𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐓 ➵ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐂

viii. eight

DEAD MEAT!

"SHE'S IN!" billie exclaimed as she practically jumped up and in down in her room. bryce was with her, sitting on her bed, smiling. the girl jumped to her bed, tackling the boy with a hug.

he smiled even more, to how close the two were in the moment. billie began to blush lightly, trying her best to cover it up as she got off of him.

"sorry, just really excited." the girl smiled in the corner of her mouth. the boy wasn't complaining, he was very grateful to have someone as close as her, since he's known to be a loner around the school, it was a surprise that two got incredibly close.

"it's okay.." bryce smiled to her, happy to see her so excited. "what are we?" bryce blurted out to the girl, who was a little taken aback by the question.

"friends." she said, smiling and sitting back down next to him.

"oh.." bryce breathed out a sigh, very uneasy with her answer. friends. friendzoned.

on the other end, billie wasn't one hundred percent with the answer she decided on either. she was utterly confused to why she said it. you can't just be friends with someone when you know how their lips feel on yours. or when you think about the other person endlessly. were they just friends?

the two sat quietly, thinking the exact same thing as one another, both oblivious to thinking of the same thought.

BILLIE LAID awake, unable to fall asleep, due to overthinking. and with overthinking, that's where the cigarettes come into play. she walked down the creaky stairs of her house, slipping herself outside with her bathrobe and lighter. the cigarettes were carefully hidden on the porch, where nobody would ever think to look. as she pulled one out of the box, she felt the buzz hit her lips, immediately becoming more calm after each drag.

in the distance, there was some chattering from people walking. it was around midnight, probably coming home from the theater or maybe even a club. the girl suspected it was two people, nothing to much to bother her. she continued to inhale and exhale the smoke slowly, not wanting to go back inside. there was now laughter in the distance, probably a couple.

it soon turned chaotic as a high shrilled scream echoed the quiet streets. it startled billie, as she jumped up from the porch, slowly going into the direction to where the scream was. there were more screams to come, to which billie picked up the pace into where it was coming from.

the presumed couple, was being held up a knifepoint, the blade being almost against the girl's throat. her boyfriend, was trying to reassure the masked figure that he would do anything, if he wouldn't hurt his girlfriend. the figure didn't abide by him, sliding the blade against her, as blood splattered quickly all over her clothes, falling quickly to the pavement as her life left her body. the figure then, acting fast, starting stabbing the knife into his torso, very repeatedly stabbing at him, making him die instantly.

billie saw the entire thing, she saw the masked figure committing a murder right in front of her. though she wanted to run away and hide, to prevent the death of her own life, she knew she had to step into action.

"hey dickhead!" she called out, veering his attention to herself. the girl had a plan. the figure ran over to billie, his knife in the air. she swiftly kicked him, taking all the air of him. as he panted, she leaped into action, burning his skin against her still lit cigarette. it didn't keep him off very long, as he took his blade, slitting her skin on her arm. she, of course, felt pain but she still had enough energy to give him one last punch in the face, running away, as he fell to the ground, holding his now bruised eye.

the girl ran into her house, towards the bathroom, quickly bandaging her bloodied arm. she was able to prevent losing too much blood, so thankfully, she was still in good condition. she breathed a breath a relief, as she knew what this killer's disguise was.

"YOU SAW the murderer?!" kade exclaimed, to the group of people in the empty classroom.

"well duh, i don't have a cut in my arm for no reason!" she said, rolling up her sleeve to show her bandaged arm. the entirety of the group went silent, seemingly surprised that billie was even alive.

"damn, didn't think you'd have it in you." adrian let out a breathy laugh, shockingly surprised that she didn't chicken out on fighting the murderer.

the girl rolled her sleeve back down, getting to what she really wanted to talk about.

"this is just the tip of the iceberg, it's not just going to me getting hurt, we all will possibly. we need to keep watch out for this guy, make sure this person doesn't hurt anybody else." billie said, really trying to get her point across. of course, there was a potential to even be killed but billie feared that she would turn into the killer her father was, and this was the way she wouldn't be like him; turn around and be good.

"hurt?" glen gulped. he had hurt people before, he mean he dismembered his own father and that traumatized him, he thinks about it everyday. from my left hand, he felt a squeeze, jensen letting him know it was going to be okay. but was it going to be okay?

dana has gotten locked into a trance, thinking about the other day and having those boys killed, right in front of her. the whole thought made her tear up, realizing she was turning into her dad, each and everyday she was turning into him.

"i killed scott and joseph.." she said out of nowhere. all heads turned towards her as they all gave her a look of confusion. "i-i killed scott thompson and joseph strode.." she said, now her tears rolling rapidly down her cheeks, as peter tried his best to comfort the girl, ophelia also trying their shot at making her know she was okay.

"wait how? when did it happen?" alex asked her.

"i-i suh-said candy muh-man in the muh-mirror five times.. and he kuh-killed them." she said, trying to talk through her tears. "they were assaulting me and i-i wasn't thinking and now, it's all my fuh-fault.." she sobbed loudly, now crying into peter's shoulder.

"dana, you know this isn't your fault.." peter said, trying the best he could to soothe her. he had to do this a lot with sadie, when she usually got upset. "you can't blame yourself for this.."

"well, i mean.." adrian started. peter mouthed towards him to "shut the hell up."

as dana began to get her breathing back to regular, she was able to stop crying.

"i didn't mean to, i couldn't defend myself, they had me on the ground, kicking me and bruising me, and i was scared. i swear, i want to change, i don't want to be like my dad, not even a little, not even at all." the girl said, wiping her eyes.

"we believe you, dana. we're all here for you." ophelia said, giving the girl a soft smile.

"okay." dana said, softly, as laid against peter, trying her best to stay calm, knowing everyone was there for her, to help her.