You lost your breath as you felt yourself being slammed hard from behind, nearly falling over completely. You had been carefully and quietly hiding behind a large manicured hedge which was nestled close to a large old white house. You grimaced as you went to to turn around to see the culprit, your hand placed gingerly on your lower back.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry, I...I didn't see you there!" she whispered loudly.
Your startled expression relaxed into sympathy as you stared at Claudette, who was out of breath as she bent down to pick up her glasses off the grass that had fallen off of her face.
You smiled weakly as you watched her place her glasses back on her face with shaky hands, her eyes wide with fear. You realized you hadn't seen Claudette for some time, going through many trials without her.
You placed a hand on one of her shoulders, squeezing lightly.
"Claud, it's good to see you. It's been a while."
Claudette flashed a smile at you while averting your stare nervously. She fiddled with the collar of her shirt, pulling on it so that her neck could get some relief by the cool air. Her face suddenly turned serious as she brought her gaze to your own, sweat glistening on her forehead.
"Who is it? Who is the Killer?" You asked with trepidation.
"Ghostface." She hissed, bending over in pain.
You hadn't realized she had been holding her lower abdomen with one arm, the bottom of her shirt blood soaked.
Though you had not encountered Ghostface previously, you were very familiar with the stealthy Killer, being present at the many campfire conversations that the other survivors had about him. He was a human, known for his ability to seemingly snatch survivors from thin air without them knowing he was right behind them. Known for his brutality and relentless chases that only fueled his desire to kill and sacrifice to The Entity.
You wrapped one of your arms around Claudettes small frame, both of you lowering yourselves closer to the ground.
"Here, let me bandage. You need aid immediately," you said, swallowing the lump that had formed in your throat.
Claudette lifted her free hand in the air, shaking her head.
"No, it's too deep. We must keep pushing and getting those gens complete or we will all be sacrificed tonight."
You stared at Claudette with a frown, displeased with her response but with the sheer sterness at which she spoke, you beleived she was right. Worry flashed through your eyes as you lowered them to the ground, your jaw clenched.
"Hey. Hey, it's okay. We've got this one. David and Dwight are with us, and you know those two devour gens," she said while squeezing one of your hands with hers, smiling through bloody teeth.
You raised your eyes to meet hers, unable to rid the worry and fear from your eyes, mustering a faint smile. Though you were no baby survivor, you were still one of the newer ones, with only a survivor named Sable being after you. The truth was that trials still affected you greatly, and you wondered if there would ever be a time they would not. You longed for the inevitable numbness that many veteran survivors displayed after doing them so many times, not wanting to feel.
Your stomach still turned, along with the sickening dread at the beginning of every trial. Fear was still very present for you and it pained you to see your fellow survivors that you had grown close with, endure so much suffering and die over and over. All for what? For The Entitys own depraved pleasure.
You, along with the other survivors, knew very little about The Entity. You knew it most definitely feeds. Feeds off of the unending supply of pain and suffering of the survivors created and caused by the Killers. Many nights at the campfire, when you first arrived in The Fog, you had layed in the grass for hours upon hours staring up at the night sky, thinking of ways to escape. Thinking of ways to find The Entity and possibly even destroy It.
You were naive at the time. Unaware of just how permanent and horrible your reality was. You recalled how you refused to get close with any of the other survivors, keeping them at an arms length as to not get attached. For you beleived you would find a way back to your old life before.
You recalled one particular night when you had been in absolute shambles, crying hard by yourself away from the main survivor camp, deep in the surrounding woods. You had been thinking of your old life and you thumbed the burn marks that patched along your left hand and wrist.
"Hello? I'm sorry I followed you, I was concerned."
Jake's voice was gentle as he approached you where you sat on large rock, branches and leaves crunching under his feet.
You straightened, startled by his sudden presence, not wanting to be seen like this. You sniffled and wiped your eyes quickly with the sleeves of your shirt.
You stiffened at the feel of Jake's hand on your shoulder, relaxing under his touch shortly after.
"Are you alright?" He asked, bringing himself in front of you now.
Your gaze remained lowered, already feeling another wave of tears bubbling to the surface, your chin trembling. The reality of your situation had hit, understanding now that you could never truly escape. That you couldn't even die.
Jake lowered himself to one knee, placing a hand gently on your own.
"We've all been there. It hits us all eventually. I don't beleive I can say anything to make you feel any better..."
You raised your head to look him in his eyes, your eyes puffy and red.
"...but I want you to understand we will keep pushing. We will keep fighting for our right to live, even under The Entity's terms." Jake smiled faintly, his eyes rich with character and exhaustion.
You both stared at eachother, your frown increasing and you knew you would explode with tears. You flung yourself forward, wrapping your arms around Jake's neck, your hands locking tightly behind him, tears flowing down your cheeks. A shocked sound came from Jake's mouth, his arms held to your sides awkwardly. It was the first time you had allowed your walls to come down to another survivor, and you were thankful for his touch.
Jake then smiled, allowing his arms to hold your back as you both hugged, neither of you in any rush to end it.
Claudettes muffled pained sounds brought you back to your current situation, and she squeezed your hand.
"Hey, you okay? We must move, we have been here too long. We only need one more generator complete and we're all out of here!" She whispered.
You made a singular nod, the sudden and familiar desire to escape, to survive. You went to stand before feeling Claudette grip your hand so tightly, you winced in pain. You froze, confused as you stare down at her as she still remained crouched.
She stared up at you with with a troubled expression.
"Stare at him," she murmured.
You blinked once, your brows pressing together.
"What?" You asked.
"Stare. At. Him. Reveal him before he marks you. Don't let him mark you..."
Claudettes voice trembled as she seemed to stare through you, and you realized she spoke with familiarity.
"I...I won't. Let's go, Claud," you said as you pulled her up.
You both remained crouched as you made your way slowly to a lone generator that sat inside of a garage. You both knelt beside it like clock work, Claudette taking the levers while you took the wires. It stirred to life, the familiar sounds of it's metal pumps and gears making its way to your ears.
You shot a look over to Claudette who remained focused on the levers, grimacing and stifling her moans from the wound. You blinked with great concern, desiring to mend her. You both periodically would glance around for signs of the Killer, The Ghostface.
"I know one of them are already at the gates, most likely Dwight. David will be scouting for us," Claudette whispered while keeping her eyes fixed on the gen.
You nodded in agreement, familiar with how both Dwight and David performed in trials. They were stellar, top tier survivors and one of the earliest people to be taken by The Entity and brought to The Fog. A wave of releif came over your body at the thought of escaping a trial without injury and even better, without sacrifice.
The generator was now acting like a well oiled machine as it's pumps were moving faster, being almost complete. A few more pulls from the lever by Claudette and one more connected wire by yourself and the generator sprang to life, it's lights illuminating the small garage.
Claudette stood immediately, her arm pressed close to her stomach.
"Let's get out of here."
You stood, reaching for her hand as she went to turn.
"Please, let me mend. Even if it doesn't mend completely, it's something."
Claudette shook her head briskly, pressing her lips together in pain.
"Its fine, i'll be whole again once we escape. You know my pain tolerance is high, this is temporary. Let's go."
She turned and waved her hand for you to follow, both of you on high alert as you made your way out of the garage. You were only a few steps behind Claudette as you watched her walk through the doorway of the garage, turning the corner.
You then abruptly froze, your feet planted. There was an unexplainable urge to turn around, goosebumps changing the texture of your skin. A strange heat like sensation began forming at the back of your neck making its way down to your spine and if it wasn't for your situation it would have felt strangely pleasant.
You slowly turned your head to the side, a dark shadow like figure in your peripheral. You swallowed loudly, wetting your lips as you went to turn to face the figure fully. There, at the opposite end of the garage was the Ghostface, crouched low. You stared at him hard, observing what appeared to be a dark mist that surrounded him, seemingly alive itself. Long spindly appendages floated behind him and when you squinted you realized they were apart of his cloak.
The heat sensation continued to flow down your spine and it almost felt like a warm hug. But there was something deep inside of you screaming that this was bad, that you must do something. You went to turn and run but Claudettes warning rang clear in your head.
You brought your gaze back to him, your eyes focusing on his pitch black voids as eyes. Immediately you felt yourself being drained of energy as you stare into his eyes, as if there was a force fighting against you. It took everything in your power to not look away as you clenched your jaw and fist. Suddenly there was immediate relief of pressure around you and your energy returned. The Ghostface stood slowly to his feet and you noticed the black mist was no longer present around him.
Now I run.
Spinning on your heels you took off running towards the door Claudette had exited previously, with no signs of her being close. Though the Ghostface made almast no sound behind you, you knew you did not have to turn around to know you were being pursued. A flood of panic rushed your chest and you gasped at the surge of anxiety, your feet fumbling below you.
You cursed under your breath, knowing you were clumsy and poor at chase. Something the other survivors have been trying to help you get better at. Familiar with this particular realm known as Haddonfield, you knew all you had to do was reach the main road. You ran as fast as your legs would allow to another nearby house, entering through the back door and into the kitchen, knocking over a bucket and mop in the process. You pressed your back against the wall, your chest heaving. You placed a trembling hand over your mouth trying to quiet your breathing, praying to the gods that you had lost him.
You pressed the back of your head against the wall, lifting your chin slightly as you closed your eyes, willing your breath to steady so you could sprint again. You sighed with releif when you heard the delicious sound of the gate being opened, knowing your friends would be waiting for you there.
Move.
You then pushed yourself off of the wall and sprinted out of the kitchen, turning the corner into the living room. You let out a cry as you slammed into something hard and unmoving with such force you crashed to the floor, your knees folding awkwardly beneath you. Regaining yourself, you looked ahead to see a pair of black and muddied boots, your eyes scanning up an almost completely black figure, settling on his painfully white mask, speckled with blood.
Your mouth fell open slightly and there was a moment where you both were staring at eachother again, the silence deafening.
"You're one of the most clumsy survivors I've ever encountered," the Ghostface said, his voice muffled. His arms hung loosely at his sides, his gloved fingers flexing over the handle of his bloody blade.
Despite your situation you found yourself taking offense. Noting how no other Killer has ever spoken allowed, especially to you. Truthfully, you beleived none of them spoke at all.
You quickly scrambled to your feet and went to stand but the Ghostface was quick to shove you back down, you falling on your hands and knees. You grit your teeth from the pain radiating in your knees as you remained on the ground with your back towards him, your nails digging into the rug.
Another awkward pause and you waited for the pain of steel through your back, clenching your eyes shut. You could feel his eyes on your back, your skirt flowing just past your upper thighs. The room was hot and you your long sleeve shirt was tight around your arms and chest, sweat forming around your neck.
You opened your eyes slightly to stare at the rug below you, unsure of how to get out of this situation. Unsure of why you weren't stabbed or hooked yet.
The Ghostface hummed inquisitively and you felt him place the bottom of his boot on your bum, pushing you down slightly.
"Down, flat on your stomach," he said casually.
You blinked wildly, all kinds of horrible thoughts making their way into your head.
What the hell is he doing?
You then tried to push yourself up from the weight he was applying to your bum, you grunting as he pushed harder.
"Don't do that..." he said, more annoyed than anything.
You felt as he applied more weight to your bum with his boot, it bordering on pain if you didn't relent. You found yourself lowering your chest to the rug in a pushup postion with your bum raised, your back arched slightly. It was an extremely revealing and vulnerable position and a wave heat rushed to your face, embarrassed.
"All the way..."
You then lowered yourself completely to your stomach with your legs straight and parted slightly, your arms at a 90 degree angle as your sides. Mortified, you felt him bring the tip of his boot under your skirt and lift it slightly, particularly on your left side. Your eyes went wide with panic, your chest heaving under you.
"What do we have here?" The Ghostface asked, as he crouched down on his heels.
You realized then that he was referring to the large burn mark on your upper left thigh, a result of the accident in your old life. You had very long thigh-high socks on that covered the other patches of burns on your left leg, one behind your knee and one on your shins that wrapped around to your calf, licked by flames.
You jumped when you felt him suddenly brush his fingers against the mark at the back of your upper thigh, the cool sensation of leather dragging down lightly.
"Burns? I know you didn't get this here, defects are not carried over from survivors past life. Interesting..."
You breathed in a shaky breath as you remained flat on your stomach as you listened to him speak. He was right. You noticed this fact pretty early on in your arrival to The Fog. You noticed how other survivors had no visible scarring or any kind of unnatural blemish for that matter. As well as disabilities, physical anyway, were removed from survivors before they entered the Fog. You recalled how Dwight told you he used have mild seizures from his past life and how Jane suffered from terrible migraines, none of them transferring over.
The Entity appeared to want blemish free, healthy, able bodied survivors.
But your burns did. You tried to hide them at first, not so much because you were embarrassed by them but because they made you stand out. They brought attention that you did not want. Many survivors were amazed that you had them here in The Fog. Some even took it as being a sign they could one day escape, that past lives were still bound to themselves somehow. It gave them hope. But to you it was just a reminder of what happened that awful day. A day you wished you could forget, even now in a different world. You recalled how you wished the Entity would have wiped all your memories so that at least you wouldn't have the pain from your past.
You jumped again as you felt him tuck his blade under the top of your thigh-high sock, peeling it down to the back of your knee where he stopped.
"Oh, there's more," he whispered, more to himself.
You found yourself getting angry now. Angry at his unwanted perusing of your body, pride replacing your fear. You kicked your leg back hard, your foot connecting with part of his leg.
The Ghostface chuckled quietly and you heard him rise to his feet.
"Fair enough," he said.
As you lay on your stomach with your cheek pressed against the harsh rug, movment in the corner of your eye caught your attention. Behind the large couch, crouched David, a finger to his lips. You saw he had a flashlight held tightly in his hand, his eyes filled with hatred as they drifted to the Ghostface.
"Whats your name?" The Ghostface asked, bringing your attention back to himself.
You knitted your eyebrows in defiance, refusing to speak.
The Ghostface shrugged his shoulders while raising his hands, his blades handle tucked behind his thumb.
"Well until I know your name, I'll just have to call you Clumsy. How's that sound?"
You couldn't beleive your situation. Confused, angry and scared all at once. You flicked your eyes to David and he nodded once, waiting for the Ghostface to pick you up. Waiting to blind him.
The Ghostface let out a dissapointed sigh, tilting his head to the side as he continue to stare at you from above. Suddenly you felt his hands wrap around your waist and flip you around on your back with ease. He gripped your waist tightly and you knew he was going to lift you up and hoist you over his shoulder like most Killers did before they brought you to a sacrificial hook.
He paused crouched over you, holding your waist as your eyes drifted to his voids, your exspression full of fear entirely now. His gaze began to make you uncomfortable and you flit your eyes to the side, avoiding his stare.
"You're going to tell me your name eventually. Hell, I might even tell you mine..." he said, his voice barely audible. At that, he hoisted you up and over his shoulder, you bracing for the worst if David missed the blind. There was an unnaturally bright flash followed by a livid sound from the Ghostface that would make anyone run for their lives, no matter how brave.
You fell to the floor awkwardly on your feet followed by David grabbing your wrist and pulling you forward.
"Run!" He shouted.
The pair of you took off sprinting out of the front door of the house, you nearly crashing into the withered and broken 'for sale' sign mounted in the dirt. Relief flooded your body as you saw Claudette and Dwight waiting at the gate, waving their hands wildly to you and David. Dwight held Claudette up with an arm and your heart sank to see her in such pain but you knew it would be over soon, at least for a little while.
As you entered into the protection of thr gate, you dared to turn around, curiosity more than anything beckoning you to do so. All Killers you had faced would be pursuing, but something in you knew the Ghostface would not be there.
As you turned around, breathing heavily, you saw he was not. You squinted your eyes to the house you and David had run from, your gaze drifting upwards to the second floor window. There in the window looked to be a dark silhouette, unmoving. You turned to face fully now, the warm sensation from earlier returning at the nape of your neck, making its way down your spine. You were being marked to completion.
You stared at the silhouette in the window across the road, confusion and curiosity once again being stirred within you. Marking was pointless here at the threshold to where survivors were kept away from Killers. It felt more like a warning, or a promise? Not quite threatening.