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rosemaidenvixen · 1 year

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Dig your eight graves

Part 2

Ao3

Content warning: Gore, body horror, graphic onscreen death, corpse desecration

It was a shame the girl wasn't blonde.

Sal adjusted the glasses on her face, carefully positioning them so they both looked straight and wouldn’t fall off.

Sure she looked the part well enough; pretty, brunette hair in pigtails, big blue eyes. But there was no substitute for how nuts people went for a blood splattered blonde barbie.

Oh well; lemons, lemonade.

He did one final tug at the rope to check before stepping back to see how she looked. Lifting the electric lantern to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

She swayed from the porch rafter, hanging by her neck. Not really though, he’d found some cloth about the same color as her shirt and used it to make a discreet harness. So while it appeared she was hanging by the neck, there was actually no pressure on her neck at all.

Of course it wouldn’t make a difference to her, seeing as she was already dead.

When the cops and forensics found her and saw the hanging harness they’d speculate six ways to Sunday about what it meant. Some would probably say that it was because the perp’s mother didn’t love him enough, or that deep down he wanted to be caught.

The reality was Sal just didn’t want her face to be too bloated in the crime scene photos.

But hey, more speculation wasn’t a bad thing.

He gave her one more once over, tweaked her glasses just a bit more, and decided to call it good.

Time to see how the others were doing.

Stepping down from the porch, he saw Laurie over next to the barn. She had dragged the redhead over and propped him up in a sitting position on the stack of hay bales and pumpkins, gaping hole in his neck on full display, and now she was sitting on the ground with a pumpkin in her lap, carving at it with her butcher knife.

“Hey,” he called out, picking up the lantern and walking over to her.

She glanced up “Hey,”

“What’s going on over here?” he gestured to the pumpkin in her hands.

“Gonna carve a face into it and cut out the bottom and put it over his–” she pointed at red head with her knife “Head,”

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to cut off his head and put a jack o lantern on top of his neck? I mean you’re already halfway there since Jess slit his throat and all,”

Laurie shook her head “No way, you have any idea how hard it is to hack through that much bone, not to mention how messy it would be? Trust me, this is easier,”

Sal wasn’t sure about that, but he wasn’t about to volunteer to saw the kid’s head off himself so better just to leave Laurie to it “Sounds good,”

Laurie gave him a thumbs up as he walked off.

Moving on, Sal walked around to the front of the barn, more electric lanterns scattered around the place, spotting the scrawny boy facedown in a full basin with apples floating around his head. That one had been easy, Sid had already drowned him there. Just toss some apples in and bam, a bobbing for apples gag.

A little closer, propped against the side of the barn, the aisan girl lay sprawled out on top of a pile of plastic skeletons. He couldn’t help but wince, compared to the other ones she was really mangled, her entire upper body covered in deep, ugly looking gashes, smearing blood onto every surface she touched.

Machetes really did some nasty damage.

One of her arms had flopped out of the pile, Sal reached down to correct it–

“Don’t,” Allen called out from behind him “She’s practically falling apart, I could barely get her on there in one piece,”

Sal raised both hands in surrender and turned around “Hey if you wanted to pose her more you shouldn’t have hacked her up so bad. Besides, I thought the goal was to kill them without turning them into hamburger?”

Allen scowled at him from where he and Jess were dragging the blonde boy’s body on a tarp. At the far corner of the barn he saw Sid sitting on the ground drawing something on a piece of cardboard.

“Hey the others turned out ok enough, we can afford to have one get a little messy,”

“Yeah don’t apologize,” Sid called out, not taking his eyes off the cardboard “She was the one who stomped on my crotch,”

Jess straightened and raised an eyebrow “I thought you were wearing a cup?”

“Yeah but I still felt it,”

“I told you guys we’d need it,” Laurie walked up to them smirking.

Sal raised both hands in a placating gesture “Hey, I admit it, you were right. Gearing up with kevlar vests, helmets, and athletic cups was was not overkill; but it was hard finding helmets that would fit under the masks,”

It had taken over a month to find helmets that were small enough and masks that were big enough. Sure they’d found them in the end, but the fit was not comfortable, at all. Which was why they’d all ditched both helmets and clown masks in the bed of Jess’s truck as soon as they were finished.

Well, finished with the killing, there was still the set up they had to do.

Sid glowered but Laurie smirked.

“Hey you guys mind giving us a hand?” Jess called out.

Sal turned towards her, Laurie parroting the action, and noticed that Allen was gone “Hey where’d Allen go?”

“He’s grabbing the candy, now will you help me or not?”

Sal and Laurie stepped over to her “What do you need?”

“I need him,” she pointed down at the blonde boy leaking blood onto the tarp “Up there,” her finger moved up to a long wooden table in front of the barn “I’ll grab the head, Laurie get the middle, Sal you grab the feet,”

They moved into position “One two three, Lift.”

They hoisted him up, with the three of them the weight wasn’t an issue, but there were a lot of limbs flopping all over the place, and a good amount of blood dripping from his chest and head. With a grunt Jess dropped his shoulders on the table, Sal and Laurie following suit, grimacing when she pulled her gloved hand away covered in blood.

“So,” she leaned against the table, wiping her leather glove on the wood “How long do you think it will be before you can get Fier to roll over?”

“Six months tops,”

“I’m betting on three,” Laurie said with a smirk “Did you see how weepy he got when his Fourth of July parade got canceled? One look at this–” she gestured to the bloody boy laid out on the table “And he’ll fold on the spot, heck he might even fall dead from a heart attack,”

Sal frowned “Hey don’t jinx us, if Fier keels over he can’t give you your property,” he leveled his gaze at all of them, including Allen walking up with several large bags “Any of you, and he can’t give me the farm,”

“Yeah the old man can’t kick the bucket until my name is on the deed to my bar,” Sid said, looking up from his cardboard for the first time “Oh and Sal, don’t forget to do the–”

“On it,” Sal pulled the camcorder from his pocket and pressed the on button.

Allen glowered at him as he dropped the bags on the ground by the table, reaching over and tilting blondie’s head “You’re giving me crap about mangling mine when you wrecked this one’s face?”

“Just half his face,” Sal confirmed that the blinking red light was present on the screen before looking it up “Your girl looks like she was put through a woodchipper,”

Allen’s face darkened, opening his mouth to shout a retort at him, but before he could get a word out Jess cut him off “Oh my god you guys can measure your dicks after we’re finished,” she reached into the bag at Allen’s feet “Let’s just get this done, I want to get out of here before midnight,”

Still smoldering, Allen nonetheless helped Jess heap various Halloween candy on and around blondie on the table, Sal recording the whole thing. Once the bag was nearly empty, Jess pulled out a caramel apple, opened blondie’s jaw, wincing at the cracking of bone as she did, and stuck the caramel to his teeth.

She wiped her hands together and looked around “I think we’re done here,”

“Awesome,” Sal peeked at her from behind the camera “I just have to get shots of everything, make sure everything’s all cleaned up, fingerprints are wiped, then we should be out of here pronto,”

Jess nodded at him just before he turned around, stepping around the side of the barn with lantern and camera in hand to get close up shots of hanging girl and pumpkin boy, now with jack o lantern in place over his head. Once he was satisfied with the shots of those two, Sal came back around to the front, zooming in on Sid sitting on the ground.

“Here we have Sid Prescott,” he panned the camera over to apple boy facedown in the basin and back again “That your handiwork there? The old bobbing for apples gag?”

“Yep,” Sid only spared him the briefest of unimpressed glances before looking back down at the cardboard “Was up all night thinking of that one,”

He moved the camera over the where Laurie was packing up her crossbow “And here we have Laurie Strode, owner of Arcadia’s top rated bed and breakfast and the best damn shot with a crossbow I’ve ever seen,”

Laurie smiled at the camera, brandishing her crossbow a little “Don’t forget, I also got that girl you strung up on the porch,”

“Can’t forget that,”

Sal stepped over until Allen’s sullen face was on screen “Over here’s Allen Hardy,” he swiveled around until the camera was facing skeleton girl “You think he may have gone a little overboard with the machete here?”

“Get bent Sal,”

Ignoring him, Sal turned to face Jess “Last but not least we have Jess Bradford, tell us what you did Jess?”

She smirked at the camera “I took out the pumpkin king over there, with one swing of this,” she held up the short scythe, shining and wiped clean of blood.

“You sure did,” Sal swiveled the camcorder around again, making sure to get good plenty of good shots of candy boy and skeleton girl as he did, noticing something in his pan “Hey there should be six of them, so where’s–”

“Way ahead of you,” Sid got to his feet, cardboard in hand “Follow me,”

He headed towards the main entrance, Sal on his heels. As they got close, Sal saw the final girl sitting propped up in a chair, the original scarecrow tossed off to the side. Still smiling Sid flipped the cardboard in his hands around towards the camera. The most noticeable thing wasn’t that Sid had spelled ‘Fier’ wrong, but that he’d written the sign in human blood.

No wonder he’d been sitting so close to skeleton girl.

Sal walked around to follow Sid as he propped the sign up in the girl’s limp hands, zooming in to get a good view. The girl took up the entire screen of the camcorder. A straw hat had been shoved over her afro, her dead eyes looked blankly at the camera, seeing nothing, a trickle of blood running out of the corner of her mouth, gashes and bruises dotting her exposed skin, and a cardboard sign in her lap reading

‘Welcome to the Fear Fall Fair’

In sloppy red letters.

Once he was satisfied with the shots he’d gotten of sign girl, Sal walked back over to the others.

Back in front of the barn Allen was still scowling “Don’t forget to get your own face to,”

Oh brother not this again.

“Why don’t you do it,” Sal held out to camcorder towards Allen, forcing his voice to not come out sarcastic “I can never get the angle right when I’m doing it on myself,”

It’s not like they were buddies or anything but Allen had been busting his balls this whole time.

Allen narrowed his eyes but took the camera without complaint, Sal getting a glimpse of his own sandy blonde hair in the screen for a brief instant.

“Hey,” he gave a little wave at the camera “Sal Hardesty here, property manager of one Samuel Fier, ” he pointed over at candy boy “That one over there’s my doing,”

He turned back to face Allen and the camera dead on “About a year ago Fier told me that he planned to give all his properties to his tenants once he retired, but knowing him that wouldn’t happen for another decade or two. So I got in touch with some other like minded individuals,” he gestured around him, from the corners of his eyes he saw Sid and Jess waving at the camera “To try and speed things along,”

“Yeah some of us have loans to pay,” Laurie piped up “And can’t afford to keep paying rent while that old fart dicks around for another ten years,”

“Right you are Laurie,” Sal took a seat on a hay bale “Fier gets so invested in all the parties and carnivals he does for the town, we figured that if one of them went horribly wrong…well he sure as hell wouldn’t feel like working anymore. So when he bought this old farm last March for his Fall festival, we started planning on how to make it turn out really ugly,”

“And what exactly do you get out of this?” Allen shouted at him from behind the camera.

It took all of Sal’s willpower to keep his smile in place.

What an asshole.

“Well you see, Fier also promised me that when he retired, he’d give me all his tenant-less properties,” he stretched his arms out wide “Which includes this one. Before tonight it may have just been an old dusty farm, but once this hits the front page…”

Sal his grin spreading wider over his face, turning from forced to genuine “That’s when I strike gold. Sure I’ll have to wait a bit before it isn’t in poor taste, but then the real money will start coming in. I’m talking journalists, true crime writers, even ghost hunters and those serial killer groupie freaks; all of them willing to pay top dollar just to spend an hour here,”

“And that’s the truth,” Sid came up from behind him, clapping a hand on his shoulder “A little teamwork, we get our businesses all to ourselves, and Sal here gets a brand new one,”

“Yep,” Sal flashed another smile towards the camera, just because he knew it would piss Allen off “We all chipped in and we all get the benefits,”

There, that should keep Allen off his ass.

Of course sharing the benefits also meant sharing the risks.

More specifically, what would happen if they got caught.

That was the whole reason behind the video. After the job was done, they shot a video with the bodies, all their faces, and their MO; then they’d get straight in Jess’s truck and head to her place where they’d make copies for each of them.

This way if the cops came sniffing around none of them could try to cut any kind of deals by claiming they were ‘coerced’ and throwing the others under the bus.

If one of them tried to fold they’d all go down, hard.

He looked around at the others “You guys think we’re done here?”

“Yeah,” Jess called out “We took care of everything we came to,”

“No we didn’t,” Allen, ever the contrarian “Two of them got away,”

“Nope just one,” Sal cut in “I got that last boy in the stomach, plus Laurie crossbowed him, so odds are pretty good he’s dead by now,”

Somehow Allen’s already surly expression got even darker “That still leaves that girl,”

“So? We agreed that it would still work if a few got away, that’s why we wore the masks,”

And besides, having a sole survivor wasn’t all bad, that meant plenty of journalists and news crews hanging around town to try and interview her. And while they were here they just might be interested in seeing where it all went down, and be willing to pay Sal for the privilege.

Of course it may be the case that she’d be too ‘traumatized’ to talk to anyone. Which was too bad for her, but omelet eggs and all that.

When he’d first thought of this whole scheme Sal had never planned on killing anyone, but then the pieces started to fall so perfectly in place, the idea growing on him more and more as their plan took shape.

After all, teenagers got murdered every single day across the country, why not benefit from some of it?

When the time came he hadn’t exactly enjoyed stabbing that boy in the gut, or bashing the other one’s head in, or dragging that girl down to let Allen machete her, but he hadn’t hesitated either.

Allen just glared at him, knowing he had no rebuttal to give but refusing to admit Sal was right.

Patience at its end, Sal held out his hand “Now can I have my camera back? I don’t trust you to find the off switch with your clumsy gorilla fingers,”

His stare turned murderous, but Allen handed the camera back without complaint.

Flipping it around again Sal fumbled to find the–

Wait, what was that?

He squinted at the camcorder’s screen. Over by the barn, right next to skeleton girl there was some kind of shadow mov–

His heartbeat stuttered. That wasn’t a shadow.

Tearing his gaze away from the digital image and towards the actual barn, Sal saw the last girl, the one who’d fled into the woods with the dying boy over an hour ago, kneeling over the dead girl on the ground.

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

“Hey!” Sal shouted, stomping to his feet and striding rapidly towards the girl.

The others jerked at his yell, quickly noticed the girl, and then followed on his heels, weapons in hand and cursing under their breath.

It was one thing to leave the runaways, but for her to come back and get this close this kid had to have seen all of their faces.

The video was fine, that was just a safety net, Sal was confident that none of the others would roll over, he sure as hell wouldn’t, and they’d planned this too well for anyone to trace it back to them.

But a live witness who’d seen their faces–

That could send everything crashing down.

And Sal had come too far to trip up now.

He marched over to her, knife in hand, ready to bring it down and–

“That’s why you killed them?” she spoke up suddenly, stopping Sal in his tracks a few feet away, the rest of them closing in around her “You murdered all my friends, desecrated them, used their bodies like props, just to save a couple of bucks!?”

Laurie scowled down at her “I’m not going to be lectured by some spoiled princess who never worked a day in her life,”

The girl didn’t react to this, or the fact that they had her completely surrounded. She just stayed there kneeling on the ground facing away from them, cupping the dead girl’s face.

“I thought you guys were complete monsters,” her voice was soft but ice cold “Just killing for the sick thrill of it, but you’re even worse than that. You’re lower than scum, you’re not worth the dirt you’re standing on, all of you are selfish, empty maggots,”

Laurie’s face darkened even further, a sentiment that she was far from alone in. Time for Sal to step in so they could end this quick and go home without having to clean up another big mess.

“Ok fine, we’re murderers,” he took several steps closer, the back of the girl’s head less than a foot away now “You want to know what I did? I bashed blondie’s head over there open with a fire poker,” he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb “And your boyfriend, that was your boyfriend right? I stabbed him in the gut, and her–” he pointed down at the dead girl on the ground “I didn’t do that, Allen did, but I helped him pull her back into the basement, and I stood there and watched while he hacked her up. I did all of that and I’m not sorry, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat,”

Sal got ready for her to charge him in a blind fury, he’d taken his mask and helmet off but, his kevlar vest was still on, so he was fairly confident he could take anything the girl could dish out. He braced himself, butcher knife held at the ready, but she didn’t move, just stayed there kneeling on the ground, the fingers of her free hand digging claws into the dirt.

“So you’re not sorry? Fine then, you will be.”

Sal glared at the back of her head.

Fuck this.

This girl had clearly lost it, watching all the other kids die must have caused her to go completely cuckoo.

Looks like there wouldn’t be a sole survivor after all.

He raised his knife, a few good stabs to the back of the neck should finish her off for go–

A series of sharp cracks echoed from behind him, Sal and the others all whipping around at the sudden sound.

That had to have just been a tree falling, but it sounded like it came from the front gate, but there weren’t any trees over–

He snapped back around, only to see that the girl was gone.

“Shit,”

The others turned and noticed her absence, letting out swears of their own, looking wildly around for any trace of her.

“I see her,” Jess growled, stomping off around the side of the barn. Running over, Sal saw her heading with scythe in hand towards the hay bales stacked with pumpkins, where the girl who was now crouched down by pumpkin boy.

Jess raised the scythe high over her, ready to tie up their last loose end with a single swing–

Something moved, nearly faster than Sal could track, getting between Jess and the girl and halting the arm holding the scythe in midair.

Sal blinked, not believing what his eyes were seeing.

A massive figure held Jess’s scythe arm gripped tightly in his hand, dangling her off the ground, cobalt skin and ivory horns sprouting from his head, standing at well over six feet tall.

What the fuck kind of costume was this guy wearing?

The blue figure glared at the scythe in Jess’s grip, then moved his gaze down towards her, lips pulling back into a fanged snarl.

“It was you.” his voice was low and gravely, far closer to a growl than anything a human voicebox should have been capable of.

Sal was so caught up in the inexplicable sight in front of him, hearing another series of cracks took him completely off guard. He whipped his head from side to side. Those were a lot closer than the last ones, what the hell was tha–

Jess foundered in the big guy’s grip “Wha– who–”

The guy snarled at her, grip on her arm tightening even further, Jess floundering in his grip, face going pale with pain.

Meanwhile the girl got to her feet and walked away at a leisurely pace, seemingly unbothered by the scene unfolding behind her. Nonchalantly stepping up the porch to stroke hanging girl’s cheek.

She hadn’t even turned to face them once.

“Him!” the big blue guy stabbed a finger down at pumpkin boy “Toby Domzalski! One of the best people I know!”

A sickening crack echoed in the dark farm. Jess let out a sharp wail, arm now hanging from big blue’s grip at a painful looking angle.

“Certainly worth more than you,” he spat.

Sal was so stunned that for a second he couldn’t move. Then the girl started walking away from the farmhouse, right alongside them, hair hanging in her face.

Something about seeing her acting so nonchalant at all this craziness pushed his buttons in all the worst ways. Sal snarled and took two steps towards her before he noticed something else. Something that stopped him completely in his tracks.

The basin apple boy had been lying in was now empty, save for a few apples bobbing quietly in the water.

He was faintly aware of his jaw dropping open.

What the fuck?

Before he could finish processing that another series of cracks came from behind him. A lot closer this time.

Sal whipped around to see just where that sound was coming fro–

His mouth went dry, stomach dropping down into the pit of his gut.

Skeleton girl twitched on her pile.

Sal couldn’t move, a dull roaring sound in his ears. From around him he heard the others gasp in shock, save for Jess who was still mewling in the big guy’s grip.

How could she be moving? She couldn’t possibly be alive, not after taking that much damage, not after losing that much blood. She didn’t even look alive, twitching like a broken marionette with a drunk puppeteer. So how was she–

A powerful spasm shook her, a loud crack emanating as her spine twisted back. Limbs jerking and contorting randomly, releasing more creaks as her joints were stretched to their limits.

Sal watched her writhing on top of the plastic bones, too stunned to react, and noticed something else.

With each twist of her body, the slashes and gouges started to disappear. Not healing, not quite, more like they were just vanishing. Like water on a hot sidewalk.

Soon all the wounds were gone, but the spams didn’t stop, if anything they became more powerful, but there was less randomness to them now.

Not a puppet being pulled by strings, fighting against them.

She pitched forward, propped upright on the ground with badly twitching hands. Shaking on her knees with her palms pressed against the dirt. A sharp keening sound escaped her throat, a powerful spasm rocking her spine. Flopping forward on her hands and knees as wave after wave of convulsions hit her. Then an ear splitting crack, louder than any of the others, echoed through the air. Fabric of her shirt ripping as something tore its way out of her back.

The girl shakily got to her feet, a slight trembling all that was left of the spasms that had nearly broken her, the new limbs on her back fluttering weakly, glittering red in the lantern light.

Sal was speechless, he had no explanation for what he’d just seen. Couldn’t even believe it even though he was staring right at it. How could a dead girl just get up an– an– and sprout wings of all. This kind of stuff only happened in movies, fairy tales, not in real li–

More cracking sounds echoed ahead.

He whipped his head over to see pumpkin boy spasming on the ground, the same way skeleton girl had been just a few moments ago, letting out a low moan as the gaping hole in his neck evaporated away into nothing. And with a matching sickening crack, wings tore their way out of his back to.

But it didn’t stop there.

He pushed himself up on all fours, jack o lantern tumbling to the ground. Shirt bursting apart at the seams as his limbs grew longer, thicker, bones crackling in protest. Fingers twisting into claws, toes into talons. Skin vanishing beneath red-gold fur sprouting along his arms, legs, and chest just as quickly as it was exposed.

His wing flared out, feathered not insect shiny, his groaning turning deep and raspy.

He snapped his gaze over to them, Sal taking an involuntary step back. Green eyes with razor thin pupils glared at them, a leonine snarl rumbling out–

More cracking and a loud snap.

Sal spun around again, heartbeat booming in his ears.

Hanging girl had dropped from her harness and was flopping around on the porch. Her legs stretching and twisting in a symphony of sickening crackles, longer and longer and longer until they couldn’t even be called legs any more. Sleek green bloomed on her exposed skin, mangled legs shifting into a rich emerald, a minty cast to her face and arms, hair darkening to a deep jade. Golden eyes no longer bloodshot flashed behind her glasses, her long serpentine tail thrashing against the wooden steps.

Sal couldn’t move, feet rooted to the ground, whipping his head in every direction as the dead bodies around him turned into very not dead monsters.

That’s when he caught sight of the girl again, seemingly unbothered by the hellish scene unfolding around them. Now standing in front of candy boy’s table.

“Wha– what the hell is all this!?” Sid stammered out.

“I told you you’d be sorry,” the girl cupped candy boy’s face, rubbing away some of the blood on his cheek–

Wait…that wasn’t blood, and she wasn’t wiping it away, she was smearing it on him, and what was wrong with her ha–

The strange red substance sank into candy boy’s skin and vanished. Then, just seconds after it disappeared, candy boy’s arm jerked.

Sal could only watch in horror as he ripped back to life, warping into something inhuman as he did. The girl stepped back, making room for his wildly flailing limbs as he twitched and writhed on the table, sending candy spilling out over the edges. Bones shrieked in protest as his limbs lengthened and thickened, doubling him in size. Shouldes popped as he arked off the table. Candy apple tumbled to the ground as his jawbone shot out, teeth sprouting into sharp points, face shifting and elongating to accommodate it. Golden fur sprouting from his stretched, straining skin.

Then what had been a cold corpse just a seconds ago was now a hulking beast. Taller and broader than the horned monster, wolf like in its ears and muzzle. Covered from head to toe in shaggy yellow fur, paws for hands and feet and claws for nails.

The beast snapped its gaze over to them, eyes narrowing in recognition, letting out a deep, rumbling growl.

That sound triggered something instinctive deep in the back of Sal’s brain and snapped him out of his paralysis.

This was bad, this was wrong.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening but it was, a nightmare coming to life before his very eyes.

He needed to get out of here now.

Sal turned and bolted; lantern in hand and Laurie, Allen, and Sid hot on his heels, Jess still trapped in the giant stranger’s grip.

I got that last boy in the stomach, plus Laurie crossbowed him, so odds are pretty good he’s dead by now.

They sprinted and made to turn past the barn, only to stop dead at the sight of glowing red eyes. Sal watched in horror as a gangly creature the color of ink crept out of the darkness on all fours. Ears flicking back as it hissed in malice.

In the light of the lantern he recognized apple boy’s shirt, soaking wet and pasted to its body.

“What the fuck?” Allen whispered.

A blur of fur and feathers rushed past them, knocking Sid to the ground with a cry. The thing that had been pumpkin boy pinning him to the dirt, sharp claws digging into Sid’s shoulder.

He snapped his head up, glowing green eyes with slitted pupils glared at them, lips pulled back to reveal fangs as he snarled at them.

Recovering from their shock; Sal, Laurie, and Allen sidestepped around Sid and booked it. Ducking around the haunted house, stopping there, panting, constantly looking over their backs and shoulders.

“We– we gotta get to the truck,” Sal gasped “Where did Jess park it?”

“S– south side of the property,” Allen panted.

Sal and Laurie cringed. That was literally the opposite end of the farm where they were. With god only knows what between them and it.

They crept along the side of the house, darting towards the smaller shacks. Keeping their backs to the walls and constantly keeping an eye on their surroundings.

As the south side of the property got closer and closer Sal dared to let himself feel a glimmer of hope.

They were going to make it, they were going to get to Jess’s truck and get out of–

Light burned to life from around the corner of the shack ahead of them, but not the cool white light of an electric lantern, something…warmer. The three of them halted in their tracks, the light getting brighter as the source rounded the corner.

Skeleton girl stepped out in front of them. Wings flared out to their full size on either side of her, each nearly as big as her whole body, radiating ruby light.

It was…beautiful.

The closest thing Sal could think to compare it to was Dorothy’s ruby slippers in the old Wizard of Oz movie, but even that didn’t come close.

So rich…so sparkling…he couldn’t look away. He’d been so full of panic just moments ago but now for the life of him he couldn’t remember why.

It was so bright, his eyes were burning but he didn’t want to blink and miss a second of it.

That’s when he heard it, the rustle of something sliding against the dry grass.

The sound cracked the bubble the light created in his mind. Reminding him of the world outside of the light.

Of the danger that surrounded them.

Sal’s vision blurred as his head spun, he knew he needed to get away, keep moving, but he couldn’t look away.

Move.

Rose colored light seared into his retinas, but now the illusion had been broken. He could see skeleton girl staring daggers into him with eyes that were just a little too big, fingers that were just a little too long balling into fists.

What he’d thought was human at first wasn’t even close. So unnaturally, horrifically lovely he couldn’t bear to look away even as it hurt, even while he knew he was in danger.

Something slithered on the ground just out of sight.

Move.

From the corner of his eye Sal saw an absolutely massive reptilian tail wrap around Allen’s legs, sending him toppling to the ground. From the darkness a pair of honey colored eyes glared murderously from behind glasses Sal himself had placed over them not an hour ago.

From somewhere close behind them, far too close, Sal heard the howl of a wolf.

Move!

He slapped a hand over his eyes, radiant light vanishing and leaving his world cold and dark.

Part of him was desperate to take that hand away and sink back into that beautiful light. But now the spell was broken and the terror all came rushing back in at once.

Sal charged forward blindly, from behind him he heard a shout and a scuffle but didn’t dare turn around.

He had no idea how long he ran like that, hand clapped over his eyes, stumbling over countless unseen obstacles, it felt like forever. But he didn’t dare slow down, or take his hand off his eyes.

Then one of his stumbles turned into a full on wipe out, crashing into the ground, his hands instinctively going from his eyes down to break his fall.

The world was dark, he was out of the farm and in the woods, Laurie staggering around just a few feet away with her own hand clapped over her eyes. He’d lost the lantern somewhere in his mad dash.

But that beautiful, terrible light was gone.

“Laurie it’s safe, they’re gone,”

Laurie jerked her hand away, whipping around to gauge their surroundings.

“You have any idea where the truck is?”

Without taking her eyes off the woods around them, Laurie pulled a fob out of her pocket and clicked it twice. Sal’s heart leapt when he heard the honk of the truck’s horn echo in the distance.

He stuck out his hand “Give me the keys,”

Laurie’s expression curdled in an ugly look “Fuck no, no way am I handing you the–”

“Can you drive stick? No? Didn’t think so. Just cut the BS, save both of us some time, and hand them over. You don’t want to get left behind, then don’t fall behind,”

Her mouth puckered, but Laurie nevertheless held out the keys towards him. Sal clicked it again hearing the honk of the horn. Both of them headed in the direction of the sound, not running, too risky in the dark woods, but hauling ass all the same.

Sal glanced around wildly as they went. Keeping his eyes peeled for that terrible light, any trace of feathers or scales fliting between the trees or glowing eyes peering out of the dark, ears trained to catch the sound of footsteps.

Or the howling of a wolf.

Elation shot through him as he spotted the flash of moonlight on the truck’s windows. They were almost there, they just had to get inside they truck and then they’d be homefree–

A rattling sound echoed out from the woods.

Close.

Both Sal and Laurie halted in their tracks. Something moved in the corner of Sal’s vision, but when he turned towards it it vanished into the trees. The suggestion of it flickering in the corner of his vision. He spun again, seeing nothing but another shadow in the corner of his eye, blending into the dark woods the second he turned his head.

He whirled around, heart beat thrashing, nearly spinning in a circle, trying to spot the strange shadow stalking him, only for it to vanish any time he turned towards it. Always remaining just out of sight.

“You see that to?” Laurie hissed frantically.

Sal couldn’t respond, mind cycling through the possibilities. It was probably just a fox, it had to be, it couldn’t be any of the monsters. Even in the dark woods none of them were stealthy enough to sneak around unseen like that, all of them either too large or too bright or–

His breath hitched.

He’d seen six monsters rising from the dead, but there’d been seven corpses.

Where was sign girl?

Panic spiking, he whirled towards Laurie, mouth open to ask if she’d seen what sign girl turned int–

He stopped cold, mouth dropping open.

Immediately behind Laurie a dark figure loomed. Deep brown skin twisted with bark-like ridges and knots, tangles of fern leaves piled on top of its head in the unmistakable shape of an afro.

Black eyes staring at him unblinking.

Sal couldn’t speak, tongue frozen in his mouth, those black eyes piercing into him from over Laurie’s shoulder.

Laurie frowned at him, oblivious to the specter just inches behind her “What are y–”

The figure soundlessly put a hand on Laurie’s shoulder, Sal had just enough time to see Laurie’s eyes widen and her mouth drop open to let out a scream–

Then they were both gone in a blur of shadow, Laurie’s shriek fading rapidly into the night.

Adrenaline surging, Sal booked it, reaching the truck and tearing the driver’s door open. He struggled to get the key into the ignition with badly shaking hands, he finally managed, the engine immediately roaring to life. Relief shot through him but not enough to overshadow the panic.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Sal put the truck in gear and punched it. Tires spitting up dirt and truck surging forward, racing past the dark trees, not even daring to turn the headlights on.

He just had to make it to the road, Jess’s truck was a beast, none of those monsters would be able to get to him while he was surrounded by seven thousand pounds of military grade aluminum alloy, much less outrun it on the open road. Sal just had to make it to the road and then he’d be in the cle–

The truck jerked to a stop, Sal slamming against the steering wheel.

Scrambling back, a sharp ache in his chest, Sal frantically pressed on the gas pedal.

The engine revved, but the truck didn’t move.

Heart in his throat, Sal pressed the gas pedal all the way down to the floor “C’mon c’mon c’mon…”

The tires whined in protest, but the truck didn’t move an inch.

In a fit of desperation Sal flicked on the headlights–

Thick black vines encircled the truck, sprouting wickedly sharp, curved thorns and sickly monkshood blossoms.

And through the black thorns and violet petals he spotted her, illuminated by the truck’s high beams.

The vines and the flowers prevented Sal from seeing her face clearly, but he knew who it was.

The girl.

The sole survivor and the first to return.

And somehow brought the others back with her.

Sal slammed on the gas again and again, engine roaring and tires squealing, but the vines held fast. The girl slowly walking around to the side of the truck.

He gritted his teeth, mainly to stop them from chattering together, keeping the gas pedal pressed against the floor despite the engine’s protests, heartbeat booming in his ears.

Just had to keep at it, those were just vines and this was a big-ass truck. If he just pushed it enough he’d break free eventually. And the doors were all locked so there was no way she was getting to him in he–

The girl ripped the locked door of the truck off its hinges and threw it into the dark forest beyond. Sal was so stunned that for a moment he couldn’t move. Then the girl grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the truck, throwing him hard against the ground.

He hit the ground with a grunt, turning around as the girl stepped closer, getting a glimpse of her face for the first–

A scream ripped out of his throat, scrambling back on the ground.

Her eyes, oh dear god her eyes–

The girl held out a hand, the skin on her forearms was black, fingers tapered into sharp claws, dark veins shooting up her arm. All of a sudden he found himself pulled up to his knees by an invisible force, purple mist encircling whim, his chest surrounded by crushing pressure.

“How many of you are there?”

Sal stammered “Wha–”

She clenched her fingers and the mist swirled, pressure around his chest constricting even tighter.

“How many. Of you. Are there?”

Sal felt a warm trickle down his lip as blood gushed from his nose. The pressure around him unbearable, he couldn’t speak if he wanted to, but somehow found the words squeezed out of him.

“F– five,”

The girl dropped her hand, purple mist and crushing pressure vanishing, leaving Sal gasping on his knees for breath.

He looked up at her; at those hideous, horrible eyes glaring down at him, her lips twisted in a sneer as she raised a dark fist.

Then a blinding pain erupted against the side of his skull and everything went dark.

---

Claire ran through the woods. Sprinting between the trees with a speed and precision that would have been impossible an hour ago.

She was alone now, for the first time since Jim had died in her arms.

Take them to the clearing, Jim will show you the way, make sure they don’t leave the stone circle, but don’t step in it yourselves, ever.

She’d known that it was a group of killers that had attacked them, hoped that there’d be at least eight of them. But of course it couldn’t be that perfect.

Five. More than she’d had when she’d started, more than half that she needed.

But not enough.

On this night while the veil is thin all souls may exist on this plane, but if you do not bring me the eight before the sun rises the souls of your companions will be pulled back to the otherworld.

Claire’s chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with her mad dash through the forest.

Her friends were all back. Impossibly, miraculously. But if they were going to be here to stay she needed to make sure the balance was kept.

Eight for eight.

Five down, three to go.

She caught the faint sounds of people’s voices in the distance, pivoting and making a beeline for the noise.

As the voices got louder Claire spotted a steadily growing glow through the trees, stopping just short of where the light penetrated the shadows.

A large bonfire blazed in a clearing in front of her, smaller than the farm but larger than Crom’s stone circle. A group of what looked like around twenty college students milled around it, holding red solo cups chatting and laughing, the air tinged with the faint but unmistakable burn of alcohol.

It would be easy enough to drag three of them off into the night.

Never to be seen again.

Claire’s feet stayed rooted to the ground, she knew what she had to do. Gone over it again and again as she raced through the woods, but now that she was actually here….

Four girls in matching glittery tutus played beer pong on a camping table as a crowd cheered them on, hugging and laughing with delight each time they scored a point.

A guy in a denim jacket and a devil horn headband sitting by the fire and making out with another boy with dreadlocks and plastic angel wings on his back.

Someone wearing harlequin makeup posing and taking a selfie with the bonfire and everyone else in the group behind them.

The scene was so achingly familiar it nearly brought Claire to her knees.

They were just regular people, just having fun and living their lives. None of them deserved to die, to have everything cut short. She should go look somewhere else, find three people more deserving.

But how could she possibly decide who was deserving? It wasn’t like people just went around wearing nametags that said ‘I deserve to die’, and she only had until sunrise to choose. How could she possibly make a choice like that? She was better off sticking to what was available.

Claire shook her head to banish the thought.

These were people. People with family and friends and lives of their own. She shouldn’t think of them as available or not.

She shouldn’t just condemn three random people to death.

But that’s exactly what those five bastards had done to her friends. She didn’t feel guilty in the slightest for what she was going to do to them. They’d hunted her friends down and slaughtered them all just to save a little cash. And if Claire didn’t get the eight lives that she needed tonight, when the sun came up they’d go back to being dead.

But none of the people in front of her deserved to die. They were just out having a good time with their friends, they were no different than them.

But the seven of them didn’t deserve to die either.

Claire was paralyzed, chest clenching, standing at the crossroads of the decision she had to make.

Three innocent strangers.

Or her seven friends.

Who would live, and who would die.

Claire shut her eyes, leaned back against the tree, and pulled in a deep breath.

And made her choice.

Creeping forward, Claire stalked around the bonfire, keeping to the shadows and scoping out potential targets.

They’re people not targets don’t just think of them like targets.

Off in a tucked away glen, just outside the bonfire’s light, a couple sat on a blanket giggling and passing a flask back and forth, the stench of alcohol hanging heavy over them.

She’d start with those two, they were already pretty drunk, so chances are they wouldn’t even feel it.

Claire forced herself not to think about what ‘it’ would entail.

She snuck close, keeping to the shadows, only stepping out of the trees when she was practically on top of them.The couple was so tipsy that they didn’t even notice. Knowing that if she hesitated she’d never go through with it, Claire charged forward, knocked each of them out with a punch to the back of the head in quick succession.

In just seconds it was over.

She stood there panting, their unconscious bodies sprawled out on the ground in front of her, heartbeat booming in her ears.

Which was why she didn’t hear until it was nearly too late.

“Fran? Jason?” a much more sober voice cut in behind her “What are you guys–”

Claire didn’t think, she just acted, storm inside her roaring. She whirled around with her hands glowing purple, catching a glimpse of a pale face, long brown hair, and eyes widening in surprise before she blasted the intruder with a wave of violet energy.

They slammed into a tree, head cracking into the bark with a dull thunk, before crumpling silently to the ground.

Claire stood there frozen for a few seconds, hands outstretched and fingertips glowing. The sounds of merriment coming from the bonfire continued uninterrupted, telling her that her crime went undetected.

She let out the breath she’d been holding, standing up straight and willing the jitters to leave her arms and legs.

Three people lay unconscious on the ground around her.

Three more souls to keep up her end of the bargain.

Three lives to consign to the flame.

Two she chose because they’d been drunk and distracted, and one because she was stupid enough to be worried about her friends.

Just like me.

Fresh burning surged up behind her eyes.

Three or seven, you made your choice, don’t go crying about it now.

Claire shook her head, swallowed back her tears, and bent down to sling the first one over her shoulder.

She’d make sure they were all well and truly unconscious before ‘it’ started to happen. Claire might be throwing them under the bus so she could pull her friends out from under it, but she wouldn’t let them suffer, not if she could help it.

---

Orange and black flickered in Sal’s vision, the sight poking at a dull pain throbbing in the back of his skull.

A low moan escaped him.

Orange and black, Halloween colors….

“He’s awake,” a voice muttered, who Sal had no idea.

A hand shook his shoulder, and not gently “Sal you gotta wake up,” Laurie’s voice hissed “We’re in deep shit,”

All of a sudden it came rushing back to him; the bodies, the monsters–

Those horrible eyes.

Sal pushed himself upright, an icepick of pain stabbing into his skull. He blinked at the orange and black, trying to clear his vision. The vague shapes of colors clarified into flickering flames against the dark night air. Dull glow of the fire illuminating the shapes of rocks and trees.

He slowly turned around, Sal saw that he, Laurie, Sid, Allen, and Jess were here. Jess cradling her broken arm and Allen sporting a nasty looking gash over one eye. Sid sat on the ground hugging his knees rocking back and forth. And here looked like a clearing in the woods, large rocks set up around the border where the ring of fire burned.

“What happened? Where are we?”

Laurie bit her lip “Somewhere in the woods…they dragged us out here,”

Confused, Sal followed her gaze and was about to ask who ‘they’ were–

As it turned out he got the answer to that question pretty quick.

Half hidden by trees, the towering figure of a beast loomed just beyond the edge of the clearing. Standing on its two hind legs, nearly eight feet tall, covered from head to toe in shaggy golden fur and the shredded remains of a pair of jeans.

A single lip pulled up in the beginnings of a snarl, exposing a row of gleaming fangs.

A caramel apple falling to the ground as the jaw bone cracked and stretched beyond its limits.

Shaking, Sal slowly turned around, scanning the edge of the clearing. Lead ball sinking deeper and deeper into his belly when he saw that the monster wolf was not alone, catching the snap of twigs, flickers of red and green and blue as they moved between the trees.

They were surrounded and not just by the fire.

“They threw us in here,” Laurie whispered “But it seems like they don’t want to step in themselves,”

Sal drew himself to his feet “We need to try and make a break for it,”

“Can’t,” Allen said bluntly “I tried, didn’t even get a foot away from the edge before they knocked me back, plus I got this to show for my troubles,” he pointed to the gash on his face.

Sal winced.

“It feels almost like they’re….waiting for something….” Jess said softly.

“We shouldn’t have done this guys,” Sid blubbered “We never should have gone after those kids, and now we’re paying for it–”

“Christ would you shut the hell up!” Allen bellowed, face red.

Twigs snapped just beyond the clearing, branches rustled as the monsters surrounding them stood at attention, paying close attention to the commotion.

The five of them went dead quiet, none of them even daring to breathe. After a few tense moments, Laurie stepped up to Sal.

“I counted and there’s only seven surrounding us, that means one is missing and I think she’s the one they’re waiting for,” coming in close, Laurie discreetly slipped a large rock into Sal’s hand “Here’s the plan, when she gets back and steps inside we take her hostage and force the others to let us go,”

Sal looked over at the wolfman towering above them, then down at the rock in his hand “....I don’t think that’s going to work,”

“What!?” Laurie hissed

“Look, I mean– there’s only five of us, and seven of them, and they’re all huge–”

“If you have a better idea please share with the rest of us,” she snarled.

“I think we all need to make a break for it at once, running in different directions,” Sal knew he was babbling but couldn’t stop himself “If we’re fast then maybe we can–”

“So you can screw the rest of us over and get away?” Jess snarled “No way,”

“Well what’s your brilliant solution huh!?”

“Oh fuck off–”

“We shouldn’t have done this, we never should have done this, we killed those kids and now god’s punishing us–”

“Would you shut the fuck up–”

The flames surrounding the clearing surged, rising six feet high and causing all of them to fall silent. Just as quickly as they rose the flames sunk back down, one small patch going out entirely.

Before he could think about that meant a figure, one that was all too familiar, stepped into the ring, the flames sealing shut behind them,

Sal’s breath caught in his throat, taking an involuntary step back.

It was the girl.

Don’t look at her eyes, for the love of god don’t look into her eyes.

She was bringing in three people with her. One hanging from each arm, and another slung over her shoulder. All dangling limply, possibly unconscious, or dead.

Walking deeper into the clearing, unbothered by the fact they outnumbered her five to one. The girl came to a halt just in front of the fire pit, letting the three people drop to the ground, one of them letting out a moan and confirming that they were in fact unconscious and not dead.

Laurie rushed her, medium size log in hand and ready to use. Sal forced himself to jump into action alongside her. Charging forward with the rock raised high, aiming it to bring it down hard on her temple–

He hit a wall, staggering, the girl catching his forearm in an iron grip, simultaneously snagging Laurie’s log in her other hand, an unimpressed look on her terrible face–

Her eyes oh god those eyes

Laurie dropped the log and pulled a knife from her belt, moving to bury it in the girl’s gut–

Faster than the eye could see the girl dropped the log and caught her by the wrist, trapping both her and Sal with ease, her apathetic face slowly morphing into a snarl.

Then she tossed them back as easily as chucking two apple cores, Sal hitting the ground with bruising force, knocking the air from his lungs. From the side he heard Laurie grunt as she landed a few feet away.

Scrambling back upright, he saw that the girl was still scowling down at them, but then she moved her gaze towards the fire pit. She shut her eyes and pulled in a deep breath through her nose.

“Come forth…Crom Cruach,”

A concussive wave boomed through the clearing, leaving Sal reeling. He scrambled to his feet, struggling to regain his bearings, when he saw a redness spreading out from the pit. Everything it touched withered, rusty flakes peeling off and drifting up towards the sky.

Sal felt his jaw fall open as the redness rushed underneath him, racing to the edge of the pit and filling the air with a rust colored blizzard. Blood rushed in his ears, guts curdling in on themselves.

What the fuck was going on!? First those dead kids turned into monsters, that girl turned into a freak of nature, now reality was coming apart at the sea–

A wet cracking sound echoed from the center of the clearing.

Sal spun around, a massive hand was sticking out of the now pitch black fire pit, pulling an equally massive arm along with it. Him and the others scrambled back as some…some…thing crawled out of the pit with more horrible cracking.

Meanwhile the girl hadn’t budged an inch, standing directly in front of the pit with shoulders square and feet firmly rooted to the ground.

The thing from the pit rose to its full height, head level with the tree tops and knuckles nearly dragging on the ground. Wet, red flesh shimmered in the fire light. A flayed, skeletal abomination. No mouth, no nose.

Just glowing silver eyes.

The thing ignored them completely and looked down at the girl in front of it. She held the thing’s gaze without flinching “I kept my end of the bargain,” she stretched out her arms “Eight for eight,”

A hisping rasping sound came from the thing “So you have,” its silvery eyes raked the clearing, seeming to notice them for the first time, Sal flinching when its gaze rolled over him.

“Now begins my feast,”

Sal felt his blood run cold.

…..feast?

The thing raised both hands to its face, one from above one from below, digging its fingers into where its mouth should have been, and pulled. A cracking sound emerged from the thing as it pulled, a small crevice forming between its fingers.

Sal felt himself start to tremble, chill racing across his entire body. As the thing pulled its face even open even wider, tearing open a mouth where none had been before. The crevice becoming a chasm.

More cracks echoed in the clearing as the thing pulled its jaw open impossibly wide, far wider than any proper jaw, wider than any living creature should have been capable of, opening up along its entire body.

Task complete the thing dropped down on all fours. Its mouth taking up nearly its entire body, a gut on four legs. Glimpsing inside, Sal saw rings of jagged, transparent teeth, like shards of broken glass, lining the thing’s gullet in perfect circles, row after row of them leading as far down into its stomach as Sal could see.

Reaching out a long arm, the thing picked up one of the unconscious people at the girl’s feet, a slight flutter of their eyelids the only sign of life.

It lifted them headfirst into its horrible mouth, sealing shut over them with a wet crunch. Slurping them down whole like a snake swallowing a mouse. The snap of bone and rip of tearing flesh echoing out as the thing ground them with its teeth as it sucked them down into its gut.

Sal couldn’t move if he wanted to, those awful sounds echoing in his ears, ice cold terror spiking through him and pinning him to the ground; heart threatening to beat out of his chest, so loud he imagined this thing could hear it.

This couldn’t be happening this couldn’t possibly be real. There was no way this was actually happening–

The thing swallowed, shoes vanishing into its mouth with a wet pop, blood dribbling down its chin.

Then it turned and reached for another.

Around him he heard Allen, Laurie and Jess scream while Sid started sobbing. Getting his bearings, Allen turned and made a mad dash to the edge of the clearing. In a blur of motion the girl caught him by the collar of his shirt, halting him in his tracks, and drove her foot into his knee with a sickening crack.

Jess and Laurie tried to make a break in the opposite direction, only for the girl to catch them and down them with identical kicks.

Hearing those cracks of bone snapped Sal back to reality, turning and sprinting for the edge of the clearing. Head empty except for a burning desire to get away–

From behind he heard Sid’s wails cut off, his cries replaced with the crack of bones and the squelch of fang meeting flesh, driving Sal to run even faster.

Fuck the fire, fuck the monsters, he’d rather deal with them than that thing, anything was better than tha–

Something snagged him by the neck and threw him against the ground hard. His vision cleared to reveal the girl standing over him, sneering down at him with those horrible eyes.

From somewhere behind him he heard more wet crunching and Jess screeching in agony.

“L– look kid I’m sorry ok,” Sal managed to stammer out, the girl’s eyes still boring into him “I never should have messed with you or your friends, w– we can work this out, I can get you money– a lot of money, just–”

She stomped on his calf hard.

Sal howled as blinding pain shot up his leg, rolling around on the ground and trying to pull his knees to his chest. Underneath his jeans his calf bent at a sharp angle, blood soaking into the denim, stabbing him over and over again with a fresh wave of agony with each beat of his heart. He could feel jagged shards of bone grinding against each other every time his leg so much as twitched.

She shattered the bone, this little bitch shattered the bone–

“You.” the girl loomed over him, glaring down at him with those awful eyes of hers “Have nothing that I want.”

Something moved in the corner of Sal’s vision, he snapped his head around to see the thing crouching on all fours at his feet. Its mouth open wide and broken glass teeth wet and dripping with red.

Sal’s heart leapt into his throat, nerves screaming with pure fear, he tried to scramble away, but he could barely move, the pain in his leg pinning him to the ground.

This couldn’t be happening, not to him, not like this. This couldn’t possibly be happ–

The thing grasped his feet, Sal howling as fresh pain surged up his leg, raising his legs to its mouth.

“I’ll– I’ll get you more people!” Sal didn’t know if he was trying to convince the girl or the thing “Ten twenty one hundred as many as you want! Just let me–”

The thing’s teeth crunched down on his feet, slicing through muscle and crunching straight down to the marrow. Sal’s throat burned as a screech tore its way out of his throat. The agony of his shattered shin bone blending with the fresh, white hot pain of teeth shredding into his feet until everything below the knees was an inferno of agony.

This can’t be happening this can’t be happening.

Sal thrashed and clawed at the ground, fingers tearing gouges into the dirt, frantically looking for a way– any way to escape.

A pair of black sneakers filled his vision, Sal glanced up to see the girl looming over him, fire blazing behind her, illuminating her like some terrible fury of vengeance, fixing him with her merciless, piercing stare, those terrible eyes….

Black veins, looking almost like cracks, radiated out from them. Her sclera were ink black, completely matte; no shine, no light escaping them, dark and bottomless as the pit that thing crawled out of. In contrast her irises practically throbbed with color, twin pools of molten violet unmarred by pupils, glowing with unearthly light. Glaring down at him down at him from above, those purple eyes seemed to peel away at every layer of him, staring straight down into the depths of his soul.

For a moment he stared into those horrible eyes, transfixed, until a fresh wave of molten pain on his legs drew him back.

Another scream ripped out of him, the creature’s teeth chewing into his thighs. Whipping around exchanging purple eyes for silver, no less terrible. Two pits of molten metal, like staring straight into the bottom Hell itself.

Thiscan’tbehappeningthiscan’tbehappeningthiscan’tbehappening

Sal could only scream and scream and scream as the thing chewed its way up his body, its teeth up to his torso now, shredding apart muscle and sinew and crushing bone as it went leaving nothing but white hot pain in its wake. He lifted his head to stare up at the night sky, red blizzard obscuring the stars, a flicker of burning silver and liquid purple flashing behind his eyes, before his world was consumed in agony.

---

“Ok, ready, push!”

Claire watched as Jim and Steve shoved the truck over the edge of the embankment, landing in the hollow below with a crash. The hollow wasn’t really that deep, only about ten feet, but it was in the thick of the forest, far away from any roads or trails, tightly surrounded by trees on all sides.

No one would ever find it here.

Reaching down, Claire picked up a garbage bag at her feet, a weight that would have staggered her yesterday barely registering now, and chucked it in.

She knew they had to get rid of the fireplace grate and the poker, and to avoid standing out they threw the rest of the fireplace tools in the bag to.

Beyond her she saw Toby and Shannon toss in bags of their own.

Both of them full of concrete that was still sticky with Darci’s blood.

From the side she saw Mary tossing in another bag with a sneer. A garbage bag that Claire herself had helped pack up with a camcorder, an electrical cord, a machete, a crossbow, and at least half a dozen bolts.

More bags followed, containing every trace of evidence of the events of this night. Gloves and knives, rope and pumpkins and candy all sticky with blood, cell phones with batteries removed and SIM cards smashed, towels, boots, helmets.

And five clown masks.

There had been a fake deer to, it had been too big to bag so they’d just left it in the truck bed. None of them were sure what the deer was for, but Claire had a sinking feeling it had something to do with Coach’s absence.

She swallowed back the sudden lump in her throat “Let’s pile some branches and leaves on. Just for good measure,”

No one questioned her, all wordlessly gathering loose branches and leaves from the ground and heaping them into the hollow on top of the truck. Darci, Steve, and Jim even reaching up and snapping some particularly bushy branches off the trees to toss in.

With no more effort than it would take to pluck an apple.

After a while Eli stood up straight, red eyes blinking down at the hollow “I think that’s good, it's pretty much covered, and no one’s going to find it, not unless they already know where it is,”

Claire threw down the last few leaves in her hands and then stopped, not even questioning how Eli could see so well in the pitch black woods.

After everything they’d been through tonight, sudden night vision wasn’t that surprising.

Tossing in what was left in their hands, they all slowly stopped, standing there in uncomfortable silence. In the distance an owl hooted.

“We…can’t go home,” Jim said at last, raising a hand and staring at it “Not like this,”

Claire bit her lip, they’d been so busy cleaning up before, and she didn’t want to get their hopes up and have it turn out to be nothing, but now…

“Follow me guys,”

They all looked around at her and each other, confused, but nevertheless followed as she headed off into the dark woods, hoping against hope she was right.

About five minutes into their trek in the woods Eli broke the silence

“Uh Claire, where are we going?”

“When Cr– when he touched me, he didn’t just give me powers. He showed me things, memories of other people who’d bargained with him,”

Shannon slithered up until she was right beside her “Ok, but what does that have to do with…” she gestured to her waist, everything below the ribs a long serpentine tail.

“Someone else in Arcadia bargained with it a long time ago, and they hid something out here, and if I’m right it should still be–” Claire spotted the large twisted tree from her visions and bolted straight towards it, the others right on her heels.

She slid to the ground, shoving a hand into the hollow she knew was beneath it as the others gathered around.

Please be there, please be there, please be th–

Her fingers closed around a thin piece of wood, heart leaping.

Claire pulled out her prize and held it up for them all to see.

“A…wooden mask? How’s that going to help with….” Mary looked back, her wings fluttering behind her.

Figuring it was easier just to show them, Claire imagined herself from earlier today; happy, naive, carefree, and raised the mask to her face.

A brief flash enveloped her and the others gasped. Claire knew what she must look like to them now. The way she’d been, brown eyes, soft rounded fingers, skin on her forearms a warm brown, not a trace of the black veins marring her face and hands.

“Claire you’re– you-re you!” Darci exclaimed.

She grimaced “Not quite,” she pulled more of the masks out from underneath the tree and started handing them out “I look normal, but it’s only an illusion, skin deep, underneath I’m still…” she pulled the mask off, revealing her cracked countenance.

The mood dropped, but not all the way, all of them practicing trying on the masks and settling into the illusions while Claire took stock of what was under the tree. Ten masks in total, one for each of them plus two extra, some deceptively unassuming potions in glass bottles, dusty bundles of roots and herbs, more than a few books that she did not want to get into–

Claire leaned back onto her knees and surveyed the hollow beneath the tree, teeth digging into her lip. Even though this stuff hadn’t been found in the hundred years it had been here, she didn’t feel right just leaving it out here knowing how dangerous it was. If only there was some way to lock it up–

The woman smeared in red waving a hand, the apple tree before her bathed in shimmering ruby light.

Claire raised a hand and summoned the sensation, palm tingling with power, then a wave of her hand and purple light washed over the hollow, surging bright before fading away.

Toby crept closer, pawpads silent against the forest floor but wings rustling against branches, eyes wide with wonder “What was that?”

“Another thing that he put in my head, all the spells his past priests and priestesses knew,” Claire got to her feet “I just made it so no one else can get under there, there’s only two extra masks so we all need to be careful with them,”

Jim forced out an almost painful sounding chuckle “Hey, I’m just glad I can go out in broad dayligh–”

Claire staggered, leaning against the tree, images flashing behind her eyes.

Horned bestial figures wailing in agony as the first light of dawn struck them, sunlight burning their skin to a dead grey as they collapsed into cold, lifeless gravel.

“You…can’t,”

“What?”

Claire pushed herself off the tree and took a step closer to him “What…what you are now– it’s not a vampire, but like, it has the same rules about the sun, if sunlight touches you it will burn you until you die,”

Jim blinked at her, mouth hanging open “Then…what do I do?”

“The mask should cover your face, besides that…long sleeves and pants, a hoodie to cover your head, gloves, pants tucked into your socks…”

His gaze dropped, staring down at the mask in stunned silence.

“Wha– wait! What about the rest of us!?” Steve said in a panic.

Claire looked around at them, different images flashing in her mind faster than she could see, but none of them had the same burning under the sun.

“You guys should be ok in the sun,”

“But what about everything else!?”

“I…don’t know,”

“How can you not know?” Mary threw her hands up “Didn’t that thing download all this stuff directly into your head!?”

“He did but…” Claire raised a hand to her temple “There’s just so much up here I need time to sort through it all, I get flashes of things when they’re brought up, like what Jim said about the sun, but when I go looking…it’s like a needle in a haystack,”

They all murmured among themselves before Darci’s voice cut sharply above the others.

“Why did he bring us back like this!” she held out her arms, bark like skin covered in creeping tendrils of vines “Why didn’t he bring us back as…us,” her voice cracked a little at the end.

Claire winced, stomach twisting at the deep pain in Darci’s expression “He…couldn’t,”

“Mr. Crooked literally raised the dead!” Toby threw his paws out, wings flaring in exasperation “But bringing people back to life as, you know, themselves, is too much!?”

She let out a deep breath and took a seat on a log “He told me…that he’s not all powerful, and that dying always takes a toll. He said your human lives had ended, so to come back you couldn’t be human any more. And he…he’s a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s capable of lying,”

They all mulled over her words, the woods buzzing as they muttered amongst themselves.

“Is that why he needed the eight people to?” Eli asked quietly “To bring us back he needed others to die?”

“Guess it’s a good thing there were eight killers,” Steve mumbled.

Claire flinched before she was able to stop herself, hugging her elbows and looking away, hoping no one had noticed.

Unfortunately Mary had.

“They…were all the clowns that killed us…” she took half a step towards Claire “Right?”

Claire’s throat tightened.

They were going to learn the truth eventually, one way or another, no point in dragging it out now.

“No.”

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

“The first five were, but the last three…they were just college students at a party,”

Shannon’s now golden eyes went huge “But…why them?”

“Cr– He said I needed to give him eight people before dawn, they were the first people I found, and I didn’t know if I’d have time to find anyone else, so I just killed them because they were the first people I could grab,”

She choked, burning in her throat choking her and rising up behind her eyes.

Could she even cry anymore with her eyes like this?

Dead silence between the eight of them, the atmosphere strained and tacky until Steve forcibly cleared his throat “Well uh….that’s not…good…but at least we’re done dealing with Mr. Crooked Man,”

Claire bit her lip so hard she tasted blood, black, claw-like finger tips piercing through her arms and stabbing into her flesh as she hugged herself “Yeah…”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Darci said bluntly.

Claire jerked upright “What? I’m not–”

“Claire I’ve known you since we were in kindergarten, I can tell when you’re holding something back, now what aren’t you saying?”

Claire’s stomach rolled, hands shaking, she dropped her gaze down low, unable to look any of them in the eye.

This was the part she knew was the point of no return. More than being a murder, the thing that made her a real monster, the reason that there would truly be no going back for her.

Once they others learned the truth they’d be disgusted with her, and they wouldn’t be wrong for feeling that way.

“The eight people I gave him tonight were just what he needed to keep the balance, for payment he wanted something else…”

---

“Then what’s the payment?”

“My price is the same as the toll that is needed. One soul renewed, and seven returned. Eight for eight,”

“Wait, I thought the eight people was just what you needed to keep the balance?”

“This is true for the eight you give me this night, but my price is eight for eight,” he leaned down towards her in a series of jerking, sickening cracks “Eight lives on the night the veil is thin, continued for eight seasons,”

Claire’s breath caught in her chest, heartbeat stuttering, the meaning behind his words slowly sinking in “You mean…I need to give you eight people this Halloween, and eight more every Halloween for seven more years?”

Crom’s gaze burned into her, as searing and merciless as the depths of a furnace “Yes,”

“That’s sixty four people…” she reeled back “I can’t…”

He rose to his full height again “The choice is yours. You stand at the crossroads, banish me and I will vanish from this plane,” he gestured towards Jim “And your loved ones will remain cold corpses, their deaths unpunished,”

Claire’s stomach churned, shaking hands balled into fists at her sides. Sixty four lives…she’d been starting to accept giving him eight, that should be about the number of killers there’d been, but sixty four? So many people…

“Or…” He turned back towards her “Accept my price, have those you cherish returned, and gain the power to punish those responsible for taking them from you…”

---

All seven of them stared at her with their jaws hanging open, Steve’s wolf muzzle practically dragging on the forest floor.

“So that’s it,” Claire mumbled, staring at the ground unable to face them “Not only did I kill three innocent people tonight. I have to give him eight more people to eat next Halloween, and for six more years after that,”

No one spoke, shock and horror practically oozing off of them in waves.

Claire set her jaw and turned away. She knew this was coming, she was a murderess, a killer just like they had been. And any moment now one of them would open their mouths and let her know how monstrous she really wa–

“I– I need to say something,” Toby stepped forward, wings fluttering and lion tail thrashing “My– my grandpa died when my dad was eighteen, Nana keeps his picture on him on the mantle and takes it down to hug it every year on his birthday,”

Claire turned back around towards him, eyebrows crinkling in confusion “Toby wha–”

He held up a hand– paw to silence her “My parents died when I was two, and every year on the anniversary of their deaths Nana takes their photo off the mantle and cries for an hour, she thinks I don’t notice but I do. Now I’m the only family she has left,”

Toby came even closer, green eyes burning but not with disgust “Claire if it wasn’t for you all Nana would have left is pictures on a shelf. If it wasn’t for you she…she would have had to see what they did to my body. I know killing those three people was…bad, it’s messed up, there’s no way around that, and I’m not saying that it isn’t, but…I’m glad you brought all of us back,”

She staggered back, stunned “Toby, I…”

“Maybe that’s not the right way to feel, maybe that makes me a terrible person,” Toby crossed the distance between the two of them, only inches apart now “But you know what, it’s the truth, you kept my Nana from losing the last bit of family she had, and I’m glad you did,”

Claire couldn’t speak, emotion sealing her throat shut.

“Toby’s right,” Mary came forward in a flutter of red wings “It was game over for us, but you brought us all back, killing those people…wasn’t ok, none of it is, this whole thing is at least fifty different shades of fucked up, but I’m really really glad to be alive again, and saying anything different would be a lie,”

Mary put both hands on Claire’s shoulders and stared her dead on “And I’m going to help you get the people for next year,”

Claire felt the air get knocked out of her “But Mare–”

“But nothing, when we were all getting butchered you wouldn’t leave anyone behind, so I’m not leaving you behind,”

“Me either,” Toby squared his shoulders “Count me in to,”

“Guys, I– I can’t ask you to help me choose people to kill,” she swiveled around at everyone gathering in around her “This was my choice, my decision, I’m the only one who has to deal with the consequences,”

“You’re not asking,” Darci stepped forward “We’re telling you, and besides, you’re allowed to make the ultimate deal with the devil to help us but we can’t return the favor? Now way. Plus we have a whole year, we can find eight people at a puppy kicking convention or something,”

“Plus I think I have mind control powers now so it’s not like you can stop me,” Mary added.

Steve stepped forward “Count me in to,”

“Me three,” Eli piped up.

“I’m in to,” Shannon slithered up to join them “And I’m not just being nice. It’s not that I’m not grateful you brought me back, because I am, I just…”

Her voice dropped low, gaze falling to the ground “I don’t want to find out what happens to us if you miss a payment,”

Claire had to force the words out past a thick knot of emotion “G– guys, no. I made my choice, I chose to kill those people. I’m already a murder, there’s no reason for the rest of you to go down with me,”

A soft touch on her shoulder startled her. Claire jerked around, and came face to face with Jim.

“So what, we’re just supposed to ditch you? Leave you to deal with this all on your own? No. No one gets left behind, and that includes you,”

Jim leaned down to look her directly in the eyes “You did this for us, now let us do this for you,”

He smiled at her, so full of tenderness, and suddenly past the blue skin new angular features and fangs, there was just so much of the same familiar Jim in his expression that it broke her.

Claire felt tears spilling out onto her cheeks, a sob choking out of her; Mary and Darci surged forward and wrapped her in a bear hug while Jim kept a comforting hand on her back. The rest hung back at a respectful distance, as all the horror, everything that had happened, the things she did and the things she was going to do, all tumbled out at once. Claire falling to pieces while the others waited to put her back together again.

---

They all sat waiting by the gate, the same place Coach Lawrence had left them all those hours ago. It was pitch black out, the only light came from the occasional glow of their phone screens, which also let them know it was getting close to midnight.

Every trace of blood and gore from the last few hours had been scrubbed away and thrown down a hole deep in the forest. They all wore their masks, human illusions fixed firmly in place.

No one spoke, too exhausted and burnt out for that, just stayed sitting silently in the dark. Claire, Darci, and Mary all snug shoulder to shoulder on a single bale, Claire tucked in the middle. Toby and Jim sat on the bale beside them, leaning into each other, even Steve, Shannon, and Eli all clustered together on the ground by the barn.

All just sitting and waiting in the dark, quiet night.

Then, just after midnight, sounds of a car came from up the road. All of them sitting up at attention as the flicker of headlights flashed through the trees.

Claire leaned forward, all of them did, heart pounding as a minivan pulled to a stop in front of them.

Were their masks working? Did they miss something in their clean up? Did whoever it was in the car notice how something was clearly very very wrong?

Mr. Strickler stepped out of the car, raised a hand over his eyes as he looked over at them, relief washing over him in a tangible wave “Oh thank goodness you’re all ok,”

Claire let herself relax a fraction, even as she had to hold back a bubble of bitter laughter.

He stepped aside and gestured towards the van “Come on let’s get you all home,”

They all wordlessly filed into the minivan. With the eight of them plus Strickler it was a tight squeeze, but they made it work. Once doors were shut and seatbelts buckled, Mr. Strickler turned back to look at them “I’m so sorry you were all left out here alone for so long. Lawrence was in a bad car accident- but don’t worry he’s alright, he’s awake now, and he feels absolutely terrible for stranding you all,”

“Is no his fault,” Steve mumbled.

Mr. Strickler made a three point turn and started heading back up the road “I’m sorry you children had such a miserable holiday. Mr. Fier is to, in fact he’s offered to let you all come to the Fair next year free of charge,”

He turned back briefly from the driver’s seat, flashing them a warm smile, and hopefully missing the way they’d all simultaneously stiffened in their seats.

“So this year might have been a disaster, but your next Halloween should be much better,”

Claire turned towards the window, watching the dark forest rush by them, her guts twisting in on themselves “Yeah, I hope so…”

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