PART 4

When the police arrived at Bayboro High, several students were shocked. The confusion and curiosity of the situation encompassed everyone, from students to faculty, and the longer they remained at the scene a hunger grew; a hunger for knowledge.

What had happened?

J-JOE walked out the science building with a distraught look on his face, he was paler than usual, he seemed anxious, and most importantly his heart rate was spiking. Not enough to cause concern, but if he was about to have a heart attack, it would not be a great situation to be in. Eventually, one of the officers approached him, "Excuse me, are you the one to call this in?" Asked the officer.

"Yes, sir." J-JOE replied.

"Is it alright with you if I asked you a few questions regarding the incident?" Asked the officer.

"What do you want to know?" J-JOE replied nervously.

"Did you know anyone in the building before the incident?" Asked the officer.

"I do, actually, um... Yeah, my, um, my friend Thomas, Thomas Fultsman, was um... He was there, he discovered the body." Answered Thomas.

"Okay, any chance you could tell us what happened?" Asked the officer.

"Well, after Thomas didn't come back, I thought maybe he needed some help. With what? I didn't know, but I thought I'd be a good friend, so I went in. I wandered the halls for some minutes, until I heard Thomas speaking, so I followed his voice until I got close enough to find him, and that's when I saw it: Liam's dead body. Thomas was there trying to save him, at least I think, so I called 911 to try and help him, and then I left the room, and now I'm here."

"Okay, good, thanks." Answered the officer.

"Thanks, see you around." J-JOE said before walking away. J-JOE sat down on the curb, hands over his face. What would the police think of Thomas? Of the fact that he came to help? Not much, and the consequences, he knew, would be disastrous. J-JOE's mind raced, and he tried to take control of his thoughts. Maybe he could figure out a way to leave and come back later, when the police were out of the building.

"You look like you've seen a dead body," a voice came from behind J-JOE. He turned around to see a student standing there. She wore jeans, with a loose purple sweater thrown over her shoulders, looking both young and stylish. And she looked a little...pensive?

"Oh, um, yeah, today has been a bad day." J-JOE replied, still in a state of shock.

"Thomas is a nice guy, but if he sees something like that, you need to talk to someone, maybe even go see a counselor." Answered the student.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks." J-JOE replied.

He couldn't say anything else, the words just refused to come out. This was the end. Well, he thought, I guess I'm gonna do it. Then again, if you're gonna do something, might as well do it properly, he thought to himself. There was no point living in fear and guilt if he was to finally come clean.

J-JOE headed back to the science building, his heart still racing and his eyes still dry. The halls were relatively empty, though that was no surprise considering the hour. Thomas could still be anywhere, and J-JOE would have to tell his parents what happened before the police got back, there was no way that Thomas would have kept that from them. He took out his phone and sent Thomas a text, asking if did it.

Thomas: Are you still in the science building?

J-JOE: Just came back, you?

Thomas: Yeah. Where'd you go?

J-JOE: I couldn't go back in that room, I didn't know what to say to my parents, or Liam's. I had to see... I had to know help had arrived.

Thomas: So what happened?

J-JOE: Thomas... that is between you and me. But, can I trust you with something?

Thomas: It's all right, I understand.

J-JOE: I haven't told anyone, I won't if you don't want to tell anyone. Thomas...

Thomas: Yes?

J-JOE: Um... Did you kill Liam? I promise I won't tell the cops.

There was an awkward waiting period between J-JOE's last next text message and Thomas's next one, but J-JOE felt relieved coming out and asking Thomas. Was it wrong? Probably, but he felt it was the right thing to do. He should probably trust Thomas more, but all the evidence lines up as him being Liam's killer; J-JOE wasn't an idiot by any means, but he was naïve when it came to trusting people. However, there is nothing wrong with trusting in the wrong place, or trusting a place you shouldn't trust, and this was that place.

Thomas sent the following text message after that awkward waiting period:

Thomas: I didn't do it.

J-JOE was slightly taken aback by this response. After a pause, J-JOE then typed the following text message:

J-JOE: You didn't?

Thomas: Nope.

That was all J-JOE needed, he felt relieved, even though a part of him wasn't. Thomas had to be lying though, so how could he tell? He had to lie about what? Had he gotten in a fight with Liam and it went bad, and Thomas thought he killed him? Was that why he tried to save Liam? This wasn't the first time Thomas lied, though, and it wasn't like him to lie to him. If Thomas was indeed lying to him, then he shouldn't have been trying to save Liam. J-JOE put his phone away and headed back to the door of the science building. He was about to walk in when he heard heavy breathing. When he saw Thomas walking towards him, he quickly followed him into a nearby office.

"Whoa, why are you following me?" Thomas asked J-JOE, who was hiding behind a bookshelf in the room.

"We need to talk. Why were you there to find Liam's body? Why were you even there in the first place? " J-JOE asked.

Thomas was quiet for a minute, and seemed to be contemplating something, even though it was obvious that he was lying. J-JOE stared at him and could see the truth staring back at him in Thomas's eyes.

"There is nothing to talk about," Thomas said quietly.

J-JOE couldn't believe it. He just told a full-on lie, yet Thomas seemed to be admitting it, if that was even what he was doing. It almost felt like Thomas was telling him the truth. But... he had to know if that was the truth.

"No, there is, there's gotta be! Thomas, talk to me. Why did you come to find Liam?" J-JOE asked.

Thomas gave J-JOE an annoyed look. He felt like he was getting his trust violated, but this time it was different. This time, he was sure that Thomas was being honest. However, that didn't mean that J-JOE couldn't lie. In fact, the only reason J-JOE was confident that he was telling the truth, was that he felt bad for him. J-JOE had to trust Thomas. There was nothing wrong with that, but still... he shouldn't have lied to him.

"I was trying to help," Thomas said, though there was no conviction in his voice.

J-JOE just stared at him, waiting for his lie. This had to be a lie, it was the only option that made sense. How could he know if he was being honest if he lied to him? Thomas obviously didn't want to talk, he couldn't. He had lied to J-JOE.

"You don't even wanna talk about this. Liam is dead, you wanna be mad at me for that?" J-JOE said softly, trying to make Thomas feel better.

"You know, It's rude to stick your nose in other people's business..." Thomas said in a shady tone. He was trying to hide his anger at J-JOE. Thomas couldn't look into J-JOE's eyes. It felt like it was a violation, but he had to know what J-JOE thought of Liam and Liam's death. Thomas was angry at him, but he also didn't know what to do with this emotion.

"No, you're right. I wasn't trying to start an argument," J-JOE said calmly, trying to calm down Thomas. It didn't work. Thomas wasn't in the mood for anyone's bullshit.

"Thomas, are you ok man?"

"I'm fine. Just leave it, and don't try to get involved," Thomas said, feeling like J-JOE was trying to get a piece of his mind.

"I just want to know what's up with you man, that's all," J-JOE said, still trying to win back his friend's trust.

"Liam was a good friend, he didn't deserve this," Thomas said, still not able to look him in the eyes. He looked at his feet. J-JOE felt terrible for him, he had tried to help, but now he was getting slapped in the face. "It's a shame about Liam's death... he deserved to die. He's probably glad he's dead now, but at least he got what he deserved."

"Thomas...?" J-JOE's heart started racing, he had the feeling this conversation wasn't going to end very well for him.

"You shouldn't have been there James, now you've complicated things." Thomas never called James by his real name, it was if this wasn't Thomas in control. J-JOE saw his best friend's eyes getting even colder than usual. He didn't like it.

"Thomas...?" J-JOE was now certain this wasn't going to end well.

"Out of all the times I've killed and gotten away with it, not once was there ever a witness. Heh, but you? How the hell will I end up being my first?" Thomas snickered, J-JOE tried to keep his face straight. "Thomas...!" J-JOE tried to stop Thomas, but Thomas didn't seem to be listening.

"I'm never getting caught. I'm getting out, I'll be back in my room after this. Maybe I'll end up seen as a serial killer! Ha ha, now you'll be sorry you caught me during such an easy kill!" Thomas said, as he was looking straight at J-JOE.

"No! Please...!" J-JOE felt as if he was at his breaking point. It was Thomas. He was like a brother to him, "Thomas, please. You're wrong, you didn't mean it like that."

"Well, I meant it." Thomas snickered. "You're a good kid. How did you get on the wrong side of the force? Oh, and the way I figure it, you're getting a taste of your own medicine! You're a suspect! Ha ha!"

"Thomas, this isn't you; I know you!" J-JOE could have never imagined Thomas had this much dark side to him. He thought that if Thomas had a dark side, the worst he would do is refuse to pet a puppy.

"Ding ding ding! Right on the nose, James. I guess there's no use hiding it anymore now isn't there," Thomas pinned J-JOE against the office's wall leaving J-JOE no room to move, he watched as J-JOE tried to force his way past, but Thomas was so close to J-JOE he could smell the coffee on his breath. He stared into his eyes, they were brown like chocolate, and a perfect match for Thomas's, he had brown eyes as well and they were just as full of emotion. Thomas was shocked at how similar they were, not just the eye color, but the shape of their eyes and the color of their skin was almost identical. He didn't think about it too long because he just wanted to know what J-JOE was thinking. J-JOE started to whimper, "Shhh…" Thomas cooed, putting his index finger over J-JOE's lips.

Thomas watched as J-JOE looked like he was getting more nervous by the second, he was so close to him he could feel J-JOE's heart beat faster than usual, and not just his heart beat, but Thomas could sense the heat coming from his body. J-JOE was starting to feel more nervous, he could feel the air blowing from his nostrils and he was certain he had caught a whiff of J-JOE's cologne. Thomas could swear the air around him grew hotter, and the faster he was breathing, and the deeper he breathed in, Thomas could feel the air entering his lungs and forcing its way out again, making him feel as if his chest was getting tighter, with the amount of air he was taking in he was surprised he didn't just spontaneously combust. He could hear the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, it was like an infernal echo of his own beating, he could feel his heart beat faster and faster, he loved it.

Thomas reached around J-JOE, his body felt hot, as if he had been locked inside a sauna, he felt like his whole body had been cooked to perfection, if he had known the air would be this thick, his body could have been burnt to a crisp. Thomas took in a deep breath, he could feel J-JOE's skin with his fingers, it felt like he had a fever and it seemed to be burning hot. He pressed the flat of his hand to J-JOE's chest, he could feel J-JOE's heart beating as if it was trying to escape from his chest. Thomas felt J-JOE's heart, every beat was loud, and he could feel J-JOE's heartbeat with him. He was surprised to feel J-JOE's heart beating and he knew it wasn't his heart, the heart J-JOE was carrying belonged to someone else, it belonged to the man whose heartbeat was that of someone who thought he was going to die. Thomas could feel J-JOE's heart beating faster and faster, it felt like his heart was going to explode. Thomas could feel J-JOE's heart and that's when he then whispered into J-JOE's right ear, "I'm The Scar-Face Reaper."

It took a second for J-JOE to digest what he heard. He realized what Thomas was referring to. "Nooo..." J-JOE screamed in terror, he suddenly felt like he was going to lose his damn mind. "NO! You can't!" J-JOE pleaded. The Scar-Face Reaper laughed, he knew it was too late, he had already won.

Thomas began to drag J-JOE by his arms. He then stopped. "I'll kill you just like you killed Liam."

"No, please!" J-JOE begged, knowing he didn't have the strength to fight back. "I will never testify against you. I just want you to let me go! I just want to go back home and forget everything that happened!" J-JOE cried, and then the words got to him. He realized what happened.

"Good," The Scar-Face Reaper then backed up, allowing J-JOE to finally move, "And that my dear James, is the art of intimidation."

J-JOE was panting heavily, "...What? Huh?"

"Yeah, you see when someone messes with your life, you never ever forget it. So in that time I've had to go through this life on the outside, it's made me become what I am. I'm the Scar-Face Reaper. I was made from the scars people have inflicted upon themselves. That is the only way you could make this connection. And now that I know, I will take your power, not that it matters anymore."

The Scar-Face Reaper then gave J-JOE a final look before turning around. "I will come for you James, in time. When you least expect it. This little thing will be your final warning. Goodbye," The Scar-Face Reaper then slammed the door shut in J-JOE's face, and left J-JOE alone with his thoughts. J-JOE felt sad for himself, he realized he was about to become The Scar-Face Reaper's next victim if he didn't play his cards right.