You didn't sleep well after all that.You spent a couple of hours tossing and turning before deciding to give up on the idea of sleep entirely. Now, you decided, it would be a good use of time to look at the materials the all-so mysterious S dropped off. The obvious place to start was with the first book they had given you, Treewalkers.

"Treewalkers

Table of Contents:

1.What is a Treewalker?

2.Treewalkers in the Modern Times

3.Treewalkers Then

4.Testimonies

1.What is a Treewalker?

     The world is not what we think it is. Each year, hundreds of new discoveries are made. [Boring science stuff that made your eyes glaze over]

     There have been numerous sightings of these creatures appropriately named treewalkers. Treewalkers have been described as looking like an ordinary human would, but with the height of a tree. An abundance of the sightings of these creatures have occured in heavily wooded areas, but treewalkers have been spotted in a wide variety of environments. [The author then goes into detail on the environments the sightings have occurred in. You skim read over it and the paragraphs following it.]

     [A lot of the next few paragraphs is the author gushing over how interesting treewalkers are, it's rather off-putting. You keep skimming until you find a paragraph that grabs your interest.]

     They are also rumored to exhibit what witnesses commonly call 'powers'. These 'powers', more accurately predatory adaptations, are rumored to range from mundane increased night vision to things such as telepathy or the ability to teleport. This is however greatly controversial and more likely to be linked to a witness's brain attempting to process the situation rather than being rooted in reality."

     You stop reading and can't help but feel incredibly silly. For a moment, a small moment, you had found yourself not believing in these creatures but at least interested in them. That interest had quickly faded after reading about their unrealistic abilities. Unbelievable. You put the book to the side and fall into a fitful sleep.

-------

     A note left by your parents saying they'd be gone again came as no surprise. Those two worked themselves half to death, stupid mortgage payments. It didn't make much sense to involve them in all this anyways. You were an adult now, a fresh adult of barely 18, but still an adult. They'd just freak out and involve the cops, the cops that would likely be useless yet again. You didn't need them anyway, you had that creepy website and the mysterious S. Yay.

     Speaking of S, he was currently in your kitchen trying to give you a heart attack. You hadn't invited him in and you knew your parents always lock the door when they leave. You had left your room, found and read the note, and there he was; he was sitting at your kitchen table nursing a glass of hot water while wearing a red halloween mask.

     "Sorry about the water, I didn't know if you liked coffee or tea so I went with water." The glass of water sat in front of you untouched. For some unknown reason hot, almost boiling, water was not what you wanted right now."So, did you look at any of the stuff I left behind?" He leaned in over the table taking more than his fair share of space.

      "Yes, but what are you doing in my house?!" You couldn't help but raise your voice. You immediately regretted it however, S was much,much bigger than you. There was no doubt in your mind he could beat you if it came to it.

     "I tried knocking but you didn't answer. I was worried. Looking at the murder can attract bad attention, and I didn't want you to be hurt. I came in to check on you;I saw you peacefully sleeping in your bed. You snore a little, did you know that?"

     "But how'd you get in! We keep at the doors and windows locked."

     He claps his hands and excitedly says, "I'm an expert at that kind of thing, one of the best." You make a face, and S seems to notice as he springs up from the table. "It's not like that or whatever you're thinking. I have to be good at breaking in. When I was younger my brothers always used to lock me out of the house. They thought it was so funny, but it wasn't. I learned how to get in places because of that, that's all."

     "Oh," There wasn't really too much you could say on that matter.

     "You said you looked at some of the stuff, which ones did you look at?

     "I read some of Treewalkers, you don't actually believe that do you? I mean humans as tall as trees that can talk in people's minds. That's insane. I don't see how that's useful to finding the murderer."

     "Well they are real, I've seen a couple before. You have to know about treewalkers if you want to find the murderer. It's super important. I promise. If you don't believe me just ask all your friends on that mystery solving site."

     Your heartbeat quickened. "What site?"

     "The website you know, you have to be using it. All the others I met who wanted help with cases like this used it. It's just what happens, you know."

     "Why haven't you mentioned 'all the others' before. You said you've worked on cases linked to this one before, but never mentioned working with others."

     "Not something I like to talk about. Those other cases weren't very fun, the others couldn't take it. You understand, you understand the obsession. They couldn't find the answer they wanted and so they just gave up, or others made them give up."

     "Still would have liked to have known about this."

     "I'll make it up to you, after we eat something I'll take you somewhere I think we'll find stuff. I'll go ahead and make breakfast, just there's one thing."

     "What?"

     "Do you have access to that website or not?"