Academy Murder Party

~:Chapter 31:~

"The door... It opened." Adam whispered in awe at the ajar double doors, shifting his glance over to Jake, who had his gaze locked on something else. Adam sighed as he looked over at the shaking girl in the corner, hugging herself as she muttered under her breath in front of the bloodied corpse still warm with life.

Jake sighed and stood up, taking a step towards the door.

"Where the hell are you going, man?" Adam asked him. Jake paused, glancing over his shoulder at Adam.

"Out of here." He muttered.

"B-but..." Adam started to plead, yet, he cut himself short. He knew he couldn't ask Jake to stay; hell, the door was open, yet, he didn't feel an urge to leave in any shape or form. It was like something was tethering him to this room or someone. "D-Don't leave us behind." He called out to Jake, but he was long gone by then. He had exited the door and turned, entirely out of sight.

Adam rose from his chair and, shakily, approached Claire. The girl paid him no attention; instead, holding her head in her arms as she whimpered into her knees, shaking as she attempted to catch her breath through the few muffled sobs.

"Claire..." He muttered, glancing down at her pitifully. The girl didn't look up at him. Instead, she fell silent for a moment, as she had wholly stopped sobbing. "It's okay..." He said, kneeling in front of her as he placed her hand on her shoulder. She tensed up for a moment but then relaxed, taking a deep breath. "You did what you had to do." He frowned, glancing over to Brent's still corpse, with the blade of a handle sticking out of its torso, like a piece of meat at the butcher. The edge of his lip raised as he looked at it before he wiped the look off and returned his glance to Claire.

She stared back at him, causing him to release his grip as he nearly fell backward in fear. He gasped, putting his hand on his chest as he stared at her. She frowned and shook her head at the sight of him, wiping the corner of her eye with her finger.

"I'm not upset because Brent is dead." She whispered. "I killed him. Doesn't that make me just as bad as him?" She asked, staring at Adam with her glossy eyes.

"No." Adam quickly responded. "Brent was an asshole! A murderer! I mean, look what he did to me?" Adam motioned towards his bruised and bloodied face. "He was a shit person and treated you even worse. He had what was coming to him." Adam sighed.

"That's not what I meant. I'm a killer now... just like him." She squeezed herself and buried her head into her crossed arms again, shaking as she took another deep breath to calm herself down. Adam scooted forward, crossed his legs, and took a seat next to her. He stared down at the tiled floor before sighing.

"Brent was selfish."

"I know." She muttered to herself.

"What I mean is... The world is more, you know, complicated." Adam explained. "He's a selfish asshole, killing for his gain. You did it because you had to." Adam furthered on. Claire lifted her head as he spoke, listening to him as he continued. "You are killing saved the lives of yourself and two other people. You knew that. You did it because you knew that." He explained.

"Are you trying to justify killing?"

"No! I mean... Maybe? Of course... killing is bad... but look at the mess we're in. The people here make us look like saints... like we've committed no harm." He said. Immediately, Claire sniffled in response to this, realizing that what he said hadn't helped much. He quickly followed up with his speech. "The point is... you saved mine... and Jake's lives. I would have to guess you're a pretty good person to do something like that." He said, nudging her. She snickered in response, looking up at him.