Chapter 113 – The Death Wish – Silver Brooks

Our next guest was Casper. Casper and I always rode home together so I was certain she was still at school. Her mother routinely picked us up after she got off of work. Normally we had an hour for after school clubs and activities like this.

Casper was at the brawl that day, same as Perri. I remembered it being one of the few times that her mother was really upset with her. Typically her parents were just as easy going as she was, but this time her mother was seriously worried about her. The ride home was difficult for both of us.

Casper deeply regretted being there, not just because of the black eye she got during the fight. She felt guilty about making her mother cry about it on the way home. If it were my mom she’d probably just use it as proof of what a delinquent I was. Casper’s mother truly cared for her wellbeing.

“It’s good that you weren’t there that day.” Casper said to me, “A lot of people got hurt for no real reason… It started over a bunch of unproven bullshit also.”

I pointed to Zoe so that Casper wouldn’t look directly into the camera while I was filming.

“Oh right, sorry… It’s good you weren’t there that day, Zoe. I can’t really see you surviving a fight like that.”

Zoe laughed.

“Thank you for your consideration,” She said sarcastically, “For what it’s worth, I can defend myself. I was forced to learn to do so, unfortunately. Anyways, tell me what you think of the Killing Cat? Have you read Malorie Noelle’s Immortal Diary?”

“I skimmed through it but I’ve never really been a big fan of reading. As for the Killing Cat, I think it’s gotta be someone that knows Malorie, right? It’s probably someone on that list on the diary website. I looked in the school year book from that year. They all knew each other. They were in the same club.”

“That’s definitely an interesting theory.” Zoe noted.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Casper asked, “This isn’t just some random person doing this. This has got to be a personal act of someone avenging Malorie, if Malorie’s story is to be believed.”

“From what I understand Malorie wasn’t loved by anyone on that list.”

“It’s impossible to know that for sure.” Casper said.

“I hope your optimistic outlook is the right one.” Zoe said. “Tell me, what makes you believe that?”

Casper looked over at me.

“Because if someone killed my best friend I’d be doing exactly what the Killing Cat is doing.” She said confidently.

We interviewed more of my girlfriends that heard Erica's speech on the day of the brawl. They all added their personal flare to the story but the general consensus was the same. They all believed the Killing Cat was a spirit of some sort.

Malorie's story was so deeply entwined with the original concept of the Killing Cat that it was hard for people to separate the two. It seemed like something that the original Killing Cat would do. Naturally everyone who heard Malorie’s story had the inclination of accepting it as canon.

At any other school we'd be laughed at relentlessly for this sort of speculation. For most people, it was a combination of a teacher being killed at a school event and the story behind the Immortal Diary that made this spiritual theory widely accepted. These two things seemed larger-than-life on their own.

The fact that the two things were related made it more convincing that we were dealing with a spirit. As cool as all this sounded, it would make my goal of this documentary harder to achieve. There was something specific I wanted to learn about the Killing Cat. It might be impossible to achieve if the Killing Cat was actually a spirit.

Only five of my girlfriends were able to volunteer for the documentary. It was evening afterschool and everybody was going home. I went home with Casper once her mother arrived to pick us up. Like always, they dropped me off before continuing to their place a few houses down.

My dad typically worked from home so I wouldn’t be home alone. He sometimes went to his office building but avoided it as much as possible. It wasn’t because he hated his job’s office. He most likely didn’t trust me alone in the house.

Addison had band practice after school and wouldn’t be back until later. This was the only real time I’d be free of her at home. My mother was home, but preparing to leave. As a real estate agent her hours varied depending on her client’s schedules.

I spent so much of the day feeling like I was running on low batteries. It felt nice to crawl into my bed for a comfy afterschool nap. Before I could fall asleep I received a check-up call from Holly asking me about how I was doing.

I wouldn’t risk explaining the documentary to her. I explained my lack of sleep to her instead. She advised me not to dwell on things too much and offered to set up a counseling session with her if this became a reoccurring problem.

It was nice that she was thinking about me like that. It was rare to meet such a genuinely sympathetic person. Her reputation amongst the school was well-deserved. As reserved as I felt about it, I’d probably have to take up her offer for additional counseling.

After I got off the phone with Holly I tucked myself in and went to sleep. It felt like now I could finally rest when my mind was focused on something positive. Now I had a goal in mind that this documentary was going to help me achieve.

I was going to setup a meeting with the Killing Cat.

My first plan with this documentary was to learn anything that could be useful to help me with this goal. Then, once I was well-informed about the Killing Cat, I planned to reach out to it.

If the Killing Cat was a human person then maybe I could convince her to spare me some time? If it were a spirit, then this was going to involve a summoning ritual…

The next day, Zoe and I returned to doing more interviews. This time we were set up in a corner in a corner of the cafeteria. Our setup was drawing attention from all around the room. With the two opposing chairs, freestanding lighting equipment, and the expensive looking camera looking straight down at one chair, it was obvious what we were doing.

Megan, of course, had to be the first person in line to volunteer for whatever this was. She didn’t know the details of what we were doing, but saw a special seat across from the interviewer’s seat and assumed she belonged there.

She cut every person in line ahead of her and then sat down across from Zoe. She folded her legs stylishly like she was ready for Zoe to begin interviewing her.

“Megan, do you mind…?” I asked from behind the camera.

“Oh, right!” She said as if she were forgetting something.

She pulled a brush out from the bag at her side and styled her hair some before looking herself over in a handheld mirror.

“That’s not what I…” I started to say before sighing, “Ah, forget it. I guess you’ll be our first interview for the day.”

“You’re welcome,” She said.

Zoe sent me a nod and I started filming.

“First off, I’d like to ask you about how you feel about this school year so far.” Zoe said.

This was an improvement to the arrangement we made. We needed to ensure that no one knew what we were doing. We decided to hide our real intentions behind a more generalized Q&A session. Zoe wasn’t just using the ‘yearbook’ thing as an excuse, however. She legitimately hoped that she could gather yearbook material while also collecting information on the Killing Cat.

Doing things this way would make it seem like our Killing Cat questions were only secondary in the overall list of things being asked. No one would be likely to gossip about being interviewed about the Killing Cat. They’d only talk about the fact that they were interviewed about their school experiences.

At least that was the general plan. Megan was making me reassess the time commitment of this outlook. At one point Zoe stopped asking questions altogether and Megan rambled from topic to topic on her own.

Eventually Zoe had to rein in Megan’s ranting. She would’ve gone on for the entire lunch break if given the chance.

“So what do you think about the Killing Cat?”

“Who…?”

“The masked murderer that killed Ms. Logan and potentially Vivian Hale,” Zoe said.

“Oh, that person… It’s just another weirdo, isn’t it?”

“That’s what you think? You don’t think it’s a ghost or haunting spirit.”

“Not really, but I haven’t put much thought into it.” Megan admitted, “I just think people pay far too much attention to that type of thing.”

The interview with Megan concluded on that dull note. Interestingly though, Megan turned out to be in the minority on the topic. Most of the other students we talked to heavily believed in Aubrey and Tanya’s version of the story.

Every version of this story sounded more like the fictionalized story I heard from those two instead of the credible story I heard from Holly. So many people shared the same beliefs regarding the Killing Cat that we felt like it was pointless to continue the interviews.

Between interviews Zoe noted that we were getting better yearbook material than Killing Cat information. As lunch ended we debated continuing this any further. There wouldn’t be any point in interviewing more students if they all gave such similar answers.

We went to the newspaper clubroom to put everything away in a bit of a rush. We only had a few minutes before class began. I was grateful that Zoe was willing to help me out on such short notice like this, despite not speaking to me for a while.

I couldn’t help but to wonder what she thought on the topic of the Killing Cat. I never got the chance to ask her since we were pressed for time. As we were wrapping things up in the club room I waited for her near the door so that we could walk together.

“So what do you believe about the Killing Cat?” I asked as we walked out of the newspaper clubroom.

She let out a sharp laugh like I was making a joke.

“I’m serious!” I said, “We spent so much time interviewing people about this but I haven’t asked you. Do you think it’s a spirit?”

“Hell no,” Zoe said. “I don’t believe in things like spirits on principle.”

“Why not…?”

She gave me a dull look before turning back to lock the newspaper clubroom door. We began walking down the hall once it was locked.

“Science… History… Literature… I feel like if spirits were real then there would be far more undeniable evidence and detailed accounts. Why should our school be some sort of exception to everything?”

“That… actually makes sense I guess, but it’s not as exciting.”

“Exciting…?!” Zoe asked, “Is that why you’re here doing this?”

I laughed at her change in tone.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if our school was some sort of exception to everything, though? Don’t you want something amazing like that to happen?”

“Not when murder is involved.”

“To me, this entire story seems to be an unlikely anomaly. There’s so much secrecy, so much mystery still left uncovered. I want to know who the Killing Cat really is beneath that mask.”

She raised an eyebrow at me.

“You sound really invested in this. Please tell me you aren’t planning to continue the interviews. I don’t think I can stand listening to the same ridiculous opinion over and over again…”

I grinned.

“I’m not. I’ve got something better in mind.”

“Oh, like what?”

“I’m going to set up a meeting with the Killing Cat.”

Zoe stopped walking and gave me a look like she didn’t hear me correctly.

“Come again…?”

“I’m going to talk to the Killing Cat face-to-face.” I said firmly. “And maybe I’ll be able to prove if she’s a spirit or not.”

Zoe exhaled sharply in disbelief. Her face was twisted in an expression between amusement and horror.

“Do you have some sort of death wish?” She asked.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan to get on her good side.” I said confidently.

“This ought to be good…”

“I’m going to give the Killing Cat an offering. Spirits like that sort of thing, right?”

“And if she’s a human?”

“Then I’ll offer her something a human might like also.”

Zoe gave me a mystified look.

“And what, pray tell, are you going to offer her that will work on both a human and a spirit?”

I put a finger over my lips.

“That’s a secret!” I said.