The Clue
The morning had eventually arrived, the birds tweeting.
Finley and Sophie were the first ones to wake up, they made a special oil like coffee, hopefully, to help everyone wake up. As people slowly got up, Kiwi and N were the last people to be woken up. Finley and Sophie snapped a photo of the two while they slept.
"Aren't they so cute together?" Sophie gushed.
"I still don't trust him Soph" Finley crossed her arms.
"Well as long as he doesn't hurt Kiwi, it'll be fine" N and Kiwi both began to wake up, Kiwi yawned and looked at N. He was staring at her goofily.
"Morning you goofball" N kissed Kiwi and the pair slowly untangled from each other, and Kiwi was the first to get out of the sleeping bag.
"Morning Kiwi, there's a fresh pot of oil out in the kitchen, and batteries on the counter" Kiwi looked around and noticed, Thad, Lizzy, and Doll had left. J and V sat on the couch sipping oil and munching on what looked to be batteries.
N also got out of the sleeping bag stretching his limbs. Sophie watched.
"So if it's not too much of a personal question, I thought you guys ate workers and murdered and stuff" Sophie motioned her hands and looked at the three murder drones.
"Again not since law 236 was passed" Kiwi stated as she got down a mug and poured some oil.
"And what was law 236?" Finley asked.
"Law 236 is the law that states Murder Drones can't prey on workers and humans alike" Kiwi explained while sipping her coffee oil.
"But how do you guys not overheat then? Sophie questioned looking at the drones.
"We still drink oil, it's just oil that was willingly given from drones" J stated. "We also munch on batteries and metal sometimes when feeling a little peckish"
"Yeah, it's like having a blood drive, but an oil drive" N nodded as he also got some of the oil coffee to drink.
"Weird" Sophie stated as she sipped her drink.
"It's not that weird Soph, it's just what they have to do to survive." Kiwi looked at N as he came over and wrapped an arm around Kiwi, pulling her close to him. Sophie awed and looked at the two. J and V also looked.
"So are you two like a thing now?" V asked.
"Yes!" N nodded happily, and Kiwi smiled and nodded as well. V shrugged and sipped her oil. She was dressed in her normal attire, J was sporting a dark blue sweater with a black pencil skirt. N went to get dressed too, coming out in his normal black coat and pilot's hat.
"Well we have some errands to run in town, so we'll see you dorks later" V and J left the house to go start the car, and N kissed Kiwi gently.
"Be careful okay? I love you" Kiwi smiled and held his hands.
"I love you too" N left waving goodbye to the trio of girls and the house grew silent.
Kiwi went and sat down on the couch pulling out her laptop to do some research. She decided to do research on the drone ripper, just to familiarize herself with them.
"That's weird" Kiwi chewed on her bottom lip thinking.
"What is it Kiwi?" Finley came over munching on a battery as she looked over Kiwi's shoulder examining the article Kiwi had pulled up.
The Drone Ripper: Circa 20XX. The Drone Ripper was first witnessed by a scared mother drone, her daughter, and baby pill. Kinsley McDonald stated that the Drone Ripper was cloaked in black, wielding a sharp blade. The hood was up so it couldn't be discerned if it was a drone or human. Most suspect a drone though. There have been 6 murders with the same pattern. College students have been attacked recently, their cores and oil going missing.
Finley and Kiwi's eyes hollowed out as the description hit them like a truck.
"Wait a minute, you said you saw a cloaked figure when we were at the pizza shop with N?"
"Y-yeah, you don't think...?"
"Maybe you saw the Drone Ripper?" Finley suggested.
"No, no it couldn't be" Kiwi shook her head wanting nothing more than to believe she didn't see the Drone Ripper.
"Hey guys check this out" Sophie came over with her phone showing an article of sorts.
The girls all read the article.
Reports of a human cult called The Sapphire Omen have been seen in the towns of Jolene, Hadenfield, and Summersville. Flaunting black robes similar to the Drone Ripper. They seem to worship the Drone Ripper in copious amounts, thinking the Drone Ripper is some messiah of sorts. But if you ask me they're just crazy. Some say even to an extreme amount. The cult isn't necessarily harmful but should be kept an eye on, just to be safe.
"A cult? Seriously? Why would they worship the drone ripper to begin with? If it is a drone doing this, then why would a human cult worship a drone?" Finley wondered aloud.
"We have our fair share of drone cults I'm sure, they're probably just more quiet about it," Sophie said as she turned off her phone.
"Great cults, and the Drone Ripper. And the cult worships said Ripper. Lovely. This mystery just got harder" Kiwi sighed as she researched more about this cult. But nothing came up except a few sightings. "There's barely anything on this cult!"
"Well maybe that's a good thing, do you really want to keep investigating this Kiwi? I mean it's dangerous, what if you end up on the radar of this killer?" Sophie was worried for her friend. Kiwi frowned slightly.
"I have to figure out who murdered Jessie. She was my friend!" Kiwi defended her cause.
'"We're just worried is all Kiwi" Finley held onto Sophie's shoulders in a comforting manner. Sophie blushed and kissed Finley's cheek.
"I know, and I promise I'll be careful" The three young adults hugged and laughed as they checked the time.
"We should head out to do some shopping for our Halloween party" Finley stated as she grabbed her keys and wallet.
"Are we sure having a Halloween party is the best course of action with everything going on?" Kiwi questioned fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater.
"Uh yes, give everyone to be distracted by something," Finley said.
"I guess" Kiwi was still unsure about the whole thing, but went along with it to make her friends happy. The three girls headed out of the house, and into the red pickup truck.
Finely drove them to the grocery store in town, and they all got out getting a cart heading in.
Kiwi was looking at some of the snacks made for drones when suddenly N snuck up behind her going boo. Kiwi squeaked and turned around quickly whacking N in the head.
"Ouch! Hi!" N rubbed his head grinning, and Kiwi sighed relieved, looking at him with her hands on her hips.
"N seriously? You scared the shit out of me!" Kiwi frowned. N apologized and rubbed the back of his neck. "What're you doing here?"
"Shopping for some stuff for the dorms with J and V. Oh, and also picking out our Halloween costumes. They're trying on costumes now actually" N informed her.
"Yeah that makes sense"
"What're you being for Halloween anyway Kiwi?" Kiwi hadn't thought about it. She considered maybe doing a couple's costume with N, but thought that'd be too cheesy. She also considered being Sherlock Holmes.
"I think I'm going to be Sherlock Holmes" Kiwi answered. She and N talked a bit longer. "Finley's holding a Halloween party this Tuesday if you and the other two want to come"
"Awesome I'll let J and V know, we'll be there!" He kissed Kiwi's cheek and waved goodbye as J called for him. Kiwi blushed watching him go before going back to picking out snacks. Eventually, she met back up with Finley and Sophie.
"Kiwi what do you think of me and Finley being a nurse and doctor?" Sophie held up a nurse's costume while Finley held up a doctor's costume.
"Cute, it'll fit" Kiwi smiled at her two best friends, she turned her head and noticed the same cloaked figure from earlier. She gasped and gripped her shirt slightly in fear.
Suddenly the store lights went out and what Kiwi could see was the figure coming towards her at a quick pace. Kiwi backed away and quickly turned running in the opposite direction. Going down different isles and avoiding the figure at all costs.
Kiwi suddenly tripped over something on the ground and fell sliding into a strange liquid. Kiwi groaned as she held her leg, it felt like she twisted something. The lights flickered on, and Kiwi saw what she fell into.
It was oil, the oil leaking from a dead worker drone, with dark green hair similar. His core was ripped out a gone, oil spilled out from the cuts on the drone's arms, legs, and torso. The head of the drone was completely cut off.
"Oh, my robo-god" Kiwi whispered under her breath as she looked at her hands as they were stained with oil.
"Kiwi are you alright?! Oh dear god!" Finley and Sophie saw the scene. Sophie screamed for help and a few people came running over. A grocery worker called the police.
Kiwi noticed a key in the hand of the drone, she took it and looked at it. It was a silver key with a tag labeled, Shed 10. She raised an eyebrow and pocketed it. There was also a note, she took that too.
N, J, and V came rushing over. J gasped and noticed the drone.
"I know him, that's Xander Polly. He's in my journalism class" J stated as she crossed her arms.
"What a waste of oil" V scoffed, and turned her head. N just stared looking horrified, he went over to Kiwi helping her up. He noticed the oil on her hands and pulled out a handkerchief, helping her clean up the oil.
"You okay?" He asked, looking at her. Kiwi blushed and nodded.
"Yeah I'm fine, thank you N" Kiwi's clothes were stained with oil, and she groaned and frowned slightly.
Tessa Elliot had come into the store noticing the body, and the 6 young adult drones.
"What the hell happened here?"
"I don't know Ms. Elliot, the store lights went out, next thing I knew I tripped over this dead body" Kiwi stated crossing her arms.
Tessa asked Kiwi questions and then stared at the three disassembly drones.
"You three head back to the dorms. I'll ask you questions later. Kiwi thank you for the answers, I'm sorry this happened to you" Tessa apologized and wrote down some things in her notepad. She snapped her fingers and a few police officers came wrapping the body up, taking it away.
Sophie put a hand on Kiwi's shoulder.
"Let's finish up the shopping trip and then you can head back to my house to change," Finley stated, Kiwi nodded, and the three girls went back to shopping, after about 15 minutes more, they finished, paid, and then left heading back to the house.
Kiwi grabbed her bag with a spare change of clothes and went to the bathroom to change. She changed out of the sweater and skirt, into leggings and a tank top. She grabbed the key from her skirt pocket and examined it a bit further. It read Frank's Storage Units. So this was a key to a storage unit.
She nodded and put the key in her bag, she'd take a look at it later.
"Kiwi you alright?" Sophie asked as she knocked on the door. Kiwi opened the door and answered.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken up honestly. But look what I found" Kiwi held the note and the key out.
"Hey that's a key to Frank's Storage Units, my mom has a unit there" Sophie stated. "But what does the note say?"
"Let's find out" Kiwi opened the note and began to read it out loud. "I know what you did Kirean, and I won't let you get away with it, you, Jessie, Thomas, Liza, and Eleanor won't get away with it"
"Wait, hold on the note mentions Jessie too?" Kiwi nodded and handed her the note. "These are all members of the student council too. Minus Eleanor. Wait is the Drone Ripper coming after the student council?" Sophie looked terrified.
"Wait hold on Sophie don't panic. It seems like some of the members are being targeted that doesn't mean you're a target though" Sophie breathed and nodded.
"We have to get to the bottom of this Kiwi," Sophie stated.
"And we will Soph, we've got this"
Finley came and looked.
"You guys good?"
"Yes, we're fine, we found a clue too!"
"Oh, goodie" Finley stated sarcastically. The pair of girls laughed and then all of them headed to the living room to continue planning for the Halloween party.