Alice woke up in a familiar place, the white void from a dream she had a few months back. She slowly stood up and looked around.

  "I'm back in this dream again, huh? Will Senpai be in here?" She muttered to herself, Sugimoto being the first thing on her thought.

  As she stood up, she noticed a key on the floor and picked it up.

  "A-A key?" She muttered slightly.

  She looked into the distance and saw the same door from before. She walked over to the door and touched its frame. As Alice was about to use the key, she noticed the door was already unlocked from her previous ventures. She pushed the door open and the door collapsed in front of her. The white lights that once litten up the surrounding area turned into darkness. She looked around and saw Sugimoto in front of her, chained and locked up by the lockets. The pixels on his face were buzzing and she couldn't see his face.

  "Senpai..." Alice muttered.

  He was kneeling on the ground, almost motionless. Alice walked up to him slowly and tried to touch his face but the buzzing sound became erratic and she pulled her hands away. She kneeled in front of him and inspected the chains. She inspected the key that she had found and held up the locket up to her.

  "S-So this is the key for this padlock. So if I just put this in, it'll unlock it." Alice muttered.

  She pushed the key inside the hole and began twisting it. The padlock unlocks and suddenly it floats up before vanishing, leaving only hints of sparkles in the air. Suddenly the ground began shaking and suddenly Sugimoto woke up. The pixels on his face were glitching out and suddenly disappeared. He looked at Alice with a panicked face.

  "A-Alice! I-I'm sorry!" Sugimoto said in a frantic scared voice.

  "S-Senpai..." Alice muttered in a feared voice.

  The ground began swallowing him up, he looked to the ground before looking back at Alice.

  "F-Forgive me!" He screamed at her.

  She looked around her bed and began catching her breath. She was sweating bullets and felt a bit uncomfortable in her soaked pyjamas. She got up, grabbed her towel and headed for the showers. She got in the bath and sat there, thinking about the dream she experienced.

  "Whenever I sleep in an exhausted state, I will get a weird dream. But after every race day, I kept dreaming about my Senpai being locked in chains. I think there's a pattern to this, maybe I should try experimenting with it later." Alice muttered to herself in the tub.

  She began remembering the keys and the paddocks that were in her dream, she didn't know how she kept obtaining the keys but she managed to unlock at least one of them.

  "So I've managed to unlock one of the four padlocks there. But what does it actually mean? Do they all have some sort of meaning?" Alice thought to herself.

  After soaking in the bath, Alice soon got out of the bathtub and changed into her clothes. After changing her clothes, she heard a familiar tune coming from downstairs. She walked halfway down the stairs and saw her grandpa playing his favourite morning tunes. Her grandpa noticed her by the stairs and smiled lightly before returning his gaze to the sandwich he was making.

  "Come down and have some tea, Alice. I'm still preparing the sandwiches." Her grandfather said to her in a calm voice.

  "Alright!" Alice said with enthusiasm.

  Alice ran down the stairs and sat down across from her grandpa. He was still spreading the jam onto the bread as Alice sat there. While he was still preparing her sandwich, her grandpa decided to have a small talk with her.

  "So, I saw you coming home last night with a guy in a blue Subaru. Would you mind explaining who they were?" Her grandpa questions her.

  "Ah, he's just my friend who worked in the same team as me. I just asked them to drop me off here." She told her grandfather.

  "I see. You must be careful with people like that, Alice. I don't want you getting hurt by them." He told her.

  Alice began remembering all the times Sugimoto had dropped her off multiple times without him knowing. She just nodded her head and agreed to her grandpa's advice. After her grandpa finished making the sandwich, Alice began eating her sandwich. Her grandpa saw her savouring the sandwich and chuckled slightly.

  "Eh? Why are you laughing gramps?" She questions him.

  "Oh, it's nothing. It just reminds me of the old days when you were so young. Your dad would always beg your dad for a sandwich or two." He told her.

  "Hmm, maybe this is the reason why I love sandwiches." She chuckingly said.

  "Yeah but sadly even from eating a lot of food, you only grew a few inches before stopping completely." He jokingly said.

  "Yeah, don't push your luck, Grandpa." She said with an irritated look on her face.

  “So, you’re still going to school today?” Her grandpa asked her.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Alice huffed slightly before nodding to her grandpa.

  “Yeah, I still need to focus on my studies.” She told.

  “Ah I see, don’t push yourself too much alright?” Her grandpa told.

  “Yeah I understand.” She said casually.

  After Alice finished eating, she looked up at the clock and noticed that she had to go to school.

  “I’m off now gramps, see ya later!” She told him.

  “Alright, take care.” He nods to her.

  Alice waved goodbye to her grandfather one last time before heading to school. Alice walked across the street and took in the fresh air around her. While walking, she pulled out her phone and checked her socials. There, she saw the message she had received from yesterday.

  “I guess I’ll have to meet him at the park this evening. I wonder what he’ll have in store for me.” She muttered to herself.

  Alice had a chaotic day at school as many people congratulated her for her victory from last night. She was overwhelmed until the end of school. After school, She waved goodbye to her friends and made her way to the train station and got onto a train towards Kota City. Alice looked down on her phone and noticed a message from the same phone number.

  “Are you coming to the park?” The person asked.

  Alice was hesitant to reply to him but replied to him anyways.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there soon.” Alice replied.

  “Good, meet me by the park’s cafe, I’ll be waiting.” The person told her.

  Alice put her phone down and looked out the window and saw the city in the distance. The train soon arrived at the station and Alice made her way towards the Kota City Park. She walks under the shades of the trees. She eventually arrived at a small cafe. Alice pulled out her phone and texted the number.

  “I’m here, where are you?” Alice texted.

  “I’ll be there shortly. Go take a seat.” The person texted.

  Alice looked around and saw a table outside of the cafe and took a seat. A waitress cane towards her and Alice ordered a Sirap Bandung. After that, she waited for Richard to arrive and began daydreaming to herself.

  “Man, it feels like I’m waiting for someone for a date or something. Couldn’t he pick another location? Well, he is kinda good looking…” Alice muttered.

  Alice realized what she was talking about and immediately felt embarrassed. She began slapping herself to snap out of it.

  “What are you thinking about women! You can’t keep falling like this!” She muttered to herself.

  As she regained her composure, The waitress came and placed her drink in front of her. She thanked the waitress and sipped her drink for a bit before she heard someone pulling a chair in front of her. Alice looked up and saw a man with white hair sitting across from her.

  “You must be Alice Shah, I presume?” He asked in a monotone voice.

  Alice was horrified to see the man in front of her. She thought that Richard texted her but it seems that it was a complete stranger. Alice mustered up her courage and speak out to him.

  “Y-Yeah, I’m Alice Shah.” She muttered slightly.

  The man had a fearsome look on his face, seemingly in his late 30s or early 40s. The man smiled lightly upon hearing her name.

  “Good, let me introduce myself. I’m Azwan Malik. I am an attorney who is currently on a case for Mr Riverson.” He told Alice.

  “I see… it’s nice to meet you Mr Azwan. But I don’t think I should be involved with any legal matters here.” She told him.

  Azwan looks at her and let’s out a small chuckled.

  “Don’t worry Miss Shah, I do not intend to use you as a witness.” He told her.

  Alice was speculative about him and decided to question him.

  “If that’s so, then why do you want to meet me?” Alice asked him.

  Azwan smiled lightly, seemingly confident to answer her questions.

  “Well. Don’t you want to know who killed your father?” He said to her.

  Alice was taken aback by his sudden comment about her father.

  “W-What are you talking about? My father died in an accident. He wasn’t killed by anyone!” She told him.

  Azwan smiled briefly before telling her.

  “So it may seem.” He said with a dark expression on his face.

  Alice's eyes widened, she didn't seem to comprehend what the man told her.

  “What do you mean?” She muttered to him.

  Azwan placed his briefcase onto the table and opened it. He pulled out a file and handed it over to her.

  “While I was investigating Mr Riverson’s case, I noticed that some of my evidence was linked to your father.” He told her.

  “Evidence? Are you saying that my dad is a suspect of yours?” She said with a concerned voice.

  “No, he isn’t. But your father’s death might be the key to solving my case.” He told her.

  Alice was perplexed by her father’s involvement in the case. She wasn’t sure how to respond and stood silent for a while. There, Azwan spoke up.

  “If you didn’t know, Mr Riverson was the Co-CEO of the Racing Organisation of Akinabalu. He is currently serving his sentence for corruption.” He told her.

  “I’ve heard about this before. But I didn’t know Mr Riverson was the Co-CEO of the ROA.” Alice told him.

  “Well everything you need to know is in that file. Although it is still speculation so take it as it is.” Mr Azwan told.

  She looked at the file again and felt curious about what could be inside. She reached her hand to the top of the file but there she was stopped.

  “You shouldn’t open it here. It’s best if you go back home for now. I will contact you again for further information .” Azwan told her.

  He stood up from his chair and went to the counter to pay. Alice looked at the file again, feeling a bit skeptical about its contents. After paying, Azwan went back to her.

  “I will be in touch, make sure nobody knows anything about this.” He told Alice.

  Alice nodded slightly and Azwan nods back.

  “Good. Goodbye Miss Shah.” He told her.

  Before Alice could say anything, he turns around and walks away. Alice sat there, still perplexed by what had happened to her. She look down at the file once again.

  “What does my father has to do with anything in this case?” She muttered slightly.

  She placed the file inside her bag carefully and zipped it. She stood up from her chair and made her way back home. Alice walks up to the bed exhausted and laid down on it. She looks up at the ceiling and began to ponder.

  “Was my dad really killed by someone? They said that it was all just an accident. Or was it…” She muttered to herself.

  She sat back up on the bed and looked at her bag that was on the floor. She quickly went up to it and pulled out the file from before. She then remembered what the man had told her.

  “Make sure nobody knows anything about this.” She remembered what the man said.

  “Not even my grandpa huh? I’m probably going to get into a lot of trouble if I get into legal stuffs.” She muttered.

  Alice was about to open the file but suddenly she heard a knock on the door. She was suddenly surprised by the knock that she hid it in her drawer.

  “W-What is it grandpa?” She asked.

  “I thought it would be nice if we go out for dinner tonight, would you like to go?” He asked her.

  “S-Sure! I’d be down in a bit.” She told her grandfather.

  “Alright sweetie, take your time.” He told Alice.

  Alice sighed lightly and opened the drawer to look at the file.

  “I’ll guess I should read it another time.” She muttered to herself.

  She closed the drawer and went to get ready for dinner. Once she got down, they left the house and began walking down the streets. The sunset shines over both of them as they take in the fresh air. As they walk, Alice ponders about her father and what things have been hidden from her. She looked towards her grandfather and noticed him smiling back at her. She smiled lightly as they both continued walking towards the sunset together.