Chapter Text
And now the trial begins again.
All attempts to escape are doomed to eternity.
There is no God here, or else He would have helped us long ago.
No matter how many times we die, we always return to life.
This place is cursed, or we are cursed..
***
A young man was sitting under a willow tree. He looked to be no more than twenty or twenty-five years old. He was looking up at the sky, which was dark as always, and only the moon was illuminating the forest. There were crows sitting nearby, and a few of them were even perched on his shoulders. He was wearing a dark green hiking jacket and leather gloves with studs on his hands. In addition, the clothes were sand-colored, made of dust. He was wearing special hunting boots, with his pants tucked into them. A thick scarf covered his face all the way to his nose. He was the best prepared to survive in the forest.
Many of the survivors called him "The Child of Nature." This was because he was able to learn a lot from them, mastering the simple methods of survival in the wild. Some of those who came here for the first time thought that he was a poacher or a murderer. But then they understood the intricacies of this cursed place and realized that if he was a murderer, he would have lived in a different place. So after a while, they came to the conclusion that he was just lonely.
At the campfire, he might start telling a story he made up on the spot, or make jokes to lighten the mood. But most of the time, he spent alone in the forest. With the birds.
Everyone who came here gradually forgot something important. But I couldn't figure out what it was. They were aware of it on a subconscious level, but they remained silent, knowing that they didn't want to continue. They tried to pass it on to each new person, but only until they faced the consequences themselves.
Everyone had their own: a headache, a blackout, a nosebleed, or something worse. After that, they realized they had to keep quiet. If they went too far, it would become evidence. When they realized it was better not to talk about it, they added it to the blacklist.
The survivors only knew that the trial was held every day. Although it was difficult to tell morning from evening. But after living in this place for a few days, they noticed that it got lighter in the morning, as if it was only evening, darker in the afternoon, and at night, if you walked away from the fire, there was nothing at all.
Everyone who came to court forgot almost everything after that. Except for how he fixed the generator, collected donations, and escaped from the killer. The killers were ruthless and spared no one. However, not everyone looked like humans. God bless them for being alike. Some of them weren't even human, and they didn't look alike. Some of them didn't even have bones. One of them was an enlo without an eye, but the flashlight worked. Some of the survivors brought their killers with them, but that was rare.
The man kept going over everything they knew about the place in his head, until he started getting headaches and whispers telling him to stop. And he stopped. After exhaling, he slowly stood up from his perch and carefully removed one of the ravens from his shoulder. This was his favorite species. He had raised it as a baby, finding it under this very willow tree. The distinctive feature was a scar under its eye. However, even without this, he could easily recognize his ravens. Each of them had helped him in their own way, and he appreciated their contributions. He smiled every time he received a new gift from them. They showed him where the food was, found the offerings, and reported the location of the killer or the totem.
- Well, my friend, let's say goodbye, it's too late.The man looked at his feathered friend, who was sitting on his index and middle fingers. They had eye contact. Then the bird turned around and flew away.
The man went back to the campfire, where he saw familiar figures and someone else. Dwight, Meg, Claudette, Ney, Lori, and another man were there. He reminded him of someone. But who?
"Oh, it's our Bird of Freedom back," the girl said cheerfully. It was Mags. She always called him that jokingly, and he didn't mind. "We've been waiting for you. A new person has arrived. And there's an interesting fact," the girl pointed to the guy being hugged by Claudette, with Laurie standing in front of him, whispering something. Dwight was boiling a kettle, probably for tea.
He slowly approached, but when the guy turned around, he stopped. They were both in shock. And the others fell silent, too, not even moving, waiting for the outcome of the whole situation.
"Brother, is it really you?" — The guy asked in a whisper — Jake, tell me, is it really you? "What is it?" he asked in a louder voice.
—Jake,— the man could only say when they rushed at him with hugs.
—God, we've been looking for you for five years," Jake hugged him tightly and began to sob, burying himself in his shoulder, as he was almost a head shorter.
"But how..." Jake could only squeeze out, looking somewhere into the void.
"When you ran away from home, your father started looking for you with your mother. But you only told your mother where you went, and she kept silent at your request. But when you stopped responding to her, she told your father," he continued, trying to look into the man's eyes, after a sob. Jake lowered his head slightly. "We've been searching for you for five years, but your father lost his strength and died six months ago." I decided to go to your house and maybe find some clues. I spent the whole day at your place and decided to spend the night there. I was very tired, so I fell asleep quickly, but when I woke up, I was here." He continued to cry.
Jake didn't know what to do. He hadn't expected to see his brother here. He hadn't expected to see any family member here, and he refused to accept the fact that they had been looking for him for five years. It didn't make sense. His father had disowned him, abandoned him, and told him not to come back. This man couldn't be looking for him. It was impossible! His mind screamed. It was a lie, again.
"Guys, let's have some tea." “Let’s calm down and you can discuss everything”—Suggested carefully Dwight, standing already with a kettle and aluminum mugs.
“Brother, come. I want to know what was with you all this time.”—Wiping. tears, said Jale.
“I will refuse. I want to sleep and I’m not ready to talk. Sorry.”—This was all he could squeeze out and went to his tent. Fortunately, everyone has their own tent, and as soon as a new person arrives, so does the tent.
"But, brother." Jale was about to object, reaching out to him, but his hand was intercepted.
"I understand that you're brothers, but he's also in shock, just like you. That's why he wants to sit alone and reflect, just like you." Meg said, holding the boy's hand.
He looked at her with a hint of contempt, but eventually agreed and walked towards the fire. The girl just stood there for a moment, looked at her friend's tent, and then followed Jale.
As soon as he got into his tent, he lay down in his sleeping bag. Each tent had its own unique design, but they were not too different from each other. Everyone had their own belongings, but not too many. Jake tried to fall asleep, but it was no use. There was a voice in his head, and for some reason, he felt like it wasn't his own.
Lies.
He lies.
He lies to you.
Trust me and I will help. Trust me and I will give a gift. Pray to me and I will tell the truth.
Become my follower and I will give protection. Even what you have been searching for for many years.
Just call my name.
Just call me.
Just pray.
Call...
Essence, help me.....
Voices rang out like a bell. Different tones, different volumes. The only thing they had in common was that they were all female. It had been a long time since I had heard that voice. But every time it calmed him, and it was the last thing he heard.
Sleep, my little one.
Sleep, my dear.
I will wait for you, my raven.
Sleep...
When he opened his eyes, he realized that it was a dark morning. As he stepped out of the tent, he saw two people. It was Dwight and Laurie, but who was the fourth? A fourth head appeared, with jet-black hair, and it was Jale. She called out to each of us. She called us to her court and her game. Jale was very scared, but Laurie grabbed him and led him into the fog with a slight smile.
When Jake opened his eyes, he realized that they were in Haddonfield. On a subconscious level, he went to look for the generator that should be nearby. Each of the survivors teleported to the nearest generator. But the most surprising thing was that almost everyone knew how to fix the generator. Although not everyone knows how a regular car works, they could fix an entire generator. But everything had changed. Who was faster, who was slower, and who didn't touch anything at all, and went about their business. Destroy the totem or heal the wounded.
While he was thinking about it, he almost fixed the generator. He was good at repairs because he often did them when he lived on the outskirts. He couldn't afford an expensive generator, and it broke down almost every day. He decided to explore the area.
On the left side was a house that was half-destroyed. Smoke was coming out of it due to the fire, but the fire never started or stopped. It was just a decoration. Looking back at the road and looking along it, Jake saw another generator and the others: Dwight, Laurie, and Jale. Looking at them, Jake noticed that they were having a fun conversation, helping Jale learn new skills. Suddenly, the guy turned around, sensing someone looking at him from the other side, and looked Jake straight in the eyes and smiled.
Jake saw him, but didn't say anything, just chuckled as usual. His family always praised him, but he was always a shadow. Despite being older than Jale, he was almost always inferior to him. His father always admired his brother and how far he could go. Only his mother understood him and his passion for nature and freedom. Jake never liked analysis and economics. He never liked it, and it led to a conflict with his father and brother. He was more like his mother, while his brother was more like his father.
My father tried to involve me in the family business, but I wasn't interested, but my brother was unstoppable. He could spend all night solving problems that were almost impossible for someone his age.
Again, again. He'll take all my friends away from me. I'll be alone, alone. I don't want to, I don't want to. I've only just managed to escape from this place, and now. He didn't even notice his heart rate increasing, and he didn't understand why. His ears were ringing, and his eyes were filled with swollen capillaries that matched his heartbeat. His heart was racing, and he could barely breathe.
He didn't react when the generator exploded, he didn't react when a kitchen knife was stabbed into his shoulder blade, or when he was lifted onto his shoulder. The man was devastated. It was a repeat of the same story. He had run away from his family because the pressure had almost driven him to commit suicide. His brother had made a spectacle of him in front of his father and friends, mocking him, and everyone had turned their backs on him.
Kill me.
Kill me, please.
I don't want to live.
I want to die.
Jake was like a doll. He never thought things would turn out this way. When he was taken away and thrown on something soft, he could only stare at his killer in confusion. It was Michael Myers, but why didn't he kill him or impale him on a hook? He wouldn't even have resisted.
"Why didn't you kill me?" Jake asked in a hoarse voice, looking him straight in the eye, knowing that it would make him even more angry. He just wanted to get up, grab a knife, and commit suicide, but he was pushed back and pointed at the bed with the knife. Only then did he realize where he was. It was a regular room. There was a neatly set table at the other end of the room. There was a dresser next to the bed, with a small suitcase on top. There was a window opposite the dresser. There was nothing else, but even that provided a certain level of comfort.
Jake tried to get up again, and he was thrown back onto the bed. It was starting to annoy him. Just as he was about to get up again, a knife was thrust into his chest to scare him. But he didn't care anymore, and he wanted to stab himself. So the man across from him immediately put the knife back behind his back and tilted his head to the side, as if asking a question.
"Just kill him, I don't want to be around him," he said, looking at his trembling hands and burying his face in them. Tears flowed silently down his face. When he looked up, the killer was gone, and the door was closed. He didn't care, as long as he didn't have to see him.
When he opened his eyes, he was being carried on someone's shoulder. Crimson vessels were spreading everywhere. He just put his hand on the broad-shouldered man's back and leaned on his hand, wondering when he would be killed. After exhaling, he was surprised when they managed to fix everything. Jake decided to check the special board to see who was alive and who was dead. However, when he looked at it, he was shocked to see that everyone was dead. Even Jale, and he almost died first.
As he was still in shock, he was thrown to the ground. Jake was outraged by this: he was being skinned alive, and then. Michael pointed his hand behind the man's back. Looking there, he saw that the exit was open. Was he being let go, but why? Michael had killed everyone, but he had left him behind. The man was in a daze.
The man noticed that the other man was moving. He grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards the gate. As he began to choke from the drug, he tried to free himself.
"I'll go alone, please let me go. Just let me go, or I'll choke or kill you." He was abruptly released to the ground, and he fell like a sack of potatoes. Breathing heavily and cursing the man's carelessness, he slowly began to rise.
As he stood up, he looked at Michael, rubbing his ass, and raised his head. They were about a head and a half apart.
"You could be a little softer, okay? How should I run?" The man asked, tilting his head to the side and smiling. For some reason, he didn't feel afraid, but rather calm, or as if he didn't care.
Then the man tilted his head and raised the knife above his head, indicating that he was running rather than standing still. Under the mask, you could hear him breathing deeply, and he looked like he was about to explode. Jake just chuckled, turned around, and ran away. Before he did, he looked over his shoulder and stuck out his tongue, which only made Jake angrier.
Outside, they looked like two children. Only one had a knife, and the other had only legs. He ran towards the exit, still laughing. However, as he approached the bonfire, Jale emerged from the fog and smiled.
"It's a pity that you didn't die here, but I'll help you," he turned sideways and kicked Jake in the stomach, who fell onto Michael, who wasn't expecting it, and they threw two bottles.
Jale disappeared into the fog, and Jake, along with the man standing behind him, fell into the abyss when the platform ended and collapsed due to cracks. The last thing he saw was the spider's legs grabbing him and pulling him down.