FINAL BOY || Ethan Landry

- CHAPTER TEN -

DETECTIVE BAILEY pulls out Billy Loomis' ghost face mask, handing it to Sam. "Put it on." He orders, and Sam just stands there in disbelief.

"Fuck you!" Jasmine shouts as she knocks the mask out of his hand, making Quinn leap into action, cutting her arm.

"Stay away from her!" I yell and she just laughs coldly.

"They're all gonna die, Emmett." She says. "They're all gonna die and there's nothing you can do to stop me when I slash my knife across her pretty little throat."

"N-no, you can't." I plead. "She's the main character. Isn't there some rule against killing the main character?? The final girl or something?!"

This time Ethan steps up rolling his eyes at me. "You stupid, sweet little thing." He purrs in my ear as his knife lightly traces my cheekbones. "She's not the main character. You are." He says and I freeze.

"W-what, no. That doesn't make sense, I just—"

"You are my final boy. You are the one who gets to live. Not her." He states, before gently pressing his lips on mine.

I don't kiss him back. I'm not sure I could even if I wanted to. Everything feels numb as I slip the knife from my pocket behind my back.

The kissing stops and I freeze. "I'm sorry, Emmett." He says and I hesitate at the sincerity in his tone. "I never wanted this to happen, but I can't disobey him." He says with tears in his eyes as he drags me away from the others.

He grabs my arm that's holding the knife and stares at it with regret. "If I could go back in time and tell you the truth, I would. But I can't...so you have to kill me." He says.

"No." I whisper and his eyes soften. "You can't do this to me. First you betray me, you rip my heart to pieces, and now you want me to shatter it even more? I'm not gonna kill you, Ethan." I say.

He looks at me for a really long time before his lips crash into mine, and this time I kiss back.

The kiss is filled with a desperate need which scares me to no end, because I know this feeling. He doesn't plan on making it out of this alive.

We break apart as he cups my face in his hands. "You need to know everything, Emmett." He says. "The last ghost face, Richie Kirsch. He was my brother and he was terrible to me, and he abused me but my dad and sister loved him and they dragged me into this to get revenge for his death. I convinced them to leave you out of it since you had no part in what happened last year, but your friends are still in danger."

"Ethan..."

"No, just let me finish." He says with a grimace. "If I don't say everything I need to, I'm gonna regret it. I killed Anika. I hate that I killed her, but I did and there's no excuse for that. Emmett...I love you too."

My heart pounds heavily against my chest.

"I know I didn't say it back to you but I was afraid that after I revealed myself to you..."

"We're gonna fix this." I tell him in determination. "We're gonna take down Bailey and Quinn, and then you and me are gonna get the fuck out of here. I promise."

He looks at me skeptically but doesn't argue. "Come on. I have to go so I don't look suspicious." He tells me and I head off in the direction I last saw the three girls.

I see Tara hanging from the railing as Sam and Jasmine try to keep her up. "Please, Tara. Don't let go." Jasmine whimpers.

Ethan's standing below her, trying to play his part. "Let her go, Sam!" He shouts as Quinn appears on the balcony, slowly making her way towards Sam.

"Shit." I mutter underneath my breath, and Ethan quickly glances over at me, not knowing what to do.

"Sam, Jasmine, you have to let me go." Tara tells them and the three of them share a look.

Tara then falls, making Ethan panic as he's supposed to be trying to kill her. He looks to me in question, giving Tara the perfect opportunity to stab him directly in the mouth.

"Ethan!!!" I cry out in pain. "No!!!"

Tara twists the knife in his mouth making his eyes visibly widen. She then pulls the knife out, and Ethan falls to the ground. I rush over to his motionless body.

"Ethan, no, stay with me!" I beg. "Stay with me Ethan, I know you're not bad. You're a good guy." I tell him, hoping it could change everything. I know it can't change anything.

"Emmett...I know you loved him but—" Tara starts but I cut her off.

"I know, okay?!" I yell at her. "I know what he did and nothing can ever excuse the fact that he murdered people but he wanted to be different! Now he'll never get the chance to try." I say, and I can feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

Sam and Detective Bailey suddenly fall from the balcony and Detective Bailey falls unconscious.

I rush to Sam's aid helping her up as Jasmine climbs back down the ladder to us.

Jasmine runs into Taras arms. "Thank god, you're okay." She cries and Taras hold tightens.

At least Jasmine and Tara get their happy ending.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Sam asks me and I nod, knowing exactly what she's thinking.

We both go to the ghost face cases and grab our father's costumes.

"Let's finish this." I tell her with a heavy heart and she nods.

We wait several minutes before Detective Bailey wakes up. Tara dials his number on Sam's cell and he picks up the phone. "Hello, Detective Bailey, I've got one question for you." She says with the voice modulator on.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He asks. "Wondering why Emmett gets to live? It's not just because of Ethan, you know?" He says, and it takes everything in me not to ask further questions.

"No." Tara says. "What's your favourite scary movie? I'm asking because you're in one now. You're in my movie."

Two shots go off, making me flinch. "Have you ever wondered, Emmett?" He asks me. "Have you ever wondered why I made sure you and Ethan roomed with Chad?"

What?