Nebula's Murder Mystery

Kayleigh hated life. Ever since her parents sent her to boarding school she had sat alone in a corner every lunchtime, wishing to be at home with her friends. Instead, she was stuck at “Miss Wishfelt’s Institute for Mentally Challenged Girls.” Ugh. Mentally challenged. That was Kayleigh’s life. When she was a child, she had visions of death, murder, poisoning, and things so unimaginable that not even your worst nightmares could cover how despicable. She would wake up in the middle of the night and yell for her parents, but they would stare at her like she was nuts. Eventually, they thought she was crazy, and sent her here. And now she was in a room full of ruffles and pink, her least favorite colour. She jumped out of deep thought as the gong sounded where the bell should be. She sighed, wondering what stupid class there was going to be next.

Kayleigh wandered through the endless maze of corridors and rooms. She stared at the floor, not wanting to attract any attention. Suddenly, someone stood in her way, with lilac coloured high tops, long legs, and so-pale-that-it’s-almost-white skin. Kayleigh looked up, only to reveal Amber, a girl with long blonde hair, styled in waves, matched with piercing gray eyes. She wore no makeup, but despite that, she was extraordinarily pretty. Her impossibly cool friends flanked each side of her. Amber tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. Annoyed. Barely anyone at Miss Wishfelt’s talked, the ones who did were special cases. Because of this, the school had it’s own system for showing how you felt. Amber and her friends weren’t special in this case, and that sometimes made Amber mad, as Kayleigh was able to talk, but she didn’t prefer to. Amber then pursed her lips, and her friends loomed their intimidating faces over Kayleigh. Suddenly, with a flash of white skin and choppy hair, a tall and skinny girl stood in front of Kayleigh. Amber rolled her eyes and walked away, her friends sending dirty looks back as they followed her. Kayleigh smiled, thankful. Her best friend Jade had saved her yet again. With her short, dark-haired pixie cut, her white skin, and her chocolate brown eyes, she was the only person that intimidated Amber with her looks. Together, they walked to their next class.

The classes weren’t normal. Every class was made to make everyone feel normal, but it was always the other way round. “Good afternoon, class,” said Kayleigh’s far-too-happy teacher, Miss Plume. “Today, we are going to do dream exercises,” Miss Plume said, staring into space dreamily. “Any questions?” The entire class was silent, no one said a word. “Let’s begin, then,” she said. Every student was given a yoga mat, soundproof headphones, and a blanket. Miss Plume whispered, “Think of the most happy thing in your life, and make it grow in your head, like a balloon.” Soon, the whole class was asleep, dreaming of happy things, everyone but Kayleigh. She twitched and shivered as she had another nightmare, just like she had every night. A shadow twitched in the corner of a room, everyone was lying in beds. Dead? No, their chests were moving. Just asleep. The shadow reached out and, with a flow of blood, there was the sound of a CRACK in the dark. With a jolt, Kayleigh woke up along with everyone else, only to find the teacher gone. With a shrug, everyone walked back to their dorms.

Kayleigh’s dorm was disgusting. Everything from the walls to the books to the bed was pink. The king-sized beds had massive ruffly duvets, and it was a struggle to sleep under them. On her first night, Kayleigh had slept without a duvet, because she had thrown it off the bed earlier, and didn’t have the strength to put it back on. The lamps that stood beside each bed were covered with fake flowers, and the dim pink lights shone through the pale white daisies. As Kayleigh looked around the room in disgust, she saw her other best friend, Allison. She had long blonde hair with bright red streaks spreading through it, with piercing blue eyes. Amber glared from her bed as Jade and Kayleigh entered the room. She sat atop there as they got ready for bed, which was right next to the door of the bathroom. When it was time for lights out, everyone but Amber gathered round Allison, ready to hear her story. As they listened, they grew tired, and Allison promised to keep telling her story the next night. As they all fell into deep sleep, with the comforting thoughts of Allison’s story, they had no idea what was coming.

When Kayleigh woke up in the morning, she realized that it was Saturday. No school. She sleepily walked to the bathroom and washed her face by the sink. As she washed, she had the strange feeling that she wasn’t alone. She slowly looked into the mirror, and immediately screamed. Amber’s limp body hung from the ceiling by a rope wrapped around her neck. Her neck was obviously cracked, blood leaking out into the bathtub. Her pretty white nightgown was now almost fully red from the blood, and her gorgeous gray eyes stared, unblinking, at Kayleigh. Her roommates had heard Kayleigh screams and ran into the bathroom. Jade gasped at the horrifying sight. Allison shrieked. Tears were now streaming down all of their faces. They all ran, now blubbering, to the teachers’ dorm. Allison told the teachers about poor Amber. The teachers ran to the bathroom to find the proof. But when they arrived, Amber was nowhere to be seen, the rope gone, and all the blood cleaned up. The friends’ mouths dropped open in fear.