Residents of Shrike Heights have awoken this Wednesday morning to find a gruesome scene in Shrike Town Center. The steps leading up to Shrike Town Hall have been completely covered in blood throughout the night, by unknown perpetrators. Many residents working in the area early this morning were subjected to the sight before authorities were alerted, but no suspicious individuals have been reported, and no evidence other than the shocking amount of blood has been found. The source of the blood is still unknown, with authorities currently working to figure out whether this blood belonged to animals, or human beings. All that is currently known is that this blood is not fake. Authorities have sectioned off the area for further investigation, and Town Hall will remain closed until the scene can be examined and cleaned. There is no evidence to suggest that the infamous Shrike Killers have anything to do with the scene. Residents are urged to report any information they might have.
Multiple Shrike Heights residents have reported suspicious sightings in Shrike Town Center throughout the last week. Authorities were alerted of a mysterious and erratic figure lurking around the library late Monday evening, and again in the early hours of Tuesday morning. No damage or evidence of misconduct was found at the scene, though authorities remained vigilant throughout the week to ensure the safety of all residents. On Wednesday evening, the same description was given when authorities were alerted of the figure lurking around Willow Bridge, and again in Town Square on Thursday night and Friday morning. While authorities are still not able to find evidence that suggests the figure is responsible for anything sinister, they wish to issue a warning to all Shrike Heights residents. It is suggested that all residents stay inside after dark when able to, and for everybody to keep their doors and windows locked securely. Authorities also encourage residents to call the local police station to report any additional sightings or any other strange and suspicious behavior sighted.
"Last night, Shrike Heights has faced one of our hazardous Winter blizzards, resulting in many buildings being snowed in. Shrike Mall finds itself yet again in trouble, its employees being trapped inside the building with four of the serial killers who are still currently at large. There are reported to be at least four dead and many others severely injured. Police were called during the attack, but unfortunately it took some time to enter the mall while officers cleared enough snow to get the mall doors open. Officers remained with victims while one attempted to apprehend one of the perpetrators, and they’ve been missing since. Some locals are questioning the reason for the mall to have remained open during such dangerous weather, but officials say that no laws have been broken, and that the attack likely would have happened regardless of weather conditions. Please contact the police department if you see anything suspicious or if you know of the whereabouts of the missing officer."
monday january 16th, 1989.
The new year has begun, the year of 1989, though for Shrike Heights, it doesn’t feel like a fresh start or a clean slate. The horrors of the last two years still have a hold over every resident’s mind, and just as the year before began, none of these crimes have been brought to a close. The year feels unresolved; the residents try their best to move forward despite the nagging weight that makes it impossible to escape the past.
Snow falls heavily over the small town; a blizzard is incoming, and it’s already disastrously snowy out. Warnings have been issued since the night before, for residents to stay inside of their homes when possible, and for the most part, the town listens. Almost all who are braving the elements tonight are those required at work, with few others out there with them.
A young boy stands in the streets of Old Shrike. He’s too young to be needed outside of his home for work, but still, he stands there as if the heavy snowfall and vicious wind isn’t almost knocking him over. With all of his strength, he nails a piece of laminated paper to a telephone pole.
MISSING, it reads in large red letters, written in a juvenile handwriting that matches the boy. Underneath the writing is a photograph of a smart looking teenage boy with a grin almost as blinding as the snow, and beneath that, all of his details. The boy sniffs in the cold, his face numb, but onwards he treks.
Passing the next house to the next telephone pole, an old man emerging from his home is followed by his door slamming shut with a great gust of wind. Despite being bundled up in many winter layers, his crooked body struggles to shuffle forward on his porch. “In a blizzard?!” His voice is wheezy, and only just strong enough to reach the footpath. “Get home, boy!” He calls, genuine concern for the child on his wrinkled and aged face.
“I know!” The boy shouts back, much more power behind his voice, still preserved in youth. “I just really need to find my brother.” Desperation is in his tone and on the young face that’s blotchy and numbed by the freezing conditions. He continues forward, and he continues nailing the posters on any available surface for as long as he can withstand the cold.
The unfortunate reality is that this boy isn’t the only person who is missing a loved one; he’s not the only resident of Shrike Heights who had to spend the holiday season and the new year without every member of his family; he’s not the only person who is worried sick enough to face a blizzard, just on the off chance that more posters will help the search.
More and more people in Shrike Heights are going missing, most without a single trace. There’s speculation that people are leaving Shrike in order to escape the possibility of becoming victims in the next attack, but the families and friends of these missing people fight against the theory; so many of those who are lost would never do such a thing. Some speculate that it’s the town authorities who have started the rumours about people leaving town voluntarily, so they don’t seem liable for more tragedy, but no matter how much they speak out on it, their voices will never be as loud as the likes of Mayor Sweeney.
The town is left only to hope that ‘missing’ isn’t a new synonym for ‘murdered’, though there isn’t much evidence against it. Even Tracks’ owner Owen O’Hanrahan is still missing, and as he was last seen being actively attacked by the killers at the end of summer carnival, many wonder if that’s the fate all missing folk met.
For the rest of the town, life in Shrike Heights goes on, even despite obstacles like business owners such as Owen being gone. While the blizzard outside grows fiercer and fiercer, Shrike Mall continues to operate. Many stores have decided to close up a little early in order to escape the dangerous conditions on their journey home, but unfortunately not all establishments are able to close, and not all employees are able to find themselves in the warmth and safety of their homes so soon.
Some employees, in fact, are only arriving at Shrike Mall. Romulus Davies is one of the unlucky ones; he opts to work the late shifts at the mall as he runs his furniture store during the day. He stands in the hallway that leads to the storage room containing his equipment, having run into Michael Webb on his way, not in any rush to get to work while his body still needs to defrost from the bitter cold.
“The ground’s slipperier inside the entrance of this place than it is out. All the snow everyone’s walked in has melted and left such a damn mess.” Romy complains, shaking his head with mild annoyance.
Michael smiles sympathetically. Getting stuck with frustrating jobs in his own position at the mall, he can understand the annoyance. “At least hardly anyone else is gonna be coming in here now.” Now that most of the establishments are closed for the night, he means.
Romy nods their head. “Right.” He takes another step in the right direction. “You stuck here for much longer? Long enough to take a look at the cigarette machine, at least?” The cigarette machine in question is the same one that was used to injure Soren Chen last year; it no longer resides in the same place, and it’s been repaired before, but still, the way the mechanisms jam inside of it remind those who know what happened that night of the horrors.
“Just packing up the rest of my shit now, so I can head out right after taking a look at it.” He’s one step ahead of Romy’s request. “You’d be surprised how many complaints we get about it, even though it’s not the only one we have around the place.”
Not wanting to prevent Michael from leaving the mall as soon as he can, Romy concludes the conversation, going to collect his equipment. He decides to clean up the entrance first; the last thing they need is for some poor employee to slip and break something just when they’re about to make it out alive. They push the wheeled cart through the maintenance hallways, back out to the front of the mall, though they stop when they see the scene.
Large snowy footsteps have walked wide strides into the mall. They’re fresh, the snow is yet to melt, and Romy easily concludes the messy mall visitor must have only just walked out of view. He moves forward again. The footprints have been made with large boots; Romy figures it must have been a member of the security team, and while more mess isn’t ideal, he can’t stay mad at the idea of more protection.
As Romy sweeps the unmelted snow and the water towards the door, Michael appears once again, holding his large tool bag, on his way to the cigarette machine on the other side of the mall. “Been here for not even five minutes, and someone else has already made more mess for me.” Romy updates him, complaining again, but this time laughing. There’s nothing they can do about it; that’s the job they signed up for, like it or not.
Before Michael can respond, both mall employees have their attention grabbed by the sound of a loud commotion echoing through the vast, empty spaces of the mostly closed mall. It sounds as though weight is being thrown around, and it’s far too loud and abrupt to be the sound of employees doing their job. Suddenly the commotion is added to by the sound of ear piercing metal against metal, and then, a blood curdling scream sounds.
Romy and Michael both drop their equipment, moving into the middle of the space, looking around for the source with concern and shock on their faces. They scan their surroundings until they stand back to back, but everything has fallen silent. All that can be heard is their breathing, slightly louder than usual - though it might only sound louder as they listen so intently.
It feels like the silence lasts a lifetime, but then Zach Porter comes into view, running from around the corner, dragging one leg behind him uncomfortably as he flees. His eyes meet Romy and Michael, and he begins to scream. “Run! Run!” His voice is strained and jagged; the pain is obvious. As he comes closer, Romy and Michael realise that he’s covered in blood, but their attention is quickly pulled away from the victim as the Jack-O-Lantern killer comes into view.
The killer is covered in blood, too, and it’s obvious whose it is. Romy begins to stammer, before finally stringing together a coherent sentence. “I let him walk right in, I, holy shit-” The boots that left enormous prints on the ground weren’t left by a guard, they were left by the masked perpetrator who wields his large carving knife.
“Stop. Don’t.” Michael doesn’t want Romy to take any blame, not only because he isn’t to blame, but because they have no time for such a thing when they need to prioritise getting out of harm's way. Zach screams at them to run again, and Michael nods, reaching over to take hold of Romy’s arm. “We need to get out of here, come on-”
“No!” Romy stumbles back, looking even more fearful now. “My sister’s working! My sister’s here, she’s at Donna’s! I can’t-” He stumbles back again, out of Michael’s grip, watching the killer and the victim come closer and closer. He looks to Michael, as if for an answer, and his fear mirrors Romy’s.
“Fuck. My sister’s here too.” He had almost forgotten that Samantha took up an extra shift tonight, and that she was his ride home. “We have to get them, come on.” Michael directs, knowing they have no time to waste. The two make a run for it, towards the escalator that leads to the first floor, where both of their sisters are.
Michael leads the way, afraid but seemingly better than the other while under pressure; Romy follows closely behind. To get to the escalator, they have to run towards the Jack-O-Lantern, but the killer is further away; the two are hoping they’ll be able to make it up to level one before the killer can reach the path himself. They seem to have a good chance of making it - that is, until they both falter at the sight of the killer catching Zach. The Jack-O-Lantern viciously kicks him down, and Zach is knocked unconscious as his head smacks against the linoleum floor.
Romy and Michael keep going, running up the escalator as quickly as possible. Michael looks to be nothing but determined, looking only ahead, but as Romy looks back to the killer and his victim; Jack plunges his knife into the man’s wrist, just as he regains consciousness and begins to move. Romy trips in shock, but catches themself and is able to keep going without putting too much distance in between themself and Michael.
They reach level one more breathless than they would like, but they keep going, heading towards Life Rose On. As they approach the store, Michael is relieved to see his sister Samantha Webb outside of it, clicking the last lock shut, ready to head out. She doesn’t realise that there’s anything sinister going on in the mall until she hears the heavy footsteps and loud breathing.
Immediately upon hearing the noise, her head turns quickly, her breath catching in her throat, and she knows. Samantha hasn’t been physically injured by a killer herself, but she has encountered the Hunter before - in the very place she stands now - and with all of the other mall attacks, she doesn’t have to think twice or ask questions to know that there’s a very bad situation unfolding in the enormous building tonight.
Michael reaches her first, catching his breath while placing his hands on her shoulders. “There’s a killer downstairs.” There’s no easier way to break the news to her, not when the matter is time sensitive. “Romy, go get your sister.” He prompts. Romy doesn’t even take the time to respond before he takes off running again. “We have to get out of here now, he just killed someone and I-”
Samantha cuts him off. “What about everyone else in the mall? I’m not the last to close up, there are other people around, other stores open- They’re in danger, and I can’t- We can’t- We need to-” She’s speaking far too fast for her brain to find the right words. “If they’re in danger we need to help them get out of here safely, too.” She’s beginning to panic. Having watched Posey Bryant be attacked right in front of her eyes, and having been unable to do anything to prevent the injuries, Samantha knows what survivors' guilt feels like, and she can’t stomach the thought of letting more people be attacked like that.
“Sam, we need to get out alive.” Michael isn’t as eager to risk his own life - along with his sister’s - for the sake of people he mightn’t have even met before. He doesn’t feel right about making a foolish plan, especially not when he believes anyone else in this position would just run.
Despite not having come to an agreement, the siblings have no more time to talk about it as Samantha catches sight of the Jack-O-Lantern killer stepping to the top of the escalator. She jumps back in horror, then reaches out to take the hand of her brother, and they run.
While the Webb’s have their short lived debate, Romy finds himself in Donna’s swiftly. It’s clearly closed, though not yet properly, a couple of front lights left on to illuminate Marina Davies and Noah Cohen, who has just come from his own workplace. “I hate walking out by myself when it’s dark.” Marina tells Noah, the two planning on making their way out of the mall together, but their conversation is cut short as they see Romy. Much like Samantha, they both know something is wrong.
“There’s a killer.” Romy has to break the news as abruptly as Michael did. “Downstairs, he just-” Unlike Michael, who cleverly kept his eyes forward as he fled, Romy was witness to the full gruesome attack on Zach, and he’s rendered unable to speak properly as he feels such intense shock. “We need to get out of here.” He concludes simply.
Marina and Noah share a look of unease and shock, though despite their mirrored expressions, it affects Noah on a different level. This isn’t the first time he’s found himself so close to a killer, in a crime scene unfolding; he’s been through an attack before, similarly to Samantha, and he shares her panic and her dread. This can’t be happening, not again.
“You’re joking.” Marina steps forward as she speaks. She knows Romy would never joke about such a thing, but she desperately wants this to not be real.
“I really fucking wish I was.” The despair in Romy’s voice echoes through Donna’s, and the reality of the situation begins to sink in for Marina, unlike Noah, who still stands in the very same position, a ghostly shade of white, uncharacteristically silent.
Before more can be said, Samantha and Michael bolt past Romy, stopping just past him at the front of the store. “He followed us.” Michael says hurriedly. He’s only sharing the fact so they know to run, he doesn’t mean to make Romy feel responsible for now putting at least three more people in danger; but Romy does take it personally, and he does feel guilt.
He was meant to be saving his sister, but instead, he’s helped the killer find her. “Fuck.” He shakes his head, trying to snap out of it. “Marina.” He steps closer to her and he takes her hand. Romy then gives Noah an apologetic look, too. Though Noah isn’t his sibling too, he still feels the intense guilt for having led the killer to him all the same.
“Noah,” Michael only now realises that Marina isn’t alone, and that her company is the Snapshot employee he knows from his consistent work in the establishment. “Come on,” he steps further into the store too, reading fear on Noah’s face. “We need to get out of here.” Though he didn’t agree with Samantha about rounding up all the remaining employees to get them to safety, he’d never leave someone like Noah behind.
Despite the group being terrified, they know they need to move quickly. One moment of hesitation could be enough for them to end up like Posey, or Jupiter Bernstein, or the countless other victims they either knew or didn’t. They run out of Donna’s, and with the route to the first floor blocked by the killer, they all run in the opposite direction.
Stepping out of the store, Noah and Marina see the killer for the very first time. Neither of them want to see just how close he is to them, but regardless, all five heads turn to look at him, and the sight strikes fear in all. “No.” Noah mutters breathlessly, hand tapping his pocket as he runs, double checking that he has his inhaler on him because if the running doesn’t constrict his lungs to the point of needing it, his fear certainly will.
They all move at the fastest pace they can, and Michael leads them up to the second floor. It feels slightly counter productive, but they need time, and they need space from the killer; running right into his knife doesn’t sound like the smartest game plan.
Immediately upon reaching level two, the group finds Calista Tjhoea, who walks towards the same stationary escalator they’ve all just stepped off of. She’s on her way out, but she stops in her tracks when she’s met with the panicked people. “Come with us,” Samantha is the first to speak, ahead of the group beside her brother. “We need to get out of the mall.”
“There’s a killer.” Michael takes over, feeling the need to cut to the chase to express the seriousness of what’s going on. “If we go down the stairwell we can make it to the door, but he’s behind us.” So they can’t continue the way Calista was going, he means. Before even waiting for a response, Michael begins to move again, Samantha, Romy, Marina and Noah following.
Calista stands with an expression of shock for a moment, but then she turns and follows the group. She’s not yet able to process what’s going on, but regardless, Calista sees no harm in exiting via the stairwell tonight. She trails behind them, a little speechless in her shock.
Before they can get far, Junko Jacobsen emerges from Daniela’s Salon. Samantha jumps as she spots her, holding a hand over her rapidly beating heart. She’s only frightened because the salon’s lights are off, so she thought the store was properly closed up and didn’t expect a figure to suddenly appear.
Junko had been about to lock the door and leave for the night, but the sound of the group outside of the store caught their attention. “What’s going on?” She asks; she takes one look at the hurrying group and she knows something isn’t right. While others might have hid at the first sight of trouble in the mall, Junko can’t help but investigate.
“Apparently there’s a killer.” It’s clear in Calista’s tone that she hasn’t broken out of her shock and the reality of the situation hasn’t hit her. “Like, in the mall right now. I was about to leave, but…” She realises it’s not the time to elaborate, and she slowly begins to feel a little more afraid.
“Quickly, we need to get out of here.” Michael speaks up again, though before he can share the plan with Junko, Eisa Sanders’ voice can be heard from behind them. This time, Noah is startled by the presence of another, her voice evoking the feeling of fright as it’s unexpected.
“There’s a killer?” Eisa asks, eyebrows raised, in slight disbelief that she’s finally present for one of the attacks, after all this time. “I-” She’s cut off by Michael.
“Yes there’s a killer, and he’s behind us, so we really need to get our asses out of here.” He’s short, but not meaning to be rude. He’s only desperate to find safety again, understandably, as soon as possible.
Everyone around seems to understand, or even if they disagree with his attitude, they prioritise getting out of the mall, too. They begin to run towards the stairwell, only one more time, they don’t make it there without an obstacle.
The last employee inside of Stitch by Stitch, Kamila May, steps towards the door, holding multiple large sheets of fabric in her hands as she inspects the echoing footsteps and incomprehensible speech. “Has there been an attack?” She asks.
“There has, come with us.” Romy’s voice is much more gentle than the tone used when Eisa joined the group, though he sounds far more afraid than Michael, which doesn’t help the fear levels for the rest of them.
Kamila swallows thickly, turning on her heels, throwing the fabric down, but a white sheet remains standing. Confusion very quickly turns into pain as the Ghost slashes her across the abdomen with the sharp blade of their knife. Kamila screams, and Michael, the closest to her, rushes over.
The Ghost slashes Kamila across the stomach, the chest, both of her arms, one of her cheeks, and finally the throat, all before Michael even reaches her. He wishes to help, but just as he’s a step away, Kamila drops to the ground, gurgling and choking on her own blood. “Oh fuck.” Michael jumps back, finally breaking his strong facade, body wobbling as he watches Kamila reach up to her bleeding throat with blood covered hands.
Samantha runs over, despite the horror of the sight, and she takes Michael’s arm to steady him. He pulls away from her grip only seconds later as he moves back towards Kamila, wanting to help. “It’s gonna be okay,” he tells her, despite the gut feeling that it won’t be. Before he can squat down to try to hold pressure on the worst of her wounds, the Ghost swiftly and smoothly approaches, at quite the speed, and Michael can’t stumble back in time before the Ghost’s bloody knife begins to cut him, too.
They slash him across his arms as he holds them up in defence, moving back as best as he can while trying to dodge the attack. Samantha jumps back, too, so abruptly that she falls down onto her back. Marina and Romy both run over, helping her back up before she can become the next victim. They try to pull her away, but she tries to lunge forward to Michael, who turns slightly away, only to earn cuts across his side. “Ah!” He shouts, in pain. “Run!” He adds, the second he notices Samantha’s attempt at helping him. It’s not worth it.
The group of Eisa, Calista, Junko and Noah all stand behind Romy and Marina, who try to save Samantha from getting hurt helping her brother. They don’t move yet, perhaps frozen in shock or fear or guilt - or all of the above. But Noah abruptly calls attention to the reason why that changes. “Uh, guys.” He speaks up, voice shaky, but heard. He looks down the mall, in the direction they came from, and the Jack-O-Lantern is walking towards them. Noah doesn’t have to say anything else for the group to follow his line of sight and see the killer, too - even Michael, as he turns more and is slashed across the back.
“Run!” Michael says again, and as he finally has his back towards the killer, despite his injuries, he’s able to run at the same time as the rest of the group. Kamila, however, is not only unable to run, but her struggling has stopped, and blood continues to pool around her body as she lays lifelessly on the floor.
They reach the stairwell, and Junko pulls the door open. The group files in with no hesitation. Michael trails behind the rest, though Samantha refuses to leave his side, even if he is moving slower. They make it to the ground floor in one piece, and they sprint to the front entrance of the mall. Romy is the first to reach the doors, and once there, Michael pushes to the front of the group too.
They stand there for a beat, waiting for the automatic doors to open and let them into the pitch black exterior. When nothing happens, Eisa swiftly moves to press the button that manually opens the door. A whirring sound is made, but the door still doesn’t move. Michael and Romy get the same idea at the same time, and they try to pry the doors open themselves. Only then do they realise that they’re not seeing the pitch black of night outside, no, they’ve been snowed in.
“Oh god, oh no,” Marina’s chest feels tight, though not as tight as Noah’s. He braces himself against the wall, staring out into the mall with wide, frightened eyes, alert.
“Where else can we get out?” Junko asks, pushing her glasses further up her nose, breathless and afraid.
“The back?” Calista suggests. This all feels very real to her now.
“The wind was coming from that direction.” Eisa muses, pointing to the front doors. “Maybe it isn’t snowed over yet.”
Even if it is, they have to try. They’ll only end up caught if they keep standing there, and Michael needs medical help, even despite Samantha’s attempts to put pressure on his various wounds to stop the bleeding. Again, they run.
On the way to the other side of the mall, they pass Shrike Grocers; with the grocery store being one of few places in the mall with extended hours, all of the lights are brightly shining, it’s still open - only, the employees aren’t working. Instead, they’re crowded around Zach Porter, who shocks Romy and Michael by still being alive. The group stops running.
“Is he chasing you?” One of the employees asks the group, Zach’s blood dripping down their arms as their hands hold onto his wounded wrist.
“He was; we tried to get out but we’re snowed in at the front.” Romy tells them, struggling to look at the group due to the horrific state that Zach is in.
“You should hide,” Calista speaks up again. “We’re going to check the back doors, but you should turn the lights off and act like the store is closed, in case he comes by, after us.” She can only imagine the field day Jack would have, walking past the group, and the already injured. They’d all be dead in seconds.
“We can check to see if we’re snowed in out there, too, and if not one of us can come back and we can all get out.” Samantha adds, not wanting them to get the impression that they were being left behind; it was just far too risky to have Zach running around the mall in his condition, especially if they are snowed in out the back of the mall.
“It’s smart to stay split up,” Another grocery store employee agrees with the plan. “We’ll call the police while you go. We just called security, and-” he’s cut off as two security guards approach quickly. He begins to fill them in on the situation and the plan without hesitation. Like Michael, this employee appears good under pressure.
One security guard rushes in to help with Zach, while the other, Heath Perry, stays with the group outside of the store. “I’ll go with you,” Heath tells Noah, Marina, Romy, Junko, Eisa, Michael and Samantha. “I can’t let you go alone.” No one is in the position to deny the security escort, especially not Michael.
As the lights are being turned off and the grate is being pulled across the front of the store, those on the mission to the back of the mall continue on. The path to the back isn’t a long one, though under the circumstances, it feels like it’s taking them forever. Finally they see the large doors, but before they can reach them, the Jack-O-Lantern walks out from the shadows, blocking the way. The group skids to a jarring stop.
Before they can turn and run back, Jack moves towards them at a pace faster than before. It scares the entire group as he charges towards them, and though they scramble to move out of the way, not all of them can move in time.
Romy was closest to the killer, so he now finds himself at the very back as they all turn and flee. As he runs, a sharp, burning pain begins in his lower back, and immediately spreads all throughout his body. He falls to the ground with a scream. Marina turns just in time to see Jack pulling his bloody carving knife out of her sibling’s back. “Romy!” She screams, running to him.
Heath beats her to Romy, and he doesn’t show any hesitation before using his shoulder to slam against the killer. Jack only takes two steps back; the tackle isn’t successful, he’s standing too firmly, he’s too sturdy. Heath looks at the killer with fear in his eyes as Marina helps Romy up with a struggle. Romy’s pain is severe, and Marina’s entire body feels too shaky and weak to pull him up - though somehow, she does.
As the siblings move away from the killer, back to those still running, Heath lunges forward, reaching for the killer’s knife. He grabs his wrist, then with his other hand, the small section of the handle that Jack’s large hand isn’t wrapped around. Heath struggles for the knife, but his hand slips, and the length of his palm is cut open. It stings, but he keeps up the struggle.
Jack doesn’t falter. He rips Heath’s hand off of him, and then kicks him down onto his back. Heath’s head smacks against the floor, but he remains conscious, and tries to get back onto his feet. Before he can, the Jack-O-Lantern killer stomps on his chest. Heath can’t even scream, his insides feeling crushed, broken, his lungs no longer working.
As Marina, Romy, Noah, Calista, Eisa, Junko, Samantha and Michael all run, the Jack-O-Lantern mutilates Heath’s face, carving in it a jagged smile, then digging out his eyeballs, working until he’s complete with the transformation of the now lifeless body.
“We can’t go back to the grocery store.” Romy pleads, struggling at the back of the group but trying to catch up. “We can’t lead him right to the others.”
“We can find somewhere else to hide, while we wait for the cops.” Marina suggests, her struggle evident in her breathless and strained voice as she holds on to her sibling, awkwardly positioned with a hand over his wound, trying to stop the bleeding - much like Samantha is doing with Michael up ahead.
“There are all the stores we left unlocked upstairs.” Junko suggests, loud enough for the entire group to hear, unlike Marina and Romy’s speech.
“I also left Donna’s unlocked.” Marina nods. “I don’t want to go back up to find the Ghost again.” She shivers as she thinks of Kamila’s body, left up there.
Eisa turns her head yet keeps moving forward, looking at those speaking, and she notices Romy’s struggle. She stops until they catch up, and when they do, she helps Marina apply pressure to the stab wound, and she helps take some of Romy’s weight as they all keep going. “I can help more once we’ve stopped.” She tells them, also looking ahead to Michael, who is bleeding a lot, but lucky in the way that he doesn’t have such a deep wound.
The group agrees, and they make it up to level one again. Romy, Marina and Eisa only just make it off the escalator when they see the Jack-O-Lantern on the other side of the mall, as if waiting for them. Fear strikes inside of them all again. “He must have gone up the stairwell.” Noah thinks out loud breathlessly. None of them are sure of what to do.
“Level two.” Junko throws out the first idea. The Ghost may still be up there, but they know that there are many stores unlocked and available to hide in before they reach Stitch by Stitch, so they hope they can go undetected by the second killer. They all run up the next escalator; none of them feel like there’s another option.
“The Black Cat.” Eisa suggests, and they all rush into the dark store. They crouch down, hiding against walls, behind shelves, the first places they find. The store is filled with the sounds of heavy breathing, the sounds of Michael wincing as Samantha and Junko help with his injuries, and the sound of Romy groaning as Marina and Eisa help with theirs. With no sign of either killer approaching, they wait.
As the group try their best to escape the killers, the remaining employees in Key Of Reason are eager to close up shop and make their way home. Jamison Burr and Veronica Velasco struggle to drag the last of the heavy boxes from the latest shipment into the storage room out the back, neither of their spirits high as they were made to wait for hours for the shipment that came late.
Thankfully with the job almost done, the end is in sight. They’re both relieved, but particularly Veronica. It doesn’t take living through an attack to make someone fearful of the late shift at the mall, but it certainly doesn’t help, and after Veronica’s encounter with a killer right here in this very store, she doesn’t want to be here for a second longer than necessary. She pushes the last box into place with all of her strength and Jamie’s help. “Finally.” She huffs, straightening up again. “I’ll get the keys to lock the room up.”
“Thanks,” Jamie continues to straighten up the boxes while he waits for her to return. “Everything else should be good to go after this, we can finally get out of here.” He can’t think of anything else the pair has neglected to get done. A tired smile graces his face, though it’s wiped swiftly as a loud crashing comes from the front of the store.
Without hesitation, Jamie steps out to the horrifying sight. The Skeleton stands over Veronica, holding the femur bone that has clearly just been used to attack her. The skin on her forehead is split and bleeding, and she’s fallen into a table that had magazines stacked upon it. “Shit.” Jamie is terrified, but he runs towards the pair, wanting to help Veronica out.
He reaches them, though the Skeleton swings his weapon at Jamie before he can help; he only just avoids a collision, though he feels it graze his hair as he ducks. He stumbles backwards, and looks at Veronica. They’re in shock, not moving from the ground.
She’s terrified; this attack resembles her previous encounter with the killer so closely, and she isn’t sure that she can live through an attack here twice. She’s only able to break free of the shock when the Skeleton’s bone smacks against her head harshly one more time. The cut on her forehead splits open wider, and more blood begins to rush down her face. She falls to her side, but finally, she begins to scramble up onto her feet.
“Go.” Jamie rushes to grab her, to help her up all the way and out of the store, but just as his fingers make contact with her skin, the Skeleton swings the bone and hits her across the back. Veronica is winded, thrown onto her hands and knees before she collapses onto her front. Immediately the weapon is swung in Jamie’s direction once again, and this time, it makes contact with his stomach.
He falls onto his backside with a groan. His eyes prickle with tears, but he forces himself up, even while feeling unable to breathe. He reaches Veronica again, and though he tries to pull her back up, she’s dizzy and limp, wheezing and groaning uncomfortably as she’s trying yet failing. “Come on Veronica.” He pulls a little harder, and she finally gets her feet flat on the floor.
It lasts a second before Jamie is hit again. He’s hit across the side this time, and he’s sent into the drum kit set up beside them. As he topples over it, skin splits on his eyebrow, and his entire body feels badly bruised.
Veronica somehow manages to stay on her feet, though she’s swaying. She blinks tears out of her eyes and inhales loud, jagged breaths, quickly until she’s able to step forward to try to make a run for it again. She can’t properly see the path in front of her, blood, tears, and dizziness blurring her vision, but she tries. As she steps towards the door, not quite running but moving fast, the Skeleton swings and hits her one more time.
This time, they smash the femur bone against her left calf; Veronica screams in agony as a loud crunch and crack sounds, followed by the sensation of her flesh tearing apart in the front of her leg as her bone pierces its way through her. This time, when she falls to the floor, she hits her head harshly against the tiles, and she lays there lifelessly while blood pools around her.
Seemingly satisfied with his work, the Skeleton walks out of the store, leaving the two victims behind in search of finding the next.
Jamie waits for the killer to be out of sight before rushing to Veronica’s side. He feels for a pulse - she’s still alive. He quickly pulls off his flannelette shirt, and he does the best he can to tie up the large wound on her broken leg. Veronica comes to with a loud scream of pain. “Sorry.” Jamie tells them hurriedly.
“Where is he?” Veronica slurs their words, and hiccups as they try to hold back a cry of pain.
“He walked out, but I don’t trust him to not come back.” He helps Veronica as they try to sit up, shaking with pain and fear. “I think we should hide.” He decides. “I’ll call 911, get you some help, but I think we’re better off hiding out the back while I do.” He swallows thickly; he’s trying to be the strong one. “D’you think you can get there if you put your weight on me, rather than your leg?”
Veronica isn’t sure, but regardless, she nods. “Hiding- okay.” Veronica is more the fighter type, but she has to accept that she has no other choice right now. They try to stand her up, but even while trying their best to avoid her broken leg, she screams out in pain, the bone pushing up on the torn and bleeding flesh as she moves positions. Maybe she doesn’t even have this choice, after all.
On the same floor, Juniper Zhao and November Cain are about to walk out of Skin Deep. The lights are all off, and there’s nothing more to do than lock the door and find their way home. Just before they walk out, however, Juniper catches sight of a shadowy figure, and their gut tells them to hang back. “Just a second.” They tell November, a hushed voice and a hand up to gesture ‘stop’.
November, a cautious person, immediately agrees to stay put when they see the figure, too. They step back into the store a little further, wanting to be sure that they’re definitely concealed in the shadows.
The two employees wait, eyes wide as they look out and see the Skeleton walking past the tattoo parlour. They both hold their breaths, the situation feeling so scary that it doesn’t even feel real. Once the Skeleton is far enough away for Juniper to risk whispering, she turns her head to look at November. “That was one of the killers, right?” She’s only just begun to learn about the killers, and while November hasn’t lived in Shrike Heights for long, either, she trusts them to know more than she does.
There’s no way that that couldn’t have been a killer. November has never seen one in person before, but regardless, they’re sure it is. They don’t dare speak, afraid to make a sound, but they nod their head.
Juniper turns back; the killer walks into Fast Times, and Juniper knows immediately that they need to take this opportunity to escape. “I know it’s scary,” Juniper starts, “but we need to run.” With the killer out of sight, and likely preoccupied with others - though that’s not a detail she wishes to think of - it’s now or never.
November feels as though their heart has stopped beating. “We have to go.” Juniper reaffirms. November swallows hard. They don’t want to risk getting caught, getting hurt, but they don’t much like the idea of staying here - especially not if Juniper is going to flee regardless. They nod their head again. Slowly, and as quietly as possible, the two co-workers open the door, shut it behind them, and then they bolt.
As they run together, they hear a scream, and they’re not the only ones to hear it. Martin Montgomery makes his way out, too, but he finds himself directly outside of Key Of Reason when the scream comes from inside of it. He looks in, and can’t miss the bloody scene. “Oh fuck.”
Jamie looks to the source of the cursing, and is relieved to see another person - specifically one not injured. He helps Veronica settle back down before standing up himself. “Please,” he begins, desperate and breathless. “I’m trying to get her out the back, so I can call for help but stay hidden.” He wipes the blood from his eyebrow that threatens to roll into his eye. “Can you help?”
Martin nods. Jamie hasn’t told them that there’s a killer in the mall, but they don’t need to be told to know; the most common workplace injury in the mall is one inflicted by a killer. “Where’d they go?” They ask, wanting to try to gauge how much danger they’re in by taking the time to help.
The two wrap their arms around Veronica, who keeps slumping forward, in and out of consciousness, as Jamie explains. “Down to the left.” He says. “The Skeleton.” He adds.
“Careful,” Martin almost cuts Jamie off, speaking to Veronica who almost slumps forward onto her bad leg now that they have her standing.
As they speak, Juniper and November reach the music store. They look in with horror, so much blood in the place the three are gathered. They hesitate, looking at each other before looking back, and then Juniper walks into the store. She doesn’t like being out in the open, and as they’ve hesitated, not just made a run for it, she’s afraid that the killer will emerge from Fast Times and catch them. Naturally, November follows, though no option available for them to take right now feels like a good one.
The mall employees back down in the Black Cat sit in silence as the attack on Jamie and Veronica unfolds. Their breathing calms, the two injured find the most comfortable set ups for themselves as they hide, and they wait patiently. Even though the snow is thick outside, they’re hoping that the authorities can arrive promptly; it’s all they can really do as they wait - hope.
In the most unexpected moment, their silence is broken jarringly and abruptly. Calista shrieks, and she stands from her position crouched in front of a rack of clothing. She falls forwards, almost tripping, but steadying herself last minute. Noah, who now sits behind Calista, can see a large cut across her back. He stands, just in time to spot the Ghost. He runs to the door.
The others all get to their feet too, Michael and Romy both helped, though both in better condition after a moment of rest and some makeshift first aid. “Upstairs!” Eisa calls out in suggestion; they can’t run back in the direction of the Jack-O-Lantern, but it’s clear that they have to move. Junko helps Calista stay steady as they all flee, Samantha helping Michael, and Marina helping Romy.
The Skeleton walks into the still bright Fast Times, though upon stepping into the store, he can’t immediately find his next victims. This doesn’t deter him. Holding the blood splattered bone in his hand, he starts smashing things in the store, items off of shelves, display cases to pieces, swinging at everything he passes as he moves menacingly further in.
Ho Duk-Soo and Rune Lancaster are the reasons for the lights still being on, both still there, out the back of Fast Times. Duckie is the first to hear noise coming from the store, extremely alert despite this not being his place of work. “What the fuck?” He mumbles, stepping away from the other and towards the door. He doesn’t think to be afraid.
“Wait.” Rune warns, then jumping as another smash sounds. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s afraid of what’s out there, but he doesn’t want to admit it, he doesn’t want to show weakness.
Duckie turns to look at Rune, but he doesn’t say anything else before he opens the door. He steps out, and the second Duckie’s eyes find the Skeleton, he rushes back inside the office. He pulls the door shut and he flicks the lock closed securely. “Have you got a knife?” He asks with a casualty that suggests he believes everyone should.
The question only scares Rune more. “Duk, what?” More smashing, clattering and banging comes from the store front. Rune wraps his arms around himself for comfort.
“A knife, or a bat, or anything.” Duckie shakes his head, as if frustrated that Rune can’t give him exactly what he’s requesting right away.
“What did you see?” Rune asks in response, and though he asks this, he knows. He’s not sure which of the killers is out there, but he knows this isn’t just some vandal causing havoc in the store.
“If we don’t have anything I can use to fight then we need to barricade the door.” Duckie clearly wants to take action to help, not interested in talking about it. He steps towards the desk. “Take the other side, help me pull it over the door.” He instructs. Rune listens. Together, they half carry, half slide the heavy wooden desk so that it’s blocking the door. The second they both take their hands off of it, a loud pounding on the door frightens them. Rune jumps, and even Duckie flinches.
The two of them move away from the door, together towards the back of the office. Duckie’s eyes stay alert in the direction of the banging, while Rune’s flicker between the door and Duckie, his chest moving unevenly. The door cracks, splitting in the middle; Rune jumps again, and reaches to hold onto Duckie’s arm. This time, Duckie doesn’t flinch, but he’s only putting on a brave front. Duckie is scared, too.
“What do we do?” Rune asks desperately, loud thuds against the door causing the damage to grow. “Duk, what do we do?” He asks again, louder this time, feeling trapped, not seeing a way out.
As brave as Duckie is, he doesn’t have the answer, and he has no time to think as the door is quickly smashed in. The Skeleton moves with frightening haste, kicking the desk out of the way and swinging his weapon at the two. The femur makes impact with Duckie’s side, and he’s thrown across the small room, into the wall. Rune can’t move out of the way before the same happens to him.
The victims force themselves to recover. Duckie jumps forward, next to the side of the desk, and when the Skeleton steps forward on the other side to follow, Duckie pushes the desk with all of his strength, temporarily jamming the killer in between it and the wall. He takes the opportunity to run, but before he can make it out of the office, the Skeleton attacks him again, having pushed the desk away with ease.
He hits Duckie in the same place, his ribs cracking, his body thrown out of the room and onto the ground. Duckie groans, unable to move, but Rune scoops him up and onto his feet desperately. “It’s okay Duk, it’s okay.” He soothes, though as he does so he has to push the man forward, prompting him to keep moving.
They try to make a run for it, but their path is complicated by the mess inside of the store. Duckie holds back groans of pain and discomfort as he manoeuvres himself over broken skateboards and piles of accessories, Rune right behind him, and unfortunately the Skeleton right behind Rune.
Not even halfway through the store, the Skeleton hits Rune again, square in the back so they’re pushed forward into Duckie. They both fall to the ground. Rune sits up, pushing himself through pain, only to be hit across his side and sent back down beside Duckie. Duckie gets up, and this time, the Skeleton kicks him down. Duckie’s cheek is cut on a skateboard truck as he lands, but he gets immediately back up again, as does Rune.
Rune is the first to keep running again, and as Duckie follows, the Skeleton moves faster to attack him again. The femur bone makes impact with the same, already injured side of Duckie’s, and the cracking sound repeats, the pain increasing tenfold. Rune doesn’t hesitate to turn and pull Duckie back up, and while they do so successfully, Duckie screams in pain.
Finally, the two are able to make it out of the store, though what they find outside of it isn’t any better.
While the two are attacked by the Skeleton, Junko, Eisa, Calista, Michael, Samantha, Noah, Marina and Romy all find themselves outside of Key Of Reason. They find the two injured individuals, as well as Martin, Juniper and November.
They rush into the store, some to help, some to be better hidden from any approaching killer. Martin and Jamie have Veronica halfway to the back room when they find themselves with more company. They explain what they’re doing, just as they did with Juniper and November, and they keep going. Even if others wished to help there isn’t much anyone else can do.
“Should we do the same as the grocery store? Turn the lights off and hide?” Marina suggests.
“I don’t think hiding helped us very much last time.” Junko counters, still beside Calista, who still struggles to catch her breath after fleeing from the hiding spot in which she was attacked.
Before anyone else can say or do another thing, November gasps, loud enough to call attention to themself, dodging the Ghost just in time to avoid their blade. They stumble and fall, but they push themself up again quickly. Everyone else scatters around the store, trying to avoid the killer, too. Only Jamie, Veronica and Martin are unable to run.
“Oh god,” Romy watches the Ghost take advantage of the situation, and before they can move to do anything, the Ghost slashes Martin across the arm. They have to let go of Veronica to move away from the knife before the cut becomes worse, and when they do, both Veronica and Jamie struggle. As the Ghost follows Martin, Romy moves in to take his place in helping Veronica. “I’m hurt,” he prefaces. “but I can try to help.”
The three move faster, Veronica sobbing with pain. As the Ghost is preoccupied with all of the other potential victims, they’re able to make it into the small office safely. They sit Veronica down on the chair, and only once her weight is off Romy does he realise how badly he hurts, and how dizzy he feels. Jamie sees for the first time, the large, dark patch of blood seeping through their clothes. “We need to get you help, too.” He shuts the door.
Romy doesn’t want to just hide, not without his sister at least, but he takes one step back towards the door and he collapses.
The rest of those in Key Of Reason all flee from the store, and when they exit, they find Duckie and Rune, and the Skeleton following them closely behind. In the other direction, the Jack-O-Lantern has found his way to them, too.
Everyone splits up, running in different directions to avoid different killers. It’s terribly difficult, as it seems each time they’ve escaped one, they find themselves face to face with another.
The Skeleton first reaches November; in swift motions, before November can move away, the killer beats them over and over with their weapon. Harsh blows hit them on their sides, their stomach, and their back. November gasps and cries, but they can’t seem to stumble their way out of it, not until Juniper pulls on their shirt to get them out of the line of fire, their only choice to help.
In doing this, Juniper gets hit too, though only a couple of times, and not with as much force as they quickly move to run with November by their side, away from the killer. The impacts still hurt an awful lot, but they escape.
The Skeleton moves on to Junko. They swing their weapon at them, but Junko dodges it at least three times, hurriedly and desperately; the last time they move quickly to dodge the attack, they fall down onto their back. Eisa is there to pick them back up again, and they run in another direction. The Skeleton doesn’t follow as they turn to find Calista.
He swings the large bone, and hits Calista over the head. The impact throws her across the floor, and the pain in her back, where she was cut by the Ghost, makes her scream when she lands. Martin is right there, and they reach down to help her back up. “You got this, let’s go.” They encourage her as she begins to cry.
While Duckie and Rune escaped the Skeleton, as they try to flee towards the escalators to escape the mall, they meet the Ghost right in the middle of the space. Duckie is the first to try to dodge an attack, but also the first to do so unsuccessfully. The Ghost begins to slice his skin open, over his arms and his side opposite to the one the Skeleton already brutalised.
Rune jumps forward, taking hold of Duckie and trying to pull him away safely. Before they can help, however, the Ghost cuts them both all over, all across their fronts until both their own and each other’s blood is splattered all over them. Despite all of the pain they’re in, they run, just as the rest of the mall employees around them are doing.
Unfortunately, they run right into the Jack-O-Lantern. With a heavy boot, he kicks forwards, kicking Duckie right under his broken ribs, sending him flying backwards. He makes impact with one of the bench seats bolted to the floor of the mall, and he flips over it. Both the impact and the landing on the cold, hard floor causes Duckie’s arm to snap; he recognises his bone as broken immediately. Rune appears by his side before he can pretend he isn’t crying.
The Jack-O-Lantern doesn’t pursue the pair any further as Michael rushes past, frightened and woozy from the loss of blood already experienced. As he passes, Jack lunges forward and he holds out his knife; the dirty blade cuts him across the side, and he stumbles. Before Michael even gets the chance to fall, Jack steps forward and he kicks him in the back, harshly to the ground. Michael feels a crack in his chest, and struggles to breathe.
Marina and Samantha both begin pulling Michael back up onto his feet as Jack once again turns away and finds another victim. Eisa and Junko are moving swiftly, but they’re not quick enough.
The Jack-O-Lantern killer kicks Eisa in the back, and he kicks her right into the large, white sheet known as the Ghost. She screams in pain and fright as she gets tangled in the bottom of the sheet, and is unable to find her way out before she begins feeling sharp pain slicing across her body, over her forearms, her sides and her legs. She’s finally freed with the help of Junko, and while they both try to run, Eisa falls after her first step. She groans in pain.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Junko reassures her as she stands again, quickly, blinking through tears. Junko takes her arm for support, and they continue on their way.
Samantha leads the way down the escalator to level two, Marina, Michael, Juniper and November following closely, Eisa and Junko a little way after. All of the attacks have happened so quickly, almost simultaneously, but no one is ready to give up yet. It’s easy to move like your life depends on it when it really does.
As Eisa and Junko step onto the stationary escalator respectively, and begin to rush down it to catch up with the others, Junko is hit in the back harshly. She falls forward, into Eisa, and the two of them fall down to the very bottom. They’re both winded, but they find the strength to get back up before the Skeleton catches them.
They run, heaving in pain, but it doesn’t take long until they believe they’ve lost the Skeleton. Just as they go to pass Stitch by Stitch, they notice the enormous blood puddle - but Kamila’s dead body is no longer there. Both Eisa and Junko stop running, shocked, confused. But now that they’ve hesitated, and now that Eisa has stopped for a moment long enough to realise just how painful all of her injuries are, she speaks. “I think we should hide.”
She understands that they weren’t safe last time they hid, down in the Black Cat, but they’re seriously running out of options. In pain, too, Junko nods. They rush into the store, and hide out the back, trying to cover themselves with hung up garments and sheets of fabric.
As the two hide, Marina, Samantha, Michael, Juniper and November continue down the next escalator to level one. Before any of them can think about feeling optimistic about an escape, the Jack-O-Lantern makes his way down, too. Michael, Juniper and November rush to head down to the ground floor, but before Marina or Samantha can follow, they’re both attacked.
He reaches Samantha first; he makes an attempt at stabbing her, but she jumps to the side, and is only cut on her chest. It stings, but she knows she’s lucky it’s not so much worse. Luck is the last thing she feels, however, when Jack, as if frustrated, smacks her down with a closed fist, causing her to fall to the floor.
The killer turns to Marina next. She’s steps away from the escalator, but she doesn’t make it as he charges towards her, and he plunges his knife deeply into her abdomen. He twists the blade sickly as he pulls it from her flesh, and then stabs her again, directly above the last wound. Before he can twist the blade to pull it out, Samantha pulls Marina’s body back, free from the blade, and despite her own injuries, she helps to support Marina as they run.
They make their way to Donna’s, the first available and open store. Marina chokes on cries as she moves, holding the wounds, trying her best to not scream at the pain. She’s a tough girl, she’s been through a lot, but this pain is unimaginable. Samantha helps to guide them inside. She leads them to the very back, and she hides them in between the extremely tall shelves that contain the hundreds of pairs of rental skates. Samantha takes off her sweater, and she wraps it around Marina, pulling it tight to try to slow the bleeding. They wait.
Michael, November and Juniper are the only ones who make it down to the ground level. Michael’s broken into a sweat, and he sways as he moves due to the severity of his injuries, particularly the blood loss. November and Juniper are in pain, too, though as they’re still at the very least able to stand, they help Michael the rest of the way to the grocery store. Juniper takes Michael’s wait, an arm over her shoulder, while November leads the way, keeping a comfortable distance - if anything can be considered comfortable right now. “Where’s my sister?” Michael slurs, but his speech is so impaired that neither of the others understand what he’s trying to say.
A grocer helps the three into the dark and quiet store. “Holy shit, where’s everyone else?” They ask as they reach to help take Michael’s weight.
“Don’t know.” November mutters, shaking their head, too overwhelmed and overstimulated from the traumatic events. They move back to keep more distance between themself and the others, standing behind Juniper, Michael, and the grocer.
“We were all separated.” Juniper says, having missed the deaths of Heath and Kamila, unable to break the hard news even if they wanted to.
“We’re pretty sure the cops are already here,” the grocer continues, a hushed voice. “A couple of us thought we could hear them. When we called they said something about the blizzard, we think they’re digging us out now.”
Relief can’t be felt yet, fear still apparent, and that feeling not unfounded. The three from upstairs are led in the dark towards the rest of the group, but as November trails behind the others, they’re suddenly knocked down.
The Ghost begins to slash them all over as they’re stuck on the ground, cutting them in all the places where they’ve already been injured by the Skeleton, along with across their arms as they try to shield their face. They cry out in pain, and a flashlight pointing to them to see what’s happening leads the Ghost to the rest of the group.
The Ghost moves towards them, and begins to cut up and brutalise multiple of the grocery store employees. Juniper tries to run back out, though as they reach the grate that is shut over the store once again, they can see through the gaps that both the Jack-O-Lantern and the Skeleton stand outside. She swallows thickly, feeling the blood draining from her face.
Higher up in the mall, while everyone flees downstairs via the escalator, others decide to run all the way over to the stairwell in hopes of a better pathway down to safety. Calista, Noah, Duckie, Rune and Martin all reach the door together. Martin pulls it open swiftly, rushing in, the others following to the best of their abilities through their pain.
As Martin goes to run down the stairs, they run right into the Hunter’s knife. The tip of the blade penetrates their stomach, and they jump back instinctively, almost immediately. They gasp in shock, both hands clasping over the wound to stop the blood flow.
Unable to go down, and not wanting to go back to the rest of the killers, the group must go up. Noah grabs the back of Martin’s coat, pulling on it to prompt him to run quickly, and together, they all climb the stairs. Calista is the first to reach the very last door in the stairwell. “We can’t.” She pants, shaking her head. The roof is too dangerous.
“We have no other choice.” Duckie reminds her, and while it’s far from ideal, Calista opens the door, and makes her way out onto the roof. The rest follow, and once all out in the snowy conditions, Noah, Rune and Martin try to hold the door shut, so that the killer can’t reach them.
The killer bangs against the door over and over and over. He’s strong, and as the victims out on the icy rooftop are all in pain from their attacks and the running up and down mall floors, he quickly wins. The door bursts open, and immediately, being on the roof starts feeling like the worst idea in the world.
The Hunter lunges towards Noah, his hunting knife braced firmly in his hand. It’s clear that the killer aims to give Noah an identical injury to Martin, but as both perpetrator and victim slip as they move on the icy roof, the Hunter’s knife only shallowly cuts across Noah’s stomach. They both fall, and while the Hunter recovers quickly, Noah lands on his back with a hard thud.
The skin on his hands burn on the ice as he pushes himself up, gasping for air, lungs shocked by the cold, and before the Hunter can do more damage, Noah makes his way over to the others, where they’ve grouped together carefully a small way away from the killer on the corner of the roof.
It feels good to have distance, that is, until the Hunter puts his knife away, and wields his bow instead. He pulls an arrow from his quiver. The victims try to move cautiously on the ice and the freshly fallen snow, but Rune isn’t able to dodge the arrow that whips through the air at them. It half lodges itself in the side of Rune’s bicep, before ultimately dislodging itself and flying off the roof.
The impact and the quick movement of Rune reaching up to apply pressure on his fresh wound causes him to slip and fall to the ground. “We need to go back inside.” He begs, and all of the victims agree that they’ve ended up in the worst place, despite it having felt like their only option. As the killer pulls out another arrow, the task of returning inside of the mall is easier said than done.
Wind blows harshly, snow falls heavily, and they all stand, shivering, hurting, some crying. Only as Calista almost slips, does Duckie get an idea. Despite his horrific condition, he rushes towards the killer. “Duk!” Rune screams, inhaling a cold mouthful of air, but Duckie doesn’t stop. He uses the slippery ground to his advantage, and he builds up momentum by sliding towards the Hunter. He knows he’s too weak to apply his own force.
His body slams against the Hunter’s. The killer is sent backwards, to the edge of the roof. Duckie falls to the ground and loses consciousness upon impact; the entire group on the other side of the small section of roof waits with bated breath. The Hunter slips on the ice and the snow as he tries to regain his footing, but his attempt is unsuccessful. He falls from the roof of the mall, down into inches of freshly fallen snow - but not before he releases his arrow.
The arrow, like the last, whips through the air. Those at risk of getting hit shuffle away, slipping back towards the edge of roof diagonal to the edge the Hunter fell from. With extreme force, the arrow hits Calista square in the chest. Everyone is silent in shock. Calista takes a step back, already bloody hands coming up to the wound, getting wetter with more of her own blood. She looks up from the arrow, tears silently sliding down her flushed cheeks, and then she begins to fall back.
Rune and Martin, standing either side of her, both reach out to catch her, to stop her from falling down. They both manage to catch a hand in time, but as Calista’s hands are so slippery, their own wet, too, from their own blood, their grip is quickly lost. Rune reaches out again, he catches the tip of her fingers as her body begins to go down, but again, she slips out of his grip. Noah reaches out for Rune, pulling him back before he can fall, too, and Calista is gone.
A loud crack sounds from down below; the sound of Calista’s body landing on the icy surface behind the mall.
Nobody can move, but eventually, they do. They help carry Duckie’s unconscious body back into the warmth, and while they make their way down to the ground floor, where the police finally break through the snow covering the doors, they still can’t find the words.
plot drop 012 features fifteen of our muses encountering the jack-o-lantern killer, the ghost, the skeleton + the hunter.
eisa sanders is left with severe bruising, cuts all over her body and substantial blood loss.
ho duk-soo is left with severe bruising, broken ribs, a broken arm, cuts over his body and a head injury.
jamison ‘jamie’ burr is left with substantial bruising and a cut on his face.
juniper zhao is left with severe bruising.
junko jacobsen is left with severe bruising.
marina davies is left with two stab wounds in the abdomen and severe bleeding.
martin montgomery is left with a deep cut, a stab wound in the abdomen and substantial blood loss.
michael webb is left with cuts all over his body, severe bruising, a broken rib, a large gash across the side and severe blood loss.
noah cohen is left with a cut on his stomach, broken skin on his hands, mild bruising and severe chest pain.
november cain is left with severe bruising, cuts all over their body and substantial blood loss.
romulus ‘romy’ davies is left with a stab wound in the back, mild bruising and severe blood loss.
rune lancaster is left with severe bruising, cuts all over his body, a deep gash on his bicep and severe blood loss.
samantha webb is left with severe bruising and a cut on her chest.
veronica velasco is left with severe bruising, a cut on the head, a broken leg, a large gash on her leg from her bone breaking through and severe blood loss.
calista tjhoea is left with cuts all over her body, a head injury, severe blood loss and an arrow through the chest - which is fatal.
Every year a carnival comes to the town of Shrike Heights to celebrate the conclusion of the Summer just gone, and every year on the very first day the carnival is open, up and running, a parade passes through the town to get the residents into the carnival spirit. As it passes through the entire town, anyone who wishes to catch sight of it has the opportunity to do so; no one has to travel very far to watch at the very least a portion of it - a perk of living in such a small town. Most residents make a point of attending the festivities rolling through town as it’s a joyous time, an entertaining show, and dressed up performers in the parade often give out treats and free entry tickets or tickets to go on different rides at the carnival. Not to mention, the carnival always works closely with the students of Shrike Heights, so family members are often morally obliged to attend to see their children walking, performing, or showcasing the floats they helped to build over the summer.
This year the carnival is coming to town a little later compared to the year previous. After the gruesome events at the conclusion of the end of summer carnival in ‘87, some residents question whether or not it’s canceled this year, and some residents speak loudly about how it should be, if it’s still set to go ahead. The event is indeed set to go ahead, and town officials hype up the occasion regardless of what the residents think, speaking about how eager they are to give their people the chance to find joy amongst all the pain that typically befalls Shrike Heights.
11:21 a.m.
The parade makes its grand way down the streets of Shrike Heights, and residents line the sidewalks as it does so, watching on in amusement and at times cheering with glee. It’s a spectacular sight, and even a lot of those who plan on skipping the carnival come out of their homes or places of work to view some of the show. Valentine Ortiz doesn’t plan on attending the carnival this year, not after what happened to him there last time, but he’s in good spirits as he watches on; maybe recovery is possible after all, he thinks, maybe in a years time he won’t only be watching the parade, but he’ll make it back to the carnival. His service dog Merry sits obediently beside him, though he doesn’t feel the need to call upon him for his services. It’s a good morning.
The closer you get to Town Center, the larger the crowd on either side of the parade is; Valentine has chosen to steer clear of the larger crowd, not only for his sake, but for the sake of Kit Sombun too, another survivor of the attacks. They’re both still working on their recoveries, and pushing themselves too hard too fast isn’t part of their plan. As the crowd is much thinner where they stand, they’re able to get front row positions to the show, and it makes them laugh as they watch the animated, costumed performers wave to them and occasionally interact with them as they walk by, much like what they do with the children who typically fight for the front row position down where the crowd gets more populated.
Despite understandably having reservations and doubts about coming out to the event, the energy of the parade and its performers is contagious. Valentine and Kit both smile as they watch dancers, musicians, school students and the carnies advertise the carnival and the end of summer celebrations with grandeur, their eyes only diverting from the floats that pass them by when a performer steps up to them. The performer wears an animal costume, bright yellow in colour, a mask clearly resembling the features of a mouse; the costumed performer doesn’t stick out from the rest of the bright display of the parade in the slightest, though something feels vaguely familiar about them to Valentine. Without saying a word, the mouse hands the two men pieces of wrapped up candy, and then they continue their walk down the street, handing out more sweets to other chosen individuals.
“Can’t say no to free candy.” Valentine laughs, immediately unwrapping a piece and throwing it into his mouth. Kit smiles, though he slides his own piece into his pocket; he’ll be able to enjoy that later, he thinks, his entire focus going back to the parade. The parade holds Kit’s focus until minutes pass and Valentine catches his attention by handing him Merry’s leash, an expression of discomfort on his face. “My tummy hurts.” He tells him, wrapping his arms around his own center. “Kinda… Pretty bad.” He’s been trying to power through the pain that slowly intensifies, trying to enjoy the parade as it’s a big step to get back into the community like this, and as it’s been such a pleasant time thus far, but his stomach begins to cramp up in a way that it never has before. Kit’s smile drops as he notices Valentine growing more pale and slightly sweaty. He’s about to suggest they head home, his body immediately overcome with panic as he jumps to morbid conclusions, but before Kit can speak a single word, Valentine is rushing off.
Kit and Merry follow him, both concerned, and they catch up to him in the nearest alley to find him throwing up into a trash can. Merry paws at Valentine’s leg as Kit begins to rub his back soothingly, unsure of what to do and fretting over the fact. “Do you know what’s causing it?” He asks, and Valentine is only able to answer with a shake of his head and groan. “It’s not like you ate anything bad this morning.” Kit thinks out loud, trying to work out what’s wrong so that he can remedy the situation. “And you weren’t showing any signs of anything until-” until Valentine ate the candy. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” He questions, anxiety causing his voice to shake as he digs into his pocket to pull out the piece of candy. Again, Valentine shakes his head, straightening up but still holding his stomach; his breakfast has now left him, but the pain hasn’t. “Candy to die for.” Kit begins reading the small text printed on the wrapper out loud as he looks for the ingredients. “Love from your friends, the Animals.” He looks up to Valentine, about to comment on how strange the packaging, but he falls silent when he sees Valentine’s mortified expression. Kit doesn’t understand what he’s just read, but Valentine knows. The Animals are back, and they’ve just poisoned him.
11:33 a.m.
Edward Cunningham has missed the past two years of these celebrations, and despite now being back in Shrike Heights, he’s not in any hurry to watch the parade or to attend the carnival. Perhaps if his younger siblings were in his care today, like they so often are, he would have been more excited, but without them he’s not sure if he’ll even catch sight of a single float. He has other things to do around town, he’s not prioritizing anything other than those mindless errands, but he happens to breeze through them; perhaps because most of the other residents are making a point of seeing the parade, the stores in the mall he visits aren’t crowded enough to stop him from getting everything he needs promptly. He makes it outside and over to the main street where the parade passes by after all.
A face he’s not expecting to meet on the curb next to the parade is the one that belongs to Omar Hassan. Edward can’t recall seeing him outside of the mall since he’s been back in town, since the mall’s construction, and the truth is that he’s a little surprised to see the man there. He’s surprised that anything could have taken him away from his work, but he smiles in his direction and he honestly doesn’t think much more of it as he walks over to greet him. He supposes it’s a good look for the mall to have their more internal employees attending town festivities, and he’s glad to see that Omar isn’t being made to miss out on anything because of his duties at the mall. They begin to catch up with friendly small talk, though like the rest of the crowd, they quickly get entranced by the parade’s show.
The float that begins to slowly pass them by has what looks to be hundreds of helium filled balloons floating above it. Performers dressed as clowns, characters, animals and other undecipherable yet brightly coloured things both perform skits on their float and walk alongside it, interacting with the crowd that watches them pass. Neither Omar or Edward are particularly interested in the crowd work being done, but they both silently think about how nice it is to be surrounded by people who seem to be excited and happy about the festivities. The crowd around them isn’t terribly large, but it’s substantial enough all throughout town to keep the upbeat energy that is certainly feel good, even for those who have reservations about the parade, the carnival and all else that’s happening in Shrike Heights right now.
As they stand beside each other and silently watch on, a person costumed in bright red with a mask resembling the features of a dog of the same colour approaches. He holds out a red balloon for Omar to take, though with a laugh Omar shakes his head and his hands, rejecting the offer. He doesn’t particularly want to have to take it back to his office, knowing it will only inevitably linger there until the helium no longer holds it up against the roof; not to mention, he feels a little foolish at the thought of carrying around a balloon as a grown man. Edward has the same worry of looking silly, carrying a balloon across town at his age, but the dog is insistent on one of them accepting his offer, so Edward takes one for the team and he wraps his hand around the string of the balloon. He laughs, already a little embarrassed, but he knows his younger siblings will be elated to see the balloon when he returns home, so he supposes it will be worth it in the end. Unfortunately, however, Edward never makes it home with the balloon.
He plans on only watching the parade for a small while longer, as does Omar, though neither of them discuss this. They just stay standing on the curb, taking in the details of the next float that passes, the float being one of many that accentuates features of and advertises the carnival games. At the front of the float is a man holding a collection of darts; he keeps pretending that he’s going to throw them at the balloon float ahead of them, but he does no such thing due to the safety risk. People laugh at his act, but Edward and Omar aren’t able to laugh for very long before their mood is terribly soured. A dart comes out of nowhere, perhaps from another person on the same float that passes, and it pops the balloon Edward holds. The act would have been fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that once popped, a liquid that has gone undetected inside of the floating balloon drops down and splatters the two men all over. They both groan and begin to gag, not hesitating to rush off to clean up; there’s no mistaking what the dark, red liquid is that covers them from head to toe. They’ve been drenched in blood.
11:49 a.m.
Down where the crowd gets larger and louder, Aera Davies is watching the parade with glee. It’s safe to assume that all of the mall workers have been suffering since the attacks began here in Shrike Heights, and there’s no need to only assume that Aera has suffered when she so recently lost a co-worker to the killers. Bodhi is on her mind today. She doesn’t think the parade would have been his scene, but she’s still saddened that he doesn’t even get the option to attend, should he have wanted to. She decides to make the most of the events that she can enjoy, not only for her own sake, but in honour of Bodhi and the other friends and family that they have all lost because of the serial murders that have now thankfully slowed down. Aera isn’t confident enough to say that this is all over with, but she’s an optimistic person and she’s confident enough to enjoy festivities like the parade.
Someone who can’t say the same is Johanna Prinsen. There’s not an optimistic bone in that woman’s body, but regardless of the fact, she’s made it to the parade too, and she stands just behind Aera in the crowd. Johanna isn’t able to enjoy the parade at all, but she puts on a brave face and she acts like she’s having a blast for the sake of appearances. She doesn’t want anyone to know just how much she’s struggling, so she wears her best smile and she tries to lose herself in the colorful display. She might not be feeling good, but she does enjoy aspects of the performances, and her smile becomes a little more genuine as she watches the cheerleading team from Shrike High pass them by. She remembers the day when used to be recruited for the parade performance as a high schooler, and while so many positive changes have happened for her since then, she can’t help but feel a longing to have those days back, those days when their town wasn’t under attack.
While the students and some other members of the town get to walk, perform and make the welcoming parade the grand spectacle that it always is, the main reason for the parade is to highlight the arrival of the carnival. Aera and Johanna are reminded of the fact as the cheer squad passes them by and another float highlighting the carnival games begins to roll down the street in front of them. This one is safe from sharps, but many people standing on the float hold water pistols in their hands, not the kind one might use for a water fight in their own backyard, but instead the kind one might use at the carnival games that require you to shoot water into the mouths of fiberglass clown heads. The performers use these water pistols to spray the crowd, evoking screams of mostly joy, mixed with some screams of horror as they wet newly done perms or ruin bright, powdery makeup.
Johanna is glad to be a row behind others, glad to be out of the line of fire - well, water - but Aera isn’t so lucky. Aera doesn’t need to worry about her hair, nor does she particularly care for her makeup, but she’s still hoping the water will avoid her. She squeals with joy and nervousness as she watches someone close to her get sprayed with the water, and though she thinks she’s prepared enough to be able to dodge the pistol, she’s wrong. Her assumption isn’t the only thing that’s wrong, however, but the carnie’s aim proves to be wrongfully precise and they shoot water right into Aera’s eye. She gasps, then inhales the water that drips down her face, and as she coughs and splutters she falls backwards into the rest of the crowd. Johanna groans as she’s unexpectedly tasked with catching the weight of the woman, but thankfully she’s relieved of her duty swiftly as a performer with a green rabbit mask helps her back up and onto her feet steadily. “Thank you.” Aera says graciously, despite the fact that she can’t see who’s helped her as her eyes are squeezed shut tightly in an effort to protect them from the water. The rabbit pulls a handkerchief out of their pocket, and they place it in Aera’s hand. Understanding even without her sight, Aera begins to wipe and dry her face, and the rabbit walks off with the rest of the parade.
Aera begins to find the humor and the fun in the situation, that is, until she opens her eyes and looks at the handkerchief she’s just used. A jagged gasp leaves her, and she stumbles back with fright. Once again, her body has knocked into Johanna’s, but this time Aera takes them both down. Aera spins and catches herself on her arm, grazing her skin and most likely earning herself bruises, but Johanna is less fortunate, falling back without being able to catch herself, her head hitting the sidewalk with a harsh thud. Before she can do a thing to react to anything that has just happened, Aera is helping her up. “I’m so sorry, I’m so- I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, and Johanna suddenly cares less about her injury as she grows more concerned for Aera. The fear in her eyes is disturbing, but it makes perfect sense the second her eyes find the handkerchief she holds. Embroidered onto the fabric are yet graphic scenes of people being murdered in many different ways; the stitch work is tiny, but impeccable, making the scenes clearly understood. Across one edge of the fabric, the stitches speak. ‘Shrike Heights, 1987 -’, the embroidered text says, and the words are chilling enough to cause Johanna to shiver. “I was just frightened.” Aera explains, though there’s no need to. Johanna is frightened too.
12:00 p.m.
With so much commotion surrounding the parade, it’s easy for unfortunate incidents to be missed, and this is especially true for those in the busier parts of the crowd. August Vogel hasn’t noticed any poisoned candy, blood spills or sinister handkerchiefs as he stands in the crowd, and neither has Moss Oliva, not even when Moss is now awfully observant due to great paranoia. They both have reservations about being out at the parade, though they’re both trying their hardest to enjoy the moment and to experience the joy that’s been promised to them by the likes of Mayor Sweeney and other town officials who have been advertising the parade and the carnival. They stand at the start of the busiest portion of town, where the crowd begins to swell and still grow, and surrounding them is excited chatter about the best part of the show arriving.
The parade doesn’t have much longer to go, and everyone knows that it’s at this point when things grow to be a little more engaging, where all down the line the performers give it their all while those who are less performative begin to really work the crowd by gifting their best vouchers and sweet little presents - or not so sweet, if you’ve been unlucky enough to be given items that have clearly been tampered with… Cheers from the crowd grow louder as those walking amongst or standing on top of floats demand it, and the environment only grows to be louder as costumed individuals begin handing out treats and prizes to most who stand at the front of the crowd at the edges of the street. Moss jumps as the first confetti cannon goes off with a loud bang, and August can’t help his first response being to laugh. “You okay?” He then asks, to ensure he’s not coming across as insensitive, reaching out to place a hand on Moss’ shoulder reassuringly. With a small laugh of his own, Moss nods.
More and more confetti cannons begin to go off, sprinkling little pieces of confetti all over the crowd on either side of the road. It’s a marvelous sight, to look up into the sky and see slow falling rain of every color falling down, and it strangely brightens the mood of most in the crowd, including the at the time hesitant Moss and the at the time slightly pessimistic August. The volume of the event is undeniably overwhelming, but it feels good to be overwhelmed with something that isn’t only complete despair. Moss smiles, and he turns his head to look at August, who he shares the nice moment with. The smile is returned by August, who gains more optimism from Moss, and who then allows himself to enjoy the event a little more. Neither of them are aware that killers are present, and neither of them are expecting things to go sour, even if they both are worried underneath their layer of temporary joy.
Suddenly a performer stops their walk right in front of the two. Their costume is all purple, their mask closely resembling the features of a bear. They don’t say a word, but they hand both August and Moss free tickets for the carnival’s largest roller coaster, and then they step back, shooting a small confetti cannon of their own over the two. Unlike the rest of the confetti that flies through the skies, the confetti that falls on mainly August and Moss, the two prize winners, is only black and white. August notes this immediately, and he picks a piece off of his shirt to examine. “Hey, it’s like proper paper.” He tells Moss as the bear is no longer anywhere to be seen, having walked along with the rest of the parade. “See, it’s got some text on it.” He shows the other man, picking more pieces off of himself to try to find words, only out of sheer curiosity. With a laugh, he keeps speaking. “It looks like the confetti is made out of other free tickets. See, ‘coaster’. Maybe if we piece it all together we can have unlimited rides.” He jokes, not seriously caring to do so, but finding the thought entertaining.
Moss finds the thought entertaining also. He’s not sure if he will even make it to the carnival, but he too begins to collect pieces of the confetti to read and potentially piece together. Shortly after picking the second piece out of his own hair, his face drops. He falls to a knee, and he begins to search through the pieces of confetti that have now fallen to the floor frantically. After a moment longer of searching, he straightens up, still on his knee, and August can see tears rolling down Moss’ cheeks. The rest of the parade is completely forgotten by the both of them. “Flora Oliva.” Moss reads the name of his late wife, the one taken from him far too soon in one of the attacks. He hands the pieces to August, and he continues. “Charlotte Davis.” His voice is quiet, but August can hear him loud and clear, remembering Charlie. “Bodhi Kol.” He hands these pieces to August, too, but he no longer continues searching, instead handing even more of the already found pieces to him, pieces that contain segments of dates and other details. “It’s not just made out of free tickets. It’s made out of death certificates.” His voice shakes as he looks up to August, still crying.
12:03 p.m.
For such a small town, the crowd around the parade is unexpectedly big. Most of the residents suppose it makes sense, with how many new people have made their way to Shrike Heights since the construction of the mall, but it’s still a jarring sight. Both Kang Mina and Tatum Lee understand the growth that their small town has seen lately, though they both find themselves surprised by the crowd nonetheless. Are so many people really that eager to see a silly little show filled with adults playing dress up? Neither of them are sure, but somehow, the two of them get stuck in the thick of the crowd anyway. They have to push their way to the front to preserve their ability to breathe, and once there, they decide to watch part of the show. May as well see what all of the fuss is about, right? And besides, with all the commotion, neither of them are sure that they’ll find an easy path out. So much for Shrike Heights being a small town.
The atmosphere is just as loud and chaotic, even when all of the crowd is behind or beside them, no longer fully surrounding the two, but at least they can actually see the details of the show now. In a break between two tremendously large floats, a group of dancers dressed in their best begin to pass them, performing with wide, attention grabbing smiles. Mina’s eyes immediately begin scanning their faces of makeup; it’s more alternative than they would have thought them to have, and they immediately go on to wonder about the products used to craft their looks. Beside them, Tatum’s eyes are also fixed on the dancers, though instead of thinking about their makeup, she begins to examine their outfits. A dancer close to them wears a costume with red lace on it that reminds her of a couple of the new arrivals found in Jennifer’s; she wonders if now would be a good time to head over to the mall to obtain some for herself, of if the emptiness of the stores would only make it more likely that she’ll get caught paying with a five finger discount.
There are aspects of the parade that can entertain anyone, it seems, though this very fact may act as part of the parade’s downfall. It’s simply chaotic. Minutes have passed and confetti cannons still go off; people - mostly children with high pitched vocal abilities - scream as performers hand out vouchers, candy, balloons and more; people in the crowd talk to each other loudly to be heard over the music that blasts from floats and the loud voices amplified as spoken through microphones; whistles are blown, hands are clapped, drums are hit, horns are honked, sirens go off in the distance; mothers call out to their children that walk to represent Shrike Elementary for the very first time. Chaotic very quickly turns into overstimulating, and many in the crowd don’t care enough for the parade to stick around for the entire thing, many including both Mina and Tatum.
Unfortunately in their spot, wedged at the front of the thickest part of the crowd, it’s not easy to make an escape. Neither of them speak to each other about it, they instead both try to wait it out for a moment, but that quickly gets old as the grubby faced child next to Tatum keeps bumping into her as he jumps to the beat of the music that plays. “I need some space.” Mina tells the other, as if reading Tatum’s mind - though it’s not hard to assume one doesn’t want to stay in the suffocating position for long. The two of them begin to push their way back through the crowd, struggling but making decent work of it, and feeling relief with each step they take away from the overzealous crowd members and performers. They settle in a section a little ways away from the worst of the crowd, though they stop earlier than planned as Mina catches sight of someone she knew in high school standing at the top of a float. It’s still overwhelming where they stand there, but both of them are planning on heading further out and going their own ways in only moments, so a minute longer won’t hurt either of them - or so they think.
Suddenly, Tatum is knocked into Mina from the side by someone she assumes is trying to skate past them, through the crowd that contains only just large enough gaps for them to weave through, from the looks of things. They both scan their surroundings, but before they can spot the brightly coloured roller skater with no respect, a performer from the street comes flying their way, seemingly accidentally, and they collide with both Mina and Tatum harshly. Though the collision seemed accidental, the cat recovers with ease, and they keep on walking before Mina and Tatum can even take a step back to try to steady themselves. Unfortunately once they do step back, they find an inability to steady themselves, as they in almost perfect synchronization feel a stinging pain in the back of their calves and quickly fall down onto the ground, landing on their backs. Everything happens so quickly. As they lay on the filthy sidewalk with throbbing, aching bodies and stinging, bleeding legs, they both catch sight of one bubblegum twin each, and though the wind has been knocked out of them, they feel even more breathless as they begin to register what has happened. The twins skate away before Mina or Tatum - or any of the few people in the crowd that even noticed the fall, though somehow not the killers or the attack - can say anything, though before they’re completely out of sight, Tatum just catches a glance of the razor wire that the twins used to trip the two.
12:06 p.m.
It’s not surprising in the slightest, the fact that so many in the crowd find themselves more overwhelmed than what they might have felt at the welcoming parade last year, or certainly the year before. Not only has the size of the town grown, but many residents of Shrike Heights have experienced horrors they never even saw coming in years prior. Only a small collection of attack survivors come out to watch the parade, but because of the obscene amount of survivors that there are, they happen to make up a large population of the crowd. Soren Chen happens to be one of these survivors, accompanied by Sawyer Pearson, naturally. It’s a big step to be in the community again after suffering such a brutal fate in the last recorded attack, but Soren doesn’t feel so scared when Sawyer is by their side, vowing protection.
Despite promises uttered and reassurance given, Soren is finding herself quickly overwhelmed. She trusts Sawyer, but she can no longer say that she trusts Shrike Heights - though the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes she’s never had much trust in anything at all, even before the attack. As always, Soren is trying to be brave. The loud noises make her flinch, the screams make her gut churn, and the masked performers make her angry. How anyone can don a mask when that’s the exact criteria for a Shrike Killer, she doesn’t know; she’s not the only one who thinks that the insensitive act of wearing masks, carving faces into jack-o-lanterns or even owning white sheets should be banned from this town. But despite all she feels, and all she thinks, she doesn’t say a word. She’s uncharacteristically quiet with Sawyer, but the attorney knows her well enough to read her regardless of the absence of speech.
“Would you like to get out of here?” Sawyer asks her, a comforting hand on Soren’s shoulder that proves ineffective as Soren’s breath still noticeably hitches when the conversation is initiated. Perhaps to say it was noticeable was a stretch; perhaps it’s only noticeable to Sawyer. Perhaps this is why Soren trusts only her to help navigate the extremely large, extremely loud outing that Soren isn’t sure she’s ready for yet, despite wanting so badly to have a nice time here. “Come on,” Sawyer begins affectionately, not needing to wait for a verbal answer when the look on Soren’s face reads overwhelmed and done with the event well enough alone. “The best of the parade is over now, anyway.” She tries to make leaving sound like a choice better than it is, despite not being local to Shrike Heights, despite not really knowing what the end of this welcoming parade typically looks like.
Together, they begin to walk away from the thick of the crowd. Soren’s arm is still securely trapped in their cast, so the two walk slowly and steadily to ensure no more damage is done to them; lord knows, Soren has endured enough injury for one lifetime. “They didn’t bring back my favourite float this year, anyway.” Soren speaks quietly, yet still loudly enough to be heard over the crowd. To say they feel disappointed over having their life so deeply changed by the killers would be an understatement, but they’re trying their best to pick out the positives in their experiences. With Sawyer there, that’s a little easier to do. “I think-” before she can finish her sentence, two brightly colored individuals zoom past them on their skates, causing the two to stop quickly and harshly to avoid a collision. Being a skater herself, Soren knows it’s not hard to respect others when your chosen method of transport is on wheels; she knows that their rudeness was a choice, though that’s no surprise, though she doesn’t yet understand how sinister their choices are. “Let’s go.” The nervousness in Soren’s voice is louder now, and their steps are faster. She was already feeling positively overwhelmed, but now overstimulated doesn’t even cover how she feels.
They both think their path to safety is clear ahead of them, despite the hiccup with the skaters, but as they keep walking they’re suddenly proven wrong, and they’re suddenly made to realize that these aren’t just any skaters. These are the Bubblegum Twins. The twins begin to skate around the two individuals, and suddenly Soren can’t breathe. She looks to Sawyer, then she looks around them, and it seems that no one else even notices them behind the crowd, all eyes pointing in the other direction, to the parade. The twins begin to chant, they begin taunting them, with their focus on Soren in particular; it seems that they find it fun, picking on the weakest link, the one already injured. Soren feels no luck, but it is a good thing that the rising panic attack hinders her ability to register the words spoken to her. She feels suffocated, as if there’s no escape, shades of baby pink and blue swirling around and around and around them until she’s dizzy. “Stop it!” Sawyer yells, holding onto Soren securely and following through with her promise of protection. Unlike her companion, the words spoken by the Bubblegum Twins do register in her mind, and all she can think about is how she can get Soren out of here safely. “Leave us alone! Leave her alone! Stop it!” There is fear in her eyes, but fierce, angry, protectiveness overpowers it. “Leave her alone!” She shouts, louder than before, and the volume is enough to turn a couple of heads in the crowd. The twins share a look before following Sawyer’s orders, first stopping, and then fleeing. The only words that Soren is sure she’s heard correctly are the very last of what the twins say, when they promise to see her again soon.
Yet another town event in Shrike Heights has taken a dark turn. The fundraising event held last night kicking off the start of summer in our beloved town came to a jarring end much earlier than anticipated, with the auction held by Mayor Sweeney being interrupted by another horrific attack. Despite the Mayor’s private security team being assigned the duty of protecting residents and visitors, three known killers and one new attacker present found victims amongst the crowd. The killers known as the Ghost, the Skeleton and the Scarecrow were reportedly responsible for the injuries, along with someone posing as the statue of Murray Sweeney, the Shrike Heights hero. Mayor Sweeney is yet to make a formal statement on last night’s events that he narrowly escaped unharmed, but authorities are once again asking for anyone with information to step forward and they urge residents to stay safe and to act smart.
wednesday june 1st, 1988.
The early summer isn’t too much different from spring in appearance, apart from the slight change in hue of the blossoms. Native flowers fill the flowerbeds in the town center, and wildflowers are strewn throughout the grass in the park. Many residents say that this is their favourite part of town at this time of year. The trees remain thick with green leaves until the last weeks of summer, making them optimal for shade from the heat of the sun. Despite the weather still being mild, many people take shelter under them throughout the afternoon until sundown. Today is a perfect day for the Shrike Heights fundraiser auction. The aesthetic appeal of the town center meeting the aesthetic of the artworks on display makes it an incredible sight to see.
When the sun is hidden by the distant mountains and the sky is growing darker, people flock to the town square, moving in from Willow Bridge and the nearby park. Nobody wants to miss the big auction - whether it’s to see and admire the art, or to make fun of those who’d be stupid enough to spend so much money on a painting that wasn’t by an artist that most Shrike Heights residents could name. Mayor Sweeney is to be making an appearance, which seems to be a rare occurrence nowadays. It has some residents on edge, while others are bristling with excitement.
The grey-haired, bearded man steps onto the stage, and the audience gives half-hearted applause for their mayor. He clears his throat and taps the microphone to be sure that it’s turned on. “Welcome to the fundraiser auction! It’s wonderful to see so many of you out here tonight supporting our wonderful little town.” It’s near impossible to ignore the private security guards that stand surrounding the stage, standing in wait to protect him should a threat appear. There had been a promise of security at the fundraiser, but it was becoming increasingly clear that the mayor was first priority over the rest of the attendees.
“Shrike Heights has gone through many changes throughout the past few years. Every year our little town grows larger and stronger. I must say I have never seen a town so resilient. We couldn’t be what we are today if it weren’t for all of you… but there are a select few people that we must thank in particular. The distinguished members of our society deserve a special mention. Those who have invested in our mall, bringing it to life and creating thousands of new jobs. Those who have donated to our college, bringing more traffic to our town and helping the youth of Shrike and surrounding towns get a better education. Those who have funded public projects and who have kept the town running smoothly for so many years. These people are the true unsung heroes of Shrike Heights. Everyone give them a round of applause,” his voice drips with pride, but his smile seems cold. Truth is, he had been expecting a larger crowd - many of the residents had made their way home already after making their donations or browsing through all of the local artists’ stalls. “These people are the ones who have donated these near priceless artworks for us to auction off today, so that we may put more funds back into our deserving town. The first piece we have here is-”
Before Mayor Sweeney can unveil the first piece behind him, there is a shrill, blood-curdling scream in the crowd.
There is a moment of silence, people glancing nervously all around them as they try to figure out where the scream had come from. Very suddenly, a group of people shuffle away, pushing into other members of the crowd. From the stage, Mayor Sweeney keeps his composure - not allowing anyone to believe for one moment that he might be nervous. Once the crowd starts to move, his eyes focus on the area that the residents are avoiding. On the ground is the body of a woman, lying in a pool of her own blood. He swallows hard when he sees the gaping wound in her neck from where her throat was violently slit.
Panic erupts. The second there is another scream from the crowd, the security team rushes onto the stage, surrounding the mayor and immediately ushering him to safety, leaving the rest of the crowd nearly defenceless against whatever it was that had killed Trudy McAlister. The crowd becomes a stampede of desperate people trying to get to safety, trying not to crush Trudy’s body beneath their feet as they do so. Escape becomes more difficult with the intense, unorganised chaos.
The crowd disperses in all directions, attempting to use the nearest paths to get out of the town square. Several people find themselves getting nowhere with the foot traffic. Amongst those, are Loki Romanov, Alicia Sloane and James Creepie, who all are getting pushed against one another by the passersby. Alicia looks around her, eyes honing in on the nearby park. “Through the park,” she says, nudging Loki - her voice quiet enough for only those directly surrounding her to hear. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a flood of people to ruin their last chance of a quick escape, “We’ll be able to get through there!”
“Right right, quick, through the garden beds!” Loki gently shoves Alicia in the right direction before she has the chance to move herself. Similarly, she doesn’t want too many people catching on to their plan. The two of them push through the garden beds, twigs snagging on their clothing as they begin in the direction of the park. Footsteps behind them give Alicia a brief moment of anxiety before she turns to see James following them after having eavesdropped on their plan. One more person can’t hurt, she thinks, thankful that it was no more than that. Loki isn’t particularly pleased. When he catches up to them, another piercing scream is heard across the town square. They stop in their tracks, breath heavy, hearts beating fast. They’re all too focused on trying to find the source of the sound over the footsteps of the terrified crowd that they don’t hear the twigs snapping behind them.
The Scarecrow had gone unnoticed due to the semi-appropriate positioning of it in the garden bed - right beneath one of the oak trees just outside the park. Nobody has the chance to notice the killer until Loki is hit on the side of the head with a great whack. The doctor’s vision goes black for just a moment, doubling over with pain. When she comes-to, her vision is blurred, eyes full of involuntary tears as warm blood trickles down her face. A scream is heard over the sharp ringing in her ears, which she instinctively wants to cover as if it might stop the noise. What really brings her back to reality is the pitchfork that drives into her side, ripping into her flesh and digging deep. Please don’t pull it out, please don’t pull it out, she silently begs - but the killer rips the prongs from her body, allowing a flow of fresh, hot blood to spill down the side of her.
She gasps and stumbles away as quickly as she can. Normally the smell of blood wouldn’t phase her, but her stomach churns as the strong metallic odour takes over her senses. She doesn’t let her panic get the best of her. Loki breaks open her blouse, leaving herself in only an undershirt. She carefully wraps it around her waist and pulls it uncomfortably tight, so that the bleeding might slow down. Though unsure of the state of her internal organs - she knows that it won’t take too long for her to bleed out if she doesn’t get help soon.
While Loki is in the middle of wrapping her wounds, the Scarecrow turns their attention to Alicia, who has, until now, been in shock. She turns fast on her heels, prepared to run. But before she can take another step, the killer swings their pitchfork, and the prongs pierce through Alicia’s clothing and drag deep through her flesh. The girl cries out in pain as the force of the blow knocks her to the ground.
Loki, despite the pain and loss of blood, rushes over to the fallen girl. The Scarecrow seems to have given their attention to the man who had followed them. She groans agonisingly as she bends over to help Alicia to her feet. “This way,” Loki says breathlessly, hobbling quickly into the park, trying her hardest not to move in a way that hurts her stab wounds too badly. When the two of them are some distance away from the killer, Loki turns Alicia around to look at the wound. Her clothing is soaked with blood, and it shows no sign of stopping any time soon. The doctor carefully removes Alicia’s cardigan, and pushes the fabric of her torn shirt up so that she can see just how deep the gashes are.
“How bad is it?” Alicia asks through heavy breaths, “Do I want to know how bad it is?”
“You’re bleeding a lot. That’s the main concern. You know, generally blood is supposed to stay inside the body. But don’t panic, you need a clear mind. This wound is not so bad. You will be fine,” she realises now how her work bleeds into her everyday life in ways she doesn’t expect, as she tries her best to comfort her. Loki ties the cardigan around Alicia’s torso, pulling it as tight as possible. “I’m sorry if it’s uncomfortable but that’s the only way.”
“No it’s fine - thank you,” she says appreciatively, “Will you be okay?”
“I’m not so sure, I’m losing a lot of blood. First I need your help getting out of here.”
Alicia allows Loki to wrap her arm around her shoulder, and she supports her as they make a run for it.
James Creepie is not so fortunate. The Scarecrow mercilessly hits the man in the back of the head, the heavy metal of the pitchfork hitting him so harshly that he falls flat on his face. James loses vision temporarily, and he blindly reaches out in front of him in an attempt to find something to help him push himself to his feet. He finally pushes himself to his hands and knees, and as he tries to get back on his feet - the Scarecrow attacks again. He isn’t sure whether he hears it or feels it first - pitchfork prongs driving through his ankle, shattering the bone in the process. James struggles against the killer, sharp pain shooting up his entire leg.
He lets out a guttural scream as the killer rips the pitchfork from his ankle. As if the noise and the pain wasn’t enough to prove that his ankle was destroyed, his inability to move it at the joint was certainly confirmation of the brutal break. James desperately rolls onto his back, trying to shuffle away from the killer. The Scarecrow raises their pitchfork to strike again, but James lashes out with his good leg, his foot colliding with the Scarecrow’s hand. Hay falls from the villain and lands all over the man, but the pitchfork falls to the ground with a rattle, and James takes the chance to army crawl to safety, his arms and knees getting scraped up in the process.
While the Scarecrow is at work, a small group of people are trying to make their way out of the town square in the opposite direction. Within said group is Malakai Kings, Dustin Waerea and Coral Reeves - the three of them eager to get away from whatever killer has decided to show up to the Shrike fundraising event. The three of them are certain that they’re not going to let themselves become victims. “This seems like the safest way to go,” Dustin says as he leads the others to the clearest path.
“Seems like the safest bet,” Malakai agrees with him, allowing Dustin to lead the way, but following close behind him. There is a positive energy throughout the trio - the three of them thankful that they’ve escaped Trudy Mcalister’s killer. Coral breathes a sigh of relief as they hurry down the path, away from the rest of the panicked crowd.
Unfortunately for Dustin, who is in the lead, the path is vacant for a reason. From out of the shadows steps The Skeleton, so close that Dustin has to skid to a halt. Malakai almost crashes into his back, but very quickly stumbles backwards so that he’s out of reach of the killer. Before Dustin can make a move, the Skeleton swings the femur bone that he brandishes as a weapon, and hits him over the head. The loud crack makes Malakai and Coral cringe, and Dustin falls to the ground with a heavy thud, completely unconscious. “Dustin!” Malakai rushes to his side, holding his head off the ground and shaking his torso in an attempt to wake him. “Dustin, get up!” He quickly checks his friend’s pulse, and when he feels that there is a heartbeat, he begins to assess his wounds.
While Malakai is tending to Dustin, the Skeleton turns to Coral. They swallow hard as he seems to stare at them with empty eyes. They only get the chance to take several steps backwards before the killer leaps towards them, swinging his bone with all of his strength right into their face. The impact is so harsh that the skin on their cheekbone splits open, blood dripping down their face. “Damn it,” they reach up to put pressure on their wound in an attempt to stop some of the bleeding, but the Skeleton takes the opportunity to hit them again and again, the strong femur bone hitting their arms over and over as they try to defend themself against the savage blows. It takes only a moment before they’re knocked to the ground, crying out in pain.
Malakai gently slaps his friend’s face, desperate for him to wake. While Coral is being targeted, Dustin manages to open his eyes. He feels a wave of nausea overcome him. “Dustin, you have to get up,” he tells him, hooking his arms under Dustin’s in order to lift him up to his feet. “We have to get out of here.” Though he agrees, Dustin struggles to move, dizzier than he’s ever been before. He sways slightly on his feet, leaning forward to support himself on Malakai.
Before Dustin has the chance to do so, the Skeleton steps forward, and decides that Malakai will be his next victim. He swings the bone with intense force, the blunt object hitting the blonde’s torso with a loud thud. It takes all of the air out of him, and it feels for a minute as though he’s forgotten how to breathe. The pain makes him equally as vulnerable as his friend who is still standing, swaying on the spot beside him and seeing double.
The Skeleton lands blow after blow, delivering heavy hits to both Dustin and Malakai. Dustin is unable to run, but he attempts to shield himself with his arms crossed over his face; the Skeleton’s weapon makes impact with his wrist, and after another sickening crack upon impact Dustin isn’t sure if his wrist is just sprained or completely broken. As Dustin groans and stumbles backwards, the Skeleton turns to make sure Coral is given equal attention, but he finds that he’s given her too much time. Coral is fleeing. He takes a few steps forward as though he wants to pursue her, but he knows that there isn’t a good chance of catching up to her. Frustrated, he turns back to Dustin and Malakai, but once again he has given his victims too much time, and they’ve begun to make their escape.
The killer decides to move on, searching for more victims now that the fun has been sapped out of the encounter with Coral, Malakai and Dustin.
As the crowd scatters and the attacks around Trudy’s lifeless body begin, Rosie Mahelona, Florian Bonavita and Amavi Rosales find themselves in close proximity to each other. No-one is really sure of who the perpetrator might be, unsure of who could have ended Trudy’s life so brutally in front of such a large audience. None of them had seen a thing, but they don’t have any time to discuss as they hurry to find a hiding place.
The crowd and the intense panic is too much for the trio to try to tackle. “It’s not worth the risk,” Rosie tells them. “We should hide until we can figure out the safest route.” The trio feel that the sooner they get to safety, the better - it’s too much of a risk to go with the bustling crowd when their lives are truly in danger. For all they know they could be cut down right there in the middle of the crowd, just like Trudy. Florian holds onto Amavi tightly, more afraid than he cares to admit, needing the comfort of the other man while also secretly hoping that he doesn’t run off and risk being injured.
The three of them spot one of many statues that have been in the town square for generations. This particular statue was made in the early 1900s, erected in honour of Murray Sweeney, the miner who saved as many co-workers as he could when the mines in Shrike Heights collapsed in a terrible accident. It’s the shiniest statue in the whole town - they suppose because the mayor, a descendant of the hero, ensures that it’s cleaned regularly. But it’s also one of the largest (being of multiple men and their tools, slightly larger than life-sized.) “Quick, behind the statue! It should give us enough cover to buy us some time,” Florian says, ushering the others towards it.
They all breathe heavily. Even if they weren’t frightened, the whole situation is incredibly overwhelming with the commotion and the sound of the screams, along with the rush to get to safety - it leaves them breathless. They huddle close together, minds racing to figure out the best possible route out of the town square.
“Do you think the park would be the safest option?” Rosie asks.
“I think that’s unlikely, surely it’s already full of people,” Amavi replies.
Though they’re under the impression they have a minute or so to work out the best route out of the town center, Rosie and Amavi are suddenly interrupted by Florian’s sudden yelping. They turn to find him being lifted into the air by a tight grip around his neck, strangling him in the process. He kicks out as he tries to break free, trying to gasp but having no ability to even do that. His hands claw at the hands around his neck, though his efforts are futile.
“Who the- why would someone- Florian.” Rosie struggles to string together a sentence as she can’t even make sense of the sight. It seems as though The Statue of Murray Sweeney has come to life, and he’s holding Florian in a tight and painful grip. She doesn’t know how to articulate herself or her fright - and she can’t make sense of why someone would go to the effort of masking themselves in the costume of a statue in order to add themselves to the roster of killers in Shrike Heights. Amavi can’t believe his eyes either, and in shock, he finds himself speechless, unsure of how he can help his friend.
Florian’s struggle slowly becomes less intense as his vision starts to fade to black. Before he’s rendered unconscious, he’s thrown down harshly, his body hitting the ground with a heavy thump. The uninjured duo attempt to rush to his side, desperate to be of aid and get him away from the new threat, but before Rosie can reach her friend, the pickaxe that the Statue holds is plunged down into the side of her thigh. The pain pulses through her leg, and she lets out a scream, one that becomes devastatingly louder when the pickaxe is ripped from her thigh and blood gushes down her leg.
“Are you okay?” Amavi asks Florian in a hurry, hands on his shoulders as he waits for an intelligible response.
“So dizzy,” Florian responds between loud, deep breaths.
Rosie drops to the ground, panicking desperately as she tries to put pressure on the wound. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to stop the flow of blood. Amavi jumps back up from Florian’s side, prepared to defend the trio from the assailant. But before he can make a move he’s hit across his head by the arm of the Statue, and the blow is so hard and powerful that the skin splits open on his forehead and he’s sent falling to the ground, grasping at his head to feel the warm liquid trickling down the side of his face.
Rosie and Amavi scramble to crawl away from the assailant, both wounded and terrified for their lives. Florian, however, takes a moment longer to recover. He gasps for breath as his vision returns to normal, and he’s only able to feel his body again enough to move it when the Statue swings down with his pickaxe, aiming to plunge it deep into his abdomen. Florian moves aside as quickly as possible, his legs feeling numb beneath him. While he’s fortunate enough not to have a severe injury inflicted upon him, the pick cuts sharply down his side, tearing into his flesh.
Despite the sharp pain, he tries to move away from the attacker as his two friends do too, but things are looking bleak for the trio. Florian is sure they won’t make it out alive, tears threatening to spill as he thinks, is this really how it’s going to end for us? That’s when Loki and Alicia reach them, in the middle of running from their own attacker.
“Help! Please help us,” Rosie calls for them, not having seen the duo’s injuries at first. Upon closer inspection she realises that they are both in bad shape, and immediately feels bad for calling for them in their current state. But even so, Loki reaches down for her, pulling her up onto her feet.
Alicia is in tears, fighting through her pain and the overwhelming emotions from the horror show that the event turned out to be. Still, she helps Amavi up onto his feet, and he in turn helps Florian, so that they can join Loki and Rosie to make their way away from the Statue. “Put as much pressure on this as possible,” Loki orders, “When we’re out of reach I can assess it and wrap it in an article of clothing until we get help.”
At first, the Statue is hot on their trail. One wrong move and someone would end up in his grasp. But the crew of injured residents are able to defy odds, and they make it to safety with enough determination and teamwork.
As the Statue makes his first appearance and is responsible for his first handful of injuries, the rest of the crowd tries their hardest to get out of the town center after being what they feel is abandoned by the security that had been promised to them by Mayor Sweeney. It’s a terrifying situation for everyone, especially with a multitude of screams coming from all different directions, coming from a multitude of different sources.
Celia Thomas can’t handle all of the overwhelming commotion, and very quickly she finds herself too far in a panic to cope. She does the only thing she can think of doing - and she runs, trying to find a space away from the others to hide, hoping that it can keep her safe until the worst of the situation is over.
The first place that catches her attention is up onto the small stage, behind the row of paintings waiting to be auctioned off, all protected under crisp white sheets. She breathes heavily as she squats down as close to one of the sheets as possible, thinking that if any threat were to come closer, she could simply hide underneath the sheet, out of sight. She doesn’t feel safe as she hides, but she never would have expected to be in as much danger as she finds herself in now.
Suddenly a sharp pain is felt in her side, enough to warrant an agonising scream. She jumps aside, though in her position, she stumbles and falls down on her side - the one opposite to the one that now feels suspiciously warm and wet. She looks down to see that it now oozes blood from a new rip in her shirt. At first she thinks that perhaps she might have caught herself on a nail - but before she has time to investigate her theory, The Ghost’s knife comes down on her again. Before she can act, before she can defend herself or attempt to escape, she’s being slashed at and cut all over her body by the killer.
The attack is quick and even more overwhelming than the ordeal with the crowd had been. Celia is cut across her chest, her stomach, her sides and her arms as she tries to shield herself from the attack. She screams in terror and agony, more blood splattering over her than she can stomach. She feels wet all over, and she can’t even figure out exactly where the blood is coming from there is so much of it. Through the pain, she turns her back on the killer and she tries to crawl away enough to get up onto her feet. She refuses to give up without a fight.
As she moves, she’s suddenly overcome with severe dizziness, and her bloody hand slips out from underneath her, leaving her to fall down on the ground with a loud thud. She rolls in an attempt of escaping the knife, not once, but twice, until she finds herself laying on her stomach underneath the sheets draped over the donated artwork. She’s lifeless, but the Ghost still slashes her once across her back and down one of her thighs before she slips into unconsciousness. The Ghost believes they’ve been successful.
Ernest Goodarzi jumps up onto the stage for the same reason as Celia - he’s afraid of what’s happening, wanting to avoid the chaos of the screaming crowd who are trying their hardest to escape and protect themselves now that the security team are nowhere to be seen. He doesn’t see the unconscious Celia concealed under the sheets, nor is he able to differentiate the Ghost’s figure under their white sheet as it stands amongst the artworks that are still all covered up. The only evidence of an attack easily seen is the blood splattered thickly all over the floor, seeping out from Celia’s seemingly lifeless body, but he doesn’t look at the ground as he - much like Celia had - expects the space to be safe. He’s too busy looking behind him to see the mess ahead of him.
It happens as quickly as Celia’s attack; he stands there panting, trying to catch his breath one second, then the next a sharp and hideous pain is inflicted upon him, stinging down his entire back where the Ghost’s blade strikes. He wants to scream, but no sound comes out. He turns around to face the killer, dread and fear washing over him completely. It causes him to freeze, his body paralysed and his mind following suit. He no longer even feels the pain - only complete numbness as he seems to go into shock - until the Ghost strikes again. Ernest’s attack is as rapid as it is intense. The Ghost slashes him across his stomach, then his sides, and though his arms move up in an attempt to defend himself, the blade slices open his cheek before he can stop it.
Finally Ernest can scream out in pain, the injuries being way more intense than any he’s used to. The Ghost continues their attack, slicing Ernest’s arms and hand open as he tries to defend himself, his legs finally working again as he stumbles backwards. He tries his best to dodge the attack, but it’s harder than he ever would have expected, especially with the addition of the horrific amount of cuts he’s suffering through, the cuts that drench his clothing and splatter all over their surroundings.
He falls, landing on his backside and almost falling off the stage. He only realises upon impact when a loud cry escapes his lips that he’s crying, tears rolling down his cheeks, half alongside blood that rolls down from the cut on his face.
He doesn’t know how he’ll make it out. Not until he spots Diego Muñoz on his way out of the town square alongside the rest of the residents who are fortunate enough to have the ability to do so. “Diego!” he calls for his coworker. Diego doesn’t owe him anything - as it’s no secret that Ernest isn’t the best High Scores employee - but he desperately pleads for the man’s help as he fears he’s about to meet the end of his life. “Diego- please!”
He never would have guessed he would be so afraid of dying.
Diego mightn’t have even seen the attack happening if Ernest didn’t call out his name, likely not even alerted by the sound as the commotion of the fleeing crowd is loud and chaotic - and it would have been easy for Ernest’s calls to be drowned out with the crowd. Being in close proximity, he can’t let Ernest die. Though the last thing Diego wants to do is get closer to the figure under the sheet that once again reaches the younger man and cuts across his side a second time. Diego knows that at the very least, he has to try.
He jumps up onto the stage, grabbing the crying, bloody man under his arms so that he can pull him up in one swift motion. Ernest doesn’t even have time to utter a thank you before the Ghost tries to attack the two men on the stage. Diego ushers Ernest away, trying to rush over to the other side of the small stage, purely because it's further away from the assailant. Diego’s stomach drops at the sight of the blood splattered and pooled all over the floor. He assumes that it’s all Ernie’s. It makes sense considering the state of him, and Ernie is growing too faint due to his own blood loss that he’s unable to differentiate what belongs to him and what belonged to Celia, still unnoticed by the Ghost’s two new victims.
As they try to pass the worst of the pooling blood, Ernest slips, nearly taking Diego down with him as he lands on the ground with a loud, wet thud. He tries to get back up, but the slippery surface and the wooziness prevents him from being able to do so on his own. He feels himself grow weaker and weaker. He reaches for the easel closest to him, but only knocks a row of four down like dominoes. Celia’s body was only one away from being found bleeding out, close to death.
Diego is unable to help Ernest, as the Ghost fixates on trying to injure him now, as they have the other two. The killer is insistent on having their fun. The Ghost slashes the space in front of them, inches away from Diego. He dodges the knife as best as he can, trying to save himself from slipping on the blood as he moves towards an escape, only earning a few small cuts over his body.
As Diego dodges the blade, Ernest gasps through the pain of the deep cuts all over, and pushes himself up, only to then shove aside one of the paintings and easels to create a gap wide enough for him to jump off of the stage. He lands on shaky feet, almost falling over with the impact. He wants nothing more to assist Diego, but he feels himself getting closer and closer to falling unconscious.
Seemingly out of nowhere, his co-worker - Coral - appears. She’s bleeding with a cut of her own, but she recognises that she’s in a far better state than Ernest, who struggles to even stand. Though she’s frightened, she reaches out to support him. “Hold onto me,” she tells him, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulder for support.
“We… have to help Diego,” he says, trying to stay as alert as possible, “He saved my life.”
That’s when Coral spots the other man facing the attack. Back on the small stage, Diego tries his best to avoid meeting the same fate as Ernest - or, unknowingly, Celia. He does a good job of it, nearing the gap where the easels and paintings have been knocked down and away, the gap where Ernest had been able to jump through. Diego has the intention of doing the same, but no matter how hard he tries to stay on his feet, he slips on the blood.
Much to his dismay, he slips towards the killer, and as he does so, the Ghost uncharacteristically plunges their knife deep into Diego’s abdomen. He jumps back, a shock reflex that earns him more pain, the slippery surface underneath him causing him to finally fall down onto his back. He knocks the air out of himself and struggles, trying to slide away from the killer with his limited ability.
Diego doesn’t believe that he’ll be able to make it up and to the stairs that he’d climbed up onto the stage with, nor does he think he’d be able to stand and jump down following Ernest now that he’s in this position, but he knows he needs to get away before more damage is done. He rolls off the stage in one quick movement, groaning out in pain as he lands on his back even harsher than he had fallen onto the stage moments before. He’s paralysed with pain and shock for a moment, but with Coral’s help - and Ernest’s, to a degree, though he’s hardly able to be much help despite trying - the High Scores employees make their way back onto their feet and away from the killer, each of them relieved that they just may live to see another day.
The commotion of the crowd running is hectic, but the town square starts emptying effectively shortly after the attacks that come to an end. None of the victims believe it really will be the end of the attacks, however, and they’re right to think that - as none of the four present killers seem to be in any hurry to leave.
It’s only when the sound of sirens fills the space that the few killers spotted start to disappear, and while the private security team that Mayor Sweeney promised don’t make their return to assist those hurt, police and paramedics are soon on the scene to start cleaning up the mess that the town had already seen far too much of.
All of the victims but Trudy make it to Shrike County hospital in time to receive life saving assistance, even victims such as Celia, who at first glance aren’t so easy to find.
plot drop 008 features eleven of our muses encountering the scarecrow, the skeleton, the statue + the ghost.
alicia sloane is left with four large cuts down her back and substantial blood loss.
amavi rosales is left with a wound on his forehead and substantial bruising.
celia thomas is left with cuts across her chest, stomach, sides, arms, thighs and back, and severe blood loss.
coral reeves is left with a wound on her cheek and substantial bruising to her face and arms.
diego muñoz is left with a stab to his lower abdomen, multiple small cuts over his body, substantial bruising and severe blood loss.
dustin waerea is left with a sprained wrist, severe bruising all over his body and a concussion.
ernest goodarzi is left with deep cuts all over his body and severe blood loss.
florian bonavita is left with severe bruising to his neck, substantial bruising to his body, a deep cut on his side and substantial blood loss.
loki romanov is left with a wound on her face, substantial bruising to her face, deep pitchfork wounds to her side and severe blood loss.
malakai kings is left with severe bruising all over his body.
rosie mahelona is left with a deep wound to her thigh and severe blood loss.
as police and paramedics arrive at the scene in time, all victims other than trudy mcalister are recovered and survive the ordeal.
Mayor Sweeney's office has once again been the target of vandalism, with a brick being thrown through the window of his office in the early hours of the morning, shortly after the Mayor had arrived for work. The Mayor is yet to comment on the ordeal, though inside sources have reported that attached to this brick was a note containing only one word; 'Talk'. The message comes as no surprise as the Mayor has received backlash for his lack of public appearances and statements after the capture of the two main Shrike Killers, though the authorities stress that residents must not commit crimes against the man who has worked diligently to protect the people of Shrike County. Representatives have spoken on behalf of Mayor Sweeney, asking residents to give him time to heal from the trauma he's faced at this time. Mayor representatives and town officials also wish to remind town residents that they are safe, now that the authorities' hard work has paid off with the Jack-O-Lantern killer and the Hunter behind bars. Anyone with more information on the act of vandalism are encouraged to step forward.
The Mayor has woken to a disturbing scene this morning, finding that his office located in Shrike Town Center has been broken into overnight. All that resided in the office, including confidential papers and private information relating to residents and businesses located in Shrike Heights, were reportedly strewn all over the office, with quite a lot of damage done to the property. Town officials are working diligently to assure nothing was taken. The Mayor warns against such acts of vandalism, expressing that if anyone is attempting to find anything, he has nothing to offer, and that if this is the work of reckless hooligans trying to rile him up or be destructive for no good reason, they will be caught and punished. The perpetrator/s are currently unknown, yet local authorities are looking into residents that they have reason to believe might have information. This incident is said to be unrelated to the Shrike Killers, and authorities are asking for any witnesses to come forward with their information.
What was first thought to be a Happy New Year has turned into a Horrific New Year, with the gruesome crimes returning to Shrike Heights. Authorities were beginning to believe that the Shrike Heights Killers had hung up their masks and put away their weapons after their last confirmed attack took place in October of last year and ended with the death of one of the mysterious criminals. Unfortunately late yesterday evening the Jack-O-Lantern, the Ghost and the Hunter were all responsible for the injuries of five employees and the death of two, with two other victims left physically unharmed but mentally brutalized like the rest of them. The attack took place once again in our beloved Shrike Mall, and thankfully our vigilant and dedicated team of authorities were able to arrive on the scene in time to dispatch all victims scattered throughout the mall to Shrike County Hospital; all except those found dead on arrival are reportedly in a stable condition this morning. The killers once again escaped police custody, and as usual residents and mall visitors are asked to come forward with any details on the return of the crimes that they might have.
wednesday january 27th, 1988
“I don’t want to jinx anything, but it’s actually… It’s actually been a pretty good start to the year.” Stevie Serrano’s voice sounds apprehensive over the radio, but his face in the studio has a wide smile spread across it. “1988, you’re cold, but you’re doing good so far - you’re doing alright.” A playful laugh sounds through every speaker that’s tuned into the radio station for the end of another Shrikes! show.
“1988. I can hardly believe it.” Richie Wozniak chimes in now, absentmindedly spinning side to side on his office chair, causing a small ‘ting’ each time he does so; only those with their radios turned up loud can hear it. “It’s actually shaping up to be pretty decent - I mean, less murders for starters, which is always something I look for in a good year.” He laughs, it’s questionable that he does - questionable being typical for the radio host mostly known as Trashmouth.
Stevie laughs too, but turns from his microphone so listeners can’t hear. The amusement over their co-hosts words can be heard as they speak. “I too look for no murders in a good year. And it’s been nice, not having to report about the infamous killers every night. I like having other things to talk about, I’m pretty pleased we’ve moved on from it all.” It’s not easy to talk about death and crime every single night when it’s so close to home.
“We don’t always take what our callers say as gospel, but-”
Richie is cut off by Stevie. “Ooh, but you’re going to? This must be good.” He jests, teasing the other for only a moment before he lets them resume speaking.
“But I’m going to, I am, I’m going on the record and sharing publicly that I think they’re right. I think they’re right in saying that the killers vanished when one of them… you know… died or whatever at the Halloween Spooktacular last year.”
“I think… yeah, I mean, I think they’re right too. We haven’t seen any action since then so-” It’s Richie’s turn to cut off the other's speech.
“So either they’re gone, or they’re hibernating or something.” Another inappropriate laugh leaves Richie. He finds it much easier to laugh about the situation now that friends are no longer being slaughtered in the mall every week.
“Hibernating? Don’t… don’t do that, no. I don’t wanna hear that. I don’t wanna hear anything apart from that they’re gone. They’ve left, quit, given up. No longer in Shrike Heights. That’s the energy I’m putting out there.” Stevie’s tone is laced with both amusement and exhaustion. Richie laughs at the reaction he can elicit from his friend.
“That’s a good energy, I think that’s the right energy, I really do think we’re in the clear now.” Richie sounds so sure of himself, though the simple radio host can hardly be sure of the truth.
Like every other night, Richie and Stevie wrap up their show, bidding their listeners farewell to tune of ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ by Tiffany. They exit the mall untouched alongside most other employees, neither of them worried about anything more than the cold of the winter they step out into.
Despite the amount of time it’s been since the killers’ last reported crimes, and despite the fact that most residents seem to share Shrikes!’s opinion that the killers are gone - perhaps scared off after the death of one of their own - most of the mall employees are eager to leave their workplace as quickly as possible. The threat of an attack might not be so pressing, but regardless no one is especially thrilled about working so late, especially not when the weather is so brutally cold outside. Most employees working the late shift finish their duties as and are able to leave with the likes of Stevie and Richie; few others are left finishing up jobs their co-workers have refused or forgotten to complete for the day, however.
It’s been some time since most workers clocked out but Ian Vogt hasn’t been fortunate enough to leave Late Risers just yet. One step away from completing his duties, he agrees to take two large bags of trash out on his way to his car - it’s only slightly out of his way. After walking out of the mall through one of the side exits, Ian’s senses are overwhelmed. The cold air is harsher than he expected - it always is - and he’s met with a stench coming from the overflowing dumpsters he nears. Ian isn’t surprised to see that the mall is producing more rubbish than what they can handle; the monstrosity has brought more visitors than what Ian can even fathom. He is surprised, however, at the group of large, shining, brand new trash cans lined up against the wall beside the dumpsters. They’re larger than a typical trash can, though Ian still thinks they’ll all be filled by the time he returns to the mall tomorrow. Regardless, it's good to see the mall is at least trying to handle the issue - not that people seem to be honoring their attempt as trash bags pile high up in the dumpsters, forcing their lids to stay wide open. Despite being mindful of the situation, Ian doesn’t act any different from the rest; his hands are both holding heavy trash bags that leave him unable to reach for the lid of the trash can, so instead of depositing his rubbish there he simply throws them up onto the pile. Someone else - preferably someone more appropriately dressed for the cold - can handle that while Ian heads home to avoid getting frostbite.
Ian’s feet crunch down on snow as he walks towards the front of the mall, heading in the direction of his car. It would be a lie to say he isn’t at least somewhat scared walking alone out in the open on the cold, dark night, but his car is soon in his range of sight and his eyes stay fixed there as the vehicle brings him comfort in knowing he’ll soon be inside, safe and warm. His eyes don’t move from their focus even as he turns the corner to stay on the footpath, wanting to avoid the piled up snow and the extra slippery ground elsewhere, wanting to make it home without any new bumps or bruises. With his focus being so wholeheartedly dedicated to his car, however, and to the promise of safety, he neglects to watch out for the dangers that might be hiding around the corner. He wouldn’t have believed there really was a threat on the other side of the mall wall, but she should have, as when Ian turns the corner he finds himself walking right into the Jack-O-Lantern’s knife.
The knife plunges into Ian’s lower abdomen faster than he can comprehend what’s happening. It reaches no further than two inches deep inside of him before Ian jumps back to save himself from further harm, the knife being removed as swiftly as he was initially stabbed. He’s in shock, but he recognises danger and his reflexes immediately kick in and encourage him to flee. Ian turns quickly and steps away, but his movements elicit extreme pain from his wound, and the blow of the pain mixed with the slippery surface he and the killer are on bring him down to his hands and knees. Fear washes over him intensely; he’s sure the stumble has cost him his life, but miraculously his shaking hands are pushing himself back upright before more harm can come to him. A few steps away from the Jack-O-Lantern is when he’s caught again, his attacker kicking him back down to the ground. Ian’s body slides on the ice down the path as he lands, and his head smacks the concrete path with a loud thud that makes Ian feel sick to his stomach. Blood from his stab wound begins to seep through his layers, and more blood drips down onto the path and spreads across his forehead as his skin splits open upon impact.
Ian’s vision is temporarily taken from him, and he’s never felt more dizzy or nauseous than this moment. While the shock sets in Ian’s mind is flooded with thoughts of dread, panic and sadness. He doesn’t think he can get away from the killer who has already taken so much from him and those that he loves, but he knows he needs to try. He screams with pain as he pushes himself back up onto his hands and knees, the icy ground burning the skin on his hands as he moves. He doesn’t get far before Jack catches up and gains the upper hand once more. First he kicks Ian down flat again, then he stomps down on his victim’s back; a loud crack echoes in the cold air around them, and Ian can’t believe he’s capable of functioning through so much intense pain and fear. I should be dead already… he thinks to himself, and the thought is enough to draw his emotions out; he begins to cry loudly underneath the killer.
The Jack-O-Lantern killer raises his knife and brings it down to his victim quickly, but not quicker than Ian’s next movement. Ian balls himself up, pushing his ability to function while injured as the movement introduces an entirely new level of pain to him. Ian screams, but not loud enough to stop him from hearing Jack’s knife make contact with the path beside him - where his body was only a second ago. Disbelief is added to the already long list of emotions the mall employee is feeling when he realises he’s escaped what should have been such an easy kill. Despite dodging him once, Ian still believes he’s near an inescapable death. That is, until he looks to the killer’s large boots and notices them slide on the icy surface ever so slightly as he regains his posture, ready to strike again. Ian might not have a deep history with fighting back, but this time he does fight for his life, and he uses all of his strength to kick the killer’s ankles. The large body standing over Ian slips and falls down onto the icy path; the confidence Ian gains from his plan being a success gives him the strength to scramble back up onto his feet while the killer is down, and he runs.
He quickly realises that the distance to run back into the mall is far too wide; having never been an athlete, Ian’s confidence is stripped from him instantly, and he begins to panic as he knows the killer will be back onto his feet in pursuit of him once more sooner than what he can escape. Instead of fleeing, Ian trusts his next strongest instincts and he hides. He can hardly breathe as he opens the lid to one of the trash cans he’s reached, the cold air, the pain and the cardio all working against him in conjunction. Though there’s a layer of trash on the bottom he knows he can’t waste time in being picky and searching for one completely empty. Ian jumps into the large trash can, doing everything in his power to hold in his screams as agony overwhelms all of his senses. He lets the lid he holds fall back into place over him and he continues to cry, curled up as small as possible, unsure whether or not he’s shivering due to the cold, trembling due to the fear or shaking because his body is in so much shock. Regardless, he thinks he’s found himself safe from further harm, and he finds comfort in the confined space.
That is, until a loud banging sends a sharp ringing through his ears. The trash can he’s crammed himself into begins to get smaller, the metal hitting against him and making his already bad injuries worsen. The Jack-O-Lantern killer had made it back up on his feet in time to catch Ian’s attempt at hiding, and he’s not letting the man escape while still so lively. Ian curls himself into even more of a ball, his arms coming up to shield his already wounded head from more harm. All that can be heard is the loud banging, until Ian’s fingers are caught in between the disfigured trash can and its lid, his screams adding to the noise. His screams grow louder as his fingers are broken, the ring finger twisting around so much that the skin rips open, creating another means for Ian to lose blood and gain more dizziness. Ian is well past his breaking point already, tears and snot mixing with the blood that drips down his face, but now he reaches a level where he’s unable to fight any longer. All energy is drained from him, he has no more strength left due to the intensity of his fear and the impairments from the blood loss. He’s soon rendered unconscious, trapped in the trash can that’s only just big enough to hold his weakened and no longer struggling body.
Perhaps Jack would have peeled the lid off of the can to have more gut wrenching fun with his victim if Sparrow St. Benet hadn't exited the mall from the same side door. His already unconscious victim no longer interests him; Jack begins to make his way over to Sparrow.
She’s never seen the killers in the flesh before but the sight alone is enough to turn her legs to jelly. Sparrow usually considers herself a brave person, but being brave in no way means she wants to fall victim to an attack. Not knowing that there was another victim out there, Sparrow attempts to save herself by fleeing. She runs faster than she ever has before; like Jack’s last victim, she’s never been one interested in sports, but her legs still carry her through the mall as quickly as she needs them to. She makes it to Dirtbusters out of breath, but safely; she pulls the keys from her pocket with trembling hands and she unlocks the door she had only just locked moments before on her way out. She wastes no time in running back into her workplace, not turning on a single light to avoid alerting the killer of her whereabouts, but on her way to the back she knocks over a trolley containing a basket of clothes a customer had forgotten that day. Clothes, towels and sheets fly everywhere, and the sound of the trolley rattles and echoes loudly. Sparrow ducks down in the darkness to hide herself in case the noise gives her away, squatting against the wall at the end of one row of washing machines.
The Jack-O-Lantern killer follows Sparrow inside, but they escape him quickly. Sparrow is only safe from Jack following her when another innocent mall employee emerges from their place of work. Flora Oliva was only a moment away from locking up Perkin’s Pharmacy and heading out herself, but she steps out and walks in the direction of Dirtbusters instead when she hears the footsteps of the employee she only just catches a glimpse of as they run inside. Her focus is firmly fixed on Sparrow, but then Jack’s large, intimidating presence catches her eye. Flora runs, but she’s managed to get too close to the killer and she’s not fast enough to get away. After having Sparrow escape him, Jack doesn’t play any games in catching this kill. He chases after the woman, reaching out and gripping her long, dark hair, using it to pull her down. She hits her head against the linoleum harshly - hard enough to split skin and cause a bleed - and the blow almost knocks her out.
Jack raises the knife still bloody from his last attack, and he plunges it into her chest repetitively. There’s no question whether or not the pharmacist is going to survive the attack as he so viciously takes her life from her, blood splattering the killer and the floor around them. Though she’s dead without a doubt, Jack’s work isn’t complete; he drops down to one knee and he begins to mutilate her face, carving her a smile similar to a real Jack-O-Lantern - much like how the authorities had found Shrike Mall’s first two victims last summer. After so many victims have escaped him, the quick success he has in ending Flora Oliva’s life serves as a reminder of all he’s capable of.
Flora’s attack is another one Sparrow is unaware of. They sit in their crouched down spot in Dirtbusters, ready to wait it out for as long as they need to - they’ll sleep in the back of the store if it comes to it, and get security to escort them out when they arrive for their morning shifts. Sparrow is content with letting go of their bravery to hide like a coward so long as it saves them from the fate of becoming another soon to be forgotten name on a growing list of victims. They’re able to calm their breathing down as they wait, able to recover from the run and begin to try to talk sense into themself; they’re safe where they are, Jack would have followed them right into the store if he knew that’s where they found themself.
Sparrow is right to think that she’s safe from the Jack-O-Lantern killer, but she’s seriously misjudged her safety as a whole considering he is far from the only killer in town. Suddenly a white sheet - one that had been knocked from the basket - stands up behind her. A figure is underneath the crisp white fabric, and as they reveal their knife it’s apparent that this figure belongs to the Ghost. As Sparrow faces the front of the store and keeps her eye out for the one killer she knows is in the mall, the other killer’s presence is completely unknown to her. The Ghost moves towards her smoothly and stealthily, maintaining the secret of their presence until a light outside of the laundromat hits the shining blade of the knife, that light then hitting one of the metal rings around the glass door of the washing machine Sparrow sits opposite. The light catches her attention; she moves her focus from the exit of the store to the glass of the door, and that’s when she notices the Ghost’s movement in the reflection.
Immediately Sparrow jumps up, lunging forward in search of escape. The Ghost swings their knife at Sparrow over and over as they glide smoothly on the ground to follow; while they’re able to reach the back of her shirt with the tip of their blade - cutting the fabric in a straight line - Sparrow remains unharmed and she manages to run fast enough for the distance to further separate them. She bolts out of Dirtbusters, the door opening loudly from the force she uses, but she freezes when she finds the Jack-O-Lantern killer and Flora. Sparrow lets out a cry, feeling nauseous and overwhelmed at the sight of her. She’s paralysed with fear both mentally and physically for long enough to see the Ghost nearly catch up with her, exiting the laundromat behind her. Their presence along with Jack’s movement as he stands and stares in her direction is enough to unfreeze her, though it in no way helps ease the sickness or the terror she feels. With all close exits blocked by a killer being in their way, Sparrow runs in the only other direction she can, right up the escalator that’s now stationary as it always is after hours.
Their chest aches as their lungs show resistance, but they know they must keep running, they know they can’t join Flora and meet the same fate. They try to not look back - they’re not sure they can stomach the sight - but their paranoia and fear fails them. It’s when they turn to assess the distance between themself and the killers that they reach the top of the escalator and run right into Hen Wen Szeto. Hen Wen falls to the ground and begins to curse the other, and the altercation further shocks the already emotionally overwhelmed Sparrow. Hen Wen doesn’t think that they have valid reason for running so carelessly into them as their anger and frustration over being knocked down prevents them from thinking clearly. Sparrow wishes to warn them about the killers downstairs but only finds herself more speechless and in shock over Hen Wen’s reaction. The loud volume Hen Wen speaks at as she turns in her unplanned seated position to look at the clumsy person pulls Alicia Incanti from her own workplace, the girl hesitant yet insistent on finding out what has happened.
The second Alicia spots Hen Wen on the floor, she rushes over to help her up. “What’s going on?” She asks, all of her attention on the two people ahead of her, her eyes not once even glancing down the escalators and catching sight of the killers. “Are you okay?” She asks Hen Wen as she’s pulled back up onto her feet. Alicia assumes Sparrow is at fault - albeit presumably accidentally - until she notices her heavy breathing and the tears rolling down her cheeks. “What’s going on?” Alicia repeats, only addressing Sparrow this time, her voice serious and shaking ever so slightly. She doesn’t want to register that she feels any amount of fear, but it begins to creep up on her. The two look to Sparrow for answers - Sparrow still looking distraught, in an absolute panic having all of this happen so fast - and after her initial struggle with composing herself she begins to warn them; she knows their time is limited, knows she can’t afford to slip up and take too long.
Unfortunately, their time was more limited than what Sparrow believed - but not because of one of the killers downstairs. An arrow whips through the air quickly, a whistling sound trailing behind its feathers, and it lodges itself deep inside of Hen Wen’s bicep. Everything around them turns silent, a collective breath held amongst the group as they’re all stunned. Hen Wen’s face is immediately pale; she steps backwards as her weight distribution shifts with the force of the hit, only the step makes her trip as she finds herself stepping down onto the escalator. Alicia breaks out of her own state of shock to turn as quickly as she can, reaching out for Hen Wen, but all she can reach in time is a bracelet that breaks and sends beads flying around them as Hen Wen falls down. Guilt builds up inside of Alicia, but the guilt is swiftly replaced by the feeling of horror as she sees the killers.
Hen Wen’s fall is intense. The arrow still inside of her bicep snaps off on impact, leaving nothing left sticking out, and as her body is so viciously thrown from stair to stair every inch of her feels bruised. It’s a painful fall. She sticks an arm out to catch herself - the arm without the arrow head inside of it and the wound that oozes blood - but her forearm can’t handle the force or the weight of the catch, and the bone breaks only moments before she lands on the ground of the first floor, all of the air being knocked from her lungs. She’s unable to breathe or move more than opening her teary eyes to see the Jack-O-Lantern approach her. Jack lowers his knife to her, taking advantage of her laying still while she desperately searches for her mobility, and with the tip of the carving knife he holds, the blade dripping a mix of Ian’s and Flora’s blood down onto Hen Wen’s face, he cuts a shallow line from the edge of her mouth to curve up into half of a smile. It’s hardly as intense as the deep cut that went all the way through Flora Oliva’s face to carve her smile, instead it seems more like a guideline - as if Jack is drafting his design while Hen Wen is still able to struggle through the attack consciously.
Before the other side can earn a matching wound, Hen Wen lets out a scream and takes a struggling breath - their first since landing. They raise the hand not attached to the broken arm and they try to push Jack away from their face; they’re unable to move the figure that is simply enormous compared to them, but instead they manage to push themself away from him with their force. Pain inflicts her entire body; as she regains the ability to move once more she makes use of every muscle that will move and every limb that will carry her. She rolls onto her stomach and she pushes herself up onto her feet with another scream. Though Hen Wen isn’t optimistic, though they don’t believe they’ll manage to escape, they begin to run for the door. An intense wave of dizziness makes them stumble, and their stumble costs them their chance at escaping. Jack kicks her lower back harshly so she falls to the ground once again, the impact of his large boots breaks her coccyx and the impact of her head hitting the ground knocks her out cold.
While Hen Wen is now an easier target than ever, Jack’s attention is caught by the rattling of a knife that tumbles down the escalator in a fashion similar to Hen Wen. Jack seems to find this and the prospect of more lively victims more interesting than ensuring his current victim is killed, so without hesitation he leaves them in their growing puddle of blood and he walks with loud steps up the escalator.
As the Jack-O-Lantern took Hen Wen for his next victim, the Ghost had begun their ascent to floor one where Alicia and Sparrow had both turned to find the killer responsible for the arrow that sent Hen Wen down to such a grim fate. Immediately the Hunter loads his bow with another arrow. This arrow whips through the air as his last had, but while the feather brushes against Sparrow’s hair, it doesn’t hit her. The next arrow that is shot in quick succession once again is aimed at Alicia, but she dodges the arrow just in time. As if he finds it fun, how Alicia tries so hard to dodge the attacks, the Hunter’s target stays on her. Arrow after arrow is shot; Alicia can’t run as arrows are flying both in front and behind her, but she slowly tries her hardest to navigate herself back to Snapshot while dodging each next threat coming her way.
Sparrow is so scared for Alicia’s life as the killer makes a game of the hunt to the point where she doesn’t at all see the Ghost slowly creeping up behind her from the lower level. She’s fixated on the Hunter in case he plans to make her the target once again, standing so still with shock, but as Hen Wen screams from the lower level Sparrow turns to check on the scene - despite her horror. Rather than finding the scene of the Jack-O-Lantern and his victim, however, Sparrow turns to find the Ghost right behind her, their knife raised and about to strike. With a shriek Sparrow jumps back, and much like Alicia, she begins to dodge attack after attack. The knife is dangerously close to slicing her each time it’s brought back down to her; Sparrow moves side to side, ducking down and jumping back up again, and while she manages to stay injury free for now she knows it’s only a matter of time before she gets hurt, especially with another killer now behind her. With these thoughts she formulates a plan, thinking that it could be easy to send them down the escalator much like Hen Wen had fallen. They lunge forward and try to push the Ghost down the escalator, but they’re terrifyingly met with nothing under the sheet where they reach. They feel their chest tighten with panic and they try again, only to miss the figure underneath the sheet once more. They know they’ll likely be injured before their own plan can succeed, so instead of trying to get the entire killer away, Sparrow knocks the knife from them, sending the blade tumbling down the steps with one firm push. Sparrow turns to run, and upon looking back the Ghost has seemingly left to retrieve their weapon.
Alicia keeps dodging the Hunter’s arrows as she watches Sparrow fighting the Ghost, unable to help them herself as the killer in the wolf mask seems so adamant about wanting to injure her next. It’s only when Sparrow disarms the Ghost and causes them to vanish that she thinks she can make a run for it, hoping that the Hunter will pause for at least a moment long enough for her to be able to keep running ahead of the arrows. She stops working so hard on only dodging, running with a frightened gasp leaving her, but then an arrow grazes the back of her neck, catching her blonde hair with it and pulling some out as it continues to fly past her. The next arrow hits her as she hesitates due to the first, and it cuts across the back of her calf. The cut isn’t deep, but Alicia underestimates the amount of pain it causes. She steps forward in an attempt to run again, but the pain of landing on her injured leg is enough to cause her ankle to buckle; the ankle is sprained but she pushes herself to keep going. The pain in no way nears the level of fear she feels, nor does it near the level of desperation she feels to get through it alive.
Hot tears burn her eyes as another arrow glides past her and cuts her bicep; with her other arm she pushes through the door to enter Snapshot. She can’t tell if it’s the pain or the fear that makes her cry, but either way it adds to the burdens that overwhelm her and it causes her to falter. Upon stepping on her sprained ankle, her leg gives out and she falls down in the store, hitting her forehead harshly against the counter. It’s not hard enough to split the skin, but she knows she’ll end up with nasty bruising if she makes it out alive. If I make it out alive; the thought she has makes her feel sick, and a cry escapes her before she can conceal it. She has to make it out alive, has to see her friends again, her father. Thinking of him makes her cry harder, but it also gives her more determination to ensure she is successful in getting out.
Alicia pushes herself up with use of the counter and she puts her weight on it as she moves around the other side of it and out the door that leads her to the employees only zone. Once inside the room she takes deep breaths to calm herself, keeping the lights out so she can hide. She believes herself safe for the moment until the Ghost glides towards her, coming from the corner of the room yet seemingly out of nowhere at the same time. She has no idea how she’s found herself in the same room as the killer she hadn’t seen follow her in or lead the way, but she doesn’t waste time thinking about the logistics. Instead in her desperation she steps into the large storage closet behind her and locks herself in it. Alicia knows as an employee of the store that the locks on this particular closet are sturdy to protect their expensive equipment, and knowing the fact adds to her fear and comfort at the same time; she can’t get out of there even with the keys being in one of her pockets, but the killer also can’t get in. She sits herself down on the floor of the small pitch black space, trying to control her sobs and stop them from being so audible to those outside; the last thing she needs is to draw attention to herself or attract a killer more equipped than the Ghost who can get themselves inside of her hideout.
Locked away so safely, the Ghost doesn’t try to get to her, nor do the other killers. Instead the Ghost seems to vanish once more, and the Hunter and the Jack-O-Lantern both pursue Sparrow as she runs up the stairs to floor two. It appears there’s only one person on the floor, Kit Sombun, who wears a look of disappointment on his face as the employee he was hoping to find on this level has already locked up and gone home, leaving only a King of Diamonds employee up there. Thoughts of his disappointment vanish immediately when he catches sight of Sparrow running so hurriedly. He stops walking, furrowing his brow, looking at her with an expression of concern but not being able to think much of it yet as everything happens so quickly.
“Is anywhere still open?” Sparrow asks breathlessly, doing a better job at communicating through her fear compared to when she arrived on floor one. “Is there any unlocked store?” She elaborates, asking frantically, needing to find them both a hiding spot quickly as she knows who’s following her. Kit is confused, not answering immediately as he doesn’t understand the importance of doing so, but then Sparrow elaborates on her words one more time. “The killers!” It’s enough for the diner employee to understand the situation completely.
“King of Diamonds!” He lets Sparrow take his hand as she passes him in her run, and together the two of them flee towards the store. They burst through the door and surprise the one remaining employee, Dakota Smith, who had been just about to turn off the one remaining light - a lamp sitting on the counter - so that they could leave. “The killers?” Kit is the first to speak, informing Dakota of what’s happening while asking Sparrow for confirmation at the same time, as if he can’t believe it. Kit certainly hasn’t had the time to register the events, nor has he seen the killers with his own two eyes; Sparrow doesn’t blame him and his need for the reassurance, and she nods to confirm that what he’s said is correct.
“Three of them, two of them were following me, I was running and got ahead but they’re still coming. We need to hide.” She begins to cry again as she speaks, taking this moment to think about everything she’s endured tonight; she feels bad to have led them this way, to have involved the other innocent mall employees, but she knows she had no other choice. All she can do is hope that they don’t meet the same fate as Flora or Hen Wen; Sparrow doesn’t believe she can handle witnessing something so gruesome again.
“We need to call the police.” Dakota suggests, thinking clearly as they’ve not endured all Sparrow has, not close to being as overwhelmed. “Have you called the police?” They check, and Sparrow shakes their head. “Get behind the counter, get down low. We’ll call the police and then we’ll hide.” Dakota’s voice is dominating and confident; Kit feels reassured in their presence, and the reassurance is more than needed as he begins to grow more terrified, the situation now feeling more real. They all move to behind the counter, crouching down, and Dakota wastes no time in pulling the phone down from on top of the counter, calling the police without hesitation and using their calm composure to explain the situation and get help sent their way. As they do so, Kit thinks about how they should turn the lamp off before they hide, not wanting the light to give their position away to the killers. It’s only moments after he has the thought that the phone call is complete, which baffles him and takes most of his attention. It’s absurd that the attacks are so frequent that the police hardly need a minute on the phone before they’ve understood the situation and have been dispatched, and even though the efficiency should comfort Kit, it scares him more.
Footsteps approaching break all of them out of their separate thoughts. “They’ll be here soon, they’ll at least make the killers flee.” Dakota acts as the voice of reason. They’re not confident that the police will do a better job than what they’ve done previously, but they do believe they’ll at least save them for today. “Follow me.” They say, grabbing one of Kit’s hands and one of Sparrow’s, swiftly pulling them towards the fitting rooms where they can hide - that being the only spot available to them in a store like this. They all enter one fitting room stall together, and they seem to do so just in time for the bell to ring, indicating the killers have entered the store. Kit immediately curses himself as he realises he didn’t turn the lamp off. It’s far from Kit’s fault that the killers have reached them, but in his heightened state of emotions he instantly turns the blame to himself. If he had remembered, maybe they wouldn’t have found them so quickly; Kit thinks he’s led them right to Sparrow and Dakota, and the thought makes him begin to cry. Dakota doesn’t let a single tear fall before they’ve wrapped their arms around him, providing comfort despite not knowing him and not knowing what’s going on inside of his mind.
The three try to remain as silent as possible as they hear the killers throwing around racks of clothing, making a real mess as they’re searching for their victims. There’s nothing any of them can do but pray that they won’t be found, but the odds are not in their favour as suddenly they hear the first fitting room door be kicked open. King of Diamonds contains six fitting room stalls; the three mall employees are hiding in the fourth, and all at once they realise they’re in real danger as the door of the second is opened next. Dakota is once again the one to take charge and help them; they gesture for the two to crawl under the stall wall through the gap into the fifth, then to the last. Sparrow is the first to go as Kit wipes his tears in an attempt to clear his vision; he soon follows behind, Dakota immediately after him. They’re unable to communicate with each other, but they don’t need to speak to know that they have to gain as much distance between themselves and the killers, nor do they need to plan their next move to all know they’ll need to run from the fitting rooms before the killers reach them. Once all standing in the last of the stalls, they all know there’s no room from hesitation. The third stall door is opened by the killers, only moments before Dakota nods to the others and gives Sparrow silent encouragement to open their stall door and flee.
They run. Sparrow is the first to pass the Hunter and the Jack-O-Lantern killer as they move, with Kit stumbling right behind her. It’s the first time he’s seen the killers, and it’s overwhelming - but the stumble from shock doesn’t make him fall or give the killers the chance to catch him. Dakota is behind the two, worried for the others more than themself and fine with being last place because of it. Kit worries for them, even though they don’t worry themself. He turns his head to look behind as they run, and it’s then that he notices the Hunter following closely. The Hunter takes a tie from on top of the counter, holding one end of it with each hand, and he loops it around Dakota’s neck to catch the selfless employee. Kit gasps, and both he and Sparrow - who just reached the door - stop dead in their tracks, frightened and stunned, watching the events unfold so quickly, faster than either of them can act to help.
“Keep running!” Dakota yells before the tie is tightened around their neck harshly enough to restrict their ability to breathe and speak. It takes only a second longer before the tie is dropped and replaced by the Hunter’s knife. Kit and Sparrow don’t follow Dakota’s orders just yet; instead they watch in horror, unable to look away in time before they see him slice the employee’s throat open. Blood begins to pour from the wound. Neither Kit nor Sparrow want to leave Dakota there, but they know they have no other choice. It’s evident as Dakota reaches the end of their struggle that they’re not surviving their attack, and the two victims left know that the least they can do is ensure Dakota’s help and sacrifice have not been for nothing. Kit cries harder than he ever has before, but he allows Sparrow to pull him from the store to keep running, just as Dakota had requested.
They know the killers are still right behind them, they know they must take their closest escape route, which happens to be the stairwell that will lead them to the highest floor of the mall. The two run and climb up the stairs as quickly as possible, both sets of lungs burning to match the state of their eyes that burn with tears. When they burst through the doors that take them from the stairwell to floor three, they startle Nick Jugah and Patrick Webb, who walk towards the exit together. “Killers!” Kit and Sparrow scream in sync, and the second the word leaves their mouths the two men need no more warning or information. They’re all running in the direction that takes them back to their workplaces, back to the only place they think they’ll be able to hide.
“I’ve got my keys, we can go to RadioShack, call the police.” Patrick tells them breathlessly, noticing Nick had been trying to get his own set of keys out of his pocket as he ran; Patrick still held his in his hands, so it would be less fuss. He bends down quickly upon being the first to arrive at RadioShack, and he reaches for the lock that keeps the gate protecting the store closed securely. His hands tremble, and it feels as though his heart is about to burst out of his chest as it beats so hard, but still, Patrick manages to unlock it and pull the grate up as the others catch their breaths behind him. He stands up as he lifts the gate open enough to allow them inside with ease; a still distraught Sparrow and Kit don’t hesitate, but before Nick can follow the gate is dropped closed. Patrick is shot by the Hunter, the arrow hitting him in the abdomen and sending him down to the ground. Nick squats down beside him, wanting to help him, but he’s unable to before Patrick pulls the arrow from his flesh with an uncharacteristically loud scream. Having no history with injuries like this and being frightened by the sight of it inside of him, Patrick thought it was the best move; Nick feels panicked as he reaches to apply pressure to Patrick’s wound, wishing he could have prevented the worsening of it before it was made to bleed so much more. “Get inside.” Patrick tells the other man, speaking through groans of pain, his teary eyes squeezed shut tightly.
Patrick wants to help his friend, but so does Nick. He’s not going to abandon Patrick out there no matter what he says. “Lift the gate, lift it up. Help me get him inside.” Nick requests help from Sparrow and Kit, who obey orders despite their states. Kit lifts the grate and Sparrow squats down. The process is far from perfect, but Nick pushes Patrick the few inches he needs to move to get inside, and Sparrow pulls - they don’t have time to try to get him back up on his feet, not yet. Just as Nick goes to follow, an arrow strikes him next, hitting lodging itself into the outside of his forearm and knocking him back much like Patrick was due to the force. Nick holds in his scream, as frightened and pained as he is, and he turns to see the killers taking advantage of the setback; they approach quickly. “Put pressure on his wound.” Nick orders with an intense trembling of his voice, the pain evident no matter how hard he tries to conceal how much it’s felt. “Get out the back, try to hide.” He continues breathlessly, and then Nick does what he believes is best. He pulls the gate down shut and he locks it without hesitation, wincing as he moves and beginning to feel nauseous. The three inside RadioShack begin to protest and try to argue against his actions, but Nick can’t risk their lives for his. The killers are only steps away. “I’ll be okay.” He reassures the group selflessly, and then he runs.
He uses all of his strength to hold the injured arm against his body, using his other hand, slippery with Patrick’s wet blood, to reach for his keys, pulling them out with a struggle. His own workplace isn’t protected by a metal grate like RadioShack - not containing anything as valuable or as important according to the mall - so he believes he’ll be able to get inside and away from the killers quickly as long as he beats them there. Nick reaches Tracks before the two preying on him do. His body is shaking as it struggles with his injury, and though he holds the key firmly a single twitch caused by shooting pain through his body causes him to drop the entire set of keys onto the floor. He worries his chances of winning are long gone, and even though he knows he’s in a time sensitive situation he can’t help but turn his head to check how far away the killers are. They’re dangerously close. By the time he’s back to standing up straight, the key sliding into the keyhole with difficulty, the Jack-O-Lantern has reached him.
Jack grips the back of Nick’s head, and he slams it against the glass of the Track’s door. Nick had been trying so hard to stay strong, but there’s only so much a person can take before breaking. He shrieks, gasps and groans as the pain overwhelms every inch of him. Jack repeats his actions, slamming Nick’s head against the door so brutally that Nick almost loses consciousness. He does it again, and the glass cracks at the same time that the skin on Nick’s forehead splits open. Blood drips down into his eyes, though it can hardly obscure his vision when the impact of the blows already caused him to lose sight temporarily. Nick’s body is mostly limp he’s that near unconsciousness, but the Jack-O-Lantern doesn’t stop; he pulls Nick’s head back again, and this time it’s brought forward to smack against the surface, the glass shatters completely, falling around their feet.
Nick is so weak, so dizzy and faint; he feels as if he could pass out easily with only one more small touch to his head. The only good thing about being so injured is the way this state helps him not be able to properly register the pain he’s in or the trauma he’s enduring. Nick can hardly register much of anything at all right now, though he’s somehow capable of woozy thoughts, those thoughts including the fact that he’s still thankful he helped the others, despite now finding himself here. Nick is expecting to die; he wholeheartedly believes that this is the end of his life as Jack has such a clear shot in killing him. But then the thoughts he’s having that are steadily growing more and more unclear in his increasingly worsening state are interrupted by thoughts of the police. He thinks about the authorities, how they were hardly of help last time he was in trouble like this, and how they probably won’t be of help this time either. Unbeknownst to Nick in his declining state, those thoughts cross his mind as the top floor of the mall is suddenly filled with the voices of the police squad that have arrived.
Police fill every floor of the mall, paramedics working alongside them as they expect injured victims and know they need to get them to Shrike County Hospital as soon as possible for their greatest chance of survival - they don’t want to have to publicise information of more dead mall employees. They search high and low, following every next trail of blood, their focus being just as much on the recovery of victims as it is on catching the killers - if not even more so. Once the first of the police reach the top of the mall, the Hunter immediately flees, and the Jack-O-Lantern goes soon after him, dropping Nick to the floor in order to do so. As he lands, Nick hits his head against the floor. He’s still unable to register that help has come as this final blow sends him into the unconsciousness he was so strongly trying to fight.
plot drop 007 features seven of our muses encountering the jack-o-lantern, the ghost + the hunter.
alicia incanti is left with a graze on the back of her neck, a cut on the back of her calf, a cut across her bicep, a sprained ankle, substantial bruising on her forehead and a concussion.
christian ‘ian’ vogt is left with a stab to his lower abdomen, a head wound, a concussion, severe bruising all over his body, two broken ribs, four broken fingers, one ripped open finger tip and substantial blood loss.
hen wen szeto if left with an arrow wound in her bicep, a broken forearm, substantial bruising all over her body, a large cut on one side of her face, a broken tailbone, a head injury, a concussion and severe blood loss.
kit sombun is left uninjured.
nicholas ‘nick’ jugah is left with an arrow wound on the outside of his forearm, a split open forehead, severe bruising to his face and a concussion.
patrick webb is left with an arrow wound in his lower abdomen and severe blood loss.
sparrow st benet is left uninjured.
as police and paramedics arrive at the scene in time, all victims are found and survive the ordeal - despite the severity of some of their injuries and the success in some of their hiding places.
