Chapter Nine: Dwight
After the initial panic of seeing Sally aka The Nurse flying across the lake carrying two other killers, everyone sprung into action.
Claudette ran for her bag and returned with healing poultices and wraps. David and Meg turned The Doctor over and carried him out of the water. Jake and Ace grabbed The Wraith. And Dwight and Feng scooped up Sally where she lay like a ragdoll face down in the mud. Their clothes and the hourglass were picked up by Quentin and Nea.
It all happened so fast, but Dwight was proud of his team.
"Is that her blood?" Feng asked as they walked.
"I hope not." It was a lot and if it was hers, Dwight didn't know what they were going to do. He didn't know if The Entity would bring a person back to life outside of trials. It seemed reasonable to assume It would but Dwight didn't know for sure and the thought chilled him. "Set her down. Let Claudette check."
"Put her right here," Claudette said, and Dwight felt fleetingly proud of the steel in her voice. He and Feng did as they were told and Claudette checked Sally over then nodded. "She's fine. Let's get her to the cabin."
Dwight could hear the relief in her voice. He felt it too and judging by Feng's pinched brows, so did she. They hurried after the others but it turned out there really was no need. Just as had happened with Sally, both The Doctor and The Wraith looked like normal people. Maybe a little wet, but no horrific body modifications or anything that would otherwise mark them as killers.
It was a relief that this seemed to be a predictable process.
Dwight vowed to ask Sally about it when she woke up. When he thought of her, he remembered another fact that had been lost in the stress of the moment.
Sally had used her powers.
He turned to Claudette at almost the same moment she turned to him. "She did it!"
"Yes, she did!"
They stared at each other for a moment before big grins broke out on their faces. Dwight never saw Claudette like that and maybe that was why he found himself hugging her. At first she stilled in his embrace, but then she was slapping him on the back and returning the hug. He could feel the excitement vibrating though her.
"She really did it!"
Dwight didn't let the thought that Sally might not be able to do it again take hold in his mind. He was too darn happy for that. Claudette's body was warm against his and then they were jumping like school children and laughing. They separated naturally afterward and found everyone else doing much the same. Dwight handed out several more hugs, even offered Feng a one-armed embrace.
It was like their water fight all over again: everyone full of a carefree spirit, hope, and joy. Then they all seemed to remember themselves and took the party outside to let Sally and their two newest comrades rest. Laurie stayed behind to watch and everyone else milled around in the yard.
Dwight cleared his throat, finally. "Everyone, I just want to say thank you for all your hard work and dedication and-just, a huge thank you to Sally. I don't know where we would be without her. But because of Sally we are now one big step closer to getting out of here. Let's drink to that!"
A general cheer sounded through the crowd. Everyone went for Jake's stash of water and pretended it was real alcohol, so contagious was the mood. It was either that or the placebo effect but all too soon he caught sight of Quentin making out with Nea and Meg sneaking off with David. Dwight raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. He wasn't here to judge, nor did he have any right to.
At that moment he caught Claudette's eye and, wonder of all wonders, imagined he saw a blush there. Dwight took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders. "We make a great team." On any other occasion that might have come across as lame but right now Dwight felt it was spot on.
"We really do," Claudette said, and grabbed his hand. They stared at the moon in silence with their fingers interlaced, each just appreciating the other's company. The fact that The Entity was there, clicking and creaking away didn't detract from the mood for once. Nothing could.
"We should check on Sally," Dwight said, after a while.
Claudette nodded but didn't move so he guided her with gentle hands and a smile back into the cabin.
Sally and the others looked to be in a dead sleep, and Laurie pronounced that they hadn't stirred. It was enough.
Dwight, Claudette, and Laurie took up a couple sofas.
"Do you think it will be enough?" Laurie wrung her hands together in her lap.
Dwight considered the question. In truth, he had no idea what it would take to kill The Entity. He only had Claudette's prior assertions that Sally was the key to it all. Claudette had been right so far and he had no reason to doubt her but he still wanted to be prepared. But Laurie didn't need to hear that right now. She was obviously worried, probably in no small part because of Michael.
"Yes," Dwight said, and then he addressed her real concern. "Don't worry, Laurie. We have your back." No matter what happened he wasn't about to allow Michael to hurt her again. It was bad enough it still sometimes happened in trials.
Laurie nodded, but her hands didn't stop and she started to chew her lip. Dwight reached over and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"After this it will all be over." Dwight hoped she caught his meaning. As distasteful as it was, they were going to have to kill Michael, Freddy, and Leatherface after they escaped this place-not out of revenge or even any misguided attempt at justice. No, it was for the simple fact that those psychopaths would never stop killing people. That plus the fact that they had supernatural powers now meant they fell outside of the scope of what one could expect the police to handle.
Dwight would never forgive himself if he let those three roam free and he knew the others felt the same way.
Laurie nodded again. "I know." She looked a little sad but didn't say why and Dwight wasn't about to press her.
"Good." Dwight gave her shoulder a squeeze and leaned back.
If The Wraith and The Doctor turned out like Sally, they now had a considerable amount of muscle on their side, so to speak. It wouldn't be hard to rescue the other redeemable killers now.
For the first time in a long time, Dwight could see a palpable end at the end of the tunnel. It gave him a rush of mixed feelings, chiefly relief and uncertainty. He glanced at Claudette and found her considering The Doctor. Her curiosity was only natural. Dwight especially wanted to know what the fabled "Herman" was like. Sally spoke of him often and, of course, she had compared them. Dwight wanted that to be a good thing. He had enough confidence in himself now that he thought it probably was.
All too soon, everyone except those who were going into the current trial came back to the cabin to sleep. It had been hours since the initial excitement and most seemed worn out by the whole ordeal.
Dwight slipped into his own bunk after scrubbing his face and brushing his teeth and leaving Quentin to watch over The Wraith and The Doctor.
He was awake what felt like too soon after that, although Quentin assured him it had been over six hours.
The Wraith had scared Quentin half to death by slipping out without a word. Quentin had woken Dwight first thing after he noticed him missing.
Dwight headed back towards the lake on a hunch and found the tall, spindly man sitting with his knees tight to his body and his arms wrapped around his middle. He was rocking himself, and it was this that dispelled any lingering fear Dwight may have been holding onto.
He approached slowly, marveling at the way The Wraith blended into the environment even as a regular human. Dwight knew by now that The Entity tailored a killer's powers around his or her attributes or characteristics. He imagined that this man was also very fast.
Dwight came to a stop by The Wraith and sat down beside him without saying anything, just letting the man know by his presence that he was there for him. At first, it didn't seem like The Wraith noticed but eventually Dwight caught the other man's eyes on him.
"How long?" The man had a thick accent that Dwight couldn't place, but he understood well enough what he was asking.
"Maybe eight hours?"
The Wraith nodded as if this confirmed something for him. The silence stretched between them until finally, that deep, almost musical voice came again. "Thank you."
Dwight pursed his lips and nodded, thinking of Sally. "It wasn't me, but you're welcome all the same."
"No," The Wraith said, "it was you. We have noticed the difference since you came."
Dwight's eyes widened and he brought his hands up to wave off the undeserved praise. "No, no, this was all Sally. And Claudette."
"I do not think you understand just how long Claudette and Sally have been here. And I have been here longer still. I bloodied my clothes long before Sally appeared. We never thought we would escape this place, you know? It never even occurred to us that killers could be brought back. We have always behaved this way; myself, Sally, Claudette, it is no different. Then what changed? Sally had ideas. Claudette had ideas. Why didn't it work for them? You." And now the other man extended an overly long finger to point at Dwight. "You changed the game. I know because I remember everything." Now The Wraith tapped his head. "I see everything."
Dwight felt swept away in the tide of the other man's words. This was perhaps the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him, which really was saying a lot since everyone here had been nothing but complimentary for a long time. He opened his mouth, closed it.
"My name is Philip Ojomo and I followed a dream to your great country only to end up becoming a thing of nightmares. But now I know that one day I will be free and I am holding on again to the dream I lost along the way. Thank you, Mr. Fairfield, for waking me up." Philip extended his hand and Dwight took it, still speechless. "I am at your service."
"You're welcome, Mr. Ojomo," Dwight managed after a beat, but what he really meant was no, thank you.
"The Entity, It is big. But It is also small. It does not understand. No, It cannot understand. Many things. I have seen." Again Philip tapped the side of his head. "We will kill It because It does not understand. It knows, but It does not see."
"I like your attitude, Mr. Ojomo." At that the most unexpected thing happened. Philip smiled big enough to show most of his teeth and then he laughed.
"Please, call me Philip." He clapped Dwight on the back and Dwight couldn't help but shake his head.
"Welcome to the team, Philip."
"Ah, now that is something I have thought about." He went on to give his perspective on trials and offer suggestions on how to improve survivability. He was particularly helpful on the matter of stealth, as Dwight had known he would be. The whole time they spoke, Dwight couldn't help but think that Philip might be the nicest guy there and maybe the greatest thing to happen to them in a long time.