Chapter Text
The eerie wail of both police and ambulance sirens drilled through her ears as Laurie picked her trembling frame up, covering her ears as she did so. Her heart still pounded wildly, the flames had yet to calm down. Right next to her was Annie's unconscious frame, her face nicked with scars and bruises and her dark brown hair a complete mess....but she was still breathing shakily as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
Several paramedics, firefighters with extinguishers, and a familiar figure quickly rushed forward, his face filled with worry and his county sheriff's uniform smudged with smoke "Annie! Laurie!" Sheriff Brackett shouted, his voice cracking as his men and the familiar figure of Morgan Strode held him back so the paramedics could take over. In that very moment, he looked less like the fiercesome Sheriff and more like a horrified father.
"Dad....Mr. Brackett..." Laurie whispered as a paramedic tended to a burn on her arm and pulled back the shredded arm of her blouse, the cut now blackened with dried blood. As she stretched her arms and legs at their command, she really didn't feel anything---at the moment. A sudden thought was dawning on her.
Am I in some kind of shock?
But another thought overtook that one---the kids. The last she had seen, Dean was crawling down the tree with his little sister piggybacking on his back. She looked up at the paramedics, her eyes widening with silent horror as she tried to mouth words that wouldn't come.
Where are they?
Her father must've seen the look of questioning terror growing in her eyes as he knelt down, brushing a strand of hair past her face "They're okay, Laurie, they managed to get to the Doyles who called for help," Morgan Strode reassured gently but cautiously, knowing that any careless word could be critical to Laurie's future and the possibility of the media finding out about her....birth brother.
For all those around them knew, his daughter and Annie Brackett were babysitting the Hodges kids while Judith Hodges was in the hospital. And judging by the look on Sheriff Brackett's face, he was also determined to keep this secret for the Strodes.
Speaking of.....tears were leaking down Annie's face as she blinked up at Dr. Loomis with wide, bright brown eyes "Was that the Boogeyman?" She asked, sounding more like a scared child than anything.
Dr. Loomis looked down at her grimly, wishing more than anything that they had caught his former patient before these girls endured what they had tonight. They reminded him of his own daughter---Mary Loomis---and what had happened back eighteen years ago, when he, his ex Lila Crane, and their toddler daughter had found out the horrible truth of a certain Bates.
The screaming wails of horror coming from his toddler daughter were some of the worst things Sam Loomis had ever heard. Even during his time in war, even during his first patients when he started this twenty years ago, those screams---along with the horrified screams of Lila--- had him running as fast as he could towards the source of the sounds.
Their screams were joined by another scream, a more dreadful, horrifying scream which comes from the door behind Lila and Mary---
"Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Am Norma Bates!"
From behind the individual, Sam could see a sight that stunned him----....Norman Bates...he was wearing wild wig, a mockery of a woman's hair. He is dressed in a high-neck dress. His hand is raised high, poised to strike at a screaming Lila and a wailing Mary. There is a long breadknife in it.
Just before he could strike the two, Sam snapped out of his shock and grabbed Norman's wrist, coming through the door. Still holding the wrist, he pulled back the arm and threw himself at Norman, tackling him.
"Lila! Take Mary and call 911!" Sam screamed as he and Norman continued to struggle on the floor. Even when he was holding the man down, the wild fury in Norman's face and the mad noise of his screams and curses chilled him to the bone.
"As a matter of fact, it was...." Sam murmured softly as a shout came from the still burning house, though it wasn't as bad as before. Both him and Sheriff Brackett shot up in unison as Officer Meeker came running up, a look of anxiety on his inexperienced face "Sirs, Myers----he wasn't found in the house, only the victims---"
The moment those words came out, Dr. Loomis, Sheriff Brackett, and Marion Chambers looked at each other grimly as the paramedics cursed up a storm and Annie burst into tears, all three already knowing what Myers was capable of and to be honest, weren't really surprised that he could escape. Meanwhile, Morgan Strode's face went pale with horror as Laurie merely looked to the outside world calmly. While a part of her expected it due to how easily he shrugged off those bullets, hearing it confirmed only solidified her determination to see this through until the end.
Just before Annie was wheeled off and while she was lifted into the stretcher, Laurie grabbed Dr. Loomis' sleeve, her face filled with determination "Loomis, I have a plan of sorts....it'll require the hospital's help though." She looked at her father, sticking her lip out in determination "Dad, come with me..."
"Laurie, what---"
"I have a plan in mind, but it'll require the help of all of wherever Annie's going and Mr. and Mrs. Hodges likely are," Laurie explained firmly, getting the attention of a college-looking kid---a paramedic attendant---with dark, curly hair who looked vaguely familiar and curious as he turned to Laurie "They're both in Haddonfield Memorial and Ms. Brackett will be heading there, why?" He asked. Upon receiving the stares from different people, he blushed sheepishly "..m' Jimmy, Jimmy Lloyd..."
"You know her, Jimmy?" Asked another medic---Budd, a college kid of twenty-four, raising his eyebrows. Jimmy nodded as he ran a hand through his curly hair "Laurie Strode, she goes to school with Ziggy."
"Your old man Strode Realty?" Budd inquired, raising his eyebrows as Laurie followed him, Jimmy, and Annie into the ambulance. Her heart broke when she saw Annie in numb pain, crying, and covered in a soft blanket.
"Daddy, don't...." Annie stared up at them and her father, not really seeing them, tears slipping down her face "Let them put me to sleep..."
"Baby--" Sheriff Brackett whispered softly, carding through her curly brown hair "It'll be okay, me and your mother will meet you at the hospital--"
"He'll...." A small shake of the head stopped him as Annie grasped his sleeve in desperation, even with Leigh trying to reassure her "He'll find us if we sleep..."
As the ambulance door closed, Laurie could hear a familiar song playing---a song that she, Annie, and Lynda liked but now, it only ruined the mood and made things more eerie.
"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen~"
***
Meanwhile, at a distance away from the burning Brackett house, the Shape peers inside a window. Through the blowing curtains, he can see a man watching TV. A black and white movie is on. "Night of the Living ~" • The scene at the front porch. The hero lights a molotov cocktail and tosses it at the ghouls. They recoil from the flames.
The Shape slowly moved from the window, along the side of the house towards an open large kitchen window. Slowly, carefully, the Shape looked inside once more.
Mrs. Elrod---a kindly elderly woman---stood over a butcher block making a sandwich. She sliced some ham with a large butcher knife. Then she goes over to the refrigerator and took out a large jar of mayonnaise "Harold, you want mayonnaise on your sandwich?"
No response.
She goes back to the counter and begins slathering mayo all over the sandwich "What about mustard?"
Still no response as she left the sandwich unfinished and goes over to the doorway, peering inside. Her face softened when she saw her sleeping husband "Harold, you sleeping, dear?"
Suddenly, the movie stopped and a bulletin came over the air, grabbing the attention of Mrs. Elrod. Her eyes narrowed sharply as the announcer's voice came over "We interrupt our movie for a WWAR News Update. Here live is a report from WWAR's own Robert Mundy..."
Unbeknownst to the Elrods, their screen door silently opens---masked as Mrs. Elrod turns up the TV to hear better---as the Shape slips inside the house, stepping into the kitchen.
"The State Police has issued an all-points bulletin for Michael Myers, a mental patient who escaped last night from Smith's Grove-Warren County Sanitarium. He is now believed to be at large in Haddonfield-"
"Oh my--" Mrs. Elrod stands watching the bulletin with interest and horror as she quickly moves to lock her front door.
Inside the kitchen, the bloodied hand of the Shape grasps another knife from the counter and pulls it into the darkness.
Hearing the noises in the kitchen, Mrs. Elrod spins around while grabbing her sewing needle. She sees a flash of the shape disappearing into the darkness before seeing the drops of blood lying on the butcher block beside her ham sandwich. She opened her mouth and screamed---