𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝗲𝘀

𖣔𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 8𖣔

𖣔𝗞𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𖣔

The silence was painful as we awaited Tommy to get close enough to attack him. The music still echoed throughout the mess hall. I could tell Ziggy was itching to get out and help Cindy. Though that would lead to certain death. Finally a different sound started up. The sound of wood splintering, announcing, Tommy was now in the storage area. The sound of footsteps came closer and closer.

Me and Ziggy snuck round and spotted the blonde. I slowly handed Ziggy the knife. She started to slowly raise her hand, taking careful steps forward. With a click, the music stopped. The wooden boards beneath Ziggy's feet creaked. Tommy turned around, his eyes wide and blood splattering his face. Ziggy screamed and plunged the knife into Tommy's chest.

With a swift movement, the cursed teen struck the redhead in the face. I watched as she fell into a rack of flour bags. I landed a firm punch on Tommy's jaw. He payed no attention to it. He simply turned to Ziggy, tearing the knife out his chest. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. I punched and kicked and slapped but it made absolutely no difference.

Ziggy's eyes landed on me and she screamed and gasped for air. I reached behind her head, taking a flour bag. I slammed it over Tommy's head. Ziggy pushed him back, gripping onto his bag and choking him out with the bag. Tommy stumbled around, shaking Ziggy off. He reached down and picked up his axe.

With the bag now over his face, Tommy turned to Ziggy, axe in hand. I helped her up and we ran out of the storage area. I threw whatever I could at the killer, anything to slow him down, anything for Ziggy to live. Suddenly there was a scream. Tommy swivelled around to see Cindy, a bloody knife in her hand. Now facing Tommy's back, I could see gash in his shoulder blade.

Cindy repeatedly lodged the knife in the blonde's throat until he finally collapsed. Cindy ran over and pulled Ziggy into a hug. Then, surprisingly, she pulled me into the hug. "Thank you for protecting her." She said to me with a smile. "No problem, thanks for uh- saving us." I responded.

I stood back from the hug and looked around. We shouldn't be here much longer, not if what Nick had said about the killers coming back to life was true. Cindy started apologising to Ziggy about being a bad sister or whatever so I walked away and leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen. The sound of metal banging caught my attention. "Guys?" I spoke, furrowing my brows at the sound. The sisters continued talking. "Guys!" I said louder. They still continued to talk.

"GUYS!" I yelled. The sisters looked up at me, confused. I waved them over, one finger over my lips to hush them. They looked at each other as they heard the banging sound. We watched as the grate fully came off and slid to the opposite side of the room. Loud heartbeats and panicked breathing could be heard in the thick silence of the building.

I almost jumped out of my skin as a hand gripped the side of the hole. Ziggy clung onto my arm, bringing herself closer to me. Then a head poked up and we all sighed with relief. "Hey snitch." Alice grinned up at us. Cindy moved to help the girl out of the grate as me and Ziggy stood to the side. I watched the redhead as she rested her hand on her chest and attempted to even put her breathing. "Eyes up here." She whispered to me. "Huh?- oh! I didn't mean to- I was looking at your hand- I'm sorry- I didn't mean to- I wasn't looking at-" I stumbled over my words. Why did she have this affect on me?

Ziggy laughed once again and me in my flustered state. "I was joking, Chloe." She smiled. "Right yeah, sorry." I apologised.
"You two done flirting yet?" Alice smirked.
"Whaaaaat?" I laughed awkwardly.
"We're not flirting!" Ziggy was now the flustered one. "Yep! Not flirting! I'd never flirt with freckles here!" I nodded quickly. "OooooOo, she has a nickname for her." Alice nudged Cindy.

"Okay, okay. I'm just happy you're safe." Cindy pulled the short haired girl into a hug. "Okay! Careful, okay? This thing's like a million years old!" Alice scolded, drawing back from the hug. "I bought that a month ago." Cindy frowned at the bag Alice was wearing. "No, I'm not talking about your stupid bag, genius," Alice chuckled.

"Blood will fall, Satan's stone. Okay? it was right there." Alice said. I frowned in confusion and what she was saying. I looked at Ziggy for an answer but she just shrugged. "All this time, buried under the moss, and I found it. I fucking found it." Alice continued. "Found what?" I asked. "Three guesses." Alice smiled.

She lead us to one of the tables and set down the bag. Everyone crowded around and I stood behind Ziggy, looking at the bag from my height advantage over the shorter girl. From inside the bag, Alice pulled out a skeletal hand. A chill ran down my spine as I saw it and I started to feel light headed. "What? What is it?" Ziggy questioned.
"It's Sarah Fier's lost hand." I spoke without thinking. I frowned at myself. How did I know that? I didn't know that? I had no clue what this thing was. Alice just nodded, looking slightly confused as to me knowing what the item was.

"Nurse Lane, she spent her entire like looking for this. A way to stop the curse that took her daughter." Cindy said, her voice shaking slightly. "Without her hand, her grip on the land holds firm. The curse will last until body and hand unite." Alice recited from the book she had pulled out of the bag. "This lead us to the hand bone, and if the legend is true, that means her body's still buried-" Alice explained. "Under the hanging tree." I finished her sentence.

"We can end this, no more murders, no more curse, no more..." Alice trailed off. "Pain." Cindy spoke for her. Ziggy gently took the hand, pulling it towards us. A headache that felt like a million drills were being buried into my head suddenly hit me and I felt cold. I stumbled slightly into Ziggy and she turned to face me. "Woah- Chloe? Are you alright?" She asked. I blinked at her, the pain was too much for me, I couldn't even get words out. "Chloe?" Ziggy repeated, looking concerned. "Constance?" I spoke once again without thinking. "Who?" Ziggy frowned at me.