Nethania

Chapter 13: Nailed It!

AVIA

"GEEZ!" I grunted while making our way down the stairs. We were moving so slow because Hannah was applying her makeup in the middle of the stairway.

I turned my head to her, frowning and crossing my arms across my chest. "Hannah, the stairway isn't a restroom where you can apply cosmetics whenever you like. Can't you wait until we get in the classroom?" I reproved, rolling my eyes.

She popped her lips and waved her lipstick in front of me. "Of course! I can't wait to try my new lipstick. If you had woken me up before six thirty, I could have gotten myself ready and applied my cosmetics in the dormitory," she retorted.

"Yeah!" I raised an eyebrow. "If you're just responsible enough to wake up early in the morning, we aren't this slow in walking."

Ugh... This girl. She blamed me for how she was sluggish in preparing herself for school. I glanced at Hilary, who was just listening to us while staring at her notes.

"Hey guys! Let's just understand each other's differences—"

"No, Hilary." I cut off her words, and threw a glance at her. "It's rude. There's a place for beautifying oneself and it is called a restroom, not a stairway, okay?" I quipped, rolling my eyes.

Hannah glared at me and kept her cosmetics inside her bag. "Fine, what the hell?" Her lips twisted at the same time her eyes rolled over.

We kept climbing the stairs. No words came out after trading barbs with each other. Only our sharp glares screamed how frustrated we were this morning.

We strode down the hallway and when I caught a glimpse over my shoulders, I caught Hannah making a face behind me. She was twisting her mouth with her tongue stuck out and her hands were over her head, illustrating a horn on both sides of it.

I rolled my eyes. You thought I didn't see you huh. Well, let's see.

"You go first, Hilary," I whispered, and pushed her lightly. She looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "I'll talk to Hannah for awhile."

I turned my head to Hannah. "Hey you!" I said.

"What?" she retorted, frowning at me.

"Ahhhh!!"

Instead of replying to Hannah, we were disturbed by Hilary's scream from the classroom. We eyed each other and, without saying a word, we rushed toward the classroom. My eyes widened and I gasped. We found her laying on the floor, unconscious.

"Oh my—what happened?" I said, looking at Hilary who was laying on her back and it was like she was just sleeping.

I crouched and held both of her shoulders. "Hilary? Hilary, answer me!" I slapped her cheeks gently but got no response.

"Did she slip off the floor?" I asked, looking at Hannah while holding Hilary's neck.

She nodded. "Yes and probably Hilary stepped on something slippery and slipped, losing her consciousness, but only her could tell what was actually happened."

"Yeah, maybe that's what happened," I said.

She moved beside Hilary and I tried slapping Hilary's cheeks again but still no response.

"There's blood on her hand," Hannah informed me, pointing to it and glancing at me.

I peeked at her hand and confirmed that there was blood on it. I looked at Hannah. "Help me lift her and make her sit against the wall," I said.

Hannah held Hilary's right shoulder and I held the opposite side. I grunted when we dragged her gently toward the wall and let her back rest against the wall.

"Look!" Hannah gasped. "There's blood on the floor!" Her widened eyes were looking back and forth between me and the blood. I scrutinized the blood—which probably caused Hilary to slip and fall to the floor. I cringed when I sniffed the smell of the rotten odor of the blood.

How long has the blood been here? It didn't smell rusty or fresh. It was also blackish in color.

"Don't tell me it was from Hilary," Hannah told me, shaking her head.

I rushed to Hilary and checked her arms and legs. "No." I shook my head. "She doesn't have any cuts or scratches," I replied, looking at her.

Her forehead creased. "Then where did this blood come from?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. And it isn't fresh anymore—I mean, it's still wet but its odor is sickening."

"What the hell, Avia? You even have the guts to smell it just to know if it is still fresh or not?" Hannah cringed and twisted her lips. She even covered her mouth, very likely to almost vomit when she heard what I said.

I didn't actually smell it like my nose was almost touching the blood, it was just the odor that was wafting in the air and playing in my nostrils.

I stood, still staring at the blood. Hannah was standing at the doorway just right below the door header, hands on her hips while looking at the blood also.

She sighed and in a second, a liquid dropped on her forehead. My eyes nailed at her forehead and my mouth gaped, unable to speak. I could barely moved my hands to cover my mouth in terror.

"Uhm... Avia, what's on my forehead?" she asked, her hands slowly moved to her face.

I tardily lifted up my head. From Hannah's head, up to the top rail of the door and I stopped, nailing my stare above the head of the door.

Tyrone's smashed head was nailed to the wall! His eyes were widely open and his one eyeball was hanging and nearly falling off from his eye socket. His face was full of lacerations and he was bathed in blood! His severed head was still bleeding and it was dripping drop by drop onto the floor.

"Ahhh!" Hannah screamed while looking at her finger and her knees became jellies. "Blood? W-Where the hell did it c-come from?" she stammered, eyeing me.

I lifted my trembling hand and pointed at the head of the door, and she turned around. "Ahhh!" she shrilled and slumped on the floor and began to sob.

No, I won't break down. I have to be stronger this time! I averted my gaze away from the hideous sight when I couldn't bear the view anymore. I rushed to Hannah and caressed her back. She was sobbing loudly.

I tried to erase the picture of Tyrone in my head, but it was hard! The image was so vivid and clear!

"What the s**t happened here?" I turned my head to the door when I heard Vino's voice. Vino, Jamsen, and Jeromy appeared at the doorway, and they gasped when they saw what our situation was. They stood still and their eyes were fixed on the blood in front of them.

"Oh my gad!" Jeromy exclaimed, squeezing his face with both of his hands.

"Avia, are you ok?" Jamsen rushed to my side and looked at me. He glanced at Hannah, who was sobbing on her knees.

I stared at them. "Vino, Jamsen and Jeromy, go get Hilary and Hannah and bring them to the clinic. Hilary fainted when she slipped off the floor," I said.

"Let's go!" Jamsen said and he rushed to the spot where Hilary was laying. Jeromy followed him and when they were about to carry Hilary, Vino yelled, "s**t! It's that Tyrone?" Pointing his finger directly where Tyrone was nailed to.

Jamsen and Jeromy lifted up their heads and stared where Vino's finger was pointing. "Yes! Who did it to him?" Jamsen asked.

"Maybe the killer?" Jeromy replied.

What were they doing? Hannah and Hilary needed help! They have to be brought to the clinic.

"Let's talk about it later but bring them to the clinic first!" I raised my voice, then I breathed deeply to calm my system. I was getting hysterical and panicky. I needed to calm down. I inhaled and exhaled and cleared my mind.

"Okay! Let's go. Gently carry her body," Jamsen instructed, and they lifted Hilary and rushed to the door. Vino held Hannah and helped her stand. I was left alone at the doorway, caressing my temples and inhaling deeply.

Someone touched my shoulder and I flinched, moving backwards and glaring at him. I thought Tyrone's head fell off. "Avia, are you ok? I saw Jamsen and our classmates with Hilary and Hannah. What happened?" Austin's eyes gleamed with concern and his brows were knitted.

I sat on a nearby chair. "Actually, I'm not feeling okay, because another person was killed," I said.

"Who?" he asked.

I lifted up my hand and pointed my finger above the head of the door. He followed my lead.

"Crap! That's creepy!" he gulped while staring at Tyrone's head.

"Is that Tyrone?"

"Definitely," I replied.

It was six thirty in the morning and it was too early for our classmates to come over here. I saw Austin take out his phone and take photos around the place.

"Why are you capturing pictures?"

"For documentation purposes. If we report this to the administration, we have our proof."

"Should we report this?"

"Of course, but later. We have to wait for Alexandra," he said.

"What happened here? Why were our classmates running down the hallway?" Alexandra blurted out. Oh, speaking of the devil. She was with Nathalie. "And why is there blood on the floor?" she asked.

"What, blood? Where?" Nathalie asked, peeking inside. Austin faced her and told her something that made her run outside.

I wonder what he told her.

I confronted Alexandra when she stepped inside the room. "Alexandra, Tyrone was murdered and his head was nailed to the wall above the head of the door," I informed her that made her brows knit and glare at me.

She looked up and mouthed the word OMG and covered her mouth. She stared at us. "Freak! Who did this to him?"

"We don't know either. He was in that position before we entered the classroom, and Hilary slipped on his blood that was scattered on the floor," I replied, interlacing my fingers continuously.

Alexandra hastened to the door and closed it. "I don't want our classmates to witness this. We needed to report this immediately," she said, taking out her phone and beginning to dial the administration's phone number.

"Wait, Alex," Austin restrained her. Alex stopped tapping her phone and looked ta him. "What?"

"Why is there something exuding from our desk compartment?" he asked and began stepping forward.

Alex and I eyed each other before following Austin. He stopped in front of his desk and we saw that blood was coming out from it.

"Is that blood?" Alex asked and we just nodded to her.

Austin stretched out his hand and reached inside his desk compartment. He cringed and I guess he felt something inside it. He pulled his hand back and I gasped when I saw him holding a bloody severed thigh and placed it on top of his desk. Alex covered her mouth and turned around.

Our desk compartment was left empty before we exited our classroom, and I was sure that there was nothing inside it unless someone had put something inside it like what we have found now.

"Search every desk," Austin commanded, but we remained standing, without moving our bodies from our spot.

"I don't want to touch a rotten severed part of Tyrone's body," I declined, waving my hand in front of him.

"Are you sure it was Tyrone's?" Alex asked, pointing his finger at the severed thigh.

"Yes, if the head was here, then the body must be here too."

"I'm going to call the administration now," Alex dialed the phone number and called the administration office.

Austin began searching every desk and I was just observing him. Other desks were empty and he found nothing, but there were certain desks where he found a severed part of Tyrone's body.

My eyes widened, I gasped and my heart raced when he came to the last desk and found nothing. I covered my gaping mouth while I couldn't take my eyes off the scene.

He came back to us, with hands stained with blood. Alex turned to us when she was finished calling the administration, and she stepped backwards when she saw what was in front of her.

"Okay, it seems you're too shocked by what you saw. I'll say whose desk has Tyrone's body parts. Avia, right forearm. Hilary, left forearm. Hannah, a thigh same as mine, and I can't distinguish who among us got the right side. Jamsen, right upper arm. Vino, left upper arm. Nathalie, right leg. Jeromy, left leg, and last but not least, his torso, which I found in the teacher's deck compartment," he stated and took pictures.

I cringed when I looked at them. I couldn't believe someone could do this kind of thing. It was brutal and hideous. The killer felt like he was slaughtering an animal. All those parts had no garments on. They're all naked and bloody.

There was a knock on the door and Alex rushed to open it. When the door was opened, familiar face were revealed, including the face of Nicole Destri, our administration head, who I saw first. She walked inside the room and her face creased when she saw what happened inside the room.

The Campus Police came in and inspected every corner of the room. Ms. Nicole called our attention and we came to her. I glanced at the door and I saw our classmates peeking inside, eager to know what happened. But some members of the Campus Police cordoned off the area to restrain our curious classmates.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," we answered in chorus.

"What a terrifying event that had happened. I know that you three are traumatized by what you have witnessed, so have your rest in the clinic and we will investigate this case. Off you go," she said. Her eyes were crestfallen, and I could even feel the sincerity of her voice.

"Thank you ma'am," we said in chorus.

Austin held my arm and led the way. I felt my system was worn out! I just want to rest and sleep in my bed until I forget about this day.

We went out of the classroom and our classmates came to us and gathered around.

"My dear classmates, we have something to talk about. But we have to go down and gather at a place where no one can hear us," she instructed.

Vino, Jamsen and Nico came to us when we leaned on the railing.

"How are Hannah and Hilary?" I asked.

"They're ok and still recovering. Let's go to the clinic. You need to rest too," Jamsen said.

"Austin, why do you have a blood stain on your hand? Did you try to remove Tyrone's head off the wall?" Vino asked. I could feel sarcasm in his tone.

"No, why would I? In fact, I found Tyrone's body in our desk compartments," he replied.

Jamsen and Nico just stared at us and remained silent.

"You mean his body? How would his body fit inside our—"

"His body was brutally severed and was put inside our desk compartments. All of us had one severed part except Nico," I cut off Jamsen's words when he spoke.

"s**t! That's insane!" Vino exclaimed.

"I also found a bloody letter on the top of his torso," Austin said.

We all glared at him with puzzlement.

What was the content of the letter?