The Phantom School

As soon as the news reached the ministry, one of our vice princ.i.p.als, Mr. Ender was chosen to become the next princ.i.p.al. The administration was now one member short, but the solution for that problem was delayed to a later time.

The police naturally investigated me and Ayla, and inspected the crime scene in great detail. Yet, no weapons or a possible suspect was revealed. The single wound on the old princ.i.p.al"s neck did not provide enough information to understand what really happened. But, since no tools were found at the scene, this could mean that it was not a suicide.

While the investigation was happening, I had some weird ideas in my head. What if... What if the mess in the chemistry lab had something to do with this? This was a double-edged sword... Yasin and I were the only people who had the keys to the chemistry lab, and Yasin should have already cleaned the place up by now... I really didn"t want to be a suspect.

Suddenly, a much darker idea formed. There was a thunderstorm in my mind. What if... What if it was Yasin!? He had not allowed me to clean up the lab, and wanted to do it himself!

I wanted to take a look at the chemistry lab to see it"s condition. Yasin must already have finished cleaning the place up and left the school by now.

I got downstairs, approached the door of the chemistry lab and inserted the key. Just while I was unlocking the door; I saw Mr. Ender, the new princ.i.p.al, in the hallway.

"What are you doing, Kenan?" he asked me.

"I was going to take a look at the chemistry lab." I said.

"Why? Is there something you need?" he asked.

"I was just going to make sure that it is ready for the lessons I have next week." I replied. Because if I was wrong about my accusations, there was no going back. I lied since I wanted to play it safe.

"I suggest you do it at a later time." he said. "We shouldn"t touch anything until the investigators are done with the building."

Well, he was right. Walking around the building in a seemlessly aimless way was a stupid move, even though the police had only blocked the relatively small area around the princ.i.p.al"s room.

I didn"t enter the lab, and got the key out. But I was determined, one way or another, I was going to tell the police about Yasin"s suspicious behaviour.

Ender approached me.

"You should leave. It is already past midnight, and you really have nothing to do here. The investigators are going to leave soon as well, as far as I know." he said. There was nothing I could argue about that.

"Of course." I said and sighed. Having been investigated by the police already, there was nothing I could do to help right now. If I spoke about the suspicious events in the chemistry lab, they would be more suspicious of me rather than anyone else, since I was trying to enter the lab with so much excitement. Besides, my disliking of Yasin was well known among other teachers. I could find a more suitable opportunity later.

I left the school building, walked past the police cars and got home.

- - -

The other day, there was an uneasiness on me. It was understandable, the grave happenings yesterday was a bit too dark, but, I had to have a clear mind.

"You didn"t do anything, Kenan. This has nothing to do with you. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." I tried calming myself down. Today, the first thing I wanted to do was finding Yasin. If I chose my words very carefully, I believed that I could get him to blurt some information out. This would be enough to accuse him of the crime, safely.

I took a deep breath and entered the teachers" room. In the morning, the room was full of busy teachers as usual. I looked around the crowd to spot Yasin, but I wasn"t lucky. I asked a pa.s.ser-by.

"Did you see Yasin this morning?" I said.

"No, I didn"t." the math teacher Metin replied. "What? Did you miss fighting with him?"

"No, no..." I said, but then paused and thought about me. "Maybe."

Metin laughed, I sighed. Perhaps Yasin had not arrived yet.

"Did you hear the news?" Metin asked me.

"No, what news?" I asked back.

"The princ.i.p.al did not die." he said. "Not yet anyway. They say that he was still alive when he reached the hospital. His condition is still critical, but man..."

"This is... extraordinary!" I said. "I had seen his wound, I thought he was already dead when I found him!"

"Crazy man." he said and kept walking to do whatever he was about to do before I stopped him.

I sat down on a chair and started waiting anxiously. A lot of time pa.s.sed, but there was no sign of Yasin.

"Perhaps that idiot wanted to run away..." I said to myself. "Screw me! I shouldn"t have been this late to report it."

I hastily walked out of the teachers" room. I quickly made my way to the chemistry lab, and inserted the key. I turned to key to unlock the door, but it didn"t happen.

"What the h.e.l.l!?" I said. I tried a few more times with greater strenght, but the key wasn"t turning.

"d.a.m.n you, Yasin; what did you do to the door?" I said as I started to shake the door back and forth, violently.

"Dude, once I report you to the police, you are done for." I said. After what I had seen so far, I was sure he was responsible for a lot of things.

"I trust you for a day, for a SINGLE d.a.m.n day, and this is what happens." I kept cursing. As much as I hated him, I was having a hard time forgiving myself for trusting him as well. "You stupid disgrace of humanity..."

Then, the door"s locking mechanism got loose. I had managed to unlock it with the help of some brute force. I immediately pushed the door open. What I encountered next had completely wiped my thoughts out.