Chapter 6
Icee pushed the thought away. "Maybe Carla just borrowed it from Nicole," she nonchalantly said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm going to return it to her tomorrow."
"Can't you see?" Aaron insisted. "Maybe whoever you saw was the owner of the keychain. Maybe Nicole has something to do with this."
"Oh my god, you should really stop watching horror movies," Icee replied, frustrated by how Aaron was acting. She can't believe that he wanted to pin the assault and the murder to one of their classmates. I mean, they're just high school students.
"You don't get it, don't you Icee? But I can't blame you. You've only been here for what? 3 years? You know nothing about our town. You know nothing about the history of our school. You know nothing about our section's past," he slowly said, as if it would somehow ingrain into the girl's head.
The way he said it made Icee feel chills down her spine. He was right. She doesn't know anything. "Well, I don't have access to any information like you do, smartass," she snarled."
He smirked. "Touché."
Icee shook her head in annoyance and started to walk away when they finally reached their floor. She walked into the direction of Carla's room. She heard Aaron's footsteps following right behind her.
"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you work with me?" he said.
"What?!" Icee said, irritated.
"I'm trying to help my mom solve this case, you see. But she said that she doesn't have any eyes inside our classroom. She's taking my theory into account," he explained further.
"And you want me to help, why?" Icee curiously asked.
"Because you're the only person in the room that isn't connected to anything. You're the only one not a suspect in this case," Aaron answered like he can't believe that Icee haven't put two and two together yet.
"What? That's insane. What if I was the suspect because I was the new transferred student? What if I have such a big grudge on you people that it became my motive to kill all of you one by one?" Icee contradicted.
Aaron suddenly grinned widely. "See! You're a natural! But I know you aren't the suspect, Icee."
"Why are you so sure about that?"
"Because you don't know anything about our past."
"How's she doing?" Icee asked the woman who looked like the doctor. Her gaze fluttered quickly to Aaron who is behind her and then back to the doctor.
"She's fine. Good thing you called the ambulance quickly or else she'll suffer from serious damages if her injuries weren't treated at once. It was only some bruises and a minor head concussion. She's good. She'll be fully recovered in two weeks of rest," the doctor explained.
"Thank god," Icee said, relieved to hear the good news. The doctor smiled and made her way out of the room to leave the teenagers on their own.
"I wish she'll wake up sooner," Aaron muttered. "I have so many questions to ask. Who's to blame about what happened to her? Have she seen her perpetrator? Why did the suspect pick her?"
"Aaron!" Icee warned.
"What? I'm just curious."
"And here I thought you were concerned about your classmate."
Aaron shook his head slowly and then fished out his phone from his pocket. He decided to call Agata and ask for the paper. He was confused when there was no one answering. He decided to try again later.
"Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow for that paper," he whispered.
"Dude! Stop insisting that one of our classmates did this!" Icee hissed.
"And stop saying that like you know us, Icee," Aaron sharply replied.
Icee bit her lip and just decided not to question him. What happened before? Icee asked herself. She decided to research a bit about it when she gets home.
"Have you called her parents or something?" Icee asked Aaron who was too busy texting Agata about the paper.
"Nope," he answered without looking up from his phone.
Oh my god, do I have to do everything myself? Icee grunted in her mind. She left the room without saying anything to Aaron. She asked the first nurse who passed by about Carla's belongings and then she waited for the nurse to come back with Carla's phone.
When she got it, she quickly scanned through the contacts and called the person named 'Mom'. After a few rings, somebody answered.
"Carla? Oh, thank god you called! I've been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been? I'm sorry for everything, baby. Please come home." It was a woman's voice. She sounded genuinely worried.
"Hi, this is Carla's classmate," Icee said, a bit awkward. "I hate to tell you this but Carla's in a hospital."
The woman immediately asked for the name of the hospital and Icee gladly gave it. She sighed after the phone call, relieved that she was able to contact Carla's family.
She locked the phone and was about to go back to the room when it suddenly light up again. There was a new text message.
It was from an unknown number. The message read:
See you at class, Carly! I had so much fun with you :)))
P.S. Say a word and I'll come back for you to finish you off.
Icee tried to ignore the sickening feeling from her stomach as she tried to process the message. What the actual fuck is going on here?!
"Icee? Where did you go?" Aaron's voice pulled Icee out of her thoughts. She hadn't notice the tears that formed in her eyes because of fear. With a shaky hand, she gave the phone to Aaron.
A wicked grin formed on his face after he read the message. "I knew it," he murmured. "Finally, I have a freaking lead!"
"I-i'm going home. Wait for Carla's mom to get here, I already called her," Icee told him and quickly turned around to get out of the hospital.
"Wait!" Aaron called out but Icee pretended she couldn't hear him and walked straight ahead.
"Icee?" Her mother's voice echoed from upstairs as she entered the house.
"Yes?" Icee replied though she really wants to go straight to her and focus on her laptop. She watched as her mother slowly descended from the stairs, her heels clicking each time she took a step. Icee tried not to react on her mother's 'skimpy' clothing and the large suitcase she was carrying behind her. "Where are you going?"
Her mother finally reached the bottom of the steps and slightly pulled her sunglasses down a bit. "Out. I found a fresh, young man who is interested in taking me to a vacation," her mother answered smugly with a lazy smirk on her face.
"When are you coming back?" Icee asked, hoping that she would be gone forever.
"I don't know. 2 or 3 weeks," her mother said as they heard a loud honk coming from a car that was now in front of their house. "Don't try to miss me too much, dear!" she said as she immediately went past Icee to get to the front door.
Icee turned her back to her mother and ran up the stairs before she can even see the guy who is taking her mother out.
She fished out the laptop from under her bed and powered it up. While waiting for the laptop to start, she had a change of clothes first and then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She hasn't eaten dinner yet but she decided to eat at the cafeteria she visited the other night.
And now she's in front of her laptop, her fingers hovering above the keyboard. Google is already on the screen.
But where the hell am I supposed to start? she asked herself.
A loud crash suddenly woke up Icee in her dreamy state. She had fallen asleep on top of her laptop, never really searched for anything. She blinked both eyes as it adjusts to the darkness of the room. Her eyes widened when she finally processed what woke her up. She fought the fear that was creeping into her system and stood up from her bed.
She quickly snatched her phone from the top of her dresser where she remembered she put it and then dialed Kim's number. She felt some shame that she was about to call her for the second time today and disturb her but she felt danger lurking inside her empty house.
Or maybe it was her paranoia acting up.
"Icee? Why are you calling in the middle of the night?" Kim answered the phone as if she just woke up. I probably did wake her up, Icee thought.
"Kim, listen. I just heard a loud noise downstairs and I'm going to check it out. If I don't call you in 10 minutes, please call the police," Icee said as quietly as she could.
"W-what?" Kim slurred but Icee ended the call. She reached for the pocket knife she kept in her drawer and stuffed it in her pocket before quiet going out of her room.
The house was ten times creepier at night now that she knows that she's alone. But that was before she woke up. She pushed the brutal thoughts out of her way and used up her courage to silently maneuver down the stairs.
She froze when she saw the shadow move. She ducked as quickly as possible, trying not to get caught by the intruder. It was dark and the intruder seemed to be wearing a jacket which made it harder to determine if it was male or female.
Icee shook her head. Why the hell am I here? I should call the police, NOW! She stood up and tried to run back to her room but it was too dark. She bumped into their big vase and it made a sound like a loud thump. Icee was half-relieved that it didn't break and half-afraid because whoever broke into their house surely heard that sound.
But maybe they were surprised and ran away? Hopefully.
Icee stood up, as quietly as she can and felt the goosebumps on her arm when she realized something warm and hard behind her. Her eyes widened and she wanted to scream for help, but fear left her immobilized.
A cold hand crept to her face to make sure she can't scream for help. Icee closed her eyes tightly as she tried to swallow back the terror she's feeling right now.
It's okay. Kim had probably called the police by now. You're okay, Icee. You're okay.
"You," the voice said. Icee kept her eyes closed as she tried to ignore the sinking feeling from her stomach. "You alone?" It was a 'he'.
Tears were already forming on her eyes but Icee managed to nod her head once.
"Good," he said and pushed the girl to the floor. Icee looked up at the intruder but couldn't quite remember why he felt and looked familiar. The guy crouched down to her level and Icee froze when a cold, sharp knife hovered inches from her neck. She bit her lower lip to prevent her from crying and begging. "Your momma isn't home?" he asked.
Despite the knife pointed at her neck, Icee let out a shaky breath along with a, "No."
"Okay. Tell me when she gets home, okay?" he said, his voice casual as if he wasn't pointing a knife at her.
"W-what do you need from my mom?" Icee asked weakly, like all her energy was drained just by having a knife aiming dangerously at her neck.
"None of your business, Icee. We wouldn't want you to be dragged into your bitch of a mother's mess, don't you?" he teased.
He knows my name. He knows my mom. Who is he?!
"Just tell me at class when your mom gets home, you get it?" His voice changed from being playful to being cold in just a matter of seconds and Icee felt more afraid than she already is.
What if this guy is a sociopath? Is he freaking mental?! The way he switches his personality made Icee put him in the 'stay-the-hell-away-from-these-guys' list.
But what made Icee fear the most is his last sentence before he calmly left the house as the police sirens were softly heard in the background.
"Just tell me at class."