It was dark. The lights were off. The door was blocked from the inside.

Sunlight shone from outside and cast a silhouette of the ventilation fan high up on the locker room walls, just above a few arterial blood splatter sprays. Female bodies laid on the locker room's tile floor. The atmosphere was filled with blood, labored breathing, and cries for help.

One girl sat on the tile floor, scooting back as far as possible as a hooded figure approached her, presumably a man. Sunlight reflected off a knife in the person's raised hand. "Please don't kill me!" she begged. "Why are you doing this?!"

Instead of replying, he crouched down and brandished the knife in her face. Without a word, he stabbed her abdomen, and—

"Somebody save me!"

A redhead girl popped out of bed in hyperventilation. She clutched her chest with one hand and stared at her other hand. At the staircase, a woman with glasses and short blond hair entered the room. "Good morning, Alice. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Good morning, Aunt Clara. I'm fine." Alice looked at her hands again, then at her alarm clock. It was just a nightmare, but everything still happened. "Looks like I woke up before my alarm. Aunt Clara, I'm going to use the bathroom now."

"Sounds good, Alice. I'll go back to making breakfast."

Alice washed up in the bathroom and changed into casual clothes, but never stopped staring her reflection in the mirror. How can I stop having nightmares? I moved to Aunt Clara's house to avoid everything, but it's not working. The redhead descended the stairs and ate her breakfast at the dining table. "Aunt Clara, can you drive me to work today?"

"Of course, sweetie! If there's anything that you need to make your life in Bayview more comfortable, then I'll be glad to help."

"Thanks, Auntie. You're the best." Alice fixed her clothes one last time in the mirror, grabbed her crossbody purse, and boarded Clara's car.

The ride to Alice's new workplace was silent. While the redhead stared out the window the whole time, Clara asked, "Have you explored Bayview's neighborhoods yet?"

"No, I spent my time calculating how much it would cost me to take various types of public transportation to work."

"Alice, I don't mind taking a longer commute to send you off to work early. I must take you around during the weekend."

"Aunt Clara, I know you mean well, but I want to try being independent again, ever since..."

The blonde woman sighed. "Ever since that incident?"

"It's not something that I can forget easily."

Clara parked in front of a sidewalk near Alice's workplace building. "Well, we're here." She hugged her niece before letting her out of the car. "Call me if you need anything. Good luck on your first day, Alice!"

"Thanks, Aunt Clara. I know what I'm doing." After watching her aunt drive away, the redhead sighed and entered the company building. This is where my new work place is. She approached the front desk. "Good morning. What floor is Free BV Radioon?"

"Let's see..." The receptionist checked the directory. "Thirteenth floor."

Thirteen? That's unlucky. Alice thanked the receptionist before boarding the elevator, which she had the elevator all to herself. The redhead leaned against the elevator wall and hummed. Suddenly, the machinery stopped, and all was silent for a minute. She hyperventilated and fell to the ground. Don't tell me that it's happening again.

The doors finally opened at the thirteen floor, and Alice stood up before two women walked inside. One of them complained, "If nobody fixes this elevator soon, then I'm definitely suing somebody."

"Relax. Maintenance staff will come by eventually."

The redhead ran out immediately and entered a set of double doors that said FREE BV RADIO and introduced herself. "Hi everyone. I'm Alice Gehabich, your new coworker—"

"You're finally here!" A green-eyed girl with sky blue hair in pigtails greeted the redhead. "I'm Runo Misaki. We've been expecting you...although I'm the only one here right now. Dylan won't be here until noon, and the others took some days off from work for various reasons." After eliciting no response from Alice, Runo apologized. "Am I scaring you?"

"Runo, you're not scaring me at all." The redhead gripped her purse strap and breathed normally. "I'm glad that there's at least somebody here to greet me. What's there for me to do today?"

"You're thinking about work already?! Let me show you around first! By the way, are you free for the next hour? I'll take you out to brunch."

"Please don't take me out on the first day. I'd really like to start working—" Despite strong opposition, the bluenette still took Alice out for brunch downstairs after showing her around the office.

Upon returning after brunch, a blue-eyed girl with her silver hair in a ponytail opened the door on surprise. "You must be Alice Gehabich! I'm Julie Makimoto. Don't mind my slight Australian accent. Runo, how dare you take our new coworker to brunch without me?!"

Runo rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that you're coming back today? All the other desks were empty for at least an hour after I got here."

After the bluenette walked off, Julie took Alice to the recording room. "I'm sure Runo showed you around already, but this is my favorite place. Runo and I don't go on air, but we do a lot of paperwork, editing, writing, and so on. The way Free BV Radio works is that almost anyone can use the facilities for shows and promotions, but we're the only ones that can occupy this office studio space that contained the actual recording room. By the way, your radio debut here will be tomorrow on Dylan's show, 'Down with DJ Dylan'. We're finalizing the script now."

"Wait! I'm going on air tomorrow morning?!"

Runo entered the recording room and explained. "Dylan originally wanted you to start today, but Julie and I convinced him to give you a break, so that you'll adapt to your new environment first. No matter what happens, Julie and I have you covered."

"Runo's right, Alice. Count on us!"

The bluenette and Australian each hugged one of Alice's arms. Maybe this job will work out better for me. I can't believe I made new friends already. The redhead sighed and nodded. "Thanks for supporting me on the first day, you two. I'll definitely work hard."s

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Shun, you cannot use the entire living room as your study space!"

A brunette boy in simple police uniform opened the front door of his house and screamed as a raven-haired college student continued writing on a large rolling whiteboard. "Dan, your mom said that I can do whatever makes me feel comfortable, and I enjoy doing my school work in the sunny living room while you're out."

"You're the only one among us who's still in college, Shun. Everyone else is working already. Have a social life, please."

"Need I remind you that you're still attending the police academy?"

"At least I can patrol the streets with my peer mentor present. You can't even practice whatever science you're studying!"

Shun tightened his grip on the marker, but ultimately wiped away the words and drawings that he made on the whiteboard. "So much for studying while class is cancelled. How come you're back so early?"

"The supervisors have a meeting, so they let us all go home early. But Shun, we need to talk. You've changed, man. You weren't like this when we went to school, or when we first let you stay at my house to avoid living on college campus. Like I said, you need a social life. You can't just stay indoors and study. Go out and do interesting things!"

"Dan, what's your point? People change. It happens. Besides, I can't get distracted."

"More like not wanting to disappoint—"

"Can you leave me alone now? I have to redo this character map."

"Who still does character maps in college?! I haven't done those since elementary school."

"Dan, I'm double majoring in psychology and communications. Deal with it. Do you have anything more to say?"

"In fact, I do." The brunette took out his phone and showed Shun a series of text messages. "Runo's hosting a party on Saturday. Are you free?"

"Of course not. I have a midterm next Wednesday."

"Shun, this is part of establishing your social life. Parties are—"

"I have enough friends already. Thanks."

"Please go, Shun! Almost all our friends are going!" Suddenly, Shun's phone rang, which he picked up. Dan looked over the raven-haired student's shoulder and laughed. "Hah! Runo's calling you! Can't say no now."

Shun ignored the brunette and answered. "Runo, what is it?"

"I'm hosting a welcoming party on Saturday at noon. Do you want to come?"

"I have a midterm next Wednesday, so no. Who are you even welcoming?"

"You're asking me about that despite not being interested? I won't tell you then. You'll just have to come to find out."

"Are you kidding me? Dan has been annoying me about it ever since he came back, and now you're playing me too."

"But Shun, there will be free food! Every college student could use some free food."

Even the brunette heard Runo scream about free food. "Come on, Shun. Just go! We're friends, after all."

After long thought, Shun finally agreed. "Fine. Expect me there." He hung up quickly and interrupted Dan before he could talk. "Satisfied yet? Now I have to call my classmates to reschedule our study sessions."

"That's the spirit, man! Never forget your friends! Anyway, I'll shower now. You can resume studying."

As Dan sang and skipped off to the bathroom, Shun quickly rewrote what he erased, but then flipped the board over to reveal a different character map. This one had many names, boxes, circles, and arrows...as well as many blanks. No matter how long it takes, I need to solve this case. I can't let past efforts go to waste.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Dylan and Alice removed their headphones and exited the recording room. The radio DJ shook hands with his new show assistant. "Today was an awesome broadcast, Alice! You're even better than what your resumé and references stated."

"Thanks, Dylan. I'm happy that you appreciate my work."

"No worries! Keep it up!" He patted Alice on the shoulder before leaving the office studio.

Runo exited the lounge and hugged the redhead. "You were awesome! I don't think anyone would've expected a calm person like you to talk so boldly about the topics that Julie and I came up with today."

Julie left her desk and hugged the redhead too. "I bet all other radio stations will be envious that we have a lively talk-show host like you."

Calm and lively...I wish that were true. "Thanks, Runo. Thanks, Julie. You two came up with the raw script, after all. Besides, this is exactly what I used to do in my previous job in Wardington. Unfortunately, the company faced financial troubles, so I was laid off. I'm glad that Free BV Radio was willing to take me."

"Are you used to living here yet?" the Australian asked.

"I live with my Aunt Clara for now. I moved here not too long ago, so I don't know where most major locations are in Bayview yet."

"Speaking of moving, I'm going to have a party on Saturday at noon." the bluenette reminded. "Please come, Alice! It'll be fun! You'll get to meet all of our other friends."

Socializing? No...please don't. "Sorry, Runo. Aunt Clara said she'll take me around this weekend."

"But Alice, you can do that on Sunday! Come to my house on Saturday for the party, please!"

"Runo's right, Alice. You're completely new to Bayview, and we want you to feel comfortable. Think of this as a welcoming party!" Julie then nudged Alice on the arm. "I'm pretty sure there will be lots of guys there."

"All right, I get it!" The redhead finally gave up and agreed. "Runo, I'll go to the party, but you're taking me there because I don't know my way around."

"No problem, Alice! Let's make sure all of us exchanged contact information first."

After exchanging information, the redhead went to the restroom. The Australian whispered to the bluenette, "See? If I don't mention guys, she won't say yes. Always mention that the opposite gender will be there."

"Dan's definitely going. I still need to contact other people. Let me call Shun first—"

"Seriously? Shun?! I haven't seen him since...his summer vacation! Forget about him!"

"Sorry Julie, but Dan and I made a pact that we need to make sure Shun has a social life ever since...you know what I'm talking about."

"He's still not over it, huh? Well, you're the party host, so you decide. I'm going to eat lunch now."

"And I'm going back to work."

Later, Alice exited the restroom and returned to her desk as well. She grabbed her phone tightly and stared at her table, empty of any personalized decorations. I don't know if I can do this. What if I can't control myself?

-x-x-x-x-x-

"How long do we have to keep hiding?" Dan complained as he leaned uncomfortably behind a wall. "My back hurts."

"You're too young for back pain," Julie sneered. "Everyone be quiet! I hear footsteps."

Outside the Misaki residence, Runo fumbled with her keys to purposely give the people inside extra time to prepare. "Sorry for taking so long, Alice. I have too many keys."

"Take your time, Runo."

The bluenette eventually found the correct key and unlocked the front door. After turning the lights on, people stepped out of their hiding spots and shouted, "Surprise! Welcome to Bayview, Alice!"

"What the—" Confetti showered on the redhead as everyone jumped out with party hats and whistles. "Runo, you and Julie weren't kidding when you said that this would be a welcoming party..."

"I know it's a welcoming party, but guys, you don't need party hats! This is not a birthday party!" The bluenette introduced her new friend to all. "Everyone, this is Alice Gehabich. She's our new coworker at Free BV Radio."

The brunette introduced himself first. "Hi Alice! I'm Dan Kuso, currently a student at Bayview Police Academy."

Julie jumped forward and hugged Alice's arm. "You remember me, right?"

"Of course, Julie. I met you and Runo on my first day of work."

Other people were busy eating the free food already, so Runo grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her over. "Looks like it's time for desperate measures..."

Dan and Julie stared at the other hungry people and sighed. "Wait! Dan, where's Shun? Don't tell me he skipped! Although, I'm not surprised."

"Actually, I don't know. I came here with him, but where's he now?" After looking around, the brunette noticed a shadow in the front yard. "When did Shun even sneak outside?"

On the grass, Shun was talking on his phone and hung up just before his best friend jumped out. "Dan, what the hell?! Thank goodness I finished talking before you could do anything."

"Shun, the guest of honor is here. You missed the surprise ceremony!"

"What guest of honor? What surprise ceremony?"

The Australian smacked her forehead. "Didn't Runo tell you that this was a welcoming party? Now you can meet the person that we're welcoming to Bayview."

"Oh. That..."

Inside the house, Runo also noticed that Shun was missing and muttered to herself. "Where's Shun? I thought Dan brought him as promised."

Alice took a sip of fruit punch and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"One of our friends, Shun Kazami, is nowhere to be seen. He's the only person that you haven't met yet. Either way, follow me."

The redhead thought about that name and felt butterflies in her stomach. It's happening again, but why am I not feeling well so suddenly? "Runo, I don't think—"

"There he is!" Just as Shun was about to go inside, the angry bluenette approached him while still holding onto Alice's hand. "Shun, where were you? You still haven't met the guest of honor yet."

"Sorry, Runo. I had a call—"

Upon closing his phone screen, Shun's amber eyes met with Alice's chocolate-brown irises after she finally pulled Runo's hand off. The raven-haired student wasn't sure why she was so mesmerizing, but the redhead felt her heart race and her stomach churn even faster.

Runo spoke up anyway, even though it didn't cut off their eye contact. "Since none of you will talk, I'll introduce you to each other. Shun, this is Alice Gehabich, our new coworker at the radio station. Alice, this is Shun Kazami, one of our best friends who's still attending whatever college he's at."

Shun waved casually. "Nice to meet you, Alice."

Shun...Kazami? Alice repeated that name under her breath as images popped up in her mind. Goosebumps covered her skin as she trembled. It can't be...

The odd behavior confused everyone. Runo, feeling the most responsible, tapped her friend's shoulder. "Alice, are you—"

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The redhead screamed louder than a banshee before running away.