The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

16. Finally The End

Tatum helped Kirby out of the theater, completely ignoring her own pain as she walked. Paramedics walked up to the two of them with a gurney and Tatum helped Kirby onto it. They started assessing the injuries and started to mess with her fingers as an anxiety tic.

"We'll need to check you out too, ma'am," one of the paramedics said and Tatum nodded and followed the paramedic over to an ambulance. "Do you have any injuries that you know of?" The woman asked

"Yeah, I got stabbed two days ago. I think the stitches ripped," Tatum said and Tatum's hands were shaking from the adrenaline. "Ok, show me," The paramedic said and Tatum lifted her shirt and the paramedic cleaned the wound up.

"A few of them did rip, but the good news is that you don't have to get them redone. It seems like it is in a spot where it isn't too deep, so just keep it clean and you should be fine," The paramedic said.

"Ok, thank you," Tatum said and she dropped her shirt down trying to process what just happened. Tara joined her to get fixed up. She had a pretty nasty arm injury, she had to get a sling for it.

Eventually, Sam joined them and Kirby was rolled over to the ambulance they were standing by. "If you ever need me, call. We're all part of the same fucked up family now. And legacy doesn't always have to be a bad thing," Kirby said and Tara started crying. "Hey," Kirby said and Tatum put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, knowing what the cause was.

"It's just Chad," Tara said and Tatum tried to keep her composure as she heard Tara sob over Chad. "Hey! We got another one here!" A firefighter yelled in the distance. They looked over and saw Chad being rushed to an ambulance. "Holy shit," Tatum said as a smile formed on her face. She felt overwhelming relief at the fact that he was okay.

They ran over to Chad. "How are you alive?" Sam asked and Chad held up a six. Tatum reached over carefully and pushed one finger down. Chad gave her a confused look. "We'll explain later," Tatum said.

"Core fucking Five," Tara said and she removed his oxygen mask and kissed him. She pulled back from it. "Sorry, you probably need that," Tara said as she placed the mask back on him. "Oh, my god! Are you guys okay? I know who the killer is! It's Bailey," Mindy said.

"And Victoria," Tatum said, still not having processed the fact that Victoria tried to kill her.
They were best friends for two years and Victoria still tried to kill her. She even tried to kill her mom. She was even an accessory to the murder of her father.

"And Quinn," Sam said.

"What? Fuck! Did I miss the monologue again?" Mindy asked and the three of them nodded. "Are you okay?" Mindy asked Chad and then she looked at Tatum and Sam. "Are you okay? You don't look okay," She said and Tatum laughed as she watched Mindy walk into the ambulance with Chad.

"Wow, she must be really drugged up," Tatum joked and Sam nodded. "For someone who was just stabbed, she's pretty energetic," Sam said.

"They have good painkillers," Tatum said and Sam looked over Tatum's head and nudged her lightly. "Someone's here for you," Sam said and Tatum looked at Sam. "What?" Tatum asked.

Sam pointed towards the crime scene tape where Tatum saw Ethan walking underneath it. He was looking around for someone. "I'll catch up with you and T," Tatum said and Sam nodded with a smile on her face.

"See you there," Sam said and Tatum started walking towards Ethan. She wanted to tell him how she felt. She technically wanted to tell him for a while, but hasn't had the chance.

Ethan saw her and met her halfway and hugged her. "Are you okay?" He asked and Tatum nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," Tatum said and she took a deep breath, trying to think over what she was going to say.

"I really like you," Ethan said and Tatum pulled away from the hug. "What?" Tatum asked.

"I'm sorry, I know now isn't the time, and you probably-" Tatum cut him off by kissing him. She pulled back from the kiss. "I really like you too," Tatum said with a smile.

—

Tatum and Ethan arrived at the hospital where Danny, Mindy, Tara, and Sam were all waiting to hear news about Chad and Kirby. Tatum held Ethan's hand as a way to ease her nerves.

Tatum walked up behind Mindy and tapped her head. "Shouldn't you be in a hospital room?" Tatum asked as Mindy jumped and turned to look at her. "Jesus, Tate. Don't do that!" Mindy said and Tatum just looked at her.

"Sorry, didn't realize you are so jumpy when you're high on painkillers. You still didn't answer my question," Tatum said.

"Probably should be, but I'm not going to. I mean you didn't," Mindy said.

"That's different," Tatum said and Mindy gave her a skeptical look. "Is it?" Mindy asked.

"It is. When I was asked to be discharged all the Ghostfaces were still alive," Tatum said and Sam looked at Mindy. "She has a point. They should monitor you for a little longer," Sam said.

"I'm fine," Mindy said.

"You won't be once the painkillers stop working," Tatum stated, knowing that Mindy would ignore her suggestion anyway. "Wait, are you serious?" Mindy asked.

"Yeah. Hurts like a bitch once it wears off," Tatum said and Mindy thought about it. "Alright, fuck it. I'll go get checked out," Mindy said as she stood up and walked to the front desk.

"Tate, your mom can have visitors," Tara said and Tatum nodded. "Thank you," Tatum said and she was about to walk away, almost forgetting about the fact she was still holding Ethan's hand. "Do you want me to go with you?" Ethan asked.

"I got it. Thank you though," Tatum said and let go of his hand. Tatum walked up to the front desk and got Gale's room number before walking down the hallway.

She entered the room and froze at the sight of her mom asleep, connected to a bunch of wires. Tatum sat down in the chair next to her bed and waited. The wait wasn't too long since Gale woke up a minute after Tatum sat down.

"Hey, sweetie," Gale said and Tatum grabbed her hand. "Hey, mom. How are you feeling?" Tatum asked.

"Good. I can't feel anything," Gale said and Tatum laughed. "Yeah, they got some pretty good drugs here," Tatum said.

"Did you get them? The killers?" Gale asked and Tatum nodded. "Yeah. We did. It was Detective Bailey, Quinn, and Victoria," Tatum said and Gale gave Tatum a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Tatum. I know she was a friend," Gale said.

"I should've seen it coming. Now that I know, all the signs are pointing to her. When we moved to New York, she was happy. Because she was back with her family, but she lied to me about every part of her life. Then she tried to kill me. Talk about 'Friend Of The Year,'" Tatum said.

"You'd be surprised how common it is for a close friend to be the killer. Happened way too many times," Gale said and Tatum nodded. "I know. It just hurts, I guess," Tatum said.

"It will for a while, but soon enough it will stop," Gale said.

"Yeah, as much as I would love to believe that, I don't know if that will happen with me. She tried to kill me like how Amber killed Dad. She just didn't go deep enough. An inch deeper and I would've been dead. Then she went to the hospital to finish the job," Tatum said still in disbelief.

"How do you know it was her?" Gale asked.

"The mask. Both times I was attacked, Ghostface was wearing Nancy Loomis's mask," Tatum said.

"I think it might be time for therapy for you," Gale said and Tatum laughed. "I think so too," Tatum said.

"Oh! Oh! I've been meaning to ask you this. That boy that was in your hospital room, is he your boyfriend?" Gale asked and Tatum smiled. "Yes, he is. Not at that point, but yeah," Tatum said.