Jakob Dyrberg was in his senior year when they found the girl. He was in his dorm, studying when he heard. Before his classmate sprang into the door of the study, where he was doing his homework, and told him about her, Jakob was sitting quietly, working on his paper on the French Revolution for history class. He was happy at that moment. Stressed about the paper and the upcoming exams in the spring, but happy. He was especially looking forward to the spring ball and graduation coming up. It had been a good year for him so far, even though it was only November, he could tell this year was going to be better than the previous. He was doing well in school, he had a date for the spring ball, and he was looking forward to spending a year at the business school in Switzerland that his father had paid for him to go to after he finished high school at Herlufsholm Boarding School. He knew all he wanted was to get rid of him, place him somewhere where he and his new wife didn't have to worry about him or even take care of him, and Jakob really wanted to be as far away from them as possible, so in this way it would end up as a win for them both.

His friend, Christian Bjergager, stared at him while panting. His hair was wild and unruly, his cheeks red from running. He closed the door behind him carefully to not make a sound. Talking was not allowed during study-time.

"They found someone," he whispered, agitated.

Jakob didn't even look up from his book. He was in the middle of a sentence and didn't want to lose the context. So far, he had only gotten a few lines down on his computer and he had to be done by the end of the week.

"Hmm," he said and finished the paragraph, completely oblivious to his classmate's exciting, yet disturbing news.

Christian walked to the window and looked out. Then he shivered. "Did you even hear me?"

Jakob sighed and looked up. "No, I'm in the middle of something. It's kind of important that I get this done soon. Plus, you'll get us both in trouble by talking." Jakob paused, feeling curious after all. "What was it?"

"They found a girl," Christian said with even more tension and excitement in his voice than before.

Jakob shook his head in confusion. "They found a girl? What does that even mean? Where did they find a girl and why is it so important?"

"Down by the lake. The soccer team found her on their morning jog. She was lying on the ice, blood splattered all over the snow. Rumors say several of them threw up."

Jakob looked up. "And what about the girl? What happened to her?"

Christian shrugged. "I don't know. They say she was splattered all over the ice, man. Sounds really nasty."

"Who was she?" Jakob asked.

"Don't know yet," Christian answered while biting his lip in agitation.

"Was she someone from this school?"

"I guess so. She was wearing a uniform, they said. With the Trolle emblem, like ours have. But you haven't heard the best part yet. Get this…they also told me her head had been…ripped apart from her body, and there’s more…that her heart had been ripped out."

Jakob gulped. "But how?"

"Who knows? Someone probably stabbed her with a knife, then cut her head off and her heart out. The question everyone is asking is, where are the head and heart now?" Christian bit his lip again while staring outside toward the forest. "I haven't seen it yet. Oh, I wish I had been one of them down there. The place is probably blocked off by the police now. Why couldn't I have been the one to find her? I would have loved to see it."

Jakob stared at Christian, not sure how to react. "Why?"

Christian almost jumped with exhilaration. "Why not? Aren't you curious? Don't you want to see what it looks like? I’ve never seen a dead person before, let alone someone who has been murdered. I want to know what it looks like."

"Is that what they say it is? Murder?" Jakob asked.

Christian shrugged. "I guess. Since there was blood and all. I mean, it must have been, right?"

Jakob shrugged. "It could have been an animal?"

Christian shook his head while gazing out the window in the direction of the forest once again.

"No. It was murder. I can feel it. I can sense it."

Jakob chuckled and shook his head. "And exactly how can you sense something like that?"

Christian looked at Jakob. He threw a book at him. Jakob ducked.

"Why must you always be so damn dull? You sit in here all day and read about kings that were dead long ago, more than two hundred years ago, and here we have the most spectacular event ever happening to this old school, the most bloody scene that far surpasses anything in your history books right outside our window and you mean to tell me you're not even going to sneak down there and at least have a peek?"

Jakob shrugged. "Well, since you put it that way…then…maybe."

Christian's eyes lit up. He picked up Jakob's winter jacket from behind the door and threw it at him. "Then what are we waiting for?"