Chapter One: Welcome To Shadyside

***

(Trigger warning: Descriptions of abuse)

' Dear Diary, good fucking morning— '

"No, that isn't right."

' Dear Diary, today already promises to be a shitshow and it's not even 9— '

"No."

' Dear Diary, why am I even doing this? Just go fuck yourself— '

"Fuck this! Why did I listen to Zoe? Okay, one more time."

' Dear Diary. Tonight is prom. Hopefully tonight will make up for whatever shit happens today. '

"Okay, yeah, that's better. Now—"

"Danielle! Breakfast is ready, you ungrateful brat!"

"I'm coming, Mom, alright?!"

"Don't take that tone with me! Now get down here!"

"Fuck you," Dani Lin grumbled under her breath, slamming her diary closed with more force than necessary and throwing herself back on her bed, glaring at the pockmarked ceiling. Maybe if she glared hard enough, it would burst into flames and she wouldn't have to worry about her mother. But that was too much to hope for, and Dani was a cynic. Hope was for those who could afford it.

Dani wasn't one of those people.

Groaning and knowing her mom would come in and drag her out and downstairs anyway, Dani got up, looking around her room for any clean clothes, or any to put in the laundry.

On the chair was her uniform from her shift last night at the Orange Julius, crumpled and still smelling of oranges. Dani tossed it into the hamper along with a pair of jeans and a hoodie with a suspicious stain, joining the rest of the dirty clothes in the hamper. Amid the mess inside her matchbox closet, she pulled out a plain white T-shirt with red sleeves and collar, jeans and a denim jacket, laying them on the bed as she hefted the hamper up and walked downstairs, making a beeline for the laundry.

"Where are you going?" her mother demanded from the dining room. She sounded sober. For now.

"Laundry," Dani sniped back as she lifted the lid and dumped her clothes in. "Any of your shit needs washing too?"

"Don't speak to me like that, Danielle," her mother scolded. "I am your mother."

Dani snorted, her words lost in the sputtering noise of the machine as it turned on. "Funny, since you've never been sober long enough to act like one."

Stalking out of the laundry, Dani walked back upstairs to her room, ignoring her mom's shouts as she grabbed her clothes and got into the shower, washing and changing before making her way downstairs again and into the tiny dining room, seeing a pitiful sight. A plate of burned toast and runny eggs, and her mom, black straggly strands of hair framing her face, wrapped in her beer-stained dressing gown, eyes bloodshot and red-rimmed. And, to Dani's irritation and disappointment, an opened can of beer was in her hand.

"Seriously, Mom? At breakfast?" Dani demanded as she slid into the chair, stabbing at her runny eggs mercilessly.

Her mom just took a sip. "Why? What's wrong with drinking at this time?"

"Oh, just the fact that you're day drinking? Again? God..." Dani scoffed, throwing her head back. "This is so typical of you."

Her mom's eyes narrowed. "Watch it, Danielle."

"Like hell I am. Is this your first? Second? Fourth?"

"It's none of your damn business how much I drink and when I drink. I am your mother. I care for you, I gave life to you, I sacrificed my—" her mother scolded and Dani interrupted with an eye-roll, "Your dream of going to college because an one-night stand left you pregnant with me, the dickhead who got you pregnant skipped town, and your dreams were left in the dust and stuck in Shadyside. I've heard it a million times, and it's getting old. But thanks for the lecture. Really deserved."

"Danielle, I will not tolerate that tone from you, not as long as you live under my roof," her mother growled, nails denting the aluminium can.

Danielle laughed bitterly. "Sure, Mom. Not like I'm the only one who actually keeps this roof over our heads while you do nothing but drink and complain about what your life should have been like all day."

The can of beer narrowly missed hitting Dani, the girl looking in shock at her mother, murder in her eyes, before her expression shifted into apathy and she demanded, "Danielle, get me another beer. Now."

Dani gaped, before she scowled. "Fuck you. Get your own beer. I'm going to school."

Shoving back from her chair harshly, Dani ran up the stairs, her mother shouting behind her, "Danielle, you didn't eat! Danielle, get back here this instant! DANIELLE!"

Dani slammed the door closed, squeezing her eyes shut as she bit back tears away. Shaking her head to clear them further, Dani snatched up her bag and marched out and into the bathroom, angrily brushing her teeth before storming down and outside, ignoring her mother's shouting. The screen door slammed behind her, ricocheting in the teenager's ears as she ran to her car—the first thing she saved up money for, old and used but hers—flinging her backpack into the passenger seat and herself in the driver's.

Behind the wheel, Dani pressed her head to the wheel and screamed.

All the rage, the frustration, and fear was released. She screamed her shock over her mother throwing the can of beer at her—and why was she shocked, her mother had always been volatile when she had a few drinks in her, why was she always shocked by it?—until the breath left her lungs and her throat grew hoarse. Leaning back, Dani turned on the car and drove away, leaving the house behind her and heading for Shadyside High.

Her diary entry was already coming true. Today was already a shitty day. Then again, it was always shitty here, no matter how you cut it.

Welcome to Shadyside.

***

Roughly twenty minutes later, Dani had parked her car and was heading into Shadyside High, already ready for it to be over, her sour mood contrasting with the excitement of prom happening later tonight buzzing around her.

Walls were plastered with posters advertising prom and its theme—Starry Night—and the price of tickets and the tantalising mystery of who would be crowned Prom Queen and King. Mixed with the prom posters were those of the candidates in the running for Prom Queen—Kiara Vasquez, Raquel Porter, Olivia Hannes, Emily Kim, Patricia Donoghue, Julie Kennedy and Tabitha Patterson. Students helping to run campaigns for the candidates for prom queen—mostly Tabitha's—stood on the sidelines, handing out badges and yelling, "Vote for Kiara!", "Vote for Raquel!", "Make your vote be for Olivia for Prom Queen!", "Emily Kim is our queen! Vote for her!", "Vote for Patricia!", "Show your support for Julie and vote her to be queen!", "Check Tabitha! Choose Tabitha! Vote for Tabitha!". A banner was hung across the corridor, blue with the words painted in white with stars, "SENIOR PROM '86!"

It was honestly the happiest and most united Shadyside High had been.

Dani rolled her eyes to it all as she moved to her locker, opening it and rifling through for whatever shit she needed for her classes, ignoring all the chatter about prom. She was excited too, don't get her wrong—and she had a killer dress to wear tonight—she just... didn't want to spend her day going through her classes listening to her classmates talk about prom and who was going to be voted the queen and king again. That sourness striking again, but Dani was of the opinion any sane person would grow sick and tired of hearing it all day and snap like one of the infamous Shadyside killers and murder the student body just to have them shut up about it.

Maybe I'm next, Dani thought morbidly. Maybe that's why today's so shitty. Because I'm the next Shadysider to go homicidal.

She was about to slam her locker shut when arms wrapped around her.

"Heya, Dani!"

The dark-haired girl jumped, looking behind her to see the smiling face and teased curls of her best friend, Zoe Delgado.

"Jesus Christ, you gave me a heart attack," Dani said, glaring at Zoe as she let go.

"Just keen to say hi to my best friend," Zoe replied, sticking her hands into the pockets of her brown jacket, smiling. "And why do you look so grumpy?"

"It's Shadyside," Dani deadpanned.

"Fair. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't turn that frown upside down! I mean, prom is here! Aren't you a little excited about that? I know I am. I have the most gorgeous dress—oh! I almost forgot the other reason I'm here! Everyone's waiting for you in the dark room. Come on!"

Before Dani could even fully grasp everything her friend had chattered about, Zoe had grabbed her arm and led her through the crowd of students, leading her to the dark room, where students could develop film inside—that was, if they had the money for cameras, and with the lack of students it was abandoned.

And thus, fair pickings for Dani, Zoe and the rest of their friends to make it their own space to meet up before class started every morning and for every lunch for the past four years.

Dani's mood lightened at seeing the others inside.

"Took you long enough," Colin Alcott groused, arms crossed. "I thought we were going to be late."

"Sorry, my mother was a bitch this morning," Dani said, heading in. 

Colin frowned. "She was drinking again?"

"When is she not?" Dani muttered, before throwing a grin at the curly-haired blonde sitting next to Colin. "Hey, Julie."

"Hey, Dani," Julie Kennedy greeted, waving at her as Colin uncrossed her arms, slinging one over the shoulders of Julie as he kissed her forehead, the glasses-wearing blonde smiling at her boyfriend's display of affection.

"How's the new leg?" Dani asked.

Julie looked down at the prosthetic leg that replaced her amputated one after her car crash two months ago. "Pinches a little, but I'm more used to it now. Still need these crutches though."

She gestured to the crutches leaning next to her.

"Figures," Dani muttered, before her eyes moved to the last person in the room, her heart stilling as it always did whenever she met those eyes. "Hey, Mitch."

"Hey," Michelle "Mitch" Kang responded, hopping off a desk and moving to her. "Heard your mom was a bitch this morning."

"Yeah. Is it really a surprise now?" Dani snarked, barely keeping her face blank and free of the giddy grin eager to spread across her face.

"No, not really," Mitch conceded, smirking. "But I think I know a way to cheer you up."

"Do tell," Dani replied, letting the smirk play out across her face.

"How about I show you instead?" Mitch flirted, leaning her face closer and pressing her lips against Dani's.

It was a gentle kiss, more a brushing of their lips, but it had set off the fireworks inside her, shifting her mood from one of grimness to one of sunlight. Being around Mitch always made her feel happy, one of the only bright spots in her miserable life along with her friends. 

Pulling away, Dani smiled at her girlfriend, the two of them staring at each other—and oblivious to the others in the room until a loud cough came.

The girls jumped, turning to Colin, Zoe and Julie, the latter smirking as she said, "Don't mind us. Happy to be invisible here."

"Like you and Colin are any better," Mitch retorted, but she was grinning as she and Dani sat on a table, hands linked.

"Fair," Julie conceded.

"I think it's sweet, and it's been a long time coming. For both of you," Zoe said, looking at each of them pointedly.

Dani and Mitch looked at each other, knowing that was true—especially with the world as it was, they were both afraid the other was straight and would be rejected, that it would ruin their friendship and their friends wouldn't accept them, only to be proven wrong in the best ways possible—as Julie and Colin turned to each other and Julie admitted, "Yeah, it really has been."

A comfortable silence descended before Zoe leaned back against the wall and asked, "What do you think our classes will be like today? Are they going to show us mercy since prom's tonight?"

Mitch snorted. "Fuck no. I bet they'll be harder because of prom."

"Speaking of prom, who do you think's going to be voted king and queen?" Colin questioned as he pulled an apple from his bag.

"No idea," Dani said. "Hey, would you pass me an apple, Colin? I'm starving."

"From what I've seen, Tabitha and our Julie are in the lead for Prom Queen. Nothing about the king, though. Yet," Zoe revealed as Colin tossed an apple to Dani, the dark-haired girl accepting it, eating it with bliss as Zoe looked at the blonde. "Hey, imagine if you actually won, Jules! I bet the crown would look gorgeous on you!"

Julie wrinkled her nose. "No, thanks. I'm happy to let Tabitha win instead of me. And I don't think I'll win anyway. It's been mostly pity votes because of the accident, and Tabitha's the one who really wants the crown."

"Good. At least the power won't go to your head," Mitch joked dryly, Julie throwing the other girl a glare.

"Okay, even if you don't win, I'm so excited! Tonight's gonna be so much fun, and I have the most amazing dress!" Zoe gushed. She looked at Colin, saying in a mildly threatening voice, "And you better have a nice corsage for Julie, Col!"

"I do, Zoe, trust me," Colin assured, looking a bit nervous.

"Oh, really? Is it nice, babe?" Julie asked, giving her boyfriend a sickeningly sweet smile.

"I do, Jules! It's nice, trust me."

"Don't worry, I believe you," Julie said, winking at her flabbergasted boyfriend.

Dani grinned, looking at Mitch. "You have a corsage for me?"

Mitch grinned. "Of course."

Dani's stomach fluttered, imagining what sort of corsage Mitch would have gotten for her—what Mitch would wear later tonight—before her girlfriend asked Colin, "You're still picking us all up, right, Colin?"

"Yeah, I am. Hasn't changed," Colin answered.

"And you're sure that old rust bucket will take all of us?"

"Yes, it will, Mitch. It takes us to the mall, right?"

Mitch huffed, but didn't argue back as Dani looked down, saying, "Hope tonight's good. It's going to make up for all the shit that's gonna happen today."

"You're more pessimistic today than usual, Dani," Julie observed.

"It's Shadyside," Dani returned, before grinning morbidly. "And who knows? Maybe that's a sign I'm gonna snap and murder everyone tonight."

Zoe grimaced. "Dani, don't joke about that. No one's gonna snap and murder people tonight."

"Again, it's Shadyside. I think it's pretty standard to joke about snapping and blaming it on some stupid witch's curse," Dani said, rolling her eyes at the mention of the excuse for why Shadysiders snapped and murdered people.

The curse of the witch Sarah Fier, who upon her wicked hand cleaved from her body as she hung, she cursed the town that would become Shadyside, dooming people to become serial killers and go on bloody massacres, not stopping until they were dead and leaving the rest of the town to descend into crime and poverty, while their sister-town, Sunnyvale, prospered. The last killings happened almost ten years ago at the now-demolished Camp Nightwing, Shadyside campers and counsellors alike gruesomely murdered by the axe-wielding Camp Nightwing killer who'd been Tommy Slater, including his sister and Sarah Fier's descendant, Sandy Fier. He, like all the killers of Shadyside, had died.

And, like any sane Shadysider who didn't want to pin all the problems on a fictional curse and blame it on an innocent family with the rotten luck of being related to the supposed witch, Dani didn't believe in the curse. Sure, it was disproportionate that their town seemed to be a breeding ground for killers, but people snapped and murdered people all the time. All it took was one push from troubled person to murderer.

It was just a matter of wondering who would be that person and what their push was.

"She has a point, Zoe," Julie pointed out.

"I know," Zoe murmured, before grinning brightly. "But none of us are gonna snap. Tonight's going to be the best night possible, trust me."

None of them argued—they, like Zoe, wanted to believe that prom tonight was going to be good. That it would be a sign they could escape the hand they were dealt with and have better lives.

It probably wouldn't happen, but it was a nice fantasy. Right?

It was quiet a moment longer before Colin said, "Hey, I think we really should head to class now before we're late."

"Of course you'd be worried about being late, super-nerd," Zoe teased.

Colin threw the apple core at a laughing Zoe, who ducked with a grin. Colin had a half-smile on his face as he helped Julie up, the blonde staying on her feet unsteadily as she gripped her crutches. Dani hopped off the table, following her friends to the door as Colin opened it, walking hand in hand with Julie as they talked excitedly about the upcoming sequel to Alien and seeing it as a date movie, and their choices for top colleges after they graduated while Zoe walked behind them. Just two nerds in love chatting.

Dani was about to walk out when Mitch grabbed her hand, pulling her back in and kissing her again, a deeper kiss than the first one. Dani reciprocated it, sliding her fingers into Mitch's hair before pulling back, lost in the gorgeous brown of Mitch's eyes, before she frowned. "Everything okay, Mitch?"

"Yeah. Just... I've been thinking. About us," Mitch answered.

"What about us?" Dani asked, genuinely curious as she toyed with a strand of Mitch's hair.

Mitch bit her lip, before smiling. "Just how much I love you."

Dani smiled. "Aw, I love you too. Now spill. What's really bothering you?"

Mitch looked at her, face twisted before she murmured, "Later. I'll tell you at prom."

"I'll try not to die of curiosity," Dani snarked.

Mitch's mouth quirked in a half-smile, before saying, "I hate to say this, but Colin's right. We should get to class. I do not want a detention today."

"Yeah, getting detention before prom would really suck," Dani agreed, inciting a laugh from her girlfriend as they left the dark room, fingers brushing against each other briefly before they headed to their classes, Dani watching as Mitch's face lost all the softness and smiles when around her and their friends and adopting her resting bitch face. The face she wore when she talked back to teachers and punched Sunnyvale assholes, when she was unapologetically herself—loud, angry and taking no shit. It was the Mitch Dani loved wth all her heart, with all her fire and softness, all of her.

Dani couldn't imagine her life where she wasn't in love with Mitch Kang.

As she headed to her first class—Calculus—the signs of prom filled Dani's thoughts, making her think over Zoe's optimism of tonight.

Maybe Zoe's right, Dani thought. Maybe tonight will be fun.

What Dani didn't know, was that tonight would not be one of fun, but one of horror and terror.

That the curse of Shadyside would rise again.

***

First chapter let's go!!!

No, but seriously, I kinda lost inspiration and then I saw that Fear Street 4 had started production and I freaking predicted the plot (kinda) and time period, so the inspiration came FLOODING back and I am now feeling the excitement again!! I can't wait to write this, it's gonna be killer >:)

Dani... she's a very interesting character to write. She has a grim view on the world both from living in Shadyside and having to take care of herself and her mother from a young age, and a complicated relationship with her mother, and is very cynical (want to give her a hug :( ) But she loves her friends and girlfriend, Mitch, a lot, and I loved writing their dynamic and her Mitch being adorable together along with Colin and Julie ( I'm gonna be so sad over what I'm gonna put them through) Dani's going to go through the ringer, is all I can say—gonna put our final girl through pain >:) (also, I changed her face claim to Chase Sui Wonders, who I think suits her more than Courtney, even tho I love Courtney)

Also, I put in some little references to my other Fear Street fics, both published and still in drafts, along with references to the Ballad of Sara Berry (though this whole fic is a reference to the song) with the names of the prom queen candidates! 

Next chapter should be soon!! And trust me, we'll be getting into the plot soon >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!