Nico was lying in the hospital, waiting for the nurse to come back so she could put a cast on it. He had a broken hand, stitches on his left eyebrow, a few bruised bones, and a black eye. Nico's foster father, Dan, was not a good man. The smallest things that Nico did made Dan mad. late one minute, takes too long to grab him a beer, and he gets in trouble. It's a never-ending cycle. Today, Nico finally had the courage to leave his foster parents, whom he had known since he was eighteen. Well, that didn't work out since he was in the hospital getting his hand cast up and seven stitches to the forehead. Nico just laid there looking up at the ceiling until his phone went off. He picked it up and saw that it was Tara texting him. He smiled a little, opening the text message. 'Hey, you're still coming over,' the text message said, making Nico frown. 'Dan caught me sneaking out, and he was not too happy about it.' Nico texted.
Tara knew about the abuse, as did his friends. When things got really bad with Dan and Mary, he would stay with Tara or Chad. Wes said he could tell his mom, but Nico told him no; he didn't want to go to a group home. Nico is eighteen now. He just wanted to leave Woodsboro, but he couldn't leave Tara or his best friend, Chad. Dan and Mary, his foster mom, wouldn't let him leave; they said if he left, they would find him and make his life a living hell, even though they have been doing that since he was 10.
Nico's phone started ringing. Nico saw it was Tara, so he answered, "Are you okay?" Tara asked before Nico could even say hello, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I have some stitches and a cast, but I'm good." Nico said, "I should have canceled our plans, maybe." Tara went to say, but Nico cut her off: "It's not you, Tar; I'm okay after I get my cast on. I'll come see you, okay?" Nico said with a small smile, "Okay," and Tara said, "But it's probably going to be a while, so maybe you should ask Amber or Mindy to come over." Nico said, "Yeah, okay." Tara said, but Nico could tell she was a bit sad. "I'll bring your favorite ice cream," Nico said.
"Chocolate fudge brownie?" Tara asked, and Nico could tell that Tara was saying, "Yes, chocolate fudge brownie." Nick said with a smile that he went to say something, but the nurse came in. "Hey, the nurse just came in. I'll talk to you later." Nico said, "Okay, I love you." Tara said, making Nico freeze. Nico wasn't used to hearing those words; if anything, it kind of scared him if he said those three words back because he was afraid that she would leave just like everyone else did. "Uh, see you soon, bye," Nico said, then hung up and cursed himself. He loved Tara with all his heart, but he was scared. What he didn't know was that Tara was about to get attacked by something he just couldn't escape from.
•••
Tara was sad that Nico wasn't coming over until later, so she took his advice and texted Amber. 'Mom's out of town again.' You should come over here. Many binge-watch options'. Tara looked at the landline while walking over, checking who was calling. Not knowing the number, she rejected the call. Walking back over to where she was before seeing that Amber had responded, 'Have to do better,' Amber texted, 'Unlocked liquor cabinet,' which Tara sent. Amber replied with a "sold," causing Tara to smile. She grabs her inhaler and shakes it, placing it between her lips pushing her pointer finger down on the pump when the land line starts to ring again. 'What happened to Nico? Wasn't he supposed to come over?' Amber texted, 'Yeah, he's coming over later and told me to text you so I won't be alone.'Fucking land line won't stop ringing,' Tara sends to Amber. 'Is it still bothering you?" Amber sends it, causing Tara to toss her eyes as she walks to the landline to answer the call.
"Hello?" Tara asked as she answered, "Hello." The unknown person said with a pause, "Is Christina there?" the unknown person asked. "No, she is not available. May I leave a message?" Tara asked, heading out of the kitchen. "Uh, yeah, well, um," the unknown caller stuttered, "yeah, sorry. I'm a friend from her group—oh shit," the unknown caller said. Tara grabbed a small stool "from her shit?" Tara repeated with a grin, putting the small stool against the bookshelf. "Umm... look, just tell her I'm from the group," the unknown guy said. Tara stepped on the stool, reaching for the top shelf for the key to the liquor cabinet. "I'm Charlie. She got my number," Charlie said. "Or she goes to your group?" Tara asked, still looking for the key with her hand.
Tara finally finds the key. "I shouldn't have... um," 'Charlie' said with a pause as Tara stepped off the stool, "just tell her that Charlie called." 'Charlie' said. Tara started walking back to the kitchen, taking out her phone. "I will do exactly that, Charlie, once you tell me what kind of group we're talking about." Tara said as she started texting Amber, "Is it AA? NA?" Tara asked, 'Dude, I think this is my mom's new BF." Tara texted.
"You sound exactly like she describes you." 'charlie said as Tara waited for Amber to replied "She talks about me in group?" Tara asked 'Seriously???' Amber texted "I don't think I can really talk about that." 'Charlie said hesitated. "What does she say about me?" Tara said as she walked in the hallway to her front door grabbing the mail that was on the floor by the door. "She loves you very much." 'Charlie said "What does she love about me?" Tara said as she reached the front door "Oh,okay. Well" 'Charlie said thinking about it "She loves that you're creative." 'charlie said as she finished doing what she was doing "You love art and TV and movies." 'charlie said "Okay, well, lots of people love movies." Tara said with a scoff.
Tara reaches the kitchen "Yeah, but she says you love scary movies and that you guys have that in common. She's proud of making a fan out of you." 'Charlie said as Tara looked through the mail "She is?" Tara asked with a surprised tone. "Yeah. She told me the other day, she wonders..." 'charlie paused for a second then added "what's your favorite scary movie?" charlie said his voice changed at the end into a creeper voice. Tara not noticing that walking to the oven "Uh... The Babadook. It's an amazing meditation on motherhood and grief." Tara said, stirring the noodles.
'Charlie' laughs "Isn't that a little fancy pants?" 'Charlie' said "Well, it's elevated horror." tara said still stirring, "Uh-huh. What does that mean, "Elevated horror"?" 'charlie asked "It's scary but with complex emotional and thematic underpinnings. It's not just some schlocky, cheeseball nonsense with wall-to-wall jump scares." Tara said "Sounds kind of boring to me. Have you ever seen Stab?" 'charlie' asked
"Once, I think. At a sleepover when I was, like, 12." Tara said putting the spoon down on the counter "You live in Woodsboro and you don't know Stab?" 'Charlie' said as tara started playing with the knife in the knife holders. "Your mother loves that movie." 'Charlie continued "She talks about it all the time in group. How well do you remember the original?" 'Charlie' asked. "I don't know. I mean, it was super '90s." Tara said as she walked over to a cabinet. opening it "It was really over-lit and everyone had weird hair." Tara said, pulling out a drainer closing the cabinet.
"Uh-huh Do you remember the beginning?" 'Charlie asked as Tara put the drainer in the sink"Not really. It started with a kill scene, right? They always started with a kill scene." Tara said, grabbing the pot and draining the noodles. "Yeah, that's right. That's right. It's a girl at home, alone. She answers a wrong number and starts talking with the killer who makes her play a game." Charlie said as Tara puts the pot on the counter.
"Would you like to play a game..." 'charlie' said, causing tara to freeze "Tara?" 'charlie said in a creepy voice, making Tara hang up. Tara looks around pulling her phone going to the security app pressing the button that locks all doors. 'It was some psycho. Im locking all doors' tara texted amber
Tara walks to the back door, looking out the window, before closing the blinds. Tara looks around, then back at her phone. 'WTF? You okay' Amber texted Tara and went to reply, but the landline rang, making her jump. She turns around, breathing heavily. Her phone went off. You should answer it, the text said, causing Tara to look at the text confused. She looks up towards the landline and asks, How did you know my landline was ringing?' Tara texted that she got no response. Amber?" she sent
The three bumbles popped up: 'This isn't Amber', the text said, making Tara more scared. 'ANSWER THE PHONE BITCH'. Tara went to her contact and called 911. 'ANSWER THE PJONE OR AMBER DIE, the text said, making Tara rush to the landline and answering it, "This is fucking funny, Amber." Tara said, "I told you this is Amber." 'Ghostface said. Tara's phone chimed, and seeing it was a video link, she clicked it to see Amber sitting down and fixing her hair in the mirror. "Amber's looking particularly fetching tonight. She really shouldn't leave her phone lying around for anyone to clone. " 'Ghostface said "What do you want?" tara asked. "I told you, I want to play a game. Stab movie trivia, three rounds. You call the cops, she dies You get a question wrong, she dies. Her parents aren't home. I can be in that room in 15 seconds. You want a warm up question?" Ghostface asked. "I told you I don't know these movies! Ask me about something I do know. Ask me about It Follows. Ask me about Hereditary. Ask me about The Witch." Tara cried out
"In the first Stab movie, what Woodsboro native was introduced as the franchise's main character?" 'Ghostface asked, ignoring Tara. Tara thought about it for a second before remembering that it was Nico's cousin. "It's Sidney Prescott! It's Sidney Prescott, and she lived on Elm." Tara shouted. "Correct. You see, you're gonna do great at this," Charlie said happily. "Okay, question one..." 'Ghostface started, but Tara cut him off. "No, I got that one right. It should count." Tara said she breathed heavily with a frown. "Anyone could have gotten that one right. Sidney's in every movie but the last one." Ghostface said it in an obvious tone. "Question one: Who wrote the original book that the Stab movies are based on?" Ghostface asked. Tara thought about it. "Um, um, The -The chick from TV!" Tara stuttering. "The chick from TV" is not going to cut it, Tara." Ghostface said Tara's eyes watered, then widened when she remembered "Gale Weathers! It is Gale Weathers, you motherfucker!" Tara shouted, pacing back and forth, feeling proud that she got the answer.
"Correct. Amber might live to see the sunrise. Question two: Who played the dumb bitch at the beginning of Stab 1 who answers the phone and gets carved up by the killer?" Ghostface said it angrily. "Fuck you!" Tara said hiss out angrily. "Is that the answer you're going with?" Ghostface asked, making Tara sob. "A non-answer counts as a wrong answer, Tara." Ghostface said as Tara started looking up the stab cast. "Time's running out. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock..." Ghostface said, taunting Tara as she scrolled down and finally found the girl's name. "Heather Graham!" Tara yelled with a sigh at the end. "Correct! You pulled that one out." Ghostface said, making Tara let out a sob of relief. "Now for the final question: Who was the killer in Stab 1?" Ghostface asked. Tara cried until she remembered who one was. "I know this one, you fuck. It's Billy Loomis! He was Sidney's boyfriend, and he was played by Luke Wilson, and I got you, asshole! I got it!" Tara exclaimed happily, believing she had given the correct answer. I got it right!" Tara laughed dryly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Tara, but that's just not correct." Ghostface said, making Tara's smile vanish at those words. "What?" Tara asked, confused, and then looked at her phone. "No, no, it is. It is. That is right." Tara said "The correct answer is Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. There are two killers in the original Stab. I'm afraid someone's got to die now." Ghostface said
Tara looked at the video. "No, no, no. Amber, I'm coming." Tara said, putting the landline down, and then grabbed a knife, rushing towards the front door.
Fuck, fuck, fuck." Tara said as she opened the door, seeing ghostface standing there, causing her to scream. Ghostface slashes Tara's side, making Tara punch Ghostface in the face. Tara slams the door repeatedly as Ghostface tries to reach in and stab her. Tara rams the door into Ghostface's arm, hardly making Ghostface remove his arm. Tara slams the door when Ghostface removes their arm and locks the door, then she backs away from the door, crying and holding her wound. She looks down at it, examines it, and then takes out her phone.
"Systems armed." the automatic voice said with a message at the bottom, 'System Status: Emergency! Police Called.
Ghostface banged on the door, making Tara jump and whimper. Tara looked at the ground and picked up the knife. "The police are on their way, asshole!" Tara shouted, The banging continues as Tara backs up towards the kitchen
The banging stops. 'All systems disarmed.' The automatic voice made Tara look at her phone. Doors unlocked, she said, pressing the button Systems armed. All systems disarmed. "Oh, my God. No," Tara cried out
Systems armed. All systems disarmed. Systems armed. All systems disarmed. Systems armed. The automated voice said, Tara cried as she was afraid for her life as she kept trying to lock the door.
The phone rang, making her scream and jump, turning towards the ringing. She walks towards the landline on the counter as she pockets her phone. Tara hesitated, picked up the phone with her bloody hand, and answered it. "Hello?" she said, scared. "Bonus question, Tara." Ghostface said, "Please stop." Tara begged
"Do you think I made it inside your house before you could rearm?" Ghostface asked, but before she could say anything, Ghostface grabbed her from behind, stabbing her in the stomach. Ghostface shoved her to the counter. Tara turned and hit Ghostface in the face, making Ghostface grunt. Ghostface angrily grabbed Tara by her hair and threw her onto the floor. Ghostface grabs Tara's leg, causing Tara to kick Ghostface in the torso. Not liking that, Ghostface slams his foot down, breaking Tara's leg. Tara screams in pain as Ghostface leans down and flips her on her back.
"Too bad your boyfriend isn't here to protect you," Ghostface said as he went to slam the knife into Tara, but Tara blocked it, making it go into her hand. Tara looks at her hand and screams. Ghostface forces the knife out as Tara kicks Ghostface off of her, making Ghostface fall and hit his head on the counter. Tara sobs as she tries to crawl away, but Ghostface looks at her and slowly gets up and walks towards Tara. "Help!" Tara yelled as she heard the police siren. Tara tries to reach for the door, but Ghostface drags her away and starts stabbing her twice in the back two times before turning her around. "No! No, no, no!" Tara yelled as Ghostface went to bring the knife down. Tara's last thought was Nico before everything went black.
~~~
Nico's inability to say I love you to Tara because no one ever said it to him or showed him beside her breaks my heart. Nico is definitely going to blame himself for not protecting Tara.
this is the first chapter of my Tara carpenter book I hope you enjoy it.
have a good day, evening and night.