bangzaiii01

[phantom-evil]

[persevereforahappyending]

A Beacon in the Dark |8|

Pairing: Joey x Reader

Summary: Joey likes helping people, it's what she's best at. Hunting down the monsters of myth and legend might be the best way to save people.

Warnings: Threats, Language, Broken Bones, Talk of Death, Talk of Sacrifices

Word Count: 5.9k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

“Are you sure?” You asked, not taking your eyes off the bulletin board in front of you.

Your arms were crossed as you stared at all the research. There were old newspaper clippings going back a couple hundred years ago, old photos of shadowy figures that somehow never appeared clearly, and current photos and articles all from within the last year. It was evidence you and Grace, mostly Grace, had gathered over the years. Grace had been working on this case since before she had even found you.

“Yes,” Grace said confidently. You released a deep sigh. “This is the closest we’ve ever come.” You nodded, it was true, you had never had the location of this group until now, it was always gathering evidence and narrowing down the location before. It was too big of an opportunity to pass up, despite what day it was, this day was actually the reason you couldn’t afford to wait.

“I’ll go alone. Take them down and be in and out before the moon even rises.”

“No,” Grace instantly denied. “It’s too dangerous. You need a partner, I-”

“No!” You snapped. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath then slowly released it; you did that a few more times before opening your eyes again. “I’m sorry,” you whispered, much more calm than before. “But you can’t come.” You looked up at Grace, she was just staring at you softly, she hadn’t even reacted to your outburst, she was used to it by this point after all.

“Then it has to be Joey.”

“No,” you shook your head. “It’s too dangerous. She can’t, not today,” you stared Grace in the eye, pleading with her to just let you go alone.

“You can’t do this one alone.” Grace stepped forward and gently rested a hand on your arm. You were sure she could feel the tension, your entire body felt stiff, like you’d snap at any moment.

“Not tonight, it can’t be tonight.” You knew how useless it was to beg. It wasn’t even Grace’s fault, if she had control then there was no way she’d even consider doing a mission today of all days.

“This is our only shot,” Grace said the words you already knew. “Otherwise, we have to wait another year, more girls will die, and we’ll be having the exact same conversation.” Your head dropped to the floor, and you gave a small nod, not able to lift your head again. “I’ll call Joey.”

You nodded again as Grace stepped back to call Joey. You usually liked making the call, you liked talking to Joey, especially since you only saw her for missions for the most part. You knew you couldn’t call her for this one though, you’d say something stupid and talk her out of joining you, then you’d be on your own and would probably get yourself killed. Grace wasn’t wrong either, even if you didn’t go today, you’d be having the exact same conversation next year, these people just happened to do their little ritual at the most inconvenient time for you, every year, like clockwork.

“Alright,” Grace said, walking back over to you after finishing up with Joey. “She’s going to pick Caleb up from school, drop him off at a friends, and then she’s good to go, said he would just stay the night with the friend.”

“This is affecting her time with her son too much,” you whispered.

“She didn’t say anything about it over the phone,” Grace furrowed her brow.

“She probably wouldn’t,” you shrugged. Joey told you her son came first, she said she didn’t want this job interfering with her time with him too much. It had worked out perfectly before the mission with the sirens and now this one. It was only twice but you didn’t like that she kept having to ask a friend to watch her kid when she should be with him, but she was instead having to help you. “I just know she doesn’t want to disappoint him.”

Grace nodded but didn’t say anything else. You didn’t think Joey would ever have a problem telling you or Grace no when it came to Caleb. If a job really was going to hurt her time with him, she wouldn’t have any issue passing on a mission, if not leaving this job all together. If Joey didn’t say anything then it probably really wasn’t a big deal, you still couldn’t help but hate this mission even more now that you knew it was costing Joey another night with Caleb.

You still had a few hours to kill before having to pick up Joey. You spent the time going over everything you knew with Grace and what the plan was, everything had to go perfect, if the moon hit its peak and the mission wasn’t accomplished, then it was a failure. You listened to Grace and read up on the ritual, you did anything to keep your mind occupied and not focus on what would happen later. You even jumped on the treadmill and ran for about an hour until it was finally time to leave.

You hopped in your car and made your way to Joey, not even bothering to turn on the radio. You had to bring Joey back to the house so she would know exactly what she was walking into and then the two of you would head out and make it to the location before sunset. It was rare to start a mission when the sun was still up, nighttime was usually when the monsters came out and the darkness worked to your benefit but this time you were on a time crunch.

You pulled up outside Joey’s exes building just as she stepped out the front door. She looked up and started making her way to you as you came to a stop. She hopped in and as soon as the door was closed you took off, headed back to Grace’s.

“Sorry you had to find someone to watch your son,” you said, breaking the silence.

“It’s okay,” Joey said, resting her head on her hand. “Figured it had to be serious if it was this last minute and Grace was the one calling me.”

You sucked in a breath; you needed to stop being surprised by how smart Joey was. She was only half right about why Grace called her though, if it wasn’t for the fact that you’d talk her out of coming you would have called her. “It is,” is all you managed to say.

“How bad?”

You felt her eye on you, but you couldn’t turn to look at her. “Grace was researching this group before she even met me.”

“Group?”

You nodded. “Everything will make more sense when we get to the mansion. But basically, this has been going on for a very long time and this is the first time we’ve found their exact location.” Joey nodded, seeming to get why this was such a big mission. “The reason it’s so last minute is because we just learned this information and tonight is the only night we can try and stop it, every year on the same day this happens.”

“So, if we miss tonight, they get away with everything.”

“Until next year and there’s no idea if the location will be the same. If they discover we’re after them, assuming we live, despite this always taking place in this area they might pack up and move.”

“And you have to start all over.” You nodded.

You continued the remainder of the drive in silence, but you could feel Joey’s occasional glance in your direction. You also didn’t miss the way her hands fiddled around in her pockets until she pulled out a sucker. You wanted nothing more than to talk to her and ease her anxieties about the mission but all you could bring yourself to do was focus on the road ahead.

Before you knew it you were pulling up to Grace’s. Without a word you got out of the car, still held the door open for Joey, and led her back to Grace’s office. As soon as Joey stepped into the office her eyes widened and darted around the room, scanning the amount of files stacked on the floor and papers taped to the wall, this was the biggest case you and Grace had been working on and the chaos definitely showed.

“Good, you’re here,” Grace said, as she quickly shuffled through more papers. “Sorry for this being so last minute but we don’t have time.”

“I heard,” Joey said. She slowly walked around the room, and her eyes scanned the bulletin board. “This is a lot.”

“The first incident came on my radar about four years ago, one of my first actually.”

“What is all this?” She gestured around. “This is years’ worth of incidents, going all the way back to,” she looked at one of the older pieces of paper. “1800s!” Her voice went high, seeming to process the information as she said it.

“Even further actually.” Grace moved across the room to where Joey was and pulled down a paper. The original had been handwritten and nearly crumbled upon touch, but Grace had a copy scanned. The date, incredibly faded, was written in ink in the top corner, but it was still legible.

“The 1400s?” Joey asked, looking at Grace with wide eyes.

Grace nodded and stuck the paper back on the board. “There’s a few gaps, years where I couldn’t find anything,” Grace said taking in the entire board. “But I found enough in a consistent time frame to theorize this ritual takes place on this day every year.”

“What are we dealing with?”

“Witches.”

Joey broke out into a light chuckle, her eyes going from Grace to you but neither of you were laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding me, magic is real?” Her mouth fell open.

You couldn’t deny that it was kind of adorable how despite surviving vampires, facing off against a succubus, and fighting sirens, she was still surprised by things. Joey turned back to the board, seeming to be looking at it in a new light. You had done the exact same when you first learned about the case.

“What are they doing?” Joey whispered. “What’s the goal, power? Are they just crazy?”

At that you did actually let out a small chuckle. “Their victims are the same every time,” you said. “Every year around this time twelve girls go missing, usually between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three, all of them virgins.”

“You’re kidding me?” Joey raised an eyebrow. “Virgin sacrifices, really?”

You shrugged. “Classics had to come from somewhere,” you joked, you just couldn’t help yourself.

“Okay,” Joey shook her head, not even bothering to glare at you for your joke. “So, what’s the plan? Clearly, we have to stop more sacrifices from happening,” she pointed at the board again. “But how do we fight off witches? Who I assume have magic,” she really emphasized ‘magic’.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Grace admitted. “This is the most dangerous mission I could possibly send you on.” You stared at Grace, silently begging her to change her mind and not send Joey, it would be safer for everyone if you went on your own. “If you want to sit this one out,” she looked back at Joey. “I would understand.”

You clenched your jaw as you waited for Joey to decide. Knowing Joey in the short time you had you were pretty sure she wouldn’t take too kindly to being ordered to sit any mission out. You understood why Grace would give her the option; Joey liked deciding things for herself once she had all the information.

“How many girls have been taken?” Joey asked, her voice almost a whisper. You could only let out a sigh, that was enough of an answer for you.

“That we know of?” Grace said. “Hundreds but if my theory is correct, twelve girls a year since the 1400s we’re looking at”

“Thousands,” you rasped out.

“How has no one figured this out?” You saw the confusion in her brow as she tried to come up with a reason so many people could go missing and never turn up and no one else put it together.

“They try and stay under the radar, picking up the homeless, runaways, the kind of people no one will miss,” you whispered. Your eyes found a spot on the floor to focus on as you spoke, you might not have dealt with witches during your incident, but the methods were similar enough. “The few that did have people look,” you shrugged. “It’s such a big area,” you gestured to the map with the woods this took place in. “It’s not surprising when someone disappears in there.”

“Eventually cops have to let a case go cold with lack of evidence and progress,” Grace said. “All they ever had was a missing girl and her last location.”

You flicked a glance at Joey again, seeing the determined look in her eye as she stared at the board. “I’m in,” she said.

“Okay,” Grace nodded. She glanced past Joey and met your eyes; you could see she was apologetic without her even having to say sorry.

“Do you have some sort of special weapon for killing witches?” Joey asked, almost sounding hopeful but clearly knowing it wouldn’t be that easy.

You couldn’t help but chuckle and even Grace smiled at the question. “No,” Grace shook her head. “They have all the normal weaknesses of a human-”

“Decapitation,” you said, cutting Grace off. “Heart ripped out. The good stuff,” you smirked.

Joey rolled her eyes at your comment but took note when Grace didn’t deny what you said. “They’re also weak to iron. So, you’ll be armed with weapons mostly made from that.”

Joey nodded. “And what kind of power are we looking at here?” Joey flicked a glance from you to Grace. “I know I’m new to all this, but in movies there’s all different types of witches and powers.”

You and Grace glanced at each other. “We don’t know,” Grace admitted. “We’ve only come across one once. Witches like to have a coven; we got lucky to catch one on her own.”

“Are we assuming there’s twelve members of this coven,” Joey pointed to a few of the images on the board. “Because twelve sacrifices.”

“Probably at least twelve, potentially more, it depends what they’re using the sacrifices for.”

“We don’t know if this coven is the same as the one from back in the 1400s,” you added.

Joey furrowed her brow and looked back at you and then back at the board. “You don’t mean…”

“Possibly, they could be using their life force to extend their own.”

“Or maybe it’s coven tradition,” Grace said. “Some rituals are passed down, it all depends what the coven believes in.”

“Great,” Joey sighed. “So,” she turned back to you and Grace, crossing her arms. “What’s the plan.”

Grace nodded to follow her, so you and Joey did. She led the two of you to the weapons room where she once again had a large duffel already sat out and filled. You stepped forward, unzipping to see the guns, knives, and anything else useful. You furrowed your brow and pulled out a bottle of water. You held it up and raised an eyebrow at Grace.

“Holy water,” she said. You tilted your head and raised your eyebrow even more. “Just in case!” You silently chuckled and shoved the water back in the bag.

There were so many rules to witches, so many differences. No one knew what was true and what wasn’t, it’s why they were so dangerous. Some sources said witches were weak to holy water, it burned them, but it was supposed to burn vampires as well and that was bullshit. Even if the water didn’t do anything, throwing water on a witch might distract it enough to actually get a real hit in.

“You need to make sure you save the girls and get back here before the moon reaches its peak,” Grace said. You nodded, giving her a knowing look as you hoisted the duffel up and swung it over your shoulder.

“Why?” Joey asked.

“Because the ritual ends when the moon reaches its peak.”

“But-”

“Just trust me on this,” Grace wasn’t unkind, but her tone left no room for argument. “It’s better for everyone if you get back here as quickly as possible.”

Joey furrowed her brow, her eyes searched Grace’s face as if she’d find the answer she was looking for there. She looked at you and you kept your face as neutral as possible. As much as you wanted to avoid her gaze you knew that would draw more suspicion, so you met it and gave her a nod to let her know it was okay.

“Okay,” Joey said, hesitantly nodding.

Joey led the way out the door but before you could follow Grace rested a hand on your arm. You looked over at her and felt her slip something into your jacket pocket. “I’ll be listening,” she whispered. “Be careful.”

“Always,” you whispered. You tried to give her a confident smile, but it didn’t quite work out.

She gave your shoulder a squeeze before letting go, allowing you to follow after Joey. By the time you got to your car Joey was already in the passenger seat, so you tossed the duffel in the back and then hopped behind the wheel. You turned the key and started the drive, even the music Joey had turned on couldn’t keep the dark thoughts from entering your mind. It was sunny out, you rarely got daytime missions, and this one took place on a nice day. You were even going to the woods, which was your favorite place, and yet you couldn’t enjoy any of it. Deep in the pit of your stomach you just knew that this wouldn’t go the way you or Grace wanted, you just had to make sure Joey made it out alive.

You were almost an hour into the drive and still had another twenty minutes. You kept glancing up at the sky, the sun was still up, but you couldn’t help but focus on the long drive. When you got done with the mission you still had over an hour’s drive to Grace’s, if you were late at any part, you would be pushing your luck. The last thing you wanted was to be in the car when the moon rose, Joey would have better luck out in the woods, maybe. You kept flexing your grip around the steering wheel and you could feel Joey side eyeing you and your fingers every time they tightened just a bit more.

“You’re tense,” Joey said. She kept her head facing forward but you knew she would be aware of every move you made.

“It’s a dangerous mission,” you said.

“They’ve all been dangerous so far.”

“This one’s different.” You rolled your neck, trying to get rid of the irritation from the simple questioning you usually never had a problem with.

“Clearly.” You didn’t need to turn to know Joey was now facing you, her eyes scanning your face, looking for the most subtle reaction to anything she asks or what you might say. “You and Grace are acting different, keeping things secret.” You clenched your jaw and tightened your grip on the wheel a bit more. “You’re keeping something from me.”

“You know everything we know about the mission,” you tried to brush it off. You tried to focus on your breathing, the steps were simple, deep breath in, then slowly release it through your nose.

“Yeah but-”

“Just drop it!” You snapped, your voice getting deeper than you had intended. You didn’t look but it didn’t go unnoticed how Joey flinched from the power in your tone.

You closed your eyes for half a second, took a deep breath in then slowly released it. When you opened your eyes again you flexed your fingers, relaxing your grip just a bit on the wheel for the first time since you left. “I’m sorry,” you rasped out. You still didn’t look at Joey, you weren’t sure you wanted to see the look on her face. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

Joey watched you for a moment. You really wanted to know what was going through her head, but you still refused to look at her. “It’s okay,” Joey finally said but her tone sounded almost cautious, like she wasn’t sure how you’d react.

“No, it’s not.” You looked down, you hated her simple questioning getting to you. “You’re just asking questions, rightfully so,” you admitted. “Just because I’m irritable today doesn’t mean you deserve for me to take it out on you.”

“Are you okay?” She asked after a moment.

You flexed your hands again. You turned down a dirt road, finally arriving at the woods. “Yeah,” you sighed. “We just need to do this as quickly and safely as possible.”

Joey nodded and remained silent the rest of the drive. You continued to drive down the dirt road until you finally got to a clearing. It was technically a park, and the area was still open to the public, but people didn’t go to that specific area too often. During all your research you learned that hikers and campers who came to the park tended to not come back. Some missing people were found miles away, completely out of their minds, rambling nonsense. Whether that was because the witches did something to them, or they were just they traumatized, you still didn’t know.

You put the Jeep in park and looked up at the sky again, the sun was still shining but when you glanced at the GPS you knew there was still a bit of a hike, and you probably wouldn’t make it until the sun started to set. Any other day you were sure hiking through these woods at sunset would be gorgeous, what you would give to be there not on a mission and freely run through the woods.

“Ready?” You asked.

When Joey nodded in confirmation the two of you hopped out of the car. Almost as soon as you stepped out of the car you could feel the shift in the air. It was fall and already a bit chilly to most people, but this was different, when the wind blew you seemed to be able to feel the chill down to your bones.

As you grabbed the bag of weapons from the back Joey looked around, seeming to analyze the empty parking lot. Calling it a parking lot was being generous; it was just a giant dirt area with little wood signs to indicate spots for parking. You looked down at the ground around you and back at the path you had driven down, there was only one way in or out of the area, and the only tracks you could see were from your own Jeep, meaning someone hadn’t been there in quite a long time.

You swung the duffel bag up over your head, so it was resting on your shoulder. “This way,” you said, nodding off in a direction that was the complete opposite of any intended trail.

You and Joey hiked through the woods, hopping over rocks and fallen branches. There was still plenty of light, but nothing could stop how eerily quiet it was, the only sound you could hear was the crunch of leaves beneath your and Joey’s boots. If the witches had any scouts watching out for unwanted guests, you were surely going to get spotted. You just hoped they were either cocky enough to think no one would stumble upon them or that you were better and would pick up on them quicker than they caught onto the two of you.

“How do they even get out here?” Joey asked, huffing as she swatted a branch out of her face.

“Brooms?” you said, giving a little shrug.

Joey rolled her eyes. “At least being moody hasn’t disrupted your sense of humor,” she mumbled under her breath.

You smiled to yourself and chuckled quietly. “I’m just saying, there’s a lot of stories with witches on brooms,” you held your hands up in defense. “Everything comes from somewhere.”

Joey seemed to reluctantly nod at that. Every story involving monsters did come from somewhere, whether it be eyewitness accounts, survivors of whatever horror, or just made-up stuff. As you were sure Joey knew, crosses and garlic did nothing against vampires, it was all stuff made up by Hollywood. Some myths were created for film while others were created by the monsters themselves, to trick people and mislead them so their actually weakness wasn’t discovered.

You suddenly came to a stop, your head snapping up. You barely registered Joey bumping into you. “What the hell?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

You looked around, searching for anything off, you even strained your ears, not hearing anything besides the sound of your and Joey’s breathing. “Don’t you feel that?” you whisper. You weren’t sure why but there was a significant temperature drop, like the two of you crossed some invisible threshold.

You looked down when you heard static coming from the GPS. The screen flickered from the map with the little red dot with your position to one of static. You smacked it a few times, furrowing your brow as the screen seemed to go back to normal only to shut off completely. “Shit,” you whispered, pocketing the now useless device.

“Guess, we’re close,” Joey whispered.

You glanced up at the sky one last time, it was almost set, there was just enough light still to not need flashlights yet. “Don’t leave my side.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious,” you turned your head and looked Joey directly in the eyes.

“I know,” she assured.

You slipped off the duffel bag and unzipped it just enough to pull out a dagger for yourself and Joey. You handed Joey her dagger and as she hid it away, tucking it under her jacket you hid your own, making sure Joey didn’t see that yours wasn’t made of iron like hers. When you swung the duffel back over your head you gave each other a final nod before you began leading the way. You tried to move as quietly as possible as you approached the target location, before the GPS died you knew you had been close.

You came down a hill and pushed through some shrubbery until it finally opened up into a clearing. The two of you froze in your tracks, there was a large bonfire already started and flags circled the bonfire. Each flag was a different color and seemed to have some sort of symbol on them, there seemed to be twelve in total. You didn’t recognize any of the symbols, but the flags were certainly old, all of them caked in dirt and tattered, the edges frayed, it looked like each of them had each been in a war zone at some point in their lifetime.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” you said, taking a step back.

You looked back when Joey didn’t respond only to see her lying on the ground, passed out. “Ana!” you rushed to her side, not even realizing you called her by her real name, you dropped the duffel as you got down next to her. You gently turned her head; she looked fine, and she was still breathing, but you hadn’t even heard her go down. A branch snapping made you look up, your eyes widening as you saw several cloaked figures coming out of the shadows.

“What did you do to her?” you shouted. You carefully moved your hands away from Joey’s head and stepped over her as you stood up again. You had just taken a step, ready to face all of them on your own when your mind was invaded by a thousand whispers.

You doubled over, gripping your head as you tried to stop the voices. You couldn’t make out any of the words, they seemed to be in a different language, but it felt like each word penetrated your brain, sending a sharp pain radiating throughout your skull. You let out a scream that turned more into a growl as you collapsed to your knees. You looked up and through blurry vision you could see the cloaked figures getting closer, though you couldn’t make out any faces.

You collapsed to the ground the rest of the way, still clutching your head. You thought the only way to relieve the pain might be able to rip into your skull. Your eyes were pinched shut but you pried them open just enough to see boots in front of you, you turned your head, trying to get a look at the face under the cloak above you before everything went black.

You jolted awake, yanking your arms to the side only to have them catch. You whipped your head around, blinking rapidly to clear your vision, it was completely dark, the only light coming from the bonfire that was blazing even brighter and the moon. Your heartbeat picked up; the moon hadn’t reached its peak yet, but you could already feel the burning itch beneath your skin. You weren’t near the bonfire, but you could make out several figures cloaked in black standing around it, each of them in front of one of the flags.

“Good, you’re up,” a feminine voice said. You snapped your head in the direction the voice came from to see a cloaked figure approach out of the shadows. When she got close enough, she flipped back her hood, revealing long black hair intricately braided and a beautiful youthful face, though her eyes told you she wasn’t as young as she appeared. “You should be proud of yourself,” she paced back and forth in front of you. “It took all of us to bring you down, not many can do that.”

“What can I say,” you said, venom dripping with each word. “I’m just that good.”

The witch appeared directly in front of you in a flash. She held a knife to your throat, the silver glinting in the moonlight, you recognized it immediately, it was the one you had taken out of the duffel. “That you are,” she whispered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of you.” She smiled to herself and ran a hand down your chest. “I almost don’t want to kill you.” You snarled and lunged at her but were pulled back by the chains around your arms. She just laughed at your reaction and shoved your chest with her palm, pressing you against the tree.

“We’ve been doing this for centuries,” she said. “Everyone who’s ever tried to find us has ended up dead, did you really think you were any different?” she tilted her head.

“I’m going to kill you,” you said through gritted teeth.

She only laughed at that, shaking her head as if you were the funniest person she had ever met. “I think you’ll be a little preoccupied ripping apart your little girlfriend over there,” she nodded her head across the way at another tree. You looked in the direction to see Joey tied to a tree as well, though with rope.

You snarled at her and strained against the chains, trying to break away with the intent to rip the witches head clean off once you did so. She clicked her tongue at you and waved a disapproving finger. “Patience,” she said, giving what was probably her closest thing to a sweet smile. “It’s almost time,” she pointed up at the sky. “I’ll see you when you’re done with your meal,” she smiled, running her hand down your chest once more before turning and heading back to her coven.

You struggled against the chains, trying everything to break free. You could feel your body getting hotter, the itch to tear off your skin getting stronger. You shook your head, trying to fight back against those thoughts and keep control for as long as possible. “Are you okay?” you called out.

“Yeah,” Joey said.

“You need to get out of here.” You looked up at the sky, the moon was only getting higher. “Do you still have that knife-” your words instantly died when you heard the sound of the rope dropping to the ground.

Joey ran over to, instantly assessing the chains restraining you. “Way ahead of you,” she smirked. “We need to get these off.” She lifted the chain, looking for a way to break them.

“Don’t,” you said, whipping your head around, trying to get her attention. “You need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Joey appeared in front of you.

“You need to go,” you insisted.

“No, we’re in this together.”

She reached up to caress your cheek, but you backed away from her touch. “Now!” your voice got deeper, taking on an almost animalistic sound. Joey slowly retracted her hand and took a step back away from you. You dropped your head and closed your eyes, you just needed to keep control for a few more minutes.

“My pocket,” you said through gritted teeth.

Joey seemed to understand as she hesitantly stepped forward again and began digging around your jacket pockets until she pulled out the device Grace gave you. “What is it?” she asked, turning the small device in her hand.

“A tracker.” You slowly opened your eyes and looked up at Joey again. “Press it and Grace will be here, but you need to run like hell first.”

“I can’t just-”

You doubled over as your knee snapped back. “Wha the fuck,” Joey whispered, slowly stepping away from you. Your arm shot out, pulling against the chain before your elbow snapped in the opposite direction it should go. You collapsed to your knees, your back arching as your bones continued to snap and rearrange.

You pressed your hands into the ground as your shoulder dislocated, making itself bigger. You felt your claws begin to rip through your fingers before they were finally digging into the dirt. You could taste copper as your fangs tore through your gums. Your head snapped up and through gold-filled eyes you could see the horror on Joey’s face. “Run!” you growled out.

Your body continued to twist and turn, your bones snapping apart and reforming in a different direction. You ripped your jacket and shirt off, looking for any sense of relief. The last thing you saw before everything went black and your mind was overtaken with the natural desire to hunt, and kill was Joey running away from you.

Your mind, human mind was locked away as the beast took over. The transition was complete, and the beast stood tall on its hindlegs. It snarled and snapped its jaw until its ears twitched, picking up the sound of chanting. Its eyes snapped to the group of witches surrounding the bonfire, its other ear twitched, picking up the rapid heartrate of someone running away. It let out a thunderous growl before ripping its left arm forward, instantly snapping the chain, it repeated the action with the right arm. The beast stood to its full height, tilting its head as it looked from the witches to the direction of the person running, it let out a snarl before taking off, having decided who it wanted to kill first.

Taglist: @thinking1bee @so-to-aqui-pelas-fic @alexkolax @pianogirl2121 @thatshyboy1998 @chxrry-lov3 @bella423 @morganismspam23

[harleystuff]

Melissa Barrera Gif Pack

[LINK] In this gif packs you will find 341 gifs (275*167) of Melissa Barrera as Carmen in ‘Carmen (2022)’.  I made these gifs from scratch, so please don’t claim them as your own and do not repost them in gif hunts (instead link back to this page). You may crop/use them in crackships & stuff, but please don’t forget the credit ! (& since I’m kinda curious, I’d very much like to see :p) Likes and reblogs are appreciated! (Mega link can be found in the master folder) Content warning : kissing, semi nudity, firearm, blood, violence

[bellamuertes]

radio silence will be like, "is anyone gonna cover this bad bitch in blood?" and then not wait for an answer

ready or not (2019) / scream (2022) / abigail (2024)

[capinejghafa]

READY OR NOT (2019) | ABIGAIL (2024) dir. MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN & TYLER GILLETT

[gettingscrazy]

MELISSA BARRERA as JOEY ABIGAIL (2024) dir. Matt Bertinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

[sal-ki]

Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter in Scream (2022)

[horrorwomensource]

MELISSA BARRERA & ALISHA WEIR as JOEY & ABIGAIL ABIGAIL (2024) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

[junkfoodcinemas]

Jenna Ortega & Melissa Barrera as Tara & Sam Carpenter Scream VI (2023) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

[gaypeople]

MELISSA BARRERA as SAM CARPENTER Scream VI (2023)

[scream-source]

MELISSA BARRERA as SAM CARPENTER SCREAM VI (2023) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

[phantom-evil]

[persevereforahappyending]

No Man's Land |8|

Pairing: Sam Carpenter x Reader

Summary: Sam can’t help but be drawn to the cute stranger from her gym, even if everything about them makes them the perfect suspect, just when Ghostface has returned.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 3.1k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

You were lying on your back on the floor of Sam’s apartment, one of your arms was tucked under the pillow you had stolen from the couch, propping your head up a bit. You didn’t bother with a blanket; you weren’t going to have a comfortable sleep anyway and not because you were lying on the floor. You didn’t lie when you told Sam the floor was more comfortable, you’ve stayed in a lot of places, having to sleep in the most awkward positions, the floor was always the best. Even at home you had the habit of sleeping on the couch more than in your bed, anytime you laid in the bed you got restless, it was too comfortable.

You were woken up by a floorboard creaking near your head. Your knee came up, knocking into the back of the legs of whoever was standing over you. As they came down you jumped up, grabbing one of their arms to fling them to the side of you. When their back smacked against the floor you swung your other leg over, so you were straddling them as you brought the knife you always had tucked around your ankle to their neck, pinning their hand you already had in your grip above their head in the process.

“Wow,” Chad whispered.

You blinked a few times, fully waking up and finally noticing it was Chad you were on top of.

“I’m sorry,” Chad whispered. He held up his free hand in defense.

You took the knife away from his neck and slowly released his other hand. “Sorry,” you rasped out as you got off of him.

“It was my bad,” Chad sat up. “Should have known to never sneak up on a soldier,” he smiled, trying his best to lighten the mood.

“You got some quick reflexes,” Quinn said in a flirtatious tone. You looked over to see her sitting at the dining table, sipping a cup of coffee.

You huffed out a laugh, but your smile didn’t quite reach your eyes. You got to your feet and held out your hand to help Chad up. “Wanted to ask if you wanted to grab breakfast?” Chad asked.

“Is everyone joining?” you asked.

“If they get up,” Sam mumbled as she came out of the kitchen with her own cup of coffee. Her eyes were half closed as she sat the mug on the dining table. It looked like Sam either wasn’t a morning person or she didn’t get much sleep last night.

“Tara!” Sam called out as she made her way back through the apartment to what you assumed was her sister’s room. “Mindy!” was followed by three loud bangs on the door. “If you want breakfast before class, get moving.

Sam stomped back into the room and plopped herself down in a seat at the dining table. She sipped on her coffee until shuffling from down the hall could be heard then a door opening. “You could try waking us up like a normal person,” Tare mumbled. Tara shuffled her way into the room and dropped down into the seat next to her sister.

“If you want food you need to get dressed now.”

“Why are you rushing us?” Tara reached over and took Sam’s mug out of her hands just as she was bringing it back up to her mouth. Tara took a big gulp, closing her eyes as she swallowed the stolen coffee. “Since when do you care when we leave for class?”

“Since I’m walking you to the campus,” Sam stated, stealing back her coffee with a glare at her sister.

Tara clearly wasn’t intimidated by Sam’s glare because she just rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she mumbled. Tara slipped back out of the chair and made her way back to her room; you assumed to get ready for the day.

“It’s too early,” Mindy whined as she came out to join all of you. She flopped down on the couch face first, letting out an exaggerated groan in the process.

Anika stumbled into the room next, though she was actually dressed for the day. “Do I smell coffee?” she mumbled with her eyes still closed.

“There’s a pot in the kitchen,” Sam answered. Anika instantly turned on her heel and went right for the kitchen. “You’re free to have some as well,” Sam nodded at you.

“Thank you,” you whispered. You made your way into the kitchen and waited as Anika poured her own mug of coffee only for her to turn around and hand it to you. “Appreciate it,” you nodded. Anika smiled and turned back around to pour the rest of the pot into another mug for herself this time.

You followed Anika back into the living room. Everyone sat in silence as they waited for Mindy and Tara to finish getting ready. You sat yourself down in the chair at the far end of the room so you could see everyone. You glanced around, first your eyes landing on Chad, who was sprawled across the couch again as he turned on the TV and began flipping through channels until he landed on SpongeBob. Anika sat at the dining table with Sam and Quinn, taking small sips of her coffee with her eyes closed, she might have gotten ready quicker than the other girls, but it was clear she was most definitely not a morning person. Quinn continued to sip her coffee and occasionally glanced at you, biting her lip and raising an eyebrow. You tried to ignore her advances and moved your attention to Sam who, besides offering you coffee, was otherwise ignoring your presence.

You and Sam had kissed last night, it was barely a kiss but still a kiss. You weren’t sure what got into you, you had noticed Sam the second she stepped into the gym that first day. You wanted nothing more than to approach her, but your life was a mess, you were a mess, you would bet you were even more of a mess than she thought she was. You wouldn’t deny that her life was crazy but yours was messy and a lot of work. As much as you wanted to continue the kiss you were glad Sam stopped it, you would help her and her friends survive this psycho and then she could maybe move on with her life, she deserved someone better than you anyway.

“Is there anymore coffee?” Tar asked as she and Mindy came back out of the room.

“Nope,” Anika mumbled.

Mindy waltzed right over to her girlfriend and plucked the mug right from in front of her. Mindy brought it to her lips then instantly took it away and looked down into the mug with a frown. She looked at Anika with the same frown. Anika just shrugged. “You snooze you lose,” Anika said before taking the mug back from Mindy then into the kitchen.

“Let’s go,” Sam said, getting up from the table and putting her own empty cup back in the kitchen. “You’re going to be late for class.” You followed behind Sam, intending to put the dirty mug in the sink.

Sam turned around abruptly, nearly bumping into you but you moved your hands, preventing the mug from being knocked to the floor. “Sorry,” Sam mumbled. “Thank you,” she took the dirty mug from you and placed it in the sink next to the others.

You gave her a small smile and stepped back. She clearly wanted to avoid you, and you would respect that. When everyone was ready you followed them out the door and down the street. You didn’t know where they intended to get breakfast, but it was clear Chad had a destination in mind as he led the group.

“Ta-da!” Chad said, gesturing his arms out wide in front of him. Everyone turned their heads to see a food truck, which looked like every other food truck on the street.

“Really?” Tara asked, raising an eyebrow. “You made me get up early for this?” she looked at her sister.

Sam let out a tired sigh and began rubbing her temple as if she were trying to fight off a headache. “He said he knew place,” Sam weakly defended.

Chad let out an offended gasp and turned to the rest of the group. “Trust me,” he said, gesturing at himself. “This truck has the best breakfast burritos.”

While the rest of the group didn’t seem to convinced and mumbled to themselves Chad turned around and stepped in line as he was next. He ordered a breakfast burrito and when he was handed his, you stepped up next. It had been several hours since you ate something and despite not knowing them very long you doubted they would be able to agree on another place before the others had to get to class. You stuck to the basics and ordered one of the egg and sausage breakfast burritos. Once you were handed your burrito it seemed the others relented and got in line as well.

You stepped to the side with Chad and began eating your burrito. As soon as the food hit your mouth you had to do a double take to make sure you were eating what you ordered. It was simple, any place that sold breakfast burritos usually had this type on their menu and yet, the one from this food truck was the best you had ever tasted.

“So,” Chad mumbled with a mouth full of food, nudging you on the shoulder. “Was I right or was I right?”

“This is one hell of a burrito,” you admitted.

Chad eyes lit up at that and he got the widest smile you had ever seen, even despite the bits of egg on the side of his mouth. You just went back to your burrito, not fully sure why Chad was acting like you gave him the best compliment he could receive. Once the others got their burritos everyone continued the walk to Blackmore college, despite leaving early it seemed if you didn’t keep moving everyone would be late for their first class.

Once you got to the campus you and Sam watched everyone walk off, meeting up with Ethan before the group broke apart, each of them going their separate ways. You glanced at Sam, watching as her eyes tracked Tara across the campus and up the steps to the building that you assumed held her first class.

“Do we need to be worried?” you asked. You were great in combat, but you didn’t know what you were getting into, Ghostface was the enemy, but you weren’t sure how this enemy operated.

“No,” Sam said, shaking her head. “It’s the middle of the day, the campus is too crowded, they know not to go anywhere they could get ambushed.”

You nodded. You opened your mouth to say something else when an alarm on your phone went off. “Shit,” you whispered as you pulled out your phone. You sighed as you looked down at the notification, with everything going on you had nearly forgotten about it.

“Something wrong?” Sam turned to you with a furrowed brow.

“I have to go to therapy,” you admitted with an eyeroll. “It’s kind of mandatory.”

“Oh, no problem,” Sam turned to fully face you. “I can go with you, wait in the lobby, no that’s weird, I can wait in a coffee shop nearby.”

You smiled at how adorable Sam got when she rambled. You were used to seeing her at the gym, a pissed off face telling people to not approach her as she worked out. You were enjoying this side of her, maybe getting stabbed wasn’t so bad if you got to see her like this more.

“You can wait in the lobby,” you said, finally deciding to bring an end to her rambling. “If you’re okay with that.”

Sam nodded and you turned and led the way. The two of you walked side by side in silence, you didn’t mind the quiet, but you weren’t sure if you were supposed to make the first move. Sam clearly didn’t want anything to happen between the two of you, which was fine, you weren’t sure if you should tell her it’s fine, if you should address what happened at all, or if you should just go on as if nothing had happened.

“What’s wrong with Quinn and Ethan?” Sam asked out of nowhere.

You looked at her, seeing her still looking ahead. “Besides her relentless flirting?” you asked, making Sam roll her eyes. “She seemed in pain last night when she was headed back to her room.”

“She hooks up with a lot of guys,” Sam dismissed. “I don’t want to know everything she’s into and does with them.” You chuckled at that. “But this isn’t the first time she’s come home like that.”

You let out a hum. “Just a coincidence then, since I hit a Ghostface with the punching bag.”

Sam slowed her movements, as she seemed to process your words. “And Ethan?”

“He was limping when he left last night. Another coincidence since-”

“You cut Ghostface with the knife,” Sam finished your sentence.

You nodded. “Maybe I’m being paranoid,” you shrugged. “But I’ve been trained to see a threat everywhere. Just,” you pulled open the door to the therapists office as you arrived at the building. “Don’t be alone with either of them.

You and Sam sat in the lobby as you waited for your therapist to be ready for you. When it was finally your turn you left Sam in the lobby as you entered Doctor Johnson’s office. “Pleasure to see you again Y/N,” Doctor Johnson said.

“Not like I have a choice,” you said as you plopped yourself down on the couch across from the chair, she always sat in.

Doctor Johnson let out a hum. She clearly wasn’t surprised by your answer, it was the one you gave her every week, the one you had given her ever since you started seeing her. “Are you actually going to talk to me today?”

You shrugged your shoulders as you leaned back against the couch cushions. You had been seeing Doctor Johnson for three months, ever since you got back to town, and yet you had never once actually talked to her. At least not about anything important, you had the habit of avoiding the subject you were actually meant to discuss.

“I can’t clear you if you don’t open up,” Doctor Johnson said softly.

You nodded. “I met a girl,” you said.

Doctor Johnson sighed, once again it wasn’t what you actually needed to discuss with her, but she smiled anyway. You learned quickly that Doctor Johnson was very good at her job, even though you weren’t talking about what made you need to see her, she still did her job, trying to help you and talking to you about what you did tell her.

“That’s great,” Doctor Johnson said. “Where did you meet her?”

“The gym.”

“That’s great, you finally took my advice and started a conversation with someone. You’re opening yourself up, this is good, very good progress,” Doctor Johnson smiled.

“Well, technically I didn’t approach her,” you said slowly.

“She approached you?” Doctor Johnson gave you a nervous smile, clearly afraid of what you might say next.

“Actually, I didn’t talk her until I got stabbed saving her life.”

Doctor Johnson’s mouth fell open but she quickly shook her head and gathered herself again. “I’m sorry?”

“Some psycho in a Ghostface mask was trying to kill her,” you shrugged. “So, I stepped in, saved her life, and now I guess I’m helping protect her sister and friends.”

Doctor Johnson slowly nodded at your words. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to be getting involved in this?”

“You’re the one who wanted me to go out,” you gestured with your hand. “You even suggested meeting someone and now I have.”

Doctor Johnson closed her eyes and seemed to suppress a sigh. “I wanted you to try opening up to someone,” she said slowly. “This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

You shrugged. “I don’t know,” you whispered. “There’s something special about her,” you smiled to yourself.

You looked up when the timer went off, signaling the end of your session. Doctor Johnson sighed again and closed her notebook. “Congratulations, you’ve successfully avoided talking about the whole reason you’re supposed to be seeing me, again.”

You just smiled and pushed yourself off the couch. “See you next week.”

You had your hand on the door handle when Doctor Johnson’s voice caught your attention again. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” You glanced back at her, your hand still on the door handle. “I also hope you’re not trying to save this girl to compensate for the fact-”

“See you next week, Doctor,” you cut her off, opening the door and walking out before she could say anything else.

You walked into the lobby, trying to shake off what Doctor Johnson was implying, she couldn’t be more wrong, you weren’t trying to compensate for anything. You were helping Sam out because it was the right thing to do, not for any other reason. Helping Sam and her friends was the right thing to do, you had the skills to help them, you couldn’t just stand by and do nothing knowing a psycho was after them, Sam didn’t deserve that.

“Hey,” Sam’s voice came. You shook your head, snapping yourself out of your thoughts. You looked down noticing Sam’s hand was on your arm, and she was no longer sitting in one of the chairs but standing in front of you. “Are you okay?” her eyebrows scrunched up as she searched your face.

“Of course,” you said. “Shall we head back to Blackmore and pick up your sister?”

Sam looked at you for a second longer before nodding. “Sure.” She slowly took her hand off your arm and opened the door to leave to lobby. The walk back was quiet and not the same comfortable quiet that was there when originally going to your appointment. You could feel Sam glancing at you every few seconds, clearly wanting to ask you something but opting not to.

You appreciated Sam not prying. You weren’t sure you’d be able to answer whatever question’s she clearly had. You couldn’t even talk about your problems to the professional who was literally hired to help you with this, you doubted you could talk to the girl from the gym you had been crushing on. The two of you had grown close but for all you knew Sam was only feeling what she was, was because you had saved her life, besides she asked you to stick around and help protect the others, thinking about you in any other way probably wasn’t even on her mind.

Taglist: @thatshyboy1998 @artrizzler19 @btay3115 @acutenobody @godamnityess @luvwanda

[scre6m]

MELISSA BARRERA & KATHRYN NEWTON as JOEY & SAMMY in ABIGAIL (2024) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

[samcarpnter]

@FINALGIRLSOURCE FINAL GIRL APPRECIATION WEEK DAY #4: FAVORITE FINAL GIRL QUOTE(S) ♡ SAM CARPENTER (SCREAM)

[saharzahids]

@finalgirlsource final girl appreciation week: day 4 — favorite final girl quote

"Because everyone dies, Sam. Everyone who had anything to do with the death of my son suffers and dies."