Chapter 150 – Nothing to See Here – Silver Brooks

Holly performed an important service for me before we left school. The only way I’d be able to go anywhere outside of school was with my mother’s permission. My mother was understandably wary about letting me go anywhere on my own after the abduction attempt.

Holly though, she was a special exception to the rule as far as my mother was concerned. It only took a two minute phone call about helping me study to put my mom’s concerns at ease. In her eyes, as well as anyone else’s, Holly was a trustworthy individual without a single reason to doubt her intentions.

Thus, my mother didn’t pursue any follow up questions or comments other than telling me to study hard when Holly handed the phone back to me. Holly was amazing. Having watched her for nearly an entire day now I was beginning to fully appreciate the power and influence she held within our school.

How could someone with such a violent and merciless alter ego cast such a powerful spell over so many people? The Killing Cat was scary, but so was Holly Hayfield in her own right. Knowing everything I knew about her made me truly realize that I didn’t know much about what lie at the core of her heart.

I truly believed that she was a caring and empathetic individual, but to what ends? She was playing the master of life and death and didn’t show any remorse or second-guessing about doing so. My earlier conversations with the Nyx doll proved that she believed her mission was righteous.

The four of us, Holly, Lilith, Alyssa, and I were being taken to Angelica Morelli’s former home. Holly’s mom was giving us a ride, knowing that Holly was in contact with Officer Morelli’s family. Officer Morelli’s parents lived out of town and had mostly kept their distance from the house.

Angelica’s parents were preparing funeral services for her, but were reluctant to visit the house themselves due to media pressure. The elderly couple was put under intense scrutiny and was regularly harassed by the media when they went out. That’s why they were happy to hear from Holly.

Holly was already familiar with them, having met them in the past. Holly promised that she’d assess the situation on the inside of the house for them. Not only that, she’d help them get into contact with local professional moving services. In a sense, Holly would be their middle-man to oversee the move-out process before Angel’s parents sold the house.

I was quiet during the car ride over to Angelica’s place. Actually, I had been quiet all day. Witnessing Holly’s double-persona act for myself left me mentally reeling. How did she keep it up? How did she reconcile being an angel at school and being a demon at night?

I spent most of the car ride staring out the window, listening to the others talk. They were having a casual conversation about a show that Holly and her mom were watching together. Alyssa and Lilith had also seen the show and were talking about their favorite parts. This whole scene felt surreal to me.

More than half the people inside this car knew that Holly was the Killing Cat. Holly lived her normal life totally insulated from her role as the Killing Cat. More than that, she was actively helping the parents of someone she killed. She was justified, considering that she was trying to save me, but the current predicament still felt crazy.

As for Alyssa, she was unquestioningly loyal to Holly. From having spent so much time around the two of them recently, I had a strong feeling that Alyssa had an unhealthy obsession with Holly. I didn’t know much about her other than that. In most situations she was quiet and reserved. She was a hard read.

“Silver,” Holly said, snapping me out of my thoughts, “This is the place. Let’s get out.”

“Oh…” I said, looking around and noticing that the others were already getting out of the car. “My bad, I’m right behind you.”

“If you girls need anything I’ll be right around the corner visiting a friend.” Holly’s mom said.

“Thank you for the ride Ms. Hayfield.” I said as I got out of the car.

“You’re welcome. I’ll be back to pick you all up in about thirty minutes.”

“That’s good.” Holly said. “That should be enough time to get the pictures of the place that Angel’s parents asked for. Are you sure that you don’t want to come in and see things for yourself?”

“I’m sure.” Ms. Hayfield said. “After all those things that we learned about her… I can’t… I just can’t. I can understand why her parents don’t want to come here for themselves. I want to preserve my memory of her too.”

“I understand. I’ll see you in thirty minutes then.” Holly said.

“See you then.”

The four of us walked into the driveway as the car pulled off. Holly was the first to reach the front door.

"Let's get straight to work!" She said excitedly.

"You have the key, right?" Lilith asked.

"I know where Angel always left the spare." Holly said. "She always asked me to use it when she wasn't able to answer the door. It's right beneath this flower pot."

Holly moved the empty flower pot on the window sill only to find that nothing was there. She looked around the area for a moment, as though it may have fallen somewhere. Next she looked under the doormat, and then in the bushes beside the entrance.

"Please tell me you're joking." Lilith begged. "Please tell me this is payback for what I did after the Christmas party."

Holly smiled nervously.

"I... I'm not joking. Normally it's here beneath the flower pot! I don't know where it could be now. I really hope the police didn't notice it and take it away..."

Lilith threw her head back in disappointment.

"If they did, then we have no choice but to go home." Lilith said. "What a waste. I was really interested in getting a look inside."

"Maybe we still can." Holly said. "I know a few tricks that Perri taught me."

This caught me off-guard.

Stolen story; please report.

"Wait, Perri taught you her lock picking skills?"

"Not all of them of course, but she taught me some basic attacks back when I still had an ankle monitor on my leg. She and Val's brother helped me jailbreak it before I got it officially removed."

"Now that you mention it I think I remember hearing something about that." I said. "Do you have the tools to open it?"

"I do." Holly said.

Lilith smirked.

"What, you just carry those around with you like a common crook?" Lilith asked jokingly.

"Inside my school bag, yes." Holly said in full seriousness, "They don't take up much space."

Someone was approaching the property from around the hedge as Holly was getting her tools out. Holly stopped what she was doing to give this newcomer a big smile. This stranger was an elderly woman, maybe in her late 60s or early 70s. She was walking over at a snail's pace, leaning heavily on her cane.

"Mrs. Mitchell! I'm glad to see you're doing okay!" Holly said to her.

The old lady cackled happily.

"I could say the same to you! Why haven’t you come to visit us lately? Oh gosh, look at you! You're looking prettier than ever! Have you met a nice boy at that new school of yours?" She asked.

"No, it's an all-girl school."

Mrs. Mitchell smacked her forehead lightly.

"Oh that's right! I'm so forgetful these days."

"How's your husband?"

"He's the same old oaf as ever. He’s at the doctor's office right now."

"His leg again...?" Holly asked.

The old lady laughed.

"Yep! It's that same damn leg that's always giving him trouble! It's funny that you show up here today. We were just wondering about how you were doing now that Angel... Well..."

Mrs. Mitchell's upbeat tone died down and she looked away for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm okay." Holly said. "My mother will be okay too, in time."

Mrs. Mitchell nodded and began smiling again.

"Who are these beautiful young women with you? My, look at this one with the pretty colors in her hair."

She waved her hand in the direction of my hair streaks. I took a step back from her now that she was close enough to touch me. She cackled again in response.

"That's Sylvie, but she also goes by Silver." Holly said. "These other two beside me are Lilith and Alyssa. These three are some of my closest friends, although there are a few others too. Girls, this is Mrs. Mitchell. She lives next door with her husband and grandson."

“Pleased to meet you.” Alyssa said.

“What a polite young lady.” Mrs. Mitchell said airily. “I hope you girls don’t mind if I forget your names. My memory isn’t quite what it used to be.”

Lilith grinned wickedly.

“Don’t worry. I won’t remember your name either.” Lilith said.

Holly gave Lilith a ‘friendly’ slap on the shoulder. Mrs. Mitchell laughed in response.

“Oh leave her be.” Mrs. Mitchell said. “She’s only teasing.”

“Right,” Holly said. “Listen, I was looking for the key that Angel normally leaves out…”

“Ah yes, that!” Mrs. Mitchell said. “I picked that up a few days ago when I got word about her from the police. I didn’t want anyone sneaking into her house and taking her things while no one was around.”

“Do you mind letting us in?” Holly asked. “I’m going to send Angel’s parents some pictures of what the inside looks like. I promised to help them arrange for some people to come put everything in boxes so that they can put it in storage.”

“Sure I can, darling. Just let me go back over to my place and grab the key.” Mrs. Mitchell said. “I should warn you though. The police did a real number on the place. The inside isn’t pretty.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” Holly said.

Mrs. Mitchell turned away to begin the slow and arduous walk back to her property. Holly managed that interaction so naturally that I nearly forgot that she was here with ulterior motives. She wasn’t just here to help Angel’s parents. She was here to gather information for the Killing Cat. Her social skills couldn’t be underestimated as an asset.

It took Mrs. Mitchell several minutes to retrieve the key from her house next door. The four of us were sitting down on the steps of the front porch as we waited for her to return. Holly gave Alyssa a simple gesture as Mrs. Mitchell approached.

Alyssa instantly understood and ran over to help Mrs. Mitchell by holding one of her arms. Mrs. Mitchell once again remarked about how polite Alyssa was. In reality this wasn't a matter of politeness, but impatience. I couldn't blame Alyssa and Holly. We had work to finish before Holly's mother returned.

Mrs. Mitchell opened the door for us and we slowly walked inside. She was being nice when she said that the inside didn’t look pretty. It looked like the place had survived a hurricane. The police had apparently turned the place upside down in a mad rush to gather information.

"This isn't good." Holly said. "This will complicate the move-out process. Still... I'll take the pictures that I was asked to send."

Holly pulled out her cell phone and got to work. Alyssa joined her by doing the same thing. Mrs. Mitchell walked in behind us.

"You should've heard the police officers digging up the place!" She said with a cheeky cackle. "The racket they made could be heard all the way down the street! There must've been between 10 and 15 police cruisers just out front. I had never seen so many police gathered in one spot before."

"That's because Angel was one of them." Holly said while taking pictures of the living room area. "The fact that she betrayed them cost them in the eyes of the public. How can they trust the police when one of them was working to hide a corpse?"

"The police department is being investigated." Lilith said. "Officer Morelli made them look corrupt."

Mrs. Mitchell rubbed her head and shook it in disappointment.

"I can't believe my little Angelica was involved in all that... I knew her ever since she was a baby girl, back when her whole family lived inside this house. I even had her babysit my grandkids from time-to-time and visited her on holidays."

"It just goes to show that people aren't always what you think they are." I said.

Holly gave me a sly look out the corner of her eye, but quickly turned back to her work.

A black house cat came running from around the corner and into the room. It instantly recognized Holly and walked right up to her. It rubbed up against her leg and started purring. Holly smiled and bent forward to pick it up.

"Hey there, Gabriel. It's been a while." Holly said. "Has Mrs. Mitchell been taking care of you all this time?"

"Actually, my grandson has been coming over to feed it and change out its litter box. I'd bring the poor little kitty over to our place but you know how my husband is about pet hair." Mrs. Mitchell said.

"Its fine, I can take care of him." Holly said. "My mom and I have been talking about getting a cat. Gabriel is as good a cat as any. He’ll need someone to take care of him."

"Oh? I thought pets weren't allowed in that trailer park you're staying at?" Mrs. Mitchell asked.

"We're moving." Holly said.

Everyone except Alyssa gave Holly a surprised look. Alyssa must’ve already known.

"The trailer park was always supposed to be a temporary thing. My mother has been searching for good houses for a while now. She's recently found one that we both like."

"It's not far away, is it?" Lilith asked.

Holly smiled at her.

"You don't have to worry about me moving away or anything." Holly explained. "It's actually closer to your house than my current place is."

"That's good. I don't want all of us breaking up after high school." Lilith said. "It was troublesome enough finding a decent set of friends. Starting all over again would just be a pain in the butt."

Mrs. Mitchell snorted when she laughed this time.

"Girl, you're a real hoot!" She said.

"In any case, I'd like to take a look at Angel's bedroom." Holly said. "I assume the police tore that place apart too?"

"Actually, the bedroom is a little different..." Mrs. Mitchell said. "Maybe it's best if you see it for yourself."

Holly led the group over to the master bedroom. Mrs. Mitchell's meaning was easily understandable when we walked in. The room was practically stripped down of everything, save for the bedframe and mattress. It looked like the police hauled out everything for later inspection.

There were markings on the floor where shelving used to be, but everything was gone now. Anything of potential evidence was simply removed from the premises. That put a damper on things. Holly still had a stoic, unconcerned look on her face so I assumed there was more to this than what I was seeing.

"I guess the police didn't know about the lockbox, did they?"

"What lockbox?" Mrs. Mitchell asked.

Holly walked beside the bed and pushed it aside a little. Alyssa came over to help her once she realized that Holly couldn't do it alone. Holly stopped pushing and then pointed out something on the ground, beneath where Alyssa was now standing.

Alyssa stepped back. Holly outlined something in the floor's carpet. It was hard to tell at first, but there were cut marks in the carpet fabric. It was a hidden container! Holly pulled back the carpet overlay, revealing a black box.

"This lockbox." Holly said. "She showed me it before but didn’t tell me what was inside. Now it's time to find out."