• • October 29, 2023 • •

THE CHATTER OF restaurant patrons filled the room. At the bar, the blonde-haired woman sat and waited, wearing her yellow tube dress.

A part of her was afraid that her date wouldn't show up. She blamed herself for taking the time out of her night for this.

It was her first time using the Flirtr app. Her friends said she needed to take a breather from her job as a teacher and have some fun.

Suddenly, Laura's phone vibrated. She picked it up from the table and smiled upon seeing the message from her date. It brought her a sense of relief.

Hi!

This is embarrassing...

I'm lost

She chuckled and texted back a couple of laughing emojis. Her date soon responded.

Can I call?

Laura sent a thumbs-up. Seconds later her phone rang and she picked up the call.

"Hi." She cleared her throat. "Hi, Reggie."

"Laura, hi!"

"Hello."

"It's so nice to phone you in this incredibly embarrassing way."

"Oh, you know, no—no problem. It's fine."

"This is what I get for picking a trendy place with no sign out front, huh?"

She chuckled. "Yeah. Why do they do that here?"

"I don't know, I've only been in the city for a few months."

"Me, too! No way! Yeah."

"Oh, wow."

"Well, um...it's a very cool restaurant."

"Is it on Hudson?"

"Yes."

"Am I on Hudson?"

"I don't know." She replied cheekily.

"I am not on Hudson. Shit."

She chuckled.

"Uh...I am now walking towards Hudson."

"Okay."

"I am so, so sorry. This is not the first impression I wanted to make on a college professor."

"Oh, pfft. Associate professor and it's just Film Studies. So you're safe."

"Oh. Film Studies? That's cool." He chuckled.

"You say that, but try teaching a class on 20th-century slashers to a heap of hungover nineteen-year-olds."

"Slashers, huh?" He asked, then began imitating Ghostface. "What's your favorite scary movie?"

She laughed. "Not that one."

"So why slashers?"

"Well, I just, you know...I think it's interesting. You can really examine the culture of the moment by looking at the tropes of the time. Like, um, the masked killer, the final girl, the different rules: don't split up, don't have sex."

Reggie chuckled. "Don't answer the phone."

"Exactly, exactly, exactly. It's all cliché. But out of those clichés comes an opportunity for outsider art. A voice for the voiceless, you might say."

She quietly sighed and facepalmed. Laura didn't think she'd be talking about her curriculum while on her night out but really couldn't stop herself.

"Yeah, I'm more of a rom-com guy, to be honest." He chuckled. "Okay, I think I'm on Hudson."

"Okay."

"Uh...what color is the outside of the restaurant?"

"I—I think it's red."

"I don't see anything red."

"I, um—I could be wrong. Let me just, um...let me go have a little looksie."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

Laura picked up her purse and got up, walking away from the bar and going outside. She stepped onto the sidewalk and looked toward the entrance.

"Yep, it's definitely red."

"Yeah, I'm not seeing anything red here."

"Sure you're on Hudson?" She asked.

"Um..." He began. "Oh, crap. I'm still a block over. Oh! It looks like there's an alley I can cut through, is it near an alley?"

"Um..." Laura looked around and then saw one right across the street. "Yup! There is an alley."

"Oh, perfect. Okay. I'm coming down the alley."

Laura walked down the sidewalk and looked toward the alley across the street. She didn't see anyone and it was empty.

"I don't see you."

"Wait. Really? Are you sure?"

Laura waited for cars to pass by before crossing the street.

She started to make her way to the alley.

"Uh, there are some dumpsters about halfway down."

Laura saw the trashcans but no sign of her date. She stepped into the alleyway.

"I see them, but I don't see you." She replied.

"Yeah, I don't see you either." He said. "This is creepy, right?"

She chuckled, looking behind her and around.

"Uh, a little bit."

"20th-century slashers, huh?"

"Yeah. Are you sure you're walking towards Hudson?"

"I'm sure." He answered. "Oh, wait. I think I see you! Can you wave?"

Laura did as told. She waved erratically down the alley.

"Can you see me?"

"Uh, the person I'm looking at isn't waving. They're just staring at me."

She stopped waving. "Are you sure?"

"Okay, this is weird. Um...now they're moving towards me."

"Are you okay?" She asked, now stepping further into the alley.

"Shit. He's following me."

"I—I don't see anybody."

"Holy shit! He's after me!"

Laura kept going. She was starting to be afraid and worried about her date.

"Where are you?"

"He's got a knife!"

"What?"

She started running. Through the phone, she could hear Reggie panting and now in a panic.

"And that's not the worst part. The worst part is..."

Something powered up through the line. His voice seemed to morph into a deeper tone.

"...you teach a class on slashers and still walked down a dark alley. Alone."

She recognized the voice of Ghostface. Laura immediately thought it was a prank coming from her date and didn't like it.

"Okay, that's not funny."

She looked to her left and saw another alley. It was very dark and she thought she was seeing a silhouette within the shadows.

He chuckled and breathed heavily.

"No. It's not."

She suddenly heard a noise beside her and screamed. It turned out to just be people passing by and laughing, wearing their costumes for the Halloween festivities that week. Laura let out an exhale.

Unfortunately, this gave an opening to Ghostface. They ran out of the shadows and jabbed their knife into her chest. Laura yelled out in pain and fear.

The Killer pinned her against the wall and stabbed her again. They ignored her wails, taking out the knife and sticking it into her stomach. Blood poured out of her wound and mouth.

Ghostface kept on stabbing. Nobody was around to hear her screams. She slid down the wall and was getting too weak to keep yelling. Laura was on her last breath and gasping.

"Now I see something red."

They raised their knife and slashed down, dealing the fatal blow and finally killing Laura Crane.

Blood dripped from their knife. Ghostface crouched down and stared at the maimed body of the college professor. They took off their mask, revealing Jason Carvey underneath.

He was proud of his work. Jason nodded and contently smirked before walking away.

The college student took off his costume and put the contents into his backpack. Jason stepped out of the alley and walked down the sidewalk, passing by fellow New Yorkers and Blackmore students like nothing had happened.

Jason made his way toward campus which was only a few blocks away. He crossed the street and walked through the quad, smiling to himself as he held one strap of his backpack.

He passed by a group of students. Jason recognized one of the girls who was wearing a pirate costume. He slowed down and spoke to her.

"Oh, hey. Tara!"

"Jason." She smiled. "Are you and Greg gonna come to the OKB party?"

"Well, if he finishes his Spanish project in time, yes, we will." He replied. "He might have to give Y/N a call later tonight to see what he got. Isn't he there already?"

"Not sure." She replied.

"I think so. I saw he posted something on Insta with Ethan. He's got some shirtless Han Solo thing going on."

That seemed to pique her interest. "Oh?"

He chuckled. "And your sister? Is she coming?"

"No, Sam wouldn't be caught dead at a frat party."

"There's a first time for everything." He replied.

Tara caught up with the group, still speaking to Jason.

"No tonight, though."

"Can't convince her?"

"No. That's not my problem, that's yours."

She started walking away and making the distance between herself and Jason.

"Save me a drink!" He shouted.

"All right." She waved. "I'll see you!"

Jason smiled, but upon turning around and walking the other way, his expression fell. It was more serious and stoic.

Jason made it to his dorm. He opened the door and called out to his roommate, Greg.

"Honey, I'm home!"

He closed the door. There was no response from his friend. He combed his hair back and walked through the corridor.

"Greg? Greg?"

Jason opened up a closet door. Inside was an entire shrine to Ghostface and the Stab franchise. He opened up his backpack, taking out the bloody mask he wore earlier and putting it onto the naked mannequin's head.

The young man put on a movie to watch. He washed his hands and dried them when suddenly, his cell phone rang. He picked it up, seeing that the call was from Greg.

Jason answered it. He felt like his friend was going to be angry that he had all the fun to himself that night.

"I know...I just got massive blue balls, and I—I had to practice. Please don't be mad. How mad are you?"

He expected to hear Greg's voice, but a deeper yet familiar one came through.

"Oh, I'm not mad, Jason."

"Dude. We said we wouldn't use the voice on each other."

"We said a lot of things."

Jason looked at the caller ID for a second before putting it back to his ear.

"This is Greg, right?"

They chuckled. "Who else would it be?"

"Where are you?" Jason began walking through the dorm. "I want to tell you about it."

He went to the small bar area and began to serve himself a drink.

"Oh, by the way, we should go to that frat party. Y/N is already there and Tara's going."

"What was it like?"

"Not on the phone, man. And seriously, turn off the fucking voice modulator."

"I'm just trying to get the voice right. You got your practice, I get mine."

"Whatever."

Jason took a shot. They continued.

"Just tell me what it felt like. Then maybe I'll come out."

"Dude, I know you're not here."

Jason sat down in front of the TV. He brought along the bottle of alcohol and served himself again.

"Humor me."

"All right, fine."

He began to describe the murder of Laura. The sounds of the slasher film and the victim's screams filled the room as she spoke.

"It was even better than we ever could have imagined. When the knife went in her... it was like she wasn't human anymore. Just an animal. And every time it went in, she was less and less human. And then, she was just meat."

"But she wasn't just meat, Jason. She was a person. Our film professor."

"Yeah, well..." He downed another shot. "Fuck her. She gave me a C-minus on my Giallo paper."

"Is that why you killed her? Because of the C-minus? Who's next, your grade-school vice principal?"

"You know who's next. Why are you being like this?"

"Come on, Jason. How long have we known each other?"

Jason paused for a moment. He got up from the chair. "You tell me."

"Eight years. We met in junior high. In Atlanta. I just want you to tell me why you think you're doing this. Use your words."

"We're finishing Richie's film."

"That is right, by killing Sam, Tara, and Y/N."

"Why are you fucking with me? Why won't you tell me where you are?"

"Why do you keep asking me that? I already told you. I'm here." They replied. "Let's play a game."

Jason sighed. "Shit."

"Do you know Warmer, Colder? Come on, find me. And then we'll go and cut up the Carpenter sisters and the Alteiri-Prescott bastard."

Jason looked around, spotting the security system they had installed months ago.

"Are you using the fucking cameras?" He asked, then flipped off one of them.

"Yeah. The cameras. And at the moment, you're very, very cold."

Finally, Jason relented.

"All right, douchebag, let's play."

Jason entered Greg's room. He was told that he was cold. He then walked down the hallway and passed the kitchen. He was told he was getting warmer.

He reached one of the closets and was told he was warm. He slowly reached out then opened it quickly, but nobody was inside. Jason shut the doors.

"All right, you know what? This is stupid. I'm gonna hang up now."

Jason walked into the kitchen. They spoke up.

"But you're getting warmer."

He stopped. Jason took a step toward the exit of the kitchen.

"Colder."

Jason turned around, eyeing the fridge. He began to slowly make his way toward it.

"Warmer."

With each step, Greg informed him how close he was.

"Warmer."

He took another step. Jason reached out to the door handle.

"You're on fire!"

Jason opened the fridge. He was immediately met with a putrid smell. Inside was a bloody sight...Greg's decapitated head and limbs were all scattered around.

"Oh, fuck!" Jason gasped.

The boy didn't see that behind him, Ghostface was already armed with a knife. He stabbed Jason in the back, where he fell toward the fridge. He turned around, seeing the Killer with a worn-down and cracked mask.

Ghostface pinned Jason down. The boy yelled out.

"Do you feel like an animal, Jason?"

After the question, he stabbed him in the stomach repeatedly. It was to the point where his guts began to spill out.

"Like meat?"

He stabbed him a few more times before letting Jason slide to the floor. The maimed college student and Ghostface copycat looked up at the Killer as he bled from his mouth.

"B-But...we have to finish the movie."

Ghostface raised this knife over his head, ready to deal the fatal blow.

"Who gives a fuck about movies?!"

Jason let out one final scream before Ghostface slashed down and ended the young man's life.

• • •

BLOW THE WHISTLE by Too $hort blared through the frat house. It was filled with many partygoers. Some danced, lots of them drank, smoked, and a few sat on sofas making out with each other.

Among those sitting was Mindy. She was joined by her girlfriend, Anika. They had drinks in hand and stared ahead at the young people partying.

"It doesn't bother you?" Anika asked. "Being at a house party after you were almost brutally murdered at a house party?"

She inhaled and sat back. "No, I think of it like being struck by lightning. The odds of it happening twice to the same person are extremely low."

"Oh. Guess I should stay close to you then." She replied, scooting closer toward Mindy.

The girl chuckled, grabbing her leg and lounging it over her lap.

In the other room, Y/N was drinking with a group of people. He was chugging the entire drink as his friends cheered him on.

"Chug, chug, chug, chug!"

The young man wore his Han Solo get-up, with the holster and all. The only thing missing was the shirt the character had under his vest, as he was freely displaying his toned chest and abdomen.

Y/N finished the entire cup of beer and put it down. The people cheered and one of his football teammates grabbed another.

"One more!" He started to say, which was followed by others joining in.

"One more! One more!"

"Nah." He waved them all off. "That's enough for today!"

"Come on!"

"We gotta get you shit-faced!" His friend said. "Next game ain't until next week."

"Hangovers fuck up my conditioning." He replied, then exclaimed to the rest. "We wanna win Nationals don't we?!"

Many of them shouted out in glee. Y/N laughed.

"Right." His friend chuckled, lightly punching his shoulder. "And you'll lead us there!"

Y/N nodded. Later, he was vibing to the music and dancing. Although he wasn't totally drunk, he was a bit buzzed from the previous drink he had.

He ended up running into another girl. She had a drink in hand, and the two ended up talking and laughing for some time.

"You come here with anybody?" She asked.

"Just a buddy of mine," Y/N replied. "He's around here somewhere."

She smirked. "Girlfriend?"

He took in a breath and shook his head. "Nah."

"How can that be? A stud like you?"

"Lots of things going on." He replied with a shrug.

"Don't want to commit to anything yet?"

"You could say that."

Suddenly, the young woman ran her hand along his bare chest. Y/N just stood there and let out a breathy chuckle.

"Then how about we go somewhere else? No strings...or anything..."

Y/N thought about it for a moment. At the same time, he looked to his left and saw his friend in the other room. It was Ethan, who was in his makeshift knight armor, standing by himself and lightly dancing to the music.

"How...how about I get back to you on that?" Y/N gestured toward Ethan. "I see that my buddy's there. I want to help him have some of his own fun before mine, you know?"

She surprisingly seemed to understand. "Oh? What a nice guy you are."

"Yeah. Gotta make sure he has some of my luck."

"All right." She lightly slapped his chest. "Go be the wingman. I'll be waiting."

Y/N smirked. He then made his way out of the room and into the one Ethan was in.

Tara walked through the room. She was already a bit intoxicated from the drinks she's had throughout the night. She was the jovial type of drunk, as she laughed when accidentally bumping into people.

"Shit, I'm sorry." She giggled, turning to the other and happily greeting him. "Hi!"

The guy she bumped into laughed as well. "Watch out."

She went into the room and to the beverage table. Mindy saw her from the couch she was sitting on with Anika.

"How are you doing, T?" She called out.

She simply giggled. "Hi!"

Tara was about to use one of the kegs but a young man covered the lever with a cup, letting her know that it was empty.

"You're lying." She said exasperatingly.

"No, last one's kicked." He replied. "We got some hard stuff in the kitchen, though."

Tara didn't respond, only smiling at him. The man chuckled, noticing how buzzed she was.

"Frankie." He introduced himself, shaking her hand.

"Tara." She replied. "Lead the way."

Frankie walked with her through the room.

"You Omega Beta Zeta?" He asked.

She spoke loudly. "No, not yet. But I might rush it."

They stopped in the kitchen and the two looked through the bottles of liquor on the table.

"Oh, freshman. Right on!" He responded. "Where from?"

Tara paused for a moment. Despite how she was right now, she knew not to give away too much about where she originated.

"Michigan." She lied.

"All right."

He looked at a bottle for a second before putting it down. Frankie turned to Tara.

"You know what? I got a bottle of Fireball up in my room."

Tara stared at him. A part of her knew what he was inferring and wanted to do. Still, she was willing to go along with it. Tara scoffed.

"Fuck it. Yeah, go."

Frankie grabbed her hand and started walking with her into the other room. There, Mindy and Anika noticed them. They weren't oblivious to what the guy's plan was.

"Uh...Oh, I don't love that." Anika said as she started getting up.

She went to the two before they could leave the room. Anika grabbed Tara's arm.

"Hey! You want to call it a night?"

Tara smiled. "No, uh...I think that I'm actually still gonna hang but you guys don't have to wait for me."

The man smirked, looking at Anika.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her. I'm Frankie."

"And I'm spectacularly uninterested in knowing anything about you." She shot back.

Frankie laughed but so did Tara. The girl spoke to her friend.

"No, dude, Anika, I'm not that bad. B—But I appreciate you looking out for me."

Tara walked away with Frankie, who looked back at Anika and smiled once more. Anika mocked him and made a face.

Still not wanting her friend to do something she'd surely regret the day after, Anika decided to inform another friend of theirs...

Y/N stood with his buddy, Ethan. They bobbed along to the blaring music and strobing lights. They each had a shot glass.

"C'mon, dawg. Let me see it in your face."

They kept bobbing and bobbing. Y/N continued.

"Let me see your game face!"

Ethan kept bouncing and doing what Y/N said. They both laughed and Y/N held up the glass.

"All right. All right. Cheers, man, to the dynamic duo of Hortense Tower, third floor, room 315."

"Woo!" Ethan cheered.

Together, the two friends took their shot. Ethan seemed to have a different reaction to the strong drink, as he wasn't used to it. He ended up spitting it back into the shot glass.

"Time to start making moves." Y/N pat the young man's back. "Yeah, get you out there. Introduce you to some girls!"

Y/N looked ahead and spotted a group of girls dancing in the middle of the room. He gestured toward one of them.

"What about her?" He asked.

Ethan replied. "She's gorgeous—"

"Great. Ask her out."

He was stunned. "No, I can't."

Y/N kept tapping Ethan's chest plate and jumping up and down.

"Ask her out! Ask her out!"

"Shut up!" Ethan laughed.

"You gotta have confidence, my man. Plus look at you! No homo, but you're a snack! An entire meal all on your own."

"Really?"

He leaned on his shoulder. "Yeah. You're Ethan Landry!"

Y/N then looked at the girl they were looking at before. He called out to her.

"Hey, excuse me!"

Ethan looked away. "Bro..."

The girl looked back at them. Y/N smiled.

"Hey, how you doing?" Y/N pointed at Ethan. "My friend here, he's a snack, right?"

The girl simply tilted her head and shrugged, before turning back to her friends and laughing.

"What did that mean?" Ethan asked him.

Y/N chuckled. "No, it's good."

"What?"

"It's not bad. There's room for improvement!"

Suddenly, Anika appeared behind Y/N. She tapped him on the shoulder and the young man turned back.

"Big guy, you're needed." She said.

"What's up?"

"It's Tara."

The man's jovial expression quickly fell. It was as if a switch was flipped. He was now as serious as ever.

"Some guy's trying to take her upstairs." Anika added. "She's drunk."

Y/N just looked at her. He soon nodded, the same stoic expression on his face.

"Show me where."

Frankie went toward the stairs with Tara following closely. They moved passed the crowd.

"Aren't you that girl involved in that Stab shit in California last year?" He asked.

"No." She chuckled. "That's a different pirate."

They started making their way up the steps. Suddenly, a voice called out from below. It was Y/N.

"Hey, bro!"

The two stopped. Frankie looked back at Y/N and just stared at him.

"Tara's good down here." He added.

Frankie scoffed, going down a couple of steps and getting closer to Y/N. He scoffed.

"Sorry, bro, I didn't catch that."

Y/N chuckled, but his laugh wasn't of glee or humor. There was some malice hidden beneath it.

"Yeah...you did," Y/N said.

As if Tara knew what the young man was thinking, she quickly stepped down and got in front of him.

"No, Y/N." She held the lapels of his vest. "It's fine. I want to. It's okay."

In all honesty, Y/N was okay with letting Tara do what she wanted. She didn't want to rob her of any choice she had. But before he can give a calm response, Frankie decided to step up to Y/N and speak.

And not just speak...but taunt him. It made him see red.

"Yeah. See, Y/N? She wants to."

Frankie then pulled her arm and tried going up the stairs. The already clumsy girl wasn't expecting the force.

"Ow!" She reacted.

Tara stumbled and fell on the steps. Frankie tried to quickly pull her back up, but the sight of the girl being handled like that angered Y/N.

Again...red.

He immediately stepped forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him off the stairs and back onto the floor he was on.

"Get your fucking hands off her!"

Frankie bumped into someone. The man was angry and he shoved Y/N back.

"Get the fuck off me!"

Tara slowly started to get up. She, along with the rest of the partygoers, including Mindy, Anika, and Ethan, were witnessing the scuffle.

"Guys!" Tara exclaimed. "Guys!"

Y/N pushed Frankie who in turn pushed him again. It was a sort of shoving match as they shouted at each other.

"Come on!"

"Fuck off!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are!?"

"Fuck you!"

Y/N shoved him one last time. Frankie stood there and let out a chuckle.

"I know who you are." He said. "What are you gonna do? Kill me like your so-called friends back home?"

Y/N stayed quiet. He was the first person during his time there in New York that had mentioned the past events.

Frankie continued. "I know you don't want to fuck up what you have going on here, 'cause that's what is gonna happen if you lay your hands on me."

Y/N ground his teeth. Frankie stepped closer.

"So just run along...have your fun...and let me have mine."

Finally, Y/N reacted. He looked down and let out a chuckle. He smiled, which caught the man off guard.

"Oh...I'm gonna have my fun, all right."

Red.

Immediately, he was grabbed. Y/N wrapped his hands around Frankie's throat and pinned him against the wall. The force of Frankie hitting the back of his head on it was enough to disorient him.

People in the house reacted, some in shock and others in excitement at the sight of a fight.

"Damn!"

"Oh, shit!"

"Put this shit on the feed!"

"Where's Chewie when you need him?"

Y/N kept ahold of the man's neck. He gripped tighter and seethed his teeth. It felt like no one else was around and it was just him and Frankie.

"What you were about to do to her..." Y/N seethed. "I hope you go to hell. I should just gut you right now."

As he tightened his grip, the sounds and voices of everyone else started to be heard again. Among them was the voice of Tara, who was urging him to stop.

"Y/N! Stop! Please!"

She grabbed onto his arm and it immediately brought back flashes of when he almost killed the guy back in Woodsboro...and when he inadvertently hit Tara.

The memory seemed to flip a switch in his mind and the young man quickly stopped. He stepped back and Frankie coughed as he caught his breath.

Tara kept pulling him away from Frankie. The man was able to catch his breath and he was still very angry.

"You're fucking crazy!" He shouted. "Fucking psycho! You were going to kill me!"

Frankie was about to step up to Y/N again, and nothing was going to stop Y/N from fighting back.

Suddenly, Samantha Carpenter entered the room and got in front of Frankie. She was in the room for the last few moments and witnessed what had happened.

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm just gonna tase you in the balls real quick."

Sam quickly jabbed her taser into his groin. Frankie yelled out in pain and fell on the floor, holding his balls. Everyone reacted with an ooooh.

"Argh! Ahhhh!" Frankie groaned.

"Don't ever lay your hands on my sister." Sam threatened.

"You fucking bitch!" He screamed.

Tara just looked on in shock. She already was stunned by Y/N almost choking the life out of Frankie, but now her sister came out of nowhere and assaulted him too.

She was more annoyed at Sam. She wasn't even supposed to be at the frat party or anywhere near her that night.

"Sam?" She called out. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're stalking me now."

Tara walked out of the room. Mindy, Anika, and Y/N went after her. Ethan joined moments later. At the same time, a partygoer spoke up.

"Holy shit. They're fucking crazy!" He said, talking about Sam and Y/N.

Sam overheard this but chose to ignore it. She left the frat house and soon joined up with the rest.

Tara was walking down the quad with everyone else following her. She wanted to be alone but Sam and company tried to get her to stop.

"Tara!" Sam called out. "Will you stop?"

"I cannot believe you did that!" She shot back. "You embarrassed me!"

"That guy was a dick! He was gonna take advantage of you."

Tara stopped and turned around. "So?"

"So?"

"If I want to hook up with an asshole, that's my decision! It's my decision!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Okay."

"It's not about you! I mean...you're out of my life for five years and then you can't leave me alone for five minutes."

"Because you're not dealing with what happened to us. Y/N and I have gone to our sessions. Have you even gone to see the counselor? Once?"

Y/N sighed at the mention of him. Tara responded.

"No, I'm not going to."

"Why not?" Sam asked

"Because I'm uninterested in living in the past like you are!"

She arched a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Y/N spoke up. "Hey, we should—"

Tara interrupted him. "It means I'm not gonna let what happened to us for three days define the rest of my life. How about you be more like Y/N...who is finally now moving on."

"So you're just gonna pretend it never happened?" Sam asked.

Tara exhaled. "What are you doing here, Sam? In New York. You're working two shitty jobs to help with rent, whatever, but what's your plan?"

Sam didn't know how to respond. Tara continued.

"I know what I'm going to do. Okay? I'm gonna keep going to college, I'm going to get my degree, and I'm going to live my life. My life. Okay? I know. You just followed me here and you won't let me out of your sight."

Sam shook her head. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I—" Tara inhaled deeply and rubbed her face. She calmed herself down.

"I know. I know you are. You can't do it for the rest of my life, though. You have to let me go."

Sam calmed down as well. Before she could respond, a group of ladies walked by and called out to her.

"Hey!"

She only looked at them for a second before one of the girls spilled her drink on her. Y/N stepped forward and was taken aback.

"Whoa!" He shouted. "What the hell?!"

"Murderer!" She shouted at Sam and started walking away.

Her friend was filming the action as it happened. Sam pushed her back.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch?!" Sam exclaimed.

Before she can engage the girl further, Y/N held her back along with Tara. He didn't want the older Carpenter sister to get into the same situation he was in earlier.

"You got a problem with me?" She shouted again.

Mindy yelled at the girls too. "Back the fuck up!"

"You guys should be careful with her!" She replied. "She knows what she did."

"I didn't fucking do anything!"

"Sure, bitch."

She laughed and walked away with her friends. The group stood there, with Sam mumbling to herself.

"I'm so sick of this shit."

Mindy spoke to her. "Calm down. Let's go."

The rest started walking away. Ethan went up to Sam and rummaged through his pockets.

"Hey, I have tissues if you want tissues." He took them out and looked at them. "I have, like, three tissues."

He handed them to her. She took the tissues and started to dry herself, but stared at the awkward teenager when he stood there looking.

Ethan quickly excused himself and followed his friends.

• • •

TARA WAS IN her room putting away some things as when the party's over by Billie Eilish played on her stereo system. She took a puff out of her inhaler before putting it down.

There was a knock on the doorframe. She looked to her left and saw her roommate, Quinn Bailey.

"Hey. I'm sorry I told Sam where you went."

"It's fine. I just..." She sighed. "She's all the way up my ass. Like usual."

Tara went to sit on the ledge of her bed. Quinn chuckled and stepped inside the room.

"I know what it's like when they hold on too tight." Quinn joined her on the bed. "After we...uh...lost my brother, my dad wouldn't leave me alone. He even transferred to the NYPD when I got into college, so...stalker much?"

The two girls chuckled. At that moment, there was another soft knock at the door. It was Y/N, who was out of his costume and now sporting some casual wear. Tara was honestly surprised to him here at that time of night.

"I'm gonna go, let you guys...chat," Quinn said as she got up.

Y/N gave a nod and stepped inside. Quinn went out the door and smirked at Tara before shutting it.

The young man held up a bottle of Advil, knowing that it would help with any headaches she was bound to have because of her drinking. He even had a cup of water with him.

"Thank you." She said. "You can, um, go back to your dorm. I'm pretty sure the fighting is done for the day."

"Aww." He reacted. "I was honestly having a blast. Wished I got a couple hits in back there."

"Oh, really?"

Y/N chuckled. He sat beside her on the edge of the bed.

"Should've given him a fair chance instead of...you know...choking him." He said. "Really could've showed everyone there that I can kick his ass mano-a-mano."

"Heh. Bring it."

Y/N let out a soft laugh. He turned to Tara at the exact time she looked at him. They sat there for a moment before the girl finally spoke up.

"Thank you for...not letting me go up those stairs."

Y/N simply nodded, looking down as he did. Tara sighed.

"Yeah, I don't know." She said. "I think I'm just more messed up than I realized."

The young man nudged her shoulder with his and smiled at her.

"That makes two of us." He replied.

Tara chuckled and was joined by Y/N. He let out a quick exhale and shrugged.

"Survivors got to stick together...you know."

The girl nodded. Y/N looked forward and let the music play for a few seconds before speaking again.

"And besides, you can do a lot better than Date Rape Frankie." He said, then paused again. "You're a...very special girl. I know you know that. And I know that you know that...I know that."

Tara kept quiet, letting the boy speak and ramble on. Y/N didn't expect the silence after his statement and tried to come up with something else to say.

"And...I guess I'm sorry if you feel embarrassed by what happened back there. By how I acted. It's just..." He sighed. "I knew he wasn't going to treat you right. He didn't see you like—"

"Like how you see me?" She interjected.

Y/N stopped. There was no denying what she said. She was 100% correct. Frankie simply saw Tara as a means to get what he wanted. He didn't see her like how Y/N did...like royalty.

"There's..." He began, lowly speaking. "There's no one else in this world that can treat you like how you deserve to be treated."

Tara leaned in. "And who's that?"

Y/N stayed still, staring at her. He wasn't going to back out or deny what he said. The young man went for it and was completely honest with what he felt.

"Me." He admitted.

They kept their gaze on one another for a few seconds before Tara leaned in more. Y/N reciprocated that act and put his lips on hers.

With that, it seemed to light a spark in the couple. For Y/N, his embrace with Tara felt like the missing piece in the puzzle that was his fresh start in New York. For Tara, finally feeling his touch after so long was as if a dark cloud above her dissipated.

They were finally reunited.

The couple continued kissing. Y/N parted for a moment and looked into her eyes.

"I know exactly what I want now." He said. "I'm—I'm sorry about before...when I said—"

Tara shushed him by putting a finger on his lips. Y/N stopped.

"I know...I know."

Y/N nodded. He leaned in and kissed her again, this time for a little longer. Tara parted and caught her breath.

"I'm not messed up anymore." She reassured him, knowing where their moment would lead them. "Just so you know."

Y/N nodded. "Okay."

The couple once again joined their lips. At the same time, the door opened and Quinn came in.

"I forgot my phone."

Y/N and Tara quickly parted with Tara looking down. Quinn immediately realized what she did and felt guilty.

"Oh, shit..." She reacted and looked at Y/N. "Did—Did I cockblock you?"

Tara looked up at her. "What did you just say?"

"I cock-blocked you."

"No," Y/N replied, rubbing his face.

"I cock-blocked you, didn't I?"

Tara shook her head. "Immediate, no."

"I totally cock-blocked you."

"Please." Y/N laughed. "Stop saying the word, cock."

Y/N exhaled and stood up. The annoyed Tara spoke to her roommate.

"Wh—What did you need?" She asked.

"My phone." She replied, taking it from the dresser nearby.

"Don't ever enter a room like that again." Tara scolded.

"I won't."

"Yeah."

"Sorry, it was rude."

"I'm gonna go," Y/N spoke up then looked at Tara. "But get some rest, get sober, and please don't kill Sam. You know she loves you very much."

Tara nodded. Y/N smiled softly, walking passed her and touching her shoulder. He made his way toward the door.

"Good night!"

Quinn replied. "Good night."

"Bye-bye," Tara said back.

Y/N walked down the hallway. Quinn looked back at the still-annoyed Tara and gave her an apologetic look.

"Quinn..."

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

The girl stepped out of the room. Tara let out a sigh.

"Fuck."

She plopped onto her pillow, inhaling and rubbing her face. She let out her breath and looked up at the ceiling, hearing the music that was still playing from her stereo.

After the crazy night she had, she thought it ended rather nicely. Tara thought back at her moment with Y/N and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't felt that in so long...and only he could get her to experience that.

Tara smiled to herself. With the day seemingly over, she was excited to see what the next one had in store.

• • •

FRANKIE CARRIED A trash bag out of the frat house and into the alley nearby where the dumpsters were. It was the middle of the night and he had just now decided to throw them out.

The young man opened up the dumpster and threw the bag inside. Before he can close it, he looked to his right and saw a figure in the distance at the end of the alley.

It looked like a man. He couldn't really see him all too well...but his build was similar to the guy he had been in a scuffle with earlier. Frankie closed the dumpster.

"Pretty boy!" He shouted, assuming it was Y/N. "The fuck you want? Round 2?"

Frankie stepped away from the dumpster and toward the figure. As he got closer, he got a better look at his features and was sure he was face-to-face with Y/N.

"No one's around. Want to finish what you started?"

The figure immediately stepped away and went out of view. Frankie jogged and went out of the alley, but upon looking around...he lost sight of him.

"The fuck?" He muttered.

Frankie brushed it off and went to the back door of the house but saw that it was locked. He looked for his key but it wasn't in his pocket.

"Shit...did I really throw it away or something?"

Knowing that his frat mates were asleep, he decided to go back to the dumpster. He looked around and saw that he dropped it as it was on the ground.

"Thank God."

He bent down and picked it up but at that moment...Ghostface appeared behind him.

The Killer immediately grabbed the back of his head and slammed him against the dumpster. They quickly dragged him to the wall and pinned him against it, where they began to choke him.

Frankie struggled to get out of their grasp. He was losing breath by the second.

"What Frankie? I thought you liked this kinda thing?" He asked. "Tell me...what exactly were you going to do with Tara?"

He writhed in the Killer's grasp. Ghostface held him there with one hand as the other went for the knife he had. In one swift movement, he stabbed the young man in the stomach.

That wasn't all though, as the Killer took out the knife and stabbed him right above the groin and into his pelvis. Frankie tried yelling out in pain but Ghostface's other hand was still around his throat.

"You should be castrated like the animal you are!"

He let go of Frankie who fell to his knees. Ghostface then grabbed his head and opened the dumpster's hatch.

"So tough...so headstrong." Ghostface taunted. "Let's see how strong it actually is."

Immediately, he slammed the hatch against Frankie's head. He did it again...and again...and again. Ultimately, the successive blows fractured his skull and killed Frankie.

Ghostface let his body drop. The Killer panted beneath their mask and looked down at their work. Only one color overwhelmed the entire scene and it was one they focused on.

Red.

After taking a couple of looks around, Ghostface stepped away from Frankie's corpse and left the alley.