THE NEXT MORNING, I was in a rush to get in touch with my manager in the States. Breaking all the protocols and ignoring the timezones, I called her numerous times in her personal number but in vain.

I had barely gotten enough sleep the previous night and my head pounded in stress. My appetite for breakfast too was non-existent. So when a staff from the buffet downstairs knocked at my door to inform me that the breakfast was ready, I slammed the door hard on her face.

Bianca, my manager, worked for my mother in her law firm before she started working for me. She used to live with me in my off-campus house until the year 2010. That was when Elite's decided to stop entertaining personal managers of their students in Isle Land for the sake of providing us with 'an authentic full-time student life experience'.

That was very dumb move on their part, of course. No student in Elite's was ever meant to live a 'normal' student life. That was the very reason why we were a part of Elite's in the first place. By sending our managers off the island, they only made contacting them more difficult.

The message from last night was bugging me out. I wasn't a nice person and never claimed to be one. I made many reckless decisions in the past and had a fair share of dirty secrets that I would like to take to my grave. But now, someone claimed to know them. And I had no clue who this person could be.

No one hunts down someone else's dirty secrets for no reason. They do it because they fully intend on using that against them. I had only known how it felt like to be the former. Being in the shoes of the latter was disturbing.

I was slouched on my couch feeling utterly dejected. My face was buried in my hands as I thought of nearly every sketchy situation I could end up being in. That was when my phone started ringing but it wasn't Bianca. It was Sarah.

"You need to come to my place right now. Hurry up!" Her voice was panicky and filled with urgency.

I got up from the couch. My mind was suddenly on alert.

"Wait! What happened?"

"We think that Andra left the island sometime when we were all sleeping. She is nowhere to be found and Sabrina went to her house only to find that all her stuffs are gone." I was halfway out of the door, buttoning my overcoat as I juggled with my room keys and handbag. My phone was pressed against my right shoulder with my head.

"I am on my way." I said as I shut the door and then, cut the call.

The weather looked pretty terrifying outside. Although it wasn't snowing, it was very wind and the sky was gray. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that a storm was on its way but it wasn't the season for storms in the Caspian.

On my way to the elevator, Sohana joined me. She looked just as anxiety ridden as me. She had even forgotten to put on an overcoat over her night suit in the rush and was shivering when we got in the elevator.

"Oh god, how could have I been so stupid to forget about the awful cold winds of Isle Land?" She groaned as her teeth rattled endlessly, "I swear before reaching Sarah's, all my organs will be knockout cold."

When we reached the sixth floor, Sohana practically raced from the elevator to Room No. S607. Sarah opened the door for us but barely casted a glance on our way.

"Oh thank god, you both here. Come in quick. We all need to have a long talk."

"Is everyone here?" I asked as I entered after Sohana.

"Well, everyone except for the Victorson sisters, of course." Sarah rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind.

I took a seat on her couch beside Sohana and looked across me at Sarah, Delilah and Sabrina.

"We think that Andra might have something to do with the dead body found yesterday in the reservoir." Delilah dropped the bomb but her expressions were so rested that had I not known any better, I could've easily been fooled that she was chatting about the weather.

"What? Why?" Sohana asked frantically.

I was just as clueless as her but I wasn't trying to make it too obvious.

"That is a pretty bold accusation." I said instead, "And I know that her sudden departure raises many eyebrows but she is a part of our circle. We must have faith in her that she wouldn't do anything so stupid."

"It is just not about the rush she left in, Roxana." Sabrina clarified, "Her behavior had been very odd ever since Baxter broke up with her--"

"Yeah, that's because they literally broke up the night before the Ball in the middle of Lisa's birthday party, Sabrina!" Sohana cut her off with an eye roll, "Doesn't necessarily mean that she is capable of killing someone and then dumping their body in the school's reservoir."

"For god sake, Sohana, let me finish!" There was an edge to Sabrina's tone, "My point is that the very next day, Lisa left the island without saying goodbye to anyone for some 'family emergency' and we haven't seen Baxter ever since then either. And right now, the only person who is missing from the campus is Baxter."

"You cannot seriously be implying that--" Sohana was cut off.

"I sure as hell am implying exactly what you're thinking. I think both the sisters killed Baxter and while one of them fled immediately, the other one decided to stay back in order to avoid raising suspicion." Sabrina stated with a pointed look.

Sam beside Sohana sighed - "Sabrina, I know that the point you have put across is pretty solid but there are still some things that just don't add up. Like why would Andra leave now the way she did? She must know how bad must it look for her to leave like that in such a situation. Also, I can't seem to find a strong enough motive for Andra to kill Baxter. She didn't even love him."

I swallowed - "Sam has got a valid point too, Sabrina. Besides, we are not even one hundred percent sure if the body is really Baxter's. We are all but speculating at this point."

Sabrina looked me in the eye for a moment before sighing, "For all of our sanity's sake, lets hope that it is nothing but pure speculation and that there is no truth to it."

I was the first one the leave Sarah's place after the discussion we had was over. On my way to the elevator, my phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Again, it was from a private number.

Is it really just speculation?
                             ~ Your Nightmare