The Pleasures of an Eternal Nightmare

Chapter 7

"Julie Cross, what are you doing here?" Principal Trueman asked. He was dressed in track clothes and had a towel wrapped around his neck. He was catching his breath just outside the school entrance after a seemingly long run. It was just past 3, meaning that school had already let out and that only teachers and staff remained on campus. "If you want to talk with any of the students, you are a little late for that. Most of them have gone home or are attending clubs just outside of campus."

"Actually, I wish to interview you and some of your staff about a particular student and about some rumors." Julie opened the folder in her hand and handed a photograph to the principal. "It's about Marker."

The principal's face filled with fear and he pushed the photo away. "P-please put that away. We'll talk in my office."

After Trueman changed his clothes, he walked into his office and sat down at his desk. He sighed and looked up at Julie, who refused to take a seat across from him, making him feel small and weak compared to her.

"Do you know Marker?" Julie asked. "If you do, tell me everything you know about him."

The principal nervously looked around and closed the blinds. "Marker was a student who only attended freshman year for about a month. After that, he started skipping classes, dealing drugs, and stole personal items from teachers for ransom." He reached into a drawer and pulled out a file. "This file has everything you need to know about his reported crimes from his freshman year to his junior year."

"What about his senior year?"

"That's where the real problems started." He pulled out a letter and handed it to Julie. "This letter was sent to us by a girl in his graduating class two months after graduation. Two days after I got this letter, she was found dead by the school's parking lot." Trueman buried his face in his hands and shook his head. "The police claimed it was a suicide but everyone who knew Marker knew better. The letter she sent me was found by him and he decided to silence her." Trueman started sobbing and laid his head on the desk. "I'm probably putting myself in jeopardy by telling you all this."

"You'll be fine," Julie said. "If he silences you, it'll be too obvious."

"You don't know Marker, then." Trueman sat upright and wiped his eyes. "Every year, he silences anyone who speaks against him, he trades items for money, and he messes with everyone's lives in this school! Do you remember Ms. Wolluby?"

"Yeah, she resigned because she felt teaching wasn't her best suit."

"That's what she said, but really, Marker spread rumors about her going to the slut house for money and then started messing with her marriage until her husband divorced her and took most of what she owned."

Julie wrote this down in her notepad. "Do you know where Marker usually hangs out?"

Trueman shook his head. "All we have is his phone number."

"Give it to me."

"But... he knows who you-"

"Give. It. To. Me."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hello, Julie... To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Julie gripped her phone tighter. "Can I speak to Marker?"

The dark voice giggled. "Speaking~."

"I want to talk."

"And I want to share, we can't have what we want in this cruel world, girl scout."

Julie felt her fist by her side tighten. "If we can meet privately, I can guarantee you immunity for a week."

"A week, huh~? How about we add $50 to that?"

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!?"

"Well~... I think I'm talking to Officer Julie Cross. Y'know, the one who's been single since she broke up with Trevor Ghost back in high school, the one who fought Caroline Waters today, and the one who killed an innocent civilian during training. I think her name was... Heather Ruin~?"

Julie felt her heart stop and a cold chill traveled down her spine. "H-how do you-"

"Did you not listen to Principal Trueman just a minute ago?" The window behind her shattered and a bullet wound opened up through Trueman's throat. He gasped for air and fell off of the chair he was sitting in. "I am a very, very, dangerous person. You shouldn't underestimate me~."

"Wh-where do you want to meet?"

"I'm sorry~, can't hear you~."

"Where the Hell do you want to meet?"

Julie heard some scribbling through the speaker. "There is a festival going on at the school in two days. In the center of the football field will be a roller coaster with a dragon for rails and a dog for the coaster. Meet me at the front of the line at 5:45 and we'll have cotton candy together. Think of it as a little date~."

Julie grit her teeth. "Then it's a date. I'll see you there."

"Goodbye, Julie~. Don't forget the $50."

The line went dead and Julie closed her flip phone. She looked out the window and saw a sniper rifle sitting at the edge of the parking lot with smoke rising from the barrel.

"Fuck me," she whispered.