JJ was dreaming.
He was standing in some sort of black void. Adjusting his eyes, he eventually noticed something ahead of him - a person. As he started to walk toward them, he recognized that person to be Tom.
"It's time for you to atone for your crimes." He said. "For real this time. If the justice system won't properly do away with you, then they will."
Before JJ could ask who he meant, he suddenly noticed multiple presences around him. Then, he saw Elizabeth, Sarah, Bob, Mary, Will, Rob, and Mikey all standing around him; forming a circle so that he couldn't back away. Some of them had resentful glares, while the others just stared blankly.
"You've done so much wrong, and have had no impactful consequences." Tom continued. "This is the best way for you to die. The killer clowns will rip you to shreds when they find you."
"I don't want to die like that," JJ started to tremble at the thought. "I'd rather suffer any other way."
"That's why it's perfect."
"Can you at least... tell me when they're coming?" JJ asked. He was aware that this was a dream, so he assumed that this dream version of Tom might know something about it. According to his words, he'd been right; the killer clowns would eventually find him. "I can't know they'll find me while not knowing when. It will be agonizing."
"Why should I care how you'll feel? I want you to die. You deserve to."
"Why?" JJ blurted out, stress welling up inside of him. He couldn't think straight. "I-Is it because of the incident? I didn't mean for you guys to-"
He scanned everyone's expressions around him, wallowing under their judgmental glares. "It's just- I'm sorry! I tried so hard to save you guys and make sure we won against the-"
JJ could feel himself starting to break down. He fell to his knees and held back a sob, only to notice that, everyone had now disappeared. His heart still racing due to the stress, he put his breakdown on hold while he looked around frantically, not knowing what was going to appear next. It scared him even more, and he curled into a ball and started breathing heavily.
Just then, he felt something tap his shoulder.
JJ froze at the touch. It was nothing like a finger; it had felt sharp, like a claw. Whatever had done that wasn't a human.
He didn't want to look at it. He knew exactly what it was. Yet, something forced him to. He had been right; he was met with a killer clown staring right at him. There was no silver patch on its shoulder, and that only meant one thing: It was twice as dangerous as the one he'd previously encountered. JJ wanted to cover his eyes and wait for it to attack him, but there was no point - he saw the clown's eyes glitter with interest; it must have realized that he was too petrified to move or do anything, and so, it would have to engage in a slow kill.
"When... when is it going to happen?" JJ decided to ask. He knew killer clowns couldn't talk, but this was a dream; anything could happen. The creature remained silent, its only form of an answer being to reach forward and take JJ's arm. It used one hand to keep JJ's hand in place, and used the other to pry his fingers apart. JJ didn't understand what it was doing, but he waited anyway, expecting some sort of non-verbal answer. The killer clown used one of its claws and pressed it against the bare skin of his hand, and JJ could feel himself break into a cold sweat as he continued to wait for what it was going to do. It pressed harder, broke through the skin, and started to drag its claw across his hand, forming the shape of something. JJ started to hear his own breathing as blood leaked past the indent, and the clown stopped for a second, only to do the same thing to the other side of his hand. Despite the pain, JJ didn't resist - this had to mean something. When it was finished with its work, it let go of him, he stared down at his shaking, bleeding hand, to find a number carved into it.
Twenty.
JJ had asked the killer clown when they were going to find the base. It carved the number twenty into his hand. That was when it would happen: Twenty... what? Weeks? No. Too long. Hours? Too short.
"Days?" JJ blurted out. He got no response, as expected, but the stare he received gave him the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he was right.
So that was it.
The killer clowns were going to find everyone in twenty days.
Just then, JJ woke up.
