[ it won't let me add gifs to set the mood i guess it's an app glitch but there's a fun and not actually cannon tiktok with everyone hating gale so that's over there ]

☆︎

DAMN, AND ON HIS FUCKING BIRTHDAY.

☆︎ FEBRUARY 4TH, 2000 ☆︎

Indiana, Jackson, and Sidney were all corralled in Mark's office as he made some adjustments to his board full of clues and suspects — Indy and Jackson dubbed it the 'Murder Board' and would chant every time he put something on it, much to his annoyance and Sidney's amusement. And to add to that, they were throwing a crumbled-up piece of paper that Indiana had swiped from Mark's folder on her back and forth, holding their arms out in a circle like a basketball hoop to help their aim.

While Jackson was on the small couch on the other end of the office, Indiana was perched on the edge of Mark's desk, the piece of paper sailing between them every few seconds. Sidney was taking up a chair near Indiana while Mark leaned over his desk, scribbling things down on a sticky note.

"What do you know about trilogies?" Sidney suddenly asked, looking pointedly at Mark.

He glanced at her for a moment. "You mean, like movie trilogies?"

"You seem to like movies, Detective Dreamy," she noted while nodding to a few of the movie posters hanging in his office — Kiss Me Deadly, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Outsiders.

Mark let out an amused huff while Indiana avoided looking at him, both knowing that nickname would be sticking around. "I think I prefer you call me Mark."

Sidney looked at him pointedly. "Tell you what — I'll call you Mark when you catch the killer and we know it's not you."

The detective was surprised by the attitude in her voice, and Indiana just smirked while throwing the paper ball at Jackson. It almost went too high and hit the wall, but he jumped up so that the paper would fall through his arms — they'd thrown it ninety-eight times without missing a shot.

"All I know about movie trilogies is that in the third one, all bets are off," Mark told her, sounding just like Randy.

"Luke and Leia were siblings, Ripley sacrifices herself—"

"Gruber has a brother in the third Die Hard," Jackson said, adding to Indiana's list. She narrowed her eyes, thinking even less of the sequels than the first Die Hard film, and he knew that.

"I hate you," Indiana told him flatly. He just stuck his tongue out before throwing the ball through her arms.

Sidney then looked between Mark and Indiana, noticing how often they'd glance at each other when they thought the other wasn't watching. "Did you request this case?" she couldn't help but ask, feeling protective of Indiana. She wouldn't watch her friend get her heart broken again.

"No. They tend to put me on the ones that deal with the business. I grew up here, and I know my way around the studios," he explained. Then he looked at Indiana, a softness in his eyes as he did. "Though I'd probably have shown up anyway to keep Indiana safe. Not that she needs help with that — it'd be more for my own sanity."

"Yeah, no, Indy doesn't need protection," Jackson chimed in. "She's gonna wreck that Ghostface ass."

"Hell yeah," she muttered, still full of rage that was waiting to be released after what happened to Isaiah.

"Even so, it must be exciting. Beautiful place, beautiful people," Sidney said, trying to make conversation. She wanted to get to know Mark — not that getting to know Mickey or Billy helped the girls see who they truly were.

Mark shook his head. "To me, Hollywood is about death," he said while putting a sticky note on the board.

"Murder board! Murder board! Murder board!" Jackson and Indiana chanted, throwing the ball back and forth with each chant.

Sidney rolled her eyes and focused on the ominous answer the detective had given. "Excuse me?"

"I'm a homicide detective, remember?" he said while sitting down at his desk, right next to Indiana's legs. She looked down at him, studying the serious expression on his face. "And when you see what I see day in and day out — the violence that people do to each other — you get haunted. I think you both know about that."

The weight of the locket around Indiana's neck felt heavier than usual ever since putting it back on. Maybe wearing it every day would ensure she remained haunted for all of her days, but she was ready to accept that.

Sidney wasn't though, the statement bothering her. Especially with the way she'd been hearing and dreaming about the ghost of her dead mother. "What do you mean?"

"I know what it's like to see ghosts that don't go away," he told her. "To be watching a scary movie in your head, whether you want to or not. Watching it alone."

Then Mark looked back Indiana as he said the last word. He didn't want to be anymore — didn't want to go through life alone anymore. She stared right back, her thoughts running a mile a minute, flashes of every horrifying moment compiled together. Fuck, she hoped Mark wouldn't be included in those flashes one day.

"Ghosts are tough," Sidney mumbled after a moment. "You can't shoot ghosts."

"Can't stab 'em either," Indiana grumbled. God knows she'd dreamed about killing Billy again a hundred times over, and that didn't help her get rid of all that anger. Maybe killing the new Ghostface would help.

"Can't arrest ghosts," Mark corrected with a small smile. Indy and Sid just rolled their eyes. "But the best way to stop being haunted is to be with people. You're here, you're not hiding. You've done the right thing, Miss Prescott, even if Indiana disagrees."

Sidney smiled and looked at Indy. "Well, she just disagrees because I'm the love of her life. But she also knows I'd never let her go through this alone because she's the love of mine," she said sweetly.

Indiana cooed and leaned down to kiss Sidney all over her face, making her giggle.

"Yeah, Mark, my man, you and Randy got some stiff competition," Jackson said, grinning at the older man as Sidney pecked Indy's lips.

But Mark wasn't bothered by the show of affection between the girls that meant more than anyone could ever understand to each other. If anything, he liked how Indiana was with Sidney by her side. She seemed lighter — less haunted.

"Does that mean you forgive the love of your life for not telling you about your mother?" Indiana asked Sidney while sitting back up properly. Sidney just nodded, having gotten over it the second Indy explained it being to keep her safe.

Mark looked between the girls before focusing on Sidney. "What did you know about your mother?" he questioned, needing anything he could get about the case.

Both Jackson and Indiana tensed up at the question, knowing it was a sore subject for the girl. But after a moment, Sidney managed to answer.

"I always thought I had the perfect mom. Perfect family — till I found out I was wrong. She, um, she had a secret life, and I tried to understand that, and, um, soon as I thought that I had, more secrets," she said, forcing a laugh. Then she looked down at her hands sadly. "I don't know who my mom was."

"You know who she was to you," Mark told her. Indiana bit her tongue, feeling the same warmth in her chest that she felt when he was talking to her about Mickey as he comforted Sidney. And she fucking hated that warm feeling he kept stirring up.

"Alright, here's the deal," he then said, getting up from his desk and grabbing his blazer. "I'm off to search the set. What you both saw was real. Indiana didn't claw herself up for fun. That's the good news."

Jackson snickered while Indiana scoffed, looking at the bandaids on her arms. "How is that good news?" Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because that means that we're dealing with an ordinary flesh-and-blood killer, and I know how to handle guys like that," he told him.

"Oh, yeah?" Sidney scoffed. "How?"

"Catch him," he said simply.

"Or kill him," Indiana added with a grin on her face. "Me, personally, I prefer that one."

"Don't I know it," he mumbled, rolling his eyes playfully at her violent approach to stopping this. "I'll be back soon."

"Hey, Detective Dreamy," Indiana called as he walked through the door. He quickly turned back around and looked at her with an amused smile as she accepted the nickname her friends had given him. "Just curious with Ghost Boy back on the scene — what's your favorite scary movie?"

Mark's smile morphed into a smirk as he came right up to her, standing between her parted legs as she sat on the desk, leaning in close, fingertips brushing her thighs. "My life," he whispered — she wasn't allowed to know his favorite scary movie if he didn't know hers.

She thought he was going to kiss her with how close he was, but then he turned and left, not giving Indiana a second look as he did.

"Fuck, I want him," she mumbled, watching him leave.

"You've had him, Indy," Jackson reminded her. "Multiple times."

"I know," she said in a whiny tone, sliding off the desk. "Which probably means he's not going to check the set. He's going to find someone to kill."

"You really think it's him?" Sidney asked as Indy leaned against the side of the chair she was sitting in.

"I don't not think it's him," she shrugged. "I'm currently running three out of four for having feelings for a psycho killer, so the math adds up."

Jackson shook his head, knowing Indiana was just assuming Mark was evil to keep from falling harder for him — which wasn't even working all that well to begin with. "You're horrible at math, Indy."

☆︎

Gale was living through the worst car ride of her life at the moment. Sophia had called shotgun and shoved the reporter out of the way to climb in the passenger seat of Dewey's car, leaving Gale in the middle of Randy and Jennifer in the backseat. The group of five was on the way to the police station and trying to figure out all they could to help Wallace and Kincaid.

"We have to think. Strategize. Milton's the key to everything," Dewey told them.

"Nah, no way," Sophia said, rolling her eyes.

"She's right," Gale chimed in, leaning between the front seats. "He's a pervert, he's not a killer."

Soon, Jennifer was shoving her face up next to Gale's, cramping her even more. "He's gotta be involved somehow. We should follow him."

"That's a horrible idea," Randy denied, shaking his head.

"We're gonna go back to the precinct and we're gonna tell Kincaid, Indiana, and Sidney what we found out," Gale told her, knowing they needed to stick to the plan.

Jennifer glared at her and let out a huff. "My Gale would be much more aggressive. My Gale would suspect everybody. My Gale would—"

"Shut up!" both Sophia and Gale shouted.

"Your Gale has been fucking shot twice, and everyone but you in this car has been stabbed and nearly killed," Randy told Jennifer. "I love your portrayal of Gale, but we are not making a movie right now."

"Well, I'm sure Gale will sell the rights in about a month for a new movie," Sophia grumbled, settling down in her seat.

"Why don't you all just not speak to each other?" Dewey asked. "And—"

He was cut off by his phone ringing, which he quickly pulled out to answer, not even looking at the number. "Riley here."

"Dewey, it's Sidney," she greeted, her voice easy for him to recognize.

"Hey, Sid," he said. "I'm with Gale, Randy, and Soph. We're on our way to see you."

"No. Listen, I'm not at the station," she told him quickly. "John Milton called me and said he had something to tell me — something about my mom. I'm going to meet him at his house."

"Wait, Sid, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," he said, frowning. Especially with what they now knew about Milton.

"It's okay. Kincaid's with me. I've got official big-time L.A.P.D. protection, but I'd feel better if you were there," Sidney said. "And you know Indy is with me. I'd never go anywhere without her."

Dewey sighed and gave in no matter how much he hated it. "We're on our way, but still, Sid—"

"Thanks," she cut him off before hanging up quickly.

Dewey pulled his phone back with a deep frown on his face, which everyone noticed.

"What?" Gale asked him.

"Looks like we're going to that party after all," he grumbled. Then he looked at Randy through the rearview mirror. "Sid and Indy are going to Roman's party."

"What?" Sophia asked, raising her voice. "No way would Indy go to another party after last night."

"Not necessarily," Randy said, shaking his head. "She's angry — you know what she's like when she's angry. She doesn't want to wait for the third act to come to her. She wants to finish it herself."

"Well, like hell she's finishing this alone," Sophia said, crossing her arms. "Step on it, Deputy Dipshit."

"I am going the speed limit," he insisted.

"I'm going the speed limit," she repeated in a mocking tone, making him roll his eyes.

"Hey," Randy then said, nudging Gale, who raised a questioning eyebrow. "I don't know who did those calf implants back when, but they're holding up great."

Gale scoffed and rolled her eyes in offense. "I did not get calf implants."

"Oh, as if," he scoffed. "No shame in admitting it. I just want the doctor's name. Broke my nose when Nancy tried to kill me. Thinking about getting it fixed, and given how Sid, Virginia, and Indy punched you in the face, you must've had work done there too."

Her glare grew stronger and she was considering punching Randy to make a point. But Dewey's phone rang again, the man ever so popular. This time around, he did check the familiar number before answering.

"Virginia, Sweetie, hey," he greeted in a soft tone. "I'm sorry you've been up there alone all day, but after we check on Indy and Sid, I'll be right to the hospital to check on you."

"Wait, why aren't you with Indy and Sid now?" Virginia questioned. She hated being in a hospital bed and out of the loop.

"Long story short, the killer was at the set. Everyone is okay, though. Kincaid took them and Jackson to the precinct while we followed a lead about Milton," he explained. "But now we're heading to the party for Roman at Milton's mansion to get them."

"D - Dewey, I don't want you going over there," Virginia said, her throat feeling a little tight. "Okay? You know this is the part where you get stabbed in the back and barely survive. From a medical standpoint, I don't think you have a third round of this in you."

"I'll be fine, Gin," he insisted. "Look, we're gonna outnumber this son of a bitch—"

"Please, just come to the hospital," she cut him off. "Dewey, I need you here right now, not at the party. Please."

But Dewey shook his head, not paying attention to the urgency and worry in her voice. "Virginia, we've been through this before. I'll get Indiana, and we'll be right back at the hospital before you know it."

"No, Dewe—"

"We're almost to the house. Gotta go. Love you."

Much to Virginia's annoyance, her boyfriend hung up on her just as Sidney had him a few minutes ago. She stared at her phone from her bed in the hospital, a few tears welling in her eyes as she began fearing the worst. They'd already lost Isaiah — she couldn't stand the thought of losing anyone else.

"Knock, knock," Isabella, the nurse that'd been taking care of Virginia said while rolling in a dinner tray. "Time to eat, and you're very lucky. I snagged you an extra serving of fruit."

"Thank you, Izzy," she said, smiling softly at her and swallowing thickly to force back the tears.

"It's no trouble," the older woman said while fixing the tray and helping Virginia sit up a little bit. Then the nurse swooped down and grinned at Virginia's stomach. "Mama has to get big and strong now that she's eating for two."

Slowly, Virginia covered her still-flat stomach with her hand, staring at her food with a vacant expression, wishing more than anything that Dewey had been there four hours ago when getting blood work done just before her MRI when the surprising result of the routine test came in.

"Yup," she mumbled, not really sure how she felt about it yet. "Eating for two."

☆︎

Dewey had no goddamn idea about the overwhelming and life-changing information that was waiting for him back at the hospital as he pulled right up to the front of John Milton's mansion. Having never seen it, Sophia and Randy got out of the car with wide eyes, looking at what was probably the biggest house they'd ever seen in person — and the home Rod was letting them stay in owned by the record label was pretty fucking big.

Having heard the car pull up on the gravel, Roman stepped outside and spotted them with a champagne glass in his hand. "Hey, guys," he called. "Come on in. Join the party."

"Yeah, well, actually, we're here to see Sidney," Gale told him as he led the group into the living room.

"Really? Sidney's here," he told them.

Dewey looked around the room, only spotting Tyson and Angelina. "Where? Where's Sidney?"

"She's right there!" he said emphatically, pointing at Angelina across the room.

"God, you're already tipsy," Randy chuckled.

"Jesus! Not 'Sidney,' Sidney," Jennifer told him, rolling her eyes. "Like I'm 'Gale,' and she's Gale."

Roman squinted at her in confusion. "Sidney Prescott?"

"Yeah."

"No, I'd never invite her here," he denied.

"She's on her way," Sophia told him, eyeing him suspiciously. "With Indy and my brother, too. Said they need to meet Milton."

"Well, John's not here yet, but the more the merrier," Roman said, swallowing a mouthful of champagne. The five new arrivals made themselves as comfortable as they could, none of them feeling safe in the current environment.

Angelina then came closer while looking around the intricately decorated living room. "God, this house is incredible. It's old Hollywood."

"Yeah," Tyson agreed from the couch. "Could the dude have more money?"

"Supposedly, Milton has a secret screening room that was like the scene back in the '70s, you know," Roman said while picking up the bottle of champagne to top himself off. "It was, like, drinks and drugs and girls and movies and shit."

"Cool," Randy breathed out. But then he remembered that the screening room was likely where Sidney's mother and countless other young actresses were taken advantage of, so it became less cool in his eyes.

"Wow!" Angelina exclaimed, having no idea about Milton's disgusting past. "Wish I could've seen it."

"Big old screening room shouldn't be too hard to find," Roman shrugged. "I'm gonna go - I'm gonna go check this place out."

It was funny as Tyson and Randy stood at the same time, protesting his plan.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just one damn minute."

"Hold the fuck up, Roman!"

"There's a psycho killer on the loose," Tyson continued. "And you want to go traipsing around this gigantic mansion? Have you ever actually seen the Stab movies?" Then he pointed to Dewey. "Every time this dude enters a room, he ends up a goddamn shish kebab."

"He's not wrong," Sophia muttered under her breath, earning a childish glare from Dewey, which she shrugged off.

"I'll go with you, Roman," Jennifer offered, thinking he was just drunk and too stubborn to stay put.

"There you go," he said, grinning brightly and offering her a hand. "You guys wanna come?"

"It'll be okay," Angelina whispered to Tyson, who was still clearly on the fence. "We're gonna stick together."

"You're not stickin—" When Angelina walked out of one of the many exits to the living room, Tyson sighed and followed after her, not wanting her to be alone. "Wait up!"

"Right, we're gonna stay right the fuck here," Sophia grumbled as Randy nodded and came to sit next to her.

"Yeah, Sid, Indy, and Jack can't be far," Dewey agreed. In fact, they should've been there already.

Roman kept on walking, not looking over his shoulder at them as he raised his glass. "We'll be right back!"

"Classic mistake," Randy said, rolling his eyes. Then he looked at Dewey. "You also made that mistake when you were on the phone with Virginia."

Dewey just rolled his eyes. "We need to keep an eye out for the others. They might already be here."

"Nah, Indy would've been in here with the crowd," Sophia told him. "She wouldn't take her eyes off Angelina — she's still her number one suspect aside from Detective Dreamy."

Well, as far as they knew. Indiana hadn't actually told any of them about the voicemail with Mickey's voice or the call she received from what sounded like him earlier. But assuming Indiana was just going crazy, then her top two suspects were Angelina and Mark, much to her disappointment on that last one.

"Well, they should be here. The precinct isn't that far," Dewey muttered, walking around the living room and peering through the doors that he passed.

"I'll check outside," Gale offered, walking toward the pool that looked out over the driveway. They'd see as soon as a car pulled up.

"We'll stay here," Randy said, getting comfortable on the couch. He also made sure to look over their shoulder, making sure no Ghostfaces would sneak up behind him and Sophia while lounging on the couch.

"Yeah, we're not putting our lives on the line without an Indy around to save us," Sophia added. "Ghost Boy has to come to us."

Dewey sighed and just checked his watch, ignoring the younger kids. Then he glanced outside at Gale, who he could still see. "Any sign of them?"

"No," she said, coming back in. With Kincaid driving, they should've been there before Dewey got them there. "This is so strange."

"It sure is," he mumbled, continuing to look around.

"Just call her," Sophia said, groaning a little bit.

"She didn't call from her cell," Dewey informed her.

"Do you have caller ID on your cell phone?" Gale then asked him.

"Yeah."

She looked at him pointedly. "All right, use it and press send," she instructed as if he was stupid. Well, he was at least earning the name Deputy Dumbass.

Dewey did as told and dialed the number that called him in the car, holding it up to his ear. But to all their surprise, they could hear the other phone ringing nearby.

"What the hell?" Dewey asked, looking behind him, where the sound was coming from.

Randy and Sophia shared a skeptical look before slowly getting off the couch and nearing Gale and Dewey. Gale went to a nearby closet and quickly pulled it open, finding no one inside. However, there was a Ghostface mask, a ringing phone, and some silver, metallic-looking contraption.

"What is this thing?" Gale asked, picking up the device.

"Kind of looks like a—"

Randy cut himself off when Gale raised it to her mouth while pressing down on a random button. "Is this what he—" They all heard what clearly sounded like Dewey's voice coming from the speaker on it. "What the hell?"

Now more startled, Dewey pulled out his gun and looked around behind them while Randy slipped closer to Gale to look at the voice changer. He took it from her and pressed a different button before speaking into it. "What's your favorite scary movie?" Randy asked, looking at Sophia. All of their eyes widened when they heard Sidney's voice instead of his.

"Dewey, he's got our voices," Gale realized.

"He's got Sid," he mumbled.

"He's got us all," Randy said, his voice now sounding like Jackson.

"Oh, my god. We gotta find them," Sophia said, running a hand through her hair and beginning to worry about her brother.

"Come on," Dewey said, leading them out of the living room. But they stopped in the hallway. If you went right, you went downstairs and followed Roman and Jennifer, and the left led to the second floor where Angelina and Tyson went. Deciding to split up, Dewey handed his gun to Sophia. "All right, take the gun. You and Gale, go find Roman and Jennifer. Randy and I will get the others."

"Why don't we get the gun?" Randy asked nervously.

"Be a fucking man!" Sophia hissed, not wanting to give up the only weapon. Speaking of, why the fuck hadn't they brought more weapons?

"Just be careful," Gale told the boys.

"You too," Dewey said before he and Randy went left, beginning to call for the others. "Tyson! Angelina! You up there?"

"C'mon," Sophia said, walking ahead of Gale since she was armed. Honestly, though, she was torn on if she wanted to be holding the gun or let Gale have it. After all, it meant she had to enter every room first, which made her more of a target. But entering a room in horror movies last also made you a target, so essentially, they were both fucked.

"Roman!" Gale called out.

"Jennifer!" Sophia shouted.

Meanwhile, Dewey and Randy made it to the top floor and walked into a bedroom. It seemed empty and had a whole wall of mirrors on one side.

"Tyson! Angelina!" Dewey called, not seeing them. And they weren't calling back. "Damn it!"

But then Tyson suddenly jumped out from the closet where he was hiding, his fists raised protectively.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Randy muttered, flinched away from the actor that startled them. "Warn a guy, would ya?"

Dewey quickly calmed down and grabbed Tyson's shoulder. "Okay, come on. We gotta get out of here. Where's Angelina?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "She went in here. I came in after her. Now she's gone."

"Great," Randy muttered. This wasn't helping Indiana's 'Angelina was one of the killers' theory.

"What's wrong?" Tyson asked, looking between the clearly concerned men.

Dewey sighed and looked out into the hallway again. "Looks like Stab 3 is back in production."

With only one of four accounted for, Gale and Sophia continued to search the bottom floor for Jennifer and Roman. Like Tyson, neither responded when their names were shouted, echoing throughout the large house.

"Basement," Sophia muttered, nodding to the door that was just off the kitchen. It wasn't fully closed, making her suspect that someone went down there recently.

Sophia was the one to open the door, aiming her gun into the darkness while Gale hesitantly called out for the others. "Roman! Jennifer!"

There wasn't a response, so Sophia took another step, not able to see much since the light was flickering. "I swear to god, Jennifer, if you're having sex with him a second time instead of replying, I'll shoot you both."

But again, there wasn't a response even with her threat. So, she and Gale went a little further down. As soon as Gale released the door at the top of the stairs, it slammed shut, startling them.

It was reminding Sophia too fucking much of the night Tatum died, and she noticed the gun in her hand was shaking. So, without warning, she handed it to Gale, not trusting herself to not start shooting blindly. Gale studied her for a moment, silently asking if she was okay. Sophia just nodded and stuck close to the reporter's side, wishing she was with someone like her brother or Indiana or Dewey — they always made her feel safer.

"Jennifer? Roman?" Gale called as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

The basement was full of creepy props from past horror movies and fake bodies and zombie puppets that made the girls' skin crawl. What stood out most in the dim lighting, though, was the green glow coming from a coffin pushed up against the wall. The lid was propped open by an elbow that was covered in the same fabric as the jacket Roman had been wearing earlier.

"Fuck, Roman," Sophia said with a grimace, already anticipating what they'd find.

Gale kept the gun steady while Sophia lifted the lid, revealing Roman's dead body. He was covered in blood with a knife sticking out of his chest. Sophia had never checked for a pulse, but she copied what she'd seen Virginia do and felt his wrist for a second or two, not finding a heartbeat.

She quickly pulled her hand back, not wanting to touch a dead body longer than necessary. Gale drew in a sharp breath and stumbled back, only to knock right into Jennifer, who had been hiding behind some props. Both women screamed as they faced each other.

"Is he dead?" Jennifer squealed.

"Yeah, very!" Gale screamed while grabbing her hand to drag her from the basement.

Sophia shook her head at Roman sadly. "Damn, and on his fucking birthday," she muttered before running after the other two, not wanting to be left alone in the basement with whoever killed Roman.

As soon as they were up the stairs, all of them were shouting for Dewey and Randy, not hearing either man as they continued to run up to the second floor.

"Dewey!"

"Randy!"

"Where the fuck are you, Dewey?"

While moving down a hallway, none of them expected for a painting against the wall to swing open as they passed, making all of them scream, thinking that the killer was coming for them. But it was just fucking Angelina, grinning brightly at them.

"God, I'm sorry," she said, sounding quite giddy about something. She reached for Sophia and Jennifer's hands. "Sophia, Jennifer, Gale, look. I found a secret passage."

Sophia quickly yanked her arm free while Gale kept Angelina in place. "Roman's dead."

Instantly, her smile dropped. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

"The killer's here," Sophia told her.

"What?" she asked again. The three of them tried to pull her in the direction they were running, but Angelina freed herself. "Let go of me! I'm getting out of here!" Then she stupidly began running the way they came from — toward Roman's body and whoever killed him.

"You're not safe alone! Listen to me!" Gale shouted.

Angelina stopped mid-stride, hunching over as she turned to face them. "I did not fuck that pig Milton to get a leading role just to die here with a drummer and second-rate celebrities like you two!" she shouted, glaring at them before continuing to run.

"Fine," Sophia muttered, crossing her arms. Gale and Jennifer were sharing surprised looks over Angelina's personality change. "Let her fucking die."

"Soph!" Dewey then shouted from behind them. "Gale! I'm up here."

"Come on," Gale said, grabbing hold of the other two girls and not giving Angelina another thought. "Dewey!"

While they ran toward Dewey, Angelina ran away, going down a set of stairs while yelling back at them. "You guys should get out too. It's crazy to still be here—"

Suddenly, Angelina's screams of horror and pain filled the air. Both Gale and Jennifer paused before running after her to try and help. Sophia just stayed fucking put, knowing that there was no point.

Gale and Jennifer looked over the railing just in time to see Angelina's dead body being dragged off, making them scream. They quickly ran back before the killer could see them, and Sophia just shook her head as they got closer.

"She dead?" she asked knowingly.

"So fucking dead!" Jennifer shouted while grabbing her and running.

"Dewey!" Gale shouted.

"Soph, Gale, Jennifer, up here!" he called back.

They ran up the stairs and saw Dewey and Randy in the hallway outside of the bedroom where Tyson was still waiting. Gale was quick to hand over the gun, not wanting to hold it anymore.

"Dewey, here," she breathed out. "He got Roman and Angelina too."

"We'll be safer if we stick together, won't we?" Jennifer asked nervously, not having been through this like the others.

"Of course," Dewey told her. "Why—"

He was cut off by Ghostface appearing and punching him in the face, knocking him down. Despite wanting to stay with him, Sophia was dragged into the bedroom by Randy, and Gale and Jennifer followed while screaming.

Tyson walked over to them, confused by their screaming. "What's goin' on?" he asked as Randy pushed past him. Then he spotted the masked killer coming after them — him, now that he was front and center. "Oh, shit!"

Ghostface pushed Tyson back into a dresser, but before he could stab him, Dewey recovered and came up behind him. "Hey!" he shouted, yanking him back. But Ghostface was ready, swiping his knife at him and cutting into Dewey's arm, making him cry out.

"Dewey!" Sophia yelled, worried he'd be hurt worse.

However, before the killer could attack again, Tyson charged at him, tackling him into the wall. Tyson wasn't strong enough to hold him down though, and it ended with a knife in his gut. Jennifer screamed and ran into the closet to hide while Randy, Sophia, and Gale backed against the mirrored wall.

With Tyson down, Ghostface moved to kick Dewey in the face. With his back turned, he didn't see Gale, who grabbed a vase off the nightstand and jumped on the bed, smashing the killer over the back of the head with it. He turned and lunged for her, but she jumped off the mattress and missed him by a few inches.

"Help!" Tyson shouted while running from the room. "Police! Help! Help!"

And since the police were the last thing the killer needed, he chased after Tyson to keep him from calling for help.

All you could hear in the room was all of them recovering their breath, listening carefully for the muted sounds that would accompany Tyson's inevitable death. They was stumbling and glass shattering and screaming.

"Where's Jennifer?" Randy then asked, none of them seeing her slip away.

Gale shrugged and looked in the closet, seeing that it was empty. Meanwhile, Sophia helped Dewey get off the ground.

"We can't just wait here for him to come back," Sophia said, looking at the bedroom door.

"Look, forget about Jennifer," Randy said, shaking his head. "We have to get out and let the others know about the voice changer so that they aren't tricked into coming here too."

However, before they could leave, Dewey swore he saw something move in one of the mirrors. He peered closer, thinking that the reflection was distorted in one of them, like it was being wiggled.

"Do you hear something?" he asked, not looking away. Sophia followed his line of sight, seeing the subtle shake of one of the mirrored panels.

"It's moving," she muttered.

"Someone's on the other side," Randy realized, suspecting it was a one-way mirror — of course, a perve like Milton would have something like that in a guest room.

"Stand back," Dewey instructed while aiming his gun. "Take cover."

All of them ducked and shielded their eyes as Dewey shot at the top of each mirror, shattering them one by one. And when he broke the last one, Jennifer's blood-covered body fell through, unmoving and dead, causing Gale to scream at the sight.

"Run!" Sophia shouted while grabbing ahold of Randy.

The others didn't need to be told twice as they ran down to the main floor, not wanting to wait for the killer to come after them again. Though Tyson was likely dead, they still called out for him to make sure.

"I'm gonna check down here," Dewey told them, nodding to a small staircase. "You call for help."

Not wanting to part from him, Sophia followed after him. Meanwhile, Gale pulled out her phone while Randy continued to call for the missing actor.

"Any sign of him?" they heard Dewey call.

"No," Randy replied, looking around a corner.

"Us neither," Sophia said, coming into his line of sight. "We're gonna check out front."

Randy nodded as Sophia and Dewey ran off. He then opened his mouth to call for Tyson again, only to hear muffled screaming behind him. He spun and saw that Ghostface had come up behind Gale, covering her mouth with his gloved hand. The killer's knife was in the air, ready to stab her in the chest, but Randy moved quicker.

He tackled both Gale and the killer, knocking them into the door leading down to the basement. It couldn't hold their weight, so they all fell inside and tumbled down the stairs roughly, landing on the concrete floor at the bottom. Gale bumped into a guillotine from some movie, and the very real blade fell, cutting off the head of some dummy, startling her.

Randy was the first to recover, sitting back on his hands and eyeing the Ghostface killer with wide eyes, who was laying on the bottom step and not moving.

"Do you think he's faking?" he whispered, remembering what Sidney told him about Mickey pretending to be knocked out in the cop car to let them escape and draw it out.

While those two were too scared to move, upstairs, Dewey and Sophia were coming across Tyson's body. Not only had he been stabbed, but he was thrown from a second-story window, his blood spilling onto the concrete and staining it. Sophia shut her eyes and looked away.

"Shit," Dewey muttered, taking several steps back. "Soph, stay out here. I'm getting them and we're leaving. Gale! Randy! Gale!"

Sophia didn't need to be told twice to stay put. Well, she didn't exactly stay put. She hid in a thick set of bushes, blending in easily, thankful that Milton cared about having a lot of built-up foliage.

Dewey quickly tore through the house, not wanting to waste any more time there. Down in the basement, Gale and Randy could hear him yelling. But before they could make a break for the stairs, the killer swiped blindly at the air before collapsing again, telling them that he was close to waking. They couldn't risk getting closer.

The next best thing was to call him. When his phone rang, Dewey answered it instantly, not even checking caller ID since he didn't trust it anymore. "Who is this?"

"Dewey, it's me," Gale whispered.

"Gale, where are you?"

"Randy and I are in the basement. We're trapped."

"Where?"

"There's a door in the kitchen," she told him. "Hurry."

Dewey quickly found the door in question and moved to open it but paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Wait. How do I know this is you, Gale, and not the killer?"

"Dewey, open the fucking door!" she snapped. "It's me."

"I mean, that's something the killer would probably say," Randy whispered, unable to help himself.

"Just come on!" Gale ordered. "He's out cold at the bottom of the stairs."

But then the Ghostface killer woke up and ran at Gale and Randy. Hearing their screams, Dewey quickly threw the door open, spotting him. "Hey!" he shouted, raising his gun. He shot repeatedly, but only a clicking sound followed, as he used all his bullets to break the mirrors.

Ghostface stared at him and then the knife in his hand before lobbing it at him. The knife spun around and around before the heavy handle hit Dewey right in the forehead, knocking him out and causing him to tumble down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom at the killer's feet.

Gale rushed to check on him, trying to wake him up pointlessly. "Dewey. Dewey."

The killer stood above them, having already grabbed the fallen knife. His masked face turned to look at Randy, who let out a nervous chuckle. "You, uh, you wouldn't happen to not want to hurt me since I'm not involved with that shit movie, right?"

☆︎

Sophia was shaking, and not from the cold. She could see as Ghostface tied Randy, Dewey, and Gale up in the living room, complete with duct tape to silence them. Any time one of them tried to get free or overpower him, the killer would stab one of the other two. It seemed Gale's leg was bleeding, Dewey's chest was in agony, and Randy was stabbed in his shoulder, right over his old gunshot wound from Billy — it hurt like a fucking bitch.

Knowing her phone was stupidly locked up in Dewey's car, Sophia moved as quietly as she could toward Tyson's body. She could see the cell phone that was half hanging out of his jacket pocket. Why the dumbass hadn't used it earlier, she had no clue. She just hoped the fall didn't break it.

Without taking her eyes off the killer inside, she swiped the phone and began backing away, keeping against the brick wall so that she wasn't illuminated by the pool lights.

With shaking hands, she dialed the last person she thought she'd be calling — but Tyson had the number saved because of everything going on. And she was just relieved the killer inside wasn't reaching for a phone to answer.

"Hello?"

"Mark," Sophia whispered, continuing to back away. "Milton's house. He's here. Almost everyone's dead. I do - I don't know where Indy is. But he's here."

"Slow down, slow down," the detective said. Already, he was running off the set to get back to his car. "Indy, your brother, they're all safe at the station. I'm on the way. Are you stuck in the house?"

She shook her head and slipped around the corner so that she was fully out of sight. "I'm outside. He has Dewey, Gale, and Randy tied up. I don't think I can free them."

"Don't try," he ordered. "Sophia, listen to me. Run to the road. Get as far as you can. There's a reason your brother has never gotten hurt, and that's because he's never there. So just get away."

Sophia swallowed thickly and clenched her eyes shut, mustering all the courage she could to leave behind Dewey and Randy. "Oka - okay. I'm going."

"Stay on the phone, okay? I'm on my way."

"Yeah," she breathed out, taking her first shaky step. "Okay, I'm walk—"

To Mark, it sounded like Sophia dropped the phone and was harshly thrown. It sounded like that because it was exactly what happened.

Just as Sophia checked around the corner once more, she came face to face with a Ghostface mask. She dropped the phone and yelled, but couldn't get away before strong arms grabbed her and threw her harshly onto the concrete. Sophia tried to crawl to her feet, but a heavy boot pushed down on her back, keeping her in place.

With all her strength, she wiggled and writhed until she could throw him off balance. But because she was too focused on standing and running, she didn't look where she was running.

Suddenly, she was soaking wet, chlorinated water surrounded her as she fell into the pool. It caused her to be disoriented as she tried to swim back up to the top. However just as her head broke the surface, someone was forcing her head back down.

While holding her breath, she reached up to claw and hit the killer, beating on his arms as her lungs burned. Before she knew it, her body was being hauled out of the water, but she wasn't safe. Knowing that she couldn't stop fighting, she continued to punch and kick while coughing up water over herself.

As she continued to thrash around, a sense of deja vu washed over her when she managed to get her hand caught on the fabric of the mask, yanking it off to reveal another familiar face — it was always a familiar face. But before she could process him being there, he grabbed her head and slammed it onto the concrete, making her vision go in and out from the pain.

There wasn't a knife in his hand — he'd dropped it while trying to stop her from getting away. So, he did the next best thing and dragged her back to the pool.

"I hope she fucking kills y—"

Sophia's slurred words were cut off by her head being forced underwater, her body aching too much to fight back again. Tears welled in her eyes, only to be carried away by the water as her lungs burned, fighting off every instinct in her body to breathe.

She wasn't sure what was worse — being stabbed to death or drowned to death. Did Isaiah have time to be as scared as she was right now? The coroner said his lungs filled with blood, so in a way, he was drowned too.

So, when she couldn't fight anymore, when she couldn't hold her breath and her brain forced her to breathe, water rushing into her lungs and stifling what little air she had left, all she could picture was Isaiah feeling the exact same thing, choking and gagging for air that he couldn't find again.

Sophia always wondered why she wasn't meant to die alongside Tatum Riley. Now she knew the universe was just dragging her along so that she could die after her best friend instead.