The Last Scream (Noah Foster/ Scream Series FF)

Chapter 3

*Vex* 

My heart completely stopped. Yeah, I had said some terrible things, but I never expected this. Not even 5 minutes after our conversation, we got a call in the classroom. What I didn't expect to hear, was that my cousin had been murdered. The first pair of eyes I met was the shocked ones of Noah. There was no sympathy, no guilt, just shocked. When he saw me, his eyes grew wider. Standing from my desk, I made my way to the commons where they were already calling for people to come sit down. I was one of them as well as half the class I had just been in. Apparently Nina had been in that class as well.

"Nina Patterson's death is a great shock. Once you've seen the grief counselor, you're free to return home. Classes will resume tomorrow." The voice over the intercom said. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair.

"This WI-FI sucks. The cops aren't saying much. Her mom found her body. The victim of foul play. I need gory details." I looked over at Jake with a glare, my thoughts jumping to a nice right hook to the face.

"Um, hello? Miss? Why am I here?" Noah called out, looking at the lady who had just passed him. A small laugh came from my lips. To think, just an hour ago we had a discussion over how we both thought Nina was a bitch- now she was gone.

"That's the 'Mandatory' part of mandatory grief counseling." Emma said, or pretty girl as I liked to call her. She sat beside me as I held my arms close to me. I wasn't even thinking about Nina, I was thinking about my aunt. How broken she must be from this, it's horrible.

"No, but seriously, I feel shock, mild interest. But not grief." I nodded a little as he shot me a small smile and a shrug. I knew, he couldn't really care. She was a bitch. Me? I had to care, she was family.

"Guys, Nina was murdered in cold blood. Do you not even care?" This girl was new, I didn't really know who she was. She sat on the other side of Jake in a different chair, her tanned arms crossed.

"It just doesn't seem real." Emma said, only for Jake to reply.

"Here we go. One of Nina's neighbors that her throat was sliced ear to ear. The press is all over this. They're playing the whole 'maybe Brandon James is back' angle." I felt anger boiling up inside me. This creep could at least show a little respect, if not for Nina for her parents. 

"Brandon James is dead." Said Emma, looking utterly mortified. Then, she stood up and left.

"Who's Brandon James?" Kieran asked, looking over at us. For the most part, he had been quiet, just like me.

"Uh, he killed a bunch of students 20 years ago. He, um... he cut some others up. This is him." Noah scooted closer into the circle, holding up his phone with a picture of Brandon James. I didn't even have to look to know what it was, I had an entire blog section dedicated to Brandon James. "Emma's dad got stabbed, he almost died. Brandon had Proteus Syndrome, like the elephant man. People say he was born a monster but I think he was bullied and beaten into one." The one girl, she looked completely entranced with Noah's story, while Kieran looked confused.

"And you know all this... why?" He asked.

"I don't know. Some guys like sports. I like serial killers and Brandon James is my Dallas Cowboys. He was a classic case of deformed kid who lived in the shed. Mom home schooled him. Dad was ashamed of him. His older brother Troy, was the only one who cared about him. Whenever he went out, he wore this post-op surgical mask. They tried to fix his face a few times. Never really worked." The Brandon James story was like a history lesson I couldn't get out of my head. I knew all about it, except one thing. Daisy. The girl he had been obsessed with.

"What made him start killing people?" The girl asked.

"Rumor is he fell in love." Daisy. "His brother said Brandon was obsessed. Wrote her anonymous love letters. Made her little carvings. Brandon found her at the Halloween dance. He got up the nerve to talk to her. It went okay at first. But then a bunch of drunk jocks jumped him. They thought they were saving her from a monster. After a lifetime of taking it, something in Brandon snapped. He killed five students by the time he was done. The manhunt ended at Wren Lake. The girl agreed to meet him. Nobody ever knew who she was." Standing up, I rushed out of the room, grabbing my things as well. I needed some air. The Brandon James story was the only serial killer backstory that ever got to me. Mostly because it really happened, someone snapped because of another person. I heard someone following behind as I walked out of the school building, headed for my truck.