DELICATE / Brandon Darrow

twenty four

twenty four
the pig mask
FIRST PERSON

AFTER THAT MOMENTARY DISTRACTION, I got right back on track. I picked my bag up from the floor and headed back over to Sean's locker. I snuck the notebook out and flipped it to the right page and began my discovery.

It took a second to get all the numbers right and when I did, it clicked. I started to get a little tense. My cousin, someone who I trust more than anybody, might be the one person I can't trust anymore.

I opened his locker and started to go through his stuff. I pulled out a picture of Hailey and just looked at it. She was really pretty. I put it back where I found it so it didn't look suspicious and began to rummage carefully through more stuff.

I picked up this black bag and opened it up. Inside the bag was the pig mask. That's when I felt sick. My breath hitched and I froze in my spot. Was Sean Pig Mania? Why would he scare Hailey and I?

I took out my phone and took pictures of it before putting it back in the bag, and into his locker then left.

CYNTHIA:
rowan! i found the pig mask in sean's locker!
*Attachment 1 Image*

ROWAN:
oh my god
ROWAN:
cynthia, i'm so sorry.

CYNTHIA:
it's fine but tell hailey now
CYNTHIA:
he's probably with her

♡

We all met up with Stinger and we were talking about Sean and Hailey.

"Where the hell is she?" I paced the floor. I haven't fully accepted the fact that Sean was Pig Mania so I distracted myself by worrying over Hailey like a maniac.

"I texted and called her," Rowan informed me. "Where could they get tear gas?"

"Picture this," Stinger— who I had just officially met today— began to explain. "It's like Craigslist in the deep web. It's so much easier than you think. You could do anything," he stated before he went typing on his computer. "The zoo's throwing one of their party animal ragers sometime soon. There's a buzz about it on the site. They posted the address and the time of."

That's when Hailey came running in. Rowan ran up to her and started talking until she stopped, having me to finish the rest. Mainly because if Hailey heard me say it, she would know it was the truth.

"What?" Hailey looked nervous.

"Sean had the pig mask in his locker," I confessed hesitantly.

Hailey looked like she saw a ghost.

"Hey, guys, come here," Stinger thankfully interrupted the conversation. "This is why I called you over. King Cobra left the Zoo website. He's creating his own now. He went underground."

"What is that?" I asked.

"He's in the onion," he replied vaguely.

We all looked at each other confused.

"The dark web," Elisia summarized nonchalantly.

"It's like the normal web but, totally hidden and anonymous," Stinger explained further. "And you need special software to enter the site. I'm accessing the site with tore but only creepy, crawling ass people are down there. Shit just got real."