The next morning, nothing seemed to have changed as the people of the town of Smile had yet to learn of the events that conspired the previous night. Everything remained on track as it normally would, until someone would make the discovery and reveal the horrifying truth.

The day was now Monday, the beginning of a new school week. All students who attended Smile Collegiate Institute prepared for what they believed would be a typical day. The halls of the high school flooded in with students, each and every one going to their lockers, picking up their textbooks and class supplies, and then heading to their designated classes.  

"Ready for the test today?"

"As ready as i'll ever be."

"I stayed up so late to study, i'm so tired..."

"Didn't need to study. Subject's a breeze for me." Some students said as they gathered into their homeroom class, with the name "Marie Henderson," labeled on the door. The class of 16 filled up, and all the students waited for their teacher to arrive. They waited.... and waited.....and waited some more, but still their teacher did not show. 

"This is so weird, she's never late." Emily Vanders, the student who sat at the front of the first row said to the girl behind her. 

"I know, right? Think she got drunk last night? Binged one too many shows?" Connie Stevens suggested as the whole class began to ponder on why their teacher was late, especially on a day of a test. 

"Well, if she's not here, it's better for me. No teacher, no test." Margo Thatcher said, kicking her feet up onto her desk to relax. 

"Actually, we'll probably still have the test. They're probably just setting us up with a substitute or something like that." Tony Gorman said to her as she just rolled her eyes at him. 

"This better not make me late for practice. We've got a big game to prepare for." Chris Tellman said as he threw a crumpled up piece of paper across the room into a trash can. 

"Nice shot, man." Derek Adens , Chris' best friend said as the two fist bumped. 

"Chris, are we still good for our date tonight? I have to get my nails done, I hope that doesn't interfere with anything." Stacy Mellings said as she was applying lipstick to herself. 

Everyone, for the most part, had the same thoughts of where their homeroom teacher could be. However, with the appearance of their principal coming into the class, they'd hopefully get some answers. 

"Good, everyone's here. Officers, you can come inside." The principal said as three police officers came into the room as well. Officer Terry Woods, Officer Bruce Winters, and Chief of police, Susan Vanders. 

"Wait, mom? What's going on here?" Emily asked her mother as the chief stepped up to the front of the class. 

"That's what i'm here to talk about. And, i'm sure all of you are wondering the same thing. So, let's get right into it then." Chief Vanders said as a student, Bradley Yin, raised his hand. 

"Does this have anything to do with Ms. Henderson?" He asked as the cops quickly gave glances at one another before the chief cleared her throat again. 

"As a matter of fact, it does. Marie Henderson.... wow, this is really hard to say. But, as of last night..... your teacher, Marie Henderson, was murdered along with her husband, Mark." Chief Vanders stated as the whole class erupted into panic and questions. 

"Wait, she was killed!? How did it happen!? Do you know who their killer is!?" Several students asked as officer Winters silenced everyone by speaking over them, allowing the chief to speak once more. 

"We are currently not aware of who has done this, but it's clear they've done this before. They left no way for us to figure out who it is. No fingerprints, no cameras around, no eyewitnesses, hell, based on the shor-prints we found and the pressure applied to them, this person was likely wearing shoes too small for their feet to hide their actual foot size." She explained to the class. 

"So you're saying that this was a professional who did this? Someone who's probably done this before?" Monica Rancom asked as officer Woods now stepped forward. 

"Precisely. This person was able to easily hide crucial evidence that could giveaway who they are. Which obviously means we're nowhere near finding this unsub just yet. What we can determine about them though is potentially who their next targets may be. Based on who they targeted, that being Marie and her husband, and then figuring Marie was their prime target since her death seemed more personal, we can determine either her family or her class here at the school are the next potential targets, as they are the only certain links towards her." Officer Woods explained in great detail as the class grew into even more panic. 

"So you're saying some of us are going to get killed by this guy as well!? Do you know who the next target could be!?" Mark Brody asked but the cops just shook their heads. 

"There's too many possibilities, it's almost impossible to know who could be next. But we don't plan on losing anyone else. Until we catch this criminal, all students at the high school will work remotely from home. The less you leaves your homes, the safer all of you will be. We're also issuing a curfew of 8PM, just so we can make sure none of you are wandering around at night. If you do need to leave your homes, do so in numbers. If you're home alone, you may come to the station or one of us can come to your homes to provide protection, understand?" Chief Vanders explained as the whole class gave her nods. 

"So, does this mean class is cancelled then?" Chris asked as the principal just rolled his eyes and sighed. 

"Yes, Mr. Tellman, it does. Your scheduled test has been moved to next week. All of you may head home, and do inform your families of what is going on. Our town's police force is small, so they can't look after everyone at once. Your families are your greatest protection, so, if they had any plans of leaving you to go out of town recently, i'd suggest you have them change them. Now, if there's anymore questions, you may speak to me or the officers here. But, if there's nothing else, then class is dismissed. Your first online class begins tomorrow morning." The principal told them all as he then stormed out of the class, with the cops following him to speak to other classes that could possibly be targeted. All the students of Mrs. Henderson's class all gathered up their school supplies and began to leave as well, the feeling of worry clouding around them all as each and every one of them wondered "Am I going to be next?"

"Well.... that's not quite how I thought the morning was going to go." Mark said as he and Emily went to their lockers which sat next to each other. They unlocked them and placed their unnecessary supplies back into them. 

"My mom seems real concerned about all this. I mean, I guess you would be considering the town's never had this happen before. Hopefully they can find this guy before he kills anymore people. Otherwise, the whole town's just gonna panic even more once the word's out." Emily replied as someone then suddenly shut her locker door unannounced and leaned next to her. 

"All this murder stuff's got everyone on their toes, lookin' behind their backs. What do ya say, Em? Let a strong guy like me take care of you instead of this loser." Colson Parker, another student of the same class suggested as he then rubbed some of his fingers through her hair. Emily slapped his hand away in disgust as she took a step back from him. 

"As if anyone would let you do anything for them. We're through, Colson. Why are you even here anyway, I thought you were suspended?" Emily asked him. 

"Ended today. Got the word from the principal I could come back to class. Guess I came back to some pretty interesting news though. All this talk about a killer in our town, it's spooky, ain't it?" Colson said in a joking manner as Emily and Mark just rolled their eyes. 

"Just shut up, Colson. Maybe you should go back to being suspended, i'm sure people would appreciate you a lot more if you did." Mark told him as Colson just chuckled some more. 

"Aw, come on. What I didn't wasn't all that bad-" He said as Emily cut in. 

"You got me drunk and tried to have sex with me without my consent!! Seriously, what the fuck is your problem!? Just leave, already! We're done! I've got someone else now! Someone that won't do those sort of things to me." Emily said as she took hold of Mark's right hand. They then both turned their backs to Colson and walked away.

"God that guy's a creep." Mark said as Emily agreed with him. 

"I wish he was put in jail instead of just being suspended. Actually, you know what? There's the person that I do hope gets killed by this person. Nobody would mind that. Well, him and maybe Stacy. Bitch has such a big mouth." Emily said as the two of them headed out the exit, meeting up with two more friends from their class, twins Jen and Jonesy Mckenzie. 

"It's like something out of a horror movie, don't ya think? Someone gets murdered, whole town goes on high alert, more bodies rack up. This is like Scream, or even My Bloody Valentine." Jonesy suggested as his sister gave him a light punch on the arm. 

"Stop that, you're freaking me out. No one wants this whole thing to turn out like that." Jen replied. 

"No, i'm serious! Unless you're suggesting this is something supernatural like out of Paranormal Activity. Maybe ghosts do exist, ooooooo!!!" Jonesy said in a stupid spooky voice as his sister hit him again. 

"Couldn't be with what the police found at the scene. And I talked with officer Woods before we left, he told me what happened to Mrs. Henderson and her husband. He got his freakin' head chopped off, and Mrs. Henderson was stuffed inside her fridge with a bunch of stab wounds and suffocated. He also said the killer left slash marks on her face that made it look like she was smiling. That's just plain sick and wrong." Jen explained as they rounded a corner to another street. They walked past stores, restaurants, even the town's hockey arena, not stopping their conversation for even a second. It was the talk of the town after all. 

"But why would someone do this? What's the purpose of it? Like, is it revenge or something?" Emily suggested as Jonesy pointed at her and gave a smile. 

"Ah, that's the big question! The motive. Figure that out, then the cops can narrow down their search." He said as Mark appeared to be deep in thought. 

"But from what the police told us, it's hard to say what the motive might be. Yeah, it could be revenge. It could be a random killing for all we know. But Jen, what you said made me curious. This person left slash marks on Mrs. Henderson's face, right?" He asked as Jen gave him a nod. "So what does that tell us then? That could be this killer's trademark. They want their presence to be known, they want the town in fear. It's a case of narcissism. There's no doubt they'll strike again after that."

"But the other question is who's going to be next? If someone else gets killed, the cops could figure out a pattern and then find this guy." Emily questioned as everyone thought the same thing. 

"Well, it's like the officers said, it's most likely that someone from Mrs. Henderson's family, or a student from her class will be next. I'll bet me and my sis here are safe, our family's all together for the next week." Jen said. 

"Yeah, same here. My family doesn't go anywhere, so i'm feeling pretty good. I'm sure you are too, Em. I mean, your mom's the chief of police around here, after all." Mark said as Emily just sighed and shook her head. 

"Actually, you're wrong. It's the fact that she is the chief that makes me worry. She's going to be so busy searching for this crook all over town that she won't be home. It'll be just me alone at home being a sitting duck for anyone." She explained to the rest. 

"Well, you could always convince your mom to let you stay over at my place. Maybe that'd put both of you at ease during this." Mark suggested as Emily thought about it for a sec. 

"Maybe..... if she comes home at all today, i'll ask her, I guess." Emily said as they came to her house. "Well, hopefully this doesn't last too long. I'll see you guys online later." 

"Yeah, see ya around! And stay safe!" Jonesy shouted as her three friends continued their walk down the street they were on. Emily then entered her home and unpacked her things, trying to adjust to everything that was happening in her small hometown. 

"Relax, it's fine.... there's like 5000 people in this town, the odds of it being you are like..... well, I guess 1 in 5000." Emily said to herself as she was taking in some deep breaths and locking all the doors and windows for her own safety.

-Later That Evening-

As the sun had set over the town of Smile, all of its residents were now aware of their current and troubling situation. The whole town was on high alert, and the small but seemingly well prepared police force were patrolling the streets. The curfew was issued and all retired to their homes, except for a small few. Back at the school, Principal Andrews was just finishing up some paperwork before heading home for the night. 

"This bastard.... He killed one of our best teachers. If the cops find him, I hope they string him up and let everyone take a crack at him." Andrews thought to himself as he'd just completed his last bit of paperwork. And, after putting it all away in a cabinet, he began to gather his things to go home. 

*SMASH* The sound of glass shattering came from outside his door. 

"Damn kids, I told them to go home." Andrews said as he marched over to the door and then opened it to look out into the hall. A bunch of glass was laying all over the floor in front of his door. He turned his head left, seeing no one, and then looked right to just see someone quickly duck down into another hallway. "Hey! Hey, get back here! Come here, now!"

No one returned, so Andrews was forced to go after them. He rounded the corner an went down the dimly lit hallway, just barely seeing the figure of a person go down yet another hallway.

"Oh, for christ's sake. I swear to god, if that's you, Jerry, i'm gonna kill you." Andrews said as he went all the way down the hallway and turned down the one he saw the person go into. He then saw the person go into a supply closet and figured now's the time he'd figure out who the hell's playing this dumb chasing game. Andrew's walked over to the now closed closet door and knocked on it a few times. 

"Whoever's in there, come on out. It's principal Andrews, get out here, right now." He spoke but got no response from anyone. He then rolled his eyes as he grabbed the door knob and opened it up. However, once he swung the door open, some supplies that had been leaning against it fell over onto him, making Andrews fall down to the ground. 

"Oh, hey, sorry there, Mr. Principal." Jerry, the school's old janitor said as he stepped out of the closet to help Andrews back onto his feet. 

"God damn it, Jerry. Why the hell didn't you answer me before when I was shouting?" Andrews asked as Jerry just pointed to his ears. 

"Hearing aids are fading on me. Couldn't hear ya. I dropped some glass by your door by accident, and I forgot my dust pan to pick it up. Came here to get it." Jerry explained as he put his dust pan onto his cart and then picked up all the supplies that had fallen and put them back into the closet before closing it. 

"Well, i'm sorry for shouting. Thought you were a student breaking curfew. Anyways, i'm off for the night. I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure to lock up when you're done in here." Andrews said as he left Jerry to his work. He returned to his office, grabbed his winter coat and keys, and then locked up his office before exiting the school. "Damn, it sure is cold out tonight."

Andrews made his way to his car, unlocking it using his keys before getting inside and turning it on. He turned his heater all the way up and turned on the radio, only to hear what was expected, and that was about the murders the previous night.

"I hope the kids understood the warning well. And I hope our police force can catch this person before he hits again. Maybe the town'll be able to rest easy then." Andrews said as he turned on his headlights before taking off. He came out of his parking spot and started driving out of the lot for the main road. But on his way, he could see another figure of a person waving to him next to the side of the school. He decided to go check it out, but instant regret took over when he witnessed the person lift a large cinderblock over their head and toss it at his car.

"What the fu-" Is all Andrews could shout as his windshield was smashed in, hitting him enough where he lost control of his car and swerved at high speed right into the corner of one of the sections of the school. Andrews remained conscious, but his side of the car was smashed in, and one of his legs had been pinned by the crumpled up car. He let out a scream of pain as blood was gushing out of several parts of his body, his head, his arms, nearly everywhere. The airbag system must've been damaged in the crash as they did not deploy either. All that appeared to be working was the radio, as AC/DC's Thunderstruck began playing. Andrews could still see the person standing where they had thrown the cinderblock, and he watched as they slowly approached his car, coming to a stop at the passenger side door. They opened it up and sat down in the car with Andrews who was frantically trying to pry his leg free from the wreckage.

"Hello, Mr. Andrews." The person said with their modded voice changing from high to low, and visible splats of blood on the smiley face mask they were wearing.

"Get the fuck away from me!!" Andrews shouted in retaliation as he tried to punch the killer. But his punch was caught mid-swing and his arm was twisted. The killer kept pulling and turning it until a loud *SNAP!* could be heard within the car. Andrews wailed in pain as his right arm went limp. 

"No.... that wasn't nice, Mr. Andrews.... why don't we just listen to some tunes...?" The killer said as he cranked up the radio to listen to the song. They began bobbing their head to the beat, all while Andrews kept on freaking out and trying to get himself free.

"Who the fuck are you, ya bastard!?" Andrews asked as he whipped his left arm around to try and grab the killers mask. But the moment his hand touched it, the killer pulled out a gun and held it right to the principals head. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sir...." The creepy modded voice spoke as Andrews slowly and calmly pulled his hand away. "That's better.... and this was nice....." The killer said as the song came to an end, and they put their gun away. They then got out of the car and went around to the back up it, pulling out something else from one of the many pouches on their combat vest; a lighter.

Andrews hadn't realized it because of his own screaming, but his car was leaking gasoline ever since it had crashed. And, without hesitation, the killer lit up their lighter and dropped it into a puddle of gas, igniting it as it spread into the car's gas line. The killer then turned and walked away, all while Andrews and his car erupted into a huge explosion. The killer let out a small chuckle and then began to hum to themself as sirens could be heard in the distance. But by the time the cops would show up, they'd be far too late to catch the killer as they disappeared into the night once more.