"Thanks for coming," I climbed onto the back of his bike. 

"No problem," he said. "although, I am surprised you chose to ride my bike instead-"

"Instead of your dick?"

"No," he snorted. "Forget it, let's just go" 

We rode out of my neighbourhood and to the hospital. It was my fifth checkup this month, and I hoped it was my last. However, that wasn't looking like much of an option since Dr Simone wanted to run all sorts of tests on me to be sure I was alright. 

"While we're here" Axel parked his bike in the corner. "you might want to consult Dr Simone about your visions"

"I should've known you'd suggest something like that," I said while removing my helmet. 

"Like what?"

"Forget it," I said and walked inside. 

"You can't start something and then leave me hanging," he complained, following me inside. 

"You did the same thing before we came here," I countered. 

"I was going to ask why you weren't coming here with your parents as usual" he sighed. 

"Oh," I gulped. My parents still hadn't said a word to me after the sculpture incident. I felt too guilty to talk to them and I suppose they were too upset to talk to me. Usually, my dad would be warning me at least two days before our next appointment, this time, he didn't even talk to me on the day of the appointment, so I asked Axel. 

"Let's just go inside" I rubbed my neck. He rolled his eyes but complied. 

Nothing eventful happened in the doctor's room. Simone did the same tests, asked the same questions and I gave the same replies. 

"When did you last drop your bowels?" 

"This morning" 

"What kind of foods do you eat?" 

"Meat, vegetables, coffee, stuff like that" 

"Come again on Saturday, same time"

I didn't realize what problem she saw to make me come back so often. But, she was the doctor, and I had to listen to everything she said. 

I waited by the entrance as Axel brought the bike from the parking lot. 

"What were you saying earlier?" I asked, "About coming here with your bike, I mean." 

"Nothing much," he shrugged. "I was just surprised that you didn't come with your parents" 

"Yeah, we kind of argued the way back from the announcement," I said. I wasn't in any mood to talk about it, which is why I kept it vague. Thankfully, he didn't ask any further either. 

"So, do you wanna come to work with me?" he asked. 

"A little random, no?"

"It's not like you do anything productive at home," he elbowed me. "And, besides, I know you'd love to see me in action" 

"What if I blackout while I'm there?" I rubbed my arms.

"You'll be fine," he reassured. "if anything happens, I'll be there to handle it," 

"How do you plan on doing that?" I asked, annoyed.

"You'll see," he winked.

"I don't know-" I started, but Axel wouldn't let me finish.

"Don't overthink so much, just come with me. I could use the entertainment," he urged. 

"Fine," I said reluctantly. 

"Great," Axel said as he took off to the office. Upon arriving, he parked his bike in the basement and was led to the elevator. 

"I work in trading, so my office is on the fourth floor," he explained as he pushed the button. 

"I've been here before too, you know" I rolled my eyes. 

"It's not like you remember everything pre-coma," he said. The elevator doors opened and he led me to his desk, which was plain, to say the least. 

"Yuck," I commented. "This looks depressing" 

"Forgive me for not having time to 'decorate' my desk," he said with air quotes. 

"So, what do you do all day?" I asked, looking around. He opened a shelf below his desk and brought out his laptop. He then opened a software I didn't recognize and turned back to me. 

"So, Crystal Falls mainly runs grows crops like corn, wheat, pulses" Axel explained. "But a large population eats meat items, which are not available here. So, we trade in some of the crops for the meat-related products with neighbouring towns and cities"

"Oh, I see," I said, not knowing what else to say. "Well, you can continue buying chickens and I'm going to snoop around for info" 

I blew a kiss at him and walked away. I didn't mean to ditch him, but I was certainly not sticking around to learn about the trading ethics of the town. I walked closer to the elevator and saw a map of the entire office, stating where each department was kept. 

For now, I needed to find out where I could've gone after being dropped off at the border of Crystal Falls. For that, I needed to know the places close to the border and how that could've led to the chalet. I went back inside the elevator and to the second floor, where the tourism planning people were. 

I walked to their manager's office, closing the door behind me.

"Oh, Miss Henderson, it's so nice to see you," the man said. "How have you been?"

"Fine," I said awkwardly while scanning the room for cameras. And there I saw it. Almost hidden by the number of files surrounding the cupboard, it sat with a red light blinking. I couldn't ask him anything inside here, not with all the cameras recording everything. 

"Do you have time for a coffee break?" I asked. The cafeteria was always brimming with people and noises, we'd be safer there. 

"Of course," he smiled and walked me out of the room. I tried making small talk on our way to the cafeteria, asking him about his work, wife, kids etc.

"I'm a little surprised you wanted to do this," he chuckled. "We've hardly spoken before this" 

"Well, you see, Mr Rivers," I cleared my throat. "I need some information that I believe you could help me with. However, I'd need you to keep everything we discuss here a secret."

He was taken aback. "I'm not sure about that. Would this get me in trouble?"

"I promise not," I said quickly. "I just need some help, but you mustn't ask any further questions" 

He scratched his hair for a few seconds, contemplating his choices, I assumed, before speaking. "I guess it shouldn't be a problem" 

"Thank you so much," I smiled. "So, you work in tourism, so you must know the places outside the border of Crystal Falls, including the routes fairly well?" 

"Yes, I do," he gulped. 

"So if someone were to leave Crystal Falls from the border and go to Lake Albert, at around 3 AM" 

"Miss Henderson is this about-" he started, but I was quick to stop him.

"Please don't ask all of that," I stopped. 

He nodded. "Well, no one travels that early in the morning, so you'd have very less traffic on the road, it depends on what vehicle you take, but on average maybe 15-20 minutes?" 

I definitely could not have walked fifteen minutes while being blind, that too in the middle of the night. But if Peter dropped me off at the border, who could've taken me there?

"What about by foot?" I asked. 

"That would take around 40-45 minutes," he replied. I definitely did not go by foot in that case since the doctors assumed I fell into the coma at 3:45, with a bleeding arm. It would've taken me entirely 40 minutes to reach there, which would also be slowed down significantly because of my blindness. 

"And are there any mention-worthy spots near Lake Albert?" I asked. 

"You have a few good resorts near the Lake, maybe a ten-minute drive, and also some good restaurants nearby" he mentioned. 

"What about chalets? Do tourists have any chance of staying in chalets?" I asked.

"There are some nearby, but those are privately owned properties," he sighed. 

"Thank you for your time, Mr Rivers," I said. "I really appreciate it"

"No problem," he said before walking out of the cafeteria. I began walking back to Axel's desk, weighing all that Mr Rivers and Peter had said to me, trying to make sense of it all. I also had to account that they could be lying to me, however, that was a low possibility.

"Hey," I said gloomily. 

"Are you ok?" Axel looked up at me. 

"Yeah," I coughed. 

"There's a chair over there," he pointed. "bring that here and sit" I nodded and did as told.

"So, how'd your investigation go?" he asked as he closed his laptop. 

"It was alright, I guess, but now I'm really confused," I said, keeping a hand on my forehead.

"What'd you find?" he asked. I explained to him my entire conversation with Mr Rivers. 

"So you believe you went to that place willingly?" Axel asked and I froze for a few seconds. I hadn't even realized that all my assumptions so far were based on me going to the chalet willingly. 

"I- I honestly have no idea what I'm doing anymore," I said burying my head in my hands. Axel slowly took my hand and removed them from my face. 

"It's clear you're not getting any more answers sitting here," he shrugged. "If you want to find out what happened in that place, you need to go to that place" 

"And what'll I say to my parents?" I asked. 

"As if you tell your parents anything," he rolled his eyes. "Just take your car and go,"

"Will you come with me?" I fiddled with my bracelet. 

"Maybe on the weekends, I don't have time otherwise," he sighed. 

"Sounds good to me," I smiled. 

I had hope, that we would find all the answers in the chalet. And once I do, I would either hugely reward or punish the person who brought this upon me. Or maybe both. 

I'd figure that part out later.