Gary paced around in his office, rage evident on his face.
"Cliff was here, in a locked jail cell. In a building with hundreds of security personnel and cameras in every corner.....hold on a sec. The cameras!"
Gary ran to the control room
The door opened with a bang, revealing the guy in charge of security in the process of making out with a female officer.
They both jumped in fright. "Chief! We're so so...." "Get out." Gary cut her off. "I need to speak with him," pointing at the security watchman.
She quickly made herself presentable and swiftly left the room.
The watchman was still embarrassed and said, " I apologize, Chief."
Gary said,"Don't worry, I don't mind. Just make sure you do your stuff out of the headquarters and you'll be safe."
He went straight to business. " Anderson, there was a murder less than half an hour ago. Cliff Sands, cell 332. Can you show me the security footage from that area?"
Anderson obliged and replayed the footage. Gary looked closely.
All of a sudden, Gary yelled, "Wait hold on! Replay five seconds back."
He replayed it. As they both looked more intently, they saw the camera blur, as a figure came in and opened the door. Five seconds later, he left. As soon as he was out of range, the camera unblurred.
Gary stepped back to see every single camera footage on the multiple screens.
He ordered, " Set them all to an hour ago."
They witnessed the shock of their lives as every camera blurred as a figure whizzed past, and it seemed as if nobody even noticed him.
Gary looked at Anderson, who was stammering, "I...I don't do it!"
Gary came closer, "Oh really? Then why is it that its only when he appears on scene that the camera blurs? Who else entered the control room?'
Anderson replied, " My girlfriend, Amanda."
"Did you by any chance leave her in hear alone?"
"Yes Chief, I had gone for a bathroom break."
Gary stated, "That was enough time for her to alter the footage."
"To be honest, Chief," Anderson spoke,"She did seem off before you came in. She wasn't herself, as if she was hiding something."
Gary pressed the microphone and orders, "Amanda Hayes, This is Chief Chevenix. Report to the Control Room ASAP."
Amanda was on her office desk, typing away, when she heard the summons. She got up and headed to the control room as per order.
Gary and Anderson, who were standing in silence, heard a knock on the door. "Come in," Gary said. There was no answer. He said it a bit louder, "I said come in!"
Still no response. Anderson went to open the door.
"Chief?"
Gary came to the door. "What is it now?" His steps paused as he saw the dead body of Anderson's beloved Amanda, on the floor, covered in blood.
Gary bent down. "The signature Four Slashes."
Anderson had tears streaming down his face. Gary put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Anderson. I really am."
Gary bellowed into his communicator, "Paramedics, we have a dead body in the control room, head over here quickly.
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Friday
Nothing eventful happened for Jayden since Wednesday. He reckoned that the only thing keeping him going was Aiden and Austin's antics. On the plus side, Maya was opening up to him a bit more, truly considering him as a friend.
It was time for Chemistry. The students filed into the lab.
" Where's Ethan?" He asked. Instantly everyone turned to look at Jayden.
He mumbled, "He's in the hospital." Harrison went silent, then sail, " Alright, I apologize, but I kind of forgot today's lesson. So could someone who knows the syllabus do the teaching for today? I'll pay $10."
Everyone, even the clueless ones raised their hands. Harrison pointed at no other than Jayden.
"Mr Greystone, do you mind?"
Jayden politely declined, " I'm sorry sir, but I'll have to say no."
Everyone looked at him as if he was an idiot. 'No to 10 bucks!? This guy is really something!'
Jayden didn't refuse because he didn't want the money, it was because of something else.
While Mr Harrison was enticing the students with ten bucks, Jayden was sure he heard his heartbeat. It was pounding loud and fast.
Form the information he had gathered from lie detectors, it judges whether you lied or not by the frequency of the heartbeat. And thus it meant one thing. Harrison was lying.
Aiden slapped Jayden on the back of the head. "How could you refuse $10? Are you mad? Ten free buck for just talking!"
Jayden replied," He's lying."
Aiden was skeptical. " And how do you know that?"
"Look, he's sweating."
"Sweating is normal, man."
Jayden smiled,"So you consider sweating during winter normal?"
Aiden immediately realized they were in the middle of June. His admiration for Jayden went up by a new level.
Jayden then got up. "I'll teach them," he said, dumbfounding everyone in the room. "But you can keep your money."
As Harrison and Jayden went past each other, Jayden whispered, "Liar," and quickly increased his pace, leaving Harris in cold sweat.
'How did he know?'
By the time Jayden finished, the whole class was contemplating making Jayden their new Chemistry teacher. Harris was just too boring.
Maya smiled, "I'll definitely be coming over to your house for homework."
Aiden and Austin chimed in, "Me too!"
Jayden smiled and said, "Do you guys even know where I live?"
All three went silent. It was true. They had known each other for nearly a week yet none of them knew his address. But he didn't know theirs either, so they called it even.
Aiden asked, "Where do you live, buddy?"
Jayden hesitated to answer. He remembered Erica's words the day before his first day, " Never tell anyone where you live. If possible, don't even tell them your last name. If you do, I promise you, it will be very difficult for you to make friends."
Jayden asked her, "Why?" "You are Jayden Greystone, Prince of Phoenix City. That's why."
The Greystone family isn't exactly royal, but they are called so because they are the richest family in the city and beyond. Therefore, knowing Jayden's background would attract leechers, suck ups and more.
Adrian and Erica didn't want Jayden to suffer that fate.
"I don't know the address," Jayden lied. "I've never left the house before. This week was actually my first time being in the outside world."
Aiden knew it was true (the second sentence) because he saw the admiration in Jayden's eyes as he showed him around, which betrayed the fact that he was a house chicken.
"But I'll ask my Aunt, then I'll tell you next week."
Aiden asked, "Why not simply exchange numbers?" And they did.
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Nightfall
Jayden was looking out the window. The Moon's light shone on him, bathing him in silver light.
'Half moon,' he thought. The moon had always fascinated him since he turned thirteen.
He didn't know what exactly drew him to it, though.
As he looked at the moon, his eyes had a slight glow in them.