As soon as I woke up, I checked my phone. I smiled as I saw I had received some texts.
Mom: Here is the information for you! Click here
Unknown: you can just call me EJ.
I opened up the second message and quickly saved EJs number to my contacts. I decided I'd look at my mom's message some other time.
After that, I got dressed in some comfortable clothes and headed to the police station.
When I got there, I searched for the detective but I couldn't find her anywhere. I frowned as I stopped an officer to ask if she'd seen her.
"Have you seen the detective?" I questioned.
"Oh you didn't know? She's at the news studio right now. I think she should be back later, though," she informed me.
I nodded and thanked her as she walked away.
What was I supposed to do now?
I walked aimlessly around the police station, until I had an idea: I could do some training.
With that idea in mind, I began searching for the head officer. After a few minutes, I found him at the vending machine.
"Hello, sir," I greeted with a smile.
He startled but then turned to face me.
"Ah, hello (y/n), do you need something?" He asked, reaching down to grab his food from the machine.
"Yes, you see, I was wondering if I could do some physical training since the detective isn't here yet," I explained.
"Hmm, I don't suppose that would be a problem. There's a workout room down the hall on the right. I don't think there's any training scheduled today, so it should be free if you'd like to use it," he offered.
I smiled and thanked him before running off to find the room.
It wasn't much, but I figured it would help.
There were a few different machines spread throughout the room. I didn't know much about exercise but I recognized a treadmill.
In the corner, there were also some weights on a rack and next to the rack, on the wall, there were what looked to be elastic bands and jump ropes hanging.
In another corner, I spotted a punching bag and excitement immediately flowed through me.
I had always wanted to be able to punch a punching bag while looking super cool and really tough, but I also knew that I couldn't just punch it with my bare hands, and I didn't see gloves anywhere so I decided against it.
Instead, I opted to start out on the treadmill.
Not even fifteen minutes later, I was questioning my entire existence.
Why did I think exercise was a good idea?
Did I even need exercise that bad?
Can exercise kill me?
I decided to take a break from the treadmill and try lifting weights instead. I walked to the corner of the room and examined the weights on the rack.
The weights ranged from two pounds all the way to fifty pounds.
I decided to start with five pounds to go easy on myself.
I took two five pound weights and held one in each hand. Then, I simply lifted them until it got boring. From there, I slowly worked my way up to heavier weights.
I was just about to try the 25 pound weights when the detective walked in.
"There you are, (y/n)! I'm sorry I didn't tell you I'd be late coming in, but I'm here now. And I see you were able to keep yourself busy," she commented.
"Yeah, I was told you would be here later, so I decided to do a bit of training," I explained.
"I didn't know you liked to exercise," she replied.
I glanced around the room and ran my hand through my hair.
"Well actually, I don't really exercise at all... I barely know what any of the stuff in this room is," I admitted. "But I want to do some training because I think it'll come in handy some day," I reasoned.
"That makes sense. I had to do a lot of training to become a detective and I think it paid off. Do you want me to help you?" She questioned.
I smiled at her kindness.
"Yeah, that would be great actually, thank you!" I replied.
"Don't thank me yet," she warned.
I learned why about two hours later after I was covered in sweat and trying to melt into the floor so I could disappear.
The detective handed me some water and I took it, desperately gulping down as much as I could. When I finished the whole bottle, I looked down to read it's packaging. My heart faltered.
"Do you drink this brand a lot?" I asked, my throat beginning to feel tense.
"Oh, yes, it's my favorite type of water!" She exclaimed happily.
I smiled a sad smile, a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes.
"It was my aunt's favorite water, too," I shared, staring at the bottle.
"Oh... (y/n).... I'm sorry..." she trailed off gently, inching towards me.
I sniffled.
"It's just- it's just that I didn't even... have you ever known someone but never really known them? I- sure I knew my aunt.... she was my aunt... but- but I didn't know her. I never... I never tried to get to know her. Why would I do that? I spent every summer with her! But I didn't really spend it with her. I just stayed in my room all day! And now I'm crying because a water bottle reminded me of her?! I don't even deserve to be sad over this..." I trailed off, wiping at my tears furiously.
"(Y/n)... it's okay. I know your aunt isn't mad at you. You did nothing wrong. How were you supposed to know that she'd be killed? Let me ask you this: if you had known she'd die, would you have spent more time with her?" the detective questioned.
"Of course, I would have," I replied.
"Exactly. That's because you care about her. And the fact she let you stay with her every summer means she cared about you too. I know she's not mad at you, and she doesn't blame you for anything. She knows you cared about her and that's all the matters," she consoled me.
I nodded my head and wiped away the lat few remaining tears.
"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right," I admitted.
"Thanks," I added.
She smiled and held a hand out to me, offering to help me off the floor. I accepted it gratefully and stood to my feet.
"Can I- can I.... hug you?" I asked hesitantly.
"Of course," she answered.
After the hug, she looked at me seriously. "You're like family to me (y/n). If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?" She said.
I nodded and let out a quiet "okay."
"Okay, now lets go and start making phone calls! We've got a lot of alibis to find," she clapped her hands and started walking towards the door.
I smiled and followed behind her, glad I had someone who cared about me, glad I had met her, but not so glad that I'd have to call several strangers.
•••••
1202 words
so... it turns out I had this chapter saved as a draft but I never published it aha... I hope this keeps everyone entertained until I can finish the next chapter!
Unedited
