• Blood Bound •||• Simon Kalivoda X Female Reader •

27 - Be Prepared

Martin walks us through Shadyside Mall, telling us everything we need. "As the mall's lead custodial engineer, I ensure that all retail establishments come equipped with the StoreSafe 250." He rests his hand on the gate of Gadzooks to show us.

"This is the Cadillac of store gates," he explains. Now, the 250 prevents your standard smash-and-grab, graffiti, all while complying with the 70% visibility ordinance. Best part..." He clicks something from the bottom of the gate. The gate rises with ease. "Easy to operate"
"And we can rig them for quick release?" Josh asks him. "Little grease, these things go down faster than a Sunnyvale cheerleader," Martin says with a smirk, glancing to Ziggy. Kate and Ziggy both roll their eyes in sync. It was kinda funny, I'll admit.

"So, Deena and Y/N are both the targets now so the killers will go after their blood like they did with Sam," Josh says. "And then we use that to lure the killers into the stores and then..." Martin pulls down the gate. "Welcome to the clink, motherfucker," he says under his breath. Josh continues. "The killers will be locked up, then it's us versus Goode." "What happens after that?" I question. "Like how do we take out Goode?" Deena adds.

"Are y'all serious about this?" Martin questions, pointing to all of us skeptically. "We're serious, alright," Kate nods. "Once their down, how quickly can we get the gates back open?" Ziggy speaks up. "Well, that depends, but-" "Why would we want to do that?" Deena asks her, cutting off Martin.

Ziggy gives us an intense look, fire in her eyes. "We'll Carrie him. Mix Y/N and Deena's blood and pour it on him. Once the blood is all over him, we release the killers. They'll kill him and end the curse."
"I'm still very confused," Martin adds. "That's... a great idea," Kate says, amused by Ziggy's plan. She locks her eyes on a Spencers. "We should do it in style. Make an impact." She turns her head back to us, mind filled with ideas.

"We'll fill the mall with black lights. And we'll use glow in the dark paint to direct Goode to where we'll pour Y/N and Deena's blood on him." Josh stays silent, listening to every word Kate has to say while watching her.
"He's not just going to walk wherever we want him to," I interject. "So how are we going to get him to stand under the bucket?" "I'll be the one pulling the bucket," Ziggy says. "If we use glow in the dark paint to paint arrows toward me, he'll stand right there in front of me. That's when I'll pull the rope, dumping the bucket of blood on him."

"Alright," Deena nods. "That's actually a good plan." "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get ready kill this fucker," I announce.

----

I walk over to the Hanging Tree, following after Deena and Ziggy. Ziggy stares deeply at the tree, silently recalling what happened to her. Deena walks next to her, startling Ziggy. I stand on the other side of Ziggy. "This is it," Deena mutters to us. "Yep." I haven't really had time to process it, but she's right. Tonight, its all or nothing.

Ziggy walks away with the blue lights in her arms, leaving Deena and I to recall the memories of Sarah Fier and Winifred Watkins. Tears prick the rims of my eyes, threatening to spill out. "I saw you as Sarah," I confess. She looks over to me. "I saw you hang from this tree. It... scared me so fucking bad." I blink very lightly, careful not to let tears fall. "I don't wanna lose you guys if I fuck up."

"You won't lose us," Deena declares to me. "We'll end the curse. We'll kill Goode before he kills any of us. If we fuck up, we fuck up. We just need to keep our eye on the prize. And that is..." She waits for me to answer for her. "Ending the curse," I say.

"That's right." She smiles softly before placing the books in her hands next to her. She wraps her arms around me, pulling me in for a gentle hug. "Watch the stitches," I joke. She chuckles and picks up a book, squirming away from me. "I was thinking of taping these to our bodies. For armor."

----

I take a look at Simon and Sam. The both of them are tied to a pipe, nearly unconscious. I kneel down to their level. I look at Simon. Though I know he might not hear me or see me, though I know just how dangerous it might be, I cup his cheek with my hand. "I love you, Simon. We're gonna make it." I give a long kiss to his cold forehead.

"Y/N, you almost ready?"

I turn around to Kate standing at the doorframe. I let go of Simon and slowly nod my head. I climb over the counter instead of walking through the back door to get to where everyone is. "You don't happen to have any medicinal courage on you, do you?" I ask, swallowing nervously. Kate shakes her head. "I didn't really have time to bring any with me," she tells me, joining my side.

I sigh as we walk to the Hanging Tree where we will execute our plan. Martin included.

We all stand around Deena and listen to her. "Everyone says Shadyside sucks because it's full of shitty people, that bad things happen here because we're bad, that we deserve what we have coming," she monologues. "That's how it was for Sarah and that's how its been for us. But it's all bullshit. Just because we're weird and smart and different doesn't mean they can feed us through their meat grinder. Not anymore."

I nod in agreement. "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 Cindy. For all of us." My heart races with adrenaline. I'm ready. "For Shadyside," Deena finishes.

"Now let's do this."

I kneel down next to Deena as she draws a knife. She cuts deep into her right palm. "Want me to do it for you?" she asks me. I shake my head and grab the knife from her. I cut my left palm, letting my blood drip into the bucket of water along with Deena's.

Now it begins. The real final battle.