About Last Night

Epilogue

Tears stream down Theo's face as he remembers the awful pain. He has relived the experience many times in his mind, each time believing it could never get worse. Not knowing who the masked people were or why they targeted him still eats at him, even if it is just the tiniest bit. The police were never able to track them down. They identified the woman by the name Celeste, but they had no information on the man. After intense media coverage and a thorough search of the area, the case went cold.

"Good morning Theo," A man in a white coat says as he walks into the small room Theo is confined to. "It's time for your therapy."

He reaches up and turns a large dial until the TV screen says, "Theo - 90%" He makes another adjustment, and Theo's screen goes black. Static spreads across the screen, followed by a garbled image of a person. Theo sits up and observes. The man's mouth moves, but no sound comes out. He slowly tunes the dial, and the man's voice becomes clear.

"Theo, can you hear me? My name is Dr. Rand. I'll be your therapist here at Broadmoor." Theo sits and listens intently to his new doctor. "I'll be helping you with your mental condition. We're going to make a few adjustments to your therapy, so we can get you out of here as soon as possible."

"What do you mean?" Theo asks, unsure of what the doctor means by "adjustments."

The doctor turns down the volume on the TV screen and looks around nervously. "I know who you are," he whispers, his hand hovering over the large dial. "I know what you did, and we can't have you walking around a place like this, a free man."

Theo can hardly believe what he's hearing. He doesn't want to believe it.

"Theo, can you remember? Tell us what happened that afternoon."

"You can tell us," another doctor says, sitting down at the table. He, too, turns down the volume on his TV screen.

"We already know everything. You don't need to hide anything. It'll be easier on you if you just tell us."

"But it wasn't me!" Theo screams in frustration, tears streaming down his face. "It was the man! The man on TikTok! He did it, not me! I just found her like that! You have to believe me!"

"We don't have to believe anything, Theo," the first doctor says sternly. "Now tell us what happened. Tell us how your mother was killed."

Theo knows he's trapped. "Alright! The man on TikTok is called The Paperboy! He killed my mom while I watched and then told me to remember it, or he'd kill me too!"

"But you're here, Theo," the second doctor says. "You survived. Why did The Paperboy let you live?"

"I don't know. I guess he messed up, and you found me before he could kill me too. Or maybe he wanted to play a twisted game of cat and mouse. He loves playing with people's lives. Whatever his reason, it was good for me, but we can't count on him making mistakes like that again."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"No," Theo answers.

"Theo, we can't help you if you don't tell us everything. Where is The Paperboy? What does he look like? What else do you know about him?"

"I don't know anything else! I've told you everything I do know!"

"Theo, do you remember the dollar bills left behind? Do you remember what they looked like?"

Theo thinks about the money he found around his mother's body; they were all in the shape of tiny towers. Each one was a different color, and they were all signed by the same person. Theo picked them up and unfolded them to read the name. The serial killer known online as The Paperboy. With this information, the doctors have all they need to know. They rush out of the room to call the police.