Let's Talk About Murder

38 | we all are a little insane

20TH NOVEMBER.
ORION ACADEMY:
THE ORION WOODS.

"WHAT?" Yumi spat. She looked straight into his eyes, a murderous look maneuvering on her ghostly face--which, honestly, wasn't working in her case considering that she found the body. "Are you out of your mind?"

"What choice do we have?" Lex countered, his grip tightening protectively around his girlfriend. "And do not tell me you want to call the cops! If there's anything Orion Academy cares about, it's its reputation. They'd want to get rid of this matter soon. Even if they involve the cops and the FBI, they'll paint us the villain just because five friends found the body past the curfew."

Every word he said was correct.

Aphrodite squirmed from his grip and nodded at him, her tears drying up. "Lex is right." Her voice cracked. "And both of us know who they will pin it on." Aphrodite gave her a hard gaze, referring to the Yumi's history. "It's either getting away with something you didn't do or being blamed and punished for the same thing."

"Bu..but we can't just hide her away!"

"I can," Karan mumbled. The mouth that always had a joke on it's tongue or a smile on its lips, now had said the words no one anticipated him to say. Karan glanced at Aphrodite, asking her to trust him. "I...I can come up with a plan but...but I need your help. All of you."

"What do you need?" Aphrodite stepped towards him, signalling her approval.

"This is crazy!" Yumi stood up, her legs numb. She ran fingers through her hair, spinning in circles. "We can't do this. The pranks were something else altogether. This...this is straight up crime. A serious crime. We--" Her eyes fell on Lex. "Don't look at me like I am the crazy one. You all are stupid. I...I am calling 91--" Aphrodite took three large strides to reach her. She held Yumi in her arms, making her look straight into her eyes.

"Yumi." Yumi's unhinged movements stopped abruptly. "Listen to me," Aphrodite ordered. Yumi's eyes searched for the Aphrodite that wouldn't convince her to commit a crime but she was gone. This wasn't Aphrodite. This girl was someone else. "We can call the cops but it wouldn't take them a long time to find out about you," she whispered. Aphrodite was close to her. For a moment, Yumi's mind gave her a glimpse of the night of their kiss. So close. So electrifying. "I can't lose you too, Yumi. No matter what, we are best friends." Yumi's lips moved but no words came out. "Would you take a bullet for me?"

"Anytime." For heaven's sake, she loved her. She'd take ten thousand bullets for her and die smiling.

"Then I'm asking you to take this bullet. Help us get away with this."

"What about justice? The real murderer would get away with it."

Aphrodite sighed and Yumi was convinced she was by her side now. Aphrodite turned around. "After we get rid of this, we are going to find a way to find out who did this. It could be this entire secret society or one of its members." When everyone nodded, she snapped her head back to Yumi. "And the only way to find out about The Black Hole is to get in. And for that, we need to do this." Fuck, she is right. "Are you in?"

"Go on, Karan." Yumi sighed. "Hit us with your plan."

header image by Rosie Sun

a short chapter but second update coming right up!

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