"I have a plan."

"Why do you keep saying that?" I ask, standing a bit behind my cellmate.

"Because it's true. I've got a plan and it involves waiting till night, so please be quiet and pretend to sleep."

"Okay." I groan and pretend to be asleep.

______

"Hey. Hey." A soft whisper blows into my face, "you gunna wake up?" Something hits my cheeks and my eyes jolt open. A pair of hazel eyes - about an inch away - stare into mine.

"What the-" I push the person away before realizing I'm still in jail. "You crazy?" I whisper.

"Dang yer a deep sleeper. If the fire alarm went off, you'd be dead by the time they'd find you." My cell mate whispers back, "anyways, you ready to escape?"

I nod my head once.

"Good, cause we're bustin' outta here." A devious grin forms on their face, "just close your eyes and count back from one hundred. When you reach one, we'll be outside and you can open your eyes again. And don't peek!" A warning sounds through their voice as they point at me with seriousness.

"Okay." I hesitate, but I cover my eyes anyways. Around me I can feel a gush of wind, sounds of things breaking and cracking echo through our cell. "I-is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just keep your eyes closed!" My cell mate replies, though their voice sounds a little deeper than before.

"Okay...." I sigh silently, and then I begin to count down.

100, 99, 98, 97, 96...

The sound of the cell bars crashing into each other and hitting the ground ring out through the hall. A cold wind brushes past my backside and suddenly, I feel my feet peel off the cell's floor. I want to peek, but I know I shouldn't. I don't know if I'm prepared to see what I'll see if I take a peek.

I can feel my clothes jerk around against my person, I can feel my hair whipping me in my face as though I'm riding in a convertible with the roof down. I want to peek, but my eyes remain closed.

The raging breeze against my body stops and the rusty smell of the prison is no longer present. I feel as though I'm being set down as my feet land firmly upon a grassy surface. I can hear rustling trees around me as a gentle breeze blows past. The sound of bones cracking overpower the calls of a nearby owl.

"You may open your eyes now." My cell-mate speaks, their voice no longer as deep as before.

"Okay, are you sure?" I question, not quite sure if I should look or not.

"Yes. You can open your eyes." A sigh puffs from their comment and I slowly pry my hands from my face.

"What happened back there?" I ask, eyeing their nude stature, "and where are your clothes?"

"That's a long story." They reply with a cold stare, "there are some things in this world that you will never understand. Things that try to stay hidden, but it doesn't always work out that way." They warn me and I blink, the information just goes over my head.

The stars twinkle brightly in the night sky above us and my ex-cell-mate smiles up at me.

"Now, don't you need to visit a guy about a case or something?" My eyes widen with surprise.

"How did you know?" I gasp innocently.

"I told you, the world works in mysterious ways." They pause and look up at the sky, their stark grey hair blows gracefully with the wind. Their amber eyes gaze into mine and they sneer, "also you talk a lot in your sleep."

"Whatever." I cross my arms and turn away, "do you know the fastest route to Grenro Police Station?"

"Yeah, it's down that side road," they point to a dimly lit road at the edge of the small forest that we stood in. "And then you turn left onto Thomas Street and then a right onto King Street, and then it will be on your..." they lift their hands up and point their pointer fingers up while their thumbs point inwards. "Right. It will be on the right side."

"Thank you." I wave and start walking towards the road, I hear some bushes rattle and I turn around to look back at them, but no one was there, my cell-mate had simply vanished. Weird. I turn back around and continue on the path to the police station. I was going to go confront the police chief, I was going to confront Dave.

***

I sneak into the police station through the garbage shute and I manage to shimmy my way through the vents. Fortunately for me, it's the night shift and almost no one is around. From my frequent visits to the station, the route to Dave's office is forever burned into my brain.

Down the main hall, turn left, turn right, third door on the left.

I chant to myself before I come to an opening that is situated right above his office. Jackpot.

I flip the vent open and slip my body down into the room, I feel my butt harshly kiss the hardwood floor of his office, and my face twists with pain. I want to scream, but I know I shouldn't. I can't.

I stand onto my feet and dust the ceiling guts from my clothes. I then hurry to his desk and begin scowering the drawers for the clue, anything to prove he's guilty of the crime.

My hand grazes upon a squishy, rubber-like handle and I pull a blood stained knife out from one of the desk's drawers.

If I test the blood on this, I bet it will turn out to be the Red Lady's!

The sound of someone slow clapping startles me and I spin around to see Dave standing in the doorway. What the? I didn't even hear him come in!

"Well done, well done. You've found the murder weapon." I furrow my brows as he confirms my suspicions of the knife. "Too bad you won't be around long enough to bask in your glory."

"Are you drunk? Or high?" I utter randomly, though the way he is acting does make me question if he is on something. His stance leans towards the left and a goofy grin hangs from his face, he limps a little as he takes a few steps towards me.

"No, no..., well... maybe." His eyes stalk mine, I can see a little bit of drool peeking out from the left corner of his mouth. "But I should be allowed to, I did solve this case afterall." He laughs like a hyena before his left arm grabs my wrist that is holding the knife.

Before I can react, he tugs my wrist towards his face and then he spins me around. I feel a hit at my back and I am thrusted forward into his desk. The shock from the hit causes me to drop the knife and I feel his grasp on my wrist release. I roll off the desk and onto the ground, clenching my stomach in pain.

"You- you're gonna pay." I gasp for air, looking up as he towers over me with the knife in his hand.

"No. You're going to pay." He stomps his foot onto my left ankle and I let out a horrifying scream. He grins and stomps on it more, repeating it till I can hear a snapping sound and I know the bone had broke.

"Why?" I whisper, tears channeling down my cheeks.

"So you can't run away this time." He bends over and picks me up, he so easily slings me over his shoulder before slinding the knife into his back pocket. "Now we're going to go for a little drive." He snickers and carries me out of the office, fortunately for him, it was night time and there were barely any officers on duty, so he manages to carry me out of the station and to his car undetected.

He blasts the speakers in his car, as he starts the car and drives off. His small, four door, black Mazda three car didn't have jacked up speakers that would surely rupture anyone's eardrums, but it was certainly loud enough to muffle any screams I tried to shout.

***

The trip seems to last forever, I feel every bump in the road, laying across the back seat of his vehicle. How far out is he going?

I feel the car begin to slow down, and I can feel my heart begin to tense up. My eyes look to his face as he looks down at me, I know what he's going to say before his lips form the words.

"We're here." The corners of his mouth arc into a creepy smile before he looks away and shuts off the ignition. "Now comes the fun part," he mumbles lowly.