*tw // gore*

"Are you ready?" Taehyung called up the stairs.

"Almost!" Amaris' voice floated down, having an almost sing-songy tone to it. "I just have to find some shoes."

Taehyung looked at his watch. It was late afternoon and they would have to get going soon if they were to have any sunlight left by the time they got to the crime scene. Out of all the crime scenes, though, Taehyung wondered why she picked one of the oldest to visit. It wasn't like there was going to be salvagable evidence at any of the scenes, but he was puzzled by what Amaris thought she could find at the place she insisted upon.

"How do I look?" Taehyung looked up to see Amaris standing a few steps up holding the skirt of her dress in her hands.

She looked even more ghost-like in her outfit with a  loose fitting dress of a deep navy which washed out what little color she had in her skin. When she walked down the remainder of the stairs, the light material fluttered around her making it appear as if she were floating.

"You're rather dressed up to go to some random alley where a woman was murdered," Taehyung noted.

"I haven't been outside in a long time," Amaris sighed, twirling so that her dress ballooned around her. "I felt it appropriate to dress up."

Taehyung shrugged and turned to open the door for her. As soon as she stepped out, Taehyung followed after and walked up to the curb outside of her gated yard. He looked up and down the road to find it completely devoid of life; not a single car on the road or barking dog.

"It's only about for minutes by car," Taehyung said over his shoulder to Amaris. "If I call a cab to pick us up, we can be there in no time."

"Let's walk," she called out, nearly halfway down the street already, "it could be ages before a cab comes down this way."

"Amaris!" Taehyung jogged after her to catch up, grabbing her by the arm. "Don't wander away like that. You have to be careful."

"What?" She looked up at him with a teasing smile. "You afraid the Oracle is going to slip away from you?"

"No," Taehyung sighed.

"Then come on slowpoke." She yanked her arm from his grasp and took a few hurried steps away.

"But I am," Taehyung started, catching up to her once more, "worried that someone might realize who you are and want to harm you."

"Then keep up," she giggled and skipped away.

Taehyung sighed and rolled his eyes as he picked up his pace to keep up with Amaris.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Taehyung asked as they came to the corner.

"Nope!" She beamed up at him.

He shook his head and chuckled. "What is it with you? You've completely changed since we got outside."

"I haven't been outside in a long time," she answered rather casually before grabbing Taehyung's hand in hers.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a little taken aback.

"This way you can both keep an eye on me and show me the way," Amaris explained.

Taehyung sighed in resignation and continued on their way. It would take nearly a half hour to get to the crime scene now, but at least Amaris looked happy. He couldn't believe the wonder in her eyes as they walked past shops and restaurants that he saw everyday. With how drastically different she was acting, Taehyung wondered exactly how long it had been since Amaris had been allowed outside.

"Ooh!" Amaris tugged on Taehyung's arm, forcing him to stop. "Look, there's a bubble tea place that also serves crêpes."

"Amaris..." Taehyung trailed off, unsure of how to continue as his mind put together the pieces of the puzzle. "That place has been there for seven years."

"I haven't been outside in a long time," she repeated herself, eyes fixated on the bubble tea café.

They stood there in silence as Taehyung finally understood. He thought she had meant in maybe a month or two she hadn't been out and about. He never would have imagined that she had been locked away in that house for nearly a decade. It was inhumane. He couldn't imagine a life like that, hidden away from all that was happening in the word.

"Now you're doing it," Amaris chuckled softly to herself, shaking Taehyung from his thoughts. All her earlier elation was gone and she was back to the lonely girl from before.

"Doing what?" Taehyung asked, noticing that Amaris had let go of his hand.

"Looking at me with those eyes." She shook her head and started to walk again. "Looking at me with those eyes fully of pity."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to," Taehyung apologized, "but I just had no idea how isolated you've been all these years."

"It's okay," she sighed, "everyone does it eventually. At some point, they all realize that there's someone else in there with the Oracle and they pity me. Not like I deserve their pity, though."

"Why not?" Taehyung asked.

"Because I chose this life." Amaris' brow furrowed and she looked away. "I said yes."

"What do you mean?" Taehyung looked at her with confusion. How on Earth did the sixteen year-old girl he knew choose to live like this?

"The Oracle needs consent to enter a vessel." Amaris balled her fists. Whether she was angry at the Oracle or herself, however, Taehyung couldn't tell. "The vessel can't be just anybody, but at any given point there are at least three available. Each potential vessel has to agree to host the Oracle, though. She can't just enter your body without you allowing her."

"Then why did you say yes?" Taehyung stopped and grabbed Amaris' shoulders so that she would look at him.

"It wasn't like I knew it was going to be like this." She made a face. "Besides, you know I could never turn away an adventure. This was my biggest adventure. I just never knew it would turn out so..."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have pried." Taehyung looked away now and continued walking.

"It's okay," he heard her whisper from behind him.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way. Taehyung couldn't help but be upset at Amaris for choosing this path. Of course, a part of him knew that she probably hadn't thought she'd have to drop out of school and leave him behind. Nevertheless, he couldn't shove away the part of him that blamed her. She had been his best friend until she left. He felt so betrayed that day when he found out she was gone forever. Even if she had to leave school, couldn't she at least have sent him a letter?

"We're here," he said curtly as they came to a dark alley with just one street lamp at the end.

"You're angry with me." Amaris searched his eyes with her own sad ones.

"How do you know?" He raised an eyebrow.

"She showed me," she said. "You're just the same as always, so hotheaded."

"Well did she also show you that it's none of your business?" Taehyung snapped. Thinking about the past had brought back all those terrible memories of hurt and betrayal, and now he was taking it out on Amaris.

"She's mad at me also." She ignored his question and walked into the alley, dragging her fingers along the concrete wall. "She didn't want me telling you so much about us."

Suddenly, Amaris' back went rigid and she froze where she was. She shook lightly, her hand still held up to the wall. As time progressed, her shaking became more violent almost to the point of being convulsions. Taehyung ran forward, but by the time he reached her her shaking had stopped.

"She's really mad at me," Amaris whispered, barely audible, as she turned around with tears in her eyes, "she wouldn't have shown me all that unless she was mad at me."

"What's wrong? What happened?" Taehyung asked, tossing away his feelings of resentment from just moments earlier.

"I'll show you," she breathed, reaching out to place her cold hands over Taehyung's temples. 

It was a chilly night with the howling wind seeping through her coat. It was dark and she had missed the last train home, so she would have to walk all the way there. There were no cars on the road, not a soul to be seen. It was frightening, so she wrapped her coat around herself even tighter.

As she walked, she thought she heard a noise behind her. She whipped around, expecting to see some sort of serial killer in the shadows. Instead, she was met by an empty stretch of road. When she turned back around, she quickened her pace. Last night, some girl in the town had been killed and the police had no idea who did it. She was nearly running now, she didn't want to be the killer's next victim.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared out in front of her from and alley and dragged her into the even darker space. was covered, her thrashing and screaming ineffective. She was being pulled by her hair; at some point she had fallen to the ground and now her arm was being scraped across the pavement.

"Tonight I've got you," whispered an eerie voice, sending shivers up her spine.

Just as the voice stopped, a searing pain spread across her stomach and she looked down to see a giant gash. She retched, turning away and squeezing her eyes shut. She felt a hand caress the gash before pushing inside of it and pulling out what she guessed was her intestines. The pain was searing, all she wanted to do was pass out so she wouldn't have to experience it anymore. Unfortunately, she was extremely awake.

"Not here, not here!" The voice hissed as the hand withdrew. "You're not her!"

In its anger, the owner of the voice kicked her in the stomach, causing her to spit up blood.

"Why are you doing this?" She whimpered, wishing for the sweet mercy of unconsciousness.

"I need to find it!" The voice shouted before slitting , sending blood spurting everywhere.

"What the hell was that?" Taehyung staggered back, fighting to keep down his lunch.

"That was the murder that happened here," Amaris answered.

"And the Oracle showed you that in that graphic of detail?" Taehyung spluttered.

"I told you she was angry with me," Amaris said.

"But how did you show that to me? How was that real?" Taehyung shook his head. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. It was so vivid, so real. He felt as if he had been there. Was he wrong about the supernatural? 

"I can pass visions on through bodily contact," Amaris explained.

"Everything aside, that vision doesn't really help us." Taehyung shook his head once more to clear it. "All that told us is how she died."

"We do know one thing, though," Amaris interjected. "We know that whoever's doing this is looking for something. The was they said 'not here' makes it sound like there's something important it's looking for and targeting its victims that way."

"So we have to find out what all the victims had in common." Taehyung nodded.

"Exactly," Amaris said firmly.

"Let's go to the station, then," Taehyung said, "see what we can find out."

Amaris nodded and followed after Taehyung as he left the narrow alleyway.

"Oh, and Amaris?" Taehyung turned back around to look at her. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I won't try to make excuses, but I just brought back old feelings of hurt so I acted out."

"It's okay, Taehyung." She smiled gently. "I understand."