Chapter 3
One might think that school only got canceled for about a day, but it isn't the case, it got canceled for a week.
The moment the police came, the school had to go through the investigation. No one could leave and no one else could enter. Thomas' father was livid. He wanted to find the murderer and lock him up. As the rest of the students were told to stay in their homeroom with their respective teachers to guard them.
Everyone in the school is a suspect. Unless further investigated. But in the end, they haven't found anyone guilty because there was no witness to the crime, and the so-called murder weapon wasn't found.
The school was busy for a month after the Sergeant—Thomas' father—stopped harassing the students and faculty for his misplaced anger and priorities of his incorrect disciplinary actions when he brought up his kid.
In that week, Sucy was busy as well. Not because of the increased homework to be passed online, but because Sucy was busy collecting hairs from the rest of Thomas's rookies, even Sergeant Kinsley if he ever becomes too much of a trouble. It wasn't easy, Sucy admitted but it would be worth it.
She had a hard time particularly on this one huge guy who had a buzz cut hair. She successfully pulled a hair out of the twins from their silly man buns and this one kid who seemed to never shower or comb his hair.
Sucy's heartbeat thudded like a running prey. She woke up early that morning when it was still dark, preparing the necessary props for her next consecutive murder. She read another page in the book.
A practitioner of the cursed voodoo arts has heightened spiritual powers and is a learned student of toxicology. With a lock of hair and a medium, the practitioner can inflict harm or even death. Nothing much can be explained why a lock of hair is essential to the process but it was a primitive belief that owning a lock of hair, or a strand, from another's head, gives power over the individual.
"Are you just bored, Sucy? This is the fourth hair strand you will use today."
Sucy chuckled. "Are you giving me a moral speech right now, Loa?"
"Not at all... You are very creative in killing all of them I don't mind being treated as a toy."
Taking the needle from the kit, Sucy wrapped her newest potential victim's hair around the doll's throat. Pointing the needle's tip to the head, she waited anxiously for the right moment.
"Prickling will only inflict ache in the area the needle will do."
"But it can still kill when I stab..." Sucy said, almost in a question.
"Yes."
Sucy waited no more. She pinched the needle into the doll's head, inflicting a headache. Next, she pricked, the stomach, and then the heart so the victim would feel as if he has a heart attack. When Sucy felt a little lighter, and a little bolder, she pushed the handle of the needle on the doll's hand and jabbed the chest part hard, deepening the steel needle, making it look like the victim committed suicide.
All people had their own obsessions that they could get high on. Everybody wanted that rush of serotonin. They crave to be in that kind of happy sugar rushed kind of feeling. Some people are addicted to drugs, some are addicted to books, some are addicted to sweets, Akko is addicted to magic tricks but Sucy... she was a psychopath. She was no psychiatrist but she was leaning more to psychopathic tendencies than sociopathic.
There was something about the act of killing that Sucy found to be addicting: the power of sensuality, the delusion of ecstatic love, and the solitude that accompanied the end of escaping boredom and bringing justice to those who dared cross her.
She placed a palm on her heart, taking note of its speed, and her breathing rising and falling rapidly and a full drawn of sobbing came next into a sense of strangulation.
Sucy's eyesight focused on the last piece of short hair she had on her kit. With a scheme she carefully crafted, she decided to spare Thomas' father as of now.
She woke up early that day to fix some of unfinished Student Council work that the investigation rudely interrupted. Alas, nobody else was there and somehow that comforted her—until there was an unwanted companion.
"Look who's up and early." He said the moment he stood next to her.
Diana gave him a curt smile, attempting to ignore the black-haired man with piercing green eyes.
"You know, for whatever reason..." he grabbed a book full of records next to her and flipped its pages, stalling. "I'm certain you are glad that Kinsley is gone, Diana."
There was no need for pleasantries with him, given the fact that they both grew up with the same high society of London. "Oh Andrew, I might detest him, but I'm certain I didn't wish for him to be dead... just far, far away from me."
"You can't blame the poor chap. He just has a crush on you."
"And so does many unnecessary suitors." Diana retorted, prompting Andrew to give her a roguishly handsome smile that irked her but made the other girls swoon. She snapped. "I stand corrected. I do not stand by whatever I just said earlier. I'm feeling a little celebratory that he's dead."
Andrew chuckled at his heart's content. He always loved a battle of banters with her, especially when he emerged triumphantly.
"Don't let the Sergeant hear you, he's still pretty miffed about his son's homicide and you might be added to his paranoid list."
Diana crossed her arms her chest. "I doubt the local Sergeant could solve the murder of his own son, it is a classic case of conflict of interest."
"So are you suggesting they might call in the Yard for just one murder of a cop's son?"
"It's a definite possibility."
In a quiet place like the Student Council room, one couldn't expect a commotion to occur unless it's one of those Student Representatives that joined them recently—two other childhood friends of hers, Hannah and Barbara.
"DIANA!" The said girls stormed into the quiet room while pulling a rowdy short-haired redhead who made troubles for them... again. "We caught her violating the dress code while we were on hallway patrol!"
The moment the violator was placed in front of her, Diana's voice was now laced with anger, "You again?"
"Hello, President! Nice day huh?" the redhead smirked; she had a fresh bandage on her cheek. "You know, I've told you again and again too to call me, Amanda."
"Considered," Diana said smoothly, "but I won't. After citing Luna Nova Academy's handbook to you, you wouldn't even care to wear proper shoes?"
Diana was frustrated. This was the umpteenth time she chastised Amanda for her rude behavior of stealing school artifacts, numerous pranks towards the professors, and the occasional breaking of rules.
"Aww come on, I do have my school shoes in my locker. I just didn't want them to be dirty on the way here!"
Diana arched a perfect eyebrow. "Is that your excuse, Miss O'Neill?"
Amanda merely grinned, shrugging as well.
"You can do better than that," Diana said, deciding to once and for all act like she meant it. "My patience with you is thinning, and if you can't give me a better excuse, I will hand you over to the Prefect of Discipline and she will have a word with you."
The delinquent advances towards Diana and leaned forward in a daring manner. "Why not just get to it then, Princess?" she taunted.
Diana smirked, patting the American's cheek twice. "Do you seriously think, Miss O'Neill, that I will be handing you what you want on a silver platter?"
"What?" Andrew's head whipped towards them. Hannah and Barbara both had scandalous gasps, ready for a juicy gossip.
"I do my homework on every troublemaker, Miss O'Neill." Diana began, enjoying the fact that she's cornering a little wild lion. "And I know you only cause mischief as an act of rebellion to your family. My advice for you, Amanda O'Neill is to stop sucking your thumb, woman up and act like a proper heiress of your family's inheritance."
"You're a sight for sore eyes, bitch."
This was the first time in her life that Amanda has ever glared at her like that. Even Hannah and Barbara were taken aback by her uncommon outburst.
"What did you just say about Diana?" The auburn-haired ponytail girl stepped in, her hands on her hips. "Do you even know who she is, compared to you boisterous American?"
Her partner in crime, the raven long haired girl finished her thoughts. "Diana Cavendish is the heiress of a British noble family that has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century!"
Amanda seemed unperturbed by all that. She took a long yawn while they were explaining. "Is that all? My family ran away from the Great Irish Famine and settled in America. Guess we all can't be big shots like the British family tree."
In the midst of an ice and fire tension that clouded the room, Andrew immediately thought of a solution like a deus ex machina. "What are those?" he asked, prolonging the last words, making the others bat an eyelash while the American redhead laughed to her heart's content until she snorted.
"Ooh, Vice Prez that was a good one coming from you!" Amanda gave him finger guns. "You're killing me!"
Andrew clicked his tongue as he returned her gesture. Diana shot him a glare and he rose his chin up.
"These are just my sneakers! I will change as soon as you let me out Goddammit!"
"Miss O'Neill, language!"
"Pardon me, Diana, but as a son of proud statesmen, I understand where Miss O'Neill is coming from."
"Boom!" Amanda quickly gestured in front of Diana and proceeded to make more explosion sounds. "I win!"
"However," Andrew quickly interrupted. "Diana is also correct in that matter. You cannot simply leave the responsibility given to you. It is your birthright. Your principles with your family won't have to always align. You forge your own path but arrive at the same goal."
Amanda ground her teeth in seething anger. She placed both her hands in her skirt's pockets. "You are a tight-lipped Brit like the rest of you all here."
"Despite appearing to be callous and condescending, Diana is neither the heartless nor arrogant monster you think she is. What she does is not out of malice. She cares about the success of others and not just her own. This concern and heart of gold is the reason why she deserves to be the Student Council President."
"I appreciate the righteous indignation, Andrew. I really do." Diana said, jabbing him lightly on the ribs. "But you come it off as campaigning I fear I have to stop you there."
"You're welcome."
A long sigh escaped from Diana's throat. She was tired of having enough problems in the morning and wished one troublemaker in this school would be handled with accordingly without any harsh repercussions.
"ANDREW! ANDREW!" the double doors of the room blasted open, revealing a blond who was out of breath. His flushed and frightened demeanor could only mean a harbinger of news.
Somehow, Diana mentally cursed herself for wishful thinking.
"Calm down, Frank!" Andrew seized hold of Frank's shoulders and stared down into his face. "Watch where you're going! What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I came by as soon as I can!" Frank said, pale-faced and trembling. He was one of Andrew's best mates, and also a son of a statesman.
With his phone already in hand, he showed them recently published news on the Luna Nova Academy's official news blog, written by Wangari herself.
Notorious bully Thomas Kinsley's death was an omen of a dark curse that plagued the lovely streets and quiet town of Blytonbury. His death haunted every waking moment of his murderers and driven them to suicide early morning September 21 st . His murderers were none other than his so-called loyal friends. All four of them decided to end their lives consecutively in between three to five in the morning. Their suicides have brought up a lot of questions…
"This is preposterous! Where did she get her sources?" Andrew asked once he stopped reading it out loud.
"I don't know. The girl's a snoopy one for sure!" Frank said, visibly sweating a cold one. "For all we know, she might've stolen the information when the media got a hold from the Sergeant during their interviews."
Amanda was snickering to herself. "I didn't know she had it in her."
Just by that reaction, Diana knew that Amanda was somehow responsible for Wangari's break-in. This was another predicament to deal with after the most urgent one.
Andrew inspected the legitimacy of the published news on the Luna Nova website before turning to her. "Diana, what do we do?"
Diana inhaled a lungful of air, hoping the steady stream of oxygen on her blood streams would dissipate the incoming nuisance. "The proper protocol, of course... Sensationalizing a teacher-student friendship into romance is one thing, but for Wangari to sensationalize deaths? We are going to have a word with the Headmistress and the President of the Luna Nova News Network herself."
Everyone started to wait for her to take the lead and she did. Out through the door, she cut through the crowd surrounding the hallways, which parted to let her. Her livid disposition is warning enough. And judging by the way she ordered her own detachment. With four people following her lead, she was indeed, highly ranked and well respected.