The Case Of Unexpected Deaths In Little Meadow

III

" This is killing me. " Richard thought annoyed. " This is depressing me more. "

He had been cooped up in his bed for almost two days and he was bored as hell. He just finished the book he borrowed from the kind nurse. She technically offered it to him so seeing he had no better things to do, he took it. But the book had only 20 chapters and was not really the type he like. So once again, the young man was left with his thoughts. He had also read the school and class rules quite many times, thinking he may find clues of whatever he was missing out but found none. He was still clueless as ever about the things Natasha had said. Deciding he needed fresh air, he took his phone on the bedside table and made his way outside. He thought of going down to the lobby but after remembering he could not be seen out of bed, Richard settled with the roof top.

He easily found the elevator leading to his destination and rushed inside, pressing the button indicating " rooftop" .The excitement of sneaking out and possibly freaking out the nurse stationed on his room made him laugh lightly. But what he didn't noticed was, there was someone with him inside the elevator. He only realized it when he looked behind him, it even made him jump and squeal.

It was a girl, three inches shorter than him, fair skinned, black with lines of brown in her shoulder-lenght straight hair. She was clutching on a weird looking doll almost like it was her lifeline. But what he noticed the most was the emptiness evident in her brown doe like eyes.

" Hi. Im sorry, I didn't see you there. " Richard said, eyeing the girl curiously. He waited for her to speak but two floors already passed and she was still silent. He was only trying to be friendly and the elevator ride was boring hin as well. He only found a way to speak to her again when he saw the badge on her school uniform.

" You go to Meadow High? " He asked uncertainly.

Richard was beginning to accept that the girl was ignoring him on purpose but was surprised when she answered. It was almost a whisper and Richard would have missed it if he wasn't actually waiting for her reply.

" Yes. " The girl said timidly.

" What class are you on ? " Richard tried to push his luck and much to his joy, she actually answered again.

" Class 3. "

" Oh we are classmates then. Im a transferee from the city. Im Richard Faulkerson Jr. by the way. " The young man introduced himself even offering his hand for her to shake but the latter only looked at him blankly. " Uhm .. is there a different way of how you introduce yourself to someone here? You know a tradition of sort? "

The girl shooked her head gently and diverted her gaze on the elevator buttons. She stared at it like it was the most intriguing piece inside the cramped space, till the bell rang and the elevator door opened. She gracefully stepped out and headed to the dark hallway.

Richard on the other hand was arguing with himself if he should talk to her more. " She is your classmate for crying out loud. You can go ask her about the things that was bothering you for days now. But what if she doesn't want to speak with me at all. It was obvious with the silent treatment. C'mon Richard you can do better than this. "

He was too consumed with his thoughts that he only noticed the girl was already walking away when the bell signalling the elevator door was about to close. He quickly pressed the hold button and shouted to the girl the first thing that came into his mind. " Hey, what is your name? "

The girl stopped but didn't turn around anymore. She did answer Richard though, still in a timid fashion. " Dei.. Dei Mendoza. "

Satisfied, Richard settled with watching the girl fade into the darkness of the hallway. Not even bothering to look up to see where she was heading. He pressed the unhold button and let the elevator take him to the rooftoop where he intend to fill his lungs with fresh air. If only he did, he would have discover the hallway was leading to the morgue.