Part 3 of Blood on the High School Diploma (4-14-24)

Part Two: A Last Resort and Escape Plans Made

 Zoe woke up to the sound of machines beeping and the hospital’s bright lights. She saw Jay and Officer Comet standing next to the bed, Jay with a fearful expression on her face while the officer remained cold and distant. “Where am I,” Zoe’s voice came out small and meek as Jay took her hand, “Pookie, we’re at the ER.” Zoe shot upright remembering the horrors that unfolded, “Michelle? Did she get out of the water?!” Officer Comet’s expression changed, “When exactly did you black out, Zoe?” Zoe looked up at the pair even more confused, “Why?” Jay looked down with almost glass-like eyes, “Because, honey, Michelle and her girlfriend Gail were murdered.” The last word hit Zoe hard. Zoe looked down at the white bed sheets with a mixture of confusion and horror on her face. Officer Comet looked up at Jay and cleared his throat, “Jay, can I see you in the hall?” After the pair left the room, Zoe took in her surroundings, her dark eyes pausing on a hanging mirror. Zoe jumped when she saw the woman in the mirror did not look like her. It was her body but there was something off about her eyes. They had a sinister look in them. Hello my dear, the unknown inner monologue continued as Zoe then saw her body move not under her control. “What is happening?” Zoe stammered as she slowly lost her version… 

Jezebel, in Zoe Mana’s body, stood in front of the hospital mirror as she looked at their shared reflection. Jezebel smiled as her eyes landed on the unattended belt of Officer Comet, with his gun resting on its side. Jezebel softly hummed as she took out the bullets from the gun’s clip. She then peered out into the hallway to see Jay and Officer Comet a few doors down with their backs turned. After carefully avoiding being spotted, Jezebel entered an empty operation room, laying the bullets on the metal table. After quickly taking in the room’s contents, Jezebel then began to sabotage each bullet. She clogged the sink’s drain and filled it with burning hot water, then began to soak the bullets in the water. The water had started to corrode as the brass cartridges started to become unstable and less durable. Jezebel smiled as she then started to stab holes in the bullets so that when fired the gunpowder would cause a backfire inside of the barrel… 

Zoe woke up back in the hospital bed with Jay arguing with someone Zoe hoped that she wouldn’t have to see, her father, in the doorway. Things were getting heated between the 19-year-old and the much older man, Officer Comet had to physically step in. Zoe felt the anxiety itching the back of her throat as she spoke, “What are you doing here?” Her father’s cold gray eyes stared hollowly at her. “Your school called me during work,” he said bitterly at her. Officer Comet pulled his belt off the chair where he left it as Jay continued to go off on Zoe’s father, “You KNOW for a fact that you can’t be around Zoe. Get out before I have this cop drag you out, you good for nothing deadbeat-'' before Jay could say anything worse, Officer Comet loudly cleared his throat, “Sir, can I have you please step out?” After the men left the room, Jay tightly squeezed Zoe’s hand, “He shouldn’t be here.” The pair remained silent while the doctor checked Zoe out… 

The school had tried to stay open, and even brought in extra cameras and security guards, but not even five days after the double homicide, the bodies continued to drop, like clockwork. Andrew Cal-lens, the school’s known trouble student was flayed and was hanging on the school’s sign. Andrew’s skin was sewn to the “V” in “Valley” for all to see. The next six deaths came straight out of the Medieval history textbooks, each occurring 3 to 4 days after the school reopened. 17-year-old Brandon Gordon, died by being cooked alive by the art room’s kiln and had a bull painted on the door. Kelly Noelle, was hung on the flagpole with a sign around her neck, reading “attempted murder” in bold. The school’s death count had jumped up to ten students just by the end of the month. The public had begged the police to shut down the school to keep the remaining students safe. Officer Comet looked at the school with dread, “I don’t think that would stop her.” He continued to head up to the roof’s access like the note told him to… 

Part Three: The Final Deaths and a Rooftop Wedding

Jay stood on the rooftop after seeing the text from Zoe; Hey boo, the cop is after me. He thinks that I’m the “Valley Executioner.” The public had given the killer the name after the 7th student, Stevie McBrook’s death. Jay looked around the rooftop, seeing Zoe’s back first. Then the person in front of Zoe, pointing his gun at her head. Officer Comet had dropped the handwritten note, letting the text be revealed; “Comet, it’s Zoe Mana. The killer is in me. Please help, she’s going to hurt more people.” Jay turned from the note to Zoe, who also was holding a small gun at the cop’s head, that’s when Jay saw what were once Zoe’s eyes, “Who are you?” Jay’s voice came out shaky as Zoe’s body turned its head to look at her. A different smile was pasted to Zoe’s face as she locked eyes with Jay, “I’m your girlfriend’s other personality, Jezebel,” she stated as Officer Comet’s gun made an odd sound. The stand off continued as a light buzzing came from Jezebel’s pocket and a smirk grew on her face, “Officer Comet, there’s a show on for you.” Jezebel put the gun into her pocket as she pulled her backpack off her back and removed a laptop from the bag. After setting it up on an air duct like a TV stand, Jezebel turned on three different feeds from baby monitors. Jay’s and Officer Comet’s eyes widened as the videos played… 

The first video was of the school’s auditorium where a huge handmade guillotine stood, set up on the school’s stage. Mr MacCarthy was bound and in the guillotine while several staff members tried to get close to the stage to free him but the stairs to the stage had been sabotaged to collapse whenever someone stepped on the wooden planks. The second video was the inside of one of the school buses where four students were seen holding onto each other crying. Not much could be made out of the video, but the camera did catch a sound of a train nearby. The final video was from the inside of the Mana home, where Zoe’s father sat chained to a iron “throne” that was visibly shown to be slowly heated. A red-hot iron crown was forced on his head and a burning scepter shoved into one hand which both had already melted to his flesh. Jay then noticed the times on each of the videos; they are all happening right now. Officer Comet turned his gun to Jay to try to use her as a bargaining chip, “Zoe Mana, you don’t want to make this harder for yourself and drag Jay down with you,” he started but Jezebel laughed. “Noah Comet, you are a cop with his own Dissociative identity disorder due to a traumatic scene of friendly fire where you killed your partner. And here you are telling me about those people,” Jezebel pointed down to the crowd of students and continued, “You are protecting those who have made me. Zoe took the abuse from it all when people like you didn’t care enough to even help her!” Jay looked back to Jezebel who had stopped smiling, and now had the gun again in hand. Jay closed her eyes tight as both gun holders refused to back down. “I did it all for Zoe, remember that, ‘Cop,’” Jezebel grunted as both guns went off… 

The corpse of Officer Comet fell over the rooftop’s side, causing the students below to scream. The gun had backfired and hit him in the face which then sent him over the building. Jezebel went to the 2nd video which had been faked and messed with the laptop revealing that Zoe’s father and Mr. MacCarthy were both already dead. Jay looked at the carnage around her and sobbed. Jezebel turned back to Jay and handed a small box to her, “I know it’s hell right now and we technically just graduated but Zoe has something for you.” Just as Jezebel said that she fell forward, passing out. Jay looked down at Zoe whose eyes flutter open. Both girls broke down crying, holding each other tightly as the rain started. Zoe sat up and pointed to the little box in Jay’s hand, “Jay, of all the people you've met and places you've visited you ended up here—with me. It is a very powerful and humbling fact.”

“Through the years we have faced obstacles, some harder than others, that have helped us build the strong foundation of our relationship. It has shown me your unwavering love, constant support, and silent strength. I promise to encourage you to follow your dreams. I promise to continue to challenge you to be the best version of yourself. I promise to make you laugh, when you're taking life too seriously. I promise to love you unconditionally. I promise to put you first and never lose our spark. Jay Cornfell, you are the person I choose to spend forever with, as my true soulmate. I chose you back in 1989, I choose you today, and I will continue choosing you forever. I love you, my boo” as Zoe finished Jay opened the box to find a golden wedding band…