Chapter 149 – An Unmarred Illusion – Holly Hayfield

My return to Meredith's School for Troubled Girls after winter break felt different. My mother dropped me off just outside of the school’s main gates. The winter sun was shining down brightly over a fresh blanket of snow. It made the practically ancient building feel livelier than it typically was.

It wasn’t just the scenery that felt livelier. It was the students too. They were actually excited to be returning to school. My walk to the school doors was interrupted by dozens of people asking me about my winter break, asking me about the bandage on my cheek.

I gave them the same answer that I had been giving people since I first put the bandage on. I slid on ice during one of my morning jogs and scraped my cheek against the pavement. My mother was the only one that questioned the veracity of that answer since she knew how rare it was for me to get into a jogging accident.

She believed me in the end but warned me about going out to jog during freezing temperatures. Not only that, she warned me about the Killing Cat. If someone relatively close to us like Angel could be murdered, then anyone could be. I tried to soothe her concerns but she wouldn't listen to my take and told me to be more cautious.

Angel's death had a bigger impact on my mother than anyone I knew. Our small world felt much smaller with the effects of the Killing Cat's ambitions hitting so close to home. She was worried about my safety now more than ever.

She easily believed my lies about my injuries when Black Brittney and Candace were responsible for them. Things were different now with the Killing Cat on her mind. She was more apprehensive about everything and took nothing at face-value. I'd need to tread lightly not just with her, but with the school too.

The people happily coming up to speak to me about winter break only had half of my attention the entire time. My eyes wandered to the couple of new police officers on campus. The police officers were standing near the front doors of the school, watching the incoming crowds walk inside.

There were consequences for everything that I did as the Killing Cat, some more immediate and prominent than others. One of the biggest consequences was the fact that Ms. Sampson was suspended by the district's school board as the investigation into her links with Officer Morelli was handled.

Specifically, the police wanted to know how much collusion was going on between the two of them and if she was criminally liable in Malorie's death. Just as I feared, there wasn't enough solid evidence for an immediate arrest. The police considered her a prime suspect in the conspiracy, but the burden of proof fell on them.

The complication here was how long ago the crime happened. Mrs. Duluth's case aside, there weren't a lot of people capable of testifying about Ms. Sampson's history with Malorie aside from Ms. Sampson. This was partly because Ms. Sampson destroyed so much of the evidence so well and so thoroughly.

The fact that so many of Ms. Sampson’s accomplices were deceased didn’t help. It meant that they couldn't be questioned. That was another major negative outcome of dishing out justice as the Killing Cat. Each murder meant that it would be harder for the police to perform their job. The more I did things my way, the less likely it was that things could be handled the official way.

There were complications all around.

A new complication was the fact that Mr. McMullen would be handling all of the duties that Ms. Sampson normally performed. That essentially amounted to all of the administrative functions of both principal and vice principal. She didn't trust the old man to manage anything of consequence and left him only busy work.

Now he was going to have to perform all the work without her help. Naturally, I was the first person that he turned to for help. Some other teachers offered to help, but he insisted that I put aside my counseling duties to assist him while Ms. Sampson was gone.

I didn't have a problem with that. In fact, I was happy that the position came about naturally without needing to worm my way in. This would give me the chance to snoop through Ms. Sampson's office unopposed. Long ago she claimed to have leverage on me in the form of a folder that she had on my past offenses. I wanted to peek at it for myself.

I wasn't the only student busy helping Mr. McMullen during first period. Silver was in his office with me, mostly just watching as I sorted papers. Mr. McMullen asked for additional helpers. I chose Silver and Alyssa. We'd be helping him at different times, generally. Right now I was just teaching Silver the job.

“That’s good, Ms. Hayfield, I think I can handle the rest.” Principal McMullen said. “These old bones may not be what they used to be, but I can’t have you two girls handling everything around here.”

I smiled at him.

“I don’t mind. I’m used to helping out Ms. Sampson from time-to-time. I may not be an official office assistant, but she’s never shy about coming to me for favors.”

The principal leaned back in his chair with an exhausted sigh.

“Jackie… Jackie, Oh, Jackie… I’ve always believed that she was a good girl ever since I first met her. When Malorie Noelle went missing I chalked it up to a troubled girl being a troubled girl. Now though…”

“Now the police will handle it.” I said. “You shouldn’t worry about these things yourself. Just be glad that your granddaughter will be around to help you too. Helga says she’ll check in more often now that the dragon is out of the keep.”

The principal laughed weakly, still obviously troubled by the situation.

“You should know that bringing Officer Morelli onboard was Jackie’s idea.” He said. “I never doubted Jackie back then, but now I can’t help but to be suspicious of everything she’s done since then.”

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Silver didn’t say a word, but gave me another one of her serious looks. She had been doing that a lot recently. Normally Silver was an easy-going person, so these grim looks didn’t really fit her. She was obviously concerned what the principal’s statement could mean for me, given the fact that Jackie promoted me, the Killing Cat, into my current position.

However, the principal interpreted the resulting silence and Silver’s staring differently.

“That’s not to say that we should be on guard for potential danger.” Mr. McMullen said. “I’m only saying that I don’t know what she’s done behind my back while I was sick and bedridden. I think these nice police officers will keep everyone safe. The two of you have nothing to fear.”

“Very well then,” I said and laid down the stack of papers that I was sorting. “I’ll leave the rest in your hands. I’ll write a permission slip for Sylvie and escort her back to class.”

“Thank you,” The principal said. “I appreciate both of you coming to my side in my time of need. If the two of you need something, don’t be afraid to ask.”

I nodded at him and took Silver by the shoulder. She lamely dropped the papers in her hand onto the desk, letting them fall in a disorganized manner. She quickly turned to follow me out of the principal’s office. The office assistant and I exchanged a casual wave as we departed the front office. Silver was too planet-struck to wave along with me.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked her as we walked into the empty hallway, “You have horror written all over your face and you’re moving like a zombie. Please tell me that you’re capable of keeping a secret.”

“I… I am. It’s just… I… didn’t expect you to be so socially involved. I thought that maybe… You’d want to lay low after, you know…”

I let out a short, mocking laugh.

“That I’d crawl into a hole and try to hide myself? What good would that do anyone? The reason that my identity is so secure at this school is because I’m so socially inclined. People have a particular image of me that they struggle to deviate from. How could such an upstanding person commit such horrifying crimes?”

“I…”

I wrapped an arm around Silver as we walked and gently patted her shoulder.

“Don’t think about it too hard. Just try to relax. Act natural. You’re only going to make everyone suspicious of you for no reason. No one knows that you were abducted by Angelica. Since you’re a minor, there are limits on the information the police and media can release about you. Your anonymity from that night is secure. Don’t mess that up.”

“You’re right. The police don’t even know the full details of why Officer Morelli tried to kidnap me.” Silver said. “I still never talked to the police about the whole Raven Keyes thing.”

“And you’ll leave that to me.” I said. “I want them to find her body behind that house, but I want it to be another spectacle to shed light and distrust on Ms. Sampson. Timing will be critical. Your role in all this is just to maintain your image.”

“I’ll try…”

“That’s all I can ask of you. All that aside, you did go through a traumatic event. I don’t expect you to recover instantly. I just expect you to look out for yourself and be careful. I don’t want people suspecting you of being involved with the Killing Cat somehow.”

“I understand.”

“Good, I’ll be looking out for you until things have normalized.”

“Thank you.” Silver said. “And… And thank you for saving me that night.”

“Don’t thank me for that!” I said in a barely restrained voice. “It was my fault that you got caught up in the crossfire. Instead, let me promise you that I won’t risk your safety like that in the future.”

She gave me another serious look, but this time it was much softer. These were the words that she needed to hear to finally relax. I rubbed her shoulder again.

“Come on, let’s stop by my office. I’ll write you an excused absence slip for you to return to class.”

Silver and I separated to return to our first period classrooms. We wouldn't be apart for long. Silver would continue to shadow me outside of classes throughout most of the day. This was something that I suggested in an attempt to bring her more into the fold.

This was a matter of transparency between us. Now that she knew my most precious secrets I wanted her to see how I handled my double-life. Not only that, perhaps this would encourage her to act more naturally. If I could do it, then maybe she’d believe that she could do it too.

The student council had a meeting planned after school. Not only was I willing to bring Silver with me, I brought Naomi along too. Naomi and I kept in touch over winter break. She wasn't allowed to attend Malorie's funeral, so I spent a lot of time that night alternating between speaking with her and Val.

Naomi's plan to have Silver run for the head of their gang aligned well with my plans. Now that the Killing Cat needed to lay low I could spare the time to get more involved with their situation. Now was the best time to shake things up.

"So you want both Sam and Silver to run?" Jay asked from across the table. "I don't get it. Isn't this tactic detrimental to either of them winning?"

"She's trying to split the vote as much as possible." Val said and faced towards me. "It makes sense in a way, but you may have too much faith in that plan. What if Perri's backers are more resolved than you seem to imagine?"

"I don't think they'll all stay by her side when the time to vote comes." I said. "The votes will be anonymous as well, meaning they're even less likely to vote as a block."

Lilith looked away from her laptop for the first time in this meeting.

"I have to agree with Val on this." Lilith said. "You're leaving a lot to chance this way."

"And if you don't mind me saying..." Sam said. "I'm not nearly as confident in my chances of winning as you are."

"I don't think we can take all of Perri's supporters away." I said. "But I think we can take away enough to make it count." I said. "Trust me."

“If Holly says it’s possible, then…” Alyssa said quietly.

Val studied Alyssa for a moment before crossing her arms and nodding at me.

"You seem so confident that I find it hard to distrust you on this. If you're certain about this then I assume you have a plan."

"I have an idea." I admitted. "But how well everything happens will depend on the girls taking part in the vote."

"Yes!" Naomi shouted excitedly. "I knew I could rely on you to handle this!"

"Don't celebrate too soon..." Silver said. "I doubt Perri is sitting idle right now. She's probably reaching out to the others."

"Then we should reach out to them too!" Naomi said.

"I thought that you couldn't get involved with them?" Val asked.

"I can't..." Naomi said, "But Sam and Silver can! The two of you can try talking to the girls on a one-by-one basis! Maybe I can even call some of them to try swaying them to your side! After all, my parents aren't checking my phone."

"It's a good idea," Silver said. "But I'm afraid I can't. I have plans to leave school after this meeting. I'm going with Holly. She uhh... She promised to help me study."

"Speaking of which, now is a good time to wrap things up." I said. "We still have other topics to touch on, but we can reconvene tomorrow after school."

"That's fine by me." Val said as she stood up. "I've got work again tonight. I'd like to go home and take a short nap first."

Sam stood up too.

"I guess I'll try reaching out to some of the girls that may be willing to vote for me." Sam said. "It's a long shot, but hey, I may as well take it. Nothing to lose from trying, right?"

"I'll call you both later." Naomi said.

Lilith closed her laptop and started to pack up. I took her by the shoulder as the others were walking out of the room. She looked at me curiously.

"Actually Lilith, I was hoping that you could stay."

"I don't want to get involved with a private study session." She said. "I'm working on an article with Zoe about the timeline of publicly available information on Malorie’s disappearance and murder. We're hoping that the police can use the information somehow."

"That sounds worthwhile and I'm sorry to pull you away from the project, but I think you might be interested in going somewhere with me, Silver, and Alyssa."

"Oh...?" She asked. "Where are you three planning to go?"

"I know where a key to Angel's house is." I said. "I want to take a look inside."