11 p.m.
It was dark in the Who-ville Town Library. Hayvey O'Malley McDodd, the mayor's third-born child and second-born daughter, was deep within the basement of the building, searching for a book that would help her with her article on mayoral records. Mayor Day, a celebrated tradition in Who-ville during which the mayor gives a speech of his days in office, was coming up, so Hayvey took the job at the Who-ville Editorial to write about Mayor Day and its past celebrations. However, she didn't know much about politics (she was a journalists for pop culture), so she decided to study a bit before she started her article. But she had to start soon, for Mayor Day was in a week from now.
An hour and a half later, Hayvey was just about to give up her search on the perfect book to aid her in her article. "This is hopeless," the 15-year-old Who grumbled as she collected her things; her glasses, her notebook, her pencils, her WhoPhone, her WhoPod…
As Hayvey tried to pick up all her belongings as fast as she could, she had gone too fast and dropped her WhoPod, making an echoing clack-clack in the musty basement. Trying to pick up her WhoPod, she leaned over and dropped the rest of her things, only adding to her frustration.
"Great," she groaned to herself. "Whoop-dee-freaking-doo!" She knelt down and carefully put her things in her handbag (which didn't fit much, but it was able to keep down her possessions). She stood up and surveyed the dark ground to check if she left anything. She put on her glasses and noticed the cloth to clean her spectacles was peeking out from under a shelf. Hayvey, who had no choice but to squat over again, put her bag on the table and bent over (a mistake for someone who wore a skirt as short as hers). As she patted the ground for her cloth, she felt the spine of a thick textbook she didn't recognize. Curious, Hayvey slid the book from under the dusty shelf and picked it up. With the thick book in her right arm, Hayvey used her left hand to pick up her cloth. As soon as she had both belongings in her grasp, Hayvey pulled up a seat at the table she left her bag at and sat down. She blew at the dusty cover, trying to decipher the hidden title. After the cloud of dust had settled onto nearby pieces of furniture, Hayvey could read the title imprinted on the leathery brown book clearly in the dim light of the single open lamp in the basement. McDodd Mayoral Records – From 1644 to Present Day, the title read. Hayvey beamed. This was what she was looking for.
"Thank Who!" Hayvey sighed in relief. "Now I can get cracking." Putting on her glasses, Hayvey opened up to the first page and read it. It was headed, Mayor Neville McDodd.
Is this my great-great-great-great-whatever grandpa? Hayvey thought to herself as she read.
Mr. Neville Lebershneid McDodd
Age in Office: 56
In Office: January 15, 1644-April 29, 1644
Cause of Retirement: Assassination
Age of Death: 56
Cause of Death: Assassination
Assassination…Hayvey thought as she flipped through five or six pages of Neville McDodd's life. There were many black-and-white pictures of him. He looked a lot like Hayvey's father, Ned, but older. Then, two pictures caught Hayvey's eye: a photograph of Neville on Mayor Day. In the first picture, the then-mayor is grinning happily as he is shaking hands with the then-chairman of the3 council. In the second picture, it is a graphic picture of Neville on the ground with a bullet shot in his chest, his grinning face replaced with a face of shock. His mouth was closed, but his eyes were wide-open. Hayvey felt her blood chill at the site of his all over the podium. Shivering in disgust, Hayvey hastily flipped through the pages.
Hayvey randomly flicked through the pages, writing down the names she saw in her notebook for later reference. Mrs. Ruthy Majilligully McDodd, Mr. Horace Horowitz McDodd, Mr. Leopold O'Lasseran McDodd…
After a while the young journalist stumbled upon the pages of Mr. Frederick Mallowitz McDodd. Hayvey read the profile of this mayor, slightly bored.
Mr. Frederick Mallowitz McDodd
Age in Office: 62
In Office: January 15, 1888-April 29, 1888
Cause of Retirement: Assassination
Age of Death: 62
Cause of Death: Assassination
Hayvey's blood ran cold when she saw the fading pencil lines through the words relating to Frederick's death. Why had someone tried to cross out this information? "Wait a minute…" Hayvey whispered as she squinted at the crossed-out words. In Office: January 15, 1888-April 29, 1888. Keeping her forefinger on the page she was on as a makeshift bookmark, the teenage Who quickly turned the pages to the very beginning, until she reached Neville McDodd's profile again. Hayvey looked at the information, then compared it to Frederick's. It was exactly the same. It was the exact same length of time that Neville stayed in office.
"Oh, Lord…" Hayvey said softly. She then looked through both of the then-mayors' profiles, trying to find a common thread. Only seeing that the years of both their deaths were multiples of 22, Hayvey looked through the other mayors' profiles with their years a multiple of 22. To Hayvey's horror, all those mayors were assassinated on April 29th, which was Mayor Day. After the year 1688, the other profiles of the assassinated mayors were sloppily crossed out by pencil. Hayvey used her pencil eraser to carefully erase the marks to read the text clearly. After 15 minutes of investigation, Hayvey came to the astonishing and horrid fact: Every 22 years, an unknown assassin would hide out in the audience on Mayor Day and shoot the mayor right before he or she would make their speech. Hayvey was terrified. Suddenly, a new detail dawned upon Hayvey, which left her speechless: Mayor Day was coming up, and it was the year 2022.
Her father, Ned McDodd, would die on April 29.
In panic, Hayvey gathered all of her possessions, stuffed them in her tiny bag, and placed little ripped pieces of paper in between the pages of every assassinated mayor as bookmarks. The teenage girl Who slammed the book shut and dashed out the door, accidentally dropping the cleaning cloth of her glasses as she made her way to the abandoned observatory to tell her older brother of the tragic things she learned that night.