A MALL MASSACRE LEAVES SHADYSIDE MOURNING.
The Wardwells were no exception.
Bec Wardwell accepted this was just the way of life. They were Shadysiders, and Shadysiders were made to die. A flock of sheep to be slaughtered year after year. For them, the only way to get out of Shadyside was in the paper's obituaries.
Sure, Bec knew about the family curse — a legend saying that the reason the Wardwalls' pension for being murdered was due to being especially cursed by Sarah Fier. As if the entirety of Shadyside wasn't already said to be cursed. The truth was, her sister had just been one of those unlucky Shadyside mall workers that happened to have shifts when Ryan Torres lost his shit.
One car crash later, and Sarah Fier was suddenly very real. It was a little hard to ignore when she's sending her minions after your friend's ex.
Marney Wardwell knew there was something more. There something a little too perfect about the Sarah Fier story. In 1666, Sarah Fier was blamed and murdered because the town had hit a rough patch. In 1994, the mindset continued, even with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge that witch-hunts were rarely more that excuses to abuse those outside of the norm.
Or maybe Marney was just grieving. That was what everyone told her.
Horror movies should have taught Marney that contacting the dead never turned out how one wants it to. Desperate causes require desperate measures. Yet when Marney tried to contact her dead sister, she still didn't expect what she got. Jude Goode. The last person eye expected to hold the truth to Shadyside's secrets. All it would cost her was his single request — ruin his father's life.
Shadyside's Latest Victims
Rebecca "Bec" Wardwell — Your Local Skeptic
"It's Shadyside. Our thing is being murdered and blaming a dead girl for it. Only an idiot comes in expecting anything else."
Marney Wardwell — The Truthseeker
"Don't you ever wonder about the truth?"
Cassie Wardwell — Just a Wallflower
"I don't want to be Shadyside's golden prodigy, I just want get through my life."
Elizabeth "Liz" Wardwell — The Prodigal Child
"Everyone loves their sad, dead women."
Jude Goode — Sunnyvale Spirit
"I hope my family misses me...Nah! Fuck those guys, I hope they burn."
Deena Johnson — A True Pessimist
"It's not your future if you're pretending to be someone's else."
Josh Johnson — Horrible8ilence
"It happens in Shadyside over and over. Normal people turn into psychos."
Samantha "Sam" Fraser — Damsel in Distress
"You are total chaos! And you hav always been! So don't blame me when you wake up in ten years just like your dad. Old, and drunk, and going nowhere!"
Simon Kalivoda — Employee of the Month
"Well, she was hot and normal, until she attacked me with a fucking razor!"
Kate Schmidt — The Valedictorian
"I'm getting out of here. Off to claim my place among the stars, bitch."
Sheriff Nick Goode — A Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
"Let me get the right paperwork. 'Dead killer chasing...' would you say he was more Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead?"
Trigger Warning: This is a horror movie fic. It involves murder and gore, obviously. It also has strong themes of trauma. If any of this upsets you, this really isn't the book for you, and I'm far from offended if you read something better for you're mentally.