Chapter Three

Agnes was born a perfect girl. She was the dream child of her parents, especially her father. He was an Indian man and he valued academic achievement more than anything else. Since childhood, Agnes cared about books more than anything else. 

But she also cared about animals. She always wanted a pet. A cat or a dog. But her parents never let her. She once wanted a laptop. Her parents did not get her that, saying it would ruin her. She loved watching Scooby-Doo. Her father sold the television so she could watch no cartoons. 

They were not happy when she asked for things other than books. Her father wanted her to be what he could not be. A doctor. 

"You will be a doctor."

"My daughter will be a doctor."

"She will be the first doctor of our family."

It was all Nes heard until she was ten. Until her parents were killed. 

And she could breathe freely. 

"Are you three siblings?" the voice of a young girl brought her back to reality. 

"We are triplets, if that's what you wanna know," Theo said. 

"Wow, really? You three do look alike, maybe you a little bit different." She pointed at Agnes. 

Agnes found it funny that even though they were born at the same time, their parents pretended it was only her. Because they saw potential in Agnes, they made sure Alex and Theo could not have a normal childhood either. They wanted to make Agnes a robot who only listened to them and did what she was told. Alex and Theo could be whatever they wanted to be, because- they are not as mentally developed as her, their father said. 

Agnes touched her neck almost absentmindedly. She sometimes felt there was a leash around her neck. But there was no one anymore to tell her what to do. She did exactly what she wanted. 

They sat at the table the waitress found them and ordered. Alex, Theo, and Jin chatted about the two murders while Agnes thought about Maya. She knew Maya a little. They were biology seat partners. She hated biology, but it was Maya's favorite subject. So, Agnes told Maya to help her with biology. Not that Agnes needed any help. She understood everything, simply hated the subject. She just wanted to see if Maya was as good at it as she pretended to be. Maya did not have any friends. Agnes was as close to a friend as Maya ever had. 

Agnes could still picture the betrayal on Maya's face that night when she found out what Agnes truly wanted. Agnes did not want to kill her; it was a necessity. 

Murderer or not, what Agnes did to the serial killer could not be called self-preservation. It was self-preservation, but normal people would not believe it. Not when Agnes mutilated the man. How could she make them understand that she was angry at him for trying to hurt her?

"I think the man killed Maya and then he was killed by someone," Alex said. Agnes nodded. That was exactly what she wanted people to believe, although she doubted the police would buy that. For starters, Maya was not raped. The serial killer raped before he killed, men or women. Then, he strangled his victim. However, if Agnes tried to strangle Maya, someone might find out that it was not a man but a woman, or possibly a girl, who killed Maya. She read online that it could be determined from finger marks. Or maybe not. But she did not want to take the risk. 

"What if someone killed them both?" Theo suggested. 

"That's ridiculous. Why would someone do that?" Jin said. 

No one could ever suspect that Jin knew the truth of what happened last night. Just like no one would suspect Agnes of committing two murders. 

"I don't know. We can't know what a killer thinks." Theo shrugged. 

Their orders arrived. Agnes bit into a hash brown. It was crunchy and a little too oily. It did not matter. She was not on a diet. In fact, she did not think she could even try to eat less than she usually did. If she was a little bit hungry, she lost her mind. 

"You think the police would talk to us?" Alex asked in a whisper. Her hair was short in a cute bob. Agnes wondered how she would look with short hair. Would she look as good as Alex? Probably. 

Long hair suits me, she thought. Plus Alex will think I copied her.

"Why would the police talk to us? It's not like we are related to Maia. We just know her," Theo pointed out. 

Agnes's mind raced through the possibilities. The serial killer had a burner phone which she used to call Maia. No one could trace it back to her. No one. Not even the FBI. 

"I know her a little. But I doubt the police will question me," Agnes said. "I'm just her biology partner, which doesn't matter anymore since we'll be graduating in a week anyway."

"That's true," Theo murmured. "It's still freaky that not just one, but two people were killed behind our school. Never thought it would happen."

"Why would you even think of the possibility of something like this happening?" Jin asked as he took a sip of Coca-Cola. "Murder is not usual."

"Still. Like in the movies, you see murders happening right around you and you are somehow involved," Alex said. "Kinda exciting, to be honest. Not that I don't feel bad for Maia."

While they chatted, Agnes looked behind her. No one was looking at her. Still, she felt eyes on her. For the last two months, she always felt eyes on her. It made the hair on her neck stand. 

Agnes's ankle was not in a good shape, although not in a too bad shape either. Jin thought it was so serious that she would not be able to walk for several days. Although it hurt to take a step, she could manage. 

After eating, they went to Jin's place which was near to their school. Theo and Alex went out to see if they could get any update. Agnes and Jin stayed back. 

"I am not liking it one bit, Nes," Jin said, closing his door. Agnes lay down on his bed. It was way too soft, however, she liked it. 

"Neither am I. It was too sloppy," Agnes agreed. "Still, I'm certain there is nothing that can trace it back to me."

They were talking in whispers, so even if someone walked by the door, they would not hear them. 

"Of course, it was sloppy. You were hurt too," Jin said. "And really, Nes, you shouldn't do all the stalking shit anymore. Someone might notice."

"No one can notice me. I'm good at it," she said as a matter of fact. 

"Don't get too arrogant, Nes. Arrogant people make the most mistakes," Jin warned. 

"I'm not being arrogant. I'm simply stating facts. Why not just say I'm good at it when I actually am good at it? I don't see what being humble will do." Agnes shrugged. 

Jin sighed and flopped down on the bed. He took her sore ankle in his hands and started gently massaging. 

"You still haven't burned those clothes," he said. 

"I will. It was almost morning by the time I could clean myself. Theo sometimes returns home too early. I couldn't just explain why I'm burning clothes when there has been two murders, right? Honestly, Jin, I know you are worried. I am too. Still, try to relax, okay? I'll be fine."

Agnes watched her friend closely. They had known each other since they were in kindergarten. On her first day, a boy tried to shove her. Jin called the boy 'stupid and fat'. Jin was scolded by the teacher, but because of that incident, they became friends almost immediately. For Agnes, who could not get close to anyone, to make a friend so quickly surprised her parents. 

Jin was not just her friend. He was her only friend. She did not need anyone else anyway. 

"I still don't know why you are so certain that Maia did not tell anyone where she was going or who she was meeting," Jin said. 

"Well, now that's a chance I took. If she told someone, I would just say she lied. I was at home all day, on a video chat with you."

She had not just one but two solid alibis. Alex knew she was at home and saw her going to her room around 10. But the police could say- what if she sneaked out of her room? Since Agnes did shady things regularly, she always made sure to have an alibi that would break her out of anything. It was Jin and a video call with him. Whenever she went out to do something that was not necessarily legal, she left her laptop open on a video call with Jin. They were very close. No one would find it weird that they talked for hours. Jin's mother knew they sometimes did their homework on video calls. 

"Well, I hope we don't have to use that alibi. That's for extreme situations only."

Agnes chuckled. "I'm pretty sure this is an extreme situation."