| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“They're so nice,” Charmaine commented.
“And funny too!” Mandy added.
“You still want to go to the store down the street?”
“Yeah. I don't want to keep surviving on noodles.”
Charmaine smiles at her friend, walking past their front door with her.
When they arrive at the elevators, Charmaine turns to look at Mandy. “Do you want to...”
“Yes,” Mandy said quickly, cutting Charmaine off. “I want to conquer it as soon as possible.”
Charmaine steps up and presses the “Down Arrow” button. They have to wait for a while since it's coming up from the lobby. When it does come, they see Kevin, Ray, and a girl inside. Kevin and Ray seem to be engaging in some very interesting conversation. When the other girl steps out, Charmaine and Mandy enter.
Kevin snaps to alertness at that time. “Hi you two! Running away from here already?”
Ray is moving in front of the elevator, holding onto the door.
“We're going to the store down the street,” Mandy said.
“It's getting dark out,” Kevin said.
“Are you coming, man?” Ray asked impatiently.
Kevin looks at Ray and then back to the girls. “Not yet. I need to buy something at the store too. I'll go with them.”
“Meet you back in the apartment then. Buy me a chicken salad.”
“Okay.”
Ray lets go of the door and gets out, not forgetting to turn around and flash on a charming smile at the girls first before the door closes.
“So, did you get the assignment for Mr. Cho done?” Charmaine asked casually.
“Not yet,” Kevin replied. “But closed the deal since he really like our designs.”
“You guys are artists?” Mandy asked.
“No. Architects.”
“Oh.”
As if remembering something, Kevin eyes them carefully before speaking up again. “So...how long did you girls stay with Alice? Did you get to ask about her weird brother?”
“We just left their place,” Mandy said.
“Their?”
“Wallace came home while we were there. He made iced tea for us. It was soooo good.”
Kevin’s jaw drops. “You met Wallace? He didn't give you a hard time or give you strange looks?”
“He got mad at us when he first came home because he thought we broke in but after we explained, he was really nice.”
Charmaine fills in the details. They're so involved in conversation with Kevin that Mandy forgets her fear until they reach the lobby.
“Oh my god!” Mandy exclaimed upon stepping out of the elevator.
Charmaine turns around with a concerned look on her face. “What's wrong?”
“I forgot that I was in an elevator before.”
“That's good. You're not scared anymore. You'll be cured soon.”
Even though Kevin isn't sure of what the girls are talking about, but he doesn't want to pursue further if they do not want to tell him.
The three walk out the building side-by-side with Kevin on the left, Mandy in the middle, and Charmaine on the right. They browse around the store for an hour before walking back – each of them carrying a grocery bag.
Entering the building, they find a crowd standing in front of the elevators. The noise accelerates to a higher level as they approach it. Kevin pushes through the crowd, trying to figure out what it is. Charmaine and Mandy try to look over other people's shoulders. Mandy lets out a scream as Charmaine covers her mouth upon the discovery. Kevin stops dead in his tracks when he's just inches away from the center.
“Who would do such a thing?” Charmaine asked, still holding a hand over her mouth.
“I don't know,” Mandy said, having already turned pale by now. “But I know we have a sick and very cruel person in the building.”
“It could be someone from outside the building. That person might have tossed the body here.”
“It's probably that guy Wallace in 7A who did it,” Someone in the crowd blurted out.
Charmaine turns look to Mandy. “These people just like to make up stories.”
“No,” Someone else in the crowd jumped in. “It's not his style. It's probably Annie from 5D. She's always practicing witchcraft. It has to be her.”
Charmaine tunes out the crowd's assumptions. She looks towards the center and sees that Kevin is inspecting the body like a real expert.
“Do you think Kevin's an undercover cop?” Mandy asked, eyeing Kevin’s every move also.
“Or he could be watching too many cop movies,” Charmaine reminded Mandy.
Just then, the elevator on the left opens. Everyone snaps their attention to it. The occupants of it become clear – Wallace and Alice. The crowd gasps and murmurs among themselves. Alice steps out trying to see why there's a crowd gathering there. She's still wearing the yellow striped t-shirt and blue jeans with white sneakers from before. But Wallace had changed out from his suit into a gray t-shirt and blue jeans with dark gray sneakers.
“Is this a party or something?” Alice asked, giving her surrounding a quick scan. “Why is everyone...” Before she could finish her question, she lets out a scream and jumps back to where Wallace is. “Ge! It's...it's...un...believable...” She wraps her arms around Wallace’s neck and buries her head in his shoulder, trying to get rid of the image.
Wallace pats Alice’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. At the same time, he looks towards where Kevin's standing and sees the body. Charmaine and Mandy weave through the crowd, trying to make their way towards where Wallace and Alice are standing. Kevin joins them when he spots Charmaine and Mandy. Before he could voice his thoughts about the whole thing, the elevator on the right opens. They turn to see who it is this time.
“It's Annie!” Someone in the crowd shouted out.
The girl – Annie – is wearing a red velvet fancy shirt and blue jeans with black high heels. She has her hair tie up in a bushel, but it still brings out her cute features.
The crowd becomes even more startled since their "top 2 suspects" have shown up.
Annie steps out slowly, looking at the crowd. She doesn't notice the body on the floor yet.
“Watch out!” Alice called out in alarm. She had pulled away from Wallace since she heard the elevator door opened and had been observing Annie the whole time like the others.
Annie stops in her tracks and looks at Alice before looking at the floor area in front of her path. Her expression changes immensively from passive to rage. She steps forward to pick the body up, getting blood on her hands in the process. Her eyes darting the crowd suspiciously before shouting out, “Who killed my cat?!?!”
“It wasn't us, Annie,” Someone in the crowd answered shakily. “We just saw it lying there.”
The crowd is silent for once.
“Has anyone notified security yet?” Wallace asked.
“Yea,” Someone else in the crowd answered. “We sent someone to tell Stan already. But I don't know why it took so long.”
Wallace turns to Kevin.
“I just got back here with Charmaine and Mandy after the big crowd gathered,” Kevin said.
Wallace then directs his vision line to Annie who's cradling her cat in her hands. Kevin walks over to where Annie's standing and puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Everyone waits silently for Stan the security guard to come. Annie seems a bit calm now but still keeps her alertness up.
“What's going on here?” A man asked suddenly, breaking through the peaceful yet hectic atmosphere.
Everyone turns their attention to the front of the lobby. A man in his fifties approaches the crowd in his security uniform. What's strange is the person tagging behind him.
“Ray?” Kevin called out, not believing that his friend has a hand in this whole drama.
Yes, it's Ray. He was the one the group sent to find Stan.
Ray walks over to Kevin and Annie. Ray stays silent since Stan's beginning to talk now.
Stan asks questions regarding the dead cat and gets random answers, which leads to nowhere. He sighs out before continuing. “All right. I want those of you who were here first and actually discovered the body to stay. The rest of you go back to your apartments while the investigation is on. I don't want anyone leaving the building tonight. I'll post an announcement here tomorrow after I report this to Ms. Yeung.”
Everyone scatters out and most of the people head for the elevator on the left since most of the right area becomes the crime scene and investigation area. Charmaine, Mandy, Kevin, Wallace, and Alice step out of the crowd's way before they get smashed. They're also the last group to go up. Kevin looks towards Ray and waves him a good luck sign before entering the elevator. He sees Annie still standing there looking dazed so he sends a smile her way for encouragement also as the elevator door closes.
© Friday, April 6th, 2007
Re-posted: Friday, October 9th, 2009