Daniel had always had a fascination for Mystery, since he was a little child he made a habit of reading both popular books and folktales of the sort. Everything he could put his hands on, from the Grimm brothers to Agatha Christie, Andrew Lang to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he was that kind of kid who would run to the bonfire during camps to dive in stories that could had happen somewhere far, far away.

As he grew old, that passion did the same with him, either inside dark cinema halls, where he kissed Eve for the first time, or re-reading books from the past. This passion even accompanied him to the Officers School, where he would share old and rugged comic strips populated with characters like Dick Tracy, The big bad Wolf, or even Hellboy.

That solely was the reason why he had become a detective, to unveil the possible mysteries that could be out there.

So when he saw Oliver's case end loose, he couldn’t but think that something was out of place, that while everyone was retrieving out of fear and shame, a true mystery was taunting out there.

One that needed a fervent believer of the truth, someone maybe like him.

A couple minutes before, while Daniel was waiting outside Oliver’s house, thinking about the moment he'll get in, he didn’t wanted to accept it, but he was starting to believe in something.

Daniel, like everyone else of his time and age, had a reasonable disbelief for that related to the paranormal, metaphysics and that type of stuff. Instead, Daniel was a fervent believer of God's truth and the Evangelium.

Every Sunday, he and his wife would go to the church to praise the Lord, and even though he and Eve assured themselves to stay away from those few of the congregation who accused their problem to evil spirits or the acts of the Devil as religious fanatics often did, every morning he weared a cross around his neck, under his shirt, just to be sure.

He was no fool, but precisely because of that, he feared both the Lord and what evil could do to him and his loved ones, especially in his line of work.

That’s why that morning, in the waiting, he started wandering inside his head. He asked himself something:

“If we would be dealing with an evil entity, and that happened to be a seventeen-year-old, how would you approach it?”

The sole idea was crazy to grasp, but in those specific circumstances, that made more sense than any other already given explanation. In the worst case scenario, he had an idea in mind. At least, one to lead his questions on.

Being the three of then sat down in Oliver’s backyard, Daniel threw the first line, hoping as an angler, that there would be something interesting waiting at the end.

— We know you’ve been asked this before, but we’re interested in what could you've seen the night of 28th July —

Daniel observed.

— You mean what happened in the Playgrounds —

Oliver answered.

— We wanted to ask you if you saw something… odd, that night —

Daniel wanted to go straight to the point, partly because he didn’t think that taunting too much would help, partly because he was interested in the boy’s reaction.

After making the question Daniel waited, but nothing happened. Instead, Oliver smiled and answered like before.

— Well, as I've said before to the last detectives that came to answer, something was following me, something that cameras apparently can't see —

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— Something, you say —

— You’ve seen it all in that video, right? I consider myself lucky to have surived to that —

He stated, right before drinking from the thick red liquid in his glass.

— Ugh, that doesn’t look good — Barnes said with an ick face, part of his job there was to prevent the boy from overthinking, to shake him on the spot.

— Ah, this? its a prune and beetroot smoothie, healthy and tasty, if you like that kind of stuff —

— That’s a very strange choice for a smoothie, isn’t? —

— It’s very heavy on nutrients if that’s what you mean —

— Anyways, let’s not loose the track —

There was something definitely odd about Oliver’s lack of reaction to the incident. Everyone who had ever watched the recordings, or even heard about the incident, had shown the same logical, human curiosity or even distress about it. How could it be possible, and there must be a logical explanation, where apart from fear, the only answers. Oliver seemed to accept it for what he said it was, a Mystery, as if they were part of daily life. So Daniel clinged to the only track he had in front of him.

— You went there all by yourself that night... why? —

— Someone called me there, we where suppose to meet... but I went too late —

Daniel had read that in the transcription of his last interrogation, it wasn't exactly a lead to solve the case, but it was the weakest part of the boys story... if you had ever believed in the rest.

— Why would you ever get there after hours anyway? —

Said Barnes in disbelief. Daniel nod, exited.

— And who would call you there at that hour? —

Oliver watched them carefully, like recognizing them for the first time.

— Does it really matters if it was my friend Kyle from the summer school, or a local gang leader? —

Daniel didn't understood, but he tried to show confidence in front of the kid.

— Of course it does, if your story is true, then everything is —

Oliver then rolled his eyes and laid on the table surface.

— If I told that Oliver was the one who called that morning, and that we where talking till everything went out of hands, would you even be able to understand what that means? —

— What...? —

Daniel's expression said it all, he wasn't able to understand anything just yet.

— Yeah… exactly —

Olive shaked his head, like disappointed.

— If you can't understand that, theres nothing much else I can’t tell you —

For a moment, Daniel felt like he could reach the truth with his bare hands. Looking at Oliver's eyes at that moment, he felt the boy was telling the truth. But this truth was so strange, and hard to understand, that it quickly slip thorugh his hands.

— Sorry —

— Indeed, it is —

Barnes couldn't gave credit to was he was listening, under his perspective, everything where nonsenses.

— I just think your truth is too odd to be understood... if only you could explain this oddness better —

Daniel conceed as a chance, a chance to take more from Him.

— Oh, I actually think I can do 'that'... —

When asked the question, Oliver reclined himself over his seat, like childs do when telling a secret .

— Do you know about the Murder of Bridget Cleary? — the name didn’t ring any bell for either of the two investigators, Barnes shrug from his position.

— She was an Irish woman murdered by her husband in 1895 under the the accusation of being a fairy, a demon, a ghastly substitute of the same person —

Daniel seemed stranged for the sudden change on the subject

— What about Mary Reeser? —

Same as before, no bells rang for either Daniel nor Barnes.

— She was a famous case of SHC, Spontaneous Human Combustion in the 50’s, also accused of being a sort of witch or evil-spirit-possessed otherkin—

— You must be kidding —

Barnes Buffed from his place

— What about King Charles the first of England? he was said to be a doppleganger himself —

— Daniel, let’s get out of here —

Said Barnes impatient.

Oliver laughed loud and openly. Then he asked.

— Have you watched Buffy the Vampire Hunter, agent? —

Daniel remained silent at his place.

— I have, yes, my… Eve, loves that show —

— And how not to? it’s utterly funny how accurate it becomes sometimes —

— I... get it —

At that moment, both crossed their sights in what Daniel thought, it was the very thing he had gone there to find. He raised his hand then, trying to calm Barnes.

— I saw something in the video Oliver, look, it’s right at… the middle — said Daniel, politely taking Oliver’s phone for himself, and advancing the video till the point where he had stopped it that same morning.

— Can you see it? —

Oliver remained silent. It was a moment in the middle of the night, while he ran over the baseball field.

— It almost seems like you're... —

— The one causing it? —

In the video, even with all the dust and wreckage, it was clear. As Oliver raised his hand, a sort of invisible… strength came out, crashing the floor, walls and everything in between. It wasn't hard to see, only to believe.

— Yes —

Daniel said, looking into the boy’s eyes, waiting, but, for what?