SCREAM [ GMW ]

iii. and so it begins

"The killer wore a long mask that, unfortunately, covered his whole head."

Maya froze. It was irrational to think what she was thinking- that the man in the video was the same from all those years ago. When she and Lucas had seen that man die...

"Maya, go get the ball!" Riley called out through the rain. It was about two p.m. on a Saturday, on Riley's birthday. Everyone else was beginning to go home, but since Maya was spending the night, her and Riley decided to stay out and play. It was just a little rain, who cares? Maya watched as the ball rolled down the slippery street, and before she could even set foot on the road, it had escaped her sight. She bounded down the sidewalk, her feet unbalanced on the wet pavement. By the time she finally had the ball back in her sights, she had caught Lucas Friar trudging through the rain on his way back home. They weren't friends at the time, but he attended Riley's party. Maya almost called him Liam when she yelled to him.

"Hey, Lucas, can you get that ball for me?" Maya heard footsteps appear in the neighborhood out of the corner of her eye. They seemed to be walking fast down the road, but she paid it no attention.

"Yeah. Hold on." Lucas hollered back. He picked up his pace and collected the ball before bringing it back to Maya, his eyes squinted because of the precipitation. By the time they intersected in the street the footsteps had caught up with them.

Bang.

Both Maya and Lucas yelped and jumped backwards, startled by the sudden noise. Their ears rang lowly as they looked towards the spot they had heard the shot come from. Their eyes were met with a man, his face too bloody and beaten to recognize- and his body was no different. Blood trailed out of what seemed to be his lips and his ears, and out of a hole in his torso that was just the right size to let Maya and Lucas know that it was a bullet wound.

The man who stood in front of them wore a mask. A mask that covered his entire face. It had an elongated mouth and elongated eyes. It was a shiny, murky white color that was almost grey with tiny scratches covering the exterior plastic. It looked like something that would come straight out of a horror film that Maya and Lucas weren't even allowed to watch. The man had barely even turned towards the children, before he disappeared into the rows of houses behind him. All they had caught was a small icon of a red bird on the back of his hoodie.

Tears built up in both of the young children's eyes as they pulled on each other's arms. Lucas dropped the ball.

"Come on!"

Together they ran back to Riley's house, their faces splattered with tears and their arms itchy with dirty water. Riley bounced across her yard to meet them, and confused look on her face.

"Maya, where's the ball?" Maya panted, wasting no time to tell her what happened.

"A man got shot! Right down the street! Me and Lucas saw it!" Maya cried.

"What happened?" Topanga asked frantically, jogging through the grass.

"A guy got shot, right down the street- just a few minutes ago!" Maya recounted again. Topanga's eyes widened as she ushered them inside, sitting them down in the living room and drawing the blinds. All of the children huddled together, and the tears didn't stop flowing for days.

"Hey, who gave them permission to use my daughter's video?"

"Mom, shut up for a second." Maya snapped. She stepped away from the doctor for a few moments before grabbing Riley's arm and whispering into her ear.

"Riley, that's the mask the man was wearing when he shot that man. On the street, at your party." Riley's eyes widened as she opened her mouth to speak.