NEXUS ARC 1: The Death of Trojan

“He died twenty years ago because of suicide. They said he was blamed for killing his girlfriend. Right here in this very school. All the evidence clearly pointed to him as the one who killed her, but he still insisted that he didn’t commit the crime,” Elena whispered.

There were no teachers around at the moment because they were all in a meeting for the upcoming intramurals. With nothing else to do, we decided to pass the time by sharing scary stories about our school. And out of all the stories we had heard, this one was by far the most famous.

“He was only eighteen years old, while his girlfriend was seventeen. I think the girl’s name was Sandra. They said the reason he killed his girlfriend was because he was jealous,” she continued.

Our eyebrows immediately shot up.

“What?! That was his reason? How pathetic!” I blurted out in irritation.

“Yes. According to the witnesses, they were seen arguing about Toni one day before Sandra died. They said they also saw him gripping Sandra’s arm so tightly that it was already turning red. I have no idea who Toni is, though. I’m completely clueless about her,” she continued.

“An abuser, too. What a huge red flag! But Toni sounds interesting,” I said, resting my chin on my hand as I stared up at the ceiling, pretending to think deeply.

“Yes. The next day, Sandra was found in the college laboratory with three gunshot wounds and sixty-nine stab wounds.”

My hand immediately flew over my mouth at the gruesome details she was revealing.

“The gun was found in his possession, but the knife used to kill her was missing. There’s even a rumor that the knife is still hidden somewhere inside this school to this day.”

She paused for a moment, looking at our faces. Judging by our expressions, we were practically sick to our stomachs from everything she had been telling us.

“Don’t leave us hanging. Keep going,” Reigh urged, scratching his head.

“Can’t wait, huh? Fine, here it is. Since the gun belonged to him and his fingerprints were found on it, that made him the prime suspect. But like I said earlier, he still insisted that he didn’t do it. He claimed that he had been framed.”

She lifted both shoulders slightly.

“Since the evidence against him was strong, he was arrested.”

She stopped when Nicole suddenly interrupted her.

“Wait. First of all, how did he even get the gun?”

“From his father, who was a cop. It was his dad’s eighteenth birthday gift to him. He had a license to carry a gun. His father even issued a public apology because of what he had done and promised to seek justice for Sandra’s death.”

As the story grew more interesting, Elena’s voice gradually became louder. A few of our classmates who happened to pass by even stopped to listen to what she was saying.

“And now we know that a gun isn’t exactly a birthday gift,” Reigh joked, pointing at us one after another.

We all stared at him blankly.

Nobody laughed.

It wasn’t funny.

“Because of how much pressure the case put on him, he became severely depressed. No one believed him—not even his own father. Then, the day before his court hearing, he ran away. He was eventually found dead in the same laboratory where Sandra had been killed,” she continued.

“What was his cause of death?” I asked, frowning.

“I think he either hanged himself or poisoned himself. But I bet he poisoned himself since it was a laboratory. Actually, no one really knows what caused his death. His burial was private. Only his parents mourned him. They said he was really smart, especially when it came to science.”

She lowered her voice.

“There are also rumors that he still makes his presence known in that laboratory.”

“Scary!” Reigh exclaimed, covering his arm over his head as he pretended to be frightened.

“What was his name again?” I asked.

“Trojan.”