"Cotton…" was Sidney's first word out of her mouth.
Cotton straightened his tie.
"Hi, Sidney," he said, a tight-lipped nervous yet confident smile on his face.
Sidney immediately felt her heart begin to race and her hands were suddenly bathed in sweat.
She lost her breath momentarily, steadying herself against Derek.
She noticed that all the cameras were pointed straight at her.
It was a set-up.
"Here we are at Windsor College where Sidney Prescott has just been reunited with Cotton Weary for the first time since she wrongly accused him of murdering her mother," Gale said into a microphone labeled "Top Story". Joel pointed the camera towards her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sidney exclaimed, pulling Gale's attention away from the cameras.
Gale stuck the microphone in Sidney's face.
"We want to know how you feel. Tell us everything that's happened looking back on the last few years," Gale said.
Sidney was rendered speechless.
"Sidney, I'd like to say that I forgive and forget and just like you, I'd like to get back on with my own life," Cotton said, his eyes flickering to the cameras and flashing another charismatic smirk.
"Do you have any comments?" Gale asked Sidney.
Sidney couldn't take it anymore. The flames broiling deep underneath the surface of her skin were threatening to consume her.
"You…bitch!" Sidney spit out, her eyes ablaze with fury.
Gale stepped back and shook her finger at Sidney.
"Uh-uh," Gale said, clearly remembering the last time Sidney had taken a swing at her outside of a police station back in Woodsboro.
Derek grabbed Sidney's shoulders and pulled her away from Gale.
"Sidney, share with us!" Gale demanded.
Sidney suddenly spun around like lightning, wriggling out of Derek's grasp and backhanded Gale across the cheek, and she fell back into Cotton's arms.
"I'll share with you!" cried Sidney, and she lunged for Gale to finish what she started, but Derek snatched her backwards and Hallie and Mickey formed a protective circle around her.
"Did ya get that on film?" Hallie said to Joel as her and Derek began to walk Sidney away from the ensuing altercation.
"Yes, I got that on film," Joel mocked her in a high-pitched voice.
"Wait..Gale, where is Sidney going?" Cotton asked.
Gale was gathering herself back to her feet, rubbing her cheek and lip to make sure she wasn't bleeding.
"Sidney!" Cotton called. "Gale, I thought we had an official interview, what's going on? She didn't know?"
"Man, that was cold," said Joel, shaking his head.
Gale narrowed her eyes at him.
"Hey, you need to check your conscience at the door, sweetie. I'm not here to be loved," she said, and then stared daggers at Sidney as she and her friends walked away and out of sight, disappearing into the hundreds of other students that were outside that day.
"Gale, you promised me ten minutes of national coverage-" Cotton began to say.
"You'll get your ten minutes when I get my goddamn interview!" Gale cried at him, exasperated.
She stormed off, calling for Joel over her shoulder.
"Gale! Gale, I did my part!" Cotton called, but it was clear she wasn't coming back.
Gale moved like lightning towards the news van.
She needed to smoke badly. She could feel the anxious jitters just underneath the surface.
She didn't remember when she had started smoking. It just happened as a result of all the stress on the job, she figured.
It was eating at her.
God, why couldn't Sidney just answer a few fucking questions? she thought. It's been two years, didn't she think it was time to start moving on?
She at least owed Cotton for putting him in prison, but she didn't want to have him in her life either, and it looked like it was going to be a challenge to get any insider information about these murders.
Get the story, she told herself. Catch the killer, save the day, get the story.
That was all that mattered to her.
Gale walked through a small, overgrown courtyard filled with bright azaleas and honeysuckle bushes.
She stopped for a second to realize she was totally lost. She hadn't even been focusing on where she was going; she had been so lost in her anxious thoughts.
And then, she saw a familiar figure looming next to her against an archway.
She blinked, and then gasped when she saw who it was.
"Dewey?"
Dewey Riley stepped out of the shadows.
"Why don't you just leave her alone?" Dewey said. "Hasn't Sid been through enough? And my name is Dwight,"
Gale swallowed, and stood for a moment, stunned at his sudden arrival.
She never thought she'd see him again after she left Woodsboro. She thought he'd become another distant fond memory, but there he was standing right in front of her and it was a lot to take in.
"I'm just doing my job, Dwight," she said hesitantly.
"No matter who gets hurt in the process," he spit at her and then limped away.
"Hey!" she said, calling after him.
Gale ran up beside him and started walking at his speed.
"Who got punched here? Again?" Gale protested, pointing to the reddish welt on her cheek.
"Well, I don't condone violence, but maybe you deserved it," Dewey said.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned to her.
"Page 32…Deputy Dewey filled the room with his Barney Fife-ish presence…" he said.
Gale couldn't help but smile.
"You read my book," she said.
"Oh, yes, I do read, Miss Weathers," Dewey said with biting sarcasm.
He turned to walk away again, and Gale followed him.
"Oh, Dewey, don't take it so seriously. It's a character in a book…" Gale explained, but Dewey cut her off.
"Page 41…Deputy Dewey oozed with inexperience," he said.
Gale looked up at him, ashamed when she saw the palpable hurt on his face.
"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?" she said.
"No. What I think is that you're a money-hungry fame-seeking mediocre writer who's got a cold storage shed where her heart should be," Dewey said. "No offense intended,"
"Dewey, I never meant to imply that-"
He interrupted her again.
"How do you know that my dim-witted inexperience isn't a subtle form of manipulation used to lower people's expectations thereby enhancing my ability to maneuver within any given situation?"
He caught his breath after his short diatribe, and Gale looked up at him again with apologetic eyes.
She couldn't help but smile again, and giggle.
He was still so damn cute.
Even when he was this upset.
"I'm sorry…" Gale said, and she reached for his face but he jumped back, almost offended at the prospect of her touching him.
"I don't know what else to say except…I'm sorry," she said.
"No," Dewey said. "I misjudged you, I'm the one who's sorry. If you'll excuse me, I have some oozing to do. Also, nice streaks,"
And Deputy Dewey Riley limped away, leaving Gale speechless.
Sorority Row.
A long narrow road lined with large, two and three-story houses sat near the Strip, which was another narrow road where you could go to just about every bar in town in one night.
It was dark out, and the town was alive as a result.
Twenty and twenty-one year olds stood out in the warm spring air in revealing clothing in long lines outside the bars.
Sidney and Hallie stood in front of the Delta Lambda Zeta house, which was an affluent, two-story home adorned with stone terraces, wooden columns, and high ceilings and painted a shade of forest green.
The martini mixer was more like a raging party, and Sidney looked clearly uncomfortable and out of place in her black low-cut top, matching pants and high boots. Students were everywhere, lounging on the front porch, standing in the yard and drinking out of crystal glasses, upstairs, downstairs, and all spread out in the backyard.
"Look, I am not a sorority pusher," Hallie said as they walked up the walkway towards the house. "I just think that, despite its' trivialities, it is a life-affirming, mentally stable healthy environment for you,"
They walked through throngs of half-drunk college kids, and made it to the open front door where they stepped into the fancy foyer.
A curved staircase led to the second floor. A glass chandelier hung from a tall ceiling. The floors were marble and the walls were painted shades of emerald green and lavender. Portraits of historic sorority moments were hung up on the walls in elaborate frames.
Leather couches filled one room where many students were lounging. A set of glass patio doors were open, leading out into a large backyard area surrounded by fencing on all sides.
A keg was set up by the back door, and some guys were holding up their friend to chug.
"I mean…just look at this freaking place!" Hallie exclaimed, admiring the decor.
"Hallie, I think you're taking your psych major a little too seriously. I am fine," Sidney replied.
She picked up an hors d'oeuvre from a buffet table and sniffed it.
Yuck, she thought and making sure nobody was looking, she threw it into the air.
"Yeah…fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional…" Hallie joked.
To Sidney, it wasn't a funny joke. She sometimes wished Hallie wouldn't try and push things on her, but at the end of the day, she knew that she was well-intentioned.
Sidney and Hallie smiled and waved at students as they sauntered through the dining room and into another lounge with a minibar and a fireplace.
Lois and Murphy were standing and laughing, holding crystal glasses of martinis.
They both squealed with excitement as they saw Sidney, and Sidney felt herself cringe to the core at the shrill sound.
"Sidney, you made it!" exclaimed Murphy, approaching them.
"Hi! No…I really mean that, hi!" said Lois.
"Hi.." Sidney said awkwardly.
"Do you girls want a drink?" said Murphy.
They were both clearly tipsy past their limit.
"No, um, actually we'll get it ourselves," Sidney said, and grabbed Hallie by the arm, pulling her into the next room.
"Ugh, thank god, those two…" Sidney muttered to Hallie once they were out of earshot.
"Just lower the walls, Sid. Do what I do, just enjoy the present moment," Hallie said.
"Oh yeah?" was Sid's response. But she didn't mean it.
She wasn't interested in hearing platitudes.
She wanted to know if there was a new killer, and if he was coming after her.
It wouldn't leave her alone.
She had to know.
Maybe tonight something would happen.
A party was a good place for a murderer to strike.
He could be any one of them, anyone at the party. Watching her. Waiting for the right move.
But as long as she kept glued to Hallie's side, things would be alright.
She only knew one thing: if there was a new killer, they better be ready.
Because she wasn't going to go down easy.
Right down the street from the Lambda Zetas stood the old, preserved Omega Beta Zeta house.
It was a yellow and white three story home, with a balcony that protruded out of the attic and looked out onto the quiet, tree-lined street.
The house was empty and dark, except for a single light flickering in the darkness in the living room and a figure sitting and watching.
Cici sat on the couch, holding a cordless phone to her ear.
She flipped through channels with the remote aimlessly.
"God, I love those guys, are they still together? I haven't watched in an entire week," said the voice on the other line.
"No, they broke up again," Cici replied.
Cici was designated driver for the night, and was busy catching her friend Michelle up on the hottest soap operas.
"Really?" Michelle said.
"Yeah, Sarah found out that Bailey slept with Gwen, and she dumped him, like, two episodes ago," Cici said, twirling her hair around her finger.
"I wish she'd get her shit together," said Michelle.
There was suddenly a beep from the receiver in Cici's hand.
"Hold on, someone's calling," said Cici, and she pushed the hold button, switching lines.
"Omega Beta Zeta," Cici said into the receiver.
"Hello," a man's strange voice answered back. It was almost muffled, maybe disguised, but it was
definitely a voice that made Cici try and think of where she had heard it before.
"Yes?" Cici replied.
"Who is this?"
"Cici. Who's this?"
"Who do you think?"
Cici postulated for a second, and then she sat up, realizing who it might be.
"Ted? Where are you? Are you drinking?"
Ted was her loon of an ex-boyfriend. Always drunk. Never had any time for her. Typical stuff from college age men.
She still cared about him, and wanted to make sure he got home safe, and she figured he must not be feeling very well if he was calling his ex in the middle of the night.
"Hold on," she said.
She pushed the hold button again, and brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hey, Ted's on the other line. He sounds drunk…or…I don't know, but something's up," Cici said.
"That shit only calls you when he's drunk," said Michelle. "Don't go over there, Cici,"
"Alright, I'll call you back," she said, and switched the line back to the mysterious voice.
"Ted, you sound loaded, what's up?"
"Who's Ted?" the deep and sensual voice answered.
"Oh…I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," Cici said.
"That's okay, I am,"
"Who are you calling for?" Cici inquired. "Nobody's here,"
"Where is everybody?"
"We're co-sponsoring the mixer at Delta Lambda tonight,"
"Why aren't you there?"
"I'm sober sister," Cici replied. "I need to be here in case a drunk sister calls and needs a ride,"
"That's too bad," the voice said.
"Drink with your brain, that's our motto," Cici said. "So, who are you calling for?"
"What if I said you?" the voice responded.
Cici perked up, intrigued but a little concerned.
"Um…what if I said goodbye?"
"Why would you wanna do that?" the voice asked.
"Why do you always answer a question with a question?" Cici asked in return.
"I'm inquisitive," the voice said.
"Yeah, and I'm impatient, do you want to leave a message for someone?"
There was a lengthy silence as Cici listened intently.
And then, the voice rasped…
"Do you wanna die tonight, Cici?"
Cici's eyes grew wide and she hit the end button, returning her to the call with Michelle.
She slowly brought the phone to her ear, a little taken aback by what he had said.
"So was it Ted?" Michelle asked.
"No, it was some creep asshole trying to scare me,"
Still holding the phone, Cici moved through the darkened living room and into the foyer, locking the front door. She then hurried into the dining room and locked the patio doors.
"That movie Stab…" Michelle said. "It's bringing out the crazies."
THUMP.
A noise from upstairs rang out.
Cici spun around like lightning to face the staircase.
"Shit!" she swore.
"What is it?" asked Michelle.
"I heard a noise,"
And then, there was the soft sound of upstairs floorboards squeaking. Then footsteps.
"Shit!" Cici swore again, moving towards the stairs. She peered up them.
"Hello?" she called out.
No response.
Then, from the other line, Michelle brought her voice down to a raspy whisper.
"Ki ki ki….ma ma ma…"
"Stop it!" Cici declared.
She was getting scared out of her wits enough as it was, from that creepy caller and now from these strange sounds.
Michelle laughed at her joke.
"I can't believe you're alone in that old house," said Michelle.
"I don't think I'm alone," replied Cici.
Another BANG resounded throughout the house, almost rattling the entire structure.
Fuck this, she thought. Someone was definitely in the house with her!
"I'm outta here," Cici said and she ran to the front door, unbolted it, and threw it open, running out into the night.
"Cici, you're breaking up, where are you?" Michelle asked.
"I'm outside," Cici said.
She looked up and down the quiet, tree-lined street in front of her. Faint music and laughter could be heard down the street from the Delta Lambdas, but that was the only sound penetrating the still night.
Maybe she could just walk down to the party. She'd feel much safer there than being here in this house.
"Don't panic, Cici, just call campus security," said Michelle.
She was right, Cici thought. After all, she couldn't just leave the house. She was sober sister. What if a drunk sister tried to call?
"Alright," Cici said, and hung up.
She dialed the number for campus security and listened as it rang several times.
So that's what my tuition is going towards…she thought. Lazy security guards who won't answer the phone.
"Hello?" a man's gruff voice finally answered. "Campus security, hello?"
"Yes, I'm calling from the Omega Beta Zeta-" Cici started to say.
"I can't hear you," the guard interjected. "Hello?"
"Can you hear me now," Cici asked, as she started walking down the cobblestone path towards the street.
No good.
The security guard's voice was broken up and static-y. Barely audible.
She tried getting closer to the house, and his voice picked up clearly this time.
"Hello?
"Can you hear me now? Hello?" Cici said.
Silence.
"Shit!" she exclaimed.
She realized one thing right there that made her stomach sink into her feet.
She was going to have to go back inside the house to get call service.
Just great, she thought.
She inched closer to the house, re-dialing the number for campus security, looking all around her nervously and precariously.
Cici put the phone to her ear and the same man's voice answered, only this time he was more annoyed.
"Hello? Hello?" he said.
"I'm calling from the Omega Beta Zeta House, look, someone is harassing me," Cici said.
"Hello?" the man's voice interrupted her. "Hello?"
Cici was standing just outside the door.
She took a breath and walked back into the foyer, keeping an eye on the staircase.
"Im calling from Omega Beta, someone is harassing me," Cici said loudly into the receiver.
Silence.
"Shit!!!" she cried, exasperated and getting truly terrified.
And then, a figure lurched out of an open door frame at her and Cici gasped, spinning around and almost jumping out of her skin.
It was Dawnie, another Omega Beta sister, with her dark hair straightened and her face caked with makeup.
"Jesus, Dawnie, you scared me," Cici exclaimed.
"Sorry," Dawnie said. "Did anyone call for me?"
Cici shook her head and began to relax.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I live here, remember?" said Dawnie.
"Was that you upstairs? I thought you were going to the mixer," Cici said as they walked into the dining room.
The front door remained open where Cici left it.
"Yeah, it was me. And I am going but I had to change," Dawnie said.
And then, the phone rang in Cici's hand.
Dawnie grabbed it and put it to her ear, clearly anticipating a certain someone to be the other line.
"Hello?" she said pleasantly.
"Is Cici there?" a man's voice answered.
"Mmm-hmm, who's this?" Dawnie asked.
"It's Ted," the voice responded.
Dawnie handed the phone to Cici with a look of disappointment.
"It's your ill-conceived ex," Dawnie said.
They walked back into the foyer where the front door still stood wide open.
"I guess I'll see you later. Don't forget to set the alarm," Dawnie said, and just like that, she was out the door and closing it behind her.
Cici clicked the lock and deadbolt into place. She then put the phone to her ear.
"Hello, Ted?"
"You wish it was Ted," the same, mysterious voice snarled in a much more evil tone. "Don't forget to set the alarm," he mocked.
The phone fell from Cici's hands onto the floor and her eyes grew as wide as saucers. Frantic, she ran towards the alarm and activated it. Then, a BANG caught her attention.
It was coming from the living room.
She spun around.
Everything went silent.
Cici inched quietly through the house. Listening.
Watching. Waiting to see if anything would happen.
But nothing did. No more strange noises.
Maybe it was all just in her head.
That phone call certainly had been real.
His eerie, disguised voice echoed in her mind.
"Do you want to die tonight?" it had said.
It had to be Randy, or Mickey, or one of her other sisters playing a joke on her.
Surely, there was nothing to worry about.
She crept into the living room, where Nosferatu was playing on the TV at its pivotal climax. Hair-raising violins reverberated throughout the house.
The light from the television set was her only
source of guidance. She slowly peered into the kitchen: nothing in there either.
She went back into the foyer, taking one last look around.
Now, she was thoroughly creeped out.
If things couldn't get scarier, the phone lying on the floor suddenly rang. Again.
Cici swallowed hard and thought to herself.
Just don't answer it anymore…she told herself.
She didn't want to answer it, but what choice did she have? It could be a drunk sister needing a ride. It could be campus security calling her back. Maybe this time she'd get a good connection.
As she bent down to pick up the receiver, the hallway closet suddenly flew open and out came a tall figure clothed in black.
A flash of silver whizzed past Cici's eyes, and she watched incredulously as a hunting knife soared past her and buried itself into an end table.
Cici shrieked, seeing the ghost mask that her attacker was wearing.
She made a mad dash for the front door, but the figure lunged again in a wild paroxysm, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground.
She looked up, crab-walking backwards and shaking her head.
The killer towered over her menacingly, raising the knife into the air, and just like that, Cici was up to her feet in a flash and sprinting up the stairs.
The killer was hot on her trail, running up the stairs two at a time in a bloodthirsty charge.
Cici snatched a potted plant from a small table, and hurled it at him. She didn't wait to see if it hit him. She kept running almost in a blind panic, making her way up the second flight of stairs onto the landing, screaming as she watched the killer charging up after her, right on her tail.
She dodged another swing of the knife, and threw open the first door she could find that was unlocked.
It was the attic.
Oh fuck, she thought. Nowhere to go but up.
She ran up the attic stairs, tossing anything she could down behind her to stop the killer's path of mayhem: an old bicycle, and some cardboard boxes.
But the killer was too fast.
Cici ran for the balcony doors, but the killer was suddenly right on top of her. He looped his arms around her waist like a tetherball and heaved her through the glass balcony doors, triggering the security alarm's shrill ringing.
She crashed through, sending a shower of glass raining down onto the balcony and onto the roof.
She cried out in pain, as she landed hard on all fours.
The killer climbed through the broken door, and made his move, plunging the knife down and piercing Cici's back.
The killer ripped it out, and then plunged it back in viciously as Cici screamed and pleaded for her life. The killer then lifted her again. She kicked and squirmed, but he was far too strong.
"No! Help me!! Please!!!"" she cried pitifully.
Her ghost-masked assailant let out a grunt of effort as he threw her, hard and fast, right over the balcony railing.
Down she fell, flailing wildly, plummeting to the earth and landing with a sickening splat.
Her long, terrified scream was cut short.
And Sorority Row went quiet once again, save for the echo of Cici's death cry and the ringing of the now activated security alarm