The Pleasures of an Eternal Nightmare

Chapter 4

The officer opened the metal door and the rush of cold air hit K.C. like a bat to a ball. He walked into the room and saw the boy sitting on the other side of the glass. A frown quickly formed on his face and he sat down. He picked up the phone and said, "What do you want?"

"What?" the boy sitting across from him asked. "Is it wrong for a good friend to check up on his pal?"

K.C. closed his eyes and rested his head on his hand, his elbow set up on the desk. "You're not my friend. Surely you didn't forget all the things you've done to me?"

The boy sighed. "You look like shit. What did these guys do to your arm?"

"I did this to myself," K.C. said as he ran a hand through his hair. "I tried not to eat for the week and ended up gnawing on my arm."

"Geez. That's pretty hardcore, man."

K.C. sighed. "Yeah. So what do you want? You never talk to me unless there is something you want."

The boy sat back in his seat. "I just wanted to tell you something; a warning is all. A good friend always looks out for the other one, right?"

"Just get to the point."

"24, 8-32, 20-36-34-34-8, 44-46-8-42-46, 28-24-30-30-24-34-20."

K.C.'s eyes shot wide open and fear filled his face. "Wh...what did you just say?"

The boy grinned, revealing his shark-like teeth. "You heard me."

K.C. stood up quickly. "Where did you get those numbers?" K.C. whispered. "Where the Hell did you get those numbers!?" The boy simply hung up the phone and waved goodbye before walking away. "Answer me!" K.C. shouted after him. "Where did you get those numbers!? Who told you about the numbers!!? ANSWER ME!!!"

The guard, suddenly terrified by the sudden shouting, moved in and tried to restrain the suspect. K.C. resisted and bit the officer's arm. The officer let go and K.C. started slamming his fist on the glass.

"Come back here!" K.C. shouted. "Answer me!!!"

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Julie looked down at the numbers on the game device as she walked up to the front of the station. "You R Alone," she read again. "Why would K.C. write something to discourage him? Wouldn't he want to hear something encouraging?"

She opened the door and heard the screams. Julie ran deep into the station and looked into room 26A. K.C. was wrestling with three officers, trying to break free and shouting loudly as they tried to hold him down.

"THE NUMBERS!" K.C. shouted. "WHERE DID HE GET THE NUMBERS!? WHO TOLD HIM!!? THE NUMBERS!!! WHY DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THEM!!?"

Julie burst into the room and punched K.C. in the jaw. K.C.'s eyes lost their energy and he went limp. "Take him to his cell and prepare an interrogation room for me," Julie commanded. "I want him in that room two hours from now!" When the officers didn't move, staring in awe at how quickly she shut down the frantic prisoner, Julie shouted, "Right now, gentlemen! I want that room ready in the next two hours! Let's go!!!"

The men jumped in surprise and nodded before getting to work. Julie walked out of the room and headed to her office. "First K.C. writes a code that makes no sense, then Kaleb gives me a vague warning, now K.C. is freaking out about someone knowing the code. Just what the Hell is going on?"

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K.C. opened his eyes and saw Julie sitting in a metal chair across the table from him. The air was stuffy and warm but his body felt cold. His jaw hurt and he felt groggy, almost as if he had just slept for twenty years. He tried to move but his hands were cuffed to the chair, striking fear into his heart.

"K.C., I know about the number code you and Kaleb developed," Julie said. "You said someone was talking about numbers. Who was it?"

"Why am I tied up?" K.C. asked in a panicked voice.

"You attacked my officers while I was gone," Julie said. "Just relax. They were just scared so I let them tie you up. Now who talked to you yesterday?"

K.C. sat back in his seat. "No one knows his real name. He goes by the name Marker."

"Marker?"

K.C. nodded and his eyes fell to the floor. "He is a very scary man. He is only seen when he wants to be seen, he gains information on anything that he wants, and he pretty much controls the school from behind the scenes."

Julie nodded to one of the officers and they hurried out of the room. "What did Marker say to you that made you so mad? My officers told me you went crazy over it."

K.C. looked up. "He knows the number code Kaleb and I use. He gave me a string of numbers that spelled disaster."

"What do you mean?"

K.C. looked around. "He said he's gonna start killing. I don't know who, when, or where, but he's gonna do it!"

Julie frowned. "What makes you think a kid your age would actually go on a killing spree?"

K.C. looked away, sweat crawling down his face. "Whenever Marker says he's gonna do something, he goes through with it to the extreme. Do you remember the shooting that happened eight months ago?"

"Yeah," Julie said. "Some kid named Yarn Trevors shot up the school. What does he have to do with this?"

"Marker was the one who supplied the gun." K.C. wiped his face on his leg and shook his head. "Marker was also the one to land the killing shot on the kid, not Sheriff Williams."

Julie scratched her head. "I don't understand. If you knew all this, how come you never said anything?"

"Someone already did." K.C. lowered his head and sighed. "You remember Sarah Gates?"

"Yeah. Committed suicide one week after the shooting."

"Marker tricked her into doing that suicide."

"I don't get it."

"I don't know how, but Marker got her to kill herself. He planned it out because she was trying to raise awareness about all the evidence that pointed to him being the supplier. To quiet her down, he had her killed and everyone knew it."

Julie pulled up her radio. "Interview students around the high school. We need to find this, Marker, guy."

"It's no use," K.C. said. "He only appears when he wants to be found."

"We'll see," Julie said.