Never Again

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Clock Tower…but I still aim to.

Author's Note: This was my submission for a Clock Tower contest, and it is another ending for the second game in the series, known as Clock Tower in the US and Clock Tower 2 in Japan. To clarify, I mean the second game starring Jennifer, set a year after the first.

It was like déjà vu.

Once again, Jennifer Simpson sat in the back of an ambulance, an orange blanket draped around her shaking shoulders. She kept her eyes downcast, looking up only when another person was pushed by on a stretcher. Though the medical workers hurried them past her each time, she knew it wasn't because they were in a rush to try and help those they were transporting.

After all, there was little you could do for the dead…

The area around her was buzzing with activity. Cops were all over the place, shouting in order to be heard over the roar of the various construction machines that were working to dig through what remained of the Barrows Castle. Still buried under all that rubble were many bodies, most belonging to people whom she had cared for deeply or had simply become accustomed to seeing over the year that had passed since she had first escaped Scissorman's shears.

Yes, one year ago, a fourteen-year-old Jennifer had been the only survivor of a terrible incident, sensationalized as the "Clock Tower Murders". She and three fellow orphans-Ann, Laura, and Lotte-were to be adopted by Simon Barrows, a reclusive man who owned a mansion in a secluded mountain area. The girls had been led to the ominous house by an instructor from their orphanage-Ms. Mary,-who had left them in the large foyer to get their new father and never returned.

Jennifer had been given the task of going to look for her, only to hear the screams of the other girls just moments later. She had returned to find the foyer dark and empty. It would not be long before she would learn what had happened to at least one of them.

A few moments after resuming her search, now for more than just Ms. Mary, Jennifer had found Laura in the bathroom. The pretty blonde was hanging from the showerhead by her hands, soaked to the bone. Her wet hair hid her face from view, but it was obvious that she was dead, the steam blanketing the room suggesting she had been tied up and left to die under the scalding-hot water. The two girls had not gotten along all that well, but that did not make it any easier for Jennifer to see her like this or accept her sudden death-her sudden murder.

Before the teen had time to process or even recover from the horrific sight, she had been attacked by the Scissorman-a demonic child wielding a pair of scissors. He was Bobby-one half of a pair of twins, whom she would ultimately learn were the children of Ms. Mary, who had lured the orphans to her home to be killed by one son and consumed by the other-Dan.

While being continuously pursued by Scissorman, Jennifer had seen many disturbing things and even found the skeletal remains of her father, who had disappeared years earlier. He was a doctor back then, and he had been called to the mansion to help deliver the twins. When he realized they were demonic children, he had been sealed up in a room and left to die. Despite everything she had been through, that was the first time Jennifer had cried that night.

Eventually, Jennifer had been reunited with Lotte, her closest friend. The girl had been badly injured and was lying on a weird altar when Jennifer had found her. After telling her something that would ultimately lead to Scissorman's defeat, the redhead had died in her arms.

Soon after, Jennifer had encountered Mary's other child-the enormous and monstrous Dan. She had just barely managed to get away, seemingly triggering some explosives and causing his death in the process.

After climbing up to the mansion's clock tower, Jennifer had discovered Ann, who lay unmoving on the ground. Scissorman was hovering over her, blades above his head and ready to claim another life. Jennifer had desperately messed with the control panel beside her, activating the bells for the clock tower. Disoriented, Bobby had stumbled over the edge, to his assumed death in the gears below.

Jennifer rushed to Ann, calling out to her. Relief flooded through her as the brown-haired girl opened her eyes. As was the case with Laura, the two had never gotten along, but both were too happy to see another survivor to care.

But no sooner had the two stood up to escape, than Mary had come rushing out of the shadows, shoving Ann. There was a terrible scream, and Jennifer was powerless to do anything but watch as Ann fell into the gears of the clock tower.

Mary came at her next, angry and wanting revenge for her sons' deaths. Filled with a deep sorrow and a strong rage of her own, Jennifer had struck the woman with a nearby wooden board, sending her flying into the control panel. The shock that emitted from it upon impact caused her body to spasm violently, before it fell to the floor, dead.

Jennifer had collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Finally, it was over.

…or so she had thought.

The following year had been hard on Jennifer. While struggling to recover from her terrible experience, she had had to deal with the papers sensationalizing her story and calling her a liar. She had been able to find some comfort in the arms of Helen, the woman who would become like a sister to her after taking her in, but still had to suffer through strenuous therapy sessions at her workplace.

Jennifer had always hated the place, especially after Scissorman had returned. It was there she had first unexplainably encountered him again. Another night of terror, with more horrific murders…

After a few more incidents like this with others involved in the Clock Tower case, a handful of people had decided to make their way to the Barrows Castle, in hopes of finding a way to do away with Scissorman for good. Naturally, she had insisted on going along, not wanting to be left alone with him on the loose and wanting him gone more than anyone else.

Jennifer had gone to sleep during the trip hoping it would all truly be over soon, and she had awoken tied up in the castle, with Scissorman hovering over her. To her surprise, he had told her not to be scared, then revealed himself to be Harris, a co-worker of Helen's. He was a creepy little man who had always seemed to have an unnatural obsession with Jennifer. After untying her, he had admitted to dressing up like Scissorman and killing people, under the orders of someone else. That person had promised to give Jennifer to him in return.

Jennifer had screamed as the man had advanced on her, only for fears to be redirected as Scissorman's shears tore through his chest. Harris had been the first victim that day, not that she had really cared, given what he had just told her.

After managing to escape from Scissorman, Jennifer had discovered the body of Inspector Gotts, wedged into a terrifying torture device. He had been the second victim. His death had hurt. He was not someone she had been all that close to, but he was a strong guy, and she couldn't help but believe him when he insisted they'd get rid of Scissorman.

The third victim would be Professor Barton, Helen's boss and the horrible man who had put her through those awful therapy sessions, solely for his own interests. His body had been left hanging from a tree in the courtyard, though she doubted his death was suicide. Scissorman confirmed this by jumping down from the tree and chasing after her again.

Jennifer had hidden from him in the castle's wine cellar. Curiosity had led her to uncork one of the barrels, and the dark red that had poured from it onto the floor was unsettling and made her stomach churn. She was barely able to stifle her scream when a finger had come through the hole in the barrel and landed on the floor in the growing puddle of what was apparently blood and not wine. The ring on it she recognized as belonging to another of Helen's co-workers, a kind young woman named Beth-the fourth victim.

Upon entering a room she had passed through earlier, Jennifer had noticed a terrible smell. It was coming from the fireplace. Halfway inside it, with only his lower-half sticking out, was Tim. He was a cameraman who worked with Nolan, a tabloid reporter she'd come to rely on and had a bit of a crush on. Tim was the fifth victim, and his fate made her fear for Nolan.

Eventually, Jennifer found Helen, locked in a large chest. The woman was curled up in a ball within it, her eyes closed. As Jennifer desperately tried to shake her awake, she cried, realizing she had just found the sixth victim. Helen must have suffocated in that trunk. If only she had found her sooner…

Just like last year, Jennifer had searched for a way out in-between finding dead bodies and being chased by Scissorman. She managed to find a secret path under the fountain in the courtyard where she had found Barton's body.

At the end of the small, cave-like tunnel, was a lone door. Listening at it, she heard Kay, another instructor at her orphanage, talking tearfully to Edward-the angelic boy she had met shortly before all this had started. He was said to be the other survivor of the Clock Tower Murders, but he had lost his memories. Kay was pleading with him to stop, saying she knew he was a good boy. Her scream moments later suggested she was wrong, as she became the seventh victim.

Sure enough, she had entered the large room beyond the door to discover only Scissorman with Kay's body. Though she had figured out he was Edward after overhearing him kill Kay, she was not prepared to learn that Edward was really Dan, the monstrous child she thought she had killed a year ago.

Though he had gleefully chased after her, his shears snapping, she had managed to vanquish him for good using a statue and a weird incantation. A gigantic set of doors had opened in the cavernous room, and a strong wind threatened to suck them both inside what seemed to be a never-ending pit of darkness. Jennifer had managed to grab onto something, but Scissorman clung to her leg, and her grip was slipping. Using a dagger she had found earlier, she had stabbed his hand, sending him flying into the darkness beyond those doors. They had closed, and the force pulling at her had vanished.

After that, the castle had crumbled. She had not been able to escape, but somehow, yet again, she had managed to survive and was rescued.

Jennifer had never found Nolan, and she had tried to cling to the hope that he had also managed to survive. These hopes were shattered when one of the stretches being rushed past her had accidentally toppled over, spilling his broken body onto the ground before her. The examiners believed he had escaped Scissorman's massacre, only to get crushed by the falling rubble. He was the final victim.

Once again, Jennifer was the only survivor. Everyone else had died, even Scissorman. She was finally free, but she was all alone. Now that she'd gone through all this twice, the stories in the papers would be crazier than ever, and just like before, no one would believe the truth. She'd probably be sent back to the orphanage. Before Helen had taken her in, she had been looked at with fear and suspicion by the other kids. And it was way too close to that horrible mansion…

Suddenly, there was a commotion nearby. Jennifer looked up to see a bunch of medical personnel running towards the remains of the castle, moving faster than she'd ever seen. The construction equipment was no longer running, and she could hear the words being shouted clearly.

"We've found another survivor!"

Jennifer's heart started beating rapidly in her chest. Someone else was still alive? But who? The only person whose body she had not found in the castle was Nolan's, but she knew he was dead. Had she somehow been wrong about Helen? She had looked like she was only sleeping, but when she hadn't woken up…

The thought that Helen might still be alive made Jennifer stand up as she watched the stretcher being loaded in the distance. It was too far for her to see who it was, and she took a few steps forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person's face as they were brought by. She could hear them talking about the survivor as they got closer, saying that they were unconscious, but miraculously seemed uninjured.

Just as they were coming close enough for her to get a look, someone clapped their hand down on her shoulder, startling her. Her past experiences had made her more than a little jumpy, and she instinctively spun around, taking a few steps back. When she realized it was only one of the officers in charge, she frantically turned back around, only to find that the other survivor had already been taken past.

"Don't worry. You heard what they said, right? I'm sure he'll be fine."

"He?" Jennifer repeated. So it wasn't Helen… Though she should have been happy that anyone had managed to survive, she couldn't help feeling a little depressed to learn it couldn't be the woman she loved like a sister.

"Yeah." The cop chuckled. "Man, you two must be really lucky."

Frowning a little, Jennifer asked what he meant. She certainly didn't feel lucky…and it kind of bothered her that he said that, having no idea what she had been through and what she had lost.

"Surviving without a scratch." he explained.

"Oh." Jennifer wondered if maybe he knew the identity of the other survivor and was about to ask him, when he suddenly started speaking again.

"I mean, once is pretty amazing, but twice?" He laughed again.

Jennifer felt her blood run cold. "Twice?" she repeated, her voice strained. "Edward…?"

"Either that, or somebody who looks just like him." The cop was joking around, but there was nothing funny about his words.

"Looks just like…" Her voice trailed off. No, it couldn't be.

The cop had more to say, but she didn't stick around to hear the rest. She turned around and ran towards the ambulance the stretcher had headed for. The officer called out to her, but she ignored him.

Jennifer stopped a few feet away, as she caught a glimpse of the person being loaded into the back of the ambulance. That neatly-trimmed golden hair… That face many had called "angelic"… Those dazzling blue eyes in which only she could see the demon he really was…

He was conscious now, and he was looking directly at her as the ambulance doors started to close. His smile was more of a smirk, and in those frightening, piercing, beautiful eyes, there was a promise.

He would be coming for her.

By nightfall, all but one person had left the area. It was late and far too dark to do anymore work. He had been taken to the hospital, and all the other ambulances had left soon after, carrying the victims. There had been so many, the cops had just assumed she was in one of them. In reality, she had snuck off shortly beforehand concealed herself in the forest nearby.

As terrifying as the concept had been to her earlier, she just wanted to be alone. She needed some time to herself, to think about what she should do. Last year had taught her she couldn't do that in a hospital, faced with doctors, cops, and reporters. She didn't want to get those looks of pity or fear. She didn't want to feel as if people were whispering about her everywhere she went. She didn't want to be asked questions about things she didn't want to remember, when no one would believe her answers anyway.

Jennifer walked along the ruins of the Barrows Castle, her path illuminated only by the full moon that hung in the sky. She saw the place where "Edward" had been found, still marked off by police tape, and headed towards it.

That boy was Bobby. She was certain of it. Dan had died when he had been pulled into that door. It was the only way to truly kill the otherwise-immortal Scissorman. Bobby had fallen into the gears of the mansion's clock tower one year ago, and both she and Ms. Mary had naturally assumed he had died. But she had seen Dan die that day too, burned alive by some explosives that had fallen as she tried to escape. He had come back in a new form, as "Edward". She had never even suspected his true identity. There was only one way to kill a Scissorman, and now it was buried-most likely forever- beneath the rubble, along with the statue needed to access it.

She had no way to stop him.

A year ago, even believing he was dead had not stopped the mere thought of him coming after her from making her want to run and hide someplace safe. But she had never felt safe. And now, she knew she would never feel that way again. She was alone in the dark, at the place where many had lost their lives and she had nearly lost hers only hours earlier. It was easy to imagine him sneaking out and attacking her here. The hospital was full of people, but none of them would or could protect her, and he would be close enough to just slip into her room unnoticed and realize she was not there. Maybe he would massacre everyone else instead. Maybe he already had…

Shivering, Jennifer turned to leave. The moonlight glinted off of something lying amongst the rubble, and she walked over to have a closer look. Her heart stopped when she saw that it was a familiar pair of gigantic scissors. She calmed down only a little when she realized they were not held by Scissorman.

Kneeling down beside them, Jennifer held her breath. She hesitated for a moment, then reached over and wrapped her trembling fingers around the handles. Standing, she held them up, looking at the long, sharp blades covered in dried blood. That blood belonged to people she knew, who had been killed by those very blades. They were the same blades that had tried so many times to kill her.

Maybe it was the moonlight, but there was something eerie about her reflection. She didn't look normal. Her expression was odd, and her face looked distorted. She looked away, lowering the blades but not releasing her grip on them. They were big enough that the blades extended all the way to the ground. And while there was a certain heaviness to them, they also felt oddly light in her hands.

How many times had the sight, even there mere sound of these blades made terror rush through her body-made her feel helpless? She hated that feeling. It was a bit unsettling, but holding the very weapon that had made her cower in terror and cut down so many people gave her a different feeling. She felt…strong-like nothing could touch her. It also made her feel oddly excited.

"Jennifer?"

Turning, she saw the officer from earlier standing there, looking concerned. He must have noticed she wasn't at the hospital and come looking for her.

The man approached her slowly, his eyes filled with that pity she detested. He started to talk about how she shouldn't have gone off on her own like that, trailing off when he saw what she was holding. Now talking about how she shouldn't be tampering with the crime scene, he reached his hand out to take the scissors from her.

"Those things are pretty sharp. You could get hurt if you're not careful."

An odd feeling flowed through Jennifer as she looked at his approaching hand. She didn't like how this man looked at her, and she didn't like how he was talking to her like she was a helpless little girl. And now, he was trying to take away the thing that had finally made her feel strong.

She couldn't let that happen. She never wanted to be pitied or feel helpless ever again.

It all happened so quickly, neither one of them registered it at first. The officer's arm fell, landing at his side…in the grass. He stared at it in shock, then started screaming as he realized what had just happened.

Before she could stop herself, Jennifer rushed forward, thrusting the scissors out in front of her. Despite how light they had felt, the blades tore right through the officer's body with the same ease as they had his arm. Blood spurted from the gaping hole as she pulled the scissors out, and the man fell to the ground.

Covered in the crimson liquid, watching as a life ended, Jennifer felt wild and alive, powerful… Was this how they had felt? As she looked at her reflection again, fresh blood running over it, she smiled. She didn't know where she would go from here, but one thing was certain:

She would never again be the victim.