UNMASKED.

chapter 14.

carter was now standing with the friend group in the lobby of gale's apartment complex, watching as the paramedics wheeled her body out on a stretcher and put her into an ambulance. even though he knew it was his sister quinn under that ghostface mask, he kept my face neutral, trying not to let his emotions show.

danny ran into the lobby, panting and looking around urgently. he spotted everyone and quickly made his way over, saying, "i got here as fast as i could."

tara eyed him skeptically and asked, "did you?" everyone else looked at danny with narrowed eyes, suspicious of his motives. danny looked at tara in confusion, taken aback by her question.

mindy spoke up, her voice trembling. "i'm scared, you guys." her eyes fixated on the ground as she expressed her fears, "i really don't want to get hurt again."

chad said, his voice cracking. "neither do i." he looked at his sister, his body shaking slightly as the memory of ghostface clearly was in his mind.

mindy turned to her brother, "i don't want you to get hurt either."

chad leaned against the wall, nodding. he gave her knee a gentle tap, reassuring her as he said, "i know."

chad asked, "so, what do we do now?"

sam spoke up, her voice filled with disappointment. "maybe he gets to win this time." she let out a sigh before saying, "he wants to punish me. me. so maybe i let him."

"i'll just... give myself up." sam looked at everyone, her eyes watering as she added, "if that's what i have to do to keep you safe. it's worth it."

"no." tara started, standing up in front of her sister. she firmly stated, "we're not doing that, sam."

she spoke, reminding her sister, "you went back to woodsboro to protect me. every single day you make the decision to protect me. none of us would even be alive if it weren't for you." tara continued, her voice sounding more determined, "you have to let us protect you this time."

sam stared at her younger sister, seeing the tears streaming down her face. she began to shake her head in denial as she said, "no..." her voice trembling slightly.

mindy suddenly stood up, joining tara. she said, "we're a team, remember."

chad jumped up, "actually, we're a family." referring to himself, tara, sam, elena and mindy. "let's go!" chad looked around the group excitedly, the others slowly standing up now as well.

"dream team, baby!" chad exclaimed, his confidence making everyone else feel more hopeful.

chad looked around the group, a smile on his face. he suggested, "core five. actually, i've got an even better name... fantastic five." with a bigger smile, he extended his hand out.

elena walked over and joined the hand pile, followed by all the others. chad grinned, "fantastic five. that's got a ring to it, right?"

danny asked confused, "fantastic what?"

chad chuckled and answered, "it's an us thing."

the mood turned serious as sam spoke, her eyes fixed on her close friends. "he's going to keep coming after us." she said.

"isn't there like somewhere safe we can just hole up in?" carter asked, causing everyone to turn to the two who had been standing off to the side.

"he's just gonna keep finding us." tara sighed.

"great." carter mumbled to himself.

"we could use that though." tara told the group.

elena looked at tara, "what do you mean?"

before tara could explain, elena guessed, "a trap?"

tara nodded and pulled out her phone, tapping on the screen and watching it ring.

tara put her phone on speaker, allowing everyone to hear both sides of the conversation.

bailey's voice came through as he asked, clearly not enthusiastic about the idea, "i'm being forced to drop the investigation, and now you want me to do what?"

tara explained her plan, "we want to lure him into a secure location and trap him inside."

bailey then questioned, "and then what?"

tara replied, "we execute him."

there was silence on the other end of the line as the group waited for a response from detective bailey.

tara asked her question, "are you gonna help us?"

"let's kill this son of a bitch." bailey said, a hint of anger in his voice. he told them he had to stay at the police station but that they could use the keys to the theater. "it's got surveillance and security cameras. we can use this against him." he then added, "i'll tell kirby to meet you there, i'll join as as soon as i can."

tara confirmed, "got it."

bailey reminded them, "remember, travel in public. more people around you, the less chance he gets to take a shot at you before you get there."