31. The Masked Man

*Sort of long...*

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I rubbed my head as I lay on the icy, hard ground. A tender ache ran the length of my entire nervous system as if I’d just broken nearly every bone in my body. The chilly night air did little to resolve my pain as the freeze seemed to intensify the throbbing between my ears. Fog had started to roll in creating an even hazier view through my narrowly pierced eyelids. “What the heck was that?” I grumbled and slowly pulled myself from the dirt, feeling the ache in my lower back as I moved. “Hello? Is there anyone there?”

Looking around all I could see was dirt; piles and piles of dirt. “Where am I? HELLO?” I called a bit louder as I gazed up the top of the hole, listening for the slightest of movement. Grabbing a hand hold in the soft mound in front of me, I did my best to pull myself free of the grave I found myself trapped in, constantly sliding back down to the bottom.

“I need help hello?” I kicked my boot into the bottom of a corner as hard as I could until it stuck before doing the same for the other. After establishing a firm grip on a root, I slowly but surely began pulling my tiny body free of the large mass of dirt until I was lying on my back on the top of the grave. Red and golden leaves swirled around me with a gentle breeze swaying the scattered trees above. 

The ground was cold; frozen from a bitter autumn chill, it was going to be a long winter. I took a moment to catch my breath, still unsure of where I was or even how I got into that hole. The last thing I remembered was running from the masked man after returning to the camp. The group had scattered in various directions and I didn’t see where everyone had gone. Praying no one was caught or hurt by the crazed, ax-wielding psycho I pulled myself to my feet and took another look around. 

I was standing in a small cemetery surrounded by old gravestones and flowers. The hole I found myself trapped inside had a casket sitting beside it and a shovel stabbed into a mound of sand. Quietly I moved a bit closer until I realized the coffin had recently been unearthed from its grave and that the person who retrieved it could still very well be around. 

A silent ticking noise startled me from behind and I immediately turned in its direction. I watched a small flicker of light grow into a large ember as someone lit a cigarette beside a tree near the center plot. “Chazz, is that you?” I asked in a whispered tone. And as the face became clearer within the light, I gasped at the appearance of a man, covered in dirt as if he’d been digging and bloody from who knows what. 

My thoughts went to the coffin and the unearthed grave I fell into and suddenly I realized the man was probably a graverobber out here raiding caskets under the cover of darkness. And if he was stealing from the dead he most certainly wouldn’t want any witnesses reporting his criminal behavior to the police. I swallowed hard as a sudden lump formed in my throat at the lengths the man would probably go to in order to keep his anonymity. “You’re not Chazz,” I spoke as the man took one step closer.

“No darlin’, I reckon I’m not,” he smiled and the evilness of it sent a chill creeping up my spine. He pulled a blade from his pocket and instantly I turned and started running as fast as I could. The pounding of his footsteps mimicked behind me as the man rushed forward.

“HELP!” I yelled as fear flooded every nerve of my body. “Somebody please get me out of here!”

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“Abby? Knox? Anyone there?” I called, hearing the shuffling of movement close to the gates behind me. After being stalked for a bit by the masked man, I ran off the road, finding a hiding spot in one of the broken down cars just off the side of the street. Unfortunately when I peered up through the dusty glass of the abandoned van I found no one in sight; including my friends.

Slowly I climbed out of the car, leaving the door opened. “What the fuck?” I whispered as I looked in shock at my surroundings. I was standing in the middle of a large junkyard, bordered by stacks of scrap metal and junk cars with busted windows and flat tires. Grass had grown over much of the dried dirt and concrete within the area leaving me to believe the company had long since gone under; the place looked as though it hadn’t been used in years.

And still I wondered how I ended up here at all. The last thing I saw was the ax maniac ducking into our old camp as I dove into a van to hide. I started forward, exploring the area in hopes of finding one of my friends or maybe even a phone to call for help. Reaching the edge of the property I noticed a wire mesh fence encircled the lot keeping me and everything else securely trapped inside. “Great, where the hell is the front of this place?”

Looking back behind me I spotted the manager’s office and started towards it. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing a phone sitting on the counter inside the small room. The moment I pulled the receiver from the base, a low growling sound started behind me. I moved slowly, glancing over my shoulder with the slightest of movements to the area the noise was coming from and noticed a large, black dog standing defensively in the corner. 

Dropping the phone to the counter I slid my foot a half inch at a time towards the door, being careful not to arouse the dog’s fury any more than I already had entering its home. As I got closer to the exit, the rumbling doubled and grew deeper and I realized there was more than one dog inside the tiny room behind me. “Shit.” It hopped up onto the counter just over my shoulder and it was then I saw the animal for what it was.

The inside of the dog appeared reversed and I was staring at a bloody, skinned version of it. It frothed at the mouth, its dark, yellow eyes growing fiercer the longer I stared at him. “What the fuck are you?” The demon hound barked and all at once three more of the beasts jumped to their feet and I dove for the door, running as fast as I could towards the exit, slamming it shut behind me. “What the fuck is that? Jesus!”

Large snouts puffed and pushed at the bottom of the door as I pressed myself against it to keep it closed. Suddenly, the sound of scratching caught my attention and I noticed the screen pop out of the window. The old glass cracked without much trouble and I was staring down the vicious muzzle of the larger canine. “Oh shit.” Instantly I took off through the maze of crushed cars and tall grass running as fast as my legs could carry me.

I jumped the fence never missing a beat as I scaled the barbed wire. “FUCK!” I screamed as one of the dogs hopped the crates right on my heels. The moment it sank its teeth into my arm it felt like my entire side was lit on fire. Dozens of sharp jolts soared through my body and I twisted and turned as much as I could to pry the dog off of me before finally making it over the fence and into the woods behind the impound lot.

How did I get here? I thought as I raced quickly through the underbrush dodging protruding branches and jumping over fallen logs and rocks. The sound of the barking and growling dogs were close behind me but I couldn’t stop as much as I wanted to, I had to keep moving. My body was giving out as panic hit every nerve in my body, I needed a breather, a moment to catch my breath and figure out what was going on. 

I found myself racing down a dirt path, the hurried scuffling of the dogs quick on my tail. Getting to a large hill, I jumped and began rolling down the cliff. The dogs stopped just above me, spotting me just at the bottom and leapt off the edge as well. I headed in the other direction ducking low through the tall grass as I rushed for the road. I felt dizzied, my head was spinning and my heart felt as though it would burst out of my chest.

Just then one of the dogs entered the clearing just near a large tree causing me to fall as I tried to make myself stop. The animal started forward as I quickly got to my feet. After a brief stare down, I flitted forward on my toes; dove over the animal in one bound and ran into the forest opposite the road. You should see me play sometime! The dogs regained their balance and hurried off after me. “These fucking things just won’t give up!” 

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“Oh my God another one!” I yelled and pushed at the undead thing that lunged towards me, doing my best to keep myself from getting bit. After kicking it away, I reached for the only weapon in this stupid hallway, a fire extinguisher, and hit the thing as hard as I could over the head with it. Once it was down, I hit it again and again until a small pool of blood formed beneath it. “What the hell is going on?” It’s like I fell asleep and woke up in a Romero flick. Everything I saw was dead and walking, chasing after me like the only item on the menu.

Spotting a new herd just down the hall, I rushed quickly around the corner and into a classroom. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it, my senses suddenly becoming more urgent with the invading scent of blood that seemed to pervade the room. Pinching my nose I peered through the darkness looking for any signs of life but found nothing. “Ro?”

  

Something hard threw itself against the door on the other wall and I caught myself before I screamed and hastily searched around for something to use as a weapon. The loud thud erupted again and I jumped and ducked behind a counter as the door sprang open and a horde of undead entered the room with me. The smell of rotting flesh grew stronger the further they ambled into the room. I could hear limbs sliding against the floor as the monsters dragged them along behind them, painting the floor with muddy reddish brown goo.

They groaned mournfully and had it not been for the fact that they were chasing me down all night I might have felt bad about their eternal rest being disturbed. I heard a desk topple over and it startled me. I jumped in my skin as the invading horde moved closer and closer to where I crouched. Jesus Ro where are you?  I held back a whimper when the reflection of one of those things flashed in a cabinet above the sink. They were mere feet away from where I was and it was only a matter of time before they found me. 

Nervously my hand slid over the floor until I felt something sharp and closed my shaky fingers around the handle of a small scalpel. I poked my head from behind the counter to see where exactly they were in the room and spotted them closer towards me. It’s now or never. With a quick intake of air I darted towards the door in the corner, knocking over a desk as I moved and drawing the attention of the creatures behind me. Without looking back, I rushed from the room, throwing another desk against the door as I fled and giving myself a few seconds lead. 

I could hear them moaning behind me as I ran, the hanging flesh of their bodies dragging the floor as they moved faster. I darted up the stairs as quickly as I could praying to find another room to hide in and spotted the janitor’s closet. I hurried inside and shut the door as quietly as possible. “Fuck!” No lock on the damn door. Shit! 

A faint shuffling noise became clearer as I stood silently pushing my weight against the door. I whimpered to myself, it was them, just on the other side and I was trapped in here. I felt my heart pounding in my chest and I chewed my lower lip to try and still it. A gargling sound followed by a deep, baleful moan announced the arrival of another of those things. And very soon they started beating against the door again.

How do they keep finding me? Since the door couldn’t lock I found something to block it, a metal shelf that I leaned beneath the handle and wedged behind the sink. It must be the smell of my blood because I’ve been very careful not to make a sound. Tears brimmed at the bottoms of my eyes as the creatures slammed their fists into the door trying to break it down and I didn’t know how much longer the door would hold behind their combined weight. “Where the hell is everybody!?”

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I awakened in a tent, lying on my back as stars swirled above my head, no really, stars! That was a trip! It was dark and the smell of fresh popcorn and sweet cotton candy washed towards me as the wind blew. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please direct your attention to the center ring,” a deep, husky voice bellowed over the loud speakers. Instantly my eyes went up as a spot light turned on over my head and I got a sudden feeling that someone was watching me. 

“Hello?” I pulled myself from the ground and looked around but couldn’t see anyone. I was standing in the middle of a big top circus, surrounded by empty stands yet I could hear laughter from an audience and feel the air move around me as if someone was running circles.  I froze, standing as still as I could and suddenly the audience quieted as well. The sound of a knife unsheathing made my heart skip a beat and I turned in time to see a blade rush towards my chest.

“What the fuck?” I immediately rolled out of the way, landing on the ground near the wall as a series of daggers flew towards me outlining my body on the ground. I felt my heart leap into my throat and the sound of gasps from the invisible audience turned to cheers and clapping as I narrowly escaped death. Dude seriously? They’re rooting for my death? I quickly hopped to my feet and started sprinting across the center ring towards the curtain when the Ringmaster’s voice erupted over the speakers once more. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have for your enjoyment tonight, Giggles the clown!” A spotlight flashed through the darkness, through the curtain I found myself running towards and I stopped as a fiendish looking clown entered the Big Top Tent. He stepped from the shadows into the spotlight and a shiver rushed over my skin. He had an evil smile painted on his face and hair as bright as fire. His traditional jumpsuit was replaced with a pair of bloody suspenders and oversized boots. When he grinned I could see fangs sharp enough to cut metal and eyes so black and hollow they rivaled the Devil’s.

“Fuck me,” I whispered as he revealed a bloody hatchet from behind his back and pointed straight at me. My feet were firmly planted in place as I trembled in fear and I forced my body to inhale a deep breath, I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen. And though every nerve in my body told me to run, my feet refused to follow the command. Twenty seconds passed and it felt like an eternity. Giggles laughed and the abrasiveness of the high pitched cackle ripped through my fright and finally my body turned to run.

This is my worst nightmare! For as long as I could remember I’ve always had a fear of clowns. People think it’s a silly phobia to have but they weren’t tortured with visions of Pennywise as they slept from an overbearing big brother. Jingly music rose up around me through the speakers. It sounded like the theme song to some horror movie about murderous clowns, happy yet chilling, and only added to my crippling anxiety. Was there more of them? I heard Giggles laugh again and I could sense impending danger as I heard him chase after me thinking to myself this all had to be a bad dream.

Air displaced to my left side. An axe was thrown and landed in the wall in front of me. The audience gasped in horror. Children screamed. The tip of the weapon barely missed my cheek but was enough for me to feel a reprieve from death. I saw the curtain move in front of me again and before I had the chance to stop, a rope dropped down and a tiny clown smashed me in the face with a tire iron.

There were more of them! I fell hard, the wind knocked out of me and the most excruciating pain zipped through my body. I felt coldness in the air when Giggles stepped in front of me. The hair on both my arms stood to attention as goose bumps shivered across my skin. Giggles stood above me, twisting and twirling his ax so that the light gleamed off the sharpened tip and I was paralyzed with anxiety.

I felt a cold sweat rise within me and I knew I’d soon have the edge of that weapon embedded in my chest or across my throat. The unseen audience began chanting and hooting, waiting for Giggles to take his final blow and I looked around for something to hit him with or at least save myself from imminent death. He smiled that callous grin and his razor-sharp teeth glinted with the blade as he lifted his hand above his head. Oh shit. “Somebody wake me up!”

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I awakened in a pitch black room surrounded by books. “Hello?” A small, plush beanbag chair had broken my fall and I was grateful for that. Picking myself up off the floor I looked around the place, carefully analyzing the area I stood in. It was the children’s section of an abandoned library that somehow seemed a lot creepier in the pale light coming through the moderately opened blinds. The last thing I remembered was holding Knox’s hand as we ran through the woods trying to get away from the masked man. 

He lifted his hand over his head preparing to swing and Knox pushed me out of the way. I landed in a prickly bush and Knox pulled the man away, letting him chase him off into the woods. And now, here I stood alone in an empty library with only the sound of my beating heart. My eyes adjusted to the darkness bit by bit until I could see straight ahead of me and reality quickly set in; I may not be as alone as I thought. “Knox?” 

A child’s giggle turned my head towards the play section of the reading room and I narrowed my eyes to see through the darkness towards the sound. “Is someone there? Abby?” I called as fear tightened the muscles in my stomach. It felt like a hand gripped me around my throat and squeezed as the breath I held began burning my lungs. Frozen in terror, I struggled to get a grip on myself as the laughter seemed to draw closer.

Slowly my body began to recover as each muscle gradually started to relax and release from the paralyzing grip that had held me. As I crossed the threshold heading into the library, the laughter seemed to stop. I slowly weaved my way through the aisles, looking for someone, anyone or even an exit but there was nothing. As I walked deeper into the building, the lights began to dim and flicker before finally turning off completely. 

As I stood in the darkness, a small shimmer of light appeared in the doorway of the children’s section and out of nowhere two little girls appeared. I gasped and immediately shrunk back as I watched them take each other’s hand and disappear into the playroom, giggling as they skipped. 

My eyes blinked a few times and I tried to reason that maybe it was just the light messing with me but very soon after they showed up I saw him. Movement at the end of the aisle tracked my gaze towards the large masked man that chased us in the woods. He stood behind me holding his ax, not speaking, not moving.  I took a step back, he took a step forward. I moved two steps back and watched him mimic me again. I instantly turned and ran, heading back to where I started too afraid of looking back behind me.

When I stopped in the children’s section again I noticed the little girls were gone; maybe it was my imagination after all. My lungs labored in my ribs as I struggled to catch my breath. I had no idea where I was or how I ended up here. I was scared, exhausted and thought I was going crazy. A loud thump hit the door leading into the room and I quickly ducked behind a book shelf to hide. 

I watched as the masked man banged his weapon into the wall twice before dropping it back to his side again and ambling off down the back aisle of books. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he didn’t see me and that he appeared to be leaving the area altogether. I rocked myself a moment trying to keep myself from cracking. I couldn’t let the fear in too much; I was alone and if I broke down I was as good as done. Heavy breathing fell on the back of my neck and I trembled; too afraid of turning around to see what it was. 

The warmth of the breath grew hotter until finally I forced myself to turn and when I did I found the girls sitting behind me each with a twisted grin on their face. And their faces; mangled and demonic they looked as though they’d died horrible deaths and dragged themselves from their graves. I pulled my aching body to my feet and stumbled down the hallway, glancing behind me once as I moved. The little girls were right behind me as a pair of doors came into view and I threw my body towards them, freedom so close I could taste it. “Let me go!” I yelled and twisted myself away from the giggling little girls.

Frantically I pawed at the doors to get them to budge but they didn’t open. I wedged my fingers into the crack of the doors to pry them apart and still they wouldn’t move. “Come play with us,” I heard a shaky tone cry from the taller of the two girls but I refused to turn around again. Jolts of electricity flickered around me until finally I gave the girls my attention.

They stood at the end of the hall holding hands and it seemed as though the paranormal activity taking over the lights was all coming from them. “What do you want from me?” I shouted and immediately regretted asking as the girls appeared to understand and soon I got my answer.

My body teleported forward no matter how much I struggled to keep my distance from the twins until I was standing a foot away. Their wicked little mouths twisted into grins and I felt my heart stop in my chest. “Please, don’t do this!” The tallest glanced up once, but it was like she was looking right through me. She reached her hand towards my face and I shivered at the feel of her cold hand against my skin and all at once, everything went dark.

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“Baby? Evian where are you?” I called as I pulled myself from the ground, brushin’ off the dirt. It took a moment to collect my bearings and figure out I’d somehow dropped inside of an abandoned hospital and there seemed to be no one around. Runnin’ as quickly as my feet would move me, I rushed towards the only door in the room and pushed my full weight against it, throwin’ it open. My only thought was I had to find my girl and get us the fuck out of this place. Out of nowhere I got the feelin’ that somethin’ else was in the hall with me but I couldn’t see shit. And rather than act like a dumb bitch and ask ‘who’s there’, I ran the fuck out of that area until I was near the waitin’ room outside the ER.

From there I started slowly down the hallway, checkin’ the corners before enterin’ a new wing each time. Suddenly I got that feelin’ again that someone was watching me and I turned to look over my shoulder. This sure as hell ain’t the time for fuckin’ games. If that’s Knox I’m gonna bash his fuckin’ head in and apologize later. When I looked up the hallway I saw someone standin’ at the other end. I couldn’t make out the face but they had a female’s figure.

At first I thought it was one of the girls, definitely wasn’t Evian, I know her ass anywhere. But before I had the chance to call out to her I realized that I could see the wall behind her; like she was completely transparent. The body floated a little under the light and I could finally see she was dressed in a nurse’s uniform, wearin’ high heels and had long blonde hair. I blinked a few times thinkin’ I was seein’ things but then out of nowhere she up and disappeared into thin air. Frozen in terror I tried to relax, but my body felt paralyzed. “Fuck that!”

I ran the fuck around the corner and pushed into the next part of the hallway through a set of double doors, movin’ as fast as fuckin’ possible. When I finally stopped I was near a set of patient rooms and I could hear someone callin’ out behind me. I didn’t recognize the voice but I wasn’t about to stand around and wait for it to catch up to me either. I turned the knob on one of the rooms and hid inside. I could see out into the hallway and figured I could find out who been followin’ me from there.

But I got an uneasy feelin’ bein’ in this room and the moment I took a step forward I heard the shufflin’ of draggin’ feet. At first I thought it was one of the guys but the sound was followed by the clickin’ of heels and I knew it wasn’t noone I wanted to meet especially if that bitch was gonna disappear again. Quickly I ducked down behind one of the beds and sat as quietly as possible. Pokin’ my head above the frame I watched as three women moved through the halls. They were dressed in sexy nurse’s outfits and for a moment I smiled to myself. That is until they turned around and I could see the rot that had eaten away much of their faces and the blood coverin’ their uniforms. That’s a damn shame. 

One of them turned and looked dead at me and I felt my breath catch in my throat. “Oh shit.” She screamed and pointed and instantly the other two turned and started chasing after me. I dove out into the hallway, feelin’ the runnin’ back in me come alive and stiff armed the fuck out of the first two and dodged the third as she reached out to grab me. I heard them moan like creatures from the black lagoon but I wasn’t about to turn around and ask if they were ok; I trucked it down the hallway and into a large surgery room and sighed. “I know there’s some sort of weapon or somethin’ in here.”  

A cold chill rushed over my arms and I about died when I turned and saw one of the rotting face nurses standin’ behind me. She didn’t move or make a sound and the smell of death seemed to engulf her and made me sick to my stomach. What the fuck is goin’ on? I wondered and then thought about what Knox said about that damn road. This must be some major mind fuck because there is no way this shit is for real.

Out of nowhere a thick fog gushed into the room and the chick disappeared again. I felt myself chokin’ on the heavy smog and tried to quickly get out of the room but the doors were locked. “Oh hell no!” I yelled and started bangin’ as loud as I could. “Someone let me out! Open this fuckin’ door! Help!” The smoke got too thick and I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air and felt my lungs cease up and collapsed to the floor, my foot still kickin’ at the door. “Someone…help!”

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Frigid cold air snipped at my arms as I sat up against the wall of the small room I lay in. Taking a moment to look around, I noticed I was sitting in what appeared to be a meat freezer. Large racks of beef surrounded me as more cool air blew in through the vents chilling me a little more to the bone. I rubbed my arms as I stood, shaking the cobwebs free to clear out the dizziness I suddenly felt getting up too quickly. 

Bravely I opened the door of the freezer a bit more and peered out into the darkened main room of the butcher’s shop. Waiting a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I gripped the strap of my bag and pulled it over my shoulder before quietly entering the hall. A sharp light blurred my vision briefly but vanished just as quickly once I was inside the room completely and I recognized it as the beam of a flashlight. Too afraid to call out for my friends I instead started in the direction slowly, checking every corner and every shadow as I moved.

Slowly my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, the only source of light coming from a freezer against the back wall. I stumbled once in the blackness as fear wrapped its lethal grip on me and held me entirely under its control. The smell of raw meat and blood curled its way into my nose but I pinched it once the scent of fresh fish and other seafood mixed with the odor. My fingers tightened on the bag over my shoulder and I thought about the gun I carried with me on the trip. Any sign of danger and it was coming out to play.

Beneath a sign showing the day’s special was a human corpse being pushed into a grinder and I all but lost my lunch on the floor beside me. Turning to leave I stopped in my tracks and gasped at the man standing in front of the door. The large blade in his hand gleamed menacingly as did the wicked grin on his face. He was covered in blood and I took three large steps backwards as I realized I was trapped within the butcher’s shop and turned to run when the man began laughing in front of me.

Car headlights beamed into the shop directly into my eyes illuminating the both of us and I could see his shadows on the wall close behind me. I entered the hallway again, running at full sprint as I struggled to unzip my bag and retrieve my weapon but the fucking thing stuck on a loose piece of cloth. “Come on, come on!” I growled as I reached the end of another hallway. Light glinted off the knife in the butcher’s hand and he laughed again as I threw a look over my shoulder to see how far back he was.

Finally I made it inside of another room and slammed the door behind me. It looked like a storage unit for the small deli within the shop. Tables, chairs and lamps lay scattered about as well as a shelf of cleaning supplies. The crazed man began banging on the door just in front of me causing me to jump slightly at the sound. I ripped my bag opened the rest of the way and watched my possessions fly in various directions, the gun skidded beneath a cabinet near the wall. “Shit!” 

Hurriedly I dove for it, stretching my arm as far as it would go and just then the door burst open and I was staring at the bloody butcher smiling manically and inching closer. My fingers grazed the top of the metal and I bit my lip and reached further, just…a little…more. Quickly my hand closed around the grip and I pulled the safety off and aimed. 

The second the psycho stepped into the room I unloaded. With the gun gripped tightly in my hand I aimed dead center at the butcher’s head. When I pulled the trigger bits of brain and skull sprayed everywhere. Blood spilled out under the corpse and I let out a sigh of relief. The darkened, almost pitch black room we stood in was momentarily filled with bright lights of the muzzle flare just before faint shadows from a rising sun painted orange smiles on the crimson pool beneath his body. It’s over, I thought I survived Halloween!

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“Chazz wake up.”

“Hmm?” I mumbled half conscious and half asleep.

“Chazz wake up,” I again heard Abby’s voice and found her shaking me as I lay in a drunken stupor on the ground in front of the fire pit.

“What? Where are we? What’s going on?”

“Chazz you stupid jerk, you drank up all the beer!” Knox growled angrily and I sat up quickly. My eyes unbolted, half from fear, half from adrenaline as slowly I began to put together where I was and what was happening. “I mean Dude, you could have like saved one for me or something.”

A half smoked bag of weed sat on my chest and I looked up at everyone laughing and giggling at the passed out stoner. “Was I dreaming?” I asked mostly to myself.

“And snoring,” Jemma added with a giggle. “We all thought for a while there you were dead. You didn’t make a sound for the longest time. Zach had to roll you on your back to make sure you were still breathing.”

“Wait so it was all…a dream? What day is it?”

“Halloween. Time to go home,” Evian nearly sang as she tossed her bag towards Roland who walked them to the car. The cars! There was no damage done to them and all of our stuff seemed to be in perfect condition as well. 

“How long was I out for?”

“Well you kind of went on a bender,” Zach sighed and nodded towards the empty beer bottles and the bag at my side. “It was going on 16 hours.”

“Yeah Dude if I knew you partied like that I would have invited you last year!” Knox smiled and gripped Jemma in his arms.

“So we’re all ok?”

“I think you might need some more sleep,” Abby surmised, “We’re fine Chazz.”

“It was all a dream I laughed and sat up a little more. We’re all ok!” I glanced up at the group as they all drew silent and suddenly fear gripped me like the last survivor of a horror movie and I was to be its final victim.

I waited impatiently for my eyes to fully adjust to the sunlight and turned towards what the others were staring at. My heart pounded furiously in my chest and I saw the half ripped patch of the Wayland County Mental Institution pulled from the man’s shirt and in that split second I realized this was far from over. He lunged over the tent, knife gleaming in his hand and a twisted grin on his face, “OH SHIT!”
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“What the fuck was that?” Sarah growled in anger and tossed her bowl of popcorn to the floor. “Are you serious? That’s it? It was all a dream?! What a rip-off!”

“Well the killer got them in the end. If you were paying attention it was the same one that was in Abby’s story the whole time. He was obviously the escaped mental patient from the first scene. He finally stalked them all down and ended them one at a time.”

“Yeah and that was totally lame too! I mean really it was seven of them versus ONE of him and we’re supposed to believe he killed them all without breaking a sweat or getting even a fist to the face from Roland, Zach or Knox, the three macho football players? For real? No way would that ever happen in real life, NO WAY.”

“Relax Sarah it was just a movie.” The doorbell rang and Tami stood to answer.

“No it was a really LAME movie. How did I let you talk me into watching this crap anyway? I mean seriously these filmmakers get these dumb ass bitches to be the ‘Scream Queen’ and then it’s a series of one bad decision after the next! I’m really tired of horror movies where the characters are constantly choosing to do the stupid thing rather than pretend as if they have even the smallest bit of intelligence.”

“TRICK OR TREAT!” a medley of children shouted at the same time and Tami laughed as she passed them each a handful of candy and shut the door.

She turned towards her friend with an exasperated sigh and watched her cross her arms into her chest. “You can’t tell me you enjoyed that Tami. I mean really, when you’re in that type of situation is your first reaction gonna be to look behind you constantly?”

“It depends.”

“Yeah on if you’re stupid. There are rules that everyone should really know by now in order to survive these types of situations.”

“I think you’ve been watching too many horror movies. Besides that kind of stuff couldn’t happen in real life anyway. Although,” Tami paused and glanced towards her growingly irritating friend. “There was said to be an escapee once in this neighborhood. It was earlier this month though so I’m sure they’ve caught him by now. There were helicopters and police cars up and down the street for a whole week; it was kind of cool.” She laughed at the incredulous look her friend shot her and threw her hands up in frustration. “Fine, what are these rules?” she asked using overemphasized air quotes.

“First, if you’re being chased by a psycho in a dark place, you do NOT talk loud, scream and breathe heavy. It might be realistic enough that you might scream if you find a dead body of like your friend or something but after you’ve been through it your fight-or-flight hormones kick in and it’s all about survival at that point. You have to know that finding a decent place to hide or a way to contact help is number one and screaming and all that other loud crap people do is STUPID!”

“Second if you’re going to reach for a weapon move quickly! No killer is going to give you time to search your house for something to use against them or let you get to a dropped gun before them! I get so sick of seeing people throwing their weapons at the end of movies after they think they’ve killed the bad guy only for him to pop back up and kill them with their discarded weapon. HANG ON TO YOUR WEAPON!”

“Finally I think that people need to learn that running and looking back GUARANTEES you’re gonna fall! I mean why bother checking out what the killer is doing behind you? Get the heck out of there before he catches up, plain and simple!”

The doorbell rang again and Tami glanced towards the emptying candy bucket beside the door. “Can you get that Sarah I have to grab some more candy from the kitchen.” With a sigh Sarah started towards the door to reward the begging kiddies. Scooping up the bucket she was ready herself to yell boo when she turned with one final note for her best friend.

“Oh I almost forgot, when your friends are disappearing but you know one was already killed splitting up to look for them is just plain stupid. I’m tired of movies where everyone dies because of their ignorance. It’s not scary; just annoying.”

“Thanks for that Sarah. Now I’m guaranteed to survive a horror film,” Tami laughed and turned back towards the door. Her eyes opened in shock as she looked towards the front door and she pointed, trying to warn her friend but no sound would come out.

“What are you doing? One of those stupid movie moments where there’s a killer behind someone and instead of speaking and saving their friend they just point all stupid like and not say a word? Ha, classic Tami!” But her friend didn’t speak.

“Come on Tami, give it up, what’s the matter with you?” she asked as her friend continued pointing and stammering as her gaze locked on something above her.

“SARAH, BEHIND YOU!” Sarah turned in time to find the crazed man coming down with his knife. She screamed and everything faded to black.

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*Author's note: So this story went on a bit of a misguided road. I had one idea that turned into something else in the middle of the story that ended as something else completely by the finale. Yeah. It just wasn't working out for me. Normally I have the Halloween pieces done earlier in the year that way I'm pleasantly pleased with the results. This one I'm not very happy with at all BUT it has reached its conclusion. Now I can happily return my attention to my main stories and get those up and running again. I'd like to thank you all for reading, I do hope you enjoyed the ride (as weird and twisted as it became near the end) and I hope it wasn't too confusing :P Get on your costumes, grab your pumpkin buckets and scare up a ton of fun and candy tonight everyone! Happy Halloween and thank you for reading!*

I made it just under the wire!