The entire room was silent, aside from a few whispers and the soft hum of footsteps along the ground. Corey felt the warmth of fingers wrapped around his hand, the coldness of needles sticking into his skin as door creaked open.

"How's he doing?" his fingers twitch slightly his eyes feeling heavy as the volume in the room got more louder and clearer. "Those assholes... they did a lot of damage on him, I found him when I got home, he was on the ground, and the bodies....".

Roman let out a shaky breath "they were everywhere, there was so much blood I... I don't even want to go back there. It was horrible".

Gale smiled sadly "so it appears the killer went after them, killed every single one of them.. but why leave Corey? Why not finish him off?".

Dewey looked at the boy "this is all about protecting Corey, we saw it ourselves the killer wants Corey to survive this, he's not gonna just kill him, unless he's waiting for the end".

Sidney looked like a wreak "this is my fault, I should've keep a closer eye on him, I called Tatum and Randy, they'll be here tomorrow morning".

Coreys eyes opened slowly, the bright light making his eyes burn slightly as he let out weak breaths. "He has a collapsed lung, a few broken ribs. His neck is pretty swollen right now, he got a few bruises on his body, cuts on his hands and cheek... doctors said he's lucky to be alive right now".

An intense wave of panic entered Corey's body when his eyes focused on the ceiling. The sense of deja vu entering his bones as he remembered the last time he was inside of a hospital room.

Roman winced when Corey's hold tightened on his hand the boy burst upward his body burning as he screamed out in a panic. "Shit, Corey!" the boys eyes were wide his body shaking as he looked around the room quickly.

"Corey, it's okay... you're safe" the boy flinched when hands touched his shoulder he let out a heavy breath as his eyes locked with Roman's.

"You're safe, It's me, breath Corey" the boys body settled down his breathing still slightly heavy as he gripped Roman's hand with determination.

"You're in the hospital, it's just me and your friends here. No one else, you are completely safe here". Corey let out a groan as he laid back down his fingers relaxing into Romans hands.

He smiled weakly "I feel like shit" the boy sighed deeply "you were beaten up pretty badly when I found you, I knew I should've just stayed home".

—

    "Corey are you sure you wanna be here? I mean the doctor said..." the boy sighed deeply as he held onto the bottle of champagne. "Rome, it's your birthday and there's no way I'm spending it inside a hospital room, besides they said as long as I don't do much moving I'll be fine!".

He sipped at the champagne but gasped when Roman took it from him "yeah there's no way you're drinking that, I'll get you some water". Corey huffed as he leaned into the couch cushion the doors opened and Roman smiled weakly.

"Hey, guys. Come on in. Join the party!" Corey smiled at Gale and Dewey as he waved at them. He grabbed the bottle of champagne out of Roman's grasp grinning at the man.

"Yeah, well, actually, we're here to see Sidney" Roman frowned deeply "really? Sidney's here?" the man let out a hum as he sat down beside Corey. Stealing the champagne back from his grasp.

"Where's Sidney?" Roman pointed at Angelina "she's right there!" Jennifer sighed deeply "Jesus! Not Sidney! We mean Sidney, like I'm Gale and she's Gale, Corey have you seen Sid?".

Corey shock his head "no not since earlier" Jennifer sighed "well she's on her way, I guess we'll wait". Roman stood up "well, the more the merrier".

Corey rolled his eyes "I'm bored sitting on this stupid couch, I'm also not fond of parties". He stood up off the couch ignoring the ache that ran along his body everyone looked around the house in awe, Corey found the place to be creepy,

"Supposedly, Milton has a secret screening room, that was like the scene back in the '70s, you know. It was, like, drinks and drugs and girls and movies and shit". Corey looked at Roman "why would he have it be a secret? That's kinda disappointing".

Roman laughed "I mean a big old screening room shouldn't be too hard to find. I'm gonna go check this place out, Corey you should come with".

Corey gripped onto Roman's arm for support "sure why the hell not, this place kinda reminds me of like those old haunted houses I went to when I was like fourteen, used to scare the shit outta me".

Roman smirked "I'll keep you safe if any scary ghosts come jumping out". Tyson stood up off the chair he was waiting in "now wait just one damn minute, there's a psycho killer on the loose. And you two idiots want to go traipsing around this gigantic mansion?".

Corey couldn't help but let out a weak chuckle "I'm sure we'll be fine if we stick together Tyson". The man sighed deeply "have you ever actually seen the stab movies? Every time this dude enters a room, he ends up a god damn shish kebab".

Corey glared at Tyson "have I ever seen stab? I can't believe you just asked me that. Screw watching the movie when you've lived through it. Come on Roman, let's go explore".

"We're gonna stay here and wait for Sid, just call if you need anything Corey" he smiled "I will Gale, hey maybe once Sid's here we can get the cake out, I picked it out myself, Roman's favorite".

The duo walked out of the room, Roman's arm around Corey's shoulder as they walked around. "If you were a screening room, where would you be?".

Corey looked around "this place is ancient I would bet it's in the basement or the attic, but since the vibes of this place is creepy, basement".

Roman opened the door both of them looking down the steps "spooky, come on let's go" Corey winced as he stepped down the steps.

"Just bare with me a second, my damn leg is killing me. Part of me is hoping the screen room is down here so I don't have to walk back up these damn stairs". Roman held onto the boys arm helping him down the last two steps.

"It's around here somewhere" Corey let out a heavy breath as he leaned into the wall. "Jesus, this place is scary, it's practically a haunted house down here with all these creepy props and statues".

Roman pulled the ghostface mask upwards "he's got an entire movie down here" Corey sat down on the step "I need a minute, why don't you go explore and if you find anything then find me".

Roman looked at Corey "alright, I'll be right back" he disappeared around the corner and Corey turned around when the door creaked open.

"Hello?" he pushed himself upwards not seeing anyone he let out a shaky breath as he turned "Roman? Where are you?". The door opened again and he turned around fast letting out a shaky breath.

"Who the fuck is that!" he moved back screaming when he smacked into a creepy zombie statue. He turned around his eyes widening when he saw blood on the ground "shit... Roman!".

He ran around the corner letting out a shaky breath as he followed the blood trail. His hand pressed against the wall, it clicked open making him flinch.

"Corey! Roman!" Gales voice was loud as he reached upwards towards the light switch. He let out a shaky breath as he watched the room slowly get more light. He frowned when he didn't see anything inside, just old ghostface costumes.

His eyes widen when one of them burst towards him, he screamed as he fell towards the ground the figure running past him. "Corey!" Gales voice was loud and he stood up fast running towards her.

She screamed when the knife sliced her arm "shit!" Corey tackled the person into the wall groaning when the knife jabbed his hand.

"Run Gale!" the woman ran up the stairs fast and Corey reached for the mask. His fingers ready to pry it off but then he heard screaming making him gasp as the figure beneath him jumped up.

He winced when he was pushed into the ground the figure running up the stairs and disappearing. He looked at the stairs "god damn it" he sighed.

—
authors notes:
This more of a filler chapter and It took my all damn day to write since I couldn't really figure out what direction I wanted it to take. But regardless we're getting closer to the reveal and I'm not ready!