Why the hell did he accept this client?

Is it for the money only? Or because he was interested in the client herself?

He didn't understand why she would want to murder a high school brat in such a cruel way, but it doesn't matter, he just needs to investigate a little, watch him a little more, get to know the people around him -who might cause any trouble- kidnap the kid, and kill him as he was told to.

He looked again at the photo of the high schooler and was met with the same arrogant smirk that he had seen him wearing on the many pages of the newspapers, which always sang praises for the smart prodigy.

He gave a smirk of his own as he got up from his desk to get started with his day.

Somebody was watching him.

It has been a week since Shinichi started getting that feeling, and no matter how or where he looked he never was able to pinpoint someone suspicious.

The feeling followed him everywhere, in school, at home, during club activities, and even in the school changing room.

He didn't want to tell anyone, but Ran had realized his odd behaviour so easily he was forced to confess, she had told Inspector Megure about this, who had taken action by making sure an officer was around him, it had ended up being Sato, and she told him to stay where crowds were -not too crowded, not too uncrowded- which he didn't need anyone to tell him that.

Now Shinichi's routine is getting up, going to school -not alone, of course- attending classrooms, and leaving before club activities with Sato trailing him, as in protecting him.

Right now, he was walking back home along with Ran, who didn't have club activities for the day, Sato still trailing the both of them.

He insisted that the two should rest some at his house, have some tea, and then return to their own business.

He left the two in the living room to put his backpack in his room.

What he didn't expect was a box sitting on his bed, which was kind of shaking, he tried to recover any memory of putting such a dirty box on his bed but in vain. In the end, he decided to open the thing, which he regretted.

With a startled yelp, he fell backwards when several rats jumped out of the box on him, and tried to push them off him, he half succeeded because one of them bit his hand hard it started bleeding, and the rat didn't let go.

Sato and Ran had made it into the room, Ran screaming at the sight of the rat biting Shinichi's hand, while Sato took a pocket knife out and killed it.

After telling her about the box, Sato went over to inspect it, only to find a photo of Shinichi himself, cut from last week's newsletter, it was ripped with a knife that must have had blood on it, aside from the blooded writing of someone.

All kinds of death threats were written on that paper with blood. It seemed that he had a stalker, who was obsessed with him to the degree they wanted to kill him.

The police eventually showed up at his house, and he agreed to the inspector's suggestion, which was to stay indoors as long as possible, and on top, never alone.

The investigation confirmed no signs of a break in which meant his stalker has the key to his house, which means immediate access to the house. So, whenever Shinichi was at school or a convenience store, officers were to guard the Kudou manor. Making sure no one breaks in at any point of time.

And it did somehow work better than what he thought it would.

Only for five days though.

And then he started getting photos of himself, texts whenever he went inside the Kudou manor, a 'welcome home' text that the police couldn't track no matter what they did.

"You know? You should investigate your own stalker instead of this serial kidnapper." Ran scolded him, having found him in the library and her dinner -the one she made for him- had already gone cold downstairs long ago, she wanted to argue about that, but she knew he wouldn't listen to her if he had never done for the last year, and he always forgets to eat as well.

"I am investigating both." he replied, annoyed at the distraction, "Before each victim was kidnapped, they had complained about feeling followed, anonymous texts and packages containing all kinds of jump scares, just like what happened to me." he continued, raising his hand and referring to the band-aid on it, no need to bring it up in words.

"So you mean this kidnapper could be your stalker...?" Ran asked, fear creeping into her.

"I would be a liar if I said 'No', but there is no evidence, my father worked on this case and hadn't been able to close it, I was five but I remember clearly that the case frustrated him, he quit writing for a month or so, he had to leave it when his editors got mad, like they were yelling, and it became a cold unsolved case three month later, the kidnapper never showed up since then it seems."

"Then call your dad, idiot! He knows more about this, I'm sure abo-"

"No, Ran! If he and Mom ever knew about this, they would never let me see any sunlight until they solved it! Which knowing about how far they went in investigating this, they would never solve it!" He cut her off, talking fast, not giving her a chance to cut him off.

"Come on! They wouldn't go that far! You're just being dramatic. And your parents need to know about this, after all."

"But-"

"No buts! If you are not going to call them about this, I'll take the pleasure of doing so!" She cut him off this time, running out of the library.

"W-Wait a minute! Ran!" She was out of the library before he could even get up. "Jeez… That girl will for sure get me killed…Someday…"

Returning to the matter at hand, he started revising the page he was currently on, having completely forgotten the line he was reading.

Then turning to the fourth victim, the frown formed on his face turned into a look of detestable fear and disgust took over his gut, a lump forming in his throat.

The victim was a male his age -the first male victim- and unlike the other female victims who were just locked up in a room filled with mice or skeletons or spider webs -which they had phobias of-, this victim was found on the verge of death with cuts and bruises and burns and stabs covering his whole body, he was again unlike the other victims, found under a cliff, covered in snow, suffering from third degree of hypothermia, he winced when he read that they had to cut his fingers due to frostbite.

The rest of the list went on with similar activities including male victims, each tortured to close death and thrown out to die from bad weather, the torture itself was different from a victim to another.

The police wouldn't have considered this as the same kidnapper with the first three victims had they not found the kidnapper's signature with the victims.

A bluish purple coin -the same colour as a bruise- with the words 'The most wanted' written on it.

A creepy looking coin when seen, even worse with blood on it.

Finally closing the file -he was so happy he finished reading it- he started to think it thoroughly, one of the victims claimed to have woken up once and was able to give a mild description of the serial kidnapper.

A woman, in her early twenties.

The said victim had a memory condition and couldn't for her life remember anything else. The police had been happy yet disappointed at the same time.

His father's interruption in the case had given a clue that the said kidnapper may as well be a psychological university student, as most of the rooms the female victims were imprisoned in provided enough to trigger a possible trauma, or a panic attack due to a phobia.

'Or the culprit had a psychologist assisting her.' Shinichi thought.

Another note he got from the case file is that all victims -male ones- were found during terrible weather.

The first one was a snow storm, the second a thunderstorm, the third another snow storm, and the fourth a hurricane.

The victims had been nine in total, activity having finished when summer came up that year, and the criminal never made a move ever since.

'So if I got kidnapped, it will be when the weather is bad…'

He closes his eyes for a second and allowed his mind to forget the panic of finding out what could happen to him would he ever be caught by his stalker.

He could hear footsteps approaching, seems like Ran is done with the call with his parents. Shinichi gulped down the last remains of his shock so Ran wouldn't have to notice, a determinant overprotective Ran is someone he can't deal with.

He just sat still as she entered the room, she was kind of quiet, he expected her to say something, but when she didn't he opened his eyes and saw a look he knew it meant danger.

A look of horror and clear disgust on her face, she didn't look at him, was staring at the floor, completely unmoving from her spot.

Something happened down there.

"Ran? You look like you have seen a ghost, did something happen?"

"Shinichi…" Her voice and lips are quivering, "There… There's… In your… In your kitchen…"

"Ran calm down." He was up from his seat now, not remembering when did he move at all, "What is with the kitchen?"

"There… There is… Blood… A lot of…A lot of it…" She continued on, voice still quivering.

And now he knew the blood drained from his mind, as he froze.

It was a child.

When Shinichi went down to the kitchen, he had found every single thing in covered with crimson red, a black bloodied box on the counter, and a head in it.

The sight, together with the smell of rotten fish and flesh coming from somewhere he didn't know, was enough to make him rush to the bathroom and vomit.

When the police arrived, they had confirmed that the head was indeed a child's.

The child was a 5 year old girl, who was kidnapped the day before from a hospital in the countryside, where she was being treated for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a rare -if not deadly- disease.

They had let Takagi question him instead of Megure and Sato this time, after knowing what happened to him after discovering the head.

And, to be honest, he was grateful.

He still couldn't get over the shock that his stalker had threatened him with a kid, let alone a possibly dying one.

And the blood belonged to the child, of course.

He had told Takagi all he knew, and mentioned the investigation he had been doing before Ran came to him.

Megure didn't react well to the information.

Neither his father, it seemed.

Because they had found a coin in the box, with the same words as the victims from his father's case file.

The Most Wanted.

And of course, that didn't end at all, the police had actually called the child's family over and the first thing her mother did upon spotting him was slap him.

They had barely separated her from him, apparently she had thought that he was the one who had murdered her child, having cut the line on the phone before the police could get any information through.

"I'm sorry on behalf of my wife…" Her husband had said, "And I hope you can forget about it, I feel really sorry for what is happening to you already…"

He remembered this man, he was a journalist who had him engaged into an interview for a magazine before. He remembered the man had said that his daughter, his only daughter, was being treated in a hospital, and the interview might get him a raise from his boss. He still remembered how embarrassing answering his questions was.

"You shouldn't feel sorry…" He had told him, "Your daughter -and your family- are the victims right now, I'm just the witness here, and I wasn't allowed to help with the investigation this time around, even though I really want to help you out…"

"Kudo-kun…" The journalist cut him off, "I think you should rest, seeing a dead child in such condition is enough to traumatize an adult, let alone a teenager like you… You are still seventeen, even with your intelligence… You know what I mean."

And sure he knew.

When his parents arrived the next day, things took a wild turn, first, his father took over the case and banned him from helping out, then, whenever he wasn't at school, his mother would drag him anywhere to keep him under her eye, and when they get home, he is locked up in his room, he is free to go around the house though, but not enter the library, and it was frustrating his nerves.

Ran -and surprisingly Sonoko- had tried to cheer him up by doing whatever came to mind, they knew he didn't enjoy much of the time he was stuck with his mom. But knew it was for the best, under the title 'Better Safe Than Sorry'.

And his parents' efforts made it worse.

The stalker had gone on a wild spree when his parents didn't give him what he sent, so he put all kind of traps in all his lockers at school, once a pile of rat traps, another explosives, and the third a cat - a freaking cat!- that had jumped and scrapped him all over, some of his classmates allowed him to use their shoe lockers but ended up transferring the pranks to their lockers and getting then hurt in the process as well.

This madness had to end. Somehow…

A month now and he couldn't take it anymore, too tired of overprotective friends and parents, of the pranks and jump scares.

He had had enough.

He stayed late at soccer practice, in order not to be seen by that many people when leaving, and after receiving the prank of the day from the shoe locker, he replaced the shoes inside with a piece of paper.

The only way to get his stalker caught was making him come out himself.

It wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he couldn't get any better ideas than provocating him into appearing.

And boy did it work.

The next day he didn't find neither the letter nor a prank waiting for him, which had earned quite the few stunned looks of those who were around, including Ran and Sonoko.

His father was surprised as well when he was told that nothing happened that day, more surprising that the letters stopped as per his father's confession.

Nothing happened for about a week or so, and he thought his stalker was starting to leave him alone, but dismissed the idea whenever it came.

That was until his parents gave him back his freedom.

The day they told him he could do whatever he wanted except investigating about his stalker, he technically flew to the police station, ready to help with anything after so long.

He feared his stalker's sudden quietness was the 'Quiet Before The Storm' type.

But the day went on smoother than he thought, the case was solved, the police took his statements, and he was back home safely even though it was late and the truth that he had walked home without interruptions had made him feel relieved, letting go of the tension.

And another week passed and Shinichi had let his guard down completely, totally relieved and happy to have his life again.

Now he was returning home after staying in late for a case at the police department, totally pleased with his deduction on that complex case he had stomped over, done giving the statements with the police and looking a little into another case the inspector had him help out with.

He was just walking down an alleyway for a shortcut when he felt something -or rather someone- behind him.

And before he could turn around, the world turned black.

He somehow felt numb.

Like he was made of lead.

He didn't feel anything except a weird coldness all over him, from his head to the edges of his toes. Not understanding anything, Shinichi tried to will himself back to the sleep he had woken up from.

Wait. Had he actually been asleep?

He never remembered waking up feeling this worn out.

It was then that the analytic part of his brain decided to stay awake.

Well, he wasn't completely awake, he noticed first his inability to open his eyes -More like too tired to do so- and next the feeling of cold metal colliding with his bare back, and the pain in his he-

My back?

He soon realised how cold his toes also felt, they had nothing covering them. So were his legs -Up to his knees only though, he realised- and his arms as well. Only a thin material he had somehow registered was a hospital gown. But the way it was put on him told him this wasn't a hospital he was in.

Then where was he?

Inspecting his hands and acknowledging his laid down position was hard, but it did end with the conclusion that he was strapped to a metal table.

So, he was kidnapped?

Maybe that was it, but kidnappers don't usually strap their hostages to a metal table and put on hospital gowns on them, he tried so hard not to think about where were his own clothes, not wanting the panic of the possibility of being stripped out of them.

It could be that also his kidnapper wanted to either experiment with something on him, or he was a black market's human organs' seller.

Both this possibilities sounded awful, he pushed them away with a shudder.

But the time he took to think through about his situation was also enough for him to gather enough strength to actually open his eyes.

And he was welcomed back with a bright blazing light that forced him to blink them close, it took him a few more moments to open them again, this time slower. The light dimmed when everything stopped blurring and turned into more recognised shapes, he thought the highlights were actually brighter than that, they actually imitated a yellowish white light that wasn't really strong, and the lamp itself looked old enough to have rust starting to form on it.

He was indeed strapped to a table, with a hospital gown over his neck, but it seems that whoever put this on him had only slid his arms and head in and didn't bother themselves to tie it up from the back.

And the place was a small windowless room that was dark at the edges, with shelves upon shelves of books about psychology and drugs and hallucinogens and other chemistry books. Which all looked old and supposedly are used to the point that they are torn at the edges.

And on the table underneath there are lots upon lots of bottles with actual hallucinogens and other drugs and poisons, not mentioning the anonymous amount of syringes next to them. A shudder ran down his spine at the sight and he gulped it down rather forcefully.

"Did I scare you with this things?"

A voice said somewhere from the corner and he turned his head, surprised at himself for not sensing that person's presence.

A person -a woman, judging from the high pitch- was standing at the corner opposite to the rusted door right on his right side, he couldn't see their -her, in this case- face because the light above wasn't strong enough to reach her, but he could still feel the smirk on that face.

"Or is it that you have trypanophobia? If that is it then please pardon me."

He didn't answer that, nor comment on it, she seems likely to be the non-stopping chit-chatter, and he could sense a very strong desire for killing from her voice.

"I hope these aren't scarier than that kid's head my assistant put in your kitchen."

He froze.

Before he saw red.

So this woman was his stalker, this woman was the one who murdered that child, this devil is-

Calm down, idiot. Calm down.

"From that look on your face, I think you know who I am." She continued on, "Let me introduce myself properly, my name is Yamato Ayaka." She said with a bow.

Yamato… Ayaka…

"Umm, hello? Are you ignoring me or something?"

Seems like he is expected to speak at a point or another…

"You introduce yourself to me without letting me know who am I getting to know by staying there, you know as I know how dimly this room is lit."

"So you're troubled over that, well can't help it right, you deserve to see who your grim reaper is after all."

She stepped closer to the table, letting her face be exposed to him without any care in the world.

"You may know me as the most wanted."

Oh.

She was in her late twenties from the looks of it, with fair complexion and short black hair with green eyes that stood out against her black clothes, the hint of glee and delight shining scarily in these predator eyes.

"You must know what happens when I set my eyes on someone."

"Yeah, I do." he ignored the shudder that crept up and down his spine.

"So you did do your homework, good boy."

"You kidnapped me near the police department, and when I left I sent a message to my mother telling her I'm on my way, she surely will call the police if I am late."

"I won't get caught." she seemed confident in herself, "Because I have been somewhere else when my partner hit you unconscious, so I have an alibi, judging by the number of people who had seen me, and that was four hours ago."

Four hours ago?!

"Someone actually did report you missing about an hour after you were brought here, but no one suspected me or my partner, and I always told him what to do so he did it all, so if he was caught -and even if he snitches- he doesn't have evidence it was me, and your murder will remain a cold and closed case."

She's right. If that partner was the one who put all this things in his locker and snuck into his house a million times and murdered that child, then there is no evidence that she was the one who told him to.

But, there's one thing that will surely get her, or at least save him.

The professor had put a tracker in his phone that doesn't turn off with the it and is so small to be taken out or spotted by human eye, and that was something he held his hope upon.

"The police will find the both of us, I know that." he told her, "And you and your partner will be thrown to prison."

"I destroyed your phone into pieces and threw the rest of it down the hill in the next town, whatever tracker was it it won't work now."

That made him pale.

"I thought we were working on the same level of respect here, Kudou-kun… I did my homework about you as well to know who your neighbour is and what he's capable of."

"So you want to scare me by telling me that there's no way out?"

"That might work when I start using this."

She approached the medical set next to him and took a syringe in her slim hand.

"And since you are awake, I would be more than glad to finally start."

He just watched as she filled that syringe up before a hand covered his mouth, before a poke in his neck became evident.

He tried to move away, but the effort was agony, and he was forced to remain still while Ayaka ingested him with what he thinks is a hallucinogen.

When she finally realised him, he felt like whatever was in his bloodstream start to crawl its way through every inch of him.

Ayaka then proceeded to turn off the light and before a red light shone through the room through another lamp he didn't see before.

"Hope you enjoy, Kudou-kun. This will be the scariest haunted house ride you will ever have, I'll be back after twenty to thirty minutes." She said before exiting the room and closing the door behind her.

So he was left strapped to the table, alone in the sickening red room.

Then fire suddenly exploded in his veins.

And he heard someone screaming… That was totally him…

To be continued in next part…