G&T Based

Chapter 30- Kyle

Chapter 30- Kyle

The next day, during first period, the officer walked in. Slowly, she scanned the room, and finally, began to talk.

"We have two reasons for being here," the female officer began, "One is that your fellow classmate who escaped from prison last night is being released and she's coming back to school. We decided to shorten time from her sentence since she was too much for us to handle. And yes, we are allowed to do this," she said looking directly at Lindsay and I. "Next," the officer continued, "I would like to inform you that another one of your classmates, Earl, is dead."

"He was murdered, stabbed by a knife to be exact, last night right outside of his house. We, the police department would just like to see if there's anyone here who might know something that could help us."

No one raised their hands, even though I thought that at least one of us would know something that would help. The class was dead silent. I looked over and saw Lori, whose face was completely pale.

"Contact us if you remember anything that can help." the police officer said, heading for the door, "Be on the watch."

I shivered, thinking that the murderer could very well be any one of us. But on the other hand, who would want to kill Earl? 

I sat at my desk, speechless, holding up my head using my hands. It felt like I was dehydrating, but different. I actually felt a little bit scared, thinking that there might be a serial killer on the loose.

No, I then thought, This could just be some freaky coincidence. Maybe by some chance, Earl's parents have a knife collection just like Mr. Laken and something just happened.

"Okay, everyone. Let's continue our lesson," Mr. Laken said, trying to fill up the silence. The class began to work immediately. No one, not even John, said anything.

But when lunch came around we were back to our lively and upbeat selves. It was as if all of us forgot about Earl's murder. After school, Felicia and I walked to the lake near our school for swim practice. Our summer swimming team was already beginning even though it was only the end of May and our meets weren't until late June. I had hurried to get my backpack ready since it took a good amount of time to walk to the lake and it was sweltering outside.

At swim practice, Felicia and I took the same lane and of course, the conversation ended up being about Earl's murder. "I personally think Katerina did it," Felicia told me during a break between laps, "After all, she does have some experience with this whole killing people thing."

Two of my other friends, Finn and Alyssa listened on, trying to figure out exactly what was happening.

"Or maybe it's someone less obvious," Alyssa added in, "You should always expect the unexpected."

Felicia could be right. It felt extremely weird with Katerina back in school now. I don't know how to describe it, but my stomach did a somersault every time she moved next to me. But on the other hand, Alyssa might be right too. The killer could be the one person none of us suspect. You know, like Paige or something.

After going home, taking a shower, and opening an ice pop, I plopped myself onto the couch and turned on the TV, searching for something good to watch. I briefly glanced at the news. The first thing I saw was a headline that said Serial Killer Strikes Again. On the TV, was a picture of our school.

Confusion flooded through my mind as I tried to piece together what was happening. Only Earl had been killed? But then, a picture of someone popped up onto the screen, a picture of someone who the news anchor said was found dead at school killed with a knife. The picture was not of Earl. It was of Jacob.

NCIS was one of my favorite shows and I'd seen lots of dead bodies before, but this was different. This was someone I knew.

I quickly shut off the TV, cold sweat dripping down my neck. At almost the same time, my phone dinged. The text message was from Lori. Hey Kyle it began, Kate, Hunter, Justin, and I are going to the school to see what's going on. You can join us if u like. Bye

Sure, I responded, putting my phone down. Not long after I responded, I was jogging back towards school, the ice pop in my hand. On the way, I met Lori, and we started to walk together.

"So..." she said skeptically, her ponytail bobbing up and down, "Who do you think did it."

"I honestly don't know," I responded, not knowing what else to say.

Once we arrived at school, Lori and I found Justin, Kate, Hunter, and Mango. I really wished that either Mango wasn't here, or that Lori told me beforehand. It had taken a lot of effort to get close to the school since the school was crowded with the police, news reporters, and important looking people. Getting pushed through a large crowd of people is not fun. If I wasn't as tall as I was right now, Kate and I probably would never get out of the mess of people.

"Look!" Lori suddenly shouted, pointing to the school entrance, "They're moving Jacob's body out!"

The five of us stretched our necks to see what was happening. We were already standing on some of the rocks outside of the school where Lea and I sometimes ate outside. Despite this height advantage, it was still necessary for some of us, such as Hunter and Mango, who weren't as tall as everyone else, to crane our necks.

The sight was horrific. Even though the amount of blood was minimum, most likely because the paramedics had already cleaned it, Jacob looked far from nice. His clothes were stained red and from what I could make out, he had the lifeless look on his face. A giant white cloth was covering him, so it was kind of hard to see his full appearance.

I quickly turned away, the cold sweat returning to my neck. I told the others that I needed to leave and started walking back home, thinking. Thinking about what would happen next.

***

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday, the next two days of school, the principal corroborated with the police to try to figure out who killed Jacob. They were checking all the video cameras in the school. Walking past the main office a few times, I could hear the police saying how the killer hid his or her footprints very well.

I heard them saying that the police were going to be watching the students and preparing for another attack. The school didn't seem much different today compared to any other day...