The Animal Inside

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Call from a Dead Girl

“This better not be some sick joke. The owner of this phone has been dead for twelve days. You must have some balls to steal from a dead girl.” Dex sounded furious. Of course he was. He thought that I was dead. The only logical explanation is that someone had stolen my phone and had called his number as a joke. Seemed plausible to me.

“Dex, it’s me.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. I could hear Dex breathing, so I knew he was still there.

“Impossible. You’re dead. I saw you die.”

“Are you alone?”

“Wha-”

“Answer the question Dexter.”

“Yes.”

“It’s really me. Kefira. Who else could it be?”

“Some kind of automated voice simulator that-”

“Seriously Dex. You don’t think you would be able to tell the difference between me and a machine?”

“But... but you’re dead.”

“For legal purposes, yes; I am dead. But I am still very much alive.”

“But we saw it. It came on TV when we were watching reruns of The Simpsons. The Shadow Master killed you. You were bleeding.” It was at this point that the realisation must have hit Dex, because what followed wasn’t pretty.

“KEFIRA YOU LET US ALL BELIEVE YOU WERE DEAD! GAIA WAS A MESS FOR DAYS. SHE’S ONLY JUST RECOVERING. WE HAD A DAY OF MOURNING! YOUR PARENTS CAME TO PICK UP YOUR STUFF. AND NOW, NOW YOU TELL ME THAT YOU’RE ALIVE? WHY DID YOU PUT US THROUGH THAT?” I think the rant continued for a few more minutes but my ears couldn’t handle the yelling anymore.

“I had to, Dex. I had to make everyone think that I was dead so no one come looking for me.”

“Why wouldn’t you want anyone to look for you? You were kidnapped by a psychopathic Super Villain!”

“You didn’t know that until the video was broadcast.” I was starting to sound like Adrian.

“But the police were looking for you. You disappeared right off Academia property; vanished right off the face of the Earth, as far as we knew.”

“I could have just run away. I was pretty mad at all of you.”

“True. But when you answered my call about a week ago, I had a feeling you didn’t run away. I thought there was something bigger than that going on.”

“So you told the police about the call.”

“Yes. They ramped up their search. They spoke to all of us, asking us questions like if you’d been acting strange the past few days, if you’d met any new people, that kinda thing.”

“And you told them about Adr- the Shadow Master.”

“Of course. They kept looking for you, but then that video came to air, and... well, the case turned from a missing person to a body recovery.”

“But there was no body. Did I have a closed casket funeral?”

“That’s a cruel thing to say.”

“Sorry. I guess cruel is something I’m used to.”

“Where are you Kefira? If you tell me I can tell the police that you’re still alive and they can-“

“NO!”

“What?”

“Dex, you can’t tell anyone I called you. Especially the police. You can’t let anyone know I’m alive. It would mean all that hard work meant nothing.”