When they got home, Nalda and her sister split up. Mave immediately went to the kitchen, muttering something about being hungry, while Nalda disappeared into her room. She found something new after all, she needed to inspect it if she wanted to live.
She hadn't seen the letters show up so she wasn't entirely confident that she was on the right track. But then again, the letters didn't show up when she needed them. They just showed up when they decided to force into going in a certain direction or when she needed to do something.
'Not that it matters. It's not like the letters were going to hand me an answer or anything. They only seem good for ruining my mood.'
So she sat down on her bed and took a closer look at the little astronaut. The first thing she decided to check was the little sign the astronaut was holding. She didn't remember what exactly it was saying when she first found it but she bet that if it was different that she would notice.
However, she couldn't really tell the difference. The sign was saying 'I love (personal)space!'
She cursed her bad memory for forgetting what was written on it. She only vaguely remembered that it had something to do with space but nothing more.
She wasn't sure if it had been a space pun or just a random statement about space.
Suddenly she understood the importance of that strange woman that did those memory reviews. People are always bound to forget the details however if there was someone who can just grab that memory and play it all over again, then they would practically be priceless in investigations.
The letters weren't showing up to guide her either so for now she needed to look at something else.
After looking for a while she finally noticed something. One of the astronaut's legs was cut off cleanly.
That was definitely different, right? Nalda wasn't certain.
The only thing she was certain about was that the astronaut keychain had gotten dirtier but that was normal, considering that it had been almost a week since she had last seen it.
'Was it there when you left? Where did you find it?'
The letters popped up in the form of the wrinkles on her bed sheet.
Nalda, still not used to them just popping up, jumped up in surprise when she saw her own bed sheets acting strange. She only realised that it was just the letters when she finally managed to read what was written.
'What? Did I miss something? Where was it…? Where did I find… Wait!'
"Don't tell me… did the murderer drop it?"
What the letters were trying to say was that the astronaut keychain wasn't at the crime scene anymore after she left with the police. She wasn't completely sure about that though but if the letters had asked her about it then it was probably right.
The second question was about today. Nalda found the keychain in Big Thornstreet, not near the murderer scene but somewhere else.
Now there were two options for how this could've happened. First the murderer took it because they thought it did something important and dropped it by accident. The other option was that the murderer dropped it on purpose to throw the investigators or police off.
Now the question was, what was Nalda with this information? Not much.
The letters did guide her to reach these answers but she wasn't sure what to do with this. She didn't think it was useful for her to know the intentions behind the actions of the murderer. In her eyes the murderer definitely wasn't normal because normal people don't go around murdering people on Fridays or on any other day.
Still there probably was a reason why the letters didn't want her to know this. The letters didn't strike her as something that was genuinely going to support her whenever she wanted. Especially not with finding the murderer.
She'll just have to put these ideas in the back of her mind for now.
'Oh, yeah the murderer must've passed there if the keychain was dropped there.'
That would've been an actual lead if the murderer couldn't turn invisible.
Nalda felt like all of the clues were useless.
Can she really catch the murderer like this? She has taken it lightly until now but that was because she thought that she could somehow solve it but now she was starting to doubt that.
She was about to start spiraling again when her sister called her. "Nalda! Come here! Mom and dad are calling!"
Nalda immediately stood up and ran downstairs. By the time she got downstairs she forgot about her worries. They were buried under the excitement of talking with her parents again.
"Mom! Dad! I'm here!" She came into the living room yelling. Mave just handed the phone to Nalda and sat back to watch some TV like some old person.
On the phone there were two people. Her mom was on the left side while her dad was on the right side. Nalda's left and right of course.
Her mother had a warm expression while her father wore a trembling smile. He was definitely trying to hold back something.
"Ah, Nalda, I heard that you've been slacking off from Mave?" Her mother didn't sound angry at all, in fact she sounded rather happy and cheerful. "Are you trying to become like your dad?" Her words were definitely not cheerful or warm.
"Mom… normal people begin their conversation with hello…" Nalda whined when her mother immediately began with interrogations. It was exactly the same with Mave.
"Good evening Nalda." Her father said after Nalda finished speaking.
Nalda perked up at that. "Good evening dad! See mom! That is how you start a conversation."
"Nalda." That was her mother's warning tone.
Nalda wanted to sigh but Mave would've commented on that. "Sorry mom… It's just that, well, uhh…"
Her father gave her a pitying look. "You don't need to make excuses sweetie. We know that you were just slacking off for no reason." He misunderstood Nalda but knowing how her father was, explaining that he was wrong was pointless.
The reason why Nalda couldn't say anything was because she was busy with solving that murder case. She quite literally had to find the murderer or else she would die.
But she couldn't tell them about it. She hadn't tried it yet but she had a feeling that telling people wouldn't work. Especially because during the memory review, even the person stepping into her memory and watching the exact scene did see the letters. What are the chances that two normal people would be able to understand anything Nalda is saying?
"It's not that, I'm just…" Nalda looked towards Mave who seemed to understand what Nalda wanted to say.
"Nalda was caught up in a crime scene." Mave said in an all too casual tone.
"Mave!" Nalda was so surprised by how her sister just blurted that out without a warning.
Her parents were quiet on the other side of the phone. Her father was the first to speak up. "How bad is it? And how did you-" Her father suddenly switched to serious mode. Her mother on the other hand looked pale and like she was about to jump through the screen. Both her parents were seriously misunderstanding the situation.
"No, no, not like that. I didn't commit a crime. I was a witness." Nalda hurriedly explained before her parents' ideas could turn even stranger.
Her mother spoke up in a hurried tone. "What kind of crime did you become a witness of? And how involved are you?" She sounded seriously worried.
"Uhm…" Nalda glanced at Mave and when she saw Mave opening her mouth Nalda glared at her. Mave quietly shut her mouth again with an eye roll. "Murder."
Her mother ran a hand down her face and her father's eyes widened. "How?" Her mother asked.
Nalda would've shrugged if it had been a casual conversation but this wasn't the case. "I don't know."
Mave seemed to find that moment the right moment to shout something that could stop her parents' hearts. "The murder might come for her!"
Her mother and father both looked like they were genuinely about to jump through the screen. "How?" Her mother immediately asked.
Nalda glared at her sister with a burning intensity. "I'm fine! She's over reacting."
"That scar on your arm is also overreacting, isn't it?" Mave bit back.
"Scar? What scar?" Her father asked.
"It's already healed!"
"No it's not."
"Shut up!"
"Nalda, Mave." Their mother's warning tone came out of the speaker of the phone. "Explain. Now. Every single detail. Don't miss out on anything."
Nalda wanted to punch Mave so badly but she feared that if she did that right now, her mother might actually jump through the phone. Instead she sighed which earned her a side eye from Mave.
Before Mave could comment Nalda shoved the phone in her face. "Since you like to talk so much, why don't you explain it."
Mave took the phone and didn't hesitate before she started explaining.
There were two reasons why Nalda let her sister explain. First because Mave was genuinely annoying her and second because Nalda actually had no clue what story Mave heard and how much she knew. So in a way this was Nalda's way of gathering more information.
"Last Friday on her way home, Nalda found a dead body. It turned out to be a celebrity and the murderer got away." Mave paused and corrected herself. "Well it would be more accurate to call the murderer a serial killer."
Nalda froze up at that.
'How many people did this fellow kill? How many people does one need to kill to be branded a serial killer?'
While Nalda did have a vague idea that the murderer probably killed more than just one person because those 'police officers' seemed to know at least a few habits that belonged to the murderer but still a serial killer? That was something she hadn't really thought about.
'Isn't a serial killer someone who killed five or more people…?'
Nalda felt like she was spiraling again because if the murderer- no, serial killer really did kill five or more people without being caught then how was Nalda ever supposed to find this person? There was absolutely no way someone like her could catch a serial killer. Absolutely not.
Mave hit Nalda's back with a light slap. It seemed like the facetime with their parents had ended. "Come here." She said and Nalda didn't hesitate before hugging her sister tightly.
After a few moments of silence Mave spoke again. "What are you so afraid of? I already told you that I'd protect you." It was that stupid reassuring tone that made Nalda want to cry even more.
How could she tell her sister that she needed to find the serial killer on her own within a month if she didn't want to die? How can she tell Mave about the letters… wait.
"Mave, you'll believe me right?" Nalda pulled back from the hug and looked her sister straight in the eyes. "Anything, right? Even if it sounds crazy?"
Mave nodded. "Why wouldn't I believe you?"
At the confirmation Nalda immediately began talking. "Look I didn't tell anyone yet but when I found the body it suddenly changed shape and turned into letters! It said something like 'do you want to switch positions?' and- and it was forcing me to choose yes because otherwise I would die in a month!" She looked at her sister's face to see how she was reacting. "Now the letters are forcing me to find the serial killer but..." Nalda stopped when she saw that her sister's face was calm. A little too calm.
It made Nalda uneasy. Her sister looked like a robot that shut down.
"Mave…?" Nalda shook her sister a bit and Mave suddenly shook her head.
"Huh? Oh, Nalda." She blinked in confusion but then quickly went back to normal. "I'm sorry, I zoomed out. Can you repeat that?"
Nalda didn't reply she just shook her head in disbelief. "I'm- I'm going to my room!" She said quickly before running away from her sister.
Once she was in her room she sunk down to the ground while leaning on the ground. She couldn't believe it. The letters actually affected her sister's memories. What's to say that they could hurt anyone?
'You have been warned. Do not share information on this. Only share crucial information.'
The letters popped up again. This time it was in the form of the shadows in her room.