The Nightmare lives On

Breaking Point

It was around sunset once the slashers reached their destination. Eric groaned as he fell face forward onto the grass of the soccer field. Using whatever energy he had left, he crawled away from the tunnel opening so that the others can come out and not end up dog piling on him.

"Fuck...I didn't think it would take that long to go through there...." Adam said as he dusted dirt off his pants as he straightened up and looked around cautiously. He put his knife into its holster as he carefully walked over Eric's left leg.

Jenny and Sasha followed by the other boys walked a little bit farther and Sasha jumped when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket and looked at the caller id. "Uh oh....mom..." She murmured as she flipped the phone open and pressed the answer button.

Derek leaned against a tree, and he slid to the ground lightly, before he finally fell with a soft thud. His cheek was killing him from where Adam had punched him, though he only rubbed it gently, making sure that he didn't knock any teeth loose. Viktor sat down beside him, still favoring his shoulder, and he glanced at the ginger male.

"I'd never thought I'd zay thiz Derek....but you are probably one of the most craziest guys I've ever known in my entire life." He said as he gently rolled his shoulder only to suck in a breath and grip it tightly.

"...Your accent is slowly changing." Derek responded as he took off his fedora and shook out his hair.

"Heh...I know. I'm slowly getting better at it..." Viktor said as he smiled at Derek but in a milisecond, it was gone. Emil stuck a bandage on his hand as he glanced around their surroundings, his blue eyes looking more like a deep green in the fading sunlight.

"Does anyone have any ideas on what to do now? We can't go back to the safe house since Rachel knows where it is..." Samäel said as he checked on Eric, only to see that the boy was passed out, snoring softly.

"We'll go to my house. My dad is on his way here to pick us up." Sasha said as she pocketed her phone and she walked over to the rest of the group. Derek frowned and he stood up, holding his fedora in his hand.

"No. You guys go on ahead...I'm staying here..." He said as he looked away from the Slashers. Eric heard this and he immediately sat up, a look of disbelief on his tired face.

"What?! Come on Derek, you can't be seriou-"

"But I am! None of you guys would be in this mess if it wasn't for me! We would all still be safe, not being hunted by my dad in our dreams, not being hunted by the damn police and the jocks because of me!" Derek yelled, interrupting Eric, as he turned to face him.

"This was a damn mistake, I never should have asked all of you to put your lives at risk for my own stupid plan. We found my dad, only to discover that he is the damn Springwood Slasher...so what is the damn point in keeping this group together?!" He continued, not noticing that he was crying.

Sasha slowly walked over to Derek, and despite his attempts to move away from her, she hugged him, gently reaching up and stroking his ginger hair. Derek stood there, breathing hard, until he just broke down and wrapped his arms around her, and cried softly. Adam and Samäel looked at Derek with shocked expressions on their face before looking at each other.

Eric got up from the grass and he walked over to them, and he also wrapped his arms around Derek, his left hand gently resting on Sasha's shoulder. "The damn point is that we are all in this together, Derek. Slashers stay together, no matter what happens." He said as he looked down at his leader calmly.

"That's right. We aren't leaving you behind." Kenny said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Before Derek knew what was happening, everyone had their arms wrapped around him, holding on to him by his arms, head, or even by his shirt. He closed his eyes as he bowed his head down, and only two words where heard from him.

"....I'm sorry...."

~~~

Pretty soon, everyone was packed into Mr. Arlovoska's suburban van. The drive to Sasha's house was long, and very quiet. After Derek's breakdown only an half hour ago, no one said anything. Mr. Arlovoska glanced at Derek, who was still being comforted by Sasha and he sighed softly, deciding to break the silence.

"Hey Derek, your mother told all of us parents what happened with the police and that damn bastard Daniel Phillips. Don't worry, you're all going to be safe here. If anyone tries to hurt you kids, they're going to have to get through us first." He said, and he smiled when he saw Derek breifly smile.

Jenny was sleeping soundly, her head resting on Emil's shoulder. Emil was trying very hard not to meet eye contact with Kenny, who was currently glaring at him with murderous intent. Viktor and Samäel were lost in their own world, headphones on their heads, listening to metal and horror punk.

Mr. Arlovoska soon pulled into a long driveway which lead to an iron gate. He pressed a button on his dashboard, and the gate opened. He drove through the gates and they closed behind him with a soft bang of metal.

"Well guys, this is it..."