xxxxxx

Gale was dressed in a white sleeveless top, a black mini skirt with two small pockets, one on each hip, and black heels which increased her height by at least three inches. Her hair was brushed nicely, and her makeup was done with perfect precision. She held the microphone up and began to speak:

"This is Gale Weathers, reporting from Woodsboro, a town virtually unheard of until two years ago. Since the infamous Woodsboro murders, this calm, quiet, little town has finally made it onto the map. This week marks the two year anniversary of the murders committed by two high school students, largely consisting of their own peers. While the town has not forgotten this brutal massacre, today the town mourns the loss of another student.

"Early this morning, a young girl was murdered, in a similar fashion to the murders which occurred two years ago. Fourteen year old Martha Meeks, sister of Randy Meeks, whose life was almost claimed in the initial murders, was stabbed to death during a sleep over party at the house of her friend, fourteen year old Heather Williamson. Also at the party was a third girl, fifteen year old Kayla Kelleher. According to an anonymous source, neither Heather Williamson nor Kayla Kelleher have been found. Blood of both girls was discovered at the crime scene, but both remain missing. The amount of blood found suggests that either or both of the girls could possibly still be alive. Their blood loss would have been tremendous, but not necessarily fatal.

"But if they are in fact still alive, where are they? Police think they may be being held captive somewhere, or could have been killed, their bodies disposed of in a yet to be known location. But what may seem more chilling is the possibility that both of these girls could be being treated as suspects. We must remember that two years ago, it was two high school boys who were responsible for numerous brutal slayings. It isn't beyond reason to consider that this time, it may be two high school girls trying to repeat Woodsboro's minute of spotlight.

"As police continue to investigate the murder of Martha Meeks and the disappearance of her two friends, everyone questions whether these recent events relate to the murders of two years ago. Could this be a copy-cat killer? A local 911 operator says 'definitely.' In a few minutes, I'll interview one Bethany Grace, who answered the desperate call from young Martha Meeks, but first, we'll hear the audio recording of that phone call."

Dewey winced as he watched Gale's news report. At this point, the audio clip played. The sheriff had a copy of it, but apparently Gale had gotten a copy elsewhere. He was astonished that the 911 operator was sharing so much information with the reporter. Had Gale bribed her perhaps? The operator would probably lose her job over this.

She had promised not to share any of this information with the world... Dewey felt very betrayed. If he had told her information, even though she promised not to, she surely would have shared it with the public. He had assumed her promise would extend to any police information she obtained, even if she did obtain it through eavesdropping, which was almost certainly the case.

Hearing Martha's terrified voice on the recording made Dewey feel sick. Gale, and the 911 operator, had no right to share the tape with the public. How would the girl's family respond to this? Personally, Dewey knew he would be beyond furious if the dying pleas of his baby sister Tatum had been recorded and publicized on the news. Gale really needed to learn to be more sensitive. Good reporting meant more than just getting the most juicy material. It also meant respecting those innocent civilians who were unfortunately involved in the news.

As the audio clip concluded, Gale resumed speaking.

"According to the tape, the killer chose Martha specifically to lure back the quote 'Woodsboro gang.' One can only assume that whoever is responsible for murdering the young girl wants original survivours from the Woodsboro massacre to return to the town."

Gale turned toward a tall woman who was standing next to her on camera, "I'm here with Miss Bethany Grace, the operator who answered Martha's 911 call. Miss Grace, please describe-"

Dewey turned the television off, shaking his head. How could Gale do this? He couldn't understand her. Was getting her news story really so important to her that she would disrespect the family members of a recently murdered girl? How could she possibly think this was fair? Plus, the information she stole from the Sheriff wasn't meant for the public. Now Heather and Kayla's families would be furious as well, and would it be Gale who'd have to answer to them? No. It would be the police. Heather's and Kayla's families weren't meant to know that their daughters were suspects...

As Dewey considered what he should do, his phone rang. He had considered calling Gale, but maybe she was calling him instead. If she were, she'd probably regret it, because he was going to give her a piece of his mind.

"Gale?" he answered, hoping it was her. His phone didn't have caller-ID, so he couldn't know who it was before actually speaking with them.

"No, why?" an angry voice responded, "I see you've been talking to her a lot lately," the voice growled.

"Sheriff Jones," Dewey sighed, "I didn't tell her anything. I swear. I haven't even spoken with her since before I spoke with you... She must have listened to our conversation..."

"She wasn't there, Dwight," the sheriff still sounded quite angry, "We were in a room, the door closed, the windows closed... How could she have heard?"

"Well... she must have... I know I didn't tell her anything," Dewey persisted, "so unless you did, she must have heard through the wall or something... You do have the tendency to talk kind of loud sometimes..."

"Do you have any idea how big of a problem that woman has created for us?" the Sheriff yelled.

"YES!" Dewey yelled back at him, "I do have a pretty good idea how big of a problem she's created. But it's not my fault. There's nothing I can do about it. She and I aren't the same person. I can't control what she does! I've told her to stop being the way she is, but she doesn't listen to me. What do you expect me to do?"

"Arrest her," the Sheriff suggested, "she shared police information that she was told to keep quiet."

"But-" Dewey started.

"But nothing!" the Sheriff interrupted him, "just do it."

"We can't prove she got that information from us," Dewey protested. How was he supposed to arrest Gale? She'd never just let him do that... She'd probably refuse to let him take her in, and then what would he do? He couldn't force her... That would be too awkward...

"Either she got it from us, or she's the killer, Dwight," Sheriff Jones offered, "either way, she needs to be brought in. Can you handle it? Or do you want me to send someone to back you up. You're not scared of her, are you?" he taunted.

"I can handle it, sir," Dewey frowned, hanging up the phone.

He hoped she would come in on her own... He knew he could force her to if he really needed to... He was physically capable of it at least... But she would be so furious with him if he had to resort to that... He wished she would just stop putting her reporting above everything, so he wouldn't have to arrest her at all... But he knew that wasn't likely to happen any time soon...

Dewey looked at the phone he had just hung up. He knew Gale had a cell phone, so he could call her, ask her to meet him somewhere, and assuming she would agree to meet him, he could ask her to come in to the police station. Hopefully it wouldn't even really be considered an arrest... Hopefully she would just accompany him to the station with no hard feelings... But only time would tell...

xxxxxx

Gale sighed. Dewey had asked to meet with her, so she was now waiting for him on a park bench. She knew he'd probably seen her news report, and she knew he was probably furious with her. He hadn't fought for her at all when the sheriff wouldn't let her in on their discussion. He just let the sheriff be rude to her, without even standing up for her. If she had been let into the office, she might not have shared the information on the news... or would have at least done so more stealthily, adding only little bits of information at a time so as to not appear to have leaked everything she heard as soon as she left the station... At any rate, Dewey had a right to be a bit angry, but she had a right to be angry with him as well, so as far as she was concerned, they were even.

She looked around the park. Hardly anyone else was out. Night was falling, and people had good reason to be frightened to be out in the open all alone, considering Martha's murder. Certainly the people of Woodsboro hadn't forgotten how many people became fatalities of the original slew of murders. And anyone who had seen Gale's news report would know that it was dangerous to assume the murder was simply random.

A few people jogged by, a woman in a grey track suit with a pink sripe down the pants, and a man in black track pants and a white t-shirt. She watched them as they jogged past, paying no attention to her. They must not watch the news... or else they would have stopped to ask for her autograph or a photo or something...

Sighing, Gale pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. Dewey had said he'd meet her here in "a few minutes," and it had already been ten... He was normally on time, or even early to any date or meeting... She hoped nothing had happened to him...

She stuck the phone back into her skirt's pocket and watched the joggers, who had made pretty good progress in getting all the way across the park.

Gale looked up at the lamp next to the bench as it turned on automatically as the darkness of the night grew. She was beginning to feel rather nervous. She looked around the park again... The joggers were no longer in sight. Now Gale was the only person around. She thought of her own news report, and of the audio recording of what the killer had said to Martha before he killed her. The killer had mentioned bringing the "Woodsboro gang" back... Did that include her? Sid, Randy, Dewey, and Cotton were all from Woodsboro... so they were probably in danger... but was she? She was involved in the case, in reporting on it anyway, and had been at the scene of last murders, almost becoming a victim herself... But did the killer consider her as part of his or her "Woodsboro gang?"

As she thought about this, she was making herself even more nervous. If she indeed was a potential target, she was making herself a very easy kill by sitting out in the dark, all alone, under a lamp like she was on display, for the killer to be able to find her easily under the light.

Gale jumped slightly as she saw a shadow in the trees near her bench. She stared over where she thought she'd seen the shadow. It could have just been the shadow of the shrubbery and trees. But then it moved again...

"Who's there?" Gale asked, standing up, so she'd be ready to run if she needed to. She could hear her voice shaking, and was ashamed of herself for broadcasting her fear so obviously. She didn't usually like to show her emotions, except for anger. She hated anyone to know she was scared, sad, compassionate, or any other emotion she felt was negative.

The leaves rustled.

Gale took a step back, "Who's there?" she repeated, sounding more angry than frightened this time. If the killer was going to lunge out of the bushes, she wanted him to just do it already instead of playing games with her.

More rustling... This time, she could see the bushes move slightly, but still, no one emerged.

"Who's there, dammit?" she said, this time taking a step forward. It was probably some stupid kid just trying to scare her, probably filming her reaction so he could show it to the world and embarrass her. Oddly enough, even though she was very popular, she was simultaneously very hated... but that's just how fame works.

She took another step forward. As soon as she was within a few feet of the trees, someone finally emerged, stumbling out and crashing right into her.

Gale screamed, pushing the person away. But when she did so, she noticed two things: ONE, the person who had run into her was not wearing a ghost mask, and TWO, she felt a wet, sticky feeling on her hands where she had pushed the stranger away. It felt like blood.

She looked down at her hands, in horror as she saw a dark shade of red covering them. Then she looked back at the person, who just stood in front of her, looking weak and desperate. It was someone she'd seen before... In fact, it was someone she'd talked to earlier today... It was the 911 operator she'd interviewed during her news report.

"Bethany?" Gale asked, moving back toward her and looking her over. It was hard to see in the darkness, as they were not directly under the nearby lamp, but the large dark stain on the operator's shirt looked like blood, the same blood Gale now had all over her hands. Gale rushed over and grabbed Bethany's shoulders. She looked into her eyes, "Who did this, Bethany?"

Bethany tried to speak, but when she opened her mouth, only a small trickle of blood flowed down her chin.

Gale looked back into the trees. All she saw there was darkness. She looked back at Bethany, "I'll call an ambulance," Gale offered, finally remembering that she had her cellphone with her. She quickly led Bethany to the park bench and sat her down. Gale dialed the number with shaking hands and looked at Bethany again, "Is the killer still here? In the woods?" she asked.

Bethany shook her head, "I... don't... think... so..." she managed, coughing while she spoke. She didn't look well at all.

Gale reached out and grabbed Bethany's hand as she held her phone up to her ear.

"911. What is your emergency?" a voice spoke.

Looking nervously back at the shadowy trees, Gale responded, "I need an ambulance at the park, now. Someone's been stabbed..." She considered telling them who it was who had been stabbed, but thought the operator might know Bethany personally, and would panic if he knew it was his co-worker in peril, "I'm at the park bench in the back... On the oppose side from the fountain," she explained, trying to pinpoint their exact location.

"We'll send someone right over-" she heard the man respond.

She dropped her phone onto the bench. There was no need for her to stay on the line when Bethany lay dying right in front of her. The phone slid off the bench and onto the ground, but Gale didn't care about her phone right now.

"Stay with me," she urged, looking very seriously at Bethany. She was looking as though she may soon lose consciousness, "You're going to be okay," she promised.

Bethany's hand fumbled around in her pocket, "I-" she started, coughing again, "I have- something," she coughed another time. More blood flowed from her mouth, making Gale wince, "for you..." she finished, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket.

Gale frowned, "what?" She couldn't understand what the woman was trying to tell her. Bethany held the paper up to her. It was folded, and the outside was stained with bloody fingerprints. Gale reluctantly took it, not sure she even wanted to read what was written on it.

She unfolded the paper, but before she could read it, her attention was drawn back to Bethany, whose breath was sounding very stressed.

"Come on, Bethany," she pleaded, feeling very frantic, "Just hold on a minute longer... The ambulance will be here any minute... Just hold on..."

Bethany shook her head, "I'm dying Gale," she coughed.

Gale shook her head as well, "No..." She looked around, toward the road. She still neither saw nor heard any sign of the ambulance, "You'll be okay... Just don't give up just yet..."

Just as Gale said this, Bethany indeed did not hold on any longer. Gale could see what little light was left leave Bethany's eyes as she went completely limp. Bethany's eyes remained open. Gale stared at her in horror, hoping she'd wake back up. She obviously was not going to...

Finally, a minute too late, Gale heard the ambulance siren and saw the flashing lights. The ambulance had made relatively good time, but it still hadn't been fast enough. Bethany was dead.

As the paramedics worked on Bethany, making a last attempt at saving her, Gale watched, very uncertain of what she was meant to do. It was then that she felt something in her hand. It was the folded piece of paper Bethany had given to her. It was now covered in both Bethany's and Gale's bloody fingerprints, but the blood was all Bethany's.

Holding her breath, Gale unfolded the paper and read what it said:

"GALE:

WATCH OUT WHO
YOU ARE TALKING
TO. NO ONE LIKES
A NOSY REPORTER.

DON'T MEDDLE."

She folded the paper back up and looked up as she heard someone calling her name. It was Dewey. He was running toward her, looking and sounding very worried as he called out, "Gale! Are you okay? What happened?"

Gale was at a loss for words...

Dewey spoke again, "Gale!" he was right next to her now, and had his hands on her arms, "Gale, what happened? Is the killer still here!" He looked around the park nervously, just as Gale had earlier.

Gale shook her head, "I don't know, Dewey," she whispered, "I never saw him... Bethany just stumbled out of the woods... She had already been stabbed... She wouldn't tell me what happened, where the killer was... She didn't say anything..."

Keeping ahold of Gale, Dewey looked around the park, his face showing his concern. He looked back down at Gale, "Are you hurt?"

Gale stared at him for a moment. Why would he think she was hurt? She told him the killer hadn't even approached her. She looked down at her hands, which were covered in sticky, crimson blood. Her white shirt was now stained red as well. She then looked back up at Dewey, "I'm fine," she managed to say, her voice quiet. She felt as though she was in a daze. This was different from the original murders... This somehow seemed much more serious, as though it wasn't just Sidney who was the main target. This was bigger than a teenaged boy's grudge against his classmate... The killer had mentioned bringing back the Woodsboro gang, and now Gale felt like she might just be a part of that group in the killer's eyes.

She looked up at Dewey, who looked like he felt guilty, "Gale," he started, his facial expression showing his hesitation, "Could you come down to the station to answer some questions?"

She nodded, "of course." She didn't know why he seemed to have been scared to ask her... She was a witness after all...

"Okay," he said, leading her back toward his police car, "Um... you can sit in the front..."

Gale looked at him, raising her eyebrows "I know," she scoffed, opening the passenger side door and climbing into the car.

Dewey sighed and walked around to the other side...

xxxxxx

It will be hard for me to write this without kind of making Gale and Dewey the central characters. What do you guys think about that? I'll try to take into consideration your views, if you tell me them... I don't want to exclude the other characters, of course... I just really love Gale and Dewey. ^_^

Also, thank you so much for the people who have reviewed this story. If you write too, you know how much reviews mean to authors. They do a wonder for my self-esteem and confidence. :)