Disclaimer: I don't own Scream or any of the characters. I only own my OC.

A/N: Wanted to update this story before Halloween because I'm sure these next few days are going to be busy for me. Anyways, if I don't update before Halloween I just want to say, Happy Halloween. Stay safe guys!

Chapter 3: Gone

Usually morning times at the Mitchell household were organized and not rushed. However things changed when Scarlett's mother began working the night shifts at the hospital. Since then the teenager became in charge of their morning routine.

Scarlett insisted to her mother that she'd handle morning time because she wanted her to rest. The redhead felt horrible that her mother was tired from working those long hours at the hospital. She knew that her mother only worked a lot because it was just her who was supporting the family financially now.

It was for that reason that Scarlett really wanted to get a job, even a part time job, to help with the bills. Lots of kids her age already worked. Randy even worked at the video store.

Except sometimes she did wonder how he was never permanently fired with the way he would trash customers' movie choices. To her entertainment it was always fun to watch when he'd do that. She found it more funny than annoying because Randy and her did have the same taste when it came to movies. She too was very passionate and wasn't afraid to go into rant when the occasion called for it.

The point was that Scarlett saw how he was able to balance having a job while going to school. She thought she could do that too.

Her mother, however, strongly disagreed. She made it clear that Scarlett's only job at the moment was to focus on school. Apparently doing well in school was how she would get a scholarship for college. That's why Scarlett was on the honor roll, and maintained a 4.0. GPA.

Since she couldn't get an actual job to help her mother then at least she could get a scholarship for college. She didn't need her mother stressing out with how she was going to pay for her college education. Scarlett figured she could handle that herself. Her mother already did so much for Lindsey and her.

That October morning, Scarlett and Lindsey both woke up late. Well, late enough that everything felt even more rushed than usual and why neither of them turned on the TV. While Nora slept in her bedroom, Scarlett and Lindsey rushed to finish eating the scrambled eggs Scarlett made.

The redhead only had time to make eggs and not bacon….something Lindsey had been upset about but a simple tired look from Scarlett made her mumble an apology.

The Mitchell's luckily lived close enough to the schools that they were able to walk. Scarlett tagged along with Lindsey until they arrived at the street that led into the direction of the high school.

Usually Scarlett walked her sister all the way to her school but because they were running late, the seventeen year old parted ways with her sister a lot sooner than usual. She at least kept an eye on Lindsey until the twelve year old turned the corner.

Scarlett then continued making her way to school, still assuming, despite her lateness, that it was going to be another ordinary day in Woodsboro.

How very wrong she was about to be proven.

Scarlett was blown away at what she was seeing. It was total chaos when she arrived at Woodsboro High.

There were police officers and news reporters everywhere in front of the high school. There was yellow police tape to block parts of the high school. It appeared that some of the reporters even looked to be doing live interviews with a few of the officers.

Much like her, a lot of the students that were gathered around or just arriving, looked extremely puzzled. She did see a few expressions on people that showed panic and she wondered why that was.

Was there an accident that happened this morning? Did someone get hurt? Or worse...die? Or did something else entirely happen?

Her teenage mind began coming up with another reason as to what all this commotion was all about. Did a student and teacher get caught having an affair? Like in those Lifetime movies she sometimes watched on weekend mornings. That certainly could cause a reaction like this.

Whatever these news people were reporting on had to be big. The last time Scarlett had seen this many news people and police officers was last year, and that was because of Maureen Prescott's murder. Scarlett felt sudden sadness for Sidney's loss. Despite how well her friend was now holding herself, Scarlett was aware that whenever Sidney's mother was brought up that she suffered in silence.

Sidney was a lot like her in that department. Neither of them really liked talking about their feelings so freely. It was only with people they trusted, and even then it would be limited.

Of course as soon as she started thinking about her friend Sidney, Scarlett immediately found her in the swarm of teenagers that were gathered. She hurriedly walked over to her.

"Sidney!" Scarlett called out.

Her brown haired friend looked relieved to see her by her side. "Scarlett, hey." She greeted the redhead softly. She gestured around."Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Scarlett shook her head."No, I just got here. I was worried about getting here late only to find it's complete madness." She fixed the hold she had on her backpack. "It looks like a scene right from out of a movie."

Sidney listened to her words. "The beginning or the end of one?"

Scarlett was about to say the beginning of one but then thought about it better. She was about to give her final answer when her brown eyes caught sight of someone reporting in front of the high school. It was a woman dressed in a bright lime yellow suit.

"Isn't that….?" Scarlett's question drifted into silence. She knew exactly who that was…..and how much distress she had caused Sidney during the trial of her mother's murder. Hence her hesitation to ask the full question.

Sidney's soft brown eyes were now on the female reporter. They showed major aversion towards her. "Gale Weathers."

Scarlett was about to gently lead Sidney away from Gale's presence. Seeing Gale again must have brought back memories about her mother's murder, and Scarlett didn't want her friend to get further emotionally triggered.

"Can you believe this shit?" Tatum asked as she popped up next to them. Sidney and Scarlett were immediately startled by her sudden entrance.

"Tatum!" Sidney exclaimed.

Scarlett briefly put a hand to her chest. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

"Scarlett and I just got here and we have no idea what's going on. Do you?" Sidney quickly asked her blonde outspoken friend.

Tatum raised her eyebrows at the question. "You guys really don't know?" She looked at her friends in disbelief. Something this huge happened in a small town like Woodsboro and they didn't know?

"No, we don't." Scarlett answered. For some reason the way Tatum looked anxious to tell them made her stomach ache a little. But her curiosity made the ache lessen enough to ask. "Can you please tell us?"

Tatum's voice lowered a bit as they passed a group teeangers who looked to be in a discussion themselves. "Casey Becker and Steve Orth were killed last night."

Scarlett felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on her. She froze in place. "What?"

Sidney stopped walking, as did Tatum. Her brown eyes were wide. "No way."

"We're not just talking killed, we're talking about splatter movie killed." Tatum bluntly explained to them what she was able to learn herself. "Ripped open from end to end."

The trio began walking again as the two teens processed this new devastating information.

"Casey Becker's in our English class." Sidney brought up as she glanced at Scarlett. The redhead was silent, her expression of dread. "I sit next to her."

Tatum made a face. "Not anymore."

"This can't be true." Scarlett finally spoke again. Her voice wasn't as strong, and she struggled to speak clearly. "I-I just spoke to her yesterday. She was supposed to come to my house until she canceled."

"It's a good thing she did then." Tatum plainly-spoke. She instantly started to feel bad at Scarlett's heavy-hearted expression. It wasn't too often that Tatum Riley ever felt bad about the things she would say, she was a very direct person and most in Woodsboro already knew this. There were only a few people she would ever be apologetic towards, and those exceptions included Sidney and Scarlett.

Tatum let out a sigh as she looked at her red haired friend. "Sorry, look I know you two used to be good friends, but it was probably a good thing she didn't go. Who knows? You could've died too." She shook her head. "And imagine your mom or sister finding you the same way Casey's parents found her? It's so sad. They found her hanging from a tree, her insides on the outside."

Scarlett felt like throwing up at the mental image she got.

Sidney let out a gasp. "Oh my God. Do they know who did it?"

Tatum scoffed. "Fuckin' clueless. I mean they're interrogating the entire school. Teachers, students, janitors…."

"They think it's school related?" Sidney questioned.

"They don't know." Tatum replied with a shrug. "I mean, Dewey was saying this was the worst crime in years. Even worse than…."

Tatum stopped talking this time before she could finish her sentence. Scarlett knew what she was going to say, and based on Sidney's tense posture she figured Sidney was too.

The school bell finally rang, giving Tatum an excuse to leave. She sheepishly looked away from Sidney. "Well, it's bad." The teenager instead said before walking into the high school.

Sidney and Scarlett looked at each, both unsettled. They made their way inside and realized that inside the high school was more overwhelming than outside.

Scarlett saw more heartbroken reactions from the students. Several were still lingering around their lockers despite hearing the school bell. They looked to be ardently discussing what they have learned, and a few were even crying.

Scarlett's throat started to hurt from all the emotion she was seeing. It started to affect her too, because she realized just how real everything was.

She knew the moment she found out but now it felt like she was punched in the face with it. She started to shake a little, a warning sign that if she didn't go somewhere else with less people, a large crowd would see her break down.

The redhead started to go a different direction and of course Sidney noticed right away.

"Scarlett?" Sidney called out in a concerned voice.

Scarlett barely glanced over her shoulder. "I….I just need a moment to myself."

Sidney's concern didn't waver. "Are you sure? I can go with you."

"Yes. I….I just really need to be alone right now, Sid." Scarlett finally looked at her.

Sidney saw the way her friend's eyes were watering. It was a familiar look. She knew how Scarlett was feeling.

A moment to herself was exactly what Sidney wanted when finding out her mother had been murdered. A moment to get a good cry without anyone seeing her at her most vulnerable. Scarlett had always given her space and respected her privacy and now Sidney would do the same.

"Okay." Sidney nodded in solidarity.

Scarlett gave her a thankful nod and then faced forward. She passed by student after student. If they hadn't been so focused on each other they would have heard the redhead sniffling and seen her shaking. The further she got away from the crowd of students the less control she had over her emotions.

Once she saw that she was in an empty hallway, Scarlett began to sob. She leaned against a row of lockers as she thought about Casey, and the horror she and Steve must have gone through last night.

Gutted, and left hanging on a tree? Who would do something like that? And to Casey? She was one of the nicest people Scarlett had known. And Steve was a stand up guy. What kind of person was this?

Whoever it was, they were still out there.

Scarlett let out another sob.

"Scarlett?"

The redhead shifted her gaze to her right side. Billy was standing there, looking at her with an unreadable expression. She blinked a few times, tears going down her face. Billy kept still as he looked her over.

"Casey and Steve are dead." Scarlett said more to herself than to him.

Billy still heard her loud and clear. He nodded his head. "Yeah, I heard." He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Crazy, huh?"

"Billy, she's dead." Scarlett's voice was louder with heavy emotion. "Casey's dead."

Billy frowned. "Hey, come here." His voice was low as he enveloped her in a hug. "I got you."

Scarlett was too emotionally distraught to deny his hug. She let herself be held as more tears escaped. If she had a clearer head she would have found Billy's hug to be strange.

Billy was friendly with her, but never this affectionate. They hugged, however, it was always a quick hug. Their hugs never lasted this long. One of Billy's hands stroked her long red hair while the other was on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

She definitely would have found this strange if she wasn't currently mourning someone she cared about.

The reason she finally ended the hug was because she felt her tears staining his shoulder where she had been resting her head.

"Crap, I'm sorry." Scarlett hiccuped.

Billy didn't even look down to where her tears stained his shirt. He just kept his eyes on her. "Don't worry about it."

"No, I shouldn't have cried on you." Scarlett shook her head. The emotional clouds in her head were finally clearing up. She felt embarrassed that Billy had found her like this.

"I need to go to class. I need to…." Scarlett exhaled shakily and then left without sparing Billy another glance. The seventeen year old missed the way Billy's gaze was on her retreating form.

Despite running from Billy, she couldn't outrun her thoughts.

Casey Becker and Steve Orth were dead. Brutally murdered. Steve's Orth death was a tragedy but it was Casey's death that left a hole in Scarlett's heart.

It was Casey who used to be her best friend.

It was Casey who would watch Disney movies with her and would cry with Scarlett every time there was a sad scene in The Fox and the Hound.

It was Casey who Scarlett would go trick or treating with.

It was Casey who Scarlett had sleepovers with and sneaked into the kitchen in the middle of night to eat cookies.

It was Casey who was supposed to be with Scarlett yesterday.

It was Casey who made it clear she wanted to be friends with her again.

Now Scarlett reconnecting with Casey would never be possible….because she was gone.