•4168 words•

What in the world is this? Where has Harold Loffy brought us to? I look down and at my feet, there is blood. I'm not the one bleeding though. There are 2 dead bodies, a knife, a gun and a rope. Hang on- this place was so hard to get to. How did Loffy know about this? And why didn't he say anything? Hmm. This requires some real detective skills. I really want to tell Lisha about this, but I'm not sure. One of us probably will end up telling her but I'm not sure if she should know, just yet. All 5 of us are absolutely startled; I try grab Kyron's hand but my body is in a state of utter shock and confusion. Myliey bravely asks if we can touch the 'props.' Myliey! These aren't props. These are real weapons and real dead bodies. It's relatively disturbing, quite honestly, but it's all part of being a detective, I suppose. Nevertheless, Loffy surprisingly allows Myliey to pick up the props, as long as she is extremely careful. He then walks out of the basement and goes up the steps, to talk to the police upstairs.

Myliey picks up the gun and comes to the realisation that it is indeed still loaded. The Koolsbelle Killers crime was committed by anonymous just over a week ago, yet there's still loaded weapons in the venue where the event took place. Huh?
"Um...I think the gun might be loaded," she tells us, everyone looking shocked and in severe discomfort. "What?" Brooke screams out, fearing for her life, "Myliey please don't shoot us!" Myliey giggles and expects everyone else to giggle too. No one else does.
"Brooke, how stupid do you think I am?" She jokingly points the gun to Brooke's face and she immediately ducks down and puts her hands over her head. Myliey puts her finger on the trigger and slowly, but also jokingly, steps forward. What on earth is she doing? There's 2 dead bodies in here, a loaded gun, a sharp knife and a rope with blood on it. We were supposed to be heading out of here...what is she doing with a loaded gun in her hand with her finger on the trigger? As she continue to step forward in the small room, I fear for my life. I fear for Brooke'S life.

Myliey starts to walk backwards, and it seems like she is going to put the gun down. Noticing that she's walking away, Brooke starts to gradually stand up and place her hands back down to her sides. Suddenly, Myliey 'trips' on a dead body, her finger still on the trigger, the gun still pointing at Brooke's head.

*BANG!*

Oh my god. I'm screaming. It's my first reaction. I have no words. I closed my eyes as soon as I heard the gunshot; has anyone been shot? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god! I want to run out the room, but my eyes are clenched tight. I'm ducking down and scared for my life that Myliey could start to shoot the rest of us. Suddenly everyone starts screaming. All but one person. The injured person. Even Myliey is screaming. I still can't open my eyes; my chest is tight, my fists are latched shut. I feel panicky and I can't breathe. Someone starts tapping me, extremely rapidly, as if to say, 'ASHLYN, ASHLYN, LOOK!' and it's a familiar hand.

Brooke?

No. It can't be. I- whoever's just been shot, it's one of 3 people. Can't have been Myliey, and obviously it wasn't me. Or was it me? I can hear a girl screaming, other than Myliey, and other than myself. It's someone else. It's that familiar hand. I know who the hand belongs to. I'm sure of it. My eyes are still shut, but my sense of touch is everything to me right now. It's Brooke's hand? Brooke's scream? Wa- wait. I'm so confused! The gun was clearly pointed to Brooke's head. Myliey was going to kill Brooke. Maybe it was just jokingly, but someone's just been shot right now. And I'm a witness.

I feel a boy whiz past me and out of the dungeon, as I begin to cry. My eyes still can't open, but I'm scared. If Myliey still has that gun in her hand, she could be intending to kill us all. Oh no. The boy's presence didn't feel like Kyron's, though. I'm not sure who's it was, but it was definitely a boy's.

Wait.

Where's Kyron? I don't want to open my eyes, but I eventually grasp the courage for one of them to slowly peek open. Although this could leave me living with PTSD for the rest of my life, I need to look.

No sign of Kyron- that's the first thing that comes to my mind. There's blood everywhere, but it's not as bad as I thought. No brains. No guts. Just blood, and a body being held up against a wall by Myliey. Is she trying to hurt whoever's just been shot, even more? If Brooke's still here, where's Jamie? Where's Kyron? I know someone ran out of the basement about 2 minutes ago, but it didn't seem like it was Kyron. Definitely not something Kyron would do, either. He would stay to check if the person was still alive, and okay.

Oh, I-

My eyes slightly widen even more. Then reality hits. My boyfriend's just been shot.

I'm starting to black-out. I can't feel my legs, arms, my face or any other part of my body, for that matter. My legs are noodles.

My eyes slowly start to open some more, as I look around the splattered-with-blood room, I see who's the body is. It's Kyron's.

I scream even louder. My best friend, my whole world, has just been shot. He lies there, lifeless, sat up against the wall. I run over to him, panicking. My palms are starting to sweat and I can feel some substance running down my face. It could be blood, sweat or tears. It's probably a mixture of the latter 2, but it's making me want to itch my face. My eyes are twitching; I still can't believe this sight. This all seems so surreal. Myliey has just shot my boyfriend!!! That's me and her done, whether Kyron survives or not. Woah- that's extremely scary to say. Nevertheless, I'm never speaking to Myliey again. She'll probably get arrested, but still.

Hold on- 3 things.

One, how did Kyron get shot, not Brooke? Two, if Myliey goes to prison for this, there'll only be 4 of us. And three, did Myliey do this on purpose? If so, why did she want Brooke dead? This is all so surreal, like I said, but I've also gotten used to the fact that this is reality for the next however long of my life. That's until we get out of here.

I start to break down into tears: screams still echoing around me. I don't know where Jamie went; maybe he ran off, maybe he went to go and get police, who knows? Wherever he is, and wherever the police are, we need everyone right now. Although there's police upstairs, I ring 999. Myliey starts to panic, thinking I'm going to tell the operator that she purposely shot someone, however, I just need an ambulance in here, quick!

The operator tells me that the ambulance is just around the corner, and police are on the way too. Myliey starts to panic, but then suddenly, the basement falls ghost-quiet. No one makes a word. Apart from me, on the phone.

Then, all of the noise starts again. I want to go over to Kyron to see if he's okay, if he's breathing, but I can't go over again. It's too hard. Brooke comes round from the back as me as I start to break into tears- breaking the silence. She hugs me as my eyeballs become soaked. Myliey is crying her eyes out, still checking if Kyron's alive. The location was so hard to give to the 999 operator; we're literally in the middle of nowhere. Despite that, we hear a knock, then a bang from upstairs. Jamie comes running down, "The police- police wer- were gone," he says stuttering, sounding like he's just been running away from 100 cheaters in the middle of Africa. He is really out of breath. "They- they're here now though, and, and the ambulance," he tells us, slowly catching his breath. "Is he breathing?" He runs over to Kyron and checks his pulse. He then shoved Myliey out of the way, taking her off her feet and off of her crouching position she was previously in. Jamie lays down and starts to check Kyron's breathing. Then he starts CPR, pretending he knows exactly what he's doing. To be honest, it does look like he knows what he's doing.

CPR... is K-Kyron- dead...?
No. This can't be right. I'm starting to break down further, Brooke still kneeling up behind me, attempting to comfort me. I never thought I would be like this in a situation like this one. I thought I would be panicking, running over to the injured victim, trying to help, especially if it would be the love of my life, which I did at first. But now, I'm sat here, frozen. I can't move one limb of my body. I start sweating again, my eyes are bags of heavy cement. I can't keep them open. My vision is starting to blur, but I can make out at least 7 men and women bursting through the door with weapons and medical kits, all in green, yellow and black. Then my vision goes completely. I can't feel anything anymore and Brooke's touch from behind me slowly starts to fade away. My head is too heavy for my neck now, I can feel it snapping, I was crouched up on this old, cramped basement floor, but now I'm falling. I'm falling.

****

Tubes. Tubes and wires. People in blue walking around with aprons. I don't know where I am; what just happened? I want to lift my arms up and scratch my face, but they feel stuck to something. A bed...? A bed...

A mask of air is covering my nose and mouth. Am I in space? I feel like an astronaut. I can't move my neck, either. I roll my drooping eyes to the side, unhurriedly. There are orange blocks to the side of my head. Am I in Legoland? Are these lego bricks? Don't be stupid, Ashlyn. Where's Brooke? My best friend. Where's Kyron? My boyfriend. Are we in New Zealand? Am I in New Zealand? There's a computer screen with lines going up and down, up and down. Beeping sounds all around me, I try to sit up, yet like everything else I try to move, it won't budge. My back won't budge. I can't move. Where's my mum-

Oh. I don't have-

It's starting to dawn on me. I'm in the hospital, aren't I? How did I get here, though? I swear the last place I was was New Zealand. Why were Brooke and I there? I swear we were on a detective trip. Detective... Crime... Who did this to me? I look to the side of my bed and although I don't know why I'm here, I'm getting slightly used to the fact that I think I'm in hospital. I see a little red button at the side and I'm scared to press it. What if it kills me? Nah, Ash, don't be stupid. I need help but my mouth... I can barely speak! I try to shout for a doctor, but no noise comes out. I want to unplug something to get someone's attention, but that's just all too risky. I try shouting once again, a noise comes out of my mouth, and a nurse comes running in. In the corner of my eye, I see her dashing into the room.

"Hello, " she begins to say, "I'm nurse Hilary Davies. I'm here to help you. You are okay and you were just knocked out really badly a couple of hours ago so we're keeping you here just to make sure you don't get any worse. You should be released tomorrow, possibly."
"Ah- ah, okay, " I say. Wow, voice actually comes out of my voice box and I can speak normally again. I still don't remember what happened though, maybe I was knocked out...? I mean, that is just what she said, Ashlyn. Maybe I have memory loss. Yes, that's what I meant to think, obviously I was knocked out.

Hold on, again. Where's Kyron? Wait- it's all coming back to me. We went somewhere and Kyron was shot...by Myliey! Shoot. (Shouldn't say that word right now). Where is he? Is he okay? I start screaming and the nurse hears me. I want nothing more than to sit up, but my body still won't allow me to do so. I need to see Kyron. He should be in this hospital, with me. The nurse comes scurrying back in, asking me what's wrong.

"Where's Kyron?" I shout.
"Kyron who?"
"Um, Kyron Baristek B-A-R-I-S-T-E-K, and um, he's 15 and he's ummm- He's from New Zealand. He was shot before I think, although I don't remember mu-"
She cuts me off.
"Don't worry. I'm not sure if you're imagining things but I pro-"
"I AM NOT!" I exclaim, rather angrily.
"Ah, ah, okay. We'll track it down for you now." On her way out, she repeats to herself as she writes it down, "15 year old male, shot, Kyron Baristek, from New Zealand."

I'm eventually allowed to be released from hospital. I'm still not 100% sure what happened but I'm being rolled out in a wheelchair, going to Lisha's car. They said I should be fine to walk once I get back to the dorm so I can leave the chair here once I'm settled in the car. Tomorrow, we're allowed to go and see Kyron. I'm so so worried. He could be on the verge of death! No, Ash, don't think like that. He'll be fine. I can't wait to go home though; I hope the others will be there to tell me more about what happened. After all, I did black out and hit my head- I can't remember much about it. The only thing I can really remember was the initial shock of seeing a dead Kyron Baristek lying on the floor next to me. Wow. I really shouldn't have looked, should I? I love Kyron so much, and when it all happened I was mainly confused and angry, but mostly just in shock of everything that had happened. I couldn't believe it. I still can't now. What if he's already dead, and I don't know it yet. I start to break down into tears again, and now, the nurses are settling me into the car. At least they've been nice to me this whole time. I wonder where the others are; they weren't with me. Not one of them came to visit me, not even Brooke. Ha, rude. Maybe they all went to visit Kyron, I'm not sure.

We're entering our dorm and my legs are working just fine now. I can walk, and it's like nothing ever happened in the first place. To me, I mean. We can't pretend that my 'friend' didn't just shoot my boyfriend. Myliey's never really been my friend anyway, honestly. We weren't friends, nor enemies. Just roommates, really. I can't believe she tried to kill Brooke, that ended with KB now fighting for his life. I feel so blue. What if he dies? That's my life over, once and for all. I'll probably stay here in England, as there would be no point going back to New Zealand; Kyron wouldn't be there, Myliey would probably be in prison and why would I want to be with Jamie? I was already with him for a good few months anyway. Well, I say 'good.' It wasn't exactly brilliant in that foster home. I open the door, and shout, "Hellooooo?" No one answers. Lisha came upstairs with me and her and I stand here in utter confusion. Then I remember.

"Lisha! Wouldn't the other 3 be getting questioned by the police right now? Especially Myliey."
Shoot. We gotta go back to the secret party venue, I reckon.
"Oh yeah, good thinking, Ashlyn. Maybe we should go back to the secret party venue to see if they're there."
I mean, that was what I just thought, Lisha.
"Good idea," I reply, and the two of us head back into the car.

We arrive and there is crime tape everywhere. We could help solve this ourselves. No Ash, no. When Brooke and I joined Crofley's, I never thought we would actually be involved in a crime, not just solving them. This Koolsbelle Killers crime has gone a lot worse than expected. And with the love of my life, and probably the most popular teammate of us all, fighting for his life in hospital, all because of Myliey, who knows what this will lead to? I'm scared. I walk over to the police officers, telling them I'm a witness, although I wouldn't be much help. I tell them everything that I saw (well, from what I could see) and tell them exactly what I think happened. This was some serious stuff. This is basically our first crime, we haven't even properly started the Koolsbelle Killers crime yet! I can't believe we're involved in this, you know. I run over and give Brooke the biggest hug I have ever given her- our tradition. The police are talking to Jamie, who ran out to get help once Kyron had been shot. Oh, so it was Jamie who whizzed past me. The police who are with those 3 invite me over, and I repeat what I just told the other officers. Chief Detective Harold Loffiet is here on scene too, but I don't think he should be here. How did he even know about the two dead bodies in there in the first place? This has led to two crimes now, and I'm apart of both of them. I don't know what to do.

Myliey is in handcuffs, and I'm guessing she's confessing to what she did. If Kyron passes away, (oh god, I hope not) then Myliey won't be apart of our team. I don't want it to be just Jamie, Brooke and I. There would be no point, like I said before. Jamie and Brooke are in love, I believe, and I'm getting used to it. It doesn't really bother me anymore that Jamie used to be my foster brother. I just see him as a roommate, a friend, and my best friend's lover, at this point. I overhear what police and detectives are saying to Myliey. She's confessing that she tripped over a dead body when she pulled the trigger, and the police come over to ask us if that's the truth. Brooke and Jamie say they aren't sure, and I'm not sure either- my eyes were clenched tight when it happened. Myliey shouts over from slightly afar, "Do you lot want me to get arrested? Just tell the truth! I didn't want to shoot you Brooke, and of course I didn't want to shoot Kyron! It's not my fault he dived in front of you to try and safe your life!"

I freeze in my skin. What?

That could mean 1 of 2 things. One: Kyron loves Brooke and wanted to save her life because he wants a relationship with her and not me. Or two: Kyron is just a loving person (which he is) and just put someone else before himself, as usual. It's probably the latter, so I'm not worried. Kyron is just a loving young boy, and I love him. He would put his life for someone else any day, I know that for a fact. To be honest, Brooke is his friend. We're all living in the same house together, he just wanted to save her. I wouldn't have thought twice about saving Brooke, myself, but my eyes were so tight with tension and fear, I could hardly see. And I thought it was a joke: Myliey did look as though she was going to put the gun down when she started walking backwards. I don't know if Myliey intended to shoot someone a few hours ago, otherwise she wouldn't have shouted something along the lines of, "Do you want to get me arrested?" It just sounds too cheesy and as if to say she did in fact do it on purpose.

Lisha shouts me over and says she's just had a phone call from the hospital. Shoot. This could be anything. I'm so anxious.
"Everything's good with Kyron, they think. He's woke up from a mini-coma and he's breathing on his own. They said it's a little early to judge, but they think he should be in hospital for about 2-3 weeks, if that. You can go and visit him soon though, so don't be worried. He's extremely lucky to be alive, and they didn't think they would be able to resuscitate him when the paramedics got there."
"Okay, so-"
"Oh yeah," she adds, whilst interrupting me, "You weren't there, were you, Ashlyn?"
"Um, yeah- I mean, no. Not when the paramedics got there. I fell, hit my head, and knocked myself out. Remember?"
"Yep, of course. But when they got there, he was dead. They were just moments away from pronouncing him dead when they suddenly found a pulse, spent ages trying to get him out of the basement, and time was slowly slipping away. Luckily, they managed it in time, and he was airlifted to hospital, because of this place's awkward location."
"In a helicopter?" I ask. She nods her head and says goodbye to me. I turn around and go back to where Jamie and Brooke are standing, with Myliey off to the side, being questioned in handcuffs. You may be thinking that I've not been too upset by this, but truth is, I'm honestly still in shock. This might be- no, it is- the most eventful day of my life. This was supposed to be the day we would find evidence for our Koolsbelle Killers crime-solving, but now all we have is evidence that my roommate almost killed my boyfriend! Once I get over this shock, I'll probably start to feel more upset about Kyron. No, that sounds awful. You know what I mean. I am extremely upset, but I'm also angry at Myliey. She tried to kill Brooke- there's no doubt about that, yet she ended up being remarkably close to killing KB.

In fact, she did kill him. Thanks to the paramedics' amazing CPR, (and Jamie's- maybe he helped to save KB's life) he was managed to be resuscitated. Also, apparently he was to be pronounced 'brain dead' at hospital, but no. He's still fighting, and his brain is still in full working order, from what they know. He's a warrior, is Kyron. I love him. We may be stuck in a terrible situation right now: Myliey to await trial in court, Kyron in hospital for almost a month, at least, and now we have to delay our Koolsbelle Killers crime. What a nightmare. This is going to cost Crofley's more money too, not that I really care. This was supposed to be just a short-ish trip to England to find some evidence and then return home to New Zealand, yet here we are. We could be here for months. Ah, the joys of being a teenager.

I really cannot wait to see what happens to Detective Loffiet, if anything at all. Maybe he'll get arrested, or at least questioned. Why didn't he say anything about the two dead bodies in that basement? And why didn't police pick up on that? Hmm. Also, it's a little (well, very) disturbing how my boyfriend was shot in front of me, in a room with 3 other people, (excluding my boyfriend and I) with 2 dead bodies just rotting around us. It stunk in there, by the way. The disgusting stench filled the tiny basement, leaving there hardly any air in there to breathe in the first place. No wonder I felt like I was going to die. All of us have a lot on our hands right now, and who knows when we'll be back to living the stress-free life in a beach house in New Zealand. However long it takes, we're all going to get through this. It'll make us stronger as a team- as people. I still think Myliey had a little trick up her sleeve though...

Ash x