Masks / Scream

Gory Details

"Cavemen made fires. Those fires cast shadows, and those shadows created fear."

I was playing with my pen, not bothering to listen to whatever Mr. Branson was talking about.

"Men have been assessed with scaring each other ever since," he finished.

"Miss Fitzgerald?"

I immediately dropped the pen and my head perked up.

"Would you please tell us which genre The Castle of Otranto originated from?"

I looked over to Riley, who mouthed, "The gothic genre"

I confidently stated, "The castle genre."

Some people giggled, and I looked over to Riley, who had her head in her hands.

My cheeks burned when a voice I had never heard called out, "The gothic genre."

I turned around to see where the new voice came from to see a boy I had never seen before smiling at me from his seat in the back. I returned the smile and turned back around.

"Thank you," Mr. Branson nodded at the boy.

Brooke leaned over and whispered, "His names Kieran. He's new. Moved here from Atlanta."

I nodded and slightly turned around to catch another glimpse. He was still smiling at me. Odd.

"Guys, look, I get it. Nobody wants to sit around reading 500 dusty pages about monks and curses. But nobody's forcing you to watch The Walking Dead."

Jake's hand shot up. Oh God.

"Is The Walking Dead on the mid-term?"

I rested my head in my hand and hoped my brother would stop embarrassing me.

"Zombies aren't literature, Jake," Emma said rolling her eyes before looking over to me and sarcastically rolling her eyes. I smiled.

"Why not?" Kieran asked.

Mr. Branson agreed, and added, "Kieran's right. Gothic genre is everywhere on TV nowadays."

I was not interested.

"You've got American Horror Story. Bates Motel, Hannibal," he listed.

Then, the infamous Jake decided to call out some more. "What about Texas Chainsaw or Halloween?"

"Those are slasher movies," a voice I hadn't heard too often enthusiastically stated.

I looked over to see Noah Foster.

"You can't do a slasher movie as a TV series."

Jake looked uninterested.

"Why?" I asked. His eyes flickered over to mine.

"Think about it. Girl and her friends arrive at the dance, the camp, the deserted town - wherever it is. Killer takes them out one by one"

He was really into this.

He went on, "90 minutes later, survivor girl is sitting in the back of the ambulance while her friends bodies are being wheeled past on stretchers."

He was a strange kid, but I couldn't help but be lured in by his words.

"Slasher movies are fast. TV needs to be stretched out," he added. Still looking intently into my dark brown eyes.

"By the time the first body is found, it's only a matter of time before the bloodbath commences."

-

"Ugh!" Jake exclaimed. I looked up at him, he was trying to do something on his phone.

He noticed my eyes on him. "This wifi sucks!"

I tried to smile. Everything felt numb though.

"The cops aren't saying enough. Mom found her body. Victim of foul play," Jake continued. Speaking to no one in particular.

"I need gory details."

I finally found my voice again. "Jake not now." I placed my hand on his arm and he stopped.

I then went back to staring blankly at the tile floor beneath us. I was sitting in a chair between Jake and Will, waiting to see the grief counselor.

Nina was dead.

-

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter is a little bit short. If you read it then thank you so much, I really appreciate it! I'm on summer vacation so I will posting lots of chapters. Thank you again for reading if you did!

- Emma 💘😇