We all eventually left Sam's apartment to go back to ours. The next morning, we found out that Sam and Tara had been attacked last night by Ghostface. I was relieved when I found out they had survived the encounter; sadly, some civilians didn't. But my anxiety started to increase as I slowly came to the realization that Ghostface was back. The killer is back. As I pack my school bag, I receive a text from Mindy to meet up at the benches outside.
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I quickly ran to the friend group and sat down next to Ethan. "Okay, listen up, nerds," Mindy says after seeing me sit down. "As terrifying as this is, I'm actually glad I get the chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers, but it's fine," Mindy continues with her theories. "The way I see it, someone is trying to make a sequel to the requel," Mindy says while we all just look at each other.
"What's a requel?" Anika raises her hand, and Mindy smiles sweetly at her. "You're beautiful, sweetie, but let's leave the questions until the end," Mindy says, and Anika smiles back at her girlfriend.
"Stab one took place in Woodsboro, and Stab two took place in college." I gulped nervously as Sam mentioned this. "Do we think the killer is trying to copy the movies?" Tara asks.
Mindy answers her, "That's one possibility." "Heroes are now in college, check." She then looks towards Quinn, Ethan, and Anika and says, "Suspicious new characters were brought in to round out the suspect list and body count. Check, check, and check!" Mindy points to all of them while saying this. "I don't like this." I hear Ethan mumble.
"But it can't just be Stab two," Mindy says, making me and Tara confused. "It would make sense if this were just a sequel, but we're not in a sequel because nobody just makes sequels anymore," Mindy explains while pacing back and forth in front of us.
My leg starts to bounce, and I place my hand on it, trying to calm my nerves down. "We're in a franchise, and there are certain rules to a continuing franchise," Mindy says, and Sam mumbles. "I had a feeling," she sighs. Mindy starts to explain all the rules.
"Rule one: everything is bigger than last time. "Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count, longer chases, shoot-outs, beheadings!" Mindy explains quickly. "Beheadings?" Chad asks. "Beheadings," Mindy confirms.
"Rule two: whatever happened last time, expect the opposite; franchises only survive by sabotaging expectations. If the killers last time were whiny, snowflake-like flim-flim nerds with a letterbox instead of a personality, you can bet the opposite will be the case," Mindy explains, and I see Ethan roll his eyes.
"Rule three. No one is safe. Legacy characters can't go further at this point. Usually brought back to be killed off for nostalgia. "It's not looking good for Gale and Kirby," Mindy says. "And that's not the worst part."
Chad keeps his eyes fixed on his notebook. "This is when she tells us the worst part." Mindy explains, "The worst part is that franchises are just a bunch of installments to boost IP, which means main characters are expendable too." Putting my hand on my thigh didn't stop the bouncing anymore. I start rubbing my leg, trying to calm down. I'm expendable? Ethan looked at me concerningly but looked back at Mindy.
"Lori Strode, Nacy Thompson, Ellen Ripely, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bond-I mean, even Luke Skywalker died, so their franchises move on. This means it's not just the friend group; anyone can go. "Especially Sam and Tara," Sam and Tara stare at each other with a worried look on their faces.
"Wait, any of us? Am I in the friend group, and am I one of the targets?" Ethan starts to ask a bunch of questions, and Mindy just nods to all of them. "Am I Gonna Die a Virgin?" My eyes widened, and I covered my mouth, trying to contain my laughter. My nerves calmed down, and my leg stopped bouncing, leaving me feeling less scared. The rest just stare at him and give him a look. Ethan looks genuinely worried and scared, which makes this even funnier.
Mindy continues, "That was a weird overshare, but it brings us to our first suspect, Ethan," Mindy says, going closer to Ethan. "The shy, dorky guy who no one suspects because he's so shy and dorky," Mindy explains, and I just sigh in disagreement. "Wait, so I'm a suspect just because I'm randomly rooming with Chad?" Ethan asks. "Roomate lotteries can be juked; you could have fixed it so you can close to us!" Mindy explains, and I see Ethan roll his eyes again.
Mindy starts walking towards Quinn and says, "Quinn, the slutty roomate. A horror movie classic." Mindy says. "Sex-positive, but... thank you?" Quinn responds with a hint of confusion. "How did you roomate with Sam and Tara?" Mindy asks suspiciously. "I answered their ad online," Quinn says, making Mindy step back. "Say no more; you've already implicated yourself enough!" Mindy says. Sam defends Quinn: "It was anonymous, Mindy. Her dad is a cop too." Mindy claps back, "Which makes it more likely she's the killer because having a cop dad is a great cover. Do you not remember how these movies work, guys?" She raises her voice a bit.
"Anika," Mindy says sweetly while walking to her and blows a kiss. "Never trust the love interest," Mindy says, and Anika's smile fades. "I hate to say this, but..." Mindy turns to me and stares. I furrow my brows at her, confused about why she turned to me.
"finally, Lauren..." Mindy says this with some sadness in her voice. I slightly parted my lips and gasped softly at this accusation. "Remember what happened last time, Lauren?" Mindy asks. Flashbacks of Amber came back, and I started to breathe heavily. Traitor. Is what fills my mind. "Okay, I'm sorry about last time, but I just... I just wasn't thinking straight," I stutter, trying to defend myself. It wasn't a lie, though; I just wasn't in the right state of mind.
"Exactly, I'm not saying you meant it, Lauren. You just tend to be tricked easily," Mindy says in an attempt to make me feel better. I crossed my arms and leaned back on the bench, clearly upset. Ethan leans back too and slowly puts his arm on my shoulder. I nod to let him know I'm fine with it. Something about his touch is comforting. I sigh; my friends still think of me as a traitor and weak.
Sam breaks the silence. "So we have our rules and our suspects." Sam says as she looks back to Quinn, Ethan, and me. "Wait, what about you guys?" Ethan asks about the remaining four. "I think it's safe to rule out the four of us who went through this in Woodsboro," Mindy says, looking at me, then back at Ethan. I stare at them and scoff.
"Um, I do not agree. What if the trauma you all went through caused one of you to snap?" Quinn asks. "Yeah, not to mention you being unfair to Lauren. She's not the only one who could snap." Anika defends me, and I slightly smile. "Yeah, or the things you got from the killings made you thirsty for more. I mean, some of the theories about Sam online are..." Ethan trails off.
"Don't you fucking dare," Tara angerily says, and Ethan looks away. "She's right, though," Anika says, referring to Quinn's statement. "If we face the facts, we're all suspects," Anike says, and we all look at each other skeptically.
The tense atmosphere became too much for me to handle, so I stood up to leave. "I don't think I want to talk about this any longer. I'm going to go to class." I pick up my bag, still upset from earlier. The group just stared as I walked away. Suddenly, something softly grabs my arm from behind. I turn and see a pair of soft brown eyes looking down at me, saying, "Hey, uh, be careful, alright." Ethan tells me he actually cares, which made my heart melt. "I will, don't worry." I smiled to assure him I was okay, then he let go of my arm and I continued walking to class.
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