Author's Note:
Hey, hey, everybody! I'm back again with another story!
So, I had so much fun killing off the original Total Drama cast in my last story, Fang, that I decided to write another one-but this time focusing on the characters from Revenge of the Island and Pahkitew Island! And trust me-these characters are going to be a lot more fun to kill off. Mostly because I'm not a big fan of most of them.
And, given that you've clearly seen the title of this story, you know who their killer is going to be. After missing out on being hunted by Fang, everyone's favorite homeschool camper, Ezekiel, is here to take center stage as the murderous monster responsible for the killings. I think we all know what version of Zeke this is.
But, moving on, at the moment, this story will be rated T. Honestly, Fang probably could've made it with a T rating. So I'm going to start with this story as T, but if I get yelled at, I'll move this up to M. But we'll see!
I'm hoping this story will be better than Fang. Thanks to a Gothic literature class I took recently, I should have a better understanding of how horror works. So the darker scenes should work better than with Fang.
As with Fang, there will be a poll up on profile for you guys to vote on who you think will survive this story. Don't expect big name characters to survive simply by their name alone-a few of you made that mistake with Fang and paid the price of being wrong. But the poll should be up right now, so I urge you all to check it out and place your bets. It's going to be a bloody ride.
And so, without further ado, I present to you the first chapter of...Zeke.
The full moon illuminated the single car parked at the edge of the woods. It was a clear night—not a cloud in the sky.
"These are the kinds of nights I enjoy," the man in the car told his wife. "Clear, cool summer nights, where the only sounds that you can hear are the crickets and the owls."
His wife laughed slightly. "You always were sentimental about the great outdoors."
"Well, what can I say?" the man asked. "The outdoors provided me with lots of material for my paintings."
That earned him a playful eyeroll from the woman. "Marvin, you promised not to talk about your work tonight."
"Sorry, Amber," the man apologized. "You know how much I can get carried away."
Amber laughed and gave his nose a playful tap. "Want to roll the top down?"
"Sure thing." Marvin flipped a switch and the top of the convertible slid open, exposing the pair to the cool summer breeze. Amber let out a sigh, leaning back in her seat.
"What is it?" Marvin asked her.
"Nothing," she responded. "I'm just glad I have time to spend with you. The life of a pilot can get pretty hectic."
"It was nice for the airline to give you some time off so you could spend your birthday tomorrow here," Marvin agreed.
"So," Amber asked, "What'd you get me?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out."
She let out a dramatic sigh. "You're no fun."
"True, but you still married me."
"Yeah, I suppose I did." Amber leaned in and gave him a kiss.
SNAP!
Marvin's head whipped around to the woods behind them. "What was that?" he asked.
Amber shrugged. "Probably just an animal."
"Maybe we should go."
"Why? Scared of squirrels?"
"That sounded bigger than a squirrel. And there are bears in those woods."
"You're being paranoid," Amber told him.
"Let's at least put the top back up," Marvin suggested.
Amber sighed. "Fine." She hit the switch again, and the top slowly rolled back up. Not a moment too soon. The second it was up, something hit it with a loud BANG!
"What the hell?" Marvin asked. "Is something on the roof?"
Amber clutched Marvin's hand. "Marvin—let's get out of here."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Marvin turned the key in the ignition. The car roared to life and he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal.
"We're getting out of here," he decided. "We need to—"
A gray, rotting hand smashed through the driver's window, seized Marvin by the throat, and pulled him, screaming, out the window.
"Marvin!" Amber screamed. The car, now out of control, swerved off to the side, smashing into the tree. The woman was jerked forward, banging her head on the dashboard. She let out a cry of pain, slumping back and holding her head. When she pulled her hand away, she saw it was covered in blood.
"Marvin?" she groaned, looking around. "Marvin?" She fumbled for the door, opening it and nearly falling out of the car. She leaned against it as a figure emerged from the shadows.
"Marvin?" she asked. "Is that you?"
The figure shambled towards her, stepping into the light. That was when she realized that the graying, dead looking thing running at her was not Marvin.
She barely had time to scream before the figure was on her, tearing her throat out. She was dead in seconds.
But, if she had still been alive, she would've heard the thing shamble away, still muttering the same word over and over again.
"Zeke…Zeke…Zeke…"
The sky was slowly growing lighter and lighter by the time the windowless van pulled next to the scene. The back of the van opened, and multiple men dressed in dark clothing and masks got out. The men moved quickly, grabbing Amber's dead body and starting to wrap it up in plastic wrap.
The side door of the van opened and another man got out. Unlike the others, he worse a dark trench coat and had a black fedora atop his curly brown hair. He lit a cigar as one of the other men approached him.
"Sir. The initial test was successful. The two subjects were subdued and eliminated in minutes," he told him.
The Man in the Fedora nodded his head. "I only see the woman here. Where's the man?"
"Further back. It yanked them him out and tore his arm off before breaking his neck."
The Man in the Fedora smiled. "It's working better than we could've hoped. But this was only stage one."
He turned his attention to the rest of his men. "Continue cleaning this mess up. No trace must remain." He walked back to the van and got in, pulling out a radio.
"Chairman. I'm pleased to report that Project Homeschool has, so far, exceeded expectations."
"The test was a success then?" the cold voice on the other end asked.
"Completely."
"Excellent. You have permission to move on with your trial."
"Thank you, Chairman. I will report back when stage two is complete." The Man in the Fedora put down the radio and leaned back in his chair. The cigar smoke wafted around him as he smiled.
When stage two began…that would be when the real test began.
The sunrise on Pahkitew Island was a beautiful thing to witness—especially for someone that hadn't seen it before.
Staring out a window at the bright globs of red orange on the horizon was a girl. She let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her red hair.
"Zoey?" Her mom poked her head in the room. "Are you all set up in here?"
Zoey waved a hand around her room, still looking out the window. Her mom stepped closer to her, putting an arm around her. "I know it's not ideal, dear," she told her. "But we're going to be happy here. Better jobs, more money. And I'm sure you'll be able to make some new friends out there."
"Do you think they'll like me?" Zoey asked. She knew she always had some trouble making friends. It had been a problem back in the last town she had lived in. No one there was quite like her-or was interested in the same things as her. Plus, there were too many jocks.
"Of course they'll like you." Her mom adjusted the flower in her hair. "You're smart, funny, and probably the sweetest girl out there. Now, go out there and make new friends."
Zoey decided that take her mother's advice and did as she was told. She kissed her mom goodbye with a promise that she would be back later. With that, she put on her shoes and headed outside.
She took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh air. Her mom was right. She would find friends. And things would be better here than her old home. It was a chance to start over and make new friends.
As she stood on the front step, the sound of an engine reached her ears. Seconds later, a scooter turned the street corner, pulling to a stop at the house next door to hers. The rider got off and took off his helmet, revealing a boy about Zoey's age with spiky dark brown hair. As he started for his front door, he stopped upon noticing Zoey.
Zoey, trying to appear friendly, gave a little wave. The boy hesitated, then gave a gentle wave back. She took that as an invitation to go over and introduce herself.
"Hi," she said.
"Uh…hi," the boy said back.
Zoey held a hand out to him. "I'm Zoey."
"Mike." The boy shook her hand gently. After that, both of them were quiet as an awkward silence settled between them.
"So—uh—you new hear?" Mike eventually asked.
"Yeah. We just moved in from the mainland," Zoey explained. "We moved in yesterday."
"Yeah, I was wondering when someone would buy that house. No one's lived there in years."
"Really?"
"Don't worry, it's not haunted," Mike assured her. "At least not that I know of."
Zoey giggled at that. Mike was proving to be a sweet guy. "Well, Mike, I think I'm going to like it here if the people are as nice as you."
"Yeah…" Mike rubbed the back of his head.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Zoey started to panic a little.
"No! No—" Mike said quickly. "It's just that, well…the people our age here are…odd."
"Odd?"
"That's probably the best way to say it. Even Dave, even though he always describes himself as the normal guy."
"Does that mean you're odd too?"
Mike flinched; clearly, this was a touchy subject for him. "Oh! Sorry!" Zoey apologized quickly.
Mike shook it off quickly though. "So, uh…have you had a chance to explore the town yet?"
Zoey shook her head. "No. I only just got here yesterday."
"Well, do you want me to show you around?"
"Really? I mean, if you don't mind—"
"Of course not," Mike cut her off. "I finished my paper route, so the only other thing I have going on today is meeting my friends for lunch later; I could bring you along to meet them too."
"Are they odd too?"
Mike waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "Some are stranger than others. But we're a tight group. I think you'll like them."
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Zoey asked.
"Just give me a few minutes to pick some things up inside and I'll give you a lift on my scooter. Okay?"
Zoey nodded. "Sure."
Mike backed up to his front door, nearly tripping over the front step. "It was—nice to meet you, Zoey."
"You too, Mike."
Mike fumbled the doorknob and slipped into his house. Zoey smiled back at him, brushing her hair back again. Maybe making friends on Pahkitew Island wasn't going to be so hard after all.
Alive: Amy, Anne Maria, B, Beardo, Brick, Cameron, Dakota, Dave, Dawn, Ella, Ezekiel, Jasmine, Jo, Lightning, Max, Mike, Rodney, Sam, Samey, Scarlett, Scott, Shawn, Sky, Sugar, Topher, Zoey
Dead: No one (for now)
And so it begins! Don't forget to place your vets in the poll on my profile on who you think will survive.
For those of you that have read my other stories, yes, the two randos at the start of the chapter were indeed based off my Total Drama OCs Marvin and Amber. I needed two people to serve as the first kills of the story, and I didn't want to use any of the established characters like I did in Fang for the first kills. So I decided to include those two as the first kills here to get the story going. However, as they're only randos, they're not going on the kill count.
As you can see, this story will take a more slasher approach rather than the Jaws inspiration that Fang was. I think I can do a lot with Zeke as a slasher villain/monster. We'll see how things go as this story progresses.
I think that's about it. Make sure you hit that favorite/follow button to stay informed on future updates, and don't forget to drop a review to let me know how I'm doing. Until next time, this is Guest 1138, reminding you that the best burgers are made with fresh beef. Ciao!