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Note from Author:
Hey Everyone! I know I usually put these messages at the end of my chapters (assuming I write them at all), this time I wanted to give you a little extra for reading. I know listening to someone's description of a map can either be unclear or frustrating (I've always dislike it) so I took the time to mess with paint and created a map. When I wrote this, I had a total of 4 followers, 3 reviews, and 2 favorites. I'm so incredibly happy! The view number is 174 right now, though that'll more than likely change before I post this. Thanks everyone for keeping up so far! I'll work hard to make this case worth reading!
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Vivi was always on time, not matter what it was for. Arthur looked at his watch drowsily when knocking erupted on his door. 11:00P.M. Does she stand there and count down the last few seconds before the clock changes? Or is that an accident? Arthur crawled out of bed gently and walked towards the door. He reached out his hand to grab the doorknob, when he tripped over something hard and made out of metal. He fell forward and smacked his chin against the door, before sliding down to his knees.
"Are you alright?" Vivi asked in a half panicked voice. Before Arthur could answer, she turned the doorknob and swung the door open sharply, smacking Arthur in the face for the second time. Arthur fell backwards, his legs coming out from under him and momentarily flying into the air, before gravity pulled them back down. Arthur's head fell back on the carpet, bouncing once, and his arms landed out to the sides. "Oops…" Viv mumbled gently as she leaned over enough to turn on the light switch. "Sorry Art…" She turned and ran back into the living room for a minute, leaving Arthur to stare up at the ceiling in a daze. His hand slowly came up to his mouth and nose.
"What'd I trip on…?" He asked slowly, directing it at air. He slowly sat up and looked around the room, spotting his tool box, now tipped over, on the floor. "I don't remember carrying that in… I don't think we carried anything but our backpacks…" Lewis grabbed the orange tool box and pulled it to him, and slowly undid the latch. He was surprised to find the tools missing inside, with a single piece of paper laying in the bottom. He started to grab it, when he heard Vivi coming back. Arthur shut the tool box and shoved it under the bed, looking back just in time to see Vivi come in.
"You're bleeding Arthur…" She mumbled softly as she pressed a cloth to his mouth. Arthur winched and took it from her.
"I think I split my lip…" He grumbled loudly, instantly feeling pain in his lip from talking. "My nose isn't bleeding at least…" Arthur held the cloth to his mouth as Vivi bent her knees to bring herself down to look into his eyes.
"What happened Arthur?" She asked, tilting her head gently. He resisted his instinct to look towards the hidden tool box, instead focusing on his feet.
"I tripped over these bulky things in the dark," He answered softly, trying to fake a smile despite the cloth in the way. He wiggled his feet to prove his point. Vivi looked into his eyes. He's lying to me… I saw his eyebrow twitch when he spoke… What I don't get is why he would lie about something so insignificant… What is he hiding from me? Arthur started to sweat as Vivi stayed silent, even flinching when she reached out her hand.
"You're such a clutz," She remarked as she helped him to his feet. "We haven't got time for you to hurt yourself. It's time to get to investigating. We have to start looking for clues before the ghost appears around midnight." Arthur held the cloth to his mouth as he began to speak.
"Vivi… Not to be a buzz kill…but do we have to go exploring this place when its pitch black outside?" He asked gently, his voice shaking a little. "Knowing you, you'll want to split up again. What if you fall into the water? It may be bearable during the day, but it gets pretty cold at night. You could get hypothermia." She rolled her eyes before responding.
"Arthur, I'm more worried about you falling into the water and getting sick. When I get sick, I get a head ache for a few hours, take some medicine, and sleep it off. You on the other hand, when you get sick, we practically have to take you to the hospital. You sweat buckets, your fever goes up and down at random, you throw up, you can't keep anything down, and medicine doesn't work on you very well. You practically try to die, and it scares me when you sleep because you always have nightmares."
"It's not like I enjoy it," Arthur whined softly, feeling a little hurt.
"It's not all bad though…" Vivi trailed the sentence softly, unsure whether to complete it or not. You tell secrets when you have a fever… I wonder if he'd let me take care of him if he knew that? Arthur looked at her hopefully, waiting for her to finish. "You're always so sweet when you're sick. You once called me an angel." Arthur blushed softly and looked away, as shy as ever.
"I'll be careful…" He said softly, "But promise me you won't go near the water by yourself… Have either me or Mystery around… I'm still a little traumatized from the time you fell into the pond and sank to the bottom."
"I only meant that as I prank," She said defensively, a guilty smile on her face. "I didn't expect you to freak out so badly. I can hold my breath for a long time Arthur. You're practically asthmatic, yet you dove right into the water to try and save me." Vivi giggled softly and stood back up. "Come on then. Grab your gear and turn the lights off on your way out. I'm going ahead. Let's meet back at the cabin at 1, since that's when the haunting hour is supposedly over." She smiled happily and ducked out the door, not giving Arthur a chance to argue with her.
Arthur sighed loudly. I want to go back to bed… He sighed again when Mystery crawled into his lap, staying behind with him for a change.
"She's so brave…" He mumbled softly, talking to the dog. "I wish I had half as much bravery as she did… I don't get how she can walk around creepy places like this without so much as hesitating…" Mystery whined at him softly, pawing at his shirt gently. Arthur gently pushed the dog off of him, his mind returning to the empty tool box. He pulled it out from under his bed and opened in, seeing the note once again. It was a single piece of paper, folded in half, with a purple ribbon tied around it. Arthur's heart raced. Who got into the van and messed with my tools? How'd they get into the van? I'm sure I locked it behind me… How'd they know where I was? Or which room was mine? This is really creepy… Mustering the courage, he untied the ribbon and opened the note.
Dear Traitor,
I hope you didn't forget about me. If you did, you're dumber than I thought. I promised to follow you to your GRAVE after all. I have a proposition though, one I'm sure you won't refuse. Vivi doesn't deserve to be alone in this world, especially since she only knows you as her FRIEND. Poor deceived girl. Anyhow, I've decided I won't kill you…if you CONFESS to Vivi what you did to me. There are your choices. Tell the truth, or DIE. I'll be watching you very closely. If you don't confess before this case is over, then I will come and make you confess, BEFORE KILLING YOU! I look forward to watching you squirm.
Arthur felt all the color drain from his face. He recognized the penmanship. He didn't need a signature at the end to tell him who this was from, and that realization sent chills all the way down to his core. He wants me to confess…to Vivi…to save my own skin…? Arthur's hands trembled more. But if I don't tell her… He'll only make me tell her and then he will kill me anyway… How am I supposed to choose this? Tell her and live with the guilt of ruining her life? Or wait and die, leaving her alone? What on Earth do I do? Arthur's bottom lip trembled as he folded up the note and hid it in an inside pocket. Mystery whined gently and pawed at his leg, but he was unable to get his attention. Arthur stared down at his hands and hung his head a little. Without saying a word, he got to his feet and walked out the door, only carrying a flashlight out with him.
Arthur decided to explore close to the lake. He looked at the map and decided to keep a good distance away from the water. This thing isn't exactly waterproof… Well…I designed it to be water tight, but I'm not ready to test it out… Even if it does keep out water, the metal might drag me down… Arthur backed a little farther away from the water, his thoughts making him uneasy. He glanced at the map again and slowly walked around the lake, heading towards the first marked off swimming area. I need to see if they marked off the deep end or something… If they didn't, then the possibility of a drowning goes up. He walked slowly to the swimming area, and looked out across the lake.
With no large lights around the lake, the stars shone brightly over the lake. The stars made the water reflective, seeming to shimmer in the night. Arthur didn't need his flashlight to see the buoys far off in the water, connected together by a long safety net. Arthur looked across the water, seeing the island faintly in the distance. There is a long distance between the island and the shore… and a lot of deep water in between… What if someone went to the island and tried to swim back to shore? That safety net in the way could've actually helped them drown, blocking their path to shallow water…assuming they had enough strength to make it in the first place… Arthur shivered at the thought. Why would anyone try to swim back anyway? I wouldn't…unless I had no other options… Arthur shivered more, looking to his watch. 11:42.
Arthur looked around, hoping to find Vivi, but found no one. He decided to get a little closer to the water. He kicked up sand with every step, but kept his distance from where the sand met the water. The night was cool, a light wind running over his shoulders and through his hair. He stopped when he was midway down the beach, and looked out across the water again. Even though you can't swim at this time of year…this view is worth the cost of a cabin… This place must have been popular before the ghost sightings… I wish the article had been more specific… It didn't say where the ghost appeared, but when. Arthur nervously rubbed his arm and looked around, suddenly becoming paranoid. The last thing I want tonight is for another vengeful spirit to appear. He glanced back down at his watch. 11:59. He looked around him again, seeing that he was all alone on the beach. He looked down at his watch and counted down the last few seconds.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
It was now midnight. Arthur looked behind him, expecting a ghost to appear just like that. It had happened to him so many times before, he just expected it. He looked to his left, then to his right, and then turned completely around. A smile crossed his lips, and Arthur laughed softly. "I feel so dumb… I was actually standing out here, expecting a ghost to appear and scare me senseless, and now that it's midnight, there's nothing!" He continued to laugh, mimicking a lunatic, before sitting down on the sand and staring up towards the stars. "After reading that… Should I really be afraid of a mere lake ghost? At least this one doesn't have anything against me… This one might not even be real. It could be another man or woman wearing makeup, like with a lot of our cases…" Arthur looked up and smiled softly at the stars. "Just this once… I should try to be brave…and more useful…like Vivi…"
He felt Mystery paw at his back, the dog whimpering softly. Arthur reached his hand over his shoulder and patted his head gently. "What's wrong Mystery?" He looked at the water again. "The water won't hurt you." Mystery whined again and growled softly. Arthur patted his head. "Hush… I'll take you swimming when it's warmer and get you used to it." Mystery growled and bit Arthur's hand, making him jump to his feet and turn to the little dog. "What has gotten into you?" He looked down at Mystery, who was now facing away from him, his ears and tailed lowered as he growled loudly. Arthur looked at what he was looking at, and saw a figure coming towards him.
It looked like a girl, with long hair that hid her eyes, wearing a dress that came before her ankles. Her skin was sheet white, her hair and dress almost as white as her skin, and she seemed to have a thin glow coming from her. Arthur felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as she extended her hand towards him.
"Leave…" The voice said in a low, detached voice. Arthur took a step back and stared at her, wide eyed. He grit his teeth and stood his ground, trying to be brave. When he spoke however, his voice came out shaking.
"I-I didn't do any-"
"GET OUT!" The girl screamed loudly, her head coming up to look at Arthur. Her pupils were white, while her irises were black, the rest of her eye glowing a disgusting red. Blood seemed to be flowing down her face. Her face seemed horribly distorted, widening as she screamed. Arthur didn't give her a response this time. He turned on his heel and took off running down the beach. Being brave…doesn't seem like an option right now!
