10:12am, Friday 22nd September, 2006 - Fernwood Heights
It was as the classroom began to settle, right after everyone found their assigned seats and adjusted to their new partners, just when things started to feel next to normal - the intercom went off.
It was nothing out of the ordinary at first, Principal Rhodes’ voice echoing in the classroom and barely getting through to the distracted and disinterested ears of the students. But as he spoke, there was something unusual about his tone. Strained in a way that felt beyond the typical complaints about littering in the halls and spikes in detentions. Solemn, even. By the time he had done the general Good morning greetings, the classroom had fallen quiet, concerned.
“Now, this matter requires immediate attention and cooperation. Please could the following students report to classroom 12A immediately.”
"Elizabeth Albright,
Noah Bennett,
Tabitha Blythe,
Malik Johnson,
Margaret Lawton,
Rudy Maddox,
Keir Mercer,
Rebecca Sinclair,
James Solace,
Jesse Vaughn,
Emerson Ward,"
There was a few brief, hurried closing lines, before the intercom switched off and silence settled heavily into the classroom. Though it wasn’t long before most students returned to their experiment, falling back into their familiar rhythm, with the addition of a few sighs at how little the announcement actually gave away, some whispers in speculation and a lingering curiosity as to what those eleven students all even had in common. There was no returning to normalcy for the names mentioned though, and they gradually did as instructed, filtering out of the classroom one by one.
Inside the classroom, the Principal waited for them, but he would not be alone. Dark-blue vested figures, one male and one female, stood aside the desk he sat at, the alarmingly bright shine of gold police badges catching the light. Around them, a few tables had been pushed together to accomodate the group coming in, and Rhodes had indicated for them to sit.
The Principal had a undeniable look of distress on his face, far removed from his usual composed manner. He waited until everyone had taken a seat and then some - taking off his glasses and clearing his throat just as the tension had become unbearable.
“I have some… quite harrowing news for you all this morning. We thought it would be best to let you know ahead of any big announcements,” Principal Rhodes began, his eyes focused mainly on his desk as he spoke, until they flickered up at everyone for the next words. “Yesterday, a fellow student of yours, Charlotte Blackwell passed away,” He revealed, the words hitting like a shockwave, rushing through the room and leaving a stunned, ringing silence. He let it hang for a moment to process those words, as if it could be done so quickly.
After giving it a few minutes, Principal Rhodes started to continue. “Now, I don’t know all the details but—” “But I’m afraid that’s not all,” Interrupting him was the badged male that stood beside him, arms folded and tone significantly less sympathetic. “Charlotte did not just die. We have reason to believe it was a homicide. Let me introduce myself, I’m Detective Sterling, this is Officer Wheeler, and we are investigating this case,” He explained, his gaze sweeping across them one by one as his words threw a spanner into what was already a room suspended in shock. “We’ve taken the time to review the evidence, inferred an estimated time of death. All of you were absent from school yesterday in that time period,” Sterling said in an accusary tone, looking at each of them as if they were all equally responsible.
“This means you are all considered persons of interest,” Sterling said, making no effort to sugarcoat that fact. He walked across the room to join Officer Wheeler, who had positioned herself by the door. “And before anyone has the chance to compare notes or straighten out their stories, we’re going to ask each of you a few questions one at a time. Just enough to get a clearer picture.”
Detective Sterling glanced down at his notes. “Albright,” A beat to decifer who was looking up in identification. He nodded towards the door. “Lets start with you.”
And so it went on, methodically. Each name called, student taken from the room and questioned - the room getting gradually emptier and the gravity of the situation becoming increasingly clearer. From this point, they were no longer students, classmates, friends; they were all suspects who would never be able to look at each other the same way again.