A Thief in the Night...

Ch. 3 - A Terrifying Box

Grian hated clocks. He hated when classes dragged on because you snuck a peek at the time. Despite hating it, Grian couldn't help but look. He was meeting Silly after school, and though he wished it wasn't to gather information on the death of his friend's now ex-girlfriend, he was still excited to see her. His leg shook as he glanced up at the time, just five more minutes. His fingers tapped against the desk as he chewed on his bottom lip. His teacher was still droning on and on, but he stopped listening 20 minutes ago. He risked another glance at the clock, three more minutes. He was ready to put his head down; maybe if he shut his eyes, the time would go by faster.

Then, like the hero it was, the shrill sound of the bell rang through the school. Grian hopped up, shouldering his bag and rushing out the door. He and Silly met up in front of the school before heading down to the station. He typically got there first, but she never kept him waiting.

"Hi, Grian."

"Hey, Silly," He quickly fell into step with her, "Do you think it'll be slower today? I don't think Yuki's found anything yet."

"Mom said they've mainly been looking at traffic cams, but there's none with a view of the crash. Whoever did it either knew what they were doing or just got lucky."

"So, we're looking at footage all day?"

"Nope, Mom needs us to "organize" stuff," Silly rolled her eyes, "That's just her way of saying there's nothing for us to do."

"So, why am I invited along?"

"To keep me company," she bumped his shoulder, "Come on, Grian. You can't expect me to suffer alone."

Grian smiled as he sighed, "Misery does love company."

Silly laughed, "Exactly."

---

Taurtis carefully shut the door behind him. The house was unusually dark; the only source of light was the moonlight filtering in through the windows. Salex's place was eerily quiet. Taurtis was used to her skipping around the house, always some kind of music playing in the background. It used to be a place of happiness and color, but now it was miserable and dull.

"Yuki?" Taurtis called.

"Up here."

Taurtis climbed up the stairs, making his way to the only door with light shining out for underneath it. He opened the door to see Yuki sitting on Salex's bed, she appeared to have been crying, and a shoebox was sitting on her lap. Taurtis gently closed the door and sat next to her.

"Yuki?" Taurtis glanced between her and the box.

Yuki wiped her eyes, "She left me a note and told me to find something hidden here. This is why she died," She placed the box in Taurtis's lap, biting her lip to keep back her sobs.

Taurtis stared at the shoebox, a message left to Yuki, Salex trusted her enough to know what to do with it; to make sure it was safe. His hands shook as he gripped the lid. Closing his eyes and sucking in a breath, he lifted it open. Peeking through one eye, he studied the contents of the box. A surprised gasp climbed up his throat, and Yuki stiffened beside him. It wasn't what he was expecting.

Pictures, lots and lots of photos had been thrown into the box. Quickly folded up notes were mixed in as well. But the most ominous object was the flip phone sitting on top. Judging from the other things, Taurtis didn't want to know what was on it. Though now he understood why she asked him to look out for Yuki, every picture was of her and Yuki, and both of them didn't take a single one. They were peeking through blinds, following them down the street, even some taken from across the schoolyard. All of them included the two either holding hands or kissing or, in some cases, doing more.