(Extra TW: mention of suicide)

"A body has been discovered!" was what everyone heard announced over the loudspeaker by Ace during breakfast.  Everyone in the cafeteria froze.

Ash was the first to speak. "Did they just say-"

"Holy sh*t," Alister said, their face pale.

"Please report to the gym IMMEDIATELY!" Ace's voice returned over the loudspeaker once more.

Nobody moved for a long moment.  Evan could hear his heart pounding in his chest.  His brain still wasn't processing what was happening.  In a moment of desperation, he tried to piece it together in his head, but everything was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up.  But he was an actor, so he quickly put on a blank expression to mask his emotions and was the first to begin heading to the gym.  Everyone followed behind in dead silence.  It was the longest walk of his life, even longer than the walk to the cast list after that one audition he'd had that had gone terribly wrong.  Though he'd still gotten the lead, so that made up for it.  

The first thing he saw upon arriving in the gym was Amy.  In a shocking contrast to her usual feisty self, she was trembling, a hand covering her mouth.  Her gaze was unfocused in a way that revealed her to still be reliving whatever she'd seen.  As everyone filed in, Evan at long last realized that Narwhale was absent.  

"Well, we're here!  Took you kids long enough to hit the ground running." Ace suddenly appeared from behind the podium as they had done two days before.  They clapped their monochromatic hands together before saying, "You may have noticed that a student is absent.  That's because someone killed her!"

Tommie screamed.  Ace just shrugged.

"So here's how this works.  I left out a few details when I said that you can only leave after killing a fellow student.  I mean, either way, you still get out of here, but the difference is that you only make it out alive in one scenario," they continued. "We're gonna be having our first Class Trial in a few hours.  During that time, you can search for evidence.  If during the trial you successfully catch the killer, then the killer is executed!  But if you don't... everyone but the killer is executed and they get to walk free!"

"A-and what if we don't?!" Jax spoke up, his voice wavering.

Ace looked him dead in the eyes. "Fun fact!  'Jax' and 'dead' both have the letter 'a' in it!"

Jax immediately shut his mouth, his eyes wide.

"Anywho~!" Ace sang cheerfully. "You'll get some information on your school handbooks, and I'll see you all in the court room in an hour!  Just take the elevator next to the A/V room down there." They then proceeded to vanish behind the podium once again.

Evan wasn't sure how long he stood there for.  All he knew was that Jax was suddenly shaking him.

"You good, dude?" the dog trainer was asking.

Evan blinked. "Oh.  Uh, yeah."

"Great.  I was wondering if you want to come try to figure out the crime scene with me.  Everyone else has gone in pairs, and I'm worried about going alone."

The two began to walk down the hall and made a turn into the corridor with the nurse's office.  Evan could hear a few of their classmates already inside as they approached.  He took a deep breath, forced his breakfast back down, and stepped inside the infirmary.

The lights were dim and flickered occasionally, which was the first thing he noticed.  Only after that did he see Narwhale's lifeless body lying in the middle of a small pool of blood that seemed to be coming from a stab wound in her neck, courtesy of a large syringe that was still embedded in her corpse.  On the table next to her was a pill bottle that had been knocked over.  Evan's feet stubbornly prevented him from getting any closer, so he just watched Stratus, Ash, and Amy talk as Amy held up a piece of paper.

"...It was next to the pill bottle," she was saying.

"What is it?" Evan's curiosity got the best of him, restoring movement to his feet and letting him approach the older students.

Ash frowned at him and nodded to the paper Amy was holding. "We think it's a... note from Narwhale.  She signed it and everything."

Evan peeked over Amy's shoulder to look at, in neat but slightly smudged ink, said note from Narwhale.

Dear new friends,

Narwhale here.  I don't think any of us were expecting any of this.  But between the DVD I got and the tolerance of murder... the possibility of being killed or being forced to kill... it was just too much.  It's just not right, and I don't think I would have survived for much longer anyways.  You all are so nice, and I'm glad to have called you my friends, even if for just a day or so.  Thanks for at least pretending to care about me.

Love,

Narwhale Beaumont, Environmentalist

"Holy sh*t," Evan said.

Ash took a step back, clutching their stomach. "Excuse me for a moment." They quickly exited the room, but nobody was really paying attention to them.

"So she did it to herself, then?" Jax, who had also engaged in the discussion, choked out.  

Amy took a deep breath. "That's what it looks like."

Stratus remained expressionless. "So it seems."

Evan didn't know what else to do, so he turned and left, nearly tripping over some stray pill bottle on the floor on his way out.  

"Is everyone alright in there?" Dawn asked him.  She was standing next to a trembling Tommie, rubbing the blonde's shoulder gently.

"Oh, definitely not," he answered. "Ash went to go throw up, I think."

And he was about too as well if he hung around any longer.  Thankfully, Dawn seemed to recognize that and didn't say anything else, giving him the opportunity to retreat back to his room.  He spent most of that time hovering over the toilet or trying to fix his expression in the mirror.  Neither one helped with how sick he felt.  It seemed like hours until finally, he was snapped out of his routine by a knock on the door.  Startled, Evan put on a casual expression before quickly answering. Jax stood there, his dog Jackie next to him.

"Hey, I noticed that you left the crime scene early, so I decided to give you space and come check in when it was time for the trial.  Which it is," he said.

Evan smiled weakly. "That's nice of you."

"I also wanted to make sure you weren't, y'know, dead."

"Thanks." It was nice knowing that someone seemed to be looking out for him at the moment.

It was an awkward walk towards the A/V room, next to which Evan could see the elevator Ace had mentioned.  Everyone was gathered in front of it, and looked up at the sound of footsteps.

"Everyone's here, then," Dawn said.

"I guess we're ready?" Alister asked, seemingly unsure of their own words.

"I think we are," Amy agreed.

As the elevator arrived, the group filed in and rode in roaring silence.  Evan's jaw dropped as the elevator doors opened, revealing a room with podiums facing in a circle.  He glimpsed names carved into each one, and a monochromatic portrait of Narwhale on a stand behind the podium that seemed to have her name on it.  Ace then popped out from behind the judge's chair and sat down on it.

"Well," they said, "Now that we're all here, including Narwhale- in spirit, of course- let's get in positions and begin!" 

***

(1249 words)

And here we go...