The Technique

Chapter 14: Sunrise

The loud knocks on my door woke me up. 

I immediately rubbed my eyes. I got up and stared at the mirror, where I removed all my eye boogers. I was still lethargic. I looked groggy. 

I stared at my eyes for a while, and suddenly, the whole picture last night came across my mind. 

Greg and I stayed for almost an hour in the dark and quiet room last night. We weren't talking at all. I was wondering if I was staying with the killer in the room or if there was really another killer. I stared at everything in the room from time to time that I almost memorized where they were located. The silence only stopped when Greg stood up and spoke, "I guess they had stopped searching now." 

I didn't get up. I hugged my knees and counted my breath. We would look suspicious since we hid in a dark room. I realized that I shouldn't have followed him. But even though I knew there was a big possibility that the authority would find us, I kept telling myself that I was purely innocent and they were not going to harm me. 

I stood up and followed him out. I listened to our footsteps as we walked through the maze hallways. My head felt empty. I didn't want to think about anything anymore. I just followed him until we got to our dorm building. 

We were safe, I thought. 

I stopped in front of my door and watched Greg inserting his key on the knob. Before he even opened it entirely, I said, "Be honest with me." 

He turned to me, emotionless. 

"You killed the woman, right?" 

He let out a sigh. "I told you there's no reason for me to lie." He shook his head. "I didn't." He turned his back and closed his door. 

And I kept thinking about it almost the entire night. He was right. Why would he even lie? 

I kept staring at myself in the mirror. It was obvious I hadn't had enough sleep. I lost my trance when my phone started to ring. I saw Mike's name on the screen and answered it. 

"Hey," I said in a super exhausting way. 

"Buddy, we're here. Open the door," Mike said. 

I drank a cup of water before opening the door. 

Kylie and Mike were standing in their sleepsuits and were hugging themselves. "It's super cold, you know?" Kylie said. 

"Why are you two here?" I asked. 

"Let's go to the rooftop." Mike slowly smiled. 

I didn't know what they were up to, but I followed them anyway. We took the stairs to the rooftop, and the coldness of dawn got stronger. We were like kids in pajamas looking for some games to play on the rooftop. I noticed the mountains just behind the school. They were perfect cones, standing next to one another. We sat down on the edge of the rooftop. I sat between them. It was quiet and peaceful. 

"You didn't deserve what happened last night. The party was supposed to be enjoyable, not bloody," Kylie said. 

It dawned on me that they just called me up here to talk about last night. "It's fine. I didn't want the party anyway." 

"Who could've done that kind of thing, you know? I mean, I think she knew there was a party. Did she intentionally do that to ruin it?" Mike asked. 

"Do you think it was suicide?" I asked. 

Kylie elevated a brow. "Yea? Why? Do you think it was murder? Omg, no way you're thinking there's a killer in this school." 

I immediately shook my head. "No. I mean, I don't want you to think about it. Are we here to talk about it?" 

Kylie shook her head. "Not actually. We're here to forget about it. And talk about life. In that, I mean your life." 

"My life? Why?" 

Mike tapped my back. "Because we noticed that you were not yourself these past few days. We want to tell you that we also want to see your dad. If that's something that's bothering you, know that we're going to help." 

"Thanks, guys. But you don't need to do that." I turned to them one by one. "I will do it on my own. I'll beat Greg." 

Mike smiled. A cold smoke came out of his mouth. "You're super confident, aren't you, buddy?" 

I smiled, staring at the mountains. "I need to." 

I felt Kylie's arms wrapping around my shoulders. "We were like the popular trio in high school. And now, we are not that famous, surrounded by students smarter than us. Life is getting harder, and we're not getting younger anymore. I actually never felt stepping on the staircase of adulthood." 

"Come on, Kylie! Don't remind me that I'm going to be an adult very soon. I still want to be a kid, watching Night at Jackville every Saturday night." 

"Fine!" Kylie shouted. 

We stared for a couple of minutes at the mountains. Until the sun showed up, sharing his bright light and high temperature. The sky painted azure, clearing up. We stood up and noticed that we smiled altogether as though a camera had captured us. 

"Okay, now, do you remember?" I whispered. 

That was the first time we went to a camp together. It was a school camp, so the whole forest was packed up with a bunch of students doing different things. But the whole camping was boring, so Mike decided we go to a high place and watch Night at Jackville together. 

That night, we took the opportunity to hide behind the trees and look for a higher place. We knew that it was going to be cold, so we brought our jackets. We laughed at each other when a stray dog ran after us, and Kylie almost kissed the ground. It actually helped us to find a higher place. 

We reached something like a cliff, and we stayed up all night watching Night at Jackville. Until we realized that the sun was already rising in front of us. From that day on, sunrise became our most favorite thing earth had to offer. 

We recalled everything this morning. Everything was flashing back to my mind. It made me forget what happened this week. It was a complete insouciance. 

But my anxiousness that there was a killer other than Greg. It all came back again when I realized I had to go through everything with Greg and his killings when Mike told me, "You gotta be the best, alright. You know we want to meet your dad and play ping-pong with him."

A/N 

Yo guys, I know it's a bit short. It's only a filler because I thought sometimes we need to stop and look at where we are before we get to another venture. And yeah, we're just beginning.