Having walked up to the front door, Maxis placed her hand on the knob and slowly turned it, opening the door and entering the house. Upon setting foot inside the house, Maxis was greeted by the red headed Shannon, who had been sitting on the couch.

"Work kept you all night?" Shannon asked.

Maxis nodded, "I'm not even done, either." She stated, "in fact, my work is why I'm here right now."

"Oh?" Shannon questioned, having raised a brow, "is there something wrong?"

Maxis nodded as she made her way to the couch, so that way she could tell Shannon the news. Shannon could tell that it was something serious, due to how Maxis looked and how she walked over.

"Late last night, your cousin Brian and his friend, Brock, were attacked in the parking garage of Blackwood Hotel." Maxis said, watching as Shannon's eyes widened, "Brock was, sadly, killed. Brian, however, survived and is currently being held at the hospital."

Shannon sat there in silence for a few moments before finally saying something, "do they know who did it?"

Maxis shook her head, "not really." She said while watching Shannon frown, "however, I do have a sneaking suspicion that it's someone looking to replicate the Ghostface attacks from a couple years ago."

Shannon's eyes widened once again, "what?!" She asked, being horrified to hear that Ghostface could be back.

Maxis nodded, "while there's no solid proof that that's what's happening, it's pretty likely in my mind." She said, pausing for a second and then continuing, "With how close together all of the recent deaths and attacks have been, and also given the fact that at least one of us knew each victim." She explained.

Shannon nodded as she sat there in silence. She had been horrified and scared that her cousin was attack and that his friend was murdered. And now, she was even more scared at the fact that Ghostface could possibly be back in their lives and have been responsible for all of the recent attacks.

The two females would sit there in silence, although Maxis would also try to silently comfort the red headed female, because she understood how hard it was to hear that Brock and Brian had been attacked.

After taking the time to make sure Shannon was alright, Maxis looked at her phone and sighed, "I think I should be getting back to work." She said, beginning to get up from the couch.

Quickly taking a sip of her tea, Shannon stopped Maxis, "wait Maxis... There's something that i have to tell you..."

Maxis turned back around and sat back down on the couch. She had a brow raised as she was intrigued by what the red head had to say.

Shannon took a deep breath, "I'm... I'm pregnant, Maxis..." She said, a smile coming over her face.

Maxis' eyes widened as she sat there. It was now her turn to be speechless from the news. However, her speechlessness didn't last for too long.

"I'm going to be an aunt?" Maxis asked in disbelief, a smile finally forming on her face as she realized that Shannon was telling her the truth.

After a few moments of letting the news sink in, Shannon and Maxis both got up and engulfed each other in a hug. Even though there was still a murderer on the loose, Shannon's news helped lighten the mood.

***

It had been a couple of hours since Maxis went back to work, leaving Shannon alone in the house. At the current moment, the red head was sitting on the couch, again. She had a pen and notepad in her hand. On that notepad was a list of ideas on how she could tell Kyle that she was pregnant with his child.

As Shannon got lost in her thoughts and ideas, she heard the house landline phone ringing. She got up and went over to the closest phone and picked it up, answering it without even thinking about it or looking at that Caller ID.

"Hello?" Shannon asked.

"Hello Shannon~" A familiar, robotic sounding voice spoke.

Shannon was immediately snapped out of her thoughts and her heart began racing in fear. She knew who that voice belonged to, even if she had never gotten a call from them before.

"Hello... Ghostface..." Shannon said, now scanning the entrances to the living room, just in case they were trying to  sneak up on her.

"Did you miss me, Shannon~?" Ghostface asked.

"Oh yeah. Definitely." Shannon responded, sarcastically, getting ready to hang up.

Ghostface knew what she was planning on doing and had a plan to stop her, "I wouldn't hang up~ Especially if you don't want anything to happen to you or your baby~"

Shannon's eyes widened, "H... How did you know?" She asked, stuttering slightly. The only person she had told about her pregnancy was Maxis.

Ghostface chuckled, "I have my ways of finding out~ It's a shame that I knew about it before Kyle~" They chuckled again, "it won't matter though, especially not when I get done slicing you and him up~"

Shannon clenched her fist, "fuck you." She growled through gritted teeth, "and just an fyi, the other times someone tried this, it didn't end well for the jackasses behind the mask."

Ghostface chuckled, "maybe not for them, but it'll be different with me~"

As Shannon continued to talk to and be taunted by Ghostface on the phone, she was also texting Maxis and trying to alert her to what was happening. She just hoped that Maxis would see the texts in time.

***

Meanwhile, Maxis and John were currently outside the Five Guys Burger restaurant because they had just been out to lunch and were currently getting ready to head back to the station. At least, that was until. Maxis looked at her phone and furrowed her brows as she read the text messages she had received.

John noticed her expression and asked, "Is everything alright, Maxis?"

Maxis would reply to him by nodding, however her eyes would soon widen as she read the part of the text where Shannon mentioned that Ghostface called her and was probably outside the house.

"Ghostface is at Shannon's house, John." Maxis said, looking over towards John, the look of fear starting to take over her face.

John's eyes widened as both he and maxis raced to their cars, "You go first, I'll call for backup!" He said, watching as Maxis nodded and got into her car, before quickly firing it up and speeding out of the restaurant's parking lot.

***

After a rushed drive over to Shannon's house, Maxis parked her car and immediately rushed towards the front door, having seen that it was wide open. Upon reaching the door, Maxis pulled her pistol out and poked her head inside, trying to see anything she could.

In another room of the house, Maxis heard a scream, which had come from Shannon. Running towards that room, Maxis saw Ghostface, who had their knife raised in the air and was ready to stab Shannon, for what appeared to be the fifth or sixth time.

"HEY FUCKFACE!" Maxis shouted and immediately began firing her gun.

Ghostface managed to quickly find an escape, which involved them diving out of one of the room's windows. Maxis rushed over to the window, as she watched the masked figure disappear into the nearby woods.

There was a brief moment of hesitation from Maxis as she debated on chasing after them, however she ultimately decided that tending to Shannon's wounds was more important, and that's exactly what Maxis did until John arrived with backup and the paramedics.

***

It had been an hour since Maxis saved Shannon, and she was currently sitting inside the hospital waiting room, waiting for her brother, Kyle, to show up. It didn't take much longer, as she saw him rushing into the hospital.

"How is she?!" Kyle asked, his voice sounding as panicked as it could.

"I don't know, she's still in surgery to stop the internal bleeding from the stab wounds." Maxis frowned, having wished she could've given him better news.

"Oh my god..." Kyle muttered as he sat down in one of the chairs, resting his head in his hands.

Maxis took a seat next to her brother and tried to comfort him the best that she could, "I think she'll pull through. Shannon's one tough girl."

The two siblings continued to sit in the waiting room for another thirty minutes or so, until they were greeted by one of the doctors.

"Both here for Cipher?" They asked, watching them both nod with wide, worry filled eyes, "She's stable, for now." They stated, "we were able to stop the bleeding and thankfully no harm was done to the baby." They added before walking away, due to being called elsewhere.

Kyle sat back in his chair, letting out a very small sigh of relief at the fact that Shannon was stable, however he soon sat back up, "did he say baby?" He asked, turning towards his sister.

Maxis sighed and nodded, "this definitely is not how Shannon, or I, wanted you to find out." She said, "but yes, Shannon is pregnant."

"Oh my god..." Kyle mumbled again, sitting there in shock, "I... I think I need some fresh air." He said, beginning to become overwhelmed by all of the news he had received within the past hour.

Kyle and Maxis would head outside, so that way the two of them could get the fresh air and to clear their minds. As they stood outside, Maxis looked around at the other people walking.

"Hey... Isn't that Jaren, from your work?" She asked.

Kyle looked over to where she was pointing, seeing a male coming over towards them. He was wearing 3-D style sunglasses and a propeller style hat.

"Yeah it is..." Kyle said, furrowing his brows a bit, "What's he doing here?" He asked, before continuing, "I mean, I know I texted him about what happened, but I didn't think he'd come here, especially since he wasn't at work today..." He said, while Maxis raised a brow and took mental note of that last part.

The man, named Jaren, approached the other two, his face filled with concern, "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, looking at Kyle.

"Yeah..." Kyle said, "why are you here, Jaren?" He asked.

"Well, I got your text, I wanted to check in on you..." Jaren responded, being slightly confused by his question.

"Yeah, but why did you come here when you weren't at work..." Kyle asked.

"What?" Jaren asked, now being even more confused.

"I was at work when Shannon was attacked, you weren't..." Kyle said, his face filled with a hint of fear as his mind began to race with theories.

"Are you saying that I had something to do with this?" Jaren asked, being shocked by the sudden accusation.

"I think you should leave..." Maxis stated, wanting to prevent this from turning ugly.

Letting out a scoff, Jaren shrugged, "Whatever. If there's anyone you should be suspicious of, it's your sister, man. Everyone who comes around her, dies sooner or later." He said before beginning to walk away.

"You son of a bitch!" Kyle growled, having gotten ready to throw down right there, until he was stopped by Maxis.

"Easy there, Rocky Balboa." Maxis mumbled to her brother, "we're in a public place and I'm still a cop."

Kyle glared as he watched his co-worker leave before heading back into the hospital and the waiting room with his sister, where they'd spend the rest of the day, waiting for any more updates on Shannon.

~~~

Well damn what a way to end this chapter! We hope you enjoy this chapter and see you in the next one! :3