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  Josh: But I never saw YOU laugh at me, and join in their cruelty.

  Josh: Knew you were beautiful and different. Knew you had to be mine. I wanted you.

  Josh: Wanted to BE you.

  Mandy: my parents r cllng the police

  Mandy: so if ths a joke stop now

  Josh: it's too late for that. Remember what I wrote?

  Josh: You laughed and said I should be a romance writer?

  Josh: "Take me away to a better place where we may be united in passion

  Josh: the likes of which would set the very world aflame!"

  Josh: Remember? Well, I do write romance stories. I have, for years.

  Josh: Sitting here in this rotten little house with my clothes still stinking of grease

  Josh: writing down my dreams for nobody but me to read.

  Josh: Well this one isn't a dream. This is the REAL romance. You and me, my precious little girl.

  Josh: We're going to be together very soon. I'm the angel that's taking you away from all of this.

  Josh: Just us. Forever

  Josh: I did this for both of us, to set us free and bring us to a place

  Josh: where ugliness won't matter because our souls will be one and the same.

  Josh: and we'll both be beautiful

  Mandy is offline.

  # # #

  Shortly after the last exchange between Mandy Ruminek and "Josh", Mandy was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at the scene. Her sister later made a full recovery. In all, thirty-one students suffered thallium poisoning at the hands of cafeteria worker Kathleen "Fatty Kathy" Myer. Of those, seven died.

  Investigators later confirmed that Kathleen Myer had been the author of the instant messages to Mandy Ruminek and Sue Patterson. Myer, 56, was described as morose and irritable, and had a history of mental problems for which she was still receiving treatment. Two hours after Mandy Ruminek was admitted to the emergency unit, local authorities received, via email, screenshots of the conversations she had had with Myers. They were accompanied by a message:

  Come find my remains.

  I don't envy you your search for answers.

  Sometimes there aren't any.

  I'm with her now, and we are at peace

  Kathleen Angelica Myer

  Myer was later found dead at her keyboard. She had suffered a heart attack as a result of a large dose of thallium. In the rundown house on North High Street, in which she'd lived alone, investigators recovered a plastic tub in which traces of thallium nitrate were detected, and over a hundred handbound manuscripts, all of which contained Myer's handwritten romance novels.

  There was no suicide note.

  Among the scant few pictures on the walls of Myer's home was one of a teenage boy, later identified by a neighbor as Myer's brother, who died in the car accident that claimed their parents in 1969.

  The boy's name was Josh.

  At the time of this printing, and despite ongoing protests by the parents of the victims, eleven of Kathleen Myer's novels are scheduled for posthumous publication.

  Two of them have been optioned for film.

  About the Author

  Born and raised in Dungarvan, Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke is an award-winning author described as "a newcomer worth watching" (Publishers Weekly) and "one of the most original authors in contemporary horror" (Booklist).

  Some of his works include the novels KIN, MASTER OF THE MOORS, CURRENCY OF SOULS and THE HIDES, the novellas THE TURTLE BOY (Bram Stoker Award Winner, 2004), VESSELS, MIDLISTERS, and JACK & JILL, and the collections RAVENOUS GHOSTS, THEATER MACABRE, and THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA & OTHERS (Bram Stoker Award-Nominee, 2009).

  Kealan Patrick Burke

  ***

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