Notes

On Monday morning, everything progressed the same as it always did. Aiden got ready for school, ate breakfast with Derek, and then left the house at the usual time. When he arrived at school, he met up with Yuki and they walked in together. The two of them stopped by Yuki's locker first so he could get his books and then they went to Aiden's. Not paying too much attention as he opened his locker, Aiden only barely realized that something had fallen out and onto the ground. 

Reaching down, he picked up a red envelope that had his name written on the front. He turned it over in his hand and saw nothing else written. Yuki peered curiously at the envelope as well.

"Who's it from?" Yuki asked.

"No idea." Aiden collected his required books and closed his locker before returning his attention to the mysterious envelope. Using only one hand to open it since he was holding books with the other, Aiden narrowed his eyes at the note he pulled out. 

Written in letters cut from a magazine the note simply stated: 'We're watching." Aiden sighed. What was the point in that? Someone went through an awful lot of trouble for something as pointless and dull as 'We're watching.' Couldn't they at least be a little more creative?

"So, who's it from? What is it?" At Yuki's questions, Aiden shook his head.

"It's nothing. Just someone being stupid." He put the envelope in one of his notebooks before continuing. "Come on, we better hurry or we'll be late to class." With that, the two of them went on about their day as they normally would. 

After school, when he was back home in his room, Aiden accessed the school's security feeds to see who put the note in his locker and was a bit surprised to learn that it happened in the middle of the night. If it was a student, which he thought it was at first, they could have just slipped it into his locker anytime during the school day. It made even less sense that someone would spend that much effort just to tell him about their presence. 

With little to go on, Aiden decided to just wait and see what would happen next. He didn't have to wait long however as another note showed up the next morning. 

While he was sitting at the table chatting with Derek after finishing breakfast, Mrs. Hudson walked into the room with a red envelope in her hand.

"Vi, this was left on the doorstep for you. Do you know who it's from? Should we just throw it out?" Mrs. Hudson looked concerned. Vi took the envelope from her with a smile and tried to reassure her.

"I'm sure it's fine. It's not like I'm a celebrity or something. I doubt it's anything nefarious." Mrs. Hudson still looked reluctant but, in the end, she accepted his reasoning. Aiden set the envelope aside and only opened it when he was in the car headed for school. 

Similar to the first note, it was composed of cut out letters. This time the message had an address and a series of seemingly random numbers on it. He used his phone to check the address which turned out to be an old rundown gym building. It didn't seem to be in use anymore. It was all so odd. 

Aiden put the matter aside as he arrived at school and went about his day. He decided he could think about what to do later as it didn't seem like an urgent issue. At least, that's what he thought until Yuki came up to him at the end of the school day holding another note in a red envelope.

"Um, Aiden…This was in my locker but it's got your name on it." Yuki tentatively passed the note to Aiden who looked down at it with narrowed eyes. 

"This is getting ridiculous." He tore open the letter and felt a sudden sting across his fingertips. Yuki let out a gasp as Aiden dropped the envelope and looked at his blood covered fingers. Reaching down to check what had cut him, Aiden saw small razor blades attached to the edge of the envelope. He snatched it off the floor and hurried into a nearby bathroom. Yuki rushed after him.

"Aiden! Are you okay? Who would do something like this?"

"I don't know," Aiden said while rinsing the blood off his hand. "But I'll definitely find out." He grabbed some paper towel before heading to the nurse for some bandages and then heading home.

As soon as he returned to the house, Aiden went straight to his room to keep Mrs. Hudson from seeing his bandaged hand. After locking the door, he took the now blood stained envelope and carefully set it down on his computer desk. He then slowly moved the razor blades aside and pulled the note out. The familiar block letters read: 'Don't take too long or else!' 

Aiden sighed in annoyance. It was as if whoever had sent the notes was just some childish prankster if not for the fact that there were razor blades inside. The lame attempt at threatening messages was an epic failure. He couldn't help but think of it all as cliche and boring. But, the fact that the latest note was in Yuki's locker instead of his and that it contained the blades meant that Aiden was left with little choice but to find the culprit. 

However, if he had known at that moment what it would all lead to, Aiden would have taken the red notes much more seriously. 

Later that evening, as soon as Derek saw Aiden, he immediately noticed the bandages on his fingers.

"What happened to your hand?" 

"Just a few paper cuts. I was being careless. It's not that bad." Aiden felt a little guilty not telling him what happened but he knew it would only cause unnecessary worry for Derek. Derek sighed and asked him to be more careful in the future, to which Aiden agreed. 

Somewhere across town, Kain sat in a leather tufted booth in an empty nightclub and sipped from a glass of whiskey and ice. The only other people in the building either worked for him or were employees of the club setting up for opening time. After hearing his phone ring, Kain checked the caller ID and let it ring for a while before eventually answering the call.

"What?" An indistinguishable voice started speaking. Kain's facial expression reflected a sort of bored annoyance at whatever was being said. "So?" The almost one sided conversation continued for several minutes. "Look, I don't care how you get it done. Just do it. And stop calling me for every little thing." After that, he hung up the phone and drank down all the alcohol left in his glass.

As he set the glass back down, two other people slowly walked up to where he was sitting and joined him. The woman spoke first.

"I'm sure you already know who I am." Kain smiled and nodded.

"Of course. Is there any way I'd be unaware of someone with your status?"

"Good." The woman took a photo out of her purse and passed it to Kain. When he saw it his smile widened. The lady continued, "This person…Get rid of him. When the job's done, I'll give you the information on the Montgomery man you were asking about." 

"Hm…I'm afraid that's not going to be possible. You see, I have plans of my own that involve the person you wish to be rid of. However, I think we may be able to create an arrangement we're both satisfied with. That is, if you care to listen to my proposition. Shall we move to a more secure place?" The woman looked dissatisfied but soon enough, she nodded and stood up. The man who had accompanied her stood up as well. Kain picked up the picture and placed it in his wallet. The three of them then left the club together.