Chapter 6 (The Wrath of Francis)

Chapter 6 (The Wrath of Francis) is the sixth chapter of The Clearwood Murders: Episode I - The Wrath of Francis and the sixth chapter of the overall Clearwood series. It was written by Donald Newton. This chapter was published on May 23, 2020.

Plot
Love is in the air as two pair of couples are formed.

Full Chapter
INT. CLEARWOOD HIGH SCHOOL - HALLWAY - DAY

Andrew is putting stuff into his locker when he's approached by Scott, who has a big smile on his face.

SCOTT: Sup?

ANDREW: Nothing much. How about you? (Sees his smile) What happened?

SCOTT: So I took Melina home last night...and she kissed me.

ANDREW: Dude, that's great. Do you like her?

SCOTT: I have to admit that I kinda do. She's cute and really nice. I think I do.

ANDREW: If you like her, you should ask her out.

SCOTT: I don't know. I might.

Melina approaches Scott.

MELINA: Hey.

SCOTT: Hey.

MELINA: I'm sorry about last night. I hope I didn't go too far with the kiss.

SCOTT: No. That kiss was great. In fact...(turns to Andrew, who nods to him, then turns back to her)...Would you like to go out to dinner with me?

Melina is surprised and excited by this. And so are we. Scott Lane asking a girl out? What is changing about him? Especially when we know that deep down he still has hidden feelings for Lorraine. Is he trying to move on or is something else happening with his feelings that we don't understand yet?

MELINA: I would love to go out with you tonight.

SCOTT: Pick you up at five?

MELINA: Sure.

SCOTT: See you then.

MELINA: See ya.

Melina and Scott kiss each other before she walks away with smiles. Andrew pats Scott on the shoulder.

ANDREW: Good job, man.

The other main characters; Alice, Cassie, Oscar, Jeremy, Iris, Chuck, and Cheri arrive by the lockers for the first time as a united group in front of the school. This catches many other students off guard as they're seeing the beautiful group and the outcast group together for the very first time.

The other main characters have just seen the kiss between Scott and Melina and tease him about it.

CASSIE: (to Scott) So what is going on with you two? I saw the way you two looked at each other all night last night. Then you took her home. Something happened between you two?

SCOTT: Oh, I don't kiss and tell.

CASSIE: Ooh! Kissing?

SCOTT: Maybe. But I'm taking her out to dinner tonight.

CHERI: Awesome!

CHUCK: Yeah. Very happy for you, bro.

OSCAR: I knew something was up when she decided to get a ride with you rather than us.

Iris notices the time. Unlike most students, she likes to get to class early.

IRIS: (to Jeremy) I have to get to class.

JEREMY: (Not really paying attention) Okay.

IRIS: I'm about to go.

JEREMY: (Doesn't even look at her) See you later.

Iris is hurt by his lack of attention towards her. He didn't even look at her. She proceeds to walk off in tears. This is seen by the others, who give Jeremy a glare. Jeremy realizes his mistake. He turns to see that Iris has already walked across the hall.

JEREMY: (shouts) IRIS!

This not only catches Iris's attention, but the rest of the other students in the hall. Jeremy walks across the hall and kisses her in front of the entire school. Everyone cheers. This makes Iris smile so brightly. She nearly faints over this. This was her very first kiss.

JEREMY: I'll be right by your classroom door to take you to your next class, Babe.

A surprised Iris's mouth opens wide over being called "Babe." First, her first kiss. Now a guy calling her "Babe" with affection.

IRIS: Okay.

Jeremy and Iris kiss each other and smile at each other.

INT. CARTER RESIDENCE - DAY

Clarence and Kathy are talking in the living room as Clarence prepares to leave for work.

CLARENCE: I just can't get it out of my head. That little girl I rescued is now dead. Murdered by someone using Francis's MO. That note written in her blood. I will never get that image out of my head. Who is doing this? It can't be Francis. Can it?

KATHY: You killed Francis. You put a bullet in his head. You were there when the medical examiner confirmed his dead.

CLARENCE: Not long after his body was embalmed and buried, somebody stole his body.

KATHY: Maybe the person who stole his body has something to do with this.

CLARENCE: Maybe. There were rumors that he had followers. But nothing was ever proven. Aside from the murders, he had no criminal history or anything. We could never identify him. We only knew him as Francis the killer. And nobody ever came to ID him or claim him as family. He was just an unknown person who killed many innocent people.

KATHY: Maybe the people who stole his body...was his family.

That hits Clarence hard. It's possible that the original Francis killer had a family and that family could be related to the new Francis killer.

INT. CLEARWOOD HIGH SCHOOL - DAY

The bell rings. The door to a classroom opens and the students exit from the classroom. Iris is one of them. She is happy to see that waiting for her is Jeremy. They approach each other, putting their arms around each other, and kissing each other.

JEREMY: I told you I'd be waiting for you.

IRIS: Thank you.

JEREMY: Of course. You ready for me to walk you to your next class?

Iris giggles as she reminds him...

IRIS: You have it, too.

JEREMY: (thinks for a moment) That's right. I do.

Iris takes his hand and they walk together hand in hand.

CUT TO:

INT. ENGLISH CLASS

Cruise is giving his lecture to our main characters (Scott, Andrew, Iris, Melina, Cassie, Oscar, Jeremy, Chuck, and Cheri).

CRUISE: Movies have affected our real world. They were either based on real events or real events were inspired by movies.

Iris immediately raises her hand.

CRUISE: Iris.

IRIS: Taxi Driver inspired a real event. In the movie, Robert DeNiro shot a politician. It inspired John Hinckley to shoot President Reagan.

CRUISE: That is correct. But did you also know that it was inspired by real events as well?

Iris is surprised by this.

CRUISE: Yeah. In 1972, Arthur Bremer shot Presidential candidate George Wallace, who was Governor of Alabama. The writers took parts of that and it used for Robert DeNiro's character. Interesting how a real life event inspired a movie, which in turn, inspired another real life event. So, I'd like for you to find movies based off of real life events. And I don't mean something like Titanic either. Titanic is too easy. It is a true story with a fictional love story added to it. Actually find something that isn't so obvious. I want you to research it, write about the real life events, and how it was done in the movies. I am going to partner you all up. Andrew and Alice, Scott and Melina, Cassie and Oscar, Iris and Jeremy, Chuck and Cheri...

Before we hear the names of the rest of the students, whom are not our main characters, we CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL LIBRARY

Our partnered main characters are doing research on their chosen movies that were inspired by real life or real life inspired movies.

This may not have been that exciting chapter. But the excitement will return in the next chapter. Because next time on The Clearwood Murders;

Andrew and Alice take it to the next step in their relationship, Iris and Jeremy set boundaries for each other, and The Stalker and Zero makes a declaration.

Deaths
None.

Trivia

 * Cruise's story about the movie Taxi Driver being inspired by an assassionation attempt and inspiring another is true. The movie took elements of Arthur Bremer's assassination attempt on Presidential candidate George Wallace into the movie. In turn, this movie later inspired John Hinckley to attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.