CHASING THE MURDERER
Cold shivers passed down through our spines as Martha bluntly mentioned the name of F.I.B.
We stared at each other's perplexed faces but finally gave in as we didn't see any better on our way.
"Good!" Martha exclaimed, getting up from her seat and dialling a number on her phone.
We sat there uneasily as she instructed someone to get there quickly. We were so numb that I hardly realized she forgot to tell the person our dorm address.
Or maybe the person knew us! That would be the worst.
I prayed for it to end as fast as it could. My throbbed heart would no longer take any blow. But, reality does have a lot of surprises hidden in it.
The door was knocked, and Martha approached to open it. She talked to the person at the door for a few minutes before letting him in.
"Is everything alright?" A worried voice rang in my ears, and I felt that a cold breeze had just turned me to ice.
His voice was so familiar. It could be no one other than…
"Evan here is from F.I.B. He was here for holidays but considering your situation, I think you should seek help from him." Martha was introduced, but I didn't raise my head.
My heart was racing faster than it had ever been, plunging out of my chest. I'm pretty sure everyone in the room was able to hear it accelerating.
Martha shared some other details too. And I could feel Grace and Hannah getting relaxed by the comfort Evan provided to them. However, in my case, I found myself drowning in the sweat of embarrassment.
The boy I knew since childhood, the one who respected me the most. Is he a F.I.B. agent? And to top it off, he now knows I am a criminal.
What will he think about me?
This is so messed up!
Silent tears started gushing down my eyes as I couldn't lift my head up.
Suddenly, I felt a warm hand placed on my shoulder. Then, another hand lifted the bottom of my chin, letting me see the messy blonde man sitting in front of me on his knees.
Correction:
Not just any blonde man. HE WAS AN FBI AGENT!!!!
My heart leaped into my throat. Evan kept smiling at me dearly, his emerald eyes staring into mine.
"Clean those tears of yours. I have something important to talk about." He instructed and got up.
My gaze involuntarily followed his eyes. He turned towards Martha and nodded. In turn, she swiftly took Grace and Hannah with her, leaving Evan and me behind in my room.
I was sitting on my bed, my hands clenching the border. Evan sat beside me. My head had again dropped down, and I was staring at the floor. Only this time, there were no tears.
"Do you want some water?" He asked with the softest of voices I had ever heard.
I turned my head left-right without uttering a word. He nodded understandably.
"About what happened…" he began.
"Evan?!" I murmured. "Please don't be mad at me." I don't know why I said that.
He didn't even seem like he was mad at me or anyone. He was calm and patient, trying to comfort. My weird statement caught his attention too. So, he looked at me with surprise.
"Why would that be?" He inquired.
No answer. I had none.
I just shrugged, making him sigh.
"Listen, I'm not mad at you. Neither is Martha. Don't stress yourself." He consoled, and I felt a wave of relief passing through my existence.
How could someone's words be so soothing?
"I did something so disgusting," I admitted.
I had turned my head towards him so that we now had eye contact.
"I became the reason for my friend's death." Tears welled up in my eyes once again.
I bit my lower lip to hold them from flooding out.
"It comes under justifiable homicide. And it is not even like you killed someone. All you did was bury the body, which does come under an unlawful act. But, you had some reasons for it." He explained patiently, and I felt the burden over my shoulder slip a bit.
"But, it is still a crime. Isn't it? I actually hid a dead boy. I helped conceal a crime." I asked anxiously.
The image of that night was unable for me to forget. I smiled widely.
"It's my job here to tell you what's a crime and what's not. I know the laws here, not you, Ms. Meme." He joked and booped my forehead, pushing my head slightly backwards.
A faint smile crept on my lips. However, seeing me smile, Evan's face lit up.
Now he was back to the monkey man stage!
He sprung up from the bed and stood in front of me, crossing his arms. I raised a questioning brow towards him, rubbing my cheeks to clear off the remnant of tears.
"Get up! We have a murderer to catch here. You can't be so sluggish!" He complained, fake crooked expressions decorated on his face.
I let out a slight laugh.
I actually laughed. Evan sure is a monkey man.
I pushed him out of my room to get changed and get ready. He scowled but complied.
After a while, I came out only to see him uneasily waiting for me, tapping his feet on the ground. As soon as he caught my presence, his eyes opened wide.
I was wearing a deep blue, long, georgette tulip top over plain white leggings. The top had colourful embroidered flowers near the neck and the bottom line. Paired with it was my white, cloche hat placed over my hair tied in a french bun.
He kept gawking at me until I snapped in front of his eyes, standing just next to him. My snap brought him out of his trance. He scratched the back of his neck embarrassingly and started walking forward. I followed, hiding a smile under my lips.
"So what do we do next?" Hannah asked when we joined them at Grace's room.
Hannah and Grace seemed better than before. Hannah was back with her bossy, cliche rough and tough girl attitude, wearing a hooded top over baggy pants and hair rolled in a messy bun. I was happy to see her that way.
Grace, as always, was quietly sitting at one corner as a keen and silent observer, studying our talks. She was wearing a knee-length pink tunic top over a palazzo with her hair tied in a ponytail. She was better but still carried contemplative looks.
"We need some information first. Before we could take any steps, we need to study the pattern." He started professionally. "First, we will need the reports for all autopsies performed on murders this week."
"I'll pick them for you. Just let the officers know I'm coming. A F.I.B. license call would do, I guess." Martha offered.
Evan nodded in approval.
"Okay! Up next. Grace and Hannah," he instructed, and Hannah and Grace stood upright. "You have to get me important information about the reactions and theories that people have about Maddy's death."
Both of them nodded. The only one left now was me.
"Emi!" He called, and I turned my attention towards him. "You and me, we are going to the crime site. Also, you said you got a text right. Let's try to find something from that." He ordered, and everyone was dismissed.
The task was huge, and the time was scarce. We needed to stop this chain of murders once and for all. It has to be done before another youngster was tossed into the abysses of a never-ending grave, serving as prey to the heinous crimes.
We dispersed.
Evan decoded the mobile number that texted me whilst I scrolled through our community chats to tally the writing pattern of the messenger. To my surprise, I caught plenty of people repeating a few words and phrases from my text.
For instance, the mention of a lost and found game and use of the greeting 'Hey, Gambler!'. Also, I found traces of mention of the word ascension, which mostly didn't make sense.
These words weren't of casual use. Neither were they popular amongst us. Any ordinary art student would never use these words out of nowhere.
This fact was disturbing.
I kept myself engaged with my research until I heard Evan call my name.
"Emi, there's something you should see." He called out.
I stood up and went towards him. He sat on a chair. Whereas the devices of his use, including his laptop, were placed in front of him on a table. I reached up to him and stood behind his chair. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to read the name that blinked on the computer screen.
Mason ♡ Maddy.
*********
Hey, sweets!
I'm so glad you always keep coming up!
I honestly don't have words for your love ❤
Anyways,
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