toxic fate

20

I felt my heart throb in pain. My throat felt raw and dried. I didn't know how to react to this. I've only known Flare today, and she seemed so dedicated. Why was she killed? She's another human being---a human being with dreams, fears, regrets, and memories.

"She was searching in the third floor, right? Maybe the killer is there?" Chiyoko questioned.
"But won't we get killed too?" Atalanta questioned back.
"Then I'll go." Electra said. "I didn't find anything in the first floor, so I suppose I'll look in the third floor then."
"I'll go with you." I spoke in a dried voice.
"I'll go too." Chiyoko spoke.
"I guess I'll go too then." Atalanta replied.

We headed inside and took the lift to the third floor.

"Where's the room?" Electra asked Atalanta, eyeing her carefully.
"There." Atalanta pointed towards a door that's deep in the hallway.

We approached the door, and Electra tried to twist the doorknob.

"It's locked. Surely there's something inside that we don't know." Electra spoke.
"Dammit." Atalanta cursed. Okay, what's annoying me right now is that I don't know if this is the real Atalanta.

"I can try unlocking it." Chiyoko spoke.
"Really? Can you do it?" I asked, relieved.

Electra seemed relieved as well. Well, for Atalanta, she put on a blank face.

Chiyoko slipped out a bobby pin from her hair. We stepped aside, and she attached it to the keyhole. She tried unlocking it. And after few attempts, she successfully unlocked it. She then twisted the doorknob, and the door opened.

"There!" She beamed.
"Bless." Electra spoke with relief in her tone.

We entered it, and it was a dark room with dim lights. There were computers everywhere, all mainly cameras that watched the whole school, including our dorm rooms.

"I'll handle this." Electra spoke, letting out a small smile. This is the first time I actually saw her smiled.
She approached the computers, sat down on a chair, and started typing.

[Time left: 2 hours and 4 seconds.]

"I accessed a video that was recorded at the time Flare was here." Electra spoke, as she spinned her chair around.
We gasped, and hurried towards her.

She spinned back, and faced the computer. A link appeared, and she clicked on it. It then loaded and the video started playing.

There was Flare. She stood in front of the door, and twisted the doorknob and entered. She must have been surprised about all these computers. As she was about to use one of them, her head got sliced off by a pair of huge scissors.
Behind her was the same killer I've faced, the killer giggled at Flare's corpse being soaked with its own blood. She then gouged Flare's eyes out, and left the headless corpse.

The video started glitching and the video ended.

"Well..That was something.." Electra mumbled.
"Yeah.." Chiyoko shivered, and Atalanta nodded.

[Time left: 55 minutes and 3 seconds]

"We haven't found the original corpse though." Chiyoko reminded.
"I found it." I replied.
"What? Really? Where did you find it?" Atalanta asked.
"Somewhere." I replied. "I'll reveal later." I didn't want to tell it to Atalanta. She could be a traitor. The only person who knows is Electra. She's an emotionless and cold person, but somehow she gives you the vibes that you could trust her.
Atalanta frowned for a moment, then shrugged.

"Hey, Emiko?" Chiyoko asked.
"Hm?" I turned around.
"What's in these zip bags?" She asked.
"I'll explain it during the trial." I replied.
"We have 53 minutes right now, surely that's enough to explain, right?" Atalanta questioned.
"I hate repeating." I replied bluntly.
"Or is it an excuse because you don't trust us?" Atalanta questioned again.
"Maybe. Would you trust people who left you out in the rain?" I asked, recalling back that memory.