Chapter Seven

Rhea quickly made her way to the assistant headmaster's office. Some people were gathered there as well as police. She slid into the room and took a good look at his picture. She had never seen him before, nor did she care how he looked; the moment her eyes fell on the picture, she regretted not being there when he was appointed to the position a month ago.

She took a picture on her phone very quickly. Just when she was about to take another look around, someone pulled her by the arm. She stumbled backward, falling on someone's chest.

"… What the hell do you think you are doing?" Rhea asked angrily.

"You knew? You knew it was him?" Hugo asked, his gray eyes more concerned than Rhea expected them to be.

"Hugh, let's talk somewhere else," she murmured.

Rhea had suspected it before, but it seemed the white-haired boy lacked smartness when it was needed the most.

Rhea freed her arm from his and led him to a faraway room. It was a deserted classroom she happened to find.

"Hugh, I need you to stop saying things in front of others," she said.

"Did you know?"

"No… Not until this very moment."

Hugo stared at her. "He is our assistant headmaster. You knew his face. And you saw your stalker's face too. Even if you have prosopagnosia, it should trigger something."

"I didn't know our assistant headmaster's face, but I saw my stalker's face."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When he was appointed, we were called into the hall room. I hate being near people. There is no way I would be there if it's not a must."

"It was a must."

"I was sick," she said.

"It's more like you became sick to not go."

"That's right," she said. "I don't like social gatherings. I avoid them. And I have never been to the assistant headmaster's office. Tell me something. Have you seen his face after that day when he first got the job?"

"Yeah, a few times. He came to the field to support us."

"Yes, he went to meet the club members. You saw him because you are a member of the basketball club."

"You know that?" he asked, bewildered. Hugo thought Rhea knew nothing about him. But maybe, he was slightly wrong.

"I have seen you play. Anyway, as I was saying, others saw him because they are part of different clubs. But I am not. I come to school and do not leave my place except when it's time for lunch, or when it's time to go home. I go straight home without stopping unless it's a cute cat. All cats are cute, so unless I see a cat, I don't stop. So, no, I haven't met him. Yes, I have seen my stalker's face, but I could never describe it as I have seen it just once. But I remember enough things to know that they are the same person now that I know what the assistant headmaster looked like."

"Someone killed him and dismembered him. Can you believe it?"

"Though surprising, not completely unbelievable. You don't even know what murderers can do. Some can even eat humans. Cannibals, I mean."

"Jeffrey Dahmer?"

"Uhm, for example," she said.

"Yeah. I watched a film."

"I did too. And I watched all the tapes of different interviews of some sort. Serial killers, mentally sick people, people suffering from different mental disorders… I am interested in those things," she said. "And…"

She suddenly stopped talking and stared at him. She started feeling uncomfortable. Perhaps she said too much.

"And?" Hugo asked, expecting to hear more.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head, still not understanding what kind of angel was with her that day to make her talk that way as if she got a friend. Usually, demons were with her and she was absolutely fine and comfortable with that. "I will go now."

She left. Hugo did not try to stop her. He had talked to her enough. A bit more talk would not hurt, but Hugo was satisfied with what he got.

When he heard about the murder of Samuel Norman, the assistant principal, something hit him. He recalled something he should have done earlier.

"Hugh!" Rhea called out of nowhere. She had come back. "I need to know something."

"How I knew?" he asked as if he could read her mind. She gave a small nod. "He has triple moles right by his left ear. Clara showed it many times and said he should have three… Uh, it's just, it's quite rare, right? I saw it that day, just it did not hit me that way. But this morning, when I heard the news, it occurred to me. The height is the same, the voice as well, and those moles. Nothing is different. It was him for sure."

"It was…," she said. "Give me your number if it's not a problem."

"Uh… Sure," he said, a bit awkwardly.

He never thought he would ever talk to her that way. He always wished to get to know her but was not sure how to ask for her number, fearing she would reject him right away. Perhaps he could get her number in one way or another since his father was best friends with her mother. But he just did not want to lie, not to her.

He was glad it was her who asked for his number since he did not have the courage to do so.

"I won't call. Neither will you. Just texts," she said.

"Got it. Just texts," he said.

"Okay, I will go now. Thank you for the information."

She left again. Hugo sighed. He knew he had some kind of problem, but the more he stayed near her, he was triggered. But he did not care. He would let it go crazy, now that it had finally gotten free.

He let out a laugh, a laugh that sounded more of the laugh of a devil than the person everyone called kind and an ideal student. It suited him better than he thought it would.