"What... happened here?" said Misty.

  "It seems he is already dead," said Trevor.

  "Yes, I'm calling the cops." Misty dialled the emergency number.

  "I'm gonna check up on everyone else."

  "911, What's your emergency?"

  "One of my friends is dead!"

  "One of them? May I know the name of your friend?"

  "We haven't I-"

  Suddenly, Trevor called out for her. "Misty!"

  Misty ran to him. "What happened?!"

  "L... look," Trevor pointed forward. She looked at the direction he pointed at, and was frightened at the sight of what she saw.

  "Hello ma'am? Is everything alright?" The Dispatcher said.

  "We... just found another victim, Satoshi... he's dead too." Satoshi was laying in the middle of the dining room, there was a gunshot Mark in his forehead.

  "Alright ma'am, just tell us your location, the police will be there in a short while."

  Trevor woke everyone else up, fortunately everyone else was alright. The police and the ambulance came in about 10 minutes. Misty talked with one of the police, while other policemen got inside the house to examine.

  "What the heck happened yesterday?" said Tony, he was visibly angry.

  Meera looked at everyone who was gathered, desperately, then she felt someone touch her shoulder, she looked back to see Catherine. "I am... sorry."

  Meera breathed heavily. "Wh..why are you sorry? It's not him ya know? It's probably some random person, he," Meera sobbed, "just went out for a walk."

  The police flipped the first body over to confirm their identity, it was Vishnu. Meera started to cry the moment his death was confirmed. A tear fell from Catherine's eye as she saw her crying.

  "We all knew it was Vishnu the moment everyone gathered together, only he was missing." Alex looked towards the dining room. "Apart from Satoshi."

  "Meera loved him very much, Alex!" Mary sobbed.

  Tony was staring blankly at the dead body of Vishnu. The attendant came to pick his body up and slowly, he picked up the body and walked past Tony. Tony's expression changed to anger suddenly. "You can't keep the words you have said, you are a waste of a man!" He punched the wall, tears started to form in his eyes.

  "Cursing your dead friend or hurting the wall won't bring him back," he heard Trevor's voice and saw him standing beside him. Trevor had a serious look on his face. "That is why, cry it out." Trevor walked out, Tony's eyes fluttered, Tears started to fall from his eyes, he cried uncontrollably.

  The police tried to look through the CCTV footage, but somebody had already destroyed all the setups in the CCTV room.

  The police left after examining the crime scene, Vishnu and Satoshi's body was sent for postmortem.

  Everyone was sitting in the room in dead silence, this was the first time it was this silent in a room where all of them were present. Meera broke the silence. "It's all Misty's fault."

  "Huh? What do you mean?" said Trevor.

  "Wasn't it her idea to stay in the same house?" said Tony.

  "So?"

  "What do you mean by so?" said Tony. "If she hadn't told us to stay together we wouldn't have been here. THEY wouldn't have been here yesterday!"

  "It was needed to catch the culprit, and she wanted all of us to leave yesterday but you had other plans, now shut your trap!"

  "No matter how much you try to defend her, it doesn't change the fact it's her-"

  "SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU DON'T SAY A WORD ANYMORE," said Alex. Both of them stopped arguing, everyone was surprised to see Alex angry for the first time. "I know that it's not easy to bear with what just happened, but please stay calm. If we don't stay calm we won't be able to catch the culprit," he looked at everyone firmly, "don't you want that to happen."

  "Yes guys, blaming each other won't help. We have to find a way to find this killer and make that killer pay!" said Mary.

  The front door suddenly opened, Cheng came through the door. "Cheng!" said Mary.

  "I just heard about it, I will help you guys too."

  Cheng talked with everyone. "You talk about creating a plan but we can't really create a plan together, because one of us is the culprit." He gave everyone a soft smile. "What you all need right now isn't a plan but some rest, I need it too."

  Everyone left the living room after a while, Misty walked out of the house and went to the lake. She sat by the lakeside and embraced the wind. "I'm sorry Vishnu, Satoshi."

  "Why are you apologising?" said Trevor.

  "Where did you... come from?"

  "Well, I saw you leaving the house alone, so I decided to follow you. Now, answer me."

  "People keep on dying because of me, I should at least be sorry!"

  "That's not true Misty, it's totally not your fault. Let's just say that the things that happened, happened because of all of us meeting, still it wouldn't be your fault. It was Ralph who brought us all together!"

  "Hmm..."

  Trevor looked at her for a few seconds and sat beside her. "Ya know I felt the same way you felt long ago, I mean around 10 years ago."

  "When your parents died?"

  "Yes! You are the best at deduction!" Trevor laughed, his laugh slowly faded into a slight smile. "That day they decided to end it all because of what I had done. It was supposed to be a family suicide but God wanted me to suffer even more so I, who is at the fault, somehow survived."

  "Don't.... blame yourself for that. Also, all that happened long ago, don't bring that up now and make yourself feel miserable just to make me feel better."

  "Girl, you are ruining the mood, I am telling you this because I want to tell you something else. I decided to try that, suicide that is, once more, but then I met a certain person. He knew what was going on in my mind, it was as if he were god. He told me this." The man's words came to his mind as he said it to Misty.

  "It's true that what you did was what started the conflict in your family but a lot of other things could have gone the other way too. For example, your parents had to choose a family suicide as the solution for this problem. Stop blaming yourself for what happened. Some things are destined to happen. If we try to look too much into it, we will only have time to find our faults. According to your logic, God is the reason we are suffering because he started it all by creating us. If you make a mistake in life, make sure to have regret, make sure that such a thing will never happen but don't let it hold you back, don't let it destroy you."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Trevor gave Misty a warm smile. "I want to say the same thing to you, even though you did nothing wrong here."

  The wind blew slowly. "Thank you, Trevor," she smiled.

  Catherine was standing right outside the house and looking at the sky, suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, she looked back to see Mary. "Oh hey, what's up?" she gave her a slight smile.

  "You haven't eaten anything today and it's noon already, you should eat something," she raised the food in her hands.

  "I... don't feel hungry."

  "I see, what... are you thinking?"

  "I was thinking about Vishnu, he was certain that he would have a perfect life once it all ended. I'm sure it would have gone like that if he had survived but now..."

  "Yes, I feel bad for him, as well as Satoshi. Satoshi wasn't in the best mood lately, it looked like he had so many problems in his head. He wasn't able to be at peace in his last moments."

  Catherine bit her lips in frustration. "That's what makes this even more painful to me. I can't bear the fact that he died in a desperate state."

  "You really made a strong bond with everyone here. It would have been hard for you no matter who died."

  "That's not true, Mary. Satoshi isn't just like anyone else for me. In fact I would have stayed calm and made plans to find the culprit if it wasn't him."

  "Why is that?"

  "Because," Catherine looked at the sky, "he was my childhood friend. We did end up cutting contact with each other but he always occupied a spot in my heart. All these years, I was praying to God to have a reunion with him and he did in fact hear my prayers just so he could make me suffer later on."

  "I'm sorry..."

  "Hm," Catherine's gaze turned from the sky to Mary, "I'm sorry for you too... You started dating and bad news followed that, it must be tough."

  "It's the least of our concerns right now," said Mary.

  At Evening

  Misty and Trevor are standing in front of the police station. Fred came out and walked to them. "Hey Misty, you said you want to find this killer yourself and this is our first lead on finding them," Fred handed her a file consisting of a few papers.

  "What is this?"

  "Their autopsy report. Well, not the real autopsy report, it will take days for it to be prepared. I just wrote the things the examiners said to me in this paper, it will be of great use to you."

  Trevor and Misty looked at each other. "Thanks," said Misty in a low voice.

  Fred looked at her with a tint of sadness and then gave a warm smile. "Today is their trial, don't you want to meet them?" Fred looked at Trevor. "Don't you both want to see them.

  They got inside, Evelyn saw them and ran to see them. "I... heard the news," her eyes wandered in confusion, "what happened there yesterday?" Akbar was still slowly walking towards them.

  "We don't know, we weren't even there yesterday," said Misty.

  "So it's really true?" said Akbar, he had a mixed expression of sadness and shock. "We are sorry guys, we are the reason such a thing happened, it's because of us we all came together."

  Misty and Trevor said nothing for a few moments. "There's nothing we can do now, what's done is done," said Misty.

  "You guys aren't exactly the ones who should be apologising. I guess you gotta do that, but it's about time a certain person apologise, especially since their actions cost someone's life," Trevor glanced at Ralph who was sitting inside the cell.

  "We are leaving, we have so many things to do. We will definitely find the killer and they will pay for what they did," said Misty.

  Misty and Trevor were about to leave and Ralph called out to them. They both looked back at him. "Can you ask your uncle to punch me as hard as he could."

  "What? Why?"

  "I deserved to be punished for indirectly causing Vishnu and Satoshi's death."

  "If you really want to die, I mean get punched by him just ask him directly, he will fulfil your wish."

  Once Misty and Trevor left, Ralph sat on the floor. "It's all my fault." Evelyn and Akbar stayed silent because they couldn't deny that either.

  Evelyn took the cookie package out and sat near Ralph. "Maybe you are right, but don't you wanna know how they reacted to knowing you were the kidnapper? It was made for me but it works for you too," she took out the cookies with Vishnu and Satoshi's name.

  He first took Satoshi's cookie and broke it. "I honestly hate you for what you did, but once you are done with your sentence, if you are ready to repent, I am ready to accept you as my friend," the note read.

  Evelyn broke Vishnu's cookie. "I don't know how I feel about anything but all I know is that I have enjoyed my time with all of you, so I could never hate you," it read.

  Tears fell from his eyes like a waterfall. "I am sorry, Vishnu, Satoshi, I didn't want it all to end up like this."

  Misty and Trevor got out of the station and got in their car, Trevor was just holding the steering wheel, not starting the car. "Uhm Trevor? You wanna read the report right now, isn't that why you aren't starting the car?" said Misty.

  "Yes."

  "Okay then, let's take a look into it." They both stayed in the car and examined the report. Trevor only drove off the car once they were finished.

  They got home and saw a luxurious car parked outside. They got inside the house to see the housemates standing in the living room surrounding an old lady. The old lady saw both of them and signed Trevor and Misty to go over there, they did just that. "We were waiting for you, children, took you a long time."

  "Sorry, we were doing important stuff," said Misty.

  "Is this important thing related to my son?"

  Misty and Trevor immediately caught up on what she meant. "I am sorry, we let your son die even though he allowed us to stay in his house," said Misty.

  "Why are you apologising? It's not your fault that some heartless person killed my son, there was nothing you could do."

  "Ma'am, are you here because you want us to leave the house? If so, we are more than glad to do that," said Mary.

  "No dear, I was here because I wanted to see you all," she hid her pain with a smile. "Seeing you all will perhaps account to seeing my son alive?" The whole room went silent. "He talked about you all whenever I called him. He seemed to be having such a good time with you guys. I thought everyone felt the same about my son," her eyes were filled with tears, "but I was wrong. If you felt even a little connection with my son, tell me every small thing you know about this whole thing," she sobbed. "Whoever did it, pls tell me why you would want to kill my sweet child." The woman looked at Catherine. "At Least you should know it, right Catherine? I heard from him that you all were trying to solve a case, this time I beg you all to find my son's killer."

  Misty looked at her in a serious manner. "We will!"

  "And I'm sure ma'am they won't get away with making a mother cry for her son. That's why, please don't cry," said Mary.

  "Yes I agree, don't cry aunty," said Catherine.

  The old woman wiped her tears off and stood up. "Now you know why I am here. I hope you will find the culprit behind my son's death."

  Misty accompanied the old woman on her way, they both reached the car. "Ma'am I forgot to ask this but what is your name?"

  The old woman smiled. "Camila Rogers."

  "I promise you, I will find your son's killer no matter what, Ms. Rogers."

  "I hope you will,' Camila got inside her car and the driver drove the car off.

  Misty turned back to walk back inside and saw Mary standing beside her. "Where were you?"

  "Hm? I went to the police station. Why do you even care, Mary? Is it because you are the killer? Like, you don't want us to find the culprit?"

  "I have heard this before, it was from Akbar, the difference is the word killer, it was kidnapper back then. In the end the one who said those words ended up being one of the kidnappers," said Meera, who just got there.

  "Well, if that's your logic, I want to point out that somebody is acting exactly like how Ralph acted," said Misty. Meera went inside the house without saying anything back. Misty looked at Mary. "I'm sorry for being rude, Mary, our problem right now isn't just a random wanna be psycho, we have got the real deal in front of us."

  "I understand but I want you to know that I was just worried about you and Trevor."

  Misty smiled lightly. "Of course Mary, thank you."

  "By the way, you shouldn't have talked like that to Meera, you know how close she was to Vishnu," said Mary.

  "Well, she started it, everyone is frustrated and sad right now. She doesn't get to be mean to anyone just because she was closest to one of the victims."

  Catherine came outside. "Well you said, you went to the police, what did you find?"

  Misty thought about it. "Well, I want to share it with you all."

  "I... don't think it's a good idea, you are forgetting the fact that the killer is among us," said Catherine.

  "Well, what's with sharing the autopsy report, the killer already knows how they were killed. Moreover, I can get valuable information from you guys who were present here last night if I shared it with you."

  "Autopsy report? But it will take time for them to prepare it"

  "It's not an official one, Uncle Fred just wrote down what was found."

  "Hmm, I see."

  Misty called everyone to the living room to share the info she got. "So guys, this is," she hesitated for a second, "an unofficial autopsy report of them."

  Usually, whenever things like this were shared to them, they all show different types of emotions and reactions. This time, it was just pure silence because it was too hard for them to comprehend that it was the autopsy report of their newly made friends.

  "So, what's in it?" said Tony in a low voice.

  Misty was still hesitating, then she brought herself together. "Uncle Fred... just stated their cause of death and described their wounds," she opened the file. "It's described here that Satoshi died because of brain death as he was shot in the head," she looked at everyone. "There were no other noticeable wounds, and it seems that there was no use of force and the attack happened on the go," she paused for a second. "Now, when it comes to Vishnu, he was having a panic attack moments before death. Apparently he was hit on the head before his death too," she paused and looked at everyone. "The wound which killed him was the stab to his abdomen, he bled out and died within minutes." She closed the file.

  "Did officer Fred say something else to you?" said Cheng.

  "Yes, when the investigators were looking through Satoshi's room, they found this," Misty took out a bottle of sleeping pills.

  "Sleeping pills?" Alex stiffened his eyes. "Yes! I remember now, yesterday, I immediately felt really tired after eating, maybe it's because of this. Did the killer use this to make us fall asleep, and did the deed when they made sure we were all asleep?"

  "But why would the victim have it?" said cheng.

  "That's true, why did Satoshi have it..."

  "Maybe we are overthinking it, he probably has trouble sleeping so he uses it," said Mary.

  "Yes, it could be anything but whatever happened yesterday, whoever did all this, will be unveiled in a few days," said Misty. 'I promise you, Satoshi... Vishnu,' she thought.