Genius of the Generations (A Project: Eden's Garden x OC Story)

Prologue: A Murder Lost to Time

(Matteo POV)

There was no sound at first... Everyone was so quiet that you could hear someone's heartbeat start to thump faster and faster. Mere seconds felt like minutes, as if we were frozen in that very moment the image carved its way into our minds. This stunned revelation was only broken at the sound of a shrill shriek, followed by more panicked voices of the like.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!" Toshiko screamed.

"EEEEEEEEEK!!?" Eloise shrieked. 

"WHAWHA!? Is that girl dead!?" Jett asked.

"W-Why is there a dead body? What happened!?" Ingrid paled.

"Is this...another student!?" Wenona said, her composure starting to crack.

"S...Shit! W-What the shit?" Kai said.

...

Taking time to calm his nerves, Kai started to ask questions.

"Um, dining hall people! You were in this building before, tell us what's going on!"

"Yeah, why didn't you mention this other girl!?" Cassidy interrogated.

"The hell? I never even saw her!" Damon said.

"Huh? You were there too, bargain bin?"

Damon grimaced at the nickname, but decided to ignore it.

"There's a floor below us. That's where I woke up."

"And you missed a whole ass person? Yeah right!" Kai shouted in disbelief, "You saw her! You must have seen her! C-Come on, just admit it!"

"Stop pressing me for an answer you—"

"I can corroborate Damon's story. There was never a body," Wolfgang interrupted, "Ms. Madison and I walked through this exact hallway and saw nothing..."

"S-So between the time you left and the time you returned, this girl was murdered?" Ulysses said, unsure of his statement.

"You think she was murdered!?" Cassidy exclaimed.

"Well...I don't know for sure, but..." Ulysses stammered, "What happened to her...d-does that really look self-inflicted?"

"So there's a killer running loose!?" Kai asked.

"Waaaaaaa!" Jett screamed.

"Um...but I don't recall hearing anything while I was waiting outside. Desmond can back me up, right?" Eloise said, turning to Desmond.

"S-She's right. There were no screams...and no one left the building," Desmond confirmed.

"Uh...actually, when I first came to this building, that door...was locked," I told them.

"H-Huh...?" Kai muttered.

"...If it's open now, that can only mean that...there was someone inside *with* the body!"

"So the killer's still inside!?"

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jet screamed louder than before.

...

While everyone else seemed to be panicking, Eva...had been walking closer to the deceased girl.

Grace had finally picked up on this.

"Oi, what are you doing?" she asked.

...

Without paying Grace any mind, Eva knelt down next to the body...