❛ THE DUMB BLONDE! ❜
A COUPLE DAYS HAD PASSED AND the group of eight were sitting at the courtyard outside of Blackmore University. Sadie sat between Anika and Quinn, all three of them discussing the lastest episodes of 'Outer Banks', until Mindy jumped up from her spot on the other side of Anika.
Chad's head popped up from the make up work he was completing. He had gotten released two days ago, and from what the doctors had said he would be back to normal in a week or so. Quinn had kicked herself for not executing the plan like they had wanted.
"Alright, listen up!" Mindy shouted as she clapped her hands together. All conversations came to a stop as everyone looked up at her. "As terrifying as this all is, I, for one, am glad to have a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time." She shook her head. "It's fine. The way I see it is; someone is out to make a sequel to the requel."
"Um, what's a requel?" Anika asked in confusion, throwing her hand into the air. Sadie nodded, also confused on what exactly a requel was.
"You're beautiful, sweetie. Let's hold questions until the end," Mindy pointed to her girlfriend, smiling at her. Anika scrunched her nose up in response to Mindy's attitude.
"Stab 1 took place in Woodsboro, Stab 2 took place in college," Sam thought aloud. Sadie rolled her eyes at their assumptions and wished they would stop talking altogether. They were never going to figure it out anyways. Not with a plan as good as theirs.
"So we think the killers are copying the movies?" Tara asked. No, you fucking idiot, we're not.
"That is one possibility. Hero's now in college, suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list and or body count." Mindy's body spun around to Ethan as she began to point at each new added person in the group. "Check, check, check, and check." Damn, she even pointed at her own girlfriend.
"I don't like this," Ethan said nervously, wiping his palms onto his jeans. Sadie shot her boyfriend a harsh glare, one that made him shut up instantly.
"But it can't just be about Stab 2," Mindy continued, looking at the group like all of it was so painfully obvious.
"Why not?" Tara questioned.
Mindy threw her hands out towards Tara, "It would make sense if this were just a sequel, but we're not in a sequel because nobody just make sequels anymore! We're in a franchise!" She smiled big at her discovery. "And there are certain rules to a franchise."
"I had a feeling," Sam commented lowly with her head down. Sadie and Quinn shared a small, humorous glance quickly. The two girls thought it was hilarious seeing all of the stress they were putting the group through. After all, they did kill Richie and Sadie was everything like her Uncle.
"Rule one: everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count," Mindy explained, throwing out her hands for each thing she listed. "Longer chases, shoot-outs, beheadings. You gotta top what came before to keep people coming back."
Sadie's eyebrows quirked at the mention of beheadings, admiring Mindy's taste. She wasn't opposed to beheading Mindy right then and there if she didn't stop talking soon. But, nevertheless, she put on a disturbed face at what Mindy was describing.
"Beheadings?" Chad asked his twin as he looked up from his notebook, pointing his pen at her.
"Beheadings," Mindy confirmed as she pointed back at him. "Rule two: whatever happened last time, expect the opposite! Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whiney, snowflake, film nerds with Letterboxd accounts instead of actual personalities, you can be the opposite will be true here."
Sadie watched as Ethan raised his eyebrows and then put his head down as Mindy spoke badly about his brother. Sadie's tongue swiped across her teeth and Quinn's whole body tensed up at the mention of Richie. Quinn fought the beating urge to gut that nosey bitch.
"And rule three: no one is safe," Mindy continued, unfortunately. "Legacy characters? Cannon fodder at this point. Usually brought back only to be killed off in some cheap bid for nostalgia. It's not looking too good for Gale and Kirby," She cringed. "Oh, and that's not even the worst part!"
"Oh, this is the part where she tells us the worst part," Chad said. Sadie looked in between the two of them, waiting for Mindy to finish her bullshit speech.
Mindy smiled at Chad. "The worst part is: franchises are just continuing episodic installments designed to boost an IP. Which means, main characters are completely expendable now, too."
Sadie felt her skin tingle at the thought of finally being able to bring Tara and Sam's life to an end. Mindy was right about one thing: the main characters definitely aren't safe. Her eyes met Ethan's that held just as much arousal.
"Laurie Strode. Nancy Thompson, Ellen Ripley, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bond— I mean even Luke Skywalker all died so their franchises could live on!" Mindy yelled, trying to get her message through the group of uninterested people sitting before her. Sure, it was all good information, but none of them were reading as deep into it as she was. "That means it's not just the friend group. Any of us could go at any time, especially Sam and Tara." She finalized.
"Wait, any of us?" Ethan asked in a nervous tone. Mindy gave him a stern nod. "Does- Am I in the friend group?"
"Yeah."
Sadie sent him a weird look that indicated she had no clue what he was about to say. She could only hope it was nothing stupid.
"Am I like one of the targets for the-?" Mindy hummed in response, her lips pressed in a tight, thin line. "Am I gonna die a virgin?"
Everyone in the group scrunched their face up at his question. All for Sadie who sent a harsh glare his way. One that she hoped no one but her boyfriend had noticed. Why would he say that? Where did that thought even come from?
Quinn struggled to keep her laughter in as she placed a hand over her mouth to conceal her smile. Sadie nudged her in the side to get her to stop, which only made the urge to giggle stronger for Quinn. Anika sent him a sympathy smile that made Sadie want to snap her neck in two. He wasn't a virgin. Ethan was far from being a virgin.
"That was a weird overshare," Mindy said awkwardly.
Ethan refused to look at his girlfriend. She could feel the daggers of her green eyes piercing his neck from the side. He wished he could take the comment back. He wasn't thinking about her feelings, only about how he could keep up his innocent persona, and that was the problem itself. Ethan shook his head, telling himself he would make it up to her later.
"However, it brings us to our current suspects; Ethan Landry! The shy, dorky guy that no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky," Mindy looked around at the group in obliviousness.
"Okay, wait, why am I on the suspect list?" He asked, trying to defend himself. "Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?" Ethan pointed to Chad with an almost offended expression on his face.
"Roommate lotteries can be juked!" Mindy shouted in debate. "You could've fixed it to get next to us!" Ethan rolled his eyes sassily, making Sadie bite back a smile.
"Sadie!" Mindy moved away from Ethan and over to his girlfriend. Sadie tilted her head at Mindy with a glimmer in her eye. This wouldn't be the first time Mindy pointed fingers at Sadie. "The dumb blonde! Who portrays the innocent, helpless girl so well, that no one wouldn't even think to bat an eye at the thought of her being a crazed killer."
Sadie felt her heartbeat up in excitement. She loved the thrill of it all, but she pulled herself back into reality and placed a frown on her glossed lips. "I'm not a crazed killer."
"Sure," Mindy shrugged. "Quinn! The slutty roommate! A horror movie classic." She chef kissed the air.
Quinn's face dropped, "Sex positive, but thank you?"
"Mhm. How did you come to live with Sam and Tara?" Mindy questioned accusingly. Sadie's eyes connected with Ethan's, both fed up that Mindy was again prying. For her own sake, and life, it would be better for her to just leave it all alone.
"I answered their online ad," Quinn responded, glancing over to Tara and Sam who both nodded in conformation.
"Okay, say no more, you've already implicated yourself enough!" Mindy screamed at Quinn, who looked away from her in fear.
"It was an anonymous ad, Mindy," Tara stool up for her. "And you know we vetted her! Plus, her dad is a cop."
"And that makes it even more likely that she is the killer because having a cop dad is a great coverage. Do you not remember how these movies work, Tara?" Mindy snapped at her friend, leaning down to her face. Tara rolled her eye.
"Is she always like this?" Quinn asked as her and Sadie looked over at Sam in distaste for the girls attitude. Of course, they both knew she was and that her curiousness just might lead to her death. But who were they to tell any of their "friends" that? Sam only nodded to the two girls in response.
"And finally... Anika!" Mindy said sweetly, opening her arms out to her girlfriend. Anika smiled back at her in admiration, also sending her an air kiss. "Never trust the love interest." Her face dropped.
"Okay," Sam shifted in her seat. "So, we have our rules and we have our suspects."
"Wait, wait, wait. What about you guys?" Ethan interrupted her.
"I mean, I think it's pretty safe to rule the four of us out, who went through this last year in Woodsboro," Mindy said in a dull tone, confused on why any of them would be considered a suspect. Sadie narrowed her eyes in on the girl.
"Agreed," Chad chimed in.
"Not agreed," Quinn shook her head. "What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?" Sam looked over at Quinn in betrayal at her assumption. Sadie opened her mouth to back Quinn up but quickly shut it when she saw Tara's eyes on her.
"Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more." Ethan eyed all of them. "I mean, let's be honest here, some of the theories online about Sam are-"
"Don't you fucking dare," Tara said sternly. Sadie's body tensed at the way she was talking to her boyfriend. Ethan only winded his eyes in awkwardness.
"I mean, she's right though," Anika finally spoke up. "Face facts, if we're all suspects, you're all suspects."
"And who's to say one of you doesn't have a damn good motive?" Sadie added.