I was waiting near my car for Taylor to come with all the essentials. Kaylee had already left to hang near the crematorium all day, unsuspiciously. 

"All set?" I asked when I saw Taylor coming towards me. She nodded her head and got inside the car. I started driving the car and we soon reached the crematorium. 

As I got outside I saw an elderly man whose eyes were fixated on the crematorium, I figured he knew something about the place and was about to ask him about it, but Taylor beat me to it.

"Are you lost?" She asked. The man looked at Taylor and then back at the crematorium before he started speaking.

"My daughter passed away when she was only seven years old, my wife followed her not long after. They were both cremated here" He said in a breathy voice. 

"I'm so sorry for your loss, I know how hard it is to lose someone you love, just as I know that life goes on, and so should we," Taylor said in a soft voice. I wasn't sure if she truly meant it or was just saying this so the man would give us answers.

"Does no one work here anymore?" I asked trying to get information without sounding suspicious.

"The family that used to run this place passed away, and their children never continued their family business," He said.

"Turning bodies to ashes is a business?" I asked utterly confused. When I didn't get a response I decided to inquire more.

"So, why doesn't anyone demolish the building? No one comes here anymore" I asked. 

"The building was passed on to their children, they chose to keep the land as it was" He explained. 

"You seem to have known them quite well," Taylor said.

"Will used to try and help get over my loss, and although he helped me to a great extent I never truly got over it," He said tears welling up in his eyes. 

"Did Will have a surname?" I asked. I knew this was kinda suspicious, but I didn't know how else to ask it.

"William Adams" He responded blankly. Could "Adams" be the "A" in "C.A"? This was huge!

"Were you close with the rest of the family?" Taylor asked in an attempt to break the silence.

"Not quite, his wife Gabriella and I spoke when we saw each other, but that was about it," He said.

He suddenly looked at his watch and said, "Oh my! I must get going now." 

He left without even waiting for a response. 

"Well at least now we know her surname," I said.

"We don't know if they're the same person," She said. "The man said they left the place but never did anything to the property, maybe the killer knew that and is using this as their base"

"That makes a lot of sense," I said rubbing my chin "Or maybe, she became a psycho and is using her family's property as her base"

"Let's just go inside and see if we can find more clues," She said.

"If you'd just listened to me and agreed to kidnap that girl instead of 'finding clues', this would be over so quickly," I said annoyed that my ideas are always ignored.

"First of all, someone working for a serial killer is probably prepared for a fight, second we don't know if C.A cares about her minions enough to give up her identity for them, and even if she does, when we call the cops we'll be arrested too for kidnapping," She said while simultaneously scanning the place looking for clues.

"I guess, I'm just tired of doing the same thing over and over," I said frustrated. 

"What do you mean 'over and over'? We've come so far, from finding her initials to finding her base, and now maybe knowing her surname" She paused for a few seconds before continuing "After all this time you can't give up, I mean you ditched college for this!" 

She was right! I was so upset I couldn't find the killer's name, I had almost forgotten all that we did find. 

"You're right, we can't give up," I said smiling.

"Let's hurry up before they come back," Taylor said. 

I entered a room and found a few bottles of some black substance I didn't recognise. I picked one of them up and sniffed it. The scent was something I couldn't recognize, it smelled like chocolate but at the same time nauseating. 

"What the hell is this stuff?" Taylor asked coming towards me. 

"I don't know, just found it here," I said referring to the shelf beside me.

"Maybe it's a drug to use to kidnap people?" Taylor suggested.

"Let's take one home, Kaylee can examine it," I said. 

"No don't!" Taylor said. "If they notice a whole jar missing, they'll know we came here. Let's just take a little and put in my empty eyeshadow palette" 

"Ok, good idea," I said while doing as I was told. 

"Should we find more clues?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, it's getting dark, they should be here any moment," She said looking around worriedly. 

"Guys! My dragonfly just spotted some people coming in, get out!" Kaylee screamed through the earphones.

"How? If they've come in, the door is probably blocked" I said panicking.

"How many of them were there?" Taylor asked.

"I didn't count, but there were around five?" She said. 

Five? This person had a lot more backup than I used to think. 

"There's a back exit, follow my dragonfly, it'll take you out," She said. Soon a dragonfly was hovering near us.

We followed it, and sure enough, we saw a back door and got out, we quietly tiptoed out of there, and slipped into a nearby cafe.

"Thanks for the help," I said while trying to catch my breath. 

"Send the dragonfly back, we might get some important information," Taylor said.

"Yes, and when any of them leaves, follow them," I said.

We ordered ourselves something to eat, while we waited for Kaylee to finish her part of the mission. I wondered what we'd do if we ever did find the killer, would we call the cops? Or would I be fortunate enough to kill the killer myself? 

Taylor bringing up my college is what I began thinking about though, I dropped out so I wouldn't get distracted, but what if this mystery was the real distraction? My parents would surely be disappointed if they found it, would I ever be able to explain to them why I did it? 

The more I thought about what would happen after we found the killer, the more I realized how much I screwed up. My parents wouldn't send me money forever, soon they'll find out, and I'd be in big trouble. 

I decided to put that away, for now, just focus on the mystery, and deal with the consequences later, like Taylor said, I couldn't back down now. 

"The same girl from yesterday left the place, I'm going after her," Kaylee said.

"Let us know if anything bad happens," Taylor said.

I couldn't hear much for a while besides footsteps and usual street noise, so I figured she got on a bus with the minion. 

I was getting kind of restless but didn't want to bother her while she was on a mission. After a few more minutes, we were done eating and there was still no update from Kaylee. Now I was getting kind of worried. I paced around the room, not knowing if I should try going after her. 

"Guys, I found out where one of the minions is" Kaylee suddenly said.

"That's great," I said.

"Good job Kaylee, now note down the address before your dumb brain forgets it," Taylor said. 

"Let's meet at my house so we can watch the dragonfly footage," I said.  We paid the bill and drove away. 

When we got into the parking lot, I saw Kaylee's bike so I knew she had already reached. I started running towards my house when Taylor grabbed my arm. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

She didn't say anything but had a helpless look on her face, so I knew something was wrong.

"What?" I asked again, my voice breaking. She lifted her phone and placed it in front of my face. I almost fainted when I read the message she received. 

"You're next" 

Author's note: Hey! What'd you think of the chapter? I was originally going to end the chapter with them face to face with the killer, but I figured I'd let them collect more clues, have some guesses instead of just figuring it out. There will be some suspects in the next chapter, but for now, who do you think it is? If you're wondering what you're next means, then make sure to add this book to your library so you get notified when the next chapter comes out. I'll see you next week!