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"Okay nerds, listen up!" Mindy spoke up as the group was sitting in a half circle out in the school's courtyard the following day. "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad I get the chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time."

"I tried to warn you." Aurora said, smirking at the girl.

"It's fine. Okay." Mindy said. "The way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requel."

"Uh." Anika said, quickly raising her hand. "What's a requel?"

"You're beautiful sweetie. But let's hold questions till the end." Mindy said, causing Anika to send her a half smile before it quickly fell.

"Stab one took place in Woodsboro. Stab 2 took place in college." Sam said.

"So we think the killer's trying to copy the movie?" Tara questioned from her spot beside Rory.

"I think that's exactly what the killer's doing." Aurora said, looking over at Tara before turning to the entire group. "I mean if you go through the list almost everything can be checked off. Heroes now in college, new characters added to the group to round out the suspect list or maybe the body count list, Sid wasn't very thorough with the list. But still check, check, check."

"I don't like this." Ethan spoke from the otherside of Tara.

"That is definitely one way to put it, Rory." Mindy said, nodding as she pointed at the King girl. "But it can't just be about Stab 2." Mindy added, causing the group to grow confused.

"Why not?" Tara questioned.

"It would make sense if it was just a sequel." Mindy explained. "But we're not in a sequel, cause no one just makes sequels anymore! We're in a franchise! And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise."

"I had a feeling." Sam muttered as she looked down at her hands as Rory watched the boy beside her writing in his notebook.

"Rule One: everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count." Mindy explained. "Longer chases, shoot outs, beheadings. You gotta top what came before to keep people coming back."

"Beheadings?" Chad questioned, sounding concerned.

"Beheadings." Mindy reassured the boy. "Rule 2: What happened the last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whiny snowflake film nerds with Letterboxd accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here. And Rule three: No one is safe. Legacy characters? Cannon fodder at this point. Usually brought back to be killed off in some cheap bid for nostalgia. It's not looking too good for Gale and Kirby. Oh, and that's not even the worst part."

"This is the part where she tells us the worst part." Chad said, writing in his notebook not looking up at his sister.

"The worst part is franchises are just continuing episodic installments designed to boost an IP." Mindy explained. "Which means main characters are completely expendable now, too. Laurie Strode, Nancy Thompson, Ellen Ripley, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bond. I mean, even Luke Skywalker-- all died so their franchises could live on. That means it's not just the friend group. Any of us could go at any time, especially Sam, Tara, and Rory."

That caused Aurora to lock eyes with Sam before turning and looking at the girl beside her as she tightly grabbed her hand as they turned their attention back to Mindy.

"Wait, any of us? Am I in the friend group? Am I like one of the targets?" Ethan questioned, sounding scared, causing the group to look at him confused. "Am I gonna die a virgin?"

"That's definitely a weird overshare, buddy." Aurora said, patting the boy's knee as she sent him a small smile.

"But it brings us to our current suspects." Mindy said, approaching the Landy boy. "Ethan. The shy dorky guy who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky."

"Wait, why am I on the suspect list?" Ethan questioned. "Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?"

"Roommate lotteries can be juked. You could have fixed it to be next to us." Mindy said before turning her attention to the next suspect. "Quinn. The slutty roomate. The horror movie... classic."

"Sex positive." Quinn said, correcting the Meeks-Martin girl. "But thank you?"

"Mhm. How did you come to live with Sam, Tara and Rory?" Mindy questioned.

"I answered their ad online." Quinn said, causing Sam to nod in agreement.

"Okay, say no more." Mindy said, quickly cutting the girl off. "You've already implicated yourself enough."

"It was an anonymous ad, Mindy." Tara explained. "And you know we vetted her. Plus her dad's a cop."

"And that makes it more likely she's the killer, because having a cop dad is a great cover. Do you not remember how these movies work, Tara?" Mindy questioned, holding her arms open before turning her attention to the final addition to the group. "And finally... Anika."

That caused the Kayoko girl to blow her girlfriend a kiss as she sent an air kiss back.

"Never trust the love interest." Aurora said, causing Anika's smile to fall as Chad quickly looked up from the notebook as he sent the girl a look, causing her to place a hand on his cheek. "Oh no, not you my love."

"Okay. So we have our rules and we have our suspects." Sam said, looking around at the group.

"Wait, wait, wait. What about you guys?" Ethan questioned, referring to the five from Woodsboro.

"I mean, I think it's pretty safe to rule out the five of us who went through this last year in Woodsboro." Mindy said, crossing her arms as the five turned their attention to the boy.

"Agreed." Chad said, pointing at his sister with his pencil as Rory nodded in agreement.

"Um, not agreed." Quinn said, quickly disagreeing. "What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?"

"Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more." Ethan added to Quinn's statement, causing Aurora to look between the duo. "I mean, let's be honest here, some of the theories online about Sam are-."

"Don't you fucking dare." Tara spoke in a threatening tone.

"Interesting." Aurora said, nodding to herself.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Chad questioned, softly taping the girl's head with his pencil.

"Just reviewing my suspect list." Aurora said, shrugging her shoulders. "I have my theories."

"At least give me a chance first, Ro." Mindy said, holding her hand out at the girl, causing a smile to grow on her lips.

"She's right though." Anika said, gesturing toward the Bailey girl, sitting beside her. "I mean, face facts-- If we're all suspects, you're all suspects."

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"Maybe you should get out of the city." Aurora spoke up, breaking the silence between her and Chad as she looked over at the boy. "I mean, considering what happened to you the last time. I wouldn't blame you... you know if you wanted to leave."

"As thoughtful of you that is, uh, I don't think I'm going anywhere." Chad said, shaking his head as the sound of fake gagging caused the duo to turn their attention to the dining room where Mindy and Tara stood.

"Would you two get a room?" Mindy said, jokingly, causing Tara to chuckle.

"Mindy, that is so inappropriate, dude." Chad said, looking over at his twin sister as Rory smiled at the boy.

"Whatever." Mindy said, throwing her arms up as she made her way into the kitchen with the couple after setting the table. "Sam?"

"Yeah?" The older Carpenter sister questioned, making her way into the kitchen with Tara right behind her.

"We do not have to stay here." Mindy said, causing the group to turn and face each other.

"Well that's too bad, Minds." Aurora said, smirking at the twin standing in front of her. "Besides safety in numbers, right."

"It'll be so fun. A little slumber party with the core five." Chad said, causing the four girls to look at him confused.

"Core Five?" Sam questioned, confused.

"Did you just give us a nickname?" Tara asked the boy.

"I sure did." Chad said, sounding beyond proud of himself. "I mean we've been through alot together and it's a pretty cool nickname."

"That's debatable." Sam said.

"It's extremely debatable." Tara corrected her sister.

"You can't just give yourself a nickname, dingus." Mindy explained.

"Well, of course I can, dingus, cause I just did." Chad said as the trio laughed at the twins' antics. "Core Five up top!"

"No."

"Down low!"

"Get that away from me."
"Please for the love of god." Chad said, turning to Sam with pleading eyes.

"Don't do it!" Mindy said.

"You know I would actually like a little more respect and support from my fellow members of the core five." Chad said, looking around at the group before his eyes landed on Rory with a smile. "What do you say, babe, Core Five?"

"What the heck." Aurora said, high fiving the boy, causing the others to jokingly groan as the boy cheered.

Rory no!" Mindy said, shaking her head as she smiled at the girl.

"What he was drowning." Aurora said, shrugging her shoulders with a chuckle.

"Guys. What the hell." Anika called out, gaining the group's attention, causing them to quickly make their way into the living room as the Kayoko girl turned up the TV.

"We're hearing from sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspects are none other than Samantha Carpenter and Aurora King. Two of the survivors of the Woodsboro killings in 2022. The two are seen here attacking a woman on the streets last night. In the wake of the Woodsboro tragedy last year, rumors sprouted online that Carpenter was actually responsible for the killings, blaming the crimes on her boyfriend Richie Kirsch and teen Amber Free--."

"What the actual fuck." Aurora said, still looking at the blank screen after Sam quickly grabbed the remote, turning the TV off.

Everyone watched Sam quietly leave the room, making her way into the dining room before Tara soon followed behind her.

"Does it count for anything that I don't think you're the killer?" Anika said, standing up from the couch, causing the King girl to send the girl an appreciative smile, wrapping her arms around the girl, pulling her into a hug.

"It's not your fault." The four heard Sam say, causing Rory to slowly let go of Anika as she and the twins made their way into the dining room. "And I know I shouldn't care what people think. It just sucks being this hated."

"Hey, just a reminder." Chad spoke as the trio took a seat around the table with Aurora sitting at the head beside Sam. "Not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all be through some fucked up stuff and we are coping with it differently. But, I mean we moved here together for one very specific reason. We're a team."

"And hey, if you're hated I think that technically means I'm hated too. Since apparently we're accomplices." Aurora jokingly said, smiling at the girl beside her causing her to chuckle as she grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about the trolls, Sammy. They don't know you like we do."

Sam tearfully looked around at the group of four seated around the table in front of her with a smile.

"We are the Core fucking five!" Mindy said, wearing a smile causing Aurora to chuckle.

"Thank you very much." Chad happily said, high fiving his sister with a smile. "That's what I'm talking about."

"Ah, I hate myself." Mindy said jokingly as she playfully rolled her eyes. "Say it."

"No, I'm not going to say it. Not now." Tara said, letting out a chuckle. "I mean yes we're a team."

"You have to admit it has a nice ring to it." Aurora said, pointing at Tara with a smile.

"I've been sleeping with cute boy from across the hall." Sam admitted, causing the group to go silent for a second.

"Boom!"

"I fucking knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"You called it!"

"Fuck yeah, Sam!"

"I knew from the day you had that hickey." Mindy admitted, causing the group to chuckle.

"I feel like we should high five or something." Tara said, looking around at the group.

"The Core Five high five." Chad said, holding his hand up, causing everyone to lace their hand on top.

"Maybe we don't call it that?" Aurora jokingly said with a smile as they all let go.

The sound of a phone ringing caused Sam to pull her cell from her back pocket as Tara's face went shocked, quickly taking the phone from her sister's hand, pretending to hand it to Mindy before pretending to answer it.

"Hey, so what are your intentions?"

"It's fine. I'll call him back." Sam said, grabbing her phone back, declining the call before sitting it on the table.

The group looked around as the sound of loud banging filled the apartment along with a moan from Quinn.

"Well, it sounds like Quinn and her gentlemen caller are back at it again." Tara spoke up.

"Getting it too okay." Mindy jokes, causing them all to chuckle but quickly died down as everyone's phone began vibrating.

Opening it to find a picture from Danny; a picture of Quinn being attacked by Ghostface in her room.

"Oh my god." Aurora muttered, slowly looking up from her phone at the others before the sound of Quinn screaming from help caused them all to quickly leap up from their chairs.

Aurora quickly went for the door only to quickly be pulled back by Chad. "Rory, wait."

Suddenly everything went dead silent as the group of six stood staring at the bedroom door.

"Run." Mindy quickly said just as the door was forced open and Quinn's body came falling forward, straight onto Anika, causing her to let out a bloody scream.

Aurora quickly made her way over to the Kayoko girl, helping Mindy push the body off of her.

"Guys, come on!" Tara exclaimed, running towards the door, pulling Chad out the door with her, leaving Aurora, Sam, Mindy, and Anika in the apartment with ghostface.

"Oh fuck." Mindy said, causing the masked killer to swing his knife at the girl, cutting her arm open as the others quickly moved away.

"Shit, Mindy." Aurora called, causing Sam to quickly grab the King girl, pulling her away with her.

"Stay the fuck back!" Anika exclaimed, grabbing onto his legs trying to bring him down, causing him to grab onto the girl's neck, lifting her off the ground, holding her against the fireplace, lodging his knife into her stomach.

Sam and Aurora made it to the kitchen, the King girl quickly spotted the knife holder, causing her to grab it as she rushed at the masked intruder as the sound of Anika's scream's filled her ears.

"Hey!" Aurora called, causing the killer to look back, causing her to swing the wooden thing, hitting him directly in the face, causing him to fall to the floor, causing her to quickly grab Anika's hand as she pulled her along while Sam grabbed Mindy. "Come on!"

The group quickly rushed into the room, where Sam quickly locked the door behind them just in time as ghostface repeatedly banged on the door until it all went quiet.

That caused Sam and Rory to quickly share a look before seeing the wide open door, causing the King girl to race to the door, letting out a scream as see saw the dead body laying in the bathtub.

"Rory, the door!" Sam exclaimed, causing the girl to quickly turn her focus to the door and as she reached for the door, she came face to face with the masked intruder, causing her to let out another scream as she tried pushing the door shut as he swung his knife at her.

Aurora felt herself being pulled back as Sam pulled her back into the room, helping her close the bedroom as Rory held her weight against the door as Sam slid the dresser against the door.

"How we doing, Ani?" Aurora asked the Kayoko as Mindy helped hold the dresser against the door.

"Not too good." Anika gritted through her teeth, holding her gushing wound as she bleed out from her stomach.

"Okay, you three go first!" Sam said, looking back at the group as she had a ladder connected from the bedroom window to Danny's apartment. "Mindy! Rory!"

"You go first." Aurora spoke, shaking her head.

"What no." Sam quickly disagreed.

"Someone needs to hold the door!" Mindy explained, causing Rory to nod in agreement. "I'll send Anika or Rory next."

"Sammy, please just go." Aurora begged the older Carpenter with tears in her eyes, causing her to give her one more look before she slowly crawled out the window.

"Come on, Sam. she's losing a lot of blood." Mindy called out the window as all the duo could do is watch their friend bleed out.

"Say something more positive!" Anika cried out.

"Come on! Mindy! Rory! Come on! Anika, come on!"

That caused the duo to share a look as tears streamed down both of their faces.

"You have to go." Mindy said, causing the King girl to quickly shake her head. "Rory, you have to, me and Anika will be right behind you okay."

"You guys should go first, you're both hurt." Aurora said, looking at the girl confused.

"It's okay, just go." Mindy said, shaking her head, sending the girl a smile. "Go."

"Rory, please just go." Anika said, causing Rory to look over at the Kayoko girl, seeing her already looking at her with a small smile.

"Okay." Aurora said, quickly making her way to the window as she slowly climbed out onto the ladder. Freezing in her spot as she noticed the distance from her spot on the ladder and the ground. "I can't do it."

"No, Rory, it's okay." Sam called, causing the girl to slowly look over at her. "Just keep your eyes over her okay, don't look down."

"I don't wanna die, Sammy." Aurora cried out, slowly crawly over the ladder as it wobbled.

"Hey, no one's gonna die, okay." Sam spoke softly to the girl. "We're all gonna get through this just like last time."
"What about Wes?" Aurora cried out, looking down at the dumpster as her vision began to become blurry. "Wes died, he was someone!"

"He was! He was an amazing someone who didn't deserve to die. But Rory, that doesn't mean you're gonna die." Sam said. "We're gonna get through this just like the last time. Just like Chad said we're a team; Core Five."

"Core Five." Aurora said, letting out a light chuckle as she grabbed Sam's hand, allowing her to pull her into the window into her arms.

"Mindy, come on!"

The Meeks-Martin girl quickly but slowly made her way across the ladder; leaving Anika.

"Come on, Ani, you can do it." Aurora called out to the girl as she stood at the other window crying. "You have to climb."

"I can't do it, I can't do it!" Anika cried, shaking her head as the sound of Ghostface breaking the door was heard from behind her, causing the girl to quickly get on the ladder.

"Look at me. You can do it." Mindy said, sending the girl a smile but it quickly fell along with the others as they noticed the masked killer approaching the bleeding girl from behind.

"What?" Anika asked, sounding scared as she stopped moving.

"Anika, you have to move right now.'' Mindy screamed, causing Anika to look behind her, causing her to let out a gut wrenching scream when she came face to face with ghostface.

"No, god! Please, no!" Anika cried out, holding onto the ladder for dear life.

"Anika, please you have to move!" Aurora cried out as she watched Ghostface plunge his knife into the windowsill beside the ladder. "No!"

"You have to make it!" Mindy cried out as Ghostface began, shaking the ladder viciously, causing the girl to scream out louder.

"Baby, I don't want to die." Anika cried, quickly hugging onto the ladder as the masked killer began trying to tip her off the ladder.

"Anika, give me your hand." Sam said, leaning out of the window, reaching her hand out for the scared girl.

Just as their fingertips touched, the Kayoko girl went rolling over the edge of the ladder and all that was heard was the sound of her scream before she fell to her unforeseeable death.

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