It was after 1 in the morning.
I had been climbing down the path toward the sanatorium for quite some time now and I had only just gotten to the large stone wall separating the sanatorium from the rest of the mountain. I did my best to stay quiet as I climbed closer and that's when I saw Mike. He was hiding behind the wall and looked like he was checking to see if the coast was clear. He actually looked like a true detective in the murderer's territory, it was nice to see, being a detective myself.
I quickly crouched and jogged my way over to the stone wall, being careful not to make any loud and sudden noises that could call unwanted attention before revealing my presence to Mike. I reached the wall as Mike crouched back down from looking over the wall, 'damn it,' he said under his breath as I reached his side, he was facing away from me so he didn't see me at first.
"Hey," I spoke softly, poking his bicep.
"Aaaah," he stage whispered a scream, immediately calming down when he realized it was just me.
"What's going on? Are you okay?" I asked.
"Jesus Christ, Vee, don't do that," he was surprised to see me. He gave me a nickname, one I hadn't heard from him before now.
"Surprise, surprise, I'm here and wondering if you're okay," I growled within a whisper.
"Well, things aren't so good here," he said, "I'm fine," he threw in for good measure.
"I can see that. Care to elaborate?" I asked shifting to look over the wall before quickly coming back down.
"Well, Jessica was taken by some- thing, and now I'm trying to find her, again," Mike replied.
"I saw what happened, the aftermath," I felt bad, "I'm sorry, Mike," I dared to touch his bicep apologetically before quickly darting my hand away, feeling that touching him like that at this moment was a bit too loving, not friendly or concerning.
"Yeah," he huffed, checking over the wall for a second, "I don't know exactly what happened. She must have angered, whatever or whoever it was, I don't know."
"I get it," I replied, "but I know something you don't," I checked this time.
Mike looked at me, furrowed brows and gentle yet accusing eyes, "and what is that?"
"I know exactly what happened," I began, "she was taken by a creature, some sort of humanoid creature," I shook my head, unable to explain, "the important thing is I saw her fall to the grounds of what looked like mines, I know she's alive," I just blurted it out, knowing he was getting annoyed with my explanation skills.
"How do you know that? Does Josh know something about this?!" The accusation in his eyes increased in the slightest and I knew he was beginning to blame me, even when I had nothing to do with it. Then he mentioned Josh, and it was really uncalled for.
I sighed, "please, don't look at me like that, I had nothing to do with it," I assured him, "and I don't know where Josh is! Other than Sam, I don't know where anyone is," I frowned, "Jessica is probably in the mines, alive. Um, I don't know where anyone else is! Except you, and Sam," I continued.
"Alright, alright, don't start cryin' on me," he waved a hand at me, "I hate it when you cry," he admitted.
It was almost like in senior year but slightly different so I ignored it and changed the subject, "look, I just have this ability that allows me to see things that others can't, to see things that happened in the past and some things that can happen in the future," I explained briefly and in small words since I was dealing with Mike.
"Okay, so you're a freaky paranormal girl," he seemed to laugh it off, "strangely enough I believe you, I don't know why but I'll believe you," he paused to check over the wall, "for now."
I knew it. I'll get him to truly believe me some time, maybe right now wasn't that time. "You'll truly believe me some time," I said simply, not wanting to argue with him or upset him.
This time we both checked over the wall and saw an opportunity to get closer to the sanatorium, "alright," he said, "let's get closer," he moved to help me over and that's when he noticed I was already halfway over the wall, having thrown my bag over first, "man, you're quick," I rolled my eyes at him which made me lose my footing and slide right into his cold hands, "okay, now your just trying to get me to touch your ass," he chuckled at me.
"Um, actually, you distracted me and I rolled my eyes at you, thus causing me to lose my footing," I explained the truth, though I kept my amusement and my arousal at his touch to myself, "and like this wall has snow on it, so like it's slippery as fuck, dude."
He laughed more, "sure, Vanessa, sure," he pushed me by my rear and I swung my right leg over the side, pulling myself over and slowly dropping to my feet; I crouched, grabbing my bag and waited for Mike to drop down to the ground. "Alright," he was on top of the wall, then I heard him grunt which meant he was beside me.
"You okay?" I asked him, standing with my backpack on my shoulders.
"Yeah," he smirked, "I'm good," he started forward.
I smirked myself, laughing at his macho façade, rolling my eyes, "uh-huh, sure," I followed him, we walked for a good five minutes to get to the little fountain that sat in front of a pair of massive gates. I turned toward my right and saw some doors leading into the building. I tapped the back of Mike's bicep, "hey," and pointed toward the doors, "could be unlocked," I said.
"Vee, you've got good eyes," he said smiling.
I smirked, "well, I have been trained by the best damn detective in all of Krimson City, so like," I flipped my ponytail as we walked, "I have to have good eyes," I laughed at my bitch hair flip since it wasn't who I am, "sorry, I had to," he was eyeing me with a smirk himself.
"Of course you did," he was doing a good job of not doing or saying anything that could be considered true cheating and I appreciated that, and I knew Jessica would too. It was a good trait, loyalty, one of the best; I learned new things about him every day, and it was a good thing to know if he ever ended up falling in love with me and choosing me one day. I wouldn't want him to cheat on me, and I knew Jessica wouldn't either.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," I held my hands up in surrender, "I surrender, I surrender," I laughed softly as we reached the doors.
Mike eyed me, "I know," he shushed me then, "stay behind me," he paused and seemed to blush, "just in case," he gestured toward the door, "someone or something is behind here," he was trying to be a white knight and I appreciated it.
"I get it, take the hit, protect the damsel," I laughed, "would truly work if I was a damsel but I'll let you have your fantasy."
"I have no fantasy," or did he?
I couldn't tell, "alright then," no use arguing.
Mike took hold of the handle, half-expecting it to be locked but the door opened with just a bit of force. He was surprised but thought nothing of it and entered, "come on," he called for me to follow him inside. We walked until we reached the doors leading into the chapel. Mike peered inside the slit in the door, while I listened from beside him.
The wolves were hungry. I could tell, and all they got was a measly bone. I could hear the sound of the bone clobbering to the floor after being thrown in their direction. Then I could hear footsteps and paws walking away. Mike seemed a bit on edge but I paid no attention to it, to prevent him from going all macho again and doing something stupid, or plainly hurting his ego.
"They're moving away," I said softly, hearing the patter of steps decreased.
Mike tried the knob but there was no use doing that, "fuck, it's locked," he cursed under his breath.
I pointed to the mechanism that showed a red spot with the word 'locked' on it, "duh," I chuckled at him, "and I thought you could read," I teased him which only got an eye roll from him, "we'll have to find some other way through," with that we moved away from the door in search of a new path.