Chapter 164 – Mercy Revoked – Ellie Daniels

Old habits were hard to break. Too often I found myself reaching for my cell phone to message Holly after school ended. Telling her that I’d meet her outside of school felt natural. That was my routine for years. It wasn’t easy to snap out of it, even now.

Particularly now…

My social group was changing once again. With Holly out of the picture, my group of friends consisted of Opal, Suzy, and Zara. Zara was leaving, preparing to enroll in the same school that Holly attends. What were the chances of that?

Pretty great, in hindsight. Zara’s whacky antics finally got her expelled when she pissed off the wrong teacher for the final time. Now she was forced to spend her final school year with a bunch of strangers at the turn of the semester.

It was the second week after the return from winter break. School was over and I was preparing to go home. I sent a text to Opal and Suzy, letting them know that I’d meet them in front of the school. Normally I’d be sending one to Zara also. Now that she was changing schools that would be another old habit to abandon.

That’s why I was surprised to find Zara being the first person to meet me outside of school. She was waiting for me on the sidewalk, standing in place on her skateboard. She looked… different… She had the same cheeky smile that she always had, but there was something strange about her.

It was the uniform! She was wearing the Meredith’s School for Troubled Girls uniform!

“Yo!” She said with a casual wave, “So…? How do I look?”

She shook her hips from side to side, trying to make the edges of her skirt sway. She was getting funny looks from people walking by us as they walked off campus. Zara was doing this specifically to illicit an amused response from me, but I hardly reacted. Instead, I just gave a slight shrug.

“Still so quiet, even now?” She asked in disappointment. “I thought that you might say something after seeing me in my uniform for the first time. The paperwork has officially gone through! I start my first day there tomorrow! Aren’t you excited for me?”

I gave her a flat, unamused look. She knew perfectly well how I felt about her transfer. I turned away from her to look for the others. Opal and Suzy were both members of the student council but there was no after school meeting planned for today. I expected they might beat me to our meeting spot, but I was wrong.

“What do you want me to say to her?” Zara asked out of the blue.

I spun back around to face Zara. She had a serious look on her face as she hopped down from her skateboard.

“That’s what you’ve been thinking about this entire time, isn’t it? Ever since I first told you I was transferring schools.” She said. “You may not say much these days, but I’ve learned enough about you in the past year to notice changes in your behavior. You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

I gripped the strap of my book bag tightly and stared at the ground. To say that my feelings were complicated would be an oversimplification. Every time I thought about how much I missed Holly I couldn’t help but to be flooded with traumatic images from that bloody warehouse.

After recovering from the shock, after recovering from all of my injuries, I was left to decide how I felt about things. Opal was the only one I trusted enough to explain what Holly did. Opal was mortified at Holly’s behavior, maybe even more so than I was. That’s why she encouraged me to go forward to the authorities with that final detail.

I couldn’t.

Holly saved my life, sacrificing her own moral values to do so. She became a killer because she wanted to save me. At the heart of things, that was why I couldn’t bring myself to condemn her for going overboard. Although I thought she was wrong for killing an unarmed man, I could understand why she did it.

The fact that those kidnappers were targeting us specifically no doubt had an impact on her decision to kill that final man. Perhaps, for her, it was about alleviating a threat permanently. There was some dark logic in the sense that she’d be ‘protecting’ us from that kidnapper in the future.

The true problem was one of authority. Who was she to decide that, but then again, who was anyone to decide something like that for anyone’s life? When the judge called for my testimony in court, I didn’t explain the details about the man that threw down his weapon.

I only vaguely explained that he was bleeding profusely when I went out to wait for the police. They couldn’t decide if Holly was justified in her actions, or if she acted out of line by taking matters into her own hand. She put her life at risk, but she saved me from violent kidnappers that were ready and willing to hurt me.

Where did she weigh on the scale of morality? As far as Opal was concerned Holly was guilty of going overboard. She respected the fact that Holly risked her life to save me but felt also believed that Holly was a dangerous person at heart for having the capability to act like this.

Opal wasn’t mad at me for not ratting Holly out about the final kidnapper, but at the same time she couldn’t forgive Holly for putting me in that position. Holly, Opal was certain, had a dark side to her that we had only seen glimpses of in the past. After seeing the bloodstained images from the warehouse floor’s aftermath, Opal felt sure of that.

That’s why she insisted that we cut Holly off. I was reluctant to do so. That’s why Opal confronted Holly about the man who surrendered in our final conversation together. Holly was wholly unapologetic about the execution. She said that she did it because it was the necessary thing to do. She was eliminating a threat.

That answer didn’t inspire optimism and I was forced to seriously consider Opal’s perspective. Was this Holly the Holly I knew and loved? Or did she turn into someone else the moment that she killed that very first man? Did she always have this darkness inside of her? Was I too blind to see it?

I didn’t have an answer for Zara. I felt like I didn’t have many answers for anyone these days, myself included. That’s why I barely talked anymore. I still spoke up whenever I felt I needed to, but those times were few and far between. It helped keep me emotionally detached from everything around me.

Life was easier this way.

“How about I tell Holly you said hi?” Zara asked.

“You don’t have to tell Holly anything.” Opal said.

I turned around to see Opal and Suzy approaching from behind.

“Don’t put words in Ellie’s mouth if she didn’t say them. I thought you’d realize that by now?” Opal asked.

Zara rolled her eyes and hopped back on her skateboard.

“It doesn’t hurt to ask.” Zara said. “She probably misses her.”

“What did I tell you about skateboarding on school property?” Opal asked, pretending to not hear Zara’s last statement. “I’m the student council president now, Zara. It’s a really bad look when one of my close friends acts like this.”

Zara grinned at her.

“You can’t tell me what to do anymore, punk!” Zara sang happily, “This is my last day at this hellhole!”

Suzy laughed in response.

“Yeah, soon you’ll be going to an even bigger hellhole!”

“And it will be a hell of a lot of fun!” Zara shouted, drawing attention from students walking in the vicinity, “Finally! I’ll be surrounded by troublemakers just like me!”

Opal huffed out an annoyed laugh.

“You know what…? Maybe this is a good thing for you… I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner, actually.”

“I know, isn’t it great?” Zara asked in a laugh.

“What’s with that academic-looking uniform?” Suzy asked. “It makes you look 10 IQ points smarter.”

“So you’d put me in the 130 through 140 range?” Zara asked. “How sweet of you.”

“More like the 70 through 80 range…” Suzy said.

Zara playfully tried to punch Suzy’s arm. Suzy pulled away quickly and Zara nearly fell off her skateboard. She wobbled in place as she regained her balance.

“What a rude thing to say, you little brat!” Zara said. “To think that I taught you everything you currently know about being a nuisance… Maybe I taught you too well… And here Ellie was just saying how nice I look in my new uniform…”

Opal pushed up her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh.

“Zara, what did I just say about putting words in Ellie’s mouth?”

I smiled a little and gave Zara a thumbs up. Zara pointed at me and grinned victoriously.

“See…! Look…! She likes it! Maybe she even loves it!”

Opal leveled a mildly surprised look in my direction.

“Fine…” Opal said flatly. “Moving on… Do you all want to come over to my place?”

“Can’t,” Zara said. “Gotta go back home to get lectured at by my dad for making him put up with school transfer paperwork. I just ran away for a while to show off my cute new uniform.”

“I’ll talk to you later then, assuming you survive the lecture.” Opal said and turned to look between me and Suzy. “What about you two?”

“Sure!” Suzy said.

I shrugged my shoulders tiredly and nodded. I didn’t mind spending a couple of hours after school at her place at least.

“Okay, let’s go.” Opal said.

“I’ll call you girls later!” Zara said as she started to skate a way, “Except you, Ellie! Seems like texting you might be a little more engaging!”

I smirked and flipped my middle finger her as she sped away.

“I’m gonna remember you did that!” She shouted. “Wait until you see the next string of emojis I send you! You’re gonna regret it!”

One of the consequences of my kidnapping was that I was uncomfortable with walking home alone. Walking together with my friends helped sedate my paranoia. My father or his girlfriend usually drove me home on the days that Suzy and Opal had student council meetings.

My father’s girlfriend Cynthia permanently moved in with us just recently. She was a nice, very traditional, family-oriented woman. She spent a lot of time making changes to our home and trying to take over where my mother left off. I didn’t dislike her, but I couldn’t get used to her presence.

She was divorced, same as my dad. Unlike my dad, none of her children stayed with her after the breakup. My father said she was happy to learn that he had a daughter living with him. However, I felt like her excitement soured when she met me for the first time. We’ve hardly spoken to each other.

That wasn’t her fault. It was mine. My heart was frozen in time ever since Holly vanished from my life. It showed on my face and in my behavior. My school counselor had regular meetings with me, trying to undo something that couldn’t be undone. She promised that I would heal in time. I felt like there wasn’t enough time in the world.

That’s why Opal regularly invited me to her place after school. She was always trying to get me interested enough in a conversation to talk to her. I’d humor her with short responses here and there, but my heart was never in it. Suzy was always trying to get me to smile, and Zara was always acting out to stir up some sort of emotional response.

I understood what they were trying to do and appreciated their efforts. But there was no going back to the way things were. Not without Holly. That’s why I was nearing the end of my rope with Opal. She always begged me not to reach out to Holly, believing that she would somehow corrupt my mind. My mind was already corrupted. What could I lose by reaching out to her?

“Oh crap!” Suzy said as we were about to enter Opal’s house. “Sorry girls, I’ve got to go! I have to babysit my youngest brother again!”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.” Opal said. “Don’t forget we have a meeting in the morning.”

“I won’t!” Suzy said as she rushed away. “Bye Opal! Bye Ellie!”

I lazily raised my hand in farewell. We watched her run back to the edge of the property. Opal put a hand on my shoulder.

“Want to come inside and watch TV or something?”

I didn’t bother answering. I just walked past her and went inside. She soon followed after.

We went up to her bedroom and sat on her bed. I started to pull out some of my homework while she turned on the TV. My main reason for coming here was to compare answers for math class. Whenever there was something that I didn’t understand Opal would demonstrate the correct way of doing things.

We checked over each other’s homework while the TV ran in the background. I was doing better in math recently. Opal was learning from me today. I pointed out my methods on the side of the paper while she compared what she did wrong. My attention was drawn to the TV as she worked.

“Ms. Rivera was rumored to be involved with the Malorie Noelle murder conspiracy. The police were recently in contact with her. She wasn’t a prime suspect before, and largely uncooperative until recently. The police are investigating her more intensely now that she was found shot dead in her own home.”

I grabbed the remote and turned up the volume a bit. I kept it low enough that Opal could concentrate on her homework.

“She was discovered this afternoon by a friend coming to check up on her when she didn’t answer their calls. Her workplace, Channel 12 News Station, confirms that she never called in for work either. They say that Ms. Rivera was acting increasingly anxious in the wake of Angelica Morelli’s death and didn’t respond well to conversations about Malorie or the Killing Cat.”

Opal set her homework aside to focus on the TV.

“What’s this?” Opal asked. “The Killing Cat got someone else?”

Opal took the TV remote from my hand to turn up the volume some more.

“The person believed to be the shooter was caught on a neighbor’s camera as she walked to a car parked in the driveway. The police have released these images of a woman seen leaving Sarah Rivera’s home.”

The woman in the image was tall and slender. She was wearing a gray hoodie, large sunshades, and a generic surgical mask to cover her face. There were two images of the woman. The first one was of her leaving the victim’s home through the front door. The second image was of her getting inside a car with no license plate.

“According to the police, this murder comes on the morning after Miss Sarah Rivera was scheduled to have a new meeting with them. They don’t believe that the notorious Killing Cat is responsible for this murder, based on the weapon used. They’ve been trying to reach another suspect in the case named Crystal Gray.”

The next image shown was of a woman in her late 20s. She perfectly fit the proportions of the woman in the first two images.

“Mrs. Gray has mysteriously vanished. Her husband claims that she left their home in the middle of the night after receiving a mysterious phone call. Mrs. Gray is considered a wanted individual in connection to the murder of Sarah Rivera. If you believe that you have information that can help the police, please contact the number displayed on the bottom of the screen.”

Opal’s face twisted in a look of disgust as the news anchor began to reiterate some old information about the Malorie Noelle murder conspiracy.

“First that policewoman, now this…?” Opal asked. “How far does this Malorie stuff go? I thought this was over when they found her corpse...”

I was watching the TV with great interest. Everything about Malorie’s story fascinated me. It was a cold case that went warm when a vigilante suddenly began targeting the people involved with Malorie Noelle’s murder.

I originally planned to attend Malorie’s publicly held funeral. That plan was stifled by my dad after Opal talked to him directly. She played a large part in convincing him that it would be a bad idea, saying that the Killing Cat wasn’t a vigilante, but a murderer. Attending the funeral would be yet another bad influence on me.

Opal believed that people were blindly worshipping a killer, but that wasn’t how I saw it. It was more complex than that… Just like many things in life.

Opal noticed me watching the recap of Malorie Noelle’s story with rapt attention. She pointed the remote at the TV to turn it off. I sent her an annoyed look.

“You’re too invested in all that…” She said. “I can’t believe Zara will be attending that school too… She’s another big fan of all of this nonsense. I wish the police would just wrap this up already. It’s getting tiring. The city wasn’t always full of conspiracies like this.”

Opal was free to have her own opinion, as was I. I found the story fascinating. That’s why I was planning to go home to search the web for information that I might’ve missed. I began putting my things away. Opal noticed me preparing to go and put a hand on mine.

“You’re leaving, already?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Don’t go yet…! It’s only been a few minutes.”

I didn’t stop putting my things away. I zipped my book bag up and pulled away from the bed. Opal stubbornly grabbed my wrist before I could walk away. I gave her another annoyed look, hoping that I wouldn’t have to snap at her.

“You’re going home to research the story we just heard, aren’t you?” She asked accusingly. “How much have you been looking into that?”

I turned away from her. Her grip on me tightened in frustration when I refused to respond to her question in any meaningful way.

“I’ve been thinking this entire time Zara was the one that I needed to steer away from all that…” She said. “Given your history, I thought you’d shy away from a bloody story like that.”

I forcefully yanked my hand out of her grasp and walked over to the door.

“What are the chances…?” She called out the moment my hand touched the doorknob. “That this knife-wielding maniac would appear in the very same year that Holly began attending that school.”

I stopped turning the door handle to look back at her. She was giving me a cold, piercing look, as if she could see right through my motivations for researching the Killing Cat.

“What are the chances that it’s her?” Opal asked. “We already know damn well that she’s capable of something like that… The police and justice system might’ve given her a pass, but they don’t know what we know.”

I looked down at my hand resting on the doorknob.

“It’s not worth your time, Ellie. Why can’t you realize that by now? Holly’s dangerous... If this sneaking suspicion turns out to be true, then she’s more dangerous than you can even imagine.”

I opened up the door slowly, letting Opal’s comment hang in the air. I took a couple of steps towards the hallway before turning back to face Opal.

“Maybe…” I said in a weary, monotone voice. “But I’ll be the one to decide that for myself.”

I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind me.