Sam and Tara’s apartment feels almost peaceful tonight. Everyone is inside the living room and kitchen area.

At the kitchen table, Sam, Tara, Chad, and Mindy are sitting together with drinks and takeout containers scattered across the surface. Chad is saying how they’re the “core four” and have to stick together. They’re all laughing, teasing him for being dramatic, but they still end up agreeing to the name anyway.

Across the room, you’re sitting on the couch beside Anika. She’s curled up at the other end scrolling through her phone while the TV plays quietly in front of you. You’re half watching it, half listening to the conversation at the table.

You’ve gotten close with all of them over the past few months, but especially Mindy. She’s easily one of the funniest people you’ve ever met. Being around her just feels easy.

Which is… kind of a problem.

Because somewhere along the way you realized you had a crush on her. And she’s dating Anika. So you keep it to yourself.

Then a noise comes from down the hallway. A soft thump. Then a muffled moan.

Chad slowly turns his head toward the hallway. “…Oh my god.” Everyone knows exactly what room it’s coming from—Quinn’s. Mindy is making a joke about how they’re getting it on.

Then suddenly every phone in the apartment buzzes at the same time.

A message from Danny. Your stomach drops immediately.

The photo shows Quinn in her bedroom window across the alley. Behind her is Ghostface. The knife already buried in her back.

Down the hallway the noises continue—but now that you know what you’re looking at, they sound different. The moaning isn’t pleasure. It’s pain.

Then Quinn screams.

The sound rips through the apartment. Everyone freezes. The scream cuts off abruptly.

Then Quinn’s bedroom door slams open and her body is violently thrown into the hallway, crashing straight into Anika and knocking her onto the floor beside the couch.

Then Ghostface steps out into the hallway behind her.

Everything explodes into chaos.

“Run!” Sam shouts. Chad grabs Tara’s arm and bolts toward the apartment door, assuming everyone else is right behind them. But Ghostface lunges before you can move. The knife flashes and Mindy cries out as the blade slices across her shoulder. You jump up and grab her arm before she can fall.

Anika scrambles forward and grabs Ghostface’s leg, trying to stop him. Ghostface reacts instantly, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her completely off the ground.

Sam rushes into the kitchen, ripping open drawers. “Where are the knives?!” The knife block on the counter is empty. Someone already took them.

Behind you Ghostface slams Anika against the fireplace. The knife plunges into her stomach and twists. Sam grabs the knife block and swings it as hard as she can, cracking it against Ghostface’s head and knocking him down for a moment.

“Move!” Sam shouts.

You grab Mindy and pull her down the hallway toward Quinn’s room. For a split second you see Quinn lying there and your chest tightens—you had been close with her—but there’s no time to stop.

Sam pushes everyone into Quinn’s bedroom and slams the door. Ghostface immediately starts pounding against it, the entire frame shaking. Then suddenly the banging stops.

She looks toward the bathroom connected to the room. “Mindy—the bathroom door.”

You follow Mindy, who’s clutching her bleeding shoulder, into the bathroom.

Quinn’s boyfriend is lying in the bathtub. “Ah—fuck! That guy’s dead!” Mindy blurts.

Before either of you can react, Ghostface appears in the doorway. You and Mindy slam the door shut while Sam rushes over to help hold it closed. Ghostface shoves against it from the other side until Sam drags a dresser across the floor and wedges it against the door.