The day slowly went by, Crimson constantly thinking about what could happen if the contents of his journal were laid bare for all to see. "I can't stand this any longer. I need to go home and get these bad thoughts out of my mind." There were still two customers in his store, but Crimson didn't want to stay there any longer.

"Sorry, but I'm about to close up shop. I need to attend to some important business." he said to the pair of ponies looking at him curiously. "You don't normally close up early. Is something the matter?" one of the ponies asked while walking up to him. "Its... not something I really want to discuss. I realise this is inconvenient, but I must insist that you leave." Crimson said bluntly, trying not to be offensive to them. "Well alright. I hope you can deal with whatever it is that's bothering you." the other pony said as they both headed out the door. Crimson watched as they both walked away, and he could see the looks of concern on their faces.

"Why do they even care?" he wondered as he locked up the storage room door. "Its not like I'm close to them. I just don't get it." Crimson walked out of the store and locked up the doors, putting the keys in his bag. He started walking home much faster than usual, and this time he didn't use the time to reflect. He could only think about the journal and the secrets that lie within it. As he came to his front door, he quickly unlocked it and ran inside, slamming the door behind him. His worries were now causing him to act in a more reckless manner. He left his bag lying on the floor and dashed up to his study.

He opened the door to find his journal lying on the table. "What? How did it get on the table?! I specifically remember putting it back on the bookshelf where it always goes." He ran downstairs and checked his front door. There were no signs of the lock being broken or even tampered with. Considering Crimson had the only keys, this began to worry him more. "How could anypony get in here? All the windows were locked." He checked all the downstairs windows. All of them were bolted shut just as he left them. He ran upstairs to check the ones on the second floor. Those too were all untouched. "So somepony got in here without using the door or the windows. How is this even possible?!"

He walked up to the table cautiously and stared at the journal. It was open to a new page. Only two words were written on it; "Hello Crimson." Next Chapter: A Cruel Game Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes