[EHS UNDERGROUND FILES Black_Dahlia_666 posted "Justine Contreras, Herbert Kaharian, Kate Isorena, Chase Andrew Vivar, Zhane Dagupe, Lucas Estrada, & Jacob Hosena"]
***
I woke up to prepare for school like usual. The house was empty when I went downstairs after taking a bath and getting dressed. I dropped my bag on top of the old couch in the living room on my way to the kitchen and then went hunting for anything I could cook for breakfast. He left early to open the shop again, and I'm glad that I didn't have to see his face first thing in the morning, or so I thought.
Dad came out of his room while I was busy setting the table around 6:40 Am, so even though I'm lacking the will to prepare his meal, I took another plate and filled it with the food I cook. He went straight to the communal bathroom located next to the storage room underneath the stairs without even looking at me, making me conclude that he had a few bottles more than the eight-bottle average he usually has.
I started eating, slightly in a rush because I didn't want to start my morning having breakfast with Dad. However, he made it to the table before I could even consume half of the food on my plate. Dad sat across me as he wiped his wet hands on his clothes and said,
"Where'd all the bottles of bleach go? I remember seeing three containers the other day. I was planning to get one since the shop needs a little cleaning too,"
I swallowed the food before answering without looking away from my plate. "I used it all when I cleaned the bathroom and the laundry area."
He shrugged. "Oh, I see,"
He shoved the first big bite of the food into his mouth and chewed a few times before speaking again. "By the way, did you use the food money when you bought the groceries, or did you use your savings again?"
"It's fine," I replied before stuffing my face with the few remaining bites on my plate.
"It's been a month since you stopped working as a private tutor. Save that money for college,"
I ignored him and stood up after I emptied the plate to place it in the sink. I chewed the food a few times before forcing them down my throat with a glass of water.
"You can leave the dirty dishes in the sink. I'll wash them later after class," I said before walking out of the kitchen.
"No, I can wash them before leaving," he said. I didn't respond. I don't have any objections to that. "Are you leaving for school?" he shouted from the kitchen when he heard no reply.
"Yeah," I sluggishly responded as I picked up my school bag from the old couch in the living room where I left it earlier.
"Okay! Have fun at school!" again, I didn't respond and just walked out of the door to leave the house. I hurriedly walked across the grassy lawn as if I was dying to escape something from within the vicinity, and a last, I made it out the gate.
I was excited when I hopped onto a tricycle to go to school, but the excitement didn't last long when I reached the school gates two minutes before they closed.
Police cars are everywhere inside the school premises, and caution tapes are everywhere. Students gathered in front of the school's main building, where I could see the police and other uniformed men taking pictures of whatever was there. It's not like the police cars, caution tapes, and the massive crowd of students weren't enough to give me a hint, but it's more like I don't think Elton could be a crime scene. So, with utmost curiosity, I joined the crowd to have a look at the most disturbing thing I had ever seen in my whole life— lying in front of the school's main building was a torso. There were shallow cuts in the belly part, but the weird thing is that the corpse is clean, and there is not even a single drop of blood.
I didn't know how I would react to what I'd seen. That is an actual human body part and not just any realistic human model from the science lab!
I saw a few more mutilated body parts being taken by three officers wearing rubber gloves and n95 masks to an ambulance. Just like the torso, they're all clean like pieces of meat in a meat shop.
"Attention, students. Please go to your respective classrooms. And for those whose classes are in those rooms with caution tapes, please proceed to the gymnasium for your principal's instructions,"
My eyes darted to the police officer driving the crowd of students away from the scene. I recognized him as Rayland's brother.
The students quickly obeyed the officer except me, who stayed at the scene. Officer Gavia noticed me, and I thought he would instruct me to leave, but instead, he walked closer and said,
"Faye, may I have a word with you?"
Déjà vu? That was the first thought that came to my mind. The other day he approached me asking the same question.
"About what, officer?" I asked.
"About those mutilated body parts found in this school," he answered, gesturing to the scene behind him by tilting his head. "Aside from that torso, limbs are also found in various parts of this school."
I glanced again at the scene behind him before asking, "Aren't you going to talk to the principal first?"
"We already did. Actually, even all of the SSC officers gave statements. You're the only one left to interview."
I wanted to say no, but I guess he had learned how to avoid receiving nos.
"Okay, I'll give you a statement. What do you need to know?"
Officer Gavia looked around. "Would you mind if we use the SSC office for this interview? I have quite a lot of questions. It wouldn't be nice to stand here for quite some time,"
"It's okay. I can do it this way," I immediately answered.
"But I won't,"
My eyebrow rose at what he said. I don't think that's the case. He gave me an awkward smile as he waited for my response, so unwillingly and without saying anything except an eye roll, I marched our way to the SSC office.
Officer Gavia followed me, and I immediately faced him as soon as we arrived there. "What is it? Please make it fast because I still have classes."
He roamed around like the SSC office was some sort of a museum, looking at every trophy displayed on a far shelf and every frame hanging on the wall. He ignored me, which only confirmed my assumption.
"You lied about talking to the other SSC officers, didn't you?"
"No," he answered immediately and then stopped walking to look at me. "You really are the only person left to interview."
"Then stop roaming around and start already!" I almost frustratedly yelled. I am not comfortable around him, and I don't want to give him the opportunity to ask me anything about his brother's suicide. And it's not like Rayland's murdered. Hello? It's suicide.
But, officer Gavia sure found his way towards my door and crash the answer I have given him the last time by handing me a piece of folded paper and saying, "Let's start with the lie you told me a few days ago about not knowing my brother,"