THE FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN
CHAPTER 28- THE SHAPE STALKS AGAIN


Back toward town, Sienna St. Clair, in a complete state of catatonia, stumbled along the road as she attempted to get home safely.

Still feeling her oats from the party, Sienna managed to escape the madness that ensued and got out relatively unscathed. Her vision was really blurry and she could barely speak, but somehow she made it out of there in a dead sprint. However, that sprint didn't last long, and she eventually decelerated into a jog, then a fast-paced walk, then a slow-paced walk, and finally, a staggered limp.

It all seemed like a bad dream to her. At that point, all she could think about was getting home to the friendly confines of her own bed to sleep whatever this was off. So that's what she'd done. Like the little engine that could, the young teen dressed like Little Red Riding Hood stumbled and tripped her way down the road, leaving all the craziness in the distance. If it wasn't for all the chaos at the rave, the evening would have been silent and quite peaceful.

Further down the road, she passed a large brown "WELCOME TO HADDONFIELD" sign along the road, and that silence was quickly broken, as a police cruiser went zooming past her with its lights and sirens blaring.

Weak and groggy, Sienna only reached out her left hand in a lame attempt to hitchhike. However, whoever was driving the car must have taken notice, because just like that, the car screeched to a halt and flew backward in reverse.

The door opened, and out stepped Sheriff Joshua Barnes.

"Sienna, where's Sherry?!" he asked, urgently shaking the teen. "SIENNA, WHERE IS SHE?"

"I...party...dead..." was all the exhausted teen could muster before falling to the ground.

"Oh dear god," Barnes stated, picking her up off of the ground and loading her into the passenger's seat of his car. "Come on, we've gotta find her. She's in real danger!"

The Sheriff then slammed the rear passenger's door shut and rushed back over to the driver's side. In a matter of seconds, the squad car was back at full speed, its lights and sirens blaring once again as they approached what was left of the high school rave.


***


Sherry couldn't move.

As The Shape stared at her with his black, wicked eyes, her body completely froze in shock.

Panic had begun to set in as she took in the carnage surrounding them. At the same time, Michael Myers got back to his feet and made his way over to the lifeless body of Caleb Wilkes, still staring off into space. In one sickening motion, Michael pushed the large biker to the ground, freeing his knife in the process. Then, accompanies by a splash of blood, The Shape again grasped the weapon in the palm of his hand.

Satisfied, the devil turned back around to face Sherry, who was about fifteen yards away.

Paralyzed, all Sherry would do was scream.

One loud, blood-curdling shout that they probably could have heard in the next county.

Undeterred, Michael slowly stepped toward her until a ruffling of bushes diverted his attention, causing him to pause.

"SHERRY!" yelled Brandon Farson, rapidly approaching the scene. "SHERRRRRRRRRRRRRRY!"

Sherry Robinson's eyes widened in fear.

"Brandon, Brandon, NO!" she shouted into the night, just as her boyfriend emerged on the opposite side of the oak tree.

Brandon, in a mad dash, appeared to stop on a dime, but as Sherry looked closer, she noticed that wasn't the case at all.

Because just as Brandon passed the tree, he ran straight into the knife of Michael Myers, who forced the blade right up through his throat.

Gurgling and spitting blood, Brandon immediately fell to his knees, then his stomach, which pushed the knife the rest of the way through his throat and out the back of his neck.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sherry cried, tears streaming down her face. "BRANDON!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Feeling completely helpless, Sherry managed to regain her senses and took off back down the trail. Michael, more determined than ever, again retrieved his knife and followed close behind.

As she raced down the country path, Sherry's survival instincts kicked in, and she instantly remembered the police car and motorcycles that were left behind. If she could get to one of those, she'd be home free--

But then, just like that, Sherry collided with an unknown figure and was stopped dead in her tracks.

After getting the wind knocked out of her and falling flat on her back, Sherry came to, the remnants of her Sally costume all blood-stained and torn to shreds by the downed limbs and branches of the forest.

Dazed, she sat up and shook her head from side to side, attempting to clear the cob webs of her head and regain her bearings. As she did, she looked back to see what she'd ran into, and was aghast to see the eye-less body of a police officer staring right back her. Much to her amazement, the cop was still alive, but had no idea where he was.

"HELLO?" the man called out, reaching his hands out in front of him like a blind Frankenstein. "Is someone there? Please help me!"

Sherry glanced at the patrolman's name plate and saw that it read "LAUDER". Fighting back her urge to answer, Sherry knew that if she helped him, she would give away her position to Michael, and that was something she couldn't afford. Instead, she backed away, and Lauder fell flat on his face, finally dying after a painful, gruesome evening of blind torture. As he passed, Sherry noticed he collapsed right next to two other fallen officers. One was named Templeton, and his head was crushed so bad his ears were missing; the other was Magnetti, whose mouth and neck were garotted with a strand of barbed wire. In a perverse and warped kind of way, they made Sherry think of the old adage, 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil'.

Fighting back the urge to puke, Sherry dusted herself off and got back to her feet. Just as she did, she was nearly decapitated as Michael Myers swung his blade directly behind her. The only thing that stopped him was the tree branch beneath his feet, which caused him to slip and lose his footing, throwing his normally accurate aim off-course. So, instead of beheading Sherry, Michael tripped and fell right ON Sherry, and the two tumbled together back to the ground.

Screaming in surprise, Sherry shoved the demon off of her and staggered backward. Not phased by his misfortune, the relentless killing machine got back to his feet and stood over Sherry one final time, preparing for his ultimate strike. The young teen closed her eyes and saw the face of her father...

When a series of quiet shots rang out and nailed Michael in the head, and just like that, the evil was gone.


Proceed To Chapter 29
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