Sidney wasn't sure what was worse, staying on edge and waiting for something bad to happen or something bad immediately happening and confirming her worst fears. Right now, being on edge seemed worse. What with Dewey's suspicions confirmed that there was no possible way to track the number, and the phone call itself still lingering in her mind, Sidney and Kirby both felt like they were trapped in some sort of limbo.
"I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen." Kirby said quietly, nursing a cup of coffee that was now cool as she stared out of the large bay window towards the mass of forest. Her eyes flickered between the woodland area and the police car for hours on end, and now was no different.
Sidney, who had previously been perched on the couch stood up and made her way over to Kirby.
"I know that it's difficult to do, Kirby…but try not to think about it too much. It will drive you crazy." But even in spite of this, she took a quick sweep of the scenery to make sure that nothing was untoward or suspicious.
"How can I possibly do that? Compared to you, I'm virtually a rookie. This isn't like part of my everyday routine," Kirby snapped, rubbing her forehead.
"Hey, trust me when I say that survival rates don't count for anything in this. It's not last in first out." Sidney interjected, slightly defensive herself.
Kirby seemed to pick up on the prickliness of her tone and also seemed to realise she had been unreasonable. "Sorry Sid. I didn't mean to take anything out on you, I'm just really tired I guess," she sighed and ran a hand through her cropped blonde hair.
Despite saying that experience wasn't greatly valuable in the situation they were in, Sidney knew that the emotions she was currently feeling were at least familiar ones. This was all brand new to Kirby, and even though her feisty exterior made it easy to forget, Sidney recognised that she was probably just as terrified as Sidney. Maybe even more so.
"Don't worry about it." Sidney replied, any sharpness in her tone dulling. "I understand it must be really difficult for you. I guess I forget sometimes."
"Forget what?" Kirby questioned.
"Well…" Sidney trailed off a moment. "You're in a different situation to anything I've been in. After what happened around here the first time, there was a comfort that I had people who were experiencing everything with me. Especially with Randy, I had someone my own age who was in my friendship group. It must have been really difficult for you being… the only survivor amongst your friends."
Kirby nodded. It was as if Sidney had been able to put everything she was thinking into words.
"I just feel like such an idiot…" She sighed before continuing. "There's you and Sheriff Riley and Mrs Riley and you just seem to figure out what is going to happen. You make all these assumptions and I just feel like a dumb kid clinging onto your leg."
"Listen, Kirby. I mean it when I say that I'm no better prepared for anything that might take place. The only thing that runs through all of this shit is a mask and suffering. And you only need to see it once." She explained.
Although they were just words, Sidney saw Kirby's shoulders sag, almost as if she was relieved to be told she wasn't such a burden.
"Thanks… that makes me feel a little better. Anyways, it's been a whole twenty-four hours with nothing happening." She didn't know whether she was trying to make amends for how she had snapped at Sidney or whether she was trying to comfort herself- maybe it was a little bit of both.
Sidney glanced at the clock before looking back at Kirby. "It's nearly midnight, Kirby. You should try and get some sleep." She didn't want Kirby feeling like she was under her control because really, Sidney wasn't anything to do with her. However, it was easy to see that Kirby was absolutely exhausted. Sidney had heard her pacing back and forth the night previous and she was also pretty sure she had heard her crying too. In an odd instinct, Sidney had immediately wanted to rush to her and comfort her like a mother would to a newborn. Yet, experience had also taught her that sometimes you needed some time to cry. After all, she had certainly shed her own share of tears- but very rarely let anyone else see it. She wouldn't have wanted anyone to, and she somehow knew Kirby would feel the same way.
"Yeah, I didn't sleep much last night. Every time I close my eyes I see that mask."
Sidney paused for a moment, considering the options. The safest place in the house for her had been…
"Why don't you stay in my room tonight? We'll swap?" She offered.
"Are you sure?"
Sidney nodded. "Here, follow me. I want to show you something."
Moments later, Kirby and Sidney were standing her old room. Closing the door, Sidney opened her closet door against it. Using the door handle, she tried to yank it open, but the closet door caused it to jam. It revealed the small space that could be seen. An arm could get through but anything beyond that would be impossible.
"Shit, no way! I thought that was just part of the movie…" Kirby trailed off, trying the door for herself and grinning. "And then you stabbed him with your scissors!"
Sidney couldn't help but laugh at that as she shook her head.
"No, not quite. I managed to get hold of the police." She manoeuvred the door and the closet so that they both became unlocked.
"I mean…when I watched it, I thought there could be no possible way that someone's architecture plans could be that shitty." She laughed too, "but I guess it saved your life."
"I guess it did…" Sidney smiled. The two women paused for a moment before Sidney grabbed a pair of flannel shorts and a long dark shirt. "Take the room, it hasn't let me down yet. Make sure you lock the window." She told her.
"I will. Thanks Sid…"
"No problem,"
Judy and Adam both sat in the patrol car. Darkness had quickly settled over the town of Woodsboro and the only light in the vicinity came from the house and the interior of the police car. Looking around from the passenger seat, Adam let out a vigorous shiver.
"I love Woodsboro, y'know? I grew up here. Even with the whole murder background. But here…" He shook his head, glancing at the forest just a few feet away from them. "Here has always given me the creeps."
Judy chuckled at that and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Ever since the death of Mrs Prescott, this place just seemed haunted. Scared me so much I even tried to get out of here." Judy revealed, taking a sip from her coffee flask.
"You haven't lived in Woodsboro all your life?" He asked, clearly a little surprised.
"Nah, I left high school and took a course in business management. Moved over to Mississippi for a while actually, opened my own bakery." As if to prove her point, Judy extended a box of mini flapjack cubes to him, which he happily accepted.
"You went from baker to cop?" He asked, holding his hand over his mouth in order to continue the conversation whilst eating. "There's definitely a story there."
Popping a square into her mouth, Judy chuckled and munched thoughtfully. "Not quite as tragic as the ones that linger in this town. But yeah, I suppose there is."
"And… any details you wanna share?"
"The bakery was doing okay, I was really enjoying it. Then one day I got held at gunpoint." Judy said softly, taking another bite of her flapjack.
"Crap, did you get hurt?"
"Physically? No, I wasn't hurt. But I felt so helpless and weak. I never wanted to feel like that again. I was too scared to go into the shop and so that lost money and eventually shut. I ended up enrolling in a self-defence class and took quite a shine to it. I guess I wanted to protect people and never have them feel how I felt."
"That's cool. Why did you come back to Woodsboro?" He probed.
"Well with the loans I took out and then I owed a ton of money for the bakery, I had to go bankrupt. Lost my house, my car… everything. Moved back home with the parents and then got my own place out here."
"Well…I'm really glad you're here. Who else is gonna help me fill out this uniform with treats?" he asked, giving his trademark cheeky smile.
"Well that's my second priority to saving the world." She teased.
"As it shou-" He paused as he quickly looked around, his neck twisting sharply towards the opening of the forest just outside Sidney's house. "Did you hear that?"
Immediately alert, Judy lifted her head and craned around. The silence was unnerving and sent a daunting sense of dread swirling to the pit of her stomach.
"You probably just heard an animal or something…" Judy trailed off, cut off from saying anything else when there was another rustle. It was like someone scraping leaves with the side of their foot.
"I'm going to go check it out." Adam told her, fingers twitching towards his gun to make sure it was in check before he reached on top of the dashboard for his flashlight.
"Adam…you should stay here. I'll go." Judy offered, extending her hand for his flashlight, but he quickly shook his head.
"With all due respect Deputy Judy, it would be better if I went. All I know is that Miss Prescott and Miss Reed are safe in the house and you have a close eye on it. If something were to happen… you'd probably be a better shot than me from here." He reasoned bashfully.
It did make sense to Judy. Her eyes were experienced and she knew the signs to look out for.
"Alright, but keep your radio with you at all times. This is private land, so anything suspicious call it in." Judy told him, sitting straighter in her chair.
Adam nodded and gave a mock salute.
"Probably just an animal, right?" He gave a slight smile, but Judy was well adapted enough to know that he was anxious.
She watched him amble off in the direction that the noise came from, right until he disappeared into the trees. For a moment, the silence was palpable.
"Deputy Judy do you copy?" The sound of the crackly radio made Judy almost jump out of her skin. Laughing a little to herself, she shrank back against the worn beige leather of the car's interior.
"I've got you Adam, you're good." She was about to pluck another square of flapjack from her container when her phone rang, the screen flashing:
Dewey Riley
"Hi boss." Judy answered, taking a bite of her flapjack. "It's all going good here, before you ask. Officer Burke has just gone to investigate a noise, but it's probably just nothing, Sir."
"Oh… but it could be something, Judy."
The caller ID had registered with Dewey's name…but this definitely wasn't Dewey.
"Who is this?"
"Who do you think it is?" The voice asked, a slight hint of amusement seeping through.
"Where's Dewey?"
"Tut tut Deputy. That's not who you're supposed to be concerned over, shouldn't you be asking something else?"
"What do you mean?" She asked quietly, hand reaching towards the in-car radio that was programmed directly to the station.
"You'll never live to find out if you don't put your hand on the dashboard where I can fucking see it!" The voice snarled sharply.
With her heart pounding in her chest, Judy slowly raised her hand and placed it on the front of the dashboard, her other hand holding her phone up.
"Okay… so…what do you mean?" Judy repeated, her head craning left and right, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary.
"Surely you should be asking: Where's Sidney? Where's Kirby?" His voice was mocking now.
"They're safe." She replied instinctively, cringing at the cold, harsh laugh that came through the other end of the phone.
"And just how sure are you about that?"
"What do you want?" Judy slowly started to pull her hand down again, trying to be as inconspicuous as she possibly could.
"You were saved by a vest last time Deputy. But a vest only protects part of you… let's see how much damage I can do to the rest of you."
The phone call ended abruptly, and no sooner had it ended did Judy grab the radio.
"I need backup at Sidney Prescott's house, 1800 Calist-" Her voice was cut off by the splintering of glass as something was thrown through the back window, sending shards flying through the patrol car as Judy screamed in reaction.
Abandoning the car, Judy quickly exited and turned around. She raised her gun from its holster and took aim.
The eerie silence returned once more as Judy listened desperately, half of her wishing for a noise to erupt and the other half wishing it didn't.
The familiar sound of the static from the vehicle radio startled her so badly that she swung the gun round and took fire, a bullet bouncing off the bonnet and straying elsewhere.
"Shit…"
"Deputy Hicks… can you hear me?" The voice over the radio sounded like Jeremy, and she felt a wave of relief flood through her just to hear his voice.
"Hicks? Do you copy? Can you repeat the message" The voice echoed again.
Grimacing, Judy edged towards the open car door, trying to lean in to grab the radio. Knowing there was no other option, she quickly turned around, her back to her surroundings.
"I need back up at the Prescott residence you need to h-" The half gasp, half gurgle that escaped Judy was almost animal-like as she felt the steel of a razor sharp blade plunge into the bottom of her back, missing the vest she wore by mere inches. The blade twisted, scraping the bone and making her cry out as she slowly turned around.
She'd grown up with that horrifying mask becoming the mascot of her town. Seen dozens of children and teenagers wander around with it on during anniversaries and Halloween. But she had never seen anything so terrifying as it stood before her now.
She felt the blade leave her body, only to be thrust into her lower stomach, taking her breath away as the stickiness of blood oozed between the layers of her clothing, crying out in pain as she stared into the cold void of its eyes.
The sound of the gunshot had echoed around the area and as soon as she heard it, Sidney's ears pricked up and she almost leapt off her chair. Her first thought was to run to Kirby, but she beat her to it as Sidney heard thudding from her room and quick footsteps running down the stairs to where she resided in the living room.
"Did you hear that?! It was a gunshot!" Kirby told her, looking panicked and flustered.
"Follow me." Sidney flew through to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife, opening the drawer and pulling out a small handgun, handing it to Kirby.
"It's loaded. You see anything that resembles it. You shoot." Sidney told her firmly, although even she couldn't stop the slight trembling of her hand.
"What do we do?" Kirby whispered frantically as Sidney switched the kitchen lights off, putting a finger to her lips to try and keep her silent. If something was going on, the less knowledge the intruder had of their whereabouts the better.
Silence echoed around the empty house; nothing could be heard anywhere. That was until the crunching of boots on gravel appeared. It started off quiet, then grew louder and louder as whoever was approaching the door came closer. Alongside the steadier footprints were other more frantic ones, like a child trying to desperately keep up with adult footsteps, stumbling and dragging.
"Sidney…" Kirby whispered, tears sparkling in her eyes as she clutched the gun so tightly in her hands that her knuckles had turned white.
The crunching of gravel stopped, and Sidney slowly peeked down the hall. The light of the living room was still on and a shadow had appeared overcast in the hallway as a result.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
"Sidney don't go!" Kirby hissed, grabbing her arm as Sidney began to make her way down the hall.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
Ignoring Kirby, Sidney crept forward again. Kirby was desperate not to be left on her own and quickly followed her.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
There was only one window in her living room, and as Sidney took a deep breath she slowly looked in, a sharp gasp leaving her lips. It was like she had forgotten that they were hiding.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
On the opposite side of the mirror, a barely conscious Judy was held up by a black gloved hand, the haunting white of the mask reflected in the living room light. Sidney knew for a fact that despite the anonymity of the stare, whoever was beneath those robes was staring completely at her.
Tap, Tap, Tap.
The figure pushed Judy's head against the glass, using her forehead to knock on the window and make the noise.
"Oh my god," Kirby whispered. At some point, she'd caught up with Sidney and stared in horror at the scene.
The tapping stopped then, as if the stranger had obtained their full audience and was now ready to move on to the next part of the show.
Judy seemed to somehow recognise the faces of Sidney and Kirby through the blood blurring her vision, and although she said nothing, her eyes were pleading…begging for help.
"I'll call the police." Kirby whispered, though she didn't have a chance to even set foot out of the room when the figure yanked Judy's head back by her ponytail, baring her neck before using the knife in their free hand to slice through her neck deeply. Blood spattered against the window and Kirby screamed as they watched Judy's lifeless body hang by her hair.
The sirens blaring brought Sidney out of the shock of what she had just witnessed, and the banging on the door made both of their heads turn.
"Sidney! Kirby! It's Dewey. Open up!" A voice called.
And when they looked back…
The masked figure was gone.
Running to the door, Kirby flung it open near hysterical as Dewey stood, gun out.
"Where is he?!"
"Outside! It's Judy… she's- " Sidney replied, unable to finish her sentence as her voice was so shaky. She took a deep breath and clutched her hand over her mouth. It was like she had forgotten to breathe in those long few minutes.
Dewey flew through to the front of the house, his heart dropping as he saw Judy laying motionless on the floor. Bending down to check her pulse, his head sunk as four other colleagues searched the grounds.
"We got Burke, Sir!" One called from a little further down the path. "We're gonna need an ambulance. Head injury. He's semi-conscious!"
Dewey slowly stood up, having to look away from his deputy for just a moment.
"Hicks is dead." He said, in a weary and broken voice, rubbing his forehead as he considered who he had just lost. Not just a colleague, but a friend.
Jeremy approached Dewey sadly, his head bowed as he looked down at Judy's corpse.
"We've searched the immediate grounds, Sir. There's nobody."
"I figured you were going to say that."
