With almost no time left before graduation, Murph and I made the thirty minute trek after school to visit the Malleus Group’s office. Lindsey and her friends were just going to have to start their dinner without me, because this was something I had to do.


    The River Bottoms where the building claimed to be located was an absolute dump and I meant that quite literally. As soon as we hit the area that sat just outside downtown, the sky turned grey, the river green, and the air emitted an odor reminiscent of a wet dog.


    I pulled my sleeve up to my nose, looking for any signs of dead skunks before Murph informed me that was just the smell of the river. If that was the case, they must be pumping something nasty in there because the only time I''d ever seen a river that off color was in Chicago during St. Patricks day and at least that one was intentional.


    We pulled into a row of parking spots in front of the building and even though there was only two other cars here, I had this strange feeling that someone was watching us. The hair on my arms and neck stood fully erect and even Josiah seemed to be on high alert. In the fall, they usually ran haunted houses down here and it was easy to see why. The graffitied walls, broken windows, and crumbled infrastructure added a creepy, almost apocalyptic feel.


    “Man, I expected this building to be a lot nicer,” I said as we opened the doors of our vehicle.


    "Your first mistake was expecting something nice in the River Bottoms,” Murph said, falling into step beside me. His tone was light, but his eyes scanned the buildings with the kind of look you gave when you walked into a dark alleyway. Apparently I wasn''t alone in that feeling.


    I looked up and down the row of buildings. This was the only building on the street without broken windows or graffiti as it''s primary decoration. Still, it looked like it had seen better days. Bricks were missing from the front facade and gross puddles of dirty water littered the potholes around the entrance.


    “Yeah, you''re probably right. Still, this doesn''t seem to match the vision I had.” I reached out and grabbed the door handle.


    "Hold on, before we head in," Murph said as he crossed his arms and stood there, “what''s our plan? You can’t just walk up and ask the guy if he killed his girlfriend or wife or… whatever she was.”


    He wasn’t wrong, and a week ago I probably would have done just that. Luckily, after my interaction with Lindsey earlier in the day, I had a plan.


    I patted the yearbook tucked under my arm, “We came here to gather information about the history of Ravenwood High for a graduation ceremony speech I’m giving. At least, that''s the cover story I made.”


    Murph’s eyebrows raised as if surprised I showed up with any plan at all, “Thats something, but that doesn''t explain what I''m doing here with you.”


    "I''m glad you asked," I pulled a digital camera out of my backpack and handed it to him, “You were put in charge of making the powerpoint presentation. You’re basically my picture taking bitch.”


    Murph let out a depressed sigh, then reached for the camera, “Fine, but any sign of trouble and we get out of there.”


    “Sounds fair to me,” I replied.


    I looked around one final time before we stepped into the building. I tried to shake off the feeling that we were being watched, but even though I couldn''t see anything, the feeling stayed.


    ###


    The inside of the Malleus building was large and a stark contrast to the outside. Almost Jekyll and Hyde level different.


    Apparently I had been judging a book by its cover because this was the luxury style I had expected to see. I felt my earlier concerns about being watched quickly melt away. Replaced instead by my eyes darting around the room, struggling to take in all the high class features.


    There was a full wall to wall fish tank, a marble statue that stood seven feet tall, and a double waterfall feature that wrapped around the building''s doors. It felt like we had teleported to another town where people suddenly gave a shit.


    Murph elbowed me in the shoulder, “Is this fancy enough for you?”


    I nodded. Man, this whole room felt oddly familiar, and not just from the vision I had. It felt like déjà vu, like I had been here before.


    As if drawn to it, I walked over and checked out the expertly crafted statue of a man with a large nose in what appeared to be an even larger fur coat. Something told me this man was named Kramer, but I had no idea why. I tried to picture Kramer from Seinfeld, but the resemblance wasn’t all that close. I hadn''t remembered seeing the statue in the vision, but that didn''t mean it wasn''t there.


    At least the rest of the room looked relatively similar to the vision I had. Well, everything except for one glaring difference. I felt a sudden burst of rage build up inside of me.


    “What the hell did they do to my desk?” I muttered.


    Apparently not as quietly as I thought because Murph’s head tilted toward me, eyebrows raised in question.


    “What do you mean your desk?” he whispered.


    That was weird, I had no idea why I referred to the desk as mine but at that exact moment it felt like someone had betrayed me. I didn''t love this feeling. My only guess was that maybe some of her memories had rubbed off on me.


    “I don''t know why I said that,” I whispered back. I cleared my throat as the heat of embarrassment creeped in.


    Murph shot me a look that said I had to keep it together and he was right. I couldn''t lose it, not here, not now.


    “It’s ok, I got this,” I whispered reassuringly as we moved further into the room.


    We approached the desk that in my vision had been a dark wood masterpiece with hand-carved accents. What stood in its place was some soulless, gray monstrosity with fake stone paneling. I wasn''t sure why that made me so angry, but it did.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Behind it sat quite possibly one of the most attractive women I had ever seen in my life, giving even Jessica Alba a run for her money. She looked like she had been pulled straight out of one of those glossy model magazines my mom used to leave lying around the house. She had long dark hair pulled back in a messy bun, tan skin, and hoop diamond earrings that looked like they were made out of pure diamonds.


    She put down the phone and smiled at us as we approached. Murph and I both stood there like two nerdy teens who had never talked to a woman before. After what felt like a lifetime of awkward staring, she broke the silence.


    “Are you boys lost?” she asked, with a thick South American accent that only added to her appearance.


    “Oh, hello there, sorry to bother you.” I tried my best to force the words out, “We were hoping to speak with the owner if he had a moment.”


    Her fingers danced over the keyboard as she checked the computer screen. “Did you have an appointment?”


    I slid my yearbook from my backpack and flipped to the construction photo. “Not exactly. This was kind of last minute. See, you all built our school, and we’re putting together a segment on it as the first group to go all the way through. We were hoping you might have some neat pictures or information from its construction.”


    “I’m sorry, boys. He’s out of the office right now. Maybe I can get you on the schedule later this week?”


    I shot Murph a frown, making sure to sell our disappointment, “Unfortunately, that was going to be too late for us. We sort of procrastinated. Maybe you can help us? Have you worked here long?”


    “I’m more than happy to try. I’m Sophia by the way,” she said, her smile softening. “To answer your question, I’ve been here for about two, close to three years now.”


    “I’m Sean and this is my friend Gus,” I replied. It felt weird to lie to the woman, but I wasn’t about to give her real names.


    She pointed toward an art piece on the wall that showcased a man standing on a hill, holding a hammer into the sky as it was being struck by lightning. “We have historical albums over there that document all our buildings too. I’d be willing to bet just about anything your school is in there somewhere. You''re more than welcome to look through them.”


    On her finger sat the largest diamond I had ever seen in person. It sparkled from spot lights positioned above the desk and practically blinded me.


    “Whoa, that ring is gorgeous!” I shouted out instinctively.


    “Oh, thank you! I just got engaged a few months ago. Frederick and I are getting married next year in Florence!” Her eyes sparkled at the mention of his name.


    “You mean Frederick, the guy who owns this place?” I asked, recalling the name from the company’s website.


    “Yes! We met five years ago now. But it feels like only yesterday.”


    “Five years ago?” I echoed, doing some quick mental math. If Frederick had been dating our ghost and Sophia at the same time, well, that was one hell of a motive. I tried remember if the ghost woman had a ring on her finger or not, but apparently I wasn''t great at remembering small details.


    “So does he run the whole company?”


    “Oh no, just the U.S. branch. His father left each of his three brothers their own region.”


    Murph, who’d wisely taken the opportunity to flip through the albums, looked up. “You guys built Ravenwood Medical Center and the Sandstone Event Center too?”


    “His family did. He''s only been running things since right about the time we started dating.”


    I pulled out a notebook from my backpack and jotted down notes as casually as I could. “So he would know the answer to the rumor sweeping our school. I don’t personally believe it, but someone said a worker died during construction. Did anything like that ever happen?”


    Sophia’s smile thinned. “Absolutely not. We take safety very seriously here.”


    “I totally figured,” I replied. I heard a few shutter sounds in the background as Murph took photos.


    “So does Fredericks father still run the global company?”


    “It’s run by a board now. His dad sadly passed away a few months after Frederick took over the position.”


    “I’m so sorry to hear that.”


    Murph cleared his throat. “I don’t want to interrupt, but we should probably head back if we’re going to meet the deadline.”


    Murph''s words caught me off guard. We had just gotten here, and he already wanted to leave. I thought about saying something, but the look in Murphs eyes convinced me that he was being serious.


    “Thanks again for your help, Sophia.”


    “My pleasure. I’m sorry Frederick wasn’t here to chat with you.” She stood, pulled a business card from a holder, and handed it to me. “Feel free to email him if you have more questions.”


    I nodded, "I do have one more question. I mean no offense by this, but why are you all located in the River Bottoms?"


    She paused for a moment, then simply replied, "That''s an interesting question. It''s definitely not my favorite place to drive to every day, but I remember Frederick saying his father insisted we occupy this specific building. Sorry, that''s all I really know."


    Murph nudged my arm signaling our time to go. "Interesting, well thanks again," I said as we made our way out of the building.


    ###


    Once we were safely back in the car, I turned to Murph. “Dude, what the fuck was that about?”


    “Just look.” He shoved the camera in my hand.


    I scanned the image. Holy shit! “You’ve got to be kidding me.”


    “Exactly,” Murph said.


    There, on the camera, was a photo from the book, dated 1926. It showed a construction crew standing in front of Cottonwood Mental Health Hospital. Among them stood the original Dr. Klanderman, the same one whose portrait I’d knocked off the wall.


    “Recognize anyone else?” Murph asked.


    I squinted, the details were hard to make out in the photo. “I don''t see anything.”


    “How the heck did you make it through high school?” Murph asked.


    “Beats me.”


    “That man in the fedora with the striped suit. That''s definitely Al Capone.”


    I looked closer at the photo as if that was going to help. I had no idea what Al Capone looked like, but I took Murph''s word for it.


    "What the hell was a mobster from New York doing in Cottonwood?" I asked.


    "Chicago," Murph corrected.


    "Fine, my question still stands."


    "I don''t know, but if this company worked on Cottonwood and had ties to Al Capone, that means we''re stepping back into dangerous territory."


    The feeling we were being watched suddenly returned. I looked up and swore I saw a shadow move in one of the buildings. I tried to brush it off as nerves, but Josiah''s eyes also seemed to be trained on that window. That wasn''t a great sign.


    "We should probably head back," I replied.


    Murph started the car and we started to make our way back to Ravenwood with a handful of answers, but even more questions.


    “Hey, will you see what you can dig up on Sophia and Frederick tonight?” I asked.


    "Sophia?"


    "Yeah, if she was dating Frederick at the same time as our ghost friend, then she is as likely as him to know what happened."


    “Ok, that''s fine. What about you?”


    “I’ve got some graduation dinner thing. Don’t ask. Hopefully, I won’t be long.”


    Murph just smirked. “Good luck with that.”


    We made our way back with the knowledge that the woman in the gym had been cheated on, and the company she worked for had ties to both Cottonwood and potentially the mob. That was something at least. I was starting to lean toward something bad happening to the woman.


    I pulled out Dr. Klanderman''s old phone and texted Naomi to see if she might have anything for us. I tried to fit as many details as I was able to inside the character limit. I knew sending her this message meant that she was going to rip me a new one for stealing evidence, especially evidence of a dead man from the building, but I needed something and quick. Plus she was sure to find out eventually.


    Now I just had to hope the ass chewing was worth it.