𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙈 𝙄𝙑

chapter 4 - punish the guilty.

the morning after raphaels death, the school had been completely closed due to him being killed inside there. the group hadn't said a word to eachother since they all saw the video, daria had invited serenity and maisie over just to make her feel better.

daria was sitting at the table with kym and xander as they were talking, "i uh..invited maisie and serenity."
kym and xander look at eachother and look back at daria as xander asks, "daria, do you really think thats a good idea?" daria asks, "what do you mean?" kym chimes in, "daria..your friend was just killed, and you know what happened to-" daria cuts kym off, "yes mom, i know what happened to you guys."
kym sighs, "we just want you to be more safe." daria responds, "i am being safe, is it so bad i just want to have two friends over?" kym replies, "after your friend was just killed? you really want to trust your friendgroup?" daria sighs, "look mom, just because that happened to you..doesn't mean it's gonna happen to me, i'm not you." xander chimes in, "hey, don't talk to your mom that way." daria rolls her eyes, "god..fine, i'm sorry." kym and xander both look at daria as they hear knocking at the door.
"that's the girls." daria says as she gets up and walks to the door. she opens the door and lets them in, they all walk off into darias room and kym and xander watch them leave. kym sighs, "god, i don't know what to do with her sometimes." xander rubs her shoulder, "she's just going through a lot right now, hon." kym nods, "i know, it's just..i don't want her to have to go through the same thing we did." xander nods as he holds kym close. kym then asks, "did you tell maia?" xander responds, "yeah, she said she sends her love." kym smiles slightly hearing that.

the girls all walk into darias room and they all sit on her bed, they don't really know what to say until maisie breaks the silence, "..did you tell you parents, daria?" daria shakes her head, "no, after last night and everything..i couldn't bring myself to do it." serenity responds, "you have to tell them, they could help us get out of this maybe..because if people were to find out we did this, my whole reputation would be ruined." maisie and daria both look at serenity as she continued, "what? just because we accidentally made a mistake doesn't mean we should have to have our lives ruined because of it." daria speaks up, "i'm just scared of what the person is capable of doing to us if they did that to raphael, and especially knowing my family's past..and i know i said i try to distance myself from that, but i don't know now." maisie rubs her shoulder, "hey, it'll be okay." daria smiles slightly, "thanks you guys, it really does mean a lot with you two coming here." both girls smile slightly as serenity says, "we can't really not be there for eachother..i mean, we committed a huge crime together." maisie asks, "can we not bring that up-?" serenity chuckles, "sorry."

we go to a different house and see steven, rio, and ryan. they're all talking about what happened when steven asks, "what kind of sick fuck could do this?" rio shakes his head, "clearly someone who knows, and is pissed because of it." ryan then asks, "is there anyone you guys think maybe could've done it?" both rio and steven think before rio speaks up, "what if daria is doing this?" steven and ryan both look at rio weirdly as he continues, "just think about it. with her whole family stuff, would it be that crazy for her to just..snap?" steven and ryan both think before ryan chimes in, "..that does make some sense." steven shakes his head, "daria might be messed up because of that stuff, but she's not a killer." both guys look at steven then look back at eachother.

we then see a town park, we see brandon, renae, and carmen. they all are talking about what happened when renae brings up, "hey..wait, wasn't raphael talking about going to the police when we all were in the group?" brandon and carmen think back as brandon responds, "holy shit, yeah..he did." carmen then asks, "so what? we think someone in the group did this?" renae responds, "i mean..it wouldn't be too shocking, we are friends with daria." carmen asks, "but what does that have to do with anything?" renae replies, "uh hello? everything, her parents almost got murdered like three times. it's really fucked up." carmen asks, "so like..is someone in the group trying to replicate it or something?" renae responds, "i don't know, maybe." brandon shakes his head, "babe, do we really have to jump to that conclusion?"
renae looks at brandon, "brandon. if our friend just got murdered..yeah, we do." brandon sighs as he sits back against a tree, "this is not what i needed at the moment." carmen chuckles, "what? is a murder spree really messing with you that badly?" she teases. brandon rolls his eyes, "just so you're aware..it's our friend group thats in the middle of this murder spree." carmen stops, "okay, now you got me worried." brandon scoffs as renae rests her head against his shoulder.

the group all go to their own homes, once it's late at night..they all hear a chime come from their phone, as they all grab their phones and look. yet again, it's a text in the group chat..from johns number again, "good liars let's see how long you all can live through this to see the day you all pay." they all look at the text, feeling very much on edge..and how the person even is texting from johns number in the first place..