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" the world will feel our fire and finally know! " - the world will know, newsies, original broadway cast recording
song to listen to: high hopes by pink floyd
warnings:
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jennifer peters' point of view
It had been an uncomfortably long amount of time to be sitting there in a crouched position, hiding from killers and Nick Goode. Well, there wasn't really a distinguished difference as to why I put Nick Goode in a different category. They were all one in the same, the only difference was that Nick wasn't possessed. He was fully aware of what he and his family has done, but hasn't put a stop to it. That is exactly why he is no better than his father, or his grandfather, or his great-grandfather.
The bells jingled in the distance, which was our signal that somebody had come through the doors. We figured it would be best to changed where we were hiding without mumbling a single word; with our hands clasped together, (it was as if one of us let go of the other's hand, we would lose each other for forever) we ran and ducked under the pretzel stand. A mix of anticipation and anxiety were riddling my mind and my body. I peeked over the stand for a second, shocked when I didn't see any killer.
"Auntie, I don't see anybo-" I declared quietly as I spun back to face her.
"Hey! Hands up! Hands. Up!" A bald officer had his gun aimed at the pair of us; Auntie M let out a scream and fell onto her ass as the both of us rushed to put our hands up.
I mentally paused the world to ponder what we might say to the officer when we were inevitably brought in for questioning. 'What were you planning to do in the mall with your friends,' they would ask us in a rather intimidating tone. 'We were planning to murder a serial killer.' Is what I would say initially, and after being asked who we believe is a serial killer, I would say: 'Sheriff Nick Goode.' And then, because fucked if a Peters gets taken seriously, I would be locked away in an asylum where I would spend the rest of my days rotting in a padded room and a super cute straight jacket.
"I got two over here!" Balder shouted into his radio, and I couldn't help but cringe just the tiniest bit.
"L-listen, sir, officer-sir," Auntie Mia was struggling to get her words out, but I just considered her lucky to be capable of saying anything right now. "We're so sorry but you do not understand what's happening right now, you need to leave. You need to get out of here, you have no idea what'll happen to you if you don't-"
"Mia Peters?" He seemed to recognize her from either an event in the past, or from her brother-y'know, my father. "Jesus Christ, is that-GAH!"
His head twisted in a crazy angle under the two abnormally large hands that I knew belonged to the Grifter. After the pair of us letting out classic horror screams and skidding like cartoon characters, we ran to where we were supposed to be. I assumed that there were other officers getting murdered, and as bad as I felt about that, the thought that Dad probably didn't like them anyways put those bad feelings at ease.
I found myself holding my breath as none other than Pastor Miller limped slowly but surely into the old records store. A part of me felt bad for what the possessed pastor might do to the records and albums in that store once he realized he was locked in, but that didn't stop me from pulling down and locking the caged-fence-security thing. I ran as hard as I could and as fast as I could to get to the pizza store in time. Ziggy and Auntie Mia were the last ones to meet up with all of us.
"No Ruby," was the first voice that I actually managed to register-the question came from Deena.
"I don't know," Josh shrugged, "We need to keep an eye on-"
"Y-y-y-y-y-yo-yo!" Martin's loud voice was abnormally whispery, but it made sure to not lack in the chaos. "Why'd it get so quiet?"
In exact unison, all of us peeked over the counter to see a bloody Nick Goode. Bloody and bruised, but-unfortunately and obviously-still alive. At least I had some faith now that Dad got him good. But did he get Dad worse?
"It's him." Ziggy's eyes were glazed over with memories of years past.
"You don't have to do this, either of you." Deena's voice seemed to be a tad bit pleading.
"Yes I do. We do." Ziggy took Auntie M's hand as a form of comfort; the both of them slid over the counter, and I couldn't bare to watch any longer. I ducked down and pressed my back against a clear wall that presumably showed off pizzas every day. It both put faith and shock in me to see that there weren't any pizzas in there right now-I would never put it past somebody who runs a local pizza store in Shadyside to reuse old pizzas and put them on display. When the pizza grew moldy, some would just say that it's garlic stained. It was disgusting really, but it's Shadyside, so at this point, what more could one expect?
"You let everyone that I love die!" Considering that I wasn't able to hear anything else Ziggy, Nick, and Auntie Mia had been saying to each other prior to this moment, I knew some serious shit was about to go down. But I didn't bother to fully listen-it would take too much time, too much effort, too much multi-tasking. I'll be fucked if I'm ever desperately in need to successfully multi-task or die. I would die.
All of us remaining behind the counter ran like speed demons towards our designated gates. I was in charge of releasing Nightwing, Miller, and Grifter (I only referred to Tommy as Nightwing in this moment because of his masked face and terrifying deadliness). We all watched and waited for that moment to come when Ziggy dropped the neon blood on Nick Goode, and when said moment did come, all killers were released. I was sweating, I was out of breath, and I was scared for many people's lives. Mine, Auntie Mia's, Ziggy's, Deena's, Josh's, Martin's, and Dad's lives were all those that I was scared for being taken away right now. I would protect them. I needed to protect them.
"Deena! Get them away from me! If I die, she dies!" In a jaw-dropping turn of events, Nick had Ziggy in a choke-hold as the killers advanced hastily towards the trio. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Auntie Mia got choked and tossed into a wall by the Grifter. Just as I began to run towards her, I felt a stabbing pain in my leg. Another THWACK! against my leg. Billy Barker. That sick, but very little, fuck.
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about two or three chapters away from ending this book now
i'm scared
are you scared
cuz i'm scared
also sloane updating traitor after not updating since april??? omg??? who is this??? we don't know herrrr
