I approached the bench press. “Hank?”
Taking one more step, Hank’s head came into full view. His skin was a strange combination of purples and whites. His eyes were wide open, a look of terror still embedded in his dilated pupils. I gagged and stumbled backwards. The barbell had been loaded with some serious weight, the bar pressing forcefully against Hank’s neck. As a spell of dizziness overtook me I gagged again. Why on earth was he lifting without a spotter? Then I saw it. Just to the right of Hank’s crushed collar, carefully slipped under the bar. A daisy.
Chapter 18: Daisy
Dear Diary,
I promised you a more unique kill. And Daisy never breaks a promise.
Macho, confident, Hank. He thought he was so strong. Always prancing around, flashing his muscles at any opportunity. You’re not looking too strong now, buddy.
It’s quite ironic, isn’t it? That such a strong young man was killed at a place where he was trying to make himself stronger. There was nearly something satirical about this kill. Are you proud?
Well, I think I’ve frightened them enough for now; toyed enough with their emotions. Starting from now, play time is officially over. It’s time to finish this once and for all. Yep, my next strike is going to be massive. My next strike will finish them all.
Chapter 19: Koby
“Someone is obviously targeting our group!” I said into my computer speakers, talking in a hushed voice so I wouldn’t alert my parents.
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” replied Amber. “Why would someone do that? What have we done to get some unknown serial killer hunting us?” Even though Amber appeared on a pixelated computer screen, she still looked as good-looking as ever. After Hank’s death yesterday, Hollow Point High was put into shutdown. No more school for anyone until the police caught this killer or at least thought everyone was safe to return.
I recall Mr. Gardiner addressing everyone over the school loud speaker as students arrived yesterday morning. “Attention students, due to a police investigation, Hollow Point High will be closed for an unforseen number of days. Please return home and we’ll be in touch when the school reopens. Please stay safe and thanks for your cooperation.”
Mr. Gardiner solemnly repeated this statement every few minutes as students arrived in waves. It didn’t take Mr. Gardiner’s message to know something was wrong though. Police vehicles covered the perimeter of the school. Policemen and plain clothed officers hovered in the school grounds like a swarm of bees. Other officers were busy cordoning off the street whilst some directed traffic to alternate routes. One officer, a chubby older man named Sergeant Vince, personally told myself, Chad, Reed, Amber and Zoe to head straight home and don’t make contact with anyone. He strictly stated that this included contacting each other. “We’ll be in touch shortly, now scoot!” he finished off in his gravely voice.
Sergeant Vince then gave Reed a tap on the shoulder and beckoned for Reed to follow him. “Since you found the body, we have a few questions for you right now sport,” Sergeant Vince said again in his monotonous tone.
Reed didn’t get a chance to tell us much about Hank’s body. In fact, I don’t think he wanted to and we didn’t really want to know. I had overheard some news readers being filmed outside the school. Most were saying that the death was a horrible accident; a young man alone in the gym and he dropped a barbell on himself. They were wrong. So, so wrong. Reed had told us about the daisy. Although he didn’t give us specifics on Hank’s death, he said there was definitely a daisy on his body. A flower similar looking to the ones found on Veronica and Seth. I recall how distraught Zoe was at school when she found out the bad news. Even though they hadn’t been dating for very long, it was obvious she really cared about him.
“Not Hank. Not Hank,” she kept muttering as if in a trance, shaking her head side to side.
Following Sergeant Vince’s orders, we then headed home. I expected the police to call me the same day but they obviously weren’t ready to chat yet. So I waited. I didn’t sleep at all that night, I didn’t even try. My brain was boiling over with questions. Why? Why was this happening to us? I kept hearing Sergeant Vince’s voice in my mind, “Now scoot!”
Anger suddenly swept over me. We were the victims here. Our friends were being picked off one by one and he was telling us to scoot. And then he told us not to talk to each other, like we were some kind of criminal. The next morning I texted the gang and told them to meet me on Chatter, a website where individuals could chat to each other over webcam. Slowly, one by one, everyone had logged in. The website split my monitor into quarters, so I could see everyone on the screen at once.
“I agree none of this makes sense,” Chad suddenly said from the bottom right quadrant.
“I thought this serial killer was only supposed to kill at the lodge?” Amber continued in a voice just above a whisper.
“Territoriality,” Chad muttered. “I guess the police will be throwing that theory out of the window.”
“We’re not safe, are we?” Zoe said, her voice crackling through my speakers.
“We’re safe Zoe,” Reed replied, trying to put on a confident voice. “The police have told us to stay at home. Let’s just do what they say and we’ll be ok.”
“But Hank was killed at school. What’s stopping this murderer from creeping into my bedroom window tonight,” said Zoe, working herself into a state of hysteria. Poor Zoe, she wasn’t handling Hank’s death very good.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Amber hushed. “No one is going to harm you honey.” I stared at Zoe in the upper right quadrant, as she nodded unconfidently.
“So, who knew that Hank was going to the gym yesterday?” I asked. “Besides us of course.” I tried not to make eye contact with Reed.
“I don’t know. Hank was talking about it the other day at Billy Beef,” Chad said.
“Was there anyone else in the bistro?” Amber asked. “You know, somehow who may have overheard us?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Reed. “I’m pretty sure there were a few juniors there, but they were only there for a little while buying milkshakes.” I tried to jog my memory back to that afternoon. Was there anyone else there? Was there, perhaps, a stranger on another table listening to every word of our conversation? I couldn’t remember.
“So, what are the facts?” Chad said sternly.
“What do you mean?” Reed asked.
“Well, what do we know for sure?” Chad said. “For example, we know that the first two killings occurred at the lodge. We’re pretty sure that Veronica was killed around four or five in the morning. We know that the knife used on Seth was taken from the lodge. We know that the killer had to know where Hank would be yesterday morning.”
“We know that the killer uses daisies as some sort of representation,” Amber said, joining in Chad’s thinking.
“Representation,” I repeated, my brain ticking over. “What on earth could a daisy represent? What could this symbol mean?”
“Maybe it’s regret?” said Zoe.
“Regret?” I asked.
“Yeah, maybe this killer is so messed up that he can’t help but kill. Like a disorder or something. But then after he kills he starts to feel remorse. Maybe the flower is some symbol to say he’s sorry,” Zoe said, thinking carefully about her words.
“Hmm, possibly,” said Chad. “But why would he feel remorse and then kill again?”
“As I said, maybe it’s a disorder. He feels remorse for a while but then his sickness takes over,” Zoe continued.
“Maybe,” Chad mumbled, unconvinced.
“Maybe it’s a clue?” joined in Amber. “Maybe deep down he wants to be found and the daisy is the key for the police to find him? For example, maybe he lives on a street named Daisy Street?”
“Daisy Street?” I scoffed.
“What!?” snapped Amber.
“Maybe Daisy Street is adjacent to Serial Killer Boulevard,” I snapped back, instantly wishing I hadn’t said that.
&nbs
p; Amber’s hands flew up above her head on my monitor. “Damn you Koby-”
“Guys, settle down!” interrupted Chad, playing peacekeeper. “Have you ever thought that the whole daisy thing means nothing? A red herring I believe it’s called. I reckon this guy is just messing with our heads.”
“Why are we even discussing this?” asked Reed. “It’s not our jobs to catch the murderer. Surely the police have some sort of lead?”
“They have a lead alright,” Chad muttered. “And their leads direct them right to us! My parents spoke to the police this morning and asked if they could help in any way, given the killer appears to be the same person who struck at the lodge. The police said they were going to interview us all separately tomorrow. My parents weren’t supposed to tell me but they gave me a heads up. My parents just told me to stay calm and tell the truth.” Chad stopped talking and paused for a breath, his pants echoing through my speakers in a rhythmic beat.
“Tomorrow?” I said nervously, as I observed Zoe biting her finger nails.
“What are they going to ask us?” Amber asked.
“Just do what Chad said. Stay calm and tell the truth. I mean, we haven’t got anything to hide!” Reed said.
I was about to say something when a message popped up in the bottom right hand corner of my computer. “Hang on a second guys, someone is requesting to join our video chat.”
I clicked on the request. NIGHTRIDER62 WOULD LIKE TO JOIN YOUR CHAT.
“Nightrider62?” I said, not realising I spoke out loud.
“Nightrider62? What are you talking about?” asked Reed.
I clicked on the accept button which was located under the request and suddenly my monitor split into five sections.
“Hey, I can see five boxes now,” said Chad.
“Yeah, who is Nightrider62?” asked Amber.
The new person suddenly became clear on my screen. It was Rohan!
“Rohan?” Reed said suspiciously.
“Hey,” Rohan said bluntly. I’m not sure what it was but he didn’t look like his normal self. “I’m sorry,” Rohan said.
“Sorry? For what? How did you know we were on Chatter?” Chad fired off a multitude of question at once.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I’m sorry about your friends. I’m responsible.”
“What?” I said in disbelief. Did Rohan just confess?
“I-“ Rohan began before his section of the screen suddenly went blank.
“Hey where did he go?” asked Amber. I smashed a few keys on my keyboard, knowing full well that it wouldn’t achieve anything.
“Did Rohan just confess?” Chad said finally.
“I’m not sure,” replied Reed. “I don’t think so. He was going to say something else but he cut out.”
“There’s no way it could be Rohan,” I said. “The guy kills everyone in his computer games, but this is real life.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine Rohan hurting a fly,” joined in Amber.
“Regret,” said Zoe.
“Huh?” replied Reed.
“Rohan said sorry. That’s a sign of regret. That matches up perfectly with my prior theory,” Zoe said. She looked even more fragile on the computer screen than she did in person.
“Rohan can barely muster up the confidence to say hello in the school cafeteria, but he jumps straight into a web cam session with us? It doesn’t make sense,” Chad said, scratching his head.
“I’ll try to reconnect with him,” I said to everyone, desperately punching NIGHTRIDER62 into my wireless keyboard.
NIGHTRIDER62 IS CURRENTLY OFFLINE flashed across the screen.
“He’s not online anymore,” I said.
“Does anyone have his mobile number?” asked Reed. All of us shook our heads, creating a synchronised pattern on the monitor. Suddenly, another message flashed up in the corner of my screen.
“Hey, I think he’s back online!” I shouted.
“Wait a minute,” said Amber. “I got a message too.”
“Me too,” said Reed and Zoe at the same time.
“It’s an email,” murmured Chad.
I clicked on the message which opened up to a full screen preview. The message contained an email address:
[email protected] The contents of the memo were brief and straight to the point, with all the words written in upper case. I trembled in fear as I read the words in my mind:
BE AT THE LODGE TONIGHT. 6PM SHARP.
DO NOT TELL ANYONE. NO POLICE.
IF YOU FOLLOW THESE RULES, NO ONE GETS HURT.
IF YOU DON’T, ZOE DIES NEXT.
YOU KNOW WHAT I’M CAPABLE OF.
- DAISY XXOO
Chapter 20: Chad
I re-read the message again. A chill erupted through my body as I reached the last word: DAISY XXOO. This person was insane, truly insane.
“What do we do?” said Amber, her voice stricken with panic.
“So the killer really is stalking our group,” Koby said. “I just don’t get it.”
“I’m next!” Zoe shrieked. “My name, it’s there in writing. I’m next”
“Everyone, let’s just calm down,” Reed said, although I detected fear in his voice as well.
“Reed is right,” I said in agreement. “Let’s just all take a deep breath and go through our options.”
“What options?” Koby asked. “We’re going straight to the police, yeah?”
“No!” cried Zoe. “If we do he’ll kill me.”
“Everyone, calm down!” I yelled, this time with more authority. On cue, everyone went quiet until only some gentle static could be heard from my computer speakers. “Ok,” I said, deciding to take the lead on our decision. “Let’s discuss the pros and cons of going to the police with this message.” Everyone started talking as soon as I finished my sentence.
“One at a time,” I shouted, holding up my index finger so they could all see on their screens. “Koby, you go first.”
Koby cleared his throat. “Ok, pro – this new message could be the crucial bit of evidence police are chasing. If they saw this message they might be able to encrypt it. You know, find out where it came from and who created the email address.”
“Ok, Reed, your turn,” I said.
“Con – this person knows about us. He knew where Hank would be. He knew we were all online right now. He knows our whereabouts. If we tell the police, there’s no telling what he will do. For all we know he has our houses bugged and he’s sitting outside Zoe’s house right now in his car with laptop in hand,” Reed blurted out.
“Aargh!” Zoe let out a shriek and quickly disappeared from the screen to the back of her room. She proceeded to draw back her curtains and peer outside the window.
“Zoe! I didn’t mean-” Reed started.
“I can’t see anyone,” she yelled from the back of the room, before slowly returning to her computer.
“Ok, Zoe, what do you think about the pros and cons?” I asked, as Zoe continued to fidget in her chair.
“Con!” she said. “If we go to the police I die. I don’t know how and when but this daisy character means it.” She covered her face in her hands as she finished her sentence.
“Amber?” I asked.
“I’m on the fence. If we go to the lodge we outnumber this person five to one. Maybe we can reason with him. After all, the message did say no one would be hurt if we go. Maybe we should trust that statement?” Amber said.
“But…?” I asked, sensing Amber wasn’t finished.
“But, what if we’re walking into a trap? What if the killer wants us there so he can kill us all?”
“So either way, I’m dead!” Zoe wept.
“Zoe!” I yelled. “We have to think positive. We’re all in danger and whatever decision we make we all need to agree on.”
“So what do you think Chad?” asked Koby.
I sighed. “I don’t know. If the killer is Rohan, than maybe he’s giving himself up. After all, the email mysteriously appeared just after he logged off from Chatter.
In this email he said no one will get hurt. Maybe Rohan is crying out for us to help him? Maybe he’s days of killing zombies in his computer games have translated into killing his fellow school mates? Hell, who knows. There are risks either way we go but for some reason I think we should go to the lodge.”
“I just don’t think Rohan fits the bill,” said Reed.
“Well, let’s think about it,” said Amber. “He knows about the lodge. There have been times in the past where we’ve nearly asked him to come along.”
“He goes to school with us. He could have easily heard that Hank would have been at the gym that morning,” whispered Zoe.
“He somehow knew we were online,” I said, adding to the list of items. “Let’s face it; he’s our best suspect yet.”
“I don’t know,” Koby replied quickly.
I wondered if Koby still suspected Reed?
“Anyway, on a count back we definitely had more cons than pros. Based on that, I think we should go,” I said, waiting for feedback.
“Ok, I’m in,” said Amber.
“Yep,” said Zoe quickly.
“Yeah, I agree it’s our best shot,” Reed agreed to the motion.
“Koby?” I asked.
“I don’t think it’s the right decision but I’m a little bit outnumbered, aren’t I? So let’s cross our fingers and toes and hope for the best,” Koby said, also agreeing even though he had a differing point of view.
“Ok, so it’s agreed on,” I said. “Let’s all meet outside Billy Beef at five thirty this afternoon.”
“And remember, sneak out of your windows so your parents don’t know,” Amber added.
I stared at my computer monitor as each section flashed to a blank background as my friends logged off. I quivered as a question revolved in my mind. Had we made the correct decision?
*****
“Here comes Koby,” Amber said. All of us were waiting outside Billy Beef for Koby to arrive.
“Ok, we’re all here,” I said nervously.
“Sorry guys, my parents wouldn’t let me be excused from tea until I finished my greens,” Koby said. Despite the tension, everyone laughed. Nervous laughter. I looked at my watch. Ten minutes to six.