Okay, so, I'm setting up the first murder, and I want it to be a surprise, so I may or may not set up a scenario where it could possibly be three or four people that get killed.
A Tragedy of Great Proportions
It had been about fifteen minutes since Monokuma had disappeared and the twenty four teens were left to brood over their next move.
What do we do now? Trent asked himself, completely shell-shocked at the situation.
The whole gymnasium was engulfed in silence, before an unlikely person spoke up.
"... How about we search for an exit?" Katie suggested; her voice quiet unlike her usually hyper self. "We could go to the front door and we can check the metal plates closing off the windows?"
After Katie had made her suggestion, the large room returned to its silence for a few moments, until it was broken yet again.
"Katie's right." Heather spoke up, surprising everyone. "Noah, Harold, Izzy, go and check for any flaws in the metal shutters."
"Why should we do what you say?" Harold narrowed his eyes.
"I agree with her. Harold, just do it." Gwen chimed in, agreeing with her nemesis for the first time.
With a sigh, Harold and Noah began to drag themselves up into the stands, walking up to the windows at the back as Izzy leaped up with excitement.
"I will go and check the front door." Dawn offered.
Everyone turned round to look at the petite moonchild. "You can't go on your own," Courtney narrowed her eyes. "I'll go with you and make sure you don't do anything suspicious."
"If either of you end up murdered at least we'll know who the culprit is." Scott joked, snickering slightly.
Mike, who was standing beside the dirt-farmer, elbowed him in the ribs. "Cut it out!" He glared.
After narrowing her eyes at her former boyfriend, Courtney began to walk to the door with Dawn.
"Wait a minute," Cody began to cast his mind to when he first saw the building from the outside. "There's got to be more floors tan the one we're on now. Someone should go check the stairs."
"Eee!" Sierra squealed. "I call dibs on searching the stairs with Cody-kins!" She called, her voice much faster than usual.
"Fine by me." Gwen said, as the purple-haired uber-fan ran out of the gymnasium with the tech geek over her shoulder.
"While watching your attempts at find an escape is amusing, I'm going to check some of the rooms in this place on my own." Alejandro told the others rather bluntly.
"Huh?" Tyler raised a brow. "Why?!"
"Because someone here might already be planning a murder, and I don't want to risk becoming the victim." Alejandro informed the hopeless jock of his reasoning.
"But... why would..." Zoey uttered, only to be interrupted by the Spaniard.
"-Anyone kill another?" Alejandro asked rhetorically. "For a multitude of reasons, but the main one would probably be to 'graduate' as our principal put it."
"Hold it, Al!" Duncan warned the Spanish teen, stepping in front of him. "How do we know you're not setting up a murder?"
"Please," Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Get out of my way, low-life."
"What was that?!" Duncan's eyes bulged as he formed a fist. "You're headed in the right direction for a beat down!"
"Guys!" Trent interjected the two men. "What is fighting gonna resolve?!"
"Leave it, Trent." Gwen put a hand on the musician's shoulder.
"Yeah, better do what the girl says." Duncan warned him.
Trent could feel himself growing angry at the delinquent, clenching his fist, but let it go as he didn't want it to erupt into a full scale argument. Thusly, he turned to Gwen, before leaving Alejandro and Duncan alone.
"Now, if you don't mind," Alejandro said, removing Duncan's hand from his shirt. "I have places to be."
"Not so fast!" Monokuma shook his finger, standing in front of the door. Most were startled at Monokuma's impromptu return. "I haven't given you your Electronic Handbooks yet." He told the group, tossing out an e-handbook to each individual.
"You missed Cody, Sierra, Dawn and Courtney." Gwen told Monokuma.
"I met with them in the hallway." Monokuma informed the Goth. "Why is everyone always so surprised to see me apart from that little blonde girl?"
"I think she knows when somebody's creepin' up on her or somethin'..." said Anne Maria as she caught her e-handbook. "Hey, what do these things even do anyways?"
"Good question." Monokuma nodded his head. "These e-handbooks contain a list of school rules, a map of the building, and can take photographs or videos of crime scenes to be used in investigations! The best part is that they are all individualised!" He revealed, before making a swift exit.
Trent switched his on to take a look at what sort of information the handbook had. Name: Trent, Super High School Level: The Musician. Gender: Male. Eye colour: Green. Hair Colour: Black. He read the contents in his head. Beside his personal information was a profile photo of himself. The book also contained his height, weight and many other pieces of information about his life.
"Ooh!" Owen's eyes widened as he examined the map of the building. "There's a cantine!"
"That's all we got?" Scott furrowed his brow. "Dorm rooms, bathrooms, a couple classrooms and a canteen? What about a gym? A games room? A pool? And why is the map only showing the first floor?!"
"We're... stuck in a building... with a maniacal bear that's telling us that the only way out is to kill someone... and you're worrying about the lack of a games-room?" Bridgette trembled, trying to hold herself together as Geoff held her.
"She's right, dude." Geoff added. "Don't be so stupid."
"I don't want to see another argument erupt. It brings on stress which is bad for the bod." Justin said, tucking his e-handbook in his pocket. "Plus, I need my beauty rest. I can trust none of you will want to damage this gorgeous face while I go lie down?"
"I won't!" Katie and Sadie said, as if they were in a trance.
"Thanks, girls," Justin smiled as he exited the gym.
"I say we split up and search this building." Heather spoke up after the male model had exited the room. "There's got to be a clue somewhere that will help lead us to an escape and I intend to find it. Who's with me?"
There was an awkward silence after the Queen Bee voiced her idea, but one-by-one, everyone began to raise their hands.
"I'll join, Helga!" Lindsay beamed.
"It's better than sitting around doing nothing, that's for sure." Duncan said as he raised his hand.
"Good idea, Heather." Trent uttered, raising his hand as well.
"You can go ahead with your plans, but I feel it necessary that we all gather in the canteen in exactly one hour to discuss our findings."
"It's a plan!" Izzy beamed as she leapt down from the stands, Noah and Harold followed shortly after.
"The steel plates are flawless." Harold informed the others. "So that's out of the question. I'm up for searching the building."
Everyone then turned to look at Noah, who sighed. "Fine..." He uttered, raising his hand.
"Good." Heather flashed a smile. "Now let's split up."
The groups formed consisted of Heather, Lindsay and Tyler, Bridgette and Geoff, Katie and Sadie, Anne Maria and Mike, Noah, Harold, Izzy and Owen, Duncan and Scott and Gwen and Zoey, leaving Alejandro and Trent on their own.
The teams began to file out of the gymnasium, with Gwen, Zoey and Trent being the last to leave.
"Y-you don't mind if I join you, do you?" Trent asked the two girls.
"No, Trent, we don't want you anywhere near us." Gwen said sternly, before her face began to show a hint of sarcasm. "Of course we don't mind."
"I just thought since-" Trent began, but was interrupted by Gwen.
"Since... we used to be together it might be awkward?" Gwen finished Trent's sentence. "Don't be stupid. What's history is history, there's no point dwelling."
Trent couldn't help but smile. "Thanks..."
Zoey then leaned in to whisper. "My lucky number is nine, too." She giggled.
Trent gave the redhead a sarcastic glare in response as she giggled. "Very funny."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Zoey smiled. "I hope you don't mind."
"I won't mind as long as you repeat that eight more times..." Trent said, a serious expression plastered on his face.
Zoey and Gwen looked at him, confused. "Um..." Zoey uttered.
"I'm just kidding..." Trent smiled.
"Oh!" Zoey chuckled, her brown eyes gazing into his. "You had me going there!"
"Quite the comedic king..." Gwen smirked.
"I swear, if you weren't cute, I'd have been a lot more weirded out..." Zoey chuckled.
"I'm not cute!" Trent frowned, but couldn't help but laugh. "You sound like Katie and Sadie..."
Trent, Zoey and Gwen decided to examine the dorms, choosing to go to Trent's first as it was the first one on their path. Each room had a nameplate stuck to the wall beside the door.
They slowly pushed down on the handle and opened the door, revealing the standard bedroom, complete with a double bed and an en suite bathroom.
"Wow..." Gwen uttered. "I thought it would be some dingy old rickety bed, not this..."
"This is pretty sweet." Trent nodded. "Apart from the massive, metal eye-sore." He added, gesturing to the metal plates that he presumed covered a window.
"And the security camera..." Zoey added, pointing to the corner of the room.
Hesitantly, the trio began to edge further into the room, where they noticed a large plasma-screen displayed on the wall.
"A TV?" Gwen uttered, confused. "Why would the person behind that bear fit each dorm out with a TV when he plans on us all dying?"
"Gwen..." Zoey sighed. "Could you not... you know... say it like that?"
"I'm sorry, Zoey, but it's the truth." Gwen informed the redhead. "And until we find an escape, we're going to have to accept it."
"I guess..." Zoey sighed once more.
Whilst the girls were talking, Trent tried to enter the bathroom, but couldn't as the door was locked.
"What the'?" Trent uttered, trying to forcefully open the door but to no avail. "I'll need to speak to Mono-what's his face about this."
"He'll probably give us keys or something." Gwen thought, but retracted her statement once she saw that there was no keyhole. "Maybe some sort of electronic thing?"
"Maybe..." Trent uttered, finally giving up on the door.
The hour went by rather quickly, but not before Trent, Zoey and Gwen inspected Gwen and Zoey's rooms. After doing so, they made their way to the cafeteria.
Upon arrival at the canteen, they were met by all of the others, including Justin, Dawn, Courtney, Sierra and Cody.
"Alas, we are all here." Alejandro said, noticing the trio.
"Yes, we can be sure that no-one would dare commit a murder in front of so many witnesses." Dawn added.
Ignoring Dawn's statement, Trent asked how Justin, Dawn, Courtney, Cody and Sierra knew to turn up at the Cafeteria.
"I sent them a message through our e-books!" Izzy informed the musician.
"Yeah," Courtney began. "They're really useful."
"Enough idle chatting." Alejandro stopped the two, drawing attention to himself. "I suggest we discuss our findings."
"Well, I discovered that the food in the cafeteria is delicious!" Owen chuckled, stuffing his face. "Five stars!"
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Dawn and I tried the front door. It's blocked, like the windows." She revealed. "There was a high-tech lock system that we couldn't decipher. So escaping that way is out of the question."
"Cody and I found the staircases!" Sierra revealed, but her grin soon dropped. "But they were guarded off by shutters."
"So as of now, we can only inspect the first floor." Said Dawn.
"The rooms are pretty neat." Trent said. "There was a double bed, a TV, and an en-suite in each of them that we checked."
"Too bad there were metal shutters in there as well." Gwen added.
Zoey perked up. "Don't forget the security cameras!"
"The fridge was filled with food." Alejandro revealed. "There's also no need to worry about running out, Monokuma told me that they re-stock the fridge daily."
"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!" Owen gasped. "There was more found outside of the canteen?!"
Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Yes. In the kitchen, where the food is prepared."
"So nobody found any exits?" Duncan asked. "Well this plan failed."
"Not necessarily." Dawn replied to the delinquent. "The search has confirmed the thing that we all feared..."
"What's that, then?" Scott asked the moonchild.
"The fact that we are trapped inside a cage with no doors." Dawn deduced.
With that, Katie and Sadie broke down in each other's arms, whilst Bridgette began to shake.
"It's okay, babe," Geoff tried to console his girlfriend, putting his hand on hers.
Bridgette was quick to retract her hand from underneath Geoff's, and pushed back in her seat to allow her to get up. All while doing so, her face hauntingly displayed no emotion, the only thing giving her thoughts away being the slight tremble she made.
"Bridge?" Geoff muttered, before getting up from his seat and running after his girlfriend. "Bridge!" He said, catching a hold of Bridgette's wrist, causing her to stop.
Geoff turned his girlfriend to face him, but was at a loss of words when he saw the pain in her eyes.
"Just..." Bridgette uttered, her eyes looking drousy. "Just... leave me alone, Geoff..." She continued, slipping her hand free from Geoff's and turning towards the door.
"But, Bridge!" Geoff's voice quavered.
Bridgette didn't stop to face her flame. "Leave me alone." She told Geoff, her voice lacking emotion. "Leave me alone..." She added, this time much quieter, like a whisper, as if she was trying to convince herself that that was what she really wanted.
Geoff stood motionless for a few moments as everyone remained in a state of silence, until he began to traipse back in the direction of his seat.
Trent, who was the closest to the door, approached the blonde and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "...You want me to have a word with her?" He asked, as Geoff hung his head.
Geoff moved his head slightly to signify a nod, before taking a seat at the table once more.
Trent gave Geoff a reassuring smile before making his way to Bridgette, outside of the cafeteria.
Pushing the cafeteria door open, Trent expected to see an empty hallway, but instead saw a turquoise-blue ball curled up against one of the walls; Bridgette.
"Bridgette?" Trent uttered to inform the girl of his presence. Sure enough, she raised her hands from between her knees, before returning to her curled up form.
Trent sighed. The situation he was in was terrifying, but some were taking it with more hope of escape than others. Bridgette, however, seemed to have given up all hope of ever seeing the outside world again.
Trent slowly approached the surfer girl, hearing her sobbing grow louder with every step he took.
"Can you just go back to the others?" Bridgette asked Trent, refraining from looking at him. "I... I need to be alone..."
Ignoring Bridgettes wishes, Trent sat down beside her and leant up against the wall. "Geoff's worried about you..."
Bridgette temporarily stopped her tears, to listen to what Trent had to say. "Well just go and tell him I'll be fine soon..."
"... We both know that's a lie, though..." He sighed, as Bridgette lifted her head up. She turned her head to the green-eyed musician and rubbed her eye with her rolled up sleeve.
"Well I apologise for lying!" She snapped, sniffling and trying to hold back her tears. "I just can't be the rock that Geoff needs right now. So why don't you just go back to him and tell him that, okay?"
"Bridgette, he-" Trent tried to speak to the surfer-girl.
"Look... Trent," Bridgette sniffled. "I'm sorry for not being there by Geoff's side, telling him that everything's going to be okay and giving him a reassuring kiss on the cheek; I really am, but I can't always be there to do that... I just... can't... Okay? Every once in a while I need to be told that everything's going to turn out right in the end, and when that's not enough, to be kissed... a kiss that speaks a thousand words, Trent... sometimes... sometimes I need that..."
After offloading her feelings onto Trent, Bridgette was quick in regretting it. Climbing to her feet, she needed to find solace with solitude, and decided that the only place she wouldn't be disturbed was her bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Trent... I-I didn't mean to-" She attempted to apologise, but was stopped when she felt Trent's hand on hers. Instead, she simply stopped walking.
"Bridgette..." Trent uttered, Bridgette facing the other way. "You're underestimating him you know... Geoff. He might be happy-go-lucky on the outside but he has an emotional side, too, and right now, all he cares about is you..."
Bridgette hung her head down. "How do you know?" She muttered, relieving her hand of Trent's grip.
"You should've seen him in there, Bridge," said Trent. "He was a wreck; he didn't say a word after you left... He needs you... He needs you to need him."
Bridgette stood motionless for a few moments before turning to look Trent in the eye; her lip trembling and a tear falling down her cheek. Without saying a word she embraced her emerald-eyed friend with a hug, resting her head on his shoulder as she began to sob.
Awkwardly, Trent reciprocated the hug, wrapping his right arm around Bridgette as she continually cried. Bridgette began to sniffle, before her crying stopped; her eyes widening at what she saw behind Trent.
"I-I'm sorry." She stammered, detaching herself from Trent and wiping her eyes. "... I'm sorry..." She whispered, before running off down the corridor.
"Bridgette!" Trent called out for the distressed surfer girl. "... wait..." He muttered, knowing that even if he had said it louder she still would not have heard him.
Turning around, Trent saw the cafeteria door swinging slightly, indicating that someone had opened it a few moments ago. Who did she see? Geoff? Trent pondered, before re-entering the room.
Almost everyone had changed positions from their huddle around the main table the last time he was in the room; Owen was walking around shoving donuts into his mouth, Gwen and Zoey were standing by the vending machine, Duncan and Geoff were now sitting at a small, circular table and Izzy was leaping around the tables excitedly.
"Ooh, ooh, Trent's back!" Izzy grinned, spotting Trent in the door frame.
Most eyes turned to the musician, including Geoff's. "Did you manage to talk her round?" Geoff asked him, his voice softer than usual.
Trent sighed. "I thought I did... but apparently not..." He put his hand on Geoff's shoulder sympathetically.
Geoff turned back to face Duncan after speaking to Trent, leaving Trent feeling quite surprised that he wasn't more worried about his girlfriend.
Before the room could be in an awkward silence for too long, Katie trembled out her worries. "So... we're stuck here... forever?" Her lip quivered, trying to come to terms with the situation.
"Don't say that, Katie!" Sadie furrowed a brow, lightly hitting her BFFFL on the shoulder. "We'll find a way out soon!"
"But what if we don't?" Katie asked her chubbier friend, worried. "How can I live in here?"
"By adapting." Dawn muttered, prompting everyone's heads to turn in her direction with faces as if to say: Are you being serious right now?
"Heck, no!" Duncan shook his head. "I'm getting out of this place whether that creepy bear likes it or not!"
"Maybe you will," Dawn uttered, no emotion in her voice. "But until then we will need to adapt." She told her peers. "It is not the strong or the smart that survive, but those that are able to bring about change."
"Somebody's been spending too much time with Mary-Jane and Molly." Heather quipped, smirking as she did so.
"Let her speak." Zoey scowled at the Queen Bee.
"Thank you, Zoey," Dawn smiled at the redhead. "Based on my suggestion, I have a proposal." She stood up from her seat; her small stature not intimidating to anyone. "In the school rules section of our e-handbooks, there is a section about 'Night time'. I suggest we add a rule of our own here."
"Oh yeah?" Scott narrowed his eyes. "Like what? I don't play by the rules anyhow, so why should I follow this one?"
"My proposed rule would be one that prohibits anyone being outside of their room alone between the hours of 10PM and 7AM." Dawn suggested, with some sceptics. "That is all." She concluded, returning to her seat.
"Why?" Owen asked the moonchild. "That rule's a party-pooper."
"Oh, Owen, how innocent you are." Dawn chuckled lightly. "I propose this rule so that every night, we won't have to sit on edge, glancing at the door every minute in fear that someone is there, waiting to kill us." She revealed; her voice monotonous as everyone gasped. "Sadly, we cannot properly enforce this rule, and will have to rely on trust."
Everyone was left brooding over the fact that this situation was real and that what Dawn was saying was true.
"Why so glum, everyone?" Monokuma chuckled, startling everyone as he revealed himself standing beside Gwen. "Not despairing are we?"
"No," Noah told the principal. "We're going to find a way out soon, so what's the point in despair?"
"Oh, I don't think you are," Monokuma laughed, grinning. "This place is air-tight! Nothing can get in or out."
"Where there's a will, there's a way." Zoey said firmly, her brow furrowing.
"How cute." Monokuma snickered, clapping his hands. "Now, I wanted to make an announcement, but I saw that you weren't all here, so I dealt with your little surfing-friend and she obliged."
"Bridge?" Geoff's eyes widened. "What did you do to her?!"
Monokuma laughed at the seriousness of Geoff's voice. "Nothing! Don't get your tighty-whiteys in a twist! I simply told her to go to the AV room. I have a special surprise for you all there!"
Upon entering the AV Room, each former-Total Drama contestant was given a DVD with their name written on it. Bridgette had already picked up her DVD from the counter and was sitting on one of the chairs positioned in front of the computer screens.
"Sit down," Monokuma ordered, yet the tone of his voice was rather light-hearted. "And enjoy the movie!" He grinned, as he teens warily took a seat with their DVDs in hand.
Trent pulled up a seat on the end of a row, with Katie on his right and Sadie on Katie's right.
"Like, Katie, what if it's a horror film?" Sadie worried. "I, like, really hate horror films!"
"Such a shame you're in one now then..." Noah muttered under his breath as he put his headphones on, prompting him to receive an elbow to his right side by Gwen.
Warily, Trent picked up the headphones sitting on his desk after putting the DVD in the disc drive.
Loading... Loading... Loading... Was what the screen said, as an image of Monokuma's face spun around in a circular fashion.
Whilst his DVD was loading, he looked around to see if anyone's had started. None had. However, he noticed that Bridgette and Geoff were not sitting near one another, which made him feel bad that he couldn't help them.
Moments later, the screen went static, before the video started to play. On the DVD were Trent's parents, smiling proudly.
"Trent!" His dad smiled. "Your mom and I are recording this video message to tell you just how proud of you we are!"
"We can't be any happier for you that you've been selected to study Music History at Hope's Peak Academy." His mother said, smiling sweetly. "Don't forget about us on your way to fame!"
"Don't push yourself too hard, son," His dad added. "And remember to have fun!"
The screen then went static, and resumed again. The setting was still the same, as was the camera angle, but everything had changed. It was like a savage beast had run wild through his living room: cushions were torn apart, curtains were ripped from the railings, vases and windows were smashed, and what looked to be blood was smeared everywhere from the couch to the walls.
What worried him most, however, was the absence of his parents.
Trent started to sweat, fearing the fate of his parents, before looking around the room. It seemed that everyone had received an equally horrific DVD. The screen then flashed black, with the words "Call this a motive" appearing in white. This message did not disappear after a few seconds; it stayed there.
Refraining from shedding a tear, Trent instead turned to his right to see the others: Sadie was covering her eyes with her hands, leaving Katie's mind in overdrive. Her eyes darted from left to right, clearly reading what was on the screen over and over again.
Her hand was shaking, a tear forming in her eye.
Trent swallowed his own fears, trying to put the wellbeing of his peers before his own. He reached his hand out, placing it on top of Katie's. Almost immediately, Katie stopped trembling, her hand remaining still. Instead of re-reading the message on the screen, her eyes moved down her hand, which Trent had put his hand on.
Katie closed her eyes, relaxing with the feeling of Trent's hand on hers. If this were in any other situation, she would have squealed, but she couldn't physically bring herself anywhere near doing that given what she had just watched.
"Just a little motivation!" Monokuma laughed, startling everyone and causing Katie to quickly open her eyes and retract her hand.
"You sick-minded bas-" Duncan tried to cuss the talking bear out, only to be told that school rules forbid any harassment of the principal.
"Now, if you're all done here, you may return to your rooms and get settled in!" Monokuma clapped his hands, as the teens began to stand up one by one.
Katie immediately turned to Sadie and the pair embraced each other whilst Bridgette walked out of the room first, her eyes looking empty.
Everyone looked either extremely upset or devoid of emotion as they filed out of the AV room. Trent saw Gwen at the end of the line out of the room, and decided to wait on her.
Once the Goth had managed to get to where Trent was, he noticed that she didn't look upset or anything. He would understand if she was shocked and was trying to blank it from her mind, but something was wrong.
"Why... Why don't you look upset?" Trent asked her, genuinely confused. If she'd received a video like his, then she would have more to show for it than a frown.
Gwen looked at the musician and then just walked past.
"Gwen?" Trent furrowed a brow, catching the girl by her sleeve.
"What?!" Gwen snapped, annoyed.
Taken aback, Trent let go of her sleeve. "You don't look upset..."
"Why would I be?" Gwen asked the musician, her eyes narrowing, before walking off, leaving Trent in a state of utter confusion.
After the AV Room, everyone needed some alone time, just to get to grips with this new 'High School'. Trent had been lying in his bed for a couple of hours, with the same question running through his mind. What did she mean? "Why would I be?" He asked himself over and over again, trying to find an answer. After doing so for at least two hours, he fell asleep.
"Notice from Principal Monokuma!" The TV switched on, waking Trent up, revealing Monokuma sitting on a chair with TV screens behind him, like he was in a camera-room. "It is coming up for night-time, so I shall inform you that the water in your shower room only functions in the day time! Also, only the girls showers can be locked, sorry, boys." He laughed. "Finally, I have prepared some presents for you. They're in your drawer. Use them however you want – be creative!" He winked, before the screen shut off.
"Wait..." Trent thought to himself. "Why does my bathroom have a lock then?"
"Good question!" Came a high-pitched voice. Trent sprung up to see Monokuma standing in his doorway. "Your door is not locked, it's just jammed. The key to opening it is lifting the doorknob up while turning it."
"It worked!" Trent smiled as his door opened.
"Of course it did!" Monokuma laughed. "Now, I've got places to be!" He said, making his way to the door. "Oh and Trent... lock your door next time." He chuckled, slamming the door shut.
Trent narrowed his eyes at the closed door, angered with the bear. He walked over to the door, and was just about to lock it when he looked up at the clock: 8:15PM.
There were two people he had meant to go and see: Gwen and Katie. The former had been playing on his mind because of what she had said earlier, whilst he wanted to check up on the latter.
Instead of locking the door, he opened it. Looking left and then right, he decided to go right, in hopes that he'd find the door he was looking for.
He made his way down the corridor, turning left once, until he got to his destination. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door three times, awaiting a response.
Whilst he was waiting, he could hear approaching him from behind and so sharply turned his head. He wasn't intimidated by who he saw: Zoey.
The redhead simply gave the musician a warm smile, and passed him by, looking to be going in the direction of the cafeteria.
"Um, Trent?" A soft voice asked, prompting him to turn to face the now open door.
"Katie!" He smiled.
"Um... why are you at my door?" Katie asked, confused.
"Well, it's about earlier..." Trent told the girl rather sheepishly. "Can I come in?"
Katie looked the musician up and down, before opening the door wider. "Sure." She smiled.
Trent returned the smile, entering Katie's room. Katie shut the door behind the musician, as he sat on the end of her bed.
"So what did you want to ask me?" Katie asked the raven-headed teen, climbing onto her bed and sitting cross-legged by the pillow.
"I just wanted to talk to you; ask you if you were okay after... you know..." Trent sighed, now thinking about his family.
As if echoing the musician, Katie let out a small sigh as well. "Thanks for that by the way," She shook her head slightly, as if she were shaking out the bad thoughts. "You know, for calming me down a bit earlier..."
"No need to thank me," Trent smiled. "Always here if you need me. I've already acted councillor to Geoff and Bridgette!" He joked, as Katie chuckled. After the chuckling had died down, he could help but ask "Say, where's Sadie? Aren't you two usually joint at the hip?"
"Hey!" Katie playfully scowled. "We're not that dependant on each other. We are separate people, you know..." She chuckled. "Anyway, she wanted an early night, you know, after the AV room..."
"Oh, yeah, course..." Trent responded uncomfortably, feeling like he had put a downer on the mood. "Anyways..." He tried to change the topic.
"What you did for Bridgette was cute, by the way..." Katie blushed. "You're so sweet."
Trent smiled at the compliments. "You don't need to flatter me," He chuckled. "Just, if you need someone to talk to, I'll be in my room!" He told the skinny girl, attempting to stand up from the bed.
"Could you not stay?" Katie asked, a little downtrodden. "I need a little chat to take my mind off of things... I'd ask Sadie, but she's sleeping..."
"A chat?" Trent asked. "About what...?"
"We can talk about the Religion of Nine if you want." Katie joked, chuckling as she couldn't contain her laughter.
"You're the second person to bring that up today..." Trent smirked, sitting back down on the end of Katie's bed. "So anyways... how's it been?"
"Rise and shine, idiots!" Monokuma's voice rang out through the dorms. "It's 7.00AM, so let's get ready for another despair-inducing day at Hope's Peak Academy!"
Slowly, Trent awoke to find a blanket thrown over him. He was curled up at the bottom of Katie's bed. "Aw, crap..." He muttered to himself. "I didn't fall asleep on Katie did I?" He cringed, sitting up and examining his surroundings. Though it was similar, this room was not his, meaning that it was Katie's.
"Katie?" He called out, but to no answer. "Katie...?" He re-iterated, pulling back the duvet to find an empty bed. "Someone's an early riser..." He yawned.
The day before, everyone had agreed to have breakfast together as a part of Dawn's rule, to prevent anyone worrying.
"I better get going..." He yawned again, rubbing his eye. "Don't want them wondering where I am..."
"Trent!" Owen beamed, spotting Trent at the door of the Cafeteria. "You're here!"
"Yup." Trent affirmed. "Was I the last one? I fell asleep in Katie's room last night and it looks like she's long gone..."
"She hasn't arrived yet?" Sierra furrowed a brow. "Maybe she went to the bathroom?"
"Trent and Katie sitting in a tree-" Owen began, but was told to shut up by Heather.
"It's too early in the morning for a sing-song, lard-butt." Heather groaned, still tired.
Currently, there were twelve people in the cafeteria: Owen, Sierra, Heather, Cody, Mike, Harold, Courtney, Dawn, Tyler, Izzy, Noah and Trent, but one by one, the others began to gather.
"So much for everyone being here on time!" Courtney moaned as the first person, Anne Maria, walked in late.
"Lookin' like this takes time!" Anne Maria snapped back, spraying yet another coat of hairspray onto her pouf.
"And the Lindsiot arrives..." Heather quipped as Lindsay walked through the door.
"Yay!" Lindsay cheered for herself as she pulled up a seat beside Tyler.
Justin was next to enter, followed by Scott, Gwen, Duncan and Alejandro.
"Who are we still waiting on?" Cody asked to anyone that cared enough to bother answering.
"Geoff, Bridgette, Zoey, Katie and Sadie!" Sierra told her stalk-ee without so much as a pause between breaths.
"Please no..." Gwen's eyes widened as she cast her mind back to last night.
She's probably gone to see Sadie. Trent thought, trying to answer where she could have gone.
Soon enough, Sadie toddled in, closely followed by Geoff.
Geoff took a moment to examine the room. "Where's Bridge?"
"And Katie!" Sadie added, desperately searching for her BFFFL.
"Zoey's not usually late?" Mike raised a brow.
"Trent said Katie's bed was vacant!" Harold corrected the goth, prompting Sadie to worry.
"Where is she?!" Sadie trembled. "We need to go look for her!"
"I'll wait here." Noah deadpanned, not wanting to aid Sadie in her search for Katie.
"Just give her time..." Dawn tried to comfort the chubby teen.
"Would it make you feel at ease if Gwen and I went to look for her? Safety in numbers." He chuckled, trying to mask his worry.
"Oh, thank you, Trent!" Sadie smiled. "I'll come with you!"
Gwen picked herself up from her seat, thinking the worst.
The trio headed out of the door, but were caught up by Geoff, who was worried about Bridgette.
"Geoff?" Trent uttered. "What are you doing? Go sit back down, man..."
"No chance." Geoff told the musician, his voice shaking. "I need to know Bridge is okay."
The foursome walked down the corridor the rooms were in, stopping at Bridgette's and then Katie's. The dorms were arranged alphabetically with Alejandro being nearest to the cafeteria. Both of the rooms were empty, but the beds were clearly slept in.
They approached the corner, and turned right to see the final eight dorms: Noah through Zoey.
"Maybe Katie's in your room, Sadie?" Gwen suggested. "She might have gone to the bathroom and just missed you..."
"Good idea!" Sadie smiled, rushing to her door and pushing it open. Trent knocked on Zoey's door, but received no answer. The door was locked, so they couldn't get in either.
"Um, Trent...?" Gwen uttered, standing by Trent's door.
Trent turned around, Trent's door was directly opposite Zoeys.
"What did you do to your door?" She smirked, referring to the scratch marks around the lock-area. "Have trouble locking it?" She joked, pushing the door ever so slightly open. She had found it ajar, but pushed the door slightly to emphasise her joke.
"That wasn't me..." Trent uttered, as Gwen and Geoff looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Geoff furrowed a brow. "You must have noticed it when you came out of here like, five minutes ago?!"
"I didn't sleep there last night..." Trent paled, walking over to his door, past Geoff and Gwen.
"I checked my room but she wasn't there!" Sadie sighed, joining the group. She wasn't given any response as Trent was too busy checking out the scratches on his door.
He slowly pushed the door open and entered the room. "Hello...?" He uttered, as Geoff and Gwen waited at the door.
His room was a mess. The wallpaper had slashes on it and a set of shelves had been knocked over. Everything was in ruin.
Stepping over the broken objects, he arrived at his bed, which had a big gash in it. Whoever was in here had went to town on his room.
"Bridgette?" He uttered, worried. "Katie...? Zoey...?"
He turned to face the shower room, and saw that the knob had been broken. He approached the door carefully, and pushed it open, bracing himself for what he might find.
There she was... Bridgette; curled up into a ball, covered in blood and sobbing.
"Bridgette?" Trent gasped, kneeling down to check if the surfer girl was okay. "Are you alright?!" He asked her, desperately checking her body for any wounds.
Slowly, she raised her arm, pointing a finger to the other end of the shower-room.
Trent slowly turned his head, fearing what Bridgette was pointing at. "... Zoey...?" He muttered, his heart working overtime.
Zoey was sitting there, leaning against the corner of the room, her eyes open yet seeing nothing, a knife lodged into her stomach.
Trent felt like he was choking on thin air at the sight of Zoeys body. Her lifeless corpse was surrounded by a pool of thick, red blood.
"... No..." He muttered, as Gwen, Geoff and Sadie appeared at the door.
"Bridge!" Geoff beamed, happy to see his girlfriend, but upon closer inspection, he noticed the blood-covered room. "...Bridge?"
"Oh my god..." Gwen held her mouth as she saw Zoeys body. "I'm sorry, I can't..." She gagged, swiftly exiting the room.
"What?" Sadie asked from the back. "What's wrong?" She questioned, before seeing Zoey. She started to hyper ventilate at the sight, feeling upset, shocked and disgusted all at once. "W-Who did this?!"
"I don't know..." Trent uttered; his eyes almost as drained as Zoeys as he thought back to the night before when Zoey flashed him that oh-so warm smile of hers, like time had stopped for a moment, and that smile lasted for a lifetime. "... But we'll find out who did..."
A/N: I can't believe I killed her off:(! Anyone that knows me on here knows that I love Zoey, and refer to her as 'Bby Zee'. I tried to develop her a little without giving her too many lines.
So this murder was just like the canon, but I assure you the next ones will not be! I've got one last secret of Zoeys to unveil soon: Where was she going when she passed by Trent and why?
Please tell me in a review who you thought would be the one to get killed: Bridgette, Katie or Zoey? If the majority say Zoey I'll need to re-think how I tackle the next murder.
Sorry if there are any typos or grammatical errors, I really wanted to get this up.