FACE THE CONSEQUENCE

Chapter 19

Noah and I listened quietly as agent Savvaro started recalling the events of tonight. Apparently she was a charm for everyone and no one even took a second glance at her.

"You said, you were ushered to the dance flowing with a group," Noah said. Agent Savvaro nodded guiltily. She was probably devastated inside for getting lost in the fun and forfeiting her duty.

"So that's where the anonymous got into action. There were a lot of people moving randomly. So you didn't even notice." Agent Savvaro stared at her shoes as Noah kept accessing the situation.

"She was supposed to dance. or else her disguise might have worn off. What teen doesn't like to dance?" Her face lit up a little at my words. Noah ignored me completely and glanced at road tensely. A dead silence fell between us. We could only pray that the police arrives on time. before anything bad can happen.

"Wait," I said. Both of them turned to me.

"The culprit didn't know that agent Savvaro would be here. Even if he did, he had no way to know that she'll bring the brand. He drugs his victim first right? Do you think he keeps drugs in his pocket all the time?" I was feeling a little hopeful. Maybe he didn't have everything to attack tonight.

"Yeah. In that case we have to keep an eye over everyone. Let's get inside." Agent Savvaro went inside. Noah and I waited for a moment and then got back inside.

When I got back inside, the crowd was full on back to partying. I scurried through the crowd with a hope of finding Alex. My getting out like that was not nice at all. I had to find him and give a good explanation.

Skyler found me when I was about to step for the stairs.

"There you are. People are whispering about how you ditched Alex."

"I didn't ditch Alex. It was an emergency," I tried to explain but she went on.

"But according to me, Alex is kind of fishy. I don't think he deserves you." There was something in Skyler's voice that made me believe her. She had genuine concern in her eyes. "But you should've seen Hannah. She hooked up with Chris the moment Alex turned to you. Those girls are worthless."

"Have you seen Alex?" I asked her. Whether or not he deserved me. No one deserved to be ditched without and explanation. Now I think about it, I might have taken the cupcake then explain him that I am not looking for romance right now.

"Don't tell me-"

"No, no", I cut her off. "I'm just going to explain him.

"Well he's not down here. He might be upstairs. No one has seen him after you left."

I thank Skyler and make my way to upstairs.

The upstairs were even fancier. There were large paintings on the wall. The frame told me not to touch them, they are quite expensive. I peeked at different rooms only to find all of them empty. I saw the faint glow of bathroom light from under the door.

I knocked on the door praying please let it be Alex.

"Alex?" no answer. I turned the handle, it was locked. "Hello?" Still no answer. Anybody could have just used the bathroom and pulled the door and locked it by accident. I was about to turn around but the faint smell of burned flesh made my stomach churn. I would have screamed but my phone rang at the same time.

"Hello?" I press the phone to my ear.

"Agent Savvaro. The police is here. Where are you?"

"You have to come upstairs now. I think the culprit struck again." I was on the verge of tears thinking about all the persons that could be on the other side of the door.

"Stay put. Don't touch anything. I'm coming up."

I keep the phone back in the hidden pocket in my dress. Within a few moments, agent Savvaro came running with officer Wild and Noah on her heels. She raised her eyebrows and I pointed to the bathroom door.

Officer Wild and Noah hit the door again and again but it didn't budge.

"You got any hair pins on you?" Noah asked me and I shook my head.

"I have." Agent Savvaro took two out of her hair and handed them to Noah. He took a few minutes to pick the lock and the door was open.

"I hope I don't have to arrest you someday for that," officer Wild told Noah and stepped inside the bathroom.

There was nothing in the bathroom. it was empty. There was a sliding door separating the toilet and the bath. Officer Wild opened the door and I could make the outline of a figure through the thin curtains around the bathtub.

I was not prepared for what I saw next.

Alex Cove was lying on the bathtub. One of his hands jammed with the body and the other one hung over the side of the tub. Drops of blood were dripping from his wrist. His face didn't have the handsome feature anymore, it was ghostly bluish. But he looked better than the other two and his burn was less deep than Genevie.

"Tell the paramedics to come upstairs quick," agent Savvaro told Wild. he took a few step back and talked on his walkie talkie.

"I saw Alex just before I went out. The culprit couldn't have done this and got out this quick. he's still in the house," I told agent Savvaro.

"Don't worry we have the property surrounded," officer Wild put a hand on my shoulder. The paramedics came and lifted him onto the stretcher.

"Wait," Noah stopped them. He lifted Alex's head and pointed to the part of his neck near the shoulder. It was blue. "Someone hit him. He put up a fight before he went down. He was covered in sweat where the whole house is air conditioned."

"Agent Savvaro took a closer look, judging by the position of the bruise, the it was done by someone strong and tall." She motioned for them to take Alex.

The warning was floating before my eyes. The culprit warned me, warned us. But we got involved anyway. Now he's coming for the people around us.

"You don't want your loved one's to get hurt, do you?

Red is the color of warning

Consider yourself warned."

"It's not your fault," Noah put his arms around my shoulder. "He's just trying to make you think that. Consider this, why would he go for someone off the list when he had little time to complete his attacks?"

I nodded at him and forced a smile. But my mind couldn't believe it. It was all my fault.

Agent Savvaro poked around the bathroom to find any clue. She opened the mirror cabinet and found a lot of medicines. She took a few and read the labels.

"Looks like our victim had an addiction," she said.

"No. He's not like that."

"Then how to you explain these high powered medicine bottles empty?"

"He might've had some injuries or disease."

"He was fully fit." Noah turned to me, "We have to give some tests before playing for the school team. You know that. The reports showed him completely fit."

"We should get back downstairs. If you two aren't there while checking, they'll know something's wrong.

Officer Wild was hovering over the bathtub. His brows were furrowed. We all stood in silence and watched him for a moment. Then he put his gloves back on and picked up something from the tub.

A few strands of blonde hair.

"Doesn't our victim have brown hair?" Officer asked glancing at us.

"Yes," said Noah and I nodded.

He took out a small zip lock from his pocket and put the hair in it. These strands of hair could easily get out culprit. But for that we have to do DNA test for every single blonde in this party. Even me.

"Are you gonna run tests on that?" Noah asked as if we shared the same brain.

"Finding a DNA match might not be possible in this short time. But we can at least narrow down to blonde suspects. But if we can't catch him even then, we'll run DNA tests for everyone," officer Wild sighed.

Agent Savvaro turned to us, "You discovered Alex," she pointed to me. "Then called Mr. Flickermen. He saw the cops and took us with him upstairs."

We nodded memorizing every bit of the lie.