Chapter Text
California was nothing like you imagined when you first moved here for college. The city of Woodsboro is a picturesque and idyllic small town, nestled amidst rolling hills and lush greenery. It is the epitome of quaint charm, boasting tree-lined streets, old-fashioned houses with white picket fences, and a sense of community that permeated every corner.
As a close-knit community, Woodsboro is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else's business. Neighbors greet each other with warm smiles, and the local diner is a hub of friendly conversations and laughter. The town's heart beats to the rhythm of tradition, and annual events like the Harvest Festival and theFourth of July parade bring the residents together in celebration.
Despite its tranquil exterior, Woodsboro has a fascinating underbelly. The town has a long history, rife with local legends, ghost stories, and unsolved mysteries that were passed down through generations. Superstitions are common, and some even believe that the woods surrounding the town are haunted by restless spirits.
The town's love for horror and the macabre is evident in its annual "Woodsboro Film Festival," where horror enthusiasts from all over flocked to celebrate the genre they adored. The festival showcased classic horror movies and local talent, with streets adorned with eerie decorations that added an air of enchantment to the atmosphere.
Woodsboro's tranquility is disrupted from time to time, particularly by the chilling legacy of Ghostface. The town has experienced its share of traumatic events, with each Ghostface attack leaving scars on the community's psyche. However, in the face of adversity, the resilient residents of Woodsboro stood together, determined to protect their home and uncover the truth behind the masked killer's reign of terror.
As the Wednesday evening sun that warms your skin against the fall breeze melts into the horizon, the street lights chime in alerting you to head to your dorm for the night. You loved studying in the park alone. Having no one to really talk to, it often fills the void to come here and pet the passerby dogs and listen to children argue over who is throwing wood chips at them to their parents. However your friend from calculus, Wesley Grimsby, heavily insisted on going with you. You didn't detest too much seeing how the teacher practically had him on a leash the way they went back in fourth in class. In addition, having a solid D+ in the class, you need all the help you can get.
“Thanks for coming along with me,Wesley… I hardly ever understand what Mr.Barclay is talking about half the time.”, You say tucking a piece of hair behind your ear and holding the books close to your chest. “The numbers and formulas… just get all jumbled in my head and-”
He interrupts with a chuckle. “You’re kidding? A chance to hang out with the prettiest girl in the university? I’d be a big time fool.” He looks at you with a smile. That smile where one of the corners of his mouth is so high up it makes a dimple where his laugh line would be.
You smile like an idiot and playfully shove him towards the edge of the bench. “Oh, stop looking at me like that. And dorks aren’t exactly my type. Especially math dorks..”
“Oh and you aren't a ‘dork’?”, he says pointing to your crocheted bag littered with pins with all kinds of movie monsters. Your face grows warm and you look away adjusting your glasses. Pins showcasing slasher fic villains such as Daniel Robitaille from The Candyman and Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street. Whenever your parents send you money you always set some aside for some good old horror merchandise. You have so much so, you’re pretty sure your roommate, Dana, avoids the dorm. The last time you really saw and talked to her was on move in day. Ever since then it’s been a quick hi and bye and she’ll go hang out with her obnoxious, party-animal boyfriend, Devin.
You never found it an issue. You often stayed on your computer all day and stay up all night reading online forums reviewing the latest horror fic that has just been released or reblogging your favorite horror scenes. Funny enough your parents thought you went off to California to make more friends and get out there to explore the world instead of stewing in a dark room planning what materials you needed to gather for your next halloween costume. In reality, you’re looking for the one posing as ‘Ghostface’. Following every article. Every page that is dedicated to tracking his whereabouts. You read a lot of ‘he said she said’ of him being in this park specifically late at night but haven't seen a glimpse of him yet.
“Well I never said that I wasn’t.”, you say picking at the skin near your nails.. “They just kind of looked cool so.. I just collect them.. And whatnot.”
“Right. And you use the quadratic formula to find the hypotenuse of a triangle.”, your eyes look both ways before landing on him and you squint. He stares incredulously. “Are you serious? We just went over this- To find a triangles hypotenuse you must-”
“Wesley-”, You say standing up. You quickly sling your backpack over your arm. “I appreciate you helping me out but there’s only so much nerd-talk I can handle. I’m gonna head home, okay?”
He stands up behind you. “Wait, Y/n!”
“I can walk to my dorm by myself.”, you stressed.
“Wes.”, he says.
“What?”
“You don't have to call me Wesley. Cause- we’re like friends now. So… So just call me Wes.”, he sighs looking down avoiding your quiet gaze. He quickly grabs his books and stuffs them into his backpack before wheeling his backpack along behind him leaving a few papers on the ground. Before leaving, you kneel and grab them planning to return them later. You may have only known him for a few weeks but you do know how important his studies are to him.
- - - - - -
As the night grew to twilight you finally made your way to the dorm. You exhale with relief unlocking the door. You pause your breathing seeing Dana, your myth of a roommate, jump from the seat at your desk with your laptop open. You both stare threats at each other until you rush to your computer before yelling at her.
“What were you doing on my laptop?!”
“What were you doing looking up the obituaries for the people that have died here in the past month, you freak?”
That’s right. You forgot you left your computer open after Wesley caught you by surprise at the door earlier. Shit. You did think it was odd he just so happened to catch you before your 3pm strolls but everyone goes to that park so it’s not all that surprising. He probably noticed you were going alone and wanted to come along. Your heart makes its way into your throat thinking of a response. Your hands go cold as you shut the computer and face her.
“My friend just passed away.”, you gulped, trying to sound as pathetic as possible. You cough to clear your throat. “I was wondering where her services were going to be-’
“Oh, really? Well. You can save it for the police.. Y/n. Or should I say.. Ghostface. I’m telling the Dean!” She shouted. You've become so anxious it was hard to control your breathing. “I should have known to get my own on-campus apartment.”
“Morgan!” You shout from the top of your lungs. That was the last name you remember reading before closing the computer. Dana stopped to stare at you. “My friend, Morgan Glen… She died from some freak accident on an airplane.”
“You knew… Morgan Glen? Devin’s older sister? You’ve never mentioned her before..”, she stood haphazardly, her face going from a hard scowling to a soft uneasy concern. “She didn't get out much either I guess.”
You stood up, kicking some of my clothes around nervously.“Yeah. We… We texted sometimes. She was big into uh.. Books? Yeah. She read a lot of books.” You took your glasses off, set them on the desk and rubbed your eyes and got all red to really seal the deal. “I’m a little heartbroken that we won't be exchanging books to read over text anymore.” you say pulling out your phone and quickly changing your mother’s contact name from Mom to ‘Morg’ as proof to show Dana. Thankfully she did send you some books to read beforehand so it didn't look completely ridiculous.
“God..” She whispered in disbelief. “ You really are serious. I’m so sorry. You and Devin really must be going through it.” You nod in agreement. “Here.” She whips out her phone as well. “I’m going to ask Devin for the details of the funeral. We can all go together maybe..” she says hesitantly rubbing her freckled arms.
You wipe your face from the tears you forcefully made from poking at your eyes and smile weakly at her. “Yes. I’d like that a lot.”
It grew quiet. You start to pick at your fingers with your thumb. You really can't believe she thought you were Ghostface. The answer is obvious. You just moved here and these killings have been going on for how long now? Instead of jumping to conclusions, she should just mind her business. Now to cover up your freak obsession, you have to attend some rando’s funeral. You think to yourself how lucky you are for choosing a name that got you out of a police investigation. Would they believe her though? You’re sure they get those calls all the time. You try to calm yourself down but your heart won’t stop beating against your chest.
Dana tries to break the awkward silence with a strained chuckle and a shrug flopping onto the bottom bunk, her wavy brown hair following suit to her shoulders. “Could you blame me for thinking about it, I mean.. Look at this room!”
The wall next to me is plastered in posters from old horror filmography. Fake blood splatters from the dollar store on the window. All the masks and prop weapons of famous slashers under your bed. And not to mention my clothes lay neglected on the floor. You’re literally a textbook loser.
“And you”, she continued. “How weird you act. No friends come over. You barely talk to anyone. You leave in the afternoon to go sit on a bench and come back in the dead of night.”
“I'm an introvert! What do you expect from me!?”, you gesticulate.
“You know. If you want to hang out sometime.. Just ask. Devin is hosting a party Friday night to keep from being depressed. You should come! We’ll have beer… Boys.”
“Uhm.. I don't know-”, you said reluctantly.
“Cool. We’ll go together. You need to get out there anyways.”She says as she starts gathering things from the floor on ‘her side’ of the room in a small plush bag such as deodorant, a hair brush and a few more of her belongings from the bathroom. “I’m going to Devin’s dorm. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon maybe? Ooh, and-” She stops halfway through the door to give me a stern look. “Clean up your, shit.”, she said before shutting the door.
On that same note you hear a chirping notification sound. You figure it’s one of those spam emails so initially ignore it and turn off the light. It goes off another three times back to back. You find that odd so you sit back down at your desk and click on the small skull lamp near your desk. You open your computer back up and see you’ve got 4 messages sent to your DMs from your horror forum. Strange. Usually you’re the one doing the messaging first. There you see someone who is actively online. No profile picture. Going by the name: M1ster_Gh0st.
You take your glasses off the desk and clean them with your shirt before putting them on and opening the messages.
M1ster_Gh0st: wow ur take on the ending of cabin in the woods was well said color me impressed
M1ster_Gh0st: hello
M1ster_Gh0st: ???
M1ster_Gh0st: i wanna talk to you
Wow, this guy is impatient. Didn’t even give you a chance to respond. While normally you’d ignore something like this, something compelled you to reply.
I_can_see_your_pixels: Hey. It’s getting late and I have classes in the morning. We can talk later though
After responding you shut your laptop and with the twist of your seat you hear 3 more notification sounds going off. Once again back to back. You warily open your laptop up again to read them.
M1ster_Gh0st: no talk to me now
M1ster_Gh0st: a smart girl like you wouldnt just ignore me and you seem pretty bright
M1ster_Gh0st: does a smart little girl like you have a favorite movie
You feel your face start to heat up with such a forward tone. You look at the time seeing that it’s 1am. You figured a few minutes wouldn’t do much harm. They seem to be just as big a horror fan as you are. Nothing wrong with some fangirling with someone. You rarely get to do that in real life.
I_can_see_your_pixels: Haha you think i'm smart? Cute. My favorite movie tho?
I_can_see_your_pixels: Gosh idk you put me on the spot
I_can_see_your_pixels: Gimme a sec to think
M1ster_Gh0st: come on
M1ster_Gh0st: come on
M1ster_Gh0st: everyone has a favorite horror movie
I_can_see_your_pixels: I’d have to say
I_can_see_your_pixels: Final Destination, maybe?
M1ster_Gh0st: hmmm
M1ster_Gh0st: oh you mean the movie franchise with all those disasters and they all try to avoid death.
M1ster_Gh0st: yeah that’s a good one.
M1ster_Gh0st: real scary.
M1ster_Gh0st: cuz death is unavoidable u cant interfere with his plan.
I_can_see_your_pixels: Exactly! It’s such a realistic film, you start to be afraid of the real world
I_can_see_your_pixels: Soooo what’s yours
M1ster_Gh0st: my what, princess?
I_can_see_your_pixels: Lol Your favorite movie, silly
You curl your toes at him calling you princess. Were you worth such a title?
M1ster_Gh0st: ohhh right right haha
M1ster_Gh0st: ur just so gorgeous i lost my train of thought
You let a laugh out through your nose. He’s so corny.
I_can_see_your_pixels: Real funny. You can’t see me thru text.
M1ster_Gh0st: lol ofc not
M1ster_Gh0st: but i can see in your window.
Your smile fades. Your eyes shift back and forth from the computer screen to the window nervously.
M1ster_Gh0st: you ARE my favorite movie
You slam your computer closed and pull your blinds down almost simultaneously. ‘Could it be..’, you thought to yourself. You take a deep breath and hold it as you start to slowly peel one side of the curtain. The room was quiet but all you could hear was your racing heart. It was pitch black however the streetlights gave you some sort of light. You get closer to the window and squint your eyes. Could it really be him? Could he know who you are? Could he be going to this very school?
“Y/N!”
You hear as your head spikes into the glass. You look behind you to see Dana who had just opened the door. She barged in, overlooking me and making her way to our bathroom.
“Hey.. Just letting you know I was coming in…Forgot my straightener-”, she said from the other room. She comes back out and looks up at you in shock. “Geez, what happened to your head.. You might want to get some ice.”
As Dana suggests ice for your head, your heart is still racing from the unsettling conversation with M1ster_Gh0st. You try to brush off the encounter as a creepy online interaction, but the mention of him possibly seeing into your window lingers in your mind.
"Thanks, Dana," You manage to reply, trying to sound composed. "I think I'll be fine. Just hit my head, no big deal."
Dana eyes you with concern. "Are you sure? You look shaken."
"I'm fine, really. Just need some rest," You say.
With that, Dana leaves to head back to Devin's dorm, and you’re alone again. You can't shake off the feeling of being watched, even within the safety of your own dorm room.
You glance at your laptop, tempted to go back online and see if he’s still there, but exhaustion creeps in. Instead, you decide to lay down in the bottom bunk. As you lie in bed, the events of the day replay in your mind, and you can't help but feel slick between your thighs. That person you’re looking for may be looking for you too. How passionate he might be about you. With that alluring thought, you close your eyes, hoping to fall asleep but with thoughts like this there’s no way you will get any rest.. Or pay attention tomorrow