The beeping that signified that Ethan had just hung up sucker punched Gwen directly in the gut.
Her eyes hadn't left the yellow bug parked outside of the Party City since her call. It was as though her body was glued to the chair.
Snape had told her to stay put. Ethan had told her to do something much more horrible.
It didn't matter if they had only met once before. She trusted Ethan Hunt and if he said that the only way to catch Hannibal Lecter and the others was to record Jack's license plate, he meant it.
And Jack could pull away any second, meaning that if she were going to act, she'd have to act now.
Alright then. Take a photo of the license plate of an insane, possessed, recovering alcoholic that tried to kill his family. No biggie.
Shaking violently, Gwen pocketed her cellphone. She stuffed the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth, even though she felt sick, and opened her backpack.
She shoved Snape's sandwich and newspaper inside, slurped at her Frappuccino and tried to enjoy it. If this was her last meal, at least it was Starbucks.
Pulling out her baseball bat, she lowered her swimming goggles onto her eyes. They were uncomfortable, slightly blurry, and difficult to breathe in but they made her feel protected.
She gripped her bat and turned away from the window.
Almost everyone was watching her but pretending not to. She sniffed through tears and saluted the Starbucks before she hopped down from her chair, backpack on, and left.
She felt like Marty McFly in the final 'Back to the Future' movie when he had the Clint Eastwood showdown with Biff's outlaw ancestor. She was standing exactly opposite to the Torrance's car and analyzed the scene carefully.
She had almost forgotten how to breathe when she saw Jack in the front seat, smoking.
Holding the bat steady, gaining stares across the sidewalk, she side-stepped to the right where the crosswalk was laid out.
A false but comforting thought entered her mind. The same thought that had entered her mind when she had seen Hannibal for the first time: It's not really him. It's just a guy who LOOKS like him. Jack Torrance isn't real. He's fictional. He was invented by Stephen King. He was played by Jack Nicholson. He was brought to screen by Stanley Kubrick. He couldn't possibly be real...
Fooling herself was becoming more difficult as she neared the crosswalk and he became more clear. His arm was draped out the window the Volkswagen and it seemed too tangible to be fake. She squinted at it, she tried hard to will him from existence.
He got out of the car. Gwen's entire body froze up as he ducked onto the road, and rounded onto the sidewalk. He disappeared inside the Party City again.
He hadn't seen her.
Snape materialized in a store aisle.
He blinked a few times, slightly dizzy, and took in the store around him. He was standing in an aisle that was filled with nothing but candy and chocolate.
It was sickening how much sugar sat in rainbow walls on either side of him, and at the same time his empty stomach complained for it.
He was glaring at a contraption that sat in the center of the aisle. He had seen one of these in a fake Chinese restaurant a few days ago. He wasn't quite sure what it was called but it had a large transparent sphere on top filled with rainbow coloured balls and a red triangular bottom with a little silver knob and slot.
The only difference between this contraption and the one in the restaurant was that this one was taller than he was, and there were perhaps a thousand balls inside.
There was a shrill scream from behind and Snape spun round, wand in hand.
The aisle of candy continued before him but at the end, he could see a hulking silhouette pacing back and forth across the opening, machete in wielded one hand.
Snape hid behind the contraption, listening as hard as he dared.
"Hey, you're not allowed to scream, okay? It's against the rules!"
The hulking form had disappeared, leading Snape to believe it had gone to assess the situation.
"What are you going to do to us!?" a woman cried. Snape rolled his eyes. Didn't people ever learn to shut up in situations like these?
"Are you worried that I'm going to kill you?" Yes, it was the form alright. Snape recognized that cracking voice in an instant. "Because I might have to if you don't stop screaming! And I don't wanna do that, okay? Seems really unnecessary and unfair."
"Commander," A new voice sounded out. It was slightly strained and nasally. "How many of these bags do we got left? My trunk's outta room."
"I dunno. I think we got double the amount since- you know-"
"Yeah, I know. The General had the nerve to screw up my car and now he's gonna take the time to screw up my OTHER car. I didn't wanna come,"
"But...you can't sit and type all day,"
"Oh yeah? Why not?"
"It's bad for your cholesterol. That's what the Lieutenant said,"
"I don't give a shit what the Lieutenant said. You're insane,"
The hulking form returned to pacing and Snape heard the
footsteps of the other voice one aisle away. Carefully, he stalked the brown plaid jacket that he could see through the shelves.
The Captain was whistling to himself, skipping slightly. Snape continued to follow him until the end of the hallway. Jack Torrance took a left and Snape now stalked behind him.
Jack passed into three aisles over, Snape bent over in a new aisle, still watching through the shelves, hand white over his wand.
He had stayed in an aisle that was filled with plastic party blowers and cheap makeup, pressing against an area of plastic masks and makeup palettes that he knew would hide him from view. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jack pass him by.
"How many more of these, Lieutenant?"
"This one and one more," replied a rough voice with a bit of scratch in it. "Everyone behavin' themselves?"
"Yup. The Commander's doing okay. Surprisingly,"
"I'm might browse around for a while. This store is nice. I saw that they got feather boas down a few aisles, might be good for karaoke."
The next voice was monotone and deep but easily recognizable as a woman's.
"You guys are like children,"
"I take personal offence to that, Chief. Ever since you gave up your rank as Colonel in order to play with televisions all day, I'm more superior to you than ever before. So why don't you quit the back talk, alright?"
There was a sound of grumpy mumbling before the Lieutenant continued.
"As for you, Mr Marsh. Here are your winnings for your help, as the General promised. You've got a five hour window to get out of the country,"
This voice cracked like the Commander's but underneath lay intense fear. "B-But Mr Krueger, sir- F-Five hours isn't n-nearly enough t-time-"
"Look, you got your money," the Lieutenant snapped. "I can always get you more money, but I cannot get you more time. So I suggest you head down into the sewers with Pennywise
the second he hands Torrance the final ice cream."
"B-But I didn't p-pack-"
"That's not my problem. Captain, you got it?"
"Yup, I got it. The Tracker's just going back for the final ice cream,"
"How did you keep all of that cream in the sewers?" Mr Marsh marvelled.
"It's called a fridge," the Chief drawled. "We're monsters, not animals."
Snape watched as Jack, lugging the bag of melted ice cream, trudged back down the aisle. Snape knew this one well. He was lazy, prone to complaining, never wanted to get off his rear and do anything. But when he did, he did it well. He had the rank of Captain for a reason.
Carefully, Snape crept to the end of the aisle where the dark grey doors leading to the back warehouse were.
Freddy Krueger stepped out of the warehouse and stood in the door. He leaned against the doorframe and pulled out an electronic pad. He held it with his clawed hand, while he tapped at it with his left.
The Lieutenant whistled through his chapped lips and Snape felt his hand clench the shelf behind him.
He had heard that particular whistling before. He had heard it down the dark hallway that stretched out before him in a sudden jolt of memory... the whistling that had merged with the slow piano playing. The whistling Snape recognized as he was bound and dragged down the laboratory hall, shrieking and cursing, smashing lights with his mind...
It was the same whistling that crept from the laboratory into the Shrieking Shack, coming out between the snake's long fangs, piercing his ears and then suddenly- sinking into his neck-
"Can I help you?
The sound of Krueger's voice cut through Snape's chest, dragging him up from an icy bath of vivid memories.
Neither of them had moved.
He was completely out of the Lieutenant's range of sight, but Krueger had somehow figured out he was there.
Snape's whole body was shaking, cold sweat under his arms, his heart raced. Not just from being discovered, but from the outline of the snake that he saw everywhere he looked. He tried to regain his breathing.
Bury it. Suppress it. Feel nothing.
"You gonna just stand there or...?" Krueger drawled.
Snape closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. He whispered some bizarre incantation and reached out his mind.
Legilimency had as many layers to it as the mind itself. Snape had spent the last four months really practicing and experimenting with his abilities. Not that he had had the choice to practice. The extensive Legilimency training was drilled into him by Dr Natalie Brenner...the wench...
He turned his head to the left and burying everything he felt, he closed his eyes and focused. He could feel the distorted mind of Freddy Krueger right around the corner, feel every step he took, and could hear his inner voice plotting his next move.
Snape calculated a long string of equations regarding time and speed, all while listening to Krueger whisper to his mind to be quiet. He had the advantage.
In a split second, Snape turned on his heel as he heard Krueger decide to jump. He Apparated four aisles away the second Krueger's feet hit the floor, arms open, at the now empty aisle.
Krueger studied his position and the empty aisle before his arms dropped to the side.
"What the...Chief! Hey, Chief! Get over here!"
Krueger straightened his fedora and stuck his hands under the two overall straps that stretched over his ugly vomit green and dark red sweater, biting his bottom lip.
The Chief appeared by his side, her pale arms dangling by her sides, her permanently scowling face curtained by shockingly long, greasy black hair. She held up the pad Krueger had been holding.
"You dropped this,"
"Did you see anyone in this aisle?"
"No," She was as blunt and bored-sounding as ever. The Lieutenant furrowed his brow.
"I could've sworn there was someone over here,"
"Yeah, well, there isn't anyone here now so you might as well stop wondering whether there was," the Chief drawled, rolling her large black eyes. She turned to leave but Krueger used his normal hand to grasp and drag her back.
"Listen, did you stop to think of what might happen if there's someone in this Party City who shouldn't be?" he snarled.
"This plan requires no outside engagement and if someone noticed something-"
"Then there's a fault in your plan. Okay?" Samara finished dully. "Now, could you let go of my arm? I have this thing about idiots touching me."
He opened his mouth and she wrenched her arm free. Krueger made a face that very well near matched hers and folded his arms.
"I don't like your tone, Chief," he snapped, grasping the pad from her.
"Yeah. I don't like yours. What else is new?"
"Sweep the store. I want you to do a thorough examination of the aisles and make sure that the Commander apprehended everyone who entered. I've been working at this heist for two days. The General entrusted me and it cannot go wrong. You got it? This cannot go wrong!"
The Chief glared at him for a second. "You're awfully bitter,"
"Bitter? About what?"
"I dunno. You just sometimes scream 'bitter'. I've got this sixth sense where I can tell someone is in a pit of 'not being over something'. You and the General haven't talked in those two days so-"
"Who told you-"
"The Secretary,"
Krueger rolled his eyes and exhaled shakily, pointing over his shoulder with his scary bladed glove. "Get lookin', soldier,"
They stared at one another for another few seconds before Samara passed him and whispered- "Bitter,"
She began to lumber down the back hallway, looking into aisles and Krueger watched her, swallowing something burning in his throat. He shook himself and moved to the back room.
Why was everyone always so judgemental of him?
It was the first time Gwen had been unable to walk down a sidewalk.
She had successfully crossed the road to where the Party City stood and where Jack Torrance had parked his car. He had reemerged from the store holding another bag of white melted ice cream and had lowered it into the back seat of the yellow bug.
Then, he sat shotgun again for another smoke.
Gwen's breathing was short and her hands were tight over the end of her baseball bat. Where was Snape? Were there other slashers around? If so, which ones? When was Ethan going to show up?
She didn't know and really hated not knowing.
She had one order. One simple order and accomplishing it was a few meters away and yet- she was frozen on the spot.
He wouldn't attack her on the street, would he? There were tons of onlookers- he wouldn't dare- Was he as crazy as he was up in that hotel? Did the hotel even exist anymore?
Okay, she needed to stop thinking. For ten seconds. Stop thinking. Pretend. She was good at that. She was great at that! Just go back to pretending. Jack Torrance isn't real...he isn't real.
She closed her eyes, avoiding stares and placing herself back in the other world on her bed- reading about San Diego Comic Con, defending Snape on social media, writing fanfiction. It was all fiction...no Hannibal Lecter, no Freddy Krueger, no Jack Torrance. Just her, God, and her own mind.
She opened her eyes and took in a deep breath, moving step by step down the sidewalk.
Shaking, breathing heavily through her mouth, heart in her ears, her feet moved through invisible mud across the sidewalk. She bent her knees, just in case she was visible through the rear view mirror.
Stalking across the sidewalk, Gwen kept her eyes glued to the license plate- kept her mind focused on the base of the car-
This was working! She was doing it!
Keeping herself crouching low to the ground, Gwen reached into her right pocket with her left hand, grasping her phone.
She stalked a few paces more until the car was barely a few feet away. She couldn't believe how close she was- it was terrifying and yet exhilarating- What Ryan would give to be this close to the Torrance's actual car...
Heart racing, hand trembling, she turned her phone on and slid its lock-screen to the camera.
He wasn't real...he wasn't real...
She froze again, the camera view of her phone perfectly framing the license plate which read C00-BR1K, and started to think again.
Her shoulders relaxed and she suddenly frowned. She had suddenly figured something out.
Jack Torrance wasn't real. At least, not in the way Ethan and Supergirl were. He was real in the terms of "a physical person" real. But he couldn't be real and somehow WAS real... the same way Snape was. How could she have forgotten? She had told Ethan about him two days ago...
Jack Torrance was supposed to be dead.
At the end of "The Shining", Jack was supposed to have frozen to death in the Overlook Hotel's enormous hedge maze while attempting to kill his son with an axe (as far as Gwen was concerned, it was a dysfunctional family to begin with.) And yet, here he was in New York City, alive and well.
The way Snape had gone rigid upon seeing the yellow Volkswagen Beetle told Gwen that the two had certainly met before, just like he had met Jason and Krueger. And since they were both alive, Snape and Jack had to have been connected somehow.
She shook herself and focused back on the phone. Then, she lowered her thumb to take the picture.
"Can I help you?"
Gwen's heart jumped into her throat as she slowly moved her head up, her eyes rising up to meet the eyes of a forty-three-year-old Jack Nicholson.
He was terrifying. He looked like every other man on the street in the sweater vest and green tie. He was looking down on her innocently enough, hands on his hips like a scolding father.
But Gwen knew he was different. She knew what he had done- what he had tried to do.
"I- I-"
She was shaking from head to toe and fell back onto her behind.
"You okay there?" he asked, smiling those shark-like white teeth. "Here, lemme help-" He reached his hand down but she jumped back as if it were on fire.
"N-No- No- I-"
"You look lost," he said. "Got any parents?"
"Yes- yes! As a matter of fact, I do," Gwen forced out, scrambling to her feet, nodding. She staggered from fear and Jack held his hands out, still smiling. God, make him stop smiling- I hate that smile-
"Well then where are they?"
Gwen's mind was racing. "They- they- they're-"
Her eyes shot across the street to the Starbucks and quickly pointed there.
"That's a crowded street, kid, I dunno-"
"No, they're- they're in the Starbucks,"
"Ohhh. Okay,"
The two made eye contact again and Gwen could feel her lip start to tremble. She would not cry- not yet- not now-
Jack folded his arms and the smile dwindled a bit. "So I'm guessing your parents aren't aware that you snuck out of the Starbucks to take an illegal photo of my license plate wearing- um- are those swimming goggles?"
Gwen nodded shakily and tapped the glass on her lens, which was fogging up quickly. "It's- it's for a school project!" she invented wildly.
"You're wearing swimming goggles for school,"
"Y-yeah! Yeah- we're doing a study on- on public abnormalities so- so we have to dress funny and pretend to get ready to take a- a photo of the um- license- license plate there. And-and then the driver comes out because I mean- only the driver would n-notice someone taking a- a photo in swimming goggles and- and then- then, to, um, tally up who caught us we- we take a photo of- of the driver and license plate,"
It was most outlandish and unbelievable excuse Gwen had ever created in her life. She stood, trembling, tearing up under the goggles. Jack staring with his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth hanging open.
Then, he cracked that horrible grin.
"Well why didn't you say so? Here, want me to pose?"
And that was how cinephile Gwen MacMillan snapped a photo of Jack Torrance, arms outstretched like in his 1927 New Year's Eve photo, next to his car with the license plate in full view.
There was a bleep and Jack turned around, pointing a thumb at the front of his car as he walked away backwards in the direction of the Party City.
"That's- um- that's for me!" He grinned again. "Gotta go. See ya around, kid."
Hopefully not.
"Y-yeah, bye,"
Jack turned away and jogged into the Party City, unaware of Gwen gasping out tears and lying down on the pavement, praying Ethan would get there soon.
Jason Vorhees' back was turned. He was analyzing a large chocolate bar he had swiped from the counter while rounding up hostages. He wasn't sure whether to eat it now and risk people seeing him eat, or save it for later and risk Lecter manipulating him into giving it up.
The most important part was that his back was turned. So he didn't see Snape materialize against the wall closest to the exit, bend down and grasp the nearest hostage, a woman in a business suit.
Clapping a hand over the woman's mouth, he dragged her onto her feet and away from view into the aisle on the very far left of the store.
Snape swung the woman against the wall, his hands gripped both of her arms. Tears leaked out of the woman's eyes and she began to hyperventilate.
"Who- who-"
"How long have you been held here?" Snape snarled.
"I- I dunno- maybe an hour or-"
"How did they get in?"
The woman's chest was heaving up and down as she began to shake uncontrollably. Snape had to stop the sudden, harsh desire to slap her. He clenched his yellowish teeth.
"How did they get in?"
"They just- they just b-barged in- with those big weapons and- Who are you?"
"He's your worst nightmare. Apparently,"
Snape and the shaking woman's heads snapped to left down the aisle. His grip tightened on the woman and his scowl subsided into a brief look of real fear. He swung the hostage behind him.
Samara was standing in the middle of the hallway, barely a few feet away, that ferocious scowl on her greenish-pale face.
"I'm shocked you lived, to be honest. After all that glass you left over in the lab," she drawled.
She begun to move towards them slowly, her bare feet dragging against the floor, the soles slapping horribly and sending a shiver up Snape's back.
He kept one arm around the shaking hostage and one arm pointing his wand at the Chief. Snape decided to scowl back at her- he couldn't show anymore fear- that one flicker was a mistake.
"And I'm shocked Brenner let you live," he snarled.
"Why? Because I don't have fancy powers like you?" Samara barked, still walking towards them.
Snape stopped moving, the hostage woman crying into his back. The Chief was trying to draw them into the open front of the store- and he was not taking that chance.
"You think the doc would kill me because I can't light objects on fire by talking to them?" she continued. "The doc kept us around because we were interesting."
Snape's lip curled. "You. Interesting. Hard to believe,"
Samara growled. "It was bad to be the favourite,"
"You sound almost jealous,"
The Chief made a sudden jerking motion behind her and then, out of nowhere, was aiming a small gun at Snape's head.
Snape merely blinked and held his wand steady.
"Give me the girl, Prize, and I'll let you keep your head," She clicked the gun and slowly aimed it down at Snape's knees. "instead of losing both your head and your knees."
Snape felt the urge to swallow and fought against it. Samara smirked.
"Does that sound like a good deal?"
"To you, perhaps," Snape snapped.
"Oh, I wasn't talking to you,"
It took a moment for Snape's mind to complete the calculations of what she meant but as he understood, he looked around behind him and the hostage woman gasped.
The Commander was standing directly behind them, breathing heavily, hands in fists, machete shaking.
"You," he whispered. "You're the guy- you're the guy,"
"Yes, yes, he's the guy," Samara rolled her eyes.
"Now would you quit your gawking and take the hostage already?"
"Why don't you just shoot him?" Jason cried.
"Yes, why don't you just shoot me?" Snape hissed. Samara's grip on the gun was firm but she didn't move. Snape's lip curled. "You've been ordered to keep everyone alive."
"Don't you read my mind!" Samara barked. "If I were to shoot you now, there's a good chance the bullet might go right through and hurt your little friend. Unless you surrender, which- frankly- I'm really hoping you don't do. I've been waiting to kill you for a while."
"Just do it already!" Jason cried, his voice high. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Come on- do it!"
"Try it then," Snape spat.
"Wait- wait-" The hostage woman behind him finally spoke up, her voice cracking. "Maybe- maybe you should- you should listen to her-"
"Would you shut it?" Snape snapped at her. "This is not your place to-"
"For heavens sake, kill him or I will!" Jason screamed.
"Mr- please-" the hostage woman whimpered.
"I told you to SHUT IT!"
"But maybe we should-"
"Holy crap, Chief, would you just DO IT! He's the guy- he's the GUY! HE'S THE GUY WHO ATTACKED THE LIEUTENANT!" Jason suddenly bellowed.
There was a ringing silence from the entire store. Snape glowered and clenched his teeth. Slowly, her lip curling, Samara lowered the gun.
"Really. Well. That makes things a bit different, doesn't it? If I'd known your beef was with us personally, I would've taken a different approach," Samara whispered.
She licked her lips and then, inhaling, screamed over her shoulder. "OI! LIEUTENANT!"
He was there in less than a second. Krueger slid around the corner behind Samara and made immediate eye-contact with Snape. It was hard to tell which one of them was giving off more venomous glare.
"Well," the Lieutenant snarled. He flexed the knives on his glove threateningly. "Look who it is. You got beef with us?"
"Yeah, you got any beef?" Jason added on.
"If by that you mean 'do I have any problems with you'? then, yes...several,"
"Then why drag the poor girl into this?" the Chief cooed.
Snape's heart skipped a beat. "Girl? What girl?"
"Oh, geez, I dunno, how about the girl behind your arm, dumbass!" Samara snapped. "If you have a problem with us, then why is she in the middle of it all?"
"Technically, we're the ones who took her hos-"
"Shut up, Commander,"
"Yes, Chief,"
Still waggling his blades, Krueger sauntered forward with one hand in his trouser pocket, smirking.
"If your problem with us is that we've taken hostages, then the hostages don't have to get hurt. Give her to the Chief," he said.
Snape's grip on the woman's arm tightened, holding her closer to him. He said nothing and neither did anyone else. The Lieutenant exchanged a look of raised eyebrows with the Chief and then they simultaneously glowered at Snape.
"Come on, bring her here," Samara whispered. "I promise I won't hurt her. Come on. Come here, dear. You can trust me."
Snape glanced over his shoulder, down at the hostage, but she was still crying and he looked away quickly, blinking the image out of his head. Crying helped nothing in a situation like this. It just displayed weakness to the enemy.
From underneath the curtain of hair, Snape watched an ugly smile stretch across Samara's face as she made a beckoning motion with a finger.
"Come here, honey. Come on. Do you wanna go home? I can get you home,"
Snape's mind made several calculations at the speed of light as his brain processed the coaxing and his eyes simultaneously focused on the gun in Samara's hands, which was steadily lowering.
The scowl on his face faded in an instant as he realized that the hostage woman was no longer peering around his body- but rather her entire head was visible under his arm, and she was beginning to move forward.
Snape's eyes moved from the barrel of the gun, directly to the woman's head.
What happened next was a blur. The shotgun was fired but Snape threw the hostage onto the floor to the left- out of range- shooting a blast of red sparks at Samara, who ducked and rolled, just as the Commander gave a high pitched scream and fell to the ground clutching his knee. The hostage woman shrieked and assumed fetal position while Samara continued to fire shots at Snape.
Flicking his wand to the side, he stopped the bullets in mid-air by some invisible net and then flicked again, sending them back. The bullets ricocheted and punctured plastic toys on the aisle walls. He made a swiping movement with his left hand and Samara was thrown to the shelves and pinned there, dropping her gun.
She screamed and writhed, held by an invisible force as the Lieutenant began to charge, raising his bladed hand. But Snape jerked his head and he was pushed hard to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Thrusting his left hand to the other side, the Chief flew from the right shelf to the wall with a horrible thud and fell to the floor.
Snape aimed his wand at the gun on the floor and it burst into flames. He noticed the Lieutenant staggering to his feet, crying out in a strangled voice past Snape's head.
"Captain- Captain- drive away- get out-"
Snape spun round to see that Torrance had slid into the Party City, and was watching with an open mouth. He stared from Jason on the floor, still clutching his knee, to the cowering hostage woman, to Snape and began to back away slowly.
"CAPTAIN! GO!" The Lieutenant fell to the floor again, clutching his stomach, still gasping out.
The Captain turned and broke into a run towards the door again and Snape pointed his wand at him, but he suddenly groaned out as he felt two arms and legs wrap around his neck. His vision was blurred by more black hair that wasn't his: the Chief has jumped onto his back.
Snape and the Chief flailed around the aisle as the world swayed under his feet. He was feeling more and more nauseous as she strangled him and he was losing oxygen by the second. He backed her into an shelf and she shrieked as he kept knocking her against it- but he was being overwhelmed by the blockage and he was very light-headed and very sleepy...
His eyelids drooped shut and he slumped slightly...just falling on the cusp of unconsciousness...and with a trembling hand, he grasped Samara's hands and jerked back both of his shoulders at once.
By another invisible force, she was thrown from his back and against the shelf, rolling off one of the lower shelves.
Snape's knees buckled and he collapsed forward on his hands, coughing and gasping for air. He focused on the hostage woman who decided this was her chance to run from the aisle, dodging a whimpering Jason, who was bleeding rather profusely. The world stopped spinning and Snape caught his breath- just as Samara kicked him in the head.
The world was spinning again.
"I did not come-" she snarled, repeatedly kicking, knocking him down every time he began to get up. His wand was knocked from his hand. "-all the way to New York AGAIN, with these creeps AGAIN just to get my ass kicked by some freak in a Charles Dickens costume!"
Snape was sure that his hearing was starting to vanish, and he was starting to lose it- as he had no idea who Charles Dickens was. He was feeling sleepier with every sharp kick she gave his head.
She stamped on his hand and he yelled in pain as she put pressure on it. Slowly, she knelt down and picked up his wand, analyzing it with a calculating expression. Then, she smirked and aimed it down at Snape's face.
"Let me try this thing for once..."
"CHIEF! LEAVE HIM!"
The triumphant look on her face vanished as she turned back to the Lieutenant, who was breathing normally again. He flew past them and started helping the Commander to his feet.
"Come on- we can still get out!" he said. He and the Commander limped past and down the aisle hurriedly. Both Snape and Samara's attention were turned to the door.
He gasped as she got off his hand and backed away. Her eyes grew large and she gritted her teeth.
"Perfect timing,"
The glass doors busted open and about eight men in black SWAT uniforms with heavy machine guns came streaming in. Four went to the hostages but four had their sights on Samara.
She continued to walk backwards down the aisle but took off into a run, Snape's wand still in hand.
Snape clambered to his feet and scowling, he raised an arm and focused on her. She continued to sprint away but as if in slow motion, the shelf to the right of her teetered and tipped over her, connecting with the other wall with an ear-shattering bang.
Samara has fallen to the floor, shielding her head. The heavy toys, stacks of paper dishes, and piles of boxes of inflatables rolled off the shelf and mounted under the small crevice between the fallen shelf and floor, completely covering her.
The SWAT men behind Snape backtracked but he strode towards her, hand still raised. Samara's form burst through the pile of objects and was pulled towards Snape across the floor, flailing and screaming. The SWAT men raised their guns and Snape jerked his head upwards.
Shrieking like an ungodly monster from the very pits of hell itself, the Chief was lifted into the air once more and flew against the fallen shelf, tumbling into the next aisle over.
Snape walked down the aisle and picked up his wand, which had fallen while the Chief was waving her arms in the air.
He straightened his coat and wiped fresh blood from his nose as he turned. All four of the SWAT men were staring at him, dumbfounded, their jaws hanging open.
"What're you looking at?" he snapped. "She's in the next aisle. Go catch her. Do your job, don't gawk at me like codfish."
The men looked awkwardly at one another and nodded before running past him and jumping into the next aisle through the gap where the shelf used to be.
Snape watched as the hostages at the front were hurried through the door by four SWAT agents.
Tucking away his wand, he rubbed his eyes and slumped against the wall exhaustedly and coughed a bit of blood into his sleeve. His head was in one of his hands as his temple pounded,and the world beginning to sway again.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his wand to his head and began muttering a spell that caused the pounding to cease and his vision to right itself.
However, he didn't see Ethan Hunt enter the Party City with Gwen on his tail, and they didn't see him.
Gwen had still been sitting on the pavement when the Jack Torrance had suddenly burst out of the store, jumped into his car, and started driving away- almost causing several accidents in his escape.
She had been helpless to stop it but felt immediate relief when the two black IMF vans had pulled up a few minutes later. When Ethan had hopped out of the first van with a team, she immediately showed him the photo she had taken of the license plate and Ethan handed it into the van so they could track the car.
Gwen had lifted her goggles into her forehead she entered the Party City with him. She stayed as close to him as possible, holding her baseball bat high. Ethan, wearing a grey suit with a black shirt and grey tie, had his handgun out.
"I am so sorry I didn't come sooner-" he said breathlessly. "I had to convince Hunley-"
"It's okay," Gwen said but her voice trembled. "We got all the hostages right?"
"Right. Why weren't you back at the Starbucks like I told you?"
"I'm sorry- I was in shock, okay- I panicked- Did we get the monsters?"
"I think they ran through the back. Stay here, I'm gonna go and check, alright?"
"I- I can't stay here-"
"I'll be only a second, okay?" Ethan clapped a hand on Gwen's shoulder and jogged down the aisle.
She nodded, swallowing, and backed up against the cashier counter, boosting herself up so that she could sit upon it.
She stared around at store, watching New York police officers start to enter and do their own examination, followed closely by an IMF SWAT agent who clearly didn't want them there.
Kicking her feet back and forth, her eyes scanned the aisles for Snape. Had he followed the monsters through the back like Ethan had?
"Mmmmf!"
Ice ran up Gwen's spine and she looked around wildly. Someone had made a small noise not too far from her. A noise that sounded like they were struggling.
Gwen held up the bat and her heart pounded. Maybe it was just her imagination- it was just the stress-
"Mmmmf! Mmmmf!"
The noises were close and with a feeling of dread, she realized they were right behind her.
Slowly, shaking, she hopped off of the counter and began to stalk around it, raising her bat.
Tiptoeing as she did while approaching Jack Torrance's car, she held her breath as she rounded the counter and snuck behind it.
There were two women there, both below the cashier counter, hidden from sight. One woman was facing the hostage woman, who being held against the counter wall. The hostage had the other woman's hand pressed against her mouth and a knife at her throat.
There were two women there, both below the cashier counter, hidden from sight. One woman was facing the hostage woman, who being held against the counter wall. The hostage had the other woman's hand pressed against her mouth and a knife at her throat.
The woman holding her there was kneeling in a white dress with long black hair that stretched down her back.
Gwen mind put two-and-two together and suddenly, before she realized what she was doing, her anxiety took over.
Using all her strength, she brought her baseball bat down hard on the back Samara's head with a horrible thud.
The Chief yelped and she spun round, grasping her head with one hand, staring with her one visible wide eye into Gwen's, who could feel her heart ready to stop. She felt like vomiting. But neither of them moved. At this point, Gwen forgot how to move.
"Hello again," the Chief whispered. She began to rise to full height and Gwen watched, paralyzed. "What a lovely coincidence this is. You just made my life so much easier."
"HEY!"
The Chief swung around again and Ethan had returned in the nick of time with the group of SWAT agents who had been searching for the monsters. They began to surround the counter.
Gwen looked at the sobbing hostage who was under the counter and that was when her jaw dropped. The hostage woman in the business suit was the exact same woman who had berated her outside of the Dunkin' Donuts just two days earlier.
But with her guard lowered, the Chief grasped the baseball bat and wrenched it from her hands. She grabbed Gwen's arm and threw her in front, pressing the tip of the knife to her cheek. Gasping out from shock, hot tears immediately spilled from Gwen's eyes.
"Come on then!" the Chief snarled. "Try me."
Ethan and the agents kept their guns trained on her but Ethan kept eye contact with Gwen, who was praying rapidly under her breath, pressed against Samara's front. She thought her heart was going to explode.
"Let her go, I don't want to have to resort to violence," Ethan said calmly.
"Then you need a new profession," the Chief said. "We've been over this already."
"That's because you keep breaking the law,"
"I have orders from the General to take this one."
"Why?"
"Um, I don't think that's any of your business,"
She pressed Gwen closer to her and through her overwhelming fear, she could smell something an odd and watery from the Chief's hair and it made her more nauseous than the knife stabbing her cheek.
Ethan stepped forward.
"It's my business when it's endangering lives of the civilians of this city,"
"Yeah, well, she's not a civilian!" the Chief snapped. "She's an All-Knower! Aren't you, Alice?"
A million things were going through Gwen's head and she was trembling so hard it was difficult for her to separate them. And as she stared at Ethan, it was easy to see he was probably thinking about the same things she was. The Chief pressed the knife a bit harder and Gwen gasped.
"You...you must be the Ring-Girl," Ethan said.
"I'm the Chief. Samara Morgan. Or Sadaku, if you're feeling smarter than you probably are," the Chief responded.
"Okay...Samara. I don't want to shoot you,"
Gwen did. Being held by the monster filled her with enough horror that she wished she could pull out a gun and put a hole in the Chief's head right now. Why didn't Ethan see these people for the horrible things that they were? Why did Samara deserve a chance?
"Would you please give us the girl?" Ethan said. "No harm will come to you."
"Geez, you could be a politician with lies like that,"
"I'm serious,"
"So am I. The girl comes with me, you got that?" the Chief barked.
She began to shuffle out from behind the counter, dragging Gwen with her, who still stared at Ethan, silently begging.
Ethan, do something. Do something. Just shoot her. Somebody just shoot her.
The guns lowered. The Chief and Gwen continued to move by them, towards the aisles.
Ethan couldn't let her take her- he couldn't- he wouldn't-
But Ethan slowly raised his gun again, locking eyes with Gwen as they almost neared the closest aisle. And suddenly, she noticed that there was movement behind him.
The knife at Gwen's cheek drew away and the grip on her arm vanished as the movement behind Ethan slowly grew a face Gwen recognized.
A hand pushed her forward and she fell to the floor on her stomach. She gasped out and looked up to see the Chief was now scaling the nearest shelf like an acrobat.
"STOP HER! STOP HER!" Ethan cried.
Gwen covered her ears in fetal position as gunshots rang out. The Chief swung up onto the top of the shelf, dodging bullets and sprinting across the top of the shelf and out of sight.
"Go, go, go!" Ethan shouted to the agents and they nodded and disappeared into the aisles to chase her. He raced to Gwen and helped her to her feet. "Here we go- easy- there we are-"
"H-He- kn-knows-" Gwen spluttered out through tears as Ethan tried to hold her steady. "H-Hannibal kno-knows I- I-I'm an- an- All-"
"We're not gonna focus on that right now, okay? Come on, I'll help you outside and then I'll come back for the last hostage."
Gwen looked behind Ethan and watched as Snape, who had been secretly examining the situation, swept from the store, despite the protesting officers.
Tearing her eyes away from him, she nodded shakily, crying silently, and Ethan held her shoulders and led her outside of the ruined store.