The Killer Con Part 8: Long Day of Investigating

Abigail swallowed hard as she tried to calm her shaking body. Stacy sat beside the girl with tearful eyes and a head held low. The two of them were seated on a brown leather sofa in the center of her living room. James Monroe paced in front of his daughter and niece, staring at them with eyes that were burning into the core of their souls.
A combination of worry, panic, fear, shame, and guilt gripped Abby's heart. The scarlet-red glow of the setting sun seeping from the window drowned the room in its fiery colors. The house was mostly silent, besides the sound of her father's footsteps and the repetitive tick-tock made by the round clock that rested against the top of the bricked fireplace to her left.
What had started off as a mildly good day has quickly turned into a bad one. Hours after returning from the convention center, her father came home with a stern face, demanding for the two girls to come downstairs. Crap...He found out, didn't he? I'm so screwed. were Abigail's first thoughts after hearing this.
“Abby,”
She snapped her head up at the sound of her father's voice. Tightening the fists that she held in her lap, she prepared herself for the interrogation that she knew would be given next. Slowly, Abby meet the man's eyes. His intense glare startled her. She nervously lowered her head again. There was a definite flame in her father's eyes that burnt shame and guilt into her heart.
He spoke again, “Why didn't you tell me?”
“I-I'm sorry! I just wanted to go so badly, but you and mom wouldn't let me! S-So, I had to...you know.” Abby confessed.
“What did you do to that girl?”
The question surprised her. What girl? She looked over at Stacy, who was shifting uncomfortably under the man's fiery gaze. Is he talking about Stacy?
“Did you murder that girl?” He said impatiently, noticing his daughter's confusion.
Abby froze, and so did Stacy.
“What?” They asked together.
Just then, the phone in her pocket started vibrating. She ignored it, this discussion was more important. Her father narrowed his eyes at the girl.
“Shouldn't you answer that?” He blinked.
“No, just continue. Who got murdered?” Abby leaned forward in the sofa, concerned.
Her father furrowed his eyebrows, “You don't know?”
She shook her head, “Nope. I didn't even know about it until now.”
The man searched his daughter's eyes for any signs of lying. Doubt was clearly evident on his face. It annoyed her a bit.
“I didn't murder anyone! Neither did Stacy!” She yelled.
Turning to her cousin, she said; “Right, Stacy?”
The younger girl tensed slightly at the sound of her name being called. Pulling away from her thoughts, she confirmed; “We did not murder anyone.”
Monroe continued to stare at the girls, before giving up.
Sighing, he said; “Okay, I believe you for now.”
“Then, do you mind telling us what happened?”
He walked over to the arm of the leather sofa, taking a seat next to his daughter. He pauses for a few seconds, planning for how he was going to tell the two of them the news.
Finally, he spoke; “A girl named Haley West was found dead today around noon. Her body was discovered by a custodian worker inside the convention center.”
Her father hesitated a little before continuing, “When I was interrogating him, he told me that he had met two other girls earlier that day. He's certain that they were the ones who killed Haley. When I asked him to describe these girls, I became suspicious when I realized that his descriptions sounded very similar to you and Stacy. So, I pulled up a picture of you two and showed it to him. The man recognized you instantly. That's how I found my suspects.”
Abigail felt her face drain quickly as she listened to her father. Her mind seemed to go blank as she took in all the news. H-Haley's dead?! B-But how? She was perfectly fine this morning!
“No...that can't be true! Not Haley....w-why?” Abby felt the tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.
Stacy remained silent. Monroe placed a hand on Abby shoulder, and gave her a sympathetic look.
“I'm guessing that you knew this girl?”
Abby sniffed, “Y-Yeah, we were classmates.”
“I know that this may seem insensitive, but I really need to know what happened while you were in the convention.” Her father frowned.
“Nothing bad happened!” Abby wiped away her tears. “All we did was talk to her about a few things, and then we left. That's all, I promise.”
“About Killer Con?”
Abby stiffened, “Yes.”
“Sweetie, you know that you're in big trouble for sneaking out, right?”
“Yup.” She sighed.
Her father didn't say anything.
“Well, I'm just gonna go back to my room now. C'mon Stacy.”
Standing up, Abigail pulled away from her father and headed for her bedroom. Stacy followed in pursuit. By now, the sun has completely gone down. The living room would be completely shrouded in darkness if it wasn't for the light that poured through the doorway that lead into the hallway.
As the girls were trudging up the carpeted staircase, a voice stopped them.
“Abby, honestly, I'm not that angry at you. Just-please don't get involved in this investigation. Even though I'm still unsure about what's happening, I have a feeling that whatever we're dealing with is highly dangerous. I don't want you or Stacy getting hurt, so please listened to me.” Monroe pleaded.
“...Fine.” She reluctantly answered.
“Thank you.”

Closing the door behind her as she entered the bedroom, Abigail walked over to the Dell laptop laying on the pale blue sheets of her bed and turned it on. Stacy stood motionless by the door. Abby furrowed her eyebrows at the girl.
“Stacy? What's the matter?" She asked concerned.
Her words barely came out as a whisper, “Don't you see what's going on?”
Abby blinked, confused; “What don't I see?”
Suddenly, tears began to stream down her cousin's face. Stacy tightly clenched her fists, and stared directly at Abby.
“The girls that have died so far were all participants of the charm! Whatever killed them is going to kill us!” She screamed in anger.
“Woah-woah! It's too soon to make that conclusion! This could just be one big coincidence.”
Stacy glared at the older girl, and huffed; “Yeah right. You just wait! Sooner or later, a serial killer is going to burst in here and stab you repeatedly; and I'm going to be laughing my butt off and telling you ‘I told you so’!” She yelled, tears still running down her face.
Abby rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”
Turning back to the screen of her laptop, she opened up new page. She then entered ‘Deviantart.com’ in the address bar. It took a few seconds to load, but the page finally appeared. On the top of the page, there was a small white envelope icon with a number one beside it. A new message. Eagerly, Abby clicked the icon. It was a notice sent by the cosplay group she was a member of.

The message read: ATTENTION LOCAL COSPLAYERS! This weekend, I am hosting a pool party! If you can, please come! All cosplayers are gladly welcome! -Becca

Abby grinned, “I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend!” She turned around to face her sulking cousin. “And also, it's the perfect opportunity to find the other charm participants!”
“What? You promised Uncle James that you would stay out of the whole Killer Con situation!” Stacy exclaimed.
“Yeah, I know. But, this isn't something I can look past. Like you and my dad said, there's definitely something bad going on and my detective senses can't just let a case like this go!”
Stacy stared at the girl in surprise. This is the first time that she has ever seen her cousin so determined. She wiped her eyes and sat next to Abby
“Okay then, count me in too.”