The Family Curse

IT WASN'T PETER TRYING TO MURDER THEM. It was Ryan Torres, back from the dead.

At least that was what Deena said. Apparently his mask had fallen off during the fight, and she'd seen his whole dead face, gaping bullet hole and all. Now they needed to go tell the police. Which was absolutely ridiculous. What did they plan to tell the cops? Officer, help, the zombies are here! They're committing massacre! It's the end of days!

Still, they did need to report a massacre. Peter had slaughtered multiple people in the hospital. He was probably coming after them already. All over some fucking car crash, which was basically his fault in the first place.

Guess "psycho" hadn't been an exaggeration, after all.

While Sam and Deena went inside, the others waited by the ambulance. Bec tapped her foot. She hated the police station, she always had. No one came here for good things. Especially not them. The only time Bec had ever seen the building was when she'd had to pick Liz up because their dad couldn't get off work. Jude had gotten the bright idea to graffiti the station itself and Liz, somehow not realizing this would go a lot better for him than her, went along with it. The only smart part of their plan had been doing it at night.

"We should not be this close to the police station in a stolen ambulance," Simon hissed.

"We're hiding in plain sight," Kate said.

"Yeah, just like Bundy," Josh agreed. The group stared at him. "Ted Bundy, when he was stalking his victims, I mean."

"We know who Bundy is," Bec said, dryly.

"Didn't he get caught?" Kate added.

"Shut up!" Marney suddenly blurted out, clapping her hands over her ears.

"Excuse me?" Kate gave the girl a confused look.

"No, sorry, not you, him..." Marney's voice trailed off as she motioned towards...nothing. No one was there. "No one. No one."

"Okay, well, have fun with your imaginary friend. I'm gonna go take a leak," Simon decided.

Bec squinted at her sister. Marney started hard at her feet, hugging herself tightly. Obviously she was upset, they all where after nearly being murdered, but screaming at the air was another thing entirely. Ignoring Josh and Kate's talk about the Shadyside murderers, she moved to stand next to her.

"Hey, you okay?" Bec nudged Marney's shoulder.

"Yeah. Great," Marney muttered.

Sam and Deena returned seconds later. They made a beeline for the ambulance, suspiciously tense. Bec was guessing that they went in with the dead murderer line and got laughed out.

"We need to leave," Deena said.

"I think we should stay. We're safe here," Sam said. "What if that psycho show up again?"

"They'll probably hand him an award and point him right towards us," Bec said.

"I told you, it isn't Peter! We watched him get killed," Sam insisted. Her voice broke as she said Peter's name.

"Who cares who it is? If he shows up, we'll be ready," Deena said.

Before Bec could ask what that meant, Deena pulled out a gun. Jesus Christ. Everyone threw up their hands and backed away. Where the hell did she get that thing?

"Is that the cop's gun? You stole the cop's gun?" Sam demanded.

"Fuck yeah she did!" Kate said, sounded rather impressed.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Sam snapped.

"They didn't believe us," Deena said. "We're on our own."

"Because you told them Casper the stab happy ghost tried to kill you," Bec interrupted. She was careful to say as far away from the stolen gun as possible. She did not need implicated in another theft tonight. "Who the fuck is going to believe that?"

"Well, technically Ryan's not a ghost. Ghosts can't hold things," Marney pointed out.

"They also don't exist! People don't just come back from the dead. Am I the only one realizing that?"

Bec looked between the group. No response. Seriously? She didn't even care if it was Peter or not. The fact the guy dressed up in the same outfit and started stabbing people didn't mean Skull Mask was back from the dead, it mean some other sad sack got inspired. Copy cat killings happened all the time. Someone saw a murderer get attention and though, hey, I can do that. Then they did.

"Where the hell is Simon?" Deena asked, just realizing he was gone.

They turned in time to see him appear around the corner. He collapsed in the middle of the street. A girl crawled on top of him. He was struggling with her as she tried to drive something into his neck. It didn't seem to be going well for him.

Deena was the only one not too stunned to act. She filled the girl's head with bullets, and the body slid off Simon. He scrambled to his feet and ran past them.

That wasn't what Bec was focused on, however. The girl was already sitting up. She stared at them, her face littered with bullet holes. Yet the bullets hole were already closing. In seconds the skin had reformed and it was like she had never been shot at all. All that was left was a gaping hole in place of one of her eyes.

The girl started to sing.

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IT WAS OFFICIAL. They were fucked. Marney huddled on the Johnsons' couch as the house was put on lock down. This was the second time someone had tried to murder them. It had to be a trend. She couldn't believe that, almost an hour ago, she thought Jude Goode was the most of her worries. Now, as he hung over her shoulder, Marney barely noticed he was there.

"It doesn't make sense. It's not possible," Sam dropped onto the couch next to Marney on the couch. "Bullets didn't stop her."

"I mean, pe—people have survived bullets to the head before," Bec offered.

"Six of them?" Kate said.

Bec threw up her hands. There was no explaining this rationally. They were being hunted down by something. Something strong enough to take bullets to the head. Marney ran the possibility over in her head. Was it two different things? That made the most sense, there was no way Skull Mask beat them to the police station. And why did the girl seem vaguely familiar. It had been dark. Marney could barely make out her appearance. Yet even with that disadvantage, she could have sworn she'd seen her before.

"Who the hell was that?" Deena demanded, turning on Simon.

"How the hell should I know? She...she was hot!" Simon defended. "I don't know! The bitch seemed normal!"

"She was missing an eye, how is that normal?" Bec snapped.

"Well, she was hot and normal until she attacked me with a fucking razor blade!"

"What a charmer," Jude quipped.

Marney pointedly ignored him. She still hadn't forgotten the police station. Jude pretended to have dropped the 'kill my dad' line, but the second they got near him it started up again. Kill him, it'd be easy, they've got tons of guns in there, just got to get one. Easy as pulling a trigger. Hardly any work at all. And there was no way to shut Jude up. He was just there, talking and talking and talking.

It was only luck that kept him quiet through most of this. Luck and, perhaps, the morbid curiosity written across his face.

"Wait. What...a razor?" Josh interrupted.

"Yeah," Simon nodded. "For like old-timey shaming, or in this case, I guess, slitting her —"

"Wrists."

Josh and Marney shared a look as they came to the same realization.

"Was she singing something?" Josh asked. "Was she singing a song, like an oldie...like an oldie song?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that. When she got up after being shot, she started singing something. It was, uh, You Always Hurt the Ones You Love, The Mills Brothers," Bec said.

"Jesus, Rain Man. How the fuck do you know that?" Simon asked.

That settled it. Ruby Lane. Marney mentally slapped herself for not realizing that sooner. Of course! That was where she recognized the girl. Anyone looking for the secret of Sarah Fier worth their salt had seen her picture a thousand times in the news.

Josh ran to his evidence wall and returned with a news paper clipping. The Sunnyvale Star. On it was a school photo of Ruby Lane. Above her was the start of the headline. Teenager Fillets Friends.

"This is Ruby Lane. The girl who attacked you," Josh said.

"Holy shit," Simon grabbed the paper to get a better look.

"She murdered her boyfriend and her friends at a sleep over, singing the entire time," Marney explained. "Then she...um...slit her wrists."

"Jesus. Yeah, why did I see this on the news?" Kate asked.

"Because it happened 30 years ago. 1965," Josh said. He ran to get more clippings, which he piled on to the table. "Ruby is one of Shadyside's killers, just like Skull Mask. I mean, Ryan Torres."

Marney swallowed nervously as Josh put down the paper. Ryan's face stared back at them. He looked so...normal. Just another guy, nothing outstanding about him. It was hard to believe he killed Liz. She'd be so mad.

"Bit scrawny," Jude said, suddenly appearing at Marney's side. It took everything for her not to flinch. "You wouldn't think it, but he's got a mean swing. Sheesh."

That was one way to talk about getting stabbed to death. Marney glanced at Jude. She was surprised to find his expression neutral. They were talking about his death. She'd expect at least some reaction. Yet Jude was taking it like they were talking about the recent baseball scores.

"Look, 1978," Josh continued, putting down a new clipping. "Sixteen years ago. 'Mask psycho murders kids at —'"

"Camp Nightwing," Kate finished. "Yeah, my mom's sister was there. That screwed my family up for a long time."

"Yeah..." Bec muttered.

Marney caught her eye. She knew she was thinking of Ruben. In fact, as Josh put down more clippings, it seemed like they could think of someone for nearly all of them. If there was a chance for a Wardwell die, they did. The only exceptions where the likes of Billy Barker — a little kid who bashed his family in their sleep — and Ruby Lane killing only her friends. And so it went on and on and on, all the way back to...

Miron Wardwell. 1686. Legend had it he'd argued against Sarah's hanging...only to be possessed by her twenty years later. Took a sickle to the entire family in the middle of the night, leaving only his two year old nephew to continue the family name. Sarah Fier, they said, had a vendetta ever since.

Guess Sarah Fier had a twisted way of saying thank you.

Of course, if you asked Bec, it was just an excuse inside another excuse. Wardwells got killed more often because there were so many of them. Twins to triplets to even quadruplets like the girls were common in their family. And when they didn't, they just had a bunch of single children instead. Twice as many people were twice as likely to die. Simple math.

Or maybe a real curse. It was feeling a little more likely right now. Either way, Marney was glad he wasn't among Josh's clippings.

"Look at this guy," Simon said. He's pulled out a drawing of a man, his eyes gouged out and blood running down his face.

"That's the pastor, Cyrus Miller," Josh said. "1666. He was the first one recorded. He, um...killed kids and cut out their eyes."

"Pastor Miller blind as a bat," Jude sang. "Tried to read the Bible and his eyes with splat."

Marney shot him a glare, but Jude only snickered to himself. Maybe this was a lot funnier when you where already dead. As for the rest of them? Their chances were looking very, very slim.

"None of this is random," Josh put down a drawing of Sarah Fier's hanging. "It's Sarah Fier."

"Allegedly," Marney added, almost reflexively.

"Allegedly," Josh said, though more for Marney's sake than really believing it. "Allegedly, she's turning Shadysiders into killers."

"Do you really believe that?" Kate asked. "I — I mean, no one actually thinks that this witch shit is real."

"Yeah, it's something babysitters make up to scare kids," Simon agreed.

"And then adults use to pretend their lives are shit for a reason," Bec added.

"No, listen. Maybe this whole Sarah Fier think is a hoax, yeah, I get that, but the idea?" Marney shook her head. "The idea is still there. I think we've seen enough to know there's some kind of curse on Shadyside."

Marney was suddenly very aware of Jude watching her. She tried to find him paler than normal, an achievement on its own. He flashed her a smirk. It didn't quite reach his eyes.

"1666, Sarah Fier was hanged for witchcraft, fact. But ever since she was executed, she's been possessing people, turning into killers, to take revenge on the town," Josh explained.

"It's like that nursery rhyme," Simon said. "Before the witch's final breath, she found a way to cheat her death. By cutting off her cursed hand, she kept her grip upon our land. She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves."

"Yes, exactly," Josh agreed. "Don't you see what's happening to us? This is all proof. Shadyside isn't just some hotbed for psychos. All these massacres are connected to Sarah Fier. The witch's curse is real! Allegedly."

Marney gave Josh a quick thumbs up. The attempt was appreciated.

"Okay, fine, let's assume you're right," Bec said, her tone making it clear she doubted this highly. She massaged her temple. "Why is she coming after us? Because this is feeling very targeted."

"Exactly. This isn't the same as the mall massacre. Something different is happening to us. Something way worse," Kate said. "Okay, we have two of her killers after us and both of them are dead. Why is she so mad at us?"

That was a good point. Marney hadn't even considered it. This was different from the curses usual MO. If they were following trends, someone at the hospital would have gone crazy and started killing without a target. It would be someone new. Instead, Skull Mask and Ruby Lane had appeared from the dead and, as long as no one got in their way, very specifically targeted them. Followed them.

It also didn't fit the usual time frame. It always took years between sprees. Not the next night.

"I saw her." They all turned to see Sam stood in the door way. "Last night, I don't...I don't know, you know. I thought I hit my head...It was her. I saw the witch."

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BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. The forest looked a lot scarier tonight. Maybe it was because Bec knew something could be lurking in it.

Bec hung to the side as Josh passed out headlamps. She had accepted it gratefully. The woods were pitch black. Even the small circle of light the lamps provided was appreciated. Make her feel less like she was about to be murdered ant second. An idea that was still barely breaking through her conscious. About to be murdered. By dead people.

All this time, the curse had just been an excuse. A way to rationalize Shadyside's pain. Now it was real. Bec wasn't sure what to do with that information.

They made their way through the woods in silence. Bec felt like she was holding her breath through the whole way. It was quiet. Too quite. Not even the animals made a noise.

The car appear in the distance. Apparently they hadn't been able to haul it out yet.

"So I fell out of car..." Sam walked over to the spot they had found her. She bent down, mimicking her actions then night before. "Here. I was crawling and my nose was bleeding. And then..."

Sam stopped. Her hand sank into the dirt and something mental clanked.

"I feel something."

When Sam pulled back her hand, she had a chain in her grasp. Bec knelt down to get a better look and position a light on the area. The dirt shifted as Sam pulled the chain out. Bec expected the chain to just stop. It didn't. To their horror, a skull popped out. Josh twisted the chain, finding a lock that was attached. Something was carved into the front.

"Fier," Josh read. "It's her. It's her grave."

"Oh, shit," Bec cursed.

"This is bad! This is really bad!" Simon fumbled away from the site.

"No wonder the witch is pissed at us," Kate said. "I'd be pissed too. Sam disturbed her grave."

"I — I mean it's not like Sam meant to," Marney defended.

"Yeah. Sam, say sorry," Bec instructed.

"It doesn't matter if she meant to," Josh said. "Now she's sending her henchmen after us."

"Henchmen?" Kate turned to look at the boy. "As in every one of those sickos on your wall is coming after all?"

That sounded about right. Bec ran her fingers through her hair. Suddenly she really wanted to go back in time and slap herself. Because while Kate blamed Sam disturbing the grave, she wouldn't have been any where near it if they hadn't tossed a cooler onto Peter's car. They being Kate and Deena. Bec still maintained she only opened the door.

Which wasn't the point.

A twig snapped in the distance. So faint they might have missed it if they weren't already on high alert.

"Hold on. Hold on," Simon brought everyone's attention back to the issue at hand. "She's mad because we disturbed her grave, right?"

"Yeah. So?" Deena said.

"So, let's un-disturb it!" Simon suggested, "Just put the bones back, rebury them, and put her back to rest!"

"No, that's so stupid!" Deena snapped.

"I mean, not really. Ghosts, they stick around because they were wronged or need something done. Normally appeasing them will make them leave," Marney said.

"I'm sorry, is this something you do regularly now?" Bec said.

Another twig snapped. This one was much closer and much louder.

"Whatever," Kate said. "Let's do it quickly so we can go."

The group hurried to dig up the dirt and get the bones back in place. They tried to make it as nice as possible. Wrapped them and everything. Once she was back in place, they dumped as much dirt in as they could get. Not particularly elegant, but it worked.

"Guy!" Josh shouted. Bec froze and looked up at him. "Guys, I think there's someone in the woods!"

It would definitely be too much to think it was just some hunter.

Bec didn't stop holding her breath until the last of the bones where finally covered. Her heart was crawling up into her throat. Yet...it was silent. The noise was gone. It seemed...it almost seemed like it worked.

Then a form came crashing out of the woods. Josh barely dodged out of the way in time. The form barely noticed. He continued barreling past them, right at same. Deena grabbed Sam at the last second. Glass shattered as an ax smashed through the car window behind her.

They tore through the woods. Scared it was giving them away, Bec wrenched the lamp from her head and threw it hard in another direction.

Kate had the ambulance running as soon as they arrived. They slammed the doors shut as it pulled away. Bec turned, seeing a man stood in the middle of the road, ax in hand.

"Thomas Slater! That was Thomas Slater!" Marney jabbed a finger at the window, gasping for air.

"The Camp Nightwing Killer," Josh said.

"That was a bust!" Kate shouted back.

"Yeah, maybe because it's not like the movies, okay?" Deena lunged across the ambulance to grab a wad of fabric. She passed it to Sam, who pressed it to her bleeding nose. "It's not as easy as putting bones to rest."

"It should've worked," Simon argued. "It always works! Marney even said so."

"Maybe she didn't care, maybe there's something else she wanted," Marney offered.

"Or maybe it's her missing hand," Josh said.

"Yeah, like the rhyme said, it's how she keeps hold on Shadyside," Bec agreed. She couldn't believe this was a serious conversation she was having. "Maybe she can't be fully put to rest until the hand is with her."

"Who gives a shit? It doesn't matter," Kate snapped. "Hey, how do I not die?"

"We! How do we not die!" Simon corrected. He turned and pointed between Josh and Marney. "And I'm looking at you, witch nerds."

"I...I don't know!" Josh blurted out.

"It's not an exact science!" Marney defended. "You just have to work off stories, and—and they're not always accurate. Sometimes people make stuff up or they forget over time. Things change. Sometimes it's hard to find the truth."

"They're not coming for us," Sam blurted out. The others turned towards her. "They're coming for me."

"What?" Deena said.

"I saw her again...the witch. She...I disturbed her grave. She wants me."

Bec leaned back in her seat. It make sense. It all made sense. Sam was the one who disturbed her grave and some psycho witch isn't going to care whose fault it technically was. She'd apparently blamed them all for what people hundreds of years ago did, after all.

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Nightwing ran right by me," Josh said. "I jumped out of his way, and it was like he didn't even see me. He went for her."

"Guys, no! Ruby attacked Simon. Skull Mask came after us at home. And while you guys where baby sitting," Deena pointed out.

The ambulance screeched to a halt. They where all thrown to the side. Bec winched as her head hit the wall. She checked for blood as Kate came back to face them.

"No, he didn't. Skull Mask didn't cere about us. He wanted this," Kate pulled down the zipper on Simon's shirt. "Sam's blood."

Bec gagged. Simon was still wearing the bloody shirt from before. Now it had a few new rips on the front. Seriously? That so damn gross.

"Yeah! From the crash when Sam puked period!" Simon agreed. "It's Jaws, dude. A shark smelling blood! Kate's right! When we found Skeletor, we was all sniffy and weird with my shirt like a perv in a pantie shop!"

"Yeah, but he came to our house, too!" Deena said.

Bec's eyes fell to Deena's shoe. There was a splatter of blood on the tip. Kate nodded towards and, when Deena looked down, her expression darkened.

"That's why I was able to just walk past him," Marney realized. "Remember, when I showed up? He was right there, and he didn't even notice me. At the time I thought it was just some guy being weird but...if they're really murderers, he should've just stabbed me. But there was no blood, so it was like I wasn't even there."

"Sam bled on her bones, and now the witch wants more of her blood!" Simon cried.

"Okay, so what did they do in Jaws?" Sam demanded.

"They blew up the shark, I think," Marney offered.

"And I'm pretty sure they didn't go skinny-dipping with the goddamn bait," Kate said snidely.

"She's bait!" Deena snapped.

"Yeah..." Josh said. They all turned to face him. "She is. Seriously, if we're right, and they're after her...let's give these assholes what they want."

Bec raised an eyebrow. Why did she really not like the way that sounded.