the next day i went back to work and stayed there for most of the day. i didn't want to worry about the house fires right now; i wasn't a detective after all. chris came and said hi like normal and went back to matt and nick, who were making another video for their youtube channel.

i went and got my lunch at zao. i didn't have work for the rest of the day. i wanted to stay out of all this house fire stuff, but i didn't really know what to do. just because i found a weird note didn't mean this was arson. yet again, everything that had happened with the figure and fire was all super crazy and connected somehow. i was lost.

i texted matt to come over and pick me up. we were going to go to a pumpkin patch after my lunch since it was only a couple of weeks until halloween, after all.

[y/n] Matt! Can you come and pick me up from zao? We can go to the patch right now

🦖 Mattasaurous 🦖 sure, coming over with nick. Chris said that something came up so he cant come

[y/n] mean! he should know better than to ditch me

🦖 Mattasaurous 🦖 thats what i told him, but he was very content on this thing he wanted to get done 🤷

[y/n] well, hes missing out. 

🦖 Mattasaurous 🦖 haha yeah, see you soon 

[y/n] TELL NICK I CALL SHOTGUN, i want to choose the music 

🦖 Mattasaurous 🦖 okok, haha, ill tell him

[y/n] thanks love, see you soonnnnn!

🦖 Mattasaurous 🦖 🎃😽👻

matt came and got me ten minutes later, nick was in the back seat sticking his tongue out at me. i did the same. matt drove us to the pumpkin patch, and we all looked outside at the fall leaves. they were so pretty.

'okay, nick,' i said, turning around in my seat, 'i call the music. no complaints.'

nick rolled his eyes, but a playful smile tugged at the corners of his lips. 'fine, but if you play anything too sappy, i'm hijacking the aux.'

i laughed and put on a mix of indie rock and some old halloween classics—just enough to set the mood. i loved halloween so much.

once we got there, the crisp air whipped past us, and a huge area full of pumpkins surrounded us. it was a perfect day to get pumpkins.

'let's go!' i said, walking over to get a pumpkin.

we wandered through the rows of pumpkins, each one a different size and shape, some perfectly round, others charmingly lopsided. the cool autumn breeze carried the scent of freshly fallen leaves and the faint aroma of spiced cider from a nearby stand.

nick picked up a small, squat pumpkin, examining it with a critical eye. 'this one looks like it could be the head of a goblin,' he said with a grin.

i laughed, shaking my head. 'you have a weird imagination, nick. but yeah, it kind of does.'

matt was a few steps ahead, his gaze locked on a particularly large pumpkin. 'check this one out,' he called back to us. 'it's huge! we could carve a whole scene into this.'

i walked over to him, my hands in my pockets to keep warm. 'that one's awesome. we could do something really cool with it.'

we spent the next hour picking out our pumpkins, joking around, and taking pictures. despite everything that had been happening lately, it felt good to be with my friends, doing something so simple and fun.

i found a perfect pumpkin, orange and perfectly round, amazing for carving. nick got a tall orange one, and matt got a stubby white one. we got back into the car and headed back home.

we walked back inside, and chris was there waiting for us.

'how did you get into my house?' i laughed.

'oh come on, you really think that the old key under the doormat would work to keep it hidden?' he replied, holding up my house key.

i snatched the key from his hand and playfully ruffled his hair. 'maybe... i'm glad to have you as a security inspector, though.'

he grinned and helped me with my pumpkin. we took out all of the insides, and i made a cute smiley face with crooked teeth on my pumpkin. nick did kind of the same but with the eyes as a weird square shape. matt tried to do a cat, but it turned out to look more like a cow instead.

'wow y/n, this was a lot of fun! thanks!' nick said, slinging an arm around me.

'no, thank you, nick! i had a lot of fun with you guys today!' i replied.

'yeah! this was a lot of fun.. maybe-'

just then, a loud bang came from the door. we all froze, not knowing what to do.

my heart raced as i exchanged glances with matt, nick, and chris. we all seemed to silently agree that something wasn't right.

'i'll go check it out,' chris said, his voice steady but laced with tension. he moved towards the door, but i quickly grabbed his arm.

'wait,' i whispered. 'we don't know what it is. it could be anything.'

chris nodded, understanding my concern, but he gently pulled his arm free. 'stay here. i'll be careful.'

i swallowed hard, feeling a pit of anxiety growing in my stomach. matt and nick stood on either side of me, equally tense. we watched as chris approached the door cautiously, his hand hovering over the doorknob for a moment before he finally twisted it and pulled the door open.

a gust of cold air swept into the room, carrying with it the faint scent of smoke. chris peered outside, his posture rigid. 'there's nothing out here,' he called back, but his voice was uncertain, as if he wasn't convinced.

i hesitated, then stepped forward to join him. the others followed, and we all looked out into the night. the street was quiet, almost eerily so, with only the soft rustle of leaves in the wind and the distant hum of a car engine somewhere far away.

'maybe it was just the wind,' nick suggested, though he didn't sound convinced either.

but something caught my eye—a small piece of paper, barely noticeable, tucked under the doormat where chris had found my key earlier. i bent down and picked it up, my hands trembling slightly. the note was simple, just a few words scribbled hastily in dark ink:

stop digging.

my blood ran cold as i read the words, and i quickly handed the note to chris, who read it aloud. a heavy silence fell over us as the weight of the message sank in.

'someone knows,' i whispered, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the cool autumn air.

matt frowned, his eyes scanning the area outside. 'this isn't just a coincidence. first, the fires, then the figure, and now this. someone's trying to warn us—or scare us.'

'we need to tell someone,' he said, his voice firm. 'the police, maybe.'

but i shook my head, uncertainty gnawing at me. 'and say what? that we got a creepy note after some strange stuff happened? they'll think we're paranoid or making it up.'

'we can't just ignore it,' nick argued. 'this is serious.'

'i know... i know. but they won't do anything. but we do need to figure out what's going on.'

chris looked at the note, a grim look on his face, then he walked away.

'what's up with him?' i asked nick and matt.

'dunno,' nick said.

we all looked at each other, knowing this was getting out of hand.