Chapter 64 – The Abyss Stares Back – Erica Henson

It was just three of us sitting in the otherwise empty school cafeteria. Officer Angelica Morelli was sitting right beside me with her hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. Detective Keith Richardson was taking notes on my explanation of Friday night. I had already given my initial testimony that night when the police arrived, but they sent everyone home once a flood of concerned parents arrived. All the images from that night still felt so vivid and alive to me. When I closed my eyes and imagined Ms. Logan’s warm blood still on my hands I began to shake. Officer Morelli rubbed my shoulder.

“So you think this masked person looked like another girl from the school?” Detective Richardson asked.

I shook my head and gave a slight shrug.

“I don’t know... Like I said, it was dark. It looked like a feminine silhouette, but I’m not sure. I could hardly even make out Ms. Logan before I got any closer.”

“You said it was a cat mask? Do you remember seeing a mask like it before you went outside?” He asked.

“There were a lot of cat masks in the gym last night. This one wasn’t like any of those, though. This one had glowing eyes.”

Detective Richardson wrote that into his little notebook. Officer Morelli removed her hand from my shoulder before speaking.

“Did this person say anything to you? What did they do when they saw you?”

“She pretended like I didn’t even exist.” I said. “That person, whoever they were, obviously wasn’t interested in me. The moment I walked into the scene she got up and walked away.”

“How tall was this person?” The detective asked. “What was their build like?”

“They might’ve been about my height, give or take a few inches. As for her build, I can’t say. The person was wearing one of the Fall Festival robes.”

Detective Richardson nodded to Officer Morelli.

“Maybe we could interview all the girls wearing one of these robes.”

Officer Morelli shook her head.

“I wouldn’t count on it. There may have been over a hundred of those robes. Whoever did this had the perfect opportunity to hide themselves amongst the student population. It makes me think this was premeditated.” Officer Morelli said.

“We can’t rule anything out yet.” Detective Richardson said, “This could’ve been in the heat of the moment. There was that confrontation with the vice principal. Couldn’t she have sent a sympathetic student after Ms. Logan?”

“No.” Officer Morelli said firmly. “I had Jackie under control by the time Erica was leaving the gym to go after Abby.”

Detective Richardson tapped his notebook in thought.

“With all due respect Angelica, your close relationship with these two women might be detrimental to my investigation. You did go to school with the two of them after all, correct?”

“That’s correct.”

“You have no personal bias between Abigail Logan and Jackie Sampson?” He asked.

“I don’t. I’ve always cared about both of them. Both of them have had a history of being quick to anger. In fact, this isn’t the first time I’ve broken up a fight between them. I don’t believe Abby’s murder stemmed from that fact.”

“Isn’t it oddly convenient though?” Detective Richardson asked, “That Logan would be murdered only minutes after their confrontation?”

“Ms. Logan was drinking alcohol before she came to talk to Ms. Sampson.” I said in Jackie’s defense, “She’d never have her killed, especially not over something so petty.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t dismiss the possibility so easily.” Detective Richardson said, “Logan was fired earlier that day, according to the testimony Ms. Sampson gave Friday night. Until I get more information to prove otherwise, she will stay my main suspect.”

They dismissed me from the cafeteria once Detective Richardson was finished taking his notes. I felt ashamed that I couldn’t give them any useful information. I felt ashamed about the entire situation in general. I never really liked Ms. Logan but I felt like she still deserved better. At this rate it looked like whoever killed her was going to get away with murder.

To make things worse, we had trouble getting in contact with her family. Officer Morelli explained the situation to me and Jackie when she arrived to school in the morning. All her listed emergency contacts left with the school were out of date. Our only means of communicating with her family was through social media. That was a horrible way to be informed of a family member’s murder.

The more I thought about it I felt crushed by the weight of the situation. I almost couldn’t believe it. I had to keep telling myself throughout the day that she was dead. I couldn’t go to class after being interviewed by the police. They didn’t even tell me to. Instead, I decided I’d go and talk to Jackie about things. That was a non-option. She was undergoing a police interview of her own. When I arrived into the main office there was a police officer sitting there instead of an office assistant.

Not knowing what to do, I began wandering the school. My wandering led me to the history hallway that Ms. Logan used to teach in. The door to her classroom was already open with the light on. I walked in expecting to find a police officer looking for clues, as they were an hour earlier. Instead, I found Holly Hayfield. She was laying a bouquet of flowers on Ms. Logan’s desk. Her face was filled with emotion, and she was just standing there absentmindedly.

“Holly…?” I asked as I walked in.

She jumped in surprise. She probably didn’t even hear me come in. She spun around with a startled look on her face. I could see darkened lines on her face left over from where tears trailed down her cheeks.

“Were… Were you giving her flowers from your garden…?” I asked softly.

“No,” Holly said with a slight smile. “My flowers won’t be blooming for quite some time. My mom bought these flowers from the store before dropping me off at school this morning.”

“You probably wanted to be alone, right…?”

“Its fine, I was just finishing up here.” Holly said, “I was going to go back to the student council room.”

She started for the door. The moment she walked by me I took her by the hand. She looked back at me, curious.

“You did counseling for Ms. Logan, didn’t you?” I asked.

“I did…”

“Do you think you could give me some counseling?”

She smiled softly and nodded.

“Let’s sit down.” She said.

We closed the classroom door for some privacy. All of Ms. Logan’s former students were attending class in another classroom with a substitute teacher. We had this room to ourselves. We took a seat near the windows. Holly sat in the desk in front of me, and I laid my head down against the desk behind her. It was difficult to find the words to convey my feelings and so Holly promised to wait patiently.

“It was my fault.” I finally said. “If I could have only stopped her from going into those woods after she fought with Ms. Sampson then maybe she’d still be here. Or maybe if I could’ve stopped them from fighting even before that…”

“It isn’t your fault…” Holly said.

“Don’t try to convince me that-…”

“It’s mine.” Holly said. “My counseling sessions with Ms. Logan failed miserably. I thought I could save her from all the suffering she had been going through for years. I thought that I could come in and help her forget all that pain. I was wrong. I overestimated myself.”

“Still, at least you tried your best.” I said, “I always just treated her like an annoyance.”

“My best wasn’t good enough.” Holly said while staring blankly into the distance. “While counseling her I was thinking that this might be something I wanted to do professionally. Ms. Logan was my first client in that regard, and I failed. Now I’m left wondering if I can really help anyone walk the right path.”

“I hope you don’t stop helping people over this.” I said. “You helped me talk to Val and I’m grateful for that, even if things didn’t go the way I hoped. Other students might need your help after what happened to Ms. Logan.”

“I know,” Holly said. “The school is grim and quiet this morning. Hardly anyone says a word between classes. People are having trouble handling their grief. Ms. Logan wasn’t well liked, but she was a part of our lives. That’s something that takes a toll on everyone that knew her, regardless of how they felt.”

“Are the flowers how you handle your grief?” I asked her.

“Partly, I suppose.” Holly said. “I found myself praying last night for the first time in years. I’m not really religious, but I prayed for a long time before I went to bed. I prayed that I’d like for Ms. Logan to be in a better place now. She is at peace I suppose. I hope that if there really is an afterlife then she’ll have a better chance to be happy there.”

“I could hardly even sleep over the weekend.” I said. “I stayed up most of last night and only got a short nap in before it was time to go to school. I couldn’t stay home because I was supposed to talk to the police officers again for all the good it did. I wasn’t able to tell them anything useful.”

“You shouldn’t be so down on yourself. You didn’t fail Ms. Logan. You did what you could.” She said.

“I know, but I feel like I failed her by not taking control of the situation back in the gym. I know it’s stupid to think what-if about everything, but this is one of those few times that I wonder what if things went slightly differently? It’s hard to escape the feeling of guilt.”

Holly put one of her hands onto mine.

“That feeling of guilt means you really care about this.” Holly said. “That’s proof that the things Val said about you before aren’t all true, Erica. You still have a heart capable of caring about others around you. Maybe Val doesn’t see it, but you shouldn’t ever doubt this yourself.”

This, for the first time, felt like someone was lifting me up in a way I never felt worthy of. She was coming at this from a totally different, positive perspective. For the moment, a feeling of warmth washed over my feelings of anguish.

“Thank you, Holly…” I said softly. “That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Maybe if you can somehow show Val these types of honest feelings then she’d be willing to take you back as a friend.” Holly said.

“Maybe…” I said.

“If you don’t mind me asking, did Ms. Logan say anything to you before she passed away?” Holly asked.

“She just said ‘She’s back’ or something along those lines. I don’t know what she meant.”

“Who does that refer to?” Holly asked.

“I don’t know… That’s the troubling part.”

“Did you tell the police about her final words?”

“I didn’t think it was important. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Maybe, maybe not… It’s worth looking into.”

Holly got up and stretched. It looked like she was getting ready to leave so I got up too. We left the classroom together, with Holly being the last one out. She slowly closed the door, turning out the lights and looking inside solemnly one last time. She shut the door gently and then nodded at me. We started walking away from the classroom together.

“Are you going back to the student council room?” I asked.

“No, actually,” Holly said. “You gave me an idea while we were talking about the grieving students. There’s something I need to see Ms. Sampson about.”

“Then we’re headed the same direction. The last time I was there she was still busy talking to the police. We might end up waiting a while.”

“Then we’ll just have to wait. What I have to say to her will make the wait worthwhile.”

As we arrived to the main office Jackie was just getting out of a meeting with two police officers. They were leaving her office as Holly and I were coming in. Jackie looked drained of all her energy. She was sitting in her office chair like she might simply melt into it and fade away. I could see she was tired of keeping up appearances in front of the cops. She didn’t even change her broken expression as Holly and I walked in together.

“Close the door,” She said as we came into her office.

I closed the door behind me while Holly took a chair in front of Jackie’s desk.

“This better be important Ms. Hayfield. I’m really not in the mood for…”

“It is.” Holly said, “Erica and I were just talking about the grieving students.”

Jackie shrugged.

“What about them? I’ve got problems of my own if you can’t tell. The police think I had Abby killed. Those damned ingrates! They have no idea how much work I put into managing that woman! We got into one argument during the fall festival, ONE! They think that is enough for me to have her assassinated!”

Jackie was fuming with anger. The glow of life returned to her reddened face as she spoke emotionally. She wasn’t upset at losing Ms. Logan. She was upset that she was being suspected for it. Jackie sighed heavily and tried to relax back into her chair. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Then she opened her eyes and gave Holly an exhausted look.

“So why are you here? Please make it quick. I only have so long before they come back for more questions.”

Holly straightened out her posture before going on.

“I’d like to have an assembly called this afternoon.” Holly said. “The school is in a state of despair and I think the correct way to deal with that is to get things out in the open. We need to talk to the students about Ms. Logan’s unfortunate passing and properly wish her farewell. This will help them feel a sense of closure.”

Jackie raised an eyebrow and rolled her shoulders.

“I don’t know if that’s possible Holly. I’m really busy right now… I…”

“I plan to give the main speech.” Holly said quickly, “I’ve already got a few ideas of what I want to write. I just need to begin drafting out a final version. If this happens about an hour after lunch then I’ll have more than enough time. Also, it’ll do well to help get the police off your back. If you speak about your friendship with Ms. Logan in front of the school then they may be more lenient.”

Jackie perked up at this. It sounded like Holly knew how to speak her language. Jackie sat up straight in her seat now.

“I’ll let you go through with this but I need you to write a good speech for me too. I’ll start making this official right now. Erica, write up an intercom announcement for an assembly in the gym at 1pm.”