It was a pain that spread throughout my entire body, starting from my arm all the way to my chest, tears welling up in my eyes as I dug my fingers into my shattered right arm. Bones poked out from under the skin, which was discolored, blood pouring out from different parts of my arm, turning that pain into a nauseating numbness that spread across the entire right side of my body.

After that, I lost consciousness...

***

"So! We have three members in total now, we just need two more and we're set!" Violet yelled excitedly.

"Why do you want to do this whole, 'Private-Investigation Club' thing in the first place?" I asked, sitting across from her on the table we were sitting at in the clubroom, Jordan staying by my side.

"Well! I've always been interested in mysteries for a while now, but I've just never been really competent enough to look into them myself."

"I see..." To be honest, I wanted to go home right about now, Jordan looked to feel the same as well, especially since one of those "things" is just standing there in the corner of the room, staring at us. It was on the small side, mouth wide open whilst hands were clasped in prayer, its hollow eyes staring straight at us as it mumbled words every so often. I sighed before getting up from the chair I was sat in, "Well, I'll be taking my leave for now," I stop to think for a moment, taking out a piece of paper and writing down my number, "Here." Sliding it over to Violet, I quickly left and Jordan followed.

At the end of the day, we all went our separate ways and as I entered my house, a sudden urge came over me, but I decided to ignore it.

I made dinner, ate, sat and watched television and... the urge wouldn't leave me. My eyes kept locking onto my door as if desiring to leave. I held myself back as long as I could though until leaving the house around 12 am. That urge was spurred on by curiosity, only figuring this out after ten minutes of walking aimlessly. I wanted to see what some of those abandoned buildings looked like at night... for some reason, I wanted to see what was there, what type of fucking monstrosity I could find lurking in one of these buildings.

Maybe it was some sort of Stockholm syndrome, but I made my way to one. An abandoned mall that was in the works before I was born - production stopped almost two years after my birth into this world and hasn't been taken down. I decided to enter that place, that mall.

A half-opened gate hung above the ground, I crouched to get through. It was almost pitch black, so realizing this, I left to get a flashlight.

Again, back at the mall, flashlight in hand, I walked further inside. Where there used to be stores, they were locked up behind metal cages, some being completely empty, just a square hole the size of a room sitting there. Mold lined the corners of walls, odd stains were dotted across tile floors. After looking through the first floor, I made my way up to the second, wherein a skylight sat upon an unfinished roof, making my way through using an escalator, long broken down.

My ears twitched intermittently at peculiar noises until one in particular especially caught my attention, the sounds of struggling. Running quickly over to the sound, I turned the corner to see a man sitting atop a girl. Hiding behind the wall, I observed. A man covering in black clothing, head covering with a beanie and scarf. The girl looked to be from my school, her skirt had the same pattern and I got a glimpse of red amidst the struggle, her hands bound and pressed against her chest. The flashlight I had was already turned off when I arrived, plus, it was decently large in size and could easily be used as a blunt weapon... I should do it.

Rushing in quickly, I slammed the back of the flashlight across the man's head, making him jump off the girl. He threw himself against a nearby wall, and, by using the same part of the flashlight that I used to give him a quick wake-up call, I shoved it into his neck. I pulled back as he collapsed to the floor, grasping at his neck, quickly scuttering away in fear, still barely able to breathe. I couldn't help but feel a little hyped since this was the first time I had done something like this, my heart was racing, I was exhilarated, especially since, unlike those fucking monsters, I actually had a fighting chance. Well... I don't even know If I could have a fighting chance against those monster things since I haven't tried but... I don't really want to try.

After taking a deep breath, I looked over to the girl laying on the ground beside me. Naomi... what the fuck. She was bruised on one side of her face, her breathing was ragged. I dropped to the floor and immediately began examining her. That guy could've done anything before I got here, so I hope it didn't go too far. Luckily her face seemed to be the only thing that was bruised, at least, from what I could tell at a first glance.

Her hands and legs were zip-tied, and I'm guessing the guy who did this was aware of how easy it would be for her to break out from that if she had full mobility... all she needed was to be able to move normally or to at least be sitting down to break out from this, but that might explain what he was doing earlier... no... he totally had ill intentions, there is slight bruising on her neck, after all, looked like to thumbs pressed on where an adam's apple would be. I take both zip ties off and she sighs, propping herself against the wall whilst removing a small gag in her mouth.

Her expression became sour, "Why the hell are you here?"

"I don't know how to answer that question, but it was definitely a coincidence." I had realized at that moment that my hands were shaking, and so was hers. "Let's get you out of here..."

"Did you see his face?"

I shook my head, "No, wish I did, do you know who that was?"

"No idea, but..."

"Did he kidnap you or something, how the hell did you end up in this situation?"

"He... I was looking into something and he... I don't remember what happened after that."

"I thought you retired?"

Her eyes widened as her brow furrowed, obviously surprised that I figured her out. "You..."

"You can't do things like that alone, especially if guys like that are around. Who knows what would've happened if I wasn't there."

"I would've swallowed my ton-"

"Fucking moron,"

Her eyes widened even more than before.

"I get that you have pride and would rather kill yourself than be subjected to whatever the fuck might've happened, the problem here isn't even that, it's the fact that you're treating your life lightly, this goes for your mental state as well... what if you couldn't swallow your tongue, what would you do then? So it's best just to not do anything at all, do not involve yourself in such a matter without help, and if you don't have someone to help, then don't do it."

"I-"

"It isn't because you're a kid, it's not because you're a woman either, it's because that's basic fucking common sense."

She looked humiliated, but it was definitely something that she needed to hear, then, my heart dropped to my stomach. It was that fucking sign again... a sign that was not there before and is there now... "Do Not Touch, Do Not Pass".