This is how most of the walk goes we three bicker and the voices tell me where to go.

At the end we arrived at a hospital. It’s very old and looks like just standing next to it is a safety hazard. So of course Ava immediately jumps forward “Do you want to go inside?” She turns to us with a giant smile. Kai hums “Could be fun.” I shrug “Why not.” So all three of us walk inside. It seems abandoned. We walk around a bit it wasn’t really that exciting and it smells really disgusting. I am just about to look for Ava and Kai and suggest we go back when I hear two shrill screams. I run as fast as I can to Ava and Kai. When I find them there is a third person. Someone who is no longer breathing.

A dead body. Someone around our age. He has brown hair and his expression is twisted in terror and agony. He has a knife stuck in his upper body. If I’m correct exactly where his heart is. Before I finish processing what is happening I take Ava and Kais hand and drag them outside. I sit them down and make sure they are okay. Once I took care of them I call the police. I finish the conversation and then go to Ava and Kai again. They look deeply disturbed. At least I don’t have to worry that the killer is still around since we already looked through the entire hospital.

I do my best to calm them down. Giving them some water I still had in my school bag. Just a bit before the police arrived I got Ava and Kai to snap back to reality. I answer all the questions the police has. The second I’m done I go back to Ava and Kai.

I bite my lip. I feel guilty if It wasn’t for me this wouldn’t have happened. I should have known that this would happen. It was stupid of me to listen to the voices. I taste blood. Then I feel something knock softly against my head. “Stop that.” Kai says. Not sure what to do I give him my water bottle again. He takes it. A police officer comes to us giving us three shock blankets. “Thank you.” I say taking them. I hand Ava one and Kai two since I still have his jacket so he must be cold. “Don’t you want to investigate, mystery boy?” Ava tries to joke. It falls flat her smile wasn’t even reaching her eyes. “I think they can survive without me.” I say looking around for some way to help them. “How do you do this. It’s-” Kai begins but cuts himself off. I don’t know how to answer so I don’t.

I bite my lip again feeling useless. “This isn’t your fault.” Kai hits me on my head again this time with a little more force as if he is trying to push his words into my brain. “Get that trough your thick skull.” Maybe he literally is trying that. I nod whispering. “You’re right.” From his face it’s easy to tell that he knows that I don’t believe that. It’s not like Kai could even say if it is my fault or not. He doesn’t know all the facts. “Do you need anything?” I ask. They shake their heads.

“We contacted your parents they should be here to pick you up soon.” A police officer informs us. Ava and Kai nod getting up on shacky legs I try to support them on the way. We didn’t wait long Avas father and Kais parents both arrived with such speed I am sure they broke multiple rules on the way here. I didn’t care hugging both of them. “If you need anything at all you can call me at any time.” They are gone before I can blink. “This is the second time today.” I turn around and see Kato standing there with his hands on his hips like a disappointed mother.

I shrug “It’s not like I do this on purpose.” I feel tired. So much has happened in one day. “Do we know who the victim is?” I title my head. Kato nods “The victim was 17 years old and male. His name was Lucas Ashford.” We go back inside the old hospital. “I think the cause of death is pretty obvious.” The knife is still there. Fifth the voices say. Those annoying cryptic shits. “You know your friends need to give a statement and all since they are witnesses.” “Yeah but if I can I would like to keep them out of this as much as possible.” Kato lets out a long sigh “That’s what I have been trying to do for years and now look who is standing next to me.” I snort. “That worked out great.”

I walk towards the body. It doesn’t seem to be that old. Probably happened today. It’s weird two murders in one day. I pull some gloves from my bag and put them on. “Could this be connected to Rubys death?” I turn slightly towards Kato. “Maybe. While it is weird that two murders happened there isn’t exactly anything suggestions that the murders are connected.” “Did Lucas go to therapy?” Kato shrugs. “We aren’t sure yet.” I turn back to the body. It looks like a simple kitchen knife was used. I doubt that we will find fingerprints on it. The box the voices say. There are a lot of boxes in this room.

I get up and walk around looking at them a little closer. I look inside some of them. There doesn't seem to be anything that could be helpful. My eyes widen. Seems like there is something here after all. It's a phone. It has a blue phone case and is a little cracked. There is a charm on it. It’s some character the same one the victim has on his jacket. This is definitely the victims.

I pick the phone up. Luckily it turns on however I can’t get in since it’s password protected. I should have guessed. This needs to be given to Kato. Keep it. The voices say. That is one of their dumbest demands. Why not. You need to keep it they insist. Like keeping it would even have any point after all I can’t get inside. Also there could be something on it and if that is the case the police needs it. “Did you find something?” I jump a bit I didn’t notice that Kato was behind me. Keep it. Trust us the voices insist. As if there is any reason for me to listen to them. If someone found out I kept something like this I’m dead. “No, I haven’t found anything yet.” God fucking dammit.

The voices laugh in delight. I slide the phone into Kai’s jacket. Now you might wonder why I kept it. Which is a great question which I would like to know the answer to as well. It seemed right I suppose. Well if the voices in your head tell you to commit theft you really shouldn’t listen. However I always had my doubts when it came to my sanity. “Okay. Now come on I’m going to get some coffee and drop you off at home on the way.” Kato tells me. “Why? I’m not done yet. Besides-” “Besides nothing. Come on it’s getting late. Kids your age need sleep. Someone could mistake you for a racoon with those eyebags.” Kato crosses his arms. “Like you can talk. You look like your eyebags have eyebags.” I retort.

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“Get in the car or you can walk home.” He threatens me. I sigh in defeat. After getting inside the car I black out. I wake up a little later. I’m still in Katos car but we are now in front of the bakery from this morning. Kato isn’t in the car so he must be getting his coffee right now. I must have been more tired than I thought. The car opens. Kato is back. “Here for you.” A bag is shoved in my face and I take it. Inside is a cinnamoroll. One of my favorite sweets. “Thank you.” I say. There is no response.

I look over to Kato and see him holding what is probably an illegal amount of coffee. It was obviously the biggest cup they had to offer and knowing Kato there is a larger amount of expresso shots in it than times I wanted to slam my head into a wall. “You know an average adult has 50-65% of water in their body. I wonder how much of that you have managed to replace with coffee. At this point it’s a miracle you didn’t have a heart attack yet.” Kato looks at me weirdly “Why don’t you stop talking for a minute.”

Kato pulled up at my driveway “Bye. See you!” I take my backpack and exit the car. “Just not at a crime scene please.” Kato sighs. I don’t answer instead simply opening the front door and entering. After taking off my shoes I’m on my way to my room. Suddenly I’m stopped by a voice and I jump a little. “Mind telling us why I got a call from the police.” It’s my mother and she doesn’t look happy. “I swear if I hear one more complain about you then you are never leaving this house again.” I blink. To be honest I didn’t expect my mother to be home. She isn’t supposed to be until next week and even then she would have left the next day.

“I didn’t do anything though. I was just walking around and then I found a dead body. That’s not my fault.” I try to defend myself but she isn’t listening. “I don’t want to hear any excuses. You are grounded.” “But that not fair!” She glares at me “Life isn’t fair! That’s why I ended with some boy who HEARS VOICES IN HIS HEAD LIKE A PSYCHO!” I freeze. My parents tend to avoid this topic like the plague. My mother grasped my arm and shoves me in the direction of the stairs. “Go to your room and don’t come out!” I don’t need to be told twice. I stay in my room for the rest of the day. I often wonder why they kept me.

Any type of physical activity fucking sucks I decide. I’m walking to school and my legs are killing me. Fuck sport. It wouldn’t suck if you were good at it the voices taunt me. If you don’t shut up I will put you into a microwave and watch you explode like a hamster. We don’t even exist in the physical realm??? The voices sounded very concerned and confused. Serves them right. Before I knew it I arrived at my school. “Hey Noah!” I hear a voice calling turning to it’s direction I see Alex. Alex is an upper classmate and really cool. He has split hair that is slightly cruled. One side is black and the other is blue to match with me. Also he always helps me when he can. “How are you?” Alex reaches his hand out and absolutely destroys my hair. I take everything back he is a fucking traitor.

I slap his hand away. “Morning Alex! I’m fine just tired.” Alex hums tilting his head and looking at me with such concern you would think I just told him that I’m dying. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been sleeping again. If you still have trouble with it I can get you some melatonin maybe. I heard it’s supposed to help.” I smile. “It’s nothing to worry about. I will be fine.” Not sleeping for 3 days really is no cause for concern. The voices comment sarcastically. Shut up! Besides I slept for like 4 hours today. “Before I forget where were you yesterday? I didn’t see you all day.” Alex looks to the side avoiding my eyes. “Sorry. I was sick.”

“I hope you feel better now. Also be careful more murders have happened lately.” Luca’s face flashes before my eyes. He was the same age as Alex. “Really? Are you part of that case?” I nod. “Well then I think I should be the one telling you to be careful.” “I’m fine. Nothing has happened before besides I can take care of myself.” Alex levels me with an unimpressed stare “You have the stamina of a broken Ikea table.” He deadpans. “What the fuck!? Why is everyone against me?” “We wouldn’t make fun of you if you could run more than 5 seconds.”

“Fuck I get it. I’m-” Alex interrupts me with a shocked gasp. His face looks flabbergasted. What’s his problem the voices wonder. “You can’t curse! You are like 5.” His problem is that he is insane I answer. “I’m 15. You didn’t even know me when I was 5.” “I’m sure you were a menace. I bet you were one of those kids who would bite my ankle.” Alex declares. “One of the kids who did what? Does that mean you have rabies?” I wrinkle my nose. “How did you jump to that conclusion.” Alex looks like he regrets his whole life. Serves him right.

Before either of us could say anything else we heard the first bell ring. “Shit!” Alex curses. We both hurry to our classrooms. Nothing really happens. It’s not too long until school ended though it felt like an eternity. Once I can finally leave my classroom I start to think about the investigation. I’m pretty sure that the two murders are connected but I’m unsure how. Obviously if Dr Matinez is the murder then Lucas most likely also went to her for therapy however I have to wait until Kato confirms this.

I’m unsure where to begin with my investigation. Mind the voices whisper. Because that’s super helpful. I yawn “Are you ok?” Kai asks me. “Yes, I’m just not sure what to do about the murders. The longer the killer is out there the higher the chance that they will kill someone again.” Kai puts a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. If you want I can help you. Two heads are better than one.” I bite my lip. “Maybe by the way where is Ava wasn’t she here just a minute ago?” I question. Kai looks around. Seems like he just noticed her absence.

“She ran off again.” “HEY GUYS!” A loud voice screams trough the whole school. I wince. That’s definitely Ava. Speak of the devil. The voices laugh. There was someone with her. “Hey, who is that?” I wonder. “OH! That’s Liam. He looked like a stray cat so I took him with me.” She laughs. “I looked like what?” Ava’s newest victim cries. I sigh wondering if I wanted to deal with this. “Ava that is a human and also what did you just take him?” Kai looks like he is having an existential crisis. “Did you kidnap him!?” “I don’t know.” “You don’t know!” Kai repeats. “Well but look at him!”

I walk to the door. “I’m going.” Ava pulls me back. “Not so fast.” Liam raises his hands and backs away slowly. “I think I’m going too.” “Come on Ava I need to continue investigating.” Liam turns to me curious “Investigate?” Tell him! The voices cheer He can commit computer fraud! I’m not really supposed to encourage crime I sigh. “I want to be detective and I am allowed to sometimes help out the police.” Liams eyes sparkle a bit. “I heard Liam is a tech nerd. Maybe he could hack something and get you some information. You do tend to complain that due to privacy reason certain things can’t be accessed until you get permission.” Ava suggests. There were 3 reactions to this. Kai “How did you even remember that. Your memory is shit.” Liam “Are you suggesting to an aspiring detective that he should let me commit crimes?” and mine “Sure why not”

Immediately three heads snap into my direction. “Aren’t you supposed to discourage crime?” Liam asks hesitantly. I shrug “Some crime never hurt anybody.” He learned the voices cheer. “What? Yes, it did. That’s literally why it’s illegal.” Kai looks like he wants to throw me out the window. “So, I need access to Ruby Fosters files from Dr Matinez. Could you please get them?” I turn my attention to Liam who hesitantly nods. “Is this allowed though?” “Absolutely not” I answer. Ava laughs while Liam and Kai cry in despair. “What kind of detective are you?”

“Let’s go to Kais’s house since it’s the biggest.” Ava says. Liam shakes his head. “No. I really don’t feel comfortable going to a strangers house.” “We could just do it at the school while the computer are shitty that way you wouldn’t have to do something you don’t want to.” I tell them. We all agree and go to the school libraries.