The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

01. The First Attack

Tatum walked into her trailer after picking up takeout that she had ordered for her and her dad. She placed the bag on the counter and started looking through the mail on the counter. "Dad! I'm back!" Tatum announced and she saw her letter from  Blackmore University in New York. Some of her friends were applying there and she thought she would try.

"Oh, good. You found it. I forgot to give it to you after school," Dad said and Tatum looked at the hallway. "It came today? That was fast," Tatum said.

"Yeah," Dad said as he grabbed the take-out bag. "Are you going to open it?" He asked and Tatum hesitated. "I promised Tara, Mindy, Vicky, and Chad that I would open it with them. I haven't gotten a text from them yet," Tatum said.

Her dad handed her food to her and they sat down on the couch. "Alright. What movie will it be tonight?" Her dad asked and Tatum shrugged. "You choose. I always choose the movie," Tatum said.

"Because you don't like my taste in movies," Dad said.

"That's not true. Are some of them questionable? Yes. Are they horrible? No," Tatum said as she sat down on the couch. They ended up watching Men In Black.

It was a Riley tradition to watch a movie every Sunday night. They would get takeout from a restaurant and pick a movie and watch it until one of them falls asleep. The majority of the time it was Dewey who would fall asleep first.

About an hour into the movie, she could hear snoring from next to her. She checked the time and it was surprisingly late. She turned off the TV and carefully stood up to avoid waking him up. She walked into her room and grabbed her backpack and tossed it onto her bed.

She had last-minute homework she had to do for class tomorrow. She pulled out the assignment and started it. She looked at the clock to make sure she wasn't staying up super late. It was only midnight. Not too bad.

A few minutes later her phone started buzzing, telling her she was getting a call. She picked it up and saw it was from the hospital. She was confused by the call but answered it anyway. "Hi, this is the Woodsboro Hospital. Is this Tatum Riley?" The woman on the other end asked.

"Yes. Is there something I can help you with?" Tatum asked.

"Yes. You are put as Tara Carpenter's Emergency contact. She was attacked in her home a few hours ago. She is currently undergoing surgery, but will be out within the next twenty to thirty minutes," the woman said and Tatum sat up from her laying position. "What? Do you know what happened?" Tatum asked.

"I only know that she was stabbed, ma'am. I don't know much more than that," the nurse said.

"Okay. I'll be right there. Thank you," Tatum said and she hung up the phone. She stood from her bed and grabbed her backpack and her car keys. She slipped on her shoes and started down the hallway.

Tara had put her down as an emergency contact two weeks ago when she turned eighteen. Tara's family isn't the most reliable and Tatum was the closest thing to a sister she had since Sam left so it only made sense. The only thing is that Tatum didn't know that she would be called so soon after making the change. Let alone about something so serious as a stabbing.

She approached the living room area and slowed her walk to a quiet tip-toe so she didn't wake her dad up. She quietly opened the door which let out a loud squeak. She looked at her dad who was still out cold and she walked out of the trailer, closing the door carefully behind her.

-

Tatum arrived at the hospital and walked up to the front desk. "Good evening. How can I help you?" A tired nurse asked as she looked at Tatum. "Hi, I'm here to see Tara Carpenter," Tatum said.