First Bell
The day began with quiet whispers as Ira walked down the corridor. Soon, she noticed Neil running towards her.
NEIL: Heyy!! What's up, dude?
IRA: Nothing raa, just a boring morning and being forced to be awake...
Neil and Ira had been best friends since childhood. They were neighbors, and even their mothers had been high school best friends. They knew everything about each other-their likes, dislikes, habits, and secrets.
Neil was three months older than Ira.
Recently, they had become friends with Tavish and Elya in college.
Tavish was majoring in Journalism, while Elya was majoring in Psychology. Ira had always been curious about criminals and crimes, so she chose Criminology. Neil, a tech addict, was a Computer Science student.
The first day of college gave them new hopes.
Little did they know that hope would soon turn into fear.
All the students went to their respective classrooms and met their new classmates.
During the break, the four friends met in the canteen.
TAVISH: Heyyyy guysss!!! How was your class?
ELYA: Goooooood.
IRA: Okay, okay... I met a new girl called Maya.
NEIL: How was she?
IRA: She was actually veryyyy kind. I felt as if I met an angel in person.
ELYA: Never judge a book by its cover. You don't know what's inside the book. Some people appear kind but turn out to be psychos.
TAVISH: Professor Kapoor missed his lecture. Do you know what happened to him?
NEIL: No idea, bro...
Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the campus.
Students began screaming.
Teachers looked frightened.
Everyone rushed toward the source of the commotion.
When they reached the site, they discovered that Professor Kapoor had been murdered.
His body lay inside the old library.
A janitor had been cleaning when she found the body. Terrified, she screamed. In the chaos, a flower pot fell and struck her head. As she collapsed onto the hard floor, the loud crash attracted even more people.
Soon, students and staff gathered around.
Some screamed.
Some cried.
Some ran in panic.
The staff were informed and arrived in shock.
The four friends reached the scene and stood frozen.
TAVISH: WTH, Broooo!!!
Neil immediately fainted.
Ira caught him before he hit the ground.
ELYA: Take Neil inside, Ira...
Ira helped Neil to the campus clinic.
Soon, Elya and Tavish joined them.
IRA: Are you okay?
NEIL: I am okay. Don't worry about me. Think about how to solve the case.
TAVISH: What case??
NEIL: What else? How was sir killed?
TAVISH: Are you mad?? I guess the shock made you lose your brain too...
NEIL: I guess it's you who lost it...
ELYA: Guys, it's not the time to fight. We need to remain united.
IRA: Tavish, he is right. He was our professor. We must know the truth.
TAVISH: It's the police's duty, not ours.
IRA: You are right, but unfortunately our college is trying to cover it up by calling it a suicide. They're afraid the college's reputation will be ruined and that the investigation could even lead to the college being shut down.
ELYA: They are right about one thing-the police are useless. We must uncover the truth ourselves.
Tavish hesitated, but eventually agreed.
The four friends made a decision.
They would investigate Professor Kapoor's death.
They would discover who killed him.
And they would uncover the reason behind it.
They headed to their secret base-
an old, abandoned chemistry lab.
IRA: We must find clues at the murder site. There is no such thing as a perfect murder.
ELYA: I don't think so. Sometimes there are perfect murders. That's why some cases remain unsolved.
IRA: Only because they weren't investigated properly.
Elya was about to reply when Neil interrupted.
NEIL: Guys, why are you arguing now? We need to find the murderer, not argue with each other.
ELYA: We weren't arguing. We were discussing.
TAVISH: Okay, chill... Let's go to the site.
To be continued...
