What's the worst way to die? You might think suicide, murder, or an accident. But no all of these pale in comparison to an emotional death, one that shatters your very soul into pieces and tears you apart. This is the death I'm currently facing as I bear the false charge of treason for "killing" my best friend.
"Wtf? How could you?" Issa angrily shouted as a fist came crashing down towards me, sending me flying into the multiple chairs we had been sitting in not long ago. Issa was naturally my rival someone in Enchanted similar to me in age, origin, and nature. However, I couldn't let him bitch me right now.
"I DIDN'T WRITE THAT NOTE, RETARD!" I yelled across the auditorium, everyone watching the unfathomable scene before them. However, deep down, I knew he had a point. Was I being framed? I thought to myself. I'd never kill my best friend, and why the hell would I admit to it? But before the situation could escalate further, Adrian, Kota and Moose rushed towards Issa, calming him down.
Dragging my bruised head from the pile of chairs, I looked around and saw the petrified faces of the others peering into my soul . I couldn't comprehend what was happening. Kizzy, Angel, Faye, Lela, and many more stared at me with contempt, as if I were some kind of demon. I knew I had been known as the 14-year-old "demon" of Enchanted in the past, but now, to them, I was an actual monster.
However, before anyone could say anything, a voice suddenly emerged, shattering the deathly silence that had consumed the room.
"Bullshit!" a voice shouted, cutting through the dreaded silence in the room as someone rushed to defend me. To my surprise, it was Riqless, who insisted she had been with me the entire day and that I would never do something like that. She, Shay, and I were all media buddies and best friends, spending our time playing Vns in VCs. She knew me well and had never once thought I could commit such an evil act, nor would she ever believe it.
Lag looked at the puzzling scene before him, too afraid to speak. After all, he was the one who got Sonzus killed while protecting him. If anyone here was the biggest bitch, sadly, it'd be him. But he knew he had to speak up. With his voice trembling, he cried out to the room, gaining everyone's attention, saying that it couldn't be Null he'd never do this, and why would he incriminate himself? He had always thought Null was a dumbass, but never to this degree. Even if it was reverse psychology, it wouldn't make sense to draw suspicion on himself. But before he could plead more for Null's innocence, another voice dawned throughout the damaged auditorium.
"Shut your bitch ass up, Lag," a voice filled with rage spoke up. Turning around in shock, lag saw Moose's face the face of a killer, the face of a man who had lost everything.
Moose's voice, filled with malice, spoke up once more. "Shay died because you were a bitch and got caught up. You have no room to speak you'll be nothing more than a victim, twice in war and now here."
Honestly, I had expected a crazier reaction from Moose. He and Shay were practically brothers, even more so than me and him. Moose had looked up to him, but now Shay lay dead, with the perpetrator supposedly being me. As Moose turned toward me, a cold gaze met my face. "Null, I don't know how much you were involved, or if you were involved at all, but you are a threat to all the e-women and people here. Right now, I have to admit i want you dead.
"Kill me?" I laughed. There's no way this dude thinks he can kill me. However, I kept my reaction the same, witnessing the slander against me. Others, like Kota, Juice, and Kizzy began to defend me, pointing out the lack of proof that I could have been the cause of all this and murdered Shay. They questioned why I would make myself the top suspect. Juice, despite being a lolicon and having a high top, was the most passionate in defending me. He even pointed out how ridiculous it would be if I were deceiving them with reverse psychology and how illogical it was. I had always respected Juice because he was the first friend I made in Enchanted years ago and one of my last ties to Ench, being a personal friend. Lost in thought, my mind was jolted back to the present as I heard a voice the first voice in the room that hadn't fallen on deaf ears.
"Nobody gives a shit," Slime said, his opinion being the only one heard by the masses. He began to speak once more, "Null is a suspect; however, he could be framed. On the flip side, it could be reverse psychology by him we don't know. That's why we investigate for more evidence."
To be honest, I always knew Slime was the most reasonable in Enchanted. I had barely seen him involved in any prior conflict, but now, in desperate times, ironically, his opinion was the one that spoke the loudest.
Slamming his hand on the chairs that I had previously flung in earlier, Toonz's voice was heard as he began to speak, making the point that we should be lamenting the death of our soon-to-be leader, Shay, and not fighting among ourselves. In his honest opinion, he believed this was a ploy as well. He had seen Null all day today and over the last few weeks, believing this was just an attempt to cause chaos and hinder them from discovering clues about the current tragedy.
However, after the silence that followed Slime and Toonz's propositions, a voice spoke up. A lightskin man with black dreadlocks, a rugged beard, and a black-and-grey Nike tech, limping toward us alongside with the pair of the mandem Kage, Haku, and Ghost, began to speak. That was Izumi. To be fair, I never really had an issue with him; it was mainly the other Enchanted members who got into squabbles with him, with Fruitful being the one who frequently fought with him and lost each time.
Izumi spoke again, "I can't lie, fam. I should be the new leader now that Shay and Ench are dead. Before me, Ghost and Kage were all at the top of Enchanted."
Turning toward Fruit, I noticed a sour look on his face. Last Crest had always been considered by Ench for the role of leader, but they became power-hungry, which prevented this from ever happening. Now, this dickhead Izumi doesn't care about Shay's death, only about satisfying his desire for power.
"Typical," I murmured.
After staying silent for what seemed like an eternity, Veni, who had been watching the commotion, walked toward Issa, who was still glaring at Null savagely. Picking up the note, he read it and then spoke, first lashing out at Izumi, who had practically belittled Shay's death, using it as an excuse to become the new leader of the survivors. He called Izumi a "piece of shit loser," pondering how it was possible for Izumi to be the same age as him but mentally seem ten years younger.
Grabbing Shay's dead body, Veni spoke once more, saying that right now there wasn't enough evidence to clear me or to definitively suspect me everything was uncertain. It could be anything, and they wouldn't know. To my joy, however, he claimed that I should not be let out of sight for now and should be held responsible until they find the true cause of these actions. After this, it was clear that a perpetrator had planned this 100%.
A somber look was plastered on everyone's face as they walked out, tears flooding the floor. What happened today truly was a tragedy the rage-filled faces of Moose and Issa flickering in my mind, and the cries of Riqless and Lag. Others like Nela, Darren, and Adrian were too distressed to speak. But before I could reflect further, a hand grabbed me and I was pulled back by my shoulder. Confused, I said, "Huh?" only to see the slender figure of Fruit standing tall before me.
"I don't know how involved you were," Fruit said, still unsure of my role in this disaster. However, he continued, his tone becoming more serious. "Izumi can't be trusted," he warned, his breathing quickening. "I don't know if he was involved, but whether or not that's true, Izumi and the mandem are not to be trusted. Izumi is too power-hungry, too dangerous to keep around. Soon, a rebellion could happen, and we might all be killed. Honestly, he's showing me again why I don't rate him."
As he slowed his breathing, Fruit spoke again. "Also, Null, there's something nobody has told you yet."
Perplexed, I was about to question what Fruit meant, wondering what they could be hiding from me, but suddenly, a loud shriek rumbled throughout the auditorium.
It was the sound of Lela, who had pointed towards an open crack in the roof. The partial collapse of the building had left a leak in the ceiling, allowing the same poisonous air we had once been immune to slowly creeping back in, ready to take our lives.
"Shit!" Veni exclaimed, realizing the severity of the situation. They had to fix this now, or else they'd all be killed by the same treacherous air that had ended the lives of so many. Still holding Sonzus's body, Veni proceeded to instruct everyone. Scattered around the large school were various items they needed to repair the damage. The building was complex, and it required many different components in case of emergencies. Veni had recently found a set of instructions detailing these items, though he hadn't yet discovered the secrets to ridding the world of the hazardous air set by the germans, as Ench had mentioned in his dying words.
What he had found, however, were various connections to the school, including its fifty rooms, a quarter of which were undiscovered by the suvivors so far. Speaking again, he began assigning teams.
"Issa, you go with Faye. Adrian, you tag with Juice. The mandem Kage, Izumi, Ghost, and Haku you work together. The rest of you Kizzy, Angel, Riqless, Moose, Slime, Darren, Nela, and Lela stick together. I'll go with Fruit and Lag."
He then pointed at me, telling me to follow him, Fruit, and Lag. As the lights in the auditorium flickered on once more, we rushed out to find the pieces needed to fix the leak scattered around the school. As I turned back, I noticed a sinister smile appear on Izumi's face.
A shiver ran down my spine as I wondered, what did Fruit want to tell me?