Noelle and Dan’s glasses clinked together as they celebrated their victory. They had gotten a full confession. Noelle could not believe it. She could finally put all of this behind her. She was now sitting in Dan’s house enjoying a celebratory beer and finally looking toward her future.

“I’m so glad this is finally over,” Noelle said, the tension leaving her shoulders. “I feel like I can finally begin my life; I’m finally ready for the future.”

“Me too, I’m glad I could help,” Dan smiled. Noelle had been working with the detectives for years to solve this and had little to show for it. She met Dan at a support group 3 months ago. They learned they had both been affected by this case. Noelle was desperate and asked him for help. He ended up being instrumental in solving the case.

“Thank you for helping again, Dan. I owe you,” She reached overn and squeezed his hand.

“Of course, seriously, this case affected me just as much; I also lost someone,” Dan said, his eyes glued to the floor. Noelle smiled sympathetically.

“I just feel like we missed something. I have an odd feeling about all of this still,” Noelle confessed to Dan. She could not shake the feeling that something was missed. Something in her brain was nagging her to keep looking.

“I’m sure it’s because you’re so used to living with what happened. I’m sure now that this is over, with time it will go away,” Dan said as he finished his beer. Noelle nodded. Noelle took one last sip and finished her drink. She stood up and started making her way into the kitchen to toss her drink.

“Hey, Noelle, can you grab me another beer?” Dan asked as she walked into the kitchen.

“Of course,” Noelle opened up the fridge. She opened the fridge to grab Dan a drink, but before she closed her fridge, something caught her eye.

She re-opened the door, and her eyes were drawn to an antique butter dish. _That’s odd, this seems out of place with everything else _she thought. Noelle also noticed a normal container of butter. _Huh_, she thought. Noelle hada weird feeling about this dish. Something she could not explain but she knew she needed to open it and see what was inside. She reached into the fridge and grabbed the dish. The glass was cold in her hand.

Noelle lifted the lid and in the dish was 8 teeth. Noelle’s blood went cold. _No_, she thought, _it can’t be, we got a confession. He confessed to everything. _

_But he never did explain the teeth_, the voice in the back of her head argued.

“Noelle, what’s taking so long?” Dan yelled from the living room. Noelle closed the dish quickly. Cringing when she heard the soft clank of the glass hitting itself.

“Sorry, just couldn’t find the bottle opener,” She yelled, trying to figure out what to do. Her phone was in the other room. She needed to get out of here and fast. She grabbed Dan’s drink and walked into the living room.

“Here you go, Dan.” She handed him the beer, trying to remain calm and collected.

“You forgot the bottle opener,” Dan looked at her strangely. She could have sworn his eyes were darker.

“Oh, right, I couldn’t find it,” She stammered. Her palms were sweaty, and she looked around the room for her phone but could not see it. “Listen, Dan, I gotta go, I am so exhausted after the day we just had.”

“No problem, Noelle, I’ll walk you out.” Dan smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Noelle’s head hurt. She needed to leave and contact Detective Yeager quickly.

“Have you seen my phone?” She said. Her words slurred. _What was happening?_ She thought. She must be very nervous. She tried to calm her thoughts.

“Your phone? No, you leave it in the kitchen? Want me to look?” Dan suggested. _Did I leave the butter dish out?_ Noelle thought to herself. She was pretty certain she did.

“No, no, that’s okay, I’ll just get it later,” she started walking backwards as Dan walked closer. “I’m exhausted, I really think I should go” she said as he walked slowly towards her. Her vision started to darken.

“You have too much to drink Noelle? You seem a little off.” Dan was right in front of her now. Noelle could barely keep her eyes open. Her vision darkened and she felt herself collapse.

“Please let me go home” she cried. She sounded pathetic but she didn't care. She knew what happened to the others. She needed to get out. She heard Dan’s footsteps get close. He was right in front of her now. She felt his hot breath as he leaned in and whispered,

“Oh, Noelle, you won’t be going anywhere”.