In an afternoon, we can find several types of people: young people leaving school alone or accompanied by friends. Adults leaving their jobs and going straight to the nearest bar… What? Not all of us do that? …What the hell do you do with your life?

  Well, adults leaving their jobs and going to some boring place, and we also find some lucky ones who at that hour are already at home… or not so lucky.

  “Fucking past Jeff.” Those very spiteful words came out of Jeff’s mouth, angry at his past self, like a voter looking at their politician not fulfilling their promises.

  “Damn it, what am I going to do? I only have a damn week to find the stalker and save my own skin from jail. Why didn’t you tell me anything, Esfer?” Jeff asked desperately.

  “Master,” Esfer said, sounding a bit tired, “I told you this would be a difficult situation.”

  “Yes, but you only told me once. Why didn’t you warn me more times?”

  Esfer could only roll their eyes at their master’s attitude.

  “Okay, blaming each other when neither of us is at fault doesn’t bring any benefit. Let’s see, we need to catch a stalker and we don’t have any characteristics of h-.”

  Jeff was interrupted by Esfer. “He was about 1.69 meters tall, and his skin was white.”

  “How do you know all that?”

  “I’m very observant, Master.”

  Jeff applauded Esfer in amazement, but quickly stopped. “But that won’t help us. There are many people like that, and we don’t even know where to start, HAAAAA.”

  Jeff let out a scream of frustration, and then another one was heard—but it wasn’t Jeff’s or Esfer’s. It came from outside the building.

  Jeff approached the window that faced the street to see where that scream was coming from, complaining at the same time about people making noise.

  He opened the window and stuck his head out, looking down to see who was causing the disturbance, but he couldn’t identify any specific person, so…

  “HEY, WHOEVER IS MAKING NOISE, SHUT UP ALREADY!!” Jeff shouted at the people below, who simply ignored him. But before pulling his head back into his apartment, he heard another scream—this one clearer.

  “Shut up, brat!.” It was a voice somewhat deep and tired at the same time, like that of an older person, and it was coming from above Jeff.

  When he looked in that direction, he met the angry gaze of an old man. He had a bit of hair on the sides of his head, but none on top. A large white beard hung from his face, his skin was full of wrinkles, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had dentures. But despite all that appearance, he had an energetic attitude… especially when it came to complaining about everything… and even more about noise.

  “Oh, sorry, Mr. Frank. I didn’t know it was you.” Jeff apologized when he realized he had shouted at an old man.

  “An apology, you say!? Why don’t you go to some alleyway and scream like a madman instead?” With that, old Frank went back into his apartment, closing the door, while the sounds of his complaints could still be heard.

  Jeff let out a sigh and went back inside. Seeing Mr. Frank with such an angry attitude gave him a feeling. He didn’t believe people were bad by nature, but rather because of some influence.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  So he wondered what could have caused him to be like that… only he himself knew.

  With that reflection, Jeff realized that his previous attitude wasn’t any different… but he didn’t want to be the same. So he stuck his head out again, looked down, and shouted, “Sorry for what I said earlier!”

  No one below paid attention to him, but he felt good about himself for doing it.

  He quickly pulled his head back into the apartment before old Frank could scold him again.

  Esfer approached Jeff happily. “That’s it, Master.”

  “That’s it what? About what?” Jeff asked, bewildered.

  “As your neighbor said, we have to go to the alleyway.”

  “And scream?”

  “No! We’re going to investigate where the stalker escaped.”

  “Ooooohhh, you’re a genius, Shesfer Holmes.”

  “Thank you, Master.”

  .

  .

  .

  .

  After a long walk and the arrival of nightfall, they finally found themselves standing in front of the said alleyway.

  “Alright, let’s investigate it. Esfer, help me look around.”

  “Understood, Master.”

  Jeff and Esfer went into the alleyway. With a flashlight in hand, Jeff illuminated the entire place, trying to find any clue left by the stalker. Something difficult, since everything was a complete mess. Trash bins scattered around, stacked boxes—it was total chaos.

  Jeff rummaged through the scattered junk several times, finding fake IDs, bloodstained knives, and large-denomination bills. Despite all that, he still held onto hope of finding some clue to track down the stalker. Among all those things, he noticed a—

  “NO WAY, A HEART!”

  “What, Master?! A heart?!!” Esfer asked, shouting in fright.

  “Yes! A paper heart.” Right after that, Jeff showed it to Esfer. Indeed, it was a paper heart—more precisely, a letter.

  Esfer could only glare angrily at his master. “Idiot Master, you scared me.”

  “Sorry, Esfer, but I had to make that joke. Let’s take a look at this letter.” He did so, and on one side of it he could read the following:

  Dear Alejandra,

  Once again, I was able to witness your dazzling beauty from afar. Your beautiful hair remains as shiny as ever, and your eyes are still so crystal clear, with a reflection that completely absorbs me and—

  Despite being small, the letter was filled with countless compliments directed at Alejandra, ending with:

  Sincerely, Your number one fan.

  A silence reigned in the alleyway. After that, a shout of happiness was heard.

  “Yahhoooo! We have a clue, Esfer… but how do we use it? Mmm, I know. Can you check if there are fingerprints?”

  “I can’t, Master, but I can create powder and an ultraviolet light to see if there are any.”

  “Then do it.”

  Immediately after that, a small vial of powder and an ultraviolet flashlight appeared in his hand.

  Jeff placed the letter on the ground, sprinkled the powder, blew gently to remove the excess, and then looked at it with the ultraviolet light.

  “Look, Esfer, there are fingerprints here and here,” Jeff said excitedly, pointing at the visible prints.

  Esfer, however, was not excited. Rather, he looked worried.

  “Master, could you place your right thumb in this empty space on the letter?”

  “Huh? Sure.” Jeff said, placing his thumb on the letter.

  After that, Esfer took the small bottle, sprinkled it over that area, removed the excess, and when he illuminated it with the UV flashlight, another fingerprint appeared.

  “…And what does that mean, Esfer?” Jeff asked, confused.

  To which Esfer replied, “The fingerprints on the letter are only yours.”

  “You’re telling me that the only proof of the stalker we had doesn’t have a single fingerprint from the stalker and now it’s contaminated with my fingerprints?”

  “That’s how it seems, Master.”

  “...I’m still screwed.”

  They kept looking for some other clue, but despite their efforts, the letter was the only lead they had.

  With slow steps, Jeff headed back to his apartment, walking that way so he could reflect on what to do next. He didn’t have much—just a letter. He could do something, but he wanted to avoid it…

  .

  .

  .

  Tap, tap. Small knocks were heard on a door. Jeff was waiting for it to be opened… but not in the way it happened.

  The door opened just a little, and through that small gap a hand came out holding some bills.

  “Here’s the money, plus a tip. Please leave the pizza on the floor and leave,” said an irritated voice coming from behind the door.

  “Um… I’m not the delivery guy, Alejandra. It’s Jeff.”

  After hearing that, the hand pulled back into the apartment, and in the small gap of the door, two eyes appeared, peeking out horizontally.

  “Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?” Alejandra asked, angry.

  Jeff could only look confused by her attitude. “What do you mean who am I? I’m Jeff, your neighbor next door.”

  “Hmm… no, that doesn’t ring a bell.”

  "The one who is actually looking for your stalker." Jeff said, already irritated.

  "Aaah, you’re the stalker. Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

  "I’m not" he sighed. "Forget it, I only came so you could help me with this." he took the letter out of his pocket.

  "Are you trying to give me a letter?"

  "It’s not that. Haven’t you received letters like this one?"

  "Of course, I receive letters and gifts of all kinds all the time."

  "Seriously?, damn it, I thought the stalker was the only one sending you letters, now I find out there are more crazies out there."

  "Why crazies?" Alejandra asked, irritated.

  "Eh?, uh, it’s nothing, but how do you receive your letters?"

  Alejandra thought for a moment before answering "well, sometimes they come to bring me their gifts in person, and some leave them in the locker at my faculty."

  "I see, according to the letter, the stalker doesn’t approach you, so he must be leaving the letters in your locker. And do you receive letters where the sender says he is your number one fan?"

  "Of course, they all claim to be my number one fan" Alejandra commented, proud of her popularity, a pride Jeff did not share.

  "Damn it, I have fewer and fewer clues every time.... hey Alejandra, I’m going to ask you for a favor" Jeff commented, resigned.

  "No, no I’m not going to be your partner, you’re not cute"

  "That’s not it!!... to find the stalker I need to record your locker to see the suspects, and I also have to... watch you from a distance to see which people stare at you a lot from afar."

  Alejandra didn’t answer, she only looked at Jeff through her door, and with that an uncomfortable silence was created for Jeff. It wasn’t easy for him to ask for such a thing, but it was the best he could think of.

  "...are you sure you’re not my stalker?"