"Hey, we need help here."
"Matthew, what are you doing?" Adam asked, but Matthew had already stepped away, catching the attention of the manager.
"Someone needs medical attention here!" Matthew said, pointing toward the woman wrapped in the coat. "She’s bleeding. We need help."
"Matthew!" Catherine hissed. "What are you—"
"Here! This lady here," Matthew repeated, raising his voice.
The manager moved forward, motioning to the security team. One of the guards radioed in quickly, muttering something about a medical incident. Another one stepped beside the manager and looked toward the woman.
"We need a medic on standby," the first security officer said. "And a first aid kit, now."
Matthew turned to the manager. "She came out of that room," he said. "It’s locked now. I’m afraid there’s something going on inside. We should check it."
The manager nodded quickly. "I have the keycard."
He stepped toward the door and swiped the card. A faint click sounded. As soon as the door cracked open, a soft whimper came from inside.
"No one enter yet, please!" the manager said, trying to assess the situation. But Matthew had already stepped forward and pushed the door open wider.
Gasps immediately erupted.
Inside, a dim light cast shadows on three figures.
Catherine blinked. Her body froze. "Elisa?" she called out.
The girl inside turned sharply, trying to shield herself behind a blanket. Her face was red, her hair disheveled.
May looked between the door and the group beside her. "No," she said. "That’s— That can’t be. Elisa was just behind me. She left earlier. Said her she had an upset stomach, and she’d go back to the room."
Teddy took a hesitant step forward. "Wait... Isn’t that Dean?"
Christian pointed. "And is that Marc?"
Inside the room, the three of them scrambled awkwardly. The blanket slipped slightly before Dean yanked it up again, trying to cover both himself and Elisa. Marc muttered something unintelligible and avoided eye contact altogether.
"What the hell are they doing?" Lenox asked.
Despite the clear view, no one actually answered him.
The woman on the floor outside suddenly covered her face again. Her sobs quieted.
"Looks like I wasn’t the one in that room after all," Matthew said. He smirked, trying to ignore the mumbling ghost girl beside him. He just wanted to enjoy the show—why did she have to be so noisy?
"No one goes in," the manager said firmly, raising a hand toward the group. "We need to secure the scene. The medical team is on their way."
Matthew stepped forward, brushing past the others. "No need to worry. I already called the police."
The room immediately fell silent. Hearing his words, Catherine’s eyes widened.
"What?" Adam asked as he took a step towards Matthew. "Why would you do that?"
Matthew shrugged. "I panicked. I heard shouting, I thought I smelled blood, and I heard someone crying. I didn’t know what happened. I thought someone got attacked or something. So I called 911. That was before I called the manager and security."
Smell blood? What kind of bullshit reasoning was that? Matthew was in a different room! How could he smell blood from the other room!?
"You already called the cops?" Frank asked.
"Yes," Matthew said. "And seeing all this?" He waved a hand toward the woman and then the open door. "I think it was the right call. This is beyond just school drama. Someone is hurt. We need this investigated properly."
"You didn’t even know what was happening," Adam said. "You should’ve waited."
Matthew looked at him. "Would you have waited if you thought someone was assaulted next door? If someone came out bleeding and crying like that? What was I supposed to do, Adam? Offer them a drink?"
The manager stepped aside and opened the door wider. Inside, the scene was chaotic. Elisa sat on the floor, arms around her knees, crying. Her makeup was smudged, and her dress was disheveled.
Catherine’s voice broke. "Elisa? Elisa, are you alright?"
Elisa looked up slowly, her eyes red and unfocused.
"She’s clearly not," Matthew said. "Good thing I called 911."
"I don’t understand," Catherine stumbled back a step and turned to May. "How did she– she was just with us. You said she had an upset stomach."
"She did. I thought she went back to the room. She didn’t say anything else."
"What the hell happened here," Teddy mumbled behind Matthew.
Meanwhile, the manager exhaled sharply and motioned for security to enter. "Step back, everyone. I want this area clear. Do not touch anything."
Yet, Matthew didn’t move. He shook his head as if seeing Dean and Marc was breaking his heart. "I know Dean and Marc. They wouldn’t do this. Not unless someone messed with them."
"Right," Teddy agreed. He looked at Frank. "Dean and Marc were bullies, but they– I haven’t seen them bullying a woman. It’s only right that Matthew called the police. What if someone drugged them? This thing should be investigated."
The others behind Teddy also gave their nods of approval. Calling the cops was definitely the right thing to do.
But how could Adam allow this to happen? He glared at Matthew. "You shouldn’t have called the police." At this point, he was certain that this was Matthew’s doing. He must have known about Adam’s plan in advance and was able to prepare. Then, he used Adam’s own method to actually harm Adam’s friends!
The nerve! However, Adam could only grit his teeth in silence.
"No," Matthew said. For the first time, Adam spotted something in Matthew’s eyes, something that made it look like he was doing this out of concern. "I should have. Look at this. Someone’s bleeding. Two people are drugged out of their minds. A girl’s crying in the corner. What were we supposed to do, wait until someone dies?"
Matthew sounded so righteous, it made Adam want to explode from too much anger!
Matthew added, "If this was a setup, it’s about to fall apart. And if it wasn’t... then whoever did this better hope the police get here before I figure it out myself."
"What do you mean?" Lenox asked when he heard Matthew’s voice.
"Whoever set this up must have thought I’m stupid. All of you came here thinking it was me who harmed that woman. Clearly, someone was trying to frame me, but luckily, I was in the wrong room. Clearly, someone intended to harm