The Chase
It was the day before the football team's final game and Andrew was finishing up his algebra homework in the library.
"Alright if I use the quadratic formula, then my answer would be X equals eight. I finally finished my homework!"
"If you finished your homework then can we have a talk in the newspaper room?" John appears in front of Andrew reading Solo Leveling.
"John what's up. Do you need me for something?"
"Yes I do. Let's chat in the Newspaper room."
Andrew and John left the library and headed to the newspaper room.
Once they went in, Andrew saw something that he didn't believe to see.
"What the hell!" Andrew looked around as all the monitors were broken.
"Uh Uh Uhhhh. No swearing on school grounds Andrew." John putting his hands on Andrew's shoulders.
"So tell me Andrew. Why is it that your only job is to see what Scott was doing and you failed to do that?"
"Sir it wasn't me. The cameras were fine yesterday. I didn't even know how it got destroyed."
"Did you leave the cameras on at night?"
"No sir. I thought that since no one is in the building, there wouldn't be any need to put on the cameras."
John heavily took a deep breath. "Oh Andrew, I don't blame you. You're just a freshman and as an upperclassman, it's my job to help those younger than me."
John then pulled what seemed like a wrapped sandwich from his jacket. "I know you were hungry so I brought you a sandwich. Made from Laura of course."
"Oh thanks." Andrew unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite of the sandwich.
"Is there pork in here? I can't eat pork since I'm Jewish."
"Of course not. The sandwich is your good old teriyaki chicken sandwich. I always respect those who are religious."
"Great." Andrew kept eating the sandwich until he bit something hard.
"Ouch!" Andrew felt the pain as he bit something really hard.
Andrew opened the bread of the sandwich and saw what would traumatize him. "Oh my God! Daisy!"
Andrew would find out that the hard thing that he bit on was his dog's collar with blood stains on it.
"No! Don't tell me!"
"Oh, did I say teriyaki chicken. I meant dog. I guess you ate your own dog!" John laughed as he found it funny for the owner to eat his dog.
Andrew threw up on the floor and collapsed on the floor crying as his last appearance of his dog was in a sandwich.
"Daisy! Daisy! Why would you do this John!" Andrew is constantly crying.
"Why, you might ask. Because you failed your job in securing Scott and look what your consequence was. Turning your lovely dog into deli meat." John then pulled out the same knife that he stabbed Troy with.
"But I don't think you faced the consequences enough. I think I'm gonna need to lobotomize your frontal lobe." John went closer towards Andrew with his knife as he was ready to cut Andrew's head off and cut off his frontal lobe of his brain.
Andrew was so scared that he couldn't say anything as he stood there constantly crying on the floor.
"No please. Please! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'"
Meanwhile, Scott was awakened from some sort of loud noise. As if he heard a bell ringing.
"W-What the?" Scott rose his head from his desk.
"Where am I?" He then looked around him.
He realizes that he's back in his old High School, Frederick College Prep, in his old classroom. Scott didn't know how to react to this as he doesn't know how he was back in his old High School.
"Why am I back here?" Scott then went outside of the classroom looking around him. He couldn't believe he was back in his old high school as everyone was doing their usual things whether it was vaping in the lockers, people stealing other people's money in the gym locker rooms, those getting ready for the next school year, or those who are studying for their AP exams.
"This is your fault!" Someone screaming far from Scott.
Wanting to find out, Scott then ran to the noise to see what the commotion was.
"It's your fault that we couldn't have a better teammate. All because you're just a freshman!" It was the Captain of the Varsity Baseball Team.
"I'm sorry, please give me a second chance. I'm new to the team and it'll take time for me to get used to the rules."
"Oh I don't like to give second chances to freshies like you." The captain held him by the collar.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Scott interfered in the situation.
"Well if it isn't our best batter of our team." The captain then let go of the freshmen leading him to run away.
"Look captain, although he's just a freshman, you should really take it easy on him."
"And why should I do that Scott. I'm the captain of the baseball team and I can do whatever I want!"
Scott didn't want to cause a scene so he just walked away from him.
"You know Scott. I only accepted you because of your anger issues."
Scott then stopped and looked behind him. "Excuse me?"
"Yeah! If I don't accept you, then all you're going to do is always get angry at me!"
Scott then walked towards the captain. He grabbed his collar as Scott started to get angry. "Take that back you bastard!"
"Why would I? You do have anger issues. I'm just being realistic with you."
"And you know Scott. You're the most angriest dickhead I've ever met!"
Unable to control his anger, Scott started beating down his captain with his bare hands. He then would use a baseball bat hitting him constantly until his head started to bleed causing a huge gash to open up in his head.
Suddenly, Scott stopped what he was doing looking at his bloody hands and the bat that appeared out of nowhere. "H-How did this happen? Where did I get this bat from?"
People around him were starting to spread rumors around him as they witnessed a possible murder right in front of their eyes.
"Oh my God, he straight up murdered him."
"He has so many anger issues."
"I wouldn't want to be around him."
"HE'S A MURDERER!"
[MURDERER]
[MURDERER]
[MURDERER]
"Get out of here you murderer!"
"We don't want your anger issues in this school!"
"Not only in this school, but also in our town!"
"We don't want you here!"
"Murderer!"
"HotHead!"
"LEAVE OUR TOWN! YOU'RE JUST A HOT HEAD THAT NOBODY WANTS!"
Many people were spreading rumors surrounding Scott to the point where Scott couldn't take it anymore. He tried to cover his ears to try to shield himself from all the hate comments about him.
"No please, that's not true! I don't want my anger to define me! I'm better than this, I know it."
[I KNOW IT]
Scott then started to cry on the floor as there were so many hate comments around him.
"I'm not a murderer. I'm not a hot head. I can be different. I'm different from what happened before."
"This isn't you Scott." A strange voice coming out of someone.
Scott stopped crying and looked up. It was Ashley Martinez.
"A-Ashley! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Scott, this isn't the real world. This is just a dream."
"A dream." Scott sees Ashley flying around.
"Yes. What I showed you was your memories you made from when you got expelled from Frederick College Prep to today."
"And what about it?"
"And what I'm trying to tell you is that you're no longer this person you were back in that school."
"But why would you say that Ashley?! I beat up my captain again and for what?"
Ashley gave her hand towards Scott. "Scott. Please take my hand."
Scott held her hand and as he held on, they both went forward in time on the day where he first came to Sunshine Valley.
"This is where you were when you first came here Scott."
Scott analyzed his memory. "This is when I first moved to Sunshine Valley after being exiled from Des Moines."
"Yes Scott and this is where it all began. You were so disappointed in yourself that you desperately wanted to have another opportunity in your mother's childhood neighborhood. All you want is to make peace for yourself and try to let go of what happened."
Scott looked down. "So you knew what I was thinking about."
"Well yeah Scott. I'm in your consciousness."
"Once you looked at the baseball bat that you beat up your captain with, you never wanted to play baseball ever again and try to forcefully forget what happened in Des Moines."
"I do though Ashley. Ever since I was a child, I had always been angry at many people and looked at where my anger had led me. A town that I don't belong in."
"But you do belong here."
"I don't, Ashley. Besides that, I had to deal with John and his friends who murdered you for no reason. Especially Troy, I'll never forgive him for what he did to you."
Ashley felt disappointed in herself. "It was infuriating of what happened to me on the day of the Homecoming Dance. But there's nothing that I can do now since I'm gone."
Scott started crying a little. "Ashley. I miss you so much. It's hard for me to be in this hellhole without you. Ever since I found out you died, I was in a deep state of depression and I couldn't focus properly in school. I just wanted to give up in life since I had nothing to lose. My own neighborhood and father hated me, which will always scar me in the back. I wish I was a better person."
Ashley felt sorry for Scott that she also cried near him. "Scott."
Ashley held Scott's hand. "I miss you too. So much that I've followed you during your journey of self redemption. I wanted to see you grow, Scott."
"And you did."
Scott stopped crying looking at Ashley.
Ashley then went forward to the part where they saw a memory of Scott helping Jim Wilson. "You helped someone who felt like an outcast just because he was a laughing stock. But look at where you took Jim. He's now like you and not someone that John and his friends want him to be. He can finally express himself and be who he is."
"Come to think of it Ashley, me and Jim do have a lot in common. We were both victims of being misunderstood. I wanted him to feel like his giftedness isn't something to be made fun of, but instead to feel proud of."
"And look at where Jim is now. You found him a new home, he helped you during your midterms, and you're one of his best friends in Sunshine High."
Scott stopped crying. "Yeah. Jim is really a good person."
"And don't forget Jim. You helped him clear his name from Troy's setup and now he was something better. Someone who passed out on the snack table has become the captain of the football team. It wouldn't happen if it wasn't for you."
Scott took a deep breath. "I can relate to Dwayne as we're both athletes of a High School sports team."
The memory then faded away leaving Scott and Ashley in a dark space. "Look at how much progress you went through. It seems like your progress towards redemption has been going pretty well."
"I-I didn't realize. I guess my head was still stuck from what happened in the past."
"Then let go of the past. Avoiding it won't help you at all Scott. I tried to avoid what happened to my mother back in Chicago, but it did nothing but worsen my sadness."
Ashley then went closer towards Scott. "I know the past is so painful for you. You lost the place that you grew up in and the absence of your father. It must've been hard for you to live with that pain."
"It was. I just felt no one wanted to help me guide through my anger and who I really am. And what happened in Des Moines is what is holding me back as what I did over there was unforgivable to the whole town."
"Scott let it go please. You aren't that person anymore. You're now someone who will help others who are in need."
Ashley hugged Scott. "Scott please wake up. There are so many people who are relying on you to end John's madness against the town. Please Scott. Get up."
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
[Get Up]
"GET UP!" Scott felt a huge smack on his face that would wake him up.
"W-What?" Scott opening his eyes
He then was smacked again by someone's fist.
"Get up Scott Smith!" It was Troy.
"Troy!" Scott wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but couldn't as he was strapped on a wooden chair that seemed like he was in the basement of a building.
"What's wrong? Can't move your arms. Well that's because I wrapped you around a wooden chair. John wanted you dead by now, but I wanted to take my time and kill you slowly so you can feel the pain that I've been through."
Scott looked at Troy. "Why couldn't you kill me now like you did to Ashley in the Newspaper room."
"Well Scott, you see. Compared to you, Ashley was just a roach that we didn't need for our school. She was supposed to be the new kid of the school, but since you came to our most wonderful town, I think you'll be a better fit than what Ashley would be."
"What about Jim and Dwayne? Why would you try to put them in a position where they feel like they are not those kinds of people?"
"Jimmy Wilson was a gifted student, so John categorized him as a nerd. Every High School needs a nerd, so we labeled him as one and look at where he is right now."
"You mean nearly starving him to death and stapling fake braces and glasses on him."
"He needed to fit the role, Scott. It wouldn't be a nerd if he didn't had the chance to wear those."
"And about framing Dwayne for consuming all the energy drink mix even though you were the true culprit behind this?"
"That fatass shouldn't belong in a football team where all members are fit and very strong. And I don't think Dwayne is body fit material. He's more like a walrus, but less hairs on his body."
"You shut the fuck up about Dwayne. He's a better football captain than you are!"
Troy turned around and walked towards Scott. He then slapped him in the face causing Scott to have a red mark on his left cheek.
"How about you shut the fuck up. I'm still the King of High School's man and nobody would take that away from me!"
"Anyway back to my conversation Scott. Ever since we found out about what happened to our nerd and how Dwayne managed to get back on the team, we suspected that it was you who were cutting John's strings preventing him from getting his happily ever after."
"What happily ever after?" Scott was confused by what Troy said.
"The happily ever after that will come toward John's story. A fairy tale that will end in John's favor."
"You gotta be joking."
"Oh I'm not joking Scott. John calls himself the King of High School because he wants to be seen as a king in our High School. A place where he wants to be adored and to control others."
"What?" Scott is concerned about John.
"However, we saw that you[ve been tampering with our pieces to our fairy tale, such as Jim and Dwayne, and as a result."
Troy pulled the butterfly knife and killed Ashley. "We don't mind expelling you Sunshine High. We can always find a different replacement for you."
"Troy then pointed his knife near Scott's face. "You got anything to say before I kill you?"
Scott took a deep breath. "You know what it feels like to feel pain?"
Troy looked at him confused. "What?"
Suddenly, Scott kicked Troy in the nuts causing him to collapse to the ground.
"AWW FUCK! MY NUTS!" Troy screamed in agony as he waddled on the floor.
Using all the strength he has on his legs, Scott stood up holding the chair tied to his back and charged directly to a wall near him. Once he hit the wall, the chair broke as well as the restraints connected to the chair.
"Go fuck yourself Troy!" Scott yelled as he ran to the door that took him upstairs to the first floor.
"GET BACK HERE!" Troy is still screaming in agony.
As Scott realized that he was in the basement of a random house, he then left the house using the front door running as fast as he could to get away from Troy.
"Oh you sick fuck!" Troy then ran upstairs as the pain went away.
As Scott kept running, he then heard a noise that came from behind. He looked behind to see what it was. It was something that was unbelievable. Troy busted the garage door open using his car causing the door to have a huge hole.
"Holy Shit!" Scott is afraid.
However, Scott saw something near him and it was Ashley's motorbike that Scott parked near an abandoned garage since their old garage was already occupied with Mrs. Smith's car.
Having the keys in his pocket, Scott ran towards the bike and turned on the ignition causing the car to start up.
Looking behind, Scott saw the car coming closer towards him. "Alright Troy. Let's dance!"
Scott then rode his motorcycle at full speed.
"Oh this is going to be fun!" Troy also increased his speed to catch up with Scott on Ashley's motorcycle.
As the whole streets were empty due to the majority of the townspeople attending the football game, Scott and Troy had the whole streets all to themselves. It was a big game of cat and mouse as Troy was the cat and Scott was the mouse.
Troy kept chasing Scott as he was getting near Scott.
"Damn he's getting faster. I should try to juke him!" Scott finds ways to disrupt Troy's chase.
His first was to go through an entrance of the fence at the house Scott was approaching at.
Scott entered the entrance thinking that he would lose Troy. "I think I've lost him."
However, it wasn't the case as Troy instead crashed through those fences as it was nothing still following Scott on his motorcycle.
"Damn it!" Scott looked behind.
"Nowhere to run Scott! You'll be dead before you even know it! I told you cars are better than bikes!"
Meanwhile at the football stadium, Jim was still awaiting for Scott's arrival. "Oh jeez, where's Scott? The game is already in session."
However, John from the distance has been spying on Jim and expected Scott to be in the football game. "Strange. I wonder where Scott and Troy are?"
John got off his seat on the bleachers next to Laura and her cheerleading squad and walked towards Laura.
"Hey babe. I'm going to head out. Keep cheering for our team alright?"
"OKAY!" Laura smiles at John.
"Can you give me a kiss?"
"Well John I can't. I'm really exhausted and I don't-"
John didn't care as he grabbed her neck and forcefully kissed him in the cheek.
"WOW WOW WOW!" Laura is still smiling.
"I'll be back babe!"
"Alright!" Laura looked at Jon as she then later started coughing.
"Oh my Gosh! It's starting to get cold out here!"
Back at the streets, Troy kept chasing Scott on his motorcycle as he kept bumping on Scott's tiring ready to run him over. However, Scott kept speeding up as he kept getting near him.
"Give it up Scott! You are already a dead man. Once I kill you, I'm going to kill that fucking nerd and that fatass who took my position!"
" It's your fault Troy. You were the one who spoke out your true intentions about your team and how you framed Dwayne. AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR KILLING ASHLEY!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Troy then hit Scott's motorcycle again causing Scott to temporarily lose balance.
"Damn it. I can't keep this chase going for too long. At some point, I'm going to run out of gas as well as be dead. I got to think of something." Scott thought in his head.
Suddenly, Scott saw a street pole in front of him with trash cans around him. Scott had an idea.
He accelerated his speed heading towards the pole. He kept heading straight forward.
"Hold." Scott repeated to himself
"Hold."
"What is Scott doing? Is he trying to kill himself? If he does, then this would be a win-win for me." Troy being suspicious.
"HOLD." Scott being really close to the pole.
"NOW!" Scott then drifted to the left causing to drift using both of his motorcycle wheels and his foot to stop his drift.
"What the!" Troy is also drifting his car. However, it was too late for Troy as his car hit the pole causing a dent on his car door.
As Scott stopped drifting with both of his motorcycle tires and his foot, he looked at TROY.
"Is it over?" Scott panting as it was a long chase.
But it wasn't over though. The car lights came on again and the car started up again.
"SHIT!" Scott started his motorcycle again as Troy was chasing Scott again.
"You thought that pole was going to stop me! It's going to take more than that!" Troy yelled from his car while chasing down Scott.
At this point, the gas in Scott's motorcycle was half empty and he knew that he couldn't keep up the chase for so long or else death would be inevitable.
"What should I do? I can't keep this up for too long."
Scott looked around to have any ideas about how to stop Troy's rampage. He considers waiting for Troy's car to run out of gas, but it seems like Troy filled it up fully before capturing him.
"I can do this all day!" Troy yelled from his car.
Scott and Troy were both approaching John's mansion and it seems like there was construction across the mansion with a bulldozer on the street. As Troy was far distant from Scott, Scott then had another idea.
Scott got off the road and onto the sidewalk to block Troy's view from seeing the bulldozer.
"Going on the sidewalk I see!" Troy yelled at Scott.
Once Scott was on the sidewalk, they were near the bulldozer. He got closer by every minute.
"Closer." Scott spoke to himself.
"Closer!"
As Scott was near the bulldozer, he then took a very hard right turn.
"NOW!" Scott took a sharp right turn.
Soon, Troy finally got to see the bulldozer at the last minute. But it was too late.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Troy then crashed onto the bulldozer causing his car to be busted as the engine started steaming.
Scott looked behind to see what was going on. "Is it finally over?"
However, it wasn't over as Troy kicked the door open causing the door to fall off.
"You fucking bitch!" Troy looked at Scott as his whole forehead was bleeding with blood spilling all over his face.
"SHIT!" Scott looked behind.
However, when he looked right in front of him, he didn't know where he was heading and it seemed like he was heading to a pothole. As he hit the pothole, Scott, flew as well as his motorcycle causing the motorcycle to break on him as well as him hitting the pavement of the streets.
Scott was bruised everywhere and his left hand seems to be broken.
"Aw my arm!" Scott yelled in pain and agony.
He tried to escape from the scene, but his legs couldn't move properly as he couldn't get up.
It didn't matter though as Troy grabbed Scott's Jacket and dragged him back to his car.
"You think you can get away from me? You sure are pretty stubborn Scott!" Troy pushed Scott to his car.
"I'm going to enjoy beating your ass Scott." Troy formed a fist and punched Scott.
However, Scott blocked the punch holding it with his only usable hand. But it didn't matter as Troy then used his left hand to punch Scott causing him to spit out blood.
Then, Troy started to choke Scott with both of his hands. "You think you can change what John had built for us! He built this just so we can't deal with the reality that this shitty world has given us! And John believes that your death will prevent the destruction of Sunshine High! SO DIE MOTHERFUCKER!" Troy's grip tightened as Scott had difficulties breathing.
Scott struggled as he couldn't breath. But suddenly, he saw something that dropped out of Troy's pocket. It was his butterfly knife.
As Troy was too busy choking on Scott, Scott tries to get the knife and manages to grab it, opening the butterfly knife. He then slashed Troy's chest, stopping Troy from choking Scott.
"OWWW YOU FUCKER!" Troy looked at his chest as it started bleeding.
Scott then slowly stood up holding the knife in his right hand pointing at Troy. "You built this paradise that you think of. But all this place is is just a prison where everyone has to listen to you and John. You kill those who you hate and you control those who you believe to fit in Sunshine High. But you guys are nothing but scum. And I'll never forgive you for murdering Ashley."
Troy then cracked his neck and fingers. "I see. Welp, I guess I'll kill you the hard way then!"
Troy ran towards Scott getting ready to punch Scott, but Scott dodged it causing him to hit the car, which seems to only worsen the car's conditions as fire started coming out of the engine.
Scott got from behind kicking Troy and then slashing his back. Troy turned around jabbing him, but missed again as Scott was very flexible compared to Troy's big body.
"What's wrong Troy, can't hit me?" Scott teasing Troy.
"SHUT UP!" Troy tried to punch Scott again, but he dodged again as Scott retaliated by jabbing his face with his left arm.
Scott wanted to finish things off, so Scott ran towards Troy slashing him on the stomach, jabbed him with his left elbow, and used all of his energy to kick Scott back, hitting his car.
Troy landed very hard on the car, causing a dent on the passenger's door.
"Troy, give it up. I'm going to take you down no matter how much you stand up!"
Troy started laughing hysterically. "Y-You think you can defeat me and destroy this Heaven that we've built of it. It's going to take more than that to stop me!"
However, Troy smelled something from behind. It was a liquid that leaked out of the car. Once it hitted Troy's hand, he rose his hand to his nose smelling what came out of the car.
"What is this!" Troy sniffed a few times. And then looked behind him with the car's engine being on fire.
"Oh Shit." The car behind Troy exploded causing him to be launched hitting the fence of John's mansion.
"Oh my God!" Scott didn't expect it to happen.
Scott then ran towards Troy to see whether he was alright. However, it seems that Troy wasn't going to make it as he was burned everywhere with his clothes being burnt off, some of his hair falling apart, his skin field with third degree burns, and the cut marks that worsened his pain.
"Troy. Are you alright?!" Scott worried about Troy.
However, Troy hadn't said anything as the pain prevented him from speaking.
"Please Troy. GET UP!" Scott then felt upset as Troy had difficulties responding.
Then he responded. "So this is how I'll die." Troy looking at the skies.
"You're not going to die! I'll call an ambulance immediately!"
"Don't bother Scott. I'm already dead whether I'll survive this or not. John wanted me to kill you, which I followed his commands. But what purpose does that give me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Scott, although I'm considered the best football player of the team, I didn't know who I truly was. I was just angry at others because I didn't know how to be someone else. I was stuck with this identity that John implanted on me."
Scott soon realized. "I guess John wasn't that nice to you even though you're his best friend."
"I'm nothing but one of John's puppets. I kept ignoring the fact that John likes to use me instead of being truly my friend. Nobody in Sunshine High wanted to be my friend, so I try to pretend to be his friend even though we aren't actually."
Troy then started crying. "I-I wish I had true friends before I die!"
Scott then started to feel empathy towards Troy. "Troy. I didn't know you felt those ways. I thought you're just one big asshole that me, Jim and Dwayne had to deal with everyday. I didn't know you were hiding your true feelings."
"I didn't mean to bully Jimmy, I didn't mean to hunt you down. I didn't mean to kill Ashley. I did it all for someone who doesn't even know I exist." Troy then started crying more than ever.
"Troy. I'm sorry to hear that you were used. John is such an asshole that he would use his friends as puppets."
"Not only that Scott, but John wanted you to be his friend so he can turn you into someone."
"Someone?"
"John wanted you to be friend because he's putting a contract in which you'll be one of his characters for his High School fairytale. I made that contract with him and look at me, I'm just a worn out person who doesn't know his own identity."
"High School fairytale?"
Troy then started coughing out a lot of blood. "I don't think I have much time."
"Wait! What do you mean about a High School fairytale? How are contracts formed? How did Jim make a contract if he was tortured in an electric chair?"
Troy kept coughing. "I'm sorry Scott. I don't think I can answer those questions."
"No! No! Please Troy, I want to know what this place is!" Scott had tears coming down his chin.
"Scott. Please. End John's madness and free the people who've been suffering from so long. I'm finally free from John's hell."
Troy looked at Scott for one last time.
[Goodbye Scott. Thank you for being the hope to John's dystopia]
Troy then died in Scott's hand. But it wasn't over as Troy's body started to shift into something that Scott didn't expect. Troy's face disappeared making a new face that Scott doesn't recognize. However, the whole body was still burnt with Troy's old clothes still being on this new person's dead body.
"What the?" Scott was confused at Troy's dead body as it shifted into another person.
Scott then put down Troy's body lightly to the ground as he felt the pain and sadness that Troy went through.
"I promise Troy. I'll end John's nightmare and free those who were imprisoned here for a long time." Scott put his butterfly knife on top of the corpse.
Scott left the scene with a broken left hand and cried as he witnessed someone who died in front of him. He left Ashley's motorcycle behind as the bike was torn to pieces from the chase with no way of recovering the bike.
Meanwhile, John went back to his mansion as he witnessed Troy's death as he walked towards Troy's former dead corpse.
John approached the corpse and saw his face. John expects to see Troy's burnt face. But it was someone that John was familiar with.
"Jonathan."