A Spiritual Mystery

Ready For Adventure - 1

Where should we start? I wondered, as the weight of our task settled on my shoulders. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be doing this. But here I was, about to embark on an investigation into a murder case. Veronica squealed with delight beside me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Yay! I'm so excited. I never thought I would go on an adventure like this—solving a murder case!"

"You're not scared?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her carefree attitude.

"Not really. I thought the academy would send me on some boring task after graduation, like they always do with new recruits," she said with a shrug, her voice full of anticipation rather than fear.

"Oh, well..." I trailed off, unable to find words that would express the unease bubbling in the pit of my stomach. I kept my thoughts to myself.

After a moment, I broke the silence. "Where should we start?"

"Well, obviously, the place where he went missing," she replied confidently.

I paused, trying to piece together the scattered fragments of my memory. The truth was, I didn't remember much about where I had gone missing or even who I really was. My past was a black void that stretched on endlessly. But I couldn't let Veronica know that. I couldn't even tell her my real name. I had made up 'Alex' on the spot when she asked. There were days I struggled to think straight. That's how lost I was.

We gathered our gadgets and tools, everything we would need for this investigation, and began combing through online magazines and archives, hoping for any shred of information. After hours of searching, I stumbled across an article. It was about a boy who had gone missing—someone around my age. My heart raced as I stared at the photograph that accompanied the story. There was something hauntingly familiar about the boy's face, though I couldn't be sure why.

"Veronica, look!" I called her over, my voice barely concealing my excitement.

She rushed over, her eyes wide. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah, take a look at this photo," I said, pointing at the screen.

The boy had gone missing near a school—Oak Bridge High School. The name tugged at something deep in my memory, but I couldn't quite grasp it. Still, my gut told me this was important. If movies and books had taught me anything, it was that these kinds of hunches usually meant something.

"I think we should start here," I declared, trying to sound more certain than I felt.

"Why?" she questioned, her voice laced with skepticism.

"I don't know. It just feels right," I said, placing my trust in my instincts.

She studied my face for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I don't have any better ideas, so let's go with your plan."

"Thanks," I said, grateful that she was willing to follow my lead despite the shaky foundation I was working from.

"Get ready tomorrow by six in the morning," she instructed. "Make sure you have all the necessary materials. We can't afford to leave anything behind."

That night, I found myself unable to sleep. My mind raced with thoughts of the coming day. For the first time in a long while, I felt a glimmer of hope that I might uncover the truth about myself. But there was also the fear—the nagging worry that things might go wrong, or worse, that I'd never find the answers I sought.