Archive of Our Own ^beta

“i’m sorry, sal. i wish there was another way.” terrence said, before he faded into nothing, leaving a knife in his wake.

sal stared at it. he knew he would have to do something to save his friends, family, neighbors. but, the fact that he had to kill them was the thing that was breaking his heart. tears flowed from his eyes as he walked closer to the weapon, leaning down and picking it up. a warped noise came from behind him, and he turned around to see the phantom there, who had a tortured expression on their face.

”mr. addison is right, sal. i’m so sorry.”

”please don’t make me do this.” sal begged, his knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping the handle. “please, there has to be some other way.” he hung his head and fell to his knees, shoulders shaking with each sob. “phantom, please.”

looking up to the entity, they seemed to be looking away in shame. “i’m sorry, sally. if there was any other way, we wouldn’t have you do this.” then, they faded away too, leaving sal alone, before the world came back, and he was sitting on the floor of the first hallway. standing up, sal grabbed the knife he had dropped, holding it loosely in his hand.

i have no choice. i have to save them. sal adjusted his prosthetic, heading down the hall to where ms. gisbon was laying on the floor.

she looked up, and sal looked back, knife by his side. “sal,” she rasped, eyes barely open. “can you please help me back into my apartment?”

sal smiled sadly behind his mask. “sure, ms. gibson.” he leaned down, and pulled the knife out, driving it into her chest. slapping his hand over her mouth, a muffled, tortured scream left her lips. pulling the knife out of her, he rose it up again and drove it into her head, watching as her body slowly went limp, eyes closing.

standing up, and yanking the knife free, he headed down the hallway and pressed the up button to the elevator, waiting for it to open.

staring at the woman’s lifeless body, he felt his chest tighten a bit as the elevator dinged, and he walked through. floor 2.

standing outside of janis and ray’s room, sal twisted the knob and and walked in, looking at the couple on the couch. janis looked over to sal, a dazed smile on her face. “sallyyy faaace! have you seen todd anywhere? i need to tell him something.”

”no, sorry janis. i haven’t seen him. i could always tell him what you have to say, though.” sal’s eyes crinkled at the corners, to show he was smiling. janis smiled back, not thinking twice as she saw the male coming closer. “oh, thank you sallyyy!”

then, sal slid the knife out, and slit ray’s throat effortlessly, and drove the blade into janis’s skull, multiple times. it was like he was taking out frustration on her, and by the time he was done, half of her face was mangled.

walking out, he didn’t look back, marching to the elevator. the doors opened as the elevator dinged, and he walked in and pressed the button for floor 3.

his footsteps echoed down the empty hall, thoughts swirling through his mind. stopping outside the college kids’ door, knocking before walking in. “hey, cj. z, sabrina.” sal closed the door behind him, walking up to the three.

”hey, dude!” cj said, a big grin on his face. “now we can really get the part-“

his sentence cut short as sal pressed the tip of the knife to his throat, his eyes trailing over to azaria and sabrina. “sorry, guys.” sal said, before slicing cj’s throat, “party’s over.”

azaria held her hands out, her puffy hair bouncing as he moved back. “sal - wait. you don’t have to do this!” she looked between sabrina and sal, heart pounding in her chest. sal went for sabrina instead, holding her head back as he thrusted the knife into her neck, removing it after a few seconds. then, he focused on azaria, his blue eyes shining in the light as he turned. tackling her to the ground, his knuckles turned white as he braced himself to kill her.

”sorry, z. i’ll see you soon. hopefully we’re going to the same place.”

her eyes widened as the knife came closer at a high speed, and sal felt his heart crack as he brutally murdered the girl. standing up, he stood in the middle of their bodies, fresh, warm tears flowing from his eyes. his steps were muffled as he walked out of the room, sniffling and keeping his head low.

knocking lightly on david’s door, he walked in after david said to, quietly shutting the door behind him. moving up to the male, sal’s breath was uneven as he tightened his grip on the blade handle, head low. “ar yinz feelin ‘kay, sal? i fink there’s somefin goin’ around.”

david was an easy target. sal lifted his head, shaking his head. “oh - no, i’m okay, david. thank you for asking.” stabbing the blade into the male’s stomach, he twisted the knife around, watching the life start to fade from david’s eyes.

letting him drop to the floor, sal turned and walked out of the room, heading down the hall,

wait.

he was standing outside of.... chug and soda’s door.

falling to his knees with a thump, he covered his eyes and felt the hot tears falling onto his calloused palms. he had to murder soda. soda, the cutest toddler in the world.

and chug. chug was one of his best friends. sniffling, he stood up, walking in. chug turned to look at him, a smile blossoming on the male’s chubby face. sal looked down to soda, a lump forming in his throat. the toddler had bounced up to him, wrapping her small arms around his legs. “sawy face! can i wide on youw showdews now?” 

“once your rash clears up, i’ll be more than happy to, soda girl.” he ruffled her hair, and smiled under his prosthetic. his attention drifted over to chug, fingers twitching. sitting next to the male, sal quickly got onto him and held the male down, raising the blade and stabbing it into his chest. once. twice. three times. it became a blur of how many times he had stabbed the male, but once he came to, chug wasn’t breathing anymore.

sal bent his legs under him, and climbed of the couch, turning his attention to the toddler playing with her toys. standing next to her, he crouched down next to her, beginning to raise his knife. “i’ll see you later, okay, soda girl?” to prevent her from responding, and from his heart breaking more than it had to, he drove the knife into her head, watching as her eyes dimmed and closed, and the final breath passed from her lips.

standing, he walked out, and pressed the up button for the final floor. not wanting to waste anymore time, he killed robert as quick as possible, then stood outside Dad and Lisa’s door. rapping his knuckles on the door twice, he walked in, heart thumping in his chest.

”heya kiddo!” lisa smiled, sitting up a bit on the couch. “we got some leftover lasagna in the fridge if you want some.”

sal nodded, his eyes trailing over to his dad. “y’know sal, i may not say this enough, but i’m proud of you,” he began, and sal started to shake, knees growing weak. no, no no. his dad could not do the ‘proud father’ thing now, not when sal came in here to kill the two.

”i’m proud of the man you’re becoming, and i think you have a bright future ahead of you.” henry smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners.

don’t say it. don’t fucking say it.

“i love you, buddy.”

sal closed his eyes, dropping to his knees. “i love you too, dad.” he said after a long moment, a hiccuping sob escaping his mouth. the tears plipped onto the floor, wetting a spot on the carpet. he sniveled, then stood to his feet, staring at the two. “but, i’m sorry about this.”

he climbed on lisa and stabbed her in the chest, the numbers blurring together like with chug. then, he felt strong arms wrapping around him, pulling him away. “dad, please. i have to save you guys.” sal feebly kicked his feet, and struggled, making his father fall back onto the couch, and release his grip on sal. the boy set into motion, and began doing the same to his dad like he had done to lisa, before climbing off of him, shoulders heaving up and down as he steadied his breath.

heading out, he headed to the elevator, back down to the first floor. once he was there, he walked to the door, staring down at todd who sat in front of it.

”something is wrong.”

of course something is wrong, he just had to murder his friends and family. “...”

”i passed out in the treehouse and woke up in the basement.”

what? “...”

”they got some of my blood.”

”...”

”i think i’m dying, sal.”

sirens blared outside, and sal looked out to see red and blue flashing back, and wondered at what time someone could’ve called the police. he opens the door, and stares out, lights shining in his eyes. he doesn’t see todd run out, and doesn’t hear ashley yell for him over the static getting louder in his head. the world goes dark as he can faintly feel the police slam him on the car front and handcuff his hands together. 

the next place he woke up in, he was in an orange jumpsuit in a prison cell. looking up, his cell mate looked over his bed, and uttered, “what are you in for?”