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Stephen Lloyd-Myers stood in front of his bathroom mirror, just staring at himself. He wasn't sure why. He just...was. His eyes staring back at him from the reflective surface. Stephen's hair ran down to his shoulders, most of the time he kept it in a low ponytail. Most sixteen year old boys would gawk at the thought of having long hair ('like a girl's' the other kids said) but not him. He liked it long. There wasn't much of a reason for it, he just preferred it that way. A knock at the door and he turned away from his own reflection."Stephen, man, come on. You're gonna be late for school." His adoptive father, Tommy, said through the door.Tommy was a quiet guy, the other kids were kinda scared of him. If he didn't know him then Stephen guessed he would be too. The guy never left the house, and watched his ward like a hawk."I'm coming I'm coming." Stephen swung open the door with an exasperated sigh, "Is Jinx here yet?""Not yet." Tommy's mouth twisted in a frown like every other time he mentioned his older sister's name. He didn't like her, and it wasn't hard to figure out why.His older sister was Jinx Myers, daughter of Michael Myers. She'd killed an entire police station when she was nine years old and burned down a mental hospital when she was sixteen. But ever since then neither her nor her father had been heard of. Stephen hadn't known her back then, he only knew her now. She'd made no secret about who she was to him, who Michael was to them.No one in this waste of existence of a town had any idea of who either of them were. Jinx had made Tommy swear on his life that he wouldn't tell a soul who Stephen really was, or that she and her father were still in town. In public Stephen was to call her Bernadette, her middle name. On paper Stephen's last name was Doyle. But he found that he disliked that name and much preferred Lloyd-Myers."Then why are you harassing me about being late?" The boy checked the time on his phone. 7:17 AM, "Jinx won't even be here for another ten minutes.""Just keeping you on your toes little man." Tommy reached out to ruffle his hair but he expertly ducked away. He padded down the stairs, going straight to the kitchen. He poured a handful of cheerios into his hand, shoving them into his mouth without milk. Then he opened the fridge and took out two Dr. Peppers. One he put in his bag, the other he opened and took a swig from. A few minutes later a tan car pulled up in front of the house and he heard the distinct car horn beep twice."Bye Tommy! See you after school!" He called into the house as he left.The cool fall air smelled like leaves. It was probably his favorite smell. That and the smell of freshly baked cookies. Nothing could beat that. Nothing. Stephen slipped into Jinx's car, setting his can of soda in the drink holder. "Hey, how you doing this morning?" Stephen asked his older sister. "Eh, same as usual." Jinx shrugged, "I'm just trying to stay awake without coffee right now." "Want a sip?" He picked up his soda and held it out to her. She shook her head and hit the accelerator. "I'm good. I still don't know why you like that stuff." "I still don't know why you like coffee." "Cause it's as dark and bitter as my soul." "Ha, ha Jinx, you're really funny." "You love me." She scoffed dramatically. Her expression turned thoughtful and she turned to him, "You thought about what you're going to do on your birthday next week?" "I dunno." Stephen leaned back, letting out a long breath, "I don't think Tommy wants me leaving the house. Of course that doesn't mean I can't leave anyway." "I've trained you well, young grasshopper." The car slowed to a stop at a red light. Both Jinx and Stephen put their hands together and bowed at each other, then collapsed into fits of laughter. Once he got his breath back he wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. "I was thinking about maybe hanging out with you and Dad, we could watch that one terrible shark movie. The one that's not Jaws and the people live in some like underwater station or something." "Deep Blue Sea?" "Yes! That one!" "Why that one?" "Well we don't have to watch that one. It's the first one that popped into my head is all." "Alright." They pulled up next to the high school, "You make a list of movies you want to watch. Dad and I'll go over them and see what we got." "Woo!" Stephen scooped up his bag and his soda, hopping out of the car, "Bye sis! See ya after school!" As he turned away he thought he saw his sister's expression turn sad. "See you after school, dork."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The week leading up to his birthday seemed normal enough.The fact that is also happened to be the week leading up to Halloween, Haddonfield's least favorite holiday, didn't mean much to him. If Stephen was being honest, he thought he'd enjoy Halloween more if he was ignorant to his family history. But nope, Tommy and Jinx made damn sure he was aware of it. Especially the latter. The boy leaned back in his seat at his desk, tilting it just far enough that the front end lifted off the ground. He took a long swig of Dr. Pepper with a frown. He wasn't sure he could remember a time that he didn't know who his family was, and how he'd come to be. The only thing he could really liken it to is kids who have just about always known that they were adopted and never particularly cared. Of course his case was slightly...okay significantly different but it was roughly the same. The only thing Stephen could think of that truly bothered him about his parentage is that his mom was Jinx's cousin and his father's niece. Apparently while the three were kidnapped by some cult they did some sort of artificial insemination experiment with his mom and dad. Nine months later on Halloween night Stephen was born. His mom had left him in a bus stop bathroom and died later that night. Impaled on a corn thresher Jinx had said. Thinking about it always sent a shudder down his back. Deciding he'd dwelled enough on family and the like he picked up his phone. Turning on the screen he was surprised to see that an unknown number had texted him. It seemed to be some sort of address.... "1-0-2-6 W-i-l-d-r-o-s-e L-a-n-e." "Uh...okay?" He stood, taking a screenshot of the odd message. Stephen exited his room and went towards the living room, where he thought Tommy was going to be. Only to find it empty, "Yo, Tommy? Where are you? I have something I need to talk to you about." Silence. Mouth twisting in slight annoyance he went about checking the house. Start at the basement, always check the basement first. He'd watched enough horror movies and heard enough stories from Jinx to know where to look first. Basement, first floor ("don't forget the closests that's like the best fucking place to hide"), second floor, and attic. Tommy wasn't anywhere. The boy peeked out the windows to see his guardian's car still in the driveway, "Maybe he went on a walk or something..." His phone buzzed in his hand. He looked down. Another message from that number. "W-r-o-n-g." "Wrong? About...wait what?" Stephen whipped his head around. There wasn't anyone around. There couldn't be anyone around. With shaking hands he texted back, "Who is this?" "Y-o-u-'-l-l-f-i-n-d-o-u-t-t-o-n-i-g-h-t-w-h-e-n-i-t-b-e-g-i-n-s." "When what begins?" "M-i-d-n-i-g-h-t-S-t-e-p-h-e-n-L-l-o-y-d-M-y-e-r-s." What the? This person...knew who he was!? He nervously laughed, this had to be some sort of prank right? It had to be Jinx messing with him. "Ha ha. Very funny Jinx. You got me." "I-'-m-n-o-t-y-o-u-r-s-i-s-t-e-r-b-o-y." "That's what I thought you'd say, still going to keep it up huh?" "D-o-y-o-u-w-a-n-t-p-r-o-o-f?" "Proof of what? That you're my older sister messing with me? Yeah sure." He waited for a few minutes. Stephen slumped onto the couch, staring at his phone. What was she waiting for? Seriously how hard was it to take a picture of herself laughing at him and send it? Suddenly there was a loud crash outside. He yelped and bolted upright. Cautiously he again peered out the window. At first he didn't see anything different. Just the trees, countless leaves covering the ground, a few cars parked in the neighbors' driveways. Then as his eyes wandered he saw it. Blood collecting in a pool on one side of Tommy's car. Without thinking Stephen dashed outside towards it. He swung around the front end, and froze. His guardian lay sprawled out on the ground, a hole in his throat. That was the source of all the blood. Tommy's now dull eyes were wide and fixated at the sky.
Stephen's hands clutched at his throat, air forming a hard ball in his windpipe.
His heart pounded in his ears.
The world spun around him.
Nausea threatened to crawl from his stomach into his mouth, the taste of acid on his tongue.
He always wondered what it would be like to see a dead person, laying at his feet. With his father and sister being who they were it was impossible not to. But this was so much different than what he imagined. His feet took shaky steps backwards. He was aware that he was hyperventilating, the cause of the dizziness taking a hold of him. The phone that he wasn't aware was still clutched in his hand buzzed. The screen shook so badly he could hardly see it.
"I-'-l-l-s-e-e-y-o-u-t-h-e-r-e-!"
That was it. Stephen turned and sprinted down the street. Tears rushing down his face. He didn't have a set destination, he just had to get away. Away from that scene. Away from that person. He ran aimlessly until his phone buzzed again. Instantly he opened it, thinking that it was that person again. A breath of relief left his sore lungs.
Jinx.
"Yo you still coming over tomorrow night? Or is Tommy cracking down?"
Stephen stumbled over to the sidewalk, slumping down the cold concrete.
"Are you home right now?"
A few tense moments and she responded.
"Yeah, why? Something happen?"
He bit his lip.
"i'll explain when I get there. Is Dad home?"
He could practically see his sister rolling her eyes.
"What do you think?"
Yeah like he even had to ask that. Their dad barely ever left their house. There wasn't any particular reason why, it's not like anyone knew what his face looked like. Not anymore. The only people who would were probably dead or stuffed inside some home.
"Yeah. Should've known. I'll be there in a few minutes."
Taking a shaky breath, Stephen rose to his feet.
Jinx would know what was going on. She always did.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Wait. Run me through that again." Jinx sat across the table from him, the overhead light glinting off her glasses. "Tommy's dead and someone's been texting me about something at midnight at this address!" Stephen shoved the phone at his sister, the screen showing the screenshot he'd taken earlier, "I don't know what's going on!" "Okay..." She picked up the phone, the corners of her mouth tugging down slightly, "Whoever this is, they know who you are right?" "Yeah." "Are you going to go?" "Go....go where?" "To this address. To see what this person wants." "I...I don't know. Are you going to come with me?" Jinx sighed, leaning her head back on her chair, "I don't think I should. They may not have specified it, but there's a good chance that they want you to go alone." "Yeah that makes sense." Stephen groaned, setting his face on the table, "How do you and Dad do it Jinx?" "Do what?" He could hear the head tilt in her voice. "Kill people. All that blood. It just...I don't understand it." He swallowed hard, fighting back the urge to vomit, "It's nothing against you guys, but I can't get that out of my head. There was so much of it....just from a tiny hole in his throat..." "It takes a certain person to kill." Jinx stared off to the side, "I don't think you're that type of person. For Dad and I...it was a mix of things that created us. But you're different. You're actually a decent person with morals. Me? Not so much." "I think you're a decent person." Stephen sat up straight. "Huh?" She blinked at him slowly, as if trying to comprehend his words. "I mean, you've kept in touch with me. You haven't hidden anything from me." He noticed with a frown how she winced at that last part, "Well...not when I've asked about it anyway. You've kept people away from Dad and protected the both of us more times than I can count. You taught me how to defend myself and about how to search a house for intruders. You didn't have to do any of that and yet you have. If you didn't have morals then I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have." "Well I know one thing for sure I certainly didn't teach you how to do that." A soft smile graced her lips and she ruffled his hair, "Now get ready, you got a confrontation ahead of you!" The next hour or so was spent preparing. Jinx gave him a long strip of cloth to cover the top part of his face with. The fabric over his eyes was thin enough for him to see but thick enough that they were hidden. She also insisted on getting him an 'actual outfit' that wouldn't stand out too much. The most embarrassing part was when she threw a jacket at him and it wrapped around his head and he fell flat on his back. He heard their dad come check on them. By the time he'd disentangled himself from the fabric Jinx was on the floor laughing while their dad stood in the doorway looking at least slightly amused.
Time slipped by faster than he would've liked. Before he knew it, it was 11:30. Stephen's hair was in a low ponytail again. His sweatshirt and jeans traded for a long button up jacket that ended at his thighs and a pair of dress pants. His tennis shoes remained, easier for him to run in if the need arose. Jinx made sure he had at least one knife on his person, just in case.
"Are you sure you're not coming?" He asked one more time, lingering on the porch.
"Stephen, neither of us are going to be around forever." Jinx's deep brown eyes stared directly into his, a seriousness in them that rarely appeared, "We won't be around to protect you. This is something you need to do alone." She grinned, "Don't worry boyo! You got this!"
"Okay...." Stephen sucked in a breath, turned on his heel, and began walking.
-----
The address seemed to be some sort of dilapidated church. The once white walls were now grey and crumbled. Carefully he stepped in the doorway, taking tentative steps. Every sound put him on edge. Every shadow quickening his breaths. Why did this place have to be so creepy!? Why couldn't this person have wanted to meet at a 7-11 parking lot or something? Well, actually he wasn't sure about that. 7-11 parking lots at midnight are places where time is fucked.
He wandered through the ruins until he came across what was once a sanctuary. There, he saw two figures.
One was a tall, dark haired woman dressed in a blue shirt and dress pants. Across her left eye was a long strip of black cloth.
The other had light pink hair, wearing a knee length dress in various shades of red. Her eyes were an unsettling green, like the fake grass in football stadium.
"Ah, he's here." The dark haired one folded her arms over her chest, "Took you long enough, Master of The Heavenly Yard."
"Uh...what?" Stephen furrowed his brows, confusion running through his veins.
"Awww that's adorable he doesn't know." The pink one giggled.
"Who are you!? What are you talking about!?" He shouted.
"Where is the last one?" The dark haired one scowled, that seemed to be her default expression.
"L-last one? Wait you haven't answered me!"
"You're the Master of The Heavenly Yard." A voice came from above, all three jerked their heads up to see a girl silhouetted against the moonlight, "One of four pillar gods. The one who will supposedly bring utopia if you win. But that's probably a lie. The stuck up bitch with black hair is The Master Of The Court and the pink one by process of elimination is The Master of The Graveyard."
"And who are you?" Stephen growled. The silhouette chuckled darkly, the glint of a knife shining in the light.
"I'm the Master of The Hellish Yard."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Stephen stood stock still, ice in his joints. Masters? Pillar gods? What....was this? "You've gone pale sweetie." The Master of The Graveyard cooed. Her tone was comforting and unsettling at the same time, "Do you need to sit down? Or die? Or both!?" "You're disgusting." The Master of The Court hissed, taking a couple steps away, "It doesn't matter what he wants to do. We're all here. We might as well begin." "Begin what?" Stephen swallowed thickly. "The Battle of The True Prophet of course." The Master of The Graveyard grinned. "Wow they really told you nothing huh?" The Master of The Hellish Yard cackled, "Yeah it was the same for me." "Are you going to come down or not?" The Master of The Court growled. "Hmm let me think....I'll have to pass on that thank you." "Fine then. We'll continue." The explanation went basically like this. The four of them, they were incarnations of The Pillar Gods. The four beings that had sparked the world's creation. They specifically were the final incarnation of said beings, and what was about to transpire was called The Battle of The True Prophet. The point of it all was to decide who would control the world from here on out. "To put it bluntly," The Master of The Hellish Yard appeared to cross their legs, "It's to decide who will become a god." "A-a god!?" He could hardly believe what he was hearing, "This is some sort of joke right? I'm not...I can't..." "From what I understand we are allowed protectors." The Master of The Court held her chin in her hand. "What's the point of that again?" The Master of The Graveyard sighed, "Only we can kill each other." "They can slow down an opponent to give us ample time to react." The Master of The Hellish yard laughed derisively. It was a cold, cutting, maddened laughter. It was so different from anything else he'd ever heard. Not even Jinx's laughter, as creepy as she could make it, was this unsettling. Someone crazier than his older sister....that was a rare thing, he didn't think it was even possible, "To put it simply, they're our meat shields." "Meat shields?" Stephen frowned, "But, how do we even find 'protectors' in the first place?" "I think it's more of a they find us situation." They seemed to shrug, "As much as I love referring to you all by your full titles I grow weary of it. We should give each other nicknames!" "Of course you would find something inconsequential to get excited about." The Master of The Court rolled her eye. "I'm just saving time. From now on you'll call me....." The Master of The Hellish Yard paused, tilting their head, "Nemesis. You'll call me Nemesis." "How fitting." The Master of The Graveyard snickered, "Considering your history with The Master of The Court." "That's precisely why I chose it." "I think I'll have you all call me Conchita. Not my real name of course I'm not idiotic." The Master of The Graveyard, Conchita, pressed a finger to her lips, "It's pretty. Like me." "Ugh, if you insist on this charade," The Master of The Court huffed, "I will go by Michelle." They all turned to him. He could feel all of them staring deep into his soul. His hands began to shake. "I..uh...Allen. Call me Allen, then." ---- Jinx sighed as she gazed down at the three beings below. Thank god she'd hidden herself in shadows so none of them could see how badly she was sweating. How badly she was shaking. She hoped that she didn't have to keep up this persona for very long, speaking more eloquently than she normally did. It was harder than she thought. This whole thing was harder than she thought. She didn't know about the protectors, that they were supposed to have them. Honestly it didn't seem like there was much point to it. It wasn't like she was planning on winning anyway. She'd just be bringing her protectors down with her. But she also knew why having at least a few would be a good idea. Plus she knew her father would have a fucking heart attack if she was constantly going out on her own to handle things. Plus, she could use them to keep her lie going. To keep Jinx Myers and The Master of The Hellish Yard two separate people.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There were certain clues to follow apparently. To find their protectors if they so wished. Stephen didn't know if he wanted to find them or not. None of this felt real, it was just going way too fast. He didn't even really bother to talk about the whole encounter with either Jinx or their dad. Instead going straight to the spare bedroom and flopping down onto it. His head felt like it was spinning, his gut twisting harshly. For hours he tossed and turned on the bed, struggling in vain to find at least an hour or two of sleep. Before he wanted it to, morning came. The sun barely peeked above the horizon and he had yet to sleep a wink. Briefly he considered calling in sick. But Tommy- Stephen sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake. Shit. Tommy was dead. One of the Masters probably did it. What the hell was he supposed to do? Call the police? Call...anyone? Or should he just take care of the body by himself? Quickly he moved about the room, changing into some fresh clothes that he'd stashed there months previous. His heart was pounding just like when he was standing in front of the church. He threw on his hoodie and grabbed his phone. He didn't worry about being quiet considering both other occupants were probably already awake. He stumbled into the kitchen to find Jinx sitting on the counter, downing an entire thermos full of coffee. "So what happened?" She sat the thermos down, peering at him curiously. "H-huh?" "You look like you've seen a fucking ghost boyo. What the hell happened?" "Jinx...what do you know about The Battle of The True Prophet?" She blinked as if surprised. "Well, not much....supposedly there are four Masters that want to control the world." Her lips twitched into a frown, "And one of them...is you..." "Wait you knew about this?" A pang of betrayal flickered in his chest. "It's not like I kept quiet about it on purpose." She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. She almost looked like she was pouting, "It's just never really came up. Plus, how the fuck do you tell a kid that he's not entirely human and that one day he'll have to kill three other equally as powerful beings? I didn't take learning about that very well how was I supposed to tell you?" "Learning about...what?" "Learning what you were. And here I thought that you were going to be the normal one." "Do you know anything else? About any of the other masters?" Her eyes darkened in that way that sent shudders down his spine. Stephen swallowed hard and forced himself to step forward. "I'm not sure about The Master of The Court or The Master of The Graveyard but..." Jinx sighed heavily, "The one you really need to watch out for is The Master of The Hellish Yard. Chances are, she's the one who killed Tommy and texted you last night." "She? So all the other three are girls?" He knew he should've reacted more to any of the other statements but he found himself focusing more on the pronoun. "Huh? Was she not there?" Her brows furrowed. "No. She was. She just...covered herself in shadows." Another shudder went down his back. "What did she act like?" Jinx leaned forward in clear interest. "Kind of like you but....worse. More unstable and like she could probably snap and attack us at anytime. She was also talked like an English teacher. She used really complicated words." "Hmm." She gripped her chin in her hand, "That sounds...bad. I'd watch your back with her around. If I were you....I'd try and get rid of her first." "G-get rid of her!?" Stephen sputtered. "Ugh this is the one thing I'm not sure I like about you or not." She groaned, her head leaning back, "You don't have the skills to kill. But, I guess that's not really your fault." One hop off the counter later she was standing in the center of the room, "Starting today, after school, I'm going to teach you. Dad will help too." "Teach me...how to kill?" The very thought had acid rising in the back of his throat. "If you want to stay alive, it's going to be necessary." ---- Helen Longacre growled as she watched the police mill about the home of Tommy and Stephen Doyle. Or, as she knew, the home of Stephen Lloyd-Myers; The Master of The Heavenly Yard. He may have chosen to name Allen but she was very much aware of his real identity. Just as she was aware that Nemesis, The Master of The Hellish Yard, was that insufferable brat Jinx Myers. Just thinking about her made her left eye socket throb. There was a step behind her and she glanced back. Unlike Jinx and Stephen, she searched out her protectors early. Standing behind her now was one of them. A young boy who seemed to bring tragedy to all those around him. "It was Nemesis wasn't it?" He asked with a stoic frown. "Without a doubt." She nodded, "Allen is much too delicate, and besides, it's clearly part of some plan she has. The only question is what that plan is." "Yeah." "Let's go Damien, we have a lot of work ahead of us."