“I’m going away soon, leaving this town behind for better things! To follow my passion in the arts and be a Broadway star! Come see me one last time at my house: 415 Pinewood Rd @4:00pm. Hope to see you there to say goodbye.”

——

“The 23rd was when it was supposed to happen. Your daughter had such a bright future ahead of her, it’s a shame she had to pass like this.”

I sat up in my chair, trying to comfort the parents of Serenity Claire. “Thank you Jones. We really appreciate your help in all of this.”

“Jensen, let’s hope the police solve this soon.”

Jensen nods and gets up to leave. “We’ll be leaving now, Jones. We have a funeral to plan.” “Thank you for coming in, Jensen. Again, you have my deepest condolences.” The Claire’s walked out of my office when my secretary walked in and shut the door.

“Mary? What is it?”

“Principal Jones, you gonna let them leave like that? They’re so distraught.”

“Yeah, they need to get home anyway and plan their daughter’s funeral.”

Honestly, I’m glad they left. Their antics were getting annoying.

Mary shifted her weight to one leg and put a hand on her hip. “It was bound to happen Jones, she always got into trouble.”

“Her parents don’t know Mary. If they did, they’d be better parents. You know, if they payed attention to their kids? We both know Serenity acted like her brother and that’s what got her killed.”

Agreeing, Mary stood in silence.

I glance at a box placed on a shelf in my office. Mary seemed to catch and follow my gaze towards it. She looked at me with a grin. “What did you get from the hunt?”

I scoffed. “You know we don’t talk about that on school premises.” I sigh, seeing Mary making her way to the box. “Fine Jones, I’ll look myself.”

She opens the box and pulls a gold necklace. “This is new! Although you should clean it soon, it still has some blood on it.” She says. I watch as she looks with sparkles in her eyes. She giggles as she puts the necklace away.

“Ya’ know what Jones? All these kids think they’re good enough to leave this town. No one leaves a town like this and no one ever has. All of those idiots thought they had a chance!” Laughing, Mary looks into my eyes. “Not with you around.”

I looked at her with a grin; her knowing I’m enjoying her antics. I stand from my chair and speak as I make my way out of my office. “Mary, let’s not speak ill of the dead.”

She’s right. You stay here? You die peaceful and old. You try to leave? You die young and cold.

All this to build Utopia.