FRAGMENTS OF THE PAST

LAUREN'S POINT OF VIEW

I gritted my teeth as I stared on the distant police vehicle. One of our classmates died, again, and we still have any leads yet.

"Where are you going, Lauren?! The killer could just be lurking around!" Lei held my arms firmly.

I breathed deep and look blankly at her. "I need to do something important. Don't worry, I'll take care of myself," I said and fend off her grip.

She couldn't do anything when I immediately left the place.

As soon as I reached the library, I look for a certain section right away. I was rummaging the shelves when someone speaks behind me.

"You're on thin ice for doing this."

I turn around and face that person. I squinted my eyes on him, trying to remember where do I see his face.

"Lauren, right?"

I slowly nod my head. "Yes. Y-You look familiar. Have we met before?"

He smiled at me. "We bumped into each other before in the cafeteria."

I wrinkled my forehead and try to recall that scene. "I really have a bad memo- oh! right, I remember you already!"

He chuckled.

"By the way, what are you doing here? Do you need something from me."

A strange smile is plastered between his lips. "You're the one who need something from me."

My forehead creased. "W-What are you talking about?"

He picks out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. "I know that you want to know about their past. Saturday, go to the place written in that paper and meet me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "This is just our second meeting, do you expect me to trust you that easy?"

He smiled at me. "You have no choice but to trust me, Lauren. However, I'm not forcing you to do so, it will always be your choice. I'll be going now," he said before turning his back.

He's not yet far from me when I called his name. He looks at me with a questioning look.

"W-What's your name again?" I asked.

"Luther, that's my name. See you when I see you, Lauren."

But before he could reached the end of the hallway, he left me with words that throw me into confusion.

"Don't trust anyone, Lauren, even the closest person to your heart may betray you."

Lucas often says things that baffled me when we had a chance to talk, now Luthor? Seriously, they always seem to give me hints, yet I always end up in a more complicated situation. Fuck this.

•••••

I heave a deep sigh and look at the signboard displayed in front of me- The Roasted Bean. I check that paper that Luther gave me last time to make sure that I'm in the right place.

I know y'all are wondering what I'm doing here when I clearly told Luther that I don't trust people easily. But I'm desperate for answers, and if he can give it to me, then he's right, I have no choice but to play my cards and trust him.

I frowned when I noticed the empty seats as soon as I step inside the cafe, except for one table that was occupied by Luthor. He's sipping his coffee in silence while reading.

I cleared my throat to catch his attention. He averted his gaze from the catalogue and turned to me.

He smiled. "You came."

I shrugged my shoulders and sit in front of him. "Let's start, tell me everything you know."

He chuckled and put the cup on the table. "Hold your horses, Lauren. We need to wait for someone," he said and signal the waitress to come near us. "Serve us with two Espresso Americano, Kierren."

"Right away, Sir."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Luther, I'm not here to lounge around, I came here to uncover all the secrets of our class," I said, losing my patience.

"As I said, we still need to wait- oh! He's here already." He stands up and greeted the newcomer. "Good morning, Sir."

I turn around to look at the person he mentioned. My forehead creased, his face rings a bell. My mouth went agape when I recognized him at last.

He's one of those police who came to Evan's family rest house before.

"I finally met you, Lauren Lewis. I'm Detective Davien."

"N-Nice to meet you, Sir," I greeted him back after recovering from shock.

He smiled subtly at me and settled himself on the chair. "So, where do we start? Luther?"

The latter cleared his throat and reclined on his seat. "I only know a few, but I think it will help us to uncover more clues," he said.

"It all started with the infamous Astreia Blair Sullivan," he continued.

I felt uneasy with the mention of her name. I suddenly remember the articles I have read regarding her death.

"I was actually one of the people who handled her case before. And up until now, it's still a mystery to me why does our department stopped the investigation," Detective Davien interjected.

"And it's only sensible to think that it happened because some powerful people pulled some strings to made it possible. It's infuriating how some of our cops were easily blinded with money. Those scoundrels tick me off," Luther said grimly.

I nod my head in agreement. I know that some of those bastards are pretentious, they only uphold to the law only if the world is looking. They are disgusting.

"I know," Mr. Davien answered and sighed. "And it frustrates me that even if I wanted to abolish that fuck up system, I can only do so much with my current position. All throughout the years, though my rank climbed up, it's still not enough to struggle against the more powerful people who are sitting in the government."

I can decipher the frustration from the tone of his voice.

"For as long as you are not part of the obnoxious system, you're doing good, Sir," I said and smiled lightly at him.

He returned my smile. "Thank you. Anyway, we're not here to get emotional. Tell us more, Luther," he said.

"The entire Ridley University knows the feud between Astreia and one of Lauren's classmate, Amber."

My forehead creased. How are they connected to each other?

"We have witnessed how Amber treated her horribly for something that Sullivan had no control of."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Davien asked.

The former sighed. "They were classmates since elementary. They are my schoolmates too, but I was in a different section. Actually, there is no problem at first between those two. They were not friends neither enemies, the dilemma only came in when Amber's father took Astreia on his care."

"Unbeknownst to everyone, Astreia's family is a close friend to the Smith's, mainly because her father was an acolyte of Amber's father. When the former died, Mr. Smith took care of Astreia and Esthrella, her mother. That's when everything started to crumble down."

I held my breath waiting for what he will say next.

"Esthrella and Mr. Smith had an affair."

My eyes widened with his revelation. A sudden silence enveloped us three.

"T-That's unexpected," I uttered breathlessly.

"Starting that day, Amber literally made Astreia's life a living hell. Despite the latter's attempt to make amends with her, she shunned Astreia away. Amber is a popular student in Ridley along with her friends, and because those bitches and bastards wanted to join their circle, they all conspired to humiliate her."

"What about the University council? They didn't do anything to stop the bullying?" Mr. Davien asked with a furrowed brows.

He heave a deep sigh. "Unfortunately, the Smith family has one of the biggest shares in the school. I think Amber threatened the University's head not to meddle with their dispute," he answered.

"Everyday, students would throw crumpled papers and even piles of revolting trash at her. She became the dartboard of their taunts and ridicules, they hurled painful words without hearing her side."

I felt a pang of pity while listening to Luther narrating Astreia's experiences.

"Despite that, she never fought back. I don't know of she's just simply numb or what, but she didn't do anything to those good-for-nothing scumbags," he continued.

"But that's not the worse thing that happened to her." He looked in our eyes seriously before speaking. "Someone leaked a photo of her having sex with various men."

I clasp my hand in my mouth in shock. Even Mr. Davien huffed on his seat.

"T-That's too much," I muttered.

"Who the fuck would do such things?!" the police officer exclaimed.

Luther smiles sadly at us. "That was the worst issue that circulated in the entire school. Astreia's already horrible situation worsen. Personally, I don't believe that she would do such disgusting thing, I may not be close to her, but I know she's not that kind of person. I tried to investigate to find out the truth, but all my efforts were futile." He sighed and closes his eyes for a while.

"And starting that day, we never seen her in the University again for several months."

I cleared my throat. "Uh, I don't want to make an erroneous and baseless accusations, but do you think Amber had something to do with Astreia's case?"

Luther shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know. That could be possible, but we don't have any solid evidence aside from the fact she has the motives to do that."

I frowned. "And, w-where did Astreia go when she vanished out of the blue?"

He shook his head. "No one knows. After her sudden disappearance, everything went back to normal, but it didn't take long when a new issue occurred."

My brows snapped together. It seems like my classmates are still strangers to me. Lucas was right. I haven't seen them in their true colors yet.

"The famous Summer Morrigan was found almost dead on the Gertrude Building."

I pinch my arms to calm myself down. All these divulgence is making my head throb in pain.

"What the hell? I heard about that case  from my work mates before. And if my memory serves me right, her case is still on-going because the suspect was not yet caught," Mr. Davien said with a creased forehead.

"Indeed. There was no CCTV in that building, no one saw the actual accident as well, that's why no one could point who was the culprit behind the crime, aside from Summer."

"I don't think she knows it too," I interjected. They look at me. "If she really knows it, then she would immediately jailed that person that moment she gained consciousness, right? From what I observe when she came back, she did not suffer from any memory loss either. That's why I'm having a second thought if she knows who did that to her," I explained.

Luther suddenly grinned. "Not unless if she has a better plan rather than imprisoning that person."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

He shook his head solemnly. "I have known Summer for quiet several years. And I can confidently say that she's that kind of woman you should not mess with, she's a gutsy and fierce woman who would tear you down in the most painful way possible the moment you go in her bad side."

He leaned on his chair. "Summer is back with a vengeance, that is something I'm sure of."

Once again, stillness veiled us as we pondered with our thoughts. A lot of things are running inside my mind, and they are creating a maelstrom of confusing thoughts.

"What if it's Summer all along?" I uttered nonchalantly.

It seems like I caught their attentions, they stared at me with curious eyes. I opened my bag and laid out a small piece of paper. "This is just one of the notes that the killer sent us every time one of our classmates died."

They both took a glance of it. I also handed the detective my phone to show him the messages sent by killer.

"All of them contain the same words and thought, they are talking about revenge," I said and turned to Luther. "And if you're saying that Summer had returned to avenge herself, then it's only sensible to think that she's one of the possible suspect."

They seemed to consider my assumption.

"But it refutes the incident that occurred in the Arden's rest house. It does not coincide," Mr. Davien speaks. "We took a look at its location and the nearest community was several miles away from the place."

I contemplate for a moment, and when I realized what he's trying to imply, my eyes widened. "T-That means, the possible killer could also be one of us," I said breathlessly.

He nodded. "Those are just my speculations. Still, I will consider yours too. For now, what we need to do is observe. We can't act recklessly because your lives is in the line," the detective said in a serious tone.

We may have gained valuable information for now, but that doesn't alleviates the fear crawling in my skin. We're still far from uncovering all the significant fragments of this peril.

"Wait, I have a question."

The two guys turned their attentions at me.

"Uh, you said that Astreia suddenly disappeared in the University, right?" Luther nodded. "Was that the same time that she died? I'm just confused since I saw her picture on the their batch's yearbook," I asked.

Luther sipped on his tea before answering. "Good thing that you asked. Actually, no. Two months before our batch's recognition, Astreia came back. From what I heard, she was able to complete all the requirements though she's late, that's why she graduated along with us. And after that, I never heard anything about her anymore, aside from her death," Luther responded.

I nod my head.

"Shall we call it a day?" Mr. Davien asked and the both of us agree.

"Alright, I'll walk you two outside," Luther said.

Detective Davien opens his car. "Do you want me to drive you home, Lauren?"

I shook my head. "Uh, no. My house is pretty near from here. Thanks for the offer, detective. Have a safe drive."

He smiled and waved his hand. "If you say so, take care too," he said and starts the engine of his car.

We watch his car drive away. I look at Luther. "Aren't you going home yet?"

"No, I still need to run some errands," he answered.

I squinted my eyes on him. "Why are you doing this?" I asked

He looks at me with confusion. "What do you mean?'

I breathed deep. "I'm thriving to unveil the secrets of their past because my classmates' lives are in danger. Mr. Davien has obvious reasons for doing the same thing. I'm sorry if I'm too inquisitive, but what is your reason for playing with fire? You do know of course that what we're about to delve could be vicious, right?" I asked carefully.

He stares at me for a moment before gazing over the horizon. The high sunlit clouds drifted across the blue sky, the crimson sun spills light over the land. Fresh air filled my lungs and I felt exhilarated.

"Let's just say that I want to save someone, I want to do something that I wasn't able to do before," he said with a mysterious yet genuine smile.

"You're too reticent," I muttered nonchalantly that earned a chuckle from him.

He ruffled my hair. "Go home now, see you in Monday," he said and walks back inside the cafe.

I just shrugged my shoulders and started walking away too.