#cloud writes

Setting this after the war/the return to Cybertron

Assuming you didn't fight in the war, you're probably the most normal person he knows. You're probably the most normal person on Cybertron at this point. The others don't think much of it when you start spending more and more time out by yourself- there's a lot to take in now that the war is over and cybertron is so different

Your little adventures start at a few hours, then it's half a day, and before long you're gone for days at at time. That's when they start asking questions

Where have you been going? What could possibly be so important that you go missing for days at a time when there is- what do you mean you met somebody?

Having to explain that yes you met somebody and yes they're on Cybertron and well you don't know if it's a good idea if they all met him. It's all very "he goes to a different school you don't know him"

They eventually get you to agree and when you actually bring him around the Autobots are.. well they sure are there and that sure is a guy you've brought home

Predakind, to his credit, is on his best behavior. He's standing behind you (a respectable distance away from them) as you talk the others out of shooting him then and there

He doesn't stay long, much to your disappointment. A few conversations with both sides reveals their past history, leaving you caught in the middle.

The overall consensus on the Autobot side is "you're an adult, we can't stop you but it's also a really bad idea-"

Ratchet would be the most understanding- which isn't saying much. He's upset but he also knows you don't have the same feelings towards Predaking as he and the other Autobots do- to you, he's just some guy you met. While he makes his many grievances known, he also makes it clear that if anything happens you'll still have people supporting you

Magnus is.. conflicted. On one hand, part of him is glad that there's some sense of normalcy for somebody- a hope that things will be okay. On the other hand, he doesn't have an other hand

He doesn't count as an Autobot but Knockout would warn you against the predacon, calling him things like dangerous and a brute while also trying to dig any gossip out of you. Will begrudgingly make sure you're polished and shiny before you go out if you ask him for help. Very "you're going out dress like that?"

Once they get more familiar with the idea, Predaking starts making the occasional appearance

At first it's just flying by overhead, letting you know he's still around even if you haven't been able to see each other much lately. Then it's coming to meet you when you've got plans and then he's making very awkward small talk with Bulkhead while he waits for you to come out

Everybody starts to relax a bit when they see just how good he is to you. This hulking beast of a robot, built for fighting and dragged into a time not meant for him, bending to take your hand and kiss your knuckles whenever he sees you. How you never come back with a so much as a scratch on your pain and only with good things to say

He gets some serious side-eye when he enters the base for the first time, and everybody is a bit tense, but it (thankfully) all goes well

He's eventually asked to help with some repairs or some mundane task and- while somewhat reluctant- he complies. For you, of course, in an attempt to make life just a little bit easier

////////////////

You had always been restless. A nomad. A thief. The stickiness of your fingers had started with petty things - unattended coin purses, fruit that was piled just a little too high on a merchant’s cart - but tonight, as you were wandering the docks of a village you hadn’t bothered to learn the name of, the sight of an anchored pirate ship had you feeling particularly bold.

Mounds of treasure shone in the candlelight, seeming to be calling out your name. You only brought two small sacks along with you - enough to get a decent meal with plenty left over to gamble, but not enough for them to miss. Not from this massive pile.

You took your time filling the bags with coins and jewels, carefully placing them in individually so they wouldn’t make a sound. You heard footsteps creaking above and tied off the bags, trailing back the way you came for a seamless escape before those footsteps would catch up to you.

This is going smoother than I-

Your thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of scraping metal. It was when you felt the tip of a blade pressing at the base of your skull that your heart skipped a beat. Ice ran through your nerves stemming from the point of contact, your blood running just as cold as it slowly trailed down, stopping behind your heart.

“I thought I heard the scurrying of vermin down here,” a low voice purred into your ear. The pressure against your back increased just slightly, not enough to break your skin but enough to snag the fabric of your vest. Your breath hitched as you heard the threads pop, your grip on the bags tightening. “Drop it.”

Your only other option being a sword through the chest, you let them hit the floor. The blade left your back, only for it to meet your shoulder. Despite your terror, your head slowly turned for your gaze to meet the tip of the…

That’s no sword.

Your eyeline traveled up the thin blade, the furthest you were able to see with your back turned being the fur glove to which it and four others connected. Your spine stiffened as you realized you hadn’t just been caught by some nosy grunt - you had become the prey of Captain Kuro.

His blade gently traced a line starting at your shoulder, running up the side of your neck, and stopping at the tip of your chin.

“Come now,” Kuro hummed, a soft rumble. “Face me properly, won’t you?”

As you slowly shuffled your feet in an attempt to comply, he used his free hand to adjust his glasses with his palm. The dim candlelight danced along the blades adorning his glove as he flexed his fingers, as if to flaunt the manicure that was surely about to cut you into ribbons. When you were facing him properly, the only part of his dark eyes you could see was the hunger in them as they ran you up and down, lingering on your trembling hands.

“Do I frighten you, little mouse?”

You felt your heartbeat pick back up, as if attempting to fit the rest of its capacity into the next few minutes in which death was certain. You slowly nodded, not even sure if your voice would work if you tried to use it. Kuro towered over you, the blades on his hands were extended to the length of his forearm - no shit, you were frightened. The one on your chin ran up your cheek, pressing in just enough to catch the skin.

The hiss you produced twisted your face into a grimace as the salt lingering in the air snuck into the cut and blood began trickling down to your jaw. Kuro chuckled before letting the blade rest perpendicular to your throat. He brought his offhand to lift your fingers with the blades.

“Look how you quiver before me,” he murmured, staking a step closer so your noses almost touched. The shaking of your hands only got worse with the proximity as your breath came in shallow gasps trying to get air in your lungs, which seemed to be trying to shrivel up to hide. “Dirty sneakthief.”

“Ple-Please,” you whimpered, your voice choked into the octave above which it normally rang and a mere fraction of the volume. “Please spare me.”

“Spare you?” Kuro echoed through a bitter laugh. “And why would I do that, little mouse?”

“Please, I’ll- you’ll never see me again,” you groveled. You felt the blade against your face slowly retract. “I’ll put everything b-back, and I- I’ll run far, I won’t tell a soul where you are, I’ll keep my m-my mouth sh-shut!”

With a cold chuckle, Kuro grabbed the back of your collar, thankfully with the claws fully at rest inside his glove, and lifted you off your feet. He admired the way your legs thrashed, trying to get your feet back on the ground and failing miserably. Then you were moving, almost impossibly fast. Your eyes squeezed shut tight as the cold ocean breeze made the wound on your face feel like it was being ripped open all over again.

You didn’t open your eyes again until you were still. You were still dangling from Kuro’s grasp, staring into the stars, despite your head hanging downward. As you frantically whipped your head around to reorient yourself, your stomach sank to the sand miles below your feet as you realized that, while you had been busy looting, you hadn’t noticed the swaying of the ship had gotten more intense as they had been untethering it from the anchor at the dock. Now, on the deck of the ship, it was obvious that surrounding you was nothing but water reflecting the midnight sky.

“See? Nowhere to run,” Kuro hissed into your ear before setting you on your feet and shoving his hand between your shoulder blades until you collapsed against the railing. You wrapped your hands around the pole and tried pushing back to no avail - his back was pressed against yours, breath hot on your ear as he caught his breath from his short sprint. “Keep begging. I like how it sounds.”

A fearful whine whistled from the back of your throat. “Please spare me,” you repeated. “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything, hm?” Kuro mused, his entire frame now resting against your back and his bladed hand slipping to your front and resting just above your abdomen. You felt a jolt from the contact, the way you flinched shifting your body to where you felt something prodding right against your tailbone. “You’re lucky I enjoy toying with my prey.”

The pressure at the base of your spine became even more obvious as Kuro somehow leaned closer, his tongue running up the trail his blade had left, cleaning off the blood that hadn’t dried yet. Your face went pale as you realized what exactly you had offered in exchange for your life. He’d do more than ‘enjoy’ toying with you - he’d get off on it.

The hand against your back moved to your shoulder, yanking you forward before slamming you back against the railing now facing Kuro. The stars in the sky seemed to drown in the darkness of his gaze. You were frozen, unable to break away from the eye contact, let alone his grip. All but one of the blades resting on your stomach retracted before the remaining one slowly dragged down your closed vest. The fabric ripped it its wake, exposing your skin for Kuro’s examination until it stopped at the top of your trousers.

“Let’s see what all you have stashed away, hm?” Kuro murmured into your ear, darting out his tongue to catch the fresh blood that was trickling down your cheek. He took his hand off your shoulder, biting down on the tip of his glove and pulling it off with his teeth. His hand was hot, too hot, as he ran in down your chest where your vest had been torn.

He slipped the fabric off your shoulders one by one, the cloth getting caught in the breeze. The sound of it rippling was soon quieted by the water in which it descended. A shiver ran through you as the wind joined Kuro’s hand in stroking your heaving chest.

Then it trailed down to your legs, as if to pat you down. Despite the fact that your life was still very much in jeopardy, you couldn’t help but be entranced by the movement of his bare hand as it brushed up and down, pressing into the fabric as he searched you for any treasure you may have pocketed. When his hand began kneading into your inner thigh, you couldn’t help the moan that slipped past your lips.

Kuro’s eyes flicked up to meet yours in a burning glare. He rose back to his full height, making you feel as though you were shrinking beneath his gaze. The sole extended blade resting on your abdomen was suddenly lifted and pointed to the floor in front of you.

“Eager to obey, aren’t you? Now be good and kneel.”

Your motivation to comply had less to do with survival instinct and more with the way his voice was starting to drip from your ears into the pool of heat beginning to collect below your stomach. It was shameful, being putty in the hands of a pirate captain. Even more so that you were enjoying being threatened by him.

But the shame only made it burn worse.

Kuro took your wrists into his hands, his gloved index finger carefully extended outward as if to avoid unintentionally wounding you. It was a clear message: you were only safe as long as he allowed you to be. He raised your hands above your head, pressing them into the cold metal railing. You didn’t bother trying to writhe out of his grasp as he bound you to it with a thin, coarse rope - doing so would guarantee he would slash your wrists regardless of intention. Instead, you simply looked up at him through your lashes with a pitiful expression.

“There you go,” he cooed down to you, eyes hooded and a smirk on his lips. “You’re behaving now, aren’t you? Much better than all that naughty stealing you were up to.”

You nodded feverishly, unable to tell the difference between the terror and anticipation running through your mind. The blade carefully lowered to part your lips as he reached for the clasp of his belt. You watched, almost hypnotized, as his bare hand slowly worked it open. The garment began to slip, catching on the bulge inches from your eyes.

You felt the blade on your lips lightly scraping across them to gather the saliva slipping out the corner. He retracted it until only a couple inches were out and brought it to his lips, licking it clean. This time, you did struggle against your restraints - not in an escape attempt, but to get closer. Kuro’s ungloved hand tangled into your hair, tugging your head back and resting the shortened blade against your neck.

“Behavior like that is making me think you wanted to be caught,” he growled, twisting the hand in your hair until tears began to prick at the corners of your eyes. “You didn’t really think you’d make it off my ship with your virtue intact, did you?”

“I…” you panted, unable to keep your thoughts straight. “I just want to- to be let go a-at all.”

“Oh, well now, that depends on how well you can follow directions, doesn’t it? You need to earn your freedom.”

You let out a pant in relief when he let go of your hair, your head falling forward and your eyes on the ground. Your face was burning with the shame, but your desire burned brighter.

“Look up at me properly, little mouse,” Kuro commanded.

You lifted your gaze and had to blink a couple of times for your eyes to focus on the throbbing tip of his cock. Looking down it, there was no use concealing your anxious whimper. You should have known from the size of his hands… it was fucking huge. Kuro snapped his fingers, the sound echoing off the water below.

“Properly!”

You craned your head upwards to meet his disapproving glare.

“Troublesome little thing… I’m doubting your ability to, as you put it, keep y-your mouth sh-shut,” Kuro purred, mocking your panicked stuttering. “Clearly, if you can’t keep your eyes focused, I couldn’t possibly trust you to keep your pretty mouth in check. Now, open up and let me help you keep it stuffed.”

You did as you were told, sticking out your tongue as far as it would go. You let out a quick sigh of contentment when it just barely managed to nudge the blushing head. Just as quickly as it began, the contact was ripped from you as his bare hand struck your unscarred cheek before rooting his hand in your hair once more and shoving his cock down your throat.

“Little brat,” Kuro hissed, his grip on your scalp tightening as you choked on a whine. He drew back just slightly, breath hitching when he felt the air puffing from your nose. “Rushing things won’t get you out of my claws any sooner. Now, beg me to let you go.”

You tried to repeat your plea for release, but it was quite difficult with your mouth full and a blade to your throat. When all that came out was muffled mewling, Kuro retracted the blade and pulled your head forward to bury his cock in your throat again. He held it there until you gagged around it, then thrust out again. He craned your head upwards to admire the sight of your tear-streaked face and the string of spit connecting the head to your panting lips.

“Please let me go,” you hoarsely whispered, throat already sore despite the look in his eyes telling you he was nowhere close to finished using it. “Please, Captain Kuro.”

With an almost annoyed grunt, Kuro wrapped his gloved hand around your throat before leaning his hips forward to brush your lips with the head of his cock, which was now glistening under the starlight with saliva and precum.

“Please,” you murmured, letting the first letter kiss his tip. “Please, I’ll be obedient, I’ll let you use me however you- mmph!”

“You’ll let me, will you?” Kuro growled as he thrust in and out of your mouth at a leisurely pace. “Very cute, how you think you have a choice. You’re at my mercy whether you like it or not.”

That should have scared you. That should have made you want to bite down and let him kill you rather than defile you. It certainly shouldn’t have driven you to release the tension in your jaw and start running your tongue over every inch it could reach of the cock violating your throat. If it was so painful, so terrifying, why did you start to moan like you were being fed a sublime cut of meat?

Kuro’s grip on your throat tightened as he picked up the speed of his thrusts. “I can feel myself in your throat through my glove.”

The buzz of your whimper around his cock elicited another spurt of precum, his thrusts pulling out further and slamming back in harder so you could taste it properly. The bittersweet taste was all it took for your hips to start twitching, the aching between your legs unable to be ignored any longer. Kuro stilled your hips with the tip of his boot, pressing it down precisely where you were throbbing. The pressure made your breath hitch, your throat drawing even tighter around his cock.

“Fuck, you really do like being used like this, don’t you?” Kuro taunted, his tone condescending but his vocal cords tighter than before. Being called on the pleasure you were deriving from having your throat used like a toy only made you start to grind against his boot in earnest. It was like scratching a bug bite - the temporary relief only made the burning worse when he lifted his boot with a mocking chuckle. “How filthy of you, little mouse.”

You clenched your hands, distantly wishing you could use them to grasp at his hips. To get him deeper. You could feel his heartbeat echoing against your tongue and his strokes became less calculated, and somehow even less restrained. You were shamelessly humping against Kuro’s boot now. He had already ripped your dignity away - there was no use in concealing how his doing so lit up every nerve in your body.

“Beg,” Kuro demanded.

“P- ack!”

“Beg!”

“Mmm! Mmph, hnng~!”

“Beg- me- to- ruin- you!”

Without so much as giving you a chance to continue your attempts at pleading, Kuro’s gloved hand constricted your throat as if to genuinely strangle you and his bare one pulled your head forward until your nose was buried in the hair trailing down his abdomen. For all the cum pouring down your throat, all your tongue felt was the pulsing and twitching of his cock. The pressure of his boot against you increased tenfold, the pain and the pleasure writhing together in tandem and threatening to snap that taught wire inside.

It wasn’t until there were spots in your vision that Kuro released his deathgrip on your throat and tilted your head back as he withdrew from your mouth, one final burst of cum escaping onto your tongue before he clasped his bare hand over your lips. He held up a finger as he stared into your half-lidded eyes, which began to water as you tried to simultaneously get air through your nose and hold the cum in your throat. It took incredible willpower to still your hips beneath Kuro’s boot, knowing exuding the effort would result in cum running out your nose as you tried to breathe with your mouth full.

Kuro took a single step back, the loss of contact drawing a pathetic whine from your throat. He knelt down to meet your eye level, extending the blunt side of blade on his index finger to rest atop the small wet patch that had begun to spread at the front of your pants.

“Swallow.”

The gulp of your throat was obscenely loud, echoing once or twice through the air. The taste, the feeling of it running down your throat, the soft scrape of the blade against your core through the fabric - your breath was stolen from you in loud cries of pained ecstasy muffled by his hand as you were gasping through your nose to get air in your lungs while the broken, practically touchless orgasm tore through you. Your bound hands smacked the railing several times as you tried to simultaneously fuck yourself against the blade and avoid mutilating yourself with it.

As you finally began to quiet down, he released his hold on your mouth, allowing you to hang your head forward as you drew in ragged breaths. The cool night breeze only furthered your humiliation as it seeped into your soaked trousers. You felt Kuro’s blade gently drift up your stomach until it rested under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him.

“What a mess,” he chided, smirking. “I suppose I’m a man of my word.”

Kuro leaned over you, his hands going to the ropes around your wrist before pausing, looking down at you.

“Although… I never said I’d let you go just yet.”

Your eyes widened, you head snapping up to meet Kuro’s wicked grin. You wanted to protest, to beg even sweeter for your freedom, but your throat was absolutely spent - it couldn’t produce anything more than a broken whimper. He laughed as he lowered his arms and kissed the scar on your cheek. Then he stood and turned on his heel, walking a few paces before turning his head back to address you.

Steering the trolley to the front of the store, the angel on your shoulder scolds you for thinking it was good idea to visit a gourmet grocery store.

In your defense, this place wasn't your first choice either. The regular grocery store was 5 miles closer to your place and handed out amazing discounts too, but—

"You're not going to believe who I saw at S-Mart."

"Was it..." Adjusting the phone between your shoulder and ear, your frowned as the layer of purple nail polish smeared on the skin of your toe. "...your biochem crush?"

Your friend sighs, "I wish. It was your ex-situationship, though. Anyways, I hope you've blocked him..."

Her voice fades and the carpet is stained purple.

No. You couldn't risk running into him, even if that's all you've wanted. So, you drive— 20 minutes out of your way— to be as far as possible from the bittersweet memories of the ice cream isle.

You almost hit someone with your cart. Panic sets inside you. What if it's some rich snob who would set their lawyers on you like a pack of dogs? It wasn't your fault the wheels were wobbly!

"I'm so sorry," you bend quickly, to pick up the fruit that had slipped from their hand. As you stand straight, a pair of formal shoes, khaki pants, a half tucked blue shirt and a loose tie meets your eyes.

"It's alright," the smooth voice has you looking up faster than your brain can process. "No harm done." Thin lips, gentle crook of his nose where a pair of spectacles rest, hiding his beautiful brown, maybe a little tired, eyes.

The devil on your shoulder calls you an embarrassment. You hold out your hand and he takes the apple, adding it to his cart. "Thank you."

A number of wooden carts are arranged before you, each containing different colours and varieties of apples; Fuji, Gala, Honey crisp, Kashmir—

Reaching out for the Granny Smith, you're impressed with how big they are. Instinctively, you smell them: sweet yet tart.

You add one to your shopping cart, eager to go home and taste it. The last batch your vendor had brought were pathetic—

"Excuse me, would you mind picking them out for me. I can't tell the good one's apart." The man asks, showing you his selection. Small and weirdly round with red streaks.

"Calville Blanc?"

He nods, "I've read that they have a high amount of Vitamin C."

You try not to fall on your knees. Beautiful and intelligent? Maybe gourmet grocery stores weren't so bad after all.

"They do," you select a few from the paper bag and replace them with better quality ones. "But if you're looking for Vitamin C, citrus fruits are the best."

He doesn't reply. Not for a whole minute. "My son—"

Oh. OH.

The angel slaps her forehead. You wanted to suck off a married man!

He doesn't have a ring. The devil makes a fair point.

"—doesn't like oranges. Or anything orange flavored. I've been trying to get his Vitamin C levels up."

"Does he like lemonade?" You try to maintain a normal conversation. He looks pretty young to have a child.

"Yeah," The stranger nods. "Will that help?"

You nod and hands rest on the handle of your shopping cart, feeling dirty for lusting after a married man. "It would be more pocket friendly than spending...5,499 ¥— shit, that's pricey."

Great, now he thinks you're broke. Clumsy and broke.

The man laughs and you get a warm feeling in your stomach. "That was my first thought too."

Two of you make it to the check out counter, standing behind an older, definitely richer, woman. Her cart is full, to the brim and the cashier looks like they're in pain.

"How old is he?" You ask. The blond falls for the marketing gimmicks, taking a cartoon keychain off the rack.

"Turns six, soon."

"If he's fond of apples, you could buy regular ones and squeeze some lemon juice on them."

The man nods, "Thank you. He's a picky eater but—"

"Every child is."

"Exactly."

You move ahead in the line and the cashier is relieved to see your minimalist cart.

"You should try Golden Plate on 5th street." A shameless self promotion. "They have customisable kids menu."

"That would make things a lot easier. Apparently, he hates everything nutritious," He sighs. A notification on his phone goes off and you get to see a glimpse of a pink haired child, smiling brightly with a floating tube around under his little chubby arms.

"You seem to know a lot about kids," The man clears his throat, unsure how to phrase his words.

"I know a lot about food," you correct him, looking back. "Sometimes I make meals for my colleague's daughter, so I know how to hide the greens."

The word tumbles right out of his mouth. "How—"

The cashier clicks some buttons. "Your total is..."

It physically hurts you to pull out your wallet and hand over the card. A quick swipe and you're being handed your paper bags.

The cool AC air greets you at the exit doors. Should you wait for him? The stranger has an unfairly gorgeous side profile as he unloads the cart items. You almost smile at the heart eyes the cashier gives him.

He doesn't look your way and you walk towards the parking lot.

The sunset looks prettier, the air seems lighter and like some cheesy sitcom lead, you hope that you get to see him again.

(Spoiler: you do.)

There was a note in the pocket of Gummy’s backpack. They weren’t the one to notice it, naturally. Cloud had too keen eyes for that, asking who’d given Gummy a phone number and no name.

Squinting at the handwriting, Gummy admitted to having no idea how that got there. Cloud frowned at it, texting something to someone Gummy could only assume was Kap before taking off.

Gummy stared at the paper, a curious frown on their face. It couldn’t hurt to call the number, surely? After all, it was probably someone else’s note, and if they didn’t call to say it went to the wrong person, there’d be some kind of huge understanding.

So, after class, Gummy kicked off their shoes and typed in the number on their phone.

“Gummy Axolotl,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.

Gummy raised an impressed eyebrow. “So that was for me.”

“It certainly wasn’t for your friend,” the voice said, chuckling. “If she’d picked up, I would’ve been disappointed in your initiative, honestly.”

“So it would’ve been my fault? How is that fair?” Gummy wondered, sitting down on the couch.

“You should know life isn’t fair by now,” the voice said disapprovingly. “Now, what’s your favorite horror movie?”

Weeks passed since Gummy started talking to the voice on the phone. They found it very productive and soothing when they were drawing and working on animation assignments to just ramble absently. Half of what they said didn’t seem worth remembering anyway.

Still, the voice said some strange things sometimes, and at one point, Gummy was on the phone while waiting for their friends to arrive for lunch.

“Kap’s going to the bathroom, and then they’ll be here,” Cloud announced as she and Avalynn slipped into the booth.

“Ooh, is that your mysterious friend?” Avalynn asked, leaning closer. “Hello there!”

“You’re still talking to them.” Cloud shook her head. Then she glanced up. “Over here, Torch!”

Torch happily took a seat, flipping open the menu.

“Gummy, why aren’t you concerned about Dulla?” the voice asked.

Cloud looked sharply at the phone. “You told them about us?”

“Yes, and they are a he, so it’s fine.”

The look on Cloud’s face seemed to indicate that it was not fine, and she ducked under the table, slipping around Torch before pulling out her own phone. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t call security on me!” Gummy called, and Cloud just made a face before slipping through the glass doors of the fast-food restaurant.

A few moments later, she was back, practically dragging Dulla to the booth. “I hope you had fun with that, Mystery Man.”

“You’re easy to rile from what I’ve heard. I just wanted to test that theory,” the voice replied. “Unfortunately, that means you were checking on the wrong friend, Miss Whisper.”

“What?” Cloud frowned, her eyes flashing dangerously. “If this is-”

“I think you and your friends should check on one Kappy Krow,” the voice said, sounding almost gleefully. “From what I understand, they were in the bathroom?”

“Gummy,” Cloud said. “A word, please?”

Gummy scrambled to slip out of the booth, leaving the phone for their friends to talk about.

“They wouldn’t do something so stupid, you know that,” Gummy insisted as they walked with Cloud to fetch Kap.

“Seems like an easy place to kill someone to me,” Cloud muttered. “Kap!”

“That’s me!” Kap blinked, grinning from behind their glasses. “I didn’t get that lost this time.”

Cloud was scowling at the table, not saying another word for the rest of the time they were hanging out.

In fact, any mention of the stranger had Cloud leaving in a silent rage most of the time, so Gummy decided to be a bit more careful about letting the two of them interact.

“You seem bored,” the voice remarked one night while Gummy was at their dorm drawing.

“Nah, just working on homework until Torch gets here. You know, we were supposed to watch a movie together.”

“Have you checked outside?” the voice asked.

Gummy rolled their eyes. “I’m not paranoid. That’s not going to work on me.”

“Even if you take two steps outside and step in a pool of Torch’s blood?”

“They make really convincing fake blood nowadays, you know.” Still, Gummy got up. “Convince me with a better reason than that. The Ghostface killings are not things like sweatshirts floating in pools of blood-”

Gummy nearly burst out laughing at the attempt. It was indeed a pool of blood soaking into the carpet outside the door, and Torch’s jacket was draped in it with stains on the pockets. “You can do better than that, come on.”

All Gummy heard from the other end of the phone was an angry cry of frustration before the dial tone indicated the end of the call.

“I can do better than last time,” the voice said irritably as soon as Gummy picked up the phone.

“You didn’t even kill anyone. Are you even trying?” Gummy asked, and the man huffed.

“I’m gauging your reactions! You don’t even seem scared.”

“I have some scary friends,” Gummy answered. “What’s the plan this time?”

“I suppose you’ll have to find out,” he replied. “Maybe I should just kill your scary friends so you’re more scared of me.”

“Good luck with that. Dulla and Cloud can take you in a fight. One on one probably even.”

The voice made an annoyed noise and hung up.

Cloud was being silent again, leaning against the tree. She didn’t seem to see Kap when they sat down across from her, and they knew this was a normal occurrence.

So they picked at the grass.

Gummy was running late, and Kap had the slight satisfaction of knowing they weren’t the reason Cloud was going to be in a mood today. But then again, there wasn’t much sass on days like these.

Kap raised an eyebrow at the phone pressed to Gummy’s ear, shaking their head. Bad idea.

Still, Gummy said something, and Cloud’s eyes snapped into focus. “Kap.”

“Hi!” Kap beamed at her, but she just rolled her eyes.

“I don’t get a hello?” Gummy asked, making a face.

Cloud’s mouth twitched. “Gummy, we talked about this.”

Kap heard the voice on the other end of the phone say something, and Gummy set the phone on the grass, hitting the speaker button.

“What did you talk about?”

Cloud’s eyes flashed. “I’m not staying if you’re here.”

“On the contrary. The first of you three to leave this little study session will die.”

Cloud got an intense look then, one Kap only saw on very rare occasions when they listened to Cloud’s story ideas. The particularly gruesome ones usually were scary, and if they didn’t know better, they’d think Cloud could give Ghostface a run for his money.

If she killed people, that was.

“What if two of us leave together? Does that mean you kill the third?” Gummy asked, unzipping their backpack.

“Regardless, it’s a threat. I’m calling the cops,” Cloud said.

“Wait, no-” Gummy protested. “I’ll lose my friend.”

“I’ll lose my sanity,” Cloud muttered, shaking her head as she wrote something on the page. “I can’t believe you two.”

“What did I do?” Kap cried out.

Cloud’s lips thinned, and she didn’t reply, pencil digging into the paper so aggressively Kap was sure it would snap.

The first flicker of nervousness flashed across Gummy’s features. Today was not a good day for this.

“So, um. Bad news,” Gummy said awkwardly. “They threatened to kill you if I didn’t bring them along today, Cloud.”

“Blackmail implies that you’re not good at intimidation. It’s a crutch,” Cloud informed the voice over the phone. “Do better.”

“Hey, I thought we weren’t supposed to say things like that,” Kap said.

“I don’t see Dulla. Do you?” Cloud replied flatly. “I’m going home. I didn’t even need this session.”

“It’s your funeral,” the voice said.

“Or yours,” Cloud replied darkly. “I’m not afraid of anyone who can’t fight their own battles without a voice changer. I bet you wear a disguise too, don’t you?”

There was no reply to that.

“I’m going home,” Cloud repeated, getting to her feet. “Walk me to the Student Union?”

“Sure,” Kap said, getting to their feet as well. “Gummy, are you coming?”

“You guys made them hang up!” Gummy complained. “I should’ve known better.”

“You should’ve. Phone calls with them can only end badly, Gummy,” Cloud replied. “Did Avalynn even see your text?”

“Nifty has class at this time of day. So does Dulla.”

“But no Torch?” Kap asked.

“Torch has been murdered and therefore cannot come to any gatherings,” Gummy said with a monotone voice.

Cloud just stared. She didn’t say a word before she turned away.

“I think you made her mad,” Kap noted, and Gummy just sighed.

“She’s usually more fun to tease.”

“She doesn’t like your “voice” over the phone. Did they try to make you think Torch died?” Kap wondered.

“Yeah, and I washed their jacket before I returned it. Wouldn’t want this joke getting old too fast, would I?”

Kap smiled, opening their mouth to speak when their phone rang. “One second.”

“Kappy Krow, do you have a favorite horror movie?” the voice asked.

Kap stopped walking. “How did you get this number?”

“How did I get your number? It’s not too hard to figure based on where you live and what you do,” the voice asked smoothly.

Kap watched Gummy run to catch up to Cloud, feeling a little sick. “My phone number isn’t even attached to this area. And I didn’t pick it in the first place!”

“I know. So it got me thinking about what four digits would mean something to your parents, and guess what? I was right.”

“This joke isn’t funny anymore,” Kap said quietly. “Maybe Cloud was right. We should’ve called the cops after the first threat.”

“I’m done threatening,” the voice said, and then the line went dead.

Kap felt feverish, looking around in fear. The trees that had seemed so calming just moments before were ominous shapes now. Even the sun wasn’t a reassurance.

They opened their mouth to call out to Cloud and Gummy, but a warm heat settled in their stomach. “No one threatens to call the cops on me and gets away with it, silly bird.”

Kap scrambled to grab at the black fabric suddenly wrapping around them, but the knife moved, and hot pain burned their hands as precise slashes appeared across their palms.

They sank to the ground, huddling around their injuries. It hurt, hurt in a way they couldn’t fathom as each injury seemed to pang in time with their heart. And their head.

Was this what migraines were like? The heavy, thundering pain expanding across their forehead made them wonder, really.

“You’re Ghostface,” Kap declared, stating the obvious. “I’m dying.”

“You are dying. Would you like an audience?”

Kap closed their eyes. “My head hurts.”

“Dying does that. Are you feeling weightless yet?” Ghostface asked, sitting on the grass beside them.

“I feel extra heavy,” Kap admitted. “Like I’m going to sink into the ground.”

“Maybe you can do just that. Unless I should speed up the process a little bit?”

“I’m going to die either way,” Kap said, not hearing him. “I guess nonbinaries don’t qualify huh?”

“Qualify for what?” Ghostface tilted his head.

“Can’t be a final girl if you’re not a girl,” Kap mumbled. “But Gummy’s your obsession. Does that mean Cloud’s going to be the only one to live?”

“Cloud will taste my knife,” Ghostface promised.

“So you’re not going to follow the rules?” Kap asked. “That’s not very nice of you.”

Ghostface said something in reply, but Kap didn’t hear. They were crumbling sideways into the grass.

Ghostface wiped his knife, nodding approvingly before picking up Kap’s phone. The password was easy enough to guess, with everything else going on.

Cloud was listed under favorites. Ghostface laughed. This was too easy.

Gummy watched the expression on Cloud’s face changed from outright anger to confused frustration when she noticed Kap’s absence. “Kap was right behind me, I thought.”

“They took a phone call.”

“Now they’re calling me,” Cloud muttered, answering. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I think you know what’s wrong, Miss Whisper. Not so clever now are you?”

Cloud spun on her heel. “Kap. What did you do to them?”

“Nothing I haven’t promised to do before. Although, it turns out the ground soaks up blood too easily. Take note for your stories. Don’t kill people on grass. It makes things less dramatic.”

“You-”

“Kap is right where you left them. Although, I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t leave them in a better condition than I found them. Most people don’t tend to.”

Gummy followed Cloud back to where they’d been studying.

“No,” Cloud muttered softly, shaking her head. “No, this can’t- There’s no one here to kill them!”

“Are they-”

“Well, they’re not breathing,” Cloud hissed. “Hello? 911? I have a body to report.”

Avalynn sighed as she reorganized the objects from the mysterious package she’d received earlier that day. The objects seemed to warm under her touch, and she couldn’t figure out why. Avalynn sent a text to her brother before pulling the first thing out of the box.

It was a strange CD, one that had instructions to go in a computer. How ancient is this thing? Avalynn wondered, but she got up anyway.

Her computer may not have had a CD port, but the ones in the library still did. Maybe she’d get something out of that.

Avalynn’s notes weren’t as interesting as Gummy’s phone calls. They never promised a death that would never come, instead promising immortality and never-ending beauty. She didn’t care about either of those things, not really, but she played along in hopes of meeting the stranger who gave her peculiar gifts.

“Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to be Avalynn Shade, would you?”

“Why yes, that’s me,” Avalynn said, turning around on the sidewalk. “I am a bit busy at the moment though. What did you need?”

Then the CD dropped from her hand. “Ghostface.”

“Surprise! If you want to live, I suggest you don’t scream or threaten to call the cops. I have had quite enough of that today,” he replied pleasantly.

“Uh, okay.” Avalynn retrieved the CD. “I hope you’re not going to interrogate me to kill one of my friends. That would be really unfortunate.”

After arriving at her house, Avalynn yelped as the knife pierced her sleeve. “Hey! I thought we agreed no murdering!”

“I said if you want to live,” Ghostface replied, “I never promised that you would get to.”

“Oh, that’s a nasty trick,” Avalynn muttered, the CD case falling from her hand as he thumped her on the top of her head.

When she awoke, she was tied to a chair, Ghostface regarding her carefully. “What was on that disk?”

“I don’t know,” Avalynn replied irritably. “You’re going to kill me regardless, so what does it matter?”

“The dead tell no tales,” Ghostface mused. “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t explain what Dead by Daylight means.”

“I didn’t get the chance to find out for myself,” Avalynn replied, composing herself. “I was on my way to investigate, you see.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“I don’t know,” Avalynn answered honestly. “A mysterious stranger finding ways to pass me notes. I left replies under my welcome mat since he asked me to reply. And he won’t be happy not to get a response to his gift.”

“No one controls when they die,” Ghostface replied. “This gives me an idea…”

Avalynn didn’t like the sound of that.

Ghostface hummed as the knife sank into Avalynn’s stomach. She didn’t scream, wondering if it would even matter. The knife cut jaggedly, something that was probably meant to hurt more, but after the wine she’d been sent by her mysterious friend, pain hadn’t hurt particularly badly. She watched the knife cut a line up her stomach through layers of muscle and skin.

“You missed a spot,” she noted absently, and Ghostface’s head jerked up.

“I know what I’m doing,” he replied indignantly. “How are you still focusing?”

“Because you missed a spot,” Avalynn answered. “I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, you know. Do you think you could do me a favor?”

“Not if you’re begging for your life,” Ghostface replied.

“Nothing so blatant,” Avalynn replied dismissively. “No, I was just wondering if you could put my heart in a box and leave it on the welcome mat.”

Ghostface paused. “There is something very wrong with your group of friends. I think Kappy was one of the more normal ones.”

“They are, I suppose,” Avalynn mused. “I do think nothing would prepare you for Gummy though. They’re a wild card.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ghostface replied mildly. “And I will put your heart in a box on the welcome mat.”

“Good,” Avalynn said, satisfied with having that sorted out. “I had a feeling you were planning to dismember me after I died, so I wanted my heart kept intact.”

“Weird note to make. Is it a confession of love?”

“I mean, I guess it could be taken that way,” Avalynn mused. “That’s not why, but I don’t really need to explain myself to you.”

“Not when you’ll be dead in a minute, no,” Ghostface agreed. “Feeling woozy yet?”

“Hard to tell,” Avalynn told him. “Maybe you should have slit my throat.”

“That’s hardly moving up from stabbing someone to death. Where’s the fun in that?”

“I don’t understand you,” Avalynn replied, but she was smiling as he finally relented and slit her throat.

Her gaze seemed to linger, even as she went fully limp in the chair.

Cloud wasn’t speaking. She rarely had since they’d gone back to find Kap dead in the middle of the park. There was something odd in her gaze every time. Dulla seemed to be one of the rare people she would talk to, but even then, Gummy was positive it related to classwork.

The funeral was a grim affair, made worse by odd way Cloud was watching the crowd. Her eyes were narrowed, suspicious.

Gummy wasn’t watching as closely as they could have been, of course. They hadn’t seen Cloud glare down at the unknown number flashing on her phone screen, hadn’t seen her slip outside to gather her thoughts. They hadn’t seen the masked figure follow her out either.

But Cloud had always had an odd sense for things like this. “Ghostface,” she said, voice level. “How are you not bored of this yet?”

“Gummy is a surprisingly good companion. I wasn’t ever planning to kill your friend, you know.”

“But you did,” Cloud hissed. “Get out. You’re not welcome, and if I see you again, I will have no qualms about killing you for what you did.”

“Violent, aren’t you?”

Cloud’s expression darkened. “Call it writer’s instinct. I’ve thought of countless ways to kill you without anyone being any the wiser. Get. Out.”

“Well, that rather defeats the purpose, considering I’m here to kill you.”

Cloud just stared at him for a long moment. Then, before he could brace himself, she punched him. “I think you’d die in the attempt, considering you didn’t anticipate that,” she told him. “Stay away from my friends. Don’t come near any of us ever again.”

“Unless I’m welcomed?” Ghostface asked, an idea flickering in the back of his mind.

“I don’t see why anyone would welcome you, so fine. If that’s your condition. Now, fuck off.”

Ghostface gave her a mock salute and slipped away, pulling the phone from his pocket. It wouldn’t be hard to ask Gummy’s permission, after all.

As with most days since the… incident, Gummy kicked their shoes off and went to grab their drawing tablet. Inspiration wasn’t exactly rare, but Gummy still liked to sketch out the ideas before getting a snack. They grinned at the rough sketch of the shadowy figure before ripping open the package of chocolates they’d bought between classes earlier.

After a few minutes, wrappers littered the counter, and Gummy crushed them in their fist and tossed them in the trash. The drawing called, and Gummy wanted to be able to describe it in detail to Torch later.

Torch found it funny that Gummy still liked the mysterious stranger over the phone. Their conversations had included it a lot lately, and while some of Gummy’s other friends seemed downright angry, Torch just grinned.

At least someone understood the need to keep things lighthearted. Kap’s death hadn’t been easy on any of them, and Gummy knew damn well who killed them. He’d apologized, saying he had anger issues and wasn’t normally like that. Well, so long as he stayed away from Cloud and Dulla, the anger would be a thing of the past.

The stranger read between the lines pretty well, Gummy thought as they started lineart. Gummy didn’t recall mentioning what type of chocolate they liked when discussing movies, but then again, maybe they said something about snacks at one point.

Anyway, that was all besides the point, because the phone was ringing. Gummy grinned, reaching for it.

“To whom do I owe this pleasure?” Gummy asked cheerfully.

“Guess,” the mysterious stranger drawled.

“Well, Torch obviously wouldn’t be calling right after we were in class together, so not worm. Hmmm… you’re too masculine to be Nifty, but she is the type to randomly call me, so with a voice changer, maybe. Although, I haven’t heard from Nifty lately, so it wouldn’t make that much sense for you to be her. And I already know you use one,” Gummy said. “Oh! You’re the mysterious stranger, aren’t you? Can’t I get a name at some point?”

“You sure talk a lot, Gummy,” the stranger sneered, but Gummy detected a hint of amusement mixed with something darker.

“What are you going to throw at me today?” Gummy asked, the grin spreading as it started adding color to the drawing. “You already emailed all my friends my self-ship art, and I don’t even know how you got that, considering that I never posted that anywhere.”

Gummy paused. “I’m glad we’re passed the threatening to kill my friends thing though, because that whole incident with Kappy was way too much.” That was an understatement. None of them had seen Cloud outside class since the funeral, and Gummy didn’t know how to get passed that. No one did really.

“I know many things,” the stranger replied, avoiding the implications. “Like how you keep your door unlocked in case your friends want to pop in unexpectedly. Or how you never put your shoes away and keep your socks rolled up all the way when you eat chocolate.”

“Okay, but that’s easy stuff. Everybody knows that,” Gummy replied. “I know we’re past movies and stuff, so can’t you come up with something… I don’t know… less obvious?”

A chuckle resonated over the phone. “I suppose telling you I know that you’re on your couch right now would also seem too obvious? Or the fact that I know you’re drawing me?”

Gummy flushed. “Well, maybe I’m predictable!”

“If only I was allowed to see the drawing itself,” the stranger sighed. “Alas, I’m kept away by a promise.”

“What kind of promise?”

“I’m not allowed anywhere near you or your friends since the incident. I thought she would’ve told you.”

“Who?”

“Cloud,” the stranger replied. “She nearly broke my nose when I tried to apologize, warning me off. Did you know, she called the police on me? There was no evidence, of course, so that was hurtful.”

“You did kill Kap though,” Gummy pointed out.

“It was a coincidence that I happened to be nearby to find Kap’s body,” the stranger corrected. “And I needed a moment to vent about how rude you all were. You understand.”

Gummy shrugged. The evidence was supposed to speak for itself, but there was none. And he hadn’t threatened anyone since then, so it was probably fine. “If I gave you permission, would you abuse it?”

“I just want to see the drawing.”

“Fine. You already know I leave the door unlocked when I’m home, but I’m letting you just hang out in here in your freetime. I have to be home, and besides, you don’t know my tablet password.”

“True enough. So you are certainly drawing me then?”

“Trying to,” Gummy replied, shifting slightly to support their wrist.

“You don’t even know what I look like, but that’s still pretty spot-on,” the stranger remarked, and Gummy realized the voice wasn’t coming from the phone this time.

They lifted their head to see a white mask and a gleaming knife. Oh god, Gummy thought, dropping the phone as they scrambled to their feet. A silver of fear shot through them at the sighting of the knife, remembering Kap’s blank expression and pained eyes. The stranger tossed a cellphone onto the couch beside Gummy’s before vaulting easily over the couch itself.

The stranger’s feet were silent when he hit the carpet. Blood roared in Gummy’s ears as they turned a deeper shade of red. This was not the appropriate reaction, but they didn’t have it in them to be angry. Not like Cloud did. So they succumbed to their natural instinct: attraction.

Go figure.

“Poor little Gummy,” the stranger drawled, waving the hunting knife slowly as he shook his head. His voice was way richer than the phone made it sound, and Gummy was outraged that he used a voice changer in the first place.

“You’re the Ghostface,” Gummy said, almost disappointed in themselves for sounding so calm. Honestly, they should’ve gone for something… more seductive.

Cloud would know how, Gummy was sure. She flicked that voice on like a switch when she wanted to, and Gummy knew that they had to make an effort if this was going to go how they wanted.

Of course, she’d also kill Gummy if she’d known they let him in, but really. How was Gummy supposed to know they’d attracted the attention of the Ghostface?

Ghostface gave them jazz hands. “You know it! And I’m not one of those pathetic impersonators either.”

“No, of course not. They would’ve screwed up by now, I’m sure. No evidence, after all,” Gummy wrinkled their nose at the thought of a fake Ghostface. “I’d be offended if you were faking.”

Ghostface chuckled at that, stepping closer. “My blackmail never works on you, Gummy Axolotl.”

“Maybe things were destined to be this way,” Gummy mused as the knife traced a line down their face and one of Ghostface’s gloved hands held their jaw in place. “I’m not bait, but prey.”

“Prey,” Ghostface emphasized. “Prey would be afraid in this situation, Gummy.”

“Oh, maybe instinct kicked in, and I’m just frozen in place…” Gummy sucked in a breath as the knife pressed hard into their neck.

“There’s the fear,” Ghostface whispered. “I doubt that you’re really so ready to die, Gummy. Why don’t you beg?”

Oh, you want me to beg, do you? It’s not going to be what you think, Gummy thought, a smile curling across their mouth. “I don’t have rope,” they said, letting the idea speak for itself.

Ghostface hesitated then. “What? That’s not-”

“I can’t play the part if you don’t tie me up,” Gummy said brightly. “Oh, I know you’re going to kill me, but we can have a little fun first, can’t we?”

“Huh? No, that’s not-”

“You’re not here to kill me? Dang, that’s disappointing. Then why bother threatening me with the knife? Seems like a waste of time considering all your other performances,” Gummy muttered, pretending to be angry.

The knife dropped away from their neck. “You’re not acting right.”

“I thought you claimed to know everything about me,” Gummy muttered. “Well, this is stupid. Just kill me if you’re not making it fun. Maybe you are an impersonator after all. Can’t believe you’d bluff like that, but-”

“I am Ghostface!” he shrieked, throwing his hands out furiously. “I have my camera right here, Gummy-”

“Then why am I still alive?” Gummy pestered. “Because you wanted me to beg, and I don’t like begging with a knife at my throat?”

“It’s about the knife now?” Ghostface stood dumbly.

“Let me text Torch or Dulla. They might have some rope,” Gummy muttered, shaking their head. “We’re going to do this properly.”

As it turned out, neither of them had rope on hand. But Dulla suggested asking Cloud, and she did in fact have rope. Why was another story, and Cloud would not give away what she used it for normally.

It should’ve been something to question, but given the fact that Cloud still had that odd look in her eye, it would be best to let her keep her isolation and privacy.

Cloud still managed to pull off skepticism that night, handing the rope over. “Don’t hurt yourself, Gummy. This isn’t meant to be used for… that, and you know it.”

“I needed rope, Cloud,” Gummy mumbled, face red as a cherry. “You understand.”

Cloud nodded grimly. “Don’t let the rope burns get too nasty, that’s all. This rope isn’t exactly clean.”

Gummy shrugged. “See you later.”

Cloud sighed, shaking her head. “Call me if you need a ride to the hospital. And I mean it. Don’t die for this, Gummy.”

With that, she was gone. Ghostface regarded the door with more interest than Gummy would’ve liked. “You’re not allowed to murder her. I think you said she beat you in a fight, actually. At Kap’s funeral. And she would kill you if you tried, assuming you were the one to kill Kap.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, I’m more prepared than I was at the funeral,” Ghostface replied loftily. “Maybe I should’ve grabbed her when she was here. Might’ve put actual fear in your heart.”

Gummy laughed nervously. “If you say so. Now, tie me up.”

“I still don’t get why,” Ghostface muttered, setting his hunting knife on the counter next to the open bag of chocolates. “You already weren’t going to run away so-”

Gummy rolled their shoulders back, offering their wrists. They had the pathetic wet eyes down. The only one who could resist was Dulla, and Gummy was pleased to know that it was only barely.

Kneeling after their hands were bound, Gummy bowed their head. “Okay, I’m ready to beg.”

Ghostface muttered something, and Gummy felt the cold press of the knife again. “Beg me for your life, Gummy. Beg.”

They lifted their head slowly, a pathetic curl to their lip and eyes wide with tears that hadn’t fallen. “Oh please, Mr. Ghostface! Don’t kill me!”

He laughed then, seemingly relieved that Gummy was finally afraid. But then he stopped, knife hand hesitant.

Then Gummy pulled the sultry voice from deep within themselves to say, “At least, not without a little fun first.”

Ghostface startled, the knife dropping again.

“You’re bad at this,” Gummy remarked, batting their eyelashes at him.

“You’re supposed to be scared,” Ghostface snarled. “You know what? I think I’m just going to go. This is not what it should have been.”

The knife was back in hand, and Gummy realized that he was going to leave, and-

And nothing. Ghostface had vanished right before their eyes. Gummy blinked, looking around for any sign of him, but there was only darkness. Oh. I’m dead, Gummy thought, tugging at the rope around their wrists. He did kill me. Huh. I thought it would hurt more.

All at once, sound rushed in around them, and they could see again. They blinked through the downpour that started and instantly soaked through their hoodie. Gummy looked down at their bound wrists, regretting their decision all the sudden.

Footsteps from their left made them flinch. Dark eyes settled on them, flicking quickly to the rope on their wrists. Irritation crossed the man’s face as he undid the bindings without a word before vanishing into the undergrowth.

Gummy rubbed at their wrists, wondering what that was about. They were prepared to attempt to follow the man when a hatchet embedded itself in the tree right beside them.

They didn’t have the presence of mind to run, staring in shock at the tall woman in the rabbit mask as she readied another hatchet.

The man from before reappeared, yanking Gummy into a sprint. “Are you insane?” he snapped. “Most survivors don’t try to get themselves killed in the first minute of a trial. Why were you tied up, anyway?”

Gummy’s face flushed red. He reminded them a bit of Cloud, somehow. Except he seemed more critical of Gummy, if that was possible. “I-”

“Nevermind,” he muttered, pulling them low to the ground. “Meg’s got it handled.” Disgust flickered across his face. “She’s good at making the Huntress let us go.”

Gummy wanted to ask what that meant, but a small figure was making her way toward them as well. “Another newbie?” She eyed Gummy suspiciously. “Did they try to stab you?”

“Nope,” the man said with a shrug. “It’s the Huntress. Find any totems yet, Nea?”

Nea shook her head. “It’s early yet. Didn’t even know who the killer was, so I wasn’t exactly looking.”

“You should always be looking,” he muttered irritably. “You’ll be in charge of them, Nea. Show them how generators work. I’ll start looking for totems.”

Gummy blinked. “I thought you said Meg was always able to-”

“Not with a new survivor in the mix.” The man seemed almost apologetic about that. “All killers are determined to get their taste of the new survivor first.”

“Oh.” Gummy blinked. “Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you… um.”

“Jake,” he replied. “And I would rather you didn’t see me.”

“Oh. Okay.” Gummy blinked again.

“What is your name, anyway?” Jake asked, fingers twitching like he desperately wanted to be somewhere else. Not that Gummy would stop him. He seemed very upset.

“Gummy.”

“Like the candy?” Nea wondered.

“You could say that, I guess,” Gummy mumbled, face turning red.

“Gummy,” Jake said cooly, “stick with Nea. She’ll keep you safe.”

“Oh.” Gummy swallowed harshly. “Can’t I just-”

“No.” His eyes darkened. “This will be better for you in the long run. Trust me. And Nea?”

“You’re not the boss of me, you know.”

“Keep them safe,” Jake said, ignoring Nea. Well, not completely since he was glaring at Nea as well as Gummy now. Fantastic.

Gummy did not have the chance to meet Meg during the trial, but afterwards, they found her to be a wonderful person. She linked arms with Gummy immediately, rambling on about how lucky they’d been that it was a Huntress match and not one of the more grisly killers.

Jake had made a face at that, stating that he needed to be alone. Nea rolled her eyes at that comment, muttering something about thinking Jake should talk to some guy named Dwight, but Jake looked ready to kill her at that, so Gummy figured he wasn’t going to do that.

Meg announced that she was going to take Gummy to see Dwight, and…

Well, it wasn’t as bad as meeting Jake, at least. Still awkward though.

Dwight at least smiled at them, introducing himself before launching into an explanation so confusing it made their head spin. Meg grinned, clearly used to this confusing explanation, jumping in at key points to elaborate.

When he finished talking, he asked their name.

“Gummy,” Meg said brightly. “Like the candy.”

Dwight blinked, hardly seeming bothered. “Do you have a last name, Gummy? It’s okay if you don’t. Jake doesn’t have one either.”

Meg’s eyes glittered with something at that comment, but she didn’t say a word.

“Oh, I have one,” Gummy said slowly. “I’m… My name is Gummy Axolotl.”

“Certainly a unique name,” Dwight mused.

“Says the guy named Dwight,” Meg snorted. “Come on, I still need to introduce Gummy to everyone.”

“Thought Jane was doing that now,” Dwight muttered darkly, but he waved them off.

“Who’s Jane?” Gummy asked. Meg shook her head, a tight expression crossing her face.

“Oh, we’ll get to Jane. But I’m going in order,” Meg replied, blue eyes gleaming. “And you can tell me more about yourself on the way.”

Ghostface clenched his fist as he leaned his head against the pile of cars. It was not fair. It was undignified, really, that he could’ve been kidnapped while trying to kill someone. And then the voice in his head had the nerve to give him instructions about his victims! As if he needed help! He could figure things out on his own!

Except this whole place was enclosed. There was no routine that they could possibly be comfortable in while here. Routine required safety. And if they already knew about the danger…

It’s not like it’ll be a challenge, he thought. Easier than most. They can’t call the cops on me.

Ghostface found himself wishing he’d kept playing along with Gummy’s strange scheme. Sure, they’d thrown him off balance, but the end result would’ve been the same… mostly.

He didn’t bother learning much about the survivors in the trial. Why would he? They didn’t live regular lives, defeating the whole purpose of his latest project. They weren’t creatives seeking to do something while struggling to survive.

Although, Ghostface was pretty sure he’d seen one of them in a movie before.

Cleaning his knife, he followed the instructions set in his head about where to wait for his next round with the survivors. Great, he thought, unenthused by the prospect.

Until a tall angry lady fell in step beside him, muttering angrily about a rough trial. She brightened slightly upon seeing one of the other killers wiping absently at his meat cleaver, announcing in no uncertain terms that there was a new survivor.

The man glanced at Ghostface before focusing on the woman. Outraged, Ghostface lifted his knife, but a cold hand wrapped around his wrist. Holy shit, is that Michael Myers?

Ghostface was too in awe to pull his arm free as the angry woman kept talking.

“If you’re not going to contribute,” the man with the meat cleaver said suddenly, “go bother Legion.”

“I think they go by the Legion, actually, MacMillan,” a short woman snarled from the ground.

“They have names,” a second man said mildly, but his expression seemed dull. “Frank, Julie, Joey, and… hmmm. Wasn’t there a fourth?”

“They came with a survivor. Jeff Johanson,” MacMillan drawled. “Michael, you can let go of him now. He’s not going to be able to do much that I haven’t already gone through.”

When the man rose to his full height, Ghostface should’ve shrank back in fear. He should’ve winced at the gashes marring the man’s arms and shoulders. But he didn’t, and MacMillan seemed unbothered.

“Go home, Michael,” MacMillan said sternly. “You’ll learn more about the new survivor when you meet them.”

A heavy exhale from beside Ghostface was the only indication that Michael Myers had been listening.

“Why did you fail, Anna?” MacMillan asked as Myers vanished. “You already have proven to be a formidable huntress.”

“Someone should smash his skull in,” Anna replied stiffly. “The saboteur does not allow for any error, especially not when my darling is present.”

“This? Again?” he growled.

“She is mine,” Anna snapped, lip curling angrily. “You have your favorites too.”

“I don’t let my favorites live,” MacMillan replied. “And I certainly don’t let them get in the way of killing the others.”

“We disagree.” Anna turned away. “Do you have a favorite?”

“My favorite isn’t here,” Ghostface replied evenly. “But if they were, I would enjoy their blood on my hands.”

Anna laughed, an unnerving sound. “That’s not what a favorite is, tortured one. Favorite is one you don’t kill.”

“He just said he doesn’t let the favorites live,” Ghostface pointed out.

“I don’t kill them,” MacMillan replied. “But there are ways to let our master reach through and kill if we are to… neglect the sacrifice.”

“Bleeding them out?” Ghostface wrinkled his nose, wincing as the action seemed to pull at his mask as much as the skin on his face.

“Or the skewering,” the other man joined in again, looking off into the distance. “Do you think the Nightmare would let me sit in one of the houses? Or would he try to kill me again?”

“You should ask him, not me, Philip.”

Philip bowed his head. “I may not return.”

“I know, Philip.”

“Frank is really vicious. I doubt Freddy could be worse.”

“He has claws for a hand. How is a hunting knife worse than that?” Anna replied, sounding annoyed.

Ghostface glanced at the knife in his hand, suddenly feeling inadequate.

“It’s how they use it,” Philip replied. “Rather, how Frank uses it. I do not wish to repeat that anytime soon.”

“But you do not protest me sending him to the lodge?” MacMillan mused.

“He has a hunting knife,” Philip said as if that cleared things up.

“I have claws. Doesn’t mean I handle Krueger very well.”

“Freddy Krueger?” Ghostface said, startled. “I suppose next you’ll say Jigsaw is here.”

“He is not,” another voice chimed in.

Ghostface blinked at the Pig. Sure. Why not, really.

“So I’m to befriend this Frank character, am I?” Ghostface asked cooly.

“I doubt you’ll get that far,” the woman on the ground remarked.

“Lisa, keep your opinions to yourself.”

“If you plan to kill the man with a blood-covered blade, at least have the decency to tell him you want him dead.”

“There’s not blood on it anymore,” Ghostface replied.

“I can sense your kills,” Lisa said dryly. “I don’t need to see the blood on your knife to know it’s there.”

A disturbing thought. But then again, she didn’t seem likely to report him to any authorities. Were there even authorities here for her to report him? Probably not.

“I think I can handle Frank,” Ghostface declared. “Where do I find him?”

“The lodge is further north.” MacMillan pointed absently. “Now, Anna. You mentioned a new survivor?”

Ghostface wanted to stay to gather information about the other survivors in this place, but the gleam in MacMillan’s eye didn’t seem likely to be amusement. And Ghostface wasn’t ready for confrontation just yet.

As it turned out, Frank wasn’t all too threatening. Sure, he had his own hunting knife, but he let his girlfriend hold it too much. And Joey didn’t seem to care much about anything but the fact that Ghostface had arrived. It was nice to be noticed, but Ghostface found himself displeased by the masks the members of the Legion wore.

Where was the creativity? They just wore masks with smiley faces drawn on, and sure, there was blood on Frank and Julie’s masks, but Joey just had a fabric covering dyed black in some places.

They didn’t even have the full costume, he thought irritably. His mind reached regretfully for green eyes filled with rage before he shook his head. He didn’t want her here. It would be nice to be a threat to Gummy, but not her. His nose still hurt at the thought of her.

Still, they didn’t try to murder him on sight or gush too much when he sat down. They each lifted their masks, as if that was a common thing. Yeah right. Ghostface doubted there would be a need for Jed Olsen here. No friendly smiles necessary to get a job and get the work done.

No, all he needed was his camera, it seemed. His master would handle the rest.

Julie was the first to speak to him. He found it uncomfortable, and clearly, so did Frank. “So… Ghostface huh?” She flipped the knife absently in her hands.

He didn’t bother to respond, and Joey was already on it. “Of course he’s the Ghostface! Just look at him, Jules!”

“Don’t call her that,” Frank snapped. “And how do we know it’s actually Ghostface? There were plenty of fakers out there before we got here.”

“That’s just it!” Joey said excitedly. “It’d have to be the real Ghostface if the Entity took him too! Remember what Mr. MacMillan said? ‘You have to do immeasurable damage to human life before you’re brought here to face judgement.’ It’s gotta be him.”

“Judgement,” Ghostface said, drawing out the word. “Ironic really. Since I was punishing people before.”

That seemed to catch Frank’s attention. “Punishing them? For what?”

Ghostface shook his head. “If it’s not obvious, you haven’t figured it out for yourselves yet.” He sighed. “These are not my typical victims.”

“Because they’re already tormented souls?” a shy voice asked from the stairs, and the Legion looked up seemingly instinctively.

“Susie! Get down here!” Joey cupped his hands around his mouth as the girl slowly lowered her hood.

Ghostface glanced at the weapon in her hand, intrigued. It wasn’t a hunting knife, not like Frank’s. And not a karambit like Joey’s. He did his best to get a closer look, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Joey shuffled, patting the space beside him, but Susie didn’t take the offered place. Fascinating. So the other half of the Legion wasn’t as entangled as the first half.

“Mind if I look at that?” Ghostface asked, wiggling his fingers.

Susie glanced at her weapon. “Only if I can hold your knife.”

“It’s only fair, of course.” Ghostface noticed dried blood on the tip of the… ruler. It was a broken ruler with little needles taped to it.

What an intuitive design.

“How’d it go?” Julie asked, and her voice seemed more subdued.

Susie was holding Ghostface’s knife like it would bite her. She glanced at her friend with a weak smile. “All four.”

“Really?” Frank beamed at her. “You’re getting the hang of it? Finally?”

“Frank, don’t,” Joey said as Susie shoved the knife back toward Ghostface, slipping away without a word. “Now look what you did.”

“She doesn’t want to be here, I take it?” Ghostface asked.

Joey and Julie nodded. Frank just rolled his eyes. “She’ll adjust.”

“You need to stop goading her,” Joey replied, anger gleaming in his eyes.

“Well, I’m sure she has her reasons,” Ghostface said mildly. “As we all do. I think I’ll return this now.”

Julie blinked. “Oh, that’s… yeah, you should return it.”

He picked up his own blade, enjoying the perfectly fitted grip as he set off. It would be good practice for later, he thought.

Ghostface did consider how disgusting the little shack looked from the outside, but he also understood that it was cold outside. And inside. And anywhere, really. That fog left no room for warmth.

His feet were quiet on the wooden steps, and he regarded Susie’s huddled figure for a long moment before approaching. “Forgetting something?”

Ghostface put the ruler back in her hands. She took it numbly, staring at something in the center of the room. He turned to see, and-

Ah.

There were bodies hanging from a set of hooks, each holding a dead survivor. He did recognize one of them from his own trial earlier. Movie girl.

“It’s the sacrifice,” Susie mumbled, burying her face. “When you’re out of trials, you can find the basement and see the deaths from your latest trial if you just…” She trailed off, and Ghostface noticed the blood leaking from her closed fist.

“And these four were your latest victims?” Ghostface asked, crouching to look at the bodies with her. “They’re nothing special, you know.”

“That’s Dwight,” Susie pointed, not seeming to hear him. “And Min, Laurie, and David. If you weren’t new, I’d tell you you were wrong. They’re all something special.” She didn’t look at him then. “The others think I should admire you, I’m sure. But I know what killing is like. There’s no glamor in it, no matter how much you-”

“It’s not meant to be glamorous,” Ghostface interrupted. “And death is always…” He didn’t know how to explain it. “Taking lives is what we do.”

“It’s a nasty thing to do, you know,” Susie replied.

“But necessary, in our case,” Ghostface told her. “You understand why you must kill, surely?”

“To survive,” Susie replied, and there were tears in her eyes now. “I don’t want to. I’m sure your reasons are justified in a way mine can never be.”

“I was taught,” Ghostface said, shifting to cross his legs as they looked at the hanging bodies. “From a young age, I was taught to orchestrate death. Killing someone isn’t meant to be controlled, but my father showed me how to control it. How to make someone’s life end because they took it for granted.”

“The survivors don’t take their lives for granted,” Susie muttered.

“And that’s why I said I wouldn’t normally kill them,” Ghostface replied. “These aren’t my normal victims. They can’t be, not if our master decides to resurrect them all the time. They value their time alive. I know because they try to save each other.”

Susie tried for a smile. “How many times did you get blinded?”

“…Six,” Ghostface admitted, and Susie’s mouth twitched into a proper smile.

“They do their best to keep each other alive.”

“They’re better than most,” Ghostface mused. “I heard something about a saboteur.”

Susie’s smile vanished, and bitterness flickered in her eyes.

“Sore subject?” Ghostface guessed.

“If you think a flashlight is bad, you’ve not experienced Jake Park,” Susie muttered. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m not supposed to know that! Don’t tell anybody!”

Ghostface scanned her face. “Your favorite told you his name, I assume?”

Susie’s cheeks darkened. “I wish Mr. MacMillan didn’t have to call them that. It makes it feel…”

“That’s probably his way of coping. Something about us being punished and all that goes along with it, I’m sure,” Ghostface replied, dismissing MacMillan’s words.

“He ruins everything when you’re in a trial with him,” Susie growled. “Even Meg being herself isn’t enough to make me feel better in a trial where he’s there.”

“Meg is your favorite?” Ghostface guessed.

Susie nodded, biting her lip. “And Dwight’s one of her best friends. I didn’t want to kill him, but… I can’t keep compromising. The Entity is already in an eager mood, trying to rile us up for the new survivor.”

“Must be something special then,” Ghostface mused. “New survivors don’t tend to have that same fear of death, do they?”

“You want to be the first to kill them,” Susie realized. “Good luck with that. There are plenty of killers more vicious than you here.” Her hands twitched, clearly recalling something. “I’d kill to see Jake’s trials against the Doctor. Just the end result, honestly.”

Ghostface snorted. He was suddenly very eager to see what happened with this… Jake character. Getting to his feet, he clapped his hands. “Well, I’m sure this is a terribly entertaining part of your day, but I would love to learn more about the survivors in this place. Got any ideas about how I could learn such a thing?”

She blinked, pulling her mask over her face. Ghostface beamed as he saw something other than a face drawn in black paint. This was a work of art, something that very much matched the ruler in her hand. “We’re not supposed to go there, but Meg thinks that’s stupid anyway. She can lead us the rest of the way in, if you promise to behave.”

“Behave?”

“We’re not supposed to kill them in these woods,” Susie replied. “Frank tried once. He jumped Jake while he was out scavenging. Then the Entity…” Susie shuddered. “We just don’t do that. Best to be safe.”

“Right.” Ghostface was intrigued. If he could do a kill in these woods, then it would be a breach of the norm, but the survivors were used to being safe out here, so maybe…

It would be painful. That much was clear. Best not to try anything without knowing more.

Susie seemed more sure of herself the further they got from the lodge. Ghostface let himself wonder if he should be concerned about dying. But then he decided that she wouldn’t be strong enough to take him in a fight.

The snow melted as they continued walking, and pretty soon, Susie pointed through the trees. She didn’t say anything, but she stopped following the path and waited. Ghostface lowered himself into a crouch, eyes scanning the surroundings. Something broke branches in front of them, and Susie called out.

“Meg!”

“Susie!” the survivor slowed down, beaming at Susie. “Did your last trial go alright?”

“I may’ve killed… all of them?”

“They’ll understand,” Meg reassured her, but the smile faded slightly. “Who… who was in it…?”

“Dwight.” Susie twisted a strand of her hair. “Min, Laurie, and David.”

Meg exhaled slowly. “Hooks? Please tell me you sacrificed them.”

“Hooks,” Susie confirmed. “I wanted to come by to apologize, if that was okay?”

Meg considered it for a moment. “We’ll have to sneak you in. Camp’s not a great place right now.”

“Because of the new survivor?” Susie asked. “I heard about that. The Huntress wasn’t exactly happy-”

“That’s because Jake was there to ruin everything,” Meg replied, shrugging her shoulders. “And we couldn’t just let Gummy die in their first trial.”

Ghostface stiffened. He couldn’t have heard that right. If Gummy was here, why hadn’t they been in his first trial? That wasn’t fair!

He blinked, not catching what Susie said next. They were walking away, and Ghostface tensed, crouching after them as quick as he could.

Gummy was easy to spot, with that rich purple hoodie they seemed to wear everywhere. Mud seemed to be soaking through the bottom of their socks already, but blood was noticeably absent.

Ghostface’s hand tightened around his knife. His instincts stirred as he watched Gummy mutter something to the woman beside them. Ghostface’s eyes focused on Gummy’s nervous gestures and the uncomfortable twitch in their jaw. They weren’t in their home environment, something that should’ve satisfied Ghostface.

He would’ve been comfortable with it before, but now… His eyes flicked to a survivor fiddling with a line of rope. The line of rope from Gummy’s apartment.

Anger curled in his gut at the idea that a survivor could’ve taken joy in the idea Gummy had in mind before they’d both been taken. Ghostface reined in his anger, reminding himself that he had plenty of time to get revenge for what could have been.

Part of him wondered if he could lure Gummy away from the campfire like Susie could do for Meg. Surely he’d get his chance to tease, even if he wasn’t allowed to actually kill them.

Gummy’s muscles ached as they were thrown into another match. It was their first one without Jake, and while they knew they should’ve been more worried about that, Quentin’s tight smile was enough to keep the nerves at bay. For now.

They recognized this place from movies, and Gummy found it really cool how much seemed to be the same, especially the big Myers house on the side of the street. As Meg explained it, places like this were taken from memory, not from any actual real place or movie set.

It was still cool to see in person though.

“Hate this place,” David muttered, limping over to reach for a generator in the middle of the street.

“Why? There’s pumpkins everywhere. It’s festive,” Gummy found themselves saying.

David gave them an amused look. “Half the generators are in the bloody street. Not exactly ideal for keeping a new survivor alive.”

“I’ll be fine,” Gummy reassured him, but David just grunted, twisting a knob on the generator. “Is there usually a generator in the Myers house?”

“Upstairs in a side room. There’s always a generator there,” David replied. “Be careful.”

Gummy nodded, but they didn’t really care about being careful. Not in the way everyone else seemed to mean it, at least. Sure, they’d crouch and be careful with corners, but they weren’t going to avoid generators like everyone wanted. That just didn’t feel fair.

Messing with the generator, Gummy felt proud as the lights started flickering less. It was a sure sign of progress, even as Min screamed from a hook. Progress would get them all out of here alive.

And so progress was what Gummy worked on.

“Aren’t you more talkative than this?” Ghostface remarked, and Gummy startled, shocking themselves with the exposed wires. “Ouch, that looked painful.”

“This isn’t the same as my apartment,” Gummy said shakily. “Survivors aren’t supposed to-”

“Aww, who fed you that line? Meg Thomas seems plenty comfortable chatting with killers,” Ghostface pointed out, helping Gummy to their feet. “Surely there are more comfortable rooms here. I admit, I only know the lodge.”

Gummy shot him a look. It wasn’t proper etiquette. “I haven’t died to anyone yet. Isn’t it too soon to pick favorites?”

“You were more than happy to spend time with me at your apartment,” Ghostface remarked. “Besides, I only ever use the hooks. I’ve been behaving.”

“You killed Kap on purpose,” Gummy replied. “And then lied about it.”

“Well, if arrest was on the line, I’m sure you’d do the same,” Ghostface replied loftily. “Moving on so soon? I thought our friendship was enough to get you past my mistakes.”

“You do it here too.”

“Everyone does it here,” Ghostface replied. “You’re still not scared.”

“You’ve given me no reason to be,” Gummy said sourly.

“But you’re angry. It’s not a nice look, you know. I didn’t decide to call you constantly to make you angry at me.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you killed Kap.”

Ghostface threw up his hands in frustration. “I apologized! You and your friends just seem to have no regard for death, and I had to teach you all a lesson somehow!”

“Then why did you come to my apartment that night? It wasn’t to shower me in praises for learning my lesson,” Gummy said bitterly. “Jake says it’s something killers do, you know. Playing with their food, he called it. Did you do that with Kap, I wonder?”

“You were going along with it,” Ghostface replied angrily. “You were taking the lead. I don’t even know if I would’ve still killed you by the end of it.”

“Now you’re just saying things.” And not answering the question, Gummy noted, hurt panging in their chest. Was Jake right?

“You sound like Cloud,” Ghostface turned away. “I’ll let you go this once, but I wanted to actually talk to you, Gummy.”

Did he miss the chats? Gummy felt guilty then, but he’d already slipped away. Shaking their head, Gummy got back on the generator. Survival with the other survivors was the important thing. Progress, Gummy thought to themselves.

Ghostface knew he wasn’t acting rationally when he cut down the burly man to throw him on a hook. He wasn’t thinking properly, and his stealth was almost completely out the window.

Lingering on potential kills wasn’t what he was known for. He moved on, found another target and stopped thinking about them.

But the moment Gummy brought up Jake, there’d been a new feeling there. A very murderous one.

Someone unhooked the big man, and Ghostface’s anger exploded. They weren’t supposed to keep living! They were meant to die and never get back up again!

The tired boy walked quietly, and therefore he had to die. The little Chinese woman was too efficient, and she’d had to die. And the burly man… Well, he was just in the way.

There was blood on the cloak, and Ghostface realized he’d forgotten to take his pictures. The three bodies on the ground wouldn’t protest, of course, but it was out of the ordinary for him.

I have a new target, he decided, wiping his blade. Ready or not, you will die, Jake Park.

But first, he had to see how Gummy was getting along. It wouldn’t be good if they found the bodies with him standing amongst them. His knife wasn’t even getting clean from his hands anymore. He’d been far too messy, just like with Kappy Krow.

Frustration prickled at his skin as he snuck back to the Myers house. But Gummy was gone, and a roaring generator sat there, mocking him.

Sourly, he wondered why he cared so much. It wasn’t like Gummy belonged to him, but this overwhelming rage was new. He’d never felt it before Cloud and Dulla started dismissing his words and claiming Gummy needed to stop answering his calls. Nifty and Kappy did much the same, and they were the less dangerous alternatives. But after what happened with Kap, Ghostface had felt genuine fear of losing Gummy. It was why they didn’t know he’d killed Avalynn, after all.

That was it then. People who kept him away from Gummy made him angry, and Gummy created an odd fuzzy feeling. Gummy being mad at him made him feel sick and angry, but he wouldn’t dare push Gummy away further.

Not that it was really a bad thing, considering everything. Gummy was human, but they didn’t have that desire to live he’d gotten accustomed to. They’d started acting more self-sacrificing, and Ghostface knew that was a consequence of getting sent here.

Of course it was! Seeing their friends die constantly was never going to have a good impact on them, and the fact that all of these people came back when Kap never could probably made that wound sting worse.

Not for the first time, Ghostface was relieved that none of Gummy’s friends were here with them. It would’ve made things a lot more difficult, even as Ghostface went in a more careful search for Gummy.

They were, predictably, on another generator. Ghostface had a careful manner about him as he approached this time.

“I’ve done some reflection,” Ghostface said, and Gummy lifted their head, suspicion still clear in their eyes. “It was really a mistake to kill Kappy Krow, for the record.”

“You wouldn’t do it again, if given the chance?”

Ghostface shook his head.

“I guess that’s all that can be done.” Gummy’s hands slipped into their pocket. “You killed the other survivors, didn’t you?”

Ghostface nodded.

“Did I really make you that angry?”

“There was some reflection mixed in there,” Ghostface replied evasively. “I didn’t want to kill your friend, but it still happened. I went about this trial incorrectly, so I’m sure I will get a scolding regardless.”

Gummy pushed away from the generator, plopping down on the dusty bed in the corner. “A proper scolding?”

“Your friends have weird ways of talking,” Ghostface replied, nose throbbing slightly at the sentiment. “Is she actually American?”

“Who?”

“Cloud,” Ghostface shifted. “She doesn’t talk like one.”

“Sure she does! I think the British speak was more to annoy Kap than anything. She stopped calling flashlights torches after she met Torch Iiko, but she just says them a different way now.”

Ghostface just nodded uncomfortably.

“You can sit,” Gummy said. “I guess I was just mad. I haven’t been able to get things out of my system. Processing and all that.” They waved their hands around as they talked. “And Jake really gets in my head sometimes. He won’t leave me alone during trials.”

“Does that bother you?”

Gummy snorted. “He’s careful, that’s for sure. But Meg’s been really the opposite, which makes me think he doesn’t actually know everything like he tries to get me to believe. Seeing those two together, you forget they’re not related.”

“They’re that close?” Ghostface asked.

“Yeah. And I said you could sit, but now I’m going to ask you to sit because it’s really weird for me to just sit here while you stand ominously like that.”

Ghostface sat, his hands sweaty in the black gloves. “It’s confusing for me, you know.”

“What is?” Gummy asked, crossing their legs.

“This place,” Ghostface muttered. “You had no regard for death before, and that was the purpose for my punishments. Not that I needed to kill Kap to threaten you properly,” he said, worrying that Gummy would yell at him again. “But I did plan to kill you that night.”

“I knew I was going to die,” Gummy agreed. “Funny how things worked out though. I haven’t died yet, and now when I die, I’ll just get revived. It’s weird.”

“It’s weird,” Ghostface agreed, shoulders sagging. “My purpose in life was to prevent people from taking their lives for granted, but now…”

“No one here takes their lives for granted? And if they do, it’s to protect each other?”

Ghostface nodded.

“Well, I can’t fix that,” Gummy said, looking around. “But, if you really want, we can finish what we started in my apartment.”

“You’re not supposed to ask me to kill you,” Ghostface complained. “That just makes it worse.”

“So you don’t want to kill me?” Gummy asked.

Ghostface didn’t have an honest answer to that, and he replied by burying his face in his hands.

“Aw, no, it’s okay! You got three kills anyway, right?”

“I didn’t do it right.”

“But you normally do, right?” Gummy asked, giving him a hopeful look.

“I don’t think I have the energy to kill you,” Ghostface said tiredly. “I don’t think I have the energy to indulge you either.”

“But you just wanna sit here?” Gummy wondered.

“It’s as good a place as any,” he replied, knocking Gummy’s shoulder.

They slid off the comforter with a yelp, looking disgruntled on the floor. Ghostface managed a small smile, one Gummy would never see.

“I’ll just do generators then, I guess,” Gummy muttered.

“You’re not actually mad at me, are you?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Gummy replied cryptically. “About Kap? I don’t think that’ll ever go away. But the other deaths since I got here aren’t entirely your doing since they obviously don’t follow your pattern. And you’re kind of being forced to kill more frequently and out of the way you normally would, so…”

“Mixed feelings?”

Gummy nodded. “I mean, I’d be a terrible friend if I fully let go of Kap, but really, before I got here, I guess it just didn’t hit properly.”

“You found the body. And went to the funeral. Surely that’s closure.”

“Not if you’re in denial,” Gummy replied. “I’m just too used to things being okay. Like, I play video games with Dulla and Nifty all the time, right? So their deaths in games never really hurt, you know? And Kap played those games with us more often than not. And then Cloud had this saying-”

“I get it,” Ghostface said tightly, his stomach tightening at the thought of Dulla and Cloud, two people he wished he’d gotten away with killing. Of course, not that it would’ve gone over well, since killing any of Gummy’s friends at all hadn’t gone well.

“It didn’t hit properly until I was watching Meg recover from a broken ankle, or when I saw Claudette reattach Jake’s arm. Stuff like that makes things more real, I guess.”

Ghostface nodded. “Which is why you didn’t explode at me right after the incident.”

“The murder,” Gummy corrected. “I know you’re using my term for it, but we should call it what it is. Respect their honor.”

Ghostface nodded, huddling on the bed.

Gummy glanced over and smiled feebly. “It could’ve been worse.”

“I should’ve killed someone with a name that doesn’t serve as a reminder,” Ghostface muttered as a crow flew in from the window. “Don’t see how it could’ve been worse.”

Gummy’s smile dissolved, and they stopped working on the generator. “This really bothers you.”

“Is it that obvious?”

Gummy got up to sit by him on the bed again, even slipping an arm around him. “It kinda is obvious. You’re all tense and curled up.”

Ghostface shrugged. “I can’t do my job properly from here. And even when I was doing my job, I spent too much time getting to know you instead of doing what I do best.”

“Killing?”

Ghostface turned his head slowly. “In a normal case, you would’ve been dead months ago.”

Gummy grinned. “I’m just special then.”

“You are,” Ghostface nodded. Something in his gut twisted at the admission, but he hadn’t sorted out everything yet, so he didn’t know if it was disgust or delight.

Gummy rubbed their knuckles along the tense muscles in Ghostface’s back, and he fell silent, slowly relaxing into the feeling.

It was nice. Nice in a way he didn’t expect.

He wasn’t anticipating the sleepiness accompanying his relaxed muscles, but Gummy must’ve anticipated that as they adjusted to let Ghostface sleep against them.

As far as trials went, this one hadn’t been too bad.

Gummy was expecting the swarm of survivors when they got back to camp. Meg was there, naturally, as was Nea and a bunch of people whose names felt near impossible to remember.

Claudette was the first to step away, relief glittering in her eyes as she yelled for everyone else to give Gummy space. People glanced at her before continuing on to bother Gummy.

Meg tried to hold them at arms length, calling that Gummy was fine, and could people please let them breathe?

Not that any scoldings were working until Jake sent them a look. He hadn’t even moved from his spot at the fire, trusting Claudette’s assessment more than anyone else.

The first four, Gummy remembered, looking for any sign of Dwight. But David and Quentin were somewhere else too, and Gummy asked almost automatically where they were.

“Trial,” Meg replied. “Ghostface couldn’t find you, huh?”

“I think…” Gummy hesitated, looking at the people who were settling in. “He’s decided I’m a favorite.”

Meg blinked. “After one trial?”

“Guess I’m just that good,” Gummy replied, smiling slightly.

Meg’s eyes lit with amusement too. “See if you can figure out how to do that for other killers. It probably won’t be so easy. I think I died to Huntress twenty times before she started playing nice.”

Gummy grinned. “You can have the Huntress, Meg. I think Ghostface will suit just fine.”

Meg winked. “It’s fun if you can do it in more than one trial.”

“I believe it,” Gummy replied, but they were being honest. They didn’t need anyone else. Ghostface was special in his own way. That was enough.

“I wouldn’t go trying that until you’ve experienced death for the first time though,” Meg said, her tone more serious. “It will get you killed a few times.”

“I’ve been warned,” Gummy replied.

“Jake?” Meg guessed, and Gummy nodded. “He hates the idea of being a favorite.”

“Probably because he knows he can never manage it,” Gummy replied.

“You’d be surprised,” Meg told them. “I’ve seen the Trapper hesitate before.”

“He told me the Trapper likes to hang him from trees by his ankles and bleed him out,” Gummy answered. “I don’t know how that could be favoritism.”

“The Trapper doesn’t claim to have favorites,” Meg said cheerfully. “The Huntress says he gets creative about it, so I am almost positive Jake is a favorite. Dwight too. Except he doesn’t get bled out like a pig…”

“I can’t say I’d be much better,” Gummy confessed. “I came here with Ghostface, did I tell you that?”

“No,” Meg tilted her head curiously. “Let’s sit, and you can tell me all about it.”

So they sat, and Gummy fidgeted before explaining what had been happening when they were taken into the fog. Meg’s eyebrows raised, but there was still amusement in her eyes.

“That’s where the rope came from?” Meg asked. “Was it his rope? Jake said it’s only good for temporary stuff, but it would still burn your wrists if you were to use it for that.”

“Ghostface didn’t bring the rope. I asked a friend for it. She obliged and warned me to call them if I got hurt.”

“Good friend,” Meg commented. “But why did she have it?”

“I don’t know.” Gummy shrugged. “Better not to ask. I think she experiments.”

“Oh?”

“Not like that,” Gummy said hastily. “I mean, she could probably, but I don’t think she does. I meant she tests out what’s possible with the human body, and the rope was probably-”

“For human torture?” Meg raised an eyebrow.

“No! I think she used it on herself.”

“Masochism,” Meg remarked, sounding impressed. “Why does she experiment with that stuff?”

“She likes writing, and she likes it to be realistic, but she is infamous for despising research.”

Meg snorted. “So she experiments.”

“She experiments,” Gummy confirmed. “It was her rope, really.”

“And now it’s Jake’s rope. I think he was cutting pieces off it to try reconstructing pallets. It hasn’t been going very well, but it’s a nice thought.”

“Yeah.” Gummy wondered what had become of Cloud’s rope, and they felt a little sad that they wouldn’t be able to return it when they escaped this place, but escape itself seemed impossible.

“Oh! Did you still want to see if my shoes fit?” Meg asked, kicking them off her feet.

Gummy made a sad face, wriggling their toes only to see that the sock didn’t move. “I should wash my socks first.”

“Jake hasn’t taken you to the river yet?” Meg wondered.

Gummy shook their head.

“Let’s go. We can test the shoes after you get your socks cleaned up. Can’t believe Jake’s been letting you walk around like that.”

“He offered his boots, but they’re too small.”

Meg snorted. “Too small. Imagine that.”

“He doesn’t like short jokes, Meg.”

“Oh, I know,” Meg sighed, shaking her head. “Tiny angry man.”

Gummy suppressed a laugh. “That’s mean.”

“But true,” Meg replied, grinning at them. “Dwight says I need to stop bullying him, but I think he’s just taking Jake’s side because he’s in love.”

“Dwight would be gay, wouldn’t he?” Gummy mused.

Meg elbowed them.

“I’m nonbinary! I can say things like that!” Gummy protested, and Meg snorted again.

“Of course you can, but he’s insecure about it, so I wouldn’t bring it up to him. I’m forbidden from saying a word about it to Jake,” Meg replied. “Or Claudette.”

“Ah.” Gummy nodded. “We have to respect his privacy then.”

Meg nodded. “Not Jake’s though.”

“Fuck you, Meg,” Jake muttered, and Gummy blinked.

“When did you get here?” Gummy asked the man lying in the grass.

“I’ve been here,” Jake replied. “Just went to the fire for a minute to check up on things.”

“You’re scarily quiet,” Gummy muttered, but Jake just closed his eyes again.

“Did you need something?”

“Not from you,” Meg replied. “Don’t mind us.”

Jake grunted in reply.

“Do I just stick my feet in the water, or should I take my socks off first?” Gummy asked.

Meg peered at the rushing rapids. “I think you’d lose your socks if you took them off.”

“What are you two doing?” Jake asked, sitting up.

“Washing my socks!” Gummy replied. “Do you think I should leave them on and walk into the water?”

Jake’s mouth twitched. “It’s cold, so I wouldn’t. But if you don’t want to lose them, you could wear it on your arm like a sleeve.”

“How is that better than on their feet?” Meg complained.

“It’s easier to grip it with fingers,” Jake told her, getting to his feet. “But if you want to leave them on your feet, we’ll make sure you don’t get swept away.”

“Is that likely?” Gummy asked, suddenly nervous.

Jake shrugged. “It’s happened to David before.”

“But not you?”

“I know when to stay out of the water,” Jake replied.

“So you would stay out of the water in this case?”

“If the point was to wash myself rather than my socks, yeah.”

Gummy stared glumly at the dried mud. “Is there a calmer day with the river?”

“Sometimes,” Jake told them. “It’s usually fast though. But we’ll help you. You won’t get swept away, promise.”

He was right, of course. About both things. The rapids were strong and cold as hell, but Jake kept a firm grip around Gummy’s elbow to help balance them while they scraped the mud from their feet.

With chattering teeth, Gummy sat while Meg wrung the water from the mostly clean socks.

“They’re still a little damp,” Meg said apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Gummy replied quickly. “I just hope we didn’t do that for nothing.”

“Clean socks aren’t nothing,” Jake muttered, but he tucked his scarf carefully around Gummy’s neck to attempt to help with the cold.

It didn’t matter much though, since there wasn’t time to put Gummy’s socks back on before they were called into a trial.

Gummy glanced down at their bare feet with a sigh. It would be just their luck, wouldn’t it?

Dwight glanced at Gummy’s predicament with an apologetic look, but it soured when he saw one of the people at Gummy’s side. Jane Romero. He didn’t say a word as he slipped away, and Gummy just sighed again.

Quentin smiled awkwardly, saying something about the coal tower in the distance. “Be safe,” he whispered, patting Gummy’s shoulder before taking off after Dwight.

Jane was already moving, and Gummy glanced at the abandoned generator in the corner.

“Not that one,” Jane warned, shaking her head. “They always go for the ones in this corner first. It’s the easiest to check, since we almost always show up here.”

Disappointed, Gummy followed Jane to a different generator. “Not good,” Jane muttered, glancing around. “Keep your eyes peeled.”

“For what?”

“Stealth killers. Could be the Wraith, could be Myers…” Jane jumped to her feet. “Ghostface!”

Gummy looked around wildly, eyes settling on the white mask in the grass. A weird prickling sensation washed over them as Ghostface took off after Jane. That’s strange.

Their heart started beating wildly a moment later, and Gummy blinked in confusion. Nobody had explained anything to them yet, so they kept working on the generator.

Dwight and Quentin must’ve been working together, and they finished way before Gummy would’ve been able to. Jane screamed in the distance, and Dwight materialized out of the grass.

“Quentin will get her,” Gummy said confidently, and Dwight nodded, reaching to work on the generator.

“Have you seen the killer yet?”

“It’s Ghostface,” Gummy replied, and Dwight pushed his glasses up nervously.

“That’s not ideal,” Dwight murmured. “All the killers still are out for your blood in particular, Gummy.”

“I know. But it’s not worse than normal trials, surely?”

Dwight didn’t reply, his eyebrows scrunching. They worked in relative silence, only hesitating to look up when Quentin cried out from a hook.

“Is he avoiding this generator?” Dwight asked after Gummy slipped up and blew up the generator.

“Why would he do that?” Gummy asked innocently, and Dwight narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know…” Dwight trailed off as Jane screamed as well. “Let’s finish this, and then you go get Jane, and I’ll get Quentin.”

Gummy nodded, and they ran off in separate directions.

Ghostface sighed impatiently as Gummy came into view. Couldn’t they leave well enough alone? He needed at least two kills in order to stay in decent standing, but if people kept unhooking his prey, he couldn’t keep his favor to Susie, and he certainly wasn’t keeping any promises to himself.

So he stalked Gummy, knowing they’d be surprised when he hooked them, but honestly. It was getting foolish at this point.

“I can’t just let you go,” Ghostface said, crouching to meet Gummy at nearly eyelevel. “I need two kills, Gummy. You keep unhooking people!”

“This is the first person I’ve unhooked!” Gummy protested. “And I could be one of your two kills you know.”

“I doubt your survivor friends will let that happened,” Ghostface muttered.

“You haven’t gone for Dwight either,” Gummy pointed out. “Don’t tell me you’ve got two favorites now.”

“Favorites,” Ghostface muttered with a laugh. “You know, I like MacMillan’s policy of doing special things to his favorites.”

“So Jake is a favorite?” Gummy wondered aloud.

“You’re trying to stall,” Ghostface muttered, slipping an arm under Gummy to hoist them up.

“What is your special thing for me then?” Gummy begged to know as they were thrown on a hook. “What- Holy shit that hurts!”

“Hooks tend to hurt. They sap your lifeforce,” Ghostface replied. “And for the record, the only reason I haven’t killed you is because the survivors will stop being so protective of you if you’ve experienced your first death because the killers stop gunning for you specifically!”

“Oh, so you want to be the only one to kill me?” Gummy mused, fingers twitching as they exhaled a pained breath. “Newsflash, there’s ways to make kills more special, you know.”

“Hanging you from trees is not my style, nor is leaving you for the Entity to kill,” Ghostface replied in annoyance.

“No, but we could have fun before you kill me! How about a trade-off? You get to kill me this time, but we flip a coin for how things go. You remember last time, don’t you? You let me go, even though it would’ve been really easy to kill me. So, we’ll just have some special bonding moments, and then you either kill me or let me go! It doesn’t matter, but if I’m the last one-”

“I have to let you go this time, if that’s how we’re doing it,” Ghostface grumbled. “I can’t kill everyone this time. I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Boring,” Gummy complained. “But next time?”

“We’ll try out your idea next time, sure,” Ghostface said begrudgingly.

“Why are you promising to keep Dwight alive this time anyway?” Gummy asked.

“Stop stalling,” Ghostface snapped. “I still have to get two kills, and you’re not even meant to be one of them.”

“Fine! Be that way!” Gummy yelled after him, but he was already slipping into a crouch, brushing against starchy white fabric as he crept through a bush. Ready so soon huh? Ghostface wondered as Dwight rushed to unhook Gummy. Good.

Jane fell easily enough, and Ghostface easily dispatched her with a few knife wounds before pausing to take a picture. It wasn’t as fun as it used to be, back before he’d come to the realm, but maybe creating a collection of dead survivors would make things worth it.

Where’s the other one?

Gummy sulked as they opened the door, and Dwight seemed displeased, looking around wearily. “He’s not going to show up,” Gummy told him.

“Killers can lie, Gummy,” Dwight answered, eyes still flicking around.

“Well, the door is basically open, so who cares if he shows up?”

“He could be stalking us right now,” Dwight countered.

“And here I was thinking Jake was the most paranoid one,” Gummy muttered, and Dwight’s jaw twitched. “Door’s open. Easy peasy.”

“Two deaths is not easy peasy,” Dwight replied irritably. “Let’s go.”

“I wanna say bye to Ghostface!” Gummy protested, and Dwight glared at them. “C’mon, please?”

“No,” Dwight sounded exasperated as he dragged them out the door back into the main forest.

He let them go immediately, which was just as well since Meg and Jake were on them in an instant.

“Are you okay? Did anything happen?” Meg asked as Jake handed Gummy a pair of folded socks.

“You might want to wash off again. You’ve got a bit of blood…” Jake trailed off, eyes narrowing. “You got hooked.”

Meg blinked. “Wait, you got hooked and Dwight didn’t…?”

“He unhooked me. I mean, he was waiting in the grass next to the hook. It was a miracle Ghostface didn’t see him honestly. I think he brushed up against him.”

An oddly vulnerable look flashed across Jake’s face for a moment before his expression shuttered. “But you’re okay?”

“I didn’t die, which is probably your main concern, so go see what’s up with him,” Gummy said, making a shooing motion with their hands.

Jake looked toward Dwight for a second, mouth twitching. “How did you get caught?”

“Got careless a few too many times with the unhooks. He really wanted Jane and Quentin for some reason.”

“So he only hooked you because you were in the way?” Meg asked curiously. “The Huntress does that to me sometimes. She tries to lure Jake out of hiding.”

“It doesn’t always work,” Jake said defensively. “There’s three people who can unhook in most cases.”

“She only tries it when we’re the only ones left!” Meg countered, and Jake made an irritated noise in his throat.

“So it’s universal, this hatred of Jake?” Gummy asked, trying to wedge their way back into the conversation.

“Some more than others,” Jake muttered. “I hate getting flayed alive and strung from a tree, but at least I maintain my sanity.”

“Little Jakey can’t handle his terrors in a Doctor trial.”

“I don’t scream.” Jake crossed his arms. “Did you want to wash off or not?”

“I probably should. I bet I stink.”

“You weren’t in a swamp trial, so it could be worse,” Jake said grimly. “Come on.”

The water in the river was still cold, as it turned out. But at least it wasn’t dangerous this time, and Jake actually stepped into the water to help support them.

Which was still a bit weird considering, well.

“I don’t know why Dwight’s in a mood,” Gummy declared as they dried off, and Jake frowned immediately. Then his expression turned blank. “And why do you keep doing that?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Jake replied swiftly. “But I thought you knew about his thing with Jane.”

Meg raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate on that one?”

Jake’s face twisted again, and then he composed himself. “You know it just as well as I do that he’s interested in her and she’s not giving him the time of day.”

Meg and Gummy exchanged a look.

“Okay, but what’s the real story?” Gummy asked, and Meg sighed.

“You’re an idiot, Jake. Jane has been bossing him around and ignoring the way we’ve done things, and it stresses him out. So he avoids her, but that’s all. If he was in a mood like you claim, Gummy, then it’s not that. Jane didn’t even approach you after the trial.”

“She died in that trial,” Gummy replied. “So it’s a power thing?”

“Pretty much!” Meg said cheerfully.

“I’m not an idiot,” Jake muttered. “But I’ll talk to him. See what’s going on.”

They watched him go before they spoke again. “He 100% is an idiot, by the way,” Meg said. “I don’t think he’s caught on.”

“I think he was jealous,” Gummy remarked.

“Well, at least Dwight wouldn’t have noticed he was avoiding him so much as being stiff toward Jane.” Then Meg paused. “So, to ask the obvious question, do we know why Ghostface didn’t hook Dwight at all?”

“He said he promised not to, but I don’t know who he promised what.”

Meg’s eyes glittered. “I think I know. Susie mentioned running into him once or twice, and she felt bad about killing Dwight in her big murder spree, so…”

“Probably Susie then,” Gummy determined. “I haven’t met Susie yet, you know.”

“No, you’ve just encountered Ghostface and the Huntress, haven’t you? I should probably teach you about the dangers of some of the killers…”

“Gummy!” Ghostface hissed. “I need a favor.”

“We’re in a trial, and everyone is still alive,” Gummy replied. “We do it at the end, we talked about this. Plus, then nobody feels bad for letting me die.”

“Not that,” Ghostface waved them off. “Is Jake in this trial?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Gummy asked, but a feeling sank in their chest. “I thought we said we were past killing my friends just for the sake of killing them?”

“Jake has a reputation as Saboteur, and everyone talks about how impossible it is to catch him.”

“Oh, you’re talking about your photo book?” Gummy asked. “I don’t think it’s fair unless I get to be in there, you know.”

“You will, when it’s your turn, but is he here?” Ghostface asked.

Gummy shook their head.

“Drat,” Ghostface muttered, and he vanished.

Gummy didn’t see him until the end of the trial when his knife trailed a line up their leg, starting right above their socks to slip under their shorts as his face pressed against their neck.

They were still, entranced by this behavior as Ghostface slipped a hand beneath their shorts and dragged them down, fixing his knife in its place afterwards.

“Sweatshirt on or off?” Ghostface mused, his voice huskier than usual.

“Um, I think-” Gummy’s breathing hitched as a gloved hand slid under their waistband. “I think it’ll just take more time if we take it off, don’t you?”

“So unimaginative,” Ghostface muttered. “Next time, maybe?”

“Please,” Gummy begged, and Ghostface replied with a low chuckle before his fingers tickled at Gummy’s thighs and slowly circled into gentle motions across Gummy’s clit. Tingling pleasure shot up Gummy’s spine, and they gripped back to the black fabric wrapping around the pair of them.

The knife moved then, the cold metal tip pressing toward Gummy’s hole. “Are you sure you want this first?” Ghostface muttered. “I’m not adverse to blood, as you know, but…”

“Fuck me unconscious, fuck me dead, for all I care,” Gummy wheezed. “You’re torturing me.”

“Alright,” Ghostface said, and there was a bit of breathlessness in his voice this time.

Gummy purposefully stumbled back, their ass hitting a very hard Ghostface.

“I know what you’re doing,” Ghostface murmured, but he kept up his motions. “I can do a lot more fun than this, for the record.”

“But a partner you can kill?” Gummy asked. “Surely there’s nothing more fun than that.”

“A partner that I can kill that comes back is a very limited luxury, yes,” Ghostface mused, and the first finger slipped into Gummy.

They gasped in relief as he eased it in and out, giving Gummy plenty of time to adjust. “I thought we agreed on the-”

“Let me stretch it first, Gummy,” Ghostface mused. “The longer you’re alive, the longer you can feel it. I would know.”

Gummy barely had the presence of mind to think about that, but they nodded, face twisting to mash their mouth clumsily against Ghostface’s mask. He laughed, sliding a second finger through the slick that had accumulated thus far, and Gummy felt a tightness as they stretched to accommodate the second finger.

His patient motions made Gummy squirm, but Ghostface was firm and patient as he accommodated the hole to fit the blade of the knife.

“This is where things get messy,” he warned, and Gummy felt the cold blade of the knife slide up, pricking at the edges, and warm blood started to trickle down.

“Good?” Gummy heard him say as their walls closed around it.

“MMM!” Gummy sagged in his arms as their body pulsed and cum streamed out of them.

“Oh, Gummy, my Gummy,” Ghostface murmured. “Are you up for a second round?”

Gummy caught their breath and whispered feebly that they were so ready. Ghostface chuckled disbelievingly before he eased them to the ground, knife covered in a combination of substances beside them.

Gummy’s eyes were unfocused as Ghostface lined himself up and started. “Oh, my precious Gummy,” Ghostface mused, sliding in almost effortlessly. “Look at you.”

A camera flashed, and Gummy barely processed it as need had them blubbering and begging for more.

“Want that hoodie off now?” Ghostface asked innocently, and Gummy begged, they begged like they’d never begged before. “Oh, you ask so nicely, my Gummy.”

His hands slipped under the hoodie, pulling it up while maintaining his rhythm. “No shirt underneath?” He clicked his tongue. “You are a little freak aren’t you?”

“The Entity knows what I wanted,” Gummy managed to say, moaning as Ghostface’s cock twitched inside them. “It knows.”

Ghostface laughed again, trailing his knife down their body to make little nicks and shapes. “These marks stay on you after you die?”

“All the- MmM,” Gummy struggled. “YES!” Gummy screamed as their walls closed around Ghostface for the second time, accidentally making Ghostface’s knife hand slip and make a deeper cut than he wanted.

Gummy sighed happily as Ghostface wiped up the blood and cum again with Gummy’s hoodie. He hadn’t pulled out yet, but since he was promised his own pleasure…

Ghostface rocked gently for a bit before sliding all the way in and then out again. Nerves that Gummy hadn’t known existed sparked again, and Gummy started babbling nonsensically some more. Another click of the camera before a deeper press of the knife.

Gummy trailed off in their babbling somewhere before the third orgasm, but Ghostface wasn’t done with his own pleasure. He roared happily as he finally came, caressing the corpse as it and the world around it began to fade.

He got one last picture of Gummy’s body after he cleaned up and tucked himself away.