*Picture above is Pearl's Loch Ness Monster plush*

"Don't make a sound...."
"Whatever you do, no matter what you hear, stay in your room....no matter what.."
"We love you, Pearl. Stay quiet, ok?"

The dialogue of her mother and her grandmother echoed inside the young blue-eyed girl's head, rattling around like infuriated lizards trying to get out of their enclosure.
Her red hair was in a loose plait that hung over her shoulder, while silent, salty tears was staining her long-sleeved mermaid pyjama top.
She hugged Nessie, her Loch Ness Monster plush, close to her, squeezing her tight to her torso as she tried her best to muffle her sobs with her sleeve over her mouth.

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It started that night, after her father and older brother were discussing the gang that called themselves 'monster hunters' who went after citizens and terrorised parts of England and Ireland, her mother piping up in a scared manner that she hoped the thugs stayed far away.
At least, that's what it sounded like, Pearl thought, as she played with her dolls in the same room in front of her grandmother, Serena, who was knitting, while Pearl's sisters were all conversing about something or other.
Possibly boys.
Probably parties.
She wasn't really paying attention, only looking up when she heard the news come on.

"Yet another murder was reported in the south side of London, as the strange cult-like thugs were being tracked. Suspect was last seen wearing a dark blue mechanic's suit and work boots, the individual seeming to be wearing some kind of ma-"
"David, turn that off! we don't want Pearl having nightmares. I think I'm going to have nightmares from this ordeal myself" Melissa, Pearl's mother, fussed, going back into the kitchen.
"Mel, we're as safe as houses in here, nothing's going to get us" David, Pearl's father, replied, as cool as cool could be.
"I dunno, Dad. What if the guys find out where we live? then what?" Kai, her older brother, asked, his hetero-chromic eyes wide with worry.
"As long as I'm still living, my lad, the family are safe" David reassured his son, who still didn't look too convinced, but gave a small nod in response to the claim.

Pearl looked up at the screen, staring into the black void, with her own unnerved expression.
Thugs? Killers?
What would happen to her family? she didn't know.
She looked down at her dolls, not sure what to think about the whole ordeal.
She was worried, and yet confused about what her family were talking about; it sounded serious, but she didn't really know why.
One thing she did know, is that her brother and parents looked worried, and that never led to anything good.

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After dinner, Melissa herded Pearl upstairs to get her ready for bed, Kai helping his sisters clear the table and do the washing up, while David was in the process of getting some work done at the coffee table, reading over reports and reviews given by newspapers and various clients of his modest fishing business and boat rental.
There was a sudden thump on the side window, making Kai look up in the direction of the study, the teen boy edging forward as David stood up as well.

Then there was another thud.
Then another....and another.

"Who's there?" Kai called out, not very amused. If this was one of the neighbourhood kids playing a practical joke, he wouldn't be very happy, David thinking along a similar line.
There was a tapping coming from the kitchen, one of the triplets -a dark haired punk lass named Vivianne- going towards the kitchen window....only for it to be smashed by a gloved hand coming through the glass, grabbing her by the throat and dragging her across the sink, sending plates crashing to the floor.

Coral -another one of the triplets- screamed and attempted to pull her sister back into the kitchen, the intruder outside only tightening their grip on Vivianne's throat.
Vivianne was clawing helplessly at the hand that was choking her, her face going a grotesque shade of purple before she stopped moving altogether.
As Coral sobbed, holding her sister's deceased body, Kai and David ran in to see what was happening, only to see a brick get launched through the window, shattering it even more, and striking Coral on the side of the head, killing her instantly.

"Mum? Dad? what's going on?" Pearl asked, standing at the top of the stairs, Melissa running to her and racing into her room silently, Serena -her grandmother- hobbling after them as David continued to try and shield his children and defend his family against the intruder that was coming in through the kitchen window.
"Mum?" Pearl tried again, softly, Serena shutting the door to the bedroom, still on her guard.

"Pearl, little love, I want you to listen to Mummy carefully, alright?" Melissa said, gently cupping her face.
"I want you to lock the door shut and pile things in the room in front of the door, ok? Don't come out, even if it sounds like Mummy, Nanny and Daddy are hurt, alright? Whatever you do, no matter what you hear, stay in your room....no matter what" Melissa instructed.
Pearl nodded in response, hugging Nessie tighter, Melissa giving her young daughter a kiss on the cheek, Serena doing the same.

"Hide under the bed, dear. And remember, don't make a sound, and don't come out" Serena reiterated.
Pearl nodded tearfully.
"We love you, Pearl, stay quiet, ok?" The two whispered in unison.
Pearl nodded again, and the two exited the room, the door closing silently.
Pearl pushed her chair under the door and her bedside table against it with all her might, before crawling under the bed and hugging Nessie, tears trickling from her eyes and soaking into the floorboards, as the loud noises carried on.

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It wasn't very long until the house went silent.
Suddenly, there was what sounded like someone kicking in the front door, followed by a man's scream that pierced the atmosphere, before everything went silent again.

Another intruder had come in, and had murdered the only one that seemed to be standing in the house.
The carnage was immense; blood splattered on the walls, organs still steaming and decorating the floor and walls, limbs and bodies flung around the house carelessly like confetti.
The tall intruder looked around, gripping the knife that was still stained with fresh blood.
His dark blue jumpsuit, black work boots, and white mask with dark red hair hiding most of his body, leaving only his hands visible.

His dark, soulless eyes seemed to scan the surroundings like a radar, but all that was in the house were the slaughtered residents.
Or so he thought.

The mute killer seemed to clock on to the sound of soft sobbing coming from upstairs, prompting him to look up the staircase.
Seems like there was a survivor.
Another potential kill for the night.

He began to walk up the stairs, following the muffled whimpers, until he stood right outside the door.
Soft sniffling was heard from inside; whoever was in there was trying -and failing- to stay quiet, and it somewhat amused the mute killer.

Pressing his ear to the door faintly, the crying seemed even closer.
Gripping his knife, the shape wiggled the doorknob, the sobs stopping abruptly as if the one in the room was trying to keep quiet; well, too late now,
He barged, shoved and kicked against the door, causing a few of the books and trinkets on the bedside table to fall off and hit the ground with resounding thumps and clinks.
Growing impatient, the man used his knife to stab the wooden door over and over again, the pieces breaking away as if the door was merely cardboard and not oak. He stabbed and sawed at the wooden door, even using his hands to break away planks of wood.

Pearl squeezed Nessie close to her chest, her tears dripping on the soft fleece of the stuffed animal, her eyes shut tight as she trembled beneath her bed.
She had heard the screaming from downstairs, as well as the struggling of the one who had killed her family as he was slaughtered himself, but wasn't quite sure if it was real or just a trick. To be completely frank, she didn't really want to know, too frightened was she.

Her red hair hung in front of her eyes as she bowed her head, clinging to the loch ness monster plushie, her pink mermaid pyjamas soaking up some stray tears.

(Pearl's pyjamas)

She heard the thump of boots walking towards her bed, and opened her eyes, silently praying that whoever found her wouldn't kill her.
Thinking about her parents, her brother, her sisters, her Nana, all of them being gone, made her feel like she was going to throw up.
She felt defenceless, like a mouse caught in a trap, watching as the figure knelt down and peered under the bed.

Her blue eyes met the gaze of a pair of black eyes, the pale face looking like an expressionless mask, the tall being just...staring at her from where he knelt. No voice, no movement, nothing for now.
The siren and the mysterious intruder just staring at each other in silence.

Pearl eyed the knife at random intervals, staying as far away as she could from it, but there wasn't much space to go apart from her wall or out of her window.
Even then, the killer would catch her.
What would he do with her? would he kill her too? would he torture her? Was he working for the scary man her family was talking about? Why wasn't she dead by now?
She didn't know.

The man noticed that the frightened girl was eyeing his knife, and something sparked inside of him.
He wasn't sure what it was, but it was there.
Before he knew what he was doing, he had thrown the knife away to show that he had no intent to harm her, letting it skid along the floorboards and knock against the wall with a soft "tink!", slowing and halting its motion.
A hand reached out to the young redhead, almost as if urging her to take it, the girl seemingly tilting her head at the man slightly, before crawling towards him, slipping her small, cool hand into his after she had scrambled out from under her bed, dusting herself and Nessie free of dust and cobwebs.

She was so small, only seeming about six, seven at most, her pale face streaked with tears, her nose and cheeks flushed from her sobbing and scared screams.
The way she clung to his hand, it was....hard to describe.
It was almost a desperate, yet gentle cling.

"Is he...is he gone, mister?" the child asked the mute male, looking up at him with fear and sorrow in her eyes. Her voice was soft and gentle, with a cute British accent.
Then again, The Shape did find himself in England, but for some odd reason he couldn't remember why he had headed there, apart from getting away from the states to spread terror elsewhere.
He'd gotten a few kills here and there, but nothing too obvious, which was both good and bad for his reputation, he guessed.

He gave a nod to the child, discreetly pocketing his knife, and standing up, ignoring the broken door and moving the bedside table and chair out of the way as Pearl slipped on her black t-bar shoes, fastening up the velcro so she wouldn't ruin her white socks, before following the man out of the room, holding Nessie in her arms.

When they reached the stairs, the man picked Pearl up carefully, letting her tuck her head into his shoulder so she didn't have to see the corpses, before opening the door and walking out with her into the quiet street.

Starlight shone down quite nicely, and the air was pleasantly cool.
What's more, no people -apart from a couple of drunk pedestrians who were wobbling ahead of them- were nearby to disturb the two while they journeyed through the streets to the stoney harbour, stopping off at an abandoned house by the bay.

It looked abandoned, paint peeling off and plants were overgrown, but its doors and windows were intact.

'Perfect.....' he thought, carrying the sleepy child inside and closing the door after them.
At least now the two of them could lay low and think of a strategy, at least before they were caught.

Easier said than done for Michael Myers....