EXILE,
eleven

           ANIKA KAYOKO IS DEAD. Eden Miller had witnessed her death. Watched her body plummet to the hard concrete. Listened to her screams. Those screams that wouldn't leave Eden's mind. Whenever Eden closed her eyes, she saw Anika's bleeding corpse. Whenever Eden tuned everybody out, she could hear Anika's blood curdling screams.

Every part of Eden's body is shaking. Her hands were trembling when the paramedics offered her water. Most of the water had spilled from the tall glass of water, falling onto Eden's bloody jeans. Anika's blood.

So, Eden is now drenched in freezing cold water and dried blood that belonged to her best friend. The best friend that she barely got to know. Her best friend who is currently in a black body bag. Anika was supposed to be next to Eden right now, resting her head on Mindy's shoulder. But instead, Cale's arms are wrapped around his little sister as they both wail silently.

When Eden's eyes flutter shut, she sees those eyes. The lifeless eyes that were attached to the person who was teasing Anika. The eyes that belonged to the devil. She can't keep her eyes closed because it gets worse. Then, she can't move.

Until she opens her eyes.

"Fuck." Eden winced as she slightly sat up, hurting her wrist. If Eden tried to move, her wrist would practically beg for her to stop. "Aren't these drugs supposed to work?" Eden asked Cale, watching as he blinked away his tears.

Cale shrugged, staring ahead. He looked absolutely horrible. He was just sitting in the ambulance truck, trying his hardest not to think about his dead friend and dead crush. Sure, Cale hadn't seen Anika fall off the ladder, but he had seen her body. Saw her laying lifeless on the ground.

Eden glanced over towards the alleyway, noticing Sam standing there, a cigarette between her lips. The woman was clearly thinking that Anika and Quinn's death was all her fault. Sam should've been able to save both of the young girls. But she couldn't. She had just watched Anika's body descend to the ground. She had just listened to Quinn's cries of help.

"I'll be back." Eden whispered, tapping Cale's shoulder lightly. "I promise." She softly told her brother, trying her hardest to calm down Cale.

The Miller girl slowly walked towards Sam, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She rocked on her heels when Sam finally noticed her presence.

"Hey, Sam." Eden greeted, frowning at Sam. "What's up—"

Eden was cut off when Sam threw her arms around the girl, holding Eden close to her chest. The girl immediately wrapped her arms around Sam's body, letting out a silent cry. "I'm so scared, Sam." She whispered to the Carpenter woman, sobbing into her chest. "I— I just want this to be over."

"I know, I know."

The Miller girl let out another hopeless cry. "I just want my best friend." Eden breathed out, bottom lip trembling. "But she isn't coming back. She'll never come back. She's in a bodybag. Her dead corpse." Eden wailed, tightening her grip around Sam's torso.

"It's okay, Eden. We'll find whoever killed her. Anika will get justice."

Eden pulled away. "I know. Because I'll be the one who fucking kills them." Eden seethed, teeth gritting.

Sam looked down at the cigarette that was between her fingers. "Here, you need this more than I do." She quietly spoke. "Don't tell Cale, though." Sam whispered.

The Miller girl nodded. She didn't smile, nor did she laugh. She just nodded. "Thanks."

"Actually, here." Sam tossed the pack towards Eden, watching as she flimsily caught it.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it helps." Sam softly smiled, though it seemed forced. Completely forced. "I'm so sorry, Eden." Sam whispered, watching as Eden nodded. Then, she threw the girl a small blue lighter.

Almost instantly, Eden rushed back to the back of the ambulance with the cigarette pack in her free hand. She propped her body against the vehicle, tilting her head back slightly. When she placed the cigarette between her lips, she caught his gaze.

And it burned. It physically pained her to look into his eyes. Ethan Landry had ducked under the yellow caution tape, the bystanders gaping as he trespassed. His dark eyes met Eden's bloodshot ones, resulting in Ethan widening his own eyes. As he walked towards the ambulance truck, his body was immediately shoved against a car by Chad.

"Eden."

"Where were you?" Chad interrogated, hands balling into Ethan's jacket.

"What? When?" The Landry boy gasped.

"Last night!" Chad shoved Ethan against the vehicle harder, trying to get some sort of answer.

"What? I— I had Econ. You know this."

Chad tightened his grip around Ethan. "Bullshit, man! You disappear and my sister almost gets killed!" Chad shouted.

Eden lit the cigarette, inhaling the smoke, before slowly letting it out. Sam was right; the cigarettes actually do something. Yeah, Eden doesn't like to smoke, but it makes her forget about her pain for now. Makes her forget about the dead corpses of her two friends she barely got to know.

"Dude, I was in a study hall with a hundred other people. You can ask any of them." Ethan calmly spoke, trying to relax his best friend.

Eventually, Chad gave up. "Fuck, man." The Meeks-Martin boy cursed, just before he released the tight grip he had Ethan's jacket.

"Oh, my God. Who?" Ethan gasped once he saw more of the crime scene.

"Anika and Quinn."

Ethan widened his eyes, slowly making his way towards Mindy. "Mindy, I'm so sorry." Ethan sincerely spoke, looking down at Mindy. "Cale, I'm—"

"Step the fuck back." Mindy seethed. "You're at the top of my list." She growled.

"I had Econ!" Ethan stressed, clearly getting sick of having to defend himself. Everybody could tell he was annoyed by the look on his face. Stressed, angry, tired, and annoyed. It's as if he couldn't believe his own friends suspected him of murder.

He's even more hurt when he notices Eden.

Ethan widened his eyes, rushing to the girl. "Oh, my— Eden, are you okay?" The Landry boy asked, watching as Eden's foot crushed the burned out cigarette. "Your wrist," The boy breathed out.

"I noticed." Eden avoided Ethan's gaze. "Were you actually at Econ, last night?"

Ethan completely ignored her question.

"You don't think it's me, right?" Ethan softly spoke, trying to prove to Eden that he isn't a killer. "Eden, you know I'm not capable of murdering people. Especially my friends."

Eden looked down at her shaking hands. "I don't know." Eden whispered.

Ethan's lips parted, almost as if he was lost of words. "Eden, can we just talk in private, please?" Ethan tried, looking down at the girl.

Reluctantly, Eden nodded. "Yeah, okay." She whispered, walking towards the front of the ambulance with Ethan beside her. "Talk." She ordered, wincing as she folded her arms over her chest.

"You know that I'm not capable of killing anybody. Anika and Quinn were my close friends. And I would never hurt you, Eden." Ethan tried, hopelessly looking into Eden's eyes. "I was so worried that it was you who was—"

"No, you really weren't." Eden interrupted. "Stop saying that when we both know it isn't true." Eden shot back. "Because if you cared, you would've been there last night."

"I had Econ!"

Eden raked her hands through her knotted hair, tugging on it slightly. She let out an exhausted groan, clearly sick of Ethan. "I don't know who to trust anymore." Eden whispered. "Our friends are dead, Ethan." She blinked away the tears that were threatening to roll down her face. "I don't want to talk about whatever this is."

"Please, Eden. Don't— Please, don't leave it like this." Ethan tried to reach for Eden's hand. "I promise, it's not me." Ethan stressed, eyes clouding over with tears.

She didn't want to trust anybody. She couldn't trust anybody. So she didn't. Eden left Ethan standing in front of the ambulance, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Eden," Tara rushed towards the girl. "Gale told Sam and I that she found something."

EDEN DIDN'T WANT TO talk. She didn't want to move. She didn't even want to breathe. At this point, she wanted to die. She couldn't do this. Not without Anika. Not without Quinn.

It also physically hurt her chest whenever she looked at her brother. It hurt when she looked into his eyes, absolutely nothing behind them. Cale was empty at this point, completely emotionally fragile and fearful. He was terrified. Terrified of everything. Because he had just gotten a new friend. After months. He had finally gotten his first true friend.

And she was taken too soon.

"This alleyway is fucking creepy." Eden whispered to Cale, patiently waiting for a quiet laugh. Unfortunately, his lips didn't even twitch. His gaze never softened.

As the group walked through the mysterious alleyway, Eden's gaze traveled to the building walls that were decorated with all types of graffiti, patterns, and nonsense. The only thing that really caught her attention was the large dedication to Ghostface, writing underneath it.

Fucking idiots.

"Jason and Greg were little Atlanta rich boys. Apparently, they used fake names to rent this place." Gale explained as she walked in front of the entire group, the others trailing behind her.

Kirby furrowed her eyebrows. "How did you find it?"

Gale glanced at Kirby for a split second. "It's called 'investigative journalism' for a reason." She remarked, sounding like Gale usually did. Which was sassy and bold. "How didn't you find them? Weren't you tracking them?" Gale asked.

"I went through their financial records dozens of times. This was not in any of them. Doesn't make sense." Kirby cluelessly spoke.

"I'm just really good at my job. You'll get there." Gale sarcastically spoke, flashing Kirby a bitter smile. Then, the woman used a keycard to unlock the theater.

Both Eden and Cale shared a look.

Sam furrowed her eyebrows. "What is this place? What's with all the security?" Sam questioned, looking at her surroundings.

With just one light switch, the entire building was illuminated with dim lighting. Now, everything was more clear. This place just seemed like a creepy theater that had been forgotten about for decades. Cobwebs were almost everywhere, dust was covering the counters and objects, and the lights clearly hadn't been fixed in years.

"It's a movie theater." Tara pointed out.

Gale simply shook her head. "It's not just a theater. It's a shrine." The woman corrected.

And with that, the black curtain that was covering the rest of the room, had vanished. And the sight that Eden saw was enough to make her throw up.

"Whoa." Mindy gasped, rushing towards the many objects.

Eden stood in shock as she stared at the sight in front of her. This was evidence of all the Ghostface attacks. This was decades, and decades of police evidence that both Jason and Greg were collecting. All this stuff was like collectibles for both of the film students.

And it made Eden sick to her stomach.

What made her even more nauseous was the necklace that was safely stored in a glass barrier. A beautiful pendant that was shaped in a heart, initials carved into it. Along with the necklace was a beautiful ring, the same initials engraved, barely noticeable.

A.F + E.M.

Eden's breath hitched when she finally processed it. Her necklace had been sold to these creepy film students. They had bought her stuff, just so it could be a part of their collection. It sickened her. And she hates to admit this, but she wants her necklace back.

"What the fuck," Eden let out. "My necklace." She whispered to herself, ignoring the puzzled look on Ethan Landry's face.

Eden rested her hand against the glass, trying to find a way to open the container. She wanted her necklace back. Eden wanted her fucking necklace back. Even if Amber had given it to her, she still needed it. Because it belonged to her. The necklace was the last of her girlhood.

Ethan came up from behind Eden, peering over her shoulder. "Do you want it back?" He asked, voice sending chills down her spine. She almost gasped when she finally realized he was behind her.

"Desperately." Eden coldly replied, trying her hardest not to melt when Ethan hand brushed over hers. He made it so hard for her to stay mad at him.

Slowly, Ethan helped Eden collect the necklace and ring, watching as she avoided his gaze. The cold material sent shills down Eden's spine once her fingers came into touch with the pendant and ring. Within seconds, the ring was already back on her finger, and the necklace was stuffed into her pocket.

"Congratulations, we officially stole from some creepy film students." Ethan joked.

Just before Eden could speak, somebody interrupted them.

"They've got the whole goddamn franchise." Mindy pointed out, gasping as she took in her surroundings.

Clearly, everything was cutting deep. It was like salt in a wound as the Woodsboro survivors looked at the many things that belonged to either them, or their close friends and family. It was torture to see the look on everybody's faces when their gaze caught something was once held some kind of significance to them.

"Chad?" Mindy gasped.

"Hm?" Chad hummed.

"This was Uncle Randy's." Mindy informed her brother, gesturing to the video store uniform. "They've got everything." The girl added on, lips parted.

"You all have been through so much." Detective Bailey spoke up, voice laced with sincerity.

Eden and Cale continued to look around, the two siblings staying close to each other, in case they found something that caught their attention. "This is so fucking creepy." Cale whispered to his sister, earning a weak nod.

Tara furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, how'd they find all this stuff? Isn't this evidence?" She questioned, glancing at the others for an answer.

"Well, cops like money, and evidence can get lost pretty easily." Gale informed Tara, glancing at Kirby, before sighing. "Present company excluded, of course." She added on.

Kirby sarcastically smiled at her.

"Um, why am I here exactly? My alibi checks out." Ethan asked, adding a little bit of attitude to his words.

Chad sent Ethan a fake smile. "So I can keep an eye on you, roomie." Chad reminded Ethan.

At the same exact time, the two fingers Mindy had in front of her eyes, were pointing in Ethan's direction. Mindy was clearly gesturing that she had her eye on Ethan, due to her speculating that he was most definitely Ghostface.

"The killer must have found this place before he murdered Jason and Greg. And then he took the masks off the mannequins. All nine, from Stu and Billy to Amber and Richie." Gale explained to the door.

Eden slowly walked up the steps to the Ghostface mannequins, stopping once she saw Amber's costume, without the mask. She shuddered quietly when she looked down at the plaque that read 'Amber Freeman'. The mention of her name sickened Eden. It always would.

Absentmindedly, her hand traveled to the glass. She rested her hand against it, not bothering to retract it from the cold case. It felt relieving to relax her hand against it. Almost satisfying.

It always felt satisfying when Eden remembered who the alive girl was. It wasn't Amber. It was Eden. Eden was alive.

Eden fucking Miller had survived, not Amber Freeman.

notes. hey ‼️ new chapter because i'm super motivated with this book right now. the necklace does hold some sort of significance to eden so don't call her greedy for wanting it back!

it'll all make sense soon...