A/N: Nice to hear everybody's on board for this. Horror and mystery are definitely out of my wheelhouse so I'm glad its being received well.
This past week (and especially weekend) was just the worst.
Please drop a review because I could use the cheering up.
Tori was pacing in the precinct when a familiar high-pitched voice came echoing down the hall.
"Cat!"
"TORI!"
The little redhead embraced her friend.
"I'm so sorry; we heard what happened."
Tori just grabbed onto her girl tighter.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"No, not really," Tor sniffed.
Cat broke the hug and could see Tori had been crying.
"Why don't we go to my house? You can stay there for now."
Tori nodded.
"Would be nice to get out of this police station for a while. Feel claustrophobic in here."
"Should we find your dad and tell him where you're going?" Cat asked.
The Latina shuddered.
"About that..."
"I still can't believe this," Cat said as she drove her little Volkswagen.
Tori leaned her head against the window.
"I never thought that..." she squeezed out fresh tears. "I never thought I could feel worse than I did a year ago."
Cat glanced over briefly but had to keep focus on the road.
"It's like déjà vu, you know?"
Tori looked back at her friend.
"What?" she asked.
"I mean to get that terrible news and then to find out who did it. Can't decide which thing was more unbelievable."
The tan girl ran her fingers through her hair.
"But this time is different," Tori growled. "It's completely different."
"Tori..."
"At least I didn't hear my mother begging for her life! At least she didn't get between me and the danger!"
She then hugged herself, letting the tears flow.
"And while I'm surprised that asshole was capable of such an act; my dad isn't like that! He didn't do it!"
The car jerked to a stop at the traffic light and Cat looked over to the passenger side, concerned.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to..."
Tori took Cat's hand.
"No, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to spill my guts like that. The past twenty-four hours have been...a lot."
The light turned green, and Tori released her friend so she could put both hands on the wheel.
"Tori, if you say your dad is innocent, I believe you. But how are we gonna prove it?"
The Latina held her chin in silence.
"Do you think someone has it in for your dad?" Cat asked.
Tori was startled by the bluntness of the question.
"He did say he was set up," she said.
"He's been on the force for how many years?"
"20," Tori replied. "Going on 21."
The redhead exhaled.
"Wow. Bet dollars to donuts that a cop makes plenty of enemies in that time."
Tori looked at her normally silly but well-meaning bestie. She was making a lot of sense.
"They mentioned a diary. I don't...remember Trina keeping a physical diary."
"Well, they are secret. Isn't that the point?" Cat quipped.
"I guess..."
"What if it isn't your dad?"
"Huh?" Tori asked.
"Hear me out," Cat continued. "What if he wasn't the target? Maybe the killer didn't go after Trina to get to him. Maybe they were after her and he's just a convenient person to frame?"
Tori sat straight, looking up at the ceiling.
"What do you think?" the redhead asked.
"Let's go to the school," Tori said.
"What?"
"Yeah, I have an idea."
"For what?"
"A place to start looking for clues," Tori replied, leaning forward. "I don't know what the angle is, but we need to start somewhere."
"Oh, man" Cat whined. "And I just ditched."
Cat parked the car and the pair walked into Hollywood Arts through the front where they were greeted by Derrick, the security guard. There are certain members of the student body that are well known (infamous if you will) that the faculty knows them. Tori and Cat were no exception so he didn't check for ID's but he had them sign the ledger, assuming they were truant.
They acted like they were walking toward the main office but took a left when Derrick wasn't looking.
"Okay, down this hall is Trina's locker."
Cat looked confused.
"I thought it was this way," she pointed in the opposite direction.
Tori shook her head.
"No, that's her primary locker. That's her second locker."
"Second. Locker?"
The Latina put her hands on Cat's shoulders.
"I thought it was weird, too. But she explained to me that she was tired of running from one end of the school and back in heels. So, she bribed a kid to let her use his locker. I think it was Glen...somebody."
"But what about Glen?" asked Cat.
"Guess now he just carries everything all the time."
The redhead scratched her noggin.
"Your sister was full of surprises."
"That's why I want to check out this locker first," Tori explained. "Once word gets around, her second locker will be seized. Then I'll check her main locker."
"What do I do?" asked Cat.
"Stand lookout," Tori replied.
She guided the petite girl to a vector in the hallway that stretches out in different directions.
"Right here. From here you can see people coming from all over." Tori looked toward the row of lockers. "Down there's a dead end so we should be safe."
"Hey, Tori?"
"Yeah?"
"I know people process things differently but are you doing...okay?"
Tori wiped her eye.
"I'm just one of those people that need something to do. Keep busy, you know?"
The two hugged and Tori disappeared around the corner, out of sight.
It was at least ten minutes until the current period would end so the halls were empty.
Cat checked her phone really quick and no new messages.
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
Nearly five minutes later, impatience was setting in.
"How long is she going to be?" she whispered to herself.
A THUMP sound made her jump.
"Crap!"
Cat whipped her head around, looking down each possible corridor. Just a mess of doors and lockers that look identical at casual glance; it's almost hypnotic when you just focus on them.
"Tori?" she shout-whispered. "TORI?"
No response from the hall where she couldn't see.
She licked her lips and took a step toward Tori's direction when the supply closet burst open and Ghostface emerged brandishing a shiny knife.
The redhead screamed and took off down the hall but tried to shake the killer off by going toward the courtyard where they ate lunch.
Cat tried the doors, and they were locked shut.
The janitor locked all non-emergency doors in the afternoon after every student had their lunch period. The main entrance where Derrick was is the only way into Hollywood Arts for the rest of the day until that final dismissal bell.
"Fuck!" she blurted out as she turned around and was within arm's reach of Ghostface, but she was sprier than the masked stranger.
The girl made a B line for the stairs. Along the way, her screams echoed through the halls. Faces would press against the glass panels of the classroom doors, but nobody came out. Not one.
Cat charged through the metal stairwell door and began her ascent.
She could hear the footsteps and grunting of the killer; he was hot on her heels.
The door leading to the second floor was in sight, but Ghostface got a hold of Cat's left ankle.
"AHHH!" Cat screamed as she lost her balance and fell down to the unforgiving floor.
The black gloved hand squeezed her small leg, but the teen had some fight left in her and used her right leg to kick him right in the face. That was enough to send him falling backwards, tumbling down the stairs. The knife landed a couple feet away from the motionless body.
Cat quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed to the second floor and pounded her fists on the first classroom door she found.
After some hesitation, the door opened and the teacher, Mr. Treadwell, appeared.
"Mrs. Valentine! What on earth...?"
"THE KILLER'S HERE! HE CHASED ME BUT I THINK I KNOCKED HIM OUT!"
The redhead didn't allow the man to get a word in edgewise as she led him to the stairwell with some eager students in tow.
She gasped when they opened the door and Ghostface was gone.
Tori ran back to the lookout point and no Cat in sight.
"Oh, shit, where did she go?"
She spun around to start walking when she butted heads with another girl.
"OW, HEY WATCH IT!"
Tori rubbed her head as she saw that the student, she ran into was Jade.
"Oh, Vega!" she blurted out. "I mean Tori."
"What are you doing here?" Tori asked.
The goth looked around for a second.
"School. Student."
"Thanks," Tori huffed. "I meant why are you in the halls right now?"
"Had to use the bathroom," she said, folding her arms. "Did you want to know if was number one or number two?"
"NOT IN THE FUCKING MOOD, WEST!"
The dark-haired girl stood, staring at the finger from the coffee-haired girl pointing right at her.
Jade sighed.
"Sorry."
"What?" asked Tori.
"I said I'm sorry. You're right, I was a bitch back there."
"I don't have time for this," Tori said, brushing past Jade. "I need to find Cat."
The tan girl got halfway down the corridor.
"HEY, TORI!"
She stopped and turned around to Jade.
"Yeah?"
"I really am sorry about what happened to Trina."
Her face looked sincere. Tori was about to say something when she could hear shouting nearby.
It was a few voices; tough to make out what they were saying.
But one of those voices was unmistakably Cat.