It was on the afternoon of the ninth day that Charles finally spoke. He got up and walked to the center of the room in complete silence.
-“I have something to confess” he said. His voice was calm and controlled but Mark could discern the infernal madness in his tone. He was insane. The experiment had driven him crazy. His stare was blank. He didn't seem to understand a word of what he was saying. He had lost the glitter in his eyes. All warmth, all compassion, all affection, all the things that made him human, were gone. He was just a body, a dead man walking. Heartless, emotionless, he was only a frame, a shadow of himself, an empty shell. Whoever he had been was forever lost to this detached person. It was painful to look at him. Mark suddenly felt a rush of rage at what the principal and his cruel experiment had made out of him. But it quickly died as he was so tired and so weak. He didn't even want to listen to a word of what he was saying. At the second Charles had begun speaking, Mark already knew that he wasn't the killer. But, as he gave details of the murders, totally made-up by his sick, mad-driven mind, Mark didn't say a word. He was so tired, so sick of this twisted game. He didn't care anymore about who killed Jenna, he kind of knew deep inside him, but he didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to go home. And, as the policemen took Charles away, he let out a sigh of relief and waited for Scott to join him.
678Please respect copyright.PENANAxJPEIJjUZ0
“Well” said Scott with a bright smile “I guess this shit's finally over.”
His voice was calm now, he wasn't nervous anymore. Mark felt almost scandalized by his nonchalance. He spoke as if it were a normal day, as if nothing wrong had happened. But his mind was too tired to argue with his best friend so he chose to drop it.
“Let's go”, said Mark, “I'm sick of being here.”
He just wanted to leave this place and never come back. Everything felt like a horrible nightmare and he was just so tired of praying to wake up from it.
“Alright” Scott answered and, as they walked to their respective homes, he chatted happily about the whole affair. He was visibly relieved that the killer had gotten arrested. Mark wasn't really listening. He was still trying to convince himself that it was really over. That everything was going to be alright for him now.
“Well”, he said, once they had gotten to Scott's house, “I guess this is it.”
“Yup”, answered Scott, “and don't expect to hear from me until at least a week. I have plenty of time to make up with my pillow !” he joked. “It seems that this past week has drained me of my strength.” he sighed. But he soon regained his smile. He was definitely way more at ease without the cameras, the mics and the police watching them. He looked happy and relieved with the way the case had ended. “I guess I'll finally be able to find some sleep now that this monster has been stopped. Now that we know who it was. See ya dude !”
And, as he watched Scott's figure slowly retreating, Mark turned around, with a satisfied smile on his face and a cruel feeling of impunity, his eyes showing all the bestiality he had so well hidden earlier, and muttered “Do we ?”678Please respect copyright.PENANAYeuVmS7dB5