Fourteen Little Cephalopods (Splatoon fanfiction) [Cancelled]

Chapter 7

Amanda and Irina stood frozen in place. Even after the scream had passed, the effect of it had left the air filled with suspension and dread. They stood silently, until another scream pierced their ears. The two of them were ripped out of their shock and the they sprinted into the hallway. Further down the hall, Jenny came stumbling out of Opal's room, one hand covering her mouth. Amanda and Irina ran towards her. "What happened!?" Amanda asked and tried to comfort Jenny by taking around her shoulders. Jenny's eyes were filled with tears and she looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't form the words she needed. Irina looked up and glanced into Opal's room. She could see the top of Opal's head, but she was otherwise covered entirely by the mattress. A pillow lay on the floor next to the bed. Irina stood up and carefully stepped into the room, while Amanda was still trying to calm down Jenny. Irina took careful steps, her eyes fixated on Opal. She could now see her face. She looked calm, like she was just sleeping, but Irina's horrifying suspicions told her otherwise. Irina stepped over the pillow. She was right next to Opal now. She could see that her mouth was half open, and a bit of saliva was on her lips. With Opal's ink color being purple, her saliva had a very faded shade of purple. Irina slowly raised a hand. Her legs were shaking and she wanted nothing more than to pull her hand back and sprint out of the room, but she had to know. She slowly moved her hand closer to Opal. She took one final breath before putting her hand up to Opal's cheek. She immediately pulled her hand back. Opal's skin was cold as ice...

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They had all gathered inside Opal's room. Fjord, Mia, Scout and Pinja stood next to her bed, examining the body. Amanda and Irina knelt next to Jenny, still trying to comfort her, while Misu and Aima stood beside them, and looked like they had no idea what they should do with themselves. Richie stood by the door, with Luna hiding behind him, shaking with fear. Richie would've stood closer, but he didn't want Luna to see the body. Camo stood close to the bed, staring blankly into space, and Valerie stood quietly in the corner. "What do you think happened?" Scout asked in a low voice, a nervous look on his face. Fjord narrowed her eyes and examined Opal's body closer, a look of sorrow on her face. "Not sure..." she whispered. "Could've been an accident..."

"People don't die for no reason," Pinja answered. "Someone killed her."

"But who would kill someone like Opal?" Scout said and grabbed around his head. "She did nothing wrong! This is horrible!"

The others nodded, but didn't answer. After a bit, Scout asked once again. "What do you think killed her?"

Valerie looked like she was about to say something, but changed her mind, and Fjord shrugged. "I mean, there's saliva by her mouth," Fjord said. "That could mean she was struggling to break free."

"Or maybe she couldn't breathe..." Pinja said in a low voice, more to herself than anyone else. "Guys..." Mia said and bent down to pick up the pillow off the floor. The group stared at it. There was a faded purple spot. Fjord grabbed around her own mouth. Irina, who was still sitting next to Jenny, looked like she was having a difficult time to breathe. "She was suffocated..." Pinja murmured. No one said a word, a deafening silence over the room. After taking a few breaths, Scout spoke up. "So, what do we do now?" he asked in a slightly trembling voice. Fjord took a deep breath. "Let's discuss this downstairs, I don't want to spend another second in here."

The others nodded and one by one, the room began to empty. "Come on," Richie said to Luna. "Let's go downstairs."

Luna was looking back at the bed where Opal's body lay. "We don't want to be here, come on." Richie said in the most calm tone he could muster. He despised the room.

Luna looked like she hadn't heard him. When Richie was about to speak for a third time, Luna let go of his hand and walked over to the bed. "Luna!" Richie began and tried to reach for her hand, but froze when he saw what she was doing. She walked over to the bed and stared at Opal's pale face, a slight sadness in her eyes. Then, she reached out with her hand, grabbed the bedsheet and started to drag it up to cover up Opal's body. Richie watched as Luna dragged the sheet all the way, until Opal's entire body was covered. Then, she stood still for a few moments. Richie wanted to say something, but his words were stuck in his throat. Luna turned around and walked over to him, not saying a word. A single tear fell down Richie's chin, before he grabbed Luna's hand and closed the door on Opal's haunting silhouette.

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When they came into the living room, some of the older people started talking to each other in hush voices, while the rest sat uneasily in the couches. After a few moments of whispering, Fjord and the rest of the older people turned to face the rest of them. "What do we do?" Irina asked, a glimmer of fear in her eyes. "Who killed Opal? How are we supposed to get away? What happened?!"

Her breathing was so fast that she was having a difficult time to talk. Amanda patted her on the back in comfort. Fjord took a deep breath and spoke up, trying to stay calm. "We've come to the conclusion that there's someone else on this mountain," she said. "Someone that killed Opal. And if we don't get out of here, or find them, they might strike again."

Silence lingered over the room, nothing to be heard except the slight breeze outside. "So..." Misu said."What do we do now?"

Pinja stepped forward. "We decided it would be best for us to search the entire house. There has to be something here that can help us, a phone, radio, rope, anything. And if we search the entire house, it'll be difficult for the murderer to hide."

Valerie looked like she was about to say something, but decided against it. "So..." Amanda spoke up. "How are we going to organise this search?"

Fjord spoke up again. "We've decided that we should split u—" she began before Richie cut across her. "Nuh uh, there's no way I'm going out there alone," he said and everyone else nodded. "Let her finish," Pinja said. Fjord glanced at her and continued. "We decided we should sit up into groups of three and two." she said. "We'll cover more ground that way and we'll be safer in groups."

No one said anything. Fjord continued. "Each group will search a specific area for anything useful. If something happens, just call out."

Everyone nodded. Pinja spoke up. "We've split you into groups. Me and Valerie will be taking the fourth floor and the attic.

Fjord nodded. "Me, Misu and Camo will be in the basement and first floor. Scout, Irina and Amanda, you guys will be searching outside. Richie, Aima and Luna, you guys will be searching the second floor. Jenny and Mia, you guys can take the third floor. When you've searched everywhere in your assigned areas, come back into this room immediately. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. "Alright," Fjord said. "Good luck."

Right when everyone was leaving the room, Irina spoke up in a trembling voice. "What do we do if we find the murderer?"

Fjord froze and turned around slowly, a glimmer of fear in her eyes. "You run."