Chapter two

I look at her limp body held by a blood-stained cloth hung from the top step of the ladder, her blood smells of strong metal and feels sticky to the touch. I lift her head to see who she was. Her grey lifeless eyes, open mouth, brown hair sticking to her face, the marks across her face showing the fight that put up as she struggled to survive. Her yells still replaying through my brain.

"…She's Rose Quarts from class three."

I tell the others.

I notice long purple marks left on her neck from the rope as she moved around in the air. It must have been painful. Feeling the unbearable tightness of the rope as all the air in your lungs traps in then you feel the panic set in, you fight and struggle to breathe only hurting yourself in the process. The air never comes, and you fade away. What torture.

Now, what about those goggles? I walked toward the green and clear shattered glass on the floor. Shining under the light, as it lays there unaware of it all; the crime it was just apart of.

"These are night-vision goggles."

Says Callum holding up the broken goggles.

"My dad was in the military. He brought a pair home one time."

"Yeah that makes so much sense, that's why the killer could see in the dark!"

Exclaims Brianna.

The timer is still ticking away with 5 minutes left. I look around the room everyone either investigating, talking among themselves, crying or all the above. I notice one boy who separated himself from everyone. Looking closer, he has a red stain on the bottom of his shirt and a certain familiar shine sparkling in his hair. A green shine to be exact.

The timer goes off and we all meet in the middle of the room.

"Everyone form a circle."

Says Brianna. We get into a sloppy circle and wait for someone to say something. The timer starts again and the ticking ringing through the room once more.

"What do we know so far?"

The same girl asks the group.

"The girl is Rose Quarts from class three; she was slammed against the ladder then hanged from it… dying from strangulation and blood loss. She has purple marks on her neck from the struggle."

I say.

"Who knew Rose?"

I ask while looking around the room. The kids from her class: Kenedy, Brianna, Arthit, Samantha, and Antonio, shakily raise their hands.

"Step to the middle."

Brianna commands in a serious tone, judging them all as they shrink forward unaware of what is to come if they get voted as the witch. The power of fear in their eyes rivaled by the intensity of Brianna's glare, which I can't point out if it's disgust, anger, or hidden fear itself.

"Let's start with what you know about Rose. What was she like, what did she like to do, how did she act, were you close, tell us ev-er-y-th-i-ng."

She says.

"But how do we know that everyone in the center are the only ones who really knew Rose and how do we know it wasn't just a random person?!"

Eva yells worriedly her eyes darting around at everyone, holding her own hands tightly, slightly hyperventilating Haa Haa. This girl is losing it.

"Well by the way she was killed it seemed personal if someone HAD to kill someone wouldn't they want to make the other person not suffer to death? This was way too violent to be a random choice killing. Even in desperation, no one would choose like this."

Kenedy responds.

"We don't know who is actually telling the truth about knowing her, we can only try our best to put all the pieces together. Not just for us, but for Rose."

He continues. The timer is still ticking down, now at 25 minutes.

"We have to hurry."

I say

"Okay…Ill start."

Says Arthit shakily from the center.

"Rose was a really funny girl, she was known as the class clown. She wasn't popular but she wasn't unpopular either. We weren't really friends; we barely spoke actually. That's all I really know about her."

"I-I was her neighbor"

Antonio Stutters. Brianna looks at him with a skeptical look, she seems to be very… let's say cautious about her classmates that's for sure.

"She would always be outside every day laughing and throwing small but loud parties with the kids at the public-school d-down the road. I could hear the music through my window sometimes, w-when the parties got out of hand."

"Maybe he killed her because he couldn't sleep at night, or maybe he was jealous he didn't have as many friends."

Brianna says pointing her finger at Antonio.

"I-Its really not like that, I slept fine and I have l-lots of f-friends."

"Ha yeah right, says the boy with the s-s-s-stutter."

Says Samantha mockingly, looking down at the boy.

"Shut up Samantha he can't control it he was born that way, and why should that matter hm? With that personality I'm surprised you have friends… oh wait they are all fake."

Devonee says in his defense. So, they know each other, I see, good to know.

"We don't have time for this, if it's not useful don't say it."

Brianna says to the group but obviously directed at Samantha.

"Continue Antonio."

"Even though she was s-staying up all night partying, she still had really good g-grades. She always had straight A's. Like she wasn't even t-trying, she was really sm-m-m-smart."

"Yeah now that you mention it, she even got a scholarship, where was it for again?"

Says Kenedy.

"Oh, I know! To Queensdalle University in Jewsdon-acher. It was really really prestigious they only had one spot open."

Arthit says.

"Wait… Shawn, didn't you get that scholarship?"

Questions Devonee.

"Yeah, I did…but I lost it."

All eyes are on Shawn Mcarthy from class 2 the boy I was watching earlier.

"Didn't you work really hard for that? You were studying every day, you even stayed after class every day to study."

Third says looking at the downcast face of Shawn.

"Losing that scholarship must have made you pretty mad, huh?"

I ask skeptically.

"That probably explains the blood on your shirt doesn't it."

That remark leaves everyone silent and looking at Shawn warily.

"What are you talking about?"

He says confused. I walk to him, grab his shirt, and point at the wet red stain.

"Oh and don't forget about this."

I reach into his hair and pull out a green shard.

"I can explain!"

He yells defensively.

"When the lights were out the goggles hit me!"

"And you didn't think of saying anything before? That sounds suspicious."

I say in response

"Anyway, it still doesn't explain the blood, guys think about it, when the lights were out didn't we hear a guy yell? And obviously, he has a motive, plus, if the goggles really hit him, where is his injury?"

"She's right."

Says Brianna.

"There's no other way it could have been anyone else."

"I swear I didn't kill her! Please, you have to listen to me!"

He yells only to be shunned.

"Lets vote,"

Says Brianna

"All who vote Shawn Mcarthy as the witch, raise your hands."

Every hand in the room goes up. He looks around scared, everyone is looking away from him. His eyes pleading as he looks out for help. His own friends turned against him.

The timer goes off and the screen turns back to the masked man. His wide white smile and the creepy gleam in his eye shine through the shadows of his mask.

"Good job! You finished the game. Now let's see if you got it right. The player you voted for was Shawn Mcarthy… And he is…"

The deep robotic voice drags out.

The screen goes white and a red word in bold is shown across the screen.

Guilty