I Know You're Lying

Chapter 5: Noises in the Vents

'I don't feel like we made the right decision,' Niki admits guiltily.

She, Alyssa, Jschlatt, Wilbur and Fundy sat in Navigation. Jschlatt was charting the course while Wilbur stabilized steering. As Niki diverted power, she kept the conversation going, trying to be uplifting after previous events. But now, she's finally letting her emotions through.

Alyssa, who sat cross-legged beside her, frowns. 'I mean, it was him, right? No one's dead! It's been an hour or so, so...' She trails off, uncertainty wavering in her voice.

Fundy, who sits spinning in the navigation chair, slows to a halt. Shaking his head of dizziness, he says, with a tone more to reassure himself than the others, 'He was still our friend.'

'I don't know what kind of people you're friends with but I wouldn't want to associate with anyone who'd go killing innocent people,' Jschlatt spits, his eyes burning holes into the map in front of him.

The group falls into an uncomfortable silence. Wilbur gripped the sides of the table, leaning forward as his brain reels. There's a dull ache throbbing in his head and his eyes grew sore. Was it the stress? Or the side effects of being in space? The past 5 years of studying escaped his mind as he grew numb with pain. He hissed through his teeth, grabbing the attention of Niki.

'Wil?'

'Mm, yeah?' His knuckles are a sickening white. Niki puts her hand on his, a concerned look painted across her face.

'Here, let's bring you to the Med Bay. We'll get a scan.'

'I just wanna lie down,' Wilbur says weakly.

Niki stands up and hooks her arm around Wilbur's waist, trying to be a support crutch, despite the comedic height difference.

'Here, you lie down in Med Bay. You can rest.'

'What if he gets killed when he sleeps?' Jschlatt argues.

Niki's stare hardens. 'I'm not going to let that happen.'

Everyone shuts up under the short German girls glare. Wilbur lets himself get led away by her, and Alyssa, Jschlatt and Fundy are left in the thick tension.

'So, uh...' Fundy kicks his legs, awkward. 'Stocks, amirite?'

Alyssa rolls her eyes, adverting her gaze. She wasn't that well acquainted with these two crewmates so she didn't have anything to say to them. Jschlatt was fine with this, ignoring Fundy's words also. The Dutch man nods to himself as his own response, glowing pink in embarrassment from the rejection. A couple minutes of silence before Fundy starts talking again, hurt.

'You guys didn't have to be so rude.'

'Well, I'm trying to concentrate on something.'

Fundy scoffs. 'Well, I was trying to be nice.'

Jschlatt growls, fed up. 'Well, I don't care.'

'Guys, shut up for a second-'

'Listen here, bitch, I go by my own rules,' Jschlatt says cockily.

'You're still being rude!'

'Guys, seriously, shut up!'

This time, they comply, voices dying. That's when they hear it. A clanking, shuffling, echoing in the silence. Fundy stands up, confused, turning around on the spot, trying to find the source of the commotion. It sounded like it was around them.

And, just like that, darkness.

'What the fuck? What happened?' Jschlatt's voice sounds out.

'Lights are out, dumbass,' Fundy quips back.

'Well, now look who's being rude.'

There's some stumbling as the three blindly try to find their way. Alyssa yelps out.

'Ow, Jesus Christ, that's my foot!'

Fundy mumbles 'sorry' as Jschlatt yells out 'What the fuck do we do?!'

'I don't know, fix the lights?!'

Alyssa stops moving, grasping onto someone in the process. 'Wait, where's the noise? Where's the noise?'

Like she said, the strange noise has disappeared. Alyssa's heart raced, pounding in her chest painfully. Her mouth was dry and she didn't know why. There was an unexplainable pit in the bottom of her stomach.

But why?

Four loud bangs. A gurgling, guttering sound. A desperate gasp of air. Alyssa is in a mud of stupefaction. Whoever she was holding is torn out of her grip and there's a heavy thud.

'What's going on? What's going on?'

And, just like that, the light switches back on. The blinding light makes Alyssa squint but Jschlatt falls to his knees, eyes wide, staring at his bloodied hands.

Fundy was dead on the flood, 4 bullet holes through his back.

Alyssa rubs her eyes with gloved purple hands. When she pulls them away, she sees the two figures.

'You... you...'

'It wasn't- the vent!'

Her eyes scan him. The blood on his black spacesuit and shaking hands, the crazed and distressed expression, to the vent that looked oddly out of place. She kicked it and it easily became ajar.

'Jschlatt,' she says in a hushed tone, 'You promise me it wasn't you?'

'I'm not that stupid,' he responds firmly, fists clenched. 'I know I'm the one everyone would love to see as the antagonist but that's cliché. I wouldn't kill anyone in front of a witness, let a lone kill someone in general.' His eyes widen when he realizes something. 'Don't let them kill me. You saw what they did to Dream.'

'What you did to Dream,' Alyssa shoots back.

'We were sure-'

'Well, we were wrong!' Alyssa screams back and Jschlatt raises his fist, as if to punch her, but resolves to punch the wall, furious.

'I thought we were right, damnit!'

'Well, guess what, Mr Jschlatt?' Alyssa says, kneeling in front of the boy she barely knew. She feels guilty for never knowing him properly, guilty for being unable to shed a tear like she had for Callahan. 'Fundy's dead. And you have his blood on your hands.'

'I know it looks bad, but it was dark. For all I know, it could've been you.'

Alyssa's blood runs cold. 'Wh-what? Me?' she splutters. 'You think I would've killed Callahan?'

'It could be all some sort of sick genius plan.  A way for people to not suspect you.'

'I... I wouldn't.'

'But you could.'

The two stare at one another, one challenging, one in a state of paralyzed fright. It's a terrifying sight. The man was covered in blood, standing in front of a body he says he didn't kill. Why was he acting like he forgot about the dead man at his feet? Was he that determined and selfish to make sure he wasn't killed? Or was he too overwhelmed with emotions to process all of the information that was being thrown at him?

His unpredictability made Alyssa uneasy.

'I don't know if I can trust you, Schlatt,' Alyssa admits truthfully. Her eyes are fixated on Fundy, gently brushes the light brown hair off of his face. She can feel the older male staring at her, sending chills up her spine.

'I don't need you to trust me,' he says, his voice both unusually soft and hard as stone. 'I'm just saying that if you come for my neck, don't be surprised when I fight back.'

He watches as her body shakes. He doesn't react, plainly saying, 'I'll get everyone to the cafeteria...'

The male turns around, before saying over his shoulder, 'Vote wisely.'