Rob and Victor had now left Birchwood's main town and were deep in the outskirts. The landscape around them was dominated by forests and rolling hills.
In the distance, the entrance of Birchwood University came into view. Victor steered the car toward the gate and pulled over in front of it. A security guard stepped out of the gatepost and approached the vehicle.
"State your business."
Victor pulled out his badge. "Detective Victor Okezie from the BPD, here about the missing students. This is Detective Robert Bassey—he's with me."
The guard studied them; then, with a slight shake of his head, he muttered, "Took you guys long enough… Not that it'll change anything now."
"What do you mean by that?" Rob asked.
The guard blinked, as if realizing he had spoken aloud. "Oh—uh, nothing. Just that it's been a while since they disappeared. They don't just vanish into thin air—" He cut himself off and cleared his throat. "I'll signal the other guard to let you through."
Victor exchanged a glance with Rob, but neither said anything. Moments later, the gate creaked open, and they drove inside.
Birchwood University was vast, its architecture distinctly Gothic, evoking a sense of history and tradition. The towering buildings, crafted from stone, were decorated with gargoyles and slender spires that emphasized their height. As they drove through the campus, Rob observed the pointed arches, flying buttresses, and stone walkways littered with students carrying books and bags as they made their way to class.
Soon, they approached a particular building, in front of which stood a man, seemingly waiting for them. He appeared to be in his late forties or early fifties, dressed in a gray blazer over matching slacks. His hands were tucked into his pockets, and he shifted his weight slightly to one side, his stern gaze fixed on the approaching sports car. Rob, from behind the tinted windows, met his stare.
"Administration? Maybe the president?" Rob asked.
"Vice President, actually. His name is Lucas Sawyer," Victor clarified.
The car doors swung open, and the two detectives stepped out. Lucas Sawyer maintained his composed, unyielding expression as they approached.
With a subtle flick of his wrist, Sawyer adjusted his sleeve, revealing a gold watch. "Detective Okezie, you certainly took your time. You're about three minutes late," he remarked, his eyes locking onto Victor's.
"The drive from the main town is a bit long," Victor replied.
"It's only a few hours drive at most. Regardless, we've been expecting you."
"We?" Rob thought, but before he could dwell on it, Sawyer shifted his gaze toward him.
"And you are?"
"Detective Robert Bassey. Private investigator," Rob answered.
Sawyer raised an eyebrow.
"He's someone I trust," Victor added.
Sawyer's expression dulled slightly before he extended a hand toward Rob. "Well then, welcome to Birchwood University, Detective Bassey."
They shook hands firmly.
"Now, shall we proceed to my office?" Sawyer gestured toward the building entrance before turning and leading the way inside. Victor and Rob followed him through the reception area and down a hallway lined with doors and benches. Eventually, they arrived at a door with Lucas Sawyer neatly engraved on a nameplate.
As Sawyer reached for the handle, he suddenly paused and turned to Rob.
"Detective Bassey, would you mind waiting outside for a moment while I speak with Detective Okezie?"
"Sure," Rob said with a nod.
As Victor and Sawyer stepped inside, Rob took a seat on a bench beside the door, settling in to wait.
Soon after, the door open slightly, and Victor peeked his head out. "You can come in now, Rob," he said.
Rob rose from his seat and stepped inside, following Victor.
As he entered, his eyes immediately locked onto someone he hadn't seen before—a well-built man in formal attire, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. An ID card hung around his neck. Rob's gaze then shifted to Sawyer, who sat behind his desk, exuding authority.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Detective Bassey," Sawyer spoke first.
"No issue at all," Rob replied politely.
"Well, since you'll be assisting Detective Okezie, we've decided to let you in on our little secret," Sawyer said.
The built man scoffed, a deep grunt escaping him.
"Oh?" Rob tilted his head slightly. "That the students aren't actually missing—but dead? This is a murder case, isn't it?"
The man's frown deepened.
"How long have you known?" Victor asked.
"I suspected from the moment you first told me about the case," Rob responded.
"Oh?" Victor raised an eyebrow.
"You mentioned it was a challenge because Birchwood's police force was relatively small and stretched thin searching for the missing students. But I keep up with the news, and I hadn't read anything about that. No reports, no search parties, nothing. You'd think rumors about students vanishing from Birchwood's prestigious university would spread like wildfire."
Victor let out a small sigh. "Yeah... my lie had holes. When you asked what case I was working on, I told you the lie that they were missing, then I made up the rest about the police force on the fly to reinforce it."
Rob raised an eyebrow at Victor's response.
"I take it this lie hasn't been announced publicly, which is why nobody's heared about it, but judging from the reaction of the guard at the gate, the security in the school know." Rob said.
"That's right." Victor nodded.
"Okay, so I figured out you were lying. But how did I deduce it was a murder case?"
Sawyer leaned forward slightly. "Yes, I'm curious about that too."
Rob continued. "Well, after realizing Victor lied, I asked myself—why? The only explanation that made sense was that he was trying to keep the real case under wraps. Meaning it had to be something more serious... something sensitive."
The built man lifted his head slightly, watching Rob more intently.
"And the first thing that came to mind?" Rob went on. "Murder. But I wasn't certain until we arrived at the university. His gaze shifted to Sawyer. "Mr. Sawyer—the way you looked at me, like Victor had made a mistake bringing me here. And you kept me outside your office, as if you were hiding something."
His attention then turned to the built man. "And you—let me guess. You're the head of security or something along those lines. I can tell you're annoyed. You were first working on this alone, right? And now the schools decided to include the police, and you don't like that a couple of young detectives—especially a private detective like me—are here to do your job for you, do you?"
The man finally spoke, his voice deep and gruff. "That's Chief Security Officer to you. And as much as I hate to admit it, you're sharp. But you're only half right." A smirk tugged at his lips, almost taunting.
"Huh?" Rob blinked.
"Well," Victor chimed in, "it's actually both an abduction and a murder."
"How does that work?" Rob asked.
"Only one girl has been confirmed dead. The rest are still missing, so we can't say for sure if they're dead or alive."
Sawyer leaned back in his chair, eyeing them carefully. "You three better learn to get along, because you'll all be working together to find this killer." His gaze then locked onto Rob. "One of the missing students is from the Winslow family."
Rob's eyes widened slightly. "Winslow? As in the Winslows—one of the founding families of Birchwood?"
"Yes. That Winslow." Sawyer's voice carried weight. "As you know, they're powerful people. Even though this institution is owned by the Pembertons, we'd still like to avoid a war between two influential families." His cold stare shifted to the Chief Security Officer. "Grant, you'd better play nice. Your job is at stake. Handle this well, and you'll keep your title."
The smirk disappeared from Grant's face. "Understood," he said, his voice stiff.
"You can count on us, Mr. Sawyer," Victor assured. "We'll do our best to find those students."
"No, you won't just do your best to find them; you will find them, it's a must." Sawyer muttered. Then, addressing Grant, he said, "Show them where they'll be lodging."
"Yes, sir," Grant responded with a curt salute.
With that, the three of them left Sawyer alone in his office.
***
"B---B---Blood----I---I can see my blood."
Limping through the birch woods under the night sky, a girl staggered, her clothes stained ruby red, the blood dripping from her wound and onto the ground as she moved weakly through the ferns and grasses. Her heart pounded in her chest, her eyes wide with shock from the horror she had just witnessed. Her expression told a tale of fear as she panted and gasped for air.
"Blood... Th—That's my blood," she stammered, her legs faltering as she collapsed to her knees.
"So much blood," her eyes traced the wound in her abdomen.
"Ah---Ah---ha!-ahh!" Her voice cracked in pain as her vision focused on the iron rod protruding gruesomely from her abdomen.
"Stay strong," she whispered to herself, forcing courage through her trembling body. With both hands, she gripped the rod, slowly pulling it from her body. Every inch of it felt like a tormenting eternity. She cried out in anguish, her blood spurting from the wound, splashing around her like a fountain. The once-green earth turned red as her blood painted the ground.
Finally, with a final gasp, the rod came free, and she collapsed to the ground, her body going limp. The blood continued to pour from the wound, pooling beneath her in the moonlight, a shimmering red lake.
Weakened and dizzy, she tried to crawl, leaving a bloody trail behind her. "I... I need to make it to the campus," she managed to gasp, each movement slower and more labored than the last.
But her strength began to fade. Her body, drained and broken, began to yield to the inevitable. Her breath slowed, her vision blurred.
"Somebody... help... me," she whispered, but the words were lost to the empty night. No one would hear her in the depths of nature's embrace.
***
Now, the sky was getting dark. With the headlights on, Victor's car drove down a narrow path through the dense forests surrounding the school. Rob sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window, while Grant slumped in the backseat.
Victor kept glancing nervously at the road ahead, gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly as the car bounced over rocks and uneven patches of dirt.
"You alright?" Grant asked, noticing his tension.
Victor shot him a quick glance. "Yeah I'm fine, just a little worried about the car; it's not exactly built for off-road driving."
"Just take it easy," Rob advised, looking out the window at the trees. "We'll be fine."
"I'm not sure about that," Victor muttered under his breath, eyeing the road ahead.
"All this land is owned by the university?" Rob asked.
"Yup, a whole 200 acres," Victor replied.
"Where are we headed?"
"First, we'll go to the research center so we can show you the security footage, then we'll head to the lodge," Victor answered.
"Our lodge is this far out into the woods?"
"The university owns several off-campus apartments and homes for students and staff who have the extra cash and don't want to live on campus," Grant explained. Rob glanced over his shoulder to look at him.
"Oh, I see. But why stay so far from the school compound? I take it the crime didn't happen on campus?"
"Yes, the crime happened at the lodge where we'll be staying."
"Staying on site, huh?"
"Yup," Victor nodded.
Soon, they reached a large research building set in a clearing. Rob stepped out of the car, taking a look around. The silence felt unsettling—nothing but the stillness of the woods for miles. His gaze landed on a large sign above the building: "Birchwood University Environmental and Nature Research Center."
"This place is pretty quiet," Rob remarked.
"All the workers are off for the day," Grant said as they approached the building.
"What time do they close?" Victor asked.
"5 p.m. The school uses this place for educational research purposes. It has labs, greenhouses, and more. Students in fields like agriculture, environmental science, biology, ecology—those types of majors use it," Grant explained.
They entered through the main entrance and walked down a hallway to a door marked "Security Room." Grant pulled out a key, unlocking the door, revealing a large room full of computers and monitoring stations. They followed Grant as he moved toward one of the monitors.
"This computer has all the footage from the area where the crime took place," Grant said.
"Allow me to fill you in on the case before we watch the footage," Victor added, and Rob's expression became attentive as Victor began to explain.
"They were five friends. They all used to be members of a now-discontinued club called the Shadow Seekers."
"Shadow Seekers?" Rob asked, intrigued.
"They were a club founded by students—a group of nerds with an interest in supernatural stuff. But the school eventually did a check on all the student clubs, and the Shadow Seekers got shut down. The club lacked academic rigor, and the member count was really low."
"Hmmm, but that didn't stop them from continuing their meetings?" Rob guessed.
"Yes, five friends and loyal members kept meeting as an unofficial club. Since they weren't an official club anymore, they didn't have a place to meet."
"Ah, that's where Winslow comes in," Rob said, piecing it together. "He owned the villa, right? And he was willing to let them use it as their new meeting spot."
"That's right. Julian Winslow. One of the Winslow family twins."
"Hmmm. I see. These twins are the only children the Winslows have."
"Yup. That's why we fabricated the lie that they're missing. If the Winslows found out that their son might be dead, who knows what they'd do?" Victor's tone darkened.
"Stay on track, would you?" Grant spoke up, pulling the conversation back.
Victor continued, unfazed. "Everything from here on is speculation. We assume they all went to Julian's villa to meet and hang out like a group of friends. They probably stayed until late and decided to sleep there instead of going back to campus in the dark. Most likely, they were in the living room, watching TV or something. And that's when they were attacked."
"You used a lot of hedge words there," Rob commented.
"Well, the footage doesn't really tell us much," Grant explained as he moved toward the monitor. "You'll see for yourself."
The video footage flickered to life on the screen.
"You see, we don't have any cameras inside the building for privacy reasons. So all we have are the surroundings. Here's where the students first arrived at the villa."
The footage showed the five students walking across the garden toward the house. There was a tall, muscular young man dressed in an expensive-looking casual outfit with a leather jacket. Clinging to him was a stunning redhead girl wearing a casual green gown. Near them walked another young man with a lean build and a natural charisma, a black girl in an ovesized hoodie, and another tall young man, more neatly dressed than the rest, wearing a collared shirt and glasses. Grant paused the footage.
"The tall one is Julian; the girl clinging to him is Elizabeth Lawson—we believe she's his girlfriend; the lean one is Harry Gunn. He was the leader of the Shadow Seekers when it was still a club, and he's probably the leader of this friend group now; the girl is Susan Lamar; and four-eyes is Jeffrey Hogan—he's a math genius with a 5.0 GPA," Grant explained.
"A peculiar bunch," Rob commented.
The students walked into the villa, disappearing from view.
"Once they're inside, we don't know what happened," Grant continued, flipping to the next camera. "Here's Jeffrey talking to Susan outside by the lawn. We don't know what they were talking about, but judging from their body language, we think they may have had some kind of intimate relationship. Their colleagues we questioned didn't say they were dating, but there's clearly something going on." He switched the scene again. "And then there's this."
The footage now showed a camera facing a wall with a part of a window in the corner of the frame. Grant let the video play for a few seconds before asking, "Did you see it?"
"See what?" Rob asked, narrowing his eyes.
Grant rewound the footage.
"If you look closely, you'll see a flash of light from that window," Victor pointed out.
Grant played the footage in slow motion. A purplish blue light flickered from the window in an instant.
"What's that?" Rob asked, leaning in closer.
"We have no idea," Victor said, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "We've checked the house—nothing in there emits light that color. We assume the killer brought whatever caused it with him."
"Hmmm," Rob murmured, his mind racing.
"This is the most important part," Grant said as he flipped to the next camera. "Moments after that strange flash, we start hearing this." As the footage played, loud screams echoed from the house, accompanied by a strange sound—like a roar or screech—and the noise of things smashing and breaking. Then, a loud boom.
Grant switched to another camera angle. The boom was the sound of part of the wall collapsing.
"What the heck?" Rob exclaimed, startled.
"That's not all," Victor added, his expression grim.
Suddenly, the sounds stopped, and not long after, Susan limped out of the villa with an iron rod lodged in her side. "I—I can see my blood." She was in shock as she limped through the garden and disappeared into the woods.
Grant paused the video. "The next morning, her body was found by one of the rangers while he was on patrol."
Rob's face darkened with concern. "What made that sound? And broke the wall?"
"We're not exactly sure," Grant said, his voice heavy. "It can't be an animal. An animal wouldn't take their bodies without leaving a trace. Besides, do you know of any animals on the island that sounds like that?"
"I guess you're right, but that didn't sound much like a person either." Rob insisted.
"I've heard stories about serial killers who play monster recordings while they kill, creating the persona of a monster they want to project," Victor offered.
"I haven't heard of any recent serial killers in Birchwood," Rob said, skepticism creeping into his tone.
"Neither have I," Victor admitted. "But that doesn't rule it out."
"Then you must mean..." Rob's voice trails off.
"Yup," Grant finished his sentence. "This is the birth of a serial killer. His first kill."
"Then what about the wall?" Rob asked. "A human couldn't do that."
'Ironically, I can,' Rob thought but kept it to himself.
"Let's talk about that when you see the crime scene for yourself," Victor suggested.
"Okay, but why would he attempt to kill Susan, then kidnap the rest?" Rob asked, confused.
"Unfortunately, we still don't know his motives," Victor responded, his tone disappointed.
"Did any of the other cameras show the killer leaving the building?" Rob asked.
Victor and Grant exchanged a look.
"No," Victor finally said. "No footage of anyone leaving the villa except Susan."
"But no bodies were found inside the villa... these students are most likely dead," Rob concluded quietly.
"We want to believe they're alive," Grant said, his voice tinged with doubt. "But we can't give the Winslows that answer. They'll have our heads. You're involved in this now, too. Imagine what they'd do to the detectives who concluded that their son is dead."
Rob remained silent, processing the gravity of the situation.
Victor broke the silence. "Well, the fact that we've found no bodies means there's still hope that they're alive. Until we find their bodies, we can't confirm they're dead."
"So if they didn't leave through the exits, how did the killer escape with the bodies?" Rob asked.
"Well, maybe there's a secret passage somewhere in the house," Grant suggested. "We searched and couldn't find any, but maybe the killer knows something we don't. If one of the students is the killer, he might know his way around the villa—know all the hidden passages."
"For that to be a possibility, it would have to be a secret passage that the students created themselves," Grant added. "Otherwise, the university would've known about it."
Rob's eyes narrowed in thought. "For a student to secretly renovate a villa owned by the university without the school's knowledge... they must have a lot of money and power."
"Exactly," Grant said, nodding.
"That means..." Rob stopped himself mid-sentence, letting the implication hang in the air.
"Our prime suspect is Julian," Victor finished.
The three men fell silent for a moment, the weight of their thoughts pressing down on them.
After a few moments, Grant broke the silence. "Well, it's already dark. Shall we head to the lodge?"
"Yeah, sure," Rob said as his mind raced.
"Yeah, let's go," Victor added with a tired yawn.
All three men exited the room, the sense of unease lingering in the air.