For Nyali, the past couple of days were definitely emotional. She had to say goodbye to her best friend for life, say goodbye to her favorite teachers, and go one one last adventure in the mines with Mady.

The explanation for the boy's disappearance was a simple one. He had fallen down the pit, for the two kids had reached the bottom, spooky part of the mine. And Nyali regretted wanting to find out if the boy's body was at the bottom. Sure enough, it was. The body was mangled, the head smashed in. Not only that, but the boy's body wasn't the only one they found down there. The two girls flipped out, screaming curse words and wishing they hadn't been curious enough to go on the adventure. But for their last adventure, it wasn't too bad, and it was full of danger and risks. 

Afterwards, the went to the park, swinging on the swings they'd played on since they were little, since before her parents were working all the time, before Nyali was interested in the paranormal unsolved mysteries.

As though she hadn't learned that her curiosity was going to get her into trouble, she was hyped for the case Maria assigned her. She had looked over the letter many times, distracting herself from packing up her room.

And once they reached Portland, the house was huge. It was a really nice house, and all of her stuff didnt even fill up the room as it did the other. It was barely even half of the space provided.M She hadn't registered for her new school yet, her mom was still making preparations and they were still unpacking.

"When I looked into the house, I don't remember it being this big.." her mother had said, while trying to make the furniture take up decent space in the living room. "We may just have to get more furniture."

Her father was super excited for the mancave he was going to have, thanking his wife for the new increase in money. Nyali was grateful too, she could actually get an allowance for once and buy some stuff of her own to fill up her room. Mady and her talked over the phone for hours, and she told Mady all about the new case she had gotten. Mady usually complained about how dangerous it was, and how in Portland there were all these TV shows about people dying while trying to solve a mystery. Nyali told her to shush and not be too worried, that she'd solve the case in no time. But she needed to find Maria.

That weekend, she rode up to the house of the specific address on the envelopes. But Maria wasn't there. She returned the next day. Still no answer. So she went home and wrote a letter.

'Maria,

           If you get this letter, I've stopped by your house several times. None of those times were when you were actually there. I was wondering if you were okay. I've moved into Portland, hopefully permanently, so I want to try to make new friends. I'm going to school in two days. Tell me if you are there, or I will put on a detective hat and search for you. I'LL SEE YOU SOOOOON!!'

She sent it that day, to the same address she'd been going to. 

No reply.

Nyali decided to not let it bug her. She may go to the same school, after all.

Two days later, she was registered for a nearby school called, George Middle School. Nyali wandered in with a schedule and no friends. But she was good at making friends, in her opinion. 

She walked to her first period math class and sat in a desk in the second row and about three desks back. A boy, with the name Oogie, sat in front of her. A girl named Annemarie sat to her right, while a boy named Hunter sat to her left. Another girl she didn't know the name of sat behind her. Rest assured, it wasn't Maria. 

The classes were boring, no one was allowed to talk, they were forced to listen and take notes, rarely answering questions. The rain outside splashed against the glass, and she loved the smell of it pour through the vents of the classroom. 

During lunch, she decided to sit on her own and see if anyone came to her- like a cliche movie, but where she knew someone might as well come sit over there either way and not leave her all alone. Oogie and one of his friends ended up coming over to sit next to her. They didn't really acknowledge that she was sitting there at first, just continuing their conversation as they shoved food in their faces. She listened intently though.

"I was super freaked out yesterday, man" Oogie was saying. "Scary shit happened."

"What sort of scary shit?" his friend replied. 

"I was sitting there in bed, ya know? And then I hear these loud thunks from nextdoor. I was thinking that maybe the guy was angry and throwing crap around in his house. But then it got worse." he started to explain. He paused for a minute as he shoved another bite in his mouth. "Then the guy starts yellin' at someone, like 'GET OFF MY LAWN' type deal, except he threatens to call the police. So my parents come into my room, ya know? And then  the guy- like, a few minutes later,- the guy starts- begins to, like, scream bloody murder and scare the living shit out of us. My parents told me to come with them, that they weren't leaving me there alone while they went over to the other guy's house to help. Once we got to the door, the screaming stopped. So we walked n and there was no one. We checked the whole house. Not a single thing out of the ordinary."

Oogie took another bite of food as his friend's jaw dropped. "Dude, who would that not scare the shit out of?" he said in reply. Oogie laughed. 

"Yeah, like I said, last night was just terrifying." Oogie said. Nyali couldn't help but to say something.

"There was nothing?" Nyali blurted, turning to face them a little more. Oogie looked surprised, and then stern.

"Nothing at all. And what else is creepy, he still hasn't been there. I bet you guys 10 bucks that he wont be back when I get home."

"But there has to be something!" Nyali argued. "There's always evidence, a basic block to start on."

"Listen, new girl-"

"Nyali." she interrupted.

"Fine, Nyali," Oogie continued. "If you wanna see for yourself, go ahead. I know what I saw."

Nyali thought for a minute.

"Sorry, I have another unexplained case to work on." she replied, standing up.

"What are you, a detective?" Oogie's friend mocked. 

"Well, no." she replied. She cracked a smile and added, "But I have seen more than one dead body before." 

The two boys looked at her, shocked as she walked away. She considered them to be her new friends.

The rest of the day, she caught glances from Oogie in her other classes that she also shared with him. In sixth period, he sat next to her in a two person desk. He handed her a note.

The kid had surprisingly nice handwriting, and the note read,

'hey there, detective. Im gonna trust you to find out what happened to my neighbor. Im freaked out that it may happen to me, so, please? '

Underneath it was an address.

Nyali wrote back, 

'Haven't you told the police?'

'nothing to tell. the other neighbors thought we had committed a break-in, but they didn't hear the guy screaming like we did.'

'True. But I told you, I have another case'

'doesnt mean you cant take a sneak peak at this one, now does it?' Oogie wrote. 

She gave him a smirk and nodded, crumbling up the note in her hand and shoving it in her pocket, as if it were trash, so the teacher wouldn't suspect.

After school, she got on her bike and rode home instead of going to the crime scene Oogie had told her about. She had to finish unpacking some of her books and knick-knacks. Nyali stopped by the mailbox, considering it was wide open.. She went to close it, but a small letter, with no envelope caught her eye. She stared at it, confused, and yanked it out, opening it. It was Maria's handwriting. 

'Nyali, 

Don't worry I'm fine. My parent's house had to be sold, and I had to save this money to keep me alive (food, water,etc.). I'm hiding out in an abandoned house at this address: 2102 Pike Avenue

          See you soon!

                                     Love, Maria' 

                                                      2102 Pike Avenue. The same address from Oogie.

                                                                                            ----------------------