One drop. Two drops. Three drops...

Although a few drops were enough to be a lethal dose, Jonathan added a few more drops to make sure at least one of them dropped dead.

To make it more fun, Jonathan recently found out that the poison still has no antidote either—it's almost untreatable even with modern medicine.

The "treatments" mostly involve removing any unabsorbed poison samples from the body and keeping the person alive as long as possible in the hopes that the body's cleanup processes will clear the poison out.

Since the poison is going to be ingested instead of inhaled and injected, the victims can have intestinal bleeding and organ damage, though it takes six to twelve hours for it to take effect and show the symptoms.

When the symptoms finally occur, it will be a painful experience for the victim.

~~~

"There," Jonathan muttered once the fourth and final drop fell into the creases of the fries.

"Yo—Jonathan! Give me our food!" one of the rude kids hollered from their usual table.

For once, Jonathan was glad about doing their work. It was pure payback. Karma.

"Here."

The food at their school was always a pleaser, so it was no worry that they weren't hungry. If they just wouldn't suspect anything strange, the plan would fall perfectly into place...

"Enjoy!" Jonathan exclaimed with a smile before turning his back to stifle his laugh and hide his evil grin as he walked away.

~~~

Jonathan's plan had a flaw that he had overlooked: if one of his victims went to the doctor for a check-up about the symptoms of the poison, the poison could be easily detected if they were tested.

A whole day has passed since he added the poison, and the symptoms are probably already at their most torturous stage. Just thinking about their current situation made Jonathan feel whole for the first time.

Jonathan sat with his friends in their usual spot in the cafeteria.

The group noticed that Jonathan was oddly in a positive mood that day, though they didn't pay much attention to it because they just assumed he probably just had some good sleep last night.

"How weird—the bullies are not here for the first time. Could something have happened to them?" Richard asked the group with a worried tone.

Richard sat next to Jonathan, his food tray filled with fruits, while Jonathan had a box of brownies that his father had created for him.

"You care about them? After all the crappy stuff they did to us? Stop being such a soft-hearted angel," Caleb teased, insulting Richard.

Caleb had salmon sashimi and rice as his lunch, which is one of his favourites—second to iced coffee.

"They're still humans, not monsters—despise the sins but never the person, right Jonathan?" Richard said as he smiled at Jonathan.

It felt awkward for Jonathan, knowing that he just did something to those bullies that even Richard would never forgive him and would most likely start hating on him.

Richard is like a saint. He would forgive anyone, no matter what they did—but this is mass murder that we're talking about, something that no one will ever forgive.

Now that Jonathan has reflected on his actions, was it really worth it in the end?

He could never imagine losing Richard; Jonathan had grown attached to him. No one, not even Johannes, has ever been as kind to him as Richard.

"Jonathan? You look worried; are you still stressing about exam week?" Richard asked, making Jonathan snap out of his thoughts.

Jonathan blinked a few times before slightly nodding.

Before Richard could say anything, the voice of the principal was heard from the speakers scattered all over the school.

"Jonathan and Johannes Brahms, please come to the school gates. Your parents are waiting outside."

The female speaker spoke, sending a shiver down Jonathan's spine—this was it; he's dead. He finally came to his senses and realised how much he had messed up this time. If only he hadn't tricked himself into doing such a despicable thing.

"I wonder why; they're always busy with their work...could something have happened?" Johannes muttered under his breath.

Johannes looked at Jonathan. "Let's go, Jonathan. Maybe something occurred."

Jonathan didn't say anything and stood up from his seat, trying to hide his anxious feelings the entire time.

Richard suddenly gave Jonathan a small tug on the cuff of his hoodie, making Jonathan stop for a second.

"Everything's going to be fine, Jonathan. You have us by your side," Richard whispered, but loud enough for Jonathan to hear. "No matter what it is, we'll help you out; that's what friends do."

Richard didn't quite help, since he doesn't know the actual situation—although it was nice that he was trying.

~~~

"I can't believe Jonathan would do such a thing! He's not the type of kid to be suspected of that!" the woman ranted, breaking out of her usual calm character.

Her husband scoffed. "Probably some lowlife trying to break our reputation."

"Do you think the media would believe Jonathan is a murderer? What kind of sick kid has access to buying a poisonous plant? This is the worst attempt yet; it's funny."

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Her husband suddenly glared at her. "A kid with an irresponsible mother would be one," he said with a cold tone.

"Me!?" she snapped and abruptly stood from her seat and glared down at her husband, who sat in a seat facing her.

"Who do you think it is!? Me? I'm working twenty-four seven; you're the one being lazy and having to go out to expensive bars and get drunk!" the husband yelled back.

The woman forcefully grabbed her husband by his cheeks with one hand, "You know I'm always busy with my modelling job; it's you who's being lazy. Remember, I was the one who made you successful in the first place; all you had to do was stay loyal to me while I made your entire life income!" she said with a lofty tone.

"You are merely my puppet; you work for me. I invest in your little company, and your job is to multiply my money with your little movies; your life is that easy!" she continued, her sharp hazel eyes piercing through her husband.

"You're only spoiling me so I could keep the death of your father a secret; you murdered him just before he could remove you from his will. I was the only witness to that murder, Amelia," he responded, forcing his words out of Amelia's grasp.

Amelia grinned evilly. "I know damn well you won't tell them otherwise; the second you do, our marriage and your company are doomed—you wouldn't allow that to happen, right?"

Her husband hesitated to answer, too scared even to do so. His face was still while his eyes were shaking uncontrollably from fear.

He married Amelia out of greed, thinking he'd be able to steal her wealth easily using his charm.

Karma heavily backfired on him. He became the prey of his own trap.

Life is full of surprises.

"Too scared to answer, James? How cute," Amelia chuckled as she pinched James' right cheek and looked out the car window to see Jonathan and Johannes exiting the school gates.

"Oh look, our babies have finally arrived!" Amelia said excitedly as she looked at the driver from the other side of the car, with a window and seats separating them.

Amelia knocked on the window to get the attention of the driver and signalled them to open the door.

The driver obeyed and unlocked the door. Amelia then put her hand on the door handle and pulled it down to fully unlock the door.

The door then opened, and Amelia exited the car, James close behind her.

Johannes rushed to his mother, giving her a big hug by the waist.

Johannes seems to be more fond of his mother than their father, to whom he just gave a slight glare.

Jonathan, on the other hand, just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say or do, still anxious about the fact that both of their parents are here—he barely encountered them being together.

Amelia then looked at Jonathan and finally remembered why they were there.

Jonathan could sense his mother's disappointment; they were most likely aware of what he had done.

"Right, get in the car, kids, we have something to talk about," Amelia said as she signalled Jonathan and Johannes to get inside the car.

~~~

Jonathan is suspected of being one of the murderers who poisoned seven high school students, who are fighting for their lives with supportive medical care.

Three of them lost the battle; their families are grieving and looking for justice for whoever did such a despicable thing to their loved ones.

Jonathan's parents did their best to keep Jonathan out of the case to protect their reputation and from the dangers that the families of the victims could bring.

One of Jonathan's victims turns out to be a dangerous one, one that shouldn't be messed with.

~~~

"We should probably keep the two homeschooled for now to keep them out of the public's view. Jonathan's life is on the line here," Amelia said, her heels clanking along the tiled floor as she walked to the door of the mansion.

James was sitting on one of the couches in the living room, busy texting someone on his phone.

"I have a person that can homeschool the two," James responded, not looking up from his phone.

Amelia opened the door to see a familiar car parking by the gates of the mansion.

She let out a disappointed sigh when she realised who the person was that James mentioned. "We're not going to have Mr. Colton take care of the kids," Amelia stated. "Plus, it's late! Why does he have to come at this time?"

"Why so? He said he's alright taking care of the kids while we're out trying to fix Jonathan's case."

"Not that! I'm talking about how much candy he brings in every time he visits, now that he's going to be visiting almost every day for the homeschooling job," Amelia groaned, clearly annoyed.

"I don't want any of our kids to grow up with a bad physical body because of the unhealthy foods; that's disgusting," Amelia said, shivering at the thought. "I was planning on making the two professional athletes; Jonathan seems to be promising; for Johannes, his current health condition is disappointing."

James then looked daggers at Amelia, but he decided to be silent for once as he didn't want to trigger his wife more.

Amelia noticed a tall, brown-haired man get out of the car parked outside the gate and take something from it.

James opened the gate with one click from his phone, inviting Nathaniel in.

"Nathaniel promised he wouldn't spoil the kids, starting today," James added. "He also said that he would stay in during the period of his homeschooling."

Amelia saw Nathaniel start taking out two suitcases from his car, having a slightly hard time taking them out on his own.

"Why won't you help Mr. Colton out? He seems to be struggling right now," Amelia pushed as she looked at James, who seemed to be silently laughing while watching Nathaniel struggle through the video surveillance system on the gate.

Suddenly, Johannes started rushing down the stairs with his phone in hand.

"Jon—Jonathan's gone! I went to his room and he wasn't there! And—and I also tried calling him, but he won't answer!"

The couple looked at each other, their eyes wide open from the sudden news.

James then went back to his phone, trying to trace Jonathan using the small detection device that they gave him.

~~~

It was a mute sound that engulfed the place. A very quiet ambience settled in, and an eerie discomfort crawled up his skin. The prickling sensation forced beads of sweat out of his skin, and a tight clench fastened around his heart.

The walls of the parking lot seemed closer than they ever were; it was suffocating. He shifted from behind the columns as he faced down, looking at the small pool of light glistening beneath his feet.

The sun hid behind the clouds, and darkness rested behind buildings that reflected the sea far out to the shorelines.

Laughter crowded the silence. and it became even harder to breathe.

They were here again. to torment the few moments of happiness he could hold onto. The hope that he scraped off the kindness of others.

Jonathan wishes he could get away from it all. He didn't want to blame anyone, but what else could he be angry at? What else should he do but scour for something he knows will most likely be a dream?

"Yeah, and he was so, so stupid! Did you see his face?" a cracking voice echoed in the parking area. "What if he throws him off here?" they said, followed by a chorus of terribly timed giggles.

"Yeah! That would teach him a lesson." One decided to feed the fire.

"Speak of the devil," he drawled, and knelt to make eye contact with me, only bringing his knees closer when he snatched his arm away and forced him to face him. He groaned but acquiesced to his taunts.

The unknown person laughed, his mad eyes widening so much that he itched to poke those olive pupils. "Getting angry now, are we?" He scoffed and brought a palm up to his face.

"You're the one who poisoned the kid of one of our clients; you're just getting the taste of your own medicine," the stranger said, chuckling evilly.

A loud slap echoed before Jonathan could register anything. Another one came after that, and another, and another, until his face was covered in bruises and palm prints. There was a loud ring in the background as his eyesight went hazy with all the physical abuse.

A kick in the abdomen sent Jonathan flying towards the railing; his back collided with the cold and hard wall.

Jonathan tried to stand up, groaning as he did so, but someone pushed him down. As he noticed his gaze hazing, he let out a pained scream.

Jonathan noticed the small purple cat device his parents had given him fall out of his pockets; it was the device that could detect their locations if anything happened to him or Johannes.

Everything turned into a blur, and the voices turned into distant whispers he could not fully hear.

Jonathan suddenly heard another voice—a familiar one.

"I don't like seeing innocent people get beaten up by corrupt people who find torture fun. Since you find torturing my best friend's eldest son "fun," would you like to experience it too?"