"you dumb fuck."

.

.

.

Layla wanted to throw herself towards Gale as Amber dragged the bleeding woman into the room, forcing her into one of the kitchen chairs as she made eye contact with her adoptive daughter. There was a lot of unspoken words shared between their eyes, a lot of regret and a lot of fear. Gale's heart ached for the girl and her friends, knowing that this had always been their burden - not hers.

"Sit the fuck down!" Amber yelled just as Sidney went to move towards Gale, Richie turning and raising the gun towards the woman who paused in her movements once more. Amber moved to stand in front of Sidney, raising her blood-coated knife in the air and mimicking stabbing motions.

"You're fucking sick," Layla wheezed, trying to focus the anger (and pain) she had inside her into a plan to get them all out of there alive. Her gaze shifted to the knives on the counters, and her anger started clouding her judgement as she tried to evaluate the best way to get to them. If she was fast enough...

"You did all this just to make me the hero of your fucked-up movie?" Sam's voice quivered with a mix of anger and confusion.

Richie, with a sneer on his face, chuckled darkly. "Sweetie, you're not the hero. You're the villain. The daughter of Billy Loomis who sees fucked-up visions of her dead dad. Sidney Prescott killed your father. You... did all this just to get her back to Woodsboro."

Amber, her eyes gleaming with a twisted excitement, joined in. "You know what the biggest problem with the 'Stab' movies is? There's no Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. No bad guy to keep coming back. But the illegitimate daughter of the original mastermind? Now that's a freaking villain."

Sam's eyes widened, and she stammered, "How did you know?"

Amber didn't hold back, her voice dripping with cruelty. "About your father? It's a small town, and your mom's a drunk! I met Richie on the 'Stab' subreddit. I've been obsessed ever since my parents bought this house. We realized pretty quickly we had similar ideas."

Richie, leaning against a wall, added with a sinister grin, "Wasn't that hard for me to find you in Modesto. It wasn't that hard for me to fuck you, either. But I guess being a sexually available woman is supposed to be empowering these days."

Sam's rage boiled over, and she shouted, "Fuck you!"

Richie laughed in her face, a wide grin breaking out as he looked at the girl he had managed to seduce. Layla felt her stomach turn at the thought of the betrayal that Sam was feeling - she didn't know what she would have done if she found out it had been Tara and not either of these psychos.

"Well, now you're just quoting the original."

"But it wouldn't work with just you, Sam," Amber said, spinning around suddenly and pinning Layla against the counter. The girl gasped, groaning as Amber pressed against the wound that she had inflicted minutes prior in the lobby. "You needed the perfect acquaintance, the grieving orphan, a history of family dying as collateral damage in Sidney's fight with Ghostface? The perfect accomplice."

Layla grimaced as she knew where this was going.

"Layla Torres... the Stu Macher to your Billy Loomis. That's why we had to bring the legacy characters back - to make it matter. Can't have a bona fide Halloween without Jamie Lee!"

"Nope!"

"Dewey had to die to make it real. To show that this wasn't just some bullshit, cash-in, run-of-the-mill sequel. Because our movie has fucking stakes! 'Cause anyone can die in a requel," Amber continued, chuckling as she let go of her hand against Layla's wound, causing the girl to whimper in pain and groan a little.

Layla noticed Gale flinch at her whimper, wanting nothing more than to cross the room and bundle her adoptive daughter up in her arms. Her eyes flickered to Sidney who met her gaze, and instantly jumped into action.

Sidney lunged for the knife that was lying on the marble worktop, pushing Layla behind her as she tried to grasp it before Amber realised she had moved. She was just too slow for the raven-haired killer, however, as Amber spun around and sunk her knife into Sidney's stomach.

Gale fell forward off her chair as the three other women in the room all screamed as Sidney fell to her knees, Richie muttering and complaining at Amber for reacting so irrationally before angling the gun back at Sam who was now moving towards Sidney to try and help her. Amber grabbed a hold of Layla by her hair, throwing her down on to the ground beside Sidney and Sam with a delighted chuckle.

"Sit the fuck down!"

Sam grabbed on to Layla's hand as she looked at the girl, noticing the thick sweat sheen that was coating her skin. Her hand was clammy, a mix of sweat and blood, as she squeezed Sam's hand back in support.

"I'm so sorry, Sid," Richie teased, a sick grin plastered on his lips as he crouched down to her level. "We can't let you live, either. I mean, surviving this many times... that would just be ridiculous. This time the fans are gonna be the ones who win. That about cover it?"

"Nailed it, baby."

Layla wasn't sure if it was the blood loss, the situation or the cringe of the two before her, but she was sure that if she had more energy then she would have thrown up right there and then.

"Wanna know the best part?" Amber asked, her smile knowing as she asked the question. "This is just a goddamn movie, but we're making it the best goddamn movie it can be. Isn't that right, Richie?"

Richie nodded, his eyes gleaming as he looked down at Sidney who was trying to weakly push herself up on to her feet. He flickered his gaze over to Sam and Layla, getting a good kick out of seeing them holding hands as if that was going to save them from their fate. It did give him a good idea on how he wanted to stage their bodies once this was all over and done. Together, just like how they would die.

"And you thought that you could just come in here and fucking steal the ending from us." Richie mocked, his voice oozing with malice as he looked down at Sidney who was trying to hide the fear that she felt as she glared back up at the man as he rose to his feet. "Get Tara out of the closet. We got to start staging the bodies!"

"Stay with me, Sid, Lails! Stay with me," Gale encouraged Sidney and Layla, knowing that their wounds were much worse than hers and Sam's. Sam noticed that Layla looked even more pale than she did previously, fear prickling her spine at the thought of Layla dying from blood loss right here in the kitchen. Dread was filling Layla's stomach at the thought of Amber and Richie laying a single hand on Tara again.

"You really should've listened to Dewey. He nailed it in one! Dude, look at the love interest!" Richie continued, laughing at Sam who glared back at him. Layla stuck her finger up, coughing a little as she tried to muster enough strength to keep herself awake. "Are you fucking stupid? He clearly wasn't talking about his own adoptive daughter, you dumb fuck! I even had you convinced it could be your sister!"

"You're so fucking pathetic," Layla rasped out, everyone wondering why the hell she was continuing to provoke Richie when she was in the worst state of them all. "Attacking Tara when she couldn't even defend herself."

Richie seemed stunned at first, having not expected her to speak up. He regained his composure and laughed at Layla's words.

"I guess you do have guts after all," he said. "But hey, I guess that's why we're here. To show who has the most guts, am I right? I wonder how you'll live up to your father's death, little Torres... dying like a pussy must run in the family."

"She's not here!"

Layla felt her heart soar as Amber's words echoed through the house. She turned her head to look at Sam, who subtly nodded in a confirmation that Tara was okay. The realisation that her girlfriend was potentially roaming the house, or had gotten to safety, was enough to give her some more adrenaline and prepare herself for whatever came next.

She could see Sidney watching her intently from the corner of her eye as she twitched forward ever so slightly, using the distraction to try and get closer to Gale.

"What the fuck do you mean, she's not here?" Richie yelled back, hesitation filling his body as he relaxed the gun pointing in their direction.

"She's not here!"

"I untied her."

Richie's head snapped towards Sam faster than a racehorse with eight legs.

"Guess you're not as persuasive as you thought."

The phone on the kitchen counter started to ring. Layla jumped a little at the noise, but nowhere near as much as Richie did.

"That's for you," Sam said, a little bit smug. Layla noticed that Sam was clenching her hands, preparing herself to jump Richie at the first given opportunity. It was like her own wound no longer hurt, the pain being numbed by the adrenaline that was running through her veins as she felt a little bit of hope enter her body.

"Yeah, like your gimpy little sister's gonna make a difference," Richie said between heavy breaths of fear and anger. "She's our fucking pincushion at this point. Amber! Fan out. She couldn't have gotten far!"

Richie continued, the later part of his sentence being directed to Amber who was running around frantically upstairs.

"I can't find her!" Amber yelled out once more, her voice instantly turning into a scream as Tara appeared from the shadows, smacking her around the head with one of her hospital crutches. The sounds of Tara's brutal hits on Amber echoed down the hall and into the kitchen, the four injured women sharing looks of urgency as Richie's eyebrows shot into the air.

"Amber?" Richie called, hearing his partner yell out in surprise. Sam and Layla used the distraction to attack, both lunging towards Richie as he went to walk towards the yells of Amber. Sam pushed his arm upwards, causing a bullet to be fired into the ceiling as the trio wrestled for the gun in his hands.

They fell forwards, Sam slamming Richie's hand into the wooden floor before her knee, while Layla felt herself slam against the ground. Richie swung round, kicking his feet out and smacking Sam in the stomach. Layla's hands wrapped around the gun in his palm, clawing at his grip while he rolled over so that he was lying on top of her and giving him a better advantage over the smaller girl.

The gun went off in the struggle, the bullet ricocheting off the kitchen island and hitting Layla directly above her ankle. She screamed out in agony, her grip instantly faltering as her hands shot to grasp at her ankle, the pain unbearable. Richie took the distraction and pushed them both off him with all his might, pointing the gun towards them once again as he kneeled on the floor.

Layla noticed through tear-coated eyes as Sam rolled over, biting deeply into his arm that was still bandaged from when he had been attacked at the hospital - something that they all knew now was clearly pre-planned. Richie screamed out in agony, falling backwards and dropping the gun as Sam took off with it into the next room, Richie hot on her heels once he had regained composure.

Sidney and Gale rushed to help Layla to her feet, supporting her as she tried to keep weight off her ankle. The pain was intense but she knew she had to be strong – they were so close to freedom. She could feel the cold sweat dripping down her face as she winced in pain, trying so hard not to cry out.

The two legacy survivors were both talking softly, encouraging words of strength and hope, trying their best to bring back some comfort and security for the younger girl who was in such distress. She was coated in so much blood that Sidney just hoped this was all over soon and that ambulances could reach them in time. She just prayed that Gale had managed to call the emergency services before she'd entered the house.

Just as they were getting her standing and she was gripping onto the counter for support, Amber entered the room. Gale immediately dove in front of Layla protectively, glaring at Amber while Sidney rushed forward, grabbing her as she tried to storm through the room and slamming her against the counter. Amber screamed as she slipped, the gun in her hands clattering to the floor as she scurried to her feet and grabbed the knife on the counter.

She lunged towards Sidney, the knife raised in the air but was stopped by Gale who had let go of Layla to charge forward to protect her best friend. She pulled Amber's arm back for just enough time for Sidney to grab a glass bottle of hand sanitiser that was sitting on the kitchen worktop, pulling her arm back and smashing the bottle against Amber's face.

"The fucking HAND SANITISER?" Amber screeched, not being able to see as she clawed at the moisture that was coating her eyes. Gale and Sidney grabbed her, throwing her over the counter as Layla tried to jump out of the way. She screamed as she put weight on her ankle, Sidney ignoring her cries and pulling her towards them. She'd have time to apologise to the girl later, but first they had to survive this.

The trio stood above Amber as she cowered against the kitchen counters, in a stunning mirror image of how Layla had been only moments prior, when it had been Amber standing above her. Layla watched after Amber with heavy eyes before leaning heavily onto Sidney and Gale's shoulders, barely managing to keep herself upright due to sheer exhaustion from the whole ordeal.

"No, no, no, it's not my fault!" Amber yelled out, her voice much more immature and child-like than it had been minutes before when she was stabbing Sidney, shooting Gale and impaling Layla. "It's not my fault!"

"Let me guess, the movies made you do it?" Sidney snarked back, her eye roll being seen across the world as she tried to regain a bit of breath while adjusting her grip on Layla so that she wasn't pressing too hard against her slash on her side.

"No, it was the message boards! I was radicalised!"

"By movie fans?"

"Yes, they're so mad! Please, it's not my fault, I'm just a dumb kid!" Amber begged, her arms flailing around as she looked at the three faces staring back at her with nothing but extreme hatred. "I wanted to be a part of something!"

"A part of something?!" Gale yelled, growing angrier as Amber slowly pulled herself up using the sides of the kitchen countertops as the trio got a little closer to her. Layla felt her blood run cold as she listened to the girl she had once called a friend. She'd killed the man that had taken her in, basically raised her for the last ten years of her life... all because she wanted to be a part of an online messaging board community. "You killed my best friend!"

"Yeah," Amber replied, her persona switching instantly and a cruel grin spreading across her lips once more. "And he died like a pussy!"

Gale punched her across the face, Amber retaliating by grabbing her shoulders and slamming them both across the room. She reached down, shoving her fist into Gale's gunshot wound an inflicting an excruciating cry of pain from the news reporter, causing Layla to lunge into action once more despite the pain in her ankle as she pressed weight on it.

Sidney moved faster, slamming into Amber and clawing at the woman to release her from Gale. The movement caused them to slam into Layla too, sending the girl tumbling to the ground with Sidney as Amber turned her attention back to Gale once more.

Layla lunged forward from her spot on the ground, grabbing at Amber's ankles and causing her to fall into the kitchen counter once more. Layla gritted her teeth and yelled in pain as she rose to her feet, barrelling forward into Amber and wrapping her arms around her neck to try and stop her from getting anywhere near Gale.

Amber shrugged Layla off, slamming her back into the side of the kitchen stove as her hand gripped at one of the knives once again. She brought it back, slashing Layla deeply across the face, before plunging it into her stomach once more.

Everything came to a standstill as Layla gripped the handle of the knife in embedded into her stomach, whining slightly in pain as she pulled at it. Amber turned to face her, her demented smile plastered on her face as she reached forward and snatched it out, waving her blood-soaked weapon around in sheer delight. Layla let out a muffled cry of pain as she knelt over the ground, the blood pooling out of her again as Amber turned around to look at Gale on the ground.

Layla slumped to the ground, her back cold against the door of the fridge as she tried to focus on literally anything. She could barely make out the figure of Sidney across from her, noticing the way the woman's mouth contorted as she yelled out the younger girl's name. Layla whimpered as she threw her head back, her hands coated in blood as she pressed against the wound on her stomach.

"I was the last thing Dewey saw before he died too. I can't believe I get to do you both!" Amber cackled as she wrapped her arms around Gale's neck, thinking about the blood she had on her hands and the extra lives she was about to claim. "No last-minute saves this time. Your story's over! Time to pass the torch!"

Gale cast one look at Layla, surprised she was even still conscious, before turning back to Amber and reaching up to press on her shoulders.

"It's all yours, bitch!"

She slammed her head into Amber's, the headbutt so forceful that it sent her tumbling backwards towards Layla. She tripped over the outstretched legs of the girl, flying backwards into the stove that she had just pressed her against and accidentally switching the gas on in the process.

"You want to do the honors?" Gale asked Sidney as they both climbed back to their feet, knowing that the sooner this was finished, the quicker they could get help for not just themselves but Layla too. Sidney shook her head, looking at Layla for a brief second and thinking about Dewey.

"This one's yours."

Gale grabbed the gun from her outstretched hand, both of them turning to look at Amber who was also pulling herself up from the ground once more. She realised that she had the lower hand here, the barrel of the gun pointing directly at her head.

"No, stop, stop, stop! I'm sorry about Dewey!"

"Fuck you," Gale spat, her finger squeezing the trigger. Amber's body slumped backwards with the sudden shot, the girl falling face first into the stove and catching on fire due to the hand sanitiser that was still covering her body. The other three in the room watched on, speechless, as Amber flailed around the kitchen on fire before falling to the ground with a final thud.

"Enjoy that torch," Sidney muttered, before a small whimper from Layla reminded the two women of the situation at hand.

They rushed to Layla's side, barely recognising her due to the amount of blood that was covering her. Tears stung Sidney's eyes as she saw how pale and fragile the young girl looked, struggling to stay conscious as Gale began to press on her wounds. She silently thanked Amber for not being able to finish what she had set out to do; the kitchen seeming more silent than ever before. Sidney gently grabbed at Layla's hands and kissed her fingertips, trying anything she could think of to make sure that Layla stayed awake.

Gale managed to find a towel in one of the drawers, quickly rolling it up and pressing it against Layla's wound in an effort to slow down the bleeding. She glanced at Sidney with worry; it seemed like nothing was working - no matter how hard they pressed down on the towel, or how much pressure they applied, fresh red liquid continued trickling from the wound.

"Kiddo, you stay awake, you hear me," Sidney breathed, pressing her palm against the side of Layla's face that hadn't been slashed with Amber's blade. It looked like she had thankfully missed the most important parts of Layla's face, and instead had just caught the skin above her right eyebrow and down towards the top of her cheek. "Come on Lails!"

The two women faintly registered the screams of Richie next door, met with a sudden silence except from deep breaths from another female that told them that Sam had came out victorious. Layla nodded, her eyes fluttering a little as she looked back at the two older women with droopy eyes.

"Is Tara okay?"

Gale and Sidney shared a look, realising that in their attempts to kill Amber, they'd not thought once about the other girl that was in the house with them. They knew that she was in like three casts and crutches, so they just hoped that she'd been able to hold her own with Amber enough to survive before they'd taken her down.

"Tell you what," Gale said, her voice almost begging as she looked at the closest thing to a daughter that she had. "You stay awake, and we'll find out, okay?"

Layla nodded, her eyes more open now as she tried to struggle to her feet. She groaned softly before a few more words slipped past her lips; it sounded like she was begging them not to give up on her yet. Gale and Sidney shared a look, knowing that Layla would bleed out if she was left there - but they had to make sure that Richie was gone too.

"Aunt Sid is going to help you up, okay?" Gale replied, her voice wavering but trying to stay strong for Layla. "I'm right here, I'm going to keep pressure on your stomach, honey, just listen to my voice."

Both women flinched as Layla cried out as she was helped to her feet, the two of them struggling as they pulled an arm over each of their shoulders. Sidney reached out, grabbing the gun off the counter as the three stumbled towards the lobby, Layla half-hobbling, half-dragged.

"Careful, they always come back," Sidney muttered as they approached Sam, the girl coated in blood with a dead Richie at her feet. She turned to look at them, snatching the gun from her before moving forward and shooting Richie's body three times - one in the head for good measure.

The silence engulfed them all for a moment, before a high-pitched scream behind them caused the women to spin around. Layla groaned at the movement, her arms still slung over Gale and Sidney's shoulders as a charred-up Amber charged towards them with a knife in her hands.

Within a second, a bullet had pierced the side of her head and sent her crumbling to the floor one last time.

"I still prefer The Babadook."

The older women all breathed a sigh of relief as they noticed Tara standing shaking with a gun in her hands. Sam smiled, rushing forward with a limp and grabbing her sister into a tight hug and wheezing at her own wounds rubbing against her.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you good?"

Layla chuckled as the two sisters embraced, feeling a sense of peace wash over her as she saw the love-of-her-life standing in one piece and looking a lot better than the rest of them despite the cast on her leg.

"Oh, great," Layla murmured, causing everyone to turn to look at her as she formed a proper word, the relief spilling from her lips as she smiled a little loonily at Tara. Tara's eyes fell on her for the first time, noticing the blood that was slick on the floor underneath her and the red that covered every inch of her body. "You're good."

Without another word, Tara walked forward and embraced Layla in a hug, her tears spilling onto the back of Layla's neck as she breathed her in. Gale and Sidney slowly let go of Layla, allowing Tara and her to hold each other for a moment without them interfering. The three women watched from over Tara's shoulder as Layla's eyes started to droop, the adrenaline and blood loss taking its toll on her body. She could feel the warmth of Tara's embrace, the comfort of being safe slowly melting away with each passing second.

Sam, Gale and Sidney stepped forward as soon as they noticed her hands go a little slack from where they were wrapped around Tara, trying to catch her before she collapsed completely to the ground but it was too late - Layla had gone limp in Tara's arms.

Gale gasped out loudly as she felt a beat against her fingers when she touched Layla's neck - it was faint but it was there and everyone knew that it was enough for now. Just then, a glimmer of hope - a faint sound coming from outside that sounded like sirens. Sidney and Gale both looked at each other with relief before turning back towards Layla and gently lifting her up into their arms as they rushed outside towards the ambulance that had finally arrived.

Layla faintly registered the yells of the paramedics before the darkness consumed her.