Chapter 35
"You okay?" Chloe asked softly, leaning against her shoulder briefly. They rode at the backseat of her car with the driver occasionally glancing at the rearview mirror to look at them.
Diana shrugged, glancing down at her hands, which were clenched together in her lap. Staring gloomily at the road ahead, weighing the pros and cons of staying silent against telling Chloe what had happened. She might not even believe her if she told her what Sucy had done.
She was at the danger of over spilling, any moment, any nudge could cause her to break a dam and flood anyone near her.
Diana wasn't sure if Chloe had seen through the Sucy's facade, and if she hadn't, it might prove difficult to convince her that it was a facade at all.
But even assuming that she could, Diana thought to herself, then what would happen? It wasn't as if Chloe could do anything about it, not without getting herself mixed up in the serial killer mysteries, and since Chloe had plenty of sense, it was quite unlikely that she'd do something like that—especially when it was just to help her out.
Who would risk so much for a social pariah, now a suspect for her friend's murder, especially one who deserved their lot? Surely Chloe's motives for seeking Diana out wouldn't extend so far as to warrant her embroiling herself in Diana's troubles on the girl's behalf.
And, to be quite frank, Diana was scared. She could admit that to herself. She didn't want to wait and see what Sucy had up those silk sleeves of hers, because it was obvious that whatever it was, Diana wouldn't like it.
Chloe placed her hand on hers and squeezed them comfortingly. "Tired?"
Diana didn't offer a reply. She was only numb. Part of her just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep for a thousand years, or at least until people got a little smarter and see that the Blytonbury Killer has been Sucy Manbavaran all along.
"I guess I should've told you earlier," Chloe began. "The only thing keeping me is that you don't always know how people are going to react."
Diana wondered if they were about to have this conversation right at this moment.
"Sometimes, people are okay with it, and sometimes the coolest people freak out." Chloe lifted her eyes from her lap to Diana's face, which was transmitting a neutral aura. "I'm... I'm not really into guys, you know."
"I know," Diana whispered. "Thank you for telling me."
The atmosphere had changed, Diana noticed. Chloe became more conscious of her body language and her level of physical contact.
Chloe tried to salvage it anyway. "I didn't want you to think that just because I was gay that I'd jump at you at any second."
Diana might have made her nervous and panicky. Perhaps being so close to the French girl, so vulnerable and intimate produced the strongest sense of courage.
"Chloe," she said. "Do not take this the wrong way, but I hope you will not associate with me after this. Not because you are a homosexual, there is nothing wrong with being one. It is because of a certain pattern. Become my closest companion, and you would die."
"Are you talking about the fact that you drove Hannah and Barbara away because you're scared they'll end up dead?"
"You knew?"
"Oh please," Chloe scoffed. "Anyone with eyes can make that connection. You ostracized yourself to save people and you have a point. Now that I see dear Andrew and Amanda died from whatever mysterious circumstances that fit the narrative. I don't know if H&B are really idiots or that they are putting up an act on hating you. Trust me, I know the difference between hatred and fake hate. And speaking of hatred, you and Sucy Manbavaran seem to harbor hatred that would fuel whole Britain for a year."
"Of course hatred is bound to bloom when I started fancying her lover then dated the said lover after they broke up."
"Are you by any chance talking about a non-binary person or a girl?" Chloe asked.
Diana lifted an eyebrow.
"Well I didn't mean to impose, but straight people don't usually use gender-neutral when talking about dates and exes."
Diana turned her head to look at her, really look at her. There was a reason why Chloe nearly rivaled her overall performance. And Chloe was great at showcasing it.
"You don't have to answer that." Chloe immediately added. "You could be shy, and I'm really imposing or that I'm wrong about it."
Diana smiled at that. The only reason why she's above Chloe at everything was that of her hundred percent certainty and confidence in her own answers and statements. Chloe had the tendency to back out. Perhaps the act of waiting and dreading intimidated her.
"Why are we heading to Lotte Jansson's flat by the way? Don't you want to go home?"
"In all truthfulness, I never want to deal with my aunt for now so I informed my head maid to relay my wellbeing to Aunt Daryl."
"Well, you can't blame her for getting mad. You're her niece."
"I know..." Diana said. "I am just... very delicate right now, and her guardian skills does not help."
A few minutes passed by, Diana and Chloe arrived at the flat building where Sucy lived. She had been informed days ago, that Lotte transferred here and lived merely next door to the Blytonbury Killer.
Diana led Chloe to the loft when a sudden black feline crossed her path. Diana recognized this cat, it's Akko's.
"Why hello there!" Chloe said. "Are you lost, buddy?"
"Is Akko back?" Diana questioned. It was odd to find the cat roaming around the building without Akko in sight.
Deciding that the cat had gotten lost, Diana carried Salem in her arms. She wasn't sure what room Akko lived in so she had a better chance of finding out if she would ask Lotte instead and entered the elevator. She supposed that Akko was looking for the cat at the very moment.
Diana gently stroke its fur throughout the ride. "We are going to go find your mother, okay?"
Salem blinked in response.
When the elevator doors open to Lotte's floor, Diana and Chloe heard the sound of a girl speaking frantically at a distance.
"Hello, sorry to bother you but have you seen—"
Diana then heard a gruff and disgruntled, "Screw off!" then followed by the loud echo of a door slamming shut.
They followed the sound into the corridor and found Akko standing in front of a door with a scowl on her face. Somehow, even with a twisted grimace, she still managed to look gorgeous.
As she advanced towards the blonde, Diana can hear Akko grumbling quietly, "Stupid neighbors and their goddamn motherfu—Salem!" Akko ran briskly towards them.
Akko was within the distance when Salem jumped from Diana's arms to hers. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much, Diana! And—a friend?"
Chloe crossed her arms. "Seriously, Akko? You don't know me? We share most of our classes together."
Akko's eyebrows knit together. "Oh, I remember your face, but not your name!"
"Akko, were you looking for Salem in every floor?" Diana interjected.
"Uh... no, I lost the little fur ball at this floor. I visited Lotte." Akko let out a tongue. "Thanks so much again. Where did you find her?"
"In the foyer."
Akko furrowed her brow. "How the hell did Salem get down there?" she looked at the cat skeptically. "Are you actually a bird?"
Diana bit back a laugh and shrugged. "Maybe she can teleport. How did you lose her?"
"I was going to bring her to the vet after a quick chat with Lotte, but the moment she saw the cat carrier, she bolted out the door," Akko explained. She pursed her lips and sighed. "I guess I'll just have to use the leash and carry her."
"It actually sounds like a great alternative, if you find it more suitable to comfortability. And you mentioned you were with Lotte, earlier?"
"Why yes, what about it?"
"I remember what floor she was in, but her room number—"
"She's the farthest room on the right." Akko provided, swift as lightning.
"Oh, alright. Thanks." Diana said.
Akko smiled, her eyes darted to Diana's lips before meeting her blue ones. She then leaned forward to kiss Diana's soft mouth.
"Oh Mon Deu!" Chloe gasped animatedly.
Despite Diana's sudden nervousness and the heat she felt rising to her cheeks, Diana managed not to break away from Akko's gaze.
Akko's next words brought Diana out of her reflection. "See you tomorrow?"
"C-certainly," Diana attempted to form words.
Akko giggled, forming a phone gesture with her free hand and inched it close to her ear. "Call me then."
She frolicked away, leaving two confused girls in her wake.
"What was that? A Japanese custom? But no, they bow excessively when showing gratitude. Diana? Are you gay?" Chloe demanded answers as she followed Diana who sped walked towards Lotte's room, trying to deflect Chloe's attention from her flushed cheeks.
Diana pressed the doorbell to the last door per Akko's instructions and it didn't take so long for Lotte to answer the door.
"Oh hello! I didn't know I would have visitors that fast after I told everyone that I changed flats." Lotte said, adjusting her glasses.
"Can we come in?" Diana asked.
Lotte regarded both of them. "What are you, vampires? Of course, you guys can, silly!"
"You're a Night Fall fan, aren't you?" Chloe asked, entering the threshold after Diana.
"Well, can you blame me, uh?"
"I'm Chloe."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lotte." She said before inching closer to her ears to whisper. "Any idea why Diana's here after all the crap that happened at school?"
"None, I'm afraid," Chloe whispered back. "Maybe you can make her see reason. See what our words are, the strings we all dance upon."
Diana doesn't know if she knew she can hear them. All she knew was that the duo will accompany her and she's glad she does not have to ask them.
As they all settled in Lotte's coffee table, she asked. "So... Diana. How are you? You look so lily-livered."
The moment she heard the question, Diana spilled. "Amanda's dead... cause was asphyxiation due to strangulation. And I fear, I might be the one who killed her."
Chloe's eyes widened. But Lotte's face remained neutral, understanding.
Diana couldn't blame their reactions, for the image of Amanda slowly suffocating made Diana gasp for air, as if her hands were still wrapped around the redhead's neck.
"I also strongly believe that Sucy killed her." Diana chuckled. "Confusing, is it not? Perhaps she is just haunting me."
"Diana, don't say that. You were a hero." Lotte said.
"Then why in God's name is all of this happening now?" Diana asked, wrapping her arms around her once more, her scratch marks stinging once more, even under her sweater.
"You didn't kill her, Diana," Lotte said with a voice so soothing. "No matter what evidence they would find against you. I believe you're being framed."
"B-but my memory…" she spluttered, totally out of her depth with the conversation they were having. "I'm feeling pressure to believe something I don't trust, and that pressure is making me paranoid. I remember myself suffocating the life out of her. I couldn't tell the DI about this, I knew it would put me in a position."
"That's the devil whispering things to you. Making you think those thoughts are yours." Lotte said. "Don't listen to them. You know yourself better than those demons."
She nodded, her eyes growing misty,
"I'm sorry to dredge it all up," Lotte said.
"Don't worry," Diana sighed. "It's never far from my mind."
"I'll help you figure something out on your terms, okay? You're going to get through this, and I'm going to be there with you as you do it. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Actually, there is one at the top of my head. I think I need your help in solving a mystery. How do you feel about becoming my secret informant for the time being?"
"Hmmm," Lotte replied, contemplatively, "I'm not afraid of the Blytonbury Killer, that's for sure, so why not?"
"Thank you so much, Lotte. What would I do without you?"
"Die, probably," she deadpanned.
"That's so dark," Chloe commented, reminding everyone she's still there.
"Alright! I'm ready to Nancy Drew the crap on all this!" Lotte yelled.
Diana and Chloe only gave her a blank look.
"What? Is there a complaint? I'm not your, Watson, Diana. All your Watsons die. I'm Nancy Drew."
"Are you sure you're not Belle or something?" Diana smiled.
"Belle was everything in all 365 books, but she was never a sleuth."
"Well, Annabel Crème could surely regard crime fiction."
"Perhaps!" Lotte began gushing before she cleared her throat and turned serious in a blink. "So what's our first mission, Diana?"
Diana crossed her arms and fixed her expression. Possibly too much that she feared she had become a little standoffish. "It has come to my attention that I need to shift my focus and brain work to the Human Regurgitator."
Lotte nodded. "I'm assuming anything from the net helps?"
"We can access the MET's website, Detective Inspector Croix unethically gave me the password."
"And you expect us to shut our mouths, right?" Lotte asked. "I'll go get my laptop from my room then." With that, she climbed the stairs to the second floor, leaving the two lonesome.
"I'm kind of pissed you didn't think that I would want to help you, Diana," Chloe said. "I have trying to comfort you all throughout and you're always so...withdrawn. I want to be your friend, but you always seem so afraid of showing any kind of vulnerability that it makes it hard to know what I can say without offending you or scaring you off."
Now that Diana wasn't quite so isolated, she wasn't as prone to stewing in guilt and grief. "Listen, Chloe. The reason I've been guarded around you is that I didn't want to spill it all on you too far too fast."
"Yes, I understand. I'm just one of the girls who saw the crime scene before informing the cops and the academy's staff, but Diana... see, the truth is, I think you're pretty great."
Diana scrunched her eyebrows at that and Chloe laughed at her.
"Seriously, Diana, I mean it. First of all, when you're not doing that weird Cavendish mask thing that you seem to do, you show us yourself. You're blunt and you're honest, and that's extremely refreshing to me than the people pleaser Diana I knew. You're also smarter than everyone. I've seen your work. You're innovative. You're the best at the whole rote puzzle thing, you've got brilliant ideas, and you communicate them very clearly.
"And then, there's the fact that you're strong as hell. It just rolls off you. I don't know exactly what it is you've been through over the past few years, Diana, but I bet it's been hell—and yet you still chose to keep coming back to school after everything that happened, and all the deaths, knowing full well, I'm sure, that people would hate you and try to make your life miserable.
"I really admire that you did it anyway, and part of why I came up to you in the first place was because I thought that it took real courage for you to make the decision to return to face everything."
Diana's eyes stung hotly and before she knew it, she was returning Chloe's embrace, burrowing her nose into Chloe's long pompadour hair.
"I'm not letting you deal with this on your own, Diana," Chloe told her, rubbing soothing circles into the sweater over Diana's back.
Diana nodded through her silent sobs of relief, laughing as an aggressive hiccough made its way up and out of her throat. She felt Chloe's chest shake with gentle laughter, and for the first time since she left the hospital, Diana didn't feel alone anymore.
"Thank you, Chloe," she whispered. "Thank you."
"I'm not going to die this time, okay?"
"Amanda promised that as well, but she still died."
"No one's dying on my watch," Lotte said. The girls jerked away from their hug to see the Finnish girl standing next to them, showing that she had been there minutes ago and didn't try to ruin their moment. "In my sigil of protection, no harm will come to you."
Diana had no idea why the metaphor struck a chord in her.
"But first, before we delve into tedious research," Lotte said, facing Diana. "Meanwhile, as for you... let's just hope a hot bath will bring you to your senses."
"I think it would serve you better if you would find a good lawyer to defend you," Chloe said, she was reading the UKN on her phone while watching Diana research on Lotte's laptop. "The O'Neills are pressing charges against you."
"They cannot press charge on an innocent minor," Diana said, scrolling down the website, skimming and scanning the case file to the best of her ability. She had just taken a hot bath and in all honesty, it did quite help her. She borrowed some of Lotte's spare bathrobe while waiting for her clothes to dry. "They technically can, but without evidence, the court would not be compelled to agree."
"I'm surprised you actually hadn't considered the possibility that Human Regurgitator might be the Blytonburry Killer who changed their murder design," Chloe said.
"It isn't the Human Regurgitator," Diana said without taking her eyes off the screen.
"What do you mean? Why are you researching her then?"
"I'm sure she has her reasons," Lotte said from where she was leaning against the wall.
"The Human Regurgitator is dead. She didn't just disappear 20 years ago, she died." Diana stated.
Two pairs of eyes stared at her in surprise.
"Detective Inspector Croix at the time was a student when she assisted the old DI a little bit in the Human Regurgitator case. She never told me much about it, except that the suspect was dead."
"So you weren't involved directly, I'm baffled," Chloe muttered sarcastically.
"How old do you think I am?" Diana asked.
"So why are you researching about the dead killer?"
"I'm looking up facts to discern possible patterns to coincide with the fact that Shiny Chariot might have had crossed paths with her."
"So you're saying, Akko's idol met the Human Regurgitator, got scarred for life and decided to hide in the shadows and assumed a new identity?"
"That is elaborate, Chloe. I fear I may have been rubbing on you."
You're also looking after some hints about how to get in contact with Shiny Chariot, are you? It's possible she's the person that is most likely to be in possession of the information we want."
"We can just give up on that," Lotte said flatly. "Shiny Chariot is the world's most famous magician, but also the most anonymous one, which gives him quite a lot of room to play hide and seek."
"I have long known where Shiny Chariot is and who she is."
"Where did you get that?" Lotte asked.
"I'm not in the position to divulge my source," Diana said.
Chloe stopped reading more news articles about Amanda's murder and stared at the laptop screen and found a different case file. "What had you discovered so far, Diana?"
"The Human Regurgitator... definitely is Sucy's mother."
"So you were the one responsible why Avery has been MIA?" Chloe asked her bluntly, her tongue sharp as always. She might have waited for the right moment to ask this question.
Diana nodded. "She is resting in the Cavendish hospital."
"How is she?"
"Blood tests had shown that Avery was well nourished and hydrated, a lack of a significant number of white blood cells indicated she was also infection-free. A relatively admirable accomplishment considering the nasty bruise Avery had sustained before her accident."
Chloe raised an eyebrow, a particular mannerism when she's showing distaste for her rival in the school's achievements, especially when she's explaining her statements in such a way.
A slight smirk wormed its way to Diana's lips as she continued. "X-rays demonstrated that her various broken bones had been healing well, and her multiple splints were well-placed and effective in their motion-limiting intent without cutting off her circulation. But there was something wrong. She was still feeble and weak. Like some sort of weird possession over her that hindered her to fully heal. Tests had been made, medicines had been given. Though what seemed to be a perfectly healthy body, she was still bedridden."
Chloe's eyes alerted. She shared a frantic glance to Lotte who nodded her head.
"There had definitely been some research involved in tending to Avery's injuries," Diana added. "And seeing as there was no record of anyone being admitted to a hospital anywhere in the world with injuries even resembling Avery's condition."
"Which means she's still sick," Chloe said.
"She is not supposed to be though! She has healed! But she is still chained to her bed!"
"Diana, sometimes... there are illnesses that modern science can't heal or even detect."
An upsetting image jostled for control in Diana's brain. She unhinged her strained jaw, preparing to speak when there was a knock on Lotte's door.
"Oh? Who could that be?" Lotte got up from where she sat to check on her new visitor.
Diana craned her neck to follow the bespectacled girl's footsteps. "Lotte, if it's Sucy, don't let her come in."
Lotte paused on her action and gave her a sly nod. She looked through the peephole carefully and blanched. "It's not her." She busted the door wide open to reveal a livid Detective Inspector Croix. "Why hello detective!"
From a distance, the older woman could already tell what was on the laptop's screen. "This is the limit, Diana. I've reached the absolute bitter end of my patience."
"Good evening, Detective Inspector Croix."
"I thought I told you not to look into your case, but I'm obviously going to have to hammer it into that thick skull of yours a little bit harder."
"Do you always insult a person's intelligence when you're trying to take care of them?" Diana asked sharply. "Because it's really charming, really gets the point across."
"It also seems to be the only way you can absorb a warning, Diana," she told her quietly. "Every time I try to be straightforward about one, you dismiss me outright, so I have to couple them with insults to get you to listen."
"So," Diana asked. "You found where I am using my phone's location. What do you need to tell me? What is the verdict?"
"They found skin underneath some of Miss O'Neill's fingernails, indicating she put up a fight."
Diana gulped. "Whose skin was it?"
"It matched your DNA."
Diana reached to touch the injury on her arms.
"Do you know what this means to you, Diana?"
"I did not kill Amanda, Croix," Diana said, her voice losing its cool. Her throat constricted as she pleaded. "It was not me."
"Perhaps in the heat of the moment, you did something. I'm sorry, Diana. I'm just doing my job. My superiors are angry for trying to protect you. You do know what this means for the both of us, do you?"
"Sucy Manbavaran knows the two of us to form a formidable team. She's getting rid of me. Finally. Be careful now, Detective Inspector, she might come after you too."
The Italian woman sighed, as she grabbed a metal device in her sleeve's pockets and handcuffed the young lady. "Diana Cavendish, I'm arresting you for the murder of Amanda O'Neill."