The Lie Beneath

Chapter 16 : The canvas of death

He inhaled sharply. “That’s—Latin. This makes it even more interesting!" He said cheerfully.

“Of course, for you,” I almost roll my eyes but stop myself.

I stared at the symbol again, my pulse rising.

“The victim knew,” I said slowly. “She found out. She knew they were watching. Maybe she was even part of it once. But something scared her. Something turned her.”

“She tried to expose them,” Lazarus finished. “And she knew they’d kill her. So she flipped the game. She used her death to point at them.”

“And the paper in her pocket, the uneven handwriting...”

“A fake note, written by the killer. But everything else? Everything she left was her real message.”

I walked back to the railing, heart pounding. I stared down at the space below. The blood. The silence. The truth screaming from every detail.

“She wasn’t pushed to die,” I said aloud. “She walked to her death so they couldn’t silence her completely.”

“And gave us just enough to find them,” Lazarus added. “Like a final puzzle.”

Silence settled between us. But instead of staying there we decided to go back at the scene outside and ask marcus about the list on the clubs here in this school.

As soon as we did, Lazarus is beside me and just staring at the lifeless body, for sure in deep thoughts. Nang ma sense n'ya na nakatingin ako sa kanya nginitian n'ya ako.

"Oh, Rhianne. Are you mesmerized?" He asked playfully, i almost choke.

"No, i'm just looking at you." I defended myself quickly. Iniba ko ang tingin ko bago pa lumaki ang ulo ng isang 'to.

I look at the fourth floor where the victim jumped, i can't believe she sacrifice herself just for us to find the killer, we still hasn't find any evidence but i'm sure about what happened here. Malakas din ang kutob ko na baka walang nakikinig at naniniwala sa kanya that's why she had no choice but to get the attention she needed in the first place.

After some time, marcus appeared again, panting slightly. “Here's the list." He handed over a folder. Thin, A report. Not official confiscated.

“All the clubs are in there." he said. “Student names. Connected to every organization. All the information, and by the way the victim's name is Maria Sanchez."

“They’re all connected,” I whispered, flipping the pages. “Why?”

“Because that’s the cult’s hiding place,” Lazarus said. “They use the clubs as cover. Recruitment fronts.”

"And this girl?" I asked, looking at the victim's body. "She was in one of them?" I asked, even already expecting the answer.

Marcus nodded. "She was part of the university's art circle. I already got the statement on her friends and close one's, ang sabi nila she tried to disband it. Said it was no longer safe. But no one took her seriously."

So, i was right about my thoughts. No one had listened to her and now it's too late. She's already gone and now we are running to a possible murder. My grip on the folder tightened.

Lazarus leaned closer to read the names. Bumping on my shoulder again, then he froze. “Wait.”

“What?” I asked.

He flipped a page, then looked at me with such a sharp glint in his eye that I took a step back dahil sa sobrang lapit n'ya sakin.

“This was connected to my case.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Three months ago,” he said, voice suddenly low. “Another student from the old Fine Arts building. Suicide, they said. The scene too clean.”

“I never thought this was the reason behind his suicide! For peter's sake, why didn't i check this? Finally! I knew it, there's something more that meet's the eye! I'm right all along!" he said to himself, parang baliw na kausap ang sarili. para bang gusto pa mag tatalon sa tuwa because his case just feed him with the truth.

I just stayed quiet while unbelievably looking at him, while marcus shake his head and sighs like a problematic dad. He's really the first person that i knew na masaya pang nakaka hawak ng mga hindi basta bastang cases. Instead of getting scared, he's even looks like someone who wishes na sana may masamang mangyari ngayong araw para may ma solve siya. He's so weird. I just shook off my thoughts and just focus on the file.

“This isn’t just one crime,” I said, breath catching. “This is a sequence.”

“A performance,” Lazarus whispered. “Each body a part of the play.”

"And someone’s directing it." I said with a low voice.

A long silence followed.

Then he laughed—a low, delighted sound. “God, this is beautifully awful. Rhianne, do you realize what we’ve found? This isn’t a cult. It’s a movement. They don’t just kill. They curate.”

I shook my head, backing away. “That’s psychotic.”

“Exactly,” he said, beaming. “But now we’ve seen behind the curtain.”

“Which means there's a possibility they'll come to us next, especially a student helping a case is rarely unbelievable. They might think to take us down on their sight."

“I hope so,” Lazarus said, too cheerfully. “Because now I’m invested. And when I’m invested, people don’t walk away unpunished.”

He started pacing like a predator now. “We trace the symbol. Cross reference with the clubs. We find the founding members. We pin each past suicide. We hunt the puppeteers.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “Why does this excite you so much?”

He turned, smiling. “Because I’ve never met someone who saw the game the way I did. Not until you.”

"Whatever," I ignore him and just looked down at the folder again i read each names even if most of them were unfamiliar to me.

But one name near the top made my fingers freeze.

Andrew Alfonso. My breath hitched. My roommate was listed here, The one who's always loud every time on our dorm and sing like it was always a competition kahit mali mali ang lyrics n'ya.

He mentioned to me na he will try to apply for the position to be one of them, pumasok nga talaga siya. Now i'm worried about his well being. The club he just membership with is not just a ordinary club but a dangerous one.

“He’s involved,” I whispered.

Lazarus peered over my shoulder. “Oh, someone you knew? Now that changes the stakes.”

Now that i know andrew is involved with this cult, it makes me more eager to solve this case. For maria's justice, for the others victim, and for andrew to keep safe bago pa may mangyari na masama sa kanya. I will definitely not gonna let anything bad happen to him. I'll make sure na matatapos ang kaso na ito ngayong araw bago pa makagawa ng bagong biktima ang organization na 'yan.

Lazarus clapped his hands like a child.

“Ready for Act Two, partner?”

I didn’t answer. I was too busy remembering Andrew’s voice the night before.

“You ever feel like the school’s hiding something?” Lazarus questioned me. I keep quiet, thinking the possible consequences.

We need to find a way quickly, we don't wanna alarm the enemies that we are after them. We don't want to chase, and i don't want running. i want them just to chill and enjoy their time before i make sure that's the last time they will.

I need to keep andrew away from this as soon as possible. And if we didn’t move fast, he’d be another artwork in their gallery of death.