toxic fate

16

"There might be a second killer on line."

Wait, what?

"What..?" I questioned.
"I haven't solved it completely. All I could say is that there might be a second killer on line." She replied, looking at me straight in the eye. "Oh, and in case you're wondering why would I talk to you, well; I don't care about being friends and those cheesy stuff. I hardly trust anyone, so don't be surprised."
"Ah, okay.." I replied.

"Do you have any idea whose body is this?" I asked. She bit her lips for a moment, before answering.
"Yes. There's about 5% chance that I could be correct." She replied.
"Do you mind telling me?" I asked. She turned her head, and looked at me for a moment.
"Do you mind telling me who you think it is?" She asked back.
"I didn't observe this body, sorry." I replied.
"That can't be helped then. I'll tell you, alright. There's about 2.005% chance that this body is actually a dead one." She replied.
"A dead one? Huh?" I questioned.
"A dead body from the cemetery." She replied. "I've found bit of hints, but I can't allow myself to tell you, for anyone of us could be the killer."
"Oh." I said. "It's fine then."

"Have you seen Flare?" I asked, trying to break the silence.
"Yes, most likely in the gym." She replied. "What's her relationship with you?"
"Thanks, and me and her are cousins." I replied.
"I see." She replied.

I just awkwardly signalled to her that I'm heading to the gym.I was kinda surprised that she didn't ask about the body that Flare dragged along with her. Maybe Flare explained to her or something.

Paul is still oddly quiet. I took a quick glimpse behind me, he's still following me quietly. Okay, then.

I reached to the gym, and I found Flare along with the body. She laid the body on the ground, and the receptionist was still unconscious. Flare was just sitting on the ground, cross legged; observing the killer.

I sat beside her.

"Did you tend your shoulder?" She asked, noticing my presence.
"Yeah." I replied. "Did you find anything interesting?"
"Just a bottle of acid." She replied, holding a glass bottle. "She'll wake up eventually when it's time."
"I see." I replied. "You saw Electra, right? Did you explain to her?"
"Yeah. She just nodded silently." She replied.

[Time left: 9 minutes.]

"So what did you all find?" Electra asked us. We all gathered in the gym.
"I couldn't find anything." Chiyoko sighed, taking a quick glance at me.
"I found some room, but it's locked. I don't think it's related to the mystery anyways." Atalanta replied.
"I see." Electra said, nodding. "I found bits of hints from the corpse, but I'll leave the explanation later. Emiko and Flare will explain their part later too. We will consume too much time by explaining."

"Okie dokie! A class trial will begin now! Trololololol~" Momo spoke through a speaker.

Flare dragged the body along with her. We used the lift to go to the third floor. As we reached, we entered the room, and took our seats. Flare laid the body on the floor in front of us.

Momo suddenly appeared, and was surprised.

"Interesting. I see the receptionist here! Anyone can start with their theory now!" Momo chuckled. I let out a deep sigh. I'm pretty sure Electra will start.

"I'll start." Electra calmly raised her hand. I knew it.
"Trololololol~ go ahead!" Momo chuckled again.
"It's a bit complicated. As far as I've observed, the corpse that has been crucified on the wall, is a dead one. What I mean is that, this corpse was taken by the cemetery itself." She explained. Everyone else was surprised, except me.
"How are you sure it's already a dead one?" Momo asked.
"If you observe very carefully, you'll find that the corpse is rotting, but the acid made it hard to know that, for the acid has burnt through the corpse." She replied.
"Impressive! That's correct! Go on." Momo exclaimed.
"There were few hints that hinted whose corpse is it." She said, as she took out a small zip folder that contained a strand of an old hair. It was scarlet color. I have a feeling I won't like this.

"Of course, I do not have a scanning machine to scan whose hair is this. So, Momo, I believe you have something to scan this." Electra said.
"Correct!" It exclaimed. "Use this computer." It handed a computer to Electra. She gratefully took it, and placed the strand of hair to scan. After a few seconds, a picture of a person appeared.
She showed it to us, and then spoke.

"This body is Akikhiko's. I believe Emiko has a relation with him." She spoke.
I clutched my fists angrily. Why was it Akikhiko's? That receptionist better be sent to the depths of hell.
"Yes. I do. He's my brother." I replied coldly. Flare widened her eyes in shock when she saw the picture, and gritted her teeth, but she kept silent. The others gave me a pitying look. I don't need pity anyways.

"Now, Emiko or Flare shall explain." Electra signalled.

"I followed Emiko to the reception. She told me that we were heading there because few days ago, one of your friends was brutally killed by a vampire. While you all planned to meet up in the reception, Emiko was the first one to arrive." Flare spoke.

"I noticed that the receptionist was not there, so I thought it could possibly link to this mystery. I was about to observe, but I felt hot, acidic liquid poured onto my shoulder. Turns out, it was the receptionist." I continued, showing my burnt shoulder as proof. Others gasped, but Electra was calm.

"Gah. Such a long slumber." The receptionist rubbed her drowsy eyes. When she noticed where she was, she immediately stood up.

"Ah. Perfect timing." Flare spoke.

"Her! She nearly killed me! She used her demonic powers to knock me out!" The receptionist screamed, pointing at Flare.

"Demonic?" Chiyoko whispered.

I couldn't hold it anymore. I jumped over my table swiftly, and pinned the receptionist to the ground. I gripped her wrists tightly, and she whimpered.

"Why did you this to my brother?" I spat, as I felt my irises turned to a dark shade of red.
"What are you talking about?" She smirked. I punched her face flatly.
"You crucified him. You burnt him in acid. Why?" I spat again.
"I always hated your mother." She mumbled. "So I decided, to take revenge. I originally thought to kill you instead. But you had such a striking resemblance to her, that I felt myself talking to her. When I heard that your whole family died from the fire, I was overjoyed and angry--"

I punched her face again, causing her nose to bleed. Disgusting, filthy, and trashy creature.

"Yeah? Continue, you piece of filth." I spat.

"I was overjoyed and angry at the same time. I was angry that I had no chance to kill her." She coughed. "After meeting you coincidentally, I thought of killing you. But after Neon's death, I decided to make you suffer instead. I digged up his grave at night, and crucified him before burning him in acid."

"Why did you hate my mother?" I gritted my teeth.
"I hated the fact that she was married to the person I loved." She replied.
"Wait, you liked my father?" I cringed.
"Yes. Since college." She replied.

I laughed.

"What's funny?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"That fact you liked my father. I'm so glad he didn't like you. I'm so glad you weren't my mother. I'm so glad that you weren't Akikhiko's mother too." I replied, smirking.
"You're just like her. Those words were similar to hers." She said.
"Mother like daughter. Ha." I replied, before giving another punch to her face.

"Emiko. That's enough. We're still explaining." Electra spoke.
"Okay, then go on." I said, while still pinning the receptionist to the ground.

"About the bloody message on the wall, it's not the corpse's, am I correct? I've observed the body and found no cuts, nor injuries. So this suggests, there's another killer on the line, right?" Electra asked.
"Yes, I'm impressed that you discovered that." The receptionist answered.
"Mind telling the truth before you crucified that corpse?" Electra asked, raising her eyebrows.

The receptionist smirked, before talking.

"Alright~"