Throughout the day, I was drowning in dread, thinking about that note. Someone knew I was a murderer and yet they weren't afraid of me. What if they knew my crimes were all accidents and wanted to see me writhe in my guilt? What if they were going to use it as blackmail? What kind of high school student would ever want that?

I was being paranoid. If I'm going to go meet this witness, I have to look calm and collected. Maybe intimidate them into keeping this a secret. But I have never intimidated someone in my damn life! How am I supposed to look the part of a dangerous killer when deep down, I know I'm not?

I think about possible suspects as I went to class. Everyone was so spooked by the possibility of a serial killer in school, that they would never try and purposely meet the guilty party without some form of police crew behind them.

Or maybe that's they wanted: to lure me into a safe place and trick me into a false sense of security as they call the police.

I could never imagine any of my classmates being a blackmailer. But there are students here with strange reputations, like Sakyu Basu and her sister Inkyu being rumored to be supernatural beings or everyone in the Occult Club hiding some sort of secret behind their concealed right eyes (I would try to find out why, but lately I've been preoccupied with not being arrested).

But an outright stalker sounded completely abnormal (besides Oka and her spying on the Basu sisters in the morning). Everyone here seemed perfectly harmless.

Then I remember an old rumor spiraling around school that the boys (and some of the girls) pay for scandalous panty shots of the students, provided by someone only known as Info-chan. They say that Info-chan has eyes on everyone who goes here and knows every dark secret, faculty or student. No one knows her true name. There were speculations about Info-Chan's true identity (some even suspected Info-chan to be a boy) but no one could ever find her.

If this supposed Info-chan wasn't above stalking, voyeurism, and making a profit from it, who's to say she wasn't above blackmailing a murderer?

Or maybe it was a student who was beneath that and more. The delinquents that hang out behind the school had a history of stealing, threatening, and fighting innocent bystanders. Maybe they were so full of themselves that they believed they could take down a possible serial killer and exploit them.

It didn't help that throughout class, my classmates were discussing serial killer suspects.

"Maybe one of the Occult Club members finally snapped and now are on a rampage trying to find blood sacrifices," Yui Rio whispered.

"Don't say that when Daku and Sakura are here!" Shima Shita chastised her, shooting apologetic looks at me and my fellow club member. I simply shrank into my seat when she looked in my direction.

"Most logically it has to be the delinquents," Haruto Yuto shrugged indifferently. "No one else here can sink that low besides the actual criminals of this school."

The red-haired girl smirked, which was strange when everyone was on high-alert for their lives. "What if one the Photography Club members did it?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Shima snapped. "They're the ones investigating the whole thing."

"Isn't it always the patrollers who end up being the culprits?" Yui said cockily, which made the martial arts student groan and turn her back on her.

"The sooner all of this is over, the sooner I can forget," Daku whispered to himself.

Once it was 5:00 PM, I left the Occult Club room in search of my witness, just when Oka was about to call for club activities. She was much too timid to make me get back inside and the other members were too indulged in their books.

I went to the rooftop and watched the sky grow more and more orange as the sunset was crawling nearer. I clutched the note in my pocket and decided to stuff it into my bag, right where I hid my ritual knife. My knees were shaking as I approached my destination.

This person thinks you're a murderer, I told myself, might as well act the part for your own safety.

I almost ditched the meeting entirely, waiting too long for my witness as I stood behind the air ventilation unit. But then someone finally approached me. I didn't really see her come in, more like she appeared here out of thin air. It was almost alarming if I hadn't been expecting her.

I recognized her: Ayano Aishi, one of the students in the grade above me. She was a quiet person, who preferred to be alone instead of socializing. In fact, I don't think she has any friends, let alone that person she keeps texting. No one at school ever tried to approach her. Ayano had a reputation for being strange; she often spoke with a deadpan expression and no one had ever heard her laugh. She only ever smiled when she was around Taro Yamada, one of the third-year students. Some people had noticed her carrying around strange things like knives and box cutters, or even seen her covered in blood when she was completely uninjured.

"W-were you the one w-who wanted to meet me here?" I said, cursing with myself on the inside for stuttering.

She nodded. "I know what you did to Midori," she said in the most monotonous voice I ever heard. "And what really happened to all those students in the cafeteria."

"How did you know that?" I immediately snapped, trying to gain dominance in this conversation.

"I have a very reliable source," she said cryptically. "She has cameras all around this school. Nothing gets past her."

I took a few steps back, realizing just how dangerous this girl seemed to be. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to thank you," Ayano said, smiling venomously, like she was a snake.

My eyes widened. "W-what, what do you mean?"

"You had just gotten rid of my competition," the black-haired girl smirked. "I was going to get rid of Kokona Haruka by getting her expelled—I even had the evidence planted and everything—but you got rid much quicker with that ritual of yours."

"You were trying to get rid of Kokona?" I gasped. "But why, she's such a sweet girl!"

"That's exactly the point!" she snapped angrily. "She's a sweet girl with her eyes on my beloved Senpai! I cannot let her seduce him like that!"

That's when I remembered: Kokona Haruka always talked about Taro Yamada nonstop before she died. I heard her talk to Saki about going to confess to him on Friday.

"You wanted her to die," I said slowly. "All because of a boy, do you know how sick that is?"

"Says the girl who murdered Midori Gurin," Ayano retorted, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you dare try and say that you are above me, because in my eyes, you and I are the same." She smiled gently before continuing. "You and I both know what we want—our beloved—and we both know just how to get them."

"The demon rituals," I said, still not sure why I haven't tried to ditch her and run for the hills. "How do you know about them?"

"Remember when you first found that bloody ritual knife?" she said softly. "I was the one who put blood on it."

"What?" I shrieked. "Whose blood was it?"

"It was only that annoying Musume Ronshaku," Ayano said nonchalantly. "Trust me, no one liked her. I thought I had lost it for good when I dropped it in the Occult Club, but then I saw you carrying it when you dashed out of school when you killed Midori. I could've confronted you about it earlier, but when you killed Kokona for me, I knew that there was no reason to harm you."

"You're sick," was all I could muster after hearing everything Ayano said.

"You're even sicker," the black-haired girl retorted, approaching closer and closer. There was a new look in her eyes, one that seemed devoid of any light. "If you don't want to get arrested, you won't breathe a word about this anyone."

As she walked near me, her arms began to twitch a little, similar to how I was during the week. Her head hunched over menacingly as she glared at me poisonously. Her pupils began to dilate and her walk grew slower and yet more threatening. I was trapped. She was getting closer and closer . . .

"Fine, I won't say anything," I cried out.

She smiled innocently, like everything that happened beforehand was nothing more than a daydream. "I know what you've been doing lately, I know that it's all for him."

"Flame Demon," I whispered.

She nodded. "And I appreciate everything you did. He will be very pleased once the two of you reunite."

"Do you know what happened to him?" I asked shakily.

Ayano shook her head. "I don't know much about demons and lore, unfortunately, but I do know that the demons demand very gory sacrifices."

I nodded. "I know that, in fact the Pain Demon requested me to avenge him using five people. But it's so horrifying that I don't know if I could go through with it."

Ayano threw her head back and laughed like I told a joke instead of informing her about a demonic sacrifice. "Do you really think the lives of five strangers are going to matter when your beloved is involved? He might be in serious trouble and going through with this ritual might call upon his captor. You have to make serious choices for love and this is one of them. What's it going to be: five complete and utter strangers or Flame Demon?"

I look to the floor beneath us and writhed my hands together, almost like what Oka does constantly. "It's just so . . . disgusting and immoral."

"You already killed Midori," Ayano said, tilting her head to the side curiously. "What's there to lose if you kill more? The damage is already done. If you get your beloved in the end, then it's proof that it was worth it."

"Where am I going to find sacrifices, though?" I asked.

"If you ask me, you're already in a club filled with them," Ayano shrugged. Then a creepy smile suddenly took over. "In fact, I already know the perfect candidate: Oka Ruto."

"Oka, why her," I gasped. I wasn't very close to Oka—in fact, I don't anyone is close to Oka other than Shin—but she was so timid and innocent (once you ignored all the stalking she's done).

"She has her eyes set on Senpai as well," Ayano said creepily. "And if you through with this, then you would be helping both of us. Two birds with one stone, as my mother always said."

"And if I don't?" I said, narrowing my eyes in suspicion.

"Then you know what happens to murderers," Ayano said lightheartedly with a threatening undertone. "You have a choice here, Sakura-chan, either do the ritual and find your senpai, or let justice be done and never see him or this school again."

Her smile was the last thing I saw before she vanished.