I woke up this next morning feeling very tired. The feeling is mutual throughout all teenagers on Monday's. Teenagers at Blackwood High are no exception. No, it’s not the school’s name, we just call it that because some Sherlock Holmes nerd named it that. It’s the only high school in the city so until the mayor figures out the fact that we need another school, we’re stuck with Blackwood High. About the nerd that named it that, he/she got a whole bunch of white out and one heck of a permanent marker to change the name from Theodore Roosevelt High to Blackwood High. Now everybody refers to that school as Blackwood High. I wonder what homeschooling’s like. Anyway, I ate breakfast and found a note from my dad. It read: “Sorry honey, I won’t be home until late this evening. Remember, no friends over until you’re finished with your homework. Love JC.” Wrinkles on the sticky note suggested that this was the same note that he used 2 weeks ago. When your dad’s Jackson Carter, he’s never home. In case you’re somehow unaware, Jackson Carter is the detective who, like many, are trying to scratch the surface of what everyone’s calling The New York Massacres. He found that most victims have a small x on their neck. How do they know it’s from the same guy if they don’t have the x? Well, they all got stabbed in the same brutal way. He even said that whoever this guy is, he’s good. They never found the murder weapon so that suggests whoever this person is, they aren’t finished with whatever they’re doing. I don’t even feel safe anywhere thanks to this guy. Some murders happened in broad daylight when they ran tests on the bodies and ran through witness reports. People thought they would be safe during the day but not anymore. People have left New York but that happens when you have a psychotic serial killer running loose. But now, the murders are focused on Central Park. As I walked to school, I noticed that the gate was locked. That’s weird, I thought. “It’s 7:45AM. That’s the normal start time.” I then noticed a sign that said, UNDER CONSTRUCTION. EARLIEST TIME OF FINISH 4/29/2023; (and in Spanish, En Construccion. Hora Más temprana de finalización, 29/04/2023). My phone then beeped. I checked my texts. My bestie Tambry texted me, saying, PARTE AT MY PLAS @4 PM, HOL SCOLS GONA B THER! I replied saying, Ill b ther kep chil. Tambry has a bad habit of overreacting. I still couldn’t believe that Blackwood High is under construction. The school hasn’t had any maintenance since it first came up. Hard to believe but it’s true. Honestly, this is the best thing that’s happened in my entire high school career. Construction these days always goes months past the expected deadline. They might as well say that schools canceled for the rest of the year. 
 
At the party, the place looked like it got started hours before Tambry even contacted me. Cars were parked around the block. Soda cans littered the lawn. Guys and girls making out on the roof (Please don’t ask me to go into detail). Lights were flashing through the windows and CRASH! A beer bottle comes right out the window. Teenager parties in real life are the exact same thing as they are in movies. I just hope there aren’t any poles. As I walked in, my fear was confirmed. Poles were everywhere. People were dancing on them to make matters worse. Guys and girls were sleeping (drunk) on the floor and couch because the couch had like, 5 people on it. I stared around the room in pure horror. Tambry walked up to me with a bottle of what looked like Tequila in her hand. “Hey baby, what’s up?” 
As she kept walking towards me, I slapped her and said, “You’re drunk!” 
She slapped me back and said, “You’re sober. Who the hell turns up to a party sober!” 
“You’re 15!” 
“So!” 
I pulled out my phone and put 911 in. “I need to call my dad.” I lied. 
“You better not snitch!” She yelled.                  

I woke up this morning filled with energy. When you’re a detective, you don’t get much sleep, but you have to still be on guard. I had to get to the police station before my daughter woke up, so I used the same sticky note that I’ve used for 2 weeks now to let my daughter Alex know I wasn’t going to be home for the weekend. I just had a hunch that I was going to be working for a while. 
 
My hunch must’ve been right because I wasn’t even in the station for 5 seconds when a body was dragged into the main office.  
“Who is it this time?” I asked. 
“Isaac Icarus.” Daniel said. Daniel is a detective so instead of wearing a police uniform, he dresses in casually, but nice clothes. 
“Flew too close to the sun?” I joked. 
“More like too close to a gun.” 
“Is it related to the issue we’re having?” 
“Not sure yet. Forensics say that he got shot multiple times in the chest and tried to make a last attempt to get away, he got stabbed in the back.” 
“So, we’re guessing that multiple people attacked him.” 
“You could say that.” 
“We got a witness?” 
Daniel nodded his head. 
“What’s his name?” I asked. 
“Ethan Hangman.” 
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thats just... wow.” 
“Name changes would do wonders for him. Anyway, go to the interrogation room. We have an artist there for the description in case Mr. Hangman gives one,” Daniel snickered one more time. 
“Alright,” I walked to the interrogation room which was the 3rd room on the right. I walked in and sat down. The room is split into two parts. One side was the volume control room which the interrogator could control what the person being interrogated could and couldn’t hear. The other room is just a room with a chair and a table with a microphone in the middle. Nothing else. On that side sat a very muscular (or slightly obese) Japanese man. I asked the first and most important question of all. “Can you give us a description of the assailant?” 
“Yes.” He spoke. “He wore a black hoody and a white wolf mask. He was around 6 feet tall. He held a ½ inch knife which he used to stab my friend Isaac Icarus. I had a gun, so I tried to shoot the murderer, hitting Isaac a few times by accident.” 
“Why did you have a gun on you?” 
“I had it just in case. We were meeting in Central Park in the middle of the night. Lots of ‘questionable people’ hang out there. I never intended to use it, but I loaded it just in case.” 
I wasn’t all too convinced about Hangman’s story. It made a lot of sense. But there were a few things wrong with the story. It just seemed all too convenient that he happened to have a gun on him. “While we’re on the topic of ‘questionable,’ what were you doing in the middle of the night in Central Park anyway?” 
“I... We...had a business meeting that he missed so I wanted to catch up with him there.” 
“Why didn’t you just meet one afternoon in, let’s say, a coffee shop?” 
“If you’re accusing me of the murder then why would I stab AND shoot Icarus. As you can see, I had plenty of bullets to kill him without switching weapons” 
 I couldn’t help but think about how little that helped his case. "You might want to save that for court. Anyway, we need to run more tests to see if your claim is correct. You’ll fill out a form with your phone number so we can contact you when/if needed. Artist! Do you have the sketch?” 
He nodded and showed me the picture. It looked good. Straight out of a comic book good. I then heard the alarm sound. Then a voice on the intercom said, “BREAKROOM BREACH! BREAKROOM BREACH.” 
Something happened in the breakroom! “Make sure Mr. Hangman doesn’t leave this room!” I yelled at some cops waiting for me outside. I ran to the breakroom and saw someone in a black hood stabbing one of the police officers. One of the police officers tried shooting him but ended up hitting someone else. People were pounding on the doors screaming as the assailant moved on from one person to another, but something kept me from opening them. Something was budging the lock. After the person in the black hood finished his dirty work, he saw me staring. And I saw that he was wearing a white wolf mask. 

I was still in the bathroom at Tambry’s house when the police arrived. I had specifically asked them not to call me out, but it looks like I didn’t need to. Tambry can apparently put 2 and 2 together. 
“What the hell baby!” She said as the police snapped handcuffs on her. 
“Don’t call me that!” 
“I’ll call you that if I want to call you that you little bi-!” 
“Can you, like, get her out of here please?” 
As the cop cars drove away, I was the only one not in one. Probably because snitches don’t get stitches from cops. I had to walk home but luckily I live nearby. When I got home my dad looked terrified. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t answer. “You’re home early.” I said trying to get him to talk. 
“Yeah.” He said. 
“Is work out just like school is?” 
“For now.” 
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” 
“No.” 
“Why not?” 
“Because you don’t need to know.” 
“Why don’t I need to know?” 
“Because some people died.” 
“Why did people die?” 
“Because someone murdered them.” 
“Why did someone murder them.” 
“I don’t know.” 
“Who murdered them? Was it the guy you’ve been trying to catch? 
“Yes, oh dammit.” This usually happens. I ask my dad enough questions and eventually he cracks.  
“Thanks dad.” I ran upstairs to type it all up. I’m an intern for The New York Times so I had to get this story in. If I got this scoop before anyone else, it might say something for my future them. As I finished typing, I realized that there was no way they would believe me. I had to get evidence. It was time to do some snooping. 
 
I arrived at the police station 2 hours later. There was yellow police tape, so I had to jump it. Before I could open the door, some people on a stretcher came out. I snapped a picture of the person on the stretcher. The medics either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I then walked into the room and wished I hadn’t. I saw dead bodies everywhere. Some had many stab wounds in them while some had bullet holes in them. I snapped a picture of the gruesome scene and ran when one of the police officers saw me snooping. “HEY! You aren’t supposed to be here!” While running, I ran into someone on the street. It was a man in a black hoodie and white wolf mask. 
“Alex?” He said. He sounded familiar. 
“Is that you Aaron?” I asked. 
“Yup.” He took off the hoodie and mask. 
“Why did you have that ridiculous mask on?” 
Aaron took the mask off. “I was going to prank you when you got to school but I remembered too late that you always get to school a little late, so I decided to walk home. But I got turned around and-” 
I kissed him so he would stop talking. 
“Why do you always have to do that?” He asked. 
“You want me to stop?” 
“I never said that.” 

I had an idea of where my daughter was so I tried to catch up as fast as I could when I saw the story she had typed up on the computer. On my way to the police station, I saw her kissing her boyfriend Aaron right in the middle of the street. I cleared my throat and they turned to see me. Seeing Aaron’s tongue sticking out for a split second did not help my mood. “So. Going to explain why you’re snooping around Alexis Corduroy Carter.”  
“Corduroy.” Aaron chuckled. 
“Shut up Aaron!” Alex and I said. 
“I just wanted people to know what’s going on,” she said. 
“I’m just going to-” Aaron picked up his wolf mask and started walking away. Wait wolf mask? 
“You frenched my daughter! You don’t get to walk away!” I yelled. 
“OK?” Aaron said quietly with a slight whimper. 
I walked up to him. Same height. Same hoodie. Same mask. It couldn’t be a coincidence.  
“Come on Alex.” I said as I walked away. No way am I leaving her alone with him. I saw the look of confusion in his blue eyes. He scratched his head covered in silver hair in confusion. 
“That’s him.” I told Alex when we got home. 
“Who?” Alex asked. 
“Aaron.” 
“Aaron’s what?” 
“The killer! Are you going to keep up or am I going to have to catch you up a lot.” 
“My boyfriend is not the one who killed those police officers. He’s barely taller than you and have you seen him at the gymnasium?” 
“Smart kid. Covering up his tracks. You know how many people Pedro Lopez killed?” 
“Who’s Pedro Lopez?”  
“A serial killer who killed 100 people. Aaron killed 81 people originally. Then he went to the police station and killed 20 people. Aaron has beat the kill streak of the most notorious killer in history! Not by a lot, but still, impressive.” 
“OK so, let me get this straight. You left me a note this morning that you’ve been leaving for weeks now. Then school’s out. My best friend gets drunk at a party, so I have call 911 on her. Now you expect me to believe that my boyfriend is a serial killer!” 
“But do you believe me?” 
Alex put her hand on her hip and sighed. “I don’t know.”  
“Pack your stuff.” 
“Why?” 
“We’re going to Nevada.” 
“Why?” 
“I’m finding answers and your grandparents can’t protect you from Aaron. On one of Aaron’s earlier victims, he had put 51 on him. I think that might be a clue since some of his other kills had hinted at that place.” 
 
When we arrived at Boulder City Municipal Airport 10 hours later. We checked into a hotel, and I said, “I’m going to be gone for a while, so I don’t care what you do. Just remember, don’t do anything stupid like smoking, doing drugs, or going into alleys. If you get lost, remember the name of the hotel and take a cab. 
“I don’t have any money.” 
I gave her $100. “$90 in case you go shopping, and $10 for the ride.” 
“I’m not going to spend JUST $90 on shopping.” 
“Maybe one of the guys there will give you a cute girl discount.” 
She scoffed and said, “I have a boyfriend dad!” 
“They don’t know that. What happens in Nevada will stay in Nevada, and look at it this way, if my theory about Aaron is correct, you won’t have a boyfriend.” 
“Rather date a murderer than a cashier.” Alex rolled her eyes. 
“We won’t be here long, don’t worry. Also, I wouldn’t recommend spending all of the $90. You might need more than $10 if you go to far.” 
I rented a car and drove to Paradise Range. For the nerds out there who study this a lot, Paradise Ranch is where Area 51 is. I had a plan to get in. I took my taser out of the compartment above the driver's seat and hid it in the door handle. When I got in range, a soldier popped into view. Just according to plan. When he got to the window, he signaled me to roll my window down. When I did, I got a better look at the man. He had a military uniform with a gas mask. He said, “Our radar detected that a vehicle approached too close to this classified area. We’ll need you to drive in the other direction please.” 
“Radar?” I said, “I thought you had long range camera’s or something.” 
“No” he said. “Now I’ll need you to go away.” He held up his gun, “I haven’t used this in a while but that won’t stop me from putting a bullet in your head.” 
“Alright.” I said. I reached like I was going to close the window, but instead I grabbed the taser and quickly zapped him. I then opened the door, put him in the car, and swapped clothes with him. Since he had a mask and they don’t have camera’s, it really went well with my plan. I had to put him in the passenger seat, drive him out of range, tase him a few times when he regained conscience, and put him back in the driver seat. Then I began my long walk to Area 51. 
I was exhausted by the time I got there. The intense Nevada heat, and the long walk was the perfect recipe for dehydration. I collapsed when I got to the Air Force base. Two other guards came over and helped me up. “Come on.” One of them said, “You’re a whole lot stronger than that, Andrew. You walk that distance practically every day.” 
He sounded the same as the guard that walked up to my car (Andrew), so I pretended I was still out of breath until the other guard spoke. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He was looking a little green this morning. But like a true army man, he was too stubborn to say anything.” 
The three guards that talked to me today all sounded the same, so I spoke and hoped I wouldn’t be an exception. By the way guard #2 talked to me, it sounded like he knew the guy I’m impersonating for a long time. He definitely knows the sound of Andrew’s voice. “I just want some water. And a bathroom break.” Thankfully, my voice sounded the same as the other guards. 
One of the guards gave me a canteen and said, “drink up buddy.” 
I took off the lower part of my mask and took a few BIG gulps. When I put it back on, one of the guards said, “Andrew did you shave this morning?” 
“It was getting itchy inside my mask, and I just couldn’t take it.” I lied. 
“Yup. It’s you in there all right. You were never man enough to keep facial hair.” 
“Now I just hope I remembered where the bathroom is.” 
 “You don’t remember?” 
“No but there’re maps all over the place he’ll figure it out,” the other guard said. 
“You sure you don’t need help?” 
“I’ll be fine.” 
I made my way to the file room without any suspicious glances, and it was humongous. I was going to be here for a while. That’s what I thought until a guard walked up to me and said, “There you are, take this to W.” 
I looked at the file. “What’s Wolf Face?” 
“You knew here?” 
“Yeah.” 
“Wolf Face is the serial killer in New York. You know, the guy who killed 101 people.” 
“Yeah, I know him. Didn’t know he had a name.” 
“Here, everything has a name. For example, we call Pedro Lopez the Grim Rap-” 
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” 
“Dang it. I’ve been dying to use that joke.” 
“So, ‘W.’” 
He pointed to the right. “That way.” 
“Thank you.” 
After getting lost in the sea of files, I found the way out. But unfortunately, it was guarded by a man in a black hoodie and a white wolf mask. 
“How did you-?” 
“You’re not the only one who knows how to get around Mr. Carter.” 
“So, it is you, Aaron!” 
He took off the mask. His blue eyes turned red (literally), but his hair was still silver. “You like the new look?” He spoke in a British accent. 
“The heck’s with the accent?” I asked. 
“That’s a story you’ll never hear unfortunately. I never wanted to kill your daughter. It doesn’t seem like she needs to die anyway. She doesn’t buy the fact that I’m the famous White Wolf. Anyway, I never thought anyone would act on those hints I dropped.” 
“How’d you-” 
“Come on, did you really think you were the first person to figure out who I was? The people I didn’t mark were the ones who figured it out. I tried to explain why I murdered those ‘innocent’ people, but they never believed me. Lost some good friends that way. I must say Ronald Reagan was tough to kill. I was never good with a gun. John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln went down nice and easy though.” 
“Wait a minute. You’re only 16. Abraham Lincoln-” 
“Died 2 centuries ago. I know. It’s a long and sad story that you don’t want to hear.” 
“You’re about to kill me anyway.” 
I heard gunfire. Aaron dodged the bullet with ease. He turned around and stabbed the one who attempted to kill him. I took the opportunity to run. “You can’t hide from me Jackson!” I heard Aaron yell. He was right. I had to hide in plain sight. Luckily, there was a break room I could hide in. You know those scenes in movies from the 1980’s where there’s a party at a High School? That’s exactly what the breakroom at Area 51 looked like. Except they played Hurricane by Luke Comb on a jukebox. When Aaron walked in, everyone noticed him. “You don’t happen to have seen someone walk in just now, did you?” Aaron asked. 
Someone yelled, “get him!” 
“I’m itching to have some fun anyway.” He threw his knife at the DJ station, and it started to play Unstoppable by The Score. “I bet I can take you all down, without my knife. Let’s see if I’m right. Now I might let you take me in, all of you to come after me are going to die anyway, so get your jabs in while you-” 
Someone charged in before he could finish talking. Aaron immediately overtook him and snapped his neck. “Asshole,” He scoffed. 
Classic Aaron, I thought. Talk so much, people get annoyed and interrupt him. Alex does it all the time. 
A few other people tried to take him down put he killed all of them with barely any effort. I think I even heard a yawn. 
Another group tried to take him on, and I saw my chance as everyone surrounded Aaron. I ran out and escaped Area 51. Since everyone was distracted by Aaron, nobody really had time to question me running in the opposite direction. I encountered Andrew on my way back to the car and I tased him quickly and kept running and I didn’t stop until I got to the car. I need to find Alex before it’s too late, I thought. 

I had an idea of where my daughter was so I tried to catch up as fast as I could when I saw the story she had typed up on the computer. On my way to the police station, I saw her kissing her boyfriend Aaron right in the middle of the street. I cleared my throat and they turned to see me. Seeing Aaron’s tongue sticking out for a split second did not help my mood. “So. Going to explain why you’re snooping around Alexis Corduroy Carter.”  
“Corduroy.” Aaron chuckled. 
“Shut up Aaron!” Alex and I said. 
“I just wanted people to know what’s going on,” she said. 
“I’m just going to-” Aaron picked up his wolf mask and started walking away. Wait wolf mask? 
“You frenched my daughter! You don’t get to walk away!” I yelled. 
“OK?” Aaron said quietly with a slight whimper. 
I walked up to him. Same height. Same hoodie. Same mask. It couldn’t be a coincidence.  
“Come on Alex.” I said as I walked away. No way am I leaving her alone with him. I saw the look of confusion in his blue eyes. He scratched his head covered in silver hair in confusion. 
“That’s him.” I told Alex when we got home. 
“Who?” Alex asked. 
“Aaron.” 
“Aaron’s what?” 
“The killer! Are you going to keep up or am I going to have to catch you up a lot.” 
“My boyfriend is not the one who killed those police officers. He’s barely taller than you and have you seen him at the gymnasium?” 
“Smart kid. Covering up his tracks. You know how many people Pedro Lopez killed?” 
“Who’s Pedro Lopez?”  
“A serial killer who killed 100 people. Aaron killed 81 people originally. Then he went to the police station and killed 20 people. Aaron has beat the kill streak of the most notorious killer in history! Not by a lot, but still, impressive.” 
“OK so, let me get this straight. You left me a note this morning that you’ve been leaving for weeks now. Then school’s out. My best friend gets drunk at a party, so I have call 911 on her. Now you expect me to believe that my boyfriend is a serial killer!” 
“But do you believe me?” 
Alex put her hand on her hip and sighed. “I don’t know.”  
“Pack your stuff.” 
“Why?” 
“We’re going to Nevada.” 
“Why?” 
“I’m finding answers and your grandparents can’t protect you from Aaron. On one of Aaron’s earlier victims, he had put 51 on him. I think that might be a clue since some of his other kills had hinted at that place.” 
 
When we arrived at Boulder City Municipal Airport 10 hours later. We checked into a hotel, and I said, “I’m going to be gone for a while, so I don’t care what you do. Just remember, don’t do anything stupid like smoking, doing drugs, or going into alleys. If you get lost, remember the name of the hotel and take a cab. 
“I don’t have any money.” 
I gave her $100. “$90 in case you go shopping, and $10 for the ride.” 
“I’m not going to spend JUST $90 on shopping.” 
“Maybe one of the guys there will give you a cute girl discount.” 
She scoffed and said, “I have a boyfriend dad!” 
“They don’t know that. What happens in Nevada will stay in Nevada, and look at it this way, if my theory about Aaron is correct, you won’t have a boyfriend.” 
“Rather date a murderer than a cashier.” Alex rolled her eyes. 
“We won’t be here long, don’t worry. Also, I wouldn’t recommend spending all of the $90. You might need more than $10 if you go to far.” 
I rented a car and drove to Paradise Range. For the nerds out there who study this a lot, Paradise Ranch is where Area 51 is. I had a plan to get in. I took my taser out of the compartment above the driver's seat and hid it in the door handle. When I got in range, a soldier popped into view. Just according to plan. When he got to the window, he signaled me to roll my window down. When I did, I got a better look at the man. He had a military uniform with a gas mask. He said, “Our radar detected that a vehicle approached too close to this classified area. We’ll need you to drive in the other direction please.” 
“Radar?” I said, “I thought you had long range camera’s or something.” 
“No” he said. “Now I’ll need you to go away.” He held up his gun, “I haven’t used this in a while but that won’t stop me from putting a bullet in your head.” 
“Alright.” I said. I reached like I was going to close the window, but instead I grabbed the taser and quickly zapped him. I then opened the door, put him in the car, and swapped clothes with him. Since he had a mask and they don’t have camera’s, it really went well with my plan. I had to put him in the passenger seat, drive him out of range, tase him a few times when he regained conscience, and put him back in the driver seat. Then I began my long walk to Area 51. 
I was exhausted by the time I got there. The intense Nevada heat, and the long walk was the perfect recipe for dehydration. I collapsed when I got to the Air Force base. Two other guards came over and helped me up. “Come on.” One of them said, “You’re a whole lot stronger than that, Andrew. You walk that distance practically every day.” 
He sounded the same as the guard that walked up to my car (Andrew), so I pretended I was still out of breath until the other guard spoke. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He was looking a little green this morning. But like a true army man, he was too stubborn to say anything.” 
The three guards that talked to me today all sounded the same, so I spoke and hoped I wouldn’t be an exception. By the way guard #2 talked to me, it sounded like he knew the guy I’m impersonating for a long time. He definitely knows the sound of Andrew’s voice. “I just want some water. And a bathroom break.” Thankfully, my voice sounded the same as the other guards. 
One of the guards gave me a canteen and said, “drink up buddy.” 
I took off the lower part of my mask and took a few BIG gulps. When I put it back on, one of the guards said, “Andrew did you shave this morning?” 
“It was getting itchy inside my mask, and I just couldn’t take it.” I lied. 
“Yup. It’s you in there all right. You were never man enough to keep facial hair.” 
“Now I just hope I remembered where the bathroom is.” 
 “You don’t remember?” 
“No but there’re maps all over the place he’ll figure it out,” the other guard said. 
“You sure you don’t need help?” 
“I’ll be fine.” 
I made my way to the file room without any suspicious glances, and it was humongous. I was going to be here for a while. That’s what I thought until a guard walked up to me and said, “There you are, take this to W.” 
I looked at the file. “What’s Wolf Face?” 
“You knew here?” 
“Yeah.” 
“Wolf Face is the serial killer in New York. You know, the guy who killed 101 people.” 
“Yeah, I know him. Didn’t know he had a name.” 
“Here, everything has a name. For example, we call Pedro Lopez the Grim Rap-” 
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” 
“Dang it. I’ve been dying to use that joke.” 
“So, ‘W.’” 
He pointed to the right. “That way.” 
“Thank you.” 
After getting lost in the sea of files, I found the way out. But unfortunately, it was guarded by a man in a black hoodie and a white wolf mask. 
“How did you-?” 
“You’re not the only one who knows how to get around Mr. Carter.” 
“So, it is you, Aaron!” 
He took off the mask. His blue eyes turned red (literally), but his hair was still silver. “You like the new look?” He spoke in a British accent. 
“The heck’s with the accent?” I asked. 
“That’s a story you’ll never hear unfortunately. I never wanted to kill your daughter. It doesn’t seem like she needs to die anyway. She doesn’t buy the fact that I’m the famous White Wolf. Anyway, I never thought anyone would act on those hints I dropped.” 
“How’d you-” 
“Come on, did you really think you were the first person to figure out who I was? The people I didn’t mark were the ones who figured it out. I tried to explain why I murdered those ‘innocent’ people, but they never believed me. Lost some good friends that way. I must say Ronald Reagan was tough to kill. I was never good with a gun. John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln went down nice and easy though.” 
“Wait a minute. You’re only 16. Abraham Lincoln-” 
“Died 2 centuries ago. I know. It’s a long and sad story that you don’t want to hear.” 
“You’re about to kill me anyway.” 
I heard gunfire. Aaron dodged the bullet with ease. He turned around and stabbed the one who attempted to kill him. I took the opportunity to run. “You can’t hide from me Jackson!” I heard Aaron yell. He was right. I had to hide in plain sight. Luckily, there was a break room I could hide in. You know those scenes in movies from the 1980’s where there’s a party at a High School? That’s exactly what the breakroom at Area 51 looked like. Except they played Hurricane by Luke Comb on a jukebox. When Aaron walked in, everyone noticed him. “You don’t happen to have seen someone walk in just now, did you?” Aaron asked. 
Someone yelled, “get him!” 
“I’m itching to have some fun anyway.” He threw his knife at the DJ station, and it started to play Unstoppable by The Score. “I bet I can take you all down, without my knife. Let’s see if I’m right. Now I might let you take me in, all of you to come after me are going to die anyway, so get your jabs in while you-” 
Someone charged in before he could finish talking. Aaron immediately overtook him and snapped his neck. “Asshole,” He scoffed. 
Classic Aaron, I thought. Talk so much, people get annoyed and interrupt him. Alex does it all the time. 
A few other people tried to take him down put he killed all of them with barely any effort. I think I even heard a yawn. 
Another group tried to take him on, and I saw my chance as everyone surrounded Aaron. I ran out and escaped Area 51. Since everyone was distracted by Aaron, nobody really had time to question me running in the opposite direction. I encountered Andrew on my way back to the car and I tased him quickly and kept running and I didn’t stop until I got to the car. I need to find Alex before it’s too late, I thought. 

Anyone have that unexplainable urge to scream when they wake up and see a recreation of Chucky the evil doll? Yeah. I had that. I couldn’t control it. My dad was out cold, so I was doing him a favor by giving him a wakeup call. Seriously though, who thought it was a promising idea to make creepy dolls in a toy factory? Just staring at the Chucky doll provided me with all the reasons why the factory closed. I threw a chunk of concrete at dad. “OW!” He exclaimed. 
“Next time, don’t do that!” I screamed 
“Noted.” He groaned. 
“How much do you want to bet that White Wolf heard that?” 
“How did you know Aaron's nickname?” 
“Lucky guess. Wait, Aaron has a nickname?” 
“In the military, they have a nickname and acronym for everything. RSI is Really Stupid Idea. Pedro Lopez is the Grim Rap-” I held up another chunk of concrete to warn him about what would happen if he finished that sentence. That moment was when Aaron walked in. “You’ve got to be fu-” 
Concrete subsiding gave us a well-timed interruption. “I’m, *gasp* going to *phew* kill you for putting me off as roadkill.” Because karma is such a pain for some people, a whole bunch of concrete fell on Aaron. 
“Wow.” I said. “Karma’s a real bi-” 
“RRRRRRRRRRRRARGGGGGGGGGGGGGH” Aaron yelled as he broke through. Parts of his mask fell off revealing his blazing red eyes. I couldn’t see much of his face, but I didn’t need to see the rest to know that that was Aaron. 
I covered my face in sheer horror. All this time, I had been dating a murderer. A monster. One that had killed 101 people. “You... You, - no that-that ca-can't be right!” 
“Yes Alex. It’s me. Aaron. The murderer responsible for 200 deaths!” 
“Wait, 200? I thought it was 112?” 
“You really thought that I was going to let those people at Area 51 take me? I had been sneaking in there for over a year and I planted a bomb that I could set off at any time.” 
“You’re a monster!” 
Aaron wagged his finger. “Ah, ah, ah. Liberator. There were quite a few M.O.T.H. agents in Area 51. I had to kill them some time. Just needed to figure out when.” 
While Aaron was rambling on, I was trying to figure out how dad and I would get out of here and what the hell was M.O.T.H. He always had a bad habit of rambling, and I wasn’t going to make him shut up this time. I noticed a beam that looked like it could fall any minute. Judging by Aaron’s posture, he can’t take another hit and get back up again (for a while at least). I figured that if I could get him to throw his knife at me (and hopefully miss) I could take care of him and get away from this godforsaken toy factory. But how to do it? I got it! “You know, I always knew you were afraid to be in a relationship Aaron.” 
“Excuse me?” He raised the one eyebrow I could see. 
“I mean, if you really wanted to be with me, you wouldn’t want to kill me.” 
“Trust me, I don’t want to kill you, but I do need to, and when I get the choice between wants and needs, I respectfully choose needs.” 
“So, you’re saying my murder will be respectful, but you won’t even tell me why you’re killing me in the first place.” 
“That’s--, I, … Well,” He threw his knife right at me and barely missed my face. 
“Thank you!” I cut the wire that I thought was connected to the steel beam and what do you know? It was the right one! It almost missed him. Just enough to trap his foot. “Get yourself out of that d*ckhead!” I jabbed at him. 

The next day, me and Alex made our way to the airport. It was a long walk. It was all worth it when we got there. I had booked the earliest flight and that was an hour from now. “Well, we got here way sooner than I predicted” I gasped. Alex was too busy gulping water to reply. “Hey, don’t forget to breathe in there!” I joked. 
“Why did you think it would be an innovative idea to drive directly into a concrete building?” 
“You know that was an accident?” I asked.  
She nodded and someone on the PA said, “Gate F is now ready for takeoff.”  
“That’s us,” I said.                                                                                                                                                                                
The flight was thankfully uneventful for now. I was able to relax on the plane. Looking out the window, seeing the wonderful city lights below me, the slightly obese Japanese man trying to shoot me. Wait, what! I looked back and saw Ethan Hangman. I haven’t seen him in a while. He was trying to put a bullet through the window. The first layer cracked. Now he was working on the second layer. But before he fired another shot, a blur jumped out of nowhere and took the bullet. I then saw that the blur was Aaron. 
                                                                                   .     .     .   
I figured that if I could dodge a bullet, I could catch one, and thankfully, I was right. “Evan Hongmin. Been a while since I’ve seen you. Last I saw you; you were putting bullets into Isaac Icarus.” 
“So, you’re the famous Wolf Face. I see you’ve changed masks,” he said. 
“White didn’t go so well with the hood. These things however,” I pulled out 2 rods that lit on fire when lightning struck it. “Go awesome with it.” 
“You found the staff of Satan?” 
“Let’s just say I’ve been places.” 
BANG! Evan’s gun fired. I managed to dodge it. Why do people continue to shoot at me when they know it won’t work? “I won’t let you hurt these innocents.” 
“Yet ones the ones you kill are exceptions?” 
“An enforcer has to get his hands dirtier than expected to do what’s right. I got close to killing Jackson Carter in Area 51 when he tried to carry that out.” 
“What you’re doing isn’t right, Wolf Face. Summoning the Scarlet King is the only way for world peace to be properly carried out. By one leader. No governments. No levels of management. Just one leader who is the one who controls everything!” 
“You and I have vastly different definitions of right. The Scarlet King won’t bring peace. He’ll enslave humanity!” 
“Humanity’s had its chance. We have a bad habit of trying to achieve things that aren’t possible and that causes nothing but disappointment for everyone.” 
“Like you summoning the Scarlet King?” 
“I’ve heard enough.” He started shooting. I was completely fine as usual. 
“I may be over 200 years old, but that doesn’t make me any slower.” 
“How on Earth are you over 200?” 
“Age-delaying moisturizer.” I replied sarcastically. 
“Debiddo wa kore ni tsuite watashi ni kesshite Iwana Katta” 
“Repeat?” 
“I’ll put that on your epitaph.” 
I rushed at Ethan with my weapon and knocked the gun out of his hand. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t barbecue you right now!” 
“How about the fact before the plane took off, I rigged a bomb to go off when I go out of range, killing everyone on this plane including your ex!” 
“You know I can just carry your body with me right?” I knocked him in the head and his head caught fire. When all the flesh was burned off, the fire slowly went out. Unfortunately, the whole plane had noticed the fiasco. I have to kill all the passengers when I get back inside the plane now. I thought. But then I realized that I didn’t. Since nobody saw my face, no more innocents had to die for now. But I knew that Alex and Jackson were on the plane, so I need to kill them. Ironic that I saved them only to kill them later. No matter. The only way I can keep doing what I’m doing is if they’re dead. 
                                                                                   .     .     . 
When the plane landed, I immediately started looking for them. Home sweet home, I thought as I realized we were back in New York City. I followed them and was surprised to find we were heading to the school. A few days of hunting them and of course the chase ends at school. They were heading to the gymnasium. I was very confused at this point. I shrugged it off and followed them inside. They weren’t in there. Then the PA turned on and Jackson started talking. “Is this thing on? Hey Aaron! What’s up! You’re probably confused about why you’re here. You can take off the mask we already know who you are.” I made the mistake of listening to him. He started laughing. A projector in the gym turned on and a plastic screen lowered down revealing my face. So that’s what they were working on. I thought it was the sign.  
“Oooh a recording of myself, what are you going to do?” I said sarcastically. 
“We know that you killed everyone Aaron.” 
“Yeah so? I’ll kill you to and I’ll even help bury you.” 
“Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.” 
“What do you mean?” 
“That confession was live Aaron. Now everyone in the world knows who you are!” 
“YOU FOOL! YOU COMPRIMISED MY POSITION!” 
“Ummmm... so?” 
“I was sent here to kill all the agents of M.O.T.H. worldwide! Every killer in the history books that nobody ever found their identity, it, was, me! Jack the Ripper! ‘Slender man!’ Every military MIA! ALL ME! I haven’t killed 200. I’ve lost count by now. Shot heard ‘round the world? A misfire. Assassination of John F. Kenedy and Abraham Lincoln and failed assassination of Ronald Reagan? ALL! ME! M.O.T.H. assassins will be flocking here to attempt to kill me. Reasonable M.O.T.H. agents will be leaving the state. Possibly the country. All. Because. Of. You. You compromised the mission. I’ll kill every M.O.T.H. agent in the country and wait for Lola to gather more info. But for now, I’ll give you a wild guess on whose graves are about to get filled.” 
BANG!  
I started getting lightheaded. I was losing consciousness. I can’t believe it. 2 centuries of dodging bullets all to be taken out by one. Caroline aways told me rambling on would be the death of me. I never knew she would be right. “Now I’ll see her again.” I whispered.  

Me and my 2 friends (and girlfriend) are spending time together near the woods. Caroline, Vincent, Sophia, and me, Aaron. The year is 1800. “I am terribly bored.” Sophia says.  
“Let me guess,” Caroline whispers to me, “She wishes her parents would give her more money.” 
“I’ll bet you she will change it up this time.” I whispered back. 
“How much?” 
“50 pounds.” 
“You do realize I win all the bets I make, right?” 
“I’m sure you do.” 
“I wish my parents would give me more money.” Just by hearing Sophia say that I knew I lost. “I could barely afford my wedding dress for me and Vincents wedding.” 
“Yet it looks like sh*t.” Vincent said. 
Sophia punched him in the arm. “I cannot believe I said yes.” 
“I thought you wouldn’t be regretting your marriage until 20 years later.” I spoke. 
Caroline punched me in the arm like this was some sort of drinking game. “Speaking of marriage, when are we getting engaged Aaron?” 
“I am sorry, but how long have you two been dating?” Vincent asked. 
“Around 5 years.” 
“Do you always have to make me feel guilty Vincent?” 
“Are you going to be the best man at the wedding.” 
“Would not miss it for the world.” 
We then heard a very strange sound. It sounded like a bike horn, but louder. Much, much louder. “What is that!” 
“I feel like exploring.” Sophia said. Even though she is a complete wuss when it came to a lot of stuff, she never objected to exploring the woods. We found Sophia when she was an amnesiac. She was found in the woods, and she did not know who she was. We helped her when we were in grade school year, and have been friends ever since. Of course, Vincent is also a complete wuss when it comes to exploring, but he always follows Sophia, and so far, hasn’t outgrown it. 
“I don’t know about that.” I spoke. “Last time we explored the woods, Vincent got short term amnesia and annoyed us with a plethora of stupid questions. 
“You just had to bring that up.” Vincent whimpered. 
“Well, regardless, I’m going.” Sophia said. 
“Well, now I have to go.” 
After they left Caroline said, “Are we really letting our closest friends go to their doom in the woods?” 
“Not without us!” I joked. 
 
We walked through the woods with no sign of what could have been making that sound. “Welp, nothing here, let’s go back.” Vincent whimpered.  
“Hey what’s that?” Sophia pointed at a building in the distance. It looked a lot like a hospital building. 
“What is that?” I asked. 
“I have no idea.” 
I decided to get a closer look and was careful not to be noticed by the guards who were for some reason stationed there. There were these big towers emitting light, so I made sure not to get caught by those. “What are you doing!?” Caroline whispered loudly at me, “Get back here!” I had no idea what I was thinking. Whatever it was, it had no hint of logic. 
Long story short, the guards caught me. They noticed my friends too. When they saw Sophia, one of them said, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the failed experiment herself. We didn’t think you would come back.” 
Vincent looked at Sophia. “You know those goons!” 
“Of course not! I have no idea who those people are!” She shouted 
“We gave her an amnestic so she wouldn’t.” The guard said. “We’re running experiments and it appears that teenagers are the perfect test subjects” 
I wasn’t ready to be a guinea pig, so I kicked the guard that had me and took his gun. “I’ll shoot if you don’t let my friends go.” I have never seen a gun like this. It wasn’t a regular musket like I was used to. 
“We’re not just going to let these witnesses go into the public and blab. Unless you can strike a deal.” 
“You can test on me! Let the others go. As soon as you do, I will put the gun down.” 
The guard thought for a moment. “OK we’ll let them go. IF! You put the gun down first” 
I did and the guard I took it from picked it up. The other guard laughed and said, “Like I said earlier we can’t let witnesses go out into the public. I also said you had fire. We’ll take you in, but the rest, DIE! And since we need your spirit broken down, so you’ll be more cooperative, we’ll make you watch!” He started laughing. 
The guard took his gun out and started shooting. The sounds of my friends screaming, the gunfire, and the sound of the maniacal guard laughing madly, it was all too much. I just broke down. Sobbing. Caroline was dead. My best friend and his fiancé were dead. Nothing mattered anymore. They took me and immediately started their experiments. They injected me with a drug that I assumed was what they were experimenting with. They taught me how to fight. They found that there was not a lot I needed to learn. I even felt stronger than usual. I never talked in their years of experimentation. They eventually found my potential as a killer. They tried one field test. That was my first escape attempt. They caught me and dragged me back. They used me as their garbage disposal you could say. They used me to “terminate” failed experiments. 17 long years if killing. I did not age. I found out that their experiment succeeded. They wanted to make the perfect weapon. One that would not die. In all those long years, the guards there started getting bored. The enemies started getting stronger. Then one day, I failed to terminate a project, and I was almost killed. Their way of saving money has failed. They dragged me to the incinerator that they had used before they made me. That was just what they viewed me as. I was a failed experiment. I snapped again, and ironically, that fixed me. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to hunt down everyone in this organization and kill them all. I killed the guards that tried to throw me in the incinerator. I killed everyone at the facility. Eventually, the entire British branch of M.O.T.H. I found an organization committed to my cause. I moved to America sometime later. I found Alex in High school. Unfortunately, her father had found out who I was and dragged her into the whole commotion and me trying to kill them caused my long overdue, death. 

Killing Aaron was most satisfying. Like scraping gum from my shoe. Funny. 200 years of dodging bullets just to get taken out by one. The bullet went into the screen, so nobody knows who shot Aaron. Except for 2 people. I would take care of them. “I,” I raised my arms up. “Am David. Leader of M.O.T.H. And I would say that I just liberated you from a murderer!” 
A voice came from the PA. “Didn’t Aaron say that he was liberating us from you?” 
“He’s just a deluded teenager” I said.  
“One that could dodge bullets?” A female voice argued. 
“That.” I thought for a moment, “have you ever considered that maybe the people who fired the guns were just terrible shots?” 
Silence filled the air for a moment. I thought that they might’ve left. Reported me to the police station. I don’t need any more publicity than the stunt that I pulled even if nobody knew who I was. I can’t risk it. “Are you still there?” 
“Yes. However, we don’t believe your story, so you can come with us to the police station for interrogation.” 
I held back my laughter. These fools don’t know that I hold their lives in my hands. One click of the button I have, and they’ll go out with a BANG! Just like AJR. “Are they on their way?” 
“Yes...” The man on the PA answered slowly. 
I couldn’t take it. I had to laugh. “Good,” I started to chuckle uncontrollably. “Now we have someone to find your bodies!” I continued laughing. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t control it. It was like something was taking over. I wasn’t in control. It was happening again. He was taking over. I was cursed. Cursed to bring him to us. Only I can do it. Fortunately, I know how to do it. Nobody could stop me. You can try. You will fail. The Freak knows all. Except failure. He will find you. He will kill you. You can only hope that the figure staring at you through an open window will allow witnesses to find your body. Your eyes will lay open still trying to figure out what happened. Everyone who tried to stop me failed. More like Aaron will come for me. Unfortunately for them, they’ll end up just like him. The police found the bodies of Jackson and Alex Carter. Nobody could piece together why who could’ve killed them? Their only suspect was dead. The murders stopped abruptly after the death of Aaron, Jackson, and Alex, so it didn’t take the police long to figure out Aaron was the murderer they had been looking for. The police guessed all too close of what could’ve happened. When I found out about what they might know, they became a target. Without a police force, New York became a lawless zone of death. While the government tried and failed to reclaim the city, they decided playtime was over. They stopped at nothing to reclaim the city. When they did, the police got back, and everything was back to normal. Thank goodness I didn’t need to kill any more people. The more people I kill, the more room there is for error. I need to read that file I found about Aaron. I need to see if what he said was true. After that, I have another appointment I need to attend.  

There’s an asylum in New York where someone is huddling in the corner. Though, this isn’t the New York you know. It’s dark and pieces are removed and floating in the air. The person who’s huddling in the corner is the only one in the asylum. The only one that couldn’t escape when it came. It tore through everything. Nobody expected it. The only ones that escaped were the ones that had been enslaved or died. The one huddling in the corner has tried over and over to die or find a rift they could jump through. It all resulted in broken mirrors, an insane teenager, and 2 dead ones. “Tamara, Tamara, Tamara.” A man said. It sounded like a southern accent, but everything gets blurry since the one that broke this universe came. 
“Are you saying my name or is that your southern accent saying tomorrow?” Her voice sounded like radio static. Unclear, but you can barely make out the words.  
“I don’t have a southern accent.” He said. 
 “Must be this broken world. Nothing here is what it seems.” She stood up, revealing her shorter-than-average frame, shoulder-length red hair, and piercing gray eyes. 
“You must hate the person who could’ve done this, don’t you Tamara.” As the man stepped closer, he kept shifting. His voice kept changing. The more Tamara looked at him, the less and less normal he looked. Then again, she couldn’t talk.  
“I do.” 
“Well, if you must suffer through this, shouldn’t everyone else?” 
“Wouldn’t it be counterproductive to help the one person who destroyed my world?” 
“How about this, you help me, and I’ll release you from the prison in which you are right now trapped in. Haven’t you tried to leave? Haven’t you regretfully, and I daresay jealously, kill your best friends?” 
“What do you mean by ‘jealously?’” 
“You were always jealous that Asher cheated on you with Brooke. So jealous that it drove you to murder. All you wanted was a reason. Something that wouldn’t make your conscience weigh you down.” 
Tamara clenched her fists. She didn’t want to help the strange man, but she also wanted to get out. It was driving her crazier than she already was. Crazy enough to actually consider helping him. She couldn’t figure it out. She had to decide. “I-I, fine. I’ll help you.” 
“Well, that was easy.” The man said. “Looks like your spirit was easier to break than I thought.” 
That was a mistake. Tamara took out her knife and started stabbing at the man. “Stop it. That tickles. Seriously. Stop.” 
Tamara stopped stabbing him. “What the?” 
“You really thought that would work?” The man said. “I would leave you behind if you weren’t my only chance of summoning the Scarlet King.” 
“Mistake.” Tamara said. “You’ll have to up your offer now.” 
“Or I could leave you here.” 
“Never mind. I’ll come.” 
“That’s an excellent choice Tamara. How else are you going to break your bond with, what’s her name, Calleigh-u?” 
Kalieah!” Tamara said. Great, she thought, now I’m getting offended when people mispronounce her name. I really need to get rid of her fast. 
The man smiled. Everything was going according to plan. A portal appeared and he pointed to it. In the portal there was a man fighting someone in an alley. His fists seemed to turn to metal with each blow he dealt and when the thug tried to hit him, the area he hit turned to metal. “Orion. That’s your target. Kill him, we kill your bond with Kalieah.” 
“No problem.” Tamara said. It would be a pleasure to kill someone without Kalieauh's resistance.