The Captain's Comeback

I have stuffed the kitchen cupboard with groceries and already had a proper dinner last night. The day passed like a blink of an eye, far from the long day I was expecting.

It's been two hours since the sun had disappeared from the horizon, replacing the mesmerizing blue sky with the calm and peaceful darkness. However, hearing the news about how the criminal I saw yesterday afternoon died made me cuss at the stupidly unskilled people on uniforms. They specialized in this field, yet they couldn't catch one stupid criminal. However, five and a half hours after they failed to do their jobs, they received a report that Cesar was hiding in an inn around the outskirts of the City. So, they literally fled to the location, and they found him there, bathing in his own blood, barely breathing.

According to the local news report, there were cuts in several parts of his body, including the upper and underside of his right arm, which damaged his Cephalic and Basilic veins, causing him to lose more than 40 percent of his blood. The police managed to bring him to the hospital, but one minute upon arrival, Cesar died in severe hypovolemic shock.

The police suspected that the suspect could no longer handle the guilt that he had committed suicide by cutting himself since there is no other evidence than the cutter blade with Cesar's fingerprints. There are no CCTVs around the area, and since the business has not been doing well since the owner established it, the owner never installed CCTVs or hired any security guards. Only the 17-year-old grandson is doing security checks whenever there are guests. According to his statement, he usually does the rounds at 9 and 11:30 in the evening and says he didn't see anyone suspicious when he did his first rounds.

The way he killed himself is bizarre, though. Most people who had committed suicide either cut their wrists or hang themselves, but he cut himself in such a vital spot, which means he really intended to die.

He's really something.

"Faye?"

I heard the familiar voice calling my name from the front door, but unlike how Dad usually sounds, tonight, he is sober. "Faye? I'm home!"

I stood up to turn off the lights and lock my door. I'll pretend I'm asleep because I don't want to see his face. No, I don't want to remember that I live with him in this hell.

I heard his heavy footsteps as he went up the stairs, and a few seconds later, I heard him knocking on my door. "Faye, sweetie? I brought home your favorite egg pie," he gently said as I stood right by the door. "Are you asleep, honey?"

I didn't answer. And after about ten seconds, I heard him walk away.

Memories flashed back, making my eyes water. I used to love egg pies, and I used to love the idea of him coming home to us after a busy day at the shop. I didn't mind him looking and smelling all messy because he used to be my hero and favorite person.

"Why won't you just kill yourself, Dad?" I murmured as I remained standing there, with my tears rapidly flowing like a river.

***

It's been only two days, yet I was dying to see the massive buildings and the wide, grassy schoolyard. At last, I'm back in my favorite place, and I'm back with my life. I didn't want to remember Kier and his death, but since it was associated with my suspension, I recalled it.

"Good morning, Faye!" A student greeted me as I walked down the hallway leading to my class.

"Good morning!" I greeted her back with a smile.

The laughter of my classmates welcomed me as I stepped inside the room. My eyes scanned the area and saw that everything was neat, in place, and fine. It seems like the class hadn't had much trouble in the past two days because Akabane could no longer fight with Kier.

Speaking of which, I wonder how did Akabane make that 48 hours pass. I saw him sitting at his desk, looking bored as fuck while the rest of the class was busy chit-chatting. He was the only lonely soul I could see, and his face is quite an eyesore, so I decided to drop my bag off at my seat and go to Kate's desk. She was busy smiling on her phone when I asked,

"Kate, did the SSC drop anything for me today?"

She looked at me and then smiled, but I caught a glimpse of his cellphone screen before she put it down with the screen facing his desk. I saw the EHS UNDERGROUND FILES community page on her cellphone screen.

"Oh, the SSC?" he said and tried to remember. "No, I hadn't heard of them since your suspension. Why? Is there any upcoming school event?"

"No. I just asked. By the way, did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Yeah, Kier died," she answered immediately, which almost made me slap my forehead.

"I mean, school-related events as such,"

"Well, Kier's death is school-related. Isn't it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nevermind. Thanks," I said and then left. Goodness! Why did my classmates vote for her as the vice president when she's obviously an idiot?

"Anytime," she smiled before picking up her phone again.

I knew from the start that most of the students knew about the community, but I never thought that Kate could be a part of it. Is she a victim too? No. I don't think so.

I looked back in her direction when I reached my seat and saw that she was still smiling and giggling on her phone. If she's a victim, she would never laugh or smile at anything in that community because never have I ever recalled that something funny got posted there.

"Good morning, class!"

My attention shifted to Miss Stacey, entering the room. Her eyes instantly darted toward me as she placed her bag on top of the teacher's desk in front. "I see that you're back, Miss Nase."

Everyone looked at me, surprised that they didn't notice my arrival. "Faye is back? I didn't even see her enter the room. Is she a ghost or something?" one of my classmates joked, which made me laugh.

"You guys are all busy chit-chatting to notice me. The room is nice and clean that's why you guys didn't hear me screaming hysterically over an overflowing trashcan," I answered with my usual gentle yet authoritative tone. "Good job, though."

The class reacted so funnily that even one of my male classmates stood up, bragging that it was his idea to clean up this morning.

"See? I told you guys! Thanks to me, we didn't get scolded by the SSC captain today!"

"Oh. c'mon Gabby. You didn't even lift a finger!" Jessica, the class secretary, snapped, making everyone "Booo!"

"Okay, enough with that class. Get a sheet of paper because we have a surprise quiz," Miss Stacey said, and all of a sudden, the class atmosphere turned gloomy, making Miss Stacey laugh.