BRUTAL !

CHAPTER TWO:
"Whatever You Do, Don't Fall Asleep."

"SHIT!" KITTY OPENED her eyes to find all the lights turned on, while the tv had turned itself off.

Wes was lying next to her, his body hidden under the blanket, as he pressed his face into Kitty's pillow. She was lying half on top of him, which he didn't even seem to mind as he had not even stirred in his sleep.

"Wes", Kitty muttered softly, moving her boyfriend's body to gently wake him up. "We fell asleep. We're gonna miss school."

Wes was slowly waking up when Kitty let go of him and started searching for her phone in the pile of blankets that was still resting on the bed.

Wes sat up rubbing his face, just as Kitty unlocked her phone.

"I have like a million missed calls from Amber" she mumbled confused, as she scrolled through the list. They had been coming in since yesterday evening until about an hour ago.

Wes unlocked his phone too, commenting about the same number of missed calls.

Kitty tapped on Amber's photo to call her friend back. While the call was going out, she noticed Wes texting his Mom before he stood up and put on his jeans.

"Oh my god, Kitty, finally!" Amber's voice was laced with panic. Kitty's stomach dropped.

"Amber? What happened? Are you okay?"

"It's not me" Amber choked out. "It's Tara. She—she was attacked last night" she muttered, her voice dropping in discomfort.

Kitty's eyes widened. She clutched the phone tighter, her other hand holding onto Wes' biceps for the hope of comfort. She glanced over at her boyfriend, who was now fully awake, concern darkening his face. "What? Slow down, please. What do you mean she was attacked?"

"Some fucker broke into her house last night and tried to kill her is what I mean"

"Shit!" Kitty shook her head, tears piling in her eyes. "Why was she alone? I thought you were supposed to come over"

"I thought you were supposed to come over, Kitty"

Kitty's heart sank even further at Amber's words. She looked at Wes, who looked just as pain-stricken at Ambers accusation.

"Where is she now? Will she be okay? Amber please—"

"She's in the hospital, probably still undergoing surgery. I gave them my number. Her mom's out of town. The doctor said she'll be fine."

"No, yeah I know." Kitty nodded. "Shit, I'm glad she's somewhat alright. When can I see her?"

"Tara said she would call as soon as she was finished with surgery, made take a couple of hours for her to wake up after though"

"Okay, yeah," Kitty mumbled. Wes gripped her hand in comfort.

"Let's just meet at school and talk there, yeah?" Amber suggested. "It's— It's not your fault, Kit, okay? If you'd been there you both would be in the hospital right now, it would be to no use"

"Thank you, Amber." It felt like a rock was lifted from her heart through Amber's words. Even though she couldn't directly admit that Amber's confirmation meant a lot.

As soon as she had handed the call, Wes looked at her with a questioning gaze. "She's in surgery, but she's gonna be alright" Kitty assured as both Wes and her visibly relaxed.

"We have to call Sam"

"Yeah," Kitty nodded. "I know." She took a look at the time on her phone. "Come on, my mom's already at work. We'll drive by your house to get your things and after school, we will call her"

"Okay" Wes agreed before he followed his girlfriend outside.

🔪🔪🔪

"THAT WAS SAM," Wes said as soon as he had ended the call and pocketed his phone.

"She's coming?" Amber asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Wes nodded, his eyes wandering in Kitty's direction as if he was waiting for her to back him up.

"Amber, come on, her sister's been attacked" she shrugged. "Of course, she is coming"

Amber rolled her eyes. "As if she was ever interested in Tara before. Watch everything get worse."

Wes and Kitty sighed simultaneously. Before they could argue, Chad and Liv approached, quickly interrupting the previous conversation.

"..Listen, all I'm saying is, with everything going on right now, I think it's time we take our relationship to the next, most intimate level."

Everyone's eyes turned to Liv, confusion evident.

"He wants me to accept his Find MyFriends request."

"It's the safest move with a would-be killer on the loose! I know where you are, you know where I am" Chad shrugged.

"Well, I don't think that's such a good idea, honestly," Kitty remarked, meeting Wes' eyes. Just on the drive here, they both had discussed the potential danger of an app tracking your location at all times and how easily it could be hacked.

Liv ignored Kitty's words as she rolled her eyes. "Aww, You can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend"

"Yeah," Chad agreed. And you can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend." He pointed a finger to his chest.

"Ugh," Amber said jokingly. "Is this because you two aren't having sex yet?"

"You actually bring up a very good point." Chad nodded. "Not that I want to sound like a stereotypical jock trying to get into his girlfriend's pants.."

"Great" Liv smiled sarcastically, swinging an arm around her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Don't do it, Liv, there's a psycho out there," Wes said, a serious tone in his voice. Kitty and him were probably the only ones who really took that whole thing seriously. "Make yourself harder to find. Delete social media, tape over your phone camera, disable GPS"

"Yes. Thank you, Edward Snowden." Chad grinned.

Wes met his friend with a tight-lipped smile, not taking any humour in the situation.

"By the way, your mom just asked me if I was involved in Tara's attempted murder, so that was fun." Chad shrugged, "Though she should be more worried about you, huh?" his eyes landed on Kitty, who had drawn irregular shapes in her notebook and was now looking up as she registered everyone looking at her.

"What?" she asked, her eyes jumping between her friends.

Wes' arm automatically wrapped around his girlfriend's waist protectively, as he looked at Chad with a disapproving look and shook his head.

"Chad, come on" Amber sighed, not liking the scrutiny he was giving their friend.

"Sorry," Chad excused, not sure what had gotten into him. Kitty and him normally always got along great.

"I'm sure she's asking everybody." Wes quickly added before the mood could change further. "I mean Ghostface is back" his gaze locked on Kitty, who looked up at the name.

"You don't know that," she said, shaking her head.

"Kitty," Wes sighed.

"No she's right," Mindy interrupted. "The press still isn't saying Ghostface."

"My Mom doesn't want to cause a panic," Wes exclaimed with a shrug.

"It'll get out by the second or third killing."

"Jesus, Mindy, there wasn't a first killing. Tara's alive," Amber exclaimed with shock evident on her face.

"Hm," Mindy smiled, enjoying all of this a bit too much. "That means she could still die"

"What the fuck?!" Amber exclaimed with disbelief.

"Or the killer could come back for her," Mindy continued.

"Fuck! Mindy, come on." Chad shook his head.

"They always come back to finish the job," Kitty mumbled loud enough for her friends to hear. All eyes turned to her at the ominous words. "If it's him—"

Wes quickly interrupted her, before she could fall back into a never-ending cycle of worry, taking her hand in his. "—I'm just telling you, arm up, okay? Pepper spray, check. Taser, check—"

"—Girlfriend repellent, check" Amber added jokingly.

Involuntarily, Wes looked at Kitty, who smiled at him. "You could never repel me."

"Eww," Mindy muttered, with a roll of her eyes, while she was forced to watch Kitty press a kiss to Wes' cheek.

Liv straightened up when she saw a familiar-looking car park in the school parking lot. "Oh, shit. Is that... Vince?" She watched carefully as the boy leaned against the hood of his car. He was watching her just as attentively.

"Wait," Chad chuckled nervously, "The creep you hooked up with last summer?"

"Yeah, he worked with me, Tara, and Kitty" Liv nodded.

"And started bombarding my phone with texts and calls after you stopped answering him." Kitty added while Liv mouthed a 'sorry' to her.

"Really?" Wes leaned forward, now a lot more interested since learning about Vince harassing his girlfriend.

Kitty just shrugged, not trying to stir the conversation further.

"He's been stalking my Instagram the last couple weeks, posting the creepiest shit." Liv continued explaining.

Mindy quickly took a photo of the boy, mentally adding him to her list of suspects.

"Probably time to introduce him to Hobbs and Shaw." Chad swung his balled fists through the air, flexing his biceps.

"Maybe not the best idea to incite violence right in front of the sheriff" Liv pulled her boyfriend back by the arm.

Vince clearly noticed all eyes on him, as he grinned, spitting his gum on the grass in front of the school, before getting in his car.

"Looks like he's leaving," Liv sighed. "Thanks anyway, boys," she smiled leaning close to Chad and touching his arm.

Amber's eyes fell on the marks on the boy's upper arm. "Tara said she fought back hard. You've got bruises."

"From football practice." He leaned back on the table behind him.

"Oh sure," Amber nodded sarcastically.

Wes's phone buzzed, and he looked down to read the text. "Tara's awake. She just texted, " he announced. I'm going to the hospital. Are you guys coming?"

Everyone agreed as they went to grab their stuff.

Except Liv, who shook her head, visibly upset. "I can't, but I'll meet you guys later"

Wes and Kitty exchanged looks after her suspicious reply. Chad kissed Liv goodbye before all the friends headed for the parking lot.

🔪🔪🔪

THE HOSPITAL WAS unfamiliar as the friends walked through the long hall in search of Tara's room. The hall seemed cold, uninviting, and not like something their friend should stay at, was what Kitty thought while following after Amber.

She swung the door open to Tara's room, who immediately looked relieved upon seeing her friends.

They all took their time carefully greeting the girl. "Hey, Bubba," Kitty smiled as she softly pressed a kiss to Tara's head. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Tara smiled, shaking her head. "I'm glad you didn't come over."

"Wait," Mindy interrupted as she settled on a chair beside the spare hospital bed. "You were supposed to be over?" She raised a brow, looking at Kitty in suspicion.

"Are you suggesting he might've known that?" Chad asked.

Mindy shook her head. "No, I'm suggesting Kitty knew something."

"Stop," Tara interrupted before Kitty was able to defend herself. "Her mom was supposed to be on a date, but it was canceled and she stayed home. That's why Kitty couldn't make it, stop accusing people."

"Ok, ok," Mindy raised her hands, feigning innocence. "Sorry"

"It's alright, I know you're just trying to help." Kitty smiled, before sitting down on the spare bed next to Wes. Amber took the chair next to Tara's bed and Chad sat down on the armchair next to Mindy.

"Do you have any idea who the guy was?" Chad asked carefully.

Tara shook her head. "No. I don't even know-- I-- All I know is that he must be fucking sick. I mean, imitating that fucker? That's crazy isn't it?"

"Maybe it wasn't an imitator" Mindy mumbled under her breath.

"Come on, Mindy." Kitty shook her head. "Aren't they all imitators?"

"You really wanna have that conversation?" Mindy quirked a brow and sent a challenging gaze in Kitty's direction.

"With all that knowledge about horror movies you can't really be thinking, it's me. I'd be the obvious choice, which would make it boring."

"You're not wrong," Mindy nodded. "But then again, what if that's the plot twist? Getting us convinced you'd be the obvious choice so that you'll be the least obvious one in the end, tricking us all."

"Can't argue with that," Kitty softly laughed, finding a bit of humor in Mindy's playful interrogation.

"Let's just think logically. When was the last Ghostface active?" Chad asked his friends, without knowing he hit a soft spot.

Tara sent a look in Kitty's direction, who looked down uncomfortably. Wes softly touched her knee to offer some comfort.

"Like 10 years ago?" Tara mumbled, trying to take all eyes off of Kitty.

"Jill and Charlie," Kitty concluded.

"Shit" Chad mumbled, feeling ashamed that he had started the topic. "I'm sorry, Kit, I forgot--"

"Don't worry" Kitty shook her head, a tightlipped smile on her face.

Wes nodded quickly. "Yeah, but that was all before--oh" he interrupted himself upon noticing the door opening and Sam poking her head into the room. The friends all stood up.

Sam got on her knees next to Tara's bed. "How are you feeling?"

Tara smiled weakly. "You came."

"Of course, I came," Sam assured before her eyes fell on the man behind her. "This is my boyfriend, Richie."

"It's so nice to meet you," Richie smiled as he bent down next to Tara. "I'm so sorry if I'm intruding."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Hi!" Sam greeted the remaining people. She went around the room, hugging Chad and Mindy, before continuing with Wes.

"Thank you for calling." She smiled when she hugged him.

"Of course." Wes nodded.

"Look at your hair!" Sam leaned back, moving a hand through his colored hair. "I like it."

Kitty stepped closer, laying her head to the side and smiling at the older Carpenter girl. "Hey, Sam" her voice sounded so relieved, that Sam's features immediately softened upon seeing the girl.

"Hey, Kit." She cooed, before pulling the girl into a close hug and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Sam had always felt some kind of protectiveness over the Walker girl. She had grown up in similar circumstances as she and Tara and knew what it was like to have a weird relationship with your family members. No one knew about Sam's secret, but she knew that of all people, Kitty would understand it best. She didn't have the luxury of keeping it under wraps and Sam knew that that made her life very difficult at times.

As Sam pulled back from the hug, her eyes shifted to Wes and Kitty, still standing close to each other. Wes's hand was casually resting on Kitty's, their fingers intertwined. Sam blinked, the sight catching her off guard.

Kitty caught her look and offered a small, tentative smile. Wes, standing beside her, squeezed her hand slightly, a quiet reassurance.

Sam paused for a moment, a soft chuckle escaping her, though it was laced with a hint of surprise. "Well, this is... new."

"It's not exactly new," Wes replied, a bit sheepishly. "We've been together for a while now."

Kitty nodded, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Yeah, for a few years."

Sam's lips curled into a small, knowing smile. "It's good to see you both doing well." She turned around to Richie. "These are Chad and Mindy, the twins. Wes and Kitty." Sam told Richie. "I used to babysit them all."

"Which is always how I like to be introduced." Wes smiled sarcastically.

Sam resumed to her position next to Tara's bed, before she gazed at the remaining person. She knew all too well that there was no way the girl would accept a hug from her. "And Amber. Hey."

"Hi." Amber smiled, but it looked anything but friendly. "Nice to see you."

"Hi. I'm Richie." Richie said once again.

"Hi."

"Where's Mom?" Sam looked around the room as if she would catch a hint of her mother's location.

"She's stuck at a conference in London." Tara shrugged and neither Sam nor Kitty missed the sad undertone in her voice.

"She called me earlier."

"Yeah, for all of ten minutes." Amber rolled her eyes. She really wasn't a fan of anyone in Tara's family.

Suddenly, Kitty's phone began to ring, making all eyes turn to her, as her eyes flew over the display. "It's my brother." She didn't miss the way her friends reacted to her words. "Not the dead one, obviously."

She excused herself from the room and walked a few feet down the corridor to take the call.

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