I silently but quickly creep over to my bedroom door, then press my ear directly to it. I hear Mom closing her door to her bedroom, obviously getting ready to go to bed. Once I know that she won’t come into my room and notice I’m gone, I grab my satchel with everything inside, then open my window. I slowly get down and land on the soft grass, and the second I get to the ground, I’m running. I yank my motorcycle from the long weeds in our backyard and hop on. That’s also one of my secrets; I use it to drive to headquarters, but if my mom found out, she would freak out and think I were a rebel of some sort. I quickly drive down-town and stop at the nearby gas station. The streetlights cast a small glow over the sketchy part of the city, and there’s not many people driving on the road this evening. I hide my motorcycle in a bush and run to the side of the dirt hill, where the gas station ends and the trees begin. The secret door to headquarters slides open, and I rush inside. “I’m here, Madam Falware.” I say, stopping to catch my breath. “Just in time, Akari,” Madam Falware begins, “the mission is just about to roll out. We have yet another missing person case to solve. The last location anyone had seen the target was near the countryside of Winsville.” She puts in the code to the secret hatchet in the wall, which leads to every camera in the city. Then she walks over to another hatchet, opens it, and puts in the code. There’s two stars and two hearts. She makes the stars green and the heart blue, which unlocks it. She connects it to her work tablet, that way it can let her track where we go. Afterwards, she sends all of us out onto the mission. Misty heads towards the trees, and I go toward the farmland. I scan the location, looking for any unfamiliar things. I don’t see any, so I sample the air. I smell blood more towards the East, and I know they went that way. I run as fast as I can. The blood smell gets stronger, and on the horizon, an abandoned farmhouse comes to view. I don’t see anybody in it, not even when I put my special goggles on. But I can sense they’ve been there. Once I’m finally at the little house, I hide behind an old tree in the yard. It had obviously been abandoned long ago. The walls are molding badly, and the paint is chipping. The windows were shattered, the porch was busted, the roof shingles were barely hanging. I jump through one of the broken windows, and see that blood has been smeared across the wall like paint on a canvas. These people think it's all a joke. Every drop of blood doesn't send a flinch through their bodies. I have to find who’s done this, and quickly. I don’t think any of my missions has had this much blood in one location. It makes my head spin. I start to feel dizzy, but I tell myself to snap out of it;or I’ll be the reason someone dies today. I remember the exact scent of the blood as I run through the field, looking for anything on the horizon. Once again, I see absolutely nothing but hay. This location was obviously deserted. I decide to follow the trail to Woodbirch Creek, where my nose picks up the familiar scent of blood. I quickly run down the dirt trail, following it. After at least a couple minutes of walking along the same path of birch trees and pine needles, I make my way to the lake. The scent gets every stronger than it was a couple seconds ago. I close my eyes and focus on my three senses that help me the most. I definitely smell it, but it’s as if in every direction. I hear rushing water, a raccoon in the dark…voices. I hear voices! Coming from…I don’t know. I open my eyes and look around. I see a tiny light deeper into the forest. I run as fast as I can toward it. I know that the criminals I’ll be facing are men, I can tell by their voices. But I also hear screams. They sound like a girl, about my age. I keep running. It might be somebody from my school. I finally make it to the little cabin that the voices are coming from. I can hear it better now, but the door is locked, the curtains are closed. The windows are sealed shut, which means I can’t get in without making noise. I spot a vent by a window, more towards the back of the house. It’s just big enough for me to fit through. Yes! Bless you, shortness! I think as I grab my pocket knife. I unscrew the vent by taking out the screws with my knife and then put it back in my pocket. I crawl through it quickly, and once I’m inside the cabin, I silently creep over to the fireplace. I hide behind it and put on my night vision goggles, that way I can see through the wall. I catch a glimpse of two men standing by a sink. Blood stains their hands. And once I look closely enough, I see it. It isn’t just any teenager, it’s Ells, my old friend.
