The point of view: Ressell Vargas Monteverde
The sound of ambulances still echoes in my mind.
Sophia Wilson is dead.
And the school has become another crime scene.
Sophia disappeared a week ago.
And now… she has reappeared inside De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Lifeless.
The second floor of the main building is cordoned off.
Red lights, yellow tape, police moving back and forth as if they can settle the chaos.
Students are crying.
Some are recording.
Some are pretending to be shocked.
I just watched.
Because emotions always ruin clues.
Sophia is lying near the fire escape.
There wasn’t much blood.
That was the first thing I noticed.
She didn’t die there.
They moved her.
A message then.
Or a warning.
Or worse…
A game.
—The police think it’s suicide—Luis said behind me.
I laughed softly.
—Of course.—Like my Uncle Line.
Luis didn’t respond right away.
William almost committed suicide when he found out.
I looked out into the courtyard.
The teachers were holding William Miller back while he screamed.
Desperate.
Heartbroken.
His girlfriend was Sophia.
Now, he was another victim in a situation that no one wanted to see. but something caught my attention.
«Jessica Jones Vilma.»
Or whatever her real name was.
She was near the police tape, not moving, very still.
Wearing headphones.
Dark glasses.
Cold expression.
She didn’t look like a student who had witnessed a death.
He looked like he was checking out a scene, his eyes weren’t on the body, they were on the cameras in the exits, Sophia’s shoes, the wall.
It was like he knew what to look for and that… wasn’t normal.
After a few hours we returned to the student council room, the only place that still pretended to be safe.
There they were:
Ethan Walker.
Ji-eun Park.
Maria Lopez.
Valentina Castro.
Gabriel Flores.
They were talking at the same time.
Too much noise.
Too much fear.
—The school is getting dangerous—Maria said.
—Parents are going to take their children home—Valentina added.
Luis sighed.
—We need control.
Order.
Then Ethan spoke
—The new student can help us.
Silence.
I slowly turned around.
—Excuse me?
After a few minutes, he entered.
Jessica.
Headphones on.
She walks around as if the world doesn’t belong to her but she watches it as if she’s in control.
Luis speaks first.
—We’d like to offer you a position as assistant secretary for the student council.
Jessica looks up.
—Why me?
The answer is clear.
Because no one else has seen what she saw.
—You examined the crime scene better than many adults— I say bluntly.
She stares at me.
No fear.
No emotion.
Just calculation.
—I only notice details.
I shake my head.
—No.
You connect the patterns.
Silence.
The kind of silence that’s heavy.
Luis interrupts
—That means you can help us.— Jessica hesitates.
Just a moment. but that’s enough.
—Okay…
I’ll help.
Gabriel smiled.
Ji-eun started to sort through the documents. but I couldn’t help but watch her.
Because there was something different about her.
And it wasn’t just a suspicion.
It was just intuition.
Later,
Luis came up to me after everyone else had left.
—What do you think of her?
I glanced at Sophia Wilson’s file.
Then I remembered Jessica at the crime scene.
Cold, too self-conscious.
Too trained for someone her age.
—I don’t think she ended up here by chance— I replied.
Luis frowned.
—Do you think she’s connected to Loki?
I didn’t answer right away.
Because deep down…
I already have an answer.
Night
Haruki Tanaka and I were reading the security camera footage.
The video was shaky.
Noise.
Intrusion. but we had seen enough.
Sophia.
A few minutes before she died, she was talking to someone in the north corridor.
A hooded figure.
And on their clothes… a symbol.
The same one that appeared in Lisbon.
The Masquerade Ball.
I had trouble breathing.
This couldn’t be a coincidence.
Haruki opened another recording.
—Look at this…—
Jessica appeared on the screen.
Alone.
Stopped in front of the wall.
Staring at the same symbol.
Not moving.
It was as if she recognized her.
Haruki looked at me.
—Who exactly was that woman?
I didn’t answer.
Because for the first time since Loki died…
I felt something strange.
This is not just a suspicion.
It takes a connection and danger.