Halloween: Returns

5- The Shape Breaks Free

Ellen lay back in her armchair, finally letting out a large sigh of exhaustion. She dropped her pen onto the desk, landing it directly on top of the notes she had just finished on her patient. After several hours of thorough researching and writing, she allowed herself a break from her work. She dropped her eyelids, sealing away her weary eyes from the lamp next to her. Could she reach over and turn it off? Of course she could. But at that moment in time, Hill could think of nothing better to do than lie back in her chair and doze off to sleep, to a place more peaceful than the mind of her silent patient.

She felt herself slipping away into her state of peace, when a high-pitched alarm sounded. It caused her to jolt forwards, opening her eyes and forcing her brain back into gear. The loud, repetitive noise of the alarm battered away at her, forcing her to get to her feet and rush over to the door. Opening it, she was immediately greeted by a couple of guards with shotguns running down to corridor. One of them was advising people to stay in their rooms. Ellen, however, closed the door behind her and headed in the same direction the guards went.

Eventually, after moving through corridor to corridor of panicked doctors and nervous guards, she found herself in a familiar wing of the institution. Though she tried to convince herself that she was wrong, that what happened was not what she feared, her gut told her the opposite. As she rounded the final corner, she came face to face with the examination room she had been in with Michael just a few hours prior. The door was ajar, a guard lying on the ground with blood spilling out of his head. Bloody footprints led down the other corridor and exactly to where she dreaded.

"It's Myers." One of the guards said quickly to his radio. "He's headed towards the exit. Again, Michael Myers has broken free."

From behind her, she heard quick footsteps. Emerging from the corner was Barney, a pale yet almost angry expression on his face. From his eyes, Ellen could tell he had also been trying to go to sleep. He approached her quickly as the two of them continued down the corridor.

"What the hell's going on?!" Barney asked her. "He's out, isn't he?" In response, Ellen just gave him a nod. "Fucking hell. I knew this was gonna happen eventually... one day, it was always bound to happen. The hell was he still doing in that room anyway?"

"Michael's cell was getting a small renovation, for a couple of hours I was told he would be staying in there with a guard. I didn't think this'd be him getting out." Ellen hissed back to him. The two of them quickened their pace as they approached the exit. The front two doors were already bathed open, with gunshots sounding from the main area just outside of it.

"Lock the gates!" One of the guards shouted into his radio. Just ahead of them, Ellen heard the loud screeching of tires quickly taking off. She sighted a dark grey car speeding away from them, the guards' gunshots doing nothing to stop its escape.

"Shit..." another guard breathed, kicking the wall. "Shit!"

"Did... did he just...?" Ellen turned to Barney. In response, he simply nodded.

.............................................................................

"I'm sorry, sir, but you're a fucking moron." Barney glared at Donald Norton. "Alec had every reason to keep Michael locked up like that, and what did you do? You fucked it up."

Norton glared back. "Fifteen years and no signs of anything- no attempts of escape, nothing."

"Well, you can definitely tick that off then, can't you?" Barney turned to Ellen. "And what the hell kind of renovations were you doing so that he was he still in that flimsy room, hours after his doctor had left?"

"We were..." Norton began. "We were preparing everything to be moved to a different cell shortly."

"And by 'a different cell', I assume you mean a less secure one?" Barney hissed.

"Listen, Romero, you couldn't have foreseen any of this. Not a single bit of it. Costs have to be cut, and they were done where it appeared they were necessary." Norton defended.

"Someone clearly underestimated him." Ellen spoke up.

"Listen, instead of berating me, how about we focus on actually getting Michael back?" Norton responded with gritted teeth. "This is getting us nowhere. We've got a patient loose, and it doesn't matter who's at fault here- we need to recover him."

"A sensible decision." Barney agreed. "Shame you couldn't make one when dealing with Michael."

"You've been looking through Shaye's notes, and you just analysed him, didn't you Doctor Hill?" Norton ignored Barney. "Any idea where we could be going? Any idea whatsoever?"

"Well... we have something." She replied slowly, looking to Barney. "I... I think he's going to return home. To Haddonfield."

"Haddonfield? That's 150 damn miles away. He'll crash the car before he reaches four!" Norton expressed.

"Then he'll be an easy catch, surely?" Barney said. "It's the best lead we've got, and if I'm honest... probably true." To this, Ellen raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I can try and contact Haddonfield Police Department, but... they'll never believe it. Hell, I don't think I do. What are you basing this off?"

"Just... evidence. Psychiatric evidence." Ellen said thoughtfully.

"Hmm. Again, I can try and let them know, but there are already some cruisers searching the area for where he could have gone."

"The area, yeah." Barney stood up. "They won't find him."

"Then by all means, take the road to Haddonfield, try and find your patient, do whatever the hell you think you have to do." Norton replied. "Just don't get yourselves killed whilst doing it."

"Thanks for your kind words, Donald, but I think we'll do just fine." Barney began to walk away.

"Ellen..." Norton began. "Barney spoke highly of your performance earlier. You're a fine psychiatrist, it would appear- an ample replacement for Shaye."

"Thank you, sir- that means a lot." Ellen beamed.

"So in case you DO end up stumbling upon Michael- don't ruin it by getting yourself killed, okay?"

Ellen gave him a short smile, and walked out after Barney.