Accomplice: by Nick Venom (good books to read for beginners .TXT) 📖

run into her this quickly, a little weirded out by it. She was waiting by the gate, looking at him. “Uh… Good morning.” August said.

“Morning August, how are you?” She asked. 

“Uh… Good?” He didn’t feel comfortable around her.

Bailey nodded. “Have you heard there was another murder?”

“Another murder?” August nearly jumped at her, surprised about another murder. “In the building?”

Bailey shook her head. He does know something, Mom was right. “The murder was some blocks away from the school, but the body was a student from here. Same way of death as well.” She told him. 

“Oh,” August muttered, looking away from her. Did Jax kill another student? Why? He didn’t go after Rick’s goons, right? Oh, please God, don’t let it be Rick’s goons!

“Thanks for the information.” He said, turning towards the main door. However, something entered his mind and he spun around to face her. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you a question. Have you, by any chance-” He was interrupted before he could finish his words. It was the school bell ringing, alerting him that he would be late to class. “I’ll… ask you later.” He said before turning around. He headed into the building, leaving Bailey behind. She watched as he walked away, her eyes lingering on him until he escaped her sight.

What was he going to ask me? Was he about to confess something important? I need to talk to him soon before Mom contacts me.

***

A girl dressed in a white polo with wrinkles and creases. She wore a blue skirt that went down past her knees but stayed clear of her ankles. She wore her coal-black hair in a bun and under a sports cap. She looked at August as he went into school. She carried a gun in her backpack and a knife in a skimpy sweater that she had on. 

She took out her phone and dialed numbers into the call pad. The person she dialed picked up. 

“Are you sure?” She asked the person on the other side of the phone. “He doesn’t seem to have done anything wrong.” She listened to the voice and nodded. “Don’t worry. I will complete my mission. Bailey and August will be dead by the end of the week.”

   

 

***

 

 

August’s mind couldn’t pay any attention to the lessons. He watched the teacher’s mouth move, but he couldn’t tell what she was saying. Everything that she was saying went through one ear and out the other.

Suddenly, the intercom roared alive. A slight buzzing sound echoed before it disappeared. “August! Please come to the dean’s office. Again, August. Please come to the dean’s office.” It shouted. August sprang up from his chair, which screeched as it scraped against the floor.

The class stared at August with blatant curiosity in their eyes. They were all curious as to why he was being called to the dean’s office. 

Bailey stared at August, tilting her head. Why did the dean call him? Is he being connected to the murder?

August left the classroom as quickly as he could to avoid the painful stares, heading towards the dean’s office. Once at the office, he knocked on the door. He received no immediate response, knocking again.

The dean called him into his office. August opened the door, entering the small office. Waiting for him was the dean, an elderly African American man dressed in a luxurious suit. He had his fingers intertwined on his desk, staring at August. The dean looked younger than he actually was, being in his seventies but looking like he was in his forties.

The dean motioned for August to sit down, which he did quickly. He was confused at the situation, unsure if the murders were being traced back to Jax or him.

“I wanted to talk to you about your friend Jax. Has he been acting… questionable recently?” The dean asked.

“Questionable? What do you mean?” August asked, playing dumb. He knew what the dean was talking about.

“As in… Has he ever asked you any concerning questions or told you to help with some ‘secret’?” The dean leaned in closer.

“No, he hasn’t.” August lied.

“Nothing out of the ordinary? Anything about… murder or death?” The dean questioned.

“No,” August responded. He knew that, somehow, the murders were being traced back to Jax and him. The dean was trying to pry information out of him to use against Jax. He wouldn’t dare betray Jax. He knew the consequences for it. 

The dean sat back, nodding his head. “Okay, thanks. You can return to class. If anything pops up then you can always come and talk to me about it.” The dean said.

August nodded, getting out of the chair and leaving the dean’s office. He got to the other side of the door, slumping against a row of lockers next to it. He sat on the ground, staring at the lockers across from him.

Thoughts invaded his mind. They know about Jax. I need to tell him… or do I? Should I say anything about it? Can I say anything about it? I shouldn’t say anything about it. Wouldn’t he be mad if I didn't tell him? I won’t tell him. “Something’s wrong with him.” He accidentally said out loud. His thoughts were leaking out.

“What’s wrong with who?” asked Jax. He appeared from out of nowhere, staring at August emotionless. August’s body tensed up and his eyes widened. His lungs didn’t dare to breathe and his heart refused to beat. August made a mistake and he knew it.

 

TBC…

Episode Six "Mystery Girl"

“What’s wrong with who?” Jax asked, staring at him with his cold eyes.

“Uh… uh… uh… “ August stammered, his eyes darting around for a way out. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked. He walked up to August, crouching down to meet his eyes. He smiled, creepily whispering, “Cat got your tongue” in his left ear. His whisper brought more fear into August’s system.

August shook his head repeatedly. “Oh, then what’s wrong with him?” Jax repeated, glaring at him.

“I… was… talking about Rick. H-H-His mind was… was twisted.” August stammered again, his hands trembling.

“Oh, Rick huh?” He said, standing up. “Yeah, Rick is… was a nutcase. Unfortunately, it seems like God has chosen to take him even with his mental state being ‘like that.’” Jax abruptly entered a laughing fit. 

August let out a small uneasy laugh as Jax stood up, backing away from him. “Well I gotta go, so I’ll see you at home,” Jax said with an uneasy and charmful tone. A mix of good and evil. 

Jax walked to the end of the hallway but turned around right before he disappeared from August’s sight. “Oh, I’ll need your help later.” He shouted before disappearing around the corner on the left side of the hallway.

With him out of sight, August let out a sigh of relief, his heart and lungs functioning as they should. He looked around, making sure that nobody noticed their conversation, before walking off. “He pushes me around like I’m worthless,” August muttered under his breath as he went to the end of the hallway and ventured down the opposite direction of Jax. 

  “Why is he like that?”

 

 

***

 

 

Bailey watched Jax and August’s encounter outside of the dean’s office from behind a corner until it had concluded and both parties disappeared. She noticed the hierarchy in the relationship between the two with Jax being the dominant while August was the submissive one. 

“Something seems off,” Bailey whispered. “August is supposed to be helping Jax with his… plans, but he still has this innocent aura about him. It’s almost like he’s doing it against his will… or he could be acting innocent to lure in prey. Maybe Mom was right about him, he’s even more dangerous than Jax.”

“I see that my first target is a stalker of sorts.” An unfamiliar voice whispered into Bailey’s ear. Bailey jerked her body away from the voice and into the same hallway where August and Jax once stood in. Bailey turned to face the person, who wore the same uniform as her. A sports cap hid her hair while a face mask covered the bottom portion of her face, allowing her eyes to be seen. 

“Who are you?” Bailey asked.

“My name isn’t important.” The girl whispered.

“What is your intention then?” Bailey asked, her breathing heightening as the moments grew on. The girl brandishing a knife from behind her back didn’t help either. 

“Does this answer your question?” The girl asked, waving the knife around.

“Uh… kinda,” Bailey said, reaching for something hidden in her right shoe. The girl noticed her movement and let out a small chuckle.

“I don’t believe you want to die yet. I know it’ll be a disappointment to your mother if the connection to her is revealed.” The girl taunted her.

“You don’t know me,” Bailey said, raising her voice. 

“Oh, I know what your mission is. Investigate Jax and August to figure out-” Her taunts were interrupted by the Dean, poking his head out from his room. 

“Are you girls okay?” He asked. Both girls nodded. “If you guys are fighting, then knock it off before you have to deal with me.” The girls nodded, going in opposite directions from each other. The Dean shook his head disapprovingly, whispering “why can’t girls get together nicely”, before retracting his head into his room. He didn’t realize that he both stopped and caused a murder.

The girl, meanwhile, still held onto her knife without anybody noticing it, except for one unfortunate kid. He was later found dead, stuffed in a dumpster behind the school. This prompted the administration to finally react after three students were killed over a span of a few days. They closed the school down for two weeks to strengthen their security and clean the school.

August was forced to help Jax with disposing of another body before they parted ways for the two-week break. Jax disappeared into thin air without letting any of his family know where he was, leading to fights between his family and him. August remained out of the battles and focused on training himself. The lack of confidence that was apparent during the conversation at school plagued his thoughts. The only way of building his confidence was to run his thoughts away. Talking to normal people would have been a better choice.

 

 

***

 

 

Bailey reported to her mother about the girl she encountered. Her mother sat silent as she listened to Bailey’s report. “A mysterious girl wielding a knife made contact with you?”

“Yes,”

“Interesting. I will look into this mystery girl. Until then, observe Jax and August if you can. If you can’t, then return home and continue your self-defense training. If that mystery girl intends on hurting you, then you must be able to hurt her first!” Bailey’s mother shouted, throwing her fist onto the armrest of her chair. “Now!” She ordered. Bailey nodded, bowing her head.

“Yes, mother. I’ll do what I can.” She left her mother behind, going out to find August and Jax. Her mother remained masked in darkness, seething with anger.

“I want that girl dead. Kill her.” She ordered somebody dressed in the darkness. “Do what you have to.”

 

TBC…