❪ ﹟EIGHTEEN ❫ ࿐ྂ
━━ HUDSON RIVER PARK / UNNAMED WEST 96TH APARTMENT BUILDING !

     THE PLAN ENDS up being using Sam and Tara as bait. And while it's not the most likable one, it's the only one they've got. So now, the two were taking a stroll around Hudson River Park with Bailey on the lookout while Kirby listened in from a van that also housed Ethan, Chad, Carina, and Mindy. After the movie theater, Gale had been instructed to go home due to no one fully trusting her off-the-record comment, but she'd made Carina promise to keep her updated if something went wrong. Her saying she would was the only way they got Gale to leave.

     Now, as they wait in a van off to the side of the park, Carina feels her phone buzzing in her pocket like it's working on overtime and chooses to ignore it. There's nothing more to tell Gale, and she doesn't want to be distracted when she needs to be alert.

     "So we're really doing the phone tracing thing that never works in the movies? It'll be all, 'Keep him talking, Sam. Two more minutes, I've almost got him.' And then he hangs up just before you can get a lock."

     Carina chuckles while chewing on her donut slowly. She wasn't really in the mood to eat after the last few days, but she knew she'd need to.

     "I can trace a call in under fifteen seconds," Kirby informs. Carina's eyes ping pong back and forth from the FBI Agent to her best friend. Mindy blinks, eyes widening.

     "Well, but you've got them out there as bait." She sits up, leaning into Kirby's space.

     "Because the killer usually calls from somewhere nearby."

     "And you think they're safe because it's broad daylight in a public place?"

     "Look," Kirby sighs. "I am here, okay? And so is Bailey."

     "This is exactly how our Uncle Randy died. Broad daylight. Public place. Yanked into a van. Stab, stab, stab. No more Randy."

     "Mindy," Carina sighs, shaking her head at her friend.

     "Jesus," Ethan laughs bitterly from his place on the other side of Chad. "Be a little more optimistic why don't you?"

     "You," she points at him without taking her eyes off Kirby, "shut it."

Now it's Kirby's turn to blink. "Huh." She hits a button on her computer just as Ethan offers the bag of Cheetos he's holding toward her and Chad. Carina reaches for them around him. She takes them from Ethan, passing them back once she has a handful. "Hey, Sam? Stay frosty out there, okay?"

     Carina looks out the window of the van, shivering at what she sees. It's officially Halloween Day, and the streets are overrun with people in costumes. It's unnerving.

     Focusing back in on Kirby, she can't be sure what's going on until the other says, "Yep. Geolocation coming through right now." She sits up in anticipation, looking over Kirby's shoulder even though she knows she wouldn't be able to understand what it says. "He's on the Upper West Side. He's inside an apartment building halfway across the city."

     Kirby doesn't need to say anymore, it clicks faster than she can blink, not even realizing she knows until it's coming out of her mouth as images of letters on her living room table fly into her head. "Gale," she breathes. She scrambles for her phone, it's stopped buzzing consistently a few minutes ago, and now she wishes it never stopped buzzing ever. She swipes at the screen feebly, bringing the phone to her ear and cussing when it goes to voicemail. "We have to go."

     Sam, Tara, and Bailey are already running to Bailey's car when Kirby radios them. As she does, she crawls into the front, stepping onto the gas and peeling out off the street. All the while, Carina doesn't stop trying Gale's phone over and over again as she waits. They're not driving fast enough in her opinion, but she knows it's not their fault Gale isn't picking up the phone or that they're in an old-ass van that shakes going too fast.

     She can only pray that Sam and Tara, or even the police, get there fast enough to save Gale because part of her knows she won't. Involuntarily, images of Dewey flash in her mind, and she curses and throws her phone when Gale doesn't pick up again.

      "Hey," Mindy says in front of her, leaning forward to place a hand on her knee. "It'll be okay."

     Carina shakes her head, laughing bitterly. "You don't know that, so don't fucking say it," she spits, not thinking clearly enough to feel bad for cussing at her friend. Thankfully, she seems to understand, because she only nods and keeps her hand on her knee for the rest of the agonizing drive.

     As they pull up to Gale's apartment, police are invading the scene, and paramedics are wheeling someone out on a stretcher, Sam and Tara not too far behind. She jumps out of the back of the van, barely waiting for Kirby to put it in park. "Sam! Tara!" She pushes through bodies, grabbing both their arms when close enough. "Was that her? Is she okay? Please, tell me she's okay," she begs, tears rolling down her face that she doesn't bother to wipe away.

     Sam wraps her into her chest, and she can feel the older girl's chin dig into her head when she nods. "She had a weak pulse when they got her on the stretcher, that's all we know."

     "They can't take her too," she cries, clutching the back of Sam's shirt like a lifeline. "They can't." Sam tries to calm her, leading her back into the lobby of the apartment building. Their friends bust in a few moments later, tripping over themselves and demanding answers.

     Sam shuts them all up with a look, not letting the younger girl go. Slowly, they all settle into the seats around them, and silence overtakes them all. It takes Carina a long time to calm down enough to breathe properly, and afterward, she just feels numb. Numb enough that when Danny bursts into the lobby and tells them, "I got here as fast as I could," she doesn't even look up at him.

    Everyone else does, and the air is tense. "Did you?" Tara asks suspiciously, her hand still on Carina's back.

     In the end, what does get her to look up is Mindy. Mindy, who admits, "I'm scared, you guys." The words stir her, and she looks up at her friend in concern. While they were all scared, it was rare for Mindy to admit it. "I really don't want to get hurt again."

     "Neither do I," Chad admits. Her eyes flicker to him, and she reaches across Tara to take one of their hands in each of hers. Mindy looks at Chad with a hard glare. "I don't want you getting hurt again, either."

     Squeezing his hand, she agrees silently. "I know. I know." Chad brings their joined hands up to Mindy's knee, collapsing on his twin. Mindy grabs their hands, and Carina collapses on Tara, who falls on Mindy's other side. The four fold in together, holding each other any way they could.

     "So, what do we do now?" Chad asks.

     "Maybe he gets to win this time," Sam suggests softly, not looking at any of them as they all look at her in disbelief. "He wants to punish me." She pushes up, standing in front of them. "Me. So maybe I let him. I'll just give myself up." Sam starts crying, and Carina's frown deepens. "If this is what I have to do, to keep you safe, it's worth it."

     "No, weren't not doing that, Sam." Tara pushes her off lightly, just enough so that she can stand in front of her sister. "Alright? You went back to Woodsboro to protect me. Every single day, you make the decision to protect me. None of us would even be alive if it weren't for you." She waves a hand behind her to the motion to all of them, and Carina nods. "You have to let us protect you this time."

     "No."

     "Yes." Tara keeps nodding, even as Sam shakes her head. "We're a team, remember?"

     Mindy stands, pulling Carina up with her by the hand. "Actually, we're a family."

     Chad claps behind them, jumping off the couch. "Let's go! Core Five! Come on." He sticks his hand out like they're in a huddle, and Carina cracks a smile, sliding her hand on top of Mindy's who's already holding her brother's hand. Tara's drops on top her's.

     "Core what?"

     Chad waves Danny off. "It's an us thing."

     Danny chuckles but doesn't say more, leaving them to focus again on Sam, who breathes. "He's going to keep coming for us."

     "Isn't there somewhere safe we could just hole up in?" Ethan asks behind them, and Carina can almost imagine the way he's shifting on the soles of his feet.

     "No, he's just gonna keep finding us."

     Sighing, he looks away. "Great."

     "We can use that though." Tara almost seems to be thinking out loud. She looks at Sam, something seeming to dawn on the other girl as well. She nods frantically, shaking her hands out.

     "Yeah," she agrees. "We can."

     Carina tilts her head, confused by whatever telepathic idea the two sisters are sharing. Tara pulls out her phone, dialing a number, and places it on speaker. When she turns the phone up right, Carina looks over to see the contact, Officer Bailey.

     "This better be you calling to apologize for stealing an official cop vehicle," he answers the phone by saying, and Carina's eyes widen. Tilting her head at Tara, the shorter girl waves her off.

     "We want to lure Ghostface to a secure location," Tara announces to Bailey, not answering his previous comment. As she does, Carina looks at the others in the room who were also not briefed on this plan, all of whom just kind of shrug at her helplessly.

     "I'm getting my ass chewed out for not dropping the case and now you want to do what?"

     "We want to lure him to a secure location and trap him inside," she repeats.

     "And then what?"

     Tara eyes them all, looking back down at the phone. "We execute him."

     Bailey doesn't immediately answer, and everyone's eyes fall on the phone as they wait with bated breath for said answer. Finally, Tara must get tired of waiting. "Are you gonna help us?"

     "Let's kill the son of a bitch," comes through the phone, and Carina releases a breath. "Now I'm stuck here, but Gale gave us the keycards to the theater. It's got heavy surveillance and security cameras, but we can use that against him. I'll tell Kirby to meet you there, and I'll join you as soon as I can."

     Carina finds herself nodding along with him, even though he can't see her. "Got it."

     "And remember, travel in public. The more people around you, the less chance he has to take a shot at you before you get there."

madi speaks! 💌
i didn't realize how much shorter this is until i was editing it but yk little filler chapter it's all good
also, this is to warn you now, i was finishing up editing and i took julian out of the story other than like the snippet from earlier because i felt like i wasn't including him enough nor doing his character justice. so i'm sorry if you were excited for him, he was just too good for me