clandestine

SEVEN

The sun beat down on our backs as we gathered around the lake. Nobody could really focus on their classes after they'd heard the sirens, so as soon as the bell rang, the clock struck over to 12:45, signalling lunch, a swarm of students raced towards the lake, where the police were gathered. A frazzled Mr Raz stood in the centre of the police, hands in his curls, muttering in agony.

Faye had found me first, and we stood, side by side, watching the fiasco unfold. A group of students- who looked to be around fourteen, started giggling with each other.

"I heard someone pushed her in the lake!" I caught one of them saying, whilst the others burst into giggles.

Faye turned to me, eyes wide, face asking exactly what I was thinking.

What?!?

The three girls, including Rebecca, still sobbing, were talking to the police. Mr Raz was standing next to them, watching their conversation with unwavering intent. The sunlight was glistening on the surface of the lake, and I lost myself in the sparkles it created.

Faye nudged my arm. "Sophie has gone missing."

"Yes, I thought we gathered that." I responded, in the dark about the direction in which she was steering our conversation.

"Okay, but what if she hasn't?"

I sighed. "Faye, you're almost as bad as Amaia at this point."

As if she was summoned by my voice, Amaia appears behind Faye and I. "What do you mean 'almost as bad as me'? I'm the baddest."

I rolled my eyes with affection. And spoke, tone doused in sarcasm. "Of course Amaia. How could I ever forget?"

Faye looked between us before asking, "What makes me like–"

Before she could even respond, I sensed where her question was going. "Your theorising."

"Oh. Well, in that case," She linked her arm with Amaia. "Let me tell you all about my theories."

Amaia grinned, "Please."

I rolled my eyes, amused at their antics, and turned back to the scene at the lake. One of the officers was scouting the edge of the water, as if he was looking for something. He snapped up abruptly and turned and signalled to the other officers. They came rushing over.

By now, most of the students watching the scene had left, their attention spans too short to focus on events that continued for longer than five minutes. Khoi appeared beside me, panting heavily.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Talking to Collin. He thinks that this girl is the killer's next victim."

I flinched back in surprise. "Okay, first, since when have you been talking to Collin? Also, how? Did you sneak a phone here? And also, this girl is unrelated to the killer. She's missing, not dead."

"Well, A, that's none of your business, and B it would make sense if she was a victim of the killer, or at least related to them in some way."

Amaia and Faye, noticing Khoi's presence, ran over.

"What do you think happened to Sophie?" Amaia asked Khoi, keen to hear his opinion on the matter.

She didn't have to theorise for long though, as a loud scream pierced through the crowd, so very reminiscent of the night of Markus' death, I could almost taste the iron in my mouth once more. The scream belonged to Rebecca, distraught more than ever as a debacle unfolded before her eyes. From where I stood I could see something in the water, a lump of some sort, a bundle of cloth maybe.