You were absolutely and utterly terrified as Toby and you followed the blonde boy, Ben, down the stairs. Claire showing up so soon wasn't part of the plan. You needed more time with Toby. For now, you could only hope the little time you had with him was enough, but you doubted that. So, with a heavy heart, you began to ease yourself into the idea of dying. It wouldn't be so bad. Everyone dies, it's bound to happen. Doesn't mean it's the end though. Surely death isn't the end. There's probably an entire afterlife waiting for you, hopefully, heaven. Even if that isn't real, maybe recreation will be. Yeah, past lives are totally a thing, maybe you'll be born again. Maybe even that isn't real, perhaps there's nothing after death. But is that so bad? Eternal peace and quiet didn't sound too awful. You wouldn't care after all, you'd be too dead to care.
At the bottom of the stairs was the ominous lounge you had passed by so many times. It looked like a very old, dusty, Victorian style living room, fitted with large, torn red couches, and dark, cracked, wooden tables. Spread amongst the large, unkempt room were all the monsters you had come to know, all except for the oh-so-scary boss you had heard so much about. However, taking account of all the killers you did recognize left you with more scary thoughts. Sure, you could convince yourself that dying isn't the worst thing in the world, but had you considered how you'd die?
It would be long and painful. You recognized the murderous glee in Jeff's eyes, along with other intentions that you couldn't stomach at the moment. The clown was also there, leaning against a couch and grinning at you venomously. The masked and hooded duo were in the corner, their glares conveying their aggression. At least the doctor man seemed nonchalant enough, however, in the light, you found yourself disgusted at the goo that trickled down his empty sockets. Something about not judging people on their looks came to mind, but honestly, that was a little too much.
Then there was the elf boy, Ben, who cheerfully plopped down on the couch, looking like a boy eager to get on with the show. Your only sense of security was Toby, who stood right behind you as you shrunk back into him. You vaguely recalled how he'd talk about duty. Would he do his duty here too? Do nothing as his leader sentenced you to death? You were on the verge of breaking down when you swallowed your fears and tried to stand a little taller. You were dying tonight, no point in spending your last minutes on this earth as a weeping, trembling mess.
Finally, you turned your head to the center of the room, your eyes widening a little as you took in Claire's bold form. Her blonde hair was a mess around her head, her brown eyes darting around as she failed to maintain an aura of confidence. She wore a ruffled, dirty little suit as if she was attending some business meeting. You stared at her for a while longer, but she didn't look back, her eyes steadily trained on Jeff- who was now glaring back directly at her too. You suddenly felt yourself shudder, a shrill wind blew across the room, rustling some of the furniture as all the monsters took note of it.
"T-time to begin," it was Toby that spoke, and it was no secret that he was the authority in the room right now. He gave you a little nudge and you took a few uneasy steps deeper into the living room. You were now only a meter away from the couch filled with killers (which was kind of humorous in a strange way).
"Tell him I-
"He's listening." Toby interrupted Claire as she began speaking. She quickly nodded at that, clearing her throat before beginning again.
"I..." she stiffened up for a moment, her gaze on the floor. "The emails will be sent to every police station in the U.S. in an hour. I have a code that will stop it," she held up her phone, giving it a little shake "so if you kill me right now... well, everyone knows your secrets. This email resets every day... so I have to type the code in every day or else. Yeah, that happens."
"How scary," Jeff grumbled sarcastically.
Claire swallowed, taking a step forward, "so here's the deal. I don't let this information get out, you leave me alone, I won't tell anyone. You also have to let my friend go. Look, she has nothing to do with this, just let her go and I won't ever let your secret out. I swear."
For a brief second, you felt relieved, a smile cracking on your tired features. She made a pretty good case, you always knew Claire was smart, but wow, you were impressed. She had set up the perfect system. They couldn't kill her, and now, they wouldn't be able to kill you. Were those tears you were beginning to feel behind your eyes? Tears of joy hopefully!
The wind rustled again, and you faintly heard a staticky noise.
"D-does a-anyone else know?" Toby asked.
"No," Claire said quickly, now looking a little relieved too. "Just me."
"And the emails aren't saved anywhere else?"
"No."
The wind rustled one last time and Toby's eyes distinctly darted towards Jeff, his head nodding slowly. It was then that Jeff shot to his feet, your eyes widening as he grabbed Claire by her face, his fingernails digging into the side of her head as he slammed the back of her head against the wall. She cried into his hand, her own nails scratching at his wrist for leverage. He didn't give any, and you could only watch as Claire's head was bashed into the wall once, twice, and thrice before she crumpled to the ground, leaving a bloodstain on the dry-wall. Something about that drew out a certain, almost maternal instinct in you as you rushed to her side, dropping to your knees as you pulled her head into your lap. It disgusted you a little, but you pressed your hand into the back of her head, trying to stop the bleeding.
Was it a good thing that she was still breathing? She must be in so much pain. Her breaths were like hisses, her eyes watery as she trembled in your arms. What about the emails? Didn't they care? Wasn't the entire point of catching her to delete the emails? Oh God, this was your fault wasn't it? She would have stayed in hiding if you hadn't been stupid enough to get caught. Even then, a small part of you felt warm and tender. To think your friend cared about you so much, so much so that she risked her life for you. Or perhaps, there was a different reason altogether.
Jeff ignored you as he leaned down and plucked the phone out of her pocket, tossing it to Ben who easily caught it. The blonde smirked, rolling his eyes as he typed into the phone. His eyes began to glow a sharper red as he continued to click and swipe, finally dropping the phone to the ground. "Done, talk about easy, gimme a real challenge next time won't ya Jeff?"
Jeff scoffed in response, and you suddenly felt the atmosphere change as his gaze landed on you. You tried to ignore him, your eyes focusing on Claire's pained form as you silently prayed that Toby would come a little closer.
"Now then," it was Jack who spoke, the clown looking utterly pleased as he tilted his head ever so slightly. "Only one thing left to do."
That was your cue to act.
Turning around, you sat there on your knees, looking up desperately at Toby. Your eyes were probably a little watery now too. Sure, death wasn't so bad, but fuck that. You weren't gonna die. Not today, definitely not today.
"Please..." you were pleading, but what choice did you have at this point. "We don't deserve any of this. We didn't do anything wrong. Don't kill us." How do you reason with a psychopath?
At least he looked conflicted, his features scrunching up in irritation as his gaze darted back and forth between you and the remaining monsters. Please, please, keep us safe. You weren't asking for much, surely, he wasn't ready to let you go? He's a guy, right? He probably wants a fuckbuddy or something? Wow, how degrading. Is that what you've become? Eh, who cares, whatever it takes, desperate times call for desperate measures.
What horrified you was that he seemed to be looking more and more at his fellow killers and less at you. Quickly you got to your feet, whispering an apology to Claire before you hurried to Toby's side.
"Toby please..." you drawled the word out, your face inches away from his as you leaned into him. Surely this would click into his hopefully stereotypical male brain? His brown eyes held yours for a mere second, his mouth forming a frown as he glanced at your lips. There it was. He was interested. Hopefully, that'd be enough.
"I can't," was what he finally said.
Your mind began racing a hundred miles an hour. He wasn't going to save you. You were on your own. Somehow you had to get both yourself and Claire out of this mess, but one look at Claires bloodied form made that plan very unlikely. The idea of getting only yourself out didn't sit well with you though. Could you live with yourself if you left her behind? Heck, would you even get out yourself? Okay, time to act, time to think. Start scheming, you only have a few minutes.
"I call dibs!" Jeff announced, he was hovering over Claire's body, his shoe digging playfully into the frail skin of her hands.
"On both?" Ben frowned, "No way, totally unfair!"
"You've never been righter Benjamin," the clown chimed in, "Don't be greedy now Jefferey, pick one."
"I want that bitch," the masked one chimed in, his masked features focused entirely on you.
"They're both mine," Jeff practically growled, his shoe pressing harder and harder on Claire's hand until it distinctly cracked.
"Enough," Toby finally sighed, his hand tightening around your wrist, "Argue over Claire, t-this ones spoken for."
On that note, he dragged you out of the lounge, and you didn't bother resisting. It was awful that Claire was left there, defenseless and battered, exposed to an array of killers, all their intentions revolving around killing her in the most painful ways they possibly could. Then again, your faith was going to be something similar. Come on brain, time to get some ideas pumping. Unfortunately, your brain was struggling, soon you found yourself back in the room where it had all started, the door closing as he turned to you.
"You're going to kill me in here?" you asked bitterly.
"Would you rather they do it?" he asked back, equally bitter.
"I'd rather live."
"T-this is the best I can do... it'll be f-fast, I promise."
That wasn't exactly comforting. Your eyes began darting around the room, your mind scolding itself, begging and pleading for an idea, any idea. And then, just like that, it clicked.
"So this is it?" you mumbled as you pulled away.
He didn't say anything.
"Can I at least have some water?"
"Y-yeah, of course," he nodded at that, giving you one last sympathetic look before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
Alright, go time.
Whirling around you scrambled towards the bed, your hand reaching under it before you felt the familiar straps of a duffel bag. Quickly, you tugged it out into the open, unzipping it sloppily. You picked up one of his axes, testing its weight in your hands. It was surprisingly heavy, there was no way you'd manage two. So quickly, you zipped the bag up, placing only one of the axes on the bed before kicking the duffel bag in.
Now for step two.
Grabbing onto the ax, you made your way to the closet, opening it before trying to make sense of the mess that was Toby's closet. All you knew was he kept his keys in here, you remembered watching him get it from in here somewhere. With little time to spare, you began moving clothes around, opening drawers, and peering into shelves before jackpot. You tugged the car keys out of a little drawer, pushing them into your own pocket before managing to close the door of the closet.
Step three.
You took a deep breath, your entire body trembling and shaking as you pressed your back against the wall, the door sat inches beside you. You were terrified. This was dangerous, this was everything you never wanted to do. All of his threats became distinct in your mind. He would hunt you down if you run, he would succeed. He'd break your legs just like he had said, he'd take his time killing you, he wouldn't care anymore. There was no way to kill him, even if you somehow escaped, he'd keep on coming. How long could you possibly run from him? How could you ever have a regular life again?
Now you were definitely crying.
The door opened, you held the ax against your chest, holding your breath. He stepped into the room, a glass of water in his hand. His eyes immediately turned to land on you, confusion settling into them, but it was too late. You had swung the ax before he could react, the blade tearing into his chest. A part of you wanted to scream, but you knew better than to alert the bickering monsters downstairs. The glass fell, shattering as Toby staggered backward. It wasn't enough though. So, regrettably, you were forced to swing it at him again, this time leaving it buried deep in his chest. He was forced to the ground now, his fists clenching as he gritted his teeth, unable to get any words out as he cringed at the pain.
Feeling surprisingly guilty, you gave him one final, apologetic look. Turning away you ran down the hall, keeping your footsteps light as you snuck right past the lounge, the monsters too busy arguing to notice you. The moment you opened the door was the moment you heard that static again, the wind rustling as the house suddenly went quiet. They knew. Clenching your fist around the keys, you scrambled out of the house and into the grounds. Your eyes were locked on the hood of the car that sat neatly where Toby had parked it. Running was an understatement, as you made your way to the car, tearing the door open before you locked them all, shoving the keys in.
You didn't look back as you stomped down on the accelerator, but what did it matter, you knew they'd be coming. You knew you could never escape. Instead, you probably just made it a lot worse.