DAMSEL IN DISTRESS [SCREAM 1996]

10. The Usual Suspects

Cassandra's heart pounded as she sat across from Billy in the cold, sterile interrogation room. The silence between them was thick with unspoken words and mounting tension. Billy's eyes bore into hers, a mixture of desperation and pleading.

"Cass, you have to believe me," Billy began, his voice cracking. "I didn't do this. I swear."

Cassandra's hands trembled slightly as she clasped them together on the table. "Billy, I want to believe you, but I don't know what to think anymore. Sidney is convinced it was you. The evidence.. it's all pointing to you. So, please, just start from the beginning."

Billy leaned forward, his eyes intense. "It's not me. I came right after the killer left. I was trying to help Sidney, to protect her. I wanted to see her, but the door was locked and I heard screaming."

"Sidney is staying with Tatum. How did you know she would be at her house at that moment?"

Billy hesitated, but Cassandra caught onto it.

"Billy," she urged.

"Tatum had volleyball practice so I figured I could see Sid alone for a bit."

Cassandra nodded once, a sick feeling in her gut.

It was too perfect of timing. Plus.. something deeper in her was upset that Billy wanted alone time with Sidney. But, that was another story.

"And the phone?"

"My dad bought it. He said with things being dangerous that I should be able to contact him or the police if I need to."

Cassandra tugged at her hair and stared at the table below her.

"Someone's setting me up, Cass. You know me. You know I could never do something like this."

Cassandra looked up at Billy. "The only person I truly trusted is gone now because of this masked fuck. Casey.. she didn't deserve any of this. And neither did Steve."

Billy reached across the table, his hands brushing against hers. "I know. And I want to find who did this as much as you do. But you have to believe me, Cass. I'm not the killer."

Cassandra's eyes met his, searching for any sign of deceit. She wanted to believe him, wanted to trust him. But the doubt gnawed at her, a relentless whisper in the back of her mind. She didn't trust anyone but Casey and the Beckers. It's been that way for as long as she can remember.

"Why should I trust you, Billy?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Everyone is saying it's you. Even Sidney. And she knows you better than anyone."

Billy's expression hardened, a flash of anger crossing his face. "Sidney's scared. She's confused. She's been through a lot, you know that. Whoever did this is smart, Cass. They're playing us all against each other."

Cassandra's heart ached with conflicting emotions. She wanted to trust Billy, wanted to believe that he was innocent.

"If you were in the killer's shoes.. why would you have attacked the people that were?"

"Every killer has a motive, no? Something personal to them."

She looked at Billy in the eyes. She was slowly starting to see other emotions in him than blank nothingness.

Billy didn't have a motive to kill Casey and definitely not Steve. Sidney is his girlfriend.

That eery feeling rises again. Cassandra glances to the door where Sheriff Burke was just outside. She leaned across the table, her voice so faint it almost wasn't there.

"Stu has motives," she told Billy.

"Stu?" he repeated, his voice like a shadow.

"Casey left him and moved on with Steve. Sidney comes between the two of you and him and Tatum," she explained her thoughts. "I think the killer is Stu."

Billy's eyes flickered with a dark amusement. "You know in Halloween, the killer's always someone you know. Someone close."

"Billy," she scoffed. "Jamie Lee Curtis isn't going to bust through the door and save us from this.. Ghost Face freak."

"Ghostface?" he repeated with a chuckle.

"The mask. Father Death is a bit cheesy and the asshole doesn't deserve some big title. Ghostface is kinda.. derogatory?" she said with a shrug.

Billy ran his thumb along the back of Cassandra's hand. She slowly opened her palm and let him take hold of her in full.

"I'm gonna get you out of here," she promised. "And Stu is gonna get busted."

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Sheriff Burke stepped inside. He glanced between them, his expression unreadable. "Time's up, Ms. Cantu."

Cassandra stood up, her legs feeling like jelly. Billy held on a bit tighter, squeezing her hand and then releasing it.

Billy nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "Stay safe, Cass."

Sheriff Burke opened the door and motioned for her to walk out. She does so and the Sheriff rests a hand on her shoulder as they walk down the hall.

"He's a charmer, I'll give him that," Sheriff Burke muttered.

She turned to Sheriff Burke, her resolve hardening. "But, he's not a killer. We need to find out who really did this."

Sheriff Burke nodded once. He wasn't sure on which verdict to take yet, he just knew to trust the evidence.