𝙼𝚢 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙼𝚛. 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚎

CHAPTER IV

The group of young adults sat on a bench in the park, with Mindy standing in front of them, about to give her big "suspicion list" speech.

I sat between Ethan and Tara, near the end of the bench.

"I can't believe you punched Gale in the face," I laughed.

"Okay, Sidney Prescott 2.0!" Anika said, laughing along.

"She was just doing too much, and then had the audacity to duck Sam's punch," Tara said.

"I hate how Gale tries to use people's trauma for her books," I added. Ethan was zoned out, playing with my bracelet.

"Okay, nerds, listen up!" Mindy called, grabbing everyone's attention.

"As terrifying as this all is, I get to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time," she announced, and I laughed.

"You were totally off last time," I reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You guessed Richie, and that was it. Please!" Mindy shot back. Ethan and Quinn froze, but I didn't think much of it.

"I learned my lesson. Never trust the boyfriend," Sam said, looking at me and laughing.

As she said that, I felt something brush against my hand. When I looked down, I saw Ethan trying to hold my hand. He made me feel so safe, but I didn't like how Sam didn't want me to trust him.

He doesn't seem like he could hurt anyone...

I smiled and held his hand. He was wearing the black ring I'd gotten him for Christmas. I looked back up, focusing again on Mindy.

"The way I see it, someone's trying to make a sequel to the requel," Mindy said. Anika raised her hand.

"What's a requel?" she asked, making Mindy look down at her.

"You're beautiful, sweetie, but let's save questions for the end," Mindy replied, and Anika nodded.

"Stab 1 took place in Woodsboro. Stab 2 took place in college," Sam pointed out, making Tara look at her.

"You think the killer's copying the movies?" Tara asked, looking at Mindy, who extended her arm toward her.

"That's one possibility! Heroes now in college? Check. Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list and body count? Check, check, check, and check," Mindy said, landing in front of Ethan, who gave her a confused look.

Ethan shook his head. "I don't like this," he muttered, making eye contact with me.

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

"Why not?" Tara asked, confused.

"It makes sense if this were just a sequel, but we're not in a sequel. Nobody makes sequels anymore—we're in a franchise!" Mindy exclaimed, throwing her arms out.

"And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise!" she added.

"Speak your facts, Mindy!" I laughed, resting my head on Ethan's shoulder. Mindy smiled before continuing.

"Rule one: Everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count, longer chases, shootouts, beheadings! You've got to top what came before to keep people coming back," she said dramatically.

"Beheadings?" Chad asked, looking up from his notebook.

"Beheadings," Mindy confirmed as he went back to writing.

"Rule two: Whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whiny, snowflake, film nerds with Letterboxd accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here," she said.