Scream VII

Breaking Down

It was almost 8 o'clock by the time the funeral service finally came to an end. Three hours had passed since the final goodbyes were said to Tara, dragging the service out for eternity and by the time it ended, the sun had disappeared behind thick storm clouds. Dark and stormy, volatile and moody, heavily mirroring the tumultuous condition of the remaining three members of the Core Four.

Mindy sat behind the wheel of her car with a tense grip on the steering wheel, while Chad slumped in the passenger seat, staring out the window with a distant look. Sam sat in the back, silent and sullen with red-rimmed eyes. Tara's absence hung heavy in the air the further they drove away from the cemetery.

All of their faces showed the heaviness of that grief, the swirling impulses within.

But Mindy couldn't contain her thoughts any longer. "I used to think I could predict these movies," she said with a hint of bitterness. "But now, the more this happens, the more I realize I don't know anything."

"Mindy..." Chad sighed, reaching out to comfort her. But she pulls away.

"I can't solve it, I can't make it stop," she continued.

"Please just stop, Mindy. Stop it. I don't wanna hear about that shit, not now."

"Well, 'that shit' is the reason why we're still here right now. That's why we need to do something about this. Can we agree on that, at least?"

He can. Despite a moderate groan, he nodded reluctantly, knowing there was no use arguing with Mindy when she was like this. Chad leans away from her slightly, his own face drawn with sadness and exhaustion. He shook his head, silently pleading for her that she'd stop talking about it.

Sam still had not said a single word from the backseat, uncharacteristically so.

By the time they turned onto the street, an unfavorable sight was seconds out from greeting them: media outlets. Sam could see a line, a bee-like swarm of cameras and microphones blocking the entrance to the Meeks-Martin house. The lawn was full of reporters scurrying around, shouting questions, and clicking their cameras before they saw the car pull up to the sidewalk. Immediately, sudden flashes of light through the front and side windows startle all of them as multiple photographers crowd the car, jostling for position left and right.

"Oh my god....", Mindy mutters under her breath through gritted teeth, her grip around the wheel tightening up again to bottle up her outrage. However, Sam and Chad were much more vocal about their displeasure.

"Get the fuck out of here!"

"Assholes!"

This was exactly what Sidney had warned them about - a full-blown media frenzy. A frantic, frenetic circus.

Quickly, they all pile out of the car, spilling onto the pavement and scrambling, each one racing and power-walking towards the front door or, in Chad's case, awkwardly shuffling to the door with his cane. Camera flashbulbs and microphones were shoved in their faces still, while reporters yelled out questions, some of which were insensitive. Sam, Mindy, and Chad could feel the heat of cameras on their faces as they hurried inside, eager to escape the invasion of privacy.

But as Chad and Mindy hurried inside, Sam....Sam didn't enter.

Instead, she turns back to the hoarding crowd, ready to tear into everyone. Fists clenched at her sides, she opened her mouth to speak...but suddenly, she loses her nerve. She freezes.

The requests for comments are coming in fast and furious as cameras continue to click; the noise and attention overwhelm Sam, causing her body to tremble uncontrollably and break out in a cold sweat. She couldn't do this.