A/N: I keep dreaming about this for some annoying reason so I figured I might as well write it. Rated M for gore in later chapters. It's a slasher series come on.
Episode 1
The leaves rustled as the wind blew against them carrying a low murmur of a sing-song voice. Emma treaded over the mud and twigs as she pushed against the branches. Her brain kept screaming not to follow the voice but it was as if her body was acting on its own accord "Daisy…," the voice was coming from all around her; encompassing her in suffocating darkness. The closer she got, the stronger the voice got.
A twig broke beside her and she staggered sideways; her eyes widening with a mixture of fear and adrenaline. "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do." This time the voice came from the other side and she fell on the ground, clawing her way forward.
Suddenly, as if her nervous system had collapsed, Emma paralyzed in her place. Her face rested against the soft mud and for a second there was no sound but the light bellowing of wind and mellow chirping of crickets. "I'm half-crazy all for the love of you." The blood drained from her face as she internally screamed at her body to work. Not again please not again. The heavy boots squelched on the wet ground in front of her.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle. The leaves started to break underneath the heavy footsteps.
The sound burst through her ears and echoed within the walls of her brain. And just like that it stopped and the invisible force holding her body down was gone. She lifted her head and looked around. Nothing but the dark sky and thick green leaves. Maybe it was just a bad dream…She thought. She slowly turned over and out of the darkness, the blur of a white mask and black cape pounced on her.
The scream ensued from her lips before she could stop and she felt strong arms around her, holding her tightly. She tried to pull away from them like they were the ones she was running from. It's Kieran he's come to finish me off. He's here! He's here! He's here!" The voices in her head got stronger as she screamed and screamed.
"It was just a dream, Emma. Just a dream." The soft voice broke her out of the fiction and she realized how springy the ground was now and how still the air was. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at the blue wall of her bedroom.
"Hey. Hey Emma," a hand brushed against her forehead and she fell into the warmth of it. Audrey's arms were around her, grounding her to reality. "It's okay. You're safe, Emma, you're safe. I'm here." The smaller girl pulled Emma down onto her shoulder and Emma drew closer, letting her face rest in the crook of Audrey's neck. She wanted to thank her for being there. For always holding her when she was breaking down. For being the only sane thing in her life right now. But all she could manage was a hoarse gasp. Her throat was so coarse that she tasted blood. It sickened her.
The water bottle was pressed against her lips before she could ask for it and Emma let the cool liquid trickle down her throat. Audrey gently tugged her back while keeping her arms firmly around her and just like that the two girls drifted off to sleep. With Audrey's arms draped around her and her head resting on her arm. As they have done for the past year. Sometimes it was Audrey that woke screaming and sometimes it was Emma but they always found security in each other's arms.
"Good Morning Lakewood! Welcome to another episode of the Morgue." Noah's voice bubbled through the Emma's earphones as she trudged down the sidewalk, two blocks away from the coffee shop where she worked. The regular podcasts had stopped three months after Kieran was revealed as the murderer, with everyone trying their best to move forward. But Noah would do a broadcast on the days of the death anniversaries of the ones they had lost. It was Will's death anniversary today.
"Today we honour someone who was special to all of us. Will Belmont was a good friend and a hero. At the start, I knew him as Emma's douche-y boyfriend." A soft chuckle followed. "But he was an incredibly honest and brave person. Will threw himself forward to protect the people he loved…and even the ones he didn't. He tried to save Piper Shaw without caring for his own welfare… If he had known she was the murderer then maybe he would have run that day and…Kieran wouldn't have….." The voice broke slightly and Emma felt bile rising in her throat as images of Will's half split body flashed before her eyes.
"Well that's all in the past now and as much as we would want to change it, there is nothing we can do except honour the ones who have left us. They are the reason we stand here today. If Will hadn't elected to hold the door while he was injured and keep the killer at bay to give me a running chance that day, maybe I…I would be dead right now. Let's all take a moment of silence to remember Will Belmont, ladies and gentlemen." Emma closed her eyes and reminisced the feeling of Will's laughter and the light touch of his lips. She pulled out the earphones unable to hear more of it. She still blamed herself for his murder; maybe if she hadn't left him and gotten with Kieran things would be different. If she hadn't run and seen the tripwire. If she would have called his mother to see if it was really her that pulled up in his driveway. If… Her eyes stung with wetness and she quickly wiped at them. She can't show the world how broken she really was. Only Audrey. Audrey was enough.
Her footsteps were unusually loud and that's when it dawned on her that the street was strangely empty. She looked around and saw nothing but empty shops and parked cars. Granted it was only six in the morning but the streets usually had a jogger or two passing by and shopkeepers raising their shutters. Right now it seemed as if the town folk had abandoned their homes and gone to much saner place.
Feeling queasy, she began to hurry towards her workplace. Just before she could turn the corner however, it came. Her darkest nightmare in the flesh. No...No…not again please…Her brain started screaming. She didn't want to run anymore. So she just stood there, frozen, waiting for the inevitable crunch of the blade piercing her heart. She closed her eyes but even then the sharp outline of the mask, the hollowed out eyes and the wide mouth were vividly before her.
Thwack.
She braced herself for impact but it never came. Instead she heard a whimper and loud cursing. "Ugggh what gives man?!" She opened her eyes at the sound and was greeted by someone's back to her. The person was holding a large baseball bat in a rather menacing position.
"You think it's fucking funny to dress up as a serial killer and terrorize someone?" The feminine voice was demanding and laced with hatred at the person before her. Emma lowered her gaze and saw a classmate, Max from her Sociology class she thought, with the mask pulled back and clutching the side of his jaw where the bat must have struck him.
"It was a prank, you stupid bitch." He groaned and rubbed his jaw where a sharp welt was taking place.
"Oh," the girl laughed sarcastically, her back was still towards Emma who was now staring at how short her hair was cut. "Aren't you the Sam Pepper 2.0?" She snorted. "People you knew were killed by this psychopath and you think it would make a funny prank?" She stepped closer as the boy backed away slowly. "Why don't you piss off before I shove this bat somewhere the sun doesn't shine and pull it out of that mouth of yours," she said, holding the bat in his direction, threateningly as he scrambled up and ran away. Emma watched the cape flow as he ran and for a minute she was transported back into her dream this time the cap was flowing towards her. Closer and closer and closer.
"You ok there?" She snapped back and focused on the face in front of her. The girl was slightly taller than her; her face was thrown into concerned folds and her eyebrow was raised behind the slightly oversized spectacles she wore. Her hair was longer from the front and fell across the sides of her face in almost the same way Kieran's did. Kieran. Emma shook her head to push the though away and met the girl's warm brown eyes.
"Thank you for doing that. I sort of spaced out, bad memories and everything." She said with a gracious smile
"Don't mention it." The girl nodded, "People can be really insensitive assholes sometimes." She snarled a little too darkly for someone who hadn't been a victim of horrible pranks herself. Emma pondered but let it slip. She knew more than anyone not be too intrusive in other people's lives.
"Yeah, that's Lakewood for you. Assholes, deranged psychopaths and PTSD victims." She chuckled trying to brush of the actual seriousness of her words.
"I'm sorry," the girl didn't miss it, "I can only imagine how awful it must have been for you to go through all of that." She placed a reassuring hand on Emma's shoulder and when the blonde girl flinched slightly she quickly drew it back. An awkward silence broke over them but Emma broke it.
"I haven't seen you here before." She said, more as a statement than a question.
"I just moved here from Boston to live with my uncle." She shrugged. Emma wanted to ask why but she didn't. The more she knew people, the worse it got for them. This person had saved her in some aspects and the best thing she could do was spare her the horror that was Emma Duval.
"Oh." The green eyes momentarily met the brown ones before she extended her hand and gave her the warmest smile she could muster. "Once again, thank you so much. I'm Emma."
"I know. Saw your face in the newspaper." The taller girl looked down at her hand, a slight look of confusion spreading across her features before she took it, unsure of what to do. "Uhhh..." she swung their hands from side to side and Emma burst out laughing.
"You've never shaken somebody's hand before?" She inquired, her voice laced with laughter.
"Not…really…" A slight red blush crept across the girl's face which made Emma laugh more.
"Boston must be really weird." She laughed and shook their hands up and down. "See? That's how you shake hands here in Lakewood."
"Oh," the brown-eyed girl scratched the back of her head sheepishly and nodded. "I'm Cattleya." She enunciated her name in a Spanish dialect. Emma noted but didn't say anything, instead she responded by thanking her once again.
"I should go now, got a job and everything." The green-eyed girl smiled politely and stepped towards the side. "It was nice meeting you."
"Uh you should take this," the girl surprised her by holding the bat in her direction. "In case some other asshats think it is funny to prank you."
"Oh it's yours I-"
"Don't worry about it. My sister has a huge collection of these. She won't miss one." A small smile finally etched across her face as she spoke of her. "Besides, you can give it back to me when you see me next time."
Emma nodded and bid her farewell before heading off to her workplace.
The school hallway was bustling with sounds of laughter and loud chattering as if nothing had happened. Like this hallway was not stained with the blood of those that had been lost. Riley. Eli. Jake. Zoe. Will. She heard Jake's boyish laughter and Brooke's annoyed sigh and Riley's fangirling and Will's soft whispers in her ear as she hurried towards the exit; her eyes fixed firmly on the floor. Even though it had been a year, people still stared. The looked at her like she was the killer herself.
"EM! WAIT UP! HEY!" She wheeled around and saw Audrey pacing to catch up to her. Following her were Brooke who was holding hands with Stavo while he stared at her lovingly and Noah who was wearing some sort of headgear with a camera pointed ahead.
"Hey," Audrey said softly and slipped her fingers gently into Emma's hand, intertwining it with hers. They were so warm and soft against hers like she was holding a feather. Audrey's touches were always that way. Tender and yet she felt so secure in them. To kill with someone. Now that's a real bond isn't it? You'll know. You killed with Audrey. The words played through her head and the memories made her wince reflexively. Maybe Kieran was right; the reason she was so close to Audrey was because they had killed together. Perhaps this was the unspoken bond she felt with shorter girl.
"Em, hey come back to me," Audrey whispered against her ear and Emma broke out of her thoughts. She smiled and tightened her grip around Audrey's hand as Noah caught up to them.
"It's gonna be the big G this year guys. And by big G I mean graduation not the Gravitational Constant." Noah laughed at his own joke and Audrey rolled her eyes. "Gee, we never would have guessed," she huffed and Brooke giggled.
"Ok ok it's not my fault you guys are so stupendously dull," Noah said, while adjusting the camera on his glasses.
"Speaking of stupendously dull, what's the deal with that goofy thing on your head anyway?" Brooke said, poking his side.
"This, my friends, is for our Graduation montage. I will have this camera running the entire year and by the end of it, I will hand the footage to Maestro Audrey Jensen," he curtseyed while Audrey flipped him off, leaning further into Emma so their shoulders brushed. "And she will edit it into movie magic. We may have had a shit couple of years but I want us to remember the good times we had this year and take these with us to college instead of…" He trailed off because he didn't need to complete. The same thought was running through all of their heads. The ones they loved all gutted mercilessly at the hands of someone they thought was their friend. Someone Emma thought she loved.
"Oh hey," she shook her golden tresses and looked up at the familiar figure of Cattelya walking out from the opposite side of the quad where they were standing. She waved to get the girl's attention whose eyes were fixed on the ground; like she was avoiding everyone's gaze too.
"Cat-" a hand firmly came over her mouth and shushed her.
"Emma are you insane!?" Brooke glared at her while the rest of them had the same look of bemusement on their face that Emma currently housed.
"What?!" Emma frowned and pulled away from Brooke.
"Emma, that's Cattelya James. The Cattelya James." She stepped her foot trying to make a point all of them were missing.
"Noah not even you?" She shook her head disappointingly and continued. "They say she killed a man when she was just nine years old. She was in juvy till this year. She got released and of course she was gonna come to the only town with a rap sheet bloodier than hers. If I had it my way, I'll throw her out of town right now, before she thinks it would be a great idea to start the killing spree again." Brooke said through gritted teeth and moved further into Stavo who wrapped his arm around her.
"Don't worry babe, she won't hurt you I promise," Stavo nodded and narrowed his eyes at Cattelya, who quickly scuttled past the hoards of people.
But why did she save me then? Emma's head started flooding with questions as the girl briefly looked up and made eye contact with Emma; her eyes fixated on hers like she understood exactly what Emma was thinking. But then, she looked down again and disappeared towards the other side of the building.
Emma and Audrey were alone now. Emma was leaning against a tree and Audrey's head was in her lap. She absent-mindedly brushed the smooth black hair with her fingers and stared off into distance. Part of her felt Kieran was going right into her view from the parking area; his smirk and extensively long hair from the front. Like Cattelya's hair.
"Hey," Audrey said as she touched Emma's chin lightly, "You seem a million miles away. What's on your mind?"
Emma thought for a minute before looking down at the smaller girls whose brows were furrowed with concern. She traced the lines on her forehead with her fingers and smiled. "Just thinking about Will." She lied and Audrey immediately shook her head.
"Emma, I know you're lying. The hair twirl thing remember?" She pointed out and Emma realized her other hand had been twisting a strand of hair.
"I can almost imagine Kieran walking up to us. I feel like he is about to come out from a corner every single time." She sighed and Audrey raised her head from Emma's lap and hoisted herself on her elbows.
"He's in jail, Emma. Life without parole. There is nothing he can do to hurt you now." She said lifting a hand and lightly pushing Emma's hair behind her ear.
"Yeah," Emma smiled and leaned into the touch as Kieran's words about the bond between two killers played through her mind in a painful loop.
"It's ok if you want to cancel movie night, Em. It's Will's anniversary, I understand." Audrey squeezed Emma's shoulder as she and the rest of the group began heading towards their homes.
"Yeah…but I'll see you tonight right?" The pleading look in her eyes was enough to make Audrey nod and lean forward to press a light kiss to her cheek. "What are best friends for?" She smiled and all of them bid each other farewell.
Emma had mentioned earlier her mother wanted to drive her home today so none of them offered her a ride. She waited in the lot which started to get emptier and emptier until she was the only one left. Emma delayed another ten minutes before huffing and calling her mom.
She was welcomed by the loud shrieking and sentimental apologies from her mother who had been over-working herself so much that she forgot she had to pick Emma. Emma told her to stay put and that she'll walk home, which even though she did not want to; she could tell how tired her mother was from her voice. They exchanged goodbyes and Emma started walking out of the parking lot.
And just like that it started to rain without warning. The water poured down with vengeance as Emma quickened her pace. It grew louder and harder by each second like it wanted to wipe out the entire city and as much as Emma wanted to stop, her demons had got the better of her. She only felt safe in the locked room and now barred windows of her house
She looked around after every two seconds, her hand tightly clutching the pepper spray she always carried in her bag now.
A car turned the corner and Emma's grip tightened on the spray. It passed her and then stopped. Her breath caught in her chest as she remained rooted on spot. The black impala reversed and stopped next to her and rolled down its window.
"Need a ride?" Cattelya said over the roar of the torrent.
"N-No thanks I'm fine!" Emma nodded a little too excessively as she held the pepper spray at the brim of her bag.
"Emma, it's raining. You'll get sick." The girl pressed further and Emma shook her head. "Please let me drive you."
The crackle of the lightning caused Emma to jump slightly. She hated thunderstorms. Very reluctantly, she agreed.
The sat in silence as the car jostled forward until Cattelya extended her hand and Emma pressed herself into the car door as much as she could. The gesture was not missed by the taller girl who grabbed the towel from behind and handed into to Emma. "Here."
Hesitantly, Emma's hands gripped the soft linen and she mumbled a thank you as she started to shake the towel against her hair.
"Did I do something to offend you? You're acting a bit…odd." The brown eyes moved off the road for a little while to catch Emma's somewhat pale face. Yeah you murdered somebody that's what you did.
"Just an off day." She lied and Cattelya agreed. "Tell me about it."
"What happened to you?" This time it was Emma's turn to press. After all Kieran and Piper had been nice to her as well and yet their pasts were unknown to her. With this girl, she had an upper hand. She knew what she had done and she was going to be the intrusive asshole she was so clearly dreading earlier today.
"Just people. Staring. I carry the shadows of my past too." The taller girl sighed and turned the car towards the road Emma pointed out.
"Why'd you move to Lakewood?" Emma blurted. She wanted to know now. The intrusive and slight harshness of her tone threw Cattelya off a little and she stared at the road ahead trying to form her sentences before responding.
"My parents died. My uncles is my only legal guardian so I sort of had to move." She shrugged and even though Emma wanted to sympathize she couldn't help but compare the similarities between the girl next to her and the boy she thought she loved.
"How did they die?" Emma inquired. Her mind was clouded with the need to know now.
"Don't you think that's a little bit too personal for our second conversation?" Cattelya coughed and quirked an eyebrow, her lips drawing into a single line.
"Sorry" The green-eyed girl said pointedly. With no feeling of guilt covering her voice.
"Well that's me." She made her stop the car an entire street behind and exited it. She walked forward with the same question burning through her mind. It was screaming at her, trying to burst out of her.
Which it did and she turned around causing the wheels that were about to be set into forward motion, to stop with a jolt.
"Did you really kill someone?" It came out more as a shout than she had originally intended.
Without a hint of hesitation, Cattelya nodded. "Yes." She cracked a smile and raised her window again before quickly pulling it down. "Oh and Emma, you know the picture of your house and house number was in the paper and everything right?
Emma's blood got cold as Cattelya sped off without another word. She waited a little longer to make sure she wasn't going to be jumped before heading back into the safety of her own house.
A/N: Please review and let me know what you think so far!