Tatum sat next to Ethan in the living room of her apartment with the rest of her friends. They were all making fun of Mindy for how long it was taking her to find the correct channel. As Mindy was flipping through channels, one caught Tatum's attention. Her joking behavior disappeared.
"Wait, go back," Tatum said, having only had read the first word of the headline. Mindy went back and Tatum saw the headline fully. "What the fuck?" Mindy asked as she read the headline. 'College Students, Jason Carvey, and Greg Bruckner Found Dead in Their Apartment.'
Photos appeared on their screen and they looked familiar to Tatum, but she couldn't place it. Chad stood from the couch and left the apartment to get Sam. They could hear the muffled yell of Sam's name.
"What's going on?" Sam asked as she entered the room. Then she saw the TV. They all listened to what the reporter had to say in complete silence.
"I'm standing in front of the apartment building where the mutilated bodies of two students were discovered. Their names have just been released by the police. Jason Carvey and Greg Bruckner," The reporter said.
"Holy shit, that's that chode from our Film Studies class! The one obsessed with Argento," Mindy said, then it clicked in her brain. Mindy and Tara complained about them all the time.
"Also found at the scene were various Ghostface costumes," the reporter said and Tatum's heart sank. Everyone in the room froze besides the few that didn't know what the effect Ghostface had on them. Tatum completely blocked out every voice in the room as she stared at the Ghostface mask the reporter held in his hand.
Ethan looked over to the girl who was very visibly tense while watching the TV. It didn't take long for him to figure out why.
Tatum was brought back to the present when a hand was placed on her mid-back. "Are you okay?" Ethan asked and Tatum nodded. Completely lying about it.
"It could have nothing to do with us," Tara said.
"Are you serious?" Sam asked.
"It's a big city! It's Halloween. Everybody's wearing masks!" Tara said trying to be convincing but it was clearly not working. "Tara, this isn't a coincidence. You knew him!" Sam yelled.
"Barely," Tara said.
"Chad, Mindy, Tatum, back me up," Sam said.
"It is a little bit..." Chad trailed off a bit at the end. "Close to home," Mindy finished and Sam looked at Tatum who was still staring at the TV. "It's not a coincidence," Tatum said.
"Really, Tate?" Tara asked, disappointed that Tatum didn't agree with her. Tatum looked at Tara, hoping to put some sense into her. "Their apartment is six blocks away from us. If it was across town then I might believe it's a coincidence, but six blocks? No way," Tatum said and Tara sighed.
"Quinn, your dad's a cop, right? Can you call him and find out what's going on? Before you make the unilateral decision to abandon my college education and flee the fucking state!" Tara yelled.
"I'm calling him now," Quinn said as she held her phone up to her ear. "Thank you," Tara said and then Sam's phone began ringing. Everyone tensed up at the noise and looked at the phone. "Who is it?" Tara asked and Tatum stood up. Sam didn't answer. Then Tatum's phone buzzed. It was her mother. She pressed decline and put her phone back in her pocket.
"Why did everyone just freak out when her phone rang?" Ethan asked.
"You got to keep up, my dude," Anika said and Quinn walked up to Sam and Tara. "Sam? My dad wants to talk to you," Quinn said as she handed Sam her phone. Sam started talking to Mr. Bailey and a few seconds later Sam hung up the phone. "He wants me to go down to the station," Sam said as she handed the phone back to Quinn.
"I'm going with you," Tara said as she grabbed her jacket. "Me too," Tatum said and Sam gave her a skeptical look. "Tatum, I got this. It's a short walk," Sam said and Tatum shook her head. "No. I'll go with you. Safety in numbers, right?" Tatum asked and she grabbed her jacket.
"Tatum, I don't need you to come with me," Sam said.
"I'm going. Don't argue with me," Tatum said and Sam nodded and she, Tatum, and Tara walked out of the apartment. "Here we go again," Mindy said as the door closed. "They shouldn't be going out there by themselves. I didn't even see any of them grab anything," Victoria said.
"They're smart. If something happens I'm sure they'll figure something out," Anika reassured.
"Maybe we should all go with them. Like what Tatum said, safety in numbers," Ethan said and Chad shook his head. "They've dealt with this before," Chad said.
"Yeah, and all three of them almost died," Victoria said not liking the idea that they weren't in a big group. She only received shocked looks. "What? I'm not wrong. Tatum got stabbed seven times, Tara got attacked twice, and Sam was stabbed," Victoria said.
"I know, Vicky, but they won't let any of us come with them no matter how hard we try. Those three are the most stubborn people I have ever met," Chad said.
~
Tatum, Sam, and Tara walked down the street towards the police station. They weren't even fifty feet from the apartment building when Sam's phone rang. Tatum looked over Sam's shoulder as she pulled her phone out. It was Richie. "What the fuck?" Tara asked.
"I never deleted his contact. This is coming from his number," Sam said.
"Don't answer it. They're only calling to fuck with us," Tatum said.
"Just let it ring," Tara said, but Sam ignored her and answered the phone. "Sam," Tara said and Sam started speaking. Tara and Tatum stood close to the phone to hear what Ghostface was saying. "Hello, Samantha. Did you miss me?" He asked.
"I want you to think long and hard about whether you really want to do this. Because the last two people that fucked with us ended up dead," Sam said and Tatum started looking around. As she did she saw a man wearing a hood while on the phone. He turned the corner and started walking towards them.
"You should be thanking me, Sam. Jason and Greg were gonna kill you and your sister. I gutted them before they had the chance," Ghostface said and Sam stepped in front of Tatum and Tara as the man walked by. All he did was give them a weird look before continuing his walk.
"So what? You're protecting us now?" Sam asked and Tatum kept looking around. If he was calling he couldn't be far. Tatum looked at Tara right as a person dressed in a Ghostface costume ran up behind her. Tatum grabbed Tara and pulled her out of the away. Tara shoved Ghostface into the bushes behind him and they took off running.
They screamed for help as they turned the corner. "In here," Sam said as she pointed to a convenience store. They entered the store and walked up to the man at the cash register. "Please help us! We were just attacked!" Tara yelled.
"Call 911!" Tatum yelled she could hear people behind them complain about them cutting, but none of them cared. The door opened and they didn't hesitate to back away from it, they didn't even need to look to know who it was. A guy stepped in front of Ghostface. "You got a problem here, guy?" The man asked, as a reply he got stabbed over and over again.
Other people tried to step in but just got the same fate as the first guy. Ghostface started walking towards the three girls as the guy at the cash register pulled out a shotgun. He shot the gun and the three of them ducked to avoid being shot. They started to back into the corner as the man walked out from behind the counter.
"Go out the back!" The man yelled.
"Thank you!" Sam yelled and they ran towards the door. They tried the door but it wouldn't open. "Fuck, it's locked," Sam said.
"Keys! We need your keys!" Tara yelled, before they could get the keys Ghostface appeared behind the man. "Look out!" Tatum yelled. The man turned around, he got one good hit in before Ghostface disarmed him. The man fell to the ground and Ghostface shot him in the head. Tatum looked away from the scene.
While Ghostface wasn't looking the girls ducked and hid behind a shelf. Ghostface cocked the gun and Sam shushed them. The convenience store was completely quiet. Tatum could hear her heartbeat in her ears from the adrenaline.
As they started crawling, Ghostface shot another bullet in their direction. Tatum covered her mouth to keep her from giving them away. They started to crawl faster until another bullet hit the freezer next to them. Causing glass to fall onto them. Cutting up Tatum's hand and her face a little bit.
Tatum could just barely see Ghostface checking the aisles through a gap between the shelves. She tapped on Tara and Sam and once they realized what was happening they immediately crawled to the end of the aisle where Ghostface wasn't. They huddled into a clump so he wouldn't see them.
Tatum saw a can close to Sam and she lightly elbowed Sam. She pointed to the can and then did a throwing motion. Sam nodded and she quietly grabbed the can and threw it in the opposite direction of where they were.
They entered the aisle once again and tried to get to the other side where the door was. As they crawled, Tara accidentally crawled onto a piece of glass, causing a loud crunch noise to echo through the silent convenience store. They watched as Ghostface looked at the crack between shelves and as he aimed the gun at them, they pushed the shelf over.
"Run! Go!" Tara said and they ran out the front door as police cars approached. They looked back into the convenience store and he wasn't there. The only thing left was the mask. But it wasn't the same one he was wearing. It was newer. "What the fuck?" Tatum asked as she stared in disbelief at the place Ghostface was just laying. Then she saw the back door swinging. She didn't even know how that was possible.
—
Tatum, Sam, and Tara sat in an interrogation room across from Detective Bailey. There were crime scene photos spread out on the table in front of them. "This was found next to the body at the apartment crime scene. DNA says that it belonged to someone named Richie Kirsch," Detective Bailey said as he held up a Ghostface mask.
"Does that ring a bell?" Detective Bailey asked as he took in their reactions. "We're familiar with him," Sam said as Tatum looked everywhere but at the photos in front of her. She didn't like the blood, and the crime scene photos were right in front of her. The one that bothered her the most was the man cut up in the fridge. She only saw it once briefly, but all she knew was that it will take a while for her to get used to it.
"But the Ghostface that attacked us had a different mask on," Tara said and Tatum nodded. "Yeah. It looked older. It was cracked and beat up," Tatum added.
"I got to ask do you have alibis for earlier tonight?" Detective Bailey asked.
"Tatum and I were at a party with our friends," Tara said.
"I was at my therapist's. I can give you his information. You can call to check if you want. And then I met Tara at that party where I tased someone. Unrelated," Sam said.
"Was that before or after this happened?" Detective Bailey asked as he showed Sam the video that was taken of her. "Before," Sam said.
"The point is, we were with people all night," Tara said.
"So, our roommate's dad just happened to pull our case," Sam said, skeptical of it. "That'd be a crazy coincidence, right?" Detective asked.
"There's no such thing as coincidences," Tatum said, now understanding Sam's defensiveness. There was something about Bailey that didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't place what. "The detective who had the case, he offered it to me because it involves Quinn. But I can totally give it back if you're uncomfortable. It's up to you," Detective Bailey said.
The girls shared a look before looking back at Detective Bailey. "It's fine," Sam said.
"So if the man who attacked you did steal your license and plant it next to the body, it'd probably be somebody close to you. How long have you known your friends?" Detective Bailey asked.
"Well, we moved here with Mindy, Chad, Tatum, and Vicky for summer semester, like, six months ago. So, Quinn, um, Ethan, Anika, Liam— all since then," Tara said.
"I think I can vouch for Quinn, so that's one less we have to worry about. Do either of you have anyone that might want to target you?" Detective Bailey asked.
"Not anyone who's still alive," Tara said.
"Yikes," Detective Bailey said and the door to the room opened. "FBI's here, claiming jurisdiction," The officer said.
"Where are they?" Detective Bailey asked as he stood up and left. "Does he really think we're suspects?" Tatum asked.
"It seems like it," Tara said.
"Great," Tatum said.
"Look on the bright side. Maybe it'll mean we'll have more of a police presence at the apartment. Less likely to get attacked," Tara said.
"That didn't happen during the 2011 attacks. There were officers in front of the house and they were still attacked," Tatum said.
"That's different," Tara said.
"Not really. It's always someone in the friend group. It was last time," Tatum said and Tara stayed silent. As the room was filled with silence, Tatum's phone began to buzz. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at who it was. She pressed decline and placed her phone back into her pocket. "Your mom again?" Sam asked and Tatum nodded.
"Yeah, she's been calling nonstop. She probably wants an interview or an inside scoop," Tatum said sarcastically.
"Still haven't forgiven her?" Tara asked and Tatum shook her head. "No. Not even close," Tatum said and then the door to the room opened. "You're free to go," the officer said and they stood up and walked out.
As they walked down the hall, Tatum recognized the woman Bailey was talking to. "Kirby?" Tatum asked.
"Hey, Tatum," Kirby said and Tatum walked up to her and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're the FBI agent," Tatum said and Kirby pulled back from the hug. "I'm sorry about your dad," Kirby said.
"Thank you," Tatum said, then Kirby hugged Sam. Tatum has gotten to the point where she can talk about her dad's death without crying, but it doesn't mean she likes talking about it or wants to for that matter. "You guys know each other?" Detective Bailey asked.
"Yeah. We went to Woodsboro High together. She was a senior when I was a freshman," Sam said and Detective Bailey looked at Tatum. "Old family friend," Tatum said.
"We share a certain history," Kirby said and she looked over to Detective Bailey. "I'm not trying to get into a jurisdictional pissing contest here. I just want to help. I'll show you mine, et cetera," Kirby said as she handed a huge stack of files over to Detective Bailey. Then he was handed an evidence bag.
"The mask from the bodega. DNA traces of two individuals, Charlie Walker, Jill Roberts, both deceased," Detective Bailey said.
"The Ghostface killers of 2011. Charlie Walker gave me this," Kirby said as she showed the scar on her lower abdomen. "Like I said, I take a special interest. Is this the mask he was wearing when he attacked you?" Kirby asked and Tatum shook her head. "No," Tara said.
"So he's leaving them on purpose," Detective Bailey said.
"Which means whoever's doing this is a student of the killers who came before. Maybe he believes Sam is the latest in a long line," Kirby said.
"Yeah, good luck with that. We're getting out of town," Sam said and the three of them started walking. "I'm sorry, that's not possible. You're both persons of interest in a double homicide so you're not allowed to leave town. Sorry," Detective Bailey said.
"You're kidding, right? We'll be murdered before you catch the guy at this rate," Tatum said, not liking the idea of being accused of something that has traumatized her for the rest of her life.
"Are you serious?" Tara asked.
"He's right. But if we work together-" Kirby started but Sam cut her off. "We're going," Sam said and they walked towards the door and left.