Adventure in the World of Crimes

1.2 Welcome to the UOE

Laura looked around her, now finally kicking hard the thought that she was really back in school— The school's huge structures surrounding the wide field, students walking around alone or with friends, some huddled near the trees, some sitting alone or with a circle of friends on the bench with either books or phones on their hands, few teachers conversing with their co-teachers, sports scholars training in the schoolyard, and more other normal events happening in school.

She didn't miss this, not even a bit, she could express how much she abhorred this idea and task if that means she could go home, but she couldn't. Hermes will just throw her on the underground level tasks— capturing those ex-convicts who never learned from being jailed. She hated it the most, the bad odor of their hideouts, the bad breath of the criminals themselves, the dirt she got from punching their faces, even her other friends hated it especially Reign who was very sensitive. If an agent was assigned there, it means only two things: You were at the lowest rank or you were being punished.

She looked at the paper given by the guidance teacher earlier before she was guided inside the main campus, the phone, rules and regulations, free notebooks and pen, five thick books, a backpack, PE Uniform, and a hygiene kit were all given to her all at once, she shoved all of those inside the bag and if she's not an agent who almost lived in the gym before, she might be crawling by now because of how heavy her bag was. She fixed her bag and sighed loudly and started locating her dorm room.

R. 305 PC. UOEM57 meaning Third floor, room number five, and the passcode is UOEM57.

She's lost, to say the least. She was surrounded with different buildings of different courses and there were even some more at the back, she was like a child who got lost inside a big mall and did not know where to go and what to do but to look everywhere and waited for someone willing to take her home. She didn't know which way to take but her pride didn't allow her to ask for directions from anyone.

"Hey! Watch out!" A man shouted in fear as he watched the flying soccer ball he kicked that accidentally misdirected past to his companion where a woman was standing and not paying attention around her but the paper she was holding.

Laura felt the change of air on her left side, she immediately turned her gaze to it and saw a ball fast approaching exactly to her side. She calmly raised her brow and sighed, looking back to the map printed on the back of the paper she just found out now as she nonchalantly raised her left arm, catching the ball without difficulties.

"Woah!" The boys who saw exclaimed in awe, watching as the lady spins the ball on her forefinger but her gaze was still fixed on the paper with her forehead creased.

"Nursing college is ahead if coming here from the field, the dorm is at the back of it, so it means... Oh, what's this?" Laura stopped from her self-talk when she noticed the ball in her hand, "Whose ball is this?"

The man earlier raised his hand almost too enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. Laura quirked up her brow and scanned his whole body, not being too judgmental, but he looked like a man who never did something good just by the way he walked with his head held up high and never fading playful smile.

"I see that we have a new scholar here. Tell me, who's your benefactor?" He inquired as soon as he got near her, stealing the soccer ball from Laura's hand and showed off some skills but the latter remained unimpressed.

Didn't want to create a conflict on her first day, she answered as politely as she could, "Mr. Robert Hudson. If you'll excuse me, I need to find my dorm."

She didn't give him time to answer, she ran away and ignored his yelling. She rolled her eyes when he even threw the soccer ball in her direction but she managed to dodge it easily. She's not trained to be an agent in her entire life for nothing, and also, she's right with her impression of him.

She reached her room after half an hour, she punched her passcode languidly, the events earlier somehow managed to drain her energy. Well, who wouldn't when you had to wake up four in the morning to listen again to their plan, two hours long drive, blindfolded as soon as she got there, drank a capsule with a microchip inside, became an actress just to peek at her code, got lost and even met a git on her way to her room. In just half a day, she did all of that and she was sure that her next days will be more exhausting than just today.

How unfortunate she could be.

She dragged her feet and her baggage inside, trudging with her eyes closed as sleepiness slowly taking over her system and a soft bed was what she needed right now but something hit her feet that made her groaned and opened her eyes again. It didn't process that fast at first but when she came eye to eye with it, she freaked out and started running while screaming.

"Ahh!" She screamed on top of her lungs, jumping on the nearest sofa and even threw a pillow on it that made its head broke apart from its body. She groaned and heaved an exasperated sigh and completely slouched down on the soft chair upon realizing that it was only a mannequin of an old woman sitting in a wheelchair with its mouth and eyes wide open. She gritted her teeth and mentally noted that she should confront whoever put that there right in front of the door.

When she's already calm, she roamed her eyes around the room. It's pretty simple and small, consisting only of a living room, kitchen, and bedrooms— there are two bedrooms, both have white doors but the other one has a chalkboard hanging in the middle quoting the word "Welcome", so she assumed that someone has already occupied it.

Her gaze shifted to the wooden board attached to the wall between the two rooms. It was full of green sticky notes that most of it had even fallen on the floor, there were also some pictures. So, out of curiosity, no matter how sleepy she felt and just wanted to enter her room and lie there all day, she walked towards the board, picking up the notes on the floor as well as reading some of it.

Eloise,

I'm going out with Leo. I cooked something for your dinner. Don't skip, Love you, sis!

Eloise,

Mr. Oscar has sent his monthly assistance to my account. Let's eat lunch later.

Eloise,

We're going somewhere, sis! Don't worry I'm with Leo and Phil. Don't wait for me, okay?

Laura froze instantly upon reading the names on the third note, she immediately stood up, now eyes leveled with the pictures pinned on the wooden board as she scanned all of them. There were pictures of Blaise Nore on it with another girl who looked exactly just like her but like her mini self, she assumed it was the Eloise the notes were for. There were pictures of them sleeping together, happily eating together, some were stolen, and one picture of five people smiling at the camera, it was the same pictures of what Dale has shown to her but without Eloise, she presumed she was the one who took it.

Her forehead creased as she took the note on yellow sticky paper, it was the only note in different color there, it also looked like it has been crumpled and was only straightened back again, plus it was pinned like the pictures, unlike the other notes that were stuck.

Eloise,

i love you, eloise. HE is my everything. I do not want to Leave you but this life is just so cruel. I can't take it anymore. Please. take care of YOURSELF. DON'T TRUST ANYONE.

Weird, Laura thought. The writings looked like it was rushed, the way she wrote there was different from the other notes she has written, but it also looked like it was her penmanship but also looked like it was not, she's sure that something's weird in this writing but she doesn't know what. This was where she's not good at, she always wonder how Sean managed to know what exactly was wrong in something just by looking at it, while she, however, needed time to figure it out, and even though she took all her time in thinking, most of her ideas were wrong. However, in her defense, she liked the physical fight way more than mental and everyone in the agency knew that.

She put the note back to its place, mental noting to befriend the victim's sister so she could at least gather information without sounding like a creep. Her plan on finding someone related to the three potential victims was already achieved, and what were the odds that she could be her roommate? Fate must be on her side this time. But that's for later, she really felt sleepy and tired and needed to recharge.

She dragged her baggage again and walked to her room, but then something made her stop. If Blaise wrote these notes, then it means Eloise was the roommate who found Blaise's body, and...

Her room was the room of Blaise before... where she hung herself.

Laura slowly opened the door, and what she found inside freaked her out, for the second time.