A man stood there in the night. The moon shines brightly behind him. Next to his feet was a beheaded body, lying in a pool of blood. In the man's hand was the head of the beheaded person. In his other hand, he held a knife dripping with fresh blood.

A girl sat in her seat, staring that the article on the laptop in front of her.

"Isn't this the third time this month, Briar?" Someone asked. The girl turned her head a bit to see a man looking over her shoulder at the laptop screen.

"Oh. Good morning, Henry." Briar said. "And yeah, it's the third time this month so far. I wonder who's been beheaded all these people…"

"And they're students from this college that made something that helps classes, Briar." Henry said, pointing at the article. "We saw this guy like about a month ago. He came to show us the new touch screen laptops." Briar nodded.

"You're right. Nice catch, Henry." Briar said. Henry rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "But why would the murderer kill graduates of this school?" Henry shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe the person hates this school?" Henry asked.

"Maybe…." Briar said, deep in thought. Henry frowned.

"Everyone, please be seated. Class sessions have now started." A robot said as he came up from the floor behind the podium. Henry glanced at Briar before walking to his seat. "All students please sign in to represent your attendance to this class." Briar quickly signed her name on the window that came up on her laptop. After that, class started, but Briar ignored the robot, which usually lectured, and went on looking at all the articles about the murders this month. She didn't even know that class ended until Henry went up to her.

"Hey, Briar," Henry said. "Let's go grab some lunch." Briar looked up at Henry.

"Oh. Class is over already?" She asked. Henry looked at her.

"Classes are so long! What are you talking about "already?" Henry yelled. His eyes traveled to your laptop to see all the articles about the recent killings. "Why are you looking at this stuff?"

"I'm curious." Briar said.

"Don't get yourself involved in this dangerous stuff, Briar." Henry said with his eyebrows wrinkled. Briar sighed and turned off her laptop.

"I'm eating lunch at home." Briar said as she got up from her seat. Henry frowned as he followed Briar out of the room. "Bye." She waved at Henry, who went the other way. Briar walked toward her apartment, but stopped when she saw a huge commotion near the park. "What's going on?" She walked over toward the crowd. "What's going on?" She asked someone. The paled person turned to me.

"Th-there's a human head right there…" he said.

"What?" Briar asked as she turned her head toward the center of attention. "Th-this person…" Briar looked at the head of the man that helped create the college that Briar was in. "Mr. Smith…"

Briar went home that night, very pale. She lay down on her bed with one arm over her closed eyes.

"Briar?" someone asked. Briar let her arm dropped to look at the person who called her name. "Are you feeling all right?" Briar smiled at the man.

"I'm fine, Father," Briar replied to his question. "Just a bit tired."

"Well, I'm going to go out right now," her father said to her. "I'll be back late tonight."

"Okay." Briar said. "Be careful, Father."

"Of course," Briar's father replied. "I'm off." Briar placed her head back onto her pillow. Briar soon fell asleep.

The next day, Briar woke up and stared at the clock. She heaved herself up to her feet, got dressed, and ate her breakfast. Strangely, her father was no where to be seen. Briar walked to school, silently. When she arrived in class, Henry was the first to greet her with a worried look.

"Briar, uh… something horrible happened…" Henry asked.

"You mean about Principal Smith?" Briar asked.

"Huh?" Henry asked. "What happened with the principal?" Briar blinked.

"His head was found on the street just yesterday." Briar said.

"Are you serious?" Henry yelled. Briar nodded.

"Is that not what you meant to tell me?" Briar asked. Henry froze. He looked away.

"Briar…" He started. "There's something you should see." Henry grabbed her hand and led her to his seat. He showed her an article about yet another murder. Briar's eyes widened and her hands went up to her mouth. Henry looked at Briar, painfully. "Your dad was murdered last night." Briar stared at the computer screen, shocked. Henry looked at Briar. Her hands went up to her face and she started to weep. Everyone turned their head to Briar. Henry stood there beside her.

"I'm sorry, Henry, for crying so loud before." Briar said, wiping her tears with tissue. The two of them were in the infirmary. "Now you have to miss class because of me."

"It's okay," Henry said. "I understand why you would cry. Besides, he's your dad." Briar sniffed and wiped the rest of her tears. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," Briar said. "I'll be fine. You should be going back to class now." Henry hesitantly left the infirmary. Briar covered her face with her hands. "Father… he wasn't part of this school nor did he create anything… why was he killed?" Later that day, Briar ran to toward her house with Henry chasing after her.

"Briar, wait up!" Henry yelled after her. "Where are you going?"

"Back home so I can look at the articles of the murders," Briar said. "I'm going to be the one getting to the bottom of this case. That person will regret killing my father." Henry looked at Briar's back, worried. They both arrived at the front of Briar's home. It was being inspected. "Hold on!" She ran to the policeman. "You have no right to do inspect this house!"

"This is to find information about the victim! Now move back!" The policeman said. "Who are you anyway?" A robot came up and looked Briar.

"Briar Lee, the daughter of the victim Blade Lee." The robot said. The policeman looked at me.

"You are?" The policeman asked shocked. Briar backed up. The surrounding reports surrounded her, throwing questions at her.

"I can't answer questions right now!" Briar yelled. They were very persistent. Briar squeezed her eyes closed and covered her ears with her hands. Henry ran through the crowd and grabbed Briar's hand.

"There's nothing to see here!" Henry ran through the crowd, pulling Briar with him. When they lost the crowd, Henry took hold of her shoulders. "Are you okay, Briar?" Briar nodded.

"Thank you, Henry." She said to him. "It seems that going home isn't going to work today." Henry rubbed the back of his neck.

"Then, how about you stay at my place?" Henry asked. Briar looked up at him.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Henry nodded. Then she smiled at him. "Thanks."

Briar sat in the living room and looked around. Henry came in and handed her a cup of juice.

"Thanks," Briar said, accepting the cup from him. "You live alone?"

"Yeah," Henry answered. "My parent's pay for me, so living alone isn't hard. It's just a little lonely I guess."

"I see," Briar said, taking a sip of her juice. Briar put down her cup and placed her hand over her mouth. Henry stared at her.

"What's wrong?" Henry asked. Briar looked at her friend and shook her head.

"It's nothing," Briar answered as she sipped on her juice again.

That night, Briar looked through all the reports about the murders. She took out her notebook and started to write in it. She stared at the notes she took for hours before her eyes widened. She started to scribble in her notebook. She gritted her teeth, quickly closed her notebook, shoved her notebook and many other things into her bag, and quietly and quickly snuck out of Henry's house. She ran down the streets quietly and jumped over a fence. She arrived in front of a building.

"This building…" She reached for the doorknob and turned it. Surprisingly, it opened. She inhaled and ventured into darkness. She reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. She took quiet steps, looking around cautiously. Suddenly, she was showered in light. She looked in front of her and her eyes widened.

"Father?" she asked in shock.

Meanwhile, Henry was walking back from the using the restroom. He looked in front of the close door where Briar was staying. He reached for the doorknob and twisted it. The door opened. Henry looked into the room to find that it was dark. He snapped his fingers and the light turned on. He looked inside to see that Briar was no where in the room.

"Briar?" he yelled, looking around the room. He ran downstairs to see that her shoes have disappeared. "Darn it!" Henry grabbed his coat, put on his shoes, and ran outside.

During that time, Briar was staring at the man she didn't expect to see after that day, her father.

"Father?" she asked. "Why are you here?"

"I'm glad to see you, my daughter," her father said to her. "I should have known that my daughter should be able to crack the code that I left each time." Briar looked at her father. Blade smiled, knowingly. "I tricked the government to thinking that I was killed."

"What?" Briar asked him. "What are you talking about?"

"It's time to cleanse this world of its sins," he answered. "This world has become corrupted, Briar. We must stop it from getting worse." Briar stared at the male in front of her in confusion. The man smiled and chuckled softly. "In other words, I was the one who killed all those people." Briar stared at her father in disbelief.

"D-don't play around, Father," she answered. "Playing games like this isn't nice." Her father laughed.

"You're the one who's joking yourself!" the man replied to her. "You're telling yourself not to believe that this is happening but deep inside, you know it is!" Briar shook her head. "Well, it's your choice to believe or not, however, I've already made my move." Briar looked at her father, confused. "Briar, I've planted a bomb in the Edwards association." Briar's eyes widened. "If that building is destroyed, the world as it was before will be restored, however, slowly." Blade laughed. Briar stared at her father.

"Father…" A loud sound thundered across the sky. "No…" Briar ran to a nearby window and looked toward the Edwards association. It was up in flames. Briar fell backwards onto the floor. "No…" Blade started to laugh. Briar covered her face with her hands.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The man yelled. "Now it's time to destroy the other organizations!"

"That's enough, Blade Lee!" Briar flinched at the voice. Blade turned to see Henry at the doorway. Briar looked up to see Henry.

"Henry…" Briar whispered.

"This is as far as you go, Blade." Henry said. Blade started to laugh.

"So you're Edwards' kid, are you?" he asked. Henry glared at the man. Briar looked at Henry.

"Father?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Blade looked down at his daughter.

"This kid here is Edwards' son." He explained. He turned back to Henry. "How did you know I was here? Oh, you must have planted a GPS system somewhere on Briar. So you've come here to avenge your parents?" Briar looked at her father.

"Avenge…?" She asked.

"Why don't you ask your so-called friend?" Blade asked Briar. She turned to Henry for answers. However, Henry's eyes were on Blade.

"Henry? What's going on?" Briar asked him.

"This monster killed my parents…" Henry growled, his eyes never leaving Blade.

"But you said that your parents sent you money so you can live here." Briar said.

"Of course that's a lie." Blade said. Briar turned to look at her father. "He's been using you to get to me for revenge." Briar stared at her father in confusion.

"Father… why… why would you kill Henry's parents?" she asked.

"Because they killed your mother," Blade said, his smirk now gone. Briar stared wide-eyed to her father. "I just gave them their atonement for the sin that they committed." Briar's hands went to her head. She grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes closed. A thundering sound echoed across the room, making Briar jump and look up She saw Henry on the floor, clutching his shoulder in pain, blood oozing from it. Her eyes traveled to her father, who was holding a gun with smoke coming from it. Briar screamed as she backed up until the wall hit her back. "Now stay down, boy. I can't bring myself to killing children, such as you." Blade said as he turned toward the window. "It should be starting now." Briar, shaking, quickly got up to her feet and ran to Blade.

"Father!" she yelled. "Stop this please!" Briar grabbed the man's arm. Blade looked at his daughter and released his arm from Briar's grasp. He reached into his coat, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at her head. "Father…" Briar backed up to the wall.

"All you have to do is sit quietly and watch me, Briar. Why would you stop your father?" Blade asked. Henry looked up from his position on the floor to see the gun pointed at Briar.

"Briar!" he yelled. "Stop, Blade! You dare point a gun at your daughter?"

"Just sit quietly, my daughter." Blade said. "Don't worry. Daddy won't let you get hurt." Briar fell to the floor. Suddenly, lights entered the room. Blade and Briar looked toward the doorway to see policemen with their guns pointed toward Blade. Blade laughed. "Looks like I've been caught!" Blade said as he walked to the other end of the room.

"Stay right there, Blade Lee!" One of the policemen ordered.

"How did you find me here?" He asked. "I'm sure that everyone knows that I'm dead."

"This young man here sent us the location." The policeman said, glancing at Henry. Blade covered his eyes with his hand before laughing.

"Well, I'll be damned! This child is quite sly! Of course he is, since he fooled my daughter in believing him!" Blade said. "But I don't want to die from being shot to death by you fools." Blade threw the gun to Henry and he caught it. "Kill me, boy. Since I've been caught, I rather die than spend years in prison. You want to avenge your parents do you not?" Briar quickly got up.

"Father!" she screamed. Blade turned his attention to Briar. "No… Don't leave me… please…"

"You don't trust me anyway, Briar." Blade said. "You are afraid of me." Briar shook her head. "Don't try to lie to me." Henry put the gun down.

"I can't shoot you." Henry said. "You're Briar's father." Blade laughed.

"That's ridiculous!" Blade yelled. "You let the murderer of your parents go for such a useless reason?" Blade stopped laughing and in a quick second pointed a second gun to his head. Briar's eyes widened as she heard the trigger get pulled. She saw her father fall to the floor, a few drops of his blood splattering on her face. There was a huge silence in the room before the policeman ordered the robots to collect his body. Briar stared, frozen, as the robots took Blade's body away. Henry took a step toward her.

"Briar," he started.

"Don't come near me." Briar replied quickly. "You did a fine job, Henry." Briar looked at his face, emotionless. "You did a fine job, using me to get my father." Henry took a step back, shocked. Briar got up to her feet, walked past him, and whispered, "I should've known that you trusted me too quickly… I should've never trusted you."