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The too long laces of her converse shoes bounce against the concrete as they walk down the street Zatannaâs arm linked with Johnâs. The groundâs a little wet the rain ending just in time for Trick or Treating to begin as a thin layer of fog crawls along the ground giving just the right amount of spooky to the crowded streets.
They weave their way through hundreds of other costumed folks, dodging a line of little Power Rangers high on sugar who rush past them.
John and Zatanna come to a stop in front of the Landmark Opera Plaza Cinema, a small local theater sheâs always been partial to, the marquee glowing proudly with tonightâs fare.
âAre you sure a movie marathon will satisfy your Halloween needs?â John says dropping her arm to twine their fingers together.
Zatanna smiles up at the marquee then at him. âAbsolutely, Dinah and Ollie are out of the country so thereâs no party worth our time and I already dragged you to three haunted hayrides this year,â she pauses with a smirk. He just scowls playfully in return; those hayrides were not as family friendly as he was told they would be. He had nightmares dammit, less terrifying than the oneâs he usually has, but nightmares all the same. âOur costumes are top notch and their showing three of the finest slasher classics ever to exist. Itâs gonna be a nice, easy Halloween.â
John nods his head satisfied with her answer. They step forward about to enter the theater bumping into another couple.
âSorry, mate,â John says as one of the men looks at them.
âYou two look fantastic,â he says as the pair saunters off not even missing a beat.
âHell yes we do,â Zatanna says with a smile pulling John forward into the theater. She has once again gone all out on their costumes. This year opting to be Grace and Daniel from one of her favorite recent movies Ready or Not, it gave Zatanna an excuse to look damn pretty in white while John looks hot in a brown suit and teal shirt and has an excuse to carry around a whiskey glass all night that she can magically refill.
They give their tickets to the girl dressed as Batgirl in the booth and make their way into the massive theater. They skip the concession line for now, though Zatanna will be needing some popcorn soon enough, and head into screen room four. Theyâve gone all out for the night, the lights are all lit up red, the walls covered in fake cobwebs and spiders and everything in between. A few animatronic slashers are set up here and there in the halls and at the edges of the seats.
John and Zatanna pass by screen room three where Freddy Kreuger stands and is having his own marathon, two young girls who look barely old enough to have bought their tickets tonight screaming in delight when he swipes out at them.
Their trilogy of choice isnât quite as famous as that man of nightmares but itâs Zatannaâs hands down favorite.
The Killer Blade franchise is a blatant mish mash rip-off of Texas Chainsaw and Friday the 13th. The killer, quite obviously, carries a chainsaw in one hand, a machete in the other and sports a scarecrow like mask as he terrorizes young campers in the dead of the southern summer.
Theyâre corny and ridiculous and only get more so as the films progress, by the third film the killer has blatant healing powers that are never explained and the machete has become molded to his arm in a practical effect thatâs essentially just duct tape. The final girl from the first film is portrayed by four different women across the movies, yes thatâs right four. They couldnât even keep one actress around to finish an entire film in the second installment.
Theyâre not great, but Zatanna has such fond memories of the schlocky 80âs slashers. They were the first horror movies she stayed up way too late to watch and couldnât take her eyes off of. She remembers dressing up as Star Bradford, the series final girl, the first Halloween she was able to pick out her own costume and a few years later showing Zachary the first film and giving him nightmares for a month.
When she heard they were doing a big screen showing for one night only, she couldnât think of any other way to spend the night.
Their screening is in the smallest screen room unsurprising considering Killer Blade isnât exactly as popular as many of the big franchises.
They settle into their seats, unfortunately at the front of the theater. Zatanna hadnât heard about the showing till it was almost too late snagging two of the last four tickets. She discreetly moves her hand a silent little spell under her breath that moves all the seats back subtly making it so their necks donât have to crane uncomfortably up at the screen.
They settle in lifting up the armrest between them, John wrapping his arm around Zatannaâs shoulders his fingers softly running over her lace covered collar bone.
The first film breezes by a 90-minute gore fest that Zatanna delights in every second of. Itâs been a while since sheâs seen the movies, really sat down and watched them full through and she loves it just as much now as she did at 12 years old.
âWell,â Zatanna says slipping out from under Johnâs hold turning to him excitedly. Heâs never seen the movies in their entirety only bits and pieces when heâs popped up and interrupted her viewings. âIncredible right?â
âThatâs one word you could use,â John says with a snort.
âOh, come on,â she says standing up and stretching out grabbing Johnâs hand and pulling him along with her into the lobby for the fifteen-minute break between the movies. âI heard you laughing at the jokes, even felt you jump a couple times.â She teases pushing open the door to the ladiesâ room, John doesnât even bat an eye as she drags him in along with her.
She steps over to the mirror adjusting her bandolier and fixing up her hair where the braid has loosened a bit from resting against Johnâs shoulder all movie long. John leans against the wall beside her and shrugs.
âI guess it was pretty fun,â he concedes pushing off the wall and wrapping his arms around her waist. Eyes meeting in the mirror with a small playful smile. Zatanna smiles back continuing to fiddle with her hair.
âI hate to say it, since weâll never be getting married,â Zatanna says leaning back into John looking at the image they make in the bathroom mirror. âBut damn do we look good like a bridal pair.â
John smiles at her pressing his face into her neck. A few other people move behind them clearly unbothered by the couple hogging the bathroom mirror. If the sounds from the second stall are any indication theyâre definitely not the only couple in this bathroom anyways.
âA bit of a bloody wedding,â he comments brushing his hand over the blood splatter across her waist, his fingers fiddling with the bandelier of empty shotgun shells across her chest.
âWell if we were to get married, itâs safe to assume thereâd be some bloodshed at the ceremony,â she muses.
John hums in agreement trailing his lips along her shoulder his hands moving in directions not appropriate for public viewing.
âAnd where do you think these are going?â she says lacing her fingers with his stopping his movement in its tracks.
âWe canât let those two have all the fun,â he says gesturing his head back for a beat towards the second stall just as a very loud moan comes from behind the door.
Zatanna chuckles pulling his hands around her tight before pulling them away and twisting to face him.
âI am not fucking you in a movie theater bathroom stall,â she says kissing him once quick on the lips before pulling away and heading for the door. John trails along behind her.
âWeâve done it in worse places,â he grumbles under his breath.
âWe have not,â she laughs as they make their way back into the lobby pulling John by his undone bow tie into the concession line. She absolutely needs popcorn for the second movie.
âThe basement of that haunted sanitarium in DC was way worse,â John argues.
Zatanna looks up contemplating. âOkay, maybe, but,â she defends. âWe thought we were gonna die, dire circumstances makes one forget about germs.â She pauses once they get to the front of the line ordering a large bucket and paying, tossing an extra hundred into the tip jar with a wink to the girl behind the counter. âAlso, the second movie starts in about five minutes and we will not be missing it.â
John dips his hand into the popcorn bucket taking a large handful and shoving it into his mouth. âFine,â he says muffled through the buttery snack.
âLater,â she says with a flirtatious smirk backing into the doors and going back inside the theater. She reaches out running a finger along Johnâs lower lip licking the remnants of salt and butter off her finger holding his eyes the entire time.
John swallows the last of the mouthful of popcorn hard. âHow long are these two left?â
âThree is the longest, just a little over two hours,â she says with glee settling back into her seat tapping Johnâs whiskey glass to fill it automatically. âTwo is another cool 90 minutes. Think you can hold out?â
âI am a man of strong will and great endurance,â he says taking another handful of popcorn, setting his glass aside.
âI mean I donât know if Iâd call the endurance great,â she teases hooking an ankle around his.
âRude,â John says shoving at her playfully. The lights go down, the movie starting to roll on the screen. âIâve never heard you complaining.â
âWell now that you mention it,â she chuckles clearly just messing with him.
âI cannot believe you,â he says with a laugh throwing a little bit of popcorn at her. She tosses it back at him just as the production company insignia crawls across the screen.
She shushes him as she settles back in comfortably underneath his arm.
The first twenty minutes are pure trash attempts at being cinema all shot in black and white telling the loose origin of Killer Blade that makes not one ounce of sense and isnât referenced ever again. Things get really good in Zatannaâs opinion when things go back to color the camp counselors of the second film, including final girl Star, now played by a different actress, who for some reason decides itâs a good idea to help reopen the camp where her friends were all murdered two years prior by a madman with no motive other than to kill that disappeared into the night without a trace.
Itâs a rapid ride that she falls into easily forgetting how much time passes watching with rapt attention as if she hasnât seen it dozens of times before. So of course she notices something wrong with the film in an instant. At first the screen crackles a bit, a passable glitch she brushes off, but then it happens again. This time along with the screen warping unnaturally. She sits up straight, John taking notice their eyes meeting for a beat before returning to the screen.
Zatanna scans the audience as the ground shakes, light bursting out of the screen. No one else seems to notice; all just happily watching the film without a care in the world.
The screen morphs again, Zatanna pushes the popcorn out of her lap her hands at the ready, magic just at her lips. But sheâs not quick enough two hands still showing the movie across them reach out grabbing each of them by the neck.
They both fight back John biting at the hand while Zatanna kicks at the one holding onto her. They donât so much as flinch pulling the both of them in closer and closer to the screen till theyâre going straight through it. The sounds of a chainsaw and the blood spatter of the unsuspecting gas station attendant enveloping them.
Everything goes dark for a moment, a scene change, then theyâre both being thrust hard onto the ground landing face first into dewy grass. Gone is the just right temperature of the movie theater, replaced now by the warm breeze of a summer evening. The darkness of the theater no longer surrounds them instead the slow burn of a summer sundown. Â
Zatanna sits up with a groan. âJohn,â she says shoving at his back, he groans in response slowly lifting himself up. Zatanna looks around the trees swaying in the wind, she shifts the other way and there she sees it the bright red Camp Crystal Arawak sign she currently has a replica of hanging over her big screen tv at home.
âHoly shit,â she says. John twists looking the same way she is.
âAre we-â
âWeâre in Killer Blade 2,â she says half in awe that she knows she shouldnât be feeling. âWeâre in Killer Blade 2,â she says again lifting up from the ground, a little more enthusiastic this time. She knows this is probably bad, but she canât help it.
âProbably not a good thing, love,â John says lifting himself up from the ground trying to reign in her excitement.
âI mean, yeah, probably not. Probably a villain did this to mess with us,â she says eyes looking all around taking in the scenery like sheâs never seen it before. âBut come on, I mean who hasnât wanted to live inside their favorite movie?â
âI havenât,â John says dusting the grass off of his suit.
Zatanna turns giving him an eyeroll over her shoulder. âWell, thatâs because your favorite movie is A Clockwork Orange.â
âAnd your favorite movie is about a man with a machete for a hand,â he shoots back.
âNot until the third one,â she says reaching back. âCome on, the massacre hasnât started yet, thatâll give us time to figure out how to get out of here.â
âOh goody the massacre hasnât started,â John says taking her hand.
They walk under the large arching sign and itâs almost as if the air shifts, the warm summer night giving way to a cooler breeze as if the space knows itâs about to become a wasteland of death. Zatanna points naming out cabins and which characters will perish where as they walk through the campgrounds. Her hand reaching out every now and then to run her fingers along the set sheâs memorized every inch of.
A few teens portrayed by twenty and thirty somethings come barreling out of a cabin laughing.
âShit,â John says trying to pull Zatanna behind one of the cabins so theyâre not spotted. He assumes that will just make things more complicated.
âItâs fine they probably canât see us, theyâre scripted they canât move off of it,â Zatanna says continuing to move forward.
âHi, yâall!â one of the campers shouts. Zatanna and John freeze in their tracks.
âOr maybe they can go off script,â she swallows turning around. Janet, the films signature slutty girl, is waving at them frantically not a care in the world.
Sheâll have cares soon enough when her macabre ending comes because she just canât resist running off to the woods for one quick blow job with mega jock Brad who will die with his pants at his ankles.
âHi!â Zatanna waves back a corny smile across her face. She nudges John with her elbow and he joins along a little less effort put into his smile.
âAre yâall lost?â she says that thick southern girl accent sheâs putting on mixing with the actressesâ natural valley girl cadence.
âSort of,â Zatanna says putting on her own little southern twang. John looks at her wide-eyed mouthing a question of what sheâs doing. âRoll with it,â she whispers under her breath as Janet makes her way towards them, perky and practically bouncing with every step. Brad and a few of the nameless body count stroll along behind her.
âOh, no!â she says rushing right at Zatanna giving her a hug not questioning their outfits or the bandolier of shotgun shells sheâs wearing. Bless this sweet, horny girl.
âWhatâs up with the get ups?â Brad asks, at least having a little more sense to question their presence.
âYou see we were at a costume party at the old West-Cain cabin on the other side of the lake and it got broken up by the cops,â Zatanna says coming up with a quick story using her knowledge of the movieâs landscape to her advantage. A party occurring prior to the events of the film at the cabin theyâll spend the entire movie trying to get to is a passable excuse for their presence. Especially for this crowd.
âAnd our ride ran off without us and left us stranded in the woods,â Zatanna continues with an overdramatic rolls of her eyes. âWe just started walking and luckily stumbled upon yâall.â
âWell thank goodness you did; those woods get really spooky after dark. Especially after what happened,â Janet says with a shiver. She reaches out grabbing Zatannaâs hand pulling her along not giving any further information. Thatâs okay Zatanna knows better than her what happened. âIâm Janet and this is my boyfriend Brad.â She says pointing to the blonde walking alongside them. The nameless body count characters have peeled off ahead of them heading towards the dining hall.
âI know,â Zatanna says accidentally, Janet giving her a funny look. âI mean itâs printed on your shirt.â She quickly corrects, Janet looks down at her shirt like sheâd forgotten that fact and possibly even forgotten her own name.
âOh, yeah,â she says with a giggle.
âIâm Zat-â she starts deciding her name might be a little too complicated for this group. âZee,â she says instead. âJust Zee,â she smiles at Janet throwing a hand over her shoulder. âAnd this is my boyfriend John.â
John snorts. She never calls him that, itâs what he is technically speaking, but the word never seems to fit for them. âGood to meet you,â he says.
âOoh,â Janet says shimmying her shoulders. âFrom jolly old London are we?â she says putting on a god-awful British accent, mixing terribly with the two sheâs already battling.
âLiverpool technically.â
âLike the Beatles,â Brad says with a nod of his head slapping his hand down on Johnâs shoulder with a loud clap. âCool.â
John just gives Brad a thumbs up and a slightly grimaced smile rubbing at his shoulder as they walk up the steps to the dining hall.
âWeâll get you guys all set up in here,â Janet says dropping Zatannaâs hand and pushing open the double swinging doors. âAnton is the only one with a car, he doesnât love driving at night, but Iâm sure heâd be able to give you two a ride into town. Heâs too nice to say no.â
âOh, thatâs not necessary,â Zatanna says emphatically looking over at John. âTruly we can just get a little water and head back out there.â Look for magic signatures, find a portal or some sort of tear they can slip through to get back into their reality. Anton will be a hindrance to that.
âNonsense,â Janet says dragging them along and introducing them to other counselors in the room. They may be going off script here, but Zatanna canât help but notice she only gives names to the characters who are given them in the movie.
Anton is happy to help, a do gooder who will lose his head in act three, twirling his keys around with a wink before heading out to his car. Zatanna knows for a fact he will find his tires slashed, the night of terror truly about to begin.
âYou two just sit here and drink these,â Janet says settling them at a table. Brad sits two glasses of water in front of them. âIâll be right back.â
She wonât, if the leer Brad gives her as she walks away is any indication.
âSo whatâs the costume?â Brad asks turning the chair on the other side of the table backwards and sitting down in front of John.
âItâs from a movie,â John says not going into further detail.
Brads hums. âI donât watch a lot of those.â
âIronic,â John says leaning back.
âYeah, totally,â Brad says absolutely not knowing what the word ironic means. He gets up with a nod jogging over to Janet wrapping his arms around her waist, shoving a hand down the front of her tiny shorts.
âWell thatâs subtle,â John says watching them slip out of the side door.
âYeah theyâre about to die,â Zatanna says using her normal voice turning her body towards his. âLook, weâve got to get a move on and find our way out of here, cause shit is about to hit the fan.â
She lowers her voice leaning into John. âUs being here isnât affecting the plot all that much, Anton is going to go to his car and find the tires slashed. Then on his way back heâs gonna find Janet and Bradâs bodies. Itâs pretty much a non-stop kill fest from there.â
âLetâs try and not be a part of that,â John says getting up from his chair. They make their way to the little backdoor they watched the couple slip out of moments ago when the kitchen door swings open blocking their path.
The walking epidemy of the 1980âs teen dream steps out. Heâs got that same curly hair like the boys in Nightmare on Elm Street, rocking a crop top and denim shorts, baseball cap clipped to one of his belt loops. Itâs a look she has managed to wrestle John into a few times and it delights her to no end.
âOh my god, thatâs Ray Bronson,â Zatanna says excitedly twisting them away from the door a bit.
âWho?â
âRay Bronson,â Zatanna says sounding half in love. John tries not to be jealous. âHe was a bonafide scream queen in the 80âs and 90âs. His character, CHARLEY, was originally supposed to survive this movie alongside Star, but he was dating Sidney Strode at the time and when she quit the movie he refused to be in the third film so they rewrote the ending.â
She steps away from John lingering near Ray Bronson as he shares high fives and bro hugs with a few other guys in the room. John follows after her.
âYou could tell production was mad at him for bailing cause his ending is grisly,â she sighs quietly looking the man up and down.
âHow grisly?â John says trying not to get the guyâs attention, keeping his voice low.
âHim and Star get split up and first one of his arms goes through the meat grinder in the cafeteria, he gets away bleeding like crazy. Then he gets his legs chain sawed off and as he crawls away somehow still conscious the killer picks him up and ties his only remaining limb to the back of a truck and does doughnuts in the field till CHARLEY smacks into a tree and basically his whole body explodes. Itâs disgusting,â Zatanna says with a delighted grin.
âYou look far too happy about that,â John says with a chuckle.
âDonât get me wrong CHARLEY is dreamy as hell and you root for him in a way you donât root for anyone but Star cause heâs a genuinely a great horror movie boyfriend, but the FX team goes all out for his big death scene,â she says with a fond nostalgic smile. She can be a real freak sometimes, John loves it.
The front door swings open again and the music swells. Zatanna and John look up finding no plausible source for the music, the generic 80âs pop playing from the radio is gone, the score taking over welcoming its final girl back to the screen.
The room freezes all eyes on her as she makes her way over towards CHARLEY.
âStar 2.0,â Zatanna whispers watching as a tall tanned woman flips her long black hair over her shoulders. Her outfit is different than a lot of the others, the blue and white polo replaced with a red t-shirt sporting the name of the camp, a little white washed denim jacket on top of it. Itâs the outfit Zatanna sported for Halloween all those years ago. âSheâs not my favorite Star, but she has the best final girl scream. This is so cool.â
John gives her look.
âOkay, potentially extremely dangerous, but also,â she pauses gesturing wildly to their surroundings. âCamp Crystal Arawak. I wanted to go here so bad when I was a kid, I was bummed when I realized it wasnât a real place.â
âYou wanted to come to the murder camp?â
Zatanna just shrugs with a little smile.
âYou were a twisted little one, werenât you?â John says fondly.
âMaybe just a little bit,â she says with a playfully tilt of her head. âCome on, Antonâs about to bust in itâll be a good distraction for us to get out there and investigate.â
***
Night has fallen completely by the time they slip outside and out on the ridges of the camp not far from Antonâs car Killer Blade is waiting, lurking. Zatanna guides them in the opposite direction, better to avoid the killer for as long as possible.
The woods are quiet, largely carnage free for now as they make their way through the trees. Zatanna snaps her fingers trying and failing to find magic at her fingertips.
âDammit,â she says a flicker of light coming from her fingers for a second, immediately expunged. âMy magic is on the fritz.â
âSame here,â John says tapping at the exposed sigil on his collarbone, it doesnât even flicker to life for a full second.
They continue walking along looking for some sort of magical energy signature until a rustle comes from the right. They briefly stop, but Zatanna keeps them walking along as if nothing has been heard. Â
âWhite guy, pony tail,â Zatanna says under her breath keeping close to John. She watches as he dives behind a tree thinking heâs gone unnoticed.
âThere are several of those here,â John murmurs back. Zatanna looks the way of their potential bad guy again, the goatee man sneaking his head out from behind it for a second. For a bad guy capable of something this elaborate he sure is acting like a cartoon villain in the moment.
âThat one,â she says inclining her head towards the tree line. âHeâs not in the movie,â The man slinks back behind the tree disappearing into the background of the movie.
âYou sure?â
âYou saw his outfit, all black, long jacket; thatâs out of place at a summer camp. Plus Iâve seen these movies a hundred times, I know every detail down to the background actors and heâs not one,â she says stepping towards the tree, John following right behind her.
Zatanna attempts to ready her hands with magic, but it flickers out once again. The man behind the tree snarls when they make eye contact and immediately twists making a run for it.
âNo you donât,â John says chasing after him.
He doesnât get far, John may smoke a pack a day, but when heâs stubbornly determined enough the man can run. He catches up to the guy tackling him to the ground the two struggling with each other rolling on the grass. Zatanna comes to a stop in front of them watching as John gets the upper hand pushing the man into the grass.
âYou cannot hold the demon of illusion!â he shouts ripping his hands into the grass a flickering beam of bright white light coming up through the ground. He sinks his hands into the light disappearing in an instant the light closing up right behind him causing John to fall face first into the grass.
âFuck!â he shouts his voice lightly muffled by the grass.
âDemon of illusion,â Zatanna says. âI appreciate that demons have just started introducing themselves with job title cards, it really cuts down on the research time.â
âDoesnât help us get out of here though,â John says getting up from the ground.
âIllusion explains why no one else in the theater reacted when we got sucked in. And it explains why his powers work, but ours donât heâs in control of the whole thing,â Zatanna puzzles with his reasoning though. âDid we do something to this guy? Did you beat him in a poker game?â
John just shrugs his shoulders. âI donât think so, of course some of those games are a bit of a blur.â
A piercing scream sounds in the distance.
âDid you hear that?â John says looking up from where heâd been scuffing at the grass the demon had disappeared through.
âThe massacre has started,â Zatanna says grabbing Johnâs hand. âWe should head back.â
âWe should?â John says incredulously running alongside her.
âThe demon probably wants to see us go through it and we canât do that if weâre just wandering in the empty woods,â Zatanna says increasing her pace. âPlus I kinda want to see it if weâre being honest,â she adds on with an apologetic smile, gritting her teeth.
The screams get louder as they get closer, the whirring sound of a chainsaw slashing through the night air.
Zatanna skids to a stop, John crashing into her back. Her eyes are locked upward and John follows her line of sight. Before them stands a behemoth of a man clad in a white long-sleeved shirt and dark overalls, heavy work boots caked in mud and a lightly burnt scarecrow mask over his face. He sheaths the machete in his right hand into his blood splattered overalls choosing instead to rev his chainsaw back to life.
Zatanna backs up as Killer Blade takes a slow step their way. She and John end up side by side backing up slowly. John reaches out an arm ready to block Zatanna and take this chainsaw for the both of them if he has to.
Zatanna raises her hands, âKconk siht rellik otni eht eerts!â
Nothing happens. Killer Blade just tilts his head inquisitively at her.
âShit!â Zatanna says dropping her hands pulling at Johnâs back. âNot just a glitch, magic definitely doesnât exist in this world.â
She pushes John down the both of them just narrowly keeping their heads as Killer Blade swipes the chainsaw at them. They take off in a run faster than either of them have ever run heading back in the direction of the cabins.
âI thought the killer had magical powers?â John asks as they run looking over his shoulder. Killer Blade is catching up somehow despite the fact heâs walking at a snailâs pace compared to them. Slasher movie logic hard at work.
Zatanna shakes her head pulling John to the right away from the dining hall. Thereâs nothing but abandoned dinners in there and within the next few minutes Killer Blade will find his way inside and give Marcie the cook a new haircut. Scalp free. âNot until the third movie and itâs never explained as magic so kind of a grey area anyways.â
She rushes them to cabin 28 pushing at the door that blissfully hasnât been barricaded yet. Not that the barricade does much good.
Star screams high pitched and perfect for the silver screen; Zatanna screams right back on instinct. John pulls her back the screaming settling down.
âHeâs back,â Star shudders pushing past Zatanna and John to pull at the screen door tight as it slaps in the wind.
âWe noticed,â John says and CHARLEY gives him a questioning sharp look that John just ignores.
âIf we stay put and wait Freddy will be here soon,â Star says pushing a dresser in front of the door. CHARLEY rushes over to help her. God, Zatanna loves her, but she doesnât utilize a single thing she learned from the first movie for the first two acts. Â
âFreddyâs not coming and we need to get out of this cabin,â Zatanna says putting her little accent back on. She doesnât want to bring on questions about her lack of cute little southern accent distracting them. They need to get out of here, they need to find the illusion guy and they need to stay alive. She also knows that Freddy is not coming, the owner of the camp is very, very dead broken into two over a tree stump outside the West-Cain cabin that only Star will reach in the end.
âSheâs right,â Anton says. A voice of reason for at least the next five minutes. âWe need to get to the phone in the craft cabin.â
Itâs broken, not even by the killer, just by poor maintenance. But it is logically where the story goes next. The script finds a way.
A quiet scratching comes from the outside, the metal of a machete running along the jagged wood outside.
Everyone in the cabin freezes for a beat, screaming when the machete pushes through the screen door.
âOut the window!â Zatanna shouts shoving her way to the back. Sheâs slightly stealing Antonâs final attempted hero moment, but she canât be bothered. Killer Blade slashes at the door shoving at the dresser blocking his entrance.
She takes a breath cringing a bit before she crashes her elbow through the glass of the back window. She knows for a fact itâs stuck and thereâs no time to waste for her and John. John comes up beside her helping clear the shards before hoisting her up and out of it.
He follows her, Star and CHARLEY sliding out behind him. Anton, Zatanna knows is scuffling inside with the killer and he wonât be making it to the window.
âAnton,â CHARLEY shouts about to reach back inside, but Star pulls at him to run.
The craft cabin isnât too far, but the killer is nice and distracted hacking Anton to bits right now and soon heâll mow down a line of nameless camp counselors while Star finally re-finds her gumption. They have time and theyâll find two other survivors there.
***
The craft cabin is playing out exactly as it should. The phone doesnât work, everyone panics and unbeknownst to the characters in the room, theyâre the last five standing.
Star meanwhile is quietly finding her strength, building a weapon that will take her further than youâd ever expect out of a shovel from the gardening supplies in the back, loading her pockets with toxic spray paint that will save her life when she and CHARLEY get separated on their way to her salvation.
âWe have to get out of here and find that illusion demon fast. He canât be far, heâll want to see us get chopped up,â Zatanna says talking to John but watching Star as the music swells her moment of power coming to a head.
âOut there doesnât seem so safe,â John says ignoring as the room around them descends in to mild chaos. Star announces her plan to run to the West-Cain cabin, but the arguments end quick, CHARLEY taking hold of his girlfriendâs hand, nothing but a sharp pair of scissors as his weapon, as they confidently storm out of the doors.
âWeâre running out of time, that was Sidney Strodeâs last scene, when Star walks back through that door,â Zatanna says turning to the big green swinging door with the bloodied handprints on it the couple just walked out of. âSheâs gonna be Renai Lambert who plays her for the remainder of the film which is only about twenty minutes.â
âWhat do you think happens to us if the movie ends and weâre still in it?â John wonders.
Zatanna shrugs. âThereâs only one ever one final girl in the Killer Blade films,â she says ominously.
âLetâs go then,â John says rushing for the still swinging doors. Faint protests from the remaining survivors huddled in the corner call after them, but they ignore their pleas. They slip around the corner, off to the side away from where the moonlight catches on the killerâs rusty blade.
They make their way back into the tree line, John letting Zatanna be his guide. She knows exactly where the killer will be.
âI have an idea,â she says stopping when they find a patch of well grown earth. She reaches down taking a clump of dirt in hand along with some ivy and flowers. âMagic in our sense doesnât exist in this universe. Itâs born out of myth and humanity that doesnât exist in this world, but magic of the earth? That exists in nature, in all nature.â
âThe green,â John says watching as Zatanna closes her eyes and focuses. The green isnât an expertise either of them have, but theyâve been friends with Swamp Thing long enough to know a bit to get by. Tracking using the earth is easy if you have the right belief, attitude and intentions. And Zatanna is filled to the brim with all three as their clock starts to run out of time.
John keeps watch as she centers herself the dirt falling through her fingers, the flower and ivy glowing a bit to life. She doesnât understand the green, she never could she isnât connected to it in the way people like Alec are, but she knows how to respect it, how to ask for its help in small ways. A tracking spell for a man thatâs clearly set them up for a grisly movie worthy demise she believes isnât asking too much.
The dirt swirls in the air drifting out on the wind like the living thing it is, the flower and ivy following along.
âJohn,â she says opening her eyes pointing forward. The little bit of earth moves fast in the air and they follow behind it quickly.
The earth leads them right to their target, sporting an evil smirk.
âYour end is near,â he says.
âNah,â Zatanna says simply rushing at him. She rams at him knocking him into a tree hard. She struggles with him for a moment pressing her knee into his stomach holding him in place. He moves his hands about to pull the same trick he did before, but Johnâs quick to their side stamping hard down on one of his wrists and grabbing the other hand tight.
âYou canât stop me, you canât break free,â he spouts. âYou wronged me and youâll pay.â
âWe donât even know you,â John says twisting the wrist in his hand. The demon grits his teeth.
âOf course, just another demon whoâs crew you banished to hell. Just another on your laundry list of banishments. Well you wonât forget me now, when you burn in hell youâll remember my name. Youâll remember the demon of illusion who ended your life through the plot of a silly little human film. Youâll remember Choronz-â
âAre you actually doing a big villain speech right now?â Zatanna says with a sigh cutting him off.
The demon looks taken aback. âI was trying to,â he says angrily.
âYou really shouldnât, itâs very generic of you,â she says angering him further. He blasts a shot of magic at John knocking him back a few feet, using his leverage to kick up at Zatanna. He scrambles upright, but Zatanna is on him once again, swinging a fist that connects right with his jaw. He twists around John landing another hit to the other side of his face. They donât always need magic to win a fight.
He fights back, or tries to at least, every attempt he makes at waving magic their way they duck, quicker than him. Catching him hard in the gut or the neck or wherever they can reach with every movement.
Zatanna shoves him back to the ground John kicks him hard in the chest, a few times over for good effort and thatâs when Zatanna spots it, a burst of light like the one the demon had created in the ground when he disappeared earlier.
âJohn get him up,â she says and John does so lifting the demon by the collar of his coat. His power might be impressive, but his endurance is not. He clearly relies on his illusions to do all the work and when he tries a different way he loses his grip on even that.
John hits him hard and square in the eye and the crack in the scenery grows, more light pouring out of it. The sounds of thunder rumble in the distance, a crack of lightning too bright and violent to be real. The music swells again, this time some 80âs metal hair band ballad playing.
Zatanna looks up just a John punches the demon hard in the gut again, a slow crawl of words coming down at them. The credits are rolling, their time is up.
She wastes no time tackling both John and the demon through the crack of light. They land hard on the floor, the sticky carpeted stairs of the theater not having the gentle give of the summery grasslands.
The demon tries to scramble away put John pulls him down by his long coat. Zatanna brings her hands at the ready her magic tingling at her fingers, regaining its strength in the world where it belongs.
âHsinab siht owt-tib wohsedis nomed ot lleh,â she says a wave of burning hot fire leaving her hands and hitting the demon head on as he attempts to knock John with his elbow. The demon goes up in a cloud of burning flames, screaming for a moment before heâs nothing but ash falling to the ground.
John and Zatannaâs eyes meet the two letting out a synchronized breath of relief.
âUmmm,â a voice sounds and Zatanna turns. The credits stop rolling the room going silent, just the blank, confused faces of their fellow movie goers staring at them.
Zatanna bites her lip a forgetting spell at the front of her mind, before her stage presence kicks in bowing to the people with a wave instead.
âHappy Halloween!â she says in a cheery voice nudging John with her foot encouraging him to give the audience a wave as well. He does so, just not quite with the flair she possesses.
They all begin clapping immediately none the wiser that what just happened was real, even if they all still look a little confused what any of it has to do with the movie. Itâs Halloween, weird shit happens all the time. She hears a couple near the front whisper to one another about how realistic practical effects have gotten.
âLetâs go home,â Zatanna says pulling John up and hastily down the aisle and out of the theater.
***
Zatanna runs her fingers along the contents of the closet adjacent to her bedroom a tired smile on her lips as she hangs their freshly magically cleaned costumes up alongside the collection of previous years.
She closes the closet door with a flick of her wrist before gliding down the stairs to her recently magically built entertainment center. Sheâs traded in her lacy dress for an old Killer Blade t-shirt sheâs had since high school and some little jack-o-lantern shorts.
âYou sure youâre not too disappointed we didnât finish the trilogy at the theater?â John asks lying flat on his back on the couch a bowl of popcorn resting on his stomach. He tosses a few pieces in the air, only actually catching one in his mouth.
âAfter the hands-on experience we had tonight a comfortable at home viewing is more than enough,â she says tapping her Camp Crystal Arawak sign before making her way over to him. She picks up the bowl of popcorn just as he grabs another handful once again largely missing his mouth sitting it aside on the floor. She ignores the mess nudging his legs, he gets the message making space for her. She climbs on top of him making herself comfortable against his chest letting her hands drift up under his sleeveless Hellraiser shirt.
John hums bringing one arm around her and reaching into the pocket of his skeleton sweatpants Zatanna bought him earlier in the month for the remote. He presses play the opening title card of Killer Blade 3: The Final Stab splashing onto the screen.
âYou enjoyed being in the movie too much,â he says with a smirk tossing the remote on the floor beside the popcorn bowl laying his hand none to discreetly on her pumpkin clad butt.
âI think I enjoyed it the exact appropriate amount,â she says scratching her nails at his sides playfully. He squirms moving his other hand to the small of her back pushing her shirt up dragging his fingers across her skin.
âYou reveled in being chased by that psycho,â he says moving his fingers up higher along her spine.
âI didnât revel, I simply partook with a normal amount of horror fan enthusiasm,â she corrects lifting up her head digging her chin into his chest with a smile. âNow shush,â she says turning her head back to the tv. âIâm watching the movie.â
John chuckles tilting his own head toward the screen, a perfectly timed rumble of thunder sounding just as Killer Blade, now equipped with superpowers and a poorly structured machete hand, takes over the screen. Blissfully just on the big screen this time, right where he belongs.