A/N: First, Stana responds to reviews YAAAAAAAAAAAYY! Excuse the behaviour, I haven't had reviews since forever ^^
InnocentDiamond: Congratulations on being the very first reviewer! I must add that even though I didn't favourite your stories "Bonds of the Briar" and "Shooting Star Tears", I absolutely LOVE them. Hoping you'll continue Bonds of the briar and keep up the awesomeness. And thanks a lot for the word on the cover art! At first I'd wanted to do a cover art where the girls would look kind of scared, but I prefer it if readers see the girls as brave ones (which they are); sideways was the only way you could see the 4 faces, btw. Also, I'm not really comfortable with scenes with disco dancing, alcohol..either, but I wanted to try something new, and in my mind an intro like that sounded perfect. About what Julie and Billy did...no comment. Was initially a part of the plot too. Concerning Alice w/ Klaus & Mira w/ Baron ? No need to worry, keeping it this way was NEVER part of the plan. I'll try to get Baron a good girlfriend asap, and Alice...well, Shun will most probably get rid of Klaus one way or another. That murder scene other there was pretty crappy, I wanted to publish the story so much it ended up a failure. It's a good thing you can visualise it. Then, we come to the secrets...thanks for making a choice! I agree with that choice, although I'd have gone with cheating on an exam, pregnancy, stealing and the teacher/student relationship. Oh well, I'll change a few settings, get on with that, and we'll see what I get. There again, thanks A LOT for reviewing *sends virtual hugs and cookies*
Maiden Warrior: Thank you, that means a lot to me! :D I'm afraid the following chapter is pretty crappy, but I hope to get the secrets on soon. And I can totally see the girls having theses secrets, thanks again for your help!
Guest reviewer: I know! Sorry about that, too, I'll try to make more efforts in the future :)
Previously on Secrets Can Kill:
The body lay on the ground, choking to death. Red flowers opened and spread on various part of her dress. Her face was pale, eyes watery. A knife lay beside the victim. Further , a shadow sped away, dressed in black.
The girls stared, both at the body and the one who'd committed it.
Behind them, a voice called: "Don't just stay there like idiots! Come on, call the police! Help her!"
It was too late anyway. No one could save her.
Before she faded into darkness, Alice heard a scream filling her ears, louder than any pop song.
Off to the first chapter of Secrets Can Kill, ladies and gentlemen! This is simply a chapter to enter the setting of the story, the characters, etc. Still waiting for enough reviews to get the secrets on.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
Chapter 1
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Alice snapped her head up, waking up panting. The scream still echoed in her ears, even after the dream had ended. She pressed her right hand to her heart, trying to steady it. Keep calm, Alice, it was a bad dream, just a bad dream. Breathe, inhale, exhale, slowly. Breathe... she remembered the advice her grandfather had told her so often from the times she had nightmares so vivid, and recited it mentally. Slowly, as in deep concentration, she inhaled and exhaled, repeated the gesture again and again. It was becoming a habit, having this nightmare on rewind every night, without any pause. And always the same one, with the group witnessing that poor girl's death. For months, she had been unable to sleep. The night she flied to Russia with her grandfather, the nights following their arrival in the countryside, and the nights after her return to Japan...she couldn't remember the last time she had a peaceful rest.
The worst part of the dream?
It was true.
The others didn't talk about it. When Alice had arrived, the group had taken some time to fetch her at the airport. When she'd seen their faces for the first time in weeks, she hadn't seen much. Happiness at seeing their friend come back, and tiredness from waking up earlier. Yet she'd hinted it wasn't the only reason. Like Alice, they wouldn't bother others with personal problems except when it was an important matter, which apparently hadn't been the case. They barely talked about that, even after Alice moved in Runo's house.
Deep inside, she hoped that Runo hadn't heard her scream. Or had she? She couldn't recall it, and somehow didn't care. As long as she got it out of her head, everything would be good.
"Is something wrong, Alice?"
She turned to the bed set. Hydranoid, freshly awaken and in definitely better shape than her, gazed up at her with one of his three heads.
She held him in her hands, caressing gently the head."Don't worry Hydranoid, I'm good."
"Are you sure?"
She smiled. Good old Hydranoid, acting like the father she almost never had, and doing a pretty good job so far. Her smile spread wider, in an attempt to reassure him.
"Yes. I'm good, now that you're here."
The bakugan seemed to pounder her response, before nodding. "If you say so."
She kissed the top of his head, and placed him back on the bed set.
"FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME, JULIE MAKIMOTO, HURRY UP BEFORE I RIP YOUR HAIR OFF!"
"OI! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THE HAIR OR YOU'LL" -
The yells came from the bathroom, apparently. That would be Julie and Runo, arguing on who will get the straightening iron first, she thought. She figured the scream she had supposedly let out earlier might as well have been coming from the bathroom.
Like Alice, Julie had moved to Bayview, and stayed at Runo's until everything at her new house was settled down. Alice already had somewhere to live in, but with her grandfather staying longer in Russia for his research, he had insisted on her not staying alone in an empty house. He would be back soon, she didn't mind waiting. As long as she stayed with her best friends, all was well. She wasn't alone.
Alice got in the corridor. The yells hadn't stopped, and seemed louder than before. Alice smiled, and went to knock. Typical Runo and Julie.
"Guys, are you done yet? Mira will be there in a moment and I'm not even ready."
"NO!"
She sighed. Yup, typical. She knocked again. "Okay then, but I really have to get in, girls."
Before she could continue, the door opened, and she was face-to-face with a fuming Runo and a red-faced Julie.
"Fine then, but before tell her that I saw the straightener first!"
"Huh? You filthy liar, I saw it first!"
Another argument started before her, and she held up her hands in defeat.
"Guys, please! Julie, I think your hair is straight enough now, and if you continue like that you might get it burnt. And Runo, your hair doesn't need any more care, it's perfect this way, I can tell."
"BUT" -
"You heard me. You're both gorgeous, okay?"
It was the truth. Julie's hair was tied in a side ponytail, while Runo had pulled hers in two pigtails. Julie had on shorts, sandals and her cheerleader t-shirt, Runo wore a skirt along with her tight-high socks, sneakers and usual t-shirt.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to shower." She slid between two dumb-founded Runo and Julie, who left the room after her. Alice quickly showered, then dressed with her cow-girl leather boots, a sleeveless white dress and denim jacket. When she got out after combing her messy curls, the others eyed her in a funny way. When she got down in the café, the others were already having breakfast. At the end of their usual table, she spotted some red hair.
"Hey Mira, looking good."
Mira looked up, spotted her and smiled. Her white jacket fell gracefully on her shoulders when she waved at her, showing off her tank top and shorts.
"Same goes for you Gehabich." She went to sit next to her. Alice really liked Mira. The two had met last year when Mira had arrived in the middle of the school year. She had helped her through the school, and now they were the best of friends. Sure, Runo remained her bff, but Mira was like a twin to her. Calm, red-headed, sweet; the only differences being her fierceness and blue eyes.
Along with the others, she ate her breakfast while talking to the others. The usual things, which classes they had today, forthcoming plans for the week, what they wanted to do this Monday after school. She was going to add something in the conversation when her eyes caught sight of the newspaper's front page. She gestured at it to Mrs Misaki.
"Mrs Misaki, could I have the newspaper please?"
"Sure, Alice, here you are." She passed it to her. Alice grabbed it and stared at the front page. Big bold letters took the whole page.
NEW INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE POLICE ON THE JESSICA SUJEEUN MURDER. A picture decorated the background, showing a girl's corpse on the floor, ready to be sent to the morgue in a plastic bag, her dress bloody and her hair a mess. Alice had some trouble to swallow her toast and tea.
Jessica Sujeeun was the girl from her dream.
The room became silenced all of a sudden. The group had noticed the red-head's distressed expression, and turned to her. "Anything new on the affair?"
She shook her head, her eyes still on the paper. "Nothing really useful. They simply dug out her background and history, turns out her family is powerful enough to have a few enemies ready at anything to threaten their safety." She sighed. That wasn't fair at all, what happened to Jessica. She knew little about her, only that she'd been part of the Honour's Class and the cheerleading squad. Julie would know more than her on the girl. "Poor girl."
The atmosphere was solemn, a tad cold. The girls bowed their heads, staring down at their breakfast. They were not so hungry anymore, Alice herself felt her stomach retracting. None of them really knew he girl, yet it was still sad to have someone from their school killed, especially in a small town like Wardington. There were few crimes in town, most of them being occasional robberies. And now a murder...The room fell silent, until Mr Misaki popped in.
"Well, girls, not going to school today?"
This seemed to wake them up from a trance. In a rush they got up, almost breaking their bowls and cups, grabbed their bags and hurried to the door.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting something girls?"
They turned back. Runo went to her mother and father to kiss them goodbye, and the others followed suit. "Bye everyone!"
A/N: Well, this is the end of this first and awfully crappy chapter. It's more of an introduction than anything, and a bad one with that. I'll understand if you guys are disappointed, but don't worry, the real thing is coming soon! Don't forget to choose your 4 favourite secrets here:
- I'm obsessed with stealing
- I'm pregnant, etc…
- I have a sickness that might kill me
- I cheated in a test/exam
- I cheated on my boyfriend
- I love someone I shouldn't like (teacher/student implied relationship)
- I'm a drug addict/dealer
- I murdered someone