Sadism

Chapter 2

Sierra's POV

I sigh, sitting in the park with my friends. We're talking about whatever comes to mind, when suddenly, Leif speaks up.

"Hey, was anyone watching the news this morning? A girl was murdered at about two in the morning. They said she was gutted. Pretty hardcore, if you ask me."

That makes me freeze. Murdered? As in, she's dead?

Regardless, my twin brother rolls his eyes.

"There's no way that's actually real, Leif. If she's dead, what was her name, huh?"

That's Elliot for you, always the skeptic. He probably thinks Tralcam Haven is the perfect town.

Mallory finally speaks for the first time in about half an hour, having taken off her headphones when they had died.

"Her name was Lily Jackson, but her friends called her Lin." she replies, her soft voice barely audible.

Coral gasps at that, and now I roll my eyes. There's no way Lily could have died. Come on, she's always out with friends!

"That's bullshit," I state plainly. "Complete and utter bullshit. C'mon, Lily must have been out with her friends at some party, and they couldn't have just let her die, right?"

Secretly, though, I'm hoping that's true, mostly because I don't want a murder case on my hands.

I look to Coral for reassurance, but she simply shakes her head grimly.

"I haven't seen her since the end of the school day yesterday...I tried calling, but no one picked up, so I figured she fell asleep."

She looks close to tears, poor girl. After all, she and Lily were pretty close.

Akano finally speaks, his soft British voice cutting through the air with his words.

"Who was the last person to see her? I mean, there's no way she could have just...died, right? Like you said, Leif, she was gutted. So we need to figure out who saw her last."

Mallory only nods, but Elliot groans.

"We can't just play detective, Akano. This isn't our mystery to solve, so we can't just deal with this ourselves," he says bluntly, shooting the other male a glare.

"And why not?" Coral snaps, her hands visibly shaking. "Why shouldn't I find the asshole who killed my friend and give them what they deserve?"

"Because then you won't be any better than the killer," my brother replies calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

Mallory sighs, trying to tune out the conversation. I don't blame her, considering Elliot likes to start things he can't exactly finish, and Coral tends to be hot-headed.

Akano looks up once more, a notepad in hand.

"Coral, who are your friends that knew where Lily was?" he asks, holding up his hand to prevent Elliot from interjecting.

She takes a deep breath before speaking, her voice shaky.

"There's Iris, Moth, and Bug," she answers, looking down at the ground sadly.

Akano nods, writing their names down. After getting their whereabouts, he stands.

"I'm going to investigate this. We need to know what happened."

I smile and wave goodbye at him before lending Mallory my headphones.

"Here...so you don't have to deal with any more arguments," I offer, a sweet smile on my face.

She smiles in return, taking the headphones without another word.

As the conversations continue, I can't help but think. Who could have gutted Lily so mercilessly? When did this happen?

An idea forms, and I excuse myself to find Akano so I can help him investigate this, and I told Coral that Lily's death would not be in vain.

And I intend to keep that promise.