Chapter one of The Zookeeper’s Cage

Dear Jaiden,

Hello, how are you? You are probably wondering why this letter has no return address, and why I didn't send an email, and how I know your name. Well, a little introduction is in order before I get to those questions. I am Demetrie Guetta. Does the name ring a bell at all? No? Well, Jaiden, by the end of this letter you will know everything about me, and how I know everything about you.

See, a few years ago, you caused me some problems. A few years ago, I was in your tenth grade class. Is the memory coming back yet? No? Well, that's okay. You only destroyed my whole life. Not like that matters to you, of course. Oh yes, I know what you did to Lillian Retter. And Jacob. And everyone else on your hit list. But enough about you. Tenth grade. Oh, tenth grade year was going great for me, until you, the new student, got on my bus on January 16. You sat in the seat across from me. You kept your head down low, until Janie Pearson sat next to you.

"Hi," she said. Now I used to be friends with Janie, until she spread rumours about me in sixth grade. I knew she would poison you, too, from that moment on. But what I didn't know is that you would, in turn, poison everyone I loved.

You shyly muttered "Hi," and smiled. Then the bus pulled up to the school, and everyone got out. Janie was already whispering to you, about me, I'm sure, but I ignored you. You didn't matter, see? You were just another student. You couldn't hurt me. Oh, how I was wrong. So, horribly wrong.

The next day, Janie called me ugly. I didn't really care, because she had called me that before, but it was when all my friends around me started agreeing that I was hurt. You said;

"Who would ever love such a hideous person?" At the time, I had a boyfriend, and I said his name. Everyone laughed.

"Who is he, your Mom?" Janie sneered. Now, you wouldn't know this, but Janie did. My mom passed away when I was really young. I said;

"Janie, piss off. Don't talk about my mother." Loud "oooh"s came from all around me, locking me in a cage like an animal at the zoo, jeered at by the people outside the cage bars.

What I didn't know was that you, you, had locked me in that cage. No one else. Just you. You were the zookeeper, and I was your subservient animal. However, my respect for you was gone. At the first sign of weakness, I would pounce, and eat you alive. Yet the sign never came.

The next day, I was met with an evil surprise. My boyfriend (Jacob Fischer, remember him?) had killed himself that night.

At the assembly that day at school, I saw you and a group of kids, pointing at me, and the screen, and laughing. Now. Jaiden, you should know that doing so is very rude, very impolite. So I snuck closer.

“They’ll never figure out that it wasn’t suicide,” said Janie. You laughed.

“Nope, I did a good job.” And so you claimed your first victim. And I found my first nemesis. Someday, I vowed, I would lock your sorry zookeeper ass in a cage of my own design, one that would hurt like the devil.

Sincerely,

Demetrie Guetta