Goode is Evil

1994

DEENA'S EYES SNAPPED OPEN. She jumped so fast that Marney nearly toppled over from surprise. The two shared a wide-eyed look. Neither needed to say a word. They already knew. They had both seen it. Sarah Fier had been innocent — it had been the Goodes the entire time. All of them. Including Nick Goode.

Who Christine had called. Who they had told what they saw.

At once Marney broke into a sprint. Deena followed soon after. They hurried through the woods, trying to find their way back to the car as soon as possible. In the dark, I'm the panic, it was harder than it should have been. Marney's heart pounded. They needed to get moving. They needed to warn Christine, they needed to find a way to stop Nick without him hunting them down.

Sam. The thought hit Marney like a brick wall. Sam had been possessed after she had come back from the dead, had been hunted down by resurrected murderers, saw some of Sarah's history. Nick had sacrificed her soul to shut her up. God, he was probably hoping she would slaughter Deena and their friends, shutting them all up.

Blue and red lights flashed through the tree branches. Sirens wailed. Marney stopped, grabbing a fallen branch as they approached. The closest thing they had to protection. Barely nothing at that, but it made her feel some what safer as they broke through the tree line.

They found Goode and Josh standing beside their opposite cars. As Goode slowly approached, making a poor attempt at small talk, Deena exploded from the wood. She grabbed Josh by the arm and dragged him back in. The sheriff barely had time to turn and face them before Marney swung the branch at him. His mistake. She'd been aiming for the back of the head, instead he took the full force to the face, falling backwards as he tried to stumble away. With that done, she followed the others.

Marney found them huddled behind a tree. Josh tried to protest, only to quickly be shushed.

"It's him," Deena whispered.

"Josh!" Nick Goode called in the distance. Marney held her breath. "Your sister is very confused."

"His dad and his grandpa and his great grandpa."

"She's clearly suffering some kind of a...a breakdown. She needs help."

His foot steps were growing closer. Marney risked looking around the tree. She could see his figure moving nearby, not quite looking in the right place, but close.

A sudden chill caught her attention. Looking back, she find Jude standing over them. It took everything not to yelp in surprise. He help up a finger to his lips and nodded towards Josh and Deena. Right. They wouldn't be able to see him. And, of course, Goode was still hunting them. Still, Marney struggled to keep quiet. Thousands of questions rolled through her head. Who was he? God, what was he? Had he known?

"Goode is evil," Deena whispered.

Though she didn't say what that mean, the way Josh's face fell made it clear he understood.

Goode turned towards them. Marney tensed. Her eyes locked on Jude, a silent plea for him to do something. She knew it was ridiculous. He was only a spirit. He couldn't do anything.

"Bet you wish you just killed him like I asked, huh?" Jude asked.

She did. She really did.

Jude faded into nothingness. For a moment Marney thought he'd abandoned them. Gone to find some other sensitive to act out his revenge. She held her breath as Goode approached. Her fingers tightened around the branch. Then, to her surprise, a rather familiar voice came from the distance.

"Dad?" Jude. Except it wasn't the taunting sing-song Marney had come to associate him. He almost sounded like someone else, a scared child. "Dad? Are you there?"

Goode...stopped. From the corner of her eye, Marney could see he turn towards the noise. He could hear it. Yes. Marney focused on that, as if she could will it into existence. He could hear it. He would hear it. And, for reasons unknown to her, it seemed to work. Jude's voice continued, growing further and further, and Nick Goode began to follow it.

The three slipped around the side of the tree. Once past Goode, they made a break for a car. His car. Which, in his hurry, he had left the keys in. By the time he realized what had happened, they were down the road.

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"I WAS BACK IN TIME," Deena explained. "I was Sarah Fier, and Sarah Fier was innocent. She isn't turning people in Shadyside into killers. She wasn't a witch!"

The radio crackled. A report about the car that they had stolen. Suspects were armed and dangerous, apparently, which Marney scoffed at. Was Goode that terrified of a branch? Or perhaps he'd hoped it would be a enough for any cop to shoot them dead before they could so much get a word out. Her leg bounced as she stared out the window. Deena and Josh were in the front, leaving her in the back.

Things seemed both insane and to fall into place. The suspicion of Goode. The way nothing seemed to fit together, the fact that Sunnyvale was fine despite Union as a whole being cursed. She had been right. She had been right this whole time, conning herself she wasn't because of some dumb rumor.

And Miron. Miron Wardwell who knew too much. Miron Wardwell who talked to much, who nearly wiped out their family in a single night, who earned their family generations of suffering for the simple crime of speaking the truth. Sybil and Bertram, who judged Union worthy of their cursed fate. Poor Madge and Ely, who died too young, and Cecily and Barney, who lived too long. Wardwells who had known peace, who didn't have death looming over their heads, only to have their lives torn apart by it.

Her inheritance was tragedy. Her birthright was death. But Marney Wardwell wouldn't let it be her legacy.

"Josh! Listen to me! Solomon Goode —" Deena started.

"Who?" Josh asked.

"Nick Goode's pilgrim ancestor, who made a deal with the Devil, then framed Sarah to cover his own Puritan ass," Deena explained.

In response Josh just shouted as a light turned red. They slowed down for a moment, before deciding it wasn't worth it and sliding through the intersection.

"The Goodes, they're trading us. People from Shadyside. Goode gives a name to the Devil. The Devil takes over that person. Then that person kills and murders. And the Devil feeds on the blood of dead Shadysiders. And Goode gets whatever he wants. He becomes sheriff. His brother becomes mayor. All of Sunnyvale gets better and better."

"And Shadyside doesn't..." Josh finished.

"Oh my god..." Marney ran a hand over her face. "It all makes sense. They keep going, over and over, first born to first born. Which is why Jude —"

"Wait, Jude?" Josh whipped around to face her. "Jude Goode? If they're doing the killing, why'd he die?"

"Because he isn't human, Josh!"

Deena nearly swerved off the road as she turned to look at Marney.

"Listen, this is totally going to sound insane, but — but when we saw that vision, I saw everything. Nick, he didn't get everything he wanted, because he's a total creep who's still hung up about Christine, and he wouldn't marry or have kids or continue their creepy ass pact," Marney explained. "So the Devil, he...he made a kid. He made Jude and handed him over, but he wasn't good enough for Nick, and he killed him."

"Except he fucked up the ritual doing that, because you can't get a second first born, and now there's no heir," Marney paused. "Which...which is why Jude wants him dead."

The realization ran over her with a chill. Maybe Jude was pissed at being murdered, but it was more than that. Nick had messed with the deal one to many times. The Devil was turning against him. Suddenly their chances at fighting him seemed less impossible.

"I'm sorry, who told you this?" Josh asked.

"I...um..." Marney glanced around the car. "I'm gonna need you guys to get cool with a lot of stuff really quick — I can see ghosts."

"What the fuck?" Deena shouted, making Marney wince. To her surprise, it wasn't in disbelief at the claim. "And you didn't tell us this earlier?"

"In my defense, I thought you wouldn't believe me!"

Deena huffed, but didn't argue for a change.

"So, so Sarah Fier?" Josh asked.

"He framed her!" Deena said. "Her and — and Miron, they're the only ones who ever figured out the truth...until us."

"Sarah Fier, she wasn't a witch, not in the evil, sleeps with the Devil sense. She was was sensitive, she understood the land and the world in ways others couldn't, like me and my family," Marney explained. "Sarah Fier made a curse, but not on Union, on the Goodes. Her curse was to show people the truth, and it's hung around because of her determination to keep it there."

What a monstrous task that seemed to be. Sarah had no demon on her side. No extra source of power. Through sheer force of will, she had manifested a way to bring the truth to light. She had clawed her way back to the land of the living, time and time again, clinging to what little she had. Because, even as Union turned against her, she wouldn't let the future generations suffer. She would make sure Solomon Goode's legscy would burn.

Sarah had done her part. Now they had to do theirs.

"If the killers were after us before...now that we know the truth, now that we know about Goode's deal...what happens now?" Josh asked.

Wasn't it obvious? The kill Nick Goode. Before he killed them.

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THEY ARRIVED TO CHRISTINE WATCHING SAM WITH A KNIFE. The girl was the same as before. Tied to the radiator, snarling and growling as she tried to break free. The sight made anger bubble in Marney's chest. Sam was suffering because of Goode's selfishness. Their friends had died because of it, her family had died because of it, and he'd decided to try to take another.

"Look at her!" Christine motion to Sam. "I told you it wouldn't work! There's no ending it."

They only stared. Marney glanced at the other two. She didn't know what to say. The truth? After everything Christine has suffered?

In the end they had to tell her. That Nick Goode had caused the massacre at Camp Nighwing. That, as he ran around playing the hero, he'd caused the slaughter of her peers. He'd killed her sister. He'd taken everyone from her. Then he'd turned around and called her insane, pushed her out of society, crushed any hope she had of healing. That everything he said was a lie, a twisted double meaning to manipulate her.

Marney left out the part about Jude. The thought was disturbing enough without subjecting Christine to it.

Christine collapsed to her knees. Marney carefully reached out for the woman. To her surprise, she simply leaned in, letting Marney wrap her arms around her shoulders.

"This is how we save Sam," Deena explained. "How we save Shadyside. We can't kill the Devil. So...we have to kill him. We need to kill Nick Goode."

"But I called him..." Christine said, her voice far away. "I thought...I thought he could help."

Right. That. They needed to go, now.

Deena ran to get Sam. As soon as she cut the girl free, she lunged at her. They struggled for a moment, before Christine knocked her out. Now all they had to do was bundle her into the police trunk.

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THEY WERE PICKING UP...MARTIN P. FRANKLIN. The janitor at Shadyside mall.

For obvious reasons, Marney was a little unsure. Martin wasn't a bad person. Liz had been on good terms with him, and that was saying something since she hated nearly everyone she worked with. But that was sort of the problem. Was he seriously just going to join them in killing Nick Goode? Even if just by opening the Mall for them? Who would believe the insanity that they would tell him, even if Josh claimed the man owed him?

"Let me get my coat," was Martin's response, with only want to help us kill Sheriff Goode? as an explain.

"See, he get's it," Jude said, before disappear as Martin climbed into the car, taking his spot. Still Marney could hear his voice as he cheered, "Let's go, patricide, let's go!"

Marney blinked. She was surrounded by crazy people.

They arrived at the mall in the dead of night. No one was there, which was a good sign. It seemed Goode didn't quite know where they were going. Or if he did, he was making no attempt to get there before them. Marney hoped it was the second. After all, their trap wouldn't exactly help if he never showed up.

Martin unlocked the door and led the way. Marney turned to take in the scene. She'd never go to the mall again after this.

"As the mall's lead custodial engineer, I ensure that all retail establishments come equipped with the StoreSafe 250," Martin explained as he led him to Gadzooks, where a metal gate was closed across the entrance. Inside was a line of police tape, marking off a crime scene. "This is the Cadillac of store gates. Now, the 250 prevents your standard smash-and-grand, graffiti, all while complying with the 70% visibility ordinance. Best part..."

Martin bent down, pushing the gate up as he stood.

"Easy to operate."

"And we can rig them for quick release?" Josh asked.

"Little grease, these things go down faster than a Sunnyvale cheerleader," Martin said.

He winked at Christine. She rolled her eye.

"So, Deena's the target now, so the killers will go after Deena's blood, just like they did with Sam," Josh explained. "And then we use that to lure them into the stores, and then..."

Martin closed the gate. "Welcome to the clink, motherfucker."

"The killers will be locked up, and then it's us versus Goode," Josh continued.

"Okay, sure, awesome, but then what?" Deena asked. "Like, how do we take out Goode?"

"Are y'all serious about this?" Martin interrupted.

"That little bitch murdered my sisters and my friends. Yes, we're serious about this," Marney snapped. She didn't care how harsh it came out any more. "How quickly can these things get back open? Maybe we could stick them on him or something."

"They'd just come for us," Deena pointed out.

"Not if we Carrie him," Christine interrupted.

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TURNS OUT CARRIE-ING SOMEONE JUST MEANT DUMPING BLOOD ON THEM. Or, in this case, a bucket of water with Deena's blood and some glow in the dark paint mixed into it. All of the blood they used, in fact, had glow in the dark paint mixed in, making any contamination obvious. Once the time came and they were safely behind their own gate, they'd dump all of the blood onto him and let the killers destroy their own creator.

Now they had to get ready. Josh and Martin set up the mechanics of the situation. Meanwhile, Marney bulked up. Mostly by raiding the pizza place Sam was tied up in. Grabbing to trays, she had Deena hold one on her back while she held the other and duck taped them together as make shift chest armor. She did the same for Deena. The she went to the sports store and stole a bike helmet, along with elbow and knee pads.

And a big ass knife.

"Looking good, Michael Myers."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Marney muttered. She turned to face Jude. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? We could saved Simon, and Kate, and — and Bec."

"Trust me, I'd have loved to. I'm not going around sabotaging myself," Jude shoved his hands into his jean pockets and shrugged. His tone was casual, but Marney could sense a tension about him. "But there's some stuff I can't talk about, you know? Get in trouble."

Marney scoffed. Like Jude Goode ever gave a shit about getting in trouble.

"Hey, Marns?" Jude asked. His tone was...more genuine than Marney expected. "Try not to die. I'm sure Liz'd love to see you."

"You were serious about that?"

Marney had assumed Jude was lying about Liz. She had just accepted that. It hadn't mattered for a long time. After everything that had happened, it was more about staying alive and making sure they ended the curse. She hadn't even thought about it awhile, assumed that it would never come to be.

Yet that didn't keep a sudden burst of hope.

"I mean, after everything that's happened, I owe you that."

Marney smiled despite herself. She didn't know what she thought about Jude Goode. They never got along when he was alive, and it was mostly his fault. He was an absolute hellspawn — figuratively and literally. She couldn't help but be appreciative despite that. The events of the last few days had made her standards for help much lower than it once had been.

That thought brought a sense of certainty. Whatever happened, Nick Goode wasn't leaving that mall alive.

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"EVERYONE SAYS SHADYSIDE SUCKS BECAUSE IT'S FULL OF SHITTY PEOPLE."

Marney turned to look at the group around her. Martin, Christine, Josh, and Deena — and Sam back in the pizza store. She thought about Simon, Kate, and Bec, who died to save them. Cindy and Alice who died trying to save Camp Nightwing. Bram, Elys, and Madge, who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. These were the shitty people everyone talked about, the ones who deserved what they had gotten in their eyes. Because they're Shadysiders.

"That bad things happen here because we're bad, that we deserve what we have coming. That's how it was for Sarah, and that's how it's been for us," Deena continued. "But it's all bullshit. Okay, just because we're weird and smart and different doesn't mean they can feed us through their meat grinder."

"Not anymore. It's been three centuries. No one else has gotten this far. It stops here...tonight. It stops with us. We're gonna kill this motherfucker. For Sarah, for Kate and Simon. For Bec and Bram. For Cindy. For all of us. For Shadyside."

Deena hovered her hand over the bucket of water. Then slid a knife along her palm and squeezed, letting the blood dribble into the bucket.

That's when they finished their trap. A bell was hung over the door, for when he entered. Lights were set up and messages were spray painted on the walls. Deena's blood-water-glow mixture was poured into squirt guns. They split up, using the guns to make lines into each store (which hopefully would overpower Deena, who'd been sprayed with so much cologne it filled the air around her.)

At first their drawings didn't show up. Then they turned off the lights, revealing their creations. Suck it Goode. Psycho this way. Goode is evil.

The bell rung. They ran to find somewhere to hide.

"I don't see anyone," Deena whispered.

"I see Marin and Ziggy," Josh said.

The two had appeared through a side door. They ran along the side, finding their own spot to hide. Marney watched them until they could no longer be seen.

"Police! Hands up!" A voice shouted. It took everything for Marney not to spring up and throw her hands in the air on instinct and panic alone. "Hands up!"

Marney could hear the sound of arguing. In her focus on that, she missed the second officer coming around the side to face them. A flashlight went directly in their faces. They froze, their squirt guns held out as if to shield them.

"I got three more over here!" The officer announced. "Drop your weapon!"

They clearly weren't weapons, fitted with those orange tips that showed they were toys and colored in ways no actual gun ever would be, but Marney doubted that mattered. She dropped it. It was tempting to argue. To defend themselves and try to explain what had happened. But, once more, Marney doubted it would matter. So instead she pressed her tongue against her teeth and clenched her jaw, doing her best to keep words from coming out.

"Sir, sir, just please let us explain!" Josh begged.

"Drop your weapons," he repeated.

The two slowly lowered their weapons as well.

"Slide it to me."

They slide it to him.

There was a loud thud. Martin screamed. Despite knowing it was a terrible idea, Marney couldn't help but whip around in their direction. Thankfully, the officer was more focused on running towards the sound. Which meant they could take up their weapons again and run to safety.

A good choose, because there was the sound of gun shots. Another thud. The killers had arrived.

They scattered. Each of them was sat by one of the opening gates. Marney wrapped her hand in the rope. That way she wouldn't freeze. Even if she panicked, the rope wouldn't drop, and any attempts to run would pull it down.

Foot steps approached. Marney raised her eyes. She recognized Miron Wardwell, now better than ever before. He hadn't changed much since 1666, except for aging twenty years. The limp Marney had noticed at the school seemed more prominent now thst she knew the cause. Before her first thought was of Ruben — now she could see the difference clear as day.

Miron didn't quite ignore her. He reached out as he passed, gently brushing his fingers across the top of her head. Marney tensed, preparing for an attack, but that was it. A quiet acknowledgement before returning to his true target.

Or what he assume was his target. Marney pulled the rope, dragging the gate down and locking Miron inside. She could hear rattling a through the room. The sound of the killers slamming against them as they tried to get out. It made Marney suspicious of her own silence. Miron had approached the grate, leaning against it, his eyes locked on her face. He didn't try to get out. He just...watched.

Some how that was far scarier.

Marney tied to the rope to keep the door down and ran to their meeting spot behind the pizza counter. She found Deena, Josh, and Martin already waiting there.

"How many is that?" Deena asked.

"I got one, Marney got one, Martin got the Milkman," Josh said.

"Five," Christine announced as she entered. "We have five. Skull Mask, Nightwing."

"No Ruby?" Deena asked.

Marney could have slapped herself. Ruby Lane. She had almost forgot the girl, despite her standing out for being the only female and her connection to Nurse Lane from Christine's story.

"Billy Barker isn't here, either," Marney said. "They might be be sending all of them, but we still need to keep an eye out in case —"

"Y—y—yo," Martin interrupted. They turned to look at him, crouched to look over the ledge. "Why'd it gets so quiet?"

Why had it gotten so quiet. They hurried to look out as well. The killers were no longer shaking their gates.

"He's here," Jude sung from a corner, startling Marney.

"It's him," Christine said.

Nick Goode had arrived. The killers were waiting for their master's orders.

"You don't have to do this," Deena said, giving Christine an look.

"Yes, I do," Christine insisted.

Marney didn't want her to. The woman had suffered enough, she didn't need more trauma on her plate. But she could read Christine's expression. She didn't need to do this for the plan; she needed to do this for herself. For closure, to avenge Cindy, to finally put her past behind her.

They didn't stop Christine as she crawled over the counter. The others followed to get into position.

The door bell wrung. Marney could feel a tension rise. Once silent spirits began to store. She could almost make out their forms as anger pulled them closer to the world of the living.

From her position, she could see Goode approach Christine.

"Ziggy," Goode said.

"Nick..." Christine said.

"What are you doing here?"

"Tag, you're it."

With a blank expression, Christine turned to the rope next to her. She pulled.

There was only enough time for her to run before the bucket of blood poured down. Nick Goode was drenched. With that signal, they all pulled their ropes once more, this time raising the gates. There was no secret if the killers saw them now. The answer was a definite no. Instead they started towards Goode, blind to his identity.

And then Nick Goode charged Christine. He grabbed her, wrapping an arm around her throat to keep her still. She screamed, wrenched back so quickly her knife clattered from her grasp. Using his free hand, he aimed the gun towards the approaching killers.

"Deena! Get them away from me!" Goode shouted. "If I die, she dies!"

He shouted for the killers to get back. They didn't. Marney's brain churned. She couldn't let Christine die, but there was no way to get the killers away. There was no way to save her without running to the fray and getting killer herself. Not without letting Goode go.

A chill ran down her spin. Marney tensed and turned to see Jude had shoved his hand through her shoulder.

"That works better when I can touch people," Jude grumbled to himself. Then, to Marney, he said, "I need you to trust me."

"You're literally a demon!" Marney pointed out.

"Technically — we don't have time for arguing!"

Unfortunately, Jude was right. They didn't have time and she needed to trust him.

Jude stepped towards. There was the same sensation as when he'd walked through her — a sudden chill and her stomach dropping through the floor — only this time he didn't leave and it didn't stop. Instead Marney toppled backwards. She landed hard on her backside as if she'd been shoved, finding herself staring up at herself. A version of her as real as the one she was inhabiting.

Slowly, she shifted, flexing her fingers and crackling her neck. The figured turned a smile crawling across her face.

Jude.

"Damn, I forgot how much these things itch," Jude said through her mouth. Marney grimaced at the sound, a strange mix of her voice and Jude's inflections.

"Well?" Marney snapped.

Her body sniffed. If it weren't for the situation, she'd bet Jude would give a lecture on politeness. Instead he stepped out from hiding and made his way towards the killers.

"Enough," Jude said.

There was nothing intemidating about the word. Nothing special, or ominous, or powerful. Yet the killers stopped. They turned to Jude and, despite a different body, they seemed to recognize him. And so did Goode. Marney watched with satisfaction as his face crumbled.

"How —" Goode spluttered.

"Hey, Pops," Jude grinned wickedly. "Long time no see."

Goode gagged as a Skull Mask drove a knife into his back. The killers suddenly burst to life. Within a second, Marney went from hiding to standing in the center of the killers. She stumbled, her vision blurred, and barely managed to dodge an ax swinging towards her face. Christine screamed from nearby. The milkman had grabbed her, licking her face.

"Your blood, it's on her! It's on Ziggy!" Goode shouted.

Not that he was in a much better state. Skull Mask had him pinned, knife raised above his face.

Marney ducked under another swung. She was barely managing to dodge the attacks. Nightwing continued to swing at her. And then, at once, he stopped. He turned a swing into a turn and ran in another direction. The direction of Deena, who was following Nick into a corridor. Deena dodged the Milkman as Martin stopped Skull Mask by slamming a chair into his head.

The remaining four met up behind one of the gates. Yet the killers were still coming after them.

"It's my shirt, it's covered in her blood," Christine realized. She pulled the cost off and tossed it under, sliding it to their feet and causing them to stop."

The gate slammed shut. As it did, the killers came to a stop in front of the crumpled, blood covered shirt.

"What the hell?" Marney shouted, whipping around to where she already knew Jude was waiting. "Where you trying to kill me?"

"Possessing people is hard! You should know this," Jude whined.

"How would I know that? I didn't even know it was possible!"

"Uugghh!"

Martin cleared his throat. Marney turned to see him, Josh, and Christine watching her scream at what definitely looked like thin air to them. She waved back sheepishly. In all the insanity, they seemed to decide to ignore it.

"Okay, we need a plan B, like now," Martin said.

"No..." Josh said. "We just need more Plan A."

That is to say, spray guns. They raised the gate and ran to grab them. As soon as they did, they aimed for the killers. Marney didn't bother waiting to see who the others got. A little extra blood wouldn't change anything. So she sprayed at each, managing most, and ran back to their hiding spot.

"This is going to work, right?"

Right as Marin asked that, the Grifter lifted Milkman over his head, slamming him into the floor. The others joined the fight soon after. They hacked and tore at each other without a care in the world.

Then something ran past in the distance. A figure.

"Guys..." Josh started.

"Oh, God, Sam!" Marney realized seconds later.

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THE KILLERS LAY IN A HEAP. Black blood poured in a puddle around them. Marney did her best to avoid looking at the massacre. Instead she looked at Josh.

"Now they're dead, but that's not gonna last," Josh said as he raised the gate. "We don't have a lot of time. We have to get ready to fight. "

"Wait," Christine grabbed him. "What the hell is that?"

That...was a figure. A small child with a bat. Billy Barker, one of the two missing. He stood by the candy machines and slammed his bat against it. At the same time, a faint song came from the distance. You always hurt the one you love. The only you shouldn't hurt at all.

"Guess they showed up after all..." Marney whispered.

"Ok. Okay, you know what?" Martin backed away from them and picked up a squirt gun, pumping it. "At least we still have magic blood."

He aimed towards Billy and pulled the trigger. All that came out was the hiss of compressed air. Empty. They ran to check each of theirs. Nothing seemed to work. Marney tested the knife in her hand (god, she couldn't believe she was still holding that thing after everything...) Normally she'd say it'd be good against a child and a girl her age, but with the extra curse strength and durability? Not a chance.

"No, no, no! We can find other weapons!" Josh argued. "We can curse the delivery hallway, out flank them. We —"

"Or...we could wait it out," Martin said.

"What? And let Deena and Sam die? And let Goode get away with this?" Marney shook her head. "Are you crazy?"

"We're too close! Too many people have died, I'm not letting them take my sister, too," Josh said. "We have to protect her. Please."

Josh bent, picking up Nightwing's ax. It was a physical thing. Which meant the other weapons were, too.

Billy and Ruby didn't notice them. They were heading after Deena. Which was exactly how Josh was able to slam his ax into Ruby's back. The killer lurked forwards and slammed into slammed wall. When he swung again, she ducked, slashing his stomach and sending him to the ground. Ruby climbed into his back and grabbed him by the head.

Marney promptly drove her knife into the back of the girl's neck. She recoiled. There was a violent snap. For a moment she thought she had broken Josh's neck. Then he rolled away, screaming about his arm. Alive.

Ruby, knife still in her neck, swung around to face Marney. Only for her head to explode as a bullet burst through it.

"That's one," Christine said. She lowered the gun in her hands.

Not that it mattered. The others were already reforming. Martin grabbed the ax Josh could no longer hold. Christine fired into Billy's head. It lacked the effect it had on Ruby, though, as even two shots in he was still alive. Except now they were out of bullets.

From the corner of her eye, Marney caught sight of a less malicious figure.

"Jude, come on!" Marney begged.

The ghost only stared, his eyes wide.

"I said come on, God damn it!" Marney sobbed as the killers forced them to press closed to get her. "Stupid, useless, fucking ghost!"

Hands grabbed Nightwing's ax as he raised it to swing, wrenching it back. Marney couldn't make out the whole form. Just hands. And others joined them, connected to the faint forms of the dead. Clawing at their murderers. Pulling at their clothes and dragging them down. Hundreds of children, from Nighwing and Union. The mall workers. The camp counselors. Though they couldn't harm the killers, they could hold them back. They could slow them down.

Just long enough for them to burst into black ash and flies. Just long enough for them to win.

✼　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　✼

THEY ARRIVED AT THE WARDWELL HOME AS THE SUN CAME UP. Dad was already out the door when the car pulled up. Marney ran to meet him, collapsing in his arms. Sobs wracked her body. He was talking, but he couldn't hear a word of it. Cassie hurried to join them. Neither of them cared that Marney was covered in blood or dressed in trays and biking gear. They just cared that she was alive.

"All is no longer good in Sunnyvale."

Slowly, Ruben Wardwell peered around the door frame. Marney spotted him and hurried over to grab him by the hand. He didn't resist as she slowly led him down the path to the side walk. The side walk where Christine was waiting. The woman twisted her sleeves, trying to look anywhere but them until Marney cleared her throat.

"Hey," Christine tried to sound casual. She failed as her words caught in her throat. "I...I'm so sorry I called you a loser, please give me money."

The woman managed what almost looked like a tight smile. A desperate smile. For awhile there was no response. Marney could feel her heart crumble. Then, very quietly, barely a whisper:

"Ziggy."

Ziggy. That was it. Ruben quickly retreated back into his shell seconds later. Yet Marney was certain her dad was going to faint, and Christine let out a small sob.

"Yeah, it's Ziggy," Christine sniffled. "It's Ziggy."

"New evidence continues to surface implicating Union Country Sheriff Nicholas Goode, the Sunnyvale serial killer. The family maintains they had no knowlge of Sheriff Goode's horrifying secret."

The next morning, Marney was silent as she watched the news report, which showed Will Goode walking past camera. She wouldn't be surprised if the man was telling the truth, or if he wasn't. It seemed like the perfect excuse for him not to know, but it also seemed like the perfect way to keep it secret.

"Oh, no, he doesn't know," Jude chuckled from his seat at the other end of the couch. "Too stupid, ya know?"

"Sounds about right," Marney scoffed. She went to turn of the television, swung her backpack over her shoulder and turned to face the rest of the room's inhabitants. "Just me today?"

A room full of ghosts stared back at her.

"Are you shitting me?" Liz, who was sprawled across their chair. "I am not spending my afterlife going to school."

"Education is a gift, which one must treasure if they wish for a fulfilling life," Bertram scolded. Adjusting to modern day, unfortunately, had not lessened his pension for lectures.

Liz responded with a particularly offensive figure and a "Kiss my ass, Jamestown," neither of which made an effect when they were centuries off. Elys and Madge, who had been taught all of the modern insults within a night, promptly giggled, earning a wink from Liz.

And they were only the ghosts that had bothered to show on that morning. Ever since the curse was removed, it seemed Jude had over delivered. Their house was practically over flowing with generations of ghosts, most of who didn't feel the need to make themselves known.

Marney scoffed as she headed out to the sound of bickering. They would get bored and move on soon enough. But until then? Why not let them have a second chance? They deserved it.

All of them did.

And we're done! I was hoping for fifteen chapters, so there'd be five in all of them, but I'll work with fourteen. What I'm more disappointed about is loosing the Wardwell. They are, honestly, some of my favorite characters. So what if they got a little canon divergent? They were fun.