Kol and I found ourselves in his car, perched outside of a weather-worn concrete house, its exterior bereft of fresh paint. Instead of a manicured lawn, a wild expanse of untamed grass sprawled across the front yard. A decrepit car, missing two wheels and marred with graffiti, stood as a silent sentinel. The house itself appeared forgotten, its walls adorned with creeping vines that clung from the ground to the upper windows. It emitted an eerie aura of desolation, leaving us to wonder if anyone was even living there.

I leaned forward, pressing my face against the window of the car, attempting to catch a glimpse of any signs of Boris with his fiery mane or Har, the bald one. There was nothing, no trace of them inside the silent house. It was evident that nobody was home. I turned to Kol, a sense of uncertainty nagging at me. "No one's home. What now?"

"Let's go then," he declared, and I anticipated him to restart the car. However, to my surprise, he stepped out and awaited my departure from the safety of the vehicle. I couldn't help but groan audibly, why did I become involved in this? I reluctantly exited the car and joined Kol, who sported an anticipatory grin. "This is going to be fun," he remarked, a sentiment that left me feeling quite uneasy.

"What do you even plan to do? If you're going to try to kill them, please just let me stay in the car, and don't tell me." I said to him. He tugged my arm and pulled me to walk with him. We walked through the high grass toward the front door. Why are we going in through the front door? "Do you at least have gloves?" I asked him, and just like that, he pulled out a pair of gloves from his pocket and shoved his fingers into it. He looked at me as if to say 'Happy?' I rolled my eyes. Is this really happening? He's walking around with a pair of gloves, and it's sending my mind racing. What else is he carrying? What did he do while I was talking with Lukas in his room? Does he have a weapon on him? Why the gloves? So many questions swirled in my mind as I observed Kol's weird accessory.

Kolton turned the doorknob and pushed the door, but it was closed. He took his push again to no avail and I just rolled my eyes at his silly efforts. Why must he bring me along on this idiot expedition of his? After failing to open the door for the third time he broke it down. "What sense does that make?" I groaned. I just don't want to be here. Kol ignored me and everything I was saying and began to walk through the house.

To our right, the first thing we encountered was a rickety flight of stairs that appeared as though it could barely support my weight, let alone Kol's. The stairs had seen better days, with faded and frayed burgundy carpet covering the top half, its edges tattered and worn. Along several of the bottom steps on both sides, there were pairs of shoes haphazardly arranged, their socks protruding from most of them. A sense of neglect and disarray hung in the air, with the only exception being the lone shoe on the third-to-last step to the right.

When we looked left, there was, what I supposed was a living room. Along three of the dingy, peeling walls, there were decrepit, beaten-up couches that seemed to have weathered a lifetime of neglect. Positioned at the center of the room was a small, rectangular trunk serving as a makeshift table. It was strewn with beer cans and bottles, an overflowing ashtray brimming with cigarette butts and a few lighters, and a card, that I couldn't really decipher what it was for. I can only guess they would kneel on the ground to sniff it up or just sit around on the floor to smoke. Although the couches looked extremely old and used, they probably never even used them. Perhaps they got it from someone else's garbage. My gaze extended past the dilapidated living area, revealing an equally chaotic kitchen, but I was only able to get a peak because I was distracted by the sound of Kol taking a step up the stairs. 

I groaned in aggravation. Why am I here to witness this? His gloved hand ran along the rails as he went up. I followed behind him silently, still not really sure what his plan was. The staircase made these creepy, soft creaks as we climbed, and it got me wondering how the heck Boris and Har managed to put up with living in this rundown place. I mean, seriously, this place looked like it could fall apart any second.

Kol swung open the first door, and I lingered in the hallway, not exactly thrilled about venturing further into this place. Truth be told, I didn't want to be here at all, but we all knew this. Kol promptly stepped back out of the room he just entered and then continued down the hall. I pushed the door slightly and a soft chuckle left my lips when I saw it was a bathroom. He's such an idiot.

"Dude, what's your ultimate goal?" I asked him as he stepped into the second door. I followed him in but remained at the door. I watched as he looked around the room. What is he looking for? I took in my surroundings for a while; a bed; another table piled with alcohol bottles and cigarette butts; a hamper with clothes falling out; A long couch with piled up sheets and covers; and a single shelf of books. Who's room is this? I don't imagine any of them reading.

I walked to the shelf, took out a book, the thickest book on the shelf, and looked over the title. "They're Muslim?" I flashed Kol a confused look. "The Qur'an?"

I let out a soft hum and cracked open the book, half-expecting to find it hollowed out with a hidden gun or a stash of cash. To my surprise, though, the book appeared completely intact. I raised an eyebrow in disbelief, closed it, and returned it to the shelf. Turning around, I found Kol inspecting the table. What on earth did he hope to discover there?

After discovering nothing of interest, Kol exited the room, and I followed suit. As we entered the second room, I couldn't help but notice how strikingly different it was from the rest of the house. The walls boasted a vibrant red paint, and the room exuded an air of normalcy. It was fully equipped with all the essential bedroom furnishings, neatly arranged, save for the bed that appeared as if someone had just roused from it. The wooden floors were impeccably swept, the mirror in the corner glistened, and even the top of the armoire was in order. The only conspicuous anomaly was the disheveled bed. My brow furrowed as I scanned the room once more, observing Kolton's meticulous examination of the items instead of simply relying on what he saw.

"Do you really think someone actually lives in this room?" I asked him. He looked around the room and then back at me. "Yes, I suppose. There's a bed and sheets. Someone obviously slept here last night."

"This is a trick, idiot. Why would any of them live in this room, one, and two, there isn't any sort of proof that someone actually does--no basket of dirty clothes, not even a bin, or a picture of a person. This is obviously so we'd go right past it. But they tried too hard." I told him. Kolton looked around the room for what seemed like the fifth time then back to me. I raised my brows. "That actually makes sense."

"They are obviously hiding something in this room. It's just to find out what..." I muttered and looked around the room again. Gosh, what would he really do without me? I mean, I'm a fricking high school drop out and I figured that out. This place is way too neat and tidy to actually host someone like Har or Boris. I walked around the room and stared downward. Kol bent down to look beneath the bed in the room and I gazed at him as he bent over, simply for my own pleasures, but then I saw the glint of something stuck in his waistband behind him. I stared at him wide-eyed as he stood again. "You brought a gun? Kol I already told you I'm not going down for your shit."

"Fucking relax, Danny." He rolled his eyes at me. My emotions were far from fear when I spotted the gun. I'd been around weapons before, fired a gun, and even witnessed someone getting shot. Guns didn't intimidate me, but Kolton's recklessness did. It wasn't the firearm itself that frustrated me; it was the audacity he displayed by wielding it so casually. I do a lot of shit every day, but I'm no murderer, nor do I want to be an accomplice to one. My exasperation stemmed from the fact that he believed he could effortlessly end two lives with me right there. It irked me because Kol was, in general, a complete dimwit, and I couldn't fathom the consequences of him having such a deadly weapon. No, I wasn't afraid of the gun; I was afraid of this fool with a gun. He obviously swiped it from his sister. She seems like the type to have a safe just for a gun. Dumb rich people.

I scoffed and decided to change the topic, only out of absolute frustration with Kol. "What's under the bed?" I asked him.

"Nothing. It's empty." He said with a shrug. I nodded my head. What is Kol even looking for? There was absolutely nothing here. None of them were present, and there was nothing of significance in this desolate room. We should just leave before they come back and kill us for this. I decided to take a look around the room, leaving Kol behind to continue his seemingly aimless rummaging. My exploration led me to a dresser, and I began opening its drawers one by one. Empty, empty, and yet again, empty, until I reached the final drawer. My curiosity was piqued when I found a black duffel bag nestled within. I didn't remove it from the drawer but unzipped it, revealing its concealed contents.

Money.

That's what was inside. Stacks upon stacks of American dollars. My jaw dropped drastically as I stared into the black duffle bag. Kol came to me and tapped my back which made me snap back into reality. "Is this real?" I asked him.

He picked up a wad and stared at it intently, then took out a single bill. He chuckled and shook his head. "This is fake." 

My eyes widened in disbelief as I gazed at the bag filled with counterfeit currency. It looked strikingly authentic, and the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. This was no ordinary room, and Boris and Har were far from ordinary. My frustration mounted, and I couldn't help but mutter, "It looks really damn real... Fuck." I bit my bottom lip, contemplating our next steps. After Kol carefully placed the bundle back into the bag, I closed the drawer and turned to face him. 

"This is so stupid. We aren't looking for anything specific and we didn't find anything specific. What are we doing here? We'll just get caught!" I said to him. My negativity obviously wasn't necessary but I had to put it out there. We got nowhere. We stumbled upon a bag of cash and it's all fake so what's really the goddamn point? And Kolton just seemed to ignore everything that came out of my mouth. I took a seat on their bed as he went back to searching the ground. He ran his hand along the flooring of the room probably for one that stands out, but none of them stood out. They were all perfectly nailed in there.

I watched in amazement as Kol moved closer to the door, seemingly fiddling with a plank. To my astonishment, the plank came loose when he tugged at it. My eyes widened in surprise, and I leaned forward, perched on the edge of my seat, eager to see what lay beneath. Kol furrowed his brows and then glanced up at me with a perplexed expression. Annoyed, I couldn't help but blurt out, "What?"

"It's empty. There's nothing here."

"What?"

"This room is a damn distraction," Kol exclaimed with frustration. I had to admit, he looked rather attractive when he was angry. I rose to my feet and joined him by the hole in the floor. After carefully replacing the wooden plank, I turned to Kol. He was right, and I had been wrong. This room was clearly meant to divert our attention away from something else in the house. The question was, what exactly were we being diverted from?

"So what now? Where does this exquisite plan go from here?" I asked and folded my arms as I stared at him in slight aggravation. He bit his bottom lip softly and then looked down.

"Nowhere." He said, but it was neither me nor Kol speaking. I cursed softly. Shit.