Sinister Unveilings

It was supposed to be a night of celebration for Shelby Hunter. She had just graduated college, and she and a large group of her friends were celebrating together in New Orleans; a big bash before they go and make their own separate impacts.

Shelby was supposed to be living it up. She was not supposed to be in fear for her life. And she was definitely not supposed to find one of her friends brutally stabbed to death.

Grace Patrick was the victim, having been killed just two months shy of turning 23. Hers was the latest body to fall, as the group of seven girls was reduced to three with Grace's demise. The other victims were Jessica Hanson, a popular college cheerleader, Stacie Marsh, one of the nation's top hockey players, and Hannah Ryan, a science major. The group had been stalked by a knife-wielding maniac in all black: slicker, hoodie, leather gloves. The only non-black piece of apparel is a white mask that resembles the theatrical Tragedy Mask, and the same message was left on each victim:

"Don't take what isn't yours!"

Other than Shelby, only Melissa Burks and Gina Winfield remained, and they were getting restless. A serial killer was targeting them, one by one, and they had no clue why. And with no idea who exactly this killer is, they had very little to go on when they informed the New Orleans police. They couldn't think of any possible enemies they may have; exes, rivals, you name it. For Shelby, Melissa, and Gina, they had simply one tactic: stay together, at all costs.

The day after Grace's body was found, the togetherness plan was working. But by night...

"Gina?!"

Shelby was frantic after seeing that Gina was nowhere to be found, and while she was relieved to see Melissa, it turned into both women being worried about Gina. Finally, a message popped up on both of the phones, and it was the same video--Gina, tied up, blindfolded, and gagged, and the masked killer suddenly appearing. The killer's voice was modulated, but their message was clear:

"If you want to see your little friend alive, meet me at the abandoned warehouse... alone! The truth will come out!"

With no choice in the matter, Shelby and Melissa arrived, finding Gina still tied up on her chair. The girls removed the blindfold and the gag, but just as they were about to untie Gina, their friend gave the warning:

"Look out!"

At that moment, the masked maniac wielded their knife and lunged at the girls, obsessively looking to complete their goal to kill the entire group. Melissa managed to grab the killer's arm, allowing Shelby to tackle the culprit, subduing them long enough for Shelby and Melissa to untie Gina. Their relief was short-lived, as they had to run upstairs for safety, with the masked culprit slowly on the pursuit. The attacker reached the warehouse's attic, where the girls hid behind the room's various objects, making their search a frantic one.

"You can't hide from me!" the masked attacker ranted. "You took something from me, and now you'll pay!" The attacker managed to find Shelby, and grabbed her by her hair, but as the knife was raised, the sound of police sirens was heard, a sound that was getting louder. At that Gina and Melissa emerged, with the latter taking out her phone and revealing that she had been live-streaming to 911 ever since they arrived.

"You're done, psycho!" proclaimed Melissa, who was pursued by the killer, only for Shelby to lunge at the attacker and hold them long enough for her friends to join Shelby in the scuffle, which actually ended with the attacker falling through the window. Though as the girls saw, it wasn't all of them that fell two stories, as Shelby had the killer's mask in her hand.

By the time the girls got out of the warehouse, the police and an ambulance arrived, and the maskless killer was in the back of the latter, handcuffed to the bed. They finally saw the face of the very maniac who slaughtered their friends, and they were stunned by what they saw.

"Dean Haskell?!"

The very face that Shelby, Melissa, and Gina saw--the face behind that mask--was none other than Vinessa Haskell, the dean of their college. The defeated madwoman reached into her pocket with her free hand, in spite of warnings from the officers, and tossed a photo at the three girls.

"You... you took him from me."

Shelby picked up the photo, which was revealed to feature Vinessa with a young man they were familiar with: Braden Haskell, Vinessa's son. The photo was from two years prior, but the girls remembered him, and the memories weren't good ones. Braden constantly hit on various girls on campus, including some of the girls in the group. His main target was Shelby, who Braden figured would easily be charmed by him. Shelby politely turned him down, but Braden saw Shelby's refusal as a "tease." The pursuits became relentless to the point of stalking and harassment. Shelby reported Braden, and her friends' horrible experiences with Braden made it an easy case for expulsion.

However, despite the clear evidence against Braden, he had one person in his corner: Vinessa.

"That photo I tossed at them, that was my last photo with my baby boy," Vinessa said as she was hospitalized due to the injuries from the fall. "All Braden wanted was affection. Is that so wrong? Was it so hard for Shelby or any of them to actually give him what he wanted?!"

Roger Devereaux, a lead detective, was speaking with Vinessa at the hospital. "So he decided to stalk the girls and harass them?" he asked, "and you think that's OK?"

"I've seen those girls," Vinessa snarled. "Nothing but hussies who give it up to anyone. Shelby's the worst of them. Passes herself off as being so sweet, but she's nothing but a manipulative liar. She ruined my son's life! She's the reason why I wept while cradling my son after he ended it all. Shelby Hunter took my only child from me!" Vinessa slowly rose up, and later uttered the following in a sinister whisper:

"And with each time I plunged a knife into Shelby's little friends, I felt my baby boy cheering me on."

Vinessa gave a maniacal laugh afterwards, and the deep dive into the dean's insanity uncovered so much. Written journals filled with misogynistic rants. A video diary where Vinessa mentions wanting to eliminate those who "killed" Braden. One video entry showed Vinessa in her full killer gear, stating that she felt powerful and had Braden watching over her. Vinessa recovered enough to stand trial, and Shelby, Gina, and Melissa all testified to what they experienced with Braden. The jury didn't take long to deliberate. Vinessa was convicted in the murders, and the attempted killings, and she received a life sentence.

Vinessa Haskell wasn't the only one who received a life sentence. Shelby Hunter, Gina Winfield, and Melissa Burks had a different type of sentence. They would be haunted by that horrible night, the night where their four friends were viciously taken from them, for as long as they lived. The trio had one advantage--their evil and insane dean would no longer see the light of day. They would, and they would remember their fallen friends fondly, while also living their own lives for them.