The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

10. Here We Go Again

Tatum sat next to Ethan in the living room of her apartment with the rest of her friends. They were all making fun of Mindy for how long it was taking her to find the correct channel. As Mindy was flipping through channels, one caught Tatum's attention. Her joking behavior disappeared.

"Wait, go back," Tatum said, having only had read the first word of the headline. Mindy went back and Tatum saw the headline fully. "What the fuck?" Mindy asked as she read the headline. 'College Students, Jason Carvey, and Greg Bruckner Found Dead in Their Apartment.'

Photos appeared on their screen and they looked familiar to Tatum, but she couldn't place it. Chad stood from the couch and left the apartment to get Sam. They could hear the muffled yell of Sam's name.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as she entered the room. Then she saw the TV. They all listened to what the reporter had to say in complete silence.

"I'm standing in front of the apartment building where the mutilated bodies of two students were discovered. Their names have just been released by the police. Jason Carvey and Greg Bruckner," The reporter said.

"Holy shit, that's that chode from our Film Studies class! The one obsessed with Argento," Mindy said, then it clicked in her brain. Mindy and Tara complained about them all the time.

"Also found at the scene were various Ghostface costumes," the reporter said and Tatum's heart sank. Everyone in the room froze besides the few that didn't know what the effect Ghostface had on them. Tatum completely blocked out every voice in the room as she stared at the Ghostface mask the reporter held in his hand.

Ethan looked over to the girl who was very visibly tense while watching the TV. It didn't take long for him to figure out why.

Tatum was brought back to the present when a hand was placed on her mid-back. "Are you okay?" Ethan asked and Tatum nodded. Completely lying about it.

"It could have nothing to do with us," Tara said.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked.

"It's a big city! It's Halloween. Everybody's wearing masks!" Tara said trying to be convincing but it was clearly not working. "Tara, this isn't a coincidence. You knew him!" Sam yelled.

"Barely," Tara said.

"Chad, Mindy, Tatum, back me up," Sam said.

"It is a little bit..."  Chad trailed off a bit at the end. "Close to home," Mindy finished and Sam looked at Tatum who was still staring at the TV. "It's not a coincidence," Tatum said.

"Really, Tate?" Tara asked, disappointed that Tatum didn't agree with her. Tatum looked at Tara, hoping to put some sense into her. "Their apartment is six blocks away from us. If it was across town then I might believe it's a coincidence, but six blocks? No way," Tatum said and Tara sighed.

"Quinn, your dad's a cop, right? Can you call him and find out what's going on? Before you make the unilateral decision to abandon my college education and flee the fucking state!" Tara yelled.

"I'm calling him now," Quinn said as she held her phone up to her ear. "Thank you," Tara said and then Sam's phone began ringing. Everyone tensed up at the noise and looked at the phone. "Who is it?" Tara asked and Tatum stood up. Sam didn't answer. Then Tatum's phone buzzed. It was her mother. She pressed decline and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Why did everyone just freak out when her phone rang?" Ethan asked.

"You got to keep up, my dude," Anika said and Quinn walked up to Sam and Tara. "Sam? My dad wants to talk to you," Quinn said as she handed Sam her phone. Sam started talking to Mr. Bailey and a few seconds later Sam hung up the phone. "He wants me to go down to the station," Sam said as she handed the phone back to Quinn.