THE FESTIVAL OF SAMHAIN
CHAPTER 29- TO THE RESCUE


In total shock, Sherry couldn't believe her eyes as a man dropped down out of a nearby tree and limped to her side.

It was John Loomis.

"My dear, are you alright?" the doctor asked, holding what appeared to be a rifle at his side.

Sherry didn't recognize him right away, but as her memories flooded back in, she came to realize exactly who it was and immediately ran to him and threw her arms around him in a big bear hug.

"I'm sorry I took so long," Loomis whispered to her, wrapping her in his black trench coat.

All Sherry could do at that point was sob uncontrollably as Loomis held her in his arms.

He hugged her for a brief moment and nearly shed a tear or two himself, but then pulled back ever so slightly, knowing his job wasn't done.

"Will he ever die?" Sherry asked, looking up at her rescuer.

But before Loomis could answer, a loud voice echoed into the distance behind them.

"LOOMIS! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Sheriff Joshua Barnes commanded, pointing his shotgun right at him.

Not wanting to cause alarm, John held his hands out and stepped back from Sherry, who was just as surprised as he was to see her stepdad accusing the wrong man.

"DAD, IT'S NOT HIM!" Sherry insisted, but the sheriff's tunnel vision clouded his judgment. All he could see was not John Loomis, rescuer of his stepdaughter; but rather, John Loomis, the escaped mental patient he held responsible for all the carnage and death on this night.

Barnes and Loomis remained in a stare down, with Loomis holding his hands up like he was guilty, and the sheriff standing tall with an itchy trigger finger.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPON AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" Barnes ordered.

"Dad, did you hear me?" Sherry asked.

"QUIET, SHERRY!" the officer yelled. "I GOTTA FINISH THIS."

"LISTEN TO ME!" the teen fired back. "LOOMIS SAVED ME. HE GOT HERE JUST IN TIME. IT WAS--"

"It was Michael Myers," Loomis baritoned, finishing her sentence before she could. Sherry nodded in agreement as Loomis calmly set his rifle on the ground.

"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!" Barnes shouted. "Michael Myers is dead and buried. You've been spouting that shit off for over a decade, and I'm fucking tired of it. You see, I've kept tabs on you, doctor. I've been in touch with Dr. Starks off and on over the years. I know what you've been up to out there at Smith's Grove. You think I'm stupid?"

Loomis didn't reply. He just stood there dumbfounded at the stupidity and ignorance of the sheriff, who had clearly been led down the wrong path by Dr. Starks.

"I guess I should have seen this coming the minute we found Madison," Barnes continued. "And even then, nothing quite added up. Then, the massacre downtown. The mess out here. I didn't want to believe it, but someone was clearly going to a lot of trouble to see that Halloween would never be celebrated in this town ever again. Then I found your car and put two-and-two together."

"PLEASE, DADDY!" Sherry pleaded. "Why would I lie to you? It's not his fault! All Loomis has ever done is try to protect this community. It's all he did tonight...and it's all he did ten years ago. For god's sake, what would my father say?"

The mere mention of Donald Robinson struck a chord with Barnes, who took Sherry's words to heart and paused, deep in thought. Breathing heavily, he loudly exhaled as his own personal rage began to subside and he finally accepted a truth he didn't want to admit.

He was wrong. Had been the entire time.

Teary-eyed, Joshua Barnes lowered his weapon.

"Thank you, sheriff," Loomis said, finally putting his arms down. "Now, it's important we finish this, so no one ever has to suffer again."

"Right," Barnes agreed. "First thing we gotta do is find Lauder and Templeton. And Magnetti."

"They're all dead," Sherry informed him, pointing off in the direction she'd found their bodies.

"And Forster?"

"Ditto."

"Fuck," Barnes replied. "Is there anyone still left alive out here?"

Just as he said that, a motor turned over in the distance, and a car peeled out away from the scene.

"That's impossible!" Loomis cried. "I filled him with enough trank to cripple an elephant!"

Realizing who it was, Barnes took off running toward it. "MY CAR!" he yelled, but it was too late.

The Shape was gone.

"Sheriff, sheriff wait!" Loomis called out, struggling to catch up to Barnes.

"What's he up to, Loomis, tell me?!" the lawman panted, out of breath at that point. "Where's he going?"

With a knowing look on his face, Loomis, putting his hand on Barnes' shoulder, collected himself and only had one thing left to say:

"It's his game. And I know where he wants to play it."


Proceed To Chapter 30
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