Tatum stood in the dining room helping Mindy set the table. Her mind was racing to all the possible suspects. It could be anyone she was close to and she didn't want to imagine what that could mean.
"How are you doing with everything?" Mindy asked, bringing Tatum out of her thoughts. "I've been better, but I guess this is my life now," Tatum said with a shrug. "I'm sorry about what I said about your mom and Kirby," Mindy said.
"It's okay. It's the rules of a franchise. It's just how it works, I get it," Tatum said and Mindy gave her a confused and worried look. "You are unsettlingly calm about the whole thing," Mindy said.
"Maybe on the outside I am, but I am definitely not calm on the inside," Tatum said letting out a shaky breath. "I'm just trying to make sure I think straight so I don't die," Tatum joked and Mindy gave her a small smile. "I suppose it is better than freaking out," Mindy said.
"What can I say? I'm officially a professional at this whole Ghostface thing now," Tatum said knowing that now that she's had the experience, it may go easier. "We all are at this point," Mindy said and the Mindy looked at Tatum with a smile.
"So, Tate, I have a question for you about a certain curly-haired dorky boy," Mindy said and Tatum tried to hide her smile. "What is it?" Tatum asked.
"Do you like him?" Mindy asked and Tatum hesitated for a moment. "You do. I fucking knew it. I think I'm too good at this," Mindy said and Tatum gave her a weird look. "I didn't even say anything," Tatum said with a laugh.
"You didn't have to. You had this dorky little smile on your face that you only have when you like someone," Mindy said.
"Okay, maybe I like him a little," Tatum said and Mindy raised her eyebrows at her. "A little?" Mindy asked and Tatum playfully rolled her eyes. "Maybe not a little," Tatum said, and then she noticed Tara and Chad in the kitchen. "Look," Tatum said as she pointed at the two of them.
Mindy started to pretend to throw up. "Will you two just make out already?" Mindy asked and Tatum laughed at the comment. It was clear to everyone that Tara has had a crush on Chad for a while and now it was finally happening and Tatum couldn't be happier.
"That is so inappropriate, dude," Chad said.
"Oh. Whatever," Mindy said as she walked away looking for Sam. Then Tatum's phone buzzed in her back pocket and her smile dropped. She pulled it out, scared to look at who it was. She relaxed once she saw it was her mom. She let it ring through as she placed it back into her pocket.
Then she felt her phone buzz again. This time telling her it was a text instead of a call. She looked at the text and read it.
Mom
Hey, I'm sorry about the book. I know I overstepped. Can you come over for dinner or lunch so we can talk?
Tatum just stared at her phone, not exactly knowing how to respond. She just left it for now and walked into the kitchen with the others. Trying to cover up any emotion that they could possibly see.
"We don't have to stay here," Mindy said.
"Well, too bad. I insist. Safety in numbers," Sam said and Tatum looked around the group. Victoria, Liam, and Ethan weren't there. Some were at school others didn't give a reason.
"This'll be so fun. A little slumber party with the Core Six, minus Vicky!" Chad said.
"'Core Six?" Sam asked.
"Yeah," Chad said.
"Did you just give us a nickname?" Tara asked.
"I sure did. We've been through a lot together and it's a pretty cool nickname," Chad said.
"That's debatable," Sam said.
"It's extremely debatable," Tara said.
"You can't just give yourself a nickname, dingus," Mindy said.
"Of course, I can, dingus, because I just did," Chad said.
"I think it's fun," Tatum said with a smile knowing how the others would react. "Thank you, Tate," Chad said.
"Come on, Tatum. Really?" Tara said as a smile formed on her face. "What? I'm not gonna lie," Tatum said. "Core Six! Up top!" Chad said and he held his hand in front of Mindy. "No," Mindy said.
"Down low," he said to Tara. "Get that away from me," Tara said.
"Up top!" Chad said again but to Tatum this time. "Absolutely not," Tatum said.
"Please, for the love of god," Chad said as he held up his hand to Sam. "Don't do it," Mindy said.
"You know, I would like a little more respect and support from my fellow members of the Core Six," Chad said.
"Guys! What the hell?" Anika said from the living room. They walked in and saw the TV. "We're hearing from sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspect is none other than Samantha Carpenter, one of the survivors of the Woodsboro killings in 2022, seen here attacking a woman on the street last night," The reporter said and then the video of Sam played. Cutting out Tatum almost entirely.
"In the wake of the Woodsboro tragedy last year, rumors sprouted online that Carpenter was actually responsible for the killings, blaming the crimes on her boyfriend, Richie Kirsch, and teen Amber
Free-" Then the TV was shut off before he could finish. Sam walked into the dining room.
Tara followed her sister into the dining room. Tatum waited it out for a bit. Knowing the two sisters needed to talk. Tatum did hear one part of the conversation and so did Chad and Mindy. The three of them walked into the dining room and sat down to join in on reassuring Sam.
"Hey. Hey. Just a reminder, not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all been through some fucked-up stuff, and we are coping with it differently. But, I mean, we moved here together for one very specific reason. We are a team," Chad said.
"We are the Core Fucking Six," Mindy said.
"Thank you very much," Chad said.
"I hate myself," Mindy said.
"That is what I'm talking about. It's the Core Six," Chad said.
"Say it," Mindy said.
"I'm not gonna say it. I mean, yes, we're a team," Tara said and Tatum smiled at the interaction. "It's got a nice ring to it," Chad said.
"I've been sleeping with Cute Boy from across the hall," Sam said and Tatum high-fived Tara. "We fucking called it!" Tatum said.
"I knew it from the day you had that hickey," Mindy said causing everyone to laugh. It's been an ongoing theory that they've talked about for six whole months.
"I feel like we should high-five or something," Tara said.
"The Core Six High Five minus one, may we, please?" Chad asked.
"Don't call it that, but we'll do the high five," Tara said and everyone put their hands on top of each other. Sam's phone started ringing and Tara grabbed it and showed the table. "Is that him?" Tatum asked not being able to see the caller ID clearly.
"No. Tara. Not right now," Sam said and Tara held it up to her ear pretending to talk on it. "Hey, what are your intentions?" Tara said causing them all to laugh. "It's fine. I'll call him back," Sam said and she declined the call. "Poor guy," Mindy joked.
Then they heard moaning from Quinn's room. "Quinn and her gentleman caller are back at it again," Tara commented, then everyone's phone began beeping. Tatum pulled out her phone and saw Quinn being stabbed by Ghostface. The moans soon changed to screams for help.
They all stood from the table and ran towards the living room. Quinn screamed one final time before the room went completely silent. "Run," Mindy said and as she did the door burst open and Quinn's body fell into the group hitting Anika. Tara and Chad ran out the front door while the others helped Anika get Quinn off of her. "Oh, fuck," Mindy said and Ghostface walked up to her and cut her arm.
"Mindy! Stay the fuck back!" Anika yelled as she tried to fight off Ghostface. Tatum stood up and tried to find something to use to fight back. As she grabbed a lamp she heard Anika screaming in agony. Tatum hit Ghostface over the head with it, but it only affected him for a second. Then Sam came and hit him over the head with the knife block.
Tatum grabbed Anika with the help of Sam and they ran towards Quinn's room. Sam closed the door just as Ghostface swung his knife. She managed to lock the door right in time.
Tatum then looked and noticed that Quinn's bathroom leads out to the living room also. She saw Ghostface standing in the doorway. "Shit!" Tatum yelled as she slammed the bedroom door shut. "Someone help me!" Tatum yelled as she tried to hold the door closed as Ghostface banged on it. Sam started to push the dresser towards the door. Mindy took over holding the door and once the dresser was in place Tatum walked over to Anika.
Anika moved her hands to look at the wound and Tatum pushed them back on. "Keep applying pressure, okay? You're going to be okay," Tatum reassured and Anika nodded. Sam then ran over to the window and opened it. Sam started talking to someone and when Tatum looked she saw Cute Boy sliding a ladder out of his window.
"You have to come one at a time," she heard Cute Boy say. "You three go first. Mindy!" Sam yelled.
"What? No. Someone needs to hold the door," Mindy said and Tatum walked over. "I got it. Go," Tatum said.
"I got it! Sam go! I'll send Anika next." Mindy said and Tatum sighed and grabbed the ladder. "Sam, go," Tatum said and Sam started to crawl across the ladder. "Mindy! I'll take over holding the door. Hold the ladder," Tatum said as she let go of the ladder and quickly switched with Mindy.
Sam got about halfway through and Tatum told Anika to go, but she couldn't move. "Anika, you need to go now!" Tatum yelled barely able to hold the dresser to the door anymore. Mindy grabbed Anika and walked her to the window. "You have to go first," Mindy said.
"I can't," Anika sobbed and Tatum kept pushing the dresser to the door. Eventually, Mindy started to cross the ladder and as she got halfway across Tatum let go of the dresser. "Anika, you need to go across now. I'll be right behind you, okay?" Tatum said and Anika nodded. "You got this," Tatum reassured and she helped her through the window and onto the ladder.
Tatum held the ladder down as Anika crossed. Then a thought popped into her mind. Tatum let go of the ladder carefully and walked towards the door. "Tatum! What are you doing?" She heard Sam yell.
"Buying her some more time!" Tatum yelled back and she unlocked the bedroom door and ran out. She tried to make as much noise as physically possible to gain Ghostface's attention. She unlocked the front door and had her hand on the door handle.
Ghostface stood in the doorway of the bathroom. When she turned around she could see him looking at her with his head tilted as if he was confused by what she was doing.
He started walking towards her and Tatum flung the door open and started running down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder making sure Ghostface was following her.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and didn't hear any footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned around and didn't see Ghostface. "Shit," Tatum said as she looked up the staircase. Trying to see if she could find the black cloak or white mask, but she didn't see anything.
Before Tatum could go back up the stairs she heard footsteps. She turned to look, but it was too late. She was pinned to the wall behind her with a knife in her stomach. She looked to see Ghostface looking away from her as he dragged the knife up her torso. Tatum screamed as she felt the blood pouring down from her stomach.
She grabbed Ghostfaces face and made him look at her. "If you're going to kill me, you're going to look at me while you do it," Tatum said as she forced her to look at her.
Tara and Chad stood outside waiting for their friends to meet them out by the street. Tara and Chad shared a concerned look since they couldn't see any of their friends. They couldn't tell if they were okay. Tara just stared at the door until she eventually saw Sam, Mindy, and Cute Boy running out of the apartment.
"Where the fuck is Tatum and Anika?" Tara asked as she noticed that they were missing. "Tara-" Sam said who was also panicking.
Tara looked at Mindy's face which was tear-stained which answered one of her questions. "Mindy, I'm so sorry," Tara said, before any of them could answer they heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the apartment building. Tara didn't hesitate to run into the apartment building. The others followed close behind.
"Tatum!" Tatum heard Tara yell, but she couldn't focus on the voice. She was being murdered.
Ghostface looked towards the door before ripping the knife out of Tatum causing her to scream in agony. He walked off as Tatum sunk to the floor. She cradled her stomach hoping it would keep her from bleeding out. Giving herself time.
"Oh my god," Tara said as she noticed the girl in a pool of her own blood. The others joined her, looking at the horrible sight. Tatum was almost completely gutted. They were all frozen at the sight. Seeing such a close friend of theirs dying, they didn't know how to help her.
Tara knelt next to her to help apply pressure. Chad and Mindy shared a terrified look with each other as more tears streamed down Mindy's face. "Go get help!" Tara yelled as she heard sirens approaching the apartment.
"Go get the ambulance!" Tara yelled after not hearing anyone move. Chad ran out of the apartment to get the paramedic's attention.
"You're going to be okay," Tara said as she watched her friend slowly lose consciousness. "Tatum, keep your eyes open," Sam said as she knelt next to Tara.
"Where's Anika?" Tatum asked as she looked over the crowd, not seeing her. "She didn't make it, Tatum," Sam said as her heart sank at Tatum's expression. The only reason Tatum ran off was to give Anika enough time to get across. But it didn't work. "Damn it," Tatum said.
EMTs entered the apartment to assess Tatum. They practically had to tear Tara away from Tatum. A few seconds later Tatum was placed on a gurney and rushed to the ambulance as they tried to stabilize her.
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A/n- this is one of my favorite chapters I've written. It's so dramatic and I love it. Hope you guys enjoy it!!