One, the people who died were all alone in the room. Two, there's a beeping noise when they approach the painting. Three, the way they died is unknown. Four, the artist himself set up the froom. Five, the object is metallic. Six, he believed in the afterlife. I don't think any other information is missing. But...

I looked up slightly and stared at the other side of the table. Other than Dillon, I recognized two other people. The three of them were all the sources of my injuries at school.

"Don't be scared." Lindsey whispered beside me. I tilted my head slightly to look at her. She smiled back at me. "I know you've figured it out." I looked at her silently before returning my gaze at the table.

"So any thoughts?" Mrs. Miller asked as she looked at each of us expectantly.

Dillon huffed. "I still think that there's a killer hidden somewhere in the room and only kills when only one other person is around."

"That obviously isn't the case. No injuries on the victims. Re-mem-ber?" Vincent said, dragging out the remember while talking to Dillon like he was a toddler. Vincent then turned to me and gave me an encouraging nod.

Dillon looked over at me too and gave me a glare and a menacing smirk. "Well? Let's see what you have to say to this."

"Gerard Finn, he's hiding something behind the painting." I said quietly, not looking up from the table. Dillon scoffed and I heard Lindsey hiss at him.

"Amelia dear, why do you say that?" Mrs. Miller asked, leaning in with curiosity gleaming in her grey eyes.

"You're not allowed to touch the things being showcased in a museum, but with an art piece like that, people are bound to get curious and would want to touch it. But to avoid getting caught, they can only do it when they're alone. There's a beeping as people get close to it and the cameras lose connection when someone approaches it." I explained, raising my eyes slightly to look at Mrs. Miller.

"And how does explain anything?" Dillon asked.

I paused in silence for a bit. "I think it would be easier to show than tell." Kyle said. I looked over at him and nodded.

"Mrs. Miller, do you think we can call the Syndicates in Lunaris and explain things to them while they're in the room of the painting?" Max asked.

Mrs. Miller nodded, "Alright, give me a moment." I watched Mrs. Miller tap a few things down and a screen appeared behind her showing a calling screen.

"Hello, this is John Hudon, head of Syndicate management in Lunaris." A gruff voice sounded through the speakers as the screen showed the face of a man in his fifties. His hair was in a buzz cut and face empty of any facial hair. Seems like a military officer.

"Hi John, this is Kimberly Miller, head of Syndicate management in Aestrea." Mrs. Miller replied back. "We're having our weekly meeting and I think we can help with the museum case."

Mr. Hudon nodded. "The two syndicates are there right now. I'll direct the call to the two leaders." With that, the screen went back to a call screen. Before long, one call was answered and the other was dropped. No image showed up though. No camera?

"Hello Mrs. Miller." One male voice said. His voice had a sharp, menacing tone to it. "Both of our Syndicates are together right now so we decided to only have one person answer the call. I'm Steven, leader of Syndicate 23."

"Wassup Steven! This is Vincent, leader of Syndicate 45. Mind connecting one of the cameras to us so we can see what's going on?" Vincent asked, leaning forward slightly. We heard some talking from the other end of the call and soon each of us had a private screen showing us real time footage of the room.

"Hey, try touching that metal thing." Dillon prompted. "Dillon Miller, leader of Syndicate 42 by the way."

Are they actually going to try touch it? Panic started to rise in me when I saw a girl approach the painting with a hand rising up. "Don't touch it. It's poisoned." I said as loudly as I can. More talking came from the other end and the footage showed the girl stepping away as fast as she could. Everyone around the table turned their attention to me. I squirmed slightly.

"What do you mean it's poisoned?" Steven asked.

"Amelia, what's going on." Vanessa asked.

"He... hid something behind that painting. Am I right?" Lindsey asked as she turned to me.

I nodded. "After being diagnosed with coronary artery disease, he went insane. He also believed in the afterlife and reincarnation. So he assumed that after he died, he would be reincarnated. And when he did get reincarnated, he will want to regain the riches he once had. And to do that, he hid them all and set up a strong security system around it to make sure no one can get to it before he did. He's also assumed that his reincarnation would still have the memories of his past self."

Vincent grinned. "One of you try using a stick to push the metal object in."

I watched the footage as they looked around until one of the boys took a long wooden stick and slowly approached the painting. Aligning it, he pushed on the metal ball. The moment it got pushed in, several spikes sprout out suddenly around the metal object.

"Tap it again." Lindsey said and the man tapped the metal object again with the wooden stick. Locks being unlocked could be heard and with a loud thud, the painting split in half and opened up.

"What's behind the painting though?" Max asked.

I looked on at the footage. "One day, he and his money disappeared. What really happened was he hid all his money behind this painting and most likely trapped himself in there as well. Which is where he died. So behind there is..."

"His money and corpse." Kyle finished off.

The painting opened up fully and amongst the money, antiques and gemstones, lay a dead body. I closed my eyes as Mrs. Miller ended the call. Well that's solved.

"That was amazing, Amelia!" Mrs. Miller praised with a clap of her hands. I bowed my head and whispered a small thanks. "As reward, you will be paid 10% of what the two Syndicates in Lunaris are being paid. 10 more points added to your syndicate so you are now leading in the Syndicate ranking!"

I heard the rest of the Syndicate high five each other until a growl sounded in a room and a knife came flying at me. Hugh reached over and caught the knife by the hilt. "Thanks for the gift!" He said to Dillon, shooting him a glare before keeping the knife for himself. In response, Dillon turned red with anger. Like a volcano about to explode at any moment.

"That's about it for this meeting. You're all dismissed." Mrs. Miller said with a smile on her face. She didn't seem to notice the tension in the room between the two Syndicates.

Vincent jumped up with a cheer, "Let's go celebrate!" He ran out of the room, dragging Lindsey with him. Vanessa laughed before taking my hand and pulled me out the room. Max, Hugh and Kyle followed behind.

"Be careful! Don't crash into anyone!" Vanessa yelled after Vincent. I smiled slightly as I watched them. Lindsey was so carefree around Vincent. The image of Lindsey when we saw her on top of the building waiting for us was still in my mind. Maybe I should ask about their history.

Vanessa seemed to know what I was thinking. "Those two have known each other the longest out of all of us." She said as we walked out of the building.

"Lindsey probably also has the most horrible history too." Max joined in. What happened to her?

"Lindsey was sold by her parents to be a slave when she was a child." Vanessa said, a sad gleam appearing in her eyes. The three guys ran ahead to catch up with Vincent and Lindsey who were buying ice cream from an ice cream stand.

"While she was working as a slave, she met another girl who was also a slave and they became friends. But the other girl was beaten to death a year later. After that, Lindsey ran away and joined the Syndicate program where she met Vincent. Don't talk to Lindsey about her past though. It's a touchy subject. When we first joined together as a Syndicate, Vincent told us this so we don't say anything that could mentally damage her in any way." I nodded. I wasn't expecting that. At least she can be so happy now with Vincent.

"What about Vincent?" I asked.

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders. "Vincent is a big unknown. He hasn't revealed any of his backstory to us. Lindsey has said that he was brought up in the wild but we're not sure if she's just joking around or not." I grinned slightly.

"Amelia what flavour do you want?" Lindsey yelled, waving us over. Vanessa and I picked up our pace and stopped in front of the ice cream stand. I looked over at all the flavours. I haven't had ice cream since I left Lunaris. I pointed a random on, Chocolate Chip. I stared at the ice cream intently even as the person was scooping it up. When the person handed it to me, I took it with both hands still staring at it.

"It's going to melt if you just keep looking at it like that." Lindsey said, giggling slightly.

I licked the ice cream slightly. I missed this. Ice cream was a family thing but we didn't even have a lot of those originally. But I guess this is my new family. I looked over at the others. Hugh and Kyle got popsicles instead of ice cream and Max was helping Vanessa choose. Lindsey and Vincent was having a playful fight because Vincent took a bite out of Lindsey's ice cream.

When we all picked out our ice cream, we headed back home. We decided that we would go shopping together tomorrow for my clothes since I'm just borrowing Lindsey's clothes right now. Back at home, the boys all gathered in the game room while Vanessa and Lindsey and I hung out in the kitchen. Vanessa and Lindsey were cooking. I was watching from the sides and helping out now and then.

As we were setting the table for dinner, the crashing sound of glass breaking and a gunshot sounded. Lindsey and Vanessa immediately got into a fighting position, ready to fight. It was silent for a moment. A little too silent. My heart was beating at a million miles per hour and my mind was in a frenzy. What's happening.

"Lindsey! Vanessa! Get Amelia somewhere safe!" Vincent's voice echoed through the house which was soon followed by more gunshots and the sound of metal hitting metal.

"Come on." Lindsey said, grabbing my hand and dragging me upstairs.

"I'll get our weapons." Vanessa said as she ran towards the weaponry room.

As we ran up the stairs, figures fully clothed in black appeared at the top equipped with guns. Lindsey pushed me down to a crouching position and pulled out two small batons from under her shirt. She keeps those there?

As they opened fire, Lindsey twirled the batons at a fast speed, reflecting the bullets. "Lindsey! Catch!" Vanessa yelled from below throwing something up at Lindsey. Catching it, Lindsey shook open the black case and revealed a dozen of throwable sharp objects in it. Throwing the case upwards, some of the objects flew out the box and as it dropped back down, Lindsey caught each of them and threw it towards each figures with frightening precision. The crack of a whip came from below and I glanced down below to see Vanessa fighting off another horde of figures with a whip. She twirled around each attacker, catching them and throwing them to another side of the room with a forceful grace.

"Amelia, get into the meeting room." Lindsey whispered to me as she took down another figure. "Contact the Syndicate Management team and see if you can figure out how to use the built in weapons in the house." She threw a shuriken at the last figure standing that we could see.

"Go!" She yelled as she jumped up the stairs as well, keeping an eye out for any other attacker.

I sprinted up the stairs and planted my hand on the door to the meeting room. Come on, come on. As the door opened and I rushed in, a gunshot sounded and whatever it hit had jammed the door. Sparks appeared from the door as it stopped part way through closing. Lindsey cursed under her breath and stationed herself in front of the door.

I rushed to the table. I hope this thing recognizes my voice. "Call." I commanded.

"I'm sorry. That feature is currently unavailable. Please try again later." The monotone voice said in response. I'll settle for a message then. I hope they see it.

"We're under attack." That was all I put in the message when a loud boom shook the building. In panic I hit send.

"Security." I commanded, tapping on the table impatiently.

"Security activated. Waiting for your commands." A blue panel lit up on the table with buttons and controls. Holograms of security cameras around the house showed up as well.

"Lindsey, it's activated." I said. Lindsey nodded and retreated into the room. As she did it, I set up an electric barrier where the door was supposed to be. Now the intruders can't get in.

"Split." Lindsey commanded and half of the security footage went to Lindsey and another panel lit up. Lindsey was tensed up and her facial expression radiated danger. I turned back to the security footage I had.

I saw a figures in all different places of the house. Let's deal with them first. I tapped on the tase option and selected the rooms and areas where I want everyone to be tased. I then looked at a footage of Max fighting off a group of people. He's injured. Max wasn't standing straight and he avoided using his left leg.

I chose a gun option and aimed it towards one of the attackers. This would be my first time shooting someone. My hand shook above the fire button. I closed my eyes and tapped the button. I looked back at the footage. The attackers seem confused. I took in a deep breath and steeled myself.

I aimed and shot slowly, making sure I didn't accidentally hit Max. When there were a few left, Hugh ran into the room and helped take care of the rest of the attackers using a makeshift baton. Is that the metal stand of a lamp?

I looked at the other screens. I'm done with my areas. I turned to Lindsey and stopped short.

Fear was etched onto her face as she watched one of her screens. "No, no, no, no, no." She whispered to myself. "NO!" She yelled as she deactivated the electric barrier and ran out the room. What happened?

I went over to her side to look at her screens to see what made her so scared. My eyes widened in shock and my heart started to beat a million times faster.

"Vincent!" Lindsey's screams echoed through the house. Several gunshots followed and I watched the events unfold in the screen.

Vincent has fallen.