Chapter Text
“—ten years ago, started the rampage of the Woodsboro killings, and the start of the Ghostface phenomenon by the hands of Sidney Prescott—” Billy lowered the radio volume as a little mix of a Border Collie and Labrador—Stu had nicknamed her Ellie two weeks ago when she was brought to their Dog rehabilitation center, like half of the streets dogs that magically appeared in Stu’s truck, even if the old lady that brought her assured them that her name was Pearl—came up to him with a Tennis ball in mouth happily waving her tail.
“You are a little predictable, girly.” he yanked the ball from her mouth and stood up from his chair, leaving the dec of the house into the garden. “C’mon— you don't want the rest to catch your ball, don'tcha?” Three more dogs perked out of the bushes, almost simultaneously. All four sets of eyes looking straight into the poor tennis ball. Fast and peaceful chaos broke free as the round object left the man’s hand.
He chuckled as the agglomeration of dogs started racing each other for said object and then he proceeded to walk back into the chair.
“—the madwoman left only two survivors, both of them ended up with serious wounds but luckily made it to the end of the day. Sadly this woman inspired various killings of similar modus operandi over the years, leaving—” hearing about his merits on the radio tended to uplift his mood, as the years went by the media started to make the image of Sidney the equivalent of a modern Jack the Ripper, not even knowing that the actual Ghostface was still around, with a big house, a bunch of dogs and a man that loved him so strongly than the power of the sun own gravity seemed a meek contrast. ”—we managed to get in contact with one of the survivors, a man that some of you may be familiar with, as he is often seen on television spreading information about subjects similar to the ones we are speaking about today, everybody, Stuart Macher!” and in a queue, applauses were heard from the radio.
Billy opened a beer and relaxed, this was about to get good.
Over the years, Billy and Stu perfected the Ghostface almost perfectly. They discovered both the flaws of it and the actual strengths they had, to the point that if they were to meet their 18 years old selves, they could beat them to a pulp. Stu wasn't that great at the moment of making long-term plans, but at gathering information? People saw a tall goof head and thought that they could him—the fools. Stu’s acting skills? They were a wonder, polished on point. Billy's? Not so much, often ending in awkward interactions that drew attention to him, so the big acting parts were for Stu. For the rest of the world, Stu was the strong survivor that faced the world and Billy was the poor soul with PTSD that never went out and depended on his heartfelt ‘best friend’.
”—I never knew Sidney on a personal level, I mean, I was her best friend boyfriend, we did talk and she always seemed to be a good girl but beyond that, we weren't that close. The one that knew her—or through so—was Billy, the other survivor, as they were a couple at the time and... Bill never recovered from it, he was truly in love and she ended being a monster. At first, she blamed him, if you are familiar enough with the case you may have heard of it, but after? “ Stu voice went from a mild cheerful tone to a somber narration “Bill was the one that found her killing Randy—he used to work at the movies, everyone knew him—and that, well, sometimes he, Bill, even after fifteen years... He gets this look on his face, you know? Like he never did leave that place”
See? Acting skills are on point.
Billy left the beer bottle on the table as one of the older dogs sat in front of him, tongue out of his mouth. An old shepherd. Maxie was one of the first dogs that Stu brought home, a stray with three legs. The mutt did everything for a petting.
The Loomis shelter and rehabilitation center for dogs started as a joke between the couple when Stu's strange fixation with taking every pest into the house had just started. A year after that? They had space for over thirty dogs at the same time. Billy didn't predict even closely that he would be raising dogs with a man—his man—in the countryside with an occasional dose of murder. After all, the legend of Ghostface had to keep on running.
”—I have to ask Stuart, personally, did this hit you as hard as you friend?” for once, Stu took more than a minute to answer.
”We... Well, we process trauma in different ways, all of us do. I have to admit that making new bonds, such as friendships, did become a lot harder. Trust isn't a thing that I give freely. That... Well, my relationships usually don’t last that long for a reason.” a muffled laugh came out of the device. ”I always wanted a family, you know? But losing Tatum affected me... Strangely... I don't know if I could form a family in the traditional sense.”
”What do you mean?”
”Well, I have been trying to adopt for a while. I know how that sounds, traumatized single man adopts an orphan. Recipe for disaster. But... I meet this kid,” Billy raises his brow at the radio, Stu never went in this direction with his lies, so he was curious. ”his name is Danny, he is so... Angry, emotional, just like I was. I don't want a kid to suffer alone and I know I can help him, I must do it. If I'm able to do so... Then I will, the kid needs it.”
“What?” he couldn't help himself to mutter, Stu always made lies that could be connected easily, but this? A supposed child? How could they cover up that? Even if they aren't being investigated, Stu is kind of a semi-public figure. There is no turning point from saying you want to adopt, as social workers will be all over your feet. And isn't like they can kidnap a random kid off the street, that would be a mess and too much work. Going from orphanage to orphanage searching for a kid named Danny is an alternative, but would arise some suspicion. A kid.
Oh fuck Stu wanted a Kid.
Oh fuck
Stu wanted a Kid.
”—and now with the weather report”
Daniel Johnson, born on the 15th of May of 1996
Mother: Susan Johnson
Father: Unknown
Legal guardian: Stuart Macher
That's what the papers said. Officially, Danny was under his wing.
Billy was going to kill him, and then he would realize that Danny is a mini menace like him and he would bring him back to life, and then kill him again just because.
Holyshitholyshitholyshit.
But hey, at least he had the kid!
Said kid that was beside him, in the car. Silent. Taking in all the information he could from the car. His dark messy hair made him look younger than ten, counting with how scrawny he looked didn't help. He meet the kid in a park, it looked like the poor soul was having a panic attack—but usually when someone has a panic attack they won’t kill a frog at the same time. When he looked at his face he saw a look he recognized, it was a look just like the one he woke up beside each morning. The kid was smart, calculating, and overall... He didn't give jack-shit about the rest of the world until it affected him. He had that obsessive drive that Billy had, the look that Billy had. He had talked with the kid for over a month and the similarities were uncanny.
He will understand.
He hopes so. Or he was super dead.
”He doesn't talk that much, what did happen to his mother affected him a lot.” the lady of the orphanage said to him, a while ago ”but he likes you, a lot, you two understand each other in a way I can't seem to reach.” What the lady doesn't know, of course, is that the kid is curious, he observes, he obsesses over, he reacts and someday he will kill.
And no way in hell he is wasting that potential. Nope. The kid will be a killer. A good one. After all, he and Billy can't kill for eternity, and Danny could make a perfect successor for Ghostface.
Besides, raising a Kid is not that different than a dog. And this one was already half-grown, he was ten!