The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

Gotcha

Michael immediately loosened his grip on Allyson's wrist, jerking the knife from her hands as he let her fall to the floor as he looked out of the open front door. There she stood, in the middle of the street, but not how he had pictured her. She was being gripped by a man that had no business being near her - Tommy.

He had returned his hand to being over her mouth, seeing the horrid burn marks around her thighs from the strap that once held her legs together, now seeing a cotton rope tied around her ankles as her leg was covered in blood. Michael squinted his eyes, focusing his vision when he saw her clearer - she had been shot. Her face was bleeding and battered, seeing lash marks from the belt Kevin had used to whip her. Her wrists were rubbed raw from the former restraints, now being irritated once more by the new ones.

His fists clenched, the grip on his new knife tightening to where his knuckles turned white. "You want her? Come and get her!" Tommy shouted. As he began to take a step forwards, Mia's grunts could be heard as she tried to resist Tommy's grip to get to Michael. He could see her trying to reach for him, but the rope holding her wrists together were showing no signs of weakness.

Tommy began to drag Mia towards the middle of the neighborhood, using the intricate layout to slow Michael down during his pursuit instead of going directly down the street. Tommy felt Mia grunt against him as another contraction hit her, but he didn't stop. He let her cry. Once arriving at the expected sight to jump Michael, he forced her to lay on the pavement next to his car, nodding at Karen to kneel down and put the rag into her mouth to keep her quiet.

The group waited...

Slow, agonizing minutes before heavy footsteps could be heard. Within a minute, the group saw The Shape standing before them in the middle of the street, his chest rising and falling in calm breaths as he scanned the area, only seeing one car sitting in the street. Tommy's car.

Once looking down to see the form on the road as Mia laying there, shivering and bringing her knees close to her chest to suffer through another powerful contraction, Michael began to walk towards her, immediately stopping in his tracks as headlights from the car stunned his vision. Following that, more vehicles began to approach as well as people seemed to emerge from the bushes themselves, each of them carrying a weapon of their own. Looking to his right, the path to Mia was blocked by three people - more beginning to surround her. Tommy, old-man Brackett, and Karen, each of them smirking at how they won this battle.

At least seeming to think so...

"Gotcha."

*

The John's had returned to their home, frowning as they both had received no updates on Mia from the hospitals around them. Haddonfield Memorial was a madhouse whereas the other clinics had no person by the name Mia at all. "Alright, kids, Halloween's over." Little John scoffed, getting out of the passenger side of the car, waving his hands at the teenagers sitting on their porch, each of them covered in blood and shivering.

"No, no, no!" The girl said, crying. "They-They have her - your sister-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Big John intervened. "What did you just say?"

"They-They have your sister. M-Mia. They were using her to lure Michael into a trap to kill him and-and she was having contractions and I think she's about to have the baby and-"

"Stop," Little John sighed, putting his hand on her shoulder, calming her down. "Where did they take her?"

Allyson cried, pointing, "Over there. They're going to kill them both."

"Fuck that," Big John growled, removing the rings from his fingers before going back to his car, removing a crowbar from the back seat. "Let's go." He said, Little John nodding at him.

"I'll call an ambulance," He assured Allyson and Cameron, panting as he pulled his phone from his pocket as he jogged to catch up with Big John, fit with rage as they began to seek out this so-called mob.

*

"Was it worth it, Michael?" Tommy snickered, catching Michael's attention, seeing how scared he looked from behind the mask - like a cornered tiger looking for an escape. "All of this killing tonight for what? Her?" He began to say, pointing his bat down at her, the word Old Huckleberry burned into its side, nails hammered into the words to make a makeshift morning star. He smirked as he watched Michael's fists clench, finding satisfaction at how he received a reaction from Michael with every taunt to him about Mia.

What he didn't know was that he was playing with fire.

Michael began to take a step towards Tommy - to knock his head clean off of his shoulders, but seemed to stumble once he felt a blunt force to his back.

The mob had begun to attack him.

Hearing Mia's muffled cries, he began to swing his knife, missing his target once, twice... There were too many of them.

He knelt on one knee in an attempt to regain his balance, now seeing a revolver at his face. Before the man could pull the trigger, Michael used his knife to slice the top of his wrist as he squeezed the trigger, causing him to shoot the man who stood behind Michael, killing him instantly.

The man moaned in pain, lowering the revolver briefly before aiming it back at Michael, shooting him five times in the torso, the rapid gunfire overbearing Mia's cries. Michael landed harshly on the pavement, turning onto his stomach to bear the beating that was sure to come to him. The mob surrounded him, beating him with their crowbars, bats, posts, tire irons... Every hit, every jolt, and every groan, Mia's whaling and crying was heard shortly after in each brief second of silence between.

Michael lay still and silent in front of her, his limbs falling limp as he sounded to take his final breaths. His masked face looked in her direction, seeing her in a state he had blamed himself for seeing her in. Her beautiful face was bruised and bloodied, almost recognizable, but he knew her like the back of his hand. The two shared a look of compassion for one another, wishing to be in each other's embrace, damning the ones who did this to them. Seeing her widen her eyes in panic, he then felt it...

The blade of his own knife going into his back. His body going numb as his world went dark.