The Innocent (THE ENIGMA OF THE LOST SOULS #1)

Two: A Glimpse

  Thompson groaned, placing the autopsy report on his drawer. It's not gonna be a quick investigation. There were no weapons at the scene or any other of the evidence. Thompson took a last sip of his coffee from the cup then left the office, on his way back to the crime scene. An angle on Lucas, roaming around the school, also looking for the evidence. His vision started to blur as he held onto the railings, he's about to pass out. Lucas inhaled, trying to breathe normally. Everything went dark.

He woke up to a sound of faint tapping. The school looked different than usual, like he's traveled back in time. Lucas stood up from the ground and dusted off the dirt from his uniform. All he sees are the candles around the school. "What is this place?" He whispered to himself, "Hello?" His voice echoed in the hallway. No answer. Lucas walked towards the classrooms, but it's no longer a classroom. It rather looked like a... church or some kind of meeting place. He left the room and saw a person from afar, it looked like they're wearing a dark red robe. He followed, leading himself to the room where the murder took place.

There are six people in the room, wearing the same robe. Each one of them is holding a red candle while chanting a little prayer. Their right hands are touching the ground. Lucas's head started to hurt in every little step he took. The chants were getting louder and louder as the room started to shake. That's when he saw a glowing pentagram on the floor. He gasped, drawing attention to the six people in the room.

"Lucas Achter." One of them grabbed a dagger from the floor.

Lucas's lips quivered as he swiftly ran away from the room, as he was being followed. He ran as fast as he could, he didn't care about resting at this point, he just wanted to run away. Then, he tripped from the tree roots. His vision started to blur again, his head was throbbing in pain. "Stay away from me!" He crawled away, praying that they'll leave him alone. Everything stopped.

"Lucas Achter..."

Lucas woke up and inhaled sharply. Once again, he's inside the school clinic. He heard footsteps, "Is he awake?" Lucas heard Angeline's voice, he got up from bed. His ankles were hurting like hell, "Lucas, sit down! Thank goodness you're awake. What the hell happened?" Angeline sat down beside the young teacher as he tried to remember what happened before he fainted. At this point, his colleagues are probably going to think that he has gone insane; from frequent fainting, abnormal breathing, hallucinations, and weird lucid dreams. "I-I think I've gone insane, ma'am." Lucas's voice cracked as Angeline pulled him a tight hug.

Angeline has always been a great motherly person and as for Lucas, he always feels safe around her. "No, don't say that, Lucas. I know you're stressed right now, all of us are. Take a rest, call me when you need anything, okay?" Angeline rubbed his back and gave him another hug, "Yes, ma'am. Thank you." Lucas cleared his throat and laid down on the bed. He took a deep breath. Maybe she is right, I'm just stressed out, that's all. Lucas yawned and closed his eyes, dozing off.

• • •

Thompson arrived at the academy, seeing Officer Pendleton running towards him, "Detective Thompson, we have found evidence." Thompson froze and stared at Pendleton, "Show me." The two investigators ran all the way to the small cabin. Robert was interrogated by the police, "It wasn't me, I swear!" He raised his hand in his defense and glanced at Thompson, "Detective, please. It wasn't me!" Robert cried out, I took off my gaze at Robert and continued with the investigation. "We found the shoes under the trapdoor. The shoe print matches the ones on the mud." Officer Pendleton explained, "And, there's also a little drop of blood on his shoes. We'll bring it to the station to get the blood sample."

Thompson nodded and once again, looked at Robert, "You know what they say, behind the innocent faces, hides the monstrous sides." Officer Pendleton sighed, "That evidence still doesn't prove that he's the culprit behind the murder of Eastwood. We have to gather more. Tell your policemen to search the school grounds, including the restricted area of the school, the rooms, cafeteria, anywhere as long as it's inside the school's premises. I need all of you to search every corner and tell me if you find any pieces of evidence, no matter how huge or tiny they are." Thompson ordered Officer Pendleton, leaving the cabin, to search for any evidence around the school grounds.