Halloween 2022: Choose Your Spooky Outcome: Chapter 7
With the trio of threats rising and Thad’s goo unmoving, you look into your brother’s face and say, “Thad, much as I love and trust you, fuck all of that noise.” Twisting, you yell back to Victoria and Pumpkin. “We have to find a way to break him free!”
“Damnit, I said run!” Thad reiterates, trying to shoo you like an errant dog.
Your hands pull at the bonded goo, still making no difference, suicidal decision be damned. “Why? So we can make it all of half-a-mile before the next asshole from our past pops out to target another friend?”
“There does appear to be a pattern occurring,” Victoria agrees, her nails flashing under the twinkling strings lights running erratically over the area.
Pumpkin hefts up the piece of carousel horse originally hurled at Thad’s head. “No argument here, I don’t like running in the first place.” With a twirling toss, she sends the piece of inanimate steed swiftly through the air, catching Styne in the green shoulder just as she emerges. The blow knocks her to the ground while drawing out a long groan, though she’s not out just yet.
Victoria dashes in close, catching Frankie as she emerges. No sooner do they touch than a crackle of electricity runs along the mad scientist’s lab coat, forcing Victoria to retreat as she waves a slightly smoking hand. Pumpkin sprints over to help, however Styne is already back on her feet and running to intercept.
When you realize that you’ve lost track of Cort, you roll on instinct. Sure enough, a cane comes crashing down where your torso was, shattering the streets below. Although he’s got a sizable bruise forming on his jaw, Cort is standing once more, and out of Thad’s reach this time.
While the roll saved you momentarily, Cort is winding up for another swing. Pushing yourself up and forward, you dive for the old man’s legs. Crashing into them feels like throwing yourself against a pair of steel beams. Whatever protections he’s got that Thad was able to overcome, they still work just fine against you.
A soft chuckling hits your ears as Cort stares down, the cane hanging there, ready to drop. “Eager to throw yourself away? No wonder. I’ve met many of their pawns in my endeavors, and few have been so painfully useless.”
Numbly, your shoulder and torso still aching, you try to scramble away as the cane lifts a few inches higher, heralding an oncoming descent. From your prone position after the dive, there’s just no time though. When Cort speaks again, you’ve barely managed to crawl half a foot away.
“I shall put you out of that pain.”
A horrendous shattering of stone rips through the air, however it is not from the street below your head being smashed in, along with your skull. Rather, the noise comes from Thad’s direction, capturing both yours and Cort’s attention. The elderly antagonist turns just in time to see the fist rocketing toward his face like a wrathful comet.
Thad punches Cort so hard you can practically feel the impact, not to mention hear the sound of bones splintering. When the old man hits the ground, his legs are twitching, and a strand of bloody drool hangs from his half-open mouth.
Looking down, you see a hunk of granite being pulled along with your brother. The goo is still there, bond unbroken, however the street itself turned out to be not nearly so strong. Staring down at his beaten foe, Thad casually wipes the blood from his knuckles onto his board shorts, smearing it across the teeth of a shark logo on the front.
“Stuck or not, I’m not letting anyone kill my brother.” Thad starts over toward you, the pace glacial as he pulls his anchor along with him. It isn’t just the weight either, you realize. Even for Thad, ripping out a hunk of street took a toll, his leg is definitely injured.
“Ditto, you dicko,” you reply. Turning, you see Pumpkin and Victoria both battling with Frankie and Styne. While your friends are doing well, their opponents are proving tough to take down for good. “Victoria, check her coat and see if there’s something to get Thad out!”
“No! Bring them over here, I’m going to retake their attention.” Thad’s strong fingers close around your shoulder, in what feels like a moment of solidarity. That is, until you notice he still has the other hand clutched in a fist.
“Sorry bud. I said I’m not letting anyone kill my brother, and that includes you too.”
The punch doesn’t dent your skull like Cort Scruples’, but your head rocks back in a shower of static. Slowly, you shake it off, groggily coming back to your own senses, only to realize you aren’t standing anymore.
You’re being dragged.
As the static fades from your vision, you can make out Pumpkin pulling one arm while Victoria drags the other. No matter how your eyes search, though, there’s nary a Thad to be seen.
What you can spot is the new environment, taller buildings than you’ve found here so far. Again, they’re repeating, but in this case it isn’t quite so disturbing. In the original incarnation, there were a dozen of them clustered close together, after all.
Your friends have dragged you to the repeating realm of your first apartment, the one you shared with Jim on the Halloween where you became friends with Victoria.
“What happened to Thad?” While you can guess at the generalities, you still want the details.
“After he knocked you out, Thad had us lead Frankie and Styne into grabbing range. Last I saw, he was still wrestling with both of them.” Pumpkin gives you the answer in a detached tone, though you notice she keeps her eyes pointed toward the horizon.
Victoria, however, you can feel tighten her grip as she speaks. “He knew you wouldn’t leave him, just as he knew trying to come along would slow us down. That frustratingly noble man refused to budge.”
“On the plus side, whatever is coming for the next of us hasn’t shown up yet,” Pumpkin points out. “This terrain is fairly complex, could be a good chance to find a position and fortify, maybe take something here by surprise for once.”
“Dithering in any one place for too long presents a greater danger,” Victoria disagrees. “Our momentary respite might be better used discussing our theories for this realm, and ideas on escaping it.”
You look to the empty place you imagine Jim would be standing, pulling beers from the duffel and miscellaneous powders from hidden pockets on his outfit, declaring “If we’re dying anyway, may as well go out partying” as he downs half the supply. Yet no matter how hard your imagination works, it’s still just an empty spot.
Probably better to stop staring and make a decision.
How Do You Use Your Time?