The killer's killer

Chapter 1: Tara's attack

Life is something all teens struggle with. It's something I struggle with, but I didn't know that it would get this hard. That it would become this much of a struggle. And if you don't know what I mean? Read my story... It all started the day of my best friend/crush's attack.  

Tara: 
Mom's out of town again. You and Amber should come over here. Free dinner. Many binge watch options. 

Indy: 
Amber says you must do better. 

Tara:  

Unlocked liquor cabinet. 

Indy: 

See, now you're speaking our language! 

Indy Hicks and Tara Carpentar had been best friends ever sense they can remember. They don't really know how two complete opposites became so close. All Indy knows is she loves Tara, and so does her twin brother.  

Tara: 

Fucking landline won't stop ringing. 

Indy: 

Is my brother still bugging you? 

Tara: 

It's not him. Blocked his number, Robocall. 

Indy: 

Good for you, wish I could block him. Anyways Robocalls don't use blocked numbers anymore. Probs someone calling for your mom. 

Tara had finally had enough of the ringing. Not knowing what to do, she put her phone down and went to answer the call. A voice she's never heard picked up.  

"Hello?" Tara asked as she held the phone up to her ear. 

"Hello, is Christina there?" The unfamiliar voice asked. 

"No, she's not available. May I take a message?" Tara asked as she started walking around. 

"Um yeah, I guess um...from her group...oh shit..." The unfamiliar voice replied, and Tara couldn't help but smile at the strange behavior of the man. 

"From her shit?" Tara asked as the smile continued to grow across her beautiful face. 

"Um look...Just um...tell her I'm from group I'm Charlie. She's got my number." Charlie replied as Tara walked towards a shelf with a stool in her hand placing it down. 

"Oh, she goes to your group?" Tara asked as she climbed to the top of the stool, her left-hand grabbing something from the shelf above her. 

"Look, I shouldn't have...uh...just tell her that Charlie called." Charlie hesitated as Tara got down and started to walk away from the bench against the shelves. 

"I will do exactly that, Charlie." Tara replied pulling her phone out of her back pocket, "Once you tell me what kind of group we're talking about. Is it AA? NA?" 

Tara: 

Dude, I think this is my mom's new BF... 

"You sound exactly like she described you." Charlie's voice played in the background as Tara continued to text Indy.  

"Um, she talks about me in group?" Tara asked confused as Indy started texting back. 

Indy: 

Seriously???? 

"Look I can't really talk about that." Charlie said hesitantly as Tara started to walk back towards the kitchen after texting Indy back. 

"What does she say about me?" Tara asked walking down the hall and taking a left. 

"Well, she loves you very much." Charlie hesitated, making Tara slightly suspicious as she walked into the kitchen. 

"Ooh, what does she love about me?" Tara asked, walking back to the pot of boiling water. 

"Okay well, she loves that you're creative, you love art and TV and movies. Your best friend Indy Hicks? Was it?" Charlie asked as Tara starred forward, why would her mom talk to this Charlie guy about Indy? 

"Well, lots of people love movies, and lots of people love their best friends." Tara replied more suspicious now than she was before.  

"Yeah, but she says you love scary movies and that you guys have that in common. She's proud of making a fan out of you." Charlie explained as Tara sighed looking back at the pot. 

"She is?" Tara asked, stirring, what was inside. 

"Yeah. She told me the other day, she wonders...what's your favorite scary movie?" Charlie asked, his voice going deeper towards the end of the sentence. 

"Uh the Babadook it’s an amazing meditation on Motherhood and Grief." Tara answered. 

"Isn't that a little fancy pants?" Charlie asked with a small sigh. 

"Well, it's Elevated Horror." Tara explained, a small smile on her face. 

"What does that mean, Elevated Horror?" Charlie asked, begging Tara to tell him more. 

"You know it's like scary but with complex emotional and thematic underpinnings. Not just some nonsense with wall-to-wall jump scares." Tara explained her opinion.  

Charlie hummed before replying, "Sounds kind of boring to me. Have you ever seen Stab?" 

"Once. I think at a sleepover when I was, like, 12" Tara explained as she leaned against the counter. 

Charlie laughed as he said, "You live in Woodsboro, and you don't know Stab? Well, your mother loves that movie, she talks about it all the time in group. How well do you remember the original?" 

Tara was pulling a knife out of the knife holder thinking nothing of the simple questions as she answered, "I don't know. I mean, it was super '90s and everyone had weird hair." 

"Do you remember the beginning?" Charlie asked, finally getting to the point he had been trying to make the whole time. 

"Not really. I mean they started with the kill scene, right? They always started with the kill scene." Tara said as she started to clean up the mess she had made in the kitchen. 

"Yeah, that's right. That's right. It's a girl at home, alone. She answers the wrong number and starts talking with the killer." Charlie explained, Tara didn't really seem to be affected as he continued talking, "Who makes her play a game. Would you like to play a game?" 

Tara stopped what she was doing as she turned around. She didn't look scared, but it was running through her eyes as she stared at the wall. Wondering why Charlie was calling in the first place. 

You see, this is where things start to take an interesting turn. And trust me, not just for Tara. 

"Tara?" Charlie asked, and as soon as he spoke her name, she removed the phone from her ear and quickly ended the call.