Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

POV: Jeffery

Tonight is the night, and it’s going to get so much better.

The night was young, the moon showed itself fully as its bright light blanketed the entirety of the little town that is Burke, Virginia. The area I lived in was called Lake Braddock, simple and full of beautiful bodies of rivers and lakes, and I preferred it that way because it made my “night job” easier. For five weeks, I’ve been following the priest, trying to gather every bit of evidence as stated by the code, the same code that Harry, my foster father, has made me religiously live by.

The want of what I’m about to do is in there, eating me up. It felt as if a dark shadow was going to swallow me up whole. It isn’t a person, just a friend in a sense, one that’s kept me company when I was a boy,
It was a feeling deep down hidden from the public eye, and only I could see my darkly dreaming ally. The shadowy presence, its voice demanding me to feed into my darkness, a dark passenger if you will. Whatever happened to me back then, it has and always will be, there representing my internal desire to kill.

Killing isn’t as simple as you think it is. Due to the code of Harry, there are rules and consequences when I commit to the ritual I have carefully crafted throughout the years. The code part is really simple:

Don’t get caught
Never Kill an Innocent
Targets must be killers who have evaded the justice system.
Killing must serve a purpose, otherwise, it’s just plain murder.

It’s real simple, you see. Now comes down to the next part of this night job of mine.

Planning was a vital part of my nightly ritual, The location was perfect as it was a derelict little house that hadn't been touched in ages surrounded by a dense forest. Nothing is there, and nobody ever goes there, so it's painstakingly perfect for little ol Jeffery. Along with the small rotting dining room fashioned with layers of plastic, gaffer tape, and heavy-duty trash bags, it's what I call a payday.

Father David has been my target for five weeks now. mid-30s, runs the local orphanage, teaches Spanish, and is shown to be the mildly mannered priest liked by everyone in the neighborhood. Unfortunately for this humble Christian, five children disappeared under one of the many Christian rock camps he hosted last summer, tragic, I know for the parents at least, and no matter how sorry this father was, he’ll be singing to the high heavens when I get to him.

Father David was naughty, so very naughty.

David finally arrived at his car, parked in the church’s lot. I waited with bated breath as he settled into the seat and reached for his keys. Like a snake in the grass, I lunged, thick wires instantly wrapped at his neck as he gasped loudly, he tried to reach the wire but-

“Don’t even think about it, do exactly as I say or I’ll make it tighter.” I spoke up, my knuckles slowly turning white as I gripped the wire tighter.

Father David stopped.

“W-who?!-”

The priest tries to loosen the pressure of the wire, again I have to set a reminder again by tightening it a bit harder. David let out a strangled gasp.

“You are mine now, do exactly what I say.”
David stopped at the sound of the nasally voice, the pressure was let up a bit.

“Drive, Now.”

Father David drove, I gave him the instructions to head to the location where the magic happens. Each direction he followed best as he could. The Priest dared not to look at the rear view mirror and only followed the instructions provided to him by the person holding the tight wire garrote around his sweating neck.

It took a while to reach the derelict house in the woods but he finally pulled up in front of the broken fences. Before David could speak up, the kidnaper's gangly but athletic arms wrapped immediately around David’s neck, a perfect rear naked choke as the kidnapper tried his best to cling onto David’s back who thrashed as best as he could despite the car seat not helping the priest here.

The chokehold had its effect on David’s trachea, ten seconds passed as the perpetrator let go before any more blood was restricted from the carotid artery. Harry was right when assigning him those advanced Jiu-jitsu classes, it helps when needing to overpower someone from behind.

David stirred, his eyes blurry as he finally regained consciousness. He tries to move but for some reason he feels restricted and it really starts to hurt. David finally wakes to see his surroundings, an old abandoned room, the paint chipped and peeling, rotting and covered in plastic wrapping and duct tape everywhere. There was also a tarp covering something and David tries to get up, only to realize the source of his limited movement is seeing both of his wrists and ankles are tied together by rope. David tries to get up, but he ends up flopping to the ground instead.

The priest tried to wriggle until he stopped, footsteps could be heard and he finally saw his kidnapper opening the plastic wraps to step in. He looked like a high schooler, round glasses with a dark bowl cut hairstyle, and wore non descript street clothing with black leather gloves.

“... You're finally awake.” he said, his face was impassive, his voice nasally but his eyes held a hunger that shouldn’t be seen in a teenager.

“W-who, who are you?” asked David, his voice fearful.

The teenager didn’t answer at first, he instead walked over to the tarp and removed it, revealing something that made David freeze as horror dawned onto his face.

The teenager gestured, a black glove pointed right at the corpses of five children laying there.

“... Look.” he said.

David shook his head, his eyes shut closed.

“N-no, please…” Tears formed in David’s eyes.

“You have to look at them.” said the Teenager, he got a bit closer.

Five bodies, children, strewn out on the floor on display. Like something you would see at a museum as their bodies look deteriorated to the point of being beyond recognizable.

“No.”

“Yes, Look.”

“N-no!”

“Uh, yes, look.”

David started whimpering, fresh tears falling onto his cheeks.

“It’s horrible, isn’t it?”

David didn’t say anything, tears continued to flow as he silently cried.

“Isn’t it?”

“Please.” David’s plea was now a whisper.

The teenager had had enough.

“OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!”

The teenager had rushed to the priest; he crouched quickly and grabbed him by his lapels as he screamed at his face.

David finally opened his eyes, his eyes reddened from crying as he stared at those cold brown eyes.

“Look over there, or else I’ll cut your eyelids off.”

David finally looked at the corpses of his victims, and the teenager spoke up.

“It was hard to get these boys clean, but one of them rotted so hard I had to pull bits and pieces of him, had me nearly stain my copy of mushi to uta…” the teenager trailed off, his eyes darting off to the side.

David didn’t say anything; he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, but he then used his only option.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is withee-”

SMACK

David’s head twists to the side, the teenager had smacked him.

“Stop, that’s not gonna work.”

David could only cry out.

“Please, you can have anything!”

Negotiating? Too late for that, Father.

“Begging? Sure, like those kids who tried to beg for their lives?” retorted the Teenager.

David’s face twisted with emotions.

“I-I couldn’t help myself. Please these urges…I couldn’t.”

The Teenager stood up, his face now understanding.

“I know how it feels, I can’t help myself either.”

David then looked up, staring right at the teenager.

“But children? No, I could never. Not like you, children? Mhmm.”

“Wait-” said David, he stopped as a needle went into his artery.

David fell into unconsciousness again, but he heard the teenager say something.

“...I have standards-” was the last thing he heard before blacking out.

David woke up, it was cold and he couldn’t move. He felt something cling to his body tight. Was that? Plastic? Wait, what was in his mouth?

The priest stopped as the teenager came into view; in his hand was a scalpel.

A sharp pain in his left cheek, David yelped a little through his gag as the teenager sliced his cheek.

“Don’t worry, soon you will be packed in a very neat manner, separated in a couple of hefty bags.”

The teenager then brought out a small liquid baster and started sampling his blood. He then picked up a small glass slide and let the blood drip onto it as he closed the slide.

“The world will be a neater and happier place…”

David could only look with horror as the teenager picked up a large knife, which gleamed menacingly.

He raised the knife, and David tried to thrash and squeal through his restraints. But the priest stopped moving as the knife plunged deep into his heart, and blood trickled out.

The teenager let out a loud sigh…the sight of blood was all he needed to see.

He walked over to his gym bag and picked several items from his bag: a clear hard plastic mask, pathologist’s apron, and long surgical gloves, which he put on and then reached for another item important for his procedure: a reciprocating saw.

After making sure everything was in order, the teenager stood over David’s body. He set down his plastic visor and turned on his saw; a low whirring can be heard as the teenager began to dismember the priest’s body.

Then, when he reached his feet, he stared at them.

“...He needs to take better care of them, well not now cause he’s dead.”

The butcher shrugged and got back to his craft. Sounds of flesh tearing through the body of Father David can be heard, each sickening slice and dice echoing through the abandoned house.

Chapter Text

A loud splash echoed throughout the empty lake, which was followed by another heavy-duty bag joining the rest, sinking into the bottom of the
Lake. The teenager wiped the sweat off his forehead as he sat back down on the fishing boat and turned on the engine as he sped off into the early dawn.

His name is Jeffery, Jeffery Morgan, We don’t know what made him the way he is, but whatever it was had left a hollow place in his life. But not all was too lost; Harry and Doris Morgan did a particularly good job of raising both Jeffery and his eldest sister, Deborah.

“But they’re both dead, and no, I didn’t kill them, honest, but now it’s just me and Deborah living in Lake Braddock, Virginia.”

Virginia is a perfect little place for little ol Jeffery Morgan, mostly because of the beautiful lakes used to regularly dispose of last night’s “job”, oh, and also that one chipotle restaurant where the extra chicken burritos were a delight. Jeffery remembered one of his classmates, Megan, tried to protest there one time. Was it something relating to McDonald's? It’s a good thing Megan doesn’t go out of her way to talk to him like everyone else. Having a reputation in the gutters does help with one of the code’s tenets: Faking emotions and normality, and Jeffery knows he’s far from being normal.

Jeffery had sped up to a nearby port; he hopped onto the pier and tied up his boat nearby. Stuffing his gloves in the back of his pocket, he hurries himself out of the docks before somebody could spot him.

Incurring the wrath of one Deborah Morgan is something Jeffery didn’t need to deal with, he loved his older foul mouthed sister don’t get him wrong but after Harry’s passing she took her responsibilities to the maximum level, like Broly from Dragon Ball Z except not a large raging roid monkey and instead a young woman working in homicide for the Fairfax County Police Department. Jeffery wouldn’t lie to himself; he knows Deb is beautiful, and he’s seen enough anime to know where this little train of thought might be going, but don’t worry, Jeffery has his standards for now.

Reaching home was easy. Ever since he began his nightly rituals, Jeffery has had a tried and true method to sneak back home: Jumping through the fences around his neighborhood until he reached his home on 6111 Virgo Ct, Burke, VA 22015. The Morgan House was a nice two story house, a nice little home for a organized little monster like him and the basement was the batcave but instead of a cave full of gadgets it was anime paraphernalia and video game posters and merchandise, some would call Jeffery an unwashed loser and they’re right but for Jeffery it’s home.

He hops over the final fence and jogs to the basement window. It was an awning one, and Jeffery is slim enough to slip and climb through, thanks to years of practice. His bedroom greeted him warmly as he took off his hiking shoes and walked over to his computer desk. He opens up a secret compartment hidden underneath the regular drawer which can be unlocked easily through a button switch.

It was there, his little treasure, his Holy Grail, his little dragon balls, but it didn’t grant him wishes. All of his trophies were in a wooden slide box. The last time Jeffery counted, it was twenty-nine nine, and now Father David was his thirtieth, what a milestone.

Jeffery raises the blood slide up in the air, a small, smug smirk gracing his features.

“Heh, all according to Keiku.”

Jeffery carefully places the blood slide in the case, joining the other trophies as he closes the box.

Then his shadowy friend on the inside hissed, warning him of footsteps. Oh no.

Deb was already awake, fuck she’s heading to his darkly dreaming lair.

Deborah Morgan opened the door, she walked down with as much tact as she does.

“Jeff? Jeff,” called out Deb.

Deb spots her brother, and it seems he was already sleeping in. Jeffery is covered up by his blankets and looks quite still, as if he isn’t moving a muscle.

“...hm, guess he’s asleep…” said Deb. She did notice the chair near his desk was slightly moved but did not comment on it.

Jeffery laid practically still. Deb made her way upstairs, and he heard the door close. He let out a huge sigh of relief as he got out of his bed and put away his trophy stash into the secret compartment again.

He changed out of his designated “Kill Outfit” and wore a black shirt and gym shorts found discarded on his chair.

“That was too close. I might have to hide my little collection somewhere else if she comes here,” thought Jeffery as he put his chair back to where it was. Jeffery then pulled something from underneath another compartment, a paper folder containing Jeffery’s research.

No, it’s not hentai this time. You see, Jeffery had been doing tons of reconnaissance on several people throughout his time in Lake Braddock Secondary School. Ever since his freshman year, Jeffery had personally “followed” some of the faculty members for a long time, specifically Coach Colby, Mr. White, and The Counselor. Those three have been on Jeffery’s hit list for a while, the darkness inside of him calling for their blood to be spilled and all will be in due time as Jeffery needs more evidence before he can pass judgment. Principal Lynn is another issue, while Jeffery knows she isn’t guilty the principal does turn a blind eye to most of the school’s problems and while it’s unfortunate she can’t join the rest of his trophies Jeffery might have to find a way to screw her over before he graduates this year.

Speaking of the three, it should be self explanatory; Both Colby and the Counselor are predators, difference is that Colby is incredibly enthusiastic about what he is while the Counselor is a bit more subtle about his beliefs on pedophilia and if the rumors are true coming from the girls then it’s about time to put an end to his harassment. Mr. White is a bit different than the two; he’s not as predatory as the Counselor, but the photography teacher is much more on the political side of things since he is a white nationalist. Now, Jeffery doesn’t delve deep into politics like Mr. White, but Jeffery has seen what he is capable of. Judging from the various chemical parts he’s been ordering, it seems that Mr. White was building a bomb of some sort.

“It seems that Coach and the Counselor will wait a bit, knowing how Mr. White can be incredibly persuasive with his ideas of nationalism. Sorry, ladies, bear with me here for a minute, but I think Mr. White and I need to talk about the political and economic state of the world before he starts blowing up lower-income neighborhoods.” Thought Jeffery as he circled the picture of Mr. White in his files before he headed over to where his backpack was.

School was tomorrow anyways, Jeffery placed the file in his new backpack that Deb has insisted she get for him because his disguise of normality has included a wheeler backpack which had seen better days, was one of the sources of ridiculing from his classmates and Jeffery knew Deb was only looking out for him but he could handle himself against most of his graduating year, Harry’s training made sure of that.

(Morgan Residence, Kitchen)

If one thing Deborah knew when working for the FairFax County Police Department, is that LaGuerta can be a huge pain in her fucking ass when working on any case. This particular case has been confusing not only for her but for the entire department as well, as this new serial killer, not the first and certainly not the last as the last known murderer that was active this year was one James Childers, an arsonist who was responsible for at least five murders and four arsons. Upon learning that the authorities were moving to arrest him, James somehow disappeared at the last minute, and the only thing they could find was a hat and his left shoe near King’s Park Rest.

It was a bit bizarre, almost as if someone had swooped in and blatantly stolen him from right under their noses. But the new killer was another fun fucking bag of surprises as this guy or girl kills his or her victims via brutal but precise mutilations and then leaving various body parts of their victims around different areas in Lake Braddock. It’s almost as if the new kid on the block was inviting the police to come play a game with whoever this serial mutilator is.

Two of her coworkers, Batista and Masuka, were trying to come up with names for this would-be killer, but for Deb? She just settled for “The Mutilator”, real fucking original I know. Then the guest of honor, her foster brother, Jeffery, finally walked in, and he made a beeline for the fridge.

“Well, good morning to you, Jeff. Sleep good?”

“Jeff” sighed, annoyed after hearing the short abbreviation of his name. Nonetheless, he put on his “Jeffery the Social Outcast” mask.

“Who is this Jeff you speak of? The name is JEFFERY. Thank you,” said Jeff, his hand now holding the milk carton as he heads over to the coffee machine.

Deb chuckles at her brother’s neuroticism.

“Yeah, see? More of that cartoon sounding shit please.” retorted Deb, as she got up to ruffle her brother’s bowl-cut.

“Tch, socially spoiled.” Jeffery rolled his eyes.

Deb playfully punched Jeffery on the shoulder.

“So, senior year, look at you! All grown up and ready to take on the world, you excited?” asked Deb.
To be fair, there wasn’t much looking forward to going back to Lake Braddock, having to deal with what he perceives as his classmates being hopeless drug addicts, mentally deranged, or all of the above. But despite teenage hormones making everyone go crazy, Jeffery knows there are still a few things he doesn’t mind seeing again.

“W-well, I get to w-walk with Karen tomorrow…” said Jeffery, slipping back into his mask again and faking a blush.

Deb’s eyes light up with mischief.

“Oh, look at you! Fucking casanova over here!” Deb proclaimed, wrapping her arm around her foster brother’s head and rubbing her knuckles on his scalp.

“Yeow! Quit it, Deborah!” Jeffery said, pretending to weakly resist as Deb laughed as she got off him.

“So tell me, Jeffery, you and Karen? You two ever? You know?” asked Deb, her face curious but mischievous.

Ugh, women and their inappropriate sex jokes.

“Ugh, for your information, Deborah, we don’t do anything that filthy! Don’t tell me Mr. Masuka is rubbing off on you!” fired back Jeffery in his best nasally voice.

Deb laughs sometimes when he's fired up; Jeffery can be so witty.

“Alright, alright, sorry, hahaha! But really, how is it between you two?” asked Deb.

Karen Bennett. Well, both he and Karen had some history dating back to middle school, and Jeffery met her in the 7th grade during recess. She was a shy bookworm, and he was a shy, bloodthirsty little monster hiding behind the facade of being a mild-mannered nerd. Karen approached little ol’ Jeffery, who was sitting in the sandbox, a copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban clutched tightly in her arms as she settled down next to him.

Jeffery did glance at her from the corner of his eye. She was sorta like a female version of himself, as back then she wore thick glasses and her hair was a bit longer. Jeffery didn’t say anything until she spoke up first, and the rest was a blur as they established a friendship until the summer before he started junior year of high school is when Harry decided that he would be the one to have “the talk” with Jeffery.

He remembered that during the Fourth of July, as the fireworks raged on, Harry approached Jeffery in front of the porch.

“Jeffery.”

“Yeah, dad?” said Jeffery, closing his manga.

“I think it’s time we talked,” Harry said as he settled down on a chair next to Jeffery. 

Jeffery perked up hearing that.

“Oh? About what?”

“You see, me and your mother sorta decided that one of us was gonna have to give you the talk sooner or later, and well, we flipped a coin to see who would bear the responsibility of trying to explain the birds and the bees to you.”

Oh my god, no...please don’t tell me Harry is gonna say what I think he’s going to say.

“Jeffery, you're 16 now, and you've grown out of boyhood to manhood, and I can only assume you're starting to see your female peers differently, right?”

Please let this be a dream. Even Jeffery doesn’t hear the dark passenger say anything in this situation.

“It’s completely healthy to think this way about women, Jeffery. It’s only natural for boys your age to start going after women. Trust me, I was in the same position as you at your age.

“....Dad, I'm well aware of what sex is.”

Harry didn’t say anything, but he damn well knows I of all people should know the finer aspects of sex I mean my collection of carefully selected hentai CD’s should speak for itself.

Awkward small talk aside, I did ask Dad about how not to be so nervous around girls my age, and I got solid advice from that. 

Dating Karen did serve a purpose, mostly as a part of his perceived normality for his disguise, even if people are still gonna rip on him for being a walking stereotype but not Karen, sweet little lovely Karen who treated him like a person and saw past his flaws and accepted him for who he was. Unfortunately, if she saw him, his darkness, his true nature, Jeffery knows she would leave him, an unfortunate reality he can’t hide from, but nobody will know, not even Karen, and if he has to make a million excuses, so be it. 

“Well, Deb, we hold hands, and we read books together,” said Jeffery

“ Uh-huh, you two kissed? Any tongue action you be showing to her?” inquired Deb.

“Y-yes, no wait, that's not any of your business!” 

“Relax lil bro! Was just messing with you, haha!”

Deb laughed while Jeffery faked his embarrassment. Despite Deb’s constant teasing, she loved him as her own, and she’s all Jeffery has after the death of his foster parents. He may not have been a Morgan by blood, but his sister will always be there, even if Deb’s not aware of who he truly is.

Chapter Text

The lake was vast, and the waters were as blue as the sky while both Harry and Jeffery of the Morgan family fished from their boat, hoping to catch tonight’s dinner.

“You're different, aren’t you, Jeffery?”

Ten-year-old Jeffery Morgan looked up from his fishing rod to see his father, Harry Morgan, confusion etched onto the boy's face.

“What do you mean, Dad?”

“The Joneses said Buddy disappeared.”

The Joneses were the neighbors next door, and their dog, Buddy, was, in Jeffery’s term, an annoying little mutt who barked at anything it heard all day and night. Jeffery’s aware that he couldn’t lie to Harry, his father, the homicide detective whose job it is to tell who is lying and investigate dead bodies. 

“I found the grave son,” said Harry

“That dog was a noisy little thing who barked all the time, and Mom couldn’t get any good sleep!” explained Jeffery, his voice bordering on whining.

“There were also other bones in there, Jeffery, besides Buddy’s.” Harry pointed out.

Jeffery looked down to his feet, guilt burning on his face. Harry’s face was calmer but held a questioning gaze.

“Jeffery, have you ever wanted to kill anything else?”

Jeffery said looking up, wondering what Harry meant by that.

“As in, the urge to kill something bigger than a dog? A person?” asked Harry.

Jeffery thought about it for a second.

“..Y-yes.”

Jeffery feels as if he has committed such a grave sin; what will happen to him now? Will Harry put him in one of those looney houses? Please, whatever deity that's out there, don’t let Harry disown him.

“Anybody in particular?” asked Harry, breaking Jeffery’s train of thought.

Oh, well, never mind then.

“U-uh no?”

Harry didn’t say anything. Jeffery’s grip on his fishing rod lessened as Harry asked another question.

“Well, why didn’t you?” Harry asked again.

“Because, because you and mom wouldn’t like it…” said Jeffery solemnly.

Harry didn’t say anything except to wrap his arms around Jeffery, who stiffened until he realized he was hugging him.

Jeffery hugs back, his eyes softly closing as he hears Harry.

“You were honest with me, Jeffery; that's all that matters, and I wouldn't like you less no matter what.” 

The vision fades to black-

His eyes open to the feeling of something landing on him.

A mosquito landed on an arm, its arms rubbed together with anticipation to feed on fresh blood. 

SMACK

A hand smacked down, the mosquito met its untimely demise as what’s left of it is a stain. Jeffery smiles, his dark passenger growls with approval at such a fresh kill in the morning, even if it was something as insignificant as a mosquito.

Jeffery got up from his bed, grabbing his glasses from his night stand and looking at his alarm clock.

5:35 AM

Jeffery gets up and ready to begin his morning ritual. Every painstaking detail must be meticulous, like sharpening a blade to perfection, even if it’s mundane, such as brushing his teeth and flossing or showering, but for Jeffery, it was like being reborn again.

Jeffery leaves the bathroom he heads to his bed, where the clothes he picked out were carefully chosen for the day: An orange t-shirt that has the text “I’m with Pwned”, a pair of blue jeans, and sneakers. As Jeffery puts on a part of his fake disguise, he heads upstairs.

He still sensed his older sister had started getting ready for the day, too, so to ease her responsibilities, Jeffery began to work on breakfast. 

Deb finally arrived downstairs to the smell of bacon, fresh coffee was on the table for her, too.

“Good morning, Deborah,” said Jeffery, his eyes focused on the bacon.

“Morning,” said Deb. She picks up the coffee and takes a sip.

“Holy Mary mother of fuck this a good cup of joe.”

Jeffery stared at Deb.

“You could’ve said the coffee was good, Deborah.”

Deb grinned in response.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Jeffery rolled his eyes, his sister could be too much.

“Well, I have to meet up with Karen now. so sorry if I can’t trade bad words with you, Deborah.” Said Jeffery, slinging his new backpack on as he heads out to the door.

“Don’t go doing anything too crazy with her, Jeff!” yelled Deb, waving goodbye.

“A simple ' have a good day at school, Jeffery' would have sufficed,” said Jeffery.

Ignoring Deb’s constant jokes about his dating life, he was looking forward to meeting up with Karen today. Like he mentioned before, Karen was perfect for a normally well-adjusted teenager who murdered criminals for a living like him, and vice-versa for Karen judging from the novels she reads–a perfect humble gentleman come to life, oh Karen my giant goddess shall I treat you so well. 

Jeffery heads to Karen’s house, it was just five or six blocks away from where he lives and finally arrives at Karen's house. Jeffery knocks on the front door as he waits patiently outside. 

Then, Jeffery hears the door jiggle open, he slips into his mask as Karen’s father opens the door.

“Oh, good morning, Mr. Bennett! Is Karen ready to come to school?” asked Jeffery 

“Ah, hello, Jeffery. Karen will be coming down soon. Would you like to come inside?” asked Mr. Bennett.

Jeffery nodded as he walked inside. he sat down on the couch as Mr. Bennett walked away doing whatever he was doing. If Jeffery remembered correctly after precariously looking through Karen’s family history, Mr. Bennett was a lawyer while Ms. Bennett was rotting six feet underground. A little harsh, but well, Jeffery can’t lie about the facts. But there was also an extra factor to the family too, well, two for that matter.

“Jeffery!” A little boy clung to his leg as another girl walked into the living room carrying a raggedy Ann doll.

“Ah, Cody! Hey there!” Jeffery said as he tried to hug Cody, but the little boy giggled as he clung tighter to Jeffery’s leg.

“Hello, Jeffery,” said the girl.

“Hi, Astor. How’s raggedy Ann there doing?”

“Mmmn fine,” replied Astor.

Jeffery forgot to mention Karen’s little siblings, Astor and Cody, both eight and five, and quite a rowdy bunch whenever he came over to hang out, It's why both Karen and her dad love him very much for getting along with them.

Then, Karen herself finally comes down the stairs.

No longer the shy middle school student she once was, Karen is now a shy high school student in her senior year. With her short, messy black hair and glasses, she was also wearing a dark green sweater and grey jeans. Karen’s face brightens up when she sees her boyfriend.

“Jeffery! You're here. Hi!” said Karen as she hugged him. The smell of her shampoo permeates Jeffery’s nose, no detail ever slips him.

“H-hey, Karen!” I could be an actor with this amount of range. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded, and the two said their goodbyes to the Bennett family as they left through the front door.

Jeffery and Karen trekked to their school. The morning was crisp as Fairfax County’s weather was starting to show, but it didn’t matter to Jeffery. Everything was going all right as he conversed with Karen on some mundane subjects not worth repeating. 

Lake Braddock Secondary School was there in all of its glory; It felt like it was a living being sometimes with what Jeffery hears from the grapevine and what he sees going on half of the time. It is a miracle this place hasn’t even been shut down and abandoned. Jeffery spots the students already there, each in differentiating styles ranging from scene, emo, preppy, casual, and no in between really, and he was in his category because of his reputation. 

But school social hierarchies didn’t matter to him; there were much bigger fish to fry, and in this metaphorical lake, that juicy striped bass was swimming right there: Mr. White. His beige suit with the red bowtie and vest, the long hair, even his little pot belly, it's almost salivating for Jeffery, like a ripe juicy red apple. While he wants to chew on the forbidden fruit, he still needs to go through with the code’s tenants, but Jeffery did develop an idea on how he can get Mr. White all to himself. 

“-effery, Jeffery!” Karen’s voice rang out to him.

Jeffery snaps out of his little fantasy.

“Oh, what? What’s happening?” Asked Jeffery.

“My class is here. I gotta go now, but we’ll meet up during lunch, right?” said Karen. 

Oh, right, maybe Jeffery should stop having these internal dialogues.

“S-sorry Karen, gomenasai! I was just thinking about my new schedule. Lots of classes this year if I wanna go to a good college.” 

Karen shook her head and smiled, she loved my little quirks even if I acted too well into them, all part of my persona I crafted so well throughout the years. 

Karen did come close for a hug, and then Jeffery felt her lips brush into the side of his cheek. She stepped back, giggling as she said her goodbyes and Jeffery turned to walk so that Karen wouldn’t see the real reaction he was sporting on his facial features.

Nothing, though he did rub the spot where she kissed him. Jeffery still realizes that even with dating Karen and getting to enjoy the closure from another person, he sadly still didn’t feel anything from this, not much of a spark in his heart.

Was he really this detached from human emotion? Was his dark passenger not letting him feel love? Unable to process human connections?

Then someone bumped into him.

“Watch where you’re going!”

Of course, Jeffery forgets about his classmates as he turns his head to see Kylar stopping to greet him. 

“Hehe, sorry, Jeff didn’t see ya there.”

Great, this walking ape just had to talk to him, of all people.

“It’s Jeffery, not Jeff.”

“How about I call you a four eyed faggot?”

That's creative. Has bullying stagnated at this point? 

“Mmn, n-no, that wouldn’t be nice.”

“Exactly freak, next time don’t trip over nothing bitch.” fired back Kylar, bumping Jeffery's shoulders with as much force as he mustered.

It’s a good thing that the bullying of his person had lessened significantly, not that his classmates had let up on their usual snide comments on him, salt of the earth these people are. Kylar on the other hand, was once or still is one of his few tormentors that has it out for him, but Jeffery also had a lot of planning for this skilled lacrosse player. 

Jenny Filmore was a student during Kylar’s freshman year. If the rumors are true, then Kylar was responsible for what he did to her, but then a week later, Jenny supposedly committed suicide. Jeffery settles down in his desk as he remembers more details from the case; Jenny hung herself in the girl’s locker room but on her neck there was signs of strangulation by hands as the abrasions on her neck showed that someone strong enough to choke her to death as well as small pinpoint red spots appeared around her eyes and face known as Petechiae as they only showed up due to the rupture of small blood vessels.

Jeffery theorized that Kylar must’ve strangled her to death out of fear that it could ruin his Lacrosse career, but knowing Kylar’s IQ levels, there’s no way he could’ve thought up of covering up his murder via suicide, so he must’ve had help. The real question is, who?

Jeffery will have to think more of this later; Human Biology is calling to him, and God knows how much Jeffery loves the anatomy of the body from head to toe.

LUNCH PERIOD, 12:45 PM

Lunch had started, and everyone raced for those spicy chicken sandwiches. Jeffery was lucky enough to snag two for himself and Karen. Settling down somewhere near the courtyard, Jeffery found himself a secluded spot where, out of sight, they could have a quick smoke break from dealing with the stresses of high school studies. 

Laptop in hand, Jeffery was reading up more into Jenny Filmore’s case to see if he was leaving anything out. He also then started strategizing on how he can gain Mr. White’s trust as he thought of a wonderful idea; He’ll become a white nationalist, very straightforward but Jeffery does know a nice little secluded spot somewhere in Lakeside Park where he can tell Mr. White how he and Karen want to join and that Karen knows a good spot where they can do a photoshoot of a flag design he made that’ll certainly tickle Mr. White’s pickle. 

Before he could delve deep into his plan, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

“The fuck you doing here?” 

Jeffery immediately logged out of the Fillmore file and turned his head to see the last two people he wanted to deal with: Emily McKay and Nicole Doakes.

“Nerd Shirt beating off again?” said Emily, a vicious look gleaming in her eye as she took another drag of her cigarette.

Like I said, salt of the earth these people.

“N-no! Besides, it's none of your business what I do!”

“Oooh, he's getting feisty today! Me-ow,” taunted Emily, Nicole though glared at Jeffery with thinly veiled suspicion.

While his falsified mask can fool someone as fried as Emily, Nicole for some reason has this air of permanent hostility surrounding her at all times, especially to the males at Lake Braddock Secondary School but for some reason Nicole does not like him at all, as her coldness is certainly handy for someone in Jeffery’s profession, it’s a damn shame she wasn’t his friend. 

“You don’t have a reason to be here; you don’t even smoke, so what are you fucking up to?” questioned Nicole, though it sounded less like a question and more of a demand as her blue eyes pierced straight through him. 

“ Christ Doakes, get off my back will you ?” Jeffery wishes he could say that, but he knows that what she wanted to hear from him, Nicole wanted to see him slip up, like she knew he was wearing a mask. Jeffery doesn’t get it. The real question is that out of all the other guys in this school, is Nicole Doakes the only one who gets the creeps from him?

“He’s probably hiding his little porn comics on that computer!” Thank you, Emily, for your contribution to this conversation.

“Are you hiding something, Jeffery?” This time, it was a question, but her tone was similar to that a parent would use. Jeffery knows damn well that Nicole is in no position to talk to him like that, knowing her past grades since she started coming here. 

Anyways, being silent and brooding in his thoughts isn’t a viable option.

“N-nothing! I’m not hiding anything!” said Jeffery as he closed his laptop, his back hunched over trying to appear meek.

“Only a guilty person says their hiding something, so what the fuck were you looking at?” Nicole said, her tone slowly growing aggressive as she got a bit closer to Jeffery’s personal space.

Shit, cornered like a rat and this hungry cat wants to bite his rat ass and not in the fun Tom and Jerry way. He looked to see any possible exits, but Emily must’ve read his mind as she stepped in too close for comfort. Jeffery tried to step back a bit, but then he looked down to see that he had stepped on the chicken sandwiches he got for Karen. Jeffery looked up to see a sadistic glee shine in Emily’s dark blue eyes.

“Don’t leave now, Jeffy, just show us what's in the thing.” Emily requested, but Jeffery knows she's a hair trigger away from clawing at him with her nails.

“B-but I didn’t do anything wrong!” Jeffery said, his eyes meeting Nicole and for the first time in a while he’s seen it. He froze as if her aura had begun to manifest itself familiarly. Shadowy wisps cloaking the both of them unseen to anyone as Jeffery had begun to witness Nicole’s darkness coming out. Almost as if she had a Dark Passenger of her own. Does this mean Doakes was just as broken as him? Was there more to Nicole than being a socially spoiled bully who likes to ruin other people's lives? 

Jeffery felt his passenger starting to growl, almost like a dog on a leash sizing up another dog from across the street. Then it manifested. Jeffery didn’t know if Nicole was aware of its existence as it climbed and settled itself onto her shoulders. Jeffery thought her passenger looked canine in nature, with small clipped wings, no back feet, and a long jaw. Its eyes looked like blue moons as it stared right at Jeffery.

Jeffery’s passenger immediately came out, it felt challenged. It started hissing right at Nicole’s shadowy friend and vice versa. Her passenger started hissing right back.

Emily looked confused, she looked back and forth between the two.

“Nicole? Nicole, are we gonna do something? Nicole?” said Emily, tugging on her sleeve, but Nicole didn’t respond to the scene girl; her eyes automatically focused on Jeffery, almost as if she was undeterred by everything around.

Before Nicole or Emily could do anything, Karen came in around the corner at the last minute.

“Jeffery? What are you two doing?” demanded Karen, immediately rushing over to him as Nicole and Emily were pushed out of the way as she attended to Jeffery.

Oh, Karen, my beautiful giant goddess, thank you for saving me.

“Karen, thank god you're here!” said Jeffery as he slipped back into his mask, a feat that didn’t go unnoticed by Nicole.

“What the hell is your problem? It’s not even the end of the first day. What did you do to him?” Karen said angrily, placing herself in front of Jeffery.

Emily steps in “Relax bitch, we’re just having a bit of fun with Jeffery it’s not even that deep.”

Karen twitched at that insult, but she steeled herself as she grabbed Jeffery’s hand and dragged him out of the courtyard.

“Cmon, we’re leaving, we got better things to do.”

Doakes scoffed at that, but Emily didn’t seem to appreciate being brushed off like that and especially not by the likes of Jeffrey and Karen.

“Oh yeah? Well why don't you fucking-” started Emily until Nicole grabbed her on her shoulder.

“Leave it,” said Nicole, her eyes almost glowing.

Emily was about to speak up. 

“Nicole, are you gonna let that skank talk to us like-”

Emily stared into Nicole’s eyes and stopped talking. She couldn’t describe it, but when she stopped to look at Nicole, Emily stopped as if some kind of invisible presence had silenced her. Nicole gestured with her head and turned, and Emily followed her into their usual  spot. Emily didn’t say anything else as she opened her backpack and fished for her stash. Nicole turned to look at the couple leaving and spotted Jeffery, who was now looking back at her. 

Jeffery gave her a look, it wasn’t the usual gaping stare that he often had on but instead that of understanding, like he was saying, “I understand now.” What the fuck would Jeffery Morgan, that fucking lego collector would know? Ever since the day she came to this school, Nicole saw Jeffery get into a fight with Trody and swore she saw the look on his face, as if he enjoyed trying to almost kill him. Nicole knew there was something wrong with Jeffery, the feeling inside of her, her ability to spot flaws in a person’s character, went into high alert whenever Jeffery was around her. Nicole does her best to keep her distance, but deep down, she can’t help but feel like there is something Jeffery is hiding.

Jeffery Morgan, whoever you are, you sketcher wearing creep, I’m watching you motherfucker.

Nicole only glared at Jeffery as he and Karen went into the building. She took a drag off her newly lit cigarette, letting the nicotine float into the air. 

Chapter Text

In the school halls of Lake Braddock Secondary School, Karen fusses over Jeffery as if he hurt himself. Karen also ranted about Doakes still bullying him despite the numerous other things she's done ever since she started coming here.

“Don’t even get me started on the one-time Emily and Nicole fed Crispin all that Adderall, I'm surprised he's still standing but thats like, attempted murder!" Karen ranted.

Jeffery sorta tuned her out a bit. He's well attuned to Nicole's exploits, but all he could think about is the metaphorical juicy fish that is Mr. White, his plan was perfect and was begging to be executed flawlessly like Light Yagami, waiting to say "Just as Planned" when he gets to finally reel in the bait that the photography teacher has bitten into. He likes Karen (or so he thinks), really he does, but on the inside, he feels hungry, the hunger craves the red viscous that flows inside every human being, wishing for him to sample and place it with his collection. Sweet blood, oh sweet red blood, did I mention that jaunting, jovial Jeffery is obsessed with blood? 

"Well, it's nearly the end of the day, so It's time I must excuse myself. I do apologize, Karen, my little daisy, but my job calls to me."

"Um, Karen," Jeffery spoke up.

Karen stopped and turned to Jeffery.

"Oh, yes?"

"I have to get going to the Photo Lab; I'm sorry about this I just have to ask Mr. White about a camera issue I've been having." This a solid lie, as I did own a Canon PowerShot SX1 IS, even though photography isn't one of my core electives this year. 

Karen nodded.

"Oh, okay, are we still gonna walk back home?" she asked, hopefully.

Jeffery gave his best fake smile. "Of course! It'll only take a minute! I'll meet you by the entrance." after saying his goodbyes like the loving boyfriend he was, leaving Karen blushing just like how Harry taught him, Liebert's got nothing on him if it was this easy.

In the lightly red laboratory, Mr. White focused on himself as he hung the pictures up, showing off his little group of followers posing in his newly acquired merchandise, a white t-shirt for each sporting a Celtic cross that represented a strong attachment to his heritage. 

It started rocky, sure, but it was easy to get some of these kids to follow him. It didn't prove much difficulty to exploit some of these kids, especially the ones prone to anti-social behaviors, to believe half of the things he said, and doing his every bidding as one of them successfully helped him to build a special package for a certain rights group hosting a bingo game at the community center. 

Besides, it was about damn time Mr. White started taking back what was due for the whites. As he walks over to touch the bomb parts laid out next to him, each part is separated but vital for what will happen soon, as Mr. White stews in his plan he fails to notice a pair of eyes staring at him.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Mr. White?" a nasal-like voice called out.

Shit, fucking shit, god damn Jeffery Morgan, of all people.

Mr. White covered up the bomb parts as he hastily walked over to the photo lab's door and opened up to see Jeffery Morgan standing there, a nervous look on his face.

Clears throat "Yes, Jeffery? What can I help you with?" said Mr. White with false politeness.

Jeffery clears his throat and speaks up.

"I, uh, heard about a secret club you run? Is it like a history thing? I like history trivia about World War two and factual stuff about tanks if that's what is required of?" said Jeffery, his intellect on trivial things shining through. 

Mr. White was surprised; he wondered where Jeffery heard about his "little club," but then again, Jeffery Morgan does fit a lot of his requirements as a member of his club; he is somewhat of a social outcast due to his chummy, meek nature and knowing how he gets hassled by his classmates for his "eccentric hobbies", he could use someone like Jeffery, he practically fits the standards to join his group. 

Mr. White did take a quick look around before he decided to invite Jeffery into the lab.

"Well, of course, come in, let's discuss things for a bit." Mr. White said as Jeffery quickly went into the lab.

Mr. White closed the door behind him, his soft features now taking a sharper and more calculating look as he gestured for Jeffery to sit on a nearby stool. 

"Jeffery, what I run well, it's not a club per se... I think of it as a meeting of minds to those who believe in the actual truth of the world." Mr. White explained.

The photography teacher stared at Jeffery, who looked as if he was trying to absorb every little tidbit of information he said, and then Mr. White continued his little speech.

"In a sense, what I run is not just a social club but instead a group that will teach you things schools would never tell you, which is the truth."

Jeffery's brown eyes lighten up with curiosity, almost wondering what Mr. White had meant. 

"W-what do you mean the truth?" Jeffery almost said in a whisper, as if saying the truth out loud would bring dire consequences.

Mr. White took in a deep breath and exhaled, his eyes turning soft as he slowly approached Jeffery.

"The truth? It's the culture."

"The culture?" questioned Jeffery.

"Yes, the war on our culture. Do you know they want to "replace us?" It's a threat out there, against the whites."

"Really? But why?"

"They want to replace us. It's a small theory, but I believe we are losing a part of our standing here in the United States, our identity has become a fight for survival, Jeffery, and I'm sick of my people being sidelined by others who make it about themselves."

Who's 'they?'" asked Jeffery.

Mr. White dramatically closes his eyes.

"Liberals, Jews, Latinos, Blacks it's all of their fault for how this country is."

"Blaming others for your inadequacies? right."

Jeffery notices the bomb parts behind Mr. White, who now sits in front of the table attempting to hide it and is now looking at him for his response to what he just said. Jeffery only looked down; then, he mumbled something that Mr. White couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry Jeffery, could you say that a little bit louder?" asked Mr. White.

"Sir, I...I'm not a big fan of black people by the way."

Mr. White's eyes widened a bit, he didn't expect Jeffery to say that, but then let Jeffery continue to explain.

"Karen, she's...been accosted by one of those, that damn fiend!" exclaimed Jeffery, fists clenched and shaking with anger.

"Jeffery, it's okay. Is that why you wanted to join?"

Jeffery nodded, a saddened look on his face. "Yes, I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."

A flash of sympathy can be seen in the photography teacher's face.

"Oh my goodness, Morgan, I'm sorry about that."

Jeffery nodded, acknowledging his apologies.

"That's why I came here Mr. White, I-I need your help, me and Karen!" 

Mr. White placed his hands on Jeffery's shoulders, staring into him.

"You two can ask me for anything, but tell me, what do you need, son," said Mr. White, hoping to use the fatherless angle on Jeffery to make him more loyal to him.

"W-well, me and Karen. I'm big into designing, and she helped me to make a flag that represented my beliefs. I was wondering if you could help me take pictures of Karen and me. We want to look proud of our heritage."

Mr. White could never have felt more prouder.

"Of course, I would love to help you express your pride in something you believe in, expressing your creativity with photography is a sure way to show off your whiteness."

Jeffery looked up with a bright grin on his face.

After Jeffery leaves the class, he feels like a migraine is slowly creeping into his brain after having to pretend to agree with Mr. White about globalist conspiracies and expressing the beauty of the film Birth of a Nation. He knew Mr. White had his reservations about him at first, but he was sprinkling on some false belief of racism, and the teacher was already eating out of the palm of his hand. Planning murders successfully should be a job for him at this point. 

"The barn in the wheat fields should be abandoned; nobody likes to hang around there it's perfect for a nice little session with Mr. White." thought Jeffery to himself. 

Jeffery reached the entrance doors of the school, Karen was waiting on a bench nearby, and when she spotted him her face lit up with joy as she got up when Jeffery approached her.

"Did you get your errand over with?" asked Karen.

Jeffery nodded "Camera Lights, Action!"

Karen chuckles at his joke as she intertwines her hand with Jeffery, who does the same thing as his somewhat long fingers cover her hands gently. Both Jeffery and Karen walked home peacefully, with no Doakes or McKay to bother them the two enjoyed the walk back to Karen's house. 

A couple of blocks in, they were passing by a particularly nice-looking house, and Jeffery had a feeling someone from school lived there. Then the garage door opened, and a long blonde-haired girl in preppy attire was seen dragging out a trash bag, a scowl shown on her pretty features as she used both her hands to drag the large trash bag to the large heavy-duty waste container outside. Her amber-colored eyes then spotted both Jeffery and Karen.

Jessica Quinn, or her most commonly known nickname "Jecka," was Nicole's best friend, and compared to Nicole's trashy emo disposition, you think Jecka would be angelic and composed compared to her, but unfortunately, Jecka was just as uncaring as Doakes. Nicole and Jecka are like two peas in a pod, they bounce off each other, though, in Jeffery's knowledge, Jecka has her limits whenever Nicole goes too far in some of her schemes but then again why bother with morality when fucking with people is infinitely more funnier?

Jecka froze a bit, Karen noticed her and nearly stopped walking, which made Jeffrey almost trip as he now looked at the two girls staring down at each other. 

"Ah, right. I forgot Jecka lives here, and I forgot to mention both Karen and Jecka have some history back during middle school." thought Jeffery.

Jecka and Karen used to be good friends back then, but when they reached middle school, the two began to drift apart. Jeffery can only assume the pressures of middle school's dogmatic hierarchies had gotten to Jecka, which does explain her whole behavior. The day their friendship was completely broken, Karen was with Jecka, who was trying to snag free cigarettes from older students one time and thought bringing up the topic of Harry Potter would be a good way to pass small time. This causes Jecka to drop her completely from her social life, leaving Karen in the dust while Jecka celebrates her newfound popularity with cigarettes and prescription pills. 

Both girls did stare for what felt like a full minute, Jeffery couldn't say it outright but he knew how both of the girls felt; Karen had looked hurt, still pained by of losing what was once a good friend, someone that Karen could always rely on but for Jecka? Jeffery saw her momentarily sport a look of what seemed to be regret? As if she is haunted by her own decisions choosing popularity over friendship. Jecka then changed her face, an uncaring "I don't give a shit" look displayed as she scoffed at the sight of the couple. She turned heel and walked back to the garage, pressing the button while glaring at them one last time. 

"Teenage drama, so overdramatic." Thought Jeffery, the dark passenger inside of him agreeing with a growl.

Karen looked down, Jeffery then slips back into the caring boyfriend role as he wrapped his long arms to comfort her.

"It...still hurts, to see someone you consider a friend to look at me like that." said Karen, sadness taking over her body language.

Jeffery didn't say anything, he knows what he can do even if he knows he doesn't like doing it. Anything to follow the code of Harry, Jeffery gently touches Karen's face with the suaveness of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle and kisses her. Karen was taken a back but she melted in herself in his arms, it felt like one of her novels finally coming to life as Jeffery pulled back a bit, placing a look of false romance on his face.

"It hurts for a while, but it gets better being with you." Not the most romantic thing Jeffery could muster but Karen turned red as she giggled, covering her face with her hands out of embarassment. Jeffery smiles through his facade but it's unfortunate, Karen deserves better truly she does, but to an unloved monster like him? Truly he feels a bit bad but he has his Code to follow no matter what.

As the couple leave, unbestknown to them Jecka is on her flip phone dialing what seems to be a call to Nicole Doakes.

"Nicole? Yeah you wouldn't believe it, Morgan actually kissed her! Guess it wasn't a pity thing on her behalf."

Chapter Text

The barn house was old, its rot showed its age, and it was practically the perfect location to show your enthusiasm for the white pride party. Jeffery puts on his Hensley shirt as he leaves his tool bag inside the barn, which was surprisingly open, the inside was already filled to the brim with vandalism sprayed on the walls alongside broken beer bottles and cigarette stumps all over the place. All of that was carefully swept up as Jeffery began laying the foundations for the kill room, starting with laying the large sheets of plastic on the floor and using the gaffer's tape to make sure it stayed attached, then he repeated the same by covering the walls again. 

Jeffery finally laid the final piece, luckily enough, there was a wooden table in the corner, which Jeffery had to drag to the middle of the room. Laying the final wrap of plastic, Jeffery then picks up the rope, Dyneema Fiber, a high-performance synthetic fiber used to make one of the strongest ropes in the world, which Jeffery had used for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and durability, especially when dealing with adult criminals with heavier builds. 

Our butcher then heads to grab two more bags; the ritual isn't complete without presenting evidence. Stealing those bomb parts wasn't as easy as you think, as Mr. White keeps that lab on lockdown like Fort Knox. Luckily, the fire alarms are a great distraction, and picking that lock was quite like stealing candy from a baby. But Jeffery also gained another goldmine of evidence when he got his hands on Mr. White's computer, revealing a document that had a list of members in his little movement and various detailed messaging boards that connected Mr. White and the members surprisingly, Trody was one of them. 

Jeffery doesn't remember a time that he or Trody got along, nor will that ever happen, as he did get into a fight with him over the fact that he kicked his backpack full of his precious manga collection. Said copy of Sailor Moon was being used as a safety holder for a blood slide from a previous victim he had forgotten to put in the trophy box. And well, Jeffery loves his trophies so much he attacked Trody brutally until Crispin, out of nowhere, showed up to stop him from nearly killing him. That's where he met Nicole Doakes, who watched him slip once, and in return, he saw the darkness inside of her, too. It's no wonder she's on his case for any minor mistake he makes, hell breathing in the wrong manner around Doakes is a warranty for an interrogation.

But then again, for all her faults, Nicole now interests Jeffery, knowing that she has her dark passenger like himself, as there might be more to her than what he used to assume Doakes as a socially spoiled girl, now she has some level of depth all locked away beneath a frosty exterior and scaring those away with a foul but quick-witted mouth. Unfortunately for Nicole, both she and Jeffery do the same thing to one another, as the two hide their real selves through crafted personalities, Nicole takes her anger out on the world as a front so the world won't see how vulnerable she truly is. At the same time, Jeffery puts up a front so the world around him won't see how he isn't as vulnerable as some might see him.

PHONE RINGING

In his cargo pocket, Jeffery pulls out his HTC Touch Pro2, quite a phone I know, and sees Mr. White calling him.

"Yo Mr. White."

"Jeffery, I'm heading to the address you gave me I'll be there in about six minutes."  

Six minutes? Oh, he can't wait.

"Ah good, me and Karen, we're uh setting up here for a bit for the shoot. Got the merchandise we made, I hope you like it, Mr. White," said Jeffery with as much earnest happiness he could muster as the photography teacher chuckled over the line.

"Heh, heh, heh. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age: ambitious for the right cause," chuckles Mr. White.

Jeffery felt sick to his stomach; there was no way he was pulling that on him.

"O-oh, really now?" Do the girls at his school feel this way when someone like the Counselor approaches them? Jeffery now feels like he has to apologize to women.

I'm sorry, women. 

"Yes, you're very much a splitting version of me when I was young! Wanting to fight for the right cause! You and I were meant to do great things.

Jeffery couldn't tell if Mr. White was for real or if it was supposed to be a trick to play on his lack of a living fatherly figure in his life, it's a bit unfortunate his one and only father is Harrison "Harry" Morgan and not whatever White's first name is.

"Yeah, thank you. That means a lot to me." Jeffery wanted to gag. 

"No problem, see ya soon, and God Bless White America!"

"Yeah, Sieg Heil or whatever," said Jeffery.

He clicked on the red button, Jeffery couldn't believe he had said that unironically.

After hanging up, Jeffery puts away his phone. He reached for something in his other pocket, pulled out a syringe case, and a small bottle containing the necessary ingredients to give his targets the best nap ever. Etorphine Hydrochloride is a potent animal tranquilizer, as the opioid has a high analgesic potency, around 1,000 to 3,000 more times than morphine. Jeffery studies his syringe with a dark look of joy on his face; he can't wait for it, he's almost salivating at the thought of it.

LATER

Mr. White pulls up in a Volkswagen GTI, parking it in the lot as he gets out carrying the camera equipment. Jeffery spots him from a distance and sees that he is wearing a different outfit this time: a blue polo shirt, khaki slacks, and casual sneakers. Jeffery stuffs his gloves in his pockets, walks out of the tree he was hiding behind, and goes to approach Mr. White.

Mr. White spots Jeffery; a smile grows on his face, waving at Jeffery.

"Hello, Jeffery!"

"Mr. White, I'm glad you could make it," said Jeffery in a fake tone.

Both the photography teacher and serial killer in secrecy walked further down through the park; it was a lovely day, too. The sky is blue; children are playing in the park, but Mr. White isn't very much amused when one of the children playing is of African-American origin, muttering about "How society has fallen from the good ol' days." Jeffery knows it is a long walk, but deep down, his shadowy friend is impatient, wanting to spill the blood of Mr. White and see that red liquid, its texture oozing from his body like ice cream melting on a hot sunny day.

The barn was now seen in the distance, Jeffery finally felt relieved when he saw it, feeling like he'd reached a checkpoint in a video game.

"Is that the barn? Looks so...garnish," said Mr. White.

"It may not be the most pleasant-looking set piece I've chosen, sir, but I guarantee you, Karen was the one who came up with this idea." explains Jeffery in his intellectual nerd persona mode. "Karen said she wanted to go for a classic mood, like a racist farmer angle she wanted to try, she even got us overalls and everything."

Mr. White chuckles at this.

"Such a creative idea, despite her darker tone of hair she displays such creativity, no offense Jeffery on the darker tone thing."

Jeffery smiled. "No worries." "That tongue is the first thing I'll cut out."

Then Jeffery moves over to the barn door, opens it slightly, and greets Mr. White to the inside. 

"She's inside here, Mr. White, my pride flag is around the barn somewhere," said Jeffery as he went over to bring in the merchandise.

Mr. White nodded and then headed inside; the photography teacher then pushed the door slightly more so he could fit through. Then he notices it: plastic wrappings all around the barn wrapped so delicately and neatly, covering what he could make out as a table and a single light bulb barely lighting up the inside of the barn. Mr. White was appalled, his mouth agape and he couldn't think what to say.

Then Mr. White felt a sharp, stinging sensation, then numbness took over, and finally, his consciousness started to fade away quickly. Jeffery stood over him, syringe in hand, as he stared into Mr. White's fading light from his eyes.

Mr. White stirred awake; his aged eyes fluttered as he slowly regained consciousness, but then he felt something off.

The photography teacher tries to move, but he now begins to realize he is as naked as the day he was born. He could barely look up to see that he was strapped tightly to the barn table with rope tying him down and plastic wrapped around his body as well. Mr. White tried to look around him, but he stopped to notice the light bulb dying as the barn plunged itself into complete darkness. Mr. White breathed rapidly until the light came back into view, this time it plunged the whole room into complete redness, almost as if it was replicating a photo lab, then he heard someone opening up the plastic wrapping and walking around slowly, Mr. White heard something drop onto the ground, sounding like a bag of sort, then his eyes finally see Jeffery Morgan, whose face looked impassive as his eyes stared into his very coldly.

"J-Jeffery, what on earth are you doing?!" yelled Mr. White.

"My job." his tone sounded calm but dead as if there were no signs of the enthusiastic boy who wanted to be a part of something.

"W-wha-Whatever you are doing, young man, it isn't funny now let me go!" commanded Mr. White, hoping that a sterner tone could scare Jeffery into complacency, but the look on his face said otherwise.

Jeffery sighed.

"You know I can't do that, Mr. White," replied Jeffery as he laid out a rolling bag of knives in different varieties. Jeffery's gloved hand pulled out a large cleaver knife to inspect it, Mr. White felt his fear kick in seeing the sight of that knife.

"W-wait wait, wait, wait!" started Mr. White. "Jeffery, you seem upset."

"Not really, I feel a bit excited, though." the geeky boy said as he pulled out a scalpel and walked over to the photography teacher.

"Excited?! Jeffery, you are not thinking- ARGH!" 

Jeffery sliced his cheek; blood poured out as Mr. White cried out, Jeffery licked his teeth as he collected the blood and placed it into the slide.

"My head? It is in the clear, I don't know about you though," said Jeffery, waving the blood slide around.

"B-but what about the cause? Didn't you say your girlfriend was assaulted by one of those monkeys? How will you get the help you need to avenge her honor?" Mr. White reasoned, trying to play into Jeffery's potential racism.

"You know I lied about that, I lied to get you to come here," explained Jeffery, pulling out a bone saw to lay it next to the roll set.

Mr. White grunted and tried to thrash, but the rope was too strong, and it clung onto his skin tightly, refusing to budge. His eyes slowly gain fear as he sees Jeffery going over to another bag so he opens his mouth to beg.

"Please, Jeffery, don't-don't do this! I didn't do anything besides share different political views!" 

Jeffery then walks back to Mr. White and reveals the bomb parts right in front of his eyes. 

"You were going to go after the Puerto Rican rights movement during their bingo night, and with a bomb like this, you were going to do some serious damage," said Jeffery, examining the parts with a critical eye.

"N-no I wasn't, that is a prop, for my uh, one of my sci-fi photo shoots!" lies Mr. White.

Jeffery then pulls out pages of what seems to be the chat boards.

"You and your little consorts also had plans to firebomb several other religious properties around Virgina, that little Mosque and the Synagogue? You also said "Let's try to outdo Mein Fuhrer". said Jeffery as he stared directly into Mr. White.

"But-but, it was for a good reason!" Mr. White tried to explain. "All those sub-human filth, their existence disgusts me I cannot let them take away my culture! My people have fought for what they believed in!"

"Fighting for what? I never get that about you nationalists, blaming others because of your problems," said Jeffery as he went over to pick up a knife from the rolling bag.

"They're not my problems! It's what I believe in!" exclaimed Mr. White.

"That's your opinion; it's a good thing that I'm a very good problem solver." Jeffery smiled sardonically. He walks over to the bound Mr. White, whose eyes begin to widen in fright.

"Jeffery, don't do this! There are consequences to what you are doing! JEFFERY!" yelled Mr. White, but he was gagged as Jeffery began to raise the knife.

"Sorry, Mr, White, it was a big mistake to trust me, but if it makes you feel any better your coworkers will soon be joining you."

Mr. White began to scream, but Jeffery gagged him with a ball of tissues.

"Sorry, can't have you screaming," said Jeffery as he began to raise the knife.

Mr. White tries to scream again, but-

SPLUCH

A loud guttural sound can be heard, Jeffery plunges the blade into Mr. White's chest, blood spills out, and the sight of it is amazing to Jeffery's eyes. He savored every moment as he breathed out satisfyingly. The life fades away in Mr. White's eyes as it rolls up into his head, one of Jeffery's favorite moments in doing his job is seeing the spark inside a person die out, as their souls leave the earth.

Jeffery set the knife down as he picked up the saw and headed over to work on neatly separating Mr. White.

Dropping the bag off into another part of the lake was easy enough as Jeffery sped back to the port, this time in a Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt and olive cargo shorts with slip-on sketchers, he parked it in his usual spot as he headed out of the pier. His "uniform" was now in a paper bag as he casually walked around as if he were simply visiting where all the boats were. 

Just then, Jeffery spots someone familiar on a skateboard, it is Crispin, wearing a tank top and basketball shorts, who spots him and turns to approach him.

"Oh hey, Jeffery." greeted Crispin in his most casual, nonchalant tone as he kicked up his skateboard and caught it with his hand "Didn't know you come around in this park, were you leaving the pier?"

Jeffery blanched at having to interact with anyone from his school, especially with Crispin, of all people. He has nothing against him, just that he's not that bright in social ques and sure Jeffery has no right to talk about social ques considering his pivotal role as the resident social pariah in the pecking order that is in Lake Braddock Secondary School, but for Crispin, it's like he doesn't read the room no matter the situation. 

But he has a role to commit, as much as Jeffery loathes to pretend what he isn't he must follow Harry's code.

"O-oh no, clears throat, I was just checking on my dad's boat. Engine stuff and all," said Jeffery.

"Oh wow cool, I didn't know you had a boat, do you like to go out in the lakes or something haha?" said Crispin, rubbing his brown hair.

Incredibly insightful, Crispin, astute observation.

"Uh, sometimes when I go fishing occasionally," explained Jeffery, hoping Crispin would disappear.

"Ah, sick dude, didn't know you fished and stuff like that, hahaha."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Crispin, I prefer to keep it that way." thought Jeffery to himself, even his dark passenger agrees with him on that one.

"So, like," began Crispin.

"Christ almighty, please send someone," Jeffery begged internally, hoping someone could sweep him up from all this.

"I've heard that you and Karen are like, dating right?"

"Yes, we are," said Jeffery

"Ah cool, ah ha ha, so like, I never saw you, you know, date someone, but like, since she's your first girlfriend, like, you should get some advice from yours truly!" Crispin pointed a thumb at himself with a big smile on his face.

Dating Advice from Crispin himself? Truly, Jeffery has been blessed by the Gods for sending Crispin to him.

"So, like, I remember I read this blog post on MySpace, right? This guy "ElMaestroDePasion" gave some good advice about women in relationships, and he said the most important thing you gotta give to them is "La Pasion." explained Crispin, butchering the Spanish.

The Passion? or La Pasion in Spanish, what is that? will it benefit my disguise amongst normality? With Karen?

"What's La Pasion?" asked Jeffery.

"I don't know, but like it's something the guy said when dealing with chicks or something. Anyways you think Nicole would be my friend if I showed her La Pasion?" asked Crispin.

"I don't get his thing with trying to ask Doakes out on a date, she could set him on fire and he still thinks she's being hard to get." thought Jeffery 

"W-well, if you asked her while doing a skateboard trick, maybe you can impress her?" suggested Jeffery, hoping that Crispin would take the fall for this. Even once in a while, Jeffery likes to do the occasional prank.

"Ah? Cool, I'll do that, thanks Jeffery!" said Crispin 

Just then, a familiar e46 BMW pulled up promptly as the windows rolled down, revealing Deborah Morgan.

"Hey, Jeff!" greeted Deb.

Ignoring the butchering of his name, Jeffery was finally relieved. 

"Whoa," said Crispin, fascinated after seeing Deborah Morgan. "Yo, Jeffery you know her-"

"Uh, look at the time, got to go!" said Jeffery as he jogged to Deb's car and sat in the passenger seat. 

"Friend of yours?"

"Eh," said Jeffery as Deb rolled her eyes, oh, Jeffery.

Deb speeds off, leaving Crispin in the dust.

"So." asked Deb "What were you doing around there?"

Jeffery found the car window to stare out of more interesting than looking at his sister to respond.

"...you know, fishing on dad's boat."

"That old thing is still around?"

"Yeah, I still look after it."

Deb didn't say anything; she glanced at Jeffery, and it didn't take a detective to realize that Jeffery had sentimental value to that boat. Harry used to take him out all the time for fishing or hunting trips, and that boat is one of the only few things Jeffery has worth remembering about their father. Unbeknown to dearly, doting Deborah, Jeffery was only looking out the window so that his sister wouldn't see that he was lying, so he decided to change the subject.

"Shouldn't you be at work sister? What were you doing around there?"

Deb turned left at the stop light.

"I was meeting up with one of the girls from Vice you see, there's been a murder as of recent," explained Deb.

A murder? Oh boy, Jeffery is interested.

"Really? What happened?" 

"I don't know how I can explain it, but like, it was only a limb." 

"A limb? Like, did the killer just cut off the body part and leave it there?" asked Jeffery.

Deb nodded. "It was a foot, severed fucking clean and wrapped in plastic, and it was left at a park nearby, I think it was Burke Lake Park."

That...sounded familiar to Jeffery, why does that park sound so familiar?

"Specifically, it was left near the swing sets in a manner as if someone was supposed to find it before we did," said Deb.

Swing sets. now that too is also familiar to Jeffery but it didn't click.

"Oddly familiar," said Jeffery.

'What was that Jeff?" asked Deb.

"I said, Odd, like what kind of guy just does that? You know, for the chopped-off foot," said Jeffery instantly.

"Oh, yeah, that too, but what's more weird is that there wasn't any blood in the scene." agreed Deb.

Jeffery turned to stare at his sister in surprise, No blood?

"N-no blood? What do you mean?" asked Jeffery.

"No blood, as if the killer squeezed the limb out like a wet towel. I don't know how the guy did it, but it was crazy, even forensics were sorta impressed, still creepy as shit," explained Deb

No blood, it kept repeating over and over in Jeffery's head, how could that be? Was that even possible? Has he ever come across anything like this before? Besides that arsonist, this killer was special. Draining the very thing he is obsessed with, Jeffery shouldn't assume things, but it feels like that was targeted to him, as if someone knew him, but who even knows him truly besides his special dark friend and Harry Morgan?

"That's...that's something," said Jeffery.

"How come?" asked Deb

"I mean, I never heard of anything like this that all, like you got cannibals that's something but draining blood? What do you do with all that blood?" said Jeffery.

"Hmm, maybe it's a blood fetish?" chuckled Deb.

"Hmph, kink-shaming is such deplorable behavior, Deborah, it is perfectly fine to have these sexual interests!" claimed Jeffery, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air, Deb laughed at her brother's antics.

Then Jeffery turned to ask his sister a question.

"So, how many limbs did you find?" asked Jeffery.

Deb sighs as she puts on a cigarette.

"I say around two or three," she replied as Deb pulled out a lighter and flicked it on, lighting her cig as she smoked.

"And all of them, drained of blood?" asked Jeffery.

Deb nods as she blows out smoke out of her window. 

He still couldn't comprehend it, no blood. No sweet, juicy red liquid. What isn't there to love about blood? It has been a part of Jeffery Morgan's life ever since he was born. The metallic odor, the red color, and its warm texture whenever it splashes on his skin after a fresh kill, it was his life. 

Jeffery decided to keep his mouth and stew in his thoughts on this brand new killer, while Deb drove them home.

The Morgans finally pulled into their driveway, Jeffery was about to head into his lair downstairs when Deb stopped him all of a sudden. Jeffery turned around, wondering why Deb had stopped him.

"Look, Jeff." Deb pointed out to the moving trucks that were across the street from them.

"New neighbors, you know what that means..." Deb said, her eyes gleaming at Jeffery, oh no, more socializing. Jeffery's social battery was very well on twenty percent, his power level was lower than a saibamen, and he knows he doesn't wanna pretend to be human again to talk to new people.

'Uh, D-deb, I think I feel very tired after my walk, so I think I'll head in" was all he could manage to say before Deb dragged Jeffery's ass across the street to meet the new neighbors. One of the neighbors, a blonde woman noticed them approaching as Deb greeted them first.

"Hi, welcome to the neighborhood! I'm Deborah and this here," said Deb as she dragged Jeffery next to her, who looked as if he didn't want to be there "This little guy is my brother, Jeffery."

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Barbara Cooper. We moved here from Miami, and my husband is out with Rudy, our son, sorry if they're not here they're picking up stuff near the mall."

Deb and Barbara continued to converse. Jeffery glared at Deb for forcing him to socialize; he had better things to do, such as plan a nightly trip to Kylar's house and watch every aspect of his day and night schedule, which was way better than conversing with neighbors. Deb then had the bright idea of inviting them for dinner, much to Jeffery's chagrin. After saying their goodbyes, Deb and Jeffery finally returned home.

"That was nice, wasn't it?" said Deb, closing the front door.

Jeffery usually was in control of himself, but suddenly he had an urge, not from the dark passenger but just himself, he wanted to tell Deb to kill herself.

...

Man, Doakes must've been rubbing off on him.

"Yes, it was fun," said Jeffery, his tone indicating otherwise.

"Oh, come the fuck on, Jeff, socializing at your age is healthy, you can't hang with Karen or that skateboard kid all the time, it's nice to branch out once in a while." rebutted Deb, who threw her suit jacket to a nearby chair.

"Hmph, whatever," said Jeffery rolling his eyes, pretending to get moody as he descended to his lair, guess the stalking of Kylar will have to be postponed tomorrow.

Chapter Text

While stalking is one of Jeffery's favorite pastimes besides reading niche manga and playing Jax and Daxter, it does provide a lot of insight into his targets whenever he's on the hunt. 

Kylar isn't someone Jeffery would consider an intelligent person in general, he knows that Kylar had issues, but being butt naked and doing deadlifts while playing Huey Lewis and the News isn't exactly what Jeffery considers normal, right? Jeffery watches through the small garage window and sees Kylar deadlifting the weight with such intensity, sweat rolling down his body as it glistens under the light of the garage room. Kylar had this intense look on his face, something Jeffery had never seen before, as if he was pushing himself beyond his limits like Goku training during the Namek saga.

Kylar then deadlifted one more time; he let out a primal roar as he dropped the weight to the floor. A loud clang can be heard as he stumbled a bit, breathing heavier, Kylar's eyes started to dilate as he then crashed to the ground. Jeffery was surprised, was this a panic attack? a realistic depiction of a panic attack in this day and age? Kylar would never let himself be seen like this, especially if he were at school. Everyone over there would use this to tear him apart IF someone had conveniently decided to record him bawling his eyes out.

Jeffery already had his phone out, making sure it was angled correctly until Kylar then started to speak out loud.

"F-fuck, get the fuck out of here.." did he spot him? shit Jeffery was sure he was carefully hidden.

"Fucking...Filmore...stop staring at me like that....stop...STARING AT ME FUCK!" screamed Kylar, throwing a barbell at nothing, Jeffery heard the noise it made as he stopped his recording. This is new; maybe now there is something more to Kylar than he thought. Was Kylar holding intense feelings of guilt for what he's done? Not only does this confirm his role in Jenny Filmore's murder, but it seems the weight of what he's done is affecting him a lot more deeply than Jeffery has thought. 

Kylar then puts himself in a fetal position, tears pouring down as he cries, sobs wracked out of his body as he clung to himself tightly. 

...

Jeffery was already out of Kylar's area as he headed back home. That was an experience, alright; He'd never seen the jock cry in such a manner, and usually, you think anyone would feel bad right? Unfortunately, Jeffery wasn't in a forgiving mood; this only confirms his suspicion of Kylar being responsible for Jenny's murder, but there are still unanswered questions: He could see Kylar strangling Jenny but setting it up as a suicide, even Jeffery knows Kylar wouldn't be that smart enough to cover up his tracks like that. Jeffery knows there are more layers to this murder mystery, as Jeffery has suspected Coach Colby to have some level of involvement. Jeffery might've been stretching it, sure, but it's one of his many theories surrounding the staff at Lake Braddock Secondary School, once he's done with Kylar, Jeffery will then go after the Counselor and maybe Principal Lynn if she's somehow involved in all of this, but right now, it's a school night and he's sure he doesn't want dear ol' Deb to worry too much about him before she goes on another witch hunt looking for him.

It's a true story, probably around his 12th victim, he'd been out so late Deb had caught him skulking near a park around 2:33 PM, and she screamed at him the whole ride home. Jeffery swore he might've seen tears in her eyes, but in his honest opinion, why should Deb care? Jeffery knows that Deb or even his late foster mother wasn't aware of his activities besides Harry, he knows they'll never understand him the way Harry did, the one who helped him use his inner darkness for a good cause, cleaning up Virginia one criminal at a time, his code was Jeffery's way of life and even if he could explain everything to Deb about himself, Jeffery can only imagine some outcomes that would not be favorable on his end: 

"Hey Deb, I'm a serial killer and I have at least 31 confirmed murders." 

"DOWN ON THE GROUND MOTHERFUCKER, PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR NOW!" Screamed Deb, as her handgun was pointed straight at Jeffery.

Hey Deb, I'm a serial killer."

Deb immediately starts crying, hands covering her face as her body wracked with sobs and gasps.

"Hey Deborah Debby Deb, I like to kill people, by the way."

Deb shoots Jeffery in the head, and Jeffery falls back onto the couch with a bullet in his head.

....

Now that Jeffery realizes it, he doesn't even have his moniker. No title, not even a nickname, Jack the Ripper because he rips into prostitutes, Ted Bundy was called the Gainesville Ripper, Patrick Kearny was known as the "Trash Bag Killer," and that guy was a huge inspiration for Jeffery in terms of using hefty duty bags for his victims, hell even Albert Fish had more nicknames than he needed. But at the same time, Jeffery wonders what the media would call him? The Lake Slasher, The River Man? Jeff The Killer?

...

Jeff The Killer sounds dumb; it is just a shortened abbreviation of his name, which he truly dislikes. It's not a burning hatred of why people call him Jeff; it feels demeaning to him as if he didn't deserve the well-crafted identity he so carefully built up throughout the years, Jeffery feels as if everyone didn't appreciate his existence in a way by not calling him Jeffery. Despite the urge to be known for his work, Jeffery knows he needs to be very secrete with his job, as, unfortunately, it is a part of the code, and as much as he wanted to have a cool nickname, Jeffery must be as quiet as a mouse, aloof like a kuudere archetype in anime.

Jeffery finally arrives home and calls it in for the night to sleep to prepare for what he will do to Kylar tomorrow.

The school was back in session; every student begrudgingly walked in on a crisp Monday morning, wishing to be anywhere but here. Jeffery came a bit earlier, unfortunately not being able to walk with Karen today, as he did message her earlier that "he hasn't heard from Mr. White in a while," a very believable lie as Mr. White had mysteriously gone missing, sad day for the staff but for Jeffery? He couldn't be happier.

Jeffery remembers Kylar's schedule and knows he likes to go to the school's gym around 3:30 PM, and Kylar likes to exercise after the school's done for the day. Some teachers might be around, but Jeffery found a workaround to avoid them: Club Activities. Jeffery is a part of the Video Game Club, where the dredges of the school's hierarchies gather around, usually playing Super Smash Bro's Brawl or Mario Kart Wii. Still, Jeffery is more of a Mac user, truly the epitome of gaming.

So Jeffery decides to arrive at the club earlier to leave his backpack there and excuses himself to the others so that he can stake out a potential room for his ritual. Jeffery knows the corners of this school; it's just that to make sure Jeffery isn't caught, he needs to make sure to find an area that doesn't have any cameras catching him in the act. Where would he drag Kylar and wrap him up in plastic like a spider in its web, Jeffery can imagine himself as an arachnid, towering over Kylar before he sucked him dry.

...

Of blood, that is. 

...

SCHOOL'S WEIGHT ROOM

Kylar was sweating, his body glistening as he lifted the weights repeatedly, hammer curls were one of the many exercises he was doing for the day. There wasn't a mirror thankfully, Kylar doesn't like using mirrors anymore, every time he sees his face, he is reminded of what he has done. Sometimes, when using the bathroom, Kylar can see her face staring at him for what he's done, Filmore's herself was haunting him. His sins stacked up too much, Kylar couldn't bear to look at her face or his own, he'd get sick to the point that he would puke on the ground, and no matter how many Percocets he swallowed, he couldn't wash off the blood from his hands despite scrubbing his hands with soap more than he needed.

The future Lacrosse player was too focused on his craft, unaware of someone else working out while watching him with calculated eyes examining every movement. 

Kylar finished his last rep as he set down the 50-pound dumbbells back into the weight rack. He turns around to pick up his towel, only to spot Jeffery Morgan doing pull-ups across the gym from him. He stopped to do a double-take to see if he was seeing things correctly, Little Wimpy Weak Pushover Jeffery Morgan is doing pull-ups, and it looks like he isn't fucking it up? Kylar decides to act nonchalant and walk around a bit, mostly to pretend to act like he wasn't staring at Jeffery's body- I mean, Jeffery's form. Kylar didn't notice it, but he never knew how much more different Jeffery now looked. He still has that dumb fucking haircut and glasses, but his body looks a lot different than his middle school days, no longer does he look like the scrawny lanky nerd, but now, Jeffery has a more toned and athletic figure, and Kylar's couldn't help but let his eyes trail down to the geek's upper body. 

Jeffery was wearing his gym uniform, but due to the sweat and perspiration, his shirt clung to his chest, showing off a nicely toned chest, and Kylar wondered what Jeffery would look like without his shirt on. WAIT, What was he thinking?

"Don't look at his legs, man, that's fucking gay, for faggots!"  Thought Kylar, but he couldn't turn away, as Jeffery's nicely muscled legs looked ravishing to him, almost as if it was calling to him, and Kylar secretly wanted to peel those shorts off-

"OKAY, ENOUGH FUCK STOP IT, GAY THOUGHTS FUCK!"  Kylar thought to himself, too deep into his dark gay thoughts as Jeffery hopped off the pull-up bar to approach him. 

"Oh, Hey Kylar, didn't know you worked out here too?" said Jeffery in his most overly chummy voice, his wet, inky hair shining under the light as Jeffery wiped a strand showing off his face. Kylar's hazel eyes met Jeffery's brown eyes, as the jock finally stammers out a response.

"Tch, w-what are you doing here, Jeff?" Kylar asks.

Jeffery's right eye twitched visibly, but he responded quickly. "Just working out here by myself, it helps with the bones!" the geek responded with a sheepish grin that didn't feel right in Kylar's opinion.

"I ought to bone you, fucking twink.."  Thought Kylar, slightly biting his lip but shaking his thoughts away as he turned around so that Jeffery wouldn't see his reddening face.

"W-whatever, don't get in my way, bro," Kylar said hotly.

"Oh my god, is Kylar acting like a tsundere? If only he was a hot muscle mommy dommy giantess, unfortunately, Kylar must die for the sake of my keiku." thought Jeffery, maybe in some universe, Kylar could've been his Sasu to his Naru, they could've clashed Jutsu but it is unfortunate yet again, that Kylar must die.

"Hey, Jeffery." asked Kylar "Think you can spot me real quick?" 

A lightbulb went off in Jeffery's head, a moment of opportunity was right there.

"S-sure!" replied Jeffery, he jogged over as Kylar set himself up to start lifting. Jeffery got around and placed himself right above Kylar, who positioned himself to begin his next reps.

"Better not fuck this up, you hear me?" said Kylar in his usual aggressive tone.

Jeffery nodded, understanding what Kylar demanded.

"My newest idea for subduing Kylar, it can go wrong on so many levels, and because I don't have my M99, I have to improvise."  Jeffery thought to himself, his dark passenger growling with hunger, wanting to see Kylar's red, juicy blood spilled from his body. Kylar lifts the weight bar, with Jeffery's hand helping support it, and Kylar notices how Jeffery's fingers nearly touch his, as his heart beats a bit faster from such a simple bit of finger touching.

Kylar disregarded his thoughts as he began to lift up and down, Kylar then let his eyes meet Jeffery, who was, strangely enough, staring right into his with such an intense look in those eyes of his. Those brown eyes that once held simple friendliness now turned cold, apathetic even, and Kylar hadn't seen a look like that when-

Then Jeffery immediately brought down the weight bar onto Kylar's neck. Kylar's eyes widened as he tried to thrash and push away the weight, but Jeffery positioned himself firmly enough to hold Kylar down well. Kylar felt the oxygen from his throat slowly disappear; he struggled to push the weight off until he looked up again to see Jeffery's face. But it wasn't Jeffery he was staring at, it was Jenny Filmore glaring down at him, her face rotting and the bruised neck visible as she opened her mouth to scream at Kylar, Kylar's face turned white with fear but slowly, he felt the adrenaline, which coursed it's way around his body as he finally found the strength to lift.

"Nighty night, Kylar-" Jeff's thoughts were interrupted as Kylar let out a primal scream, lifting off the weight bar, which caused Jeffery to stumble back hard. Kylar got up and threw the bar across the gym with impressive strength, Jeffery tried to get up but his passenger hissed at him to dodge, which he did as Jeffery rolled out of the way of the slat bench hitting the wall meant for him. Jeffery recovered well enough, only for Kylar to charge at him screaming.

'I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU BITCH!" screamed Kylar, who ran face first, tackling Jeffery into the wall, but Jeffery was able to lock his arms underneath Kylar's arms and prevented him from fully slamming into the wall behind him. Jeffery was able to throw two quick knees into their chest, Kylar grunted in pain and tried to apply a Headlock to Jeffery, who did the same. Kylar tries to use his superior weight to bully his attacker into submission, but Jeffery is much quicker as he drops down to one knee and quickly moves around, wrapping his arms around the jock's waist. 

"LET GO OF ME, YOU FUCKING FREAK!" screamed Kylar, who tried to throw elbows at Jeffery, but Jeffery clung to his waist and decided to climb onto his back and apply a Rear Naked Choke, Jeffery was successful in climbing onto Kylar's back as he wrapped both arms and legs around the larger bully, but Kylar freaked out and starting thrashing around hard which didn't help Jeffery as he can barely wrap his arms around Kyler's neck. Kylar tries to slam Jeffery into one of the gym equipment, but the added weight of Jeffery refusing to let go wasn't going well in the jock's favor either. Then Jeffery's legs unwrapped themselves from Kylar as he used Kylar's momentum to throw him onto the ground and mount him. Jeffery then tried to control his arms, but a stray punch from Kylar caused Jeffery to lose his glasses. Jeffery's vision worsens and Kylar uses this as an opportunity to get out of the mount by reversing it onto Jeffery who immediately raises his arms to block the incoming blows from Kylar.

POW POW POW

Kylar's punches were strong, but his arms were getting weaker with each blow. Jeffery is screwed, what can he do without his glasses? 

POW POW

"Keep your head in the game, Jeffery," said Harry Morgan, he was wearing a tank top and sweat pants as his brown boxing gloves as he kept thirteen-year-old Jeffery at a distance with his jabs while Jeffery in full protective boxing gear compared to his casually dressed father who was simply tagging his ass no matter what Jeffery does. 

Jeffery swiftly slipped the jab and went in for a punch, but Harry quickly intercepted him with a right hook, causing Jeffery to crash to the floor of their garage gym. 

"You should always keep your hands up when you're in a fight, Jeffery, you can't-" explained Harry, but Jeffery went for a double leg, to which Harry was able to stuff the takedown and reverse it onto Jeffery, to which Harry expertly places his knee onto Jeffery's stomach while holding him down. Jeffery tries to resist, but Harry doesn't give up, as he continues explaining.

"What did I tell you, Jeffery? What did I tell you? You lose control of your emotions; you get yourself in this kind of predicament! Anger and Fear cloud your judgment, you need to have a focused mind at all times, son." lectured Harry, while harsh in his method of training, was doing this so that his son would be in control of his emotions at all times. Jeffery leveled his breathing; he stopped moving so much, and then, Jeffery hip escaped from Harry's knee and rolled away to get back into his fighting stance again.

Harry's stare was intense, but he nodded and said.

"Again" 

Jeffery now gained an idea. Kylar went in for another punch, but Jeffery hip escaped, and his legs lashed out to catch Kylar and his attacking arm in a triangle choke. Kylar tried to remove himself from the choke, but Jeffery's legs were tight around his head, and his left arm could not be budged no matter what Kylar did. Jeffery looks at the jock's face as he slowly turned reddish-purple, then as one last-ditch effort, Kylar attempted to lift Jeffery even when he is getting choked out. Jeffery looked surprised, his dark passenger stayed silent as if it was impressed too, but Kylar made a strange sound as he slumped to the ground with Jeffery. 

Jeffery unwrapped himself from Kylar and went to check for his pulse. His heart still beats; that is good for now, Jeffery needed to move quickly and he chose the perfect place for the ritual.

Kylar slowly woke up, his eyes fluttering and he subconsciously went to remove his eye boogers but started to realize he couldn't move his arms or legs for that matter and Kylar then realized his predicament. He wasn't wearing clothing, he was as naked as the day he was born, tied down to a desk in plastic and rope. Kylar craned up his neck as his eyes darted around to scan his environment. Wait, was he in Coach Colby's Office? 

"Did you like it? Not my ideal choice but I had to work with what I had." said an all-so-familiar voice, the nasal tone was there but it felt deeper. No....

Jeffery got out of the chair he was sitting at, this time in a different outfit.

Kylar began to scream.

"F-FUCK, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" 

"Yell all you want, no one gonna hear you Kylar," said Jeffery.

"F-fuck, FUCK!" 

"Fuuuggghhhhck Fuuuuugggck!" mocked Jeffery, in his hand a scalpel. Kylar tried to move, but Jeffery sliced his cheek, Kylar gasped in pain.

"Wouldn't be surprised if this droplet contains any doping now, huh?" asked Jeffery, placing the blood in the slide as Kylar glared at him.

"Y-you, what the fuck? You fucking freak, why are you doing this?" asked Kylar, trying to stall as much as he could. Jeffery looked at him for a moment, then he went over to where he sat and came back after pulling out autopsy photos of Jenny Filmore, and Kylar looked away after realizing what this was.

'Oh fuck."

"That's what you did, yes, you raped this girl, and you killed her. I don't know who helped you set her death up as a suicide but I believe I'll find out sooner or later," said Jeffery as he reached into his apron and pulled out a large knife. Kylar started to look as if he were going to cry.

"Wait, wait please don't, don't kill me Jeff please!"

"Did Jenny beg, too? She must've said those words too before you strangled her." retorted Jeffery in a much colder tone as he came around to Kylar's left and prepared the knife. Kylar's eyes followed the knife as it gleamed in the office's light.

"I thought you could've provided me with a stimulating conversation, but what would a roid monkey like you ever could give me an intelligent conversation?" said Jeffery, setting down Kylar's head with a plastic wrap to prevent his head from moving. As Jeffery grabbed his knife, he looked at Kylar for one last time.

"I wouldn't let such personal history affect me, but with how you acted towards me I think I'm going to enjoy this, but for all it's worth? Well whatever," said Jeffery as he raised the knife in the air.

"Goodbye, Kylar."

"WAIT, WAIT STOP! COLBY!" screamed Kylar, which made Jeffery freeze as he turned to look at Kylar.

"What about Colby?" asked Jeffery.

"I wasn't alone! He and Lynn." sobbed Kylar, tears pouring out of his eyes as he tried to explain.

"Lynn too? Tell me what happened Kylar," demanded Jeffery, the dark passenger beginning to slip out.

"Lynn and Coach covered it up; they paid me in Percocets to keep quiet. Colby wanted to strangle a-and fuck her b-b-but Lynn covered it up by making it a suicide, so she had Colby strangle her to death, and she put the body in the lockers, and that's all I know!" cried Kylar.

Jeffery didn't say anything for a minute.

"Now that explains everything, no wonder he's had more Percocets than McKay, to keep him quiet and drugged up, Lynn probably didn't want to lose her job but Colby was always a sick one, well thank you Kylar." Thought Jeffery to himself.

"Well that was rather smart of you Kylar, thanks," said Jeffery.

"O-oh well, you're welcome-"

"But, I have a code to follow. Sorry," said Jeffery as he pulled out a napkin and gagged Kylar.

Kylar started screaming and crying, tears coming out of his eyes, the Dark Passenger inside was calling out for his blood, it was hungry. Jeffery answered by raising the knife with both hands.

SPLURCH

Jeffery took the knife out, and a wet plop sound could be heard as the blood leaked out of Kylar's chest. Jeffery darted his eyes to see Kylar's eyes, and he saw the life slowly fade away, Kylar used to be one of his tormentors, and Jeffery felt as if all the stress he had in his body was suddenly lifted off his shoulders and, in some way, he felt like floating in the air free from all the baggage in his life. Kylar lays there, and Jeffery doesn't say anything, but once he picks up the circular saw from his bag, Jeffery begins to forget the years of having to put up bullying from Kylar once he got to work on severing his head off his shoulders. 

Coach Colby finally left the bathroom after a particularly bad case of the shits; it must've been something in his sandwich, but still, he can't waste good food even if it tastes bitter. Colby headed to his office, but he spotted Jeffery leaving the weight room. Upon leaving, Jeffery spotted the coach.

"Hey Coach Colby, how's it going?" greeted Jeffery in a polite tone.

"Morgan, didn't know you worked out," replied Colby in his usual gruff tone of voice.

 Jeffery smiled and rubbed his hands casually, but Colby felt as if the student was faking his smile. "Yeah, my dad instilled good discipline into me, it's a lot better than sitting around." At least somebody in this school had some manners knocked into them; they should be more like Jeffery.

'Well that's good, at least you can pick up the slack unlike some students I know," claimed Colby, an arrogant look on his face as Jeffery nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, I got club now catch you on the feet- I mean, Flipside!" Jeffery said as he excused himself from the gym teacher. Colby nodded and headed back into his office. The moment he opened the door and turned on the lights, he noticed something was off. Colby's office wasn't anything special; it was basic as it had a large desk and chair with a shelf in the corner that had some old trophies and files, as Colby sat down, he noticed something on his desk. 

A small scrap of plastic? It was small, and Colby picked it up with his finger and looked at it for a bit. 

"Meh." Colby dismissed its tiny existence by flicking it to the trash can and went to open his desk's drawer to pull out some Lunchables chicken shake-ups, staring at it with a mischievous look on his face.

MORGAN HOUSEHOLD, 7:37 PM

Jeffery got home in the nick of time as Deb went out of her way to make the dining hall look presentable, he changed into a different outfit and decided on a more presentable look consisting of a blue polo shirt and khaki slacks while his sister wore a blouse with baby blue jeans. The dinner with the Coopers will consist of pasta bake, something that Jeffery had done by himself, and while he can trust his sister with a lot of things in life, the kitchen is the last thing Deb should be in. He's being harsh, he knows, but Jeffery knows the only things his sister is good at are shooting and cussing more than a sailor, hell she might turn the kitchen into a crime scene if she tried to bake.

Deb finished setting up the table, and Jeffery finished the final touches of the pasta bake.

"Is the fucking thing done?" asked Deb.

"Why yes, Deborah, the fucking thing is done," responded Jeffery as he carefully took out the tray of baked pasta and sets it down on the dinner table with the rest of the "fine china" that Deb had brought out. Ms. Cooper was already here, and she brought a casserole, what a white mom thing to do.

DING DONG

"Ohh that must be Carl and Rudy!" said Ms. Cooper

"Jeff, answer the door," asked Deb, so Jeffery took off his apron and headed to the front door. As he opened it, he was greeted with the sight of a new face.

"Jeffery, Hi!" said the boy. He was his age, maybe, and his auburn hair was somewhat curly but messy, and he had green eyes and a couple of beauty marks spread around his face. He had a similar physique to Jeffery but had maybe around 20 more pounds on him, and he wore a flannel shirt with a white t-shirt underneath, black slacks, and sneakers. The look on his face was a bit off to Jeffery as if this guy had known Jeffery his whole life and was too happy to see him. 

"Hello, uh, Rudy, right?" Jeffery greeted as he held his hand out to shake, but Rudy came close and went for a hug, which surprised Jeffery. While Rudy hugged him, Jeffery did his best to recuperate the hug as he awkwardly patted his back a few times, as Jeffery wasn't used to this level of prolonged physical touch from a stranger.

"...I've waited a long time to meet you..." Rudy mumbled to himself as the two broke off the hug, Jeffery heard that but decided to think about what he said later as Jeffery guided Rudy to the dining table.

'So, where is Carl?" asked Jeffery.

"Dad couldn't make it, said he had to pick something up."

"Ah okay, uh where did you come from?"

"Coastal America, I moved around a lot growing up, but I was born in Miami," explained Rudy.

"Oh cool! Miami must be hot huh?" 

"I wouldn't know, didn't live there for too long heh heh." chuckled Rudy as the two made it to their seats.

"Rudy!" Ms. Cooper called out "Where is your father?"

"He had to pick something up, said it be quick." shrugged Rudy.

Ms. Cooper sucked in her teeth out of frustration.

'That father of yours..." Ms. Cooper said frustratingly as she sat down after filling her plate. Deb finally arrives, bringing in a bottle of wine, Jeffery sees her face and looks to see Deb was staring Rudy down, almost as if she is trying to ID him for something. 

"Rudy right? I'm Deb, Jeffery's older sister it's nice to finally meet you."

Rudy looked up with a smile.

'Nice to meet you too, thanks for letting me in your home." said Rudy, though Jeffery felt that smile was forced. His passenger was feeling wary, but Jeffery pushed down his emotions this wasn't a flight or fight situation, this was a dinner between neighbors, for Christ's sake. So everyone sat down and relaxed, Deb and Ms. Cooper began conversing, and so did Jeffery and Rudy, Rudy seemed like a decent enough person for now, but deep down, Jeffery felt as if he knew Rudy somehow but couldn't put his tongue on it, though instead of the baked pasta, Jeffery wishes he could put Karen's feet into his mouth. 

But then again, pasta is just as good for now.

Chapter Text

Despite the usual humid Virginia weather, Jeffery was starting to feel chilly for some reason. His dark passenger was radio silent, even when he tried to bring it out, not even a simple spit or growl. Something was off today, Jeffery couldn’t tell what it is but he knew it had to be something if his special friend inside was keeping quiet today.

Jeffery wanted to suspect the new kid, Rudy, but he seemed “normal enough”. Jeffery shouldn't let his guard down even if Rudy was a bit nicer than the people from his school who tried messing with him more times than not, even his sister found him suspicious at last night's dinner. While his mother, Doris, often tells him not to judge others even for the most minor of mistakes they make, Harry tells him every day to be aware of his surroundings, even people too

The nerd closed the door behind him as he walked out of his house, but Rudy from across the street came out as Jeffery stepped onto the sidewalk. Rudy looked up and spotted him, a smile adorned on his face. I guess Harry’s advice will have to be set aside for now, Doris’s code is now in full effect.

"Morning, Jeffery, sleep well?" asked Rudy as he approached Jeffery.

"Yes, uh, you going to school too? To Lake Braddock?" asked Jeffrey. slipping into his everyday disguise.

Rudy nodded, “Yeah, I was transferred. I went to a school in Miami, nothing too special you know?” he shrugged as he walked with Jeffery.

“I see, so uh you watch any anime?” Asked Jeffery, deciding to play icebreakers with the new kid.

Rudy turned with a smirk on his face. 

“Yeah I do, I don’t look like it but I enjoy some anime from time to time, Death Note is particularly my favorite.” 

“O-oh really? What do you like about it?”

“Mostly the cat and mouse chase with L and Light, really adds tension to the show,” said Rudy with a chuckle.

Wow, for once a level-headed individual who didn’t shit on his entire existence for enjoying Japanese entertainment, especially of the animated kind. Maybe Rudy wasn’t so bad after all as Jeffery opened his mouth and went off about his favorite kinds of anime, as Rudy nodded and conversed, maybe Deb was right about having friends. 

Rudy listened to what Jeffery said about his favorite animes, and for once Jeffery felt a bit happy to talk to someone who would listen to his favorite pop culture things. 

Maybe this school year wouldn’t be so bad.

LAKE BRADDOCK SECONDARY SCHOOL, 12:45 PM.

Jeffery for once was looking forward to Gym class because the big fat whale that is Moby Dick, Colby, his newest endeavor, is teaching today's class. It was surprising that Colby helped cover up Filmore’s suicide, he can understand that Kylar would be his star student even if he played something as mundane as Lacrosse. 

But Lynn was another huge factor in this case, Jeffery can understand the principal as she didn’t want to lose her job, Kylar admits to her being the mastermind behind the coverup, ingenious on her part but not anymore as Kylar confessed under pressure guilt for what he’s done. But the beautiful principal will have to wait, and the counselor will be the last piece of the puzzle.

Speaking of Kylar, rumors circulate of his sudden disappearance from the school. Missing posters are strewn all over the notice boards with his face, you might think the wonderful educated students of Lake Braddock Secondary School would mourn for the missing Lacrosse player, right? Wrong, every female student here let out a huge collective sigh of relief and began to celebrate this moment. During breakfast, Jeffery overheard differing opinions from the female populace of this school and obviously, he would hear Jessica and Nicole discussing this, with Nicole saying “Well that’s just one less rapist in this school” or whatever misandrist proverb the book of Nicolism she reads from, it was her carefully constructed ideology, which Jeffery thinks her own Dark Passenger probably helped in creating since it involves her removing emotional attachments to anyone, her own Code of Harry even...

Wow, Jeffery and Nicole are a Yin and Yang of one another, black and white perfectly spiraling, so close in similarities but yet so differently far apart socially.

“Oh, Nicole.” thought Jeffery to himself, a smile slowly growing on his lips “If you ever fit the code, I would love to dissect you, It would be nice to see what makes you tick.”

Speaking of Nicole, Jeffery sensed her coming in his direction. His shadowy friend inside warned him to dodge whatever Doakes would throw at him, but Jeffery knew if he displayed any sense of a backbone against his tormentor, it would blow his cover and already disrupt his carefully crafted reputation of being the jovial, anime-loving geek and not the disturbed, dexterous little monster he truly is.

Nicole then bumps into Jeffery, her shoulder crashing into Jeffery forcefully on purpose.

“You smile like a psycho, you fucking Lego collector!” barked Nicole Doakes, a look of disgust on her pretty face as she glared at Jeffery, Jecka was with her as she looked at Jeffery with a clear level of disinterest at his existence.

“S-sorry Nicole, won’t happen again,” Jeffery said sheepishly, rubbing his neck Crispin style. Sheesh, someone must’ve pissed in her cereal today, just because Jeffery gave her the fucking creeps doesn’t mean she can just walk all over him on his good day so Jeffery naturally hoped Jecka here can reel her in a bit.

“S-s-s-s-sorry! God always stuttering like a fucking spaz.” mocked Jecka, so much for false hope huh? He forgets that Jecka can be just as cruel with her verbal abuse. As much as Jeffery wants to sarcastically tell the two here to leave him be, he will have to admit defeat here. 

Jeffery’s not gonna give Doakes what she wants, ever since their passengers revealed themselves on the first day of classes Nicole had been a bit more “persistent” with her treatment of him. It started slow as she began to “conveniently” run into him and start her tirade of abuse onto him, usually by herself or with Emily who prefers a more “physical approach” to which she shoves his head into a locker or pinches him with those nails of hers. When Jecka was with Doakes, she wouldn’t dare touch him but her tongue-lashing was more than enough to hurl her abuse at Jeffery.

Then the bell rang, and Jeffery used this as an excuse to hurry into the boys locker room, which is the last place Doakes would want to be in. Nicole tried to call after Jeffery but Jecka was able to drag her to the girls locker room so that she wouldn’t be late. 

Nicole rolled her eyes but did take one last stare at Jeffrey's retreating figure into the locker room, then she saw someone else approach Jeffery. He looked new, with auburn hair, a lean figure, and a bit taller than the creep as he pats Jeffery on the back, but then he turned to look at her, his green eyes staring right into hers. Nicole couldn’t read him, but she knew this guy wasn’t giving her a friendly stare, it felt more…well it felt off-putting, like Jeffery but it was almost as if it was hidden carefully.

“great another fucking creep,” Nicole thought, her eyes narrowing as she headed to the girl's locker room to change.

GYM CLASS

The gym class was in session, some students sat around or walked but some enjoyed an intense match of volleyball. Jeffery preferred to jog around the track lines, it helped greatly with his cardio, then he saw Rudy standing by the bleachers and he was getting chatted up by Kelly. Jeffery hoped Kelly wouldn’t get to Rudy, besides being somewhat into nerdy media he doesn't need the Lake Braddock Ho to sink her succubus nails into the new kid, but then again there was a rule for the “new kid grace period” and Kelly using this to claim her next victim. 

But Rudy turned to look at Jeffery and smiled as if he wanted out of this conversation too. Great minds do think alike, unlike Kelly who finally notices Jeffery walking over to them, a look of annoyance swirls in her eyes as Jeffery interrupts her stake at claiming Rudy.

“Hey Rudy, enjoying gym class so far?” breathed Jeffery, sweat dripping from his bowl cut as Rudy smiled.

“Yeah,” said Rudy, turning his back from Kelly who looked mortified to see the new kid ignore her for fucking Jeffery Morgan. “It’s alright, the coach seems a bit funny don’t you think?” 

Jeffery shrugged, “Yeah he’s something alright heh heh.” extra points for Jeffery for the added autistic chuckle but Kelly stepped around Rudy, flipping her ponytail, nose stuck up in the air as she placed a hand on her hip as she looked down on Jeffery.

“Um, excuse me Jeffery but I was in the middle of something. Fuck off back to whatever you came from, thanks,” said Kelly in her most polite tone of voice. 

“If you didn’t have a history of doing the deed in public Kelly, I find the whole looking down on me like a giant goddess attractive.” thought Jeffery, though he did see Rudy glare at Kelly a bit, a rare hatred in his eyes Jeffery never seen before.

But Rudy instantly reverted to normalcy, a polite smile on his face. 

“Well this has been nice, Kelly but uh me and Jeffery gotta catch up something real quick, okay?” suggested Rudy, as he slung his arm around Jeffery, Kelly had a look of mortifying shock on her face; This cute new kid chose fucking Jeffery Morgan over…HER? Rudy turned around with Jeffery and walked away, Kelly’s look of shock now turned into frustration as Jeffery looked back with a sly look of smugness, guess nice girls finish last.

“She was…something,” said Rudy, putting his hands in his gym shorts.

“Tell me about it,” said Jeffery, usually he would’ve defended Kelly of all people in his disguise,  but being with Rudy here made him feel comfortable for some reason. He could slip out of the mask and maybe, just maybe let him see a bit of himself, but only time will tell and even then Karen didn’t get the privilege of seeing his real self.

The two walked around for a bit, Jeffery did spot Nicole up ahead. Sitting on a bench with Jecka and Emily, her eyes meet with his eyes and they instantly turn cold and calculative, trying to stare right into his soul. Rudy raised his eyebrow a bit.

“So, what's her deal? I mean with you, it seems that she doesn’t like you?” asked Rudy, discreetly staring at Nicole’s dark glare at the two boys.

Jeffery sighed. “I don’t know I never did anything to her. But, she’s always had it out for me because I give her the creeps or something, I mean I’m not the most sociable here and all.” 

Rudy nodded in understanding.

“I guess the standards of bullying must be this low if being a bit anti-social is grounds for this kind of treatment,” said Rudy.

“Yeah, well I also like anime and they use that as an excuse too..” piped up Jeffery.

“Ah, well fuck them impressing people for social points is overrated Jeffery, just focus on yourself,” said Rudy, patting his back. Jeffery felt warm on the inside for some reason, he hadn’t felt this since his dad, Harry was around, maybe just maybe Rudy could be a friend? Deb once said friends are just strangers you never met so he should ask, ask if Rudy is his friend.

“Um, Rudy, uh I’m not the most sociable person around.”

“Mhm yes?” 

“Uh, are we, are we friends?” asked Jeffery.

Rudy looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face before he broke out in a confused but friendly manner.

“I mean, we are? If not I understand-”

“Wait no! I’m sorry.” interrupted Jeffery. “I mean, I never really talked to someone this long without feeling uncomfortable and well, you don’t make me feel uncomfortable.” an uneasy expression was on Jeffery’s face. But Rudy didn’t look awkward or felt as if he was out of place talking to Jeffery like others did, he looked as if he understood what Jeffery had said.

“I understand how you feel, you know I never felt like I could fit in a lot too back then.” explained Rudy, “Yk Cooper isn’t my last name, I’m adopted by the way.” 

“R-really?” asked Jeffery, curiosity burned inside of him.

‘I moved from family to family because I didn’t…" fit in,” and I know how that feels, Jeffery, I mean, I’ve gotten into so many fist fights with foster family kids it took me a while to find a way to fit in.” explained Rudy, his eyes now distant as if he was reliving his past and Jeffery felt as if he was diving into it with his new friend.

“So, what's your last name then? Since it’s not Cooper?” asked Jeffery, hoping to change the subject a little.

“..M..Bateman,” said Rudy, turning his face away as his freckled cheeks turned a bit red.

“Like, American Psycho?” 

Rudy turned, his face a bit surprised.

“Oh, uh yeah, something like that, hah hah.” shrugged Rudy off, though Jeffery felt as if he was trying to hide something from him, Jeffery opted to ignore it as if it was a simple little social mistake Rudy made. Despite his darkly dreaming intuition telling him something was off about that small slip-up, Jeffery only ignored it because this felt like his first real friend, someone he could genuinely connect with for once, and Karen was there too; she was his girlfriend, but she only served as a part of his social disguise, and Rudy didn't feel like he should be used for his disguise, for once a true equal in Jeffery's standing.

Rudy later excused himself, saying that he had to go to the Nurse’s office because he wasn’t feeling so well. Jeffery thought that was fine, not like he was trying to hide anything, right? Gym class finally ended, but for some odd reason, the white whale left a bit earlier than he usually did and that alone made Jeffery suspicious, what could Colby have to do to leave so early? From all the information he gathered, besides trying to get into teenage girls' pants what could cantankerous, careless Colby be up to now? Is he and possibly Principal Lynn, aware that Kylar, their drug mule, had unexpectedly gone missing and is possibly aware someone might be after them? For all Jeffery knows, the two are probably meeting up as we speak.

So Jeffery speed walked faster than he usually does but carefully paced himself as he avoided the students, walking around them with practiced ease and even avoiding Nicole and her dark consorts, Nicole glared at him again as she usually does.

"Sheesh Nicole, maybe a hobby would be beneficial instead of trying to shake me down or trying to laser my head off with those baby blues of yours." blanched Jeffery mentally, honestly he was getting a bit fed up with this girl.

Then Jeffery stopped. 

He turned his head to stare at a door, the gym's closet was there near the exit. It usually was a storage room full of things full of things required for any gym class such as basketballs, jump rope, orange cones, and footballs but Jeffery felt like something was calling to him, mostly the smell was prevalent to his nose as he walked to the closet door, Nicole was still staring at him, confusion etched on her features. Emily was already inside the locker room but Jecka, ever the loyal friend to Nicole stopped to turn around and see why Nicole wasn't walking with her. 

Jeffery arrived at the door and looked at the knob, he spotted something attached to the knob. A...plastic doll leg? It had a pink ribbon tied around it and he picked it up to examine it. Doakes was approaching behind him fast so Jeffery pocketed the doll leg in his shorts as his fingers reached to touch the door knob gently and then turned to open it. The door was opened and Jeffery froze a bit at what he'd seen. 

"Fuck you looking at this time-' started Doakes but she stopped as she looks at what Jeffery was staring at. Jeffery did look at her a bit, guess even Nicole couldn't stomach seeing the horrible display in front of him.

Jecka finally arrived at the scene. "Nicole, what could be so important that Jef-" she then stopped to look at what the two fated rivals were seeing. Her amber eyes widened as she started to hyperventilate at the sight of the mutilated leg that was set so neatly, wrapped in plastic as if it were a gift for them to find. Jecka then grabbed her face and shrieked, getting the attention of the other students wondering who could be screaming.

The leg right there, Jeffery did get close to it a little. No blood too...the Mutilator was here, but why? Why place a piece here? Was the Barbie doll leg an invitation for somebody? Was that somebody him? Inviting him via placing the toy here saying "Hey, Wanna Play?" or a foreboding message? Does the mutilator know who he is? All these questions yet, Jeffery wants to play the game that this new killer in town had set up, this game of cat and mouse will most certainly be fun.

"Yes, I'll play your little game for now.." Thought Jeffery, a new type of excitement enters his body as he backs out of the growing crowd freaking out over the mutilated leg.

Chapter Text

It was dark, it smelled terrible too, and little Jeffery Morgan didn’t know when it was going to be over. It was wet, he couldn’t see how much of it there was but it was all over the place. Red, warm sticky Blood, he was covered in it and all he could do was sit down and hyperventilate, he couldn’t see it as the shadows formed around him as he began to cry, the shadows started to sink in further as it’s darkened hands proceeded to wrap around him-

“JEFFERFY!” said Deborah, as she rushed over to inspect him.

Jeffery snapped out of whatever trance he was in, his eyes met Deb’s very worried expression as she rushed over to him and began to inspect him. 

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” worried Deb, as she had grabbed her younger brother and began to look all over to find anything wrong with him.

“Mm No, I'm fine Deb,” said Jeffery, trying to swat her away.

Deb only let out a frustrated sigh, she was wearing a grey suit with a blue shirt for today but her suit jacket was draped over her brother like a blanket, trying to shield him from what he’d seen today.

Despite this, Jeffery wasn’t affected by what he had seen. It certainly wasn’t the first time seeing a hacked up limb but he’ll have to play the part as always.

“B-but there wasn’t any blood this time, remember when we talked about it? The Mutilator?” inquired Jeffery.

Deb’s face brightened with realization.

“Okay so it was him, fuck okay but was there anything else that you saw? Anything out of place?” asked Deb.

Jeffery nodded, he briefly looked to see Virginia’s finest all over the place. Every student was already out of the school buzzing about the chopped-up leg, police officers guarding behind the yellow tape of the gymnasium as the detectives and forensics team investigated the cause of the newly appeared leg. 

“No, it was wrapped up in plastic like a gift? It was weird, like someone wanted it to be found I think,” explained Jeffery, of course, that was half the truth as Jeffery knew that the mutilator intended it for him, the Barbie doll leg hidden carefully in his shorts was a testament to that. Why a toy? Jeffery asked himself that as he carefully examined the leg after he dispersed with the other students outside, away from possible eyes but Doakes didn’t help with his little investigation as she kept trying to glare at him. 

Speaking of her, Nicole was a bit far away with the other groups of students but she kept her glare positioned at him in a rather subtle way this time, has Nicole adapted now? Jeffery sees her hugging Jecka, who didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, her mascara running down due to tears. 

“Guess some folks aren’t used to seeing legs chopped off, heh.” Jeffery thinks to himself, he forgets people aren’t as damaged as him. Karen, his beloved, was not too far off from him, as she looked very very worried, especially with Jeffery. She couldn’t come with him since Deb pulled him away from the crowd, Jeffery believes he’ll have to plan something for Karen to not worry so much, The weekend was nearing and Colby was going to be his next perfectly crafted “art project”, his sins alongside with Lynn’s are stacking up and the devil is due his payment.

“Morgan.” called out an exotically sounding voice.

Jeffery turned to see a Hispanic woman walking towards him and Deb and her dark brown eyes met with Jeffery’s own, staring down at him; the woman was beautiful in a sullen, aristocratic way. Her makeup looked good on her, as she wore a cheetah-printed shirt with the sleeves rolled up, straight grey slacks, and yellow heels. She also wore jewelry, and her hair was in curls.

"Oh, my beautiful giant goddess, come to me ." thought Jeffery.

“Oh, you must be Jeffery, I am Lieutenant LaGuerta. I heard a lot about you.” greeted LaGuerta, shaking hands with Jeffery who admittedly turned a bit shy touching this beautiful woman’s hand.

“U-uh yeah yes! N-nice to meet you.” stuttered Jeffery a bit, no genuine false stuttering from the false chummy nerdy persona he often has, Latinas didn’t seem so bad to Jeffery now…

“Jeffery, you wouldn’t happen to mind if I asked you a few questions?” LaGuerta said, her face looked friendly but her eyes held a storm of curiosity burning for answers from the youngest Morgan. 

Jeffery nodded and the Lieutenant led him away a bit from the crowd of students, some looking at Jeffrey and already his reputation was being put to the test. Jeffery tries to play the part of being the semi-outcast nerd but due to unforeseen actions around him, it’s clear that all eyes will be on him and that is not what he needs right now. 

Jeffery Morgan was supposed to be stealthy, like a shinobi, and his ninja way, dattebayo, a shadow hiding inside of people’s shadow but of course he had to slip up on all days. His fascination with not only blood but serial killers and their M.O.s. The Mutilator was the most curious case of oddity for him, out of all the places why leave a limb in a gym’s storage closet? Who is the Mutilator at Lake Braddock Secondary School? 

Crispin? Was the false nice guy act who’s into deep underground stuff like Arctic Monkeys the Mutilator? No, Trody? He doesn’t even like Jeffery but even he knows Trody doesn’t possess the academic levels of careful strategic planning to place a limb carefully, much less even kill anyone. Hunter? Megan’s boyfriend, but he would rather jizz into his mother’s fine china than chop off someone's leg. There was Rudy the new kid, but that’s just stretching it.

“Just because he’s new doesn’t mean that Rudy is the Mutilator.” contemplated Jeffery, he sounded a little bit biased but Rudy was nice to him, no way someone as sweet as Rudy would be the horrific mutilating murder. No way.

LaGuerta began drilling into Jeffery, asking him the same questions that Deb had already asked of him but Jeffery felt as if the Lieutenant was trying to dig more into him, thinking she’d find someone. But another detective, this time a burly Latino man wearing a fedora and Cuban-style clothing showed up during the interview.

“Oye, no blood again, Masuka couldn’t find anything but we did check the cameras-” he looked at Jeffery and stopped as he tried to gesture with his head for LaGuerta to go with him.

LaGuerta nods and pulls something from her suit’s inner pocket, a business card and hands it to Jeffery. 

“Here, call me if you happen to see anything else, and it was nice meeting you Jeffery.” smiled LaGuerta warmly, the Cuban dressed man did turn to look at him with a surprised look in his eyes.

“Ah, so you Deborah’s little brother, I’m Detective Angel Batista, she talks a lot about you at work,” Angel said, a grin on his face while shaking Jeffery’s hand with his large hands covering his slender fingers. 

“O-oh she does,” said Jeffery, glancing at Deb who finally approached after dealing with the arriving reporters.

“They’re here now Lieutenant.” gestured Deb, news vans arriving at the scene, LaGuerta sighs but steels herself.

“Okay, Morgan, go with Angel and check whatever he mentioned and report back to me, I’ll deal with the press. Jeffery, you can head back with your friends now,” ordered LaGuerta professionally. 

“Friends? With these people? Laughable.” Jeffery said inside his head, his shadowy friend spits with hissing agreement as Miss Ames walks over to take Jeffery back to his gym class. 

The school would finish on a half-day after today's events, for a few weeks. Most were ecstatic and wondered what plans could be made for the sudden new vacation but for Jeffery, he would end up staying at Karen’s place for the day until Deb would pick him up. 

Karen fussed over his well-being, worried about what he’d seen. To quell his worried girlfriend, Jeffery as usual, pretended to be shaken up from the sight of the leg and because of this display of falsified weakness, Karen pulled him into a tight hug and gushed over him as if he were a frail little thing. 

Far from the truth, as Jeffery is sitting on the couch in the living room of Karen’s house. It was earthy in colors and the couch was brown and leather but it had one of those plastic coverings to prevent stains but it just made Jeffery awkwardly crinkle the cushion. How has any of the Bennetts gotten comfortable sitting here, he’ll never know. 

Karen finally joins him, making herself comfortable next to her boyfriend. She gave Jeffery a glass of water as she stroked his hair a bit.

“It’ll be okay Jeff, you don’t have to see anything scary anymore.” she cooed but Jeffery was a little lost in his own thoughts. 

“I wonder if the reciprocating saw could hack off Colby’s leg? He is rather large and most of my last victims were big but like, not a mix of obese and fat, definitely not the hacksaw. Would the regular dose of the M-99 even work? I’ll have to think more about this later…” Jeffery brooded in his dark thoughts unbeknown to Karen, he doesn’t mind the affection he receives but he could be doing better things if he had to be honest, like watching anime and stalking his gym teacher. 

But on any hypothetical, even if he breaks things off with Karen he can only imagine how that would go over at school; The boys would mostly think he’ll find someone better or the ones with brains would question why he broke it off with a nice girl like Karen, the girls, on the other hand, would use this as an opportunity to tear him apart like a pack of hungry dogs for hurting poor Karen, Jeffery could see his rival Nicole use this against him, a “AHA, Gotchu!” moment and finally expose him for who he is now. 

But for now, he’s gonna have to be with Karen. He did see her surf through channels and stopped at what seemed to be a show called “Smallville”. 

“I heard this one was a good one, I think it’s a Superman show?”

“Oh, I’m more of a Marvel fan, I like the Punisher more especially the Thomas Jane live-action one, did ya ever watch it?” asked Jeffery, slipping into his mask again. 

“Oh, I’m not into Marvel as much. I like DC a bit more, sure I don’t read some comics but I like the heightened world of DC, especially with how the hero here gets the girl,” explained Karen as she pointed to Smallville on her T.V., Jeffery nodded with her statement.

“I guess, but I like Marvel more because my favorite is the Punisher. He's realistic because he hunts down criminals who escaped justice,” said Jeffery, pushing his glasses up with his fingers in a stylish manner as Karen looked at him a bit confused.

“The Punisher realistic? In what way? I mean he isn’t like a real person, J.” asked Karen, as Jeffery let out a “heh” in an exaggerated manner as if he were in an anime.

Clearing his throat, Jeffery began “Well, from an analytical perspective I wouldn’t agree with his actions.” Jeffery was lying on that part, He and Frank Castle were not that far off from one another but their approaches are much more different; Frank is a vigilante who uses extreme violence to punish criminals but Jeffery is different, he goes to great lengths to ensure his targets are actual bad guys, his code couldn’t let him get along with The Punisher. 

It’s why he’s so different from all the others, why Jeffery believes he's better than the common crop of serial killers before him. 

“They may be meticulously organized like me but they don't have a code, just unorganized headless chickens trying to show off. If you think about it, I’m a bargain for the police.” Jeffery thought to himself.

“But while he is insane, I do agree that some criminals do slip through the cracks of justice a-and all.”

Karen didn’t say much but nodded at what Jeffery said as she then scooched over and began to get too close for comfort, Jeffery slung an arm over her shoulder. 

“As much as this is nice, Colby is still out there, my urge is getting too much and my little shadowy friend is starving for some nightly action.”

Coach Colby was out there, whatever a gym teacher does when school’s closed and Jeffery needed to hunt, the feeling of watching his prey from a distance lingered inside of his gut. 

“I just have to wait, I just have to wait…” 

...

Then Karen yawned, Jeffery noticed this. He stopped his dark thoughts as she began to get sleepy, an opportunity had arrived.

“Mmm Jeff,” mumbled Karen.

“Yes?” 

“I’m...I’m glad I have you as a boyfriend.” she said as she snuggled closer to Jeffery. “I feel like you make everything better and I don’t feel as lonely as I used to do.” Karen said with a smile.

Jeffery Morgan, someone who is so detached from others around him, someone who pretended to be someone that he’s not felt something twist at his heartstrings a bit. What was this? Isn’t he, a secretly organized serial killer, a blood-obsessed psychopath? Jeffery admitted this many times, Karen Bennett is a means to an end for his disguise, a sweet sweet girl who’s been hurt before so why is it that Jeffery is feeling something he shouldn’t even comprehend?

Can his code even allow something like this to happen? No, but now he started to get comfortable on the couch as his gangly arms started to wrap themselves around her gently. His Dark Passenger did grumble with spitting hisses, it wanted to see Colby’s bloodshed but tonight? It was a different night, the coach can wait another day. Jeffery and Karen tried their best to stay away to watch Smallville but they both fell under the spell of the sandman. 

Karen was the first to fall asleep, Jeffery later followed too but he did take off Karen’s glasses first. He stops to look at her face as Jeffery begins to notice every detail of her facial features, every little minute detail but he lets his finger brush strands of her hair and can only think of one thing.

“Maybe…Maybe 3D is better than 2D.” Said Jeffery, a simple little smile on his lips, no longer a fake one.

So Jeffery places both his and Karen’s glasses near the table and closes his eyes as he dozes off into the night.

The fields were vast and distant, spreading amongst the lands, a wheat field being occupied by a boy running through it with a look of joyful whimsical on his adolescent features.

“Hey!” he cries out “Wait!” said the boy, it was Jeffery when he was younger as another unseen boy was running way ahead of him. 

His little legs carried him with as much speed as he could muster, and then the other child in front of him, whose back was turned from little Jeffery, stopped in the middle of some clearing. The grass was dead, a mixture of brown decaying roots with the wheat plants mixed in. The child didn’t move and stood still as a statue, and little Jeffery was confused as he walked toward the child with his hand reaching out.

“Hey, why’d ya stop-”

Then the other child’s head fell off, and little Jeffery tripped over in shock. Jeffery tries to sit up only to see the head of the child, it was a Barbie doll’s head, and then blood began to surround Jeffery slowly and he looked up to see the headless body spurting out blood which began to cover Jeffery. 

He tried to scream but nothing was heard as the red liquid began to hamper his vision, and all he saw was the darkness beginning to swallow Jeffery up whole-

Jeffery wakes up, he is cold and sweaty. He looked around to see he was still in Karen’s house, everything was dark and he looked down to see Karen was still clinging onto him but her hold on him was loosened. 

“Well, this has been fun Karen my sweet but now it’s time for darkly dreamy Jeffery to ride into the night, The Coach and I have things to discuss.” Jeffery thought with a sickly little smile.

Jeffery easily slips out of his girlfriend's loving embrace, like a snake slithering away. He grabbed his things such as his roller backpack and keys which he stuffed in his pocket and went to grab his sneakers but-

“J-Jeff?” 

Oh fuck, Cody woke up.

Jeffery turned around to meet Cody’s innocent but confused eyes staring right at him. 

“Are you leaving?” 

“Uh, y-yeah I was, I’m sorry I’m trying not to wake up your sister.” quickly explained Jeffery.

“Oh, but why? Where are you going?” asked Cody, as he picked his nose.

“My sister texted me, said she needs me at home asap, she’s caught up at work right now but here,” said Jeffery, reaching to the back of his jean pockets and pulling out his wallet, five dollars in his hand.

“Here, tell Karen I had to go back home and not to worry, think you can do that for me?” whispered Jeffery in his fakest warm smile he can muster and Cody's eyes shined at the sight of Abraham Lincoln in Jeffery’s face.

“Oh, oh okay sure I got it!” whispers back Cody, as he takes off running to the stairs with the bill in hand.

Children, so easy to bribe, now it's nearing night time and his job is calling to him, time to hunt.

COACH COLBY’S HOUSE

Colby’s house was surprisingly unremarkable, for a man who is incredibly boisterous he sure picked a small and dull-looking house to live in, Jeffery can only chalk it up to affordable housing because well let's face it, a teacher’s salary can only go so far. 

Jeffery puts on the remaining piece of clothing of his Kill outfit, his black leathery gloves and he tightens his fist to make sure it clung tight to his fists. Jeffery had already staked Colby’s house, well not only the coach’s house as Jeffery had stalked both Lynn and the Counselor many times during his last summer vacation, it’s how he prepared for things like this. Duffle bag in hand, Jeffery easily hops over the fence with practiced ease and lands gracefully like a cat. He crouches slightly to reduce the sounds of his boots crunching on the fallen leaves and makes his way slowly to the coach’s backyard door, which is a glass sliding door. 

The butcher dug into his duffle bag and pulled out a lock-picking tool, specifically a 6-in-1 folding tool set as Jeffery began unlocking the sliding door.

CLICK

“Easy as always,” thinks Jeffery, a smirk of superiority on his face as Jeffery opens the door slightly and squeezes himself through so that Colby couldn’t tell if someone had snuck through.

Jeffery can hear the T.V. playing in the living room Colby’s house has an open concept as the living room is easily seen. There he was, Colby sitting on an aged old brown recliner chair only in a wife beater and boxers, he sneaks and hides behind the counter bar as Jeffery slightly peaks out to see the coach drinking from a bottle.

“Drinking on a Monday night? Gosh Coach, get it together.” a sarcastic Jeffery thinks as he pulls his syringe out of the case, M-99 ready to be served for one gym teacher. This particular syringe has had more than the average dose, specially made for someone as large as Colby, this was it time to end the hunt.

Colby stirs a bit, his eyes blinking too much as he tries to stay awake. Jeffery stood up slightly and took each careful step, Colby’s fingers began to loosen, the beer bottle itching close to falling as Jeffery inched closer and closer, syringe in hand.

CLINK

The bottle fell onto the ground, the loud clink of the glass awakened Colby as he snorted, Jeffery froze a bit. 

“Ah fuck, not again,” complained Colby.

The coach moved to sit up and went to pick up his bottle. His large arm went to pick up the bottle, no more waiting around Jeffery, time to act NOW.

“What the” Colby said but Jeffery rushed in, grabbed Colby’s arm and stuck the syringe into his neck much to the coach’s shock.

Colby fell over slightly, okay good time to begin-

But the gym teacher deceptively got up rather quickly in a sluggish manner despite his weight and went to grab Jeffery by his Henley shirt and shoved him into a wall.

“Gah, Y-you f-f-fucking s-son o-of a bitch!” cried out Colby, his fat hand on his neck where Jeffery stuck the syringe in.

Jeffery was thrown by the force of the coach’s push, he recovered quickly as he saw Colby trying to recover, it seemed the M-99 was doing its trick but it didn’t knock him out. So hand to hand it is a last resort but those training sessions with his father, Harry, had paid off for a reason.

But the coach rushed in quickly, like Kylar but much heavier tried to come at Jeffery with a grab but the home invader had a trick up his sleeve; Turtling.

“Turtling” is a technique in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in which a person must defensively get on all fours. The position is used to protect primarily the inside space between the knees and armpits. Usually, Jeffery would have to be on the ground for that to happen, but here's the catch: The bigger they are, the harder they’ll fall.

As Colby rushed in, Jeffery turtles instantly. Colby didn’t expect this as he ended up tripping over Jeffery, slamming right into the wall behind Jeffery, face first. 

Jeffery shrugs off Colby’s heavy legs off of his back, and then he latches onto the coach’s back wrapping his arms around his neck in a perfect chokehold. Colby wakes up somehow, Jeffery feels his breathing become even more erratic as he begins to stand up slowly, Jesus Christ what will it take to put this guy down?

But Jeffery didn’t give up, he only increased the tightness of his hold as the gym teacher began to get up. Only a few seconds lasted as Colby finally fell but was heading backward and Jeffery couldn’t move in time-

CRASH

“OOF,” said Jeffery, the full weight of Colby on top of him made him lose oxygen, it wasn’t a very pleasant experience of having someone heavier than you on top of you but Jeffery managed to slip away from the heavy body of Colby as he got up to look at his body. 

Jeffery then crouched down next to him, he placed his gloved finger on Colby’s neck.

... 

... 

Colby was breathing, good, still alive, still fresh for the ritual…

Consciousness comes back into Colby, whose eyes flutter open, was it all a bad dream? He must’ve drank more than he usually does as he had experienced the weirdest dream of being attacked. The coach grunted and tried to get up but he couldn’t, it felt tight, something was very off. 

Colby only began to realize that he was tied up by what seemed like plastic wrapping and rope. His eyes sporadically moved around and realized he was still in his home, but why was his entire living room covered in plastic and duct tape?  

“Huff huff huff, what, WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?” yelled Colby, trying to break free of his restraints.

“Don’t bother, those ropes were made to be unbreakable” said a nasally but familiar voice. 

The home invader made his appearance, it was Jeffery Morgan.

“Jeffery, what the WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!” screamed Colby, his face turning into a puce color, eyes reddened with anger.

But Jeffery only went ahead to pick up a scalpel and a blood slide, he set the blood side down next to Colby’s head, but the gym teacher began to speak up again.

“I said, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU-” Colby began only for Jeffery to clasp his mouth shut with a gloved hand.

“Shut. Up,” said Jeffery, his tone now vastly different than before, Colby then looked into his eyes and froze, those eyes, his usual hazel brown eyes now looked cold and dead as if there wasn’t any form of life in them. It felt as if Jeffery Morgan had the abyss hidden beneath his eyes, and whatever Colby was looking at, he felt as if something was staring right back at him.

Colby swore he saw it like some kind of creature had hissed as it stared at him with its red eyes and sharp grinning teeth.

So he stayed quiet, Jeffery looked at him a bit longer until he removed his hand from his mouth and went to get something out of sight. Colby watched him come back with something in hand, a scalpel that glinted under the dim lighting of the living room.

“N-now now, c'mon son, y-you don’t gotta-” Then Jeffery went around and sliced his cheek, which prompted a soft gasp of pain from Colby. 

“T-the fuck?” said Colby, as Jeffery began to collect his blood with a small baster and dropped the blood into the slide. 

“Little bit of a reminder for myself, killers like me always keep some part of the victim and I prefer blood.” chuckled Jeffery, as if it was a casual joke told to friends. 

“W-what, Jeffery your? You can’t be a kill- Just let me out of this fucking thing!” growled Colby, trying to scare Jeffery into letting him go.

“Why? So you can strangle me like how you strangled Jenny Filmore?” questioned Jeffery condescendingly, and Coach Colby’s face began to drain color, his face pale and mouth agape. 

“W-w-what, what are you talking about?” said Colby, stuttering as Jeffery went to pick something up from the duffle bag. He returned with a printed photo of Jenny Filmore’s face post-mortem, her neck bruised and broken and Colby didn’t know what to say.

“I...Kylar, that was you?” Colby figured it out.

“Congrats coach, touchdown you put it all together!” said Jeffery sarcastically.

“Listen, what-whatever ya heard from Kylar, It was all Lynn’s idea she made me do it!” explained Colby, but Jeffery turned around to rummage in his duffle bag yet again.

“Mhmm.” hummed Jeffery, a recuperating saw in his hand as he began to plug it in a nearby socket, he whirred it up and this made Colby very uncomfortable.

“H-hey kid, cmon cmon don’t do all that now, You don’t gotta do all that!” he began “Hey you could call the cops man, jail’s good for a guy like me?” 

Jeffery turned around, a look of disgust on his face.

“Cops? You want me to call the cops?” asked Jeffery, his voice becoming incredulous. 

“Y-yeah, I’m sick, in the head ya know? Jail can help a sick bastard like me, your sister on the other hand, despite being a hot piece of ass she's a cop ain't she? Think she can help a guy like me?” asked Colby, now stupidly forgetting his fear.

Jeffery gently sets down his saw before he walks over to Colby, his eyes now full of cold anger. 

“What will the police do? What can they do? Lock you up? Even with the procedures of trial people like you.” said Jeffery, a gloved finger poking straight into his forehead, Colby stares into his eyes and could do nothing but stay silent.

“People like you, you're all like cockroaches slipping through the cracks of justice, escaping rightful punishment by the law. That’s why I’m doing this to you, I stop you and the likes of Kylar from taking more lives,” explained Jeffery.

“Oh really? And you think killing me, is gonna fix this? Huh? It won’t bring back that little whore!” retorted Colby boldly, bravery taking over his fear. 

“It’ll fix one thing: a world without the likes of you.” Jeffery fired back calmly. A smile spread to his lips as he pulled something from his apron: wires.

“W-what are ya gonna do with that?” asked Colby, getting nervous as Jeffery looked down on him.

“This? I’m going to strangle you to death, the same way Filmore died by your hands, a bit ironic don't you think?” said Jeffery, a dark smirk on his face which Colby didn’t seem to look enthusiastic for.

‘Wait, f-fucking wait a min-” began Colby but Jeffery had heard enough and moved quickly to wrap the wires around the coach’s large neck. Colby’s eyes widened, he began to move his head around but Jeffery only held the wire down more and used every amount of his physical strength to squeeze the life out of Colby. Jeffery looked into Colby’s face, whose neck began to bruise and bleed from the pressure of the wires, his face turning purple as he looked Jeffery in the eyes for a moment. All Colby could see was the grim satisfaction of his death and maybe he even saw the Dark Passenger growling with approval.

...

Feeling that the 4-5 minute mark had passed, Jeffery looked to see that the coach stopped moving. Jeffery let go for a moment and looked straight into Colby’s eyes, his eyes now rolled up to his head, mouth opened drooling, and neck now fully bruised and broken. 

Jeffery only leaned back and let out a sigh of relief, he then grabbed his plastic hardware mask and turned on the recuperating saw he picked up, it was time to clean up and see the beautiful red liquid that came out of the human body. 

If any of Colby’s neighbors could hear what was happening next door, besides the usual drunken screams, sawing noises seemed new but didn’t think much of it, probably another drunken field night of whatever debauchery he was up to.

Chapter Text

The winds blew into little Jeffery Morgan, who seemingly looked three years old in this dream. He was lying comfortably in the arms of a woman who held him tight, a song playing in the background with lyrics that spoke of never seeing the rain, but none of that mattered as he looked at the man driving the car, which seemed to be a 1990s red Corvette.

His eyes didn’t hold the false mask of chumminess or the usual cold and dark gaze whenever he was alone; this time it was full of childlike curiosity. Once Jeffery was an innocent child before whatever incident caused him to be the way he is now, his eyes stared at everything around him as Jeffery then looked at the man driving the car, he couldn’t make out the face but still remembered only one detail of the driver: a spider web tattoo on his right elbow.

He didn’t say anything as he rested his head on the woman holding him, enjoying the moment before he closed his eyes. 

Jeffery Morgan woke up.

The resident serial killer sat up in his bed rubbing his eyes from the sandman’s residue, as Jeffery then stopped to think about the dream he had just had.

Now that dream felt odd, but at the same time, it was “nostalgic”. Jeffery didn’t know who the man with the tattoo was or the woman. Why does he have these dreams now? Was murdering Coach Colby causing him to have these visions of a past he couldn’t remember? 

Did it start happening when The Mutilator of Lake Braddock decided to leave a surprise gift at his gym class? Jeffery still pocketed the doll leg, but he wondered if it was left there on purpose. Was it a clue for him? Does the killer know about him? Or was it for the police? Tampering with evidence wasn’t Jeffery’s first rodeo, but it still leaves him with so many unanswered questions. 

“Dad didn’t tell me much of what happened to me as a kid, Deborah, too, but every time I ask her, she either changes the subject or goes for a 'smoke break'. What do they want to hide from me?” Jeffery thinks to himself as he gets out of bed.

Jeffery doesn’t particularly remember his past; only snippets of his childhood are ever remembered, but it’s almost as if something was blocking it all out. Even with his dreams, usually they are him relishing what he did to the many victims he claimed, when they’re strapped all nude to a plastic wrapped table, the sharp gleaming knives he sharpened and cleaned to perfection, the look of dread and fear in their eyes until the knife claims their last breath. 

Either that or whatever anime-related thing he usually thinks of, mainly thinking of certain cosplays he finds on messaging boards. 

Hey, a guy's gotta have hobbies.

As Jeffery gets out of bed and begins his usual morning ritual, he does manage to take a good look at the blood slide that belonged to Colby, staring into it as he appreciates what is his thirty-third kill. 

“Don’t worry, Colby, at least Kylar and Mr. White here will keep you in good company.” 

Smiling as he puts away the slide in his box with the others, Jeffery decides to head upstairs for some breakfast. 

“That makes three of my hit list so far, Lynn and the Counselor are the only ones left. I know, I want to get to Lynn straight away, but the Counselor is forcing my hand now that he has his sights on one unfortunate student.”

The Counselor, for all of his hebephilic flaws, was organized with his pedophilic methodology, and the same can be said for Lynn, as she did help cover up the murder of Filmore and staged it as a suicide. But the thing with criminals is that no matter how organized they are, no matter how much they clean their slates, a single piece of evidence, no matter how small it is, will always trace it back to them. 

“For Lynn, it was easy since Kylar had decided to rat out the two of them to save his skin, but the Counselor had his little dirty secrets too,” thought Jeffery.

After school had closed down, Jeffery took advantage of this to explore the empty hallways, avoiding the cameras and campus officers as usual until he reached both the offices of the Principal and the Counselor’s. The access to the computers was nothing but a breeze, as the school’s system was so laughably easy to hack through, but Lynn was a “bit too much” for Jeffery, as she had sent rather provocative imagery to another user named “Mtherof2” on some dating site.

Jeffery didn’t want to repeat what he saw; all he could say was that it relates to baby oil and missing pieces of clothing. Safe to say that will give him nightmares until adulthood.

But the conspicuous counselor wasn’t as smart as he seemed. Jeffery believed he had no connection to what Lynn and the others had done to Jenny Filmore until he fiddled with the air ventilation cover and took out a wooden box of some sort. 

“His little trophy stash, unlike my blood slides, he preferred the underwear of teenage girls,” grimaced Jeffery.

Jeffery was far from being a saint, but he could tell that it belonged to Jenny due to the autopsy reports he had taken illegally from Deb. 

“Just when you think this conspiracy can’t get any worse-”

KNOCK KNOCK

Jeffery immediately whipped his head around to see the source of the noise. Rudy was tapping the living room window with a brown paper bag, a smile on his face.

Slipping into his nerd persona, Jeffery goes to open the window, surprise on his face.

“Rudy? What are you doing here?” 

“Just wanted to drop by, that's all, croissant?” offered Rudy, to which Jeffery accepted.

“Uh, sure, come on in, be careful by the way,” said Jeffery, helping Rudy climb through the window as he hopped over and into the Morgan residence.

“So, uh, what's up, doc? What brings you here?” said Jeffery as he took a bite out of his croissant. Rudy settled down on the sofa chair by the couch.

“Nothing, but uh, yesterday was pretty crazy, huh? Just thought we could talk about it if you want? You know? The leg thing back at school?” said Rudy, pulling out another pastry from the bag, as Jeffery stared at him.

“...R-right yeah, what about it?” said Jeffery, ripping off a piece of the croissant.

“Well, um, there were rumors if you were aware? Have you ever gone on MySpace?” asked Rudy.

“Um, no?” said Jeffery, eyes darting in confusion.

“Well, some small rumors were circulating about you and the leg, by the way, none of them are positive,” said Rudy in an attempt to deliver the news positively.

Jeffery only nodded; he sat cross-legged as he munched on his croissant.

“So what are they saying?” asked Jeffery, his tone nonchalant.

“Well, a bunch of names, some of them saying you touched it and whatever other made-up stuff you did with the leg,” explained Rudy.

Jeffery did stop his chewing for a bit, then resumed eating as he nodded in understanding.

“...I see,” said Jeffery, though Rudy raised a single eyebrow over at Jeffery’s reaction to what he told him.

“You're calm about this, I just told you that they're tearing you apart online, right?”

“Right, yes,” responded Jeffery.

“Doesn’t that make you feel like anything? Like aren’t you upset about it? They are making up lies about you,” asked Rudy.

Rudy had a point there, but since middle school, he sorta realized that trying to fit in is just, well, a huge waste of time in Jeffery’s opinion. Harry, god bless his soul, had crafted the code for a reason: Don’t Get Caught, so in a sense if Jeffery doesn’t want to be seen in public then why try to fit in with other kids whom Jeffery considers morons? It’s obvious Jeffery looks down on everyone he’s come across during his time in school, especially at Lake Braddock Secondary School, except for a few people. Besides all the other students do is eat McDonald's, charge their phones, twerk, be bisexual, and lie. 

Jeffery only does like two of those things, sure, call him a hypocrite, but why should he care for the opinions of others about him? Despite all the shit he’s put up with since middle school, Jeffery unfortunately must play into the role he had given himself.

“Well, yes, I mean I get frustrated with how everyone acts, but it doesn't bother me.” Of course, it bothered him, but it’s not like the insults or physical alterations from his detractors were the reason that bothered him; it's just that Jeffery wanted to have some semblance of loneliness, but apparently, everyone just wants to pick on the weird kid with the niche hobbies and interests. Though Doakes had her justifiable suspicions of him, can’t a guy just be himself? 

Rudy gets in a little closer, a look of concern on his face. 

“But you do get angry about it, even if you try to power through their unfair treatment of you. Especially that Nicole chick, she gives you shit for basically existing,” replied Rudy.

Well, Jeffery couldn’t blame Nicole for how she acts around him, he gave her the fucking creeps and along the fact that she has her darkness like him, why wouldn’t she be suspicious of him?

“Well, that's just how she is in general. She hates everyone and everything breathing near her vicinity,” said Jeffery, as Rudy rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, she’s got some issues going on, but I still gotta ask, were you okay during that whole time when you saw that leg? I also heard from the MySpace thing that you sorta froze up a bit when you approached that leg,” asked Rudy.

Jeffery stopped to think, how could he word this carefully without saying he’s a literal murderer who’s begun to dream weird things? Jeffery could only chalk it up to repressed memories because the dreams he’s been having are vaguely familiar, but at the same time, they felt too real to brush off as “dreams”. 

“Thanks, but if you're an expert in repressed memories, then I don’t know what I could say to you.” 

“For real?” Rudy said, concern shown in his freckled face.

Jeffery looked at him.

“What, did you experience the same thing?” asked Jeffery.

“More than I ever wanted to,” said Rudy as he shifted himself comfortably in the sofa chair.

“When I was in high school, I started to have these dreams of some woman getting hit by a truck,” explained Rudy, rubbing his fingers through his auburn hair as Jeffery listened.

“W-was it anyone you knew?” Jeffery asks out of curiosity.

Rudy looked deep in thought for a few seconds until he sighed.

“I didn’t know, it all happened one day when I went to a mailbox and then...it all came crashing back,” explained Rudy, “My mom, she was getting her mail, I was still in the car...I watched her die.” 

Jeffery looked surprised at that, mouth still agape a little, he had to ask.

“How... old were you?” asked Jeffery again.

“Four,” replied Rudy.

Jeffery didn’t know what to say, but Rudy continued talking.

“It’s like I walked right into the belly of the beast without knowing…” finished Rudy, as Jeffery looked down at his feet, contemplating what Rudy had said.

“Strange... I feel the same as him whenever these dreams appear.” Jeffery thinks to himself, maybe there is much more to Rudy than he thought.

“But, if you don’t mind me asking, Jeffery, what kind of memories have you been experiencing?” asks Rudy.

Jeffery would tell him about the bizarre room of blood, the cries of a woman, and the whirring sounds in the background, but because he had met Rudy recently, he decided to lie a bit.

“They’re still a bit vague,” said Jeffery.

Rudy didn’t say anything as Jeffery looked down a bit, trying to avoid his gaze.

“Right, well you’re gonna have to face it sometime, sooner or later,” said Rudy as he got up and crumpled the pastry bag in his hand, and threw it to the nearby trash can with impressive ease.  

“Maybe next time, alright?” said Rudy with a warm smile.

Jeffery nods as he goes to finish his croissant, then someone rings his doorbell. Jeffery walks over and opens the door to see Karen, an awkward smile on her features that just made Jeffery on the inside experience a new kind of feeling he’s never felt before.

“Karen, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?” 

“Though I could drop by for a bit, coffee?” she said, her smile gave Jeffery some comfort.

Jeffery accepts the coffee as he lets Karen inside his home. Karen leaves her bag by the front door and then spots Rudy,  who looks as if he swallowed sour grapes.

Karen goes to greet him.

“Oh, um, hi, aren’t you the new kid? I forgot what your name was again,” greeted Karen politely.

“Rudy,” he responded, though Rudy’s tone changed, which Jeffery had picked up on; he sounded slightly peeved by being greeted by Karen, who didn’t pick up his sudden change in demeanor. 

“Right, well, how are you enjoying Lake Braddock so far?” said Karen, trying to be as sociable as she could be, though Rudy then decided to put up a smile.

“Good, so far,” said Rudy, “Hey Jeff, think I can use your bathroom real quick?” 

“Sure, go ahead upstairs to your left,” said Jeffery, pointing out, though he was wondering why Rudy had a moment of weird indifference. 

“He seems...polite, is he your friend?” asked Karen, taking sips out of her cup as Jeffery shrugged.

“Yeah, he is,” answered Jeffery.

“That's good, Jeff, at least you made another friend,” began Karen, wrapping her arms around Jeffery. She hugged his whole arm tightly and sighed. 

Jeffery, on the other hand, looked a little awkward as he didn’t know what to do here.

“Uh, uh, you like my arm?” said Jeffery smoothly.

“Yeah, it’s nice to hug,” said Karen, her eyes closed as she tightened her hold on him. Jeffery only nodded and hummed as he took a loud sip from the iced frappe Karen had brought.

Not even a minute later, Rudy came back, though unbeknownst to Jeffery, he did slightly glare at Karen as if she wasn’t supposed to touch Jeffery. 

Karen was the first to notice Rudy’s presence in the room.

“Oh, finished with your business?” she asked, a friendly look gracing her features as Rudy wiped the glare on his face.

“Yeah, uh, hey, I love to hang around more, but I got a call from my dad, you know how it is with owning a business here,” chuckled Rudy, to which Jeffery nodded in response.

“Oh sure, thanks for the pastries anyway.” 

As Rudy said his goodbyes and disappeared into the day, Jeffery and Karen walked out of the Morgan residence, hand in hand.

Jeffery went ahead to throw his and Karen’s empty coffee cups into the garbage can left near the curb, but he spotted HER in the corner of his peripheral vision, in what seemed to be a black Saturn Aura car, the driver glaring at him with cold blue eyes, Nicole Doakes.

“...I wonder how long she was there for?” Thought Jeffery, but he shouldn’t be surprised here. Doakes usually “runs into him” at school, trying to see if he, Jeffery Morgan, would slip up and spill all of his secrets, but unfortunately for Doakes, Jeffery can handle Nicole and her little gang of femme fatales, but this was a bit of a step up for her, is she going to stalk him every time he's out on his own?

“Just smile and nod, smile and nod.” Jeffery thought to himself as he walked down the street with Karen, who began to talk about the new novel she picked up today. 

While Jeffery tuned to the sounds of his girlfriend’s overindulgent explanations about the Lightning Thief, Nicole took this as a cue to start her car and began her usual quota of stalking Jeffery Morgan, intending on catching him acting out of character and see what dark secret he would expose to her.

“Look at him, he doesn't even walk normally, he glides like a fucking lizard on ice.” Nicole thought with vigorous cynicism, her passenger spitting softly as she drove out slowly, following the supposed unaware couple.

The Arcade, 12:33 PM

“The arcade, probably one of the only places where I can truly feel at home.” Jeffery narrates to himself, Karen looking giddy, her eyes darting around at each arcade machine, excited to see which game she’s going to play.

“Jeffery, we should try the motorcycle one!” pointed out Karen, excitement was in her mood, but Jeffery was far from feeling the same as his girlfriend.

You see, after the usual morning ritual, Jeffery was gonna use his extended break from school to stake out both Lynn’s and the Counselor’s homes. He wasn’t going to rush this like he did with Kylar; he wanted to savor it like he did with White and Colby, seeing the look of pure unadulterated terror in their eyes, that was Jeffery’s favorite part of his ritual, looking at them squirm before he drives the knife into them. 

Like Pigs to the slaughter, Lynn and Counselor have reservations in his little slide box, and they will fall into his hands. Unfortunately, life had to just throw a curveball in his direction with Rudy and Karen coming over. Rudy being the kind and gentle soul he is, trying to console him like a friend while Karen wanted to go out to the arcade because Jeffery had woken up and left her after school closed down, so she was a little “stingy” about him not saying goodbye to her.

Sure, in relationship terms, Karen had every right to be a bit steamed that he up and left her, but the thing is that she doesn’t know that he, the chummy, dorky, anime-loving nerd, Jeffery Morgan, is a serial killer. Sometimes, Jeffery thinks his life is a poorly written fan fiction, with how his relationship with Karen feels like a ship that wouldn’t work.

Jeffery didn’t mind Karen, really; he tolerates her more than everyone else at his school, but if he wants to be perceived as “normal” amongst his peers, then he has to devote himself to Karen for a bit. 

Oh, and who could forget Nicole Doakes, still persistently stalking him from a distance, still she was beautiful but dangerous, with an attitude so cynical and quick witted, Nicole leaves every man around her groveling with mere wordplay. She was at the food court which also functioned as a bar, leaning on one of the many high rise tables with no seats, apparently she was wearing the white hoodie, usually combined with one of her many known outfits, which Jeffery noticed the blue shirt with the broken black heart and black skinny jeans with colored sneakers, but this time she wore some sort of baseball cap with her hair tied up into a bun so that she wouldn’t be noticed. Though in Jeffery’s honest opinion, that hat does not match her outfit.

“I’ll give her props, the baseball cap and bun combo was a nice little touch, but even on my worst day, I’ll still be able to see you, Doakes.” Jeffery condescendingly thinks to himself, as he walks around with Karen, who is too busy trying to decide which arcade game she wants to play first. 

She turns to him, her face brightening with a bit of excitement.

“Come on, Jeffery, let’s play that one!” she pointed to what seemed to be one of those cutesy Japanese imported arcade machines, something that Jeffery knew he’d like. So he gave back at what seems to be an attempt, as a look of excitement, to which Karen could only giggle at the funny face.

The date at the arcade was fun at least, Jeffery and Karen played a variety of games ranging from racing, shooting, hoop throws and what not, Nicole kept her distance but shot her usual glare of distrust at Jeffery, trying to see if his darkness will slip out like last time but no such luck much to her frustration.

Then, Jeffery had spotted one of his personal childhood favorites: Pac-Man. 

Karen rested her head onto his shoulder, her eyes glued to the screen but not as concentrated as Jeffery's. Jeffery noticed this and decided to do the one thing he was good at.

“H-hey Karen,” said Jeffery

“What's up?” she replied, looking at him.

“Uh, do you know Pac-Man?” Jeffery asked

“Well, you are playing the game, so I know of him,” replied Karen rhetorically.

Jeffery blushed a little out of embarrassment, but he continued.

“Well, wanna know a fun fact about Pac-Man?” said Jeffery. Karen looked at him.

“Sure!”

“Pac-Man wasn’t known as Pac-Man,” began Jeffery, his eyes turned back to the screen. “He was originally called Puck-Man in Japanese, heh.” Pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose, Jeffery played the trivial know-it-all all of his everyday disguise so well.

“Puck-Man? Like the hockey puck?”

“Yes, but the reason they changed it to Pac-Man is not because he’s a hockey puck, paku paku means flap your mouth and they were worried that people would vandalize the P part of his name and change it to F, so like you know…” gestured Jeffery, as he continued playing the game.

Karen, though, was sorely impressed with this piece of Pac-Man trivia.

“Huh, that’s interesting, Jeff, didn’t know about that. Hey, I’m gonna get something to eat, do you want anything?” asked Karen, pointing her thumb towards the food vendors across the arcade.

“...Hotdog,” was all Jeffery said. Karen nodded and left, then the iconic game over noise could be heard, much to Jeffery’s relief. he didn’t mind playing games, but he was in the mood for the usual nightly ritual of stalking and murder, and games like these do not quell his bloodlust.

So Jeffery decided to wander a bit, but from the corner of his vision, he still sees Nicole in her little disguise, stalking him. 

Still, Doakes is no threat to him for now, but Jeffery stopped after he spotted one particular arcade machine. It was a cartoonishly looking cowboy, taller than him and dressed like a typical outlaw, posed in a way to prepare to shoot him. 

Jeffery saw the sign next to him, it said: “DASTARDLY DUEL, PICK UP THE REVOLVER AND OUTDRAW THIS OSTENTATIOUS OUTLAW OF THE WEST! Insert Fifty-Five Cents to Play.”

Usually, Jeffery doesn’t like firearms; they get the job done too quickly. That’s why he keeps an assortment of knives and other bladed weaponry. But he installs the two quarters in the machine and picks up the toy revolver and stances himself in a dueling position. 

The fake cowboy’s mouth speaker said, “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us!” His accent was frankly bad, but it moved its animatronic arm ready to draw.

“On the count of three, we draw and fire!” Jeffery concentrated, his dark passenger growling at the challenge.

“ONE.”

Jeffery takes a sharp breath.

“TWO.” 

Unbeknownst to Jeffery, Nicole was watching behind a Donkey Kong machine, her eyes focused on Jeffery’s every moment.

“THREE”

Jeffery was quicker, he aimed and fired three shots at the target sign in the animatronic’s chest, the thing signaled out a positive sound indicating Jeffery’s win.

“Argh! Ya got me, partner!” The animatronic called out, the little line of tickets came out from the machine, but Jeffery ignored its existence as Jeffery pulled out two more quarters and inserted them into the slots again.

The cowboy animatronic repeated the same line. Jeffery focused yet again.

“ONE,” said the outlaw.

Jeffery wasn’t as focused as he seemed; all he could think about was how the viscera of both Principal Lynn and the counselors would look when dismembering them, it almost felt salivating.

“TWO.”

Jeffery half assed his aim, then he scratched his temple with the toy gun, Nicole froze when she saw Jeffery do that. 

“THREE.” The cowboy’s plastic arm drew quickly, but Jeffery was much faster, and he shot at the chest straight away. 

Jeffery sighs at this, even with this pretend duel, it still wasn't enough to quell his already growing thirst for blood, the burning image of both Lynn and Counselor’s on his table, their blood on his slides, he needed it BADLY.

As Jeffrey places the toy gun and collects his ticket, he turns to see Doakes standing there looking at him. She stood still and looked at him with such a vacant expression, the usual Nicole style of facial expression wasn’t staring at him with disgust at his very existence, it was just emptiness.

No signs of her passenger; she just looked at him. Nicole then turned around and left, leaving Jeffery there in silence. 

“That...was new? Besides our passengers coming out that comes along with the longing stare downs, I never see Nicole act this way. How broken is she? What will it take to peel through your layers, Doakes?” Jeffery thinks he'll never understand her, but Nicole is like a Rubik's cube, one he intends to solve someday.

Karen finally returns with the lunch. Doakes and her dilemmas can wait another day; the hot dog is calling his name.

The date with Karen ended on a good note, with Jeffery pretending to be the good boyfriend by giving her his usual goodbyes, consisting of tight hugs and kisses while rolling his eyes discreetly. As he leaves her house, Jeffery heads out into the night with one thing on his mind; Surprisingly the counselor didn’t live in a house, he lived in one of those condos which looked very bleak on the outside, lifeless and even on the inside it looked spartan like, basic furniture and not much decorations to speak of. For a school counselor, he sure doesn’t have anything uplifting inside his own home, but Jeffery remembers his weekend routine, which usually consists of him staying indoors and working on his laptop, which Jeffery noted he kept with him at all times.

“You must be hiding something in there if you keep it so guarded… What could you be hiding from me?” wonders Jeffery, peering through the binoculars as the counselor closes his laptop for the day and turns off the lights in his kitchen, and heads to his bedroom.

“He’s rather simplistic even for a predator. First couple hours of the day at school working, then lunch, work, then time to head home after 3:30 PM, work on that laptop and around…” Jeffery looks at his digital wristwatch. “Huh, 7:30 PM for sleep? Feels like I’m watching American Psycho, but instead of a Wall Street yuppie, it’s a high school counselor who’s a pedophile, gosh, why is every adult faculty member some kind of predator?” 

Jeffery stuffs the binoculars in his back pocket and walks down the street to the metro station, intending on heading back home to prepare.

LATER ON

Jeffery finally arrives back in his neighborhood, his eyes glued to his HTC Touch Pro 2 texting his sister Deb, stating he’s almost home, he then scrolls through to see any more messages, and some of them were rather “interesting” to say the least.

Karen’s messages and her overuse of :3 was cute to say the least, Crispin, which Jeffery doesn’t know how he got his number, but the last thing he messaged was “Yo Jeffery, did you know the pope can’t be an organ donor???” Well, interesting but useless for him. There was Emily McKay, and she sends her wall of KYS texts, Jessica, but even she can be nasty and only ever asks him for help with school subjects and nothing else.

Jeffery closed his phone and decided to walk down a familiar street he’s known, and he knows this place, Lakeside Park.

This park, in particular, was a familiar one to him. Harry often took him here growing up, it was a childhood favorite of his, he sometimes jogs around here whenever he makes a detour from his usual path he makes but Jeffery thought it would be nice to reminisce once in a while.

“Oh, this,” said Jeffery, looking at a particular swing set in front of him. he remembers this one; it’s where he and the rest of the Morgans took one of the many family photos, specifically this one was in his nightstand. 

But then Jeffery immediately noticed it, his eyes quickly tuning onto the small patch of blood splatter, spilled right there.

“What the?” muttered Jeffery, now realizing what he had just seen.

Jeffery had crouched down on the playground’s rubber flooring. This wasn’t normal looking, no, this looked as if it was done on purpose, but who? No child who tripped and scraped their knee could’ve done this, this was something as if it were waiting for him.

The blood splatter wasn’t alone, as Jeffery’s eyes followed the trail, it was almost as if it was pointing to him to follow it.

Follow The Blood.

Jeffery had walked out of the swing set, avoiding the blood splash, and followed it carefully with slow but precise steps. Then, near the playground set, he saw something again, but this time he froze at what he had seen.

A human arm.

It was cleanly sliced off, apparently female, judging from the manicure on its nails, though Jeffery swore he’d seen someone favoring this specific color of nail polish before.

The hand was laid out and ramrod straight, the index finger pointing towards the basketball court, almost mockingly as if to say, “Over There.” Jeffery turned to see where the basketball court was. It was empty, all except for one carefully placed basketball, but Jeffery saw something behind the basketball.

It didn’t take long for Jeffery to get to the court, and when he reached where the ball was placed. Long blonde hair was still in its ponytail and neatly placed around what seemed to be a girl’s head. 

Jeffery could only walk around slowly to see who it once was. 

“Kelly…” 

Kelly had a look of peace on her face despite being decapitated, her eyes and mouth were closed shut, her skin pale due to loss of blood, but judging from the beheading, it was done cleanly, as if the person who’d done this had used similar methods like Jeffery.

“The Mutilator, what is this guy trying to prove here? That he can copy me, or is he sending me a message?” Jeffery thought to himself.

A Barbie doll head could be seen on top of the basketball. 

“Of course, another part of the puzzle.” Jeffery collected it immediately and got up. Before he could run, he took one last look at what was left of his classmate.

“Sorry, Kelly, the police will get to you soon.” Jeffery bid his final goodbye to his classmate, sure she wasn’t the nicest to him and she whored herself out to everyone at school, even trying to sink her succubus nails onto his new friend Rudy, but even so, Kelly didn’t deserve to die this way.

Jeffery ran out into the night, his mind racing and adrenal glands pumping out adrenaline, the dark unseen friend hissing into his ear, a new opponent has entered the playing field, a Vegeta to his Son Goku. 

“First a leg and now a head, is the killer trying to make a puzzle here for me? But why, why Barbie dolls?” pondered Jeffery.

It didn’t take long for Jeffery to reach his neighborhood, and he did stop to look around to see if any cars were passing by. 

Thankfully no one was driving around here, Jeffery then reaches into his pocket and pulled out the head of the barbie doll, he took a good look at it and realized that its hair was blonde but looked as if someone had sharpie streaked across the hair and the eyes were purple too, just like Kelly…

So the Mutilator targeted someone he knew, but Kelly wasn’t close to him yet she was used for a specific purpose. What did the Mutilator hope to achieve here? Especially with the Barbie doll?

Jeffery held it up close to him, and a critical look was in his eye.

“Since he already knows, I’m guessing with both Kelly’s decapitated head and the Barbie doll, The Mutilator left me a gruesome souvenir,” thought Jeffery.  

He held up the head of the doll in front of the moon, curiosity burning in Jeffery’s face.

“I suppose I should be frustrated that I have no idea about this guy, but at the same time, I feel…excited, and these dolls could be a friendly message like ‘Hey, wanna play?’ Yes, I want to play, I do!”

Jeffery stuffs the doll head in his pocket and heads back home for the night, a sense of renewed vigor inside his soul, determined to know more of his newfound rival. 

All while the dark passenger whispers into the night to Jeffery with envious agreement.

Chapter Text

Inside the shed in the backyard of the Morgan residence, fourteen-year-old Jeffery Morgan worked diligently on his bicycle, his eyes fixed in concentration. The toolkit next to him, as Jeffery used the socket wrench to tighten a particular loose bolt, an almost frighteningly surgical level of precision was used as if he were doing his usual nightly rituals.

Then Harry Morgan came through the shed door, and Jeffery turned to greet his father.

“Hey, Dad, how-” Jeffery was interrupted as Harry threw a black roll bag and opened it up, revealing several sharp knives, and Jeffery immediately went to defend himself.

“Dad, I can explain-”

“You and I had an understanding.” Harry began, and Jeffery closed his mouth, “Whenever you get these urges, you come to me, you tell me, and we both deal with it together.”

“B-but, I do tell you!” proclaimed Jeffery weakly, but Harry pulled one of the knives out, and it seemed Jeffery didn’t clean one of them carefully.

“The hell you do, there’s blood on this knife!” said Harry, showing Jeffery the small, stained blade in his hands, and Jeffery looked down at his shoes. Harry places the knife down near the bike and gently grabs Jeffery by his shoulders.

“Jeffery, did you- Have you?-”

“No! N-no, I didn’t. I-it’s animals.”

“Only animals?” Harry questioned further.

“Yes, only small animals, I find small animals. That’s all.”

“Are you sure?” Harry’s dark brown eyes stared into Jeffery’s, trying to see if he was lying.

“Yes.” Jeffery nodded.

“I thought we had this under control…” said Harry, his voice full of worry.

Jeffery stared at his dad nervously, he didn’t want to say anything to make him angrier. Then Harry looked at him again.

“Jeff, do you still remember anything from before? Before we took you in?” Harry questioned again.

Jeffery shook his head.

“No…Is that why I have these…urges?” asked Jeffery hesitantly.

“Whatever happened, it changed something inside of you,” Harry explained. “It got to you early, and I’m afraid, this urge you’ve been feeling? It’ll only get stronger.”

Jeffery looked like he wanted to cry.

“B-but, I do n't-I don't want to-I just want to be a normal kid, dad,” sniffed Jeffery, but Harry placed his hands onto Jeffery’s face to reassure him.

“Jeffery, listen, you are a normal kid. You're good, a good kid, otherwise it would’ve been a lot worse than animals…” said Harry, wiping his son's tears away with his rough thumbs.

“It’s okay, so maybe we can’t stop this, but we can do something about it,” suggested Harry as he stood up.

Jeffery looked confused.

“W-what do you mean? What can we do?” 

“Jeffery, there are people out there who do really bad things,” began Harry, “Terrible people, and the police can’t catch them, and even if they do, some of them slip through justice, avoiding the consequences of their actions. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“...Are you implying they deserve it?” Jeffery asked, and Harry came a little bit closer, nodding.

“That’s right, but of course you have to learn how to spot them, how to cover your tracks better. I can help teach you all this…” 

“Dad…” Jeffery didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay, Jeff.” comforted Harry, You can’t help what happened to you, but you can make the best of it. Remember this forever, you are my son, and that you aren’t alone, I love you.”

Jeffery said nothing but nodded in agreement, then his world went black.

Jeffery opened his eyes, and he was in his basement, in his bed. He turned his head to stare at his nightstand, the framed photos of him and the Morgans, the beach day one was there, Harry Morgan holding him while Deb and Doris held onto each other. 

Jeffery only wiped his face and groaned. These dreams need to stop. Why is he remembering his past so much?

School was back in session, and Jeffery deduced that after cleaning up the crime scene in the gymnasium, which had taken what seemed like a week, Principal Lynn wanted things to get back on course. Now, every student, disgruntled and annoyed after what seemed like a perfect week of vacation, was over. 

But the mood couldn’t get any better after the death of Kelly Anderson; the media outlets exploded into a huge frenzy. Still, instead of covering her death or memorializing her, the news and any opportunistic journalist used her as an excuse to write about the newest serial killer in town, now dubbed “The Virginia Mutilator”. 

“Real tasteless if you ask me.” 

Jeffery walks through the halls of Lake Braddock, his mind buzzing with determination as he thinks what tidbits of information on the Virginia Mutilator; 

JEFFERY’S FACTS ON THE MUTILATOR:

• Mutilates his victims 
• Incredibly clean and precise 
• Drains blood 
• Leaves body parts for him to find alongside Barbie Doll parts
• Butcher-like style of murders
• Either an adult or an older teen 
• Possibly attends Lake Braddock Secondary School

All these facts, yet Jeffery doesn’t have all of the pieces yet, but before going through the evidence. Jeffery has also compiled a list of suspects and has personally theorized on who could be the Virginia Mutilator.

POSSIBLE SUSPECTS:

• Crispin Jenkins (Not even)
• Hunter Philips (Too nonchalant)
• Trody Finch (High school dropout)
• Braxton Sanders (Irrelevant)
• Kylar Matthews (Deceased, cause of death? Me)
• Rudy Cooper (Innocent for personal biases)
• Nicole Doakes (Either drugged up or too busy harassing me)
• Jessica “Jecka” Quinn (Too blonde)
• Emily McKay (Way too drugged up and violently unpredictable)
• Ari Yates (Has a pocket knife, is a lesbian)

Due to personal biases, besides Karen, Rudy couldn't possibly be the Mutilator, because in a sea of craziness, he's the only normal one who ever treated him like a normal human being, and in a way, understands his plight, besides no way Rudy Cooper would even be the Virginia Mutilator; he’s too sweet to be a serial mutilator. 

None of the other boys his grade displayed any signs of murderous intent to begin with, but for the girls Jeffery only thought of a few that would stand out in his mind; Doakes and Quinn were out of the picture, Ari has a pocket knife sure but that wouldn’t get her far with mutilating the victims and even if she was a killer, Jeffery would’ve gotten to her a long time ago. Emily McKay, on the other hand, is an unstable drug addict, but she doesn’t possess the cleverness to surgically dismember body parts, nor does she use that head of hers at all, unpredictable and violent, sure, but not the intelligent rival Jeffery is facing. 

Could it even be any of the faculty? Not likely either, but he has his sights on the Counselor. But if he does try to interrogate him about the mutilator, he might not give Jeffery the information he wants, but Jeffery was tired of waiting as his lust for blood grew ever so slightly, and the Counselor who fits the code so much, he needs…no, HE must die. The plan was prepped, the evidence stashed away in a duffle bag alongside his candid tools necessary for his dark ritual hidden somewhere only he knows to find, the empty blood slide hungry for a smidget for that drop of blood, his dark passenger already starved for a fresh kill.

Jeffery was stone-faced, rigid as he walked past the students until he stopped after seeing Kelly.

It wasn’t her actually, a picture of her was there hung up between the main display cases of the school and Jeffery could see Kelly smiling here in the large photo, her purple eyes full of life and warmth unlike how he had found her, missing the rest of her body and in a way, looked peaceful at death. It’s how Jeffery always thought of what death was, the ultimate nap, one you can’t wake up from.

Jeffery also sees the flowers surrounding her name, KELLY ANDERSON, which weren’t anything special or meaningful, as most flowers are, and Jeffery could only assume the students who bought them didn’t think much ahead when buying them. There were also these post it notes and cards, all of them expressing how much they will miss Kelly, to fly high and that heaven has gained another angel but Jeffery knew this was a damn lie, he recognized most of the girls who written this have talked shit behind Kelly’s back calling her all sorts of “rude names” whenever she messed around with their boyfriends.

Funny how Jeffery Morgan isn’t the only one at school who can wear a mask.

“Such a shame…” piped up a voice.

Jeffery looked over his shoulder to see the Counselor standing next to him, arms crossed and with a disappointed look on his face.

“..she had so much potential, so pretty-” he stopped when he locked eyes with Jeffery. “Oh, hello, Jeffery.”

“Good morning, Mr. Chase,” greeted Jeffery, slipping into his mask.

“How are you feeling today?” 

“I’m doing fine.”

“I see, well, I heard that you came across the uh, leg in your gym class? Right?” he asked, as Jeffery nodded.

“Yes?” as Mr. Chase continued.

“Well, you know, seeing a disembodied limb like that, I’m sure you must’ve been very scared seeing such a sight?” he asked.

“Not really..” “Ah, well..a little bit, I mean, well, wherever my dad or sister picked me up, they did take me to the scene of the crime, but they never let me out of the car. But I uh, saw this dead body one time, it did keep me awake at night seeing it.” A true story on Jeffery’s behalf, but modified, it happened when Jeffery was fifteen and Harry took him there to examine the corpse, but ordered him to stay in the car. Jeffery snuck out to get a closer look at the body, hoping to see any blood splashed on the concrete. Deborah, who was just a cop at the time, caught him in the act and yelled at him in front of everyone and dragged him by the ear back to Harry’s car. Harry wasn’t much pleased with his antics, but hey, a psychopath like Jeffery was bound to get a little bit curious.

“Oh, that would explain a lot,” muttered Mr. Chase.

“A lot of what?” asked Jeffery. He heard that.

“Oh, nothing, Jeffery, I just don’t think anyone your age should be exposed to something like that.” 

Jeffery shrugged a little. If only he knew what he was, but sooner or later, Mr. Chase would get to know the real him.

Then Mr. Chase placed his hand onto Jeffery’s shoulder, squeezing it out of comfort.

“You know where my office is, my door is always open to talk,” he said reassuringly.

“We’ll have our talk soon, Mr. Chase, don’t worry.”

As Mr. Chase lets Jeffery go,  Jeffery then spots Nicole, who was walking by closely with Jessica Quinn, her eyes still cold and her attitude even more frosty as she briefly glanced at him. Jessica wondered what Nicole was staring at before she saw Jeffery and Mr. Chase, rolling her eyes, she tugged Nicole to walk faster. 

“Is Miss Doakes still giving you a hard time?” questioned Mr. Chase, though his eyes were wandering somewhere much different than Jeffery, who caught on what he was staring at.

“Those eyes are the first thing I’ll cut out.” Thought Jeffery, disgust filled his insides at seeing Mr. Chase staring at the two like that. He may not have gotten along with those two, sure, but even they don’t deserve that kind of subjugation from this predator amongst the teachers.

“No, Mr. Chase, I’ve been avoiding her like you said,” replied Jeffery quickly.

“Alright then, have a good day, Jeffery.” Mr. Chase said his goodbyes and turned to leave. Jeffery glared at his back with an unseen hunger in his eyes. 

“It’s going to happen tonight. Everything is in motion, I’ll be seeing you after school, Mr. Chase…” 

Jeffery turned around and headed to his locker, his mind riddled with perfecting Mr. Chase’s death, but also thinking of why The Mutilator is trying to get his attention.

A lingering thought plagued his mind: Why Kelly? She wasn’t exactly a friend, much less an acquaintance, to him, and on the occasion would ridicule him. It’s as if the mutilator wanted to play a game with him and chose someone he knew to raise the stakes for this little game of hide and seek, and Jeffery knew he was failing the game. His past…he found Kelly’s head in the park he and his dad Harry often go to, and the leg in gym class. Is the mutilator, is he or she trying to recreate his past through murder and dismemberment at specific parts in his childhood?

Jeffery finishes his thoughts as he heads to his locker, opening it up and putting away certain books. He froze when he saw another Barbie doll arm, specifically the left arm, similar to the one he found at the park…

“Oh wow, you need my attention that bad?” Jeffery thought to himself, even the mutilator knew which one was his locker, too. Did the mutilator want to play tag instead of hide and seek? He quickly picks up the arm, but before he can take a look at it.

SLAM

Someone had slammed his locker; it was Emily McKay, judging from the amount of self-harm scars on those arms of hers. Jeffery quickly turned around and hid the toy arm away, meeting Emily’s blue eyes, who, unlike Nicole’s usual cold edge to them, Emily’s eyes displayed her instability to the whole world, and particularly, a streak of sadism when targeting him specifically.

Jeffery slipped into his mask, feigning shock.

“W- hey! What’d ya do that for?” perfected nasally pitch from Jeffery, stellar performance as always.

“Because it’s fucking funny to see you react like that!” Emily said as she got a bit closer to Jeffery, who only leaned up against his locker behind him. Jeffery could see the predatory smirk on Emily’s face; she was loving every second of him looking uncomfortable, but Jeffery felt otherwise about this sudden confrontation.

“Does this have to happen now?” Jeffery growled, he felt his dark friend on the inside stir, he doesn’t have time dealing with this bitch when he could be putting the pieces together left by his fellow homicidal neighbor.

“Why do you get so scared when the others try to talk to you, huhhhh?”  Emily drawled, one hand on her hip and the other twirling her scene-styled hair. Her grin looked sharp, like a shark with those visible fangs and usually Jeffery was a sucker for anime chicks with the visible fang thing but when it’s on real life women, especially to someone who thrives on conflict like Emily, it was unsettling like the calm before the storm approaches.

“W-well, you and Nicole aren’t nice to me for starters? You do kinda hurt me…” said Jeffery in his most meek tone of voice, but Emily feigns a new emotion. 

“It’s just a bit of fun, what? You don’t like being touched by me?” she said mockingly, but Jeffery realized something else was in her tone. Was she? Was she attempting to flirt with him? 

Emily then looked at Jeffery’s left hand, tucked away behind his back discreetly, and she decided to get a bit too close to comfort. Jeffery could SMELL her hot breath full of nicotine and minty breath from the gum she chewed between those fangs of hers. A sharp but painted black nail traces Jeffery’s Legend of Zelda shirt, her finger gently going around his chest.

“Whatcha hiding there?~”  questioned Emily playfully, she tilted her head in a manner that seemed cute, but Jeffery felt like it was a snake preparing itself to launch its fangs into his neck. But Jeffery decided to stand his ground, he remembers his conversation when he visited him that one time and talked about how he felt when the other students had practically bullied him his entire high school life. Jeffery still ponders Rudy’s words, and in a way, he’s right, no matter what logical thinking or Harry’s code says, being pushed around isn’t what Jeffery wants anymore, so he will do it, he will let his darkness slip out.

“It’s none of your business, Emily, don’t you have classes to get to?” Jeffery said, while his tone was still nasally, it was much different as the dark passenger began to assume control over him.

Emily stopped as she looked into his eyes. Her playfulness was put on hold as she saw something different in Jeffery, but she shrugged it off and got back to flirting with him.

“Oh come on classes Jeffery you don’t need to be a fucking square all the time, i rather hang out with you,” Emily responded.

“Hang out with me? Get real, will you, Doakes set you up to do all this.” Jeffery rolled his eyes, but Emily seemed to have caught on to his disrespectful eye roll. A big mistake on Jeffery’s part, as she then grabbed Jeffery’s arms and slammed Jeffery into the locker behind him, surprising him, as Emily was now close and personal.

“Don’t act like you don’t fucking enjoy this, never had a hot bitch like me touch you like this huh?” She said, her tone now becoming aggressive, whenever she starts getting riled up this way, all hell breaks loose, and that isn’t what Jeffery needed on a Monday morning.

“ *Sigh* I prefer it if you don't touch me, I have a girlfriend,” said Jeffery, to which he lightly shoved Emily off of him. Jeffery hoped that a firm tone and the ‘I have a Girlfriend Excuse’ would ward off Emily. Emily looked taken back at this, she never heard that kind of tone, much less expect this level of resistance from fucking Jeffery Morgan of all people but she steeled herself. Nicole had promised her two bottles of Percocet if she could try and seduce Jeffery and see if he had anything to do with Kelly’s death.

So Emily did the one good thing she was good at: insulting people.

“Girlfriend? That basic ass bitch Karen? You think she got all this?” Emily gestures to her whole appearance, and while Emily does look pretty in a “deranged yandere” way that Jeffery thought was hot, unfortunately, Jeffery preferred Karen, who was in many ways a much better fit for his disguise. 

Jeffery was going to speak up on behalf of his girlfriend, but Emily then decided to close the space between her and Jeffery and put her finger over his mouth.  

“Shh, shh, shhhh.” Shushed Emily, her face looking serene and seductive as she began to rub herself all over Jeffery like a cat to a human leg, and Jeffery only froze at what Emily was doing; he wasn’t used to this level of physical contact.

“Remember Harry’s code, Remember Harry’s code, wait…was there anything in the code about this kind of thing?” Jeffery thought to himself, Harry had taught Jeffery everything, ranging from close quarters combat, stealth tactics, firearms training, hunting, knowledge of police tactics, and evading the law, but Harry didn’t teach him about women. Sure, there was the awkward talk that one time when he was sixteen, when Harry tried to talk to him about girls, but even that didn’t go anywhere. 

Emily then flung her arms around Jeffery’s shoulder, hugging him close as she still rubbed her body all over Jeffery in what she thought was a genuine attempt at seducing him, but Jeffery only felt awkward and uncomfortable at this.

The dark passenger was nearly slipping out, its shadowy growls grew, and it desired to hurt Emily for touching it. She may have a reputation for her unpredictable violence, but she never did go up against the real deal. Jeffery can count several ways to kill her, he could rip off her studded belt and strangle her to death, slam her head into the locker many times, break her bones with his grappling, pierce her eardrums with the temple of his glasses, rip the pin off her decorative earrings and shove it in her systemic artery or even piercing her cephalic vein with the cheap pen he has stuffed in his cargo pants and inject ink into her bloodstream. 

Unfortunately, Emily doesn’t fit the code; she was just a part of the common rabble amongst the seas of sheep that attend this school. Jeffery knows he shouldn’t say this, but he always considered himself better than his peers.

“Does Karen ever do THIS?” Emily then reached down to the front of Jeffery’s shorts, grabbed his “special friend” down there, the dark passenger hissed in anger, and Jeffery couldn’t handle it anymore.  

Jeffery jumped and pushed Emily away. She yelped as she fell back, and Jeffery ran for it. 

“TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH!” Jeffery panicked as he ran out of the hall, dodging other students as he heard Emily cursing behind his back.

LIBRARY, 12:30 PM

In the school’s library, it was a haven for those shunned by the other students, and Jeffery could call it his second home. 

 There weren't many students, besides the old librarian, who was too pumped up on Xanax. The fact that there weren't any security cameras around meant Jeffery could practically do what he wanted. Today, Jeffery decided to skip class.

“Not something I usually do, but after escaping the clutches of that she-beast sent from the evil mastermind that is Doakes, I think maybe a long overdue break from my classes would suffice for the day, but-.” 

Jeffery produces the toy arm from his shorts, his eyes critically analyzing the arm.

“I wonder, he’s in this school, he breached the one place I would consider my entire disguise. Years of painstakingly building this bubble around myself, now popped by an unseen needle, and it drives me crazy not knowing who he or she is, and yet they want to play a game of shadows with me.”

It still bothers Jeffery that he still doesn’t know who the mutilator is, all the facts, yet he doesn’t know who he is, despite having to steal copied files from Deborah, every detail he’s seen, even the police reports, didn’t give much help as he hoped. But Jeffery felt his neck hairs stand up on their own, he felt another shadowy presence, and one Jeffery is very much accustomed to.

Jeffery then slightly turned to look at the already familiar presence he was so accustomed to, Nicole Doakes leaned there on a nearby bookshelf, out of sight yet only he could spot her. She wasn't alone, as Jessica Quinn was also there, but she was sitting down with a textbook in her hand, trying to look inconspicuous, but she was darting her head back and forth from Doakes and her textbook as if she was wondering when the usual stalk-and-harass Jeffery quota would be done. Still, Nicole had the usual unseen aura of dark suspicion against him, and now has taken up to stalk him even at school, while Jeffery would've just ignored her and pretended that he was studying or if he was feeling brave, looked at her straight in the eye and greeted her with the usual chummy friendliness.

But that was the old Jeffery, the new Jeffery was still in the testing phase, so maybe, just maybe, he’d display a little bit of a backbone to Doakes, so he quickly switched tabs on his laptop and turned to look at Nicole straight away with the friendliest face ever. 

“A risky gamble, sure, but a fun one to see.” Jeffery switched his tab on his laptop to hide the stolen police files from wandering eyes.

“Hey Nicole! Didn’t think you came here to study too!” greeted Jeffery, the false tone of friendliness was a great way to get things going. Nicole cursed under her breath. Someone didn’t like getting caught, but she scoffed as she walked over, arms crossed and trying to loom over him with an intimidating presence only Nicole Doakes could muster, despite being 5'5 and a hundred forty-five pounds.

Jeffery decided to continue the conversation, with dripping bits of his real self coming out a little.

“It was uh, strange to see you at the arcade? Didn’t know girls like you were into games like that, you know popular girls, heh heh, but if you want, I can show you how to play Pac Man-,” said Jeffery.

“I would rather kill myself than ever think about hanging out with YOU,” Nicole said, her face twisting with obvious contempt for Jeffery.

“That's not a nice thing to say, Nicole, don’t be so socially spoiled.” 

“Fuck you,” she said, but her eyes darted back to Jeffery’s laptop.

“So what's that, porn?” she asked.

…

Jeffery thought it would be a bit more plausible to have a tab for pornography, specifically a yaoi manga called Sanwa no Karasu, a bunch of one shots with muscular hairy men and while usually hairy gay porn wasn’t his style, he believed it was enough to deter Nicole. 

“Ah! Heh, heh uh, Yaoi is an art form, you know? It’s men on men.”

“Uh huh.” 

“Mhm, the porns right there-”

“Bullshit.” Nicole interrupted. “What the hell were you looking up?” she said, getting slightly close to Jeffery.

Jeffery used two fingers to point out the gay porn on his laptop.

“The hairy tits are right there.” 

“Yeah, but in three years you never rented gay comics before, you're more into girl on girl stories judging from the shit you keep in your locker.”

An awkward silence filled the space around Jeffery and Nicole, It was only a few seconds until Jeffery decided to speak up.

“...Huh, how would you know?” Jeffery questioned, sarcasm lacing his tone.

Nicole only stared at him with a dark smirk.

“Call me an office crazy, but your humbling interest in my personal life can be misinterpreted as Harassment in some circles, Nicole,” explained Jeffery, who wasn’t surprised that Nicole could have broken into his locker. 

Nicole shrugged.

“So like, report me then bitch.” 

“I can think of much easier solutions.”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” said Jeffery.

“Someone's feeling a bit confident today, which girl did you sexually harass this time?” snarked Nicole.

“Oh, Nicole, you would know, sending your little lap dogs after me, Emily? I mean, come on now, was Jessica over there unavailable? I mean that would be a bit of a step up, but well, not much of an improvement...” Jeffery trailed off, who was trying to hide his smirk.

Nicole's eyes widened a little at that comment, and Jessica heard that, judging from the look on her face, she didn't seem pleased by what Jeffery had said.

"Then again, dumb blondes aren't my thing, but I'll give you some points, a C- for trying," shrugged Jeffery, putting away his laptop into his roller bag and getting up to leave, but Jessica showed up to give Jeffery a piece of her mind.

"Who the fuck are you calling a lapdog?!" her tone loud and standing in front of Jeffery, fists clenched and eyes full of reasonable anger, the only few students in the library turned to see the commotion.

Good, she is enraged. Time to create conflict between these two.

"Oh, hi Jessica, studying for your finals? Didn’t know you were taking…” Jeffery faked squinting to look at the textbook she brought with her. “Civics and the Constitution? Not a bad read, if you're studying for law that is-”

“No! No, repeat what you said, lapdog? Who the fuck do you think you ARE?” oh she was mad alright, Jeffery looked at Jecka and the exit of the library, he was sure he could squeeze through and escape, and besides it was Jessica Quinn, what could she do to him?

Unfortunately, Jeffery had failed to account for Nicole Doakes, who then grabbed Jeffery by the scruff of his t-shirt and slammed him into a nearby shelf. 

“Ouch.” Jeffery could’ve countered that, really, he would have dodged Nicole’s grab and countered her pretty easily in a myriad of ways, but still, if he went all out, this would affirm Nicole’s suspicions of him. 

Jecka was taken aback by the sudden violence from Nicole, but she went back to being mad, crossing her arms as she stared at Jeffery, who was now being held by Nicole, who gripped tightly on his t-shirt’s collar tightly.

Usually, Jeffery would’ve pretended to be scared, fake begging Nicole or Jessica not to hurt him, but he decided to finally show off some backbone.

“Wow, very mature of you, Doakes, but I don’t know what you’ll expect me to say even if you hurt me.”

“Don’t act like you don’t know Jeffery!” scolded Jecka, and Jeffery only turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Know what?” he asked.

“Witnesses say that a person was running near the park where Kelly was found; they didn’t get a good look, but he was tall and you seemed to fit the description well,” accused Nicole.

Jeffery raised another eyebrow, but deep inside, he was contemplating.

“Witnesses? That park was practically fucking empty, maybe they mixed it up with me and the Mutilator? Besides, I'm not that tall…” compared to Nicole and Jecka’s heights, he was only 5 '9 feet tall last he checked.

“So, because I’m tall mean I killed Kelly?” Jeffery responded sarcastically, though Jecka’s face did change a bit when he said that.

“W-well, who said you killed her?” said Jecka.

Jeffery only shrugged. “I don’t know, but accusing me just because you two don’t like me isn’t how you’d solve a murder case.” 

Jecka was taken aback by this, except for Nicole, who only squinted her eyes at Jeffery with visible hostility, still not believing him.

“I still don’t fucking believe you.” ah thank you Miss Doakes, for your educated input.

But Jeffery decided to plead his case of innocence, well, he was not really innocent, but to try and defend his false reputation of being harmless.

“ Sigh Nicole, if I was the mutilator I wouldn’t be here at this school now, I’d probably be out there plotting the next murder but I can’t because my sister Deborah makes sure I don’t wander out at night after my curfew.” a weak excuse but he hoped this could get him a reaction he needed.

“You have a fucking curfew? What are you, five?” snarked Jecka, yep, he hoped she would’ve taken the bait, but Nicole looked as if she refused to bite into Jeffery’s carefully thought-out bait.

“That’s fucking bullshit Morgan.” Jeffery sucked his teeth out of frustration, but that doesn’t mean he’s done.

“You would say that it’s bullshit, considering your new pastime is watching my every step,” said Jeffery, hoping this could finally throw Doakes and Quinn off a little. 

Jecka looked like she had questions.

“Watching? What is he talking about, Nicole?” questioned Jecka immediately, and Nicole looked perturbed at what Jeffery said.

“What, you didn’t know? Nicole took up a new hobby of following my every movement. Kinda strange, dontcha think?” Jeffery smirked in such a dark and smug way that it got under Nicole’s nerves.

“Nicole, is this true?” Jecka asked, but Nicole immediately came up with an excuse.

“No, Jeffery is lying because we happen to live two or three blocks away from each other. He's just a paranoid little freak because I drive by his house sometimes.” Nicole quickly said, and Jecka seemed to eat that excuse up.

“Oh right, Yeah Jeffery stop being so fucking paranoid!” Jecka said, a look of humor gracing her beautiful features.

“So much for that attempt.” Where was Jeffery’s divine intervention when he needed it?

“Whoa, what’s happening over here, you guys are loud,” Rudy said, arriving on the scene. Jeffery looked relieved at the sight of Rudy, his angelic savior, but those devilish imps, Nicole and Jecka, turned to look at him with newfound disdain at his presence.

“Why don’t you fuck off and die?” snapped Nicole, eyes glowed with annoyance at Rudy.

Rudy only smiled at Nicole.

“Well, why don’t ya fuck off and live?” he snorted to himself, Jeffery thought that was clever knowing Nicole’s somewhat depressing tendencies she keeps to herself, that would sting a little. Jecka, on the other hand, stepped in to defend her friend (?).

“Fucking kill yourself, your so fucking irrelevant to this conversation.” she barked at Rudy, who barely looked fazed by Jecka’s insults.

“Can’t be irrelevant when I see my friend getting bullied here by you two,” he said, coming closer, his hands in his black jeans as he stared right at them with unmoving confidence. The two girls, Nicole and Jecka, were moved by this, usually, an insult or two would deter any unwanted male advances, but Rudy here was practically standing there so casual and demure, smiling at them with practiced politeness. 

It was an anomaly to the duo, but they weren’t going to look vulnerable, especially in front of fucking Jeffery Morgan of all people and to the new kid here. Nicole then walked up to Rudy to show that she wouldn’t be so easily sidetracked by the new kid.

“Your new kid's grace period is already over, by the way, and you chose to be friends with him?” said Nicole, gesturing to Jeffery sarcastically.

“Yeah, like you look normally adjusted and you wanna ruin it by being near Jeffery?” Jecka added her two cents in.

Rudy simply shrugged.

“You know, that whole school hierarchy thing you two have going on is kinda dumb. You know it won't matter once we graduate, right?” Rudy replied simply.

“Oh wow, you sound so fucking deep really, what fuck ass quote did you find online to try and sound cool?” scoffed Nicole, Jecka rolled her eyes at what Rudy had said.

“It’s called an opinion, by the way.”

“And it’s called go fuck yourself -” began Nicole, but Jeffery had enough of this.

“I think it's time for me to leave, actually,” interrupted Jeffery, stuffing his laptop into his roller backpack and zipping up quickly. “Hey, Rudy, is it lunch time?” 

“If you like the thing they call steaks, then yeah, but you're gonna have to cut real deep into them.” Rudy jokes, but Jecka wasn’t done with Jeffery.

“And where do you think you're going? We’re not done here-”  But Jecka stopped as Jeffery was grabbed by Nicole and dragged close to her, whispering harshly into his ear.

“Listen freaktard, you know something about the mutilations and whatever it is you're hiding, it won’t be too long before it bites you in the ass, I’m watching you motherfucker.” Nicole warned, but Jeffery gave her such a false smile. 

“Well, Doakes isn't going to stop her little dark crusade against me, you made me force my hand, just you wait.” Jeffery thought to himself, he shrugged off Nicole’s hand and walked away.

Nicole scoffed behind Jeffery's back, but she stopped as she locked eyes with Rudy for a brief moment. Rudy’s entire demeanor was different, just like when she first locked eyes with him back in gym class, he looked at her as if she were a piece of meat waiting to be dissected. Nicole doesn’t back down from what she assumes is another future pedophile and stares back at him hard, her dark passenger glowing around her unseen from the others. 

Rudy only smirked sardonically at her before turning around and leaving with Jeffery.

“That fucking creep is lucky I don’t-Ugh,” complained Jecka, curling her fingers in a threatening gesture about Jeffery, Nicole scoffed at this.

“He thinks he can walk around like he’s immune from shit. You got it right? Please tell me you got it.”

Jecka nodded, she pulled out her flip phone and showed it to her.

“Good, send them to Karen, think it’s time to create a little bit of dysfunction.”

“God you're like a smart and pretty brunette hitler in an evil bitch kind of way,” said Jecka, her eyes shining with admiration for her.

Nicole only chuckled in a darkly sadistic way that only Jecka can love, and she snagged an arm around Jecka’s waist as the two left the library, plotting their nemesis’s downfall.

OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY:

"She has issues," sighed Rudy.

"Tell me about it, she thinks I'm hiding some grand secret or something," said Jeffery.

 “Well we all hide secrets yeah, but like damn she was tryna to get ya to confess something like you killed someone heh heh.” chuckled Rudy.

Jeffery coughed, trying to stifle his laughter.

“Hah, no, she has never liked me. Always said i have her the fucking creeps or some shit and now she thinks I had something to do with Kelly.” sighed Jeffery, Rudy perked up at the mention of Kelly.

“K-Kelly? The blonde one, right? Not the other one back there?” Rudy gestured to the library behind him. 

“Yeah, they think I match the description of the guy seen at the park where she was found,” explained Jeffery. “I mean, scoff, can you believe that? Me being the mutilator?”

“Heh, yeah, or any kind of serial killer,” responded Rudy.

Both boys laughed at that; the idea of Jeffery being a serial killer was such a funny concept.

Wiping his tears away, Rudy said, “Wow, even if you were, I mean, like hypothetically, of course?”

“What, me being a killer? I probably wouldn’t be so out there.” 

“Out there? What do you mean?” asked Rudy curiously.

“Well, hypothetically, of course, I’d probably be quiet with my kills instead of making a statement to the public like the Mutilator,” explained Jeffery as Rudy listened on with interest.

“Like, I probably would’ve used spaces to prevent my victim from leaving and tie them down, maybe make sure things are clean so that it won’t get back to me,” explained Jeffery as if he didn’t do nearly half of those things. 

Rudy only nodded in agreement.

“Huh, that does sound smart, maybe you could even fool the police,” suggested Rudy jokingly, though the look in his eyes said otherwise.

“Heh, maybe, but I’m not a serial killer, so who knows?” shrugged Jeffery.

“Yeah, who knows?” said a smiling Rudy.

The two boys walked towards the lunchroom, hoping that today’s steak would be somewhat fulfilling.

Despite the day he had at school, nearly falling into the claws of that succubus, Emily and Doakes' pathetic attempts to goad him to slip up, Jeffery was going to end things off by finally getting to the one thing he’s been craving for: The Counselor.

It was night time and Jeffery had waited till midnight, the coast was clear, and it was time. Jeffery climbed the fire escape ladder of the condo with the grace of a street cat; his slow steps made virtually no noise as he reached Mr. Chase’s window. He looked to scan the room inside, he wasn’t in his bedroom, which was perfect, even better when Jeffery nudged the window and saw that it was open.

“Happy Birthday to me.” His dark passenger agrees, and Jeffery quietly steps through the window and into the lair of the predator, his heart beating with excitement as Jeffery pulls out the syringe from his duffle bag, a dark look on his face.

Jeffery sets down his bag and opens it to pull out tape and a picture. It was Jenny Filmore and Jeffrey who taped the picture to the bedroom door. Then he sneaked out of Mr. Chase’s bedroom, the house was empty and the lights were off all except for one room: The Bathroom. The dear counselor was taking a shower, judging from the noises emitting from there. Jeffery only waited with bated breath as he heard the shower being turned off. 

The water splashing and splattering in the bathtub, Mr. Chase wiped himself with a towel until he was sure he was dry. He wrapped a towel around his waist and left the bathroom, turning off the lights and closing the door. He didn’t notice the uninvited stranger sneaking behind him from a distance.

Mr. Chase froze at what he’d seen, Jenny Filmore’s happy face staring right at him, and all he could do was stare at her unmoving face. He tried to step back, but stopped as Jeffery had shown up out of nowhere and injected the M99 into his throat. 

He tried to look at Jeffery, but his world went black as he crashed to the floor.

— — —

Mr. Chase slowly woke up, groggily. His throat felt dry, and he wanted to move, but realized something…the counselor felt like he was covered in something weird? It felt like some kind of plastic he was lying on. He looked around, breathing erratically. He was in his bedroom, but it was all covered in all sorts of plastic wraps held by perfectly placed duct tape, as if no sort of mess would spill through. Mr. Chase could at least move his neck a bit, and saw that he was laying on his bed which was also covered in plastic, naked as the day he was born, tied down by what seems to be a mixture of plastic and rope on his arms, body and feet preventing any form of movement.

He tried to struggle out of it, hoping it would break, but he stopped after hearing a sound of sorts, clacking as if someone was typing on a computer. 

Mr. Chase craned his neck, to see where the source of the sound is and all he could see is his laptop opened and on, black gloved hands typing onto the keyboard revealing very vital information that did not need to be seen but the unseen intruder stopped as if he heard him awake and spoke up, a familiar nasally tone the counselor knows.

“Mr. Jordan Chase, welcome to the land of living!” the voice said sarcastically.

Mr. Chase rightly began to freak out.

“W-who the FUCK ARE YOU?! WHAT THE-” The gloved hand covered Mr. Chase’s mouth, and he couldn’t finish the rest of his sentence. He finally looked into the eyes of the perpetrator who did this to him, cold but familiar brown eyes, the black bowl cut, the glasses, it was…Jeffery Morgan? 

Jeffery, wearing some kind of long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants, placed one gloved finger in his mouth, indicating a shushing gesture.

“Shh.” Jeffery shushed, a small smile on his face. “Now I’m going to ask you questions and I want you to be honest, but first I have to do the usual thing.” 

The counselor didn’t say anything, as Jeffery got up and went over to unfurl a roll bag full of sharp silver blades, Mr. Chase sees this and begins to freak out.

“J-JEFFERY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING?! You are GOING TO BE IN BIG TROUBLE-” Jeffery once again clasped his mouth with a gloved hand, a scalpel in the other hand.

“If you're gonna keep screaming, I’m going to CUT your tongue off so I advise you SHUT UP.” gritted Jeffery, an unseen look of dark fury never seen on the jovial chummy nerd from school, Mr. Chase decided to comply but a look of nervousness mixed with fear was still present on his face.

Then Jeffery went around, scalpel in hand, Mr. Chase yelped in pain as Jeffery sliced his face, the blood spilled out as Jeffery could only lick his lips at the sight of the red plasma as he collected another sample for his slide of trophies.

“M-my blood, what are you gonna-” Jeffery then grabbed his lips again in a playful manner, a smile still gracing Jeffery’s features.

“I still have to ask my questions, don’t make me cut those lips of yours~” said Jeffery in a sing-song voice.

Mr. Chase only stayed silent, his only option really. Jeffery then walked over to the nearby plastic-wrapped desk and picked up the laptop.

“So tell me, why is it that a high school counselor is associating himself online not only with other fellow pedophiles but MS-13?” Jeffery questioned, an incredulous look on his face as if he couldn’t believe such an idea of a school counselor intermingling with a local Hispanic gang sounded almost laughable.

Mr. Chase couldn’t say anything; the jig was up, but he didn’t want to say anything and could only look at Jeffery.

“Nothing, huh? As funny as that idea is, I’ll deal with that on my own later. You and I have much to discuss,” said Jeffery, as he pulled out the printed photo of Filmore and pointed a gloved hand to her smiling face.

“J-Jeffery, I can explain.”

“Explain that you had a hand in Filmore's death?”

“T-there was a perfectly good reason why it happened, okay?” Mr. Chase began his explanation.

“Lynn wanted to keep her job, Colby strangled her to death and helped stage it as a suicide because Kylar couldn’t keep it in his pants, and they bribed him with pills, yeah yeah I’m aware, but why you?” Jeffery had to ask. Mr. Chase’s eyes darted around, and he stammered.

“W-well, she came onto me!” 

“A teenage freshman came on to you?” questioned Jeffery, his face showing he doesn’t believe him.

“Y-yes, I-she wanted me, but it’s perfectly reasonable, okay? A relationship between an adult and a teenager isn’t so bad, in a long way to go for sexual identity and acceptance in the society we live in,” the counselor explained.

Jeffery only looked at him, a blank stare was all Jeffery could muster at Mr. Chase, who still began his diatribe on age gap relationships.

“These petty qualities from the societal environment, it's a silly notion to be shamed for trying to date someone a bit young? I-isn’t that silly? Letting legality control love?”

“There is no way he is giving me the society speech,” Jeffery grimaced  to himself.

“The state law says you can’t marry another girl, yes? But does it mean it’s wrong to love her? I loved Jenny!” explained Mr. Chase, his counseling skills being put to the test, hoping it could convince Jeffery well enough to possibly let him go.

But Jeffery, on the other hand, had a much different opinion on the matter.

“So, when we talked today and Nicole walked by with Jessica, you loved checking out both of them in such a way, huh? Filmore wasn’t enough for your love?”

“W-well, society also created laws, but laws didn’t create laws too, why should it be illegal to like another girl while being married to one? It’s not wrong to love them all, it’s like gender, age is another thing on your driver’s license!” explained Mr. Chase, breathing heavily as he stared at Jeffery.

Jeffery only stared at him, his face blank, but it turned to pity as Jeffery turned around to pick up an apron and began to tie it around his waist. He also picked up surgical gloves and began to put them on. Mr. Chase realized what was going to happen to him.

“W-wait wait, Jeffery please, you have to understand, the legality of it all is all such bullshit! Filmore, she was young, so young and supple, I just-I couldn’t let Colby get to her before me so-” Mr. Chase was gagged with a tissue to his mouth, and Jeffery turned around to finish preparing for the final stages of his ritual.

“I’ve heard the same thing from White, the same thing from Kylar, and Coach Colby. It’s all so stupid, you know, from my previous victims, I’ve always heard the same thing, it always consisted either of confessions which sounded like cheap manifestos or just admitting what they did and how they relish in it, enjoying hurting innocent people for personal gain or some weird purpose. It’s what criminals do, it’s how they THINK, and why I know these things, but you? So many excuses make me sick. It's why people like you make me sick.” Jeffery said as he picked up a knife, which made the counselor only squirm and cry through his gagged mouth, trying to plead to Jeffery.

“Doakes at least wears her darkness on her skin. At least she embraces what she is, but you? You're just pathetic, hiding behind excuses after what you and Lynn did to Jenny. I only hope that when I get to Lynn, she doesn’t try to give me some dumb excuse for her actions.” Jeffery said, scoffing at Mr. Chase as he walked around in front of his head, the knife raised and positioned. 

Mr. Chase could only cry.

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, at least Colby or White will keep you company, say hi to Kylar for me,” said Jeffery.

Then Jeffery drove the knife down to his chest.

SPLURCH

 Mr. Chase gasped out in pain as the blood spurted out from the force of the stab. Jeffery then stabbed again, usually something he doesn’t do, but after the day he had, he felt as if he was relieving some stress pent up inside of him.

“Talk about blue balls, huh?” Jeffery felt satisfied, his dark passenger growled with victory, and Jeffery almost felt as if he had no problems in the world. It was euphoric for him, no problems for Jeffery Morgan, no more worried older sister, no more Virginia Mutilator, and no more Nicole Doakes hassling him. 

It was all perfect. 

Jeffery went over to his duffle bag and pulled out the reciprocating saw, placing the clear hard plastic mask on his head, he looked over to the Counselor’s unmoving corpse, fresh for clean dismemberment. 

Jeffery sniffed.

“Hey, you said it yourself, your office’s always open for a talk.”

The butcher went to work, as he stood over and began his process of separating the Counselor from limb to limb.

Dumping the last trash bag into the river, Jeffery sighed in relief. It was only one person left in his dark murder plot against the faculty, and then he could focus on the Virginia Mutilator. 

Jeffery looked up at the moon, it was just there floating in space, shining its glorious light all over the lakes of Lake Braddock, which left Jeffery to ponder.

“Hmm, I wonder if Karen is looking at the same moon at this same moment. I like that, connected by light.” Then, Jeffrey’s phone buzzed from his cargo pockets and he reached in to take it out, wondering who was calling him at this time of night.

💘karen 💘

Oh, it's the missus, but she usually isn’t this up late in the night.

Jeffery pressed the answer button.

“H-hey Karen, it's a bit late, isn’t it?” answered Jeffery.

Jeffery heard Karen sniffling through the mic. Was she crying? Uh oh, this doesn’t sound good.

“Karen, baby girl, what's wrong?” asked Jeffery, concern shown in his voice.

“N-nothing sniff, ” Karen responded.

“O-okay? Can you tell me what you are doing? What’s wrong?” Jeffery asked.

“*Sniff* Nothing’s wrong, I’m just in my room, watching a show called CHEATERS,” she exclaimed over the phone.

…

Uh Oh.

This was not good.

Uh Oh, UH OH.

Karen could still be heard sobbing over the phone, hiccuping her words, and Jeffery didn’t know what to do.

“Karen, are you? Are you implying something? I didn’t-”

“I saw the p-photos! Emily?! F-Fucking Emily McKay?! That slutty stoner?! What does she have that I don’t?”

Photos? What? Oh god, Emily wasn’t alone. Nicole is a lot smarter than he realized; she must’ve either taken photos when Emily was touching him, or Jecka took the photos, knowing the fact that she had a good grade in photography and her inhuman skill in taking good-looking selfies for Myspace.

“Karen, listen, she was the one touching me inappropriately, and you know someone like Emily wouldn’t touch me like that, she hates me!” explained Jeffery as best as he could.

“That's not what they said!”

“Who’s they?” 

“I-it doesn’t matter! I heard you told them there were four hundred and ninety three pokemon as well, you told me that same number before!” oh god dammit Jeffery…

“Karen, please, don’t listen to them, you can’t honestly believe I would try to cheat on you?” said Jeffery.

“I-I don't need a minute!” The phone line went dead, and Jeffery could only look stupefied at what had just happened. 

“I’ll give Doakes credit for this; my social standing at Lake Braddock wasn’t impressive, but being labeled as a cheater isn’t something I need right now. But Nicole, you made a grave mistake trying to tangle with me, two can play at that game…”

Jeffery plots the night away as he speeds his way back to port, revenge in his mind against Doakes and her lackeys. 

All while the dark passenger hisses for payback.

Chapter Text

Well, the rest of the week was about as “eventful” as it could get for Jeffery.

Karen wasn’t talking to him; that was the most obvious one, and no matter how many texts Jeffery had tried sending to her, she didn’t respond to him. It didn’t help that Karen’s other friends gave him death stares that, if it could work, could kill him right there on the spot.

As for the school’s reaction to his sudden rocky relationship, the male gender had practically praised him and the very ground he walked on. The students who wouldn’t usually talk to him unless they needed something had begun asking him questions on how he “bagged” Emily McKay, even though she's very mentally ill. She would rather stab both his eyes out with an eyeliner pencil she keeps inside her back pocket.

“Oh, and don’t even get me started on Miss Doakes,” thought Jeffery.

Doakes was eating this up; she treated this as a major victory over him, the school’s creep, who deserved it for being a creepy little nerd with simple habits and interests such as a healthy obsession with blood and murdering criminals. 

Speaking of Nicole and her merry band of female fatales, way ahead of Jeffery, she was by the women's bathroom with Quinn and McKay. They spotted him stewing in his dark thoughts and began to snigger at him. 

Well, mostly just Jecka and Emily laughing at his situation, while Doakes did chuckle at him; she was still very cautious of him, and for good reason. Jeffery had plotted something very dastardly for his school rival, a little bit of something that also involves the Principal, and in a way, he could kill two birds with one stone.

Oh, speaking of the Principal, here she is in all of her beauty and glory. Lila Lynn was the definition of smoking hot in a corporate CEO lady boss kind of way, her black suit clung to her frame, which didn’t hide her figure, which she showed off authoritatively. Her beautiful face was twisted with a myriad of emotions, and Jeffery could assume his work with the faculty involved in her little conspiracy of Filmore’s murder could be at great risk after their unfortunate “disappearances.”

Jeffery thought about his plans; it’s time he should get close to the principal and break down her social walls, and when the moment is right, it will be the night he strikes.

Thursday, 2:15 PM

Lila could only sigh with frustration, her beautiful face wrinkling with confusion and anger over everything that had been spiraling throughout the past few months. 

It all started when Mr. White had disappeared back in September, but honestly she could give less of a shit about him considering the blackmail material he had on her. Sure, she played her role of being the concerned boss looking out for her employee, but it felt like a miracle from God when news of his “sudden vacation” hit her desk. 

But that's when she realized that things wouldn’t go as smoothly as she thought. Kylar disappeared when he was working out in the gym, and the last person that was seen around the gym after school was Jeffery Morgan…if an anomaly was a person, it would be him. Before Colby disappeared, he did last talk to Jeffery after Kylar disappeared too…strange, and even when Mr. Chase talked to Jeffery about how he’s feeling in front of Kelly’s memorial, he just up and disappeared too….

Was Jeffery Morgan, someone who doesn’t get into too much trouble and prefers not to be in any drama besides his usual spats with Nicole, why is HE connected to all of this then? Lila took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. It felt too hair-brained to think Jeffery had something to do with all of this; she would’ve gone with the easy route and thought he was the Virginia Mutilator, but that would be too much either.

But what if, if only what if? 

Maybe there's more to Jeffery than he lets on.

politely looking at Lila

Then her office phone rang

“Miss Lynn, Jeffery Morgan wants to see you,” said her assistant.

Speak of the devil.

“Uh, of course, let-let him in,” said Lynn, putting on her glasses, making herself look more presentable.

Jeffery Morgan walks in, in all his awkward but polite glory. This time, he was wearing a black shirt with a squirrel logo, with the text saying “PROTECT UR NUTZ”, dark blue jeans, and sneakers. He left his roller backpack by the door and walked over a bit before stopping. His hands were clasped together while he politely looked at Lila.

“What can I do for you, Jeffery?” Lynn asked, her grey eyes analyzing every little bit of detail about Jeffery.

“Well, I’ve been having some uh issues with some people here,” he trailed off.

“What are these issues, Jeffery?” she asked again, wondering what could have bothered Jeffery Morgan into coming here today.

“It's uh, well Nicole and the others are messing with me,” explained Jeffery, though this wasn’t a surprise to Lynn he was an unpopular kid with bizarre habits but the way Nicole was persistently going after him first is still a cause for suspicion, almost as if Jeffery murdered someone and he's the prime suspect in Nicole’s eye. 

But an idea formed quickly in the Principal's mind, if her newfound suspicions of Jeffery possibly being connected to the teacher’s disappearances, then she can use this to her advantage.

Well, since Nicole was one of Jeffery’s usual tormentors, often harassing him for the littlest of things, maybe she knows something about him since Jeffery often rubs her the wrong way. Lynn could only mentally smirk to herself, after she's done with Jeffery, maybe she can bring Nicole in and ask her a couple of questions when this is all done.

So Lynn got up, straightening her pencil skirt, and walked around her desk, hands on her hips. It was her signature play, a power move to show her figurative strength as the Principal of Lake Braddock Secondary School.

“Define messing with you,” Lynn asked.

“She’s been following me, and whenever she corners me with her friends, they touch me, I think she set Emily after me and kinda caused some friction between me and Karen, and she thinks I’m the mutilator.”

Lynn didn’t show it on her blank stare, but on the inside, she was trying to turn the cogs inside her mind to try and think over what Morgan had just said. Nicole thinks Jeffery Morgan is behind, or at least connected to, the recent murders. Guess she wasn’t too far off, like her, but she stopped her train of thought when Jeffery spoke up again.

“So yeah, um, I guess she’s just giving me more of a hard time, and I want it to stop, she even went through my locker too!” claimed Jeffery.

“Oh, really now? I’ll be giving her a stern talking to, but I do want to talk to you if you don’t mind?” said Lynn, her eyes piercing into Jeffery’s brown eyes, who looked a little bit thrown off by this, which affirmed her suspicion meter even more.

“Jeffery, I did want to know how you are feeling? I may not look like it, but I do have a minor in psychology, and wondered if you wanted to tell me how you are feeling these days? You must be feeling a lot of emotions after what you saw back in September?” 

Ah, yes, how could Lynn forget about the chopped-off leg found by Jeffery in the gymnasium? More rumors circulated that Jeffery did something to his leg, which wasn’t helping his case, unfortunately, and even raised further suspicion of his character. But Lynn didn’t like not knowing things, she hated being in the dark on “certain things” she wasn’t aware of. Would it be really “obsessive” on her part? Yes, but with Jeffery on her radar, well, she just needed some answers.

Jeffery looked as if he was thinking over what she had said, for a brief moment, she saw a flash of something in his eyes. Lynn didn’t miss it, she saw it right there, a slip-up. Lynn could tell that Jeffery wasn’t prepared to be questioned during his complaint to her; Lynn needed more of it; she needed to see what Jeffery was hiding from her.

Lynn does have some tidbits of information about Jeffery in general; born on February 22nd, 1991, though his biological father was never known, and his mother passed away apparently, Jeffery was adopted by Detective Harry Morgan, who once gave an outstanding speech at this school during a school rally about crime. Though both Harry and Doris Morgan passed away, his older sister Deborah had taken custody and looked after him ever since. His social status here was not that good, unfortunately, despite having a girlfriend, but even that was getting rocky for Jeffery.

So Jeffery spoke.

“It’s been the same for me, but I don't know how to articulate it,” explained Jeffery.

“Articulate what?” Lynn said.

“Well, I haven’t told Deb this, but sometimes I have these dreams .”

“Dreams about what?” 

Jeffery stayed silent. He looked as if he was contemplating what he wanted to say, but Lynn needed more, and she knew how to get someone like Jeffery, someone so socially deprived, to get him to confess.

So she strived towards him, placing her hand on his right shoulder. Jeffery didn’t look at her in the face when she touched him, no, he darted his eyes to the hand on his shoulder, head slightly turned, but his eyes were trained right onto Lynn’s hand. Lynn didn’t know, but if Jeffery could express how he’s feeling, he would say he was “disgusted” by this level of physical contact.

But that didn’t stop Lynn, she was determined to know more of Jeffery, to see the demons he’s hiding in his closet, so she spoke again.

“Jeffery, you know you can tell me anything, right? I may be your principal, but the pal in principal means you can trust me, you know. Tell me, what is bothering you, sweety?” Lynn said, using a motherly tone knowing it could strike a chord in Jeffery’s lack of motherly love, all while keeping a warm smile on her face and her hand still on his shoulder.

Jeffery looked at her, his face unmoving, but his eyes told a different story. 

“Well, I think I’ve been having dreams ever since I saw that leg. It was either something random or…like remembering things I’ve blocked out in my life, it's what Harry said when he found me, I couldn’t remember anything when I was three,” explained Jeffery.

“When did Harry find you? What happened?” asked Lynn, curiosity burning inside of her.

Jeffery shrugged.

“That's the thing, I don’t know, but all he did tell me it was related to my mother’s death, but I blocked it all out,” said Jeffery, his face conflicted about a past he won't ever recall.

“What about your sister? Surely she could tell you?” suggested Lynn.

Jeffery shrugged.

“Even she doesn’t want to tell me, so I simply dropped it. I sorta tried to think hard about it, trying to remember anything, but I guess my mind is still blocking it all out…” 

Lynn nodded at this, arms crossed, pretending to care for Jeffery’s woes, secretly she was plotting every little detail inside her head.

“He certainly may look like he doesn’t fit the profile, but his eyes tell a different story, it’s the common saying; The Eyes are the Window to the Soul, and Jeffery is starting to show me his soul.” Lynn thinks to herself, but curiosity still burns in her mind, so she has to dig her fingers in a bit more.

“Well, it’s unfortunate that you never knew anything about it, but it’s obvious that the Morgans loved you enough to take you in and raise you? What was it like spending time with your father, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lynn asked again.

Jeffery stopped to think for a minute.

2007

Harry wore a wife-beater and shorts, he headed towards the fridge with a drink in mind to quench his thirst. The Morgan household was dark, no light turned on, as the shadows covered every aspect of the home, and a mysterious figure stalked through the darkness, his eyes targeting Harry, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge.

Harry began to open up the bottle of water, then the figure lunged out of the shadows, belt in hand, he wrapped it around Harry’s neck. Harry thrashed violently, trying to fend off the belt, his hands trying to wrangle the leather accessory off his neck, but it was no use.  

“S-stop enough!” exclaimed Harry.

Harry tapped at the stranger’s arm to and the stranger released the belt from his neck. 

*COUGH*, ugh Good job Jeff” said Harry, the stranger now revealed to be a 15-year-old Jeffery Morgan, took off his balaclava mask. A large grin graced his features.

“Are you alright?” asked Jeffery, concerned, sure, but a look of excitement was drawn all over his face.

Harry regained his breath, nodding at his son.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said. “Nice ambush. That was the perfect point of attack.”

Jeffery beamed with happiness.

“I can’t believe I finally got you, heh, I won!” said Jeffery.

Harry looked at him, his face suddenly serious.

“This isn’t a game, Jeffery.” 

“N-no, I know, but like-”

“You think I want to teach you these things? This is the only way I know how to keep you out of an electric chair!”  scolded Harry, his tone harsh as it affected Jeffery, who flinched a little.

“This is about survival, Jeff, Nothing else, got it?” said Harry.

Jeffery swallowed a lump in his throat, nodding at what his father had said.

Jeffery looked off in the distance, he didn’t pay attention to anything until Lynn had to snap her fingers to get Jeffery’s attention.

“-fery!Jeffery!”

Jeffery came back to reality, looking at his principal with widened eyes.

“Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?”

“No, I'm fine. I’m sorry, what was the question?” Jeffery asked, Lynn’s eyes still calculating every movement of his body language.

“I asked what it was like spending time with your father?”

“Oh well, we often did everything we could do, we went hunting, fishing, working out, shooting, camping. I liked to hunt the most, just my Dad and I, out there together. I mean, there was Mom and Deb, but Harry often does spend time with me more…” finished Jeffery, Lynn nodding the entire time.

“I see, well, we will have to talk about this another time. Just so you know, Jeffery, Miss Doakes and her little consorts will have a stern talking to, so don’t worry, okay?” finished Lynn with her usual warm smile.  

“...Okay, thank you, Principal Lynn. Have a good day,” said Jeffery.

“To you as well.” 

Jeffery nodded, he turned heel with his roller bag and left.

Lynn went over to the PA speaker, intending to begin phase one of her plans.

“Yeah she suspects me, crap…” Jeffery thinks as paranoia slowly creeps into his mind, but he pushes it all down with his dark friend on the inside.

“Any average student here would’ve been moved by her warm and inviting words, but she wanted to know more, I could see it in her eyes. But I can’t slip up, she could be far more dangerous than the others, there’s the Mutilator too, but who should be prioritized first-” Jeffery’s thoughts were interrupted when the PA speaker spoke up.

“Will Nicole Doakes, please come to the Principal’s Office? Nicole Doakes, to the Principal's Office.”

Oh, look at that, a moment of reprieve.

Unfortunately, Jeffery couldn’t celebrate his small victory when Jecka had spotted him, a glare quickly forming on her face as she stomped over to Jeffery.

“So, you like fucking snitching now?” she said, arms crossed as she burned holes into Jeffery’s eyes.

“ Sigh, don’t you think we’re getting too old for this now?” said Jeffery.

“Don’t you think your getting too old to act like a fucking weirdo?” snarked Jecka, but at this point Jeffery was getting far too tired of being hassled by the people here at this school. He simply refused to fall for Jecka’s bait, so the only thing he could do was leave, but not before he could get the last word in.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you and your girlfriend waiting, so see ya and tell her I said hi,” Jeffery said as he speed-walked out of there. Jecka sputtered a bit before she angrily flipped Jeffery off behind his back and stormed off to the principal’s office.

That aside, Jeffery had plans. Mr. Chase’s laptop was carefully stashed away in his roller bag, and our resident night butcher was going to see how many skeletons the dear counselor of the school kept hidden from the public eye. Jeffery left the school grounds as he did, avoiding anyone he knew with expert finesse from years of practice. Crispin tried to holler at Jeffery, but Jeffery did not have time to deal with his antics as Jeffery took a shortcut across the school’s street and headed off somewhere more private for his needs.

INTERNET CAFE

In the corner of the lively little cafe, Jeffery had to make sure no one he knew was around here. No sign of Doakes in her car patrolling the streets to find him in the act, and none of his classmates to conveniently run into, so that just left Jeffery to be alone and do whatever he wanted, just as he liked.

Mr. Chase’s laptop was something alright, besides the disgusting material he had to get through, he found several chat rooms locked behind a password. This was nothing for Jeffery; computer science was his secondary specialty, and he was able to hack through and find some rather interesting messages. The most active user, Mr. Chase, was talking to someone named “gamerbrozero9.”   He was supplying the counselor with unsolicited images that Jeffery wouldn’t want to repeat. Though chat rooms can provide anonymity, it doesn’t deter Jeffery from finding their location through the IP, real unreliable in any case. 

It seems that the mysterious benefactor, that is “gamerbrozero09,” not only supplies Mr. Chase with unsolicited images of teenage girls but also works with someone from MS-13. This still bothers Jeffery. Why would a known Hispanic street gang like MS-13 want to do with selling unsolicited pictures of minors? Well, Jeffery can chalk it up to possible human trafficking, but to whom? Jeffery could only chalk it up to the girls at Lake Braddock Secondary School if the pictures of certain classmates, like Ari and Megan, are any indicator. 

“Don’t worry, ladies, I, the dark defender of Virginia, will save you all. Starting with mister gamer bro here-” Jeffery’s thoughts were interrupted when a notification from the laptop popped up, the sound of it singing loudly in front of him.

“What the?” said Jeffery, it was from Craigslist of all things, and the user who sent it was named “iceyken”. 

Jeffery looked to see the message and froze.

“Hi Jeff, it’s me.”

What the.

Jeffery looked around him, no, no way, but it couldn't be…

Another message popped up.

“It’s me alright.”

“Don't bother looking around or tracing it back to me. You won’t find me.”

Jeffery stopped to look at the Craigslist message, his mind racing with a million questions. It couldn’t be, no way it's-

“Yes, it’s The Virginia Mutilator, god that name sounds so fucking gaudy. I hate that name, but it's funny that you never got a name either, despite all you've done here. The teachers and that one guy were not your first right?” the message asked.

Jeffery could only sit there in silence, his mind stewing.

“Should I?” Jeffery thinks to himself.

“I think you should start talking to me, I’ve been waiting so long to meet you.”

Wow, a serial killer that can read minds. That's a first.

Jeffery took a deep breath, his fingers hovered over the keys of the counselor’s laptop. Then he typed quickly.

“How long have you known?” 

iceyken is typing…

“Know about what?”

“About me.”

iceyken is typing…

“More than you know.”

Jeffery sighs in frustration.

“You know whatever you're doing isn’t going to last, right?”

iceyken is typing…

“We both know we can’t help it, right? And please don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Jeffery didn’t type anything out, is he talking about?

“Your little shadow, you know?”

Oh boy.

“It’s like a little friend, I know it because I can see it too, yours and mine. It's a small but grating presence, it hides in your shadow and stays with you at all times, a kind of thing? Yeah, don’t worry, I got one and it’s a moody little thing.” 

Jeffery doesn’t know if he should feel mortified or maybe, dare he say: Impressed. This does help clear up a lot of things on why the killer is rather fixated on him.

“So you have one too? Implying that others have it?”

iceyken is typing…

“Not everyone, it only ever manifests due to extreme trauma, which I’m sure you still don’t remember, right? Do you still remember anything at all?” 

Jeffery stood still for a minute.

“No.”

iceyken is typing…

“Well, that’s unfortunate, but some day, when you stop giving me the cold shoulder, we’ll share a cold one.”

Jeffery immediately typed back.

“Not a good idea, if you think you know me so well, then you know when I find you, you’ll be on a table and left in pieces, you’ll be forgotten like a bad habit.” 

iceyken is typing…

“All that anger, tell me this, going after criminals the way you do, do you honestly feel like you're the hero here?” 

Jeffery rolled his eyes and typed again.

“Don’t give me that excuse, I heard it so many times. Don’t think I forgot what you did to her.”

iceyken is typing…

“Kelly was it? Right, well, how else was I going to get your attention when you're too focused on pedophilic staff members? If it makes you feel any better, I consider her to be important in the grand scheme of things lol.”

Jeffery typed back.

“Kelly was not yours to kill.”

iceyken is typing…

“What are you gonna do? We’re kindred spirits if you think about it.”

Rolling his eyes, Jeffery typed again.

“Methods, yes. Motivation far from it.”

iceyken is typing…

“You’ll see soon enough. We will meet someday, you will understand everything, I’m not an animal like your last victims. Hell, you’ll even thank me.” 

Jeffery didn’t type anything, but iceyken is still typing.

“I’ll be going now, you’ll see my next little piece of the puzzle soon. I do hope you still have the parts, they are important btw. Before I go, I would tell you to keep an eye on those MS-13; someone you know at school is connected to them. Hope to catch you around Butcher ;).” 

iceyken LOGGED OUT.

It seems iceyken’s account went offline, then completely blank as Jeffery tried to refresh it, no matter how many times. Jeffery sighs in frustration, but he logs out of Craigslist and pulls out something vital to his mission: a USB drive.

Downloading the proof he needed, the chat rooms logs, the pictures, everything he needed. The IP address is important, as Jeffery began tracing it, it didn’t take long until Jeffery got an address linked to gamerbrozero9.

The laptop chimed. 

An address, finally.

Jeffery peered into it as he looked at the screen, he pulled out his notepad from his bag as he wrote down his next target’s location.

94-18 Burke, Virginia.

Hope you don’t mind gamerbrozero9, it’s time to finally meet face to face.

Chapter Text

The address 94-18 in Burke, Virginia, led to a nice two-story house. It was beige and white with greyish roof tiles, the sky was a crisp blue with very few clouds, and Jeffery Morgan blended in the bushes with practiced ease. He was lying down as his gloved hands tenderly touched the well-trimmed grass. As Jeffery waited with bated breath, he was wondering what kind of person “gamerbrozero9” is.

“I haven’t seen any much information about this guy, the address was the only thing I wanted to get and I could’ve gotten more if the fucking mutilator didn’t start messaging me about our mutual hobbies.” 

And now, Jeffery waits with the patience of the predator, his eyes unblinking. Jeffery could hear some noises from the house, muffled, it may be, but he could hear. The Dark Passenger growls with intent, growing impatient. Mr. Chase’s blood wasn’t enough to satisfy its thirst. 

But Jeffery was still thinking to himself, he doesn’t know anything about this guy here, he could be anything, and Jeffery is rather “unprepared” to deal with what he could be facing here. Criminals are often a dime a dozen, but some of them are criminals for a reason, and Jeffery has his fair share of dealing with them. Some of them he encountered were skilled in different ways, and combat-wise, they sometimes gave Jeffery a run for his money. 

Sure, Jeffery was skilled in what he did, but even he had his limits. Gamerbrozero9 could be a cop, ex-military, black ops, hell, anything, and Jeffery has to rely on ambushing them to get one up over them. Still, he steeled his nerves with deep meditative breaths, something that Harry tried teaching both him and Deb, a fat load of good that did for his sailor-mouthed sister, but still a fond memory for Jeffery, as Harry never focused much on Deborah, you know, his biological daughter. 

“Sure, I was a special case and Harry had to divert his attention for me, still, it’s his actual daughter, and while I’m happy that she never held it against me, I still don’t feel it’s right to distance yourself for me.” Jeffery sadly thought.

Then he heard the front door open, Jeffery escaped from his thoughts to observe the person leaving the house. She was a pretty-looking woman with striking green eyes and dyed blonde hair, judging from the dark roots Jeffery could see. She also wore a white button-up shirt, jeans, and flats, and moved with a purpose that Jeffery quite couldn’t put his finger on. She slammed the door behind her, got in her car, and drove off. 

Judging from how she moved and her age, Jeffery could only assume she could be gamerbrozero9’s girlfriend or maybe even his wife. Such a shame that a healthy relationship is going to be in shambles once Jeffery slices her hubby into carefully separate pieces. 

Time to move.

Jeffery slinked out of the bushes, despite the broad daylight exposing Jeffery in the open and not the dark, shadowy nights he’s so used to, Jeffery still does what he can do best: sneaking around.

Thankfully, there were no cameras, but Jeffery still made sure his steps were light and careful, not a single sound, and carefully avoiding the dirt so no footprints could be traced back to him. The sliding door was right there, and Jeffery could see the entire living room. His gloved hand went for the handle and slightly jiggled it.

It wasn’t locked….Bingo.

Jeffery opened the sliding door slightly and made sure he could squeeze right through with his duffle bag before closing it, not too much noise, and hopefully just him and the mysterious “gamerbrozero9.” 

Stuffing the bag carefully behind one of the sofas in the living room,  he pulled out the syringe filled with M99. Good, everything is perfect to his liking.

“ Today’s the Day, apparently,” chuckled Jeffery. It didn’t hold the same kind of feeling when saying tonight’s the night, just didn’t hit the same, but hey, you use what you got.

Jeffery explored every crevice of the house, first the master bedroom, which was probably gamerbrozero9's, and the mistress who left, one guest room, and lastly one room that Jeffery deduced belonged to a girl his age, judging from the posters and women's underwear. There was, strangely, some article of clothing that looked familiar to him, and Jeffery could only think of one person he knew that would wear such a style, but it can’t possibly be, too much of a coincidence for it to be true.

The basement was the last place he hadn’t touched yet, but it could be perfect for a Kill Room. Before Jeffery could open the door, the sounds of the front door could be heard; the keys jiggling was enough for Jeffery to sprint over and slide behind the kitchen counter as the door opened. 

“Guess your mom isn’t home, good for us,” laughed out an all too familiar voice Jeffery was familiar with. No…no way…

“Probably off to remarry, divorce, then we gotta move, again for the fiftieth fucking time.” a dark, sarcastic tone that Jeffery is all too familiar with.

Jeffery silently groaned to himself, out of all the fucking houses, it just had to be Nicole Doakes and her ambiguously “best friend”, Jessica Quinn, or Jecka for short. Great, this was just great, it's like some cruel God was out there making him have these forced encounters with girls that despised his very existence, but it would explain a lot of things for sure. 

Judging from what Jeffery has gathered, gamerbrozero9 is Doakes' dad, and she is either unaware or knows her dad is a sex criminal helping sell unsolicited pictures of minors with MS-13. It does explain why she has her whole “Nicolism” schtick going on, she’s got a sex pest dad, and well, Jeffrey wouldn't want to jump to any more conclusions, so Jeffrey snuck a look to see what Nicole and Jecka are doing.

“Is there anything to watch here?” asked Jecka, remote in hand as she flipped through the channels.

“Um, well, my mom paid only for the basic cable,” responded Nicole, her face sheepish as Jecka stared at her.

“Are you kidding me? Is there anything good to watch?” questioned Jecka, her face riddled with disbelief.

Nicole was silent for a moment.

“...We-we could watch Mythbusters.” 

“This sounds like a really bad date.” 

Nicole shrugged. “At least we’re not in school.”

“That’s a horrible comeback for that. What are you gonna do when you’re twenty-five and working at Outback Steakhouse? ‘Well, at least we’re not in school,’ ranted Jecka, her tone ending mockingly as Nicole looked offended.

“I would never fucking work at Outback Steakhouse,” replied Nicole, but Jecka rolled her eyes at this.

“That doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck here, without gas money, and your mom pays for the basic cable package!” fired back Jecka, and Nicole could only stand there for a second.

“...So you don’t wanna watch Mythbusters?” Nicole asked, a bit of last hope seen in her tone.

“We’ve just left school to avoid men who go ‘this is true’-- Why the fuck would i watch a show about them?!” exclaimed Jecka.

As the girls continued their “intelligent discussion”, Jeffery only rubbed his forehead annoyingly; this situation was slowly slipping out of his grasp. It’s bad enough that he’s doing this in broad daylight but the dynamic duo here just had to show up and possibly ruin his fucking ritual and Jeffery Morgan does not play about his job here. 

Then he heard it, hell, he felt the vibrations of the large stomps vibrating from somewhere. Nicole felt it too, and she sighed hard, to which Jecka looked at her with concern.

“Nicole, what's wrong?” she asked, rubbing her “friend’s” arm lovingly.

“ He’s coming, that's what,” groaned Nicole, then the basement door opened and out came some kind of Jotun from Norse mythology. He was large, obese, wearing a black Xbox t-shirt and jeans, stained with god knows what, with brown, greasy locks hidden under a hat flipped backwards and white gamer headphones. 

He glared at Nicole as he stomped over, rage in his watery blue eyes.

“What the hell are you guys doing in here?!” he barked at them.

“Oh shit!” said Jecka.

“Oh fuck.” Nicole sighs, 

“Can’t you two see that I’m gaming hardcore downstairs?! I can’t concentrate with you two making all that fucking noise!” his face red, his mouth slobbering with saliva and his entire style reeks of gamer and Jeffery could only assume one thing…

It was him, The Man, The Myth, The Legend. 

gamerbrozero9.

“Ugh, have you ever tried gaming in the shower?” bit back Nicole, annoyance on her face.

The Gamer Brother squinted his eyes at his sister and Jecka. He looked as if he was trying to analyze their every movement. Jeffery thought he looked violently constipated.

“Don’t you two have school?” he inquired, but both girls rolled their eyes.

“Shouldn’t you move the fuck out? You're twenty seven but I guess that didn’t register either,” bit back Nicole, her eyes shining as her dark passenger slowly began to surround herself, a slow build-up of shadowy wisps began to fly off her body. Jecka and the Brother couldn’t see it, but Jeffery saw and felt it, and his little friend on the inside began to stir.

The Gamer Brother sputtered at this and tried to come back with an excuse.

“As if, like, I don't even know what you're talking about!” he replied.

“Sorry, I didn't know the basement was your video game office that you happen to sleep in 7 nights a week.”

Jecka faked looking impressed with what Nicole had said.

“Office sleep seven nights a week, workin’ hard,” Jecka said, putting her two cents in as usual.

“I don’t sleep there every night, okay? I got other places to be and shit!” 

“Since when are you so defensive about living in the basement? I thought you liked it?” Nicole inquired, so that she hoped her brother could spill more details and use them against him in this little spat they’re having.

“I’m not defensive- and I don’t even sleep there!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, I know why,” said Nicole, turning to Jecka

“What?!” said the Brother loudly.

“You’re trying to look cool cause there’s a girl here.” Nicole pointed out, slightly gesturing to the other occupant in the living room. 

“No!”

“Is it the cigarettes? They do make me look hot,” said Jecka, looking at herself in the nearby mirror.

While the three occupants of the house continued their tirade, the other uninvited occupant of this house, Jeffery, just rolled his eyes at this. He, a highly trained professional, was not going to sit here and hide behind this kitchen counter to hear all this useless bickering, especially if it had to come from his supposed nemesis and her loyal minion.

So, Jeffrey decided he needed to move out of this precarious situation; the counter seemed to have cabinet doors that looked wide enough to fit him in there if he wanted to. But the rather large kitchen window was more of his speed, so Jeffery prepped himself and tried to crawl around as best he could, but unfortunately, he wasn’t aware of bumping into the trash can behind him, causing it to fall over and spill the trash.

Uh oh.

UH OH.

Nicole whipped her head around quickly, the Gamer Brother and Jecka following suit, wondering what the hell that racket was. Jeffery freaked out internally; he needed to act fast. Nicole began to walk over to investigate. 

Doakes turned and looked at what seemed to be the the trash can and everything was spilled all over the floor, making Nicole suck her teeth angrily.

But she also noticed something else, the cabinet door of the kitchen counter was slightly open. Odd, so she walked over and kicked it close, and walked back over to the other two occupants of the home.

“A-aren’t you gonna clean that up?” asked the Brother, pointing his fingers at the mess.

Nicole looked at him and shrugged.

“Well, that’s not my fucking problem? You clean it, you're the man of the house.”

“Yeah, like clean it with your hands!” said Jecka.

“W-what? My hands aren’t made for that! They’re made for gaming, besides, you clean it up,” he said, pointing at it again.

But Nicole wasn’t in the mood, nor did she want to deal with her brother in general.

“Mmm, nope, Good luck though,” said Nicole, turning around to light up her cigarette. The brother looked as if he was going to have an aneurysm, judging from how red his face looked. But his face changed as if he had an idea.

So he pulled his phone out, found the contact for his mom, and showed it to both of the girls as if it were a weapon.

“I’m gonna tell mom that you're skipping class!” exclaimed the Brother, waving his phone around. Nicole only turned around with an annoyed look on her face.

“What are you, five?” said Nicole, already trying to keep her anger in check and not smack the shit out of her brother.

“So not the way to win me over,” sighed Jecka

“Either you clean it up, or I’m gonna give her a call!” 

Jecka looked at Nicole, the worry now setting into her eyes. She didn’t want to get in trouble and looked at her ‘best friend’, wondering if she could do something to get them out of this situation.

“Shh, come on, can’t you just go back to the basement and play with your toys?” said Nicole.

“Video games are not toys! You pushed me to do this, I’m calling mom!”

“Okay, wait, wait!” Nicole said, stopping her brother.

“Tch, this better be good..” he said, turning around, wondering what she had to say.

“Wh-what about lunch? I bet you could go for something right now?” suggested Nicole.

The Gamer Brother contemplated it for a second.

“I’m a little hungry, I guess…”

“How about a pizza? Just for you, we won’t take any slices.” 

“Yeah, you can’t miss lunch, you’re gonna be so hungry,” piped up Jecka.

“Aw, say it like that again, that’s hot!” the Brother said, his face turning mischievous while Jecka blanched at this.

“God dammit…” 

“Dude, we’ll look the other way on your minor fetish and get you a pizza, okay?” said Nicole, hoping to use his obesity against him.

Jecka raised an eyebrow.

“Does he have a major fetish?” asked Jecka.

“No, his major fetish is a minor fetish,” replied Nicole.

This only made Jecka more confused.

“So what's the major fetish?” she asked again.

“I told you, a minor fetish,” answered Nicole.

“I know it’s a minor fetish, what's the fetish for?” Jecka inquired again.

“Minors.” 

“Like guys that dig coal?” 

“Not those minors.” 

“So, shitty baseball players?” 

“What? No!”

“Then what’s the fetish?” asked Jecka, again.

“Um ... He's into girls under the age of 18,” said Nicole.

“Oh, that’s not good. Why are we getting him pizza?” said Jecka.

“Are you guys gonna get me my food?” Gamer Brother asked impatiently.

“Yeah, sure, we’ll pick it up somewhere. Let’s go.”

“Bet here, a twenty for the pizza, make it meat lovers!” he said before stumbling downstairs back to his Jotun cave.

Nicole and Jecka finally left, but Nicole did take one last longing look around the house as if she were trying to find something out of place. Jecka noticed this and went back to wrap her arm around Nicole's arm, which broke her out of her stupor. Both girls finally went out the front door and closed it. 

Complete utter silence was all that could be heard….

Jeffery opened the cabinet door, he slithered out of there like a snake and got up carefully, his heart still beating. He got caught, almost; he can’t make this mistake again, so Jeffery took a deep breath and slowly made his way to the basement.

DOAKES HOUSE BASEMENT

The Gamer Brother, in all of his size and glory, went back to his lair of dark and decrepitness, a basement layered in gaming posters and whatnot, a mattress in the corner with mysterious stains. His sausage fingers playing with the controller, he practiced mastery from years of gaming as he continued his campaign of virtual murder.

He was in a much better mood, paying for those pics from that other guy was so worth it. He knew Nicole was holding out on him; her friends were so hot, especially the blonde one who showed up today, her scent was so intoxicating it drove him mad. 

The things he could do to her could make anyone blush if he could describe them. 

It would be heavenly.

While he didn’t mind the blonde or the red-haired one he got, the dark-haired one with glasses was just perfect looking to him; she hit all his corners for what he wanted in a woman. Gamer could only hope that if his “special friends online” managed to get to her, he hoped they would save her for him; he would pay top dollar to see more of that!

But he got back to his game; he can fantasize about Nicole’s friends later. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the other unseen occupant in his basement who slowly stalked him from the shadows in his room, something shone in his gloved hand, a needle filled to the brim with something.

Gamer Brother then paused his game and went to reach for the soda on the desk, then he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

‘Ugh?!” he cried out, reaching for his neck. he tried to turn, but his body began to go limp, his vision turning black as he slipped off his office chair and crashed to the ground. He slowly looked up, his vision obscured as he did manage to get a glimpse of who did this to him.

Cold, those eyes shone beneath round glasses, almost as if a predator was staring at him with eyes that promised something really bad.

The gamer simply went to sleep, hoping that this was all a bad dream and maybe he would get that pizza soon.

Finishing the last layer of plastic and adding the duct tape, Jeffery wiped his brow from his forehead as he went over to the plastic-wrapped table and began to pull out the materials needed for his ritual.

Out of all the kill rooms he’s done, this particular one was a bit of a hassle because of how obese this one was. When he didn’t expect Nicole to have any siblings, he did have some high hopes that if she did, he would be a lot different than what he imagined, someone tough at least, but this? 

Jeffery was disappointed, to say the least.

Jeffery did turn to look at the captured sibling, he was naked underneath the layers of tight plastic and rope designed to hold the large beast that is Nicole’s gamer brother. He couldn’t move him to the bed, unfortunately, but the floor would manage just well enough.

Pulling out the printed photos of the various chat logs between him, the Counselor, and MS-13, the unsolicited pictures, it was almost time.

Then the brother snorted and began to wake up, regaining consciousness, he tried to open his eyes and rub them, only to realize that he couldn’t move.

“H-huh? Huh?!” he looked around frantically.

“Awake at last, good evening, Jamie,” said a nasally voice, mocking him from the shadows.

Jamie tried to find the source of the voice, then he was greeted by the singular hanging lightbulb turning on, the light flashing, and he could see that his whole room was covered in plastic and duct tape. 

“What the fuck…What the fuck?!” he exclaimed.

Then Jaime finally saw him, the voice of the person came around, staring at him with an emotionless stare, which felt as if it was staring directly into Jaime’s soul.

“You and your friends have been a bit naughty online,” said the perpetrator. Jaime could finally get a good look at this stranger. He was sorta tall and pale, not big, but that Hensley shirt clung to his athletic physique, tucked into dark cargo pants and brown boots, his hair dark yet cut into a weird middle part/bowl cut. 

His glasses shone under the light bulb as he began fiddling with some kind of roll bag. Jaime’s face then turned pale as he saw the number of sharp, gleaming knives shining with malicious intent.

“H-hey, what the fuck are you gonna do with that?”

The stranger turned to look at him with an impassive face.

“Well, I’m going to kill you,” he said it so casually, that just sounded so wrong coming from this guy. The way he said, was disturbing, as if he treated it like a chore to do. Then, Jaime’s heart began to beat faster as he turned around to pull out a scalpel of sorts.

“But first, let me get what’s mine first.” he purred, Jaime gasped out in pain as this sick fuck sliced his cheek.

Jaime couldn’t handle it, and he began to scream.

“H-HELP! HELP ME! HELLL-” A gloved hand covered his large mouth immediately. The Stranger glared deep into his eyes, a fierce darkness shone in those brown eyes of his that made Jaime stay quiet.

“I advise you to stay quiet, I’m not gonna torture you or anything, but I will cut your lips out if you don’t listen to me. Do you want me to cut those lips of yours?” warned the Stranger, the scalpel aimed at his throat.

Jaime had no choice, so for once in his life, he listened and nodded at the Stranger. The Stranger lifted his hand and went back to whatever he was doing. Jaime stayed quiet, but his shallow, harsh breathing could be heard. 

The Stranger could be seen fiddling with some sort of slide box, dripping his blood into it before closing it. He watched the slide with a look of glee on his face before putting it away safely in the duffle bag.

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Jaime and I want you to answer them all for me,” said the Stranger. he pulled out some printed photos and displayed them.

“Why is it that a local gang, the MS-13, is interested in selling unsolicited photos of minors from Lake Braddock Secondary School?” he asked, revealing the chat logs connecting it all back to him.

Jaime thought about keeping it quiet, but that would make his situation worse, so perhaps lying to this guy would be a good idea.

“I-I don’t know what you're talking about?” Jaime said. The Stranger looked at him with a frown.

“...I sometimes forget that I despise liars,” said The Stranger. he grabbed an apron from his duffle bag and some kind of clear hard plastic mask. He put them on and proceeded to place some kind of sleeve coverings on both of his sleeves and blue surgeon gloves. Then he pulled out some kind of power tool, plugged it into a nearby socket, and it began to make a whirring noise that didn’t sound friendly. The Stranger turned around and looked at him with an unreadable expression. 

“Well, no worries. It’ll be painless for you,” he said, he didn’t have any sort of expression on his face, just a blank look on his face.

Jaime began freaking out, the Stranger whirred the tool and the tool made such a noise, it kept getting closer as Jaime heard him get closer and closer.

and closer….

God, he can’t do it anymore.

“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT WAIT!” Jaime said. The Stranger stopped to look at him, and Jaime began to tell everything.

“Okay, listen, MS-13, they’re doing some kind of thing with the crates down at the bay harbor docks !” 

The Stranger looked at him, an inquiring look seen in his cold gaze.

“What crates?” he asked.

“The uh, the things used with the deliveries, the big things!” Jaime said, his voice cracking.

“The shipping containers? So, MS-13 is trying to traffic the girls in the photos?” The Stranger said, making sure he got this right.

“Y-yeah?”

The Stranger set the power tool down on the plastic-wrapped chair and looked at Jaime with inquisitive eyes.

“But, I don’t get it. Why you? Specifically, why would MS-13 need you, of all people, for this kind of thing?” asked The Stranger.

Jaime swallowed the saliva down his throat.

“B-because I’m good with computers. Like just doing private hacking and making sure our clientele get what they want, the guy running it wanted to do something else besides coke-” 

The Stranger moved at such speeds that Jaime couldn’t react when he realized that he was in front of his face. 

“Who is he?” he said, his voice low and nearly guttural.

Jaime tries to answer.

‘I mean, I-I don’t know his name, I think the streets call him “El Lobo” or something? I don’t know!” Jamie answered, the Stranger didn’t say anything, but he got up and turned around, looking as if he was contemplating something. 

Jaime took this as a sign to try and ask the Stranger a question.

“Uh, so can you let me go? This plastic is uncomfortable.” Jaime asked.

The Stranger turned to look at him over his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything as he went to pick up the power saw from the chair. Jaime notices this and begins to panic again.

‘W-What are you doing with that thing?” 

“What I’m good at, which is separating you from limb to limb but if it makes you feel any better you'll join your other online friend in the bottom of a lake, but did you expect that I’d let you go?” said the Stranger, he began to turn on his tool.

Jaime widened his eyes and was going to scream, but the Stranger intercepted this and gagged him with a tissue.

“Just because you told me what I wanted to know, doesn’t mean I’ll just let you go that easily. No one has ever escaped this, and nobody ever will,” finished the Stranger, as he set down the plastic visor of his helmet and began to walk towards Jaime, the sound of the electric recouperating saw buzzed menacingly as Jaime started to thrash around, but the Stranger mounted on top of him and held him down with such strength despite his gangly disposition. 

The saw slowly came down, inching toward his neck...

Jaime couldn’t believe it, no, it can’t be! He began to cry, tears blocking out his vision as he began to wail underneath the makeshift gag. 

“Somebody, Mom! NICOLE! PLEASE!-”

That was the last thing Jaime could think about as The Stranger began slicing his throat open.

Jaime felt his entire world turn red from the pain he was in, but then it all slowly went black.

Jeffery concentrated on his work, severing the large limbs of Jaime Doakes with the precision of a careful surgeon. Each sound of the separated limb was meaty and thick, though this wasn’t the first “heavy set” person Jeffery had dealt with; still, Jeffery did what he usually did and proceeded to finish his ritual. 

“El Lobo, it sounds like I’m taking on some kind of super villain. Can’t believe that all of this is some kind of conspiracy to traffic high school girls, but I wouldn’t worry, they’ll be next once I’m done with Lynn and the mutilator.”

Jeffery simply gets to cleaning up, the plastic does a good job of catching the blood spills and whatever stains it holds no matter what, then Jeffery pulls out thick black garbage bags and began to slowly place the limbs of Jaime into them into two separate bags, one for his upper body, arms, legs and the other his head, hands and feet. 

Though Jeffery, every time he bags a corpse, he prefers to leave the head for last. Call it a habit but he always wanted to look at his opponent’s face, as in a way Jeffery wanted to gloat at the cleanly decapitated head and treat it as a win for him despite Harry’s grim warnings to not take these things as a game, still he wanted to feel the slow satisfaction of looking at the unmoving face as Jeffery slowly places the head of Nicole’s brother into the garbage bag. The inside darkness obscures Jaime’s head as if it were taking him into another world, not like his.

His Dark Passenger satisfied, Jeffery cleans up most of the plastic and tape in the basement and stuffs everything else neatly into his duffle bag. It all went according to plan, he got what he wanted: Blood Slide and Information, he jogged towards the stairs and nearly reached the door, but froze as he heard a familiar voice he didn’t want to hear.

“We got the pizza!” yelled Nicole Doakes. She threw her keys on the nearby kitchen counter as Jecka followed suit.

“It’s like there's a cruel God out there putting roadblocks in my path…”

“Fuck, I forgot to buy cigarettes!” complained Jecka, her pack running dry as Nicole turned to her.

“Now you remember- wait, you're not old enough to buy any,” said Nicole.

Jeffery slowly moved down step by step, Nicole and Jecka conversed about gas stations and whatnot, but that’s not important as Jeffery was too focused on making sure his boots didn’t cause these steps to creak, and so far things were going good-

CRACK

One of the steps broke underneath his boot. That was just swell.

And Nicole heard that as she went over to open the basement door and see if her giant of a brother was going to get the fucking pizza.

Nobody was there. Nicole looked confused as she swore she heard something. Call it a “gut feeling” of hers but she knew how to spot things when nobody could, Jecka couldn’t hear what she heard but Nicole decided to investigate as she headed downstairs and saw that one of the stair boards were broken but then came to look and see that her brother was nowhere to be seen.  

Odd.

Too Odd.

She looked around, his room looked the same, but it wasn’t the same, as if the vibe felt like a mix of sterile and neatness that Nicole could sense, this wasn’t her brother Jaime, her disgusting slob of a gamer. 

No, it felt as if someone else was here, but she couldn’t just place it.

But Nicole stopped when she spotted something near her shoe. She bent down to pick it up and saw a piece of plastic. Her radar inside her reptilian brain set off, and she felt as if something was hissing inside of her, warning her of the unknown. Nicole didn't see anyone here with her, yet somehow she knew.

Stuffing the plastic inside her jean pocket, she went up the stairs and recounted the events of what had happened with her and Jecka today.

They went to some barcade that sold pizza, it was a place that served both as a pizza place and an arcade, something that she knew the likes of Jeffery would like.

Jeffery… Fucking Jeffery, always him on her mind and not in a romantic way, Lynn gave her a fucking bottle of Percocets, something that wouldn’t-no shouldn’t happen as no school principal should give students actual drugs but Lynn? She called her that day to the office and Nicole believed that Jeffery’s bitch ass snitched, to which he did of course but Lynn didn’t want to talk to her about what she and McKay have been doing to him, besides trying to ruin a perfectly happy relationship which did work. Lynn just smiled at her, which should’ve been a red flag for Nicole but she’ll get a steady supply of pills if she watches Morgan a bit more and report what he is up to, so suspicions aside that bottle was in her hands and now she’ll double her efforts for the promise of more if she did her job well. 

Just keep an eye out for that freaktard, and she will be rewarded in prescription bottles.

Besides that and trying to get a pizza for her brother, she also saw that new kid, Rudy, if she remembers, was there too. He was there picking up a pizza too, but he didn’t approach her or Jecka, but he was just there, and for some reason, he looked like he was done taking a shower with how wet his auburn hair was and he was wearing his gym clothes too, which didn’t seem odd.

Nicole studied him, but she kept her usual stance as she and Jecka stood there. Jecka didn’t notice him until he walked towards the entrance. Rudy stopped, he slowly turned his head to stare right at her, he didn’t spare Jecka a glance either, just her. The way he looked at her up and down slowly, but Nicole didn’t falter and stared right back at him. Then Rudy sneered at her and walked away as if he had won the proverbial stare-down between her and him. Jecka wasn’t keen on that, as she did yell behind his back when he left.

Though Nicole wasn’t scared of Rudy, something about him was just off, wrong even. At school, he seems like a simple and nonchalant person, with charming looks that got every girl looking at him and trying to ask him out, but he never took on those offers and usually every guy at her school is so predictably the same but Rudy trying to play the nonchalant act isn’t convincing her. She knows, like with Jeffery, that Rudy was hiding something, and it only proves her point with how he stares at her like she were a piece of meat. 

His eyes, those green eyes of his, glared right at her, into her soul. As if Rudy knew her darkest and deepest secrets, she swore she saw something move in his eyes, a dark little shine that was just as similar as Jeffery’s…maybe she’ll have to send someone to look at Rudy too, and she knew just the girl to talk to.

Jeffery finished dumping the last bag into the lake, a considerable heavy effort due to Jaime’s weight, but it was all worth it. He sped up to the port and docked his boat, then got off as he tied up the fishing boat. It was worth skipping school again, but he hoped that Deb didn’t find out; she didn’t play around with his studies, and he didn’t want her to yell at him again. 

Gloves placed in the back of his pocket, Jeffery headed out of the pier, waved at the usual security guard and workers who knew him, and was going to head to the bus until a voice called out to him.

“Jeffery? Jeffery Morgan?” said an aged voice.

Jeffery turned to look at the source of the voice, and an older woman approached him with a smile. She had short, stylized hair and wore a summer dress, but what was most distinct about her was the bizarre birthmark on her face.

“Hello?” greeted Jeffery politely.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she said.

“Yes, um, I don’t remember you?” asked Jeffery, his tone questioning.

“Barb, Barb Plimpton. I was your social worker, remember?” Barb reminded him.

Oh, right, Jeffery remembers her now. She was assigned to him by the state, and initially assigned him to the Morgans. If it wasn’t for Barb, he would’ve probably ended up in an electric chair. 

“Oh, right, ahem, sorry, how have you been?” greeted Jeffery calmly as Barb smiled at him.

“Good, these days, how’s Deborah? Is she still working as a police officer?" she asked.

Jeffery nodded.

“Yes, she got promoted to Homicide a while back.” 

“Ah, isn’t that just swell? tell her I said hi, it was great seeing you again!” Barb said her goodbyes as she walked out of the fishing pier. Jeffery sighed to himself and walked away, hoping to catch up on homework and maybe a well-earned nap after all the work he’d put himself through.

MORGAN HOUSEHOLD

Deborah Morgan rubbed her eyes in frustration. This case was going nowhere for her, even with half of the clues she’s gathered.

This new killer was something alright, cuts off body parts to leave it for the police to find and it’s not helping that this fucking asshole, whoever he is, is treating this like a game. It didn’t help that the killer also had to go to the same school that her brother, Jeffery, goes to and had to look at what the mutilator had placed in that closet.

Yeah this year was already starting so fucking great.

Still, this guy was odd, odd as in a way that he was leaving these body parts in specific areas of Lake Braddock. First body part belonged to some poor hooker found in an alleyway, her left hand specifically and for some odd reason each nail was painted a different color over the original red nail polish the woman had, then the next one was a foot that belonged to a missing teenager found in Burke Lake Park. 

That didn’t sit well with her. Burke Lake Park was one of the Morgan family’s favorite spots growing up, and the Mutilator had left that foot right next to the swingset that Jeffery used to always go on years ago…

Then the leg, which belonged to another sex worker, was cut clean and drained of blood like the last body part, found by her brother in his gym class. LaGuerta didn’t like it when she pulled Jeffery away from further questioning, and even when Deb tried to ask him about it, he didn’t seem to react emotionally, unlike the other students who screamed at the sight of it.

It only got worse when an anonymous tip had told them of a decapitated head found in another park that Deb was familiar with, this time a young teenager named Kelly Anderson, all that was left was her head, and Deb remembered hearing the guttural cries from her mother back at the station.

The eldest Morgan rubbed her forehead.

Deb knew her little brother had some… “issues”, she wasn’t that dumb, she and Harry knew about his more “darker tendencies” but Deb trusted Harry enough to help him with his urges, so she knew Jeffery was made of sterner stuff compared to the other kids.

But still, why is the Mutilator leaving these parts at places she and the Morgan family have previously been at? 

It couldn’t be, was this guy? Was he trying to say something about her? About Jeffery? 

Was he trying to recreate both of their pasts through these limbs? It seems far-fetched, but it’s the only thing that sounded plausible to her. Jeffery…her little brother…he may not be a Morgan in blood, but he was still a Morgan no matter what. Deb still remembered the promise she made to Harry; she would always protect him no matter what. 

The Mutilator has another thing coming if he’s going after her or Jeffery.

Speaking of Jeffery, he finally arrives as he walks through the front door. Closing the files, she looks up to him with a tired smile.

“Hey Jeff, anything interesting happening with you?” asked Deb.

Jeffery looked at her back with a small smile of his own.

“Well, school was the same, but uh, I ran into someone, Barbara Plempton?” he replied.

“The social worker? It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. How is she?”

“The same, she said hi to you.” 

“That's nice,” but Deb thought of something else and decided to ask Jeffery.

“Jeffery, how's Karen these days? I haven’t seen her around in a bit?” Deb asked, she didn’t fail to notice Jeffery’s body language falter a bit.

“Uhh, well, she’s…fine,” he answered, uncertainty was in his tone, and Deb could easily tell.

“You sound a little unsure, Jeffery, is everything okay?” asked Deb, blunt and straight to the point, and she could tell Jeffery was cornered here. She knew he wouldn’t lie to her that much.

“W-well uh, something did happen.” 

“Uh huh, and what happened?” 

“Karen thinks I cheated on her.” Just like herself, Jeffery could be blunt with his answers, but that took her out a little. Jeffery Morgan, a cheater? Deb had to be honest, there is no fucking way that her little brother, someone who likes pokemon and anime, was “probably” the most innocent teenager ever. Why would someone like Jeffery cheat on a sweet girl like Karen? 

But this was news, and Deborah wanted to know more.

“Jeff, I don’t think you have it in you to cheat, so what the hell happened?” said Deb, following her brother into their kitchen as Jeffery takes out a Capri Sun and fiddles with the yellow straw as he gently punctures the straw into the juice box.

“You're right, because I didn’t do anything, it was Doakes and McKay.”

Deb looked at her brother stiffly after hearing those two last names. 

“Those two? What the fuck did they do?” 

Jeffery took a sip from his Capri Sun.

“They planned it.”

“They planned it? They could think that far?” 

“You’d be surprised,” Jeffery said.

“Well, what was the plan those two concocted?” 

“Nicole sends Emily after me, she starts…acting 'out of character',” explained Jeffery.

Deb scrunched her forehead in confusion.

“What do you mean?” 

“Usually, she is a very volatile and unstable girl; she and Nicole always pretend to run into me, but they just do that to harass me because I gave Nicole the creeps,” said Jeffery.

Deb is well aware of the trashy bitch that is Nicole Doakes and her posse of equally trashy bitches. She doesn’t know why she targets her little brother, and quite frankly, she is sick of it at this point, yet Jeffery doesn’t do anything to fight back, much less even snitch.

“I mean, what's there to be scared of? She's a hundred pounds soaking wet,” thought Deb.

“I stood up to Nicole and her friend one time in the library; they thought I had something to do with the recent murders, and when I defended myself, she sent Emily after me to flirt with me,” finished Jeffery.

Deb looked at Jeffery with a raised eyebrow.

“...Flirting how?”

“...Rubbing all over me with her body.”

“...Did you like it?”

“....No.”

Deb hummed at that.

“And I think they used this to tell Karen that. She uh, wasn't really happy with me over the phone…” said Jeffery.

Huh, who knew there was a brain within Doakes, but ruining a relationship like that was just fucked up…Deb didn’t show it outside but inside of her, her blood boiled. A storm of darkness brewed behind her eyes unbeknownst to her little brother, she wanted, no, she NEEDED to do something about it. Justice was a fickle thing for Deborah Morgan, she does her job effectively as a detective for Homicide but sometimes you cannot rely on the law, you needed to take the fucking kiddie gloves when you need to do things most would often frowned upon on.

“Deb?” called out Jeffery, his face worried, wondering why his sister was looking so out of focus.

Deb snapped back into reality, she looked at Jeffery and changed her features into the usual friendly face she often had.

“It’s nothing, Jeff, I’m just shocked about this, but make no mistake, lil bro, I’ll be having some words with Nicole about all of this,” said Deb, a false smile on her face that hid her dark plans.

Jeffery didn’t look very reassured by what she had meant by that.

“Um, what are you gonna do? If you don’t mind me asking?” questioned Jeffery.

Deb simply smiled again.

“Just talk, I only want to talk,” said Deb.

Jeffery stood there for a bit, juice box in hand, and his face full of worry. 

“O-okay,” said Jeffery, trying to shrug it off, but his demeanor did contain some kind of worry. Jeffery would disappear into his basement and close his door behind him. Deb did look to hear the footsteps fade as she turned around, her face now adopting a darker look.

“You're not going to kill this girl, are you, Deborah?” said a very familiar voice. Deb turned to look at her passenger come to life, her father Harry Morgan. 

Harry looked the same as he used to, aged caucasian with combed dark hair and piercing brown eyes, he wore a polo shirt with suit pants with his police badge still clipped on his belt. His arms crossed and relaxed, Deb scoffed at her father as she went out of the kitchen.

“Fuck no, I don’t think I plan on heading to jail any time soon,” said Deb, who left the kitchen and went to grab her suit jacket and car keys. Harry appeared again, leaning back on the dining table, arms crossed and staring down at her daughter with his signature inquisitive stare.

“Whatever it is you're planning, you cannot risk the code. Especially if it’s something mundane like petty teenage squabbles in high school.” 

“Petty? This isn’t fucking petty dad, I promised you on your sick bed that I’d protect Jeffery no matter what, didn’t I?” 

“Protecting Jeffery, yes, but you? You're supposed to be an anchor for his emotions. I don’t think risking yourself just for one girl is worth the effort, Deb.”

Deb raised an eyebrow at Harry.

“Yeah, I get that, I do. But sometimes I get sick of how Jeff gets treated just because he isn’t like most other boys his age, it’s perfectly normal to be a little different but what isn’t fucking normal is getting bullied by a bunch of trashy hoes. I mean what, you didn’t fucking teach him how to handle girls like that?” Deb ranted, as she headed to her car.

“Sigh, you know that I know that Jeffery is perfectly capable of handling women in any social situations and you know perfectly well why he cannot lash out,” explained Harry, who now reappeared again at the front door of the Morgan House, Deb locked the front door as she headed to the car.

“Because of his inner darkness or whatever, yeah, I’m well acquainted with it, you should know, I’m not supposed to be talking to my dead dad now, am I?”

“It was always with you, Deb, it’s not your fault, you simply repressed it until your mother died.”

A bitter moment in her life, a time where Deb nearly closed herself off emotionally, Jeffery was hurt by this when his older sister didn’t want to hang out with him anymore, and he began to distance himself too when his sister stopped giving him any emotional attention. 

It only took Harry dying for the two to finally reconnect.

Deb got into her car and revved up the engine, a dark determination unseen before some in her eyes, her father, now next to her, still looked at her worryingly.

“Deborah-”

“I haven't forgotten!...” interrupted Deb. “I know what you told me, I just can’t sit by and let this happen to Jeffery. I won’t kill her but she’ll be damn sure she wished I had…”

“There are consequences to the things you do. If you're going to do this, you better make sure it doesn’t trace back to you. Remember the Code,” warned Harry.

“I know, Dad, I know,” Deb replied.

DON’T GET CAUGHT.

It’s been drilled inside of her many times, like Jeffery, Deb was trained in a manner to make sure her brother is safe. It’s what she’s been trained to do. Deb has a mission now, ow she heads out to one of her brother’s tormentors' homes. She promised Harry, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Things have been a bit…tense at Lake Braddock Secondary School.

Besides Karen still not talking to him, Jeffery could still feel the heavy atmosphere in the school; it was as if everyone was scared that the Mutilator would show up and take one of them away. 

But not all was lost, after what he did to Jaime, Nicole looked a little bit lost for once. The usual snarky confidence she had faltered a little, but Jeffery? He enjoyed every second of it, every second of her suffrage strangely fueled Jeffery, and if he was honest, well…He liked it if she could sabotage his relationship and laugh at him; he might as well get back at her.

“Call me petty, but I deserve this little victory over her.” 

Jeffery walked by himself in the halls, every other student was either walking to class, but still some stared and whispered about him as usual. But what would Jeffrey care for them? The other? He pretty much “disliked” them as much as they hated him, so why bother? It's not like he’ll have any friends in his future.

Jeffery stews in his anger, bordering on his darkness, coming out, he reaches his locker to put away his bag and grab the essentials when he spots one of his many scalpels stashed on the inner roof of his locker, the tape concealing it. 

“...I’m slipping, I can’t believe it was a good idea to leave something like this in a place like this.” Jeffery stashes the scalpel in his cargo shorts as he slams the locker door with a bit of force.

“Ooh, someone’s looking emo as shit today. Forgot your Chemical Romance shirt?” said a familiar voice. Jeffery turned to look and see Rudy leaning next to his locker, a grin on his freckled face as Jeffery rolled his eyes.

“It's My Chemical Romance, you forgot the My actually,” corrected Jeffery, one of his dexterous fingers adjusting his glasses as he and Rudy trekked the halls. 

“Yeah, yeah, so are you and Karen still not talking anymore? She seems-” Rudy was interrupted when Karen herself turned around the hall and froze when she spotted both of them, then she immediately turned around quickly and left the two boys there.

“Upset with you..” finished Rudy, his eyebrow raised at her retreating form as Jeffery pretended to sigh sadly at this.

“Yeah, still believing in those rumors,” sighed Jeffery again, and Rudy looked at him with an unreadable stare.

“Well, will you ever talk to her?” asked Rudy.

Jeffery only sighed again.

“I don’t know, at this point it’s the school against me and I would rather not make myself look worse at the moment,” said Jeffery.

Rudy could only shrug at this, not wanting to bring it up any further, he simply put his hands in his pocket and continued walking alongside Jeffery through the halls of Lake Braddock.

Still, Jeffery didn’t have time to care about pointless high school popularity rankings; he knows that Miss Lynn knows there’s something wrong with him, and she might make things harder for him, harder to catch her off guard. But Jeffery shouldn’t be so scared, Miss Lynn was only a high school principal, but even then, she could be hiding something too. 

“Maybe she has her little dark passenger, too? I doubt it, but one can never be too unsure.”

“Hey Jeff, I got my class down the hall here, I’ll see ya around or whatever, cool?” said Rudy, gesturing down the hallway as Jeffery turned to look at him.

“Oh okay, sure I’ll see ya around,” said Jeffery. Rudy nods and casually walks away as Jeffery heads to his class as well.

“I know Miss Lynn is my most prioritized target, but I just cannot shake the Mutilator out of my head; it’s like he's mocking me with these Barbie dolls.” Jeffery was still frustrated that he didn’t know anything about this guy, no matter how many times he snuck late-night glances from Deb’s files locked away in her computer desk. 

Jeffery turned around another hallway, then his senses flared immediately, harsh whispers in his mind as Jeffery was able to move out of the way as a student ran past him.

“Out of my way!!!” screamed Braxton. He dropped something that didn’t go unnoticed by Jeffery as he looked to see what the shaven-headed student had left behind…

Jeffery knew what it was, it’s just that he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. It was wrapped in a brown paper bag covered in plastic wrap, and the writing on its side couldn’t be any more obvious.

“MS-13…” whispered Jeffery, his eyes widening a bit as he went over to pick up the cocaine. Stuffing it gently in his roller bag, he was about to leave-

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” said a voice.

Jeffery didn’t need to know who was calling him out. He didn’t need Miss Lynn to catch him with the brick of cocaine, so he, like Braxton, whom he intended to hunt down later, broke into a fast sprint. Jeffery placed the roller bag and flung it onto his back like a normal backpack for once and ran very fast, the voice calling out behind him, but Jeffery ran far enough that whoever called him out now seemed distant.

Jeffery didn’t know how long he ran; he just had to get out of there. He realized he was on the other side of the school and took a second to catch his breath as Jeffery peeked around the corner to see if anyone else was following him. Jeffery only sighed in relief. he then proceeded to take the stairs and head downstairs for class. He’ll investigate the package later on.

“Hmm…Mhmm.” 

Jeffery was back home after another grueling day at school, it often went the same: Go to Class, Outdo his peers in classwork, avoid Nicole and her usual hassling but now with the added objective of avoiding the school staff and the campus security when trying to smuggle a hefty but illegally recommended amount of cocaine stashed inside of his backpack.

He wasn’t in his casual clothes, Jeffery took it upon himself to wear a hazmat suit he had dug out of his closet, something he hadn’t used since his early killing days. It was his original kill outfit, before the Hensley shirt and cargo pants. Jeffery stole this suit from his high school’s science lab when he killed his first victim…

FLASHBACK: VIRGINIA HOSPITAL CENTER, 2007.

Fifteen-year-old Jeffery Morgan waited outside nervously in the waiting room. He was tapping his leg and biting his fingernails as he waited in his seat while his sister, Deb, walked back and forth. She was just as stressed as him and she showed it through her restless movement.

“Miss Morgan? Your father, Harry, is awake,” said a Nurse. Deb’s face brightened up by this and turned to her brother, who heard as well and got up immediately to follow suit.

“Harry was sick, heart problems and all, but it was never this bad until finding out who one doing this to him. She was like me, Nurse Mary, a harbinger of Death.”

“J-jeffery..” wheezed out Harry, his hand grasping onto Jeffery’s as the young teen could only stare at him with worrying fear.

“Dad…” That's all Jeffery could say; he tried to analyze what was wrong with him. Harry looked so weak, a shell of his former self, and looked as if something was draining the life out of him. 

“My father, Harry Morgan, did not die quickly, and he didn’t want to die so easily, but he sure did know how to take his sweet time in dying.”

Deborah was still older than Jeffery during this time, the day she picked him up and told him of Harry’s condition, already driving to the hospice, it felt like the ride there was going on forever, and he still couldn’t believe that his father was in such a state. The way Jeffery had immortalized his father, he imagined he’d lived forever, but that wasn’t the case. Harry coughed as he looked at his son straight into his eyes.

The Nurse, Mary, was there. She was fixing up a large hypodermic needle from a tray next to Harry’s bed, filling it and holding it up to squirt out the air bubble but Harry looked as if he saw the grim reaper standing in front of him and he began to stir, a bit of spark still left in his body.

“Now, now, Mr. Morgan, let's try and make things comfortable for ourselves here,” said Mary, a warm smile on her face, yet Jeffery could tell that smile hid something far worse. 

The needle, despite it being a simple little syringe, Harry felt as if it was an executioner’s blade ready to chop his head off. 

“No…” he said, a look of absolute horror in his eyes, and that’s something that Jeffery has never seen before. “No shot…”

“It’ll only be a pinch, really,” said Mary, the needle reaching Harry’s vein. Jeffery couldn’t let that happen.

“He said no SHOT.” Jeffery intercepted, his hands restraining Nurse Mary’s hand, and looked at her straight in the eyes. For a brief moment, Jeffery had seen something beneath Nurse Mary’s eyes.

Mary looked at Jeffery with her blue eyes. Jeffery swore he saw it too. A piece of it, a darkness similar to his that made Jeffery flinch a bit, Mary had shown her real self to him, and he knew what it was. Cold, inhuman rage towards him for impeding on her hunting, Jeffery knew he was treading on thin ice here and the look in her eye tells him that Mary would love nothing more than to jab the needle into his eye, shove it into his chest and twist until his ribs popped out, stab into his heart several times until it stopped beating.

Jeffery, for the first time in his life, has finally met someone like him, a monster, a wolf in sheep's clothing, a hunter, a killer who is just as soulless and evil as him.

“He said he didn’t want a shot,” said Jeffery, hoping to hide his unnerving curiosity with a firm tone that could deter Mary.

But Mary smiled sweetly, far too sweet for his taste. “Honey, he needs his medicine. He is in a lot of pain, and this,” she gestures with the syringe. “Will help him in his recovery, don't you want him to get better?” Mary said, chiding Jeffery as if he were some petulant child who didn’t know the finer details of using medicine.

But Jeffery stubbornly refused.

“He said he doesn’t want it.”

“He’s in pain-” 

Harry began to speak up.

“I—WANT pain,” he gasped out. Deb tried to comfort her father as the Nurse pursed her lips, trying to contain her dark anger. 

“But, dad-” Deb began, but Harry squeezed her arm, nodding at what he had said. The Nurse looked disapprovingly as Jeffery spoke up.

“He wants the pain.” Jeffery pointed out, he could tell the Nurse looked frustrated, as if she wanted to inject whatever was in that syringe for his father.

“I’ll have to tell the doctor.” Nurse Mary said as Jeffery shrugged at this.

“Okay, we’ll wait here,” said Deb, but Jeffery stared at the nurse leaving the room as if she were some frustrated predator robbed of a fresh kill.

“Harry didn’t fail to notice how I watched the Nurse back then; he always had a knack for certain people and their behavioral patterns. It’s how I learned.”

“You…can tell?” Harry said, his voice a whisper.

“Yes…” Jeffery whispered back.

“Like…you,” Harry said.

“...Yes,” Jeffery whispered again, hoping that Deborah didn’t hear them. Unfortunately, she did.

“What are you guys talking about? Dad, what do you mean?” she asked, but Jeffery quickly came up with an excuse before she went all police officer mode.

“Dad thinks the Nurse likes him, calling him honey and whatnot,” Jeffery said.

“Oh, right.” Deb scoffed at this, but playfully rolled her eyes. Harry turns to her and manages to say something.

“Deb…Water…please,” he asked, almost begging, and Deb nodded immediately and left the room quickly, her boots stomping on the hospital floors. Jeffery turned, a dark but questioning look now on his features.

“What has she been doing to you?” Jeffery asked. 

Harry tried to move his head, but he couldn’t shake it as all he could do was wobble, and that made him wince in pain. But he managed to get another sentence out to his son.

“Too much…” he began, “She gives…too much..” he gasped out, but still said the final word. “Morphine.” Jeffery’s eyes widened beneath his coke bottle glasses.

“Morphine…” whispered Jeffery, a look of horrifying realization on his features.

“It was her signature, her ritual, the hospital where she works, nobody would question her. Ingenious but not for long.”

Harry knew Jeffery was going to get emotional, so he squeezed his hand with as much strength as he could muster, which caused Jeffery to look at him again.

“Jeff..Jeffery…Don’t let her dope me, don’t let her near me…” he said, his voice hoarse, yet it still held the Harry Morgan tone Jefferey was so familiar with.

“And this part, it’s when it all began. It’s when I was finally able to unleash myself…”

“But, what would you have me do?” Jeffery whispered again.

Harry’s eyes stared into Jeffery's, he opened his mouth and said…

“Stop Her.” 

Those words, those two words. That is what it took for Jeffery Morgan to finally divulge into the darkness he has been holding inside, the way it festers inside of him, desperately crawling inside of him, trying to claw and scratch out of the prison that is Jeffery. 

He could hear it, its whispers, its shadowy presence. For once in his life, Jeffery didn't ignore it; he welcomed it, and as he stood up, Jeffery only looked at his father. Harry nodded at him, and that's all that Jeffery needed to get going. He left just as Deborah came back with water. 

“You have to understand, I was a young and reckless little monster, but I was excited when I got to unleash all my built-up frustrations I've been holding onto inside of me on Nurse Mary.” 

LAKE BRADDOCK SECONDARY SCHOOL, SCIENCE LABS

Jeffery had skipped school for the first time in his life. Harry had often made him prioritize his education, but whenever he had free time, he often told him to hang around the school and drink Cokes with Karen, a standard technique used to blend in amongst students his age. This time, Jeffery decided to pay a visit to the science labs to relinquish one of the hazmat suits from the second-floor lab. He did spot something else, one of the liquid basters, so he took that as well, but-

Jeffery stopped again. he spotted a couple of plain microscopic glass slides lying there on the teacher’s desk. Maybe, just maybe, Jeffery could borrow those slides for something, the liquid baster and the slides ... Jeffery decided to take those as well, call it a gut feeling, but something about the microscopic slides felt as if he would need them for something.

Stuffing the hazmat suit alongside the baster and slides carefully into his roller bag, Jeffery walked out, hunched over slightly to look like the persona he created since middle school: Awkward, Quirky, Frail, Bookworm little Jeffery. His reputation was already strained at this point in Lake Braddock Secondary School, but it wouldn’t matter to Jeffery anymore, he will become something more once he gets his dexterous hands on Nurse Mary, maybe he’ll shed this flesh prison he’s been living in and finally unleash the darkly dreaming beast he’s been repressing since he was but a boy.

Jeffery didn’t notice who he bumped shoulders with, snapping him out of his dark fantasies. He met face to face with Doakes, who had transferred here last month, and already she didn’t like him despite only meeting him during his fist fight with Trody. 

“O-oh my fault! Heh heh.” Jeffery said, his nasally tone on display, rubbing his neck awkwardly, hoping it could deter the already suspicious teenager who saw his shadowy friend.

Nicole didn’t do or say anything; she simply stared at Jeffery. Jeffery stared back, but he avoided her eyes. He had a feeling that Nicole here could read people through their eyes, and he didn’t need her to find something he was trying to hide. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone as Jessica Quinn was with her, a sneer on her face as she looked at Jeffery.

“Watch where you're going, dork.” passive aggressive as usual, the staple Jecka charm as she looked down on him as if he was below her, unaware that Jeffery was someone who could kill her if he so wanted to but unfortunately Jeffery couldn’t divulge into his primal instincts due to the Code of Harry drilled into his lizard brain.

“Heh heh, I’ll look out next time,” said Jeffery, turning heel, hoping that this painfully awkward small talk could end by his leaving. Unfortunately, the cruel gods who wished to see him suffer socially had placed the roadblock in the form of Jecka, grabbing his shoulder, her plum colored French-tipped nails digging deep into Jeffery’s shoulder, and then nearly spinning him around to meet her already harsh glare.

“You bumped into Nicole without even saying sorry, where’s your respect for women, huh?” she said, demanding an apology from Jeffery. 

Jeffery growled internally. Why must Jecka do this to him? Why must she pull this hierarchical bullshit in school? He knows he isn’t the most popular kid around but this was just some stupid power play to look good in front of a bunch of faceless people his age that Jeffery won’t bother keeping in touch with since he practically looks down on every single person in this fucking school?

But he needed to leave right away, and if Jecka demands an apology for something that was an accident, then so be it.

Jeffery looks at Nicole, who was still staring at him as if he was going to attack someone. Jecka held him firmly by his shirt, so Jeffery took a deep breath and exhaled.

“I m-I’m sorry, Nicole.” Jeffery apologized.

“I’m sorry for what?” Jecka said, her tone getting aggressive.

“Sorry for bumping into you,” Jeffery said lamely.

Jecka finally lets go of his T-shirt, wiping her hand on her acid-washed grey jeans as if Jeffery was slime, satisfied that she put the resident nerd in his place.

“Was that so hard? Learn to respect women next time,” Jecka said, turning heel and walking away as if what she did was an epic display of dominant social play. Nicole followed suit, but she still looked back at Jeffery, her lifeless eyes still swirling with her darkness. 

“After that embarrassing debacle with the dynamic duo, I was able to stalk Nurse Mary back to her house.

NURSE MARY’S HOUSE:

Nurse Mary lived in one of those condos, a nice little multi-housing unit with a nice grassy lawn and nice little porches to sit underneath the Virginia humidity. I waited until the night neared so nobody would be around to see Jeffery sneaking around the condo and climbing to the second floor’s porch. Jeffery was able to silently put on his hazmat suit and gloves before he opened the glass slide door. 

“BINGO,” whispered Jeffery. 

Walking in silently, Jeffery could see the inner details of the beast’s lair. It seems Nurse Mary had a thing for cat decorations, judging from the vast cat-based decoratives in her rooms and the obvious feline who hissed at him and ran into another room. 

“Like I said, animals never liked me. Especially what I do to their owners.”

It didn’t take long for Jeffery to use the freshly wrapped plastic sheets and begin layering the entire living room, everything including the nicely leathery couch, which is where he will place the nurse. 

When Jeffery reached the bookshelf, he spotted something that stood out to him. A photo album, he takes it and opens it up to see a bunch of obituaries taped neatly, coincidentally, they all died from an overdose of sorts. Jeffery’s gloved finger clenched the book. If Harry didn’t give him the okay to do all this, his obituary would’ve been another collection for Mary….

“Not on my watch,” said Jeffery, then the front door began to open. The Nurse has arrived.

Jeffery hid beneath the layers of plastic as Nurse Mary came in looking baffled at what she had seen, where the hell did all this plastic? What the fuck is what she wanted to say but Mary decided to walk into the plastic, like a fly to the web Jeffery was the spider that waited for it’s lunch. 

The nurse walked through the opening flaps of the wrapped-up living room. Mary looked around and saw that everything was covered in plastic, even the damn cat statue she got last week from the clearance section at Ross…

Then Mary froze when she spotted her album book opened and layed out on the plastic wrapped couch…Who? Who could’ve done this?

“Hello…” said a nasally voice. Nurse Mary turned around and was met with a teenager in an ill-fitted hazmat suit, waiting for his face. It was that same wimpy-looking kid from the hospital!

“W-what the fuck are you doing- What are you doing in my house?!” Nurse Mary exclaimed, pointing at Jeffery, who nervously smiled at her.

“Stopping you,” Jeffery said, his hand revealing a scalpel of sorts. 

“Don’t get on my case for this, perfecting your craft takes a while, but she was my first kill, so technically I get a pass on this one.”

Nurse Mary immediately grabbed the plastic-wrapped cat statue and threw it at Jeffery, who easily moved out of the way and began circling her scalpel in hand. Mary did too, and she looked around for anything to defend herself from this scalpel-wielding maniac.

Jeffery lunged forward with the scalpel. Nurse Mary was hit but barely, as she moved just in time to dodge. Her arm was sliced, but that didn’t stop her as she grabbed Jeffery’s scalpel arm and began wrestling for control. Jeffery grappled back hard, his training finally being put to good use as he and Mary wrestled for their survival. Mary wasn’t going down without a fight, as being a Nurse for many years has given her experience wrangling patients to bed, but unfortunately, Jeffery wasn’t a sickly, bedridden patient.

Knowing he might be doing something incredibly risky, Jeffery drops his scalpel and manages to grab Mary’s arm, breaking her balance and using her momentum, Jeffery performs a Seoi Nage, shoulder throwing the nurse to the ground. 

“OOF.” 

Jeffery wasted zero time and instantly mounted behind her back and applied a rear-naked choke. The pressure applied well as Mary began choking for air, clawing her nails onto Jeffery’s hazmat-covered arms, but it was no use, as Mary finally went limp after the ten-second count.

Jeffery drops her, panting, and a smile grows on his face. He finally trapped his prey. 

… … …

Mary woke up, slowly regaining her consciousness. She tried to move, but she couldn’t; she could move her neck, and slowly realize what kind of predicament she was in. She tried to open her mouth to scream, but she couldn’t. Mary felt the paper tissue in her mouth, the source of her silence.

“What a lovely photo album…” said a familiar voice.

Mary turned to look at the source of the voice, the teenager from before sitting on her couch with her album in his hands.

“Such wonderful memories, I’ve been looking through your photo album. I hope you don’t mind?” he said, getting up, pointing a gloved hand at the cropped-out obituaries of her previous victims.

Mary tried to speak through her gagged mouth, but failed. Jeffery simply walked around the couch, dropping the album and picking up a filet knife from the inside of his hazmat suit, and approached the trapped nurse. 

Jeffery reached for her gag. The moment he removed it, Mary began screaming, but was stopped as Jeffery quickly clasped his gloved hand over her mouth. 

“Scream, and I’ll cut that tongue out,” Jeffery said, the dark passenger taking over his entire being, embracing it fully into himself, and Mary kept quiet and could only stare at Jeffery in silence.

“You tried to kill my father,” pointed out Jeffery, aiming the knife at her throat as Nurse Mary began to speak up.

“I-I was only trying to help him! I took their pain away!” 

“They didn’t ask you to do that, who gave you the right to play Judge, Jury, and Executioner!” said Jeffery, hoping that last line would make him look cool, but the nurse got an angry look on her face when he said that.

“And who the fuck are you to say that, you got me fucking tied up here without CLOTHES!” she yelled, but kept silent when the knife dangerously drew near her throat.

“Unlike you, I have a reason to do the things I do. A code, but you? You're just an animal basking in your dark desires…” shot back Jeffery.

“Animals? Get real, these goddamn people, smoking and drinking their bodies out till they’re bodies give out, I mean just like your father-” Mary was immediately silenced as Jeffery grabbed her mouth and inched close to her face, a look of dark rage was on his face.

“I lost my mother when I was a boy. Harry took me in when he didn’t even have to, but he did! Without him…I would’ve been another piece of scum like you.” Jeffery said, gagging her mouth with another tissue, he stood up and straightened himself out until he grabbed the hood of his hazmat suit and placed it over his head.

“It’s time…tonight, it will happen,” said Jeffery, eyeing the blade of the filet knife as Nurse Mary began to cry through her gag.

“Okay…you got this, Jeffery…” he felt the whispers and growls inside his mind grow louder. Jeffery held the blade tightly and began to hover the blade over Mary.

DO IT. It said his dark passenger, and Jeffery obliged.

Jeffery plunged the blade into her neck. Nurse Mary gurgled through the tissue gag as the blood began spilling out all over his hand. It poured out onto the plastic as Jeffery stabbed again and again, making such a mess of hot red viscera all over the apartment.

Jeffery must’ve finally stopped after the sixth stabbing. He opened his eyes to see his work and stopped when his eyes met the splatter of all the blood that came from Mary. 

“Uhh, Ahh, Ahhhh.” moaned Jeffery, the blood was splattered all over his suit and the hand that he stabbed Mary’s neck and chest. He could smell the iron, even coming close to tasting it too, but he shouldn’t, no matter how tempting the sight of it looked to him….

He needed it, no Jeffery WANTED IT. But how will he keep the physical concept of blood with him? Luckily, the liquid baster came to mind, he reached into his bag and brought it out as he went to Mary’s body and sampled a bit of her blood, the red liquid inside the plastic. As Jeffery aimed it carefully into the slide, he stole from the science lab.

A droplet of it…there it was, and Jeffery closed the slide carefully as he looked at it, his magnum opus…his trophy. He lifted it under the light of the room to see the small sample of Mary’s blood. To Jeffery, it was so beautiful he could cry.

Placing the first ever blood slide into his jean pocket carefully, Jeffery began the boring cleanup process, including managing Mary’s corpse.

Every killer remembers their first kill, and Jeffery certainly remembers Mary, but the cocaine was too important as he managed to inspect more of the powdered drug.

“Braxton…you’re connected to this, aren’t you? I guess it’s time I make more friends like what my father and sister would’ve wanted me to do…” Thought Jeffery, a dark but mischievous look could be seen on his face as he plots what he will do to Braxton tomorrow…

COMMUNITY CENTER, Bingo Night

Barbara Clempton was very focused; this night’s particular game of bingo was a hard one, and she was trying her absolute hardest to make sure each of these boxes was filled out.

The aged social worker was at the community center. Bingo nights are often one of her many productive pastimes, and she enjoys it simply for the community around her.

“B-9,” called out the announcer. Barbara looked down at her sheet.

“Aha! Got you,” she triumphantly said, marking the box down with her dauber.

“Got you too…” said a young voice next to her. Barbara turned next to see who had said that. He had long auburn colored hair, green eyes, and freckles, and wore a dark red hoodie with jeans and sneakers, a young man who goes to high school, no doubt, but why would he be here? Especially during a school night?

So with her social worker instincts rising, Barbara decided to bite and speak to the youth.

“Isn’t it a school night for you, young man?” she said in, gentle but questioning manner so that she wouldn’t come off as “too federal”. The last time she tried to ask this question was to two teenage girls, a blonde and a brunette, who were hanging out at the 7/11 smoking cigarettes. Barbara was picking up something, and when she approached them, she remembered how the two practically insulted her with snarky responses and vile insults, half of which she had never heard of.

It shocked her to think that’s how girls were acting in today's time. Horrible, their parents have failed them if that’s how they want to behave. The teenager turned to look at her, and instead of the usual teenage boy attitude, he had this smile on her face that didn’t hold any false intentions, a look of honesty on his face.

“Oh, I live near Blincoe Court, and my mom started working here. Sometimes I play bingo out of boredom, but honestly it’s better being cooped up in my room,” he said, the smile on his face should feel ill-suited, but somehow Barbara didn’t notice it too much.

“I see, well, good luck on the game, young man,” she said, as the teenager nodded and said a small “thanks, you too.”

The game continued on, and it seemed Barb and the teenager were going neck to neck in filling out all the boxes on their respective papers. Barbara knew she was so close to it, only one more box to stamp, and that seventy-five-dollar prize was hers!

“How are you holding up there, Ma’am?” asked the teenager. Barb turned to him with a playful smirk.

“I’m about to win, that's what's holding up!” Bab said in a joking manner as the teenager chuckled, he then showed her his sheet, surprisingly, he had his boxes all filled up too.

“I wouldn’t say that just yet,” he retorted playfully.

Barba chuckled to herself, but something about this boy seemed familiar, so a bit of small talk wouldn’t hurt.

“Why play bingo with us old crones here? Usually boys your age would prefer something way else than all this?” the teen looked at her and sighed.

“My mom always said Bingo was the best way to gamble without losing all your money, so here I am,” he said, gesturing with the red dauber as Barbara chuckled again.

“Well, your mom is a wise woman,” she said, then her hand raised for a handshake.

“I’m Barb,” she said. The teenager recovered the gesture with a small smirk on his face.

“I’m Kyle.” Shaking her hand gently, he then turned her hand, much to Barb’s confusion.

“I like the nails, lemme guess, Pacific Blue Sally Hansen?” Kyle guessed, and Barbara was surprised.

“Y-yes? How’d ya know about that?” said a surprised Barbara, How’d he guess the correct brand of her nail polish?

“A hunch, I used to paint my mother’s nails a lot, and I often remember the little details of each polish I used. I guess I always remember the little things in life, a me thing, you know?” Kyle explained, his eyes trained on Barb in a concentrated manner.

Unaware of the way Kyle stared at her, Barb simply looked impressed with his memorization skills.

“Well, you must be the smartest kid at your school, then, huh?” she playfully said, as Kyle nodded with a smile on his face. 

“The final box is a game changer, only one call away on three of them,” said Kyle, as Barb jokingly fans herself with her bingo card.

“All I need is I-24, and that sweet seventy-five jackpot is mine ,” she emphasized on the mine part.

“I-24.” Called out the announcer, Barb immediately searched for the number, but-

“Bingo!” called out Kyle, raising his filled-out sheet.

Ah, drat, it seemed Barb had lost, and every other elderly person in the lounge room shared that sentiment as Kyle got up to collect his cash prize.

“Ah, well, better luck next time,” muttered Barb to herself, before she could get up out of her chair, a hand tapped on her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t feel so bad, you know there’s a nice gelato place nearby, anything you want is on me,” Kyle said. Barb perked up at the thought of a nice frosty treat, and this nice young man buying her didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

“Why, I’ll take you up on that offer!” said a happy Barbara, grabbing her purse and getting up to follow Kyle outside. The parking lot was empty this time of night, as Barb followed Kyle to this rather decrepit van that was parked on the very end of the lot, which should raise some alarms in Barb, but the idea of a nice icy treat was more of a priority at the moment.

“Is that your car?” Barbara asked, wanting to make sure.

“Your chariot awaits…” said Kyle, though Barbara didn’t see the darkened look growing on his face.

“Oh, lead the way, you little gentleman, you!” replied Barbara as Kyle reached towards the van and opened the car’s slide door, revealing no seats behind and some kind of bag presumably belonging to Kyle.

The lack of seating arrangement is what bothered Barbara here.

“Uh, you uh don’t have any seats here, I can’t sit back here, I want to sit in the front?” she asked.

Kyle sighed sarcastically.

“Well, Miss Clempton. Life is full of wants and desires.” Kyle began, and Barb felt like she had heard those words before…

“I wanted to spend my life with my little brother, Jeffery.” Kyle finished explaining, his face fully turning into something unrecognizable. 

Barbara’s brain began turning its gears. Jeffery Morgan only had Deborah as his only other sibling, but…Wait, no way…

“K-Kyle…Kyle Moser?” Barbara said, but before she could comprehend any more memories of the young boy Kyle gave her the nastiest right hook across her jaw. Cracking this old lady in her mouth, Kyle then grabbed her by her greying hair and threw her into the van quickly and got in with her, closing the van’s door behind him.

Barb tried to crawl away, but Kyle acted quickly; he mounted on top of her back and smashed her face into the van’s floor. A groan of pain was emitted from her as she began to lose consciousness.

Kyle only smirked in victory. He got up and headed over to the driver’s seat and started the engine. With a destination in mind, Kyle drove out into the night….

ELSEWHERE…

Barbara slowly came back to the land of the living, her vision groggy and her jaw sore. She looked around and realized her current predicament…

Was she at? It was the Virginia docks, oh god, she needed to call for help! She couldn’t move as Barbara realized she was tied up with some rope attached to a metal pipe dock near the body of water. 

Barbara began looking around, and she tried to open her mouth.

“I’ll stab your tongue so don’t even think about it…” said a voice. It was Kyle who came around the corner of her vision.

“W-What are you doing?” she whispered out, her tone silent but filled with fear.

“Did you remember what you promised to me? When I was only five? Do you remember?” Kyle asked, his tone bordering on aggressive.

“Oh god..I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but Kyle..you were sick, you needed help!” she reasoned.

But Kyle didn’t seem to like her reasoning. 

“What I needed was my family, my brother,” said Kyle. he then walked around Barb, who began talking.

“Kyle, Kyle, please listen to me! You needed help, I was doing my job! I did what I thought was best for you, no child would ever come out normal from what happened all those years ago-” Barbara stopped talking and gasped in horror when she saw Kyle coming back with a chainsaw.

Barbara began crying, and she started pleading for her life.

“N-nooo, No! KYLE PLEASE!” she cried out. Kyle walked in to get close to her face.

“You promised me you wouldn’t separate me and Jeffery…” said Kyle.

“I-I’m sorry! Oh god, I’m so sorry..” she cried.

“So, now?” Kyle pulled the cord of his electric chainsaw. 

“I’m gonna separate you,” said Kyle, his dark passenger coming out as he raised the chainsaw and began splicing the old social worker’s neck. She tried to scream, but no matter what she tried to get out, all Kyle could hear was her gurgles of death, the blood splashed all over his face and clothes, but that didn’t deter him. It was his favorite part of his murders, and he watched with cold glee as Barbara’s head came off cleanly thanks to his skillful precision in dismemberment and the shocked look on her face was still there as her head hit the pavement, her body going limp as the blood still spilled out from her neck stump.

Kyle gasped for some air, he sucked in some air and began gathering himself for a bit. The chainsaw was still dripping from his victim’s remains. Kyle used his finger to wipe a bit of blood and took a closer examination to see his craftwork…

“Ahh, well it’s time to leave another piece of the puzzle for baby brother…this time, I think her chest, torso and abdomen should suffice,” said Kyle, revving up the chainsaw he began separating Barbara’s body, the sounds of meat being sliced and cut by a mechanical roar was all could be heard in the empty Virginia docks.

Chapter Text

Braxton was not many things; he was simply a guy in a world of familiar faces, wanting to be something, while he preferred to be in the background. Mostly, this relates to him working as a glorified delivery boy for the MS-13 gang, usually not the most promising career a high schooler like himself should be involved in. Still, the money was very promising, I mean, think of it like this, you're a high schooler who needs money to spend on shit to impress others around you, imagine all the cool stuff he could buy!

Getting into his van, it was a 2005 Chevrolet Express in burgundy. It wasn’t much, but it was his car, and doing those delivery runs helped pay off that car, so honestly, it was all worth it. But what wasn’t worth the risk was telling El Lobo, the guy running the entire gang, that he lost the package of cocaine…Only Braxton can imagine the severe consequences that would come if he told him…

Pulling up at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Braxton thought about what would happen to him at this very moment…what if the school was waiting for him with a bunch of cops to bust his ass? What if they brought those damn dogs to sniff his ass out?? He felt his fear grow by the second and then exponentially worse when he imagined trying to tell the leader of a Hispanic gang that he may have lost the package he was supposed to deliver inside the school…

He heard what happened to those who fucked up around El Lobo…he didn’t want to repeat it verbally, but all it would take was a chainsaw to his body…Braxton didn’t need all that, so he only had one option left: Running Away.

Grabbing his car keys, he was about to start the engine until-

“OW-” Braxton gasped in pain, something had pricked him in the neck! Then he felt his entire being slowly limp as if his body was shutting down, his eyes closing, but he swore he saw someone else in the back of the van…the rear view mirror revealing dark eyes gleaming as this stranger began dragging Braxton behind the van seats.

WITH JEFFERY

Pulling out the rope, Jeffery Morgan began tying up Braxton quickly but carefully, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to untie himself. Licking his teeth in excitement, Jeffery covers Braxton’s mouth with tape, making sure he won't be able to scream when he wakes up. Then Jeffery reaches for a nearby tarp and gently places it over Braxton’s body so that nobody can see his unconscious body, all according to Keiku.

“Just in case, you can never be too paranoid…” Jeffery thinks to himself, his dark passenger growling with excitement for what unbridled horrors Jeffery will bring down onto one of his classmates. Jumping over to the front seat, Jeffery quickly starts the engine and begins driving away from the school slowly, and heads somewhere where no one can disturb him…

…

…

Nicole finally arrived at school with a despondent attitude, as usual. She was about to head towards the main building, but stopped when she felt her brain going into overdrive, small whisperings warning her as the unseen shadowy aura surrounded Nicole. 

She began looking around, trying to figure out what could be setting off her senses. Then a burgundy colored van drove by, and for a split second, Nicole spotted the driver…

“Fucking Jeffery?” She thought, when the hell had Jeffery ever driven to school? All the times she watched him, the only forms of transportation Jeffery Morgan had when coming to school were either the school’s bus or his sister driving him here, but a van? It wasn't much of a surprise, that’s for sure, in fact it was very fitting for a perverse creep like Jeffery, but he was wearing some kind of outfit she had never seen on him before.

He wore one of those long-sleeved shirts that clung to his physique, and Nicole often forgets Jeffery was fit, but on his hands were black leather gloves. Why the fuck, or really, who the fuck wears black gloves like that? Unless you're doing something…wait…No way!

“You are up to something…motherfucker!...” thought Nicole angrily, then Jeffery briefly turned to look at her. A small, sardonic smile flashed on his lips before he turned to look at the road ahead, a blank look on his face as he drove away, Nicole still standing there, but her fists clenched and her face displaying a silent fury.

She wasn’t gonna have to use HER of all people for this, but Nicole didn’t have much of a choice to begin with. She needed to expose Morgan’s dark behavior quickly; her steady supply of Percocet was on the line.

Pulling out her phone, she fished around her contacts for a certain number she didn’t want to have to use, but Nicole was left with many options. Then she finally got to the number, and she pressed the call button and waited as the phone rang.

Suddenly, it picks up.

“N-nicole?” said a voice.

Sighing, “Ari, are you busy today?”

“U-Uh no, why?” Ari responded.

“I need help with a project of mine,” replied Nicole, who began walking to the main building.

“...Is it with Mr. Lorre’s class? I thought that wasn’t due till next week?” said Ari.

“No, actually, it's more of a personal thing I’ve been working on for a while. Will you help me or not?” said Nicole. 

“Like, right now? I don’t know…” said Ari.

“Ugh, why not?” Nicole nearly barked.

“I still have my classes Nicole, I don’t know if I should skip…” said an unsure Ari, Nicole nearly groaned, but she couldn’t give up just yet and Nicole still had one last trick up her sleeve that’ll usually get Ari crumbling to her knees, a method that has never failed her, a tried and true way to get what she wants.

“But Ari, don’t you want to do it for meeee? ” said Nicole, her voice changed into a much different tone, cutesy and to the point, and it always made every guy weak in their knees. 

Ari, unfortunately, was in the same category as she nearly stuttered with her words for a bit before ultimately deciding on her choice.

“I-I guess, if you want. Where do you want us to meet?” said Ari

“Girl’s bathroom, the one near the exits and the vending machines,” said Nicole.

“Okay, I’ll see you-” Nicole hangs up the call, putting her phone back in her pocket and finally enters the main building of her school, thoughts of planning finally coming to fruition as she stalks the school’s halls to find Jecka.

Smelling salts in hand, Jeffery carefully places them underneath Braxton’s nose, who was slowly going to wake up until he took a snort of them. Eyes wide open, face wrinkling, Braxton finally awoke and looked straight at Jeffery, confusion settling in as he realized his situation at hand.

“Jeffery, what? What the fuck is going on?” said Brandon, trying to struggle out of the plastic and rope bindings. He then finally looked around his surroundings and realized that everything inside his van was covered in plastic…

“W-what, dude, why? Wait…” said Braxton. he craned his neck up to see that he was virtually naked, albeit covered in plastic and rope.

“Why am I naked?” he asked, as Jeffery looked at him silently for a minute.

Braxton just had to ask again.

“.... You're not going to rape me, are you?”

“....No…” 

“Oh good, uh, is this a prank? If so, it's a little bit weird but like haha funny…” trailed off Braxton, as Jeffery turned to shuffle around and rummage through a duffle bag.

“You know, Braxton,” began Jeffery, “I never expected much from you. I could say that about everyone at school. I never liked anyone over there, besides Karen, of course, but she's an exception to me; she’s a light in an ocean of festering darkness.” 

Braxton wanted to say something, but he had a feeling that if he said something out loud, then Jeffery might do something bad to him.

“But you? MS-13? Why do you deliver Coke for these guys?” Jeffery said, turning around with the large brick of coke in his gloved hands. Braxton felt his heart drop at the sight of what was supposed to be his daily package now in the hands of the social outcast from his school.

But Braxton didn’t want to give up just yet.

“Oh, uh, wow, cool man. You got my thing, um, the whole MS-13 thing, it’s like an afternoon job. I needed the money, and well, this guy Esteban was scouting for random teens to help out-” Suddenly, Jeffery lunged at Braxton, mounting on top of him and covering his mouth with his gloved hand.

“Is this Esteban the EL LOBO? Is he your boss? Tell me…” growled Jeffery, his dark passenger in full effect as Braxton looked at his kidnapper with sudden fear in his eyes, mouth agape. He tried to say something, but the knife in his throat caused the buzz cut boy to tremble in fear.

“I-I don’t,” stammered Braxton, but Jeffery didn’t have time for stuttering words as he grabbed Braxton by the plastic and rope tied onto his body.

“TELL ME NOW!” Jeffery screamed, it wasn’t the first time he ever had to get in his victim’s face and scream the way he did, it certainly wouldn’t be the last with fucking Braxton of all people.

Seeing the knife aimed precisely at his throat, Braxton certainly didn’t want to die here, so he decided to talk, spill everything he knew so far working for these guys.

“I-I’m just a delivery boy, that's it. E-Esteban is the one running the deliveries, but he isn’t El Lobo! T-that's a different guy, I swear!” babbled Braxton.

“Go on…” said Jeffery.

“El Lobo, he’s the one running things, Esteban is just one of his henchmen, but he seems like he's a capo, like in the mafia type shit! But that’s all I know!” cried Braxton, that was all he knew so far.

Jeffery stayed silent, he did place the knife down next to him, and Braxton internally sighed in relief, maybe Jeffery will finally let him go.

Then Jeffery sliced his cheek out of nowhere! 

“OW, WHAT THE FUCK!” screamed Braxton, blood spilled from his cheek as Jeffery held a scalpel in his hand in such a surgical manner. Then, Jeffery grabbed Braxton’s head, much to his protests, and used the baster hidden in his back pocket to absorb the blood as he finally got off the tied-up Braxton.

“Sorry about that, Braxton, it’s a thing of mine. I like blood a little too much, the color of it, the way it flows out of a person’s body…It’s my greatest obsession besides anime and manga, of course,” said Jeffery, a small smile as he drips the blood on a slide he closes it, and carefully places it in the duffle bag next to him.

“I-I thought you were gonna let me go?” said Braxton, but Jeffery then grabbed a tissue and forcibly stuffed it into Braxton’s mouth. He tried to speak up, but Jeffery grabbed him by his mouth and got a little too close for Braxton’s comfort.

“Let you go? No, I can’t. Criminals like you, always in the same cycle over and over again. You start work, then you rise in the underworld, and then you’ll just bring more harm to this world. You already fit my code, you help poison people with drugs…” said Jeffery, grabbing the knife he had placed down as he raised it slightly as Braxton began trying to scream through his gag.

“But for me? I do this because I’m better than you,” said Jeffery. He raised the knife as Braxton tried to scream once more…

…

…

Placing the last of Braxton’s limbs in the heavy-duty garbage bag, Jeffery got out of the van as he took note of his surroundings. He drove out to a secluded area away from any signs of civilization. Virginia always had such nice, wonderful areas with beautiful bodies of water and lakes perfectly suited to his needs. 

While he didn’t bring his fishing boat and dump Braxton’s remains with the others to keep him company, Jeffery figured a nice change of pace would be nice and totally wouldn’t make him look suspicious, but unfortunately, there is another huge problem, which is Braxton’s van. 

He can’t leave it here, and he certainly wouldn’t take it back home. Deb would get all crazy on him, and Jeffery did not want to handle his sister’s volatile temper. Jeffery knows he can’t just drive it into the lake; it would just be impractical. 

Jeffery looked at the van and could only think…think…

An idea popped into his mind.

Jeffery looked at the separate small garbage bag, which stored Braxton’s clothing, alongside the plastic and rope used to bind his victims, too. Grabbing a handful of the black t-shirt, Jeffery ripped a piece off and headed around the vehicle to reach for the gas cap.

Popping it open and unscrewing the cap, then stuffing the piece of the clothing into the hole, Jeffery then pulls out the lighter he found when rummaging through the van, a few clicks and sparks, a small flame appeared, and Jeffery began lighting up the cloth.

The cloth catches on fire as Jeffery walks away quickly, picking up his duffle bag as he begins taking off his gloves and stuffing them into his pockets. 

Gaining a bit more distance, Jeffery began stripping off his Henley shirt and changing into another appropriate t-shirt until-

“Sousa kanashimi wo yasashisa ni!”

His phone rang, he froze mid shirt change and looked down to hear the noise of his ringtone, which was the third intro theme to Naruto, Kanashimi Wo Yasashisa Ni. Putting on his t-shirt, Jeffery reached into his bag to see who was calling him.

💘karen💘

This was a surprise.

Jeffery answered and placed the phone to his ear.

“Karen?” said Jeffery.

She didn’t say anything at first, but Jeffery could still hear her soft breathing through the phone line. God, how he missed the soft sounds of her breathing.

Nobody said anything for a few seconds as Jeffery stood there waiting for a response from his estranged girlfriend.

“Jeffery?” she said finally.

“...Yes.”

“Can we…Can we talk?” she finally says.

“Of course, I’m not doing anything right now. Wanna meet up after school?” said Jeffery.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” said Karen.

“Mmm, so uh, how’s classes-” 

Then a loud explosion could be heard. Jeffery flinched and turned to see the van now covered in flames, the smoke beginning to spread into the sky as Jeffery looked back with surprise.

“Jeffery, what the hell was that?!” Karen yelled over the phone, worried in her tone.

“Uhhh, lab thing. Just a thing with chemistry, you know how Mr. Mitchell gets when mixing those dangerous chemicals!” Jeffery lied quickly, hoping it would work on his girlfriend.

“Oh god, are you okay? That was loud!” inquired Karen.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright. I was sitting in the back, as usual,” said Jeffery, wiping his brow as he held his phone between his ear and shoulder as he started putting on a pair of beige checkered patterned cargo shorts.

“So uh, wanna talk after school? I would be more than happy to meet with you then,” recommended Jeffery as he slipped on into his sneakers and grabbed his duffle bag, heading out of the secluded spot and into the woods. He made his way back to school as he talked with Karen over the phone.

Nicole waited impatiently; she never had the proper discipline to wait for anyone, even if her favorite person in the world, Jecka, who was resting her head on her shoulder, typing away on her flip phone to pass the time, would even help to alleviate her boredom.

Checking on her phone, the last message from Ari said that she was coming, but that felt like hours ago. 

“I’m sorry! I’m here!” called out Ari, finally arriving as Nicole and Jecka got up from their respective spots to meet with her.

“Took you fucking long enough,” snarked Jecka, closing her phone and crossing her arms as she glared at Ari, who didn’t flinch from Jecka’s aggressiveness as she rubbed her arm.

“So, what is it that you called me out here to talk about?” questioned Ari, as Nicole stepped closer to speak up.

“Morgan.”

“...JP Morgan bank?” said a confused Ari.

“No, Jeffery.”

“...What about him?” asked Ari, not liking where this might be going.

“You see, we all know he’s a fucking creep, right?” began Nicole.

“Well, obviously, I think I’m aware of his antics,” said Ari.

“What, did he do something to you?” asked Jecka.

“Not particularly, but I was his partner in Biology one time, and he looked like he was enjoying himself too much in dissecting the frog. You know what else he did?” explained Ari.

“No, what he’d do?” asked Jecka, her tone full of curiosity.

“He separated the organs, all of them in this neat and organized manner, and then he sliced the arms and legs off the frog, too. He butchered it like some kind of surgeon…” said Ari. The reactions of the two girls were telling.

Nicole didn’t move from the statement, her face was more analytical as if she had heard of this kind of behavior before, but Jecka? She looked rather green at the careful dissection. 

“Oh god…” whispered Jecka to herself.

“So like what else then, if it's to shit talk Jeffery then I guess I should go since that is what you two do half the time,” said Ari, but Nicole grabbed her arm.

“No, wait, don't go. This does involve Morgan, but I need your help…” said Nicole.

“With what?”

“I’m gonna need you to like to get close and follow him-” before Nicole could finish explaining, Ari ripped her arm away from Nicole’s grip and stepped back.

“Oh fuck no, hell nah I am not going anywhere near THAT!” Ari nearly yelled, surprising the other two girls with this display of fear.

“Huh? Fuck do you mean no?” questioned an annoyed Nicole. 

“Listen, I’ll put up with a lot of things, really I will, but Jeffery? Fucking Jeffery? You think I want to be anywhere near him after that whole Leg fiasco?” exclaimed Ari, as both Nicole and Jecka did remember that particular incident a few months back. Jecka looked sickened just thinking of it while Nicole had this hard-boiled detective look on her face, analyzing her memory as best as she could.

“..Okay yeah, maybe you wouldn’t want to get near him, but I need you to do this for me,” said Nicole.

“Oh fuck no, I’m not getting near that!” Ari said, her body language showing how disgusted she is at the thought of having to be near Jeffery.

“I mean, at this point, you could be the one doing all this detective stuff yourself. I mean, with how obsessive you are trying to prove he’s the Mutilator, it’s like you want something else,” piped up Jecka.

“You think he’s the mutilator? Jeffery looks like he wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less kill anyone we know,” joked Ari.

“Hold that thought, Ari, Jecka, what did you mean by that?” said Nicole, as Jecka shrugged.

“I mean like, Nicole, do you wanna fuck Jeffery or something?” questioned Jecka, a serious look on her face.

“Fuck no!” Nicole nearly yelled.

“Could’ve told me that, after all, you destroyed what Jeff and Karen had going on,” chuckled Ari.

“Shut up,” retorted Nicole.

“I’m just saying, but I do wanna know something,” Ari said.

“About what?” Nicole said, one hand on her hip as usual.

“So like, what’s up with this stalker boner you have for Jeffery?” asked Ari.

“Stalker Boner?” said Nicole sardonically.

“You know what I mean, this weird beef you have with Jeffery. Out of all the guys in school, you blow them off when they annoy you. But Jeffery is like some sudden exception, and you like, antagonize him even when he’s not doing anything,” explained Ari.

“You know, I’ve been saying the same thing for like two years,” said Jecka, seemingly agreeing with Ari for once.

“Shut up, both of you. Even if I did tell you two, I don't think you would understand why I always do this to him.” Nicole tried to explain, though the other two didn’t seem to get what she meant.

“You know, maybe if you explained it more clearly than trying to half ass it as usual, then we would understand the bigger picture, Nicole,” said an annoyed Ari, her arms folding as she is getting fed up.

Jecka decided to try a different approach. She went over to Nicole and began to softly rub her hands behind Nicole’s back, and began to speak in a more soothing tone.

“Babe, it can’t be that hard to explain. Just tell us, if you don’t wanna fuck him, why are you always on Jeffery’s ass all the time?” Jecka said sweetly, though very uncharacteristically. Despite her cold and already unpleasant attitude, Nicole began to relax underneath Jecka’s affectionate behavior, all while Ari stood there awkwardly.

While Ari felt a bit of burning jealousy at the sight of these two, something inside of her was a little bit curious. Sure, she may have harbored some feelings for Doakes here, but Ari was curious, and when she’s curious, she wants to know more, and the case of Nicole and Jeffery’s contemptuous relationship was already filling her with more questions than she can think of…

“Okay, so I can assume that the leg…” said Ari, shuddering at the thought of having to bring up the chopped-off leg incident in September. “Ugh…thing isn’t the reason why you're always so mean to him?

“Mean is a bit too nice,” giggled Jecka, her arm snaking around Nicole’s waist.

“Well, tell me this, Ari, when Jeffery found that leg, did he react at all?” said Nicole.

“...Not really? What did he do- How did he react?” said Ari.

Nicole cleared her throat.

“He just saw that leg and didn’t even react. Tell me what kind of guy his age would want to get near the fucking thing and try touching it? When Crispin took a look at it, he fucking threw up, but Jeffery? He looked like he wanted to take it home!” said Nicole, her voice getting tense, as Jecka looked slightly green.

“B-but, it still doesn’t make sense though, if he’s the mutilator, he wouldn’t give himself away like that, serial killers don’t like to show up at the scene of the crime?” said Jecka.

“Well, even if he isn’t, he looked at that leg and didn’t react; he’s hiding something!” barked Nicole.

“I don’t fucking know, maybe it’s his weird way of processing things!” exclaimed Jecka.

“Well, Jeffery is weird.” Ari agreed.

“Ugh, it’s not just that, listen, I always had this gut feeling about him, it’s like I have these…alarms ringing in my head whenever he walks by.” Nicole began explaining.

“Alarms? What, you have some super power to sense evil or some shit?” said Ari, who looked incredulous at what Nicole just said.

“It’s not, it’s instinct and a hell of a lot of experience.” 

“Experience? Since when have you been a fucking detective?” asked Ari.

“...My dad used to take me hunting, he taught me a lot of Military stuff and how to spot shit most wouldn’t see, I spent years doing this kind of thing and I’m telling you, Morgan is dangerous,” explained Nicole.

Ari looked like she didn’t buy into Nicole's explanation.

“So he gives you the creeps, okay, I get the same feelings from him, he’s a weirdo and all, but I don’t actively spend my time trying to mess with him the way you two do,” said Ari.

“It’s not just that, remember Trody?” asked Nicole.

“What about Trody?” said Ari.

“Jeffery beat the shit out of him for kicking his bag. I saw the whole thing. He nearly choked him to near death until Crispin stepped in, it’s how I met him on the first day, but like, the look he gave me was like…predatory,” said Nicole, fists clenching.

“To be fair, Coach Colby and Mr. Chase were literal predators too,” piped up Jecka.

“Yeah, but this is Jeffery we’re talking about, but don’t you think it’s strange that they disappeared so suddenly whenever he’s around?” theorized Nicole.

“....What do you mean?” asked Ari.

“Think about it, first it was Kylar who disappeared, and guess who was last seen around? Jeffery pointed out Nicole.

Ari looked confused by this.

“What, you think Jeffery has something to do with Kylar's disappearance?” said Ari.

Nicole nodded.

“Yeah, then Colby stops showing up, then Mr. Chase too, and guess what? Me, Jecka, and I here, we saw him talking to the counselor,” said Nicole.

“This is…” whispered Ari.

“True? I know it’s a lot to take in, but-” 

“No, this sounds fucking insane,” interrupted Ari, her face so unserious after hearing what Nicole had just implied.

“Wha- Ari listen-”

“No! Nicole listen I like you and all but I’m having a hard time trying to make heads and tails of all this, and all I can think is that what you said at face value about Jeffery, and my only conclusion about this whole thing is that you must not like him if you think Jeffery Morgan of all people had something to do with them. I mean, get fucking real, Nicole. Just because he gave you a dirty look doesn’t mean he’s a super serial killer? It must've been a good reason on his part for all the drama you are trying to pull on him,” said a very frustrated Ari, now fed up with Nicole and her supposed theories.

“Ari, that thing with Trody-”

“Other than the fight, Jeffery at this point is a wet blanket. You've got to get over this shit.” 

“Fucking- Ari, when our eyes made contact, I saw something in there that bothered me! It still freaks me out that someone as soulless as him can exist! It’s like a lizard gliding on ice, he’s not HUMAN!” Nicole practically yelled, as Ari had to look shocked at seeing Nicole yell, all because she believed something was off about Jeffery…

“So because he looked at you weird, you had it out for him since day one?” said Ari in disbelief.

“...That’s some way to put it,” said Jecka, putting her two cents in as always.

“He’s hiding something, Ari, I can feel it! It’s like looking the enemy in the face! That’s why I need your help for this,” said Nicole, too proud to beg, but still tried her best to convince Ari to tag along in her antics.

“Well, I don’t know how we’re gonna goad Jeffery with Ari here into…I don’t know what it is you want him to do,” said Jecka, trying to brainstorm.

“Tch, I don’t know but he’s not gonna pull the same smart ass shit he did back in the library…” said Nicole, still bitter that Jeffery had decided to finally stand up for himself.

“Well, I’m not touching him for starters, and assuming the worst case scenario, it’s better than just standing up to you because Jeffery was getting tired of getting bullied just for existing, even if he is a weirdo,” retorted Ari.

“Hey, first of all, that creep trips over his own words whenever we talk to him,” began Nicole.

“Bully him, just say you two bully him because that is all you two do with him,” said Ari, already tired of Nicole trying to justify her behavior with him.

“Oh, I didn’t know you actually like Jeffery, Ari,” said Jecka snidely.

“I don’t actually, I don’t hate him, but he’s still weird and annoying, and yet he doesn’t do anything to bother me or anyone, which I don’t know why you're still trying to convince me that Jeffery is some evil mastermind or some shit,” explained Ari.

“Jesus, fine, look!” said Nicole. She dug out something from her pocket and revealed it to both Jecka and Ari, a small ziplock bag that held a piece of blood-covered plastic.

“...What is this, Nicole?” asked Jecka.

“Blood,” said Nicole.

“WHAT?!” gasped Jecka, stepping back in fear as if Nicole were carrying a deadly pathogen of sorts.

“...Blood? You're joking,” said Ari.

“Take a closer look, that is blood. It’s dried, but the pattern is there, it looks like someone got their blood spilled here…” explained Nicole.

“What the fuck, where did you find this then?” questioned Ari.

“...The basement of my house, that’s where my brother lived.” 

“Brother? You have a brother?” said a surprised Ari.

“Yeah, there’s a good reason I don’t talk about him, but now he disappeared for some reason, and this was the last thing I found,” said Nicole, shaking the bag ever so slightly.

Ari simply looked at Nicole.

“Let me guess…Jeffery was behind it?” Ari deduced.

“...Yes,” answered Nicole.

“Oh my god, oh my god!” panicked Jecka.

“What’s wrong?” said a worried Ari.

“Oh my god…m-m-maybe he is a psychopath?! He was putting on an act this whole time?!” exclaimed Jecka, who covered her mouth as she panicked at the mere thought of Jeffery being an actual psychopath.

“Bravo, babe, that’s what I’ve been telling you this whole time,” said a sarcastic Nicole.

“Oh my god, what if I’m next?! Is he gonna rape me?!” exclaimed Jecka again, freaking out at the realization that Jeffery might come after her next.

“I wouldn’t put it past him, he’s got a lot of reasons to do some fucked up shit, and considering how he’s treated at school, he might do something that bad,” said Nicole, who crossed her arms in thought.

“If I’m gonna be raped, then murdered, then I don’t wanna be raped by Jeffery of all people!!” Jecka nearly screamed as she hugged herself in fear.

Ari couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Oh my fucking God, do you guys hear yourselves?! Listen, the guy is a literal loser, but there is no way someone like Jeffery, fucking Jeffery, is coordinated enough to do half the shit that's been going on, much less kill everyone that’s disappearing.” Ari rebutted.

“Don’t you see? He’s connected to the Mutilator murders or at least knows something!” claimed Nicole, waving the dried plastic piece she held in her hand.

“How would he even know?” 

“His sister.”

“He has a sister?” 

“Uh step sister, Jeffery was adopted, but the thing is, and Jecka, I have been doing some research, and we discovered some pretty interesting things…” Nicole said.

“Like what?”

“He was adopted right, and his family is all working for the police,” began Nicole.

“So you think his sister is telling him?” 

“The thing is, I think either Jeffery must have some knowledge of whatever is going on, or he’s the murderer who’s killing everyone! It’s foolproof,” finished Doakes, who looked so sure in her theory about Jeffrey.

Ari rubbed her temples, trying to suppress the incoming migraine.

“...So either he’s the mutilator or he’s just somehow connected. And you want me to go near this potential killer, sending me to my death?” said Ari, who straight up stared at both Nicole and Jecka in a deadpan expression.

“...You know, she might be right, Nicole, why are we sending Ari after Jeffery?” questioned Jecka, now seeing Ari’s point of view.

“Because I know that Jeffery knows that I’m always watching him. But if we send someone else whom he rarely talks to, then maybe he’ll open up. Ari is perfect for that,” said Nicole.

“But why me? You could use Emily?” suggested Ari.

“Well, we did, but…well, you know how that ended, and even if we did ask her, she’d probably stab him,” said Nicole.

“There was Kelly, but-” Nicole stopped as she realized that she wasn't around anymore. She looked at the other two girls. Jecka looked a bit despondent at the mention of Kelly, but Ari? She looked fucking upset.

“Ari?” said Jecka, wondering what was wrong with her all of a sudden. Ari wiped her eyes of what seemed to be tears as she stood tall in front of the two girls.

“..I-if you want me to talk to Jeffery about it so bad, fine, I’ll do it and not because I still find you hot, okay?” said Ari as she turned and stomped off angrily. 

“That… was new,” said Jecka, but Nicole felt something inside of her hiss, Ari was hiding something, and it might’ve been related to her name-dropping Kelly…

So Nicole ran up, Jecka called out behind her back, but she ignored her as she caught up to Ari.

“Ari, Ari.” 

“What?!” she said, nearly yelling.

“When I mentioned Kelly…were you two?...” asked Nicole curiously.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“No, be for real, I saw your entire mood change, and not that I’m protesting about your change in mind, but tell me, did Kelly mean a lot to you?” questioned Nicole.

Ari didn’t say anything; she looked down at her sneakers for a bit until she sighed loudly.

“For like a while, yeah, she was a slut, but like that was my first girlfriend…sure it didn’t last long, but she didn’t deserve to…” Ari couldn’t finish her sentence as she sniffled a bit before turning to Nicole again.

“I’ll try and help you in your little investigation, but only if you do me a favor…” said Ari, as Nicole looked confused at what Ari was trying to propose, as Jecka finally caught up.

“...what is it?” asked Nicole.

“Kiss me,” said Ari.

“Wait, what?” huffed Jecka.

“Not you, herpes loaded. Nicole has to kiss me,” grunted Ari.

“Why me?” said Nicole

“Yeah, why her? Did you forget we’re dating?” said a defensive Jecka, who got in front of her girlfriend and stood between the two girls.

“Well, I can barely tolerate Nicole. I mean, she’s a cold, corrupt, selfish psychopathic little bitch. I mean, you’re someone with a lot of issues, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you liked killing animals,” ranted Ari 

“...Kinda when I was eight.” 

“Wait, you did?” said Jecka.

“On a hunting trip with my dad, I stabbed a deer in the neck.”

“That explains a lot, it’s no wonder you're this much of a twisted heartless bitch who bullies people like Jeffery, but..” said Ari, who took a breath and released a sigh.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you every waking moment of my sad fucking life, even if you are dating Jecka…” 

“...I think you need therapy,” responded Nicole.

Ari shrugged.

“I know, but if you don’t, you know how good I am at spinning a narrative, and I know you don’t want to be labeled the homophobic girl who tried to force the gay girl into doing weird stuff with the social outcast.” Shit, Ari got her there.

“Nicole, you're not gonna? Nicole?” said Jecka, who saw her girlfriend contemplating kissing Ari. Nicole sighed silently, something inside of her was laughing at her expense, but she cleared her shadowy thoughts and turned to look at Ari straight in the eyes.

Sometimes, to achieve one’s goals, one must complete the most egregious tasks that are laid in front of their path…

Chapter Text

After a month dealing with Braxton, Jeffery’s social life at school has become a bit more stable after he and Karen made up after a very long discussion over “trust and communication”, to which Jeffery had to stifle his laughter when she brought that up…

Trust? Communication? Come on now.

“Communication? Even Deb doesn’t know half of the things I do, but Karen? Well, what do I say to her? Hey, babe, my snookums, my beloved goddess, did I ever tell you that in my spare time, I kill and dissect criminals and dump their bodies in rivers of water? I also have this unhealthy obsession with blood, too, and I like to collect them and put them into slides as part of my trophy collection hidden underneath my compartment desk!” Jeffery said to himself in his thoughts, sarcasm coursing through his teenage mind.

Finally arriving at school, Jeffery stops as he takes off his glasses and begins inspecting them for any smudges or imperfections. But really, he was looking at the lens reflection and spotted the person who had been following him a few blocks back…

Ari Yates.

“Oh great, another dark agent of Doakes sent after me, the meek and innocent little Jeffery Morgan…” Jeffery sarcastically thought to himself, Ari has been following him since he left his home. He’ll give the lesbian some credit; she can be rather nondescript when she wants to be, despite her hair making her stand out.

But Jeffery wasn’t going to be intimidated this time; somewhere in the depths of his shadowy brain, he still had some doubts ringing. The last time he was confronted was with Emily McKay, who was very brazen with her unwanted touching, and she nearly succeeded in driving a wedge between him and Karen.

But what about Ari?

Jeffery didn’t want to act very standoffish, like he tried doing with Nicole and Jecka in the library, but he didn’t want to be scared into submission by Nicole here, with her usage of Ari against him. Ari has some strange social power to turn everyone against a single person by calling them homophobic. Jeffery himself had personally seen this happen, and that’s something he didn’t want happening to him. 

Ari was a bit unpredictable, and he didn’t like people being unpredictable to him; that was Jeffery’s thing, and only he could be unpredictable. 

“Maybe…Maybe I’ll try the same thing but get her to see things my way…” Jeffery smiled to himself. Time to use his old nerd charm.

Checking his digital watch, Jeffery still had enough time to sit around and maybe mess with his computer. If Ari does follow him, he’ll pretend to notice her and greet her with the usual “Jeffery Morgan charm” and initiate a conversation that she’ll be forced into. It’s a tried and true method, even works on the faculty here too, and maybe, just maybe, Jeffery will weird out Principal Lynn a little if he could.

“But first, let's get Ari out of the way…” thought Jeffery as he headed to one of the courtyards at his school, with Ari slowly following behind.

Jeffery made sure to head to the nearest courtyard at school and settle down, pull out a Coke and his laptop, something that his father, Harry Morgan, has often drilled inside his head so that Jeffery can look “normal”. Ari inched close to the doors of the courtyard, her phone out, making her look like she wasn’t following Jeffery, yet she snuck glances towards him. Was she texting Doakes on this new plot against him? Innocent and Innocuous Jeffery Morgan?

Before Jeffery could call the lesbian over to him, the sounds of clicking and clacking on the pebble ground could be heard as Jeffery darted his eyes to see Principal Lynn approaching him, a coffee thermos mug in those sharp, manicured nails of hers, as those dark violet eyes stared directly into Jeffery’s.

“Early as usual, Mr. Morgan?” greeted Lynn, though her face held a look of neutrality. Jeffery’s inner shadow was rumbling as he felt that she was trying to “scan him”. 

“Early bird gets the worm!” said Jeffery in his usual joyful chumminess, but he knew if he acted even a little bit off, Lynn would get more suspicious. That degree in Psychology that hung proudly on that office of hers wasn’t for show, and Jeffery knew he couldn’t afford slip-ups, especially with Ari now trying to look like she wasn’t inconspicuous as she sat down nearby, watching him carefully.

“As the saying goes, how are your classes going, young man?” asked Lynn, the emphasis on the young man was clear as Jeffery fought the urge to scoff at her. That tongue and mouth of hers are definitely getting cut first once Jeffery gets his hands on her, but he still must play the role first.

“They’re going alright, just working on my biology paper here,” Jeffery said, gesturing to his computer. Lynn’s eyes darted to his laptop and hummed to herself.

“I see, keep up the work then, Mr. Morgan,” said Principal Lynn, who began walking away as Jeffery slowly turned around to his laptop, though in the corner of his eye, he gave the retreating principal a rather nasty side eye.

“Oh, and one more thing, Jeffery,” said Principal Lynn. Jeffery got rid of his glare as he quickly reverted to his weak, innocent facade.

“Do try to stay a little bit more focused on the important things, Jeffery. Your long breaks to the bathroom do get quite concerning,” she said, a critical stare that Jeffery responded to with a nod. 

Seemingly satisfied with his supposed cowering state, Principal Lynn walked back into the building as Jeffery still stared at her, even when she seemingly disappeared in the hallways.

“She somewhat suspects me, but Lynn here will know the real me soon enough…” Jeffery thought to himself, vivid fantasies of seeing the school principal falling to his knees, naked as the day she was born, on a nondescript table in an unseen area where Lynn would be wrapped in plastic sheets and rope, and with Jenny Filmore’s face plastered in front of her. 

The usual small banter will happen, and Jeffery wonders if Lynn will provide a more stimulating and intellectual conversation than the last faculty members he had gone through. Will she deny it? Say it’s for some greater good on why she covered up Kylar’s murder for so long? Or deny her wrongdoings and blame it on Kylar, who had started this whole conspiracy? 

He wanted to kill her so badly. Lynn was having this finely prepared steak dinner. Jeffery wanted to sink his teeth into her and see how her blood gushes out when he delivers the proverbial stab, finally ending his little “school project”. 

The Dark Passenger will finally be satiated, though Jeffery knows there are more of those kinds of people, escaping justice…more for his slide collection, he couldn’t wait once he’s done with Lake Braddock, the endless opportunities seem so close in Jeffery’s grasp…

Jeffery stopped him darkly, turning back to his computer, he pretended he was diligently working on his biology report while he still stared at Ari from the reflection of his laptop, her fingers rapidly pressing on the keypad of her phone, no doubt she was sending her reports to Doakes. 

Before Jeffery could do something about Ari, a playful tap to his hair interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see Rudy looking at him with his usual smirk and sitting down across from him.

“What did she want from you?” asked Rudy, pulling out a half-eaten bag of chips as he began digging in. 

“Just wanted to say hello, she thinks I’m skipping too, but the principal doesn’t know that I know how to avoid all those cameras. Honestly, it’s so easy for someone of my intelligence, it's laughable even,” said Jeffery arrogantly. Rudy chuckled at his friend’s behavior as usual.

“At this point, you should run this school; half of these teachers are too busy staring at underage tits than trying to teach us the material required in the syllabus,” Rudy said mirthlessly, flipping through the packet he was assigned by Mr. Burleday.

“Science, huh, you have Mr. Burleday? I heard he likes looking down on girls’ t-shirts rather than teaching his class, but you only heard that from me!” Jeffery fake-whispered to Rudy, who in turn shook his head and chuckled at what his friend had said.

“...I’m starting to think we might be the only normal ones here in this insane asylum…”

“What makes you say that?” 

“Everyone I met so far is like genuine trashy people, like not even regular white trash, like everyone is just…I don’t know how to explain it.” Rudy tries explaining, trying not to come off as sounding mean.

“Weird?” suggested Jeffery.

“Yeah, weird like the redhead over there.” Rudy subtly gestured towards Ari, who was still sitting on one of the benches in the mini courtyard, still trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

“I saw her trying to tail you, bro. I can only guess she is with, what's her name? Dinkes?”

“Doakes, Nicole Doakes,” corrected Jeffery.

“Ah, right here,” said Rudy, snapping his fingers. “Is she still trying to fuck with you? Why is it that someone like her is so interested in you like that? She acts like you killed someone.”

“Understatement of the year…” Jeffery thought to himself, though he always had a perfect excuse whenever anyone asked him about Nicole and her relentless pursuit of trying to expose his dirty little secrets.

So Jeffery thought of a well-rounded solution: Bring up Kelly Anderson.

“She thinks I had something to do with Kelly...” answered Jeffery. Rudy raised a brow at the mention of the name.

“Kelly? I think I remember that name. Was she the blonde one? In pink?”

“No, that's Jessica; Kelly was the girl who died a while back.” 

“Oh, her…I heard really nasty stuff. Did the police ever find the rest of her? I heard they found only her head and arm,” questioned Rudy, who inched closer to Jeffery when he said the last few sentences.

“Yes, but whoever did this to her is really good, I mean- The killer is still out there,” babbled Jeffery, who hoped that Rudy wouldn’t rip on him for his slip-up.

“Uh-huh, guess that means the Mutilator is still out there, huh…still, the rumors here about that guy were something, especially since everyone thought you were the one cutting people up?” said Rudy, who did giggle at the thought of Jeffery Morgan of all people, a serial killer of sorts.

“Right, me? Come on now,” joked Jeffery, as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

Both boys giggled over the idea while Ari was furiously typing on her phone, making sure she got everything down on what the boys had said. Deciding she had gotten enough information, Ari gathered her bag and made her leave as she headed inside the building, unaware that Rudy was glaring holes behind her back.

LATER ON...

School was a blur for Jeffery, and he did the usual repetitive things he always does: Attend classes, eat lunch with Karen and Rudy, avoid people he doesn’t like, such as Crispin, and pretend he doesn’t notice Doakes giving him her usual death glares.

Speaking of Nicole, things between her and Jessica weren’t looking too hot from what Jeffery had heard, and if he had to be a guessing man, it probably means Ari was somehow involved in why those two aren’t usually together.

“Alas, toxic yuri was never meant to be…I’m surprised those two lasted longer than they did. I was betting on them breaking up around junior year, heh, but there’s a part that's always made me curious about Nicole…what is it that Jecka sees in someone like her? It’s like what made someone like Karen see someone like me?” thought Jeffery.

Jeffery, who was standing in front of his locker, stood still when he thought about it. Did he still think he liked Karen? Does he enjoy being the butt of everyone's jokes sometimes in this school? 

“No, not really. The only thing I really enjoy is…” Jeffery glanced at a security camera, and a small impish smile graced his features.

“Killing, obviously, and your next, my dear Principal Lynn…” Jeffery thought he was about to walk away until he failed one of his many goals for today’s quota: Avoiding Crispin.

“Oh, hey Jeff, what’s so funny” asked Crispin, trying to strike up a conversation but Jeffery wasn’t in the socialization mood as he closed his locker and told Crispin it was nothing Jeffery sped walked his way out of school, pulling his phone out from his khaki pockets he started texting Karen, sending her falsified texts of love, telling her that he can’t walk with her back home because Deb called him for something important. 

Knowing that the Deborah excuse was solid enough, Jeffery leaves the school, but this time, instead of the main entrance he so often uses, Jeffery takes the side entrance as a new exit, hoping to deter either Ari or Nicole from trying to follow him. 

The side entrance led to the parking lot, and it’s where every student who had a car would often go to show off and joyride around, but he was only interested in getting a potential ride with a certain faculty member…

He spotted Lynn heading to her car, out of all the vehicles his principal had owned, Jeffery didn’t expect it to be a 1976 Ford Bronco of all things. It was a gaudy green jeep yet Lynn casually got in, throwing her bag on the passenger seat, started up her car and drove out of there though she did meet his gaze, even if it was brief it seemed that there was a small mental showdown between the two disguised predators, a soon to be showdown between the school principal and the social outcast…

Lynn drove off, but her eyes averted to the rear view mirror, glaring at Jeffery, who was staring at her with this unreadable expression…she only scoffed at this silly attempt at intimidation.

“Sooner or later, Lynn, only one of us will be walking away from this…you’ll have a special place amongst my slides…” Jeffery smirks internally, his dark passenger growls with anticipation for the next kill.

The sun was beginning to disappear as the skies changed their color, the indication of night arriving as Jeffery Morgan opened the door to his home and walked inside, closing it behind him, though he was unaware of the other person who was following him back home, but decided to take the scenic route.

Keeping her breathing to a minimum, Ari tries her best to climb over the fence where the Morgan residence was located. Heart beating wildly, she carefully stepped around the fallen leaves and scattered sticks on the grass to avoid making any sounds of the rumors on how jumpy Jeffery was, so getting caught was not an option.

She sees a window glowing further ahead, indicating someone was in there. Judging from the fact that it was a basement window, Ari already assumed that’s where Jeffery was residing.

“Why am I not surprised that he sleeps in a basement…” Thought Ari, as she made her way slowly to the window and peered into the window, sweat dripped down her brow.

Jeffery was in the basement, as Ari could see. The basement seemingly had everything suited for someone like Jeffery…anime and video game posters strewn everywhere, though she could tell the walls were a faded blue color, his bed neatly made and organized, though the blanket pattern consisted of beige stripes. She did see a single nightstand with a lamp, alongside some kind of Chinese-looking comics of sorts, but Ari did notice the framed photo standing out, though she couldn't tell what the photo was.

Then she sees Jeffery, in what he seems to be wearing, some kind of outfit of sorts. Ari had never seen something like this before. Usually, she knew Jeffery often wore some kind of hand-me-downs, but here he was wearing some kind of long-sleeved shirt with gloves and cargo pants tucked into a pair of boots. 

Jeffery looked as if he was going on some kind of hunt, then Ari’s mouth widened open when she saw the nerd taking out some kind of rollbag, revealing a bunch of sharp knives. He pulled out a large cleaver knife and began sharpening it, and Ari could see the intense focus on Jeffery’s face as if he was preparing to do something…bad.

Ari couldn’t take it anymore, she reached for her phone and began dialing Nicole’s number. 

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck.” Ari panicked internally. The sight of the knives was more than enough, especially in the hands of someone like Jeffery. Fucking Jeffery…to think Nicole was actually right about him, he was going to kill someone. As the phone rang, Ari began to walk away from the Morgan residence, hoping that she would pick up.

“Holy fucking shit, please can you pick the fuck up please, please! ” Ari whispered, 

Then she heard it, the line clicking, and Ari felt relieved.

“Ari, what the fuck do you want?” answered Nicole in her usual manner.

“Nicole, Nicole, it's Jeffery, he’s- he’s the” before Ari could finish her sentence, an unseen figure appeared behind her with a thick branch-

BAM

Ari saw nothing but white in her peripheral vision, and she fell to the ground hard. Someone had hit her with something, but who-

Then she saw a sneaker swinging into her face. Ari’s world exploded in pain as the attacker had kicked her right across her face. 

Ari coughed, blood spilling from her lip and nose, tears blurred her sight as she groaned in pain. The attacker then tried to grab her, and Ari tried to scream, but a gloved hand covered her mouth, muffling the sound that tried escaping from her mouth, and Ari tried her best to thrash and kick her attacker. One of those kicks managed to push away the unseen figure as Ari desperately turned to crawl away, but-

“HELP, HELP SOMEBODY PLEASE! NICOLE-” Ari could only form those sentences in her mind as a pair of fingers gripped her red hair and began slamming her face into the grassy ground.

SLAM

SLAM 

SLAM

Ari stopped moving, the figure stopped its assault, and turned to see the fallen phone on the grassy ground nearby.

“Ari? Ari? Jeffery is what? What? What did you see?” barked Nicole, trying to find out what Ari had dug up, then the figure stomped on Ari’s phone, breaking it. The figure reached into his pocket and pulled out a headless, armless, and legless Barbie doll torso, leaving it near the destroyed phone.

The figure then looked over to Ari and went over to check her pulse.

She was still breathing, good, then the figure took off his hood, revealing his auburn hair and cold green eyes glaring right at the unconscious redhead, Kyle Moser. Grabbing her by her waist and slinging Ari over his shoulder, Kyle began moving quickly, hoping that Jeffery didn’t hear all of the commotion as he threw Ari’s body over the fence and quickly climbed over, continuing to drag Ari’s body to a nearby vehicle.

Dumping the body in the back of a trunk, Kyle headed to the driver’s seat and started up the car, quickly driving out of there, the sounds of Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas playing as Kyle drove out of there, dark thoughts swirling on what he would do to Ari…

Jeffery ran out of his house, his eyes wildly scanning his entire backyard after his dark passenger began overloading his senses, something that hadn't happened since that incident in gym class a while back…but Jeffery did spot an object not too far out.

Jogging over to it, he spotted an all too familiar cellphone…

“Ari? Wait, she was following me but…oh…” Jeffery’s train of thought stopped when he saw another doll part, this time without legs or arms, a torso just lying right next to the broken phone…Jeffery began overthinking-

“He was in my house, He was in my house, He was in my house, He was in my house, He was in my house, HE WAS IN MY HOUSE.” Jeffery gripped onto the torso, a dark feeling of incellic' rage coursed through his veins, even with the Mutilator literally in his backyard, Jeffery still couldn't catch him, and this was driving him near crazy.

Pocketing the torso and the phone, he stomped back to his house, cancelling his plans of getting Lynn as the Mutilator ruined his mood for tonight…

Tonight wasn’t gonna be the night, it seems.

Unknown Area, Warehouse

She slowly woke up…her vision was groggy with black spots barely fading out. She gained her consciousness back quickly after realizing she felt very cold, so cold…

Ari finally took a good look around her that she wasn't at the Morgan residence and that she was missing her clothing…and she couldn’t move. Breathing heavily, she sees the rope restricting her whole body. Looking around again and seeing the barely dim lighting of her location, she begins breathing again, nearly hyperventilating.

Then she stopped when she heard footsteps. Ari looks up to see a figure in the distance opening the entrance of where she was…She couldn’t tell who he was until his face came into the picture…was that?... Rudy Cooper?

“You're finally awake,” Rudy said, dropping a bag to the floor. Ari was gobstruck in her predicament…He was wearing an all black outfit of sorts, and as he began digging through his bag, Ari finally spoke out.

“R-r- what the fuck- what are you doing?!” she tried to cry out, but instead she coughed and Rudy looked at her with this half assed smirk as he began putting on these blue surgical gloves, Ari finished her coughing fit, throat full of pain as she tried to look at Rudy with glazed purple eyes.

“I need another part for my next big reveal for school. Jeffery found nearly all of the pieces, but there are a few left…” Rudy said, but he wasn’t looking at her when he made that statement, and Ari slowly realized what was going on.

“You…Y-You.” she began, but Ari couldn’t find the right words, as Rudy turned to glance at her.

“Yeah, me, yes,” he replied very dryly, but Ari seemed to finally find what she wanted to say.

“You and Jeffery! You're the Mutilator!” accused Ari. Rudy had to turn his whole body to look at the tied-up lesbian, as if he was trying to grasp what she had just said.

“...What?” said a dumbfounded Rudy.

“Yeah, you two are behind all this murder shit! I expected Jeffery, all honestly, because he’s a fucking weirdo, but you? This is like some Scream shit, two killers, but why? Why did you kill Kelly?” Ari practically screamed, her voice echoing throughout the empty warehouse as fresh new tears poured down her cheeks.

Rudy looked at her, his face blank as his green eyes stared straight at Ari’s own purple pair. He didn’t say anything, much less even react to what Ari had just said, as he got back to unloading his stuff from his duffel bag, and this obviously angered Ari to no end.

“Didn’t you fucking hear me?! Why her? Why?” Ari choked out, almost sobbing as she saw Rudy pulling out a chainsaw of sorts, Ari began backing up to a nearby crate when she saw it, but for some reason a small spark of defiance swelled inside of her…as if Ari wasn’t afraid anymore.

“Don’t worry about the chainsaw, that's for later, but Kelly? I barely remember her, but she was trying to flirt with me a lot, and well, she was an easy target, you know, so it wasn’t difficult like the last couple of prostitutes I went through.” Rudy explained, ignoring Ari’s horrified reaction.

“But to answer your question, no. Jeffery isn’t the mutilator, I am, even if that nickname is kinda fucking stupid heh heh.” chuckled Rudy, grabbing a buck knife from his pocket and began to walk to Ari, who began to freak out.

“N-no, stay away!” she yelled.

“The thing is, that whore Nicole was right about Jeffery, he is like me. He is a killer too, just a bit more subtle about it and quiet, he also has this weird thing where he uses a lot of plastic and he talks to his victims like some kind of judge and executioner type shit,” explained Rudy, grabbing Ari by her red hair as she began screaming and thrashing, he dragged her to a nearby table of sorts.

Tying down Ari, Rudy mockingly plays with her hair as he traces the knife around her neck. Ari was frozen completely; she didn't dare make a single movement.

“You see, my telling you all of this is pointless, you’re going to die, and you don’t have to worry because it is for a good cause, as I need Jeffery to remember…and you're going to be a part of the remembrance,” said Rudy.

Tightening the buckskin knife, he slit Ari’s throat quickly but precisely. The slit began to open as the wound poured out blood, as Ari choked and gargled. Rudy then grabbed a bucket nearby and began to collect the blood pouring down the table.

Ari stopped moving, her body lay still as her eyes glazed over. Rudy only looked at her disappointingly for some reason, but shrugged as he placed his knife on a table nearby and grabbed the chainsaw, revving it up as he glanced at Ari’s corpse…

Chapter Text

LAKE BRADDOCK SECONDARY SCHOOL

The tension around the school was palpable, not even a week after Ari’s disappearance. New missing posters were spread around the entirety of Lake Braddock Secondary School, even covering other missing people in the past, such as Kylar or Braxton, who had been long forgotten by many students. Jeffery Morgan walked down the hall, trying to avoid Ari’s eyes staring right back at him as he walked down the hallway to his locker.

It was just going to be the same repeated nonsense when Kelly met her end, fake mourning followed by the same poorly edited pictures of her in heaven, saying heaven gained another angel, or whatever false virtual signaling the so-called wonderful students here will do to look good.

Fake, all of them.

Jeffery shouldn’t feel anything about Ari. Why should he? She was another would-be stalker who met a gruesome end at the hands of the guy he was trying to kill. But all he could feel from this was those purple eyes on the poster staring right back at him. He thought he would feel irritated by this, but there’s something else inside of him that shouldn’t be there…Whatever Jeffery was feeling, he pushed it down as he usually did and would rather focus on the one thing he failed to do... the one person he’s been hunting down for the entire school semester was literally in his backyard, and he couldn’t even catch him. A golden opportunity was right there, and he wasted it.

Deb looked at him strangely when he stomped out of the house, but he didn’t care; he wanted to kill someone, despite the code drilled into his brain. He desperately needed to quench his inhuman thirst for blood, and only one person could satisfy his desire: Lynn.

“Mutilator will have to wait. I don’t care for his childish, petty antics anymore, no matter what he does. Lynn, your time has arrived….

Jeffery stashed his bag for his nightly ritual with Lynn on the outskirts of the school; his plan was going to be really simple. Lynn drives that weird jeep, but there is some sort of tarp on the back where he could hide, and from what he looked up on the school’s database he hacked into, Lynn lives rather far from Lake Braddock in this old cabin surrounded by trees, yet still close to civilization…

It was perfect for him, not too far off or close, and depending on the length of the cabin, the kill room would be sustainable enough for Lynn. All he had to do was go through school like any other day and also avoid Doakes, knowing that she might go after him again after what happened to Ari…

Oh, speaking of her, she was glaring at him from behind, with Emily standing next to her, playing on her phone. That’s something he didn’t need to deal with, so pretending he didn’t see the two, Jeffery decided to head out to class and hoped this day could go in his favor for once.

NICOLE POV:

The little faggot slinked away to whatever hole he always crawls to, the sick bastard hiding amongst the crowd, and Nicole is no longer pulling her punches. To draw him out, one must create a huge enough distraction, and Nicole knows the perfect thing to do here.

“Emily, did you bring it?” asked Nicole. Emily then opened her locker slightly as Nicole’s eyes scanned the contents…a kerosene container.

“Yeah, but like you're not really gonna burn down this place, are you?” questioned Emily, who usually wouldn’t mind doing psycho shit from time to time, was questioning Nicole on the safety of fire usage.

“No, I’m only doing the dumpsters behind the school. It’ll draw out enough attention for what I’m going to do,” explained Nicole, who shuffled through her bookbag and pulled out some matches.

“Oh, okay, cause I really thought you were going to like, burn the whole school down, which wouldn’t be such a bad idea~” said Emily, her tone becoming mischievous and her sharp grin gleaming in display.

“Uh, no, I’m trying not to go to jail again. It’s only to draw that freaktard out of hiding, besides, you and Jeffery have the same chemistry class on the first floor, right?” said Nicole, who also began fishing through her bag again as Emily decided to look at whatever Nicole was gonna pull out again.

“Um, yeah, why?” 

Nicole pulled out a small miniature device of sorts, tiny enough to fit inside a phone.

“When the fire alarms go off, put this into Jeffery’s phone,” said Nicole, handing the device to Emily, who nodded at her friend’s words.

“Sure,” said Emily, before Nicole could leave. She spotted Jecka walking by, a civics textbook in her arms, and even when Nicole tried to look at her face again, Jecka barely spared her or Emily a glance as she strode off down the hallway…

Nicole regrets the thing she did with Ari; she was so lost in her own crusade, so engrossed in her fight against Jeffery, that she didn’t consider that the most important person in her world would be affected by all of this. Whatever buzzes inside of her, her own darkness, Jecka was this small light in her life, someone that Nicole herself has never appreciated until now.

She doesn’t show it, for obvious reasons, but she misses Jecka. The handholding, the cuddles, the kissing, everything, and yet she gave that up just to get Ari possibly killed, and now Jecka wouldn’t return her texts.

As Jecka disappears into the crowd, Nicole was about to leave until Emily decided to open her mouth.

“Fucking bitch, acting like she’s too good for us now,” snarled Emily. Nicole froze on the stop and turned to stare at the scene girl.

“I don’t know why she’s being so cunty about that small kiss with Ari, it’s not like-” Emily stopped her rant as she locked eyes with Nicole. Emily didn’t say anything when she saw those cold blue eyes; they stared right at her, and if Emily could look closer, she swore she could’ve seen something move a little too…Emily knows the phrase that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but whatever was inside of Nicole wasn’t normal.

“I’ll…get to chemistry then,” stuttered Emily. She has never stuttered like this. Nicole simply turned and left, presumably to begin her master plan.

CHEMISTRY CLASS

First period chemistry class, and already Jeffery was having a hard time trying to control his emotions, keep his mind blank, and wait it out. Harry often had to teach him how to control himself, to make sure Jeffery wouldn’t do anything drastic, and yet his murder boner for his school’s principal was silently raging…Jeffery was trying to be as nonchalant as Sasuke Uchiha, yet without any of the charm the character had, and just looked as Jeffery as Jeffery could be…

“First period and already I feel impatient, I’m trying to keep my emotions in check, but I feel like I’m about to burst…” Jeffery scratches his knee, trying to suppress his inner urges as he hears his dark passenger rumbling, already impatient and hungry to see blood shed…

Jeffery shook his head and went back to taking notes, grabbing his pen, and listening to what the teacher was saying. He was unaware of someone else staring at him.

Emily, too, was feeling a little nervous; she usually wasn’t this jittery, even when she’s on her meds, but something felt off today… Emily couldn’t describe it, but she feels like she could feel this pungent feeling welling up in her heart, but still, she couldn’t know why, and she is getting slightly frustrated at this, too.

Turning her gaze to the clock on the wall, it hasn’t even been five minutes…

“ Fuck Nicole, what's taking you so fucking long!” Emily growled.

RRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG

The fire alarm rang out, and all of the students in the classroom reacted when the loud ringing occurred.

‘What the fuck?”

“Yo!”

“Someone must’ve pulled the alarm again!”

“Must’ve been Kylar.”

“Kylar’s dead retard!” 

“Alright, everyone, please leave in a single file- Hey! No running!” yelled out the chemistry teacher, who was trying to get the students to leave impeccably. Jeffery got up, leaving his stuff behind as he looked confused, wondering who could’ve set off the alarms. 

Though Emily stayed behind, making sure that the teacher and Jeffery had left, she went to work. Hurrying to reach his desk, she began digging through his roller bag, trying to find his cellphone, opening every zipper until she found the device she was looking for.

Bingo, she found it.

Emily found his phone, it wasn’t an iPhone or a Samsung…it looked like a mix of a BlackBerry and Samsung, but apparently the brand was labeled as HTC…whatever that fucking means. 

Luckily, she was able to open the back of the phone with her two thumbs, revealing the battery pack inside. Taking out the battery, she managed to slide the device Nicole had given her, place the battery on top of it, latch the back case, and leave the phone back to where she found it.

Looking around her surroundings, Emily quickly made her way outside with the others, hoping that no one would catch her.

OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL

The flames raged on as black smoke made its way to the skies, and all of the students evacuated as they watched the staff of Lake Braddock Secondary School trying to put out the fire.

“Use your coat! The coat!”

“I’m trying!”

Jeffery sneaked around the crowd, everyone either filming or laughing at the “brave attempts” at the staff trying to deal with the flaming dump that is the school’s dumpster. Seeing that he has nothing better to do, Jeffery decided to head to his secret stash.

The secret stash where he placed his tools for Lynn is hidden away carefully in this large tree that is a couple of meters away in this small wooded area near the parking lot. It’s where he usually leaves his stuff for his nightly rituals, not too far nor too close, perfect for a killer like himself.

Jeffery managed to finally reach the old tree. He crouched down and reached into the carved-out hole hidden by the tree’s shrubbery and fallen leaves. Jeffery could feel the familiar duffle bag as he began to reach in and pull it out, a small smile slowly forming on his lips as.

“Surprise motherfucker.” called out an all too familiar voice. Jeffery immediately turned and saw Nicole Doakes standing right there in front of him, an accusing look in those cold eyes of hers as Jeffery hid the duffel bag behind him.

“...Are you still following me?” asked Jeffery.

“Better have a hell of a good reason for being here, the students are supposed to be waiting at the parking lot, yet here you are, up to something as usual…” accused Nicole, her eyes staring right at the duffel bag.

“I’m just picking up my stuff I dropped around here.”

“In a tree?” 

“Yes, I forgot I stashed some rare manga in here so-” Jeffery was about to finish his sentence, but Nicole seemed to have had enough of his excuses.

“I had enough of your bullshit, Jeffery, either you tell me what you were doing, or you can spin me another story, asshole!” she nearly yelled, the built-up anger with Jeffery finally being released.

Though Jeffery here refuses to be bullied in submission, another excuse was on his lips.

“What I do on my own time is my own business, Nicole,” bit back Jeffery, refusing to show social weakness to his mortal enemy.

“Yeah? And so am I bitch, my time too, and you don’t have anyone here to save you this time, Morgan. No, Karen, no teachers, and no body parts, but you would know about body parts, do you?” barked Nicole.

“What are you implying? That I’m the Mutilator?” said Jeffery, almost laughing at what Doakes had implied to him.

“It all makes sense, disappearing for hours on end? And a stashed-away away bag too? I always knew you were a freak-” Then Jeffery grabbed his bag and turned around, walking away from Nicole.

“H-hey, where the fuck are you going? We’re not fucking done here!” yelled Nicole, her own passenger growling at what Jeffery is doing.

“No, we are done, Nicole. Me? The Mutilator? I think you need help if you think someone like me could be a serial killer of sorts,” said a very irritated Jeffery, who barely spared Nicole a glance as he tried to walk away.

Nicole stood there for a brief second, then her entire mood changed to anger. She didn’t have Jecka here to try and hold her back as she practically ran at her mortal enemy and grabbed him by his t-shirt. Jeffery couldn’t react in time as Nicole lashed out with a strong hook to Jeffery’s stomach.

“OOFGH” Jeffery lost a bit of his breath from the sneak attack, then Nicole landed another hook right across Jeffery’s face, his glasses nearly flying off his face as he clung onto the nearby tree behind him, nearly rattled by Doake’s ambush.

Fixing his glasses quickly, Jeffery looked up to see Nicole in some kind of fighting stance, but he didn’t have time to analyze her possible skillset as she threw a cross at him.

Jeffery ducked out of the way and got into his own stance, but Nicole went after him and tried to throw a jab, to which Jeffery intercepted her punch by grabbing her wrist. Before Nicole could react, Jeffery moved and used his other free arm to grab Nicole’s arm to perform a technique called the Waki-gatame arm lock.

Nicole reacted, she tried to move and shrug Jeffery off, but he surprisingly held on tight to her arm, and knowing her options were limited, she looked around to see anything she could use to escape from Jeffery’s hold on her…

The tree behind him looked promising…

So with some effort, Nicole used her weight to push back Jeffery into the tree, hoping it could loosen his grip. Jeffery grunted, his hand slightly loosened as this gave Nicole enough time to stand up and pull away her arm, but Jeffery recovered quickly and immediately placed his foot over her leg, grabbing her by her shoulder. Jeffery performed a front o soto gari, slamming Nicole to the ground.

“OOF.” Nicole lost all breath, crashing to the ground hard as Jeffery mounted and restrained her.

Both rivals breathed heavily. Nicole still glared defiantly at Jeffery despite her current predicament.

“ Huff Lab Geek my ass, Huff, ” she snarled. Jeffery resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“When will you give up this meaningless crusade, Nicole?” said an annoyed Nicole.

“When you admit that you killed Kelly and Ari!” She practically spat venom at his face, her demeanor was still deadset on proving that he is the one mutilating random people...technically, to a degree, but Jeffery is in a far different category than whatever the real Mutilator was in.

“Well I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I didn’t kill them nor am I the Mutilator,” replied Jeffery, but even when he’s genuinely trying to be honest to Doakes this time, no fake excuses or anything, just the actual truth that he isn’t the Mutilator, she still looked at him as if she didn’t believe a word he said.

“I don’t believe you,” Nicole said.

That alone has dried up most of Jeffery’s patience.

“Alright, that’s it,” said Jeffery. He wrapped one arm around Nicole’s neck, and she began thrashing around violently, screaming obscenities at Jeffery as he completed the guillotine technique and proceeded to choke out Nicole.

Nicole was losing air. She scratched at Jeffery, hoping to claw at him into making him let go, but unfortunately, Jeffery was too strong, and her consciousness started to go bleak, her vision cloudy as she slowly stopped struggling despite her chipped black nails digging into his biceps.

He let go, Nicole flopped to the ground as Jeffery went to check on her pulse…

“Still breathing, good, don’t worry, Doakes, you’ll wake up sooner or later,” chuckled Jeffery, grabbing his duffel bag, he headed out of the wooded area, leaving his nemesis behind so that he could prepare for the nightly ritual ahead.

School was closed down for the day, firefighters showing up to put out the fire as the students celebrated leaving the dreaded educational prison, though Principal Lynn barked at the students to head home early, enacting some kind of strict curfew so that nobody would hang around campus and accidentally do something stupid again.

Perfect for Jeffery as he sneaks towards Lynn’s jeep and hides out in the back, biding his time as he waits for her…

It was only after half an hour that Lynn finally arrived, but she wasn’t alone. Ms. Ames was with her, and those two were discussing what had transpired today.

“I swear these kids are getting way out of control. I don’t pay those fucking campus safety officers to stand around and look stupid,” complained Lynn, pulling out her keys as Ms. Ames sighed.

“Probably those ELS children, the ones with the Scarface shirts, you know how they are not being accustomed to the rules here in the states…” said Ms. Ames. Ignoring her co-workers' subtle racism, Lynn opened her car and got in.

“Oh, um, goodbye then, Lila-”

Lynn said nothing, kicking off the engine, she drove away from the parking lot, leaving Ms. Ames in the dust…Lynn sighed. Finally, she was away from this accursed place, and the only thing that would make things better was a nice warm bath and a good night’s rest, so she could forget today’s series of unfortunate events…

Jeffery was grinning ear to ear, clutching his duffel bag to his chest. He couldn’t wait for tonight to happen…

LYNN’S CABIN

Lynn finally reached her home, her own sanctuary away from those shitheaded teenagers and the asinine faculty members always giving her shit for anything. The log cabin wasn’t anything impressive, it belonged to her grandfather who used to be a hunter and had always tackled every beast that roamed the woods, her father did take her hunting when she was young and while it wasn’t her thing, she still cherishes the memories of being with her father and often hearing her grandfather’s tales of trying to fight a grizzly bear.

She entered her house, disappearing from Jeffery’s view as he snuck out of her jeep and carefully stalked his way around the area. Already clad in his kill suit, he made sure each step didn’t touch a stray branch and avoided making sounds as he watched Lynn on the inside turn on the lights.

Jeffery crouched down, he made his way towards one of the windows, hoping to peek inside and see what his target was up to…peering on the window slightly, Jeffery could see Lynn, this time instead of her usual suit wear, Lynn was wearing a black t-shirt, plaid pajama pants, and a short beige bathrobe. 

She was in the kitchen, going through her fridge and grabbing some sort of frozen microwaveable dinner, placing it in her microwave. She left the kitchen as the microwave began to heat her meal. Jeffery followed closely, still watching Lynn’s every movement as she headed into her bathroom. Closing the door behind her and turning on the lights, Jeffery could assume she was going to handle her business there, and this was a golden opportunity for him to sneak in.

He touched the window and slowly began to open it, much to his surprise…

“That’s…strange, I thought she would lock her windows?” Jeffery thought to himself, he shrugged slightly as he dropped the bag gently into her living room and began to carefully climb inside.

Jeffery managed to slink in, finally making his way into the metaphorical lion’s den as he began to absorb the sights of Lynn's home. Taxidermy animals were everywhere, ranging from small game to the big ones like stags and bears, and an impressive-looking blunderbuss of sorts hanging over the fireplace, before Jeffery could analyze his surroundings more, his head began to ring…

His dark passenger was acting up, sounds of warnings in hisses and growls entered into his brain, and Jeffery was trying to figure out what it was trying to say to him this time-

CH-CHUNK

The sound of a shotgun loading up was all Jeffery needed as he rolled behind the couch, a loud blast firing through the bathroom door meant to hit him had ended up destroying the window behind Jeffery, shattering it as glass went everywhere.

CH-CHUNK

Kicking the broken door down, Lynn rushed out of the bathroom, holding a Benelli M4 tactical pump shotgun as her manicured nails slightly tapped the weapon. This dark look on her face was seen on her beautiful features.

“I knew I’d find you sneaking about, Mr. Morgan…” said Lynn, aiming the shotgun as she carefully stepped around, her eyes trained on the couch where Jeffery was hiding.

“Don’t you know it’s a school night, young man? Your sister is going to be worried sick if she finds out you're not supposed to be in places you're not supposed to be?” Lynn said sarcastically, Jeffery looked around and saw some viable options for him.

The Kitchen, if he remembered, had a back door, but if he reached there, what if it was locked? That spelled an early grave for Jeffery…there were the stairs to the upper floor, but Lynn is currently blocking that with her gun.

“Kitchen it is…” In a burst of speed, Jeffery rushed from behind the couch and ran to the kitchen. Lynn reacted too late and missed her shot.

BANG

CH-CHUNK

Wooden debris scattered from the shotgun blast as Jeffery ducked and headed to the door. Thankfully, it was open, and he quickly moved, zig-zagging so that Lynn wouldn’t be able to hit him. Lynn was hot on his heels. She aimed at the fleeing intruder and fired again.

She hit a tree next to him, shit.

“Shit, SHIT!” growled Lynn, she spotted Jeffery disappearing into the woods…No, Lynn will not let HIM escape that easily! Quickly putting on some sandals, Lynn ran out of her house and chased after where Jeffery ran off to, her eyes trailing to his footprints on the dirt path.

“Valedictorian my ass… You left a trail for me to follow, Jeffery...” Lynn thought, an arrogant smirk on her lips as she jogged up ahead, intending on finishing this once and for all…Despite the sun fading out in the vast distance, the woods were still visible enough for her to see where she was going, and each step Lynn made was careful, avoiding any branches and leaves to minimize noise.

Lynn was getting further and further from her home, the deeper she went in the forest the more she was leaving her sanctuary of safety but she wasn’t the one to give up so easily. Lynn has sacrificed too much to get to where she was at, and she wasn’t going to die at the hands of some pale little freak who beats it to those little animated toons shrieking in chinese. 

“No, not today…” said Lynn to herself repeatedly. If Jeffery really was this literal serial killer, she must keep her focus and keep highly aware of her surroundings…Shotgun in hand, Lynn treks down to where Jeffery has run off to, a murderous determination never seen before in her eyes.

It wasn’t long before Lynn descended further into the woods, away from her home, or any form of civilization anywhere, as it was only her and Jeffery surrounded by the trees…

Lynn stopped when she reached the end of the boot prints left behind by the one trying to kill her. The trail ends here, it seems.

“What are you up to now?” 

CRACK

Lynn immediately spun around and fired, hitting nothing but thin air. The principal was getting restless, and she needed to end this once and for all. She wasn’t gonna die to some fucking teenager, and well, Jeffery is one? Right? Her psychology major kicked in, and she knew what to do.

“So, Jeffery, I don’t know how it is that you found out, but do you honestly believe that killing me is going to fix anything? Tell me, do you think that Jenny is gonna come back from the dead? Killing me won’t fix any of this,” said Lynn.

Okay, sure, she was starting to sound like someone out of some badly written story, but then again, dialogue like this definitely would affect someone as dramatic as Jeffery of all people, and Lynn can imagine Jeffery slowly losing control of his emotions; it’s all that Lynn needed, a slip, and victory is hers.

“So I guess,” started Lynn, cocking her shotgun and taking aim. “I guess Kylar’s disappearance was you, right? It makes sense that day you were still around the campus, I had a feeling, but I thought it would’ve been a weird coincidence until Colby and Chase disappeared later on, and then other students as well. Is there no end to your killings? Were you angry that you couldn't take a crack at the freshman?” 

A bit much to assume, but knowing Jeffery’s reputation, maybe Lynn shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe, but judging from the half assed answer Jeffery gave her when he tried to snitch on Nicole, Lynn did do some research on Jeffery’s background, even with how weirdly censored it was…

So Lynn thought bringing up the Morgan Family would be a good idea to truly get under Jeffery’s skin. 

“Your father was Harry Morgan, a detective known for his supposed good deeds for the community, and yet I wonder, is he aware of how much of a little monster his son is? Isn’t that ironic? A man who upheld the law and justice, but did he know? Or is he hiding more than the public lets on?”

Jeffery, who was a few meters away, clenched his gloved hand in anger. He was trying his breathing exercises, trying to stay calm, but-

“And your sister? What would she think if she found out? Imagine her reaction when she finds out her dear little brother is the murderer she’s been looking for? Oh, the horror…” 

Jeffery stopped at the mention of his sister, that one has gotten him a little…Harry, his father has accepted him for who he is, and he taught him to channel his inner darkness, but Deb? Dear Ol’ Deb? His blissfully unaware sister, who seemingly turns a blind eye to his actions?

Reaching down to his ankle and pulling up his pant leg, he revealed a hidden knife strap stashed inside his boot. Pulling it out, Jeffery took a peek at where Lynn was sneaking about, still trying to use psychological warfare against him.

“Oh, and I can’t even get started on Karen, what would she think-” Jeffery had to cut her off. At this point, it was getting annoying, and when he gets annoyed, he loses his concentration, and he cannot afford that right now….

The last time he lost his focus, Jeffery remembered how Harry lambasted him for it, and he can still remember the stinging words he said to him.

“Dammit, Jeffery! What did I tell you!?” yelled Harry Morgan, who grabbed Jeffery by the shoulders and looked at him straight in the eye.

“You lose control, you lose everything! You cannot get emotional, you do that and you’ll risk everything we built to maintain the code, you understand me?” he said, his voice, while loud, still held the firm disciplinary tone a father would use for his son.

Jeffery nodded as his flashback went black.

Taking Harry’s words to heart, Jeffery simply blocked out what Principal Lynn was raving in the background as he put the handle of the knife in his mouth and began to take off his boots.

Lynn was getting angry, her emotions taking over her logic and reasoning as she began looking around, trying to find where Jeffery had gone off to.

“Do you think this job is easy? No, you wouldn’t understand, none of you do! All my life, I had to work to get to where I was! The amount of sacrifices I made, the betrayals I’ve done to get the job I have, being a principal of that school full of stupid children, but it was worth it, it’s worth having control of what I can say and what I can do. But it’s not the illusion of authority I have, it’s about keeping my own life organized and I will not have you of all people destroy everything I’ve built just because some freshman decided to shake some ass to everyone at that school!” raved Lynn, already running out of breath as she vividly looked around, eyes darting to find Jeffery Morgan.

Way above in the trees, Jeffery had climbed onto the strongest branch and crouched carefully, staring at his intended target.

“Why won’t you come out? Just come out and END THIS!” Lynn finally screamed, her shotgun pointed at nowhere, and began firing randomly as Jeffery positioned himself and waited for the right moment…

Then he did it.

Jeffery had jumped right at Lynn.

Lynn looked up, a realization of horror dawned upon her face as she tried to raise her gun-

CRASH

Lynn shrieked, the shotgun toppled out of her hand as Jeffery grunted in pain, his planned collision right on top of her seemingly succeeded as he and the principal crashed and rolled on the leaf-covered dirt. 

Lynn groaned, she tried to find where her weapon was...her eyes spotted it a few feet away as she turned her body to crawl towards her shotgun. Jeffery, on the other hand, was already standing up and glanced at what Lynn was doing, realizing he had lost his knife mid-collision. Jeffery began looking around and then spotted a rather large branch sticking out near a tree…

“I’m in control…I’m in control…” Lynn whispered to herself as her manicured hand tried to reach for the shotgun, unaware of Jeffery now standing over her with the large branch in his hands.

“I won Je-” Lynn suddenly lost consciousness when a large branch was smashed right into her head.

UNKNOWN

Lila Lynn was in a dream, she felt so relaxed, yet as she lay on the clouds overlooking the city lights below her, as she floated away as if there was no stress affecting her moment, her well-deserved vacation.

Everything was going so well as usual; nothing could ruin this for her.

Nothing.

Nothing…

NOT-

“Time to wake up, Principal Lynn…” said a very familiar nasally voice…

Lynn woke up, glasses still intact, as she realized her dream was interrupted. She tried to move, but something was restricting her attempts at movement…

“W-What-” she could barely crane her neck, realizing that she was completely and fully naked, barring her glasses as she made out what was restraining her in the first place. Plastic and Rope wrapped around her like a spider’s web as Lynn realized where she was.

It was her living room, but everything was covered in plastic sheets and wrapped delicately. Lynn realizes she was placed on her couch, which, if it was funny in a different time, was also covered in plastic as well…

“No…No, no, no!” Lynn cried, then she stopped when she looked at the other resident in her living room staring down at her…Jeffery Morgan in all of his glory. Wearing an apron over his clothes and surgical gloves, he mockingly brandished a cleaver as he playfully walked around the couch with this condescending smirk, as his finger traced the blade he was carrying.

“No, Jeffery, you can’t-You won’t do this…” stammered Lynn, trying to find a way out even though her chances were now at zero percent.

“You guessed right that I had something to do with Kylar and the other teachers, so what makes you think?” said Jeffery, putting a gloved finger on Lynn’s head in a cheeky manner. “That I’m not gonna do this?” 

“Well, Murder is-It’s actually wrong-”

“Was it wrong to help cover up a murder committed by Kylar and Colby? Was it right for you to let Jenny get touched by Mr. Chase? I found her panties in his office by the way,” said a disgusted Jeffery, who went over to the plastic-covered coffee table where his duffle bag was and began to dig through for more of his knives.

“Didn’t you hear me? I sacrificed too much for this job so that I wouldn’t let some little whore ruin all of my hard work!” Lynn screamed, her voice becoming hoarse as she

as he began to approach her, napkin in hand.

“No, stay away, Mr. Morgan. If you come any closer, I swear to god I’ll scream-” then Jeffery quickly mounted her, and Lynn was going to scream again, but was forcibly gagged with a napkin with Jeffery peering over her with a dark look in his eyes.

“I genuinely hoped for a more enlightened conversation from you. I always wondered why you covered up for the likes of Kylar, because you could’ve done the right thing. You could’ve expelled him or even fire Colby, White, Chase, any of those three for what they tried to do, but you didn't.” Jeffery growled, his dark passenger at its full effect as Lynn fearfully stared at the abyss that is Jeffery’s eyes.

“But all I heard was a weak woman who wanted to control so much she couldn’t control herself, sounds rather simplistic but that's what I see in you: A weak and pathetic woman…” said Jeffery, who slightly raised his knife as Lynn looked down and tried to wriggle out of her bindings, to escape but Jeffery wasn’t letting her.

Then he stabbed Lynn, right in her chest. She shrieked through her gag as Jeffery dug the blade deeper and deeper as he stared directly into Lynn’s eyes, trying to see the light in her eyes fade slowly. 

Lynn stopped resisting, she simply lay limp with blood pouring out as Jeffery pulled his knife away, he leaned his head back, and released some kind of long-held sigh.

“Ughhhh, oh my god. It’s over…It’s all over with Lynn and everyone else…” Jeffery said, getting off of Lynn’s corpse, he began to prepare for the finishing touches, digging through his bag for his cover mask. Jeffery stopped when he spotted the image of Jenny Filmore stashed carefully next to his tools.

Picking up the photo, Jeffery stared at it long and hard, not saying a single thing as he looked at the unmoving face that was Jenny…

“I guess I finally avenged you, Jenny… gomenasai for my callousness, but even if there is a heaven or hell, I just hope you can rest easy now…” Stuffing the picture in his pocket, Jeffery picked up the cleaver he had discarded and approached Lynn’s body.

Raising the cleaver, Jeffery began to prepare to finish the rest of his ritual as he began hacking Lynn’s head off her body…

She waited in her E46 BMW convertible, lights off, in front of the address where one of her little brother’s tormentors was living. Deb didn’t want to be involved a lot in Jeffery’s social life too much as she didn’t want to be seen as too overbearing, but fuck it, she was getting sick of seeing and hearing about Jeffery getting bitched around in school, especially by some little cunt bag and her little fuck ass clique.

“I mean, out of all the things I never expected, is Jeffery getting fucking bullied by girls at his age…did dad even fucking teach him about girls?” Deb rubbed her temples in frustration, trying to ignore her father personified, sitting next to her.

“You know I only taught Jeffery what was best for him,” began Harry Morgan. “Someone with issues like this needed to be tended to, and honestly, I hoped either your mother or you would’ve tried to explain about how to approach girls…”

Deb turned to glare at her dad.

“Right sure, I guess teaching him how to stand up to bullies was out of the fucking question too,” said Deb in a dry tone.

“I did, but I had to explain it to him in a way so that he wouldn’t go on and freely butcher his classmates; the code was created for that specific reason.” 

Shit, he had a point there.

Still, she wasn’t here to debate with her dark, manifested version of her father, as she was on a mission here. Deb then spotted someone a few meters away, and she craned her neck a little to get a better look.

It was her, Doakes, walking down the street to her home. 

“It’s time…” thought Deb, pulling out her sidearm from her suit jacket, she puts the safety on and places it inside her glove box as she heads out of her car. Closing the car door behind her, she makes her approach to Nicole.

Nicole rubbed her sore neck sorely, she couldn’t believe that she lost a literal fist fight to fucking Jeffery of all people. Sure, maybe he was kinda built, but she didn’t expect to get choked out if she was being honest, but since that plan failed, Nicole has been stewing all day trying to figure out what to do next with trying to expose Jeffery.

“...Maybe I can ask Emily to send her MS-13 boyfriend after him, that doesn’t sound so bad…” 

“Excuse me,” said a voice, which made Nicole nearly jump as she turned around quickly to see a rather familiar-looking woman. She was rather pretty looking with brown hair that reached her shoulders, and she wore a rather slate grey looking suit with a stylish lavender office shirt underneath, and had brown ankle boots, and Nicole wasn’t going to lie, this woman was hot.

But usually Nicole could “sense” whoever was sneaking up behind her. She didn’t know how to explain it, but it often helped her be more aware of her surroundings, especially when people she didn’t like often approached her, but why didn't it work here?

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you about something related to the arson incident at your school,” explained Deb, revealing her badge to Nicole. Deb didn’t fail to notice the sudden slight eye widening on Nicole when she laid eyes on the shiny metal, indicating Deb’s role as a detective.

“O-Oh, um, what is it that you want?” Nicole said, hoping the slight stutter on her part didn’t get noticed by this detective, though she didn’t fail to notice that Deb here shared a similar last name to a certain freak from school…

“Just wanting to know some gossip about certain things, mostly to speed up my investigation on the nature of who started the fire, that's all. I did hear you might know a couple of things, considering your status at your school.” Deb secretly blanched at having to talk so professionally. Usually, she loved nothing more than to curse this little bitch out for all the things she’s done to Jeffery, but this was part of her trap, lure the bait and wait for her to take it so that Deb can strike.

“Hm, oh yeah, that happened,” said Nicole.

“Right, yeah, do you know anything about it?” asked Deb, folding her arms as she stared at Nicole rather intensely. 

“Well…” trailed off Nicole, trying to come up with an excuse to see what she could use to throw off this cop…well, Megan and she got into a little spat in the bathroom about Ari’s disappearance, acting like Nicole had something to do with it, which is kinda true, but still it's the principle of the matter. 

“I mean, like, technically, I did hear about this one girl, Megan, right? She was gonna do something crazy because her boyfriend was secretly talking to other girls behind her back,” drawled Nicole, hoping this excuse could work.

“...Megan?” asked Deb, who was contemplating what Nicole had said.

“Yeah, she really seems unwell, and I think you should go talk to her-”

“I’m not fucking stupid, Nicole,” said Deb, her tone turning completely different, which surprised Nicole, who had stared at her, her entire body unmoving.

“I think you can guess that Jeffery Morgan is my brother, same last name. I know you reacted, judging from the reaction you had on your eyes…” Deb said as she held back the urge to chuckle at Nicole’s reaction, who looked like she was slightly sweating.

“O-oh, I didn't know,” said Nicole, trying to keep her cool. Her dark passenger was nowhere to be seen, even when she was subconsciously trying to call for it.

“You did, lying will only make things worse, Nicole,” said Deb, who began to approach the supposed sociopath, who now began to step back.

“Hey, I don’t know what you heard, but Jeffery is a literal-” Nicole couldn’t finish her sentence as Deb reared back and slammed her fist into her chest. 

Nicole wheezed as she clutched her stomach, legs wobbling as she tried to balance herself, as Deb slowly walked forward.

“That was your solar plexus, I heard it messes up your diaphragm when someone punches it there like this.” Deb then punches Nicole again, and Nicole wheezes again in pain, coughing up saliva as she slowly crumpled to the ground, holding her chest.

Deb then raised her leg back slightly and kicked Nicole right in the ribs with her ankle boots, causing Nicole to cry out in pain again.

“Did you think you could lie to someone who can tell who lies for a living? Huh? Do you?” said Deb, who then placed her boot on Nicole’s chest as she forcibly turned Nicole’s body to face towards her. Judging from the trail of saliva and slight wet eyes, she wasn’t looking so hot as she hacked and coughed from the sudden blows.

“Look at me, fucking look at me,” growled Deb, placing more pressure on Nicole’s chest as she gasped for air, and she finally looked at the eldest Morgan.

“You ever touch, or even look at Jeffery, you say anything to him? I will know if you try to plot something? I’m going to know regardless, so I’m only going to say this once…” said Deb, as Nicole stared at her cold eyes in a mixture of fear and shock.

“Stay the fuck away from my little brother, or what I've done here will be much worse next time, are we clear?” warned Deb.

Nicole didn’t say anything but simply stared at her in silence; her harsh gasps of breath could be heard, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the answer Deb was looking for.

“I said, are we fucking clear bitch?” cursed Deb, placing more pressure until Nicole finally nodded. Deb takes her foot off, she begins to neatly dust herself off as Nicole slowly got up to her knees, trying to catch her breath, as Deb stared at her as if she was some kind of scum.

“Don’t even think about him, worry about what I will do next time,” said Deb. She quickly turned on her heel and left, heading back to her car as Nicole glared at her, walking away.

Nicole wanted to scream, her hands clenched into fists as she got up. Instead, Nicole simply kicked a pebble as she rushed to her home, wanting to forget this ever happened as her dark passenger rumbled inside of her, its growls lambasting Nicole for her failure to defend herself. All Nicole could do was slam her door, run upstairs to the one place she considers her own sanctuary of solitude, lie on her bed, and grab her pillow. Nicole let out this ugly, muffled shriek, finally releasing some of her pent-up emotions after what had happened to her. It didn't take long for her to sleep, trying to pretend that whatever happened today was just a bad dream...

Chapter Text

A month after dealing with Lynn, things have been looking up for Jeffery Morgan as of late. School was genuinely bearable for once, as Nicole seemingly stopped bothering him, with no more constant interrogations. Whenever the two crossed paths in the hallways, she instantly turned to walk somewhere else.

Though Jeffery didn’t know why, in all honesty, he didn’t care. Was it their little scrap near the parking lot that made her change her mind? Usually, Jeffery assumed Nicole could’ve put up a better fight, but then again, she isn’t the most aesthetically gifted girl in Lake Braddock.

“Hell, even Jessica does something in gym class, and her grade is a C-.” Jeffery thought to himself, judging his school yard enemies aside, Jeffery headed into one of the many optional classes he chose for his semester, which he could get an easy credit: Theater.

The performance arts weren’t something Jeffery was too keen on, considering he was a “man of science”, but anime is considered art too, even if it is two completely different subjects he’s thinking about here. Still, hey, a credit is a credit.

Heading towards the little theater on the west side of the school, Jeffery weaves through the crowds of students with practiced ease until he spots someone very familiar. His auburn hair stands out in the crowd as Jeffery goes over to say hi to his only viable friend, Rudy.

Rudy and Jeffery seemingly gotten more closer throughout the whole school year, besides he and Karen’s usual dates Jeffewry was happy for once to have someone as a friend that understood him and his hobbies, as most of their fond hangouts consisted of going to the barcade or the mall. Still, it didn’t matter, Jeffery enjoyed Rudy’s company and he wasn’t going to waste this good of a friendship.

“Hey, Rudy,” greeted Jeffery enthusiastically. 

“Jeffery, how’s it hanging?” said a smiling Rudy.

“Been pretty good these days, it seems things are looking up for me around here for once,” said Jeffery, walking towards the theater entrance as Rudy deliberately lagged behind a little. 

Jeffery turned to look at him in confusion.

“Rudy?” said Jeffery.

“I forgot, I have to meet with Mr. Burleday about something, an economics essay, you know?” explained Rudy, though he looked like he was trying to hide some kind of smirk.

“Oh, alright then, we’re still going to that gelato place you mentioned last night, right?” asked Jeffery in a hopeful tone.

“Of course, I wouldn't miss it, promise!” Rudy cheekily grinned, gesturing towards Jeffery with finger guns and making sound effects, to which Jeffery reciprocated the gesture with a kamehameha from Dragon Ball Z.

Rudy pretends to get hit by the fake energy beam, dramatically pretending to fall back as Jeffery slightly giggles at Rudy before the two split ways. Heading into the theater, Jeffery made his way down to the stage, and to no one’s surprise, he was there first, but that didn’t matter as Jeffery set his bag on the theater chair nearby and decided to roam around the stage and whatever was behind it, mostly just to pass the time.

“Hm…it’s been a while since the Mutilator had left me another gift. The trail has gone cold, but even my search for El Lobo is getting colder too…” Jeffery thought to himself. When researching El Lobo, Jeffery has been led to nothing but online rumors and aged news reports on MS-13’s activities around Virginia, but still, nothing. 

The only viable option he had to get to MS-13 was Braxton, but even then, he was nothing but a glorified delivery boy, and that didn't get Jeffery the results he wanted. The other one is surprisingly Emily, and you might be thinking, what would someone like Emily McKay have any connections to MS-13 of all people? From what Jeffery had heard, Emily was possibly dating someone who was in the gang, considering that one time he overheard her saying how she can say the word “gringo” because she has a pass from her boyfriend, and judging from the amount of prescription drugs she uses, Jeffery can assume that the unseen boyfriend also deals drugs.

It was also Jeffery’s last shot at trying to discover more of MS-13’s El Lobo, so later on, he’ll have to stalk Emily even if she repulses his very being…

“Despite her provocations, I should be careful when approaching someone as deranged as her.” Thought Jeffery, as he simply looked around the rather empty theater, as he saw no one else had shown up but him. 

“A bit of free roaming wouldn’t be so bad.” Jeffery thought to himself, getting up from his seat as he decided to hop onto the stage and see what was around to satiate his boredom. Slipping through the large theater curtains, Jeffery took a good, long look at what would be the theme of the play he was supposed to be in.

“Rapunzel, a classic tale as old as time-” Jeffery stopped his mumblings when he sensed something was off…his dark passenger was rumbling about something, and he couldn’t place his tongue on where or why.

“Time for a little investigation!" whispered Jeffery dramatically, using his middle and ring fingers to push his glasses up. He sets off to explore the backstage of the school’s theater. Going to the local crew room, Jeffery was surprised that it was unlocked, usually only the faculty would have access until he realized the backpack on one of the couches indicated someone was there, and only one person would ever use a Herschel retreat backpack: Megan.

Judging from the recently placed backpack and the lingering scent of her cherry fragrance, Jeffery could only assume she had left to go somewhere, which made things easier for his detective work to be unbothered. Heading into the small hallway, Jeffery was passing by the unoccupied rooms, trying to sense what his dark passenger was trying to tell him. 

There was nothing in any of the rooms he checked so far, the dressing room, the green room, and the production office, left untouched until Jeffery headed to the bathroom. He froze…the men's room…it was closed, but yet Jeffery was feeling some kind of dread when he looked at the door.

A torso part taped to the door’s handle.

Picking it up softly, Jeffery’s eyes slowly widened.

“Is this…oh no.” 

Even when trying to use his Dark Passenger, it still went completely radio silent, and Jeffery didn’t like that.

“My passenger went silent, Is…is there?” Jeffery thought to himself, he was trying to nudge the little shadowy beast, yet it refused to budge. Realizing he had to go in there solo, Jeffery took a deep breath as his hand slowly touched the door of the bathroom and began to open it-

SPLASH

A wet splash can be heard as Jeffery was shocked at whatever had splashed at him. His glasses were coated in what seemed to be some kind of red, sticky material as Jeffery opened his eyes slowly, trying to realize what had spilled over him. Shakily trying to wipe his glasses, Jeffery looked to see that he was practically covered in the very thing he was always obsessed with…Blood. 

His eyes moved to see that the entire bathroom was covered in liters of blood, the tile floor now a small puddle which nearly covered Jeffery’s sneakers as he slowly looked at what was displayed in front of him.

A human torso, missing its arms, legs, and head. Judging from the feminine features, Jeffery can assume the unknown victim was a female, but that wasn’t on his agenda as he stood still at the entire sight of the bathroom…

Then he heard it, a child crying.

Jeffery’s eyes darted down to what seemed to be a child sitting on the ground, bawling his eyes out. He looked eerily like Jeffery himself, but in only a tank top and shorts, covered in blood like him…

Jeffery blinked, and the child was gone, yet he still heard it crying.

Then his heartbeat began to race as Jeffery started to tremble and hyperventilate. His vision blacking out, he tried to hold onto something, but he slipped on the puddles of blood, causing him to fall onto the ground and get himself even more covered in blood. Jeffery didn’t like that; his breathing was getting rapid as he desperately tried to scramble out of the bathroom, but it only served to make more of a mess for himself.

The sounds of the kid crying still rang in his head as Jeffery tried to control his breathing, but his senses were overloaded by all this blood.

Blood.

His ears were ringing, and the cries of the child he still heard as it began to overlap with a woman’s screaming.

Blood.

Jeffery’s breathing was slowly stopping, his fingers barely reaching the door-

BLOOD.

BACKSTAGE HALLWAY

Megan hurriedly made her way through the theater with all of the students who’d signed up for the upcoming tryouts held today. The story she chose? Why the ever-so classic Rapunzel, of course.

Script in hand, she barked at everyone to get in their seats.

“Everyone, sit down and wait for your name to be called!” Her voice rang out, the authority it held as each student sat down on the aged theater chairs. Her boyfriend, Hunter, stood next to her as he wasn't going to be typecast in the play since Megan had relegated him to be her personal assistant. Well, the personal assistant job was more akin to that of a slave since Hunter here was always carrying her things or getting yelled at whenever he screws up, so you can tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t having a good time here.

“Alright, I guess we’re going to start with…” Megan’s eyes were trained on Crispin. 

“Crispin,” finished Megan, her tone sounding lame as Crispin perked up at the mention of his name.

‘Y-yeah?” 

“You're up first for tryouts, to the office right here,” pointed out Megan as she walked right into the office with Hunter following behind her. Crispin quickly got up and jogged right after the two. As he made it to the office, he saw that Megan and Hunter had already sat down on the aged sofa, script in hand.

“Sit,” commanded Megan, barely gesturing to the other sofa across from her as Crispin hurried over to the other sofa and sat down, waiting for whatever Megan had to tell him.

‘Okay, Crispin, I’m going to need you to act out a scene for me, and I want you to not mess up on it.” 

“Okay,” nodded Crispin

“Okay, what?” snapped Megan, her eyes glaring at Crispin, who was taken aback by this.

“Uh, Okay ma’am?” Crispin corrected himself as Megan smirked at the subservience shown by Crispin.

"Good boy, here read out this scene for me,” said Megan, who handed Crispin a script, and the aspiring actor began to scan the lines carefully while Hunter got up to grab a nearby water bottle.

“Okay, ahem, Oh Rapunzel! Lift down your haiiiir…” Crispin trailed off, seemingly going quiet as Megan looked up from her script, wondering why Crispin had stopped reciting his lines.

“Uh, lift down your hair, my sweet? Continue the line,” demanded Megan, trying to get things back in focus, until she heard someone drop something next to her. Turning her head, she spotted Hunter, who looked like he saw a ghost, his mouth agape and eyes widened. She then saw Crispin making the same expression as her boyfriend.

This obviously didn’t sit well with Megan.

“What? What the hell is going on?” Megan stopped talking once she looked at what both Crispin and Hunter had spotted: Jeffery Morgan, standing right in front of him, soaked in blood.

“J-jesus fucking christ,” stuttered Crispin, who began moving back, Hunter doing the same as Megan looked like she was frozen still, still staring at the sight of Jeffery.

“Uh, huh. Sorry, not feeling too good,” said Jeffery, who looked like he was barely holding on as he barely walked through the entrance, holding onto the frame for support as he breathed raggedly.

“I-is that..b-b-blood?” said Hunter, who was shakily pointing a finger at Jeffery’s blood-soaked clothes, to which he nodded.

“Y-yeah, another body, in the men’s room…a woman,” breathed out Jeffery, who stopped trying to walk, only to finally collapse to the floor. Crispin and Hunter tried to look at their fallen classmate until Megan finally snapped out of her stupor and took a good look at the sight of the unmoving Jeffery.

Then, a scream can be heard from the theater.

Lake Braddock Secondary School was no stranger to the sight of cops surrounding the entire campus, as every student was forced to wait outside for what seemed to be the hundredth time, as Virginia’s finest investigated the newly placed corpse left by Mutilator.

The students waited, wondering who was the unlucky victim as they chattered amongst themselves, the gossip already becoming rampant.

“I heard Megan was there, screaming.” 

“Did the guy kill her?”

“Who? The mutilator?” 

“Yeah! About damn time the bitch gave me an F one time!”

“Oh, she deserved that, haha.”

Karen was one of the many who were in the crowd, trying to push her way as she tried to scan for Jeffery, and it wasn’t helping that her anxiety was slowly getting to her because she couldn’t find him anywhere!

Clutching her geometry textbook to her chest, Karen was able to maneuver as best as she could until-

“Ow!” said a rather harsh tone.

“O-Oh!” Karen squeaked.

“Watch where the fuck you're goin-” said the voice until Karen met a familiar pair of amber eyes staring right at her, Jecka in all her leather jacket and rainbow dress combo glory as she abruptly went silent at the sight of her former ex-friend. A small, awkward silence occurred between the two as neither girl made a single move until Karen decided to make the first move.

“Sorry, I’ll just go…” said Karen awkwardly, trying to move around Jecka politely, but Jecka didn’t say anything, yet the look on her face said she wanted to say something to her…

“Karen, wait.” Jecka finally spoke up, to which the bespectacled girl stopped to turn around, a confused but yet prepared look on her face, wondering what Jecka could want, much less what she was going to say that would possibly ruin her day even more.

“Um, what is it?” Karen asked, a bit of hesitance on her part as Jecka looked as if she was gathering up the courage to ask a question without any of the usual mean girl motives Jecka usually had. 

“You're still dating Jeffery, right?” asked Jecka.

Karen didn't show it, but she wanted to give Jecka a look that said no shit, Sherlock but really, she wasn’t mean like Nicole or Emily, and quite frankly, Karen didn’t have it in her

to be mean here, so the only thing she could do is answer whatever question that her “former” friend had wanted to ask.

“Yes, why?” was all Karen could muster out as Jecka looked deep in thought. The blonde looked like she was deep in thought, as if she wanted to say something, yet she didn’t know the proper words to reply with.

“So like, are you aware of the rumors about Jeffery?” asked Jecka, who thought answering Karen’s response with another question would’ve been the answer. 

Karen now had a more responsive look on her face at what Jecka had told her.

“Sigh About what?” sighed Karen, not even the answering the second question and already it was about slandering her boyfriend of all things, she still doesn’t get it but yeah sure, Jeffery was a little…” quirky” and liked overtalking about the stuff he likes but that doesn’t mean that he should be lambasted, Jeffery isn’t like other boys he’s a sweet angel…

“Um, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, but some people think he’s the Mutilator,” Jecka said, finally releasing this long-held sigh she must’ve been holding for the duration of this conversation. 

Karen, on the other hand, looked rather mortified at what Jecka had just said.

“...Is this a prank?” asked Karen. Out of all the things said about Jeffery, the newest rumor just had to be the recent serial killer, and Karen couldn’t think of a good enough response to what Jecka just said.

“No, like Nicole thinks-” Jecka tried to explain, but Karen had had enough.

“You know what, no, like I’m done here,” said Karen, turning heel. She was about to leave, but Jecka wasn’t done with her just yet.

“Karen, wait, hold on,” said Jecka, trying to reach out for her ex-friend, but she turned around to look at her with a glare unfitting for someone like Karen.

“I don’t get it, really. What is it that Jeffery had done to you? Is it because he’s just a little awkward? That he’s different because he watches anime?” said Karen, her tone gaining a slight edge, which she never had to do, much less like doing, because it wasn’t really like her to be this confrontational in general.

But with someone like Jecka, no Jessica, her ex-friend, someone who distanced herself just to impress popular kids and act like what they had back then was just a phase. But Karen still wonders if she even feels bad for dropping her and everything they've been through, could someone who can be just as socially cruel as Doakes even feel guilt? 

“Karen, wait, listen-” Jecka couldn’t even get her words out as Karen turned to leave, but something inside of Jecka urged her not to let this chance go to waste, and she had to quickly jog up and grab Karen by her shoulder.

“Wha- Jessica-” Karen couldn’t finish as Jecka had gestured to her to stay silent and hear her out.

“Listen, have you ever gotten suspicious? Have you ever thought about what Jeffrey does when he goes somewhere? Answer me that,” questioned Jecka, never before had she had to put in the effort to interrogate someone, usually because whenever she was involved in these sorts of things, Jecka would let Nicole be the one manhandling the unfortunate victim, most of the time which would be Jeffery and her role would be instigating the entire thing further with her well timed snarky remarks.

But here? Something inside of Jecka was telling her to push forward with it on her own, as if some outside force was trying to keep this failing interaction to not falling apart. 

Karen had to think for a minute about what Jecka had said, so what if Jeffery decided to excuse himself in the middle of things that were going on?

…

…

She then stopped and realized the question that Jecka had asked: What is it that her boyfriend does whenever he leaves? Where does he even go? Especially when he’s outside in the dead of night? 

Before Karen could even respond, the front entrance of the school burst open as the EMTs rushed out with the adjustable stretcher, and both Jecka and Karen turned to look and see a very familiar person on said stretcher.

Karen’s eyes widened beneath her glasses when she spotted him on the stretcher.

“J-Jeffery?” she whispered out in horror, covering her mouth when she saw the amount of blood he was covered in. The look Jecka had was enough to confirm everyone’s reactions when they spotted the supposedly rumored to be Mutilator, though Jecka did look rather sickened at the sight of blood that coated Jeffery.

Karen couldn’t stand there, she began pushing through the crowd, dropping her bag and textbook, trying to reach for her man, her beloved, her everything-

“He seems to be suffering from a panic attack. Get him to the van-”

Karen couldn’t exactly hear what the EMT was saying, as everything around her was drowned out by the other students’ reactions to seeing a bloodied Jeffery. The mere sight of the blood drew the students like sharks in an ocean.

“Holy shit, is that Jeffery?!”

“Yo, did the killer get him?!”

“Erm, actually he’s called the Mutilator-”

“Shut up faggot!”

“They actually got his ass-”

“I thought someone said he was the Mutilator?”

“He’s probably faking it, fucking drama queen.”

“Maybe it’s his autism?”

“They’re gonna send his ass to a psych ward, ha ha”

“Man, why couldn’t it be Megan…”

“I was hoping it would be her, though.”

“Oh shit, there she is.”

Speaking of Megan, Karen turned to look at Megan, who was wailing rather loudly as she was escorted by some police officers, with Hunter lagging, holding both his and his girlfriend’s bookbags, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else than here.

As the students chatted about what was going on, Karen tried to push her way through the crowd of students, attempting to get to Jeffery as a certain pair of girls were staring at the whole debacle.

“Oh my god, look at him! Did he actually die?” said Emily McKay, a small, vicious grin on her face as she nudged her elbow to Nicole, who kept staring at her unconscious enemy. Her face was rigid and silent, yet those eyes of hers told a thousand stories as she slowly stared at her prime suspect, trying to figure out what was really going on here.

“Also, are you seeing Megan right now? The fucking cow is crying!” laughed Emily, pointing a sharp finger at said student still bawling her eyes out as Nicole slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone, the G-Mobile Sidekick, flipping it open as she began to swipe through the many apps it held until she stopped at one particular app.

It was symbolized as a black location pin. Nicole clicked on the app as it opened and began to load. Emily, curious as to why Nicole wasn’t responding to her, had to crane her neck to see what she was looking at on her phone.

“What are you doing?” asked Emily.

Nicole didn’t say anything much to the scene girl’s slowly growing frustration as the app’s loading screen came to an end, loading up Emily and Nicole could see what it displayed from her phone…

A map.

“What the fuck is that?” asked Emily again.

“GPS tracking app,” responded Nicole, as she was clicking on her phone buttons. 

“Oh, is that what you made me put in Jeff’s phone?” 

Nicole nodded, the phone displayed Jeffery, who was a red dot a few meters away from her. As the EMT van began driving out of the school, Nicole could see the red dot begin to move away from her on the app.

“Ohhhhh, so will you finally catch him in the act?” questioned Emily.

Nicole nodded as she put away her phone, and seeing that the school would be shut down again for the millionth fucking time, she decided to head out regardless of what any of the teachers were going to say.

“I mean, half of them are fucking gone like Bitch Lynn isn’t gonna stop me anymore, so why even bother?” Flipping a dark brown lock from her face, Nicole began her usual trek away from school, with Emily beside her, yapping on about something relating to her boyfriend.

“You know, we could go to a party or something? I can ask Juan to hook us up with-” as Emily continued to prattle on, Nicole nearly stopped in her tracks. She saw Jecka, standing out to her amongst the crowd.

To be fair, with hair like hers, soft, long blonde hair that Nicole missed touching…right about now, she should be with her girlfriend, shit talking everyone and everything, smoking cigarettes and whatever sort of bullshit the two of them got up to…but now she’s stopped talking to her…and honestly, that stung Nicole to no end.

When reaching the school’s parking lot, something went off in Nicole’s brain. Eyes slightly widening, she began to scan the entire lot, darting over to each vehicle, wondering why her senses were going off like this. Lagging behind Emily a bit, she carefully looked around her, trying to see what the source of her “supposed ability” was acting up and why now? 

Usually, when Nicole feels her body buzzing, she chalks it up to being Jeffery’s fault, even when he isn't near her. Her senses go off whenever he’s name is dropped, but he's not here, and right now, she feels her mind growing more static.

Then she sees him, throwing a dark duffel bag of sorts into a grey sedan. Rudy Cooper closed the car door as he raised his car keys, pressing the button to lock his door as he turned heel to walk back to where the other students were gathered, trying to see the police doing their job.

Rudy then turned his gaze to Nicole,

Their eyes met, and as usual, Nicole stared right into his unusual gaze, displaying the cold and predatory shine she often sees in men of her age, but instead of the weird staredowns, he smiled at her. Mockingly too, Emily finally notices this and turns to look at Rudy staring down at Nicole, thinking that her friend was being hassled, she opens her mouth to yell at him.

“What?! What the fuck are you looking at bitch?” said Emily, already aggressive and ready for a potential brawl. She almost began walking up to Rudy until Nicole grabbed her by the arm, holding her back with a surprising amount of strength.

Rudy shakes his head in an almost arrogant manner, as if he were scoffing at the two girls. He turned around and walked towards the school buildings, but this angered Emily to no end.

“Fucking- I said-!” Emily couldn’t finish her sentence as Nicole had to drag Emily back even more, causing her to stop her yelling as she turned to Nicole with wild confusion in her eyes.

“Nicole, I was-” she began, but Nicole cut her off.

“Emily, don’t! Just, not him…” said Nicole as she quickly walked away, though she did let go of Emily’s arm. 

“But, why?”

“Just…He gives me the creeps. Come on, let's fucking get out of here.” Nicole practically ordered as she went up to Emily’s ‘98 Saturn, though she didn’t say anything. Emily did give Nicole a weird look, but she didn’t protest when the two girls got in the car and started it up.

As Emily began driving them out of the parking lot, Nicole still stared back at the school, though she still traced her finger on the outline of her phone on her hoodie; still, things were going her way, even if the progress was slow; it’ll all come to fruition.

She didn’t know what Jeffery was pulling with that little “PR stunt” of his, but she still knows deep down, he’s somehow connected to these murders and sooner or later, she’ll catch him and let the whole world know what kind of monster he truly is.

Nicole lay her head comfortably on the car seat as Emily drove down the street, hoping to catch some shut eye and maybe, maybe dream of trying to fix things with Jecka and wish she could hold her again…

INSIDE THE SCHOOL

Her heels clacked loudly on the beige tile flooring as Deborah made her way to the school theater. After a short pace up the stairs, Deb could see the many officers setting up the yellow tape, alongside a few forensic nerds prepping themselves to dissect what fresh hell the Mutilator had left them this time.

Deb spotted her boss, LaGuerta, talking to a few officers, and she can already guess that LaGuerta is readying herself to confront the incoming press, which, in the eldest Morgan’s opinion, is the only thing she’s really good at.

And if minor rumors were true, LaGuerta might've done some “under the table” favors to get to where she was, but hey, don’t hold Debby here accountable, it’s what she heard, apparently. Speaking of which, one officer went up to tap her boss on the shoulder, signaling her that the press had already arrived, so after carefully smoothing out her fashionable blazer from any wrinkles, she turned around and then locked eyes with Deb.

Both women stared down at one another for a few seconds, though to them it was an eternity as neither one refused to look away. Then, at the same time, both Deb and LaGuerta broke from their staring contest, with LaGuerta heading to the exits to deal with the press while Deb headed towards the forensics team, though both women shared one similar thought about each other.

“Fucking bitch”

“Puta sucia.” 

Disappearing with the rest of the officers down the stairs, Deb sneered behind her back until she turned her head and locked eyes with one of the members of the team, though unfortunately, it had to be the one co-worker she had the displeasure of talking to…

He was a bald, somewhat short asian man who wore glasses, and he was trying to strip off the baggy hazmat suit that was covered in a large amount of blood, which Deb could assume was from inside the theater.

Vince Masuka, the lead forensic specialist of the Virginia State Police Department, glanced at her, but he didn’t say a word until he finally stripped the entire hazmat suit off of him. Deb crossed her arms as she waited for whatever inevitable sex joke he was surely going to spew from his mouth. 

But he didn’t, Masuka looked as if he had to catch his breath a little, looking like he had run a marathon of sorts, even when someone like Masuka looks like he doesn’t do any physical exercise, from what Deb can assume.

This worried Deb a little, even when she didn’t show it on her face, but fortunately, Batista here did what she couldn't do and approached the lead forensic scientist with a worried look on his face.

“Oye, you good hermano?” said Angel Batista, placing one meaty hand on Masuka’s shoulder, as Masuka negatively nodded, wiping his face from all the sweat that had accumulated on his bald head.

“Uhhh, it’s uh..” He gulped, trying to gather himself. He fixed his glasses as he spoke again. “It’s like…someone exploded in there…In all my years of forensic work, I never saw anything like this…”

“...Who was it in the bathroom? Did anyone get a visual ID of the victim?” asked Deb curiously.

“The victim was one of the recently missing students, Ari Yates; she was seventeen…but it’s only her torso that was left,” explained Batista slowly, though not on purpose. Judging from the tone of his voice, Batista sounded fearful about something.

“Another one?” Deb nearly whispered, Jesus Fucking Christ… Jeffery was practically that age…it made Deb shudder at the thought of something bad happening to her little brother…

“Same guy?” asked Batista.

Masuka nodded.

“Yeah, it’s him alright, same technique, different body part though…it’s like he’s leaving us clues like some messed up game of Mr. Potato Head with high schoolers...” responded Masuka.

Batista clenched his fist, a vein nearly popping out on his knuckle, which didn’t go unnoticed by Deb, and if anything, Deb knows this isn’t the first time she’d seen Batista trying to control his anger. Angel Batista has a daughter, Auri, similar to the victim’s name, and knowing that she was the same age as Ari, Batista couldn’t help but worry at

The thought of the motherfucker killing all these high school girls and the thought of Auri potentially being next was driving Batista a little mad…

Deb couldn’t blame him, sure, Jeffery wasn’t her kid, but the thought of him being hurt sometimes drives the eldest Morgan a little crazy too…she did swear at her father's deathbed that she’d protect him no matter what-

“Detective Morgan?” said a voice behind her, and Deb turned to see that a blonde, stocky-looking cop was standing there, rather awkwardly, yet looked as if she wanted to say something.

‘Um, what's wrong?” said a confused Deb.

“You're related to Jeffery Morgan, yes?” asked the stocky cop as Deb nodded.

“He’s been…He’s heading to the hospital,” she said. Deb felt her heart sink to her stomach when those words came out of her mouth.

“...What?” 

“H-He came across the crime scene first, he fainted when he got out,” the cop tried to explain, but Deb interrupted her.

“Which fucking hospital?” said Deb, wasting no time in trying to find her brother’s whereabouts as the stocky police officer stammered out her response.

“V-Virginia Hospital Center!” Deb nearly pushed past her and ran towards the stairs, ignoring Batista’s calling out her name as Deb rushed down the stairs and into the parking lot, only the thought of her brother’s safety in mind was all she could think of…

“God…God fucking dammit, please…not him.” 

Though as she reached the parking lot, she didn’t fail to notice someone was staring at her as she went to her car. Sitting down quickly and starting up the car, she did glance at the supposed person staring right at her.

The auburn hair, the green eyes, the rather tall frame, it was the neighbor’s kid across the street, Rudy. Standing there wearing a graphic hoodie and basketball shorts with sneakers, he had his hands in his pockets, leaning onto a metal railing, staring directly at her. It wasn’t one of those accidental glances you make when you're looking around your environment; this one was direct, and he stared right at Deb, not a single semblance of the typical teenage attitude you might expect, but this look he had felt more…stalkery. 

Deb didn’t tell it to her little brother, but something about his new friend Rudy felt off ....Ever since he’d moved in, something about him had left Deb feeling somewhat familiar, yet tense whenever she saw him. Even when she tried to ask her “inner Harry” about Rudy, even though he was at a loss for words, something about the way he acted told Deb that maybe deep down, they both knew, yet they didn’t know how to say it…

Jamming her key in the ignition, her car roars to life, and she nearly sped out of there, though Rudy’s cold eyes still followed her even when she had already left the parking lot.

The Tavern

Santos Jimenez was a man who lived quite a life, a life of reckless debauchery and gang-related violence. He somehow managed to finally settle down and retire into obscurity despite everything he’s done…

Though Santos wasn’t complaining, as he did manage to snag a piece of simple property here in Virginia, and with this in mind, Santos was able to transform it completely differently for something he’d always envisioned himself doing: Owning a Bar.

Despite the amount of crimes piled onto his back, Santos managed to cut a deal with the police, a certain couple of undesirables in the force of course had gotten him to be placed in Witness Protection after ratting out a few people he didn’t really like when he ran with MS-13, but definitely not his boss of course, he’d like to keep his balls thank you very much. The Tavern was his child, his baby, and he is happy to see how far he has come in his life so far…The night was young, and people were aching for a stiff drink, and Santos was more than happy to serve as long as the money came pouring in; what more could a former gangster ask for?

Although he’d retired from life in the streets, Santos still held that old fighting instinct inside of him and said instinct was telling him someone was eyeballing him this entire night…

He didn’t make it obvious, of course, but using the mirror decorations around the bar, he did manage to find the would-be perpetrator that has been dogging him for a while…He was sitting in a booth by himself, a cup of water with a sliced lemon and a small bowl of peanuts was all he had on him as he playfully traced his fingers on the bowl.

Santos could see what he looked like and what he was wearing, He was tall, sorta lanky yet athletic enough as he wore a dark long sleeved shirt with the sleeves slightly rolled up, dark blue jeans and sneakers though what made the young man stand out was that auburn colored hair and green eyes, he definitely wasn’t a ginger yet he was acting like one with how soulless his stare is and Santos isn’t liking it. 

The only kind of look he was ever given like this before was from his old boss, Ramirez, and if sadism was personified, it would have to be him. Santos still shivers from the amount of times Ramirez has fucked with him and everyone else in MS-13, with his large build, the nasty scar that permanently disfigured his left eye and the rather large Buck Vanguard knife he always kept on him and he can still remember the amount of times his boss would leave cuts on either his arms and legs, especially the very prominent one Santos had on his upper left bicep which was the result of a drunken Ramirez trying to play tic tac toe but with people’s skin.

Thankfully, the newest member, Juan, at the time did manage to

to save his ass by distracting Ramirez with another bottle of whiskey, and he still hasn't paid back that favor but eh, who cares all that matters is the red headed step child and himself, pretty much having this wild west stand off.

The only line of defense that Santos has for himself is the baseball bat hidden underneath his counter, which is his only viable option and judging from the way gingersnap carried himself, he didn’t look armed so Santos at least has an advantage in this hypothetical fight. 

Then he moved, the gringo got up from his seat and began making his way towards the exit, though those cold green eyes of his never left Santos…Santos kept looking at him, even after he finally left. The tension was rather thick even if most of the bar patrons didn’t notice it, but it takes a special level of experience to see that something was going on even if he hadn’t been in the game for a long time, Santos still had that danger sense inside of him…

Though he stopped tracing the baseball bat hidden underneath the counter, Santos still felt some kind of stomach churning feeling inside…but he didn’t simply have it in him to care so he’d gone back to serving his customers, slowly forgetting about the one that had been eyeballing him the whole night.

LATER…

With the last drunkard finally leaving, albeit stumbling his way out of the door. Santos released a breath he was holding as he walked around his counter and began to set the stools up on top of the counter unaware of his surroundings.

Unaware of the other unseen guest walking in his bar…

It didn’t take long for Santos to notice that something was wrong and he turned around quickly to see the same person that has been eyeballing him the whole night, the auburn hair, the green eyes, the all black outfit the very same…what the fuck was he doing here?

“We’re closed now,” said Santos, despite his thick accent he tried to assert a stern tone to the young man in front of him, hoping he could leave without Santos having to do something drastic here, he lived a life of peace and he did not want that to be disrupted anytime soon.

The young man’s eyes stared right at him, and it was already unnerving Santos with how hungrily it looked, the same kind of look Ramirez had for anyone whenever he wanted to “play”.

“...” the young man stayed silent, this wasn’t helping Santos as he decided to step forward a bit to get his point across.

“I said, we’re closed. The sign over there says we’re closed.” Santos pointed out in a stern tone, in his mind he was already getting very frustrated and when he gets frustrated it leads to anger.

Thats something he didn’t want to deal with especially from this fuck ass freak standing in front of him.

“...I know this is gonna sound weird but, I think we’re long overdue for a talk.” said the gringo.

That was it? That was what he wanted? Santos wanted to scoff at this, hell he wanted to scream at this kid to fuck off back to whence he came, but something deep down inside of him was making him stand there and listen to what this weirdo wanted to say to him.

The gringo spoke up.

“...October 3rd, 2003.” the gringo said.

Santos felt his stomach sink to the ground when he heard those words come out of the young man’s mouth.

“W-what?” stammered Santos, and the young man spoke again.

“October 3rd, 2003. I think you know that date, it was…the day that changed the course of my life that led me to standing right here in front of you,” he explained, his stare unfaltering as Santos began to slowly step back.

“How?...” whispered Santos, that date, that day, that's something Santos personally never forgot, especially with what he had done with both Ramirez and Juan in that-

“The Port of Virginia, remember? I used to live near Chesapeake when I was young, with my mother and little brother…I think you remember what you did in the shipping yard that day?” he said, almost mockingly as Santos looked at him with sudden realization.

“You…You were!” Santos nearly exclaimed, the two little boys left in that container after the- 

Santos snapped back from reality, then anger began to course through his body as he looked at the young man in front of him with renewed vigor.

“No, No no. You, need to fucking leave right now!” Santos demanded, pointing at the entrance that the young man had come from, though the look on his face indicated that he wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon. 

“I don’t think I’m done talking to you just yet.” said the young man, his posture changing slightly as if he was readying for some kind of attack. Seeing this, Santos immediately reached for the baseball bat hidden from under the counter and gripped on it tightly.

“Hm, you really shouldn’t do that.” 

“No, what you need to do is to get the fuck out of my bar,” growled Santos, pointing the bat at the young man.

“But, I’m not done talking.” said the young man.

“Get out of my fucking bar,” warned Santos, holding the bat in a defensive stance.

“You stole my life from me…” he said again.

Santos had a look of disbelief on his aged features.

“What? Listen you are starting to piss me off-” 

“The person I was supposed to be, you took that away from me.” the young man continued and he began to inch closer to Santos.

“Back the fuck up, I will beat your fucking head in if you don’t walk out that door right now!” threatened Santos angrily, rearing the bat as if he was ready to swing for the major leagues.

“I guess diplomacy wasn’t going to work.” sighed the young man, a disappointed look shown on his face.

Then in an instant, the young man lunged at him, his hand grabbing the bat. Before Santos could react, he was promptly slugged across the face hard and was knocked down by the impact of the assault though thankfully he wasn’t knocked out as he could only lay on the floor of his bar and moan in pain, trying to reach for his bruised jaw.

But the young man wasn’t done, he immediately mounted on top of Santos, grabbing him by his opened bowling shirt he began to punch him across the face, each blow sounding like a loud meaty thwack.

“October 3rd?!”

POW

“2003?!”

POW

“THE PORT OF VIRGINIA?! A SHIPPING CONTAINER?!” the young man screamed, his fist covered in Santo’s fresh blood as he slowly let up his punches trying to see the look on the older man’s face.

“A CHAINSAW?” 

POW

“Ughhh.” groaned Santos, his face bruised and bloody yet he wasn’t able to respond to the young man's ravings…

“LAURA MOSER?” The young man screamed, delivering one last punch across Santo’s cheek. The older man was laid out on the floor, barely holding onto his consciousness from the younger man’s assault, who promptly got off of Santos and proceeded to head to the entrance of the bar, quickly grabbing some kind of bag and then closing the door. 

He locked the door and then turned off the bar’s lights, returning to Santos as he dropped the bag over a nearby pool table, the young man began to drag his soon to be victim.

“No-N-no, you mother fucker-” Santos tried to gurgle out but the young man quickly silenced him with another punch to his face, finally knocking him out once and for all.

Kyle Moser finished filling the small bucket of water, turning off the valve and making his way towards the tied up Santos, he looked at him and then…

SPLASH

“Gah, w-what the fuck?!”

Santos sputtered and gagged, finally waking up. He began looking around his surroundings, trying to move from his bindings but seeing that he couldn't, Santos decided to resort to being angry and yelling at the one who did this to him.

“You little fuck! I’ll kill you!” yelled Santos, spittle coming from his mouth as Kyle began digging through the bag and pulling out an electric chainsaw which made Santo go quiet at the sight of it…

“You know, I killed so many people with this thing, a tool supposed to be used for cutting down trees or whatever. I killed a lot of people, started with prostitutes at first, too easy for my tastes but once i started going after people that had screwed me over growing up, it was good for a while until I moved here and started picking off a couple of randos until i realized my classmates were a better option.” Kyle explained, fiddling with the chainsaw as Santos looked at him nervously.

“Y-You, let me go…I got cocaine-” Santos tried to bargain but Kyle quickly turned around, buckskin knife in hand, he stabbed Santos in the knee which elicited a loud anguishing howl from the older man.

“I’m not done explaining yet…” said Kyle calmly, leaving his signature knife in Santo’s knee he turned around and grabbed the chainsaw.

“To think it was by chance, that I was gonna be moved to Virginia and then see him, my little brother, it all came together perfectly…How funny is that, but honestly I was planning on meeting my brother when I was a little older because I was focused on you first.” finished Kyle.

Santos, even though his knee was in pain, looked at Kyle with a pained expression trying to articulate what he was talking about.

“I still remember everything, the screams, my mother being murdered by you and the other two. Jeffery still blocked it out, but he’ll remember soon enough… I’ve been thinking of this day, everything planned, it wasn’t easy but I’m glad I got to you first…I still remember the backhand you gave me that day and I thought it would be nice to repay the favor since you killed my mom.” finished Kyle, he revved up the chainsaw much to Santo’s horror.

“Usually I would slit your throat and drain as much blood as I could but…after seeing you use this thing, I thought this would be more…” said Kyle slowly, and with minimal effort he raised the chainsaw in the air dramatically.

“Poetic.” 

Santos began screaming way before Kyle started to drive the chainsaw right at his neck, the serrated blades moving as it dug right through his neck, blood immediately splattering as Kyle squinted to prevent the spatter flying in his eyes. The look on Santos face was priceless if the mutilator was honest, especially when his head fell to the floor as he’d finally finished decapitating him…

The way his body still twitched even after the removal of his head was still interesting to Kyle, if he remembered correctly that the human body can still show signs of muscle movements even without the brain controlling it due to the reflex arcs of the spinal cord or whatever, but when he picked up Santos by what's left of his balding hair strands, Kyle can see that his face was moving too, mouth opened and gaping, eyes widened from the horror of dying. 

Still it was all the same, casually dropping the head on the floor, Kyle picked up his chainsaw and bag, and began making his way out the door, whistling to the tunes of Beethoven’s symphony no. 5 as he stuffs his chainsaw into his bag and proceeds to head out into the night.

Though he may look casual and cool as he often portrays himself to be, Kyle looked up at the moon as it shone down on the highway, cars passing by in the distance like far away fireflies that Kyle couldn’t reach for. Though his eyes did go back to looking at the moon, fat shining moon with its light cascading the environment around him, blood still covered all over his face and clothes, even when he tried to wipe it off of his face Kyle looked at his hand and began to think for a second.

…

…

…

Nothing.

“Nothing at all….” Kyle thought to himself in disgust, though not the idea of him being covered in blood or the murder he committed but just the feeling that he was supposed to feel…

Kyle had finally got one of the men responsible for the murder of his mother yet he wasn’t feeling the constant weight on his shoulders being lifted off of him…He avenged her did he not? Why wasn’t the avenging of his mom not working on him? Kyle wanted to feel anger, he wanted to do something again and not pent up his emotions again, the last time he did, he ended up killing his therapist for it. 

He stopped when he finally reached his car, a twisted lightbulb went off in his mind when an idea popped off in his mind…

Jeffery, his brother, could bring him into this quest of vengeance, they can finally talk.

No more barbie dolls and chopped off body parts, just him and his brother reunited at once…

But for things to go right, Kyle needed to take care of some obstacles still standing in his way: Debra, that woman who might suspect him, and Karen… Kyle smiled to himself as he threw his bag and started up his car, quickly driving himself out of there, already planning on the “family reunion” he will soon have with Jeffery.

“Soon…soon baby brother, It’ll just be the two of us…”