Chapter 82 – The Silent Witness – Erica Henson

All the lights in my bedroom were off this evening. My covers were cocooned around me like I was trying to insulate myself from the world. I lay motionless in my bed, too unsettled to close my eyes and go to sleep. Everything that happened to me the night before felt so unreal that I was having trouble accepting that it actually happened. Yet, despite my refusal to accept reality, the consequences persisted.

After making it to the convenience store without Vivian Hale I did exactly what I said I would do. I made an anonymous call to the police. After that, I promptly returned home using the same rideshare service that I used before. The new driver was a middle-aged woman that seemed worried about my current state. She noted that I looked like I was in trouble. She asked me if I was well and wanted to know if I was attacked. In a quiet voice, I could only tell her that I wanted to go home and go to sleep.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night. I drifted in and out of consciousness with images of the bloodied Vivian haunting me. Even though I didn’t see her die I could still hear her screams of agony. All night I put my hands over my ears to try suppressing the thought. In the end I hardly got any rest. What little rest I did get was hampered by those dark memories.

Jackie didn’t return home until sometime in the morning. She popped into my bedroom to let me know she was back. When she sat down on the bed and reached out to me for affection I lied to her by telling her I felt sick. Truthfully, I didn’t want to let her close enough to see just how much I was shaking beneath my covers. I didn’t want her to see the look on my face, so I hid beneath my blanket. A few fake coughs were enough to send her away.

And so I stayed like that throughout all Saturday, up until the moment that I heard Jackie shouting in the master bedroom. Going by the bits and pieces of what I could gather, she was just now hearing about the death of Vivian Hale. She was talking to someone, or maybe multiple people, over the phone. Her voice was racing, like they were trying to come up with some idea of how it happened. She had no clue.

I was the only one that saw how Vivian Hale died.

I was the only person that saw how Ms. Logan died! Twice now, I was in the wrong spot at the right time to be witness to murder! More than that, this so-called Killing Cat used me to commit one of those murders! I felt so angry and ashamed. I felt helpless and used. Had I not gone to speak to her in that alleyway might she still be alive today?

I didn’t know. I felt like I didn’t know anything anymore. I just wanted to stay here, resting beneath my covers for as long as I could. After a few hours and several phone calls later, Jackie came into my bedroom. She turned on the light and came to sit down on my bed next to where I was laying. She let out an exhausted sigh and put one hand on my forehead.

“You’re still shaking.” Jackie said. “Do you feel chilly in here? Should I turn up the heat?”

“I’ll be fine.” I whispered, without fully coming from beneath the covers.

“I guess you probably heard me in the other room, huh?” She asked.

I didn’t say anything back, but nodded my head enough that she could see my response. I was still too afraid to face her. Part of me felt like she’d see through me if I turned her direction. I didn’t want that. For now I just wanted to be opaque and self-contained.

“A lot has happened apparently.” She said. “One of my former classmates was killed… I have no idea how, but the police are saying that it was some sort of brutal stabbing. Because of the nonsense with Abby, they want to talk to me again. An officer will be coming by in the morning for an interview.”

Her voice sounded strained. I could feel that she was going through a lot of difficulties of her own. I slowly lowered my cover so that I could turn and look at her. She gave me a pained smile and put one hand on my cheek.

“You still look unwell.” She said. “You must’ve caught something when you went to your friend’s house. It was pretty cold out last night, wasn’t it? I’ll bring you some medicine.”

“I don’t want any.” I said. “I’ll be okay. I just want some rest.”

She brought her hand down to my knee and gave me a comforting pat.

“Alright,” She said. “If you change your mind just give me a shout. I’ll be tidying up the place for our visitors tomorrow.”

“Visitors…?” I asked, “Will it be more than one officer?”

“It’ll be just the one, actually.” Jackie said. “In the afternoon Angel and Holly will be coming over.”

This caught my attention. I turned my body towards her to face her fully.

“Why them…?” I asked.

“Angel and I have a lot to discuss now that our former classmate is dead.” Jackie said. “And Holly… Well, I’m going to need Holly’s help for dealing with the student body. She’s proved herself useful. I need her to step up to the plate again.”

“Holly is coming here, to our home?”

“If you feel you aren’t in shape to talk to her then you can just stay here in your room.” Jackie said. “You don’t have to invite her in here if you aren’t comfortable with it.”

“No, it’s fine. That’s good, actually. I want to talk to Holly too.” I said. “I should be in better shape by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay, just focus on getting some rest for now.” She said as she got up. “I’ll bring you some soup later. If you need anything just call.”

“I will.” I said.

She turned out the light and closed the door as she left. I pulled my blankets back up and returned to my thoughts. It was actually comforting to know that Holly was coming over soon. I wanted to talk to someone other than Zoe about this. Zoe, after the vague message I gave her yesterday about where I was and why, was constantly texting me. I tried answering some of her questions but she was bombarding me with too much. Eventually I had to silence my cell phone just to tone it out.

The next morning a police officer arrived for an interview just as Jackie said they would. This particular police officer didn’t look much like a police officer. She looked more like a social worker or professional administrator of some sort. She was wearing an expensive looking suit and carrying a suitcase and laptop. I watched her from the hallway as she came in, but was asked to stay in my room while the interview was conducted. Apparently this officer lady would be recording the entire interview and didn’t want Jackie to be distracted.

So I sat up in my bed inside my room and listened in from a distance. It was hard to make out exactly what was being said but Jackie’s tone was clear. She was deeply emotional about this, bouncing between anger and sorrow. She wasn’t pained by Vivian Hale’s death. She was pained by the fact that it made her much more questionable. Jackie was still professionally reserved for most of the conversation.

That was until she began shouting almost out of nowhere. Even I could hear what was being said now. Jackie was trying to make clear that she had nothing to do with Ms. Logan, Vivian Hale, and Dianna Hoffman. This police officer reminded Jackie of her past relation to them, and how suddenly and brutally these deaths have occurred. Jackie wasn’t having it. Whatever politeness she had before was completely thrown out the window. After that display, the police officer promised they’d reconvene at a different date. She took her leave, probably judging Jackie far more harshly after that emotional outburst.

I went into the living room with my blanket still wrapped around me. Jackie was sitting on the couch in a leaned-forward position with her face in her hands. This was the first time I had ever seen her so hurt and vulnerable. She always went through such great lengths to appear strong before everyone, even to me. I casually sat down beside her and wrapped her into my blanket. She accepted my hug and leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. Despite everything, despite all the secrets and concerns, I was glad to be by her side in this moment. She had helped me out so much after I ran away from home that I was happy to return my support.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang once again, but this time it was Angel. For the first time ever I was seeing her in casual clothing and not her usual police uniform. Without the uniform it’d be impossible to guess that this person could even pass as a police officer. Even by the way she carried herself she somehow felt like any random person you’d meet off the street. Holly by comparison carried herself gracefully, like each step was measured. Just the way she seemed to radiate with the sunlight shining on her as she walked through door felt majestic. I felt slightly embarrassed sitting on the couch in my pajamas with my blanket wrapped around me, my hair a sleepy mess.

Jackie ushered them into our living room and they both took a seat. Holly smiled warmly at me and the embarrassment I was feeling evaporated away as I smiled back at her. She was decent person. She probably wouldn’t care about my current messy look. I keep putting myself into her shoes and thinking about how I would feel in her position. Whenever I think like that I tend to judge myself far harsher. Holly could be critical in a constructive sense, but never that personally judgmental. I was grateful for that much.

“I’m glad you both could make it.” Jackie said. “Let me get straight to why I had you brought here, Holly. You’re going to do something for me and you’re not going to like it.”

Holly quickly restrained a pained smile.

“Yeah, I already got the feel that was the case. What is it this time?” Holly asked.

“You’re going to convince Valentina to delete her ‘Meredith Solidarity’ ChatCat group.” Jackie said.

“What?” Holly and I both asked.

Jackie looked between us.

“During all this that ChatCat group has grown like wildfire.” Jackie said. “It’s dangerous to have so many students in such a large, poorly moderated environment. We can’t have them continuing to spread misinformation that might be detrimental to the school’s reputation.”

“That’s not all.” Angel said, “That group has over six thousand members now. That means people from outside the school are joining it. Considering the demographics of our school, if unknown strangers use this group as a way to get close to students then things could go badly. There’s always the risk of stranger-danger in these types of student organizations. The fact that this ChatCat is growing so rapidly is a red flag. It’s best to shut it down before it can be used by potential predators.”

Holly and I shared a look. I couldn’t say what Holly was thinking, but I knew that she wasn’t taking this lightly. She was seriously considering the things that Jackie and Angel were saying. It was no surprise that Jackie came to Holly with this instead of Val. Val would’ve probably immediately dismissed the idea without a second thought. ChatCat was a private company after all. The school’s ability to get a student to shut down such a chat group was dubious at best.

“I think those are good points.” Holly said. “Valentina won’t like hearing this.”

“That’s why I trust you with this.” Jackie said. “You’re more mature than a lot of girls you’re age. I know you understand the concerns that such a group might face, especially in times like this.”

“If I’m going to sell it to Valentina somehow then she’ll likely want some sort of alternative.” Holly said. “The whole point of the group was to encourage unity amongst the school. That was one of the things she ran her student council campaign on. It’s why so many students look to us for support.”

“How about this,” Jackie said, “You get her to remove that ChatCat group, and I’ll talk to the principal about increasing the student council’s budget. You all have already done so much that it’ll be easy to convince him.”

That was the most straightforward bribe that I had ever heard. She hardly even bothered to veil it as some sort of reward for their hard work. I looked over at Holly. Again, Holly was deeply considering this. She put one finger on her chin and nodded.

“Hmm… I may be able to convince her if she feels that the Student Council has more to gain from this than it has to lose. She’ll ask for details and specifics.” Holly said.

“Right, I’ll give those to you after I have this conversation with the principal.” Jackie said. “There’s one more thing that I want your help with. This one might be just as difficult.”

“I’m almost scared to ask.” Holly said.

“I need you to create another event of some sort.” Jackie said. “Your Club Recruitment day helped take everyone’s minds off of school troubles for a while. I need another way of getting the student body to relax.”

She wanted a distraction. Holly wasn’t stupid, she realized this also. Holly was used to dealing with people and could easily read between the lines here.

“That’s not a small favor. The Club Recruitment day took a lot of work. We still have a backlog of associated paperwork to fill out. We’ve had to create new policies and systems for making sure school supplies are used properly and that facilities are shared. I don’t know if we can do something else on that level again.”

“We need something else, anything.” Jackie said. “And it needs to be soon, probably before Thanksgiving vacation in a few weeks.”

Holly looked from Jackie to Angel.

“You’d be doing your school a massive favor, kid.” Angel said. “Think about how stressed out people must be with all this bad news in the media. Your fellow students need you.”

“Think of this as another opportunity to encourage unity.” Jackie said. “You’ll be getting more money for the student council and you’ll be able to use it soon for whatever event you come up with.”

Holly looked at me. I shrugged.

“I guess if anyone can come up with something it’ll be you and the student council.” I said.

Holly sighed.

“I can’t promise fantastic results but I’ll see what I can do.” Holly said. “I’ll need to talk to the girls about this after the ChatCat situation is sorted out.”

“That’s a start.” Jackie said. “We’ll talk about this again after you’ve gone through things with Val and the student council. Also, there are some more people I’d like you to interview this upcoming week.”

“You’re not making this easy on me.” Holly said unenthusiastically.

“Trust me. This week won’t be easy on me either.” Jackie said. “I know I’m asking a lot, but you’ll be doing the school a massive service. You’ll be rewarded for all the effort you’ve put in, I promise. For now, why don’t you go and talk privately with Erica? There are a few things I’d like to discuss alone with Angel.”

Holly and I looked at each other. I stood up from out of my seat.

“Come on, I’ll show you to my room.”

“Okay,” Holly said as she got up to follow.

Holly was quiet the entire time I led her to my bedroom. She probably didn’t even want to be here today. Jackie was benefitting massively from the internship agreement she made with Holly. I sensed that Holly felt some resentment towards that. Considering the fact that she was brought here on a weekend to handle Jackie’s problem made it easy to see. So I could understand why she wasn’t exactly forthcoming.

Since she was already strained I didn’t want to impose on her too much as I brought her into my room. Yet, I still wanted to talk to her about the things that had happened to me. How could I even begin to talk to her about that? Would she believe what I did over the weekend? I hardly even believed it myself and I was there. If I was going to talk to her about this then I needed to be vague. I’d spare her any details about where I was or what I was doing and just ask her for emotional advice.

Holly was looking at the doll collection on my shelf. I sat down on the bed and watched her.

“Can I ask you about something…?” I asked. “It’s something personal.”

It was a bit embarrassing to bring it up like this. Inside my room this felt far less formal. It was easier to seek counseling from her when we were in the student council room. When we talked privately like this in my own home it felt like I was coming to her as a friend. In this case, I sort of was, but it was hard for me to admit that sort of thing to myself. I rarely had people like that in my life that I could talk to on this level.

“Sure.” She said without reservations. “I don’t mind. You can talk to me about anything. Actually, I was happy to come back here. I get the feeling Ms. Sampson has even more in store for me.”

“Sorry that you have to put up with all that.”

“There’s no reason for you to be apologizing.” She said. “I was the one that made the decision to go through with the vice principal’s plans. I’ll pay the price. I’ll reap the rewards. What was it you wanted to ask me about?”

I put my hands together and fiddled my fingers together.

“Something happened to me recently,” I said, “Something that I’m not sure what to do about… I guess you could say I’ve been avoiding dealing with it.”

Holly came over and sat down beside me on the bed.

“Oh…?” Holly asked.

“I know that’s vague, but please understand that I’m not comfortable talking about it just yet.”

“That’s okay. It’s common for people to withhold personal details in these types of things. Just tell me whatever you feel like.”

“I mostly just want your advice.”

“What sort of advice?”

“I’m not sure how I should continue after what happened to me. There’s something heavy that’s been weighing on my mind ever since it happened. I can’t shake the feelings that are associated with it. I’m having trouble sleeping and I just can’t clear my head! What do I do? How do I let go of it?”

Putting it into words was difficult for me. I wasn’t even sure if I correctly got my point across while being this vague. However, Holly didn’t complain. She just thought about it for a moment then nodded her head. She put one hand on mine.

“Maybe I don’t know exactly what you’re going through but no matter the situation I’d just say to look after yourself. There are still plenty of things I can’t let go of. At one point I felt like my own struggles would overwhelm me. After making some new friends I discovered that things don’t have to be so bad. While my pain from the past is still there, I’ve been slowly healing as time passes by. Maybe that’s what will happen to you. You just have to find a constructive outlet that will help you relieve stress. As much as I complain about my student council work it really does help keep my mind focused on the present.”

“I can’t really say what my constructive outlet would be. I’m in the newspaper club but maybe I joined up for the wrong reasons. I guess it at least gives me some place to start. Thanks. I’ll try focusing on something else for now. I guess there’s no point in stressing myself out over a situation I have no control over.”

“Speaking of which, I was planning to study today. Maybe while I’m here…”

“Let’s study together.” I said. “That’s one way to take my mind off of things.”