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Act Two: The Shrine

Tate only lived a few blocks away from Sam and Tara's apartment, Sam unlocked the door and they both walked into the apartment. "We're back!" Sam says as she took off her jacket, along with Tate.

Tara comes from the kitchen, and embracing Tate into a hug. "I'm so sorry Tate, I shouldn't of done what I did with your mom." the younger Carpenter sister pulled away from Tate and he just smiles at her. "It's okay T."

Chad and Mindy came over to them and Chad and Tate done their hand shakes were Tate and Mindy hugged each other, then Tate hugged Anika who was standing opposite to her girlfriend. "So, I kinda done something."

"I asked Sam to marry me." Tate says as he looked at his friends with a smile and then at his now fiancée.

"Finally you did it!" Tara says with a smile as she hugged her sister and Tate, with Mindy and Chad following suit.

"You guys knew?!" Sam asked with a smile, the three all nodded their heads.

Anika walks over to them and smiling at them and hugging them both. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Sam and Tate both say.

"Yeah, congrats." Quinn stood behind as she hugged Tate longer than expected. "What a shame." She whispered in his ear before she pulled away from him, then she hugs Sam, Tate gave her an uncomfortably smile, then looking over at Sam. Quinn then walks back into her room.

"Why is she still here?" Tate quietly asks her.

Sam drapes her arms around his neck. "I don't know but I could move into your place." she smiled up at Tate and he rubs her cheeks with his thumbs. "Let's do it." He smiled and leaned in and their lips would be in sync.

"Were still here." Mindy jokingly says as she was setting up the dinner table.

"Sorry." Tate and Sam both pull away, and Sam goes into her room to grab some spare blankets and pillows for Anika, Chad and Mindy to stay over.

Tate was in the kitchen with the Meeks-Martin twins and Tara. Every now and again Chad and Tara would glance up at each other giving each other a smile. Tara fully turns to Chad. "I think you should get out the city. You know, considering what happened to you last time. I--I wouldn't blame you if...you wanted to go."

Chad looked over at her as he gave her a small smile. "That's very thoughtful of you, but, um. I don't think I'm going anywhere." Mindy started to gag from beside the dinner table, and Tate chuckled at her reaction. "Will you two just make out already?"

"That is so inappropriate, dude. Tate tell her." Chad looks over at his sister and his best friend, he just shrugged with a chuckle.

"Oh, whatever. Get it over with!" Mindy walked away from the dinner table, and Tate walked into Sam's room to help her with the blanket and the pillows.

"You need any help?" he asked his now fiancée, with a smile.

"I've got it. Thank you though." Sam smiled back at him, as she leans forward to peck his lips, before they both walked out of the the room and heading back towards the kitchen. Sam puts down the blanket and the pillow opposite to the couch. "Here you go."

"Sam?" Mindy says from the kitchen with Tate, Chad and Tara.

"Yep?" Sam walk into the kitchen and walks behind Tate and wrapping her arms around his torso and putting her head on his shoulder as she looked over at Mindy.

"We do not have to stay here." Mindy says as she looked over at her.

"Well, too bad. I insist. Safety in numbers."

"This'll be so fun. A little slumber with the Core Five!" Chad said with a smile as he looked at his best friends and his sister.

"'Core Five?'" Sam and Tate say simultaneously.

"Yeah." Chad looks at Sam and Tate with a smile.

"Did you give us a nickname?" Tara asked him. 

"I sure did. We've been through a lot together, and it's a pretty cool nickname." Chad said with a smile. 

"That's debatable." Sam says as she held Tate's forearm. 

"It's extremely debatable." Tara said in agreement with her sister. 

"You can't give yourself a nickname, dingus." Mindy smirked at her brother. 

"Of course I can, dingus, because i just did." Chad raises his hand above his head. "Core Five, up top!" 

"No."

"Down low." Chad puts his hand in front of Tara. "Get that away from me." 

He then turns towards Tate and Sam. "Please, for the love of God." 

"Don't do it." Mindy chuckles as she looks at them both. 

Tate shook his head with a smile, then high fiving Chad. 

"See, Tate gets it." Chad put his around around his best friend with a smile as he looked at the girls who were laughing. "I would like a little more respect and support, from my fellow members of Core Five." 

"Guys. What the hell?" Anika says from living room, as she grabbed the remote to higher the volume, the group walked in the room Anika was in. 

"We're hearing from sources inside the homicide division that the prime suspect is none other than Samantha Carpenter, one of the survivors of the Woodsboro killings in 2022, seen here attacking a woman on the street last night." 

Their was a video of the group where Tate was holding Sam back after what happened early tonight. 

"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--" Sam walked over to the coffee table, and picking up the tv remote and turning it off. She walked past Tate who was stood next to Tara and Chad. 

She went over the made up dinner table and sat down where Tate followed behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them to comfort her and planting a kiss on her head. 

Tara walked over to her sister and future brother in law and sat opposite to Sam. "I know you're not a fan of the way I've been handling things, and that I've been giving you a really hard time. But I can say that none of us can relate to what you are experiencing." Tara says as she looked at her sister, Sam turns her head to look at her as tears filled her eyes. "And I'm really, really sorry that you have to do that alone." Tate was still stood behind Sam and gave Tara a small smile, he moves his hands up and down Sam's arm. 

"It's not your fault. And I know I shouldn't care what people think." Sam has a tear run down her cheek, and Tate sees this and rubs it away with his thumb as he sat opposite to her on the next chair. "It just sucks being this hated." 

"Sam, just a reminder, not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all been through some fucked-up stuff, and we are all coping with it differently. But, I mean we all moved here together for one very specific reason. We are a team." Tate says as he was beside her and placed his hand ontop of hers and Sam looks at Tate with a sad smile, he uses his free hand to wipe away another tear drop running down her face again. 

"Tate's right. We are, the Core Fucking Five." Mindy spoke up with a smile. 

"Thank you very much." Chad turned to his sister with a smile. "Ah, I hate myself." 

"You said it." 

"That's what I'm talking about. It's the Core Five." Chad continued with a smile on his face. 

"Say it." 

"I'm not gonna say it." 

"I mean, yes we're a team." 

"Okay, guys can we talk about Sam and Tate's wedding, are we gonna be bridesmaid and best man?" Mindy smiles over at Tate and Sam who were smiling who nodded their heads. "Yes!" they all shouted with a smile on their faces, with Tate and Sam laughing at their antics. 

After a few minutes of talking about Tate and Sam's wedding plans, they hear loud moaning from the other room. "Quinn and her gentleman caller are back at it again." 

"She's getting it, too? Okay." 

All their phones chimed and beeped as they looked down to see an unknown person, they all unlocked their phones to see what the message was. It was Quinn and Ghostface, he was covering her mouth on the picture. "Help! Stop!" They all ran towards the screaming and stood there, Tara went towards the door but was stopped by Chad. 

Their was a long silence before the door was busted open with Quinn's corpse being pushed towards Tate and he gently puts her down on the floor and then looking up to see Ghostface.

The group separated as Tate told Chad to take Tara and Sam out of the apartment and get them to safety, Chad nods at his best friend and went to grab Sam's hand and she moves her and tells her fiance that she's staying. Chad nodded at Tate who tells him to leaves, Ghostface sliced Mindy's arm and she was on the floor holding her wound and Anika grabbed his legs trying to stop him from doing anymore damage, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up and backed her against the wall, then stabbing her in the gut and twisting the knife to make it more worst. 

By this point Tate was distracting Ghostface while Sam got Anika and Mindy into Quinn's room, and Tate followed behind him after thinking he knocked out Ghostface, Tate got the cabinet and putting it against the door, and having his back towards it, Sam got the attention of her neighbours and put across a ledder from them all to get across, Sam was across into her neighbours apartment then Mindy and waited for Anika and Tate lastly, Anika was half way to the window until Ghostface pushed Tate into the ladder which makes her falling off it. Tate looked down at Anika's lifeless body and couldn't believe what was happened, unknown to him Ghostface was going to attack him but the sirens scared him off. 



~~

The group was outside the apartment building. The events of last night still very fresh in their heads. Tate had been sat on the curb all night, no one tried to make conversation with him. Sam was staring at the crime scene in front of her, watching as they began to move Anika's body.

Mindy got up from her position in the ambulance and made her way over to Tate. She groaned as she sat next to him, alerting him of her presence. He gave her a quick glance, before once again staring at the ground.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "No one blames you, Tate." She told him. He looked to the side and stared at her, then once again, looked back at the road.

Mindy looked up at Sam. "Sam?" She turned at the sound of her name. Mindy nodded towards Tate. Sam got the message and sat down beside him. He looked at her. This time the tears started to fall. Sam's heart broke at the sound of his sobs, and brought his head towards her chest and held him close.

"I killed her. I killed her." He repeated.

She rubbed his back. "This wasn't your fault. Ok? No one's blaming you." She tried to reassure him.

"Someone is." He lifted his head up and looked at her. "Me."

Chad's attention was grabbed when he heard the police tape being moved. He looked to his right and saw Ethan coming towards them. "Chad?"

"Aw, no." Chad let out as he stormed over to his roommate. He grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him into the police car. "Hey!"

"Where were you?!" Chad asked him.

"Wh-what?" Ethan said.

"Last night!" Chad told him.

"I had econ, you know this." Ethan tried to tell him.

"Bullshit, man! You disappear my sister almost gets killed!" Chad spat at him.

"Dude, I was in a study hall, with a hundred other people you can ask any of them." That slightly convinced Chad, who let him go.

"Fuck, man."

Ethan looked around the corner and saw the body bag. "Oh my god. Who?" Ethan asked.

"Anika, Quinn." Chad told him. He looked down at the shell that was Tate.

"What happened to him?" Chad's head turned to where Ethan gestured.

"He got pushed into the ladder. That knocked Anika off." Chad told him. Ethan looked back over, and started to walk towards the three.

"I guess you must feel.. pretty bad." Sam and Mindy looked at him weirdly after that. Tate slowly raised his head and glared at Ethan.

He jumped up and lunges at the boy, forcing him back against the car. "Where the fuck were you!" He shouted through gritted teeth.

"Chad? Help?" Ethan said.

"No, I don't think Tate needs any help."

Sam walked over to Tate, and gently grabbed his arm. "Tate." He looked over at her, before putting his attention back to Ethan. He leaned into his ear.

"If I find out it's you? There won't be a place on Earth safe enough where you can hide from me." He threatened him, scaring, to put it frankly, the shit out of Ethan.

He pulled him back and threw him back against the car, before walking back to the curb. He was stopped before he sat down by the sound of the door to the building opening. The group saw Bailey coming out.

Tate didn't have the energy to comfort someone else right now, and left that job to Sam and Tara, who had now walked over.

He blocked out everything that was said around him, but one thing he couldn't. "Hey! You okay? I came as soon as I heard." Gale said from beside him. He stood up and looked at his mom.

"Gale, I swear to god!" Sam warned her.

"No, truce, ok? I'm here for whatever you need." Gale told them.

"Ok, nice try." Sam quipped.

"Sam." Tate warned her.

"Really I am. Ok, look, off the record, ok?" Gale said.

Sam looked at her. "Ok, fine, thank you." Sam responded. Tate didn't see this as enough.

"And?" He said to Sam.

She looked back at him, knowing what he meant. "And sorry. For bringing up Dewey like that." She apologized. Gale nodded.

"Tara?" Tate asked. She glanced at him before looking back at Gale. "I'm sorry I punched you."

Gale smirked at her. "No you're not."

"I'm not." Tara returned the smirk, as Tate let out a breath and rolled his eyes. Gale looked at Bailey.

"You're the cop, right?" He nodded. "I did some digging on your first two victims and I found something. I know where the masks are coming from."

Bailey stepped forward. "Show me."

"Hey ladies." They looked to see Kirby walking over.

"Kirby?" Gale asked, surprised.

"Gale."

"She's with the FBI." Sam informed her.

"She's a child. When did they start letting children into the FBI?" Gale asked.

"I'm thirty."

"Well you look like a zygote." Gale quipped.

"I have gun, Gale." Kirby fired back. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, you're gonna wanna see this too."

~~

Gale had led them into an alley decorated with Ghostface graffiti. "Jason and Greg were little Atlanta rich boys, used fake names to rent this place." Gale explained as she led them to a warehouse.

"How'd you find it?" Kirby asked her.

"It's called investigative journalism for a reason... how didn't you find it?" Gale questioned her. Tate leaned in and whispered to his mom.

"You want another assignment?" She turned to him as they walked. Tate nodded slyly in Bailey's direction, and gave his mom a look to tell her this was serious.

She nodded and they continued to the door, Gale opening it with a keycard. She did the same to the gate inside and revealed a sprawling movie theatre to them, which Tara pointed out. "It's not just a theatre... it's a shrine."

The lights turned on, and revealed rows and rows of evidence from the various Ghostface attacks of the last few decades were present. Even the robes of the killers were stood on mannequin on stage. Mindy pointed out her and Chad's uncle old shirt to her brother, while Kirby noticed the knife she was stabbed with.

Tate came to a stop at one particular glass case. Inside was pictures of his late father, along with his old badges and gun. "Dad." Sam and Gale heard what he said and made their way over to him. Sam wrapped an arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Dewey." Gale let out, also emotional at what she was seeing.

"Hey, why am I here, again? My alibi checks out." Ethan asked the group.

"It's so we know where you are, dickhead." Tate spat at him.

"The killers must have found this place before they killed Jason and Greg. Then they took the masks. All nine, from Stu and Billy to Amber and Richie." Gale revealed to them.

Sam walked up on stage to where her fathers robe was. She stared at it for a minute before placing her hand against the glass. Tate and Tara, who had come up behind her, shared a concerned look. "What're you doing?" Tara asked her.

Sam slightly jumped, falling out of her trance. "I don't know." Tate walked up to her and hugged her. "You're not him." He whispered into her ear. They stared at each other.

"So somebody killed these chucklefucks then.. took over?" Chad suggested.

"Someone who believes Sam masterminded Woodsboro." Gale told them. Mindy and Kirby agreed that whoever was doing this wasn't doing it the normal way. Tara let out a shaky breath and stormed off the stage.

Sam followed after Tara, who was then followed by Tate, Gale and Kirby. "Just drop it, Sam."

They heard as they entered the room. Sam called after her. "I got her." Kirby said.

Tate stopped her. "I'll do it." She looked back at him, and nodded.

"Tate?" Sam asked.

"It'll be fine. Plus you can talk to your future mother in-law."

Gale's eyes widened. "What?!"

Tate took off running up the stairs. "Tate get back here!"

He reached the top of the stairs and saw Tara, sitting alone. "If it makes you feel any better, I've just set my mom on Sam about the engagement." He heard Tara let out a chuckle at that.

He sat down beside her and just let silence overtake them. "Are you over it yet?" She asked him.

He looked away from her. "You know I thought I was. For a long time I thought I was. Then, I'm not sure if Sam told you, but I heard those two guys say they were gonna hurt you. And all that trauma and worry came rushing back." He looked back at her.

"I don't think any of us are ever gonna fully be okay. I know that's not what you wanna hear, but it's the harsh truth. But we have each other to lean on. I know you've been acting like it hasn't affected you, but I can tell it really does." He took a breath.

"I don't want you to hide from us anymore, T. You don't have to act like you're okay. And even if you don't wanna talk to Sam then you can talk to me. And if not me then someone. 'Cause hiding it only prolongs the problem, it doesn't solve it." She nodded, and looked down.

He brought her into a side hug. "I love you, T. So does Sam. It may not always look like that to you, but we do. And we're sorry that you're here because of us, but we'll get through this." He felt her nod into his chest.

"I'm glad Sam has you. And me by extension." He chuckled at her.

"So am I. And don't worry, Chad'll wake up soon." She shot up at this.

"What?" He laughed at her reaction as she rolled her eyes. The door opened.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we know how to turn the tables on this creep." Bailey revealed.

"Yeah, we're in." Gale agreed. Kirby shook her head.

"Sorry, Gale. No press allowed. Police business."

Gale rolled her eyes. "Look I'll take you back." Tate told her. "I need to get something from my place anyway." Gale nodded, and they set off.

Gale and Tate left the theatre, but were promptly stopped. "Tate!" He turned back to Sam rushing towards him. She enveloped him in a tight hug, worried about separating. They pulled back and gazed into each others eyes. "Be careful." She told him. "I mean it."

"Always." He said, smiling. She leaned in and kissed him, passionately, albeit quickly. "I love you.. Riley." She told him.

He chuckled. "I love you too.. future Riley." They both laughed at that as Tate walked away.

"I'm gonna get you back for leaving me there!" Sam warned him.

"I welcome that challenge!" Tate called back. He was swiftly met by a punch on the arm. "Ow!" He looked to his mom. "Why?!"

"For not telling me! You guys got engaged! I should've been the first to know!" She told him. He looked down and mumbled a sorry. Gale wrapped him in a tight hug. "Dewey would be proud." Tate nodded into her shoulder, and they set off for their apartment building on the upper west side.

Sam saw the interaction and smiled. "I don't buy it." She turned to see Bailey. "What?" She asked. "Tate. I didn't want to say anything earlier. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Amber and Richie nearly killed him because of your father. Motive to hurt you. And he was so adamant about staking out two kids, who ended up dead, because of Richie. The death of his father, and the trauma.. it might have got to him." He suggested.

Sam just glared at him, not buying a word. "I don't care what you believe, but that isn't Tate. He wouldn't hurt anyone unless he had to. To protect us. I trust him with my life. And I'm sure Tara feels the same. So I don't wanna hear your bullshit accusations." She spat at him before returning to Tara and her friends.

Sam and Tara were now walking through Central Park, waiting for the call. Bailey was also standing there, surveying their surroundings. "You should've stayed with the others." Sam told her sister. "That's not gonna happen."

"There's no point in both of us putting ourselves at risk." Sam argued. "I'm not. I'm your backup." Tara smirked at her.

The two continued to walk around the small pond, until Sam's phone rang. She pulled it out to see Richie calling her, once again. She picked up. "You're gonna die, you know?" She told him.

"No you're gonna die, Samantha. Choking on your own blood, while I hack up your sister and fiancé." They said in reply. "Unless we find you first." Sam fired back.

"You know, for a mastermind? You're not very bright. Waiting for me to call, desperately hoping that I'm nearby. Well I'm not nearby. I'm a step ahead. Be seeing you.. Samantha."

Ghostface hung up the phone as Bailey walked towards the sisters. "Did you get it?" Sam asked Kirby in the van. "Yep, geolocation coming through right now."

"He's on the upper east side. He's in an apartment building on the Upper West Side." Kirby revealed to them. Sam's breath hitched. "On West 96th?" Tara asked her. "How did you know that?"

Sam and Tara shared a look of complete worry. "Tate and Gale."

A few hours after finding the shrine, Tate was once again looking through his evidence. Gale promised to call if she'd found anything, but so far nothing.

He tried to connect the dots somewhere but couldn't figure it out. He was snapped out of his thoughts by his phone. He grabbed it and saw his mom's contact, not noticing the low battery. "Mom?"

"Tate! Oh my god! This is so fucking big! I found something that implicates him!" She told him.

"What?!" He asked.

"He was married! He had three kids with the woman!"

Tate was confused. "What? No. He only had two kids." He told her.

"I couldn't find anything on the third kid but I found out the woman's maiden name was-" His phone died.

"Mom? Mom?!" No answer. "Fuck this."

He ran to the elevator outside his apartment, to see an out of order sign on it. "Oh my god!" He screamed before hightailing it up the stairs. He was 8 floors below his mom so it was quite the journey.

Sam was frantically calling Tate. After the fifth try she slammed her phone into the seat in frustration. "He's not answering!" She told Tara.

"Neither is Gale." She replied, driving and dialling.

Sam started breathing very heavily, fearing the worst.

Tara noticed this. "It's gonna be ok."

"You don't know that!" Sam snapped at her.

"No. But they're strong. And if they're together they'll be ok." Tara reassured her. Sam's worries didn't ease, but she had calmed down a bit.

Tate finally reached his mother's penthouse, using the key she had given him, and swung the door open. His mom was walking around holding a gun. "Mom?"

She snapped her head to the side and put a finger to her lips. "Can you hold please?" She said into the phone.

Tate was confused at what was happening, as Gale redialed the number. They heard a ringing from the closet and Gale shot the door two times, hearing a groan coming from within.

Tate went towards the door along with Gale. They took a few steps before they swung open, and Ghostface plunged their knife into Gale's shoulder. They forced her back against the puller and stabbed her again in the leg, forcing another scream out of her.

Tate ran at the attacker and shoved him off his mom. His fist connected in a punch on their face once they had both stood up. "Come on, fuckhead!" He taunted them. Ghostface lunged and grabbed his shoulders, throwing him around into the pillar Gale was leant against head first, making him fall to the ground, unconscious.

Gale saw this and grew worried, but that was quickly replaced with fear, as Ghostface began to charge at her. They tripped over Tate's unconscious body and tried to stab Gale's legs over and over. She grabbed a vase from the table beside the couch and smashed it into their face.

She walked around the sofa, clutching her wounds as the assailant jumped over it. She threw a book at him and disoriented him before walking back to the pillar.

They moved from side to side as Ghostface tried and failed to stab her. They circled the pillar and Ghostface lunged at her. She grabbed their arm and threw them over her shoulder and into her glass table, smashing it.

They both lay on the ground, tired. Gale got on her knees and shuffled over to the, what she thought was an unconscious body. She took the knife from their grasp and raised it to stab them.

She couldn't finish the action, as Ghostface had grabbed a broken piece of glass, and lodged it into her sternum. They removed it just as violently and straddled the reporter. Picking up their knife, they raised it and brought it down on her, only for her to stop it with what little strength she had left. The two struggled against each other.

"Fuck you."

"Hey, fuckface!" They turned to see the Carpenter sisters standing there. Sam grabbed Gale's gun and shot at Ghostface three times, but they were too quick. Running out of the apartment and into the night.

Sam noticed Tate unconscious below her. "Tate!" She fell to her knees and frantically checked for a pulse, eventually finding one. 

She let out a sigh of relief, but Tara was not so calm. "Sam!" She called out.

Sam looked up and saw the state her future mother in-law was in. "Gale!" She ran over and kneeled beside her, pressing her hands against her wound. "I should've known he'd come after you two, I'm so sorry."

Gale's eyes opened slightly. "Make sure Tate.. gets that computer." Tara looked up and saw it on the couch, quickly grabbing it. " And tell Sidney... he never get me." Gale followed up, before closing her eyes.

"Gale?" No response. The elevator dinged, clearly working, and paramedics came through.

"Gale! No, Tate needs you!" Tara pulled her off of her as the paramedics got to work.

"Got a weak pulse, let's move."

~~

Tate's eyes fluttered open, hearing the sound of a vitals machine to his left. He looked up and saw that he was indeed hooked up to one. Frustrated, he pulled out the tubes and wires and sat up. He looked at the table in front of him and saw his mom's computer and a piece of paper beside it. He walked over to it and read the note.

We have a plan to trap Ghostface in the theatre, but you'll be no help as you are, sorry. Gale told us to give you the computer, and the doctor said that she'll probably be ok. Please don't try and play the hero, for Sam's sake. ~Tara

He quickly picked up the computer and opened it, not needing the password. There he found divorce record pertaining to two individuals. The second name's being Bailey and Kirsch.

Quinn had lied about the death of her brother. Her brother was Richie. His eyes widened in terror as he realized that Bailey now had motive, and was leading them into a trap. He saw a phone hooked onto the wall and rushed to it.

He dialled Sam's number as quick as he could. "Come on, pick up, Sam!" It went through to voicemail, but he left a message. "Sam! I know you don't know this number but Bailey isn't who he says he is. He's Richie's dad. You cannot trust him! I'm on my way to you!"

He sprinted out of the doors of the hospital, ignoring the calls of the nurses telling him to stop. He stopped outside, looking for a taxi. He saw one down the road. "Tax-" But everything went dark.

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