EXILE,
seven
EDEN'S EYES WIDENED as she stared at the text message, her fingers hovering over her keyboard to her cellphone. Anika was peering over Eden's shoulder, chewing on her bottom lip.
She didn't understand. Eden couldn't grasp the concept of this message. Why did they text her? Texting Eden was pretty much useless. Well, besides the fact that she would obviously tell all of her friends what was happening.
Unknown
Don't you want to know what happens
next in our little game, Eden?
Anika started to anxiously fiddle with her white strands of hair while she examined the phone. "Eden, you aren't going to reply, right?" Anika gaped at Eden once the Miller girl began to type a response. "Come on, Edie, that's stupid!" Anika stressed.
"Wait," Eden hissed, not trying to seem rude. "Just watch." The girl whispered to Anika, the three bubbles suddenly appearing, signaling that the other person was typing.
Then, the bubbles abruptly disappeared.
Eden
You want me to play a game, huh?
The bubbles finally appeared again. This made both Eden and Anika furrow their eyebrows. The two girls anxiously waited for a message, unprepared of the response.
Unknown
Yes, I do. Would your friend like to join?
Eden looked at both her and Anika's surrounding, lips parted as her fingers hovered over her keyboard once again. Anika's face was filled with worry as she shared a look with Eden, begging of the girl to not answer the text.
Eden
Yeah, go fuck yourself.
Anika sucked in a breath, anxiously waiting for a reply. "Eden, why would you do that? That could be the killer—"
"It's fine, Ani." Eden whispered to her friend. "Let's just go." The Miller girl added on, noticing how white Anika's face had gotten. "It's okay, Anika. Let's just go meet up with the others."
Just as Anika nodded, Eden's phone buzzed. An uneasy shudder left both her snd Anika's lips once they looked at the message. A sickening, bone-chilling message. A message that would haunt Eden's dreams.
Unknown
Don't you want to know who's next, Eden?
A gust of wind abruptly hit Eden, sending chills down her spine. The girl looked around, checking to see if anybody was staring at either her or Anika. Nobody. Just pedestrians, conversing with other people on the streets. Or people sharing a drink.
"Anika, let's go." Eden told the girl, letting out a shaky sigh.
ONCE BOTH EDEN AND ANIKA arrived at the given spot, the group was staring at them. Unsettling and harsh looks. Cale sent Eden a stern look, abruptly standing up. He rushed to Eden, letting out a sigh of relief.
"God, we thought something happened to you and Anika, Eden." Cale stressed, raking a hand through his hair. "You're okay, right?" The older sibling asked, examining Eden for any sign of bruises or scratches.
"Perfectly fine," Eden lied, ignoring the fact that somebody was stalking both her and Anika, while texting her at the same exact time. "You're fine, right?"
Cale nodded. "Come on, let's sit down." He whispered, carefully sitting down on the bench.
Eden ignored the eyes that were burning into the side of her head. The eyes that made her feel uneasy, but safe at the same time. The eyes attached to a human she had hurt. Somebody she didn't want to hurt.
Classic Eden. Ruining things when they finally get good. Of course she already ruined a friendship between someone she cared about. She can't help but regret it. It just happened and she already misses him.
Even looking at him hurt. So she didn't.
And, obviously, this upset Ethan Landry. A scoff left his lips, as if Eden was unbelievable for ditching him already. As if Eden was always in the wrong. Well, that's what Ethan likes to tell himself, now. It's always going to be Eden's fault.
"Why are you late?" Chad asked Eden, raising his eyebrows. "Because everybody was freaking out, wondering if you and Anika got killed—"
"Shut up, Chad." Eden whispered, rolling her eyes. "Both Anika and I are fine."
Chad raised his eyebrows. "I can tell when my best friend is upset, Eden." Chad spoke up, sending her a look. Maybe this is why Eden and Chad were so close. They always knew when the other person was upset. It would stay like this. Nothing would ruin the friendship between Eden and Chad. Never.
"Okay, maybe something is happening." Eden uttered, ignoring the way Chad sent her a 'I told you so' look. "Oh, shut up."
"I didn't even say anything!" Chad retorted, earning a quiet laugh.
"Okay, nerds, listen up!" Mindy interrupted, talking over the majority of the friend group. "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time. Yep. It's fine." Mindy began, sucking in a long breath.
Both Cale and Eden sighed.
"Okay. The way I see it, someone is about to make a sequel to the requel." Mindy explained, shortly being interrupted.
Anika raised her hand slowly. "Um, what's a requel?" She asked Mindy, batting her eyes at her girlfriend.
Mindy caught Anika's gaze, before pointing at her. "You're beautiful, sweetie. Let's hold questions to the end." Mindy told Anika.
Sarcastically, Anika shared a smile with Mindy.
Then, another voice interrupted their moment. "Stab 1 took place in Woodsboro. Stab 2 took place in college." Sam acknowledged.
Tara seemed to catch on, quickly. "So we think that the killer is trying to copy the movies?" Tara asked, looking up at Mindy.
Eden rolled her eyes. "Wow, isn't that shocking." She whispered in Cale's direction.
"That is one possibility." Mindy replied, not bothering to acknowledge Eden's remark. "Heroes now in college: Check. Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list, and or body count: Check, check, and check." Mindy listed, earning harsh looks from Anika, Ethan, and Quinn.
Ethan sucked in a breath, glancing at Chad. "I don't like this." He quietly spoke, looking down at his lap.
Nobody bothered to respond to him.
Shortly after, Mindy began to talk again. "But it can't just be about Stab 2."
"Why not?" Tara gaped at Mindy, furrowing her eyebrows slightly.
"It would make sense if this were just a sequel. But we're not in a sequel, because nobody just makes sequels anymore." Mindy paused, building more suspense to her words. "We're in a franchise!" She added on, throwing her arms around to elaborate her point.
Eden felt a sudden uneasiness welcome her. Her muscles tensed, her body going numb. If Mindy was right, Eden would never escape this. She would be stuck in this franchise, her life being at risk for the rest of eternity. Her friends would be at risk. Everybody around Eden could be at risk.
Absentmindedly, Eden reached for Cale's hand, intertwining their fingers. It was a casual gesture whenever one of the siblings felt nervous. Eden would forever be glad that she had someone who was always going to be there for her.
"And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise."
Sam sighed. "I had a feeling." She retorted, picking at her nails.
"Rule one: Everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count." Mindy listed. "Longer chases, shoot-outs, beheadings. You got to top what came before to keep people coming back." Mindy explained.
"Beheadings?" Chad drawled, pointing his pencil at his twin sister.
"Beheadings." Mindy emphasized. "Rule two: Whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers were whiny snowflake film nerds with Letterboxd accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here."
Then Eden thought about Amber. The torture the Freeman girl put through a seventeen year-old girl. The pain she caused to the person she swore she loved. It was all just a lie. The relationship between Amber was just a lie. A lie while the Freeman girl showed her real love towards Richie Kirsch (not to mention how Eden despised Richie).
The Meeks-Martin girl paused momentarily. "And rule three: No one is safe. Legacy characters? Canon 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." Mindy informed the group, an uncomfortable silence welcoming the group.
Mindy didn't stop talking, though. "Oh, and that isn't even the worst part!" She excitedly spoke.
Chad pointed his pencil at Tara. "This is the part where she tells us the worst part." Chad joked, earning a quiet laugh from Eden.
"The worst part is, franchises are just continuing episodic installments designed to boost an IP. Which means, main characters are completely expendable now, too. 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 ranted, clearly trying to prove her point.
Then, she started talking again. "That means it's not just the friend group. Any of us could go at any time, especially Sam and Tara." Mindy admitted, the group going silent.
Both Sam and Tara shared a look.
"Wait, any of us?" Ethan spoke up, shifting uncomfortably.
"Yeah," Mindy replied.
Ethan's face paled. "A—Am I in the friend group?" Ethan stammered, eyes widening.
"Yeah," Mindy repeated, clearly annoyed of Ethan's presence.
"Am I, like, one of the targets?" Ethan gaped.
Eden sucked in a breath, sharing an annoyed look with Cale. Instead of being annoyed, Cale was clearly enjoying Ethan's embarrassment. He was actually holding back his laughter.
"Mhm,"
The Landry boy suddenly went quiet. "Am I gonna die a virgin?" Ethan blurted out, a loud cough leaving Eden's lips.
The group slowly turned their attention towards both Eden and Ethan, raising their eyebrows. The girl buried her head in her hands, shaking her head rapidly. As if she couldn't believe that Ethan just said that.
"That was a weird overshare." Mindy drawled, looking at Ethan with a look of disgust. "But it brings us to our current suspects: Ethan. The shy, dorky guy who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky."
"Wait, what— Why am I on the suspect list? Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?" Ethan shot back.
"Roommate lotteries can easily be juked. You could have easily fixed it to get next to us." Mindy replied. "Not to mention, the only person you really hang out with is Eden. Whenever she's with the group, you're only paying attention to her."
"Wha— I am not."
Eden rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Mindy. You're just—" Eden cut herself off when she met Ethan's gaze. Uncomfortable.
Mindy directed her attention to the red haired girl who was sitting next to Cale. "Quinn. The slutty roommate. A horror movie," Mindy paused to kiss her fingers. "classic."
Quinn batted her eyes at Mindy. "'Sex positive' but, thank you?" Quinn drawled, smiling softly at Cale.
"Mhm. How'd you come to live with Sam and Tara?" Mindy interrogated, folding her arms over her chest.
"I answered their ad online." Quinn told Mindy, glancing over towards Sam and Tara.
"Okay, say no more. You've already implicated yourself enough." Mindy shot at Quinn, voice raising slightly.
The younger Carpenter sister sat up. "It was an anonymous ad, Mindy." Tara said defensively. "And you know we vetted her. Plus, her dad's a cop." Tara tried, hopelessly looking at both Sam and Quinn.
"And that makes it more likely that she's a killer, because having a cop dad is a great cover. Do you not remember how these movies work, Tara?" Mindy bit back, invading Tara's personal space.
Tara widened her eyes.
"Is she always like this?" Quinn asked.
Both Sam and Eden sent Quinn a knowing look.
"And finally.. Anika." Mindy announced, turning towards her wonderful girlfriend.
Anika, smiling at her girlfriend, closed her eyes. She brought to hand to her lips, before blowing Mindy a sweet air kiss.
Mindy simply returned the gesture, before killing Anika's happiness. "Never trust the love interest." She simply spoke, Anika's smile dissolving.
Eden simply laughed, earning a glare from Anika.
"Okay! So, we have our rules and we have our suspects." Sam declared, maintaining eye contact with most of the group.
"But wait. What about you guys?" Ethan gaped at the group, clearly annoyed that he was a prime suspect in this case.
"I mean, I think it's pretty safe to rule the four of us who went through this in Woodsboro last year." Mindy replied, defending the original survivors.
"Agreed." Chad grinned, pointing his pencil in Mindy's direction, once again.
"Um, not agreed." Quinn disagreed. "What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?" Quinn suggested, trying to prove a point.
Cale looked at her, his features hardening. He felt like a knife had just gone through his heart. He felt like he had just experienced the worst heartbreak. The girl he likes believes that he could be capable of killing somebody.
"Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more." Ethan reasoned, agreeing with Quinn's recent words. "I mean, let's be honest here, Eden practically went a little crazy after the killings, Cale doesn't get out of bed so his sister has to practically baby him, and the theories online about Sam are—"
"Don't you fucking dare." Tara growled.
Eden felt her castles crumble. She felt as if she could hear her the sound of her heart shattering. Felt Ethan's words effect her. His words were laced with poison, trying to bring her down. He didn't even seem to care. Ethan just wanted to defend himself. Wanted to prove he wasn't a murderer.
But it hurt. Even if they weren't together. Her friend, someone she trusted, called her crazy. Ethan wasn't ashamed of saying it either. The words just fell freely off of his tongue. If it cleared his name, he didn't care. Didn't care that it shattered Eden's heart.
What made it worse was what he said about Cale. A boy who was always kind to him. He just said those horrible things. He mentioned Cale's mental health. Mentioned how he wasn't stable.
Eden didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to go home. She just wanted to feel loved in her own home. Didn't want to feel like this anymore. Exhausted, drained, hollow. Betrayed.
Angry. Furious. Short-tempered.
The Miller girl looked at Ethan, looking at him as if she couldn't believe him anymore. She didn't want to talk to him. Didn't want to look at him.
"You know what?" Eden laughed, bottom lip trembling. "You fucking suck, Ethan." She spat, teeth gritting. Her words like sharp knives.
"Eden, wait—" Ethan tried, rushing after the girl as she rushed away.
"Fuck you!" Eden growled, raising her middle finger.
Ethan's hand latched around Eden's wrist, trying to calm her down. "I— I don't know why I said that." Ethan muttered.
"Oh, fuck you." Eden laughed, tears streaming down her face. "You just said horrible things about my brother. I can't believe you would say that about someone who is always nice to you. Cale did nothing to you, you asshole!" Eden spat.
"Oh, Eden, come on. It isn't a big deal."
"It isn't a big deal? Do you even know what happened to my brother, Ethan? He has been through so fucking much! Same as Sam. She saved my fucking life!" Eden defended her close friend, looking up at Ethan with nothing but hatred in her eyes.
Ethan raked a hand through his hair. "Of course I don't know what happened, because you won't tell me, Eden!"
"Yeah, I'm fucking glad I didn't." Eden shot back, folding her arms over her chest.
"Eden, don't go." Ethan tried.
Ethan let out a raspy chuckle. "Don't." She angrily spoke, rushing away.
As the girl ran off, she let out a weak sob. Her hands shook as she grasped her phone, trying her hardest to stay calm. Her breaths were tagged as she looked at her most recent notification.
Unknown
This is just the beginning, my Eden.
notes. i hate dialogue scenes with a burning passion ‼️‼️ but i'm lowk motivated to write a lot tonight so maybe be prepared for another update.. anyways, eden gags ethflop any day 🤷♀️
also, i might push back the apartment scene for the next day. so it'll still pretty much be the night before halloween. so let's pretend this all makes sense. i wanna give anika + eden more scenes, same as quinn + cale.