She yanks herself out of the past, she knows it won't do her any good here, now. I HAVE TO GET OUT! Her earlier thoughts were as loud as an alarm bell and just as clear. The question was, how the fuck could she get out of here and get rescue to her friends? Now Jason and Duncan were both deceased, maybe she should go back to 'Doom Tunnel,' meet the other three and maybe try to rescue Katie. Plus, where the fuck was Andy? Had he made it out? None of them knew as Duncan's radio had just received static!

Duncan's radio!

She'd totally forgotten about that. Abandoning all caution stupidly she knew for a flash of hope, she ran back to where she knew he lay. Sure enough, the deceased man was lying on his back his throat gaping open like an open mouth. But it was what she saw next which brought her to a shuddering holt, terror, grief and… something else gripping her insides in equal measure.

Someone and Laurie had a fucking good idea who, had positioned the two instructors, Duncan and… fuck was it Patrick the name of the other guy? Fuck what his name… was, or rather had been! Patrick was now lying beside Duncan, his arms draped over the other man's corpse in a mockery of a lover's embrace. A flashlight had been shoved so far into his left ear, he looked as though he was wearing it. She took one more look and almost vomited. Because scrawled into both Duncan's and Patrick's chests close to their hearts, was a bloody jagged wound in the shape of a heart. Written into the wound in their own blood, the skin carved into letters were five words.

Edith's glad you're home too.

"Laurie?"

She turns around in surprise on hearing the soft male voice which sounds as scared as she feels. She's shocked to see Andy, his jacket torn, helmet askew and a look of absolute terror on his face. "Laurie?" He says again. "What the fuck's going on?"

She can't speak because again, what could she say? So instead, she simply moves back away from the two deceased men so Andy can see them without her obscuring them.

"What the?" He staggers backwards in horror and turns even paler if that were possible and Laurie can't blame him. The sight before them is indeed gruesome to say the least.

"Who…" Andy is still trying to speak, but it's clear he's frozen in terror, including his vocal chords. "Who in God's…" He takes a breath and she can see he's desperately trying not to throw up. Not wanting to look at them anymore than he does, or wanting to do this but knowing she must, Laurie approaches Duncan's body and reaches for his pocket, where she'd seen his radio during the briefing when Katie had asked if anyone had one. But to her shock, Andy places a gentle hand on her arm. "Don't bother," his voice is quiet, flat.

"What do you mean 'don't bother?' She turns on him. "We need that God Damn radio!"

For answer, he leans down and picks something up. Laurie feels her heart sink even further and the tiny bubble of hope which had expanded inside her burst. The radio was completely smashed. It looked as if someone had hit it into the concrete multiple times, and she didn't have to guess too hard who.

Michael Myers was indeed one twisted fucker with a sick sense of humour. He'd just destroyed their last hope of rescue. All they could hope for now was that the actors still at the top would eventually come down when no one came out. Slim but it was the only hope they had left. Although, them coming down here would quite probably cost them their lives so maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Either way, they had no way of messaging them to tell them what'd happened, to call the police even! Fuck! Annie's father was only the God Damn sheriff of Haddonfield, the irony didn't escape her, blunt in its cruelty. "Andy," she turns to him. "We have to work together. Did you… see any of what happened?"

He shook his head. "No, when I left you guys I followed my rope until…" he took a breath and she heard him audibly swallow.

"Severed, right?" She said softly.

He gritted his teeth and nodded. "Yeah, some motherfucker's severed all our ropes by the looks of it."

She nods. "Yes, he has. But if you're willing to help us, we can work together in at the very least putting up a fight and trying to get out of this hell hole!"

"Which is all well and good," he looks straight back at her. "If we know who our opponent is. In this case, we don't. So I don't know how you think we can put up a fight against an unknown enemy.

Except he's not unknown, she thinks. She had long since come to the realisation she would have to tell the others the truth at some point, at least in as far as who they were up against went. Unless they'd worked it out already of course. "Listen," she says urgently. "Please Andy, I need you to work with me and the rest of us! Will you do that?" She sees him take a breath and look back at the two fallen men. It's then he sees the words sickeningly carved into their chests.

"Fuck!" Now he does put a hand to his mouth, she knows he's trying not to be sick just as she had. Stepping forward, she touches his arm. "Andy," she snaps her fingers in front of his face, her tone sharp. "Andy, stay with me! We have to work together! Come on, hold it together man!"

He blinks at her once, twice, then slowly nods. "Right… right yeah… sorry," she lets out a long breath. "Jesus fucking Christ! I don't think I'll ever sleep again!"

"Listen I understand where you're coming from," she keeps her voice gentle this time because in truth she's as shocked as he is. I wish I was as traumatised though and didn't love their fucking killer, a man who can do something like this and then laugh! He heard that stupid fucking story, that's obvious! Jesus he's got a twisted sense of humour! Yet… I love him, a quieter voice within her finishes the sentence and she knows she can't dispute it. "But we need to work together. Katie's trapped in one of the tunnels nearby, that's her safety whistle you heard just now."

"I…" he swallows. "I was trying to find who was blowing that. How? What happened?"

"Our…" she hesitates. "Our attacker has killed Jason, broke his neck. He then took the severed rope from Katie's harness and… suspended Jason from the ceiling with it so now she can't move either."

To his credit, this time Andy breathes in deeply once, lets it out and nods. It seems as if he's finally accepting the danger they're in. "Ok," he says. "Where are the rest of your group? Are they…"?

"They're fine," she says quickly. At least I fucking hope to God they are. "They're in 'Doom Tunnel,' I told them to wait there until we could get rescue to them. They were to share the light from their headlamps."

He nods again his gaze wandering for a second, then looks back at her. "Let's go," he says.

"Time to swap headlamps," Paul breathed as he, Lynda and Annie crouched in the darkness of 'Doom Tunnel.' "We need to preserve our lights."

"I've got it," Lynda said and with a click activated hers and Paul turned his off.

"Where the fuck is Laurie?" Annie asks, being the first brave enough to dare speak aloud the question on all their lips. "How long has it been since she left me here?"

Paul glanced at his watch. "Maybe about ten minutes?"

"Fuck me," Lynda groaned, sitting against a wall. "This is just… like fuck! Feels like we're trapped in a nightmare!"

"Because that's not too far off the truth that's why," Lynda said quietly. "We are trapped in a fucking nightmare!"

Annie wished Lynda hadn't answered her, that was a rhetorical point. But she simply looked down at the ground. Arguing with any of them now would not help their situation at all. It would be so easy to allow tension to bubble up between them due to the terror and the lurking danger they were in, but it wouldn't help them get out and she knew that.

"Hey!" An urgent whisper made all three of them look up. It was Laurie and to their shock, Andy. His jacket torn and was that dried blood on his face?

"Laurie," Lynda said in relief, standing and pulling her friend into a hug. Laurie returned it briefly and then pulled away. "Guys we need to work together," she said simply. "Katie is trapped nearby and we need to at least try and rescue her."

Lynda nodded. She remembered only too well the terrifying and bloody scene in the tunnel just moments before, but had chosen not to recount it to Annie or Paul. If Laurie wanted to do so, that was her call.

"What happened to her?" Annie asked. She must've read Lynda's thoughts.

"I…" Laurie swallowed. "Listen guys it's a long story and I don't have time to tell it now! We need to find Katie and rescue her. You'll understand more then. Come on!"

Without a word and still only using Lynda's headlamp, the five of them step back out into the main tunnel. Laurie doesn't hesitate, she knows only too well where it all happened and leads the group almost straight to it. Just as she'd said, Katie was still fighting with her harness in a desperate struggle to be free of it. When she saw the headlamp approaching she stopped and looked up. The hope in her eyes almost broke Laurie's heart.

"Katie," she said softly to the obviously traumatised woman. "We're going to get you free, alright?" Or at least do our damn best, she doesn't add.

Katie said nothing, just looked at her. Andy stepped forward and again Laurie had to give him credit as he efficiently and quickly started looking at the knots in Katie's rope. She also noticed he was standing at such an angle to try and block Jason from Annie and Paul's view.

"What the fuck?" Paul staggers backwards and she can tell by his face he's seen the gruesome sight. "What the fuck happened to him?"

"Shh!" Laurie hissed, wanting to cover the idiots mouth. "Shout like that and we're all fucking dead!"

Andy concentrated on the rope, making quiet grunts of effort. Lynda ran forward to help him, shining her light onto the rope.

"Thanks," Andy said giving her a quick grateful smile. "Fuck! He's tied these knots fucking well!"

"Who?" Annie demands again, but Laurie shakes her head. Yet again she can't tell them and she's now wondering if Andy like her, heard the report on the radio earlier and connected the dots.

"What happened to your face?" Katie asked in a low voice so only Andy, Lynda and Laurie could hear.

"Cut it on a wall," Andy murmured. "I was walking too fast and my rope came to… its abrupt end like yours all have and I couldn't slowdown in time."

"That looks nasty," Lynda said compassionately and reached into her pocket, holding out a pack of tissues.

"I'm fine," Andy started to say, but Lynda gave him her stern look and Laurie was surprised he didn't recoil. She couldn't help it and smiled a little. "Fine," Lynda said and stepping up to him gently placed some of the tissues over his cut.

"Thanks," Andy said, giving her another brief smile. Now Laurie didn't see the man she'd thought of as arrogant when they'd first entered the caves, this was the real him coming out.

"Lynda," he said. "Can you grab that piece of rope? I think I've finally got this knot undone."

"Show me which," Lynda said immediately and Andy indicated where he meant. Both Lynda and Laurie stepped up and held it and he finally got the knot undone. The down side however was that Jason's corpse slid down with the momentum of the rope and swung right in front of Katie's face. To her credit she didn't scream, just let out a whimper and looked like she was going to fall. Lynda ran forward and caught her in her arms, murmuring soothing words Laurie couldn't hear. What she could say to a woman who'd just lost her boyfriend she didn't know. But she appreciated her friends compassion towards this stranger all the same.

"Fuck!" Paul and Annie saw Jason's corpse at the same time and looked up at him in horror. "Fuck!" Paul said. "We've got a God damn killer down here with us!" He turned on Andy. "How in God's name do we know it isn't fucking you asshole? You stormed off, you left the group, how do we know it wasn't you who severed our fucking safety lines?"

Andy looked back at him, his voice calm, no sign of anger or hostility. Laurie was grateful for this. "Ok, then tell me something Paul. If I had severed the safety lines, why would I sever my own?" He held up his own severed rope. "That would make no sense, at least until I was out. As for how, look how thick these damn ropes are! They would need a thick knife to cut them! I don't tend to carry a knife around in my daily life or on a 'Doom Tunnel' tour."

"Doesn't stop you killing Jason," Paul looked up at the slowly swinging corpse above them. "Looks like his neck's broken. You don't need a knife to do that!"

"Um, then why would I come back and help rescue Katie? She must've seen Jason die because she was trapped right underneath him! I'm so sorry," he murmured softly to Katie, who broke down in fresh tears at his words. Lynda held her tighter. Andy turned back to Paul. "If I killed Jason, Katie would've told you by now!"

"Where the fuck is Duncan?" Paul hadn't dropped his hostile glare or tone, his eyes fixed in hate on Andy's face. "Did you kill him too or something? He's fucking disappeared on us, he left us when following the rope with Katie, Jason and Lynda! How do we know you didn't find them and kill him? You fucking stormed off after all! You could have easily done it!"

"Paul," it was Annie who spoke now, her tone clearly trying to mediate between the two men. "Throwing accusations around won't do anything. We need to get out of these caves first before we think about the why's and wherefores! That has to be our first priority! We can't accuse each other right now, not down here or we're all finished!"

"Yeah because he'll fucking kill us next," Paul was still glaring at Andy.

"Enough!" Everyone looked up at Lynda. "Paul, quit! Annie's right, this is not helping. We are wasting time throwing accusations around and right now our survival and freedom our all that matter! So let's stop arguing and get moving!"

Lynda turned towards Laurie, clearly wanting her friend to speak to say something in her defence. But Laurie says nothing, her gaze fixed up the tunnel ahead of them. Lynda followed her gaze and let out a terrified gasp. Paul, Annie, Andy and Katie spin round following Lynda's trembling finger. Laurie remains still, unable to move or speak. Within a matter of seconds, the whole group know why.

She feels like all her extremities have frozen, stopped dead in their tracks. Her worst fear and unfortunately her biggest desire, has come to life. She tries to speak, but her mouth won't open as she looks straight up the tunnel ahead of them. That's when they all hear the slow, purposeful footsteps approaching them. Even Lynda's gasp can't penetrate the state of conscious unconsciousness she seems to have fallen into. All she can do is stand there as the footsteps draw closer. They stop just inside the tunnel, a very short distance away from Laurie. That's when they hear the slow, calm breathing and see the deathly white, emotionless mask.

"FUCK!" Paul shouts, the fear genuine on his face. He looks as if he's about to faint. Andy however just looks up with an expression of total resignation. She knows he knows who's in front of them, who they're looking at. He steps towards her, about 6 foot 6 she thinks wearing navy blue coveralls. Though of course she already knew who it would be before any of them saw him. His gaze is back on her, his eyes cold, yet she can see something within them, but can't make out what and she's also too afraid to look for that long.

With deliberate, unhurried footsteps, Michael Myers steps up to her and stops right in front of her. No one moves, no one speaks, the terror in the room is pulpable. She however can't take her eyes off the man she's known for nearly two years… the man she thinks she loves. Myers' cold gaze sweeps around the group, but she's sure he's already noticed Katie is free of her ropes, the ones he trapped her in. Annie and Paul both cower away from that cold gaze, but Lynda holds her head up and looks straight back at Myers as do Andy and Katie. Laurie feels a surge of pride for them, her best friend and these two near total strangers. But she knows the game is up, she is going to have to tell all of them the truth, even Andy and Katie. None of them are getting out of here alive this Halloween, unless she can somehow call on her and the killer's past however limited it might be.

Make a deal with the devil strode, she thinks with a grim smile. It's time to sign your ticket to hell. Michael Myers will never feel about you as you do for him, but maybe you can save all your friends and these two strangers from death! That's something right?

She takes a step forward towards Myers who raises the huge kitchen knife he is holding. She doesn't flinch though; she knows what she has to do however she also knows she only has one chance to get this right. Get it wrong even once and she's dead along with the rest of them. She opens her mouth the first time and nothing comes out. She takes a breath, tries again.

"Mr. Myers," her voice is perfectly steady she's surprised to hear, although she doesn't know the fuck how. "Please, please just listen to me for a minute?"

Paul and Annie are looking at her as if she's now the total stranger and they don't recognise her anymore. Lynda however moves to stand at her friend's side and Laurie wants to hug her. Myers' calm, steady breathing is the only thing that breaks the silence. Laurie looks up and meets the eyes of the killer through the holes in his mask, knowing this is it. Play this fucking hand right strode, you've only got one chance. Don't you dare fuck this up or you'll take all these guys to their graves with you.

TICK, TOCK! TICK, TOCK!

That's all she can hear, but it's in her own head. A metaphorical clock showing every single second they stand there. She has never felt so unsure, scared and uncertain in her life. Seconds to her have never felt so interminable as they do right now.

On the rare occasions her parents would talk to her they talked a lot about casinos, both being obsessed with them. Her mother would talk about playing the right hand, living the hand you've been dealt in life, casting your bets and playing your chips carefully and wisely as you only had so many. They might seem like stupid analogies, hell back then she'd considered them as such. It was only then, right then that she fully understood what her mother was saying. They'd lost so much money by 'playing their chips' wrongly, but if she played these ones wrongly she'd lose her life and the lives of all the others down there with her tonight. Myers had already killed three men and she didn't need telling once never mind twice that he wouldn't hesitate to kill every single one of them including her. "Please Mr. Myers," she starts with absolutely no idea what she's going to say. She's going to have to just bluff it, a dangerous card, chip or game to play with a masked silent serial killer. But she also knows she has no choice. It isn't her life she's thinking of right then either, but the other five trapped in this hell with her.

"Please, just listen to me for a minute, will you? I meant what I told you at Smith's Grove, every word. I…"

She didn't have to be told this was going badly, she hadn't after all planned for this to happen of course she hadn't. Michael Myers to escape and find them?

Find her?

Shit! Shit, shit! I have to play this right… that's one thing mom got right…

"I came willingly every time because you… you did something to me Mr. Myers. From that first visit you did something. To this day though I don't know what it was."

This is still the case now. She knows she feels something for the killer, but as to what it was… Love? Infatuation? Lust? She doesn't know and doesn't believe she ever will. His silence, even his cold gaze had done… something to her. But if she's really honest with herself within her very heart, she's leaning furthest towards love. "Wait, hold up," Annie's voice was very quiet, a bad sign. Laurie inwardly winces. She knows she should have told Annie, Paul and Lynda about her visits to Smith's Grove a long time ago, but her fear had stopped her. Now it would probably do a hell of a lot more damage and that's without them all getting killed for it.

"You were going to Smith's Grove all that time? I don't know you anymore Laurie Strode; I don't want to know you anymore! You lied to us, bitch! I always had doubts about you visiting a relative with your parents, I know they don't really care about you! Truth be told after this, nor do I! Maybe if you'd actually told us sooner not right now when we're all in danger, it might have been different. Now you're telling us you're in… what? Cahoots with this killer?"

"Yeah," Paul chimed in. "You wanted to commit suicide once before didn't you? Well I'd say you've just found your solution!"

"Paul!" Lynda said as to Laurie's gratitude did Andy and Katie.

"Too far man," Andy looked away.

"Fuck you, I don't even fucking know you! Mind your own fucking business asshole!"

"GUYS!" Lynda yelled. "THIS IS NOT THE TIME! LET Laurie SPEAK!" As she says this, she reflects that it is perhaps lucky Bob broke up with her the week before, or he may very well have been down there with them tonight.

Yeah, unless you want to die, Lauriethinks. I'm the only one who can save your lives, or perhaps I should say try to. She knows this is all a sport to the twisted fucker, he's probably laughing inwardly right now. She remembers when Duncan whistled and wonders first if that was actually an agreed signal to alert the actors to start screaming, second if Myers had heard it? It would've been an obvious clear location give away, might as well have Shonn a beacon!

"Did you know I'd be here tonight Mr. Myers? I knew it was you who'd escaped when we heard it on the radio! I was certain! But they said you were heading to Haddonfield So why here? We're miles from Haddonfield, were you…"

She suddenly feels ice cold fingers moving slowly down her spine, as if someone is playing the piano down her back. Were you following us? Those are the words she can't say, doesn't dare, but also knows she has to.

"Were you following us?"

Lynda tightens her arms around her and she smiles at her in pure gratitude. If she does die tonight at least she knows one friend she still has. While she can understand Annie and Paul's anger, she wishes they could've waited until maybe, somehow they were out of here. Though she also knows she can't blame them, not really.

"I went to Smith's Grove once a month to visit Mr. Myers," she says quietly. "I went with John as he's got a car."

"Yeah because you knew I'd never take you in mine," Annie says in utter contempt. "Jesus Christ are you insane?"

She ignores her, she knows she has to. Even if she is right…

"I… shit!" She runs her hands through her hair. "Please don't ask me why guys because I don't know! I just… fuck! At first it was pure interest, then… then things… changed!"

"What? From behind a sheet of fucking thick glass?" Paul sneered. "They open a window so you could kiss or something?"

Now she winces outwardly. Fucking hell Paul you want to kill us all? She takes a deep breath and looks back at the masked killer.

"Please Mr. Myers, please let my friends go and you can have me! I'll do whatever you want, please just let these guys at least try to find their way out?"

Deal with the devil Strode, chips played, you can't get them back now, you've cast your bet… life or death, I'd say the wheel's just landed on death!

There was silence, all they could hear was Myers' calm steady breathing. But then he did move, it was so fast none of them saw it. In one motion he'd grabbed her by the hair and pulled her against him. She takes a breath trying to remain calm but feels her heartrate pick up. Though she is still terrified, part of her feels a flicker of… something. Excitement? She knows she's being stupid; he's probably only seconds away from plunging his knife into her throat. Yet…

Myers pulls her back away from the tunnel's exit, enabling the others to leave. Lynda slowly walks towards her.

"No," she warns. "Go, Lynda! Don't test him, please! Just get the fuck out of here!"

She knows this would happen, but it doesn't deaden the pain when Annie and Paul storm on ahead not even looking back. Their friendship is well and truly over. Her earlier thoughts about Paul only hanging out with her due to being Annie's boyfriend have just been sadly and horribly confirmed.

"I love you Laurie," Lynda says, bravely holding back her tears. She smiles at her, not daring to speak in case she too breaks down. She can do nothing more than nod to her best friend and can tell she understands by her return nod. "Good luck," Lynda whispers before Andy puts an arm around her as she's shaking, the other around Katie and they hurry up the tunnel after Annie and Paul.

"Thank you," she whispers to Myers and in spite of the danger she's now in, she realises she means it.