Shouldn't Be This Way

Chapter 18: Innocent soul

Fluffy white clouds floated gently in the soft breeze, adorning the blue sky. In the final two weeks of this semester, the college was bustling with students. In University of Malaya, it was a beautiful yet subtropical morning. The final year students' minds were preoccupied with dread about the final exam, but these five students' hearts and minds seemed to be elsewhere.

All of them already in the room like promised yesterday except for Jafri, he seemed to be running late.

" I think I crake the code " familiar voice heard in distance. Crescendo of the voice finally stop as Jafri open the door " Guysss!! I think I solve the riddle " Exciting face appear in the entrance of the room. Jafri then pulls out the form five chemistry textbook from his bag as he sat.

" Huh!? " Melur exclaim as she saw the book.

" Okay, let me explain " He quickly sat and jotted something on the paper, " You see the first four lines in the passage only explain the story and build up to the final clue "

" For example, you see all this line crafted using symbolism method " He explained.

" Butterfly can be symbolised as teens, one full moon equals to one month--, "

" --, Raven equals to death... " Jasmine suddenly chipped in.

" I want to say misfortune or bad omen actually... " Jafri flustered with the respond he heard from Jasmine.

" Oh... " She only exclaims

" Anyway, that's my point, so I read the last sentence of the passage thousands time last night " He lifted his eyebrow " And that's when it hit me " He open the last page of textbook.

" Periodic table of elements!? " Jasmine confused.

" Yup, it just that simple " Jafri shrugged, " And I think it's not a mere coincidence that five of us including Sarah are a Biochemistry students "

" That makes sense... " Melur nodded in realisation.

" So, all we have to do now is match the number to the chemical element number? " Adam removed the paper from the box on the table in the middle of the group.

Jafri wrote the code, " What is this formula? " He questioned, brows creasing in as he showed them the code.

[ Li, N, Md, W ]

" Lithium, Nitrogen, Mendelevium and Tungsten " Jasmine interpreted the elements. " What's the correlation with these 4 elements, we cannot even construct the chemical formula using these code " She sighed.

Adam leaned to think, " Maybe you are wrong Jaf "

" Hmm, we hit a dead end again then " Jafri hung his head down.

Five minutes of silence wrapped the room. This riddle became more and more complicated to solve. There's a difference between giving up and deciding when enough is enough as currently present, they're somewhere in the general vicinity.

" Wait, how about this then " Putera took the paper on the table and jotted something. " How about now? " Putera shown them the paper.

[ 3N101W ]

" What chemical formula is this? " Melur open her phone to search the element in Internet. " Again! No search found ... " She repeated the same sentence display on her phone.

" Wrong again, then," Putera sighed, a faint smile on his face.

" Wait--, No--, no, Putera is right " Jafri came into realisation.

" It's a coordinate " He smiled, " Look, three north and one hundred and one west " Jafri pointed at the number.

" It's a longitude and latitude!!! " Melur respond to Jafri.

" Niceeee, let me search this coordinate " Adam open the search engine his phone, " Guys look here " He added, flashing his phone with a smile.

[ 9, Jalan 16/11, Seksyen 16, 46350 Petaling Jaya, Selangor ]

" Yesssss, we're done it " Jasmine yelled happily

" Not yet, it just a beginning " Jafri stared at the box. His fists clench inside him, filled with a mountain of rage. He sensed they were dealing with a psychopath, and any misstep may put Sarah's life in jeopardy.

" What are we waiting for?C" " Let's go to this place " Jafri said hurriedly as he stood turned and stared around at everybody else.

For a few seconds, the room was silent, and everyone simply misplaced their gaze to avoid making eye contact with Jafri.

" No, we must tell the police " Jasmine objected, giving him a hard look as she placed the doll back in the box.

His tongue prodded in his mouth as she stared at her, " The case already closed, Sarah is not their priority anymore " " We must find the new evidence by ourselves to made the police open the case back ".

" Its too dangerous Jaf " Adam chipped in.

Putera then try to calm his friend down " Jaf, do you know how dangerous this guy is? Give the police chance—"

"—We don't have time for more chances Put!!! " Jafri interrupted angrily.

Jafri then calm himself down and restrained himself from getting angry again but instead he took the box from Jasmine's hand. " I'll do by myself then," He calmly told them. Jafri just let out an exasperated sigh and put his stuff inside his bag pack including the box.

" Wait, let's do this together then " Adam finally gave in. " Let's find Sarah " his eyes shifted from one person to another.

As they rushed down the highway, going way over the speed limit, Jafri clenched the steering wheel so fiercely that his fingertips turned white, yet no one did care. They quickly found themselves in a dark, shady alleyway between the Vietnamese restaurant's backside and a 7-eleven convenience shop.

Putera slip back his shoes " Are you sure this is the right location? "

Adam checked his phone once more, " Yup according to this phone "

The lane was dark, and the low streetlight added to the dismal atmosphere. There isn't much to see in the alley. It was fifty meters long, with a large dustbin on one side and a pathway on the other. Because the space is so little, it's not difficult to find something there. They all began their quest by flipping through the garbage and stacks of boxes.

An enormous green dustbin caught Melur's attention at the end of the alley. She then went there and wandered behind the enormous old dustbin, where she discovered a shattered hole, possibly handmade. As she pushed his arm farther into the hole, she sensed something more than a spider web and a pile of dust. Soft, cold and inert, Melur squatted and put down her head on par to the leg.

" Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! " Melur scrambled backward, shouted as she saw something shocking. She bit her hands, trembling, mustering everything she had. The screams drew the attention of the other members of the group. They sprinted down the alley to the dead end corner.

" Why Melurrrr??? " Adam worriedly asked.

Waterfall of tears started to flow out from her iridescent eyes. With a trembling hand, she pointed to the hole.

" There--, in there--, Melur sniffled between word weeping.

After that, Jafri gave chase the hole on his own. He falls straight back, pale and shivering, profoundly dismayed by what has transpired in front of him.

" Why--, Why--, " His pale cheeks were flushed with a single tear. He could feel his throat constricting.

" Why... Sarah... Sarah... lying... down... in... there... "