Chapter Eight: Sally

Sally swam until she could barely hear the others and then turned over to float on her back. She was nearing the middle of this mammoth lake and knew that was when the transition would take place.

She hadn't been lying to Dwight or Claudette, only omitting certain things-like the fact that she already knew what lay on the other shore.

Sally remembered everything. She remembered her time in the trials and she remembered the rest of it all too. In reality, the trials took up only a fraction of her time as The Nurse. The rest was spent with the other killers and like the survivors, they had their own sense of community and ways of doing things.

There was a reason Sally couldn't admit any of this to the others. They already looked at her with such pity. She couldn't stand it if they knew of her self-loathing, worse, the fact that it was well justified. The Nurse would always be a part of her. Sally felt her alter ego like a breath under her skin, always present and waiting. She'd told the others about the retention of her powers. She just hadn't told them why she still had them. If it was this hard for her to face, she couldn't imagine how the others would react. They didn't understand and Sally hoped for their sakes that they never would.

No one need suffer like she and the other killers ever again if they had their way. Dwight was turning out to be a good leader, it was true, and he would need more than just her to defeat The Entity.

The second Sally crossed the invisible barrier in the center of the lake she seized up and slipped below the surface with her mouth open in a silent scream. The Nurse was suddenly there, as Sally had always known she would be. But unlike when she'd first been unmade, Sally knew how to fight back now.

She thought of Claudette and how she was slowly coming out of her shell.

Sally thought of Dwight and his earnestness and how much he actually cared for other people.

She recalled how Jake had reassured her during those awful early days.

Sally remembered Feng's ungainly pursuit of Jake and how oblivious he was to it.

Sally thought of everything that made her happy or that gave her hope. It was so much that her heart swelled and as it did so Sally felt The Nurse recede back to her rightful place just under Sally's skin.

She surged to the surface and took a few gasping, coughing breaths, then turned over on her back once more.

She would have to be very careful from here on out.

Sally took her time letting herself calm down and began to swim slowly to the shore. She stopped when first caught sight of it and watched for any movement. There wasn't any but she knew Philip or Freddy could still be around. Sally listened and it was only when she noted the absence of any childhood rhymes that she deemed it safe enough to come onshore.

Sally rubbed the thick shore mud into her wet hair and across her too-pale skin.

The silence pressed in on her until her ears began to ring as Sally made her way into the treeline. There was a stillness to these woods that was entirely different than on the other side of the lake. There were nightmares here, or the promise of them, and deep down in her animal brain she would have known that even if she hadn't been here before.

Sally crept from shadow to shadow until she reached a tree that was slightly different than the rest. It's span was larger than most and it was taller, with thicker branches. Perfect for climbing. Sally did that now, quick and quiet, wiping up any mud she left behind as she went. She settled on a low bough and hid herself among the leaves to wait.

It didn't take long.

Michael was the first one she saw pass by and she thanked God that he had little reason to look up. He was one of the few she'd actually been afraid of even during her time as The Nurse. There was just something creepy about him and Sally had always suspected that The Entity hadn't made many alterations to turn him into The Shape. Hearing Laurie's stories about her biological brother only confirmed what she already knew. He was truly a monster both before and after. Actually, Sally wasn't sure there had been a before in his case. She thought The Entity had probably snatched him up from the real world as he was.

She definitely did not need his attention on her now.

Sally also wanted to avoid Freddy and Leatherface for the same reasons. Quentin had been very graphic when describing the things Freddy had done and Sally suspected the same was true of Leatherface. The very fact he had given her that in lieu of a real name said a lot.

Sally watched Lisa pass by and then Evan. This was a stop on a popular path between their campfire and the shack that The Entity had fashioned for them. No one else would have been able to get this close. Then again, no one else would have known about it to begin with.

Sally summoned her bonesaw to her with a thought, knowing that if anyone noticed it missing back home they would be alarmed. She might not have had access to her full powers, but she could still do this.

The weapon felt heavier in her hands than it had when she'd used it before. She palmed it and tried not to think too hard about her past deeds. Instead, she kept her eyes open until the one she wanted finally passed under the tree.

Sally dropped like a cat onto Herman's back and slammed the dull side of her blade into the back of his head between all the metal. He went down hard with her on his back and for half a second the absurd fear that she'd broken his neck almost paralyzed her. Then she was dragging him with frightening strength away from the tree and back towards the lake.

Sally kept her eyes peeled but she didn't have time to be quiet or careful with him. Luckily, no one noticed or if they did see the trail of blood she left behind they didn't care enough to investigate.

It was the lake that proved to be the challenge, as Sally found out when Herman electrocuted them both while she was dragging him into the water.

Sally made it back to shore weak from the shock and half-drowned from her surprise. She used a branch to get Herman back onshore and sat down panting when this was done.

Herman's eyes didn't move but he was breathing his usual wheezing breaths. Relief was too heady an emotion to feel so she shoved it down where it didn't dull her senses. Instead, Sally used her bonesaw to start in on Herman's mask. It was meant to cut through flesh. Not this. It made an excruciatingly loud squeal as she ground it against the metal in Herman's head. This set her heart to pounding but she knew she couldn't stop. She'd already come this far and she was prepared to fight for the rest.

Sally finished the first cut and pulled the metal out of Herman's eye socket. The flaccid lid drooped over the eye unnaturally enough to make even her hardened stomach roil. She started in on the other one anyway.

Sally had just freed Herman's other eye when she heard Philip's wailing bell. He appeared beside her and struck where she'd just been, hitting Herman in the chest. Sally didn't waste time looking at the spray of blood. Instead, she darted to the side and slashed her bonesaw across Philip's arm. He hissed in surprise and pain and turned around.

"Sally…"

"That's right, Philip. It's me." And if there was a hard edge to her tone, who could blame her?

Philip considered her bloody clothes, then his gaze travelled to the bonesaw in her hands. Finally, his eyes met hers.

"Not Sally."

Sally smiled and it was both warm and cool at the same time.

"I'm so much more now, thanks."

Philip regarded her for a moment and then turned to Herman. He was a man of few words but Sally guessed what he was asking.

"I'm making Herman again." All she needed to do was remove that mouthpiece and it would be done.

"Again…?"

"You know. More powerful." Hope was the real currency here and she was going to give it all back to him, back to them all if she could. Not that she could really explain it all to Philip right now. She wouldn't have understood as The Nurse either. Still, hope was dawning in her that maybe, just maybe she might be bringing more than one friend home with her tonight. That was if nobody else showed up to the lake, especially the true psychopaths.

Philip cocked his head at her. Then he lunged.

Anyone else would have been decapitated. But Sally was and always would be The Nurse. In the flicker between one heartbeat and the next her power carried her to Herman's side where she knelt down and ripped his mouthpiece off without remorse. Blood sprayed in the air along with Herman's unconscious screaming. His back bowed into the air as a wind whipped across the lake.

The process of reclamation had begun. Sally didn't let her satisfaction over this show, nor did she acknowledge that her power saving her had been anything less than intentional. Instead, she took up a place between Herman and Philip and smiled a grim smile.

Philip, in turn, had taken two steps back and if a being such as he could be called wide-eyed then he certainly was. Sally was without mercy as she took advantage of his distraction. She blinked behind him and clubbed him in the head too.

The shrieking wind increased in volume, sending the trees rustling hard.

It wouldn't be long before more killers appeared, assuming they weren't just beyond the treeline already. Sally struck fast and without mercy, snapping off Philip's horns just after he hit the ground. Then she was on him, scrubbing his face with water to erase the markings. He, too, lifted into the air after it was done, whereas Herman now slumped to the ground.

Sally wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She kept her eyes on the trees as a familiar melody made its way to her ears.

Freddy was coming.

Sally dragged Herman over to Philip and grabbed them both as soon as Philip fell to the ground once more. She just had her powers back and she'd never tried this with anyone else, much less two people. They were probably going to die, but she didn't dwell on that.

Sally blinked all three of them to the middle of the lake, then again, and again until they were home again. She collapsed onto the beach amid the sound of shrieks and screams and somewhere, far off, a deadly melody.