Never had I imagined myself to be a CSI one day, and truthfully speaking, I have always looked down on any form of police-related work, but here I am today, in the utmost forefront of a blood-filled murder investigation. Oh, the irony! Perhaps if we take a peep into a few months ago prior to when I first made my debut at the Great Narrow Police Department, things may be put into perspective.

My life began spiraling out of control during my last semester as a senior back in university, where I was somewhat of a prodigy; having completed high school in the tender age of 16.

I had met someone new, something that I had struggled with for the longest time. Tammy was always good company, for with her I always felt like I had achieved something great with my life, little did I know that she would be the beginning of my problems on a psychological level. We started off with innocent fun, going to parties on Saturdays, and back to ours books on Sundays so as to keep up with our busy modules. I was in the Science and Technology Department and I really didn't know which course she took, and I honestly did not care because we had fun.

This went on for weeks until we had to sit for our final examinations, ones which would determine whether or not we would obtain this long-overdue degree. With only one day standing in between me and the examinations, Tammy instigated a deeply devastating wager; she extended her hand and being the perceptive person I am, I noticed that in one of the hands, were two cloves of psychedelic mushrooms. I had never seen them before, except in movies and mentions of them in cartoons. "These are to take the edge off for the biggest day of your life", she said, ever so nonchalantly.

I was never a victim of peer pressure all my life, and maybe that was one of the reasons I had no friends. People don't like people who do not meet their criteria, or those who do not conform to their standards. I lost a great bunch of people I once called my friends just because I denied being offered a smoke, or that I did not partake in any of the activities that were perceived as 'cool' by my fellow peers.

Perhaps all the events that happened prior to me meeting Tammy made me choose to willingly participate in her drug-fueled escapade. Either that or the fact that I have always wanted to try hallucinogens; weed, LSD, DMT and shrooms. And as luck would have it, shrooms were exactly that. So, without batting an eye, I took one of them and ingested, all without being my usual hesitant self. I did not feel anything at first, just a somewhat bittersweet taste that had been left rampant in my mouth. Like all first time users, I began to doubt the effect of the drug I had just taken. Thirty minutes had passed and I still didn't feel anything at all.

I turned my attention to Tammy, try to inquire as to why I was yet to feel any sensation, and as soon as I uttered her name, reality began to shift, as though calling her out was a trigger of sorts. I had never felt anything like this before, the rush was unfathomable and perception was altered; pictures had sound and sound was visible. A complete shift in the spectrum of both light and sound. I could barely hold my balance, so I decided to sit, and experience this in the calmest way possible. The moment I hit the ground, the thoughts started racing, and I immediately began to panic. I figured this was the paranoia I heard about that was attributed with such drugs. I honestly couldn't stand it, literally couldn't stand because by then I had lost all forms of motor function. My heart was pounding, and I began to breathe heavily, as though I was showing signs of a severe panic attack.

What happened next is a mystery to me to this day. All I know was that everything turned pitch black and next thing I found myself lying in an unknown hospital bed. Apparently I spent a few days in a psychiatric hospital.

Different people gave me different albeit wild stories of what I had allegedly done, of which I remember none!

I had zero interest about all of that, all I wanted to know were the whereabouts of Tammy. No one seemed to know who she was, as if I was making the whole thing up. One person, however, knew exactly who Tammy was, and that person was Detective Adren. He called me one day and told me Tammy was found dead, laying in a ditch somewhere with all her clothing stripped off of her rotting corpse. When he told me that I was on the hospital bed, and nearly died of shock.

"Who would do such a thing?", I asked myself.

Bad news seemed to pile up on me that week - by the time I was discharged from the hospital, having gotten the drug from my system, I learnt that it was right in the middle of the examinations, so there was no way for me to stand for my exams.

This was by far, some of the hardest days of my entire life. I managed to screw up my life in just one day, and worse, my only friend had been killed!

I knew I had to get justice for her

Some time later, probably a month after the end of the examinations, I received a letter from the university management, telling me of a way to 'redeem' myself, but in a different course. I was called in to the office the following week, and when asked of which course I would like to pursue, I instinctively blurted out "Forensic Science.".

Seeing as how I initially went to University at a young age, I knew that by the time I graduate, I would still be at my peak. So, four years later, I graduated and some time later was approached by the GNPD, due to a stellar recommendation from my mentor at the university. I got the job as a crime scene investigator, and I guess, that's where it all began...