The Bench - July 21, 2010

It's the first day of Freshman year. She walks through the school doors, and looks around at the endless number of people. She begins panicking on the inside. She doesn't know these people. She's afraid. She finds her way into the bathroom. She looks at herself in the mirror. An expression of disgust comes across her previously fearful face. She tells herself she's ugly and that she won't fit in anywhere. The bell rings, and she goes off to her first class. She sits in the very first seat closest to the door, so she could get out of that room and into another as fast as possible. She analyzes each person that walks into the room. After around five people walk in the room, she notices that the seats directly adjacent to her are still empty. As she begins to feel relieved, two boys walk in the room. One sits in the seat directly to the left of her, and the other directly behind her. The two boys make small conversation, but the girl puts her head down and tries to ignore the world. Two minutes later the bell rings, and the class begins.

Forty-five minutes later the bell rings yet again. The girl gets up and walks out of the door very briskly. Once she gets about half way down the hallway she hears a boy shouting. She ignores it thinking to herself what kind of boy would shout to get my attention. But as the commotion continues, she turns around to uncover the fact that he was trying to get her attention. A smile almost forms, but is soon swept away. The boy walks up to her and explains that she had left her knapsack in the classroom. He returns the pouch and asks what class she was going to. She looks at her schedule: 1st Period- World History. 2nd Period- Biology. He smiles and says I have Biology, too. She, again, almost smiles, but its swept away. They begin walking to the 2nd period Biology class and make small talk. The boy looks at the girl and says: by the way, I never caught your name. She replies its Taylor, and yours? He smiles and says Well Taylor, I'm Aaron. It's really nice to meet you. Taylor, yet again, almost smiles, but doesn't. She says that it was nice to meet him just as they sit down in Biology. The other boy that walked into the 1st Period class lingered behind slowly.

Throughout the day Aaron and Taylor hung out. Walking to and from their various classes. Some mixing in together, and some not. And still the other boy from that 1st period class lingers around. Feeling alone and abandoned. In the midst of the day lunch came along. Aaron and Taylor, of course, we're in the lunch line together. When the other boy walked up he stood beside Aaron and Taylor. Aaron looked at the boy and said “oh hey Tyler. This is Taylor, you know, from 1st period.” Tyler tries to smile and simply says “Hi.” to Taylor. Throughout lunch, as Tyler seemed to be ignored more and more by Aaron and Taylor, he began getting angry. His sadness became rage. His loneliness became anger.

The final bell rang on the first day of that school year. Aaron and Taylor walk out of the front doors together, and Tyler was merely a step or two behind. Aaron pulls out a little piece of paper and writes down a 7 digit number on it which he hands to Taylor. Taylor looks at the paper and smiles as Aaron tells her to call him sometime. Tyler had stood by and watched this, and waited to see if he was going to be acknowledged. Taylor tells Aaron she has to go and that she'd call later. As she runs off to get on her bus, Aaron turns to Tyler and says “Hey man, we still hanging today?” Tyler smiles from ear to ear, revealing his dimples and says “For sure.” The two boys say their goodbyes and go their separate ways.

Aaron walks into his cold house. It's dark. He walks around the house in search of his parents and his little brother. He finds a note strategically placed on the refrigerator door. It reads “Aaron, your father, brother, and I went downtown. We will be back some time tonight. Love You. Behave.” He puts the note down and glances at the clock. He says to himself “3:12, I got all the time in the world.” He pulls a cold soda out of the refrigerator, and sits on the couch. Turning on the television and flipping through the channels in the attempt to find some entertainment. Moments later the phone rings; it was Taylor. Aaron answers the phone with a chipper “Hello.” They begin talking about anything and everything. As they talked, Aaron logged onto the computer and began surfing the net.

Meanwhile, Tyler walks into his cool suburban house. Walking through the living room announcing his arrival to his parents who were snuggled up on the couch together watching a Lifetime movie. He goes up to his room, and turns on his laptop. He logs onto Facebook. Noticing he had a notification, he clicked the globe button and then on the notification. Aaron had posted on his wall to meet him at the local park at 4:30. Tyler looks in the bottom right-hand corner of his laptop display and reads “3:23.” He shuts his laptop and spins around in his desk chair. Picking up the controller, he turns on the Xbox to play as a time waster.

Forty-seven minutes later, at 4:10, Tyler shuts off the Xbox and runs downstairs. Telling his parents he was going to go hang out at the park he darts out the door. Ten minutes later at 4:20 Tyler arrives at the park and sits on a bench in front of the large Roman culture fountain. He sits, and waits, and waits, and waits. He checks his watch- “4:45” - he thinks maybe Aaron is just running late. He'd be there soon, surely. Tyler waits longer on the bench. He checks his watch again - “4:58”- He thinks maybe Aaron wasn't going to show up. He lays down on the bench and looks up at the sky. The sun beginning to set. His watch beeps twice to alert him that it was 5:00. The tears like a trigger, a tear streamed down Tyler's sun-kissed face. Dropping onto the wood of the bench. At that time Tyler hears a voice. He looks up to see Aaron strolling along the path leading to the bench. Tyler sits up and smiles from ear to ear again, revealing the dimples. Aaron sees the water on Tyler's face and asked what it was. Tyler wipes the water remnants off his face and slightly stutters as he says “its nothing.” Aaron shrugs while stating “okay if you say so.” Tyler asks why it took Aaron so long to get there. Aaron explains that he was talking to Taylor on the phone and lost track of time. Tyler's smile begins to diminish. Regardless, the two boys hung out at the park just talking, and just hanging out until about 7:45. At that point Tyler tells Aaron he'd better get home. Aaron agrees and tells Tyler goodbye and leaves.

Aaron wakes up early in the morning. He catches the bus, and sits with Tyler. When they arrive at the school Aaron and Taylor were attracted to each other like magnets. As usual, Tyler was left out, and abandoned. He sat on the hard bleachers being totally ignored. A single tear, like the one from the bench, streamed down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away to avoid being noticed. The bell rings and they all head to class. Sitting through 1st period, and seeing Aaron and Taylor just bothered Tyler deep down. And through the other few classes they all had together. Lunch comes and Tyler is faintly acknowledge. The final bell rings, and they all leave. Aaron and Taylor saying formal, sweet goodbyes, while Tyler just got a “see ya later” from Aaron. This happened on a regular basis throughout the week.

The week goes on. It's Friday morning. Aaron and Tyler are on the bus. Making faint small talk. Arriving at the school. Aaron abandoning Tyler, as usual. The day goes on like all the rest. Being ignored. The day ends after what seems to have been an eternity to Tyler. Tyler walks into his house. Tells his parents he is home. Then runs to his room. He logs on Facebook and posts a status: “On Monday its going to be taken care of. I swear it.” Later on Tyler checks his Facebook again, and notices he has a notification. It was that Aaron had commented on his status: “What are you taking care of?” Tyler closes the page, completely ignoring the question. He picks up his boot knife and looks at the edges on it. He sneaks into his parents' room and searches his father's gun cabinet. Tyler finds what he was looking for, a knife sharpener, and begins to sharpen the boot knife. He tests it on his leg. The knife cut through his flesh as though it was butter. Tyler says “perfect.”

Monday morning comes. Tyler sits away from Aaron. When the buss arrived at the school Tyler was the first one off. He entered the school and went to the spot Taylor always waited for Aaron at. He asks Taylor to follow him. Tyler convinces Taylor that Aaron had set something up and Tyler was to lead her to it. Instead of leading Taylor to something Aaron had set up, Tyler led her to the girls bathroom. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand cupping her mouth so she couldn't speak. The other hand pushing her along. He gets her in the bathroom and pulls out the boot knife. He holds it up and says this is for taking my best friend away from me. He first stabs Taylor in the upper thigh. She tries to scream, but no noise is projected due to the hand that is firmly placed on her mouth. Tyler pulls the knife out of her thigh and stabs it into her arm. He removes it again and stabs it into her chest. Removing it once more. Tyler looks Taylor in the eyes and says “This is it. I've dealt with this enough. I'm eliminating the problem.” Tyler smiles from ear to ear. Revealing those dimples again. He slides the boot knife against Taylor's throat. A thick, gooey, red substance gushing out in the trail of the knife. Tyler had slit her throat. Tyler killed Taylor.

Tyler walks to the sink, and washes the thick, red blood off his boot knife. Ensuring all of it goes down the drain, and puts the boot knife in its case. He then puts the sheathed knife in his pants pocket. He tries to wipe some of the blood off of Taylor's lifeless body. He looks around frantically. He sees a small compartment under the sinks. It was a piece of plywood concealing a hole in the wall. He puts Taylor's body in the hole and carefully replaces the plywood. He washes his hands good and stealthily leaves the bathroom.

Tyler walks to the 1st period World History class. He sits in his seat acting as he would any other day. Aaron walks into the room. He looks at Tyler and asks if he had seen Taylor. Tyler says that he hadn't seen her. Aaron explains that Taylor normally waited for him at the water fountain in the mornings, but today she wasn't there. Tyler states that maybe Taylor stayed home from school today for some reason. Aaron agrees that was probably the case, and sits down. The day goes on as normal, but instead of Tyler being ignored, he got all of Aaron's attention. At lunch Aaron and Tyler sat together. Talking about everything, and Tyler was smiling from ear to ear, revealing the dimples. But at the mention of Taylor by Aaron, Tyler's smile started to diminish. He said lets not talk about Taylor. You're always talking about her. Aaron shrugs and says ok. They talk as normal friends would. The day goes on.

At the end of the day Aaron and Tyler decide to walk home. Tyler only lived about ten blocks from the school, and Aaron lived only a few blocks from Tyler's. They walked and talked about doing something over the weekend. They confirmed their plans as Tyler walked up the walkway to his house. Aaron continues on toward his home. Aaron walks into his house, and learns that his parents went into town again with his little brother. So he sits on the couch with a soda and begins to watch TV. He glances at the time- 3:24. He thinks about calling Taylor. He picks up the phone, turns it on, and realizes he doesn't know the number. He runs upstairs and rummages through his room. Opening every drawer, and searching every inch of his desk. He finally finds a little slip of paper. The paper had Taylor's number written on it. Aaron had written it off his caller ID when Taylor called for the first time. So he calls Taylor's house. It rings once... twice... three times when Taylor's mom answered the phone. Aaron asked if Taylor was there. Her mom responded with no she hasn't gotten home from school yet. Aaron says okay can you have her call me. Thanks bye. They hang up. Aaron was oblivious to the fact that he hadn't seen Taylor at school even once that day.

Tuesday comes along. It was a holiday, so there was no school. Aaron wakes up to his parents in his room. They tell him that they're going in to town and spending the day together. He would have to watch Ryan, his little brother. Aaron begins to state that he already had plans with Tyler. His parents stop him short and tell him that if he had plans he would have to cancel or take Ryan with him. Aaron sighs and says ok. His parents leave his room and walk into Ryan's room. Then a couple minutes later they leave the house. Aaron gets out of bed and checks the phone- No missed calls. Aaron shrugs and goes into Ryan's room. Aaron explains to Ryan that he would be going with him and Tyler to the park, and to wherever else. Ryan says okay. So they get ready, and about an hour and a half after they get ready Tyler calls. They confirm plans, and both head out to meet at the park. Tyler arrives at the park first, and sits on that bench in front of the fountain. He starts thinking about the tear that streamed down his face in this very spot a few days ago. He pulls out the boot knife and analyzes it. He says quietly to himself “I won't have to worry about that anymore.” - talking about the tears from being ignored by Aaron. He puts the boot knife up as he spots Aaron walking into the park.

Aaron and Ryan join Tyler on the bench. All of them gazing into the fountain in total silence. Aaron breaks the silence by asking what they were going to do. Tyler stands and up and says follow me. Aaron and Ryan trail behind a few steps as Tyler leads the way. They end up on a dock along the small river that runs through the suburb. As they all stood on the dock peering out on the river, Tyler sneaks behind Aaron and pushes him in. Tyler soon after jumps in. Ryan follows. They swim for a hour or two, and get out and lay on the dock to dry off. After airing themselves out, they get up and start walking around. As they walked Aaron asks Tyler if he'd seen Taylor at school on Friday. Tyler says no. Aaron shrugs, neither did I, but I called her house yesterday, and her mom said Taylor hadn't gotten home from school. The day gets exhausted and the boys decide to head home.

Aaron walks into the house and checks the phone- 1 missed call. He quickly looks to see who it was. It was Taylor. He haste-fully calls back.. Her mom answers. He asked if Taylor was there. She says no. Aaron asked then who called from your number? She replies it was me, I was trying to find Taylor. She's gone missing! Aaron looses his breath. He becomes speechless and just hangs up the phone. He sits on the couch and just starts thinking. Ryan walks up and says Bubby whats wrong? Aaron says its nothing. Just a girl I like is missing. Ryan says oh and continues playing with his toys. Aaron calms himself and says I'm sure she'll be found somewhere.

Tuesday ends slowly, and Wednesday comes and passes.

Thursday morning Aaron gets up for school. Boards the bus, and sits with Tyler. When they arrive at the school they see two black SUVs parked outside. They walking to building as see four men dressed in black suits. They are talking to the principal. Tyler and Aaron see the principal point at them, directing the men in suits their way. One of the men engage Aaron, and ask him to come with him. They walk down the hall into a classroom. One of the other men ask Tyler to follow him, and they also go into a classroom.

Tyler sits in a desk as one man stands in front of him. Tyler asks who he is and why he is there. The man pulls out his wallet and opens it. Inside Tyler analyzes a FBI badge. The man says he is Agent Smith and he is there because of a missing person's report. He explains he is from the FBI BAU in Quantico, Virginia. Tyler questions what the BAU is. Agent Smith replies by saying its the Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Analysis Unit. Agent Smith begins to question Tyler:

Smith: Do you now Taylor Stewart?
Tyler: Yes
Smith: When is the last time you spoke with Taylor?
Tyler: Thursday after school, we were getting on buses and we said goodbye.
Smith: Did you see Taylor on Friday, at all?
Tyler: No, sir.

Agent Smith stops. He walks back to the other man in the suit, an obvious colleague. Smith states to the colleague- Did you notice he didn't address me as sir until I asked if he'd seen her on Friday, the day she was reported missing? The colleague agrees and begins suspecting Tyler of something. He walks up to Tyler and pulls out his FBI credentials and says I'm Agent Beckham, and I'm also from the FBI BAU. He starts questioning Tyler as Agent Smith did.

Beckham: So you didn't have any contact with Taylor Stewart on Friday?
Tyler: No, I didn't see her the entire day.
Beckham: Tyler, is your family broken? Is your household not the best to live in?
Tyler: It's not the best, but I wouldn't say its broken.
Beckham: I see, do you get a lot of attention?
Tyler: Not a lot. But some. Not too much, though.
Beckham: Tyler, are, or have you been, abused at home? Physically, emotionally, sexually?
Tyler says no and begins tapping his foot rapidly, and begins turning slightly red.
Beckham: Are you sure?
Tyler says yes, and starts tapping his foot faster, and begins to sweat a little bit.
Agent Beckham walks back to Agent Smith and says this kid is suspicious, but I have no more questions. But we better keep an eye on him.

Meanwhile, in the other classroom. Aaron sits in a desk and one of the men in a suit approaches him. He pulls out a wallet and Aaron sees FBI credentials. The man states that he is Agent Dalton, and he is from the FBI BAU. Aaron looks at the Agent and says the BAU? As in the Behavioral Analysis Unit? Agent Dalton replies yes. Aaron asks why they are there. Agent Dalton explains that they were asked by local officials to come and investigate the missing persons report. Aaron understands. Agent Dalton says that they are going to ask him some questions. And Aaron agrees to the questioning.

Dalton: Do you know Taylor Stewart?
Aaron: Yes.
Dalton: How?
Aaron: She was in my 1st period class. On the first day of school she'd left something in the classroom and I chased her down in the hallway to return it to her. After I returned it we became really close friends.
Dalton: I see, Did you have any type of relationship with Taylor other than just being “close friends”?
Aaron: Well, we had been talking a lot and I gave her my number and she called. I guess we liked each other, but it wasn't a real relationship.
Dalton: Okay. So did you talk to, or even see Taylor on Friday?
Aaron: No. Not once. But I... I just thought she'd missed school... I never would've thought she was missing!
Dalton: Hey, Its ok. We're going to find her, you just have to help us. Now, when exactly was the last time you spoke to Taylor?
Aaron: It was Thursday night, she called me. We talked for an hour or so. She seemed fine. She didn't say, or sound like, anything was wrong.
Dalton: Ok. My colleague would like to ask some questions.
The other man in a suit walks up, exposes his FBI credentials, confirms he too is from the FBI BAU, and says his name is Agent Nolan.

Nolan: So, Aaron, you and Taylor were close, but not dating, correct?
Aaron: Yes. That would be a very accurate way to put it.
Nolan: Did she ever seem fearful as she walked around at school?
Aaron: No never, other than the first day of school, but its the first day of school and she's new here, who wouldn't be afraid?
Nolan: I see. And Aaron you are no way responsible for the disappearance of Taylor Stewart?
Aaron: No! Of course not! I could never do that to her. I strongly believe I love her... please find her... please.
Nolan: We're doing everything we can, kid. We'll find her.

Agents Nolan and Dalton lead Aaron back to the cafeteria, and meet with Agents Smith and Beckham who had brought Tyler back. The four agents walk over to the principal and begin talking. Minutes later the principal announces that all students will be leaving the campus. The school is shut down until further notice. Students are to board their buses and go home.

The FBI Agents call in local police officers, and begin searching every square inch of the building. They also send local police to some known destinations of Taylor's. The School search begins in the classrooms. Officers ravage through classrooms, searching cabinets and closest, nooks and crannies, searching every possible location of a girl. Officers search the office, and the gymnasium, and the cafeteria. Every inch of the building had been searched. Except the bathrooms. Agents Nolan and Beckham go into the boys bathroom and search, while Agents Smith and Dalton search the girls bathroom. All four agents regroup outside of the bathrooms, neither groups found anything. The officers searching the other locations radio in, confirming they found nothing. No clues or anything.

Tyler walks up to Aaron's house. He stands on the porch. Slowly he opens the screen door. And loudly knocks on the old fashioned wooden door. Ryan opens the door. Tyler greets Ryan with a high-five and asks where Aaron was. Ryan says he was in his room. Tyler asks where his parents were, and Ryan tells him they were at work. So Tyler runs up the steps and listens at Aaron's door. He hears sad music playing, and so he walks in the room. He sees Aaron laying on his bed, crying his eyes out. Tyler sits on the edge of his bed, and asks whats wrong. Aaron looks up and says everything is wrong! The girl I... I loved is gone! Tyler looks at Aaron and says forget about her. I'm still here. Aaron says you don't understand! I love her! We have to find her! We have to! Aaron starts sobbing. His shirt is soaked with newly cried tears. Tyler gets up and says maybe I should just leave. Aaron agrees, and lays back in his bed crying into his pillow. Tyler walks downstairs and tells Ryan goodbye, and walks out the door. As Tyler steps out of the door, he hears footsteps coming down the stairs inside. He slides over to the window and sees Aaron walk downstairs, and over to Ryan. Ryan hugs Aaron and they sit on the couch and start watching television. Tyler gets an obnoxious look on his face and walks away.

The next day, Tyler shows up at Aaron's house yet again. He knocks on the door, and as before, Ryan opens it. Tyler asks where Aaron is and Ryan tells him that Aaron was upstairs. Tyler runs up the stairs and opens Aaron's door. He steps inside and sees Aaron in the corner, curled up. Tyler walks over to him, and sits down beside Aaron. Tyler says Aaron you can't live like this. Aaron looks at him with a disgruntle face and says I don't want to live! Not without her! Tyler starts getting frustrated and yells Aaron! Taylor is missing! She's been missing for days! They aren't going to find her! You have to get up and move on with your life! Aaron looks at Tyler in total shock for moments, but then gets up and runs downstairs- to Ryan. Tyler starts getting extremely angry at being ignored by Aaron.

The next couple of days Tyler would do the same thing. He would go to Aaron's house. He would try to get Aaron over Taylor. But every time Aaron would run to Ryan because he got upset. After the fifth time this happened Tyler was fed up. He went to Aaron's house. But today he didn't go inside. He watched through the window. Observing the contents of the house. He noticed Aaron only came downstairs if he had to, but Ryan stayed in the living room. He thought back on his previous visits. Ryan always answered the door, and Ryan was always in the living room, while Aaron was in his own room. And the parents were always at work. Tyler starts to smile from ear to ear, revealing the dimples. Tyler decides to go inside and try to get some more information. He knocks on the door. Ryan answers, just like all the times before. Tyler asks if Ryan's parents were home, and Ryan told him no, and they won't be for a few days. They went out of town for a wedding, but we had to stay home. Tyler looks at his watch, and says that he had to go. He asks Ryan to tell Aaron to call him some time later. Tyler runs home. He sits in his room. And waits. And waits. And waits. But no one ever calls. He walks down the street. Conveniently passing Aaron's house. He sees Aaron and Ryan on the couch watching television like he'd seen many times before. At that point Tyler broke. He had intense anger on his face. He ran home, and locked himself in his room. He pulls out the boot knife, and says its time again. Time to eliminate the next problem.

The following day, Tyler went to Aaron's house, again. Knocks on the door. And Ryan answers it. Tyler grabs Ryan, closes the door, and runs off. An hour later, Aaron walks downstairs looking for Ryan. He found nothing. He thought he was probably in the bathroom or something, so he sits down and turns on the television. Flipping through the channels, he passes a newscast. With the very slight glance of the headline, he read “Breaking News!” Aaron quickly flips back to the news. He reads- “Child abducted and is being held hostage by unknown figure.” Aaron jumps off the couch and runs around the house. Searching every room and shouting frantically- calling out Ryan's name. After fifteen minutes of searching, Aaron fell to his knees and started to cry hysterically. First Taylor, now Ryan. What is going on?! Why is this happening?! He slowly crawls back to the couch, and listens to the reporter-lady exploiting the details of the abduction: “Officials say that the child was abducted around 1 p.m. Today- about an hour ago. Officials do not know who the child is, or if he is directly related to the missing girl Taylor. Officials are also unsure if the two cases are connected, although, with the suburban setting and low crime rate, they strongly believe the cases are related. Now officials learned of the abduction when the local sheriff's office received a video message that depicted a child tied to a chair, and his mouth was duct taped, and eyes blindfolded. In the background, there was writing that said “Do I have your attention now?!” Officials aren't sure if this is directed toward themselves, or to possibly another person in the quiet suburb. More on this Story as we receive information.”

Aaron falls onto this side. As he lays on the couch, he cries himself to sleep. He wakes up a few hours later. It's 5:00. He turns the television back on. The headline says “Developing Story” and reporters debate about the two cases possibly being related. Suddenly, the headline flashes to “Breaking News” and a reporter is shown: “I'm outside of the local Sheriff's office, and they have just received another video message. It shows the young child. His mouth is no longer duct taped. But he is still tied up and blindfolded. He is pleading for help. A man with a blank mask – commonly known as a false face – walks into the picture. He duct tapes the boy's mouth, and looks at the camera. He says Do I have your attention now?! Do you notice me now?! And the video shuts off. This is a tragedy, and police forces are working to find this child and set him free. We will give you all the updates as we receive them.”

Aaron's parents walk in the door. They said they had heard about another kidnapping, and asked if Aaron had any information. Aaron looks at them. Tears streaming down his face like rain drops down a window in a thunderstorm. He slowly tells them, stuttering, that it was Ryan that was kidnapped. Instantly the parents' mouths dropped, and tears fell from their eyes. Aaron's dad, John, ran and grabbed the phone. He called the sheriff's office that had been receiving the video messages and reported that his son may be the one held captive. The person from the sheriff's office asks John if he had any idea where the captive may be held, or who may be holding him captive. John has no information to offer. So the phone call ends shortly. Night falls, and Aaron's family fall asleep in the living room. In the morning, around 10 a.m., Aaron's mother, Natalie, wakes up and turns on the television and finds the news. She reads the headlines “Boy being held captive in Suburb.” At that time the headline changes to “Body Found in Suburban School- Identity To Be Confirmed” after a Breaking News flash. The reporter shows up on the television screen, and begins explaining the occurrence: “I'm here, outside of Viewpoint High School. FBI Agents have stated that they have found a body in the school. They are yet to release where the body was, how long it may have been there, possible cause of death, or who it was.” Click. The television is turned off. Natalie had enough of the mystery. She laid back down on the couch and slowly drifted to sleep. The family all slept on and on. Finally at 5 p.m. That evening they all got up. The television was turned back on. People were debating on the situation, and not giving out any of the new information. Then a bar ran across the screen and said “For the Latest Information go to our website: www.viewpointnews.com.” Aaron ran up to his bedroom and logged onto his computer. He opened his internet. With great haste he typed “www.viewpointnews.com” and hit enter. The news logo appeared. He clicked on Breaking News, and then on Latest. He found that the FBI had released information on the body. The website showed:
Information of the Body Found:
Name: Unknown
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Hair: Long, Brown.
Eye Color: Green
Estimated Date of Death: July 9 – 9 days ago
Cause of Death: Homicide - Multiple Stabs and a slit Jugular
Location: Hidden underneath the sink in the Girl's Bathroom in Viewpoint High School
Suspects: None at this Time
Evidence Supported Possible Scenario: The victim was lead or possibly dragged to the girls bathroom. She was thrown against a wall, stabbed, and then her throat was slit. The murderer put her body in the hidden area below the sink, and left. The murderer probably would have had a problem with the victim. This is more than likely not a random murder.
If You have any information on a possible identity of the body please call the Viewpoint Sheriff's Office.

Aaron reads all of the details. He looks back on them and scans his memories to try and find a match. He has a flashback to the first day of school. The girl with the long brown hair that sat to the left of him. The girl with the green eyes who left something in the room. Then it hit Aaron. Like a 10,000 pound anvil. He fell out of his seat and began to sob heavily. His parents run into his room after hearing the thud of him hitting the floor. They asked what was wrong, and he responded that the body that was found was the body of the girl he was in love with. It was Taylor. His parents walked to him and began trying to comfort him. He asked for the phone, and it was given to him. He called the sheriff's office and reported that the body was that of Taylor Stewart. She'd gone missing last Friday. The FBI were investigating the crime. They thanked him for the information and hung up. Aaron then dialed Taylor's number. Her mother answered like a few days before. She could hear Aaron sobbing and asked what was wrong. He told her that Taylor was murdered. It was on the News Website and the description matched her and she'd been missing. It had to be her. Taylor's mother drops the phone and faints. Aaron hangs up and lays in the floor crying.

An hour passed when Aaron's parents left to go to the Sheriff's office and find out if anything else had come in, and also to see Mrs. Stewart. In the loneliness of his home. Secluded in his room. He rummaged through a drawer and found a razor. He felt the sharp edge of it. He put it on his wrist and slid it across. It slit his skin and a dark maroon substance began pouring out. He slices his wrists multiple times. Each one getting deeper and deeper. He throws the razor and leans back on his wall, holding his forearm area, looking at his wrists, and crying hysterically. He screams “why me?! What did I do?! Why is my world falling apart?!” He gets up and goes to the bathroom. He washes his wrists off and gets the bleeding to stop. He wraps his wrist in gauze and uses a Nike sweatband to conceal it. He sits down and tries to watch a TV show. But his focus keeps getting eradicated and thoughts of Ryan and Taylor enter his mind. He tells himself to stop crying and be strong. He sits there with his strength and watches TV.

In his peripherals, Aaron sees red and blue lights outside his house. He looks through the window and sees a black SUV parked outside. A man in a black suit knocks on the door. Aaron opens the door and sees Agent Nolan, the man who questioned him at school, standing at his doorstep. Agent Nolan asks Aaron to come with him, so Aaron grabs his keys, locks the door, and follows Agent Nolan to the SUV. They get in and drive off. Agent Dalton, the other man who questioned him, was in the passenger seat. He told Aaron that they have a possible location of where Ryan was being held, and that they wanted to have him there in case he was needed.

They pull up to a house on the Far East side of Viewpoint. There was another black SUV and two Viewpoint Police Department squad cars in front of the house. They send a group of 2 officers into the front door. In the foyer of the house they see the hallway lined with the false face masks. They walk down the hallway. They find nothing. They search the living room – Nothing. Kitchen – Nothing. Bedrooms – Nothing. Then they open a closet, and find that it wasn't a closet. It was a staircase. They begin stepping down. They see a chair sitting in the middle of the basement. They descend more. They see a teenage boy sitting at a desk. They scream “You! Freeze! Put your hands where I can see him, and stand up slowly.” The boy does as instructed. He asks “Did you bring Aaron with you?” The officers look at one another. One of them nods. The boy smiles and says I want to talk to him. Then you can do whatever you want to me. The officer radios in and tells them the request. So they set up sharpshooters on the buildings on both sides of the building, one on the building across the street, and one on the building behind the house. They two officers escort the boy up the stairs and sit him down in the living room. Two other officers escort Aaron in the living room. The four officers step back and draw their weapons. One says “keep it civil and no one will get hurt.”

Aaron looks at the boy and says: Tyler is that you?
Boy: Yes Aaron. It's me. You still remember me?
Aaron: What is that supposed to mean?
Tyler: It means the whole reason I did this.
Aaron looks at him extremely perplexed.
Tyler: Ever since that first day of school and you met Taylor, I was cast out like Lucifer from Heaven.
Aaron: Oh... Tyler I'm so-
Tyler interrupts: Aaron, I swear to God if you say sorry I'll kill you here and now.
Then one of the officers jumps in and says “Hey! Calm down.”
Aaron: Tyler, I can't believe I let this happen. So are you saying YOU killed Taylor?!
Tyler: Yes Aaron. I killed her! Ok?! I did it! I was tired of being ignored by the one who I- Nevermind.
Aaron: Who You what, Tyler?
Tyler: Nothing...
Aaron: Tyler. Tell Me.
Tyler: The one who I love ok! I love you Aaron. More than a friend. More than a brother. More than anything.
Aaron: You mean like you Love me. Like how I loved Taylor??
Tyler: Yes, Aaron. Yes...
Aaron: Tyler... I don't know what to say.
Tyler: There's nothing to say! I have something in my desk I've always wanted to give you. Officers, Can I go get it?
The officers all look at one another, and one signals that it was okay. Tyler runs down the stairs and moments later Aaron and the officers hear a loud scream from what sounded like a young boy. Aaron jumps out of his chair, grabs one of the officers' guns, and runs downstairs. The officers chase after him since he just committed a felony. Aaron reaches the bottom of the stairs and sees a chair tipped over with a young boy tied to it. There was a liquid substance surrounding the chair, and an object sticking out of the boy. The boy wasn't breathing or anything. Aaron knew it was Ryan, and he lifted the gun. Pointed at Tyler's head. He pulls the trigger. Tyler's lifeless body falls to the floor, and Tyler walks over to Ryan and cries over him. The officers, standing at the bottom of the steps, tell Aaron to drop the gun. Aaron looks at them and screams “My baby brother, My love, and My best friend all died! I have nothing left to live for!” And like a scene from a horror movie, Aaron slowly raised the gun to his head, and started to count:
the officers start shouting at him telling him to stop
the officers run toward him
Boom. The gun goes off, and Aaron falls to the floor. Dead
And that is the story of the Viewpoint Massacre. Taylor Stewart, Tyler Coleman, Aaron and Ryan Grey all viciously killed. This story will be forever remembered, and Told countless times. A memorial will be cast of the lost souls in the park, where that bench sits. That way, no one will forget the pain that social rejection can bring. May this serve as a Moral Lesson to not Reject.
The End

-Nick Alexander