𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐄 𝐔𝐏, ronance

𝟎𝟏. 𝗜 𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗

The ringing of Nancy's phone echoed through her apartment, piercing the silence of the night. Startled, she fumbled to answer, her heart quickening with a mix of anxiety and anticipation.

"Hey, Nance," Jonathan's voice crackled through the line, excitement and urgency palpable. "I've found something. Meet me at our spot by the quarry. It's important."

Before Nancy could respond, the line went dead, leaving her with a sense of foreboding. The urgency in Jonathan's voice hinted at a breakthrough in his relentless pursuit of the truth.

A pursuit that had now become a dangerous obsession.

A half-hour later, Nancy found herself at the quarry's edge, the moonlight casting long shadows over the dark water. The air was thick with tension as she scanned the area, searching for any sign of Jonathan.

Her phone buzzed, startling her, but a voice cut through the silence before she could reach for it.

"Hey, Nancy Drew."

Startled, she spun around. A wave of relief and annoyance crashed over her as she looked at the sardonic grin on Robin's face, "What brings you to this romantic hotspot?"

Nancy glared at her, "Not now, Robin. Jonathan called me. Something's wrong."

Robin rolled her eyes, "He probably got tangled in his own camera strap again," she said, leaning against the trunk of a tree, "You really need to find friends with better survival instincts."

Ignoring Robin's comment, the hair on the back of Nancy's neck stood up, and something moved out of the corner of her eye.

Hidden in the shadows was a figure— someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

Robin squinted over Nancy's shoulder, tilting her head as her expression shifted from mockery to genuine intrigue, "Well, well, Wheeler, looks like you've stumbled onto something interesting."

Nancy turned to look at Robin, trying her best to suppress the surge of annoyance, "If you're not going to leave me alone, then you can at least shut up and help me."

Robin looked slightly taken aback by Nancy's outburst but quickly recovered with a sarcastic comment, "Fine, I'll help," she added, "but only because I'm curious, not 'cause I care about your helpless boyfriend."

As they began to follow the shadow at a distance, curse words flew, and elbows poked into sides as their little quirks laced the interaction with tension and banter.

Robin's sarcastic comments clashed with Nancy's intensity, creating a volatile and strangely magnetic dynamic.

"I feel like we're wasting time following this guy," Robin said softly, scanning the area around the quarry after they lost the shadowy figure for the third time.

"I have to believe we'll find something," Nancy said, her eyes narrowing with determination, "Jonathan wouldn't just call me because he—"

Nancy froze as her torchlight caught a glint of something metallic on the ground. She bent down to pick it up while Robin's attention wandered over somewhere to Nancy's left.

Jonathan's camera strap. But it was— broken?

"Oi," Robin swatted behind her to get Nancy's attention. Her voice was hushed but urgent, "Over here."