Chapter 181 – The Graduation Party – Holly Hayfield

Crystal was seized by the police after a short attempt at evading capture. The details of her arrest were highly publicized following the aftermath of the police officers injured with her explosive wire-trap. The first charge imposed on her was the murder of the two police officers that died in the ICU.

The following charges were in relation to information gathered on her activities, both past and present. They formally charged her with the murder of not only Malorie Noelle, but Mrs. Duluth and a couple of others. It seemed that Crystal was complying with the police investigation, possibly hoping to get something out of it.

The police didn’t waste any time making this information public. The Ritual of Blood, the fall of the art and theater club, Ms. Hoffman’s failure as Malorie’s confidant, everything came out. The Malorie conspiracy was out in the open for everyone to fully digest.

Now people not only knew about Malorie’s murder, but the preceding murder that motivated it. Overnight, a conspiracy became fact. People, at school at least, were beginning to deeply understand the complicated relationships surrounding Angelica Morelli, Ms. Sampson, and Ms. Logan.

The biggest outcome out of all of this was the wave of arrests that followed in the wake of this. I didn’t personally go after every member of the art and theater club because it was unclear how involved they were with Malorie’s murder. The police weren’t holding back after Crystal’s explosive chaos.

Warrants for arrests went out in the following several weeks. Some of these women had already fled after the announcement of Crystal’s arrest. Unfortunately for the police, that included Ms. Sampson. Ms. Sampson was already under house arrest but quickly fled the area on the night of Crystal’s arrest.

The police were certain now of Ms. Sampson’s involvement thanks to Crystal. She was now officially considered a fugitive attempting to evade capture. Running probably wasn’t as clever as she thought it was. She was essentially stuck in the same position that Crystal was when she went on the run.

Aside from that, the rest of the police investigation was going well from what information I gleamed from the news. Jacob was interviewed about his time as Crystal’s hostage. Jacob was kind enough to leave me and Lilith out of the story. Maybe that was his way of paying me back for saving him.

He wasn’t the only one leaving me out of the story. The police and news never even once mentioned the involvement of the Killing Cat in the capture of Crystal Gray. Was it because the police wanted to take all the credit for subduing her? Or was it because they didn’t want people to know they had me and let me go?

In the end, I decided it was the latter. More news reports came out about the Malorie conspiracy, and they all suspiciously left the Killing Cat out of the story. That couldn’t be by coincidence. I was left wondering what the police said to these people. I felt sure they were pressuring the media.

It was just as likely that they weren’t doing it for my sake. It could simply be that they didn’t want the news glorifying a vigilante murderer to deter future vigilantism. The fact that I did their job for them for so long would only further damage their image, something they didn’t need after Crystal’s killings.

As for myself, I was just happy that Crystal was arrested, and I could return to my life. Her abduction of Jacob came at a difficult time for me, a time when I was trying to live more peacefully. Now I could finally get back to that.

The next few months were some of the bests of my entire school life. Not only did I have more time to spend with my friends at school, but Ellie was becoming a regular member of our inner circle. She’d always drop by at my place or Lilith’s place when she had the free time.

Free time was in short supply so close to the end of the school year. We all had spring tests and college admissions to deal with. This wasn’t a problem for me since I started planning for it long ago, but the other girls were constantly busy during this time period.

The person that I helped the most during this time period turned out to be Silver. She was getting into a women’s college due to my antics as the Killing Cat. I felt that I should help see it through. Her grades were good enough for admission, but there were still test requirements that she had to fulfill.

Sadly, it was becoming clear that many of my friends would be moving away for college. Sam and Jay were the most notable cases. Sam would be attending a school out of state that she was interested in, and Jay was going directly to one of the big universities in a different city.

Me and Lilith would be attending the same local college. I’d be working at the school part-time starting the very next school year and needed somewhere close by. Lilith had similar reasons since she planned to work at the school as a teacher as soon as she had the qualifications.

Val and Alyssa were going a different route. Val would be going to a technical school to further her automotive knowledge to eventually become a full-time employee at her brother’s shop. Alyssa was planning to go to a nursing school that her grandmother went to when she was younger.

Our group wouldn’t be able to see each other as frequently with our core members being so split up. That’s why we decided that we’d do something special together post-graduation. We wanted some final memories together, and to take some group photos before we followed our separate paths.

The graduation ceremony itself was led by Valentina. It was nice to see how everyone attending the ceremony cheered for her when she came up to the podium. She went from being widely feared to being loved by the entire student body. It helped that she looked absolutely gorgeous in her robe and hat.

Initially I was going to write something for her speech, but she resolved to write it herself. I only did some minor editing of what she wrote. Her speech touched on all the major changes at our school and how far it had come, but also how far it had to go. The tone of her speech was uplifting and hopeful, something that resonated well with the crowd.

My involvement at the graduation was not only as a student, but as a member of the staff. I got to shake everyone’s hands as they came onto the stage to receive their diploma. I was also involved in the setup and cleanup. It turned out to be a tiring night.

Our graduation party was scheduled for the next day, a Saturday. This party was intended for my circle of friends, but we decided to extend the invitation to everyone at our school that was interested. It was being held at the Meredith Estate, which could easily accommodate hundreds of guests.

The party plans began modestly, being basically an oversized pizza party for our friends and anyone willing to show up. That was until Mrs. Wilson got involved and ramped things up to an entirely different level. Now everyone and their mother wanted to come.

She was putting on another massive event at the Meredith Estate, similar to her Christmas event with all the extravagance that entailed. Lilith wasn’t happy about this. Not only would her aunt once again be dipping into estate money to fund this, but she was especially excited to doll up Lilith once again.

My mother and the school PTA got involved with the setup. The good thing about that was that I didn’t need to heavily involve myself with the setup, still feeling somewhat tired from the graduation setup and cleaning.

There was still a full week of school remaining, but most of our classes were wrapped up. For senior students this would be a time for more college preparation. For me specifically, this was going to be a transitional period between attending as a student and attending as a dedicated staff member.

“Hey! There you are, Holly!” Silver’s mom called out to me when she saw me working the punch bowl at the refreshment table.

“Mrs. Brooks!” I called back and waved. “I’m glad that you could make it. I noticed Silver arrived a little earlier. Did Addison come along also?”

“No,” Mrs. Brooks said, “Addison and her classmates are having their own end-of-the-school-year party. It’s nothing as big as this, but I figured it would be wrong to pull her away from that. I’m told that you helped Silver with her finals?”

“I did. We had a group study session here at the Meredith Estate. She’s become more diligent about studying and staying focused.”

“Thank you for helping her. Her tests returned with impressive results. I doubt she’d be able to do so well without your support. I’m worried about how she’ll handle college without her friends to help her.”

I poured some punch into a cup and handed it over to Mrs. Brooks.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” I said. “I’ll still be here, ready to help her should she ask for it.”

“Won’t you be busy working at the school soon? And that’s on top of attending a college of your own...”

“I can still spare time for Silver.” I said. “She’s helped me out recently too. Our relationship isn’t one-sided.”

Mrs. Brooks smiled politely, but I could tell there was a bit of confusion behind that smile. She probably didn’t get what I was alluding to and must’ve assumed that I was simply being nice. In truth, Silver, along with Alyssa and Helga, were all crucial towards completing my goals as the Killing Cat.

“Hello, Ms. Hayfield.” Another person said as they came to the refreshment table.

“Oh, hello Mrs. Su. Are you here with Naomi?” I asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Wilson invited us last night during the graduation ceremony.” Mrs. Su said. “You look lovely in your dress. Is this new?”

“It is,” I said. “My mother bought it for me just for tonight. Would you like a drink?”

“Yes, please, thank you.” She said.

A few other people came to talk to me while I was pouring drinks. It never occurred to me just how many parents of my classmates that I was familiar with. Everyone felt the need to come and greet me when they noticed me handing out drinks.

Valentina joined me at the refreshment table when she arrived. Unlike me, she was dressed casually. In fact, it looked like she recently got off a work-shift at her brother’s shop.

“Let me take over for you.” She said, pushing me out of the way before I could even answer.

“Are you sure? You look tired.” I said. “Did you have a busy shift earlier?”

“Nah. I just didn’t get much sleep last night after the graduation ceremony. My family from back home have been calling me practically nonstop to congratulate me. My fatheaded brother had to go and send videos of my speech to every distant relative he could reach.”

I laughed.

“It sounds like they called to sing your praises.”

“They called at annoying times.” She said in a yawn. “The concept of ‘time zones’ seemed to slip from their minds. Eventually I just turned off my phone and went to bed.”

“I’m glad that you could be here to take photos with everyone.”

She looked down at me and smirked.

“What? You think I’d miss this for anything? Our time as a student council is coming to an end. I want to get as much time together as possible before the school year ends.”

“I hope you’ll still have time to hang out once you begin your technical training.” I said.

“I will. That school won’t be too demanding. It’s only three days a week.” Val said. “If anything, you’ll have to fight with Ellie.”

“Ellie…?”

“She’s the one who’s been monopolizing more of my time lately.” Val said. “Very clingy, that girl.”

“Haha!” I laughed. “It sounds like she likes you. I’m glad. She talks about you a lot over the phone. She sounds happy recently.”

“True, she’s doing better these days.” Val agreed.

Our conversation was interrupted when Mrs. Wilson came up to us.

“Holly, have you seen Lilith?”

“No.” I said. “Last I heard, she was in her bedroom getting dressed.”

“Still…?” Mrs. Wilson asked.

“She may be nervous again.” I said. “There’s a lot of people here, maybe even more than were at the Christmas party.”

Mrs. Wilson looked down at her watch.

“Well she can’t stay in there all night. Do you mind going to get her? I’d like to introduce her to a few administrators from the college you two will be attending.”

“I’ll hold things down here.” Val said. “You go pull the turtle out of her shell.”

“I’ll be right back.” I said.

I departed the refreshment table and pushed my way through the crowd. Some people tried to catch my attention as I walked towards the staircase, but I simply waved them off. Lilith was probably feeling self-conscious about her dress. It was surprising that she still wasn’t confident about her image. I always thought that she was prettier than most people.

When I went towards her room, I noticed the door was already cracked. Was she already done getting dressed then? I knocked on the door with the back of my hand.

“Lilith…? Are you dressed?” I asked before opening the door.

Ms. Sampson was holding a knife up to Lilith’s face threateningly, but whirled around in my direction when she noticed me coming in. She put one hand over Lilith’s mouth so that she couldn’t scream. What the hell? How did she even get in here unnoticed?

Ms. Sampson was wearing an oversized hoodie, dark pants and sunglasses, but I still recognized her easily enough. She must’ve snuck in by intermixing herself within the crowd. She pointed her knife towards me.

“Holly… Leave this room and don’t say anything to anyone!” Ms. Sampson demanded.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

Ms. Sampson pointed the knife back at Lilith. Lilith tried to slink away uncomfortably, but Ms. Sampson held her by one arm.

“This is between me and Lilith.” Ms. Sampson said. “My friend delivered some special information on her after a little chat with her brother. Lilith isn’t who you think she is.”

“I told you…” Lilith said. “I’m not the Killing Cat! Are you out of your mind?!”

“Silence!” Ms. Sampson shouted. “Didn’t I already tell you that if you don’t cooperate, then…”

“You’re wasting your time.” I said flatly and closed the door behind me. “Lilith isn’t the Killing Cat.”

Ms. Sampson narrowed her eyes at me.

“You think you know your friend that well? I should’ve known that it was her from the very beginning. She was so angry that day you girls saw Malorie’s body in the basement. I should’ve known the resentment would fester inside of her.”

“Let me guess, Crystal Gray contacted you and told you that Lilith Meredith was the Killing Cat?”

“Yes, on the very night the Crystal was arrested, she…”

“She was wrong.” I said with absolute certainty. “Like I said, you’re wasting your time.”

Ms. Sampson waved her knife at me again in frustration, gesturing for me to leave.

“Didn’t I tell you to get lost?! This is between me and the Killing Cat!”

I laughed in dark amusement. Ms. Sampson fully turned to face me after this defiant act.

“Lilith isn’t the Killing Cat.” I explained. “I am.”