A Lead?

The duo followed the FBI agent but he was not stupid enough to take them to the station otherwise questions would be asked so he carried both of them into a nearby Starbucks.

Coffee was on the table in front of all of them, and Philip began the conversation.

He had no idea who was responsible for these crimes but he knew the crime scenes had more to it but with nothing to support this, it wasn't treated seriously.

"Agent Philip, tell us all you know," Fred said, and Philip nodded.

"As you know, this is a case I have been following for years…" Philip said, digging into his blazer to bring out multiple pictures depicting previous crime scenes.

"These are the pictures of the crime scene, what do you notice?" Philip asked the boys.

Fred stayed silent because all he could see were dead bodies, there was no hidden message behind them.

"The placement of their bodies…" Edward blurted and this answer resulted in Philip smiling.

"That is right, the gunshot wounds were self-inflicted. After they completed the trade, they killed themselves," Philip concluded.

"Suicide? That is weird,..." Fred said and this would explain why the scene was so violent.

"It is strange because the victims have no history of mental disability or even a criminal record. They are clean, your average everyday citizen," Philip said.

Fred squinted his eyes in thought as he looked Philip in the eyes.

"That is how they move it with ease, no police will be on the alert with an average person…" Fred blurted out.

"That is correct. I have ruled out coercion because some of these people don't have families and we have recorded unusual brain activity in the victims whose brains weren't as badly damaged as the others," Philip said and Fred sighed as he realized what that unusual brain activity was, it was someone's power that triggered it.

"That is messed up…" Edward said, it was sickening knowing someone was using innocent people for their drug trade, and from the look of things, these people didn't have a choice.

Edward knew the world was evil, at least Papa used people of their own free will.

"What kind of drug is being distributed?" Edward asked, he wanted to confirm if it was what he was thinking. He knew Papa distributed a drug produced by an unnamed villain but he didn't know it would have such a wide reach.

"It is what they call the "deadman" drug," Philip said and Edward's body momentarily tensed up, something which Fred noticed but he didn't speak on it.

"Deadman?" Fred asked, he was curious and wanted to get as much information as he could from this agent as he didn't know when next such an opportunity would present itself.

"It is a drug that traps its users in a hallucinogenic world where their wildest dreams and fantasies come true at the cost of their sanity," Philip said and this was, without a doubt, the same drug that Edward was dealing but how did Mikky get mixed up in all this?

These people were leagues above these people and Edward couldn't help but believe that one of those faces was responsible for this.

Fred and Philip continued conversing, but the most important information had already been exchanged

-

[All students. Please gather in Hall 3, your next class is about to commence! Failure to do so will result in an expulsion!] An automated voice echoed throughout the building, and Michael was brought back to reality.

"That is a bit extreme…" Lola giggled as she said this but Michael had already disconnected from the conversation they were having hence her word fell on deaf ears.

Michael sighed and just began walking without saying goodbye leaving Lola looking confused as she began the wonder if she did something wrong.

Michael knew what he wanted out of this and the chances that everyone will survive until the end was a child-like thought he knew he couldn't have.

People will use each other to survive, and he knew Lola wouldn't be any different despite her disposition.

Michael went to the designated hall immediately because he understood where he came from, he had nothing to return to if he was kicked out so he treated this with utmost urgency.

But upon getting there, he noticed the gigantic hall was nothing like a classroom but rather a fighting arena.

He looked to the ceiling and saw the number of students left was fifty-four, they were still killing each other and Michael found this stupid.

They were focused on the wrong things but he didn't care about anyone but himself.

Dean soon walked in behind Michael and Michael saw he had a group with him, this included the girl he had seen him 'kill' meaning she was a member of his team.

Michael didn't care to interact with him but Dean thought the opposite, he rushed to Michael's side in a heartbeat.

Michael was confused about the concept of friendship because everyone seemed to think they were friends after one or two interactions, was that all it took?

The only person he still ever considered a friend was Edward, who now thought he was dead.

"Hey, Michael! Where are the rest of you? It isn't advised to be walking around alone because there are some really crazy people in here!" Dean warned Michael but Michael was paying no attention and just stared blankly ahead.

"I smell blood…" Michael muttered under his breath and Dean looked to his left the moment Michael said this as a short boy, who was sixteen years old, walked into the hall drenched in blood. He didn't even try to clean up before coming here.

Everyone was wary of him but Michael felt something that had eluded him for quite some time and that was hunger but something happened.

The moment Michael's eyes met the boy, fear was instilled in his heart and what came to his mind was fear manipulation as he had a taste of this aforementioned power.

But before Michael could breathe, the earth beneath him had turned to sand and he was entrapped in a makeshift sand coffin.

"W-What!?" Michael thought but before he could have another thought, the sand constricted and with it, everything inside imploded, presumably killing Michael.

"Die…"