50 Words For Murder

chapter 3 : liquidation

liquidation

lɪkwɪˈdeɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

the killing of someone, typically by violent means.

Halloween Night 10:25 P.M

Zayn entered his room, finding it to be empty. A small note with shabbily written handwriting was pasted on the door.
Going to meet some friends. Lost my key, sorry - Andy

Zayn sighed. This was the third time in a year Andy had lost his keys. He wondered if the dorm management would even provide them with another one this time. He wandered into his room to make sure Andy hadn't left anything on. His forgetful roommate often had a habit of well, forgetting, resulting in heavy electrical bills and even a case of bird nests.

Zayn picked up a cigarette from his bookcase. He lit it, idly and stared out of the window. A light drizzle pattered against his room window. The moonlight seaped through the dark clouds, falling on a photograph on Andy's side of the room. In the photograph, Andy had his arm wrapped around a pretty girl and both of them were laughing. Zayn recolied in surprise. So that's why he felt like Cassie - Niall's latest fling - looked familiar. The girl in the photograph was indeed Cassie but Zayn knew she and Andy had broken up a long time ago. Zayn recalled Andy telling him he hadn't moved on from her. Now it made sense. Zayn's memory was extraordinary.

That's probably why she could recognize me, thought Zayn, remembering the one time Andy brought Cassie to their room when he was leaving. His thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang. The screen displayed a photo of Zayn and Niall, laughing - the one Harry took on their summer break in Cheshire - and Niall's caller ID. He swiped the green button and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said, exhaling the smoke. Silence. Zayn wondered if Niall had butt-dialled him. "Niall? You okay, mate?"

No response. Zayn heard a sharp swiping sound in the background and the scrunching of leaves. Silence. Then, the line went dead. Zayn shrugged. Niall had butt-dialed and drunk-dialed him and his friends before and he should've been used to this by now but he felt like something was wrong. He shook it away. Harry and his stupid superstitions had caught up to him. He decided to go back to his friends. On his way back, he took one last glance at the room, locked it and left.

He began walking to the bar, the rain lightly hitting his leather jacket. Once he reached the bar entrance, he was in for a surprise.

There was a paramedics van parked outside it and Louis, Liam and Harry were sitting inside. Zayn walked up to it, surprised.

"Drugged," came a voice. Zayn turned around to see a short, dark woman talking to him. "Got a call at around 10:15 saying three college boys had fainted in front of the bar. Assumed it was a case of hangover but looks like their drinks were roofied with."
"You're the attending doctor?" asked Zayn, observing her name tag. The lady nodded, looking at his friends.

"Caroline Watson. Attending physician, Oakwood Hospital," said the woman, "These friends of yours?"
"You could say that," said Zayn. Before Caroline could reply, her pager began ringing.
"Duty calls," she said, sounding serious. "Lot of misbehavior on Halloween night. Us doctors have to stay alert all the time. Take care of your friends."
She went off running and Zayn walked up to his friends.

"I see you met Caroline," said Harry. "Great, isn't she? I had a posting with her last week."
"You guys look terrible," said Zayn, sitting next to Liam.
"Gee, thanks, mate," said Louis, sarcastically. He had removed his fangs and his hair was a mess. His eyeliner was smeared down his cheek. "We didn't realize the need to look fabulous while being drugged."

"Rohypnol," said Harry, looking dejected. His top hat and cane were sitting beside him and his curly hair was all messy,
"Ro-what?" asked Liam, whose mask had been removed but was still in his suit.
"Rohypnol," repeated Harry. "It's a drug used to roofie drinks. That's what Caroline said our drinks had."
"Why?" asked Louis. "We're not girls."
"So?"
"I thought people usually roofied just women's drinks," said Louis. "But then again, we had a case last year about how a man was murdered after being roofied."

Zayn stayed silent. He remembered his calculation of the extra drinks Count Dracula had ordered. Had he drugged them? Were those drinks even meant for them? More over, was one of the drinks - the one Zayn had rejected - drugged, too?

Suddenly, everyone looked up at the TV. Someone had increased the volume.

"Well I'll be damned," said Louis, softly, reading the headline.
"This is bad," said Harry, trembling.
"Shit," said Liam. "Niall!"

The news reporter said, "We recently received reports saying Oakwood student, Cassie Cowell, has been murdered on campus grounds. Police say they might already have a suspect. Stay tuned for more information. This is your reporter, Stephanie Stells."

A chill went down Zayn's spine. Where was Niall?

A/n :
Oooooh! Cilff-hanger! Sort of.
Anyway, did Niall kill her?! Is Niall okay?! Where is Niall?!
Hahaha. Don't worry, folks, all will be revealed in a matter of time. *evil grin*
Thanks for reading! Please vote! x