Meg felt hazy, she couldn't fully remember what had led her to this situation. All she could remember was sinister laughter, fear, fire, and white hot pain along her back. Everything was already too blurry to make out and everything sounded like she was submerged in water. All she could see was flashes of dark colors with an occasional bright light, followed by pain.
The pain ushered in her own screams.
Only when she was burned alive had anything hurt worse than this. No hit from a killer, no hook in her shoulder, no chainsaw, not even any killer mori she'd ever been subjected to has hurt as bad as the pain she felt right now and the feeling of being turned into a killer.
How had she gotten here?
What had she been doing? Something inside her house right? Her mom, something about her. It had been bright, there was a lot of blue, too much blue. It hadn't felt right.
That same electric giggle she'd repeatedly been hearing sounded again, and it just made Meg irritated. Just shut up already and quit it!
Unfortunately right after she thought that another flash of pain arched up her back and she heard herself scream again. This was awful, she didn't even know what was happening but it was horrible and she wanted it to stop.
Another burst of pain.
Come on...this would just keep happening if she didn't clear her eyes and stand up. All she had to was put her hands on the ground and push upwards.
Her hands met the dirt beneath her, there was no sensory input, her hands had gone numb. She flexed her arms and tried to push herself upwards, almost doing a push up.
Then her back flared in pain like she was being burned all over again, she collapsed. Whoever was torturing her laughed again and grabbed her left arm tightly, making Meg choke back a sob of pain. His grip felt like it would break her forearm, not to mention how much it hurt her skin.
Evan always managed to somehow never irritate it.
She felt her shoulder jerk as she was yanked upwards. The left side of her torso was lifted off of the dirt while the right laid limp. Her head hung, but she tried to find enough strength in her neck to force herself to look up at whoever was attacking her.
Spurred on through rage induced determination from having to listen to that stupid giggle, Meg slowly craned her neck to the right angle. Her assaulter let her look up without any trouble and also seemed to be letting her take the time to very slowly process what she was seeing. Meg took full advantage.
Everything was so bright. She had to squint behind the mask to see who was grabbing her. But when she realized who had her forearm in a death grip she felt like she'd stop breathing.
The Doctor was as disgustingly terrifying as she'd remembered. His skin was just as bad, if not worse, as her back and arms. Wires weaved in and out of his skin like a wave, motionlessly slithering over his arms to deliver the ever painful shocks in trials. The stuff that shocked their minds into insanity and would make them fumble when it counted most.
He was wearing a sleeveless suit, and by sleeveless Meg meant that the sleeves and part of the shoulders had been forcefully torn off. His arms were entirely exposed, rendering the full horror of his self mutilation. Instead of his usual white suit and white undershirt he had a dark grey suit on. It was identical to his white one in all but color.
His face though, it always made Meg just imagine how painful it would be to wear that head gear. If Meg ever got a say in it she'd never have to.
Electroconvulsive gear didn't look pleasant. With the disgusting metal holding his lips wide open and showing off all his teeth and gums, it must have been horrible. Meg herself had previously wore something similar to hold her mouth open back when she was a teenager. But that one had just been plastic, not metal.
Braces had sucked.
But his eyes, it still made her feel sick when she thought too hard about it. Pieces of metal forcefully holding the eyelids open, thankfully they never had to look at it if they didn't want to. Their focus was always on something else during trials, and that was the only time they ever saw him. Even when they were on his shoulder, they were always seeing what was behind him, not his hideous face.
There were nine metal nodes on his head. Each of them crackling with electricity and connected to each other by rather thick metal wire that formed a tic tac toe board. A larger cable connected to one in the back that disappeared into the collar of his undershirt. It was the same kind of cable that was on his arms, the ones that several small wires would come out and weave into the skin of his hands.
The Doctor laughed. Meg stopped focusing on how painful his gear must be and instead focused on where she was. There must have been a way out of this situation right?
Wait...wasn't Evan coming to get her? Yeah, yeah that was what Evan had said. She'd stay at the house and don't go outside to stay safe. Then he'd...
What was it again? Everything was so hard to comprehend fully.
He'd...Pick her up! That was it! He'd come and take her back to the estate where she'd be safe. Then, he'd probably do what he always did and start doting on her, carrying her around to both of their satisfaction and showing her anything and everything she expressed interest in.
So why wasn't he here yet?
Heaven knew she needed his help right now. She was hopeless in this state. Surely she'd tried to fight back or run away at first right? There was no way The Doctor just found her in this weakened state.
Meg reflexively sneered at the killer suspending half her torso above the dirt, glaring at him, but unable to do anything. She felt too weak to move her arms or hold herself up. It put immense strain on the tendons and muscles of her shoulders, both being stretched to keep her arm from disconnecting from her body. All she could do was hold her head up.
The Doctor laughed. "Still breathing? Excellent, I can't have you die this quickly. We still have years worth of your irritating taunts for me to repay!" He exclaimed excitedly, laughing loudly before tossing her towards the copy of her house.
She hit the dirt with a high pitched groan of agony, doing all she could to not screech from pain as the skin of her back took a beating. Right after Meg thought she felt something wet soak the shirt she was wearing, she must have landed in a puddle or something.
The Doctor's feet slowly thundered closer, each step sounding like it was turned up several decibels higher than it should've been. Meg winced when his foot landed right next to her head, she tried to roll away, but he just grabbed her arm again. Making her cry out in pain again as he hauled her upwards and started dragging her closer to the house.
Meg managed to lift one of her arms up weakly, trying to hit him in the leg, but all she ended up doing was brushing his pant leg pathetically. He giggled at her helpless state.
"Why don't you look at where we're going?" He taunted, his voice giddy and sadistic. He was walking slowly, never ceasing, just the right pace to instill a sense of inescapable panic.
Meg turned her head to look at where she was being dragged, her knees and feet were probably leaving skid marks in the dirt. Her eyes fell on her houses front door, it was still swung open, and the unholy, fiery glow was still visible from her spot. She felt her throat constrict and her heart rate pick up even more than it already was. Now it felt like if it went any faster it would kill her before The Doctor could.
"Something must have scared you deeply to cause such a reaction. I don't think I've seen you that scared since we first met!" He said fondly, his eyes wandered off as he reminisced of his first trial with her.
Meg wasn't focused on when she first met the sociopath above her, she was focused on the fact that he knew. He knew she'd ran out in a panic and he would probably figure out what had made her do that.
She didn't want to go into that room. She didn't want to see what remained of her and her mother's room. She couldn't get burned again, not after finally getting used to the constant stinging pains and cold. What if it killed her? She couldn't leave Bill, David, Dwight, Jake, Claudette, Nea, Kate, Laurie, Feng, Ace. She wouldn't let herself just die on them.
She couldn't leave Evan.
No she still needed them, they still needed her. Meg would be condemned to a hell worse than the one she was already trapped in if she left Evan alone right after she finally told him she loved him. She still had a future with him, something so distant but so heart achingly sweet that she'd never find anywhere else on Earth. It would devastate him if she died.
She had to get out!
Meg dragged one of her legs underneath her until she was kneeling, still using The Doctor's fantasizing to her advantage as she managed to put both feet beneath her. She was panting from exhaustion and her head was swimming but she wouldn't give up, her life was on the line. Her future with Evan was on the line. Her chance of telling Bill that he was her true father was at stake too.
Meg looked around, she couldn't move easily. The killer's grip was like stone and she couldn't risk him snapping out of it. But there wasn't anything she could use as a weapon! There was literally nothing! Just dust, wood planks, and furniture.
Not a single stick, sharp piece of metal, nothing.
Meg slowly turned her head to look at her free hand. The skin burnt, red, black, off white, pink, a disgusting mess of flesh. Flesh capable of creating a flame in the palm of her hand during a trial, whether to break pallets, or to hit a survivor. Yet she could never stomach to look at it during her two trials, her burning in the campfire was still too fresh. If she looked at the flame it would be like she was back on those hot coals all over again.
But if she didn't face her fear right now, she might never get the chance to ever again. She'd be in a world of hurt just as bad if not worse than the last time she burned. So was she going to let her fear paralyze her so badly?
No, no she couldn't afford to. So with all the courage she could muster Meg clenched her hand and focused. Anger seemed to be the best fuel for the flames, so she thought about what made her mad. Yun Jin-Lee came to mind alongside the others who followed her, but then she thought of the other despicable killers, of The Entity.
Sparks started to fly from her palm, but it wasn't a flame yet.
Meg thought harder, she was angry that she'd been reduced to such a cowardly mess, afraid of a little fire that she herself commanded. She was angry at the circumstances in which she'd been raised, at the situations she'd previously allowed herself to fall victim too. Like that night back in senior year. Maybe if she actually had her father in her life she never would have almost made the same mistake as her mom. Meg started to get distracted as she remembered that horrifying time.
She'd just turned eighteen. It was around two months into the school year and the sports players had decided to throw a party. It had been stereotypical, fruit punch, underage drinking, even some drugs, there had even been fraternity boys from a nearby college. None of it had been new to her at the time. She'd been dressing promiscuously in shamefully revealing clothes for three years at those parties, hooking up with older college guys and classmates alike. It was no different than any other party she'd been to.
The only thing that was different was that Meg had drank one too many cups of whatever disgusting fruit punch alcohol mix they'd had. She'd usually chug several cups of it while there so she could loosen up and forget about her mom's bleak situation. But that night she'd gone too far.
She'd gone into a room alone with an older, equally drunk college guy and done what two drunk people of the opposite sex did when they were attracted to each other. Meg could hardly remember it, and honestly she was glad she couldn't. She hadn't been on birth control, she didn't want to let her mom know she'd been sleeping around because Meg knew she wouldn't be able to look her mom in the eye and see how sad she would've been.
The next day when she'd woken up at home she'd tried to remember what happened, and when she did her heart rate had skyrocketed and the amount of panic she'd felt surpassed anything prior.
She'd been in hysterics, searching the internet for how long human fertilization took, what the chances of it were at her age, everything. When she'd seen that it at minimum could take as little as three minutes she'd started crying, the worse part was that it could sometimes take up to two weeks. She had been stuck torturously wondering if she was going to get pregnant for those fourteen days without even knowing what the guy's name was.
She had made the same mistake as her mother, and she was going to doom her child to the same fate she'd suffered.
It was the first time she'd ever had a panic attack. She had come clean to her mother about her sneaking around, and the disappointment she'd seen in her mother's gaze had been heartbreaking. But her mom had consoled her, done everything she could to stop her from crying and had promised to help her no matter what happened.
The amount of guilt Meg felt knowing she could have potentially made her mother's situation even worse had made her want to crawl into a hold and die. Meg's only comfort at the time was knowing that despite having the highest chance of getting pregnant of almost any age group, it still was only around twenty five percent. Although that comfort hardly even counted as one, that was still one out of four and Meg had heard thousands of stories of teenagers getting pregnant without meaning too.
Her own mother was an example. She was only seventeen years older than Meg after all.
The two weeks had eventually passed, and after several pregnancy tests coming up negative Meg finally began to relax. But it was only after nearly four or five months did she completely calm down when her stomach stayed flat. It still competed with the trials for the most mentally scarring experience she'd ever had, as well as the biggest learning experience.
Meg was never touching more than one glass of alcohol ever again, unless she ever got married. She was also going to stay in chastity until that ever happened. There was not a single chance in the universe she'd ever risk getting pregnant again if she wasn't married to the father, and was actually in love with him. That was certainly important too.
Wait? Focus Meg!
She needed to stop daydreaming about what almost happened and get out of here! How long had she just been staring off into space blankly while The Doctor reveled in his sick fantasies?
Unfortunately for her it was too late, because now he was moving again and he began to slowly drag her around the house, gaging her reactions to certain things.
"I'll be sure to find what had you so spooked soon enough! In fact you'd just be saving both of us the wasted time if you just said it." The Doctor goaded smugly, shocking her once more. She yelped in pain, but with his musing Meg had the time to regain her strength, and while she still felt weak, her senses were no longer muddled. Now she just needed an opportunity to run, or someway to stall until Evan arrived.
The Doctor dragged her close to the hallway with her and her mom's room and Meg tried to suck in a breath as quietly as possible.
"Bingo!" The Doctor said gleefully.
Apparently Meg hadn't been subtle enough. "No!" She shouted, trying to pull her arm out of his hand while he dragged her towards the eerie glow.
"Oh yes!" He exclaimed. "This will be so entertaining, If I were you, I'd be hoping whatever is in here would kill me quickly, because I won't." He said lowly, finally showing the pent up anger he held for her. His charred hand fell on the doorknob, and in spite of her panicked protests he opened the door slowly, his gaze never leaving her mask as he tried to savor her fear.
"No, no, no..." Meg whimpered as she was dragged closer ever so slowly, then like a flash of lightning she was yanked forward and tossed into the room. She shouted in panic, instinctively bracing herself for the fire and trying to catch herself so she didn't face-plant right into the floor.
When she hit the carpeted floor she immediately recoiled, pulling her arms in front of her masked face and using her legs to push herself backwards. Yet...after several seconds, she felt nothing, no fire, no heat, she couldn't even see the glow anymore.
Meg opened her eyes again and slowly lowered her hands. What she saw...was not what she had been expecting. The room wasn't ablaze, nothing was burnt to a crisp or destroyed.
It was just, her old room.
Even The Doctor sounded somewhat surprised behind her, as if he couldn't believe that there was nothing in here and that she'd been scared of nothing. Meg didn't bother to look back at him, she was too focused on what was in front of her.
She scanned the room, it was just like she remembered it...mostly. The walls were still the wrong color and the furniture was in different designs, but everything was still in the same position as the real world. Her bed was in the back corner to save space, her chair and desk were in the other corner facing her door which itself was in a corner.
Her small closet was near her bed, where she'd kept any stuff from her childhood she'd been too attached to let go of. The rest of it having been sold to help them out as much as it could.
Meg actually managed a small smile at the familiarity of it all. She'd missed this place, missed her mom. Strangely, Meg knew that this wasn't just coincidence, it had to be an analogy of some kind. This wasn't what The Entity did, it wouldn't have scared her of her room so much if there wasn't anything that could hurt her. It didn't make sense.
Maybe...it was an analogy of her own fears. That it was only skin deep, and wasn't actually real. She'd been petrified of coming into this room all because of the glow underneath the door, a glow of fire. She'd heard the crackling, and yet, here she was.
She was untouched by any more fire and staring at her old room. It had been fake, a bluff, something to scare her from whatever truth she could find in her and her mom's room. The Entity had tried to frighten her away from the truth, from its own weakness.
It hid the truth that they could be free and that there was hope for a future outside of this hell. Realization dawned, and she smiled like an idiot behind her mask, she even felt laughter bubble up. At first she tried to hold it back so The Doctor's focus would stay off of her, but then she didn't try at all. Her laughter became joyful and happy, relieved and even a little vindictive. She still didn't know the method in which she'd get out, but now, she had never been so sure that her freedom was close at hand. Nothing would take that faith away from her now, no matter how blind it was.
Meg felt more electricity shock her in the back. She fell to the floor with a shout, but rolled onto her back quickly. The pain might have been real but she could ignore it for now. She tilted her head so she was looking The Doctor right in the eye before laughing weakly.
"You can't kill me." She croaked defiantly, already bracing herself for the soon to be coming barrage but still smiling. "Because no matter how many times I get sacrificed, or my bones crack, you won't break me." Meg said, putting one foot on the floor while the other still kneeled.
The Doctor sneered as much as he physically could. "Insolent fool." He growled in frustration as he moved. His spiked club came up high, and Meg somehow defied instinct and turned her face towards the bat as it came down. Her mask would protect her more than the side of her hood.
At least she hoped.
The only spike that would make direct contact touched the mask, and then was followed by the rest of the heavy metal. Meg felt her neck whip backwards and let herself fall back and hit the floor. Better she hit the back of her head than try and stay upright and let the blow snap her neck.
She could hear and feel her heart beat in her head now, the forceful pumping of blood around her skull was louder than she could recall. Perhaps her skull had cracked? No surely she'd be in more pain than this if it was? That wouldn't make sense.
Maybe adrenaline was the answer? Her face was tingling from the electricity his bat naturally carried, but it wasn't fully numb thankfully. She'd probably look like a brain dead imbecile if it was.
Meg groaned in pain and rolled onto her side, looking up at the Doctor and already bracing herself for the next blow. As she did she heard a thud and thump followed by a deep metallic clang.
She looked upwards to where The Doctor had been standing to see that he was still there, but now he was grappling with someone else. Someone in the garbs of a miner, one who went deep underground where air wasn't taken for granted.
Evan.
Her bear like brute of a man who matched and outclassed The Doctor in physical aspects, although it wasn't by much. Evan was still an inch or two taller, just a bit wider, but was monstrously stronger. To Meg's disgust, she actually heard the faint groaning of metal as Evan slowly pushed The Doctor's arms back until he was able to break his stance and grab him. Evan picked him up just to slam him into the wall and then throw further down the hall and out of sight.
For a moment it looked like was going to follow after without a second thought, consumed by his ruthless killing instinct, but he paused, his fully covered head turned to look at her. Through her now rather delirious state, Meg could almost see the worried look he must have had on his face, and it made her giggle when she thought about how cold and heartless the mask made him look. Especially when he was anything but that.
Her laughter visibly made him relax, and with a brief nod he looked back down the hall and stomped after The Doctor.
Meg wasn't able to focus on what happened after that. There was more deep metallic thuds, the unique sound of one person hitting another, and even the sound of wood shattering. Evan must have tossed The Doctor around some more, Meg had thought to herself with a smile on her face.
After several minutes it finally went quiet, then footsteps could be heard coming back towards her room. For a moment Meg was almost worried Evan had lost and that The Doctor was coming back to finish the job, but she dismissed that idea. There was no chance he'd been beaten.
Sure enough, her bear appeared in the doorway, bloodier than before and sporting some new cuts, but completely unbothered by them. He clipped his cleaver to his side and immediately swooped down to her level, pulling her off of the floor and into his arms while standing back up again. She giggled deliriously at his actions, even playfully hitting his chest before taking his miner helmet off and cradling it to her chest. Gosh The Doctor must have shocked her too much for her to be acting this drunk.
"You're too good to me." She cooed, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek.
Evan gave her an amused but incredulous stare. "You are most certainly delirious." He stated, laughing quietly to himself as he started the trip back to the estate.
Meg almost choked on her own tongue while laughing, which only made her laugh harder. "You know it!" She almost shouted, then nuzzling her head underneath Evan's chin and closing her eyes. He let out a pleased hum at her actions, holding her tightly to him out of possessiveness as well as a need to comfort her, and himself.
"Hey Evan?" Meg asked quietly, now starting to feel drowsy.
"Yes my little rabbit?" He rumbled, lowering his voice as he spoke to her, making Meg feel warm inside.
"Can you take my mask off for me?" She asked with a yawn.
"Of course." He responded. He stopped walking, bending down on one knee and resting her legs on that same knee so he could take her mask off. He clipped it to his belt, his own helmet was still cradled against her chest, the tube went over his shoulder to the oxygen tank but he didn't seem bothered. Once her face was free she cupped Evan's cheeks with her hands and kissed him. He seemed surprised at first, but returned it. Meg kept it quick but expressive of her appreciation, and when she pulled back she made sure he was looking her in the eye. "Thank you." She said, and with that, she rested her head on his sternum and closed her eyes.
Evan didn't say anything at first, instead opting to make sure everything was accounted for and start carrying her back to the estate. But after a few minutes, he nuzzled his chin down against her head and responded. "I love you Megan, there is little I would not do if it guaranteed your safety." He said as he walked, not looking down at her for a reaction.
Meg was glad he wasn't, because she was still too stunned to speak. All she felt capable of physically was blushing. Mentally, well if she wasn't holding herself back she would've been squealing out loud instead of just in her mind. Yet no matter how many times Meg thought she should have been ashamed of squealing to herself like that she thought about the things Evan said to her, like just now, and she honestly couldn't blame herself.
It wasn't her fault she felt like her heart was melting into a mushy puddle and that she wanted to kiss him stupid for his endearing comments.
Of course she couldn't until they were back at the estate, Meg also knew that soon enough her friends would arrive and she wouldn't get any privacy. But if she got her way she'd have the rest of her life span to return his affections, so she could wait for now.
"Don't forget my friends are trying to find the estate and will probably show up soon." Meg reminded Evan as the grip of sleep nearly consumed her. He just kissed her temple.
"Allow me to handle their arrival, for now, sleep my blood bird. I will wake you when they arrive. I promise." He said as her eyes finally fell shut for the last time. Were they already back at the estate? Had she been daydreaming that long? Or was the deliriousness and lack of sleep making her space out while he walked?
Well it didn't matter, when she woke up, she'd be at the estate, and she'd be fine. She knew it.
Nea was so going to let Dwight have it once, or before, this all blew over.
Oh if only Claudette would join her in tormenting the poor man. Actually she just might if she knew it would all be in good fun, especially considering Sally's very obvious flirtations. Who knew someone once as wimpy as Dwight would attract the affections of the most feared female killer?
Nea could practically see his blushing face already, and hear his stuttering reply. It wouldn't hold up of course, no matter how good he got at keeping his voice smooth Nea knew he'd never be able to tell a good lie even if it was to save his life.
Her daydreaming was so amusing in fact that she felt someone bump her on the arm. She turned to the right and saw Laurie looking at her, Claudette was just behind her and looked equally curious. "You look awfully happy? Something special happen we didn't know about?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something involving The Wraith?" She asked with a poorly contained smile.
Even Claudette snickered from behind them.
Nea spun around and kept walking backwards to address Claudette. "Oh don't even, I could go on and on about you and Max." She swiveled her head to Laurie. "And his name is Phillip." She said, trying to not appear to standoffish, but wanting to make sure everyone used his real name.
"Oh relax. Do you have any idea how long I've been calling him that?" Laurie asked rhetorically. To which Nea snorted. "Do you have any idea how long I've been calling him that!?" She said incredulously.
They heard a cough from behind them. "Ladies, you're both gorgeous. But let's not forget who's been here longer than both of you." Claudette said with a wide smile, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth after a couple seconds.
Laurie and herself just stared, slightly impressed, and also slightly insulted as they should have been. Unable to come up with a response both of the girls narrowed their eyes at the healer, looked at each other in a silent agreement to stop before it got worse, and immediately looked for something else to talk about.
Claudette giggled from behind them. "Oh come on! It's not like I insulted your mothers or something!" She said with a laugh. "Nea, I totally understand that you wish Phillip was here, I wish Max was here, and who knows? We might run into them? We found Sally by chance, and we know both of them live right next to the estate." Claudette offered. Nea couldn't find any good rebuttal to her argument, and she wasn't even going to try and deny that she'd missed the smug Nigerian since their last encounter out in the woods. Claudette obviously missed the southern farmer just as much.
Laurie hummed in front of them. "You know I'm surprised both of you managed to get two of the three most feared killers in the entire realm to fall in love with you." She commented casually. Both Nea and Claudette stopped, light blushes rising to their face. Nea herself did her best to hold it back, and felt like she was doing a pretty good job since her face didn't feel too hot. Claudette however, well simply put she was a tomato, which Nea didn't even know was physically possible with how dark the botanist's skin is.
"I'm sorry what?" Nea managed to wheeze out, making Claudette squeak.
"Well it's pretty obvious, two of the most feared killers in the realm, who are both guys, go soft and start sparing you two in particular? Both of you being reasonably attractive women? It doesn't get more simple than that." Laurie said in a matter of fact tone, her face practically daring them to challenge her statement. Claudette managed to squeak out an embarrassed and barely comprehensible denial, but she was faring much better.
"Oh it is not like that. I don't know why he started sparring us, and I won't deny he's an enjoyable person to talk to, but it is not romantic." She said rather confidently, crossing her arms to finalize her repute.
Laurie just looked amused. "U-huh, U-huh, Why'd you kiss him then?" Laurie asked curiously, looking at Nea in an overly innocent and inquisitive manner.
If the Swede was honest with herself, she kind of wanted to slap the blonde girl, not even for her annoying face, but because she thought she has been the one to kiss Phillip and not the other way around.
"Oh! So you did tell them of that memorable moment?" A deep voice called out teasingly from the trees.
Almost their entire group jumped and backed away from the voice, but after a moment. Nea took a step forward. She and the other survivors looked over to Sally in hopes she'd protect them, but the nurse just looked at them and giggled. "You'll be fine, I'd recognize that voice anywhere." She said vaguely before turning back to continue making Dwight look redder than a fire truck.
Nea's suspicion was only further confirmed, as she too had recognized the voice. She just hadn't placed it immediately. "Phillip?" She called out into the trees.
A rustle greeted her, followed by two strikes of a bell, then The Wraith stood before her. The Hillbilly limped out of the trees behind him seconds later.
"For a while I had thought you'd kept that little moment a secret. But I can live with being wrong." He said with a smile. "Would you like to give them a demonstration of how it happened?" He teased with choked back laugh right after, even getting Max to laugh along with him from his side.
This time Nea actually had trouble holding back her embarrassment, so she instead channeled it into frustration and outrage. She glared at Phillip like she was trying to kill him with her gaze alone. The only problem was that instead of being afraid as he should have been, the stealth killer would just use it to egg her on further. She really should have learned there was no out witting him by now.
"Oh don't look so bothered, I'm just teasing you." He turned to The Nurse. "Hello Sally." He said kindly.
"Pleasure to see you too Phillip, you too Max." She added on. Nea got the distinct impression that Sally acted almost like a mother or aunt figure to the chainsaw welding killer. Especially when Max groaned out an enthusiastic greeting like a excited child, making Sally giggle.
"I'm just guiding them to The Macmillan estate. One of their friends, the runner with the red hair has been staying there with Evan." She informed.
Nea felt momentary concern at how quickly Sally had told them of their plan, but relaxed when she realized just who they were talking too. They could be trusted, they'd proved that already.
Phillip and Max joined their group. Phillip came close to her, while Max neared Claudette's side, both still paying attention to Sally at the front.
"Ah, she must be that new killer. I had my suspicions they were the same person, but I haven't had the chance to meet her yet." Phillip said.
Nea looked up at him. "Wait, why didn't you ever tell me?" She asked, trying to conceal her offense.
His amber eyes met hers, and Nea stopped for a moment. The last time she'd seen them had been when they'd all had a chicken fight with Claudette and Max, but Nea's mind defaulted to when he'd kissed her.
She quickly snapped out of it knowing all her friends were watching, and thankfully Phillip didn't stare long either. "I couldn't confirm." He said plainly. "I didn't want to see you get hopeful that your friend Meg was alive if she really wasn't." He said with a light shrug, not bothered by all the gazes on him or the invisible pressure most would feel in his situation.
Nea certainly knew she'd get nervous if the roles were reversed, no matter how well she hid it.
"Oh, I appreciate that." She said rather awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say as a follow up.
"Well Sally here is already good enough to guide you to Evan's estate, however if you do not mind, Max and I would like to tag along." He said while gesturing an arm out to the killer next to Claudette.
The dark skinned killer scanned the crowd behind her like a security camera, checking back and forth. When no one objected he looked back to her. "Let's have some fun shall we?" He asked cheekily, getting her to roll her eyes.
"How? We're just walking to The Trapper's estate." She said with a confused look on her face.
"Well first I think it's only fair you call Evan by his name with how you insisted they called me by mine. I'm sure Meg will certainly tell you too." Phillip said, looking ahead to the woods like he was reminiscing.
Nea herself was rather embarrassed she'd been hypocritical, heaven knew Meg would give her grief for excluding her killer from getting called their name. Especially when Nea had called Max by his real name too.
Nea just couldn't help it. She didn't even know why she subconsciously had some sort of grudge against The Trapper more than Phillip or Max. Both of them had been around just as long as him, both had killed her probably an equal amount of times. So why was she almost singling him out?
It wasn't just in names either, she'd been distrustful of him when Meg had mentioned their first encounters. Although, she had also been the same way with Phillip. She'd been extremely curt with him the first time they spoke. So maybe it was just a lack of exposure? She was yet to see him at all since the entire debacle started, so this would be the first time they'd formally meet.
As if sensing her stress, two large hands fell on her shoulders. She glanced back to see who it was, or more to confirm it was who she thought it was, and found amber eyes locking with hers.
"You seem tense." He commented idly. Nea laughed. "Thank you captain obvious." She sassed, earning an especially tight crushing grip in retaliation.
"Are you nervous for your friend's safety?" He asked from behind her. Nea had decided to keep her gaze in front of her so she didn't trip, and because she didn't think she could look him in the eyes for too long without making a fool of herself.
She nodded.
"You need not worry. I know Evan well, arguably better than anyone else. He would never hurt those he loves." He reassured her, and Max groaned in agreement from behind them. She swung her head around to see the farmer nodding his head. She looked back at Phillip. "So you two are close friends with him?" She asked.
"Oh yes." He said. "Brothers practically. All three of us didn't have any siblings, so after we got over our distrust, we bonded quite well." The Nigerian said fondly. "You could say we were...hostile, when we first met." He added with a laugh, and Max made a noise rather akin to a snort.
Claudette piped up. "So you all were at each other's throats if I had to guess." She said. Nea looked over to see practically everyone was watching with great interest. Kate and Ace both winked at her.
She rolled her eyes and tried to fight down any embarrassment. She was not meant to be in the direct spot light.
Phillip chuckled. "Spot on. The amount of fights we had back then, I'm quite certain over half of any scars I've got are from Max or Evan." Phillip said, looking up at the sky as if reminiscing back on pleasant times. Which was a little strange considering he was thinking back on times he and his two brothers in spirit grievously wounded each other.
"Anyway, the point of me mentioning that little memory is to say that Evan is the most tenacious, and vicious fighter I know. So if anyone ever tried to hurt Meg, which is quite likely, nearly all the unfriendly killers fantasize about being the one to kill her, he'd stop them dead." Phillip said, and his reassurance...actually kind of worked? Despite the unsettling reality that half the killers would foam at the mouth if an opportunity to kill Meg presented itself.
"Oh it's true. Nea, you remember your rather...unpleasant encounter with The Clown." Sally said.
Nea felt Phillip's hands tighten their grip on her shoulders and her own lips curl in a sneer. She did not want to think of that incident ever again.
"Evan found out about it, I'm assuming from you Phillip, and well, I already told you how he left my ward while I treated Meg and killed him." She implied while floating forwards, not once turning her head back to look at them.
Nea felt, strangely honored. She didn't know Evan at all, so she couldn't give an opinion on whether his killing of that vile pig was for just Meg, or for the redhead and herself. She certainly hoped it was the latter, it would be very nice to have the most feared killer defending them.
"Thanks Phillip. I've been worried about her ever since I heard she was alive. Only Bill, David, and Jake have seen her. I haven't seen her since they tossed her into the campfire." Nea admitted quietly, finally letting her voice lose its liveliness to show the true confer she held for her friend beneath.
Phillip's response, was not what the Swede had been expecting. However, it wasn't unwelcome.
"If there's anything this place has taught me...Actually, allow me to rephrase." He asked, Nea nodded even though he didn't wait for her.
"If there is anything you and the others have taught me, it's that miracles can come true. I would've never thought it possible that the survivors would accept us, nor did I ever think I'd have hope to escape again. Yet, here I am." He said.
Nea had her back to most of the others, and her head was turned to face Phillip exclusively. He was on the outside of their group, so no one could see her face except Phillip.
He was the only one privy to see that her eyes had stared watering.
She didn't know why she found his words so heart warming. Maybe it was someone finally saying that she'd done something good in her life, maybe it was the fact that he'd inadvertently called her a miracle, or maybe it was the way his eyes pierced her soul.
Either way, Nea was touched. So for a moment she threw away caring that the others were somewhat watching and hugged him. It was short, but she squeezed him for all he was worth before letting go.
Phillip had brought his arms up to hug her back, but never got the chance too. Instead he simply settled for a chuckle and motioned for her to not lag behind the rest of them. She caught up quickly, now at the back of the group, and quickly felt something poke her side. She looked over to Phillip wondering what else he wanted to tell her, but he was looking ahead as if nothing happened.
Nea glared at him suspiciously, but eventually turned back to face the others.
Something poked her in the hip again, and this time Nea snapped her head over much faster. Yet despite that Phillip's hands were by his side and he was stone faced, like nothing was bothering him.
Nea slowly looked away, eyeing him with her peripheral vision like a hawk. He didn't move once.
She looked away for a couple seconds, and before she even felt anything touch her she whipped her head to face his.
He was just like before.
Nea let out a huff and brushed her bangs out of her eyes and then, you guessed it, something poked her again. But instead of the hip like last time, the persons finger landed right on her butt.
This time Nea whirled around to face him in full, but he was still. Just. Standing there. Standing there like he hadn't done anything.
"You are such a child." She seethed at him, but her smile betrayed her annoyance. "One moment you're giving a heart felt comment and reassuring advice and the next you're poking me like a toddler bugging their mom." She said.
Phillip finally cracked, smiling like a smug little brat and looking down at her. He placed one finger over her lips and shushed her.
"I'm afraid your complaints will have to wait, because we have arrived." He said, and swooped an arm out ahead of them.
Nea followed his arm and saw the same large dirt road she'd been attacked on days or weeks prior. Everyone including Sally had stopped, because on the other side was a brick wall with a wrought iron gate. A large and tough looking padlock kept the twin doors shut.
Sally walked up to it without a word and pulled out a keychain. She flipped through several before coming upon a dark green one. She slid it into the lock and with a loud but satisfying click the doors were able to swing open. She waved them forward, only to stop them right before they could enter the estate grounds.
"Be warned." Sally said ominously. "All killers here are rather territorial. Evan especially, he's got bear traps all over the entire estate. I can float over them, but we don't know where they are. He changes their locations constantly. Max, Phillip, both of you use your weapons to spot the traps, if you find one, call it out, and then keep spotting." Sally said.
She began to hover over the grass. "Everyone stay close and single file, be careful. These traps aren't just any old ones that'll hurt your ankle. These can kill you with poison." She said, and with that she began to rhythmically swing her bone saw over the ground.
All the survivors looked at each other hesitantly. Finally Bill took the lead and stepped into the grass, following the same path Sally had taken.
Phillip and Max headed to the front, and per Sally's instructions started scanning.
They made it quite far before anyone said something beyond calling out a trap.
"How many traps did he put out here! We've only been walking in a strait line!" David said incredulously, his voice even higher with annoyance.
Phillip poked his head up and rolled his neck. Staring at the ground for so long must have hurt. "I like to think that Evan is not like his father. However, it is undeniable he inherited his paranoid nature. He had many traps before, but with Meg staying at the estate, he had obviously increased the quantity to protect her." He said.
"The mansion itself, well you've already seen it briefly, but it is a fortress. Should he choose to lock the building down, getting in would require destroying the buildings very foundation. It is the last of his father's paranoid legacy." Phillip said ominously.
Suddenly the image of the front of the mansion was far more eerie than they remembered. As if the walls were wandered by the patriarch of the Macmillan family, always guarding it and making sure there were no intruders.
Soon after his ominous statement. The front of the mansion faded in through the fog and trees. It was hard to see at first, but they could see a large glass window above the main steel door, there was even a shadowy figure standing at the front of it.
The Trapper.
The light was behind him, so they were completely unable to see him, but almost as soon as someone called him out he turned around and vanished into the manor.
"He'll be down soon." Sally said calmly, looking at her hands and bone-saw in obvious boredom.
"You really got bored that quickly?" Nea heard Dwight asked the masked killer. Sally only nodded with a little hum of confirmation.
A minute later. The large steel door began to click and grind as gears twisted unseen by them. Then with a groan it swung outwards.
The Trapper, or Evan, stood there. He looked as menacing as ever, if not more so, because now he wore his mining outfit. Shadows concealed most of what was behind him, and they stretched out over his shoulders and mask like a cape. The lenses of his gas mask reflected what little moon light there was in a dangerous flash.
With his elevation, he looked like an unstoppable force of nature that could take on any killer in the fog.
For a moment Nea remembered the hiking outfit Meg had. She'd gotten it at the exact same time he'd gotten this one.
"Megan informed me you would be traveling here." He said immediately. His cleaver was still in his right hand, the gas mask he wore scanned all of them slowly, as if he was picking apart the details of their character and deciding whether he would kill them or not.
"Hello Evan. You didn't meet your end of the deal you know?" Sally said with a playful tone, unfazed by Evan's unnerving presence. Yet despite Sally's ease, he remained no less menacing.
"That is correct, and allow me to offer my apologies." He said monotonously.
"Don't apologize, just let me check on her and make sure you tell me all the juicy details." Sally said while floating up the stairs. Evan stepped to the side and then back until he was out of sight entirely.
Phillip and Max walked in without any fear or hesitation, so after several nervous seconds, Nea, Claudette, and Bill were the first three to enter the manor. They were soon followed by everyone else. Once everyone was inside Max shut the door behind them, making the more nervous of their group jump like Dwight, and surprisingly Feng.
Evan faced all of them. "If you would all wait here in the foyer. Megan is currently resting after her unfortunate encounter with Herman. However, I promised to wake her should you arrive. I will retrieve her." He said formally, his tone not taking away from his sophisticated dialect.
He didn't wait for a response, as he immediately left them in the foyer and disappeared into the rest of the manor.
"Who's Herman." Bill asked tensely, his jaw already clenched.
"You know him, he wears a torn suit with electrical gear. He shocks people." Phillip said from the back, still next to Nea as she took in the foyer.
"The Doctor!" Jake said in surprise.
Nea could see how visibly angry Bill was knowing he'd attacked Meg, and she certainly shared the sentiment. However, she could remain calm knowing that Meg was fine, because she was here somewhere in the manor.
No one else said anything. Several minutes passed, then several more, until finally he returned. He looked no different than before. "Follow me." Was all he said, and then he turned around a second time and marched off.
They all followed, Bill was at the very front, looking more focused than almost any of them had seen him in months. Not even most trials made him look as intense as he currently did. Evan led them to a room towards the center of the mansion, he opened the door, and all of them came in single file. Sally, Phillip, and Max opted to stay outside of the room, silently giving them their privacy.
Evan however, did not appear intent on leaving any time soon. The moment he'd gone into the room he'd walked in a straight line to an arm chair and stood next to it. Because in that very arm chair, was Meg.
She looked alright, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be resting easy. She had a pile of blankets covering her legs and lap, so she definitely looked cozy too.
Evan brushed a hand against her shoulder and face. That was when her eyes opened with a quiet groan. "Sorry Evan, I just couldn't stay awake." She said, taking a second to rub her eyes before she saw them. The red head stared, then, slowly her face morphed into an overjoyed smile and she spread her arms out in an invitation.
"Hey guys!"