Part 2 of Blood on the High School Diploma (4-14-24)

*Note from the Author*

This book contains and mentions sensitive material relating to mental illnesses/anxiety, several eating disorders, suicide/suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder/survivors’ guilt/D.I.D (Dissociative Identity Disorder), murder, gore/violence towards minors, alcoholism/drug abuse, social pressures/stressors and many others. Reader discretion is highly advised for this story is for mature audiences only and it is important to practice self-care during and after reading. Some of the events, people, and timelines are based on true aspects of my life, so keep a clear mindset. And if people guess who the characters are based on then maybe people will treat writers better. Keep in mind that if you don’t want to end up as a victim in a book maybe try being human to the author. The D.I.D in this book are how I deal with it and are based on MY own experiences. It is different for each case.

To my inner angels who kept fighting against the demons of my mind as I walked through each school day with hate in my heart, I want to thank you for it. And to those inner monsters of mine, thank you for being my inspiration for the books and stories that came out of these nightmares. To the outward angels who stood beside me while I battled the evil inside under my own skin that I kept covered, these books and stories will represent how you have been there for me. And to the backstabbers, fake friends, and the people who wanted me to quit, you couldn’t be more wrong about my true strength.

And to the younger me, who probably didn’t know that they were the main character in their own grand tale; you were going to do great things. Don't you ever look back and question the choices and the fake friends that you had to leave behind that led you to the me that I have become...

Part One: The Deaths of the Gossip Girls

After a few days, the high school reopened to the students but classroom B-3 was locked, closed off by yellow police tape, and was being completely avoided by everyone. In front of the classroom’s door were only three bouquets of yellow roses for Chloe’s tribute, for a popular girl to be “loved by all” to then only be remembered as the bully who pushed kids into locker doors for making the smallest comment about her older sister who was rumored to have a prison record. Zoe stood looking down at the one flower that didn’t belong in the tribute, a single black dying rose. 

Zoe was trying to remember what happened that morning because the more she thought about it the more confused she was. The morning of Chloe’s death was all in pieces in Zoe’s mind; she remembered glaring at her broken phone in her bedroom and packing her backpack with a bottle of alcoholic eggnog to spike Chloe’s drinks due to her allergies to eggs but Zoe could not remember her drive to school or how she got to her smoke spot. Her therapist said that she may have been trying to suppress the memories of the event, but Zoe could still remember seeing Chloe’s lifeless body, pale and discolored due to blood loss. Chloe’s cheeks were stained by her final tears, meaning she was alive on that chalkboard for some time. She put up a good fight for her life, the thought scared Zoe because it was not her inner monologue that spoke. It was a different voice. Zoe fell backward just as Jay came around the corner, “Pookie are you okay?!” Jay started to help Zoe as screams came from the science hallway. Both girls bolted towards the chaos as others ran to the hallway’s windows. Zoe stood in dismay looking at the courtyard of the school. 

There in the center of the growing crowd was a chain fence keeping teachers and students away from a lit fire pit that had been dug. There above the pit was the school’s drunk tank now with boiling water. Sitting tied on the drunk tank’s seat was a freshman girl screaming as the stream began to choke her lungs. One of the school’s vice principals charged at the fence with one of the custodians' ladders in hand. The vice principal tried to climb over the fence to get to the girl whose exposed legs were now being scalded by the drunk tank’s water. Zoe and the crowd started shouting the girl’s name to get her to lift her legs just till help could get to her. Zoe heard one voice stand out from the rest, “MICHELLE! BABY JUST WAIT A BIT LONGER, PLEASE!” The voice came from the science room F-2 window which stood directly in front of the public execution. A girl with a dark shade of chestnut skin was hanging out of the open window, being pulled back in by several teachers who were trying to keep the girl from falling out. The girl’s cheeks were becoming puffy from her tears as she watched her girlfriend struggle to keep her legs up. “MR. MACCARTHY, HURRY,” the girl’s voice came out harsh as the vice principal started shouting at an adult for a fire extinguisher to be thrown over to him. Zoe couldn’t stop watching the scene play out as she then realized that she was blacking out. The last thing she saw was a baseball being thrown out the window, hitting the drunk tank with a loud metal Clang… 

Jay and everyone froze in absolute horror as the ball hit the drunk tank, triggering it to drop 16-year-old Michelle Henry into the boiling water. Mr. MacCarthy rushed in without thinking, he forced his whole right arm into the tank to grab the student. Jay and a few others had to turn the windows looking for where the ball had come from. Jay’s eyes landed on Michelle’s girlfriend who had completely broken down, sobbing and swearing at her god. The teachers had removed their hands and stepped back to let her cry. Jay saw the girl throw her hands up as someone out the second-story window pushed her. The screams of the crowd below drowned the falling girl and then a Thud and a loud, almost wet Crack broke the crowd’s shock… 

The EMT s had to drag Mr. MacCarthy to the ambulance when they finally got him to pull out his arm. It was coated in 2nd degree burns and the starts of 3rd degree burns were poking out of his ripped formal suit sleeve. MacCarthy was still trying to reach for Michelle when the first responders came. The crowd watched in silence as two black body bags on stretchers were rolled past the herds of students. Officer Comet was holding a five hour energy shot and trying to get statements. He saw Gail Anderson’s, the girl who hit the pavement head first, blood and brain matter still splattered on the stone. He then looked at the crowd of students until his rain cloud-colored eyes landed on a panicking Jay who was running towards a pair of black platform boots sticking out from around the corner of the school's doors. On the hallway floor, passed out was Zoe. Jay started to call out her girlfriend's name as a couple of teachers came out to help her move the senior out of the middle of the hallway. Officer Comet rushed to the small group with radio in hand, “Noah here, I'm going to need some help moving a student to the bus.” 

Jay sat in the ambulance with Officer Comet as Zoe laid on a stretcher still unconscious. Both sat in silence due to finally getting the chance to process the situation. The officer cleared his throat, “You know, I haven’t been a detective for more than a year and this is by far the worse kind of serial killing case that I have seen.” Jay looked up with fearful eyes, “This is a serial killer targeting high schoolers?!” Officer Comet nodded as he looked at Zoe, “This killer is a student among you two,” Jay cut him off, “How can you know be so sure?” Officer Comet sighed and continued, “Adults have a more set in stone way of killing unless they are trying to find their calling card. With these killings it's more personal and creative to say the least, like the killer has to use other tools like the drunk tank to kill because they can’t buy the actual tools. Also this feels like the killer has a message and a list of victims that may have a connection; they were the school’s typical popular bratty kids.” Jay then looked at Zoe, “They all bullied Zoe, shit talked her after she gave them gifts, and just made her life hell.” Officer Comet and Jay continued the ride to the hospital in silence. Jay knew that the cop only followed to ask his questions to Zoe…