For Nyali, the past couple of days were definitely emotional. She had to say goodbye to her best friend for life, say goodbye to her favorite teachers, and go one one last adventure in the mines with Mady.
The explanation for the boy's disappearance was a simple one. He had fallen down the pit, for the two kids had reached the bottom, spooky part of the mine. And Nyali regretted wanting to find out if the boy's body was at the bottom. Sure enough, it was. The body was mangled, the head smashed in. Not only that, but the boy's body wasn't the only one they found down there. The two girls flipped out, screaming curse words and wishing they hadn't been curious enough to go on the adventure. But for their last adventure, it wasn't too bad, and it was full of danger and risks.
Afterwards, the went to the park, swinging on the swings they'd played on since they were little, since before her parents were working all the time, before Nyali was interested in the paranormal unsolved mysteries.
As though she hadn't learned that her curiosity was going to get her into trouble, she was hyped for the case Maria assigned her. She had looked over the letter many times, distracting herself from packing up her room.
And once they reached Portland, the house was huge. It was a really nice house, and all of her stuff didnt even fill up the room as it did the other. It was barely even half of the space provided.M She hadn't registered for her new school yet, her mom was still making preparations and they were still unpacking.
"When I looked into the house, I don't remember it being this big.." her mother had said, while trying to make the furniture take up decent space in the living room. "We may just have to get more furniture."
Her father was super excited for the mancave he was going to have, thanking his wife for the new increase in money. Nyali was grateful too, she could actually get an allowance for once and buy some stuff of her own to fill up her room. Mady and her talked over the phone for hours, and she told Mady all about the new case she had gotten. Mady usually complained about how dangerous it was, and how in Portland there were all these TV shows about people dying while trying to solve a mystery. Nyali told her to shush and not be too worried, that she'd solve the case in no time. But she needed to find Maria.
That weekend, she rode up to the house of the specific address on the envelopes. But Maria wasn't there. She returned the next day. Still no answer. So she went home and wrote a letter.
'Maria,
If you get this letter, I've stopped by your house several times. None of those times were when you were actually there. I was wondering if you were okay. I've moved into Portland, hopefully permanently, so I want to try to make new friends. I'm going to school in two days. Tell me if you are there, or I will put on a detective hat and search for you. I'LL SEE YOU SOOOOON!!'
She sent it that day, to the same address she'd been going to.
No reply.
Nyali decided to not let it bug her. She may go to the same school, after all.
Two days later, she was registered for a nearby school called, George Middle School. Nyali wandered in with a schedule and no friends. But she was good at making friends, in her opinion.
She walked to her first period math class and sat in a desk in the second row and about three desks back. A boy, with the name Oogie, sat in front of her. A girl named Annemarie sat to her right, while a boy named Hunter sat to her left. Another girl she didn't know the name of sat behind her. Rest assured, it wasn't Maria.
The classes were boring, no one was allowed to talk, they were forced to listen and take notes, rarely answering questions. The rain outside splashed against the glass, and she loved the smell of it pour through the vents of the classroom.
