Chapter 72 – The Tendency for Violence – Erica Henson

Zoe and I agreed to keep our new information to ourselves for now. She didn’t want to, initially. She was talking about it like it could become her next big scoop. To her, this was just the type of thing she needed to drive people to her repertoire of articles on the school website. Her usual articles were all monotonous and mundane in nature. If she were to publish this information about the story of Malorie Noelle then she’d instantly become famous in our school.

I practically begged her to let me look into the story further before she did anything. If this story was true, then this was what Jackie was trying to hide from the world. This was what she wanted to silence the Occult Club for. This was the reason she had such a strange relationship with some of the people from her high school years. This was the reason that she and Ms. Logan were at odds with one another. They were accomplices to murder.

The complication of that murder was what I couldn’t stop wondering about. Ms. Logan looked to be chummy with Malorie before. What caused her to join this so-called ‘Ritual of Knives’? Was she pressured into it by Jackie? It made sense. Ms. Logan was always unstable and treated Jackie resentfully. Jackie always treated her the same way so I never thought much of it.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve asked Jackie why she didn’t just fire Ms. Logan much earlier on. They must’ve had some sort of agreement. Speaking of which, that ‘agreement’ also helped to clarify the conversation I eavesdropped on between Jackie and Officer Morelli. There was definitely a conspiracy going on, but I didn’t know how far it went. If this had been going on since they were in high school ten years ago then this was a time before Jackie was vice principal and before Angelica Morelli was a police officer. It was almost like…

They took on their roles as damage control.

In these two positions they’d have influence over whatever investigation into Malorie’s case came up. Jackie currently ruled the school all but in name. She was the shadow principal. The real principal was so racked with sickness and old age that he relied heavily on her. He was happy to promote her to the station of vice principal despite her relatively young age, and despite having only been a teacher there for two years. The principal believed that having a vice principal that also attended the school as a student would create a role model for the students.

As for Angelica Morelli, I was less informed. She was allowed to come and go from the school as if she were part of the formal staff. She was more like an ‘outreach’ officer in the sense that she was also acting as a role model. That granted her a unique relationship with the school, something that the other police officers wouldn’t have. Hell, even when I was being interviewed by Detective Richardson, she was there sitting right beside me. This was a role she was playing, and I was beginning to realize that I was one of the ones being played.

My mind was rushing with these thoughts as I walked down the hall. School had been over for a few minutes now and I didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t want to spend more time talking to Zoe about all this. I especially didn’t want to spend more time analyzing Malorie’s diary like she did. The thought of it all was making me queasy.

Jackie was going to be in an afterschool meeting for the next half-hour. I wasn’t even sure if I had the courage to face her so soon after reading about Malorie Noelle. I mean, could I really go home with a potential killer? The thought of it gave me chills. We were so close before. Did I misjudge her this dramatically? I needed someone that I could talk to about this enough to understand where I was coming from.

I wanted to talk to Holly. I was afraid to walk into the library for fear of stumbling into Val. Luckily I arrived just as she was leaving. I was around the corner, down the hall from the walkway as I saw her walking out with Jay. Lilith followed not long after. As I started to go towards the library door, I saw another girl that had been waiting outside the doorway rush in.

Inside, this girl went immediately to the student council room. I followed behind. When I opened the student council room door this girl had practically thrown herself into Holly’s arms, bawling her eyes out. Holly was hugging her back, but in a reserved manner. She tried rubbing her back in a motherly manner as she tried to console her. It had little effect on the crying girl.

“Shh, there, there,” Holly said to the crying girl, “The important thing is that you gave it your all. They may not have let you into the tennis club, but you shouldn’t take it personally. Like they said, they have a limited amount of resources and space. You can continue practicing privately until a spot opens up for you.”

“Will you talk to them for me?”

“I will.” Holly said, “But I don’t think my talking to them will solve this problem. They’re facing this problem with multiple people, not just you. They had an influx of people wanting to join them now that they’re official. Just have patience. They’ll let you join them when they have more equipment for more members.”

“I hope you’re right.” The girl said, wiping her face.

Holly looked over at me.

“Is there something I can help you with, Erica?”

“Actually… I wanted to talk to you privately. If you’re not busy…”

Holly pulled the crying girl away from her and nodded her off. The girl nodded in understanding and turned to walk out. She hardly even gave me a glance as she walked out of the room in great haste. Holly motioned me in. I closed the door as I walked in and then firmly planted myself on the couch.

“It’ll be a few minutes before my ride arrives. So what is you wanted to talk about?” Holly asked.

“It… Well…” I started to say.

It only just dawned on me that I couldn’t bring this up casually. How could I tell someone that the vice principal of the school might be a murderer? Also, the person in question was Holly Hayfield. She was the most moralistic person I knew, which was why I was here seeking her help. I decided that if I was going to talk to her about this then I needed to start the story from a perspective she could easily understand. My discovery of this story started with Megan. That was where I’d start my explanation.

“Remember that video Megan made a while back that got her suspended.”

“I remember.”

“Zoe and I discovered that the video hasn’t exactly been scrubbed from the internet. Someone uploaded it again after it was taken down. Who knows, maybe it was Megan uploading it again as a way to get back at the vice principal? Anyways, that’s not the point. The point is that Zoe and I found a web address in the pamphlet the Occult Club was handing out.”

“You did…?” Holly asked softly.

“The website turned out to be a diary by Malorie, the girl the Occult Club was talking about.”

Holly straightened up her posture.

“Have you talked to Ms. Sampson about this yet?”

“No, she’s in a meeting right now. Besides, I couldn’t bring myself to bring this up to her. That’s why I came here, to you. I thought that if anyone might be able to help me, it would be you.”

“What sort of help do you want?”

“I want you to tell me that I’m overthinking things. You, see there was this list on that website…”

“List…?” She asked curiously. “I don’t know about any list.”

“Jackie’s name was on it, along with several of her friends. It was called the ritual of something or other… The ritual of…”

Holly was giving me a hollow, stark expression that I couldn’t quite read. She almost looked expressionless, but I could see interest beneath this mask. I couldn’t recall the name of the ritual. Holly cleared her throat.

“The Ritual of Knives,” Holly said. “Was that the list you saw?”

I blinked in surprise. I wasn’t expecting her to finish my thought, and then I realized something.

“You’ve seen it!” I said, jumping out of my seat, “You’ve seen the website!”

I put my hands on Holly’s shoulders and she looked away uncomfortably.

“It’s a long story. I didn’t know the list was on the website though. The Occult Club told me and Lilith about…”

She stopped talking mid-sentence.

“You’re positive that the Ritual of Knives was on the website?” She asked.

“I am. It was accompanied by a horrific drawing.”

“What sort of drawing?”

“It was a picture of a dead girl with her mouth stitched up. She was lying inside a coffin surrounded by roses and flowers.”

Holly turned pale as she listened to me.

“I know it sounds unbelievable.” I said, “But I really believe that picture was based off of what happened to the real Malorie Noelle. As you probably realize by now she went missing. It was never explained what happened to her or why she suddenly vanished. I think this ‘Ritual of Knives’ thing might be the cause of her death. I think… I think she was killed.”

Holly listened to me all the way through without interruption. She didn’t challenge anything I was saying. More surprisingly, she didn’t look shocked to be hearing any of this. Instead, she just had a sickened look on her face like she might puke. My descriptions of this dead girl were grim, but not detailed enough to have this sort of overdramatic reaction. Unless…

“You already know.” I said in a quiet, horrified voice.

Holly opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead, she just nodded her head slightly.

“This has something to do with what you all found in the basement, isn’t it?” I surmised, “Jackie, the vice principal, is trying to keep something secret, isn’t she? I know you’re not supposed to talk about that, but please spare me! Tell me I’m not going crazy!”

Holly looked pained to say anything. For a while I thought she would just sit in silence and let me continue berating her with questions. That fear was quelled when she let out a long, exasperated sigh.

“I’m not going to go into details about what I saw. I’m just going to tell you that you’re barking up the right tree, Erica. Down there in the basement we saw something that no student at any school should ever have to see. We saw something that disturbed all of us so much that we went to Ms. Sampson directly about it. She told us to shut our mouths and pretend like we didn’t see anything.”

“But you did see something,” I said sternly. “Jackie alluded to this before as something that could end the school. Back then, I didn’t realize what she was saying, but I think I know now… I know why the basement was off-limits. You saw a grave.”

Holly remained silent. She wasn’t going to risk confirming or denying anything. She probably thought that she couldn’t afford to, considering she was talking to me. Everyone knew I was Jackie’s pet. Holly had probably only said this much to me because I was coming to her so sincerely, and with bits and pieces. Holly must’ve had more of the story, given that she knew so much for so long. Also, what about her counseling sessions with Ms. Logan? Did she ask about Malorie?

I slapped one hand into my face and shook my head. Initially I wanted to talk to Holly and find that I was overreacting due to a lack of information. She had all but confirmed my theories. I was living with a killer. The woman I loved so dearly was a killer. I had overlooked all her worse tendencies because I believed that at the core of her person she had a good heart. I was wrong in the worst way possible and now I felt like a naive idiot.

“Holly…” I said without looking up at her. “What do I do? How do I move on from here? Do I pretend like nothing happened? How did you move on?”

There was a moment of silence as she weighed the seriousness of my question before responding. I could tell she wanted to be as tactful as possible in this situation. She, despite being a student, was this school’s best counselor.

“Seek out more information,” She said, “Right now, you don’t have enough information to make out a full condemnation. Neither of us has the full details of what happened 10 years ago. If she killed someone, then I think your best bet is to find out why? Why did she kill someone? Is she still this person now? More importantly, is she someone you can feel safe to be around?”

I pulled my face out of my hand and looked up at her.

“You’re right. I need to find out more, but I don’t know how.”

“Do you know if she is still in contact with anyone on that list?” Holly asked.

“Actually, now that you mention it, I do. There was this woman she had a heated argument with over the phone a day after the Fall Festival. She was incredibly secretive about it, but I could feel the tenseness of their conversation, although I couldn’t make out what they were saying. She locked me out of her bedroom the entire time they were talking. I thought it was incredibly suspicious.”

“Do you know that person’s name?”

“I do. I checked the call history on her phone when she was asleep. The woman’s name was Vivian Hale.”