"Red, I'm sorry."

My heart began to race. Are they addressing me? My name is Ryan Edna Dayton, but I usually go by Red. My curiousity was too strong to stop reading now, so I went on.

"I had no choice. I hope you can forgive me. Signed, Noir."

Noir? Is that a name?

I look to the cat and it tilts its head to the left a bit. It meows at me, so I meow back. And then it runs away from me.

"Well then." I look down at the woman and try to think of possible conclusions to how she ended up like this. My eyes fall upon the stain and my curiosity grows.

I'd be violating a crime scene, but then again this is my crime scene. So it should be okay. Right?

I shake my head and reach into one of my back pant pockets. My hand falls upon a smooth yet sharp object, I pull it out and hold it in front of me. A light breeze drifts by as I inhale deeply.

"Here goes nothing." The cloth dress tears as I cut it apart, revealing the woman's wound. Dried blood coats the young woman's peach skin, yet purple blotches painted her skin as well. Instantly, my mind went to the idea that the woman was being abused. My heart tenses at the thought that whoever did this to her, is still out there and possibly still here, watching me now.

Dark clouds form overhead and the winds begin to pick up. Something in my gut told me that a storm was coming and I decided to act quick. Quickly pulling out a few plastic bags from one of my pockets, I lay them in front of me and then pick up the sharp object once again. I reach for her silvery hair and then separate a few stands to pick off before severing them from the girl's head. With the strands of hair in my hand, I drop them into a plastic baggy and then I zip it closed.

I then pull out a few cotton swabs and swipe the inside of her mouth, the inside of her white dress stain, and then I swipe her wound in the case that there are any fresh cells. I place all three cotton swabs into separate baggies before zipping them closed.

Just in time too, for a downpour of rain falls from the sky, washing away any dried cells that could have been potential evidence for me.

I pocket the plastic sandwich bags and scurry towards the old school house for some cover, but the roof's overhang isn't big enough to cover me enough from the rain, so I begin searching for a way into the building.

There.

My eyes fall upon a broken window not too far from where I stood. I quickly hurry over and ball my right hand into a fist.

"This is probably going to hurt." I mumble to myself before thrusting my right hand fist into the remaining window bits. The glass shatters, creating a big enough hole for me to slip into the old school house with.

My hand does hurt, but I'm not going to let that stop me. Going head first, I awkwardly fling myself into one of the old school house's abandoned classrooms. I get a face full of dust and begin a coughing fit, reaching up for the wall my hand grips firmly upon a sturdy object and then I pull myself up onto my feet.

"Yuck. Century old dust is disgusting. Pah. Pah." I spit out the dust that made its way into my mouth, at least I attempt to get it out. But it doesn't always work that way. I scrunch my face up with disgust as the taste lingers upon my tongue and I can still feel the dust between my teeth when I grind them together. "Ugh. I need to wash my mouth out with soap after this." I wipe the remaining dust off of my face and dust myself off. No pun intended.

Once I'm as clean as I possibly can be at this time, I look around the room to see if I can find any source of light. They had electricity in 2000, right? Although if they did have it, the wires would be so old that it probably wouldn't even work anymore. I sigh and pull out a lighter from my pocket. I guess this will do for the time being.

I run my thumb against the ignition and get a flame going. "Now, to find something to use as a torch." I mumble to myself, if I'm alone then it's totally fine to be talking to myself.

My head turns from side to side as my thumb holds the flame a lit. In a dusty box not too far from me, my eyes land on a fairly large, white, cylindrical object. I walk over to the box, and after further examination, I identify it as a large candle. Perfect. I reach down and pick it up with my free hand before lighting the wick with the lighter. Once lit, I release the igniter and lift my thumb up.

The corners of my mouth curl up into a grimace at the imprints that the toothed wheel left on my thumb. "Well that's appealing." I let out a laugh at my sarcastic comment. Too bad no one was around to hear it.

I return to a serious note and begin looking for something, anything, that can help me solve this case. Although it's not official, I am claiming this my case to solve and I will make sure to bring justice to this young woman's family. I clench my free hand into a fist and then I pose into a sort of heroic pose. Though no one is here to see me, I still feel as though someone is watching me. Strange right?

I shrug off the feeling, it's probably just the rumours getting to me. I decide to leave the classroom and go explore the old school house as a whole.

The rotten, wooden floorboards squeak and groan as I walk down the darkened hallway. The walls curve inwards, almost giving me a suffocating feeling. I gulp a bit, and then something catches my eye.

I turn to a room and peek into it as I stand in the doorway. Shelves of dust, books, and miscellaneous items line three of the four walls of the room. But on the fourth wall, a green toned blackboard lives. A table next to it holds a box of small, white cylinders, which I assumed were pieces of chalk. Upon further evaluation, I noted that it was in fact chalk that is in the box. Instinctively I began to count the pieces, about ten whole chalk sticks lay in the box with about five or six half sticks.

The table had no dust on it and the floor below the blackboard had chalk residue in little piles. This leads me to believe that someone has been here recently.

I look up at the chalkboard and I can see faint writing upon it. I squint my eyes in an attempt to try to make out what it says.

After staring at it for a bit, I conclude that it is too faint to read clearly. A lightbulb moment occurs and my eyes widen, I quickly place the candle down onto the table and pull out the rolled up piece of parchment. Glancing back and forth between the board and the paper, I discover that my suspicions were correct. The writing on the board is the exact same handwriting that is in the note. Which means, whoever wrote the note has been in the school house recently, and they might just be the killer I'm looking for.

I took a step back and a book from the bookcase beside me, falls onto my head - as though it was flung from its resting spot by an unknown force.

"Ow." I rub my head and look down at the book. The word "yearbook" was written on it with black marker. I bend down and pick up the old brown book. I open it and it's pages hold many pictures. As I flip through the pages, my eyes scan them for either the image of Red or Noir.

My gaze stops at a picture of a young girl with scarlet hair, her visage was the same as the young woman who lay dead outside. I inhale deeply as I read her name; Red Lady.

She's the red lady? The one who was rumoured to have roamed these halls and haunted anyone who trespassed.

I shake my head. It doesn't make sense, if the rumour was true, then she has been dead for over ten years now. I close the book and look up, just as I do, a voice exclaims loudly.

"What are you doing in here?"