Lambent

The hot weather in late June stirred uneasiness into the car. Detective Carlson heaved while flipping over a local magazine. He was in mid-forties, well into baldness. And had always worn the same brown coat wherever and whenever he went. His dried lips stretched as he mulled over different problems he faced. Sure, he should have water the grass… but he didn’t think it would upset his wife that much. He grunted to himself. But this only made the officer who was driving next to him shifted uncomfortably. “It’s hot, isn’t it?” He turned a knob to blast the air conditioner stronger. “No, it’s fine. This weather will get worse,” Carlson said. He fanned himself with the magazine and stared onto the road.

Springfield was a little town he used to visit with his wife and children. It never changed. Varieties of little shops crowded over the bay, sweeping the sand. Fishermen’s boats dried up under the sun and few children played around there. Carlson opened the car’s window despite the warning from the officer. Heat came to his face, and he grew jealous with a passerby who drank iced coffee. Residential areas extended towards the mountain. Carlson saw several institution buildings stood on the main road above. “Is there where it is?”

“Yes, the yellow painted apartment.”

Carlson nodded, “not bad indeed.”

“Students nowadays, sir… always wanted independence in one kind or the other. I’m always confused with how the youngsters think. Their house is next to the university yet they prefer to live by themselves!”

“Surely peculiar, isn’t it?” Carlson looked at the old building with more ivies than other. It was as if the apartment could crumble anytime soon. About five in the morning, he received a call about a dead body inside an apartment unit. He clicked his tongue, wondering about evidence he could gather from the old dingy place.

Unit 217 was a mess with a haunting rotten odor all over the place. Carlson stepped inside and walked into the living room. The deceased laid on the floor. Blood covered his entire body and stained his pretty little face. His ghastly look forever petrified with the assault, hidden behind the glasses. Carlson stooped down and examined the wounds that come from a knife. Looking around the room he instinctively thought about a robbery of some kind. But he couldn’t find any treasure box. He also didn’t think the poor college student would have anything fancy hidden inside the room. He wondered what this was all about.

The officer called him out to meet the first witness of the scene, an old grandma living next door. “Fanny, sir.” She introduced herself. “Well, it had been a strange day for me.” Most of the apartment residents were college students who took summer breaks. She had wondered why her neighbor seemed to be occupied in the room, instead. But she imagined that he enrolled in a summer study. “I rarely suspect others. But it is strange.” There was no movement inside the unit. When Fanny took a stroll outside, she noticed that the lights always turned off. She knocked on the door several times but it always stayed shut.

“You knocked on the door? When is it?”

“Yes, sir. About two days ago.”

Fanny asked the front desk if they knew what happened to her neighbor. But the staff ignored her well intentions. They reminded her it is the resident’s responsibility to keep their units safe. They concluded that Unit 217 owner, that was Bill Stevenson, was on a leave. Fanny shook her head in disbelief.

There was a kitty Bill owned who Fanny often fed.

“A cat.”

“It’s a ‘she’. Now, Kitty loves milk. Not the skim or the almond or those fancy stuff, but a good portion of milk.”

“Please, Mrs. Fanny… continue with the story.”

“I am telling you.”

Sometimes Bill forgot to close his unit when he left for school. Kitty would come over to Fanny’s and enjoyed her company. The two of them watched a TV show inside the living room. “I very much like spending time with my family but I don’t want to be a burden. Sometimes if they are busy, I spend time here with Kitty alone.”

Both Carlson and the officer looked at each other.

“About four days ago, I heard Kitty from Bill’s unit. I thought she missed me.” The little cat whimpered as if she was hungry. The sound went hour after hour, day after day until it finally stopped. There was a mixture of relief and fright when Kitty stopped. Fanny was unsure what happened in Unit 217. Then a hideous smell spread in Fanny’s room. Fanny looked into her kitchen sink and trash bins but found no rotten food. She wondered if it’s a dead animal in her patio. But no, she found nothing.

In the end, Old Granny Fanny sat in her own bedroom and fed up. The opened window helped only a little about the smell but it couldn’t leave the room. It was as if the whole room was bound in a curse of an evil spirit.

She heard a bell from the front but it was not hers. A guy’s deep voice remarked a sudden visit. “…Open the door, please. Excuse me?”

“What is it? What happened?”

Fanny asked in front of her door and faced a tall and big guy.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ma’am. I meant to open your neighbor’s door. Sorry if I bothered you.”

They both stared at the wooden door of 217 with curiosity. “Of course they heard your knock. It was quite loud.” The guy smiled, hearing the mild complain.

“By the way, didn’t you smell something weird here? Or is it just my feeling?” At this remark, the staff agreed. “That is exactly what the neighbor complains about.”

Right, Fanny thought. Perhaps a smell warned better than a well-intentioned question from me.

“In any case, I’d better check it out through the front door. They might as well have left the place without checking on food.” With a click, the staff opened the front door.

When they entered the room, a rotten aroma hung in the air. To their surprise, they found the cat’s body lied on the floor. Fanny cried and was about to run when her eyes averted to another direction. Right next to Kitty was a body of Bill Stevenson, bathed in blood.

“The staff is… Mr. Graham from the front desk.” Carlson wrote in his notes and Fanny nodded her head. “The very person.” He considered the information. He was sure that the cat was not murdered per se but he still took that into account. Carlson comprehended that the body was left behind for at least four days. It decayed under the scorching heat and uncirculated air. As soon as Mrs. Fanny went off, he reread his notes.

Bill Stevenson was a 20-year-old sociology student at Springfield University. About three months ago, someone withdrew almost half of his bank account. It was possible to imagine that the event was linked to the following murder case. It seemed that he was stabbed to death not without wrestling with his murderer. Chairs toppled and tables shifted from its original place. Then there’s a couple of missing valuable items. Carlson approached a nearby console. The unclean mirror reflected a blur of his image and he turned his gaze towards the collection of books. Some of them were non-fiction about social behavior, much to his dislike. Then Carlson stopped at the sight of a small-framed picture, possibly taken at the city’s theme park. Four figures stood in front of a roller coaster. The victim was right in the middle, hugging a girl who looked younger than him. Two adults smiled with them.

“Say, have we found them yet?” Carlson showed the family picture to the officer who shook his head apologetically. “The parents were long gone about five years ago. The girl though…” He thought for a second, “she lives with her aunt on Dodson Street.”

“Good, let’s not waste our time.”

There wasn’t much that Carlson could get from Ms. Isabelle the aunt. She just arrived after a long trip and about to embark soon. When the officer mentioned that they found Bill’s body, Ms. Isabelle was taken by surprise. Carlson grew accustomed to family hysteria. It was never easy to reveal a murder case to the family members. But it was even harder to investigate them and stayed impartial to hear the stories. “We found that someone had withdrawn Bill’s savings account.”

“But that’s…” Isabelle lost her words but regained her composure. “Bill was, how should I say, often helped by his fellow friends and the family.”

“Is there anyone who threatened him about money?”

“No, no. I heard nothing of it…” Then she took time to think about past events, “you should ask Tobias. They’re good friends.” Carlson noted the fellow Springfield student.

“One more thing, Ms. Isabelle. Does Bill meet his sister often?”

“Grace? No. I’m sure they hadn’t communicated since he left the house.”

Both Carlson and the officer went back to the car. They talked about the Springfield educational institutions. Most of the graduates worked in the city after graduation to gain success. “Most of them are ambitious,” the officer admitted as he compared himself to them. “Don’t worry, I get you. Not a fan,” Carlson pointed to his chest, noting that he was not proud of his alma mater.

“That reminds me,” the officer said. “There’s another case happened in Springfield. But this time, it’s in the high school building.”

“What happened?”

A girl named Elena Gibbs jumped from the rooftop. “A pretty one, with long thick dark hair. Flat crushed to the floor.” Carlson’s eyebrows furrowed deep. To think about a 16-year-old who put an end to her life… What could be so unbearable that made her give up? “That is terrible.”

“It was. The family was devastated. It’s the Gibbs family, you know.” Elena was the only child of an infamous wealthy family. The officer was called upon the incident and he was the one who took the courage to meet Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs.

“He almost struck me when he heard about the news. ‘It was impossible!’ He shouted on top of his lungs.” The officer gripped both of his hands to illustrate it. “I thought he would point his hunting gun at me if he had any. But then he broke down into tears after I reassured him with the facts.”

When they arrived at Springfield high school, the clock struck noontime. Carlson waited in an empty room while watching assortments of books on the shelves. It was only about five minutes when he heard a knock on the door; a petite figure walked into the room. She hadn’t said a word but an air of doubt and cautiousness masked her movements. When Carlson took his own seat, she lifted her sharp eyes to meet his. “Grace Stevenson, I believe?”

She nodded her head. Carlson introduced himself and walked through the case. He was watching every change in her expression. Grace trembled in fear; her breaths became rapid as she realized the loss of her older brother.

“I was in Aunt Isabelle’s house and school most of the time,” she answered. “I haven’t seen Bill for a long time.”

“A long time?”

She looked sideways and mumbled a few words, “he asked to meet me… but he sounded weird at that time.”

“Weird. How so?”

Grace told Carlson how from time to time Bill told her that he was indebted to his friends. He needed money to pay back. “I don’t have that kind of money. I told him so. But he kept calling me…”

“So you became threatened and pushed beyond limits. That’s why you took revenge on him.”

“No, I didn’t!” Grace retorted. Her face turned red and somewhat disgusted, “I can’t believe you think I did it.”

Carlson apologized if he offended her somehow, “I will catch the murderer for sure.” As he walked past by, Carlson remembered about Elena Gibbs. The eerie coincidences intrigued him and he turned back to Grace, “I’m curious. What happened to Elena Gibbs? She’s one of your classmates, right?”

Grace still had some distrust in the detective but she shook her head. “I don’t know. She jumped off the roof for all I know.”

“Could you tell me how it happened?”

“I don’t know… she…” Grace felt something’s coming up to her throat when she remembered the details. She shifted her gaze to the detective. He’s a heartless adult who couldn’t care much about the students’ feelings, Grace thought.

“Look, sir, I do not understand why it happened. She’s a student here but I don’t know who she is.”

There wasn’t much that Carlson could get from Grace. He thanked the teacher who gave him permission to meet Grace Stevenson. A middle-aged woman wearing thick glasses, Mrs. Olson gave a pleasing smile. She offered him coffee before he went but he politely declined. Carlson caught sight of a young teacher standing close to them. It was as if she was scared at the sight of a detective. He thought it was his imagination and let the young teacher scurried away back to her desk.

A hand stopped Carlson’s steps in the hallway. He saw a young student about Grace’s age smiled with confidence. A smile that shouldn’t be passed to a detective, especially if he was on duty. “You’re here for Elena, aren’t you? Well, I have to tell you that you won’t get anything.”

“And where can I get any related information? From you?”

The smile broadened. The boy waved his hand to whisper secret information, “you shouldn’t investigate this case.”

If he had taken this seriously, Carlson would report that he received a threat… but from a young high school kid? He backed himself off and saw the same teasing smile on the boy’s face. He was treating Carlson as a joke.

“Well, thanks for the tip.”

He walked away from Springfield high school. There was something unnatural about its situation, he thought. The police officer told him later that the school changed after Elena’s case. Her incident became a legend that disrupted the students and the teachers. Carlson watched the stained white building from afar. The green bushes and trees slowly covered the view... hushing the rapture of murder and suicide cases. “Look at that… mystery all over the place,” he thought to himself.

Lucy giggled as she watched the snobbish boy confronted the detective in the hallway. It was unthinkable for her because it was a redundant action. She knew the detective would come to a dead end. But it brightened Lucy’s day to see that another kid tried to smart talk an adult.

“Shut it, creepy.” Alan looked at the girl. He was about 165 centimeters in those days and his looks also helped him stood out from the crowd. Despite his courageous threat, Alan was the boy who knew the rule book well. And he demanded that everyone did so. He was the student president for the new term. Unlike his predecessors, Alan preferred to stay distant to the crowd. He deemed the recognition from his admirers. He was collecting each vote to show his influence towards others. He was effective in managing the crowd and imaginative about manipulating others. Alan strode with confidence towards the empty room where he found Grace.

“Is he gone?”

“That guy? Yeah, I told him to stay away,” he took a seat. “What did he ask?”

Grace shook her head, “nothing important. I almost thought he’d accuse me of Bill.”

“Bill—your brother?” He stood up in surprise, “what happened to him?”

Grace turned her strong gaze towards Alan, challenging him to speak more words. They made no further exchanges. When she stepped outside, Grace caught sight of an alienated student. The boy crouched in silence. His thoughts wandered off beyond school and its residents. Their eyes met for a brief second. Then the boy put his forefinger on his lips and he grinned in a peculiar fashion.

Unlike the confident Alan, the boy kept everything to himself. He was rather quiet but people knew that he was more than that. If not properly studied, one would guess that he was a gang ruler because of his muscular body. People once saw Jake strolling with a rifle in summer, hunting ducks with his father in the woods. Other students grew accustomed to his silence and preferred so. It was like having a wild animal inside the school… wicked, entrancing, and lethal.

Jake knew what the others think about him and he didn’t mind about it. In fact, he would laugh when they call him a wild animal. Sure he wasn’t. They’d have to see a real bear before calling him names. When you encountered an animal – especially the ones you track down—you have to stay low. You have to watch the signs… what they’re about to do. Never run. Even dogs would chase you down. There’s this brief moment when you want to stay calm once your eyes met.

That moment was shared every time Jake saw Grace. Only in brief seconds, he could trace the wild instincts hidden beneath her mask. He usually ignored it and looked away, giving her a safe private place. But he wondered when he’d be able to open the rage inside of her… and struck her down.

Later after class, Jake called on the lunatic Lucy and pointed at the teacher’s room. They were being called to assist Mrs. Olson. It was a mandatory action to retrieve their good behaviors. Lucy grunted but was willing to walk with Jake.

All the teachers were inside the teacher’s room during the recess. They talked about recent gossip, food, and anything that caught their interest. Jake rolled his eyes at the noises… something he thought as meaningless. Mrs. Olson welcomed the two misfits and handed several graded homework papers. At the corner of his eye, Jake saw the beautiful Ms. Davis gulping down her iced tea. He wondered for a second when she would teach their class. “Do you need anything else, Mrs. Olson?” he asked and said that he’d be glad to assist other teachers too.

“What a great initiative. Loretta… dearest Loretta, come here. This is Jake and Lucy from my class. They helped me today to complete the good behavior markings. Do you need any help today?”

Jake grinned at his winning. But he realized how Ms. Davis changed her expressions. Her eyes dilated, and she falsely knocked over her mobile phone. Lucy stepped forward and gave the device back to her. “No, no… thank you. I’m well,” she averted her gaze and continued grading her papers.

It was fascinating to watch how animals behave when a threat comes upon them. Jake remembered his father’s words while they were hunting deer. “Do not make them afraid,” he said. Ms. Davis shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and withdrew to the corner to take coffee. Jake wondered what this was all about but followed Lucy who already stepped outside.

Grace and Alan were in a heated discussion about the detective. As usual, Alan wanted to know all the details and controlled everything he could. “Make sure you never tell him about Elena. It would make you look suspicious.” Grace nodded her head. Her hands squeezed tight hoping there was a way to fix things now that it seemed to be too late. She was rather a timid student. The one who would pass the Marshmallow Test and would wait for the long-awaited prize. That day she had heavy breathing and filled with perspirations. Deep beneath her skin, her beating heart rapture.

For the rest of the week, Carlson interviewed witnesses of Elena Gibbs’ case including Tobias, Alan, Jake, and Lucy. He was curious to know if the two cases were related.

When he drove down to Gibbs’ residence, there were no lights inside the house. Heavy clouds hung above its chimney and blackbirds surrounded the mourning place. A middle-aged woman stepped outside and took out the garbage. Her pale expression grew dim as she left the stuff behind. She turned back and realized that Carlson was standing close to the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs were still mourning over their daughter’s death. They had delivered a proper ceremony for the beloved and now remained in silent grief. They weren’t aware of anything happened to Bill Stevenson in the Springfield University. “You mean there is another case?” Mr. Gibbs asked in a heartbroken voice.

There was no evidence about interconnection. But Carlson felt there was something hidden under his nose. He sensed that the four students at Springfield high school were close. Not in a friendly sense, but rather in an intimidating way. Grace was related to Bill Stevenson. She claimed she wasn’t involved in the suicide like Alan Gregory did. Lucy Memphis mentioned that she was related to Elena Gibbs. Meanwhile, the boys seemed to be protecting them or threatening them. Carlson invited the four for an interview.

The four kids waited outside Carlson’s office at the police station. He called upon Jake for the first time.

“Could you tell us again how it happened? You can tell me anything you know – chronologically if you will.”

“I was sleeping. We were in the class. Then people cried out and I woke up. So I followed them to where Elena’s body was.” He stopped for a moment and said, “Alan was watching me. He could testify that I was sleeping. Don’t you think we should call him in?”

“No, thank you. I’ll ask him later. Please, continue…”

Jake shrugged his shoulders and resumed. “They shouted that there’s a girl who jumped from the roof. The other class who’s doing sports saw it. Some shouts for the teachers, others hesitated to go to the scene. But curiosity always wins, of course. It is humans’ nature to be curious. We watch different things in awe while ignoring our ability to do something. The students stood there and watched the body without being able to move.” Jake recited his point of view of the incident. It was strange to think that the boy couldn’t understand the word ‘fear’ in the other students’ mind.

“I have no idea how to predict the time of death by measuring the blood or whatever they say in a mystery book. So I guess that sums up what I know about.”

Before the boy could utter any more words, Carlson’s mobile phone buzzed in his pockets. He pointed his forefinger to ask for a time, “Carlson here.” Jake saw the slightest change in Carlson’s face… a recognition of an event that went south. “Thank you,” he put the mobile away.

Carlson stepped outside and saw the rest of the kids watching his moves. A grip on his stomach tightened. He was no longer certain if they were connected to the cases. A teacher was recently reported missing… a young lady in her late twenties. Carlson went to his documents but couldn’t find if he had interviewed Ms. Loretta Davis. He called out to a police officer and recounted the information.

From afar, Alan, Grace, and Lucy listened to the news with full attention. They were in shock as well. Grace kept quiet while doubting her trust with the group. Lucy smiled as if all this excited her more. Alan stayed calm though somewhat disturbed. And nobody could see how Jake reacted. Each of them wondered if Ms. Davis is connected to Elena and if the university student Bill.

“All right, you four should go home. We will continue this at length,” Carlson grabbed his suit.

“Wait, what happened just now?”

“We have a case. Now, come on. I’ll send you home.”

On the ride back home, they overheard bits of pieces about Ms. Loretta Davis. It seemed that she had been gone for a few days. Her apartment was left untouched and there were no signs she returned. She was absent from school and her immediate family grew anxious. The four kids looked at each other in silence. The last time they saw Ms. Davis was about five days ago and she looked fine. They wondered what could happen.

When each of them attended school the next day, they found something new. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

Alan found a printed mail on his locker addressed to him formally. He wasn’t expecting any letters at that moment, not even prom date. Lately, Alan often woke up in the middle of the night with sweat all over his body. A nightmare. But the letter was the start of his real nightmare.

“Hey, what’s that on your hand?”

Behind Alan stood Jake, the lazy ass as he referred him to.

“It’s none of your business.” He was about to turn away when Jake held his shoulder.

“Look, Alan, I come here only to settle this down.” His left hand showed a familiar paper and envelope.

Confused, Alan nodded his head in recognition of his name. He studied the same letter Jake had. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Nick mocked the question, “it’s what you want that I’m interested in. What the heck did you mean about this?” He was holding Alan’s collar then, threatening him.

“I didn’t make it. I found mine this morning.”

Seeing honesty in Alan’s eyes, Jake couldn’t refuse when Alan asked to discuss the matter outside. He didn’t know that Alan was trying to avoid being seen with him. He maintained his dignity of being the smart and classy boy.

“Darn. Why the heck the teachers always give me trouble?”

“It’s not from teachers. At least not for a consultation,” Alan responded. He felt that the invitation was not something to be ignored and yet he was unsure to immediately respond to it.

“What if…”

At the sound behind them, both Jake and Alan turned their heads in an alert. “…what if it’s a prank?” Grace held out her own invitation.

Jake shrugged his shoulders as he walked to Grace. “It could be it, you know. Well, as long as I care, this letter is kinda disturbing me. So I’m about to rip it to pieces anyway.”

Jake pulled out Grace’s letter, ready to rip it in half when Alan stepped forward. “I’m not sure that’s what it’s made for.”

“Agreed.”

From above, someone had been watching them. Lucy held out her invitation while walking down the stairs. “I’m not sure why we got this but I doubt we can ignore it.”

Grace seemed to realize something as she said, “there are four of us. Why are we the only one who get these letters? I don’t get it.”

“We’re not that close and never hang out together,” Alan said. At this, everybody else agreed. They didn’t know each other well enough to enjoy a dinner together.

“We don’t have similar names right? I mean Grace, Alan, Jake, and Lucy. That’s pretty much random.” Again, everyone agreed.

“What about age?” Not the same.

They went through some lists to suggest their similarity. The most probable reason for the invitation but nothing came up. Then Alan realized a dreadful thought. “We’re all being interviewed in two different cases.”

“And while I was being interviewed, Ms. Davis gone lost.” Jake continued. “Is it Carlson the detective then?”

“Easy there. It might not be him.” Alan said. “Whoever it is who send the letters to us, they must mean something. Either they want to invite us for fun or they have something in their mind.”

“In fact, they might watch us at this moment.”

At Lucy’s respond, everybody stared at the surroundings. Even the light breeze seemed to give them chills.

After several questions, the four of them became convinced that the letter was not from any of them. They learned several basic things about others. They knew they don’t hold a grudge from one to another. By the time they parted to their own activities, each of them had gained a slight amount of trust for others.

“I’ll show you no mercy if it’s you,” Lucy whispered to Grace’s ears as soon as they headed towards the class. A rage raptured inside of Grace, stronger than her condemned fears. In a brief of a second, she took Lucy’s left hand. Then she twisted it in an unbearable pain, ignoring the young girl’s teary shrieks. “Serves you right,” she said and went away.

Carlson stood still when the call reached to him. The clock struck eleven at night and chirps of summer cicada filled the room. Shades of furniture accompanied him in the darkness. He breathed in, considering that this was a threat. He felt burdened by a giant hand that choked his throat and pressured it with a tip of a knife. Only this time, it was conveyed within words. “Stay away, Carlson.” The three words sunk deep into his mind. He knew whom the call came from and he felt a sudden panic. Had he created a monster? The eerie silence brought him nothing. He pondered upon his actions and decisions in the past. The ticking clock started to unravel the mystery.

The four of them approached the hangar nearby Springfield high school. On that rainy day, the wind blew harder as the clock stroke seven. Everyone had gone home. They probably sat on the couch with their family right now. No one else was near the hangar. The building was old, filled with a nasty acidic smell with soaked walls that had turned yellow. Debris and dust covered every corner. Spiders were crawling to get his feast, enjoying the taste of a dead cricket. The ceilings were washed in the downpour, silently waited for the moonlight to appear.

The four of them were silent. Their hands were tied to their feet. When they stepped into the building, someone knocked their heads and entrapped them. A masked figure was sitting in front of them. The sharp axe in front of him was threatening their dear lives.

“Well? Anyone wants to talk?” He asked.

Grace was trembling fiercely. Her long brown hair became damp with sweat. She could feel her pulse rising. Tears had flowed down the veins on her throat, seeping through the collars and all over her back. She gritted her teeth to ignore the pressure she experienced. It was the worst. She felt drowned in a nightmare where powerful forces subjugated her. She held her breath and dug her nails into the skin of her palms.

“Elena Gibbs jumped off the roof. Then not long after that Bill Stevenson was stabbed to death. A teacher named Loretta Davis was gone missing. Anyone of you knows anything about these?”

“Look, old man,” Alan tried to talk things over. “We are also sad about what happened. But we don’t know who did it or how things happened.” He struggled to free himself and fell down. “Why can’t you understand us? Why are you doing this?”

The masked male shook his head in disbelief. The four suspects denied their relation to the three cases. A mental image emerged from beneath his consciousness. He could still remember how the lifeless body laid on the coffin, stifled and immobile as if she was in a trance. His pierced heart could only hold on the glinting axe as he waited for them to confess.

The four of them knew what was going on. Once when they were much younger, they had gone through the same process. Being in a circle and played the game to tell truths or dare. They secretly wished the next person would dare so that the game became exciting. But now, the four of them were gambling with their lives.

“Hang on, I remember something,” Jake said. He remembered the last time he went to the pool. As he rose, gasping for air, he absorbed a sense of reality surrounded him. There was Ms. Davis standing near the locker room and conversing with Elena Gibbs. “They were fighting. Elena and Ms. Davis were having a fight.”

“Are you sure?” Alan asked.

“When’s that?” Grace chirped.

“Months ago near the swimming pool. I couldn’t hear them out but Loretta seemed upset with her.”

Alan kept the information to himself. It freed him from suspicion but it sounded too weird. How could he possibly say that without knowing Ms. Davis? Another person was frowning at Jake and it was Lucy.

“But that only made sense,” Grace whispered. “Perhaps Elena took upon her life after the fight all because of Ms. Davis’ fault. So now, she ran away to escape from being caught!”

“That’s impossible!” Alan fiercely stated.

Confused, Grace and Jake grew silent. The masked host took part in the conversation instead. “I wonder if any of you know about this… but they found sleeping pills inside Elena’s body.” He rolled an empty tube on the floor so that the four of them could see the unbelievable vengeance. “It belongs to Bill Stevenson’s.”

“What?”

Grace stopped her breathing at once.

“Anything you know, Ms. Grace Stevenson?”

“I don’t know! I know nothing about it!”

“You and your brother had planned to kill Elena all along. Now, you took his life after you succeeded. Then you kill Loretta Davis too.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Bill was blackmailing Elena.” From the corner, they heard Lucy solemnly retold the accident. “Bill thought Elena was jealous of his girlfriend so he warned her.”

The sudden revelation made everyone uneasy. But the masked man quickly gained his control, “is this your truth?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know it?”

“I’m close to Elena, you know…” she smiled slyly. “I kill no one.”

“But how… how is it possible?” Grace asked.

“Grace,” Alan called her calmly, “it makes sense. Elena told Ms. Davis out of frustration. But she didn’t believe Elena. So she took it upon herself.”

Grace furrowed her eyebrows. She could not understand how Alan was so confident in analyzing the situation. His immediate conclusion seemed to facade his obsession to win. It was as if he solved intellectual puzzles from both the masked man and the detective.

“So these are your truths?” The masked man stood up and sighed, “the four of you knew some insights about the victims but none of you kill them. Are you sick? You obviously lied!” He smashed the axe to the wooden boxes inside the hangar. He stabbed the weapon many times to release his anger.

When you encountered an animal – especially the ones you track down – you have to stay low. You have to watch the signs… what they’re about to do. Never run. Even dogs would chase you down. There’s this brief moment when you want to stay calm once your eyes met the wild animal’s eyes. Jake played safe… he needed to. “What do you need to know from us?”

The questioner eyed him and said it again, “I told you before. I want your version of the truth.”

Jake slowly recounted the crime he committed three months ago. It was also raining on that afternoon. He couldn’t forget the faces he met. “Wait in the car,” he instructed the driver. They readied their firearms and nodded to each other. Jake took a deep breath and pulled the car handle. It was hard to see beyond the mask but it helped him cover his mistakes. “Do not be afraid,” Jake whispered to himself. The bank almost closed at three in the afternoon and they quickly rushed in and demanded fresh cash. He remembered a woman stooped down with her mobile phone. Jake took the bank statement she was holding and asked the bank officer to withdraw the account. She was still communicating with her lover at the other side. He asked her to turn it off, which she didn’t. And at that point, Jake pulled the trigger. Blood bathed the blond-haired figure that gasped for her last breath on earth. It was Cecilia Kelsey, Bill Stevenson’s girlfriend.

“You murderer!” Grace yelled at the top of her lungs and struck Jake right in the head with her body, toppling him down to the floor. She could feel her whole body rejected, rebelling against the idea of violence that had been done.

The masked male pointed an axe behind Grace’s head. “Grace Stevenson. The tortured younger sister of Bill Stevenson.” She turned her gaze towards him, shaking uncontrollably. “Your secret lied with the dead body. Isn’t it? What is your truth?”

The question triggered full of emotional scenes in her mind. From the moment his brother trashed things around, then pushed her down to the floor. The moment when she grabbed the night lamp to strike him down but failed and attempted to escape. The moment when the struggles continued…

“It is the same to you all, isn’t it? The one who’s close to Elena Gibbs and the one who’s close to Loretta Davis. Come out with your truths already!”

They didn’t. Perhaps, they never intended to.

In that brief second, something happened. Alan stood up free and punched the questioner. “Why wouldn’t you let us go? Why are we here? We could have let you free!” He threw a bunch more as he kept preaching at the masked man.

“Thanks,” Grace said to Lucy who had released herself secretly. She opened her free palm and clenched it back. Then she glanced sideways and found Jake staring at the axe. He stood up and approached it, a tool for his deeds. It was easy for him to grip the handle and lifted it up in one go.

After revealing his face, it looked like that the questioner was a man in his 50s. Now with a broken nose that bled hard, he was barely breathing. Perhaps after all… this was all he wanted, truly. He peeked at Grace who was stomping over his body. She was merciless. Meanwhile, Alan was punching him while uttering nonsense. The two fought for fresh meat to torture. There was a figure seating away from them, watching the sight in disgust. The glint in her eyes showed joy and curiosity, but Lucy’s lips bore a hollow expression. The child wondered, “how long would he last?” Jake came with an axe to join the crowd. “Let me finish him,” he said confidently.

It was strange and yet sensible. At that moment, the four students acknowledged each other as more than strangers. They became one coherent team while being captives.

The man’s head toppled and rolled about half a meter away. The eyes were shut closed, signaling his acceptance to his ill fate. There was no remorse in the building. Grace stared at the body and Jake looked at the powerful axe. Alan approached Lucy who had stayed away, “you good?” “Yeah… I thought he’d last longer than Loretta.” They took the event in a casual way. After all, it wasn’t the first time they did it. The hangar door clicked open when they turned the key to the right. In a few hours, the hangar was forced to see how the four captives regained their freedom. The mystery was never revealed to Carlson and the town residents…