The Girl Who Couldn't Kill

Chapter 18-Goodbye Autumn

Afterschool.

Rory and Autumn stood by their lockers, laughing about their dodgeball game during PE. It felt refreshing to talk about school instead of the murder investigation, which was something Rory thought was impossible. Rory missed talking to Autumn like this, something she took for granted.

But the feeling of relaxation didn't last for long because Rory heard heavy footsteps marching up from behind; leather boots thumped on pearl white tiles, a combination of horror and badass. And before she tried to figure out what was going on, Officer appeared by her side, along with a bunch of men in navy blue uniforms with star badges on their chests.

"Autumn Kowalski, you are under arrest on behalf of the murder of Connor Lee. You are to remain silent until a lawyer is by your side and everything you say now will be recorded by the police." Officer Hong announced, her dark hair remaining chillingly still while she directed the men in navy to cuff Autumn's arms.

Rory was frozen from head to toe, mind, and matter stuck in time. She tried to raise a hand to block the men from touching her but the only expression she could manage was horror. She looked at Autumn with profound fear,

please don't leave me,

she is what she begged to say but even her voice wouldn't respond to her command.

Autumn's expression was unreadable, a sophisticated mixture of confusion and disorientation. She looked at her Rory with a face of sadness that made Rory want to start sobbing.

This must be a mistake. This can't be.

Autumn turned her face towards the ground and was guided away by Officer Hong. One of the men nudged Rory on the shoulder and she fell to the ground. With a crowd to judge and dozens of eyes to access her, she raced back to her dorm and started to wallow on her bed.

The tears couldn't stop and for a split second, Rory could not remember the last time she cried. It was a strange feeling and it made her even more depressed.

Rory had abandoned the idea of questioning her best friend's motives, she was done trying to figure out situations that don't make sense. Her best friend turned out to be a murderer and she just had to accept it. But it was so hard to imagine Autumn would do something so evil and inhumane, even if Connor was the most terrible person on earth.

Autumn must've hated her, Rory thought. She had pretended not to know about Rory's fantasies but in reality, she knew her secrets from the start and acted like she cared for her. Autumn just wanted a reason to take her down, a new accomplice to blame it on when Adam became useless. That was the reason she dropped the note into Rory's bag when she wasn't looking. After all, who would be close enough to her to deliver those messages?

The backstab of the pain was never going to away she thought.

Everyone she had trusted had turned their backs on her. Well, except for Mr. Volkov, the only teacher that cared about her.

————————————

6:34 pm.

Now that Chrome had been arrested; Rory still refused to believe that it was her ex-best friend's undercover name as a school murderer. Rory decided to get out of her dorm to study in the library for the evening since she couldn't bare being in the presence of Autumn's belongings. The blood and lives she had taken away made Rory's stomach churn.

A banner notification popped up on Rory's phone.

Ajax: Rory! Noel is missing. He hasn't answered my texts or calls since this morning. Apparently, he didn't show up to class all day.

Rory: What? Are you sure he's not sick or something?

Ajax: No. I saw him this morning briefly and he said that he was going to the

library to study. I had assumed he had a spare period.

Rory: Well. Noel doesn't really have any friends besides us so we can really ask anyone.

Ajax: Yeah. Idk he seemed kinda out of it yk?

Rory: I think you should get in contact with Officer Hong. This could be bad.

Ajax: On it.

As Rory forced herself to review her notes and grind her midterms for next week, her mind trailed to the untrustworthiness of Ajax, the arrest of her best friend, and to the disappearance of Noel. She twiddled her thumb, played with her pen, and picked up her phone to check her DMs from Ajax. Not a single brain cell was cooperating with her wishes.

She ate her bento in silence after 3 hours of on-and-off studying, the usual aroma that brought her joy was now as bland as her practice sheets. She whipped her notes and textbooks aside to glance at the space around her. Everyone seemed to be immersed in their studies, not having a single care the world that people have been murdered.

Well, those people probably didn't mean anything to them.

What a pity, how humans can feel so little to no compassion for the death of a stranger but breakdown if it was someone they loved and cared about.

Interesting how the world worked.

Rory cleaned up her desk after her meal and sipped on her boba, chewing the pearls purposefully. She looked aimlessly towards her bag, propped on the plastic chair by her side. Her eyes wander to a piece of folded paper in the mesh side pocket. Her hands reached towards it immediately and opened the paper note without hesitation.

In blue ballpoint pen, the words wrote,

Someone will die tonight Rory. Stay away from the library. Chrome is going—

The rest of the words were smudged in blue ink, none visible. She recalled the man that bumped into her shoulder when they were taking Autumn away, could Autumn have placed this note in her bag at that moment? Had this all been a crazy misunderstanding and Autumn was trying to warn her about something? And Chrome...could that mean Autumn's arrest was a fake? But why would the NPA arrest someone based on false evidence... or was Autumn being framed?

Rory knew she had to evacuate everyone in the library immediately, but without creating unnecessary attention and chaos. She showed the message to the librarian while she gasped in fear, her body frozen at her desk. Ms. Ku started to announce that there was going to be a private meeting in the library at 10 pm, which most people knew was a lie.

The school would never hold an unofficial meeting in the library 2 hours before midnight, but the students seem to sense the anxiety in the librarian's voice and the sight of Rory's presence. One by one they filed out of the library, some looking upset that their studies have been interrupted and some crying out of confusion.

When the students were taking a long time, Rory started to worry. "Guys get outta here asap. Please don't walk alone and head back straight to your dorms."

As Rory started to process the situation at hand, she realized that it might have been safer for everyone to stay at the library instead of leaving. She had her knife with her, surely, she could try to defend everyone and distract Chrome while Ms. Ku called for help.

This was a horrible disaster.

As Rory stepped out of the library, and glanced at the last few students who had just walked out. But instead, her eyes were met with a silhouette of black, a shadow lurking down the hall.