chapter three:
Hospitals aren't traumatizing at all

SATURDAY: October 12th, 2026,

The hospital room was freezing, and while the two patients inside of the room were fast asleep the door still creaked open. The sound of the footsteps didn't alert anyone inside, light breaths entered the atmosphere and the harsh shush of whispers. "Andy stop looking creeped out, they're not even dead".

The boy let out a heavy whimper "they look dead, what if they take my eyes next, I can't even study without...". The boy stopped talking when Kieran glared at him "Sorry, I just ramble when I get nervous, what if Ben and Viv both just like die? You heard what Alix said. It was ghostface".

Claire scoffed "yeah right, like ghostface would target our sorry asses, was probably just some homeless guy trying to get money or something. You guys are all so damn paranoid for no reason, ghostface hasn't even happened since like 2022 and it didn't even involve us then and it definitely doesn't now".

"Technically it was 2023, in New York. I read an article on it last night after Alix texted the group chat, did you know that Billy Loomis has a daughter, I mean I feel like I gotta read more into this. Kieran practically forced me not to but I mean this is information we should know just in case".

Clarie rolled her eyes "of course you'd do research on this Nadia, you probably did it if you're so hellbent on learning more about ghostface". Nadia gasped "what the fuck! You'd think I'd hurt Vivian and Ben, why would I even do that, what's my motive?".

Claire pushed her hands on her hips "you just seem the type who'd do it, unless it was Alix, she was with Ben last night for whatever apparent reason!". Alix looked offended by Claire's words "you're just jealous because I spent half my night with him and not you, if I wasn't there he would've been killed".

Claire grabbed her bag angrily off the chair beside Vivian's bed "at least I was here with Viv, unlike all of you sorry asses who don't even care about her". She stormed off making sure she bumped into Alexandra harshly as she pushed open the hospital door.

Alix rubbed at her shoulder as she looked back at the girl with a hurt expression. "She'll get over it" Nadia moved past Alix and looked at Vivian "she looks peaceful, you'd think she'd be awake by now". Andy anxiously rubbed his hands together as he looked over at the curtain that separated Benjamin and Vivian.

"You think Ben's alright? What if the person who did this to him tries to come here?". Gwendolyn patted Andy's shoulder slightly "I'm sure he's fine, they have guards outside so they're both fine, apparently it's all over the news, Jenna Weathers released a statement about it this morning. Gosh she's such an icon".

Andy looked away from the curtain and towards the group around him "wait, where's Angel? I thought we all agreed we'd come here together, she's not even here". Alex huffed "she didn't show, apparently she didn't care about Vivian and Ben being attacked. Which just makes her suspicious".

Gwen rolled her eyes "I doubt she did this, she's a real bitch but she wouldn't attack any of us, if anyone did it in the group I'd say Claire. She seems crazy". Nadia chuckled "we're all a tad bit crazy, we're in the drama club that within itself makes us all pretty good at pretending not to be crazy. Besides what if whoever it is isn't even a part of the drama club".

Alix scoffed "yeah right, have you seen any of the stab movies, it's always someone you know who's trying to brutally murder you. Someone you least expect, so maybe it's one of us or a complete stranger who just picked Ben and Vivian".

Andy jumped at the sight of the curtain moving beside Benjamin's bed Nadia smiled "relax, he's probably just moving around Andy, doctor said they'll both be asleep for most of the day, they're on drugs and it's the hardcore drugs if anything".

The curtain kept moving "what if he's awake?" Andy rubbed his hands together anxiously as he walked forward. He ignored the conversations behind him as he kept walking, the curtain kept moving like crazy and he felt his heart race heightened.

"Ben?" he whispered in case the boy was confused as he grabbed the end of the curtain. "It's Andy" he pulled the curtain back and his scream was muffled as a gloved hand covered his mouth. The curtain was pulled shut and he screamed as the knife stabbed into his stomach harshly. The glove tightened over his mouth as he cried out for help, but it only came out muffled as he was pushed against the wall.

He shivered as he felt the wind blowing in from outside, the window was wide open and he could see the sight of Claire angrily shouting at news reporters. "Andy, you better not be reading him your textbooks over there, we gotta get lunch so hurry up".

Nadia's voice was loud and Andy screamed when the knife was ripped out of his stomach. "Andy! We don't have all day! We can come back later!" Andy's body was pushed forward and Gwendolyn screamed when he fell right on top of her.

"What the fuck! Holy shit what the fuck! It's ghostface!" The figure walked forward slowly and Nadia and Kieran both quickly grabbed a hold of Andy. The boy cried out as he held tightly onto his stomach, blood gushed all over the floor.

"Where's the guard's!" Kieran dragged Andy towards the door as Gwen cried "they left for lunch...". Alex pushed Gwen behind him when the figure's pace quickened. Alix moved forward and smacked a chair into the figure's side "you don't scare me!".

She cried out when the knife stabbed her side and she was angrily thrown into the wall. "Shit!" Kieran ran forward ignoring the pleads of Nadia as he raised his fists into the air. "Knock knock motherfucker!" he ran forward and tackled them into the ground "it's me! The guy who's gonna kick your sorry ass!".

The knife slid across the ground and Nadia ran forward and picked it up "stay the hell away from him!". She swung it angrily and she cringed when she felt it cut the figure's arm. Kieran turned "Alex you play football, help me kick this guys ass".

Alex looked at Gwen "I'll be right back, just hold Andy" Gwen's eyes widened "what! But he weighs a ton and I'm completely helpless". Andy fell into her arms and she cringed when blood seeped into her shirt "you owe me a new top after this Andy, this costs way more than your textbooks".

Andy groaned in annoyance as he leaned into Gwen, the girl struggled to hold him as she watched Kieran and Alex kick the shit out of ghostface. "Gosh that's just depressing, that costume isn't even cute".

Andy glared at her and she smiled weakly "right sorry, not the right time to talk about fashion when you're bleeding out all over my favorite jeans". Andy huffed as he pressed his fingers into his stomach more, Gwen screamed when she felt someone grab her from behind. Alex turned quickly, his eyes widening when the girl was stabbed in the side.

"No! Gwen!" he ran towards the doorway and Kieran let out a loud breath as the figure in front of him stood up "there's two of them, you gotta be kidding me!". Gwen cried as she was pulled back and the knife was pressed against her throat "hey, leave her alone! Take me instead, take me you bastard!".

Alex looked at the girl with worry as he slowly walked towards her "just go Alex..." Gwen looked at him sadly as she closed her eyes. A gunshot went off and the figure that held onto Gwen collapsed towards the ground and the girl cried as she ran towards Alex and clung onto him. "Gwen?" Alex gripped her face as she sobbed "I thought I was gonna die".

The figure that almost stabbed Kieran ran straight for the window and jumped out of it. Nadia let out a heavy breath "well so much for a normal Saturday, you think they'll let us have free raspberry ice cream if we tell them we almost died?".

Kieran chuckled weakly as he looked at the doorway, thankfully the guards were back and he heard the soft hum of walkie talkies as they called for backup. Andy let out a shaky breath as he leaned into the wall for support "are Ben and Vivian alright?".

Alix helped the boy away from the wall "are you alright, you were stabbed pretty badly". Andy winced "it hurt pretty badly, you think I'll need stitches?". Alix smiled softly "you'll need a lot more than stitches, come on let's get you to a doctor".

She helped Andy leave the room and Nadia turned and looked at Kieran as he looked at Vivian and Ben. "They don't even know what just happened, they're lucky because they get to just sleep while we're hunted by those freaks in masks".

Nadia shook her head "they're not lucky at all Kie, they almost died just as much as Andy and Gwen, we're all clearly being hunted for whatever reason. Don't you get it, we're gonna die if we don't protect ourselves, and I don't want to die".

Kieran saw the distress on the girl's face as she let out a shaky breath "woah, hey... you're not gonna die. I won't let that happen, because if it did... I don't know what I'd do without you". Nadia smiled sadly "you can't keep me safe forever, and if you're so busy trying to keep me safe, who's gonna keep you safe?".

Kieran would've been terrified at the thought of being killed, but seeing that mask made him more angry if anything. He saw the blood and horror that spilled by the hands of ghostface and all he could picture in the end of it all was Nadia, covered in blood and her eyes lifeless because he failed. He couldn't fail her not like he almost did Andy and Gwen, he fought but he didn't do good enough to stop anyone from being hurt.

The blood was on his hands and he felt it engrave itself into his skin as he looked down at Nadia. "I can keep both of us safe, but you matter a lot more and if it comes down to it, I'll die if it means you survive because I won't live in a world where you don't exist anymore, I just can't do it".

"Then we survive together".

—

The world felt like an endless stream of darkness and chaos, even as the boy felt the warmth of the sun resting along his skin. He still felt the coldness of the bandages that dug into his eye sockets, his hand twitched and he felt the softness of the blanket that rested over his body. Death was a cruel and wicked fate and he wished it had taken him away.

Walking up in the darkness was a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone, but if he bore it for the sake of everyone being alive he'd do it again in a heartbeat. "Ben?" The voice was low and soft and almost cautious which made Ben feel so pathetic.

"Andy? Is that you?" his hand moved forward slightly and he felt Andy grab a hold of it "how'd you tell? I was just... checking on you and Vivian". Ben sat up slightly "I could smell your aftershave, it's always strong whenever you walk into the theater for drama club. Is Vivian okay? What happened?".

Andy sighed deeply "ghostface happened, I... I told everyone to stay home and to lock their doors but they didn't listen to me. They never really do. I almost died today, it really puts your life into perspective".

Ben chuckled weakly "we're on the same boat then, and it's slowly sinking....". He sighed "how bad is it?". Andy was silent but Benjamin could still smell his aftershave and it made his head ache. "They couldn't save your eyes, you're never gonna be able to see again, I'm sorry Benny. I'd give you my eyes if I could but I'd doubt they'd look cool on you".

Ben let out a slow breath "so I'm stuck like this forever, and there's a maniac running around trying to kill me, good... there's no way I'm staying like this Andy, they can kill me all they want".

"What! No you can't mean that Ben, we're supposed to be friends and you can't just give up because you were attacked by ghostface, we're all supposed to stick together so we can survive this".

Ben scoffed "like anyone would be friends with me when I look like this! How am I supposed to survive this when I can't even see the asshole who did this to me! Just leave me here to die, I deserve it".

Andy didn't move, he stayed silent as he looked at Benjamin "just leave Andy, I don't want you here". Andy scoffed "well I don't care what you want, I didn't spend three weeks helping you with your homework just for you to push me away. Out of everyone else on the drama club it was me who backed you up so you could get the lead role, Claire wasn't even going to give it to you until I convinced Vivian to tell her. I did everything for you just so you could even be a part of the club!".

Benjamin angrily threw his pillow forward but it missed Andy completely "I never asked for any of those things, the stupid drama club is the reason I'm stuck like this and I wish I never even joined it in the first place, I hope the play gets canceled!".

Andy pushed the pillow onto the bed "you missed" Benjamin would've rolled his eyes but nothing happened. "Why are you even here, you've never once spoken to me outside of the drama club. You think just because I'm helpless that'll change".

"No one else came, would you rather be here all alone?" Ben was silent as he pushed the pillow off the bed with his foot. "I'm used to being alone, so you can just leave me here to rot away. Go be with everyone else, we both know no one will miss me if ghostface comes back to finish me off".

Andy stood up from the chair he was sitting on "I'd miss you" he walked towards the door and Benjamin listened to the sound of him closing the door. Benjamin let out a heavy breath as he pushed his face into his hands, because in the end he truly was alone. Vivian was likely already on her way home and reuniting with everyone and Ben was stuck inside this hospital room. No one would even care if he went home, now he understood why he was a target for ghostface. If he died no one would notice.

—
authors notes:
wait... why do I like ship Andy and Benjamin together.... anyways my baby Benjamin must be protected at all costs! It's just getting more and more intense by the second, gosh I can't wait for act two, personally it's my favorite part of this entire book just because of the Halloween party chapter. Which will be here hopefully soonish, I'm just gonna keep writing until I physically can't anymore, anyways it's almost 6AM and I gotta wake up early asf.

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