Policewoman Stella knew as soon as she walked into the station that she wasn't in for good news. She looked straight at her colleague; Paul and he immediately averted his gaze by pretending to look at his computer.
"Stella, the chief wants to see you in his office," said the officer in charge of the front desk. She noted their was no 'friendliness' in his words, he had a 'just go and get it over with' type of tone to his voice.
She knew over sleeping an important meeting was unprofessional, but given her past exemplary record she didn't believe it was a sackable offence. So it was with a sense of confident apology that she entered her boss's office.
He didn't even look at her, his face remained fixed to his computer screen, "You've let me down, your colleagues down, the force down," it was then he broke from his screen and looked Stella in the eye, "but above all you've let yourself down." He returned to his screen, "I'm disappointed with you, Stella."
She took time to compute his words, and for a moment she thought he was joking and waited for his witty retort, because they all knew the boss could be a bit of a prankster.
When it didn't come, she found herself asking, "Are you being serious?"
###
Ian's head was bound in bandages; he wore his trademark dark glasses and trilby hat. This was his 'look' and he wanted it to become 'Iconic' – the 'Ian's idea' Brand Identity.
He sat confidently in front of the camera and when the green light activated he began his piece:
"Hello Pranksters; it's Ian here, with another idea to tickle you.
Harry Stialz, our favourite wannabe, is back!
Here's the premise – Harry guzzled some serious hallucinogens earlier and they're working their magic, Harry's in the midst of a mad trip, doing battle with his tattoos. You heard me right, he thinks his tattoos are alive and he's ACTUALLY fighting them with tooth and nail, literally!
AND, right now, we're about to bring mum into the frame and have her watch her boy going doo-lally–la–la!
ENJOY.
And, seriously subscribe and hit the 'like' button.
###
Stella's boss looked at her, "Of course I'm serious, are you questioning my authority?" He asked, a hint of anger in his question.
She made an effort not to react with any anger, and instead became compliant, "Okay, so I let you down, and for that I apologise. But it won't happen again, of that I sincerely assure you," she said.
"No, it won't happen again, because I'm not giving you the chance to let it happen again."
Stella stiffened, "What do you mean?"
"You're fired."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"I overslept, that's hardly a firing offence," she said, her temper rising.
He matched her tempo and raised his voice, "Oversleeping when one of the world's leading experts; who I brought over at great expense, is about to present his findings to a Cyber Crime Case that you dreamt up as some misguided way of furthering your career!" He barked.
Stella couldn't believe what she was hearing and she found herself stumbling over her words, "Is – is – erm – is that – what he – said?"
He reigned in his temper and lowered his voice, "That's what I'm saying Stella." He swivelled his chair to ensure he was focussed on her, "Richard Kells is confident that the 'Ian's idea' website is a hoax. He took us behind the the Dark Web curtain, and no trace of anything like your concept of 'Ian's idea' exists – case closed." He said, emphatically.
Stella's head began to spin, but she held onto control; and besides there was still one thing that had to be proven before her theory could be completely dismissed, "But what about Ian Rite and the fake suicide theory, we were waiting for a positive identification of his corpse," she said.
She saw irritation in his face, "Ian Rite's dead – and buried."
Stella actually flinched, "Has that been confirmed by a Coroner?" She asked.
Her boss inflamed, again, "It was confirmed by the people who matter most, his parents, and they buried their son today. So have respect for their loss and my decision – you're fired!" He bellowed.
###
Hannah Stialz, Harry's mum, implored desperately to the blinking camera that focussed on her considerable concern for her son, "I beg you, please intervene, look at him, he's ripping, biting, clawing his skin off!"
Mercifully, Harry's fingernails were no longer able to tear him, as they were now rendered useless due to them being clogged by his own skin and muscle tissue.
But Hanna didn't know this; all she saw was the violently gaping hole on Harry's torso where the serpent's head had once been, and the chunk of his missing upper arm, which Harry had bitten off and spat out. His whole body was drenched in his still streaming blood and Hannah saw him growing weak as he desperately pounded and clawed at the butterfly tattoo that adorned his chest.
When Harry, weakened by blood loss, fell onto his bed, Hannah stared into the camera, "Why are you making me watch this, is this some kind of seriously sick entertainment?"
###
On the bus home, Stella felt numb. She had a sense of 'un-reality,' that the last hour of her life hadn't really happened. But as she stepped off the bus, reality bit and she felt as though she'd been hit by a bolt of lightening.
She walked with a slight tremble as she continued to be hit by the ramifications of her sacking – 'How will I pay my mortgage?' 'What will I tell my parents?' 'I'll never be able to get another job in the police.' 'Will I ever be able to get any other job at all?' All these thoughts and questions coursed through her head with a force that felt physical.
But as Stella stepped back inside her flat, a strong sense of something else overcame her – injustice!
It was his smell, Richard Kells' smell that triggered this sense. His odour still lingered and she suspected that somehow he had engineered her current situation. She even went as far as thinking that there could've been some kind of sedative in his smell that caused her to oversleep. But she couldn't prove it; and if she went back to the station airing her suspicions she would make her situation worse.
But what she could do was, investigate. It was with a sense of righteous anger that Stella switched on her laptop and started searching 'Pranking Video's.'
###
Hannah stared at her son, drenched in his own blood and dying from his own hand. And just as her despair and desperation deepened, the footage of Harry switched back to Ian.
"Hello again Pranksters.
How wild was that, Harry literally decapitated that snake; and I really thought he was gonna eat his black heart tattoo.
BUT – is he going to regain some energy and rip off those butterfly's wings?
WILL he open his birdcage?
Will he chew off those comic/tragedy masks?
OR – will he die before he gets the chance?
WILL you see Harry's mum witness his dying moments?
Well, you'll have to tune in later to watch more of 'Ian's idea'
Don't forget to: spread the word, subscribe and hit the like button, folks. Ian and his idea's will be back real soon..."
