Escape the Night: Betrayal at the House on the Hill
A/N: Hello, world, and welcome back to the season finale of Escape the Night! So, the Evil has been defeated, Arthur is dead along with Sarah and Martin, and so far Joey, Dawn, Eva, and Oli had managed to get out of the house. Time see what happens next.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Escape the Night. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIETY AGAINST EVIL
Edith drove the car down the road, using a device to return them to 2016, and she glanced at the rearview mirror at her passengers. She wasn't too surprised to see that they had dozed off in the back seat, or that Joey had one arm wrapped around Dawn's waist, and she had her head on his shoulder, while Eva's head was resting on Oli's shoulder, and she'd expected this to happen, especially after everything they'd gone through.
'But it isn't over yet,' she thought, returning her attention to the road and made a turn, not toward L.A., but toward a completely different destination instead. 'They will learn the truth of what has been happening while they were in the house, and it was be quite a shock to their systems.'
It wasn't until the car came to a stop that Joey and the others woke up, and they were confused when they saw a mansion. For a very brief moment, they thought that they had been taken back to the 1920s house, but then they saw the symbol for the Society Against Evil on the front door, and it was clear that this was a different place altogether.
"What is this place?" Oli wondered and started when Edith opened the door, gesturing them to come out, and they did so. When they got out, a group of people, who were all wearing business suits that were either black or grey, exited the mansion and descended the steps.
"No idea," Joey said, holding Dawn's hand in his own as the group reached them and the lead person, an older man with military buzzcut brown hair and green eyes, spoke.
"Welcome, Mr. Graceffa, Ms. Hatcher, Ms. Gutowski, Mr. White," he said to each of them, shaking their hands and smiling at their surprised and confused expressions. "I am James McCoy, and there is much that we will need to discuss once you have all have gotten some rest, for it has been a long night for you all."
"Why can't we just go home?" Eva asked, and she really wanted to go home and see her family.
James clearly understood their confusion that they weren't going home right away. "All in good time," he promised and gestured to the mansion. "Please, come this way."
Realizing that they weren't being given much of a choice, the four survivors followed the group into the mansion, which turned out to be one of the safe houses for the Society Against Evil, according to James, and that they would be given a full medical checkup before they got some food and some much-needed rest.
"Is this really nessecary?" Oli asked after they were given clean clothes, which consisted of white tank tops, grey sweat pants, and white socks, to change into, although Joey had been reluctant to hand over his dinner coat at first, and he was now seated on one of the examination beds, having a penlight shined into his eyes.
The same was being done to Dawn, Joey, and Eva, and these examinations have been going on for a full hour now.
"It's just to be sure that none of you suffered any serious trauma," Dr. Caroline Green assured him, and lowered the penlight once she was certain that his eyes were functioning properly. "Your eyes are working fine, Oli."
Oli rolled his eyes and muttered that he could've told her that, but he was also relieved to hear that he was in good health, even after the electric shocks from that dammed chair back at the cursed house. "Are we good to go?" he asked hopefully.
"Soon," Dr. Green promised as she presented each of them with two small cups, one had water while the other had several white pills in them.
"What are these?" Dawn asked, eying them suspiciously. After being chloroform and then injected with some drug by Arthur, she wasn't willing to risk her life by taking some strange pills, even if they were being provided by an actual doctor.
"The serum that Arthur injected into each of you is still in your systems," Dr. Green explained, having just received the test results. "And while it won't do any harm to you, these pills will help flush it out of your bodies to reduce the odds of that happening."
Joey didn't look convinced and neither did his friends. "Do we really need to take these pills?" he asked.
"I can understand your reluctance," said Dr. Green tenderly, "and you don't really have to, but I strongly advised that you do take them as both a doctor and a mother. You will experience some drowsiness as a side affect, but whether you take the pills, it's still entirely up to you."
The four friends looked at each other and then at the pills. Although they've been through hell and knowing that the drug that Arthur had injected into them when they had been unconscious wouldn't harm them, the thought of having it inside their bodies, even now was a scary thought.
"On three?" Joey suggested and his friends nodded. "One. Two. Three." And they gulped the pills and used the water to swallow them at the same time.
It wasn't very long before they started to feel drowsy as the pills kicked in, and they didn't object when the nurses helped them all lie down on the beds. Soon they all drifted off into a deep, healing sleep that they all desperately needed.
Dr. Green checked on them and turned to James when he entered the infirmary. "They're all resting now," she reported. "What of the retrieval?"
"The bodies have all been recovered," James informed her. "Including the bodies of Arthur, Sarah, and Marvin." He looked over at their sleeping guests. "How are they?"
Dr. Green sighed. "Physically they're going to be fine," she answered. "But as for their emotional and mental states, that's an entirely different matter, and there's only so much that I or anyone can do to help them heal from the hell that the evil put them through."
James nodded, dreading the morning when he would have to reveal a hard truth to their guests. 'They have no idea of what was going on in the world while they were trapped in that house,' he thought, going over to them and looked at each of them in turn, especially Dawn and Joey. 'These two have had it the worst, and it isn't over for either of them, not yet.'
He and the other Society members knew that Dawn Hatcher came from a long line of Light-bearers, and they had been keeping tabs on her since she was a baby. When they learned that she had gone to the 1920s house with Joey, it had them worried since they knew that she didn't know anything about the Light that existed inside her, and they feared that she would be killed by the evil before she could learn of the Light and how to control it.
But Dawn had survived, and James knew that the Council of Elders, who were the primary leaders for the Society Against Evil, would be wanting to train her and teach her everything that she would need to know about the Light for what was to come for both her and Joey. So, it was up to him to make sure that they understood that she would need time to rest and heal from the trauma before that could happen.
'Rest well, Dawn, Joey,' James thought, turning away from the beds and went to the table that the clothing that the four survivors had been wearing when they first arrived was lying on. He looked at the clothing and then reached for the black coat that Joey had been wearing, and heard something crinkle in the inside pocket.
Forehead furrowed, James reached into the pocket and pulled out the folded paper. Sensing immediately what it was, he dropped it and backed away. "Oh God."
"What is it?" Dr. Green asked, moving to the table and stopped when she sensed the dark taint that was on the paper. "No, I thought the evil was sealed away."
"It is," James confirmed as he summoned two security guards, who were quick to shove the paper into an iron box covered with symbols. "But some of it was still on that deed to the 1920s house, and I fear that it may have infected Joey when he brought it with him."
"Why would he do something like that?" Dr. Green asked uneasily, glancing at the young man in question.
James sighed. "I suspect that he wanted to make sure that no one else would fall victim to the evil in the house," he guessed. "It's understandable, but it also means that we will have to keep a close eye on him in the days to come, and hopefully Dawn's Light will be able to keep the darkness inside him from overwhelming him while they are together."
"And when they're not together?"
"Only time will tell."
A/N: Oh boy, who else has a bad feeling about how this is going to affect Joey? Anyway, I will be posting the final chapter for this story on Thursday, and I will see you all then. Bye for now! R&R everyone!