Grinded Part II

Grinded Part II is a scrapped slasher story, having been the initial story before a new direction was taken.

It would've followed survivors August Thrombey, Sophie Dlamini, and Thomas Strode six months on from the Sunset Ridge Murders. They would've been in their final week of treatment at a private psychiatric hospital but an incoming snowstorm would've caused a lockdown and allowed a new killer to run amok in the hospital.

The original Part II would've been led by August Thrombey, Sophie Dlamini, Thomas Strode, Yun-Jin Park, with David Evans and Sarah Abbott.

## Synopsis:

> Six months after the events of Grinded, and survivors August Thrombey, Sophie Dlamini, and Thomas Strode are undergoing treatment at Blackwater Mountain Psychiatric Hospital to help them cope with the horrific murders. As they try to figure their way through their own mental struggles, a gay man is murdered, with connection to August. Sheriff Sarah Abbott finds herself trying to uncover a new mystery, with the help of integral reporter Yun-Jin Park. As more bodies begin piling up, Sarah quickly realizes that Blank Face is once again targetting August.
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### Summary:

Six months on from the Sunset Ridge Murders, 19 year old Reese Rivers is walking home in the very early hours of a December morning when he gets a message on the app, Grindr. Too exhausted from a long night at work, Reese turns the blank account down and heads into his apartment. At first it seems too quiet and Reese begins to feel unsettled, but his roommate, Gabriel Peters, startles him when he emerges from his own bedroom. Gabriel wishes Reese a goodnight before heading off to work for the early shift. Reese starts to run the shower when he gets another message on Grindr.

Noticing it to be the same person, Reese tells them to leave him alone once more when he suddenly hears the front door close. Immediately grabbing his phone, he begins to dial 911. Before he can call them, however, a stone being thrown at the window catches his attention. He sees Gabriel outside, who tells him that he forgot his keys and to let him back up for them. When Reese buzzes Gabriel back inside, he turns to find Blank Face in his apartment. Reese is too stunned to react in time and so Blank Face easily over powers him, managing to daze him before dragging him into the bathroom with the running shower. Gabriel comes inside and hears the shower, thinking Reese must be in already, and so grabs his keys and quickly leaves. Back in the bathroom, Blank Face smashes Reese's head through the shower glass before impaling his head on one of the jagged spikes. Blank Face makes a swift exit just as Gabriel returns after Blank Face sent him a text from Reese's phone, leading him to find the body.

Up in Blackwater Mountain, at the psychiatric hospital of the same name, survivor August Thrombey awakens after suffering another nightmare about Freddie coming back for him, along with his friends blaming him. His roommate and fellow patient, Luca Cascella, rushes over to comfort the terrified-stricken August. August notices Luca's wet eyes and asks if he's okay, to which Luca say's he had a rough night of his own. August tries his best to comfort him, but Luca politely rejects his support, claiming he's not just a broken toy.

Meanwhile, Thomas Strode, another survivor, is in the one of the living rooms, smoking a cigarette as he has vivid flashes of memories from that night. He sighs before asking David Evans, a British patient and a friend of his, what he's doing lurking in the shadows. David isn't shy in joining Thomas, helping himself to a cigarette before he tells Thomas that he didn't want to be alone that morning. David brings up visitation, asking if Thomas is looking forward to seeing his sister, to which Thomas sarcastically answers yes to. Thomas then turns it on him and questions David about his own parents coming to visit. David briefly mentions that they aren't coming this week, as they're focusing on a new business venture for his father. Thomas understands his resentment towards his parents, having had his own which grew since the murders took place. Thomas then tries to ask about Luca, but David skimps out on details, jokingly telling him that a man doesn't kiss and tell before putting out his cigarette and leaving.

As David is walking out, he runs into Sophie Dlamini, another survivor, who claims she's looking for Thomas. He points her to the living room and she eagerly walks in. Thomas notices the look in her face and tells her not to bother him if it's to do with Heather Kavanaugh, a patient there at Blackwater. Sophie ignores him and falls into the seat next to him, claiming that Heather destroyed the painting she'd been working on. Thomas expresses his doubts, but Sophie is adamant that she has done it. She then spies Heather walking past, and calls her name. Thomas quickly follows Sophie, not ready for them to get into another dispute. Confronting Heather, Sophie demands her to admit that she ruined the painting before promising that she's going to get her ass beat. Heather claims it wasn't her, but glad someone did it, calling her artwork trashy and pathetic. Sophie calls her an attention seeker, and Heather goes to physically retaliate. Thomas grabs her hand just as Dr. William Thompson, one of the leading doctor's at Blackwater, intervenes. He has Heather sent to the Quiet Room for the remainder of the morning, before warning Sophie to stop provoking her. Sophie is short with him and storms off. William then asks if Thomas has seen August, but he hasn't. William trails off to look for him.

At the crime scene of Reese's murder, deputy Dwanye Neal is finishing talking to an emotional Gabriel, when he notices the sheriff and survivor, Sarah Abbott, arrive at the scene. She takes a moment to process what she's about to see as flashes of the previous murders play in her mind. Shaking the thoughts away, Sarah does a walk-through while Dwayne runs her through what they've uncovered so far: there was no sign of forced entry nor were there any traces of DNA belonging to anyone other than Reese and Gabriel. The body reminds Sarah of the first murders, when officer Marty Braddock interrupts them. He informs them that the victim been using Grindr just moments before he was killed, leading to Sarah having an anxiety attack.

Racing outside into the freezing cold snowstorm that was just starting, she manages to calm herself down when a tap on the shoulder grabs her attention. She finds reporter and newly formed friend, Yun-Jin Park, stood there with her work equipment ready to get the scoop. Yun-Jin is immediately concerned over Sarah, but Sarah promises she's fine. Yun-Jin isn't easily fooled, telling her that its important she has one person to talk to. Sarah appreciates her for her support, but reiterates that she's fine. Sarah then quietly tells Yun-Jin of the scene upstairs. Yun-Jin is quick to speculate that there might be someone looking to recreate the original murders. Sarah also tells her that Reese was one year older than August and that they went to the same school, with Gabriel corroborating that they knew each other. Yun-Jin asks if she thinks its happening again, but Sarah doesn't answer, instead praying to herself that its not.

Upstairs in Reese's apartment and Marty is watching the two women from the window when Dwayne calls him away. Marty asks if Sarah's going to be okay working on this case, and Dwayne defends Sarah, calling her the toughest woman he knows, besides his wife. Dwayne questions Marty about his concerns, and Marty explains that she did just freak out. Dwayne understands where his concern is coming from, admitting that even he tried to advise Sarah to take time off work to fully recover, both mentally and physically, but she refused. Marty expresses his admiration for her and for how she was so fearless during the murders, wishing he'd been on the force at the time. Dwayne appreciates Marty's love for the force, but tells him to be careful what he wishes for, before walking off after being summouned by another deputy, Clint Denson. Marty looks back out of the window and steals a longing stare at Sarah and Yun-Jin, smiling when they look up at him, before heading back to work.

At the hospital, August is finishing up cleaning himself up in the the bathroom, when he hallicunates Blank Face's reflection in the mirror. After calming himself down, he is scared by the appearance of William. William notices how shaky August seems, and asks if everything is okay. August just nods and William goes on to tell him that the group session this morning will be postponed as Nina Foster, a nurse at the hospital, is late, due to the evergrowing storm. William makes August promise that that he's okay, and August lies to him, which William believes before leaving. He looks back in the mirror and imagines Freddie's face but he tells himself it's not real before leaving the bathroom.

On the way back to his room, August catches Thomas getting into a dispute with a doctor. August rushes over just before Thomas gets himself into serious trouble, promising to calm him down if it meant he wouldn't be sent to isolation again. The doctor reluctantly agrees, leaving the two boys. August tries to warn Thomas about his destructive behavior, telling him that becoming a ticking time bomb isn't a way to cope. Thomas gets emotional, revealing how exhausted he has become with everyone being disappointed in how he's become. August comforts him, promising that he is far from a disappointment. He then goes on to say that he is one of the best people he's ever met and that every day he makes August and Sophie as well as countless others so happy. He grabs Thomas' hand and pulls him in for a soft, long hug where they both think about kissing one another. However, they're interrupted by Nina, who tells them she's almost ready to start the session. They share another longing look with each other, both of them mentally wanting to take it further, but August is still apprehensive, telling Thomas he needs to get ready, walking off back to his room. When he gets back, he finds Luca about to go through his personal draw and reprimands him for it. Luca is sincerely apologetic, promising to not do it again. This leads to August keeping an eye on Luca.

Sophie is sat in the rec room as she waits for the others to arrive for the session. As she waits, she see's William walk by in a rush and decides to see what he's up to. When she peers out of the room, she only sees him answering his phone, briefly overhearing him talking to the police. Nina startles Sophie, who scolds her for eavesdropping. Sophie brings up what he was talking about and notices the worried look on her face. Nina dismisses her, telling her that the session is almost starting. Shortly after, the rest of the patients get there, including Heather. As they go around the circle to discuss how they're feeling, when it's August's turn he reveals that he feels like he is a prisoner to his own trauma and past, believing Freddie's plan to have worked as he now feels like he truly can't be anyone's, simply because of how he feels. Thomas comfortingly grabs his hand. It moves to Luca, who says that trying to get out of bed today was one of the biggest struggles he's had this week. He becomes tearful and the group offer their support, with David pulling him in for a hug.

Sarah and Dwayne are driving up to Blackwater, with Sarah anxious to speak with the staff and possibly the other survivors regarding the murders. Dwayne promises she'll be okay and that the kids are just as strong as she is. Sarah asks how his daughter and wife are doing, with Dwayne saying he misses being on paternity leave. He invites her over for dinner later this week, but Sarah says she'll think about it. Dwayne can tell she is still trying to get over Erica's death, telling her that he, his family, and everyone else will be waiting for her whenever she's ready. Sarah gets a phone call from Yun-Jin, who tells her that she might have a lead. Yun-Jin then explains that she received an anonymous tip from one of the neighbors in the same apartment block as Reese. They said that they think they might've saw the direction in which the killer came from. Sarah warns her not to do anything, as it's police business as well as dangerous. Yun-Jin is persistent, wanting nothing more than to stop a second killer terrorising their town. Yun-Jin tells her she'll be in touch if she finds anything, before hanging up. Sarah tries to reach the station, but the snowstorm begins interfering with the radio. Dwayne tells her not to panic, but Sarah can't help but worry.

At Blackwater, August, Sophie, David, and Luca are sat in the living room, with the boys listening to Sophie as she shows off a new piece of art she finished. They're all amazed by her talent, and August thinks of Thomas, knowing that he feels like he has no purpose anymore. He asks if they've seen him and Luca says he saw him having a cigarette not too long ago. August gets up to find him when William calls his attention, stating its time for their appointment, much to August's annoyance. Sophie offers to go find Thomas, with the help of David who also offers. August thanks them before heading off with William.

Once in his office, they begin to talk about August and the state of his mental wellbeing, as well as how he is tackling his trauma and PTSD. August is apprehensive at sharing anything, telling William that he feels like a complete social outcast due to the damage done to him. William urges him that he needs to say goodbye to Freddie, as that part of his life is over. He then brings up August's nightmares and hallucinations, which August downplays, growing annoyed at people bringing it up as he already thinks he's crazy enough. As William goes to take a glance at August's file, he realises he left it in his other office. William excuses him briefly, with August thinking about what William said. August turns on the radio, only to hear a broadcast detailing the death of Reese, an older guy he once slept with. The news sends him into a manic episode where he hallicunates Blank Face coming for him. William suddenly returns, standing at the door confused. August looks over, where he thinks he see's Blank Face behind him. Screaming, August falls over the couch and when he stands up, he looks over to see that it was only Nina stood behind him. August cries, wanting it to stop.

Meanwhile, Yun-Jin investigates the backalleys of downtown Sunset Ridge, trying to find anything to help. She begins to believe she was pranked, when she gets a text from a withheld number, asking if she's looking hard enough. Growing impatient and annoyed, Yun-Jin doesn't entertain the number and begins to head back to her car, when she is attacked by Blank Face. The killer pursues her through the backalleys, with Yun-Jin putting him a strong fight. She manages to escape, calling out for help. As she manages to make it back to her car, she runs into Marty. She frantically tells him what happened, and he radio's it in before helping her flee the scene.

Sarah and Dwayne arrive at Blackwater, where they notice the storm to be getting worse as the day goes on. They go inside and are greeted by Nina, pointing them in the direction of where the patient should be, before going off to find William for them. Sarah and Dwayne head through to the cafeteria where the teen survivors are happy to see her again. She unfortunately drops Reese's death on them, surprised to learn that August had already informed them. He then reveals that he slept with Reese, which Sarah makes a note of. Thomas makes a remark about him wishing this time around, he'd just be a victim, as it'd be easier than everything that they're dealing with. Sophie notices Heather and Luca watching them, and grows suspicious, belieiving that there might be more than one killer at play this time. William comes over and greets the officers. He tells the teens to go ahead and get prepared for their visitation, if they have any.

William asks if he and his staff should be concerned regarding the murder. Sarah reveals the new information regarding Reese, with William confessing he knew already, as he was Reese's therapist for a short while as well as August mentioning it. Sarah tells him that once the storm has passed, she's going to have two officers stationed at the hospital, until the killer is caught. She then says she wants August, Sophie, and Thomas to be kept in sight at all times, fearing that if it is a copycat, then it's a possibility they'll be targetted again. William brings up the interesting point of Sarah also being a survivor, but Sarah claims she isn't going to let some edgy teen get the best of her this time. She then gets a phone call from the station, who inform her of Yun-Jin's attack. Sarah and Dwayne are quick to hurry back to the car, heading back to Sunset Ridge.

Nina, who finished up her shift early, is on her way home when she rings her husband. She asks if he remembered to attend their son's science fair, to which he responds that he's currently there. After hanging up, Nina gets home and begins to clean up the house when she begins to get tormented by Blank Face. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse, Nina rings the police but not before she is finally attacked. Despite a strong attempt at fighting back, Nina is decapitated by the same meat cleaver she tried to defend herself with.

Returning back to the police station, Sarah rushes in to find Marty leading her to where Yun-Jin is. Sarah comforts the reporter, who is clearly shaken up from being attacked. When Sarah tries to figure out why Blank Face would go after her, Yun-Jin shares her theory that she thinks she was meant to be this killing spree's version of Erica. This triggers Sarah, who almost suffers a panic attack. She overcomes it, demanding that they work quick at finding the killer. Yun-Jin tells her she doesn't think the new killer is a teenager, as they moved and acted like a calculated grown person, who knew exactly what they were doing and where to go. She begins speculating that the killer could very well be involved with the investigation, as they're fully two steps ahead of them. Sarah begins to see her point, admitting that even the crime scene of Reese's murder was too calculated. They're then interrupted by Clint, who tells them they've found another body, nurse Nina Foster from Blackwater.

Over at Blackwater, visitation is underway, as Sophie sits down with her parents. Her mother, Korinne, becomes emotional when she see's how well Sophie is doing so far, proud of her daughter, while her father, Joseph, is encouraging of her pursuing painting as an outlet.

Thomas walks into the visitation room, smiling at Sophie, before he see's his older sister, Kate, and her fiance, Ivan Blake. Sitting opposite of them, Ivan is very warm and kind to Thomas, showing genuine interest. It isn't long, however, before Thomas and Kate begin their typical arguing. Kate expresses the fear and worry she gets each time the hospital calls her or their parents, believing each time that its to inform them that Thomas had killed himself. Thomas argues that she acts like she's the victim, just like their mother has done since the murders ended. Ivan tries to diffuse the situation, but finds it to be useless when Thomas accuses Kate of thinking of him as nothing but a burden, someone taking away the limelight from her and her wedding. Kate is taken aback but when she tries to get to the root of the issue between them, Thomas sniffles and tells them he's tired. Frustrated, Kate says goodbye before storming off outside. Ivan comforts Thomas, giving him a hug before going up to catch Kate.

As Kate gets outside, she notices the storm to have gotten extremely worse. Remaining under the shelter of the roof, she lights a cigarette as Ivan reprimands her for smoking again. Kate tells him it calms her down, before claiming that Ivan should've had her back. Ivan defends himself, saying that both of them were out of line at times. After a small argument over Kate and Thomas' broken relationship, with Ivan urging Kate to be more understanding, not wanting Thomas to feel like he doesn't even have any family looking out for him, the two head over to Kate's car, unaware that Blank Face is watching them. Kate tries to start the engine, but it doesn't, leading Ivan to suggest that they stay put until the storm passes over anyways, much to Kate's dismay.

Back inside the hospital, Thomas storms off to the boys bathroom, running into David and Luca kissing. He apologises as he wipes a tear away, causing David and Luca to stop, instead checking to see if Thomas is okay. Thomas looks into the mirror and cries, claiming that he's so exhausted of how he's feeling. Luca leaves to go find August or a doctor. David comforts his friend, making sure he knows that he is never alone, he never will have to be alone, and that they're all there for him, and each other. August knocks at the door and so David excuses himself, whispering to August that he is the only person Thomas would probably feel completely comfortable with. Once they're alone, August pulls Thomas into a tight hug as he listens to Thomas sob into his shoulder. After telling August about the visit with his sister along with how he's been feeling, August promises him that its them against the world, including Sophie. They almost kiss but are interrupted by Sophie, who came looking after Luca told her how upset Thomas was, and the three huddle together in a group hug.

Heather, who had been watching the trio, wanders off to the girls bathroom as she mutters to herself about finally 'getting Sophie back'. Talking to herself in the mirror, she fails to notice the door close and lock behind her. All of the showers then turn on, startling her. Calling out, she believes it to be Sophie messing with her. Heather grows hostile, smashing the mirror before grabbing a shard of glass and threatening to cut Sophie open. When no one comes out of the steam, Heather then threatens to cut herself if the person doesn't show themselves. She starts sliding the glass across her arm when Blank Face rushes out of the steam suddenly. Heather quickly becomes terrified, trying her best to fight back. Blank Face easily overpowers her and stabs her in the stomach with the shard she grabbed, before ripping it upwards. They then throw her to one of the stalls and crush her head repeatedly with the stall door, before they take of their costume and come out of the bathroom, once again locking the door.

Arriving at Nina Foster's house, Sarah, Dwayne, Yun-Jin, and Marty are filled in on what happened. Sarah and Yun-Jin quickly put together that Nina was killed due to the fact she had files and access to the hospital, with files on the survivors as well as several keycards having been stolen from the crimescene. It dawns on Sarah that this new killer is indeed going after the survivors once again. She believes them to be in trouble and rushes out to her car, desperate to get in touch with the hospital. As William picks up, the call is cut off, the storm now at its peak. Sarah says she needs to get to the hospital, and Dwayne hops in the car along with Yun-Jin, who claims she is coming with them to help stop this killer. Sarah tries to get her out of the car, but Yun-Jin is persistent and stubborn. Sarah is forced to agree and she tells Marty to come up to hospital with at least three other officers, after he's done at the crime scene. Marty watches them drive away.

At the hospital, an emergency alarm sounds off, calling the patients and few staff members to the main hall. William informs them that the power has went out across almost all of the hospital, with only a few back-up generators still working for now. August thinks he see's Blank Face, bringing on a panic attack. The group are startled when Kate and Ivan are brought into the main hall. Kate explains that the car wouldn't start and they weren't waiting outside in a storm. The group also realise Heather to be missing, sending the survivors on edge. William promises that he'll find her.

In Sarah's car, they're running through the two deaths so far and what they have: they know that the killer is going after the survivors, with August presumbly at the centre of the new killer's motive. Dwayne makes an off-the-cuff comment about how its like the killer is a trained professional that knows how a crimescene works. Yun-Jin and Sarah bring up Yun-Jin's theory from earlier, with Sarah now becoming convinced that the killer is indeed apart of the investigation in some way, shape, or form. They try to deduce who might be behind it. Deputy Denson's name is thrown out, with Sarah reminding them that Clint worked closely with her during the first murders. Dwayne rebutes the theory, calling him a family man. They grow closer to the hospital as the sun begins to set.

Back in the hospital, Ivan forces Kate and Thomas to have a conversation regarding everything on both of their minds. Throughout, they continue to bicker over their parents, the murders, Thomas' struggles with coping and becoming self-destructive, while Kate talks about how she feels like she has to be as watchful over him since they're parents are too concerned with their image on social media and how they can use their children for attention. Afterwards, the siblings seemingly manage to patch things up sort of. Kate then says she wants a cigarette, but doesn't want to go outside. Thomas points her to one of the rec rooms, the one with smoking allowed. Ivan asks how it went and Thomas thanks him, telling him he's going to make a good dad someday.

Sophie and David are busy watching out of the window, with Sophie mentioning the murder. She expresses her want to leave Sunset Ridge and make a name for herself with her art. David encourages her to. She then asks him what he wants to do, and David says that he wants to go back to his hometown of Manchester, England. He claims that his wealthy parents never asked what he wanted, expecting him to be quiet and do as he was told. He now wants to go back to Manchester and make a life for himself without his family's name, wealth, notoriety, or legacy following him. The lights suddenly begin to flicker off, causing panic among them.

August, who went to his room to grab some things, is walking down one of the deserted wings when he is seemingly tormented by Blank Face. He isn't sure whether its real or a hallucination. Before he can figure it out, Blank Face emerges from one of the offices and chases him, When August crashes into the main hall in a state of horror, Sophie and David rush over to him. He claims he saw Blank Face, but David doesn't see anyone. Suddenly, Sarah, Yun-Jin, and Dwayne enter the main hall, to the teens surprise. Sarah reveals that the killer is indeed coming here, if not here already, and Sophie and David immediately panic over August's supposed hallucination, now believing him to have actually been attacked. Sarah demands to know where everyone is: Kate is still in the rec room smoking, Thomas went to grab some food, Ivan went to the bathroom, William is looking for Heather, and none of them know where Luca slipped off to. As fear begins to set among them, Sarah orders them to stay put when she gets radio'd, just barely, by Marty who claims he is on his way after supposedly finding a picture of August at Nina's house. Sarah orders Dwayne to watch them while she looks around for everyone else, along with Yun-Jin.

Kate finishes her cigarette when she hears a noise. Deciding to ignore it, she tries exiting out of the door she came in through, but its locked. Growing nervous, Kate calls out for Ivan, thinking it's a prank. Ivan suddenly appears out of nowhere, and paranoia is now full swing as Kate is extremely cautious of her fiance. As they begin walking through the hospital, they hear another bang inside an office that belongs to William. Looking inside, they find William's body on his desk with blood everywhere. They scream and alert August, Sophie, David, and Dwayne over to them. Kate freaks out and sprints off, with the group following her in unison. As they come up on the exit of the hospital, they're ambushed by Blank Face. Dwayne tries to tackle them, but he is knocked unconscious. Blank Face moves swiftly and grabs Ivan, brutally stabbing him to death in front of them. The group end up accidentally splitting up as they flee from the main hall.

David and Sophie sprint down one of the corridors when they run into a dumbfounded Thomas. After emotionally explaining what just happened, the trio flee to the boys bathroom, just as Blank Face begins mercilessly hunting them.

Sarah and Yun-Jin continue looking around the hospital, only to find nothing too out of place. They briefly talk about why Yun-Jin is so involved this time, and she says that that the killer went after her, so she wants to return the favor. Sarah brings up her suspicions of the reporter possibly being involved. Yun-Jin takes offence and a small argument ensues, with Yun-Jin storming off. Once alone, Sarah sees a pool of blood flooding from the girls bathroom. Breaking it open, she finds Heather's mutilated body. She radio's in for back-up, but it is all static. Racing over to the window, she sees another cop car, belonging to Marty. She races back down the corridor, where she catches up to Yun-Jin. They're then attacked by Blank Face, with Yun-Jin almost being killed. The killer stabs the reporter before going for Sarah. Sarah shoots them in the chest, blowing them away. After checking on Yun-Jin, she looks back over to find Blank Face gone. Suddenly, Dwayne stumbles through. He is a little dazed, but tells them about Ivan's body. Sarah remains cautious of him as well. She gets him to help her hide Yun-Jin out of the way, before the two go off looking for the killer. She asks if he saw Marty come in, but Dwayne hasn't.

In the boys bathroom, Sophie, David, and Thomas realise that Blank Face is onto them. After a lengthy game of cat and mouse, Blank Face eventually finds them and pursues them. David is caught up with by the killer and stabbed twice in the stomach, with Sophie and Thomas being forced to leave him for dead. The two are then chased once again, with both of them putting up a decent fight. Sophie is grabbed and about to be killed, when Thomas tackles the killer, freeing Sophie. When Sophie gets her bearings together, she can't help but watch as Blank Face drives their knife into Thomas' chest three times, watching her friend die before her. She screams and tries to flee but is once again caught and stabbed in the back twice, Blank Face leaving her for dead too.

August and Kate, who have been desperately trying to find a way out together. They're both worried over the others when they run into Marty, who looks terrified. He reveals he found the bodies of Heather and William. August is shocked at the reveal of Heather's death. He also doesn't trust Marty, telling him to stay back until Sarah finds them. As Marty tries to prove his innocence, Blank Face attacks him. Watching Marty drop to the ground, August and Kate then flee as they're chased once again. Kate is overpowered, despite August's verocious attempts at helping her, and Blank Face knocks her unconscious before going for August, who has sprinted off.

After searching throughout the hospital, Sarah and Dwayne know that something isn't right, given the circumstances. They come across Marty, who is unconscious, when they're startled by Yun-Jin. She claims that Blank Face was looking for her and she had to escape. Sarah brings up her suspicions once again, when Yun-Jin brings it to Sarah's attention that she was the one that told Marty to come for her earlier. Confused, Sarah has no clue what she is talking about. As the pieces begin to fall into place, Marty suddenly gets up, stabbing Dwayne as he reveals himself as Blank Face. Sarah tries shooting, but Marty is quick and shoots her. Yun-Jin begs for her life, but he tells her to move.

August reaches the closed wing, where he is finally confronted by a still-masked Blank Face. They don't reveal themselves at first, informing August that Thomas and Sophie were both dead. August is devastated and begs for the killer to just finally get it over with, not wanting this to be his life. Luca comes into the room, clearly in shock at everything happening. August warns him to stay back, believing him to be involved. August is shocked, however, when Blank Face murders Luca in front of him. Marty then arrives with a captive Yun-Jin, throwing her to the ground next to August. Marty taunts them, before revealing his motive: he was obsessed with the original murders, wanting nothing more than to have been able to pull off something so mesmorising and captivating. He tells them he joined the police force to simply do whatever he wanted to, knowing that he'd be able to get away with it. He then taunts them about the identity of the second killer, claiming it could truly be anyone under the mask. Blank Face takes off their mask, revealing William to be the second killer, as well as the mastermind behind both these and the first murders. His motive is that he wanted to see how much he could truly manipulate someone.

After his monologue, David suddenly appears and tackles Marty. Yun-Jin and August take the chance to rush William, who stabs Yun-Jin and punches August. Marty overthrows David, shooting him in the leg. He goes to execute him, when Kate also appears and jumps onto his back. She is hysterical, having heard that her brother is dead. August and William continue fighting brutally, with August managing to slice three fingers off of William's hand, while William stabs August through the palm of his hand.

Kate is thrown from Marty, who proceeds to stamp on Kate's leg twice, breaking it. He turns his attention back to his partner, and see's Sarah with her gun. William sees the gun at the last second and ducks, with Sarah inadvertently shooting and killing Marty. William throws his knife at the Sheriff and laughs maniacally when it pierces her arm. He then turns back to August and proceeds to choke him, ecstatic that he orchestrated all of this. August musters up strength and manages to overtake his attacker. Grabbing a knife, August is quick to stab it through William's hand and then stamps on it, sending it through the floorboards. As William struggles to free himself from the painful grip, August tells William to give Freddie a kiss from him before unloading the entire clip into his head. Glancing around the room, August becomes emotional after realising how much he has lost. He's frightened when Sarah coughs and manages to get through to someone on her radio, calling for emergency services as well as announcing they have two official prime suspects in the murder.

As the sun begins to shine over the hospital, August is wheeled out on a stretcher, where he is brought to tears when he sees a still-alive Sophie being tended to. They hug and cry together, watching as Sarah, Yun-Jin, David, Kate, and Dwayne are also brought out of the hospital. August happily cries at the sight of so many survivors. August and Sophie both acknowledge Thomas' death. Sarah joins them and gives the two a hug, while Yun-Jin is approahced by her news station, asking her if she wants to report on everything that happened. Yun-Jin agrees, grabbing her microphone and begins to report on the horrific night that is now behind them.

## Characters

### Main Characters:

* **August Thrombey:** *The main protagonist and survivor of the Sunset Ridge Murders. He is struggling to cope with everything they went through.*
* **Sophie Dlamini:** *Survivor of the Sunset Ridge Murders, who is trying her best not to let her trauma take control of her life.*
* **Thomas Strode:** *Survivor of the Sunset Ridge Murders and August's best friend. He finds himself developing romantic feelings for August, but refuses to act on them.*
* **Yun-Jin Park:** *A reporter for Channel 6 News who has since became friends with Sarah after covering the aftermath of the murders.*
* **David Evans:** *A British patient at Blackwater Mountain Psychiatric Hospital who becomes friends with the survivors.*
* **Sarah Abbott:** *The sheriff of Sunset Ridge and survivor of the Sunset Ridge Murders. Sarah has since thrown herself into her work to distract herself from facing her own trauma.*

### Supporting Characters:

* **Luca Cascella:** *A patient at Blackwater and August's roommate, Luca also harbors a crush on David.*
* **Dwayne Neal:** *A deputy sheriff of Sunset Ridge, he was on paternity leave during the original murders.*
* **William Thompson:** *One of the leading doctor's at Blackwater, he also works closely with August to help him face his issues head on.*
* **Kate Strode:** *Thomas' older sister that takes no shit and clashes frequently with her brother.*
* **Ivan Blake:** *Kate's fiance that finds himself acting as the middle man between the Strode siblings.*
* **Heather Kavanaugh:** *A hostile patient at Blackwater, she makes her dislike of the survivors more than clear.*
* **Marty Braddock:** *An officer of the SRPD who recently graduated from the academy, he has an ethuastic and child-like curiosity surrounding the new string of murders.*

### Minor Characters:

* **Nina Foster:** *A nurse at Blackwater.*
* **Faye DuBois:** *A patient at Blackwater and a friend of Sophie's.*
* **Reese Rivers:** *A recent high school graduate who slept with August last summer, and who's murder becomes the catalyst for the next mystery.*
* **Clint Denson:** *A deputy sheriff of Sunset Ridge who worked with Sarah during the Sunset Ridge Murders.*
* **Gabriel Peters**: *Reese's roommate and co-worker.*
* **Korinne Dlamini**: *Sophie's mother.*
* **Joseph Dlamini**: *Sophie's father.*

## Trivia

* The romance between Thomas and August was originally absent in the early draft of the story, along with the romance between Luca and David. Originally, August and Luca were meant to be romantically involved, while David and Thomas were written to have a sexual relationship.
* A major character, Paige Grady, was featured heavily in several concepts, before being ultimately removed from the final cut. She was a new deputy and was meant to be a contrast to Erica Rhodes from Grinded. Paige was also written to die in each concept she appeared in, with her death varying between happening in the first act to being one of the final deaths during the third act.
* Another character was also cut from the finished product, another nurse at Blackwater, Angie. This nurse was written as a stern woman that held negative views towards the survivors, believing them to all be responsible for the events of the first story. Her character was removed as it was found her story ultimately went nowhere.

## Scrap and Rework

The original setting for Part II was intended to be used since the inception of the original trilogy and as such a lot of characters and their respective development were built up with the hospital setting specifically in mind. But as writing progressed, the hospital only proved to be more of a hinderance as it ended up causing subplots and character arcs to become contrived and forced due to the constricted setting.

Both Sarah and Yun-Jin's roles in this Part II ended up being a big reason as to why the sequel underwent a complete overhaul; Sarah's role ended up becoming a beat-for-beat repeat of her role in Part II with no real development, while Yun-Jin's inclusion, while enjoyable, only ever come across as forced. Both characters had always been intended to be major characters in all three entries of the original trilogy, but when the original was scrapped, Yun-Jin was subsequently written out of the trilogy, remaining as a minor character from Sunset Ridge, while Sarah's role also became a lot more reduced; she only appears in the prologue of Grinded Part II now. It was hoped that she'd able to be apart of the LA-set sequel, but her full return was changed to happen in Part III.