reaches for Teagan. There’s a brief moment of hesitation from the blonde, whose fight or flight instincts have kicked in (and they’re telling her to flee). She knows she can’t leave Lake to fend for herself, however, so she carefully wraps an arm around her and helps keep her on her feet while her body aches. “Hold onto me,” Teagan tells her. Lake nods appreciatively, but she can’t find the words to thank her just yet. In the dark, they almost believe they’ve gotten out of reach of the Skeleton, and that they have some chance of making it to the exit with no additional harm coming to them. But the Skeleton is quiet and quick in the darkness, and Teagan doesn’t even have the opportunity to cry out before the femur hits her in the side of the head, almost knocking the two stumbling girls to the ground. Sage and Ángel are quick on their feet and they catch the girls to support them and immediately help them and Josie reach the end of the ride.
As the group make it out of the ghost train as safe as possible, they continue to run, concerned that the Skeleton might be right on their tail. Just as they’re passing the corn maze, with the haunted house in clear view, they all stop in their tracks. Ángel looks behind them so swiftly that he’s lucky he doesn’t pull a muscle in his neck, all to be sure that the Skeleton isn’t behind them. Though they seem to have lost him, they now face another issue. Right ahead of them in their view is the Jack-o-Lantern killer. The entire group is breathing heavily, half due to the physical exertion, the other half due to the absolute panic that is running throughout all of them.
“We should split up,” Sage is seemingly the only one with an idea in that moment as they quickly observe their surroundings. “Those of you who are injured should move to the hay bales. If Ángel and I run, we have a better chance of getting help. We can try divert his attention if we run.”
“Okay, good plan, you take the heat,” Lake nods, holding her broken arm against her, as if any amount of pressure will help the pain.
“Be careful out there,” Josie adds.
Josie, Lake and Teagan take refuge behind the hay bales, the three of them huddling together in an attempt to make themselves as small and undetectable as possible. Sage and Ángel run out in the open, making themselves seem like easy targets for the pumpkin-masked killer. They feel as though they’ve never run so fast in their lives, and they’re scared to turn back to see if their plan is working. Before they even get the chance to wonder if they should - Ángel finds himself knocked to the ground with a brutal blow to the back. Before Sage can turn around to see what’s happening, Jack repeats the action with them - lifting a heavy boot to knock them down to the ground with a force so powerful it knocks the air out of them. Sage groans and tries to pull herself away from the killer using her arms, but there’s no need. Jack has turned back to Ángel, retrieving his knife from its sheath in a quick motion, the sound of metal scraping causing Ángel’s stomach to churn.
Sage almost can’t watch as Jack plunges the knife downwards. She expects to hear a crunching blow and a guttural scream, but instead, Ángel uses the last of his strength to move at the very last minute. The carving knife slices along his bicep, but he lets out a breath of relief considering how much worse it could have been. He immediately starts thinking of his next move as he looks into the soulless eyes of the killer, who is busy raising his knife once more. But before Jack can make a move, a rock hits him square in the head with a hollow thud. While it doesn’t impair Jack’s ability, it does distract him enough for both Sage and Ángel to catch their breath and regain some strength.
Teagan is standing up from behind the hay bales, having just thrown the rock that distracted their attacker. She can feel her heart hammering in her chest as she feels the killers eyes glaring into her very soul. They stare at each other for just a moment too long, and it gives Ángel an advantage. He kicks upwards with some of his recovered strength, knocking the carving knife out of the killer's hand. Jack looks back at Ángel with what could only be assumed to be viciousness, but before he can react, Sage reaches for the knife, scrambling to their feet as quickly as possible. They waste no time plunging the knife into Jack’s neck. They let go of it, leaving the knife embedded in his neck. Jack immediately flees, and both Sage and Ángel take a moment to register what just happened.
Unbeknownst to the others, Teagan, Josie and Lake aren’t the only ones who have witnessed the attack on Sage and Ángel. Adi Hans and Hyun Min-Seok watch in horror, and they run before they get the chance to see the Jack-o-Lantern killer flee. As they escape from being seen by Jack, they see The Slayer waiting up ahead under the dim orange light of a lantern. The two of them are halted just outside of the haunted house attraction. They’re terrified, unsure of what to do. No matter which way they go, it seems they’re to be forced into danger. They’re only snapped out of their shock when an arrow is shot from a crossbow. Bambi winces as it grazes and cuts her side, and the two immediately know they need to find shelter. “The haunted house, we can try lose him!” Adi says, taking Bambi by the wrist and leading the way. With her other hand, Bambi holds her side securely in an attempt to stop the blood flow.
They burst through the doors, Adi leading the way. The two of them have been so shaken by the events outside the attraction that none of the jumpscares or booby traps bother them. They’re hoping to find some place to hide until they’re sure they’re safe. But when they reach the middle of the house, the atmosphere is different. There is no music, no spooky sound effects playing over the speakers, and the eerie quietness prepares Adi for a jumpscare that doesn’t come. Instead, all that catches their attention is three figures underneath white sheets, lined up on chairs, blood dripping from the figures and pooling at their feet. At first, they think it’s a part of the attraction, and neither of them are impressed. But the scent of blood hits them quite suddenly.
“Surely it’s pig blood,” Bambi says, trying to calm the anxiety that is building up inside them. They don’t want to consider for a moment that it could be real blood at all, but if it had to be, then they were silently begging for it to be non-human.
“No, it can’t be pig blood. The people of the commune wouldn’t support the use of real animal blood here,” there is a knot in his stomach as he approaches the first figure, slowly stretching his hand out to grasp at the fabric. He swiftly pulls it back to reveal Nathan Berry, blood dripping from his pale, lifeless body. It takes Adi a moment to unfreeze and remember to breathe. Bambi places a hand sympathetically on his shoulder from her position behind him, her insides tightening as she realises they might not be as safe as they originally thought.
Adi slowly approaches the second sheet, a little more hesitant than the first. Seeing one dead body is bad enough, but he needs to be sure of how many bodies are in the haunted house in case he makes it out to tell the authorities. He pulls the sheet back again to reveal Momoko - who he recognises vaguely from the mall. Her body appears to have fewer wounds, but she is equally as lifeless. He curses under his breath as he reaches up to wipe beads of sweat from his forehead. “You don’t have to look at the third one, Adi-” Bambi protests. But Adi insists that it’s the right thing. He pulls the third sheet back with less hesitation, but the same sinking feeling in his gut. However, when the sheet is gone, there is no-one and nothing underneath it.
The two of them stand in silence, in complete shock. How on earth could that be possible? What had caused the sheet to have such a perfect human figure, and where did the pool of blood around the third chair come from, when there was nobody there to cause it? Before they have the chance to discuss, or even ask any of these questions out loud, Bambi screams.
Adi turns to face her, just in time to see the Ghost standing behind her. As they stumble forward, Adi can see a large cut across their back, dark blood seeping into their clothing, a stark contrast compared to the fake blood of their costume. Adi catches Bambi, but the two of them stumble backwards into the wooden chairs of the victims. Nathan falls lifelessly to the floor with a heavy thud, and Momoko follows suit. Adi turns as he steadies himself and Bambi, but standing still even for the shortest moment gives the Ghost enough time to cut down his bicep. He groans, instinctively holding the wound as he stumbles backwards. Bambi gasps as she sees the body on the floor start to cough and splutter.
“She’s alive!” Bambi is astonished.
Adi immediately forgets his own injury, carefully scooping Momo into his arms and stumbling towards the door ahead of them, towards the exit of the haunted house. “Stall the Ghost, we have to get her out of here.” Bambi nods and takes no time to pick up one of the wooden chairs. With all their strength they throw the heavy chair at their attacker. The heavy wood pins the white sheet down, and the figure beneath thrashes and pulls, desperate to unpin itself. This stalls the Ghost long enough for Adi, Bambi and Momoko to get to the next room safely. The door shuts behind them, and they make their way out of the haunted house as quickly as they can with their injuries.
Back inside the corn maze, Lark’s dizziness has almost completely cleared up, though they’ve worked up a sweat and are breathless while trying to navigate their way through the corn maze. Despite their best efforts, they haven’t been able to find their friends. They suppose they’ve made it out, and it seems like Lark is the only one left inside. They need to catch their breath, and conveniently, they turn and see a scarecrow ahead that they decide they can use as a landmark of sorts. They use the place to rest for a moment, to catch their breath and compose themself. They don’t rest for long however, as they know their need to escape is dire. As soon as they’ve regained the strength, they’re running again, making mental notes of which turns they’re taking to prevent themselves from going in circles. However, that idea doesn’t seem to work, as they end up right back at the scarecrow again. Frustrated, they’re sure they just made a mistake. It’s a corn maze, after all. The twists and turns are supposed to trip you up, they think.
Almost frantically, they continue on, breaking into a sprint again. They decide to try take a different path than that of before, but as they turn a corner (one that they’re certain they didn’t turn earlier), they once again end up back at the scarecrow. This time, they’re even more confused, and their fear is steadily growing. They don’t waste much time to ponder it before they’re off again, and the next time they reach the scarecrow, their fear and confusion is added to with anger. Lark barely looks at the scarecrow this time. Instead, they back up to it and look around them. Is someone playing a sick joke on them? By taking the scarecrow from its spot to move it where Lark will find it again? To confuse them and make them lose their place? They stand still, breathing heavy, until something drips down from the scarecrow, a drop landing on their forehead.
Lark reaches up, wiping the liquid from their forehead and investigating it. Even in the slight shadow of the corn maze, they know immediately that it’s blood. Quickly, they look upwards. Lark gasps in horror and jumps back away from it. Instead of the scarecrow that they had seen the first three times, hanging up in its place is the dead body of Starstrike employee Hugh Mclaughlan. Lark barely even has time to register what has happened before they feel a sharp pain in their thigh. They push themself, leaping forward. The pain only worsens as four metal prongs that had impaled their flesh, reap down their thigh and tear out of them. They turn to see their attacker. The Scarecrow that they kept running into has seemingly come to life, and he stands holding a pitchfork that is now dripping with Lark’s blood. Warm blood rushes down their leg. The pain is intense, but the stab wounds aren’t so deep. Lark just finds themself lucky enough to still have the ability to support themself on the injured leg. They turn and hopelessly try to get away from the scarecrow. Before they can run fast enough, the pitchfork slashes them across the back. Though Lark falls forward, they’re able to scramble forward and push themselves back up to their feet, running faster than they’ve ever ran before. They don’t run into the scarecrow again, and this time, they believe they can see the start of the maze once again.
Once out of the haunted house, Adi - still carrying Momoko - and Bambi find Corey Windsor. The sight is completely unexpected, and he stares wide-eyed, completely shocked and frightened. It only takes a moment for him to register that all three of them are hurt, and once it’s realised he immediately steps forward to help Adi support Momo. “We should get back around the front. I could hear other people there only a minute ago. We need to find others who can help everyone get to safety.” Bambi and Adi hesitate for just a moment, but agree. If Corey had heard voices there only moments ago, it was very unlikely that the Slayer was loitering around that area. They assumed that he had either moved on to find new victims or that he had followed them into the house and that they were lucky enough to have lost him before having to face the Ghost.
They’re not right in thinking that the Slayer had moved on from the front of the haunted house, or in thinking he followed them inside, but they’re unfortunately right in thinking that he has found new victims. Mathew Lahde, Ryanne Williams and Miette Auclair, who have all separately found themselves in the area, are under attack.
Unfamiliar with the killer, Miette thinks that she is safe from the killer at a distance - but she couldn’t be more wrong. The Slayer makes use of his crossbow once again, an arrow landing right in the front of her thigh. She cries out, but her step doesn’t falter as she moves to duck behind a hay bale to prevent any more arrows being shot her way. Mathew is next on the Slayer’s list. He aims for the same place on him, but Mathew has a fraction more time to attempt the dodge. The arrow doesn’t lodge itself into his flesh, but it cuts his skin deep. The next arrow that is shot from the crossbow is aimed at Ryanne. She’s able to dodge it just in time, the arrow head grazing her sleeve. But in the rushed attempt to escape it, she finds herself tripping over the rocks that line the path. She catches her fall with her hands, but sharp pain in one says that she’s sprained it. She rolls onto the side of the path and scrambles behind the haybales alongside Miette. Thankfully for Mathew, the Slayer is distracted from that trio as Corey, Adi, Momoko (who is still unconscious) and Bambi emerge. The Slayer aims for Corey’s bicep and doesn’t miss. Corey cries out in shock, and near drops Momo as the pain flares in his muscle.
Miette - while struggling with her own injury - rushes out from behind the hay bales in order to help Adi and Corey with Momoko, and the Slayer aims for those further away as she does so. The larger group comprising of Sage, Ángel, Josie, Lake and Teagan are still in the same area as their run in with Jack, only a little ways down from those falling victim to the Slayer. Naturally, they freeze as they see the confrontation with the Slayer, and they try to contemplate what they can do. Spirits are low, people are injured, and things are feeling hopeless. The Slayer shoots another arrow from the crossbow and all Lake feels at first is a hard thud on her shoulder before the pain springs to life. Josie holds his arms up in front of his face and chest to protect himself from the arrows, but one of the barbed arrowheads manages to cut down his forearm as he protects himself.
Miette is once again aimed at, an arrow cutting across her back. It’s only shallow but it hurts just as much as the arrow to the thigh, as her body is already struggling to handle the physical trauma. Is this really how I go? She thinks to herself as the arrows continue to fly, aiming for all of the members of the different groups. Lark bursts through the corn maze, finally free of the scarecrow. But they stand in what is essentially a circle of different groups that the Slayer is having all too much fun targeting, that is, until he begins to miss. This fuels him with a rage that is evident in his body language. With his last arrow, he aims at the person closest. Ryanne, who has only been half protected by a hay bale, gets an arrow right through the muscle of her shoulder. She cries out and desperately tries to keep her breathing under control as she tries to think about what to do. As the Slayer moves towards his next victim, he swaps out the crossbow for one of his wooden stakes.
The Slayer reaches Mathew first, gripping onto his neck before the man can even attempt to flee. Mathew squirms and struggles in his grasp, but it’s no use. As Corey watches the attack, an idea comes to him like the switching on of a lightbulb in his head. Using his skills learnt from having played football all throughout high school, he sprints as fast as his body allows and tackles the Slayer. It doesn’t knock the killer over completely, but it at least saves Mathew from getting the stake through the chest, which is a relief. The heavily-cloaked man now stands amidst Corey, Adi, Sage, the now free Mathew and Bambi. Some are frozen in fear, some step back with an intention of escaping, and others are planning to fight as they know they can’t get away fast enough before being injured.
The first to be hit is Sage; they simply can’t move fast enough before the slayer smacks them across the side of the head with the wooden stake, so hard that it knocks them out cold, sending them crashing to the ground. Adi is next; the Slayer swipes the stake in his direction, the wood scraping across his stomach as he steps back out of the way. Mathew is next; the Slayer hits him harshly across the face, splitting his skin open and knocking him off of his feet. As he falls back, however, he reaches out and grips the stake. The Slayer lets go of it immediately, seemingly unphased, and reaches for the other stake strapped to his belt while Mathew’s grip weakens and leaves him accidentally throwing the first one aside as he falls to the floor. Next, the Slayer grips Bambi by her hair, pulling her in closer as he readjusts his stake in his hand before raising it. Bambi feels like this may truly be the end for her.
Corey panics as he watches, but the Slayer’s fumble with his stake gives him just enough time to pick up the other stake and to swing it at the killer, hitting him brutally across the head. The Slayer throws Bambi down immediately, clearly angry about the assault as he stomps and turns around to see who had had the nerve to fight back. Still in a panic, Corey does the only thing that seems to make sense to him. He uses all his strength as he lunges forward, shaky hands gripping the stake tightly, a scream of terror leaving him as he plunges the stake deep inside of the Slayer’s chest. It’s the only thing that made sense to him. He was watching everyone be brutalised in the attack, and he knew the killer’s history with injuring and killing others, including people he had known for quite some time, people he had loved. Somebody had to end it, he wasn’t about to watch more people reach the same fate as the likes of Charlie Davis, even if what he had to do was perhaps as awful as the attack itself. Corey is surprised that it was him of all people to end it, and even more shocked to see that it’s worked. The Slayer is clearly hurt beyond repair, gripping the stake in his chest as if he wants to pull it out. But he can’t. Instead, he spins and stumbles ever so slightly before falling to the ground, landing on his front, sending the stake through his entire body, sticking up tall.
Corey saved them. He saved the day, and he feels so deliriously relieved. He looks at the people around him, but for some reason they don’t seem to share the feelings of relief. Instead, they all stare at him with terror on their faces, and that’s when Corey’s relief quickly dissipates. The relief is replaced with the panic he felt so strongly only moments earlier; his entire body feels numb, yet at the same time he suddenly becomes aware of the most excruciating pain spreading from his core all over. He looks down; the Slayer has staked Corey through the chest as Corey had done the same to him. It happens quickly. Corey lets out a cry, blood gurgles in his mouth, and he turns very weak until his body no longer supports him. He falls down right on top of the Slayer, the stake in his chest plunging through him deeper, and the stake poking out from the Slayer’s body piercing completely through his stomach. While the initial stab to his chest wasn’t as deep as the one that ended the Slayer’s life so quickly, there’s no possibility of Corey surviving this now.
Despite the devastation, the others have to make the difficult decision of leaving Coreys body behind. No-one in the party is strong enough physically or mentally to carry his corpse to a safe place after having to carry both Momoko and Sage’s unconscious bodies. (And truthfully, no-one is sure that the Slayer is truly dead). When the group rejoins civilisation, the authorities are found and backup is called. No killers or suspicious figures were seen within the commune. Medics retrieved the bodies of Nathan Berry, Hugh Mclaughlan and Corey Windsor. Though no-one from the group had examined the Slayer’s body out of respect for Corey, by the time officials had arrived at the scene, there was no body to be found. All that remained of the Slayer was a perfect silhouette singed into the grass, despite there having been no fire at all.
plot drop 006 features thirteen of our muses encountering the jack-o-lantern, the ghost, the skeleton, the slayer + the scarecrow.
aditya ‘adi’ hans is left with a cut down his bicep and a scrape across the stomach.
angel gasol is left with substantial bruising on his abdomen and a cut across his bicep.
corey windsor is left with an arrow wound in his bicep, a fatal wound from a wooden stake through the chest and another wooden stake through the stomach.
joseph ‘josie’ taylor is left with substantial bruising to his side, one cracked rib and cut across the length of his forearm.
lake wright townsend is left with substantial bruising to the stomach, shoulder and arm, a broken forearm and an arrow wound in her shoulder.
lark delaney is left with a mild head injury, four wounds down the back of their thigh, four cuts across their back and substantial blood loss.
mathew lahde is left with a deep cut across his thigh, a mild head injury and a wound on his face from skin splitting upon impact.
miette auclair is left with an arrow wound in her thigh and a graze across her back.
min-seok ‘bambi’ hyun is left with a graze across her side, a cut across her back and bruising from being thrown down.
momoko noguchi is left with substantial cuts on her arm and torso, a head injury and severe blood loss.
ryanne williams is left with a sprained wrist and an arrow wound in her shoulder.
sage kahn is left with severe bruising to the torso and head and a head injury.
teagan mitchell is left with bruising to the head a head injury.
as police and paramedics arrive to the scene, all but one victim survived the ordeal - despite the severity of some of their injuries.
