Stab: A Scream Legacy Story

“Hey, guys! Wait up! Don’t forget that I am a part of the group, too. I don’t intend to be the Aquaman to this Justice League.”

Jacob Krug and Jose “Joe” Ortega both turned to see Tony Sonneli run down the halls of Craven High in Calabasas, California. Tony arrived before his two fellow seniors, breathing like he had run a marathon. Joe and Jake knew he wouldn’t last on the track team, but at least with his smarts, the geek made it into Stanford. Each of the friends was headed somewhere. Jake was picked up by the Pro Skating company , NightGrind, Skaters, Inc, while Joe was awarded a full ride to UCLA to wrestle.

It was the final lunchtime the boys would share during their senior year at Craven High and Tony was determined to be present as his two friends decided to do something special to mark the last day of their confinement in what Jacob referred to as a government-sponsored prison system. While he was not a star athlete like Joe or one of the cool dudes like Jake, Anthony was the brains of the group and despite not being socially acceptable at parties, he got the boys through their classes by tutoring them and even going as far as doing their homework when they got too busy or had an important event like a game or a skating expo to attend to. For that, the trendsetter duo considered dorky Tony their most valuable friend who is an integral part of their group.

Jake only chuckled as he shared a smug look with Joe. “Oh, that totally slipped our mind. Since when were you part of this group?” Seeing Tony’s incredulous look, the skater boy burst into more laughter. “Just kidding, dude. Yeah, you are a part of this group and without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today. ”

“You would make a pop culture reference,” Joe added with a smirk. “Though if you had not, we’d be concerned. Like did aliens take over Tony or something?”

“You mean like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers?” their geeky pal piped up.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Joe muttered. “I had no knowledge or idea about horror movies, superhero comics, or even Game of Thrones until we met you back in middle school.”

Tony bowed to his two pals. “My pleasure. I am glad that I was able to turn you both from tough guy jocks to men of culture. I at least did something right.”

“Men of culture....really?” Joe narrowed his eyes.

Jake crossed his arms. “Tough guy? I was a little wuss with no friends back on the day until I flipped the script. Hell, I even had a lisp and got wedgies and swirlies on a daily basis. Something you are not a stranger to, I believe. Screw that! I wouldn’t be surprised if you still received them. ”

Their anorak of a friend glanced downward, turning a deep shade of red. “Well...ummm.. I...uhhh... it isn’t as common, you see?”

“Hold up. Are Johnny and Kyle still giving you a hard time?” Joe inquired.

“N-no, it is not like that!” Tony stammered. “It is just that I stay out of their way whenever possible, but sometimes they need favors like me typing up a book report on Edgar Allen Poe or finishing up their geometry. Like who takes geometry instead of trig or even calculus at their senior level?”

Jake and Joe stepped forward, a look of concern etched on their faces. “Hey buddy, if those two meatheads are still giving you a hard time, let us know and they’d be walking like ducks for the summer.”

Jake nodded. “That’s true. Besides, don’t compare yourself to that Aquaman guy. You got us to watch your six. ”

The last part of what the skater boy with the mohawk said brought a smile to Tony’s lips. “Thanks guys. You are all the best. I swear, if Bear had not moved to New York, we’d be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but hey, we can now be the Three Musketeers?” His hazel eyes flitted between the Latino wrestler and the punk-like rider.

“Or how about the Three Stooges?”

Tony’s eyes nearly bulged out of his eyes like a squeezable cow’s as he felt the atomic wedge bite into him. Behind him, a group of jocks wearing their black and white Letterman jackets pointed at the humiliated nerd and laughed like they were at a Chris Rock show as Jake and Joe ran over to assist their friend. They all glared over at the group of sportsmen who had mocked Anthony, seeing among them Johnny and Kyle, the boy genius’s usual tormentors.

“Hey! What’s the big idea?” Joe demanded. “You really going to end the school year like this?”

“Doesn’t bagging on a nerd get old to you?” Jake added. “The dude literally saved your sorry asses each time for the past three years. If it hadn’t been for him, you’d have not started out for the JV basketball team, representing the Ghosts at the Semifinals. In fact, you’d be retaking Chemistry with Mr. Kennedy during the summer instead of going to pool parties or those ‘night raves’ at Kelsey’s place. That is assuming you’d even have enough credits to graduate.”

“Hey now!” Kyle raised his hands. “It wasn’t us who gave him the wedgie. We just thought it was funny ”

“Yeah!” Johnny added. “It was that freak over there.”

“You know, the one who thinks he is badass and sells the dope after school by the dumpster near the back alley?” B.J, the quarterback of the Ghosts, pointed at Bobby down the hall, who smirked at the boys and gave them the bird , as he hung with his two goombas, Tyreek and Bustamante. “Now we don’t do the shit he does, but you gotta admit. He is one funny fool.”

“Does the phrase ‘Silence in Violence’ mean anything to you?” Tony snapped, but his two guardians pulled him back.

“Don’t worry about it , homeboy,” Joe advised him. “We won’t be seeing those Macher Street dumpster punks anymore after today. Now let’s get your mind off of it and enjoy some milkshakes and Ghost burgers at Wes’s.”

“Yeah, ” Jake agreed. “Sounds like a plan. Anyway, I’d bet Tori is going to be there. Usually, she and her band of chicks haunt the place like those ghosts in your FrightNight club movies. Usually, Mia and Courtney are with her, being her personal lap dogs. Besides, isn’t Mia also in that club of yours?”

The browbeaten geek turned as red as a tomato. “Y-yeah, she is. ”

The skater boy chuckled. “Figured. Do you think you have the guts to ask her out now?”

As the whiz kid started to respond, the boys exited the school and entered Lilliard Avenue on their first steps to freedom.

---

“Bobby, I believe there area group of seniors playing hookie at the Ulrich Avenue exit. They are closer to your position so mind intercepting them?”

As he munched on his oven-breaded chicken sandwich from Subway, Bobby the security guard rose from his post at the southern end of the school between the parking lot and the swimming pool while he listened to his colleague’s request. All he wanted to do was to enjoy his lunch in peace, but each day for the last 179 days , it was as if the students stayed up nights, brainstorming ways to keep him on his toes. If only they had used all those brilliant braincells to pass their classes, his life would be easier. Bobby supposed that was too much to ask as he came upon five students dressed in hoodies sliding under an opening in the iron-wrought fence to escape school. He found it funny that one of the teens had made it across and had one of his friends hurl his Spider-man backpack over the 8 foot tall fence to him. Before the others could attempt the same feat, the stocky African-American school employee approached the young boys.

“Aren’t you boys too young to be taking part in senior ditch day? You can’t wait a few more years?”

Startled, the freshmen turned to see the security guard approach them. Intimidated, they started stuttering in their disorganized attempt at making up excuses, but Bobby grabbed one of the boy’s by the arm.

“Alright, you coming with me to the principal’s office. Your pals may ditch you and leave you to take the blame, but ultimately, they will eac-”

The sharp crackle of his walkie-talkie cut off his admonishment of the high school student who was about to play hookie. Sighing, Bobby clicked the PTT button and spoke into it.

“Come in?”

There were few seconds of static crackling until a voice that gave the heavyset man chills came through the white noise.

“I think you better check out the Thompson building.”

Seeing his grip lighten on him, the freshman and his friends all scattered as the school’s rent-a-cop was preoccupied with this creepy voice. After a moment of stunned silence, he decided to answer the voice.

“Who is this?” Bobby demanded, feeling a bit weirded out. “This better not be some kind of senior prank. I don’t recognize you as Sammy or Juan. If you have taken one of their walkie-talkies, you are in big trouble, sir!”

“You are in no position to be making threats, rent-a-cop! If you want to keep your job, I recommend you come to the Thompson Science Building pronto! Chop chop, mall cop!”

“Look, I don’t appreciate no creeper making lame quips about me! I swear, if I catch you, you will receive Saturday school for the rest of your days here! If you are not a student, I will get the police involved!”

“A school cop getting the city’s police involved in this little shenanigan? How pathetic!”

Knowing better than to brush this aside as playful banter, Bobby hurried over to the red and green building and rushed inside. Sprinting down the hall, his breathing labored, the school security glanced from side to side in the dark hallway, wondering where this mystery caller was hidden. For all he knew, he could be lurking in the shadows , preparing to pounce on him like some kind of cat to a rat for some twisted senior prank.

The nerve of these seniors! I will personally request to principal Duval to prohibit these young punks from walking the stage on Friday night if they engage in any kind of disruptive behavior. This has gone on too long.

Huffing and puffing, Bobby knew he was out of shape as his spectacled eyes scanned the halls for the threat. It had been years since he played football and he was letting age get to him, but he would remedy that later. One he caught his breath, he spoke into the walkie-talkie once more.

“Alright, what are you playing at? I am in the Thompson building as you requested. Show yourself!”

“You want to get what I am playing at? Well, glad you asked, because I would like to play a game,” the smooth voice crooned.

Bobby felt himself bristle. “I’ve got no time for games! I suggest you vacate the schoolgrounds as soon as possible before the rest of the security and possibly even the police department converge on your ass!”

The voice on the other end cackled. “I didn’t mean literally. It was a reference that went over your head. I was going to ask if you like scary movies, but you clearly do not. Well, you will not like what happens next nor what you will see in the room across from you.”

“What on Earth you talking about?”

Bobby felt a shiver run across his body as he glanced across himself to a door that was slightly ajar. Creeping up to it, he gingerly pressed his finger to the door, opening it and peeking inside as if he was afraid to see the boogeyman awaiting him inside the room. What greeted his sight made his eyes grow wide behind his glasses.

“Juan! What the hell happened to you?”

The agitated security guard came upon his colleague, who had sat hunched over a roller chair as if he was a kid in timeout. Kneeling before Juan, Bobby used his left hand to check on his fellow guard, but a gasp left his mouth as he noticed his friend had a red smile carved on his throat. Turning around, he noticed movement as if a black curtain was flapping from the corner of his eyes and then saw a figure scurry into the hallway before he heard the pounding of footsteps.

“Get back here, you creep!”

Bobby sprinted after the ghostly figure , keeping it in his sites as he pursued his coworker’s killer down the hallway. Pushing past a couple students walking down the hallway and even shoving past a snogging couple, he saw the figure dart up the firescape and hurry up to the stairs toward the roof. His breathing labored, Bobby stayed in pursuit of the cloaked figure, trying desperately not to let it out of his sight, but it was becoming even more difficult.

I’m not sure if it is an age thing or not, but maybe I should listen to Rhonda the next time she tells me to cut the peach cobblers.

Nearly stumbling on the final step, the winded security guard pushed open the door to the rooftop and glanced around, searching for the mystery trespasser. Not finding any sign of the creepy guy, Bobby frowned.

Honestly, where did the freak go? Is he a ghost or something? He reminds me of the Phantom of the Opera.

Before he knew it, the large school employee felt a sharp pain sting through the top of his skull. Staggering backward, he placed his hand on his forehead and came away with a red sticky substance. His eyes widened in horror when he realized the substance was blood and not just random blood belonging to someone else, but his own. He felt a slithering feeling as it oozed down over his face, some staining the lens of his glasses as he tried to figure out who did this. That was when he heard the sound of a blade being drawn and stared ahead to see a figure in a ghostly costume holding a bloody knife while facing him. Shock and terror coursed inside him as the realization hit that this was the interloper who had taunted him on the radio and had slain his colleague.

Nah, it can’t be. I let myself be bested by a wannabe slasher from one of those lame Stab movies. How the hell did I let this happen?

His disappointment, rage, and fear started to gradually dull as the shadows started to overtake his vision. The last thing thing he saw was the ghost-faced killer swipe his knife with his gloved hand before giving him a kick that sent him over the edge of the roof and to his death below.

---

“Shi’t! Did you guys see that? Bobby the fascist campus safety guy just fell from the roof!”

Right in front of the Thompson building, several curious students went over the body while many stood back, still in shock from witnessing the death of someone known to them, despite him not having a great reputation among them. As the adults on campus pulled the students back and cordoned off the scene, Ghostface watched everything from the rooftop of the Science building, satisfied with his work. While everyone else would assume this was a one-off incident, he only knew it was the beginning of a whole slew of incidents that would rock this sheltered community. As much as he liked the view, it was more practical to get out of dodge before the cops showed up. In fact, they would be showing up many more times before the summer ends. A blood-soaked summer for the senior class.