"The End" (Coroika/Splatoon Horror)

Chapter 6: Put The Pieces Together

Aloha POV

I sat on the ground, on the sidewalk, waiting for Scarlet to finish explaining to the officer when a rotten smell hit my nose. I made a face of disgust before standing and looking around. Nobody was cooking or grilling anything, but it sure smelled like it. Only twenty time worse.

I followed the scent, down the street and near a corner of an alley. I saw a girl, an inkling, holding something in her hands, walking away from me, she did not see me. She turned the corner and disappeared from my vision. The smell was almost too much, it was overwhelming. I looked around the corner, down the alleyway...

Scarlet POV

"Is that all, sweetheart?" The nice lady officer, Tweak, asked me. I nod.

"That's all I can remember, I'm sorry," I say. She pats my head.

"It's alright, dear, it's really helpful, actually. Thank you so much." She says, putting away her small notebook. I nod slightly, still feeling useless about the matter. That's when a scream broke apart my thoughts. I shot around. It was a male's scream. Aloha was missing.

"ALOHA!?" I screamed, racing towards the noise, an awful scent filled my nose as I ran towards him. "ALOHA!"

Tweak was right behind me with backup offices following in her lead.

Aloha was staring forward at something. He looked terrified but disgusted. The officer rushed past me, shaking him lightly, "Are you alright?" She asked him. He was shaking, he didn't respond to her. "He's in shock!" She tells the other officers. "Get him out of here!"

One of the officers slowly led Aloha away as the lady turned around. "Oh...cod..." She muttered. "Call the fire department! Quickly!"

There was a lot of people rushing past me, running around the corner I was forbidden from looking around. I wanted to peek, I wanted to look. What had they found? What was it? What scared Aloha so badly?

I wanted to know.

So, I peeked.

I stepped forward and poked my head around the corner.

What I had seen that night, was beyond words. My best friend since middle school, Ross, was burned. Her body had burn marks all across it, blood boiling hot but sprayed across the ground and the wall behind her. Her eyes closed, her face burnt. Her legs were blackened from the smoke, I tried to convince myself, but judging by the smell, her legs were burnt...beyond recognition. It was terrible.

I overheard one of the officers tell Tweak, "She's been dead before she was burned. I suppose the burning of the body was to cover up the murderer's tracks. She didn't kill herself, though. This was a murder case, Ma'am." He tells her. Tweak nods slightly.

"Of course..." She mutters. "I'll see into it more once we get back to the station. We have two kids to get home, first. This must've been hard on them. I don't know if they knew her, but...still."

"You want to make sure they get home safely?" The second officer finished. Tweak nods.

"Yes, I'd like you to see they make their way home to their guardian rather quickly, Officer Tee. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Consider it done." Tee says, walking away. I ducked back around the corner, hyperventilating a bit as I ran back to where I last saw Aloha.

He had his phone out, his head down. It looked like he was texting someone.

"Aloha?" I called, my voice much too quiet and very shaky, much to my surprise. "Aloha?" I tried once more. He glances up a bit. He still looked shaken up.

"H-Hey...are you alright?" I ask him, stopping when I was beside him. He was quiet for a moment.

"I-" He cut himself off, another moment of silence. As if he was debating the question. I wondered if he was truly alright or not. He finally answered, "I'll be alright..."

"I'm s-sorry you had to see that..." I muttered.

"You saw it too, didn't you?" He counters, not looking up from his phone.

". . ."

". . . I thought so." Aloha says. "Don't say sorry. We both saw it."

". . ."

". . . You knew her. How are you?" He asks me, his voice soft and caring.

"I...I'm not okay, honestly. I feel like shit," I laugh a bit. Not a happy laugh, a sad laugh. A laugh of one who might have been tormented their whole life. My whole life most ignored me. Why was this happening to me now?

What in the whole world were the odds of my best friend dying a few minutes before we got to her? What if we were faster? What if...What if we had made it here on time?

By just five minutes? If I hadn't been late at all? Would she still be here then? Would someone else have been killed? I'm not sure who this murderer is...but, now I'm more confused then I've ever been in my life.

I don't understand anything.

Not anymore.

Aloha speaks again, "Ya know...my mother told me something once..."

I perk up a bit, my attention on him, "What was it?" I ask him.

He smiles softly and looks to me, turning off his phone.

"She said..."