She could hear fire burning. It was close, not touching her, but enough to be of concern if it spread further. She couldn't feel much of the heat, and it sounded muffled as if it was in another room.
The world was dark, nothing could be seen, and she couldn't move. All she could feel was a wet and sticky substance on her side.
Despite the danger of the fire and the nervousness she felt knowing how close it was, she wished that she could feel the heat more. Her back and arms were cold, uncomfortably so, and she could feel herself shiver violently in response.
She couldn't hear anything but the fire, there was no foot steps, no trees rustling, no movement. Nothing.
Just the crackling inferno nearby and the loneliness.
The cold.
But...wouldn't he know something was wrong soon? Wouldn't he realize she wasn't where she was supposed to be and come looking for her?
Then again, how was he supposed to find her if she herself didn't know where she was?
Evan was beginning to hear rumors when he traded. Rumors that the Entity had already brought in a new killer.
Ghost face had been rather irritated at his loss in the bet, and despite his reputation as a manipulating liar, a good one at that, Evan wasn't fooled. So he got numerous items for himself and ones he could give to Joey and Susie.
It was a boon to know he wouldn't have to trek across the entire killer forest to trade with the irritating stalker for a while. All the killers with realms formed the upside down U with his estate at the crest of it. For killers like Ghost face however, they were given either a house from their past or a small shack to their liking in the deep woods.
Ghost Face, The Blight, The Twins, The Korean singer, The Pinhead, and the Cannibal all lived in houses out in the deep woods.
The Cannibal's was similar to Max's own home while Ghost face had a house similar to the ones in Haddonfield. Evan never bothered to go close to the pinheaded freak, he'd hated that demon since the moment he'd arrived, but he probably had some demonic shack where he imagined torturing everyone. The blight had a shack laboratory, The Twins never showed anyone where they lived, and The Korean singer had some flashy house with neon lights.
Ghost Face had mentioned a suburban bungalow in the deep woods. The trees surrounding the house were singed and scorched, parts of their bark burnt black and ashy.
He'd said that the wooden planks on the outside of the house was the same, and that there was an actual fire raging inside of the buildings rooms, coming out one of the side room's window.
The new killer was obviously a fan of fire.
He had little interest in them though. He was sure he'd meet them soon enough when they brashly banged on his estate walls and demanded he fight them. It would be a pleasant surprise if they were not like the most recent arrivals, but it was just unlikely. All of the new arrivals were irritants, other than Carmina. She wasn't that horrible, just mute.
For the meantime, he searched the woods, trying to find the campfire. He knew if Megan was able to break through the fog than he could do the same. It was what the Nemesis had been trying to do all along, trying to track its way to the female police officer Meg seemed to be friends with. So every moment he had alone was spent out in the dark trees, scanning the dirt with a hunters eye trying to pick out small foot prints.
The hunter currently stood at the same spot where he had restrained Megan from chasing after the Nemesis. He was down on one knee, waving the mist away so he could further inspect the sets of foot prints.
There were three, two of them identical, and those two he knew to be his little rabbit's. The other was of similar size, but different in the pattern of the sole. Had one of her friends come out into the killer's forest as well?
Evan ignored that set of tracks, even though they could have served him as equally as the other two. His feet carried him down Megan's path through the woods, not where she had gone, but where she'd come from. They wound through the trees, around rocks and other debris alike and slowly guided him closer.
Idly, he wondered how The Nemesis had not also found the tracks and traced them to the survivors, but he would not look a gift horse in the mouth. The longer that beast stayed away from his blood bird and her friends, the better. Hopefully he'd never find them.
Regarding the Nemesis. In a back room of his mansion he'd begun conducting tests with explosive and flammable elements. He used the infinite supply of dynamite he held throughout the estate that the Entity relentlessly replenished. The iron works was a good location to test them on a larger and more practical scale. The colossal crucible there was fire proof and basically unable to melt, so he tossed all sorts of concoctions with new added elements to his explosives trying to find the most powerful one.
Soon he'd begun adding shrapnel and other dense metals to his explosives, trying to find something that could rip anything apart from the inside out. Perhaps if he could add something dense enough to wrap it in yet weak enough to tear apart and detonate it he would see how strong it was.
But that was a matter for another time, because as Evan followed the tracks the mist at his feet began to fade away.
Instead the air was clear of anything, only the fake trees of the realm occupied any space, the woods were just like at his estate. Somewhere in his chest, Evan knew he had succeeded. All he had to do was keep pushing and he would find the campfire, and find Megan.
Before he could though a familiar bell echoed behind him. Evan slowly turned around to see Phillip smiling wide at him as Max slowly approached from the dark trees alongside him.
"So you've sunk low enough to stalk me?" Evan said with a cross of his arms. Chuckling in his throat at the guilty look that appeared on Max's face. One of the boy's hands scratched the back of his neck.
Phillip didn't miss a beat, but Evan wasn't surprised. "Oh Evan, I've always been low enough to stalk my good friends." He drawled, coming up next to the hunter and looking past him through the trees. His Entity enhanced eyesight was even better than Evan's own, not that he'd ever admit that to the Nigerian. He had a big enough mouth as it was.
"So the survivors are just through these woods." He said, a statement worded like question. Max perked up at it, standing on Evan's other side as they faced the daunting trees. All of them had a particular survivor in mind, all of them came here to find that survivor, but they all knew if the girls hadn't left the campfire then it would be rather difficult to see them.
"It could cause severe issues amongst them if we are spotted with the girls." Evan surmised. "My last trial was with Megan, two other survivors saw her with me and assaulted her. They accused her of having an affair with me so I would spare her life." The hunter informed, restraining the anger he felt at how he'd nearly killed the two in defense of Megan. Oh how satisfying that had felt.
"So if they see you with her again it will only make things worse, and then they'll start harassing Nea and Claudette if we are spotted with them as well." Phillip said, gesturing to Max who nodded in agreement.
"When did you learn the girls names?" Evan questioned, turning to look at his friend. The leaves crunched behind him as Max leaned around him, also staring at the Wraith accusingly.
"Sometime after you found Megan, I found Nea out in the woods. The Clown had assaulted her, and was about to take her to his chapel. I overheard what he said to her. He planned to rape her, and use her as bait to get Megan." Phillip said somberly, his teeth ground together as he worked his jaw.
Evan himself felt rage bubble up like a volcano. Heat rushing throughout his body and making his skin itch as his murderous intent towards Jeffery skyrocketed. "The next time I see that worthless animal I'll show him what it feels like to loose his own fingers." Evan growled, both to himself and to his best friends, his fists clenched as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself.
Max put a rough hand on his good shoulder in a comforting gesture that Evan appreciated greatly. Looking down at the southerner with a reassuring nod and pat on the back in thanks.
"After I took Nea to Sally She asked me to take her to your estate because she wanted to see Meg. But before we could get there we ran into the rest of her friends. They joined us, as they were looking for her and Megan. When we reached your estate I sensed the upcoming trial, and the female police officer was taken away." Phillip explained, crossing his arms and watching the forest diligently and calmly, like a guard.
"Her friends went back to the campfire. I went back to Autohaven, but I have not heard from any of them, and I grew worried. But I trusted you'd be able to find them." He said, letting his arms fall to his belt as he grasped his axe and bell. He took several steps forward and turned his head to look at them.
"I could cloak and get close. Perhaps Nea will notice me, but I don't think she'll tell the others. I can ask her to get Meg and Claudette to come with her if you would like?" Phillip offered sincerely, tilting his head in boredom as he waited for an answer.
Max nodded his head without hesitation, then turned to look at his other closest friend for his say.
Evan was stoic, one of his hands idly came up to his face. He had intended to rub his chin, or just feel his face in general, but his finger tips only met bone. He twitched, wanting to tear the mask off, but forcing himself to still no matter how infuriating it was.
Once Phillip found Megan she could free him from it.
Evan looked at his friend and nodded. "Find them, please." He asked, holding himself back from going with the Nigerian as he cloaked and stalked off into the woods. They could see his shimmering form slowly get father and father, and after taking a quick judgement of distance, he taped Max and walked forward.
"Do not fret my friend. We are only getting a little closer, we will not be near enough to be spotted." Evan soothed, making sure Max didn't lag behind as he took slow measured steps until they were close enough to see a distant orange light.
A campfire. Evan couldn't make out any details, and when he looked over at Max the farmer just shook his head, making Evan smirk behind the mask. Max really was quite intelligent. He didn't even need to ask the question and the deformed southerner already knew what he was thinking.
So Evan returned the favor and answered Max's question before he could even ask. "I am quite confident that the healer will like you too Max." He spoke, his voice still on the monotonous side, but when he remembered what Megan had told him, he tried to sound reassuring. It seemed to work, because the chainsaw wielder looked over at him incredulously, an obvious non verbal "really?".
"Yes I am quite sure. From what little Megan as told me of her, she is not one to hold a grudge, and you already did embrace her did you not?" Evan asked with humor, trying to remember what the books he'd secretly read as a child described how friends talked. He tried to blend it with his own dialect as well as sense of humor, as little as he'd let show anyway.
Max nodded his head, setting his chainsaw down next to him in the dirt, and he unclipped his hammer from the belt he wore as well. Max was tall and strong enough to hold his weapon on his belt like himself and Phillip, but the chainsaw obviously would've made his terrible posture even worse.
Evan himself dug the tip of his cleaver out of the dirt and took it off his belt as well, leaving it close by in case of emergency. He temporarily paused the conversation to watch Phillip's shimmering form creep closer to the campfire, the Nigerian closed to around 50 meters from the outskirts of the clearing before he recoiled back sharply.
Max's head sprung up in alarm to Evan's left, while he himself was just as surprised.
Phillip stayed where he was, and while Max and Evan were too far away to see him properly, mostly because of his invisibility rather than distance, it was obvious he was inspecting what just happened.
Phillip slowly moved forward again while Max and Evan did the same, hiding behind trees so the microscopic chance of being spotted by the survivors was impossible. From this close they could see Phillip reach a hand out only to be stopped by thin air.
An invisible wall?
Phillip even took his axe and slammed it against the force field, but it just bounced off like it was a wall in the trials.
The Nigerian gave it two more probing swings, poking it with his bell before spotting them and retreating to their hiding spot. "It is some type of invisible wall. I can't get through it, I don't know what could. It seems invincible like the walls from the trials. But why is it here?" Phillip whispered to them, uncloaking and waving for them to follow him. The three killers slowly walked back to their starting distance, and then from there they began to walk back to the realms openly. Their weapons either in hand or clipped to their belts as they randomly tossed ideas back and forth.
Evan was the one to come up with the most sense.
"Megan never mentioned anything of the sort to me when we conversed. So she must be unaware of its existence. And if that is the case than it can only prevent killers from finding the survivors, The Entity must have known that one day we would find the survivors, and this was it's fail safe." He concluded with a scratch at the top of his head.
Phillip stroked his chin in thought, ideas and theories whizzing through his mind. Evan could tell, he'd long ago had figured out when his two friends were thinking, or what their intentions were in most situations.
Phillip spoke. "Then the only way for us to see them is if they find us then." He said monotonous, idly running one hand along his bell. He looked disappointed, and both Max and Evan could guess why.
The three eventually came to the dirt road infront of Evan's estate, and they all turned to face each other in a triangle. "Perhaps we should further test this barrier. Hopefully Megan, Nea, or Claudette might know something we do not." Evan said, looking back between the two of them for their response.
Max nodded his head, looking to Phillip, who remained silent, just slowly nodding his head.
"We will meet in your domain Phillip, just tell us where." Evan asked.
Phillip remained as still as the trees surrounding them, and while he waited Evan took the opportunity to scan the trees. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, whether it was Megan searching for him in the distance or a killer like The Trickster wanting a fight.
"I think I'll go back, perhaps see if I can get one of the girls attention. They seemed very sad today. I couldn't hear anyone talking and all of them were slumped over. I think a few were even crying and I want to know why." Phillip said somberly, sadness creeping into his own voice.
The curse of compassion.
"I could be wrong, and I hope I am." He added on weakly, taking one last look at the two of them to make sure they didn't have any objections before reaching for his bell again. "You can come with me if you'd like." He spoke, before cloaking and walking back where they'd come from.
Evan watched him get further and further, fully aware of Max's eyes on the back of his head, before making his decision.
"Go ahead Max, I know you want to see Claudette." Evan said, his voice was light hearted and understanding. And it got the desired reaction out of the chainsaw wielding killer, who smiled and hobbled after Phillip quickly with a groan in goodbye to his friend.
Evan allowed himself to smirk as he watched Max run after Phillip. He was thinking of Meg's words, her advice to show more emotion and not just be a machine. He'd tried it just then, and Max seemed to smile more when he did, so perhaps he could continue to do so. Hopefully she would be happy with him for it.
So why didn't he go to the campfire so he could see her? She would be there unless she was in a trial embarrassing another killer.
The barrier was why. He couldn't get through, neither could Max and Phillip, so there was no guarantee that any of the girls would even notice them. Especially considering they had to be careful to make sure the other survivors didn't see them.
That little voice in his head showed itself, sounding suspiciously like his father. It screamed at him that showing any emotion would be the chink in his armor that would bring him down. To show weakness was to let Megan in and make him soft. Max and Phillip were just allies, not friends, not brothers.
Evan was familiar with its voice. It was insidious and quiet, like the Devil. It didn't demand you do something until you were already so deep into it that you couldn't climb your way out. Before that it would slowly convince you to jump down with the promise of whatever you wanted.
In his case, it was strength, safety, peace.
This is where it got him.
He put his hand on his head, rubbing his eyes through the mask, groaning in frustration as he tried to make the voice shut up. He wished his blood bird was there. She could have taken the mask off, she could have given him the chance to rub his temples to ease the throbbing in his skull. Megan probably might have even known what to say to him in this situation.
She seemed to know how to best comfort him in the past. Slipping through his armor and digging right down to the gaping wound where the pain came from with out even knowing she did so. Evan smiled at the reminder of her intuition. She was smarter than nearly any other woman he'd met, and she was wise beyond her years.
How old was she anyway?
Evan didn't know how he'd let it skip his mind that she hadn't told him, nor had he asked. That would be one of the first things he asked her when he saw her again.
She didn't look to be anywhere past her third decade. The condition of her skin as well as her sheer youthful beauty wasn't something he saw among those above the age of thirty. Her athletic prowess suggested her age as well. With the way she exploded across a field away from him in trials definitely hinted that she was in her prime.
He himself was twenty nine, and he didn't imagine she was much younger than him.
Why was he thinking of this again?
Because he was...weak? Breaking free? What exactly did his attachment to her mean? And would it even be true freedom?
Evan didn't consider himself the most existential person in the universe, but he wasn't someone who lived his life without thought of something beyond his time alive. He knew that even if he fell head over heels in love with his little rabbit that he would still feel that there was something missing from his life. Not something that could cripple his mental fortitude like other people on the philosophical side, but he needed meaning to his actions. Now at the dusk of his twenties simply living for his father's commands or even the promise of companionship just didn't fill the need for meaning.
Perhaps this is why there were thousands of philosophers throughout history. Human's, at least most of them, needed some type of meaning to their life, whether it was existential or not. For himself, and millions of others he was sure, simply someone else's existence being your source of strength was unfair to that person, and not good enough. How could he find his reason to live in them if they themselves needed meaning to their life?
Briefly Evan thought of the many churches he'd seen back home in Washington. Although, that place wasn't much of a home, was it? Most Christians he saw as hypocrites, liars, like the rest of humanity. People who went there and falsely preached in order to gain social status or wealth. Yet, there were those who stood out. Evan never got much of a chance to interact with those people, but even he could tell genuinely believed in the message they heard. All smiles and laughter, a sense of community radiated from them no matter the distance he was from them, and he had felt jealous.
Perhaps he could look more into that if he ever got the chance.
However, he could not do that here, not even just because he wasn't in his mansion, but because of the Entity.
Having woken from his deep philosophical inner thoughts Evan took in his surroundings again, regaining his bearings. Should he go home? Go see if he needed to restock on items?
A tug made itself known in his gut. Urging him to make use of the items he had acquired from Danny to trade with Joey and Susie. It urged him to go make sure they were alright, and perhaps see if he could send a message to Frank and Julie.
Evan made his mind up when he replayed the memory of Susie breaking down right in front of him simply for showing a concern for her well being. The poor girl deserved better.
His boots stepped on the dirt almost silently, the sign of a true hunter, something only the Huntress could also do. He began a large trek through the woods, mentally mapping out the area where the campfire was.
The killer realms formed an upside-down U. His estate being at the crest, while the maps alternated on each side based on age. Carmina's eyrie was the most recent additional realm to the formation. The killers who did not have their own realms were scattered within the U itself. Danny was the furthest away from his estate, while the others were marginally closer. The new fire killer's bungalow seemed to be on the closer side to his estate, but still deep enough to remain very solitary. The campfire was even past the U, at the true heart of the forest where the fog used to turn away any killer who ventured in.
Evan passed The Tricksters house. A strange modern abstract shape with annoyingly bright yellow and pink neon lights, and paint, that covered most of the building. The vibrance was almost painful to the eyes. Thankfully Ji-Woon seemed to be out right now, whether trading or in a trial, Evan didn't care. The trickster was an annoyingly arrogant brat anyway, all he did was copy Anna, and he was worse at it.
The man was vile on top of it. A fan of recording the screams of his victims whenever he got the chance, and Evan hated it. Ji-Woon brought his strange recording device with him almost everywhere, and the arrogance of it was that he brought it no matter who he was going to run into. He brought it even if he was coming to trade it with Phillip, Max, or even himself, and the sheer audacity that the Asian had to think that he could stand any chance against them, much less win to record them scream was both laughable and infuriating.
In his boredom, and desire to have a little petty revenge, Evan brought his blade up and let it drag across the metal wall as he walked past. It made a horrible screeching sound, but Evan had heard far worse when it came to metal meeting metal. The paint came right off, collecting on the tip of his cleaver which he wiped off carefully and threw to the ground. He made sure to step on it as he walked past and further into the now returning trees.
Eventually Evan found himself on the road that connected the realms, and near the Lery's Memorial institute. Herman's realm.
Evan hated The Doctor, he hated a lot of the killers, but there was a specific contempt for Herman just like there was for Jeffery. Both were some of the most vile of all the killers, and both had a personal obsession with Megan.
He could still remember when both of them first arrived. The Doctor had been more professional than Jeffery, but it didn't do much to subtract from his arrogance, in fact in only exacerbated it.
Herman was in his electroshock therapy gear and had been arcing electricity onto his front gate. He hadn't stopped until Evan had come out with his cleaver ready to fight.
Neither had not been as skilled at fighting or hunting survivors as they were now, but he'd always been better than Herman. He'd taken full advantage of any weakness Herman showed, because Herman had no honor, no morals, nothing.
Ironically the biggest pain for Evan was that Herman couldn't feel pain. But, killers could die. They could be killed by another and they'd get reformed by the Entity just like the survivors did. So Evan had cut his hand off and hacked at his head until his body dissolved into the ember like ashes of the Entity.
Jeffery had been similar, unafraid to use his bottles during the fight for any advantage. But Evan had only gotten better at fighting as new killers showed up.
Jeffery fell much faster than Herman, and he met just as brutal an end.
Evan would kill those two again repeatedly if it meant keeping his little rabbit from them.
Evan turned to the right and began walking towards his estate. He didn't want to deal with The Doctor anymore than he had to already, and if they saw each other in these circumstances someone would die.
Evan kept going without looking back until he was far away. He gave one quick check to make sure no one was following him. The haunting and eerie walls of Lery's stood with their bluish opaque windows, and as they faded into the fog entirely, Evan could have sworn he'd seen the form of Herman Carter leave the building.
Evan looked back at where he was going, ignoring Herman and refusing to let him know that he was being watched. After several minutes he arrived at the mansion, and he paused in the foyer, reminiscing of how he given Megan that tour.
He hadn't gotten to finish it. He'd have to make it up to her then, show her the rest of the building that was worth seeing the next time she was over.
Although, it would be difficult to keep her safe in between. Now he could only so far with her to the campfire, but the killers who wanted her obviously couldn't either. However, what about when she left the safety of the barrier and walked to his estate? What if Herman or Jeffery found her?
In an attempt to distract himself Evan idly ran his fingers along the cool metal of the pans hanging from the kitchen island. Walking past them he continued his slow walk through the mansion, heading upstairs and to the master bedroom.
His little blood bird had been asleep for several hours after he'd treated her injury. He could still vividly remember how light she felt in his arms, the texture of her hair when he'd taken it out of her braids and put the strange rubber bands in her pockets.
She was small and delicate, yet strong for her size, like Susie. He bet the two would actually get along quite well if they were not separated by being killer and survivor. Although that hadn't stopped him, so what was stopping him from introducing her to the other humane killers like Susie?
Why not trade with her and Joey? Although, their items had turned different, some of them having been transformed into entirely new items. Fortunately for Evan these did not make it any more difficult to carry. It did not subtract from the fact that The Entity had changed things, apparently Ghost face's add ons had been altered too. How they were changed Evan had no clue, nor what their new effects were, but he didn't care.
With his mind made up he slung the large bag over his shoulder and walked out of his estate quickly. His pace was quick and efficient, and it landed him in front of Ormon Resort within minutes. The snowy air occasionally crested above the walls like a wave, but was restrained from going over it. Evan pulled the home made equivalent of a knocker and waited patiently, hoping to see the mask of Susie appear in the white mist and open the gate for him.
The person who appeared was not who he was hoping for.
Frank was many things to many killers, and an annoying little bug was how most felt about him, especially Evan. He was loud, crass, rude, obnoxious, arrogant, and vile. Often times he would join Jeffery in their perverted fantasies about the more attractive female survivors and killers, but only when the annoying female Julie was not there.
At this point Evan wouldn't be surprised if every killer he wanted to kick into the dirt had an obsession with his little rabbit, sexual or not. Frank wasn't an exception to this rule, having loudly boasted before every trial that if Megan was there, he would be the first to sacrifice her ever since Evan himself had last caught her all that time ago.
He never was able to follow through with it, and always came back from trials exhausted and humiliated.
"Well if it isn't Mr. Clean. Come to bargain? Well fat chance retard." Frank spat, crossing his arms at Evan from behind the gate and trying to stare him down with his bloody mask. Evan wasn't intimidated, his own mask was far more unnerving and didn't look like it was made by a child.
Evan let his voice fall to a menacing growl, a hint of sarcasm and mockery lacing his town along side it. "I do not require Mori's like yourself, I intend to remove them, and it matters not who I give them too." Evan said. "We both know you lack the competence to win without these items, I will enjoy watching the Entity punish you for your failures boy." Evan taunted smugly, smiling cruelly behind his mask as he slowly began to walk away.
He didn't slow his pace, but once he disappeared into the fog he waited for what he knew was coming.
"You want your items? I got 'em back at the lodge." Frank shouted. "Come and get them if you're smart enough to find it." Frank sneered, unlocking the gate before turning around and disappearing into the snowy mist before Evan could say anything.
The hunter smiled.
He opened the gate and shut it, closing the lock almost all the way, giving the appearance that it was closed, but open enough in case of an emergency. Then he followed his memory until the still rundown walls of Ormond Lodge showed themselves, The Legion never bothered to fix the holes, except for the ones in the bedrooms on the second floor.
When Evan walked through the front glass doors the lodge was largely as it was in the trials, it was also devoid of any and all members of The Legion. Frank was sitting with Julie and Joey in chairs around the contained fireplace, Joey was far away from the others fiddling with his "Karambit" as he'd called it, while Julie and Frank were much closer, both speaking in low tones to each other and snickering, probably at his expense.
Evan scanned the second floor, seeing the carving in the wall that said "Legion" and the two closed bedroom doors on either side of the mural. One had the letters "F" and "J" on them next to each other, while the second one had "J" and "S" on it, designating who slept where. The second door cracked open slightly, and a familiar blank mask peeked through the cracks down at him.
Evan smiled even though no one else could see it, and subtly motioned with his head for her to come down. Susie seemed hesitant at first, staying where she was in the room without moving before she opened and closed the door as quiet as a mouse, walking over to the dark part of the hall where it turned towards the stairs and balcony. Susie stayed there, refusing to come any closer despite Evan's beckoning motion.
"Surprised you even found your way here considerin' how stupid you are." Frank said bitingly, standing up and swaggering around Evan, trying and failing to imitate a predator circling prey.
"If I am unintelligent than you are as stupid as an ape." Evan snapped back, lowering the bag off of his back and letting it hang in his free left hand. He glanced between all four of The Legion, between Frank and Julie's glared, Joey's curious glances, and Susie's worried gaze from above. How could he tell what they were thinking? It was all in the body language, and Susie was acting even more fidgety than normal, while Joey' had leaned forward and stopped messing with his knife entirely.
Frank snarled, but held back. Because no matter how much of a game the school dropout talked, he knew he couldn't stand up to Evan by himself.
"You want your precious items, give us ours first." Frank demanded, clenching his fists while one hovered suspiciously close to his hunting knife's sheath. Without a doubt counting on Julie, Joey, and Susie to back him up if Evan turned aggressive.
Evan shook his head. "That is not good business." He purred, leaning down condescendingly with a degrading chuckle. "An equal exchange of items at the same time is the least I will accept, or... say goodbye to your precious crutch." Evan said smoothly, dominance dripping from every word. Frank and Julie were pests, and he would show them who was in charge.
Julie spoke up before her idiotic boyfriend could make the situation worse. "Fine." She seethed, before turning to face the second story. "Susie!" She screamed angrily. "Bring down all the bear trap junk!" She finished, her voice betraying herself. She was angry about something, something more than his own presence and antagonism towards herself and her boyfriend.
Evan didn't like it, especially when he saw Susie flinch in the shadows before leaving to go to their presumed item stash.
It had barely been a minute and Evan could hear Susie's footsteps from above as well as the dragging sound of metal across wooden planks.
"Hurry up!" Julie yelled rudely, and Evan's face reflexively sneered at her tone.
"Let me deal with her." Frank growled darkly, walking up the stairs and grasping at the handle of his knife just before he rounded the corner, probably assuming Evan hadn't see him.
Evan turned to look at Joey, tilting his head in confusion. Just what did Susie have to deal with from these two? And why was Joey doing nothing to stop it!
Joey shifted uncomfortably from Evan's stare, and when he did his sleeve pulled back just far enough to show the tiniest sliver of his wrist, and Evan understood immediately. The skin was marred with scars, knife scars. The same ones Evan saw on the survivors after a trial with the Legion before they faded from the Entity's healing.
His head snapped to the second floor when he heard a thump and a muffled voice, Frank's undoubtedly. Then his head slowly turned to look at Julie.
The young woman faced him as well when she realized she was being watched, and immediately she opened her fat obnoxious mouth.
"What do you want brain dead?" She said, her voice loud and aggressive, her posture changed to mimic her tone, feet spread slightly, and her hands falling to her sides near her belt.
Evan didn't answer, trying to keep his cool before he blew his chance preemptively. He needed things to escalate just a little further before it all exploded. So without saying a word Evan marched up the stairs, ignoring the angered shouts of Julie, only looking back to see Joey flicking between himself and Julie. Joey's knife was clenched tightly in his grip, and Evan could see the conflicting thoughts clear as day through the mask.
Evan nodded, and continued where he was going.
He turned around the corner to see Susie on the floor holding a bleeding scrape on her arm, Frank stood in front of her with his knife out while a bag containing items for Evan's traps sat to the side. Frank realized he was there, and turned around, brashly brandishing his knife with all the arrogance of The Doctor himself.
"This ain't your business retard!" Frank shouted. "Go ahead as take your items, take all of 'em for how much I care. Just leave your bag of our stuff here and we're even. Gotta deal with Susie here, maybe see if Jeffery wants a shot at her." Frank grumbled, looking down at the bag and then at Susie, who whimpered at the mention of the Clown.
Evan's blood pressure spiked. But he forced himself to stay still, no matter how painful it became to restrain himself. "You punish her failures by handing her to Jeffery?" Evan ground out, clenching his jaw while trying to sound indifferent.
"Yeah." Frank said nonchalantly, not even looking over at him. But instead the carving in the wall across the lodge. "Sometimes I'll even see if Freddy or Herman want her if she really pissed me off." He wiped his knife on his sleeve despite the absence of wet blood on the metal.
"The little brat knows that the only place she can stay is with us, no one else would take her in or accept her anyway, 'cept us." Frank drawled, starting to sound bored with the conversation. He even walked away from Susie, heading over to the railing and leaning on it while he viewed the first floor.
With her opportunity Susie began to pull herself to her feet, and while Frank looked away Evan grabbed her uninjured arm and hauled the lightweight girl to her feet. She almost fell over from his strength, stumbling before catching herself. Evan let go when Frank turned at the noise to look condescendingly again Susie.
"Moron can't even walk straight." He muttered quietly, but loud enough for both of them to hear and for Susie to quietly suck in a breath at the words. Her hands came up and she held herself with her arms, looking hurt.
Evan looked between the two of them, and without a second thought grabbed his cleaver from his belt. But before he could slice Frank open two hands grabbed his right arm, and Evan looked back to see Susie shaking her head at him.
It didn't make sense, and Evan showed his confusion with a tilt of his head. Looking back at the leader of the legion to make sure he didn't get bored and look back.
"Please don't." Susie whispered, her voice so quiet Evan almost questioned if he'd hallucinated the voice. "He's right." She murmured sadly, her head falling.
A drop of water fell onto her shoe.
Evan snapped.
"No he's not." He growled.
With two long strides Evan came up behind the now alert leader of The Legion and kicked him so hard in the torso he heard the smaller man's ribs crack. The railing broke apart behind him, and Frank fell several feet to the floor below with a heavy thud.
The fall further stunned him, and even as Susie and Julie shouted in alarm, Evan pressed onwards. Unhesitatingly he leaped from the second floor gracefully and landed on Frank's left leg.
Evan felt bone and muscle collapse beneath his foot, and a sickening crushing sound enough to make the average person vomit met his ears. Evan was not squeamish though.
Not missing a beat he stepped off of the now screaming man, Frank's voice echoed throughout the entire realm and probably outside of the walls from its sheer volume and intensity. He was silenced when Evan's cleaver landed in the side of his neck. The blade buried deep enough to break the vertebrates within and cut open his wind pipe.
Frank only lasted seconds, and with one final wheeze, his body dissolved into fiery embers.
Evan heard a high pitched war cry and felt a small body land on his back. Julie immediately began harshly yanking on the metal rods in his back, stabbing at the wounds with her knife as well.
Evan roared, and with all his strength tossed the psychopath off of him and into the wall, hearing two satisfying thumps as she hit the floor. Julie however was not unconscious, as she slowly struggled to put her hands underneath her frame and look up, but by then Susie and Joey had made up their minds.
Both brandished their blades, one a deadly karambit and the other a sharpened ruler with compass needles. They rushed at him, both going to different sides of him.
They'd practiced this, Evan realized. The two had spent time together and learnt how to best approach a larger opponent, split up, use their numbers and speed to their advantage against an opponent with high strength and high pain tolerance.
Joey went to his left, trying to slash at the side of his knee but missing as Evan sidestepped him. The master hunter grabbed the smaller killer and used his momentum to toss him to the floor, turning around just as Susie jumped on him like Julie previously did.
"I'm sorry." She said quietly, before lifting her knife and plunging it down into his left shoulder. Evan grunted, staggering slightly before regaining his balance and tossing the smaller girl to the floor. Although, he put far less force behind his action than when it was Julie.
Speaking of which, that female killer charged forward like a bull, screaming bloody murder and trying to stab him in the chest wildly. Evan parried her first few slashes with his own blade, before cutting her entire wrist with his cleaver and rendering her dominant arm useless.
With that crippling blow Evan lifted his cleaver and buried it into the girl's skull. Roughly yanking the blade out as blood and grey brain matter spilled onto the stripped concrete floor of Ormomd lodge.
It was over.
Evan turned to stare down Susie and Joey, both of them tense and ready to run as they watched him fearfully.
But Evan had killed his two targets.
"Why do you two remain in their presence. The abuse they have inflicted upon you both should not be dismissed." Evan reprimanded, clipping his cleaver back onto his side and looking down at the two like an irritated older brother dealing with his younger siblings.
Susie hugged herself, beginning to hyperventilate and cry quietly. Joey hesitantly looked between her and Evan, before turning and hugging Susie tightly.
"It's gonna be ok." Joey's voice was deep, not as deep as Evan's, but certainly more masculine and less irritating than Frank's.
Evan looked at the two, unsure of what to do, before he slowly took a few steps forward. When neither of them objected, Evan closed the gap, and pulled Susie, and Joey by extension, against him. His large arms were more than enough to wrap around the smaller killers, who now appeared younger and more childish than ever.
Two little kids who got stuck with the older bullies.
"I am sorry you had to witness that Susie. I should have made sure you weren't watching." Evan murmured, stroking her back comfortingly. Susie didn't speak, just nodded against him as she continued to quietly gasp for air.
"They have no love for either of you. To them, you are nothing more than slaves. Surely you see that after all of their transgressions against you." Evan spoke.
"But they're the only ones who-" Joey started, but was cut off when Evan grabbed his arm and pulled his sleeve up before he could pull away. It revealed harsh knife scars crisscrossing the flesh gruesomely, some were still fresh, scabbed over or slowly leaking blood. They obviously had been torn open during the fight.
Susie gasped, her hands flying under her mask to cover her mouth. Her arms pulled away from both of them and wrapped solely around Joey. "How long have they been doing that to you." She sobbed, squeezing him so tightly Evan thought Joey might just pop like a balloon.
Joey chuckled, gasping as his ribs were constructed tightly. "Any time...I defended you, or refused to listen to them." Joey said, hugging her back as well.
"They are not your friends, but manipulators. I may not have experience in that field, but friends do not harm one another. Should you two wisen to this revelation, there is always room at my estate." Evan offered softly, his voice low so as to not come off as uncaring.
Megan really was rubbing off on him. And now that he'd thought of her he needed to see if Phillip and Max had been able to speak to the girls. So many things to do and so little time to do them.
"Thanks." Susie squeaked out. Not saying anything else, clearly unable to speak further if the way she hid her face implied anything.
"I shall take my leave now, pretend that I killed you two as well. Hopefully they will not harass you, if they do, remember that together you two can defeat them, just stick together." Evan advised them, disappointed in their choice to remain with the two abusers. They had spent so much time with them and thinking they were the only ones that accepted them it had been internalized.
It was foolish, and angering. Why would they excuse that behavior, stand to endure the mistreatment and abuse? He bristled when he remembered that Frank had mentioned letting killers like Jeffery and Herman have at Susie, doing who knows what to her.
Evan could imagine, the Entity was a careless creature and allowed them to do anything so long as they sacrificed.
It probably encouraged Frank to let them torture her. That was what it fed on after all. It had taken him a long time to figure it out. The Entity never told them anything but what it wanted them to hear, but once he'd met Meg it had clicked.
So in theory, all he had to do was the opposite, just like Megan had begged of him. Stop the killing.
Endure the torture now while the Entity remained strong until it was too weak to enforce its will and collapsed on itself. He'd have to spare all of the survivors, even those who had assaulted his rabbit. Perhaps there was still some way he could keep her safe, maybe he could simply intimidate them into never coming near her again. Do a little bluffing and scare them straight.
He had taken the bag of his items. The sack of Legion items was still right where he'd dropped it on the second floor. His items were significantly heavier than theirs, but with his beyond natural strength it made no difference.
They were deposited in his stash at the mansion.
Boredom was something Evan had dealt with for as long as he'd been here. The lack of things to do left him under stimulated and twitchy if he had to sit for hours upon hours at a time. He didn't have many options, he'd already "interacted" with The Legion, and he didn't want to disturb Phillip and Max should they still be trying to reach the girls.
He wouldn't stand to see Meg assaulted again.
Having run out of options, Evan found himself in-front of a burning one story building. It was not too far off from his mental image of it after hearing Ghost Face's tale. Nor was the Ghost Fave exaggerating when he said it was deep in the woods.
One story, simple design and color scheme, a little similar to the one story buildings in Haddonfield and Springwood, at least in concept.
But this building was a blazing inferno, at least half of it was.
The entire right side was smoking, it slipped through the cracks in the roof and into the dark sky, blending in perfectly. There was indeed a window on that same side as well, blocked from his sight by the wall. The only reason he could tell was because of the column of orange and yellow fire spewing out.
The heat was nonexistent, but he didn't want to test if the fire itself would actually burn him. He'd have to be careful if he was going to go in.
Ghost Face hadn't seen anyone moving inside it on his earlier visit, nor anyone exit it. He hadn't even seen signs that anyone was inside, and Evan was beginning to doubt there actually was anyone here, or if there was a new killer at all.
Perhaps the Entity was just attempting to frighten them?
Either way Evan was still curious, and he would get his answers. Hopefully something interesting might even happen, although he wasn't too keen on any more drama between the various killers. If he had to deal with them banging on his estate walls and demanding a fight for pissing them off he was gonna loose it.
Who was he kidding? Frank and Julie would be doing just that, maybe even with some of the killers they got along with like Jeffery.
But they were fools to think that numbers would save them.
Remembering the current objective in mind he walked up the front door and knocked, seriously doubting he'd get an answer. A few seconds passed, and the only noise Evan could hear was the faint crackling of the fire through the walls.
Two whole minutes went by, and Evan knocked two more times just to be certain before he experimentally tugged at the doors handle. It was locked, but the frame was weak, hinges loose and fragile. Nothing he couldn't tear out with minimal effort, but if he wanted the number of killers who hated him to stay where it was and not get any higher that would be quite inadvisable.
So instead Evan tested the lock, the handle had a single small hole in the center. He had a few pieces of think scrap metal he could probably bend into something to pick the lock with. Or perhaps he could just simply offer to fix the door after breaking it?
Evan shook his head, he was being too indecisive. He pulled out a small think piece of metal from his pocket and tested it to see if it would fit. Three seconds later the lock popped, and the door opened smoothly.
The house had smoke clinging to the ceiling at every point, almost so dark you couldn't even tell what color the wood was. But that wasn't Evan's focus when he stepped in.
His attention was on the figure on the floor.
It was a female, the baggy clothing wasn't enough to hide how the hips were just a bit to wide in relation to the wait for it to be a man. The girl had on a wooden mask with flames coming from the eyes, a toothy grin that was uncomfortably similar to his own mask sat lower on the jagged and unpolished looking wood. A black hood hid her hair and head while her hands were hidden in the long sleeves of the hood.
The girl was slightly curled in on herself, her knees bent and her back hunching into a loose ball. Pink and white shoes that he remembered to be called "tennis shoes" adorned her feet, lightly matted mud ruined the colors at the bottom of the shoe, but it was otherwise in good condition.
Evan bent down on one knee to further inspect her, taking her arm and pulling the sleeve back only for his eyebrows to shoot upwards at the condition of the girls skin.
It was hideously burnt. Pink, white, little bits of black, even scab tissue from where it had burnt deep enough to cause bleeding. The texture was erratic, rough in some areas, waxy in others, but any smoothness it once held was gone.
Evan rolled the girls pant leg up a few inches to see if the burns were only on her hands, but just found more scarred skin. The front of the shin was relatively unburnt, but the actual muscle of the calf was as bad as the girls hands. He rolled the pant leg down after he was done and moved towards the girls head.
Evan gently pushed his hands around the mask, feeling soft hair behind it. Her head had obviously been sparred from the fire, but her shoulders and shoulder blades were torched. Poor girl.
Finally, as Evan pulled his hands back, he gripped the edges of the girls mask. It was thicker than what the Legion's were made of. Those things were largely paper except for Susie's. Yet this one was not as dense as his own bone mask, it was wood, oak wood if he'd had to guess, and it was just over half an inch thick.
He thought of when Megan had taken his mask off, how he couldn't do it himself, yet that incredible survivor had done what he'd thought impossible for probable years. Perhaps that applied to all the killers with masks, anyone but themselves could remove it?
His curiosity at the girl's state of face as well as mask theory grew too much, and Evan gently pulled the wood off.
The wood was obviously under some sort of effect from the Entity, because there was no straps or other appendages to secure it to the girls face, just a mask.
That thought flew to the back of his mind as he dropped the mask, and it fell to the floor with a hollow thud.
Evan stared in shock at the face of Megan Thomas. His little rabbit and incredible survivor, the most skilled survivor the Entity had ever seen. The girl who never backed down from a threat and always had the skill to back up her taunts, was here laying in a pool of her own blood, unconscious and burnt all over her body.
He didn't know how to react. The blood pool had dried, telling that she'd been like this since she was put here.
Evan reached out and scooped her into his arms, pulling her up and cradling her to his chest as he frantically ran his eyes all over her. He set her legs down so he could bring one hand up to run it over her face, then down to hold her small, burnt, and tiny hand, barely noticing that he could envelope its entirety if he closed his fist.
Meg gave an involuntary shiver, her form shaking harshly in his hold as she let out a shaky exhale.
"Meg?" Evan said, placing his hand on the side of her face gently and bringing her head up to rest on his shoulder. He stroked her temple with his thumb, too scared to wake her, but terrified that something would happen if he didn't.
A small, quiet groan came from her throat. It reeked of discomfort and pain, and Evan instinctively held her tighter, lowering his head down to hers. He hoped she knew he was there, or that his touch could offer some form of comfort.
He had to get her out of here! He had to take her to Sally! Yes, Sally could help her.
Just before Evan could get up he remembered Megan's mask, and he looked down at it indecisively.
His little blood bird wasn't a killer, she shouldn't have to suffer that mask suffocating her constantly. But Evan knew half of the killers in this forest wouldn't hesitate to torture and kill her if they caught sight of her regardless of her new status as a killer. The mask could protect her identity and keep her safe, as well as make it so he could reach the ward without much trouble.
With an angered huff Evan grabbed the piece of wood and, with more care than he'd ever used, slid it under the rim of her hood and over her face. With one last stroke of her cheek, he stood, carrying her in his arms bridal style with her head comfortably on his shoulder.
Before Evan barged through the front door and put the woods he peeked through the windows, making sure there weren't any unwanted pests. Meg whimpered in his arms.
Evan looked down at her worriedly before taking a final glance at the trees. He needed to get out of here and to the ward!
Once he was satisfied it as safe, Evan walked down the steps and into the trees faster than any time he could ever remember. Megan in his arms and one destination in mind.
He'd sooner die than let her soul be snuffed out.