𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒. [J. FITZGERALD] COMPLETED

ONE | cant trust

Nina Patterson was dead.

In Scarlett's head she was thinking that Nina was asking for it, but that made her regret those thoughts immediately after. There was other thoughts in her head that it was Audrey because of the viral video that had gone up only hours before Nina's death, but Scarlett knew Audrey, she wouldn't hurt anyone.

"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."

"This wi-fi sucks," Jake sighs, his eyes trained on his phone, as Scarlett glanced every once awhile at his phone. "the cops aren't saying much. 'Her mom found her body, the victim of foul play.' I need gory details!"

"Um, miss?" Noah asked the woman passing behind him, trying to get her attention. "Miss, why am I here?"

Emma glances at him with concern. "That's the 'mandatory' part of grief counseling."

Noah rolls his eyes slightly, crossing his arms. "No, but seriously, I feel shock, mild interest, but not grief."

"Guys, Nina was murdered in cold blood. Do you not even care?" Scarlett glanced at her best friend, and suddenly felt sad for her. She herself wasn't experiencing a lot of grief, but Riley was.

Emma sighs, shaking her head. "It just doesn't seem real."

"Here we go, one of Nina's neighbors tweeted that her throat was sliced ear to ear." Scarlett cringed physically, she hated when someone explained pain to the body, even if it just a broken bone or a shot. "The press is all over this. They're playing the whole, 'Brandon James is back,' angle."

Scarlett tensed up at the name. Emma sighed also, "Brandon James is dead." Emma stormed off after that, leaving the rest of them sitting there in awe.

"Who's Brandon James?" The new guy, Kieran, asked, who was sitting next to Riley. Noah glanced at Scarlett, as if asking permission to tell the whole story, to which she nodded.

"Uh, he killed a bunch of students twenty years ago. He um," Noah stopped, standing up and sitting in the chair in front of Kieran, "he cut some others up. This is him." Noah showed a picture of Brandon before talking again. "Scarlett's mom was a student too, who almost died because a stab wound, along with Emma's Dad. They were the only survivors. Four years later when Scarlett was born, her mother killed herself because she couldn't get over the traumatic experience. Anyways, Brandon had Proteus Syndrome, like the Elephant Man."

As Noah talked, Jake caught himself again staring at Scarlett, hoping she wouldn't break down in that very chair next to him from the story, but she didn't, and he also caught himself saying I love you to her in his own mind, knowing he wouldn't actually say it in reality.

"People say he was born a monster, but I think he was bullied and beaten into one." Noah says, and Kieran's face grows confused.

"And you know all this, why?"

"I don't know," Noah mumbles, shrugging his shoulders. "Some guys like sports, I like serial killers. And Brandon James is my Dallas Cowboys."

"He was a classic case of the deformed kid who lived in the shed. Mom homeschooled 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."

"What made him start killing people?" Riley asked, interested into the story just as much as Noah loved telling it.

"Rumor is he fell in love. His brother said Brandon was obsessed. Wrote her anonymous 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 Brendon just snapped. He killed five students by the time he was done. The manhunt ended, at Wren Lake. The girl agreed to meet him, but nobody knew who she was."

* * *

Scarlett dressed in a black dress that was tight on top and flowing from the waist down, her hair was down and she had a dark red lipstick on. She was on her way to Brooke's party, and she wasn't very excited.

"Where are you going?" Her dad asked as she walked down the stairs and walked into the living room.

"Brooke's party." She shrugs, grabbing her black flats, not feeling like wearing heels at that moment.

Her dad stood up from the couch, standing by her. "You know I don't want you out after what happened to Nina."

"I know dad, but I won't be alone at all. The party is full of my friends, and even right now I won't be alone cause Jake is picking me up-"

"Jake is picking you up? No, I'm driving you or you're not going." Her dad shrugs, crossing his arms.

Scarlett sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "Dad, why don't you like Jake? When you look past all the smart remarks, he's a good guy."

"I don't trust him, Scarlett."

Scarlett's phone buzzed, which she glanced down and saw a text from Jake, saying he's here. "Dad, he's here. I can't blow him off now. I gotta go." She smiles innocently, kissing her dad on the cheek. "Love you."

She rushed out of the house quickly, locking the door before hoping into Jakes car. "You're about fifteen minutes late." Scarlett smiles at him as she buckles her seatbelt.

"Can't rush The Jake."