Micha, she was gone.
Alison came to stand beside James, her eyes wide and glassy with shock, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest as if to hold herself together. James, usually so composed, stood motionless, his fists pressed against his thighs.
They had all been through so much in such a short time, but this... this felt different. The emptiness was a chasm that none of them could fill. Micha had always been the glue holding them all together, and now they were left with nothing but the fractured pieces of their friendship.
An hour later, Amber regained consciousness. She seemed to be taking the biggest hit as she was closest to Micha.
Kyro handed her the glass of water, to soothe Amber's burning throat from crying.
After Amber goggled down the glass of water, she handed Kyro back the glass.
"Are you okay?" James finally asked.
"No." Amber muttered.
"We all aren't anyway..." James retorted.
"Who would do this?" Amber whispered, her voice trembling. "Who would want to hurt Micha?"
"I don't know," Kyro said, finally. "But we will find out. We will make sure of it."
"How?" James asked, his voice raw now. "How can we trust anyone here? We don't even know who we can trust anymore."
"We'll get the answers," Kyro repeated, a little more firmly. "But right now... we need to take care of ourselves. Grieve. The police will handle the rest. They are on the way here. Some already at her hostel, I'm pretty sure."
The weight of his words hung in the air as they all stood there, stunned, unable to process what had happened.
Micha was gone.
And in her place, only questions remained.
******************
The sharp scent of disinfectant still lingered in the hallway, mingling with the low murmur of voices and the soft echo of footsteps. Amber stood by the window of the hospital's visitor lounge, her fingers pressed against the cold glass as she stared into the pale morning light. The scene outside was serene — too serene, too normal — compared to the chaos that had unfolded just a few hours ago.
She hadn't slept. No one had. It was currently 3 am and no one had made an attempt to go back to their hostels.
The door to the lounge creaked open behind her, and she didn't have to turn around to know it was Kyro. She could feel the shift in the atmosphere, a subtle tension that had become their new normal.
"I still can't believe it," he muttered, stepping inside and leaning against the doorframe. His voice was rough, exhausted. "How did this happen? How did we miss it?"
Amber didn't answer immediately. Her gaze was fixed on the trees swaying in the wind outside, the way the leaves fluttered like the faintest whispers. The murder of Micha — their Micha — was still incomprehensible. But the police were here now, and they were doing their best to find answers.
There was no use in asking 'why' anymore. They needed to know who and how.
The door to the lounge opened again, and this time, two uniformed officers entered, followed by a man in his thirties, wearing a dark suit and carrying a leather notebook. The detective's presence was imposing, even though he moved with deliberate calm. His name was Detective Carter, and the stark seriousness in his eyes told Amber and her friends everything she needed to know about the gravity of the situation.
"Good morning," he said, nodding at both of them. "I'm Detective Carter. I'll be handling the investigation into Micha's death."
Amber didn't know whether to nod back or speak. It felt wrong to even look at him, knowing what he was there to do — to dig into the brutal end of a life that had been cut too short.
Kyro spoke first, his voice steady but with a hardness that Amber hadn't heard before. "What's the latest? What have you found so far?"
Detective Carter glanced down at his notebook, flipping through a few pages. "We've secured the crime scene. Micha's room has been processed for evidence, and we've already conducted a preliminary sweep for fingerprints, fibers, anything that might point us in the right direction. We will also need to come with the two students, who discovered her body, for further interrogations."
"And?" Amber asked, her voice thin, like a fragile thread that might snap at any moment. "What happens after that?"
The detective didn't meet her eyes immediately. He glanced down at the notebook again, his jaw tightening. "The staff who found Micha—Amber, Kyro, I believe that was you, correct?" he asked, his eyes now settling on Kyro.
Kyro gave a stiff nod. "Yeah. We were the ones who found her. We went to check on her after not hearing from her for two days."
"I understand," Detective Carter said, his voice softening just a fraction. "We've already spoken with the other students and staff in the building, and no one reported hearing anything unusual the night Micha was attacked. However, the door was left open"
Amber's heart skipped. The door was left open. The same detail that had been burning in her mind for hours.
"But that doesn't make sense," Kyro interjected, frustration threading his words. "How could someone get in unnoticed, for sure there is a security pass around hostels in Campston."
"We're still trying to determine that," Carter replied. "It's an unusual aspect of the case, but we're exploring every possible lead. We're also looking into the security footage from the hallway outside Micha's room, but so far, no one has been seen entering or leaving the building around the time of her death."
Alison's mind raced. There had to be something they were missing. The killer had to have known the layout of the place. They had to have known about the hostel. Could it have been someone from inside? Someone who knew Micha?
"Have you found any evidence of a struggle?" Kyro asked.
The detective hesitated. "A minimal one. Micha's injuries were severe, but there was no sign of a violent altercation in her room. The place was tidy, almost unnervingly so. The only sign of disturbance was the blood at the scene and some signs of defensive wounds on her hands." He looked at both of them, his gaze narrowing.
Amber's stomach twisted. Micha had always been so strong, so sharp. To imagine her being caught off guard like that — it didn't sit right.
"Have you identified the weapon?" Kyro asked, his voice low.
"We're still waiting on that. The stab wounds suggest a sharp object, possibly a knife, but there's nothing yet to point to a specific weapon," Carter replied. "We've got the local forensics team running tests, and they'll get back to us soon." He flipped a page in his notebook. "We're also looking into the possibility of an intruder, but we're keeping all options on the table for now. We don't have any solid leads at the moment."
Amber felt her chest tighten. "You said you're talking to people... do you have anyone in mind? Any suspects?"
Carter's face was unreadable. "Not yet. But we'll be speaking to everyone who had access to the building and Micha's room. That includes her room mate, the staff, and anyone else who might've had a motive or an opportunity."
Amber glanced at Kyro, seeing the same confusion and frustration mirrored in his eyes. Micha hadn't had enemies. At least, not ones they knew about. But someone had done this. Someone had killed her.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Kyro asked.
Detective Carter looked at him carefully, considering. "Right now, I'd suggest you try to rest. We may need to ask you both for further statements as the investigation progresses, but for now, the best thing you can do is stay available and let us work through the details. We'll contact you if anything comes up."
James nodded, his heart still heavy. "Do you think it was someone who knew her? Someone from the hostel?"
The detective's eyes flickered, and for a split second, Amber could've sworn she saw doubt in his gaze. "I can't say for sure yet. But we're not ruling anyone out."
With that, he turned and made his way back toward the door, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Amber exhaled slowly, trying to find some semblance of stability in the wake of everything. The air in the room felt oppressive, as though it were closing in on her.
"Amber, we're going to find out who did this," Kyro said, his voice tight with resolve. "We can't let Micha's death be a mystery. Not after everything we've been through."
Amber swallowed hard, her throat tight with emotion. "I know. I just... I just want to understand why. Why her."
Kyro turned and met her gaze, his eyes dark with a mixture of grief and determination. "We will. I promise."
But as they stood there in the quiet, the weight of the unanswered questions hung like a shadow. Micha was gone, and the only thing they could hold onto now was the promise of justice — and the fear that the person who had done this was still out there, watching, waiting.