Chapter 4

The lunch bell rang.

The police were halfway finished with their interrogating, and they all got their own table in the cafeteria. Most of the students didn't eat in the cafeteria anyway.

The majority of the kids at Woodsboro High ate their lunch outside in the huge courtyard.

It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky, and the courtyard was full of high school students, some sitting in the grass, some at tables, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what everyone was excitedly talking about.

Casey and Steve's brutal demise was all there was to talk about, especially in a small, quiet town like Woodsboro.

Sidney walked out into the courtyard from inside the school, carrying her sack lunch that she had packed that morning.

She didn't have that much of an appetite, but maybe she could just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Sidney glanced around at her surroundings. The courtyard was a big arena for kids to just come and talk, eat, or just throw a football back and forth in between classes.

There were a few picnic tables under the shade of trees, a gazebo, and all of the paths came together to a large fountain that served as the centerpiece.

Sidney sat down at the edge of the fountain, and ran her hand through the water, feeling the light mist on her face from the jets of water shooting up into the air.

Just then, Principal Himbry came over the intercom after a shrill beep and static.

"Attention students, after lunch, interrogations will continue. The police are issuing a curfew tonight at 9 PM, and students are encouraged to return home promptly from school grounds. Avoid strangers, and walk in large groups. Your principal loves you, and I, and the rest of the faculty, want you to be safe,"

"There's creepy Mr. Himbry, being the father that I never wanted," said a familiar voice.

Sidney looked up to see Billy sitting down beside of her on the edge of the fountain.

He was wearing a grey sweater and jeans, and his dark hair was neatly slicked back.

"Hey," Sidney said softly, turning to face him.

"You alright?" Billy asked, his eyes growing wide with concern.

"Yeah… just a little shaken up," she said.

"I don't blame you. Do you want to talk?" Billy asked.

Just as Sidney opened her mouth to speak, Billy glanced over and saw Tatum and two other friends of theirs coming towards them from across the courtyard.

"Well, so much for alone time," Billy sighed.

"Hey, kiddo," Tatum said, perching on the side of the fountain beside Sidney.

Tatum's boyfriend, Stu Macher, sat down beside Tatum and draped his arm around her shoulder.

Stu's real name was Stuart, but Tatum had just recently started affectionately calling him "Stu" and the rest of the gang followed suit.

It took Sid by surprise a few months earlier when Tatum started dating Stu.

Both had similar personalities, feisty and carefree, but Stu was more of a goofball.

Stu and Billy had been buddies for a long time, so Sidney had already known Stu from several parties at Billy's house and other social events.

Sidney always thought that Stu sort of followed Billy around like a lost puppy, almost like Stu admired him in a way.

Nothing weird, but Billy always knew how to win over a girl, and Stu had always been the awkward one.

So for a bombshell like Tatum to date a goof like Stu, it was odd.

But they had fun together, and Sidney thought they were a good couple.

Stu was an alright-looking guy, kind of wiry, with a head of messy brown hair, and a dumb grin always plastered on his face.

Another one of the group was Randy Meeks, who sat down on the fountain opposite of Stu, engrossed in some kind of handheld video game.

Randy was tall and gangly, like Stu, but Randy was more of a geek. Randy always preferred the term "film buff", and he was always spitting out some random tidbit about a movie he had seen, especially the horror genre. Randy had boasted before that he had seen every horror movie worth seeing; most of them were movies that the rest of them had never seen or heard of before.

Sure, he was kind of a dork, but he made it cool. He was a decent-looking guy-tall, kind of scrawny, dark hair that he kept spiked up, and he had a witty sense of humor.

And it was no secret that Randy had had a major crush on Sidney since middle school.

It wasn't anything serious, and Sidney didn't mind all that much and neither did Billy. Sidney had even briefly considered dating Randy. She had known him longer than Billy, but she didn't know if she could put up with all of his horror movie business. She hated horror movies. How could you sit there and watch innocent people being slaughtered?

She never understood Randy's avid love for horror flicks. She didn't know how anyone could watch them.

Sidney's life was enough like a horror movie with her mom's murder.

She didn't need any other scary things in her life.

She had even politely turned him down when he asked her out three or four years ago. And yes, Randy would playfully flirt with her at times.

But he was harmless.

He wouldn't hurt a fly.

"How did your interrogation go?" Tatum asked Sidney, tossing her blond hair behind her shoulders and unzipping her lunch bag.

"I guess it went as well as a police interrogation can go," Sidney said.

"What kind of questions did they ask you?"

"Oh, the usual. They asked me if I knew Casey," Sidney replied, leaning back on Billy's shoulder.

"They asked me that too," Tatum said, opening a bag of chips.

She offered Sidney a potato chip, and she shook her head.

"Hey, Billy, did they ask you if you liked to hunt?" Stu spoke up.

"Yeah, they did,"

"Why would they ask if you liked to hunt?" Tatum inquired.

"Because their bodies were gutted," Randy said out of nowhere, not even looking up from his handheld game.

"Thanks, Randy," Tatum said sarcastically, and scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Wait, they didn't ask me if I liked to hunt,"

"Because there's no way a girl could have killed them," Stu said matter-of-factly.

Tatum spun around to face Stu.

"That is so sexist. The killer could easily be female. Hello? Basic Instinct," Tatum said indignantly.

"That was an icepick. Not the same thing," Randy said, putting aside his game.

"Yeah," Stu agreed. "Casey and Steve were completely hollowed out. It takes a man to do something like that."

Tatum rolled her eyes, offended.

"Or a man's mentality," she quipped.

"How do you…gut someone?" Sidney said, out of nowhere.

The whole group turned to look at her.

There was an awkward silence that was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"You take a knife…and you slit them from groin to sternum," Stu said, gesturing with a quick upward motion.

Sidney shivered down to her soul, feeling a chill run up the length of her spine.

She wished she hadn't said anything. She didn't even mean to say it out loud. It came out totally wrong.

She knew how to gut someone; she was asking "How do you gut someone?" as in "How can anyone do something so awful to a human being?" Now she had the mental image of a knife slicing someone open..warm, red blood flowing out… She shuddered again.

Billy swatted Stu on the shoulder, giving him a look.

"It's called tact, fuckrag," he said, annoyed.

"What? She asked," Stu said.

Tatum rolled her eyes, and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow, sorry, sheesh," Stu said, rubbing his side.

"So, Stu, do the police know that you are familiar with the art of gutting someone?" Randy asked, half-serious.

"What? Are you saying that I killed Casey and Steve?" Stu asked, slightly offended.

"It would certainly improve your high school Q," Randy said.

"Hey, Stu was with me last night, okay?" Tatum said, kissing Stu on the neck.

"Yeah I was," Stu said, grinning mischievously.

"Oh really? Was that before or after he sliced and diced?" Randy teased.

Stu laughed and hit him playfully on the arm.

Now he was just being his usual jokester self.

Sidney thought about bringing up a random topic, just to change the subject. She had already been interrogated by the cops for the second time in her life about the murders, and she didn't want to talk about it any more. She wanted to say something, but she just decided to keep it to herself. They were just messing around. They didn't mean any harm.

But with Casey and Steve's murder bringing back old feelings about her mom's murder, Sidney didn't feel like joking about such an awful situation.

"Oh, fuck you, you nutcase, where were you last night?" Tatum questioned Randy, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Working, thank you," Randy said defensively.

"Oh, at Blockbuster? I thought they fired your sorry ass," Tatum said, grinning.

"Twice," Randy said, popping a stick of gum into his mouth.

Tatum laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I didn't kill anybody," Stu said.

"Nobody said you did," Billy added.

"Well, I mean, after all, it takes a man to do something like that," Randy said, mocking Stu.

Stu hit him again with a laugh.

"I'm going to gut your ass in a second, kid,"

"Hey, Stu, tell me something, did the killer really put Casey's liver in the mailbox, because I heard that they found her liver in the mailbox, next to her spleen and her pancreas," Randy joked.

Alright, that was too far, Sidney thought to herself. Casey and Steve both had family that loved them, and they were sitting here, laughing and joking about her murder.

Sidney shook her head, grabbed her backpack and rose to her feet. She had tried to ignore them, but she was about to crawl out of her skin.

How can you just joke about a thing like that? She loved her friends, but Stu and Randy could really take things too far.

"Randy, you goon fuck, I'm trying to eat here," Tatum said, throwing one of her chips at him.

Sidney kissed Billy softly, and headed off towards the far end of the courtyard towards the doors leading inside.

"Great. Look what the both of you did to Sidney. You know what she has been through," Tatum scolded them.

"Hey, Randy, Tatum's getting mad. We'd better liver alone…" Stu guffawed at his own joke.

Now, even Randy was getting annoyed. His eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Tatum made a face, shaking her head.

Billy leaned over and smacked Stu as hard as he could on the back of the head with a loud THWAP.

"Ow!" Stu cried, rubbing the back of his head. "Liver alone…Get it? Gah, it was just a joke!"

How could they be so insensitive? Sidney thought to herself as she walked down the empty hallway.

Casey was probably at the county morgue, lying on a cold metal slab, being cut open by coroners...her parents were probably trying to plan for their daughter's funeral...and all Randy and Stu could do was be their usual self and try to come up with the crudest joke.

She couldn't understand how anyone could joke about murder. Maybe it was just because since her mother had been murdered, she knew first hand what it felt like to have someone so close to you die in such a ghastly way.

Still, she didn't think she would appreciate their sense of humor even if her mother hadn't been murdered.

Sidney stopped at the water fountain, and took a sip of water, leaning against the row of lockers.

She sighed and massaged her temples with the tips of her fingers.

Just calm down, Sidney, she told herself. Just calm down.

Randy and Stu didn't mean anything by it. Maybe she was just being oversensitive.

It had just been a stressful day, and she couldn't handle their usual hijinks.

Just then, the door to the bathroom beside her swung open, and Dewey stepped out, looking official in his sandy colored deputy uniform.

Sidney forced a smile, but it was obvious that she was a wreck.

"Hey, how you doing?" he asked. "I'm technically not supposed to be fraternizing with the suspects, but I think I'll make an exception,"

"Oh, so now I'm a suspect?" Sidney said with a weak chuckle.

"No, no...well...yes.." Dewey said hesitantly. He laughed nervously. "We aren't ruling anyone out,"

Sidney let out a deep sigh.

"I'm probably not supposed to ask you, but...do you really think that it could be someone who goes to school here?" she asked.

Dewey shook his head.

"Can't talk about it," he said. "Sorry, Sid,"

Sidney shrugged.

"It's fine, I kind of expected that,"

She bit her lip to prevent herself from asking him if he thought that Casey and Steve's murders could have something to do with her mother's murder. Her mind was screaming at her to ask him.

"Well...um...I'll see you later, Sid," Dewey said. "Remember the curfew tonight and be safe,"

Sidney nodded in response and watched Dewey head towards the cafeteria, when he stopped and turned around.

His expression turned dead serious.

"Be safe, Sidney," he said, his eyes boring into hers.

"I'll do my best," Sidney said, her face weakening.

She watched as he disappeared around the corner.

There was a long lull of silence. The hallway was completely empty and quiet. A chill ran up Sidney's arm.

She looked both ways down the hallway, feeling a pang of dread in her gut.

She heard footsteps coming one way and she froze.

Her heartbeat began to quicken, and her hand reached into her bag for a weapon.

A figure came jogging around the corner where Dewey disappeared. It was Tatum, her blond hair bobbing on her shoulders, her bright red handbag swinging from her left arm.

God, Sidney thought to herself. She almost stabbed her best friend to death, she realized, as she looked down at the number 2 pencil grasped in her right hand.

Just calm down, she chided herself.

"Hey, Sid, are you ok?" Tatum asked, her eyes wide with worry.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just spooked about all of this,"

"I can tell," Tatum said. "Look, just ignore Randy and Stu, they're morons,"

Sidney forced a smile.

"It's not really them. I'm just scared, Tatum...that it's happening all over again,"

"Hey, hey, hey, Casey and Steve's murder doesn't have anything to do with your mom, okay? Just stop thinking things like that," Tatum said.

Tatum had always seemed to know what Sidney was thinking, ever since ninth grade. It was like she possessed some kind of weird sense, and she could always tell when something was bothering Sidney.

"I know, I know..." Sidney said, leaning back against the lockers.

"Look, I know your dad's out of town, but you are a mess right now, and I'm not letting you stay home alone tonight. You are staying at my place until your dad gets back," Tatum said.

"No, no, Tatum, you don't have to do that," Sidney said.

But it was no use. Tatum was stubborn as a mule. It offered Sidney some benefits in some situations, but other times, it was kind of annoying how headstrong and pushy Tatum could be.

"Yes I do. It will just be you and I and Dewey and my mom, it will be totally cool with them,"

Sidney smiled.

"Alright. I guess with Dewey and his gun around, I'd be more safe,"

Tatum scoffed.

"Please, I'd feel more safe with my mom around," she joked.

Tatum always prodded and teased Dewey for as long as Sidney could remember. They had always had a strange relationship. Sometimes Tatum and Dewey got along perfectly well, and some days they hated each others guts.

"Cool. I have practice until six thirty so I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Ok, thanks," Sidney replied.

Just as they began to head off down the hallway together, the bell rang shrilly and the cafeteria doors exploded open, students pouring out into the hallway. Sidney couldn't help but peek into the open doorway, eyeing Gale and her cameraman sitting at one of the tables.

She watched her intently...Gale was leaning in close with her cameraman, whispering something excitedly.

More than likely, she was spreading some awful rumors about the murders, just like she did with her mother.

The bitch...Sidney thought nastily as bad memories flashed into her mind, and she shuddered.

Why the hell was she whispering?

What the hell was she up to now?

The bright yellow school bus rumbled down the narrow road, coming to a stop at a large, two story country house sitting at the top of a hill.

Sidney stepped off of the bus, hearing the doors squeak as they closed automatically behind her.

Someone on the bus yelled to her through the windows but she didn't hear them.

Her mind was in a million other places. She had completely tuned everything out the rest of the school day. Teachers would try to call on her, other kids would call her name to get her attention, and she had unintentionally ignored them.

She has good reason to be preoccupied with her thoughts. Two kids she knew and saw every day had been murdered the night before, one year after her own mother's brutal murder. She also couldn't get her mind off of the fact that Billy climbed into her bedroom window right around the time Casey and Steve were being butchered, but she hoped it was just a coincidence.

Sidney began to walk up the narrow path towards her front porch, stopping to get the mail from the box by the gate.

She looked up at the house.

It looked so huge and lonely.

She began to feel relieved that she didn't have to be alone in that house all week. Tatum was supposed to be picking her up around seven, so she would only have to be alone for a few hours.

It was a beautiful house, Victorian-style, and it had a sprawling porch and a second floor balcony that both wrapped around the entire perimeter of the house. A white picket fence that surrounded the yard added some domestic charm. Tall shrubs and flower boxes filled with brightly colored wild flowers were scattered around the porch. She was surprised that her dad was able to keep up payments on the house after her mom had been killed, but it was so old that the payments were close to being entirely paid off.

Sure, it was a gorgeous house, but it was kind of out in the middle of nowhere, isolated from the rest of Woodsboro.

And it made Sidney nervous.

If you stood on higher ground, all you could see for miles and miles around the house was wilderness, thick forests and rolling hills on either side.

But, she had nothing to be worried about, right?

Tatum would be picking her up soon, and surely, nothing could happen to her in such a short amount of time.

Sidney ambled up the front steps and stepped through the front door into the spacious foyer.

A winding staircase led up to the second floor. Straight ahead was the living room and the kitchen and off to the side was the dining room and another small sitting area.

A chill ran up her arm, as she glanced around the interior of her house, which suddenly felt much larger and lonelier than she remembered.

Just cool it, Sidney, she told herself. Nothing would happen in just a few hours. Tatum will pick you up soon.. It's just your house. You're safe at home.

That wasn't the case for Casey and Steve, Sidney thought grimly.

Just as Sidney was about to climb the stairs, she turned back towards the front door and locked it, twisting the deadbolt into place.

They usually didn't bother latching the metal chain up at the top of the door, but Sidney reached up and slid the chain into its place.

Just in case.