Clouds of Violet

Chapter Seven

Thursday, September 11th, 7:43

Our local news channel flashed all of the other belongings of Camila last night. There was a white sneaker, a headband, and a locket that had her name etched on it. I saw her wearing all those things at school last Thursday when she was last seen.

But that's not even the best part.

All of these things were in mint condition, unlike the sweater. Especially her sneaker. It stood out the most, it was so clean that it was almost blinding. I remember her shoes being a little bit dirty, but here, they look almost brand new.

The police refused to say anything else about the investigation, meaning that they've found more evidence but they're just waiting for the right time to broadcast it all to the town.

It's been a few days since they said that, so they'll probably put it on the news for everyone to see tonight.

I hop off the bus and walk the rest of the way to school. When I get there, I see Ayeza at the other end of the parking lot. The entire parking lot is empty, no cars and no buses. I yell out her name but she doesn't respond. She's standing frozen, her helmet still fastened and her bike off the side, laying on the gravel.

I jog over to her and stop a few feet behind her.

She looks terrified, scared for her life. The colour's been sucked clean from her face and her eyes are almost doe-like.

"What's wrong?" I ask, looking at her sunken cheeks and frightened eyes.

"Sky..." she says. She points at something in the sky and I follow her shaking finger. She's pointing at a tree, a large and grand tree. With lively green leaves and elegant branches that sprout from each end. And at the end of one of those elegant branches, is a rope that is tightly wrapped around the neck of a half-eaten, half-naked girl.

And her name is Camila Young.

***

By the time second period was over, everyone had heard about Camila Young and her unfortunate passing.

I've heard rumours too, that the police are going to come to investigate the students and that the school is soon going to be surrounded by news vans. I believe it if I'm being frank. The media's going to eat this up and we'll be getting the nation's attention with a case like this.

It's hard to put what I saw into words because what I saw was otherworldly.

Camila's face was frozen in horror, her entire upper body was exposed as she hung. Makes sense considering they found the sweater she was wearing yesterday. On her stomach were scars, most of them fresh. Her torso was partially torn open, dried blood sticking to her skin like honey. Her veins were popping against her pale complexion, it looked as if somebody had coloured them in to make them more visible. Her arms had been ripped off her body and there were bite marks all over he shoulders. Her hair was ripped out, exposing a scalp mixed with glistening sweat and old blood. She still had her shorts, or whatever was left of them anyway. Her legs were mostly okay, just a couple of bruises and scars. But of course, that wasn't enough. In black marker, the killer wrote the same thing we found in the note, YOU'RE NEXT.

They carried her body away and that's when I saw what was written on her back. It was some kind of riddle, some weird poem. I don't know what made me do it, considering the fact that I was on the verge of throwing up, but I took a picture.

"Show it to me," Zara demands when I tell her about the picture. We're sitting side by side at lunch. I nod and pull out my phone. Good news, Zara's my friend now. Ever since Monday, when we saw that note, she said something that really weirded me out. One of us could be next, she said. I want to make the most of the time we might have left.

I open up the picture and put my phone in her tray.

I hide in the crowds,
I never really speak too loud,
But I'm right there, right in front of you,
I haven't really much to do,
But seek revenge for all that's wronged me,
I will set us free.

Zara makes a grossed-out sound, that sounds like a cross between a goat braying and a baby's whine.

"Touché," she says, sliding the phone back to me. She waves over at Aaron and Ezra, who are making their way to our usual table. More good news, she's not fighting with Aaron anymore. Bad news, she's not fighting with Aaron anymore. 

I'm mentally preparing myself for them to be all over each other. 

Aaron sits on the other side of Zara and Ezra sits right across from me. Max joins us next, Alora trailing after him. 

Back to normal. 

Ruby-Jo and Blair stopped sitting with us after the food fight, which makes sense, I would too if Aaron threw an entire slice of chocolate cake at me. 

"Literally all people can talk about is Camila," Ezra says. "It's annoying."

"She was just found dead," Zara says. "That annoys you?"

"No, what annoys me is that nobody even knew her that well," Ezra says. "And now they're exchanging gossip and rumours."

"You're just weird, man," Aaron shrugs. "Yeah, nobody knew her. She was new and she didn't even finish a week here."

"Besides, they're not even spreading rumours," Zara points out. "Police are obviously going to investigate the kids at school. And news channels will be eating this up. Wait till it goes public. They're all gonna shit themselves."