#plot drop 10

[shriketimes]

thursday september 29th, 1988

Yesterday afternoon there were several incidents at the end of summer carnival celebration – resulting in the injuries and unfortunate deaths of multiple people. The carnival was immediately shut down, and much to our towns dismay, the fireworks display was cancelled entirely. Mayor Sweeney has refused to comment during these difficult times, feeling rather devastated by the attack. A representative has come forward to say that the Shrike Heights council has done all that they could this year to prevent another incident. Further preventative measures will be taken to ensure that future Shrike events are safe and enjoyable for our residents. Police have said they still have two perpetrators in custody and that they are currently being interrogated about the attack. If you have any information, please contact the Shrike Heights Police Department.

wednesday september 28th, 1988

The last of the summer sun shines down upon the residents of Shrike Heights warmly. Summer has come to an end, but the brightness of the day hasn’t yet changed and become clouded over in typical fall fashion, and this is particularly true as the sun shines its hottest and brightest in the middle of the day, at the busiest time for the carnival. More than just Shrike Heights residents are enjoying the last day of the end of summer carnival; residents from the smaller surrounding towns, those only around for business or loved ones, and the few people who pass through Shrike Heights on this day enjoy it too. The grounds are chaotic yet the most at peace Shrike has felt in some time; those only in town temporarily would never realise just how much trauma this place has seen previously. 

Screams of joy, of exhilarating fright, children’s laughter and friends speaking enthusiastically to each other mix with the sounds of various sources of music and effects coming from rides and stalls containing carnival games. It’s an overstimulating environment, but the energy is upbeat, exciting and joyous. It’s place to be, which is why so many people find themselves there. 

Amongst all of the carnival goers are Chandler Kolinsky and Naomi Yamada. They stand together in line for the tallest, most terrifying roller coaster that comes to town with the carnival each year, and already their nerves have kicked in. They watch as the riders who’ve just finished their turn disembark the four person cart, one looking queasy while the rest are laughing loudly, though shaking from the adrenaline rush. Chandler and Naomi step up onto the platform; they expect two more to follow them, but those behind them tell the ride operator that they’ve counted and have an even number for their entire friend group to go over the course of the next couple of runs. Chandler and Naomi are escorted onto the ride alone. 

At the peak of the roller coaster, you can no longer see the track, the riders, or their cart while standing at the bottom. The sun is too blinding, and there are too many support beams and different sections of the ride that obscure the highest point. The only way you know riders have made it up there is by listening for the screams. Up there, the ride slowly rolls across a flat section, and the cart stops while just dangling off the edge. After a moment too long, the cart finally drops and the riders always scream as they rush down the steepest decline. They always scream. Waiting to embark, being unable to watch and only able to hear in preparation of riding it is the most nerve inducing part.

With the support bar pulled down across the laps of Chandler and Naomi, they’re off. The ride is fast and thrilling all the way up to the peak; twists and turns jolt their bodies around, and screams - more of amusement than fright - already leave them before they even reach the top. Adrenaline is already pumping through their veins, and their knuckles are white from gripping the bar too tightly once they do reach the top. Their cart rolls slowly towards the edge; they try to catch their breath, though the anticipation of rushing down the next section of the tracks hardly allows them to. They stop; the nose of the cart hangs over the edge. They don’t move; they wait. They’re patient, but then the wait becomes worryingly long.

“Something’s gone wrong.” Naomi observes, speaking in a breathless voice, and Chandler agrees with a nod. The wait is always timed the same, the screams are always heard like clockwork, but that point has now passed. Understandably, being stuck at the top is less than ideal. They’re confused, and fear is creeping up on them, too. They both go to speak at the same time, but then they’re both interrupted at the same time. 

The sound of a loud thud coming from behind them is what cuts their words short. They feel frozen with fear, unable to look behind them to find the source. Is the reason why they’re stuck up there a fault in the ride? Could that fault potentially be fatal for them? The thudding noise is followed by more. Thud, thud, thud. It sounds over and over, at a steady pace, on near perfect beats. Naomi and Chandler finally brave it enough to look behind them, ans somehow, what they find is worse than their fears. The Bear has pulled themself up onto the track, and they’re slowly walking towards the cart.

The bear takes their time walking towards their victims, as if they’re taunting them, enjoying watching their panic. Chandler and Naomi scramble to pull at the bar across them, hoping to lift it up to get free, and while they do so they share an unspoken thought; even if they get the bar up, where do they have to go? This thought only worsens their attempt to get out as they both panic harder simultaneously. Though their panic works in perfect sync, their attempts at lifting the bar do not. They push and pull at the bar at different times, rendering each other’s efforts moot.

They have no time to waste, so Chandler takes charge. “Count of three, we pull upwards.” She decides, and Naomi nods. “One, two, three.” There’s no breath taken in between numbers, and she isn’t counting with the timing of proper seconds, but it works regardless. The two pull with all of their strength, and it lifts to make a gap large enough for them to slip through. “Slide out, upwards, as quickly as you can so when you drop the weight-” Chandler can’t finish her sentence in her panic, but Naomi understands. She needs to get out quick enough so that when she lets go, Chandler won’t have to hold it up alone for too long, risking dropping the weight on Naomi and injuring her. 

Naomi might have otherwise offered Chandler to go first, but they don’t have time for politeness. Chandler understands, she won’t be coming out of this bitter - that is, if she comes out of this at all. Naomi’s trying to not think about that reality as she follows orders and she squeezes out of her trapped position desperately and awkwardly; her hands grow sweaty as she pushes herself up even higher to get out. She faces the bear, trying to not look over the edge, but it isn’t any better to look their way; they’re growing closer.

She watches their movements, scanning the track underneath them, not because she’s neglecting to help Chandler, but half because she’s stuck by her fear and half because she wants to gain the advantage by mapping their way out. She notices that the bear moves so slowly because the track has an abundance of holes in between beams and rails, though she still believes they’re intentionally trying to act menacing, too. Knowing that the killer is also vulnerable so high should be more reassuring than what it is. “A ladder.” Naomi says suddenly, the second her eyes spot the maintenance ladder running down a support beam. This is slightly reassuring, though their chances of making it out alive still feel slim. 

Naomi’s mind races, making it feel like she stands there for aeons. In reality, not even a minute passes before Naomi squats on her seat, turning to the front again to help Chandler hold the beam up. Once Chandler slides out, they both stand in their seats, and they both hold on for dear life. “I see it.” Chandler tells her, talking about the ladder, her voice shaky as she’s so much more afraid now. “We need to get to it before they do. We can’t-” an intense fear that can be heard in Chandler’s voice. “We can’t hesitate.” Or else they might die, she thinks, but she doesn’t elaborate. Instead, Chandler moves forward, climbing over the seat back and onto the seat behind her. Naomi is mortified watching her. 

Chandler is determined to not let this be the end of her. She always has been a stubborn person, but she refuses the likely fate now more than ever. The killers can’t keep winning, not after they’ve taken people like Dakota from her. She sets her feet firmly on the tracks behind the cart, and her body wobbles as she’s hit with a gust of wind that she’s no longer protected from by the cart. Despite knowing that she cannot hesitate, she does. The wind takes her breath away and her fear makes moving impossible. After a beat, she finally steps forward as cautiously as possible. She can’t see the ground beneath her through the gaps, and that terrifies her more than if she had seen the height she’s at. 

The second Chandler begins to move, the second the bear speeds up, the two at an equal distance from the ladder. Despite being at the carnival, it’s clear that the bear is not playing games. 

Too close to be able to use their weapon, the bear opts to lunge towards Chandler. She ducks, just able to avoid his grip by a split second. She pushes herself by reaching out towards the ladder. Her fingertips make contact with the top of the beam that the ladder runs down. She’s terrified; she looks down to the ground and this time she can see it clearly. She can see that from this height, a fall would be fatal. Terrified is no longer a word strong enough to describe her feelings.

Again, Chandler knows that she can’t hesitate, but again, she does. She’s too far away to pull herself to the ladder safely, she’s scared, but then suddenly the feeling is replaced by pain as the bear kicks her under her chin, sending her body flying backwards. Her head, shoulder and arm dangle off the side of the track. She’s not knocked unconscious, though she feels close to it, the feeling familiar from her time as an athlete. It’s almost a good thing that she’s so disoriented from the impact as it’s the only thing stopping her from spiralling over the realisation that she was almost kicked over the edge.

Fortunately, Naomi is still fully conscious, though it’s also unfortunate as she’s able to fully understand the severity of what happened. She’s afraid of nearing the bear, but she’s even more afraid of letting Chandler succumb to the attack. She makes it onto the track behind the cart. Chandler sits up, her body trembling, and she reaches out for Naomi. Naomi rushes towards her, and she takes her hand, but then the bear reaches them and they stomp on Chandler’s chest in an outward direction, sending her off of the ride. Both victims scream, sure that Chandler is about to meet her death.

Her hand slips from Naomi’s, but Naomi doesn’t give up. She reaches down, grabbing Chandler’s ankle just before it’s out of reach. The momentum due to the force of the kick is too great, and though Naomi pulls Chandler towards her with all of her strength, she loses her grip and Chandler falls. “No!” Naomi sobs. The fear of the height hasn’t left her, but she lunges towards the edge, as if she can still reach out to save Chandler. Part of her wishes she didn’t. She watches as Chandler’s body hits beam after beam as she falls, it’s brutal. Naomi goes to pull away, not wanting to witness the death, but just before she does she watches Chandler land harshly on a horizontal beam. 

Her back smacks into metal, and she lands. The breath is knocked from her, her head hits the beam, the skin splits, and she’s knocked out. Naomi is even more afraid now, knowing that Chandler is alive and that she’s the only one who can try to save her right now. She also knows that statistically only one victim will be lucky enough to be caught by the ride rather than falling to their death. There’s no way Naomi will survive if she’s sent off these tracks.

The bear straightens up, as does Naomi, but the bear is the one to make the first move. They take a step towards her, then another, and then just as they’re about to be within reach, their foot in mid air, the two of them hear Chandler shout with a voice full of jagged and pained breath. “Naomi!” The killer falters. Unlike Naomi, they hadn’t seen Chandler land, they were under the impression that they had successfully killed her. Perhaps they should pay closer attention next time.

Though riddled with fear, Naomi recognises an opportunity and she knows she needs to take it to survive. She jumps forward, using her side to shove the bear with all of her weight. Her intention is to get them down and out of her way, to buy time to get to the ladder and begin descending; Naomi doesn’t plan on pushing the bear over the edge of the ride, but the bear’s foot falls into a gap between beams on the track and they trip. They’re sent off of the edge, and unlike Chandler, they don’t meet any metal on their way down.

Naomi gasps. After putting her whole weight into the shove, a move that makes her feel like she’s in a round of high stakes roller derby, she lands on the track harshly, eyes wide in the direction the killer fell from. Her body feels bruised and she lands on her wrist in a painful, twisted way, but she’s more shocked by what she’s done than anything else, so the pain barely registers. Her gasp of shocks turns into gasping for a breath. Despite being unable to breathe, she pulls herself up, not wanting to spend a second longer there. 

She gets to the ladder and she begins to climb down; as she does so, the pain begins to register, and she’s sure that her wrist is sprained, if not fractured, as she can’t put her weight on it. Chandler replaces the thoughts of her pain once she reaches the level she’s at. “Stay there, I’ll come get you.” Naomi tells her, worried that the impact will have made Chandler’s head spin; the last thing they need is for Chandler to fall on her own accord and meet her end that way. Naomi crawls across the beam, thankful it isn’t a trickier route and only the one to cross, and she helps Chandler back to the ladder. Together, they climb the rest of the way, which is something neither of them thought they would be able to do. 

As they walk they lean on each other, though mostly Chandler on Naomi. They make it to the ride’s control area; there’s no operator. Worried that more animals might be around, they don’t linger in the area. Intead, they head towards the exit, feeling alien amongst so many unharmed, neither of them having the ability to speak about what they just went through. 

Closer to the exit of the carnival, Loki Romanov doesn’t expect such troublesome behaviour to be happening already, not in the light of the early-fall day and definitely not at the very top of the roller coaster that the blinding sun blocks her from viewing properly. Thankfully she’s safe from the bear’s antics, her feet firmly on the ground. The last thing that Loki needs is more pain inflicted upon her, not after all she’s endured in the past.

The last day of the carnival is extremely busy, yet at the same time, Loki feels entirely alone as she walks through the grounds, feeling like she’s the only person in all of Shrike Heights who isn’t queuing for a ride or throwing balls at milk bottles to knock them down. She isn’t entirely sure why she’s there at all - finding carnival games incredibly irritating as she isn’t particularly good at them. The carnival is so loud all around her, yet as she walks down a clear path she feels as though her space is strangely peaceful and quiet.

This is, until she hears a whistling sound through the air only seconds before a sharp, intense pain strikes her side – the one opposite the scars left by the last attack she endured. She gasps for a breath and turns to find her attacker just in time to allow the next throwing star to wedge itself deep into her thigh. She can’t help the groan that escapes through gritted teeth as the blood starts to soak into her clothing.

The Mouse stands a little ways away from the doctor on the path. Despite being in broad daylight, no-one around them blinks an eye at the colourful costumed display. She sees them take yet another throwing star, spinning it between gloved fingers.

Having been through this before, Loki runs. She knows that she’ll be able to tend to her injuries when she’s safe but knows all too well that she must prioritise getting to safety first. She runs, the extreme pain growing worse as with every movement of her muscles the throwing stars lodge themselves further into her flesh. Blood drips down her body, seeping into her clothing as she tries to make her escape. She doesn’t stop until she finds a corner to turn down, and once there, she immediately rushes over to a game where teenagers are throwing darts at balloons in hopes that they pop. She slides between two games and hides behind that one, hoping that the noise of the popping balloons will help shield any noises that she might make while tending to her wounds.

Assessing the damage, Loki properly notices now that the stars have dug deeper into her flesh, particularly the one lodged into her thigh. The design of the weapon seems to be intentional, with the sharp knife migrating inwards with movement. Unlike typical stab wounds, she knows she has to remove the weapons to prevent further injury. Ordinarily, the knife would stay in the wound to prevent blood loss, but blood loss seemed like the better of the two options.

With everything being time sensitive, Loki has to try to act fast. Having no real first aid on her, she begins by taking her stockings off, carefully manoeuvring the fabric over the throwing star stuck deep in her thigh, carefully moving her body in a way that does the least to the star in her side. Once off, she rips the fabric of the stockings in half and she throws them over her shoulder so that they sit there as she gets to work.

She pulls the star out of her side, groaning with pain and cursing quietly in Russian, then she immediately reaches for one leg of the stockings to wrap around herself. It’s not an ideal piece of fabric, but it’s the best she has to offer herself right now. She knows it should buy her some time before she gets proper assistance or her hands on a real first aid kit. It’s more painful pulling out the star in her thigh; this wound is severe, the star dug in deeper, the gash is larger, the blood seeping out faster. She makes quick but painful work of removing it, throwing the star to the ground and even faster than before moving to wrap it up to prevent bleeding as much as possible.

She needs a moment to collect herself. She closes her eyes and breathes deeply as pain shoots up her body, causing her to feel an intense dizziness. Despite her last injury being more life-threatening, this seems to hurt so much more. She takes a moment longer before she finally straightens up, slipping back out from behind the stall and walking with as much strength and speed as she can, hoping to make her way to the exit.

Loki’s plans however, are changed the very second she spots Florence Quint walking along the path. Though her fear before had been replaced with frustration and pain, it returns quickly at the sight of the red-haired woman, and her breath catches in her throat. She’s not sure if it’s because of the shock her body is under because of her injuries, or if it’s because she’s found Florence. 

With no idea where the mouse is, Loki makes her way to Florence, gripping her forearm and tugging. “Quickly - you need to leave,” she says sternly, straight to the point with no greater explanation, “Come with me.”  

Florence usually would have been a little more relaxed with her despite her frustrations, but their last encounter had rightfully left her feeling bitter. “First you want nothing to do with me, and now you’re being all demanding,” she spits, pulling her arm from Loki’s grasp and taking a step away from her. She realises now that her arm is covered in blood. She takes time to examine the other, and the second she registers the state of Loki, her entire demeanour changes.

Loki takes her arm again, pulling her along the path to the nearest exit, but a figure on the path ahead makes Loki stop in her tracks. Their way out is blocked by none other than the Dog. Pieces of the articles that Loki had read about the attacks that took place last year in the grocery store, and then later at the carnival’s closing event, flash through her mind. It all clicks. She can’t believe that everyone is walking past the masked individual as if they’re simply a part of the carnival fun. How can no one else remember? How is she the only one to realise?

“We have to hide,” Loki instructs. In the seriousness of the moment, Florence is obedient, following. They rush as quickly as they can with the state of Loki. The dog doesn’t move to follow them, but they worry where the rest of the animal killers are hiding. Loki spots the tunnel of love with a sign out the front that reads, “BE BACK IN TEN.” She takes the rides vacancy as an opportunity, pulling Florence right into the ride, dragging her into the water. They might not be able to flee, but they still have the opportunity to hide.

“Do you really think we’ll be safe in here?” Florence asks, her heart beating so fast in her chest that she swears she can hear it.

“I don’t know - I can’t think straight right now, I don’t understand how these bastards are getting away with being out in the open in the middle of daylight. So… I don’t think anywhere is really safe,” she answers.

The two of them rush through the ride as quickly as the water on the ground allows them to, Loki’s hand tightly around Florence’s as if she might lose her if she were to let go. They rush past the sets on either side of the water-covered ground, past places that miss set pieces due to them breaking in the attack the year prior, others missing chips from the wood for the same reason. The two only stop when they reach an empty ride cart. They don’t have time to think about how odd the placement of it is, nor do they have time to catch their breath before their plans of hiding are foiled.

From behind the cart, the mouse jumps out. Having not been present for the attack at the end of the carnival last year, Loki couldn’t have known that the mouse has a job to finish, one they failed in the tunnel of this very ride the year prior.

They turn to run, Loki instinctively pushing Florence a little further forward, but the mouse throws their stars quickly, too fast for either to act to protect themselves. Two miss their bodies, one grazes Loki and falls into the water after the others, but two get Florence, one in the back, and one in the side of her thigh. Florence collapses forward into the water due to the impact and the sudden pain, and as she lands she cuts her hand open on the tracks that the carts drive upon. 

“Florence-” Loki reaches for her to try and help her up, but before she can take hold of her, the mouse has caught up. They grab Loki from behind, and with a strength that surprises her wholeheartedly, the mouse throws her body towards the stationary cart.

She’s thrown with such force that she feels immediately faint upon impact, and as her chest takes the worst of the blow, she feels a cracking and disconnecting that she’s sure is a break of the rib. She crashes over the cart horrifically, and upon landing on the ground she finds herself completely submerged in water. 

She’s under for longer than she should be, completely dazed, already exhausted because of her injuries, in so much pain and shock that she can’t move. Without so much as moving an inch, she stays under, slowly coming to. Once conscious enough, she notices the water ahead is clouding with blood, blood that is not her own. 

She gets back up, gasping for air, suddenly flailing her limbs and trying to ignore the pain. She comes up in time to see the mouse raise their arm and bring it down with a great force, stabbing Florence in the back with their stars, not once, but twice, and upon concluding the second stab they push her head underwater.

Florence thrashes and Loki is sent into a panic. Still not completely with it after being so injured and thrown around, her brain not receiving as much oxygen as it should be due to blood loss, it takes her mind longer than she’d care to admit to figure out what to do. Suddenly she dives under the water. Despite how difficult it is to see, she searches for the few stars that landed in the water, but she quickly begins to struggle. She comes up gasping for air multiple times, feeling dizzy and only getting worse, but she knows she has to succeed in this task. Florence has to be close to death, and Loki doesn’t stand a chance in a physical fight in her current condition.

Finally, Loki finds a star, but as she stands, she notices that Florence is no longer struggling. Her heart feels as though it could leap out of her throat. She’s terrified, but being a doctor, she knows that hope isn’t completely lost, and that she may still be able to save Florence - albeit with some difficulty.

She throws the star, and it’s lodged deeply into the mouse’s shoulder. Loki hopes this will send the killer away, but all it does is make them angry. They abandon Florence, her body floating lifelessly, and they step closer to Loki. They grab her by the shoulders and throw her into the water. If her rib hadn’t already been broken, it would be now. They hold her under as they did to Florence, but being face up, Loki has an advantage and is able to kick.

She’s exhausted, and in so much pain, but she kicks and she kicks until suddenly the mouse releases her, moving back. Loki sits up and coughs, her senses filling with the sounds of screams from two people who come into the scene on a ride cart. The mouse reaches for the next of their stars, only to realise that Loki has kicked them into the water. They seem frantic, but Loki stops watching them as she reaches for Florence. She’s unconscious, but she still has a pulse. There is still hope. 

The mouse is the first to flee, clearly unable to finish the job in the tunnel of love this year either, despite giving it a good attempt. Thankfully for the couple on the ride, they escape without a single scratch. Loki follows shortly after with Florence, carrying her body with arms that are weak but thankfully just strong enough. As soon as she reaches the exit, she allows herself one scream of agony before she places Florence’s body down and begins to tend to the woman’s injuries.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Loki says in an attempt to self-soothe, trying to convince herself that Florence just might be able to hear her. She pulls the stars from her back, wincing as she has to dig at the wounds slightly to pull them out. Considering her profession, she’s never been one to feel squeamish, but there’s something about it that sickens her. She then lays Florence on her back. She positions herself on her knees next to her body, and she begins to perform CPR. Loki’s entire body screams for her to stop, all of her injuries worsening, her head returning to that dizzy and faint feeling, but then Florence begins coughing, spluttering, coming back to her.

Loki gasps for a jagged breath, breathing being enough to hurt her chest a ridiculous amount, but even through the pain she continues to push herself as she turns Florence’s head to the side, helping her clear her airways to breathe properly.

Loki’s body slumps over Florence, but there’s still the matter of the star in her thigh. Loki knows she has pushed her body to the limit. She can feel her body fighting her, begging to rest, begging her to stop. She doesn’t. Florence is still gasping and coming to, but Loki reaches down and she begins to dig at the star in Florence’s thigh.

Florence is confused about so many things. She had hardly caught up to Loki’s situation before their shared attack started, and now she’s waking up with a foggy memory of what happened inside of the tunnel and an overwhelming situation unfolding on top of her. She’s dazed, and she feels a swell of sickness when she sees what Loki is doing.

The confusion mixes with sadness, but mostly an overwhelming pain is felt as Loki is in her wound, then pulling the star out. Florence tries to sit up, but Loki pushes her back down, perhaps too harshly for the wounds on her back. “Don’t move,” she slurs, her body inching closer and closer to unconsciousness. Breathing feels like something she has to do manually rather than automatically.

Loki’s state is deteriorating rapidly, she throws the star from Florence’s thigh onto the ground next to her, a mixture of Florence’s and her own blood dripping from her cut-up fingers. Florence’s vision gets blurry from tears, but she doesn’t need to see Loki to know what happens next, instead, she feels her collapse on top of her.

Over by the ferris wheel, Shrike Heights residents are witness to a strange sight, one that is thankfully much more pleasant than the sight by the tunnel of love. Joshua Sommer finds himself out at the carnival, despite being such a homebody who is typically reserved. To see him at a carnival that took place in a video game would make sense, but today he takes a break from his NES, playing the game of life instead - and no, not the board game. What might be an even stranger sight is his company in the form of Wilhelmina Reid. But as surprising as this may be, the pair actually make perfect sense together, and that’s evident to those around them in the line to the ferris wheel as they speak passionately of the latest issue of the New Mutants.

The conversation of the latest action packed comic book adventure continues as the two step into the carriage. The ride operator closes the door, and with a chuckle he tells them to enjoy their ride and to try to not fall out. The words are alarming enough to pause their conversation, though the look on the operator’s face tells them that this is a bit he does with every carriage he sends off. Neither rider is impolite enough to tell him that it isn’t funny. They smile at him and it seems to make his day, he pats the carriage twice before stepping back to his controls. 

The carriage has a roof to protect the riders from the sun, connected by beams in four corners to walls that start just above the average person’s waist when standing inside of the carriage. The door is shut by an old rusted hook lock, and none of it seems to be particularly well kept. In the large space between the roof and the start of the walls, there’s nothing, simply open aired windows, gaps for riders to peer out of in order to admire the views all around them. Unexplainably, Joshua and Billie both feel completely safe inside of the carriage, despite the shotty set up. They don’t return to their talk of comic books even after the operator has stepped away, as they instead both focus on the carriage jolting to a start.

The incline is always when the most nerves can be felt. It’s true that both riders feel safe inside of the carriage, but adrenaline still kicks in regardless as they get lifted so high above the ground, though slowly. Billie and Joshua happen to have more in common than an interest in comics; the two are both very tense individuals, so it’s not surprising that they fall into silence as they try to not let tense turn into anxious. They’re both here to enjoy the carnival, to catch a break from the town that has grown so sombre; they don’t need to ruin their own fun. 

It’s completely understandable for them to be anxious about being lifted up so high into the sky, but it’s also undeniable that the view is stupendous. The silence isn’t uncomfortable as the carriage is lifted up, higher towards the clouds. Instead, the inside of the carriage feels calm and peaceful. Billie and Joshua don’t express it aloud, but they don’t need to; they both think it’s nice to have found such peace in Shrike Heights. 

The ferris wheel slowly takes them around in one full circle, not stopping at all. The second time they go around, however, the ferris wheel begins to stop as each next carriage reaches the very top, allowing them all to enjoy their view (while also allowing people to get on or off of the ride from the very bottom). When Billie and Joshua’s carriage reaches the top, they share a look of wonder with each other before continuing to gaze out at their town. 

They peer out over the farmland and the commune, admiring the natural beauty, and then their eyes take them over the tops of hundreds of houses that lead them to downtown, where they can just make out certain businesses. They peer all the way over the length of the town until they notice the mall. It looks tiny from here, and the sight brings them great comfort. Finally their view ends with the mountains, all the way on the other side of town. The carriage begins to move back down as they both think about how they feel as high as the tallest peak on the mountain. 

“That wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.” Billie admits, breaking the silence. While having felt safe, that didn’t mean that she felt no fear. Their carriage stops in its place not far from the top as the next one is given their time in the prime position, and then suddenly, their peace is broken by a piercing scream. Billie has spoken too soon, and both riders are sent into panic as they search for the source of the scream. They can’t find where it has come from, and a feeling of hopelessness joins their other unsettling feelings. They look around, then finally to each other with wide eyes that read the same horror. Joshua’s panic builds.

A body suddenly falls from the carriage on the other side of the one at the very top. Joshua is nearly hyperventilating. The body falls with such force, such velocity; it couldn’t have just been an accident, they must have been thrown. Joshua tries to deny the fact, he tries to reassure himself that there’s no threat, but Billie knows, and she can’t deny the truth. Instinctively, both Billie and Joshua hold onto the ride tighter, though there’s nothing they can do; they can’t run, they can’t hide, they can’t even get help for the victim of the fall. 

The carriage moves again, and now Billie and Joshua can see even less of the affected carriage; they're left out of sight, feeling utterly trapped. No words are exchanged, neither of them can find the ability in their states of shock, fear and panic, but the carriage isn’t silent as Joshua’s panic attack fills their space with the sound of his rapid, uneven breaths. Another body is thrown from the carriage that now sits at the very top, and Billie drowns out the sound of Joshua with a scream. Having been watching so closely for a sign that might tell them what has happened, she sees the body as clear as day, and they’re covered in blood. The scream of horror turns to screams of help, and those in the carriage between the slaughtered and the panicked join in 

Joshua feels as though he might be sick. He wishes to call for help also, but he can’t stop panicking enough to do so. He looks down, searching for the ride operator. Instead of the friendly man at the controls, there stands a different figure, one completely in red. Joshua would have thought they were a carnival performer if the trauma didn’t remind him of the events from last year; this has to be the work of the animals. “He’s not-” his words come out with great difficulty, he turns to face Billie, tears streaming from his eyes. “at the controls.” He finally finishes through a gasp. “No one’s going to help. No one can help us.” He doesn’t mean to make Billie’s state worse, but clearly panic has completely overtaken him now. 

Trapped, they watch as the carriage next to them begins to shake and swing uncontrollably as it descends. Its two passengers scream, and then a third figure is seen sliding into the carriage from the large gap in the side. Before Billie and Joshua can see anything else, the ferris wheel finishes repositioning the carriages and the one with the intruder inside of it is now above theirs. They’re blind to the attack, only able to hear the sounds of screams turning into grunts, along with the sound of squelches and the sound of metal hitting metal. It’s an overwhelming commotion, it’s incredibly intense, but then everything falls silent. 

Joshua is gasping, feeling so faint now, and Billie feels as though there’s not a single thought in her mind; she has no idea what to do, and the silence might feel worse than the audio of the attack they were just subjected to. She slowly leans closer to the edge of the carriage, moving with caution, her heart beating so hard that she can feel it rattle her entire body. She moves her head through the gap, and she takes a deep breath before turning it to look up at the carriage. Immediately, hot drops of liquid splatter her forehead.

Billie rips her body back to the centre of the carriage, standing up in the middle of it, causing it to rock slightly. She faces away from Joshua, not wanting him to see her as deep down, she knows what her face is now tainted with. She reaches up with both hands, swiping the liquid off with shaky movements, her breath frozen in her ches, and when she pulls her hands away to inspect them her fears are confirmed; it’s blood. 

Panicked, Billie wipes at her face quickly, pulling up her t-shirt so that she can use the fabric to mop it up. She wipes her hands on the shirt too, trying to make herself feel clean again, though she’s unsure if that’s something she’ll ever be able to achieve. Her panic builds and it builds, but she knows she can’t reach Joshua’s level; their chances of surviving will be slim to none if they’re both complete messes. This thought works to ground her and make her realise her next best move. She slides onto the bench seating next to Joshua, and she begins to busy herself by helping him. 

She doesn’t mention the blood, though it’s not unnoticed she only begins to rub soothing circles on his back, taking loud, deep breaths, encouraging him to match them. “It’s going to be okay, Josh, we’re in this together, we’re going to get help, I’ll help you, we can help each other.” She begins, trying to speak as slowly and as steadily as possible. 

With Billie’s help and reassurance, Joshua begins to get his breathing under control. He still feels like he may die before the killer even reaches them, and Billie is still afraid, too. In fact, hey’re terrified. It feels as though their carriage stays in this position for far too long, and it's horribly suffocating to feel so trapped when they know the inevitable attack is coming for them next. They’re sitting ducks.

The carriage begins to move again, and Billie lets out a yelp, holding onto Joshua tightly, thinking that the movement must be the killer. Foolishly, they both allow themselves to feel relief when they realise it’s only the carriage, heading to the middle of the ferris wheel, no longer being so far from the ground and an escape. The relief is destroyed brutally only moments later, however. 

Something heavy lands on the roof of their carriage just after the descent has once again temporarily stopped. They instantly believe it’s the killer, but then there’s silence once again. Their carriage rocks so hard from the impact that they hold on to each other and the ride so tightly, both for safety and for comfort, but then no more movement or sound comes. Slowly, the carriage steadies itself, and they’re not so sure it’s the killer.

“Oh god,” Joshua suddenly cries, having a morbid realisation. “Please don’t let that have been a body.” He squeezes his eyes shut, hoping that when he opens them once again he’ll wake up from his horrific nightmare. A sinking feeling overcomes them both. Being trapped under a lifeless victim isn’t worse than a killer coming to get them, but as they believe it might be their reality, it’s still dreadful.

Suddenly, the Cat swings their body into the carriage, proving the two terrified individuals that their first instinct was right. Billie and Joshua both scream and cry, and they both jump up onto their feet despite the instability the swinging carriage provides and the fact that there’s nowhere to go. There is no escape; not even jumping is an option as a fall from this height would be far too dangerous, and potentially fatal. They try to move as far back as possible to avoid the cat and the bat with jagged nails sticking out of it, already completely drenched in blood, similar to the cat themself and to Billie’s shirt. 

The cat doesn’t waste any time. The carriage begins to move again, and the cat swings their bat. It makes impact with Joshua’s side, just narrowly missing Billie, and Joshua is thrown against the bench seating. He hits his head against the wall and he falls to the floor. While his injuries hurt, it’s a far better fate than being thrown to the ground, though being thankful that he hasn’t had it worse doesn’t cross his mind as the cat then rips the bat out of his side. All he can think of now is the excruciating pain. He screams, and his t-shirt begins to turn red with his blood. 

As Billie watches the cat’s callous actions, she can’t help but to scream in horror, though her scream swiftly turns into one of pain as the cat mirrors their attack and swings at Billie. The impact of the hit is intense, and Billie’s body falls down with so much ease that she resembles a ragdoll. She sobs as the cat pulls the nails from her flesh, her own blood now staining her already soiled t-shirt. 

Joshua stumbles back onto his feet, holding pressure on his wounds. Just as he finds his footing, the carriage comes to a stop. He’s not taking his eyes off of the attacker, understandably wanting to be ready to defend himself, even though he believes that nothing can be done to stop the brutality. The carriage jolts as it stops, and due to his attentiveness, Joshua notices that the cat almost loses their footing. They catch themself on the side of the carriage with relative ease before their stumble can become a fall, and as if to make up for their fumble, they immediately swing their bat again. 

They hit Joshua harder than before, not once, but twice, so both sides are now battered and bloody. Joshua’s body is sent in the direction of Billie’s, as she still stays crying on the floor, struggling to recover from the first blow, and Joshua has to scramble to avoid landing on top of her. In this attempt, he reaches out and he lands awkwardly on the bench, hitting his head and worsening the wounds in his sides. The head injury isn’t enough to concuss him, but it does leave him stunned for a beat. 

As Joshua lands, Billie pulls herself up, feeling guilt amongst all of her pain for causing him to have to avoid her in such a way. Thinking quickly, she jumps towards the killer, despite the fear growing worse than ever due to the close proximity. She does this as she figures that the cat will be unable to swing their weapon at her if she’s so close. It works as the cat head turns from Billie to Joshua, who now hurries to get back up, the killer no longer swinging at either of them. But this relief doesn’t last very long. 

The killer jumps back towards Joshua, and they swing towards Billie with such an intense force. They seem angered by the woman outsmarting them, and their anger is being translated into their next brutal blow. The nails on their bat are plunged into Billie’s stomach. She shrieks, her back harshly hitting against the support beam leading up to the roof. As the cat pulls the nails from her stomach in a manner that drags them through her flesh to create larger wounds, no more sound comes from her. Immediately her complexion turns pale, and her forehead beads with sweat. She reaches for the wounds to close them, but her hands are shaky and weak, and she can’t apply proper pressure. Blood begins to cover the entire bottom half of her. She’s sure this will be fatal.

The carriage begins to move again, and as the cat has put their entire strength into this swing of the bat, they stumble worse than last time at the sudden jerk of movement. Joshua feels light-headed and dizzy due to his lack of oxygen and the blood loss he’s already endured. He believes that Billie is dying right before his eyes, and the devastation he feels is just as strong as the fear. He’s overstimulated, so much is happening to him both in his body and mind, he doesn’t know how one person can feel all that he does in only a split second - but that’s exactly how quickly it all unfolds for Joshua. He’s gone through his devastation, his fright, his shock, his pain, his horror and his panic all before the killer can even regain their footing. In a rare act of bravery from Joshua, he uses this to his advantage. 

He pushes through the myriad of uncomfortable feelings, and he kicks the cat’s body with the most forceful kick he can manage. He gets the kick in just in time, and after the blow he screams in agony, falling backwards. His entire body hurts, his injuries worsening at his efforts, but the pain isn’t for nothing. The cat tries to catch themself on the support beam of the carriage with the bat they hold, unable to reach out in time to grab it with their hand, and all it does is cause the bat to be ripped from their grip. They flip backwards over the wall, frantically reaching for a piece of metal to catch themself on, and somehow, they succeed. With only one hand they hold onto the top of the wall, just where their body had fallen over, and though the grip seems weak it’s enough to save them from falling. 

Joshua’s panic is relentless; he’s not sure he has any fight left in him, and he’s sure that Billie doesn’t either, in fact, he’s surprised to see her still conscious, if only just. He begins to hyperventilate again. Once the killer pulls themself back up, they’re done for. The carriage jolts to a stop. Here we go. Joshua thinks. This is their chance to finish us off. But before the killer takes the opportunity to do so, Billie uses the last of her strength to pick up the fallen bat and swing it herself, plunging the nails into the killer’s hand. She drops to the ground, and the cat only remains as the bat stuck inside their flesh holds them onto the carriage. 

Stepping up for Billie, who begins to slip in and out of consciousness on the floor of the carnival ride, Joshua moves forward and he rips the bat from the cat’s hand. It’s the final act needed for the killer to fall to the ground. The carriage is no longer so high up; the killer can easily survive the fall, and while Joshua supposes he should feel relief over them being gone, he’s more afraid than ever. He feels so alone in this now, believing Billie to be on the brink of death, and he doesn’t know how to save them when the killer can easily wait for them down there on the bottom. He begins to sob, but as the carriage continues to move around closer to the ground he spots the cat once again. They’re not waiting, instead, they’re fleeing alongside their accomplice in red.

It’s not quite relief that Joshua feels, not in his state, but a level of hope can be felt. Once he gets off of the ride with Billie, he can get them help, and they might be able to live through this. He expects the carriage to slow at the bottom and then come to a stop. He’s ready to make his escape, but then the carriage doesn’t seem to be slowing. “Billie,” he panics, though she’s not conscious to participate in the conversation. “Billie it’s not stopping, Billie the ride isn’t stopping, I-” He cries harder. “I don’t know what to do.” He admits, feeling worse than completely useless. The carriage keeps going, past the bottom, back towards the top. 

He struggles to compose himself, but before they rapidly reach the top of the ride once again he pulls himself together just enough. He digs into his pockets, pulling a black bandana from one pocket and a - thankfully clean - plain handkerchief from another. As quickly as he can, he wraps the two pieces of fabric around Billie’s stomach, tying them together to make the entire length, and pulling them tight to try to put pressure on the worst of her wounds. It’s the best he can do. “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay? Just stay with me Bill.” He cries, and as they begin their descent Joshua scoops her up in his arms, holding her bridal style. “Stay with me.” He whispers, mustering up all of his courage to make the jump when they arrive at the bottom again. 

He flicks the weak lock undone and he kicks the door open. Just as the carriage reaches its lowest, he jumps. He lands on his feet, and he’s surprisingly able to keep hold of Billie even as the pain from his injuries shoot so intensely throughout his entire body. Billie comes to slightly, crying in pain, but thankfully no longer seeming to decline in condition. The same can’t be said for Joshua. 

He puts her body down as gently as he can manage, and then he falls to his knees. He reaches for both of his sides, trying to apply pressure to his wounds, and though Billie has no strength in her she kneels beside him and she tries her hardest to help block the blood flow. “Stay with me.” She tells him, as if to say that despite her lack of complete consciousness, his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed or unappreciated, and as if to say that it’s her turn to take care of him now, even if she hardly can. 

The two are left crying together, bleeding out slowly. At least if this is the end of them, they had comfort in each other in their last moments. But this doesn’t seem to be the end, not just yet. Naomi and Chandler, who are fleeing from their own attack, spot the pair. Most people around the ferris wheel haven’t noticed a thing, all so focused on the rides they’re lining up for or the prizes that they’re trying to win. Naomi and Chandler, however, have had the joy of the carnival ripped from them, so of course they notice. 

They don’t need Joshua or Billie to explain what has happened, they’re able to make the correct guess, especially after spotting the lifeless bodies on the other side of the ferris wheel upon further inspection. Seeing the condition of the others, they don’t waste time inspecting the scene for too much longer. Despite their own injuries, the two coming from the roller coaster prioritise the gushing wounds on the others, and they do their best to help them not lose so much blood as they all head towards the exit, towards help, together. 

Further back in the vast carnival grounds Xena George, Philip John Bolton and Clementyne Spry stand together, surrounded by carnival games. The couple laugh at Xena’s ruthlessness as she’s not long finished beating a child in a game, and they laugh as she comes out of it bragging about how she ‘annihilated’ the poor thing; trust Xena to use the most dramatic wording for the situation. It’s only funny now as the woman gave the child her prize, though it can’t be said that PJ and Clementyne are thinking of such details or judging their bandmate as they’re focused on trying to enjoy themselves. 

None of them have even the slightest inkling that terrible things are happening at the carnival as they talk. Like almost all of the other carnival goers, they haven’t witnessed any of the atrocities that have taken place thus far as too many other events are happening on the showgrounds, demanding their attention over the victims’ pleas. Clementyne, PJ and Xena all have their own reservations, fears and worries about being at the carnival, but none of them would ever have guessed that things had gone south already.

“I might give the kids a chance to practice a bit more before I go back to it.” Xena laughs as they begin to discuss what to do next. The options are endless, as is the case each year the carnival rolls into town. PJ’s response is interrupted by the addition of Hedwig Blackwood’s presence. It’s a surprise to see someone less socially inclined there, and this is exactly why their presence captures all of PJ’s attention. It’s a nice surprise; PJ understands that Hedwig has been personally affected by the attacks in the same way as he, having people close to him almost lose their lives, so to see him not succumbing to the devastation of that really is nice. “We were just talking about what we want to do next.” Xena fills Hedwig in after initial greetings are spoken.

“Have you guys hit the carousel yet? I heard it’s a blast, really gets your adrenaline pumping.” Hedwig suggests this with a laugh, as if he’s joking, but the truth is that Hedwig wouldn’t mind heading over there. Rides such as the carousel, the ferris wheel and the teacups are the most adventurous Hedwig will ever be seen on, that much is guaranteed. He doesn’t actually expect any of the group to choose this suggestion out of all of their options, but it’s the best he can contribute to the conversation. 

Defying expectations, Xena seems into the idea. “You know, I actually haven’t, but how about you and I head over there?” She takes a step forward so that she stands next to Hedwig. “Give these two a chance to head over to the tunnel of love, or whatever.” She makes a joke out of why she wishes to split from the other two to get rid of any awkwardness that might have come from straight up saying that she thinks the couple should have adequate alone time together. Xena doesn’t wish to intrude, and without the company of Ottilie - and despite the company of Hedwig - it’s easier to feel as though she’s third-wheeling. 

PJ encourages Xena to go off with Hedwig. He loves all of his bandmates, but his relationship is of course different with Clementyne, so he’s not going to say no to Xena’s idea of splitting up. “Go on, get out of here,” he tells her, smiling. “Don’t go having too much fun without me, though.” The two pairs say their goodbyes with a little more laughter, and then they go their separate ways. 

As Hedwig and Xena walk, they talk about their days so far. Xena’s story is much more exciting, to be expected, as Hedwig has only just arrived at the carnival solo. The conversation quickly pauses when a seemingly endless amount of children begin running past them in the other direction excitedly. “Must be something going on over there.” Xena concludes, looking in the direction they’re heading to but not seeing what it is. It makes sense to Hedwig, as they know the last day of the carnival contains more excitement than any other, especially during the daytime for the children who are unable to stay up and watch the midnight fireworks.

“Perfect timing, no line.” Hedwig says as they notice the lack of busyness at the carousel, not complaining about the rush of kids now. Not only is there no queue for the carousel, but there seems to be almost no one even around it. “Which is good, because isn’t it kind of embarrassing to be going on this?” Hedwig asks, laughing to hide the fact that he already feels it, though Xena isn’t judging him. “Don’t people our age usually go on real rides?” It’s clear that Hedwig is self conscious, but Xena only responds by taking Hedwig’s hand and pulling him onto the carousel. 

One young person is getting situated on the ride when the two arrive, and they figure from the section’s emptiness that no one else is on it, not even on the other side where they can't see. Neither Hedwig nor Xena care to check as they instead climb upon a matching pair of pretend horses a few rows in front of that they’ve presumed is the only other rider. 

They’re laughing before the ride even begins. While Hedwig is encouraged, he’s still insecure, and it shows as he asks Xena if he looks ridiculous. “Not at all. You’re out here having fun, Hed, and that’s all that matters.” She smiles, reassuring Hedwig. She’s right; nothing else should matter right now, Hedwig should just try to enjoy the fun before the carnival is gone. It’s a nice change from regular life in Shrike Heights, and that’s greatly needed

Their laughter continues and only becomes louder as the ride starts. The horses bob up and down, loud music plays from overhead, and while it does feel a little silly, that only adds to the fun. Hedwig is thinking that he’s lucky, to have found himself actually having a good time, but only moments after he’s entertained the thought, he’s made to realise that he shouldn’t have gotten ahead of himself.

A commotion sounds from behind them, and their fun is ruined. After everything that has happened in Shrike Heights, a commotion is enough to evoke real concern and sheer terror. Two years ago it would have easily gone ignored, but not anymore. Hedwig and Xena turn just in time to see the other rider, now off of their horse and slouched over on their knees beside it, have a sword stabbed right through their neck from the back to the front. They choke on the sword, their misplaced innars, and their own blood, and as they do so a sick gurgling noise sounds. Their struggle doesn’t last very long. 

The Rabbit pulls the now bloody sword from their lifeless victim, letting their body fall forward, blood pooling around them as their struggle concludes. The killer’s real eyes can’t be seen behind the large, green rabbit head that they wear, but Hedwig and Xena both recognise their gaze as now being on them. They’re next. 

In too much shock and horror to even scream, the two jump off of their horses immediately. They turn and they begin to run, which is an odd sensation on a moving platform, a tricky feat as they have to avoid so many of the moving carousel horses, and perhaps a pointless move as the platform is a perfect circle. 

Due to the difficulty, Xena falls. She stuns herself by hitting her head harshly against the ground, and Hedwig immediately stops to help. He frantically reaches for her, and with a grip under her arms he pulls her back up onto her feet. He’s in a rush, as is Xena, though she physically can’t move for a moment due to the dizziness of her head. Hedwig understands, and he doesn’t leave her behind, even when the killer grows closer than ever. 

Xena comes to just in time for her and Hedwig to turn to the killer in sync, having seen them swing their sword and wanting to protect themselves. The sword swipes across in their direction and instinctively the pair hold up their hands to block the attack from being fatal, from slicing open an important artery or perhaps their organs. It makes sense in theory, though it feels like a dumb idea as soon as the victims earn matching cuts entirely across the palms of their hands. They recoil in pain, but are both in too much shock to flee again just yet.

The rabbit lifts their sword to strike again immediately, wanting to take advantage of the victims’ stillness, and Hedwig knows he has to do something. He’s lived through enough horrors in his life, he doesn’t need more bad experiences, and he definitely doesn’t want Xena to lose her life either. Desperate to end the altercation immediately, Hedwig holds his wounded hand in his other, and he kicks the rabbit away with all of his force. 

It buys them time, but not much. The rabbit stumbles but finds their footing again quickly. Xena turns to run first, struggling as the moving surroundings around them worsens her dizziness, but as Hedwig follows right behind her he reaches out to redirect and prompt her into the right direction as needed. 

The rabbit steps forward quickly, light on their feet, and they do to Hedwig what Hedwig did to them. Much like the other killers that have been seen at the carnival today, the rabbit seems bitter and angry for having been acted against. They kick Hedwig square in the back, and their body is thrown into one of the horses. 

The horse moves upwards as Hedwig falls down, making the impact worse, and causing his arm to slide into the stirrup on the side. His arm remains stuck in the small opening even as his body makes contact with the ground, and the force of the fall in addition to the weight of his body is enough to make his arm snap, a bone breaking. Hedwig screams. He unintentionally harms himself more as he tries to pull his broken arm from the stirrup, but it doesn’t budge.

The panic is intense. He’s gone and made himself a more vulnerable victim, he’s trapped, giving the rabbit the perfect opportunity to kill him quickly, but then the rabbit steps past him. Somehow, this fate feels worse than Hedwig being finished off. 

Xena screams loudly, but the angle Hedwig is stuck on doesn’t allow him to see what’s happening. He finally manages to free himself, and when he turns to find his friend he watches the killer finish slicing down her back, from one shoulder down diagonally to the hip. The cut looks deep, blood begins to drench her clothing already, and she falls to her knees in front of the killer.

Hedwig wants to stay frozen in shock, but instead he awkwardly pulls himself up with his one good arm and he rushes over to Xena. He grabs her quickly, and he pulls her up even faster. His body is in so much pain, as is Xena’s, but the two being on the same page allows them to mutually push themselves and each other in hopes of getting out of there. Hedwig is determined to save the pair, but he’s unable to succeed. Of course he’s unable to. 

The rabbit cuts across Hedwig’s side; he manages to stay on his feet sandwiched between the unstable Xena and the carousel horse. The two victims lean on each other for support, swaying back and forth slightly, and as they both know they can’t waste time they try to step away from the killer too soon. They take one wobbly step before the rabbit kicks Xena down. This time her head makes impact with one of the horses, and like Hedwig, she makes impact as the horse is moving upwards. The force immediately concusses her. 

Xena falls to the floor, losing blood and unable to move. Hedwig’s chest tightens as he watches in panic and fear, feeling hopeless and weak, feeling his side grow wetter and warmer with his own blood. He has no new plan, but he can’t do nothing, so he tries to once again buy them time. He kicks at the killer, aiming for their knee to hopefully send them to the ground. They don’t fall, but they do stumble and begin to double over, looking weaker than before. Hewig then takes the opportunity to throw a punch. He aims for their wrist, wanting to aim for a point that will be effective, and though the punch is weaker than he’d like, it’s enough to make the killer drop their sword. 

Hedwig groans in pain, first grabbing their side with their left hand to try to hold the wound closed, but they swiftly realise that they don’t have time to falter as the rabbit is immediately reaching for the sword. The punch was enough for them to drop it, but definitely not enough to do any real damage. With a bloody hand, Hedwig grabs Xena, trying his best to be gentle as he pulls her up again. She’s barely conscious, but is able to hold onto Hedwig as they move towards the edge of the carousel, stumbling together.

They have no other choice, and they both know it, even in their rapidly declining conditions. They have to jump to get away, and so they do. Having been stumbling just walking, they don’t land easily. Hedwig lands on his ankle awkwardly, taking most of Xena’s weight as she lands beside him, almost passing out as she does so. It causes him to fall to the ground, and with him, Xena goes too. 

Hedwig’s fall is nasty; the only hand he has able to catch himself is caught up in trying to support Xena, so his head makes direct impact with the ground. He grazes his cheek, and there’s an uncomfortable feeling added to the wound on his side as more blood spurts from it. Xena is able to catch herself better than her company, landing on her hands and knees, but the excruciating pain that shoots through her body causes her to once again almost lose consciousness. Despite the dizziness, faintness and the pain, Xena helps Hedwig up.

They hold onto each other for support, both sweaty and pale and sick to their stomachs, but they push themselves and they begin to run. They’re unable to move fast, but they still try their very best. 

The carousel’s ride operator hadn’t noticed the commotion; he’s been busy working his way through the day’s issue of Shrike Times the entire time the slaughter was happening in circles on his carousel. He notices now. He throws down his paper at the sight of the fleeing Hedwig and Xena, and he begins to shout for help. After everything that has happened and gone unnoticed both today along with the first day of the carnival celebrations, at the welcoming parade, it’s about time that someone other than victims notice something.

Hedwig and Xena don’t wait around for help to come; they keep going, they’re so afraid of being finished off by the killer. They don’t make it far. On a sprained ankle - and not to mention the rest of his injuries - Hedwig falls down again. He’s growing weak, his pain is too overwhelmingly intense for him to keep going, and unfortunately once again as he falls, Xena does too. One of the hardest parts about how injured he is is how he keeps letting Xena down because of it. 

Hedwig begins to cry. He can’t see the killer around them, but he doesn’t feel safe, and he’s expecting them to be trailing right behind them. Having fled immediately, albeit not very fast, Hedwig doesn’t know that the ride operator has called for help, nor does he know that the rabbit fled in the opposite direction the second that happened.

Hedwig pulls themself into a seated position. Their clothes are drenched with a mix of their own blood and Xena’s, and now tears fall onto the wet fabric also. The pain in their broken arm has surpassed just pain, now feeling a mixture of numb but somehow still sore, strangely. He pulls his arm into his lap, trying to straighten it out and crying harder at the action, and it’s then that he notices Xena has slipped into unconsciousness properly. 

Again, he’s crying harder. With his good arm, he pulls her limp body towards him, in between his two legs. He lets her wounded back fall against his front, and he reaches around her body, pulling her in close to try to put pressure on the wound. He sobs into her shoulder. Is this the end? Is he about to lose her? He’s distraught at the thought, but he’s not sure anything can save her now. 

In Hedwig’s mind, he takes all of the blame. He’s failed them both, he’s the one who suggested the carousel, and he’s the one who is still conscious yet unable to go further to get them any help. Xena is going to die in his arms. He holds her closer, tighter. He doesn’t want to have to miss her. As he feels his own condition deteriorating, he begins to hope that he doesn’t survive this attack, either.

After going their separate ways, PJ doesn’t expect to see Hedwig and Xena again so soon, but he does. He spots Hedwig and Xena as their attempt at fleeing fails, and it takes him a moment to register what is happening. He nudges Clementyne’s arm, “Clem-” though he doesn’t have time to finish saying her name before Hedwig collapses and pulls Xena into his arms. Clementyne turns to follow PJ’s line of sight and catches the scene herself as Hedwig begins to sob ferociously. They stand at a distance, but Clementyne can hear the cries regardless.

PJ feels weak with shock, and immediately he feels as though he’s being eaten alive by the guilt. Perhaps if he hadn’t encouraged Xena to go off with Hedwig, the group could have remained together, and they could have stayed safe. How could he have let more people close to him almost die? PJ carefully approaches and places a hand on Hedwig’s shoulder.

With his eyes filled with tears and his face buried in Xena’s shoulder, Hedwig doesn’t see PJ approach. He instantly believes the hand on his shoulder to be one belonging to the killer, so he jumps with fright, though only lazily. His body is weaker than he realised, his head spinning as he moves and his body continues to lose precious blood.

Both PJ and Clementyne are stunned, frightened by the sight. They’d never thought that such horrific attacks would happen in the middle of the day in such a crowded space. They’re unsure of the best move to make. There’s no way anything could calm Clementyne’s always busy mind now, but she’s easily the most qualified person of the four to help, and she knows this. She’s overwhelmed, horrified, fighting her own inner turmoil as she does her best to push forward and step up to help their injured friends, but she’s stopped.

The Bubblegum Twins come zooming onto the scene, skilfully skating circles around the group like a couple of vultures waiting for an animal to die. They immediately send the three conscious people into a panic. Being in the worst state, Hedwig feels it the most, his chest restricting, feeling like his body is crushing his own heart and lungs. As he was the one to take Xena away from the original trio, he feels personally responsible, and the last thing he wants now is for PJ and Clementyne to get themselves hurt trying to protect him. “Run,” he begs suddenly. PJ and Clementyne hesitate, looking at each other before looking back at the others. Hedwig repeats himself, his tone expressing his sheer panic, “Run!”

The killers are getting closer and closer each time they pass. It’s evident to the two standing residents that the bubblegum twins have their eyes on them, and not the two wounded on the ground. PJ doesn’t have much time to think, but he does for a moment. Last time the killers attacked the employees of the mall, his very own sibling was saved because of a similar plan. It’s the only thing that keeps him from dragging Hedwig and Xena after him. “Hedwig. Be careful, be safe, take care of her,” PJ tells him before ushering Clementyne ahead, wanting her to be as far away from the killers as possible.

They run as fast as they can. Despite the skaters being on wheels on slightly uneven terrain, they’re still much faster than the two on foot. Clementyne leads the way, running towards one of the bigger tents that is right on the path ahead of them. Just as she reaches the door of the tent, PJ suddenly feels something around his neck. He’s pulled to the ground by the pink bubblegum twin as the blue continues to chase after his companion, who hasn’t yet realised that PJ isn’t behind her. He hits his head hard against the ground, causing a harsh pain to pulsate through his skull.

PJ claws at what he now realises is a rope around his neck, as though he’s been lassoed like a calf at a rodeo. High-pitched laughter rings through his ears, causing his head to throb as he struggles to escape the still-tightening noose. Clementyne is out of sight, and he can’t help but panic, his breathing becoming laboured as he struggles to keep himself calm and collected. He’s still stunned from the collision with the ground, eyes seeing double as the killer reaches for his hair. With very little accuracy, he knocks her hand away with his forearm, clambering forwards and back onto his feet. He decides he’ll go around the tent, rather than through it – figuring he’ll meet Clementyne on the other side.

Clementyne moves sporadically enough that they manage to lose the blue bubblegum killer in the tent. Though they realise now that both PJ and the pink bubblegum killer are absent. Too scared to call for his attention, out of fear of bringing attention to themself, they try to calm their breathing as they look around the musty-scented, dark tent full of boxes and carnival supplies leftover from the parade. Just as they’ve almost managed to talk themself out of a panic attack, they hear something toppling over in the direction that they originally came from.

Terrified, she rushes towards the exit, dodging the boxes as she makes her way towards the sliver of light streaming through the crack in the tent doorway ahead. Before she reaches it, she’s caught off-guard by a sharp pain in her shins that sends her toppling over. It isn’t until she looks down that the pain really registers. Razor wire has torn her clothes and her skin, blood visible through the freshly torn holes in her jeans. Her mind races, but she has no time to go through every little fear that she has right now. She gets to her feet and bursts through the door.

PJ just reaches the other side as Clementyne emerges. Relief washes over him, until he sees her bloodied shins (which appear to be a lot worse than they actually are.) Clementyne is relieved to see him, a smile making its way to her face – believing that the two of them have escaped with minimal injuries. They both hurry towards one another, desperate for some kind of comfort and security after their ordeal.

“Are you okay?” PJ asks hurriedly, stumbling a little as he walks, still feeling uneasy due to the concussion. Clementyne doesn’t get the opportunity to answer him.

Before they reach each other, the killers appear again. At first, Clementyne believes they killer are going to skate right past them; the blue skater goes to pass her, and the pink skater, PJ, both seemingly paying no attention to their victims. That is, until both of them have their hair tight in angry fists, the couple being dragged off their feet and across the ground, in the opposite direction of one another yet again - before they even got the chance to properly reach each other. Despite kicking and screaming, neither of them are able to free themselves of such strong grips.

PJ is dragged behind several food carts, some of which are in operation and are busy preparing for the next wave of customers. The employees are far too busy trying to keep on top of things to notice the man kicking, and PJ’s screams blend in with the carnival commotion, which has become something akin to white noise to the cooks. Passing an empty stall, PJ manages to get a grip on one of the table legs. It doesn’t hold long, the table coming loose and folding in on itself, the business banner above it falling and landing on the killer. She lets PJ go as she tries to free herself from the material, groaning and grumbling as she frantically pushes her way out of it. Her victim clambers to his feet and manages to back up before she’s free again. 

At a safe distance, PJ takes a moment to think about where Clementyne might have been taken. He’s desperate to find her, his large eyes scanning their surroundings for any trace of her or her attacker. He grows more distressed with each second that passes without Clementyne, but he’s suddenly brought out of his deep state of concern as the killer is back to him. She’s reaching for something, and she acts before PJ can run.

Hot oil splatters over his arms, his skin turning red as it screams with pain. He uses his hands to try to flick the oil off himself, but it does nothing but irritate the severe burns. His eyes are full of tears – he can’t remember a time in his life in which he’s felt such terrible, terrible pain – and he hopes that he’ll never ever have to experience anything worse. He can only hope that Clementyne doesn’t have to, either. He turns to run with little idea of what direction he should flee, and the pink killer follows behind, catching up to him quickly.

Clementyne cries as they feel every little bump and rock that they’re being dragged across. They know that their body is going to be bruised and potentially scraped all over. They’ve lost sight of PJ, and their mind raced back and forth over the two horrific thoughts - what’s going to happen to me? What’s going to happen to PJ? She lets out another scream in an attempt to get someone, anyone’s attention, but the sound is met with the blue bubblegum twin lifting her up, giving her an expression that says very simply, “shut up, or I will shut you up.” The killer stares into her eyes for only a moment, and Clementyne shivers. There’s nothing behind those eyes. The gaze is cold and emotionless, and if souls existed, and a person could live without one - this would be an example of that.

Then there comes the sound of running, not too far away, that breaks the killer's attention. He lets go of Clementyne, letting her fall to the ground with a thud. The blue killer skates off in the direction of the sound, and when Clementyne slowly stands up and dusts herself off, she sees it. PJ with red hot skin all over his arms, some on his chest, looking greasy and dirty - and the pink killer hot on his heels. 

“Run, Clementyne!” He screams ahead at her. The last thing either of the victims want is to be kept apart for any longer, but Clementyne needs to flee now, or risk meeting a fate similar to PJ.

PJ doesn’t know what to do, the pink killer behind him, the blue killer in front of him. He skids on his feet, dropping to the ground and rolling beneath an empty table, putting some distance between him and the perpetrators. The pink nods to the blue, and she goes ahead to meet Clementyne, who has been unable to follow PJ’s orders in fear of them still being separated, while the blue twin takes care of the already-injured PJ.

Clementyne turns to finally run, but before they can, the pink killer resumes blue’s position, taking Clementyne by the hair and dragging them quickly through the dirt until they reach an area with a few unoccupied carnival games. Her clown-like face glances around the area, as though she’s pondering something. She exhales calmly, like she knows exactly what to do next. 

Approaching the Balloon Blast game, the pink killer seems to lift Clementyne with ease as she throws her over the counter. Winded from the impact, Clementyne struggles to get back to their feet - which gives the killer ample time to climb over. She grabs Clementyne by the collar of their shirt and slams them against the opposite counter, aligning their head beside one of the ridiculous clowns sitting there with its mouth open, waiting for the water to burst the balloon above its head. With her other hand, she points the pistol towards Clementyne’s face, pulling the trigger and watching the water blast into their mouth.

The blonde struggles to breathe, kicking and screaming and sputtering, water spilling all over herself and splattering all over the killer. She can’t catch a breath no matter how hard she tries to expel the water from her mouth. She tries to calm herself and take a big breath through her nose, but the intense splash of the water on her face just leads her to inhale more water. She alternates trying to breathe through her mouth and through her nose, all the while consuming more and more water. With a lack of oxygen, she falls unconscious. The killer remains relentless.

PJ brushes as much dirt as he can off his burns before scampering away from the bubblegum killer, who is struggling to climb over the table with his skates on. He runs until his lungs hurt, eyes examining the ground to see the tracks of Clementyne’s body being dragged through the rough dirt. He bursts into the area with the unoccupied games, and he sees the pink bubblegum killer’s assault, the water pistol still blasting Clementyne’s mouth with water. He screams and screams for help. 

The killer pauses, seemingly thinking about what she’s going to do. Finish the job and risk getting caught - or letting Clementyne slide for a chance of escape. She chooses the latter, dropping Clementyne’s body so hard that it shook her awake momentarily, water spilling from her mouth. She still struggles to breathe, not enough air getting into her lungs (she’s concerned for the amount of water that may still be in there.) The killer is nonchalant about the encounter, and she skates off in the opposite direction to find her brother.

PJ rushes over to her as Clementyne starts to cough and splutter, trying to hold her so that any water that comes up can be spat out easily - afraid that she might choke. She’s weak, struggling to stay conscious. PJ immediately starts to scream again. “Help! Somebody help! I need help!” he’s desperate for assistance, his entire body stinging and aching with pain, and his heart heavy with worry for Clementyne. “Try stay awake, stay awake until someone comes to get us,” PJ says in a panic, rocking her gently in an attempt to keep her awake as he starts to scream for help once more. 

This can’t be happening. After almost losing Soren, believing that he’s likely lost Xena, and possibly Hedwig, too, he can’t be losing Clementyne. His body trembles with fear, and with an overwhelming sadness. He keeps alternating between calling out for help, and speaking gently to Clementyne in attempt to soothe her in the moments she’s not totally gone. The more he screams, the more his throat hurts; he’s unaware of how brutal the bruising from the noose is, though he’s certainly aware of the pain. Paramedics don’t take long to find them, but by the time they do, Clementyne is completely unconscious again.

The ride operator of the tunnel of love is quick to get assistance for the two women who had emerged with severe injuries. Florence was close to unconsciousness herself, but as she lay and wait for help to arrive, she gently strokes Loki’s hair with an affection that might have brought her comfort if she were awake. With every last bit of her energy, she watches Loki carefully, seeing if she can catch her chest rising and falling.

Already on their way to the exit of the carnival, the quartet of carnival attendees, Joshua, Billie, Naomi and Chandler, arrive on the scene. The four of them are relieved, to see that professional help isn’t so far away after all. Naomi and Chandler make a scene, waving their arms and calling out for the paramedics as they guide Joshua and Billie to be seated. Once the four of them are sitting and can catch their breath, they feel hopeful. Though their pain and their struggles are far from over, they know they’re going to make it through another day. Exhaustion sets in amongst all of them.

Billie leans on Joshua, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths through the pain, which he seems to echo. Chandler and Naomi immediately return to tending to Joshua and Billie’s wounds, putting pressure where needed in order to prevent more blood loss while they wait for assistance. Chandler’s eyes begin to feel heavy, and she struggles to stay awake once she’s sitting. Naomi gently nudges her leg with her foot every so often. “Stay awake. You hit your head pretty hard. You have to stay awake until you get help, okay?” Naomi says. Chandler doesn’t have the energy to nod, but she understands.

It isn’t long before paramedics hear more cries for help, so they call for immediate backup.

Eleanor Almeida is having a much better day at the carnival today compared to several days earlier. Today she’d managed to convince a friend to come with her, which made the carnival games much more entertaining. The two of them spend the afternoon betting on who could win the most prizes. But unfortunately her friend can only stay so long - so Nel walks the carnival by herself as she looks for one last game to play before she heads back home. As she moves in the direction of the Balloon Blast game, she immediately notices something is wrong. 

Just beside the ride, she sees PJ and Clementyne being put on stretchers, prepared to be taken to the nearest ambulance, she supposes. They look terrible, Clementyne water-logged and PJ like he’d been out in the sun for much too long with no protection. She even sees a police officer as she leaves the area. Did someone mention a dead body? Nel doesn’t want to have any part in this, so she makes a turn and makes her way back towards the exit.

Nearer to the exit, a figure in red steps out into the open. It scares her at first – surely it would scare anyone who’d been there to see it, in the same way you get scared when a friend grabs you from behind and shouts boo when you’re least expecting it. At first, Nel assumes that it’s someone working at the carnival on the way to their shift, something along those lines. It only takes a few moments for her to realise that isn’t the case. The red dog stares at her, completely still, a large mallet in its hands. When it starts to step closer and closer, she notices that its speed seems to be picking up with every step. Soon, the person in the dog mask is running towards her at an alarming pace. She turns and breaks into a sprint, not willing to take any chances. 

The nearest attraction is the fun house. It only takes a minute to get someone lost in that place, and after having been through with her friend earlier, she’s sure that she is able to disorient the killer. She scrambles through the spinning tunnel, feeling a little uneasy about what she’s about to do. The platforms that move side to side are much more worrisome with a time limit that could end in death, should the counter reach zero - but she makes it across with a film of nervous sweat on her brow, yet no issues. She uses what strength she has left to get over the part of the ride with the floor similar to a treadmill, hips aching with how far she’s pushing her legs to move further, faster. Once she bursts through the door into the mirror maze, she takes a moment to catch her breath. Her body aches in a mixture of exhaustion and anxiety. 

The mirror maze isn’t as difficult as most people make it out to be, she thinks to herself - she’d gotten out of the place before her friend did earlier that day – and she’d won $5 from that bet. But the lights are dimmer now (or perhaps it’s the sudden change in brightness making it harder for her eyes to adjust to the dark), and it seems like her senses are dimmed. While waiting for her eyes to adjust, over the sound of her own breathing, she doesn’t hear that someone else has entered behind her.

When her eyes adapt to the dark, the first thing she sees are two large, cartoonish white eyes behind her. Squinting as her eyes adjust even further, she recognises that the eyes belong to the red dog. Before she can move, the mallet is swung downwards, cracking her right on top of the skull. Sharp, shooting pain crackles through her head, so badly that it feels as though it pulsates through her brain. She has no idea how she’s still standing, not even making an effort to move as her body is paralysed with shock. She feels blood trickle down her forehead.

The dog raises the weapon to swing again, but Nel takes the opportunity to run. She has no time now to carefully manoeuvre her way through the glass and mirror panels, she’s basically running the race blind, and she’s betting her own life – not a measly $5.

When Owen O’hanrahan witnesses the dog chasing Nel, he knows that he has to do something about it. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he continued his day without having checked in on the poor girl - especially to find out the next day that something horrific happened to her. He’s tall in stature, with long legs - so, a fast walker. He simply needs to break into a jog to reach the fun house with the dog killer still in sight. Admittedly, it has been many years since Owen had been on such a ride, so by the time he makes his way through the first few sections, he’s lost sight of the dog completely.

Owen pushes through the curtain into the mirror maze, and similarly to Nel, it takes their eyes a moment to adjust to the dimly lit room. The first thing they notice is a smear of blood on the floor. At least, they believe it to be blood. Their heart sinks in their chest. It doesn’t exactly look like a murder scene, but it’s definitely a bad sign. They know that if anything bad has happened to Nel, they’ll feel personally responsible for not reaching her in time. They begin to make their way through the maze.

Quick on her feet, Nel dodges her way through the maze, just managing to miss glass panels and mirrors as she makes her way through. She thinks she’s made all the right turns - though due to her head injury she isn’t able to remember much from her previous run earlier that day. It isn’t until her face smashes against a panel of glass that she realises she’s reached a dead end. She hadn’t thought it would be possible for her head to hurt any more than it already did, but she’s wrong. Blood rushes from her nose and she’s positive it’s broken. She practically sees double from the tears in her eyes and the pain pulsating in her skull.

Owen has taken a different route, careful with each step as he navigates through the maze. Some of the glass is easy to see, scratched up with smudged fingerprints after years and years of use, but even in the dark it’s incredibly difficult to see without close inspection - something he doesn’t have a lot of time for. After reaching a dead end, he curses to himself and moves back around to try another route. In the dim lighting ahead, he sees Nel. The dog stands menacingly behind her. He notices the way she holds her nose, and the blood dripping down her hand and onto the ground.

In an act of thoughtless, selfless bravery, Owen rushes forward. If he’s fast enough, he just might be able to knock Nel out of the way before the killer swings their mallet. From the looks of her, he’s not sure how many more hits she can take. He’s moments away from stretching his arms out - but his head hits the thick glass panel before he has the chance to. His entire body reacts to the impact, tensing up and seemingly shaking as he held back the tears that had welled in his eyes. He holds a hand to his forehead to be met with warm, wet blood. His neck aches with a serious case of whiplash. At the very least, he has caught Nel’s attention - and she is now aware of the dog's presence.

Nel spins around, backing up against another glass pane, eyes darting from side to side, looking for some way out despite her currently impaired vision. She tries to evaluate her situation, but it seems to be pretty bleak no matter which way she looks at it. Owen begins to throw his fists at the glass, desperate to break through. If he can break it, Nel could easily escape from the way he came. 

The dog lifts Nel by the shirt and slams her body into the glass. The power of Owen’s punches and the force of Nel’s body hitting the glass causes a crack to form. The killer slams her against the glass again and again, the broken glass pinching and breaking her skin before the pane shatters entirely. Owen’s bloodied fists hit nothing as the glass explodes all over them. Nel falls to the ground, broken glass digging into the back of her body. It isn’t long before she can feel the ground beneath her grow wet with blood.

It isn’t until Owen feels the wet warmth seep into his shirt that he realises he’s been hit by something. He raises a bloodied hand to his abdomen, pinching at the sharp edge of what he assumes to be a small piece of glass. He pulls it out, and when he feels the movement from deep inside his flesh, he realises he’s made a mistake. He drops the long piece of thick glass, and the blood flow increases. Even still, he dismisses his own injuries for the sake of Nel.

The dog raises the mallet, prepared to hit the injured girl right between the eyes with the heavy weapon, but Owen grips her beneath the arms and drags her out of the way just in time, the mallet slamming against the ground beneath her legs instead. He pulls her to his feet as quick as he can, beginning to feel lightheaded. “Run and get help,” he says quickly, gently shoving her in the right direction.

“I can’t just leave you!” Nel is panicked, gripping onto his arms as if to drag him along with her, “I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you, I can’t leave you!” she knows that she’ll forever be grateful for his help – and for that reason, she can’t bring herself to leave him behind.

Owen gives her another gentle shove, “I don’t know if I’m going to make it, see?” he motioned to the blood dripping down his body, “Please - run and get help. You’re going to be okay.”

The dog swings the mallet and it strikes Owen right in the ribs. The impact breaks them with a loud, sickening crack. Nel takes two terrified steps backwards, breaking into a sob. Owen falls to the ground, feeling tiny shards dig into his knees, shins and hands. “Run,” his voice is weaker this time, holding a hand to the gaping hole in his abdomen as if it might somehow ease the pain.

Nel runs. She runs to get help, tears stinging her eyes as she wonders if Owen has any chance of making it out alive, and wondering what she did to deserve such kindness from someone who didn’t even know her. 

On unstable feet, she finds the scene unfolding not far from the tunnel of love, and in turn, she finds the paramedics. They’re immediately concerned for her, though Nel is more concerned for Owen. She recounts the attack briefly, stressing the fact that she needs someone to go in there to rescue Owen immediately. The paramedics try to force her into calmness, but Nel refuses to listen to them and she refuses their help until they promise to get to Owen. 

When the funhouse is searched for the dog’s other victim, no one is to be found. 

plot drop 010 features eleven of our muses encountering the bubblegum twins + the animal killers.

chandler kolinsky is left with a concussion, a head wound and severe bruising.

clementyne spry is left with scrapes and bruises all over, and is almost drowned.

eleanor 'nel' almeida is left with a concussion, a broken nose, full body bruising and cuts resulting in minor blood loss.

florence quint is left with a cut hand, multiple wounds resulting in substantial blood loss and is almost drowned.

hedwig blackwood is left with a grazed face, deep cuts over both palms, bruising, a sprained ankle, a broken arm and a cut along his side resulting in severe blood loss.

joshua sommer is left with many wounds and bruises and blood loss.

loki romanov is left with a grazed face, broken ribs and multiple wounds resulting in substantial blood loss.

naomi yamada is left with a sprained wrist and mild bruising.

philip john 'pj' bolton is left with second degree burns, bruising around the neck, scrapes all over and a concussion.

wilhelmina 'billie' reid is left with many bruises and wounds resulting in severe blood loss.

xena george is left with deep cuts over both palms, bruising, a concussion and a cut across the back resulting in severe blood loss.

[apparently-artless]

♡ 14 Days to Fall in Love ♡

with: @mokacheer

↪ Day 5: Only for you ✦ Iris Zero

[idk-what-to-put-here-123]

I've actually had a really good day today for a change

[matoitech]

barbie princess charm school was such a funny fucking movie. they ran out of ideas and were like ok barbie wins a raffle to go to princess school which is a real thing that exists, there she discovers she is actually a princess and another student (the school bullies) mom (barbies aunt) murdered hers to try and steal the throne, also barbie tries to stop gentrification. hey look fairies exist and they do your makeup!

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

The Sun and The Void

Venezuelan inspired high fantasy

follows a young outcast swordswoman taken in by her grandmother, the dark sorceress for a noble family, who relies on the magic to keep her alive after being attacked by monstrous creatures

and a young noblewoman who’s the shame of her family because of her mixed heritage and desire to use magic

both are manipulated by those with more power than them into a plot to free an ancient evil god

mineral based magic, politics, nonhuman MCs

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

okay so I just watched a compilation of someone's favourite moments from ep 19

and I'm sorry but wtf is the Nina thing? like I wasn't a fan of her from the start, because I thought she was too gimmicky. and now she has...powers or something? i didn't see the whole scene so idk but it was weird from what i did see.

if I could I'd just write out Nina altogether, and not have the...curse arc?? I'm sorry but wtf DSVC?

also side note does anyone know what the deal with fiore calling yul a mushroom muncher? honestly I do always enjoy fiore roasting people but that felt iffy to me. maybe it's just me, but I probably wouldn't have that in there?? idk I'm all over the place with this ep

-🎃

no yeah that was SO STUPID??? i always thought nina herself was like. a stupid concept. they don't even do anything interesting with her ever. she's just like. a talking puppet. and now apparently she has superpowers. o....kay............????????

the 'mushroom muncher' thing is i'm pretty sure a reference to the fact that he got poisoned by a mushroom, i don't think (?) it's supposed to be offensive but. hey it's ONC. if they try, and god knows they don't but somehow it happens anyways, they can make anything offensive!

[labratboygirl]

THE CREATOR OF CRINGETOBER IS A TWOMP ENJOYER ?

[stopthatfool]

hmmm... forgot that miles and kilometers are different when writing Your jeep. Your teeth. The coffee that you bought me..... mav would've fucking died if he crashed his motorcycle going 80 miles per hour... (aka 128 km per hour) also because he's a fucking weirdo and doesn't wear a helmet (which is mav's biggest ick in my opinion)

whoops. sigh.

[chaotic-guinea-pig]

For those following my fic: hi hello, just posting to let you all that I'm alive and well. :) Rest assured that it's nowhere near abandoned; I've just been busy with real life obligations. If I get lucky, we'll see an update this week. 😁 And if I get even more lucky this year, hopefully we'll return to regular updates (1-3 per month, maybe?) But we'll see. Thank you all for your patience, and see you all on AO3 very soon! ❤

[kingpains]

i don’t know where to find other people who were disappointed in Geekish Celibacy Advocates Gotta Go to commiserate with. don’t wanna clog up the main tag with negativity because people just browsing abojt a musical they like don’t need that. but holy shit was this show a letdown for me and i cant find one other comment or review anywhere that acknowledges Any flaws :(

edit: censored the name of the show and didn’t tag @ all w/ the show’s name, but this’ll still pop up in searches for starkid and the effort required to edit tags on tumblr is INSANE, so i’m adding Starkid Negativity to the front of the post for blocking purposes of anypony doesn’t want this in their search!

[edmunderson]

well. I finished the final part of SotO. the only highlights being:

1) it's over. Maybe now we can go back to Cantha for a while.

2) snargle is also popular in nayos

And that's about it.

despite having a pretty solid start, i gotta say that SotO is probably the weakest expac in the storyline, and i will not be playing thru it again. Like. I'm just gonna chalk it up as Not Canon (or at least Mostly Not Canon) for my commander

[kingdomoftyto]

If it feels like I halfway vanished off the face of the earth for a couple days there it’s because I had to read this Loustat fic in its entirety as soon as I finished QotD.

I have no desire to read any of the other VC books when this fic exists as the perfect resolution to the only remaining loose end of that first “trilogy”: Lestat and Louis talking through their difficult history and figuring out how to make their relationship work long-term.

Because that’s what this fic is. It’s 138k words of talking and negotiation and some vicious but ultimately necessary arguments, in which Lestat opens up about his trauma and abandonment issues, Louis works on his self-loathing and religious guilt, and both of them learn to show vulnerability and to treat each other a little more kindly.

It’s rough at times--the characterization of both of them is spot on, which means they both have some supremely bitchy moments and that Lestat in particular tends to react to stress by lashing out with cruelty. But in the aftermath of Akasha’s death, they have nothing but time to iron out the rough spots.

There’s apologies. There’s philosophical debates. There’s theater dates. There’s murder. There’s a dog. There’s dunking on Reagan-era politics. There’s a flower garden. There’s mourning for Claudia.

Do mind the tags, as there are heaping spoonfuls of difficult topics like internalized homophobia, depression, suicidal ideation, and more, many of which are confronted in-depth.

BUT, the most important tag of all on this fic is most definitely Angst with a Happy Ending, because boy do they have to work to get there, but they do get there

So yeah. Enjoy the weepy gay vampires, folks

[catboybatman]

I saw the barbie movie btw. I have... opinions...

[fuckyeahyukiharu]

yOU ALL IM LAUGHING SO HARD

The archive is still there too, and all those fans who created works in the past still deserve some attention too, so please check out the archive if you haven't in a while and if you're also missing Tsuritama!!

Also, if you're interested, please check out my YukiHaru A.M.V \o/ (Made a few years back for YukiHarus shared birthdays specifically!)

{All I did was reblog some old gifs I missed to keep blog active, but I'm glad if people still appreciate this blog existing!!!}

(I may also have another A.M.V. or two planned for future years, if I can finish them in decent time!)

[allofthebees]

[bbygirl-aemond]

just read chapter 10 of stormbreak *cue surprised pikachu*