Nobody

Chapter 5

Ominous invitations were never on Maxwell's mind until tonight. As he had driven his vehicle to Penhearte, his eyes would ricochet from the note on the passenger seat next to him then back to the road ahead.

Fingers curled around the steering wheel, Maxwell took a series of deep breaths. He'd occasionally glimpse at the rear view mirror and envision a shady truck ram itself against the rear of his car again.

Like last time, it happened at night. He couldn't make out the face behind the wheel, hooded in the safety of the shadows. The face of an asshole—his nickname for that enigma—who planted a target on his back.

To ward off his paranoia, he dialed the police. "Hello. This is Maxwell Norris. I'd like to request for some police to be dispatched to Penhearte High."

On the other side of the line, Officer Walt pressed the telephone against his ear, eyebrows furrowed. "Why? Have you found a suspect?"

"Positive. The suspect invited me to the school garden. I thought I'd be cautious and be a few steps ahead so we can catch this asshole in a net," said Maxwell as steered his car to the left. "I'll meet them at the school's garden. Please. Hurry."

"We definitely will." Officer Walt set the telephone down and fixed his eyes on his colleague.

"Barry, put your gun in a holster. We have potential criminal activity at Penhearte High." The officer had informed him.

Barry knitted his eyebrows together in worry. "And who exactly was in that call with you?"

Officer Walt answered while he threw his jacket over his shoulders. "Maxwell Norris. Ex-boyfriend of our homicide victim, Haley Stewart. We gotta go before we arrive with another body on our hands!"

In an instant, Barry yanked at his drawer and grabbed his gun, shoving it in a holster, as he and Officer Walt hurried out of the station. They hastily clambered in one of the vehicles parked outside the station. Perched on the passenger seat, Barry barked into the walkie-talkie in his right hand. "We got a potential suspect at Penhearte High. Bring backup. Over and out."

* * *

Darkness escaped once a pair of headlights had splashed over the gates of Penhearte High. Maxwell hissed through his teeth and cautiously hopped out of his sedan. He walked over to the gate until his magnified silhouette bled on its iron bars. Eyes diving downwards, at the seemingly disturbed lock, Maxwell figured out that his esoteric pursuivant had already paced a few steps ahead of him. Fear thrummed in him, instigating a rampage in the nest of his heart. "Shit," cussed Maxwell.

Not wasting another second, Maxwell pushed open the gates and hurried back in his car. He pressed his foot on the gas pedal and accelerated himself forward, navigating his ride until he reached the outskirts of Penhearte High, near the school garden where he'd taken advantage of Shoji.

Clear as the blue skies, the memory assaulted him and so did the guilt that it entailed. He blamed himself for being reckless, yet he also pinned the blame on someone else.

Maxwell reached for his compartment and withdrew his pocket knife among a pile of miscellaneous items. He switched off his engine, leaving the headlights on. Soon, he'd alighted his sedan and sauntered toward the garden.

"I will end you, asshole," Maxwell swore to himself, tightening his grip on the pocket knife.

Unsurprised on arrival, Maxwell discovered that a few lamps had been turned on to steer the shadows out of the scene. He swept his gaze across the area and found no one. "Come out, come out! Wherever you are!"

Leaves rustled in reply to his provoking call. Then, a white robed figure, resembling a ghost on Halloween night with their face veiled by a golden mask, melted out of the pitch-black mist.