"Something feels wrong," I say, placing my palm against my chest. "Very, very wrong."

"Wrong as in...you think your soulmate died?" Lucy asks, raising an eyebrow. 

A voice interrupts us.

"Erza..."

"Hey, Lisanna," I greet with a smile. Lisanna Stauss, a freshman, is a decent girl- if only her sister weren't such a...witch.

She glances at Lucy uncomfortably, then crosses her arms as if she were cold which is weird because it's hotter than hell out here in the middle of the parking lot.

"Lucy, go ahead without me," I tell my roommate. "I'll catch up." 

Lisanna and I watch the blonde-haired girl go.

"Something wrong?"

"I...uh...I'm sorry about what happened...with Mira..." Lisanna doesn't meet my eyes.

"Oh, that little thing? No worries. You don't have to be sorry." 

"Mirajane is really nice once you get to know her," she continues. I somehow highly doubt that.

"Maybe." I shrug. This conversation has officially reached awkward.

"Also..." She trails off and her blue eyes dart around nervously, almost as if she were afraid someone was eavesdropping. I look around, just to be safe. No one.

"Also?"

She winces. "Just...take care of yourself." 

~ ~ ~

A mix between a tiger roar and an "oh my god I give up on you" scream blares in our ears.

"What in Fiore is that..." Lucy groans, throwing back her blanket and fumbling for the lamp switch.

"Lockdown alarm?" I ask, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. "I thought that was a rumor...I didn't know there were lockdown alarms in the dorms!"

"Students- this is not a drill. Please lock all doors and windows and remain in your current room. If you are not in a room-"

"-then you are passed out at Fairy Tail," Lucy snickers. Fairy Tail may be labeled as a "coffee" shop but that doesn't mean booze isn't sold at night. 

"-please enter the nearest room. All students should find their ID's and keep them close." The intercom (I didn't even know dorms were connected to the intercom system!) goes quiet.

"Windows locked? Check. Doors? Check." She plops back on her bed.

"Lucy, this is serious," I protest. I begin pacing the length of our room. "Do you think an ax murderer snuck her way onto campus?"

"That's Erza for you," Lucy grumbles, hugging her knees to her chest. "Always thinking about worst-case scenarios."

"When was the last real lockdown at Fiore Uni?" I ponder aloud. My heart is pounding, and I have to tuck my clammy hands into my pockets to keep Lucy from pointing it out.

Lucy frowns. "Good point. I have no clue." She reaches across her bed and grabs her cell phone. "Texts from Natsu and Jellal."

"Go on."

"Jellal says there are a bunch of police cars outside of Clover."

"The boy's dorm?"

"Yeah." She taps her phone a few times before continuing, "Natsu, he's at Clover too, says that there's crime scene tape. Everything's very smoky outside, though."

My heart drops. "Do you think...someone...died?"

A ding from her phone indicates another text. Lucy opens her mouth, but no sound comes out.

"What is it?" I hop onto the bed beside her and peer over her shoulder.

"I think I see a body bag," read Jellal's text.

Slowly, Lucy set her phone down and walks over to the single window at the back of the room. It was too dark to see anything but the faint, jagged rooftops of the boy's dorm, Clover, that stood a good distance away.

"Maybe people are just camping," I suggest optimistically. "That explains all the smoke. And Jellal probably couldn't see clearly...it wasn't a body bag, it was a tent. And the caution tape...was there...?"

"Crime scene tape. He was specific about that."

"There's a difference?"

~ ~ ~

There was no school the next day. Many students, including Lucy and Jellal, took the opportunity to go home and visit family. The students that remained, huddle together, whispering about the details of the murder. Rumors spread throughout the university like wildfire.

"They're not sure who it is," Natsu says in a hushed voice. "but the FBI says the victim was a female."

"How can they not be sure?" I ask, voice rising. "Who haven't you seen in the past twenty-four hours?"

Gray rolls his eyes. "We don't know everyone that goes here, Erza."

"Yeah, but someone is bound to notice something..." I trail off as I see Mirajane hurrying across the library and into the girl's bathroom. Her mascara has dripped down her face like dark, melting wax. I push back my chair and hurry after her, more curious than anything.

I find her sobbing in one of the stalls. Beside us, the restroom is empty. I take a deep breath before murmuring, "Everything okay?"

The stall door bangs open and Mirajane approaches me, eyes flashing dangerously. "Does everything look okay, Scarlet?"

"Well-"

"Maybe in your pretty, perfect little world. You, and your soulmate, and your...your henchman."

Picturing Natsu, Lucy, Jellal, and Ultear as my henchmen bring a smile to my face.  They were Lucy's friends first, but because Lucy was my roommate, they were kind of obligated to become my friends too.

"If you're here just to mock me-"

I cut her off. "No. I'm not. I was genuinely concerned. And my world isn't pretty, nor is it perfect." I pause. "Honestly? The closest home I have is my dorm, which sucks. I have no siblings- only 'henchmen.' And I failed-"

"I think my sister was the one who died," Mirajane tells me softly. She won't meet my eyes, not even as she scrubs the ruined makeup off her face. Her eyes are big and blue, and so very sad. I didn't know Mirajane Strauss was capable of emotion. The black choker she wears around her neck suddenly looks foreign.

"I've called her," she continues, shaking her head with disbelief, ponytail swinging side to side. "she hasn't replied. That's unusual. And Elfman hasn't seen her- not since he dropped her off at her dorm last night. Two hours before-" She chokes back a sob. "Maybe it's not Lisanna. I hope to god it's not Lisanna."

A girl enters the restroom and gives us a strange look before proceeding into one of the stalls. 

"Was there something Lisanna was wearing?" I whisper encouragingly. "Something the FBI can check for on the..."

"Corpse," Mirajane says through gritted teeth. "Don't be such a wuss, Scarlet. Just say it. Corpse."

I wonder what the girl in the stall is thinking.

"She always wears the bracelet I gave her," she informs me. Raising her wrist up to the light, she smiles sadly. "We have matching bracelets. It's all white and flowery, but...she loved it. Loves it, I mean."

"Come on, then." I reach for her hand, one of the most daring things I have attempted to do in my life. "Let's go tell them."