3 Entry #3: Angel's house

‘What? Angel is dead?’

That news messed me up for several nights now. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Nick! Answer me!"

I grabbed his backpack to get his attention, and he lacerated me with his grumpy eyes.

After learning that Angel died, I pestered Nick unceasingly to tell me why she died, but the jerk was adamant about ignoring me.

In my defense, it was not that we were close or something. He was the only person I could talk to.

I annoyed him all the time, and I wasn't feeling sorry at all.

Even with the threats of his sharp gazes, I followed him to the library. I wouldn't be at ease if I didn’t quench my curiosity. The curious cat in me woke up because of the many Angels surrounding me.

‘They can't be the same person, can they? It would be really weird if they are.’

As Nick checked the shelves for the book he was looking for, I minced near him, wearing a sheepish smile.

“Why did she kill herself?" I asked for the nth time. "Is there a slight chance that there's more to the story? Perhaps a kill—"

I saw how Nick literally stopped his hand and closed his eyes in irritation. He spat a deadly glare at me.

"Nevermind!" I chanted.

I heard some tales and gossip about the late Angel. That she suddenly went missing after leaving a suicide letter for her mother. Months later, she was found dead in an abandoned factory.

‘Who wouldn't find the case fishy?’

"I don't know!" he exclaimed in between gritted teeth. "Why do you keep on asking?"

I had the urge to whack his head but realized I would look stupid because his head was too high for me to reach.

"If you don't know, then who knows? Is there anyone who knows about it?"

He shook his head.

“That’s what is sad," he answered with a bit of melancholy. "No one knows.”

"How did she die?"

"Wait, why are you so interested? You're new here, and you already gathered useless rumors?"

I bit my lower lip.

‘Do I look that interested?’

“Just because. Just please answer me.”

"We don't know. We only discovered that she had already died a few days ago when her body was found inside a drum."

‘Inside a drum? Why does that sound familiar to me?’

Wait! The news!

“Days ago, the local news talked about a girl found inside a drum in an abandoned factory,” I said. “What on earth is happening?! Was that Angel? The same Angel?”

Goosebumps!

“It was believed as suicide by the police,” he added. “She left a suicide note and was reported missing for months by her mother.”

‘But something feels off. Suicide? She was literally found inside a drum! Did she lock herself in a drum and then kill herself? That is a weird way to take one's life.’

"I would bet my life and say she was killed before she was placed inside the drum," I blurted out.

The deadly glare from Nickle had me stepping backward in fright.

It was obvious he found my assumption crazy. Because it was crazy! I didn’t even know where the outrageous idea came from.

Nick didn't waste another second on me and resumed finding the book he wanted to take home.

"Are you sure she committed suicide? Did they perform an autopsy? To make sure that—"

I flinched when Nick slapped the book he was holding on the table, and it echoed painfully in my ears and around the room. His eyes were on rage, drained from patience.

"What do you want to say? That she was murdered?"

I pressed my mouth together. I knew I was being illogical. I didn’t have any facts to back my claim. All I had were gut feelings and crazy ideas.

But that was how mysteries got solved all the time. It started from a gut feeling.

Angel's case piqued my interest. I didn't know why but I really thought it was another murder staged as a suicide. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt the tremendous need to do something, to dig deeper into the case.

"You know what, let's go home. It's been days... stop pestering me with Angel."

I rolled my eyes. "I bet you're just scared her ghost will haunt you," I teased.

"I'm not scared. Let's respect her and let her soul rest."

That surely made me stop. Nick was right. I should quit talking about her.

“What a shame. I had a crush on her,” he mumbled, but I heard it.

"What? She was your crush?"

For the first time, I saw Nick show another face that was not angry or stoic. He looked shy, and he caressed his nape.

"She was everyone's crush. Everyone wanted to be her friend. She was pretty, smart, kind, she's everything," he told me with a hint of a smile on his lips.

Angel lived a pretty nice life. So why did she take her own life?

Even I held on. I was friendless and was the second favorite child of my mother.

But who knew? Who knew what demons we were fighting inside us? Maybe she took her own life. Or maybe not.

“Let me just borrow this,” Nick told me while raising the book he was holding.

"Nick," I called.

He stopped to stare at me. "What if… what if Angel was murdered?"

We stared at each other. No one spoke a word. No one moved.

“Ah!”

Our attention was immediately redirected when someone whimpered in pain. On the other side of the shelf, someone accidentally dropped some books and hit herself in the head.

I immediately went near her and helped her pick up the books.

"Are you okay?"

She looked like she was in a state of panic, her eyes were unfocused, and her lips were so pale.

"I'm fine," she answered nervously and quickly left without another word.

‘Weird…’

"That was Patricia, Angel's best friend. I guess she heard what you said."

‘Hmm… best friend?’

I stared suspiciously at where Patricia stood earlier.

“Ah!”

It was me who whimpered in pain this time when Nick flicked my forehead.

"Stop having weird ideas. Let's go, I'll walk you home."

Thankfully, our house was just around the corner. I didn’t have to pay for cab fare whenever I went to school.

While walking, I jokingly pinched his waist. "You know what, you don't have to walk me home. Why so sweet?"

"It's already dark. If something happens to you, my conscience wouldn't be able to take it."

I cackled. "As if your height could protect me from danger."

He narrowed his eyes at me. I zipped my mouth in response.

Cranky!

When we arrived in front of the huge gate of our new house, I couldn't understand the visible confusion painted on Nick's face.

"This is where you live?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, why? What's the problem?"

Wide-eyed, he stared at me. "This is Angel's house."

I loudly gasped.

‘What?! No way!’