Enigma

Chapter 4

Judah

The crime scene has been cleared.

I have to walk past the fountain to get to my criminal law course and for a moment, I can still see the bodies of Aphrodite and the boy but when I blink they're gone. Looking away, I decide to watch the worn toes of my sneakers instead, as I make my way to class with a heavy heart and a muddled mind.

"Jude! Dude, where have you been?" A familiar voice yells and I look over my shoulder to see Caleb barreling towards me with too much energy as always.

He's dressed casual.

In typical Caleb fashion, he wears only the bare minimum with an old, baggy, yellow hoodie and a pair of only slightly form fitting blue jeans. His blonde hair is in its usual chronically messy state of disheveled strands like he's just woken up but his jade eyes are bright and alive with excitement as he beams down at me due to our height difference.

"Hey." I greet him awkwardly as he falls into step beside me.

"I can't believe you haven't even replied to my messages, you jerk! Did you hear about the murders that happened on campus yesterday?" He asks, seeming way too excited to be discussing someone's wrongful death but that's a forensics major for you, I guess.

"Yeah." I answer with no enthusiasm as I look forward, watching a tree sway in the distance, the leaves an array of red hues to orange to golden as they dance in the wind.

"Why aren't you more stoked? It was right up your alley! It was like all ancient roman and symbolism, shouldn't you be profiling that?" He presses and I barely manage to suppress a shudder at the mention of the murders that I'm now technically an accessory to.

By staying silent, I'm compliant and now take legal responsibility...

"No, and it was Greek not Roman." I can't help but correct him, adjusting my bookbag strap uncomfortably.

"So you do know!" He all but cheers and I can't help but sigh as I glance at him with a small frown.

"This isn't something to be excited about, Caleb." I scold as I look forward once again and he shoves my shoulder lightly with a laugh.

"You better get used to it, kid! You're planning on going to the academy, you'll see a lot worse than this." He chides and I nod in acknowledgement, more than a little shaken up at the thought of the murders and guilt ebbing away at my insides.

"Are you spooked because vic two looked like you?" He asks suddenly and I immediately tense at his words, the corner of my mouth twitching.

Vic two...

Not even victim number two. He lived his whole life up until this moment and now he'll forever be known as vic two. All of his accomplishments and memories and stories and sense of self will be void now that this has happened to him. The killer took that from him, he took his self and left behind a hollow shell meant to represent someone else.

It's not fair.

Probably one day maybe a week, maybe even a single moment is what his life boils down to. The worst and last day of his life will be what he's remembered for. People will obsess over him for years and dissect his life, not because they want justice for his death but because they long to understand the killer and the meaning behind the murders.

I feel ill...

"How do you know that?" I ask quietly, refusing to meet his eyes as my stomach clenches painfully and a bitter tastes settles into my mouth.

"Someone took a picture, it's everywhere." He says casually and holds up his phone for me to see.

The picture is from behind the police tape but you can clearly see the bodies even at this distance.