CHAPTER FIVE

On the other side of town, Nora was facing her parents' reaction to the news.

"You should have told us you were going into the woods!" Nora's father said, his voice raised in anger. "We had no idea where you were!"

"I'm sorry," Nora said, tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to explore a little."

"You could have been hurt!" her mother said, her voice trembling. "What if something had happened to you?"

"But nothing did," Nora said, trying to stay calm "and I was only there for a school project, we already explained everything to you dad."

"Your teacher asked you to go into the woods?" her mother asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Not exactly," Nora said. "We were just doing a research project on local flora and fauna, and we wanted to see some of the plants up close."

"That doesn't make it any better," her mother said. "You should have told us where you were going."

"I'm sorry," Nora said again. "I promise I'll be more careful in the future."

"We're going to have to ground you for this," her father said.

Nora's heart sank. "Grounded?" she asked, her voice small. "But that's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong."

"Not fair? Do you think it's fair for me to have to arrest my own daughter?," her father yelled. "Trust me it's more than nore. And that is something I can't let you do again. You're grounded for a month."

Nora's eyes welled up with tears. "A month?" she asked, her voice cracking. "That's not fair!"

"It's more than fair," her father said, his voice firm. He stormed out of the room.

Nora's mother put a hand on her shoulder. "I know it seems harsh," she said, her voice gentle. "But we're just trying to keep you safe. You have to understand that."

Nora looked down at her hands, feeling overwhelmed by the situation. "I understand," she said, her voice quiet.

"We're doing this because we love you," her mother said. "We just want you to be safe."

Nora nodded, still feeling like the punishment was too much. She knew her parents loved her, but she also felt like they were being unfair.

.

.

.

The next morning, Nora and her friends arrived at school feeling a mix of emotions. They were still reeling from the events of the previous day, and they were trying to figure out what to do next. They all knew they needed to keep their promise to their parents, but they also wanted to know more about the body they had found.

As they walked into the school building, they exchanged glances, each of them wondering what to do. They knew they had to put their curiosity aside, but it was difficult to do so.

"Do you think we'll ever find out what happened to the body?" Nora asked her friends.

"I don't know," Fred said, shrugging. "But we can't let our curiosity get the better of us. We need to focus on school and not get caught up in this."

"I know," Nora said, though she still felt restless. "But I can't help but wonder what happened."

"Let's try to focus on our schoolwork," Alice said, sensing the tension in the air. "Maybe if we keep busy, we won't think about it so much."

"That's a good idea," Nora said, though she wasn't sure it would work.

"I'm just glad we're all okay," Reggie said, his voice soft. "It could have been a lot worse."

"That's true," Nora said. "We're lucky we found the body when we did. It could have been much worse if we hadn't."

"It still doesn't feel right," Alice said. "I know we need to keep our promise to our parents, but I can't stop thinking about the body."

"Maybe we can do some research later, after school," Fred suggested.

"No, no research, let's forget about this," Nora said, "We need to focus on our normal lives and not let this incident consume us. Otherwise, we'll never be able to move on."

"Let's make a pact," Alice said. "No more talking about the body or doing any research on it. We'll focus on our studies and our friends and family."

"I'm in," Fred said, holding out his hand. "Agreed?"

One by one, the friends agreed to the pact, sealing it with a handshake.

.

.

.

Nora was about to head to bed when she heard her parents arguing in the other room. She paused, her curiosity getting the better of her. She crept closer to the door, listening intently.

"What are we going to do?" her mother's voice was tense, panicked. "We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"I don't know what else to do," her father replied, sounding just as stressed. "The only thing we can do is try to keep them safe."

Nora's heart pounded as she heard the words. Keep them safe? What did that mean?

"Their life could be in danger, the woman they saw might be the killer, Fred said she saw a stain of blood on her shirt, and her dressing is suspicious. All black. She might try to eliminate them to cover her tracks. " Nora's dad said.

"You have to do something. Nothing should happen to my daughter, Alex, do something." Nora's mum said, her voice breaking.

"Calm down Penelope, I'm trying my best to apprehend her before she makes any move. And we're not sure if she is the killer yet, she is just a suspect "

Nora placed her hand on her mouth in order to stop herself for yelling. She tiptoed back to her room, her heart pounding hard. Her head was spinning. She felt like she couldn't breathe, like the walls were closing in around her. She felt like she was going to pass out. She sank down onto her bed, trying to make sense of what she had just heard.

What if the woman she had seen was a killer? What if her and her friends were in danger? She couldn't bear the thought of something happening to them.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She had to focus. She had to be logical. There was no use panicking.