Chapter 5 (The Wrath of Francis)

Chapter 5 (The Wrath of Francis) is the fifth chapter of The Clearwood Murders: Episode I - The Wrath of Francis and the fifth chapter of the overall Clearwood series. It is currently being written by Donald Newton. This chapter will be published on May 16, 2020.

Plot
The Stalker makes his first move on a victim. Meanwhile, Scott gets close to someone.

Full Chapter
INT. KEITH'S CAR - NIGHT

Keith is driving through the neighborhood. His car is the only car around. He is playing a loud rock song on the radio and rocking out to it. Suddenly -- ZERO RUNS BY.

KEITH: OH SHIT!

To avoid hitting the child, Keith swirves the opposite direction and hits the brake. Zero falls off of his bike and lands on the ground. Keith gets out of his car and rushes to Zero, who appears to be crying.

KEITH: Are you okay, kid?

As Keith grabs Zero to help him up -- ZERO SLASHES HIS HAND WITH A KNIFE.

KEITH: OW! FUCK!

Keith turns to the little boy, who rises from the ground, unharmed, and looking angry with his knife.

KEITH: What the fuck is wrong with you, kid?

Zero starts walking towards Keith with the knife. This makes Keith walk backwards away from him. Suddenly -- Keith bumps into someone behind him. He turns around to find -- THE STALKER (A different Killer unrelated to Francis). A hooded man wearing all black except for his pale white SAD DRAMA MASK. The tears are painted red, symbolizing BLOOD.

KEITH: What the fuck?

The Stalker decks Keith in the face, making him fall to the ground. The Stalker stands over Keith, who grabs at his own face over being punched. He sees the Stalker pulling out a knife.

KEITH: What the fuck?

Keith attempts to get up. But Zero pins him down to the ground.

ZERO: (To the Stalker) DO IT! DO IT NOW!

KEITH: NO! GET OFF OF ME! STOP!

Keith is stronger than Zero and is able to push the child off of him. But the Stalker stomps on his leg, which makes Keith scream out in pain.

KEITH: (crying) WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!!

In pain and weakened, Keith is unable to get up, allowing Zero to hold him down. And with that, the Stalker proceeds to stab Keith multiple times in the chest. Keith Curtis is dead.

INT. CARTER RESIDENCE - BASEMENT

It's the end of the night. Everyone is getting ready to leave.

JEREMY: Hey, Iris? You need a ride?

Iris is excited and surprised by her crush's offer.

IRIS: Sure. (Turns to Scott and everyone) Later, everyone.

SCOTT: Later.

Iris and Jeremy head out the door. But before Jeremy does, Scott stops him for a moment.

SCOTT: Be good to her, man. She's a good girl. Please, don't take advantage of her.

JEREMY: Just giving her a ride. You have my word, man.

Jeremy gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder. He leaves Scott, who still seems concerned as he watches them go up the stairs leading to the backyard. This is seen by Alice, who approahes him and puts her hand on his back in a friendly gesture.

ALICE: She'll be okay. He is a good guy.

SCOTT: I'm just protective of her. She's innocent. Not like me.

Alice is touched by Scott's good nature in being a protective friend.

ALICE: You're a good man, Scott Lane. She's lucky to have a friend like you. So is Andrew.

Scott turns to Alice and sees her smile. She's not so bad after all. She's just an an average person wearing pretty clothes. It is now does Scott see that Alice can be a friend and not the typical popular bitch for an enemy.

SCOTT: I'm lucky to have them. And he's lucky to have a good woman like you for a girlfriend.

This makes Alice smile.

Chuck and Cheri are saying their goodbyes to Cassie and Oscar.

CHUCK: It was good smokin with you. You guys aren't bad for preppies.

OSCAR: And you're pretty badass for a stoner.

CHUCK: We're badasses for it. We all are.

Oscar smiles and nods with an agreed acknowledgment. Chuck and Cheri leave.

Cassie turns to Melina.

CASSIE: Would you like us to give you a ride home?

MELINA: Actually, I was thinking maybe Scott could give me a ride home. (Turns to Scott) If that's okay with you?

SCOTT: Sure. That's no problem.

Cassie smiles over this. She understands Melina's motives for this. It's obvious that Melina likes Scott.

CASSIE: See you guys tomorrow. It was nice to finally meet you, Scott.

SCOTT: Good meeting you guys.

ALICE: Bye.

CASSIE: Bye.

Cassie and Oscar leave.

ALICE: (to Andrew) Well, I gotta get going. I'll text you when I get home.

ANDREW: Okay.

Alice kisses Andrew before getting up to leave.

ALICE: (as she heads for the door) Goodbye, Scott.

SCOTT: Bye.

Alice walks out the door.

SCOTT: (to Melina) You think Andrew and I can have a minute alone?

MELINA: Sure. I'll be outside.

Melina gets up and steps out the door.

Andrew and Scott get up from their respective chairs and move over to the couch together. It's the very first time that they've sat next to each other in Andrew's basement in a very long time.

ANDREW: (gloating) I told you that this would work.

SCOTT: Yeah! Yeah, you did. It did work.

ANDREW: Now that our friends are together in one group, we can hangout with each other everyday without fear of separating over our other friendships. No more meeting at the Beamer for weekly catching up.

SCOTT: Nope. Everyday here, at school, or wherever else we wanna go together. I'm glad that this happened.

ANDREW: I am, too. You are my best friend. And nobody was ever going to take that away from you.

For the first time ever, we see some kind of emotion from Scott, who is touched by Andrew's statement.

SCOTT: You're my best friend, too. Always was...and always will.

Andrew smiles over this. Deep down, he knew he was never going to lose Scott.

SCOTT: I suppose I better get Melina home.

ANDREW: Right.

Scott and Andrew both get up and give each other the bro-hug.

SCOTT: Later, brother.

ANDREW: Later.

Scott leaves.

Andrew and Scott's groups are together as one. It is the beginning of what could be a beautiful friendship between the two groups. But if they only knew what was coming to them.

INT. SCOTT'S EL CAMINO - NIGHT

Scott is driving Melina home as they talk through the drive there.

MELINA: That was a cool party.

SCOTT: Yeah, that was. Especially the part where we all passed the stash around.

MELINA: I haven't that much weed before. I only did it once and it was just one hit.

SCOTT: You get use to it. It's fun.

MELINA: So how long have you and Andrew been friends for?

SCOTT: For about eleven years. Since we were just little kids. One day Andrew was being bullied and followed by some mean kids. So I stepped in and walked him home everyday and ever since then, we've been friends.

This makes Melina smile. Seeing that Scott is a protective friend makes her like him even more. He's a protector. She saw how protective he was to Iris earlier when Jeremy offered to drive her home.

MELINA: That is so sweet of you to do for him.

SCOTT: I was just helping a good guy.

MELINA: You're a good guy, Scott.

SCOTT: You think so?

Melina smiles brightly.

MELINA: You're the best man that I've met in Clearwood.

SCOTT: I'm honored.

They park in front of her house.

MELINA: Thanks for the ride.

SCOTT: No problem.

Melina stares at Scott for a moment with a smile.

SCOTT: What?

Melina suddenly grabs him and kisses him. Then they just stare into each others eyes -- BEFORE MAKING OUT. They are really into each other. They stop kissing after for like a minute.

MELINA: Goodnight.

SCOTT: Goodnight.

Melina gets out of the car and walks inside her house. Scott is so surprised by her sudden kiss. He cannot believe it. He smiles as he proceeds to drive off.

Deaths

 * CD = Chapter Death (Deaths in the chapter)
 * SD = Story Death (Overall deaths in the story)

Trivia

 * First appearance of The Stalker.
 * First chapter where another killer besides Francis murders an innocent victim.
 * This victim is Keith Curtis.