"WAKE UP!" A loud voice jolted me away.
My eyes initially struggled to adjust to the morning light, a blurry image eventually focused to reveal Kira's angry face. I felt light, as if I had let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"What time is it?" My voice came out rough and dry. I looked at the clock by the bathroom, 7:30. "What's going on? It's only 7:30."
"That's not what worries me."
"T-Then what's the problem?"
"It's Monday, you slept through an entire day."
Kira showed me her phone to prove it, I had indeed slept for a little more than a day.
I gave an embarrassed smile, one which melted the scowl on Kira's face. My body felt great, so I quickly stood up from the couch and stretched a bit. After thoroughly loosening up my muscles, I turned to Kira.
"You have class right?"
She nodded, "I was about to leave, just thought it might be a good idea to wake you up first."
With that, she threw a small backpack over her shoulder and left. The room felt empty without her, but it wasn't enough to bum me out. With this much energy, it was clear what needed to be done.
It was time to start the investigation.
Thoughts and plans naturally formed as I went about my morning routine, some plausible while others less so. Most of my investigation know-how came from books and TV series so I was far from a professional investigator, but I had picked up a thing or two.
I could break down the art of investigation into a few principles:
1. What didn't click? What piece of the puzzle didn't have a logical explanation for being where it is? What was in the wrong spot?
2.Why? Everything has a history, so trying to find the why to every aspect of a crime scene allows the bigger picture to become clear.
3.Think in probabilities, not absolutes. Until given undeniable proof, any and all things are possible.
This list, courtesy of Sherlock Lupin from "The Secret of Jaquen" and Klein from "Lies Hidden In The Grey Fog", would be the base of my investigation. With a little luck, something, no matter how small, would reveal itself to me.
First clue, Mr. Kai Artofex Tremblay. The school's Fine Arts teacher and a decently famous actor, he alone raised the school's prestige by a decent amount.
And he seemed to be involved with some strange ice-man with a very charming smile.
Having put on my clothes, I headed outside and began looking. My first target was Pandora, seeing as he had a class with Mr. Kai and we were not quite strangers. I didn't talk to him often, but he was Kira's friend so he couldn't be that bad.
It didn't take long to find him, his auburn locks shining in the sea of people around building Delta 1 like a torch in the night. I wondered if his hair was dyed, as everything about him screamed "attention" in a way that couldn't be natural.
"Pandora?" My voice came out stronger than I had expected, surprising even me. A full day of sleep truly did things to your body.
He turned to me with a smile, one that felt like it could melt snow, one that felt like it was meant just for me. The faint smell of oranges wafted in the air, strong but not overpowering.
My heart tightened slightly, as if I had done something wrong.
Two faces appeared in my head. I had expected one, Kira. This was her friend, I couldn't have my heart getting faster just because he smiled at me. The second…was unexpected. It was Haylen.
I couldn't tell you why.
"Eliya?"
Pandora snapped me out of my reveries, his face turning slightly in concern.
"Sorry, I got distracted. I had something I wanted to ask you."
Maybe it was because I was Kira's friend, or maybe it was because my reputation as the girl who stabbed another student's eye had spread, but he seemed strangely attentive.
"Ask away."
I took a deep breath before my lips parted once more. "Has Mr. Kai been acting strange recently?"
For a few seconds, there was silence, as if he was deep in thought. Only after what felt like a century of waiting did he finally answer.
"Mr.Kai's always strange, but I'm guessing you're asking if he's been even stranger than usual? I can't think of much and I doubt this'll help, but there has been one change I've noticed dating back to last Friday."
"What is it?"
"Well, he always carries this black notebook around, though I had never seen him open it. Friday, he opened it in class for the first time. I had an extra class with him after three and the same thing happened.
"He probably just writes in it when we're not around and just happened to need to write something down that day at that exact time, but I found it a little strange."
He shrugged, not sure if what he had said was of any help. But I thought otherwise.
"How much would I have to pay you to get me that book?"
Pandora's smile turned into an almost predatory grin, his eyes trembling with something I couldn't quite name.
"You want me to steal that notebook from Mr.Kai? You, Perfect Eliya?"
I turned from his gaze, I couldn't believe it myself. But the timing matched up perfectly.
According to Kira, Haylen had first made it on campus Friday night, and Mr. Kai started using that black notebook the same day. It was likely a coincidence, but I didn't want to take chances.
"I'll do it for free, it sounds very fun." That very made my heart drop, was Pandora a chaos junkie who enjoyed causing mischief?
[That doesn't matter, I need more leads.]
I gave Pandora a farewell before continuing my investigation, but that seemed futile. From the dorms to building Lamba 4, no one else had heard or seen anything. Most people only asked whether I was alright or avoided me because of what I had done to Bran.
I continued until nightfall, then headed back. I had at least gotten one lead; I hoped Kira would find another.
The air was still, no, I simply couldn't sense the movement. As I walked back, I felt something grip my chest, dread. Each one of my steps felt heavier than life , draining decades of my life.
Before I realized it, I found myself not at the dorms, but standing between two buildings looking into a field not far from the school. My legs were moving on their own, drawn to three silhouettes in the distance. Moonlight barely lit their features, revealing two familiar faces and one I didn't recognize.
The two I did recognize were the brothers who had been carrying Haylen two days ago.
The third figure was a tall man with amber colored eyes. His skin, silver with horizontal lines dividing it into segments, shone under the light. His clean-shaven head gave him the look of a military man. Around his shoulders was draped a black trench coat with red accents.
My mind screamed to run away, but my body refused to obey. Instead, I took a step forward.