Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

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Stole many a man's soul to waste

-×-×-

I - The Clowns Here Kill, Part 1

If there was ever going to be someone to take An eye for an eye to the extreme. It was going to be Joey Graceffa.

Well, with the society against evil’s influence around this time.

There was not a doubt there was blood on his hands. The thick crimson liquid spilled from all his friends, finding a home and comfort on his hands. 

Personally, Joey didn't see himself to be a selfish person. Yet he was willing to let that change. Joey had been dead for far too long, he can still see the angry and vengeful faces of his friends. 

Hatred ran strong through their veins in replacement of blood. So call him selfish all you want for using his friends' lives for his.

Joey was making a deal, a literal blood contract with The Society Against Evil, for his life.

Joey Graceffa was going to come back from the dead. What could possibly go wrong? 

×

Joey may as well put professional monster hunter and serial killer onto his resume at this point. From vampires to werewolves, to some fucked up house staff and the people they kept there, Joey may as well have seen it all.

Yet tonight he was dealing with Clowns.

Fucking Clowns.

At least they seemed like regular human beings and not some paranormal or demonic creature hiding underneath a human clown suit. 

Although that possibility could still linger, and right now Joey Graceffa was not looking forward to losing his arm like Georgie from IT!

"Joey, what the hell do we do?" Colleen asks. 

"I don't know! Usually, people come and save me! It happened last time!"

"Last time?" Roi calls out from the back.

"Joey, I don't think any of those guys are dumb enough to save us," Colleen said, glancing out the RV window. "I don't even see them, I think they're all still hiding."

"What about Matt and Rosanna?" Roi asks. "They didn't come with us."

"Roi, honey, THEY ARE STUCK ON A FERRIS WHEEL. Even if they weren't, they'd probably go towards the others. Unlike us, they aren't trapped in an RV!"

"What if we don't need them?" Joey asks. "What if we try and get out ourselves? I mean come on, this place is littered with things. Maybe something can help us get out?"

"And how will we do that genius?" Colleen asks. "We are handcuffed!"

"Well, I need a code for mine!" Roi said, looking at his own. "What about you guys?"

"Code also!"

Joey looked up. "Where are you guys seeing this code thingy?" He asks, trying to get a better look. "I need a key, oh, I found a note!"

"What's it say?" Roi asks.

"I can't read it," Joey said, awkwardly getting the note. If he comes back to life with back pain he is finding this RV and torching it to the ground! "Colleen?" 

"I have a better chance, pass it along!"

Joey could only watch helplessly as Colleen and Roi worked together freeing themselves before working together to free him. 

He played this sick and twisted game plenty of times already to know he'd be seen as useless. 

Yet with how early it was, he was given the benefit of the doubt. 

Joey could only wonder how quickly things could change. The night has a tendency to throw some plot twists his way, and they are never good. .

"Just stick close to me, and let me beat these clowns down!" Joey said, holding onto the baseball bat. There was far too much confidence and hope in his voice that these three will be okay and make it to the arcade to the others.

×

Joey had never been more incredibly incorrect in his life.

They were still stuck spinning around, tied to this carousel as these clowns laughed at them, mocking their terrified screams and pleas for mercy and to stop the ride. 

Now they wanted to kill Nikita, and she wasn't even going to get a chance to prove herself or fight for her life!

Joey was going to watch all these people die, and then they'd all really be stuck in Everlock until the sun rose and their spirits burned with this town.

To think Joey didn't want to go out in that stupid house that hosted the ball.

Now he didn't want to go out to a bunch of clowns on a carousel that killed all his friends and have them all permanently stuck in this town.

It all seemed hopeless, nobody was going to save them.

This was the end of it all.

-×-

II - The Clowns Here Kill, Part 2

This was not how Jc had expected a rescue mission to save a town trapped in 1978 to go. He wasn't a particularly superstitious guy, but the fact that it was Friday the 13th was not a good feeling.

A feeling that had become far more prominent the second he was dragged by a clown and tied to this ride.

He looked to his right, catching sight of Safiya? He was pretty sure her name was. She looked utterly petrified, to say the least. Unlike a lot of them, Safiya had the honor to be escorted by Kerry, the head clown holding her hand while waving a gun in her face.

Jc couldn't blame her for being afraid though, he felt one of her hands grab onto his arm as they all had to watch Mayor Janet get thrown off the balcony.

He looked to his left, catching sight of Rosanna. The poor woman was utterly terrified and had an incredible set of lungs. She was screaming bloody murder to where Jc was sure someone outside of town had to hear it.

Jc's brain was wracking, trying to find a way to get out of here, except that wasn't going to happen. They were all going to die here! The last thing Jc wanted to be was the corpse between two terrified people or be the one who had to stand next to a one

"A 12?!" Kerry shrieked. "We have to let one of these shits go?"

This was not going to end well at all. What was going to happen was Kerry was going to cut one of them free, they were going to run away, get chased by another clown, and that clown would return wearing their blood as if it were makeup.

"They are the dice of death! Not life!" She growled, jumping onto the ride. 

Jc could hear her, banging her knife and gun around. She slowly made her way around, the dull side of the blade dragging over Rosanna's hat.

Of course, he'd be the one having the gun barrel pointed at him.

"Where's your fear?" She asked, jabbing him in the chest with it. "You're tough to crack!"

Jc had found it easy to bury his fear, keeping his composure calm was hard. He had to bite his tongue and keep his focus on something else.

The head clown had grown bored of him, moving onto Safiya, raising her knife to pretend to stab her. To watch squirm with fear.

She continued to fuck around with the others before Jc heard her.

"The dice of death had spoken!"

"Oh thank god,"

Jc could hear Joey's relieved voice and the faint sound of the knife blade cutting at the rope.

"Hold him tight Sally!" 

Jc could hear Joey and the clowns hop off the ride, and it began to spin around once more.

As the clowns cheered for blood to spill, the group had been met with the sound of gunshots and fireworks being thrown at the clowns.

Sally, apparently, dropped Joey and as the ride had begun to slow, with one last turn Jc saw Joey drop the button controlling the ride.

"Thank you!" Jc said, as Calliope came and freed him. 

She only gave him a friendly nod before going off to help Rosanna.

"Are you guys okay?" Joey asks, rushing over. 

Jc's assuring answer was drowned out by the others, eventually, Mortimer grabbed their attention.

The Hippie was more than ready to follow the rest of them before having his attention drawn back to the carousel.

"Still tied up! Thanks, guys! Really,"

"Uh, Calliope. I think you and Mortimer forgot someone." Jc said, looking over at the ride.

"Hurry with the others, I will get her," Calliope said, rushing back to the ride. 

Jc was quick to follow the rest of the group, he swore that in the corner of his eye, he could see one of the clowns watching him.

Her eyes pierced right into his soul. Her expression had her looking hungry for blood. 

His blood.

Jc did not have a good feeling about this.

×

"The Hippie,"

Calliope's words were haunting Jc, her voice announcing his name followed him like a ghost.

Going into a challenge against Teala he knew he had this down.

Yet with a partner? The possibility was endless of what could happen. 

The gut feeling that Mat had put him in this position also followed, which made him feel sick. Jc was probably wrong, the anxiety of his life being in danger was getting to him.

Despite that, the other three look far more terrified.

"Do either of you know what to expect?" Teala asks, looking over at Mortimer and Calliope. Her voice quivered with fear. 

"Death," Mat said, pausing in his tracks. The other stop also. "Those are killer clowns in the tent. They're going to want Teala or Jc's blood."

Jc met Safiya's eyes, he could tell that her mind was wrapping around the idea that blood was going to spill on her hands.

His, or Teala's.

Weakness was going to be the last thing anybody wanted to show in these challenges and situations.

"I, I don't want to die," Teala's voice was a weak whisper. Her gaze looked at Safiya and then at him. "Is dying our only option?"

Jc and Teala could only watch nervously as Safiya and Mat looked at each other, both of their expressions unclear. 

The Hippie can only wonder if he put his life in the correct hands of The Detective.

And maybe, just maybe, The Investigative Reporter.

×

Jc's heart had fallen into his stomach as he was escorted to a wonder wheel of death, tied to it by his wrists and ankles. The clown who was staring him down earlier turned out to be Kerry

And right now she was dragging the dull side of her knife down the side of his face.

"I can't wait to see which one of you goes first!" She whispered, pressing the knife flatly against her lips as if she were shushing him after telling a secret.

Fuck did he hate this.

Shooting a quick prayer out to the universe to let him live, he looked over at Safiya and Mat as they were explained the rules by the clowns.

Then this fucked up game began, and Jc could only watch, cheering on Mat as he quickly whizzed past Safiya, whose face was quickly covered in whip cream.

His hope of survival didn't last for long though, Safiya had quickly caught up and finished a whole ketchup bottle like it was nothing.

Mat had fallen behind, growing sick at some point which made Jc cringe and he had to look away, watching as Safiya pulled to the lead, already on the third challenge.

She was incredibly good at knocking those bottles down, if he knew what was to hold, he would've picked her instead!

Yet he chose Mat, and couldn't help, but regret showing Safiya a small trick to these knock 'em down games.

Jc watched as Mat had caught up, for a moment he was relieved, but then the sinking feeling came back, stronger than ever.

Safiya was back in the lead.

Jc Caylen had never been more afraid in his life.

What happened next was quite possibly the last thing either of them had expected to happen. Mat and Safiya were both on the final challenge. Teala and Jc's lives were both at equal stake.

Both had launched their chickens at the same time.

Both landed in the basket.

It was a deaf beat, nobody knew what to do. Safiya and Mat exchanged confused glances, Teala's jaw dropped to the ground, and Jc looked over at the artifact, trying his best to avoid any of the clown's gaze.

"A draw!" Kerry shrieked. She turned to look at Jc and Teala. "Start spinning them!" She demanded. "Whoever gets stabbed, slashed, or knicked first will die!"

Shit.

Shit.

SHIT!

Jc could hear Teala screaming as a clown had begun to spin the wheel, and before Jc knew it, he was spinning also, Kerry lining up in front of him, three knives in hand.

"Safiya! The head!" Mat cried out, grabbing a milk bottle. With all his might he threw it at Kerry, getting her in the head. 

In response, a knife was thrown, just barely missing Jc's throat.

Safiya booked it over, opening the cabinet and grabbing the replacement head. Her stomach dropped when she heard a knife thunk into the wood, and Jc screamed. It was either pain, fear, or both.

As fast as she could Safiya got the jack in the box open through the screams of strangers and the clown's laughter.  The minute the jack popped out Safiya replaced the head and heard the clowns screaming and laughing in agony as they disappeared into smoke.

The wheels slowly stopped and Jc found himself upside down.

Mortimer, Calliope, and Mat all rushed over to Teala, who was sobbing. The Hippie couldn't blame her. He wanted to sob too. What the fuck did Jc sign up for?

"You're alive!" Safiya rushes over to him, putting him upright before going to free him. She was in disbelief more than shock, but a smile of relief still spread over her face. “You’re alive,” she repeated, more to herself.

"Holy shit," Jc groaned, nearly falling off the wonder wheel, for a moment Jc thought he was going to faceplant down on the ground. 

"You're okay, you're not spinning anymore. I got you."

Her tone was quiet, and Jc felt as if he were going to collapse into a pile of spaghetti and vomit right in front of her.

As the world had begun to fall back into place, he looked over at The Investigative Reporter and The Detective.

They just saved his life.

"You saved my life," he breathed out as he looked at Safiya. "You both just saved my life,"

Many feelings and emotions had begun to fill Jc, bubbling throughout his veins as he looked between the two.

"Jc, are you okay?" Mat asks, handing Teala off to Calliope and Mortimer, who held her up.

"I'll be fine," he replied, feeling Mat slip over to him, holding up the other side of his body so he wasn't dead weight for Safiya. “I am going to puke though.”

He really didn’t want to, but he did.

×

By the time they reached Flints, The Hippie and The Super Spy had collected themselves. 

Mortimer and Calliope went in first, followed by Mat and Safiya, then Teala walked in, Jc could hear a collective gasp and an "Oh no, bitch!"

"Where's the artifact?" Joey asks. The Hippie didn't even need to see his face to know that's all The Savant cared about right now. It conflicted Jc and his opinion of The Savant. Did he really care more about some cursed toy than a human life?

"Where is it?" The Savant asks again.

Jc took that as his cue and made his dramatic entrance. A much louder, more lively gasp had run through the group as he walked up next to Safiya.

The Hippie met gaze with The Savant, there was disbelief and shock in Joey's eyes, and there was horror. There was so much with the Savant's facial reaction, there was something grim about it to Jc. He was incredibly happy to be alive, but Joey did not seem as excited about him being alive. Hell, Jc thought Joey was going to take the artifact from his hands and bash it into his skull until he was dead!

"What happened?" Rosanna asked right away when Mat sat next to her.

Jc's eyes landed on the rest of the group. Looks of relief and shock over them, a much better reaction than Joey’s speaking honestly.

"Safiya and Mat saved my life," Jc said, holding up the cleansed artifact. His gaze landed on the shelf and he walked over to it, setting it down. The Hippie can hardly believe it, he's supposed to be dead. Laying lifeless, still strung up to the wonder wheel. "I would've become a knife block if Mat hadn't thrown a metal milk bottle at Kerry, and if Safiya hadn't cleansed it fast enough," Jc said, taking a spot back on the couch, once more finding himself next to Safiya.

"That wasn't the only thing though," Safiya said, reaching into her pocket. "I got a note, with the replacement head," she said, wiping off the last of the whipped cream with her sleeve.

"What's it say?" Nikita asks, interest peaked.

"Someone among you isn't telling the truth," Safiya read before her gaze fell on everybody else.

"What if it's one of us?" Colleen asks as Jc met the disco dancer's gaze. 

-×-

III - Venomous Affections

Roi was willing to go into danger head first, to throw himself to whatever was coming his way! He wasn't going to back out from something out of fear! Roi took the role of The Daredevil for a reason! 

The last thing he'd ever felt was fear, and after the discovery that Jc nearly died ! Roi wasn't going to shove his protective feelings to the side. 

With death now an option on the table, Roi was going to do anything and everything to keep himself and anybody else alive. 

Even if that meant playing an ungodly long game of Jenga, if this game meant keeping people alive for now, he'll play this for as long as needed.

"Jc, just pick a brick!" Nikita snapped. "We don't have all day here!"

Roi looked over to the hippie, the whites of his eyes vaguely red. Since when did he get a smoke break?

"No way am I going back into a final challenge," Jc said, while slowly removing a brick he placed gently on top. 

Roi couldn't blame him, although he did wonder if the weed would affect the monster they were facing this time.

"We'll all burn at Sunrise before this game ends." Colleen groans, like Nikita, she was also having her patience run incredibly thin.

Roi could understand it, nobody wanted to be the one in the final challenge, but at the same time, if they didn't get the brick they needed soon, time was going to be wasted!

Roi had found himself making the attempt to see everyone's point of view, and then make one of his own. What this group needed was eyes from all over, a walking middle ground.

The game trickled on, and by now the game tension was higher than ever. Everyone was growing snappy and stress levels were through the charts!

"Roi, you're the Daredevil of the group, why don't you sacrifice yourself for this game?" Nikita asks, standing up. "Prove it to everyone here, right now. Prove that you are the daredevil of this group!"

Roi didn't need any more convincing. He was the Daredevil! This was what he was here for, risks and to get out of here alive! If Jc could make it out alive, so could he!

"Whatever you request," Roi said, launching himself into the jenga pile, a surprised gasp following the group as they watched the tower and Daredevil fall to the ground in a pile.

Jc helped him to his feet. Roi smiled at him, he picked up the brick he was going for and placed it gently in Nikita's hand. "Is that the Daredevil you had in mind?"

"A bit dramatic, but sure." She said, accepting the brick. 

"Okay, look for the gold, quickly!" Joey said, right away the group began searching for it, Roi took a few steps back, rubbing his shoulder he landed on. He'd be fine, Roi had worse injuries in his life. A sore shoulder is nothing compared to what he's been through!

Or will go through.

"I got it!" Safiya said, picking it up. "I found it!"

"Perfect," Roi said, rubbing his shoulder lightly.

"The honor of releasing whatever is in there is yours," Jc said, stepping back. Eyeing the chest with a suspicious look.

Jc no longer trusted mystery boxes of any type. Roi didn't blame him.

"The Snakewoman has already been running around and got Roi, I think it'd be too late for anything else," Safiya said, pulling out the artifact. She set it down on the table, inserting the two eyes.

"To cleanse the artifact it has to be bathed in the blood of a serpent's heart," 

"We have to cleanse that thing with a bloody heart? I highly doubt Snakewoman has one of her own!" Nikita exclaimed.

×

Roi hated that tensions were beginning to grow high, his thumb nervously tapping the small cork on the antidote, it tasted terrible, but it was good to have, especially for the Daredevil since by default he was going into the challenge. 

It was just a matter of who was joining him.

Joey had thrown in Jc's name, something about "death is gonna keep following him" 

Roi found it strange and also slipped his small vial of antidote into his sleeve. 

The idea of Jc going in with Roi was shut down quickly, followed by a few suspicious looks from Colleen.

Eventually, the tarot cards were laid out and one by one everyone voted. A small pit bloomed in Roi's stomach when he saw that he wasn't there, taken away by default. He felt bad voting for Teala, but Roi promised to help her survive, and deep down he knew she would do the same. 

They both had gotten bit and found something they can reveal together later. 

The cards were soon shuffled and Roi met Nikita's eyes. 

The Troublemaker was going into this mess with him, and how he could only hope and pray that she would help him get out of this alive!

×

"So, are we going to figure out how to survive together?" Roi asks, looking over at Nikita. "Or shall I maybe say farewell to my life?"

"Plead your case to me," Nikita said simply, handing off the artifact to Mortimer. 

"Well, I risked my life for a game of Jenga, I didn't vote for you, and you won't become a murderer if you let me live!" Roi said, zipping up the suit.

"Who did you vote for?" Nikita asks, zipping her own up.

"Teala, If she was in your place, I would have helped her survive." Roi said, pocketing the antidote. "I promise, I can do more than what I did. Kind of hard doing anything when you have snake venom in your body."

The Troublemaker blinked, considering his words very carefully. 

"Well, if Jc can keep staying alive, so can you. The more people we have the better." Nikita said, looking over at the lair and back at him. "If it weren't for your bravery we'd still be stuck playing Jenga still, so, let's beat this snake bitch into the ground!"

Roi had dug himself through some gross things, but organs were quite possibly the last thing he ever wanted to dig through ever. It was also freezing cold out, and numb hands in a big thing of organs looking for mosaic pieces were not a great combination!

Nikita was also very vocal about her dislike of these feelings.

Roi's approach was blocking her out and pretending that this was just slime and pool noodles, it was working well, and he was progressing faster than before.

He slipped in more and more pieces, slowly catching up, and making a quick glance over at Nikita's he saw she was still ahead. 

"Roi!"

The Daredevil turned around, Nikita's final piece in her hand. 

"Nikita," he dropped the organs down. "Nikita please," he pleaded, grabbing the antidote and quickly removing the cork. 

"Choke the bitch," Nikita placed her final piece in and booked it to the heart.

The Snake woman rushed over to him and quickly Roi shoved the antidote, bottle into her throat. He grabbed the longest piece of intestine he could find and wrapped it around her throat, avoiding her hands and fangs.

"Enjoy the cold!" Roi said, dunking her head into the freezing pit of organs.

He'd be lying saying he didn't feel a little bit bad for her, but he would feel much more bad for himself if he was dying right now.

Nikita rushed by, holding onto the heart for her life.

Just a little longer!

The Snake woman hissed and screeched, throwing Roi back into the ground. She bared her fangs at him, going for the neck, but before she could go for the fatal bite she erupted into smoke, her screams following.

Nikita hurried back over to him, holding her hand out. "Are you okay?" She asks, helping him up. "Did she get you?"

"Still alive!" Roi said, accepting her help. "Are you okay?"

" I dug through organs and just saved someone from dying. Doing great!" She answered, wiping off the blood onto the cover-up. "C'mon, before the others start thinking one of us died!"

Roi had never been more grateful for someone in his life. He had his trust in Nikita!

×

Calliope and Mortimer walked in first, followed by Nikita with the heart, raising it up high, demanding who voted her into the challenge. 

Roi followed after, with the artifact. 

"You're alive?" Joey asks in disbelief. "How did that happen?"

"I choked her with the antidote and strangled her with a long intestine then dunked her head in the cold organ water!" That was quite possibly the last sentence Roi would ever expect to say in his life, but he had a feeling this night was going to be a first for many things.

"Okay," Joey said, with a slow nod. "That's interesting!"

"That's cool," Jc said in awe.

"So are we just going to keep everyone alive?" Manny asks an odd question, but now was the best time to ask!

"Well, beating death is one way to prove yourself," Mat spoke up. 

"Well, it's a really good thing that Roi's here," Teala said, standing up, holding the weird sun piece they found earlier. "Roi and I actually found this thing when we were both bit."

"What is it?" Colleen asks.

"We're not exactly sure," Roi says, he finds himself by Teala's side. "Teala and I figured it was best to find out together, with all of you here." He looks over at her, offering a smile. "The honors are yours."

Teala returned the smile, she walked over to the wall slipping the sun into place, there was a creaking noise and slowly but surely part of the wall slid out, revealing a box.

"What the hell?" Nikita gasps.

"The box of Lazarus," Roi announces. "It looks like coins are needed to open this thing up."

"Coins?" Joey asks, making his way over. 

"Looks like we have something to look out for," Jc adds, coming over for a better look.

"But the main question is, what's inside?" Mat asks, looking down at it with an uncertain feeling.

-×-

IV - The Man With No Name

Bodies falling were never a good sign, in literally any case, Teala watched Scream 4, she knew that meant a murderer was around!

"Guys, a dead body fell from the roof! What the hell? Why do you want to go to it?" She asks. 

"This dead body falling from the roof can help us!" Joey said, sounding enthusiastic about this. He was creeping Teala out a bit. Why would anybody want to go to one? Was he The Detective now? The Detective was the only one she could think of who would actually go near a body. Since that was his job!

"Oh and on the popcorn too? That's not cool." Roi sighed.  

"Search the body!" Mat announced. The group had cluttered around it, digging through the insides of the body too. It was a grim and gross sight. The Super Spy watched in horror as a book was removed from the corpse.

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick," Teala said, watching as Joey brushed it off before opening it up.

"The Man With No Name was cursed by a statue that transformed him into a terribly tall monster. To discover this statue, find the six books by Allen Quaterman and match them to the obituaries you will discover."

"Seriously? Do we have to hunt for books to find a damn statue? Is there a library in Everlock now?"

"Not the library," Jc said, snapping his fingers. "The lounge!"

"What does he mean by that?" Manny asks.

"The lounge! There's a bookshelf in the lounge, with unfamiliar titles. Maybe we can find it there!" Safiya exclaimed. 

"Welp, it'll be worth checking. I didn't see any libraries appear on the map." Mat said, the group making their way back to the lounge.

×

This lounge was really full of surprises! There were secret rooms now apparently! For what reason, Teala didn't know, but she could not care enough.

"This definitely isn't creepy at all." Roi said, standing behind Teala as they watched the door slowly open up with a terrible creaking noise. 

"Who's going in first?" Rosanna asks, hiding behind Nikita.

"Jc can!" Joey said, gently shoving The Hippie forward. 

"Dude! What the fuck?" Jc asks. "What if I die?"

"Do you have something out for Jc or something?" Safiya asks. 

"A discussion for another day," Manny said, walking by them toward the creepy hidden room. "Oh, guys! It's fine! Just an artifact!" The Record Producer exclaimed.

The others trailed after him, crowding around it. Safiya grabbed the note, and Joey looked at it with awe.

"The Statue of Era," Safiya announces..

"Is this what it is?" Joey asks, pointing at it

"It infects and kills anybody who touches it,"

"Oh god!" Joey cries. "Did I touch it? Did I?" He asks, stepping back.

"You're fine Joey. You're still standing." Colleen said, patting him on the back.

"To cleanse it we must find four obsidian stones and a blood gemstone."

"Allow me to guess. The blood gemstone is going to be in the final challenge." Teala said.

"And we'll find out later." Roi said, looking over at his friend.

×

The Super Spy was correct. The final challenge was for the bloodstone. Team Manny - Nikita, Joey, Jc, and Colleen - had found the four obsidian stones.

Teala was also correct in knowing she was going into this final challenge, it was just the guessing game of who was coming with her. Truthfully she expected Roi, but it was Rosanna. She really wasn't surprised about it either. Mat, Safiya, and Roi did a lot of work.

"Before we go in, we need a plan," Teala said, looking over at the man with no name's lair. 

"Well, we're way shorter than him which is an advantage, but it's also a disadvantage with the fog." Ro pointed out. "But it will be easy to escape and run from him. I think working together on whatever puzzle is in there works!" Ro said. 

"That's a good idea," Teala agreed. "Are you ready?"

"I am! We have our friends waiting for us."

"Let's cleanse this bitch," Teala took Rosanna's hand, and the two rushed into the lair, and whoever, whatever is watching over them Teala thanks. This final challenge was perfect for them to work together!

"Keep the letters even!" Rosanna suggested. "And help each other find them if one gets ahead." She added.

It was a great plan! It was going to work perfectly! 

Teala found her letters, stopping to help Rosanna catch up since she was one behind. The two of them went back to their own letters, running for their knives when they had the monster chasing after them.

Rosanna even threw a rock at him when he was getting too close to Teala.

"M!" Teala gasped, picking up her letter before rushing back to her table and throwing it down. "Ro! How many do you have?"

"I have four! You?"

"I have four too!" The Super Spy answered, before going back to her hunt. 

By the time the two were both on their final letter, they decided to work together. The two of them searched and searched the ground before they found Rosanna's first, but she kept her mouth shut and excitement back.

"Ro! I found it!" The Super Spy beamed, picking up her letter. 

Quickly the two girls rushed to the table and began to get the letters in the correct places.

"BENJAMIN!" The two screamed at once, the glass case holding the final gemstone quickly opened up, and Benjamin was making his way toward the two screaming with anger.

"Ro! Run!" Teala called out, sprinting in the opposite direction. "Come and get me bitch!" She needed to get him away from Rosanna!

Benjamin had an advantage with his height, and insanely long arms, but Teala was quicker than him! She led the monster through the trees, zipping through them as Rosanna went and cleansed the artifact.

The Super Spy felt invincible! She was going to make it out alive! No monsters were going to stop that! 

Even with Benjamin gaining on her, the monster came to a halt, letting out a scream of agony as he disappeared into smoke, right before Teala's eyes.

"TEALA!" Rosanna cried out, the Jet Setter came rushing over holding the artifact, tears of relief running down her eyes when she saw that she was alive. "Teala!"

"Ro!" Teala wrapped her arms around the shorter girl. "I'm alive! You're alive! We're okay!" She said. 

"I'm really glad you are alive," Rosanna said, wiping her tears away. 

"I am too," Teala said, taking the artifact from Rosanna. "C'mon, we gotta get to the others. We don't need them to worry you died."

"But what about you?"

"Ro, they made me their target, but I'm done being it. I survived again, and dammit I'm going to keep it that way."

×

Teala knew the others saw her as a walking target, simply waiting for her beating heart to be the bullseye for Death's arrow.

Jc and Roi had slipped through death, tearing off their own targets. Jc's was an accident, and Roi's was just planning ahead.

The others wouldn't care enough about her, Teala could sense it, they always kept trying to get her into these final challenges. 

It was beginning to weigh her down, having to constantly fight for her life, never having a moment to catch her fucking breath.  

Lucky she was, to make it this far and by God, she was going to hold onto it for as much as possible. These people wanted to throw Teala in her grave, but the sight of a still-living Jc and Roi was the spark that would light her up.

Teala was going to make it out of here alive, just to spite those who kept trying to kick her into an early grave.

Rosanna walked in first, met with cheers of relief from Mat.

The Super Spy followed after her, slamming the cleansed artifact down onto the table, there was fire burning in her heart. “Is this proof I want to live enough?” Teala asks. The Disco Dancer and The Troublemaker applauded her.

“It’s definitely one way,” The Record Producer smiled at her. 

“Teala also did risk her life!” Rosanna pointed out. “She distracted Benjamin while I went to cleanse it. She made it way easier to get it done.”

“So,” Roi began, all eyes falling on him. “Working together for everyone to survive?”

Teala could definitely get behind that. So could everyone else.

It appears the group has a new mission. Group survival!

-×-

V - Strong Like a Demon

This night had thrown The Detective many surprises, along with these people that were, for the most part, strangers. 

Now, it was his turn to surprise these people. With arm wrestling of all things believe it or not 

Round one started off, as listed

Mat VS Nikita, which he gladly won.

Colleen VS Rosanna, which surprised everyone when Rosanna won. He couldn't help, but feel proud!

Joey VS Safiya, which Joey had won, he still applauded him, even if he was rooting for Safiya, he held respect for her after the two saved Jc’s life together!

Roi VS Teala, The Daredevil had absolutely knocked her out of the park. He was kind of relieved he didn't have to go up against him.

Manny VS Jc, the two had gone on for a while before Manny took the win. 

Round two proceeded as

Mat VS Rosanna, despite the fact she was one of his closest friends, Mat wanted to take his win, and he did.

Joey VS Manny, it was a second tough fight, but Manny won.

Curious about Roi’s strength, Mat went up against him due to the uneven amount. Roi put up an excellent fight, but Mat won and he was moving on to the final round with Manny!

"Break my wrist while you're at it man," Roi muttered, stepping back from the table. 

Despite what everyone else said, Mat didn't see himself as competitive, now that was just him lying to himself. Mat wanted nothing more than to crush Manny and throw him into the arm wrestling grave!

"Don't go easy on me," Manny cooed, grabbing Mat's hand firmly.

"BEAT HIS ASS MANNY!" Nikita yelled, cheering out for him.

"This will be the easiest win," Mat replied coldly.

Manny's strength was a surprise, but not one Mat didn't expect. Mat had watched him knock out the people he went up against as if it were nothing!

Inevitably loss would come, and Mat's heart dropped when he felt his hand hit the pad. He was so confident of having this win, yet he lost! He lost!

"Don't worry Detective, we can have a rematch!" Manny grinned before walking off to the box.

Mat stood still, utterly impressed by Manny's skill, but still disappointed he didn't win.

"You know, I expected a medal or something!" Manny exclaimed, holding something up. "Not a triangle!"

A loud clatter had torn the group's attention away from Manny, from the entrance of the tent, two demons stumbled forward, one of them looked utterly horrifying with a mutated demonic arm. 

"I smell blood!" 

"RUN!" Someone screamed out, but Mat couldn't put a face to the voice

"Mat!" Rosanna screamed out.

Right away Mat knew she was in danger, he quickly picked up a chair, using it to defend her, attempting to shove the demon away with it. "Pick on someone your own size!" Mat snapped, and the demon took the chair from Mat's hand, tossing it to the side.

He swiped at him, but Mat ducked to the side, unfortunately, the Strong Man had grabbed hold of Rosanna, even lifting her off the ground.

"HELP!" Rosanna screamed out, kicking her legs in an attempt to get away.

"Let her go!" Jc snapped, grabbing onto Rosanna's hand. 

"You wanna die?" The strong man snapped, his non-mutated hand wrapped around Jc's throat. Yet it still held its own strength, Mat didn't want to imagine what would happen to Jc if it was the normal arm that had Rosanna! 

"Leave them alone!" Mat yelled, rushing over and grabbing onto The Hippie, their combined weight sending them crashing to the ground.

"HEY, STRONG MAN!" The female demon snapped. "I need some help here!"

"Fuck man," Jc coughed, rubbing his throat.

"Come on you two!" Colleen cried out, helping them both out.

"No! No! No!" Safiya cried out with a shriek of terror.

Mat looked over, seeing Safiya kicking at the ground, the Demon had a firm hold on her, dragging her away. The strong man had handed Rosanna off to his girlfriend, and millions of thoughts were rushing through Mat's head. His friends were in danger!

"Let me go!" Safiya demanded, as she was pulled away, the demonic mutated arm wrapped around her. "GUYS! Help us! Mat! Jc!”

"C'mon!" Colleen urged, practically dragging them both from the tent. "I am not sticking around to see what's going to happen and neither are you!"

“But, Safiya and Rosanna!” The Hippie protested. 

“Later Jc!” Colleen snapped. "We can worry about them later!"

×

"Get in there!" Veronica, Ro had quickly learned, shoved the Jet Setter into the small prison cell. Safiya followed in, with a much rougher shove from the strong man. 

Rosanna considered calling The Strong Man out, but right away the two were making out and Rosanna watched in horror before Safiya placed her hand over The Jet Setter's eyes. 

"So, we're in jail now," Safiya said, awkwardly clapping her hands together. "Do we wait to get saved or save ourselves?" She asks after the two demons left.

"Let's see what's in here," Rosanna suggested, looking around her eyes falling on the mattress. Maybe she could just sleep through the rest of this night and Mat can wake her up when they leave.

Safiya helped shove the mattress to the side, a shocked gasp escaping from her lips. "A spoon!"

"A spoon!" Rosanna parroted back in a cheer. "Hold on, Safiya, do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" She asks, handing the small shovel to her.

"Weed," Rosanna deadpanned.

"Ro this is the 70s, of course we're going to smell weed."

"Obviously," Rosanna said, staring at the clay block. "But it's way stronger than usual!"

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Manny's concerned voice asks, appearing at the window.

Rosanna got up, jumping up and down, she could see Jc, Roi, Teala, and Joey too! "Well, that explains the weed smell!"

"Did you seriously have a smoke break?" Safiya asks, looking over at Jc. 

"This is a very stressful situation."

"At least you're not in jail like them!" Teala pointed out. 

"We're here to help!" Joey beamed getting to the point. "The others are off collecting things, the artifact is kinda like a puzzle this time!"

"You can help them out, I'm gonna keep digging. Whatever is in here, I have a feeling it'll help." Rosanna said, getting back on the ground, once more attacking the clay block with the shovel.

Like Safiya, she was making good progress! Rosanna could see a faint piece of something, oh wait it was more clay. Shame.

"Safiya, I see something!" She said with glee. The Investigative Reporter dropped down next to her, the boys were currently distracting Veronica and Strong Man. Teala had gone off and disappeared to the others, apparently, they were building a totem pole last Rosanna caught wind of.

A weird strength test, but Rosanna would shrug it off, the only thing that mattered to her right now was breaking out of prison with Safiya!

It was one of the last things she'd expected to do, but Rosanna had found this night to be full of surprises! 

Especially the fact that three people who were supposed to be dead were currently walking around and helping them out!

What a night this was turning out to be!

"Okay, these shoes serve me well," Rosanna said, before kicking at the clay block, getting far more progress than she would with the spoon!

"Oh, Ro! Look!" Safiya said, Watching as the clay cleared revealing a Lazarus coin.

"We did it!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, perfect!" Safiya said, reaching down and taking the coin, and dropping it in the safety of her pocket. 

Veronica, in her drunken state, stumbled back in. "What are you bitches talking about?" She yelled.

Rosanna nearly dropped the spoon, quickly holding it behind her back. "Nothing important, just how ugly my jacket is! Yet it was trending and always gotta follow trends!"

"Oh yeah, that's ugly," Veronica said, taking a big swig of her whiskey.

"Veronica, you look great, how come you're here with us? Go out! Have fun, I think I actually heard Strong Man calling out for you!" Safiya said, brushing her hair out of her face. "Go show him what he's missing right now!"

Rosanna had no idea what Safiya was doing, but whatever it was, it was working! Veronica stumbled out in her drunken state, calling out for the Strong Man.

"Is she gone?" Manny asks, his face appearing at the bars.

"Yeah! Finally," Safiya said. "Get us out of here, please? I don't know how much sweet talk is going to last!"

"Stand back, we can't afford injuries!" Joey said, bringing over what Rosanna could only describe as a weird bear-trap-looking device.

The bars quickly were ripped off from the force of the weird contraction, a scream nearly escaping from Rosanna's lips. She could feel Safiya's grip on her loose when they saw their chance!

"C'mon! We gotta meet the others! They got more pieces!" Teala exclaimed.

Safiya was the first, climbing up on the stool and slipping out, getting down with the help of Manny and Jc.

Rosanna was fine with just Manny's help.

"Are you guys alright?" Roi asks.

"I'm okay," Safiya said, letting go of Jc's hand. "Ro's okay, and we got the first coin." She added, holding up the Lazarus coin before tucking it back into her pocket.

 Together the group booked it away from the police station, over to the others.

×

The last thing Mat wanted to do tonight was to be in another final challenge, especially involved if it meant his life was going to be on the line!

Yet here he was, standing before everyone else in an outfit that was making him incredibly self-conscious. Rosanna, in her kind-hearted ways, was giving him a supportive smile. 

Safiya meanwhile was looking incredibly horrified? Mat didn’t know how to describe her expression.

It was understandable, this night was proving to be quite an odd one.

Surprisingly, the murderous monsters weren't the most shocking. Perhaps the fact that three people sitting near her were supposed to be dead.

Or it could have been the bubbling tension between Colleen and Joey that was only growing worse by what felt like the minute!

"May the strongest bitch win," Manny said, holding his hand out. There was a fire in his eyes that burned brighter with his life on the line. 

"Neither of us plan on dying tonight," Mat replied, taking Manny's hand. "The Strongman and his girlfriend can burn!"

"Can you two just shake hands already so we can get a move on?" Nikita asks. "We are on a very tight time limit, and if you two keep staring at each other holding hands we may as well be digging ten graves and building ten coffins!"

×

Mat has never been more stressed out in the night than he was now. His arms ached as he held up those buckets, and it did not help that so much was going on! Voices of his friends and the demons were overlapping, it was beginning to grow overwhelming, but he needed to keep these buckets raised!

Mat had thrown that ball further, but that was not going to be enough to get him out of this!

The Detective's arms fell, and the two demons laughed at him. 

"Almost done," Manny says, in an attempt to assure him as he lowers his own buckets. Mat doesn't feel very assured. To Mat, almost done is a sign that either one of them was going to nearly be killed!

Mat needed to think, just a bit longer to have a plan form in his mind. The Detective had found that became determined, and perhaps he was a bit too determined because that gave them a tie.

What would they even do for a tie? Do they both live? Do they both die? One at the mutant hand of the Strongman, the other his girlfriend?

"Oh bitch, when I said rematch I didn't mean this way!" Manny groaned as Roi and Mortimer set down the table.

Mat looks over at Roi, The Daredevil looks back at him. Mat can tell Roi's thinking, he's just afraid of whatever Roi could be thinking of.

"Get on with it!" Veronica yells. "We want some bloodshed!"

Mat ignores her. He gets into place and once more he takes The Record Producer's hand.

On Mortimer's signal, Mat gives it all, unleashing all the strength he had. 

"I can't look!" Mat heard Rosanna cry out between Nikita and Joey's overlapping cheers.

"Mat," Manny's voice fell into a quiet tone, his once focused gaze falling into an apologetic one. "I'm sorry,"

Mat's hand once more hit the pad, and he felt his heart fall.

Right away Manny booked past him, grabbing the final artifact piece.

"ARE YOU READY TO DIE?" The Strongman yelled out.

"MAT!" Rosanna screamed out. "MAT! NO!"

Mat cringed feeling the demonic hand wrap around his throat, the breath escaping his lungs as he was slammed to the ground.

"HEY, STRONGMAN!" Roi's voice cries out, the Detective looks up, when did Roi get a slingshot?

"Choke on this, bitch!" Jc added.

Roi fired the slingshot, a rock striking the demon right in the face.

"And away we go!" Teala says, rushing over and quickly helping Mat to his feet. "MANNY CLEANSE IT!" She yelled at him.

"Your blood is mine!" The demon roars, he's utterly furious, and charging toward them. Mat quickly shoves Teala behind him. This demon wants him! Teala has done nothing wrong to him, she was just looking out for Mat! 

"I got it bitch!" Manny answers, wrapping the strap around the pyramid.

"Mat!" Rosanna's relieved cries snap him from his screaming brain, and his arms quickly wrap around her, and Teala when he opens his eyes. "You're still alive!"

"Where the hell did you get a slingshot?" Mat asks, looking over at Roi.

"Calliope!" The Daredevil replied with a grin as he pointed at her. "I wanted to use one of her fireworks, but she said no. So Jc found some rocks while you and Manny fought it out!"

"You went rock hunting while these two fought for their lives?" Nikita asks. 

"They were cool rocks," Jc shrugged, throwing one up and down. "Saved his life, so not a complete waste of my time.”

"I'm sorry about nearly getting you killed," Manny says, walking up to him after Rosanna and Teala follow the others back to the lounge. 

"It's fine. Truthfully I'd rather nearly get killed being in a challenge with you than Ro or Safiya," Mat admits. 

"I'm just glad you're alive."

"I am too," Mat smiles at him, rubbing at his neck. He allows the last of the cool night air to help him relax before he follows Manny into the lounge. "I'm glad you're alive too."

×

"How ya feeling Mat?" Rosanna asks, out of worry. The Detective practically melts into the couch, the exhaustion seemingly finally catching up to him. Joey can see the skin on his neck becoming red, The Savant doesn't doubt that bruises will form there. 

The Strongman did have one hell of a grip on him.

"I'll be fine," he coughs, slowly sitting up. 

"You better be!" Manny says, setting the pyramid down on the shelf. "We can't rely on just Safiya to do our puzzles."

Joey has seen many people return from challenges, but never this tired. The Savant wonders what would have happened if the demon got to bring his fist down onto his face.

Would the Society Against Evil see that as enough to bring Joey back? We're these artifacts even fully cleansed? They needed sacrifices, and these sacrifices were still standing! That's been something on Joey's mind since Jc returned. None of these people have died yet! The one thing they need to do! Joey doesn't want to be dead forever, being dead sucks! He's constantly cold, no jacket is heavy enough to keep him warm. 

He wonders if Safiya felt how cold his hand was. She said nothing of it or gave any looks. The Investigative Reporter didn't seem suspicious of him, although if she was hiding it, she was hiding it quite well. Definitely making the mental note to keep an eye on her. 

"How much longer do we have to keep fighting?" Teala asks, taking a spot on the couch between Roi and Jc. Roi had taken Rosanna's place, his hand resting gently on Mat's shoulders as he looked at his neck.

Joey bites back a laugh. All the people who were supposed to be dead are sitting together, to Joey's right. All the people who still remain alive after that challenge are to his left. He looks over at them.

Manny is between Safiya and Nikita, an arm draped around them both, out of friendship and protection. Like he's shielding them from the dangers of Everlock. Rosanna sits next to Safiya, her legs folded to her chest, but her shoes off the furniture. Colleen's sitting on the ground, between the Jet setter and Investigative Reporter. Her jacket lay on Ro as if it were a blanket.

"What's funny?" Colleen asks, there's bubbling bitterness in her tone. "Mat nearly died and you're laughing! What is wrong with you?"

Joey could only wonder what she would say if she knew. If any of them knew.

"Not the weirdest thing he'd done all night," Jc spoke up.

Joey looked over at the Hippie.

"I mean dude, you looked utterly terrified that I came back from the challenge. I honestly thought you were going to kill me with the artifact.”

"And suggesting he go into challenges a lot." Teala pointed out. "I was expecting a PowerPoint presentation on why Jc or Roi should go in!"

"Yeah, you do seem very insistent on people who have already been in challenges keep going in." Mat pointed out.

"You just seem really keen on sending us to our deaths." Roi added, his hands taping against his knees. 

"Joey?" The Savant turns to face Colleen, her expression dropping and voice falling into a serious tone. "Why do you want to kill us?"

There was no way to avoid this question, all eyes were on him, practically burning into his soul. All night he'd been avoiding any questions about him, always directing everyone's attention to someone else. Now, there was no chance for that.

They were going to force the truth out of him, and it was like they didn't even know it.

"The truth is, I've been hiding something from all of you." Joey began, tearing his gaze away from them. The last thing he needed was to watch anybody react. There were so many ways they could react. "The truth is, I died."

"What?" Manny asks, with a weak laugh of disbelief. "You died?"

"From an evil sorceress. I died, and then I woke up in front of a church. The Society Against Evil was there, and they said, in order for me to return to the land of the living. People had to die. To be the sacrifices for the artifacts."

He gains the strength to look up, his eyes falling on the people to his right.

"None of you are supposed to be alive, you all were supposed to die for those artifacts. You can't be here! Everyone died for something."

"You brought us here, to get ourselves murdered?" Teala's voice breaks. "Just so you could come back to life? Nine lives? For yours?"

"Everyone?" Roi asks, looking over at him. "What do you mean by everyone?"

"Joey, did people die before you?" Rosanna asks.

"Yes," Joey's voice breaks. He hates it. He hates feeling the way he is now. Dozens of eyes burn into him, all with different expressions. Some were blank, some mortified, and some burned with anger.

"Who did you kill?" Mat asks, sitting up. "Whose lives did you take?"

"I didn't kill them, it was lieutenants and others,"

"Who died?" Mat repeated, his tone was more firm.

"Justine, Alex, Tana, Liza, GloZell, Tim, just to name a few."

"Alex?" Roi's voice shakes, brimming with grief that had been buried for months.

"Justine?" Rosanna's shattering tone was enough to be a punch to Joey's gut.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Nikita said. "You invited people to die, before, and then you died. So you invite us all here to help bring you back to life."

"This is so bullshit!" Colleen exclaims, crossing her arms. "Joey, you murdered people, and now you're trying to murder us! What the hell? That is such a bitch move. I mean, seriously. God, I never thought I could hate you, but you should stay in your grave."

Joey could feel the tear rolling down his cheek, he felt as though he was stabbed in the heart. Maybe the sacrifice of his friendships and trust in these people was enough to make up for the sacrifice of their lives.

This is why he wanted to keep his mouth shut, to hold off them from discovering the truth for as long as possible. When most of them lay somewhere, lifeless. 

This night was taking a turn, and for Joey, it was taking a turn in the worst possible direction.

-×-

VI - Twin Dolls

Colleen Ballinger had lost her trust in Joey Graceffa tonight, one of her closest and dearest friends had turned out to be a walking dead man, whose plan to come back to life involved his friends dying.

None of them had yet to kick the bucket and lay down six feet below, which was a good thing! Yet that made her fucking sick to her stomach. 

They've all done a damn good job saving each other, accidentally like Jc or on purpose like Roi, Teala, and Mat.

At first, this night was supposed to be a fun little Carnival. Which turned into a fight for your own life, which eventually turned into a fight to keep everyone alive. Arguably, that was the hardest thing so far. The grim reaper was on their fucking tail and took the form of some demon named Nicholas apparently!

Then there were the lieutenants, but monsters were more accurate in Colleen's opinion. They sucked, and they sucked a lot! They were utterly terrifying. Ranging from Stephen King Novel to Slasher icon. 

Yet personally, the dolls were the utter worst.

Speaking of dolls, those little shits were chasing after them right now, and they had knives! Knives ! Who the hell gives a doll a knife? Fucking Chucky?

"In here!" Mortimer cried out, personally Colleen couldn't be more grateful for him. He was such a heroic man. Their personal 70s knight in shining armor, except with a motorcycle, and a gun.

Colleen heard the door slam shut and become barricaded. Those little shits pounding at the door as if their lives depended on it. She swore she heard Mat talking about some horror game.

"Okay, what the hell do we do now?" Teala asks.

For once, that was actually an appropriate time to ask that question!

"She's right, what the hell do we do now Joey?" Colleen asks, sass and anger wrapped around his name like a neat little bow, but made from barbed wire. 

"I don't know!" Joey exclaimed. "Maybe we can look around here? Try to find something to do with the dolls out there!"

"Oh yeah! Let's use dolls, to destroy dolls! Great thinking!" Colleen said sarcastically as she had begun to look around. "Maybe we can throw these dolls at them and hope it kills them right away!"

There was a fair amount of doll torture going around, and truthfully, Colleen was a bit creeped out by it, but if ripping out fake tongues and chopping heads off meant survival, she'd be front and center ready to do so!

"This is right out of a horror film," Jc cringed.

Colleen looked up, hiding her look of terror as she watched Jc struggle to saw a doll that was hanging upside down in half. 

"This is like some Art the Clown shit," Manny said, gripping Safiya's shoulders as they watched.

"Oh don't say that Manny!" Mat cringed, drowning a doll in a fish bowl. "Nobody needs that mental image!"

When the last lock was done Joey took the head of the serial killer doll and handed it to Teala who handed it to Ro who handed it to Mat who was going to hand it to Manny before he shook his head and stepped away. 

Colleen was just glad she didn't have to hold that thing. She wished it stayed in Joey's hand though. He was a serial killer, let him hold the serial killer doll's head! 

"Okay, who's going to connect the head and body?" Joey asks, looking around. The group stares at him. "Okay, me then."

"I do not have a good feeling about this," Nikita confesses, watching as Joey attached the head and body together.

"I don't either." Roi said, stepping back. "But at least we can move on now!"

×

When Roi said moving on, Joey did not imagine splitting up, but that's what they did! Of course, that's what they did.

"RUN! IN HERE!" Joey cried out, practically flying into the shop. Jc, Teala, Ro, and Safiya right behind him.

"Good day sir!" Safiya exclaimed, slamming the door shut, pressing her weight against the door. A terrified squeak escaped her throat as the doll started pounding on the door. 

Jc quickly handed Ro a piece of wood who rushed over to the door. Safiya moved, still hiding the door shut as Ro slipped it into place. 

"Oh my god!" Safiya sang out, walking away from the door. "Fuck dolls!"

"Okay, what the hell kind of doll maker made those?" Teala asks. "Because if they are still alive I have a lot to say to them!"

"Don't worry, I think we all do," Jc said. 

"Guys I found blood!" Joey said, holding up a jar of said blood. 

"I hope that's fake," Teala said, grabbing the bottles that were next to the jar.

"I don't think it is," Jc said, grabbing the note that came with it. "Okay, we gotta pour and make some measurements."

Ro looked over. "Oh! It's like a recipe, that makes nothing, but a mess!"

Safiya walked over and grabbed the jar full of doll hair and she poured it out onto the ground. "Make this a little bit easier."

"Please don't pour any blood on me, thanks," Teala said, taking the jar from Safiya.

Joey and Teala let Safiya, Ro, and Jc figure out the measurements. Safiya and Jc looked at it from a math perspective while Ro looked at it from a baking perspective. Together, the three of them figured it out.

Teala held the jar, taking the blood over to where it was needed, and slowly poured it in, careful not to make a mess on her outfit. Joey respected that, she really did have a great outfit.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, too much. Oh fucking shit, Ro I am so sorry." Safiya said frantically, pulling the blood back.

"No, no! You're okay!" Rosanna exclaimed, walking over to a pile of doll stuffing. "Oh, oh this is not working! This is making my situation worse."

"Inside of your coat!" Jc suggested taking the blood from Safiya. "Nobody will see!" He said, taking over before Rosanna came back over.

The three of them finished getting their measurements in place. Safiya poured the blood on Teala's jar, Jc disposed of the rest, and Rosanna cleaned up her hands.

Teala poured in the final amount of blood, a drawer opened up, and a scream escaped from the Super Spy, the jar nearly clattering to the ground before Jc caught it.

"Oh, that's pleasant," Joey said, picking up a truly terrible baby doll. "You want a baby, Ro?" He asks, handing it off to her.

The Jet Setter looked at him with a horrified expression.

"Joey! Look!" Teala said, picking up a small red tin container. "What is this?"

"I'm not sure," Joey said, looking back down to see a notecard. 

Jc quickly picked it up. "You have the blood doll and should go, but if you're a seeker of thrills there's one last treasure to uncover. If you want to play, swallow the red pill."

"This is some matrix shiz," Safiya said, Watching Teala open up the container. Lo and behold, there was a bunch of red pills.

"Joey, do you wanna do this?" Teala asks.

"I mean, I could," Safiya said. 

"You did enough already," Joey said to her. "Electrocuting your hand is enough. I'll do it."

"Are you sure man?" Jc asks. 

"I'm sure," Joey said, taking the pill. He took a deep breath before braving it and swallowing it. He hated taking pills dry, and this was not cherry flavored like he expected. It tasted like chalk. 

"Oh never again." Joey coughed.

"You okay?" Teala asks.

"Doing great, thank you," Joey said.

"Joey! Look!" Jc exclaimed, pointing over to the large metal tin. 

"Oh!" The Savant gasps, the group rushes over and Joey takes a peek inside. "Your treasure lies inside."

"Well get the treasure! We don't have all night!" Teala exclaims.

"One moment, not getting this ruined," Joey said, slipping off his jacket, handing it to Mortimer. He honestly forgot he was there. Curse him for staying silent this whole time!

Bracing himself for whatever was about to happen, Joey reached his hand inside. If Nikita could reach her hand down a garbage disposal, Joey could reach his hand down a tin of mystery. He felt around for a bit before feeling something.

Pulling his hand out, and brushing off the liquid, a surprised gasp ran through the group.

"Is that what I think it is?" Teala asks.

"The second Lazarus coin!" Joey exclaims.

"We both have one!" Safiya gasps, bringing out her own. "We can figure out what's in the box!"

"But first, the others," Joey said. "We can tell them all about it when we get back to the lounge," Joey added.

×

An Iron Maiden. 

No challenge, no fight for survival, no plan to get by it.

Death was going to win.

Colleen was terrified.

"Is there anything we can do?" Roi asks, out of the kindness in his heart. 

Calliope shakes her head. "I'm sorry,"

"Well, hundred percent this is a plea for your life moment," Manny said, wrapping a protective arm around Nikita. The Record Producer's eyes fall on Jc. "You were supposed to be the first,"

"Cold," Jc said, all eyes landing on him. "You guys need me! I can't go in there! I'm your math guy, and I've been pulling my weight. I've helped save people and listen. You guys need someone who can cut the tension."

Roi speaks up next. "I've been proving myself, I've been throwing myself in the eyes of danger, and have nearly sacrificed myself once before. You guys know I'm willing to do anything, but I need to be alive for that."

"At the end of the night, it all comes down to survival." Teala begins. "To have that fire that never burns out. I know I'm not as smart as Safiya, Jc, or Mat, or brave enough to look danger in the eyes like Roi, Nikita, and Manny, but please. I don't want to go in there. I don't want a fire for survival to burn out. Also, Roi and I did find the Lazarus Box, and we are so close to finding out what's in there, that can help us out."

"I've been willing to help. I've helped save lives." Mat said, looking at Roi, Teala, and Jc. 

"Correction. You nearly got me killed." The Hippie corrected. "Realistically, Safiya here saved me since she cleansed the artifact, but sure. Go on." Jc said.

"Oh shit, call him out," Manny said, his hand covering his mouth. "We're really all calling each other out."

Mat ignored them both, and kept going "I'm always helping with puzzles, and gathering information. You need me." Rosanna was very quick to agree with him. Nodding along at what he said. 

"Well, if we were all dying, realistically I would be your only puzzle solver left," Safiya added. "Listen, I can't go in there. I've been pulling my weight, and I have been working my ass off on helping everyone survive, and I don't know what's going to happen next, but I know for a fact you guys need me." She looks over at Mat, Jc, and Teala. "This all started because of us four," Her gaze fell on the others. "I want to be there for the rest."

"I'm a fighter," Ro spoke up. "I've been helping as much as I can. I've been a good friend, and I just want to help Joey."

"Well, you all know the truth and listen. I'm sorry for keeping it hidden, and I feel awful for putting you all in this, but I don't know what's going to happen to me. To you all if I end up in there." Joey said, gesturing to the Maiden. "I promise, I'll be more upfront and honest."

"I helped get the truth," Colleen added in quickly. "I had a gut feeling, and I followed it, and it really helped us discover the truth. Discover why we're all here, and that Joey is not a stranger to murdering people."

"You called Joey a bitch and said you hope he stays dead." Teala pointed out, crossing her arms. "And it's quite clear Joey feels regret."

"Ooo, call her out." Nikita gasped.

"Listen, I think we all proved enough," Joey said. "I just, I think we should get to voting." His eyes fell on Colleen. "I already know who I'm voting for."

"Joey," Colleen's voice was shaky, tears brimming in her eyes already. If Joey was against her, everyone else may as well be too.

"You may begin voting," Calliope said gravely.

Joey was the first one up. He picked up Colleen's card, turning it to the group. "I'm sorry" There was no look of sorrow. The Savant slipped the card in.

Manny followed, selecting Colleen's, and showing the group. Ro would go after him, doing the same. She'd return with tears forming in her eyes as she sank between The Detective and The Record Producer.

Safiya walked over, grabbing Colleen's card. She'd show it off, no remorse, just a blank expression.

Jc followed after her, he looked down at the cards before selecting Colleen's. Unlike the others, he would not show it. "I'm sorry," The Hippie muttered, coming back over, taking a spot next to Safiya.

Colleen walked over, her heart plummeting to her stomach when she saw how low hers was. Blinking away the tears in her eyes, she grabbed Rosanna's card, placing it in the box. She knew they'd tear her apart for picking Rosanna, but she hoped to fuck Nikita, Mat, Roi, or Teala would choose someone else.

"Shit," Nikita swore, as she handed Calliope the last card for The Disco Dancer. She hoped Mat, Roi, or Teala wouldn't put her or Manny's name in.

Teala walked over, seeing the lack of Colleen's cards. Hesitantly, she chose Rosanna's, placing it in the box. She didn't want to, but she didn't want it to be herself.

Mat didn't know who to pick, he didn't want to put any of his friends in there to die, so he handed Calliope his own.

Roi, with great sorrow, and regret picked Rosanna.

"I shall shuffle, and draw one," Calliope announced, shuffling the cards around Calliope grabbed the card that had found its way onto the top of the stack. She picked the card up, looking at it with grief before turning it around.

"The Disco Dancer."

"NO!" Colleen screamed out, tears running down her eyes. "You guys! Joey, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please don't put me in there!" 

Jc and Roi walked over to the Maiden, opening the doors. Safiya and Joey grabbed onto the Disco Dancer.

Colleen begged for her life, trying to stop herself from getting closer. "Please! Please don't kill me! We all made a promise! We said we were getting out of here!"

"I'm sorry," Safiya said, as she placed Colleen in the maiden. 

"You're all liars! You're monsters!" Colleen sobbed. "What about the promise?" She cried out between her screams of terror.

Safiya and Joey both took a door and closed it. The Investigative Reporter's hands fall to cover her ears, to block out the screams.

Colleen's screams rang out throughout the room before falling quiet, abruptly and suddenly.

Rosanna let out a sob of terror and grief, Manny and Mat wrapping her up in a hug.

"What's done, is done," Nikita said, grabbing the cleansed artifact. 

Calliope opened the door, and slowly the guests trickled out. Joey was the first to go.

"C'mon," Jc said quietly, pulling Safiya away. "It's okay," he assured her. 

Safiya looked back at the Maiden one last time, a look of guilt on her. She shut the door. Safiya just helped kill someone. It was only her and The Hippie left. Safiya looked over at her friend, tears forming in her eyes, tears she'd let fall. "I didn't want to," 

The Hippie was quick to wrap his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. 

"I killed someone! I killed her!" The Investigative Reporter wept. She hardly knew The Disco Dancer, and even chose her card without hesitation, but it didn't feel real to her. Yet the screams, how it tore into her like a monstrous claw and ripped her soul out, crushing her heart. "I didn't want to,"

"It's okay, it'll all work out," Jc assured her, breaking the hug, but still having a hold on her. "It's not your fault," Jc said, leading her out. "You had to do it. You had to. It’ll be alright, I promise."

×

"This wasn't part of the plan," Ro said, staring off into dead space. "We weren't supposed to die. This goes against what we've been fighting against."

"Well, you can't really get around a betrayal," Joey said, reaching for the coin in his pocket. "But there's always a betrayal, and it's done and over."

"Well, there's always the coins." Safiya pointed out, grabbing her own. 

"Joey has the other coin?" Mat gasps. "We can finally find out what's in this Lazarus box."

"What if it's something evil?" Jc asks. 

"Then I guess we will find out." Roi responded.

"Ready?" Safiya asks, holding her coin over the slot.

"No," Joey answered, with a nervous laugh as they placed the coins in.

Instantly the box popped open, revealing the Harp of Lazarus.

"The Harp of Lazarus has one last song to play to bring your friend back from the dead." Safiya read, lowering the note.

"We can bring Colleen back!" Ro gasps.

"Is that a good idea though? She's going to be pissed we killed her, and what if she tries to kill the rest of us?" Nikita asks. "Also, what did she even do? I really think we should save it in case someone else bites the bullet."

"Well, this isn't our choice." Mat pointed out. "It matters what Joey and Safiya say."

"Could we use it on Joey?" Roi asks. "I mean, he's dead, and we can all leave. What did Everlock do for us anyway?"

"No!" Rosanna exclaimed. "Everybody lives, that is what we have all decided on! We can't leave Colleen behind! Do you all seriously want to live with the knowledge that you killed someone and missed out on the chance to bring her back?"

"Joey?" Safiya asks. "What do we do?"

"Everybody brings up really good points, but Ro's right." The Savant said. "We're bringing Colleen back, I don't wanna be a murderer anymore."

"Tell that to the others you killed," Manny said quietly, enough for Nikita and Teala to hear him.

Safiya felt awful for shutting Colleen in that box, and she knew The Disco Dancer would rain hell on them, but group survival mattered, and dammit Safiya wasn’t letting anybody else die tonight!

Joey strums the harp, the final song playing.

-×-

VII - Funhouse

Safiya Nygaard did not want to have 'murderer' under her name. Yet after tonight, she and a few others were going to. 

Safiya also knew that this was how this night was not supposed to go. Jc Caylen was not supposed to be sitting next to her, fiddling with the very knife from the head clown Kerry that was supposed to kill him.

She was relieved he survived, by utter accident, he was great! The two had even begun to form a friendship, he even helped save her and Rosanna from the jail cell and comforted her on the way back to the lounge after Colleen had gotten shoved into the Maiden.

"I can't wait here anymore for her," Safiya announced standing up. 

Roi and Teala looked up, the Lazarus harp humming out as Roi dragged his fingers carelessly on it. There was no song to play.

Joey and Manny's conversation slowly fell silent as they looked over. The Record Producer looked at her with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright?" Rosanna asks, looking up, Mat on the floor next to her. Nikita was sitting in front of the Jet Setter, a small braid forming in her hair. 

"I just can't really be in here right now." Safiya was already at the door, she pushed it open and ducked out. It was a cool entrance and all, but boy did it hate tall people. 

Jc set the knife down and got up, following after her.

"Enjoying the corner?" Jc asks, sitting next to her, crossing his legs.

"Why is this taking so long?" Safiya asks her knees to her chest.

"They're probably trying to talk to get Colleen out of murdering Joey before sending her back. Can a dead guy even die? Where would he even go? You can't really die twice, can you?" Jc wondered.

"I think after everything we witnessed that might be possible," she answered. Looking over at Jc it was like she was back in that clown tent. What was supposed to be a tragedy was turned into luck, a fight for all of them to survive, and the start of a friendship.

All because she and Mat couldn't stand the idea of having blood on their hands.

"What's on your mind?" He asked. "Besides how long it's taking Colleen to come back from the dead,"

"What's the next monster we're going to face feels like a good start," Safiya said. "I mean clowns, a snake woman, a terrifyingly tall man, dolls with knives. What could be next?"

"That's the fun part! Finding out," Jc said simply. "Not fun fighting for our lives or anything, but it all works out."

"Oh yeah, because putting Colleen in an iron maiden worked out perfectly! She's going to be out for Joey and I's blood since we shoved her in there."

"Colleen's mature enough to understand, plus it was the only way. I guess Nicholas won at something,"

"I guess I'm just nervous about what can happen. I mean, someone died, and we no longer have any chance at revival. Who's to say there won't be any more casualties?"

Before Jc could even speak to assure her this was going to all be okay, there was a loud and rapid knocking at the door.

If there was anything Safiya had learned about herself from tonight, she grabbed onto people when afraid. First, it was Manny and Jc as they watched Mayor Janet die. Rosanna was in a jail cell, probably more times, but Safiya was going to try and block out as much of this night as possible.

"Do we check it out?" Jc asks, "It could be Colleen."

"What if it's not?" Safiya asked, her fearful grip tightening on Jc's arm when he looked over at the door. The knock was far too heavy to be Colleen.

"What's going on?"

"Who was that?"

The others had called out, spilling from the divine lounge.

"No idea," Safiya said quickly, letting go of Jc and getting to her feet.

"Did we interrupt your little emotional friendship moment?" Manny asked. "Sorry! Finish forming it later, we heard the knock too!"

Safiya said nothing, she just watched as Mortimer was the dumb soul to be the one to answer the door. Safiya personally didn't watch horror movies, but she did watch enough Dead Meat Kill Counts to know that was never a wise move.

Mortimer came back, holding what looked like a small trunk. 

"No Colleen?" Teala asked.

Mortimer shook his head. 

"But hey, we got something!" Joey said, in an attempt to lighten up the mood.

"Well let's crack into this bitch and find out what's going on!" Nikita exclaimed, opening the lounge door.

Safiya couldn't help but have a nervous feeling about this.

Mat, Rosanna, and Jc all seemingly caught onto The Investigative Reporters' uneasy feelings.

"This isn't ending well," Rosanna muttered, wedging her way between Mat and herself. Safiya couldn't have agreed more with something in her life.

×

"What is it?" Rosanna asked, jumping up and down next to Safiya, in an attempt to see what was inside, but with eleven people crowded around, only the tall people had an advantage here.

Teala too, the shorter woman was currently next to Mortimer, helping him open the trunk up.

"A wheel?" The Super Spy asks. "What do we need this for?"

"Maybe it's our artifact! Or a clue to it!"

"Roi, it's a wheel, what could this thing do?" Teala asks she went to spin it, but Calliope booked it over to the Super Spy and pulled her away.

"No!" Calliope snapped with firm authority. Safiya had never personally seen Calliope like this. "Do not spin it, there is something evil lurking within that swirling pattern."

Before Safiya could even open her mouth and ask what the helper meant by that, there was a glow coming from the wall, an outline door cracking to life. It looked like something from Beetlejuice!

Colleen appeared, the Disco Dancer stumbling out, the last of her skin stitching itself back together quickly as she stepped through. 

"Of all the times someone had a chance to die, it had to be me!" Colleen shrieked, anger burning bright in her eyes as Safiya caught contact with them.

Maybe Safiya should've let somebody else close the door with Joey.

"Well, you're alive now!" Nikita pointed out, a smile coming over her face.

"You still all shoved me In a box to die!"

"Somebody had to go in it!" Manny pointed out. "And Safiya and Joey brought you back from the dead! Stop bitching about dying! You're alive! Unlike him!” Manny said pointing to The Savant.

Safiya sank back, hiding behind Jc, Ro, and Mat to get away from the raging death glare from Colleen as she searched for them. She still got it, considering she was taller than Rosanna and around Mat and Jc's height.

"Before this escalates, can we please move on? Do you people not remember we are on a time limit?" Nikita chimed in, tapping against her non-existent watch. "I'm not in the mood to die tonight!"

×

No matter how much Mortimer tried, his gaze would always fall focus on the wheel. He'd seen it before, there was no denying it. At first, it was easy to avoid, but now it seemed utterly impossible with him being the only one in the lounge.

Calliope escorted the group to the funhouse, Mortimer could only bring himself to lie to her. Saying he didn't want to step back there after seeing what it had done to Willie.

The Daredevil had overheard it. 

Though it'd be something that would slip from Roi's mind, no doubt about it, considering the horrors they were going to face!

It's an utter shame they left Mortimer behind.

The helper found himself in front of the wheel, and before he could even process it, the wheel was spinning and the orange and yellow swirls took over his eyes. A cloud of smoke flew right into him, wrapping around his throat like a claw.

×

Safiya hated this funhouse, they were told to hide, but where? There were hardly any hiding spots in this place, especially with ten people cramped across all these three rooms!

"Hey man! This isn't cool!" Roi said, struggling to slip from Willie's grasp. 

Safiya and Ro could only watch, helpless as he was dragged out of the room. Safiya could tell Ro wanted to help him. Yet there was no way The Investigative Reporter wanted to be left alone in this room, especially if Willie had come back!

Safiya watched as the two disappeared into the elevator, Roi's cries for help going with it.

"Shit," Safiya muttered. "Guess it's just us then?"

"We can do it!" Rosanna assured them both, but more so herself. 

It had turned out to be easier than expected with two people, perhaps it was less confusion and more time to focus on the bright patterns. 

"Elevator, quickly!" Safiya said, hopping from rock to rock. She couldn't wait to get out of that stupid funhouse. The bright lights and loud noises were nauseating in her opinion.

She couldn't imagine what it was like from Jc's point of view, there was no way this man was getting through this night without smoking once. He was quickly dragged out by Willie early on. Intentionally or not.

"C'mon!" Rosanna exclaimed, Safiya's heart nearly falling down to her stomach with the quick movement. Her arms wrapped around Rosanna.

If there was anything Safiya had learned about herself tonight, she grabbed people out of fear a lot.

The two rushed out of the funhouse, their attention falling to the cries of their friends. They hardly all fit in there, but then again, it was eight people shoved in there. The thing could at least hold four.

"Help us?!" Nikita cried out. 

"Did you find anything in there?" Teala asks, squeezing herself forward.

"No, but we'll figure out a way to save you!" Rosanna beamed. 

"Wait!" Jc said, coming up to the front. "Before either of you guys go, you got a lighter? I lost mine in the funhouse somewhere."

"Bitch, what do you need a lighter for?" Manny asks.

"Are you gonna burn us out of this thing?" Colleen asks, crossing her arms.

"No," Jc said, reaching into his pocket. "Since it'll be a bit, smoke break? Anybody? I have enough to share.”

"Get us out of here," Joey pleaded, looking back over to Safiya and Rosanna. "Before Jc hotboxes us like the police car!"

"You've been hotboxing the police car?" Mat asks.

"We'll figure something out, right Safiya?" Ro asks, looking over at her.

"We'll get you guys out of here. We promise!" Safiya exclaimed, panic in her voice had begun to rise. It was only her and Ro left. The possibility that the two of them would have to go in and fight in a challenge to free the rest, was going to be a terrible way to get through this mess.

×

Mortimer was looking terrible. The wheel had changed its position. All, but two tarot cards were laid out.

This night was going fucking fantastic in Safiya's opinion.

"It's the only way, to free your friends, and to cleanse the artifact," Calliope explained softly. Her gaze fell on the wheel before going over to Mortimer.

There was nothing okay about that man right now.

Yet Mortimer was the utter last of Safiya's problems right now. 

"We have to put two in?" Rosanna's voice was filled with anxiety as she looked at the cards.

"Well, let's start with elimination," Safiya suggested, looking down at the cards. "Joey's dead, Colleen came back from it, Mat's your best friend," Safiya lists off, watching as Calliope placed all those cards to the side. "Jc too," she added. The Hippie had grown close to her, there was no fucking way she was ever going to allow Jc to come so close to death again.

"So that leaves Teala, Manny, Roi, and Nikita," Rosanna said, looking at the remaining four cards.

"We can close our eyes and let fate pick," Safiya suggested. Rosanna was on board with that idea, Safiya had closed her eyes listening to Calliope shuffle the order around before she tapped her finger nervously against a card. 

Confirming both had picked a card, Safiya opened her eyes to see Nikita.

Rosanna had picked Manny.

This wasn't going to end that well.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Joey asks as the rest of the group returns to the lounge. "Why did Manny and Nikita get held back at the funhouse?"

"We had to vote," Safiya simplified. 

"Started off as a process of elimination," Rosanna added, her gaze falling on Mat, before going to Colleen, Jc, and Joey.

"Then we just closed our eyes and picked blindly."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Roi said, in an attempt to reassure them all. "Manny and Nikita are both incredibly strong and running off the desire to survive!" Safiya followed his gaze, landing on Mat. "If we didn't run and fight, we wouldn't have been standing here still."

There was no denying Manny and Nikita would figure out how to survive, they always did due to how fucking skilled they were! Yet Safiya was afraid of what the aftermath could be. There was no doubt the two would reign hell on her and Rosanna.

"Safiya?" There was kindness in Teala’s gentle tone, worry spreading across The Super Spy when she looked up, meeting eyes with the younger woman. "Are you alright?"

"Just nervous. That's it. When this is over and the artifact is cleansed, I'll be fine." Safiya answered it was enough to convince them, except for Jc, Mat, and Rosanna. Those three read her like an open book.

"Well, you're better than Mortimer!" Roi said, a bunch of eyes falling over to their helper, who was sitting hunched over on the couch, dragging his hands through his hair muttering something they couldn't hear. 

"Mortimer, honey are you alright?" Colleen asks. 

Mortimer rose to his feet, his hand reaching for his pocket.

This wasn't going to end well.

"Too long," Mortimer said clearly, the helper looked up. There were orange swirls in his eyes, a yellow shade joining the mix. "You've all lived for too long!" He yelled out, his hand going for his gun. "They want blood!"

Empty bullet shells fell to the ground, the gun clicking around as Mortimer added in new bullets.

Safiya heard a terrified shriek from either Teala or Rosanna, possibly both as Mortimer threw himself over the table. His fucked up, swirling eyes landed right on her.

"And I'll die making sure it happens!"

Compared to the others, Safiya wasn't that physically strong, mentally though she was. Yet this wasn't a strength fight, so before her screaming rapidly working brain could figure out what was going on, there was a possessed man holding her at gunpoint.

This mother fucker wanted her dead!

So where was Manny and Nikita?

"Mortimer, no!" Calliope cried out, Colleen and Joey grabbing hold of her, pulling her back. 

"They want her dead! It's her! It's her time!" Mortimer cried out.

"Not on my watch bitch!" Roi exclaimed, The Daredevil jumped over the couch, his fist coming in contact with Mortimer's jaw. The helper stumbles back, wiping the blood dripping from his mouth.

"Holy shit!" Teala screamed out. "What was that for?"

"I always wanted to punch someone in the jaw!" Roi exclaimed, sounding a bit too enthusiastic about that. "Are you okay?"

"Doing great Roi!" Safiya lied. "Nothing like being held at gunpoint!"

Somehow this situation could only escalate more.

Willie had arrived, his mask set to anger. His tone was fueled by fire rage as he spoke. "Your blood is mine!" He snapped, holding up an incredibly long and sharp fish hook. 

One of the many things rushing through Safiya's mind was a positive relief that both Manny and Nikita were okay. They were alive and that was all that mattered. 

The negative was that Willie wanted Safiya dead, and personally, Safiya enjoyed having all her blood and organs stay inside her! She wasn't in the mood to have her sweater grow a darker shade of red or have her organs falling out!

"Get out of here you bitch!" Joey cried out.

"Safiya run!" Mat yelled out, throwing one of the decorative pillows towards him.

Safiya did not need to be told twice, she zipped past Joey and Colleen, going the long way for the lounge exit.

Manny and Nikita were sure as hell taking their sweet time coming back and finishing this thing off. Jc could see Roi, holding Mortimer down, keeping the helper down from helping Willie finish his bloody business.

Speaking of Willie, he was gaining on Safiya, and that was the last thing Jc needed. So, he did the only thing that he could think of.

"Leave us alone!" Jc snapped, bringing a lamp he practically ripped from its outlet down onto Willie's head. 

The funhouse man groaned, as he pathetically got to his feet.

Jc went to kick him down, but Willie used the hook to drag him down. "Fuck," Jc groaned, rolling over. His eyes fell onto the table, Roi had rushed by, grabbing the wheel and booking it for the entrance.

Safiya had gotten to the lounge door when Willie had caught up to her. Just a couple steps away from having the chase scene of a lifetime, Safiya was thankful that Roi had been kind enough to leave the door open! 

Yet the chance of a chase scene had turned to nothing.

She could feel Willie's hand pull her back.

"Your ticket to life has expired!" Willie snapped, raising his hook.

This was it! This was Safiya's final moment, their plan of saving everybody was going to fail! The coins were used, and Safiya was going to officially be the start of the permanent kill count!

Right as he began to swing, the funhouse man let out a howling cry of pain as he burst into smoke, the hook dropping to the ground.

"What the hell did we miss?" Manny asks, walking through the door with Roi and Nikita. The Troublemaker holding the cleansed wheel in her hands.

"Great of you to finally show up!" Mat exclaimed, coming to Safiya's side. "What took you so long?"

"That bitch locked us back in the cage with the final light bulb to cleanse this damn thing!" Nikita exclaimed, setting the cleansed wheel down. "Roi here came sprinting over with it, I had to put the final light bulb in through the cage holes!"

"What's up with him?" Manny asks, pointing over to Mortimer, who was handcuffed to the bookshelf now.

"Possessed," Jc answered, gesturing to the wheel. "These guys were really determined to get Safiya in the grave."

"How much longer until sunrise?" Rosanna asks, looking over at Mat who pulled his jacket sleeve back.

"Not long at all." He answered.

"The Carnival Master must be saving his best lieutenants for last," Joey said, looking over at the wall of artifacts and map.

"The twin dolls Iron Maiden technically got their sacrifice, and  Willie almost succeeded, what can we say about the rest of them?" Jc asks. 

A tense silence fell over the group, Safiya's eyes landing on the hook.

They were entering the final stretch of the night and with the revival coins gone and Mortimer possessed.

The mission of group survival was at an all-time high.

-×-×-