Everyone in the class remained frozen in fear; no one wanted to check what had happened. It was Zayn who volunteered and, despite the pain, rushed toward the stairs. There, he witnessed a grotesque scene, straight out of a horror movie. A puppet lay at the bottom of the stairs with its left arm and right leg twisted in opposite directions from where they should normally be. A pool of blood had begun to form around its head. This kind of thing didn't happen in real life, only in movies. No, this couldn't be a human being. But then, who would have had the idea to place a puppet right there at that precise moment?
Someone else was standing nearby, their back pressed against the wall, and their legs seemed to have given way because they were positioned haphazardly. Their gaze was vacant, fixed on the body. They didn't seem to want to move an inch, despite the horror unfolding before them.
After a full minute, Zayn finally regained his senses and understood the situation. He hurried to descend the stairs, ignoring the pain in his right leg. Reaching Tora's side, he shook his shoulders several times.
— Tora, are you okay ? Can you hear me ? Answer me !
— I killed… I killed him…
— No, that's not true, he died on his own, it's not your fault !
— He followed me and he fell and…
— Look at me in the eyes.
Tora's gaze remained vacant and fixed. Zayn turned his face forcibly and moved closer to him.
— I told you to look at me ! Daniel was trash, we don't care that he's dead. Even if you think he died because of you indirectly, you can't be too hard on yourself. You have nothing to blame yourself for, you're also a victim. Do you understand me ?!
— …
— Do you understand me ?!
Tora locked eyes with Zayn and stared at him for a moment, then looked at Daniel's lifeless body.
— I didn't want him to die, I just wanted him to leave me alone. He was going to grab the knife again, and my legs wouldn't obey me anymore, so I…
— That can't be…
Zayn quickly turned around and noticed a detail that had escaped him. The fall had been violent, but even from that height, Daniel shouldn't have bled that much. He yanked Daniel's hair to lift his head and, to his horror, saw his right eye pierced by his own knife. He did his best to hold back a wave of vomit. He couldn't understand how Tora could have done such a thing.
Tora started sobbing before breaking into tears. Zayn pressed Tora's head against his chest and held him tightly.
"Why hadn't he simply thrown the knife farther away ? In his state, Daniel would never have been able to go get it. Was it fear or panic that had driven him to do this ?"
— I don't know what's right or wrong, but what I do know is that you were just defending yourself and had no choice. Know that I will never blame you for anything, and I will always be by your side.
"Will the police consider this self-defense ? With a knife shoved in his head, it seems pretty unlikely. It would also be hard to prove Tora's state of panic. Also, given the history of this school, it's likely they'd blame Tora for it, simply because they wouldn't care enough and would want to wrap things up as quickly as possible. And I don't want to lose him… It's better not to take any risks."
Zayn quickly wiped Tora's tears and helped him get up.
— It's not over yet. Now, you need to get out of the school without anyone seeing you. I'll go back to class and say I found the body. You, you left the school and have no idea what just happened. He died trying to catch you, but you were already gone.
Zayn rolled up his sleeves and carefully moved Daniel's still-intact hand with a handkerchief, positioning it so that it would be gripping the knife.
— He tripped over his own knife… mumbled Tora, guessing Zayn's intention.
— Exactly.
— But, what if he accuses you?!
— Not possible. We all heard the sound of his fall in the class, and I was still there at that moment. Plus, only two minutes have passed since I left, and given my condition, it wouldn't be so unlikely that it took me that long to get down the stairs. Now go, someone could arrive !
They then put their plan into action. Tora ran as fast as he could, racing through the empty halls to the exit door of the building. Meanwhile, Zayn went back to class to explain what he had just discovered, but no one believed him until they saw Daniel's corpse for themselves.
Several screams echoed, drawing the attention of the other students. In no time, the entire school was aware of the news.
« Daniel is dead! »
« The drunk, right? He won't be missed, that's for sure. »
« I heard someone killed him. »
« Apparently, he was drunk and ran down the stairs. What an idiot! »
« Those who were in the class say he had argued with a new guy. But no idea what his name is. »
The sleeves of Zayn had reddish stains here and there, which continued to grow little by little. Finally, his strength left him, and his body collapsed violently to the ground. A new wave of panic and screams took over.
— Another one is dead !
— No way !
Everyone backed away, terrified, as if they were trying to escape a spider. But one student stood out : he made his way through and knelt beside Zayn to examine him more closely. A girl also approached and asked him.
— So, Minho, what's wrong with him ?
— He's not dead, but he's losing a lot of blood. If this continues, he won't last much longer.
— Then hurry up and do something ! If anyone can help him, it's you !
— What do you think I'm doing ?
The one named Minho had already pulled out a first aid kit from his bag and was quickly bandaging Zayn's wounds to stop the bleeding. Once finished, he turned to her.
— Anastasia, could you carry him ? He'll get too cold here, and give him your jacket too, please.
— You always do too much, as usual. She sighed.