Warning: Rated for language and violence.
The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
O o O
The police had arrived when Jim left the apartment. Suzanne was on her hands and knees next to her door, throwing up what she had eaten and drank earlier. By the time he got there, she was down to dry heaves.
The police came moments later and took down Suzanne's statement, then questioned Jim. He told them what had happened, then showed them the apartment. The officer, Detective Michelette, asked him if he had touched anything and Jim replied probably. The detective then said they would need his finger and hand prints so they could eliminate him when they dusted the scene.
It was late in the evening when the police finally finished with the couple. They told Suzanne that she couldn't stay there for a while, and let her get some clothes for the next few days. It took a while, because the vandal had ruined a lot of her wardrobe, but she did find enough for three days.
As they stood out in the parking lot, Suzanne said, "I don't know where I'm going to stay."
"Stay at the school," Jim said, "there's some empty rooms on the girl's dorm level. It'll be fine, Suzanne, don't you worry."
She gave him a small smile and they got in his car and drove back to Kadic Academy.
O o O
Jim was sitting in his office the next day when there was a soft knock at his door. He looked up and saw Suzanne standing there.
"Hi, come on in!"
She came in and sat down.
"I wanted to thank you for last night," she began, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there."
"It was nothing," he replied, "but, one thing I was wondering about, if you can talk about it. That thing in he sink, where did it come from."
She got a queasy sad look on her face, then replied, "my cat, Buttons." Tears began to stream from her eyes.
"Oh my God, I'm sorry," Jim said and got up and went around to her, "I didn't know."
She took his hand and squeezed it for a moment, then settled down. "I know. I've never been too open with my life outside of school. You're the first person I've opened up to in a long time, Jim."
He smiled. "Maybe it's the start of a new trend. Hey, you want to see Hell freeze over?"
The look on her face told him she didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.
"Cmon, it's about 4 o'clock, they ought to be getting started."
The two teachers left Jim's office and walked out to the track. There, Taylor Thompson, Ann Grace, Jeremie and Aelita were beginning today's training session. The adults were leading the kids around the track at a walk, talking the whole time. Then, after a bit, they started jogging, still keeping the conversation up.
"You know, I never thought I would see the day that Jeremie Belpois would hustle like that," Jim said.
Suzanne stood there and watched, not quite as impressed as Jim was. "I don't understand," was all she said.
"Well, I've always been a little concerned about Belpois," Jim said, "he's never been that physically active, and he hardly gets any sleep. He's up almost all nights working on that computer of his. I've been really concerned about his health, but haven't been able to do much about it. Then he gets mugged."
"This is related to that?"
"Yeah. You know that it hit them both pretty hard, and they haven't been coping with it very well. Well, Jeremie's dad arranged this to help the kids out. If I'm guessing correctly, those two will run the kids for a few days, to gauge their fitness and build their stamina up, then they'll move on to what they really want to teach, self defense."
"Do you think that it will work?"
"I hope so. I don't know if you've seen how Aelita acts when she's not around Jeremie or her other friends, but she's almost terrified of everything."
"I can understand how she feels," Suzanne said.
O o O
When she got back to the dorm room she was staying in, she saw a package leaning up against the door. Curious, she picked it up and took it inside with her. She slipped off her lab coat and shucked off her shoes, relaxing from the long day, then went over to the desk and sat down. She turned the package around and over, examining it. It wasn't sent by mail, or by any delivery service. The only markings she could find was, "To Suzanne Hertz, Kadic Academy" written on the top. She tore into the wrapping.
The box beneath the wrapping was a lidded box, with the lid taped shut. She broke the tape and opened the lid. Inside the box was what looked like wadded up cotton. She pulled the wadding out of the box, and finally came to a package, about the size of a baseball, which was wrapped in the same wrapping paper as the package. She took the small package and unwrapped it. Once it was unwrapped and she could see what it was, Suzanne dropped the thing, jumped up from her chair and backed away, screaming. When her back touched the door, she spun around, opened it and ran into the hallway to Jim's room.
"OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod" was all she screamed the entire way.
O o O
Suzanne was still sobbing hysterically an hour later when the police arrived. By that time, students had gathered around the dorm room, wondering what was going on. Jim and Mr. Delmas ordered all of the students back to their dorms and remain there for the rest of the evening. When Jim wasn't herding the kids off, he was standing next to Suzanne, holding her and trying to give her some comfort.
Detective Michelette entered the dorm room and walked over to the desk. The box was still sitting there, with the object it contained laying open within it. The detective took a look for a moment, then shook his head.
The object that had frightened Mrs. Hertz was a severed cat's head. It's eyes were still wide open, along with it's mouth, the tongue lolling to one side. The detective also noted something else. On the bottom of the box, written in what looked like blood was the message:
You're Next
The detective bagged the head, it's wrapping paper, the box, the cotton fill, the box and it's wrapping paper into plastic evidence bags, then had an officer remove them. He then walked out and over to Suzanne.
"I take it that you recognized the contents," Detective Michelette said. Suzanne said nothing, she just nodded yes.
Turning to Mr. Delmas, the detective asked, "do you know how this got here?"
"From what my secretary said, it was hand delivered late this afternoon," the principal replied, "we assumed that Suzanne knew what it was and was expecting it, so I brought it over here."
"I see," he said, "Mrs. Hertz, this is looking worse and worse. He starts out verbally abusing you, then he proceeds to minor vandalism, moves on to major vandalism, then killing animals. It looks like he's working up to you. For your own safety, I would like to place you in protective custody. We would move you somewhere away from here until we caught your husband."
"And can you absolutely guarantee my safety?" Suzanne asked, "no, I would rather be here than trapped in some cage, no matter how nice you could make it."
"As you wish," Michelette replied, sighing, "what ever you do, be careful. Don't go anywhere alone, and don't open any package you may get. The next one may have something more explosive than the head of a beloved pet."
With that, the detective and the other officers took their leave.
"What do you want to do," Mr. Delmas asked her, "I'll do anything within my power to help you."
"I don't know, Jean-Pierre, I just don't know," Suzanne replied, "all I know at the moment is I am not sleeping in that room!"
"There's not really anywhere else available," Jim said, "all of the other open dorms are under renovation; we can't put you in one of those."
"Ah, daddy," came a girl's voice from across the hall. The adults turned and saw that one of the dorm rooms was open just enough to frame the face of principal's daughter, Sissi.
"We could, like, let Mrs. Hertz stay with us tonight," she said.
"No, I couldn't," Suzanne said.
"No, thank you, Sissi," her father said, "I appreciate your offer, but it's against regulations for adults to be sleeping in the same room as the students. We'll just have to find something else."
"She could sleep in my room," Jim said, "I could bunk in my workout room."
"No, Jim, that wouldn't work," Mr. Delmas said, "your room is the only apartment in the building, and it's in the basement. There are no other dorm rooms down there, so that would leave Suzanne alone. You would be over in the gymnasium and too far away if something should happen. No, we'll just have to think of something else."
The adults turned to leave. Jim offered to take Suzanne someplace to get something to eat and just get away from the school for a while. As they got to the stairwell doors, they were met by three more students, Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia and Ulrich Stern.
"What are you boys doing on the girls dorm level," Jim snapped, harsher than he wanted to, "the excitement's over for the evening; get back to your rooms before you wind up in detention."
"Jim, we want to help," Ulrich said, "I know someplace where Mrs. Hertz can stay, for the night anyway."
"Where?"
"Yumi's house," was the brunette's reply, "when you turned down Sissi's offer, she called Odd, who told me. I called Yumi and had her ask her parents if Mrs. Hertz could stay there. She did and they agreed."
"That's very nice, Ulrich," Suzanne said, "but how do I know that it will be alright?"
"Would my word suffice?" came a new voice.
Behind the boys, coming up the stairs, were Yumi's parents, with Yumi and a young boy trailing behind.
"Yumi has told me about what was happening to you, Mrs. Hertz," Mr. Ishiyama said, "and I will not turn down another in need if I can help. You are welcome to stay with us as long as you need to."
"I, I don't know what to say," Suzanne said.
"Yes will be sufficient," Mrs. Ishiyama piped in, "look at it this way, in return for room and board, you can fill us in on just how Yumi is really doing in school."
Suzanne Hertz smiled, the first one since she picked up that package.
"I would be more than happy to."