The Pumpkin Massacre

Melia twisted free of the girl's hold. Kristy, Mickie, Sara, Jeanie, Jaimi, and Heather hadn't reacted at all. The girl was obviously just an actress in the maze, playing her role very convincingly.

But there was something in her eyes that caused Melia's stomach to twist a little. Or maybe it was the metallic scent of blood tickling her nostrils that was making Melia's stomach turn.

"C'mon," Kristy urged, tugging on Melia's arm. "We've gotta beat the guys out of this maze or we'll never live it down."

"NO!" the girl reclaimed her grip on Melia's other arm. "You're not listening to me. It's fucking real and you have to leave NOW if you want to live."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jaimi rolled her eyes. "We know. It's real. Now, let go of her."

The girl ran her eyes over Kristy, Mickie, Jaimi, Jeanie, Heather, and Sara. Then, she turned back to Melia. Her expression was desperate. "Please. You have to believe me."

"You're taking your role a little too far," Kristy said, beginning to get angry. "Let her go."

"I'm not an actress!" the girl cried. "This blood...it's fucking real! Listen to me!" She lunged forward and grabbed Kristy's shoulder as Kristy was turning away.

Kristy spun on her, and only Melia jumping between them prevented her from punching the girl in the face.

"Just go," Melia advised the girl.

"Fine," the girl said. "You'll regret not believing me." She disappeared in the darkness behind them.

"Crazy fucking bitch," Kristy muttered.

"You don't think she was telling the truth, do you?" Mickie asked, frowning.

"No," Kristy answered, tone so sure that no one wanted to argue.

"Let's just get out of here, okay?" Jeanie said, moving closer to Heather.

The other girls nodded and they walked quickly into the makeshift slaughterhouse.

**********

"I do believe the girls are raggin'," Matt stated matter-of-factly.

"Sara is, for sure," Zacky grumbled, snatching Johnny's lighter out of his hand in order to light his own cigarette.

"We did tease them about a sensitive subject," Brian said fairly as Zacky handed him Johnny's lighter. "I mean, no one likes to have their biggest fear rubbed in their face."

"What's your biggest fear, Gates?" JB questioned interestedly.

Brian snorted. "Like I'd ever tell you."

"C'mon," JB insisted. "I solemnly swear that it won't leave this maze."

Brian absentmindedly held Johnny's lighter just out of the shorter man's reach while considering JB's words. "Okay. I'll tell you. But only if every one of you motherfuckers promise it goes no further."

"My lips are sealed," Matt promised.

Jimmy, Matty, and Zacky nodded seriously.

"What about you, gnome?" Brian asked, looking down at Johnny.

Johnny glared. "If you'll give me my fucking lighter, I'll keep your fucking secret."

Chuckling, Brian dropped the lighter into Johnny's waiting hand. "Alright. My biggest fear..." His brow furrowed in thought as he took a long drag off his cigarette. "It used to be that something would happen to me that would cause me to be unable to play guitar anymore."

JB and Matt rolled their eyes. Zacky looked like he understood that fear all too well.

"But now," Brian said, "my biggest fear would have to be losing Melia." He waited on one of this friends to make some wise crack, but none came. "Wow. Nothing smart to say? You guys are getting soft in your old age."

Zacky shook his head. "Nope. We just all know exactly how you feel. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Jeanie."

Matty, JB, Johnny, Jimmy, and Matt nodded in agreement.

"I think we should find Heather and Melia and apologize," Matt said to Brian.

"I think we should find my cell phone," Zacky muttered.

"Zee, you're such a--" Johnny started, but what Zacky was they never found out.

A long, spine-chilling scream split the relative silence of the night.

Johnny took off like a startled rabbit.

"JC!" Matt yelled. "Where the fuck are you going?"

Johnny didn't slow down as he called back over his shoulder, "That was Mickie!"

**********

Mickie was fighting a wave of tears as she clung to Kristy. She was scared and confused and the rest of the girls were gone somewhere in this horrible fucking maze.

"Mickie!" Kristy hissed. "Shut up!"

Mickie realized she was whimpering "oh, my god. oh, my god. oh, my god." She bit her lip to keep herself silent. She couldn't get the image out of her head, the image that made her want to scream and never stop screaming.

The young boy had raised his head from the table, his eyes so frightened that Mickie knew it was real. He had mouthed the word Help and then the cleaver had fallen, severing his head from the rest of his body in one clean slice. Blood had sprayed from his neck, covering the girls from head to toe.

Mickie had been unable to stop her scream, and the girls had scattered.

Now, Mickie and Kristy were creeping along a trail, holding on to each other tightly and peering through the shadows for any signs of movement. They had to get out, but they had no idea how to achieve that goal without running into more of the workers. The people from the slaughterhouse were already after them, so they couldn't go back to the entrance. However, they knew if they continued forward in the direction of the exit, they would eventually run into another scene with more murderous workers.

They were totally and utterly screwed.

**********

Johnny barreled through the maze without a single thought in his head except one: I must get to Mickie!

That scream had been real. He knew it with every particle of his being--the love of his life was terrified and he had to help her.

"Johnny! Slow the fuck down, dude!" Jimmy yelled. Having longer legs than Johnny, he had almost overtaken the shorter man. "It's a haunted maze! She probably just got grabbed. You heard Melia when that clown grabbed her!"

But Johnny wasn't listening. Instinct told him to keep running and don't stop until Mickie was safe in his arms.

They entered a scene set up to look like a slaughterhouse. Johnny wasn't even aware of his surroundings. Not until his feet left the ground, and he landed on his back, his head slamming into the ground, did he realize what the dark substance on the floor was.

"FUCK!" Matt swore.

Someone gagged.

"Get up, man!" Jimmy's voice was frantic. "Fucking get up, gnome!"

Still seeing stars, Johnny attempted to find his footing, but he kept slipping and sliding in the pool of blood.

"GO!" JB bellowed suddenly.

Johnny was lifted bodily from the ground. The guys ran like hell out of the slaughterhouse.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Matt was cursing with each breath as he ran with Johnny in his arms.

"We've gotta get out of here," Zacky said.

"We've gotta find the girls!" Brian said, his voice filled with worry and fear.

"Bri!" came a frightened female voice.

The guys stopped as they reached a small cove in the maze wall, obviously where an actor would've hidden had this been a normal maze. Sara and Jaimi were huddled in the miniscule place, pressed back into the farthest corner.

"Oh, my God!" Sara threw herself into JB's arms while Jaimi practically tackled Matty.

"We have to get out of here!" Sara sobbed.

"We will," JB soothed, rubbing her back.

"Where's Melia?" Brian demanded.

Jaimi shrugged. "We don't know. We saw that kid...." she trailed off, shuddering.

The guys all exchanged looks. "What kid?" Matty queried gently.

"The one they decapitated," Sara choked out, and JB's arms tightened around her.

"We just fucking ran," Jaimi said. "And the other girls did, too. I don't know where they went."

"Were they all together?" Johnny inquired.

Jaimi and Sara both shrugged.

"FUCK!" Johnny punched the wall.

"Dude, calm down," Jimmy advised. "Take a deep breath. We have to think about this rationally."

"Fuck rationality!" Johnny snarled. "They could have Mickie right now! They could have Kristy! Don't you care?"

Jimmy's eyes darkened with anger. "Of course I care, but we have to do what's best for the girls, and getting ourselves killed isn't at the top of that list!"

Johnny closed his eyes, gathering himself. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. What do we do?"

"Split up--" Zacky attempted.

"Right away, WRONG!" Matt interrupted. "We'll be safer if we all stick together."

"Shads, we don't have the time to move around in a big fucking group, playing search and rescue," Brian said impatiently. "We have to find them fast and get the fuck out of here! Besides, a big group like this will be easier to find and trap."

"Exactly!" Zacky agreed. "Thank you, Gates."

Matt hesitated. "Fine," he agreed after several seconds. "No big groups. But at least be in pairs. Find the girls and get the fuck out. Get to the Escalade. No one leave until we're all out, unless there's an emergency. If you have signal outside of the maze, call the fuckin' cops. Got it?"

The others nodded.

"Good luck," Matt said. "And, guys?"

They looked at him curiously.

"I love y'all," he said, then grabbed Brian's arm. Brian reached back for Zacky, and the three of them vanished into the darkness.

**********

Melia couldn't stop shaking. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Stop!" Jeanie hissed suddenly, her hand closing tightly around Melia's arm.

Melia blinked and looked around. She had been hurrying along, heading for the entrance without taking in any of her surroundings.

"We can't go back through the mental institution," Jeanie said reasonably.

"Then where the fuck are we supposed to go?" Melia demanded a bit hysterically. "Back the way we came? It's a fucking slaughterhouse, for real!" she was practically yelling now.

"Melia!" Heather grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Calm down."

"I just want to go home," Melia said in a trembling voice. "Heather, I want to make it to my wedding."

Heather and Jeanie both frowned sympathetically. They knew how she felt. There was nothing in the world they wanted more at that moment than to be with the men they loved.

"We'll make it out of here," Jeanie stated. "You just have to keep it together."

Melia nodded silently.

"Well..." Heather faced Jeanie. "What now?"

"Now, we find another way," Jeanie started for an opening in the wall they hadn't noticed the first time through. Clinging to each other tightly, Heather and Melia followed.

**********

"Damn it!" Kristy swore as she and Mickie hit yet another dead end. "This maze is fucking impossible."

"It's a trap," Mickie murmured.

Kristy glanced at her.

"It's a trap," Mickie repeated. "The only way out is to go through the scenes. But if we go through them..." she trailed off with a shudder.

Kristy knew she was right. "There has to be another way," she said, knowing it was a lie. "And we're gonna find it. C'mon."

She pulled Mickie back along the trail until they found an intersecting path. They turned left. It was even darker down this path for there were no torches or lights of any kind.

"I don't like this," Mickie whispered, pressing even closer to Kristy.

"No, this is good," Kristy said. "It means they didn't expect people to come this way. Which means there won't be any scenes set up here."

The girls continued on cautiously. The only sounds were their breathing and the beating of their hearts.

"This has to be the way out," Kristy said after several minutes of nothing. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Mickie or herself.

"It is," Mickie said, but her voice was thick with tears. In less than a second, they had reached a dead end.

"NO!" Kristy burst out in frustration. She punched the solid wall in front of them. Mickie's gasp made her turn.

A pale, grinning face appeared out of the darkness, illuminated by a lantern.

"My, my," crooned an androgynous voice. "Aren't we in trouble?"

**********

Screams filled the night. Terrified, pleading, sobbing screams that made the skin go cold and the heart stop.

Jimmy and Johnny froze. The screams were close. Very close.

"This way!" Johnny darted off down a path to the left, Jimmy on his heels.

It happened in an instant.

The scene flashed before Johnny's eyes, but his brain refused to see. He slowed as he tried to piece together the puzzle, finally coming to a full halt as the reality slammed into him like a Mack truck. Jimmy ran into the shorter man. "Johnny, what the--" But he broke off as he, too, took in what lay before them.

A lantern was on the ground, casting the area in a flickering golden glow. The blood practically sparkled in the firelight, and there was so much of it that the scene seemed to glitter.

Kristy was laying on her stomach, her jet-black hair forming a curtain over her face. Her costume was soaked in blood. Mickie was beside her. She was on her back, her eyes closed as if she were sleeping. Gashes covered her arms, and she had practically been gutted.

An anguished sound broke the silence, and Jimmy wasn't sure if it was him or Johnny who uttered the cry. He saw Johnny go to his knees next to Mickie's bloody, broken body. He had time only to realize that hot tears were pouring down his own face before he felt the blade penetrate his body at the base of his spine...

**********

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home," JB was muttering to himself while he, Matty, Sara, and Jaimi walked.

"Baby, please..." Sara said.

JB looked at her. She was shivering so badly that her teeth were chattering. Her skin was pale, and eyeliner was smeared across her face from all the tears she'd cried.

"I'm sorry." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her close.

"Fuck!" Matty blurted, causing the other three to look at him in some surprise. He was the only member of the A7X family who wasn't constantly swearing. "Sorry," he said. "This just..."

"Sucks?" Jaimi supplied helpfully. "Blows? Is the absolute worst thing in the world that could've happened to us?"

"I choose 'D'," JB said grimly. "All of the above."

"Shh!" Sara shushed them. "Listen!"

Jaimi, JB, and Matty fell silent. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of someone screaming as fast as they could draw breath.

"Oh, God!" Jaimi's eyes went wide. "It's one of the girls!"

Without any hesitation, she and Sara spun around with the intention of running towards the screams. They were stopped immediately, however. Behind them, JB said the only thing he could think of: "Oh, fuck."

The entire crew from the mental institution scene was blocking their path. Jaimi and Sara quickly turned in the other direction, but they were out of options. More workers were creeping up behind JB and Matty. JB and Matty could read it in the girls' expressions.

"I love you, Jay," Matty said.

Jaimi was already screaming by the time the glob of blood oozed out of his mouth.

"No, no, no," Sara was sobbing.

Matty collapsed to his knees. JB was determined to go down fighting. His fist found the jaw of the nearest worker, but with a flash of the blade, a deep gash appeared in JB's throat.

Not thinking rationally, Jaimi grabbed Sara's hand and attempted to run. It was a blessing that she felt nothing as the cleaver took off her head. Sara let out a horrified gasp as the blade continued its swing. There was only a brief moment of pain when it connected with her face.

**********

They'd reached a dead end.

Behind them were the members of a circus of terror, creeping towards them despite the fact that the girls were aware of their presence. They were taking their time, dragging it out, and Melia swore she was about two seconds from losing her mind.

"I love you, girls," Heather said.

Melia and Jeanie moved even closer to Heather, shivering violently, tears pouring down their faces.

The clowns were now close enough to reach the girls. One of them snatched up a handful of Heather's corset and pulled her close. Melia and Jeanie immediately seized Heather's arms and a grotesque mockery of tug-of-war ensued.

In the next instant, Jeanie had let go of Heather with a cry of pain. A second clown had jammed a knife into the back of Jeanie's hand. Melia knew she couldn't win. The first clown overpowered her, succeeding in dragging Heather away.

"No!" Melia yelled. "No, please..."

"Melia!" Brian appeared out of the shadows, Matt and Zacky close behind.

"Bri!" A wave of relief swept over her. Surely the guys could save them.

"Let her go!" Matt shouted, forcing his way through the mob of clowns to where Heather was struggling.

Melia took her eyes off the mob of clowns for a mere second, and Heather let out the most heartbreaking scream ever heard. At least five clowns had turned on Matt. He couldn't even be seen anymore, but they could hear the wet sounds of a blade penetrating his flesh repeatedly.

In the moment of distraction, Jeanie made a valiant attempt to get to Zacky. Laughing, a worker made up like Bozo the clown caught a handful of her hair. He jerked her head back and slowly dragged a serrated blade across her throat.

Melia screamed. Zacky was down now, too, the clowns tearing away strips of flesh from his still twitching body. Heather's attempts to free herself were weakening as she slowly bled out.

And then the clown who had grabbed Melia when they first entered the maze stepped to her again. Melia shrank back, but she had nowhere to go.

"Melia!" Brian was attempting desperately to get to her.

Lips curved into a cruel smirk, the clown wrapped one hand around Melia's throat. Two more clowns gripped her arms to hold her still.

"No!" Brian roared, pushing at the clowns around him, who were simply laughing and impeding his progress.

"He can't save you," the clown mocked. His breath smelled like blood. He raised his free hand and Melia saw that he was holding a threaded needle.

"Oh, God," she moaned. "No. Please. You can't do this. Don't do this."

He slid the hand around her throat up to her chin and tilted her head back. Then, he placed the tip of the needle against the skin just below her lips.

"NO!" Brian's wail was anguished. "Let her go! Take me! Just don't...."

Melia screamed as the needle went through the tender flesh around her mouth. The clown pushed through her top lip from the inside out. She could taste tears and blood. "Brian....Brian...." she sobbed.

"Melia!" Brian was so close.

She looked at him over the clown's shoulder, her stare accusing. He had failed her. She was in pain because of him.

"Brian!" .......................................

**********

Brian jerked, eyes flying open. He was tangled in Melia's purple satin sheets, drenched in ice cold sweat, breathing heavily. Melia was gazing down at him, concern etching her features.

"Baby, are you okay?"

Brian stared up at her for several seconds. It had all been a dream.

"What day is it?" he queried.

She arched an eyebrow. "It's Halloween. Are you sure you're okay?"

None of it had happened. The guys and their girlfriends were still alive. And Melia was here with him. He hadn't let her down.

"I love you," he said, cupping her face in his hands and pulling her down for a gentle kiss.

"I love you, too," she murmured against his lips.

"I have an idea," he said, hugging her close to his bare chest.

"What's that?"

"Let's just stay in tonight."

She looked at him. "But, Bri, we're taking Zacky's niece trick-or-treating and then--"

"They can handle it," he cut in. "I just want to stay here with you all night."

She bit her lip, undecided.

"I'll make dinner," he offered.

She grinned. "You've got yourself a deal, mister." She gave him another kiss and he deepened it, savoring the taste of her.

"Oh, and Vix?" he said, breaking the kiss.

"Yeah, Syn?"

He looked into her gorgeous blue eyes. "Will you marry me?"

There was the briefest moment during which she seemed startled by his question, then tears sparkled in her eyes. "Of course."

He wrapped his arms as tightly around her as he could and kissed her again.