i hate scary movies.

4.3

When we hear screaming, Sid and I both slam our books shut and run out of the room and into Jill's. We run to the window, where Kirby and Jill are screaming for help.

Across the yard, and in Olivia's bedroom, Ghostface is chasing her around with a knife.

I grab the gun out of my boot and run out of the room with Sid following closely behind me. We run down the stairs and out of the house, towards the police car.

"Hoss! Perkins!" Sid shouts, but they aren't in their car. "Shit."

I click off the safety on my gun and run for Olivia's house. Sid follows after me as I try to open the door. When it's obvious that the door is locked, I break the glass on the door with my elbow and gun before putting my arm through the glass. I unlock the door and open it.

As soon as the door is opened, I run for the stairs. Sid and I sprint upstairs and through the bedrooms, I find her room, and we walk in. As soon as we see Olivia on the bed with her guts in front of her, we both look away. I almost gag, but I shake my head instead, looking around the room at the blood-spattered walls.

Sid slides down, gripping the doorway as she takes deep breaths. The phone starts ringing, so I walk across the room and pick it up, answering it. "What?"

"Welcome home, Diana. Preview of coming events."

"Why don't you come for us?" I ask. "You got the balls for that? Or are you gonna be a fucking coward like every other one before your sorry ass."

"Oh, poor Diana. You think this is all about you and Sidney. You think you're still the star."

"This isn't a fucking movie anymore!"

"It will be."

"You sick fuck, these are innocent people. They didn't do shit to you."

"Spare me the lecture! You've done very well by all this bloodshed, haven't you?"

"What's he saying?" Sid asks me.

"Bullshit," I tell her.

"What about the town the two of you left behind? I've got plans for you two. I'm gonna slit your eyelids in half so you don't blink when I stab you in the face. You'll die when I want you to, Diana. Not a moment before. Until then, you and Sidney are going to suffer."

"Fuck you, you pussy ass bitch."

The line on the other side goes dead.

"Sidney!" Jill says, running up the stairs.

Sid stands up, and I quickly block the view from the doorway. "Jill, stay right there!" Sid warns her. Sid moves when Jill moves to try and get a better view.

"Is she...?"

"Do not look, okay?" Sid says.

Jill shakes her head. "She said you were the Angel of Death."

"Sidney—"

"Look out!" Sid shouts, cutting me off as she pushes Jill out of the way. Sid tackles Ghostface down the stairs, and he pushes her to the side. I close Olivia's bedroom door and check on Jill, who obviously doesn't want my help when she backs away from me.

I go down the stairs and see Sid grab a frame from the wall before hitting Ghostface in the head with it. He trips her, then drops on top of her, getting ready to stab her. She grabs his wrists, stopping him from stabbing her.

I kick him down the rest of the stairs, and he tumbles away. Sid and I run down the stairs, and Sid kicks him in the legs, then in the face when he stands back up.

The two officers come in the house, and Sid and I point to Ghostface. "He's in here," Sid says.

"Where is he?" Perkins asks.

We both turn and see the back door wide open with no Ghostface where we left him. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me," I huff. The officers run down the hallway.

"Jill?" Sid asks, standing at the bottom of the stairwell.

Jill stands on the stairs, holding her arm. "Don't."

Sid turns and walks into the hallway, sliding down the wall. I walk over to her and slide down the wall to sit next to her. Trevor, Jill's ex, walks in and asks what happened before going to get Jill. Kirby comes in after him, telling Jill to put pressure on the cut.

"It's okay, Sid," I sigh. "You couldn't have done anything."

"It's my fault, D," she says. "We come here, and it starts happening again."

"It started with us, Sid, and it's gonna end with us."

She gives me a weak smile and grabs onto my hand, squeezing it.

"There's nobody back there," Perkins says, coming back into the house. "Call it in." He bends down next to Sid. "Hey, are you okay?" he asks.

"You should look upstairs," Sid says.

—

"I thought this was all over!" someone says as Sid and I walk out of Olivia's house. So did I.

"This is all your faults!"

"Just like your mother, Sidney!"

"Shut the fuck up!" I shout at them, flipping them off.

"You folks go home," Hoss says to them. "Come on. Get out of the street, please."

"I'm sorry about what I said," Jill says. "Do you wanna get that looked at?"

"Yeah," Sid says, walking with her.

—

As soon as the doctor is away from Sid, I walk over to her. "What'd he say?"

She shrugs. "No broken bones. I'm fine. He just wants me to take it easy."

I snicker. "Like that'll happen." She smiles.

"I think I'd be lucky if we're even able to take it easy," she says, shaking her head.

"So, Sidney...Ooh, ow," Rebecca says, coming over to us. I look at her weirdly. "Anyway, long story short, Random wants to lock you in to three more books now. They said that you guys can both write them together like you did with the last book too."

I'm so glad I decided to not get an agent.

She pulls out a paper from her clipboard to show us. "See the blank lines in your contracts? You can name your price. And, as soon as you're clear in this investigation, we're on the next plane to New York. I booked Today, The View, Nancy Grace, MTV News—"

"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?" Sid asks her. Rebecca hums and nods. "Did you read our book?"

Rebecca pauses a little. "Thought I'd wait for the movie."

"Book tour's over," Sid says, starting to walk away. I start to follow her, but stop when Rebecca says her name and grabs her arm, pulling her into a room. Sid glances at me, so I follow them into the room, and Sid grabs her arm where Rebecca grabbed it.

"Accept your situation," Rebecca tells her. "You're a victim. For life. So embrace it, use it. I know you care about your readers. All those little downtrodden fucks that just need a light at the end of their tunnel so they don't jump off a bridge. And a lucky break like this? I'm talking a hundred percent increase in sales, minimum. That's maybe a million more people get your message, and you get a ton more checks. Win-win."

Sid scoffs. "I won't be needing you anymore." We both turn and start to walk away.

"Sidney!" Rebecca says, following after us.

"You're fired," Sid says.

"Fired?"

"Fired."

I flip Rebecca off as Sid and I keep walking, earning a concerned glance from a few nurses.