Grace stretched languidly on the comfortable bed. She had had the best night of sleep since she had seen the tape: no images of Ruby haunting her dreams; no visions of her screams piercing in the night. She snuggled against the pillow, her eyes reluctant to open, as she breathed in the smell of him, the Cookie Monster doll clutched protectively in her arms. Strange. A week ago she wouldn't have been caught dead being alone in the same room with him. This morning, she realized that the reason she had slept so well was none other than Psycho Tse.
So after a couple of minutes, Grace finally opened her eyes.
And screamed. And screamed.
For on the pillow next to hers was the thing she dread the most.
The mask of The Killer Klowns from Mars, complete with a stick on note attached to the head.
"I'm going to kill you, Tse!" she screamed loudly as she tore the note from the mask and jumped out of the bed. Her heart was caught in her throat, and she was breathing so harshly that her lungs started to burn.
'Hey Princess,
Sorry I had to fly
but I had something to do.
There's OJ in the fridge and
a donut that is halfway decent.
I'll see you in Koo's class.
Peace,
Tse.
PS: Don't change the sheets.
I have big plans for them!"
Grace looked at the Felix The Cat clock and realized she was late. No time for breakfast; although she had to admit that a 'halfway decent donut' was kind of appetizing. She quickly changed her shirt to the one she had been carrying in her bag and left the house, not before stuffing the Cookie Monster doll in her bag.
As she rode on the subway train toward the school, she couldn't stop herself as thoughts of Tse, Killer Klowns from Mars, and Professor Koo left her mind only to be replaced by thoughts of Edison.
Could this Edison be Ruby's killer? She tried to concentrate on the statistical impossibility of her looking for Ruby's killer in a city with 9.8 million inhabitants and finding him without any effort. In fact, she hadn't found him, he had found her. That thought alone soothe her a bit. It was improbable, and quite impossible.
If it wasn't Edison, who could it be?
Who else knew Ruby? Who else knew enough about editing and filming to do the snuff film?
Who else could be capable of such a horrendous thing?
Hell, Ruby disappeared two years ago. What was there to say that the killer had not died since then? Anything can happen in two years: a horrible accident� an incurable illness� a murder� a suicide. Maybe she was looking for a person that was already dead.
But then she thought about Ruby's parents. She closed her eyes and saw the picture on the newspaper, the one of Ruby's father holding a picture of their daughter. "Where's our daughter?" the headline said. And the fact that only she knew the answer was eating Grace alive.
She needed to find this murderer.
If he was dead, she could at least bring solace to Ruby's family.
If he was alive, she could stop him from hurting others.
Grace said a silent prayer, and begged God to help her.
With Tse's help, she knew it was only a matter of time.
**********************
Prof. Koo's Class
11:00 AM
Tse walked inside the classroom and toward his desk. Everyone was talking with each other, waiting for Professor Koo to come. He had been busy that morning, but he hoped to catch Grace here.
The moment he sat down, Gia, the girl who sat behind him, tapped him on the shoulder. "What do you want?" he said gruffly. "Is Grace your girl?" Gia asked. It was such a strange question that he turned around to look at her. "WTF" he replied. "I mean, is Grace, the girl that sits two seats in front of you, the one you so lovingly referred to as 'bookworm', 'class leach', 'teacher's pet', yada yada yada Your Girl?"
"No, why?" Tse asked annoyed. "Don't mind her. Gia is jealous and wants to make you jealous too," Leakena said with a snide. "Why the fu*k?" he asked harshly. "Because her dear Professor Koo went on a date last night with Gracie and Gia is mad!" Gloria said as she deflected Gia's slap.
Now, the one that was mad was Tse. So that's why Grace was all so prettied up when she had reached his apartment. And here he was thinking that it was because of him that she had fixed herself up. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid!
At that second, Grace stepped into the classroom in a hurry. "Good, he's late," she whispered as she hastily made her way to her seat. Before she sat down, she noticed everyone that sat around her was staring at her. "Uh... What's going on?" she asked as she put her stuff down.
"We are just waiting to hear the details," Gia said between clenched teeth. "Details� Well, I just came from the bathroom and I think I'm constipated. Is that the details you wanted to know?" Grace answered cynically. "She's talking about the details of your date with Koo," Leakena said.
"How the hell�?" Grace whispered with wide eyes. How the hell did they know she was with Koo last night? There was only one student aside from her in that wake and as Grace looked for her she knew she was the culprit.
"POPPIE! It was a wake! Why did you tell them we were on a date?" she asked her friend Camel. "Sorry, Gracie. I just said that you came with the professor and they drew their own conclusions," Camel said apologetically. "Well, to all of you that seem to care it wasn't a date! It was a freaking wake! Besides, all of you should have been there, he was your professor too," Grace said angrily as she took a sit, not failing to see Tse's accusatory glance a few feet behind.
"The guy is dead. Why would he care?" Gloria said. Grace was going to turn around to give her a piece of her mind when Professor Koo came into the classroom. "Sorry for my tardiness. Now, if you could pass your assignments to the front, because we have a lot to discuss today," Louis said.
Grace didn't listen to anything he said during the entire class. She was just staring blankly at a piece of paper. In it, she had written the questions she would ask Edison. There were pretty normal questions. What's your name? What's your relationship to Ruby? How did you find out about her disappearance? Do you think she was murdered?
The thing that bothered her most was the last question she had written. She had been pretending to pay attention to the class, and she was writing without looking at the page. The next time she read what she wrote, she was shocked beyond belief. Why would she think of asking something like that?
'Are you going to kill me?'
***********************
One hour later.
Lockers
Grace walked slowly toward Psycho. He was in front of his locker, placing some books on it and taking some out. He looked pissed off, and she didn't want to imagine why. "Hey, you okay?" she asked him when she reached him. "Sure I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" he said sharply as he slammed his locker door shut.
"Alrighty" she said as she decided to ignore his mood. "Hey, I need your opinion on this," she started saying as she took her notebook out of her backpack. "Why don't you ask for your Professor's help?"he said cynically. And that got her angry. "Why don't you tell me what your fu*king problem is?" she replied.
"My fu*king problem is� ah, forget it!" he said as he started walking away. She walked after him and grabbed him by the backpack. "No, you tell me now! What the fu*k did I do wrong?" she said as she grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "I don't know what the problem is. I just know I'm angry," he said as he avoided her eyes.
She took his chin roughly and made him look at her. "Are you jealous of the professor?" she asked softly. "I don't know� maybe�" he said after a while. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, Tse� first of all, you have no reason to be jealous of the professor because you are not my boyfriend. Second, I am not remotely interested in the professor, not that is any of your business, third..."
"Hi, Grace," she heard a soft masculine voice say. She looked at Tse and noticed his jaw was squarely shut. He looked mad and worried. Dread filled her stomach as she turned around, hoping not to find the person she knew she would find.
"Hi, Edison," she said shyly as she strained a smile. Edison had a lopsided grin, a cute dimple showing on his right cheek. Grace was standing so close to him she realized his eyes weren't truly brown, but hazel. They changed colors depending on the shirt he wore, and today his eyes look a shade of purple. But the most interesting thing about his appearance was the red rose he was holding in his hand.
"This is for you. I want to apologize for scaring you yesterday," he said with his honey-coated voice as he gave the rose to Grace. "Um, thanks, but you didn't really scare me," Grace stuttered, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. She tried concentrating on the rose petals, so red, so incredibly beautiful. She casually smelled the rose and she could smell his cologne in the crimson petals, and couldn't help but smile.
"Ahem," Grace heard Psycho grunt. "Um, I'm sorry. Edison, this is our cameraman, Psy.. umm Tse and Tse this is Edison Chen," she said uncomfortably. She realized that after four years of sharing a classroom, she didn't know Tse's real first name. "Hey, how's it going?" Edison said with a smile as he offered his hand to Psycho. Psycho looked at the hand, and after a while took it and shook it lightly.
"Well, I have classes now, but I'll see you in an hour. Can't wait," Edison said to Grace as he turned around and stepped into a classroom. He didn't leave Grace's sight until he was out of her range of vision.
"Okay, it's definite. I'm not worried about the professor," Psycho said seriously. "Why?" she asked casually as she fiddled with the rose in her hand.
"Cause I'm afraid you are falling for the killer," Psycho said bluntly.
"Shut up! Now, can you help me, please?" she said seriously. He looked straight into her eyes, and after a while, he exhaled loudly and said, "Sure, what does the little princess need?"
"I prepared a list of questions to ask Edison. Tell me what you think?" she said as she opened the notebook on the last written page. "What the fu*k can one ask a murderer?" Psycho asked rhetorically as Grace glared at him to shut up.
Grace: "Was Ruby a normal girl?"
Psycho (mocking): "I'm glad you ask pretty lady, because she was wonderful, full of love and life, until I killed her, of course."
Grace: "Did she mix with strange people?"
Psycho (mocking): "No, she was a saint. Although I think she had a bit of crush on that strikingly handsome guy formerly known as Tse."
Grace: "Did she seem strange prior to her disappearance?"
Psycho (mocking): "She bought a dildo named The Bunny."
Grace: "Do you think she was killed?"
"WOAH! Hold your horses! You can't ask that! Take that one out!" Psycho said with wide eyes. "But it's fundamental to the interview," Grace replied. "You'll fu*k up if you ask him that. That's the equivalent of asking: "did you kill her?""he explained. "If I don't, Edison might think I'm avoiding the issue," Grace said.
"Fu*k! Please stop thinking about what he might think! This interview isn't real! This isn't your thesis, Grace! Come on!" Psycho said angrily. "Fine! I'll take it out! Alright, let me put something in the locker and then I'll treat you to lunch," she said as she gave up fighting with him. She walked to her locker, opening her backpack on the way as she searched her bag for her key chain.
She was already in front of the locker, but she couldn't find her keys anywhere. This was odd. Grace was a control freak. She knew exactly where she placed everything. "Shit, where are they? Have you seen my keys, Tse?" she asked. Psycho looked inside her bag and pulled out a key chain. "These?" he asked. "No. That belongs to my sister! Shit, I never lose my keys!" she said as she closed her backpack, coming empty-handed.
"Well, welcome to the club. By the way, did you like my note this morning? That was for not inviting me to share the bed with you," Psycho said casually.
"Jerk! I'm terrified of clowns," she grumbled.
"I know, now, about that lunch�"
************
C-10
12:59 AM
"Well, he isn't here yet. Let's take a moment to spot the emergency exit in case the man decides to come with a chainsaw to rip us apart," Psycho said as he stepped inside the room they were meeting Edison in. "Haha! Stop it. I'm already a bit freaked out," Grace said as she followed him inside and started arranging the place for her interview.
"Okay, Tse. Keep the camera pointed at him at all times. Try to catch a few close ups, but nothing too dense. By no means will you record me. Is that clear?" Grace instructed. "Why can't I?" he asked amused. "Because I don't like being recorded. If I had any desire to appear on film, I would have studied acting instead of filmmaking," she said as she walked back to where he was standing, keeping her eyes fixed on the closed door.
"Do you think he did it?" she asked Psycho as she looked at the door. "I think he did, yeah." he answered as he looked straight at her. "You sound like you know him," she said casually. "I know of his kind. That's enough for me," he whispered.
Grace nervously glanced at her watch. "1:00 PM. Any minute now," she said nervously. She looked so cute as she bit her lower lip anxiously, adjusting her already neatly positioned eyeglasses. Psycho couldn't resist the urge to stand directly in front of her and wrap his arms around her waist. She was surprised to say the least, as proven by the way she looked at him and said, "Tse, what are you doing?"
"I think it will be best if Edison thinks you are not available. I don't trust him to behave, even if he has a girlfriend. That way he won't get closer than he has to, specially with me around," Psycho whispered. His face was mere inches above hers and she could feel his hot breath on her forehead.
"I don't like this, stop it," she whispered as she tried avoiding his eyes. "Is that why you're trembling?" he asked with a grin as he kept his hold on her.
"Fu*k" she cursed in her mind. She was trembling. "No. I'm hypoglycemic. My sugar is low," she lied. "You ate half an hour ago. Low sugar it ain't," he replied. He took one of his hands from her waist and took off his eyeglasses. "Here. Does this make it better? Do I look now half as handsome as your wonderful Mr. Chen, who I am sure is the one you are dreaming of holding you?" Psycho said mockingly as he hugged her even tighter.
"Tse, this is weird� I hardly know.." she started saying when he placed his finger in her lips and said, "Shh! We are just acting Grace. We are putting up a little show for the psycho killer. It doesn't mean anything. I just don't want him getting close to you."
"What's your name? Your real first name," Grace suddenly asked as she took the courage to look into his eyes. "Promise not to laugh?" he said with a grin. "Promise," she said with a smile of her own. "It's Nicholas, pretty gay name, isn't it?" he joked. "I like it," she said sincerely.
"Well, I think it sounds lame compared to the nickname you kids have given me," he said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "What nickname?" she asked feigning innocence. "You know, Psycho," he replied. "So, you know about that," Grace replied in shock. No one called Tse 'Psycho' to his face. In fact, hardly anyone talked to him. "I'm not stupid. I've heard," he said sincerely. "And you don't mind?" she asked curiously.
"Of course not. It's my favorite movie. It is a privilege to be named after Norman Bates," he joked. "Okay, you have just upped the creep factor," Grace replied. "Why?" he said with a smile. "Cause I spent the night at your place! What if you had gone all Psycho on me? What would have happened to poor little me?" she said with a pout. "Heheh, that's cute. Naw, I'm pretty much a harmless geek. But, for future reference, don't take a shower in my house or I might go all e-e-ee-e-e-ee on you!" he joked as he hummed the familiar Psycho tune.
She suddenly turned very serious. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "I'm afraid, Tse." she said as she looked down, staring into his 'Austin 3:16' shirt. "Of what?" he asked. "That what happened to Ruby might have happened to other girls. That it might still be happening, that it will happen to me," Grace said, her voice breaking slightly. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him, to bury her face in his chest and cry away. Instead, she just covered her face with her hands and sighed.
"Grace, I.." Psycho started saying seriously when they heard the door creak. A second later, Edison stepped inside the room. Grace took a step back from Psycho nervously, freeing herself from Psycho's arms, as she gave Edison an apologetic smile. Edison looked surprised at the sight, but didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry if I'm late. Had a small argument with my significant other," Edison said apologetically. "Is that the camera?" Psycho said gruffly as he pointed to the black bag Edison carried and put on his glasses. "Yes, this is it. You know how it works, right?" Edison said. "Yep. Not a problem," he replied as he took the camera off the bag and placed it on his shoulder.
After adjusting the lenses, he gave Edison and Grace a thumbs up. Grace took a deep breath, pointed to a chair and said, "how about we start?" Edison nodded and sat on the chair Grace had instructed. Grace sat on the other chair, knowing she was out of the camera's sight, and took her notebook in her hand.
Psycho pressed the record button and said, "rolling."
Grace: "We are talking with Mr. Edison Chen, a film and media student here at New York University. Edison was a friend and classmate of Ruby.... Edison, can you tell us what happened"
Edison: "Well, she didn't come to class for a few days. Ruby was a very responsible student, so we all got worried. We called her house and they told us she had disappeared. The police, her family and friends looked for her for months but we never heard anymore about her."
Grace: "Do you think she was kidnapped?"
Edison (shaking his head): "Some people think so, but I think it's absurd. You see, after her disappearance, she wrote home saying she had fallen in love with a guy and that she had decided to run away with him. The police confirmed it was Ruby's handwriting, and that she didn't write it under duress. Besides, Ruby's family is quite rich and no ransom money was ever demanded."
Grace: "And you didn't suspect anything? Weren't you informed about her life?"
Edison smiled and said, "Well, she was my friend, but I never spy on anyone." His smile grew wider as he looked directly at Grace and said, "Do you?"
Grace had to take a deep breath before asking, "Do you know who she might have run away with?"
"I have no idea. But knowing Ruby it would have to be someone really special," Edison answered sincerely while looking at where Psycho was standing. "Special in what way?" Grace asked. "In every way. Ruby was truly a special girl. Wherever she was, she would light up the day."
Grace took another deep breath. They were down to their last question. "If you could send a message to Ruby, what would it be?" Grace asked as she concentrated her eyes on the piece of paper in her hands.
Psycho did a close up as Edison looked directly at the camera as if it was Ruby. Edison took a deep breath before saying, "Ruby� I know that two years have gone by and that you have made your new life, but I want you to know that, wherever you are, your friends will never forget you. Please Ruby. Come back to us. I.. we love you."
His voice had break up slightly, and Grace had to look up from her notes to see his face. She was amazed at what she saw. A silent crystalline tear had left his lovely eyes and had traveled softly down his perfect cheeks.
**********
30 Minutes Later
"He was crying," Grace said as she and Psycho walked down the stairs. The interview was over when the last question was answered. Edison and her said their goodbyes, while Psycho merely grunted at him. Now, they were walking down the stairs towards the building's main hall.
"That's bullshit, Grace!" Psycho said angrily. "And what if he's saying the truth? What if he truly believes Ruby ran off with another guy?" Grace said. She didn't understand Psycho's reluctance to believe a guy like Edison could be innocent.
"Please, Grace! Don't go along with his sick little game. He looks at you with his angel face and googoo eyes and you believe every fucking piece of crap that comes out of his mouth. What is it? Do you like him? Is that it?" Psycho said as he stopped and looked back at her.
"Don't be stupid." Grace replied sharply. "No, don't YOU be stupid," Psycho said as he started walking away. Grace took a deep breath and followed. "Well, what about the letter?"
"The letter only shows that Ruby fell in love with a freaking bloke," Psycho said tiredly. "And who is he?" Grace asked. "Who the fu*k do you think? EDISON! That Edison! He probably fu*ked her and then killed her!" Psycho said as he pointed back to where they were coming from.
Grace was a bit mad at his stubbornness. "How can you be so goddamn sure? Besides, Edison has a girlfriend!" she said seriously.
Psycho stopped walking and turned sharply around. "Let's see if you can get this inside that pretty little head of yours. Apart from being a stuck-up little piece of shit, Edison is a fu*king psychopath. And that is it! For goodness sake Grace, can't you see how he looks at you? He's dying to blow your brains out while he fucks you up the arse! He's insane!" he muttered under his breath.
"Wow, sounds like you simply don't like him," Grace said as she held his stare. Psycho looked away first, turned around and kept walking. "Fu*k. If you encourage him, you'll see how right I am. When you finally realize what is going on, he'll come around with a knife and a camera. And you'll definitely be ready for your spread-eagle close up," he said, catching the stares of nearby students.
Grace jogged until she was next to him and whispered, "So� what now?" "What now?" he replied casually. "What do we do now?" she repeated. "Nothing," Psycho answered.
"Nothing?" she asked surprised. "Yeah. We know who it is. We know to steer clear of him. So just go home and avoid him," he replied casually.
"But, can't we tell the police?" Grace asked, feeling totally helpless. Psycho replied, "Like hell we won't! You stole the tape. Remember? Besides, we don't have any proof. We don't even know where Lau got the tape from."
"From the archives," she replied. That made Psycho stopped to look at her. "That's impossible," he replied. "Well, he told me he was going to the archives that afternoon. He was watching the tape on university grounds. That tells me he got the tape here, at NYU. What if he found it on his little trip to the archives?" Grace said logically.
"Interesting," he said as he bit his lip pensively. "What are you thinking?" she asked. After a few seconds, he looked straight into her eyes and said, "I'm thinking that you should go home, take a warm bath, masturbate to my image if that helps you to relax and wait for my call," Psycho said as he winked at her and walked back the way he came from.
"What are you doing to do?" Grace called back to him. "I'm going to do some investigating of my own, Miss Nancy Drew," he said as he kept walking back to the university's hall.