Heart of Hysteria

CHAPTER EIGHT: Claws Out

It was another day of surreal desire to duct tape everyone's mouths. Theara's foot had barely hit the school perimeter before the names came rolling in. To top that, she wasn't even seated in her first class when the principal called her in.

Mrs. Chandler was most upset, her face glaring in every single way. "Miss Carter."

"Mrs. Chandler," Theara said with little enthusiasm as she sank into the hard chair.

She steepled her chin on her fingers. "How dare you falsely slander the school name? I almost believed you the first time, but this... it makes it clear you were scheming all along."

"Mrs. Chandler, I have no idea-"

Her rumbling sigh silenced her. A judgmental look relayed the previous. "You laid a charge against Mr. Green."

"I did," Theara confirmed, no idea why that was sounding like a problem.

"You have no evidence, do you?"

"I do. Levi was there. And there were a dozen school kids who saw him at the mall. Plus, I handed in the cuffs he tried using on me. They'll be full of his fingerprints."

"See, here are the problems with your story. I had a chat with the Lieutenant this morning. First, Levi's testimony was compromised. If you two had been separated directly after the incident, it might have been different. Secondly, the group you mentioned in your report, said they didn't see him at all. As for the cuffs, Mr. Green reported them missing from his class last week already. You could've taken them."

"I don't believe it," she choked, sinking back into her seat. "Wait, why did Mr. Green have cuffs in his classroom? Isn't that like, a restricted item on school grounds?"

"Not entirely. He had permission to bring it with for a practical scenario where the students had to calculate and measure the force a criminal might exert, and what the cuffs could restrain."

Theara wracked her brain for something else. "What about surveillance cameras at the mall? His vehicle might have been nearby, which could prove he was there."

"There's your biggest flaw in the story. Mr. Green was put on leave two days ago. He left immediately for the coast. He wasn't even in town yesterday. He has a rock solid alibi."

"But the camera footage?"

"They went through that already. No Mr. Green. No struggle. Not even his car came up."

That was the final nail in the coffin. Mr. Green was sounding all the more like a meticulous murderer. Of course, she hadn't seen his car either. But what were the chances that she parked in a camera's blindspot? She had underestimated him, and he outsmarted her. Now she was the culprit, and the attention was off him. Great. Or maybe you are just being stupid. It was so dark out there, even if it wasn't in a blindspot a camera couldn't have seen anything. Which does bring up the question of why that parking area wasn't lit up. "No. I'm not crazy," she stood up abruptly. "I remember it was dark! That's why the camera's didn't see anything. He must have somehow cut the lights out without the camera catching it. He set it all up! I didn't imagine what he tried to do last night. That was real, and his stories aren't!" she stormed out of the office and into the hallway.

The bell screamed and students came pouring out of the classrooms. Ella and her gang came fluttering out, and Theara's eyes went cold. Something inside her switched. Maybe it was Ella's own coldness affecting her, but her own heart was hardening. Her judgement was clouded with hail storm clouds. All she wanted to do now was beat the truth out of her.

She strided to them until she was in Ella's face. "Are you so used to lying that you would withhold the truth from the police?"

She stepped back, her face shriveling in disgust. "Ew, get your hog breath out of my face. And I have no idea what you are talking about."