****Welcome to THE OAK, i am february kale, a young girl who is unfortunate to grow up in a town which live in peace and harmony as long as i could remember. Sadly, that is no longer the case. It is said, if one terrible event take place in ones town, it is for the sole purpose of warning the people of the loads of terrible event that await the town. Right now, that seems to be the situation of my beloved scholar town.
9th September 2020, a group of meddling kids found a body near the town swamp. The body was left beyond recognition, at least that was the way James Lockwood described the appearance of the corpse to all that asked. This very statement seems to have shaken the core of the town, it was an evidence proving what i have always known "scholar town bears darkness which is beyond control." Nevertheless, i still love this town. Now more than ever, with the recent incident the town would need heroes that would rise up to save it. If i am not mistaken, that would definitely be Madison archers. That sad little girl just can't help herself, she is a mystery sniffer.
Sadly, the situation unexpectedly changed. I discovered the body that was found, was later identified by the pathologist to be the body of Nicholas velma. He happen to be the elder brother of melody velma, who is Madison best friend. Things definitely took an awkward turn. Poor melody has lost her last remaining living family. That girl from her childhood, as been face with more tragedy than anyone could bear. I could not imagine what she is going through after the news got to her. My intuition seems to have gotten the best of me, so i decided to visit melody. Perhaps i could get credible information from melody that could support my aspiration which is writing. However, i realized this was not the best time to interview someone who just lost her brother. If i do so, i would only increase the pain she was already feeling. I could only wish things get better from here on.
I know what you all are thinking, No!, i am not the hero of this story, at least not yet. But, i feel the will within me. I understood this was clearly not my department, It was that of Madison. She is a young girl, who is also from this town. She cannot help herself from solving mysteries, this attribute of hers cause a lot of people to hate her, especially the town deputy sheriff mr oliver. Who occasionally address her to be the 'resurrected nancy drew.' A comic character who does similar work as Madison.
Though everyone hatred towards Madison is not justified, but i am absolutely sure my is. I found it difficult to say this out, but now i feel no regret. Madison and i used to be friends, until melody got into the picture. She started ignoring me, at least that was how i felt. Well, ever since our fallout, Madison and I have become rivals. She stopped coming to my house like she use to, so I did the same. Back to the issue at hand, ever since the news about the death of Nicholas was announced, Madison as been behaving in an odd manner. She looks so down, some might say she is depressed. But in my case, I feel like Madison is burdened, carrying other people's pain.
Come to think of it, two days ago, Something strange happened. Madison came to my home to look for my mother, who happens to be a lawyer. Her appearance at the time terrified me. She looked so frightened, like she had seen something she was not supposed to see. I tried all i could to get her to talk to me, but she strongly refused and with persistence she insisted that i let her go. Ever since that day, i have not seen her. This really scares me, because i have been having this strange feeling that what scared Madison had a connection to Nicholas Velma's death. Although, i could not prove my suspicion since Madison is not willing to speak, and the timing of visit says otherwise. Nevertheless, i would not let this intuition die like it was nothing. I could literally help someone get comfort knowing that her brother murderer is apprehended and brought to book. But first, i have to make Madison open up. Which definitely would be difficult knowing the kind of person she is.
Deep inside, i knew it will take a lot from me to get Madison to talk. I would have to be very patient and precise with the step i take. I know what I am about to say, would sound hilarious. I got for myself a nancy drew manual, which tells the qualities a good detective is expected to possess if he or she want to crack open all case. I know most of you are wondering if I am one of those that believe in legends, Yes I am. Regardless, i could not do this until i knew the cause of Nicholas death. I think this murder was done by a sadistic killer. This is no assassination, this is the work of a serial killer. Thankfully, i knew the pathologist, who happens to be a friend of the
family. I am so sure he would give me a copy of the Autopsy perform on Nicholas. I will tell him it is for the register. Before I forget, I work alongside my father who owns the scholar town register. I want to be an investigative reporter just like my
father. It's been my dream from the moment I learnt how to read and write.
Some minutes later, i called a friend of mine, his name is james Lockwood. I asked him to meet me at frisbee shop, I had found a solution to my problem. Not many know this, james was also a mystery lover despite all his terrible qualities. I was so sure if they is anybody that could crack Madison open it was james. Why? Because she is in love with james Lockwood. Sadly, she is an introvert. Implying she could not tell James how she feels, and I will use that to my advantage. Well, after my conversation with James, I headed straight for frisbee shop, i expected to meet him there.
James arrived at frisbee shop, while i was having a conflict with kelvin angels a friend of Madison. He instantly settled the fight between kelvin and i with a furious tone.
"The town is in tears and the both of you decide it the right time to fight! i am honestly disappointed in you both" James muttered.
This statement definitely shut me up, I felt so annoyed with myself, not because of what james said, but because he was right. I immediately apologized to kelvin. I knew i was the one who initiated the fight, as a tactics to get to kelvin, just because he broke up with me. I thought I was over it, but I am wrong. It hurts me, I still cannot believe kelvin broke up with me because Madison asked him to. I settled my dispute with kelvin at the request of James. Thereafter, i begged james to sit down to listen to what I had to say. He was really disappointed by what he had seen, he wanted to leave but I was hesitant. I had something important to discuss with him. He was feeling suspicious, but still calm as always. Hysterically, before he sat down, he ordered the waitress to bring to his booth jumbo burger with French fries and chocolate drink. Which i found inciting. It seems james urge for food has increased since the last time we met. Yeah! I am kidding. I think by now you all would have realize I love playing a lot. I think it's my curse.
But seriously, I remember my junior high days, back then James was nicknamed by the entire class. We called him (jughead) because of his love for food was similar to that of the comic character. Don't get me wrong, although James loves food, but he is no glutton unlike jughead. Well, this often got me worried. I could only imagine what i would have done if i was the one who was been insulted in that manner. After explaining myself to James about how I feel about Nicholas death, I asked James to call Madison, he should convince her to come here. I wanted him to get the answer I desired. James was not willing to do it, but he had no choice. I was someone who doesn't take no as an answer. He called Madison and asked her to come meet him at frisbee shop. Few seconds later, i got a call from an old friend of mine, her name is felicia. She spent her early years in scholar town before moving with her family. Apparently, she heard about the news, and wanted to know how the town is fairing. Surprisingly, she was not the only one. My cousins glory and dominion have been doing the same since i woke up. Truthfully, i find it so annoying but i could not do anything about it.
Few hours later, I returned home by 6:00pm, since Madison never showed up. Later on, by 6:15pm, While I was watching the news with my father, the strangest news came up as an headline. "Mr. Melvin sander gave a donation to the sister of the victim." This created a hole in my mind, i could not help but wonder 'Why would the town number one mobster give a donation to a poor orphan?" He was definitely hiding something he does not want anyone to find out about, or he was only been ridiculously generous. At the moment, that was the least of my worries. Later on that night, by 9:27pm something strange happened. Madison Archers visited my house, she was attended to by my mother, but she insisted she wanted to see me. I found it strange, "why would madison ever want to see me?" I wondered. We are not friends,
nonetheless, my mom made me attend to her. More so, I agreed because i knew within me i needed her help. Surprisingly, it was the same comment Madison made to me when i called her up to my room.
"It seems fate had brought us together for a reason, i know what happened to Nicholas." Madison said.
I became confused, "what is she trying to say?" i wondered. "If i may ask, how did you know this?" I queried.
"Cause i was present when it all happened." she responded.
"What exactly happened! i mean what exactly did you see ?" I asked.
Madison exhaled, filled with despair, she stared into my eyes, "It was a serial killer who did this." she answered.
I was hesitant to believe, "Did what?" I inquired from her.
"killed Nicholas." Madison cried out as tears began to roll down her eyelids.
I was stunned by the revelation, "What!, How sure are you?" I asked her.
Madison snuffed, "Absolutely sure." She replied. "I saw him dispose Nicholas body in the swamp few days earlier."
I was annoyed, "Are you telling me Nicholas body as laid in the swamp for more than two days, and you did nothing?" I confronted her.
She was Frightened, "I was terrified, moreover i needed time to process all that happened." She said indignantly.
"Nicholas is your best friend brother for God sake, Madison you betrayed the trust your friend had in you." I challenged her.
"I know I did February," she said to me. "I regret it so much. I just couldn't gather the courage to tell her the truth. At the time, it was really dangerous for her to know the truth. She could have done something stupid."
"What do you mean!" I exclaimed. Gripped by fear of the unknown, i asked Madison to tell me the reason why it is really dangerous for melody to know the truth.
She stared at me, still petrified, she mumbled, "I know the person who killed melody's brother."
I became Concerned, amazed by such revelation, "Why exactly are you telling me this now?" I asked Madison. "i am clearly not a police officer neither am i the sheriff." I grumbled.
She nods her head to show her acceptance to my argument, but she didn't regret taking the step she took. "I am telling you this because the culprit of this crime is a deputy sheriff." She muttered.
Frightened by this update, i whispered, "Oh my goodness! What did you just say?" I asked Madison.
"A deputy sheriff was the one who murdered Nicholas." She remarked.
"I don't believe this." I muttered.
"You should. The sheriff department is corrupted and compromise and i have no other person to tell all this to except you. And yet, you don't trust what I say." She persisted.
I was a bit worried. "Why will I, remember you betrayed and lied to me in the past." I noted.
"I thought you would have move pass this, but I was wrong. You really need to let things go." Madison responded. "We all are in serious trouble, I tell you this with absolute certainty, We need to work together to stop this threat." She said.
I have never seen Madison this scared, it definitely had me worried. "Okay, I will give you the benefit of doubt, only because i have never seen you this terrified before. If this is the truth, then the town is in serious trouble. Just to satisfy my intuition, who is the deputy sheriff responsible for killing Nicholas?" I asked her.
"It is the handwork of deputy sheriff oliver ching". She replied.
"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. "I knew that man is not who he claims to be. You all criticize me when I wrote an article against him. You all called me blasphemous, impulsive, some of you even went to the point of calling me impudent. I was attacked and embarrassed. They tagged my article as prejudice and baseless. Well, I don't want to be one of those that says I told you so". I noted to Madison.
She was a little bit torn apart, "I am sorry I didn't believe you" she said.
"Well, what are you going to do about deputy sheriff Oliver?" I asked her.
After hearing all that Madison had to say, i was in tears. Poor scholar town has accepted darkness without even having the slightest knowledge of it. How i wish we could have predicted this incident before it ever took place. Sadly, with no credible evidence, we can do nothing but watch all that would take place, and hope scholar town is able to take this heavy rain that is about to fall upon it like the holy ghost. This confession led me to make a decision, I told Madison it was necessary for us to document all that she just said. I believe in miracles, we need evidence to nail deputy Oliver Incase one happens. It seems she was already a step ahead. She gave me a tape recorder, containing her confession. She however ask that i keep it safe, out of any one hands to avoid problem which i strongly accepted.
Something definitely change, i always thought Madison was better than me in all this investigation business, So I wonder, why did she come to me. She is not telling me the entire truth. I agreed to her request, so that i will be able to find out the entire truth. I inquire of her the next step we should take. She assured me not to worry, that she was already on it. She said all that i need to do is to ensure no one else find out. Which immediately prove to be impossible. Melody walked in on Madison and i while we were having this conversation. Madison and i are neighbours, we do live in the same neighbourhood. So when melody came looking for Madison at her home, she was informed that Madison was at my house. This revelation kind of left her amazed. She decided to check it out if it was the truth or a lie Madison made up to get far away from home to mourn Nicholas. By the way, Madison once dated Nicholas.
A disappointed melody insisted that Madison and i tell her all that have been going on, we strongly refused, eventually we played her the tape recorder containing Madison confession. This immediately upset melody, leaving my house in anger. She realized that Madison her friend, has been lying to her face for almost a week. Madison, immediately stood up to chase after melody, She wanted to comfort her and explain why she kept all this to herself. When she got to melody, she cried.
"I could not risk anyone finding out, I needed to be sure I was not in any kind of trouble." Madison muttered.
This confession from Madison, change the mind of melody towards her. Regardless, Melody insisted that Madison give her time to think before she comes up with a decision of her own. Which Madison was clearly in support of.
Monday 14th September, The next day, by 7:00am, melody called Madison and i to inform us she wants a role in whatever we were planning. She wants to expose the deputy sheriff who was responsible for killing her brother. Madison and i both saw it as a problem, anger is clearly driving her, she might destroy herself in the process. However, Madison did not want to go against melody's wish, we had to play along. Afterwards, Madison informed melody and i that we would be meeting at frisbee shop to plan our move. According to her, if anything was sure is that the deputy sheriff was as well planning is next move.
Some hours later, By 8:07am, we received the news that literally broke the town into pieces. The sheriff department arrested a bunch of junkie kids who were caught using hard drugs. The question the town began to ask, 'who exactly is selling this drugs to kids?' The widespread had cause a whole lot of complications, among them was a
case which has to do with suicide. Which apparently was committed by a student of my alma mater, scholar town high. It so sad and ridiculous that we all had to hear about this. As if that was not enough, the town mayoral election is ahead of us, and we just heard the news that mr Melvin sander is running for the post of mayor.
We got this news from his daughter Elizabeth, She posted it on her Chat-book account. Elizabeth happens to be my greatest foe, she is clearly a spoilt proud brat. After hearing this information, i could only imagined how the town would be if a mobster who has strong connection to the underworld is allowed to govern our town. Oh God!, things would not end well. Our worst fear would be fulfilled, "the end of scholar town
is just a matter of time".