Shun stood still with his hand on the door handle, unsure of what to do. Seeing the drawing in Runo's hands made changed his mind. Dan walked over to Runo and looked at the picture. "Runo, you just got this in the mail. How is that possible?"

"I just saw Shadow." Shun responded lifelessly. "He killed her..."

"Alice is dead?!" Runo didn't care at about the pain on her leg and ran over to Shun. "Just exactly what did you see? She can't be dead! It'd be a waste of all her hard work. I don't believe it."

Shun locked the car, returned the keys, and pushed Dan and Runo back to Runo's house deck. "On the other side of the swamp is a deserted beach, and I met a boy who let Alice stay with him and his late butler for the time being. It failed as usual, so Alice borrowed a rowboat to travel to an island across the bay. I didn't find her boat, but I found a cemetery, and there were six tombstones for the people dead. Unfortunately, I saw Alice's name."

Runo counted her fingers and wrinkled forehead. "If Alice's name is written, then seven people died. But how?"

"Julie's parents shared a tombstone and space. All the tombstones had a huge hole drilled through them with little hooks installed. Alice's tombstone had her jade koi dangling on the hook." He placed the pair on the table, and Dan and Runo observed them. "Then I saw Shadow digging another grave, most likely for me. I injured him for now."

"Shun, take out your poems and drawings." Dan said unexpectedly. "We should examine them thoroughly. No wonder Runo received this in the mail. Now you should have eight of each."

"As you wish."

Shun placed the eight poems and seven drawings from his inventory on the tea table. Runo placed the one from her mail next to them. Together, they matched the poems with the drawings specified to each person's death. Four items were left over: the first poem with Shadow's name, the last blank poem, the first drawing of Shun and Dan's arrival, and the last drawing of Shun and Dan's death.

"Firsts and lasts of both categories...this is the only thing Alice and Shadow have in common. Wait..." Shun flipped the notes so that all the poems faced up. "Something is off about the words. Some are darker than others."

"You're right." Runo grabbed some poems and held them up to the light. "Two letters are darkened in each poem. I'm surprised you even darkened those letters in the computer poem at the lab."

"Well, I noticed the underlines, so I noticed the boldness." Shun placed the poems in order he received them and examined the lines. "There's a bold letter on the first and last lines. First and last..."

"I have a notepad. Read me the letters." Dan copied the letters down as Shun and Runo read them aloud. "Only sixteen?"

"Eight poems, two letters each. What does it spell?"

"In order, it says 'shsltmulniiailve.' In English, it would say—"

"Shun, I'm still alive." Shun unscrambled. He fell into the chair and covered his mouth. "Alice, you're still alive. I remember teaching her how to leave secret messages before she left. At first, I thought the best she did was writing these eight rhyming poems, but it went deeper than that. Let's hope the drawings aren't hiding anything."

"Let me do it. I think given the places in the drawings, we can probably isolate the places where Shadow or Alice are." Runo look through all the drawings from first to last. "There's the front gate, hospital, church, laboratory, Julie's house, swamp, some beach, and the front gate again. My house wouldn't be it, and I doubt Shadow would return to the diner. He doesn't know Alice's address, and the school means nothing to him. The only place left is...the library."

"Take us there now."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"There's a book missing."

"You can tell that already?"

Runo walked over to the counter and pointed to wall behind it. "There's only one sticky note on the board, Shun. Miss Purdy always pins up the names of all books checked out physically in case the computer crashed. This one's been up here for a while. There's Miss Purdy right now."

A woman with oval glasses and a rose-colored two-piece suit and skirt walked out of the storage. "Hello, Miss Misaki. How may I help you?"

"What book is still missing, Ms. Purdy?"

"This?" She pulled the note from the wall and squinted. "Multicultural Fire Rituals. Last checked out by Shadow Prove but never returned. That reminds me, I need to calculate his late fee."

"Multicultural fire rituals...I saw a pile of kindling and flint by Shadow when he was digging, and he checked out the book, so—"

"We go to the place where you went to, Shun! Take us there!"

"Okay, but here's the problem. Dan may be able to do some random gymnastics tricks, but Runo can't go over the broken swamp boardwalk with her leg. Maybe we should—"

"Get planks and place them over the hole." Runo suggested. "I have some unused wood at home. You'll be doing the carrying, though."

"No problem, Runo." Shun thanked. "If you can come with us, then—"

"Uh, by 'you,' I meant only Dan. Do you mind?" Runo corrected.

Dan couldn't help but pull one of her pigtails in anger, and Shun simply chuckled at their actions. "Why does everyone always pick on me?"

"Because you have Runo, and I have Alice," was Shun's reply.

Once all three of them crossed the broken boardwalk and made their way to the shore, Shun created more space on the rowboat to accommodate Dan and Runo. He looked at the pier to see not a single ship or boat left. "Thank goodness Marucho left this dreaded place. I wish him a safe journey home."

"Shun, are you sure this is exactly where Alice went to? Are you sure that tombstone was hers?" Dan questioned.

"It had her jade koi dangling on it, but there was no name. I rather trust Alice's hidden messages than that piece of granite. I can only assume she came here by boat, but I didn't see her boat."

"Maybe you landed somewhere else, Shun." Runo suggested. "Where did you land?"

Shun stopped rowing and assisted everyone off. "Right near a cemetery. This time, I want to try taking the path around the cemetery to the other side. There was absolutely no sign of Alice here. And you wouldn't want to see what's inside here yet."

"Okay..." answered Dan and Runo.

It was a smart choice that Shun made, deciding to walk to the other side of the island, because he found another rowboat in the water.

"Looking at these footprints, I think Alice walked this way." Dan traced them and realized they lead uphill. "Elevated places always give me the creeps."

"Dan, if you're not coming, then I'm going. I only brought you here because Runo asked."

Shun walked uphill, making sure he didn't ruin Alice's footprints. Eventually he made his way to the flat area of grass where the campfire was. Judging from the faint smoke, somebody performed a fire ritual recently. A book laid open on the grass. "Shadow was here!" Dan yelled. "Run for our lives!"

"Actually, no. Maybe Alice was." Shun picked up the book and pointed to the open pages. "These are the directions for a safe return blessing. Shadow has no need for it, and Alice always wanted to return to Bayview but failed numerous times." He read the directions and took out Alice's jade koi. "That explains why her jade koi was here. There are traces of ash smears. Even the items burned are the same as the ingredients, most notably that seashell."

"Maybe she's already home. What if—"

"Shun, this page is folded in." Runo took the book and turned the pages. "This is for releasing souls and giving them peace, and it also require personal items. Maybe Alice wasn't finished and got interrupted... by Shadow!"

"Now, Runo. Don't jump to conclusions yet." Dan objected.

"But Dan, she has a point." Shun walked around and pointed to each tombstone. "They all have a hole and hook in them. Alice's supposed tombstone had her jade koi dangling. The others could've been dangling personal items, too. Shall we go in the cemetery then?"

Dan and Runo gave each other a confident look. "You bet."

Shun placed the ritual book in his jacket and walked back to the back gate. Runo gasped at the sight of the tombstones, but Dan turned her around and comforted her. "We can only assume Alice was just like this when she first saw this."

"But I've been in Sunshine Point longer than her, and I've never seen anything like this."

Shun didn't pay attention to them and continued walking until he found Alice's tombstone. At least I know you're still alive, but I still don't know where you are. He took out the sapphire necklace and aster flowers and stared at them for a while. You left these behind for me on purpose. I'm just waiting for the moment you come back to I can give them back.

Then he realized he wasn't alone.

"Dan? Runo? I know you're upset about seeing this, especially Runo, but—"

They weren't there, so Shun threw another pebble at where he thought the other person was. From the blunt sound of the stop, he knew it didn't hit a person, but a tree. Shun turned around to see a familiar face.

"Shadow."

"I assume you're Shun."

Shun didn't reply, but that only prompted Shadow to hit Shun with the shovel again. Nothing usable is in my reach, and throwing a book at him won't do any damage. Where are Dan and Runo? All he could do was retreat until he hit the blank tombstone. "What do you want?"

"You've been in Sunshine Point long enough. Judging from how good Alice describes you, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."

Wonderful. I'm stuck here defenseless with a psychopath.

Shadow lifted his shovel and attempted to stab Shun with the shovelhead, but a loud voice stopped everything. "You've gone too far!"

Shun turned around to see another familiar face, this one from his childhood days. Her hair was messy, and dirt stained covered her cheek. No matter what, he'd always recognized her. Their yearning eyes met, and the two stared at each other nostalgically.

"Alice?"

"Shun..."

To be in a situation like this meant that none of their efforts were wasted at all.