Chapter 84 – Beneath the Mask – Erica Henson

My intuition told me that I wouldn’t get answers from the doll in the Occult Club’s lair, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying. Ever since that unforgettable Saturday night I had been screaming into the void trying to get an answer out of that person. They never responded to anything I said over ChatCat. Eventually my messages were rejected altogether. The application gave me an error message saying that the user had deleted their account. This signaled to me that this Killing Cat tucked tail and ran.

I went alone to the Occult Club hallway to confront the Nyx doll during lunch. First, I went into the same room that I initially met the doll in. No one was there. There was no tripwire, no light bulb or lighting at all, and certainly no doll. I knew now that this whole façade was constructed solely for my benefit. Feeling frustrated, I ran down the hall to the Occult Club’s main room. There was no one there either. In a fit of rage I knocked down one of their stupid Tiki mask decorations from its resting spot on the wall.

I went to the Newspaper Clubroom and immediately kicked Michelle out so that I could speak to Zoe alone. Zoe was ready to argue over that, but I threw myself into her and explained the entire dilemma. The answers she had been begging for over the phone were finally given in a long-winded confession of everything that happened over the weekend. She sat down in her chair and thought about all this. She gave me the idea of joining this new secretive ChatCat group that was forming. The group was called ‘Truth of the Killing Cat’, but according to rumor was operated by the Occult Club. Apparently Zoe was running an investigation of her own into the Occult Club after the news on Saturday.

Zoe saw this group as a natural follow up to the rapid growth of Malorie Noelle’s story amongst the student body. I saw this opportunity as a chance to zero in on the identity of the Killing Cat. I felt like the killer had to be amongst them. I didn’t know Sofi and Alyssa all that well, but I knew Sofi well enough to know that she was on the cuckoo side of things. Did that mean she had the appetite to kill another human person? Maybe, maybe not, I’d need to really talk to her before I came to that conclusion. There was always the chance that she wasn’t the killer herself, but in cahoots with someone that was. Either way, I still needed a way to get close to her. I needed an in.

My in came when two members of this ‘Truth of the Killing Cat’ ChatCat group announced a meeting. At first people were ambivalent about having a real life meeting, especially when they went through such lengths to ensure anonymity in the ChatCat. Firstly, they didn’t allow people with recognizable screen names to join the ChatCat group. I couldn’t even join it on my main account. We had to use Zoe’s alternate account. Secondly, each of these accounts couldn’t be new. They had to be 1 month old at least.

With measures like that it left everyone wondering about why these two random members were talking about a live meet-up. Then a single picture was posted with a cryptic message. The picture was an expensive looking dagger and a matching sheath that looked like something out of a fantasy film. The message accompanying the picture gave some context.

“This is one of the knives used in the Ritual of Knives. Come listen to the owner of this knife speak. The meeting starts two hours after school. You’ll be told where it takes place in one hour. Wear your mask and robe from the Fall Festival. This message will not be repeated.”

This sounded exactly like something the Nyx doll would say! Could this be another setup? Would the Killing Cat really try something with so many witnesses in sight? Also, what was with the picture of the dagger? The weapons that the Killing Cat used against Vivian were all makeshift weapons. The dagger featured in this picture looked like an expensive movie prop. Maybe this was another façade just to get people to come. In that case, I’d go to this thing but stay undercover.

Zoe was only too happy to join me in this plan, considering I left her out of my last one. The organizers never gave us the name of the meeting place, only a picture. Worse, this was a picture from the inside of the building. The setting almost looked like it could’ve been from the inside of our school, however, something was off. The amount of storm damage in the ceiling of this building was too extreme even for our school. Our school’s ceiling was made out of a strong tiling material which helped negate the weather damage at least somewhat. This building, however, looked like it had survived bombing from an air raid.

I couldn’t make heads or tails of this image. Zoe was able to recognize it. She said it was the defunct recreational center that her sister used to go to. When I realized the building she was talking about, I had to give the organizers credit for their choice. This was a building that enough people would know about to likely recognize, and wasn’t far from the school. The rec center was on the border of the Western Heights Shopping District. The recreational center was once a popular establishment for kids and younger teens.

In an area of new buildings and recently remodeled buildings, the rec center stood out like a sore thumb. The former owner had to shut it down do to health code concerns after it turned out the buildings asbestos insulation was causing people to become sick. Funding and support were pulled from the facility, causing it to quickly go bankrupt. The owner couldn’t resell it because of the health hazard and the city has been reluctant to allow the building to be demolished, fearing that toxic dusk would blanket the ever popular Western Heights Shopping District. So now the abandoned building sits in purgatory, unable to be repurposed or destroyed.

“This place is a shithole.” Zoe said as we walked into the building.

There was no lighting in the building other than the broken windows and Swiss cheese holes in the roof. We had our own flashlights with us, suspecting that this would be the case.

“What the hell is that smell? Did something die in here?” Zoe asked.

I turned my flashlight against the walls of the hallway and scanned the area.

“It looks like some raccoons have been living here. Or maybe these are possum scratches…” I said.

“Gross,” Zoe said with one hand over her nose. “You think they could’ve picked a worse place than this? Why not just hold this little get-together at the school? Why jump through all these hoops just for the theatrics?”

“I think you answered your own question. You know how the Occult Club is. You’ve seen their hallway, haven’t you?” I said. “Besides, I’m guessing they had to distance themselves so that they couldn’t be called out by the vice principal again. If a number of girls were suddenly heading over to the Occult Club hallway everyday then that sort of activity would draw teacher attention quickly.”

“That’s true. It’s just a pain that-…”

A piece of the ceiling suddenly came crashing down. I pulled Zoe away from the falling material.

“Look out!” I shouted, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

Zoe stumbled back and just barely managed to avoid being hit by a shower of dusts and asphalt roof tiles.

“Ugh!” Zoe said with her hand still over her nose, “Let’s hurry up and get this over with before one of us gets killed.”

“Agreed,” I said. “We still don’t know which room the meeting is being held in.”

“Let’s just listen for the sound of scheming and conspiracy.” Zoe said.

“Fair enough,” I said.

Neither one of us was thrilled to be skulking through this dark unused building. It wasn’t the creepy atmosphere that was worrying me, but the obvious health concern. We couldn’t stay in this building for long. If it was making people sick years ago, then the situation could only become worse over time now that the place was falling apart on its own. The lingering dust particles in the air were a hazard.

We put on our Fall Festival masks early, hoping to negate at least some of these harmful particles. I was wearing the same pink rabbit mask that I wore on the night of the Fall Festival. Zoe was wearing a cheery panda mask that was comedic on her given the nature of her personality. We continued scanning the area with our flashlights looking for a sign of anyone else. Suddenly I was starting to fear that we were the only ones in the building and that this would be another deadly setup.

“Ugh, look at this,” Zoe said, snapping me out of my contemplation, “Naomi’s little thugs came in here at some point to make their stupid graffiti.”

I shined my flashlight on the same area that Zoe’s light was on. This wall art was of a pink cat riding a unicorn through some clouds.

“Is that one of their symbols?” I asked.

“It is. I’ve seen this thing on the back of the school too.”

“What does this art even represent?”

“Beats me, it probably just means they were high at the time they came up with it.” Zoe said.

As she was speaking I heard a creaking sound in the distance. It could’ve been my paranoia, but I was pretty sure there was someone in the adjacent hallway.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

“Hear what…?”

I took Zoe by the hand and led her to the area that I heard the noise come from. Now that we were stepping closer, I could hear things clearly. There were voices coming from the room in the middle of this hallway. Zoe and I put our heads against the door to listen in closer. All the voices on the inside were just whispers, like no one was willing to risk having their normal voice detected.

I gave Zoe a look, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking with the mask over her face. She opened the door, revealing other girls in their hooded robes and masks. The sight of so many people dressed like this in an eerily dark room was enough to send a chill up my spine. A few of the masked girls turned back to see us enter, but for the most part they ignored us. There had to be a good 15 to 20 people here. This was almost enough to fill the desks in a regular classroom.

Zoe and I walked in cautiously, trying to hear what people were talking about. From what I could pick up on, they were mostly asking about the details of the event. Apparently it hadn’t started yet and no one knew what was supposed to happen. They were biding their time by theorizing what was going on and what would be mentioned, but this was all just speculation. Zoe and I joined the nearest circle of girls and tried to blend in.

“Welcome, sisters.” One of the masked girls whispered.

“Thank you… Sister…” Zoe whispered back.

It sounded like she was trying to contain a laugh after being called sister by this random person.

“There should be a few more coming in after you. You’ve made it just in time. I’m told the speech will begin soon.”

“Told by whom?” I asked in my softest whisper.

“We do not discuss names here!” Another girl said in a quiet, but chastising voice, “We are only called sister!”

“My apologies… Sister…” I whispered awkwardly.

“As long as you understand then we’re fine,” The first girl said, “Try to enjoy yourself while you’re here, sister. Things will begin shortly.”

There goes my attempt at getting any useful information out of these people. Also, what did she mean about enjoying myself while I was here? It wasn’t like this was a hotel spa or restaurant! Still, we couldn’t do much until the ‘event’ began. This barely organized meeting was starting to feel much more organized than I initially expected. It was amazing that so many students showed up on a school night. Maybe the high turnout was a reflection of the state of affairs at our school?

There wasn’t much for Zoe and I to do other than to listen to these cultists speculate. The fact that anonymity was important here played well in our favor. These people in attendance would never approach me or Zoe with these crackpot theories in normal day-to-day life. I couldn’t see Zoe’s face beneath her mask but I could tell she was enjoying herself by the way she was leading me around. We were rotating between circles of masked individuals picking up bits and pieces of each conversation.

“Man, I always knew that people didn’t like Ms. Sampson but this really puts it out there.” Zoe whispered to me. “They seem to believe she’s the center of all this.”

“Some of these rumors are just wild.” I whispered back. “They don’t even sound like rumors. They sound like deliberate attempts at vilifying Jackie somehow.”

“You’ve got to admit it… The narrative about her being a demon-summoning cannibal is far cooler than reality.” Zoe whispered.

“See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” I whispered. “Why are none of these theories even remotely believable?”

Someone suddenly grabbed me by the wrist and spun me around! Crap, did this person overhear me?!

“Come with me!” This person whispered and started to pull me away from Zoe.

“Hey!” Zoe said urgently while trying to control the volume of her voice.

“You too, come with me!” This girl in a white cat mask whispered.

This girl pulled me out of the room, and Zoe followed along. At first I thought we would stop in the hallway outside, but clearly that wasn’t enough. This girl dragged me all the way across the hall into another room. Even more suspicious, two other masked people were trailing closely behind us. Was this some sort of shake down?

The girl stopped pulling me when her two companions were inside and the door was closed behind us. Zoe took up a defensive position in front of me. Since we weren’t sure what these strangers wanted it was only natural to be cautious. However, we weren’t the only ones in confusion. One of this girl’s own friends flanked her side and pulled her back. It was like she was trying to deter her from doing anything else.

“What’s with these two?” The girl whispered in a strangely familiar voice, “Why’d you pull them here?”

“I don’t think we need to whisper in here.” The girl in the white cat mask said plainly.

“Wait… Holly…?” I asked in my regular voice.

Holly took off her white cat mask.

“Erica! I knew it was you!” Holly said.

I took off my mask as well.

“Erica…?” Her friend in the fox mask asked, “What the hell are you doing at a place like this?”

Valentina took off her own mask and I was stunned for a moment to see the two of them here.

Zoe took her mask off also.

“We could ask you two the same exact thing!” Zoe answered for me. “We were trying to see what the Occult Club is up to with all this back-alley nonsense!”

“I asked them to come here to help me.” The girl wearing an owl mask said.

She took off her mask, revealing her to be Alyssa from the Occult Club.

“Wait, you…?” I said in confusion, “Aren’t you one of the organizers of this thing?”

“No,” Alyssa said softly. “This is what Holly and Val are here to help me with. Sofi is acting out on her own now that she’s suddenly popular. They’re going to help me speak to her.”

“More importantly, how did you get involved in all this?” Val said accusingly, “Oh wait, don’t tell me… You’re spying for the vice principal, aren’t you?”

“That’s not it at all!” I said.

“So you followed us here!” Val said.

“What…? No… I…”

“She’s telling the truth.” Holly said to Val, and then turned to me. “I think you’re here for the exact same reason those girls in the other room are. You want information, right?”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes, exactly… Not that I expect to find real answers from whatever is going on in there. It just seemed like a place to start.” I said.

“I understand your reasoning,” Holly said, “But I don’t think you should’ve come. You weren’t feeling well when I visited you on Sunday. When we talked I said that you needed to take your mind off of whatever was stressing you. This sort of environment can’t be good for you.”

Zoe put a hand on my shoulder.

“To speak frankly, this environment isn’t good for any of us.” Zoe said. “Maybe the three of you have something planned, but Erica and I are here to find out what’s going on in the shadows of our school. We have a journalistic duty to be here, not just to fulfill our own curiosity.”

“Really… Journalistic integrity…?” Val asked in a laugh, “Last I heard, very few people read anything you publish on the school website.”

Zoe pulled out her phone and pointed out its camera.

“Luckily, I think that’s about to change. Once I get a video of this meeting people are going to flip.”

I wasn’t even going to argue against that.

“Please don’t make a villain out of Sofi.” Alyssa said. “She isn’t in her right mind right now and needs a little help. I don’t care if you want to thrash this whole meeting in an article, but please don’t name Sofi as a culprit. I’m begging you.”

Zoe stared down at her phone in consideration.

“We’ll see about that. It depends on what Sofi says.” Zoe said.

There was the sound of a bell ringing repeatedly in the distance. We all turned at the same time the moment we heard it.

“It’s starting!” Alyssa said. “We need to get back into position!”

The five of us put our masks and hustled out of the room. We came back into the main room sneakily, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Everyone was too focused on what was going on at the front of the room to pay any attention to us. There was a girl in a black cat mask addressing the crowd. I could tell that this wasn’t the same Killing Cat mask I saw when Vivian was murdered, but it looked uncomfortably similar. It was only missing the creepy mouth stitching.

“Thank you all for coming!” The person at the front said, “I’m sorry that everything had to be so secretive and in a horrible place like this! I promise you, the result will be worth it!”

“That’s clearly Sofi,” Alyssa whispered. “I need a way to get close to her.”

Val hushed her.

“Shh for now, don’t blow our cover.” Val whispered back. “Let’s see what she has to say before we approach her.”

“All of this took a great deal of effort to set up.” Sofi said. “Just like me, many of you were specifically chosen and asked to join this group. Our matriarch has been keeping an eye out for like-minded sisters and adding them to our group.”

“Matriarch…?” Holly whispered to Alyssa.

Alyssa shrugged her shoulders.

“This is my first time hearing this too.” Alyssa whispered.

“We’ve been asking each other questions about the ritual of knives! Today, we will finally have answers! Sisters, please allow me to present to you our leader! The Matriarch!” Sofi said.

The door behind Sofi opened up, revealing what looked to be a connected office room. A tall, well-endowed woman in a provocative black dress came walking into the room. This woman had long, curled black hair. Her sequined dress seemed unnecessarily glamorous for the type of setting she was in. Her mask wasn’t a full face mask. It was just a simplistic black cover like someone might wear to a proper masquerade. She brazenly took off her mask as she approached Sofi, causing a wave of whispers.

“Greetings, my little darlings,” This mysterious adult woman said in a silk smooth voice, “It’s good to finally meet my lovelies in person. There’s so much that I want to tell you. It’s about time that someone tells you the truth. You all deserve that much, I believe.”

Everyone applauded this woman’s introduction to the group. The only ones not clapping were the five of us in the back. We were too surprised that Sofi was working with an adult.

“Uh… Who the hell is this?” Val whispered to no one in particular.

“I have no idea.” Holly whispered in response.