It started raining sometime early in the morning. Even though the sun broke the night, it was still dark. Big drops fell from the dark sky. Rose felt that the sky was her mind. As she wasn't able to cry anymore, the sky was doing it. For her. And her only. She looked over at Cyan who was sitting next to her in the constable's car. He smiled at her as if to assure her that everything would be fine. Scarlett, sitting on her other side, was looking out of the window, chewing on her nails. Her left leg was doing an incessant, restless tap dance. It used to annoy Rose. But now, she didn't have the energy to chide her. The ride to the station was becoming unbearable to her. It was a long ride. She squirmed in her seat. She wanted to scream. She turned back to ensure that her brother's car was behind them. A hand clasped hers. She glanced at Cyan, who responded by giving her a silent slow blink. A reassurance. She breathed out and realised that she was holding her breath. She wanted to tell him that she was fine. But she couldn't. She gave him a small smile.

Soon, they reached the station. It was eight – thirty. But still dark. Now, the rain was falling over them with a roar. They got wet when they got out of the car. They were quickly ushered into the station before Rose could even glance at her brother. The constable whispered something to another police man. He sized them up and pushed a tray towards them, "your phones". After collecting their phones and handing over them to another cop, he asked Cyan to follow him. Rose panicked and looked around. "You come with me", the police woman, whose name Rose had forgotten, told her. She looked at Scarlett, who waved her to go. "You sit here honey. Someone will be with you soon.", the constable pointed a chair to Scarlett.

Rose followed the constable to a small room with lockers. The constable opened a locker and took out an oversized T-shirt and faded jeans. She handed them over to Rose and beckoned her to follow her. They went to the next room with a row of 4 shower stalls. "Remove you dress and put it in this", the constable gave a sheer plastic bag with 'Evidence' written on them. Rose took it and stared at it. "Chop, chop. We don't have all day", the constable clapped her hands. Rose gulped down her sorrow at being treated like a common criminal. She slowly began stripping down. A tear rolled down her eyes. "I will be outside", the constable averted her eyes and went outside. Rose sighed and closed the bathroom door and removed her clothes and put it in the bag. Rose opened the door slightly to find the constable standing outside biting her nails. "Here", she gave the bag to the constable while hiding behind the door. "Oh!", the constable took the bag from her and shoved a towel and a shower gel bottle at her. "Be quick!", the constable barked. The first shower stall was wet. Rose chose the second stall and turned on the shower. Freezing water fell over her body like needles. She scrubbed her skin of Ruby's blood. She poured a copious amount of coconut smelling shower gel on her hands and lathered it on her body. After the bath, she dressed up in lightning speed.

The constable took her to a small room. She was asked to sit there. Unlike in movies, the room was windowless with no one-sided mirrors. There was a table and three chairs. "Sit there. Someone will come and talk to you soon", the constable grinned at her. "Am I in trouble? I didn't do anything wrong", Rose whimpered. "I am the wronged one here", a lone tear escaped her eye. The constable's grin froze. "We just want to ask more questions. No one said you did anything wrong. Don't worry, OK?", she smiled warmly. "Do you want something to drink?". "No, thank you", Rose said in a small voice. The constable closed the door behind her. Rose wondered if she was locked in. But to her surprise, she found that she didn't care.

For a long time, she sat there. Alone. She sat staring at a small fruit fly scourging for invisible food bits on the table. She wondered whether she should kill it. But she felt lethargic. Her arms wouldn't move. She had lost the will to do anything. She began wondering if they had forgotten about her. She checked her pocket to retrieve her phone and remembered that she had handed it over earlier. She pondered whether she should go and talk to someone. But she didn't feel like getting up. She looked around and found a camera blinking at her on the top left corner of the room. She was surprised she didn't notice it before. Then she remembered the fruit fly and wondered where it had gone. Was it sitting on her? Maybe she should flail her hands to drive away the fly. If someone is watching her, they would think that she was crazy. It made her almost laugh out. But she remembered why she was there. And sadness put her veil over her.

The door suddenly opened and the stout police man who had talked to them at the manor came in. The smell of sweat and tobacco followed him. Rose grimaced. His face and shirt were painted with raindrops. He took out a hanky and wiped it over his face. He dropped some files on the table and sat on a chair. He went through it without looking at her. She was uneasy. She clenched her jaw and stared at him without blinking while he sat reading the file. She felt breathless and started to breathe slowly. Breathe in. Breathe out. She concentrated on it.

Thud! The policeman placed the file on the table, "So, Rose. Tell me about Ruby. She was a bully wasn't she? I heard from your friends that she tormented you always. Is it true?"

Rose gulped and nodded, "She always made fun of me".

"Why?"

"I don't know. She was cruel?", she always wondered why Ruby targeted her. But she wasn't the only one Ruby preyed on. "Maybe I was too weak to stand up to her. She bullied others too. She once locked Violet in a locker. She was rescued the next day."

"Hmm", the police man thought deeply, before asking her, "What happened last night between you two?"

Rose took a deep breath before telling him how Rowan sent her a message by accident and apologized, how she ignored him at first but slowly warmed up to his messages and they messaged on almost every day.

"You messaged your bully's boyfriend daily?", the inspector interrupted her.

"I didn't know they were dating. And we just send some silly messages. He would send me memes and cat videos. I like cats. I have one. I would send him some poems I wrote or jokes I read. It wasn't a big deal. Just like the messages I would send Raven or Melanie or Kieran. But she made them sound something ugly. I never flirted with Rowan in messages", Rose felt a pang in her heart. Then she remembered that the police had her phone, "You can check the messages".

"Why did she hate you so much?" The inspector squinted his eyes at her.

"I never knew. I tried talking to her. But she would scoff me. I think she was a sadist who likes tormenting others. Oh! Rowan came and talked to me while we were in the Black Truffles. You know, after we left the party and went there. He told me that he wasn't the one who sent the messages."

"Really? Who did he say sent it?"

"He said it was Ruby".

"But the messages were from his phone?"

"Yes. But he said that Ruby took his phone and sent messages from it", Rose wondered if she was being naïve in believing him. "Scarlett didn't believe him".

"She didn't?", the inspector raised his brows.

Rose shook her head, "She said he was in cahoots with Ruby. She doesn't like him anyways."

"How was Scarlett's relationship with Ruby?"

"She didn't like Ruby. She always protected me from Ruby".

"Is that why she hit Ruby when she insulted you last night?", the inspector looked at her like a hawk.

"Scarlett hit her?", Rose's eyes widened. She wouldn't put it past Scarlett. And it wouldn't be the first time. "I didn't see it. I was... I was very upset and ran away from there", she was down casted and stared down at her hands.

"Then what happened?", the inspector leaned forward and rested his chin on his right hand.

Rose told him how she met Cyan; how she, Scarlett and Cyan left the party; how they went to the restaurant and met Mr. Blackmore. At that time the door opened and a young cop in a crisp shirt and trousers came inside and whispered something in the inspector's ears. He listened intently. When the cop was done, the inspector nodded and dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "And?"

Rose sighed. She was hungry and thirsty. She swallowed and continued her story of her discussion about the messages with Cyan and Scarlett. How her friends convinced her to confront Ruby. She was never good at confrontations but was more afraid of Ruby's threat of uploading the messages in social media. She, however, had no idea how to confront, apart from pleading with Ruby. Cyan had said something about going to police. She told the inspector how they went back to the manor; how it was almost empty and how she heard a noise in the last room of the corridor. "A noise?", the inspector's interest was piqued.

"Yes, like something falling, I think. I don't know. I thought Ruby was there. It was dark. And I didn't switch on the lights. But no one was there. I think", Rose felt doubt creeping upon her.

"Where were your friends?", the inspector asked.

Rose faltered for a second. They were in the next room. But Cyan told the policeman that they were together when they were questioned in the library. She didn't want to get him in trouble. She wondered what Scarlett had said. She wrung her hands, "They were right behind me".

"How did you find the body?"

"Well,", Rose felt her cheeks reddening with embarrassment, "I slipped and fell over Ruby. Just then they switched on the lights and I was shocked to see I had fallen over Ruby. There was so much blood", she whispered and a shiver went through her spine. She hugged her body.

"Then what did you do?", the inspector leaned back tapping the table.

Rose had trouble recalling what happened next. She remembered Cyan telling her something. She remembered his deep blue eyes. She remembered someone taking her to another room. Was it Cyan? It must be. She remembered sitting for a long time smelling like blood; cold, fear and shock numbing her. She remembered being taken to a bathroom and someone helping her clean up. She remembered seeing Rusty and heard them talking about the murder. She remembered meeting the inspector.

She told the inspector everything she remembered. The inspector closed his eyes and listened to her monologue without showing any interest. He didn't say anything once she finished. She sat staring at his big moustache. Time passed. She wondered if the policeman had fallen asleep. Just then, the door opened violently and the cop who came earlier rushed into the room, "Sir, you need to come. Something happened."

The inspector went after him, "sit tight". The door closed behind him. Rose was baffled. What else had happened? She felt a head ache forming and rubbed her temple. She remembered that she didn't sleep the last night. Hunger and thirst were consuming her. She lay her head on the cool metal table. It soothed the ache. She almost fell asleep before the door opened again, "Come with me". The handsome cop from earlier stood at the door. She was confused for a second. What was happening? Was she being let go? She stood up and didn't make a move. "Come on", the policeman was impatient. She moved slowly, fear gripping her, as she set her foot forward into the unknown.

The cop walked fast with her struggling to keep up with him. She wondered where her friends were. Were they questioned too? Did she make any mistakes? She quivered slightly. Her head had started to pound. She blinked fast. "Rose", a voice made her raise her face. Her mom, dad, Rusty, Uncle Rory, Scarlett, Cyan and his brothers were sitting on chairs and benches. They stood up when they saw her. Her mom hugged her tightly. "Are you OK sweetheart?", her dad asked. She nodded. She felt relief. A light filling her soul. Everything was OK. The nightmare was over.

"You guys can leave", she spun around to see the inspector behind her. "Are our children suspects, inspector?", her dad asked. "No. We corroborated their whereabouts. The lividity of the body showed that the time of death was between nine and ten. Mr. Blackmore confirmed that they were at the restaurant at the time. We also checked the restaurant's CCTVs and the street cams. But they are our prime witnesses as of now. So, you guys need to cooperate with us.", the inspector fixed his stare at Rose. She didn't say anything. "We might have to take them back to the mansion. But we can do it later. Why don't you guys get some rest."

"Is it true that there's another death?", uncle Rory asked. Rose swivelled to look at Scarlett. Her surprised face told Rose that she was hearing it for the first time.

The inspector sighed, "Yes, we tried to contact Mr. Broderick, Ruby's grandfather. He was found murdered at his house. Same M.O.". Rose thought the inspector looked very tired. His eyes were drooping and his face sagged. He took out a cigar and tapped it against his thigh. "I will call you guys later", he dismissed them.

"Wait! Our phones", Cyan vocalized Rose's thought.

"We are going through them. You will get them back soon", the inspector nodded at them and walked away.

They all stood huddled together. No one spoke. "I am starving", Scarlett uttered.

"Me too", Cyan responded.

"Let's go", Adam, Rose's father said. Everyone murmured agreement.

"You guys can come over. Actually, grandma asked everyone to come over. Also, we need to discuss what happened", Jay said.

"You are Iris's grandchildren, aren't you? She's a dear friend", Roisin, Rose's mother smiled at the three brothers.

"Yes, I am Jay. This is Skye and that's Cyan", Jay smiled back at her. Adam and Rory shook hands with the brothers. "Let's go to your grandma's house then. I will never say no to Iris' food", Rory was jovial. Everyone agreed with him.

"I will call grandma and tell her we are coming home", Skye took out his phone and dialled his grandma.

They all went outside, fumbling on their umbrellas. The sky was still laden with heavy clouds, sun hiding behind them. The rain had become thinner and her roar had reduced to a pitter patter. Rose stood on the steps of the station looking at the grey – cast skies. The thin droplets that fell on her face were salve to her soul. She smiled after what felt like a long time.

***