《About Last Night》


 Missing

    Theo Morgan wakes up with a headache and thinks back to the dream he was having. The dream seemed so natural. While walking in the night, he attacked a young woman in the streets and ripped her arm off. He just left her there dying and walked away with it. This worries him, and he wonders if he has some sort of psychological problem. He decides to go out for a walk to clear his mind or find someone to talk about his dreams with.


    It¡¯s a sunny Saturday, and there is not much traffic on the roads. Theo lives in a small town, so thankfully, he doesn''t have to wait too long for a ride. While waiting, he gets a call from his boss asking why he left work early last night. When Theo explains he wasn''t feeling good, his manager tells him not to panic that everyone has the right to take a sick day now and again but make sure to let him or someone else know first. He says he will see Theo tomorrow morning for work. After the call, Theo waits for a ride and decides to turn his phone on silent since it keeps ringing every few minutes. Why is everyone trying to reach me today? Theo thinks to himself. No one ever wants to talk to him, so he is confused about why everyone is trying to contact him.


    After waiting for a little while, he finally gets a ride from a high school student going in his direction. Theo tells the driver about his odd dreams and states that he wants to see someone about getting help with what could possibly be a psychological disorder.


    The driver looks over to him with a worried look and says, "Are you sure you even got any sleep last night? You look like shit, man." Without waiting for an answer, he continues to say, "Maybe you should just rest up and try to contact your friends. This might sound weird coming from a stranger but going to see a psychologist isn''t the easiest thing to do."


    Theo just stares at the driver, and his mind becomes cloudy. He can''t really remember why he got in the car or what he was trying to accomplish.


    "I think I will just walk from here," Theo says as he gets out of the car, which had come to a stop at a red light. "Here are five dollars. It¡¯s the best I have, sorry."


    "Uh, sure thing."


    Watching as the driver pulls off, Theo is shaken by his cell phone ring, becoming confused why it''s not silent anymore. He looks at the screen and sees that he has several missed calls and several voicemails, all from his boss. He listens to the first one.


    "Theo, where are you? I really need you to come in. A detective came by and asked if anyone left early or snuck away for an hour last night. Please call me back soon."


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    The next few are more frantic, and he ends with, "Please call me back, the police are here, and they say that Alice has been missing for 12 hours now. She just worked a double shift last night. Why would she do that if she was planning on running away? Let me know where you are so I can help."


    Theo tries to think back to last night after work. The video store, he went to the video store with Ben. They got home around 11pm and watched TV until they fell asleep around midnight. He had the weirdest dreams, and then he woke up in his bed this morning. He texts his boss:


    "I will be there in about ten minutes."


    He makes his way to the diner after getting some coffee. He decides to shoot Ben a quick text:


    "Hey dude, sorry I dozed off last night. Did you drive me home last night?"


    He gets no reply back and decides to just worry about it when he gets to work. When he arrives, his boss is standing outside looking around a bit frantic and holding a coffee pot as if ready to pour it on the first person who tries to approach him.


    "You might want to call this detective, uh, yeah Detective Patrick Turner. He''s been in and out of here all day. I told him that you and Ben were the only two that left early last night. He said he will be back soon if he doesn''t hear from the two of you." He says while pouring the coffee into a trash can.


    "I''ll talk to him now."


    "Thanks, please just make this go away. It''s been the worst week of my life."


    He strides into the diner with confidence and looks around for the detective. When he doesn''t see him, he calls the station house.


    "Detective Turner''s phone." The secretary says.


    "Yeeh, this is Theo Morgan. I was told to call."


    "One moment."


    The phone goes quiet, and within a minute, the detective gets on the line.


    "Mr. Morgan, Please tell me you and your friend are at work right now."


    ¡°Yeah, I just got to work, and my boss handed me your contact info."


    "Fuck, ok, sit tight. I''m going to have a patrol car sent over there. DO NOT leave the diner."


    "What''s going on? Is my friend in some kind of trouble?"


    "When my officers get there, just follow their instructions and don''t give them a hard time, ok."


    "Yeah, sure thing, but-"


    The call ends, and Theo wonders what is happening. This is a waste of his time, he thinks, he should just go home and get some sleep. He gets done with his first cup of coffee when he notices two police officers enter. One is an older man with gray hair and a stern look. The other is a younger woman with straight black hair and snapping dark eyes. They both have a no-nonsense look to them.


    "There he is." The older one says, "So you are Theo?"


    He nods, "I was told to wait for you here and not to leave."


    The older one nods and flashes a badge, "I''m Detective Patrick Turner, and this is officer Madison. We need you to come with us down to the station house."


    Theo''s heart drops into his stomach. They can''t be here because of Ben, can they?

 Suspect

    Theo is silent for most of the ride to the police station. The two officers don''t speak to him either; they just drive and keep their eyes on the road. Theo''s head is swimming with thoughts; he tries to remember if he did anything wrong. He works hard and respectfully; he goes to church every Sunday and is a kind person. Could there be something they found that he didn''t know about? It would be just his luck to have done something terrible without knowing.


    Soon, the car stops in front of a big gray building, and the three of them get out. Theo glances up and sees the words "City Hall" written outside the building in green letters. They walk inside and take a left down a long hallway, where they are greeted by a woman at the front desk.


    "Theo Morgan?" The woman asks, looking down at a clipboard in front of her.


    "Yes..?" Theo answers, confused.


    She nods and grabs Thoe a visitors pass from a bin next to her, "Here you are, officers."


    The three of them wait for the officer on duty to scan them with a wand and walk through the security gate. They enter an elevator and ride it up to the third floor. When the doors open, they are met by another woman who looks to be in her early thirties; she has long curly brown hair and is wearing a grey suit.


    "Hello, I''m Detective Claire Masters." She introduces herself to Theo and holds out her hand for him to shake. "We''re going to be talking in here today."


    They sit down in an interrogation room; a long wooden table sits in the middle with several chairs on either side.


    Claire begins to speak, "I just have to let you know that you are not in any trouble, and you are free to leave at any time."


    Theo nods.


    "Right then," she opens a manila folder in front of her and glances down at it. "We just need to go over some things and people that you might know." She looks up at him, "I was hoping you could help us with this if you don''t mind."


    "Yes, of course," Theo replies.


    "Now, the person we need to know about is Ben Higgins," she looks down at her folder again. "Can you tell me about him?"


    Theo shifts in his seat and crosses his arms, "Not much to tell, really."


    "Come on, I''m sure you''ve got something." She says with a small smile.


    "He''s about my age, and we graduated high school together, that''s it," Theo says with a shrug.


    "That''s pretty much what people always say right before they tell you the interesting stuff." She says, looking down at him.


    "I really don''t have anything else to say." Theo insists.


    "I know you two left work together last night." She presses. "Where did you go?"


    "We just drove around..." he replies hesitantly.


    "Drank beer?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.


    "Maybe a couple each." Theo answers.


    "Is that all?" She continues with a faint smile.


    "Probably," Theo admits.


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    "Mind telling me why you snuck out of Ben''s house around, say 11:30?" She says as her demeanor starts to change.


    "I fell asleep on his couch watching TV. I thought he drove me home," Theo says, slouching down in his chair.


    She sits back and thinks for a moment, slowly shaking her head, "...You don''t know how this happened, do you?"


    He looks up at her, "What do you mean?"


    "Do you have any idea how far away you live from where Ben was found?" She asks.


    "Was found?" Theo asks, raising his eyebrow in confusion.


    She picks up her folder and flips through some papers before setting one on the table, pushing it over to Theo. It''s a black and white photocopy of a map with the route he took home clearly marked in red Sharpie, along with two yellow arrows extending from it that she points to with a pen.


    "This is where Ben was found." She taps the red line running through it. "And this is where you said you live..." she taps the end of the arrow. "That''s over 20 miles away. You drove over a dozen miles out of your way just to come home another way? Why not just stay on the highway?"


    She pauses, elbows on the table, leaning towards him, both hands under her chin, "What are you hiding and why?"


    "Nothing. I didn''t kill him." Theo says with a quiver in his voice.


    She sits back and sighs, "Who said he was dead?"


    He takes a deep breath and just shakes his head, "I don''t know anything."


    "What did you do to him?" She asks firmly.


    "Nothing!" He says, raising his voice.


    "Answer me!" She demands, slamming her hands on the table.


    "I didn''t do anything!" He yells and then looks away from her and stares at the wall.


    "You must have done something."


    Just as Theo is about to break down and cry, Detective Turner barges into the room.


    "They found her!" he shouts. "They found Alice, and you won''t believe this, but her arm was cut right off; we still haven''t found that yet, though." He goes on to say as he notices Theo and sits down in front of him. "You need to tell us what happened, kid."


    Theo simply sits there with his head down and says nothing.


    Detective Claire just shakes her head and says, "He''s not going to say anything else."


    The two detectives stare at each other before Detective Turner asks Theo, "Was Ben in your house or did you go to his?"


    "I didn''t kill him..." Theo mutters.


    In a slightly friendlier voice, Detective Turner asks, "Do you know who did?" Still, Theo says nothing.


    After a few minutes of silence, he says, "Okay then," stands up and leaves the room. A moment later, Detective Claire stands up and follows, closing the door behind her.


    Detective Turner and Claire stand outside the room talking about what they should do next. They''re sure that Theo is hiding something; he''s just not talking.


    "Have they found the murder weapon yet?" Detective Claire asks.


    "Not yet, but we''ll find it eventually; we can''t press charges until we do." He replies, and they both agree that Theo should be sent home and have undercover officers secretly keep an eye on him until the girl''s arm or weapon is found. They both go back inside, sit down across from Theo again and tell him that they will be speaking with him some more later. For now, he''s free to go. They also tell him not to leave town without notifying the department, and both detectives stand up and head out of the interview room door expecting Theo to follow.


    Closing the door behind them, they find a man with dark, curly hair and a bushy mustache waiting for them in the hallway.


    He wears a standard dark blue suit with a badge on his belt and says, "So he didn''t confess?"


    "Nope, we''re at a dead-end for now." Detective Claire answers.


    "For now?" The man asks.


    "We''ll find something to charge him with. We just need to keep an eye on him for a bit."


    "Hmm, okay, I''m going to head to the house and see what the team comes up with there." He says, walking away. "Talk to you in a few days."


    "Who was that?" Detective Claire asks her partner.


    "Datyal Jackson, head of homicide."


    "He sure seems pressed on bagging Theo for this," Claire says.


    "Yeah, well, we gotta impress the captain too, letting some stupid kid go free ain''t gonna cut it."


    Theo''s mother walks up to them and asks, "Am I able to take him home now?" Detective Claire nods her head, and Mrs. Morgan walks away.


    "So what''s next then?" Detective Turner asks Claire.


    "I think we should ask Ben''s sister if she knows anything. I''ll talk to her; you go see what the team finds at the morgue."


    Theo finds his mom waiting for him at a vending machine. She hugs him, and they walk out of the building together, not saying a word.

 30 Years

    Patrick was sitting in front of his computer at his desk, going through the day''s reports when he had a loud knock on his door.


    "COME IN!" He says with a voice that would generally quiet anyone down, but it didn''t work on this person; whoever it was just kept yelling.


    "Patrick! I got important information!"


    It was Claire''s voice, he''s been working with her for a few months now, and she tends to be a little over-enthusiastic about everything.


    "Claire, I''m in the middle of something right now. Can this wait?" He says, knowing she''ll most likely say no.


    "Two kids just witnessed their dad murder their mother, and right now they''re at the station giving their testimony; we gotta go before someone else grabs it!"


    "Fuck! Alright, I''m coming!" Patrick stands up and grabs his jacket. "I want you driving. I don''t even feel like being in a car right now."


    Claire nods, and the two head to the parking lot.


    They arrive at the station and find the two children in an interview room. They''re brother and sister, the boy looking to be around nine or ten, and his younger sister is probably around six. In front of them is a woman in her mid-twenties; she''s most likely their cousin from her features.


    "Are you the detectives?" The woman asks.


    "Yes, are you their sister?"


    "No, no, my name is Hanna, I¡¯m their cousin and these are the kids that I was telling you about, find the guy who did this, and you''ll be doing me a great service."


    Claire walks up to the children while Patrick sits down across from their cousin.


    "What''s your name?"


    "Lars." The boy says with a hint of fear in his voice.


    "How old are you, Lars?"


    "I''m nine. I''ll be ten next month!" He exclaims with a nervous smile.


    "What''s your sister''s name?"


    "Amanda, she''s six."


    "Do you remember what happened this morning?"


    "Yes." He says with a shaky voice.


    Claire grabs a cup of water and sits down next to the boy. "Take your time, don''t worry, I won''t leave your side."


    "Okay..." Lars says before taking a deep breath. "I woke up early this morning and went into Amanda''s room; she sleeps in my parents'' room because she''s afraid of the dark. My dad was still sleeping, which was weird, and my mom was on the phone; she was crying."


    "Do you know who she was talking to?"


    "No, the phone was on speaker, and there was a lot of static."


    "Okay then."


    "Then my mom said that Amanda had to go with Uncle Jack. I got really scared and asked why. She said it was because dad was in trouble and Uncle Jack was going to take care of it, but we had to be really quiet because he was still sleeping."


    "What did you do?"


    "I asked if I could go too because I was scared. My mom said no and kissed me goodbye. Mom told Amanda to be really quiet when she left because dad was still asleep. Then Amanda hugged me goodbye. I gave her my teddy bear to hold and went back to bed."


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    "What happened next?"


    "My mom turned off my light and closed the door. I heard her and Amanda walk down the stairs. Everything was quiet for a few minutes until I heard a really loud sound like a car backfiring. After that, my dad yelled, ''what the fuck are you doing?!'', a girl was screaming and then another loud noise."


    Detective Patrick laughs, "You shouldn''t say that word, kid, but it''s okay. Go on."


    "I was really scared, so I got out of bed and went to the door. I grabbed the doorknob, but I couldn''t open it, and it was really heavy. Then I heard footsteps coming upstairs, so I hid in the closet, you know the one next to my parents'' room?"


    "Yes," The detective says as she takes out her notepad.


    "I heard a man yell, ''Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on here? It was my dad."


    "Does your dad have an accent?" The detective asks.


    "Yeah, he sounds like this, " Lars says slowly and methodically. "Yep, that''s him."


    "What happened next?"


    "He said, ''I''m calling the laws, someone broke into the fucking safe,'' and my mom was crying and saying it was an accident and that she had to get out of there. He got mad and said that she had ruined everything, and then I heard a loud boom."


    "A gunshot?"


    "Yes."


    "Then what happened."


    "My mom, she was still crying, but she said she had to go anyway and that I had to lock the door and not leave my room. Then she told me that I loved her and that she loved me too."


    "Then?"


    "That was it; I haven''t left the closet yet."


    The detective smiles and says, "Thank you for your time, Lars. I will have my partner take Amanda next door; you stay here until the social worker comes. She''ll know what to do with you."


    Lars nods and turns back to playing with his stuffed animals.


    "Come on, kid." Detective Patrick motions to Amanda, who has been listening to the entire story unfold.


    They walk out of the room and into the one right next to it. In this one, there is a single table and nightstand with a small lamp on it. There is no closet in this room, only a bare wall where one would expect there to be one.


    "I know this is scary, Amanda, but I need you to tell me what happened with your mom and dad. Can you do that for me?"


    "Yes." Amanda squeaks.


    "What happened, Amanda?"


    "We were having breakfast, my dad was still sleeping I think, and I was eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch."


    "Go on."


    "I don''t know, there was a loud noise, and then my mom started screaming. Then there was another loud noise, and my mom stopped scream-" Amanda pauses as her lip quivers, "and dad said we had to go before..." Amanda stops again as her sobs interrupt her story. The detective waits patiently for her to be able to continue. After a minute, she does.


    "Before what, Amanda?"


    "Before it happened again."


    "It?"


    "He shot himself too."


    The detective is at a loss of what else to ask. He has heard enough. The rest of the questions are better suited for a psychiatrist rather than a homicide detective.


    "Thanks, Amanda, you''ve been very helpful."


    Detective Turner leaves the room and heads downstairs, where he finds Datyal Jackson waiting at the bottom with his arms crossed and tapping his foot.


    "What the fuck took you so long?" He asks. "Why are you on this open and shut case when you should be finding out what the fuck happened to Alice."


    "Sorry about that sir, we''ve had a lot going on recently."


    "What do you mean?"


    "My partner, Lewis, was killed in the line of duty last night."


    "Shit, I wasn''t aware. Was he working on this case?"


    "No, a case of his own. Unrelated."


    Patrick Turner is lying in his bed after a long day. They still have no other leads on the Alice case, and he is starting to question if he''s losing his touch. 30 years with the department, and permanently closed every case within a week. Hell, even as a beat cop, he would go above and beyond to solve petty crimes. He couldn''t bear to leave a case unsolved. After his wife died of cancer, he threw himself into police work and made it his life. After getting his promotion to detective, he got even more involved in solving crimes, typically murders.


    Now with Lewis dead, he has no partner. Lewis has been his partner for nearly 15 years. Always having each other''s back until getting thrown on the Alice case with a rookie, Claire Masters. She has the heart, but she is too eager, and with this job, eagerness will drain you to the point where you''re better off suited as a desk jockey. Thoughts of Lewis creep back into his mind, and he can''t help but feel like it''s his fault he died. He should have been there. In the last 8 hours of his life, he was distracted. If he was there, maybe he could have saved him. If he was there, then perhaps Lewis would still be alive. With those thoughts in mind, he quickly grabs his keys and heads out of the house. There''s one person who can help get his mind off things, Theo. He decides to go to Theo''s house and stake it out. Maybe he''ll get lucky and catch him out late.

 The Stake Out

    The thought of going to stake out Theo''s house doesn''t thrill Patrick. He''s exhausted and just wants to catch up on some sleep but was planning on heading out tomorrow night anyway. Seeing as his spirits are down, he thinks it''s best to just go now.


    The drive over to Theo''s house is a quiet one. He tries to turn on the local radio station, but the DJs are discussing the case already. They aren''t saying anything the public doesn¡¯t already know, but he can''t stand listening to amateur detective hour. He turns the radio off and just concentrates on getting to Theo''s house.


    He finds a nice secluded spot to park his car a couple of houses down from Theo''s. The street his home is on is pretty empty most of the time, so this shouldn''t be too hard. He relaxes his seat and turns off the car preparing himself for the long night ahead. Putting in his headphones and leaning back in the seat, his wait begins.


    This stakeout won''t be like the ones he''s done in the past. He can''t really do any investigating while he''s watching the house. All he can do is sit outside and make sure no one leaves.


    Theo is having those strange dreams again. This time he is outside of a 24/7 convenience store on some street. People are milling about outside the store. He approaches one and asks him what time it is. The man just stares at him and swears at him. He understands the words, but for some reason, they don''t offend him. He then walks up to the glass door of the store and looks at his reflection. On his face are dark pieces of hair sticking out. Under his eyes, substantial black bags. His eyes look somehow sunken in, and his forehead protrudes out far more than it should. He touches his reflection and notices how dirty the window has become over time. He wakes up.


    "Another dream."


    He gets dressed and walks downstairs.


    Detective Turner was listening to his favorite True Crime podcast, Casefile, when he noticed a light from inside Theo¡¯s house come on.  He grabs his binoculars, wondering what Theo is doing awake at 3:00 in the morning. He sees that Theo is awake, so he decides to call dispatch and see if there have been any calls for this area. Maybe Theo just got home without Turner noticing. He gets through to dispatch pretty quickly and asks for any calls for service around this area. The dispatcher reads her screen and says that a call came from this area at 2:30 am and mentions that the caller just wanted to report an attempted mugging at one of the 24/7 shops.


    Turner hangs up and thinks about what to do next. He can either go back to his stakeout or investigate the mugging. He finally decides to put back in his headphones and keep watching the house.


    The next hour goes by slowly, and nothing else happens, he is starting to regret his decision, but then something finally happens. He sees two figures a few houses down the street, they are trying to be as stealthy as possible, but they are clearly trying to sneak up on Theo''s house.


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    "Is this the house?" One of the kids asked.


    "Yeah, dude, it''s the one."


    "It''s 4am; the guy should be asleep right now".


    "You realize that we are breaking and entering, right?"


    "Yeah, so."


    "We could go to jail for doing this."


    "You a bitch or something?"


    They continue to disagree about their plan for another five minutes before approaching the house. As they get closer, the Detective gets a better look at them. The kids are both in their early teens. Both wearing jackets labeled with their school''s name. The first kid has shaggy blonde hair, and the other, dark brown curly hair.


    "You realize we are going to get in so much trouble for this."


    "Bro, no one will even know it was us."


    "How do you know that?"


    "Cuz we won''t get caught dumbass, now come on."


    They walk up to the back door and unsurprisingly find it locked. The dark-haired kid pulls out his smartphone and looks up lock picking techniques. 30 seconds later, the door is unlocked.


    "You hear that?"


    "Yeah, it sounds like someone is in the house."


    The two kids freeze and get ready to leave when they hear footsteps upstairs. Theo hears them talking and knows he has mere seconds to hide before the intruders enter the room. He quickly looks around but realizes there is almost no place to hide. He looks under his bed and manages to get his whole body crammed under there, but it''s only barely big enough for him to fit. The intruders have heard the creaking of the floorboards and decide to just leave.


    Detective Turner is torn between what to do. Does he break his cover and risk getting a suspension for violating department rules, or does he let these kids do whatever they have planned? The dark-haired kid pulls out his phone and does some quick googling.


    "Crazy how our phones can do basically anything nowadays, isn''t it?" He says out loud only to himself. Then much louder, he says, "let''s go meet up with the rest of the gang."


    They leave the house and begin talking about their plans for the night. Detective Turner is about to get out of the car when he sees the kids leaving the house and getting into a car at the curb. He starts his own and follows them. They drive to a small cafe that is closed for business. Only one dim light on the front porch is lit, and the parking lot only has a few cars in it. The Detective can barely make out anything inside the darkened windows of the cafe.


    The kids are moving quickly towards the front door, and it isn''t until they turn towards the light that he can see their faces clearly. It takes a moment for him to place where he knows them from. He had seen their faces every day for the last week. They were the two kids who had been "murdered" in The Paperboy''s video. Thinking about that video makes Turner''s stomach turn. Why would a group of kids mock murders and put them on their TikTok just for fame?  That kind of thing should never be trivialized.


    The Detective sits in his car for a while, making sure no one is in the cafe, and no kids are lurking about. He turns on the ignition, but just when he is about to pull out of the parking lot, he notices a light coming from the back seat of his car in the rearview mirror. He gets out, and to his surprise, there is a puddle of gasoline leaking from the backseat, and right in the middle is a rag smoldering away. Turner quickly opens the door and pulls the rag from the fuel. He has just dropped it when the car goes up in a flash of heat and fire.


    "Shit!" He yells as the car burns and snaps.


    Turner gets engulfed in flames as the kids run over to try and help. One of the kids quickly dials 911 and explains there has been an explosion.


    As the police and ambulance show up, Turner is taken to the hospital severely burned but will make a full recovery. Detective Edmond Gates is assigned to take over the Alice case and what he finds is much more than he could have expected.

 The Paperboy

    Billy and Lucy have been inseparable since the night at the cafe. They are on the For You page when they see another post from Mr. Creepy on the TikTok app.


    "This is getting really scary..." Lucy says.


    "Maybe we shouldn''t keep watching."


    "I have to know what''s going on."


    The following post is more violent than any of the others. It depicts two kids dressed like the age-old painting The Kiss by Gustav Klimpt. The girl has the young man by the throat and makes a slicing motion across his neck. They then show the bloody, lifeless body on top of the girl.


    Lucy asks, "How do they make it look so real?"


    "I don''t know, but it''s freaking me out."


    "I feel like they''re watching us... How do you think they got the detective?"


    "I don''t know, but let''s not worry about it until they post again. I''ll pick you up tomorrow at seven."


    Back at the Cyber Crimes division, an agent browsed the usual sites and apps when he got a notification that The Paperboy just posted a new TikTok.


    He calls out to Detective Edmond Gates, "Sir, I think you need to see this."


    Ed grunts as he turns to see what the fuss is all about. "What the fuck is this shit?" He asks as he watches the short video.


    In it, two kids are sitting at a table. One reads while the other stares into the camera as if looking right at the viewer. It''s uncomfortably direct for a video meant to be shared online. The final shot shows the reader''s throat being viciously slashed by the other¡ªa massive spray of blood coats the camera lens as the video ends. The agent tells Ed not to worry that all the videos are faked. They use some sort of editing app, but we have been tasked to keep an eye on the account.


    "Who¡¯s all on this?" Ed asks.


    The agent tells him that they got the best of the best working on it. In fact, he has a friend in New York that is helping out as well, which is where the first video originated from. He tells Ed it''s almost certainly a marketing scheme for some horror movie or something, and the sooner they shut it down, the better.


    The next video shows a kid''s head sandwiched in a doorway. He is still alive and tries to escape, bashing his head back and forth as the frames close in on his torment.


    "Jesus Christ, I had nightmares after seeing that movie, The Doorway," Ed says. "Appears this guy has some good taste."


    "Yeah, but look at these kids," the agent points out, "Don''t you think they look like they are being forced to do this stuff?"


    Ed takes a closer look at the kids in the videos and can see their uneasy expressions on their faces.


    The next video is a jump-scare. The clip begins with the camera looking at the floor as a line of blood drips into the shot. As the viewer watches, more blood falls, and the line gets longer and longer until it is a steady flow. Then, suddenly, the screen turns red, and what sounds like a scream is heard.


    "Alright, turn that fucking shit off," Ed says as he jumps back.


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    They sit in silence for a bit, "Fuck, this is a bad angle." Ed says, trying to get comfy in his chair.


    "What do you mean, angle?" the agent asks.


    "Nothing." Ed says then starts, "Just have a feeling something isn''t right about this like there is more to it. I mean, kids don''t just wake up and do shit like this."


    "Well, you know teenagers these days. They do whatever they want."


    Ed nods in agreement, and the next video starts to play, and they read the title The Stalker as it shows a bunch of kids standing around. It''s almost as if the person recording the video didn''t want to be seen as it''s shaky and goes from a building to a car.


    "Holy fucking shit," Ed says as his jaw drops just as Detective Turner can be seen the moment before his car explodes.


    "Turn that off!" Ed says as he gets up, "Jesus Christ."


    The agent looks at Ed. "We need to find the person behind this."


    The Paperboy is sitting in his dark basement, watching as the views keep going up on his TikTok videos. The kids he has fooled into watching are sending him messages such as "Creepypasta" and "THE PAPERBOY IS REAL." The Paperboy is laughing to himself as he types into his phone. "Who''s next?"


    The Paperboy looks at the newspaper cuttings of his past victims as the text notifications pour in. The latest video has been his most successful yet, and the whole internet is talking about The Paperboy. The Paperboy smiles to himself as he gets an idea. He races upstairs and outside, jumping onto his bike and riding off towards the woods.


    "Time for some fresh paper cuts," he says as he rides into the woods to find some more kids to scare.


    Ed and the FBI arrive at the house of one of the YouTubers they think is behind all this. It is a relatively large house with a nice car parked outside. Ed''s hand is shaking as he knocks on the door. The door opens, and a short, balding man appears in the doorway.


    "Hello, Officers?"


    "We need to come in and search your house."


    "Do you have a warrant?"


    "We don''t need one. We''re FBI," Ed says, "Now, is there somewhere we can question you?"


    "Well, come back when you have a warrant."


    "We don''t need to question you now. We just need to search your house."


    The man looks at the pair of FBI agents and steps aside.


    "Go right ahead. I haven''t committed any crimes."


    The agents walk through the house with the man far behind. They enter a study and find it filled with computer equipment. Cables run from a large desktop PC and into a walk-in safe.


    "What''s in there?" Ed asks.


    "That''s my safe," the man says, "What are you looking for?"


    "Evidence that you''re trying to scare people off their property with ghosts."


    The man bursts out laughing as Ed angrily opens the safe. It¡¯s filled with nothing but paper and dollar bills in the shape of tiny towers.


    "Do you need some help balancing the budget?" Ed snarls.


    The man continues laughing as the agents walk back through the house and out the front door. While making their way back to their car. Ed looks back to see the man waving at him from his doorway.


    "That''s not our guy," Ed says.


    "How can you be sure?"


    "The person who did this is an egotist. He would have gloated if he had accomplices or if he was the actual person behind this."


    "So, where are we up to?"


    "We''ve got a bunch of kids acting goofy, a couple of creeps, and a boring accountant."


    "Maybe we should look into the kids further."


    "Why?"


    "Things like this don''t just happen. This took planning. Someone put it all together."


    "We don''t know that. Keep looking at the adults."


    The Paperboy is going through his phone when he notices many new follows from random accounts that look brand new. He assumes that they''re from the people spooked last night and decides to have some fun. He looks at all their profiles and sees a pattern of random numbers and letters for names. He chooses to pick two names that sound scary: TheOvert Mask and RedTide harbinger. He posts a new article on his subreddit about what happened. He says:


    The Trenchcoat group struck again last night at a local swimming pool. The swimmers were all too scared to get back in the water, and the lifeguards are quitting in droves. They didn''t take any money this time but left a calling card¡ªa red flag, with a white skull in the middle. Police seem baffled and have no leads. More after the following ad break.


    His new ad appears on his screen. Eating some chips while waiting for it to finish. After it does, he sees one of his comments. It says:


    "TheOvertMask: Nice article. Good job, everyone."


    He smiles, reading through the thread.

 Dreams

    The next day, school is canceled due to the attempts of the Trenchcoat Gang to shut down the school with threats. They apparently called the school secretary and told her that if the school didn''t stay closed until they said otherwise, then they would blow up the school at the end of the week.


    Theo sits back on his laptop and visits some subreddits while his mom is yelling at the TV. He reads posts about how people are over the Trenchcoats, and they should do something extraordinary to get everyone to like them again. One person says they should rob a bank and then buy a big load of tea to dump in a river to save an endangered fish species that lives in that river. Theo thinks to himself how stupid some of these people are and how they should leave it to the professionals to deal with these matters.


    Theo falls asleep on the couch, waking up six hours later in his room. He gets online but immediately starts to feel nauseous. Feeling like vomiting before passing out entirely. He has dreams about how he has lived in Chesapeake his entire life. He thinks of himself as a good citizen who has never broken the law. How he has been a lifeguard at the local swimming pool for the last four years. Being the captain of the swim team in high school, and is a very physically fit person. He dreams about saving people who are drowning.


    He wakes up with a start.


    "Open up! Police!" He hears a voice yell.


    Getting out of the bed, looking through the window. Theo sees several police cars with their lights flashing. A small crowd has gathered across the street, watching as police in riot gear try to break down his front door.


    "Theo, what''s going on!?" His mom asks.


    "I don''t know!" Theo yells. "Go in the back!"


    His mom rushes off before turning around. "What about you?"


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    "I''ll be fine; if they find anything, just say you don''t know where I am," Theo says.


    He goes downstairs to the basement as he hears his front door smash open. He looks out the window and sees several police officers enter his house.


    "Theo Morgan?" One of the officers calls out.


    Theo grabs his phone and sees a text from Alice, the girl who was with him when they found Ben''s body.


    Theo you got to get the hell out of your house. The police are at my place


    He starts pacing back and forth. "Oh fuck oh fuck..." He mutters over and over as he hears the screams of his mom.


    If you run out now, they''ll catch you, and you''ll be taken in for questioning. He says over and over in his head.


    Theo looks down at his hands and sees that they have some kind of liquid on them. He goes to smell them and gets a strong scent of gasoline. This is crazy. This can''t be real.


    "Maybe I''m still sleeping," Theo says. "Maybe this is still just a dream."


    Take a deep breath; you have to wake up. Theo shakes his head and takes a deep breath. He looks at his hands again and sees no change. He still has gasoline on them, and the police are screaming at his mom for information.


    "Fuck it, if this is a dream, I''m not waking up," Theo says.


    He opens the door leading to the upstairs of his house before something catches his eye. It''s a decaying human arm. It looks like it''s been torn off and is covered in black-colored pus. It¡¯s squeezed through a small crack in the wall. It seems unnatural in its position, as if someone went to great lengths to make it look like an accident.


    "What the fuck..."


    Theo wakes up in a panicked sweat. He gets up to look out the window and is relieved to see no police group outside, just an ordinary morning street.


    "It was just a dream, thank god."


    He gets himself together and makes his way downstairs. He pokes his head into the kitchen and sees that his mom is already up. She''s always an early riser.


    "Hey Theo," she says as she stirs something on the stove, "you''re up early."


    "Yeah, I uh... had a bad dream." He says as he comes into the kitchen.


    "Just a dream?" She asks. "Just a dream..."


    She looks at him for a few seconds. She looks like she wants to tell him something but stops herself.

 The First Victim

    The sun is coming up, and The Paperboy is starting to see that this street has more houses than he initially thought. The house Alice''s father is set to be in is on the left side of the road, her mom''s on the right. The two places are identical in every way, except for the people living in them. The Paperboy waits outside of the house, perched up in a treetop for Alice to emerge from her basement window. The sun is coming up, and he doesn''t want to miss his chance.


    After waiting for an hour, The Paperboy finally sees Alice''s head pop out of the window. He checks his scope and loads the rifle, moving the crosshairs from her head to her heart. It would be so easy. He knows where she''s going to emerge. It''s an exact distance from the side of the window. All he''d need to do is fire off a shot where she''s going to be, and he''d never miss. He sees Alice pull her knees up to her chest and then push off into the air, out of sight.


    "Damn it." The Paperboy says to himself before jumping off his branch and landing silently on the grass.


    He follows her up the street and makes sure to keep a reasonable distance. He doesn''t want her to notice him, at least not yet. He keeps his eyes on her as she makes her way up the street. She stops by a neighbor''s house and grabs a newspaper from the owner. He''s laughing and thinks about how paperboys have to get up at the ass crack of dawn just to throw the paper into yards.  His own job is much easier.


    Alice makes her way up to the main street. The Paperboy follows behind, careful not to lose her. He can see that she''s headed towards town. This early in the morning, there won''t be too many people around. It should be effortless to catch her off guard and abduct her. Alice continues up the street and turns on to a side road; this is it. Once she hits that road, there''s nowhere to hide. He crosses his fingers for luck and sees that she hasn''t noticed him at all. She''s completely clueless. The Paperboy checks his knife and puts it behind his back.


    As he approaches Alice, she spots him and says, "T--" is all she can get out before The Paperboy stabs her in the chest. She falls over, not screaming but instead just making a pained grunt as the blade pierces her skin. She writhes on the ground for a moment, blood pouring out of her chest.


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    "Sorry about this, but I need to make sure you stay quiet."


    The Paperboy watches as Alice tries to get up but realizes she won''t be able to. He closes the gap between them and presses the silencer onto his pistol. Pulling the trigger, watching her brains splatter all over the ground. It sort of reminds him of when he was a kid and smashed ants with rocks.


    The Paperboy pulls out his knife and starts cutting into her arm, dragging the blade while blood runs down her arm. The Paperboy walks over to a sewer drain and drops the arm down the chute. He pulls off his bloody gloves and throws them down as well.


    He pushes down the street, trying to keep his head on a swivel. Even though there''s little to no chance of being seen, you can never be too careful. He walks down the street, past a few buildings, some of which have lights on. Most places are dark at this time, though. He walks down the road, staying close to the shadows and checking around corners before he makes any movements.


    He goes back to the spot he and Alice left Ben to die. He hoped that he might be a bit more advanced in the death process, but he''s still sitting there. Walking back to where Ben was left, he calls out to him. Getting no response back, even when kicking the body. He''s dead for sure now.


    "You should have stayed away from her," The Paperboy says out loud, kicking Ben''s body again.


    He realizes that he needs to cover his tracks. He drags the body behind a nearby building, onto some grass and bushes. He gets on his hands and knees and crawls around behind the building, making it look like there was a scuffle in the long grass. He walks back to the main road, sweat dripping down his back. He needs to find someplace secluded, to wash the blood off his clothes. He finds a park close by and goes into the bathroom.


    He walks into the bathroom and locks the door behind him. He takes off his jacket, shirt, pants, shoes, and everything else. Just then, he hears someone approaching on what sounds like a dirtbike. He looks out the door and sees a paperboy delivering his typical rounds.


    He laughs to himself, "paperboys, always up before everyone else prowling in the night."


    He gets into the shower and lets the water wash over his body. The water turns a dark color, but he doesn''t care. He just keeps scrubbing his clothes and hair with the bar of soap he found in this stall.

 In the Night

    Theo gets out of the shower dragging a towel behind him. Still cursing at himself for getting so messy. Opening the stall door, he''s blasted in the face by a flashing light. He looks up and sees a camera with a big zoom lens.


    "Smile, you''re on Crime Watch," Says a short, balding man.


    The man asks the kid what he''s doing out here this early. The kid quickly searches his mind wondering who this man is, then goes on to tell him he''s a paperboy and he crashed his bike, falling in some mud, so he decided to get clean before heading back on his route. The man seems satisfied with the answer and turns off his flashlight.


    Theo quickly gets dressed and leaves, taking his dirty clothes with him. After he leaves, the man goes into the bathroom and inspects the stall the kid was just in. There is a fair amount of mud on the floor, and it appears to be fresh.


    "Nothing tonight," the man says, disappointed. He goes back to his car and heads home for the night.


    The man is sitting at his desk, editing videos for his YouTube channel, when he hears a knock at the door. He gets up to see who it is and sees a few FBI agents looking at him like they want to beat his face in.


    "Hello, Officers?"


    "We need to come in and search your house."


    "Do you have a warrant?"


    "We don''t need one. We''re FBI," one of the agents says, "Now, is there somewhere we can question you?"


    Theo''s mom goes up to his room to check on him.


    "Looks like he had another long night," she says to Jack while looking at Theo sleeping.


    "I''m gonna wake him up and get him some breakfast." Theo is awoken by a shove from his mom.


    "Morning, sweetie," She says.


    "What''s for breakfast?" Theo asks in a groggy voice.


    "Whatever you want, sweetheart," says his mom.


    "Pancakes."


    Theo looks over to the man standing next to his mom and says, "Hey Uncle Jack, didn''t know you were coming over today."


    "I wasn''t, but I just came back from my latest trip, and I need to talk to your mom about something, so we need you to leave for a while," says Uncle Jack.


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    "Fine," says Theo, "I was gonna go see if I can go back to work anyway." Theo gets out of bed and walks down to his basement bedroom, where he thinks for a while.


    His mom has been pestering him about trying to "move on" from Alice, so he knows he needs to either try and meet another girl or just focus on his programming career. He heads out to the living room where his mom is waiting with a plate of pancakes. He gives her a kiss on the cheek, takes the pancakes, and eats them while watching some TV. After he''s done, he heads outside. Opens his phone and gets on TikTok. He browses some of the posts from his friends. Most are posting about how they''re bored and looking for something to do or complaining about school. Nothing interesting. He keeps flipping through more videos, then he finds someone with a post containing a QR code. It''s just a video with some weird music that says:


    The Truth behind the Fire.


    He scans the code, and it takes him to a website called WhatDoYouKnow.org with a bunch of seemingly unorganized videos.


    "Hmmm..." he says. He starts searching through the videos with vague titles like:


    What was the actual cause of the Vietnam war?


    Is the earth actually round?


    Was World War 2 actually necessary?


    "This is just some crazy nutjob stuff," he thinks, then he sees a post called "Patrick Turner, The Truth About The Paperboy."


    He remembers that name from somewhere. It doesn''t come to him until he remembers that it''s the detective that acted nice to him. He scans the QR Code, and it takes him to a video called The TRUTH About Patrick Turner. Theo immediately regrets this decision, but out of sheer curiosity, he watches it anyway.


    The video starts with the thumbnail, which is just a picture of Patrick in his police uniform with some ratings and a date that says (4 months ago). Then the camera points at a clock on the wall in what looks like a police station. It is here that he sees the back of a man wearing a police uniform with lieutenant bars on his shoulder epaulets. He has short graying hair and wears glasses. The cameraman has a thick Boston accent as he begins to speak.


    "Patrick, I want to thank you for doing this. " He begins. "I know you''re a very busy man, and as a coordinator for the APB program, I''m sorry I need to take away some of your time."


    Patrick starts off by introducing himself and states he was a detective in the Philadelphia Police Department. He says he had been working on a case involving the arrest of a drug lord in the north part of Philadelphia. He explains that the gunfight resulted in three deaths and two officers wounded. The cameraman asks how he was involved in this arrest.


    "I was separated from my partner and got lost," Patrick says. "I tried to help one of my fellow officers when I was shot at by the drug lord''s personal bodyguard. I was hit three times in the crossfire, twice in the leg, and once in the back."


    The cameraman says Patrick was fortunate to be alive after all those gunshots.


    "I know," Patrick says.


    He then goes on to say, "But we got that bastard. Theodore Morgan is dead, and I''m still going strong."


    This makes Theo drop his phone. "What the fuck?" he says. "That is so close to my name."


    He picks up the phone and watches the rest of it. The cameraman begins to talk to Patrick about his experience being a police officer. Patrick talks about his time in Special Investigations and all of the crazy murders he''s solved. He also talks about how he stopped a school shooting. As the video goes on, Theo starts to feel dizzy and sees his mom coming toward him.


    "Theo?" his mom asks, "are you OK? You don''t look too good."


    "I''m fine," Theo says as the room continues to blur in and out of existence.


    "You sure?" she asks.


    "Yeah," Theo says with one last deep breath."I''m sure."

 Under The Knife

    As Theo lies on the operating table, he begins to feel very nervous, almost unbelievably anxious. If he thought clearly, he might even be able to scare himself out of the surgery. But the medical staff pumped so many fluids into his system and gave him so many pills to reduce the swelling in his brain that he''s barely thinking straight.


    Theo lies there as he watches the team of doctors and nurses scurry from one station to another. His brain feels as though it is wrapped in cotton, his mouth drier than the Sahara Desert. He listens as the team leader begins speaking to him.


    "We are about to begin." She says in a very soft-spoken voice that is almost a whisper.


    She puts the anesthesia on Theo, and he slowly drifts off to sleep. His brain stops feeling all pain and emotion; it''s like he''s in a bottomless dark pit. He struggles to not fall asleep, and eventually, he succumbs.


    The team leader whispers to the rest of her staff, "Instruments."


    The team responds by handing her several scalpels and other instruments that she needs for the operation.


    She whispers to one, "Gag reflex."


    Putting a dirty cloth in the patient''s mouth. The patient struggles slightly but then stops moving altogether.


    "Heartbeat?" she asks.


    One of the nurses places a metal object near the leader''s head. It makes a "blip, blip, blip" noise.


    The leader begins to cut into Theo''s skull with the assistance of another nurse. Theo suddenly wakes up, his brain clearly feeling all emotion and pain once again. But it''s too late. The anesthetic wears off after several minutes, but Theo''s brain is so scrambled that he is still paralyzed. He just twitches slightly, unable to speak, see, or hear anything.


    A nurse walks over and says, "His vitals are dropping."


    The leader continues cutting as the rest of the staff tries to keep Theo alive.


    "His brain is swelling. We need to keep cutting until we reach the cerebellum." She says as she cuts several more times.


    Theo''s body twitches a bit and then goes completely limp.


    The leader says, "He''s dead."


    Theo wakes up in his basement and shuts off his computer.


    "I have to stop reading all these No Sleep posts," he says as he gets up to stretch.  He walks upstairs and pauses at the bottom of his stairs as he hears his television playing a news report.


    "I turned that off before I went to bed," he thinks as he walks into the living room. He pauses again, hearing the words coming from the TV.


    "The missing arm of the girl Alice that was found mutilated four months ago has been found after a team of divers searched the sewer drains. Along with a pair of gloves that are believed to be those of the killer. Another update on the murder of Ben Higgins; a torn jacket was found near a park bathroom. If anyone has any information or seen anyone during that time, please contact the police."


    "Theo?" his mom says, walking out of the kitchen. "Why are you just standing there?"


    "Uh, just listening to the news," Theo says as he sits down in one of the chairs in the dining area.


    His mom laughs and says, "You going to try to find a new girlfriend?"


    Theo pauses and says, "I don''t know if I want one."


    "What''s wrong with you?" she says with a laugh as she pours herself a cup of coffee.


    "Nothing," he smiles as he takes a sip of orange juice. "I''m just tired, I guess."


    His mom goes on to say, "Honey, They will never know it was you. Your Uncle Jack is taking care of everything. Hanna¡¯s aunt and uncle are gone, and don''t worry about those two kids. They won''t remember a thing about you after what Jack did."


    "What about the people in the other house?"


    His mom puts her hand to her mouth and pauses for a moment. Theo notices the pause but doesn''t think anything of it; she''s always been a bit dramatic sometimes.


    She lowers her hand and says, "They saw nothing. Don''t worry about that either."


    Detective Edmond Gates''s phone rings; he flips it open after a few rings and says, "Detective Gates." He listens to the voice on the other end for a minute and then says, "okay, I''ll be right there."


    David Zayim was listening to the news report about the update on the murders four months ago. He thinks back about the kid he saw at the park. The so-called "paperboy." He goes to his computer and checks his video drafts, hoping he hasn''t deleted the video he took that night of the kid coming out of the bathroom.


    He opens the video to confirm that it is, in fact, there and watches it again.


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    "God damn it!" he whispers as he sees someone watching over his shoulder. He quickly turns around to see his sister Jennifer locking the door.


    "You fucker," she says as she slaps him hard across the face. "I can''t believe you would do that."


    "Do what?" David says in a squeaky voice as he rubs his chin.


    "You saw that kid the night he killed Ben and didn''t fucking tell anyone," she says as she starts to yell at him.


    "I didn''t know it was him at the time. I thought it was just some kid out on his paper route."


    "Bullshit, you watched the news like the rest of us and knew exactly who it was when you saw him."


    "How was I to know it was him? He was just some kid," David says, raising his voice a bit.


    "You could have stopped him before he killed Ben! Fuck!"


    David''s sister starts tearing up. Ben was her boyfriend, and she still hasn''t gotten over his death. After a few moments of silence, David finally says, "Who else knows I saw him that night?"


    "Just me," she says after wiping her eyes.


    "Don''t you think you should tell..."


    David says, "I already called Detective Edmond Gates. He''s on his way right now."


    The police arrive within minutes, and David''s sister goes into the bathroom to get ready. David has a difficult time preparing himself for them knocking on the door. Feeling like an eternity, a man in a blue suit and badge on his belt shows up at the door. David''s sister comes out of the bathroom and greets him at the front door.


    David opens the door and says, "Welcome back, officers." As soon as he opens the door, both officers walk into the house with their pistols drawn.


    "GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND!" one of the officers screams. David instinctively gets on his knees and places his hands behind his head.


    David''s sister falls to the ground, "What the fuck is going on?"


    "That''s what I''d like to know," David says as another man comes in that David hadn''t noticed was there. He sees the man has a badge but is also carrying a pistol.


    As he enters the room, officers quickly inform him of the situation as he briefs him on recent events.


    "Fuck," the man says as he runs his hand over his face.


    "What''s your name, son?" the officer says, turning toward David.


    David is confused at being called son by a man he¡¯s old enough to be a father of until he looks at the nametag and it says "Gates."


    "David," he manages to squeak out.


    The police officer pulls out another chair and sits down while the original two officers keep their guns trained on David.


    "So what happened?" Officer Gates says as he puts his gun back in his holster.


    "I..." David is at a loss of how to explain the situation.


    "How about your sister tells me what happened." Officer Gates says.


    His sister nods and Officer Gates flashes her a small smile before saying, "This shouldn''t take too long, and we can get you both some therapy to help you both get over this."


    His sister starts to explain what happened that night with David interjecting every now and then to help fill in the gaps. ¡°Ben was walking her home from the movies. When this boy and girl came up to Ben. I guess Ben knew who they were because he gave them both a fist bump. They walked with us until they dropped me off here. Ben left with them, and that is the last time I ever saw any of them.¡±


    Detective Gates then tells her that the girl she saw was Alice and the boy has yet to be identified.


    The officer spent the next few hours asking questions and taking notes of everything David and his sister says. Finally, he seems to be done and tells them that someone will be by soon to take them to get some breakfast, and then they will be taken to a hotel.


    "Just tell the officer in charge that you''re with me, and everything will be fine."


    At about noon, they are taken to a hotel. The officer in charge of this is a tall man with dark, curly hair and a freshly shaven mustache who has a very commanding presence. He calls himself Captain Datyal Jackson. Everyone seems to defer to him instantly when he enters the room.


    After getting their rooms, he takes David and his sister to a diner down the street for some breakfast. Over the meal, David gets a good look at Captain Jackson. The man is tall with broad shoulders and has an athletic build. His skin is dark, and his eyes are a bright blue.


    David sees him looking back at him. "I''ve been told you are a smart man, so I''ll explain some things to you now."


    "Alright," David responds, unsure what to say.


    He tells David that he is part of the Criminal Investigative Division. He went to college and majored in criminal justice. This is his first major case, so he is taking personal charge of it. The reward is now up to 50,000 dollars, a record for a small division, indicating how important this case is. David notices that Captain Jackson seems to know everyone in the diner. Waitresses greet him by his first name, and guests at other tables wave and say hello. He asks David if he remembers when Detective Patrick Turner came to visit him. David nodded as he did.


    "Well, I was out in the van listening to the conversation. I''m glad to see that you remembered as much as you did."


    David was little worried now. He had passed the first test, but he knew that his memory had been bad that day. He just couldn''t remember what else the detective asked him. Captain Jackson explains that he was there as a backup just in case the detective doing the interview needed a fact checked.


    "Do you remember what else he asked you?" Captain Jackson asks while looking at him in the eyes.


    David thinks deeply for a few moments and realizes he is asking which questions he means.


    They meet eyes again, and Captain Jackson smiles. "You passed; you didn''t look away once. I''m not sure if I deserve to be looked at in such a direct manner, but it''s good that you have the confidence."


    David sits up a little more and stops hunching. The posture changes seem to make him more alert.


    Jackson pulls out a folder. "So David, or shall we call you Mr. Crime Watch?" David looks at him, shocked. "Yes, we know you''re the owner of that YouTube account. Don''t worry, we won''t reveal that to the public." Jackson keeps going, "Are you ready to go undercover?"


    David is shocked. He stutters a little and asks, "What? Me? That seems pretty dangerous. I''m not sure I would be able to."


    Captain Jackson smiles at him, his blue eyes pierce right through David.


    "We need you to find The Paperboy," Jackson says in a severe tone.


    "The Paperboy?" David asks, confused.


    David thinks back to the video and remembers the creepy song that was in the background, "Yeah, I think I found out who it was."


    "Who?" Captain Jackson asks.


    "I''m not sure of his name, but I remember seeing him as a lifeguard at the high school pool."


    "What''s his name?" Jackson asks again.


    David looks down at his phone and spells out the name "Z-E-D." He had remembered correctly but now realizes it probably wasn''t his real name.


    "That''s not a name, son. That''s an abbreviation." Captain Jackson says as he takes the phone.


    "Can you find anything on him?" David asks.


    "I''m sure I''ll be able to find something," replies Captain Jackson as he begins typing on the phone while biting his lip.


    Captain Jackson looks up from the phone and stares at David.


    "Are you in?" he asks.


    David doesn''t know how to respond. Go undercover to find a guy that''s been causing mayhem all over the city, with almost no information, or say no and possibly never get another chance.

 Undercover

    David is perplexed about what he should do. Should he go undercover to try to find out more about The Paperboy? Or should he decline Captain Jackson''s offer and try to lead an everyday life from now on?


    He decides to go undercover and meet up with Captain Jackson.


    Jackson is thrilled that David agreed to go undercover and explains the mission to him. He explains that recently the department received a call regarding the whereabouts of The Paperboy. This person had helpful information regarding The Paperboy''s location. The man was apparently a survivor of one of The Paperboy''s attacks. He tells David that the man is currently at the station and can go to an interview to gain more information on the situation.


    Jackson tells David how they are having a hard time tracking the IP of The Paperboy due to him using a VPN when he uses his phone. He states that they are currently trying to crack the code, but that could take days, weeks, or even months to break. He then says that he wants David to talk to the survivor to try to get any more leads on The Paperboy.


    "But what if he doesn''t provide us anything useful?" David asks.


    "We keep trying. We''re not going to give up that easily," Captain Jackson says in a severe tone.


    "I understand," David responds.


    Captain Jackson tells David that they have the survivor somewhere safe and should go there now and talk to him about The Paperboy.


    Detective Claire Masters sits at her desk reading through some case files. She has just come back from a massive success with helping the FBI, and it''s time to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Namely, time off. She is going over old case files to see if any possible unsolved cases need to be re-opened. She finds a file that reads:


    CASE 2934; Murder-Suicide, Victims (3), Survivors (2) Suspects (1)


    She remembers the two kids they talked to and their cousin. Then something dawns on her. Their cousin said, "find the guy who did this, and you''ll be doing me a great service." She opens the file and begins to read the interview notes when she stops at the name Uncle Jack.


    "That''s what the kid called him in the interview," she says to herself.


    She then begins to feel sick to her stomach as fear begins to come over her. "How did we miss this..."


    She decides that there is only one way she''ll get more information on this, and it will be with a personal visit.


    She packs up her things and leaves the building. She arrives at a bar that she knows him to go to. She waits outside for him until he comes out. He is surprised to see her.


    "Claire, what a pleasant surprise," he says while trying to maintain balance.


    "Mr. Morgan..." she says in a severe tone. "I know what you did."


    Jack gets noticeably quieter and struggles to maintain his balance. She grabs him and pulls him into a random alleyway. She then shows him a printed-out dossier on what he did after coming home from the war.


    "How did you...but I made sure to hide all evidence!" he says, panicked.


    "People can only keep their mouth shut for so long, and the families of your victims wanted justice and with good reason," she informs him in a severe tone.


    He backs away slowly from her as he reaches for something in his pocket. She draws her gun from her holster and aims it at him.


    "Don''t make me do this, Mr. Morgan," she says, aiming the gun at his head just as another squad car pulls up.


    He continues to fumble with his pocket as he becomes more nervous. Then, an explosion knocks them off their feet.


    The Paperboy watches as the package he dropped off at the bar goes off with a huge blast. He laughs as he grabs another box out of the hatchback. He lights it with his lighter and throws it into the alleyway. An explosion occurs shortly afterward as the bar is completely destroyed in a fiery explosion.


    "See you in hell, pigs."


    --


    Detective Masters wakes up in a hospital room, heavily bandaged and with her left arm in a sling.


    "Detective, you''re awake!" the doctor exclaims as she enters the room. "You had us worried there for a bit."


    "What happened?" she asks groggily.


    "Well, after the bomb went off, you were barely alive. If first responders hadn''t arrived when they did, you probably wouldn''t be here now. One officer had minor cuts, and another had a broken arm, and those are the closest to "lucky" compared to you and Mr...." she trails off mid-sentence.


    "Mr. Morgan," she finishes.


    She figured as much. She''s the only one in the hospital that got this bad; chances are Mr. Morgan didn''t make it. She sits in silence for a moment while the doctor finishes her hospital checkups for the day and leaves her alone.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "What a fool," she says to herself. "Who blows themselves up? Granted, I guess it does prevent him from going to prison and getting a crappy cellmate named Beep-Beep or something."


    She chuckles at the thought, which hurts her chest. She decides not to laugh for a couple weeks.


    --


    The Paperboy strikes again in Little Havana; this time, two government officials and their chauffeur are killed when their car explodes. The only evidence is a cell phone found at the scene playing a recording of some creepy song. The FBI is stumped, the President is getting impatient, and the public is both angry and scared. The department is doing everything it can to capture The Paperboy, but he''s proving elusive to the point where some think that he might not even be a single person.


    --


    David begins searching the dark web for clues about The Paperboy. After finding a few trap websites that nearly catch him into downloading some malware, he manages to find a forum post that mentions a dark website.


    Hey, I found this dark website that has all this Paperboy stuff on it! (LINK REMOVED) ~paperboyroxs26


    The Paperboy forums are full of people arguing over who the culprit is. Some say it''s a teenaged Syrian Refugee; others say it''s an overweight black guy that lives down the street. Most think it''s a self-named "TNT Freak" who delights in making homemade explosives.


    The forums are poorly designed and covered in terrible memes. Then coming across something that turns his stomach. He sees a video that looks like it was recorded from a tree, watching a girl in her house, then the video cuts to the girl being followed. David immediately shuts off the video.


    "Found any leads?" Detective Gates asks from the doorway.


    "Yeah...I think I found the Paperboy."


    --


    STILL MISSING PERSONS:


    Daniel Mark Dixon - Age at Disappearance: 15 - Last Seen: In Buffalo, New York


    Sara Dawn Arnet - Age at Disappearance: 16 - Last Seen: In Weippe, Idaho


    Henry Ian Owens - Age at Disappearance: 16 - Last Seen: In Stillwater, Minnesota


    Olivia Marizza - Age at Disappearance: 16 - Last Seen: In Grand Island, New York


    David William Pacheco III - Age at Disappearance: 15 - Last Seen: In Nixa, Missouri


    Emma Jean Campos - Age at Disappearance: 15 - Last Seen: In Redding, California


    Hannah Priscilla Parsons - Age at Disappearance: 15 - Last Seen: In Conway, Arkansas


    --


    Theo''s mom wakes him up from his sleep and tells him Uncle Jack went back to Chicago and won''t ever be coming around anymore. She says the family is leaving for Missouri, and they will be living with her mom for a while until things settle. She gives Theo a new navy blue shirt and a pair of jeans, then packs his oversized wardrobe and destroys the rest. They head out at dawn. Theo understands that the events that took place last night must have made his mom afraid to live here.


    Theo has never been to Missouri before, so he decides to look out the window instead of sleeping like he usually does while traveling. More cornfields go by for the next five hours until they reach the exit toward Missouri. They finally arrive at their destination in a little town called Edwood and sleep at their Grandma''s house. She makes them dinner, and afterward, Theo goes out into the backyard and checks his TikTok as the sun goes down. He sees that he has a new message from PB.


    Theo''s palms begin to sweat as he unlocks his phone and clicks the notification. The message starts to play as he watches a video of himself asleep on the floor. It must have been filmed by someone else in the room. He sees his mom and another man in a mask enter the room and stick a needle into his arm. He watches himself begin to have a seizure as his muscles clench and his body goes into shock. Then the video ends.


    Theo hears a strange ticking coming from behind him and turns around. A figure all in black wearing a white mask with a hole cut out for the eyes stands behind the fence.


    Mom? He asks himself as the figure rises a hand shaped like a gun toward him.


    --


    Theo opens his eyes as the sun glares into his face. He looks next to him, expecting his mom to be there, but she isn''t. He sits up and sees her putting stuff into the house from the car.


    "Morning, sweetie," she says.


    Theo looks around his room and sees they never left for Missouri, that it was another dream. He grabs his cell phone and sees he had a call during the night but decides to ignore it. He gets out of bed and walks downstairs.


    --


    David has found a way to contact The Paperboy using a hacked messaging app that erases itself shortly after the conversation is over. He uses code to avoid simple keyword detection but knows The Paperboy will probably have ways around that.


    SO YOU ARRIVED SAFELY outside of the sandbox.


    David texts back using his thumbs: YES, JUST ARRIVED THIS MORNING.


    David walks back to the bedroom. He grabs a small flip phone and calls his contact at the diner.


    "Yeah," says an older man on the other line.


    "Hey, this is David."


    "Hoo-rah, kid! You made contact?"


    "Yes, the message will be relayed soon."


    --


    Theo''s phone is getting blown up with DMs and tags to other videos. All the videos are private, so he has to follow the accounts to view them. He notices that the accounts all follow each other but have no other followers. The Paperboy is either a group of people or one really lonely person. Theo begins watching the videos; they''re all amateur horror films that look like they were filmed by kids. Most of them look like The Blair Witch Project and nearly put Theo to sleep.


    He is jolted out of his sleepiness when he comes across videos of himself. He is in worse shape, with most of his face covered in blood. The rest of his body isn''t doing too well either, with many cuts and bruises. Theo feels lightheaded as he watches himself struggle against the tape that ties him up. His mouth is gagged; he needs water, but the only thing close by is his complimentary hotel water bottle. He keeps watching the videos and sees two people with him, both wearing masks, a man and a woman. Sounds like they are talking to each other, but the sound''s quality is hardly any better than the video. It almost sounds like they''re speaking another language. They continue to taunt Theo, who is still trying to get free of his bounds. The woman grabs him by the hair and slaps him in the face a couple times.


    "Who could be recording this?" He thinks to himself.


    The woman and man step out of the view of the camera for a moment. Theo wishes he could look away, but he is stuck to the screen like flies to... whatever icky thing flies like to stick to.


    They return with kitchen knives in their hands not saying a word. They cut into Theo, and it hurts him more than he could have ever imagined. He looks down and, for the first time, sees scars on his body. He never knew they were there; he must have been in some sort of shock. He can hardly take it anymore as they carve into him, doing God knows what. Sitting and suffering through this has brought him to the verge of insanity. The bending point comes when he watches them carve "RAPIST" into his chest. He looks down at his chest and sees the leftover words starting to scar over.


    "How could they know? How could anyone know," Theo thought to himself. He could feel his grip on reality slipping away from him. How did they know the awful traumas that have crushed him so easily forgotten? "Everyone will know, everyone will see the words carved into me and know about Hanna..."

 Epilogue

    Tears stream down Theo''s face as he remembers the awful pain. He has relived the experience many times in his mind, each time believing it could never get worse. Not knowing who the masked people were or why they targeted him still eats at him, even if it is just the tiniest bit. The police were never able to track them down. They identified the woman by the name Celeste, but they had no information on the man. After intense media coverage and a thorough search of the area, the case went cold.


    "Good morning Theo," A man in a white coat says as he walks into the small room Theo is confined to. "It''s time for your therapy."


    He reaches up and turns a large dial until the TV screen says, "Theo - 90%" He makes another adjustment, and Theo''s screen goes black. Static spreads across the screen, followed by a garbled image of a person. Theo sits up and observes. The man''s mouth moves, but no sound comes out. He slowly tunes the dial, and the man''s voice becomes clear.


    "Theo, can you hear me? My name is Dr. Rand. I''ll be your therapist here at Broadmoor." Theo sits and listens intently to his new doctor. "I''ll be helping you with your mental condition. We''re going to make a few adjustments to your therapy, so we can get you out of here as soon as possible."


    "What do you mean?" Theo asks, unsure of what the doctor means by "adjustments."


    The doctor turns down the volume on the TV screen and looks around nervously. "I know who you are," he whispers, his hand hovering over the large dial. "I know what you did, and we can''t have you walking around a place like this, a free man."


    Theo can hardly believe what he''s hearing. He doesn''t want to believe it.


    ¡°Theo, can you remember? Tell us what happened that afternoon."


    "You can tell us," another doctor says, sitting down at the table. He, too, turns down the volume on his TV screen.


    "We already know everything. You don''t need to hide anything. It''ll be easier on you if you just tell us."


    "But it wasn''t me!" Theo screams in frustration, tears streaming down his face. "It was the man! The man on TikTok! He did it, not me! I just found her like that! You have to believe me!"


    "We don''t have to believe anything, Theo," the first doctor says sternly. "Now tell us what happened. Tell us how your mother was killed."


    Theo knows he''s trapped. "Alright! The man on TikTok is called The Paperboy! He killed my mom while I watched and then told me to remember it, or he''d kill me too!"


    "But you''re here, Theo," the second doctor says. "You survived. Why did The Paperboy let you live?"


    "I don''t know. I guess he messed up, and you found me before he could kill me too. Or maybe he wanted to play a twisted game of cat and mouse. He loves playing with people''s lives. Whatever his reason, it was good for me, but we can''t count on him making mistakes like that again."


    "Do you know where he is now?"


    "No," Theo answers.


    "Theo, we can''t help you if you don''t tell us everything. Where is The Paperboy? What does he look like? What else do you know about him?"


    "I don''t know anything else! I''ve told you everything I do know!"


    "Theo, do you remember the dollar bills left behind? Do you remember what they looked like?"


    Theo thinks about the money he found around his mother''s body; they were all in the shape of tiny towers. Each one was a different color, and they were all signed by the same person. Theo picked them up and unfolded them to read the name. The serial killer known online as The Paperboy. With this information, the doctors have all they need to know. They rush out of the room to call the police.


    David sits at his computer going through the old videos. Oh, what fun times his mother and I had with him. He relives the moments as he watches Theo''s mom on the video. He can still hear the cries of Theo as they cut and beat him.


    "It''s too bad I had to get rid of her." He says, talking to the computer screen.


    She wasn''t part of the plan, and she became a liability. Maybe if he hadn¡¯t grown attached to her, he would have let her live, but he was so scared and knew it would be best if he got rid of her.


    He says to himself as the rage builds up inside of him. "That damn bitch was going to ruin everything!" he gets up and heads to the shed in his backyard.


    With this last video, he knows it is only a matter of time before Theo breaks. It might already be too late! David remembers the first time he met Theo, what a confused boy he was wandering around that park late at night. His mother kept feeding him those drugs to make him forget, but David is worried the doctors will find a way to recover his memories. He needs to act fast. He enters the shed where he keeps all his tools of the trade. He goes to his workbench and places the tape in his pocket, then takes out a syringe filled with liquid.


    In the adjacent room, his prisoner lays strapped to a gurney. David enters the room and goes up to him.


    "How are you feeling today Detective Gates?" David says in a smug tone.


    The man is badly burned on his chest and arms, his face beaten to a bloody pulp, missing teeth, and has a broken nose.


    "...Hurts..." he manages to say through his busted lips.


    "Good," David replies with a smirk. "I imagine it does."


    David walks over to a tray on the other side of the room, which contains several syringes. He injects one into the Detective''s arm, which causes him to scream out in pain, then he injects one into his leg. The Detective cries as the burning sensation flows through his body.


    "Do you know why you''re here, Detective Gates?"


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He doesn''t reply; he just watches David with a stare that could kill.


    "Well, let''s review, shall we? You found out about my website, True Crimes, where I recount my killings in a series of videos. You also found out about the secret video I posted with footage of one of my torture sessions on a bound and gagged police officer. Now the question is, why did I do that?"


    David walks back over to the other tray of syringes and selects one. He goes back over to the Detective.


    "It''s quite simple really, I posted that video to send a message. See, there are people in this world who get off on seeing others in pain, myself included. That video was for their enjoyment."


    He injects the syringe into the Detective''s neck, he screams out as his neck begins to bleed.


    "Smile for the camera," David says as he injects another syringe.


    The Detective begins to lose motor functions as his eyes roll into the back of his head. David starts talking to the camera, broadcasting a live stream on all major social media platforms. This is the first time he has done this. He always sent out messages to his followers to visit a hidden link to watch his videos. But this time, he wants the whole world to see The Paperboy.


    "Hello, my name is David Zayim, and I am a killer but not just any killer; I am The Paperboy! For years I have terrorized this city with my findings of your deepest darkest secrets. Now it''s time for entertainment."


    The Detective is barely breathing as he watches the events unfold.


    Patrick Turner''s phone rings, and he grabs his cane to get up and answer it.


    "Turner." He answers.


    "Pat, it''s Claire; we just received some damning evidence from the doctors that have Theo about the suspect David Zayim you visited before. He owns a website called True Crimes where he posts anonymously written accounts of killings alongside video footage of the murders. Remember those folded up bills you found in his safe? Theo said they were left behind around his mothers body."


    "What?!"


    "He is The Paperboy, Pat. Get on Facebook right now. There is a live video broadcasting everywhere."


    Patrick hangs up the phone and grabs his laptop from the table beside his recliner. He turns on the live broadcast of The Paperboy''s video from David Zayim''s Facebook account.


    "I thought this guy only posted cryptic messages with videos of his killings." He says to himself as he watches in shock at what is unfolding before him. David is wearing a black hoodie and black jeans. He has a black bandana covering part of his face. His skin is ghostly pale, and he has dark circles under his eyes. Behind the Detective, David is holding up a newspaper. The headline reads: The Paperboy, Lone Wolf or Group? This newspaper is dated for yesterday.


    "Hello, my fellow Americans. Today I bring you a story of one of our country''s own, someone who took an oath to serve and protect and failed spectacularly in doing so. Let me introduce you to Detective Edmond Gates."


    The camera turns towards the Detective as Pat sits up from his chair in shock. Behind him, David lowers the newspaper, revealing a fishing pole and a rifle on the ground.


    Gates looks down at his feet to see a fishing line tied around one of his ankles. The other end of the line is connected to the trigger of the gun.


    Patrick watches in horror as Gates tries to bend down to examine the trigger.


    The trigger is pulled, and a bullet flies through the Gate''s head, killing him instantly.


    "Now my work here is done," David says as he puts down his phone and begins walking away from the shed.


    "Fuck." Pat says as he watches the video. He quickly gets up to call into the Police Station.


    "Claire, I''m going in."


    He gets up from his chair, quickly puts on his bulletproof vest over his shirt, and puts on his police badge.


    "Pat, you''re still in recovery! Let us handle it," Claire says.


    "Claire, I''ve been on desk duty for months now while everyone else is out there fighting the good fight. The least I can do is try to end this."


    "Fine, if you''re going, you''re not doing this alone. I''m coming with you."


    "You? But you''re in charge of the station."


    "Pat, the whole fucking station is coming with us!"


    Pat shakes his head and sighs. "I can''t ask you guys to do that."


    "You aren''t asking, I''m telling you," She says, walking out of her office with a bulletproof vest and putting it on.


    "Theo, are you awake?" "They found him; they found The Paperboy," one of the doctors said over the intercom.


    "What?" Theo says, getting off his bed.


    One of the doctors walks into his room. It''s Dr. Murcheson, the very same one that was so certain Theo was going to die just a few days ago.


    "Theo," he says, opening the curtains to let more light in. They both shield their eyes. "How are you feeling?"


    "Like shit."


    "Well, that''s to be expected, yet you''re still feeling, that''s a good sign. Now the police have found The Paperboy, and he''s all over the news."


    Theo looks over at the TV on the wall. It''s turned to CNN.


    --


    Breaking News From CNN: ¡°The Paperboy has been found, this just in, the largest manhunt in history has finally come to an end. For the past two weeks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The CIA, and the DHS have been going door to door through thousands of leads to locate missing Detective Edmond Gates. This morning they received a phone call saying he could be found at a shed outside Franklin Park. The entire area has been blocked off as hundreds of police and law enforcement officials search for the dangerous killer. They ask everyone to stay inside and avoid the area while they make sure the scene is safe. This has been Jake Watterson with a CNN Breaking News Bulletin.¡±


    Patrick and Claire, along with hundreds of officers, arrive at David''s house.


    "Search the house! Make sure there''s no way he can escape!" Patrick yells.


    The police break down the front door and run inside. They tear the whole house apart from top to bottom but find nothing.


    "He must have escaped out the back!" One of the officers says. Patrick runs to the backyard and sees that the shed''s door has been left open.


    "He was here!" He says.


    He looks inside the shed to see saws, drills, and other tools used to torture people lying around, including a drill with blood on it. He stops when he sees the corpse of Detective Gates. His body is partially sawed in half with his face torn off.


    "Oh my god," Patrick says. "Claire, get over here."


    Claire runs over and looks at the body. "The Media''s going to have a field day with this," she says. "We need to find him."


    Patrick and Claire get into their car.


    "Where could he be?" asked Patrick.


    "He''s been outed as a serial killer. He''s not going to wander the streets of Chesapeake trying to blend in; he lost that ability when he broadcasted his face to the world. He could be anywhere."


    The two police officers think.


    "I have an idea," Patrick says.


    "He''s been planning this for years. He had dozens of safe houses he used to hide bodies in, we''ve found all but one. He could be there."


    "But how would we know where it is?" Claire asks.


    "The one we haven''t found..." Patrick trails off, "Was the one they used to torture Theo."


    "We have a visit with the doctors then," Claire says.


    --


    THIS IS A CNN BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: THE MANHUNT CONTINUES FOR SERIAL KILLER DAVID ZAYIM. CURRENTLY, THERE IS NO INFORMATION ON DAVID ZAYIM WHEREABOUTS. IF SEEN, DO NOT APPROACH. CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY.


    --


    Chesapeake District Police Department Press Release: David Zayim, the suspect in the murder of Detective Gates and the kidnapping of Daniel Mark Dixon, Sara Dawn Arnet, Henry Ian Owens, Olivia Marizza, David William Pacheco III, Emma Jean Campos, and Hannah Priscilla Parsons has been added to FBI''s most-wanted list. The search for Zayim has been taken over by the FBI. $500,000 is being offered to any person or persons who can give any information about Zayim''s whereabouts.


    THE SEARCH FOR ZAYIM CONTINUES...