Author's Note: Happy Halloween, y'all! I made a mystery/thriller chapter for you guys lol. Enjoy.
THE NEW PROFESSOR
"So... what's the name of our new professor again?", Elphaba asked and Galinda giggled. The two are walking on their next class, history.
"Dr. Michizen. Students say he's so much younger than Dr. Dillamond but has the same level of his intelligence."
"Seriously though, students overrate teachers just because they're handsome", Elphaba sighed and the two continued walking.
They arrived at their classroom and the green girl noticed that something unusual was happening inside. Pfannee, Shenshen and Milla who all used to sit at the back row of the class primarily because they don't want to pay attention to lectures are now sitting at the first row looking attentively ready to listen to the class.
Galinda, on the other hand, didn't notice and she just proceeded to her sit. Elphaba followed and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
Five minutes later, a well-grown skinny man wearing a nosy suit came running inside the room.
"I'm sorry I'm late", the man uttered while putting his books on the table.
"Late on the first day of cl-", Elphaba was cut by the glares of all the people in the room.
"Excuse me", the man said then hurriedly left the room.
At that same instant, when the new professor was completely out of sight, the whole class buzzed in a roar.
"You shouldn't have said that, green bean!", Pfannee started.
"What? Am I not supposed to make a remark now?"
"Now, the new professor has a bad first impression on us", Shenshen cried.
"How are we gonna date now?", everyone looked at Milla who was crying her eyes out.
"Seriously? What I said wouldn't even hurt an ankle", Elphaba defensively answered.
"Just shut that veggie mouth of yours even for an hour, will you?", Pfannee said and everyone agreed except for Elphaba who just rolled her eyes.
The new professor returned holding a camera.
"I left my camera in the teachers' lounge so I went back to come and get it. Anyway, the reason why I got it is because I want to take a picture of all of you so I will easily remember your faces", the new professor said and everyone exclaimed an "aww" in unison.
The whole class hour was consumed in the picture taking and when the class was over, Galinda and Elphaba went to the cafeteria.
"I didn't learn anything in History Class today because of that new professor!", Elphaba exclaimed.
"I think you need to chill Elphie", Galinda advised.
"I have a bad feeling about this new professor."
Galinda looked suspiciously at her friend and exclaimed, "What?"
"There's something wrong with him. I can feel it", Elphaba said.
"You're nuts. Why don't you just eat this cupcake that he distributed to the whole class?", Galinda suggested.
"He gave cupcakes?"
"Isn't he sweet?", Galinda giggled.
Elphaba accepted the cupcake but didn't eat it.
The next day, instead of starting his lectures, Dr. Michizen brought party banners and pinatas. The new professor arrived late, as usual, and Elphaba couldn't help but exclaim under her breath, "Am I in the right class?"
The new professor started talking, "School can be a bit stressing, you know? But not in my class!" Everyone jumped in uproar and Dr. Michizen continued, "I brought these because we are having a party. Forget about history for a minute and let us parteeeey!"
Fiyero turned the music on and everyone jumped from their seats and started dancing, except for Elphaba of course.
Milla went to Dr. Michizen and exclaimed, "You're the best teacher ever! I hope you already know me."
The new professor made a creepy grin and just shook his head in reply.
Milla slapped his face and the music stopped. Milla then realized what she just did and immediately apologized to the professor. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
Dr. Michizen just smiled, "Oh. That's fine", and the party continued.
The class hour, again, ended in a way Elphaba least expected it and she couldn't be more pissed.
"I am seriously giving him one more chance and if tomorrow, History class is still like that, I am reporting him to the school authorities", Elphaba ranted to her friend.
"Blah. Blah. Everyone's having fun! Who cares?", Galinda answered.
Before the green girl could answer back, a terrified Boq came running to them. "Elphaba, have you heard about the dead body seen lying near the university gym?"
The two girls were shocked and they hurriedly went to the gym. There were a lot of students circled upon the said place and when they got near the dead body, Galinda hysterically cried to her friend. Elphaba was shocked to see Galinda crying and when she tried to look at the face of the dead person lying, she got even more shocked.
It was Milla.
Classes on that day were suspended, as well as the classes on the following days.
One Friday night, Elphaba and Galinda had a chit-chat in their dorm room.
"I still couldn't believe what happened to Milla. I mean, she's mean, that's right. But, what meanest thing had she done to that murderer for it to kill her?", Elphaba said.
"I don't know", Galinda replied, still terrified even though the killing happened several days ago. She continued, "But everyone's thinking it was Dr. Michizen."
"The new professor?"
"Yeah. Didn't you remember that Milla slapped his face in the party? Maybe the new professor got mad at her that's why he killed her. I don't know", Galinda said and sniffed.
Elphaba fell silent. She really didn't like this new professor since Day 1. But could he really be the murderer? If he is, why is it too obvious?
Classes wer'e resumed the following week. Galinda temporarily lost her bubbly self and everyone was acting really frightened and some are suspicious. Then it was History again.
The new professor wasn't late that day and Elphaba noticed that this is unusual. He didn't bring anything. No books, pens or even a bag. The room was quiet until the new professor started talking, I will not be teaching today and you may have your early lunch", then he headed straight to the door.
Before Dr. Michizen could completely leave the room, Pfannee started talking, "Why? Too guilty to even talk to the classmates of the person you murdered?"
The new professor's brows faced each other, "What?"
"Don't deny it. We know you killed Milla", Shenshen said.
Pfannee continued, "And now that we confronted you, you'll kill us too."
"I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry", the new professor ran out of the room and the class went in a riot.
"What are we going to do?", Galinda asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.
Shenshen stood from her chair. "I'm just going to the restroom."
Shenshen picked her bag and immediately headed to the restroom. When she got there, there was no one inside. She put her bag near the faucet below the huge mirror and went in one of the cubicles in the restroom. Not long after she got inside, she heard loud footsteps and the person who went inside locked the main door of the restroom. Shenshen gripped on her cubicle's lock. She looked below and saw that the person with the loud footsteps is standing in front of the door of her cubicle. Shenshen's heart pounded when she realized that the person's shoes aren't usually worn by women.
It was a man. Shenshen thought. He was wearing black shoes and black socks. The shoes, are those Dr. Michizen's?
Before Shenshen could figure it out, the person shook the cubicle's door. Shenshen cried, "Dr. Michizen, don't kill me. I'm sorry. I confronted you. Please, just don't kill me!"
She was having short breaths as her tears came running down her cheeks. The shaking stopped. Shenshen then heard the man's loud footsteps going nearer and nearer to the restroom's main door. She heard that the man unlocked the door. Shenshen didn't move. She took a deep nervous breath after a while before deciding to leave the room.
She slowly unlocked the cubicle's lock. Slowly, she opened the door and realized that she had left her bag near the faucet. When she completely got out of the cubicle, she noticed that there was a writing on the huge mirror.
It was written using her lipstick, "SHUT UP. YOU KNOW NOTHING!"
Shenshen was hysterical and got even more shocked when he realized that the person didn't leave the restroom. It walked towards her.
Nearer...
Nearer...
Then a loud scream was heard from the restroom.
Back in the classroom, Pfannee was talking to her classmates, "Are we just gonna do nothing?"
Elphaba was about to speak something when they heard a loud scream coming from the restroom.
Everyone went to the source of the scream. It was in the men's restroom.
Apparently, it was just Avaric, "There was a spider near the door! Someone rescue me!"
"You startled everyone for this?", Fiyero angrily asked as he picked the spider up and brought it near Avaric.
Elphaba rolled her eyes. She wouldn't waste her time for this. She was about to go back to their room when she got a glimpse of the huge mirror in the women's restroom nearby.
She slowly stepped forward and curiously went inside. She found the writings on the mirror and an unconscious Shenshen lying on the floor covered in blood. Her mouth was stitched up using a thread. She immediately called her classmates.
"Guys. Help me out here!", Elphaba was trying to make her voice sound calmer but she was panicking.
Pfannee screamed when she saw her friend while the boys carried Shenshen to rush her to the hospital.
"I knew it was Dr. Michizen! I'm next. What am I gonna do? I'm next!", Pfannee nervously cried while Galinda tried to comfort her.
Elphaba looked at the writings on the mirror again. She studied the handwriting. She never saw what Dr. Michizen's handwriting looks like because they never had lectures with him before. But this murder is happening too fast and she needs to know who is or are involved in this crime before all of them get killed. She needs to find a solution somehow.
Of course, classes were suspended again because of this unexpected murder. That night, Elphaba couldn't sleep because she keeps on getting dreams about Shenshen and Milla. She rose from bed and went to her closet. The green girl heaved a sigh before finally putting on her black pants and jacket. She is going to find the truth and end this mystery tonight.
She slowly walked towards the door. She opened it before glancing at her roommate, who was silently sleeping, then she proceeded.
When she finally got out of their dorm building, she checked the time on her wrist watch. 1:00 am.
She continued walking. The cold breeze of late October came buzzing around her and as the wind kisses her cheeks, her arms hesitated for a while, signaling that she just realized someone was following her. She heard small footsteps walking towards her and when she stopped, the footsteps sounded louder and the person was running. She braced herself before turning around to look for the person following her. When she turned around, she found the least person she expected it would be.
It was Pfannee.
"Seriously?", Elphaba raised an eyebrow.
"What? I was curious to find a veggie passing by my room at 1 in the morning", Pfannee mocked.
Elphaba made a face before deciding to continue walking, "Go away!"
"Sorry, I was kidding. I wanted to help find who the murderer was too!", Pfannee shouted.
Elphaba growled, "Fine."
They are now in front of Dr. Michizen's house. It was dark and they were freezing outside.
"Let's go in", Elphaba signaled Pfannee to follow her as she slowly approached the door.
They carefully opened the door and something hurriedly went outside the house and Pfannee screamed.
"Just a rat, Pfannee, just a rat", Elphaba said in an irritated manner.
Pfannee produced a nervous sigh and they proceeded inside. It was dark and Elphaba felt like each of her steps are putting her in danger. She looked for her flashlight in her pocket. A small portion of light helped them walk around safely, without being hit by a furniture or anything.
Elphaba saw a staircase and she went up. Upstairs, there was a hidden room in the corner, slightly opened. Elphaba slowly walked inside the room and she was shocked with what she saw.
"Galinda, what are you doing here?", Elphaba saw her blonde friend standing near a wall in the room. Galinda didn't say anything and after a blink of an eye, the blonde disappeared.
"Tricks", Elphaba said after suddenly realizing that the room was filled with black ozdust that plays tricks on "unwanted people" that go inside.
Does Dr. Michizen possess a talent in sorcery too? This new professor was way too mysterious after all. She went on the spot where she saw Galinda standing a while ago. In the wall, there are a lot of pictures posted and each one was connected by a red line like those walls used by detectives.
Elphaba carefully studied the pictures. Those pictures were theirs. There, she saw Milla, then Shenshen, there she was, and Galinda. These were the pictures taken by Dr. Michizen on the first day of their meeting. Why are they posted here?
She noticed that Milla and Shenshen's pictures were numbered 1 and 2 respectively and they were placed farther from the rest of the pictures posted on the wall. Maybe because the murderer already dispatched these two.
Elphaba felt a goose bump when she saw her picture labeled number 3. Is she the next to be murdered? She didn't figure it out because she heard footsteps coming inside the room. She hurriedly turned off the flashlight and went into hiding.
The person who went inside was the new professor. Of course, he will be that person. Elphaba already expected that.
Dr. Michizen stood in front of the wall and carefully stared at it. Elphaba composed herself and prepared to confront the new professor.
She stood behind Dr. Michizen, directed the flashlight into his head, then turned it on.
"I know it was you!", Elphaba said in a firm voice. She doesn't want the new professor to feel like she's afraid even though she really is.
"What? I don't even know why all of these pictures are in my wall!", Dr. Michizen defensively argued.
"Liar! Who could possibly have put all those in there?"
"I swear! It wasn't me. Why is everyone always putting the blame on a newbie?", Dr. Michizen said.
"All of these killings happened when you showed up, and all of the people being killed are in my class and those who did something terrible to you. Milla who slapped you, Shenshen who confronted you an-", Elphaba was shaking while saying all these.
The new professor cut in, "Look, I'm not a murderer and I don't care if those girls did something really messed up in me. But tonight I just went in the grocery store to buy some crackers and before I leave, there were no pictures posted here. So, someone must've put them while I wasn't around or do you have someone who was with you when you get here who could've made all these?"
Elphaba's brows faced each other. Then suddenly, she realized that Pfannee was with her when she went in the house.
"Pfannee's with me", Elphaba said out loud nervously.
Could she possibly have done all these? Before they could figure all those things out, a loud scream was heard downstairs.
"The murderer is in this house", Elphaba said mostly to herself and she and the professor hurriedly went down.
"Help! Help me!", they both recognized that it was Pfannee who was screaming.
Elphaba turned on her flashlight and she saw Pfannee being dragged off inside a dark room by a masked man. Dr. Michizen pulled Pfannee to help her out while Elphaba directed the flashlight in all directions to see who else was in there.
A loud familiar laugh was heard on the four corners of the room.
"It was fun seeing all of you cry out in terror. Especially you, Miss Elphaba."
"Morrible!", Elphaba aggresively shouted. "It was you!"
The fish-looking woman laughed loudly. "I thought you already forgot about me, Miss Elpahaba."
"What do you want?!"
"So thoughtful of you to ask, but I just wanted to get my position back in Shiz and rule Oz!", Morrible said before producing an evil laugh.
"Why do you have to murder Milla and Shenshen?", Pfannee managed to ask between the griping of the unknown man and the terror in the room.
"Oh the murder was just for fun. To terrify all of you and see those frightened faces for myself", the fish-looking woman said and while she was saying all these, Elphaba was quietly doing a spell to defend themselves from Morrible but Morrible was too observant to realize what Elphaba was doing so before the green girl could finish doing her spell, Morrible immediately held her former student.
Elphaba was captured by Morrible's power and was held in mid-air.
"Put me down!", Elphaba managed to say as she fought against Morrible's grip on her neck.
"Miss Elphaba, I forgot to say that I was also looking for you because you will serve as my apprentice when we take down all of Oz!", Morrible said almost convincingly. She continued, "You and me, our power will be superior among all of the wizards in Oz combined", and with this, Morrible suppressed another evil laugh.
"I w-will n-never...", Elphaba was getting ill as Morrible continued striking the green girl with her powers.
When suddenly, the door of the house briskly opened. Everyone looked at who opened the door and Morrible suddenly lose hold of Elphaba and she fell on the floor.
"Stop this, Madame Morrible if you still want to live. I've come with the police", Galinda confidently said as the police officers behind her went inside.
"Surrender!", a police officer shouted and Madame Morrible as well as his ally, the masked man, put their hands on the air and the police officers immediately put handcuffs on their wrists. Those handcuffs were also magical because those who will wear them will have their magic suspended so while they're wearing it, they cannot use their magic. Especially designed for Morrible, of course.
As they were dragged outside, Morrible shouted, "This isn't the end, Miss Elphaba", and the police officer just answered, "Ugh, shut up, old lady."
Galinda immediately went to Elphaba who was still lying on the floor.
"Elphie", the blonde muttered worriedly.
"I'm okay, Galinda. Thank goodness, you came", Elphaba smiled as she continued gaining energy.
"How did you know that something's happening here, by the way?", Dr. Michizen curiously asked.
Galinda looked for something in her pocket, "Pfannee tweeted about it", she said while showing her phone to the three.
Murder hunting with my new friend - the green girl. #DrMichizensHouseHereWeCome
"Seriously?", Elphaba made a face at Pfannee.
"What?", Pfannee asked innocently.
"But you were asleep when I went out of the dorm", Elphaba said still not getting it.
"Oh, I usually wake up at 1 or something in the morning to do some beauty routines", Galinda answered. "By the way, sorry Dr. Michizen, we thought you were the murderer."
"You're actually nice, just minimize the party and maximize the lecturing, will you?", Elphaba said.
The new professor smiled shyly and everyone laughed.
Author's Note: So yeah. I had fun writing this one so I hope you had fun reading too. xx