-13-
HALLOWEEN
The sun began to drop, painting the sky bright red, as the Ghouls, Goblins and Sailor Scouts emerged from their dark dwellings, and started to prowl the streets. The demon presently going by the name of Neil took them all in, in their youthful enthusiasm, as he drove through the downtown core. They amused him, these children, with their costumes and antics. "Trick or treat," indeed. They knew so little about true monsters, but soon, very soon, that would all change.
Next to him in the passenger side, sat the Shape. Neil spared a glace over to his passenger, and his temporary pleasant mood faltered. How he hated it. All the millennia he had spent as its watchdog aside, he now had a personal reason to hate it – Terri.
Not that he cared particularly more about her then the legions of other women that had struck his fancy through the ages, but she was HIS. And Myddrin had allowed the Shape to take her, without even so much as a simple consultation. Neil was beginning to think that Justin was right, despite the idiotic tendencies that had eventually got him killed; maybe after all of this time, it was time to step up and take control. Nothing would please him more than to see Myddrin meet a grim end, but such was a task easier said than done.
Certainly, if Myddrin were less formidable, the deed would have been done ages ago, but Neil had to remind himself that the very reason he continued to dwell on this plane was facilitated by Myddrin. And in this form, Neil was little more than human, and had great reason to fear the dark sorcerer. He was as well unfortunately bound to Myddrin, forced to do his bidding, as a result of the incantation that brought him forth from the underworld.
However, with the coming of the Eternal Hunt and the emergence of Cernunnos, all of that would change. Myddrin would no longer be the biggest boy on the block, and with the child's sacrifice, the doors of the underworld would open. The way Neil saw it, he wouldn't have long to wait; Myddrin's demise would soon come to pass. After all, surely Herne would favor a true minion of the underworld to such half-breed swine as the likes of Myddrin. Yet still the old wizard was very powerful, and Neil resolved himself to the fact that, even then, he would have to tread carefully.
He turned back to the Shape. It sat there docile and unmoving, staring straight ahead, out through the windshield. It barely seemed alive, until, as if sensing Neil's eyes on it, it slowly cocked its head aside, and studied him quietly. Neil cringed under its glance, and turned back to the road, focusing on the task at hand.
After all, everything hinged on the re-acquisition of the boy. Neil didn't see it as a problem. All of his men were in place at the Tower Farm, waiting for their cue. It was simply a matter of delivering death to the doorstep of those who would defy them, and as luck would have it, death was riding shotgun with him.
Neil smiled widely, and continued to drive. Soon, he thought, very soon.
Laurie walked up the stairs and found Kara in the bedroom at the end of the hall, staring pensively out into the evening. The look of sheer dread and grief- stricken worry was one Laurie easily recognized. Laurie couldn't blame her. Tommy had filled them in on the events of the last few weeks, and even though Laurie didn't know what to make of most of it, one thing was abundantly clear to her; this woman was worried sick about her son. Laurie quietly stepped into the room, and approached Kara by the window. Kara broke her gaze from the window, and turned to face Laurie.
"Hi," Laurie made out with a gentle smile. "How are you holding up?" Laurie inquired, hoping that there were no resonate feelings about last night's misunderstanding.
"I've been better." Kara made out, with a forced smile.
"Listen, Kara, I'm really sorry about what happened. It's just that everything is so upside-down…"
"It's all right, trust me I know. I can't believe I said what I did. I don't believe that, Laurie. I remember you coming over to baby-sit when I was a kid. I know you, and I know if there were any way you could have been there for Jamie, you would have. I just can't stop screwing up…I've been making the wrong choices ever since this whole nightmare flared back up, I…"
Abruptly, Kara burst into tears. Laurie went to embrace her, the years falling away. "Shhhhhhh, now…it's okay. You were protecting your man, the way I see it, and you've got to understand – none of this is your fault."
"I'm just so worried about Danny," Kara made out amidst her sobs.
"Don't worry. We'll get him back, if I've got anything to say about it. I promise." Laurie hugged Kara tight, wincing at here own words. The truth was, none of them were sure what to do.
Downstairs, Lee and Tommy were bashing out ideas on just that subject. Tommy and Kara had hoped to be safely out of town by the 30th, and on their way back home to find Danny, when the chance encounter with Brackett and Laurie had occurred. That had kept everyone up until the wee hours of the morning with Tommy explaining and giving explanation to an endless tiresome onslaught of questions. Now, here it was Halloween, and it was getting dark. Stand or flee? Either choice, at this point seemed risky.
"Well, kid, I think we're better off here then the road," Lee Brackett made out, after some quiet deliberation. "There's a good chance they haven't got a clue where we are, and if we have to encounter any unexpected guests, better to do it grounded and stationary, where we have some control over the situation. The highway, at this point, could prove to be dangerous."
Tommy nodded. "I suppose you're right, but we could be in for more of a party than you think."
"How many?"
"I don't know, but my landlady belonged to the cult for years, and I had no idea. We can't trust anybody who comes near the premises."
"Then let's get going on securing the place. It looks like one way or the other, we could be in for some action. I hope Butter-cup the Homely Hobo over there can be trusted." Lee gestured toward Michael, who stood outside the front porch, on watch.
" I wouldn't be here living and breathing, if we couldn't trust him."
Lee sighed, and scratched his head. "I hope you're right kid."
Changing gears, Tommy said, "And what about Danny?"
"We wait it out tonight, then get the girls on the road early with Stephen. Then you and I will head down to the station and see if there's anyone I still recognize and trust there, and we go get him, locked and loaded." Lee tried to say this with utmost certainty, knowing full well that the plan was flimsy at best. Appreciating the gesture, Tommy nodded and put his head down.
Lee reached over and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. Tommy surprised at the gesture, looked up. "Keep it together kid. We'll do everything we can to find him. It's all we can do."
"All right," Tommy shook away his brooding thoughts and turned his attention to the present dilemma. "So show me how to fire one of those guns, and let's barricade the place."
As they continued to talk, Michael silently entered the room and proceeded up the stairs. At the top, he gently pressed his hand against the bedroom door, and glanced in on Stephen. The boy was sleeping soundly, thoroughly exhausted. For a while, Michael watched Stephen sleep, marveling once again at the uncanny resemblance to the face he had once stared into the mirror at, as a child, before his life was eclipsed by the darkness. Looking at the boy in his peaceful slumber was like looking into a dream of a different life, a life where there was family and light and love. No death. No violence. Just warm smiles, old uncles, and the unity of family; a sense of belonging.
Then the door behind him slammed, and Michael spun around to face Laurie, across the hallway. Her guard was up. Michael met her gaze, as she eyed him carefully. A silence fell between the two of them, until the throttle of a car engine rapidly approaching sent Laurie sailing by him, and down the stairs.
Tommy and Lee rose to the sound of the engine, and looked out the window to pin- point it, but they were unable to find the car. Suddenly, the high beams flared on, and the car came crashing through the front window.
It came smashing through the room, leaving debris in its wake, and sideswiped Lee, sending him flying into the wall. Tommy fell over the television set, causing it to arch in electric jolts. The room clouded with dust.
For a moment she stood indecisive, unable to determine whether or not she should enter the room to find out what happened. Faintly, through the thickness in the air, Laurie thought she could make out Tommy's distant limp shape on the floor, and decided to venture the risk and go to help. Laurie took a deep breath, and was set to enter the room, when Michael's hand clamped down on her wrist.
"Get behind me,"
She gave him a brief skeptical glance, then stepped aside to let him ahead of her. Michael's eyes narrowed, as he stepped past the stairway, and slowly entered the room. A cloud of white had enveloped the room in a thick dust -fog, as he continued to make his way across it.
Then, without warning, the fog split as the Shape buried a pickaxe into Michael's chest, narrowly missing his heart. He lurched back in sudden pain, as the axe's blade passed through him, and pinned him to the wall. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his body fell limp.
Laurie screamed in shock, and fell back. She began to stumble up the stairs, when the Shape grabbed her by the neck and hoisted her off of the floor. Laurie's face flushed as she began to choke, when Tommy lunged out from the dusty abyss and smashed a pot vase over the Shape's skull. The Shape dropped Laurie, spun around, brought its arm around in a backhand, and collided it with Tommy's face. Tommy felt the piercing pain of several stitches ripping open, and then he fell back, into the oblivion of unconsciousness.
At the sound of the commotion, Kara emerged from her room, and ran down the stairs only to come across the Shape, as it knocked Tommy back- words. The Shape turned at the sound of her arrival, and losing interest completely in Laurie, it stepped over her, and began to pursue Kara up the stairs.
It had reached the first step, when Laurie kicked its weight-bearing leg out from under it. The Shape came crashing down, and smashed headlong onto the hard floor. Laurie dashed up the stairs, to Kara and Stephen, whom recently awakened, stood wide-eyed in a daze of confusion.
Laurie pushed Kara and Stephen into one of the rooms, and picked up a pump shotgun that she had stored in the closet. She gave it a sharp pump, and they barricaded the door, and waited.
Minutes passed, though they felt like hours. Kara, could feel Stephen's rapid pulse beat next to her own, as she held the boy tight. Still, there was no sign of life on the other side of the door.
"What should we do?" Kara asked, looking to Laurie for the answers.
"Well, there are two options. We either tie those bed-sheets together and try to make it down the side of the building, or we open the door up and see it's there."
"Bed-sheets," Stephen and Kara said in unison, which Laurie would have found comical, had the situation been under different circumstances.
They tied the sheets together making one long one, fastened it to the end of the bedpost, and let the sheet drop. Kara began to climb down first, in the event that the Shape had gone back downstairs so that they could provide cover for the boy, in the event they had to make a run for it or fend the Shape off. She felt a brief wave of vertigo, as she looked down at the jagged black iron fence that surrounded the building's perimeter. She stopped halfway down on the top of the work shed, took a deep breath, than continued. Once her feet hit the ground, Laurie pulled the sheet up and fastened it around Stephen's waist.
"Okay, Stephen, you next. Be brave, I'm going to lower you down. Hang on tight."
"Without a bit of a fuss, the boy bravely crawled out of the window and readied himself for the drop.
"Brave, kid," Laurie smiled, and started to drop the sheet.
Suddenly, a butcher knife slammed through the door, and it became quickly apparent to Laurie that the Shape had grown tired of the cat and mouse game. It was coming through, and fast. Laurie tried to maintain her composure, and carefully continued to lower Stephen, but when she heard the hinges of the door give under the force of the Shape's strength, she jerked involuntarily and for a second lost her grip, which sent the boy plummeting rapidly towards the fence's sharp pointy top.
The boy screamed, and at the last minute, Laurie regained her grip. Stephen could see the sharp ends of the fence at an arm's length, and sighed in relief. He pictured them piercing his small form, and closed his eyes in a shudder. Laurie slowly lowered him further, when Kara ran over. She untied the boy and lowered him to the ground.
Laurie had only begun to pull the sheet back up when the door gave with one final shattering splinter, and the Shape came lumbering in, knife poised. She turned, and dodged its swing at the last minute, as the blade came streaking by her head and dug deep into the wall behind her. Laurie dove across the room and, with a roll, she retrieved the shotgun. The Shape ripped the knife out of the wall and turned to face her.
Laurie fired the gun, and the force of its blast sent the Shape hurtling out the window. From below, Kara watched its massive form drop in a rain of glass, as it landed back-first on top of the iron fence. The top of the fence tore through it, as the Shape's limbs sprang out in a futile jerk of outrage, only to collapse in a limp sprawl.
Kara slowly made her way around the body with the boy, towards the fence's exit. Suddenly the Shape re-animated, and swung the knife, still tightly held in its hand, in a sharp air-cutting sweep. The two fell back in shock, and to their growing horror, the Shape began to use it's free hand to hoist itself up on the very bar it was impaled on, beginning the process of freeing itself.
Kara wasn't about to give it that chance. She swung open the tool shed, and brought out a rusty square metal shovel. She brought the shovel down across the Shape's neck as hard as she could, partially severing it's head. Blood spayed in an upward geyser, as the Shape thrashed futilely. Kara brought the shovel down again, this time severing the Shape's head, once and for all. Stephen screamed as the head bounced to the ground, and he covered his eyes at the hideous sight. He got up and ran towards the house, right into Laurie's arms.
"It's okay, Stephen, honey," Laurie consoled the boy as she hugged him tight. Come inside." Laurie spared a glance to Kara, and brought the boy inside.
Kara dropped the shovel, and walked unsteadily over towards the Shape's severed head. An eerie familiarity in its dead stare had consumed her, and she found herself unable to turn away. An unnerving wave of desperation fell over her, and before she was even aware what she was doing, she was prying its mask from its severed head. She pulled the mask off with a final tug, and let out an agonizing scream of grief.
The scream was piercing and sad, and Kara's haunted howl shook through the streets and into the house. Regaining his wits, Tommy slowly made it to his feet and rushed out the door to find, to his horror, Kara, swaying on her knees, cradling the head of her dead son. Her face was flustered and strained, and her eyes bespoke of a woman gone mad. Blood from Danny's head had soaked all over her, as she stared blankly and continued to sway and sob endlessly.
Tommy's jaw fell open, and tears began to stream from his eyes, as he ran over to her. His own legs gave out, and he fell to his knees and embraced her.
Kara screamed at his touch, a mad torturous scream of the insane. Her wail then wound back down into a sob, and silently, Tommy cried as he embraced his wife and dead son.
Back from the upstairs window, Laurie looked down with a chill of grim familiarity. One look into Kara's eyes was all it took to tell her everything she needed to know. The mad helpless pain in her screams was all too familiar to Laurie after all, as they were the screams of wounds that would never heal.
"Why is she screaming?" Stephen demanded from Laurie. On some level beginning to comprehend that something was dreadfully wrong. "Mom! MOM! Let me go, I want my mom!" Stephen began to squirm and struggle in Laurie's arms.
"Stephen, honey, no…" but the boy had wormed himself free, and was running out the door before Laurie could catch him. He darted down the stairs, and past Brackett, who was groggily making it to his feet, cupping a rather large goose-egg on the back of his head as he rose unsteadily from the debris. Stephen turned and ran out the front door, right into Neil.
"Why hello there, little chap! Neil let out a hearty laugh, and grabbed the boy tight. Stephen's eyes went wide with fear, and Neil cuffed the boy on the side of the head, knocking him flat out-cold.
Brackett clumsily reached for his rifle, when Neil called out to him.
"Not the smartest move of your life, papa." Neil taunted as he raised his pistol with his left hand and shot Brackett square in the chest three times. Brackett jerked sharply as each of the bullets impacted, throwing his body back. He crashed into the side of the wall, fell to his knees, and dropped silently, with little more than a rustle.
Neil turned away from the body and looked onto Tommy and Kara. Tommy looked up at the sounds of the gunshot, and noticed with deep growing dread that Neil had them square in his sights. With his other hand, Neil brought the walky-talky up to his lips.
"Unit 1, attend to the boy. Units 2 and 3 take the man and woman and remove the body from the fence. When you've delivered them, come back for Myers…and bring re-enforcements. I'll attend to the Strode woman."
"Copy," Units 1-3 said in succession. Within seconds the units responded, and were quickly on the way to covering their tracks on the outside. In 5 minutes time, they had removed Danny's corpse, and taken Tommy, Kara and Stephen. Kara had proved to be the hardest to handle, clawing and screaming madly, until a sedative silenced her antics. The crew loaded up and left, and Neil turned, and walked into the house. He emptied his clip, and replaced it with a new one. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs, with the foresight that the Laurie was clearly aware of his presence, and likely hiding, waiting for her moment to strike.
"The little bitch is probably armed," he muttered to himself, and continued to walk up the stairs. Once up to the top, he paused, with a feeling of danger flooding into his mind. Sensing her presence, he stopped short of entering the mouth of the hallway as he pondered his next move. He looked down at the walkie-talkie, then tossed it into the hallway. To his amusement, he watched it explode into shrapnel as Laurie blew it to oblivion with the shotgun.
Within the two seconds it took for Laurie to re-pump the gun, Neil rolled into the hallway, with reflexes rivaling Laurie's own. He put a bullet in Laurie's hand, causing her to drop the gun.
Laurie dropped to her knees and grit her teeth as she grasped the wrist of her injured hand. Pain stung through the open hole in her palm. Neil walked up to her, and placed the gun to her head.
"This can go easy, or hard, love. The choice is yours." Laurie gave Neil a cold stare then slowly rose to her feet, as if to cooperate. He stepped behind her and motioned her down the hall. She began to walk, when suddenly in a moment of hazardous bravery, she spun around and kicked the gun from Neil's hand.
"Fine," Neil growled as he slammed his fist in Laurie's mouth, splitting her lower lip. "Hard it is." Laurie was knocked back from the impact, which sent her tipping over the stairs. At the last minute, she managed to grab Neil by his worn leather jacket, as she went over. The two of them rolled down the stairs, impacting hard at various moments during their struggle. At the bottom, Laurie landed on top, and brought her knee up into Neil's groin. He fell back in pain, and she fled through the lobby. She spotted the rifle that Brackett had left at the top of the meat grinder's platform the night before when Michael had overcome him. She clumsily made her way up towards the top of the metal staircase. She had just made it to the top step, when Neil grabbed her by the hair and rammed her head against the top stair. Laurie's forehead split open in a spurt, and she screamed as Neil rolled her over.
Neil brought his lips up to Laurie's and, breathing heavy, he spat into her bleeding face. "You fucking cunt!" He screamed, as he slapped her hard, staring down at her with his black eyes. "Now you've really pissed me off!!"
He jerked her head to the side, and whispered into her ear. "You're husband begged for your life when I strung him up," Laurie's face broke into and expression of open shock at the revelation, and she began to weep. Satisfied, Neil pulled Laurie's hair and tilted her head back, exposing her neck. "I told him that you were already dead, and that I raped you before- hand. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't keep my word," Neil let out an obscene laugh, and Laurie's grief flared into rage. She lunged up, her hair tearing under Neil's grip, and bit him square in the nose.
Neil let out a ferocious angry scream. Laurie brought her hand up and dug it deep into Neil's face, tearing the flesh on his forehead and cheek. Then, with everything she had, in a final act of desperation, she threw her weight, and propelled Neil into the grinder.
"Rot in hell, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!!" She screamed and bared her teeth in hate. She briskly turned to the grinder's control panel, and flicked the switch.
Nothing.
"Fuck," Laurie spouted with a gasp. "The plug…" Neil lunged up and grabbed Laurie's leg and began to thrash like a mad dog, as he tried to pull her into the grinder's mouth. Laurie locked a hold on the platform railing, and struggled to break free. She spared a glance down to Neil. To her horror, he no longer even seemed human. Saliva spewed from his foaming mouth, as he screamed like some rampaging animal. Small ridges had begun to show on his forehead beneath his ripped and torn flesh. His nose was a mangled mess, and seeped blood in endless streams.
"Laurie!"
Laurie turned at the sound of her name to see that Brackett had crawled over to the wall and now held the plug in his hand. She turned back to Neil, and kicked repeatedly into his face with her free leg. She could hear the remains of the cartridge in his nose give, as she continued to cave in his face with her Olympian legs. Finally, his talon-like fingers let go, and she pulled up her leg, when Brackett plugged the grinder in.
The machine whirled to life, and immediately the blades began to grind, as they tore into Neil's body. A haunting endless wail drowned out even the machine's buzzing grind, and then abruptly fell short, as the machine devoured the body to bits. Laurie saw the remains spew out in raw chunks of purple-red flesh and bone, and she turned over the balcony in nausea, and hurled.
A couple of minutes passed, and finally, she gathered herself together and walked down the platform to where Brackett was stooped over by the wall outlet.
"Thanks, Lee."
"Don't sweat it, kid."
"Are you all right?"
"Just winded," he pulled his shirt up to reveal a bulletproof vest. "Kevlar," he said, indifferently. "Though I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest when that creep fired a few rounds into me."
"Aw… poor baby," a smile stretched across Laurie's battered and bleeding face, as she realized her old friend was all right. "You've got to watch that kind of thing at your age." She laughed.
"Very funny, grandma."
"Up yours."
"You going to give me a hand or what?"
Laurie reached down, and helped Lee to his feet.
"What now?" she said.
"Well, I figure that while we still got the nerve and the element of surprise, we gear up and go in guns blazing."
"Agreed. We've got nothing to lose, at this point."
"Speak for yourself," Lee smiled, fascinated anew with Laurie's unabashed suicidal bravery.
"What about Michael?"
"Dead," Lee returned, nodding back to the lobby's other end. "He's pinned to the wall by a pickaxe. I don't think he'll be much use to us."
"Damn." Laurie cast her eyes to the floor, momentarily morose. "It would have been nice to have a front line man."
Lee couldn't help but notice a slight remorseful edge to Laurie's voice, despite her attempts to sound indifferent. As curious as the thought was, he pushed it away.
"Tell me about it. Well…shall we?"
"After you," Laurie smiled weakly and gestured for Brackett to lead the way.
The two of them armed up, and locked and loaded, they left for Smith's Grove County Sanitarium.
Twenty minutes later, Michael rose from his hunch, and with a tremendous force of will, freed himself from the pickaxe. He came crashing to the floor, and lied there silently, feeling his body begin to tingle, as it began its strange and bizarre rapid regeneration. As soon as he was able to walk, he rose to his feet, fired up the van, and made for the institute.
One way or another, this was it. No more games, he thought. Time to put an end to it, once and for all.
He spared a brief glance into the back of the van in order to make sure he had what he needed, then turned back to the road and continued to drive.
HALLOWEEN
The sun began to drop, painting the sky bright red, as the Ghouls, Goblins and Sailor Scouts emerged from their dark dwellings, and started to prowl the streets. The demon presently going by the name of Neil took them all in, in their youthful enthusiasm, as he drove through the downtown core. They amused him, these children, with their costumes and antics. "Trick or treat," indeed. They knew so little about true monsters, but soon, very soon, that would all change.
Next to him in the passenger side, sat the Shape. Neil spared a glace over to his passenger, and his temporary pleasant mood faltered. How he hated it. All the millennia he had spent as its watchdog aside, he now had a personal reason to hate it – Terri.
Not that he cared particularly more about her then the legions of other women that had struck his fancy through the ages, but she was HIS. And Myddrin had allowed the Shape to take her, without even so much as a simple consultation. Neil was beginning to think that Justin was right, despite the idiotic tendencies that had eventually got him killed; maybe after all of this time, it was time to step up and take control. Nothing would please him more than to see Myddrin meet a grim end, but such was a task easier said than done.
Certainly, if Myddrin were less formidable, the deed would have been done ages ago, but Neil had to remind himself that the very reason he continued to dwell on this plane was facilitated by Myddrin. And in this form, Neil was little more than human, and had great reason to fear the dark sorcerer. He was as well unfortunately bound to Myddrin, forced to do his bidding, as a result of the incantation that brought him forth from the underworld.
However, with the coming of the Eternal Hunt and the emergence of Cernunnos, all of that would change. Myddrin would no longer be the biggest boy on the block, and with the child's sacrifice, the doors of the underworld would open. The way Neil saw it, he wouldn't have long to wait; Myddrin's demise would soon come to pass. After all, surely Herne would favor a true minion of the underworld to such half-breed swine as the likes of Myddrin. Yet still the old wizard was very powerful, and Neil resolved himself to the fact that, even then, he would have to tread carefully.
He turned back to the Shape. It sat there docile and unmoving, staring straight ahead, out through the windshield. It barely seemed alive, until, as if sensing Neil's eyes on it, it slowly cocked its head aside, and studied him quietly. Neil cringed under its glance, and turned back to the road, focusing on the task at hand.
After all, everything hinged on the re-acquisition of the boy. Neil didn't see it as a problem. All of his men were in place at the Tower Farm, waiting for their cue. It was simply a matter of delivering death to the doorstep of those who would defy them, and as luck would have it, death was riding shotgun with him.
Neil smiled widely, and continued to drive. Soon, he thought, very soon.
Laurie walked up the stairs and found Kara in the bedroom at the end of the hall, staring pensively out into the evening. The look of sheer dread and grief- stricken worry was one Laurie easily recognized. Laurie couldn't blame her. Tommy had filled them in on the events of the last few weeks, and even though Laurie didn't know what to make of most of it, one thing was abundantly clear to her; this woman was worried sick about her son. Laurie quietly stepped into the room, and approached Kara by the window. Kara broke her gaze from the window, and turned to face Laurie.
"Hi," Laurie made out with a gentle smile. "How are you holding up?" Laurie inquired, hoping that there were no resonate feelings about last night's misunderstanding.
"I've been better." Kara made out, with a forced smile.
"Listen, Kara, I'm really sorry about what happened. It's just that everything is so upside-down…"
"It's all right, trust me I know. I can't believe I said what I did. I don't believe that, Laurie. I remember you coming over to baby-sit when I was a kid. I know you, and I know if there were any way you could have been there for Jamie, you would have. I just can't stop screwing up…I've been making the wrong choices ever since this whole nightmare flared back up, I…"
Abruptly, Kara burst into tears. Laurie went to embrace her, the years falling away. "Shhhhhhh, now…it's okay. You were protecting your man, the way I see it, and you've got to understand – none of this is your fault."
"I'm just so worried about Danny," Kara made out amidst her sobs.
"Don't worry. We'll get him back, if I've got anything to say about it. I promise." Laurie hugged Kara tight, wincing at here own words. The truth was, none of them were sure what to do.
Downstairs, Lee and Tommy were bashing out ideas on just that subject. Tommy and Kara had hoped to be safely out of town by the 30th, and on their way back home to find Danny, when the chance encounter with Brackett and Laurie had occurred. That had kept everyone up until the wee hours of the morning with Tommy explaining and giving explanation to an endless tiresome onslaught of questions. Now, here it was Halloween, and it was getting dark. Stand or flee? Either choice, at this point seemed risky.
"Well, kid, I think we're better off here then the road," Lee Brackett made out, after some quiet deliberation. "There's a good chance they haven't got a clue where we are, and if we have to encounter any unexpected guests, better to do it grounded and stationary, where we have some control over the situation. The highway, at this point, could prove to be dangerous."
Tommy nodded. "I suppose you're right, but we could be in for more of a party than you think."
"How many?"
"I don't know, but my landlady belonged to the cult for years, and I had no idea. We can't trust anybody who comes near the premises."
"Then let's get going on securing the place. It looks like one way or the other, we could be in for some action. I hope Butter-cup the Homely Hobo over there can be trusted." Lee gestured toward Michael, who stood outside the front porch, on watch.
" I wouldn't be here living and breathing, if we couldn't trust him."
Lee sighed, and scratched his head. "I hope you're right kid."
Changing gears, Tommy said, "And what about Danny?"
"We wait it out tonight, then get the girls on the road early with Stephen. Then you and I will head down to the station and see if there's anyone I still recognize and trust there, and we go get him, locked and loaded." Lee tried to say this with utmost certainty, knowing full well that the plan was flimsy at best. Appreciating the gesture, Tommy nodded and put his head down.
Lee reached over and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. Tommy surprised at the gesture, looked up. "Keep it together kid. We'll do everything we can to find him. It's all we can do."
"All right," Tommy shook away his brooding thoughts and turned his attention to the present dilemma. "So show me how to fire one of those guns, and let's barricade the place."
As they continued to talk, Michael silently entered the room and proceeded up the stairs. At the top, he gently pressed his hand against the bedroom door, and glanced in on Stephen. The boy was sleeping soundly, thoroughly exhausted. For a while, Michael watched Stephen sleep, marveling once again at the uncanny resemblance to the face he had once stared into the mirror at, as a child, before his life was eclipsed by the darkness. Looking at the boy in his peaceful slumber was like looking into a dream of a different life, a life where there was family and light and love. No death. No violence. Just warm smiles, old uncles, and the unity of family; a sense of belonging.
Then the door behind him slammed, and Michael spun around to face Laurie, across the hallway. Her guard was up. Michael met her gaze, as she eyed him carefully. A silence fell between the two of them, until the throttle of a car engine rapidly approaching sent Laurie sailing by him, and down the stairs.
Tommy and Lee rose to the sound of the engine, and looked out the window to pin- point it, but they were unable to find the car. Suddenly, the high beams flared on, and the car came crashing through the front window.
It came smashing through the room, leaving debris in its wake, and sideswiped Lee, sending him flying into the wall. Tommy fell over the television set, causing it to arch in electric jolts. The room clouded with dust.
For a moment she stood indecisive, unable to determine whether or not she should enter the room to find out what happened. Faintly, through the thickness in the air, Laurie thought she could make out Tommy's distant limp shape on the floor, and decided to venture the risk and go to help. Laurie took a deep breath, and was set to enter the room, when Michael's hand clamped down on her wrist.
"Get behind me,"
She gave him a brief skeptical glance, then stepped aside to let him ahead of her. Michael's eyes narrowed, as he stepped past the stairway, and slowly entered the room. A cloud of white had enveloped the room in a thick dust -fog, as he continued to make his way across it.
Then, without warning, the fog split as the Shape buried a pickaxe into Michael's chest, narrowly missing his heart. He lurched back in sudden pain, as the axe's blade passed through him, and pinned him to the wall. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his body fell limp.
Laurie screamed in shock, and fell back. She began to stumble up the stairs, when the Shape grabbed her by the neck and hoisted her off of the floor. Laurie's face flushed as she began to choke, when Tommy lunged out from the dusty abyss and smashed a pot vase over the Shape's skull. The Shape dropped Laurie, spun around, brought its arm around in a backhand, and collided it with Tommy's face. Tommy felt the piercing pain of several stitches ripping open, and then he fell back, into the oblivion of unconsciousness.
At the sound of the commotion, Kara emerged from her room, and ran down the stairs only to come across the Shape, as it knocked Tommy back- words. The Shape turned at the sound of her arrival, and losing interest completely in Laurie, it stepped over her, and began to pursue Kara up the stairs.
It had reached the first step, when Laurie kicked its weight-bearing leg out from under it. The Shape came crashing down, and smashed headlong onto the hard floor. Laurie dashed up the stairs, to Kara and Stephen, whom recently awakened, stood wide-eyed in a daze of confusion.
Laurie pushed Kara and Stephen into one of the rooms, and picked up a pump shotgun that she had stored in the closet. She gave it a sharp pump, and they barricaded the door, and waited.
Minutes passed, though they felt like hours. Kara, could feel Stephen's rapid pulse beat next to her own, as she held the boy tight. Still, there was no sign of life on the other side of the door.
"What should we do?" Kara asked, looking to Laurie for the answers.
"Well, there are two options. We either tie those bed-sheets together and try to make it down the side of the building, or we open the door up and see it's there."
"Bed-sheets," Stephen and Kara said in unison, which Laurie would have found comical, had the situation been under different circumstances.
They tied the sheets together making one long one, fastened it to the end of the bedpost, and let the sheet drop. Kara began to climb down first, in the event that the Shape had gone back downstairs so that they could provide cover for the boy, in the event they had to make a run for it or fend the Shape off. She felt a brief wave of vertigo, as she looked down at the jagged black iron fence that surrounded the building's perimeter. She stopped halfway down on the top of the work shed, took a deep breath, than continued. Once her feet hit the ground, Laurie pulled the sheet up and fastened it around Stephen's waist.
"Okay, Stephen, you next. Be brave, I'm going to lower you down. Hang on tight."
"Without a bit of a fuss, the boy bravely crawled out of the window and readied himself for the drop.
"Brave, kid," Laurie smiled, and started to drop the sheet.
Suddenly, a butcher knife slammed through the door, and it became quickly apparent to Laurie that the Shape had grown tired of the cat and mouse game. It was coming through, and fast. Laurie tried to maintain her composure, and carefully continued to lower Stephen, but when she heard the hinges of the door give under the force of the Shape's strength, she jerked involuntarily and for a second lost her grip, which sent the boy plummeting rapidly towards the fence's sharp pointy top.
The boy screamed, and at the last minute, Laurie regained her grip. Stephen could see the sharp ends of the fence at an arm's length, and sighed in relief. He pictured them piercing his small form, and closed his eyes in a shudder. Laurie slowly lowered him further, when Kara ran over. She untied the boy and lowered him to the ground.
Laurie had only begun to pull the sheet back up when the door gave with one final shattering splinter, and the Shape came lumbering in, knife poised. She turned, and dodged its swing at the last minute, as the blade came streaking by her head and dug deep into the wall behind her. Laurie dove across the room and, with a roll, she retrieved the shotgun. The Shape ripped the knife out of the wall and turned to face her.
Laurie fired the gun, and the force of its blast sent the Shape hurtling out the window. From below, Kara watched its massive form drop in a rain of glass, as it landed back-first on top of the iron fence. The top of the fence tore through it, as the Shape's limbs sprang out in a futile jerk of outrage, only to collapse in a limp sprawl.
Kara slowly made her way around the body with the boy, towards the fence's exit. Suddenly the Shape re-animated, and swung the knife, still tightly held in its hand, in a sharp air-cutting sweep. The two fell back in shock, and to their growing horror, the Shape began to use it's free hand to hoist itself up on the very bar it was impaled on, beginning the process of freeing itself.
Kara wasn't about to give it that chance. She swung open the tool shed, and brought out a rusty square metal shovel. She brought the shovel down across the Shape's neck as hard as she could, partially severing it's head. Blood spayed in an upward geyser, as the Shape thrashed futilely. Kara brought the shovel down again, this time severing the Shape's head, once and for all. Stephen screamed as the head bounced to the ground, and he covered his eyes at the hideous sight. He got up and ran towards the house, right into Laurie's arms.
"It's okay, Stephen, honey," Laurie consoled the boy as she hugged him tight. Come inside." Laurie spared a glance to Kara, and brought the boy inside.
Kara dropped the shovel, and walked unsteadily over towards the Shape's severed head. An eerie familiarity in its dead stare had consumed her, and she found herself unable to turn away. An unnerving wave of desperation fell over her, and before she was even aware what she was doing, she was prying its mask from its severed head. She pulled the mask off with a final tug, and let out an agonizing scream of grief.
The scream was piercing and sad, and Kara's haunted howl shook through the streets and into the house. Regaining his wits, Tommy slowly made it to his feet and rushed out the door to find, to his horror, Kara, swaying on her knees, cradling the head of her dead son. Her face was flustered and strained, and her eyes bespoke of a woman gone mad. Blood from Danny's head had soaked all over her, as she stared blankly and continued to sway and sob endlessly.
Tommy's jaw fell open, and tears began to stream from his eyes, as he ran over to her. His own legs gave out, and he fell to his knees and embraced her.
Kara screamed at his touch, a mad torturous scream of the insane. Her wail then wound back down into a sob, and silently, Tommy cried as he embraced his wife and dead son.
Back from the upstairs window, Laurie looked down with a chill of grim familiarity. One look into Kara's eyes was all it took to tell her everything she needed to know. The mad helpless pain in her screams was all too familiar to Laurie after all, as they were the screams of wounds that would never heal.
"Why is she screaming?" Stephen demanded from Laurie. On some level beginning to comprehend that something was dreadfully wrong. "Mom! MOM! Let me go, I want my mom!" Stephen began to squirm and struggle in Laurie's arms.
"Stephen, honey, no…" but the boy had wormed himself free, and was running out the door before Laurie could catch him. He darted down the stairs, and past Brackett, who was groggily making it to his feet, cupping a rather large goose-egg on the back of his head as he rose unsteadily from the debris. Stephen turned and ran out the front door, right into Neil.
"Why hello there, little chap! Neil let out a hearty laugh, and grabbed the boy tight. Stephen's eyes went wide with fear, and Neil cuffed the boy on the side of the head, knocking him flat out-cold.
Brackett clumsily reached for his rifle, when Neil called out to him.
"Not the smartest move of your life, papa." Neil taunted as he raised his pistol with his left hand and shot Brackett square in the chest three times. Brackett jerked sharply as each of the bullets impacted, throwing his body back. He crashed into the side of the wall, fell to his knees, and dropped silently, with little more than a rustle.
Neil turned away from the body and looked onto Tommy and Kara. Tommy looked up at the sounds of the gunshot, and noticed with deep growing dread that Neil had them square in his sights. With his other hand, Neil brought the walky-talky up to his lips.
"Unit 1, attend to the boy. Units 2 and 3 take the man and woman and remove the body from the fence. When you've delivered them, come back for Myers…and bring re-enforcements. I'll attend to the Strode woman."
"Copy," Units 1-3 said in succession. Within seconds the units responded, and were quickly on the way to covering their tracks on the outside. In 5 minutes time, they had removed Danny's corpse, and taken Tommy, Kara and Stephen. Kara had proved to be the hardest to handle, clawing and screaming madly, until a sedative silenced her antics. The crew loaded up and left, and Neil turned, and walked into the house. He emptied his clip, and replaced it with a new one. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs, with the foresight that the Laurie was clearly aware of his presence, and likely hiding, waiting for her moment to strike.
"The little bitch is probably armed," he muttered to himself, and continued to walk up the stairs. Once up to the top, he paused, with a feeling of danger flooding into his mind. Sensing her presence, he stopped short of entering the mouth of the hallway as he pondered his next move. He looked down at the walkie-talkie, then tossed it into the hallway. To his amusement, he watched it explode into shrapnel as Laurie blew it to oblivion with the shotgun.
Within the two seconds it took for Laurie to re-pump the gun, Neil rolled into the hallway, with reflexes rivaling Laurie's own. He put a bullet in Laurie's hand, causing her to drop the gun.
Laurie dropped to her knees and grit her teeth as she grasped the wrist of her injured hand. Pain stung through the open hole in her palm. Neil walked up to her, and placed the gun to her head.
"This can go easy, or hard, love. The choice is yours." Laurie gave Neil a cold stare then slowly rose to her feet, as if to cooperate. He stepped behind her and motioned her down the hall. She began to walk, when suddenly in a moment of hazardous bravery, she spun around and kicked the gun from Neil's hand.
"Fine," Neil growled as he slammed his fist in Laurie's mouth, splitting her lower lip. "Hard it is." Laurie was knocked back from the impact, which sent her tipping over the stairs. At the last minute, she managed to grab Neil by his worn leather jacket, as she went over. The two of them rolled down the stairs, impacting hard at various moments during their struggle. At the bottom, Laurie landed on top, and brought her knee up into Neil's groin. He fell back in pain, and she fled through the lobby. She spotted the rifle that Brackett had left at the top of the meat grinder's platform the night before when Michael had overcome him. She clumsily made her way up towards the top of the metal staircase. She had just made it to the top step, when Neil grabbed her by the hair and rammed her head against the top stair. Laurie's forehead split open in a spurt, and she screamed as Neil rolled her over.
Neil brought his lips up to Laurie's and, breathing heavy, he spat into her bleeding face. "You fucking cunt!" He screamed, as he slapped her hard, staring down at her with his black eyes. "Now you've really pissed me off!!"
He jerked her head to the side, and whispered into her ear. "You're husband begged for your life when I strung him up," Laurie's face broke into and expression of open shock at the revelation, and she began to weep. Satisfied, Neil pulled Laurie's hair and tilted her head back, exposing her neck. "I told him that you were already dead, and that I raped you before- hand. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't keep my word," Neil let out an obscene laugh, and Laurie's grief flared into rage. She lunged up, her hair tearing under Neil's grip, and bit him square in the nose.
Neil let out a ferocious angry scream. Laurie brought her hand up and dug it deep into Neil's face, tearing the flesh on his forehead and cheek. Then, with everything she had, in a final act of desperation, she threw her weight, and propelled Neil into the grinder.
"Rot in hell, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!!" She screamed and bared her teeth in hate. She briskly turned to the grinder's control panel, and flicked the switch.
Nothing.
"Fuck," Laurie spouted with a gasp. "The plug…" Neil lunged up and grabbed Laurie's leg and began to thrash like a mad dog, as he tried to pull her into the grinder's mouth. Laurie locked a hold on the platform railing, and struggled to break free. She spared a glance down to Neil. To her horror, he no longer even seemed human. Saliva spewed from his foaming mouth, as he screamed like some rampaging animal. Small ridges had begun to show on his forehead beneath his ripped and torn flesh. His nose was a mangled mess, and seeped blood in endless streams.
"Laurie!"
Laurie turned at the sound of her name to see that Brackett had crawled over to the wall and now held the plug in his hand. She turned back to Neil, and kicked repeatedly into his face with her free leg. She could hear the remains of the cartridge in his nose give, as she continued to cave in his face with her Olympian legs. Finally, his talon-like fingers let go, and she pulled up her leg, when Brackett plugged the grinder in.
The machine whirled to life, and immediately the blades began to grind, as they tore into Neil's body. A haunting endless wail drowned out even the machine's buzzing grind, and then abruptly fell short, as the machine devoured the body to bits. Laurie saw the remains spew out in raw chunks of purple-red flesh and bone, and she turned over the balcony in nausea, and hurled.
A couple of minutes passed, and finally, she gathered herself together and walked down the platform to where Brackett was stooped over by the wall outlet.
"Thanks, Lee."
"Don't sweat it, kid."
"Are you all right?"
"Just winded," he pulled his shirt up to reveal a bulletproof vest. "Kevlar," he said, indifferently. "Though I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest when that creep fired a few rounds into me."
"Aw… poor baby," a smile stretched across Laurie's battered and bleeding face, as she realized her old friend was all right. "You've got to watch that kind of thing at your age." She laughed.
"Very funny, grandma."
"Up yours."
"You going to give me a hand or what?"
Laurie reached down, and helped Lee to his feet.
"What now?" she said.
"Well, I figure that while we still got the nerve and the element of surprise, we gear up and go in guns blazing."
"Agreed. We've got nothing to lose, at this point."
"Speak for yourself," Lee smiled, fascinated anew with Laurie's unabashed suicidal bravery.
"What about Michael?"
"Dead," Lee returned, nodding back to the lobby's other end. "He's pinned to the wall by a pickaxe. I don't think he'll be much use to us."
"Damn." Laurie cast her eyes to the floor, momentarily morose. "It would have been nice to have a front line man."
Lee couldn't help but notice a slight remorseful edge to Laurie's voice, despite her attempts to sound indifferent. As curious as the thought was, he pushed it away.
"Tell me about it. Well…shall we?"
"After you," Laurie smiled weakly and gestured for Brackett to lead the way.
The two of them armed up, and locked and loaded, they left for Smith's Grove County Sanitarium.
Twenty minutes later, Michael rose from his hunch, and with a tremendous force of will, freed himself from the pickaxe. He came crashing to the floor, and lied there silently, feeling his body begin to tingle, as it began its strange and bizarre rapid regeneration. As soon as he was able to walk, he rose to his feet, fired up the van, and made for the institute.
One way or another, this was it. No more games, he thought. Time to put an end to it, once and for all.
He spared a brief glance into the back of the van in order to make sure he had what he needed, then turned back to the road and continued to drive.