1. The Eyes
Disclaimer: I do not own Halloween or Michael Myers, but I do own Ava Mallory. Halloween belongs to the original creator John Carpenter. This fanfic however follows the events of Rob Zombie's Halloween but with twist that I came up with, and I was inspired to do this to be festive around this time of year. Happy Halloween to all, and be safe out there. I'm only sorry if it doesn't come start out very well, this is a first Halloween fanfic for me, and I've been a fan of the franchise ever since the original one came out, and the remakes did their best to recapture that old nostalgia from the original ones. I should also update most of my fanfics, starting with Supernatural, as well as start posting some new ones.
Madison, Wisconsin
The door creaked open, and Ava walked into her second story apartment room after her long shift. She had lived alone since her parents' divorce (if they ever really were in the first place), and since she had gone to college part time, while working at the local movie theater to get enough money to try and put herself through school. And on nights like these she was usually exhausted and briefly wondered why she was putting herself through this, after all she was getting financial aid. 'Not like I can live solely on that,' Ava thought to herself ruefully, as she set her bag down.
Brushing off any more thoughts on money, she untied her hair and went to check her answering machine – looked like she had 4 messages on the machine.
She pressed the button to listen to them; the first one was from Travis. 'Of course he wants to call again,' she thought bitterly, 'probably to make sure that we really are cool, after you dumped me for Shelby.'
Ava shook her head and quickly deleted the message, and went on to listen to the next one.
It was from her friend, Taylor, who called and left a message to check in on her.
'Thoughtful.' Ava let herself smile, as she set her hair tie down. 'I'll have to remember to call her back. She's probably still camping with her boyfriend, Chad.' Taylor Marston had been her best friend since the 6th grade and was there for her ever since her parents' separation and divorce, something that Ava was more than grateful for.
'At least Travis didn't leave me for my friend, and even Taylor had the thought to turn him down and did. I can't really afford to lose another friend,' she thought dryly.
The 20 year old deleted that message as well, and went on to her fourth message; this one was from her mom. 'At least she found the time to call me and leave the message from her tropical cruise,' Ava shook her head and decided to make a mental note to call her mom back too, as well as her grandma Rose.
Ava finally got to the last one and it was from someone she hadn't expected to hear from in a while.
Samuel Loomis…
"Hello Miss Mallory," his old crackled voice said over the phone, "This is Samuel Loomis, I don't know if you remember me. But I knew your father, Dr. Terence Wynn," Dr. Loomis's voice trailed off, and Ava felt her insides grow still at the mention of her father. "I am calling to let you know that he has passed and I am very sorry for your loss. I am calling to let you know that he has left some things of importance in his office and I was hoping that you could return the call after hearing this message as soon as possible," Dr. Loomis said and the message clicked off, leaving Ava to stare at the machine in a daze.
Her father…? Dead?
Ava could conjure up a few images of her dad. Terence Wynn was a man driven, who lived for his work and his own ambition, and in the end his own drive is what killed him probably, as Ava would have probably guessed. The young woman could only wonder if her mom knew yet, though Ava knew that was unlikely – after her parents' divorce, Lana Mallory had made it a point to cut off all contact with Terence Wynn, and years after the divorce, Ava had as well.
After some thinking, Ava decided to go make herself some dinner in her small kitchenette, and while her pasta was heating up, she decided to make the call to Loomis.
Picking up the phone, she dialed the number that Loomis had left for her, and pressed it against her ear, as it rang. There was the click and Ava heard a crackling voice, "Hello?" Ava licked her lips and spoke up, "Mr. Loomis? You called earlier."
She could hear her own voice, and it sounded nervous but controlled, "It's Ava Mallory, you called about my father," she was certain that she was rambling now.
"Oh yes, Miss Mallory, thank you for calling me back, I am very sorry for your lo-," it wasn't in Ava's mood to be rude enough to cut someone off especially if they were her senior, but she didn't feel up for condolences, "Thank you Mr. Loomis, but I'd appreciate it if you could tell me exactly what happened," she stated firmly.
"Ah yes, I'm sorry, yes," Loomis trailed off and Ava waited patiently, not wanting to rush the man, "Your father suffered a heart attack in his sleep and was found in his office the next morning," Loomis informed her.
Ava sauntered to her couch and sat down slowly, "That's shocking…" she murmured, 'Who knew he had a heart.'
"Yes, and I am sorry for your loss," Loomis consoled sympathetically.
The young woman cleared her throat and looked around her small living room, "You said something about his office in your message," she asked slowly.
"Oh ah, yes, he has some items that he had left in his office and seeing as how you are the closest he had to family, I had hoped that you could come by and pick up some of his things," Loomis suggested.
Going back to that place was the last thing, Ava ever expected to do in her life, she had only been there once and that was to visit her dad at his work and to spend some time with him.
"Miss Mallory? Miss Mallory," Loomis asked, "Are you there?"
Ava came back to herself, and sniffed, "Yeah I'm here, sorry, just a bit surprised," she muttered.
"Ah I thought the call was dropped," Loomis explained.
"No I'm still here," Ava sighed, "When would be a good time to come by and pick up his stuff," she asked running a free hand through her dark brown hair.
"Anytime, but the sooner the better," Loomis answered, "Perhaps this weekend if possible," he asked.
Ava bit her bottom lip and sighed, "Maybe, I might come by sooner because of the funeral," she murmured, 'Someone has to bury him, and since his sister died before him too.'
"Ah yes of course," Loomis agreed with her, "His body is still in the morgue waiting to be collected and treated to a proper service."
Ava nodded, "Okay, I'll be there, I just need to ask for some time off," she said quietly, "Goodnight and see you then Mr. Loomis," she hung up before he had a chance to answer dropped the phone on the couch, and only to want to be alone with her thoughts.
She sat on her couch and stared at the wall above her television, as she rested the backs of her hands against her head, as a way to calm herself. Ava still couldn't get over it; her father had just passed and she was expected to pay for his funeral and be a mourner there, and then come and pick up his stuff from his office. After hearing all of this, and the day she had, all the young woman wanted to do was eat her dinner and just crawl into bed. She would have to call her boss and let her professors know that she was going to be absent from her classes.
The smell of noodles assaulted her senses, breaking her from her reverie, so she stood up and went to turn the stove off, and opened the top cupboards to get herself a bowl.
She poured herself some pasta and turned on the T.V and started to eat quietly as she settled for watching the weather channel instead. As she finished eating she went to wash her bowl and put it in the dryer, and turned off her T.V and went to change into her . Good thing, today was exhausting, otherwise she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep so fast, which she did, the minute her head hit the pillow.
The Next Morning…
Once morning arrived it was a rapid blur, that Ava didn't even register eating, then dressing in a pair of jeans a gray long sleeved shirt and a brown rain jacket in case, making several calls to her boss and professors, and packing up some of her essentials and piling them into her car, while mentally preparing herself for the 3 to 4 hour drive to Warren County, Illinois – good thing she made sure to bring coffee.
A quirk, Ava had developed while driving, is always letting her mind go blank as she stared at the road ahead; this technique was a good way to pass the time, well either that or listening to some mindless song playing on the radio.
She didn't realize it until she saw the sign that she was finally in Warren County, and started to approach Smith's Grove Sanitarium. The parking lot was near empty in the visitor's section, since it was a Sunday – Ava doubted anyone would want to come here on a weekend.
Stopping the car, she took a deep breath and got out, pocketing her keys, once she made sure it was locked; she would have to see where she could stay for the time being.
She walked up to the main entrance and the first thing she noticed was how white the room was and with the windows it all looked like it was glowing.
The brunette looked around and slowly trekked through the white entrance room until she noticed the reference desk, and approached it. 'Thank god there's someone here at least,' she thought to herself seeing a middle aged secretary there, "Excuse me," She had brown shoulder length hair and brow eyes, Ava noticed as the older woman looked up, "Yes can I help you dear?"
"I'm Ava Mallory, I'm here to see Dr. Loomis," Ava explained with inflection.
"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked.
"No I'm not a patient. I'm here about my father? Terence Wynn?" Ava clarified, raising her dark brows.
The woman blinked and drew back, "Oh of course, Dr. Loomis said something about Dr. Wynn's daughter coming by to pick up his stuff," she gave her a sympathetic look, "I am so sorry by the way about your father," she offered her condolences, "He was a brilliant man."
Ava smiled artificially and faintly, nodding her thanks, refraining to say anything harsh, 'Not exactly the best father though,' she added mentally, "Thank you. If you could please take me to Dr. Loomis now," she asked.
The lady nodded, "Oh of course. Right this way," she stood up from her chair, "I'm Jennifer Hill by the way, in case you need anything," she said to her kindly.
Ava hummed, "Thanks again. I appreciate it," she noted as she followed after her.
All the walls seemed the same to her, she couldn't help but observe, with the occasional stray framed picture, or photograph or notice on the wall.
They walked through a hallway, and to a green walled waiting room, "He's in a session right now, would you like to wait, or we can go in and I can tell him that you're here," Jennifer offered to her.
Ava thought it over – if he was with a patient, then maybe she didn't want to be rude and interrupt, but she didn't want to stay here too long.
And maybe she would be doing this patient a favor by cutting their session short, if Dr. Loomis was anything like her father. "I'd hate to be rude but I don't want to overstay my welcome so I wanna let him know that I'm here," Ava answered with a thin smile.
Jennifer nodded and she reached for the door, opening it, "Dr. Loomis?"
Ava stared at the two figures sitting at a table across from one another; it was an elderly man with white hair and moustache and an aging face, and by the clipboard in front of him, she could only assume that this was Dr. Loomis.
Her eyes drifted to the second one and she paused her eyes slowly widening – the man sitting across the elderly one was a…giant – all muscle and a tall stature, as well as a paper mache mask, surrounded by long thick tendrils of messy dark blond-brown hair.
"Yes what is it? I'm in the middle of a session now with Michael," Dr. Loomis griped in a highly angry tone.
"Sorry but Ava Mallory is here," Jennifer explained, "She's here about her father, Dr. Wynn," she added quickly.
Dr. Loomis looked unhappy at being interrupted, then glanced at Ava, his eyes were a sharp blue, she noticed this as well, "Very well. Jennifer call in Ismael, and have him escort Michael to dinner then to his room," he ordered.
"Yes sir," Jennifer answered and left the room, leaving the three of them alone now.
Ava looked at Dr. Loomis and stared at him, "I'm sorry for the interruption," she said simply but offered no reason behind it.
"It's alright. I understand that it was your father after all," Dr. Loomis admitted, and Ava internally groaned, 'Great, another condolence,' she wondered to herself, then glanced at the man, Loomis had called Michael, "I uh…," she felt her voice catch in her throat, "I hope he doesn't mind," she finished.
Loomis sighed and shook his head, "He doesn't show signs of it bothering him. After all not like he'll say anything. He hasn't said a word in 15 years," he stated.
And Ava glanced at Michael again, and she now noticed he was staring back at her, from the eyeholes of his mask. Ava could vaguely make out his eyes, and now his stature was not the only things she noticed about him.
It was the eyes. She was sure of it now, that they were completely dark.