She bolted through the backdoors, breathless. She stepped outside, seeing Silverleaf's greenery. Fareeda's dead, Fareeda's dead. "Stoll, hurry!" Orchid shouted as they ran towards the glass greenhouse under his instructions. She never knew there was a greenhouse, it was hidden behind a few trees.

The door was ajar, unlocked. She pushed it open, hearing a loud creak. Please, let Saira be okay, she prayed silently. Orchid rushed inside, finding bright flowers all around her. "Saira?" And then heard quiet sobs. The heavy scent of florals hit her right in the face as dirt squished under her feet.

"Saira?" She walked around rows of veggies being grown, seeing a crying Saira hunched over something. No, not something, but someone. It was Fareeda's corpse in Saira's arms. "Oh my gosh, Saira—" She felt as if she was going to vomit.

Saira's head snapped around as tears streaked her cheeks like two rivers. "S-She's gone," she wept, cradling Fareeda's body. "It's all my fault, I-I should have warned her about the gothic literature club..." The girl's frizzy black hair was coated with dried blood and her skin seemed flayed. She could see Fareeda's skin tissue and her veins, it was awful to see someone without their skin. Orchid felt as if she was going to throw up.

"I called Gil and the rest of the cops roaming around Silverleaf," Stoll said, phone in hand, coming over, but stopping once seeing Fareeda. "Is that...?" He looked pale-faced and quite frankly, ill. "Oh God."

"Fareeda Patel? Yes." Orchid crouched down, guiding Saira's arm. Saira looked utterly terrified, still in shock from everything. "Come," she said softly, trying to coax her. "We need to step away, the police are arriving here shortly. They need to help Fareeda—"

Saira struggled, a strangled noise dying at the back of her throat. "No, no," she cried, "I can't leave her!" She grasped Fareeda's hand, squeezing it. "I-I found her bed abandoned and it's almost 4: 30 AM so I figured something was w-wrong. I went to the greenhouse because she told me so last night—" She covered her mouth, muffling a whimper. "I found her dead."

Stoll joined them on the floor. "Oh, Levine..." He shook his head. "That's horrible." Saira bawled and Orchid's heart ached in remorse. Fareeda's dead, she realized. That means there's one more name left on the hit list. Bailey Preston. But she was being taken away, right? Would she be safe?

"I let my guard down de-despite knowing her name was on that goddamned diary page," Saira lamented, her breath ragged. She clutched Fareeda's lifeless hand as Orchid rubbed her back. Saira tossed a pained glance at Fareeda. "All I keep seeing is the bloodied dirt under her black-painted fingernails." She released another sob. "I-I can't let her go like this."

"Saira," Orchid said, tears welling in her eyes and she tried her best not to cry. What could she say? It seemed Saira had a close connection to Fareeda all of a sudden. "You're going to be okay."

"I'm never going to be okay ever again!" she hollered, trembling. She shook so violently, quivering. Orchid wrapped her arms around her in an attempt to warm the girl up.

Stoll whispered, "What Gray meant is that things will be okay. And even if you're not fine, we'll always be there for you." Finally, Saira let go of Fareeda's hand, shuddering. She curled up in a ball, latching into Orchid and Stoll.

"Please, don't leave me," she sobbed. Orchid blinked, feeling guilty that Saira was so vulnerable. If I go to the cops with our findings of the gothic literature club and Stanley Crawford, she thought. Then I risk all of this—Stoll's and Saira's lives in ruins.

Suddenly, footsteps approached them. Orchid glanced over her shoulder to see a navy-haired woman standing over them with another officer. She heard the names Detective Erin Hollison and Officer Roger North being tossed around the gossip midst of Silverleaf Academy.

"Saira. Fareeda." Erin's voice sounded pained. "North, call the station."

This was the moment that Orchid forever dreaded since Day One of discovering Professor Green dead—the police would come and discover their secrets, ruining them all. Let the beginning of the end commence.

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Due to the flood sweeping up the local police station, they decided to question Orchid and the others in abandoned classrooms. Professor Asher didn't seem so fond of cancelling her first-morning math class, but the students were overjoyed. From what Orchid suspected, Officer North would be interviewing her while Detective Hollison took Saira. She had no idea who was questioning Stoll, but she hoped he was okay.

Stoll, Stoll, Stoll. His name seemed to be wandering in her mind rent-free ever since he confessed his, well, feelings for her. Now, she was facing Officer North on the opposite side of Professor Asher's desk. She blinked blankly, unfocused. Get your act together, she thought.

He had a tape recorder with him as he looked at Orchid, opening up her file. "Miss Orchid Lán Huā Gray-Shang is your name, correct?"

"I only kept my father's last name, which is Gray."

"So Orchid Lán Huā Gray?"

"Yes." She fiddled with the silver leaf locket around her neck. Her palms became sweaty as she gnawed at the insides of her cheeks. Keep out the stutter and act like you're just that quiet, mousy girl that everyone else thinks you are, her mind ordered.

He flipped through her file, scratching his scalp. "Hm, I remember your name from somewhere," he said vaguely. Orchid's breath hitched as she swallowed hard. Could he have remembered her from Navaeh Naylor's case?

Navaeh, Orchid refused to think about her. Not now.

"Do you want some water before we start?" North asked and Orchid's throat was dying of thirst, but frozen in place, she shook her head. The cop pressed on the tape recorder, saying out loud, "I am Officer Roger North, police ranking is Inspector I. The date is March 29th and the time by my watch is—" He quickly checked the time on his wrist. "5: 21 AM. Present with me is Miss Orchid Lán Huā Gray, previously Gray-Shang, for questioning of Miss Fareeda Patel's death."

Orchid felt uneasy. "Uh..."

"So, Orchid, tell me about yourself."

She flinched, feeling herself back in a different police station, there under suspicion of Navaeh Naylor's falling. I can't do this, she thought helplessly. "I-I, um," she stammered. No, no, what happened to her plan? "I don't know," she blurted.

"It's fine to feel nervous," Officer North said, shrugging.

"I just want to get this over with, can we just dive right in?" Orchid pleaded and that surprised the man, making his brows quirk upwards. "I don't sit well with this whole ordeal," she added quickly. "Fareeda's death was...unpleasant to deal with."

"Did you know her well?"

"Not really, I just knew her as Saira's roommate."

"Can you tell the whole story from start to finish from your perspective?" And so Orchid did, talking about sneaking out to roam the halls with Stoll when she received a message from Saira.

North jotted something down as he looked up at Orchid. "What were you doing with Stoll at 4: 00 AM in the morning?" Oh shit, she realized. There were holes in her story, would Stoll's story match up with hers? Her cheeks reddened as an idea came to her mind.

"I, uh, went to see Stoll because, you know." Orchid made random gestures with her hands, making North blanch. Then she remembered they were recording audio. "I sort of liked him and I don't like other students invading my privacy," she clarified loudly for the audio tape.

"So you and Stoll are dating?"

"I don't like labels, sir." What kind of crappy answer was that? God, Orchid would have to workshop her social skills around cops.

"Okay," North said, his eyes flickering to his notepad. "What's your relationship with Saira Levine? You seem close enough if you're the first person she calls when finding Fareeda dead."

Orchid tried to remain level-headed. "Well, I tried to tutor her in English since we have had Professor Yarwood as our replacement teacher ever since Professor Green died." He's dead, he's dead. She tried to keep the dark thoughts about Professor Green out of her mind, but he was coming back. "But everything has been so busy that we haven't been studying much."

"Uh-huh." Orchid couldn't tell if North was convinced or not. "Let's run through some more questions. Sounds good?"

"Sure." Translation: No.

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Eventually, Orchid was let out of Professor Asher's classroom. North told her that the rest of her classes were cancelled for her to 'cope' despite only being a witness to a murder. She waited outside of Professor Yarwood's classroom for Stoll to walk out the door. After ten minutes with students heading downstairs for breakfast and eyeing her weirdly, Stoll came out of the classroom. Orchid was relieved. "Oh, thank God."

"Where's Levine?" he asked immediately.

"I think she's being interviewed by Detective Hollison in Roux's office, c'mon, let's go." Another officer came out of Professor Yarwood's room, having tanned skin and black hair in a ponytail. "I got Officer North, you?"

"Officer Saige," Stoll replied as they made their way towards the headmaster's office. Along the way, students stared at them as if they both had three heads. By now, everyone must have heard about Fareeda's passing and how they were witnesses. All eyes are on me, she realized. On us.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Orchid whispered as they quickened their pace. They ditched the no-idea-who-you-are act, it was pointless now when they were all caught up. Would people catch on that they started the Shades of Gray project? Orchid hoped not.

The exposés. Gosh, she hadn't written one in a while, being so busy with solving the murders, she had forgotten to update. "Everything is changing," Orchid mumbled, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"We'll figure this out in the end, Gray." At least Stoll's words were somewhat comforting. He stole a glance at her. "How was your interview?" When Orchid recoiled, Stoll winced. "I said we met up in the hallway to hang out, what's your excuse?"

"My story was that we were wandering around Silverleaf 'cause we were..." Orchid made random gestures which made Stoll chuckle a bit. She flushed with colour, rolling up her hands into fists. "Not funny!" She was blushing now. "I didn't mean that, you pervert, I didn't explicitly say anything that said we were...you know."

"Whatever you say, Flower."

They waited by Headmaster Roux's office, leaning against the wall. For a split second, Orchid could catch her breath. After a few minutes, Saira came out with Detective Hollison, looking miserable. "Oh my god," she said tearfully, collapsing in Orchid's arms. "Fareeda's gone."

"We're here for you, Levine," Stoll murmured, coming closer. Orchid looked up at Detective Hollison, they both nodded in understanding. I'll make sure the Silverleaf Gothic Literature Club pays for Fareeda's death, she closed her eyes, stroking Saira's blond hair.

"Hey, it's going to be okay."

Abruptly, Detective Hollison's phone rang. "Excuse me," she muttered, turning around and taking the cell phone out of her pocket, pressing it against her ear. The detective walked away, turning to a corner. Orchid supported Saira to stand up, but not before leaning closer to Erin Hollison. Maybe she'd catch something useful.

"What? How could have that happened? Did you send a unit down? North and Saige are with me, we're staying at Silverleaf," the woman said firmly, before lowering her voice again. "Yes, I knew she could have been a flight risk."

"What is she talking about?" Orchid asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Must be something serious," Stoll said. The woman stayed silent until she hung up, turning around to walk back. "Shit!" They backed away, not wanting to be caught. Detective Hollison turned around once more, startled.

"Oh, sorry, you three gave me a fright," she said, chuckling. Orchid noticed a hint of nervousness. Something truly bad must have happened. Hollison looked back and forth at her phone and Orchid, making her anxious, before sighing. "Miss Orchid Gray?"

Orchid swallowed hard. Stay level-headed. "Yes?" She hoped Hollison didn't hear the waver in her voice. She felt Stoll's hand on her shoulder, rubbing ever so slightly, almost to say 'you got this.' But did she?

"You were a friend of Bailey Preston, correct?"

"Yeah." Now she was scared. What happened to Bailey? No, no, this couldn't be happening. The gothic literature club can't get to her if she leaves. "Is she okay?" Her voice was small. When Hollison didn't reply at first, she became panicky. "Is she?"

Detective Hollison grimaced. "I'm sorry, Orchid, but the car that was escorting Bailey...it flipped into a ditch, the roads were still slippery from the previous flood. The driving officer is injured and alive, but as for..." She dipped her head. No. "Miss Preston did not survive the accident, she died before paramedics could arrive. My deepest condolences go to you and the Prestons."

Orchid was frozen in place. Even out of Silverleaf Academy, Bailey was not safe. Someone called her name, but it sounded faint and far away. She was so disorganized and out of her mind. She had given Bailey false hope, Bailey died thinking she was safe from danger.

No, Orchid thought wordlessly. This ends tonight.