✓ DEFENSIVE | Z. BERMAN

x. THE AFTER

OCTOBER 3rd, 1994
7:56 P.M.

So, sixteen years later, Y/N and Ziggy have lived together and held onto each other, keeping each other safe in a town of destruction.

Why didn't they move to Sunnyvale instead? Well, soon after the traumatizing events of Camp Nightwing, Y/N's mother passed away while she was still in the hospital.

Which causes her to move in with Ziggy. Into Shadyside.

That's the curse. No one escapes Shadyside.

And they thought it was all over, they thought that after everything they went through, they would be able to hide away and just be together in the sanctuary of their home.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Because here they were, sixteen years later, 5,937 days after the events of that cursed night, telling the story they've told so many times to two kids, with another possessed one tied up in their bathroom.

Let's rewind a bit, explain how they got to this situation.

.

Earlier that night, Ziggy and Y/N received a rather disturbing note.

And the second they read it, they knew who it was from and what it meant. 

"IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN."

After immediately putting the house on lockdown, the two curled up together on the couch as they watched the news about the recent killings, their dog Major Tom — Major for short — sitting on the floor beneath them, his ears on high alert.

They watch with wide eyes as the television reports on the tragedies of Shadyside, Y/N's head resting on Ziggy's shoulder as they have their arms wrapped around one another.

Y/N's eyes move from the T.V. to the note, her mind whirring with what this could mean for them.

Her thoughts are interrupted by one of the many alarm clocks Ziggy insisted they have set to keep their schedule consistent, and lifts her head from its resting spot, rubbing her tired eyes with the sleeve of her sweater as she trudges to the kitchen to heat up the leftovers from last night while Ziggy gets the whiskey from the cabinet.

The two sit in silence as they eat, both too nervous to talk about what would happen.

Another alarm goes off and Y/N gets up to do the nightly lockup, but Ziggy shakes her head and gets up herself, going to test all the locks on the house.

Major starts to bark loudly as she does the check over, Ziggy getting annoyed at the sound and Y/N can sense it, going over to the dog and trying to shush him, but Ziggy snaps, "Major, Jesus!" before going over to the kitchen to lock the window. 

"It's alright, boy," Y/N coos towards the pet, "You're ok."

Yet another alarm rings and Y/N hears Ziggy curse from the kitchen, "God damn it!"

Ziggy comes to the other room to see Y/N already feeding Major and petting his head as he eats.

"Come on," Ziggy says, extending her hand as Y/N pulls herself up.