*Decided to do each chapter by quarters because doing half took longer than expected and I think that was the reason I stopped writing for a little bit.

Atlanta: Gas Station

Hmm.... Candy flavors.....

Skittles, maybe.... M&Ms, no.....Snickers, don't like nuts..... Crush, that is pretty good... but he doesn't want chocolate...... Sweedish Fish, no flavor.... but..... it's red, a good kind of red, not dark enough to represent his favorite red though.... Hmm, decisions, decisions. 

It's kind of funny, no matter what age you are, picking the one candy option at a gas station always seems to be one of your hardest. You wanna choose your favorite, if you want chocolate, you want the kind that appels to your taste buds. If you want something fruity, then you need to make sure to get the bag that isn't always half-full. 

Yet, it's... such a frustrating choice, because it's so pointless. A few days later, we'll have to make this choice again, think about it, and realize that there's no consequences for picking a 'wrong' candy. Our minds make us struggle, but really....

It doesn't matter. 

Finally picking one and getting it scanned, Y/N then makes his way out of the gas station, making his way over to his car which is parked a few feet farther than what's probably needed. However, this one doesn't have a parking lot around its fuel pumps, so he had to find someplace since he didn't want to waste people's valuable 'time' who need gas. 

Making his way over to his car, his presence seems to have caught some attention he didn't ask for. 

"Hey, yo, Y/N!" He hears his voice being called out right as he's about to open the car door, causing him to turn around to see a backwards hat wearing man he's somehow gotten himself lucky to know. "You still roaming around so late?" 

"L.T....." Y/N recognizes in a quiet voice, closing the driver seat door as he turns around to acknowledge him. "You're a few feet away from your territory." He notes with a friendly expression he fixes up.

"Man's gotta showcase his product somehow." L.T responds with a shrug, unlike Tommy Jenkins, his two initials come from his name which is kinda long, Latavious. "With the Monopoly gone, cops been falling asleep on us, especially when rich white boys been getting themselves killed."

"Yeah, I heard about Avery and Tommy. They used to go to school with us." Y/N mentions with a small nod. Sounds like the cops are now getting more focused on the party throwers instead of the drug dealers, which is... definitely a disappointing problem.

"Yeah, well.... anyway, man, that just means that life's pretty damn good at the moment." L.T comments, not really paying any attention to the mention of Y/N knowing Collins and Jenkins. "More money means more safety, stuff we can use to protect ourselves in case you-know-who comes back."

"Right....." Y/N replies with a very fake smile, as if completely understanding where he's coming from, assuming he really means anything he's saying. "Because you care about the community you live in, right?"

"You know it." L.T agreeingly says with a grin, completely failing to catch the dry sarcasm dripping from Y/N's tongue. What makes it even funnier is when he offers his product to him. "Hey, man, you wanna taste? My Peoples've been able to work more comfortable, and that means much better."

"Still got my own hit." Y/N politely decline with a shake of his head. "But hey.... when I run out..."

He gives him the 'eyes on you' gesture.

"I got you." 

L.T nods, gives him a fist bump before walking away back to his separate corner. Y/N gets back in his car, where he's able to safely drop his expression. Heh..... drug dealers.... it's funny how they are unable to tell how hypocritical they are. 

Knowing that he'll have to deal with his cop problem, he decided to call up Beth. 

He knows she'll enjoy dealing with hypocrites.

____________________________________________

Atlanta: Motel

An hour later, they are now at the same block people like Kym and Deion live at. It's been a few days since the Old Metro Station party, with everyone that was involved no doubt frequently thinking about it. However, they're obviously expecting that to mean some quiet before the storm, something Y/N wants to take advantage off to also get the cops focusing back on the drug dealers. 

Now having just talked with L.T, his brain's been rolling.

"So, why exactly am I here, again?" Beth asks Y/N, currently standing around bored while her partner is going through the glove compartment of his vehicle. All she was told was come to this address and make sure none of the Deadfast Club sees you. Yes, they're sticking to that name. 

"Well, if I recall correctly, you said you wanted to get more involved with the Ghostface stuff." Y/N brings up, giving her a knowing look once he grabs his knife and a small device out of his car. It was during the same night as Avery's murder. "I'm giving you that chance." 

"Does that mean I finally get to kill somebody?" Beth asks with a hopeful look, only for Y/N to make a face at that.

"Close, but no." Y/N shoots down her dreams, however, causing her to roll her eyes. That's the whole reason she fucking agreed to this. He might as well be saying that they'll 'get to it eventually' every single time he sees her. "Have you ever made a crank call before?" 

Beth stares at him blankly before deciding to answer honestly. "No..."

"Well then, now's the time to learn." Y/N quips as he then shows off the voice modulator to her voice. He presses a button which makes the device emit a sharp humming sound, the red light signaling that it's on, and puts it up to his voice. "Assuming you really want to be in the movie." He tells her with a challenging phrasing, chuckling at her.

"Assuming I want it?" Beth quotes him with a raised brow, reaching her hand over to take the voice changer. "Just like how I much I want you stop wasting my time and LeT mE kIlL?" She suddenly slams Y/N's back against his car, looking deep into his eyes, the darkness, while putting the voice changer fully to her mouth. 

"Syringe in hand, filled with a lethal cocktail, one second he's fine, the next he's trapped under metal, his face unable to move as he sees the needle approaching his eye ball......" Beth then makes the picnicking sound mid-sentence. "First, a warmth spreading through his veins, like a hug from his mom, assuming he has one. Then, confusion and panic as his body betrays him. He'll try to fight it, but his heart is already screaming as it beats way too fast, his vison blurs, his mouth foaming, his tongue no longer able to beg and scream, only gag..." Her fingers grip Y/N's chin and cheeks tightly. "And then.... a few seconds later.... dead." 

With that, she then lets go of him, taking a step back while keeping the voice changer. "Yeah, that's exactly what I want." She tells him with a determined expression, which Y/N nods at in respect.

"I'm still gonna be the one that kills him, though." Y/N tells her blankly, apparently unphased by her little monologue. "Him and that annoying bitch, Kym, they're practically neighbors, FYI." He adds. Beth rolls her eyes but gets that she won't be winning that part yet, feeling a small lack of trust from him. Guess she kind of deserves it, though.

"Fine..." Beth accepts the role she'll have, disappointed. The two then turn towards the motel, their playground for the night. "You sure none of those drug dealers will find two people in Halloween costumes, weird?"

"As long as you stick to the advice I gave you, yes, you can walk and stalk without a hitch." Y/N assures her, while giving her a look that asks her to trust the strategic planner for this scenario, just how he leaves her with the psychological manipulation. 

"Alright then..." Beth shrugs, seemingly ready as he returns the look. "Let's do it." 

"See? We make a great team." Y/N encouragingly comment as he playfully punches his psycho crush on the shoulder, though her look hints that she didn't take that too well. "Like Bonnie Clyde." 

Beth blinks at him.

"Bonnie and Clyde got shot up, Y/N."

"Okay, fair point, maybe more like Joker and Harley. They had chemistry."

"Joker manipulated Harley." Beth then points out again, now giving him a pointed look. "Am I detecting some foreshadowing here?"

"No, fuck!" Y/N exclaims before rubbing his face with a slight groan. "Fine, how about us? Just sweet old us."

Beth sighs at him, still unimpressed.

"Just focus on the job, Romeo."

_________________________________ 

Atlanta: Motel

Horror movies, huh? The idea that they're in the real life version of the thing rubs Kym the wrong way. So, whether it was to prove her wrong, or just out of curiosity, she rented a handful of them out of a RedBox before making her way back home, striding as if officially claiming that the night sky ain't gonna scare her from monsters in the shadows. 

Seems like though that her stack has earned her some curious eyes, especially from the people chilling right outside her motel. "Kym!" One of these mention men calls out to her, knowing her by name. "Kym! Where you going with all them movies?" 

"Studying." Kym sassily answers as she turns around with a smirk. She knows good and well about Latavious, and no matter what he does, she ain't gonna listen. Drug Dealers aren't known for being keepers. 

"Nah, you looking for some company." L.T assumes as he gives her an unconvinced look, not buying her story. She's giving more of a hint that there's someone waiting for her in that room. "My Netflix and Chill game is on point."

"Oh, I find it hard to believe you have much practice sleeping on your mama's couch, Latavious." Liv quips with a snarky face, causing the other guys standing next to L.T to start cracking up. 

"What ya'll laughing at?" The man shuts his buddies up with a look, before turning back to the girl. "Now, you know you've been checking me out, girl, so I think it's time we just get together and make this work." L.T proposes with some enticing hand gestures. However, Kym, more focused on other matters, just ignores him and heads on inside. "Kym!"

"Good night." Kym blatantly dismisses him, leaving a bewildered Latavious outside while she walks into her humble abode. 

"Mama." Kym calls out for the second her first shoe steps inside the tiny room. However, she doesn't get any kind of response, in fact, it seems pretty quiet in here and the lights are all turned off. She looks around until she sees the note on the fridge, no doubt left by her parent. 

Helping out at the shelter. 

Do your homework. 

Kym hums amusingly at herself a little as she then steps away towards the bathroom. She's gonna be doing some homework, alright....

A few minutes later, on the other side of the building, the other door has its knob slowly turned before opening with a slight creak. However, the Ghostface that enters hears a shower's waters hitting the floor in the bathroom, making his entrance go disguised. 

He steps very slowly and earlier around the motel room, looking for anything he can use for ideas. Seeing the note on the fridge, he taps his knife happily against it. So, she'll be all alone in this room..... that's very good to hear. 

He doesn't find any of Kym's items, however, giving Ghostface the impression that she kept them very close by. Curiosity getting the best of him, he walks over and puts his hand on the bathroom knob, slowly turning the door open just like with the other one. 

Thankfully, Kym's shower holds a curtain that her silhouette is behind, so if you were expecting a scene where he creepily watches her shower, you were.... half-right. The curtain doesn't do too much to hide her figure, so the stalker is still able to see the entire outline of her body, every single part that his knife could just.... dig in and cut open without the shielding of clothes. But.... best to keep his bloodlust in touch for now.

Looking around, Ghostface eventually finds her phone laying on the sink, and goes through it, mostly her text messages. She finds the one with Manny which hints that he's on his way over to watch the horror movies with her. So, they have a time limit as well....

That should be fine, they aren't planning to stay longer than they need to. 

When Kym probably hears the horror soundtrack playing the background, she swiftly opens up the curtains... except that the killer's no longer there, causing her to shrug off and continue.

By the time Kym's out, now in a night robe, pajamas, and slippers, she's on the couch, currently watching Rob Zombie's Halloween remake. That interestingly feels kind of suiting for the current situation for some odd reason she can't exactly explain. 

The girl understandably hums judgingly at the character's, who are obviously horny teens, dumb decisions. "Man, white girl, the killer in the house." She speaks to the teens as if they can hear them. "Get out the house, sis." 

She should be paying attention to her own advice.

Her attention to the movie makes her never see the Ghostface figure standing right behind the couch, watching the movie he admittedly loves with her. He tilts his head as he watches Bob's remake kill, never being noticed, especially when Kym's distracted by her phone as well when it gets texts from Manny.

Manny: OMW. Bringing Popcorn

You: Popcorn?

You: This ain't for fun.

You: This is RESEARCH! 

When she looks back up, another one of Rob Zombie's naked actresses have been killed. "Told ya." Kym calls out with a tisk of her tongue, not knowing that the heavy breathing is not coming from Micheal Myers, but rather the killer standing right behind her. 

Eventually, Kym's phone starts ringing, prompting Ghostface to quietly step out of the living room and kitchen into a separate room, out of sight by the time the girl answers the phone. "Who this?" 

 "Do you like scary movies?" A male stranger's memorable voice comes from the other end, though it's going to take the unknowledge Kym a few minutes to realize that. 

"No, I do not because everyone in them is stupid as hell." Kym easily answers with a scoff, watching as yet another couple with a topless chick scene appears, ready to get killed. 

"Then do you like to play games?"

"Look, I ain't buying what you're selling?" Kym dismissively tells the weird stranger with all of his weird questions. "So, unless you tell me who you are, I'm hanging up." 

"But I wanna know who you are, Kym..... on the inside." The stranger responds with a growl, causign a chill to go down the girl's spine. The text message, Avery's murder, the killer's moto, coming out of the man's mouth.

"Ghostface?"

"See? You're good at games." Ghostface points out with an amused tone of voice, glad to see that she's now aware of who she's talking to, because tonight is the night he's gonna be creeped into her skull. "Too bad we're not playing twenty questions..."

"We ain't playing, period." Kym defiantly says as she stands up from the couch, her attention now away from the movie and more around her entire home where she scans for any traces of a figure she recognizes. 

"Yes we are. The game started the second Avery's body hit the ground.... or the stick." Ghostface quips while Kym begins patrolling her entire roam, now in defense mode. "The only question is.... which one of your hypocrites dies next?"

"You get off on scaring people, huh?" Kym correctly assumes as she marches over to the kitchen, looking through the silverware drawers only to find it empty, causing her to check the sink to find a kitchen knife to defend herself. "Well too bad I ain't scared." 

"We'll see...." Ghostface says, seemingly unimpressed. "Because I'm not here to scare you, I'm here to kill you."

"Go ahead, then." Kym taunts with a challenging tone. "I got people over badder than you." 

"You look alone to me, in your pink, fuzzy slippers." Ghostface calls out her bluff in a teasingly voice, causing Kym to look down and see that he described her outfit perfectly. He really is watching her right now. 

"Damn..." Kym whispers to herself, realizing she might more screwed than she thought. She looks around until she sees one of the doors and decides to finally take her own advice, frantically opening and sprinting through it. "Come outside, then." She challenges the killer again as she runs down the stairs. "I'll introduce you to my people!" 

"You mean the drug dealers exploiting the community they live in?" Ghostface easily guesses who she's referring to, still unimpressed by her attempts at scaring him away. "They're the biggest hypocrites of all." 

"Yeah, we may even agree on that, but at least they strapped!" Kym remarks before running over and seeing L.T still on the outside couch, chilling with his eyes closed. "Latavious!" She calls out to him, but her attempt at shaking him awake only reveals that he's very dead, his throat slit and wide open from a deep cut with a knife.

Kym yelps in horror at the dead body discovery, before turning around to find Ghostface standing behind her. She screams as she jumps and ducks around, desperate to avoid the killer's knife as he swings it at her. 

"Call 911!" She yells out in panic while the killer eventually disappears into the shadows in seconds. "Officer down! Officer Down!" She continues screaming, thankfully causing all of the neighbors' lights to turn on. "White Officer down! White Officer down!" 

"Kym!" Someone abruptly touches her shoulder, causing her to jump and snap around in freight only to see that it's Manny. "W-What happened? Are you okay?" 

"Hell no." Kym answers with an obviously scared expression, so Manny pulls her in for a comforting hug, seeing as she needs it. 

"It's gonna be alright..." Manny quietly assures her, looking over to see L.T's dead body and blood pouring all over his shirt, threatening to make him sick all over again. It's pretty obvious to him what happened now. 

Ghostface....

_________________________________

https://youtu.be/0ajAyPXZfJk

___________________________________________

As The Ghostface killer quickly takes off their mask as they flee the scene, showing Y/N L/N's face, he lets out a frustrated sigh as he makes it back to his car. Waiting for them there is Beth, who has a very blatant cocky smirk on her face.

Y/N gives her a look. "What?" He questions her with a slight bit of attitude, which only makes her smirk grow. 

"You let her get away."

Y/N scoffs at her comment, sensing how much she's mocking him inside her head.

"Fuck you...."

_____________________________________

Collage Park: A Few Hours Later

After what felt like forever, the cops finally came to the scene. Though by that point, Ghostface is no doubt gone, L.T's blood has stopped coming out of his body, and everyone's sleep plans have clearly hit a massive raincheck. But hey, it's not like Kym was gonna let herself be killed in a 'public' area of all places. 

"And the killer was wearing a mask, like, a Halloween costume...." Kym testifies for the cop in front of her, who simply hums and nods, his eyes barley meeting hers which she notices. "You getting this?"

"Mmmhmm.... loud and clear." The officer dryly answers, sounding very convincing whatsoever. 

"Then why aren't you writing what I'm saying in that little pad of yours?" Kym questions with a look, to which the officer just stares at her blankly unimpressed with her 'subtle' criticism.

"We appreciate your cooperation." The officer emotionlessly says as if it's just another shift at McDonalds before tucking his pen and notebook into his breast pocket. Wow, third cop in a row and she gets shot down. "We'll handle it from here."

"You not handling nothing!"

"Now step back, you're in an active crime scene."

"You ain't gotta tell me, I live here." Kym mutters bitterly as she walks back, still not happy at all. When she rejoins Manny, she sees his similarly disappointed face, hinting that he didn't get anywhere with the cops at all.

Kym rolls her eyes, showing that she didn't get much luck either, as another dude walks over and sees the mess for himself. "Yo, what's going on, Kym?" Jamal 'Jay' Elliot asks as he takes a look around. 

"You know, just another Tuesday in College Park." Kym sarcastically remarks with a shrug, as they all then look over and see the recent victim being rolled away into the ambulance in his freshly new clothes.... a body bag.

"Damn, that Squeaky?"

"It's what left of Latavious." Kym answers, glancing down as she thinks about the sequence she just went through earlier. It's a little surprising that she's not more shaken up than she should be. "I found him, after some dude turned him into a Pez dispenser."

Jay winces at this, before curiously asking another question. "Ya'll know who killed him?" He asks, to which Manny shrugs a 'no'. 

"Cops won't hear our theories." He tells him, which is very concerning when since it's the personal witnesses that are getting ignored.

"They already had it figured out." Kym explains with a sassy tone of voice. "Some sort of gangland thing." She shares with them, prompting Jay to scoff at their ignorance. 

"Always talking down on the hood..." 

"You only been here for a years, Jay. So, you're still fresh out the package as far as this neighborhood's concerned." Kym brings up to the man, who hums with a slight smirk as if accepting the challenge.

"Yeah, well, it's my home now." Jamal tells them confidently, feeling like he moved here twenty years ago. "I'mma make my mark." He promises them, the choice of words makes Manny blink as he squints at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Manny queries with a pointed look, to which Jamal glances around before replying.

"Rather not get into it right now." Jamal tells him before nodding at all of the blues surrounding them. "You know, present company and all..." He says quietly, glancing around a bit before realizing that he probably shouldn't stay here for too long. "I'm out, y'all." 

He makes his exit, accidentally passing Detective L/N who glances at for a few seconds before walking under the yellow tape and towards one of the cops, specifically, the one from earlier. "Hey, what did you get?" He asks him immediately, to which the officer shrugs.

"Same as the others, guy in a Halloween costume, creepy voice through the phone...." He tells him with a small chuckle, shaking his head at it all. "Sounds like something from one of those horror movies."

"Alright then, once those paramedics are gone, clean it up and add it to the Reapers' count." Harvey orders him as he points his thumb towards the ambulance, and the cop simply nods as the detective then looks around with a serious look on his face. "And make sure there's no more of that Danny Johnson talk."

"Danny Johnson, sir?" The cop questions with a perplexed brow, not knowing who the heck he's referencing. At this, Harvey looks back at him with a blank expression and eyes.

"Best you not know who he is...."

__________________________________

Atlanta: Suburbs 

Morning finally comes, and Y/N has to force himself out of bed with a groan due to not getting much sleep. After all, he stayed up much longer than he probably should have. It's doubtful he even hit the six-hour mark. You'd assume the drinks would help you pass out, but.... guess not. At least they didn't give him a hangover.

Fetching some random clothes without much care besides making sure its pants instead of shorts, he heads downstairs to see his dad actually being up as well, sitting on the dining table and having his own breakfast. 

He eventually notices Y/N as he walks into the kitchen as well. "Hey, there you are..." He greets with a nod, taking a sip of his morning coffee. His son blankly nods in return as he opens the fridge, trying to find at least one fruit so he isn't on an empty stomach.

"Hey..."

"Where were you last night?" Harvey asks him after a few seconds of silence, causing Y/N to give him a confused look after closing the fridge door. 

"What?"

"Last night, after dinner, I came by to tell you good night before heading off to work, and you weren't there." Harvey explains, to which Y/N sighs as he chews into his apple, looking away to go find the bread. Dang it, his dad literally told him that he wasn't having a shift that day, and then he was? Is it possible the cops are more active that he says they are?  "So, where'd you sneak off to?"

"Friend's house." Y/N fixes up a quick lie as he puts the bread into the toaster. His dad knows that he technically has some of those at school. "Beth was doing another horror marathon, wanted some snacks for the, uh... you know, journey." He tells him, to which Harvey nods, seemingly accepting it. Afte which, he's reminded of another thing. "You got those keys?" 

"Oh, yes..... right." Harver snaps his fingers, standing up to walk over to the living room's coffee table and back. "There you go." He tosses them over to him, and Y/N nods a 'thanks' before pocketing them. "Hey, there was another thing I wanted to ask you." 

"Oh yeah?" Y/N raises a brow, glancing at him while also trying to focus on making sure he doesn't burn his fingers while trying to pull the toast out. "What's that?"

"I heard about the flyers from Mr. Fade being sent around your school." Harvey shares with him, to which Y/N lets out a small hum as he mentally prepares for another subtle interrogation. "The party at the old Metro Station, did you go there?"

"Thought about it." Y/N half-admits, before turning around to face his dad with a raised brow. "Why?"

"You're not in trouble or anything, if that's what you're wondering...." Harvey assures his kid with a small, silent chuckle, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it down on the dining table as quietly as possible. "But, if you were, then you probably saw the accident that happened in there." 

The mention of the 'accident' causes Y/N to squint his eyes at his father. "What are you getting at?"

Harvey sighs as Y/N's choice of words before finally getting to the point. "Did you see who this Mr. Fade was?" He queries him, to which the old teen surprisingly snickers at him, as if having been told a good joke.

"Dad..... I'm your son." Y/N reminds Harvey as he finishes his toast, puts the plate in the sink, and then gives him a dirty look as he grabs his bag. "Not your 21 Jumpstreet snitch." He sarcastically remarks before walking out the door, leaving his dad to sigh.

Well, that went great...

_______________________________________

Atlanta: Weaver High School

When your class finally gets to acknowledge their dead athlete, and your 'friend group' making absolutely no progress with trying to mentally decide if a creepy text you were all sent was a Pennywise wanna-be trying to fuck with everyone or not. It's both refreshing and intimidating when you finally get your answer to the second part. 

Everyone of the Deadfast Club agrees to meat in a hallway of the school, which includes the perfect view of the memorial for Avery Collins for all the sad sacks that have no idea who the man truly is on the inside. 

"Good morning, my fellow non-nerds, we bring gifts and favors for thee!" Y/N playfully announces as he and Amir joins the group, pulling out a few donut boxes from his dad and his co-workers' favorite place. He sets near the window for everyone to grab.

"My mom and dad are probably gonna be mad at me, but with Ghostface back, I really needed something before I stress myself out." Amir comments as he grabs a chocolate one, and soon Manny, Deion, Beth, and even Kym seems to accept the gesture. 

"Thanks, guys..." Deion says it out-loud at the very least.

"Oh, and I also managed to sneak it a little extra." Y/N adds as he pulls out a tiny plastic bag that's also filled with those pills, tossing them to Beth. "Wasn't easy to get them through security. Not only was I almost frisked, I had to give the guard my name, age, and sexual preference." 

Upon hearing this weird set of circumstances, Beth gives him a raised brow. "Which is?"

"You..." Y/N answers before taking suggestively swallowing his donut hole whole as he eyes the goth. "Naked."

Beth rolls her eyes at him. "You know what, Kym? You're right."  She tells the girl as she glances at him. "Y/N is definitely the asshole. One without the admittedly humor."

"Told you." Kym quips with a cheeky smirk, to which Y/N gives her a funny face in return. Another glance at the memorial, however, and the group quickly loses their one moment of genuine happiness. 

"Alright, as much as I'd love to sit around here and eat while we mourn the dearly departed, can we please get back to the issue here?" Beth then brings up, getting the serious topic back into focus, since that is kind of her job between the two killers, make everyone mentally afraid. "Kym almost got killed last night."

"So, we know that the killer's after us, but why would he kill L.T?" Deion questions with a perplexed mind. I mean, the only connection he had to everything was that him, Y/N, and Kym saw the drug dealer a couple times. But that's it.

"He was trying to kill me." Kym ends up correcting, which does admittedly answer that question. It was an oddly simple kill for someone like Ghostface who boasts about his gore, and besides, why question the methods of a serial killer? "But he did say something about Latavious being a hypocrite, which is true. But L.T was also fine, I did not mind him hollering at me."

Almost everyone gives her a look at the mention of that last part. And how is that helpful any way?

"I keep telling you guys that killers have codes." Beth reminds everyone in response to the 'hypocrite' word that keeps coming from the killer's mouth. It's Ghostface's obvious M.O. Y/N, despite being one of them, eyes Beth curiously. Why does she keep saying that? 

"Code or no code, I should've gotten there sooner." Manny comments with a small sigh, knowing that if Kym didn't remember to scream out bloody murder, it could've ended a lot differently for her.

"And do what? Have an asthma attack?" Kym remarks with a mixed reaction. "I love you, Manny, but conflict isn't your strong suit."

"Maybe Beth's right." Deion points out, putting the scene and the apparent motive of the killer together. "Because if the killer went after Kym, then.... he's keeping good on his word."

"I think we should call the cops." Amir suggests, an idea that immediately gets rejected.

"No, no. In horror movies, the cops are totally useless." Beth quickly shoots down that idea, applying her trusty religion's logic to that one. Also, cops are really annoying. "They don't believe the victims until it's too late."

"Works that way in real life too." Kym bitterly remarks, since that statement hits way too close to home. "By the time Five-0 got there last night, they alright had their story straight." She mentions, flipping her hair. "Okay, apparently, dope dealers likes masks as much as psychopaths do."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Y/N questions with a raise brow, earning himself a look from Kym. "What? I'm being serious this time. Not only did the psychopath choose us, but he also chose the city where bodies drop because someone stepped on the back of another's shoe." He re-states to everyone, pretty much enforcing what Beth said earlier. "Cops are never gonna believe us..." 

 "I think he's right..." Manny admittedly says, glancing down with a depressed look. "I heard an uber driver was cut by one of his own clients just because he decided to leave the last second. At this point, they'll believe any small reason."

With that haunting aspect now in their minds, there's a small bit of silence before Deion decides to turn to the supposed expert in all this. "Beth, if we're trapped in a horror movie.... how do we survive?" He asks her, and the girl's mouth already begins to open until she's interrupted.

 "By not listening to her." Kym quickly states, preventing Beth from making another horror trope reference. "Okay? I did the research y'all, and the type of horror movies that Beth's talking about are white people in white people places making dumb white people mistakes."

"Yeah, duh! That's exactly what horror is!" Beth responds with a clearly offended look on her face, the two girls now getting in each others faces as Deion quicky gets on his feet and steps in between the two of them.

"Okay, okay-"

"And they called me an asshole..." Y/N whispers quietly to Manny before taking in another donut hole like he's in a movie theater. 

"Nuh-uh. There are horror movies black folks too!" Kym retorts while Deion fails to de-escalate the two of them, and the others just awkwardly watch. Except for Y/N, who smirks amusingly at the show in front of him.

"Oh really? Name one." Beth sassily challenges, causing Kym to almost instantly open her mouth with an answer. "Besides Get Out."

Y/N raises his hand with an answer. "Bones. It has Snoop Dog as Candyman."

"Tales from the Hood?" Manny adds with a shrug. "Anthologies count, right?"

"I-I saw this one movie called Def by Temptation." Amir also mentions, though hesitantly as he doesn't want to add fuel to the fire. "Just saying..."

"Also-"

"Okay, okay!" Beth quickly shuts Y/N up before he drops in another one. "I get it. Really shouldn't have said that..."

"And this time, we're making out own rules!" Kym then tells the rest of them with a determined look on her face, as if pumped up after almost getting opened up last night. "Just like Jordan Peele!"

"Hey, hey, no spoilers." Amir quickly chimes in, before a crap ton more references about it are mentioned. "I haven't seen it yet."

"It ain't a spoiler when it's the title. Chris, gets out!" Kym remarks like a leader of the rebellion rallying her people for battle. "Okay? He survived by going straight at the killers, and I say we do the same." She declares, to which Manny and even Y/N nod agreeingly.

"Can't believe I'm actually saying this, but....." Y/N comments before letting out a small sigh of defeat. "I think Kym's right." He says, prompting Kym to sassily snap her fingers. "Don't do that no more."

"Well..... if you think about it..." Beth shrugs, also seeing the pros of that move. "In most horror movies, nobody actually goes after the killer until almost everybody's dead. If we do that now, we flip the script." She proposes, seeing some creative ideas in mind with that plan. "Ghostface won't see it coming."

"You're forgetting something. We have no idea who Ghostface is." Deion, however, points out, a small little problem with setting a trap for a serial killer. It's not like there's a legend behind him that gives away his identity like Jason Voorhees or Micheal Myers. Before anyone can drop any suggestions to that, the bell rings, marking the beginning of class.

"Alright, five minutes till homeroom, and I don't want my dad to hear I got held up again...." Y/N brings up as he looks at everyone expectingly. "So, what we doing?"

"We just hold tight." Deion answers, directing everyone's eyeballs towards him. "At least until we can figure out who's doing this to us." He states, to which Y/N gives him a curious brow.

"We are we gonna do that?"

"After school." Deion answers with a nod, knowing that at the very least, they all have a gameplan to work together on. "We'll meet up and we'll talk suspects. But until then, nobody stick their neck out. Cool?" 

Without any other elements in mind, everyone nods. "Fine. You guys wanna flip a coin and see who's gonna call the princess and let her know?" Beth then asks everyone, finally reminding them of the one person who's missing. "As long as both sides say, not me."

Glancing around, Deion brings up the obvious question.

"Where is Liv today?"

___________________________________________

Atlanta: Suburbs 

Where is Liv? Well, that's actually a pretty easy question to answer. You see, when you have a cop that's a bit on the paranoid side, especially on the side of a famous city with a high crime rate, and close to a holiday that's also talked about for how bodies drop left and right on that specific day...... well, you've probably figured it out and this point.

"You can't keep me locked up in this house like I'm some kind of convict." Liv complains to her dad as she paces around the dining room while his dad watches with his joe in his hand. This has been continuing on for way longer than necessary, and with Ghostface still engraved into her head, she's worried about the others. 

"If you were a convict, you might actually listen to me for a change." 

"Hey....." Liv looks at her dad with a hurt expression, causing him to close his eyes with a sigh.

"I didn't mean that...." Officer Reynolds assures her, setting his mug down on the kitchen island as he thinks about how the past few days have taken a small toll on his patience. "But it's only been two days since that boy you were hanging out with died, and I think you're still in shock."

"Well then I should be at home with my friends." Liv argues with a slightly pleading look. Whatever 'shock' she's been displaying only comes from being worried what will happen to herself at everyone else at Weaver High. "Not alone with my thoughts."

"You wanna.... share any of those thoughts with me?" Mr. Reynolds questions with an inquisitive look, wondering if she's been keeping other things from him.

"You wanna tell me when I can go back to school?" Liv deflects the question back at him, causing the old man to mentally sigh.

"Tomorrow, after Devil's Night."

"But Devil's Night is just harmless pranks...." Liv comments with a sigh, rolling her eyes at him. It's just meant to sound scary to add another part to Halloween. "You know, egging houses, shaving cream on sidewalks."

"Maybe where we're from, but we're not there anymore, are we?" Mr. Reynolds points out with a knowing look, reminding her daughter that they're not in a small quiet town anymore. "A drug dealer got stabbed to death in College Park last night." He then mentions to her while putting on his belt. "I don't want you out in that kind of chaos, period."

"I won't get into any trouble." Liv promises her father, but the man gives her blank look, as if not trusting her to live up to her word. With that, he's about to head out, living the girl once again, with her thoughs.

Stabbed to death.....

"Hey, dad?" Liv calls out to Mr. Renyolds, prompting him to turn back around to face her. "Did you guys find anything else out about Avery, how he died?" She asks him, extremely curious, causing him to give her a look.

"His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit, he got drunk, and he fell, end of story." Mr. Reynolds concludes to Liv, knowing what she's trying hint at and shooting it down as quickly as possible. "It was an accident, not some mystery for you to solve, okay?"

She reluctantly nods, and he nods back before making his way out the door, though not before giving his daughter another fatherly look. 

However, once the front door closes, Liv wastes no time in going into his father's room, sitting in front of his desk where his laptop resides. If she's gonna be staying here for a long time, she might as well learn something related to her current situation. She opens up the police records, knowing her dad's passwords, and then types in the words....

Elliot, Deion.

__________________________________

Atlanta: Weaver High School

So now, there's an assembly as well, about Avery's death and the reason it happened. Apparently, there's some kind of lesson from them to learn about this 'sudden tragedy' as if there isn't already a whole lot of them the police should probably have taken care of by now. But hey, at least theirs high school stuff.

"His name's Hawkins, he's more..... closeted. Probably because of his parents and having Collins as his quarterback." Manny idly talks with Beth as they change books as such near their lockers. What they could afford, anyway. "But still, I don't really see having a petty secret like that as something to kill me over..."

"Then it's probably not it." Beth comments as she leans against the neighboring one to Manny's, which isn't actually hers but not like she gives a damn about it. "You honestly don't remember making any fucked up choice in your life?"

"I mean.... I almost got into furries..." Manny admits very quietly with a small shrug, wincing the second Beth blinks at him. "I know, it wasn't my proudest moment, but It died down in, like, a year."

"And there's another addition to the bucket of questions I shouldn't have asked....." Beth mutters with a small, disgusted exhale. The conversation is eventually interrupted when Manny closes his locker, revealing a waiting Y/N leaning on the other side of it. "Oh, Gosh..."

"I'll... leave you two to it." Manny quickly senses a cue to not be part of this weird lover's quarrel, and walks down the hall. After which, Y/N gives Beth a sort-of twisted smirk. 

"Got a minute?" Y/N requests the second Manny's gone. However, Beth just gives him a look as she goes down the opposite direction, prompting the L/N to roll his eyes. "Oh, come on, I'm not gonna argue about that with you in a public building." He tells her as he follows her anyway.

"You've been teasing me about it long enough." Beth mentions as she doesn't even glance back in his direction. "So either give me a name or don't, cause the whole flirting thing is over."

"Tonight." Y/N quickly tells her, successfully getting Beth to stop and turn around. "I promise, alright? In spite of whatever 'plan' the others will come up with after school...." He puts air quotes on plan. "You'll your shot tonight, that's why I had you do the phone call. We're just going step-by-step."

Beth hums skeptically at his motives, sensing an ulterior one, before giving him a look that's listening for now. "What do you want, Y/N?"

"See, that's what I wanted to talk about." Y/N points directly at her face. "The whole attitude thing you got going on." He points out, beckoning them back to the side of the hall. "Look, usually I'm into the whole 'resting bitch face', but the constant act of it is getting kind of old, don't you think?"

"Well sorry that I'm not a giddy fan-psycho who does everything you ask for with a high-pitched giggle." Beth sarcastically tells him with a fixed smile that immediately erases itself with a judging one. "This isn't some mastermind and accomplice phase, all right? You don't control me."

"And I perfectly agree with that." Y/N replies, possible subverting whatever lines she expected him to say. "But, that's exactly why I think that we...." He holds up two fingers and wraps them together. ".... need a proper connection. Especially since this whole thing could end up with us being very fucking dead." He claims, before putting his hand against the wall, right above her, and getting awfully close to her. "So how about you stop giving me the cold shoulder, and let this little subplot we got going.... progress?"

Beth stares at him blankly for a few seconds, getting Y/N's mind excited for her response, only to purposefully disappoint him by just walking away without saying anything. Y/N sighs, but smirks as he watches her leave.

"Think about it!"

___________________________________________

Elsewhere in the school, Kym and Deion are talking about the upcoming assembly and what it'll possible mean when someone else walks in on their conversation. "Elliot? Got a minute?" The coach of the football team approaches.

"We need to get to that assembly." Kym reminds Deion, who nods.

"It's all cool, Kym, I'll catch up." He promises her, nodding for her to go on ahead. It's not like he can really ignore his coach when it's involved with his career. Although Ghostface is technically more important, Kym obliges, nodding to Griffin as she passes him.

"How you doing, Coach?"

"Kym." Coach Griffin nods back, before standing in front of Deion.

"What's up?"

"Look, there's no easy way to say this...." Griffin folds his hands as he faces directly at him. "But our quarterback's dead, which means I need you under center." He tells him, causing Deion to blink a bit as he processes what he's saying. Is he being serious?

"Wait, me?" Deion questions himself as every single pro and con goes through his head, the idea of that sounds crazy. "Why me? Come on, coach, I'm a running back. I ain't never took a snap in my life."

"It doesn't matter." Griffin states with a shake of his head, slightly chuckling. "You're the best player I got, Elliot. Need the ball in those hands as much as possible." He tells him, though Deion's still intimidated by it all.

"Come on, learning a whole new position in a week?"

"I know you got a lot riding on this game, which is why I need you to trust that I'm doing the right thing here." Griffin pleads with his player in response to his obvious doubt. Deion mentally sighs, but nods as he doesn't right to have conflict in his dream sport as well as the Deadfast Club.

"I trust you, coach."

"Then let's go. I got you cleared from last period to get a jump on things before practice." Griffin then informs him, nodding towards the path to the football field. However, Deion is obviously hesitant on that due to having already made plans this morning. 

"I-I can't today coach, I got people waiting on me." Deion tells him as he briefly points towards where Kym was heading off to. He can't just ignore Ghostface, as much as this is practically his life. 

"And you're gonna have someone from SDSU in the stands, at the game." Griffin brings up in response to that, only to still get a reluctant look from Deion's face. "Which is more important to you, Elliot?"

"It's not that easy..."

"Yeah, it's hard. Just like all the work you've put in to earn this opportunity. I don't wanna see you screw this up." Griffin reminds Deion, re-enforcing the inner athlete in his mind. The Elliot kid knows that he can't really explain it to him, but the last thing he needs is two parts of his life conflicting with each other here. "Come on now, we got plays to learn!"

As Griffin begins beckoning him over to the field, Deion is now caught in a difficult choice. The choice should be obvious, but his future could be destroyed even if he survives against the psychopath threatening others because of him. 

He glances back and forth, between the assembly and football....

And he chooses football.

_____________________________________ 

Weaver High School: Gym

Yup, the first thing the assembly brings up is Avery Collins, as a sad funeral edit plays on the screen in front of everybody. Look guys, Y/N already head that blonde country bumpkin's ugly face printed into his mind like (almost) every person he's killed. He doesn't need to constantly see it every single time.  

Song choice is alright though.

"Thank you, Weaver High AV Club, for that emotional presentation." Mr. Finch of all people is the one on the mic, having to say these words. Seeing him doing his best to sell it almost makes then entire group want to burst out laughing. "Avery left this world too soon, but he's in a better place."

"Hopefully he doesn't have flight school there..." Y/N mutters while his eyes are glued to his phone, only separating from it when he notices Beth and Manny on his left who slowly turn to look at him. "What?"

"And now, would you all give a warm Weaver welcome to Officer Reynolds?" Finch the introduces the cop standing behind him, inviting him to take the stage.

After Finch finishes talking, Amir sniffles as he's wiping his eyes of any tears, which is noticed by a bored Beth and Y/N who sit on both sides of him. "Are you... crying?" The goth asks with a raised brow.

"No! Not for Avery..." Amir sheepishly retorts, failing to deny it as he avoids eye contact with either of them. "This song just always gets me."

"Thank you..." Officer Reynolds nods professionally after everyone finishes clapping, slightly deafening feedback coming from the microphone. "I know this is already a somber day, but I'm here to talk to you about drugs and alcohol." He tells everyone, prompting a few students in the background to jokingly cheer. "...and why you shouldn't do them." He then finishes his sentence, possibly causing their heads to drop. "Avery Collins is a cautionary tale..."

"Ain't that the truth?" Kym chimes in as she appears next to the group, Manny quickly giving her a spot to sit. "Same dude that killed him trying to kill us."

"And while Avery's death was accidental, we still need your help in locating the person who organized the event." Officer Reynolds continues, declaring a goal that at least assures the secret killers in the crowd that the cops aren't on their tail. "He's a former student here who uses the alias, 'Mr. Fade'." 

Well.... almost not.

 "So useless. The cops don't know anything." Beth comments with a mental scoff, though Y/N lifts his head up from his phone when its mentioned, not exactly sharing the same sentiment. There's also a third take of this statement from across the line.

"I don't know about that...." Kym says otherwise, looking down as gears grind and grind in her head. Everyone turns to her when they see her seemingly coming to a deduction.

"I'm pretty sure I just figured out who the killer is."

____________________________________

(A/N) Sup ya'll! Finally got an update for you guys.

Sorry about the delay, as mentioned earlier, I had a slight block from having to write such long chapters. (The last one was 14,000 words long) and thus, a major lack of the satisfying feeling when you publish a new chapter. I think that was the reason I stopped at first despite wanting to finish this story.

Not only that, this one was 8,000. So, I think doing each chapter by fourths, in spite of how long each one is, should work slightly better.

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