"Damn! What the heck man?" Quincy yells in shock when he saw Jake sitting on his bed the moment he walks into his room. "Dude, you scared the hell out of me." He complains as he proceeds to his closet to change his clothes.
Jake didn't show much of a reaction rather he oddly stares at Quincy while asking, "Where have you been all day? I expected to see you at school today but you were absent. You number wasn't going through either "
"I have been busy." Quincy casually shrugs, "Also I think my phone was probably dead so I didn't know you called. Sorry if I made you worry about me."
"Worry? Dude, I was anxious!" Jake blurted out agitatedly. "After last night, I couldn't help but think that something wrong happened to you."
Quincy glanced at Jake for a moment. Jake has no idea about what he went through when he was left wandering about in the creepy forest, however, the past is in the past.
"And as you can see, I am totally fine." Quincy said, earning a furrow brows with a frown from Jake. "Besides, don't you know better than to sneak into my room when there is a curfew?"
This time, Jake simply shrugs while casually saying, "My father is the Sheriff of Celestial Falls. I don't give a damn about some dumb law."
"Not even when there are severe cases of kidnappings and murders going on in Celestial Falls?" Quincy asks wide-eyed.
"I can protect myself you know." Jake glares at Quincy with displeasure, "Besides, you haven't said what got your hands full all day that you had to miss school." Jake said more like a question than a statement as he looks at Quincy warily.
"I already told you that I was busy. What else is there for you to know?" Quincy asks with evident disgust in his tone.
"Of course you were. But I am pretty sure your mum isn't aware of your absence from school today, is she?" Jake says as he moves towards the door.
Realising Jake's intentions, "You wouldn't dare" Quincy said through gritted teeth.
"Try me." Jake taunted with a mirthful smirk making its way to his face.
Quincy exhales heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose while resting his back on the armchair he sat on at some point in time. With Jake's persistent nature, Quincy is certain that Jake won't stop until he tells him everything.
Jake narrows his eyes suspiciously, "You are hiding something from me, aren't you? Out with it already." He demanded.
"Okay. You know those new girls at our school..." Quincy started earning a nod from Jake who patiently listen to him, "I have been hanging with them since morning." Quincy whispers as if he couldn't risk anybody eavesdropping on their conversation.
Jake was momentarily stunned, "You mean you have been with the seductive four?" He said, his words almost coming out as a shriek. He really is shocked beyond words.
"The seductive what now?" Quincy looks at Jake with confusion, "What kind of name is that?"
"Come on, don't tell me that you haven't noticed." Jake said as his eyes gleamed with a mischievous glint. Quincy shook his head as if not comprehending the words of Jake which caused the latter to grunt loudly before speaking, "Would you deny the fact that those girls aren't sexy?"
"Besides, I would say the name really suit them given that they were able to prevent you from coming to school today with their seduction." Jake stated with undisguised amazement lacing his tone.
It is not everyday you see a nerd missing a day of school and when they do, it is as a result of some sort of life threatening emergency but not for a girl. But it seems like his best friend is different from other nerds after all.
"Would you look at that, my young nerdy friend is growing into a man already." Jake said teasingly which earns him a glare from Quincy.
"Would you shut up already. Get to the reason you had to sneak into my room in the middle of the night at the expense of your own safety." Quincy demanded, his words sounding more like a scolding than a statement
"Yeah, yeah. I understand mom." Jake mumbles as he mockingly places emphasis on his statement while moving towards the bed. He let out a chuckle as he saw the sulken expression on Quincy's face.
Sitting comfortably on the bed, Jake opens his mouth to speak with seriousness, "I think the culprit behind these massacres and kidnappings in Celestial Falls has been captured."
Quincy gasps as soon as Jake utters those words. "Why would you think so?" He asks with genuine curiosity.
"Well my father got a call this morning from one of his deputies who stated that the culprit suddenly turned himself in at the station." Jake answers causing Quincy to furrow his brows.
"Don't you think that is quite odd? I mean why would the perpetrator give himself up. No matter how one look at it, it is bizarre." Quincy pinched his chin as he ponders deeply.
"I know right. It makes no sense to me at all and that was also my first thought until the result of the investigation came out." Quincy perked his ears as he stares intensely at Jake who took it as a cue to continue.
"Most of the kidnapped victims were found locked up in the culprit's house with some of the possessions of the dead victims laying around in his basement. Also, my father discovers that over the years, the person in question has been charged with several offences and has been sent to jail on various occasions."
"You said something about dead victims. What about them? Were they also at the culprit's house?" Quincy questions which caused Jake to shake his head and Quincy felt disappointed. "Okay, did he say something about what he used their bodies for?"
"Unfortunately, the guy refused to cooperate with the investigation any further. He didn't say much about the victims that were murdered but he told the sheriff about everything concerning the kidnapped victims." Jake says and the knots on Quincy's face tighten.
The more he thought about it, the more Quincy felt that something isn't quite right. When he spoke with Celeste about the massacres, he deduced that it might have something to do with the Dark Druids she made mention of, but he wasn't sure at that time.
However, at this moment, he realise that is intuition might be correct after all. The fact that the culprit refused to say something about the massacres but spoke about the kidnappings is proof that he is trying to cover something up.
But what benefits would he gain if he refuse to share the information with the sheriff when he has given himself up in the first place. Unless, he isn't the one trying to cover something up rather, someone else is putting him up to it. This could also explain why he knows about the kidnappings and not about the massacres, it means that even the culprit does not have an idea about what would happen to the victims after they were killed.
Perhaps, even he does not have an idea about any of the actions he took at all as he might as well be manipulated. And who is known to manipulate someone for the sake of covering up their evil deeds? It would be the Dark Druids.
The more Quincy thinks about it, the more likely he thought that everything is connected to the Dark Druids but at this crucial point, as Celeste has said, he would require more than theoretical evidence to support his claim. He would need physical evidence to maintain his stance about the Dark Druids.