Five

Then, suddenly, it was over.

The dead employée was driven away. I guessed that they were going to examine the body or something, but I wasn't completely sure. Not that the cause of death was a mystery, exactly. I shuddered. The shot policeman was also taken to the hospital. The police were questioning the rest of us, me, Eliza, Alexander, Stan (whom was no longer unconcious) and the first employée, over and over again, writing down everything we said. I felt empty, like one of those hollow chocolate bunnies you can buy around Easter.

"Okay, I think you kids can go now," a policewoman said gently. "You can get home by yourself, right?"

We nodded in almost perfect unison, then hurried out of the store.

Outside, it was pleasantly cool. For a moment we just stood there, not speaking. Then-

"Ah, hello," came a smooth, cold voice.

"Professor Winter!" Alexander exclaimed, his voice a bit more whiny than usual.

"I heard there was a robbery in this store a few hours ago," our teacher said casually, gesturing towards the Aurea.

"How do you know?" Stan snapped.

"I do have a television at home, Mr Kinney. And what are you doing here, if I may ask?"

"We saw the whole thing," Eliza mumbled. "And-"

"You did? How horrible!" the professor interjected, pretending to care.

"Yes, it was," I said fiercely. "We could have been killed!"

"Of course," he said, and patted me on the head. You have no idea how uncomfortable it is to be patted on the head by the teacher who called you a 'witless imbecile' less than two days ago. "But you weren't."

"No," I muttered, staring at my shoes. "But-"

"Anyway, I had better be going," Winter cut me off. "I will be seeing you three on monday, I expect," he said, then strode off.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" Eliza asked after he'd disappeared behind a corner, staring after him.

"He's a genius," Alexander mumbled.

"Let's go home," I said wearily. "I'm tired."

So we headed home. Eliza was trying to act normal, chatting away, but she didn't quite manage it. Stan joined the conversation half-heartedly, occasionally throwing in a 'yeah' or 'uh-huh'. Alexander seemed to have gone into some state of shock. I myself didn't say much either, but at least I didn't walk into any lamp posts.

"Look!" Eliza exclaimed suddenly, pointing. Between two low buildings, we could see the sunset. It looked magnificent, the last rays of sun colouring the clouds pink and yellow. "It's beautiful," I murmured. It felt like we were part of some weird ritual of some sort. Then, suddenly, the sun disappeared, and everything turned a little darker.