They didn’t understand.

Sheila, Laurie, Asami—they didn’t understand. Their final-girl encounter was different than hers, see. They were able to defeat the monster after them. Not Alice—oh, no—not her. The Poltergeist, Evelyn, or “Evie” as the kids called her, still roamed the halls at Creech Manor. Alice had never properly defeated her. She had only escaped.

Alice swallowed, swaying back and forth at the entrance to the carnival, hypnotized by its lights. She shouldn’t be here, but she was because Laurie didn’t understand. When the words “This isn’t over” appeared in their Final Girl chat, Alice had lost her breath. Laurie, Asami, and Sheila’s enemies were dead; the threat could’ve been from anyone. Alice’s situation was more dire. Evie could send the words “this isn’t over” through technology, continuing to haunt Alice after all these months.

Sheila and Laurie had alerted her to the presence of calliope music and faraway lights. After reading their story, Alice had spied spotlights and colored lights from a vacant lot close to her house. She hadn’t wanted to go, neither brave like Laurie nor inquisitive like Sheila, but the lights had beckoned her. And when Asami had joined their chat and advised all of them to stay out of the grounds, Alice had agreed, confident in her advice. Yet they still didn’t understand. They were recent outsiders to their respective communities. Alice had always been an outsider because of her deafness.

Alice had always loved children and wanted to babysit since she was a little girl. Her lack of hearing, however, made parents pause despite her extensive first-aid training and references. Her sensor app, paired with sensors she placed around the house, would warn her if the fire or carbon monoxide alarms went off. She was just as capable as the next girl, maybe more so. But winning parents over remained a challenge. This was why she had accepted the job to watch Carolyn at Creech Manor. No one else would.

Why had Carolyn’s parents moved into Creech Manor? Because the ghost had left the last two owners alone. Legends said the poltergeist chose who to strike. If she wasn’t interested, then she treated them as renters.

When Alice’s “friends” showed up for an impromptu party, and Krissie—the loudmouth bully—had flipped off the air while swearing Evie wasn’t real, her rude gesture had sent the poltergeist over the edge. The ghost had started stalking the other teens who had crashed Alice’s babysitting job, not just to scare them, but to murder them. In less than an hour, the only living people in the residence were Alice and a hidden Carolyn.

But that was then. She had to focus on now.

Sheila’s shaking hand held her phone over the document on the desk. Alice read the names at the bottom, focusing on Evelyn’s signature. The world started to spin, but she refused to let her feet fall under her. Of the four of them, Alice guessed she was closest to the helpless damsel stereotype. She was the smallest, she was the youngest, and she was a person with a disability. Yet, she refused to faint. No, she must retreat and plan.

She typed furiously into the phone with her thumbs, the fastest of the four. “Leave. Now. Go home.”

But Laurie was talking and the closed captioning scrawled the words underneath. “Why the carnival? And why—what’s that?”

Alice’s stomach clenched in panic. “Leave!” she screamed.

They couldn’t hear her. Her phone’s microphone was turned off. The girls in her neighborhood had made fun of the way she spoke. And she never let the other Final Girls hear her voice. They wouldn’t think much of her if they did.

Fortunately, Asami spoke for her. “Whatever it is, Laurie, turn around and get the hell out of there.”

Sheila panted while speaking. “I’m running. Alice is right. Let’s regroup.”

They were listening to her advice. About time!

Laurie bit her lip. “No, it’s nothing scary. It’s in the Forest of Horror.”

Asami swore. “I’ve told my story a hundred times. Three of my friends just died there. I never found out from what!”

But Laurie ignored her, and soon the barks of trees were on the edges of her screen. “Something’s here. It looks familiar.”

Asami swung her camera back to the entrance to the fairgrounds, now ten feet away. “I’m leaving, Laurie. And you should too.”

“I’m almost at the exit,” added Sheila.

Almost at the exit. After she had found Carolyn huddled in the closet, Alice had the same thought at the front door of Creech Manor. She ran toward the exit holding Carolyn who in turn held her stuffed doll, Mr Floppy. They had almost fallen over after encountering an invisible wall between them and outside. No escape that way.

 “But it may be a clue as to why this is happening.” Laurie strode forward and then stopped next to an oak tree.

Alice hardly recorded Laurie’s words, lost in the past. She recalled holding her charge’s hand while the poltergeist had smashed items in the hallway like a cyclone. The ghost had barreled straight for them, knives swirling as a chef about to disembowel a chicken for dinner. She had to speak, something she was loath to do. “We have to jump, honey.”

Alice read the little girl’s lips. “But it’s a long way down.”

“I will hold your hand. All the way down.”

The poltergeist had entered the room when Alice had finished speaking. Knives had clacked together behind them. Alice and Carolyn had jumped.

Alice relived the falling sensation when Laurie pointed the camera down. The forest had a dollhouse in a small clearing, except it wasn’t just any dollhouse. This small facsimile mimicked Creech Manor.

Closed captioning of the brave Final Girl scrolled across her phone. “Where have I seen this before?”

Alice couldn’t stand still any longer. She turned and ran for home.

And in a blink of an eye, she was on the midway of the carnival. She stumbled but caught herself. What was she doing here? She had never entered this place! How had she found herself—?

No. No. No!

The carnival had pulled her in. At this realization, Alice raced for the edge of the tent-ridden area. She prayed it wouldn’t pull her in again once she crossed the border. She had dropped her phone, but who cares? She was not going back for it! All she had to do was cross the exit and she would be free.

To her surprise, Alice sped across the boundary and into the woods beyond. She was free! She had escaped! She hadn’t expected it to let her go. Wait. Why had it let her go?

She sped into a line of trees hoping to come out on the other side somewhere in her neighborhood. But the trees continued far past the border of the carnival. Even on the periphery of her eyesight where she had been before she spied more trees. She spun around and found sturdy oaks and poplars that had replaced the lights and tents.

Where was she now?