CHAPTER SIX

Nora walked into the classroom the next day trying to maintain a calm demeanor. There was no teacher in class so it was really noisy.

She spotted Reggie with the rest of the football team. They seem to be discussing something funny as they all kept laughing occasionally.

Alice was typing away on her laptop. She seem oblivious of her surroundings. Fred was in a corner, with his head buried in a book.

Nora exhaled sharply. She approached Fred first.

"There has been an emergency," she whispered.

Fred looked up from the book with a confused expression on his face.

"I'll explain everything later, alert Reggie and meet me in the chemistry lab. I'll go get Alice," she said and walked away from him.

"Why does it always have to be me who gets Reggie everytime?" He mumbled.

Alice was so focused on her laptop that she didn't see Nora approaching. She finally looked up when Nora tapped the desk.

"What do you want?" She asked with a stern voice "I thought we all agreed not to ever speak to each other again? And as you can see I am very busy," she added.

"Trust me, you'll thank me later, because this is an emergency not like I enjoy disrupting your princess time," Nora said sarcastically.

"What is it this time?" Alice said rubbing her forehead gently.

"Chemistry lab. Now," Nora said and walked away.

Alice grunted before standing up and walking after her.

"What now?" She said as soon as they entered the chemistry lab.

"We wait for the boys and I'll tell all of you what I heard," Nora shrugged. She sat on a chair and leaned back. She gently closed her eyes.

Alice looked at her for a second.

"I don't know what this is, but I can tell it's bad news. The question here is, how do you always manage to maintain a calm demeanor any time there is trouble?"

Nora opened her eyes and smirked.

"Simple, I don't like panicking, so I don't do it,"

"That is scientifically impossible. I mean you can't control your emotions," Alice stated.

"I guess it's nature then, runs in my blood," Nora shrugged and chuckled.

Alice snarled.

Reggie and Fred walked in.

"What happened? Fred said it was very important," Reggie said as soon as he walked in.

"What's with the urgency in your tone? Relax it's nothing serious, just that our lives might be in danger," Nora said calmly.

"What?!" The three of them said in unison.

"Y.. you me..an we're going to d.i.e," Alice struggled to get the words out of her mouth.

"You call that not serious?" Reggie yelled.

"Is it?" Nora asked raising an eyebrow. They all glared at her.

"Can you elaborate more on it please?" Fred said, panic evident in his voice.

Nora took a deep breath.

"I heard my parents discussing last night, my dad said the lady we saw at the gas station might be the murderer, but he isn't sure yet as they are still carrying out more investigation,"

"Guys if there is even the slightest chance that the lady is the murderer, she is going to try to cover her tracks. And if she is smart enough, she would be able to depict from the state she met us, that we were running from something and probably saw the body. Then she is gonna come after all of us," Alice said.

"Glad you got my point Smith," Nora said.

"But since we don't know for sure if she is the murderer or not, our chances of survival is 50/50, she might come after us and kill us or we track her down and find out if she is the one or not. The only option we have is tracking her down," Nora added.

"Are we solving a murder mystery now?" Fred asked. They all turned to him.

"No Freddie, we're simply trying to save our lives otherwise we'll get killed," Nora said.

"I think the most logical thing here is to just stay under the Sheriff's protection, cause we're just teenagers," Reggie said.

"Good suggestion Reginald, but the Sherrif doesn't live in our house, he doesn't follow us to school or certain places, so Nora might be a bit safe but we're not," Alice said.

"So what do we do now?" Fred asked.

"Let's just think for a while. But keep in mind no one is leaving this room until we figure out something," Nora said.

"But what about classes?" Fred asked.

"I believe all of us here are straight A student. Besides, today is a college fair for seniors, so they wouldn't really bother about us. Let's just focus on this mess," Nora replied him.

"Just so you know, I still got football practice by lunch today," Reggie said.

They all glared at him and he quickly shut his mouth.

"I have an idea," Alice said.

They all turned to her expectantly.

"Let's first identify each other's capabilities. Fred has a photographic memory, Reggie is an artist.." she was interrupted by Nora.

"Reggie is an artist? I had no idea you could draw," she exclaimed.

Alice glared at her and cleared her throat.

"Back to what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, the only capabilities that are yet to be known is Nora's," she said.

"What is yours?" Nora questioned.

"I'm the school newspaper writer, and I also have a very high IQ," Alice grinned.

"Well, I kinda know a bit about psychology, so we're more than okay to solve this mystery. That's if we all work together," Nora said.

"And there should be no fights between Alice and Nora. Both of you should keep your hatred for one and another locked in," Reggie said.

They all joined their hands together.

"To unity," they said.

"Let's start with this, Fred you saw the body first, even though it was decapitated, is it possible you could get a clear image of the face so Reggie would draw?" Nora asked.

"I could try," Fred shrugged.

Nora brought out a pencil and paper from her backpack. She handed them to Reggie.

The three of them surrounded Reggie as they watch him draw. They were fully aware of the danger that looms and they were determined to be fully prepared before it strikes.