Chapter 83 – The Mischievous Girl Strikes Again – Holly Hayfield

The members of the student council were given permission to spend some time out of class to catch up on paperwork. This came as a godsend for us as it allowed us to finally get everything done. Now, from this point on, we wouldn’t be overloaded with paperwork. Ms. Sampson, of course, wasn’t giving us this time out of the kindness of her heart. She still wanted me to get Val to close down her ChatCat group. Unfortunately I wasn’t brave enough to bring the topic up while everyone worked so diligently.

Val and I were the only two left in the student council room now. She was completely spent. She had her arms on the table with her head resting in them. From what I could tell she had been asleep ever since the meeting finished. Sam and Jay returned to their usual morning classes. Lilith went into the library to put away a cart full of books. I stayed behind only to put some finishing touches on the paperwork that required it.

When my work was finished I leaned back in my chair and stretched. Part of me felt like going to sleep just like Val. I seriously considered going over to the student council room’s couch to take a nap. I lightly slapped my cheeks to help keep myself awake. There was still more work to be done. Val still had a couple of papers around her that needed some finishing touches.

I got out of my seat and walked around the table to gather up the papers she had been working on. She, more than anyone else, was pushing herself hard again. It was no surprise that she was so quick to fall asleep. She probably felt responsible for the necessary success of our club system considering she was student council president. Her attitude was admirable, but unhealthy. I wanted to avoid waking her up as I reached down to gather her papers.

Just as I reached out to take one of the papers, Val suddenly grabbed my hand! I nearly jumped out of my skin. Val laughed in return.

“You thought I was asleep, didn’t you?” She said while still laughing.

“I did… Geez, don’t scare me like that.” I said.

Val leaned back in her seat.

“Well, I was asleep for a while. I woke back up when I heard you getting out of your chair.” Valentina said. “So we’re really about to be done with all this, aren’t we?”

“We are.”

She rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms.

“Man, it feels like this is all I’ve been thinking about lately. Well, this and Malorie that is… With our ChatCat growing as it is, it’s hard to ignore everything that’s been going on. I went online this morning and saw that we had almost 10,000 members now.” Val said flatly.

“You don’t sound all that happy about it.”

“I was for a while, but now it’s clear that these people have no interest in the group beyond exchanging conspiracy theories. Malorie’s story is the sole thing driving this growth. A girl goes missing ten years ago and suddenly her former companions died. Then the one teacher that knew all three of these girls well enough to answer questions about the situation killed herself. People are eating it up. The group is far out of our control now.”

I sat down in the chair beside Val.

“You’re not the only one that thinks that.” I said grimly. “It was the main reason Ms. Sampson had me visit her house yesterday. She wants to shut down all the rumors that are spreading by closing down our group. She asked me to personally convince you to do it.”

Val’s expression didn’t change in the slightest as I explained all this.

“I’m not surprised.” Val said. “I’m actually surprised this didn’t come up sooner. Once we cleared the 2,000 person mark I was worried that this might happen.”

“From what Erica tells me, Ms. Sampson had another interview with a police officer after what happened to Ms. Hoffman. It turns out that Erica lives with Ms. Sampson and was there when the police officer visited.” I said.

“I suspected that much.” Val said. “I’ve seen Erica going home with Ms. Sampson whenever our after school meetings run late. At first I thought she was just giving her a ride home, but I’ve also seen her get dropped off by Ms. Sampson in the morning. She used to get dropped off outside the school property, but recently I’ve noticed them change routines.”

“I knew they were close,” I said, “I didn’t know how close.”

“It’s not important. The fact that Erica was willing to tell you this is what’s important. It tells us that Ms. Sampson is under even more fire than before.”

“Erica has been drained by everything that’s been happening also. She was in poor shape when I visited them yesterday. I feel sorry that she…-”

“Don’t,” Val said. “Just don’t. Erica will get over it. Don’t waste your sympathy.”

“I know you how you feel about her, but…”

Val put a finger in front of my lip.

“Let’s just focus on putting the finishing these papers.” Val said. “You get started. I’m going to drive a few blocks down the road and get everyone something nice for lunch. We just hit a major milestone. We should celebrate with something that isn’t cafeteria food.”

I nodded and she moved her hand away.

“That’s a good idea. I’m sure they’ll appreciate that. I know I will.”

Val wasn’t joking when she was talking about celebrating. She bought everyone fried noodles with a side of dumplings and vegetables from an authentic Chinese place down the road. The food took up the entire student council room table. The aromas filled the room. I couldn’t even imagine how she handled this much food while driving her motorcycle.

Everyone was excited to dig in. Only Lilith had reservations, stemming from the smell filling up the library. Jay opened up the windows behind her and Lilith was satisfied. Val waited until everyone was nearly finished to introduce the bad news about the ChatCat group. She stood up and began pacing around the table. Judging by her body language this topic was probably on her mind for some time now.

“Now that the ChatCat group has overflowed with non-student members it looks like our hand is forced.” Val said. “I don’t want to shut it down, but we obviously can’t leave it like it is.”

“I hate this.” Lilith said. “Why should we cave into the vice principal’s demands just like that? Who cares if it isn’t perfect? The important thing about it is that it brings the school together for a common cause! That’s worth protecting!”

“The common cause is Malorie’s tragedy.” Val noted. “Of course Ms. Sampson wants to shut it down. I wanted it to get big, but not this big. This level of attention raises too many eyebrows.”

“That seems like such a bogus excuse.” Sam said, “I’m with Lilith. So what if a few people from outside the school join it? It’s just a random social media group on the internet. There are millions just like it.”

“Actually, they’ve got a point.” Jay said. “Their reasoning wasn’t entirely bullshit. I’ve checked on some of the ChatCat profiles that recently joined the group. There are a lot of older guys there that aren’t even high school students. It’s easy to see how this could spin out of control if they were trying to meet up with high school girls.”

“Well…” Sam started to say, “Yeah, I guess I could see how that might happen. Damn...”

“Ugh,” Lilith groaned, “So she wins again?”

“Maybe not,” I said while still in thought.

Everyone turned to look at me. Val stopped walking around the table and rested her hand on the back of my chair.

“Please tell me that you have a plan.” Val said.

“Not exactly, I just have a theory.” I said. “I don’t think this will pan out exactly how the vice principal suspects it will. Think about it, Sam mentioned that there are millions of social media groups just like this on the internet. There’s absolutely nothing stopping anyone from making a derivative group once our ChatCat disbands.”

“One head is cut off and two more grow in its place!” Lilith said, “That’s perfect! We should make another group under a different name!”

“We don’t need to go that far.” I said. “I’m pretty sure this will happen naturally. It has to. We’re fortunate that Ms. Sampson hasn’t considered this possibility. Otherwise she would’ve asked us to modify the group rules and heavily moderate it as an alternative to deleting it. I think we’ve done our part. We just need to step back and let things unfold.”

“I’ll make peace with that.” Val said. “It’ll be a load off our shoulders anyways. Let Ms. Sampson try chasing down each new group one by one. It’ll keep her hands tied for a while.”

“Should I begin the process of shutting down the ChatCat server?” Jay asked.

“Not yet.” Val said. “We’ll give a formal announcement that we’re shutting down the server tonight and give people time to react. Then, we’ll show Ms. Sampson the formal announcement to show that we’re doing exactly as she wished. By the time we shut it down tonight, several groups will have formed.”

Sam laughed.

“This sounds like malicious compliance if I ever heard it. I love it!”

There was a knock at the student council room door.

“Don’t tell me someone heard that…” Jay said.

“It might be someone that smelled our food.” Lilith said.

“What, you think they’d just come and ask for some?” Sam asked with a sarcastic laugh.

Val was the one to go answer the door since she was still standing up. She opened the door to reveal someone that none of us were expecting. It was Alyssa. She was here without Sofi and holding a black and white cat. Sam immediately pointed at the cat in Alyssa’s arms.

“Hey! It’s Tofu!” Sam said.

“Is that the same stray I always see wandering outside the school?” Jay asked.

“I’ve seen it too.” Lilith said. “It shouldn’t be in here. It’s an outside cat.”

“Umm…” Alyssa said.

“How can we help you?” Val asked.

“Can I come in? There’s something I want to talk about.”

“With me…?” I asked.

“With all of you, actually… It’s about Sofi… Well, it’s about the whole Occult Club…”

Val waved Alyssa forward, ushering her in. Alyssa walked in nervously while Val shut the door behind her. Val pulled up an extra chair for Alyssa. Alyssa sat down in it, her seat being on the opposite end of the table from Sam. She started facing away from us and stroking the cat in quick repetition. Whatever she wanted to say she was clearly having trouble saying it. I was more amazed at seeing her without Sofi. Normally the two were always together.

“What did you want to talk to us about?” Val asked as she sat down in her seat.

“Umm…” Sofi said, while looking around the room.

It was like she was afraid that she might be overheard by the wrong person.

“Come on, Alyssa. You can tell us whatever you need to.” I said. “You’ve made it this far on your own. Whatever you have to say, say it.”

Alyssa exhaled and then inhaled.

“It’s Sofi… I think… I think she’s gone mad.” Alyssa said.

“No surprise there,” Lilith deadpanned.

I lightly flicked Lilith on the forehead.

“Ouch!” Lilith said and covered her forehead.

“Please forgive Lilith. You remember how her last conversation with Sofi went.” I said. “Can you please be more specific?”

“You’ve all probably heard about the murder and suicide that happened over the weekend. The school ChatCat exploded after it happened.” Alyssa said.

“We were just talking about that.” Val said.

Alyssa looked at Val in surprise, then back down at the cat.

“Yeah… Well… It hasn’t worked out well for us. I mean, it made the Occult Club suddenly popular, but it hasn’t worked out well for me. Sofi has a massive group of girls that suddenly want to be her friend to learn more about the mystery.”

“Let me guess, she’s been ignoring you.” Lilith said coldly.

Alyssa’s facial expression drooped, not that she even looked confident to begin with. Lilith really could’ve picked her words better but the point seemed to get across. Judging by Alyssa’s response it was clear that this was exactly what happened. It was sad to hear that considering how close they were before. Alyssa was the one that was able to get Sofi to listen to reason before. How would Sofi behave without Alyssa at her side?

“What’s Sofi up to now?” I asked.

Alyssa looked up at me.

“We got into a bit of an argument. I never like arguing with people so I walked out. She… She told me not to come back. She probably didn’t mean it, but…”

Alyssa’s voice trailed off as she looked down at the cat in her arms.

“I think I get the gist of it.” Val said. “She’s acting out of character because of her new found popularity and you want someone to talk to her?”

“Yes.” Alyssa answered immediately. “For her own sake, as much as mine. I just want my best friend back.”

Jay shook her head in confusion.

“I don’t understand. I thought Holly already dealt with this before? Wasn’t she supposed to keep her distance from this Killing Cat stuff? Is there more to the story that I’m missing?” Jay asked.

“It seems like she didn’t keep her promise.” I said in frustration.

“She did!” Alyssa shouted defensively.

The volume of her voice rose dramatically when she was speaking in Sofi’s defense. It surprised everyone a little to hear the sudden change in tone.

“I mean… She did…” Alyssa said in her usual melancholic tone. “Holly taught Sofi the importance of keeping her identity hidden. Although Sofi was upset about it before, she realized your wisdom.”

This time Sam was the one shaking her head in confusion.

“Then how…?”

“The new Occult Club has become something of a secret society.” Alyssa said. “Sofi set up a new ChatCat group and started bringing in people from the main ChatCat group you made for the school. A lot of those girls aren’t even interested in the occult and paranormal outside of the Killing Cat story. Everyone was told to change their screen name to something no one would recognize. Now we could talk freely without risk of being stopped.”

All the members of the student council shared a look amongst ourselves. This was the type of thing we were expecting to happen once the ChatCat group was shut down. We never would’ve guessed that it was already happening! Alyssa’s testimony was suddenly more valuable to us then she could’ve realized. The troublesome aspect of this was that it was Sofi orchestrating it. She was bound to be difficult once again.

“Could you invite us into this ChatCat group so that we can see this activity for ourselves?” I asked.

“I can’t. Sofi kicked me out after I tried to get her to shut it down. I wanted our Occult Club to just stay me, her, and Jenna. Sofi had other plans.” Alyssa said. “Sofi hasn’t talked to me since our disagreement this past weekend. It’s strange because usually we call or text each other frequently. I don’t want her to move on without me.”

“If she dumped you completely then there’s nothing we can do.” Lilith said. “She’s mean. You’ll be better off without her.”

Val laughed lightly.

“You’re the mean one, Lilith. Doesn’t her story touch your heart at all?” Val asked.

“That’s rich coming from you.” Lilith said.

Val looked over towards Alyssa.

“Your story resonates with me. We’ll help you if we can. Should we just meet her inside her clubroom sometime or…?” Val asked.

“That won’t work.” Alyssa said. “She has taken this anonymity thing seriously. She doesn’t want anyone approaching her about the Killing Cat at school so she hasn’t been to our clubroom today. After our argument, I’m not sure she plans to come back anytime soon. Normally we have a morning meeting and lunch together. I’ve been all alone in the clubroom today.”

“Well that’s depressing.” Sam said frankly.

“It doesn’t sound like there’s a way for us to assist you.” I said. “It’s not like we can confront her between classes. That’d be awkward for everyone.”

“Well… There is a way…” Alyssa said reservedly, “And I know I’d be asking a lot…”

“What is it?” Val asked.

“According to what Jenna told me, they’re holding an anonymous meeting today, exactly two hours after school ends.” Alyssa said. “As long as we stay under cover then we can infiltrate the group. I’m too afraid to do it alone.”

“You’re right, that is asking a lot.” Jay said. “I won’t be able to attend that. I’ll be babysitting tonight.”

“I’ll help you.” Val said. “Just give me some time to drop my things off at my place and we’ll meet up somewhere.”

“I’ll go too.” Holly said. “I’ll need to handle some chores and leave a note for my mom before I go out.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help. I have plans with Naomi and the girls.” Sam said.

“Pass,” Lilith said. “I think you’ll understand if I sit this one out.”

“Then it looks like it’s just me and Holly.” Val said. “We’ll help you talk to Sofi.”

“Good, then there’s just a couple of things we need in order to get into this meeting.” Alyssa said. “Do you two still have your mask and robe from the Fall Festival?”