Atlanta, Georgia: 2010

With pop music playing over a small radio, a teenage girl is chopping up tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables while wearing a robe that conceals her hidden costume she's got underneath. While some teens her age might actually be still trick or treating for the sake of it. She's the type that stays home. Is she also waiting for a boyfriend? Maybe..... That's how you'd probably expect this scene to go.

What does happen, as expected, is her phone starts ringing. Not taking a moment to see the id, she distracted takes it and puts it up to her ear with her non-messy hand. Which again, makes it seem like she was waiting for a boyfriend. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Nancy Givens?" The caller, an overly friendly sounding young man asks, to which the girl just gives a look that he can't see.

"Nope, wrong number."

"Oh, sorry." The man sheepishly apologizes, but doesn't hang up the phone just yet. "Who am I speaking to?" He then asks her, causing her to make a weird face at the fact she just told her 'wrong number.'

"Becky. Who's this?"

"Are you over eighteen, Becky?" The man then queries, to which the girl rolls her eyes.

"Barely."

"That's good enough for me." The caller comments with a small chuckle. Having finished with the tomatoes, Becky grabs some berries in a bowl and sets them on the kitchen island. "Hey, I'm calling from your local service provider with a seasonal survey for our customers."

"Uh, I'm really busy...." Becky mentions with a tone of voice that tries to politely shoot the caller down, not interested in hearing his pitch. After all, she wanted to use the one night she had to the house without getting involved in adult stuff. That's her parents job, isn't it?

"It's just a few questions." The caller assures her before practically insisting on talking to her, apparently not taking no with an answer just yet. "Let's start with....... WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SCARY MOVIE?!"

With that sudden change of tone, Becky's environment freezes, until a figure runs across the there windows of the dining room right next to her, causing her to snap her head back with a gasp. She stares at it for a couple more seconds..... nothing, kind of like she got to see a ghost for two seconds of her life.

"L-Look, don't call back, okay?" Becky shakingly demands from the prankster on the other line, before hanging up the phone and setting it back down on the island. Kind of embarrassed she fell for a trick so early in the nigh-

*DING!*

*DING!*

*DING!*

Hearing her front doorbell ring right after causing her to jump in fright. During which though, she accidently cuts her thumb with the kitchen knife, causing her to hiss as she puts her mouth on it, hoping she won't need a band aid for it. "Damn it...." She whispers to herself in frustration, thinking she'd have taught herself knife safety better after the affair woman in Candyman showed a poor example of it.

Taking her robe off, she then walks over to the front door, opens it....

And sees a little boy in a Father Death costume. Well, she doesn't exactly know that yet. "What are you supposed to be?" The girl asks the child with an amused smirk, who just stays completely silent as he tilts his head at her. "I'm Florance Nightengale." Becky tells him, strutting her hair as she shows off her own costume that, at first glance, seems to pretty much be a simple nurse outfit.

The boy still doesn't say anything, just tilts his head back to straight. Becky, not seeing any kind of joke, squints at him expectingly. "Aren't you supposed to trick me or something?" She asks the kid, now ready for it after that dumb phone call she just had.

The boys silently nods in response.... before pulling out a hunting knife.

At the sight of this, Becky screams right before it strikes her chest..... and does no damage, just unbuttons the top of her outfit.

The girl exhales before giggling a bit as the knife reveals to be a fake, a really good fake, as it seems to have the ability to retract into itself to sell the idea of someone getting stabbed. "Careful.... I paid a lot for these bad boys." Becky remarks before grabbing the bowl she had on the console table.

The boy finally breaks his silence, laughing like the little devil he is while taking the TWINS bar in the bowl. "Trick or treat!" The boy howls at her before taking off, still laughing in accomplishment of his little prank.

"Happy Halloween, punk."

Running away, past the numerous other kids who stand in his way in the sidewalk, the kid in the Father Death costume then finds a spot that's less frequent of activity, a hiding spot, someone his age would call it. A little pathway between the fence of one yard, and the back of another. 

"Deion, where are you?" The kid calls out to his twin brother as he looks around, knowing that they were supposed to meet back up here after splitting up for that small amount of time. During which, a figure quickly runs between two trees behind him, causing him to jump and turn around. He only barely gets the sight of someone his age in a custom covered in fake blood. "Deion is that you?" He calls out again, only to get no response.

He then a tree's branches move behind him......

"RAAAAAAAAWR!" Someone suddenly roars, the jumpscare taking the little kid tumbling back until he trips on his own shoe and falls down on his back. His scarier, wearing a creepy clown and also his age, takes off his mask aggressively, revealing Tommy Jenkins as he stares down at him. "Your costume sucks. Now give me your candy, you loser!" 

Without even waiting for him to obey, he grabs his candy bag before bolting it. 

"Hey, stop! Give it back!" The poor kid yells as he watches the bully take off with his treats, desperately getting himself on his feet so he can chase after him. "Give it back!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the sort-of alleyway, Deion Elliot, who's wearing pretty much his own football uniform, funnily enough, is humorously playing with some other neighborhood kids as he makes it way to the meet-up spot. "And D-Day Elliot cuts to the left, another spin move around a defender!" He pretends to be his own football announcer as he swerves past numerous trick-or-treaters, before finally making his way to the spot. 

He has a bit of trouble finding him though at first, causing him to explore the area a bit, eventually, he finds his twin brother in his Father Death costume standing in front of a larger fence. "There you are!" He finally exclaims, running over to him. "Been looking all over for you. I scored." He then boasts to him, setting his football helmet down before reaching into his Halloween bag. "Got a Twins bar at the last house, here. Half for you, half for me." He extends it over to him, but the boy only gives him a small glance before bringing his face back down and shaking his head, sad. "What's up with you?" Deion asks him before looking down at his hands and see that they're both empty. "Where's your candy?" 

Finally, the boy speaks. "Tommy Jenkins stole it." He tells him, causing Deion to scoff with a roll of his eyes. 

"Tommy Jenkins is a bitch who can't keep up with me on the field." Deion replies with a now determined face to get payback on the kid who crossed him. It's no secret to him that Tommy's 'tricks' come from jealousy and his big ego. "Where'd he go?"

"He ran away after he chucked my candy over that fence." The boy explains as he points towards the fence he's been staring at for who knows how long. Whatever's behind it is discouraging him from investigating. 

"Then why are we standing here?" Deion asks his brother before setting his bag down and immediately walking towards the conveniently placed barrels that stand in front of the fence.

"Deion, wait!" The boy quickly exclaims to stop him, not as excited to hop over it as he is. "You can't go in there. That's where Hookman lives." He then warns him, the name causing Deion to stop and turn around.

"Hookman?" Deion repeats, raising a brow at him. "Let me guess, Tommy Jenkins told you that?" He assumes correctly, judging by how his brother is so scared.

"He-He said the dude's got a hook for a hand and slices up kids like us." The boy tells his brother in fear, shaking in his robe as he clearly believes the spooky tale. Deion, on the other hand?

"Well, I ain't gotta let no 'Hookman' stop me." Deion tells his brother with a confident look on his face, using air quotes when he mentions the story's name. "Because 'Hookman'..... doesn't exist." 

"Easy for you to say." The boy comments, probably giving him a look behind his mask as if reminding him that not everyone has his football player energy. "Nothing stops you. You're D-Day Elliot." 

"Damn straight." Deion shamelessly replies, before doing a 'eyes on you' gesture with his hand. "And I got you."

And so, after a little more convincing, the boy goes with his brother as they both climb the fence and hop down onto the dirty ground. There, they are now able to see that the place is a massive junk yard filled with cars and what not, meaning that finding the candy bag may be a little more difficult that they thought. 

Taking a few steps inside, they are take off-guard for a few seconds when they hear a few dogs barking close-by another side of the fence. They can't see them, but they can tell that they catch their scent and got excited. 

Abruptly stopping, the two realize that with multiple narrow paths, they're probably gonna need to split up. And so, the twin in the Father Death Costume signals his brother to take one way and he'll take another, which is agreed with a nod. Seems simple enough....

However, little do they know, that dog barking has awoken the man who lives in this private place, inside a little shack. He opens the door, steps outside, and drops his glass bottle which lands and echos across the entire area with a loud thud, causing both twins to jump.

While looking around, the twin in the football uniform sees a pair of legs appearing from the cover of one of the cars, causing him to quickly crouch down and hide behind the one next to him. Abandoning the quiet, a loud bang goes off as Hookman's hook slams onto the trunk of another car, scraping the metal against it which loud causes kid's breathing to get unsteady. 

He then begins walking along side his car...... he can hear his boots scraping against the dirt..... stopping for only one second until he keeps his search going. Thankfully though, he finally passes his car.....

"Hey, over here!" The other kid's voice loudly calls out, obviously getting the Hookman's attention. "I found it! I found it!" He then proudly yells while his brother shaking takes off the football helmet again and sees him standing on top of another car. "I got you, bruh, I got you!" 

The boy's brother quickly tries warning him by frantically shaking his head, but it's too late as Hookman suddenly grabs him with an angry shout and throws him off of the car, causing him to drop the candy bag as it falls onto the ground, spilling everything. 

Due to the throw, the boy lands on the car with a rough landing before he slides off and hits the dirt. And, sadly, before he can get up, Hooman stomps over and impales the kid over the head with his signature weapon... right in front of his twin brother.

"No.... I got you."

_______________________________________

_________________________________

Weaver High: Hallway

After what happened in the locker rooms, Y/N decided that even though it wasn't a murder scene, he wanted to clean up anyway, and that Deion wasn't gonna wake up on his devices. And so, he first cleans his phone of every text message they shared, takes the phone he stole from Tommy Jenkins's body out of the locker and back into his own person, trashed the taser, turned off the showers, and then took off his Ghostface costume since the damn thing was getting way too hot thanks to that steam he got.

And lastly, to solve the second part, he calls/texts the others for 'help' with the unconscious Deion he found in the male locker room. They all grab him by his various limbs and drag him back into the hallway, before turning figure out what happened. There's no wounds on his body, (Except for maybe the taze marks they won't find behind his shirt and jacket), and despite shaking him a bunch of times, he's not moving a muscle or reacting.

 "Is he dead?" Amir asks out-loud, now really worried with how nothing they try succeeds in waking him up. He looks at anyone for an answer, but all he really gets is a shrug from Manny. 

"Locker was really wet when I heard him scream." Y/N explains as he too shrugs, obviously needing to play dumb in order to sell this bit that he didn't see what happened to him. "Maybe he slipped and hit the back of his head?" 

Before anyone else can give a theory, Deion suddenly shoots up with a loud yelp, panting as if having had the worst nightmare of his love. "Shit!" Manny swears out-loud as the athlete's sudden sit up causes everyone to take a step back.

Deion, realizing he's out of the junk yard and back into the real world, looks up at everyone, recognizing everyone from detention. "Did y'all see it?" He shakingly asks, looking like he saw a ghost. 

"See what?" Liv queries him, none of them knowing what he's talking about.

"Somebody just jumped me!" Deion explains with a slightly angry voice that might be peeved that he fell into an obvious trap like that. Hearing this, Y/N sees Amir glancing around as if the attacker is currently watching them behind a corner as if they're a giggling five-year-old. Meanwhile, D-Day's memory slowly comes back as he remembers the figure he saw. "Some kind of..... Ghostface." 

"Wait...... are you talking about the Halloween costume?" Y/N brings up with a raised brow, recognizing what he's talking about. "In the school?" 

"Thought I was the freak." Beth remarks while giving others a 'koo-koo' look. 

"I'm being serious!" Deion insists, quickly getting up on his feet so he doesn't look like a kicked puppy in front of everyone. "I can prove it." He then tells the others as he whips out his phone, pulling up the text messages he got back in detention, right before he went into the locker..... however, when he and the others look at them, they a completely empty message box.

What the.....? When the-? How did-? 

"He must've erased the messages to make me seem crazy."

"Then he's doing a hell of a job." Beth sarcastically comments, causing Deion to look at her and everyone else to see the unconvinced look in their eyes. Whoever attacked him really wants to keep their encounters between them and them only.

"I gotta go." Deion just tells them before jogging away, embarrassed and pissed because of it. Guess the jokes really on him. Well played, 'Ghostface', well played.

Watching him run off, everyone is just now awkwardly silent, still a little confused. "Yup...." Kym finally says something as she turns towards Manny. "Definitely one nasty hit to the head." She quips, to which Y/N snorts, but for the reasons they think. "What?"

"You....." Y/N slowly points at Kym with a cheeky grin. "You agreed with me." 

Kym gives him a look.

"Boy, shut up..."

________________________________________

Weaver High: Parking Lot

Elsewhere at the school, one of the security guards who are supposed to be doing a patrol, is currently sneaking out of the building into a place his expertise isn't really needed. He watches a few teens come and out as they find their separate vehicles, but he knows that they won't be caring what a guy like him is doing, at least while they're eyes are off.

He anxiously glances around before heading over to the lot's trash can, acting as casual as possible. After making sure no one's looking, he kneels down and takes a plastic bag out from under it.

Inside is a at least a dozen pills....

The security man then quickly makes his way back inside....

______________________________

Atlanta: Suburbs 

A few hours later, night has fallen, and the moon is now out in Georgia. And at the L/N residence, a forty-year-old looking man is now walking out of the home, now getting back on the job of the APD. No rest for the weary or the wicked, especially when it gets dark.

After stepping out of the door, the man is currently clicking on contacts on his phone, trying to find the appropriate number while making sure not to trip as he goes down the front porch's steps. Hearing it now ringing, he puts it up to his ear. It rings, it rings, it rings...... but it's left straight to voicemail.

"Hey, son, heading off to work so I'm leaving some fried rice in the fridge." The man says while walking to his car at the same time. "Don't know what exactly kept you from coming home, but please be careful, okay? It's not exactly a friendly neighborhood." 

Hanging up his phone with a sigh, he expects to just get enter his car and move on with his day, only to find something very..... off. At first, he thought it was just the shadows playing tricks on him, but...... there's someone..... sitting very still in his passenger seat. 

"Hey...." The man cautiously gets the sleeping figure's attention, softly tapping on the driver car window a couple times only to get no response. "Hey." He tries again, now upgrading to knocking but still no movement from this guy. "Hey!" He calls out again, much louder. Still nothing.

Now, with one hand on his holster, he slowly opens up the car window, his eye on the figure this entire time.....

Within seconds of him opening it..... a body then comes flying out and leans over the driver side of the car, the head completely covered by a plastic bag that's filled with blood. Slightly jumping away, the man can barely see the face inside, due to the foggy bag and the crimson liquid making it practically invisible. 

Paranoid, the man frantically looks around, but there's no car, no person hiding in the bushes, no nothing.... just him... and this dead corpse in his car.....

"Holy shit....."

___________________________________

Weaver High: Sports Field

Deion is now at the football field, watching the rest of the Weaver Reapers practice while he's forced to just watch from the benches due to his detention. He wishes he could tell coach the truth about what happened, but given how Avery got away with being a dick so easily and the looks from everyone else after he was attacked, he's not even bothering at this point. So what if they don't believe him? He's got his own problems to deal with. 

While sitting, not watching, his head is kind of filled with thoughts about the confusing day he had, he glances over and sees someone he knows walking over to the bleachers and sitting down next to him, watching the players get their sacks sacked by their own team. "I could've hit that hole." Sherry Elliot comments with a small chuckle. "And my feet are still killing me from last night's shift."

"Hey, mama..." Deion greets with a heart-felt voice, knowing hers all too well even if he didn't see her approaching him.

"Hey, baby."

"School called you?" 

"Sure did."

"You mad at me?" Deion then asks her, not like she could blame her, with the truth being twisted all to much in everyone's but his favor. His side of the story would just sound like an excuse even if he showed her how serious he was. 

Sherry sighs. "I'm not happy about you getting detention, but you're a good boy, Deion." She tells him straight up. That's just like her, always wanting to comfort unlike other parents who have a full conversation about it. She got that after.... after losing her other child at such a young age.

"Then why are you here?" He asks her with a curious look, this causes Sherry to glance down and sigh again as she knows what she's gonna bring up will bring out her son's stubborn side.

"It's almost Halloween." Sherry then reminds Deion, the anniversary of the tragedy eight years ago, the day everything changed brutally for the family and Deion's life. Despite this, however, Deion defiantly shakes his head.

"Look, Mama, this ain't got nothing to do with Halloween, okay?" Deion quickly assures his mother that, that isn't affecting him or his mind anymore. "White boy said something I didn't like, I just lost my head for a minute, that's it." 

"Okay, okay, but you sure you don't wanna talk about it?" Sherry double-checks to make sure, giving him that motherly look that promises that nothing said will be judged around her. "I can call that fancy doctor in Sandy Springs."

"Oh what?" Deion immediately shakes his head at that, no way is he going unstable, nor does he plan to go back to him again. "No, look, Mama, you're not hearing me. I'm good." 

"Hey, ain't no shame in it." Sherry tells him, not wanting her son to deny the help he might need for when the day comes. The fact that it's the same month can be enough to re-spark some unwanted flashbacks. "It's pulled you through rough patches before."

"Well, you can tell that to San Deigo State." Deion remarks, reminding his mother how important the next seven days will be for him. "They got one more scholarship to give and they gonna give it to somebody in their right mind."

"Listen, don't put so much pressure on yourself baby." Sherry pleads with Deion, not wanting him to fall for the same trap many people his age did involving anxiety and stress. "You're having a great season, you could chill some."

"I'll be able to chill when I go pro." Deion states with a small nod to himself, even if that's arguably just gonna add some more challenges on the road when he gets there. "Alright? And I'll buy you a house out West, and you can put those sore feet of yours in the ocean." He tells her as he imagines it while talking, making Sherry smile at his dream-like state. 

"Well, that's sweet." Sherry comments, letting him know how much he appreciates the thought. "When I finish my night classes and my career gets back on track, I'll be buying my own house." 

"Yeah...." Deion chuckles, nodding at the thought of it, family taking care of each other. Sherry glances down though, still corrupted with worriment at what the future might to do get in their way.

"Just promise me you're good, and it's not like last time." Sherry requests from Deion, who gives her his best smile.

"Mama, I promise." Deion complies, showing a shrug as he's sounding really sure of that. "I'm good, I'm not seeing ghosts anymore."

And with that, Deion, knowingly or not, committed a man's worst sin.

Lying to his mother.

___________________________________

Atlanta:

"Everyone that was in detention?" Y/N repeats his partner's words out loud as he's currently driving down the road, out of the suburbs. He's currently helping Shane add the finishing touches to the party including some 'costumes' that Y/N suggested. That was right when he a call a got from a personal number. "Are you being serious?"

"Y/N, if that was something I called a joke, then I really need to get jailed by the fucking humor police." Beth replies in a snarky tone as if Y/N is the idiot for even asking that question. "Yes, I'm being serious, wouldn't exactly fit my character if I wasn't." 

"Okay, bitch, sorry...." Y/N comments with a roll of his eyes, not knowing he was gonna get shade thrown at him for asking a question that's related to their whole secret or anything. "But, like, why them? Because we were all in the same room for five minutes?" He asks while spotting a small Halloween store in front of him. He was earnestly being sarcastic when he said that, though that was probably his mistake for not expecting the response he gets.

"How are you gonna react when I tell you yes?" Beth then casually queries, causing Y/N to make a face and blink rapidly multiple times as he waits for her to continue, eventually realizing there's no punchline. 

"I'm gonna judge you for having your whole plan based on some commentary on a movie called The Breakfast Club." 

"I guess that's fair." 

Y/N then finally pulls up to the Halloween store and finds a parking lot, waiting until he's stepping out of his car to continue talking. "And what exactly am I supposed to do, huh? They already got the invitations, and I'm already gonna get Deion over, and I'm sorry to be that guy, but committing mass murder isn't exactly something you can get away with." 

"Okay, first off, pump the breaks, I'm not proposing that we re-create columbine together." Beth eases up on Y/N, who's clearly making it sound like he's still not getting her idea. "And second, not all of them got the invitation. There's one little girl who didn't." 

"And.... who was that again?" Y/N asks out loud as he stops in front of the doors. Beth's response is a little more delayed than he was suspecting, though there's some background noises that he can't really make out due to the static. 

"I'll call you back." Beth emotionlessly says before hanging up the phone, not elaborating at all. Y/N looks at the phone with a perplexed look, before just rolling his eyes as he finally walks into the store, knowing that there'll be plenty of costume choices thanks to the holiday being so close. 

Humming a random song to himself, Y/N scoots around to the proper section until he finds it. The black robe, the ghost mask, the black hood. He knew where it was, obviously, this is where he got the damn thing. By this point, the joke he's planning to pull should be pretty obvious now.

While grabbing it, his phone starts ringing again, and Y/N mistakes that as Beth already finished with whatever she was doing, but.... he was a fool to forget that it was most likely the other thing. His father, who's once again calling him, probably because he missed dinner. 

Sighing frustrated, he just lets it go to voicemail and mutes his phone before taking the costume over to the counter and ask a very important question to him.

"How many of these do you have?" 

______________________________________

Atlanta: Suburbs 

It's been fairly quiet, so everyone else that was in detention has assumed the 'Ghostface' incident over or never really happened. But, come on, where the heck would the plot be if that was just a figment of someone's imagination? 

Liv Reynolds is turning the faucets of her showering when she hears her bedroom door knocking, using a very specific rhythm that her family goes by because of... past incidents. She steps out of the bathroom and opens it to see Officer Reynolds, a guy to likes to go by his last name.

"Hey, dad...."

"I'm on my way to work. You, uh.... seemed a little... quiet at dinner." Mr. Reynolds brings up with a soft voice, looking at his daughter with a curious glint in his eye as she's noticed some signs he doesn't particularly find comforting. "Is there anything I should know?" 

"Its....." Liv hesitates for a brief second, not really wanting to talk about what happened with Avery nor worry her dad about it. "Just a long day at school, that's all." She says dismissively with a smile, to which her dad nods.

"Yeah....." Mr. Reynolds hums, though gives Liv a rather disappointed look. "Detention has a way of making the school day longer, doesn't it?" He then remarks, reminding her that he's not blind to what happens in her life.

Now it's Liv who actually does feel like one for not expecting him to learn about it. "Uh...." Liv stutters a bit, glancing down sheepishly. "I-I didn't know you knew." She says, even though she honestly should, given how parents are usually called about it after-hand. And since she only has one.....

"Look, I know we're still settling into Atlanta. I'm at a new precent, you're at a new school..... But I need to know you're on the right track." Mr. Reynolds tells Liv with a very serious expression on his face. He knows moving here was for the better, but after what happened to her mother...... he's worried she's carried some darkest traits without him knowing. 

 "Uh, uh.... I'm sorry. I'll do better." Is all Liv can really say to her father, knowing that's what he wants to hear. As mentioned, she doesn't want to worry him further. "I promise you can trust me." 

"I'm a cop, Olivia." Mr. Reynolds reminds her with a small chuckle. "I don't trust anyone." He says before sharing one final look with Liv before he leaves her alone to the waters he hears running in the background of her room. 

As Liv closes her door, she looks down at her carpet floor with a mixed feeling in her gut. She knows that her dad probably didn't mean that in a cruel or mean way, but something inside her feels really bothered by that choice of words. But.... probably best to stop thinking about it before it gets too negative. 

Stepping back into the bathroom, Liv begins removing her clothes, first taking off her long-sleeved shirt, as well as the pants, and throwing them onto the toilet seat. 

However, before her hands could linger on her underwear, she hears a tapping sound close by, coming from the window. Liv freezes as she turns to it, hearing it repeat the same exact rhythm her father was using just ten seconds ago. The glass's too foggy, so he can barely see anything on the other side. 

So, she takes steps closer to it, blinking as if feeling haunted and making sure it was just her imagination. Her hand shaking, she wipes her hand against the window, getting rid of the fog. However she still sees only darkness..... 

Until a figure suddenly appears in front and bangs on her window with both fists, wearing a ghost mask. Liv shouts, closing her eyes, and the second she re-opens them, the figure it gone. 

But she can't unsee it. It was a..... a.....

A Ghostface.

__________________________________

Atlanta: Suburbs 

Some backup has now been called to the L/N residence, mostly to put yellow tape around the place and clean up the mess that someone decided to leave on Harvey L/N's front lawn. A teen's dead by and blood in his car. If only this was the morning, because that would've woken him up instantly. 

He watches as the paramedics put the poor kid's corpse in a body bag, now that the photographer is done taking pictures of him with the bag filled with blood over his head. He keeps a blank expression on, crossing his arms so he can retain his professionalism. In the inside, he's practically tapping his foot, as he's managed to put at least one clue together as to who could've done this. 

Hearing another car arrive on the scene, Harvey turns around to see it to be a fellow police vehicle, and Officer Reynolds stepping out to give the aftermath of the murder a quick look over.

"Officer Reynolds." Harvey greets professionally, getting the man's attention by saying his last time. "Glad to see that you received the call so quickly..." 

"Detective L/N...." Officer Reynolds greets back with a small nod, somewhat anxiously upon seeing a crime being committed so close to home. "What happened here?"

"Well, just like you, I was dressing up to head to work, and after which, I found an extra passenger in my car." Harvey explains as he turns back around, standing side-by-side with him. "I opened the door to find him inside." He then points to the body as it gets carried into the ambulance. "Clean, but somewhat brutal, given his age....."

"And.... That's it?" Reynolds queries with a raised brow, having expected something like he got attacked after or anything else in the story. The two then begin walking around the crime scene together, noticing how, despite the murder, the area is surprisingly clean. It's painfully obvious it wasn't committed here. "No witnesses? No loud screaming? Nothing?"

"Nope, whoever our friends are, they didn't plan to sit by and chat over a cup of joe." Harvey points out the obvious as he gives Reynolds a look that's put the pieces together. "Whoever did this was leaving a message..... intimidation, most likely." 

"But.... who are these friends?" Reynolds finally asks Harvey the biggest question on his mind, having seen how sure the detective speaks like he has information that a man like him hasn't exactly gotten. "And why exactly was I called over here?"

"Ah, that's right.... you're one of the new ones." Harvey recalls, clearing his throat as he realizes that he's going to give the cop some much needed clarification if he's going to get them both of the same page. "You remember on your second day of the job? Where there was an assault on an abandoned bowling alley involving you and myself?" He asks him calmly, to which Reynolds slowly nods.

"The drug bust, yes...."

"Well, those drugs? They belonged to the Street Reapers, and the thing is....." Harvey brings up, glad that the officer was the first to mention them. He takes a step forward towards him, indicating that this part's important. 

"We didn't 'bust' all of them."

__________________________________

Atlanta: Motel

After seeing the figure in the ghost mask scare her in her own home, Liv quickly found the connection with that at the 'Ghostface' Deion was trying to tell everyone else about back at school. Given how the athlete already had a nickname for it, she figured her next move would be to talk to him about it. 

Only problem is, he hasn't responded to anything she sends him through her phone, which is.... understandable, given how she and everyone else dismissed him in the hallway. The points Y/N brought up to conclude that he fell must've convinced her too easily than she liked to admit. 

Finding out where he lives, she drives over to a small hotel back in the city where she knocks on the door number she got, hoping that he's home. However, the man who opens the door by a few cracks looks like nobody she knows. "Is..... Deion home?" Liv nervously asks the stranger who opens the door a wider upon seeing her gender. "I tried calling, but he's not answering me."

The man chuckles in response, now fully opening the door as he scans the visitor. "Then he making a big mistake." He comments with a now friendly expression on his face. Since she seemed to have come here by her own devices, he steps back, inviting her in. Liv anxiously steps inside, now fully hearing the small speaker in the room playing hip-hop music, making it clear that this guy's home alone. 

"Name's Jay." The man introduces himself, though his full name is Jamal Elliot, he just prefers the pronunciation of the first letter for personal reasons. "You want something to drink?" He offers as he sets his now empty beer bottle into the trash can, heading into the kitchen to grab another.

"I want all the drinks, but right now, I just need to find Deion." Liv humorously quips with a small chuckle, earnestly meaning that first part after the day she just had. Jay opens up his fridge and grabs another beer, before looking at her curiously after closing it. "Do you have any idea where he is?"

"If he took my advice, he's probably at the Old Metro Station blowing off some steam." Jay guesses as he takes the metal cap off with ease before leaning against the archway of the tiny kitchen. "There's a big party that way tonight." He explains, thought Liv can't help but find it curious that he's not there if that's true. Is this a pre-gaming thing? 

"S-So... how do you know Deion?" Liv nervously asks with a tiny stutter, mostly because the man looks slightly different than D-Day just by his skin-tone alone. 

"I'm his brother." Jay answers with a small shrug, admittedly surprising Liv. "Half-brother if you wanna get specific." He then specifies, possibly reading the girl's reaction through her eyes. "His mom, our dad....."

"Sounds.... complicated." 

"Nah, it's pretty simple." Jay retorts as he puts his arm back down and walks around the apartment, thinking a little bit before speaking again. "But, let me break something down for you..." He then gives her a wanting look. "You seem like a nice girl and all, but the only thing Deion care about is football."

"Yeah, I'm not trying to distract him." Liv remarks with a fixed smile, not wanting to make anything super obvious despite others teasing her about 'eyeing' D-Day Elliot. 

"It's not your fault." Jay says while shaking his head, before taking a step closer to her. "But you are distracting as hell...." He then comments, his eyes unapologetically lingering up and down her body. Liv, however, feels a sense unease, taking a step back as the seconds of silence feel like a minute before the man notices her body language and scoffs. "So anyway, what you need to talk to Deion about?"

Liv glances down, knowing that just like Deion, she's not going to able to explain it without sounding like she's crazy. "It's...."

"Complicated?" Jay finishes her sentence with a knowing look.

"Yeah...." Liv sheepishly chuckles, her eyes subconsciously glance around the room to find a different topic of conversation before things start to get awkward. Eventually, she sees some family photos on a consol table, one of them staring a kid that resembles Deion. "How old is he here?" She queries, stepping towards the frame, causing Jay to hum and shake his head.

"That's not Deion." Jay explains as his face now gets corrupted by a blank sheet hiding a bit of bitterness and sadness. "That's Marcus." He tells her, the name drop causing her to turn to him with a confused look.

"Who's Marcus?"

___________________________________

Old Metro Station:

Finally making it to the location of the party, Y/N pulls his car over to a secluded parking spot before making his way over. Everyone that was detention becomes the target of a masked serial killer, huh? Well..... that does indeed sound like the cliché beginning to a slasher movie. But why though? Don't only like, two people in that group really know each other? Everyone else is like..... well, just look at Beth and Amir. 

On his way to the abandoned Metro Station, he passes another parked car, obviously here for the party as well. He pays it no mind at first until his brain finally recognizes the two people talking right next to it, Shane and Beth. Really? Are they still planning to go at it? On the same day no less?

Guess from a certain respective, that demand respect.....

Still he still didn't get that 'call back' He decides to break the little lovers' journey by walking over to them. "Hey, Shane!" He calls out with his bro-like persona, getting their attention. "You get the costumes?"

Shane, who was probably in mid-pick up line with Beth, clears his throat as he turns over to him. "Y/N, there you are! Was wondering when you'd finally get your ass over here." He gets his cool back and greets him with a handshake. "Guys are digging it over there, literally everyone is at least keeping the mask on. Makes me think we hit the right crowd." He glances at Beth at that last part, who just gives him a look.

"I only stayed because my face would be hidden." Beth comments with a dry voice, as if saying she would've left otherwise when the two boys have a feeling that's not actually the case. "And.... my parents are home early tonight." 

"Ah, yes..... now it makes sense." Y/N nods while subtly giving her a teasing smirk, the goth is expectedly unamused by his at him still finding ways laugh at her strained relationships. "Anyway...." He turns back to Shane. "I thought you handling the door or..... whatever it's actually called." 

"Yeah, but, obviously, I'm switching shifts between me and another guy." He explains as he gives Beth a quick smirk. "Gotta give the people the attention they deserve, you know?" 

"Yeah, I caught onto that..."

"Oh! Speaking of..." Shane checks his watch, now finally realizing what time it is. "Now's my time. I'll see you later." He then backs stepping back towards the station, wanting get his non-fun part over with. "Just so you know, drinks are very far back!" 

"Good to know!" Y/N shouts back with a fake smile. Once the guy's gone, he turns back to Beth with his actual expression. "Thought you got yourself caught or something...."

"Hmm.... who's underestimating who now?" Beth sarcastically remarks with a look before trying to walk over to the massive long line to the party.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on..." Y/N grabs her arm, stopping her. "The back's much quicker." He mentions as he points back towards another direction. Beth looks at him curiously before shrugging as she follows him to the 'quicker' entrance. "So..... what exactly did you do?" Y/N finally asks her, having wanted the answer to that question ever since she dropped her idea to him and then ghosted off. 

"That'll depend...." Beth replies somewhat cryptically before glancing at Y/N. "Did you do what I asked you?" 

"Uh....." Y/N glances, not having a definite answer at first until his phone dings and he pulls it out to see a text from a secret friend of his...

J: It's done

"Yes....." Y/N then says after reading it, giving Beth a proud smile. "Yes, it is." He repeats in confirmation as he gestures with his phone for a few seconds. 

You: Sending the cash now.

"So... I guess that means you just like.... scared her into going to Deion's place?" 

"I pegged her as a nosy girl, and it looks like I assumed right." Beth emotionlessly quips with a small shrug, having her own brains to add into the plan. 

"Okay, but I gotta say...." Y/N then comments like he's raising his hand to bring up a random power point he's been building in his head. "Liv? Really? Out of all people, why her?" 

"You mean, aside from being final girl type?" Beth responds as if actually asking if Y/N's being serious with his question. They finally make it to the door where they abruptly stop to face each other. "Or are you just that committed to having her die too?"

"What's wrong with that?" Y/N answers with a calm face that doesn't exactly blend well with the voice that sounds like it's challenging. "That's kind of my thing."

"What's wrong is that you're way too static about it, you're kill-kill-kill mindset." Beth points out with a criticizing look. "You gotta expand your mind, 'partner'. Helps make the illusion that life's worth living." 

"And what's the point in that? Atlanta's already filled with murderers like us." Y/N brings up, though he looks her curiously for what she says next. "This isn't a small rich town where we'd stand out."

"That's why I'm saying you get creative...." Beth enforces as she presses a few fingers against the side of Y/N's forehead. "You want to be remembered when you die, right? Well, you gotta give the meatbags a reason to think of you... and your kill-ness." 

"Wow, you really ran out of words, didn't you?"

"Shut up." Beth mutters while resisting the urge to playfully slap him while her hand's so close. "You get my point, 'Criminal'." She says as they finally end their conversation and enter this damn party. 

Yeah.... he guess he does. 

_________________________________

Weaver High: Gym

Up and down, the weights get heavier as Deion bench presses. He's pretty much been doing this all night long, trying to fight all the thoughts he's been having away. It also helps that he's alone in here, as no one else really find the idea of working so appealing, at least in his school. He's heard his phone buzzing multiple times despite the hip-hop music playing over the radio, but hasn't answered it due to just not wanting to talk right now. 

However, at one point, sweating dripping down his back and chest, he finishes his workout and walks over to his phone where he's surprised to see four missed calls from Liv, as well as a text message....

Liv: I saw it too.

Her too? But that means-

Before he can finish that thought, his phone then gets a call from...... Marcus Elliot. At least, that's it says on the contact ID. Oh hell no, now they crossed a line. Turning the music off, he angrily answers the phone. "Man, who is this?"

"Still don't recognize my voice?" The stranger teasingly asks with mock hurt. "I thought we were blood."

"Man, quit playing, we both know you ain't Marcus." Deion instantly calls him out on that bullshit, knowing better than anyone that Marcus died eight years ago. Playing ghost isn't going to work on him.

"The only thing we know is that you have no idea what's under my mask." The stranger remarks as if he knows every single thing there is to know about his victim. "And you're curious, else you wouldn't have answered the phone." 

"Man, quit calling me, alright?! I ain't got time to play these games."

"Aren't you curious about who I'm going to kill?" The stranger then asks, putting a strong emphasis on the last word he uses. "Or do you only care about yourself? That's your rep these days, isn't it, D-Day?"

"I don't give a damn what you think about me."

"Then I'm gonna make you give one." The stranger growls with a now aggressive voice. "I'm gonna carve away at Deion Elliot, the man, the myth, the legend, bit by bit, find what lies beneath....."

"Beneath what? you're the one wearing a costume." Deion Elliot points out, classifying him as a hypocrite. It's probably not too far off, given what this stranger's given him so far.

"No. I'm wearing armor. That's the only way to survive High School these days, isn't it?" The stranger retorts with another growl, as if offended, like Deion insulted his outfit or something. "But I'm gonna find the seams, stick my knife in it and cut through your bone and meat until it scrapes against what matters most."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"The truth." The stranger simply answers. "Who you are, who your friends are..... on the inside." He almost sounds like he's grinning when he says that last part. "The only question is, who dies first? Kym? Amir? Manny? Beth? Y/N? Or...... Liv?" 

"You stay away from her." Deion says in a low voice, looks like the caller found their week spot. 

"Too late? She's on her way to the party right now." The stranger tells Deion with a cocky voice, knowing that he's got the athlete exactly where he mentally wants him. "I can see her in the line at this very moment, waiting and waiting like a good little victim..... wonder when my blade will get to-"

"Okay! Okay!" Deion abruptly shouts, holding up a hand as he mentally sighs, giving in to the bastard's ploy. "I'll play." 

"Then come to the Old Metro Station." The stranger demands with his serious voice now back. "Better hurry, or there's going to be blood on your hands.... and mine." 

With that, the stranger then hangs up, having said what he needed to say. Now once again all by himself, Deion finds himself staring into the mirror, feeling like he's been caught up in something he thought was finally over. Rage boiling inside of him, he lashes out and creates a crack in the mirror with one punch, breathing deeply.

Then he catches something in the corner of his way, the doorway to the gym..... the costume, that same exact costume the stranger's worn. 

Snapping his head around, he instantly begins running towards the figure, who also takes off. Chasing him into the hallway, the more athletic Deion easily catches up with his would-be-stalker and tackles him to the ground. 

He forces him on his back, before quickly taking off the mask, revealing a familiar face. "AMIR?!" He angrily shouts in his face upon seeing that of all people, it was this guy. 

Amir, who was only spooked by his angry behavior, blinks at him in slight surprise. "You actually know my name?"

"Shut up!" Deion cuts out that useless question with one of his own. "You the one messing with me?!" The interrogates the poor kid, who's now slightly terrified by this side of D-Day.

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about." Amir shakingly answers Deion with his gestures up towards.... uh, the side, I guess, trying not to show that he's not anyone bad or something. "I swear."

"Then why you here?"

"I-I went to Shane's party and i-it sounded dead, so I came back here to get my DJ equipment." Amir quickly begins explaining so he doesn't get punched or worse. "I keep it in my locker so my parents won't find it."

"What about the costume?!" Deion questions as he shakes it around in his face. 

Ah, right, that.....

______________________________________

With the phone conversation over, Y/N tucks his phone back in his pocket, cranks his neck, before heading into the party, his eyes devoid of life.

"Ding, ding, ding......"

Now we get to the fun part.......

________________________________________

Old Metro Station:

After that encounter, Amir takes Deion to where he got the costumes. Apparently he got it from a guy that was chilling near the entrance of Shane, or guess the actual producer is Mr. Fade's party. What that whole Mr. Fade thing is even about, he's not sure.

He and Amir walk around the woods and parking loot until they get to the station, where they see some people still hanging around the entrance, a few lights flashing through the door here and there, but that's it, no loud music or anything. 

Deion eventually sees Shane, who, after inviting another guest in, notices the two of them. "Whoa, Deion Elliot, I'll be damned!" The guy exclaims with a surprised grin on his face. "Now it's a party."

"Don't sound like it." 

"Oh yeah, that's the point. We don't want cops shutting us down."  Shane points out with an assuring smirk, promising that the party's still down there. "Here. But wait till you get inside." He says enticingly while grabbing some headphones from a bag and extending them to the boys. 

"Oh, it's a silent disco. That's why I didn't hear anything before." Amir states the obvious in realization, chuckling a bit before he realizes what this mean and turns to Shane. "So, your...... your DJ situation?"

"Oh, it's lit, yeah." Shane confirms with a nod, shooting down the kid's earlier chances at making a debut. "We got DJ Wysper spinning as we speak."

"You.... you said I could talk to Fade about it." Amir references their conversation earlier in detention with a disappointed face. "Well, where is he?"

"Ah.... He's around here somewhere." 

Amir blinks.

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"No, no, I can't." Shane states with a shrug, apparently being genuine when he says he has no concrete clue. "Everybody knows that nobody knows who Mr. Fade really is, you know?" He tells them with a tiny smirk, personally liking the mystery. "Kinda like Banksy or Batman."

"Everyone knows who Batman is." Amir points out with a look, everyone in the real world, anyway. Shane gives him a fixed chuckle as the point still stands, nobody knows the secret identity of the guy. With defeat now clear, Amir just rolls his eyes as the two finally start to head inside until the guy in the orange beanie stops them.

"Oh, wait-wait, whoa." Shane quickly steps in, giving them another party-inviting smirk. "One more thing you gotta put on first." He tells them before reaching for another bag, this one a trash bag, mixed with a stack of them. 

When Deion opens it..... he finds the ghost mask inside, causing him to snap his head at Shane. "How you know about this?" He questions with a glare. 

"About what?" Shane asks confused, blinking as he did not expect Deion's rather hostile reaction. "All I know is it's Halloween and girls love theme parties." He quips with another shrug, Amir glancing between the two as he's still not understanding what's the deal with costume that's got Deion so spooked. 

"We going inside or what?"

"No, we not." Deion quickly interjects before Amir can even consider taking one step inside the station. "Go home." He orders him with a very serious look on his face, causing Amir to look at him crazy.

"What? No. Why?"

"I got my reasons." Deion cryptically tells him with a look showing that he's not letting him in, not bothering to explain since he and the others made it clear that they're not going to believe him, no matter what he says. "Just go in the house, lock the door, and keep your head down."

"That's literally every other night of my life." Amir remarks with the attitude of someone who's bewildered that even when there's no authority, he still gets ordered around. "So, what if I don't?"

"I'ma tell your parents where you at." Deion threatens with an idea that's more childish than most, but thankfully enough, it seems to work. Despite Amir's look he gives him, he sighs and gives up.

"Best be on my way then...." The kid mutters, now in a downed mood. He drops the trash back which Shane picks back up, while Deion makes his way into the party. He knows none of them will understand, but if he's gonna keep them away from Ghostface, then he'll be able to sleep easy.

Now... time to see why he was brought here.

___________________________

Inside, well, it's definitely more like a party. The few seconds Deion put on the headphones allowed him to hear the actual electronic music being played, and the lights definitely compliment the place. It's sure if there's anything else added other than the center which holds DJ Wypers set in a glass set with some dancers with clothing that leaves less for the imagination. 

Taking a few steps around, Deion spots where the party favors must be, as in a secluded corner, some teens are drinking shots down while possibly having some sort of challenge judging by the way their hooting and laughing. Amongst those people, he recognizes one of them thanks to their mask being off. 

He makes it way over to them, though that requires a slight struggle with the obstacles known as people that his shoulder keeps bumping into at least three times. Man, why did it have to be a train station of all places? 

"Y/N!" Deion calls out once he feels like he's in close enough ear distance, though he fails to get the guy's attention at first. "Hey, Y/N!" He tries again, and this time, the L/N turns around after chugging his red solo cup, blinking upon seeing his face.

"Deion? That you, man?" Y/N asks at first, apparently half drunk at his current stage. "Shit, you had me worried after the-" 

"Y/N, not right now." Deion quickly stops him, showing his very serious face that's extremely different than the ones of literally everyone else at this party. "Where is everybody? From earlier today?" 

"Everybody?" Y/N blinks as he wipes of the booze dripping off his chin, confused at what he means. "I mean, everybody's here, man." 

"Everyone that was in detention, when you guys found me passed out in the hallway earlier." Deion specifies with a clear voice so the guy can hear him. He doesn't care if he ruins his buzz since he's more focused on keeping them alive.

"You mean the Breakfast Club?" Y/N utters, earning a brow from Deion. 

"Breakfast Club?"

"Oh yeah, you were gone during that." Y/N quickly recalls with a point, chuckling at the memory before taking another swig. "Man, we were thinking about what Mr. Finch said, and it's like, yeah, most of us are part of High School Stereotypes as well as few new additions-"

 "Y/N! Back to the original topic!" Deion quickly cuts him off, realizing that they are getting off-track. "Where are they, I'm being serious."

"Serious?" Y/N repeats his words, squinting at him before turning his attention back to his cup as he refills it. "I mean, serious is pretty subjective, man. Like.... I keep seeing the girl and boy, kissing..." He points over somewhere in the crowd, and Deion briefly turns to see him referencing Beth and Shane who are currently making out shamelessly in front of everyone. "...And I shouldn't really care, yet I do care, and I hate it..... makes me wanna kill somebody, you know?" 

"Y/N, hey man, focus!" Deion quickly taps on his arm, snapping him out of his rant as he tries to get them out of the bantering mood right now. "Look, I ain't got time to explain, but y'all in danger, all right? So you need to quit the drinks and go home." He tells them before taking the cup from him, much to the kid's frustration.

"Dude, relax...." Y/N says with an un-happy voice of getting his drink stolen. "If that's true, then what's the problem of kick-starting the process?" He brings up with small grin, chuckling despite what he just said. "I mean, I'm cool with it if I just..... get my head taken off, least it sounds metal."

"Dude, I-" Deion closes his eyes and sighs, knowing that he's not gonna get through to everyone, one person at a time. "Well I don't wanna see you get killed, all right?" He tells him as he throws the cup into a trash can. "So just go, seriously." 

"Geez, you're a real piece of work, D-Day..."

"Yeah, you ain't gotta tell me..." Deion quips in a low voice, glancing around as he still hasn't seen another person that he's come here for. "You sure you don't know where the others at?" 

"Uh.... I know Kym and Manny are like.... up there." Y/N points up towards the catwalk, which over looks the entire ground floor. "And well, obviously I know where Beth are, but that's it. Everyone's just partying, bro....." 

Deion nods silently at this, giving him a worried look before acknowledging that he can't convince him anymore and begins to walk elsewhere to look for Liv. 

Y/N, at this specific moment, drops the drunk mask so he can slowly put on his physical one. A hunting knife slowly slides down from under his robe down to his palm where he grips before dissolving into the crowd like a balloon joining its brothers. 

Ding, ding, ding.....

 On the other side of the station, the mentioned Liv is pretty much patrolling the party, ironically doing the same exact thing as the person that's looking for her, except it's the other way around. She's been here slightly longer and with that, has had attention brought onto her the few times her mask's been off. 

While moving around, someone watches er intently, waiting a bit before getting a little too close for comfort..... the second her back's turned, they grab her side, their fingertips were almost close to grabbing her ass. Liv yelps, snapping her head around.... to see Avery Collins laughing. Yup, it's that guy again.

"What the hell, Avery?"

"I'm sorry, I had to do it." The still laughing Avery excuses himself as he takes off his mask, smiling at her as if what happened while the sun was out didn't happen at all. "I saw you walk in and I couldn't take my eyes off you."

"Learn." Liv strongly advises with an extremely heated glare. "Because whatever we've been doing, it's done." She states very clearly to him, not wanting to be involved with a rich jock who let his lucky beginning go to his head.

"Are you even going to give me a chance to explain?" Avery pleadingly asks Liv, carrying a hurt expression as if he's the victim in this situation. 

"I don't need you to explain something I already understand, so understand this...." Liv shoots him down immediately, giving him a dismissive look. "I would never be with somebody who says those kinds of things."

Avery drops his shoulders, his attitude now completely changing like a switch was flipped. "I get it...." He claims out-loud, nodding at her with a smirk as if now knowing everything about her. "All right, yeah, you and Deion, huh?"

"No, you don't get it. Because I'm not some trophy for you to win." Liv tells him with an angry voice. The fact that this guy's been able to keep so many awful traits that he has deep own inside him makes her feel stupid for not seeing it sooner. Finally done with him, she walks away...

"No, babe, wait."

Having her arm grabbed for the second time, Liv swiftly turns around and wastes no second slapping him across the face, creating a tiny scene that gets noticed by the few people dancing next to them. "I've told you. Don't call me 'babe' and don't touch me ever again!" She barks in his face. The embarrassed athlete glances around, hoping many people didn't see that, before turning back to her with a glare.

"I thought you were different, but I guess you're just like all the rest." Avery seethes with a twisted smirk, the fact that he's still deflecting the blame further buries his grave in the eyes of Liv, prompting her to shake her head in disgust.

"Drop dread, Avery." 

Now seeing her walk away, Avery rolls his lips in frustration, glancing at everyone else again due to still being embarrassed at getting struck like that. He bitterly turns around to go somewhere else, accidently bumping to another guest in the process. 

"What where you're going, prick." Avery frustrating growls in the guy's ear, causing the emotionless party goer to slowly turn his head to watch him stomp away, the jock never noticing that this person's mask is a little more expensive, packing a black hood to hide the rest of their face. 

Ignoring him, the killer then continues on, towards his main target....

 But back to the other POV. Deion is still searching for Liv when he hears his phone ring thanks to the lack of actual audio without headphones. He looks and see that it's a call from... can you guess who? Yup, it's Fake Marcus. 

Having no choice, he answers it. "I'm here."

"You look scared." As expected, the stranger starts the conversation with a taunting comment. 

"Man, you're the one scared to show your face."

"I'm right beside you, and I brought a real knife with me this time." The stranger responds menacingly, before Deion sharp still suddenly striking his costume and cutting his arm, causing him to yelp out in pain. "See? Told you I was here." He quips, showing what happens when victims try to act rebellious towards him. "So here's the game, I want you to confess your deepest, darkest secret to your new friends." He declares, Deion assuming the 'new friends' being the people the killer named at the gym.

"Man, I hardly know any of them." Deion mentions with a stressed voice, constantly looking around and around for the killer hidden in plain sight, but just can't get a good view with almost everyone throwing their hands into the air. 

"Good, that'll make bearing your soul to them all the more humiliating." The dangerous stranger comments, showing his sadistic satisfaction in forcing Deion to do whatever the fuck he wants for him, knowing that he'll conscious won't handle it if someone dies on his watch. 

"Look, I had reasons for doing what I did." 

"Let them be the judge of that when they see who you really are.... on the inside." The stranger simply responds, not caring for whatever excuses his blurts out to him. "If you don't, you'll be seeing the insides of someone else's.... or maybe your own." 

With the goals, stakes, and urgency declared, the killer hangs up the phone, leaving Deion to mentally ponder what he's going to do. He glances up at the DJ box, an easy idea popping into his mind like a simple lightbulb. 

He's about to walk over to it until he feels a touch on his shoulder, causing him to snap backwards in his current paranoid state. "Deion...." Thankfully, it's only Liv, the girl who texted him in the first place. "Deion, you're bleeding." She calls out in worriment upon seeing his fresh wound.

"I know, I know...." Deion nods in acknowledgement as he holds his arm, feeling the stinging pain rushing in it. Whoever was holding that knife knew how to cut, he'll give them that. "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay, we need to talk." Liv tells Deion, who nods at this as well.

"Yeah, I know that too." Deion responds, telling her that he got her calls and texts. "Come on." He then nods her over and they head into the glass box, getting the main woman's attention. "Hey, is there any way everybody can hear me through their headphones?" He asks DJ Wysper, who thankfully nods and gestures towards the microphone stand connected to the player. 

"Hey, everybody, you with me?" Deion announces himself through the mic, pausing the music for a few seconds which obviously dampens the vibe for everybody else. He ignores the whiners however, and gets his message across. "I need to talk to the Breakfast Club....."

"So if you know what that means, get your ass on the bus!"

___________________________________ 

At another section of the station. (Or something? I'm not sure where the heck this bus is supposed to be) Deion has successfully gotten everyone else in the recently formed group into the bus, much to all of their obvious confusion. 

Thankfully, this means he can his pitch with all of them at once. "Look, y'all gotta leave." He tells them with a very serious face. "Okay? Y'all in danger." 

"We supposed to leave the best party of the year?" Kym questions with a raised brow, which is.... debatable. "Boy, you crazy."

"Kym, I'm being serious." Deion enforces, emphasizing his tone of voice so the point can get across with these four. "All right? Somebody's threatening to kill one of y'all." He warns all of them, but someone beats him to the punch before he can explain further.

"Let me guess.... Ghostface." Beth chimes in while making an impression of a little girl telling a scary story at a campfire, which is technically a long way of saying she's making fun of him without showing a smile. 

"Yeah......" Deion calmly nods at this, before quickly showing them the cut he just got on his arm. "You're damn right it was." 

"Holy shit...." Y/N silently exclaims, followed by everyone else's shock. The cut is clearly very real, unless he hired a professional make-up artist to sell it for him. Even then, it wouldn't really be a good joke. 

"Alright, this person was just chasing after me earlier, but he's after all of y'all now, okay?" Deion then explains, showing some more urgency. "And... I-I don't think he lying when he says he'll kill you."

Everyone then stands there in silence for a couple seconds, until Manny shakes his head in confusion. "This doesn't make any sense...."

"I know, I know, but if they willing to cut me, then-"

"No, I don't think you do." Manny interrupts him, still not getting any logic from this situation despite the proof in front of him. "Aside from you, Liv, and Y/N, not that many people at school even know who the rest of us are, so why would anyone wanna kill us?" 

"Nazism?" Y/N randomly guesses out-loud with a shrug, earning a look from everybody else. "Still a thing..." 

"No, it's that, it's...."

"This is about Marcus, isn't it?" Liv suddenly drops the correct answers, earning a head turn from everyone who looks at her with a surprised look, Deion, Y/N, and Kym especially. 

"How do you know about Marcus?" Deion questions with a brow. 

"I was about to ask the same thing." Kym adds with a pointed look, having been the only other person who knows only because she lived in the same area as Deion. However, this new name does end up peaking everyone's interest, and they slowly look back at D-Day for an explanation. 

Deion, remembering the 'game' he's been forced to play, sighs as he reluctantly goes through the same story once again, but this time with a detailed ending. "I had a brother named-named Marcus." His voice quavers as he speaks. 

"We went out on Halloween.... when we was kids....."

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

While looking around, the twin in the football uniform sees a pair of legs appearing from the cover of one of the cars, causing him to quickly crouch down and hide behind the one next to him. Abandoning the quiet, a loud bang goes off as Hookman's hook slams onto the trunk of another car, scraping the metal against it which loud causes kid's breathing to get unsteady.

He then begins walking along side his car...... he can hear his boots scraping against the dirt..... stopping for only one second until he keeps his search going. Thankfully though, he finally passes his car.....

"Hey, over here!" The other kid's voice loudly calls out, obviously getting the Hookman's attention. "I found it! I found it!" He then proudly yells while his brother shaking takes off the football helmet again and sees him standing on top of another car. "I got you, bruh, I got you!"

The boy's brother quickly tries warning him by frantically shaking his head, but it's too late as Hookman suddenly grabs him with an angry shout and throws him off of the car, causing him to drop the candy bag as it falls onto the ground, spilling everything.

Due to the throw, the boy lands on the car with a rough landing before he slides off and hits the dirt. And, sadly, before he can get up, Hooman stomps over and impales the kid over the head with his signature weapon... right in front of his twin brother.

"No.... I got you."

Having successfully caught his intruder, Hookman rips the kid's mask off, causing the two twins to share a look of equal horror. Father Death reaches his hand out to his brother in pain.

"Help me....." 

He stands there frozen....

"Help me!"

But he doesn't do that.

Instead.....

[][][][][][][][][][][][]][][]

"I left him there.... I left my twin brother to die...." Deion reveals the dark truth, his eyes pointed towards the ground in utter shame at the choice he made back then. Everyone silently listens, even the sarcastic ones don't try to crack a joke. "I got ahold of the cops and my mom, but......I didn't run fast enough. By the time we got back, Marcus was dead." He concludes, taking a deep breath before getting back to his point. "Look, I.... n-now somebody is wearing this costume..." He shows off the mask. "I mean, we all are, and threatening to kill all of us. It could be a sick prank, or joke, or whatever, but I don't wanna take the chance of somebody else getting hurt because of me, all right? So please, just leave." 

Well, that was definitely unnerving to everyone else, but they get the message and sharing a look with one another, they all give at least one nod. "Okay...." Beth says with a mixed look, walking out of the bus. 

"Point definitely made, my friend." Y/N also comments as he follows her out, definitely sobered up if he wasn't earlier.

"Come on, Manny, let's go." Kym taps on his friend's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts as the duo make their exit as well. With the last two now alone, Deion sheepishly turns to Liv.

"Look, Liv, I-I-I'm not that person anymore." Deion tells her as honestly as he can, not wanting the new girl to have a twisted perception of him like people he already knew probably do now. "And, i-it's gonna haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't even know-"

"It's okay, Deion." Liv quickly assures him with a nod before he can go on any further, showing her genuine empathy for what he's going through.

"I know the feeling." 

_______________________________________

Tossing her ghost mask into a trash bin, Beth, now make in her default attire, (not that she took it off in the first place) is now obviously making her wat out of the party. She'd be lying if she wishes she could just ignore the crying Deion begging her to get out, but with the story she just received, and the fact that nothing extremely entertaining on her end has happened aside from Shane, she's gone.

Whatever fun thing Y/N was hinting about must've missed its cue entirely with how late it is. Maybe they just stopped or order something from the Cheesecake Factory. It seems like someone noticed her ditching the outfit and walking out, however, as her phone suddenly starts getting a ring. 

She checks the number and sees that it's not a confirmed spam, but someone who she actually has in her contacts, though there's no name on here. Nevertheless. She answers. "Hello?" 

"Where you going, Beth? I like your piercings." A man with the most horrible attempt at a creepy stalker voice speaks to the other line. Not even trying to be smooth when he creates a set-up for his punch line either. "I have something else you can stick in your face."

"Oh, yeah?" Beth replies with a not-so-intimidated face as she glances up at the catwalk for the weirdo that's trying to mess with her. If only they knew the person she was on the inside. "Depends on who's doing the sticking." 

"Who do you want me to be?"

"Well, definitely not Avery Collins who hooked up with me at that blackout kegger freshman year, then never called me again, which caused him to get his ass beaten by Y/N L/N after getting offended by the size of his small dick, which I agree....." Beth calmly identifies, easily wiping the smirk of the jock's face. "And who's number I still have in my phone for some reason." 

Up above, Avery, who got called out due to his country accent slipping out, sights in defeat at his dumb joke lasting two seconds. That is, before he's then suddenly grabbed from behind by his mask and hood, his struggle with the killer is audible to Beth, who blinks before turning back up to the catwalk, confused. Even more so, when his phone falls right in front of her feet with a crack.

Ghostface, now having Avery held by his big fat head, slams it against catwalk railing a good number of times before tossing him over it with ease, showing off his lifting strength. 

Avery then falls down screaming, until his body gets impaled on some kind of sharp metal spike implanted into the ground. The new hole in his torso pops a large ballon's worth of blood that splatters onto one half of Beth's face, causing her to freeze in place as she stares blankly at the shaking teen in front of her. 

This obviously gets everyone else's attention, as everyone around the impaled footballer takes off their masks in shock, double-checking what they're seeing. Beth, still looking at it in awe, slowly steps over and finds her hand reaching towards his mask, despite a few people warning her not too. 

When she takes it off, she reveals Avery Collins, spitting blood out of his mouth which causes everyone in the party to scream and bolt it out of the party in horror. 

Holy shit, Y/N....

Up above, Avery Collin's killer lifts up their mask, showing an emotionless Y/N with the devil's eyes, looking down at his fresh victim. He then pulls out his phone, takes a picture of the body before sending everyone on the Ghostface duo's hit list a text message combined with the photo. He sends them both on a timer before stepping away. 

Do you underestimate me now, Beth? 

___________________________________

Atlanta: Police Station

Detective Harvey and Officer Reynolds now finally make it back to the police station, having done all of the investigating they could've done. "Well, now that my place is finally cleaned up...." Harvey begins as he and Reynolds walk into the former's office. "Let's get to the important part.... our unlucky man."

"Morgue's identified him as Tommy Jenkins, a Weaver High drop out." Officer Reynolds points out, though that still doesn't exactly give a full story-board on what happened for him. "But what does he have to do with drug dealers?"

"I believe I have an answer to that, actually." Harvey states as he points towards the cop, trying to reach for something in his desk. "You see, that car he was driving....."

Before he can begin explaining, another officer abruptly opens the office's door with urgency. "Detective! We got a call at the old Metro Station!" He quickly reports with a swallow. "Another dead teenager." 

This obviously gets both of their attention as Harvey and Reynolds share a look before the former shoots out of his seat. 

"Let's move!" 

_____________________________________

Old Metro Station:

Meanwhile, back at the mentioned place, everybody who hasn't sprinted out of the station at the sight of the dead body is currently circling around it, finding themselves silently staring at it for some mental reason or another. It lasts for only a few seconds until one of them finally says something. 

"Is he dead?" The shaken voice of Amir Ayoub asks out-loud, breaking the silence. "Asking for real this time." 

"Uh..... nope." Y/N sarcastically comments with a shake of his head. "Pretty sure he's just doing the latest Tom Cruise stunt." He says before giving him a look. 

"Bad time, you two..." Liv quietly tells them. 

"I can't believe it..." Beth utters as her eyes never leave the corpse of Avery Collins, which has stopped it's twitching and is now just hanging there, dead. It's almost like she's hypnotized by the real-life image in front of her. "It's so much different than in the movies..."

"I'm gonna be sick...." Manny begins to warn as his voice help display it. 

"Come on. Puke over here." Kym quickly guides him over, softly putting her hands on his shoulders as she takes over to a secluded corner where he can heave his guts out. Hearing his voice in the group, Deion turns towards Amir.

"Man, I thought I told you to go home." He reminds Amir with a pointed look.

"I-I slipped in the back that Y/N showed me, it's how I got the costume earlier." Amir sheepishly explains, to which the athletes looks over at the guy with the tattoo, who gives him a shameless shrug. "I didn't wanna miss this.... the party, I mean." 

"Hey, who cares?" Shane chimes in, not sure how they're able to exchange banter in a moment like this. "We gotta bounce. The cops are gonna be here any minute." He reminds them, shifting his feet anxiously at the thought of getting arrested for something he had no part of, the murder, obviously. 

"My dad is a cop. I do not want to be here when he-" Liv... and Y/N say at the same exact time, causing them to glance at each other. 

Before anyone can say anything else, they hear the police's sirens blaring in the distance, signaling that they're already here. "That was fast....." Y/N points out, suspicious because it wasn't him that called them.

"Screw this. You're all on your own." Shane tells the rest of them before he books it out of there, not taking any risks with him still being inside the suspect building.

"Shane's right." Deion then points out, turning back towards the others. "we gotta find somewhere to go and figure this out."

"Go where?" Liv asks the obvious question, right before Beth finally snaps out of her daze.

"I know a place...."

By the time the cops storm in, the entire club is gone. Officers surround the glass box in the center left and right, scanning around for any kind of possible murderer or gangster. But thankfully, it's quiet. 

After all of them lower their weapons, Harvey eventually spots Avery Collin's body impaled on the metal spike, wishing he would be used to it after finding the other teen in his car on the same exact night.

"Damn....." 

What did he do to deserve this? 

___________________________________

Atlanta: Tattoo Shop 

All seven of them eventually find themselves at Beth's job which she thankfully had the key for. That, and it's closed, so they pretty much have as much privacy needed to get their heads straight without the need to be worried that they'll be interrupted by their parents. 

"So somebody has it out for Deion. What the hell does that have to do with the rest of us?" Kym brings up the question that still doesn't make any logical sense to either of them, no matter what angle they try to see it from. Detention, their personalities, connections, nothing. "And why are we in this janky tattoo shop?"

"Because I work here." Beth explains after finishing wiping the blood off her face, seemingly offended at the description Kym gave it. "Can't answer the other question, though." She then remarks, causing everyone to turn to Deion who's been busy biting his thumb. 

"Look, I-I don't know, all right?" Deion admits to them, just as loss as the rest of them. All the knowledge he had is that some bastard used his secret to fuck with them, and the outcome is them being in this building in the first place. "I don't know how y'all got caught up." 

"Or maybe you were right." Manny chimes in with an unrealistically hopeful suggestion, clearly still shaken up by seeing a real life corpse in front of his eyes. "Mayb it's just a prank." 

"Someone died, Manny." Amir points out, giving him a look.

"A prank that went too far, okay?" Manny quavers as he glances down, unable to process it all. "Maybe it'll just stop..."

"With what? Ice cream and a YouTube apology video from the quote on quote, 'prankster'?" Y/N sarcastically question, raising a judging brow at him. "Come on, he wasn't Jason fucking Voorhees or Carrie." 

"Y/N, for the love of gosh." Manny rubs his face with his hands, stressed out. "Can you please go five minutes without saying something sarcastic?!" 

"Oh, I'm being very serious, especially with the fact that we are D-E-A-D.... Fucked!" 

"Hey, hey, hey! Enough!" Deion quickly shouts before the rest of them can turn the discussion into a full-blown argument. "Fighting about it ain't helping, all right? Look, let's just think about it for a few seconds...."

If anyone had any plan to argue some more, it's cut off by the sound of literally everyone in the room's phone, dinging, buzzing, or just having some default notification sound. This weird timing, causes all them to share a nervous look before they pull out their respective mobile device and see the same exact message sent to all of them. 

Unknown: Show me your insides....

In front of everyone's screens.... is a photo of Avery Collins's dead body. 

Unknown: Or You're next! 

"Show me your insides?" Amir quotes the text while Kym just hums a 'heck no' with her mouth. Everyone is now even more taken aback. "What does that mean?!" 

"It means....." Beth looks up at everyone, apparently having put two and two together. "We're in a horror movie."

"That's your life, Edward Scissorhands." Kym quickly interjects, giving the goth a denying point. "Not ours."

"Okay, that's not even a horror movie, and it's your life too." Beth responds while calling her out her not-so-bright attempt at a reference. "Don't you guys get it? We're being hunted by a killer here. Killers have codes, and horror has rules." 

"Wait, I didn't know that horror had a playbook." Deion comments with a squint in his eyes. 

"Oh, every genre has a playbook." Y/N tells him, and technically everyone, with a knowing look. "I mean, have you seen fantasy? Chosen one? Necromancy? Light Side and Dark Side? Oooh boy..." 

"I thought those were tropes..." Amir says with a debating expression, causing Y/N to sigh. 

"That's not the point, man..."

"The point, is that horror has a playbook, and almost always plays by it." Beth adds, continuing on with her own personal lecture about the genre that they've found themselves in. "Meaning, I've got some bad news, you guys. We're not the type of characters to make it to end." 

"What are you talking about?" Liv questions her with a worried expression.

 "Okay, relax, princess. You have final girl potential." Beth quickly begins to assure her more likely plot armor. "The rest of us.... goth, geek, gay, asshole... Not a chance. We're usually the first body that drops." 

"What about me and Kym?" Deion then points out, noticing how she didn't call them out. This changes Beth's behavior a little bit as a now awkward moment begins shifting in. 

"Don't take this the wrong way, but......" Beth surprising hesitates a little bit, while Y/N awkwardly clears his throat as he knows what she's about to say next. "You guys are black."

"Girl...."

"In horror, that's pretty much an insta-kill."

"But Avery was one of the whitest people I've ever seen." Amir points out, a very good point in fact, as it interestingly contradicts that entire rule about stereotypes. "I mean, he practically glowed in the dark, so why did he die?" He brings up, though Beth doesn't exactly have an answer to this... until Deion remembers the one thing Ghostface's repeated to him at least twice. 

"Because he wasn't who he said he was......" Deion deduces, before looking up so his eyes meet Beth's. "On the inside." He references the killer's quote and text message, to which Beth gives him a knowing look. 

"Deion's right." Liv agreeingly says, now putting it together herself. "Avery pretended to be a nice guy, but deep down, he was a total racist."

"And a sensitive pussy..." Y/N adds, mentally raising in his hand in this manner. "I mean, seriously, you say one thing that could hurt his ego, and he takes it extremely personally. It's why he took a swing at me, one time." 

"Does that jive with your freaky rules?" Kym asks Beth with a somewhat snarky face that'll pretend to play with the goth's logic, for now, at least. 

"Let's hope not...." Beth answers with a big swallow. "Because if that's the killer's game, we're not the Breakfast Club anymore..... We're the Deadfast Club." She quips with an expression that corrupts everyone else, letting them know that now's the right time to be afraid.

"And.... I'm pretty sure we're all gonna die."

_________________________________________

(A/N) Here's the next update. Was able to take my time with this one, though I did have to pump out the ending slightly quicker just because of my schedule. I'm pretty sure I would've missed Saturday otherwise. 

Speaking off, this book will also try to do more and giving Y/N a slight backstory and random fun hints at his earlier years at Weaver High in-between flashback 2010 and present time, though might not get into too much detail over it. Example being Y/N and Avery's supposed brawl in junior year. 

Anyway, plz vote and comment, and counts as feedback, and I'll see you in the next one!