SCARLETT. fear street (1994, 1978, 1666 )

three. it's just a cigarette

Niki raised her brows. The Witch's mark? Why were they suddenly talking about witches? Was it because of all the words Shiela was spewing? Had it somehow gotten into Ziggy's head?

Nurse Lane had suddenly stopped applying the ointment and closed the container up. She glanced at Niki and Ziggy for a moment, as if weighing down her options, before she began to talk. "You two know about my daughter, right? Ruby Lane?"

Niki and Ziggy glanced at each other with panicked eyes. The woman was talking about her dead daughter. What were they supposed to say?

"Uh..." Ziggy started stammering, "I don't..."

"We really don't keep up with the n-"

"Of course you do," Nurse Lane mumbled in defeat. "Everybody talks, I know. Tell me, what do they say?"

They say that she's a crazy bitch who had a grudge against her boyfriend. Niki thought. Of course, she didn't say anything and let Ziggy do the talking. She didn't want to upset Nurse Lane.

"Um... they say she... uh... she killed people... at a party? Seven, seven friends."

"Eight. She killed herself that night too. So eight."

Niki glanced at the floor, suddenly feeling sad for the Nurse. How would it feel if your daughter died in such a gruesome way? She tried to think of her brother, Haruto: if she died like that, what was he going to do?

"Ruby was such a sweet girl. Oh, and she had a sweet voice."

Niki remembered that she sang as she murdered people.

"She was in the choir. She wanted to be a singer. I was so proud of her. so proud." Nurse Lane grabbed a bandage. "The doctors say it was a psychotic episode," she had started wrapping Ziggy's arm, "That she just snapped. But the kids- the kids say Sarah Fier made her do it."

"That's a little tight," Ziggy mentioned, looking down at her arm. It was starting to turn red as nurse lane wrapped it repeatedly.

"Nurse Lane... I think that isn't safe." Niki mumbled cautiously, watching as the woman get stuck in her own world, "I think you don't go from being a sweet girl with dreams to ripping someone's insides out with a switchblade. People usually kill for a reason, and sometimes that reason is justified."

"Nurse Lane?" Niki tried again, not knowing what to do. Nurse Lane was usually really sweet and kind.

"Sometimes killing isn't murder. Sometimes it's necessary."

"Nurse lane you're hurting her," Niki spoke up again, grabbing the nurse's hand, stopping her from making it any tighter. "Nurse Lane, please stop."

"Sometimes it's good." she finished, now calm, finishing the wrapping.

The woman sighed, handing her the medicine as if nothing happened. "Once a day for three days, ok?"

As Ziggy nodded, the door opened, revealing Cindy. "Hi, Nurse Lane. Niki."

"Hi, Cindy." Nurse Lane smiled.

"Ziggy."

-

Niki knew better than to include herself in Ziggy and Cindy's family matters.

As they left the cabin, she immediately made up an excuse and ran in the opposite direction. Niki had no idea what she was doing or where she needed to go, but Cindy and Ziggy's fights always escalated into bigger things. And she didn't want to be there when Ziggy chooses her to take a side, because she thought that Cindy's arguments made more sense most of the time.