9 A.M the next morning, you wait. 12 P.M, still waiting. 2 P.M, more waiting. You could have done something today, but had instead opted to wait for S to show up. 3 P.M, if he didn't get here soon your parents would be home. It wasn't until 4:30 P.M that you heard a knock on your front door.

     If this had been a tv show or a comic strip, then what you saw in front of you would have been funny, but sadly this is real life. The tall man was wearing large black sunglasses and had a bandana wrapped around his lower face. This would have been scary if not for the clothes he was wearing. Today, his ensemble consisted of a blue turtleneck,a black suit jacket with gray zig zag patterns, and a polka dotted hat. It looked like he got dressed in the dark.

     "Good morning (y/n)!" He chirped. Without waiting for an invitation he pushed past you and placed several books on the nearest table. "Hope you like to read, I found these books and thought they might help."

     "It's alright." You say as you pick up one of the books titled 'Tree walkers'.

     "That's a good one to start with. But first, I think we should talk about what we both know. It's hard to be buddies without knowing the truth." He put a lot of emphasis on 'truth', you felt warning bells in your head go off, but decided to ignore them.

     "I don't know much, other than that she was my friend. She liked to learn about weird things and was likely in the forest because of that. Then she was killed there."

     "There we go, I'm learning things, important things,already. I have a hunch at who the killer might be, but I'm not certain."

     "Who? How do you know the killer already?"

     "I don't, not 100%. That's why I'm here. This wasn't their first kill, just their latest kill. I've been trying to bust them for a while, the past five years, but could never keep up. They were killing regularly, every month, but after this kill it all stopped. All proof of their existence is completely gone."

     "So are you a detective or something?" He shook his head and switched to a playful looking stance.

     "Just someone who's interested in helping others, wink." He vocalized 'wink' and gave a snorty laugh after doing so.

     "I know you said you're not completely sure, but could you tell me something about the killer. Why do they kill? Who do they usually kill? Stuff like that."

     "Not completely sure on the why, but food may play some part. A little under half of the bodies that were found looked like they had been eaten, it was very sad. "

     "Under half?"

     "Under half of the bodies that were found, can't speak for the ones not yet found." You smiled. Sure S had seemed silly at first, but he was proving to be helpful. If it weren't for him, you'd never had expected a cannibal."Oh, it's not a cannibal. A cannibal eats the same species. Since the killer isn't human, it can't be a cannibal." You hadn't said the cannibal part out loud. You mentally shrugged and figured it was just coincidence.

    "What do you mean it isn't human?"

    "It's not human. Not everyone is human."

     "That doesn't make any sense. Of course the killer is human, if it'd have been an animal attack then the detectives would have already said so. If you're trying to say it's a monster, then you're right and wrong. Yeah the killer is a monster, a really bad person, but it's still a person. Talking as if they're not human isn't helpful at all." S smiled and put his hands on his face.

     "You sure about that?"

----------

     "Are you okay?" It was one of your parents, looks like you fell asleep on the couch again. "You look a little sick." You felt very sick. You stood from the couch and headed to your room. "Aren't you going to eat dinner? You shook your head and closed the door to your bedroom.

     Your head was killing you. You couldn't remember the last time you had a migraine this bad. You could feel your skull splitting at the seams.The darkness of your room was most welcome at this moment. You flopped down onto your bed. Ow. What had you been doing before you fell asleep on the couch? You knew you had been talking to S about the case and then..? What happened? Where is S? S? Did he do something? He didn't, he wouldn't. Right?

     You started pacing around the room. You went over everything you could remember, every step taken, every action showed, every word spoken. There was nothing that explained why you couldn't remember what happened. You couldn't have passed out when you thought you did. If you had passed out while S was here, then surely he would have done something.

     A sparkle from the wall grabbed your attention. Next to your newspaper clippings hung a simple drawing done in glossy gel pen. The drawing was of S, you knew that much. Upon closer examination of the picture you were disappointed. Instead of showing his eye color, the artist, you assumed to be him, had opted to give him cartoonish black eyes. The drawing overall was good, not realistic in any way but good. You didn't remember seeing this earlier today. Had it been there this whole time, or was just recently placed. If it was newly placed, then S had to have been in your room today. You didn't remember him doing that. You'd have to ask him about it another day. If you had the courage of course. You couldn't rule out foul play after all.

      The fact that you had just so happened to stumble into someone in the woods who could help you with this very specific murder you were investigating was alarming. The fact that twice now you had gotten very sick after meeting up with S was odd. The fact that you still trusted him with all your heart was sad. The logical part of you was freaking out as something just wasn't right. A foreign force, you could almost picture it, locked that logic part away. It felt like a hand was gently pushing your worries further and further away. You tried to resist, but you swore you heard a whisper in your head. 'It's okay. It's all okay'. It is okay, you decided. I've got this all under control.