wow okay this took me three years to answer honestly rip me :(( but in an alternate universe, where riley would have survived, i really believe that riley would go on a downward spiral mentally & emotionally. before the attack, riley was possibly the nicest one in her group of friends, the most trusting, & unafraid of branching out. as far as mental health goes, it can be assumed that riley is stable & happy —- at least, until the murders. when riley’s attack happened, riley was convinced that it was tyler who had been committing the murders. she died thinking that one of her closest friends was the one who’d attacked & killed her. 

had riley survived the attack, i honestly believe everything about her would’ve shifted. almost like someone flipped a switch —— she’d be the exact opposite of the person we got to know because trauma’s change people. & when they change people, it’s either a good change or a bad change, but in my heart of hearts, i know her change would’ve been extremely negative. as i said above, riley was trusting ( i guess you could say a little too trusting ) too nice & not afraid to go after what she wanted. but when you go through a trauma, any type, not just this one, it can turn you into someone else. the attack would have triggered a switch for her & in my opinion, made her the complete opposite of what she was before. most likely very short tempered, distrusting & withdrawn. probably not too sure of herself at all. there would be a lot of self blame ; she would have beat herself up for trusting tyler ( until she learns that he isn’t the killer ), not listening to emma when she advised her to stay put, and ultimately, would probably put the blame on herself for what happened. also there would, most likely, be guilt, especially when other people who are attacked don’t make it out like she did. as well as that, there would have been a lot of withdrawing from people who had once been influential in her life, including friends and family. being the only one to have gone through an encounter like that in your core group of friends no doubt can lead to feelings of loneliness, isolation, and detachment. as much as she understands that they wanna help her and that they’re there for her, it would have been harder than ever for riley to identify with them —— which, might i add is a symptom of ptsd, which i believe riley would have developed after the attack. anyway this got really long and i dont really like it, but maybe i’ll elaborate more on it in the future ?? idk