CHAPTER ONE
"Hello?" the blonde girl said into the phone.
"Hello."
She made a face. "Yes?"
"How are you?" The voice was deep, very masculine, kind of sexy.
"Uh, good? Who is this?" She knew that voice from somewhere.
"Who do you think?"
Stab.
She rolled her eyes. "Really? Ghostface? Can't you be a little more original, dude? This is Woodsboro, for Christ's sake." She put the phone down and started walking upstairs. Her house was quite large, very roomy. Her room was at the far end of the hall. It was, like the rest of the house, quite large and very roomy.
She opened her bedroom door. A dark haired girl was lounged on her bed watching Paranormal Activity 4. She looked at the blonde girl. "Who was that?"
She rolled her eyes. "Just some idiot asshole pulling a Stab prank." She walked over and sat down next to her friend on the bed.
The dark haired girl chuckled. "It's that time of year again."
The blonde rolled her eyes again. "The joys of living in Woodsboro, America's most fucked-up city."
"We aren't even a city. We're barely even a town these days. Nobody wants to live at death's door, which is basically what we are."
"I just don't get it though. The last killings happened five years ago, and a Stab movie hasn't come out since. People need to get over it. It's 2016."
The dark haired girl looked at her friend. "Vanessa, this is Woodsboro."
Vanessa sighed. "True." She noticed what was on TV. "Wendy, why are you watching Paranormal Activity? These movies are so stupid."
Wendy's mouth fell open. "They're fucking terrifying! They seem so real."
"Yeah, it's totally realistic that a bunch of pots and pans are gonna go flying across the room for no reason." Vanessa giggled as she nudged Wendy with her elbow.
"The ghosts are doing it," Wendy explained.
"Yeah, right. Please don't tell me you believe in all that bullshit."
"What bullshit?"
"You know, ghosts, goblins, demons, poltergeists."
Wendy nodded and paused the movie, sitting up on the bed. "Don't you?"
"No way. When you're dead, you're dead. End of story."
"Well where do you think your spirit goes?"
Vanessa scoffed. "You're kidding me, right?"
Wendy shook her head no.
"Wendy, your spirit just... dies. It dies with you. Your spirit is you, so when you're dead, so is it."
"Wow, it must be a lovely life just waiting to die, and that's it."
Both girls laughed. A thought popped into Wendy's head, and she stopped laughing and looked at Vanessa. "Hey, that was your landline."
Vanessa nodded. "Yeah, so?"
"You don't give your landline out to anybody. I'm fairly certain you forgot you even had the thing until it rang just now. How did whoever that was get your number?"
Vanessa frowned, thinking. "I really have no-"
The landline rang again, making both girls jump. They looked at each other before Vanessa got off the bed and headed downstairs again. She reached the phone and checked the Caller I.D. Restricted.
"Hello?"
"Hello." It was the Stab voice.
"Who is this? How did you get this number?"
The voice chuckled. "I have my ways."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Stop it, I'm being serious. Tell me who you are right now or I'm hanging up."
"Oh, Vanessa, you really don't wanna hang up on me."
"Oh, I really-" Vanessa stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait - did you just call me-"
"Vanessa?" The voice laughed. "Yes."
Vanessa started looking around. "Who is this? Noah? Todd?" She walked over to the front door and locked it.
"Oh, Vanessa, why ruin all our fun? This is only the beginning of our game."
"I don't wanna play your fucking game, I want you to tell me who this is right now!" Vanessa screamed into the phone.
The voice laughed. "You'll never live to find out."
Vanessa looked at the phone with a disgusted look on her face before hanging up. Wendy walked downstairs into the living room. "Was it him?"
"Yeah." Vanessa was still looking at the phone.
"Did you find out who he was?"
Vanessa shook her head and set the phone down on the coffee table. "No. He's a creep, whoever he is."
Wendy sat down on the couch. "What did he say?"
Vanessa shook it off. "Nothing. It's probably just one of the guys being stupid." She sat down next to Wendy and pulled out her phone. "I'm texting Noah right now to chew him out."
Wendy chuckled. Her phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her back pocket and opened the message. Her eyes widened and she gasped. Vanessa looked up. "What?"
Wendy couldn't speak. Vanessa leaned closer. "What is it?" Her eyes widened as well when she saw what was on Wendy's phone screen - it was a picture of them sitting on the couch.
Both girls jumped up and started looking around frantically. Vanessa noticed the window. "It looks like he took the picture from over here." She fastwalked over to it and looked outside, but all she saw was blackness. "Fucking creep." She yanked the shades down.
The landline rang.
Both girls looked at it. Wendy looked at Vanessa. "It's probably him."
Vanessa bit her lip and answered it. "Who the fuck is this?" she screamed.
All she could hear on the other end was heavy breathing. She looked at Wendy, her eyes wide.
"What is it?" Wendy asked. Vanessa handed the phone to her and she put it to her ear. "Hello?" she said quietly.
All she could hear was the heavy breathing for four or five seconds before the voice suddenly yelled, "Wendy!"
Wendy screamed and dropped the phone onto the floor, backing away from it. "Okay, that's not one fucking bit creepy!"
The girls could hear the voice laughing loudly. Vanessa picked the phone up and screamed into it, "Leave us alone!" She hung up and quickly took the battery out.
"What the hell are we gonna do?" Wendy asked shakily, looking all around her. "He's outside. He has to be to have taken that picture."
"I'm calling the police." Vanessa picked up her cell phone and started dialing 9-1-1, but was interrupted by a call. Restricted. She looked at Wendy. "Oh my god. I think it's him."
"On your cell?!" Wendy started crying.
Vanessa answered the call. "How did you get this number? Who the fuck is this? Tell me right fucking now!"
"Why don't you come upstairs and attempt to find out?" the voice teased.
Vanessa shook her head. "Oh, no way. You are not in my house. That is so unoriginal."
"Don't believe me?"
"No, I don't. Now leave us-"
She jumped as a loud crash was heard from upstairs. Both girls looked up, worry and fear in their eyes. The voice laughed. "Believe me now?"
Vanessa dropped her phone and grabbed her car keys. "Wendy, come on! We're leaving now!"
They started running for the door before Wendy grabbed Vanessa's arm. "Wait!"
"What?!"
"In all the Stab movies except for the third one, there are always two killers. One of them had to take that picture. What if he's still out there?"
Vanessa's mouth fell open. "What do we do then?"
The voice was laughing again. Both girls looked at the phone in disgust. "Hey Wendy, I wanna talk to you!"
The girls looked at each other. "I really don't want to," Wendy said.
Vanessa took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Look, I'm sure this is just one of our friends playing a twisted prank. Just go pick it up and see what he says."
Wendy sighed and slowly walked toward the phone. She slowly picked it up and put it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Guess what!"
She made a face. "What...?"
"You're about to become the first victim in my movie!"
Wendy grimaced. "What movie?"
"You should know. You seem to be very wise when it comes to these movies. You know all about ghosts, you know all about psychopaths..." The voice laughed. "You're quite the movie buff. Wanna answer some questions?"
"Look, this is getting really creepy and really old, so why don't you just tell us who you are? You've already scared us, now leave us alone."
"But where's the fun in that? Answer a few questions for me and I'll make your death slightly less painful."
Wendy looked at Vanessa, who was watching and listening in horror. Wendy's voice was shaking. "O-okay. What questions?"
"Name the film that originally popularized the found footage genre."
Wendy thought for a second, then responded, "The Blair Witch Project, right?"
"Correct! You just saved yourself a few stab wounds. Next question."
"Just leave us alone!" Wendy yelled, becoming hysterical. "Please!"
"Ah, ah, ah! Why would I do that? You're so much fun to play with! Next question!"
Tears were falling down Wendy's face. "Please..."
"Name the film that re-popularized the found footage genre seven years ago."
Wendy was sobbing. "I don't know. How am I supposed to know that?"
"You know this. I know you do. You were just watching one of its sequels."
The fact that this creep knew what she was just watching sent chills down Wendy's spine, but his hint helped. "Paranormal Activity."
"Right again. You're very good at this game."
"Well, I don't wanna play anymore, so please..."
"I have one more question, and I want Vanessa to answer it."
Wendy sniffled. "What? Why?"
"Just hand the phone to Vanessa," the voice ordered sternly.
With shaking hands, Wendy slowly gave the phone to Vanessa. "He wants to talk to you."
Vanessa slowly put the phone to her ear. "Yes?"
The voice was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Do you care about your best friend?"
Vanessa made a face. "What?"
"Answer the question."
"Yes, duh, of course I do. What kind of question is that?"
"Interesting. Do you care about her enough to die for her?"
Vanessa was shaking now. "What? What are you talking about? Who is this?"
"Since you're just so caring... I've decided I'm going to let you be the first victim of my movie."
"What movie?!" Vanessa was screaming.
"Think of it as Paranormal Activity 6, featuring a ghost in the flesh." The voice laughed. "A ghost face, anyway."
The voice hung up, and Vanessa looked at her phone, then at Wendy. "Oh my god, what the fuck are we gonna do? Where the hell is he?"
Vanessa's phone went off. She looked down at it - it was a Facebook video call from someone without a picture, named Ghostface. She made a face and slowly swiped the screen to answer it. The screen was black for a second, then a house appeared.
Vanessa's house.
"Let me see." Wendy moved over next to Vanessa, and they both watched as the camera moved closer and closer to Vanessa's house. Vanessa, mortified, slowly looked up at the door as it arrived just outside. A gloved hand moved toward the doorbell, and... the lights went out.
Both girls screamed. They both turned the flashlights on their phones on, shining them all around. There was the sound of someone walking around upstairs.
Vanessa grabbed Wendy's arm and whispered, "Come on, we can sneak out the back."
Wendy was still sobbing. "No, Vanessa, I can't-"
"Just come on!" She opened the video call back up to her door still. "One is upstairs, one is at the front door. We can do this."
Wendy slowly nodded, and they headed toward the kitchen. The footsteps upstairs were running, making the whole situation even eerier. After what felt like an hour, they finally reached the back door. Both girls looked out the glass door for any signs of movement. Nothing. Footsteps could still be heard upstairs, getting closer to the staircase. The video call showed that someone was still at the front door. They had no reason to believe there was anyone out back, and this was their only option.
Vanessa shakily reached down and turned the doorknob. The door creaked loudly as she pulled it open, making both girls jump. The footsteps sounded like they were running back down the hallway away from the staircase; it sounded like someone was just running around up there. Vanessa took the first steps outside, followed closely by Wendy, who, as quietly as she could, pulled the door shut. The wind was blowing, but it was warm. The night sky was clear. It would've been a pleasant evening if the situation weren't so grim.
The girls started to cross the back lawn when suddenly they heard a twig snap behind them. They stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. "Did you hear that?" Vanessa whispered.
Wendy nodded, afraid to even breathe. Both girls slowly turned around to see Ghostface standing behind them, his knife raised above them. They screamed and started to run away. He grabbed Vanessa by the arm and slashed it open. She shrieked and grabbed her arm, falling to the ground.
"Vanessa!" Wendy screamed. She picked up a branch and hit Ghostface in the back with it, knocking him over. She ran and helped Vanessa back to her feet, then both girls, screaming bloody murder, ran away from their attacker. They darted around the house as fast as they could, toward Vanessa's blue Avenger. They each got in the car, Vanessa in the driver's seat. She locked the doors as she saw a shadow growing larger and larger, running around the house. She started feeling around. "Shit!"
"What? What?!" Wendy screamed.
"I forgot my fucking keys inside!"
"Oh, no!" Wendy started screaming as Ghostface appeared outside Vanessa's window, smashing it open and grabbing Vanessa by her blonde hair. He yanked her out the window and onto the ground. He started pulling her across the lawn. Wendy was watching in horror before her window was smashed open, and ANOTHER Ghostface reached in and pulled her out as well. He brought Wendy over next to Vanessa, and she watched as the first Ghostface slit Vanessa's throat. She gasped as blood spurted out of the wound. "Vanessa!" Wendy screamed again before the second Ghostface roughly threw her on the ground.
Vanessa was looking around wildly, gasping heavily for air as Ghostface let her head drop to the ground. She looked over at Wendy, who was struggling with both of the attackers. Her vision became blurrier and blurrier, and the last thing she ever saw was both of the Ghostface's knives slashing down toward Wendy's chest.