4. Casey Cooke:

Casey looked up from her breakfast towards the television, hearing a news reporter giving an update on the search for the Horde. Soon realising they were just talking about an old sighting that would no longer be helpful, she went back to focusing on her meal.

Her life had improved drastically over the past few months. Her experience as the Horde's prisoner, and her near-fatal encounter with the Horde, while traumatising, had given her the courage to finally stand up to her abusive uncle and report him to the police. The trial had been hell, but in the end it was worth it, as the monster was now in prison where he belonged, and she had been taken in by a very nice foster family, who put a lot of effort into making her feel safe and loved.

For the first time in her life since her father died, she was happy.

However, she was also still afraid.

She may have dealt with one of the monsters in her life, but the Horde was still out there, and the Beast was still a threat. She'd seen what he did to Marcia, to Claire, to that old doctor. And he had tried to do the same to her. She still felt the pain in her leg every so often, a constant reminder of her near-death experience. And she knew the Horde still wished to sacrifice more people to the Beast. They may have already done so, as far as she was aware.

She was also still afraid for herself. The Beast may have spared her after seeing her scars, but she feared that he may come back for her anyway. Perhaps he might change his mind about sparing her, or perhaps he might want something else from her. There was also no guarantee that the other members of the Horde were done with her. Were Dennis or Patricia aware that the Beast decided to let her live, or would they come for her again? Casey couldn't know for sure.

They were out there, planning to kill more people. She knew this, and she knew they had to be stopped. Yet, she didn't want them to die either. Any of them. Not Hedwig, who despite his awe of the Beast was an excitable kid that wanted to have fun. Not even Dennis or Patricia, who despite their instability and twisted worldview truly believed they were protecting Kevin. Certainly not Barry or the other alters, who disagreed with the Beast's plan and had tried to help stop it.

She especially felt sympathetic towards Kevin himself. Casey still remembered the look of horror and guilt in the man's eyes when he realised what he had done, and the acceptance as he told her to kill him. Casey related to him, due to the both of them having suffered at the hands of family members that were supposed to protect them. She truly wished she could help him.

Despite her sympathy towards them, Casey knew the alters in Kevin's body had to be stopped. The Beast was too dangerous, and Dennis, Patricia and Hedwig were too set in their beliefs.

But could they be stopped?

Casey recalled how fast and strong the Beast had proven itself. How it had caught up to her with ease during the chase, dodged some of the bullets she shot at him, climbed up the walls with just his fingers, and how he had successfully used his bare hands to bend the metal bars in his attempt to reach her in that cage. She also recalled how she had fired two shots at his chest at point-blank range, and despite inflicting minor wounds the bullets had not penetrated his body.

How could anyone succeed in defeating such a man.

She remembered hearing stories about a vigilante in the city, who had been fighting against crime in Philadelphia for years, and supposedly had super strength and could not be injured. She used to not believe in those stories, believing a person with such abilities could not truly exist. However, after seeing what the Beast was capable of she had begun to be more open-minded. She wondered if this man, this Overseer, could potentially defeat the Beast.

She hoped so, though she fears he might not b able to. And if he couldn't, it was likely no one could.

—

I started writing this quite a while ago after ordering the tickets for a session the next day, hoping to get it done before seeing the film, but I ran out of time after getting half way, and since I missed the deadline I set myself I lost the urgency to get it done quickly, and got preoccupied by other things. Finally got around to finishing this. Just wanted to say that I loved the film! Was quite surprised by the ending, which I won't spoil here in case someone reading this hasn't seen it. What did you guys think of it, compared to the previous instalments?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this. And if you have any feedback, please give it to me. :)