Murder in the Streets

XEA

“A dead body was yet again found in the streets of Springfield...” I smiled bitterly and turned the TV off. This was not new to Springfield, despite its bright and sunny name, horrors filled the city.

I got my things and immediately went to school.

“You didn’t call me yesterday, I could’ve accompanied you,” I nodded in agreement to what Matteas said to his girlfriend Luna.

“I just bought some ice cream, Matteas. It was not that far from my house and I don’t want to bother you,” Luna smiled sweetly and clung into her boyfriend’s arms.

“You know how dangerous it is," Luna just responded with a pout and Matteas ruffled her hair.

“I didn’t get to watch the news, what happened, Xea?” Cynthia, who’s sitting next to me asked but since my mouth was full, Yvron answered.

“Nothing new, a woman was found on the streets, a wire was wrapped around her neck tightly, her fingers were chopped off and of course, Solis’ name was still written on the body. Police had assumed she was raped since her clothes were off,” Cynthia’s face contorted with fear upon hearing Yvron’s statement, “that’s… awful,” she whispered.

Solis, the most wanted killer in Springfield. He’s been doing this for two years and is still lingering in the streets, freely. Police have been searching, but no improvements were made since day one, no evidences were collected, not even one CCTV footage was gathered, and there are no witnesses in all of the crimes he committed. I’m starting to think that the police was not trying hard enough- or Solis was just really good at what he’s doing.

“Well that looks awful too,” we all checked who Alexei was pointing and we saw Tyler walking towards our table and he immediately sat at the vacant space beside me.

“Man, you look awful,” Matteas stated which caused him to receive a glare from Tyler. I nodded in agreement and asked him what happened, however he just shook his head and didn't even bother to talk. I bet it’s because of his insomnia.

“You should have gotten some rest, Tyler. You look really tired,” Luna stated, “No it's fine, I can’t afford to skip class,” he answered then we all laughed. “Who was it again who asked everyone to skip class and go to the amusement park with him?” Cynthia asked mockingly, “I think it was Tyler? No? It wasn't him?” Matteas added and we all laughed except for Tyler who was glaring at us.

“Let’s go, Tyler, we can’t be late on Professor Parker’s class,” Luna stood up immediately upon hearing the bell. “Alright goody two shoes,” Tyler replied as he unwillingly stood up. “Yeah he’s a terror, good luck,” Yvron then smacked his back jokingly.

Afternoon came and I was walking with Alexie and Cynthia when we saw Luna standing alone outside the school’s gate.

“Luna,” I called her out as soon as we got closer to her to which she responded with a sweet smile and waved at us.

“Are you waiting for someone? Where’s Mat?” Alexei asked and rests his elbow on her shoulder.

“I’m waiting for him, we’re going out to see a movie,” she stated. “I wanna watch a movie too! Can we come-“Alexei was cut off when Cynthia spoke, “Shut up Alexei, it’s their date night.”

“We can wait with you until Mat arrives,”

“No it’s okay you can go home before it gets dark and don’t worry, Mat said he’s almost here,” I nodded and we said our goodbyes then went home.

I entered a room in our house and sighed when I saw a mess, the mess that my dad left, the mess that he almost finished. I took a few steps closer to the investigation board and stared at it, thinking. How am I supposed to continue this? He was so close to solving this mystery. He worked so hard to fix it, to find Solis. Well, I guess he did find him, but Solis was one step ahead of him, of everyone, so he lost.

Morning came and now I’m in the library with Yvron. He said he needed to study for his special test because of his absence which is kind of odd; Yvron doesn’t care about his grades. Maybe he had a change of heart?

My phone suddenly vibrated indicating that there’s a message so I checked it only to see a text from Luna asking where we are and I told her right away. She then arrived and I expected to see the typical bubbly Luna but my smile instantly vanished when I saw her.

“Hey Luna,” Yvron greeted with his eyes on the book, “hey,” Luna said almost in a whisper causing Yvron to look at her and with the same reaction as me, his smile vanished.

“Luna, what happened? Are you okay?” I asked worriedly and pulled my chair closer to her.

“I’m worried about Mat,” I suddenly got scared by her short statement. Matteas should be fine right? “Why? What happened?” maybe he’s just sick or something.

“He didn't come. Never even bothered to contact me,”

“What’s the last text he sent?” I asked and Luna opened her phone and showed me Matteas’ last message.

“I think I’ll be running a bit late. Go home, I’ll pick you up there,” Yvron read the message and both of us looked back at Luna.

I don’t like this feeling, this is what I felt when my dad didn’t come home that night.

“You heard nothing from him after that message?” Yvron clarified again and Luna nodded slowly. “M-maybe there was an emergency or there was something he needed to do,” Yvron added to ease her down but I’m sure Yvron’s dead worried too, he even stuttered.

“Yeah, Yvron’s right. Let’s wait for Him in the bench near the gate?” I suggested and both of them agreed.

We were waiting here for minutes now and all of us are here… except for Matteas.

“Maybe Mat is sick,” I hope he is just sick, “is he still not answering?” Tyler added and Luna shook her head with her eyes on the phone. We all tried calling him and none of us has his parents’ number and they’re across the country right now.

We all stood up when the bell rang but Luna remained seated, “Luna, let’s go,” Tyler gently pulled her arm to stand up.

“I’ll just text you guys if Mat will arrive, maybe he’s just running late,” Cynthia gave us a small smile and went to our separate ways.

I can’t focus on the discussion. I keep on checking my phone hoping Cynthia would text us that Matteas arrived and he’s just late. I looked over to check on Alexei and Yvron and they were doing the same thing as me. We’re all worried about Mat. Until break came, we didn’t receive a message from Cynthia.

“Xea your phone!” Yvron handed me my phone that I left on my arm chair and I thanked him. We were on a rush to get to the cafeteria to see our friends, and hoping to see Matteas too.

When we arrived the three of my friends are already in our usual seat. They were quite. We sat down and I looked at Cynthia with questioning eyes, she slowly shook her head and I hugged Luna right beside me.

We were all spacing out throughout the day, thinking what could have possibly happened to Matteas. Given the current situation of Springfield, I know that might happen, let’s face it, it’s possible but I hope that it’s different with Mat, I hope he’s just in his room sleeping because I don’t want to lose someone important to me again.

“Tyler, please take Luna home,” I asked him and he just gave me small smile and nodded.

“How about try hacking Mat’s location,” I said as I was laying on my bed with my phone on my ears.

“Oh right, I didn’t think about that,” Yvron answered through the phone.

It was Saturday and it’s 7:00 am yet we still haven’t heard from Matteas since yesterday. We already reported it to the police and they said they’ll handle it themselves, but I don’t trust them though.

I was waiting for Yvron to finish and after minutes, he successfully tracked the location, “it’s in… Southview, near the bridge…Shall we go?” Yvron asked me. Southview? It’s kinda far. I ignored the negative thought and checked the time, we still have plenty of hours until we go to Luna’s house so I agreed. Matteas could be doing some personal business over there. I just hope that’s the case.

We didn’t tell everyone yet, we weren’t sure if Mat was really there, we wanna check it ourselves first. They need to rest because I saw how frustrated they were and I’m sure they barely slept, especially Luna.

I bid goodbye to my mom and got out of the house when Yvron arrived outside. I immediately went in his car and we drove off to Southview.

I looked up to Yvron when he suddenly held my hand which was shaking without me even realizing. “Mat is okay, alright?” he assured me and I took a deep breath and nodded.

After few minutes of driving, the road seems to get empty and empty until we reached the woods. The woods was not that widespread so after it we finally reached Southview. I looked out the window and immediately got goosebumps. What was Mat doing in here? In this lonely street? I don't even know if there's still civilization here, it seems abandoned.

Few minutes later we finally arrived at the bridge. Before getting out of the car, I saw Yvron getting something and my eyes widened upon seeing what it is, “What the hell, Yvron. You have a gun!” I exclaimed. “It’s my dad’s. For safety measures,” he answered and I sighed and we got out of the car.

To be honest, I’m scared. Not scared because someone might attack us in this empty place or something, but scared for what I may see in this place, scared for what I may discover.

“Xea, come here!” Yvron suddenly called me and picked up something from the grass and my eyes widened upon seeing what it was. It was Matteas’ phone. It was his freaking phone! If his phone is here, then where is he?

“Mat can’t be far from here, right?” Yvron the nodded and checked on Mat’s phone. There were 89 missed calls and 104 unread messages, all coming from us. I think I know where this is headed to but I hope I’m wrong.

“Come here,” Yvron pulled me by my wrist and started to look for more tracks of Matteas. When we reached the other end of the bridge my heart dropped and I couldn’t move. Yvron immediately hugged me to shield my eyes from seeing that horrifying sight. I already expected this but I was still so shocked that I didn’t even get to shed a tear. I just wish I was seeing things.

Seven weeks passed since that incident and through those weeks, we were devastated, but Luna had it worse. We would often stay and visit her house to give her some company, especially Tyler.

“Tyler you should sleep, I’ll stay with Luna for tonight,” I suggested and look over to Luna’s room where she was sleeping while both of us are here in the living room.

“Nah it’s okay, Xea. I’ll still stay with her for the night,”

“Ty-“he then cut me off by saying, “It’s okay. As long as it’s for Luna then it’s okay. You know I’ll do anything for her right?” I sighed and slowly nodded. Poor Tyler, it’s been two years already yet here he is, still in love with the same person who happens to love someone else. No one else knew about this, it’s between me and Tyler.

Without us noticing, time had passed and we slowly moved on, slowly tried to go back to being our normal selves, because we knew, that’s what Mat would have wanted. However, I can still remember every detail of what I saw that day, how bloody Mat’s body was and of course, how Solis carved his name on his body. We tried hard to move on and everything is kind of back to normal… I guess. But it will never the same.

“Cynthia really shouted and everyone else heard it,” Alexei said as we all laughed out loud to what happened yesterday and how embarrassing it was for Cynthia, “Hey!” Cynthia then smacked Alexei’s arm and laughed too.

I missed this, us laughing together, making fun of one another, telling jokes, and hanging out. I’m glad everything’s already fine.

“Hey but remember when Tyler farted so loud in 6th grade,” Cynthia said laughing trying to pass everyone’s attention to Tyler, “Shut up shart-face,” he then replied and we all laughed once again. “Now that sounds like something Mat would say,” Alexei said still laughing but he awkwardly stopped when he realized we all went silent upon hearing Mat’s name.

We all went silent for a while when Yvron decided to break it, “So, where’s Luna?”

“She’s in Professor Parker’s office, taking a special test for the quizzes she missed,” Tyler answered and we decided to wait for her and minutes passed, she still haven’t arrived so we decided to go home first while Tyler of course, waited for her.

THIRD PERSON

It’s been almost an hour since everyone went home and Tyler is still in the benches near the gate sitting and waiting for Luna.

“What’s taking her so long?” Tyler whispered and decided to go to Professor Parker’s office to check on her but when he arrived and peeped through the window, he didn’t expect what he saw. Although it’s dark, he knew exactly that it was Luna so didn’t think twice and barged right in and luckily, the door wasn’t locked. He immediately pulled the professor away from Luna and threw him a punch, “You asshole!” he shouted, his eyes burning in rage and punched him again in face causing the professor to fall down on the ground.

Tyler looked back at Luna and saw her crying at the corner hugging her naked body. He walked closer to Luna while taking off his jacket and wrapped it immediately around her body, “Shh, you’ll be okay, I’m already here okay,” he said softly and hugged her as she cried even harder.

Tyler wants to beat the professor up, scream to his face and tell him how awful he is but Luna doesn’t need that for now given her situation, he must focus on Luna first and deal with the professor later.

He scanned the room and saw Luna’s clothes on the floor so he immediately picked it up and gave it to her, “C-can u changer yourself?” he asked her softly. God knows how angry he is right now but he has to control his self, for Luna.

Luna nodded slowly, tears still flowing from her eyes as she dressed herself. Tyler turned around and looked at the professor on the floor wiping the blood off his lips. The professor didn’t say anything, Tyler did too not say anything because he’s afraid that once he speaks a word, he can no longer control his self. He’ll leave this job to the authority.

He turned back to Luna who was now done changing her clothes but still shaking in fear, it broker his heart to see the girl he loves like that.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Tyler guided Luna out of the office and out of the schools gate to his car. When they got inside he informed his friends what about what happened and called the cops.

Morning came and the news spread like wildfire.

XEA

It’s been two days since that incident happened, Professor Parker is in the jail but Luna didn’t get to be interviewed yet because she was not ready, she was scared. But she did mention last night though that she’s planning to do the interview today. That must be really hard on her, I still can’t believe that Professor did that. Professor Parker, everyone believed he was a good man although he may be strict in the class and for pete’s sake he was a married man with a daughter the same age as us!

I grabbed my bag and went outside when I heard Yvron car and before I opened his door, Tyler called me, “Hey, Tyler! What’s up?”

“Xea, I think I’ll be running late, my mom made me help her with something. Can you pick up Luna?” he asked to which I immediately responded with, “Of course!”

“Thank you! Bye and take care,” the call ended and I entered Yvron’s car and told him to pick up Luna as well.

“Are you sure you’re ready to go to school?” I asked Luna for the ninth time and she gave me a small smile and nodded.

I feel really bad for Luna. First, she lost her boyfriend and now, she got raped by our professor. She doesn’t deserve this, she’s like the sweetest and kindest person I’ve ever met. She’s the baby of the group.

When we finally arrived school everyone seems to busy, talking about something. Cynthia appeared out of nowhere with an expression I can’t seem to read.

“Professor Parker died,” I blinked twice not being able to process the information. Did I heard it right? Di professor really… died?

I looked over to Yvron and Luna who has the same reaction as me. But who? Who would kill him and why? Was it because of the crime he committed? Was Solis the killer or someone else?

“And yes, Solis killed Professor Parker,” Cynthia added.

Did Solis knew about the incident?

“How could it happen? Professor was in jail right?” Yvron asked and looked over to Luna worriedly. “They said the police assigned fell asleep and when he woke up, Professor was already dead, lying on the cell ground with a slit in the neck and of course, Solis’ name carved on his leg. His lil parker was even gone!” I gave Cynthia a confused look to the last statement he said, “I’m sorry? His what?” Yvron seems to be confused too and asked so Cynthia pointed at Yvron’s crotch. “I can’t believe you called it lil parker,” He stated in disbelief and let out a small chuckle, “I mean, I think he deserves it though,” Cynthia then added.

I looked back at Luna again because she’s been quite so I pulled her gently by the wrist and told them that we should go to our classrooms.

We didn’t have a proper class because the teachers were busy, while the students were still talking about the incident.

“Xea,” I looked up to see Yvron and Alexei standing beside me, “Tyler texted, he said they’re in the field,” he added.

“Class is not over yet,” I replied.

“It’s okay, the teachers are busy, and no one’s having a class,”

“What happened to Luna?” I asked Tyler as we arrived and sat on the vacant space beside Luna who was resting her head on the table.

“Everyone in class keeps talking about it and she wants to rest, it’s not helping,” I looked over to Luna again and rubbed her back slowly.

The day ended quickly and all we could here was about Professor Parker’s death and about the rape case.

It’s 10:00 PM and I’m here in the convenience store with Yvron, we were talking about some stuff when he suddenly stopped and stared at something or someone so I looked at my back to see someone who seems familiar, he was standing not far from the convenience store wearing a black hoodie.

“Is that Alexei?” I asked, “I don’t know, I think so,”

“Hey, hey, where are you going?” I asked when Yvron stood up, “Let’s follow him,” he answered.

“What? No! it’s too dangerous,”

“It’s okay, I have my knife with me,” I then slowly nodded and stood up as well.

We already arrived the alley and Yvron was holding my hand while his other one is inside his pocket preparing to pull out the knife. While walking, we suddenly heard some voices, we looked at each other and walked to where the voices were coming from.

The voices got near and I froze to what I saw. I-it’s him. It’s Solis. There was a girl covered with her own blood below him, she was alive but too weak to scream. I can’t believe it, he’s here right in front of me. The person who was responsible for my father’s death, for all the murders here in Springfield, is standing in front of me.

I held tight into Yvron’s arm and right before he could pull me back to hide, Solis turned around and the next thing I knew, Yvron was now chasing him.

“Yvron wait!” what was he thinking? Doesn’t mean he has a knife, he could chase down Springfield’s most wanted killer.

They already turned left so I ran after them but I can’t see them anymore. I clenched my fists and walked closer to the girl to check on her, “H-hey, please hold on, I’m gonna call for help, okay?” she just looked at me with pleading eyes, she was too weak to talk so I immediately grabbed my phone and called 911.

Where the hell is Yvron? What could’ve happen to him?

I was about to call him when I saw him walking back closer to us, “H-he escaped,” he said as he was panting so I ran to him and immediately checked his face and arms to see if he had injuries. “Are you okay?” I asked worriedly and he nodded.

Minutes later the ambulance and police arrived. They got the girl safely to the hospital while the police asked for our statement.

After settling with everything, we decided to go home. Yvron dropped me in my house but before I could open his door, he stopped me so I turned to look back at him, “Sliced his arm with my knife, but he didn’t fight back. He just avoided my attacks and ran as soon as he escaped.”

Morning came and the six of us are in the hallways, everything went back to normal and classes have resumed.

Tyler was currently messing around with Cynthia when she pushed him causing him to bump into Alexei, “Oww,” he flinched, “Oh, I’m sorry, man,” Tyler said and chuckled lightly.

“A-alexei… you’re bleeding,” Luna then stated as we all looked at Alexei’s arm, there were a hint of blood dripping under his sleeve. I pulled it up to see a big gash and he immediately moved his arm away and pulled his sleeve down.

“What happened?” Cynthia asked, “I sliced my arm yesterday,” he answered. Luna and Cynthia then dragged him to go to the clinic to get it treated.

Yvron and I looked at each other and I guess he’s thinking about the incident last night too. But that can’t be, he’s our friend.

“What’s up with you two?” Tyler asked and gave us weird looks, “We have told you about our encounter with Solis last night, right?” I stated to which he responded with a nod, “Well, before that incident happened, we saw a guy who we think is Alexei, we’re not sure. We followed him when he entered a dark alley to see if it’s him but we saw something else, and that’s when the incident happened,” I added and looked at Yvron signalling him to continue the story so he told Tyler about how he cut Solis’ arm and how he did not fight back and escaped.

“A cut in the arm?” Tyler asked again and I nodded in response, “Funny how someone got the same cut as Alexei,” he whispered. “What?” I asked but he just shook his head.

He then fell silent for a while and spoke again, “You’re telling me that Alexei could be Solis? No that can’t be,” he said in disbelief. He’s right, it can’t be. Maybe that person we saw was not Alexei after all.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked Yvron again as he nodded, grabbed his gun and inserted it in his pocket. We got out of the car and walked to his house, but before reaching his door, my face scrunched up when I saw his car, wrecked and no chance of fixing.

Yvron looked at me before knocking on Alexei’s door, seconds after we were greeted by him, giving us confused looks because we never usually visit his house this late.

He looked at Yvron in the eye, down to his pocket and back up again, “What brings you here?” he smiled. I blinked twice and looked at Yvron, waiting for him to answer, “We… have to tell you something important,” Alexei nodded and opened the door wider, “Come in.”

Yvron and I sat on his sofa as he walked straight to his computer, “what is it?” Alexei asked while his eyes were still fixed on his computer. He looked back when Yvron didn’t answer, walked closer to us and stood raising his eyebrows. “I’ll just go get water,” I excused myself and walked to the kitchen.

I don’t know what to say, it hurts for me to think that our friend can be Solis, that Alexie killed my father. I drank a glass of water and sighed, maybe our suspicions were wrong, I hope we’re wrong.

I walked back slowly to the living room and stopped when I saw how serious Yvron’s face was and how Alexei was standing right in front of him, “What were you doing in Maple St. near the convenience store last night?” Yvron asked and I saw how Alexei’s body tensed and his hands started to shake a little, “W- what are you talking about?” he asked nervously. “I know what you did, Alexei,” he added as Alexei looked down, “what’s with the gun in your pocket, Yvron?” he said but before he could move, I quickly ran and struck him with the taser that Yvron gave me earlier causing him to drop on the floor. I was shocked upon what I did, I looked over Yvron and he had the same reaction as I did.

“Let’s tie him up,” Yvron stated as he grabbed a chair, went to his car and came back with a rope, and started to tie Alexei up.

I couldn’t move. Was it really him? The one who’s responsible for everyone’s death, for my father’s death is right here in front of us, Solis is right here in front of us.

“Is it really him, Yvron?” I asked, “You saw how tensed he was, you heard him,” he replied.

“G-guys… why are you doing this?” Alexei suddenly spoke trying to get his strength back and slowly looked up to us with pleading eyes.

“Why are we doing this? Let me ask you first, why are you killing people?” Alexei then blinked twice and furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing Yvron’s statement, “What do you mean?” he asked. “Oh come on don’t play innocent, Solis!” Yvron shouted and was about to punch him but luckily I pulled him back. “What the hell are you talking about! How could you think I’m Solis!” Alexei shouted back, matching with Yvron’s rage. “You were there, in Maple St. when the girl was attacked. I gave Solis a cut in the arm and you happen to have the same cut too. You even tensed up when I asked you what you were doing there.” Yvron once again stated.

Alexei fell silent for a while and scoffed in disbelief, “You had the wrong idea,” Yvron raised an eyebrow and asked sarcastically, “What were you doing there then? And how’d you get the cut?” Alexei then looked at me and back to Yvron again, he looked hesitant, “I was… I bought… d-drugs… and I accidentally hit a nail that’s why I got the cut,” he lowered his head as my eyes widened, Alexei uses drugs?

I don’t know what do. I want to believe him but what if he’s lying? I looked over Yvron and he seems to not buy what Alexei said too.

I sighed and turned my back when Alexei’s computer caught my attention, I looked closely, and I think it’s a footage from his dash cam, the street is familiar too. I walked closer to it when suddenly a running figure passed by and seconds after another person came, it’s Yvron! This footage was the night of the incident!

“Alexei, what are you doing with this footage?” I asked, “I’m looking for the one who crashed my car and I haven’t done playing it because both of you came by and started to accuse me as Solis,” and just right after Alexei replied, another car was caught in the dash cam and bumped his car, “There, I found it,” he added.

“Solis and Yvron was caught in the footage, maybe we can identify who’s Solis here,” I stated while reversing the video back to when Solis was running and played it on slow motion. Solis was running, he looked back, I quickly paused it and I was shocked when I saw who it was. Yes, it was not Alexei but it was still someone I knew very well, or so I thought.

“Yvron, untie Alexei, it’s not him,” I said, eyes still fixed on the Solis’ face on the screen. “Who is he then?” he asked me while untying Alexei while saying his apologies, “It’s not a he, it’s a she,” both of them stopped and gave me a questioning look, “it’s Luna.”

TYLER

A cut in the arm? She didn’t tell me exactly where she got the cut from, she changes topic whenever I ask her about it. She wasn’t here in her house too during the incident and her actions lately was kinda weird. I don’t want to think it’s her but I can’t help myself to question her innocence.

I sighed and stood up, she’s taking a bath, I think I’ll have enough time to search around the house and look for some traces of Solis, and deep inside, I did hope I wouldn’t find any.

Where should I go first? I’ve entered every room in Luna’s house because I always come here, to visit her, because I was worried she might feel lonely, but nothing seemed suspicious in her house, but there was one room I haven’t entered yet.

(Flashback)

“I’ll just go get something from the attic,” Luna stated as she stood up and smiled. “In the attic? I’ll go get it,” I volunteered and was about to stand up when she stopped me, “No it’s okay, I can manage,” “Luna, I’ll go get it,” I insisted but she just shook her head. I stood up and was about to walk to the attic when she pushed me, “I said I can manage!” I froze, it’s the first time I’ve seen her like this, angry.

She seemed shock by what she did too, she looked at me and turned her back while I sat back again still confused by the way she acted.

(End of Flashback)

I walked upstairs and stopped by the door of her room, the water was still running so she’s still taking a bath. I walked passed her door until I reached the attic. I reached for the door and pulled it and to my surprise, it was clean, no signs of dust can be seen, maybe she goes here often.

I slowly climbed up and looked around, it was a bit dark. When my eyes finally adjusted the dark, I froze when I saw something- no, when I saw someone.

He was inside a cell, he has the same features like Luna and his hair was long. Is he her brother? He then stared blankly at me and gave me a smirk, “hi,” he said.

I walked closer to him and before I could ask any questions, someone spoke from the back, “Tyler, meet my brother, Elio.”

THIRD PERSON

“Are you sure Tyler’s there?” Yvron asked Alexei who’s in the backseat while he was driving, “Yes, we just talked earlier on the phone.”

Xea’s heart was beating fast as they were driving to Luna’s house. She felt all sorts of emotions, but the one who topped it all was the feeling of betrayal.

Upon reaching Luna’s house, they immediately got out of the car, rushed to the door and shocked upon seeing it was open. They looked at each other and walked inside, the house was a mess.

“Luna! Tyler!” The three of them called out for the two but no one answered. “Come one let’s search for them, let’s stick together okay?” Yvron reminded the two as he pulled his gun and they started to search carefully.

“Look, the attic’s open,” Alexei pointed out as they slowly walked to the small stairs leading to the attic. They climbed up and immediately saw their friend, tied up in the chair and what horrified them the most was how loads of blood was coming out from his wound, he was stabbed.

“Tyler!” Xea exclaimed and quickly ran close to him, “Tyler?” she called out once more and untied him as the two helped. “L-luna…” he said almost in a whisper. “Where’s Luna, Ty? Did she do this to you?” Xea asked, “Yvron, call the ambulance,” she added. “Her brother… he’s g-gonna kill her,” Tyler said once again that made the three confused. For what they know, Luna doesn’t have a brother, she was the only child and her parents work in another country. “Luna, doesn’t have a brother, Tyler,” Alexei said as he kneeled closer to his friend. Tyler tried to speak once more but he can’t, he was too weak.

“Yvron, did you call the ambulance?” Xea asked worriedly as she began to panic, “Please hold on, Tyler. Don’t close your eyes,” she muttered again and again.

YVRON

Tyler’s been taken to the operating room already and we’re here outside the hospital. We’ve already been interviewed by the police, we told them everything from the footage of the dash cam and what Tyler said about Luna’s brother. What’s with Luna’s brother? Tyler said that he was going to kill her. We didn’t even know that she had a brother.

Luna, it was her all along, behind that innocent face and bubbly personality was a monster.

I looked over Xea who was quiet since we arrived here, she stopped crying already and now she’s just staring on the ground, not moving. We’re all affected by what we discovered, we felt betrayed and hurt, but how much more Xea? She was closest to Luna, she treated her like her little sister and took care of her since we thought she was alone. Now, it was Luna who was killing everyone all along, it was her who killed Xea’s father, and it was her who killed Matteas.

“Water?” Cynthia, who just arrived with Alexei, handed a bottle of water to Xea but she just shook her head without looking up. The three of us looked at each other and sighed.

“Don’t you think the police is taking too long looking for her?” Xea suddenly spoke, her face remained blank and she was still staring at the ground, “The police is doing their job, Xea. Let’s just wait, okay?” Cynthia said softly and sat beside her, she nodded and I thought she was agreeing to what Cynthia said but to my surprise, she grabbed my gun in my pocket and quickly ran away. “Xea, no!” I shouted and ran after her, the two also followed.

I know she’s filled with rage right now, we all are, but she shouldn’t ran out like that and try to look for Luna. It’s dangerous out there, Luna killed a lot of people, she could possibly kill Xea and who knows what Luna’s brother could possibly do too.

XEA

I can’t think straight anymore. All I want is to find Luna and talk to her face to face. I can’t still swallow the fact that Luna was Solis, that she killed Mat and… my father.

One place immediately came to mind when I thought where she could possibly be so I didn’t think twice and ran straight to the woods, “Xea!” I heard my friends call for me but I didn’t stop and kept on running until I saw the cabin, in the middle of the woods. This was the place Luna and I would always go whenever we feel sad, or down but we didn’t get to visit this place anymore.

I stopped and looked around until I heard someone panting from my back and saw my friends panting, “Luna, let’s go back,” I was about to speak when we suddenly heard someone not far from us, “Come out come out wherever you are, Luna,” it said in a sing-song voice. Yvron pulled me to hide in one of the trees and that’s what Cynthia and Alexei did too. “I think that’s his brother,” Yvron whispered, I looked over the tree and saw Luna’s brother with a knife in hand as he entered the cabin.

“He’s going to kill her,” I whispered as I remembered what Tyler told us earlier. I don’t want her to die, I want to talk to her and ask for explanations on what she did, “Call the police,” Alexei said but before I could grab my phone, Cynthia spoke, “There’s no signal,” I checked my phone and she was right, there’s no signal.

“Cynthia and Xea, go back and call for help” Yvron said but I shook my head, “No I want to stay here,” I insisted and he was about to talk again when Cynthia spoke, “It’s okay, I’ll just call for help, it’s not that far anyways,” she gave me a small smile and ran back.

“Come on,” Yvron walked towards the cabin as Alexei and I followed him, he already has his gun and we entered the cabin.

“Elio,” we heard Luna’s voice so we followed her until it led us to a room, “Please don’t” Luna spoke again. “Yvron!” we exclaimed when we saw him enter the room and point his gun.

“Woah, woah, woah! I didn’t expect you brought company, Luna,” her brother then laughed and looked at all of us while Luna was locked in his arm, “You’re Luna’s friends right? Wow! I’ve finally seen your faces after all this time of just hearing your voices and laughs from the attic,” he added.

I looked at Luna who was now looking at me too, I stared at her for a moment and broke the eye contact. I can’t bear to look her in the eyes after what she did.

“Let her go,” Yvron sternly said while still pointing the gun at Elio. “By now, I think you’ve already found that Tyler boy, he’s still conscious when you found him right? He must have told you everything. So why would you try to save Luna when you already know that she’s been responsible for the deaths here in Springfield? For your friend’s death, which was at the same time, her boyfriend,” he then suddenly looked at me and smirked, “and for Chief Smith’s death, your father.”

We suddenly heard the police car’s siren and seconds after, they’re already inside the cabin as one of the officers pulled us back. “Put your weapon down!” an officer exclaimed as they were pointing their guns at Elio, “Alright, alright, chill,” Elio said calmly and slowly raised both of his arms but to my surprise he quickly slit Luna’s neck as the police immediately shot him to death.

THIRD PERSON

They were all quiet as they were inside Tyler’s room. They just arrived in the hospital and Tyler wasn’t still awake.

As everyone sat down, something caught Alexei’s attention in the table, it was Tyler’s things inside a zip lock bag. He opened it and saw Tyler’s phone, he opened it since he knew the passcode hoping to see something and he was right, he saw something in the phone. It was opened in the recording app and there was one file.

“Hey guys, Tyler recorded something.”

(Flashback)

“Tyler, meet my brother, Elio,” Tyler turned around to see Luna holding a knife with a sweet smile plastered in her face. “Oh so you’re Tyler. Hi, Tyler,” he then turned to look at Elio when he spoke and right after that, Luna attacked him. He can fight the girl who attacked him, but it was Luna, it was the girl he loved, so instead of doing something that might hurt the girl, he just pushed her to avoid the attacks which caused Luna to trip and fall on Elio’s cell. Elio then took the chance to grab her hair and lock her under his arm, as for Tyler, he didn’t know what to do, he was having second thought whether to help Luna or run for his life.

“Elio, let me go!” Luna screamed trying to let go but Elio just laughed and seconds after, he pushed her. Luna immediately took the chance to get the baseball bat not far from her and smashed Tyler’s head causing for him to pass out.

Luna then dragged Tyler’s body to a chair and tied him down. She looked at her brother and raised an eyebrow at him when she saw him chuckling, “Tyler’s dumb, he could’ve took the chance to run when you were still locked in my arm. Does he love you that much?” Elio said and looked at Tyler again, “tsk, whipped problems,” he added. Luna ignored Elio and went out leaving the two in the attic.

Minutes later, Tyler gained his consciousness. He tried to move and look for things that might help him get free from being tied up but there’s no chance. He was starting to give up when he thought of something. Since his arms were at the sides of the chair, he can still try to grab his phone in his pocket which he did. After seconds of trying, he finally reached his phone, there was no signal in the attic so he opened the recorder, started to record, and inserted his phone back to his pocket.

“You’re dumb, but you’re smart,” Tyler turned to look at Elio when he spoke and gave him a confused look, “what?” he asked. “Oh come on, don’t make me repeat myself,” Elio replied as Tyler furrowed his eyebrows. He was about to ask again when they heard Luna’s footsteps coming. Tyler looked at Elio again who zipped his mouth with his fingers and winked at Tyler.

“Oh! Tyler, you’re awake,” Luna beamed and Tyler gave him a glare. “Since you know my secret, why not tell you the whole story,” she added as she walked closer to him.

LUNA

“We need to clean the humanity ourselves and by the time He arrives, everything is peaceful and the world will be cleaned,” my father said once again as Elio and I nodded.

This was my family’s *religious?* view. According to them, the society is getting chaotic and the humanity is getting toxic. We should bring judgement and kill the people to lessen the population and make it more peaceful.

I glanced at the vacant chair beside me, where my older sister supposed to sit. She died a few weeks ago, my dad killed her. She disagreed with my mom and dad’s belief and called them crazy, then she died the next morning.

“We’re so proud of Elio! Or should I say, Solis?” my mom exclaimed as I looked at my brother, covered in someone else’s blood. He had his first kill today, they told them to, they chose Elio to do the job, to clean the humanity. He was their favourite child, they trusted him with everything. I would sometimes volunteer to do it but they said I was too weak and fragile, so I stayed behind my brother’s shadow.

“You killed Xea’s dad?” I asked my brother while we were cleaning up the table. “Whos’s Xea?” he asked. “Chief Smith,” I replied, he then raised his eyebrows and placed his finger on his lips, “shh.”

“You know what, you’re name suits you very well,” I looked at Elio who was standing by my door. “Luna, it means moon, Elio, it means sun. The moon can’t glow on its own, it relies on the sun for it to shine too, without it, the moon is nothing, it can’t be seen, it will be ignored. Without me, you’re nothing Luna, mom and dad won’t notice you,” I quickly threw a dagger at him, he stood calmly as the dagger hit the door frame. He walked closer and stood in front me, “You can’t even hit me,” he looked down on me for a moment and smiled, “I’m just kidding, love you,” he then kissed my forehead before leaving.

That night, I did something horrible, yet satisfying. I smiled out of joy for the first time as I stared at the body in the bed, they were sleeping but they will be sleeping forever this time. My eyes glistened as I watched the white sheets that were already stained by blood, by my parents’ blood. I killed my parents.

“Who’s weak now?”

I walked to my brother’s room and opened it which caused him to wake up, “Luna?” he said in a sleepy voice and squinted his eyes. I walked closer to him and stopped beside his bed, “I had a nightmare, Elio. Can I sleep beside you?” I asked him and he moved to side to give me space but I remained standing and he didn’t even bother, he just faced his back at me.

I often get nightmares so I run to my brother’s room directly and sleep beside him, that’s why it seems normal to Elio.

“You smell like blood,” he said. The lights were off so he couldn’t see how bloody I am right now, which was good. “I killed Mr. and Mrs. Guzman,” I replied but before he could look back at me, I hit his head with a baseball bat that made him unconscious.

I dragged his body up to the attic. There’s a cell in there, were my mom and dad used to lock me whenever I do something that doesn’t please them.

When I arrived in the attic, I locked Elio’s unconscious body inside the cell. I sat on the floor and waited for him to wake up.

“Why won’t you just kill me, Luna like what you did to mom and dad,” Elio stated. “Death doesn’t scare you. You won’t suffer that hard if I’ll kill you that easily,”

On that day I replaced my brother. I became Solis. Everyone’s attention was on me and everyone feared me.

As she was walking in the hallway of the School, taking the path leading to her lover, tremendous flash of desire went through her body when she saw him standing outside his office, waiting for her. He looked at her and smiled, which sent tingles in every part of her being. Upon nearing him, he met her halfway. Desire in his eyes, he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside his office. Her legs lost strength as the doors closed behind them. She then felt his lips on hers, his tasting coffee, bitter. She opened her mouth. At that moment, she felt his hand come up her uniforms skirt, heard the rustle of material giving way, she felt his warm large hand between her legs, moving the satin panties to caress her vulva which made her moan in pleasure. "Professor" she called him. Yes, Professor Parker Adams, her lover. She leaned towards him, her breath caressing his face. Slowly, she kissed his temple, down to his cheeks, then finally his warm soft lips. He pulled her neck, deepening their connection. Her mind was hazy as she pulled away from him, the sunset setting her face aglow. Without the exchange of words, she starts to unbotton his dress shirt. He watched her with desire as she made her way downwards. With each button undone, he could feel her fingers brushing againts his bare chest, which was pure torture. She smiled seductively at him as she finally finished. She felt shortness of breath as he lowered his head, kisses felt between her chest then his tongue slowly ran up to her neck. His hands gently carresed her stomach towards her back, her arms, her shoulders then her chest. She felt their heated bodies pressed together, skin to skin, no space inbetween. He wraps her hands around his neck, and she hung there, watching him undo the belt on his dress pants. He placed both hands on her buttocks and lifts her. He walked towards his office table and sets her down on a sitting position. He kissed her fervidly, making her body burn with desire. She pulled away, opened the buttons of his dress pants and pulled down his zipper. He then lifts her skirt up, pulling her panties and placing it on the back pocket of his pants. He stared at her flushed face, a triumphant smile plastered on his, knowing well he was the center of her desires. He pulled out his hard on, took a sheath on the drawer and slowly put it on his. She held onto his shoulders as he positioned himself in between her legs. She looked at his burning eyes and without warning, he rammed right into her making her moan in pure ecstasy. He moves in on her, quicker than usual, no more foreplay, no gesture of seduction, however brief. At one moment he is looking at her face, flushed and imploring and at the next he's pressing his face on hers, robbing her of oxygen. She wraps her legs on his waist as he moves faster and deeper, causing her to scream in pleasure. She fell back on his table as she loses strength on her arms. Him not minding their position, he continued to move inside her, deeper and deeper, until he is satisfied. She moves her arms around helplessly, not knowing what to do with them, she held onto the edge, clutching it for dear life as she feels him deeper inside her. He took her arms off the edges, held onto each of it, pulled back and rammed into her, triggering her orgasm. She screamed in pure delight as she felt his tip rub against her cervix. He held onto her hands tightly while continuously ramming inside her causing her to feel throes of pleasure. He moved inside her faster than earlier as he is nearing his limit. Her voice grew louder and louder as he moved faster and faster. On the last movement, he held her arms using his right hand and held the other on the tables edge and rammed inside her, so deep she came again together with him. Heavy breathing filled the room and then, silence.

“Mat, wait!” I called for him and reached for his arm when I got closer to him. “Don’t touch me!” he then shoved my hand away . I stopped and watched him walk away until he is out of my sight.

I looked back to Professor Parker’s office and saw him standing outside his door, he just looked at me while crossing his arms, I gave him a glare and walked away.

Afternoon came and still, Mat’s ignoring me. Our friends seems to not know about our fight which is a good thing. I do hope he keeps his mouth shut until I shut it myself.

“Luna,” someone called me and as I turned my back, I saw Xea, Cynthia, and Alexei. “Are you waiting for someone? Where’s Mat?” Alexei asked and rests his elbow on my shoulder. “I’m waiting for him, we’re going out to see a movie,” I replied.

“I wanna watch a movie too! Can we come-“Alexei was cut off when Cynthia spoke, “Shut up Alexei, it’s their date night.”

“We can wait with you until Mat arrives,” Xea then volunteered as I quickly shook my head, “no it’s okay you can go home before it gets dark and don’t worry, Mat said he’s almost here,” she nodded her head and the three of them said their goodbyes as I grabbed my phone when it vibrated. I checked it and finally! Mat replied! I texted him an hour ago if we can talk and he said he’ll go to my house. I smiled wider upon that thought, he’s making it easier for me.

I quickly got home and waited for him in my living room, minutes later, he arrived.

“M-mat,” I slowly stood up and gave him a sad smile yet his face remained emotionless, “I’m s-sorry. Professor Parker forced me to-“ he then cut me off, “Forced you! Oh come on, Luna! I clearly saw everything! Which part of that was forced huh!” he screamed and I kept quiet and stared at him for a moment, “fine,” I said, “Professor Parker and I are having an affair,” I added. He just looked at me and tried to conceal his feelings but I know he’s hurt, I can see it in his eyes.

“This wasn’t part of my plan, but you knew, you caught me so… I’ll have to keep your mouth shut,” I gave him my sweetest smile which made him furrow his eyebrows. “Don’t worry, Mat, since I love you, I won’t hurt you that bad, I’ll make it quick I promise,” and before he could react I quickly attacked him and stabbed him with my pocket knife that I’ve been holding all along on the side of his front neck just below the jaw. I laughed as I saw how loads of blood came out as he looked at me with shocked eyes.

“I love you,” I said as he was holding his neck trying to stop the blood until he dropped on the floor and lost his life, “I’m kidding and I’m not done with you,” I whispered.

Days passed since everyone knew about Mat’s death and everything seems to go back to normal. I still kept a sad face on and acted like I was greatly affected which was funny, everyone’s face makes me laugh inside. Tyler’s even staying with me always because he wants to take care of me. How sweet.

I’m in Professor Parker’s office, I told Tyler I was taking my missed quizzes so he should be home by now but to my surprise someone barged right in and punched Professor Parker he was screaming at him, did he think I was being raped by Professor? Good.

I moved to the corner and cried, I acted scared and seconds after Tyler looked back at me.

Morning came and news spread like wildfire, Professor Parker’s in jail, everyone thought I was raped and I need to keep it that way. I didn’t go to school, the police haven’t interviewed me since I pretended to be still traumatized and didn’t want to talk just yet.

Night came and I went to the prison to pay him a visit, I took care of everything first before doing my job, I didn’t even expect it would be that easy to break in. I killed him, I killed Professor Parker.

THIRD PERSON

“Did you like my Story, Tyler?” she asked as Tyler glared at her and didn’t say a thing, “Great isn’t it? Now you’ll have to take this story to your grave,” she moved her face closer to Tyler’s and smiled, “I’ll deal with you later though, but don’t worry, I won’t hurt you that bad since you love me,” she said in a sweet voice. “You’re not the Luna that I loved,” Tyler said through gritted teeth to which Luna responded with a smile and walked away.

He then looked at Elio the real Solis, when he heard noises from him. He has a key in hand and was already unlocking his cell. “I got it when you pushed Luna to me,” Elio said when he noticed how confused Tyler was. He finally got out and walked closer to Tyler, “Thank you,” he smirked at him. “What are you going to do with Luna?” Tyler asked worriedly. It was the real Solis who’s standing right in front of him now, and he was worried he might hurt Luna or worse, kill her after what she did to Elio. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her that bad since she’s my sister,” Elio said while trying to imitate Luna’s voice and laughed.

He walked out and second after he came back with a knife which surprised and at the same time scared Tyler. He thought he was already gone but he just got out to get a knife, he’s Solis after all.

He stabbed Tyler in his stomach and smiled, “since you practically saved my life, I’ll just stab you like that, nothing more.” He then grabbed Tyler’s phone and saw it was still recording, “ill stop it for you okay? Don’t worry I won’t delete it,” he stopped it and returned his phone back to his pocket.

He finally got out from the attic to deal with his little sister.

(End of Flashback)

Everyone went silent after hearing the recording. They were still processing all the informations and revelations they got. Everything was too much to handle.

“After two years of agonizing horrors, Springfield is safe once again…”