HALLOWEEN

Chapter 15

Laurie walks to the wall and exchanges her pump-action shotgun for a rifle. She flips a circuit breaker to turn the lights off upstairs and then flips a switch to slide the island back into place. They listen quietly as Laurie loads rounds into the rifle.

The sound of the front door opening. footsteps above them. Dust falls from the ceiling. Laurie tracks the steps with the site of her gun.

"He's standing right there, Karen" she whispers.

She takes aim.

Laurie fire three rounds into the ceiling at the position she suspects The Shape to be. All goes silent. Sounds of items come crashing down from the kitchen. Laurie looks around slowly, he can't be that silent.

Laurie soon rises from the shelter with the gun still drawn.

She looks around the dark living room and sees no sign of The Shape. Her senses are on high alert. She hears a noise, turns and fires. Blasts a hole in the wall of the living room. The muzzle flash lights the room.

"Michael!? Come out!" She calls.

Another sound. 

BLAM! 

She fires at a shadow.
A tree branch hits the window. 

She turns, blasts the kitchen pantry. Laurie walks to the living room. 

Blasts the staircase upstairs. She disappears into a back room. 

We hear a three more blasts. She comes back out and looks toward a living room closet. She shoots a hole in it. Laurie listens to the sound of weeping.

Allyson is on the front lawn kneeling over Ray's dead body. She is slumped with tears streaming down her face. Laurie sees this and comes running out. She drops the gun beside her and grabs Allyson, she doesn't look at Ray.

"Allyson, you can't be here!"

"What happened?" Allyson is screaming.

"I'm so sorry. It's not over. You need to run. Run and hide. Go to the road and don't look back. Get help. Save yourself" Laurie insisted.

"No. I'm not leaving you-" Allyson looked over Laurie's shoulder.

Standing at the front door was The Shape. He was looking down at them coldly.

"He's here!"

Laurie turned and lifted her gun and fired. The bullet whizzed over his shoulder and took out the porch light. She clicked the gun, when she noticed it was out of ammo she chucked it to the side as The Shape stepped down the steps and out onto the lawn. She drew her hunting knife and held it tightly.

With the mind-set of a mamma bear, Laurie turns back to The Shape and charges him. Their blades meet. Limbs entangled. The Shape loses blood from his missing fingers, but his momentum is relentless. He drives his knife into Laurie's chest. She swings and slices his arm. Allyson screams.

Allyson doesn't know what to do.

She backs up with each hit.

Laurie lunges as The Shape again wickedly.

Appearing on the front porch was Karen. She was holding a crossbow. She took aim.

After a brief struggle, The Shape twists his knife and forces Laurie to the ground. He pulls the blade out.

Karen's eyes swell with fear. Her jaw shakes as she takes aim. She considers the shot but instead lowers the crossbow in defeat. Then Laurie catches her eye from the ground. A neutral expression of control that says everything. He raises the blade and she lifts the weapon and fires, sending her arrow screaming across the yard.

It penetrates The Shape from behind. Underneath his right shoulder. The point and beak jut out by inches. The Shape drops his knife and pulls the pointer and slides it back and forth. He gets to his feet and struggles to remove it. Allyson walks toward them and grabs the fallen knife. She keeps The Shape at bay by grabbing her grandmother and pulling her back across the yard.

The Shape, seemingly defeated, drags himself towards the forest.

In a flurry of motion and panic, Karen and Allyson run with Laurie. As they struggle down the long, dark wooded driveway, they breathe heavily, exhausted physically and  emotionally. Feet drag, bodies strain. The effort is arduous. Laurie looks back at The Shape disappearing into the trees. She is in and out of consciousness. 

"Kill it. Kill it. It must die".

Her whispers fall on deaf ears. Karen and Allyson miss it in the strain of their efforts. They reach the gate which has been broken open. Karen holds Laurie while Allyson steps into the road and looks both ways. Hawkins' abandoned squad car in one direction and a pair of headlights in the other direction.

Allyson waves her arms as the headlights approach. 

A pick-up pulls over. Karen lifts Laurie toward the truck. Allyson helps. The driver drops the gate of the bed of the truck. The driver helps the severely injured Laurie into the truck. Her daughter and granddaughter get in, sit beside her and hold her tight. The truck roars into drive  and speeds down the road. The woman rest, stunned and numb and reflective of the night behind them.

The Shape, wounded. He pulls the arrow from his chest and moves through the forest. sirens wail in the distance. His white mask catching the moonlight. The Shape comes to a clearing. He turns and looks back in the direction of Laurie's house. He watches, breathing... He touches his chest. Feels his wounds; his missing fingers. It is revealed that he is standing among the shattered artificial faces of mannequins. The Shape walks to a tree and takes a seat. His head tilts back as his hand presses into his blood stained clothing. His breathing deepens. Exhausted, or possibly his last.

Could this be the end of his reign of terror. Or just the very beginning?