by JT Lawrence
“She’s clearly got an issue with authority figures.” He tapped his police badge. “This isn’t helping.”
“All right,” said Miss Simpson. “I’ll try.”
“Before you go—”
She turned back to Seko. “Yes?”
“Earlier, when you were talking about the whiteboard in your class. That someone wrote on.”
“Yes?”
“We were interrupted. You were about to say that there was something else.”
“Oh, yes. There was also a strange sign drawn next to the words. A circle with some lines through it. Like an ‘H’ and—”
Seko showed her his phone screen. “Like this?”
“That’s it,” said Miss Simpson. “How do you have it on your phone? Where was that taken?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Try me.”
"The forensic team found it carved into Jessica's back."
Her hand flew up to her mouth. “No.”
“I didn’t know what it was until Monica told us about the Hollow Man.”
“What?”
"Can't you see? Inside the circle, those lines: it's an ‘H' and an 'M'. Hollow Man."
Seko eyed the schoolgirls one by one. “So, girls,” he said. “Tell me about the Hollow Man.”
“He’s not real,” said Candice, the head girl.
“What are you talking about?” said Wandi. “Of course he’s real! Who else would have—”
Seko looked at her. “Yes?”
“The Hollow Man was cutting her,” said Wandi, fear dancing in her dark eyes.
Terry nodded. “That’s what she said. The Hollow Man was hurting her at night.”
“You guys are insane,” said Candice.
“He’d cut her in secret places that no one could see,” said Monica. “These fine cuts. Her scalp. The soles of her feet. In between her fingers.”
“Ask Monica,” said Terry. “She knows.”
“I know you’re feeling vulnerable,” said Miss Simpson. “I want you to know that I’ll keep you safe.”
“You can’t keep me safe,” said Monica. “No one can.”
Miss Simpson adjusts her position in her seat. “Tell me more about the Hollow Man.”
“Why? It’s not like anyone believes me.”
“Is it someone you know? How does he get in? How long had he been hurting Jessica?”
Monica shook her head. “I don’t know him. He’s like … he’s like a ghost, like cold black smoke, that comes in through the window.”
"You've seen him?"
“No. I’ve felt him, though. It’s like when he’s in the room your blood just runs cold.”
“Has he ever hurt you?”
“No. No. He wanted Jess. But he’ll come for me now that she’s gone.”
“You’ll be home, safe,” said Miss Simpson.
“He doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter where you are. He got Jess at the swimming hall. He can get you anywhere.”
“Have any of you ever seen the Hollow Man?” asked detective Seko.
Wandi replied. “You can’t see him, except in your dreams.”
“He’s like a ghost,” said Terry.
“So, you’ve never seen him,” said Seko. “Never had any evidence of him.”
“Sometimes we can feel him around us,” said Wandi. “Like, you know that feeling? When there is evil around you. You can just feel it.”
Seko shifted in his seat. “Tell me about the video.”
“Jessica was really upset about the video,” said Terry. “She was worried that her parents would see it. Or that it would come up in the Olympic team selection, or future job interviews.”
Wandi rubbed her forehead. “It made her sick.”
Detective Seko banged a book on the table, making them all jump in their seats.
“What’s that?” asked Terry.
“It’s a diary.”
Wandi looked nervous. “Jessica’s diary?”
“That’s right. One of my men found it under Jessica’s mattress. I haven’t had time to read the whole thing yet.” He paged through the handwritten pages slowly for effect. “Now, why are you girls suddenly looking nervous?”
Nurse Davies entered the sick-room balancing two steaming mugs of tea, then tapped the face of her watch at Miss Simpson. Her meaning was clear: leave the poor girl alone. Once she had left and closed the door behind her, Miss Simpson leaned forward.
“Monica. I know this is difficult to talk about, but I need you to tell me about the bullying.”
The girl swallowed hard. “What bullying?”
“We’ve read some of Jessica’s diary. We know how bad it was getting. You can tell me anything.”
“You know what?” asked Seko.
“What?” asked Candice, arms still crossed.
“Jessica wrote in her journal “they” wouldn’t leave her alone. “The Mean Girls” she called them. Any idea who these three mean girls could be?”
“No,” said Wandi.
"You know, she actually saved us the trouble of guessing. Look here. These three dark scribbles, like shadows … what did you call it? Like cold black smoke. But these have names. Look. Terry, Wandile, Candice."
“I don’t know why she would have drawn that.”
“You don’t know? Really? Here, I’ll give you a clue.” He picked up the diary and began to read from it. “They’re making life so difficult for me. I don’t know why. I don’t know what I’ve done to them. And here’s another one: Today Terry emptied my dustbin on my bed. Said that I was a dirty slut, and that I deserved to sleep in filth.”
Terry chewed her lip. “Um, that didn’t happen—”
“Wandi and Terry stripped my locker today. They just threw all my stuff on the floor, including my panties from gym the day before. My box of tampons. I don’t know how many people saw the mess before I found it. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Well,” said Wandi. “We had to teach her a lesson.”
“Shut up, Wandi!” shouted Candice.
“Teach her a lesson?” asked Seko. “Why?”
“Because she was—”
“If you don’t shut up right now, Wandi, I’ll—”
“When I got into bed last night, there was a dead mouse under the duvet. I only realised when my leg was touching it, and then I jumped out and screamed. There was blood on the sheets. The Mean Girls didn't even hide the fact that they were laughing.”
“That was just a practical joke,” said Terry.
“That doesn’t sound like a joke to me.”
“She was sleeping around,” murmured Wandi.
Terry turned to Seko. "With all due respect, Detective. Wolverhampton has the best reputation in the country; we must keep it that way. She was meeting Paul in the school swimming hall! Having sex on the premises! We warned her to stop, but she didn't listen."
“That video was the last straw,” said Wandi. “When people put two and two together they will realise that Jess was a Wolverhampton girl and that’s it, down goes the reputation of the school and everyone in it.”
Seko picked up the diary again. “They took my towel and my clothes when I was showering today. I had to walk all the way down the corridor naked, my scars on show. Just before I reached my dorm, they started throwing the clothes at me like rotten tomatoes. Calling me a whore. I can’t live like this anymore.”
“It’s not like we didn’t give her a choice,” sneered Candice. “All she had to do was stop being a dirty little slut.”
“Ah,” Seko released a satisfied sigh. “Finally. I see the real Candice Compton. I’ve been waiting for you to drop your act.”
“Well, good for you.”
“You have a lot of people fooled, with your head girl’s badge and blazer full of scrolls.”
"Are you finished?" she demanded. "Can we go now?"
Seko stretched his arms above his head. “Yes.”
“Yes?” said Terry. “Really?”
“Well
, it’s not like he can keep us indefinitely,” said Candice. “My parents would have him out of a job in seconds.”
“Are your parents bullies, like you are?” asked Seko.
Candice pursed her lips and stood up to leave. “You’ll find out, soon enough.”
“Wait,” said Miss Simpson. “Sit down. We have a deal for you.”
“That key to the swimming pool gate,” said Seko. “It never turned up, did it?”
Simpson shook her head. “No.”
“So there was someone with her there, this morning. And that person took the key.”
Miss Simpson looked into his eyes. “And ghosts can’t take keys, can they?”
Monica sat with her feet in the cold pool water, thinking of Jessica. The three mean girls arrived, swaggering and sneering. Monica jolted when she saw them.
“Why so on edge?” asked Terry.
“Wouldn’t you be?” Monica replied. “After what happened?”
“Nope. Not on edge. Not even nervous,” said Candice. “You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not scared of ghosts.”
“Well,” said Monica, her eyes darting around. “Well, you should be.”
She swung her legs out of the pool and stood up to face them.
Candice laughed. “You think you got away with it, don’t you?”
“Got away with what?” asked Monica, wide-eyed.
“Don’t play dumb, Monica,” said Wandi. “You know exactly what we’re talking about.”
“What are you guys even doing here?”
“What are you doing here, Klatzow?” asked Candice. “Checking out the scene of the crime? Shouldn’t you be at home?”
Wandi nodded. “Especially in your … condition.”
The other girls sniggered.
“What … what are you talking about?” asked Monica, looking ill again.
Wandi approached her, touching the front of her school uniform. "You think you can hide it under that baggy school jersey?"
Monica pushed Wandi’s hand away. “Leave me alone!”
"Unless you're just putting on weight," said Terry. "I've seen how much tuck you've been eating. Are you getting fat? Is that why you don't shower at the hostel anymore?"
The mean girls snigger again.
“You think you can hide your stink?” asked Candice. “Well, you can’t. We can smell your vomit from a mile away.”
“Shut up,” shouted Monica. “All of you. Just shut up!”
“Do you even know who the father is?”
“Of course I know who the father is!”
“So, you admit it,” said Candice. “You’re pregnant.”
Monica glared at them, her hands shaking.
“I knew it,” said Wandi. “You’re a scabby slut, just like Jessica was.”
Monica slapped Wandi through the face, shocking them both.
“You little bitch!” whispered Wandi.
"Come near me, and I'll hit you again. Any of you!"
“Is it true?” asked Paul, who no one had noticed arrive.
“Paul!” Candice says to her brother. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Paul pushed past his sister and stood in front of Monica. "Is it true, Monica? You're … pregnant? Were you ever going to tell me?"
"I was going to tell you. When you asked me to meet you here, I thought it would be the perfect time. I didn't tell you before because—"
Candice guffawed. “You can’t be serious.” When he didn’t reply, her smile faded. “Paul? It’s your baby?”
Terry laughed. It was an ugly sound. Candice whipped around to confront her. “What are you laughing at?”
“Well, it’s kind of funny, don’t you think? I mean, you’re going to be an aunt. You’ll be family with this—”
“Over my dead body!”
Monica narrowed her eyes at Candice. “I hope the Hollow Man heard you say that.”
“Shut up about your stupid Hollow Man. Your stupid game. It’s over. No one believed you, anyway.”
“Jessica believed me,” said Monica.
“You know, I never understood that,” said Candice.
“What?”
“Why you tormented Jessica. I mean, wasn’t she supposed to be your best friend?”
“She was my best friend. Yes.”
“So why did you do all those terrible things to her?”
"I wasn't the one bullying her and making her life impossible. She killed herself because of what you three did to her. She told me she couldn't handle it anymore. And then just as she was at breaking point, you posted that video of her and Paul."
“She deserved that,” said Terry.
“I knew immediately that it was you who did it, Candice. I mean who else could have copied that clip from Paul’s phone?”
Paul ground his teeth and clenched his fists. “You did that? How could you?”
"Jess told me she couldn't live with the bullying anymore," said Monica. "The one thing that was keeping her going was her Olympic team selection. She couldn't wait to go to that training camp. But then you posted that video, and she knew it was just a matter of time before they found out and cancelled her contract. No way they'd let that kind of scandal mar their reputation. Getting on that team was her last hope of getting away from you, and you took that away from her. That's why she killed herself."
Candice pursed her lips and did a slow clap. “Bravo, bravo. What a speech. Well done. But I think we all know that’s not true.”
“Jessica was murdered,” said Paul. “That’s what the cops at the station told me. They have evidence that she was knocked out and drowned.”
“Monica knows full well that it wasn’t suicide,” said Candice. “Don’t you, you little freak?”
Monica clenched her jaw. “Don’t call me that.”
“Truth hurts?”
“Leave her alone,” said Paul. “She’s been through enough. Come on. It’s time to go home.”
"I don't think she's been through nearly enough," said Candice. "It's funny, you know, Paul. Mom and Dad think you're so damn smart … but when it comes to girls, you're so naïve."
Paul frowned at his sister. “What do you mean?”
“This freak has been playing you like Candy Crush.”
Terry nodded. “She’s been playing everybody.”
"How did she get you to sleep with her? Let me guess. She showed up here in the swimming hall one evening when you were supposed to be meeting Jess, and she was crying about something, right?"
Paul didn’t answer.
"And you took pity on her and hugged her, and one thing led to the next and what do you know? … Bam! She's pregnant. Now she's got all the ammo she needs to blackmail you into a relationship with her."
“That’s not what it’s about,” said Monica.
"She's a freak from a freak family, Paul. And they have no money. Then she met you. A handsome boy with a bright future, and family with more money than she's ever comprehended. And suddenly she stops smoking at school and she starts wearing nice clothes—"
“—Jessica’s clothes—” added Wandi.
“And hanging out at the swimming hall when she doesn’t even know how to swim. Open your eyes, Paul!”
Pauls runs his fingers through his floppy hair. “I—”
"But there was a problem, wasn't there, Monica? An obstacle. Someone was standing in your way, and you had to get rid of her."
Paul laughed. “You’re not serious. You can’t believe that—”
“So you started tormenting Jessica,” said Candice.
“I wasn’t the one bullying her. You were!”
“Right,” said Candice. “You were the one scaring her. The one driving her crazy with your stupid Hollow Man story so you could have Paul all to yourself.”
Monica shook her head. “You’re the one who’s crazy.”
“You can deny it all you like," said Candice. "At first, when I heard the Hollow Man story, I thou
ght, wow! That's original. You're creative. Maybe you do have some kind of redeeming quality. But then I Googled ‘Hollow Man' and saw that you didn't think him up yourself. You just found a scary story on the internet and put a twist on it.”
“You can’t prove anything,” said Monica.
“You’re right. But that doesn’t mean you won't be locked up for a long, long time.”
“I can’t go to prison,” said Monica. “I’m pregnant.”
“Was she ever really your best friend? I think she just felt sorry for you, and you took full advantage.”
“I won’t have this baby in prison.”
There was a scuffle and a glinting blade in Monica’s hand.
“Watch out!” yelled Terry.
“Hey,” said Paul. “That’s my pocket knife. Where did you get it?”
“Where do you think she got it? She stole it from Jessica just like she did everything else.”
The girls advanced on Monica, and she held the knife up in her shaking hand.
Detective Seko crept out from behind the wall, gun aimed at Monica. “Put the knife down, Klatzow.”
“Listen to what the detective says, Monica,” says Simpson, who is a few steps behind him. “I’ve recorded everything on my phone. Put it down before anyone gets hurt.”
“They deserve to get hurt!” shouted Monica. “Years and years of bullying. They made me into what I am.”
“Put the knife down,” said Miss Simpson, pulling a pair of handcuffs from her jacket pocket. A badge flashed from inside the garment.
“I can’t. I can’t go to prison.” Monica wrestled with herself, and Paul’s pocketknife fell from her hand and clattered on the poolside tiles. Simpson picked it up and sealed it in an evidence bag.
Monica stared at Paul, her pain at being betrayed twisting her face into a grimace. “You set me up?”
“The cops made me call you. Made me agree to meet you here. They’d have pressed charges, otherwise. About the video. I can’t have a criminal record!”
"I got the same deal," said Candice. "Get a confession out of you, and I'll skip jail time."
“You bastards,” Monica said.
“Oh, please,” said Candice. “Don’t play the victim. You killed Jessica. You deserve to go to prison.”
