❪ ﹟EIGHT  ❫ ࿐ྂ
━━ THE FREEMAN'S !

     WHEN CARINA WAKES, the first thing she registers is someone pushing at her shoulder. The next is crying. Finally, and it's surprising that she didn't register it sooner, is the pain. And with the pain, the memories. She gasps, sitting up with a strength she didn't know she had. Her hand, which was previously dead weight and linked with Chad's, comes up to her chest as she sucks in harsh gasping breaths.

     She's covered in blood from what feels like head-to-toe and is unsure what came from Dewey, what came from Chad, and what's here alone. Her back is throbbing and she can feel blood trickling from the wounds there, but she's alive. When Ghostface first took her down however long ago, she didn't think that would be the case.

     It all hits her at once, leaving Sam, Tara, and Richie in the car, finding Chad on the porch, going with him to find Liv, and then Ghostface attacking. "Chad!" she exclaims, crawling on scraped hands and knees over to him. His eyes are closed, and she can't tell if his chest is moving because he fell face down. She grabs his wrist to feel for a pulse and lets out a tiny exhale when she makes one out. It's faint, but it's there.

     As she sits there and soaks in the fact that she did in fact survive, and Chad was holding on, she finally realizes that the crying hadn't been her, and she hadn't imagined the hand on her shoulder pushing at her when she woke. She turns to find Liv kneeling in front of them, hand still outstretched like Carina hadn't moved and she was still trying to shake her. The girl's in hysterics. Her hands are covered in blood now too.

     "Oh god. Is he dead?" Carina shakes her head, throat dry and unable to make words come out. Not that it matters, the pink-haired girl just continues to stare at Chad like he's a ghost and mutters, "Fuck," over and over.

     "Liv." She attempts to get the other girl's attention, but her voice comes out weak and the other doesn't acknowledge it. "Liv," she calls, to no avail. "Liv!" she snaps, finally getting her to look at her instead of Chad. "We need to get in the house, and get help."

     Liv nods but doesn't move. Instead, her eyes flick back over to Chad.

     "Fucking hell," she curses. Liv is obviously going to be no help. She pushes herself to stand, and pretends like her back doesn't feel like it's being ripped to shreds right now. Going as fast she can, she makes her way into Amber's front door, Liv hot on her heels.

     She bursts through the door and runs for the living room, banging her shoulder on the door frame. "Mindy!" she screams as she spots her best friend on the floor bleeding out.

     Sam's above her, Richie to their right, and Amber and Tara to their left. Carina doesn't take the time to think of what she and Liv must look like, one covered and blood bleeding from at least four different places but something standing, and the other in hysterics with blood on her hands. Instead, she tries to race toward her best friend, only to be stopped when Amber throws her hands out.

     "Stay the fuck back!"

     "Jesus Christ!" Liv starts blabbering all over again, and Carina has to remember to breathe. "What the fuck happened?" she demands.

     "I was with Tara, but the rest of you were wandering around! One of you is the fucking killer!" Amber's pointing fingers and Carina has the random urge to reach out and snap it.

     "Fuck you, Amber. Fuck you!"

    "Just hold on!" She shouts, dragging her hands through her short hair. "Do I look like I got carved up for fun?"

     "Carina, what happened to you? And Liv why is there blood on your hands?" Sam looks scared, and Carina thinks she probably has a good ass reason to. She tries to breathe because she knows she has to tell them about Chad and get him help now. He's not going to last too long bleeding out in the Freeman's yard.

     "Ghostface. He, he attacked Chad and me in the yard. Chad he's, he's not doing good. We have to get him help and fast." Liv is looking at the blood on her hands, and Carina chances a glance at Mindy. The other twin looks like she's falling in and out of consciousness, and her heart clenches at the idea of both of them being so badly hurt at the same time.

     "Chad?"

     "Liv, where the fuck were you? You just happened to stumble upon them?"

     Carina reels back like she's been stabbed again to look at Liv. Amber has a look of pure disgust on her face, and she makes a point Carina didn't even think to look in to. How had Liv found them so fast?

     "No." Liv's shaking her head, but now Carina can't think about it any other way and she's stepping towards Sam and Richie. The former reaches a hand out to pull her closer and she doesn't hesitate to grab it, only grimacing slightly as the blood on her hand smears with the blood on Sam's.

     "You're the killer." Richie sounds so certain, and Carina can't think fast enough to decide if she believes it or not.

     Liv turns to face her, only to notice she's moved across the room. "No," she's shaking her head so much Carina's a little worried it's going to snap off. "I'm not. Carina, c'mon."

     "Liv, stop." Amber has her hands up like she's trying to negotiate, and she and Liv start screaming over each other as they both get defensive.

     "Fuck you!"

     "Liv, just stop!"

     "Fuck you, Amber." She's gritting her teeth now and all signs of sadness are gone in replace of anger as she screams at the other. "I'm not the fucking killer!"

     "I know."

     It happens in slow motion; Amber pulling the gun out from her back pocket and shooting Liv directly in the head without a second thought. There's no hesitation, there's no chance for Liv to beg for her life, just the sound of a gun firing and blood splattered on the wall behind her. Carina doesn't even see the body drop, just knows one second Liv was standing there and now she's not.

     With the gun still outstreched, Amber turns on the three of them with a wicked smile on her face. "Welcome to Act Three."

     I need to puke, she thinks. There's no time, so she swallows it down as Sam grabs her hand after Richie grabs hers. He's screaming, "Run!" and leading them through the house, all while bullets are flying and Amber's trying to kill them.

     Holy fuck. Amber's trying to kill them.

     "Holy shit!" Sam ducks behind the counter in the kitchen, and Carina tries to keep running further in the house, hoping to make it the back door, but Richie grabs her arm and pulls both her and Sam down in the basement while still shouting things. "Sam, come on! Run! Go, go, go! Go!"

     They run down the stairs, and Carina can't focus, can't think. Everything's a mess in her head and no matter how hard she tries to get it to settle enough so she can keep herself safe nothing's working. She slaps her hands against her cheeks, hoping it will do something. The pain of her back is just numb now, and she needs to feel something in the moment.

     "Oh, my God... Tara!"

     Carina, who's furtherest in the room, looks around and realizes that: Tara isn't with them. Sam rushes to go back upstairs, but Richie catches her by the arms. "Wait, no, Sam. She has a gun." As he pushes her further in the room, he reminds them of a fact that stops them dead in their tracks. "Sam, there are always two killers."

     If she were in a better headspace, Carina would tell him that, no, actually, there isn't. Roman Bridger had done it all on his own, and Amber Freeman probably could to if she wanted to.

     Everyone in the tiny room stops at the declaration, and the sudden moment of quiet is enough for Carina to suck in a breath and push everything down enough to focus like she needs to. It's also enough to get her thinking. Thinking about the fact that Amber was the one most likely the one who killed her mom and Wes and God, Dewey.

     Before she can find something to say, something to get the three of them out of there and make a plan to get Tara and Mindy and get out, Sam's stepping out of Richie's grip and holding a knife up towards his throat.

     "Woah, Sam." Where had she even got the knife from?

     "Sam, please put the knife down." She doesn't, but she does look like she debates it for a second. When she holds out, Richie beginning talking again. "Look, I think...I think the other killer might be Tara."

     "Are you stupid?" Those weren't the exact words she planned to say, but they did get her thoughts across pretty well.

     "What?"

     "Tara's been attacked by these fuckers more times than any should be, why would she sacrifice herself to that if she was the other killer. It's not like she's been getting up and walking in and out of the hospital every time she wants to kill someone."

     Richie glares at her, and she raises an eyebrow. She has a point, and he knows it. "She's the one that brought us here and you two have been estranged for years. I mean...just, Sam, how well do you really know her?"

     "She didn't bring you here. Wes did, and now he's dead."

     Richie drops the hands he had up due to Sam still holding a knife close to his throat and the look in his eyes turns meaner. "Well then what about you, Carina? Your motive's perfect, mom who was in love with a serial killer, town who resented you because of it. You probably hated your mom for being in love with Stu Macher and had Amber kill her with you on the phone so you'd look innocent."

     "Are you," she stutters, utterly flabbergasted by the accusation. "Are you fucking kidding me? Why are you going around throwing blame at everyone else. I bet it's fucking you! What was Dewey's first fucking rule? Never trust the love interest."

     Richie rolls his eyes.

     "Please, you probably took Chad to the field and slashed him up and had Amber do some minor stuff to your back so no one would suspect you." He looks at Sam and tosses a hand out in Carina's direction. "You should be holding the knife up at her. How well do you know her?"

     "Better than I know you."

     Sam reaches behind her and secures an arm around the front of Carina, moving the younger girl with her as the two circle Richie, knife still outstretched. Once they're past him, Carina makes a dash up the stairs with Sam on her heels.

     "Sam, wait. Sam!"

     They both ignore him as they make it through the door, and Carina makes the executive decision to run in the direction opposite of the living room.

     Someone screams in the direction of the front, and Carina double times it to the stairs. Especially when there's the sound of a gun being shot following it shortly after.

     They're walking around upstairs when a bang comes from the closet next to them. Sam once again moves Carina behind her with one hand and holds the knife out with the other. They move towards the door as a unit, and Sam looks at her before opening it. It's only after she nods that Sam twists the handle and throws it open.

     Resiting the temptation to close her eyes, Carina almost falls to her knees when she sees it's Tara in the closet. While her friend is visibly upset, and there's tape on her mouth and around her hands, Carina's never been more thankful to see her. Against all odds, she looks unharmed, and eyes shine with relief and unshed tears as she holds her hands up for Carina and Sam to untie. Both fall to their knees in front of her and Carina reaches up to take the tape off her mouth.

     "Tara."

     "Oh, my God."

     Carina watches as Sam takes the knife to the tape at her hands, only to stop before she's started. "Sam?" she asks.

     The older girl shakes her head and she goes back to cutting the tape. "Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking. I have an idea."

     Together, the three work to get the tape off of Tara's hands and legs while Sam explains her plan to them. While Carina isn't sure if it's going to work, she knows she definitely doesn't have a better idea. So, once Tara's up and moving, she spilts off from Sam and Carina to set the first step into motion.

     As Carina spins on her heel and makes her way back towards the heart of the lion's den, she thinks about Dewey. She thinks about how proud he would be to see her standing here, ready to fight.

     It's the one thing that spurs her on.

madi speaks! 💌
i know this chapters shorter but i wanted to split it up from the last one bc if not then it would've been REALLY long and i would rather two chapters shorter than one long one yk?
but next chapters the end and then act two in new york!! i'm so excited!!
also THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 6k reads <3