For the past few months, the sight of my house loomed gloomily. The lights tended to be off, and we never tended the plants around the house. Our grass grew flowers, and vines crawled up the sides of the house.

Today, the clouds parted ways. The lights in the dining room were on, but I couldn’t see past the curtains. For the first time in a while, my father probably had a reason to be out and about, instead of being locked up in his office.

When I fumbled for my house key, the door opened. Harry Ballman stood at the doorway. Unlike when I saw him at school, Harry stood straight and with confidence.

“Neuire!” Harry greeted me, “Come in! Your dad and I were discussing things at the dining table.”

I followed Harry through my house, and I tried not to step on trash left on the floor. Surprisingly, Harry weaved through without judging or cautiousness. He acted like the perfect guest. I wish we treated him to a better-looking house.

Entering the dining room, I saw my father sitting at the head seat, surrounded by stacks of papers. He seemed to have been working on stuff when Harry came over.

“I’m glad,” my father said, “I didn’t know whether to trust Harry, but it seems you really are okay.”

“Your dad was all defensive at first,” Harry explained, “but he warmed up after a little while.”

“Your mother wrote Harry down as a suspect,” my father added, “but I determined his innocence. We already decided he can stay here until either we find him a safer place to stay, or until the school murders settle down.”

Right, Harry Ballman’s life was in danger. The six murderers wanted him dead, and I found the last member. I needed to tell my father about Tesha. Then, we could finally start putting an end to the mysterious disappearances plaguing the school.

I wondered what would happen to Tesha after though. Serial murder was bound to put her in the highest form of punishment. At the same time, she, and most of the other murderers, were all young. Bringing the case to a close would destroy them. I would have done anything to bring them punishment. But, I couldn’t imagine Tesha behind bars. I still couldn’t see her as a true murderer.

“Neuire, are you okay?” my father asked, breaking my train of thought. “Do you have something to say?”

“I want to help with the case,” I shared, “I don’t want Harry, or anyone else, to be in danger like he is now.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“No,” my father answered immediately, “don’t get involved or you’ll make yourself a target.”

“I’m already deep enough in this,” I argued, “Mother died, and they even took my phone.”

“That’s all the more reason you can’t,” my father said, “if you get in any more danger than you are now, you might end up like your mother.”

“They might be on to me already,” I pointed out, “I’m the only one who wore a pink uniform.”

“You’re what? You…then we need to shelter you with Harry then,” my father concluded.

“No, wait!” I realized my mistake, telling him I was in danger. “I…I’m being protected by the sixth murderer,” I admitted.

“The sixth murderer?” my father questioned, frozen.

Harry looked between the two of us, from one side of the dining table.

My father continued, “Are you sure you’re being protected?”

“I’m very sure,” I answered, “there are many times she kept me safe when I would have otherwise been killed.”

“...Perplexing.” My father rested his head on his hands, keeping himself upright at the table.

“I can use my position with her to gather more evidence,” I suggested, “she might even be a willing witness, if I can ever convince her.”

“Fine,” my father decided, “you can help, but if things ever get dangerous, I’m keeping you home.”

“That’s enough for me,” I responded. I only wanted to help.

“You guys look like a super cool pair of investigative partners,” Harry commented from the side. “I can help too, if you guys ever need me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” my father said, probably not keeping him in mind.

I remembered another piece of business I had with the school. On Saturday, I agreed to meet up with Hazel. The idea of going out to the Hangman Cafe with her somehow shot up to being high priority in my mind. I decided to inform my father.

“I’ll be going on a date on Saturday,” I told him.

My father only replied, “What?”

“Hey! Congratulations!” Harry cheered, and then he mumbled, “I wish I could go outside.”

“It won’t get in the way of things, will it?” I asked.

I probably confused my father by bringing up the idea of a date so suddenly. Maybe I should have said, “I’ll be hanging out,” instead of date. I still didn’t know if Hazel thought of our meeting as a date.

“...No,” my father answered, “just enjoy yourself.”

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And so my involvement was solidified. I only needed to get close to Tesha, and I would passively contribute to my father’s investigation. I wanted to make the school a safe place again. Then, I wanted to have a nice life to spend with my friends again.

One of my friends, Phija Hachi, lost a friend to the murders. He believes it’s only a disappearance, but I know what really happened. His friend, Billy Bob Joe, had a love rival. He hired Teshallah and her friends. The rest is history. I wanted him to know, but he could become a target. Until I solved everything with my father, I decided to continue avoiding him.

Hazel and Harry seemed like nice people as well. I wish I had met them both before getting mixed up with Tesha. I wanted to have a calm and peaceful life with them. I wanted to keep my friends close, but needed to keep my enemies closer.