Chapter Text
Chapter 36
Hannah had expected something creepier.
She’d expected to step into another world, something that looked like her visions, perhaps. The Black and White, she’d been told it was called. The realm where the Lords in Black ruled. When she’d taken Cross’ hand and accepted his deal, she’d expected to leave Earth entirely and go...someplace else.
Instead, when she stepped through the portal Cross created with the Black Blade, not only was she still on Earth, but she was still in Hatchetfield.
She’d closed her eyes upon walking through, panic welling up in her gut as every instinct in her body told her to run. Go back on the deal, get away, don’t go through with this. But she’d promised, for Lex’s sake, and if there was anything that Miss Holloway had taught her over the last 24 hours, it was that one should never make a promise they don’t intend to keep. But, she really didn’t want to see what was on the other side of that portal, in case it freaked her out enough to back out, so...she closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she was in Watcher World.
It was more run down than she remembered. Metal squeaked softly in the breeze as the old rides swayed. She could see the roller coaster toward the back of the park, the ominous loop that had taken six lives the year before overlooking the entire area like a giant eye.
That made sense, actually.
Hannah swallowed as Cross stepped through after her with a soft chuckle, and the portal closed with an audible pop. The smell of burnt ozone filled the air in its wake. Cross put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to tense, and motioned toward the nearby building standing in front of them. A ticket booth. Or what remained of one.
“Go on through,” he drawled.
An uneasy feeling swirling in her stomach, Hannah complied. She pushed through the turnstile with some level of difficulty, Cross following not too far behind. She had a feeling they were heading toward that roller coaster. The Tear Jerker. Because of course that was what it was called. Before she could get too far, however, Cross once more put a hand on his shoulder and beckoned her toward a nearby gift shop with a small wink.
“This way first. I wanna prove to you I’m a man of my word.”
Hannah’s brow furrowed in mild confusion, but she silently complied and moved toward the gift shop.
The front window had been busted out, so glass littered the floor, crunching under their feet as they walked. The florescent lighting flashed on and off overhead, emitting a low buzzing hum with each cycle. The place had been trashed, but not cleaned out; evidently even looters didn’t really care much for the free merchandise from a dying amusem*nt park. Cross stepped in front of Hannah and led the way toward the register, walking through a door that led to a short hallway. He glanced over his shoulder at Hannah briefly as they walked, his expression unreadable.
They stopped in front of a door toward the end of the hall, bearing a crooked label that said “break room.” He pushed the door open and stepped aside, leaving room for Hannah to go in first.
Hannah felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Lexi. She inhaled deeply and moved slowly toward the door; she really didn’t know if she wanted to see what he’d done to her, but she did want to know if she was still alive. So, slowly, warily, she peeked around the doorframe and into the room.
The only illumination inside came from the static on the overhead TV screen, the lights having long since gone out. Blood splattered the floor, and a portion of the wall. Hannah’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell on it, slowly following the pool up to the chair at the center of the room, where a figure sat, slumped forward and unresponsive.
Lex was virtually unrecognizable. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her left shoulder popped out at an awkward angle. What Hannah could see of her face was swollen and bruised. There was a long gash in one of her thighs, one across her stomach, and blood seeping from a wound on her face that Hannah couldn’t quite see. On the table at the far end of the small room sat a finger, displayed there like a sick little trophy.
“No...” Hannah sobbed, “Lexi!”
She ran to her sister, reaching forward to take her face in her hands. As she lifted Lex’s head, she let out a soft, terrified, sickened scream. Lex was missing an eye. That was where the blood on her face had been coming from: a gaping wound where her left eye used to be. Hannah began to beg for Lex to wake up, bile making its way up her esophagus as she did so. Behind her, Cross rolled his eyes and leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe, fiddling with the Blade in his hands.
“She’s still alive,” he said, “just barely.”
“How do you know that?” Hannah snarled back at him, “Look at her!”
“Because I know what I’m doin’, sweetheart,” Cross said with a shrug, “I can bring people to the brink of death without actually lettin’ them see the other side. It’s part of my charm.”
“Screw you!” Hannah growled, “You need to fix her! Now! Or the deal’s off!”
Cross stood up straight from the doorframe and held a finger up, “Ah, ah, ah, I promised I’d try. I made no guarantees.”
Hannah released her hold on Lex and turned to face Cross, glaring, “Your exact words were, ‘I’ll find a way to make sure little Lexi lives.’” Cross’ brows shot up and he gave her impressed grin while she continued, “I remember things real well, dick.”
Cross snickered, “That you do, little girl, that you do. But here’s the thing, Hannah. I’m wondering how you plan on backing out of this deal now that you’re already here.” His eyes narrowed.
Hannah hated that she was crying. It felt like she lost just a bit of her power in this situation now that there were tears in her eyes. Cross was smirking that damn, infuriating smirk, watching her to see what she’d do next.
The thing was, Hannah didn’t know what she was going to do next. She’d walked into this trap like a big, dumb idiot. She should have known Cross wouldn’t keep his end of the bargain. He’d even told her, he didn’t fix things, he broke them. And she’d pressed him. She’d forced this.
She was so stupid.
Whatever he was planning with her, it couldn’t happen. She couldn’t let Cross win.
So, she bolted.
She shoved past Cross as hard as she could and took off into the hall. If she was going to have to fight this guy, she wanted to do it in a spot that wouldn’t hurt Lexi more than she already was. Cross let out a surprised grunt as he was forcefully pushed into the lockers behind him, then snarled and took off after Hannah at a dead run.
“Come back here!” he growled.
Hannah made it to the door before Cross caught up to her.
She turned on her heel, throwing her hands forward to send a psychic wave directly at him. He barely managed to block it just enough that he was only pushed back a foot or two instead of being sent flying into the counter. He let out an angry yell and returned the favor to Hannah, pushing her out of the store through the door with a psychic blast. The door didn’t open when she hit it, instead splintering to pieces as she was forced through. She hit the ground with a pained gasp and rolled a few feet. Her head was pounding, and there was a ringing in her ears. She tried to push herself up onto her knees, spitting blood out onto the ground in front of her.
Cross was on her in a split second, reaching down to grab her by the hair and jerk her violently to her feet. She let out a pained, terrified cry while he sneered at her, shaking his head.
“Now who’s the one breaking promises?” he held the knife to her throat as he hissed into her ear. She could feel his breath on her cheek. It made her want to vomit. “Let’s go, little girl.”
Hannah, for her part, was a fighter. She kicked, screamed, scratched and bit as Cross dragged her off deeper into the park, his grip on the girl firm. She fought him as he dragged her off toward the roller coaster. The park was just over two acres long, and she was determined not to let him take her that far. She knew, almost instinctively, that they were headed for that roller coaster. As it came into view, closer, and closer, and closer, looming over them, watching them, she steeled herself for a fight. She wouldn’t be making it that far. She would see to it.
She screamed again, this time sending out a psychic shock wave that audibly boomed across the entire park. Anything that wasn’t secured down went flying backward. Including Cross. He sprawled back against a nearby railing, clutching onto it in a desperate bid to not get sent back too far. His eyes were wide as he watched Hannah, screaming, her hair lifting around her by some invisible force, as the sonic boom of energy bellowed out from her. He cried out in pain as his body bent painfully across the thin bars of the metal railing.
He’d had let go of her.
Hannah ran before her psychic attack was even done, leaving destruction in her wake.
~*~*@*~*~
Once Ethan and Duke had taken the time to catch their breaths and mourn Ted, they got to their feet and walked the outside perimeter of the fence until they found a small hole they could widen enough to get through. Neither one of them particularly wanted to be in this God forsaken park, but it was the only way they definitively knew to get off of the Sinclair property. Webby had helped them out with that much, though she had mentioned it would be dangerous.
After what they’d just been through, they weren’t sure how it could get much worse.
Duke wanted to avoid the roller coaster at all costs, citing that it gave him the creeps and he was already uncomfortable, so they hugged the outer fence of the park and headed in the opposite direction of the Tear Jerker. The plan was to follow the fence around to the front of the park, and get out through the turnstiles at the ticket booth. It would be faster to just walk straight across the park, but they didn’t know how many people were there, and they weren’t keen on anymore fights. So long as they kept to the outer fence, they could duck around rides and hide inside buildings should the need arise.
They’d just reached the back side of the House of Mirrors when they heard a scream off in the distance, and froze, exchanging a look. Duke swallowed and leaned against the House with a sigh, closing his eyes. Ethan stole a peek around the edge of the House, looking for any signs of people around. He didn’t see anyone, but he couldn’t really relax knowing that there were other people in this park. He moved back behind the House of Mirrors, leaning against the wall next to Duke.
He had to be losing his mind. He could have sworn that scream had sounded just like Hannah.
“We need to keep moving,” he said, patting Duke on the shoulder, “I didn’t see anyone close by, and we don’t wanna get caught up in whatever the hell’s happening over there, okay?”
Duke nodded and pushed himself away from the wall.
They were about three quarters of the way to their goal when Duke saw something skitter past, disappearing behind an arcade booth. He swallowed and moved in closer to Ethan, grabbing hold of his elbow. Whatever it was had looked small, but it definitely didn’t look like a child. It had looked almost...furry? Like some kind of animal. Some kind of very large animal.
There was another scream and an echoing boom from somewhere in the direction of the Tear Jerker, causing both of them to freeze in place. Something resembling a bomb, but without the fiery explosion, had gone off over there, from what little they could see. Another tiny something skittered past, and this time Ethan saw it too. He jumped, nearly knocking Duke over in his surprise.
“Holy f*ck! What the hell was that?” he hissed.
“I have no clue,” Duke muttered, shaking his head.
“That’s a bad word!” a third voice chimed in.
Duke and Ethan stiffened, then slowly turned in place to see who had spoken. Behind them stood...well, not a person, exactly, but something roughly small person sized. A tiny person covered in thick, matted purple fur. It wasn’t any taller than four feet, and had long arms disproportionate to the rest of its body. Its arms were thick, covered in floppy skin that almost resembled weird little wings, and its hands sported long, claw-like talons. Its face looked...almost human, but off, somehow. Uncanny in its appearance. It had bright glowing eyes, and a pair of antennae sprouting from its head, with two little balls of fluff at the end. It looked almost...well, cute wasn’t exactly the right word, but it was the closest word that came to mind when looking at this thing.
It smiled up at them, its mouth too large, revealing small, sharp teeth, and repeated, “You said a bad word,” in a childlike, sing-song tone.
Ethan swallowed, eyes widening, “Uh...yeah...sorry ‘bout that.”
“Blinky doesn’t like bad words.”
Duke and Ethan took a step back away from the thing, Ethan leaning in toward Duke to whisper, “I know you can’t right now, man, but I think you have to f*ckin’ run here.”
Duke nodded, “Yep.”
Two more of the little purple creatures popped out from behind nearby game booths, joining their little friend. All three were smiling those too-wide, psychotic little smiles. They slowly advanced on Duke and Ethan, then lunged.
The two men ran, Duke letting out a scream as they did so. Ethan, determined not to leave Duke behind, grabbed the man by the wrist and dragged him along. Pain shot up through Duke’s injured leg with each step. He wasn’t sure how long he could go before his body just gave out on him, but whatever these things were, and whatever they planned to do, he was determined not to find out. They forwent following the outer wall, instead popping out into the center of the walkway to take the quickest route possible to the front gates of the park. They could see the gift shop, the turnstiles, the ticket booth…
One of the creatures caught Duke across the back of the knee, and he hit the ground with a pained huff, nearly bringing Ethan down with him. Duke yelled as the three things began to surround him, giggling like mad. Ethan threw a punch at one of the creatures, hitting it in the back of the head, but that only served to anger it. It turned and tackled Ethan to the ground, trying to drive its sharp teeth into his neck.
All Ethan had was the hammer he’d taken from the Homeless Man’s body as they’d left. And it was this hammer that he brought down over and over again on the strange little creature’s head. It hissed and screamed, writhing away from him. The other two, meanwhile, turned their attention from a prone Duke, to Ethan. They pounced on him, growling and snarling like angry animals, scratching and clawing at every inch of them they could get their claws on. Ethan howled in pain and swung the hammer, hitting one and sending it skittering away, but that only sent the other one into an even wilder frenzy.
Then the thing made a squeaky strangled sound and rolled off of Ethan, convulsing violently. Ethan got to his feet, panting heavily, and watched as the thing rolled around, clawing at its neck and head as if trying to rid itself of something. Duke ran to him, grabbing hold of his arm, eyes wide.
Then, the little creature went silent and still.
“Ethan.”
Ethan’s breath caught in his throat and he turned around.
There was Hannah, standing before him looking beaten and bloodied. The side of her head was one big bruise, and Ethan remembered something Lex said about someone stomping on her head. She was hunched over, clutching one arm; he couldn’t tell if she was in pain or just exhausted. Maybe both. Her nose was bleeding, and so were here eyes. She looked up at him with disbelief all over her face, brow furrowed.
“Holy sh*t,” Ethan breathed, “Hannah?”
Hannah blinked, mouth agape, staring at him.
Then she ran forward and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.
Ethan returned the hug, lifting her up off the ground as the two of them began to cry. She looked an absolute mess, and Ethan silently vowed he was gonna kill whoever had stomped on her face like that, but she was alive. Webby had been right about that. Whatever she’d been through, whatever had happened to her, she was alive. She was here. She was safe.
Hannah broke the hug only momentarily to reach out toward Duke, who came to join them. Duke was worried about her injuries – her bleeding eyes, specifically – but for now, that could wait. For now, he was just happy to see that she was okay. She was at least standing.
There was an audible pop sound as the air beside them seemed to split open. Hannah’s eyes widened and she broke the hug, stepping between the opening portal and Duke and Ethan. Of course Cross wouldn’t waste time just chasing her through the park. Of course he’d make another portal and block her exit. He wasn’t stupid. He wanted her, and he’d have her. This time, though, she wouldn’t lose family to the mad man.
“Hannah?” Ethan asked, reaching out to take her by the arm, “Hannah, we need to run.”
“You need to run,” Hannah said, “Go! Head for the entrance, I’ll handle this guy!”
“What the f*ck are you talkin’ about, kid? I’m not leaving you here!”
The portal finished forming before them, and there was a soft grunt of effort as a figure stepped through, illuminated from behind. All they could see was the vague outline of a jean jacket. Hannah’s fists clenched. She needed to get Ethan to run, at any cost. She couldn’t lose both Lex and him. It couldn’t happen. As the portal closed behind the person who had made it, Hannah exerted what little power she had left in this moment and sent a psychic wave toward them. The wave hit the person just as the portal quit illuminating them from behind, allowing Hannah to properly see who she’d just hit.
Or would have hit, if Miss Holloway hadn’t been so quick with her shield.
She stood there, clutching the Black Book in one arm, the other extended outward to block Hannah’s attack. Her eyes went wide.
“Oh. Hannah,” she said breathlessly, relief flooding her face, “Hannah!”
“Miss Holloway?”
This time it was Miss Holloway who rushed forward to hug the girl, taking her up in her arms with an elated cry of relief. Hannah returned the gesture.
“What are you doing here?”
“I saw Cross take you,” Miss Holloway said, breaking the hug to look Hannah over with a concerned expression, “I didn’t know what else to do, so I thought coming here, stopping Blinky...that maybe it could put an end to all of this, maybe get you back. I had no idea he’d brought you here.”
Hannah nodded, “Lexi’s here, too.”
“Lex?” Ethan asked, “Where’s Lex?”
As though only just now seeing them there for the first time, Miss Holloway blinked up toward Ethan and Duke. She let out a soft gasp as her eyes landed on Duke, who looked like he was about to cry. Releasing her hold on Hannah, Miss Holloway walked toward Duke and pulled him into a tight hug. In that moment, Duke became small in her arms, curling into her embrace as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“We need to find a place to hide,” Hannah said, grabbing Ethan’s hand, “Cross is coming.”
Without breaking the hug, Miss Holloway said, “Do you know how soon?”
“Sooner than you might think, Holly.”
The voice sent a chill down Hannah’s spine, and she froze, eyes going wide as Cross approached them from around a nearby carousel ride. He sneered at the four of them, lifting the Black Blade into view. “I’m done with the games. It’s time to get serious, now.”
