Perfect Execution

4 - A Letter

Iris' P.O.V

My legs ran as fast as possible, my mind racing, I hated him, how he looked at me, yet I was a coward yet again. I didn't care about him or what they do, everyone in this school knows — A thought stopped me, "I didn't tell Alicia about them," as it left my lips, only then was it when I realised, she doesn't know anything.

But why should I care? If she's anything like them, I need to stay away from her. It's always instincts over observations, I've been told that for so long, it's been ingrained by my father. No matter how correct my observations are, I'll never understand human nature. It's a monster that'll devour my mind, it's an abstract shadow that follows us, is ingrained in every fibre of our being. I've witnessed that first hand.

My lungs weighed so much in my chest, my hand working on either pulling them out or calming them down as I tried to regain my posture. My legs walked and walked far away from him, after all, I was a coward, I knew what people like them do, when they look down on us who have nothing.

If she's anything like them — I froze for a moment, once again, leaning into the comfort of the deductions I had made, they had their hold on me, made their way into my mind as if it were the only thing I could rely on. My eyes shut close for a brief moment where it seemed like an eternity had passed, the image of her face, her skin against mine, it was a timeless space within my mind as I re-observed her and reimagined her. She wanted to instinctively protect me, because she felt the unease billowing from my form.

She's not like them.

But I'm not turning back, there wasn't a single reason to. Fear coursed through my body, it started to dictate what I should do and that was the conclusion it had come up with. Not a single deduction could force me to walk back there. So I ran back to safety, to where could be myself — my mind palace.

————

It had been a few days since I've seen Alicia, passing by my dorm room, in the corner of the door, tucked under the mat was a small inconspicuous letter. My body instantly had a bad feeling, but still, I chose to pick up the letter. The letter was stained with a single tear drop but otherwise it was just a white envelope. The recoil from my instincts almost didn't want me to open it.

Trembling, the sound of the envelope tearing echoed through the room. A small note nested right there as I pulled it out.

"Please please please... I know all about your forum... you work on the sidelines as a detective, Iris.
I'm just another student at this godforsaken college but please help me.
I found that forum you run one night and I knew it was you.
Please help me investigate the deaths of Laina and Jace."

The short note read, my eyes went over the words again and again. It didn't seem to make any sense... there were so many questions. But my most immediate concern was how the hell did they find my forum and link it to me?

The forum I ran was on the dark web, it was an investigation forum on solving problems, mostly people from the academy used it. Anytime someone would come with a problem or a question, it would be resolved by me and I'd get paid through bitcoin. But how did... this person find out? It's almost jarring that they were able to link it to me, despite how well I covered my tracks. It was always common courtesy to keep all information secret, no one would know anything. It was an outlet of sorts for the students.

"Laina and Jace... do they mean Laina Moreau and Jace Curtis? The two people who committed a double suicide in the school auditorium..." I thought aloud.

Every logical fibre in me wanted burn the letter and pretend I never saw it but there was a glint of something I couldn't ignore in my reflection. Almost immediately, I got closer to the mirror in my living room, and observed.

Ah. It was confidence.

This stupid confidence that only came out when I knew I could solve a mystery. The type of confidence that would make me defy odds, illogical, almost akin to a gamblers fallacy, yet somehow, my soul was drawn to it. The one and only time my heart, soul and mind resonated as a triad. Then and only then did my father's control no longer matter.

Like a child who couldn't contain herself, my mind immediately started pouring through the events that killed Laina and Jace. It was a year ago if I remember correctly, one morning, as the drama students began preparation for their practice, the dead bodies of Laina and Jace were discovered. They slit their own throats and died on the auditorium stage, maybe it was a lovers pact, or it could've been something else. There wasn't any first hand evidence so I couldn't narrow down anything nor did I see the dead bodies, but it was a huge ordeal.

The investigation concluded that it was a simple double suicide. Is that the part this mystery person wants me to investigate? What about payment? Who was I kidding though, I knew from the beginning I wasn't doing this for money, it was to satisfy this urge in me.

Turning away from the mirror, I knew my memory wasn't going to give me an answer. Depths, that was the answer, my attention turned to the dark web where I might find more clues and may be even this mystery student who sent me this letter. I was unnerved, but the adrenaline pumping and coursing through my veins was surely enough to get my head in the game.

————

I'm greeted by the pale screen of the forum, pretending to be another user who stumbled upon this problem solving forum, I decided to pose as a close friend from overseas of Jace and Laina's. It's the perfect alibi, to not know the situation but the people, just to learn the context, a perfect equation, if you will.

"Anyone know of Laina Moreau and Jace Curtis? I want to ask someone where they could be since I haven't been able to reach out to them. It's been two years since I went overseas. Payment as always."

And posted. What followed was radio silence. That was weird, this forum was typically active, usually receiving replies in a matter of minutes. Then the realisation dawned on me, everyone here was avoiding the question.

I've never hit a dead end so fast before.

————
NEW MISSION: 1. Investigate Laina and Jace's deaths.
2. Find out more about Alicia.