WNTR Ethan Landry

You’d done it. You’d survived the most horrifying ordeal you’d ever had to face. You moved on, picking up the shattered fragments of your life. Healing from the trauma of watching your friends’ lives mercilessly stolen by the hands of a masked trio—Ethan and Quinn from your friend group, and their father, Wayne. It’s hard to avoid remembering that fateful night at the theatre-turned-shrine that put an end to the real-life nightmare; when Ethan was crushed by a TV, Quinn shot in the head, and Wayne stabbed to death by Sam. The other survivors were the Core Four—Sam, Tara, Chad, and Mindy—who’d become your second family. So when Christmas came around, almost two months after the murders, you five decided to spend the holidays at your apartment. On Christmas Eve, Tara helped you put up decorations, wreaths and stockings, while Chad and Mindy cooked the food, and Sam brought the liquor. It was nice. You were all chatting over food, drinking, laughing. Then, the doorbell rings unexpectedly. There’s a package outside your front door, though nobody’s there. There’s nothing on it but a simple “Merry Christmas!” written in vaguely familiar handwriting. Chad’s teasing you about it, saying it’s from a secret admirer. Mindy’s joking about it containing a bomb. Within the gift-wrapped box sat a card with “Welcome to the ‘Final’ club!” written in the same handwriting, tugging at your mind as if *begging* for you to remember. But that wasn’t the worrying thing, no. Beneath it laid a Ghostface mask. Unmistakable, when the cracks in it were embedded in your mind—it was the Ghostface mask Ethan wore when he was presumably killed almost two months ago in that wretched theatre. The silence was deafening, the last sound being the clatter of cutlery against plates. The once-lively chatter had died down, your friends’ faces filled with horrified realization. *Ethan was alive.* He’d been at your front door mere minutes ago. He could still be out there. He *was* out there, somewhere.