A/N: I think I just upload Friday from now on. It's the only day I can update it seems. Anyways, ENJOY!
Chapter 7: Resentment Is a Tool
I silently watch as the janitors drag the two bodies away. I brought Laura to our room; Ludwig is comforting her right now. Kiku is standing beside me, looking at the balaclava in his hands.
Outside, the storm has calmed down to just a miserable drizzle and some harsh wind, but softer than the past four days.
"So, we know who it is now," he murmurs. I just hum in confirmation. Kiku looks up at my solemn face before redirecting his gaze towards the blood on the side of my pyjamas. "You should probably go to the nurse," he then urges. I look down too and lift my shirt.
"No, it's okay. The wound didn't tear too far, it'll heal," I point out. Kiku doesn't seem satisfied by the answer but doesn't pry. In truth, I haven't looked until just now. So, I was diagnosing myself on the spot.
"I'm really starting to want to kill the one who is doing this," Ivan suddenly appears right behind me. "Why are they doing this? Why are they-" Ivan chokes on his own words and angrily clenches his jaws together. "Why is the cleaning lady killing the students?" he then growls out.
"I don't know," Kiku replies.
"Come on, Ivan. Let's go eat," Yao, Ivan's roommate, is there. He pulls Ivan away from the blood-soaked room and doorframe.
"We better go eat too, Arthur," Kiku also pulls me away from the now locked room. But Tim's blood is still visible. Tim. He may have hated me. But in the end, he still helped me. He did it to save Laura. And I really appreciate that.
That arrogant Dutch asshole. Rest in peace, Tim and Luca.
"We know who the murderer is now, but we don't have any evidence. Plus, we've searched the whole school five times already and she's nowhere to be found where students are allowed to go. She's hiding," Kiku says softly to me as we sit in the library. Laura isn't with us today, she's with the other girls. I don't mind, they know how to comfort her better. I wish I could do it though, my heart aches when I see her cry. So instead of Laura, Ludwig and Ivan are sitting with us. Yao is somewhere with Ka Lung.
"Maybe we can catch her tonight? Or today, if we go searching for her in the restricted areas," Ivan proposes. I shake my head.
"No, we can't go searching for her there. She'll just run away, or we'll get caught and punished. And having her alone is not evidence. We need proof," I tell him. Ivan sighs and leans back in his chair. I want to do the same, but have to remind myself that I can't with the current stab wound in my lower back.
"Maybe we could set our own cameras up tonight?" Kiku suggests. "She always hacks the ones from the school. How I don't know, but she does." Kiku fumbles with his closed laptop. "And if we hide them well enough, she won't find them. We can ask Eduard if he wants to help, I think he has a spare camera somewhere," Kiku explains.
"Yeah, but where are you going to hang the camera? Where is she going to be? If we just film a faceless silhouette walking inside a dorm building, we can't prove anything," I question. "If she has another way of covering her face, a camera also wouldn't help," I add.
"Arthur's right, we need another way of gathering evidence," Ludwig seems to be more alive now than he's been the past days. In fact, when he heard Kiku and I were going to plan further in the investigation, he wanted to join immediately. Ivan was also very eager to join when he heard Ludwig insist on joining. But I think Ivan has some ulterior motive which may include wanting to punch someone.
"Maybe we should film her while she's trying to kill someone? Lay in wait tonight," Ivan suggests. Everyone looks up at the massive Russian.
"That's not a bad idea. If you want to risk getting stabbed," I point out. Ludwig grimaces at that, clearly remembering that event.
"Well, what else can we do?" Ivan sounds desperate somehow. "We have to catch that fucking witch and end all of this-" Ivan slams his hand against the table- "this madness! This mass murdering!" he exclaims loudly through the library. Luckily no one else is here. As far as we know.
"We know, Ivan. Calm down," Kiku lays a hand on the Russian's shoulder. But Ivan shrugs the Japanese's hand off.
"I might be able to help," a young woman's voice suddenly pipes up. We all turn to see the new cleaning lady standing a bit away, clenching her rain jacket in her hands.
"You can?" I question. She nods and walks closer.
"I've seen Benita's room. She keeps a journal, and she keeps all of her gear in a box under her bed," the young woman reveals.
"How do you know all this?" Kiku asks her. The woman comes to stand by the table so she can talk more quietly.
"On my first day here, I mistook my room for hers. I already found it very suspicious. There are a lot of articles hanging on her wall. All of the articles are about rape in schools and rape in general. But when the killings started, I was curious and went to search her room because of the articles. I found boxes with knives and gas canisters. I also found other things that may serve as your evidence. And I wanted to approach you earlier about this, but Benita's been watching me very closely. And I was scared," She sighs and sits down beside me, at the head of the table.
"But when I heard what happened this morning, I decided to speak up anyway. I feel responsible, I feel like I'm guilty too. Because I have known all along but didn't say anything." She places her face in her hands and sobs. I look at her and feel both angry at her and bad for her. She's known all along. She's known, she could have stopped this earlier. We could have stopped this earlier! But I also understand in a way.
"Well, then. With that, all we now need to make sure she'll end up behind bars is footage of her committing the act at least to some extent. And then we have all the things we need to get her a long prison sentence," I determinedly grab my notebook and flip it open. "But for that, we're going to need a plan."
I knock on Eduard and Raivis their door with Kiku beside me, room 009. Eduard opens the door with a sour expression. But when he sees Kiku, his expression brightens slightly.
"Oh, Kiku, Arthur. Is there something you need?" he asks before letting us enter.
"So, let me get this straight, you two need me to let the doors of your room open tonight?" the headteacher looks very serious. Both Ludwig and I don't budge. That's why I chose Ludwig to accompany me.
"Yes, sir. We fear that locking our door is making Ludwig very anxious," I confirm. In truth, the locked doors would ruin our plan. And our door's lock is broken, and we don't want the headteacher to find out and let the janitor repair it.
"Convince me," the headteacher suddenly says. "I know you and some other students are planning something. And I know that Ludwig is better off with the door locked. So, explain it to me and convince me I'm not just letting students commit suicide. I have a reputation to uphold here," the headteacher states. Oh, so now he cares.
"You need us to do what?" Lukas asks us with an annoyed expression.
"Switch rooms," Ivan repeats with an ominous smile.
"Why?" Tino asks, putting down his book.
"Because we can catch the killer. But we need another room to sleep in for that, specifically Tino and Berwald their room," I explain. Ivan nods eagerly.
"Well, if you can promise us that the killer will be caught, I think we can make a deal," Mathias agrees first. And it isn't even his room we need.
"Aright, everything has been set up, Amelia," I tell the young cleaning lady. She smiles at me. "Thank you for the information on which room she will choose tonight."
"It's what I was supposed to do days ago," Amelia reacts with a guilty expression before looking up into my eyes. "Alright, then we meet again here when Benita is out," she tells me. I nod and off I go. We're ready. Now, to wait for the fly. Our web has been spun.
Endnote: I know this was incredibly short, but bear with me. The next update will be longer again. Not much else to be said here.