The police and an ambulance arrived shortly after Billy or Stu had fled the scene. After being examined by doctors at the ER, resulting in a few more stitches, Xander was then taken to the Woodsboro Sheriff's Department to provide his statement regarding the events of that night. While he'd kept the identity of his attacker to himself, Xander laid out the rest of the events with no hesitation. The police were hesitant to let him return home since it was obvious that he was being targeted, but Xander explained that he'd given just as good as he'd received and that he would be safe for the night. Still, Sheriff Burke assigned a patrol car to sit outside and watch his house for the night while they tried to come up with a more long-term solution. When asked about his parents, Xander lied about calling them after he got back home from the hospital and said that they were on the earliest flight back home.
With the police mollified Xander turned his focus back towards finding a solution to his serial killer problem. Despite knowing their names and what Billy Loomis and Stu Macher looked like, Xander didn't really have a lot of information to go on to try and track them down. In fact, other than knowing what Stu's house looked like, he didn't have any information. Luckily, he found a phonebook in one of the kitchen cabinets to use. Like the ones back home it had a 4-page map of the entire city with each page dedicated to a separate quadrant of the city. There were only seven people with the last name Macher listed in the phonebook.
Using the car parked in his driveway, Xander drove through town to each address. The third address on the list was a dirt road that took him to 261 Turner Lane. Even with the light of dawn only now cresting over the horizon, he instantly recognized the cream-colored two-story home.
Xander drove past the house and parked down the road out of clear view from anyone inside and waited. An hour later his patience was rewarded as he watched the tall form of Stu Macher walk out of the house carrying a bookbag. He got into one of the cars and backed out of the driveway, a dust trail kicked up behind him as he drove down the road in the direction of the town.
Xander's heart pounded in his chest as he waited for Stu to get far enough away that he wouldn't notice that he was being tailed. Taking his time and making sure there were always cars between them, Xander followed Stu through town. He was only mildly surprised that Stu's destination turned out to be the high school.
The teenager got out of the vehicle and went inside the school, leaving Xander with a conundrum over what he should do now.
Go inside and pretend that everything was hunky dory, maybe losing his chance to end this once and for all, or sit out here and wait for them to come out. A frown grew on his face as Xander remembered what was supposed to happen after Sidney was attacked the first time. Principal Himbry was supposed to end classes early in response to two students being murdered and an attempt made on a third. Only Xander had saved Casey from her grisly fate, and despite their enthusiastic attempts, Xander had survived his encounter with Billy and Stu as well. While he was at the station giving his statement last night, no one had made mention of Sidney being attacked that night as well. He could only assume that meant they hadn't left his house to go after her either. Would Principal Himbry still cancel school or had he "butterfly'd" that away with his actions?
Xander weighed the pros and cons of his choices before finally just saying "Screw it." He grabbed the book bag from the back seat and got out of the car.
Reporters from different networks lined the street hounding the students as they made their way into the school. From what he could hear, they were all hungry for that teenage insight into the attacks over the last couple of days.
None of them seemed to have noticed him, a fact he was truly grateful for. Xander turned his head to look back and make sure that he was home free, only to walk right into a woman and nearly bowl over her.
"I'm so sorry about that. I wasn't looking where and I was going and..." Xander trailed off as he realized who the attractive woman actually was.
"No harm done." the woman replied. "Gale Weathers. Field Correspondent with Inside Story. Do you think that we could talk for a couple of minutes?"
"I, um... Uh, hi. Can I have you?" Xander stammered. A sense of deja vu hit him as he realized what he had just said to Courtney Cox's fictional doppelganger. "Sorry. What I meant to say was 'Can I help you'. My brain starts moving slower than my mouth when I find myself meeting a beautiful woman, such as yourself."
"Thanks." Gail said with an alluring smile. "The network did a poll of my demographic and they found that I was most popular amongst males between the ages of 11 and 24."
Xander couldn't help it and found himself giving the news anchor a once over as his eyes wandered down Gale's long legs.
"I can see why." Xander whispered though the satisfied smirk on Gale's face revealed that he didn't say it quietly enough.
"I was hoping to get some first-hand information on what happened to you last night."
Xander hesitated, unsure about the potential implications of sharing his experiences with the media.
"I'm not sure blurting out the details of what me and my girlfriend experienced all over the news would be a smart move to make, Ms. Weathers." Xander replied.
Come on, Xander. Your story deserves to be heard." Gail told him as she placed her hand on his bicep and started gently stroking it with her thumb. "Besides, any details you reveal could lead to the serial killer getting caught."
"Not a serial killer."
"What?" Gail asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A serial killer is someone who successfully murdered three or more people. This douchebag failed on both attempts."
"Well, that's because you were there to stop him." The ambitious and determined reporter reached into her jacket and pulled out a business card and a pen. "This is my card. If you want to talk my office number is on the front-" she told him as she wrote a number on the back of the card, "-and that's my cell number. You can reach me on that at... ANY... time." Gail took the card and slid it down Xander's front pocket. She smiled as she felt Xander jump in surprise when her hand slid inside the pocket as well. "Just wanted to make sure it didn't slip out."
The beautiful reporter winked at him before she removed her hand from his pocket and turned to walk away. His eyes followed her swaying backside all the way back to her news van before he shook his head to clear the lustful thoughts playing in his head and get back on task. He opened the pockets of his bookbag and after a few minutes of looking, had his class schedule in hand.
Taking a deep breath to steel himself for the confrontation ahead, Xander walked up the front steps and inside the building. He was surprised at the sense of normalcy that hit him as he watched students running back and forth from lockers or standing around chatting with their friends. Navigating his way through the crowded hallways provided Xander with a sense of normalcy he hadn't realized he needed. Even if it was only for a short respite before the madness returned, he was still grateful for it.
He found his first class, listed as Biology II on his schedule, on the second floor of the building. Stepping into the room, Xander was met with the familiar scent of formaldehyde lingering in the air. The classroom buzzed with the sound of students talking to their friends as he made his way to an open seat at a table on the other side of the room. As he dug out a notebook and a pencil from his bookbag, Xander glanced around at his classmates.
The students chatted animatedly amongst themselves, but every once in a while, he would spot one of them glancing in his direction. He knew why they were doing it, but chose to ignore them for now. As his eyes scanned the room, fate seemed to have plans of its own as he locked eyes with Billy Loomis who sat down at another table on the opposite side of the room. Their little staredown was broken by a girl with curly, light-brown hair taking the seat right next to his.
"I'm surprised to see you here. I heard on the news about what happened to you and Casey. That's awful." the girl said.
"I'll be alright." Xander told her with a small smile. "They've taken two swings at me and couldn't get the job done. I don't like the chances on the third one doing any better."
The girl frowned at the joke. "I don't understand how you can find humor in a situation like this."
"It was either laugh in the face of death or curl up into a ball and cry."
"But this isn't some kind of game, Xander. Someone tried to kill you." the girl scolded.
"'Tried' being the operative word." Xander said. "I don't mean for it to come across as flippant or anything. It's just... what else am I supposed to do. If I let the fear take over, then I'll be jumping at every shadow I see."
"I guess I can understand that." the girl admitted.
"Good. And thank you."
The two teens shared a smile as the teacher walked into class just as the bell rang.
"Everyone in your seats, please." the teacher ordered as he grabbed a marker and started writing on the whiteboard. "This is a place of learning. Not a social hour."
Time passed as the class took notes during the lecture on the human circulatory system. Things looked like they would pass in a seemingly normal fashion when the school's PA system came on.
"To all faculty and students, may I have your attention, please? This is Principal Himbry. Due to the recent events that have occurred and until it comes to a resolution, effective immediately, all classes and after-school activities are hereby suspended until further notice. The Woodsboro Police Department has also asked me to announce that a city-wide curfew is being issued and is set to begin at 6 o'clock pm. All students must return home immediately."
Xander was surprised by the announcement. With everything going on, he'd completely forgotten that school was supposed to get canceled the day after Sidney was attacked. Did that mean Stu had already gone after her in the girl's bathroom?
"I suppose that means everyone is free to go." the teacher announced. "You kids be safe."
Xander watched Billy quickly make his exit from the room without a second glance in his direction. He tossed everything into his bookbag and made his way to the door to try and follow him, but by the time he stepped out into the hallway, Xander had lost sight of Billy amongst the crowded hallway. He cursed under his breath as he tried his best to push his way through the throng of people, but it was a pointless endeavor.
'What's supposed to happen next?'? Xander thought as he tried to remember the plot of the movie while he headed for the next classroom listed on his schedule. 'Sidney gets attacked in the bathroom, Stu throws a party, Tatum gets murdered in the garage, and then Stu pretends to kill Billy. Wait. Does that happen before the cameraman is supposed to get killed or after?'
With no idea where to start looking in the school for his two would-be assassins, Xander just continued going to his classes like it was a normal day. He heard about people wearing the Ghostface masks running around the halls scaring people, but it didn't help him track down Sidney, Billy, or Stu. In the end, things played out the same way they did in the movie with school being let out after a student had been attacked in the bathrooms. The only REAL opportunity he would have to take the two of them down without making himself look like some kind of psychopath would be later on during Stu's party.
Xander spent the entire morning trying to decide how to play this. Going over the different scenarios in his head, he kept coming back to the same conclusion. He was going to have to take them on separately. There was no way he would survive fighting both of them at the same time unless he could publicly reveal one of them as the killer and implicate the other in front of witnesses. The only chance Xander saw to make all of this work was with Tatum. In the movie, Billy didn't show up to the party and reconcile with Sidney until after he'd murdered Tatum Riley in the garage. If he confronted Billy then, and with Tatum as a witness, he could kill Billy and then say he mentioned Stu's name during their fight. Like Stu should have just killed him instead of trying to play around with him or something.
The hamster wheel he called a brain continued to turn as he tried to figure out the best way to get the drop on Billy. Finally, an idea formed in his mind. It was risky, but he was pretty sure he could pull it off. But first, he was going to need a couple of things from his house.
While Xander was making his way towards the Macher's residence, the world started morphing once again. As time accelerated, he got to see firsthand what exactly was happening during these periods of "time acceleration". It wasn't just that time was moving forward at a rapid pace, it was everything about world the around him. The cars on the road, the people walking by, everything was moving faster. Everything except for him. He'd been startled by the sudden shift in the speed of the traffic, but it didn't take him long to realize that the people around him seemed to be able to account for his slowed presence. Once he got used to the sight of cars rapidly zipping around him, he had no problem driving through the streets without a hassle.
Time eventually returned to normal just as he pulled to the side of the road in front of Stu's home. The party was already underway, but people were still arriving. Xander parked his car at the end of the line to keep from drawing unwanted attention before he got out of the vehicle and started walking towards the house. Instead of following the line of partygoers inside, Xander split off and made his way around to the side of the house where the garage entrance was located. He let out a sigh of relief to see that the garage door was still down and Tatum's body wasn't hanging from it yet. This was a crucial moment, one where the smallest mistake could have dire consequences. Luckily, it appeared that he had some time before the events of the movie caught up with him.
Xander hid in the shadows, the dark-colored clothing helping him blend into the night, with a clear line of sight to the garage as he waited for things to kick off. The sound of laughter and music filled the air, occasionally punctuated by a shout or two, as the party raged inside the house. A part of him wished that he could have gone inside to join it, but he was focused on the task at hand.
Time ticked away, with the sound of crickets his only company outside. Thankfully, the weather felt quite pleasant so it wasn't much of a hardship to sit around and wait. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the garage door started to lift up. In the movie, the garage door went up because Tatum hit a button to turn on the light. Whether it was by design or due to a glitch, when she turned the light on to see what was going on, she'd activated the door opener. The second time the door went up was when she tried to leave after the inside door had closed and she was locked out of the house.
Xander sprinted across the short distance and pressed himself against the wall, out of sight to anyone inside the garage. Just as he remembered it happening in the movie, the garage door started going back down after getting stuck halfway up. He could hear the sound of glass bottles clinking together as Tatum rummaged through the refrigerator, getting some more beers to take back inside.
With the door back down, there wasn't much he could hear coming from inside the garage, not until he heard a young woman's voice yell out.
"Hey, shitheads! Hello!"
A few moments later the garage door went back up for a second time. He could hear the sound of Tatum's footsteps getting closer to the garage door and he knew that now was the time to act. Right as Tatum bent down to try and walk under the partially open garage door, it started to close. Xander rolled underneath the descending door and quickly stood up. His sudden and unexpected appearance caused Tatum to jump back and let out a surprised scream.
"What the fuck, Xander!" the blonde demanded as she pressed a hand to her chest to calm her rapidly beating heart. "Why would you just jump out at me like that?!"
"Sorry, Tatum. I didn't mean to scare you." Xander apologized, his eyes never leaving the masked figure standing on the steps by the entrance back into the house. "I just needed to have a chat with your friend over there."
"Friend? What friend?" Tatum asked as she turned around to see who Xander was referring to. Her eyes widened with a mix of confusion and surprise as she spotted the figure of Ghostface staring at the two of them in silence. Confusion quickly turned into annoyance as she turned back to Xander. "Very funny, you two. What movie is this supposed to be 'I Spit On Your Garage'?" Tatum said mockingly as she turned to walk passed the figure and back inside the house.
Before Tatum could take a single step forward, Xander's hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm. She turned around to yell at him, but he quickly shoved her behind him, stepping protectively in front of her.
"Xander, what are you doing?"
Xander could feel the tension in the air skyrocket as the masked killer continued to silently stare at them.
"Stay here." Xander ordered.
"What's going on?" Tatum asked in a hushed tone, her earlier annoyance replaced by genuine concern.
"That's the asshole that's been trying to kill me." he replied before moving forward towards the killer. "You and me didn't get to finish our dance last night."
Ghostface slowly lifted his knife into view and pointed it at Xander. Ghostface slowly lifted his knife into view and pointed it at Xander. The dim light in the garage flickered off the metallic glint of the blade as the masked killer lunged at Xander. Xander sidestepped the swing, narrowly avoiding the blade as it slashed through the air. He countered with a quick kick, aiming for Ghostface's midsection. The killer was staggered by the blow but quickly recovered.
In the background, Tatum was screaming and yelling, trying to get help from anyone inside the house, but between the loud music and general noise from the party, her cries for help went unheard. Ghostface took another stab at Xander, aiming for his stomach. He dodged the strike and punched the masked killer in the ribs. Ghostface let out a groan of pain and quickly followed up with a punch to Xander's face.
"Xander, be careful!" Tatum shouted as he stumbled back from the punch.
Xander shook off the hit and shoulder-charged Ghostface. They both fell to the ground, the knife flying from the killer's hand as they hit the concrete floor. Xander scrambled on top of the killer, raining blows down on him as hard as he could. A particularly hard blow caused something underneath the mask to make an audible crack. Ghostface yelled in pain before using his legs to throw Xander off.
The killer rolled over onto his stomach and reached for the knife. His gloved hand wrapped around the hilt and he pushed himself up. Xander quickly got back onto his feet and was met by the psychopath's blade punching into his gut. An audible grunt escaped his lips as the killer shoved the blade into him a few more times for good measure.
Tatum let out a horrified scream as she watched Xander get repeatedly stabbed in the stomach, believing that he had just been mortally wounded.
Xander had a look of surprise on his face as he stared into the masked face of his attacker. A sinister chuckle escaped from underneath Ghostface's mask as he looked at Xander in evil satisfaction. The two of them looked down only to find that half the blade had gone into him. The killer's head tilted to the side in confusion as he pulled the blade back only to find the tiniest spatter of blood smeared across the very tip of the knife's blade.
Ghostface's confusion didn't last long as Xander delivered a powerful punch directly to the masked man's throat. The masked assailant gagged, dropping the knife, and staggered backward as he clutched at his crushed windpipe. As the masked figure struggled to breathe, Xander retrieved the knife and walked up to him. With a swift, hard thrust, Xander drove the knife deep into his tormentor's chest.
The garage was filled with a sickening gurgle as the killer's gloved hands clutched at the knife protruding from his chest. His legs gave out and he collapsed back against the refrigerator and slid down to the ground.
Xander kneeled down next to him and pulled the mask from the killer's face. His eyes took in the slightly bruised face of Billy Loomis, blood spilling from his mouth as he drew ever closer to death. Xander could hear Tatum's careful steps as she walked over to stand next to him and wasn't surprised to hear the gasp of shock and horror as she saw the identity of the person underneath the mask.
"I didn't get to keep my whole 'fish' promise, but I'll make sure to keep the other one. Scout's honor." Xander whispered coldly as he leaned in closer to Billy.
As the life drained from his body, Billy made a final, gurgling sound. Tatum strained to hear, but the words were lost in the chaos of the moment. Billy's eyes, however, spoke volumes. A mixture of hatred, confusion, and perhaps a touch of fear.
"Stu..." was all that he managed to choke out, barely above a whisper.
"That's right. He's next on my list."
And with that, Billy Loomis's head lolled to the side, his last breath escaping his body. Xander wiped the blade on Billy's jeans and stood back up, turning to look at a thoroughly shaken Tatum Riley.
"What... what the fuck is going on?!" the blonde asked as she struggled to process everything she'd just witnessed. "Why is Billy Loomis dressed like a fucking psycho and trying to kill you?" Tatum asked as her wondering over WHY Billy was trying to kill Xander raised an even more important question. "How the fuck are you not dead? You got stabbed like a dozen times!"
Xander raised his baggy shirt up to reveal phone books taped around his torso like makeshift body armor.
"I'm smarter than the average bear, y'know." Xander said with a lopsided grin. "He's already taken a couple of swings at me and missed, I wanted to make sure that the third one was gonna be his last one."
"I-I don't understand." Tatum said as she stared down at Billy's body. "The guy that attacked you and Sidney called my house when Billy was being questioned by the cops. How could he be in two places at once?"
Xander turned to Tatum with a remorseful look on his face. "Because he wasn't the only one." he told her. "Billy... Billy and Stu were working together to do all of this."
"What? No! You're wrong!" Tatum protested, her mind unwilling to accept the idea that her boyfriend was some kind of psychopathic serial killer. "Why would Billy want to hurt me?"
"Tatum, Billy just whispered to me that 'Stu should have slit your throat on the patio'." Xander argued. "I read the newspapers after we got attacked. NONE of the articles I read ever mentioned the fight traveling outside onto the patio. They only said that we were attacked at Casey's house."
"M-Maybe it was delirium or something." Tatum tried to reason. "For fuck's sake! He's got a giant knife shoved into his chest. Maybe Billy's brain wasn't working right because of all the dying! You can't expect someone to carry out the most eloquent of conversations when they're getting stabbed in the chest, right?"
"I know you don't want to believe this, but it's the truth." Xander replied calmly as he reached up and cupped her cheek. "Think about it for a second. Sidney told the police that Billy popped up at her window a few seconds after the killer disappeared. We've already established that Billy just tried to kill me dressed up in the same costume. How could he get from inside the house, then crawl up the outside to reach Sidney's bedroom that quickly?"
"You're wrong." Tatum replied, her eyes beginning to water as a pit formed in her stomach. "You have to be wrong. He can't be..."
Xander gave her a sad smile and wiped away a tear that had started to fall down her cheek.
"I wish I was wrong, but I'm not. You said it yourself: Sidney's attacker called your house while Billy was in police custody. That could have only happened if Billy had an accomplice working with him on the outside."
"No. No, no, no, no, no." Tatum said as she backed away from Xander and sobbed. "Stu was the one that asked me to go and get some more beers from the fridge. H-He knew Billy was hiding out here. Stu... Stu sent me out here so I could get murdered."
Xander felt a pang of sympathy for Tatum as the harsh reality settled in. The person she trusted had played a part in a horrifying murder spree. Tatum's sobs echoed in the garage, blending with the distant sounds of the ongoing party.
Xander gently approached her, trying to offer some comfort. "Tatum, we need to stop Stu. He's the other half of this nightmare, and he's probably planning something. Billy is dead, but Sidney is still in danger and we can't waste time." Tatum, amidst her tears, nodded. "I saw a patrol car parked outside. Is your brother here?"
"Dewey? Yeah. He's hanging out with that reporter chick, Gale Weathers, somewhere." she answered, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
Xander nodded. "Okay. That's good. Here's what I need you to do. I want you to go and find Dewey and Gale and tell them everything that just happened. Try and look for them outside first, before you start looking inside the house. I don't want Stu to know that you're okay and have him try and go after you again."
Tatum, still shaken and teary-eyed, nodded in agreement. "Okay, but what about you? What are you going to do?"
Xander glanced around the garage before he turned his gaze onto Billy's body. "I'm going to move him so no one spots him and then I'm gonna go inside and join the party your boyfriend's throwing."
"What? Why would you want to do something that fucking dumb?!"
"Because I was already on Billy and Stu's list." he explained. "If he sees me here, it'll throw him off his game. He might panic and do something stupid. At the very least, it'll keep his attention focused on me instead of on you or Sidney."
Tatum hesitated for a moment before she jumped forward and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Xander returned the embrace, trying to comfort the blonde and give her enough strength to get over the next few hurdles. After a few moments, the two of them parted, and Tatum gave him a sad smile.
"Be careful." she said softly.
"I will." Xander promised her. "We're going to wake up from this nightmare, Tatum. We just got to hang in there for a little while longer."
While Xander was dragging Billy's body over to behind a wheelbarrow and making sure that it was out of sight Tatum opened the garage door and went outside to go and find her brother.
"Okay, Stuart." Xander muttered under his breath. "Time to dance."
Walking out of the garage and around to the front of the house, Xander could see some of the partygoers already leaving. Most likely in an attempt to keep from getting in trouble for breaking curfew. Stu was standing at the front door wearing a red robe talking to the beautiful brunette who was the main star of this cinematic nightmare. Both of their backs were turned to him so neither of them saw his approach.
"Hey, guys!" Xander said loudly once he was right behind them.
The two teens jumped in surprise, whirling around to face him.
"Jesus Christ, Xander! You scared us." Sidney said as she tried to calm her racing heart after the unexpected scare.
"My bad." Xander said in apology. "You know me, practical jokes are kind of my thing."
"Oh yeah?" Stu asked with a sarcastic smile.
"Yeah." Xander replied with a matching grin of his own.
Before they could continue their conversation, Sidney interrupted. "Xander, did you see Tatum outside when you were walking up just now."
"No." he said with a shake of his head. "Was she supposed to be outside or something?"
"No, but we were supposed to be getting ready to leave because of the curfew." Sidney answered. "I haven't seen her inside, so I thought you might have spotted her out there."
"Nope."
"That's strange. Where the hell is she?" Sidney wondered.
"Tatum's not just gonna abandon you, Sid." Stu chimed in. "I'm sure she'll turn up. Why don't you come, hang out, and watch the movies while you wait? Maybe she's taking a shit or something."
Sidney looked conflicted as she was torn between continuing to look for her friend and going with Stu to wait for her to pop up. "Okay. Maybe you're right."
Stu flashed her a winning smile. "Cool. I'll catch up with you in a bit. I'm just gonna say goodbye to a couple people before they take off." He then turned to Xander. "Refreshments are in the kitchen, man."
Xander smiled back. "Cool."
Xander followed Sidney into the living room, sitting on the couch beside her, and started watching the movie. As the movie "Terror Train" played on the screen, Xander couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for things to take another turn. As it turned out, it only took about twenty minutes.
"Where the hell is she?" Sidney asked as she nervously bit at her nails.
Xander, who had been distracted by what was happening on the television, turned to his friend and saw that she was visibly nervous and on edge.
"Don't worry, Sidney. I'm sure Tatum will pop up eventually."
Just as Sidney turned to look at him so that she could ask him a question, she started hearing the wail of sirens getting closer.
Before anyone else could say anything about the sound, one of the other partygoers from outside burst into the room with a panicked look on his face.
"Clear out! The cops are coming!"
A flurry of activity erupted as the partygoers began scrambling to try and flee the house before the police could arrive. It was pure chaos as everyone scrambled for the closest exit. Despite the panic going on around him, Xander was a picture of calm as he grabbed Sidney by the hand in a firm grip and guided her through the fleeing mob.
"We need to go, Sidney." Xander said as he led her to the front door.
Sidney nodded, trusting him to know what he was doing, and followed his lead. They pushed their way past people and made it to the front door without any incident. As they stepped outside, Sidney and Xander saw a woman with a familiar mop of strawberry blonde hair standing next to Dewey who seemed to be questioning her. The flashing lights of the police cars and ambulances could be seen just down the road and closing in on the Macher residence.
Sidney panicked and tried to take off, but Xander's firm grip stopped her.
"No, Sidney. Not that way."
Xander led Sidney over toward where Tatum and Dewey were standing. The second they cleared the crowd and Tatum spotted them, the blonde raced over and practically tacked Sidney in a bone-crushing hug.
"Jesus Christ, Tatum!" Sidney exclaimed. "Where the hell have you been? I looked all over the house for you."
"I'm so happy you're alright." Tatum said in between sobs as she hugged her best friend. "I was so worried that something would have happened to you."
"What are you talking about?" Sidney asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. "You were the one that went missing."
Dust from the dirt road kicked up as multiple police cruisers came to a quick stop in front of the house. Sheriff Burke stepped out of the lead vehicle as several of his deputies exited other police cruisers and ran inside of the house. He was followed closely by his deputy, Mark Kincaid, who jumped out of the passenger seat as he marched up the driveway of the Macher residence.
"I want all of these kids rounded up and detained until we can question them!" Sheriff Burke ordered.
"Sheriff! Over here!" Dewey called out, waving him over.
The sheriff's eyes fell on their small group and he immediately walked over with another deputy hot on his heels.
"Dewey, what the hell happened here tonight?" Burke demanded as he approached.
Dewey looked at his sister, unsure of how to explain everything that she had told him. He didn't need to worry because Tatum did it for him.
"It was Billy Loomis, Sheriff." she revealed, causing the older man's attention to turn to her. "He and Stu are the killers."
Sidney was looking at Tatum like she'd grown a second head. "Billy? Stu? Tatum, what are you talking about?"
"It's true, Sid." Xander interjected. "They were the ones that attacked me and Casey. They're the ones that tried to kill you, and Billy was the one that tried to kill Tatum tonight in Stu's garage."
"That's not... Billy wouldn't..." the brunette tried to argue as her thoughts started spinning out of control. She looked to her best friend for reassurance, but the blonde had none to give her.
"Billy was waiting to ambush me when I came out. If Xander hadn't been there, he would have killed me, Sid." Tatum confirmed.
Sheriff Burke was about to say something when another deputy called out from around the corner of the house. "Sheriff, we got a body out here!"
The sheriff looked at Tatum and Xander for answers. "Do you know whose that is?"
"Billy." Xander said with a straight face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sidney break down with Tatum and Riley trying to comfort her. "When he tried to attack Tatum, I intervened. We fought and I managed to get the upper hand right before I stabbed him with his knife."
Sheriff Burke looked like he wanted to ask for more details, but he was interrupted by Stu being escorted out of the house in handcuffs. The teen had a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"Sheriff Burke, what the hell is going on? Why are these guys arresting me? I wasn't breaking curfew, this is my house!" Stu asked as he was pushed towards the patrol cars.
Xander's jaw dropped as he stared at Stu. The sheer audacity the asshole had to try and make himself look innocent made Xander want to break out into a hysterical fit of laughter. Instead, it made him open his mouth.
"Your friend liked to gloat too much, Stu." Xander called out, causing the look on the young killer's face to momentarily drop the mask of innocence he was putting on before it quickly reappeared. It was only for a second, but Xander could tell that Stu was shaken by the taunt and what it would lead to.
They watched Stu get put in the back of a police cruiser before the sheriff turned to his deputy. "Mark, I want you to go take these two over to the ambulance and have the EMTs check them out. Once they look 'em over, have them brought down to the station so we can get a statement."
"Yes, sir." Mark nodded before turning his attention to the teens. "Let's go, you guys."
Xander and Tatum both nodded before they followed behind Deputy Kincaid over to the ambulance. Dewey led Sidney away while the sheriff headed inside the home to check out the crime scene. On their way towards the ambulance, Xander felt someone grab his hand. Looking down, he saw Tatum's hand holding his. He gave it a gentle squeeze as he offered her a soft smile. She returned the gesture before she leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder.
As they climbed into the back of the ambulance and were given a quick examination, an unexpected thought popped into Xander's head that made him laugh. He glanced at Tatum and saw that she was giving him a questioning look at his sudden shift in mood.
"It's nothing." Xander told her. "Just an idle thought I had."
"What kind of thought?" she asked.
"It just suddenly hit me that I actually rescued a damsel in distress tonight." he replied with a cheeky smile.
Tatum stared at him for a moment before she broke out into a fit of giggles. "Shut up, idiot." she retorted playfully.
"I mean, if you actually sit there and think about it, I'm right. You're a beautiful young maiden, whose life was in danger, and I came to your rescue," he pointed out.
"I stopped being a 'maiden' a while ago, but I guess you're right." she agreed. "My very own 'Knight In Shining Armor'."
"Defeating the bad guys, revealing their insidious plots. Not bad for only my second day on the job." Xander joked making Tatum giggle again. The two sat in silence as the EMTs finished checking them over and they waited to be taken to the police station. Things seemed to be wrapped up in a nice little bow. Billy Loomis was dead, Stu was going to be enjoying a long stay behind bars, and Sidney and Tatum were both safe.
'A pretty good ending if you ask me.' Xander thought as he and Tatum were escorted to a police cruiser to be taken to the station.
Just as they were walking past Gail Weathers, who was already doing a live broadcast of the night's turn of events, Xander felt a chill run up his spine right before he was bombarded by the same high-pitched ringing and flashing lights he'd experienced before he found himself standing in Casey's den. After a few seconds of disorientation, he opened his eyes and found himself looking up at a very familiar ceiling. A simple turn of his head revealed that he was lying on the floor back in his bedroom. He could see the movie's end credits still scrolling on the TV screen.
"That was one hell of a dream..." Xander whispered as he tried to push himself up off the bedroom floor only to feel a sharp pain in his shoulder. He grunted in pain as he pulled the collar of his shirt aside and saw the stitches from the stab wound he'd received fighting at Casey's house. "What in the hell?"
He stupidly poked at the stitches, earning him another sharp twinge of pain. He then looked at the rest of his body, checking for any more injuries, and found bruises on his hands and forearms, and even more on his torso. He could see a couple of places where Billy's knife had managed to puncture through the makeshift body armor, but it didn't look much worse than the normal cuts and scrapes he accumulated fighting beside Buffy on a nightly basis.
"Oh, this is some bullshit!" he shouted.
AN: If you enjoy my writing, check me out on Twitter for updates and information on my upcoming stories at X (o) Com/CorridorComics