"Are teenage boys always this lazy?" Aletta held her nose as she stood in front of an old looking bungalow, whose lawn had already transformed into a thick bush of green that was threatening to swallow it up


    A few distance away, a large swat of flies happily danced around ten filled up garbage sacks oozing with nauseating goo. Forget Aletta, even Jason and Stephen were scrunching up their noses as well.


    "Do we really have to come here?" Jason rubbed his stomach with an ashen expression.


    He was starting to regret eating breakfast. First it was that corpse at the cemetery, now this garbage dump of a house!


    "Sorry Princess, but this is in the job description. You want to be a Mystique Hunter like I and my sister? get used to it!"


    Patting Jason on the shoulder, Stephen arrived at the porch of the bungalow, landing two successive knocks on the slowly rotting wooden door.


    Creeerak!


    Like the slow whining of an old lady, the door slowly slid open leaving just a small gap that allowed a chubby head to peek through.


    "Who are you?" Harry demanded, in a slightly shaky tone .


    "Are you Harry Stewart?"


    "Yeah?"


    "I am Daniel Johnston.. an Investigative reporter for the Avalanche Forum.. we would like to discuss your room mate death with you. It''s for an article we are currently working on if you don''t mind " although Stephen was saying this, his arms said otherwise.


    Pushing open the door, he nearly puked.


    "Is that rotten cheese?" he gave Harry a strange look.


    "Well... " Harry scratched his head.


    . Walking into the apartment, Jason immediately felt dizzy as well. The whole place was in a mess, with dirty clothes laying carelessly about. There was about thirty chips wraps packed and in a corner, a box of half eaten but now rotting pizza and game poster cards.


    A hell lot of them!


    "You are a gamer?" Jason noticed the play station console.


    "I and Chris were gamers.. we became one to escape the harsh reality of the real world.. only through gaming did we find our solace" Harry sniffed back the snot that was about to drip down from his nose.


    "Have a seat please" he pointed at the only four seater sofa in the apartment.


    "Don''t bother, we won''t waste much time" Stephen quickly rejected as he forced a smile.


    He couldn''t wait to leave this smelly dump. How could he afford to make himself comfortable?


    "So you claim to have been there when Chris died correct?" Aletta whipped out a pamphlet as she pretended to be jotting down notes.


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    "Can you describe what happened? the more vivid the better for.. the article "


    Sucking in a deep breath, Harry began recounting what happened the previous night, starting from the call Chris got from his late mother, to them visiting the cemetery, then how Chris had mysteriously died.


    "So you are saying Chris got a call from his mother? and how long has she been dead?" Stephen asked after Harry finished speaking.


    "Fourth of November.. last three years ago.." Harry suddenly seemed to have recalled something..


    "Wait! yesterday was the fourth of November! do you think its the ghost of his mother who really killed him?" his face went pale with fright.


    "I escaped. Would she also come for me tonight?" he shrieked.


    "What a coward" Jason huffed underneath his breath.


    What was so terrifying about ghosts? he killed one a day ago and currently shares a Symbiotic contract with another!


    "Calm down, I am sure that''s all just a coincidence. After all.. ghosts aren''t real" although Aletta was saying this, a crease had already appeared between her brows.


    "You said your friend received a call from his mother? did you overhear their conversation? did the voice sound exactly like his mother''s?" Stephen asked, to which Harry nodded positively.


    "Maybe it might have been a voice changer who knows. So how long has he been getting those calls from his dead mom?"


    "Eh.. about a week ago.. specifically on Tuesday, at least that''s what he told me" Harry thought for a while before replying.


    "And you said you didn''t see the assailant?" Stephen narrowed his eyes.


    "Like I told the police, I didn''t.." Harry nervously clenched his fist. Although he hid it, Jason managed to notice it.


    "He''s lying " he sneered.


    "What?!" both siblings gave Jason a look.


    "I am a liar myself and I know one when I see one . You discovered something that night didn''t you? however you were to cowardly to spit it out " Jason smirked.


    However it was filled with disdain. The other party''s cowardly attitude seemed to be strangely infuriating him more and more.


    "It wasn''t that. Even if I said it, nobody would believe me!" nervously biting his lower lips, Harry finally admitted.


    "What did you see then?" Aletta put away the pamphlet.


    Harry''s next words were going to be the climax that would determine whether her guess was wrong or right.


    "While I was standing at that tombstone, I could swear for a moment that I felt a presence behind me. When I turned my back I only heard a whoosh sound from behind me and then Harry was killed. I think whatever killed my friend was the Yellow Flash from the comics!"


    .


    .


    "What an idiot. How can a fictional character kill his friend?" Jason scoffed as he walked into the private hotel room, tiredly slumping on one of the sofas.


    Today''s trip had been one hell of a ride!


    "You shouldn''t blame him. After all he doesn''t know what we know" Aletta brought out a laptop from a red backpack.


    Sitting on her bed, her fingers began furiously dancing around the keyboard.


    "Are those medical records?" Stephen took a peek at the computer screen from behind Aletta.


    "Yeah. I hacked into this Town''s hospital online database. Their security system is really lax" Aletta shrugged, her eyes still fixed on the computer screen.


    "You are a hacker? how come I never knew?!" Jason jumped out of the sofa as he rushed over.


    "Cause I didn''t write that skill set on my face dumbass"


    "Ah! I get it now!" she suddenly exclaimed as she punched her bed out of excitement.


    "Here, the first victim of the killing was a man named Solomon Jensen.. and guess what, his wife died of premature labor on October twenty eighth last three years ago.. and guess what, the first victim died last week Monday "


    "Last week Monday was October twenty eighth " Jason connected the dot.


    "The second victim was a surgeon who lost his son during an operation he was in charge of , on October twenty nine last three years ago.. you boys can guess the rest already "


    "So there''s a connection here. All the victims lost a family member three years ago and they happen to be dying on the day the deceased family member died?" Jason wriggled his brows with a clueless expression.


    He was still far from understanding what Aletta was driving at.


    "I am guessing they also received a phone call like Chris because they were all found dead before the tombstone of their deceased loved one.. with their chest ripped out and a half eaten heart besides their corpse " Aletta added.


    "Alright, the same Modus Operandi. However how are we going to find our mystery killer?" Jason finally got tired of guessing Aletta''s thought process.


    "We already know. This M.O. There''s only one monster who sticks by it " Stephen suddenly chimed in.