Unhealthy Attraction

Chapter 4: A Missing Person

A/N: I've only got one thing to say before I start this chapter. It's just a reminder to everyone that this is a tale of the dark side of Harvest Moon. I don't think this will end as happily as GTF did. In fact, something's going to happen real soon that darkens the tale even more. But, I'm not telling what it is! Just don't hate me.

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Popuri awoke in a jolt. Every bone and muscle in her body ached at the slightest movement she made. She felt as if she had just been crushed underneath a heavy boulder. "Why am I so sore?" She asked herself as she forced herself to crawl out of bed.

Her body wasn't the only thing that had her bothered. She had been having a horrible dream where she had gotten into a fight with Elli over Jack. The details of the dream were fuzzy, quickly vanishing from her memory banks. Popuri came to the conclusion that she must have been thrashing about in her sleep in response to the dream. That must be why she felt so uncomfortable.

"Maybe if I go take a morning bath in the hot springs, I'll feel better." Popuri concluded as she got dressed. Even this simple task was causing her to wince as her hands passed over some particularly sore spots. There were even a few dark blue bruises in a couple of spots. "I wonder if Doctor Tim does any psychological work…"

The dim glow of the sun rising up in the distance told Popuri that she ought to be quiet, lest she wake her mother. Rick was probably awake, listening to her creep outside, waiting for the opportune moment to scare the life out of her. Popuri felt herself becoming tense as she tip-toed down the flight of stairs. Each step creaked under the slightest brush of her foot. The noise echoed throughout the house, causing Popuri to cringe. After each creek, she paused and listened for approaching footsteps. None came, so Popuri hurried through the darkness and into the early morning air.

Popuri darted up the path beside her house and up to the hot springs. She passed by Gotz' house, the shuffle of her feet muffled by a loud snoring coming from inside. It was too early in the morning, even for early birds like Gotz. Everything was so serene and peaceful, adding to the natural beauty of the season. Popuri felt amazingly graceful as she passed along the path and up the stairs. Her body was cutting through the silence, all the while staying part of it. "If I only didn't hurt so much." Popuri mused as she reached the little clearing surrounding the hot springs.

A welcome wave of warm air radiating off the hot springs came drifting past Popuri. The sudden change in temperature nearly lifted Popuri off her feet. Almost like a sampler, the teasing warmth drew Popuri in. She was already undressing before she had even reached the change room. Her logic stated that it was still to early and dark for anyone to notice her. Popuri spent practically no time at all in the little entrance, just stopping long enough to toss her bundle of clothes to the floor. Soon, she was up to her neck in the relaxing water.

The water caressed her body, slowly massaging away at her aching form. There was nothing she could do to stop from slipping away into a sweet blissful state. Her mind emptied of all thoughts, wavering towards a state of complete inner peace. "It's been too long since I last did this." Popuri thought, just before drifting back to sleep.

(-)

"Good morning, Popuri!" A cheerful voice awakened Popuri from her slumber. Popuri's eyes shot open, but she stayed where she was lying, her head resting comfortable against one of the rocks surrounding the pool. Judging from the sun's new position, she had slept for a good hour and a half. "Mind if I join you?" The newcomer asked.

Popuri allowed herself a dreary smile. "Come on in, Ann." Popuri didn't even bother glancing in Ann's direction, instinctively knowing that it was her. If the familiar voice and daily presence at the springs didn't warrant a reason to identify the new arrival, common sense told Popuri that she would be best off to respect the other girl's privacy. With the ways things had been going in Mineral Town over the past few weeks, Popuri didn't need another issue on hand.

Ann slowly slipped her body into the springs, getting accustomed to the warm water. A tiny ripple of water came across the pool, drifting across Popuri's face. Now, she was perfectly awake. She pushed herself over a few inches into a little nook that allowed her to sit without moving her posture. As she sat up, Popuri looked over at Ann, "How was the festival yesterday? I kind of missed it."

"It was pretty much the same as any other year." Ann replied with a shrug of her shoulders, a hint of disappointment in her tone. "At least I didn't miss anything good." Popuri thought. But, Ann wasn't finished. "Oh! There was one thing different. You know Jack? He rode Barley's entry into the race."

Popuri silently cursed her ill fortunes. She had an opportunity to combine two of her favorite things, horses and Jack, into one neat little package. At least she had got a chance to see Jack's young colt the day before. Sometimes you had to make the best of your situation if you didn't get what you wanted. But still, that one upside wasn't as good as the other possibility.

Ann and Popuri kept on talking for nearly an hour. Popuri quickly learned that Ann was just as infatuated with Jack as she was. She too, was jealous that Elli was the lucky girl who was the object of Jack's affection. "It's just not fair…" Ann was complaining. "We finally get a really hot guy to come to this town and he ends up hooking up with the first girl he sees."

"Actually…" Popuri cut in. "I think I'm the first girl he saw. He came up here and consoled me after one of my chickens was killed."

"Lucky!" Ann exclaimed. Popuri wasn't quite sure if Ann was saying that Pon's death was lucky or Jack's bit of good heartedness was the lucky thing. "It better be the latter…" She grumbled, thinking hateful things about the girl sitting across the hot springs from her.

Suddenly, a stray thought forced Popuri to ask, "Wait… Aren't you and Cliff a thing?"

Ann quickly shook her head. "No way! Cliff is way to shy for my tastes. I've never had a conversation with him that included him saying more than 'Uhhhh… Hi Ann… Uhhh…'Who are you asking me about other guys? You're still dating Kai and your flirting with Jack while your boyfriend's gone."

"Kai?" She had nearly forgotten about that lovable guy who thought he was a sailor. Didn't he know that he looked gay with the purple bandanna tied around his tanned forehead? The only good thing about the guy was that he pissed off Rick. At the rate that her relationship with Jack was developing, pretty soon Rock would hate Jack. Goodbye, Kai.

Popuri was about to answer Ann's question when a timid voice spoke up from the entrance to the hot springs. "Have you seen my sister? I can't find her anywhere." A teary eyed Stu asked. He was clearly worried, looking around him in hopes that he could spot Elli somewhere. He held a tiny puppy, Jack's, clutched tightly to his chest.

A twinge of sympathy immediately tugged at Popuri's heart. Everybody in the entire town loved Stu, always treating him to cookies and other goodies. Now to see the little guy so depressed made Popuri's natural caretaker instincts to kick in. She reached out to offer Stu a hug. Ann was doing the same. "No… Elli…" Stu muttered, stepping a few paces away from the two girls in the hot spring.

"Oh, my goddess…" Popuri found herself realizing a deep, dark possibility. "What if I really did attack Elli? What if… I killed her?" "I've got to go." Popuri stated, climbing out of the water and donning her clothing. Stu adverted his eyes and unintentionally fell into Ann's embrace. His eyes were brimming with tears. If she didn't have such a potentially guilty conscious, she would have stayed there with Stu.

First and foremost, Popuri needed to get somewhere safe, where she could figure out what really happened yesterday. That safe place was home, where she could always trust her mother to be there for her. In fact, Popuri was so distraught that she didn't even notice Jack approaching the hot springs. That says a lot about a person. Pass by someone who you're deeply attracted to and you don't even notice the poor sap.

Jack didn't even seem to notice Popuri hurry past him. The tiny puppy jumped out of Stu's arms and rushed over to Jack's welcoming hands. Stu followed after the little dog, ending up in the same position as the preceding dog. Jack tightly clutched the two tiny creatures, gently whispering, "It's ok, Stu. I'll help you find Elli. I'm here for you."

Ann, meanwhile, was awestruck. Her mouth was hanging open as she drooled over the sight of Jack. "He's even a good father figure." She thought, twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger, seductively flirting with Jack. Jack noticed Ann's actions and smiled. "Hey… How you doing?"

(-)

Popuri burst into the door of her house. Her mother looked up in surprise. Lillia didn't even know that her daughter was even awake yet, so the sight of the distressed girl was definitely strange. "What is it, dear?" Lillia asked as Popuri collapsed into the couch.

The younger woman said nothing. All she did was gaze at the empty fireplace. Lillia knew that something was deeply bothering her little girl, but Popuri didn't seem to want to mention it. Popuri's lips were quivering as she thought about what she had learned moments ago. Finally, Popuri spoke. "Mom… I think I killed Elli."

"Oh, my…" Lillia gasped, immediately coming to grasps with what was bothering Popuri. She immediately held onto her daughter, gently petting her head, parting her wet locks of hair, doing whatever she could to console the girl. Popuri had fallen into tears, sobbing uncontrollably, despite her mother's best efforts. Lillia lifted her daughter's head and looked into Popuri's eyes. "Are you sure that you killed her?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. I thought that it was only a dream, but maybe it wasn't. I don't remember any of it." Popuri explained, shaking her head in denial.

Lillia got up and filled a glass with water, placing the drink in Popuri's hands. "Drink. It will calm your nerves. I think I need a drink myself." Lillia headed over to the fireplace and pushed aside one of the bricks. "Thank the goddess for Rick's private stash." Lillia proclaimed, holding up a bottle of liquor that she had extracted from the tiny alcove.

An awkward silence filled as the two women drank their emotions into check. Popuri calmed herself and Lillia tried to forget the entire incident. It provided a very strange scene as Rick walked inside. He took a couple of looks at both of his family members and shook his head. "I don't want to know, do I?" was all that he said before turning right around and back outside.

"Don't worry, dear, nothing's going to happen to you." Lillia consoled.

Popuri looked up expectantly. "That's right!" She realized. "I couldn't have killed Elli. I'm just too pure and innocent to do something like that! I don't have to worry about anything at all!" A nervous laugh escaped her lips.

At this point, Rick burst back into the house. He headed straight to Popuri, joining his sister on the couch. He looked extremely worried about something. "Popuri, Officer Harris is outside and he wants to talk with you. He said it has something to do with Elli."
"Run! Hide!" Lillia ordered. Popuri jumped out of her seat and rushed upstairs.

"Maybe, I should go up there and tell her I was joking." Rick asked himself after hearing the sound of a window sliding open.

"You were pulling a prank on your sister?" Lillia was shocked. "Come back down, dear! Your brother was just being a jerk!"

Rick shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he explained himself. "I listened in after I burst in. It was just a fright tactic that should scare her into behaving herself."

"Rick, how could you?" Popuri demanded, appearing at the top of the stairs.

"Geeze, sis. You should know by now that I would do nothing to hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you, even someone like Elli." Rick replied. It didn't occur to anyone that Rick sounded rather sinister when he made that last statement. Lillia and Popuri were too busy worrying about their own thoughts to realize that Rick might have just implicated himself.

The tense situation worsened when a knock sounded on the door. Both women jumped at the unexpected sound. Rick was quick to get to the door and answer it. Mayor Thomas was standing on the front porch, his hat clutched tightly to his chest. "May I come in? I have some rather dreadful news." The Mayor asked.

Rick stepped aside, allowing Thomas inside. The Mayor looked around, slightly confused by the strange situation that he had walked into. "I hope I didn't disrupt anything." He apologized to Lillia.

Lillia quickly cast aside the apology. "No, no, no. We were doing nothing of importance. What was it that you came here to tell us?"

Thomas brushed a teardrop away from the corner of his eye. "The search for Elli has ended. We found her body washed up on shore a few minutes ago. It appears that she was murdered."

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A/N: I have finally gotten around to the true purpose of this fic. Welcome to a Harvest Moon murder mystery! The bodies will slowly begin to pile up as a crazed murderer roams around Mineral Town. Try to figure out who it is. Even harder will be to figure out who takes down the murderer, if he or she is ever discovered. At this point, I apologize for every character who will die. If I angered anyone, I'm sorry. Thanks for reading, please keep reading, and please review.