Hands shaking, palms slick with sweat, Jadine felt the phone slipping from her grasp. She stuffed it into her armpit to dry her hands on her pants before attempting another picture. If she dropped this phone, they were dead. Carefully, she grasped hold of it, took aim, and depressed the button. By the light of the flash, she saw her friends, each brandishing a chair, rush the clown, knocking him off the wall of chairs, scattering them in the process. Stumbling around them, Stacy and Trevin attacked his prone body where it lay on the tiled floor. She hit the button again, wishing for a real camera so she could take multiple shots in quick succession, lighting up the room. Instead, each time she depressed the button, there was a delay as the camera refocused on the shot. A lot could happen within the moment of delay.
The flash burst again, catching Trevin in mid-swing. Stacy, eyes tightly closed, had the legs of her chair sunk into the back of the seemingly lifeless clown.
“Be careful!” Jadine shouted in warning. “Don’t hit each other.”
“Just keep the light coming,” Trevin grunted as he swung again.
Another flash and the tag team were dragging their bloodied chairs away from the lifeless body. Blood streaked their clothes.
Several shots proved the clown never moved. The creaking and banging in the vent, however, announced another one on the way.
“We need to get out of here,” Jadine said. Two more flashes showed no change to the room. “Get to the door, we’ll check if it’s safe to leave. If it is, we need to book it out of here. Maybe get in one of our cars and leave.”
“What if they get out, too?” Stacy whispered. “They’ll keep killing people.”
“We can’t save the world from in here, that’s for sure.” Trevin pointed out.
“We’ll do what we can, but this room is no longer safe,” Jadine said, hitting the button again. The clown remained motionless on the floor and the vent opening empty. “Our best bet for survival, is to leave this room. Hopefully, they’ll keep following each other through the vent. If that’s what they’re going to do, we don’t want to be in here with them.”
The three made their way to the door. Stacy dragged her chair along behind her, the metal legs screeched along the floor, setting Jadine’s nerves on edge.
Jadine pressed her ear tight to the door. “I don’t hear anything,” she said. “I need to get a visual before we step out there.”
The vent intruder was banging away at the opening, pushing hard to fit through. By the loud creaking, Jadine deduced there was more than one clown in the vent. Trevin reached the same conclusion.
“That can’t be good,” he said. “How many do you think can fit in there before it collapses?”
“No idea,” Jadine said. “I’d rather not be standing here when it happens.”
Pressing her ear back to the door, she strained to hear any movement in the hallway beyond. The thought of opening the door had her shaking in her shoes. The banging, scratching clown from before had fallen silent. Jadine wanted to believe it meant he’d wandered off to join the rest of the knife wielding gang, far away from this door, but she had serious doubts. She could feel the tremble in her hands as she searched for the doorknob.
“I’ve got to open this door and get a look at the hallway. If it’s empty, we need to run. Are you good with that?”
“Yes,” Stacy whispered, fearfully. The dark pressing in on her had her whole body on high alert. Every sound, every breath, seemed to come from the clown on the floor. Surely, he was dead. Yet, her skin prickled as if he were standing close to her, reaching out his hands. Stacy shuddered. “Jadine, what if the hallway isn’t clear? If you open the door, the room could be flooded with them.”
“I know,” Jadine whispered back. “I don’t know what else to do. We’re trapped in here.”
“I’m good with taking a look,” Trevin said. “We’ll cover you. If you’re attacked or if one gets in, we’ll clobber him.”
“Okay,” Jadine agreed. Grasping the knob with one shaking, sweaty hand, she fought against her rising panic. The banging and creaking had reached a crescendo. If the scratching clown still stood on the other side of the door, she wouldn’t hear him until it was too late. Jadine took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come. Either they were safe to run, or she opened the door on their doom. Either way, it was time to move. Dragging up her last drop of courage, Jadine threw the lock and turned the knob.