- Aria's POV -

"Aria! Come on, snap out of it!" Miles claps in my face, his hands placed on my shoulders, shaking me.

Suddenly, instead of walking through the woods, I'm back in the cavern, swimming with Miles and playing tag in the water again.

What the fu-

"Dude, you just froze for a whole five minutes. What was that?" Miles asks, his hands still rested on my shoulders.

I shake my head. I can't answer that question when I don't even know what happened myself.

Wait, he said I froze for five whole minutes? So that meant. . .

It was a daydream. Everything after I tagged him, was all a part of my imagination. None of it actually happened. But it felt so real, just like that daydream I had earlier today.

Two in one day? That doesn't sound good.

No, it doesn't. Especially when I just hallucinated kissing Miles Prescott. What's wrong with me? Why the fuck was I imagining making out with the boy I hate? Why did I imagine liking it?

At this point, I am actually considering going to therapy.

Sike!

There's no way in hell am I ever going back into therapy.

"I-I don't know." I stutter, goosebumps spreading all over my body.

"Okay. But I think we should get you home now." He suggests, taking my hand and helping me out of the water.

After we've changed into dry clothes, we gather our things and head out of the cave in silence. However, it turns out the vision predicted the future because I trip over an actual camouflaged log and yelp, my arms flailing out in front of me to help break the fall.

Instead of helping me up like a perfect gentleman, Miles chuckles and jumps over me, like he did on his first day when he bumped into me.

"Jerk," I mutter under my breath, pushing myself up and catching up to him.

Except I stop short when I hear a twig snap in the distance, along with the faint sound of leaves rustling.

Miles notices my frozen state and spins around. "Wha—"

I cut him off my pressing a finger to his lips. He shuts up immediately, which I'm thankful for. I crane my neck in the direction of the sound and don't move a muscle.

Snap!

My head whips around to the opposite direction, squinting my eyes for any sign of movement. But there's none, so when I turn back to look at Miles he looks at me with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Let's go. It was probably just an animal." He points out.

I nod and keep my gaze on the ground, walking a few more steps ahead of him when I realize he isn't following me. Instead, he was in the same state as I was: as still as a statue, not even blinking as he looks at a tree.

Jogging back over to him, I peer over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of what had caught him off guard. Finally noticing my presence, Miles points to the tree he's been staring at.

What I see makes my stomach churn.

A knife was stabbed into the trunk, keeping the piece of paper in place, like a pin on a corkboard. Glancing back at Miles, I only see a blank face, so I pull the knife out of the tree with the hem of my shirt so I didn't get any fingerprints on it, which was surprisingly easy.

Whoever put it there probably didn't dig it in too deep.

I drop the knife and place my foot over it, knowing it won't somehow disappear. I take the note in my palms and begin to read, Miles standing beside me and reading it as well.

'Hello Aria,

It's been a while since I've seen you. Three years, I suppose? How I wish I could've thanked your mother for those delicious cookies she baked before I took her life. I must say, your parents did have a lovely taste in music. Do you remember that beautiful melody blasting through the speakers when you found them?'

I reread the note about three more times before folding it and stuffing the paper into my pocket, as well as the small knife.

"We have to go," I tell Miles, grabbing his arm and speed-walking towards the end of the forest.

"Whoa, hold on. Why was there a note attached to a tree, with a goddamn knife, addressed to you? And how do we even know that it's actually meant for you—Aria's a pretty common name." He tries to stop me from walking but I pull my arm away from his grip.

"I don't know why there was a note. But I do know it was meant for me. We have to go, now." I say sternly, trying not to let the fear show in my voice or expression.

"Fine, take the note. But why the knife?" He questions as we begin speed-walking again.

I let a smirk find its way onto my lips, praying the knife won't slice my thigh."Evidence."

Miles looks quizzled, but I shrug it off and get lost in my thoughts.

Three years. It's been three years since that horrific day, and still, the police haven't found the killer. I think they've given up on the case, even though they haven't told us yet. There's never been any sort of leads, but now? Now there might be a chance.

I remember the handwriting on the first note that was left on the tray in my house, the word "delicious" was written in scrawny, capital letters. It was most definitely not the killer's actual handwriting, they wouldn't be that stupid. The note that was in my pocket had the same type of writing: unnatural.

Yes, I probably should be scared shitless. But this note makes me more satisfied than scared. It gave us a possibility to bring justice for my parents.

Maybe the knife had some sort of fingerprints that belonged to the culprit. Although that didn't happen when the cops searched every inch of my old house for them. Whoever this person is has got a brain.

●●●

I bang on the front door, standing alone since I forced Miles to go home and told him I'll explain to Lydia and Paul.

By the way, he still thinks they're my parents, even after the note clearly stated that my mother was dead.

Could that boy get any more stupid?

The door opens and I step inside to face Lydia, who's looking shocked.

"Aria? You're back so soon, already? We called Zoe when we noticed you were gone and—"

"Where's Paul? There's something I have to show you guys, and then the police." I cut her off, searching around for my uncle.

"He's in the shower. Should be coming out soon, though. And why do you have to show the police something? God, Aria. Did you vandalize the school again?" She shakes her head in disappointment.

I roll my eyes, dragging her to the sofa when Paul emerges from upstairs, drying his black cropped hair with a towel.

He greets me with a small smile as I grab a cloth from the kitchen, instructing him to join Lydia in the living room. "What's up, kid? I didn't know you'd be back so s—"

"I lied," I state, sitting on the sofa across from them.

"What do you mean, 'you lied'?" Paul questions, furrowing his brows.

Taking a deep breath, I begin to explain how I spent the day with Miles in the forest, leaving out the cavern and telling them I just needed fresh air, so we went to the forest and stumbled upon something strange.

I take the cloth and pull the knife out of my pocket, placing it onto the glass coffee table in between Lydia, Paul, and I. Then, I take out the note and unfold it, handing it over to them.

"Why do you have a knife in your pocket, Aria?" Paul asks, his voice full of concern.

I don't reply and wait patiently for them to read the note, Lydia's shaking hand coming up to cover her gaping mouth.

I talk again when they're done reading. "That was pinned to a tree with this knife."

"Is this what I think it is?" Lydia gasps, tears welling up in her eyes again.

I snort. "No, it's raccoon shit."

"Aria." Paul scolds, pulling Lydia into a loving hug.

It's too bad I won't see that with my parents ever again.

An hour later, two officers are examining the note and knife as I explain everything all over again, silently begging them not to ask Miles to come over. I really didn't want him involved in this. As much as I hated his guts, I didn't want another person in danger because of me.

Lucky for me, they didn't.

"We'll be back sometime this week to tell you if we've found anything new. Have a nice day." The officers leave with a wave and retreat back to their car when I shut the door.

Lydia and Paul embrace me when I start feeling wobbly, the realization that we might actually be able to help with the case somehow.

They kiss my head and I relax into their touch.

"Don't worry, Aria. We'll find that bastard." Lydia says, stroking my hair.

I can only hope.