SCREAM

Consequences

Peyton, as you know, was not the social type. Not anymore at least. Shes stayed with her grandparents for just about a year now. Her parents and brother were killed in a head on collision with a semi-truck. She doesn't talk often and when she does, it's typically snappy. She was always inside away from danger. Scared of the outside. Scared of what could happen. Scare of herself. She wasn't the type to be seen as weak so what's a better solution than to stay inside and shut everyone out.
    Peyton was going to the fridge to get a Dr. Pepper. She opened the fridge door and reached her pale, cold hand inside it. She pulled out a soda and cracked it open. Her grandparents weren't that old, so they still had jobs. Her grandma ran bingo in the afternoons and her grandpa painted houses. She walked her way to the living room. She wanted to sit down and watch Netflix, but something felt off to her. She walked around the house and shut the bedroom and bathroom doors. She lied down on the couch and sat her soda on the coffee table in front of her. She picked up the remote and dropped it when she felt a vibration. She searched around for what she was assuming her phone. She dug her hand in the couch and when she took it out, she was holding her phone. She was barely on it anymore. However, there was a text from an unknown number. "You close all doors except the backdoor?"  It read. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she read this. She leaped up immediately. She walked around cautiously and glanced everywhere looking for a single hint of movement. She walked into the dining room. Sure enough, there was the back door, wide open. She left it that way. She didn't want to close herself in the house with the intruder. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bread knife. 
"Look man, let's be civil about this. I'm too tired for this shit." She called out with her knife gripped to her side. She stood in the kitchen. There were many words to describe what she was feeling. Some would say anxious. Others, paranoid. In a way though, she was calm. Of course she didn't want to die. However, it wouldn't have bothered her if she did. What did she have to live for anyway? Her grandparents maybe, but they'd be dead soon themselves. She got this far for a reason though, so she kept her head up. There was a knock on the door. It startled her. She stood there deciding back and forth with multiple decisions. There were many risks. If she opened it, it'd probably be the last thing she'd ever do. She walked up to her door and twisted the lock. She went into her living room and grabbed her phone off the table. She picked it up and saw a notification from Amazon. Her package had been delivered. She quickly assumed that's what was at the door. Then something else clicked. Something that sent shivers up her spine. Her phone was on the couch. Not the table. She sprinted to her front door and unlocked it. She swinged it open and kept the screen door locked. There before her was a man delivering her package. She gave a sigh to relief. She started to unlock her screen door, but it was jammed. She panicked. The mail man stood there confused. Suddenly her phone buzzed. It was a notification giving her Wi-Fi options. She was confused. She looked at the top of her phone and noticed she had no signal. She looked up and noticed a tall figure running up behind the mail man. They were holding a knife above his head. Peyton screamed trying to signal the man to turn around. He did, but not fast enough. As soon as he turned around, the knife went into his shoulder. Peyton fell backwards and watch as the figure slaughtered the man. After a few minutes, they stood up, letting the body lie there in silence. Peyton tried to get up, but she was numb. The person towered her as they looked at her through the screen door. They had a black cloak and a Ghostface mask. She pushed herself up and ran for the backdoor. She was stopped in her tracks by another figure. One slightly taller than the other. They swung their knife. It was the same one as the other one too. However, it was sharper. Peyton knew this as she felt the sharp edge of the knife go across her stomach. She fell backwards while holding her arm over her stomach. She tried to reduce the bleeding as much as she could. She dragged herself down the hallway with the little bit of strength she had left.  She crawled inside her room and slammed the door shut. In the hallway, it looked as if someone took a paint roller and rolled it down the hallway with red paint. She leaned against her door. She gazed around the room. She thought to herself, is this really the part where I die? She noticed her window that was cracked open a bit from earlier. She debated whether she was going to be able to climb through it without damaging her stomach anymore. Her thoughts were startled by the knife that was pierced through her door. Only an inch away from her face. She threw herself forward, towards her window. She climbed on her sink that was below it and lunged at it. Her upper body was out, but in pain. The agony she felt was unbearable. Something grabbed her foot. She panicked and started to kick whatever was behind her. She kicked one of them in the face. She noticed that their mask was on the floor, but she didn't waste no time trying to see who it was. She let herself fall on the ground. She lied there, ignoring all of her surroundings. She wanted peace. She saw red and blue. She saw a shining sun. She saw the green grass. Then she saw nothing.

"Hey, take it easy on the washer, will ya?" Ron said, looking confused towards Ren.
"Maybe it should work then." she said, banging her fist on the lid. She gave up and sat down against it. He looked helplessly down at her. She stared off into the opposite side of the room.
"What's bothering you?" he said, interrupting her train of thought. 
"Just thinking"
"About what?"
She shrugged and looked at him. "This whole situation. God, I can't imagine what their families are going through right now." She looked down. He sighed and looked around for a minute. Then he sat down beside her. He put his arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sure that regardless of what's going on, we'll be fine. I mean, let's be for real. What's one reason they'd want to kill us?" He said trying to comfort her.
"I don't know..."
"Yeah, didn't think you did. Now how about I help you with the washer and we watch a movie." Ron stood up and started tinkering with it more. Ren sat and bit her nails. Oh, how anxious she was.

Grace sat in her bedroom, drawing in her notebook at her desk. Her head was in the clouds. It was fuzzy up there. She hadn't talked to anyone since Koko's death. She was going to her funeral this weekend. She dragged the tip of the pencil here and there, drawing her simple little masterpiece. There was a knock on her bedroom door. Hannah and Levi just let themselves in. They had a feeling they weren't going to get an interaction out of her.
"So, you gonna talk to us or what." Hannah asked. 
"We got donuts," Levi said as he pulled donuts out of the plastic bag they brought with them. "but don't eat them all. I need to save them for the others too." Grace didn't take any interest in the donuts. Levi scoffed. "Is your dad home?" he asked Hannah.
"Oh, no. He has to drive to Georgia at six tonight.
"He still drives?"
"Apparently."
"Well, is it alright if I come hang out then?"
"I don't see why not." she said as she turned her head back to grace. "You can come if you want to. You can't deal with this alone. It'll eat you from the inside." Grace was paying attention to her sketch, giving them the silent treatment. Suddenly something sparked. She quickly set her utensils aside and pulled her laptop towards her.
"You guys are going to get a kick out of this one actually" Grace said as she opened it. Levi and Hannah were both intrigued from the sudden mood change. "Bi-polar much" Levi scoffed. Grace shushed him and then shoved her laptop in their faces.
"I did some research. This isn't the only time this has happened. By this, I mean the murders. The same Ghostface masks were left behind at scenes of murders 30 years ago. Fortunately, the murderers were caught and killed. By a survivor they say. Looks like someone came back for carnage though." She said as if she was analyst or something among those lines.
"Wait, I'm sorry... but did you say 'Murderers'? As in more than one?" Hannah remarked.
"Well, yes, I did find that odd as well. I don't have a say in it though. All that matters is that they're dead." 
"Who were the victims?" Levi asked. Grace shrugged and began to search up the victims of the slayings of Ashwood in 1994. "Nancy Jenkins, Corey Johnson, Milo Ekker. Those three were murdered. The killers were Ella Hemsworth and Christy Hemmings." Grace informed.
"I wonder if that Milo guy is related to Kai." Hannah suggested.
"Kai never told us about a murdered relative?" Levi argued.
"Who else do you know in this town with the last name 'Ekker'?" Grace asked.
"Touche." Levi said as he sat there in defeat. "I think we need to have a group discussion." Grace insisted.