This is not exactly their first time sneaking into the school in the middle of the night. On most nights, when they run out of soda during the weekend gaming marathons, they make a quick run to the vending machines at school. All the gates would be locked, of course, but Matt has his own copy of the key for the gates between the school and cemetery. This is the same way he is able to walk in and out of either side during lunch breaks.

On school nights, even Friday nights, they have learned the schedule of the guards roaming the grounds after almost getting caught the first few times. Now, they can walk the school grounds at night, unbothered, knowing that no one will know they were even there.

A cold mist has settled over Lawton Cemetery. The blinking fog lamps give off eerie vibes from a distance, and the orang light flickers and dances like a blur. The quiet echoes on in a vacuum, creating a feeling of uneasiness around them. But they did not care at all, running in stride through the tombstones, aiming for the wall and the school gates.

"I really should have grabbed the guitar when we were leaving," Matt lamented, still trying to catch his breath after running for about half an hour. He bent down, hands on his knees, begging Morgan to slow down. "If I had, we wouldn't have had to run that far. Jeez. You don't even look tired.

"Come on, we're almost there," Morgan said, feeling a little pride knowing that he does not even feel tired at all. Endurance is a werewolf gift, after all. "Greyson's gonna kill us if we don't return it to him by tomorrow morning. Just a few steps and we can be sure we will be sleeping soundly tonight. Now where's the key?"

"Why are you dragging me into this? He's your brother," Matt responded after heaving a big sigh. "I don't have the key anyway. It's in the mausoleum."

“What do you mean you don’t have the key with you?" Morgan uttered as they were about to reach the small gate.

“It’s in the tombs. That’s where I leave the first copy. The other one is in my locker, so I can have a key on both sides. Just in case.” Matt was sweating, and Morgan has never seen him like this in ages. “Do you need water? I think I need water. We won’t need a key anyway. The lock’s been missing since the night Sara got the cut. Though we could go back to the tombs first and get a bottle of water.”

Morgan stood, sighing and thinking about how difficult it is to explain to Matt that he needs to arrange his thoughts first before opening his mouth to speak. He then pulled Matt by the collar of his shirt and dragged him towards the school. Matt kept complaining that he was already tired, but he still managed to follow Morgan up to their classroom on the upper floor anyway. They can grab a drink later, although Morgan doesn’t really need one yet.

"Morgan. That’s your name right?”

“What?” Morgan turned his head to look back at Matt just as they entered the school building.

“What?” Matt responded, still breathing heavily as if the air had not yet returned to his chest.

“You were asking something.”

“I was? Are you sure? I didn't hear myself say anything, but I may as well have. I don't know. I shouldn’t have kept up with you running that far. I’m already hallucinating.” Matt leaned on the wall and slowly slipped down to take a seat.

“Stand up. It was just a short run," Morgan said, a smirk on his face.

“I keep a bottle of wolfsbane in my bag. Don’t make me blow it on your face," Matt replied. Matt is still sore that he didn’t get bitten by that werewolf, and so he didn’t turn himself. He has been up on Morgan's face asking werewolf-related questions ever since he turned the other night. It’s fun to tease him about it every now and again. "Besides, it’s already ten. Let the guards finish their rounds first before we step out.”

“It’s technically the weekend now. There are no guards.”

“Yeah, there are. They didn't before. Now they do weekends too. Ever since Sara was chopped up,” Matt said.

“You're really not gonna refer to it in nice terms, are you?” Morgan sighed. But if Matt says guards would be roaming the school, then guards would be roaming the school. He’s always been more informed about these things than their scheduled exams. It’s a miracle he still gets above-average grades.

“I just treat her the same way she treated me when she was alive. I’m not a saint. Neither is she. She was a bully. Just because she was murdered in a gruesome manner doesn’t absolve her of misbehavior. If she turned into something with wings, we both know for sure she won’t be soaring up there in the clouds.” He didn’t say anything next but was pointing to the ground below. "Hey, were you able to get back to Cedric a while ago?”

“About what?”

Matt stared at him blankly. “Is spacing out part of the lycanthropy? Remember when he approached us during lunch? He wanted to know if you’re free for practice tomorrow afternoon.”

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Morgan has been in such deep thoughts lately that even Matt has noticed how he is being inattentive. It’s been difficult to focus after everything that has happened, especially since Morgan is still trying to wrap his mind around it.

“Don’t you think it’s weird?” Matt said. They made their way quietly through the corridors of the first floor without much of a problem.

“Which part?”

“Not the werewolf part. That part's cool. I meant Cedric being nice. He didn’t throw a drink at me when he came to talk to you at lunch. Come to think of it, Kira and Janina have been quite friendly lately as well. I kind of get Kira, but Janina? It’s making me itchy. ”

“Kira talked to you?” Morgan shot his head up in interest and a little jealousy. He has not been able to talk to Kira since the basketball game, but somehow Matt has.

“She was asking about the art assignment. Like I would know.”

Morgan sighed. Maybe there is nothing to be jealous about after all. “How is that weird? ”

“We never really talked after that night ten years ago. And maybe the night at the party, which I told you about. Now she is making small talk at school. It's weird.”

Kira is one of the kindest people there are, so it is difficult to understand why she would cut ties with a childhood friend. Matt was already an outcast by the time Morgan arrived in town. It is hard to believe how an entire town turned its back on a six-year-old child, but knowing what really happened, Morgan can understand them. Matt’s parents were accused of a massacre, the worst in town’s history. Many may just be channeling their disdain towards Matt, but he heard some of them are scared that Matt turns out just as bad as his parents. Highly unlikely if they just take the time to know the real Mattheus Franco.

He is an optimistic person at best and an airhead with a huge sweet tooth for the pastries at Crimson Cafe at worst.

They set out into the corridors of the second floor after a long rest by the stairs. It was difficult to see where they were going in the darkness, and even though Matt had flashlights in his backpack, they decided against using them because they might alert the guards. They had to stop each time Morgan heard incoming footsteps from a distance. The guards were still doing their rounds, and there may be more this year, as Matt assumed. They had to be even more careful not to run into any of them. It took them a while before they reached their classroom, finding it dark and empty. Greyson’s guitar sits at the back, by the tool cabinet.

“I don’t even remember bringing it this morning," Morgan said after grabbing his brother’s guitar. “I think we’ll have to take the south stairwell. I can hear movement from where we came from.”

“Werewolf ears. Show off!" Matt muttered as he opened an envelope case he found on one of the desks, reaching for one of his flashlights to start reading.

“What is that? That’s not yours. That’s Kira’s desk. Just put it back, you little snoop. ”

“I don’t think I can, nor do I want to. Relax, it's probably just an assignment or test paper or something.” His eyes widened as he flipped through the folders stored inside. The look of harmless curiosity in them quickly transformed into surprise. It was easy to understand why Matt suddenly turned serious and speechless after Morgan looked into the contents.

“Police reports? Why would she have these?”

“Not just any report. It’s Sara’s case file." Matt flipped through any document he could hold onto, locking on any detail he can get his eyes on in a second's glance. "There’s another one here. And I think I know this person. It was that patient we used pass by when going to Doc’s office. I think this is her.”

“Are you sure? It could be anyone.”

“No, I am sure. She’s that grumpy old lady in room 406, remember? The one who threw her urine pan at me," Matt said, and suddenly, Morgan remembered the image of Matt soaked in the old lady's waste. Matt could not drink any yellow-colored juice for days after that incident. "She doesn’t get any visitors for good reasons," Matt began to read further into the file. “The deceased was found lifeless on her bed. No signs of foul play.”

“Then why would the police be involved?”

Matt shrugged as his eyes skimmed through the document. “Wait, here it is. The police were called in after the nurse on shift found eerie messages scribbled on the walls and was afraid that the deceased did not really die peacefully in her sleep. But further investigation suggests that the patient wrote it herself.” He then looked at Morgan, eyes rolling. "Sounds fishy, don't you think?"

There was a photograph showing the scene of that day. Written on the wall were the words The Face of Old Age, Withered by Time. It was in red splashes above the headboard. It was obviously blood.

It was a miracle that Matt was able to hold himself back from screaming. Morgan could not understand every word he was miming, but he knows what Matt really meant. This sounded similar to the writing left at the tombs when they found Sara’s body. The Face of Rage, Engulfed in Flames.

There were additional notes at the bottom of the report. It seems that they were added days after the report was finished. "The body of the deceased has been reported missing from the morgue. Wait that’s it? They’re gonna leave it as just missing?” Matt blurted.

“You said she has no family. No one really cared, I guess," Morgan said.

“That's a good guess,” Matt whispered, a sunken look on his face. He quickly shook it off and pulled out his phone to take pictures of the documents. "Or they just didn't want to investigate further for 'reasons' not meant for mortal eyes."

Morgan knew not to stop Matt from doing what he was doing and instead asked him to finish up quicker before anyone barges in here and catches them. He could already hear footsteps and voices outside from the direction they came from, and it was coming closer.

There was no time.

Morgan swiped the envelope from Matt's hand and dropped it back on the desk, not even bothering to return it the way it was set earlier, quickly pulling his friend to hide behind the teacher's desk. He could hear the door turning, and he gave Matt a look, asking him to be as quiet as he could, or they were both screwed.

"Here it is!” It was a girl’s voice, and it sounded familiar. "Girl, I can't believe you left this out here in the open and... jeez. Why do I get the feeling that someone made their way through these files? Whatever. I guess we're done here. But you owe me. I have cheerleading practice early tomorrow. very early tomorrow. How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep?!"

It's Janina Suico!