Chapter 1 - The End of the Beginning Part 1

A man was walking down an old country road. He was a drifter, raised in an old orphanage. The only clue to his identity was a note saying his name was Nicholas. Once he turned 18, he was let loose, with nothing but the clothes on his back. Over the years, he would work random temp jobs that paid cash at the end of the day and was constantly on the move looking for a new location to call home.

While traveling on an old dirt road, he passed a rather large but abandoned farm. What caught his attention was the appearance of a sudden fog that seemed to be rolling in from the farm. Nicholas was unsure what to think with this fog, which appeared to be beckoning him. Then he heard the distinctive scream of someone scared out of their mind. Silently cursing himself as a fool, he rushed into the fog to see who was in trouble.

Once at the farm, he saw two individuals. One was a woman of Asian descent, she was wearing a distinctive red dress, it was form fitting and Nicholas couldn't help but think that she looked very familiar. The other was a tall man in a dirty doctor's coat. His face looked like some failed experiment gone horribly wrong. At first, Nicholas thought that he might have accidentally walked into some indie movie production, but the smell of real blood in the air had quickly dispelled that idea. Normally, fear would've been the natural reaction to what was happening, but for Nicholas, however, he always had an odd way of reacting to things.

...

Ada Wong was having an off day. This particular round was rough. Two of her comrades had been hooked and consumed by The Entity while she was on the last chance death hook state, the other survivor, a girl by the name of Zarina Kassir, was fervently trying to fix the last two generators.

Ada was in a dangerous situation, The DOCTOR managed to hit her with his shock attack, and now she felt the need to scream at random intervals. She tried to snap out of it when The DOCTOR found her. There was to escape paths, but it was somehow blocking both of them. Ada knew one of them was fake, but before she could risk a choice, music started playing.

[A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy]

Ada thought, 'This is weird. This is the first time the Doc's insanity caused me to hear music. At least it's nice.' Ada then noticed that the DOCTOR was now looking in a different direction, and his copy was gone. She took that opportunity to free herself from the effects.

When she finished, Ada noticed that the music was still playing. Then she noticed the stranger, just standing there. The DOCTOR noticed as well and started charging at him. Ada wanted to yell and tell him to run, but odd started happening. The stranger was dodging the DOCTOR'S attacks, and the stranger made it look easy, especially since the DOCTOR was attacking in sync with the beat of the song.

Not sure what to make of the scene, Ada decided to find Zarina. It took a minute, but Ada saw the overhanging lights kick on. When she arrived, she saw Zarina leaving. Zarina paused for a moment when she saw Ada. Without saying anything, Zarina made a gesture asking about the music.

Ada, understanding why was only able to give an exasperated shrug. Ada pointed to the next generator, and Zarina gave a reluctant nod, mouthing that she still wanted answers. As they reached their destination, the music stopped. Ada couldn't help but think that something happened to the new guy, but not even a second later, another song began to play.

[Jump in the Line (Shake Shake Shake Senora)]

Zarina stared daggers at Ada, wanting an answer to what's going on. Ada could do nothing but start repairing the generator. Halfway through the repairs, Ada noticed that her hips were subtle shaking in rhythm and found Zarina was the same.

The generator roared to life, but neither it nor the alarm signaling that the doors were ready could be heard over the music. Both girls made their way to the exit. Zarina activated the panel just as the song ended. They had no problem hearing the loud buzzer that goes off every time you activate them. Zarina had a worried look, but once again, a new song began playing distracting them.

[Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler]

Zarina gave an expecting look. She really wanted answers, but Ada had none to give. Ada stood there thinking that the music made this act of opening the door, one that she had done countless times before, more awkward and dramatic at the same time.

The doors began opening, and the gong went off, signaling that fact. Ada turned to see if she could spot the new guy. Just as she did, Ada saw him vault over a fence and an explosion of electricity displaying behind him.

Ada and Zarina were confused by what they were seeing. From their perspective, it looked like he did that in slow motion. Before either of them could react, he grabbed both by their hands, and they ran out into the foggy field. As they got farther, the music grew softer.

A few minutes later, they found themselves at the main campfire. Everyone always ends up there after a match. The survivors use this time to exchange notes about what happened. For example, if there are new killers, new maps, or new survivors.

When they arrived, Ada saw another new survivor. She introduced herself as Zoe Baker after talking with others, Ada learned that there was also a new map. Zoe confirmed that the mansion was, in fact, her home. Ada also learned of a new killer. This killer was described as a very tall woman, with pale, ash like skin, and her weapon was retractable blades with an inverted curve on her right hand. She was dressed very elegantly, earning her the title of the Baroness.

...

After that first game, Nicholas fell into a sorta routine. After each escape, the survivors would meet at this bonfire, where they would share experiences and discuss strategies. Then the bonfire would go out, and they would have to scatter these small campfires. It was first come, first serve. The first four to arrive would be placed in a group, then less than a minute later that fire would go out and they would find themselves in some random location if they hadn't made the appropriate offering.

Nicholas had gotten used to how things were, especially since, for some weird reason, music would play, and it would grab the killer's attention and keep it for the duration. Most of the other survivors would put up with Nicholas's antics, mostly because he pulled all the agro, making it easier for them.

For the most part, Nicholas could handle the killers, although he did have trouble with the ones with ranged attacks. The margin of error in the dodging was incredibly small. Time passed, or what passed as time, during which two new killers, two new locations, and three new survivors appeared. This round started like any other. The music started playing.

[Natural - Imagine Dragons]

Nicholas started by looking for clues to which killer he was dealing with. The map was the swamp, so it made it easy to eliminate some of the options. There was nothing extra here, no tvs, shrines, or anything of that nature. He couldn't seal the lockers, and they had hachets inside them. He decided to get to the top half of the ship to see if the killer could be spotted from the vantage point it offered.

From the boat, Nicholas spotted Quentin, Claudette, and Dwight working on a generator on the top of the hill. Nicholas sighed, all the signs pointed to the killer being the NIGHTMARE. To Nicholas, it meant it would be a boring day. The NIGHTMARE could only attack while they were asleep, and the music prevented that from happening.

The song finished as Nicholas began to vault off the boat. Suddenly, he heard a whooshing noise coming from behind him. Nicholas turned his face just in time to see a hachet explode right in his face. The force of which threw him clear of the boat. A few seconds later, Nicholas found himself being lifted up. It wasn't until a searing sense of pain hot his shoulder that it finally clicked on had happened. The Huntress had been in hiding, using those skills that got the Entity's attention in the first place.

For the first time since he arrived, one of his songs wasn't playing. However, there was still music in his ears. The Huntress was singing her lullaby, loudly and with a bit of a smug undertone. Nicholas couldn't help but understand why she was in a mood, and as he listened, Nicholas couldn't help saying out loud, "You have a very lovely voice."

Now, it should be known that the Huntress does not speak English. The only language she knows is Russian, which she hasn't said out loud to another person since she was seven. But for some reason, she understood what Nicholas had said and what it meant.

The Huntress developed a hitch in her voice and immediately turned around. While it only lasted a second, the silence that happened felt like an eternity. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the popping of a generator. The noise had snapped the Huntress out of the daze she was in. With impressive speed, she threw three hachets in quick succession and immediately left.

Nicholas could hear that all three hachets hit someone. He looked up and saw that the Entity's claw was almost fully formed. As it began to try and pierce him, an idea popped into his head. Nicholas took a deep and somewhat painful breath and said, "Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?"

Famous last words for most, but for him, the beginning of a whole new world, a path full of excitement, pleasure, suffering, death, and carnage.