At Kally's house the next day Page lay on the floor, talking to her.
"I still can't believe he's gone..." Kally mourned.
Page bit her lip sympathetically. "It's a sick, sad world we live in."
"Not to mentioned scary fucked up and wrong!" Kally said, in tears. "I'm going to find that bastard who did it if it kills me."
Page covered her eyes w/ her hands. "Please don't talk like that. 'Kill' is the last word I wanna hear right now."
Kally stood up from her bed angrily. "How do you think I feel? My boyfriend just died!"
Page was equally distraught. "You're not the only one who's upset, Kally, I lost a friend too and we all cared about Barry."
Kally kneeled down next to Page and took her hands. "Then let's find out who it is,Page. The police aren't getting anywhere. Let's find the prick who did this to them and get him locked up!"
Page frowned. "But how do we find him?"
"Well, we can rule us out, we know it wasn't you or me because the guy chased you and I was at home baking cookies w/ Kelly."
"Well, I think it's Strange because he was at the cemetery right after Raven and I came running down the hill."
"And it wouldn't be Raven..." Kally said, crediting her friend that much.
"No, it couldn't have been because the guy chased both of us."
"So we think it's a guy. Who could it be?"
"Well, Strange. And there's still Deputy Rye-we can't rule him out yet."
"OK, well hold up. First we have to figure out who would have the motive to kill both of them," Page ascertained. "We thought David would've gotten into a scuffle w/ Deputy Rye but we know Strange got into a fight w/ Barry. Why would either of them want BOTH guys dead?"
"Well, I don't know about David- I don't think Strange ever had anything to do w/ him. But maybe Deputy Rye WAS trying to cover up for you and Tom. I mean, it would certainly explain the two guys getting murdered right by Tom's car."
Page gasped. "But what if they were in it together? What if Strange helped him?"
Kally's eyes widened. "You think?"
"I guess we'll have to find out somehow."
"How about this," Kally said holding up a red flyer. It was an invitation to Mercedes LeBon's birthday party. Mercedes was the wealthiest girl in town and it would definitely be a large gathering.
"Yeah!" Page agreed. "If we get everyone there the killer is bound to show up."
"That means Strange would have to show in order for us to see if he was the one."
"Well, we'll have to risk it. Besides, how can anyone kill someone in a house full of people? Just make sure he knows Raven's going to be there and he'll come w/ bells on his toes I'm sure. He's given her 'the look' plenty of times."
Two weeks later, Mercedes LeBon's party seemed to be the first and foremost on every teenager in Cedar Hill's minds. The attractive, well-to-do redhead was not only the cream of every guy's ideal coffee but a sweet, sensitive friend to the majority of the girls as well. She was in fact, the best friend of Raven O'Ryan which meant Raven would definitely make an appearance. Opportunity seemed to be looking up for Kally and Page's investigation of Strange in that aspect.
On the night of the party, Page met Kally and her twin sister Kelly at the Johnson house so they could prepare each other's makeup and dress together. Since Kelly and Kally were close through being natural "womb mates" Kelly had been filled in w/ the news of their investigation.
"I think that's awful," Kelly said, brushing her long, light brown hair back into a ponytail. "But I don't like the idea of a killer being around town either. What if he kills us next?" She gave a dramatic, visible shudder.
"Yeah, well, we're going to find him and it will all be over soon," Kally said, grabbing up her handbag determinedly.
Mercedes answered the door and gave Kally, Kelly and Page each a delightful hug and accepted the colorfully wrapped gifts. "Thanks guys, you didn't have to."
Kelly smiled smugly and Kally rolled her eyes at the comment.
Mercedes looked past them as if expecting someone else to be w/ them. "Raven didn't come w/ you?"
"Raven and I aren't exactly getting along since I branded Strange the candyman," Page said dryly.
Mercedes eyebrows rose. "Oh? I didn't know Strange meant that much to her... I mean she was helping him w/ his homework and all but I thought she had a thing for Parker."
Kelly shrugged. "You know how good ole Raven is-she likes everybody. Why wouldn't she get mad?"
Kally stepped on her sister's foot. "Can it," she said stepping into the great foyer of the LeBon mansion.
Kally observed the already crowded first floor, "C'mon, we've got work to do."
"You wouldn't be talking about work on the murder case would you?"
The girls spun around to find tall, lanky Rodney Philbert, all "dressed up" in yellow tweed and his thick brown framed glasses.
Kelly wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ugh, grotesque much! Don't you have other people to harass?"
Rodney ignored her and took a step towards Page. "Bailey told me you guys were trying to find out who killed Barry and David."
Page stared at him. "Bailey? How does Bailey know?"
"I told him," Kelly replied, checking her lipstick out in her compact mirror. "I think he's cute... speaking of which, I think I'll go locate Mr. Garris right now. Ta-ta, girls!"
Kally rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Rodney. "OK, so I guess you wanna help us out."
Rodney nodded. "David and I go a long way back. Grade school days you know."
Page nodded patiently.
"OK, well, first off it seems like we have a psychopath on our hands. Dresses like Death, carries a scythe for a weapon. Sounds like Scream revisited, right?"
"Right..." Kally said.
"OK, well, remember in Scream how they were talking about all those RULES that horror stories have?"
"Yeah," Page replied. "I've watched that movie a kzillion times, what's the point?"
"The point? You don't know the point?! The point is, 'there are certain rules that one must abide by in order to survive a horror movie'."
"Good quote, 'I see you've done your homework, too', " Page said wryly, throwing an I Know What You Did Last Summer line into the mix.
Rodney nodded. "Well, the rules were simple-if you gave it up, you died."
Page bit her lip guiltily. "Yeah ... and?"
"And," Rodney continued, "if you said anything like 'I'll be right back', 'who's there?', 'what do you want?' or 'leave me alone', you were pretty much dead."
Page slapped her hands against her sides, "well, I'm screwed then. And Tom too. He was always saying, 'I'll be right back' and when I said, 'leave me alone' and quite a few of the other forbidden lines the killer wrote stuff on the windshields."
Rodney nodded triumphantly, "he's an educated horror fiend obviously. He was letting you know you broke the rules. You break the rules, you're in trouble. 'Biiiiig no no'. "
"So now what?" Page asked. "We want to find the killer, not figure out how we broke the rules."
Rodney began counting off his fingers. "Well, how are the suspects coming along? We've got..." he waited for her to fill him in.
"Strange Carrison."
"Strange Carrison! The freaky undertaker's boy! Who else?"
"Deputy Rye knew about the prank Tom played on me in the cop car ... well, pretty much everyone knows about it now but he was the first to find out. Besides David but it couldn't be him because David's dead."
"So we think it's Deputy Rye..." Rodney said, narrowing his eyes conclusively.
"I think him and Strange are the only people we have to go on right now."
"There's gotta be more though," Kally said, "what about Bailey?"
Page was shocked. "Bailey? Why would he kill Barry and David? Those guys were
best friends!"
Rodney nodded. "Besides, if Bailey's a suspect, then I'm a suspect. And you two are suspects. Friends killing friends and all."
Page nodded. "You've got a point. Let's move on."
"I still can't believe he's gone..." Kally mourned.
Page bit her lip sympathetically. "It's a sick, sad world we live in."
"Not to mentioned scary fucked up and wrong!" Kally said, in tears. "I'm going to find that bastard who did it if it kills me."
Page covered her eyes w/ her hands. "Please don't talk like that. 'Kill' is the last word I wanna hear right now."
Kally stood up from her bed angrily. "How do you think I feel? My boyfriend just died!"
Page was equally distraught. "You're not the only one who's upset, Kally, I lost a friend too and we all cared about Barry."
Kally kneeled down next to Page and took her hands. "Then let's find out who it is,Page. The police aren't getting anywhere. Let's find the prick who did this to them and get him locked up!"
Page frowned. "But how do we find him?"
"Well, we can rule us out, we know it wasn't you or me because the guy chased you and I was at home baking cookies w/ Kelly."
"Well, I think it's Strange because he was at the cemetery right after Raven and I came running down the hill."
"And it wouldn't be Raven..." Kally said, crediting her friend that much.
"No, it couldn't have been because the guy chased both of us."
"So we think it's a guy. Who could it be?"
"Well, Strange. And there's still Deputy Rye-we can't rule him out yet."
"OK, well hold up. First we have to figure out who would have the motive to kill both of them," Page ascertained. "We thought David would've gotten into a scuffle w/ Deputy Rye but we know Strange got into a fight w/ Barry. Why would either of them want BOTH guys dead?"
"Well, I don't know about David- I don't think Strange ever had anything to do w/ him. But maybe Deputy Rye WAS trying to cover up for you and Tom. I mean, it would certainly explain the two guys getting murdered right by Tom's car."
Page gasped. "But what if they were in it together? What if Strange helped him?"
Kally's eyes widened. "You think?"
"I guess we'll have to find out somehow."
"How about this," Kally said holding up a red flyer. It was an invitation to Mercedes LeBon's birthday party. Mercedes was the wealthiest girl in town and it would definitely be a large gathering.
"Yeah!" Page agreed. "If we get everyone there the killer is bound to show up."
"That means Strange would have to show in order for us to see if he was the one."
"Well, we'll have to risk it. Besides, how can anyone kill someone in a house full of people? Just make sure he knows Raven's going to be there and he'll come w/ bells on his toes I'm sure. He's given her 'the look' plenty of times."
Two weeks later, Mercedes LeBon's party seemed to be the first and foremost on every teenager in Cedar Hill's minds. The attractive, well-to-do redhead was not only the cream of every guy's ideal coffee but a sweet, sensitive friend to the majority of the girls as well. She was in fact, the best friend of Raven O'Ryan which meant Raven would definitely make an appearance. Opportunity seemed to be looking up for Kally and Page's investigation of Strange in that aspect.
On the night of the party, Page met Kally and her twin sister Kelly at the Johnson house so they could prepare each other's makeup and dress together. Since Kelly and Kally were close through being natural "womb mates" Kelly had been filled in w/ the news of their investigation.
"I think that's awful," Kelly said, brushing her long, light brown hair back into a ponytail. "But I don't like the idea of a killer being around town either. What if he kills us next?" She gave a dramatic, visible shudder.
"Yeah, well, we're going to find him and it will all be over soon," Kally said, grabbing up her handbag determinedly.
Mercedes answered the door and gave Kally, Kelly and Page each a delightful hug and accepted the colorfully wrapped gifts. "Thanks guys, you didn't have to."
Kelly smiled smugly and Kally rolled her eyes at the comment.
Mercedes looked past them as if expecting someone else to be w/ them. "Raven didn't come w/ you?"
"Raven and I aren't exactly getting along since I branded Strange the candyman," Page said dryly.
Mercedes eyebrows rose. "Oh? I didn't know Strange meant that much to her... I mean she was helping him w/ his homework and all but I thought she had a thing for Parker."
Kelly shrugged. "You know how good ole Raven is-she likes everybody. Why wouldn't she get mad?"
Kally stepped on her sister's foot. "Can it," she said stepping into the great foyer of the LeBon mansion.
Kally observed the already crowded first floor, "C'mon, we've got work to do."
"You wouldn't be talking about work on the murder case would you?"
The girls spun around to find tall, lanky Rodney Philbert, all "dressed up" in yellow tweed and his thick brown framed glasses.
Kelly wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ugh, grotesque much! Don't you have other people to harass?"
Rodney ignored her and took a step towards Page. "Bailey told me you guys were trying to find out who killed Barry and David."
Page stared at him. "Bailey? How does Bailey know?"
"I told him," Kelly replied, checking her lipstick out in her compact mirror. "I think he's cute... speaking of which, I think I'll go locate Mr. Garris right now. Ta-ta, girls!"
Kally rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Rodney. "OK, so I guess you wanna help us out."
Rodney nodded. "David and I go a long way back. Grade school days you know."
Page nodded patiently.
"OK, well, first off it seems like we have a psychopath on our hands. Dresses like Death, carries a scythe for a weapon. Sounds like Scream revisited, right?"
"Right..." Kally said.
"OK, well, remember in Scream how they were talking about all those RULES that horror stories have?"
"Yeah," Page replied. "I've watched that movie a kzillion times, what's the point?"
"The point? You don't know the point?! The point is, 'there are certain rules that one must abide by in order to survive a horror movie'."
"Good quote, 'I see you've done your homework, too', " Page said wryly, throwing an I Know What You Did Last Summer line into the mix.
Rodney nodded. "Well, the rules were simple-if you gave it up, you died."
Page bit her lip guiltily. "Yeah ... and?"
"And," Rodney continued, "if you said anything like 'I'll be right back', 'who's there?', 'what do you want?' or 'leave me alone', you were pretty much dead."
Page slapped her hands against her sides, "well, I'm screwed then. And Tom too. He was always saying, 'I'll be right back' and when I said, 'leave me alone' and quite a few of the other forbidden lines the killer wrote stuff on the windshields."
Rodney nodded triumphantly, "he's an educated horror fiend obviously. He was letting you know you broke the rules. You break the rules, you're in trouble. 'Biiiiig no no'. "
"So now what?" Page asked. "We want to find the killer, not figure out how we broke the rules."
Rodney began counting off his fingers. "Well, how are the suspects coming along? We've got..." he waited for her to fill him in.
"Strange Carrison."
"Strange Carrison! The freaky undertaker's boy! Who else?"
"Deputy Rye knew about the prank Tom played on me in the cop car ... well, pretty much everyone knows about it now but he was the first to find out. Besides David but it couldn't be him because David's dead."
"So we think it's Deputy Rye..." Rodney said, narrowing his eyes conclusively.
"I think him and Strange are the only people we have to go on right now."
"There's gotta be more though," Kally said, "what about Bailey?"
Page was shocked. "Bailey? Why would he kill Barry and David? Those guys were
best friends!"
Rodney nodded. "Besides, if Bailey's a suspect, then I'm a suspect. And you two are suspects. Friends killing friends and all."
Page nodded. "You've got a point. Let's move on."