CHAPTER ONE

THE KNIGHT &
DOROTHY GALE.

"Fuck!" Adrianne screamed as Richie's knife nicked her collarbone. She fell against the wooden bannister, trying desperately to escape the attack. Gale and Sydney were getting the Amber monologue in the kitchen and Sam and Tara were currently MIA. Leaving her to fight off the man by herself.

"You know," Richie started, twirling his knife as he stalked closer and closer to the redhead, she leaned against the railing for support. "Your brother was a real hero."

If she had any color left in her face, that surely drained it. Her brother.

"The most brutal of them all if I do say so." He chuckled. "It's a shame Jill gets most of the credit. God, it must feel great to be related to him. A martyr." Richie jumped up in excitement at just the thought, practically giggling. He shivered with enthusiasm at the idea.

Adrianne's heavy breathing picked up as she scrambled to get further away from the killer. "He was a murderer who got what he deserved. And you'll get the same." A tear slipped down her face as she thought about Charlie.

"Oh, please!" Richie cackled, jabbing the knife into her side. She shrieked, eyes widening as he twisted the weapon and pulled it back out. Her hands quickly covered the wound, drowning them in blood. "Y'know what, Addie?" His tone grew angry. "Tell him I said hi."

She fell to the floor, Richie was quick to straddle her and ready the weapon. He steadied the knife, landing it in her left shoulder now. Bloody tears trickled down her freckled face as her mouth opened in a muted scream. He landed another jab, this time right in the middle of her stomach.

"Tell him yourself, asshole." A voice. A gunshot.

Richie slumped off of the girl, revealing Sam. She had a pistol aimed at her ex-lover. He was hit in the back, now attempting to crawl away from his attacker. Tara limped out from behind Sam, falling to her knees beside Adrianne.

The sound of clattering from the kitchen almost distracted the girl from her painful wounds.  Tara pulled Adrianne's upper half to lean against her, pushing a hand onto the gashes and around the discarded knife. A broken sound of pain escaped from the girl's lips.

"I know, I'm sorry." Tara cried. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sam killing Richie. The redhead turned her head, trying to find Sam. "No, don't look." Tara grabbed her chin, turning her gaze back to herself.

"Tara- Tara, I'm going to pass out." Adrianne hiccuped, trying to catch her breath as the warm blood soaked her clothes.

Tara's breath hitched, watching as her friend's eyes started to roll back. She lightly hit her cheeks back and forth, trying to keep Adrianne responding. "No, Sam! Sam, help!"

Sam turned away from the gory body of her now ex-boyfriend, ripping herself out of her own head as she stood slowly. His blood splattered her face, she wiped at it carefully as she tried to take in the situation.

"Sam- we need an ambulance!" Tara begged, now holding Adrianne's unconscious body. Tears started to slip from her eyes as she pleaded with her sister.

Stepping into the frat house on fifth street was an experience to say the least. Colorful lights flew around the room, music bumped from speaker to speaker, and each red solo cup held a drink of choice, making for a bad combo.

Adrianne Walker hesitantly looked around, clinging to Tara's hand like a lifeline. Her Dorothy Gale costume felt out of place considering all of the short skirts and crop tops being worn all around her.

The puffy white sleeves and blue checkered dress did flatter her figure, but the low pigtails and blue bows would only make her look younger she assumed. The red shoes tied the entire look together, though she predicted they'd be covered in somebody else's vomit by the end of the night.

"Come on," Tara pulled her red head friend toward the blue leather couch where Mindy and her girlfriend, Anika, had made home. They were people watching, doing very little to hide the looks on their faces when somebody with a ridiculous costume passed by them. "Ladies."

"Well here's our little pirate and farm girl! Where have you been?" Mindy teased, wrapping an arm around Anika's shoulder.

"Got caught up with Jason Carvey. He was asking about Sam." Tara shrugged, leaning against the back of the couch as Adrianne sat beside Anika.

"It was the weirdest thing, but I can't put much past a film major." Adrianne teased, bumping Mindy who only playfully rolled her eyes at her.

"Watch what you say about us film nerds, we can psychoanalyse you pretty well." She squinted, Anika hitting her in the shoulder.

"Oh leave my Dorothy alone." Anika scrunched her nose, pinching Mindy's cheek.

Tara playfully rolled her eyes at the interaction, "Have you guys seen Chad?"

Adrianne's smile grew, knowing about Tara's little crush all too well.

"Probably off trying to set Ethan up with some girl." Mindy snorted, "try the drink table?"

Tara bit her lip, winking at the girls before squeezing her way through the crowd of sweaty students.

Anika and Mindy relaxed into the couch even more, continuing their routine of costume judging. "Doesn't it bother you?" Anika started, taking note of the ghostface costume across the room.

Mindy squinted, tilting her head at the question.

"I mean, being at a house party after almost being brutally murdered at a house party?" Anika half joked.

Adrianne tensed at the question, sitting up a bit straighter.

"-No, I think of it like being struck by lightning. The odds of it happening twice to the same person are extremely low." Mindy smiled.

"Well now that I feel you've jinxed me, I'll be going elsewhere." Adrianne laughed, trying to cover up her anxieties.

Anika frowned, watching her friend walk away as Mindy pulled her legs onto her lap, continuing the conversation.

The vibrations of the music could be felt in her chest as Adrianne tried to find a room with less activity. She was shoved around multiple times by drunk frat boys in search of a new hookup or a fresh drink.

Finally, Adrianne found her way to a room that proved to be only a little bit quieter than the last.

She sat at an empty plastic table, picking at her finger nails and cursing Tara for making her tag along. The sound of a gaggle of girls laughing at some poor dope startled her out of her trance, only to realize she was the dope in question. A girl dressed as Harry Potter and her friends dressed as varying pop culture 'icons' snorted at the site of the lone freshman.

Embarrassingly scanning the room for any spectators, Adrianne made eye contact with Chad. The girls filed out of the room to find someone new to pick on and Adrianne rose to her feet.

"Hey red!" He laughed, bouncing on his feet to the music. "Killer party, huh?" Chad smacked Ethan in the chest, waiting for him to agree.

"Yeah, I guess. Just glad I found a familiar face." She chuckled, placing a hand on her chest to calm her worries.

As she looked away to survey the room once again, Chad's eyebrows rose. He motioned to Adrianne with his head, trying to get Ethan to greet her or form some kind of sentence. He couldn't understand the boy's hesitance after the conversation they had just had, hell, he had practically confessed his feelings for the ginger after sending googly eyes to her seat at the table.

"So," Adrianne started, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "What are you guys supposed to be?"

Chad snorted, "I'm a cowboy, duh!" Adrianne took in his costume, furrowing her eyebrows as she surveyed his dusty brown cowboy hat and denim jeans.

"And I'm a- uh, I'm a knight." Ethan spoke quietly, clearing his voice to be heard.

Adrianne's eyesight shifted to the boy beside her old friend. "I like it," a smile rose to both of their faces. "Homemade?"

"How'd you know?" He joked, averting eye contact as his face grew red.

Chad smirked, patting Ethan on the back, obviously smiling between the two. He opened his mouth to continue attempting to assume his wingman position when Anika appeared behind the trio.

"Hey, big guy, you're needed." She patted Chad on the back before quickly scurrying back to the heart of the house.

Adrianne, Ethan, and Chad followed the girl to a forming crowd. A boy was leading an obviously intoxicated Tara up the stairs, making playful conversation with her.

"Hey, partner." Chad started, attempting to lighten the situation. "Tara's good down here."

Adrianne hung back with Ethan, Anika, and Mindy. Nervously watching on as the situation started to escalate.

"Sorry, didn't catch that?" The man laughed.

"Uh, yeah, you did." Chad took a step closer, Tara got between the two.

"No, Chad. It's fine, I want to." She concluded, backing up into the boy once again.

"See, Chad." The boy mocked him, sending him a smirk in retaliation. "It's okay, she wants to. Come on." He grabbed Tara's forearm, harshly tugging her up the stairs as she fell to the ground.

"Hey asshole, let go of her!" Adrianne yelled, stepping up next to Chad as she watched the guy manhandle her friend.

Chad jumped into action, slightly pushing Adrianne out of the way and grabbing the man by his shirt collar. He tugged him down the stairs, cursing him on the way down.

Adrianne quickly scurried over to Tara, grabbing her arm gently and inspecting for injury. "Are you alright?"

Chad and the guy started pushing each other back and forth, quickly the altercation seemed to turn into a physical fight.

"Guys, okay guys. Just stop!" Tara tried, grabbing Adrianne's hand for support.

When all hell just seemed about to break loose, Sam of all people stepped in between the two boys. "Guys. Sorry to interrupt. I'm just going to tase you in the balls real quick."

And she did.

The man fell to his knees, clutching at his injury and sinking to the floor.

"Don't you ever lay hands on my sister again." Sam concluded, smiling at her work.

"Sam." She turned toward the group at the sound of Tara's voice. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're stalking me now?"

••

The group now walked on a dying sidewalk, giving Sam and Tara their space as they argued about the fight at the party. The flickering lights of overhead street lamps did little to ween off the fear Adrianne felt of the night sky.

Everybody tried to avert their eyes as they let the sisters 'talk' it out. Adrianne watched as Mindy and Anika whispered back in forth into each other's ears and Chad stood a bit closer to the feuding Carpenter's in hopes of defending both sides.

Ethan kind of hung back, awkwardly picking at his cardboard chestplate and cringing every time he accidentally ripped a piece off.

"Hey," Adrianne fell back to walk with him. While she had never seen herself making new friends after the Woodsboro encounter, Adrianne couldn't help but hope that Ethan could soon be considered a new friend like Anika.

"Hi." He started, shyly rubbing the back of his neck. Ethan thought about how he never really had a chance to get to know the girl, he had always admired her from afar, but being this close was new territory.

Adrianne opened her mouth to continue the conversation, only to be cut off by the all too familiar sound of laughing college girls.

One particular girl threw her drink on Sam, the liquid quickly stained her white shirt a shade of pink. "Murderer!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch!?" Sam launched herself at the girl, only to be held back by Chad. "You got a problem with me?"

Mindy got in front of Sam and started yelling curse words at the group of girls. Adrianne stood back with Anika, not sure what to do as clearly somebody would hold her back if she went after them.

"You guys should stay away from her. She knows what she did." The girl sneered, patting her friend on the back for recording the interaction.

"Just back off!" Adrianne yelled, watching the girls turn to her and cackle.

"And you're no better, Ms. Walker. Tell your brother we said hi! Oh, wait.." The group of immature girls mocked Adrianne, breaking away from the tight friend group, giggling to themselves in victory.

Adrianne's nostrils flared as she bit her tongue.

"I'm so sick of this shit!" Mindy cursed, pulling Anika and Chad forward. Tara quickly followed the trio, leaving a seething Adrianne, Sam, and Ethan.

"Hey, I have- I have tissues if you want tissues." He nervously spoke up. "I have like three tissues."

Sam ripped them from his hands and walked away, angrily blotting her ruined shirt.

"Are you okay?" Ethan hesitantly put a hand on Adrianne's shoulder, snapping her out of an angry stare.

"I'm fine." She spoke sharply, pulling her arm away and following the group. She couldn't help the anger that flowed through her body at the mention of Charlie. Anger at him, anger at the people speaking of him, anger at Jill, even anger at herself. So, she took a few steps forward before quickly stopping and turning towards the poor boy. "Sorry, I'm fine. Thank you."

She waited for him to start walking and kept a steady pace with him, enjoying the company of a newfound friend.

••

Once at home, Adrianne hurriedly stepped out of her uncomfortable ruby red shoes and locked her bedroom door. She stripped out of her dress and threw on a sleep shirt and loose shorts, quickly pulling on some socks to keep her feet warm.

Once her hair was out of the braids and tied back in a low bun, she made an appearance in the living room. Everybody made home on the couch, half-hazardly watching the television.

"Did I miss anything good?"

"Nope, just local news shit. Kitten rescued from tree, blah blah blah." Quinn sighed, laying her head back.

A breaking news alert flashed across the screen, piquing everybody's attention. Adrianne sat next to Anika and leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

The only word Adrianne could make out on the tv was "killings" before Chad raced to the door, calling Sam up from the lobby.

The news reporter described the events of finding Jason Carvey and Greg Bruckner's mutilated corpses. Sam reached the door in record time, dragging a man along behind her.

"Cute guy, nice." Quinn snickered, Mindy reached over to lightly smack her on the shoulder. Adrianne sat glued to the television, too afraid to breathe.

"Holy shit, that's the chode from our film studies class." Mindy commented aloud, eyes wide in shock. "The one obsessed with Argento."

Ethan's eyes flickered over to Adrianne, watching as her breathing picked up. "Hey, are you okay?" Everybody turned toward the red head when they heard him call across the room. She could feel the anxiety creep up her throat and draw the blood from her face.

"Pack a bag, both of you." Sam pointed to both Adrianne and Tara. "We leave in ten."

Adrianne could feel herself shaking, tears quickly sprung against her lashes as she tried her best to hold them back. Anika rubbed a comforting hand up and down her back, looking on in concern.

"I can't do this again." Adrianne whispered under her breath, mostly to herself. "Not after Wes, not after- no."

"Hey," Chad quickly made his way over to his friend. He crouched in front of the girl, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Look at me, nothing is happening to you. You hear me?"

She made eye contact with the boy, her breathing starting to settle as he calmed her. "Oh- okay, okay." She stuttered, rubbing her palms up and down her legs.

She could hear the distant sound of Tara and Sam arguing in the kitchen. "We are getting out of the city!"

"What?" The new guy inquired, tilting his head in confusion. Chad hesitantly stood from his kneeling position in front of Adrianne, letting Anika continue to comfort her.

"Alright suspicious new guy but we've got it from here." He patted the man on the chest, guiding him to the door. "Have a good night, get home safe." And the door was closed.

Tara's voice grew louder and the group could only assume Sam was picking out weapons to pack. "Woah, woah, woah. Come on! Let's talk about this for a second. Cause this might not have anything to do with us!" The sisters were back in the living area.

"Are you serious?" Sam's voice got louder.

"It's a big city! It's Halloween, everyone is wearing masks. You don't know!" Tara continued to argue her point.

"Tara, this isn't a coincidence. You knew him!"

"Barely."

"Chad, Mindy, back me up." Sam's eyesight turned to the twins, taking in the situation. They both anxiously watched on as Anika tried to calm Adrianne.

Chad, who was half listening, piped up. "It is a little bit-"

"-close to home." Mindy finished, taking her eyes off of her friend.

Quinn watched the feud, not particularly wanting to get involved. She cringed as Tara turned toward her.

"Quinn! Your dad is a cop, right? Can you call him and find out what's going on?" Tara begged, eyes flashing between her two roommates. She turned back to Sam, chiding her for her rash decisions.

"I'm- calling him now." Quinn gulped, slowly pulling her phone to her ear.

The sound of a phone ringing halted everybody's movements. Adrianne grew tense once again, her eyes whipped to Sam's phone which sat on the kitchen table.

"No, please don't answer it." She begged, standing up on shaky knees.

Sam approached the phone anyway, reading the caller ID and visibly relaxing. She didn't answer the phone.

"Why did everyone just freak out when her phone rang?" Ethan spoke up for the first time in minutes after watching the scene unfold.

"You gotta keep up, my dude." Anika sighed.

"Sam," Quinn got up from her spot on the couch and walked toward Sam. "My dad wants to talk to you." Sam was handed the phone, she was quick to greet the man.

The group could only hear half of the conversation, but Sam grew increasingly worried. She headed for the door after giving Quinn back her phone and Tara quickly ran after her.

The silence in the apartment was heavy, Adrianne watched as everybody turned to her, waiting for her to break. "I'm- uh, I'm going to bed. You guys are welcome to stay." She spoke softly before making a quick break for her bedroom.

She shut the door with a pent up sigh and fell onto her bed. This cannot be happening, not again, not to her. Not after last time.

5.29.23
not proofread 😭
hi guys! I love giving
my ocs trauma. :D
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter,
I always have trouble figuring out
how to start a book, but the others
should flow a bit easier :)