It was the next morning, although it didn't feel like it. Grey clouds still loomed, the snow continued to fall down, not letting up at all. Thunder still growled but from a faraway distance now. The storm had shifted, but it had left a mark at Hotel Schilthorn.

The hotel was in the middle of a winter wonderland, except it wasn't so magical as it was spine-chilling.

Scarlett observed the view silently, her breakfast left untouched on her plate, coffee slowly turning cold, the vapors losing their intensity by the minute.

She, along with the others were present in the dining hall, sitting quietly in their seats, their posture rigid and their movements robot-like.

Emma hadn't touched the food at all as well, her eyes blank, hair tied loosely at the back.

Anthony was staring at nothingness as he slowly chewed his toast, gulping it down forcefully, then forking some more and repeating.

The toast was tasteless in his mouth, the texture like dust but he still willed himself to eat.

Nobody had gotten a chance to talk about last night, the revelation that Carter had killed Eric had shocked them to the core. They were all too disturbed, too caught up in their own thoughts as they had left the common room silently, Anthony being the last one to leave.

Now, forced to sit together at the huge dining table, they drowned in awkward silence, nobody knew what to say.

What were you supposed to say?

Levi was busy peeling his apple with slow precision, his movement calculated as his eyes bounced between everyone on the table. Only Mark seemed to be enjoying his food, unaware or unbothered by the whole thing.

Everyone was there... except for Carter.

His conversation with Carter flashed in his mind as a frown formed on his face, he lowered his eyes and scowled at the apple like the murder was its fault.

Levi had never felt like this before, he had never, ever, doubted himself. The feeling was so foreign to him, that he had completely closed off emotionally, his arrogance barely scratching the surface.

Scarlett's gaze was fixed on the grand seat in front of her, where Carter was supposed to be sitting. She didn't know what it was, but she and Carter sat opposite to each other whenever they could. At first, it was just a coincidence, but then it slowly formed into a habit.

She was so used to him sitting in front of her that she missed him now, despite...

The events of the previous day assaulted her mind again. Shaking her head clear of her thoughts, she quickly looked over everybody else. Did nobody notice Carter is not with us?

Scarlett coughed discreetly, gaining everybody's attention and said, "Carter is, um... Carter is not eating with us." She finished awkwardly, cringing internally as she thought about what the response would be.

Mark was in the middle of drinking his coffee when he snorted, "Why will he be? Would you dine with everyone after you were revealed as a murderer?"

Ella put her hand on his biceps, communicating with her eyes to keep quiet.

At the same time, Emma lashed out, her reaction startling everybody. Gnashing her teeth, she said, "It's not proven yet, you assh-"

"I think that's enough," Levi interrupted Emma, his voice deep and commanding as he stood up from his seat, dropping the neatly peeled apple into his empty plate.

"But she's right!" Scarlett argued in Emma's defense.

"Yes, she is..." Levi began slowly, "Detective Matteo will be here today to conduct the final investigations," he said, rolling his eyes, "Till then, everyone, behave yourself. Am I clear?

Charlotte gnawed at her lip as she saw Levi take charge, only this time she was grateful as Levi showed some emotions at least. Late last night, he had quietly gotten into bed, stealthy as ever. He didn't even nag her with bizarre questions, an activity which was unofficially a bedtime routine for them.

"Scarlett, Emma, if you're so concerned then why don't you go up and call him down yourself?" Levi asked, his eyebrow raised.

Both of the girl's eyes grew wide at Levi's suggestion. Looking at each other, they hesitated, not knowing what to say. Just the thought of facing Carter sent shivers to Emma's spine, and not the good kind, either.

Levi sighed deeply, running a tired hand over his face, then placing both his hands on the table, his head slung forward, staring at the apple directly below him.

A few uncomfortable moments later, he stood upright again and looked at both the girls, eyes slightly narrowed, lips twisted into disapproval. Well, at least I'm feeling something.

"You little girls want me to come with you?" He said, rolling his eyes. A few more times and they might just fall off from their sockets.

Scarlett straightened her spine at Levi's words, eyes blazing, her nervousness replaced with anger and annoyance. She clenched her fist when Levi smirked weakly as he sat down.

"Come on, Emma," Scarlett said as she grabbed Emma's hand, then looking back at Anthony, she continued, "You coming?"

"As if," Anthony said darkly, his lips morphed into a scowl. "If he wants to live, then he better not show his face to me."

Emma looked at Anthony and threw a curious glare his way before she allowed Scarlett to lead her away from the toxic table.

"What's up with him?" Emma inquired when they were out of hearing range, "Didn't you two visit Carter last night?"

Scarlett shrugged half-heartedly, "I don't know. He was mostly quiet yesterday too. Said he wanted to talk to him about something to clear his mind," she said thoughtfully, lips pursed. "But then he changed his mind and was mostly quiet. He didn't even look at him."

"Well, he was Eric's best friend... His death is the hardest on him," Emma said as she shook her head slightly, making a mental note to talk to him later.

By the time Emma had finished her sentence, they were both standing in front of Carter's room.

"Ready?" Scarlett asked Emma, preparing herself mentally too.

Emma only nodded, releasing a shaky breath. Speaking became too hard for her.

Taking a deep breath, Scarlett knocked twice on the thick, wooden door, a sharp and resounding noise that seemed too loud in their ears.

They waited patiently but got no response. Looking at each other, Scarlett knocked again, louder, her knuckles hurting slightly. They waited, but the knock was greeted by silence from the other side of the door.

"Is he ignoring us?" Scarlett hissed, her voice low. "We came to him even though he was pretty much announced as a killer!"

Emma looked at Scarlett, her hands were clammy and her eyes held fear. "Maybe he's sleeping?" she whispered.

"You're delusional if you think anybody can sleep after last night!" Scarlett snapped. Emma didn't say anything back, knowing full well that this could turn into an argument if she did.

"Let's try one more time," Emma said, trying to calm down Scarlett. However, her calm was short-lived as their attempt resulted to be futile once again.

"Okay, that's it!" said Scarlett, her hand reaching for the door handle.

"Wait! What if he's really sleeping?" Emma said, biting her lower lip.

"Then he's a possible killer with no remorse, who killed Eric," Scarlett was whisper shouting now, her tone heated, eyes frantic. She saw the transformation on Emma's face as she realized who she was looking out for.

Nodding with determination, Emma's hand closed over Scarlett's on the door handle and pushed.

It didn't open.

Frowning deeply, Emma pushed the handle harder, jostling it for good measure.

She turned to face Scarlett, both of them mirroring each other's expressions. "It's locked," Scarlett stated the obvious, her frown slowly dissolving.

"I can't believe he's really sleeping," she continued, shaking her head.

"Come on, let's go downstairs," Emma said as she steered her friend away from Carter's room.

***

"Where is Carter?" Levi asked the group. They were gathered in the common room, steaming cups of coffee placed on the table in front of them as they all waited for Detective Matteo to arrive. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow through the floor-to-ceiling windows all over the room.

"We went up to his room during breakfast but it was locked. Either he was ignoring us or was sleeping," Scarlett said as she leaned back in her sofa, stretching her arms above her.

"And he hasn't come down since then?" Levi asked sharply, alarming everybody.

"N-no... why?" Scarlett replied slowly, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

At Scarlett's confirmation, Levi bolted out the door and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He could hear two light steps following him, trying to keep up with his pace. Scarlett and Emma, he deduced.

Reaching Carter's room, he rapped on the door sharply, feeling his palms stinging. His heart had kicked into overdrive, a feeling of doom settled deep in his stomach as he waited.

2 seconds had passed before he rapped on the door much, much harder this time. Then giving up, he tried the door handle, only to find it locked.

Kicking the door in frustration, Levi ran a hand through, releasing a sigh.

"Call Robert. Tell him Levi wants the key to Carter's room," Levi barked orders to no one in particular.

Emma and Scarlett shared a frightened look, eyes bulging, breath coming out short. They both hesitated, trying to keep up with what was happening.

"Go!" Levi shouted, whipping around and glaring at Emma, panic swimming in his eyes.

"O-okay," Emma said as she ran.

Scarlett saw Levi turn the handle again but to no avail. He shoved the door hard with his shoulder in attempt to open it, wincing when pain erupted at the collision.

Emma came running back, Robert at her toes. "Here you go," she said, breathless, shoving the keys in Levi's hand, her own hands trembling. She didn't understand what was going on, why Levi was so panicky, but it had affected her and by the looks of Scarlett, her too.

"What's happening?" Robert asked, professional as ever. His question was met with silence.

Everybody stood extremely still, holding their breath as Levi turned the lock and pushed the door open.

The Red curtains were drawn shut, the glow from the setting sun outside combined with the shadow of the curtains, bathed the room in a dangerous, dark shade of Red.

Levi took two long steps as he entered the room, the others right behind him. It took a while to adjust to the lighting inside the room, but when Levi's vision focused...

Breathing heavily and quickly, Levi made his way to the bed where Carter was snuggled in his blanket. He looked too pale...

Scarlett saw Carter on the bed, the sight bothering her for some reason. She shifted uneasily and averted her eyes to look at Emma.

Emma's eyes were round, hands clammy, her gaze fixed on the piece of paper and a pen sitting on top of it. The pen that she had gifted him, she realized as she spotted the diamond on it.

A sickening feeling flooded her whole body as she saw Levi put two fingers on Carter's neck, looking for a pulse.

Scarlett's whole body shook as she inhaled sharply, eyes widening in fear at the sight of Levi hovering over Carter.

"Is he..." Emma said weakly, not having the strength to finish the sentence.

Levi raised his eyes slowly to Emma's, jaw clenched as he tried to ignore how cold Carter's neck was. He stared at Emma for a long second, before whispering.

"He's dead."

***

Sooo, what do you think? Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts! I love hearing your predictions :")