Echoes of the past

A Mother's Warning

Eve sat on the edge of her bed, her phone clutched tightly in her hand, replaying the events of the night over and over in her mind. The police had come, questioned everyone, and taken Jake's body away. Lila hadn't left her side, though she was still shaken and barely able to form a complete sentence. The Ghostface costume—this had to be some kind of sick joke, right?

But Eve knew better. She had grown up in a house where horror stories weren't just tales told to scare kids—they were real. Her mother had been through it all, and now Eve was living in that nightmare herself.

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Sidney Prescott walked into the room, her face etched with worry. Eve didn't need to see her expression to know what she was thinking. Sidney's eyes darted toward the open laptop on Eve's desk, where local news outlets were already spinning stories about the "Ghostface return."

"Are you okay?" Sidney asked softly, though her voice held an edge of panic.

Eve took a deep breath and nodded, though the truth was she felt like her insides were twisted into knots. "Mom... it wasn't a prank."

Sidney's face hardened. "I know."

There was a heavy pause between them, the air thick with unspoken fear. Sidney had spent Eve's entire life trying to keep her safe, shielding her from the reality of Woodsboro's bloody past. But some things couldn't be avoided forever.

"It's happening again," Eve said quietly, the weight of her words sinking in.

Sidney moved closer, kneeling in front of Eve and taking her daughter's hands in hers. "Listen to me," she said firmly, her eyes locking onto Eve's. "This is not your fault. It's not your responsibility. I've been through this before, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Eve squeezed her mother's hands, the comfort of her touch grounding her for a moment. But it wasn't enough to shake the dread coiling in her chest.

"Why now?" Eve asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why is this happening again?"

Sidney didn't answer right away. Her gaze dropped to the floor, as if searching for something that made sense. "I don't know," she admitted finally. "But I'm not going to let this spiral out of control like it did before."

Eve nodded, but the feeling of dread only deepened. This wasn't the first time Sidney had faced down a Ghostface killer, and Eve had a horrible feeling it wouldn't be the last.

The next day, Eve and Lila walked through the school hallways, which buzzed with anxious energy. The attack at the party had already spread through town like wildfire. Everyone was talking about it, their voices tinged with a mix of excitement and fear.

Lila still hadn't recovered fully from the shock. "It just doesn't make sense," she muttered, shaking her head as they made their way to class. "Who would do something like this? And why go after Jake?"

Eve didn't have an answer. She kept replaying the messages she had gotten in her head, trying to make sense of it. Whoever had sent them knew her name. They were targeting her, just like her mom had been targeted all those years ago.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and Eve flinched. Pulling it out, she was relieved to see it wasn't from the same unknown number—it was Noah.

Meet me in the library after class. I have something you need to see.

Eve frowned, showing the message to Lila. "Noah. I guess he has some theory?"

Lila rolled her eyes. "Of course he does. The guy lives for this stuff."

Eve wasn't sure if Noah's obsession with the Ghostface murders was comforting or unsettling, but he seemed to be the only person who had even the slightest idea of what was going on.

After school, Eve and Lila headed to the library, where they found Noah huddled in the back corner with a stack of books and articles in front of him. He looked up when they approached, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"You're not going to believe this," Noah said, leaning in conspiratorially. "I've been digging through old case files, articles, everything. The original Ghostface murders—they're connected to something bigger. Whoever's doing this now? They're copying the past, but there's something new."

Eve's heart sank. "What do you mean, 'something new'?"

Noah glanced around, making sure no one was listening, and then pulled out a printout of an article from over twenty years ago—an old report on the Woodsboro killings, with a photo of her mother on the front page.

"I think they're going after people connected to the original survivors," Noah said quietly, his tone grim. "Your mom. Gale. Dewey. You."

Eve's mouth went dry. "Why?"

Noah shook his head. "I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out."

Lila shifted uncomfortably in her seat, casting a worried glance at Eve. "So what now? Are we just supposed to wait for whoever this is to come after us?"

"No," Noah said firmly. "We fight back. We find out who's behind this before they get to you."

The words sent a shiver down Eve's spine. Her entire life, she had known about the horrors her mother had faced, but now she was in the center of it. The reality of her situation was settling in, and it terrified her.

"I need to talk to my mom," Eve said, standing up abruptly. "She needs to know everything."

Lila stood with her, looking just as shaken. "We'll figure this out, okay? We're not going to let this happen again."

Eve nodded, though deep down, she wasn't sure if any of them had a choice.

Later that evening, Eve sat at the kitchen table, across from her mother. Sidney was calm, but Eve could see the tension in her shoulders, the way her fingers clenched around the mug of tea in her hands.

"You need to leave Woodsboro," Sidney said finally, her voice low but firm.

Eve blinked, taken aback. "What?"

Sidney looked her daughter dead in the eye. "I don't care where you go—just get out of here. Leave town. They're coming for you, and I can't... I can't lose you."

Eve shook her head. "I'm not leaving you, Mom. I'm not running away."

Sidney's voice trembled. "You don't understand. I've lost so many people because of this. You don't know what it's like to live in fear every day."

Eve's chest tightened. "I do know. I've lived with it my whole life."

Sidney looked down, her resolve wavering. "We have to be careful, Eve. This isn't over."

Eve nodded, gripping her mother's hand. "I'm not going anywhere, Mom. We'll face this together."

Chapter 3: The First Strike

Eve was starting to feel like she was being watched everywhere she went.

At school, in the halls, in the town square—every glance, every whisper seemed to be directed at her. It didn't help that she had become the center of attention since the party. People who had never spoken to her before were suddenly interested in her life, asking questions, offering sympathy. And then there were those who were outright scared to be near her, like she was somehow tainted by the Ghostface legacy.

But that was the least of her problems.

The real fear came late at night, when the house was quiet and dark. It came in the form of nightmares—visions of a masked figure lurking in the shadows, of her friends bleeding on the ground, of her mother screaming as Ghostface lunged at her.