The Week of Finals: the unsolved mystery

chapter 10: The killer is revealed

Friday. It is the day that everything happens on. Everyone will graduate that day, everyone will clean that day, and everyone will celebrate on that day. Except one person. He may not even be alive to do any of that. Even if he does live, the day will be very traumatic for him, and he will probably not celebrate. I went to school that morning. I was sure to get there very early. I had to be ready for anything. Our teachers gave us a congratulation talk, and then they started assigning us jobs for cleaning. They put us all in groups of two, to do different tasks. I was thankfully put into Kevin's group. Kevin was not in a good mood today, so I didn't even try to talk to him.

We just worked in silence. We were assigned to clean all the marks on the gym floor. It was a hard task to scrub them all. There were thousands of marks, so it took at least an hour. While we were scrubbing, I noticed that somebody could get a clean shot at us if they were hiding in the bleachers around the gym. From that point on, I kept looking at them, expecting a bullet to come flying at us.

Finally, Kevin broke the silence. He said," Do you think i'm going to die today?" "No!" I responded. I tried to lighten the mood with a joke: " No bullet would dare touch you. You are Kevin, the awesome, who can overcome anything." In all reality, I wasn't sure if he would make it out alive. Anything could happen; but I couldn't tell him that of course. Kevin laughed a little, and that was enough to start a conversation. We talked, and that helped speed on the work. It seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we were finished. "Wow, the gym looks so clean! I'm not sure i've ever seen it so clean before." Kevin said. "I know, right!" I responded. We both walked out the door, and went back upstairs to get a new job. When we got up there, it turned out that everyone was finished cleaning, and were all gathering in Mr. O's classroom to be dissmissed. Everyone was talking, and remembering all the good times we all had that year. Kevin and I walked over to Drake and Jack to talk with them.

Suddenly the door to the classroom slammed shut. Everyone was silent. The stark contrast between the loud slam of the door, and the utter silence that followed was shocking. Mr. O walked over to the door, and tried to open it; but it was being blocked by something on the outside. He couldn't open the door, and we were trapped in the room. Then, a note was slipped in under the door. It read," Well, you all have wonderful. The way you were all scared this week now that you know that Kevin would die. I take so much pleasure in seeing the fright on each and everyone of your faces. Especially you Kevin. You may not show it on the outside; but I know that on the inside, you are a coward. You may seem strong; but you are weak. You may seem smart; but you are dumb. Why did you even come to school today, if you knew you would die? Did you think you could stop me? Did you think that I would change my mind? Or was it because you were just too stupid to even think about that. I think that it is the latter. Your pride has brought you down, and now you will die. And as for you Jake, you thought you could stop me? Didn't you? You thought that you could use that gun against me. I've been watching you, so I would know. Well, the truth is, that you couldn't stop me, even if you had the gun pointed right at my head. Now, I like killing. It makes me feel alive. The rush of adrenalin as you put the bullet through someone's head, the looks on the faces of everyone who knew him. I can't even imagine a life without killing. It is the natural way of things. Animals kill, people kill, even microscopic organisms kill. So why should I not kill? The moral dilemma within me is killing me! As if it were taking joy in the fact that I am suffering so on the thought of why others frown upon killing. And what if killing were killing others as well. It's killing me. That much i'm sure of. Well, the doctors said I was insane! I'm obviously not though. I can think and spell just like anybody else! Why would they call me insane? I only had some childhood issues that I seek revenge for. You know, that's why I kill people. It's because of my childhood. Now, do you know why I choose the places to kill that I do? It's because of the bricks. The brick walls fascinate me. They have such order to them. It's inspiring me. Now, I am in this room right now. You can select one person whom you think is the killer. If you pick me, then I will turn myself up. If you don't, then you can say goodbye to Kevin."

That was what it said, and Mr. O read it aloud to all of us. "Well" Mr. O began," We all have a decision here to make. Be careful, and be sure of who you choose; because if we choose the wrong person, Kevin will pay the ultimate price." "I don't know about you; but I think we should only have to choose between our two suspects from yesterday. And suspiciously, they both happen to be here." Drake said. I said," Ok, well it looks like we have two options. Either James, or Morden. We will have to take a vote. You only get one vote, and be sure you are confidant in who you vote for. Who votes for James?" A number of hands rose. Among them was Drake and Jack. "Ok, who votes for Morden?" I asked. More hands rose. Among them was Kevin. The votes were almost tied. There was one more vote for James than Morden. Mr. O said," Are you sure you want to select James? After all, the votes are very close, and Kevin is voting for Morden. I think that we should let Kevin, who's life is at stake here decide who is selected." "Yes!" I agreed. "Ok" said Kevin," We select Morden!"

A mysterious laughter sounded from all around us. Then, a voice, which seemed to come from nowhere said. Wrong choice! Goodbye Kevin. Then, someone jumped out from one of the closed cabinets. He had been there in that room the whole time! He was holding the 45, and had a black trench coat on. He ran towards Kevin, so that he could get a good shot. Everyone was scrambling out of the way, so that they weren't accidentally shot. Me, and Mr. O raced into action. I got to him first, and grabbed the gun, before he could shoot Kevin. He was about to punch me in the face, when Mr. O came and took the hit for me. I then pointed the gun away from everyone, and pushed on his elbow until I heard a "snap". Now I knew that his arm was broken, so I was able to take the gun away. While this was happening, Mr. O was fighting with him. He was punching with his free arm, and Mr. O was punching with both of his. I then trained the gun on him, and pushed Mr. O out of the way, so that I could have a clear shot if I had to take it. I said," Put your hands in the air where I can see them!" The room was silent. Everyone stood and watched as he put his hands in the air. I said," Now, someone call 911. I have him under control, and he wont be able to hurt anyone else." The cops showed up, and took hold of the situation from there.

We were all told to go downstairs and wait. Kevin thanked me profusely for saving his life. I said," I couldn't have done it without the help of Mr. O." Mr. O then said," And whoever called the cops, i'll have to take your phone for the summer. It's against school policy to use your phone durning school!" Everyone laughed, and thought of how many times the Koreans had their phones taken. Our parents all came to pick us up. The school year was over. What a relief! And most importantly, nobody was hurt. Morden was pretty upset over being chosen as the killer; but I think he'll get over it. Mr. O, and I were called to be put in the local news as the heroes of the day. Over all, It was a happy day. The summer would be even better too. Especially since Kevin would be around.