A/N: I do not own any part of the Scream series. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson are the owners of all the original characters listed here. I respect them and they are geniuses. However, if they really had wanted to change the rules as the preview for Scre4m/Scream 4 promised us, they would have done things a bit differently. That's what I'm going to do with this story. I've tossed in a couple of my own minor characters for now, with more to come in later chapters.
I took liberties in altering the original endings of Scream 1, 2, and 4, as well as bringing in an element from 3. The changes I made involve different characters living that didn't originally, or dying that didn't originally. Just about all those changes are covered in this first chapter, and chapter two.
Jill Roberts gasped for breath when she came to in her hospital bed to find Deputy Dewey Riley standing at her side.
"Jill! You made it!" Dewey whispered excitedly, "That's all that matters."
"Trevor and Charlie, they tried to kill me," Jill whined through the pain of her mangled face, "And I heard they killed my mom," she began to cry, bringing a hand to her mouth, "And Robbie and Kirby too,"
"Shh, just try to rest," Dewey attempted to comfort her, "there is a bit of good news-sort of," he curled his lips getting lost in thought momentarily.
"Is it-is your wife...?" Jill's voice trailed off as she asked and Dewey grinned though his eyes remained dejected.
"She's gonna be fine," He assured Jill, "She's recovering."
Jill stared up at the ceiling, pondering her next words, "If I ever write a book one day, I'd want her to write it with me," She returned the officer's small smile, causing him to chuckle, "We'd be a good team with our matching wounds and all," Jill motioned to her injured shoulder, "We're survivors now," She drew in a deep breath, looking back up at Dewey, "I just wish Sidney was too."
"Jill," Dewey narrowed his eyes as he spoke, careful not to up the broken girl's hopes, "They're not sure yet, it's still touch and go. But she's in ICU!" He gave the smallest glimmer of a smile, while Jill's expression changed to disbelief, "And they think Sidney just might make it. Kirby and Robbie-they may pull through as well. Everyone's in pretty bad shape. Robbie's the worst off, with the most vital organs damaged, but he just might pull through!" His face glowed even with the odds not completely in their favor.
"What?" Jill asked, obvious disbelief in her eyes, "I-wha-," she stuttered, "But I saw trevor kill her," She insisted.
"Look, we don't know yet," Dewey continued, "But she's hanging on."
"I-I wanna see her," Jill requested.
"She's not awake yet, and she may not remember anything," Dewey warned, "You'll have to help her with that. All in time. Just get some rest now, okay?" The two exchanged more smiles, then Dewey left to let Jill relax. As soon as he walked back out into the hall Jill sat up and began removing the monitors from her fingers and chest, as well as the IV in her hand, and she hurried out the door.
"She gonna be okay?" Gale asked of Jill, when her husband returned to her room in the same wing of the hospital.
"Yeah, she's a strong kid," Dewey nodded confidently, one of the few things he knew for certain at that moment.
"She's gonna have to be," Gale observed from experience, to which Dewey smirked, raising his eyebrows in agreement.
"She asked if you were okay," He told her, "She thinks you guys should write a book together. With your matching wounds," he added with goofy eyes.
"Why, she was stabbed in the shoulder?" Gale asked
Dewey nodded.
"How did she know I was too?"
Dewey paused, bit his lip and gave a crosseyed look, followed closely by a stupid grin, "It's all over the internet, sweetie. Remember? The killers filmed all their attacks," his words calmed them both, but only for a moment. "I'm gonna go check on Sid just to be sure," his words sounded unsettling as he hobbled out of Gale's room toward the ICU, remembering how Jill had acted oddly when he mentioned Sidney just might make it.
"You just won't die, will you?" Jill growled through her dry throat less than a few feet outside the doorway to Sidney's room. She was out of breath but new she had to press on in order to keep her secret safe. Just as she neared the door however, a siren sounded, white lights blinked on and off quick and blinding enough to induce a seizure, and shouts rang out from behind her.
"What is she doing on this wing? Stop her!" A nurse yelled.
"Sid! Stop her!" Dewey's voice was the loudest among them, and Jill sank to the floor, her heart ready to burst. Her plans were rapidly disolving.
"Crash cart NOW!" Another nurse ordered.
"Grab her! Get her out of the way!" Jill wasn't listening anymore but vaguely felt herself being gripped under the arms and dragged out of the way of several nurses charging toward Sidney's room pushing a crash cart through the door.
A woman screamed when she saw Dewey draw his gun, and another nurse pressed him to put it away, "What're you doing officer? There's no need for that in here while we have people dying on their own left and right."
"This is official police business, ma'am, step aside and allow me to do my job. I need to apprehend this suspect," Dewey urged, kneeling beside the now unconscious Jill, "What'd she do to Ms. Prescott?" he asked the shocked head nurse.
"Suspect? This little thing? Why, she didn't do anything to Ms. Prescott. You've lost your mind something fierce, officer. One of mine was in checking her vitals and tipped off the alarm because she stopped breathing. Now will YOU get out of the way and let us do OUR job?" the nurse was intensely annoyed by this point.
Dewey scratched his head, looking between the nurse towering above him, and Jill Roberts motionless, pale body crumpled on the floor beside him reluctantly putting away his weapon.
"Well move it!" The nurse barked once more, "Or this one could flatline too."
Dewey stood, letting the staff tend to Jill, checking to see if she hit her head when she collapsed. Over the next several minutes he poked his head into Sidney's room piriodically to monitor her progress as the crowd of nurses worked hard to revive her. The last time he came out, Gale was rounding the corner in her hospital gown, a worried as hell look upon her face, "Dewey!" She whispered angrily at him, eyes wide, "Mind giving me a freaking update here? You just ran off and next thing I know sirens are going off," the couple limped toward each other and embraced, Gale slapping his chest lightly, clenching her eyes tight to hold back tears, "How's Sid? Did Jill-"
"Shhh," Dewey shook his head, "No, we got it wrong. Jill isn't the problem. I'm sure of it now," he paused, all breath escaping his lungs as he forced himself to finish the next sentence, while Gale peered worriedly over his shoulder, spotting an exhausted trio of nurses retreating slowly from Sidney's room, one of them removing her latex gloves, looking up at the ceiling. "Gale-" Dewey went on, "They lost her."
"No! You're lying, I can feel it. Go back in and ask again. It isn't true!" When the words left Dewey's tongue Gale instantly began bawling into his chest. He pulled her into him tighter, darting his eyes around the ICU at the people staring at them. He signaled to the head nurse he'd argued with earlier as she suddenly emerged from Sidney's room behind the others.
"Would you call her father? I'd like him notified as soon as possible-have him get in touch with me to make arrangements," he requested.
Outside in the parking lot throngs of reporters buzz before their camera crews about the hero, Jill Roberts, with no knowledge of the events taking place within the walls behind them.
2 1/2 YEARS LATER
"No way, get out" Emily laughed into the phone, "I thought she dropped off the face of the planet. She stopped talking to me probably six months ago now. Deleted me on Facebook, won't answer calls. Didn't tell me where she was moving to, the whole shebang-and she actually called you up? What'd she say?"
"Not very much. It was just a voicemail actually," Came her friend's voice from the other end of the line. "I haven't called her back. I'm not sure how to go about it. All she said was she's been thinking of me, was sorry it's been so long since we last spoke, and how much she missed the old crew. That she went through a rough time questioning her faith in God but was turning her life back in the right direction."
"Riiight," Emily rolled her eyes into the phone as she opened her fridge to retrieve a liter of Pepsi, then shut it again.
"Look," her friend said, "I know you think Christianity is just mumbo jumbo but she sounded serious and I think she needs our help. She needs someone along side her, and I won't be around this summer. Will you please just get in touch with her?"
"Sorry, but whatever gripe she has with God isn't my problem," Emily responded coldly, joining Jamie on the couch, "I was her friend. She's the one who ditched out on us, in case you don't recall. You yourself said you aren't sure how to, what was it? 'Go about calling her back'. But anyway, speaking of you not being around this summer, are we gonna see you before you take off? You know I'll cry if we don't," Emily said that last part with sarcastic sadness, and wiped a fake tear from the corner of her eye.
"Afraid not, sorry. I'm not even going to get sleep tonight, I'm so far behind on packing and I don't yet have a ride to the airport in the morning. I would need to leave before sunrise, so the only way we could make this work is if you wanted to give me a lift."
"Ah, sorry, I've got to get my beauty rest. Practice tomorrow, you know how it is," Emily sighed.
"Thought so. What are you two up to tonight though?"
"Watching a couple of the Stab movies. Only the good ones, the original trilogy. You're missing out!" Emily teased.
"No thanks," the other girl forced a small laugh, "Well, I gotta go. I'll call you from my folks' place, K Em?"
"Sure thing, sweetie, have a safe flight!" Emily ended the call, and placed her cell down, turning on the movie.
"You are so socially inept, have I ever told you that?" Jamie asked.
"What bug crawled up your butt, James?" Emily asked, giving a confused look.
"You ditz, her brother is Randy Meeks, one of the guys who got hacked to death at that university Sidney Prescott went to, and you invite her to watch a Stab marathon with us?" Jamie gave Emily a sour look, "Nice move. Anyway, she said Cameron called her?"
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Must be the pizza," Emily announced happily, rising back up off the couch to answer the door, "And yeah-strangest thing. Just left Martha a message out of the blue," She picked up her wallet on her way through the kitchen to the front door, still talking, "Something about going through a spiritual crisis or whatever. Who cares. I'm over worrying about Cameron," She tugged open the door, "Hey how much...?" She began to say but found no one there. She stepped outside on to the dark porch, looking from side to side, seeing no one. She reached a hand back inside and flicked the light switch a few times. Nothing.
"Damn bulb," she rolled her eyes, thoroughly annoyed. Just then a car door slammed at the curb and the delivery guy ran up the walkway toward her.
"Sorry about that, Miss," He laughed, "Had to grab your pasta dish from the car," he stumbled back up to the door balancing a pile of boxes in in arms.
Martha was still staring at the phone after her conversation with Emily, thinking about the last time she'd talked to her brother Randy.
"Hey sis, how's my favorite little nerd?" An extreme close up of his goatee to the bridge of his nose filled her computer screen as he adjusted the webcam perched atop his own screen, then sat down so they could see eachother.
"Oh, I'm fine...miss you lots, Randy!" a goofy, 15 year old Martha giggled childishly at her big brother, "Do you know yet if you're coming back home in the spring?"
"Uhhhh, I can neither confirm nor deny that piece of information at this point in time. Some recent developments have arisen which may require my presence here on campus," Randy replied sounding serious, "But!" he grinned, you can bet this guy's gonna make it up to you over the summer. We're going to have the most epic 2 months of your your little life so far. It'll be the summer of all summers filled with plenty of air hockey pwning, Godfather and Mad Max marathons, greasy Chinese food by the buckets AND," he rose a finger into the air, pausing to increase the suspense, "All the go carts, laser tag and banana splits you can stomach. Provided of course I can convince mom and dad to not charge me rent as they've unfortunately forewarned me they would," he spoke that last part quickly, under his breath. Martha gasped.
"There's a new lady friend in your life, isn't there, Mr.?" she asked him accusingly, though with an ear to ear smile plastered on her face.
"Why dear child, there are multiple members of the female persuasion in this stud's life," He spoke with an arrogance before finishing in a more humbled tone, "Nearly all of them just don't know it yet," causing Martha to squeal giddily once more. "What gave me away?" Randy inquired.
"It would be the only reason I could imagine you wouldn't want to come back to boring old Woodsboro for Spring break," Martha joked, rolling her eyes, "That. That, and the ugly animal growing out of your face."
"What, this?" Randy raised his eyebrows defensively, fingering his goatee, "Hey, the women folk here in college like a man with facial hair. They find it a mark of...sophistication."
"Keep telling yourself that, bro, and see how long the lucky damsel sticks around-" Martha looked over her shoulder, then back into the camera looking gloomy, "Oh fudge. Mom is insisting I help her bake goodies," she put the word goodies in air quotes and slumped low in her swivel chair, "For her stupid book club tomorrow. I hate that just because I have a vag she assumes I need to bake things, discuss romance novels or take up gardening for the sake of mother daughter bonding. UGH!"
"So ignore her," Randy suggested, "She'll get the message.
"No. She won't," Martha turned in her seat again, shouting "Yes, mother! I'll be there in a sec. Webcamming with Randy right now," She turned back to face him and muttered, "It wouldn't be so bad if their club actually read something decent for a change."
"Ah, now there's a woman after my own heart," Randy laughed, "If only we weren't related and were twins. Wait-" He replayed that last statement in his mind.
"Ew, gross!" Martha wrinkled her nose.
"I didn't mean it like that, Marty," Randy struggled to claw himself out of the hole he'd dived into, "I meant if we were the same age-"
"You're such a dude sometimes," she sighed.
"So are you, Ms. Warcraft!"
"Whatever," She stuck her tongue out playfully, "I do need to go though. Next week, same bat-time?"
"Same bat-channel," Randy finished the thought, "Hey sis...I love you, Marty. Say hi to mom," there was a sense of urgency in his voice that Martha did not pick up on, distracted by her mother's further pestering.
"Night!" She waved, "I'M COMING! Jebus Cripes," she groaned and Randy chuckled before both their screens went black.
Next week never came, not for Randy at least. Nor did that epic summer of summers. Martha hadn't even said she'd loved him before clicking the disconnect button, and it ate at her often.
Snapping back to the present, Martha set down her cell and looked at her bedside clock, noting that it was 8:03 PM.
"Shoot! I'm late! Where is it?" She spun around eying every corner of her bedroom and raced down the hall to the couch where her laptop sat open, jumping beside it, pulling on her headset mic, and logging into Skype, then clicking on the contact called 'RIPOlivia4Ever', who accepted the call and seconds later Kirby Reed and Jill Roberts appeared on the screen side by side smiling back at her.
"We were beginning to wonder if you'd show up, Missy! You're never late," Kirby observed.
"Sorry y'all, got tied up on another call and lost track of time. How are you?" Martha waved at the other girls.
"Excited to finally meet you face to face tomorrow!" Jill chimed gleefully.
"I know, right? And I'll be in town for your birthday, Jill. I'm so stoked. It's just a shame it's taken so long for us to make it happen. So you're sure you can meet me at the airport so early in the day?" Martha asked.
"Yes, for the billionth time, quit being such a spaz!" Kirby promised, "We're just as pumped to see you as you are us, no sweat. We'll be there,"
"Great, I really appreciate that what with not having any real ties there anymore. Hey listen, speaking of which do you mind if I do a little packing while we talk?"
"Of course, go for it," Jill nodded.
"Thank you. I haven't been too great at managing my time lately. I'm so scatterbrained."
"Spaz," Kirby winked.
"Oh shove it, sister," Martha feigned a dirty look, "I'll show you spaz when I come to town!" They all laughed. Martha stood from the couch holding the laptop and returned to her room where she set it on her desk, "I can't stay on long, FYI. I still need to run down to the laundramat and pick up a load of clothes. My dryer is on the fritz still."
"Bummer," Kirby frowned, "That's perfect though, Jill and I still need to get dolled up. We have another charity dinner to host.
"Ohhh! Lucky ducks. Where's this one at?" Martha asked as she streched her mic chord as far as it would go so she could simultaneously throw things in her suitcase propped open on the bed while chatting.
"The Flamingo Confrence Resort-" Jill beamed.
"And Spa!" Kirby butted in.
"Yes, of course hun," Jill rolled her eyes, "Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa. In Sanoma."
"Wine country!" Kirby again.
"Would you cool it?" Jill laughed
"A spa?" Martha's eyes grew wide as she stole a glance back at the screen, "I'm so jealous I haven't been able to partake in all the festivities so far. I can't wait to live it up when I get there."
"Yeah, that's right be jealous," Kirby posed dramatically, cocking her head to the side and wagged her finger, "We're total fucking rock stars from Mars now. But Jill here has been the one to have the most fun. I can only stay one night. I've got class after we kidnap you when you land while you both get to enjoy the aforementioned spa to the max.
"That's right," Jill clapped, "We're gonna have so much fun. I'll make it up to you for the other dinners and galas you missed."
"I get to go to this one?" Martha's face lit up even more than before.
"Yep," Jill nodded, "It was supposed to be a surprise but Dufus number two here spilled the beans."
"Why am I dufus number two?" Kirby moped, "Why do you get to be dufus number one?"
"You are mistaken, Robbie is Dufus number one," Jill corrected her, "I on the other hand am not a dufus. I'm the brains of this operation. Along with Martha of course."
"Aw, you're such a sweetie," Martha gave a soft smile as she folded a jacket and placed it in her suitcase, "I'm so glad we connected despite the circumstances. We make such a great team. You youngins would have made Randy and Sid so happy, coming up with such an amazing organization to reach out to others touched by murderer psychos. So, I was thinking about a new logo by the way," She started to say but stopped, staring blankly at the girls on the screen, as if she were looking past them.
"Something wrong?" Jill asked, concerned. Martha said nothing for a few seconds, and Kirby shivered, feeling a strange chill run through the room.
"Sorry," Martha shook her head, "Spaced out there for a second. Hang on," she took off her headphones and the girls heard her faintly say, "Where is it?" as she disappeared on the ground to the right of their screen behind her bed at the far wall.
"She's so cute," Kirby observed. The girls watched as Martha's closet door to the left on their screen suddenly but slowly fell open and Ghostface's mask appeared amongst an otherwise black rectangle surrounding it.
"Holy fuck," Kirby's heart stopped, "Do you see what I see?"
"She must be joking with us," Jill uttered quietely. At that moment they spotted movement below the white mask, something shiny. A knife.
"MARTHA!" Both girls yelled in unison into their webcam's mic.
"Martha get the fuck up!" Jill yelled.
"Martha stood up from behind the bed smiling proudly, holding up a digital camera and it's charger. She noticed the girls frantic motions and returned a bewildered look. By the time she figured they were instructing her to look to her side, she glanced across the room to her bedroom door near the closet door. Ghostface's mask was no longer there on the girls' screen, just the dark of the closet but still they persisted. Martha walked around her bed and sat at the desk, once more pulling her headphones on. With her body in front of the camera, the closet was no longer visible.
"What're you two going on about?"
"Look behind you in the closet!"
The light in Martha's room went out, leaving the room completely black, save for the light of the computer barely illuminating Martha's face to the girls.
"What the heck?" Martha yelped at the sudden darkness, and a moment later disappeared with a loud yelp. The girls remained quiet, their faces pale as they listened to more of Martha's muffled cries, and rustling around the room, along with the very slight occassional sound of metal.
Silence.
Ghostface's grainy image appeared at the desk out of the darkness. The girls were able to just barely make out the gloved hands picking up the headphones and putting them on. That all too familiar, eerie voice followed.
"Jill, Kirby. It's nice to see you alive and well again. Healed up quite nicely from the last time you saw this face, Haven't you? Shame that'll be changing in the not so distant future."
"What the fuck do you want?" Jill screeched into the mic.
"Secrets, secrets are no fun," came the reply, beginning as a whisper, growing progressively louder, "Secrets, secrets hurt someONE!" Ghostface ended with a growl, then disappeared back into the darkness.
"What have you done with Martha? She didn't do shit to you, you dickless faggot!" Kirby snarled, outraged. A moment later the light turned on, revealing a blood drenched room. Red was splattered all about the walls, the desk, floor, and bed, the sheets of which had now been thrashed about, the suit case gone, replaced by Martha's body, sprawled on her back. Nearly naked now, she lay, intestines spilled out beside her much in the way Olivia had been found. Her face fell to the side, blood stained lips, and her eyes buldging as she coughed signalling there was still life left in her, her stare piercing a hole into the minds of her terrified spectators. The lights went out once more.
"I'll be seeing your insides real soon," Ghostface hissed before disconnecting.
Kirby finally broke the silence, asking in a shaky voice, "What are we supposed to do now?"
"I don't know..." Jill stared, horror on her face.
"God-Jill?" Kirby looked down at the floor where a puddle of pee was leaking from Jill's sweatpants.
A/N: So to recap, Kirby, Jill, and Robbie are alive. Please review!