untrust: the beginning of hell

chapter one, part three : the search for a truth that hurts

[Word Count: 4,190]

                                                                Fear was present as everyone stared at the lifeless body of the cheerleader, as the blonde Evelyn noticed the corpse had blood dripping from her mouth still as she helped the fast-awakened Annalyse from her little fainting spell.

Annalyse still couldn't believe what she was seeing; Kelly was dead. Annalyse was sort of glad Kelly hadn't hanged herself (or been hanged by someone else), as she probably would've passed out and not waken up until her other personalities, whichever the two she knew she had, decided they were bored or passed out from exhaustion. The second persona she had was usually triggered by witnessing someone die, not like a video game character, however - it was when a real person died. The first persona sometimes showed up under extreme bouts of anxiety, pressure, or fear, but that didn't always happen. She had wished she knew which would happen when their switch was turned on so she could know which was happening when. Annalyse just hoped people wouldn't find out about her personalities before she could find the courage the tell them.

The thought process of Annalyse and her own problems was interrupted by Aries, who popped up from behind a bush near Kelly. He must have been hiding there for a time until everyone showed up.

"Oh, would you look at that," Aries spoke. "The cheerleader lost her balance and ended up dead. She ain't doing flips and splits anytime soon."

Aries let his grin grow larger, Nina's face went sour towards Aries, glaring at his dark aura and badly time humor.

"You sick monster!" Diana shouted, probably the loudest she had in the few short days here.

"Nah, I'm a bear." Aries sassed. "But anyways, one of you killed her!"

Annalyse clamped her hands into fists. "How do we not know you didn't do it?!"

Aries shook his head, a few 'tsks' falling from his robot voice. "It's in the rulebook, illiterate. I cannot kill anyone for you in you guys' homicides, nor can I assist. I can mess around with the scene, but I can't cause death."

Aries then put a black tablet, most likely an extra or Kelly's, in the air. It was labeled "The Murder Files".

"This," Aries said. "Is your autopsy and things that don't involve investigating for clues file!"

Victor spoke for once, and fairly loud too. "Is this an autopsy report, and does it include details that are not notably obvious?"

Aries put his thumb up in agreement. "You betcha, Sherlock! You guys are running on time here, so hurry and investigate!"

Alex was genuinely curious about this, but, before he could ask, Aries popped away within a blink of an eye, and Aries left the tablet a few feet away from the pool of blood. Alex got pouty after that.

"He was quick to leave," Lee spoke. "But why was he?"

Victor stepped forward. "He doesn't want to spoil the investigation; he wants us to get it done so he can execute the killer or us, really."

Everyone just stared at Victor, kind of terrified he would think that. Then again, he was the detective of the group, they couldn't help that.

"We need to investigate." Victor directed. "Everyone, if you wish to participate, please write down your alibis."

Victor turned on the file tablet and searched for the time of death. After he found it, he pulled out a composition notebook from his shoulder bag. "Write down where you were from six-thirty to quarter to six. It'll narrow down suspects."