Chapter 9: The Diary III
March 13, 2023
She's as pretty as the flowers. Her eyes glimmer like the sea when the sun shines on it.
March 14, 2023
I love staring at her. She's like a living portrait. My feelings for her are like nature, because there is nothing I can do to stop them.
March 15, 2023
Oh? I described her like the sea the other day. How can I forget the fact that the sea was just a vast cemetery of unclaimed bodies? What did I get myself into?
March 16, 2023
Ridiculous! Why did I ever set my eyes on her? What will happen to me if I don't do what the task said?
March 17, 2023
As crazy as it sounds, I can't do it just to save my life. I'm running out of time, goodbye.
Everything seemed to be a narration. The diary's content was always the same. After the portrait, the first entry would be about a girl. The author described her a someone pretty but as the narration progresses, the description also become different. At the end of each, the author would talk about a task that was given. Then after that, it ends.
"You've been staring at that same page for almost ten minutes now." Launce snapped Nhissie out of her thoughts.
"I was just thinking..."
"Hmm?"
"What if the reason why this diary has different penmanship is because it was written by different people?" Nhissie whispered as if she was talking to herself as she closed the diary.
"That's not possible, partner. The diary was purchased only a week before Gela died and like the claim, it was hers." Laurence rebuke.
"But how can you explain the different timelines? The different calligraphies? Don't you think it's odd?" She raised her brows.
Launce shrugged his shoulders. "They all have the same subject though and the same sketch of a girl. If it was written by various people, no matter how similar they are, it would be hard to remain consistent." He explained.
Nhissie understood his point and she also think that it made sense yet she can't get rid of the feeling that there's a hidden message behind that diary. She sighed and placed the diary on the table. Nhissie's eyes fell on the marked calendar near the table. It's Sunday but she has to go to the office to fill up some report and check on the progress of the investigation regarding Miss Jinx's murder. They are still clueless of everything. No evidence, no suspect, no motive. Even if Mike Libra is a possible suspect, there's nothing pointing at him. They tried talking to him but he refused and because there's nothing to point at him, they can't get a warrant.
On the other hand, JeMair and Daive went to school to help clean the traces of blood left on the floor. It has been four days since he saw the horrifying scene of Miss Jinx lifeless body but JeMair still couldn't get rid of it from his memory. As he wiped the floor with a rug, the research teacher's terrified and lifeless eyes kept playing in his mind. The way she stared at him that day was like a stain he could never get rid of. Despite that, JeMair couldn't stop thinking of the transferee, Nhissie Gale Tales. Was she alright? Even if he tried hard not to let her see it, when Mister Joles collapse, she must have still caught a glance at the teacher's corpse. It's not like he's concerned, it's just that he knew how it felt to see a corpse in such condition for the first time.
"JeMair, are you alright?" He felt Daive's hand on his shoulder.
He glanced at him with his usual serious face. "What?"
"It was already clean." Daive pointed at the floor as JeMair's eyes followed. "You kept wiping even if you had already got rid of the blood." The latter added.
"I like clean." He just simply said.
JeMair stood up and then walked pass Daive to drain the rug that he was using. He felt Daive following him from behind so he furrowed his brows and turned to him.
"Needed something?"
Daive scratched the back of his head. "Er, if you're not feeling fine just head home. I can call Jei or Gero to come and help me."
"Why wouldn't I be fine?"
"Huh?"
"I've cleaned blood many times, Daive." The latter seemed to have been taken aback by what he said. "I've taken cared of corpses more than you can count." JeMair watched as Daive's eyes widened.
"You...you did?" Daive's panicked mumbles almost made him chuckle.
JeMair smirked, it's rare to see the class president scared since he's always so calm, no matter what the situation is. "My father's not just a businessman but also a doctor and my mom used to be vet before working at a funeral parlor, I've cleaned all kinds of human blood and held different kinds of corpses before." He cleared.
Daive sigh in relief. "JeMair, don't scare me like that again. I'm not use to you joking."
"I didn't do it on purpose. I was just trying to make you understand that it was nothing to me, I'm used to it. There's no need to involve others in this." He explained as he went back to what he was doing, Daive could only sigh and nod.
"Who do you think would do such horrible thing to Miss Jinx?" Asked Daive, leaning against the wall. "Even if she's such a horrible teacher, I don't think she's one of the people who deserved to be killed in such way." He added.
JeMair turned to him. "Why? What kind of people deserve to be killed that way?"
Daive went silent for a moment. "People who took lives deserved to suffer the same way." He whispered.
"Do you also think that Mike did it?"
"No, I know Mike and I don't believe he would do such thing."
"Hmm."
"But don't you think it's getting dangerous in our school?" JeMair stopped what he was doing due to Daive's question.
"Everywhere is dangerous."
"No, it's more dangerous here since Angela Pines-"
"Daive." JeMair gave him a look, telling him to stop.
"What? Why are we not allowed to even talk about her. I mean, she's already-"
"Daive, stop it. You're the class president, you of all people should know about it." JeMair gave him a meaningful look.
Daive could only sigh and nod. "Fine. Let's just do what we have to do so we could go home. I know you're tired since you look like you haven't been asleep since yesterday."
They both went back to what they were doing earlier. After making sure that they've cleaned everything as new, the pair locked the faculty room and begun walking across the field to the gate. Before parting ways, Daive and JeMair gave each other a nod and walked away.
Back at the office, Launce and Nhissie are busy looking at the tons of papers resting on top of their tables. Launce looked bored while playing with his pen while Nhissie was busy reading some paper.
"Hey, partner, there's an interesting case I read." Launce placed his pen down and looked at her.
Nhissie stopped what she's doing to look at her partner. "What kind of case?"
Launce sat down properly. "Do you know what a death note is?"
"Death note?" Nhissie furrowed her brows.
"Yeah. The notebook that kills people whose names are written on it? The one with Kento Yamazaki and Masataka Kubota in it?" Launce laughed when Nhissie glared at him. "What?"
"That's not a case, Launce. That's just fiction."
"What? I love L though but Yagami Light was cool too."
"Stop playing around, you're not a kid anymore."
"I'm not playing around. I was just thinking that if you're assumption was right, then could it be that the diary was like the death note?" Launce's face turned serious.
"What do you mean? The death note kills people whose names are written on it. I see no names written on the diary." Nhissie twitched her lips.
"What if it's the other way around?"
"Huh?"
"What if the people who's writing on the diary dies instead?"
"Launce, that doesn't make sense. If there are numerous people dying around Missori, there should have been a report but there's nothing aside from Angela Pines and recently, Jinx Twain, the research teacher." She contradicted his suggestion.
Launce perked his lips and sigh. "Ugh! Whatever." I groaned and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Nhissie asked.
"I'm going to rewatch Death Note, I miss my favorite detective L.Lawliet." Launce wink before heading out the door, Nhissie could only sigh as she shook her head.