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𝙑𝙊𝙇𝙐𝙈𝙀 𝑰𝑰. ── CASUALTY OF YOUR DREAMS!

❛ 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍 ❜
─── chapter twelve! ❫

012. ╱ ✹ ⠀⠀ ❝ dug yourself a grave,
no surprise. . . should've known better,
so now, it's time that you die in it. ❞

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     "IBRAHIM, DON'T FUCKIN' TEST ME. I'LL HANG UP ON YOU RIGHT NOW." Kynlee Manral threatened as she walked across Blackmore University's campus. One hand was holding her phone to her ear while the other was rubbing her temple in order to ease the budding headache.

     The voice of Ibrahim Fadel reverberated on the other end of the call. "It's a simple yes or no, Lee-Lee. Do you or do you not—"

     "I swear to God if you don't put Pa on the goddamn phone—"

     "Girl, how does that jock boyfriend of yours put up with you?! So demanding and shit," Malik Cyrus could be heard next and Kynlee groaned.

     "Malik, I fuckin' hate you. Suck dirt and die. Put Pa on the phone now," she demanded, ignoring how Chad and Quinn were laughing. This was not funny.

     Meanwhile, Ethan remained deeply confused about what was happening.

     An hour ago, Kynlee had received a text from Pa saying to call him immediately and there was an emergency. However, she didn't see the text until a few minutes ago as she and the rest of her friends were on their way to meet with Mindy, Anika, Sam, and Tara on campus. (Mindy and Anika had snuck off to breakfast earlier without everyone whereas Sam and Tara were still at the police station until mid-morning. Hence they were meeting nearby on campus since half the group was already out.)

     Now, after the call went to voicemail three times, Pa finally answered, but it wasn't Pa. It was Ibrahim, who was taking great pleasure in harassing Kynlee over everything from her relationship to her designing his next tattoo for him with no mention of her dad whatsoever. Needless to say, she was agitated.

     Shuffling and shouting echoed through the phone for a couple of seconds before another response was given.

     "You're a fuckin' bitch, Lee-Lee. I hope you suck dirt and die!" Malik yelled, but his voice sounded distant.

     "Man, that's not funny. Ghostface is back, she could die for real." Ibrahim pointed out.

     Rolling her eyes into the back of her head, Kynlee groaned. "¡Ay, Dios mío! Would the two of you shut the fuck up already? Where's Pa?"

     "Right here, Conejito," Andi Manral answered, breathing out a hefty laugh. The dynamic Malik and Ibrahim had formed with his daughter never failed to make him smile and feel good. The four of them were their own little family.

     "You say "right here" like I haven't been arguing and puttin' up with Ibrahim's bullshit for," she pulled her phone away from her ear to check how long the call was so far, "six minutes and forty-six, nope forty-seven, seconds. ¿Qué sucede? What was your text about?"

     A beat of silence passed.

     "I saw the news last night. Martha sent me a link to a Reddit thread, too. It was about Sam and how people think she did the stupid ass killings from last year," Pa sighed, and a door slammed shut after he finished speaking.

     Kynlee's feet had a mind of their own and slowed down. The color drained from her face and she squeezed her eyes shut. Fuck. The only reason why Pa and Martha Meeks-Martin hadn't moved their entire lives to New York was that Sam promised them that the young adults would be safe with her. And it wasn't like Sam had broken that promise because she hadn't at all. Ghostface returning was not her fault in the slightest and she was doing her best to keep them safe, but if the twins' parents and Pa thought differently...

     Noticing that his girlfriend was no longer next to him and he couldn't hear the bickering anymore, Chad quickly turned around. The backpack he wore swayed at the sudden movement. Quinn and Ethan pivoted, too.

     Thankfully, the tattooed girl was only a few feet away and nothing bad had happened.

     "Nee?" Quinn called, offering the girl a small smile when she re-opened her eyes. "Are you coming?"

     Lowering her phone, Kynlee motioned for them to keep going. "Go ahead. I'll catch up."

     "You two can go," Chad told Quinn and Ethan, beginning to make his way to Kynlee. "I'm gonna stay with Kynz. We'll be there soon."

     Quinn nodded in understanding and shot the couple a bright smile before continuing on. "Come on, Ethan," she shouted, knowing good and well that the brown-haired boy had lingered behind. Out of everyone, he was the most attached to and spent the most time with Kynlee and Chad.

     Awkwardly shuffling behind the redhead, Ethan shot the pair one last look that neither caught.

     "Pa, you and Mar know that those rumors aren't true. You both know what happened," Kynlee said, rubbing her temple again as her boyfriend approached her.

     At the mention of his mom and the sight of the frown on her, Chad's ears perked. "Sweetheart, what's going on? Is everything okay?" He curled his fingers around the fabric of her tan skirt, not a fan of how stressed she was visibly becoming.

     "I do— we do. What concerns us is all of your safety— you, the twins, T, and S. S already reached out and told us about the Bodega attack, so we're caught up to speed."

     Kynlee's eyebrows furrowed and she didn't catch Chad's question. She was preoccupied with listening. "Sam did?"

     "About an hour ago. T was with her." Pa paused for a second, and she could hear him shakily inhale. "Chiquita..." His tone was firm and grave. "I need you to be careful. Myself, Malik, and Ibrahim aren't there right now to protect you. And last time we didn't do the best job of taking it seriously. Now, S is going to do the best she can, but I need you to hear me when I ask you to be careful and stay safe. Don't trust anyone. Don't trust your new friends. Stay close to our family, all right? Stay close to Chad."

     This was the first time she'd ever heard her dad regard her best friends as family and him admit guilt over how involved he was the last time this happened. It was also the first time they'd talked about Ghostface since she left for the summer semester at Blackmore in May.

     "Pa..." she trailed off, feeling her breath hitch.

     Chad swallowed harshly, for he'd overheard everything Andi just said with how close he was standing to Kynlee. It hit home, every word.

     "Kynlee Elyse... Conejito, my bunny, I need you to promise me you'll be careful. I can't lose you."

     For as long as she could remember, Pa had called her bunny, Conejito. It never failed to comfort her. A feeble smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

     "Sí, te prometo," Kynlee vowed, briefly meeting Chad's concerned gaze when he tucked her hair behind her ears. "You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere."

     "Bueno, bueno. I've got a client walking in right now, but I'm going to be checking in via text. All right?"

     Nodding, she let out a breath she'd been subconsciously holding. "All right."

     "Te amo tanto."

     "Te quiero también, Pa."

     Once the call ended, Kynlee immediately leaned against Chad's chest and wrapped her arms around his abdomen. His backpack brushed against her skin. Chad brought her closer and kissed the top of her head five times. Neither spoke for a minute. It was obvious that the conversation with her dad was already weighing on her heart.

     "I'll keep you safe," Chad whispered, hoping his words brought her a sense of reassurance. And they did. He ran a hand up and down her back, drawing random shapes. "We'll keep each other safe. Te prometo."

     Kynlee giggled softly at him speaking Spanish. His accent and pronunciation needed work, even after twenty years of friendship, but the effort was there and she would always love him for it. If she taught Wes and he wasn't terrible, she could eventually teach Chad. He understood half of what she said, so he was halfway there.

    "Te amo," she murmured, pulling back and cupping his face. Her heart fluttered at the endearing expression he wore. "Do you want to go on a date after this Rules and Suspects meeting is over? Think, talk about, and do something unrelated to killings and Ghostface?"

     Chad broke into an ecstatic grin and nodded eagerly. "Hell yeah," he replied, gently grabbing her by the chin and drawing her into a kiss. Immediately, she rested her hands on his chest. He moved his lips against hers deliberately slow, relishing the feeling and taste.

     To her dismay, Chad pulled away much too soon and Kynlee kissed him one more time. "Let's go meet with everyone else," she said, slipping her hand into his and intertwining their fingers.

     With a lovestruck glint in his eyes, Chad allowed her to drag him across campus to where the rest of their friends were in the middle of one of the plazas. Once Kynlee spotted her favorite band of misfits, she and Chad's pace slowed down.

     There were two benches perpendicular to each other. On the first sat Quinn, Anika, and Sam. On the second sat Tara and Ethan. There was a gap to Tara's right where she was saving space for Kynlee and Chad. Then, Mindy stood in front of everyone and was preparing herself for another horror movie monologue.

     "That reminds me," Chad cleared his throat, smiling cheekily when Kynlee glanced at him. They were getting closer to the group. "I can give you that matching hickey later."

     Kynlee smirked, shaking her head. "I look forward to that, nerd."

     "Me too, gamer."

     "Ah!" Mindy sighed in relief at the sight of the couple. "Finally, the mighty and the horny have graced us with their presence." Instantly, she received middle fingers from both of them. "Yeah, yeah, fuck you too. Now, sit down."

     Tara waved Kynlee over with a smile and patted the empty spot next to her. "K!"

     "T!" Kynlee breathed, letting go of Chad's hand and pulling her into a hug after she sat down. "I'm so glad you and Sam are okay. Love you, Sammy!" she called to the eldest Carpenter while she hugged Tara.

    Sam chuckled. "Love you too, Kyn."

     Next to Kynlee, Chad had taken off his backpack and was pulling out a notebook and pencil. He'd come prepared for today's lecture. Last year, none of them took the killings and threats they were under seriously enough and, in the process, lost those they loved. This time, he was paying attention and getting it right. He had to. He had to protect his family.

     Clapping her hands loudly, Mindy tried to grab everyone's attention. "Okay, nerds, listen up!" she shouted, swinging her hands back down to her sides. Finally, the chatter died down. Kynlee and Tara separated. "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time." She straightened out her shirt and cleared her throat, still ashamed.

     "Yep," Chad muttered, scribbling the date at the top of the page. At the beginning of his sister's speech, he'd opened his notebook to a blank page.

     It took quite a bit of effort on Kynlee's end for her not to laugh. It wasn't funny, it wasn't.

     Mindy cast him a harsh glare and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. It's fine," she inhaled deeply. "Okay. The way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requel."

     "Um, what's a requel?" Anika asked, raising her hand.

     At the sound of her girlfriend's voice, Mindy smiled. "You're beautiful, sweetie," she told her adoringly. "Let's hold questions to the end."

     Anika simply returned the smile, sending her a double thumbs-up. It was her silent way of telling her that she was doing great so far. Even if they'd just started their impromptu meeting.

     "Stab 1 took place in Woodsboro. Stab 2 took place in college." Sam voiced.

     Tara frowned slightly and turned her gaze to Mindy. "So do we think the killer is trying to copy the movies?"

     "That is one possibility. Heroes now in college: Check." Mindy motioned to the survivors. "Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list and/or body count: Check,"— she pointed at Quinn— "check,"— Anika— "check"— and lastly, Ethan.

     "I don't like this," Ethan mumbled, shifting uncomfortably on the bench. He examined the ground in an attempt to distract himself from the conversation.

     "But it can't just be about Stab 2," Mindy told everybody.

     In unplanned unison, Kynlee and Tara asked, "Why not?" They shared small smirks and fist-bumped at their synchronicity. Sometimes they shared two sides of the same brain.

     "It would make sense if this were just a sequel, but we're not in a sequel because nobody just makes sequels anymore."

     Kynlee groaned when it dawned on her. She was nearly one hundred percent certain she knew where this was going. "Don't fucking say it—"

     "We're in a franchise!" Mindy announced excitedly, throwing her hands in the air for dramatic effect.

     "Goddammit," the tattooed girl hissed, briefly shutting her eyes.

     Mindy continued, "And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise."

     Sam sighed. "I had a feeling," she muttered, staring down at her lap.

     "Rule one: Everything is bigger than last time!" Mindy stressed, talking with her hands. "Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count. Longer chases, shoot-outs, beheadings. You gotta top what came before it to keep people coming back."

     Chad raised his pencil at her. "Beheadings?" He wanted to make sure he heard her correctly.

     Glancing between the twins, Kynlee brushed her hair over her shoulders.

     "Beheadings," Mindy smirked at her brother. "Rule two: Whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whinny 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 only 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!"

     "Oh," Chad didn't look up from his notebook as he spoke sarcastically, "this is the part where she tells us the worst part."

     A smile tugged at the corners of Kynlee's lips and she leaned over, kissing the top of his head. "Such a comedian," she murmured, catching the grin that appeared when he heard her.

     "The worst part is franchises are just continuing episodic installments designed to boost an IP. Which means main characters are completely expendable now, too." Mindy informed them all. "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 and Tara."

     A tense stillness settled while Sam and Tara shared regretful looks. Great. This was great.

     Scoffing, Kynlee was the first to break the stringent silence. "I'll be damned if Sam or T die before I do," she stated firmly, folding her arms across her chest.

     "Kynlee!" Sam and Tara gasped.

     Chad's jaw dropped and his head shot up. "Kynz!"

     "What?!" Kynlee exclaimed, not appreciating the way her friends and boyfriend were staring at her. Everyone knew that her biggest strength and weakness were her loyalty and love for her friends. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for them. That included sacrificing her life to save theirs. "You heard me."

     Ethan was the next to speak. "Wait, wait. Any of us?"

     "Yeah," Mindy replied, looking away from the tattooed girl.

     "Does... am, am I in the friend group?" he stammered, pointing at himself as if he couldn't believe it.

     Mindy blinked and stared at him like he was stupid. "Yeah."

     Sam tilted her head, beyond confused as to where these questions were coming from. The Landry boy had been hanging out with them since the beginning of the fall semester. Was it not obvious that they were all friends?

     "E... Come on, now." Kynlee moaned quietly, rubbing her temples.

     Beside her, Tara grumbled, "Jesus Christ."

     This was pitiful.

     "Am I, like, one of the targets?" Ethan stuttered, flushing pink.

     Mindy dragged a hand down her face, nodding. "Mm-hmm." She had no idea how her brother put up with this shit.

     "Am I gonna die a virgin?"

     Everybody paused and stared at Ethan, a little taken aback.

     Hand falling to her side, Mindy's eyebrows pinched together. "That was..." she paused and grimaced, "a weird overshare, but it brings us to our current suspects." She took a step forward and waved a hand up and down, motioning at him. "Ethan! The shy, dorky guy who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky."

     Ethan immediately took offense to the accusation. "Okay, what, why I am on the suspect list? Because I'm randomly Chad's roommate?" He and Chad briefly locked eyes.

     "Roommate lotteries can be juked. You could have fixed it to get next to us," Mindy argued, ignoring how he opened his mouth to respond. "Quinn! The slutty roommate! A horror movie," she smacked her lips together, imitating a chef's kiss, "classic."

     "Sex positive," Quinn corrected, squinting when the sun came out from behind the clouds. Anika and Sam shielded their faces next to her. "But... thank you?"

     "Mm-hmm." Mindy hummed and re-positioned herself in front of her girlfriend so she could see. Anika shot her a grateful smile. "Um, how did you come to live with Sam and Tara?"

     "I answered their ad online."

     "Okay, say no more," she raised a palm in the air, indicating for the redhead to stop talking. "You've already implicated yourself enough."

     Tara's jaw slackened and she jumped to Quinn's defense. "It was an anonymous ad, Mindy. And you know we vetted her. Plus, her dad is a cop—"

     "And that makes it more likely that she's the killer because having a cop dad is a great cover. Do you not remember how these movies work, Tara?!" Mindy yelled, lifting her arms in the air.

     Deadpanning, Tara swept her gaze to an equally annoyed Kynlee.

     Quinn leaned around Anika and caught Sam's eye. "Is she always like this?" she retorted, tipping her head toward the curly-haired twin.

     Shrugging, Sam nodded. This was just Mindy being Mindy, like always. It was nothing new to the five friends, but a little jarring to the new additions of their group.

     "And finally... Anika." Mindy sighed happily, smiling at her girlfriend. Anika beamed up at her and blew a kiss, to which Mindy returned. Then, her countenance turned solemn. "Never trust the love interest." At those words, Anika's face slowly fell.

     "Okay!" Sam cleared her throat, having noticed Anika's deflating mood. "So, we have our rules and we have our suspects."

     "But wait, wait," Ethan sat up and pointed a finger at each of the survivors. "What about you guys?"

     The question made Kynlee raise an eyebrow. In unplanned unison, again, she and Tara asked, "¿Qué?"

     Mindy bounced her eyes from the girls to the brown-haired boy. "I mean," she crossed her arms defensively and furrowed her eyebrows, "I think it's pretty safe to rule out the five of us who went through this last year in Woodsboro."

     Leaning the end of his pencil toward his sister, Chad smiled. "Agreed."

     "Um, not agreed," Quinn objected, adjusting her posture so everyone could see her. "What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?"

     An incredulous expression took over Sam's facial features and she blinked at Quinn.

     "Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more?" Ethan remarked, feeding off what the redhead was getting at. "I mean, let's be honest here, some of the theories online about Sam are—"

     "Don't you fucking dare."

     Ethan's eyes tripled in size when he was immediately chastised by Kynlee and Tara. They wore identical glares. If looks could kill, he'd be dead on the spot. 

     Sighing, Anika interrupted the brewing altercation that would take place between the three if somebody didn't do or say something. "Okay, she's right, though," she jutted her head in Quinn's direction. "I mean, face facts— if we're all suspects, you're all suspects."

     Mindy glanced from Anika to Kynlee, noticing that she was already looking at her. They shared similar weary and indignant expressions. Neither liked the shift in tone that just took place.

     Meanwhile, Sam and Tara shared a look while Chad was jotting something down.

     "All right, well," Kynlee puffed out her cheeks, slapping the palms of her hands on her thighs. "If we're in a franchise, I've got one thing to say: Fuck this franchise." The entire group turned their focus to her. Chad peered up from the notebook and raised an eyebrow. "Playing games with a cowardly masked killer is beyond ridiculous and to whoever the killer is, if they're in this friend group, which they likely are, watch your back. The last two people to fuck with us are dead, and it won't be a surprise if you end up dead too."

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❝ you know i'm 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 at 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔,
you know that you're my 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. . .

and i'll 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 repeat 𝒊𝒕! ❞

╭⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀╮

¡Ay, Dios mío! ━━ Oh, my God
Conejito ━━ Bunny
¿Qué sucede? ━━ What's happening?
Sí, te prometo ━━ Yes, I promise
Bueno ━━ Good
Te amo tanto ━━ I love you so much
Te quiero también ━━ I love you too
Te amo ━━ I love you
¿Qué? ━━ What?

╰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀╯

     a cute fluff chapter is next and then we're onto misery, death, and more ghostface!!

     and yes, pa + malik + ibrahim will be making a few more appearances in this book before it ends! they aren't going anywhere, i promise.

     this chapter is a lil shorter and so is the next one, but longer ones will be coming up!

     ps... this is how i picture kynlee dressed in this chapter. thought i'd share because lizeth is so fucking stunning, it's not fair.

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˒⠀𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹. . . ▬⠀⤸

Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to comment on this story. It means a lot and helps the story be spread to a broader audience &&& allows me to grow as an author. All I ask is that people vote on each chapter, please. As a creator, it takes time to write and develop stories. So please, vote on every chapter. It means a lot more than I could ever express.

Don't forget to vote & comment!

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˒⠀𝑪𝑶𝑷𝒀𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻. . . ▬⠀⤸

❝ All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be
reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other
electronic or mechanical methods,
without prior permission of the author,
except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and
other noncommercial uses permitted
by copyright law. ❞

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