Unknown

The Coincidence

It was getting harder to breathe in the classroom. It felt like the walls were caving in.

"Is it hot in here?" I asked, fanning myself.

Mason nodded, "It's not just me then?" He questioned, taking his blazer off. 

"Guys what the hell." James said frustratedly, "What the hell is going on? What did we even do do deserve this?" 

I kept quiet. "No seriously. It can't be a coincidence that all four of us just happened to be at the Church." 

"He's right. We've all been thinking it. This isn't just some random thing that happened. There has to be a similarity." Mason said.

I stood with my hands on my hips, eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, what's that?" Evelyn pointed. 

She walked over to the window, where a piece of black paper was tucked neatly into the frame. 

"Just like a coincidence that this piece of paper just happened to be there?" James said.

"Shush." Evelyn said, placing a finger to James's lips, "It's an envelope." She tore it open, revealing silver writing.

"Just like the clock tower." Mason said to himself.

"I gave you until to Prom to figure this out, and you've walked right into my plan. You never figured out who I am or what your business is so I'll give you one last chance." 

I huffed, "Another riddle?" 

Suddenly, the lights turned off. I gasped, feeling a hand clamp onto my wrist. There was a small thud before the lights turned back on a second later and the hand was revealed to be James. 

"Sorry, instinct." He said sheepishly. I gave him a half smile before looking away, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"What is that smell?" Evelyn coughed. I sniffed the air, nearly gagging at the putrid smell. "Smells like-"

"An animal?" Mason yelled, "Yep." He said. Evelyn screamed when Mason lifted up a dead cat by the tail, dripping blood, "That sick freak!" Evelyn yelled even louder, looking around the room.

Mason discarded of the cat in the bin before wiping his hands, "Is that them trying to tell us we're pussies?" He asked.

I looked to James when I heard a clicking noise, to make sure he heard it too. And surely enough, he did. "What is that?" I said quietly. 

There it was again. 

The projector light flickered on and then crackled a bit, showing a white screen.

Did you like my gift?

A message on the screen written in 'ransom note' letters. 

"What the hell do you want with us?" I yelled furiously.

I'm glad you asked.

I've been watching you for some time now and I have to say, you're all quite interesting. Your own lives and families are very, entertaining. Especially you Sofia. Poor Rebecca, it's a shame she had to leave us so soon.

"You're a murderer!" I screamed, not letting anymore tears fall.

I like to think of myself as a mastermind. Because after all, no one has caught me yet. 

"Hey, guys. What's going on outside?" Evelyn pointed out. 

I turned my head to see red and blue flashing lights. 

"Cops?" 

The projector turned off suddenly and the lock from the doors quickly unlocked, opening on their own, "Okay, creepy." Evelyn said.

"Who cares, let's get the fuck out of here." Mason said, pushing past us. 

One by one we ran out of the classroom, the cold air from the outside knocking me on my ass. "We have to find out what's going on." 

We made it to the front of the entryway where students started to gather. Teachers were confused as to what was going on and people were annoyed their prom was cut short.

I held my dress up by the waistline so it wouldn't touch the wet ground, distracted by the melting snow. "Are they pointing at us?" I got nudged. 

Looking up, I recognised the cop from the night we found that dead body in the woods. "Detective Warren." 

"Who?" 

"That body we found in the woods in San Diego. He was the officer who interrogated us." 

He looked over at us and then back to another officer, before looking back over at us.

My heart started to beat fast when he took long strides toward us.

"You four need to come with us please." Detective Warren said sternly, "Excuse me? Why?" 

"Because. We have reason to believe you're more involved with the murder of Brian Cosby than you said you were."

+ + + 

"Google said Brian Cosby was some random guy who worked for an accounting firm. He got indebted after a gambling problem, tried to pay it off and I guess just got in with the wrong crowd." Evelyn shrugged, scrolling through her phone.

"No wife, kids?" I asked, leaning my head on her shoulder. She shook her head, "Nope. Seems like this guy was a nobody." 

"Then why the hell would we have anything to do with it?"

"Sofia." My name was called next. 

James walked out, making eye contact with me. He took the seat I was just in as I made my way into the interrogation room.

"Miss Holland, the story you gave us the night you found Brian has the alibi you provided, however it seems you aren't telling us the whole truth. I'm giving you one chance to redeem yourself before this gets more serious." 

I have never been more confused.

"In all due respect Detective Warren, I have no idea what you're talking about. I told you the entire truth. We were at a party, I got drunk and stumbled into the woods and we found a body. What else is there for me to tell." 

Detective Warren sighed, turned to beside him. He pulled out a yellow folder labeled 'classified'. He opened the back and slid two photos over to me.

"Then why do we have security footage of you stealing photographic evidence from a crime scene?" 

I swallowed the lump in my throat, I forgot about that. It's okay, just stay quiet.

Wait, if I stay quiet, he might think I'm hiding something. But I'm not... really?

"Sofia, this could end badly for you and your little friends out there if you don't come clean. Now look, this picture you stole has the only known photograph of a serial killer we've been hunting down for a while. I need to know why you took it."

And for the first time in a while, I felt like I could breathe.

+ + + 

Hola!

Do you guys have an idea on who this suspected serial killer could be? 

We're getting closer and closer!!!

Xx