"Sorry it's not been dusted or anything, I'll get it sorted. You're more than welcome to have my room instead." Kirby told Sidney as they headed upstairs, the older of the two lugging an overnight bag behind her. They had been escorted through her house by the police as Sidney grabbed what she could. She didn't have much of anything as she'd only packed enough things for a couple of nights in Woodsboro- and the majority of those clothes had been bloodied, torn and held for evidence. It seemed an age ago since Sidney had been cruising down the highway in her rental, and she remembered that brief fleeting moment where she'd just felt…ready.

She wanted to put the past to rest after all that time away. Only five years ago, she would have broken down at the concept of having to return to the place where everything had first started. Woodsboro haunted her dreams, hanging like a grim reaper shrouded in a black cloak. There was a reason as to why it has been the last stop, and that was because it marked a new chapter in her life. She had worked so hard to gain the courage to come back, and now she wished she hadn't. The only remainder of her broken family that she had were dead, everybody else treated her like an infection- and how could she possibly blame them? Woodsboro had lived in complete peace until she had set foot into the town. People were scared of her. She was scared.

"It's fine, it's perfect." Sidney reassured her as the two headed into the room. The curtains were drawn and the sunlight glinted sharply through the glass, giving the room a warm and open feel to it. Outside featured a row of detached large houses in viewpoint, much like the one she was currently in. And for those precious few seconds, it did feel perfect. Safe. Surrounded, even. Dropping her bag on the unmade bed, Sidney looked around as Kirby rushed in and out with sheets.

"You don't have to make the bed, Kirby. I've got it."

"No, no it's fine. I've got it. The closet is empty and the drawers too- feel free to put your stuff in there." She offered, grabbing two ends of the sheet and attempting to pull it over the edges of the mattress. Once secured, she attempted to do the same to the others, only when she did, the first two corners sprung from their holding place which made Kirby groan in frustration.

In spite of everything that happened only a few hours previous, the sight made Sidney smile and she grabbed the other two corners and folded them over so that they stayed in place.

"Don't worry about it, I don't have anything to unpack really." She explained. "And I hardly think it's the right time to go on a shopping trip."

Kirby thought for a moment then without saying anything, walked out of the room and returned moments later with a pile of clothes that looked to be mostly Sidney's size.

"They were my mom's clothes," she explained. "Before she lost all the weight because of the cancer."

Sidney's brow furrowed as she watched Kirby's strong shield falter slightly. She was just a kid, really. Not much older than Sidney had been when the first attacks had happened to her. Right then, she looked lost and alone- and she felt the compulsion to wrap her arms around her and embrace her tightly. Of course, she didn't. Kirby would've hated that.

"It's really kind of you Kirby, but if it's going to upset you I-"

"It's fine," Kirby quickly clipped back. "Honestly, they're just clothes and … and she would've wanted you to wear them under this circumstance. She'd have pretty much forced you." Kirby laughed.

"She sounds exactly like you." Sidney chuckled and properly focused in on Kirby. "I know that sounds weird but…"

"I know what you mean," she interjected, smiling in an understanding fashion. "She didn't give birth to me or anything – but I'm just like her. Guess it's just how she raised me."

"To be a fighter," Sidney confirmed.

"Exactly."

There was a comfortable silence between the two for a few moments before Sidney's curiosity got the better of her.

"Do you know much about your birth mom?"

Kirby shook her head, leaning against the wall. "Not much, she didn't want to be found." She looked down for a few moments before gazing back up at Sidney. "I think I'd have liked to know her though. Maybe bad-assery is in the genes."

The flippant comment made Sidney chuckle, and she nodded her head. "You're not alone in that, you know?" She perched on the bed, wrestling with getting the pillows into the covers. "I had my mom until I was sixteen. Turns out, I didn't know very much about her at all."

"Do you get angry with her?" Kirby asked, her own curiosity spiking now.

Sidney hesitated for a moment. She had been undeniably angry at one point. The year after she left Windsor College and had isolated herself in the cabin. She had spent so many nights laid awake, wondering why. There were so many questions, and at that point she had blamed her mother not only for her own murder, but for the events that had occurred after it. If she hadn't been so secretive, if she hadn't been so promiscuous… if she hadn't….

It was different now. She was in a much better place, and of course she understood that her mother couldn't have ever pre-empted what was going to happen in the future.

"I used to be, yeah. Very angry."

"What changed?"

"She didn't have the knife in her hand."

The silence that fell upon the two was not an uncomfortable one, once again. They were in very unfamiliar circumstances being two virtual strangers who were sharing their deepest thoughts to one another.

"Are you?" Sidney asked.

"Am I what?"

"Angry at your birth mom?"

Sidney observed as Kirby gave the same momentary pause that she had, almost a hesitation.

"I used to be. I didn't get any of the circumstances as to why she left. My parents have been great, but it would have been nice to know my real mom,"

"What about your dad?"

"I mean it would have been great to meet him too, don't get me wrong. But dads don't have to be in the picture, do they? It's different with a mom. She could've just got rid of me and had done with it… but she chose to carry me for all those months, and for what? To dump me into the care system?"

Although Kirby had admitted that she used to feel angry at her birth parents, it didn't take a trained psychiatrist to note that she still harboured some of those emotional frustrations. To Sidney, she could see that by the way Kirby tensed up, and the way that her voice got just that little bit higher that those feelings of anger were still very much present.

"I'm sorry you feel that she abandoned you. I don't suppose it helps any, but people do things for the greater good sometimes. Maybe you would've been worse off with her in the end. Nobody can tell for sure. But I do think it takes a great deal of strength to give…to give a child up. It might not have been right and it might not be any comfort- but you're amazing. A credit to both your parents." She explained. As Sidney spoke, she wasn't actually sure why she was saying it at all. This was none of her business, Kirby's emotions and life story didn't match her own…

But she could see it from another point of view, after all.

"Yeah, I guess so," Kirby conceded, but her smile had faded and she had her knuckles clenched. It was obvious the situation was hard to talk about, and Sidney felt extremely guilty for bringing it up.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to upset you at all, I don't really know what I'm talking about."

Kirby straightened up from the wall that she'd been leaning against and offered a tight smile. "Don't worry about it. You're only telling me what everyone else has been telling me, heck even my parents came out with the same lines. I just hope I'll believe it one day," she shrugged and glanced at her phone. "I know it's the afternoon and everything, but neither of us have had any sleep and I'm wiped out. I'm gonna head for a nap, okay?" Even if it wasn't, she was still edging out the door.

"Sure."

"If you need anything, I'm just down the hall. There's drinks and food in the refrigerator." She told her.

"I'm okay, thanks. I think I'm going to do the same. It was a long night."

Once Kirby had taken leave and Sidney had adjusted her pillows, it only took a few minutes of staring at the ceiling before the blissful feeling of sleepiness began to take over. Although what they had seen that night had been horrific, it wasn't going to deprive her of what she needed. Rest.

The air had changed.

As Sidney inhaled, the all-too-familiar smell of antiseptic and latex filled her nostrils, causing her eyes to fly open in alarm.

All she saw was white.

White sheets, white walls, white furniture.

Why was she in a hospital?

Slowly sitting up, she felt the cool plastic slide down her arm, an admissions bracelet.

"What?" Sidney whispered to herself, running a hand through her hair and swinging herself out of bed. She grimaced as she felt a pull and tug at her lower body- it was a feeling she had only really felt once, but she remembered it like it was a fresh injury.

Slowly this time, as not to aggravate the pain, she stood up, the white hospital gown falling and stopping at her knees.

"Hello?" She called out, waiting for a moment before repeating the call.

Nobody.

Shuffling towards the door, Sidney stuck her head out in the hallway and looked left and right, but the ward was isolated. Where the hell was she?

Gripping the wooden bannister that was on the left had side of the wall, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, the low tug becoming sharper and sharper with each step that she took. By the time she got to the end of the hallway, tears were streaming down her face and sweat had dampened her fringe.

"Hello? Is someone there?!" She half-shouted, half-panted. The silence was deafening.

Then… a cry.

Not a cry of pain or sadness, the cry of a new-born baby. It started off faintly, but became louder and louder with each passing moment.

Sidney had assumed that a nurse would go to whatever room it was in, then see her if she got closer towards the noise. Slowly turning around, she took one step towards her room before her foot met something slippery, wet and warm. Before she could catch her balance, her foot gave way and her legs collapsed beneath her, making her cry out in pain.

There was so much blood. Thick, hot masses of the substance leaving a trail down the hallway from where she had walked. Why hadn't she noticed it? When she glanced down, there was a deep bloodred stain coating the lower front of her gown.

The panic bubble that rose in her throat made it almost impossible for her to breathe, let alone scream, and as she tried to get up, her bloody red feet kept slipping and sliding against the scarlet-washed tiles.

"Please…please…" she cried, trying to pull herself up again and again. The blood was now pooling around her, she felt like she was going to pass out.

Even in the ripping pain that she was in, when she pulled herself up she started stumbling back to her room, slipping and falling each time. It felt like an eternity had passed before she eventually skidded back to where she had come from.

But it was empty.

The bed was gone. The furniture gone… the room was a shell.

All except for a small incubator in the centre of the room.

"Oh my god…" Sidney whispered, the tears freely falling still and her hands shaking as she pulled herself closer…and closer…and closer. The noise was gut-wrenching, causing just as much agony as the tidal wave of needles that she felt were pummelling her stomach.

There was a silhouette underneath the blankets that had been placed snugly in the crib, crying was echoing around the room so much that she had to put her hands over her ears to try and block it out, but to no avail.

In a moment of desperation, she tore back the blankets and screamed. There was no baby there. The silhouette had been the haunting mask that had terrorised her through the most part of her life stood sinisterly out of the cot.

"Sidney! Wake up!"

Jolting forwards, Sidney grabbed hold of whoever was shaking at her, throwing the attacker down onto the bed. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she was shaking with supressed panic, fear and rage.

But it was Kirby, who looked beyond petrified.

"Sidney! Please! It's me! You were screaming and shouting in your sleep! Please it's just me" Kirby shouted, praying it would get through to her.

Once Sidney had seen her friend beneath her looking so alarmed, her grip loosened and she stopped applying so much pressure down onto her shoulders.

"Oh my…oh my god." Sidney slumped backwards, tears springing to her eyes. The long shirt she had changed into was dripping with sweat and her hands were trembling.

"It's okay… I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to scare you," there were tears in Kirby's eyes too, Sidney had looked murderous, like she wanted to kill her.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry." Sidney wept quietly. It had been so real. She could still smell the sterile scent that the hospital gave off, and there was a grappling pain in her stomach like she had been clenching it for hours.

When Kirby wrapped her arms around her, she didn't pull away, just buried her head into her shoulder.