50 Words For Murder

chapter 9 : slay

slay

ˈsleɪɪŋ/

verb

to kill a person or animal.

Louis sat down in one of the benches of a narrow courtroom. He watched his professor take the stand and defend his client. Beside him, his classmates were frantically making notes of the case. Louis, too, pretended to make notes but shuffled the pages of Cassie's diary. Turns out, she only started using it a month ago as she felt she had no one to discuss her feelings with. So the volume of written pages were actually less.

Dear Diary,
I pulled out of precalc today (finally). I couldn't take it any longer. The stares HE gives me are just way too creepy. When I told him I wanted to end things, he wasn't happy but I didn't think he would take it this far and act like a total weirdo. I'm scared. He hasn't stopped messaging me and saying things like he loves me. Eleanor wanted to hang out the other day but I said no and headed home.
Despite things being difficult at home, its where I feel the safest. Where I feel like his eyes can't reach me and make me feel naked despite being fully clothed. If it means enduring Dad's bullshit, I'm okay with that.

Who was he? Andy? Louis flipped a page.

Dear Diary,
Dad almost found you the other day! I can't write too much because I'm afraid someone might read it. Mom comes into my room all the time, too, so I can't be careless. Thankfully there's not much here they can ask me about, so I'm safe for now.
HE wants to meet me, again but thankfully Dad has grounded me. But for some reason, I need to see him. Need to tell him about my visit to the clinic and how he's damaged me. I feel like I should tell him that its time we end things for real. I never liked him anyway. I just wanted someone mature and looks like I ended up in a mess. Here goes.

Louis noticed the date. A day before Halloween. He picked up his cell phone and dialled Niall's number. He picked up on the second ring.
"Niall," whispered Louis, ignoring the glares from his peers. "I need you to do something for me."
"What is it?" asked Niall. "Why are you whispering?"
"I'm in class," said Louis, impatiently. "Can you go on the school website and check if Andy and Cassie were ever in the same precalc class?"
"Uh, okay," said Niall, confused. "I'll check and call you back, yeah?"
"Thanks, mate."
"I should be thanking you, Louis," said Niall. "Call you in fifteen."

Louis decided to pay attention to the case.
"I call to the stand, Mrs. Rose, wife of the accused."
The case revolved around the murder of a fairly young woman. The accused was her lover - Mr. Rose - who was having an affair with her.
"Mrs. Rose, did you know of the affair?"
"Yes."
"And how did you feel about it?"
"I was enraged at first, of course," said the woman. "But then I decided to get my revenge."
"How so?"
"I confronted Alice," she explained. "I told her that the man she was seeing was actually married."
"And what was her reaction to this?"
"Oh, she was angry," said Mrs. Rose, smugly. "She told me she wanted to end things. She was ashamed and betrayed and I no longer held a grudge. My job was done."
Louis' phone rang. He quickly picked it up.
"As far as school records go," said Niall. "Cassie and Andy were never in the same precalc class. Andy never even took precalc."
"Oh," said Louis. "Well that's a shame." He hung up. He couldn't endure the glares any longer so he decided to get back to paying attention.
Suddenly, his phone beeped again. It was a message on the group chat he had with his friends.

Guys, meet me at lunch, ASAP in Niall's room. Lots of things to tell you - Liam
Can't. Oakwood PD is meeting me at lunch - Zayn
Why - Niall
To interrogate, of course. U guys carry on, yeah? - Zayn
I'll be there - Harry
So will I - Louis
Oh, and we're gonna have 1 more person with us, so pls be on time -Liam