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CHAPTER 4

Koen was frozen until he heard Willie's sobs.

"Wil. Willie, I'm here, don't worry." Koen said quickly, hugging him,"Wil, it's going to be fine. Estella's okay," Koen said, however, he knew that it was a lie. With just a glance, it was evident Estella had already lost too much blood.

'But how?' He thought. He and Willie couldn't have not seen the body when they were walking into Armory. No, that scream- it belonged to Estella. The question was, why did she scream? And how did she stab herself? Was it even an accident? Koen shivered, considering the other possible reason: murder. But that couldn't happen... right?

Willie sobbed into Koen's shoulder, clutching him tight,"W-why- she-" He choked, stammering. "Wil, shh. It's fine. Everything's okay. We can still save her." Koen insisted. One hand steadying Willie, Koen's other hand fumbled for his tablet. He remembered something John had said in the morning announcements.

Koen searched for a report button on the screen,  all the while his hands trembling. 'How do you remain calm in such a situation? Ugh, crap." thought Koen. Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and a faint 'beep'. 'Someone's opening a door.' thought Koen. His defense mechanisms made him pull Willie behind him in an instant, holding up his glowing screen as if it would protect him somehow. Someone was coming towards him and his boyfriend, and if it was somehow Estella's murderer, then they, they would be the next victims...

Light flooded into the hallway as the doors of Cockpit hissed open. Koen squinted and blinked at the sudden light, before he could finally make out the figure who had opened the door- John. 

John paled. Staring at Koen and Willie, he stuttered,"Wh-why-did...did you-" Koen interrupted,"John, where's the report button? We have to save her!" 

John glanced from Koen to Willie nervously, his face sweating,"I-I-" Willie grabbed Koen tighter,"Ko-Koen, quickly..." Koen felt a bead of sweat slide down his forehead. "John!" Koen yelled.

"Th-The corner-" John stuttered, still frozen. Koen searched in the corners before finding a small red icon. Clicking on it, a 'REPORT' screen popped up. Koen quickly pressed it.

"Wait, NO-" John shouted suddenly-

'BEEP...'

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"She's not with us, Allie, what do we do?" came Suniyah's voice from her right. Aline replied, just as anxious,"I don't know. But-but it's fine though, I mean, we just got separated. We'll find the light supply and fix it or something, I'm sure it's easy! Then Azi can easily find her way out-"

"Suniyah?"

Aline waited for a reply, but received none. She quieted down and heard ragged breathing to her right. Aline stretched out her hand, searching for Suniyah. Her hand met a clothes sleeve and she grasped it tight. "Are you okay, Suniyah?"

Suniyah gasped,"T-there..." "What?" Aline asked, confused. "There!" Aline felt Suniyah take a step back, and she did too. "Suniyah, what's there?"  "A-Do you n-not see it?" Suniyah grabbed her hand and started moving backwards. Aline tripped over a wire and fell onto the wall behind her. She could still hear Suniyah's fast breathing.

"A-An impostor! Right there!" Suniyah screamed. Aline turned immediately-

But of course, she could see nothing. Quick as lightning, she reached for her tablet and pointed it towards the hallway. There was still nothing there. "Suniyah, th-there's nothing..." Aline murmured. Aline glimpsed Suniyah's terrified face, her hand shaking while pointing. "It's coming! Towards u-us- we have to run, Allie, there!" 

Suniyah pulled Aline into another dark hallway. They panted as they ran together, turning a corner, towards a dead end. Suniyah didn't seem to notice, however. She glanced back and cried out. She stumbled forward and lost her balance, crashing to the ground. Aline immediately stopped and went to Suniyah,"Suniyah! Are you okay?" 

"No... no, they're coming!" Suniyah shut her eyes tight. Aline looked back to the hallway, and shockingly, there were footsteps coming from around the corner. 'What? H-How are there- That's impossible-' Aline thought, but her doubts were quickly drowned out by panic and fear. 

Terrified, Aline was about to raise her tablet to see her foe's face, but Suniyah immediately pointed the tablet to the ground. Without the light, Aline couldn't see very clearly, but her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough for her to see Suniyah motion for her to keep quiet.

So Aline sat, clutching her friend who was trembling. All that could be heard was the faint breathing of the pair.  

The footsteps became louder, and louder. Aline closed her eyes, accepting her inevitable fate... but she hadn't considered that maybe, the footsteps belonged to-

"Aline? Suniyah? Gosh, YES, I found you both. Phew-" said a familiar voice. "Azi!" Aline exclaimed, her eyes snapping open,"Where- were you?!" Azi snorted,"I could ask you the same thing. But I guess that we just got separated in the dark. Hey, um, Suniyah-?" 

Suniyah was still shivering, clutching to Aline. She slowly opened her eyes,"We're... not dead?" "No, Suniyah, it was Azi," explained Aline soothingly. Suniyah looked at Azi, before muttering,"God. Another hallucination..."She muttered, too quiet for either crewmate to hear. I'm so sorry. I- I didn't mean to scare you." Suniyah murmured, their eyes filling with tears.

"What happened?"questioned Azi. Aline replied,"She thought there was an Impostor chasing us..." Azi quickly looked behind her. "But it was you, and she... y'know. She saw wrong." Though they couldn't see very clearly, Aline saw Azi's eyes cloud over. 

To Aline's surprise, Azi dropped to her knees and hugged Suniyah. "It's fine, Sunni, the important thing is that we're safe. I'd make that mistake too if I were you. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty scared too,"said Azi softly. 

Suniyah looked at Azi, and said,"Thank you...! I've got these.. hallucinations from time to time, I- sometimes see wrong.." She explained. "It's fine, Sunni, we understand." Azi said. 

"I like that nickname,"said Suniyah, a smile returning to her face. 

Aline smiled and helped Suniyah up. Azi picked up the glowing tablet and said,"Let's get out of here first. I don't think the light switches are here." "How? This is literally Electrical-" Their voice trailed away as suddenly, the lights flickered and came back on.

"The lights! WOOH!" cheered Aline,"Someone must have turned them back on-"

Before anyone of them could say anything else, they heard a loud 'BEEP'. 

"Ah-!" Azi stumbled, feeling a wave of nausea. She looked down, her vision blurry, and to her horror, found that her hands were gone. Then her legs. "What's happening?" exclaimed Sunni, before she disappeared entirely.

Azi's vision went black.

Next thing Azi knew, she was in the Meeting Room.

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"Urgh..." Chloe groaned as she opened her groggy eyes. She was in the Meeting Room. But she was just in Medical Bay, wasn't she? What was going on? She came to the conclusion that she was teleported here... but why?

Still confused, Chloe let her vision go back to normal before looking around the room. The entire crew was gathered around the table, some clearly as disoriented as her. "What's going on?" demanded Chloe. 

"No..." murmured John, clutching the edge of the table, his face as white as snow.

"An emergency report,"said Katie,"If anyone gets into trouble..." She checked her tablet,"Koen? What's going on?" Chloe noticed the trans-male holding up his boyfriend, who was shaking all over. Koen's face was extremely pale, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. 

"There's- I- Estelle..." Koen struggled to get the words out. Clearly, he was terrified. "Estella's.. dead." He said, his face pale. 

"What-what did you say?" Nab spoke up, her face just as pale. "She's-dead?" 

"Maybe! I don't know!" Koen yelled, panicked. "Please, she-she can't die..." Willie choked out, tears dripping down his face. 

The room went into a state of frenzy. "What? How did this happen? Where?" asked Azi, scared. Logan shrieked. Even Katie took a step back. Suniyah clutched her friend, asking over and over,"What? What?" John paled even further, if that was possible. "How-how did this happen?" Zakar gasped. Nab's forehead was covered in sweat. Aline clapped a hand over her mouth, just as shocked, tears filling her eyes. 

"Maybe she's not dead. I don't know,"Koen said,"But we... need to save her. Try." He glanced at his boyfriend as he said it. Chloe moved towards the ladder, her heart thumping. No way. Someone dead? She had to see this for herself. She didn't trust him enough.

"John, did you know about this?" demanded Katie. "Yes! I-I forgot, I'm so sorry!" John exclaimed, his hands trembling,"I'm so sorry, I-" "Are you serious, John? Now there's no way of saving her!"  

"What do you guys mean?" Koen asked, panicked.

"There's no use." said Katie in a tone that sounded very final,"She's gone. I'm so sorry, Koen." 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Koen shouted, clenching his fists,"WHY?"

Silence filled the room as the shocked crewmates stared at the chef.

"An emergency report removes all... bodies." Katie explained grimly,"She's gone, okay?"

"WHAT?! Why?" Zakar asked.

"It's a cautionary setting to prevent stuff like this happening. With all the recent Impostor attacks on Polus, Mira HQ has been way more cautious. If someone's killed... Impostors can't feast on them. And it's easier to get rid of the body. But obviously, our captain here should have stopped Koen from pressing the button because NOW, WE CAN'T SAVE HER." Katie glared at John. 

"I-Impostors?" Logan exclaimed, scared,"Are-they-" "Damn, relax, Logan, it's exactly what I'm trying to say. There's no Impostors on board. That's why there was no need for the report!" Katie sighed, exasperated. 

"Why is there such a ridiculous setting?" demanded Koen, angry,"Now she's-actually gone! You heartless people!"

"ARGH, Koen, she could still have a chance if you didn't press that button!" Katie yelled back, frustrated,"I didn't set that damn setting!"

"STOP IT!" Evelyn screamed, her eyes full of tears. Estella was her roommate, and even though they weren't especially close, it still hurt her to know that she was gone forever. She shrunk back a little when everyone's eyes turned on her, but she continued,"She's dead! And here you are, f-fighting like children!" 

"Exactly.." Kari whispered.

Silence once again draped over the room like a thick blanket. Some blinked back tears. 

Koen stared at Evelyn, unmoving. He looked down. 

"Yeah, she's right." Chloe finally said,"We should be finding out why she's ... dead!"

"There might- be a ... reason why Estella was hurt." added Zakaria. "Not might be. There has to be a reason,"grumbled Katie,"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry for all your loss." Katie added at the end, with sympathy in her voice. 

"Where was she hurt?" Seb asked, and for once, his voice was serious. 

"Outside Communication..." John said quietly.

Kari said,"But there's nothing there- that could possibly harm.. her. How..." 

Azi's eyes widened as she considered the possibilities. None of them seemed likely... except...

 "I'm sorry if I'm scaring everyone, but the possibility of Impostors..." Azi said, her voice so low Chloe could barely hear it. 

Her eyes, once full of energy, were now wide and frightened. Stories of Impostors, those bloody, cruel monsters that destroyed ship after ship, murdered crew after crew... Azi glanced around the room, each time her eyes met one of the crew's she would flinch. Was it possible? A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead.

"That's impossible." Nab said, her voice anxious,"All of us were carefully chosen by Mira HQ." She insisted. "Teenagers, first ones on a new base?" Seb whispered. 

The crew went silent.

"What do you mean by that?" Chloe demanded,"Mira promised us-" "Yeah, it's MIRA HQ! They won't... let Impostors onto their base. That's ridiculous..." Aline added. 

"T-there's something-e-else..." Willie piped up, his face still pale.

"Estella... she lo-looked like she was s-stabbed."

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A/N

-sorry it's so short! i ran out of ideas ;-;

-and yes, this was the biggest cliffhanger i could think of soooo

-actually, not really since you guys know there's going to be an impostor lmao!

-again, please tell me if i wrote anything wrong about your character! especially sunni cause i don't have much knowledge about tourettes syndrome as well as how her hallucinations work.

-that's it, byeeee!

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