"She shouldn't have touched him."
That was the sound heard last by no one, swallowed beneath the screams of those who had seen the corpse outside the window.
Mystic suddenly staggered back from the window, his face paling as his eyes stayed fixed on the graphic image of the corpse. His body seemed to drain of strength, his breath catching in his throat.
Suddenly, Luna turned from the window and wrapped her arms around Mystic. Her fingers clutched tightly at his clothes as she pressed herself against him, her wide eyes darting back toward the window like a frightened prey animal, as if whatever had killed Hina could still be watching.
"Don't let me go, I don't want to be the next one to die." She muttered against Mystic's red shirt.
His gaze dropped to the sight before him. Luna's arms were locked around him, her fingers gripping his clothes as though letting go wasn't an option. She never hugged him, not even when she was frightened.
Yet now, she clung to him without hesitation. His expression tightened as the weight of the situation settled in. Whatever they had been thrown into, it was far more serious than he'd first realized.
"Hey... Luna look at me. I won't let you die like Hina; you hear me. I won't"
His words seemed to ease something inside her. Her trembling gradually softened, but her arms stayed wrapped tightly around him. She made no move to pull away, as if the moment she did, everything would come rushing back.
Heat crept across her cheeks, turning them a deep red. She kept her face tucked against him, refusing to meet his eyes, while the occasional shiver still ran through her at the memory of the corpse.
"Everyone step back from the mirror. The police have been called to investigate this horrible and gruesome death."
The teacher's voice carried from the front of the classroom but no one moved.
A cluster of students remained pressed along the windows, shoulders hunched and faces turned toward the mirror. A few whispered behind their hands, while others stared openly at the body on the floor.
Visual Park pulled out his phone beneath the edge of the windowsill. His thumbs moved quickly across the screen as he opened his group chat. His group chat insists of Luna, Mystic and his friend Mark Scotch.
[═════════════════════════════════════════════════]
Visual Park [8:45am]
"SO DID ANYONE SEE THE DISMEMERED CORPS OUTSIDE OF THE WINDOW."
...
Luna Frost [8:45am]
"..."
...
Visual Park [8:46am]
"What was that response Luna."
...
Mark Scotch [8:46am]
"We are all in the same class so we all saw the scene. Maybe other class's saw it too and was having the same issue as us when it comes to not throwing up at it."
...
Visual Park [8:47am]
"Yeah your right, we are all in class 3-A so we had the best view to the body. Not that I would call that a good thing. How about you how are you handling this situation Mystic."
...
Mystic Fire [8:47am]
"I am fine, just a little shaken up. Nothing I can't handle after all. You know my situation to the point you know I can handle anything.
...
Luna Frost [8:47am]
"..."
...
Mark Scotch [8:48am]
"Seriously what is with that response. Are you ever going to give us a word or a sentence to tell us how this affected you."
...
Mystic Fire [8:49am]
"Visual, a little help here. Luna is too scared to reply. She is currently hugging me like the life depends on it. she can't seem to let go and I am losing air by the second."
[═════════════════════════════════════════════════]
He was in fact telling the truth; his face had begun to turn a deep, alarming shade of purple as Luna squeezed the breath from his lungs, his arms flailing helplessly at his sides while holding the phone.
[═════════════════════════════════════════════════]
Visual Park [8:52am]
"Hey Luna, maybe don't squeeze the life out of your best friend. Mystic seems like he was a few minutes from death."
...
Luna Frost [8:52am]
"Fine, but I still won't let go."
...
Mystic Fire [8:53am]
"Thanks for that Visual."
...
Luna Frost [8:53am]
"I was just scared; I don't want anything bad to happen to Mystic. At all."
...
Mark Scotch [8:54am]
"You really do care about him, what if someone did kill him."
...
Luna Frost [8:54am]
"Don't comment that again. Your life depends on it."
[═════════════════════════════════════════════════]
Ten minutes later, sirens cut through the school grounds.
Police officers poured through the gates, splitting into two groups. One disappeared toward the courtyard, where Hina's body still hung from the cross. The other moved through the halls, knocking on classroom doors and questioning anyone who might have seen what happened.
Class 3-A fell silent when the door opened.
An older officer stepped inside, his shoes clicking against the floor. His blue hair caught everyone's attention before he even spoke. A few students exchanged uneasy glances.
Is that actually police protocol?
No one had ever seen an officer with hair like that before.
"Is everyone okay, this might be a shocker to see a dead body early in the morning. Or at all actually. But this school week will be cancel under investigation for the killer who killed Hina Flare." The police officer announced.
The officer watched Luna cling to Mystic, her fingers knotted tightly into his clothes as her gaze remained fixed on the corpse.
The smell of faeces hung thick in the air, mingling with the metallic tang of blood from the stab wounds, and the sight of the body swaying overhead was enough to turn his stomach.
He expected panic, grief, something, but Luna's eyes kept flicking back to the wounds, lingering a second too long each time.
When she finally looked away, she lowered her head against Mystic's shoulder, as though hiding her expression. The officer said nothing, but a small crease formed between his brows.
"Okay, everyone will be sent home under investigation, no one will leave their home in seven days and no one will entering your homes in that same time period." The blue hair officer announced.
After hearing the new rules, Mystic gently pulled Luna away from him and walked straight up to the police officer, his anger barely contained. He was confused and frustrated, unable to understand what they were trying to pull.
"Seriously, you can't do your job for five minutes without turning the place into a hellscape. You didn't know Hina was missing from the thousands of calls you probably got from her parents and now you're telling us to follow shitty rules." He explained, hectic now and pissed off.
"Yes boy, this is the rules after a murder taken place if it was in the school. You will follow the rules like the rest of your class members."
Mystic's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open as the police officer assumed he wouldn't follow the rules.
"I wasn't planning on disobeying the rules you idiot. Luna were going back to my place." He explained dragging Luna away with him.
The officer lunged after him and Luna, one hand reaching for Mystic's shoulder. He twisted away and shoved him aside with enough force to send the man stumbling into the wall.
He didn't look back as the door slammed behind him.
His footsteps struck the corridor in heavy, uneven beats, each one carrying him farther from the room and deeper into the rage burning beneath his skin.
His fists tightened until his knuckles whitened. Hina's face flashed through his mind, the stillness of her body, the blood, the grotesque scene arranged around her like some twisted imitation of a crucifixion.
His breathing sharpened.
Someone had taken her life. Someone had turned her death into a spectacle.
And somewhere beyond those walls, that person was still alive.
Mystic dragged a trembling hand across his face before letting it fall. His eyes hardened as he stared down the empty corridor.
He didn't know the killer's name. He didn't know where they were hiding but he would find them and when he did, Hina's killer would not walk away alive.