Kill Shadow (Accidentally Dead #1) [On Hiatus]

Friends

      I sighed and walked down the lane, searching for Rose cafe.

I didn't even want to think about what had happened today in the morning. Nope. It was over. I had gone back to my room, studied, talked to Charlotte, helped mom clean the attic... everything was back to normal, just like any other day. But whenever mom looked at me, deep inside, I could see it. That one tiny icy glare, frozen with hurt.

I shook the thought aside. Over.

     In front of me, the lane snaked it's way through a cluster of colourful shops, trees and houses. All around me, leaves fluttered down, gently, and the colourful shops glittered in the sparkling sunlight. A few squirrels scampered down the lane and birds chirped high up in the branches. God! How could something so beautiful even exist? It felt as if I had been pulled straight into some amazing fairytale.

I trudged along slowly, looking around, lost in the mesmerising beauty of the town when suddenly, two warm, tough hands clapped me hard on my shoulder.
"Hey!--" I jumped around, all my hunter instincts coming into action as I lifted my hands to give a blow to the stranger.

"Whoa! Chillax dude! It's me, Ryan. Good old hot Ryan."He winked.

Beside him, a girl with sparkling blue eyes and pale blonde hair framing her thin face, giggled. Monica. Ryan's 'evergreen lovebird'.
Beside her, Ashley, more popularly known as 'miss benevolent' in school, rolled her eyes. Flipping back her messy brown waves with a perfectly tanned hand, she adjusted her specs and waved at me. I smiled back.
    Jake, the 'techno nut' typed away busily on his ipod, not even aware of his surroundings.

    "Jake, if you continue to do like this, you are going to turn into a highly technological cyborg very soon!" Ashley pulled out his earphones. He looked up and gave her a goofy grin, earning another eye roll from her.

His eyes widened when he saw me. "Holy cow! When did you come here?" I shrugged.

      "Ugh! Forget him, Alex. He's a unique marshmallow." Jane smirked. She was the ' I-am-a-crazy-bookworm' of the school.  With short chin length brown hair and a square face mostly hidden by the book she would be reading, she was mostly quiet. Except when it came to her friend circle and books.

Ask her about any book and she'll give you the best feedbacks on it. No wonder she was the only person who was the favourite student of Miss Jenkins, our librarian. By the word 'librarian', you get the picture.

      Mia, the tallest girl of our group, laughed. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she tugged onto her waist length auburn braid. Everyone in CYH had an identity. Wait, what was hers?

   Oh yes! 'Miss cool-head.' You could never see her fighting with anyone, no matter how much they angered or bullied her. Yes. Bullied her. Some of the perverted royalties at our school loved picking on quiet, good girls like her.

      I scanned the crowd again. Ryan, Monica, Ashley, Jake, Jane and Mia.
     "Where are the rest?" I raised my brows, rubbing my temple.
"Xu chian was busy with some project work and said that he would directly go to the cafe. Aaron's also gonna come from the gym directly. Violet and Adam's  out visiting their grandma." Mia ticked off her fingers.

     "Oh goody goody! What are we waiting for then? Poor Xu and Aaron's waiting for us at Rose's . Let's go!" Monica waved a perfectly manicured hand.

      I followed the others striding down the lane, catching up with Jake. It was surprising how he managed to walk on the road with his eyes glued to the ipod all the time. As I looked at him, I noticed a wave of sadness wash over his face. Okay, what's up with people being so sad today?

      "What are you seeing with so much sorrow, anyway?" I raised my brows quizzically.

     He pulled out his earphones and imitated my look. He was a good collector of eye-rolls.

"Care to share?"I pointed at his pod.

"Oh...this," He gave a small smile, "This is the blog of my friend who passed away recently...

Great. Add another one to the ghost-killing list!

...We all really loved her, you know. She was the best person one could hang out with. Always there to make you happy. Even her presence was just enough to make you feel joyful and strong. S-she belonged to our school, our besties' group...'Miss cutey pie', 'Miss study brains' 'Miss fighter', 'miss sarcastic'... she had so many identities..." he sniffed and blinked rapidly.

    "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." I walked silently, patting him on the shoulder, giving him time to regain himself.

"No, it's okay. How would you know, anyway? J-just don't tell anyone that I told you about this, okay? You see, this death happened just before you newcomers flooded in, so, we were asked to keep this a secret. But... I've got a big mouth, I guess." He gave a trembling lopsided grin.

    "Sealed!" I smiled, "tell me, if it's alright for you... how did she die?"

    His face darkened.

  

    Before he could say anything,  Jane shouted over to us. "Are you two coming or not, donkey-heads?"

      Without waiting for a reply, Ashley and Monica scampered over to us and with one huge pull, tugged us along with them. Mia sighed.

"What more can you expect from grandpa tortoises?"

    "HEY! WHO' YOU CALLING GRANDPA TORTOISE?" Jake bellowed.

We laughed, talking and hurrying to
the cafe.
    

   So there was another ghost who would be slightly more difficult to handle. Well, mostly because she was a member of my friend circle...which, in a way, made her my friend too.
   And wait! What identity did she have?
  
     "Miss Fighter..."

Darn! It would be more difficult than I thought. Poor her, dying at such a young age. But how on Earth did she pass away? Usually, knowing the way a person died makes it easier for hunters to capture their prey.

  Ryan's face had darkened when I asked him about it...
Something is definitely off about her death.

Who was this mysterious 'she'? And why was everyone being so mysterious about her secretive death?

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P. S.: Pls don't be a silent reader 🤐🔇...and vote and comment if you like this part. Keep enjoying and unravelling the mysteries as you wade through the story.☺
     Pls ignore the grammatical or spell check errors that may have occurred due to typing mistakes. ;)

Random question of the day😶: Mystery? What do you feel bout the situation? 🤔🤔🤔