“Saifogeo”

Matt cast his healing spell, summoning the large pink sword the spell formed. With a small wave Matt lowered the sword until it pierced Sidney. Instantly the bruises and wounds that were visible began to fade rapidly. In seconds Sidney appeared to be in perfect health, except for the no longer needed bandages. The sword faded away as Matt shut his spell book.

“That should do it” Matt said “Hopefully she’ll wake up soon”

“Thank you” Lance said “If she doesn’t wake up within the hour, we’ll leave a note and come back in the morning”

Lance, Matt, Eve, and Skye stood in the wrecked living room; the rest of the team were spread out around the house. Furniture littered the room, barely two steps could be taken before some kind of splintered wood was underfoot. Most walls had large dents from furniture being thrown around, most were high on the walls near the ceiling.

“Are you sure your plan will work?” Skye asked suddenly.

Lance answered “As long as Eve and I do the talking it should, we need it too”

“Do we really have to lie though” Skye continued

“To best protect her we need to be close to her'' Lance explained “Unless Sidney is aware of and willing to work with us we can’t protect her to the fullest. She won’t work with us if we tell her a God from another dimension sent us here to kill some of her friends. We need to present it in a acceptable story in order to convince her to trust us”

“If you say so” Skye said with a shrug

“Can I ask you something” Matt turned to Lance “and I want an honest answer”

“I’m always honest with team members” Lance reassured “What's on your mind?”

“Did that mask do something to Logan?” Matt questioned “You said his judgement was in question. Should we be worried about him?”

“I understand your concern” Lance said nodding “He clearly had a bad experience with the mask on. Ever since he took it off his mannerisms and speech have been the same just reflective of a bad experience. His mind wasn’t taken over and no other interference can be found. At least none that Elijah can find”

“Do you have any idea what happened when he put the mask on?” Matt continued

“Based on his reaction after taking off the mask it hit a nerve of his” Lance stated “Either something precious to him was threatened or a core regret of his was mocked. The specifics I can only speculate but clearly in unnerved him”

“Knowing Logan it was probably something to do with Robin” Matt said

“Who’s Robin?” Skye asked from her new seat, a wooden chair that was missing its back and one arm.

“Logan’s human creation” Lance answered “Someone Logan will tell you about if you survive the movie. He tells everyone after their first movie”

“Oh I love a good secret” Skye cheered

“So if you don’t think Logan is being controlled by the mask why question his judgement” Matt questioned

“I didn’t say that thinking he was being controlled” Lance revealed “my concern was whatever unpleasantness Logan went through might cloud his mind from future uses of the mask"

Skye let out a gasp "You're just like me. You want to try the mask on too"

Matt grimaced "Do you really?"

"I want the team to have every advantage we can get" Lance explained "Other than being shaken up Logan doesn't seem to have any consequences of the boost the mask gave him. If it is just a torturous vision that has to be suffered, I'm sure several members of the team will think it's worth it"

"I definitely do!" Skye cheered

"I may as well" Lance said to Skye delight "I'll be talking with Logan on the ride to the hotel to get a better idea of what the mask does"

"We could try it right now" Skye offered "You can pull it off me if it looks bad"

"We tried that with Logan already" Eve reminded, motioning to the kitchen counter.

Logan's masked experience lasted longer than the dragonslayer had thought. The team had spent several minutes trying to get the mask off him but it seemed attached to his face. They had even gone to get Elijah to try and see if he could communicate with the frozen team leader. They had seen Logan's muscles swell as he entered the second stage of the unlocked mode. Elijah had continued to try and break through the mask's defenses and succeeded in the end. The psyche force user had promised Logan he would get compensation back in the Lobby.

"His mental capacity might be too low" Skye argued "My parents trained me to have defenses against mental attacks. If anyone has a chance to fight off the mask it's me"

"Or Elijah" Matt pointed out

"Maybe once he's stronger" Lance said "Regardless of our chance of success I don't want anyone trying on the mask until I know what happens when you do. I want the next person to wear the mask ready for whatever is coming"

"Meaning you want to wear it next" Skye clarified

"Whoever wears it next isn't important" Lance said with a smirk "As long as we have the mask eventually everyone can use it"

"What's going on?" A weak voice asked. Everyone turned to see Sidney Prescott was waking up. Eve stopped writing the note she was preparing and brought a glass of water for the teen.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Who are you?" Sidney asked

“I’m Eve” Eve introduced “and this is Skye, Matt, and Lance

"Hey Sidney" Lance said warmly "how are you feeling?"

"Like there's a bunch of strangers in my house" Sidney said, taking the water from Eve but not drinking it "How do you know my name?"

"We discovered it during our investigation" Lance began "Can you tell me what you remember from your attack?"

"That's right" Sidney said "Some freak in a mask attacked me"

"A stone mask?" Lance questioned

"Yeah" Sidney nodded "Do you know who it was?"

"We do," Lance began "The person behind the mask is a dangerous serial killer. He's travelled the country, picking schools at random and leaving bodies in his trail"

“Wait who are you guys?” Sidney questioned “How do you know this?”

“One of the killer's first victims was the niece of a very wealthy woman” Lance explained “She hired us as private investigators to hunt him down. We’ve been following him for weeks”

"What does he want with me?" Sidney asked, her eyes alight with fear

"He has a unique process" Lance explained "He likes to pick some kids from the school and befriend them. Then he twists them until they're his personal killers"

"He turns people into killers?” Sidney asked in shock

"He's proven to be able to turn a person against their closest friends and family" Lance said "we're not sure how many people he actually killed and how many we're his underlings"

"What does this have to do with me?" Sidney questioned "Why is he attacking me?"

"His victims are chosen through his underlings" Lance answered "We believe your boyfriend Billy has been in contact with the killer"

"Are you saying Billy wants to kill me? Sidney asked "he wouldn't do that"

"We have no evidence to suggest he is" Lance assured "There have been cases where the killer had tried to recruit someone and failed. All we can confirm is that a lead related to Billy led us to your house and saved you from the attack"

"So anyone I know could want to kill me?" Sidney looked stunned, before suddenly giving Lance a dirty look "How do I know I can trust you?"

"I appreciate the caution and encourage you to keep that mindset for now" Lance approved "however keep in mind you woke up safe and healed by us. We had more than enough opportunity to do whatever we wanted and leave. Instead we stayed to make sure you were okay and explain what is happening. You don't have to trust us fully, but we do want to work with you going forward so we can keep you safe"

"Am I still in danger?" Sidney asked "He already failed once, maybe you guys scared him away from town"

"I would love for that to be the case" Lance said regretfully "Unfortunately he's proven to be committed to his chosen victims. He may try to go after someone else for now but he's not going to leave until he takes another attempt at your life"

“So what am I supposed to do?” Sidney asked “This guy is a monster. Should I leave town?”

“No that won’t be necessary” Lance assured “He has never returned to a town after he's left, regardless of any survivors. We will continue our investigation and hopefully this will be the last town on his massacre. In the meantime we would like to work with you so you feel safe at all times”

“What do you mean?” Sidney asked skeptically

“I would like to work out a schedule so you always have one of the members of our team with you” Lance answered

“There’s only four of you” Sidney pointed out “Can you spare someone at all times?”

“We have more members in town” Lance said “We didn’t want to overwhelm you when you woke up so only a few of us stayed behind”

“Are you working with the police?” Sidney said “They could also send patrols”

Lance frowned “Unfortunately our experience with police has been less than helpful. We would often get nothing but resistance from them, so we stopped involving them. You’re welcome to contact them if you wish, but be warned they could also be working with the killer”

“So I can’t trust anyone” Sidney moaned

“We promise to keep you safe” Lance said “Tomorrow Eve has volunteered to take you shopping for new living room furniture”

Sidney turned and gave a sad sigh as she looked at the splintered remains of her furniture.

“All at our expense” Lance finished

“Thank you” Sidney said weakley “I’m very tired now, can we talk about this more in the morning”

“Of course” Lance said “Get some rest. Matt here is our medic and agreed to stay watch over night. If you have any problems just let him know”

“Will do,” Sidney said, getting to her feet. She swayed slightly and Skye jumped forward, offering an arm. Sidney took it gratefully and the two left heading to Sidney’s room.

“There’s a number you can contact us at in the kitchen” Eve called behind them. A grunt of acknowledgement was the only response.

“That went well” Lance said once Sidney was out of earshot

“She doesn't seem thoroughly convinced” Eve noted

“We can work on it more tomorrow” Lance said “For now we should be happy she isn’t objecting to our presence”

“What's our next move then?” Matt asked

“Tonight we’ll head back to the hotel and rest” Lance stated “Tomorrow we’ll work on figuring out the mask and hopefully the other killer”

Lance led Eve and Matt to the front door. Logan, Josh, and Elijah were standing by a green explorer, the car Josh and Lance had brought. Louie sat in the passenger seat of the car, looking bored. A large dent was in the rear door and the window had a spiderweb of cracks. This had been where Elijah had crashed when Logan pushed him.

“All went well?” Logan asked as the trio approached. Louie lowered her window to hear better.

“Sidney is resting but seems to believe we are here to protect her” Eve answered

“Skye is putting her to bed now” Lance said “Once she gets back we can head out”

“You still okay staying the night?” Logan asked Matt

“Yeah, i doubt anyone would come back here tonight” Matt said

“You guys ready?” a voice called from above.

Skye stood at the edge of the roof behind them.. Without hesitation the teen jumped, pushing herself forward she was angled to land on the green car. Just a second before she landed, her descent suddenly slowed. As if she had been submerged in water, she was suddenly falling slower. She touched down on the roof, with little sound. Jumping off the roof she fell at normal speed the short distance to the ground.

“You never mentioned that ability” Lance noted

“We never got around to discussing my abilities” Skye pointed out

“True” Lance said “Tomorrow we can have a proper discussion about it. For now why don’t you take Eve and Louie back to the hotel”

“Can I drive?” Skye asked excitedly

“Of course” Lance said. Skye let out a shout of excitement and charged to the driver’s door. Eve followed in a more controlled pace, taking a seat in the rear behind Louie. The engine came to life and with a squeal from the tires, Skye pulled out of the driveway. Whipping it around, the car came to a halt perfectly parallel with the road. The engine roared and the car flew down the driveway, turning smoothly onto the main road. They were out of sight in seconds.

“Having a trained driver might be fun” Josh said

“Might get us into a police trace” Logan grumbled

“I’m excited to talk with her tomorrow” Lance said “I think we’ve only scratched the surface of what she can tell us”

“Why didn’t you go with her to talk?” Josh asked

“I have another more pressing conversation to have” Lance said, turning to Logan “It’s time we talk about what happened when you put on the mask”