"Can I walk you home?" Jungkook asks his ex girlfriend who he still cares for deeply as she stands across the street in the middle of a sea of people who's also watching the crime scene investigators roaming inside the house collecting evidence while the police officers are questioning witnesses from the party and the coroner pushing a corpse in the back of the ambulance truck.
Mia stares ahead with teary eyes, remembering the very last conversation she had with Clementine, wishing she had said more or did something that would've prevented them from separating during the party. "Um, I came with Julie."
Jungkook looks around the area, not seeing any of their friends. "I don't see Julie. She probably left with Jimin,"
Mia sniffles, hugging herself, rubbing her hands up and down her arms that's covered in goosebumps because of the chilly fall weather. "Yeah, probably." She turns on her heels and walks away. Jungkook walks next to her, sliding off his jacket and wrapping it over her shoulders. Mia looks up at him giving him a weak smile, thanking him.
Twenty minutes later they both end up on Mia's porch step in front of the closed door. "Don't worry, Mia. We're gonna find the son of a bitch that's doing this,"
Shrugging off his jacket, Mia gives it back to him. "I think I know who's doing it."
Jungkook creases his brows in confusion. "You do? Well, who is it?"
Mia sighs deeply. "I meant I know who's after us—it's my brother Beck but I don't know how he looks so he could really be anyone here in Woodfield,"
The front door opens and Julie comes out with her belongings in suitcases, almost jumping in the air when she sees them both standing on the porch.
"Hey, are you going somewhere?" Mia asks curiously.
Julie hesitates then says back "I'm sorry but I can't stay here. I'm freaking out! I never seen a dead body before. Oh my God it's a lot worse than how it's portrayed in the movies. Everyone at school warned me, saying that you were the angel of death, people around you dies—everyone except you. It hasn't even been forty eight hours since I've met Clementine and she's already gone. I don't want to be next so I'm going to sleep at a hotel tonight, catch my plane first thing in the morning and I'm going back home," then walks to her car parked in the driveway.
"Julie! Julie!" Mia calls out for her but she climbs in the car, backs out then pulls off down the street.
Jungkook scratches the back of his head. "Well it was nice knowing her while it lasted,"
"Everybody calls me the angel of death?" Mia mutters mostly to herself but Jungkook hears it.
"I've heard it from people probably once or twice but that shit isn't true. Don't let it get to you," he wraps her in a hug.
Pulling away a second later she tells him "goodnight and be safe" then steps inside the house, closing and locking the door.
Inside the bathroom she stands in front of the mirror dressed in her pajamas, staring back at herself while brushing her teeth when a dark figure moves from the corner of the room behind the shadows.
"You can't save them all, little sister. He's smarter, a lot stronger and faster. He's not going to stop killing," A reflection of Brittany with a bullet hole in her forehead, blood oozing down the middle of her face fades in the mirror behind Mia.
With her toothbrush still in her mouth, Mia closes her eyes, erasing the horrific image of her dead sister out of her thoughts then continues brushing her teeth.
"Doesn't matter how many shrinks you talk to, sis. I'm not going anywhere." Brittany's ghost sits on the toilet seat with folded arms.
Mia spits in the sink and then rinses her mouth with mouthwash. When she's all done with her night routine, she swings the door open, inhaling deeply at the sight of her dead sister standing in front of her.
"Go away," Mia mutters, walking down the hall towards her bedroom. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she sets her alarm on her phone, plugs the device to the charger and then tucks herself into bed, turning the lamp off.
Brittany is lying beside Mia, facing her, brushing her hair behind an ear. "I can't go away. I'm inside your head, Bailey," she points a finger at Mia's head. "I will always be here with you,"
Mia stares into complete darkness as her sister's image slowly disappears.
—
—
"Why does the female lead always goes upstairs instead of running out the front door?" Mickey asks her best friend Adriana who goes by the pronouns they during a horror movie, sitting around the house inside the living room, sharing a big white bowl of popped popcorn mixed with m&m's.
Adriana shrugs, keeping their eyes on the glowing screen as ominous music plays during a scene with the killer holding an axe, walking around the empty dark house as the victim hides inside a closet. "Because the movie wouldn't be as interesting if the hot chick actually got away." They retorts bluntly, standing up off the sofa holding the bowl.
Mickey scoffs, talking while Adriana is in the kitchen preparing more buttery popcorn. "You got a point but remaking the same shit over and over is kind of boring," Pushing her long dark wavy hair back from her face with one hand, the crystal blue eye girl grabs her phone off the armchair as soon as it dings, indicating she has a notification.
Adriana, the ashy blond haired freckle face non-binary teenager wearing a sports jersey that represents their favorite football team, and a backwards baseball cap sits back down putting the bowl on the coffee table, continuing to watch the movie.
"Oh shit," Mickey scrolls through her messages, sitting up on the sofa, reading the horrible news that's been spreading all night like wildfire.
"What is it?" Adriana asks without taking their eyes off the television.
Mickey says while tapping on her phone "Someone's been murdered tonight at Liam's party,"
Adriana knits their brows curiously, slowly chewing on popcorn as terror washes all of their faces as well. "Murdered? Who was the person?"
"Clementine," Mickey goes on to explain when her best friend gives her a confused expression. "Remember nine months ago Brittany and Kara murdered several girls from our school?"
Adriana nods slowly, still quite confused because they just transferred to Woodfield high this year. "Yeah?"
"Well, Clementine was friends with those girls who were murdered last year," Mickey confirms, leaning back against the sofa, grabbing a joint from the ashtray.
A thought pops up in Adriana's mind. "Wait, isn't that show Slash based on what happened last year to those people?"
Holding the joint between two fingers, Mickey nods with smoke traveling from her nose and mouth as her eyes reads the messages in the group chat about the recent incident.
"That's insane," Adriana shoves more popcorn in their mouth.
"Did you watch the whole show?" Mickey asks, passing them the blunt.
Adriana takes a long puff from the blunt, then says back "Yeah, it was really good. I just find it strange how those cousins just went on a killing spree like that when they were all friends. Some people said Brittany and Kara did it because they were bullied by Morgan and the others but the show doesn't reveal that. It just shows them killing those people for no reason as if they've both had gone mad,"
Mickey types on her phone. "Yeah, I heard the same thing but I don't know what to believe. I can't wait til season two,"
"Now we know who won't be in season two," Adriana pours some chocolate candy in the bowl, mixing it with the salty popcorn.
Mickey groans when she gets a text from her mom. After reading it she stands up, grabbing her skateboard and backpack. "I better get home. See you later, Adri." She walks out the front door, closing it behind her.
Riding her skateboard all the way home, Mickey stops in front of the apartment complex and then walks inside the building. Holding her skateboard underneath her armpit, she walks towards the elevator and pushes the up button repeatedly then decides to go up the stairs to the seventh floor because she's so impatient. Standing on the middle step, her body stops functioning when she hears footsteps tagging along not too far behind but doesn't see a body to match the pair of feet.
Leaning over the railing looking down the spiral stairway, Mickey says "Hello?" to no one in particular then continues climbing up the steps to the seventh floor, hesitating while listening to the footsteps as they get closer and closer. She stops on the stairs and leans against the wall, pulling a taser out her pocket that's connected to her keychain, waiting for the person to hit the corner.
Holding tightly to the taser, she stares at their shadow gliding the walls as the person turns the corner then smiles widely at one of the survivors from her class trudging up the stairs with her headphones on both ears, head hanging down, eyes staring at her phone.
Kristen flinches, eyes almost pops out of her sockets as she looks up from her phone seeing a figure standing in front of her speechless. She slides the pair of headphones off her ears and awkwardly asks "what's up?"
Mickey's mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as her cheeks reddens from blushing so hard while putting the taser behind her back, heart beat accelerating in her chest, voice comes out in a stuttering mess as she shyly brushes some hair behind an ear. "I-I-uhh didn't know we live in the same building. Do you live on the seventh floor too?" she chuckles oddly.
Kristen doesn't smile as she says bluntly. "Yeah. I saw you move in down the hall a week ago,"
Mickey holds onto the railing tightly. "Oh yeah, my parents and I just moved to another floor because our ceiling was leaking in our old apartment downstairs," she then continues talking, trying to ease the awkwardness between them. "I heard about your friend. I'm so sorry,"
"Yeah..." Kristen slides the headphones back on both ears then passes her, continuing to walk further up the stairs, heading towards the door that leads to the seventh floor.
Mickey says behind her back as she's pulling the door open "If you wanna talk about anything you're more than welcome to knock on my door," but Kristen doesn't hear her as she steps into the hallway.
Trudging down the hallway with music pouring in her ears, Kristen passes the elevator, balling her fists by her sides as her chest tightens, mind fogging with the horrific memory of her ex stabbing her in the stomach.
Blowing out a short breath with her eyes closed, she pushes the image of Kara's beautiful smile to the back of her head then enters the apartment opening and closing the door behind her. First, she slides off her headphones and flips the light switch, quickly spinning around gasping in shock after seeing her sister bending over doggy style, completely naked across the island while her boyfriend stands behind her, both sweating and breathing heavily.
"Oh shit!" They stop screwing and quickly grab their clothes off the floor. The woman slides on her short dress and heels while her boyfriend sprints out the kitchen covering his front with his pair of briefs.
After hearing his footsteps down the hall, Kristen looks at her older sibling and scoffs. "Gosh, you do know we eat on that counter, Evelyn."
Evelyn zips the back of her dress "Shut up. Just wipe the counter down and you'll be fine," then walks away, grumbling while massaging a hand through her long thick curls.
"Where's mom and dad?"
"I don't know!" Evelyn slams the bathroom door.
Kristen slumps down across the long sofa with her face smashing against a pillow as she lets out a muffled scream. Her phone rings in her back pocket. Sliding it out, she sits up on her elbows, frowning at the incoming call from an unknown number.
Accepting the call she slowly sits up on her bottom. "Hello?"
A girl sniffles on the phone.
"Hello?" Kristen asks eagerly.
"Kris, baby it's me," Kara's voice speaks into the phone.
Kristen knits her brows angrily. "Who the fuck is this?"
"It's me, baby, Kara. I miss you so much. It's so hot down here in hell!" The voice yells through the phone.
"Who is this? This isn't funny!" Kristen yells back.
A dark chuckle echoes on the other end and then the scary familiar voice that she tries so hard to forget over the months starts speaking. "Oh, but it is Kristen because you're gonna die just like your lover!" Ghost face laughs evilly.
Kristen immediately hangs up then powers her phone off before lying back down on the sofa with the pillow over her head, sobbing.
—
—
Early morning the next day Gwen is downstairs inside the kitchen making breakfast as her boyfriend rounds the corner saying "Morning," with damp hair indicating that he just stepped out the shower. Cameron who had spent the night while her parents are out of town on the campaign tour, walks in with a towel around his waist.
Gwen stays quiet while flipping turkey bacon in the sizzling pan as he hugs her from behind, kissing her on the left cheek, comforting her knowing she tossed and turned all night long after sobbing in the bathroom for what seemed like hours over her friend's sudden death last night.
The girlfriend puts a hand on his arm, holding onto him tightly— as if she's gonna fall if he lets her go— while sobbing and putting the cooked food on a plate.
Cameron sighs sadly, resting his chin on the top of her head as she turns around and wraps him in a hug, letting out more tears she's been holding.
"It's gonna be okay. I promise," He whispers, kissing her on the forehead.
Gwen says back "I miss her so much," then continues sobbing.
On the island, Cameron's phone chimes. One hand out, he reaches for it and reads the text from the group chat. "Mia wants us to meet her at the mall in an hour,"
"Breakfast is ready. I'm gonna take a shower." Gwen stands on her tippy toes and kisses him on the lips and then steps out his embrace, exiting the kitchen. After breakfast and a hot shower, they both climb inside Gwen's second favorite car out of her whole collection, the red Lamborghini and heads to the mall way on the other side of town.
"It sucks being followed everywhere," Gwen drags out a long breath, folding her arms while staring out the window.
Guiding the steering wheel with one hand, Cameron glances through the rear view mirror at the black SUV behind them and then says to his girlfriend as she pouts in the passenger seat. "How am I gonna get you alone whenever I want now?"
"You snuck in my bedroom last night so I think that works." Gwen grumbles, digging inside her Chanel purse for her makeup pouch.
"I shouldn't have to climb through your window to spend time with you," he glances at her when she doesn't respond then focuses back on the road, putting on a signal before switching lanes while Gwen holds a small mirror in front of her face, carefully applying more mascara to her false lashes.
Sighing deeply, the boyfriend turns on the radio as the rest of the ride is silent between them.
—
—
The mall is packed just like any other weekend with teens, children and adults shopping at stores, playing arcade games, seeing the latest movies in the cinemas and dining at restaurants while Mia and the others are huddling around the huge water fountain in the middle of the floor, munching on burgers and fries, talking amongst themselves.
Gwen's bodyguards are sitting near them on a bench in front of a small bakery shop, watching them, pretending to blend in with the crowd as they sip coffee and eat donuts. Their guns are in their holsters loaded, ready to be used as soon as they see any suspicious activity.
"Anastasia said that the person that kidnapped her had the initials B&B tattooed on one of their wrist. Neither Brittany or Kara had any tattoos with those letters inked on their skin. It has to be my brother that killed Clementine last night at Liam's party," Mia explains to her friends in a low tone.
Cameron has a terrified expression on his face as a thought comes to mind. "Oh shit. We don't even know what your brother looks like. He could be anyone,"
The group gets silent as an eerie feeling passes around them.
Jungkook cuts the serious tension by saying with a scoff "Well you know I'm not the killer because Mia and I had sex, I mean we used to date. That would be incest which is something I'm definitely not into,"
Blushing, Mia widens her eyes at him, giving him the—did you really just bring that up—look and he smiles like a little boy in a toy shop, shrugging sheepishly as everyone looks at them awkwardly.
Gwen sticks a straw in her cup of cola. "That's disgusting. We aren't talking about Flowers In The Attic."
"I'm not the killer either because I love my girlfriend and I like her friends," Cameron pecks Gwen on the lips, circling an arm around her shoulders.
Liam scoffs. "That's a stupid excuse. You ever saw that movie when the guy—I forgot his name— tries to kill his girlfriend after killing her mother and her friends?"
"Nah, what's it called?" Cameron asks Liam.
Liam shrugs then takes a bite of his double cheeseburger. "I forgot,"
"Are you saying that you killed your girlfriend, Liam?" Jungkook squints at him and the group gets quiet, staring at the basketball player.
Slurping his drink which is a blue slushie, Liam stares back at everyone emotionlessly. "I didn't kill my girlfriend,"
"My sister said Clementine was stabbed then dragged from your bedroom," Kristen says in a matter of fact tone.
Liam scoffs, unbothered while they all stare at him suspiciously. "Who the fuck is your sister?"
"Evelyn Evergreen. She's a criminal investigator," Kristen sips her drink, eyeing Liam up and down.
"Where were you last night anyway?" Gwen crosses one leg over the other, keeping her eyes on Liam.
"I was with you guys, remember? After talking to a friend outside in my backyard I came to chat with you all in my living room," Liam says matter of factly.
Cameron thinks for a moment then says as he remembers talking to Liam during most of the night. "Yeah, he was sitting next to me when Clementine had fallen so there's no way he could've killed her,"
Liam gives his teammate a fist pump. "Thanks, Cams."
"Can we all stop accusing one another, please?" Mia tries to stop her friends bickering but the overlapping conversations gets louder then it stops when someone screams. It's just a kid being chased by their sibling through the maze of people cluttering the mall.
"Say it is your brother that's after us, why kill Allison and Bobby? They didn't have anything to do with what happened between us and Brittany," Kristen keeps her voice down as people walks by holding shopping bags.
Standing in front of her friends, Mia holds a large drink of cola in one hand, sipping from a straw and then says back "I wondered the same thing so last night I did some research. Turns out that Allison was the daughter of Dr. J. Fitzgerald—the psychiatrist that was treating Beck and my birth mother. Bobby was related to the school's guidance counselor that Brittany or Kara had murdered last year in the girls restroom,"
"But how was Mrs. Hall related to any of this?" Liam thinks out loud, wrinkling his thick dark brows in confusion.
Mia brushes her hair behind an ear, a sad expression on her face as she rubs the lavalier around her neck which she found in Helen's boxes up in the attic—a gift Helen received at nineteen years old from her fraternity boyfriend at the time. "In college she was best friends with Helen—my adopted mother. Mrs. Hall also knew Kevin,"
"Who's Kevin?" Kristen bites into her veggie burger.
"My dad," Mia mutters, sighing as the small group stares at her, feeling really bad for her because she doesn't know him.
Gwen stands up and wraps her in a hug. "You've been through a lot of shit, Mia. It sucks because you're such a good person that doesn't deserve any of this,"
"Good people always gets hurt. Whether they can handle it or not." Cameron says, eating a fry.
Pulling away from the hug, Mia slides her phone from her pocket when it chimes. She reads the text and then tells the group "I have to go. Ryan asked if I can work today because he's understaffed,"
"I thought you quit working at the book store," Gwen says, tossing her trash in a bin while Cameron hands her the Chanel purse.
"I did but Ryan begged me to come back," Mia waves goodbye then hurries off towards the exit that's way across the mall. Maneuvering through the horde of the town's people, she rounds the corner, bumping into Mr. Jansen who's walking out of a mens clothing shop holding a bag.
At first he's unrecognizable because he's not in his business attire, instead he's wearing an oversized black shirt, black jeans and sneakers and shiny disheveled hair. If he wasn't her teacher he'd probably pass as one of the teenagers because the man looks that young.
Mr. Jansen smiles widely. "Hi,"
Mia smiles back shyly. "Hi, Mr. Jansen. It's weird seeing you off campus,"
The English teacher chuckles lightly. "Trust me, it's weird seeing you too off campus," he then asks after looking around. "Are you here by yourself?"
"No, I was with my friends. What about you? Are you shopping alone?"
"Yeah, I'm a loner," he gives off a dry laugh, staring deeply into her hazel eyes.
Mia shrugs both shoulders "It's good to be alone sometimes," then listens while he talks but when he pushes his hair back with his right hand, her eyes fixes on the tattoo marked on his wrist.
—
—
Sitting at the edge of his bed, holding the Ghost Face mask in his palms, Jimin hears a loud knock on his door.
"Honey, lunch is ready. Could you also bring your laundry downstairs as well?" His mother talks behind the door and waits for his response but when she doesn't get one, she trudges back downstairs.
Jimin tucks the mask inside a shoe box then slides it underneath his bed, hiding it behind his black gym bag then exits the room.