Fantastopia: The New Life (Part 1)

Now we're getting somewhere

The following morning, I knew I had to use whatever time I had to work on my studies. But ever since what happened yesterday, I could barely focus on my work. My guts were still telling me that there was something in Zed’s room that needed to be found, and I’m not just gonna sit here and wait until I can go back in there, I need to check it out now before someone else does. Besides, I can still catch up on my college work later, my brain does work in many ways.

So the moment I was ready, I transported myself to Fantastopia where I made sure to appear in front of Zed’s room. There was no one around as I turned the doorknob to find it unlocked.

Okay... that’s weird. Who the hell leaves their room unlock? I mean, I get that the guy’s dead but, don’t the maids lock the rooms when they’re done with the cleaning? I know it’s not much but, this is already a warning sign for me, for all I know, the killer could’ve made himself in and could possibly be hiding in the room. No matter what, I knew I had to be very careful.

As I gradually cracked open the door, I slowly peeked in to find it empty, but I couldn’t be certain that it was empty. I stepped inside and gently shut the door as I began to scan the room to see if anyone was hiding. Although, the only places someone could hide were under the bed and in the closet, and yet I couldn’t find anyone.

I glanced down at my ring, it wasn’t glowing but it was definitely orange. I was feeling a bit scared, but at least I know that there isn’t any danger nearby... yet.

I needed to hurry because I had a feeling that someone was going to come in here. I don’t know why I didn’t ask for permission to enter the room, some times I just want to rebel against something. I did think that they weren’t going to let me in, but who knows? I’m just doing what I feel like I should be doing. Whenever there’s a mystery to solve, I always take a risk.

Okay, that’s actually a lie. This is my first mystery and I am actually quite scared.

All I needed to do was find the thing that’s making my guts question myself so that I could get out of here. There is definitely something in this room that needed to be found, just where the hell is it?

As I searched everywhere in the room, I was beginning to think that there was nothing in this room. But I was sure there was something in here, I could feel it.

Thud!

Whoa, I just felt that.

I looked down where I saw that my foot had tripped over a piece of loose wood that was sticking out from the floor. Wait a minute, why didn’t I think of this before? What better place to hide something than under the floor? I kneeled down near the loose piece as I began to tug on it, and just like that, it began to loosen up. Oh yeah, there was definitely something in here. And once I managed to pull the wood piece away, I immediately spotted a leather notebook.

Oh yeah, now we’re getting somewhere.

After taking the notebook out of the slot, I began to flip through the old pages and tried to read what I can. And holy crap, am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? In the notebook were pages of drawn maps and writings about money, people, and drugs. At first, I thought that this was Zed’s old notebook from when he used to be part of the d**g g**g, but that’s when I realized the dates that were written above the journal entries, they were more recent. The last one was dated from last week.

Ryker was right, Zed really is still part of the d**g g**g! Holy s**t!

But as I kept reading, I couldn’t believe what else I’ve discovered. This notebook is the key to solving this case, I knew my guts were right! I had to show this to everyone. So after closing up the slot, I slowly opened the door and peeked my head out to make sure that there was no one to watch me. And after making sure it was clear, I stepped out of the room with the notebook in my hand and closed the door.

“Jesse?”

“Oh my-!” I shrieked with my hand over my chest.

Who the hell would sneak up on me like that?!

When I turned to see who was behind me, my eyes widen by the sight of West. Oh s**t, whatever you do Jesse, stay calm.

“Um-” I muttered as I stood up straight “Hello West.”

“What were you doing in Zed’s room?” he demanded.

“I was just looking for more clues” I replied calmly “And um... yeah that’s about it.”

“Why do you have Zed’s notebook?” he suddenly gazed down at the notebook with his eyes widen.

“Oh, well you’re not going to believe this, but I found this- wait, why do you sound surprised?”

I noticed that West’s face had suddenly gone white and he was biting his lip a little.

“West,” I spoke with a concerned look “Is there something I should know?”

“Um, no” he quickly shook his head as he put on a smile “But I just remembered that Zed’s brother had asked me to find Zed’s journal for him. And since you already found it, I can take it to him.”

He tried to reach for the notebook but I pulled it away.

“Seriously?” I responded dully “You expect me to believe that? I know when someone’s lying just by looking at them.”

“I’m not lying,” he declared a bit sternly “I really need that book.”

Once again, he tried to take the notebook away from me as I quickly pulled it away while stepping back.

“Hey!” I held my hand towards him to stop “I don’t want to cause any trouble here. Now, I don’t know what you want with this book, but you’re not getting your hands on it.”

All of a sudden, just like that, West held his clawed hand towards me as I began to feel a tight grip around my neck that caused me to gasp out loud as I nearly dropped the book. I had forgotten that West was a wizard in training, and it looks like this is some wizard magic he was able to learn quickly. I could feel the force squeezing tighter around my neck as I kept a hold of the notebook. No matter how hard I was suffering right now as I tried to gasp for air, I was not going to let West take the evidence away from me.

“As I said,” he scowled while walking towards me with his hand still out at me “I really need this book.”

With his other hand, he was able to pull the book out of my hands. It was no use, I had gotten frail from the weakening of my breath that I wasn’t able to grip the book tightly. I seriously needed to figure something out quick, for all I know, he could kill me right here on the spot by choking me to death.

But after a moment of him strangling me with his magic, West suddenly released me as I collapsed to the floor and immediately took a deep breath of air. Damn, I was breathing so hard that I felt like I was going to pass out. But I couldn’t let West out of my sight, not with that book in his hand.

“I’m sorry, Jesse” he suddenly said to me while kneeling down in front of me “But I’m afraid I can’t let you show this to anyone.”

“First of all,” I panted while holding up a finger “You’re not the boss of me. And second of all, your shoes are untied.”

“What?”

The moment he looked down, that’s when BLAMO! I sent a blow right up his jaw as he tumbled back while dropping the book.

“Sucker!” I wheezed while forcing a smile as I grabbed the book and dashed off.

Haha, I can’t believe he actually fell for that. I’m so clever.