Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've been having a lot of homework lately. It's actually hard to believe that I've been in school for more than a month! I still feel like it's only been a week!

I've heard a few theories for who the killer is and what he's up to! But are any of them right? Well, let's see…
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Chapter 2

Ash just stared. Not at Jenny. Not at the ground. Not at anything. He just stood there and stared. He wasn't even thinking. He couldn't. This was unbelievable. It took Ash a few minutes to finally choke some words out of his mouth.

"Dead?" He said. It was just one word, but one word that meant so much.

Officer Jenny nodded. Though she tried to hide her emotion, Ash could see tears filling up in her eyes.

"But…but…I don't get it…" Ash was in complete shock. He was speaking slowly and quietly. The emotions that were running through him were too great to express. "I mean…this is some that…it just…it always happens to someone else."

"I know what you mean," Officer Jenny said. "That's the problem. We're all someone else."

Ash didn't speak. Nobody did. Ash wasn't aware of anything going on around him. He was in his own little world. A world where thousands of emotions were flooding in so quick, he thought he was going to explode.

"How?" He said. It was the only word he could get out.

"Acid," Jenny said.

"Acid?" Ash said, slowly slipping back into the real world.

Jenny nodded.

"How? Was it, like, dumped on her or something?"

"Injected into her bloodstream," Officer Jenny answered.

"Do you have any idea who did it?" Ash said.

"We haven't got a clue. Our only lead is this. It was stuck to her forehead." Jenny handed Ash a small object, only about two inches large. Normally it wouldn't have scared Ash a bit. But under the current circumstances, it was incredibly creepy, and it sent a shiver of fear crawling up Ash's spine.

It was a sticker. A sticker of a smiley face.

Ash didn't speak, and Jenny went on. "I heard a reporter saying they were gonna call him the "Happy Killer". Me? I suggested a different name.

"Whoever did this had to be pretty smart, though. It'd be incredibly complicated to get an acid of the right strength to kill your mother. Too strong, and it would break through the walls of the veins and never get anywhere. It would probably cause some major pain where it was injected, but not death. Too weak, and it would stay inside the veins, flowing with the blood, probably reaching the brain to cause damage there, but it wouldn't cause death.

"This "Happy Kille" would have to have gotten an Acid of just the right strength so that it would be weak enough to stay inside the veins and flow with the bloodstream, but strong enough to stop the heart once it was reached.

"The thing is, we can't figure out why they decided to kill your mother this way. It would have been a whole lot easier to shoot her or stab her. Someone suggested that they didn't want to leave a mess. But even then, it would be easier to inject alcohol and cause an overdose."

Ash didn't speak. Him and Officer Jenny stood there for a few seconds in a rapt silence so quiet it almost hurt. It was Jenny who finally broke the silence, in a soft voice that was sympathetic, but still not comforting enough to cover up Ash's feelings.

"I promise you," she said, "we're going to work on this day and night. And it may be that this is his only kill. It could have been for revenge."

Ash nodded. He still didn't speak. He didn't have too. Officer Jenny could tell what he was thinking without hearing him speak. She gave him a pat on the back.

"I'll talk to you as soon as we find out anything," she said. Ash nodded once more, placed the sticker in his pocket, and walked off, with pikachu no longer sitting on his shoulder, but now walking at beside him. Neither of them talked throughout the whole walk. They both had the same expression on their face. An expression that showed absolutely no emotion. A blank expression that showed either the person wasn't paying attention, or they were filled with too many emotions to cram into a single expression.

As he walked, a single, small tear formed in Ash's right eye. It slowly began rolling down his cheek and dropped to the ground. Not many tears. Ash wasn't bawling and sobbing and crying his heart out. No.

It was just one single glistening tear that held more emotion than Ash had ever felt in his life.
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"Oh hey, Ash!" Misty said, opening the door. "Isn't it kind of late to be visiting?"

"Misty,-"

"Oh, and come look see those roses they look just beautiful!"

"Misty-"

"Listen, Ash, I know that-"

Misty paused. Ash was being silent. There was no emotion showing on his face. He slowly breathed in a quiet sigh.

"Misty, my mom's dead."

Misty didn't reply. She hung her head and stared at her feet. She could never know what Ash was feeling. She had never lost a loved one in her life.

"I'm sorry," she said. She looked up. Ash nodded. Misty had just opened her mouth to ask a question when Ash answered it for her.

"She was murdered," he said. He didn't give any more detail. He didn't need too. Misty didn't just not want him too, she wanted him not too. She knew that recalling how his mother had died would only bring pain to Ash, even if he hadn't been there.

"If there's…anything I can do to help…anything at all…"

Ash didn't look at Misty. He slowly walked into the kitchen. Misty followed to see him staring at the roses she had received. He didn't seem to actually be focused on the roses, though. His mind was somewhere else. Somewhere Misty didn't know about, and didn't want to know about.

"No," Ash finally said. He was quiet. It was a painful quiet, one that Misty could barely stand.

Ash turned his head to look at Misty. And then he actually smiled. It wasn't a smile of happiness. It wasn't one of joy, or amusement, or even love. Ash didn't need a smile to show love. It was in his eyes every time he looked at Misty. She was the only one who didn't see it.

No. This wasn't a smile of any of that. This was just a smile. It didn't show any change in the feelings Ash felt. It was probably just his way of trying to seem positive. But inside, he was anything but.

"Things just keep getting more interesting every day, don't they?" He said.

Misty smiled back. Her smile wasn't one of happiness or emotion either. Just like Ash's smile, Misty's smile was her way of trying to brighten the moment. It seemed like it may have worked a little bit.

And then the doorbell rang. Ash nodded and Misty walked over to the door. It was delivery man again, with another package and pink note.

"Another little gift from Romeo?" Ash said. Misty looked up at Ash and he could have sworn he saw a hint of sorrow in her eyes as she unfolded the note and read it aloud.

"Dearest Misty,

I hope you liked my roses. They do not justify your beauty. Neither does this, but even so, I hope you find it as lovely as I find you, although I am not sure if that is possible, as it seems that my love for you is deeper than any love could possibly be.

-Your secret admirer

Misty opened the box. It was much smaller than the previous one, as was the gift. It was another box. Small and blue. Misty took it out and set it on the table. Silently, she opened it up and clapped her hands to her mouth.

"Oh…" it was a very small sound, and Ash wasn't even sure if she had really made it. She slowly lifted up a beautiful diamond ring.

"Oh my God…" Misty said, staring at the ring.

"Aren't you going to put it on?" Ash asked. Misty looked at him, then at the ring. She repeated this cycle several times, thinking. Wearing a ring that was given to her usually meant commitment, or at least that she considered that person her boyfriend.

"No," she finally said. "I never really liked jewelry." Misty stuck the ring in her pocket and this time crumpled up and threw away the note herself.

"You can stay here for the night," she said, and walked up to her room without another word, leaving Ash standing there, alone.

Ash flopped down on the couch and sighed. He took out the smiley face sticker from his pocket and flipped it over absentmindedly. He sat bolt upright. The back of it wasn't just a plain white. There was writing on it. The writing was in sharpie. It was only five words. But they were incredibly terrifying and well-known words. He had heard them before. But not in real life.

I WANNA PLAY A GAME
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And that's the end of the chapter! We're one step closer to solving this mystery! But there are many more than two steps!

BE SURE TO REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!!!!