A light drizzle fell among the once thriving playground. Up above, the moon peeked from its blanket of dark clouds like a child playing peek-a-boo. A chilly breeze blew through the air, nudging the rusted old swing set to sway ever so slightly. While blissfully peaceful, the whole area had an eerie, almost ominous presence surrounding it. Riley drew a sharp intake of breath as she gazed at the vandalized and broken playground before her. How long had this old place seen a sign of life? Five years? Ten? However long, time and nature had claimed the area. Rust covered the monkey bars, ivy spiralled up the ladder of the broken slide, the swings from the swing set were only attached by one end of the seat. The area was in total disarray.

Yet, despite the obvious discord that had occurred from times long gone, the place felt...nostalgic. Comforting, even.

Riley felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. The playground was full of memories. It was here that she had made her first friend in preschool. Here that she had her first kiss with the dreamy Kyle Neilson (who, in hindsight, wasn't really that dreamy at all). Here where she would go when she felt troubled and would pretend she was a pirate, or superhero, or treasure hunter.

Here where she could actually relax and forget the seemingly endless cycle of work, work, and more work.

She had spent most of the night wandering around the old place, reliving fantasy adventures and just trying to take a break. She didn't know why she had headed here. She didn't know why she just didn't head back to her apartment after the meeting. She just...walked. And her legs took her here.

Riley shifted on the swing, causing it to creak loudly. For a second, she though the whole thing would snap and fall apart. A taut grimace formed on her face as she felt water from the puddle left by the drizzling rain seep into her pants. [i] Should've checked the seat,[/i] Riley mentally scolded herself. The disconcerting feeling quickly left. Wet pants, while embarrassing, were the least of her problem

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but we're going to have to come with us."

Riley whirled around, surprise flashing on her face. Behind her was a group of officers. A hardened expression was set on their faces and they didn't look at all happy. All Riley could do was stare and utter two words:

"Oh shit."

----

The next set of events were a blur. It was a mix-match of sequences, none of which Riley could decide happened first or last. All she could focus on was police officers roughly dragging her away to this weird room.

Dread formed in the pit of her stomach. What was going on? Who were these other people? What had happened? She paled as a lot voice spoke. A murder...she was suspected of murder...how was she suspected of murder? Riley wasn't exactly a love-everyone-and-everything kind of person. There were a lot of people she hated, but [i]murder[/i]?! Never! And all these other people. They looked just as scared as she, if not more. They [i]looked[/i] innocent enough. 

"I wasn't at the murder scene. I was at the abandoned playground!" Riley defended. She quickly shut her mouth as she realised what she had blurted out. Great. Just great. What's more suspicious about an adult creeping around an old playground? "I...I wouldn't kill anyone...I'm not that type of person...