RIIING!

Brian blinked sleepily and grabbed his cell phone. “’Ello?”

“Brian? Brian oh my god…”

“Hey girl what’s wrong? What happened?” Brian asked concerned, fully awake.

“Oh my god…” Her voice shuddered, and he was more anxious than ever to calm her.

“Sweetie, calm down. Just relax. Ok, just tell me slowly, what happened.”

“I came home and Kyle was being really nice to me and everything at the end of work, and I came home and I saw his name on the caller ID. I was about to take a shower but then the phone rang. When I picked it up I…I…oh my god Brian help me,” she whispered, surely in tears.

“Sweetie I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on.” Brian held the phone tightly in his hands, nearly shaking.

“He sounded just like the killer from Scream, and he asked me what my favorite scary movies was.”

“Oh my lord. Just stay calm ok, I’m sure it’s just a prank,” he said, hoping to help her relax.

FLASHBACK- LAST YEAR
Brian held the shaking girl in his arms, trying to get her to say something comprehendible.
“Ok calm down, calm down, what happened?” he asked softly into her ear, stroking her hair. “Come on now sweetie you can do this.”
“He- he- oh my god,” she sobbed, clinging to him.
“What is it? What happened? Please tell me.”
“He killed her,” she choked. “He killed her! My god he killed her…”
“Jess, who killed who? Please tell me, I’ll help you. Shh, shh it’ll be ok…come on now.”
“We were at Tamara’s house, and we were watching Scream,” she said, nearly choking on her words. “And- and then there was the doorbell and she went to go get it…and I heard her scream and I ran to the door…he was stabbing her Brian! He stabbed her through the heart! Then I kicked him and he fell down, and I ran. Oh god Brian it was horrible!” She buried herself into him again.
“Oh, oh Jess…oh god…” Brian blinked, his eyes hot. “C’mon Jess…I’m here for you… don’t worry…”
“She’s dead Bri she’s dead!”
“Shh…it’ll be ok…I’ll help you.” Brian looked down at her shuddering sobs, and sang softly in her ear, “There you are/ wild and free/ reachin’ out like you needed me/ A helping hand/ To make it right/ I am holding you all through the night/ I’ll be the one/ Who will make all your sorrows undone/ I’ll be the light/ When you feel like there’s nowhere to run/ I’ll be the one…/ To hold you/ and make sure that you’ll be alright/ I’ll be the one…”
END FLASHBACK

JESSICA’S FLASHBACK- 1 MONTH LATER
“Hey I’m gonna go out to get a few movies kay? Don’t have too much fun without me!” Brian chuckled, stepping out of the house.
Jessica rolled her eyes and plopped down on Brian’s couch.
RIING!
“Hello?”
“Can’t hide from me.”
END FLASHBACK

JESSICA’S FLASHBACK- TWO WEEKS AFTER
“Look at this! It’s midnight, and we spent the whole night at a damn arcade!” Jessica cried, setting her arm down on the door.
“Hey not my fault- you didn’t go with the other guys.”
“They were golfing Nick. You expected that I wanted to come?”
“Yeah.”
Jessica rolled her eyes and they fell on the side view mirror. There was a car behind them.
“Hey another freak is out at night.”
Nick glanced up at the rearview mirror and laughed. “That's an insult to your nationality.”
Jessica laughed and calmed a little.
A few miles later, Jessica looked at the road again. Her heart began to speed. “Nick? He’s still there.”
“It might be a coincidence. Or a fan.”
“That’s a guy in the car.”
“Coincidence then.”
Shrugging, she just stared at the landscape. Then, there was a shot of sparks and glass, and she screamed. Jessica looked behind them, and sure enough the car was still there. He had fired at them.
“Is it a coincidence NOW?!” she shrieked.
“C’mon!” Nick shouted, pressing the accelerator.
But no matter how fast they went, or how much they turned, the car still followed. And they were running low on gas.
“Ok I’m gonna make for the house now, ok Jess? Just hang on, nothing’s gonna happen to you.”
“Oh my god…oh my god…” Her heart was pounding in her ears, and in her mind she saw vibrant memories of the day Tamara was stabbed and killed. “God help us.”
-;- -;- -;-
Luckily they got home safe, only with shaky confidences, a mirror to fix, and vivid memories.
Jessica stepped down onto the porch to get the newspaper, and after she lifted the bundle of paper up, she saw red ink.
“You won’t be so lucky next time.”
END FLASHBACK

“God I’m so scared,” she whispered shakily into the phone.

“Ok just calm down. I’ll get a flight back down there, just hang tight.”

“No! You can’t do that! I won’t let you! I’ll be ok, I promise,” Jessica said, refusing to let her life interfere with his.

“Too late. I’m coming.”

“No Brian! Don’t!”

“You’re scared, I don’t want you to feel unsafe.”

“No I’ll be ok! I swear it!” she said fiercely, standing to her point.

Brian sighed. “Promise? You swear to God?”

“Yes I swear it.”

“Call me if you need ANYTHING, ok? I’ll make sure you get it.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Finally he nodded. “Ok. Love you Jessica.”

“I love you too Brian. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Brian closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms.

“Not again…”

He thought he had stopped for sure. It had been two months since the last threat, call, letter, email. They thought they were safe. And now he was back.

-;- -;- -;-

Nick slid his keycard into the slot, and when the light turned green, stepped inside to hear “What’s your favorite scary movie?”

His blood went ice cold, and he hurried inside to see who it was.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Nick fumed.

The red headed man jumped and the phone fell to the floor. He quickly terminated the call.

“What the hell were you thinking?! Who were you calling?” Nick demanded coming closer. No way in hell was he going to relive that night again; there no way he was even going to REMEMBER it.

“Nick what are you talking about?” Paul asked nervously, backing up on the bed. “I was joking with a friend.”

The blonde looked down at the desk and took in a breath as he snatched up a notepad. On it in red ink was Jessica’s number. Nick shoved the pad in his ‘friend’s’ face.

“A friend Paul? Some friend. You don’t torture your friends, you don’t make them remember something that nearly killed them, you don’t make them think about when someone killed their best friend, and you certainly don’t do that to one of MY friends. Get the hell outta here,” Nick said, furious.

“What are you talking about? Torture? Killing? What?”

“You don’t know do you?”

Paul shook his head.

“Well lemme tell you this- her best friend was killed by a man in a Scream costume. We were nearly killed by the same guy. She got threats in every way- emails, mail, letters, phone calls, you name it, she got it. She is TERRIFIED of that Scream ghost, and don’t you DARE threaten her like that again, EVER. Now pack your stuff. I’m sending you back. Consider it a favor I let you live.”

Paul stared. “Are you serious?”

“Does it look like I’m joking?” Nick asked, his anger flaring.

“N-no…I-I didn’t know, I thought she was just scared of it and I thought-“

“You thought it’d be funny to freak her out?” Nick stared at his ex-friend in disgust. “How could you THINK of that? Just get outta here.”

-;- -;- -;-

Nick pounded on Brian’s hotel door. In a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a stressed Brian Littrell.

“What’s up Nick?”

“Did J call you yet?”

“Jessica? Yeah…how’d you know?” Brian asked suspiciously.

“I know who did it.”

Brian pulled his friend into the room and hissed, “Who?”

“Paul.”

The older man let go of Nick, shocked.

“Are you kidding me? PAUL?”

“He thought it was a joke, those threats. He called her up.”

“Oh my god. So it’s not-”

“Thank god no,” Nick said quickly, playing with his fingers. “No…”

“Oh my god,” Brian shook his head. “This is fuckin with our lives.”

“I thought everyone forgot about it.”

“I got a call to make.”

-;- -;- -;-

Jessica stepped onto the plane warily, her body tense. She hoped she looked nice enough; she didn’t pay much attention to her clothes. Glancing at her attire she sighed. She wore a short pink “Goddess” tank top and black capris with black heels. How suiting.

Every brush of a jacket, swish of a cloak, she looked around cautiously. This was getting to her nerves, and she knew it.

“Mommy?” Lance asked, tugging on his mom’s hand. “Why are you looking around so much?”

“No reason sweetie. Don’t worry about it.”

Being only 3, he listened and took her explanation.

The sudden ringing of her cell phone nearly scared her to death, for she yelped. Gathering her wits, she answered the phone.

“H-hello?”

“Jessie? This is Brian.”

She sighed with great relief as she nodded to the attendant and pulled her son along to find their seats.

“Oh my god you have no idea how worried I’ve been…”

“I know who called you yesterday.”

“Who?” she asked immediately, pulling Lance up onto his seat after setting down her carry-on.

“It was a joke. He didn’t know. That was the only call he made,” Brian said quickly.

“WHO?”

“It was Paul.”

“PAUL? Nick’s friend PAUL?” she cried, oblivious to the stares she was receiving.

“He didn’t know. It was only that one time.”

“Oh my god.” Jessica groaned, plopping down and doing the seat belts.

“Mommy who is it?” Lance asked, tugging on her shirt.

“Sorry. Ya want me to kill him for ya?”

“Not this time.”

“Who is it?”

“Aw darn it. My chance of being active on the bus is gone.”

“Well, at least it wasn’t…you know.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah look Bri, I’m on a plane to California-“

“What? When did this all happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Mommy?”

“Lance asked if I could come-“

“Ohhh I see.”

“-to be in their video.”

“Ohhh. That sounds nice. What is for? Pop?”

“Yeah.”

“How does that one go? Like Pop…pop pop pop…”

Jessica laughed. “No, and I don’t feel like singing it right now.”

“Sing! Sing, sing, sing!” Brian chanted.

“No, no, no!” she laughed, grateful the trauma was over. Now everything was back to normal.

“Who is it?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Mommy!”

“Yes.” “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“What are we arguing about again?”

Jessica laughed and the attendant came by with a warning look on his face. At once she knew he was talking about the cell phone.

“Who is it Mommy?”

“Hey Brian-“

“UNCLE BRIAN!”

Jessica winced. “Lance says hi.”

Brian laughed. “Tell him I love him for me.”

“Uncle Brian loves you,” she said to Lance, and he beamed.

“Hey Bri the guy’s gonna kill me if I don’t hang up- we’re about to fly.”

“Ohh I see. Ok then. Love you J.”

“Love you too. See ya soon.”

She clicked it off and the attendant looked at her.

“What?”

“Boyfriend?”

Jessica blushed. “No. My friend.”

He rolled his eyes in what could have been perceived as disgust. “Must be some friend.”

-;- -;- -;-

“Well you’re sure antsy,” Chris muttered, hiding his face. “Stop it! You’re attracting attention.”

“Ha like you weren’t. ‘Finally! My moment to shine!’” Lance mimicked.

“Now that’s where you need to stop. That was in the privacy of our studio. See, I only came here so I could make fun of you and Jessie.”

Lance glared from the corner of his eye- something he was getting extremely good at lately, thanks to Chris.

“Hey it’s true.”

“Hey they’re getting off.”

“No, they’re just coming off for a little bathroom break DUH they’re getting off!”

“Shut it, or shove it.”

“Hey there she is!”

“Where?”

“Gotcha.”

“NOW you’re getting annoying.”

“There she is!”

“That’s not her!”

“Hey! There she is!” Chris said to him, pointing into the crowd.

Lance groaned, rolled his eyes and turned around to face his friend. “Chris, please, keep quiet! And you said I was attracting attention? Come on!”

“No really, that’s her!”

“Uh huh. Riight. I’m not stupid Chris.”

“That’s her!” Chris said, pointing and jabbing at the air.

“I’m not turning around.”

“Should I be hurt?”

Lance’s eyes widened and turned around. Jessica smiled at him as he enveloped her into a hug.

“Oh my gosh it’s great to see you,” he said.

“Yeah…uh Lance sweetie…let me come up for air,” she gasped.

“Yeah Lance. Let go, I know you can do it.”

“Chris…”

“Shutting up.”

“Um Lance, this is…Lance,” she said softly, introducing her son to his father. She looked down and realized he was behind her leg. “Oh come on scaredy cat.”

“I’m not scared!” he said.

“Uncle AJ taught ya that huh?” she asked fondly, down on her knees.

The toddler bobbed his head proudly up and down.

“Well then, be a brave dog,” she laughed, ruffling his hair.

“Hey! My hair!”

“Now that’s AJ for ya,” she smiled, getting up again. She grabbed Lance’s hand and brought him out front. “Lance, this is Lance.”

“He has my name!” Brian-Lance smiled.

Lance bit his lip and smiled, the tugging at his heart almost overpowering. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Then he looked up at his mom. “See? I’m not scared!”

“Yes I know you aren’t sweetie.”

“Well aren’t you a cute fella?” Chris smiled, bending down to the toddler. “I’m Chris.”

“Hi Chris. I’m Brian.”

“Brian?” Chris questioned, looking up.

“His full name is Brian Lance…Bass,” she bit her lip. “I had to name him after Brian. I call him Lance so Brian doesn’t get confused.”

Chris smiled. “Clever Jess. Hey so we call him Brian?”

“I guess. If you want to.”

“Yeah like I’m gonna ask, Hey Lance wanna go potty? To a grown man,” the older man rolled his eyes, then stopped. “Of course, if he’s NOT a grown ma-“

“Young ears,” Jessica smiled, covering Brian’s ears. “And virgin eyes, remember that. No porn on the bus.”

Chris laughed. “I like you. Hey little dude, c’mon.” He held out his hand.

The young child looked up at his mother, and she smiled. Brian ran to Chris and the older man laughed.

“See? He likes me.”

The two started to walk off to the baggage claim. Or at least, Chris was walking. Brian was on his shoulders, having the best time of his life.

“Alone at last?” Lance asked, giving her a kiss.

“Not quite.”

“Well, as close as we can now, c’mon. Sooner we get your bags, sooner we can leave. Then the real fun begins.”

“Oh joy. Justin grow up yet?”

“Very much so.”

“Hey slowpokes! Get movin!”

They smiled slowly, holding to each other’s waists, and followed after.

-;- -;- -;-

“We’re on MTV?” Jessica asked nervously, clasping Lance’s hands.

“Yeah. But I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“What if they see us?”

“They won’t.”

“You’re so optimistic it’s sickening.”

Lance shrugged and held her close. “Sometimes I gotta be.”

Jessica sighed as she rocked back and forth. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok…I learned my lesson,” Lance joked.

“Why do you have to joke? Why can’t you just say it?”

“Say what?”

“That you’ve been hurting. I know I have.” Jessica nearly sighed with relief in getting that off her chest. “Ya know I’m always kicking myself for what I did…I mean, that note. And I was so scared that they’d disown me or something if I said I didn’t go through with it…so I never told them.”

“They wouldn’t have disowned you. Are you kidding me? They would’ve been happy you decided not to.”

“But three years…”

“Maybe we can go back? You know…to Minnesota and see your old friends again?” Lance suggested.

“What? How could you think that? They’d kill me,” she said.

“No, like I said, they’d be glad you’re back.”

“But do you have any idea how long it’s been?”

“Yeah, but it’s never too late.”

The soft knock startled the couple and they looked toward the doorway, where JC stood, tiny grin on his face.

“The crew’s here. They’re gonna give us the cameras!” he said giddily.

Jessica and Lance laughed at his childlike behavior and broke apart.

“Hey gotta go. Be a good extra,” Lance winked, giving her a lingering kiss before leaving.

“Later,” she said, turning and leaving for the back door.

“Hey wait.”

Jessica turned around and was met by another kiss, and the stuffing of something into her hands. It was a box.

“Lance what-”

But he was gone.

Jessica looked down at the box in her hands. At first glance it was just an ordinary old box, but it was very neatly covered. Her eyebrows rose in question, but she resisted the urge to open it right then and there. She got through the back door, and to where the extras were. And no one gave her a second glance.

Wayne and the guys were shuffling through papers and taking glimpses at the girls that the other guy suggested. They winked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

‘Can they make it any more obvious that they know me?’ she thought distraughtly. She found Chris standing not to far from her, decked out in black and talking to his camcorder while the MTV crew recorded him.

‘Stupid. They let them tape each other and they’re still taping’

Jessica giggled to herself when Wayne gestured at Chris, pretending he was one of the extras.

“Did you like me?” she heard him say.

“Don’t feel bad that I was the first one cut. Thank you for coming!”

The girls laughed and Jessica shook her head, her smile reaching up to her glittering auburn eyes.

“This might be fun.”