CHAPTER SEVEN !
↳ 𝖍𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖗𝖊𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 noon when the group of eight was sitting on the park benches, meeting for an urgent intervention, that Mindy had demanded.

The dark skinned girl was standing in the middle of the benches, her eyes wandering over every single one of the group, before she clapped her hands together.

"Okay, nerd, listen up!", Mindy exclaimed catching the groups attention. "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad that I get the chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers the last time."

The girl adjusted her t-shirt, giving them a firm nodd, before she cleared her throat, "Mhm- it's fine. -Okay, the way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requel."

Anika raised her hand before she spoke, "Um- what's a requel?"

"You're beautiful, sweetie. Let's hold questions to the end", Mindy stated while she gave Anika a small apologizing smile. Her girlfriend on the other hand gave her a sarcastic smile in return, not seeming very amused.

"Stab one took place in Woodsboro. Stab two took place in college", Sam stated the facts simply while she glanced at Mindy.

"So we think that the killer is trying to copy the movies?", Tara immediately questioned Mindy, who aggreed with her statement. "That is one possiblity. Heroes now in college: check! Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list and- or body count: check, check and check!"

Anika frowned while Mindy pointed with her finger over at Quinn, at her girlfriend and then at Ethan. The boy frowned as well, "I don't like this."

"But it can't just be about Stab two." Lizzie frowned at her friend in confusion, "Why not?"

"It would make sense if this were just a sequel. But we're not in a sequel- because nobody just makes sequels anymore!" The horror loving girl gave them an expecting look, but nobody gave her any sort of reaction. "We're in a franchise! And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise!"

Sam looked down while she sigehd deeply, "Urgh- I had a feeling."

"Rule one- Everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count. Longer chases, shoot-outs, beheadings. You got to top what came before to keep people coming back."

"Beheadings?", Chad questioned his sister, while he looked up from the notes that he was currently taking. Mindy nodded at him with some sort of excitement glinting in her eyes, "Beheadings!"

"Rule two- whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whiny snowflake film nerds with letterboxd accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here."

She then looked over at Tara and Lizzie, "And rule three- No one is safe! Legacy characters? Cannon fodder at this point. Usually brought back only to be killed off in some cheap big for nostalgia. It's not looking too good for Gale and Kirby."

Mindy then suddenly scrunched up her face, "Oh, and that's not even the worst part!"

"Oh, this is the part where she tells us the worst part", Chad suddenly stated while he glanced over at Lizzie. The blond gave him a small smile, before she focused her attention back on Mindy.

"The worst part is franchises are just continuing episodic installments designed to boot an IP. Which means main characters are completely expendable now, too", the girl explained to them.

After that she gave her friends a considering look, before she started listing off names, "Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Ellen Ripley, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bond- I mean, even Luke Skywalker! All die so their franchise could live on!"

She folded her hands over her stomach and gave them a worried glance, "That means it's not just the friend group. Any of us could go at any time, - especially Sam and Tara."

Ethan's panic immediately showed in the tone of his voice, "Wait, wait, wait- any of us? Does that- Am I in the friend group?"

Mindy nodded at him confidently, "Yeah." Ethan then went on, his eyes nervously wandering over the group, "Am, I, like, one of the targets?"

Mindy nodded again, "Mh-hm."

The boy stared into the distance, his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide in shock, "Am I gonna die a virgin?"

Everyone frowned at Ethan before Mindy gave him a disturbed glance, "That was- a weird overshare. - But it brings us to our current suspect-"

She took a step towards the curly haired boy, while she pointed her hands at him, "Ethan! The shy, dorky guy, who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky."

Mindy smiled at him proudly, before Ethan began to rammble, "Okay- why am I on the suspect list? Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?"

"Roomate lotteries can bee juked. You could have fixed it to get next to us", Mindy argued against him before she turned to Lizzie's roommate. "Quinn- the slutty roomate. A horror movie-", she kissed the tip of her finger's, "- classic."

"Sex positive- but- thank you?", Quinn corrected her, a frown on her face. Mindy didn't let herself get irretated by her answer, she frowned at Sam, Lizzie and Tara, "Mh-hm- Um, how did you come to live with Sam, Liz and Tara?"

"I answered their ad online", Quinn told her while she exchange a look with her roomates. Mindy held up her hand to motion for her to stop, "Okay, say no more! You've already implicated yourself enough!"

"It was an anonymous ad, Mindy- and you know we vetted her. Plus her dad is a cop", Tara told her friend, that was still looking suspiciously at Quinn.

Mindy then interrupted her, "And that makes it more likely that she's the killer, because having a cop as dad is a great cover! Do you not remember how these movies work, Tara!"

Quinn seemed very irretated by Mindy's behavior, "Is she always like this?"

Sam gave her a small nodd before Mindy caught their attention once more, "And finally- Anika." Anika gave her a smile before she blew her a kiss.

Mindy also blew her a kiss before her smile suddenly dropped, "Never trust the love interest."

Anika's smile also dropped immediately and everyone else gave her a simpathetic look.

Sam was the one to interrupt this uncomfortable moment, "Okay! So, we have our rules and we have our suspects-"

"But wait- what about you guys?", Ethan suddenly questioned them, interrupted Sam in the process.

Mindy gave him a sceptical glance, "I mean, I think it's pretty safe to rule out the four of us, who went through this last year in Woodsboro."

Chad gave his sister a large smile, "Agreed."

"Um, not agreed", Quinn gave them a side glance. "What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?"

Sam gave Quinn a disbelieving look and Ethan went on, his eyes wandering over the five that had already experienced this, "Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more. Or- I mean, let be honest here, some of the theories online about Sam are-"

Tara shot the curly haired boy that was sitting besides her a dark glare, "Don't you fucking dare!" Ethan's eyebrows rose up in surprise and he immediately stopped talking.

"Okay, she's right, though. I mean, face facts- if we're all suspects, you're all suspects", Anika stated and everyone of the group exchange a look with each other.

Lizzie exchange a small glance with Chad, the worries bubbling up inside her head. She had this pressure on her chest, like she couldn't breath anymore while her thoughts were running wild. Would history repeat it self, would Ghostface truly be after them again?

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 quickly into evening and Sam had convinced the whole group, except for Ethan, because he had ECON, to sleep at their apartment that night. Just to make sure that she had an eye on everyone that was important to her and Tara.

Lizzie was currently in her own room, searching through her wardrobe drawer, on a mission to find a new t-shirt, because she had spilled juice on her old one.

The blond let out a satisfied humm when she finally found a clean shirt. Standing up, the shirt in her hands, her gaze moved over the pictures of her mum and Wes. They were perfectly placed on the window sill, their eyes gazing up at her.

She didn't even realize when it happen, but the feeling of emptiness was crawling it's way back up and Lizzie felt like she didn't knew how she was surviving without them.

The blond was like in some sort of trance, the thoughts rushing through her head when she suddenly snapped out of it.

Lizzie then immediately pulled the dirty shirt over her head and stood up before she grabbed the clean one and held it up into the air to examine it one more time.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Lizzie didn't really think about the fact that it could be someone else except for Quinn, Sam or Tara, so she called out, "Come in!"

The door slowly opened and the girl was still thumbeling with the shirt until she finally succeeded to pull it over her head.

Lizzie then turned on her heel and her eyes widened a bit, when she saw that no other than Chad was standing in the doorway. His mouth was hanging slightly open, his eyes lingering on her body for another small moment.

The boy then shook his head slightly and snapped out of his daze, "Uh- I just wanted to ask if you want to help me in the kitchen?"

The blond gave him a small smile and nodded, "Yeah, sure. Lead the way."

The two then stepped out into the empty hallway and Lizzie closed the door behind her, before she followed after Chad into the kitchen.

For a small moment, the two were just standing besides each other, but Chad was glancing at her a couple of times and Lizzie chuckled. "What?- Do I have something on my face?"

Chad quickly shook his head, slightly panicking, "No, no, mo-" He paused for a second, but then he went on, "- I just wondered- when did you get a tattoo?"

Lizzie immediately raised her eyebrows at him, surprise that he addressed the tattoo, that was located in-between her shoulder blades, "Oh, that. I got it two months after we moved here-" She nodded slightly before she stared down at the cooking noodles. "It's Wes and my mom's first initial."

Chad gave her a soft look, his eyes showing his compassion for her. "That's really beautiful, Liz."

Liz smiled at him thankfully before she opened her mouth, but she was interrupted. "Urggh- would you two just make out already!", Mindy's voice reached them from the living room.

Chad immediately abandoned the noddles and shot his sister an annoyed glare while throwing his hands into the air, "Oh, come on! That is so inappropriate- dude!"

Mindy threw her hands into the air as well and then slowly disappeared further into the living room, "Oh, whatever! Get it over with!"

Tara joined her, while she placed the plates onto the table, "Yeah, what she said!"

Mindy then entered the kitchen, alongside Tara, "Sam?" The woman raised her eyebrows at their guests, Yep?"

"We do not have to stay here." Mindy gave her an understanding look while the woman grabbed herself a bottle of wine from the top of the shelf, "Well, too bad. I insist. Safety in numbers."

"This will be so fun! A little slumber party with the core five!", Chad stated excited, a smile playing on his lips. Sam gave him a sceptical frown, "Core five?"

"Yeah."

Tara frowned at him, her eyebrows furrowed, "Did you just give us a nickname?"

"I sure did. I mean, we've all been through a lot together and it's a pretty cool nickname", Chad stated like it was obvious, while casually leaning against the oven behind him.

Sam looked down onto the bottle of wine, "That's debatable."

"It's extremely debatable", Tara agreed with her older sister, giving Chad a disagreeing look.

"You can't just give yourself a nickname, dingus", Mindy shot at her brother and Chad gave her a sarcastic look. "Oh, of course I can, dingus, because I just did. Core Five, up top!" He held his hand up into the air and waited for Mindy to high-five him.

Mindy's face expression didn't change while she shook her head, "No." Chad then turned to Tara, his hand down and outstretched, "Down low!"

Tara seemed to be disgusted by that suggestion, "Get that away from me." Chad then turned towards Sam, "Please, for the love of God!"

"Don't do it!", Mindy stated before Lizzie jumped right in front of the boy and gave him a high-five. Chad immediately broke out into a large grin and the other's all groaned loudly.

"You know, I would like a little more respect and support from my fellow members of the core five", Chad stated jokingly before Anika's voice interrupted them, calling them all into the living room.

"We're hearing from the sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspect is none other than Samantha Carpenter, one of the survivors of the Woodsboro killings in 2022, seen here attacking a woman, on the street last night."

The reporter disappeared from the screen and a video of Sam wanting to go after the girl that had splashed her drink on her in the park appeared. You could hear her yelling curse words at the woman and you saw how the other's held her back.

Right after that the report appeared in the screen once more, "In the wake of the Woodsboro tragedy last year, rumors sprouted online that Carpenter was actually responsible for the killings, blaming the crime on her boyfriend Richie Kirsch and teen Amber Free-"

Lizzie's eyes snapped towards Sam, who had slowly grabbed the remote and turned out the TV. She then threw the remote onto the table in anger and frustration, before she dashed out of the living room, towards the dinning table.

Lizzie, Chad and Mindy exchange a long look while Tara went after her sister, sitting down next to her at the table. The two were talking to each other for a small moment, before the other's decided to join in on their conversation.

"It just sucks being this hated", Sam stated, holding back the tears, until Chad immediately interrupted her, sitting down on a chair on her opposite. "Hey, just a reminder- not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all been through some fucked-up stuff, and we are coping with it differently. But I mean we moved here together for one very specific reason. We are a team."

Lizzie gave the boy on her opposite an impressed, but surprised look while her mouth hung open, "Wow, I didn't knew you were that wise."

Chad shot her a jokingly glare before he broke out into a chuckle, "Shut up."

"We are- the core fucking five", Mindy stated while she raised her first into the air, smiling like she was already regretting that she said that.

"Thank you very much", Chad immediately addressed his twin before he went in to give her a high-five and Mindy joined in, sighting deeply. "Ahh- I hate myself!"

Lizzie smiled while she saw how Chad looked at his sister in excitement, "You said it! That is what I'm talking about! It's the core five."

"Core five!", Lizzie exclaimed loudly, making Mindy and Chad yell at her in excitement.

They then looked over at Tara, "Say it!"
Tara shook her head at them, "No, I'm not gonna say it- uhuh- I mean yes we are a team, but-"

"It's got a nice ring to it", Chad joked before Sam suddenly caught their attention by making a confession. "I've sleeping with Cute boy from across the hall."

There was a moment of silence before Mindy and Tara suddenly jumped up in their seat, "Boom!"

Tara smiled widely while she exchange a look with Lizzie, "I fucking knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

"I called it!", Lizzie chuckled before she glanced over at Sam, who seemed surprised that everyone has known. "I knew it from the day you had that hickey!" Sam laughed at that comment and everyone joined in, laughing uncontrollably.

After that laughing had passed, Tara gave the group a loving look, "I feel like we should high-five."

"The core five High Five- may we please?", Chad smiled widely while he leaned onto the table and streched out his hand into the middle.

"Don't call it that, but we'll do the high five." After a short moment everyone joined in and they all put their hands in to the middle, holding each other's hands before they let go again.

Lizzie couldn't stop her heart from jumping in joy, she was feeling so happy that she had friends like that by her side.

Suddenly Sam's phone rang and Tara immediately snatched it out of her sisters hands, handing it over to Mindy while she gasped. "Is that him?"

Everyone started grabbing for the phone, but Tara managed to hold it against her ear, a smirk playing on her face, "What are your intentions?

Everyone else broke into a laugh while Sam tried to get her phone back. Tara then gave her an apologizing look, before she handed the phone back to Sam. "No, it's fine. I'll call him back later."

"Oh, poor guy!", Mindy stated while everyone chuckled and Sam declined the call.

Suddenly there was rumbling in the room next door and then they could hear moaning comming through the walls.

"Oh my god, Quinn and her gentleman caller are back at it again", Tara stated awkwardly while Mindy smiled amused. "Oh, she's getting it too? Okay!"

They all chukled once more before suddenly all of their phones started chiming. Everyone of them grabbed their phone in confusion, before they saw that Denny, the neighbor from across the hall, had airdropped them a picture.

Lizzie's eyes widened immediately when she saw that the picture showed Quinn, getting attacked by no other than Ghostface in her own room.

Suddenly they heard her voice, screaming in pain, "Help! Stop!" They all exchanged scared looks, before they quickly jumped onto their feet.

The group immediately ran into the living room, where they met Anika, who had been sitting on the couch, also getting the airdrop picture.

They all stopped in their track when they suddenly heard Quinn screaming loudly and then nothing, there was complete silence laying over the apartment.

The group stared at the closed door that lead to Quinn's room and Lizzie was pressed against Chad chest, while he held her against him. The blond felt his heart beating rapidly and her's was too. There was long nothing, before Mindy slowly spoke up, "Run!"

The girl had just finished her word, when the door suddenly flew open and Quinn was thrown at them.

The dead girl collided with Anika, who fell to the ground, Quinn's body on top of her. The asian girl screamed out in fear while Mindy and Sam got Quinn's body quickly off of her. "Oh, shit!"

Anika was now screaming her lungs out, while she stared at the dead Quinn, that was now laying beside her on the ground, her cloths drenched in blood.

Only now they took notice of Ghostface, standing in the doorframe, watching them.

Mindy's eyes immediately widened while Ghostface took a step towards them. Lizzie immediately wanted to pull the dark skinned girl backwards, but Ghostface was quick and cut the blond's upper part of her arm.

Lizzie flinched back in pain almost immediately, screaming loudly before Chad grabbed her by her healthy arm and Tara, before he quickly dragged them both out of the apartment behind him.

The last thing the blond heard was Anika's desperate voice shouting, "Stay the fuck back!"

The three made their way downstairs before Lizzie heard Anika scream again, this time it was in pure terror.

The blond had thought that the other's were right behind them, but she panicked when she realized that they were in fact not. She immediately stopped in her track, "Chad- Chad! The other's are not with us!"

Chad turned to face her, his eyes widening in shock, "Shit!"

The three now stromed up the stairs in hectic, only to be faced with a locked apartment door. Tara immediately panicked, screaming for her sister, while she was pounding against the door, "Sam!"

Chad gave her a hopeful look, "Does one of you have the keys?"

"No!", Tara shouted back at him loudly, the tears running down her face while she hit her hand against the door one last time.

Lizzie had her hand pressed over her bleeding arm while she shook her head, the blood was dripping down her army hee mascara smudged under her eyes, "I left them inside."

The blond slowly felt the dizziness kicking in, Ghostface got her good this time. Her wound looked completely disgusting, the blood dripping out of it, making her groan loudly. "Fuck!"

Chad immediately placed his hand on her healthy arm, giving the blond a worried glance. "I'm calling an ambulance."

The girl gave him a small, weak nodd before she flopped down onto the stairs, her only goal to keep her eyes open, while Tara was holding her in blood covered hand.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE ) . . . .
hey, please don't forget to vote to support this story and leave a comment if you like, it always makes me happy<3