Lucky Cigarettes

Chapter One

  

Mavia Peters, seventeen years old, dead. The image is cluttered with information on the girl's family and life. A post from Crash Cases; a podcast I follow, with an inquiry left above. 'Does anybody have any leads on this?' Looks like the section containing the obituary is simply a screenshot. There are no photos of a body provided.

The original post in question, as previously mentioned, was made public by an anonymous user on 4Chan. Whether this user is the author of the obituary, is up for debate. Like most content on the site, law hasn't been called to the scene yet. Usually posts like this are left to 4Chan's user base to handle and discuss.

Crash Cases' tweet has attracted a lot of attention, further discussion has been led to Reddit instead. Some suspect that the victim was the result of a murder, rather than some situation where she couldn't swim. In the end, that's just a theory.

I scroll through some of the comments on Crash's post, noting different reactions. Either this means a new true crime episode, or a mystery to be forgotten after a couple months or so. I send the post to Pax, my best friend, and wait for him to respond. He was usually available, aside from the days he was busy working at his grandparents' shop. After a few minutes or so, he answers.

What about it?

Wanna try and solve it before Crash figures it out?

Fine. Don't get upset if we don't get it before him. Remember what happened last time?

I roll my eyes at the text. Pax is being moody, per usual. Couldn't kill him to show some enthusiasm, online or not.

Yeah yeah. Are you busy rn?

Nope. Why, you're gonna drag me along for some wild goose chase?

Depends, would you say yes?

Normally, no. But I don't have anything better to do. Meet me at the cafe.

Mk.

I slide off my bed, heading out into the hallway of my house. My feet hurry themselves down the stairs and to the front door, so fast I almost don't have time to call out to my dad, "I'm going out! I'll be back sometime before six!" I tug on my boots and winter coat before dashing out the door, nearly slipping on an ice patch in the process.

Jogging down the streets, I finally reach the cafe, which Pax's grandparents own. I brush some ice off the doorknob, then entering, the warm air hitting my face at once. Inside, a few tables are taken up, Levonia, Pax's Grandma, is handling a customer at the counter.

I quietly pass by, my eyes searching for Pax, eventually finding him. He's helping out behind the counter as well. Must have missed him before. "Hey, dumb dumb, I'm here." I call out to him with a small smirk.

Pax looks up, his eye twitching. "At least act polite here." He replies, but there's no bite to his words. He says something to Levonia before grabbing his jacket and joining me. "You really think we're going to crack this one?" Pax prompts, already starting to walk out the door.

I follow briskly. "Maybe. There's like, no evidence at all, so everybody's starting at zero. We have a chance!" I point out.

"Chance, huh? Relying on your luck streak again?" He says dryly.

Chance was a nickname of mine. A result of being ridiculously lucky. I roll my eyes. "Can't we just pretend I'm actually good at everything? I like that more." A grin tugs at the corners of my lips.

Pax scoffs. "Sure, sure." We walk down the sidewalk in silence momentarily. "So, do you even have an idea of where to start?" He asks, side glancing at me expectantly.