The group headed back to their separate personal residencies. Annika and Mindy roomed together—it was how the two had met, after all—while Chad and Ethan roomed together, and Ella shared a dorm with a sweet and playful roommate named Ashley. The Carpenter sisters had their own apartment, which they shared with a friendly, flirtatious girl named Quinn that Ella had only met briefly through hellos exchanged across the street once or twice. Chad insisted on walking Tara home, much to Mindy, Annika and Ella's amusement, so the rest of them headed back to the college dorms without him.
"You should stay over at my dorm." Ethan suggested. "Since Chad's gone anyway. We could cuddle."
Ella giggled, nudging him playfully as they walked the streets back to the campus dorm building. "I've gotta change out of my outfit, silly. This dress is cute, but not exactly ideal for sleepwear."
"I could help you change out of it." Ethan offered. Ella laughed, shoving his chest again playfully as they paused outside the doors to the college building.
"Tempting offer, but I've also gotta wash off my make-up and stuff. I refuse to ever make the mistake of falling asleep with make-up on. My skin can't handle that, thank you very much."
Ethan pouted. "Fine. But will you come to my dorm right after?"
"What if one of the guys on your floor sees me there?" Ella teased. "We'll get caught. Guys and girls aren't supposed to be on each other's floors"
"No-one will care." Ethan wrapped her in his arms. "Come on; we haven't gotten to sleep together in a long long time. It'd be nice to spend the night cuddling again."
"Cuddling?" Ella said teasingly. "Cuddling only?"
"Maybe a little more." Ethan admitted. "If you wanted to."
Ella grinned up slyly. "I think it's more if you want too."
Ethan groaned against her. "Don't tell me it's just me." He said desperately. "Tell me you've wanted me too." As much as I want you. "You can't say you haven't missed me at all, can you, baby?"
It was true. The two of them hadn't had sex in almost months. Chad was always in their dorm; and there'd be occasional nights where Ashley went out, but some of those nights Ella still had to study, so Ethan would come over to cuddle but not much else. The couple hadn't had much time to themselves, and while the kisses and cuddles and hugs were adorable, Ella admittedly felt her body warming up at Ethan's touch too. "Maybe a little bit." She pursed her lips, trying to bite back a smile. She failed miserably as Ethan grinned, nuzzling into her neck.
"I knew it." He murmured, placing soft kisses against her. "So my place?"
"Your place." Ella agreed, giggling. "Ashley's up studying for a Chem test she has tomorrow so I suppose I'll drop by to change and grab some clothes and then after visiting the girl's restroom I'll head to your room."
"I should probably change too." Ethan laughed. "Oh shit, I stole Anika's hat earlier too—or I should say, we traded. I should probably return that to her."
"Hand it to me; I'll give it to Mindy when I see her tomorrow." Ella suggested.
"Sure thing." Ethan took off the orange hat and handed it to her. The two of them walked inside, and entered the elevator. The girl's dorm was on floor four, while the guys lived on floor three. When the elevator door opened to the third level, Ethan pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before exiting the box. "I'll be waiting for you in my dorm." He told her, a shy smile on his face. Ella smiled back adoringly, a blush on her cheek. It was strange, she thought. How quickly they went from bold and flirtatious to shy, awkward lovers. How quickly Ethan could switch from being an eager, enthusiastic and almost possessive individual yet turn his face and instantly appear innocent and sweet and kind again.
Honestly, Ella enjoyed seeing both sides of him. She adored Ethan's sweet, dorky side—she loved that side of him with all her heart. She loved how shy he'd get sometimes, how embarrassed. And then she loved when suddenly he'd flip a switch, and instead of being embarrassed or shy he'd suddenly be jealous and possessive. She'd be lying if she said she didn't like that side of Ethan as well.
After all, she had to say: as sweet and cute he was with her in public, she secretly enjoyed it a lot more when he was almost more cruel and vicious in bed. It made for some fun nights. She'd been surprised the first time they'd had sex—how he'd started out so innocent and sweet and shy, but then turned into a much more darker, vicious version of himself. He'd apologized profusely the next morning, face red and pressing hundreds of kisses against her neck in apology but she'd laughed it off. If she was being honest, she secretly adored how much rougher he was. She enjoyed the dirty-talk, the possessiveness, and the way he knew how to mix pleasure with pain.
Or really she loved it not-so-secretly. She was pretty sure Ethan knew that much by now; otherwise the boy would've stopped if he felt it made her uncomfortable. He was sweet like that. He was kind, and caring, and innocent and adorable; yet he had an almost sadistic streak to him in bed: where he'd leave punishing hickeys all down her neck that were nearly impossible to cover even with make-up, or made her beg before giving her what she wanted. The way his two very contrasting yet somehow oh-so-similar personalities mixed and met made her only adore him all that much more.
God, she really loved her boyfriend.
Ella stepped out of the elevator and onto her floor. She moved down the hallway before stopping outside her room: C-303. She knocked, before inserting the key and stepping inside. As expected, her roomate Ashley was up studying, scrolling through her computer screen as she analyzed her notes, eyes squinted together in concentration. She didn't bother to look up when the door opened Ella tossed the orange hat onto her bed. She closed the door and greeted her roommate. "Hey, Ash."
"Hiya." Ashley replied, pausing briefly from her computer to look up and scan the girl quickly from head to toe. "You look amazing. I'm sorry I couldn't help you get ready for the party with Anika and the other girls."
"You're fine." Ella grinned, bending over to take off her heels. "I know how much you wanted to go to the OKB party too; your Chem teacher's a real ass."
"He really is." The blonde girl moaned, throwing her head back in despair. "Who the fuck assigns a test the day after a holiday? That asshole knows it means we'll be forced to study on Halloween night. Fucker."
Ella laughed as she removed her wings and halo, setting them aside. "If it's any condolence, the party really wasn't all that: just booze and drugs and horny teenagers grinding up on each other. At least the DJ wasn't bad."
Ashley groaned. "I wish we could trade places; you didn't even wanna go to that party."
"Nope." Ella agreed, popping the p. "But getting ready with Mindy and Annika was nice."
"Bet your boyfriend appreciated the effort too." Ashley winked suggestively.
Ella smiled shyly. "Pity I have to take everything off before I go to him."
"Go to hi—gurl?" Ashley demanded, laptop and notes and chemistry completely forgotten. "Holy shi—you're getting laid tonight." She realized.
Ella laughed, her cheeks slightly pink. "That is the plan, yes."
"Well cheers to that." The blonde lifted her hydro-flask before taking a sip of the water inside. "You have fun." She paused. "Wait, where's his roommate? Chad?"
"With Tara." Ella giggled. Ashley gasped.
"No way. He finally made a move?!" She gaped in disbelief. "Damn it, I lost my bet with Mindy. She said he'd do it sometime this week—I gave them two more. Ugh, fuck her! And fuck him too."
"You have a bet going on?" Ella laughed, unbuttoning her white dress and slipping one shoulder off. "Damn, you should've let me know; I would've loved to join."
"So they fucked?" Ashley groaned. "Or kissed? Either way, anything official?"
"Not yet." Ella admitted, unbuttoning the rest of her outfit and slipping the dress off entirely. "I don't know for certain yet, but he offered to walk her home and I'd bet—if there wasn't any interference—they've definitely kissed by now."
Ashley grumbled. "Well find out for certain for me; I owe Mindy and Annika a full-paid meal at Freddy's Diner on 19th if I lose this."
Ella raised an eyebrow. "Is this the start of a gambling addiction?" She teased.
"As if." Ashley rolled her eyes. "Mindy got me to agree to it when we were drunk, the bitch."
"Sounds like Mindy, yep." Ella giggled. The girl slipped off her white stockings, leaving her bare in her matching white bra and underwear. She paused, examining herself. "Should I keep the bra on?"
"I mean?" Ashley quirked her head to the side. "He's probably going to rip it off anyways, right?"
Ella was good friends with Tara and Mindy and Anika, but she'd also become incredibly close to her roommate in their time together at Blackmore. After she and Ethan officially had sex for the first time, Ashley was the first to know—not just because she was a good friend, but also because admittedly Tara wasn't the type of friend you shared those escapedes with, while Mindy never would've believed "innocent, dorky" Ethan was ever capable of being so rough. To be fair, Ashley had been shocked too—but at least Ashley wouldn't tease the fuck out of Ethan the way Mindy would if she knew the details of their sex life.
"Probably." Ella acknowledged, tilting her head. "I'll be better off without. Would hate to accidentally leave it behind and leave poor Chad to find it." Ashley snickered at the thought. Ella crossed her arms and grabbed either side of her bra, before slipping the material off.
Ashley raised an eyebrow, whistling. "Thanks for the free show. I appreciate the view."
Ella turned bright red, quickly grabbing a shirt and throwing it over herself as she struggled to get it on in her panicked hurry. "Look away! Pervert!"
"You didn't give me much of a warning." Ashley said dryly, amusement coloring her tone. "But I gotta say: nice tits."
"Thanks." Ella grumbled, wrestling her shirt on. "But they're not for you to admire."
Ashley shook her head. "Ethan's a lucky, lucky man. I mean, a girl with a face as pretty as yours, a body as sexy as yours, and a personality as beautiful as yours—the guy's not half-bad looking himself, but he really hit the jack-pocket with you. Pity I couldn't bag you first." She joked.
Ella laughed. "You're sweet; but we both know I'm no model." Ella's body was average—B sized tits, a bit of a belly when she overindulged in sweets too much (which was pretty often) and rather thick thighs, with a decently curved ass. She wasn't a skinny girl, but she wasn't thick either—she was at that middle stage where sometimes, when she wasn't feeling the self-love, she couldn't help but think that she wasn't big enough but wasn't skinny enough at the same time. It was a real struggle.
Ethan always made her feel loved though. Honestly, Ethan and Ashley both. Ella wasn't an incredibly insecure person; she had a decent amount of self-confidence and self-love. But sometimes she still got a little self-conscious, but Ethan would always kiss those worries away with sweet promises of how much he loved her; her body, her face, her whole beautiful self. And Ashley was the sweetest, best-friend of a roommate ever. She adored them both.
Ashley shook her head. "Girlfriend, you put models to shame." It was a lie, and Ella knew that; but it was the sweet lie that best friends always told each other to hype each other up and she appreciated the effort. "If Ethan ever disappoints, just know that I'm available any time."
"Haha, thanks. I'll be sure to take up that offer should the chance ever occur." Ella giggled. "But just know it's unlikely."
Ashley pouted. "Pity."
"Funny enough though: a guy made a similar offer to me at the party today." Ella said, tilting her head as she examined the black sharpie marks against her arm—the guy hadn't written the numbers too big, thankfully, but they were still clearly visible.
"In front of Ethan?" Ashley sat up, interest caught. "Ooh, how'd that go?"
"Not in front of Ethan." Ella shook her head, causing Ashley to pout again.
"Aww, boo. I bet he would've had one hell of a cute reaction."
"He still did." Ella laughed lightly. "When he saw the guy wrote his number on my arm."
Ashley's eyes widened. "The bastard wrote on your arm? Lemme see!" She moved forward, snatching Ella's wrist up and holding it to the light. "The bitch. Want me to go castrate him?"
Ella laughed, removing her hand gently. "As much as I appreciate the offer, you have Chem, remember?"
Ashley groaned, throwing her head back against the pillow as she sighed. "Why'd you have to remind me?"
Ella grinned, picking up her phone from her bedside drawer. "Looove you."
"I love you too." Ashley blew a kiss. "Mwah. Now get out and go get that dick."
Ella choked. Ashley laughed at her reaction, as the girl blushingly grabbed her bag of skincare and quickly left the room, closing the door shut.
She made her way down the hallway to where the bathroom was: thank god every girl on the floor was up to girl code—the girls kept the bathroom spotless. Sure, when girls were inside it would be a mess and there'd be products and make-up and skincare lying everywhere. But afterwards, they always cleaned up after themselves to keep the place neat and organized.
Ella set down her bag, and began her skin-care routine. She made sure to use an oil cleanser first to wipe off all the make-up, then double-cleansed. As she washed her face, her phone suddenly rang—some unknown caller—buzzing against the table.
Ella didn't really pick up unknown calls; most of the time, she just answered the phone only to immediately swipe it left and end the call. It's what she would've done, but her hands were a little busy, and by the time she'd finished drying her face the phone had already stopped buzzing anyway. The girl tilted her head, curious, but ultimately decided to ignore it and swiped the notification off.
It took her a solid twenty-minutes, and normally took a little longer but she was in a rush to get to Ethan that night. She didn't want to keep her poor boyfriend waiting. So she quickly brushed her teeth, and combed through her hair. Then she put her stuff away, and quickly left the bathroom. She paused by her room to drop her stuff off, blowing one last goodbye kiss to Ashley, who returned the action, before heading to the elevator.
She waited for it to arrive then made her way inside and pressed the number 3. The box hummed as it slid down, before finally sliding open. The hallway was mostly empty, though one brunette boy passed her and did a double-take. He watched—not with a perverted gaze, thankfully—as she knocked on Ethan's boy. He whistled, nodding in approval to whatever lucky dude was in there before continuing his way back to his room.
Ella barely had to wait a single second; the door slammed open almost immediately after she knocked, and Ethan appeared—wearing a simple black button up tee paired with a pair of comfortable-looking sweatpants.
"Hey—" She started, about to apologize for taking a while before Ethan slammed his lips suddenly against hers, pulling her in for a harsh kiss. She moaned against his lips in surprise as he pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them quickly with a slam.
He pressed her up against the back of the door, sliding his hands underneath her shirt as their tongues met. He slid the warm, wet muscle into her mouth, and she moaned at the feeling—he still tasted faintly of booze and wine, likely from the party. It was a stark contrast against her minty-fresh breath, since she'd just finished brushing her teeth. She didn't mind, though. Wine wasn't her favorite taste, but Ethan definitely was.
They continued kissing each other, Ethan devouring her lips in a hungry manner—as though he were a starved man who'd never eaten once in his life, and she was the first and only meal he'd ever had and ever planned to have.
They finally broke apart with a gasp, only to get some air. "That was...certainly an enthusiastic greeting." Ella chuckled against him as uneven breaths left her.
"I missed you." Ethan whispered, nuzzling into her neck. "You were taking too long."
Ella moaned lightly at the feeling as he nipped gently at her skin. "How long has it been since we've done this?" Ethan whispered against her softly, trailing warm, wet kisses against her skin.
"Forever." Ella breathed back, grinding herself against him. Ethan moaned.
"You make me so impatient." In one swift movement, he removed her from the door and turned her around. The dorm was small, and it only took two steps and a shove and Ella felt her back hit the smooth material on Ethan's mattress. She let out a squeak of surprise when Ethan crawled onto the bed, positioning himself above her. His eyes were dark, and he scanned her body in an almost predatory way as he licked his lips hungrily. She felt her heart flutter.
He wasn't usually like this; normally he would start out sweet and maybe even a little shy, before he grew a little bolder and eventually revealed his bolder personality. But it was clear Ethan was in no mood to take it slow today. He wanted her. Badly.
"Don't be too loud." The boy brought his face to hers, whispering against her mouth. Their lips brushed up against each other, and she could feel each and every individual movement of his lips as he spoke. "I don't want the other guys on our floor to hear you." His dark brown eyes raised to meet her own. "They don't deserve that honor. That pleasure belongs to me and me alone."
"Yes, Ethan." She whispered against his lips, arching her back desperately against him. "Whatever you say." She just wanted him to kiss her again already, damn it.
He smiled against her, a chuckle leaving his lips as though he'd heard her thoughts, before he leaned in.
The heat of their mouths as they moved in tandem against one another burned. Ethan kissed her hungrily, and Ella responded with equal enthusiasm, exhaling soft gasps and moans. Any time she got too loud, the boy would shush her with his lips against hers, nibbling lightly or even biting harshly to remind her.
Their hands were already holding onto each other's bodies, but now Ethan began to let his fingers roam. He moved down the girl's shirt slowly; she was wearing an oversized white tee with a pair of comfy volleyball shorts that barely covered her butt. With a burst of dark, malicious rage, Ethan realized that any guy who'd walked down the halls would've basically been able to see her ass. It took a considerable amount of self-restraint to stop himself from grabbing the knife hidden underneath his mattress and head out to start stabbing every last tiny motherfucker in sight. Only he got to see her adorable ass, damn it.
Ethan's hands found their way underneath the girl's shirt, and he traced her soft stomach up to the plump, round and smooth skin of her breasts. His breath stuttered to a halt when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra. She smiled against his lips. "Thought it'd be unnecessary." She explained.
Ethan moaned, and his hands roamed her soft breasts. He squeezed her soft, malleable flesh, and she let out a moan, a slightly strangled sound of pain in the back of her throat when he twisted on her nipple. "Ethan." She begged. Just his name.
Fuck it. "Angel." He moaned against her. "You're making this so difficult for me. I wanted to take it a little slow at least, but you're really testing my patience."
"Screw patience." Ella huffed against him as his hands continued tracing her breasts. "I need you, Ethan. Please."
Ethan's eyes darkened with desire as he looked at her. Her messy hair, uneven breaths, and oh-so-innocent, pleading eyes looking up at his. He nearly came undone at the sight of her alone. She was so fucking beautiful.
"Damn it, Ellie." Ethan moaned against her. "How can I say no to you when you beg me like that?"
Ethan slid one shoulder slip of her tee-shirt off, biting onto her shoulder as she tensed with pain, then let out a shuddering breath. He kept one hand to the small of her back, keeping ahold of her, while the other slid down to her booty shorts, readying to slip them off—
Suddenly, the door was slammed open. "Hey, Ethan, have you seen Ell—? Oh, fuck!" Mindy's surprised voice exclaimed.
Ella gasped, whipping her head around. Ethan immediately grabbed onto her before she could, flipping them so that their positions were switched and she was no longer in view of the people who'd just arrived.
Mindy's eyes were wide with surprise, eyeing the two and whistling appreciatively. "Damn, Landry. Nice moves."
Ella moved from under him, her face flushed as she greeted her friend. "Er—hey, Mindy."
"Hey back." The girl said in amusement. "Looks like we interrupted something."
"You did." Ethan agreed. "So if you don't mind, you could just move along there—"
Anika snorted from her position at the doorway, next to her girlfriend. "Calm yourself, Landry. You guys are needed. Well, mainly Ella is."
Ethan frowned, scowling. "What do you guys need Ellie for?"
"We were busy." The girl added with a helpful pout.
Mindy snickered. "Yes, we can see that; but unfortunately Sam has called all of us back to her apartment for something. Chad called me a moment ago. They want us to meet up over there."
Ethan sighed. "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes, lover boy." Mindy snapped. "Now get your ass moving. You two better meet Anika and I down by the lobby in five."
Anika giggled. "Sorry for interrupting though, by the way." She added, before closing the door with a wink.
Ethan groaned, letting his body fall back down onto Ella's. The girl giggled against him. "That's a real pity; guess we'll have to reschedule this to another date."
"I can't believe this is happening." Ethan moaned. "We just needed a few more minutes. We could've been done in ten. Did they really have to interrupt?"
"Sounds like whatever it is, it's at least a little bit serious." Ella shuffled so that Ethan's entire body weight wasn't on her. "We should get going."
"I'm going to kill them." The boy grumbled against her, but he got off and helped her up.
The two fixed their clothes, and Ethan leaned over to rummage through a pile of his clothes as he picked out a large, black hoodie. "Here, put this on." He said.
Ella blinked, tilting her head. "Hm?"
"It's cold outside." He explained. "Besides, your breasts are peeking through and your shorts barely cover your ass. If another man—or woman, even—saw you like this, I just might have to kill them." He said jokingly. (Not.)
Ella giggled. "Okay. No probs." She slipped the outfit on. "Thank you."
The large hoodie was oversized even on him—on her, it hung to her knees. Ethan stood up, and held Ella's hand as she slipped off his bed. The two left the room, and walked through the hallway. They passed one other guy on their way to the elevator, who barely glanced at them—his gaze centered on some tiktok video playing on his phone.
They met Mindy and Annika downstairs, outside the building doors. The two girls had already flagged down a cabbie. Anika and Mindy were already sitting in the back seats, forcing Ethan to take the front seat as his girlfriend sat down in the back with the other girls. He scowled, and Mindy grinned, sticking out her tongue. Ethan flashed her his middle finger in response, when Ella wasn't looking.
"Oh yeah, Ethan." Anika added as their taxi made its way through the busy streets of nighttime New York. "Where's my hat?"
"Oh, that; I gave it to Ellie." The boy blinked.
"Oh I left it in my dorm room," Ella said sheepishly. "I didn't think I'd be seeing the two of you again tonight. Sorry."
"You're fine." Anika shrugged. "You can give it back to me anytime you want; not like I'll be using it again anytime soon."
"You looked cute in your hat." Ella giggled. "Your entire outfit is adorable, really. I thought the knife on the orange pumpkin hat was a unique idea."
"Thank you." Anika grinned, nudging her. "You looked gorgeous in that angel outfit yourself. Bet Ethan immediately got a hard-on when he saw you."
Mindy made a face, ("Oh, ew, gross!") while Ethan protested furiously. "Oh shut up, Anika!"
The girl laughed. "Joking, only joking!" She promised, before winking at Ella and whispering, "He definitely had a hard-on."
Ella blushed, her face a bright red. Her flushed expression had barely cooled down by the time their taxi driver dropped them off at the street of Sam and Tara's building. The last one out, Mindy paid the driver, and they drove off as the four enter the building. They raced up the steps together to the floor Sam and Tara were on, and Ella politely knocked on the door before Chad opened it.
"Took you guys long enough." He snapped. "Look."
"Hello to you too, douchebag." Mindy greeted dryly as they stepped inside. Chad led them to the living room, where Mindy plopped herself onto one sofa comfortable. Ethan sat on another, pulling Ella onto his lap.
"What was so important you needed all of us to come?" Anika asked, moving to the kitchen to make a bag of popcorn.
"Sam asked for it." Chad sighed. "There was some news of a murder and it got her paranoid."
Ethan frowned. "There's always a murder or some sort of crime or robbery or death going on in New York. What's so important about this one?"
"Apparently some college students were killed." Chad admitted. "She didn't feel safe with all of us out; asked for Mindy and Ella to come back."
"She doesn't seriously think this is linked to Ghostface, does she?" Mindy said dryly.
"Probably." Tara huffed, joining the girl on the couch as she sat down next to her. "She's in her room, grabbing a bunch of stuff in case we need to go."
"Ghostface?" Ethan questioned. "Like the dude that targeted you guys last year?" He'd heard a general knowledge of what had happened to them in Woodsboro from Ella's accounts.
"Dudes." Mindy corrected. "There were multiple."
"Two, to be specific." Tara rubbed her temples.
"Oh, right." Ethan said, as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and leaned back, pulling her with him. "My bad."
"Someone turn on the television." Sam ordered when she entered the room. There was an attractive man behind her that Ella had never seen before.
"Who's that?" She asked curiously.
"Sam's new boyfriend." Tara snickered.
Sam flushed. "Is not."
"Am not." The man agreed, nodding. "I'm just the neighbor. I paused by to help with something. What's going on?"
"I'm sure you did help with something." Mindy snickered. Tara snorted, and an amused smile crossed Ella's face.
"Yeah I'm...just gonna go now." The man said to Sam awkwardly. "See you another time?"
"Sure, yeah. Yeah." Sam nodded, not making eye-contact with him. The attractive neighbor dude waved goodbye to the others awkwardly before leaving the apartment, closing the door behind him.
"Sooo...that was weird." Ella blinked.
"He and Sam are sleeping together." Quinn clarified as she stepped in the room.
"Are not!" The girl protested again. The group of friends laughed.
Quinn's eyes scanned the living room, taking in the new arrivals, before her eyes fell on Ethan and Ella.
"Oh, uh, hey Ellie." She said. "Mindy, Annika. And...?"
"Oh, this is Ethan." Ella gestured to the boy behind her. "My boyfriend. I just realized; I don't think the two of you have ever met."
"Nope." Quinn agreed. "Chad's roommate though, right?"
"Yep." Ethan said. "Nice to meet you."
"Quinn Bailey." The girl smiled, dipping her head. She walked over to Tara and sat next to her. "So what was this I heard about some murder on the news?"
"Turn the T.V. on, someone." Sam urged again.
Mindy shrugged and picked up the remote, pressing the button and flipping the television screen on. "What are we looking for?"
"I think it was channel 15." Tara sighed tiredly, picking at her nails in a bored fashion.
Mindy flipped to channel 15 as Anika sat down next to her, bowl of popcorn in hand. "—where the mutilated bodies of two university students were found." A reporter was saying. "The bodies have yet to be identified, but from what news reporters have gathered so far, it was said the crime scene was scene to be a gruesome sight—both victims died from a multitude of stab wounds, and one of the poor students even had their bodies mutilated and cut apart, shoved in the apartment refrigerator after death. Police reports say..."
"Cut apart and stuffed in the fridge?" Ella winced. "That's just brutal."
"Multiple stab wounds?" Mindy exchanged a look with the other Woodsboro survivors around the room. "Oh boy."
"This is why I said we should be on guard." Sam gestured. "This is clearly the work of a serial killer. No minor house robber goes around cutting kids up and stuffing them in refrigerators."
"Just because the victims died from stab wounds," Tara said irritably, "doesn't automatically mean this case is linked to Ghostface. You're being paranoid."
"Maybe." Sam said, a dark look on her face. "Or maybe I'm right, and my paranoia will save us."
"Oh, just kidding folks." The news reporter's voice interrupted them. "We just got the names of the victims: the bodies were confirmed to belong to university students Jason Carvey and Greg Bruckner."
"Holy shit," Mindy's eyes widened. "That's the chode from our film class. The one obsessed with our gento."
Annika made a face. "What's a gento?"
"What's a chode?" Ella echoed.
"You don't need to know that." Chad said hurriedly, shooting a look at his sibling.
"Next to them, police found masks of Ghostface, the character popularized by the Scream franchise..." The reporter was saying. Tara's eyes widened as they flickered worriedly over to her sister.
"Sam." She said, warningly.
"Pack a bag." The older sister snapped immediately. "We're getting out of this city."
"Sam." Tara protested. "Wait, Sam!" The girl moved to the kitchen, rummaging through her knife block for the sharpest blade. Ethan eyed the girl warily. She examined the blades, and chose her knife, picking up the weapon as Tara continued to protest. "Sam! Let's talk about this for a moment! I mean, it might not even have anything to do with us!"
Sam raised a disbelieving eyebrow in her sister's direction. "Are you serious?"
"It's a big city!" Tara defended. "It's Halloween; everybody's wearing masks!"
Ella shifted uncomfortably, and Mindy shoveled another mouthful of popcorn. "Tara, this isn't a coincidence!" Sam snapped. "You guys knew him!" She gestured at the screen with her knife, and it was clear the poor girl was out of her mind with stress and worry and fear—fear for her younger sister, who somehow couldn't see the danger that was before them.
"Barely." Tara defended desperately.
"Ella, Chad, Mindy—back me up!" Sam said furiously.
Ella nodded her head. "I'm sorry Tara, but I mean..." She hesitated.
"It is a little..." Chad continued.
"...close to home." Mindy finished.
"See!" Sam said.
Tara whirled around. "Quinn, your dad's a cop, right?" She addressed her red-headed roommate. "Do you think you could find out what's going on for us? Before you make the unilateral decision to abandon my college education and flee the fucking state!" She glared at her sister.
"I'm calling him now." Quinn said quickly, picking up her phone and dialing her dad's number.
"Thank you." Tara said, before the sound of a ringing phone suddenly made every person in the room jump.
Ella full-on flinched against her boyfriend's body, and Ethan watched her in worry. He quickly wrapped his arms tightly around hers, pressing her close to him. They all watched, with bated breaths, as Sam approached the phone at a slow, slow pace. She let the phone finish ringing, before flipping it over.
"Who is it?" Tara asked, eyeing the black object like it was about to explode.
Sam checked the caller ID, and let out a breath of relief. "It was Gale."
"Why did everyone just freak out when her phone rang?" Ethan asked, tilting his head with a clueless expression on his face. Ella hadn't given him all that many details on what had happened to her last year, after all.
Anika shook her head. "You gotta keep up, my dude."
Ethan made a face.
"Sam," Quinn moved forward, handing her phone to her roommate. "My dad wants to talk to you." She said worriedly.
Sam frowned, and picked up the phone. "Mr. Bailey, hi." The girl's eyes widened as the detective spoke. "I—what?" A pause. "Yes, I understand. I'll come down immediately."
"What was it?" Tara frowned. "What'd he say?"
Sam carefully put the phone down. "...They want me to go down to the police station."
"What? Why?" Ella frowned, sitting up.
There was a dark expression on Sam's face. "Apparently they found my drivers license next to the bodies."
Silence descended the room. Ella clasped a hand over her mouth. Mindy raised both eyebrows, shoveling another handful of popcorn. "Da~amn."
"I'm gonna leave right now; the rest of you stay here. Don't leave the apartment tonight—any of you." She emphasized. The girl moved to the doorway and tied on her boots, before sliding out the door of the apartment and closing it.
"Oh hell, no." Tara cursed, shoving on her own shoes at the doorway before hurrying out the door after her sister.
"Should we go after them?" Ella said worriedly.
"Definitely not." Ethan said immediately, wrapping his arms around her tightly when she so much as shifted forward to stand up. Mindy raised an eyebrow in their direction.
"It's dangerous when it's dark at night." Ethan defended. "Especially in New York City."
"Especially with some killer—possibly another Ghostface—running around town." Chad agreed. "You guys stay here; I'll leave after them."
"No way." Anika disagreed. "They're already gone, dude; you'd have to chase after them separately."
"Sam said to stay here." Ella agreed in a worried tone. "Don't chase after them, Chad." Her friend had nearly died last year. How he had managed to survive seven different stab wounds was beyond her; she wasn't sure he could manage it again if he was attacked this year.
"We should all stick together." Mindy agreed.
"Besides, it'll be fun." Annika shrugged. "Like a lil sleepover."
"Sleepovers are fun." Ella agreed. "Should we lay out all the blankets in the living room?"
"We don't have nearly enough blankets in our apartment for that." Quinn laughed apologetically. "Plus, it would take a while to clean up."
"Annika and I call the couches." Mindy said immediately.
"Unfair." Chad groaned.
"You can sleep in Sam's room or something." Quinn pointed out. "Mindy and Anika can take the couches; I'll take my room, of course—and then Ethan and Ella can take Tara's room."
"I'm sure they'll enjoy that." Mindy snickered.
Ella flushed. "Shut up," she protested. "We aren't going to—"
"Thanks." Ethan interrupted. "I mean, we're all ready for bed already anyways; and it's getting late. We're probably not gonna stay up for Sam and Tara, are we?"
"I will." Chad offered. "Just in case."
"No need / don't bother." Mindy and Anika said at the same time. The two girls exchanged a look. "Don't you have a class in the morning anyways?" Mindy pointed out. "You should get some sleep. They probably won't be back for awhile."
"But—" Chad hesitated.
"No buts." Mindy waved him off. "Go sleep in Sam's room. Anika and I are conking out immediately, so if you could all kindly leave the living room so we could get our beauty sleep, it'd be appreciated."
Quinn shrugged and exited the room, closing the kitchen lights as she left. Chad sighed, but walked down the hallway to Sam's room. Ella lead Ethan into Tara's room.
The two moved onto the bed tiredly. Or at least Ella was tired. Ethan nuzzled against her, wrapping his arms around her waist as they cuddled in the bed. His warm, soft breaths huffed lightly against her skin as he moved and his lips met her soft skin. Ella let out a slight moan as Ethan nibbled against her neck, bites slowly growing harder as he made marks against her skin. Ella whimpered at the feeling, trying to shuffle her body, but Ethan's arm kept her firmly gripped in place as his other hand trailed up her body, tracing invisible designs against her skin.
"Ethan," Ella whispered, as the boy continued to kiss her. "Ethan, stop."
The boy paused, a pout on his face. "We never got to finish."
"And we're not going to; at least not here." Ella huffed lightly, turning around to face him. She examined the boy's dark brown eyes with her own, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I love you—but we are not doing this here; not where all of our friends can hear us, and definitely not in Tara's room of all places. I couldn't do that to my poor friend." She laughed softly.
Ethan moaned piteously against her, muffling the sound as he pressed his face in the part of her body where her shoulder met her neck. "Damn it, Ellie. But I'm so fucking hard for you right now." He pressed his lower abdomen into her, making her gasp as her eyes widened dramatically at the feeling of his hard erection digging into her crotch. She whimpered, crossing her legs to try and stave off the feeling of arousal that flowed through her body.
"Ethan." She protested weakly.
"I know, I know." He trailed a series of kisses against the side of her jaw gently, before thrusting once into her, making her gasp. "If you truly insist, I won't push; but just know that this is the dilemma you've left me in, angel."
Ella moaned when he thrusted into her once more, and a smirk flittered on his lips. "You sure you don't want to, baby?" Ethan murmured into her ear.
"We can't." The girl moaned. "Not in Tara's bed, E. We can't do that."
"Sure, we can't." Ethan nipped at her neck playfully. "I know, I know. Just wanted to make sure."
He shifted, pushing her body gently to turn her away from him. She was both disappointed and relieved, before Ethan brought her close against his body, his hard erection digging into her backside, right in between her legs. Ella stiffened, and whimpered.
Ethan's lips grazed the girl's cheek softly. "Shh. There, there; we've gotta keep quiet, Ellie. The others won't be able to sleep if they're woken up by your moans."
Ella let out a weak sound. Suddenly, there was a ding from the phone that Ella had set on Tara's bedside table, and she frowned, picking up the phone and opening it to check the message. Her eyes widened, and as she scanned, her body turned frozen. Her arousal was doused like a flame in water, as a familiar feeling of cold, brittle fear washed over her body.
Ethan noticed the change as he frowned and sat up. "Hey, what's wrong?"
He read the messages over his shoulder, and his eyes widened slightly as his lips formed an "o" shape. "Oh god, they were attacked?"
"He's back." Ella whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "Ghostface is actually back."
"Ella." Ethan breathed, his arms wrapping around her. "Oh god, Ella, I'm so sorry."
"I just can't believe it." The girl set down her phone shakily, her face ashen as she looked up from it. "I can't believe they're actually back. I didn't want to believe it." She had hoped, desperately, last night that it wasn't true—that it was all just a coincidence, and that Ghostface wasn't really back. But it was.
Ella was apart of the masked serial killer's rampage once again.
"Hey, hey, hey," Ethan soothed, as she wrapped her arms around him and her eyes watered. "It's okay; it's okay, Ella, it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
"What do I do?" She breathed against him, tears bubbling up as she pressed her face into his chest, his arms wrapped securely around her. "Ethan—I'm scared. I'm so so scared. I don't want to do this again. It was awful enough in Woodsboro last time. We barely even survived. I mean—not all of us even did. I, Wes, I—" her voice broke off as she choked up. "Oh my god, Wes."
Ethan felt himself stiffen with jealousy. He was both glad and infuriated the boy was gone—infuriated only because he wouldn't get to murder the bastard himself.
"Ethan, I can't do this again." Ella let out in a panicked breath. "I lost Wes last time—what if I lose you this time? What if Ghostface kills you too?"
Ethan almost laughed at the irony of her words. Not that he didn't think his girlfriend's concern was absolutely adorable, but it was a bit laughable that she was worried about him getting hurt by Ghostface.
...Well, then again Quinn might try and stab him and claim it was to 'take suspicion off of him' or some other form of bullshit, so maybe he was still in danger. But it wasn't him who he was worried about—or even her. Ella wouldn't get hurt. He refused to let her get hurt, and he refused to accept even the possibility of her getting hurt. If she ever received so much as a paper-cut, he'd burn the paper, then toss the ashes in an incinerator.
It was more the psychological wounds he was worried about—the old memories and trauma and triggers that this incident might bring up. Ethan wasn't going to lie and say that he didn't enjoy the thought of donning the Ghostface mask and killing, because he did. But he was sorry that the concept of it, the idea of the mask, terrified Ella so much.
"Hey, it's okay, angel. It's okay." Ethan told her. "I won't get hurt; I promise. I won't get hurt, and I won't let you get hurt. We're gonna be okay, okay? I'm a strong person—I won't let you get hurt. I'll protect you, I swear. Ghostface won't go anywhere near you when I'm around." It was true. He'd already asked his dad to stay away from his girlfriend—citing that it would make it suspicious if she was attacked without him since love interests were always painted as the first suspects, and he'd dealt with Quinn. Hopefully.
"I'm scared." She choked. "I'm scared, Ethan; I'm so scared. Who's going to die this time? Who else might I lose? I can't imagine it—I can't imagine losing any of them. They're all my family, and I'm so scared we won't all make it through again this time. I don't want to lose any of you."
"You won't, angel." Ethan soothed. "I promise. We're going to be okay, okay? Look at me. I'll protect you. I'll keep you safe. You're going to make it out of this. I'm going to make it out of this. We're both going to make it out of this, and we'll be okay."
"What about the others?" She whispered. "I'm so worried about them."
"You needn't be. We're all strong people, alright? Your friends have all gone through this once—well, with the exception of Anika and Quinn, but they'll be fine. You all know how to take care of yourselves and take care of one another. We'll all be safe."
"I'm scared." Ella whispered, tears in her eyes. "I'm so scared."
"You have no reason to be." Ethan kissed her forehead gently. "I promise you're going to be okay, angel. Just go to sleep. Don't think about it anymore; I'll hold you through the night so the nightmares stay away, and I'll be here in the morning when you wake up, okay?"
Ella nodded, sniffling. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"I really love you, Ethan."
"I love you too, my beautiful angel." Ethan pressed another kiss to the side of her temple. "Now rest."
The last thing Ella wanted to do was sleep, but as Ethan continuing to press soft kisses against her, she slowly felt herself getting weary. One hand ran through her hair as the other hand gripped her waist gently, and the long strokes of his fingers against her scalp were soothing beyond measure. Slowly, sleep finally managed to claim her as her consciousness faded away.
_
A/N: Normally I write and re-write and edit and a chapter several hundred times before I ever consider releasing it, but here I am—publishing it after writing it once and only making edits as I went. I'll probably read over this again tonight or tomorrow, and make edits and publish the changes as needed. But I decided to just push the chapter out for now <3 if there are any errors or mistakes you catch, pls pls pls let me know!! And ty for reading *3* please vote too if you can :)