Y/N pov

  Where is the possible place that the key would be found? Bushes sounded absurd, but the shabby warehouse by the lake did give some hope. Because its door was so old that it could be broken by hand...

      "Or a crowbar..." I let out a gasp when I picked up a rusty iron object right next to the operating room, which also meant that Ghostface was playing by the rules too.

      "Yep, a smart girl knows what to do, and you should hurry up." He said when there was only twenty minutes left.

  I could not know whether he was joking or encouraging me, after all I was just his puppet, I was not planning on expecting any mercy from Ghostface, a sane person wouldn't cling to the so-called humanity from a killer, but must patiently obey him until finding out his weak point.

  Twenty minutes was just enough for me to return to the warehouse and come back here. I did not waste a second to turn around and start running straight for the path leading to the fishing spot earlier. It only took me three minutes to open the warehouse door with the crowbar that I found, the inner space was not too spacious but held a lot of old stuff and luckily it only had two floors so it would save me time to find that key.

      "Where would that damn key be?"

  I did not want to admit I was desperate when ten minutes had passed and I still could not find the key, even though I had rummaged through the entire warehouse. I was wandering around the first floor when a voice distracted me.

      "Looking for this?" a joking tone attracted my attention. I looked up and caught Ghostface leaning against the second-floor railing, his left hand pulling out a key that must have been what I needed.

  Of course, he would never let me go so easily, this cheating bastard wanted me to beat him to get the key which was kind of impossible. That jerk would probably be a grown man, over 6 feet tall, well-built and much more insidious than me, a weak, spineless teenager.

  I suddenly remembered something when I realized that the phone in my hand was hung up a long ago and Ghostface was here, which meant Tiffany was safe and I could call for help.

      "Go ahead, call the cop, but I should remind you about the consequences." He didn't show any concern even when I could actually dial the phone." Think further, darling, my next target might be your family."

  He calmly walked down the stairs, until he was only a few feet away from me and I just stared at the key he held in his hand, I still had 5 minutes left.

      "Why do you have to do this?" I looked at him with confused eyes, doubting my chance to get out of here alive.

      "I don't know, maybe I'm bored?" He walked around me and purposely brushed a few hairs falling on my check, making me shiver a little."Don't be so nervous, I won't do anything to you until the time is up, we all play by the rules, right?"

      "Stop this bullshit, why don't you just rip me off like your other victims? why play this game??"

      "I want to see your desperate expression, I've met a lot of youngsters like you, a bunch of pathetic teenagers with wealthy backgrounds and everything seems too easy for you." He stopped in front of me, every word he said as if he could describe my whole life. "I just want to help you taste a bit of that rough life, damn, sounds like I'm doing charitable work."

  This time, all my fears turned into flames of anger in an instant, my life was so perfect, was that what he meant? And that perfection was the reason I should suffer and die at his hands? I have never asked for the fullness that my parents gave me or felt satisfied with it, in other words, it was a burden. Being born into an honorable family was really a huge pressure.

      "Saying all those words as if you had been living my life."

      "Isn't it quite clear?"

  His voice cracked a little, it seemed the change of expression on my face had made him uncertain. Ghostface never hesitated in his decision, because he was an arrogant bastard. I had everything? How could he be so sure I was happy with them? I might be selfish, I might be greedy, but what right did a guy like him have to judge me? After all, under that mask he was just like everyone else around me, judging me by my parents.

      "You're just like them, choosing me because of my family name..." I smiled faintly, shook my head, at least I had made some real friends, or so I convinced myself.

  I was suddenly at a loss for words, beginning to feel suffocated even though I tried to remind myself of my therapist's calming exercises. A drop of warm liquid fell from the corner of my eye, rolled quickly on my cheek then left a salty taste on my lips. It was pathetic how I cried in front of a killer. I have met other people who were very much psychopaths, I even lived among them.

      "I was expecting a different reaction..." Ghostface tilted his head, no longer having the hesitant expression from before, he returned to his usual confident demeanor. "But this is not that bad, very interesting."

  After what he said, everything went dark.

Flashback to 3 years ago...

  I selected the most comfortable clothes for school before getting downstairs, I am not usually too picky about outfits. Henry was already waiting at the door while my father just finished reading the newspaper in the kitchen, waiting for the maid to prepare his breakfast. I rushed over to my brother and he gave me a bright smile, however it looked different than usual. Then we got to the car, Henry opened the door for me to get in.

      "What's the matter?" I asked him nervously, expecting an answer.

      "It's okay, I'm just a little tired." He smiled faintly, his eyelids were blinking and he was constantly avoiding my direct gaze, which I knew Henry would do when he lied.

      "You can't fool me, we're siblings, tell me what's wrong?"

      "So you won't hate me if you know I'm moving to France, right?"

  No I don't hate Henry, I'm just confused why did he do that, why did he have to leave?

***

  I woke up with a sharp pain in the back of my neck, no matter how familiar the surroundings were, it surprised me. I was on the bed in my room at Tiffany's apartment and why? Was everything that happened last night just a nightmare? I was about to breathe a sigh of relief until I found a note next to my pillow

  See you next time!

  And think twice about contacting the police or I will cut your friend open - GF

  I jumped out of bed, immediately searched for my phone and opened the contact list. My body froze when I found a strange number that called at 11 o'clock last night. It was him.

  I got in the car and Tiffany kept talking about those summer events, especially about Jake. She seemed to have completely forgotten what happened at the party at Mike's house, most of all she seemed to be fine. The class went on as usual, everyone returned to their daily lives, as if everything had gone into oblivion, no one had to worry about anything except me. The whole thing that happened last night was such a terrible experience that I didn't know who to tell.

      "Are you okay, Y/N?" The familiar raspy voice rang by my ears, pulling me back to reality.

  I gave a small nod when I caught his worried look, Jed. Even Tiffany was confused a little, she waited for him to continue his lecture before whispering to me in a tone of half surprise and half amusement.

      "He remembers your name already."

  I did not pay much attention to what Tiff was saying anymore. In the midst of the chaos in my head, it suddenly reminded me that there was a person who could listen to my story.

  I waited for the other students to leave the room until it was just me and Tiff, I told her to go home first but she insisted on waiting for me. Jed was busy clearing the table and putting his laptop back in his briefcase, and then he looked up at me, he gave me one of his charming grins, his eyes shining like he already knew what I wanted.

      "Is there anything I can do for you, miss Y/N?"

  I needed to tell someone about what had happened last night and Jed, the journalist specially investigating the case, was probably someone I could talk to.

      "Can we meet at your office?"

  I walked over to Jed before saying goodbye to Tiff, she looked a bit shocked, maybe I would have to explain to her later.

  As soon as I walked into Jed's office, I immediately felt the concerned look he gave me. He let me sit down on the sofa across from him and between us was the familiar coffee table, except that today there were no more bright red roses. Did he throw it away?

      "He contacted me."

      "Who?" Jed raised an eyebrow at me, he seemed to be trying to look me straight in the eye for a more distinctive answer.

      "Ghostface." I gave him a dreadful look on my face and then blurted out, "That bastard threatened to kill my friend if I told the police."

      "That's why you told me, right?"

  At this point I went silent again, he only warned me about calling the police, not a journalist. Even so, the anxiety still caused me to panic, screw him for messing up my life. As if sensing my insecurities, Jed came to sit next to me and handed me a glass of water.

      "You don't have to force yourself, say it when you're ready."

  I nodded. After taking a deep breath, I told Jed the whole story of last night, and he listened attentively, sometimes even frowning slightly as if absorbing information, sometimes he just titled his head.

      "Did he say he'd be back?"

      "Yes."

      "How strange, he doesn't usually play games like that with his previous victims."

      "Obviously that maniac wants to torture me, just because he thinks I'm some spoilt teenagers need lessons, under that damn mask he's nothing more than a jerk."

      "You think so?"

  Jed suddenly leaned over to me, we were only a few millimeters apart, I could even feel his warm breath on my cheek. My body froze as those deep blue eyes swirling deep into my mind, an irresistible charm. I stopped myself from looking at his lips, and instead I turned my attention to the vase on his desk, a quite new thing in his office, the vase of dazzling crimson roses, from the previous day's bouquet maybe?

  Reality hitted me on something important that I almost forgot.

      "I gotta go."

***

      "I need an explanation."

  As soon as I opened the door to the apartment, Tiffany immediately questioned me with skeptically curious eyes. I tried to explain to her that I was only working with the police through Jed, after all, I was the one who directly encountered the infamous Ghostface.

      "I only met Mr. Olsen for the investigation, I already have Mike remember?"

      "Forget about Mike, that bastard hasn't even called you since that incident at his house, it's been three days already?"

  I tried to argue that maybe Mike was busy attending the police interrogation and practicing for the upcoming baseball game. It was understandable that he didn't have time to spare.

  Still, a part of me knew that something was wrong with our relationship. Even the connection between me and everyone around became more and more distorted. I tiredly returned to my room and lay on the bed, ignoring the fact that I was still wearing my dusty clothes, and fell asleep slowly, hoping that I wouldn't have nightmares again.

  Or there were no nightmares and all the horrible things came into reality. As I opened my eyes, I was no longer in Tiffany's apartment, no longer in my comfy bed, but lying on the cold concrete ground inside a building, possibly an old facility and this time I didn't even have a phone.

  Damn it