15 years ago, it would have been surprising for members of the small town of Woodsboro for the streets to be flooded with news vans and reporters. Now after all the years it has become somewhat typical. More so now that Remembrance Week is in full swing.
Explaining why a majority of the Woodsboro high school students weren't surprised to see a plethora of reporters on the front lawn of their school. Many of those head directly for the cameras, believing for some reason that appearing on a local news station will launch them to stardom, not even caring why their town is once again the center of the circus that is tabloid news. Others are less worried about the cameras and more worried about classes.
Danielle Edwards being one of them.
She steps off the bright yellow school bus, immediately on her way inside as if it was any other day. She's never really been the type to seek attention, proffering to observe from a distance. Her straight dark brown hair is long enough that it goes just past her shoulders and a simple pair of sunglasses currently covers her dark brown eyes. She wears a gray fitted sweatshirt with a dark red design on it and a plain pair of blue jeans. She carries her bag on one shoulder and walks semi-confidently as she maneuvers her way through her fellow students.
After a run in or two with a few members of the press who wanted to know what she thought about…actually, she hadn't heard why they were there yet. She supposed it was mostly likely the way the town has chosen to "remember" the past students who were mercilessly slaughtered. She has finally opened up her locker on the second floor when it is slammed shut by a slightly tanned hand in desperate need of a manicure.
"My god Ash, I just got the damn thing opened!" Dani yelled as she began turning the lock to the correct numbers once again.
Ashley Foster, Dani's best friend was now leaning against her own locker, twisting a lock of her hair between her forefinger and thumb, feigning indifference. She was wearing a pair of old cut up blue jeans and a cropped jacket that was at least two sizes too small for her.
"Whatever, I wanted to get your attention. Did you see all the paparazzi out there? Although after what happened it was expected." Ashley said with a deep sigh. As if talking to Dani was a laboring task.
"Wait." Dani said after depositing a large book labeled Chemistry into her locker. "What happened? I thought they were here to cover "Remembrance" Week. "She said before closing the locker and turning towards her friend.
"You haven't heard?" Ashley said her eyes going wide as she took in the new information. She then relaxed herself back into her state of indifference as she kicked off the wall of lockers and the two began making their way to their class. "Mackenzie Saint and Anna Dove were killed last night." She said in a hushed tone.
"No way. It must be some kind of prank or something."
"Nope it happened. The Saints came home and found Mackenzie on their lawn stabbed to death and Anna was gutted, her insides on the outside."
"Wow. Don't we have English with them?"
"Not anymore." She said her tone taking on a note of finality before they turned to enter their Math class.
SCREAMSCREAMSCREAM
The morning classes flew by quickly.
The police were in the school questioning the students. Most of the faculty who had been around fifteen years ago were all dealing with a case of deja vu.
It was now lunch and Dani was walking quickly to the area where she and her friends usually hung out. It was the newly reconstructed fountain, now a few inches taller with more detailing on the sides.
Her friends were already there. The taller ginger girl with the video camera perpetually glued to her hand was Hayden Sawyer, determined to become the next Spielberg. Her current focus was Nikki Wilson who was speaking loudly with overt gestures, always hamming it up for the camera. Her naturally curly hair is straightened and her side bangs are just a bit in her eyes. Her tight pink top and blue jeans are paired with stylish sandals and a designer bag. Nikki's deep green eyes are perfectly accentuated by her light brown skin.
Ashley and her boyfriend, Brandon Gardener, a thin guy with strawberry blonde hair, who made up for his lack of muscle with his obscene height of 6'5". His hair is long and shaggy, if he skated he would be as cliché as possible, and is currently sporting a pair of old jeans and a plain shirt with a green over shirt, are sitting together a bit a ways and sitting off to the side with his usual broad grin on his face is Sean Masters, Dani's boyfriend. His blonde hair is cut short with only an inch or two of length and styled with just enough gel to look like it isn't made out of plastic. Dani smiles and waves at her friends as she finally gets in hearing distance of the small group.
"Did you know the young victims?" Hayden asks in her practiced professional press voice, now having moved on to interviewing Ashley and Brandon. As if the real press wasn't enough.
"Not really, I had a class or two with them but I didn't really know them." Ashley answered before popping a grape into her mouth. She turned to Brandon waiting for his answer.
"Yeah same, I didn't really know them."
"Didn't you try and get with Anna at Neve Craven's party a while back." Sean supplied before welcoming Dani with a quick peck on the lips and sitting his girlfriend onto his lap.
"Yeah, but then I found Ash and I never looked back." He said before diving in to nip at Ashley's neck lovingly.
She pushed him away gently, not really one to be too into PDA.
"That's only because your leash is too tight." Nikki remarked.
"Hey!" cried Ashley tossing a grape at Nikki. "I resent that remark." She said before taking Brandon's face in one hand.
"I don't keep you on a short leash do I baby?" Brandon shook his head as much as the hold he was currently in would let him. Ashley turned to Nikki with a look of triumph before nodding. "See, He isn't on a tight leash. He's just whipped."
The group laughed at the statement. Except for Brandon who was now pouting a bit.
After everyone had calmed back down after his or her quick laughing fit, Dani figured it was time to change the subject.
"So, any of you guys been questioned yet?"
Brandon nodded emphatically, swallowing whatever he had been eating quickly.
"Yeah man, that shit was scary as fu-Ow!" He stopped grabbing his arm where Ashley had smacked him.
"Are you thirteen? Swearing isn't cool." She said her arms now firmly crossed in front of her.
"Sorry babe," finishing his short apology with a light kiss before continuing. "So they take you into the principal's office and ask you questions like "Where were you last night?" and "Did you know one of 'em."
"Did they ask you if you like hunting too?" Sean asked from beside Dani.
Brandon nodded as he took another bite out of what he called his lunch. Nikki looked up from where she had been looking through her purse for something. "Hunting? They didn't ask me if I liked to go hunting."
"Why would they ask that anyway?" Dani asked, not sure she really wanted to know.
"Because their bodies were like, mutilated and gutted man." Brandon answered with a semi-serious look on his face.
Dani shook a bit at the thought, only calmed by the feeling of Sean's warm hand taking hers.
"Are we still doing the usual after school?" Hayden asked after turning off her camera and picking up her bag.
"Can't. I have work. But I'll catch up with you guys later. "Brandon said before standing and throwing away his trash.
"I can only hang for a bit, my moms leaving town tonight." Dani said before turning to Ashley.
"I'm still staying at your place right?"
She too stood, needing to stretch her arms after sitting for so long. "Yeah, I'll be over about 8-ish."
The bell rang with Ashley still in mid-stretch. Some of the group looked up towards the sky with looks of contempt and indifference, as if some unseen suddenly ended their lunch. Ashley gave Brandon a quick kiss on the cheek and a wave to Hayden before linking arms with Nikki and a reluctant Dani, who was having trouble saying goodbye to Sean's lips, and walking towards their next class.
SCREAMSCREAMSCREAM
With the few exceptions of some annoying out of town reporters and being questioned by the local police, the day went by as quickly and almost normally as always.
Before she knew it, Dani was already in her last period of the day, English. She took her usual seat in the middle row next to Nikki's and a now empty one that just yesterday was occupied by the now deceased Mackenzie Saint. She hadn't really been friends with the girl but she had talked to her a few times and had seemed like an alright girl, not someone anyone would want to kill that's for sure.
The teacher starts the class off with the same lecture about "safety" all of the other teachers had given before returning to their pseudo quasi-happy existences. Dani tried to pay attention to what she had been saying once the teacher actually began teaching, but her gaze kept returning to the empty seat beside her and the memories of the vibrant girl who once sat there.
Nikki was never one to pay too much attention in class and was busy texting someone or other and somewhat pretending to sort of work on the given assignment when the bell rang. She put her phone in her bag and picked up her things before nudging Dani out of her trance and back into the world of the normal.
"Come on. The gang is waiting." Nikki said before heading out the door.
Dani nodded and was soon grabbing her things and heading out the door of the classroom to catch up with her friend.
The two girls were giggling and smiling as they walked down the long halls together. Both were happy school was over and they could just chill out for the rest of the day. They had stopped in front of Dani's locker so she could drop off a few of her books. The girls had been so engrossed in their conversation of what they would be doing that night they didn't notice someone walking their way.
"Hello ladies!" Trevor Green said as he took his recorder out of his pocket.
Nikki rolled her eyes, sharing a look with Dani that could convey everything words couldn't.
"What do you want Trevor? The days over, were tired, and we want to go home." Nikki said as she crossed her arms in front of her taking her "bitch" stance.
Dani stood by the now closed locker. Watching as the large smile on Trevor's pale face dropped an inch or two. Honestly he wasn't too pale but with his shaggy jet-black hair and dark brown eyes it just seemed to make him look even whiter than most.
"I'm interviewing people for the news paper and I was wondering if there was anything you'd like to say about the recent events. Your feelings on Remembrance Week. Or the gruesome murders that took place last night? Did you know the victims? Are you afraid you'll be next?" he asked all in quick succession making sure to get everything into his recorder.
Nikki stood there, watching him with her eyes; she shared another look with Dani before turning back to Trevor to answer him.
"Remembrance Week is alright, I mean they could have found a better way to honor students who passed but, whatever. At least their doing something. I didn't really know either of them. I talked to Anna a few times but Mackenzie generally kept to herself. I feel sorry for their parents really, I mean that's just something no parent should have to go through. And no, I'm not. Should I be Trev? Are you afraid?" She said before linking arms with Dani, heading toward the front door of the building and making their way down the front stairs onto the plush green lawn that surrounded the large school. They were headed towards Ashley's car, a lime green Volkswagen beetle, when Dani stopped, grabbing Nikki's arm.
"Hey, I think I'm just gonna catch the bus." She said, hooking her thumb in the direction of the yellow monstrosities.
Nikki scrunched up her nose in confusion.
"Why?" She asked, completely taken aback by her friend's statement.
"My mom's leaving tonight. I told you that. I think I wanna get home sooner then if I were to hang out. I'll still see you later, yeah?" She asked making sure her friend understood her reasoning.
"Yeah, I get it. Kind of, I'll explain it to Ash and make sure to tell Sean "Hi" for you." She replied before encasing her friend in a hug.
Dani turned and ran towards the buses, knowing they would be leaving any second. Before stepping onto the bus, she made sure to wave goodbye to her friend. Even though she was going to see her tomorrow and most likely talk to her later, she wanted to make sure her friend knew she was going to miss her.
SCREAMSCREAMSCREAM
Dani always gets home at the same time every day. She steps of the bus at 3:24 PM on to a small dirt road that leads up to the large farm house her and her family calls home. Well, it's more like her and her mom, her dad left years ago and her mom never really moved on. She put herself into her work and her daughter…but the latter always seemed to come second.
This was why it was also normal for the house to be empty when Dani got home. The house was large in size, the land taking up a large amount of the, almost, two acres of land her family owned, and two stories high. There was a large deck to the side of the house but not much foliage around the home.
As soon as she entered the house, Dani headed straight to her room to pack for her stay at Ashley's. She packed the few things she needed, mostly her toothbrush and some books for classes she kept at home, she didn't really need much in the for of clothes since she and Ashley pretty much shared everything. It took her only a few minutes to get her things together and then she was back downstairs and in the kitchen making herself something to eat.
"Hmm, now should I have a peanut butter and jelly or a ham and cheese sandwich?" She mused to herself aloud. She figured an apple would be faster and grabbed one from the small bowl on the counter by the large metal refrigerator when the phone rang. She let out a sigh before putting down the apple and picking up the black landline from its receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey honey it's me. I was just calling to let you know I'm at the airport and my plane should be arriving any minute."
It was her mom; she had already figured it was either her or Ashley.
"Yeah, okay mom. Ash is coming by in a bit to pick me up. How long are you going to be gone for this time?" Dani asked even though she already knew.
"Just a few days honey. You love it at Ashley's anyway. Now I have to go, but be safe and tell Ashley and her parent's thank you for letting you stay with them."
"Alright, I will. I love you mom."
"I love you too, Bye honey."
"Bye" Dani said a bit upset that the phone call hadn't last longer before hanging up the phone and returning to the apple. She picked it up and was in the process of taking a bite from it when she stopped, a sudden realization that she wasn't as hungry ash she had thought she was. She placed the apple back in the bowl and made her way into the living room.
A small white couch with a few throw pillows and a large entertainment center were the focal points of the room. She lay on the couch and curled herself up before surfing through the channels on the TV, settling on a rerun of an old sitcom and settling in. Within a few minutes, she was deep in sleep.