1998

H20

October 30th.

Jennifer finished her work with Andrew, who only responded to her now. She looked at the clock and saw she had about five minutes, and she always got away with leaving early. She dosed him and went out to the elevator, got in and made her way to the parking garage. She punched out, got into the car and made her 3 hour drive to Haddonfield.

She sighed when she pulled into the familiar driveway, got out of the car and ran up the steps and unlocked the door. She was surprised to hear Jacob crying from upstairs. "Hello? Michael?"

She ran up the steps and took up the two year old, then ran back down the steps and into the kitchen. She froze. On the table was a kitchen knife, having been stabbed into the center. On it's side in red marker was written, 'Summer Glenn'.

She ran to the phone and dialed Wynn's office number, angered that his secretary answered. "Hello, Terrance Wynn?"

"Dawn it's Jennifer let me talk to my dad."

"He's in a ..."

"It's an emergency dammit!"

The phone went to hold and Wynn answered. "Jen? What is it?"

"Michael's gone to Summer Glenn."

"What do we do?"

"Try to live." Jennifer moved to where she heard the voices. She smiled softly as she found her mother and Will.

"Mom!"

Laurie spun around, gun in hand. She sighed in relief as she looked at Jennifer. "God Jen, you scared me shitless! Michael's here, he's killed two students."

She felt her heart sink. "God I'm sorry Mom, something's..."

"Look out!" Will grabbed the gun from Laurie and fired at the approaching Shape behind Jennifer, and when, thinking it was Michael, Jennifer leapt in front of the bullet, Laurie screamed. Jennifer's hand flew to her shoulder where it had pierced, and another bullet ricocheted from the lamp above, hitting her in the chest.

Just then, the door behind her opened and scared, Ronny, the security guard ran by Laurie and Will. Michael raised his knife at the human below, but upon seeing his bleeding wife, he lowered it and knelt by her, to all's immense disbelief. He wiped some of the blood onto his finger, then glared at his sister's boyfriend, still holding the gun. He progressed forward and Jennifer cried out to him, standing and running in between him and Will.

"No Michael," she gasped, trying to breathe through the pain. "I.. W-wont let you... K-kill him..." She shook her head. No one else."

Michael tilted his head, then raised the knife and threw it out the open window. He opened his arms to her and she watched him a moment, then buried herself in them, relishing in his scent, a scent she had missed dearly. He was gentle with her injured self, even as he brought her back, then lifted the bottom of his mask, angled so no one could see, and kissed her, gently but with emotion.

Laurie watched in amazement and took the gun and stuck it in her jeans. Jennifer parted from him and chuckled. "We owe Jacob now, he really wanted to go trick or treating."

A sound echoed and all swung around to see John and Molly, frozen at the sight of Myers there. She could see blood seeping from her younger brother's leg, and shook her head. "You can't be doing this Michael, you can't keep hurting people."

Laurie shook her head. "He's not going to just stop, Jenni. He's been doing it too long now... He'll never stop... He'll never die."

Jennifer cringed at the words she had also heard from her sister, and felt a chill run down her spine. "You're wrong, all of you. I know it."

John groaned in pain and she looked at the young woman with him. "Bring him here."

Molly stared at her, eyes wide with panic and heart a flutter, she had to be crazy! But she obeyed fearfully and John screamed as his sister tore his jeans and began using the material as a bandage. Molly's eyes ever on his attacker, she held his hand, feeling hers would fall off the way he squeezed it.

Jennifer grinned lightly as she finished, he had calmed considerably and so she ruffled his hair. "Try giving birth, little bro."

He looked at her, then shook his head and scooted away from the terrifying Shape. Jennifer sighed and motioned to the stairs. "Come on Michael, before Dad sends his army."

To the complete shock of all others he followed her without a fight, sliding his hand into hers, and moving down the stairs with her, she could hear the others conversation, and saw how he looked by the little bit of eye she could see.

Though he was being calm, he was pissed. Really, really pissed. She cringed slightly as those eyes fell on her, and she quickly looked away, biting her lip, able to see him shake his head out of the corner of her eye. She spoke maybe a bit too smoothly. "They're my mother and brother, Michael, I couldn't just leave them to die."

This seemed to break his nice forcefield and he grabbed her shoulders, slammed her up against the wall and pressed his hands to her throat, watching her eyes for fear. To his disappointment there was none, only bravery and disgust, she spoke in a harsh, broken whisper.

"Go ahead, kill me. I've been waiting 19 years to die, make today my lucky day." Her eyes flooded. "I grew up in a goddamn institution Michael, I had this guy claim to be my father, and my uncle, and my sister, that was my family. And then Mom found me, and we were happy for four years, and then you came after me and Jamie. You took me away and you tortured us. Jamie was your little guinea pig and I was the one who had to sit and watch for 17 years. I wasn't important I was this useless little girl. And then one night she was dragged to a room and a couple weeks later Wynn told me she was pregnant with Uncle Michael's baby. Do you know what that did to me? I knew you'd kill her! That once the baby was born you were finished with her! And then it happened! Suddenly my sister was dead and I was the leftover, I believe Wynn explained it to me on one particular day I wasn't in such a good humor and pissed him off, 'Look it's simple, he fucks you, he knocks you up, you have a baby, flaunt for Mommy and at some God forsaken point die. That's it, you don't have feelings for him, he has none for anyone, it's all good.'" His eyes were still narrow, unmoving at her words.

"So I did it, thought he might be wrong. But he was right, and now I'm ready to go I've done the deed I had the baby I flaunted hell I even slept with you so please, please just let me go to Jamie, please. I don't want to feel like this any more, God it hurts please..." Her hands went to his and pressed them harder to her throat. "It's not like you care..."

Heat flooded his face behind the mask, and for the first time he wasn't really sure what to do. Was she trying to steal some unspoken declaration or simply stating a fact? He'd strangled so many people and she was so frail it would be so easy. But what she had said was true, he didn't care for her, not really, not that he could think of. Sure, he liked being cared for, he loved that, and he loved the idea of a little family. But this was a critical moment, did he love her? Had he broken enough away from his curse to achieve something like that? Indeed, he knew, he cared for the child, Jacob. The little boy made him smile. But did he love her?

He knew he loved feeling her in his arms, and being able to not have to wear his mask. He loved feeling her hands and lips on his bare face, flesh to flesh, yes... That was a lovely thing. He loved kissing her, and touching her, protecting her from life so that she would never be too stressed or afraid of him, and oh God when she just touched him and kissed him because she wanted too. Yes, he loved other things, that one doesn't think about in such a situation, things that most men experienced by 17, whereas he didn't until his late thirties. Married life had shown it's quality, and it was the very finest.

He loved her eyes, and the way they sparkled with wonder, the way Laurie's did. They were cautious and dark and slightly narrow, but rounded nonetheless. Her smile, the way her pearly teeth were when she smiled, strong and white and elegantly shaped. Her pale, contoured cheeks and smooth lips. The ivory of her skin and feel of it beneath his fingers. The way she softly called him to her or the sound of her laugh. Her voice as he made love to her and when she was depressed, the way her eyes glistened as she cried.

He released her and shook his head, a tear slipping from his eye for the first time in 35 years. He reached up, touching the delicate flesh of her throat with the tips of his fingers, disappointed to see that it already had bruised. He pulled her from the wall and into his arms, burying his masked face in her sandy hair, desperately trying not to cry. But he had to speak, he didn't want her to think he was making her live to see her suffer; but he had to keep it short as well.

"It's ok, we'll help each other." It was almost too silky for how thinly he had spoken in 35 years, but he had to do it. He couldn't leave her hanging there.

She gasped and pulled back, her eyes meeting his. He watched the tears slip from her eyes, and then how she smiled at him. "You talked."

He sighed and simply guided her out, not wanting her to hope to see more of it. He hated having to express himself through speech, it was such a waste, he'd never run across a person who hadn't caught his meaning from his actions. He turned to her, she was silent but smiling softly to herself. This pleased him, oddly enough and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps that male dominance was telling him he could keep her happy, whatever the hell male dominance was.

Suddenly she froze and fell to the ground. It only now occurred to him the full extent of her injuries. He fell beside her and watched as she leaned over and coughed, blood seeped from her mouth to the floor and he, in dismay, lifted her up and began to run, thanking whoever when Wynn pulled up with a van ready to attend to either of them. His own injuries were minor and so they took her and drove off in the medical van, working on her as they went while Wynn had him bound and placed in another.

To his great relief she was fine, after the bullets were removed and she had a blood transfusion. He had taken care of Jacob while she was bedridden, to his great enjoyment. Though thankfully the mask hid this, he often smiled when with his son, who, by now, was learning very quickly. Sometimes at night, when the toddler couldn't sleep he would take him down the block, just savoring the neighborhood and wearing the little boy out. Indeed, fatherhood didn't disgust him as much now as the thought of it had in previous years. He wouldn't trade anything for it.

OK. All for now. I'm going to try and get on tonight to post this but no promises. Some major thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you enjoy it and hope you continue to give me feedback. Myers Girl (which is up) is a more alternate route, Jennifer is much younger in it and it goes a lot faster.

But thank you, thank you and I'm going to go start the next one.

~March 4th, 8:37 PM~