Chapter 129 – A Rift in the Making – Silver Brooks

It was late at night and I was standing in the middle of an unoccupied suburban lot. This lot was only a couple of blocks from my house, in an area of newly constructed homes. It was between two empty houses with a sign marking it as a future construction site.

It was cold. I was tired. I wanted nothing else than to go home and take a warm shower before jumping into my bed. I couldn’t. This quiet place in my neighborhood was the spot that I personally chose for a meeting with the Killing Cat.

I was the one that ruled out her visiting my bedroom again. It was too risky to have her anywhere near my house. Therefore the burden of finding an adequate meeting place fell on me. It couldn’t be somewhere far, or my mother would never let me go. It couldn’t be somewhere too mundane, or we risked discovery.

This location had the occasional car passing by, but was otherwise incognito. There were few streetlights on this road and the pallets of construction material lining the property provided additional obfuscation. I was waiting beside a stack of empty pallets with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands to keep me warm.

The Killing Cat was late and I was beginning to worry that she wouldn’t show up. My mother gave me ‘a few minutes’ to visit Casper and I was expected to return home soon. I paid a token visit to Casper’s house in case my mother checked up on that, but quickly departed for my real destination.

I took another sip from my cup of hot chocolate, scanning the road ahead of me for any sign of the Killing Cat. That’s when I heard the property’s metal chain fencing reverberate from behind me. I turned to see that the Killing Cat had already jumped over to my side of the fence. She was so quiet that she made it this far without me noticing.

I sat my cup of coffee down on the stack of pallets beside me. Then I prepared the folded letter that Cora Wells gave me. The Killing Cat ran towards me, but didn’t casually stop right in front of me. Instead, she leapt up to the top of the pallets in a single motion, which was impressive considering how tall it was, and took my hot chocolate.

She turned away from me as she removed the lower part of her mask enough to take a sip from my cup. I could see a glimpse of her fair skin, but nothing detailed enough to be identifiable. She sat the now empty cup back on the pallet and readjusted her mask. She turned my direction and sat on the ledge of the pallets.

“Cora Wells gave me this letter to-…”

The Killing Cat quickly leapt down and snatched the letter from my hands. She turned away and scanned the contents of the letter voraciously, desperately looking for the information she wanted. When she couldn’t read the encoded letter she turned it around to the empty side and then looked back at me.

“Like I was going to say…” I continued, “Cora Wells gave me this letter to give to the vice principal. She said that this letter is written in a constructed language that she and her friends made back when they were in high school. Going by what she said, it’s probably just English with a different lettering system.”

The Killing Cat gave the letter in her hands a more considering look. She held it with both hands and seemed to be appreciating it now.

“I don’t know what it says but I assume Ms. Sampson has some sort of encryption key to decode it.”

The Killing Cat sharply turned back to me and nodded. Perhaps she had seen something like this before?

“Whatever the letter says, she felt it was something sensitive enough to warrant going through such lengths. She was adamant that I gave it to Ms. Sampson no matter what. In fact, it was the only reason she was willing to talk to me in the first place. It’s not the information you wanted, but it may be valuable.”

The Killing Cat looked at the letter again and nodded slowly. She folded the letter along its creases and stuffed it into one of her overcoat pockets. She then reached into a different pocket to pull something out. It looked like a crumpled up image, covered in grime and dried blood.

She handed it out to me and I slowly accepted it, curious as to why she was giving me something like this. She started to walk away, going in the direction she came from, and I reached out to her.

“Wait!” I said, “The letter… Shouldn’t I deliver it?”

She stopped, turn back towards me, and put her index finger in front of the glowing stitched mouth on her mask.

“Soon,” She whispered ominously.

With that, she turned away and continued along her path. I was left standing there in a bit of confusion, but relieved that the meeting was over with. I unclenched my closed hand to get a look at the crumpled up image she gave me. I picked up my empty cup and began trying to fix the image as I left the empty lot.

I was in a hurry to get back home so I wasn’t giving the image my full attention as I walked. That was until the photograph was fully straightened out. I stopped in place and stared at it. The photograph was one of those instant-camera photographs from the time before smartphones.

The image involved a young Cora Wells and another girl, presumably from the same graduation class. This other girl was some unidentifiable blonde girl whose face had been crossed out in red pen. Cora’s face was circled in the same red ink. I assumed this meant that the Killing Cat was trying to tell me something with this image.

It was hard to make out where the two girls were. The background was incredibly dark and the image quality was poor compared to modern cameras. Although I didn’t think their setting was entirely relevant to the Killing Cat’s message. The two girls were wearing strange robes and flaunting knives to the camera while grinning madly.

Given that this second girl was crossed out I assumed that meant she was no longer one of the Killing Cat’s targets. There were bloodstains on the photograph itself. This photograph probably wasn’t given up by its former owner willingly. The Killing Cat took it and brought it to me to prove a point.

The point she wanted to prove was that Cora Wells wasn’t innocent.

My heart sunk a little, thinking back on my time spent with Ms. Wells at the college campus. This new image of her stained my existing mental image of her. How could such a regular person commit murder? Why did she have to be involved with something like this? Did she regret the things from her past or was she just happy that she got away with it?

I knew what the Killing Cat was trying to do. She wanted me to be more cooperative about getting her the things that she needed. These murderers may have been as evil and cruel as the Killing Cat painted them as, but I didn’t want to be the one serving up bloody justice. Maybe the Killing Cat had the stomach for something like that, but I didn’t.

This affected me deeply while I was taking my shower that night. Perhaps the Killing Cat wasn’t wrong in her assessment of these murderers on a fundamental level. It was the way that she was handling things that gave me such pause. When I thought hard about it, it wasn’t difficult to imagine Ms. Wells’ body bleeding out in some dark alley instead of Leigha’s.

Was that her fate if I kept along this path? In a very real way, I held a stake in this person’s life and death. To think, this all began when I saw a police officer burying a secret corpse in an unmarked grave… I wouldn’t have imagined myself coming this far to see justice served. Now that there was potentially a way to serve justice, I wasn’t sure that I wanted it.

Perhaps the true take away from all this was to be careful what I wished for. The Killing Cat wasn’t a highly discerning blade of justice, she was a grenade. Maybe some of her targets really deserved to die this visciously, but did all of them? Did they all warrant such a brutal method of execution without trial? What about Leigha? Did she deserve this too or was she caught in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I didn’t sleep well that night. My mother even noted that I looked like a zombie during the car ride to school. Despite that, I was actually happy to be returning to school. When I didn’t return on Wednesday as planned many of my friends were worried about me. It would be nice to put those worries to rest.

When I went to our hideout upon arriving to school I was surprised to see half of my girlfriends missing. I expected something of a hero’s welcome, given that I was returning a day later than everyone else save for Naomi. To my surprise, there was just a small group of girls idly doing homework in the center of the room.

“Silver!” Casper said excitedly as she got up from the desk she was sitting at, “You’re back!”

She ran over to give me a hug, along with a couple of others. I happily accepted their affection but couldn’t shake my sense of confusion all the while.

“Hey! I’m glad to be back. Say, where are the other girls? Don’t tell me that their suspension was extended…”

“Didn’t you get that ChatCat message I sent you last night? I meant to tell you in person but you left my place so quickly.” Casper said.

“Something came up last night. I was busy.”

“Ah…” Casper said, “Well…”

The door to the hideout opened up behind me and Perri walked in.

“There you are!” Perri said, “I was afraid you might come here. I sent you a text!”

“Don’t bother!” Casper said irritably, “She’s not going with you. She’s staying with us!”

“No she isn’t. She’s my girlfriend. Of course she’s coming with me.” Perri said.

“Like hell she is!” Another girl said beside Casper. “She’s one of our long term members. She wouldn’t betray us like you did.”

“Betray…?” I asked.

“I didn’t betray anyone!” Perri shouted defensively.

“Excuse me, what are you all talking about?” I asked.

Casper pointed an index finger in Perri’s face and Perri slapped the hand away.

“Your ‘girlfriend’ is trying to form her own gang while Naomi is still suspended. She’s just taking advantage of the situation like the rotten traitor that she is.”

“Naomi was the one who started this!” Perri said defensively, “If it wasn’t for her ratting us out to the police to save her own hide then we wouldn’t have been suspended!”

“That isn’t what happened and you know it!” Casper said.

“Wait, what…?” I asked.

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” Perri asked. “Apparently Naomi deflected a lot of the blame for that fight onto her own girlfriends when the police questioned her. The police then told that officer lady, Ms. Morelli, and she was the one that brought the matter to Ms. Sampson. If it wasn’t for Naomi this wouldn’t have been brought to the school in the first place!”

“It was in the news!” Casper said, “The school would’ve found out anyways!”

“Yeah, but they wouldn’t have known that we were involved! Would they?”

“You don’t know exactly what Naomi said to the police! You weren’t there!”

“Maybe not, but it’s her fault for getting caught in the first place! She should’ve scrammed like the rest of us instead of lingering around!”

“And if you were the one that was caught you’d be singing a different tune!”

“No I wouldn’t, because I’d never sell out any of my girlfriends!” Perri shouted! “Tell me again, Casper, who is the traitor!”

I stepped between the two of them and pushed them away from one another.

“Enough!” I shouted, “The two of you are acting like children! Who cares about the details of what happened! It’s in the past now!”

“I care!” Perri said. “I’m not the only one that cares about this either. That’s why half the group has left this place. If our ‘leader’ isn’t loyal to us then why should we be loyal to her?”

“If Naomi was here to hear this…” Casper warned.

“She’s not so it doesn’t matter.” Perri said. “Once she comes back and apologizes then maybe we can reconsider things. For now Silver is coming with us.”

“She’s staying with us!” Casper said heatedly.

“I’m not staying with either of you.” I said as I backed away from the situation. “I was absent yesterday to check out the art program at a local college. I’ve got things to discuss with the two members of my art club.”

“Silver,” Perri said as she reached for me.

I stepped out of her reach and left the room. This was not how I expected my return to school would go. My girlfriends were split down a line over something so questionable? Whether if Naomi said anything to the police or not, I didn’t blame her for our suspension. It’s not like we weren’t there. Perri and the others were involved in the fighting. No one could claim innocence here.

I went to my locker to get a few things for my first period class. When I opened the door two folded pieces of paper fell out. One of the sheets of paper I easily recognized as the letter from Cora Wells to Ms. Sampson. The other was something new. I picked up both of them and unfolded the unfamiliar piece of paper.

“Solved it,” The note said in bold letters at the top, “This is a far better turn of events. I’ve changed my plans accordingly. Give the letter to the vice principal as discussed. The target has unknowingly hatched a plan that will lead to her demise.”

Whatever ‘plan’ that Cora Wells came up with was gravely compromised. Assuming that I delivered the letter as expected and that Ms. Sampson went along with whatever this ‘plan’ was, it could spell her doom. She never once suspected me of acting on the Killing Cat’s behalf, which was naïve of her, given recent news.

So many of her former comrades had been murdered or suddenly gone missing. She wouldn’t be so complacent to think that the Killing Cat wouldn’t come after her, would she? If I were in her shoes I’d be paranoid about anyone from my school suddenly meeting her the way I did.

Maybe she was so focused on getting in touch with Ms. Sampson that she didn’t accurately weigh the possibility. The fact that she was the one to come to me instead of the other way around must’ve played a big part in this. Her interrupting my lunch with Mrs. Gordon was fortunate timing for the Killing Cat’s plan.

The student office assistant on duty told me that Ms. Sampson was on the phone and asked me to wait a moment. I sat in one of the chairs outside her office thinking about the choice I was making. As strange as it was, I felt like the Killing Cat wouldn’t kill me if I chose to walk away. She did have a sense of justice, even if it was twisted.

The photograph she showed me was having a deeper impression on me than I anticipated. It was the only reason I could give when I asked myself why I was going through with this. The thought of betraying her trust didn’t make me feel guilty when I considered that image. In a way, she betrayed everyone’s trust by being involved with Malorie Noelle’s murder.

This must’ve been how the Killing Cat felt constantly. Living with that sort of pent-up anger couldn’t be good for her. She was definitely human, after all. That mask made her feel like something more, but I felt a very human sense of determination behind it. The Killing Cat was revealing more of herself to me with every interaction.

“Sylvie…?” Ms. Sampson asked as I walked inside, “What do you want? Class has already started.”

“I was hoping we could talk…”

“Oh no,” She said tiredly, “What does your mother want from me this time?”

“She isn’t involved with this.” I said as I sat down in the chair across from her. “I visited the Women’s Institute for Art and Humanities yesterday.”

“I heard. That’s good for you. I’m sure your mother was over the moon. A completely new set of school administrators to give hell.” She said with a smirk.

It was difficult for me to smile back at her. I tried to force a smile so that I didn’t seem so solemn but it might’ve had the opposite effect on her. She studied me more critically now that I was acting strange. I presented her with the folded letter.

“Cora Wells told me to give this to you.” I said.

“Cora-…” She said quickly before cutting herself off, “Wait, did you read this letter?”

“I couldn’t.” I said honestly.

She gave me another curious look before unfolding the letter. Her eyes sharpened as she brought the letter closer to her face and studied it intensely.

“I see…” She said as she slowly pulled the paper away from her face. “So you literally couldn’t read it. This makes more sense now.”

“What does it say?” I asked curiously.

She laid it onto her desk and gave me a blank look.

“I’ve got no idea. Cora is out of her mind if she thinks I can read this without a key.”

“She said you could understand it.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this type of writing.”

She focused on the letter again and paused before saying anything else.

“I don’t have a key for this…” She said to herself, “Maybe Abby still…”

She stopped that thought there and looked back up at me.

“Thank you for bringing this to me. You’re free to return to class. Tell the office assistant to write you a pass so that you aren’t counted absent.”

“Thank you.” I said as I got up and headed for the door.

“Wait, Sylvie…” She said. “No one else saw you meeting with Cora, did they?”

“Not really, just one of the teachers from that college.”

“Good…” Ms. Sampson said. “There shouldn’t be any problems then. I’d like you to keep this meeting to yourself.”