The sky cried, its tears dampening the earth and clicking softly against the bedroom window in a steady rhythm. A boy and a girl sit within the bedroom, on the bed. Becca was on her phone, flipping through pictures. Marco was just staring up at the walls.

  “Never imagined it'd hurt this much.” He says, slumping against the wall his bed was against. The room was clean and well kept, with grey carpet floors and sundried orange walls, the warm light illuminating the various decorations on the few shelves on one wall.

  Becca looks up from her p

  hone, scrunching up her nose before turning away again. She turns away, then turns her phone off and tucks it into her pocket.

  “I know.” She says. “It's not like he was family or anything. But it felt like we were. I wonder if he would have said the same…”

  “Doubtful.” Marco says, chuckling. “He would deny it to his grave, yet he was closer with us than anyone else I know of.” He sighs. “Do you think the police will let us look in his house this time?”

  “Probably not.” Becca says, standing off the bed. “So…”

  “We are not sneaking into his house.” Marco immediately guesses what she was about to say. Her grin doesn't falter, however.

  “Yes we are. Because I know that if I do it, you'll come with me whether you like it or not. So stop grumbling and lets go. Jakob wouldn't care.”

  “I… you're hopeless.” Marco mutters before getting up off his bed. “I guess this is better than doing nothing a few more weeks.”

  “Yay for breaking and entering!” Becca cheers.

  <{0}>

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” Marco mutters as he climbs the fence. 2 officers were by the front door, but there was only 1 car up front. That meant it was unlikely for anyone to be in the house, so they could search around for anything they could find. The guards in the front didn’t extend to the back, so they could hop the fence behind the house, which required sneaking around a security camera from the opposing home to do so. Then, they were in. The master key worked for the back door just as well as the front. Jakob… probably didn't know Becca had it. Marco wasn't going to snitch though, not the least bit because he is apparently dead. That thought made him wince, but he pushed it aside as they entered the basement. They found themselves in the basement living room. The Xbox was still on the table from the last time they had played. An old console, all things considered, but one that came though when you wanted it to, so no complaints were spoken, if any existed.

  The only room that appeared to have recent use was the bathroom, which had a light on, as well as... a smell. Probably a police officer.

  “The asses used his toilet.” Becca mutters, walking past the room.

  “What exactly are we looking for?” Marco asks, crossing his arms as he walks through the room, glancing at various paintings and decorations, untouched by the officers.

  “No idea.” Becca frowns as she peeks into the electrical room, then closes the door. “Anything worth hiding is probably in the bedroom, right?”

  “Either there, or somewhere totally mundane that we wouldn't expect.” Marco agrees, nodding. “It's a start. Let's go.”

  And so they made their way upstairs, moving quietly as to not draw attention from anybody possibly within the house. A minute of creeping about later, and the 2 of them stood in the bedroom.

  “I take the closet and you take the bathroom.” Marco says, already stalking towards the closet.

  “On it.” Becca nods, entering the bathroom. They search, and search, and search, and find nothing of note. Some valuables, sure, and a few pocket knives or strangely shaped pieces of metal. Even a scope or 2 here or there, which was weird but ultimately not important. Eventually they sat down on the bed together, both frowning.

  “Find anything?” Becca asks.

  “A few pieces of metal and a scope collection, but that's it.” Marco admits, shrugging. “You?”

  “Nothing that interesting.” She sighs. “Where would he hide something interesting?”

  “Again, somewhere mundane. It's less obvious like that…” Marco pauses as he ests a hand on the pillow of the bed. He stands up. “Becca, get off the bed.”

  “Ooh, did you figure something out?” She asks, hopping up.

  “Maybe…” Marco latches his fingers under the mattress and yanks. But it didn't budge. Strange, he thinks as he looks down at the bed. “It's attached to the bed frame.”

  “Oh, that's a mystery! Move, move!” Becca bractically barrels Marco away and reaches under, feeling around with her fingers.

  “Aha!” She whisper-shouts, still mindful of the officers, as she finds fingerholds. Once she slots her fingers in, they both hear a soft hiss, a release of air. When Becca yanks, the bed comes up like a trapdoor. What is revealed inside is what looks like… strange holes of particular shapes. Arranged in a particular position. All the holes are empty, except for one. In this slot is a black mask.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Reaching down, Becca picks it up, turning it over in her hand. She reaches up and attaches it to her face. When she removes her hand it stays there, no straps needed.

  “Whoa!” Becca says, her voice sounding off due to a strange distortion, as she looks around. “I think I can see better with this thing on!” Blue lines light up along it as she looks around. She removes the mask, and the lines dim to nothing. “Marco, hide this in your bag. Let's see if anything fits in these slots.” She says. Marco takes the mask and tucks it away as hes asked. Looking down at the slots he has a thought.

  “Come on.” He says, guiding her into the closet. He hands her a scope, as well as every unique piece of metal he finds. They brig the pieces back out and lay them out on the ground, slotting each and every piece into position until…

  “It's a gun.” Marco says, staring down at the pieces. Once put in each slot, it takes the shape of a sniper rifle. Marco puts each piece together, confirming his suspicion.

  “A mask and a gun, huh?” Becca murmurs, then pauses. “Is Jakob… Batman?”

  “Batman doesn't use guns.” Marco points out immediately. “He's more like Red Hood, I think.”

  “Or an assassin.” Becca murmurs, then gasps. “That's how he has so much money!”

  “That… shit. Our dead friend was an assassin?”

  “He might not be dead.” Becca points out. “they didn't find a body. Only his smashed bike, freshly kissed by a semi truck and left for a nap on the side of the road.”

  “What do we even do with this information?” Marco asks, staring down at the gun. He disassembles it all and tucks it into various parts of the bag. He hooks the scope outside of the bag, just like… like Jakob used to. “He carried the gun around with him. He had the scope on his bag, remember?”

  “Holy shit, you're right!” She nods enthusiastically. “So our friend is a murder hobo… or… murder rich kid? What's the correct terminology here?”

  “Rich orphan.” Marco says with a shrug. “Like 50% of superheroes.”

  A door opens downstairs. They hear it and freeze up.

  “Closet, now!” Marco whispers, closing the bed up and dragging Becca with him. Becca hides behind the door of the walk in closet, while Marco hides behind a few hung up bathrobes in the corner. He assembles a few pieces of the gun as the sound approaches. Not all of it. It seems it's designed to function as a quick handgun if this spot is twisted like this, and that spot is put in right there… done. the bedroom door opens. Becca and Marco go completely silent.

  “I swear, boss, I saw somebody up here.” The voice of a young adult man comes through the walls, and Marco tenses. They had been seen?

  “Well, we've checked the rest of the house and have yet to find any proof of such claims.” An older voice snaps, her tone implying crossed arms. “I keep telling you that you need new glasses, kid.”

  “These glasses are just fine! I did not see wrong!” The younger voice snaps, followed by the sound of stomping as the bathroom door is opened. After a moment, the bathroom door is closed. “Nobody in there.”

  “So after the closet is proven empty, you'll be apologizing for wasting my time, right?” The older voice asks as the door to the closet is opened. Light pours into the room, revealing the 2 officers. One is a young redhead with round glasses and brown eyes, while the other is an older woman with a fit build, blue eyes, and graying hair tied into a bun. As the younger officer enters, Marco goes stiller than he’s ever gone. He feels as if an ant in torpor would twitch more than him as the duo's eyes dance across the room. Marco positions his gun just in case, aiming for the older woman. If he has to shoot, he’ll take out the more dangerous looking one first. A cop that’s lived this long in a shithole like this city absolutely knows how to use a gun.

  And yet they're gone in a few seconds, closing the door behind themselves.

  “Seriously Anthony, you just love wasting my time.” the older woman mutters as they leave.

  For a while, neither of them move. And then, all at once, they both stumble out of their spots and wrap their arms around each other in a hug.

  “That was terrifying.” Marco wheezes out between pants as they lean into each other.

  “Mega scary.” Becca agrees, nodding. She sighs, slumping into the wall of shirts. “Im hungry.”

  “You're always hungry.” Marco shoots back, then grins. “But so am I. Once we sneak out, let's get ice cream.”

  <{0}>

  “Where's your friend?” The waitress asks as she brings the two their ice cream cones. They are sitting at a corner table in "Antonio's frosty cones”, a local ice cream store the three of them used to go to. well, when it was still the three of them. The waitress, a girl around the same age as them with blue eyes and hair so blonde it was practically white, set the little tray holding their cones down in front of them. Alicia was her name, Marco remembered. She had the hots for Jakob, but the poor idiot never realized it. She was only barely subtle about it, yet the brickhead hadn't experienced flirting before.

  “He’s… not with us anymore.” Becca says reluctantly, scratching the back of her head with one hand.

  “Oh, that's sad. Why did he leave your group?” Alicia asks, leaning into the table. Alicia went to the same school as them, but they didn’t share the same classes. Alicia had Physics with Jakob though, which she used to try to get closer to him.

  “He didn't leave our group.” Marco says, sighing. “Do you watch the news?”

  “Not really, no.” Alicia says, sliding into the seat beside Becca. “Why? Did something happen to Jakob?”

  “Alicia, he's presumed dead by the police.” Becca says softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. “His bike was found smashed by the road. But there was no blood, and no body. He's just gone. The police have been calling it a simple accident.”

  “What?! But if there’s no body, how could they be sure he's dead?!” Alicia says a little too loudly. She flinches as a few people turn to her, and she blushes, sinking down into her seat.

  “exactly.” Becca nods. “we want to find out whats going on with it. We… might have broken into his house, with police there, and nearly got caught, but we found some interesting stuff.”

  “I'm in.” Alicia says immediately.

  “Wait, just like that?” Marco turns from Alicia to Becca, then back to Alicia. “Really?”

  “Let's meet up when I'm done with my shift.” Alicia says. “You're Becca and Marco, right?”

  “Yeah.” Becca nods, then holds out her phone for Alicia to take her number. “Ill text you my address. Meet us there.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Alicia nods. “Lets solve a mystery!” And with that, she scampers off to do her job. Marco frowns. Wasn't that… too spontaneous? That was so easy to get her to join. Something was off. Barely any talk, and immediately, she's in. Right in to join up breaking the law. Something felt fishy, and Marco was going to find out what.