Murder Story Thing

Chapter 1

Sitting cross legged in her comfortable teal armchair, Jasmine tossed another crumpled-up crossword puzzle into the bin on the other side of the room. Who needs to know definitions when you have Google at your fingertips? Jasmine shifted in her chair, so her legs were hanging over the back, her hair was touching the floor that she hadn't vacuumed in a couple of days, and she was staring at her living room upside-down. It's not really just her living room, but who knows where her flatmate is? Brick works on the Tesco night shift, so at this time of day (5:30AM) they'd either be asleep, usually in her bed, their room is a mess with cogs, wheels, and god knows what else, or coming home, dependent on how busy they were. It was a dark October morning, so they were probably stocking up on the Halloween decorations.

Using the telekinesis that she knew wasn't real, Jasmine concentrated on trying to open the door to their flat. She stared, furrowing her brow, and not blinking until her eyes were dry and the blood was flowing to her head, and only then did she sit up, blinking madly. The lock in the door clicked, and Jasmine jumped, hitting her back on the floor as she lost her balance and fell off the chair, narrowly missing the coffee table in the centre of the room. Brick would've killed her if she broke the vase they made. They painted it orange and black, like those really old Greek ones. Turning over onto her stomach, she watched a familiar wisp of orange hair and Tesco shirt climbing over her. She laughed and was pulled up by a skinny pair of arms wrapped around her torso. "Morning, Brick." She said once she was back on her feet, taking note of the blue bracelet he wore around his left wrist. She tucked her red and blue checked shirt into her jeans where they'd been untucked.

"And to you, too." Brick replied, yawning. "Good thing I came in just now, you'd probably still be on the floor."
"Mhm."
"And how did you end up on the floor?" Brick asked, "Wait, no don't tell me—you were sat on your chair backwards again!"
"How did you figure that one out, Mr Sherlock Holmes?" She raised her eyebrows.
"It's obvious, really. The way you landed suggested that you fell from that angle, and any other chair is too far away, unless you decided to play The Floor Is Lava by yourself."
Brick folded his arms, looking smug, until she piped up with, "and how did you really know?"
"I watched you fall when I opened the door."
Jasmine spun around and smacked his arm, falling back into the chair , "Idiot."
"You know you love me." He retorted
Jasmine scoffs, "Yup, sure, whatever you say. Shouldn't you be heading to my room to get some sleep now?"
"Nope, I'm in the mood for a bagel." He left her and walked into the kitchen to slice a bagel and pop it in the toaster, "and about that!" he called, "I've decided, while getting a lungful of glitter from the sparkly pumpkin candle holders they're releasing tomorrow, that I'm going to clean my room, and possibly sleep in there. I know, I know, no need to thank me, but we might need a couple hundred bin bags and hazmat suits before we start."
Her jaw dropped, and she probably looked like a fish. "Are you being serious? You're actually going to clean? I need to watch this."
"Hey! Rude!" Brick came back into the living room, and sat in his black armchair opposite her, and placed the plate with the bagel on it on top of the coffee table between them. "Good thing this wasn't a few inches closer, or you would've had a nice bruise on your neck." He bit into his bagel, chewing thoughtfully.
"That, and your Hercules vase would've been broken. Not that it's such an unfortunate event, but-"
"Meanie!" Brick swallowed his bagel and picked up the empty vase, cradling it. "This is a work of art."
"If you were born about 2000 years ago. And anyway, you need to have a shower and then sleep. I can smell you from here and I don't want to have to deal with a cranky Brick when I go and sleep tonight."
"I'm off tonight anyway, gives me time to clear my bed and I'll sleep there tonight!"
"Yeah, good luck with that, let me know if you need help seeing the floor."
"Will do." He said, putting down the vase, and stepped into his room, kicking some Monster cans out of the door before closing it.
"He doesn't stand a chance." Jasmine chuckled as she moved her braids down one should and stood up, clearing his plate and grabbing her crossword and pen, ready to give it a go and then give up once more.

Jasmine had just gotten herself comfy when she heard Brick calling her, "Can I have some help?" He opened the door to let her in, as she put her crossword down on the floor and tied her hair back into a ponytail. He'd changed into a white polo shirt, jeans, and Doc Martens.

"Geez." She sighed, looking at the huge pile of Monster cans on the floor, "Why have you got so many? Have you considered drinking water for a change?" She picked one up and looked at it, "Why's the ring pull missing?" She threw it into a bin bag, before looking at where Brick was pointing, a mannequin in the corner of the room, wearing what could only be described as chain mail armour. "You're making armour?"
"Mhm! It looks awesome!"
"But you didn't think to bin the cans?
"We're binning then now."
"How have you survived this long?" She sighed, as she squashed another can and placed it in the already full bin bag, tying it shut and throwing it outside of the room.

Several bin bags later (the floor was barely visible), Jasmine felt her phone vibrate in the back pocket of her jeans. She dropped the can into the bin bag and fished her phone out, looking at the contact, before pressing accept and holding the phone to her ear. "Hey, David! It's been a while, what's up?"
"You need to come, quick." His breathing was shaky, and he sounded upset.
"What is it?"
"Jasmine, just come. It's Jack, I can't explain it, you need to see for yourself."
"Give us 10 minutes and we'll be there." She nodded and hung up the phone. Brick was staring at her, concerned. She turned to him and put her phone back in her pocket. "Grab your keys. We're getting the bus."
"What's happened?"
"I don't know, but David needs us there. Now."