HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY; ethan landry x fem!reader

CHAPTER ELEVEN; no body, no crime

"somebody's gotta catch him out, 'cause
i think he did it, but i just can't prove it"

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y/n's pov

"Okay, nerds, listen up." Mindy started talking while we all sat on the benches in front of her. "As terrifying as this all is, I'm actually glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time."

"Yep." Chad mumbled, scribbling on the notebook in his lap like he was actually going to take notes.

"It's fine." Mindy took a deep breath. "Okay. The way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requel."

"Um, what's a requel?" Anika asked, raising her hand.

"You're beautiful, sweetie." Mindy complimented and Anika smiled. "Let's hold questions to the end."

"Stab one took place in Woodsboro, Stab two took place in college." Sam stated.

"So do we think that the killer is trying to copy the movies?" Tara asked from her seat beside me.

"That is one possibility." Mindy said, pointing to her. "Heroes now in college? Check. Suspicious new characters brought in to round out the suspect list and/or body count? Check, check and check."

"Taser? Check. Pepper spray? Check."

I thought about the taser that had been sitting in my dorm since we moved to New York and the pepper spray that was in my backpack as Mindy spoke.

"I don't like this." Ethan spoke quietly and I gave his hand a short squeeze before returning it to my lap.

"But it can't just be about Stab two." Mindy stated.

"Why not?" Asked Tara.

"It would make sense if this were just a sequel, but we're not in a sequel because nobody just makes sequels anymore. We're in a franchise!" Mindy exclaimed with her arms out and multiple of us, the four of us on the benches from Woodsboro, groaned. "And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise."

"I had a feeling." Sam said quietly.

"Rule one: Everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count, longer chases, shootouts, beheadings. You gotta top what came before to keep people coming back." Mindy explained.

"Beheadings?" Chad asked, pausing his note taking for a second.

"Beheadings." His sister confirmed.

"Rule two: Whatever happened last time, expect the opposite." Mindy continued. "Franchises only survive by subverting expectations. If the killers last time were whiny snowflake film nerds with Letterboxd accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here."

So... if a person's boyfriend died last year, their new boyfriend this year won't?

"And rule three: No one is safe. Legacy characters, cannon fodder at this point. Usually brought back only to be killed off in some cheap bid for nostalgia. It's not looking too good for Gale and Kirby." Mindy stopped for a second. "Oh, and that's not even the worst part."