BRISEIS

The school sent a chauffeur to pick me up. I had sent a mail to them to the email address they provided. They sent a follow up mail stating the Dos and Donts and also everything I needed to know. I spent my week shopping for decent thrift wears and items I’d need. A pepper spray, two fancy knifes, ropes and every single item I could use for defense.

I had spoken to the caretaker. I lied about knowing Brie and how she had some stuffs left in the apartment that she wanted me to help ship to her. He gave me a key after I lied again about loosing the one she gave me.

Everything in here reminded of her. From the pink towels to pink sheets and floral perfumes. She was just a little girl whose life was cut off at her prime.

In her cupboard laid some papers. The first was from Greenville Academy. She had received a letter just like mine. Brie was thrilled when she received this, I remember her calling home to break the news to us. When mom and dad separated, Brie went with dad and I with mom. We would visit the other regularly until Dad suddenly died. Brie insisted on staying back in Greenville and would visit us at Oakhaven once in a blue moon. Until the day she received this.

We were making dinner. I was in the kitchen helping mom when the telephone rang. I was over the moon when Brie’s soft voice echoed loudly from the receiver.

Mom rushed over to me when I called out to her. She was so full of life, Brie I mean.

“ Guess what mom? The prestigious academy in the city sent me a letter. I got in mom! On scholarship too, so you don’t have to worry about the fees. I’m so happy Briseis, I feel like all this is a dream.”

Excited for her, I asked, “ When do you leave? Have you packed your bags yet?”

“ I leave in a week! I have packed and repacked everything I own. I wish dad was here, he’d be so proud of me. He had always wanted me to go to Greenville Academy.”

A little sigh escaped me. But we brushed off the sad feeling and talked nonstop about Brie’s new school. It was a joyful night, and maybe the best day of Brie’s short life.

Sigh. I replaced the letter in the envelope and picked up the next. It was a note. The only words scribbled on it were:

“ Watch out.”

That’s weird. I pick up another and this one says , “ Bad things happen to nosey people.”

Was Brie being threatened before she died? Could she have seen or heard something she shouldn’t have?

The last note was written in blood.

“ I’m coming for you, Brie.”

Oh my gosh. Just like I had suspected, this was no accident like the school claimed. My sister was murdered. Killed because of whatever dirts she dug out.

I scanned through her things and found a few items that stood out. Ever since we were little, my sister was a huge fan of Barbie. She got every single thing she owned in pink. From her towels to half of her the clothes in her closet to notebooks. Everything in this room is pink save for a few ballpoint pens which looks shady, a black scary teddy bear and a wristwatch that clocks backwards.

These could be clues. My sister hated teddy bears, she was scared of them and even if she decided to get one, it wouldn’t be a black scary bear with one eye and a little skull symbol on it. And who the fuck wears a wristwatch that ticks backwards?

They were gifts. That I’m sure of. Knowing Brie, she would never decline a gift even if she hated what you got her.

A quick search through her drawers and bedside table proved me right. They were indeed presents from God knows whom. The notes sent along them only had “ To Brie” on them.

The one who hurt my sister might have sent her those akward gifts. I pack everything up and moved the boxes to my own apartment. I was going to read her journal later. She could have written down something. Something that would help me track her killer.

~~~

“ Briseis Lockhart.” The chauffeur called out to me as I drag my luggage out of my apartment building. A week before I did the same, and now I was leaving to seek answers to the questions I had. One last glance at the building before I leave. I’ll be back soon. I spent the night sorting out Brie’s things, keeping them safe in sealed boxes. But I took along the presents she had received, her invitation letter to Greenville and the threatening notes. Also her journal. I was going to read it on the way.

“ Yes sir. Would you be kind enough to help a poor girl out of her misery?”

He was still seated in the car so I couldn’t get a peek of his face. But the moment he came out, I halted. It was him. The taxi driver from a week before.

“ We meet again, Miss. I knew you were special. I felt it.”

Special?

What’s he talking about?

“ I don’t understand what you mean? And how come you work for Greenville Academy? I thought you were a taxi driver?”

He lifts my luggage effortlessly and places it in the trunk of the car. He looks stronger than I expected him to be considering his age.

“ I’m only a taxi driver on the nights when I’m supposed to pick up our potential students. Why don’t I take you to school first? You will find the answers you seek in the four walls of the Academy. The truth and everything there is.”

Good, cause I plan on doing just that. We got in and drove off. Ten minutes in, he asks if I was interested in making a stop to grab a quick bite. I declined, not because I wasn’t hungry but because I’m afraid I might run off if we stop. I have a bad feeling about all this. A bad feeling about Greenville Academy.

In a bid to take my mind off it, I flip open my twin sister’s journal. She had always had passion for writing. She constantly spoke of how she wanted to become a bestselling author someday. Unfortunately, she would never get to hold a pen again.

The first page of it is about some boy she had a crush on in her sophomore year, a year before she came to Greenville.

I scan the next two pages and it’s still about her nerd crush. Her type has never changed since childhood. I wonder if it did in Greenville.

I finally find the page I’ve been looking for. The day she received a letter of invitation. She wrote about our phone conversation and how happy it made her that mom and I supported her decision.

The next page is solemnly about shopping. What tank top she got, what kicks she got and backpacks too. Such a carefree soul, even a glass of milk was enough to make her happy.

My sister was an easygoing person. She was the nicest person I know, why’d anyone want to hurt her?

The roads leading to academy gets lonely and more scary as time passes. All I see around are tall trees with no houses in sight. I try to brush off the thoughts I was having.

An academy far away in the woods locked away from the world.

It never ends well in the movies. Never.

But why am I seated so calmly, okay maybe not calmly, but why am I still here? I should ask the driver to turn around. I should reject the offer.

I should and I will.

I’d have done just that until my eyes caught something.

“ May 17, I saw something I shouldn’t have. Something that has to do with Professor Orion. He.. he said I should be more cautious and stay out of his business.”

Hold on a minute. Professor Orion. Isn’t that the Dean of Student Affairs? The one who sent the invitation?

What did Brie see? Just as I was about to turn the page. The chauffeur announced loudly, “ We are here.”