Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Slasher and the City

A/n: There's an explicit, even more mature version of this chapter, or rather additional scenes to it that I'm still debating whether to post on A03 or not whenever it comes up there. Let me in on your thoughts, lol.

Lillian Hale's sleep was restless. It was often like that, ever since she had somewhat "freed" herself of the darkness but especially since she had relinquished her powers.

Nightmares of her wrongdoings haunted her. The faces of Matt and Will, her scandals with her family, Violet, and her death, the Eye of God.

Tonight, her night terror was especially vivid and filled with all possible elements and faces that her guilty conscience could conjure, as if in a deplorable horror-movie film strip.

Avani's death which was somewhat on her. Almost killing Cornelia upon her and Will confronting her on her Birthday... All that came to Lillian and clawed at her. All her devious and lowly acts. And each time she had to try her best to justify herself and find hope in some sort of future redemption because otherwise, she felt she wouldn't ever wake up again... Thankfully, even now, Matt was reason enough and it was sickening yet true.

She stirred uneasily in the dark train compartment and tugged at the ends of the plush travel blanket. It was an old blanket she and Cornelia had bought at one of their family vacations as children.

It was dark and foggy out as her train continued on its way to Midgale.

In her nightmare, Lillian was now seeing Chris but he didn't look like himself. His skin was dark gray and his eyes were pitch black as he extended his arms towards her and yelled about his broken heart.

Lillian heard herself scream. Oddly enough, it was as if she was aware this was a dream at this point but she just couldn't wake up from it no matter what.

As if she was compelled to see all victims of her crimes hit her back:

"You tore my heart apart, Lillian, now there's nothing left in me to feed to the demons that have come,"- her ex-boyfriend hissed at her ominously, as monstrous vines sprout somewhere behind his back. "You think you can just run away? Run away from your misdeeds and Heatherfield, run away from me? You'll never run away nor forget what you've done, traitor!"

"Stop it, Chris, just stop it!"- Lillian replied in the dream sequence. She was tired of this. Tired of his demands to talk, his accusations, and his whimpering. That's why something she had known for a long while finally resurfaced: "What I did to you stank. But you cheated first and you know it. Yeah, I know about your night with Lola Motta from August last year! I've even seen pictures taken by people who were at that party with you too. While I was dragged away against my will to check out Brown,"

Demon Chris was at a loss for words, he just looked around himself almost guiltily, and even in her dream, she could feel she was winning:

"So, maybe that's why you feel your demons clawing at you. Maybe you realize that I don't even want to talk about how you cheated first and that can only mean that, unfortunately, I already didn't care enough. Even back then! I was lusting after someone else, Chris, but you fucked someone else first in that relationship. So, how about you stop pretending like I'm the only bad guy around here?"

Somewhere behind her ex, she saw the shadow of someone else rapidly approaching. Then everything became blurry and Lillian instantly recognized that same malicious ambiance she had been in many times before while consulting...

"Impressive; you broke my dream spell without even having magic," the voice of her once helper, the dark seer she had manifested during her quest for darkness, destruction, and twisted love, reached her ears. His image though was cloaked as always.

Lillian felt strange as she levitated through time and space and it all made sense. He was intensifying her feelings of guilt from afar, casting dream spells to torture her and get to her...

He was more of an enemy to her than she had ever realized before Fanu... and he had surely done more harm than he had ever helped.

"And you did assume correctly; the point of these dreams was to fend off the overwhelming guilt. There was always the chance to never open your eyes again if you failed yet I never counted on that. The Heart of Earth isn't that amenable..."

"What do you want from me?"- Lillian asked point-blankly.

"I think that you already can tell. I'm glad you didn't mention anything about me while on Kandrakar, giving up your power. That should remain so. Forever."- the seer stressed and Lillian scoffed.

She had expected that. The reason she hadn't told anyone was...

"You know that I know everything. You know that I'm capable of everything. And now that you no longer have your magic, I'm afraid that you will not be able to fend off all my attacks. If I'm to decide to strike against you, that is, sweet Heart..."

"What's your big motive anyway?"- Lillian interrupted, irked. She hated that he was right. While she still had power, she could put that thing in its place but that was no longer the case. Even before she hadn't been able to get to it.

If she had, she would've personally taken him out before relinquishing her power; he was too dangerous.

"That concerns you not. Just keep your little mouth shut,"- the seer nearly sneered. "If you try to do anything against me, I will target not you but those who are dear to you. Your sisterly love managed to cast away so much of your darkness, huh? Let's see if Cornelia will be able to battle and overpower all assassinates, I send after your unsuspecting family members too,"

"Leave them out of this!"- Lillian yelled angry yet scared. "I will not tell anyone about you! I don't care about you! You were just a seer that didn't ever see anything quite that useful for me, but I've done with all this. I've thrown the glove! You're on your own, try to do whatever it is that you wanna do, you will fail. But not because of me."

The silhouette of the seer let out a sound of satisfaction and approval but snidely:

"Then we won't have to cross paths again. For now..."

And so he left her. But not before making her relive all her faults again as if to make sure the message is eloquent and received completely.

Lillian woke up with tears flowing down her face and rapid breathing. Everything on her body ached.

The girl sobbed and hugged her knees closer to her chest; she had long kicked her shoes off. Knowing that she had one last secret that she couldn't share with anyone despite wanting to, made her feel sick, but this time she really had no other choice.

Will came back from Hay Lin's opening event at around 1 PM. Not that the whole thing had lasted that long; she and the girls and their boyfriends had gone for drinks after that. It had been a good time for everyone, even if Matt hadn't shown up after all.

He insisted he had to be there for the search party going around looking for Violet because of his position in the PTA. Will respected that even if she really preferred, he had skipped.

But their relationship was still uncertain, so she knew she had to be more circumspect.

After all, she was still living with Phobos...

Speaking of Phobos, who now had her teenage bedroom, where was he? Was he asleep? Will decided to check on him.

"Phobo-"

Empty. The room was empty. The redhead immediately got a gnawing sneaking suspicion. Had he run off again? She quickly checked her room, the bathroom, the kitchen and the small laundry space, and the cellar. Empty. The living room and dining area she had already been in, he wasn't there either.

Will groaned and slipped out of her formal dress. If she was going to search the town for him again, she needed to be in something more comfortable.

She was in the process of reaching her room when the outer door opened and she came face to face with Phobos and the books he carried.

"Phobos!"- she exclaimed, forgetting the fact that she was wearing just lingerie for a moment. "Where were you? You didn't say you would go out, you didn't leave a note, or message me-"

"I did in fact call you,"- Phobos interrupted her cooly, his eyes darting down her skimpy bra and then back up. "...To have you know I'm off to get some books from Cedric's abandoned bookstore. You didn't pick up."

Will, who was busy being stunned by how quickly the prince had learned to operate Earth technology and had gotten accustomed to Earth in general, finally registered the fact she was indecent. He had his phone, keys, and everything, even an enchanted personal identification card that would be accepted by the cops if need be. She? She was wearing lacy black skimpy lingerie that had been needed to go unnoticeable underneath her formal outfit, which she had just peeled off a few minutes ago.

It was very strange to learn to be "decent" again around someone you've been intimate with and didn't know where things would end up in the end.

"Oh, I must've not heard it at Hay Lin's event,"- Will murmured abashedly, moving back as to let the man into the apartment.

"Yet you were quick to blame me for not informing you of my whereabouts?"- he snorted under his nose and carried his books to the living room.

"What have you got there?"- Will tried to make small talk from the corridor but he ignored her, seating himself on the couch and turning all his attention to the books.

Will made a face and decided to just let him be. She was too tired and needed a good night's sleep to be able to function the next day which would definitely have more in store for her.

She was back at her job as hostess and manager at Matt's club and she also had an important meeting with him and some potential investors and animal rights activists that would greatly benefit their pet stores. Especially since they now had a range of a few across the state and the neighboring states.

Yes, a lot of work, work, and more work.

That was why the redhead didn't even bother with her complete nighttime routine; she just washed the makeup off her face hastily and went straight to bed. In her underwear.

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't alone.

Will could feel a familiar breathing against her neck. It took her a hot moment to realize what was going on.

"Phobos?!"- she exclaimed, shaking off all sleep from herself at the realization.

Phobos had crawled into her bed and was holding her. Close.

"In the flesh,"- he murmured against her neck, sending chills down her spine.

Will knew this was wrong but it took her almost an entire minute to say it and try to pull away from his embrace:

"Matt..."

When she woke up this time, she had climaxed alright. In her sleep.

Will gasped and saw the sun shining up through her window. Then she pulled the covers up not even bothering to look at the wet mess under them. She took her phone with shaky hands; it was almost 9 o'clock. She was almost late!

Fuck, Will cursed and jumped up on her shaking legs. She had just had two of the wildest, most vivid wet dreams in her life, and that with two different men.

Her busy day couldn't have started on a more peculiar, confusing, and embarrassing note.

"You had sex with both of them in a row?! Whaaat? Are you kidding me?"

"Shh, Irma, people are trying to have breakfast!"- Taranee tried to appeal for silence, even though she was more than stirred by Will's story herself. "This is...well, it's something..."

Irma just crossed her arms on her chest and leaned back in her chair, her tongue going in her cheek:

"Why the fuck don't I ever get such dreams anymore?!"

Hay Lin squalled at that again, like a schoolgirl, covering her mouth with her hands and stiffening her giggles.

Will sighed, fighting her own laughter back, and wondered why was she like this and whether she, as an individual grown woman, was determined to embarrass herself all the time. Nobody had spurred her into telling the girls about her dreams but she had felt the need to get it off her chest.

It was ten o'clock and they were having coffee and breakfast at a local Starbucks but Will's enticing story had elevated the moods through the roof, more than caffeine ever could...

"So, wait,"- Cornelia came forward as seriously as she could, trying to analyze the situation; "Matt was better, right? I mean, he must've been, you said he made you pee yourself-"

"It was in the ass with him, Cornelia, that's different,"- Irma pointed out matter-of-factually as Taranee's shushing morphed into a chuckle.

Finally, she couldn't contain herself any longer as well. The stories were just too scandalous and the way all her friends were reacting...

"I don't know, OK?!"- Will groaned, red like a tomato. "It was different. Very different with both of them but very good. Much like how it is in actuality too..."

"Yeah, well, your dream has obviously been somewhat a reflection of reality,"- Cornelia agreed, vexed she wasn't receiving the answer she wanted. "But the fact that Phobos was, you know, rough and crude in your dream because he feels you're about to leave him behind obviously means he's a sore loser and that you should choose-"

"Pee-boy, yeah,"- Irma interrupted her. "We know you have his campaign,"

"Pee-boy!?"- Hay Lin and Will repeated in unison, with Will going even redder and Hay Lin laughing her ass off.

Taranee hid her face in her palms, laughing too, more at them if anything.

"You know, Cosmo girl has a point. Unless you wanted rough handling and you were too shy to ask for it."- Irma threw a sly glance over at Will. "That can also explain the dream,"

"I think Matt can be rough without being degrading and vile like Phobos, Samantha-"- Cornelia mocked but Irma was in for it.

"Now we're doing that, Sex and the City referencing, OK-"- Taranee remarked with a smirk.

"You know, if I'm Samantha, then Will's obviously Carrie-"

"Hey!"- Will took umbrage. "Come on, Carrie's a narcissist pick-me!"

"Sorry, babe, it is what it is,"- Irma brushed it off and went on: "Tara is Miranda, Hay Lin is Charlotte-

"Wait, we're a lesbian and a prude, really?"

"Oh, shush it, Hay! As I was saying, who are you, Corny? There is no one quite like you."

"That's right, I'm too perfect, I guess,"- Cornelia didn't remain obligated, sticking her tongue out at Irma in her turn.

Irma did the same, only even more demonstratively.

Will laughed at her friends' antics and took a sip of her coffee. Her scandalous stories about her even more scandalous dreams had definitely served as entertainment. But it confused her still. What did it mean? She was torn, obviously and the two scenes with the two different possible partners of hers didn't help at all.

It just showed her once again what she liked in them.

Will took another sip. It was as if someone had drugged her last night, she still felt odd. Good but odd. Like the sex in her dreams had actually happened.

"They found something after you guys yesterday. Earrings. Greg Knickerbocker identified them as Violet's,"

That information out of Taranee's mouth was enough to ruin the elevated, teenage-like atmosphere and put them all in alert guardian mode:

"Huh?!"

"Because gold and other precious metals don't decompose like flesh and fabrics, noo-"- Cornelia whined angrily. How hadn't she noticed the earrings? Maybe because of all the blood and gore that Azor had made out of Violet...

The whole story was disgusting really.

"So, now what?"- Irma asked, short on breath. "Are they going to change her status to an alleged homicide victim?"

"That's what you have to find out. From your dad,"- Taranee pushed her glasses back. "But don't worry...Pee-boy, I mean Matt, managed to switch the pair before the police took them into evidence. He switched up the earrings but only after everyone saw them and Greg said they were his wife's..."

Everyone's sighs of relief didn't come out whole. This was good news. Thank God for Matt, who had been there with the search group. But still, people would keep asking about Violet Martens Knickerbocker.

And this swipe could trigger her distressed husband badly, Will realized.

"Well, that's the best we can do as for now, anyway. I'm just letting you girls in on the know,"- Taranee pointed out. "Thankfully, especially because of Matt's fast reaction, the case will likely not gain rapidity. We don't have a pressing problem on our hands we just...have to be mindful. It's not like anyone can connect us to Violet but we don't want unnecessary cases connected to the supernatural to go public around Heatherfield. That will only draw the Eye and other such psychopaths' attention."

The rest of Will's day went as according to her expectations. She worked and had that business meeting with Matt and their potential investors that went well. They met out for lunch and after that Matt had other errands to run, leaving her at the club, where she started getting ready for her evening. They didn't talk much if at all about their relationship. Matt was staying true to the word he had given her, to not press her about it yet Will couldn't help but glance over at him as if expecting something more after that dream...

Instead, they talked about what people made of Violet's disappearance. Thanks to her rocky marriage, many assumed she had simply left her husband which was rather good.

When they reached "Thunder Princess", the club, Matt gave her a peck on the cheek and waved goodbye.

Will was going to host the entire evening tonight which meant she wouldn't get to go home before at least 2 AM. She had done it a lot in the past, and that successfully, but she hadn't had the chance to return to this avocation of hers yet after last fall.

Will had already let Phobos know but she still felt a little bit concerned. He hadn't replied. It was the first night she would be working like that ever since she was back from Beta-Meridian and that was a big change for the both of them. On many different levels. What and how would things go from now on, only time would tell.

Will helped the DJs get ready for the performers that they expected tonight and talked over the phone with their managers, then she accepted deliveries, had a staff meeting to meet all the new staff, went over the menu with the new Line cook, talked through the drinks, the lights and special effects department, etc., etc.

Before she knew it, it was already 9 PM.

People started overflowing the trendy club.

Her friends had promised to come tonight.

Cornelia and Caleb and Irma and Martin, and Will kept an eye out for them while complying with her duties. Matt was still not here either, but the club was packed before midnight and that was a good sign; they were going to make a lot of income.

Around 11, she saw Cornelia, mainly thanks to Caleb's head with his impressive height, above the sea of people, as they got in through the main entrance. Will quickly approached them to let security know they didn't need to pay the entrance fee and also see them of course:

"Oh, you look good."- Cornelia complimented, giving Will a thorough round-up. "Your hair is great too, did you get it trimmed and styled after Hay Lin's event?"

The redhead wore a plain form-fitting short black dress with short mini sleeves and a collar, all cotton and Lycra, and a pair of brand-new white Jordans.

It was nothing out of the ordinary special, but it indeed looked nice in combination with her complexion, dark eye makeup and lashes, and her shoulder-length layered red locks.

"Hah, thanks, I actually went to my mother's hairdresser for once,"- Will smiled. "Theodora knows her craft,"

"It's giving!"- Cornelia agreed.

Her own long blonde hair was styled in a sleek low ponytail, only a part of her long front pieces was out in a messier yet Gigi Hadid-fashion. As was her outfit. As usual.

Caleb was more casually dressed but dashing nonetheless. They were just a damn good-looking couple in general.

Will showed them to their table that was set to house them, Alchemy and her new boyfriend, and Irma and Martin. (when they were to come)

Cornelia was just about to complain about the Latina's lack of punctuality when Alchemy took both her and Will hostage on the leather couches, managing to talk non-stop despite the loud music.

It had been a while since Cornelia last saw her; the petite girl was pretty much the same minus the newly-colored blond pixie that she now sported:

"Will, Cornelia, ah, I feel like it's been forever! How are you? How are things, I heard about some family issues, C, is everything OK now?"- Alchemy was already under the influence of a few drinks, not that she needed that to blab constantly; she did that regularly on her job at Matt and Will's pet store. "I also heard that Elyon's husband died, my God, that Andy Chad was so young and handsome, what happened exactly?"

Will and Cornelia just exchanged glances, unable to keep up with their former schoolmate's curiosity or her logorrhea.

"You've met my new boyfriend, right?"- Alchemy went on deliciously. "That's Val. It's short for Valentin, he's from Romania,"- she turned a dreamy look towards the dark-haired man next to herself. "Isn't he sweet?"

Valentin, Will, and Cornelia exchanged waves as Alchemy went on even more:

"Kinda reminds me of Vance Michael, is it true Irma dated him and dumped him?! I mean, damn! I saw some pictures of them but, you know, I thought it's best to ask her best friends about it. What went wrong, she's always been into VMJ, and scoring him is definitely not easy?"

- Wow, isn't she something, Will turned to Cornelia in telepathy, trying to smile and give back something in the conversation though it really didn't interest her. She had enough of Alchemy's blabbing whenever she was at the store, she liked the girl as a person, but she wasn't her favorite person to talk to for long periods of time.

- Coiled like a spring, as always, Cornelia agreed, already peeved herself. Then she threw her friend a rebuking side-eye: - Hey, how come I'm the only one going into detail with her? You can't just smile and nod your head, she's your employee!

- Who invited herself here tonight, don't look at me. Besides, she was your friend in school!

- Elyon's friend!

"Alchemy, Cornelia, it's great talking to you, but I have a lot of things to attend to here tonight,"- and with that Will excused herself. "I have to make sure the program runs smooth and all that-"

"Sleaze!"- Cornelia yelled after her, though Alchemy didn't even hear her; she was too busy attacking Caleb with her questions; he had managed to remain undetected up until now, but not anymore!

"Soo, Caleb, your mom's a big star. Is it true she put those people, the missing woman's relatives, behind bars?"

Caleb, who had thought Earth girls could no longer flummox him like that didn't even bother trying to reply.

He just looked over at Cornelia and her open mouth. That's it; she was done with this gossip, she stood up:

"Alchemy, why don't we give the guys some guy time and order something from the bar and dance a little while we wait for Irma?"- the blonde suggested, annoyed, and practically pulled the short woman up after herself.

"Yeah, mom, I'm in front of the house right now,"- Irma was on the phone with her mother when Martin pulled up in the driveway of her family's house. "Fine, I wanted to take your sapphire studs anyway, that's why I came before heading for Thunder Princess. And I'll check on Chris if he's home. Has he been giving you all a hard time?"

"Fine, take them, and yes. But what else do you expect."- Anna Bannister sighed from the other side of the line. "What he went through with his breakup is just heartbreaking and he said he wanted to talk. But she just left the city."

"Yeah, good riddance if you ask me,"- Irma murmured. Lillian didn't get to be around them and her brother after everything, no matter what he felt. "He's going to get over her, don't worry about it,"

"Well, I don't know but she doesn't care... At least Chris decided to stay home, I would've been too worried if he was living on his own in his situation, your brother is seriously depressed."

Irma thought about that as she walked to the house. It was probably true. Lillian was her brother's first serious girlfriend.

Her parents were out of town to honor one of her dad's retired colleagues, who had a Birthday celebration.

Anna hadn't been keen on going, leaving her son alone right now, but Brian Hallway had done a lot for Tom in the police back in the day, being not only an excellent lieutenant and mentor but also an older brother figure. Hence, they went. Hence Irma promised to keep an eye on Chris instead. Maybe she could even convince him to come to the club with her? Yeah, Matt's club. Irma made a face. It was highly unlikely.

"OK, mom, I'll get to him, promise. Don't worry about it, go have fun. I'll text you, bye,"- Irma threw her coat on the living room couch and went up the stairs.

First, she put on her mother's earrings and looked at her reflection, contended.

Irma looked beautiful in her asymmetrical navy corset top and the paper-bag jeans. Her pencil-curled hair and now the studs that complimented her eyes...

Chef's kiss, the Water guardian said to herself before going to her brother's room. The door was locked but she tried the handle nonetheless.

Her mother had told her the boy locks himself and doesn't tend to answer lately.

"Chris? Chris, are you in there?"- Irma insisted. "Come on, Chris, you know you can talk to me!"

Irma hesitated when she still got no answer and finally, her stubbornness won over her respect for her brother's privacy. After all, she was his older sister! She had to make sure he was fine.

That's why she put her open hand close to the doorknob, immediately big water molecules growing into sprays materialized and engulfed the doorknob, going into the lock where Irma manipulated them into pushing the lock's tabs and the latch was quick to yield...

The door opened but the room was empty. The window was open instead. Chris had obviously gone out through the window.

Irma made a face at the bad smell of dirty clothes and gym socks as she switched on the lights. Apparently, that window had to be open more.

Irma was just about to leave the room disappointed when her inner voice suddenly called to her.

She stopped dead in her tracks by the door.

No, it wasn't her inner voice. She had deadass just heard something. A voice voice. Irma tensed and listened.

"Er, hello?"

She knew it was stupid; there was no way someone was hiding in this room, there was no drawer large enough, and even the built-in closet was too small to fit a regular-sized human.

She was totally alone in here and yet...

Her eyes fell on the untouched glass of water by her brother's nightstand and she had a sinister foreboding.

Oh, shit, shit, Irma thought and it immediately came to her, clear as day. Her new power, the one gifted to her by her Aurameree, to feel and see what has been felt and thought around water. It had to be that. And that voice she had heard was sealed in the water in the glass...

But the last time this power had made her wary of something truly terrible that had later gotten her entrapped in her own dark side...The truth about Lillian, she had understood it all because of all the water in the plants in the young Hale's room...

Now she was in her brother's room, dreading what she'd discover this time.

People's inner conflicts and personal feelings and thoughts are scared, Irma, yet your new power isn't invasive; it knows when you'll need it and calls to you, it's not a whim of yours simply allowing you to invade people's personal space, Halinor had said to her back at Kandrakar, after the events with Melinda and Violet. She had studied this power more thoroughly this time and she had wanted Irma to know.

The power knew. It activated almost entirely on its own. Which meant now she had to see what the water in her brother's room wanted her to know.

But this time, what she saw literally made her fall back on the floor, hyperventilating.

Taranee woke up from a nightmare. She glanced at the clock; it was almost midnight. She had fallen asleep earlier tonight because she had been tired. Since Nigel was off to a work conference regarding his very own therapy practice and further specialization in psychology, she had had nothing better to do anyway.

With her pregnancy progressing, she couldn't go out to busy nightlife places like her friends, not that she had a great desire to anyway.

But this nightmare she had just had? It was a nightmare she couldn't even remember; she just knew it had been dreadful.

She knew what it was connected to; even if she hadn't wanted to admit it, the still open case with the "slasher" who had wounded three people around Sheffield was bugging her.

Taranee hugged herself in her gray bunny plush robe, a Christmas gift from her eccentric aunt Louisanna, and sat in front of her laptop. The apartment was homey and dimly lit; Taranee lighted a few candles to make it even cozier and concentrated on her laptop's screen.

She opened the saved files and the browser tabs she had been working with, trying to build up somewhat of a case on the slasher herself. Since the police had no lead maybe she could find something. A clue or anything.

Taranee sighed and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of mint tea before coming back to her workspace. She checked for new articles and then opened her files, where she was compiling information on the slasher's attempted victims.

There was a new gossip article by the Grumpers on Jerry Fisher, the third victim. Taranee frowned, wondering if this was even worth her time. But then again, if the Grumpers were good at anything it was digging out people's dirty laundry. (Even if they liked to distort the truth most of the time) Maybe they had written about something that could be useful to the victims' profiling which she was doing, the table that Taranee had started writing in information on them.

"Jerry Fisher, one of the three near-victims, who were almost slain by Heatherfield's gruesome slasher on the loose, breaks her silence after fleeing the city,"- Taranee read and immediately perked up. That actually sounded like just what she needed. She had tried to reach out to the victims herself via social media but had hit a wall with that. They never answered her and she didn't have the time to try to track them down herself these days to ask them about it again in person. "After Heatherfield's poor attempt at attracting the crew for the next "Scream" movie last week, the police and the faculty of Sheffield Institute and College did all in their power to cover up their asses. And while the wannabe slasher who wounded three civilians on Halloween, sticking strictly to the textbooks, escaped the authorities and remains on the loose, the said authorities and the faculty refused to denounce any information to the public. They wanted to keep us in the dark, obviously engrossed by Sheffield's rising in the national higher education league, wanting to keep that tendency. It's not hard to guess that a horror-movie scenario of this sort will have a serious impact on the school brand's reputation but what these snobs fail at understanding is that, actually, no advertisement is a really bad advertisement,"- Taranee scoffed. This unprofessional article was going to give her a migraine. The Grumpers were terrible journalists, she decided, great for slander writing and tacky gossip programs. Taranee shook her head to herself and kept reading: "After days of keeping us in the dark, the three victims finally were revealed by none other than an anonymous source, who we believe came from the overpraised faculty board of "Sheffield". After Lola Motta, Jerry Fisher, and Sam Jerald's names were released to the public, all gazettes and media portals went wild, but we're the first to actually score an interview with one of them. As you know, the three were all graduates from Sheffield's class of 2020. On Halloween this year, the two girls and Lola's boyfriend came in the way of the mysterious and dangerous wannabe slasher, who thankfully, appears to be too incompetent since he was unable to off either one of them. He didn't do his "Scream" homework. Michael Myers would be pissed. Or is it so? Could the attacks have been not only premeditated but also meant to be just that and not kills?"- Taranee raised an eyebrow. Actually, that had crossed her mind too but were the Grumpers really on to something here? "Jerry was laconic but her words definitely suggest that. Revealing that she has moved for the semester, to an unknown location far away from Heatherfield, the final girl finally gave in and decided to talk to us about her horrific experience. The following interview was taken via Instagram video chat by Courtney Grumper,"

Taranee turned the video on and saw Courtney's familiar freckled face caked in makeup. The chat was screen recorded, and her collocutor, the younger girl with pink glasses and dark bangs, was obviously Jerry Fisher. Taranee recognized her. She and Hay Lin had been there when they called them, having found her wounded on Sheffield's premises.

C.G: So, Jerry, first and foremost, how are you? Are you well recovered to travel or is it that you feel pressured to leave the city because of our collected incompetence? And by ours, I mean that of the school board and the authorities.

(she laughed at which Taranee felt like puking.)

J.F: I'm fine; the blade of t-the knife didn't go deep enough in any of my wounds for them to be that dangerous but yeah, I guess you can say that I'm pretty shaken up. And the fact that that freak is on the loose makes me want to be as far away as possible-

(Courtney proceeded to interrupt her.)

C.G: And your friend, Lola? She had the severest wounds, didn't she? Is she still in that private hospital and where is Sam? Is it true they broke up?

J.F: Sam and Lola broke up months ago. I don't want to comment on that, the whole reason I agreed to do this interview was to let people know (she got rather emotional, and Taranee couldn't blame her.) To let them know that we're here. We survived! But that doesn't mean we're safe, because the fact that this crazed person was capable of escaping that day means they're capable of anything. Our lives were maybe spared so that he can come and finish us off later! I want that to be out there, my statement so that people finally take this seriously! Yes, we didn't die, but when you and other people mock the whole experience, calling it a poorly done slasher movie and wannabe and whatnot, you make it worse! We were there! We were hurt and he's out there, so stop acting like it's nothing, damn it!

C.G: When you say he, he, he, do you mean something in particular, Jerry? (Courtney managed to take the word, not commenting on anything that the emotional girl, who was crying by now had said. Anything but what interested her. What a vulture, Taranee thought.) Do you have any suspects of your own or why not the suspect? Do you have his name?

J.F: I've already given all that to the police, in my testimony. I was advised not to comment on it in front of any media outlet. In fact, I wasn't supposed to talk to the media at all but then I saw him at the train station. I saw how he acted nuts. Yes, it crossed my mind before, because who else? Who else would want to hurt us in particular? But I didn't believe it until I saw how unhinged he looked in broad daylight. I just wanna say that you know who you are and everyone will know who you are soon. In case you want to try to come at me with your knife again, freak!

Taranee cut the video short. That was all of Jerry anyway, she had disconnected during the call, and Taranee definitely didn't need Courney's synopsis in the end.

But what she had heard confused her. Had Jerry really identified her attacker? And if she had talked about it to the police, why hadn't she, as a part of the faculty, heard about it?

There was definitely more to that. So, Taranee did something, she wouldn't usually do. She sent a few more messages to Jerry on Instagram.

'Hi, Jerry, sorry to bother you again, it's Taranee Cook. I'm not going to say how I was there when we found you again, you're entitled to your privacy. I just wanted you to know I watched your interview with the Grumpers and I wanted to tell you that I can help you. You don't have to be afraid of anyone or the police.'

Sent.

That sure is a hell of long for a direct message, Taranee thought and stretched her arms and back. She was tired again. She added the new information on the victims in her file and closed her laptop.

Maybe it was time to go to bed again.

After all, she hadn't expected what followed to happen. For Jerry to reply to her so quickly.

'You should ask your friend about him then. She was there too.'

Taranee furrowed her brows. What was Jerry talking about it? Which friend? Where?

She wrote all these questions to her on the spot.

'The one who slapped him. I think she was seeing her sister off and caught them together. Good thing he didn't have a knife on him.'

Matt got off his Uber and walked towards Thunder Princess on foot. He had just finished his errands, a gig actually, and was ready to go check on Will and how everything was going. Not that he doubted she was doing amazing. Despite the hiatus, she had always been great at this job.

He engaged himself with more thoughts about Will as he made his way to the club through the back allies. He was going to use the back door to avoid the ruckus in the front and all that jazz.

Usually, Matt didn't go alone after his gigs. He was a big name now, as was Cobalt Blue and they always had at least one member of security with them on their gigs and/or a driver, but he had parted earlier from the collective tonight.

They were going to continue the party elsewhere, somewhere more secluded. He was much more eager to spend the night with Will. No magic drama, no tension, no Phobos.

Just them, their friends, club, drinks, and music.

Maybe that's what they needed to finally turn the next page together, tight?

But all effervescence and hope for tonight left him when he felt it. The cold, sharp blade painfully plunged into him from behind.

Matt wheezed in pain and shock as his attacker pushed first his head back, preventing him from turning around, and then pushing him face down to the ground as he twisted the sharp knife, deepening the severe wound in the near-fatal spot it had been plunged into...