Alive >> Jake Fitzgerald << Scream

Fifteen.

"My Dad's got index cards." Brooke scoffed, "How could there be talking points today?"

Riley's death had hit all of us hard. Brooke coped with her sadness with anger, Emma coped with her sadness through talking about it, Noah was in denial, both Jake and Will tried to stay strong for everyone else, but I had seen Jake cry over Riley's death so I knew he wasn't really strong, he was acting that way for everyone else.

Whilst I?

I shut my feelings off. I let the numbness take over. I closed myself off from any possible feelings.

"There isn't." I rolled my eyes, "I guess he's just trying to give this freak show of a town a feeling of normality."

My eyes scanned the room, from Audrey and Brooke to the left of me and over to Emma on my right, from Mayor Maddox stood at the speaking podium over to Jake and Will sat behind me.

"Hey..." Will whispered, "what do you think they're gonna talk about?"

"Riley's death. Everyone else's deaths. How much of a psychopath Tyler supposedly was. All of the above."

"Good morning my friends!" Mayor Maddox spoke before Will could answer, "I know that we're all still reeling from the events of the last few days."

Jake leaned forwards in his seat to whisper to me, "Yeah, no kidding."

I shot him a small smile.

"And the loss of our community is something that we will be feeling for years to come." The loss of our community? More like the loss of our best friends, "Sheriff Hudson?"

I sat up straighter in my seat at the sound of my father's name, everybody in the room, including myself, was eager to hear what he had to say.

"I know there are a lot of, uh, rumours floating around, and I'm here to tell you what we know. A few nights ago it appears that Tyler O'Neill attacked Riley Marra outside the sheriff's station and soon after fled the scene. Riley died of her injuries before paramedics could arrive. Now, security footage shows that her assailant was wearing the same mask as the person who murdered Nina Patterson." He paused for a moment to take a breath, that moment lasted forever, "That same mask was found in the wreckage of Tyler's car. Our ME is running forensic tests to confirm that the body found in the car is in fact that of Tyler O'Neill's, but I am confident we've got our man. It's over."

"Queue creepy text saying it's not over until I say it's over." Jake said sarcastically, I let out a laugh, it was the first time I'd laughed since Riley's death and it felt good to feel so carefree, it felt good to be happy for once, but then the pain crept in and that moment of feeling so carefree drifted away from me like a boat on the ocean, and I was left feeling empty.

I think that was the moment I realised why I'd become so close to Jake all of a sudden, it was because, above all else...

He made me happy.

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"What are you doing with that hammer?"

"Killing you of course." I rolled my eyes, "No, I'm putting up pictures."

"Why?" Kieran asked

"So I don't forget their faces." I let out a unsteady breath, "The faces of friends who died. One photo for each person and then a group photo, so I can remember when we were all together."