Joe's pov
I dragged myself into the apartment I shared with my best friend and fellow Detective, Matt. He winced
"That bad?"
I shook my head
"No, just my super tight relationship with sleep. Got to meet Sam, my cousin, though. That was great."
He smiled
"I'm happy for you. Is she single?"
I shook my head, chuckling at his antics
"Didn't get around to asking. She's pretty tight with her taser, though."
Hands up in defense, he replied
"Ok, forget I asked."
Noticing I put up my shield and gun in my safe, but that there was another compartment with a separate code keypad, Matt became curious
"What's in there?"
I sighed
"Family heirloom. Gift from my Mom. Buck 120 hunting knife."
Lover of hunting and movies, my roommate spoke, smiling
"Nice! That one can pack some serious damage. But wait. Wasn't that one also the weapon of choice in the Stab movies? How is it a family heirloom?"
I nodded
"Yeah. That's the one. Nancy Loomis was Nancy Hill, my Mom's sister. Billy was my cousin, and his daughter Sam Carpenter is also my cousin. My Mom gave me one when I was 13."
The two ironies were that Sam found out her Hill/Loomis heritage at the age 13, and that, though it was not Ghostface related, my Mom had been stabbed to death. Usually it was the Hills, or Loomis' and Carpenters that did the stabbing. Thankfully, the assailant had been swiftly caught and put away for life. I spoke up again
"No, I don't have any 'tendencies' like my Aunt and Billy, or apparitions like Sam, but I keep the knife away just in case. I already have a gun as an NYPD Detective, that's good enough from where I'm standing."
He nodded, not saying anything, but not judging me either. We went to bed not long after, but my sleep was far from peaceful. I started hearing voices in my head, and they had faces once I opened my eyes. My Aunt's likeness spoke
"Joey! I've missed you! Now, go show this town what you can do with your true heritage."
The likeness of the cousin I had once truly admired and followed anywhere and in anything spoke next
"That's right, Kiddo. You and me. Let's go cut up some throats! Open the safe. Get what you really want to get."
In a stupor, I started going towards the safe, and was about to open the second vault when I heard Matt's voice
"JOE!"
Startled, I came back to the real world, voices and faces now long gone. Matt spoke
"What happened? You were going for the knife. I thought you didn't want to."
I shook my head, stepping away from the safe
"Crazy nightmare... And people wonder why I have trouble sleeping... Sorry, night."
Although reluctant, he went back to his room after I promised I'd call if I needed him and would not go in for work tomorrow, saying I needed the sleep. Not disagreeing, I talked to my Commanding Officer and went back to sleep.
3rd person pov - earlier that night
Associate Film Professor of Blackmoore University Laura Crane was waiting at a restaurant for her Flirtr date to show up. She taught 20th century slashers, her favorite genre. Her date was late, and called
"Hey. This is embarrassing, I think I'm lost. Is there a sign in front of the restaurant?"
She nodded and spoke
"Yeah, a red one, I think. Let me go make sure.
After confirming, she spoke
"Yeah, red sign."
He spoke
"I don't see anything red. Can you stand outside and wave?"
She did as asked, and asked
"Can you see me?"
He replied wearily
"No, just this person staring. He's coming towards me."
Her voice panicked
"Get out of there! I'm coming to meet you."
He said he was going to try to cut through an alley, but again he was cornered. She ran into the alley trying to save him, while still on the phone with him. He spoke
"You know what the worst part is?"
His voice then changed to the famous Ghostface voice
"You teach a class about slashers and still went into a dark alley, alone."
Her caller emerged in full Ghostface garb. Mask, robes, and voice modulator. Starting to stab her senseless, he spoke as she breathed her last
"NOW I see something red!"
Then the figure unmasked himself, revealing one of her students, Jason Carver. He disposed of his clothes and went back to his apartment, the one he shared with his best childhood friend, Greg. His phone rang, Greg was calling. He answered
"Greg, where are you? Are you mad? I just got massive cold feet and had to practice."
What he did not expect was to hear the Ghostface voice on the other line
"It's alright. How did it feel?"
He recoiled the phone from his ear
"Dude, we said we weren't gonna use the voice on each other."
The voice seemed to shrug
"You got your practice, I'm getting mine. Now, how did it feel?"
Jason grinned wickedly
"It was awesome. The more I cut, the less she felt... human. It was like she was an animal."
The voice seemed to reason patronizingly
"But she was our film professor, Jason."
He shrugged
"She shouldn't have given me an F on my Giallo paper."
The voice inquired
"So, this was payback? Tell me why you think we are doing this."
He seemed perplexed
"You know why we are doing this."
The voice returned
"But in your words."
"Finishing Richie's movie. Kill the Carpenter sisters. This is Greg, right?"
The voice feigned innocence
"Who else would it be?"
Unconvinced, Jason asked
"How long have we known each other?"
No beats missed, the voice replied
"Middle school."
Then Jason asked
"Where are you?"
But the voice wanted to play hot and cold to be found. Using the cameras in the apartment. Jason was not happy, but went along anyways. When he got to the kitchen, the voice almost cheered
"Oh, you're burning up!"
He opened the fridge only to find Greg cut in many pieces. Another Ghostface slammed the fridge closed and started to stab Jason, while sneering
"What about now, Jason? Do you feel like an animal?"
With his last breaths, he asked
"But what about the movie?"
The last thing he heard was this Ghostface exclaim
"Who cares about movies?!"
Then he died, and the unknown Ghostface made his or her escape.
Sam's pov
Tara, Quinn, Chad, Mindy, their friends Ethan and Annika were in our apartment watching TV when news of Greg and Jason's murders were announced. And Professor Crane. Students and a Professor at the same University the others studied at. That's it. I quickly barked out orders
"Guys, let's go! Get packed, we leave in 10 minutes."
Tara did not like that
"Can we just think this through rationally, before you make the unilateral decision to abandon my higher education and flee the state?! Quinn, call your Dad, he's a Detective in the precinct close to these deaths, can he tell us it's all ok?"
She started to dial and left the room, only for Detective Bailey to want to talk to me. Apparently, my ID had been left at the murder site of the two students, along with the masks worn by Richie and Amber, and he needed me to come for questioning, given last year's hoopla. Tara and I started to go to the station, but as Tar and I were leaving, we jumped at the ring of my phone and Richie showing up in the contacts. I stammered
"I never deleted the number."
I answered the phone and the familiar Ghostface voice spoke
"Sam. Been a long time."
Enraged, I spoke
"Leave us alone. This ends now."
He laughed
"Nope. Be seeing you."
Voice loud, I screamed
"Why don't you just come now, then?"
I did not expect him to actually comply, and was able to save Tara in the nick of time, running into a bodega. The owner tried to help as the Ghostface opened fire on anything and anyone possible, shattered glass and bullets everywhere. There were many casualties, and a Ghostface mask from the 2011 killings left behind. as we ran back to the apartment. I let our friends, Detective Bailey and Joe know about the developments. We finally made it to the station, giving our statements and alibis, including the party, where he knew I tased Frankie. I spoke
"I was also with NYPD Detective Joe Hill for part of the evening. He's my cousin. NYPD Detective like yourself."
He nodded
"Ok. To frame you, with your ID and everything, has to be someone close to you. I can vouch for Quinn, but anyone else? Just don't leave town and be careful."
Not long later, FBI from New York came claiming jurisdiction. And I had gone to school with her. She spoke
"Special Agent Kirby Reed. I'll show you mine, you show me yours, Detective. I take a special interest in Ghostface attacks. Charlie Walker gave me this in 2011."
She showed us a scar of a stab wound and shrugged
"Like I said, special interest."
It was agreed that Detective Bailey would work with Kirby and Joe. What's more, Gale Weathers joined the party. Tara and I were still mad because after promising not to write about Ghostface, but Dewey instead, she wrote a book on the murders calling me dangerous and unstable. Tara punched her for causing this in our lives, and she spoke
"I just wanna help. I was investigating while you all were in diapers. I spoke to Sidney, she sends her love, but she won't be coming. She and her husband Mark took their kids into hiding for safety."
Great idea, she deserved a break from all this.
Much to our shock, a few hours later Quinn turned up dead! Detective Bailey was crying, the first at the scene. He composed himself enough to say
"I lost my son, now my daughter. Whoever did this will pay. You mess with my family, you die."
I could understand and agree with that sentiment.