《Monster Story》


 1: Curiosity Killed The Cat

    There once was a doll...


    It had short messy brown hair, eyes, ears, a mouth, a nose, arms, legs, organs, a heart... a kind doll with so much potential for something much greater than they could ever fathom. A doll with so many capabilities. A curious doll who wanted to know more and more about the people and world around him, wondering if there was something greater than his current life as a doll, yet he stayed determined and grateful to those who played with him.


    With a doll with so many capabilities, a doll with such a likable personality...


    Who would throw such a doll away?


    ***


    The same daily routine, over and over again. It is relaxing at times but the monotony will not leave my frail frame - it isn''t as if my body is weak in any manner but I do have a small frame that could be mistaken as frail, I hunch a lot, after all, trying not to stand out due to my height. Waking up to the same room devoid of light, bed pushed to the farthest corner of the room, sitting a comfortable distance away from the door that leads me to a dimly lit staircase, restroom sitting across the way, light barely touching the doorway.


    If you were to walk right, avoiding the staircase, you''d notice two pathways, one leading to a veranda and another leading to a more open area, two rooms lined at the end of it. If you head to the railing closest to the bathroom, you can see the stairs from there, and above that, a small window with the same dull light from before shining through. On the Thirteenth of September, still barely through the first semester of my Junior year of High School.


    My High School life has been quite dull. From my Freshman year up until now.


    Almost no friends, for most of my time in High School it''s just been me and my thoughts. I do have one friend, her name is Jordan but even then, we don''t really talk much.


    On an unrelated note... Autumn has finally arrived. I think this has been the fastest Autumn has come around in this town of ours - trees are already golden brown, leaves scattering the once green fields. Leaf blowers blaring in the morning at around 9:00 pm because the neighbor is an asshole - but because Autumn is so frequent in this town and isn''t a coinflip like other states, the beautiful decaying of the trees leaves always has me enthralled by it''s calming warmth and allure.


    In this town of ours, there are abandoned buildings scattered across long fields, large trees and overgrowth covering them due to time. In my free time, before heading out to school, I like to search through these buildings to satiate my curiosity since almost every day I stray off the beaten path on my journey to school, I seem to always find something interesting. Abandoned mansions filled with the remnants of a family once forgotten, modern architecture left unfinished within a thicket of trees, large brutalist buildings left in the middle of an open field, trees acting as a border as if hiding something within, hidden bunkers and the like. Wondering why something like that was created in a town like this but then left to nature to engulf its stone walls, stuff like that is what I do for fun nowadays.


    I love sticking my nose where it doesn''t belong but... of course, people don''t like that very much so I compensate with an abandoned mall, or even a fully built freeway left untouched by the local masses. Areas like this are what make me love this town... its the only thing I love about this town. I could say my family is another factor in keeping me in the near future, maybe even when I graduate I''d still be forced to stay here... I care for my family, after all. My family doesn''t seem to care for me though.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Ever since I could remember I was always given the short end of the stick when it came to how my own family treated me, either not doted on enough, or straight up neglected. My sister is their favorite, my brother is the one they are proud of the most while I''m...


    The only thing I can seem to appreciate from them is I have a career choice in mind that I would love to pursue. My goal is to become a private investigator.


    My Dad is a Detective and my Mom is a Psychologist so I take after them quite a lot, didn''t help that they spartan trained us with their skills in both professions, my sister seemed to be the one who got less of that spartan training though because of my doting Mother and Father were ever so gracious to the one and only Kitsune Murphy.


    My name is Savan Murphy, my older brother is Lennon Murphy, Mom is Elizabeth Murphy, and my Dad is Johann Murphy. I have messy light brown hair that reaches to my ears, dark circles sit around my eyes, the color of which being hazel. I''m pretty tall for my age, being around 5''11" and all. Enough about that.


    "Why the hell do you wake up so early?" Kitsune asked me as I made my way down the stairs. I turned to look at her, hands in my pockets, looking up the stairs seeing a sister two years younger than me rub her eyes as if she was a three-year-old child who''d just caught their parent putting presents under their Christmas tree, only wearing a shirt too long for her small body, blond hair reaching her back, tangled up within itself. It always impresses me how lucky she got when it came to her looks in life since her beauty is completely natural, not including the bed hair of course.


    She swished spit in her mouth for a couple of seconds before smacking, "I like having extra time to do whatever I want before heading to school." I answered, her eyes squinting whilst looking at the window sitting a comfortable four feet above me, being inside a wall of course. She screwed up her nose before heading back to her room, shaking her head disapprovingly, hair waving with the motions.


    I let out a prompt sigh before making my way to the kitchen, making myself something small for breakfast before heading back upstairs to get ready to leave. The same pattern every morning, admire how comforting our house is, eat breakfast, put on my uniform, throw a bag over my shoulder, and leave.


    I love Autumn and its warm colors but what makes this beautiful feeling of Autumn''s coming and passing even better is our uniforms for the school we go to.


    All schools in our town are charter schools that have a uniform policy enacted in its system, it''s pretty lenient though since the only requirement is that you have to wear the colors of the school to... well, school. For women, it''s a wine-red skirt, or khaki''s like men if they so wished, a red sweater, a dress shirt, and a black-tie. The black-tie is also optional. Men, it''s something similar but without a skirt. You can wear a red jacket as a replacement if you want to just as long as you are wearing at least a sweater or something on the lines of an overcoat over your shoulders with a dress shirt underneath.


    On this particular day of the week, as I made my way towards the school, I spot a sign. The words on the sign were, "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass." This was a path that I have walked many times before and many times before, as I walked down this path, trees sitting by the sidewalk basking it with shade as the sun peers through the gaps between the leaves and branches of each individual tree, a field lays outside of it.


    This field no matter how many times I have looked out to it had nothing there but on this particular day, there was a sign, a sign that said, "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass."


    Due to my curiosity about such an object appearing, one I have not seen before, I approached it. Leaves crunched beneath my feet as I move towards the sign, shifting through grass that made it all the way to my ankles. A few inches away from the sign, I stood. "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass."


    I let out a sigh and examined the sign, looking behind, below - grasping at the metal rod impaled to the ground, looking up towards the rusted iron sign with the words, "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass" painted across it with a mustard yellow color as its background, black text scrawled upon its surface. I clicked my tongue, knowing how dumb it was to expect something from this, so I leave. I planted my feet onto the sidewalk once again before looking back at the sign. My heart jumped for a moment, startled... there was nothing there in that field anymore. The sign was gone.

 2: Going Crazy

    "Do you think ghosts and or the supernatural exists?" Jordan, a decent-looking young woman with long chestnut-colored and reddish-brown eyes, reminiscent of the Autumn season we found ourselves in currently, glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, a curvy body hidden under layers of clothing.


    "Ghosts?"


    Jordan turned her body a bit more as she sat on the staircase''s steps, originally staring out a long window, starting from the first floor of the school and reaching the third, a large Autumn tree blocking our view. "You know, spirits, phantoms..."


    "I know what a ghost is, I mean, why are you mentioning ghosts?"


    She licked her lips before looking out to the tree sitting comfortably outside the window''s wall of glass, branches scratching at its nearly - perfectly polished surface. "I don''t know, ghosts just intrigue me and I thought it''d be fun to y''know... go ghost hunting with a friend~." She gave a coy expression, glancing at me from time to time.


    "You want to ghost hunt?"


    "Maybe I do, maybe I don''t."


    "Why do you want to ghost hunt all of a sudden?"


    "It''s just a thought I had earlier this morning. Thought it''d be fun..." She let out a deep-seated sigh before going on, "It''d at least break up the monotony that is living in this town."


    "There are plenty of abandoned buildings around, why don''t you look for them yourself. That''d surely help with you, ''monotonous'' time in this town, right?"


    "I''m scared to go alone."


    "I see... is that I-" I cut myself out before saying something redundant, visibly waving the thought away with my hand. "I''ll do it if you want. Not like I have anything better to do."


    Jordan spun around in the spot she was sitting on to look up at me as I stood overlooking the staircase she planted her ass upon. She pressed her lips together before standing up, heading up the stairs to stand beside me. "Are you not scared of ghosts?" She asked, hands in her skirt pockets.


    "I''ve never seen a ghost or anything so why should I be scared of it? Not like I know what it could do or not."


    "Have you seen the Exorcist... Para-"Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "I have - also, the Exorcist had a Demon, not a ghost, same with Paranormal Activity."


    She clicked her tongue, furrowing her eyebrow as if thinking hard about what she would say next. "Maybe Demons don''t exist and there are just ghosts?"


    "I don''t know Jordan, I''m not an exorcist, a ghost, nor am I a... whatever deals with those kinds of things."


    "What would you do if you saw a ghost?"


    "Depends on what the ghost would look like or do."


    Jordan gave an attentive nod with a cute determined little grunt, first I heard her do that but y''know, it made me happy. I blew some air out from my nose and begun heading back to class due to our time together being mostly during lunch. As I left, I turned back around to look at Jordan, "Tell me when you want to do it." I said this whilst pointing to my phone before leaving.


    ***


    I think I might be going crazy...


    As the class proceeded after my lunchtime conversation with Jordan - I saw something extremely peculiar, something that no one else seemed to see. I''m only taking a shot in the dark here but I legitimately believe that the stress might be catching up to me because I swear I saw a massive fucking monster clamber into the room and started mimicking the exact words the teacher was saying during our English class.


    Oddly tall, gaunt face, grey skin, and glistening black eyes, almost devoid of life. It''s boney hands skimming across an oversized book that it carried with itself as it squeezed through a door too small for its lumbering size while wearing a gym uniform. I had to double-take on the rest of the classroom since nobody seemed to have recognized its presence, only staring intently at the teacher as they wrote quaint words onto a whiteboard, washed clean of ink.


    Every so often, that thing would smack its lips, licking them with a dried-up tongue, cracks, and fissures lined across its muscled membrane.


    After 10 minutes of mimicking the Teacher''s lecture, it looked over at me...


    I think it noticed that I was glancing at it while taking notes... fuck... those eyes. Empty... like a doll. I swallowed on the accumulated saliva that sat under my tongue as it went down a dry throat, heart racing in a panic as I completely focus my attention on the teacher. I couldn''t help but lick my lips like it was, feeling as if my entire body was dried of all of the water inside it as its body shrunk to the size of a normal person''s whilst it''s neck elongated - head inflated to its utmost degree as it stretched its way to my end of the classroom, head hovering above mine, staring intently as my eyes welled up with tears for I dared not to blink.


    Then... suddenly... it disappeared.


    I quickly got up from my chair, hand raised. "What-?"


    "I need to vomit!" I yelled, storming out from the classroom, surprising everyone else within it. This was only the second time I''ve felt like this but somehow I feel ten times worse than the first time...


    Yeah...


    It was fear...


    I have rarely felt fear ever in my life, the only times in which I have been in Middle School and today, though I didn''t vomit due to it in Middle School. I have to be going crazy... that is the only explanation. But... something just doesn''t feel right. Something about that entire situation doesn''t feel right. I''m sure that I''m just seeing things but this is pushing it.


    This overwhelming dread... yeah, "Dread", that''s the word.


    If this is how it''s like seeing ghosts then... I hope that was just my imagination. If that was not my imagination then... I''m way over my head here.

 1: Jordan Balan

    "You''re shaking," I commented as Jordan fidgeted with her jacket''s pockets, lips pressed together as sweat beaded her face. "You sure you want to do this?"


    She blew air from her nose, grabbing onto my arm tightly, "I can do it!"


    Flustered for a moment, I sighed, "Why are you so determined to find a ghost?"


    She closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at me with puppy dog eyes, "I want to prove someone wrong!"


    "Of what?"


    "Believing ghosts."


    "So you don''t believe in ghosts, yet you''re scared of them?"


    She took a deep breath and exhaled, looking over to the dilapidated building in front of us with determination, "I''m scared that they might be real, cannot be too careful."


    "Who''re you proving wrong?"


    "My brother."


    "Uh..."


    "I don''t want to say anything more than that." She used the tips of her nails to pinch a bit of my skin before quickly moving on, pulling me to the entrance of the building before quickly cowering behind me, still holding onto my arm.


    ''It''s one of those late pains...'' I think to myself, commenting on the pinch she had did not too long ago as it was a delayed pain, which is the most annoying to deal with. I let out a long sigh before rubbing my arm to dull the pain, continuing into the building as Jordan stuck to my back like glue.


    "Don''t think anything weird of-"


    I quickly cut her off before she continued, "I''m not, calm down."


    She made an uncomfortable expression before the sound of the building settling made her jump behind me as if I was cover.


    "Quite energetic huh? Did something good happen?" She quickly jabbed my back as we entered the building, footsteps echoing across empty decrepit walls, cracked and worn due to time. Mold sits in corners as vines overtake room walls, pieces of furniture scattered about, shattered windows. "This seems to be an old school building..." I commented while scanning school desks and the like, hand hovering across walls as they are slowly enveloped by an unwavering blackness as the sun slowly disappears under the horizon line. Blue clouds overtaking the red glow of the sun.


    I pulled out a flashlight as I continued through the first floor of the building, clicking a button on the back of it to turn it on, lighting the path in front of us. After the incident earlier today, of course, I was also on edge. It wasn''t just the expectation that I might see something that I really didn''t want to see or encounter in my daily life... no, not just that. It was the calm stillness of the building as it creaked and moaned as if it was an old man complaining about having too many visitors as if they were going to fall apart at any moment through the slightest bit of excitement.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    After fully wandering through the first floor, we decided to steel ourselves for the second. "Okay!" Jordan yelled, interrupting me mid-thought, "Let''s take a quick break!" She pulled me to the side of the staircase and sat me down, sitting right beside me not too long after, huddling close to my arm as she took long breaths before exhaling.


    "Shit... now I''m getting nervous."


    Jordan visibly cringed, "Don''t say that, you''re going to make me even more scared!" Her shaking hands grasped the sleeve of my shirt desperately, keeping her head low. As I think about it at that time, I remember distinctly, though I didn''t notice it then... I remember seeing a sign. Down the hallway in front of us, the sign lurked. "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass." The sign was facing the wall of a hallway we had just passed. If I were aware of what that meant then, maybe I would''ve noticed it sooner and prevented Jordan from getting involved.


    I thought I was just going crazy but... this was real. No... this is real. We made it up the stairs, Jordan still staying close to my side. The second floor was no different than the last, other than...


    A man, body looking as if it was sucked dry, skin looking as if made of charcoal. I figured she wouldn''t see, which she didn''t as it blended in with the darkness. I took a deep breath and moved closer, making sure as to not make it seem I recognize its existence. I got close enough to maybe have it recognize my existence but it does not flinch, fetal position, stuck in the corner of the room. I let out a long sigh before continuing.


    The second floor, clear.


    Jordan and I then make it up to the third floor, I expected nothing extreme to be in this building due to the last encounter, and just like I had predicted, nothing.


    The fourth floor - The fourth and fifth floor were connected to another half of the building through long bridge-like hallways, the other building barely having any doors, and where there was one, they were locked - almost impossible to find a way in. We looked through each room, finding nothing each time until reaching the hallway of the fourth floor. I stopped at the start of the hallway, stopping Jordan with one arm as I leaned in to look farther into the blackened hallway, pointing my flashlight into the darkness to see if there was anything. In a whisper, Jordan asked, "Why did you stop?"


    I took a deep breath before taking one more step into the hallway before halting completely as a small faint glitter of the light was caught at the end of the hallway. I could see as Jordan''s heart dropped to her stomach, eyes widening as she took a step back behind me. ''What the fuck... she saw that?'' I thought to myself, double-checking the end of the light-emitting from the flashlight, slightly panicked. I waved the flashlight around sporadically, looking for a reaction until getting another faint glitter at the end of the hallway. I blew air through gritted teeth, shaken up by what I saw, ''Is that a real person?'' I asked myself, taking some steps back.


    Out from within the darkness, a face peaked in... a face with a head larger than it should be, a face wrinkled due to age. It smacked its lips as it brought all of its body into the light. I could see its jaw tighten as it looked over at us, neck stretched out like an ostrich''s, arms and legs far apart like a bat''s, crawling like a dog. A faint howling sound emitted from its neck, watching its neck expand sent shivers down my spine. "What... what is th-"


    I whipped my head over to Jordan, quickly covering her mouth before bringing her close to my body, "Shut the fuck up... don''t-"


    "Can... you... see...?" It spoke... slow - as if barely understanding the words coming out from its own mouth.


    I could feel tears running down my hand, tears coming from Jordan, her entire body shaking. I swallowed spit through a dry throat and get close to Jordan, "I don''t see anything there... right?" I affirmed with her, trying to be as obvious to her about my intentions as possible.


    Jordan nodded slowly as I take my hand away from her mouth, "I don''t see... anything..."


    "Okay..." I spun Jordan around, heading back to where we came. She noticed the burned man on the third floor, getting closer to me because of it.


    The instant we made it to the first floor, we bolted.

 2: Jordan Balan

    Jordan''s whole body shook in my arms as we slowly made it to my house, which was a choice made by the both of us due to how close I was to the location compared to her own house. I couldn''t help but not be afraid anymore when seeing her in this state... instead, all I felt was... anger. The wish and determination to do something whilst burning with an unprecedented rage.


    I struggled for a moment to open the door but I managed to squeeze us both into the house, helping her take off her shoes and placing them into a cubby near the entrance, putting my shoes into the same cubby not long after. She dropped to the floor, her legs had given out. Jordan looked up to me with a sorrowful expression, "I can''t move my legs..."


    I paused for a moment to think, kneeling down to her level, "I''ll go get-"


    "Don''t!" I was taken about by her shouting, "Don''t leave..." Tears welled up in her eyes.


    "Okay..." I nod slowly as I pulled her to the nearest wall, propping myself upon it while keeping her close. "We can stay here until you can get back up again, okay?" She nodded weakly.


    I took a deep breath, arm thrown around her body while spacing out, staring up at the ceiling light sitting above us. My sister ran out from the back of the house, entering the hallway. "What the hell...?" I knew what she was thinking but... it''s best not to mention it. "Why the hell is...?"


    I turned my head to look over to my sister, "It''s nothing bad, something happened and now I''m helping her out... okay?"


    "But why is-"


    "That''s none of your business Kitsune."


    A crude expression spread across her face, brow furrowed, lips pursed, fists shaking in anger. "Right! Huh!? No-"


    "Kitsune!" She reeled back in shock, this was the loudest I have ever been with her, "Shut the fuck up and go! I don''t want you nitpicking everything I fucking do! So shut the fuck up and actually fucking use common sense for once before acting like a fucking cunt!" I made sure to distance myself from Jordan as I screamed those words. It felt like all of those years of anger and hatred were pouring out from me in that one singular moment as I left Kitsune stunned.


    "Stop...!" Jordan tried yelling, grasping at my pant leg, hands shaking. I immediately lowered myself to her level.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    "Sorry..." I looked up at my sister with a glare, "Help her shower, if you don''t I''ll smack you over the head, okay? Let her borrow your clothes as well." Jordan hesitated for a moment before I reached for her, throwing one of her arms over my shoulders, lifting her up from the ground. "Take her." I motioned to Kitsune.


    Kitsune clicked her tongue before doing the same thing that I did, leading Jordan up the stairs. I felt nauseous. I made my way into the living room, hands in my pockets, resisting the urge to vomit. I felt as if everything I had kept to myself for years would spill out at any moment. Jordan was lucky... wherein she had someone to comfort her, I had no one, and I still don''t. I couldn''t help but sob as I realized how pathetic I was then and there, feeling jealous of someone probably traumatized by what had just happened, though, when having thoughts like that, I feel as if I am being inconsiderate to myself.


    Am I ignoring something important inside of me... will I self-destruct?


    I honestly believe that I just want to be loved... I don''t think anyone loves me anyway. I believe my family stopped caring for me after Middle School... of course, it was because of that incident. Even if I did nothing wrong, even if everybody believed me, even if everyone knows that I did nothing wrong... it feels like I''m completely alone. Jordan seems loved...


    I don''t know her situation though. She might not be loved and she could be exactly like me.


    If she was like me, at least this pit in my stomach would have less depth but... so far, I can''t find the bottom.


    After an hour my sister made her way back down from the second floor, clearly irritated. "I did it, asshole." She quickly made her way back up the stairs, slamming the door to her room, Jordan passing by as she made her way down the same steps my sister had just stormed through. Jordan stopped at the door to the living room.


    "I''m feeling better now," Jordan said with a sigh, rubbing where tears once were, dried, or blending in with the wetness of the shower... bath... I don''t care to think about it, that''d be weird after all.


    "Where do you want to sleep? I could have you sleep in my room and I could sleep down here...?"


    Jordan paused to think, scanning the room, "No... I..."


    Don''t fucking do that... It makes me want to cry... "Let''s do that... okay?"


    She nodded slowly before making her way back up the stairs. After a few minutes, she made her way back down, "Where is your room?"


    "Right across from the bathroom at the top of the steps." I motioned to it with my finger.


    She nodded before making her way back up again, leaving me alone with my thoughts. "Fuck..." I deep-seated sigh was let out then, back pressed against the back of a couch. ''What would happen if they were here as well... would I have any sort of peace?'' I had assured myself that I wanted a completely quiet life without hitting any bumps in the road, but that is clearly not how life works, and life seems to hate me in particular. I want love, I want friends, I want people to actually care about me but... I''m too afraid of being betrayed again... I don''t deserve it anyway.


    I just want to be... happy... I haven''t felt that in a while... I''ve almost completely forgotten how that felt.

 3: Jordan Balan

    "Have you... been up this entire time?" Jordan''s voice was shaky as she descended down the stairs.


    I turned to her, arm thrown over the couch, "No, I got some sleep."


    "You don''t look like you have."


    I blew air from my nose before slumping onto my couch, head resting on one of the armrests. "Did you sleep well?"


    Jordan paused for a moment to think, slowly moving closer to the couch whilst examining the house. "No... no, I didn''t sleep well."


    I got up from the couch, "I''ll make you something." I headed to the kitchen behind me while rolling up my sleeves. "What do you want to eat? For breakfast of course..." I glance over at her as she sauntered quietly into the living room.


    She turned to me with a tired expression before sitting down on the couch. "Anything you can make."


    "Any allergies?"


    "No."


    I nodded to myself as I took out the ingredients, ''waffles with bacon should be good'', I thought to myself as I got flour, eggs, and some milk for the batter, snapping my fingers as I remember other miscellaneous ingredients whilst cooking.


    Looking over the couch while watching me cook, "You have a waffle maker?" I looked over to it, eyebrows raised.


    "Yeah, we do. I had to ask my parents to get it since I was tired of constantly having those shitty frozen waffles other people normally have."


    "I never figured you to be much of a cook."


    "It was due to circumstances, which led to me being the only one who really takes care of my sister around here. She''s almost completely incompetent in everything she does except socializing after all."


    "I thought she did Martial Arts, is she incompetent at that?"


    "To me, she is."


    Jordan didn''t bother to ask any further as she slid down the couch, throwing her legs onto an armrest whilst resting her head on the other side. The batter didn''t take too long to make so it was easy pouring into the waffle maker. After setting the temperature and closing it, I quickly moved onto the bacon, setting up a pan onto the stove and spraying it down with oil so the bacon wouldn''t stick to it. I debated for a few seconds about how much bacon I wanted to make and just decided to use the whole bag just in case Kitsune came downstairs.


    After five minutes of waiting, the one waffle I had made so far was finally done, "Do you want more than one?"


    "Yeah."


    I take out a plate and place the first one down, pouring some more into the waffle maker afterward. Some finished pieces of bacon sat comfortably near the one waffle that lay there on Jordan''s plate, and just as I had predicted, Kitsune had come down. "Are you making breakfast?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as a child would.


    "Yeah! Sit yourself down while you wait!" A quick click of the tongue and she sat down into a chair facing the kitchen, still half asleep. Another five minutes pass and another waffle are placed onto the plate. I spin around to the counter nearest to the couch to grab the syrup sat upon it with a variety of other ingredients before placing both the syrup and the plate of food onto a table. "Jordan, here."The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    She stood up from the couch quickly before sitting herself down into the wooden dining seat, cushioned by a pillow. I go over to the kitchen, grabbing a fork, and placing it onto the table, nodding as I cross over to my sister.


    "What do you want?"


    "Food..."


    I let out a sigh before heading back to the kitchen. "Well... Jordan. What are you planning to do after you eat?"


    "I''ll go home."


    "Okay, I''ll walk you there."


    Jordan nodded slowly, "Okay... thanks."


    "No problem..."


    "It''s... a bit embarrassing... that I have to rely on you like this... y''know?"


    "It''s fine, I''m used to it," Quickly finishing up some more batter, I turned to Jordan, "I understand why you would be this way... hell, if I were you I''d react the same way."


    "Why didn''t you?"


    "I''ve already seen something like that before. It made me vomit."


    "You didn''t have anyone right...? To help organize your thoughts as I did?"


    I remained silent, turning away, a solemn expression on my face that was hard to contain, to say the least. She continued to her food as she talked, making sure to only take small bites to be understandable when she would speak.


    "You''ve helped me a lot here... even though it was my fault that things had turned out this way."


    "It''s fine, I don''t care very much..."


    "But I do," Jordan paused as her voice had progressively become more serious in tone, "It makes me feel like a coward to rely on you like this when you had no one to do the same for you... but still... I''m debating whether what we saw was real or fake."


    "What did you see?"


    Jordan stopped for a moment, glancing over at Kitsune, who was practically passed out in her chair, "I don''t think we should talk about it here."


    I nodded quietly, watching as the oil coming from the bacon popped intermittently, flipping every few seconds.


    ***


    After breakfast was finished, we decided to make our way outside, Jordan putting on some extra clothes I didn''t need whilst wrapping herself up in her jacket, her school clothes placed into a bag. The park was the first place we thought of going to when we decided to talk about what had happened.


    Jordan sat herself down on a bench, staring out to the playground that lay in front of her, watching the sun peak through metal pipes and plastic roofing. I made my way over to her with a couple cans of soda I had gotten from a vending machine nearby, placing one next to her bag before sitting down, cracking the can I had open, and taking a sip of it. She nodded while uttering the words, "Thanks."


    "What I saw in that building," I started, "It was a... thing. It was crawling on all fours and its neck was elongated like a giraffe, but it moved like a... the neck moved as if there weren''t any bones inside... kinda like a snake but freer since snakes actually do have bones..." I pressed my lips together, scratching the back of my head as I attempted to recall what I had seen, not being able to find the right words.


    "Well... at least we know now that we saw the same thing," Jordan began to chuckle to herself, "Your description was terrible."


    I pursed my lips in irritation before taking another sip of soda. I let out a quick sigh before continuing, "So we''ve essentially confirmed we aren''t crazy."


    Jordan speculated quietly to herself before turning to me, "That''s not entirely true... if there is a third person that could see the same things we had seen, we''d be able to confirm we weren''t crazy with ease, but the problem is that we can''t. When that did happen too... we could''ve just been coincidentally hallucinated about the same thing."


    "That''s too convenient, plus, I don''t think that''s how human brains work."


    "What do you mean?"


    "If another human would want someone to see the same thing that they had seen, yet they are the only ones that could see it... well, let''s just say that the process would be really complicated and would most definitely not involve the two of us going into a building and simply looking in the same direction in the dark. The thing is, the human mind is too varied for it to give the same result to two people at the exact same time unless if it was a common consensus in something that other people could already see. But... this could just be me hoping I''m not fucking losing my mind."


    "Maybe... the physical contact..."


    "No, still not possible."


    "How do you know?"


    "I don''t know entirely, but I''ve done a bit of research on this subject when it comes to hallucinations and such. My mother is a Psychologist after all."


    "Oh wow... I didn''t know that. What''s your dad then?"


    "Detective."


    Jordan''s expression showed that she was uncomfortable with something before turning back over to me, "What do we do now?"


    I leaned into the bench a bit more, "For now, we bide our time and wait to see what happens. Maybe talk to each other about what we have seen and such."


    "That''s all we can do... huh?"


    "Yeah..."

 1: Violet Le Roux

    "For man''s progress, only self-destructive can be met in thy wake for it be that only failure that leads one to success. Man who foolishly looks for only success tends to be those who are filled with arrogant pride that separates everyone around themselves from the said beholder. They wallow in self-pity as they only find themselves to be the superior person amongst the prattled consumers of basic foods and goods whilst not looking as closely as they could, since they are the best, not understanding that they have already failed from the very beginning, not as a man, but as a human being incarnate."


    I couldn''t help but stifle laughter as the pretentious speech coming from the woman''s maw in front of me came to a close. "What are you talking about?"


    "You!" She pointed to me with a large grin coming across her face, clearly unaware that her little speech doesn''t fit me in the least.


    "I''m not an arrogant person though?"


    "Then why do you not talk to people!? Why does thou not seek conversation, why does thou look at others as if they were unwashed masses?"


    "I don''t? I just don''t really like talking to people."


    The young woman in front of me pursed her lips before crossing her arms, pressing them against her chest tightly. "But..." A pinkish-red came across her cheeks, "I''m a dummy." Tears welled up in her eyes as her face grew redder than before.


    "Um... sorry?"


    She spun around, taking a deep breath before letting out a long sigh before turning back around, rubbing the tears out from her eyes. "Sorry about that! I thought that you were like... I don''t know..."


    "A LARP''er or something, cause I''m not."


    "I know that now! All I knew was about your family and stuff so I didn''t expect this, I just knew you didn''t talk to anyone!"


    "You know about my family?"


    "Well- I wanted people for my club and couldn''t find any and when I figured out someone in the school had a family - blah blah blah!" She paused for a moment, "I figured you''d know a bit about investigation... because of your family..."


    The young woman in front of me is Violet La Roux - a popular sporty person in the school who''s known for their eccentric personality and well... charisma? Charm would also be a good one since she''s quite the looker. Dark brown hair that reached her shoulders with eyes that reflected her name, though it was just a trick in the light and her actual eye color is more of a darker blue comparative to the violet-purple that she is commonly known for. She commonly wears a red jacket over her white dress shirt, of course with the signature tie that all students wear - a short skirt with spats underneath included, though she also wears a headband on her thigh.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Why do you wear a headband on your thigh?" I pointed to it, eyebrow raised.


    She quickly covered it with her hands before, once again, pursing her lips, this time in irritation rather than speculation, "That''s off-topic!" She stopped for a moment to think, eyes pointed to the ceiling of an empty classroom we were both in - me, in the only seat there, it wasn''t my fault though since she was the one that sat me down. "You seem super sociable now, why don''t you talk to people normally?"


    "I talk with someone."


    "Who?"


    "Jordan Balan, that glasses chick that I hang out with all the time." It''s not really all the time, but this was me predicting our future relationship due to what happened recently.


    "Only hanging out with one person doesn''t count!"


    "I think you''re just easy to talk to, you carry a sort of aura that makes anyone sociable."


    "I do?"


    "I don''t know, you probably do though, you have enough charming points to yourself to be considered the alpha, and when the alpha is high in spirits, normally everyone else is."


    "Alpha?"


    "Not literally, of course, I''m talking psychological-wise."


    "I see..."


    "The more charming the person, the e-"


    She cut me off, pointing at me in the process, "That! Right there!" I reeled back in my chair in surprise, "That sort of deductive whatchamacallit is exactly what I have been looking for!"


    "Alright...?"


    "Join my club! The Private-Investigations Club!"


    My lips were pressed together and my brow was furrowed, I didn''t exactly know how to react since the girl in front of me didn''t really seem to be the... type, I guess? "Why did you create this club?"


    "I like mysteries, but I suck at solving them!"


    I felt like she''d keep pestering me about the topic if I rejected here and now so... "I''ll join, I guess."


    She rolled up both of her sleeves and fist-pumped in the air, a contagious grin coming across her face. She jumped up in realization after fist-pumping the air a few times, looking over to me in expectation, "What about your friend? Jordan Balan!"


    "We could ask her if you want."


    "Let''s do it then!"


    ***


    It didn''t take too long to find Jordan within our labyrinth of a school since she was looking for me as well. At first, she had a tinge of excitement on her face before realizing I was being followed by Violet.


    Violet immediately moved in, grabbing onto Jordan''s hands, making sure she couldn''t get away, "Join our club!"


    "What?"


    I chimed in, "Violet here invited me to join her club and I accepted, so we''re wondering if you''d like to join too."


    Jordan thought about it for a moment, "What''s your name?" She asked Violet.


    "Violet Le Roux."


    Jordan took a few seconds to think about her next decision before speaking up again, "Okay... I''ll do it but it''s only because Savan''s in the club."


    I felt a bit embarrassed by what she said for some reason - Violet nodded, "Alright! I''ll get the papers now, follow me!"

 1: Naomi Fujimoto

    Not even seconds after getting both Jordan and me into her club, Violet led us into a classroom with a singular girl sitting in the middle of it, jotting notes down on paper.


    "Detective Girl!" Violet cupped her mouth and yelled out - of course, I couldn''t help but grit my teeth and stare in pity as I saw the young girl jump from her seat in shock.


    Naomi Fujimoto, known as one of the more popular girls in our school due to both her looks and general intelligence, I do have to admit after seeing her for the first time, she was quite the looker, definitely my type - short silky black hair, a velvet hue coming from her eyelashes. She''s Half-Asian so some of her features are a given but they add a whole lot to the wider picture. She wears black leather gloves, keeping her sleeves close to both of her wrists as two black tights sit comfortably on her thighs.


    "I don''t like how you''re both looking at me like that..." Naomi commented, her eyes shifting focus between Jordan and me. I quickly took a glance at Jordan to see her doing the same thing that I was doing and that was, obviously, checking her out. "I can almost feel those lustful stares." She said this as she adjusted her gloves.


    "It''s because every part of you is so beautiful Naomi!" Violet said with a massive grin on her face.


    Naomi gave an uncomfortable expression to the lot of us. "I''m not sure how I should feel about that."


    "Well, a lot of people find you gorgeous in the school y''know!?"


    Naomi turned her chair to face us, "I don''t very much care for those people."


    Violet paused for a moment, hands on her hips, "Well! I''m not here to compliment you, I''m here to recruit you!"


    "What?"


    "I''m starting up a club! It''s called the ''Private-Investigations Club''!"


    "You want me-"


    Violet cut her off, "Since you used to be known as the ''kid detective'', I thought it''d be a good idea to contact you as well as these two lovely people behind me!" Violet motioned towards us.


    "I don''t do Private-Investigation work anymore."


    "That doesn''t matter! You could use the club to study or whatever, I don''t give a shit! It''s just good to have more people who know about the field y''know?"


    Naomi pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing in consideration before shaking her head, "Sorry, I cannot join your club."


    "Why is that?" I immediately interjected with a question. She was about to talk but I stopped her with a hand, "Sorry... first. We should introduce ourselves. I am Savan Murphy."Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "I''m Jordan Balan."


    "I''m Violet Le Roux."


    Naomi nodded, "Naomi Fujimoto, nice to meet you all. But... I''m sorry, I''ll have to reject your offer."


    "Why is that?" I asked again.


    "Personal reasons..."


    "What are those reasons?"


    "That isn''t your business." Her tone became more hostile as I pressed further and in response to her change of tone, I gave a cold stare in return.


    "Whether it is my business or not, you can come up with a better excuse. You could''ve lied, or left out details in your reasoning as to why you wouldn''t want to join the club."


    Jordan leaned to me, bringing her voice to a whisper, "Why are you doing this?"


    I leaned over to her in turn, whispering back, "Personal reasons..." I bring my attention back to Naomi as her expression became more filled with rage as I continued, "I want to know your reasoning. You used to be a Private-Investigator, right?"


    "You''re getting on my nerves."


    "I''m just going to guess. Does it have something to do with your previously mentioned young age, in where there wouldn''t be much respect for you in that case leaving permissions as to what cases you get involved in, or the amount of information on the case to be very limited, no? I think that guess makes more sense so I won''t go on."


    She raised herself from her seat but didn''t move.


    "That guess was one part of a whole huh...?" I was stumped, the other guesses that I had wouldn''t make much sense unless I was in her boots during when... whatever made her not want to be a Private-Investigator happened, but, it could simply be that she didn''t want to do it anymore. "Did you just not have the passion for it at a certain point? That''s reasonable..."


    She didn''t budge, that wasn''t it.


    "Then if it wasn''t from a lack of passion... then what was it?"


    "What was your name again?"


    "Savan Murphy, son of Johann Murphy and Elizabeth Murphy, younger brother of Alex Murphy, older brother of Kitsune Murphy."


    "Okay, Savan. You wouldn''t very much like it if I pried into your issues, yes? Or do you think I didn''t do my research on the people of this school?"


    "Bring it up then..."


    "So you do know what I''m talking about?"


    "Yeah, I''m telling you to talk about it and I want to hear your exacts thoughts on what had happened and if I find what you said dissatisfactory, I will debunk any and all that you might say point by point." I couldn''t exactly contain my anger, but I kept it in since I know I''d be a hypocrite otherwise.


    "Do they both know?"


    Violet looked to me, confused, so I looked over to Jordan, pointing at her with my thumb, "She does."


    Jordan nods, understanding what we were talking about. Naomi takes a deep breath before exhaling, "You were accused of sexual harassment and molestation whilst still in Middle School, you were then promptly suspended, it going onto your record permanently even though there was no proof that you have committed such a crime... in fact, you didn''t do it at all. Nothing suggested that you did anything of the sort, but that''s all I know. You could''ve done it for all I know."


    Violet is looking at me in shock, "I can confirm that I did not in fact commit any crimes of the sort. My Father and Brother had looked into the issue as a whole and had confirmed it themselves, my alibi also checked out as well. Of course, the school couldn''t give less of a shit about that. Worst of all, the guy who caused the whole fiasco is my Sister''s crush, fucking bastard." I blew air out from my nose, "But I''m the type of person who lets bygones be bygones... I couldn''t give less of a shit about the whole situation now. So... will you tell me why you don''t want to join the club now?"


    Silence spread across the classroom.


    I looked over to Violet, "What, you gonna disassociate with me now?"


    "No, I believe you, I''m just surprised."


    "Okay..."


    Naomi shook her head, "I don''t need to be doing this right now." Before leaving the classroom, she said, "I''m still not going to join."

 2: Naomi Fujimoto

    It was a pain that spread throughout my entire body, starting from my arm all the way to my chest, tears welling up in my eyes as I dug my fingers into my shattered right arm. Bones poked out from under the skin, which was discolored, blood pouring out from different parts of my arm, turning that pain into a nauseating numbness that spread across the entire right side of my body.


    After that, I lost consciousness...


    ***


    "So! We have three members in total now, we just need two more and we''re set!" Violet yelled excitedly.


    "Why do you want to do this whole, ''Private-Investigation Club'' thing in the first place?" I asked, sitting across from her on the table we were sitting at in the clubroom, Jordan staying by my side.


    "Well! I''ve always been interested in mysteries for a while now, but I''ve just never been really competent enough to look into them myself."


    "I see..." To be honest, I wanted to go home right about now, Jordan looked to feel the same as well, especially since one of those "things" is just standing there in the corner of the room, staring at us. It was on the small side, mouth wide open whilst hands were clasped in prayer, its hollow eyes staring straight at us as it mumbled words every so often. I sighed before getting up from the chair I was sat in, "Well, I''ll be taking my leave for now," I stop to think for a moment, taking out a piece of paper and writing down my number, "Here." Sliding it over to Violet, I quickly left and Jordan followed.


    At the end of the day, we all went our separate ways and as I entered my house, a sudden urge came over me, but I decided to ignore it.


    I made dinner, ate, sat and watched television and... the urge wouldn''t leave me. My eyes kept locking onto my door as if desiring to leave. I held myself back as long as I could though until leaving the house around 12 am. That urge was spurred on by curiosity, only figuring this out after ten minutes of walking aimlessly. I wanted to see what some of those abandoned buildings looked like at night... for some reason, I wanted to see what was there, what type of fucking monstrosity I could find lurking in one of these buildings.


    Maybe it was some sort of Stockholm syndrome, but I made my way to one. An abandoned mall that was in the works before I was born - production stopped almost two years after my birth into this world and hasn''t been taken down. I decided to enter that place, that mall.


    A half-opened gate hung above the ground, I crouched to get through. It was almost pitch black, so realizing this, I left to get a flashlight.


    Again, back at the mall, flashlight in hand, I walked further inside. Where there used to be stores, they were locked up behind metal cages, some being completely empty, just a square hole the size of a room sitting there. Mold lined the corners of walls, odd stains were dotted across tile floors. After looking through the first floor, I made my way up to the second, wherein a skylight sat upon an unfinished roof, making my way through using an escalator, long broken down.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    My ears twitched intermittently at peculiar noises until one in particular especially caught my attention, the sounds of struggling. Running quickly over to the sound, I turned the corner to see a man sitting atop a girl. Hiding behind the wall, I observed. A man covering in black clothing, head covering with a beanie and scarf. The girl looked to be from my school, her skirt had the same pattern and I got a glimpse of red amidst the struggle, her hands bound and pressed against her chest. The flashlight I had was already turned off when I arrived, plus, it was decently large in size and could easily be used as a blunt weapon... I should do it.


    Rushing in quickly, I slammed the back of the flashlight across the man''s head, making him jump off the girl. He threw himself against a nearby wall, and, by using the same part of the flashlight that I used to give him a quick wake-up call, I shoved it into his neck. I pulled back as he collapsed to the floor, grasping at his neck, quickly scuttering away in fear, still barely able to breathe. I couldn''t help but feel a little hyped since this was the first time I had done something like this, my heart was racing, I was exhilarated, especially since, unlike those fucking monsters, I actually had a fighting chance. Well... I don''t even know If I could have a fighting chance against those monster things since I haven''t tried but... I don''t really want to try.


    After taking a deep breath, I looked over to the girl laying on the ground beside me. Naomi... what the fuck. She was bruised on one side of her face, her breathing was ragged. I dropped to the floor and immediately began examining her. That guy could''ve done anything before I got here, so I hope it didn''t go too far. Luckily her face seemed to be the only thing that was bruised, at least, from what I could tell at a first glance.


    Her hands and legs were zip-tied, and I''m guessing the guy who did this was aware of how easy it would be for her to break out from that if she had full mobility... all she needed was to be able to move normally or to at least be sitting down to break out from this, but that might explain what he was doing earlier... no... he totally had ill intentions, there is slight bruising on her neck, after all, looked like to thumbs pressed on where an adam''s apple would be. I take both zip ties off and she sighs, propping herself against the wall whilst removing a small gag in her mouth.


    Her expression became sour, "Why the hell are you here?"


    "I don''t know how to answer that question, but it was definitely a coincidence." I had realized at that moment that my hands were shaking, and so was hers. "Let''s get you out of here..."


    "Did you see his face?"


    I shook my head, "No, wish I did, do you know who that was?"


    "No idea, but..."


    "Did he kidnap you or something, how the hell did you end up in this situation?"


    "He... I was looking into something and he... I don''t remember what happened after that."


    "I thought you retired?"


    Her eyes widened as her brow furrowed, obviously surprised that I figured her out. "You..."


    "You can''t do things like that alone, especially if guys like that are around. Who knows what would''ve happened if I wasn''t there."


    "I would''ve swallowed my ton-"


    "Fucking moron,"


    Her eyes widened even more than before.


    "I get that you have pride and would rather kill yourself than be subjected to whatever the fuck might''ve happened, the problem here isn''t even that, it''s the fact that you''re treating your life lightly, this goes for your mental state as well... what if you couldn''t swallow your tongue, what would you do then? So it''s best just to not do anything at all, do not involve yourself in such a matter without help, and if you don''t have someone to help, then don''t do it."


    "I-"


    "It isn''t because you''re a kid, it''s not because you''re a woman either, it''s because that''s basic fucking common sense."


    She looked humiliated, but it was definitely something that she needed to hear, then, my heart dropped to my stomach. It was that fucking sign again... a sign that was not there before and is there now... "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass".

 3: Naomi Fujimoto

    All sound escaped me as we attempted to leave the area, going down the long but dead escalator as I noticed a peculiar shadow approaching us, it was then when I noticed that she saw it too, a shadow that didn''t look human cast in darkness, this wasn''t like the monsters I had encountered before either, no, it was bounding towards us. "Come on!" I yelled as we both made it down the escalator, sprinting to the entrance of the mall as she was obviously confused about what was going on.


    In the direction we were running, one had managed to fall through the floor, landing right in front of us. A long tendril shot at the both of us - pushing Naomi away, it had missed. It collided against the ground behind us, causing debris to fly into the air. "What the hell!?" Naomi screamed... this was a first for me too. The ones I have encountered so far have never been outwardly hostile like this, nor have had the potential to interact with any objects surrounding it, so frankly, I couldn''t fucking believe it. The one following us before fell down the escalator steps, quickly gaining its composure and sprinting at us once again.


    I grabbed Naomi''s arm, running around the one chasing us while going in the opposite direction of the nearest entrance due to the weird asshole with a tendril that could annihilate someone within an instant. I watched as one of the monsters skidded against the ground in an attempt to turn in our direction, struggling due to its paw-like appendages.


    I didn''t get to have a good look at the tendril-monster, but the one chasing us, well... I did. Its paws were like a dog but it had the face of a man, mouth and nose stitched shut while it''s eyes were hollow, the rest of it''s body being more of an abhorrent transition from crocodile to its dog-like legs. It should be faster than the both of us, but because of the ground, it''s more skidding than running. "You can let go... of my wrist..." She said panting and of course, I let go. "What the fuck was that!?"


    "You think I know?"


    "It was more of a question for my-"


    Quickly, our conversation was cut short. I didn''t know what hit me, but I was sent sliding across the floor with a broken arm, and the instant I stopped, I couldn''t help but hold as tightly as I could as I screamed in pain. It stung like none other before it, it felt like all the muscles in my arm with being torn to shreds along with the terrifying numbness that had followed. The pain slowly went across my entire body as my feet scratched against marble flooring as my breath had begun running ragged.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Naomi back faced my direction as she fell to the floor, the dog-like monster examining her like a piece of meat as it visible salivated through sealed lips. I figured, fight fire with fire, with the pain of a broken arm fading away due to adrenaline, I got up from that spot where all I could do was wriggle like a worm. I didn''t know what the fuck is going on, but if someone was dying, I for sure wasn''t going to let Naomi be the one. "Get the fuck out of here, Naomi!" I grabbed her with my one good arm, throwing her across the floor, the dog-like monster''s attention being brought to me.


    "Wait!"


    "What the fuck did I say!? I''m a stranger to you! Fucking leave!" Thank the gods that she actually listened to, maybe if it weren''t for these two laughing as they began to surround me, I''d feel proud even, but all that was left was regret. ''I don''t want to die...'' I thought to myself, soon steeling myself with gritted teeth. I don''t know why, but I could remember all of this vividly, something that should''ve been a faded memory due to... I don''t know.


    The tendril-monster broke my other arm, tossing me into a wall, I think I also broke my ribs as well, but I''m not quite sure since the pain I felt seemed to all blend together at this point, then slowly progressed into a sensation that could only be described as "thudding", no real feeling of pain, just the sense of vibrations and sounds traveling throughout your entire body. At this point, I could barely see anything as my eyes were half-closed until finally, I had lost all consciousness.


    To be honest, I had fully expected to die here, and when I thought that to myself, for some reason I felt this strange sense of gratification. I had wondered what my family would think, how they would react - I would imagine that if they reacted as a normal family would that I would feel happy in some sense, either it is due to the fact that they actually cared about me and the grim satisfaction of them regretting that they didn''t spend enough time with me, or that they had ignored me when I needed it most... I don''t know... maybe even the disappointment felt if they never really cared like I always had expected them to feel. They have to care right? I''m family...


    The biggest problem is the fact that... it''s really made me realize how much I distrust my own family. It makes me realize how much I really hate them.


    Then, I awoke to a new day, in the same place I was before. No injures, nothing, just torn clothes within a dimly lit mall due to sunrise. My body felt weak, I was confused, not sure why everything was where it should be. It was very clear that what happened actually happened due to turned-over tiles, some blood, and my ripped clothes.


    I staggered my way out the mall, half-conscious. Not a ghost, but a person, which made less sense due to what happened, what would make this worse is due to the fact that I know for a fact that Naomi had abandoned me entirely, not even bothering to call someone, what a shitty life.

 3: To Be

    Seeing the shock on Naomi''s face as I came down the hall was haunting to me, I was shocked too, no... I... I can''t even describe how I feel. The words, "How are you alive?" came out of her mouth, but no sound came out. Jordan trailed behind me since I called her earlier so I could relay what happened that night, though this was after staying home for a few days. Violet was coming from another hallway, seeing her from what would be the school hallway''s intersection, Jordan and I sitting in the middle of Naomi''s surprise, and Violet''s obnoxious yet still optimistic nature.


    "Naomi!" I called out to her, waving her to come over to us, "Jordan and I have to talk to you!" I looked back over to Violet, "Can you wait in the clubroom."


    Violet stopped halfway through the hallway before spinning on her heel and turning back.


    ***


    Visible disbelief could be seen on her face as I explained everything, explaining my experience, explaining both my experience and Jordan''s... all of it. She couldn''t help but believe everything because of what she had seen. I described what I saw, confirming with her that she saw the same thing, and did the same with Jordan once again. We were left in silence after everything was explained. Naomi made a meek expression, "How are you alive though?"


    "That, I don''t know."


    Jordan cut in, "You... how did it feel? They can..." Jordan shook her head, "That means that they can..." I could visibly see her stifle vomit in her throat, before laying her head down on a table that we were surrounding.


    I choked up, barely able to speak properly, "It hurt... a lot. It was an unsettling numbness... my arm..." I lifted my sleeve, "How don''t even fucking know anymore... I..." I shook my head, "I can''t fucking... I can''t, I don''t really want to remember it."


    Naomi sighed, "What do we do about this?"


    "Live with it until we find a solution. There''s no other way plus... it just seems impossible to do so."


    Naomi grit her teeth, squinting, "Hey..."


    "What...?" I looked her in the eyes as her face slowly looked directly into my direction, "Will, I always have this with me now?"


    "I don''t know."


    Noami looked back down at the desk in front of her, "Hey... I''ll join the club."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I was taken aback, to say the least, "Uh... wait. Where did this come from?"


    "I think it''d be better to hang around people who know what I''m going through, people who are experiencing similar things."


    "Uhh... well... Violet hasn''t really... so."


    "It''s fine..."


    I nodded, "Okay... alright," I paused, "We''ll set you up with Violet, then."


    I still barely understand where the decision came from but it worked for me and I''d already expected that Violet would probably pester me about getting Naomi with us even more than she already had. The question is... how did I manage to get myself surrounded by girls... where are the dudes at. I know this isn''t really the right time to be mulling over this but its a genuine question and is important for my integrity - will this be some weird bullshit anime scenario wherein if I accidentally come upon them doing some weird or lewd, they just start beating the shit out of me... or...? I hope not, I hope it isn''t a harem situation either -- Like, I know that''s an even stupider thought than the one before but I can''t help but be worried, not like that would happen in the first place though, at worst they all hate me in the in but... fuck it.


    I''m being an idiot, all I''m trying to do is get my mind off of this crazy shit that has been happening recently. The pain still doesn''t feel real, I clutch my arms, squeezing my body as hard as I can to try and remember what the pain could''ve been like but can''t even imagine it still, then realizing that it could''ve been excruciating, I attempt to forget about it as quickly as I remembered. What is this weird bullshit anyway...


    What does it even mean when everyone knows I''m not a culprit to... what...? Wait... okay... so. I never actually thought of a proper reason other than evidence showing the contrary but even then that wouldn''t be enough to put it on a permanent record and leave it there... it would only be permanent if a student faced the actual repercussions yet I never actually did, I was just ignored by everyone else like the plague but... why do I have a record? That doesn''t make sense now that I think about it. Everyone is aware I wasn''t the one, evidence showed I wasn''t the one but yet again, no one denied that it happened in the first place except for the fact that the accuser denied that it was me afterward, yet she never denied that something happened in the first place... was it. I know it was a ploy, that was obvious enough by their chats but- Goddamnit! I don''t know! No matter how much I think, it doesn''t make sense! I could ask the girl what really happened but the problem occurs if she flips it on me or if she freaks out, or just outright doesn''t tell me. Were parts of it real or was it all just fake, nobody said shit about either, they kinda just forgot.


    Jesus, why am I thinking about this now. Maybe it was because of my first interaction with Naomi but... I really don''t understand. Everyone is aware yet they have never seen anything to make them support me in any way, so why do they all know? Is there something people haven''t told me? Am I being lied to about something or was it absconded in the first place as to not get me involved any further? All that does... if they know me... all that does is make me curious, and if the one guy who''s pulling all of this is who I think it is... he should no damn, fucking well that I would find out eventually, so why were...?


    Fuck it. I''m done writing for now.

 4: Club

    Violet shifted suspiciously in her chair, hands rubbing together as her eyebrow was raised. She smirked wickedly as her eyes glided across the room before stopping at Naomi quietly reading a book by herself. Violet pointed to Naomi with two hands pressed together, both eyebrows raised and lips pressed together, somewhat impressed. She then looked back at me, her grin turning into something that sent shivers down my spine purely because I knew that she was planning something but didn''t know what. The thoughts I had last night though, I had to get them out, "Hey." Jordan and Violet brought their full attention to me, "I have a question for you all." I could tell Naomi was paying attention as she leaned slightly towards my direction. "I... the evidence around the accusation and stuff was faulty, my alibi had no inconsistencies and nothing could''ve actually led to me being the guy who did... ''that''. This included how the girl went back on her previous testimony saying that I wasn''t the guy in the first place. Yeah... all of that is well and good but... other than it being permanently on my record and people ignoring me in middle school, why has my overall reputation not... changed negatively. No matter what, my reputation would take a permanent nosedive right, this including the fact that it was public knowledge that I wasn''t actually the perp or anything... this included with the fact that I believe that people knew even before then that I wasn''t the guy so... why? Why has everything worked out so well? Is there something I''m missing here? Something people haven''t told me and had managed to keep it hidden until now?"


    Violet leaned back into her chair as Naomi put her book down, Naomi took a deep breath, "Uhh..." She sighed, "I... don''t know. You''re right to be suspicious of that and stuff especially since none of us here seems to care about something like that when... well, we should." Naomi pressed her lips together, "I don''t know how to answer that, but let me give you an example."


    "Hm?"


    "There was a child rapist, an absolute scum of a man who had married to multiple younger women, and or housed them, making him technically a kidnapper as well. Everyone in that town hated him and one day, someone in the town had shot him, multiple in fact. Almost everyone in this town witnessed this event yet when police questioned them, they all unanimously agreed with each other, without speaking a word, that they hadn''t seen anything. It''s sort of like that, everyone agreed without saying anything, that we all think you did nothing wrong and we shouldn''t treat you differently because the situation involved you."


    "You didn''t seem to feel this way before."


    "I did, you were just being a cunt."


    I stifled a laugh, "Right... but... another thing makes me wonder then."


    "Hm?"


    "The record... did what happen to that girl actually happen and was she forced and or convinced that it was me for a while... well," I shook my head, "I was a middle school student..." I clicked my tongue, "Fuck it! None of it makes sense, it doesn''t matter anymore anyway!"


    "Did you know the girl personally?"


    "Yeah, I liked her before all this shit went down, but was never brave enough to go and actually pursue her, wasn''t exactly obvious about it either. I helped a lot of people, poked my nose where I didn''t belong a lot of the time. Maybe that irritated the shit out of her or something but even then..."


    Jordan raised her hand, "Ummm... it''s just best to leave something like this be. It''s making me a bit uncomfortable."


    "Sorry." I shook my head, "Yeah, you''re right, its best to leave it be but I''ll have to find some way to get that shit off my record."


    "Never made sense why it was put there in the first place, the whole thing never became official in the first place."


    "I suspect it had something to do with a restraining order or something, that''s the only thing that makes sense."


    "Hm... she left the town, right? Like, went to another state entirely?"


    "I dunno," I shrugged, "None of my business anymore," I looked over to Jordan, "Sorry for continuing."


    "It''s fine."


    Violet blew air out of her nose a couple of times before confidently standing up from her chair, a smile on her face, and arms crossed, "This is the type of stuff our club was made for!" She declared. Violet slammed her hands down on the table in front of her, "Alright, let''s make this a side case!"A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "A what?"


    "We''ll get back to this case once we get a solid lead, but for now, we gotta do a different case!"


    I sighed, "Alright, indulge me," I shook my head, "Wait, wait, we have a case?"


    "Yes, Savan my dear!"


    "Wha-"


    "It involves the most mental of gymnastics, the most..." She stopped herself, trying to think of more words, "Yeah!"


    "What is it then?"


    "Follow me!"


    We were all dragged out from the clubroom and brought into a library off-campus. It simultaneously looked abandoned yet well kept, the inside filled with dust and tall shelves filled to the brim with books, all leathery hardcovers. Violet hobbled over to the front desk, plopping both of her arms onto the desk before leaning over it slightly. I leaned over as well, seeing a tall man cramped under a desk slowly clamber his way out from under it. "Umm... hi." He greeted us with a shaky grin, scratching the back of his head.


    "You said you had a case for us?"


    "Oh... you''re that girl." His voice almost came out like a whisper as he continued scratching his head with one finger. "Yes..."


    "Could you give us some details!?"


    He cringed, "You''re loud..." followed up with a sigh, "Yeah... well... there is this smell at the back there," He pointed to the back of the library. "I''ve called people to check it out but they couldn''t find the source and gave up, even torn up the walls and such... it''s in the basement, two shelves sitting on each side."


    I shook my head after quickly scanning the room, "Why''d you think students would be any better?"


    "I''m desperate..."


    I shrugged, finding that to be a well enough answer, but it didn''t exactly explain the eyes peeking out from some of the black spaces found between each of the books within the library. I tapped Jordan and Naomi''s shoulders and pointed to the eyes, both of them nodding in affirmation. "Figures..."


    "Hm?"


    "Nah..." The eyes are weird but those ghosts are random, they could probably just appear anywhere to freak people out. I looked back over to the man, "Yeah, we''ll handle it." I shift my jaw around, examing the library further. Violet almost sprinted straight to the basement door, but I managed to grab her shoulder just in time to stop her.


    "What?" She turned to ask.


    "Wait a bit, I''m thinking," I look to Naomi, "Rando thought..." I got close, whispering into her ear as quietly as I could. I could visibly see her cringe but I had no choice here, "That guy at the mall, who was he?"


    "I don''t know." She whispered back.


    "Was he connected to something? It seemed like you were there for more than just the sights of the mall."


    "Why are you bringing this up now?"


    "I don''t know, that''s why I said it was random."


    "I was looking into something, I don''t know what it is but I got curious because of how suspicious the people involved were being but that''s all I know... other than the fact that they are obviously malicious."


    "Yeah... no kidding." I pat her on the shoulder and made my way down one of the small little hallways lined with books. I took out my phone, scrolling to a group chat we had made together, typing, [Jordan, you go to the door, I''m going to keep an eye on the librarian.]


    [Jordan: Why what''s up?]


    [Violet: Hm?]


    [Naomi: What''s going on? Why are you typing in the chat?]


    [I don''t want him to hear. Just got a bad feeling."


    Naomi and Jordan started a private chat almost immediately, inviting me to it, [Naomi: Is it because of the eyes?]


    [Yeah, something is off about ''em, just go and take care of the door, I''ll watch the librarian.]


    [Jordan: Why are you so "on alert" about him?]


    [Just do it.]


    [Jordan: Alright, nothing I lose here.] I could hear Jordan calling Violet over. I walk back over to the librarian, seeing as he''s still sitting at his desk. I sit down in a chair in front of him, a few feet away as Naomi also made her way to the back with the others. "What are you doing?" He asked.


    "Nothin'', just waiting."


    "Jesus!" Violet yelled, "That smell!" I could hear them swing the door open so I stood. The smell wafted over all the way to us.


    "Holy shit!" I yelled as well, covering my nose with my shirt, stifling vomit in my throat. "What the fuck is that?"


    "It''s... the smell."


    "And you said it was coming from your basement?"


    "Yeah, I don''t know... where it''s coming from."


    "Hey... do you know what that smells like?"


    "No..."


    "Well, here''s the first question, how long have you owned this place, when did the smell start happening?"


    "Uh..." I could hear him choking up, "I''ve owned this place as long as I could remember."


    "Could anyone else enter the basement through any other methods?"


    "N-" His brow furrowed.


    "Hey! Violet!"


    "What!?" I could tell that she had just gotten done vomiting by her exasperated tone.


    "I solved the case."


    "Wait! What!?" They shut the door loudly and rushed out to the lobby, the only one who wasn''t there was Jordan, who I would expect to be still recovering from the smell. "What do you mean?"


    The librarian grit his teeth, "Yeah... what do you mean."


    "I mean, that we''ll have the police investigate this place in due time... Naomi, call the police."


    "Yeah, already on it." She dialed the number before I could even ask, phoned pressed against her ear.


    "They''ll see if you''re involved with the smell or not."


    The nervous demeanor from before had been thrown out the door by now, his eyes showing an empty husk. The librarian flipped over the desk and jumped over it in one swift motion, a weapon in hand. I didn''t have enough time to think about what it was before I had already locked his arm in between both of mine, kicking his feet from under himself before flipping him over my shoulder, watching him collide and break the chairs he had landed on. It was a knife, his last-ditch effort which only grazed my arm. I had to wrestle it out of his hand but I managed to take it from him, throwing it to the side. He gasped for air, arms flailing slowly about in a daze.


    "Woah..." Violet looked astounded.

 5: After

    "I didn''t even know you could fight!" Violet circled around me with excitement drawn across her face.


    I put up two fingers, "Two situations, by pure chance I won those encounters... I literally don''t know if I can do that again." I let out a long sigh, grabbing my chest, "Shit''s scary."


    Naomi chuckled which startled me, "I was starting to think you were inhuman." She continued laughing, dunno why though.


    Let me tell you where we are right now - We''d be right outside the library on top of a bench. Police cars surrounded the buildings, watching as the librarian being taken under arrest, shoved forcefully into a cop car with a desolate expression on his face. Jordan sat directly next to me as Violet circled us - Naomi keeping her distance, standing a couple of feet away from the bench, admiring the policemen from afar. Among the riff-raff of police was my father, a detective, I wanted to pretend to not notice him but decided to approach us anyway. Johann Murphy, a tall short-haired man, his hair being the same color as mine while his eyes showed a vacant grey. "Nice to meet you all," He glanced at me, "I''m Johann, I''m," Dad pointed to me, "I''m sure you''ve all already know my son here."


    Violet wore a wry smile as she went in for a handshake, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Murphy!" My Dad nodded, shaking Violet''s hand before quickly letting go and staring at the library just across from us.


    "Don''t know how a fool like that had eluded us until now," He looked back at us, "Missing reports up the ass yet the higher-ups wouldn''t let us do shit about it."


    I raised an eyebrow and leaned back, "Couldn''t you have done an independent investigation?"


    "I was going to but... well," He scanned the group and pointed to Naomi, "Did you figure this out?"


    I immediately raised my hand, not letting her talk, "It was me, I figured out something was wrong and acted accordingly."


    My Dad looked at me with irritation, "Right... so, how did the events transpire?"


    I took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh, "Violet here," I pointed to her, "Made an investigation club-like thing and that led us here since he hired us himself. That Librarian said there was an odd smell and we were to figure out where it was coming from and of course, he was suspicious from the get-go. Naomi noticed it a bit herself but there was also a cadaverous smell in the air. The basement in the back was where the smell was the strongest and all routes leading to the basement were too thin for a clean escape to be possible if something was really wrong."


    "A lot of assumptions there."


    "I''m becoming a paranoid person, I guess, but being paranoid helped us in the end, didn''t it? Sent the others to the basement to help not arouse suspicion, but of course, he''d be suspicious of me not budging from the lobby of the library since his plan would''ve failed then and there. I assume he baits people there, and then does something to them when they aren''t looking, not to mention that he was outnumbered and clearly bit more than he could chew."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "And then, you restrained him?"


    "Yes," I nodded, "It was scary." I gave him a nervous smile and he didn''t even seem to care, just walked away, waving us to be on with our days. My smile dimmed and I looked to Naomi, "My dad seems to like you." I comment, my expression turning sour putting my face into my hands.


    Naomi looked to me, "Don''t have a good relationship?"


    I shook my head, "No... we don''t, he either just doesn''t care about me or doesn''t want me to get into trouble, no matter what, the doubt is still there. It always will be." Jordan placed her hand on my head and I turned to her, "What?"


    Jordan took a deep breath before rubbing as hard as she could, "We don''t need you to be bitter right now, so comfort time!"


    Violet threw her arms in the air and shouted, "Comfort time!" Glomping me in my seat, making Jordan reel back next to me.


    I almost fell off the bench due to it not having a backrest as Violet buried her face into my chest, "What the hell are you doing!?" I ask cheeks flushed with red, at least I imagined them to be.


    Her face looked up at me, her chin planted into my ribcage, a massive grin on her face, "Comforting?"


    "More like startling, also this isn''t normal." I pushed her away from me, "Jeez..." I watched as she glanced at both of my arms, hands still on her shoulders, grabbing both arms, placing her knee onto my stomach, and pulling the hand on her left shoulder over to my other hand, sliding one of her legs around my body as her knee quickly transitioned into one straight leg and tried together with the leg locking around my body. she wrapped one of her arms onto both of mine and, with an eyebrow raised, curl both of my arms. "What are you doing?" I asked her as she quickly crawled onto my back. "What!?" I stood up the instant she latched onto me, I could even imagine a smile coming across her face as I struggled.


    In one quick movement, she got off my back, sprinting off into the distance whilst yelling, "See you tomorrow!"


    Naomi sighed, "You know, it''s weird for her to be like that."


    I turned to her, "What do you mean?"


    "She normally has a super thick wall set around her you know, but... it''s also peculiar that she wanted to make a club in the first place."


    "Maybe she''s a fan or something?"


    Naomi ignored my comment, "She kinda has a wall regarding us as well," She pointed to Jordan and herself, "Talking about us by the way, not you."


    "So... I''m special?" I pointed to myself, an eyebrow raised.


    Naomi shrugged, "I''m going home too, I''m tired." Naomi waved at us as she left, leaving only me and Jordan by ourselves.


    Jordan gave me a wry smile, "You''re becoming popular."


    "Where the hell did that come from?"


    Jordan stood up, stabbing my arm with her elbow, "You''re surrounded by women y''know? This is your big break."


    "Not like any of you guys like me like that though, so what''d be the point in getting my hopes up?"


    "Oh? So that means you would be interested."


    I twist my body to look at her, not knowing if I should say anything or not, and is more embarrassed by this conversation than anything, but the smile drawn across her face made it apparent that she was having fun. "You done?"


    Jordan sighed, "Why would you assume that nobody would have interest in you thoug-" Jordan stopped herself, "Sorry."


    I didn''t realize why she did this until later and it still pisses me off now. "Do you think I have a chance with any of you because I don-" I stopped myself, shaking those thoughts out from my head, "No, stop! I''m not talking about this!"


    "Hey..."


    "Hm?"


    Jordan began fidgeting, "Is your, or my house close to here?"


    "I don''t know where you live, also, shouldn''t you know?"


    "I''ve never been here before."


    I sighed, taking out my phone and looking it up, "Looks like mine is closest, why?"


    "Can I stay over again, I don''t want to be outside for too long."


    "Well... that whole ghost thing won''t change if yo-"


    She cut me off, "Your house it is!"


    "What!?"

 4: Jordan Balan

    The instant we went into my house, she ran to the living room, throwing herself onto my couch as if this was also her own home. "So... why did you want to come here?"


    Jordan groaned, spinning around to look at me, "There''s a really creepy ghost in my house so... I''m here now."


    "Ah," Of course it was that. "I realized something."


    "Hm?"


    "Well... you don''t talk to Naomi and Violet much, why is that? You''ve just been really pretty quiet a lot of the time."


    Jordan gave me a hesitant look, "Violet is hard to talk to... too much energy, and Naomi is scary."


    I let out a chuckle, "You think a lot of things are scary."


    "Well! The Ghosts are scary no matter what, y''know!"


    "Hm..." I put my hands on my hips, "I wonder if they''re ghosts or not. We''ve been calling them that but..."


    "Does it matter?"


    I shook my head, "Nah, it doesn''t," I paused, looking to the kitchen before looking back over at Jordan, "I''ll make you something." Jordan nodded as I crossed over to the kitchen, rummaging cabinets whilst gathering up ingredients. It was silent from then on - it wasn''t an awkward silence, but more of a comfortable one? I don''t know how to describe it but... I remembered something while in the kitchen cooking. I always thought my whole situation never made too much sense but I think I understand now... why a lot of people distanced themselves from me. If it was because of the whole situation, that would mean someone would be behind it... somewhat. I''m being a bit vague but my thoughts aren''t exactly organized either.


    So while I was cooking and thinking about all of this, I realized that I didn''t remember my reaction to it all. I remember the aftermath and everything, but what about my initial reaction? That''s all missing, I can''t remember it whatsoever. So I mulled over it whilst I cooked and... well, I realized that whenever I''m in a real fight, I sort of just space out, now, I imagined this while I was angry, then I remembered someone accusing me right in front of my face before I even knew about it. I denied it, refuted, then people started ganging up on me and it turned into a fight, and once I fought back... I blacked out. I don''t remember anything other than that, but I''m pretty sure I recall some students having bruises or something. Damn... I can''t even think properly right now what am I even doing? Plus, it sounds stupid anyway.


    Moving on, as night approached, Jordan looked over to me in the living room, "Have you heard?"


    "About what?"


    "About the suicides recently."


    I raised an eyebrow, crossing over to her as she was strewn about on the couch. She sat up properly and I sat next to her, "What do you mean?"


    "Well..." She sighed, "Dunno, some girls in the area have turned up dead, suspected suicides y''know?"


    I shook my head, "Nah, haven''t heard of it until now."


    She snapped her fingers, "Well, that''s the weird part, right? We live in a small area right and no matter how far, or at which school, we''d have heard about it, yes?"


    "Well..."


    "Same with murders and missing reports - Like, a lot of missing people''s cases were this big thing here... y''know?"


    "Yeah... you got a point," I chuckled, "Where''d this come from? Being a detective out of nowhere?"


    "Well... today just had me thinking."Stolen story; please report.


    I nodded, standing up from the couch and heading for the stairs. I stop at the bottom and point, leaning to make sure that Jordan could see me, "You can sleep in my bed again, I''ll set up some stuff downstairs for me to sleep on." I walk over to a closet inside the staircase.


    "I know you didn''t sleep the last time I came over."


    I freeze up as I opened the closet, turning around slightly, "Well..."


    Jordan chuckled, "I''ll be taking a shower," She crossed over to the stairs, stopping halfway up the staircase, "Meet me in your room." Just before she went on her way to the restroom upstairs, she went back down again, peeking her head over the railing, "Should I borrow your sister''s clothes or yours?"


    I try processing as much information as I could before pressing my lips together, "I don''t really want to deal with my sister today so you can just borrow some of my clothes." I was taller than her anyway so any of what I''d wear would be full-on normal clothes to her in the first place, though oversized. She nodded and went on her way. I scratched my head, wondering what she wanted, and made my way into my room as I watched her grab one of my shirts and head out the door. The drawers weren''t closed all the way so I just assumed she struggled to find what she wanted.


    I grabbed myself some clothes as well, waiting for her to finish her shower down in the living room. Kitsune made her way down the stairs, wearing a tacky shirt and short shorts, "That glasses girl here again? You have a thing with her or something?"


    I shook my head, "No, she''s just a friend."


    Kitsune looked back, eyes directed to the restroom, "Why is she here again anyway?"


    "Personal issues at home, why are you asking?" Kitsune glared at me, causing a sigh to leave my lips, "What''s with the suspicion?"


    "Nothing, more concerned for her."


    "What did you just fucking say to me?" A guttural growl came from my throat as I spoke. Kitsune clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes, trying to make her way up the stairs again, ignoring my question. "Hey!" She stopped midway up the staircase, "Let me ask you a better question then - why do you hate me? Why do you distance yourself from me now? What the utter fuck happened for things to turn like this?"


    "Why would you care?" Kitsune looked at me, her voice slightly shaken so I decided to lighten my tone.


    "I care because you''re family. I hate living in an environment like this wherein I feel alone and alienated by the people I''m supposed to be closest with. Mom''s not here, Dad doesn''t seem to care about me and only seems to care about you, Brother doesn''t give a single shit about any of us... plus, Dad''s technically never here either... so... we should have each other yet..." A pained look came across her face, "Hey... do you hate me?" I didn''t want to utter those words but it felt necessary.  Kitsune didn''t say anything, she just glanced and left. I could only hope that - that just there was her just being mad at me for yelling at her but... I hope she doesn''t actually hate me. That''d be too painful because... she''s my sister... she''s always been, my precious sister.


    Jordan broke the silence caused by the tension between me and my sister by opening the door to the restroom. We passed by one another as I went into the restroom as well and I think she noticed something was wrong.


    I finished the shower and decked myself out in the finest of casual clothes, pajamas, more specifically, a grey shirt, and loose sweatpants. I know, insane. Sorry, just wanted to cheer me up. I head into my room, Jordan sitting upon my bed with a smile on my face, phone in hand. "What''s up?" I asked, approaching her.


    "I didn''t want you sleeping on the couch so we could just sleep on your bed," She slapped the bed, "It''s big enough."


    My cheeks were flushed with red as she suggested this, "W-why though?"


    "It''s fine, we''ll just sleep on opposite sides, it''s not that crazy."


    She made herself comfortable, pressing herself against the wall while lifting the blanket, inviting me in. I let out a long sigh and hesitantly go under the bed, facing away from her as I entered. I could feel her facing the other way as well, and, heart racing - "This feels awkward." My voice cracked.


    Jordan turned my way in the bed, "Face me." Saying it almost as if it was a demand. I faced her, just realizing the light was still on in the room. I spin back around and get out of the bed, turning the light off and getting back inside, laying flat on my back. She stifled a laugh, "Face me properly."


    I take a deep breath and turn towards her, "Alright..."


    "There ya go, not too hard."


    "This is weird."


    "This is fine," She paused, "I heard what you guys were saying outside."


    "I''d prefer not to talk about it."


    "No... I was just telling you. I don''t have much to say but... that was a kind of cruel thing to ask."


    "Sorry..." Our voices progressively got quieter and quieter.


    "How do you feel about everyone in the club?"


    "That''s a sudden question."


    "This includes me by the way."


    I mull on it for a few seconds, "Violet is Violet, I''d like to know a bit more about Naomi, and... you''re cool. It''s the easiest being around you out of the club. But it''s always been like that."


    She nodded, her eyes flickering shut, trying to remain conscious before looking up at me with a smile, "Hey... hold me."


    "Huh!?" I almost blew out her eardrums with my shout, "Where''d that come from!?" Jordan clicked her tongue, wrapping her arms around my body and quickly passing out. "What the fuck was that?" I was just left muttering those words.

 4: Naomi Fujimoto

    First, before we start this, I have no clue why I did this either. When I woke up this morning and saw Jordan sleeping in front of me, I accidentally called her cute, then she woke up and started making fun of me. I... sorry. Just needed to write that down. I''m not deleting what I just wrote but I know I''m going to regret it later.


    ***


    For some reason Naomi found me lamenting somewhere near the clubroom - There''s a hallway, some classroom, and our clubroom is the first room in that hallway, and just across from that clubroom is a door leading to the outside with a small staircase someone could sit on, in front of that is a really pretty tree too, but that''s irrelevant - I was out there sitting on the steps that I mentioned before, staring out to the bushes and trees that sat in front of me. My mind sort of went blank at some point and I snapped out of my state of delirium when she opened the door behind me. She peaked out from inside the hallway, an eyebrow raised, "What are you doing out here?"


    "I... don''t really know." I pressed my lips together, leaning on the steps and using them as a backrest but quickly reposition myself due to how uncomfortable that was. I heard Naomi nod as she positioned herself on the steps, sitting right beside me.


    "Alright." She muttered, looking to the greenery in front of us, "How long have you stared at this?" Naomi pointed to the tree and bushes.


    "Quite a while," I paused, "It was relaxing, to be honest, a lot of stress that had been building up kind of just... went away. Breathing the air around me, taking in the environment, it''s always what I''ve been doing but on a smaller scale?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Well... you know how there are a lot of dilapidated buildings and stuff?"


    "Yeah."


    "Well, every morning, I go and look for more or search through places I''ve already been to. It''s super relaxing and really intriguing at the same time. I dunno, it''s fun."


    "That''s what you do in your free time?"


    "Well... yeah. I don''t really read much, I haven''t drawn in a couple of weeks."


    "You draw?"


    I chuckled, "Yeah, it was fun, I take the art courses by the way so that''s kind of how I got started."


    "Interesting, I took music-based courses."


    "Oh? I figured you''d go more business than anything."


    She shook her head, "I like music a lot more."


    I nodded, "I like music a lot too, but, probably not as much as you since you actually take courses on it."


    "I could say the same about art."


    "How much do you like art?"


    "I like looking at it... that''s about it though."


    "So, to a normal degree?" I chuckled mid-sentence.


    She nodded, leaning forward, looking at the school wall beside us that curved at a certain distance, "What a weird school."


    "How long have you lived here?"


    "This is my first year here."


    "That explains it, I''m kind of used to it but, yeah, I can see how people think of this place as odd. The architecture is excellent, so much better than other schools I''ve seen here in America, the Middle School was the same but was a bit more open and less of a massive ass building."


    "You like architecture?"


    "Well... I''d have to like architecture if my main pass time is just going through abandoned buildings."


    "Have you drawn stuff like that before?"


    "Well... yeah. I draw buildings a lot."


    "Can I see some of your drawings?"


    I stopped the flow of the conversation for a moment, staring Naomi in the eye, "I''d like to draw you."


    Her cheeks grew red, "Ah, do you draw people often too?"


    "No..." I stopped myself then and there, attempting to find another topic to move onto, "Well... yeah, I''ll show you some drawings of mine." I cleared my throat, trying to hide my embarrassment.


    She stifled a laugh, "Sorry."


    "What?"


    "No... it''s just... when we first met, it didn''t really go too well and here we are talking like nothing happened."


    "Yeah... well. People who meet in different circumstances tend to like each other more depending. Some just outright fucking hate each other no matter which circumstances they appear to be in so I think we''re in the ''we move on quickly'' party."


    "There''s a third?"


    "What?"


    "I mean, you were saying it like there were only two scenarios."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "Of course not, life isn''t that simple."


    She nodded, "Yeah... no, you''re right. It''s better to move on quickly, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah, it is, but..."


    "It''s still a struggle depending on what it is?"


    "Reading my mind now?"


    Naomi shrugged, "Maybe."


    I just want to let you know but I am absconding many thoughts right now as to not embarrass myself further. "Hey, Naomi," I pointed to the two black gloves that covered her hands. "Why do you wear those all the time?"


    "Hm... well..." She thought to herself for a moment, "Well, 1. My hands get cold really easily, 2. I''m a bit of a germaphobe."


    "Oh, really?"


    "Yeah, it''s not like, crippling or anything, I just don''t like touching dirty things like stone or desks."


    "Is that it?"


    "Yeah, that''s about all I can''t really stand which is also why I wear these tights," Naomi ran her hand across her thigh.


    "Hm... so they weren''t a style thing?"


    "Hm? No." She chuckled.


    "Oh, I thought it was a style thing because it looked really good on you, fitting with your dark violet-colored hair and your darker colored eyes and all, the whole look just went together perfectly." A thought I had at the time was if she wore a full-on black tight suit under her clothes, that''d also look really good and I won''t retract that statement.


    She nodded, a nervous expression on her face, "Yeah..."


    I realized what I said, my face flushed with red, "Ah... sorry."


    "No, it''s fine, I''m glad." She didn''t look like she understood why she was "glad" though.


    "Hey..." I could tell that Naomi was about to change the topic so my mood sort of snapped into a more serious disposition, "I... sort of realized something."


    "What?"


    "You... I don''t think you really know why people avoid you."


    "What do you mean, isn''t it...?"


    "No, it was due to your response, umm... people... people are scared of you. That''s why nobody really talked to you."


    "People are scared of me?"


    She nodded, "Yes, apparently you took out an entire cafeteria of kids and adults who were trying to stop you. I don''t know many details but it was as if you were in a blind rage you couldn''t control."


    "Really!?"


    "Yes."


    "So it wasn''t for a reason that didn''t make sense!?"


    "No, it was because people were scared."


    I let out a long sigh, my entire body relaxing as stress seemed to melt away, "Oh my god... thank the fucking lord."


    "Hm?"


    "That''s so much better than any of the theories I came up with."


    "Well, there is one more reason."


    "And, what is that?"


    "Lake." I couldn''t say anything, "I looked into it and he''s 100% behind it."


    It... it wasn''t pain. But I felt something in my chest and... I couldn''t help but appreciate what she did. I couldn''t find anything out for forever yet she was able to take a weight off of my shoulders that had been building up for years. I held back the tears, felt a gap in my throat, "Thanks... I appreciate that." My voice was shaky, my expression stern, serious.


    I could see the shock in her face as she watched me almost break down in front of her eyes but a kind smile came to greet me shortly after, "No problem, if something unjust is going on I can''t help but interfere y''know?"


    "No... you really don''t understand how happy you''ve made me, though... I really shouldn''t be happy about people being scared of me." I couldn''t help but laugh.


    "Do you know why you went ballistic that day?"


    I shook my head, "No clue, I can''t remember anything."


    Naomi smiled, eyes closed, content with my answer, "That''s fine, at least you have a lot of friends now."


    "Friends...?"


    She looked up at me, nodding, "Yeah, I consider you a friend now, Violet definitely does and you also have Jordan."


    I let out a small sigh, looking up to the sky. "Now... I just have to deal with my family."


    "Were those things on a checklist?"


    "Kinda... especially after the stuff between me and Jordan happened, and the whole thing with Violet inviting me to a club. I kinda just wanted to improve myself and all... just wanted to be happy with myself for once."


    "What is your family situation anyway?"


    "Ah... yeah. Well... I think my sister hates me, my dad doesn''t even seem to care about me, my mom has gone radio silent for everyone except my dad, my brother literally just has no emotions."


    "Oh? And, your brother is...?"


    "His name is Lennon, Lennon Murphy, he''s somewhere with his girlfriend or something, I never bothered to ask."


    "Really, would someone without emotion have someone like that?"


    "Let me tell you this, all he''s doing is using them as an experiment. He''s broken up with so many girls and it''s like an analysis sheet for emotions for him. He''s intrigued by it - I guess that''d mean he has some emotions but he''s clearly lacking something, here." I tap my head.


    "Elaborate?"


    "Well... he mostly takes down their negative emotions, so, there''s the catch."


    "Sadistic."


    I nodded, "Yeah, I''ve had to watch countless girls crying and just be utterly miserable due to him... it got bad enough though that one girl tried convincing me to have sex with her to cope, of course, I rejected them but they insisted so I had to lock myself in my room."


    "Holy shit, that''s bad."


    "I was in Middle School by the way."


    "Oh, shit."


    Something was bothering me but that won''t become relevant until later so I''ll put it on the back burner - I looked to Naomi, "But seriously, I really have to thank you for looking into all of that for me. I really couldn''t find anything out because of how dense I can be. I really can''t describe how much it means."


    Her cheeks were red, "You''re making me embarrassed."


    I chuckled, "Well, I kind of want to continue since you look cute right now." She was covering her face with both of her hands, her face growing even redder than before.


    "What''s with you right now?"


    I pulled back, face red as well, "Sorry... I got carried away. It''s hard to keep my thoughts from slipping out sometimes. I''ve always been considered a blunt person so I''ve always kept it in check but for some reason... it''s really hard right now.


    "It''s fine, I''m just not used to it."


    "Y''know, I''m worse with compliments y''know. I can dish them out fine but whenever compliments me I start feeling like they''re lying or something, or even, I''d just... kind of shut down?" I chuckled.


    Naomi looked a bit mischievous, moving a bit closer to me, "Let''s test that out since you embarrassed me not that long ago."


    "W-well, that was on accident."


    "When you saved me... when I saw you alive and well... I''ve never felt so relieved in my life," She paused, "And, when I got to know you more, I started to notice certain things about you, like your eye color, your sharp eyes, how big you were. It was a bit overwhelming, though it''s only been such a short time."


    "I''m sorry, you said my eyes were sharp?" I was a bit embarrassed but I couldn''t help but laugh.


    "Uh... hmm... I guess, I ended up... backfire..."


    For some reason, I started teasing her, getting closer and closer, "Hm? You like my eye color, how big I am?"


    "I never said that..."


    "But you implied it."


    "Well... sometimes... I don''t know. When I look at you - you can be sort of intimidating but it''s kind of alluring."


    We were really close now, "What are you doing to me?"


    "Wha..." Naomi stopped as my hand grazed across her face, both of us getting closer. I couldn''t help myself, and she accepted me, kissing her then and there. Her lips were soft and she smelt great, my heart was racing and I felt like I was going to break at any moment, but I stopped myself. Pulling my hand back, looking away in embarrassment.


    "Sorry... I did too much."


    She shook her head, "No, it''s fine... it just shocked me a bit but..." I looked back over to her, watching as she touched her lips with her index finger.


    "I-I''ll... uhh..."


    "We should go." She nodded.


    I couldn''t really remember anything else from then, I was just overwhelmed with emotions. I have no clue what happened or why I did it, why she accepted, what she was even talking about... Jesus, fuck. Maybe what Jordan was saying had some merit. Fuck, I''m going crazy.

 1: Savannah Blackwood

    Needless to say, my head was in the clouds. I was walking back home with a metaphorical hop in my step since I wasn''t actually skipping my way home, but It wouldn''t be accurate if I wasn''t walking enthusiastically towards my house. I was minding my own business, the sky slowly becoming darker and darker. I had taken note beforehand that the number of ghosts I''ve been seeing has been decreasing over time, so I was a bit surprised when I saw a small collection of them amidst a small thicket of trees just beside the streetwalk I was walking on. Ghoulish figures'' faces were covered with a black cloth, they looked to be women. They spun to look at me, their palms facing my direction, the pattering of bare feet against the concrete following. I stop since I figured they were telling me to stop, then noticed a young girl running over in my direction.


    The Student Council President, Savannah Blackwood, is a young girl with bright blue eyes and light brown hair with long locks going down to her back. I took note of her hair color due to it being a similar color to mine. She looked panicked, sweat pouring from her brow, repeating the words, "Help! Please help me!" She finally reached me, jumping into my arms, whole body shaking, glancing behind her as a figure followed.


    "What''s going on!?" I glanced to the ghosts and they pointed to the forest, and I obliged, running to the trees with Savannah in my arms as two gunshots rang out within the night, lighting up the trees for a brief moment, even hearing a bullet whizz past my ear, hitting wood after it jettisoned past.


    The ghost pointed at a forest just outside the thicket of trees lining the sidewalk, an open field sitting in between. I ran over to the forest, making sure to zig-zag across the open grass as a few more gunshots broke across the open air. My focus was entirely on both the ghosts and the sound of branches cracking under my feet, holding Savannah in my arms, sweat pouring from my face. I rounded the forest, following wherever the ghosts led me, pointing, zig-zagging through rocky paths. I don''t know how long we were running for but the sounds of sirens ringing about in the distance broke me out of whatever stupor I was in, still holding Savannah close before heading over to a park - separating the park and the forest was a hill - the park was lit up by a singular street lamp and as my body relaxed, my eyes focused on the small dust particles floating down within it''s beaming grace.


    I placed Savannah down on a bench nearby, falling to the ground right after, exhausted to my very core. It looked like I wasn''t the only one either as she laid on the bench, quietly staring at me, shivering. I took a deep breath, propping myself with one arm and before I knew it, I was shaking as well. My stomach churned at the thought of my own possible demise, lips visibly quivering as I attempt to regain composure. It was meaningless, I could barely stand.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I took out my phone, placing it against my ear, typing "911" before calling of course. I looked to her, sleeping now, vision fading slightly, almost passing out myself.


    I called the police and they went to pick her up. Conveniently, my dad was with them at the time so they didn''t bother to grab me up as well to help with their investigation. Not like I had anything to say anyway, just what I had seen and what I had experienced - to clarify, I did tell my dad everything, and of course, just like the last time I had seen him, he left just as fast, he even reprimanded me, suspicious of me apparently, I could care less anymore.


    The next day I told Violet and the crew everything, made sure to leave out some details about the ghosts but that''s about it.


    Violet was visibly worried, leaning in her chair with a small sweat bead running down her cheek, "Shit... so... you almost died?"


    I scratched the back of my head, leaning into my chair as well, "Yeah, but you don''t have to worry so much. It''s already done and over with."


    Naomi chimed in, "Have they caught whoever did this?" I shook my head in response and her brow furrowed, annoyed by my lackluster reaction to it all. "If he hasn''t been caught then we should still be concerned."


    Out of the three, Jordan seemed to be the calmest, so I turned to her, "What do you think?"


    Jordan twisted her lips in thought, "I think... we shouldn''t mull over it. We can make plans and stuff to make sure more bad shit doesn''t happen but getting all worried and concerned now won''t really do anything for us y''know?"


    I motioned to her, "That''s essentially how I feel. Plus I have police following me around now as well just in case something happens since I''m technically involved with this case now."


    "Really?" Naomi question, head tilted, "They have officers watching over you?" I nodded, "Is it because this is a small town because..." She shook her head, "No, it''s probably because of your father, right?"


    "Yeah, I''m still his son after all."


    "Didn''t know your father had the authority." I shrugged, having no response since for all I know he''s still a detective.


    Violet sighed, "Man... this town was SO peaceful not too long ago."


    I shook my head, "If stuff like this is just popping in now, that means this town was never peaceful, to begin with. It just means they were quieter about it until recently."


    Violet let out a small groan, "Honestly, the gunshots woke me up at night."


    "I guess my sister and I live quite far comparatively since she didn''t hear anything. Would''ve expected her to hear it too since we live in a town like this... no traffic, no noise to drown out the pops."


    "Suppressor?" Naomi speculated, the back of her head pressed against the chair''s backrest.


    I shook my head, "Wouldn''t make sense, the fucking thing almost blew out my eardrums."


    Jordan sighed, "Wish I knew your guys'' lingo."