The Girl Who Couldn't Kill

Chapter 7-Metaphysical

The moon had reappeared from its cave as Rory clutched onto the frigid handles of Ajax's scooter, her thoughts clash, folding her heart into her lungs and her mind racing. She felt her brows scrunch subconsciously and loosened her expression.

Ajax glanced in the rear mirror, "Is everything okay?"

She instantly snapped back to reality by his reassuring voice. Something about his voice made her feel like honey drizzled over pancakes.

"I was reflecting is all," she managed a smile.

"I don't want you to overthink, and you should rest your mind tonight. We can continue our investigation after the interrogation tomorrow."

They halt to a stop outside the main entrance of Brighton. Rory leaped off and handed her pineapple helmet back to Ajax. His hands smoothed over his neck, the silence drifting them closer.

"Uh thanks for today, you've been a great help," said Rory.

"Y-yeah of course...Um, I'll see you tomorrow." Ajax raced away into the night.

What an odd boy, Rory thought.

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"Roryyy you're back. How did it go?" Autumn was sitting on a mega bean bag in their shared dorm.

"Mentally draining, everyone was so suspicious," finally letting her guard down to her best friend. "We went to Marley for clues and apparently the killer left a note, addressing himself as "Chrome."

Autumn's voice is steady, "Oh, what kind of note?" Attempting to sound interested but not too invasive.

"We have no idea but we think that it may be a message to the killer."

So the killer had an accomplice?

That would explain the inconsistency of the notes, hence the unreliable distribution method. But the question begs, what was the motive to murder Connor so gruesomely? Who can possibly despise Connor on a deeper level, they had to form an alliance? Connor was either the most loved or most wanted, it would be hard to say who would be brave enough to perish him.

"We reached a dead end because we thought the killer may have borrowed keys from the librarian to break in, to take the note that Tory left in the library." Rory was out of breath after saying the sentence in one go. She let her words sink into the room as the rice cooker hummed a playful tune.

Autumn was hit by a wave of nausea. If there wasn't enough evidence to reveal the killer then she would never get her revenge. She hated 'Chrome' with all her heart, for destroying a hopeless boy. She continued to disguise her fear.

"Hey, I cooked dinner for you today. I think I'll head to bed early and wake up at midnight to cram. Midterms are coming up"

"Y-yeah, good night," Rory said, a bit shaken by Autumn's sudden mood change. She knew Autumn too well, something was wrong in her expression. It showed signs of tiredness, but also a saturation of bitterness and paranoia.

Rory was left on the sofa to ponder why her friend was acting so distant. Slowly drifting into the lull of her bean bag sofa, her thoughts weigh down on her like the ceiling.

"P-please, I didn't kill him. I swear, it was an accident." Rory pleaded. With the hilt of the knife still stuck to her palm, she glanced at the shadow in front of her. It was wrong, killing shouldn't be validated. But she didn't feel sorry. She scoured for remorse somewhere in the ridges of her heart but she crawled back empty-handed. Dead or alive, did it have any meaning in the first place? Humans are selfish creatures, naturally, we unconsciously look for situations and ideals that benefit us.

Without realizing it, our actions have motives that can hurt other people, even when society tells us to prioritize ourselves. But does prioritizing oneself and hurting people you care about morally righteous? Does the pain of others equate to our own happiness of self-development? Rory didn't care. Our actions as humans are subjective and unpredictable, looping in an endless hole of possibilities and regrets. Elimination is a natural thing to do, it's for the survival of the fittest.