Chapter 2: Ring, Ring, Sidney!
The night had begun rather peacefully, with bowls of popcorn popped and soda poured for the three girls. Movies were rented and watched, and as the excitement of their little slumber party began to die down, the girls found themselves locked away in Tatum's room, their giggles and jokes mere whispers as not to awaken her mother over in the next room.
"Okay, okay," Tatum gushed, fanning her teary eyes after a particularly funny joke Skylar had just made. "Guess what Stu did for me today."
The Prescott sisters gathered close, kicking their feet lazily as they lay on their stomachs.
"Something stupid?" Skylar suggested, rolling her eyes at the topic of boys.
"No," Tatum giggled, twirling her hair around her finger like a schoolgirl in the movies shown at the theater.
"Something romantic?" Sidney chimed in, taking a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl by Tatum's feet.
"Even better!" Tatum exclaimed.
The two sisters glanced at each other, a quick conversation passing silently between them.
"Something stupid romantic?" They said in unison, rolling their eyes playfully at their blonde friend.
"Yes!" Tatum cheered, throwing her hands into the air to give them a little shake.
"Knew it," Skylar joked, elbowing her sister next to her.
With a smile, Sidney continued her attention to be her best friend, resting her head in her hand as Tatum began to ramble on about the sickeningly sweet things her blonde himbo of a boyfriend did for her. Slowly though, her mind began to wander to her own boyfriend, and the look of betrayal that had taken over his features the last time they had spoken. The memory of it made her chest tighten. She knew that tomorrow she was going to have to talk to him about it, apologize til her heart gave out if she had to. Maybe she could get him alone during lunch, or even ride home with him after school-
"Hello! Earth to Sid-Kid!"
Sidney was pulled away from her thoughts by a hand being waved in front of her face. The hand was attached to her sister, who wore a matching worried look with Tatum, who must've stopped her rambling sometime ago.
"Yeah, yeah, just got lost in my own head for a sec."
"Surprising," Skylar snorted, pushing her sister's arm playfully. "Not much is up there for you to get lost in."
Sidney retaliated and threw a couple of pieces of popcorn at her sister, who unsuccessfully tried to dodge the snack food.
Tatum chuckled, leaning back against her headboard as she watched the girls playfully toss popcorn at each other. At some point, she had decided that she had seen enough of Sidney having the upper hand on the younger Prescott and began to insert herself into their little popcorn war by throwing a piece at Sidney from behind.
Sidney mocked being wounded and dramatically laid her head down onto the bed.
"Oh, my dearest friend Tatum, how you wound me."
The three burst into laughter at her antics before recollecting themselves a few, long minutes later. Before anyone could speak another word though, the phone replaced the silence of their laughter.
"I'll get it," Tatum announced as she hopped off the bed with a sense of showmanship.
The two girls left in the room began to pick up the popcorn from their little fight off the floor, smiles faded yet visible.
"Hey, Sidney," Skylar mumbled, ducking her head under the bed to check for any loose popcorn kernels.
"When is dad going to be back in town?"
The brunette shook her head, her brows furrowing into a look of concentration. "I don't know Sky, he said as soon as he could but, who knows how longs that's gonna take."
"Do you think he's gonna make us leave Woodboro?"
At this, Sidney sat upright. Her sister's face was still hidden under the bed, but her body language screamed that she was upset about something.
"What brought this on?" Sidney asked, moving to the floor to sit with her sister.
"I don't wanna leave home, Sidney, even if there was a psycho murder on the loose. I don't wanna leave Woodsboro."
The older girl nodded her head slowly, a look of understanding spreading across her face. This place was the only home either of them had ever known. It was their mother's hometown, where she was born and raised, and where she had wanted to raise her own daughters.
Sidney raised the blanket to look at her sister's sad face. While Sidney resembled a mix of both their parents, Skylar looked nearly identical to their mother. Same curly black hair, same soft features, same dimples on either side of her cheeks. It was no wonder their father had planned his trip away during the week of his wife's death anniversary, his youngest daughter looked too much like her to handle. Even if he had watched her grow up with her mother's face for fourteen years, it must've still hurt him deeply. It was the same hurt that filled Skylar's dark, almost unfamiliar eyes when she stared into the mirror for too long.
"I know Sky, but if it keeps us safe then, we have to do what we have to do."
Skylar, obviously disliking her older sister's "words of wisdom," rolled her eyes and maneuvered herself from under the bed.
"But hey," Sidney smiled, grabbing her arm gently. "We just have to trust that Dewey and the Police catch this guy, then we'll have nothing to worry about."
Skylar opened her mouth to speak, but just then Tatum ran back into the room, Dewey and her mother in tow.
"It's him. It's the masked guy from the other night, he's on the phone."
The sister's eyes widened, the look of terror drawn on both their faces evident.
"He said that if we hung up, he'd gut us all just like he did Casey. He wants to talk to you, Sid. I-i, I don't know what to do."
Sidney was up and by her friend's side in a flash, wiping the tears away that fell down the blonde's face.
"Shh, it's okay. We're gonna be okay."
She glanced to her side to see that Skylar had followed her off the floor, her features trying to forcibly cover up her sacred expression.
"Stay in here with Tatum, Sky," she instructed, kissing her sister on the head. "I'll be right back."
With that, she left the room, with Dewey hot on her tail. Despite her sister's instructions, Skylar went to follow her, only to be grabbed and hugged by Tatum and her mother. She watched from the doorway with a dark look in her eye as her sister stopped at the phone down the hallway.
The fear that rooted itself into Sidney's stomach made her hands shake and her breath quicken, never the less, she picked up the phone and brought it to her ear.
"Hello, Sidney," the sickening voice sang on the other end.
"Please leave us alone, just please-"
"Oh, begging for your life already, are we? We didn't even get to the fun bit yet," the man on the other line purred.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Oh, Sidney, I haven't done anything. Yet. I mean, I could skip through all my monologing and get right to the fun. Put your sister on the phone."
The fear in Sidney's stomach doubled and tightened around her heart, leaving her mouth dry and opened, unable to say anything back as she panicked.
"What, have you gone fucking deaf? Put Skylar on the phone."
"This has nothing to do with her, please, please just leave her alone, this is just between you and me-"
"Put the little bitch on the phone or I'll slice her fucking throat open as you watch."
With a tearful gasp, Sidney turned around, meeting her sister's eye and hesitantly waving her over. Skylar made her way to her sister quickly, Tatum and her mother in tow.
Sidney set the phone on the table beside her and took a deep breath.
"H-he wants to speak with you, b-but! Hey, hey," Sidney stuttered, grabbing her sister by the shoulders as the young girl began to panic. "He can't hurt you. He will never be able to hurt you while I'm here, j-just pick up the phone and listen to his bullshit speech. Don't be afraid, just trust me."
The nod that Skylar gave was small and stiff, but she picked the phone up off the table and brought it to her ear.
"Hello?" SHe whispered into it, tears streaming down her face.
The words the man on the other end were saying went unheard by the bystanders that crowded around the phone, but the sickened look on the young teen's face told them that it was no good.
After a short moment, everyone heard the man's voice cease, then the line go dead. The girl slowly put the phone back on the hook and then leaned against the table, heaving in deep breaths.
"Skylar? Skylar, what did he say to you?" Dewey urged, hugging the poor girl's shoulders.
"H-he...h-he..." After another deep breath, Skylar steadied herself. "He said I look too much like my mother to just be walking around Woodsboro the way I do. H-he said he'll have to fix that."
I hope you all enjoyed the 2nd chapter of 17 Stairs to Hell! Chapter 3 will be posted soon but you can also find this story also on Wattpad! Check it out on the account MysteryMiss123. Thank you for taking the time to read my trash!
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