There was no reason for the aunt to reject it. The medicine package was originally not between the paper pages, so she didn’t have to worry.
His main goal was for her to find the package and get nervous. Later on, they could use that nervosity to let a second package fall near her feet, which would certainly cause her to tense.
Seeing the aunt move towards her room, River was pleased, when suddenly…
The little girl’s father came, exchanged a word with the aunt, and went in her stead.
“…”
“Is… this a problem?” Aspen whispered the question, glancing at River’s slightly stiff face.
“I mean, he does recognize the paper”, River tried to calm himself. “Which is good, because then he’d think about why the aunt would have it. Later on, we can… we can…”
Can what?
If they let the fake paper fall, they wouldn’t know if the aunt would check if she still had hers, as they didn’t know if she had consciously taken along the original piece of evidence. The father might check, but that wouldn’t help. So they’d need to ensure that the package would be where both aunt and father would see it, so that the aunt would notice the father checking for his own package and he’d see her reaction…
“Probably will work out?” River scratched his thumb with his index finger. It could be even better this way.
“I’ll check if he actually finds it.”
The father was getting farther and farther away. Aspen ran after him, pressing the air from his cheeks out between his lips when the man did indeed find the extra paper and hid it in his pocket after a short pause.
He returned with the patterned paper, giving it to his sister-in-law to make new stars for the girl. The girl was suspiciously hesitant and nervous about taking something from the aunt, but took it in the end.
While he had been away, River had watched the mother shoo her daughter towards her room and talk to a servant. A minute after Aspen was back, the servant returned with a tray…
“It’s the wrong cup.”
Aspen didn’t have to say it at all. River had already spotted it, mentally cursing. The servant had gone to a completely different place, not the kitchen from before.
At least he had considered the chance of something happening. River put a hand into one of his baggy hoodie’s pockets, pulling out a cup. Aspen, completely dumbfounded, stared at it with wide eyes.
“Seriously?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Gb sbe atlcx sbe mbeiv fzmtjcuf la?”
“Pa’ii kbgx bea rbwftbk.” Ktf sbecu wjc abbx atf meq. Lf kjr nfgs kfii jkjgf atja atlcur kfgfc’a jr fjrs jr tf wjvf la rffw – atf ojatfg jigfjvs tjv tlr tjcv bc atf meq. Ccs rbga bo lcafgjmalbc kjr ybecv ab agluufg atf rtjvbkr.
His mind was turning – what was the best way to do this? There was a certain amount of interaction that the shadows allowed, but there was a turning point at which they’d irreversibly snap and hunt the perpetrator no matter how far he’d run. He knew, he had seen it.
River tensed in the back.
He wasn’t thinking about Aspen getting hurt. The image of Aspen dying was only scratching at him the tiniest bit, not enough to matter. Worse was the thought of Aspen’s death meaning that the solution would likely be messed up.
He held his breath when Aspen picked up a stone in preparation for some plan-
A noise broke through the tension.
Not only Aspen and River, even several shadows whipped their heads around, freezing up. Everyone was staring towards a certain corner of the courtyard.
Aspen cursed. The father’s fingers were inches from the cup, but far enough that he could exchange it while the shadows were distracted. Their surface bubbled a bit.
There was no second noise, but River was already darting over.
“Throw the paper before she leaves”, he shouted back at Aspen, who understood immediately. Eyebrows scrunched, he gritted his teeth.
How goddamned annoying!
This was what he got for letting those noisy bastards run around! He should have broken their necks right away and not taken a chance!
Aspen messed up his hair. The annoyance was overwhelming, quickly turning into a pulsing and raging fury inside his heart. Only because there was no further noise for now was he able to keep himself in check.
The anger was causing his ears to buzz. Every inch of him was throwing a tantrum to run over as well and get rid of whatever was messing around.
Instead he focused on clenching and unclenching his fists, observing the scene.
Not now.
If he gave in to his feelings, then because he did it voluntarily. He wouldn’t let his feelings control himself.
Endure.
Focus.
His eyes refused to register what was going on, but Aspen forced himself to concentrate.
With the lack of further disturbance, the shadows calmed and resumed their play. The father took the cup, taking a sip.
Similar to how they had tried it before, the little girl freaked out at the sight. She jolted and wailed again – loud – while tackling his leg. She was half climbing up to reach out for the cup, possibly demanding for her father to stop.
Confused, the man returned the cup to the servant. He and his wife attempted to soothe their daughter again, failing once again.
It was perfect, in a way.
The more she freaked out, the more suspicious they’d be. In this version, there was no need for her to talk on her own. She’d be asked.
Aspen waited and waited. Every second stretched to eternity, painfully slow. It couldn’t be that long, he told himself.
But it sure felt like it.
When people began to leave, Aspen glanced back towards where River had left. From a different corner of the courtyard, Crisis appeared, pausing when Aspen sneered at him from farther away.
Aspen took out a crumpled paper, slowly letting it fall onto the paved pathway.
The bright white colour made one of the kids call out in surprise.
The father froze. His hand wandered to his pocket, reaching inside, while his head turned to his sister-in-law.
The aunt, shoulders tensed, stared at the ground.
And at the side, the little girl began to screech.
…While Aspen was ensuring that the play would end the way it was supposed to, River had made his way over to where the sound had come from. It was easy to locate, mostly because the sounds hadn’t stopped – they were only quieter.
Breath uneven, he stepped through an open door into the aunt’s room.
Some things were moved around or toppled over. At the side of the room, a slender figure was rubbing her arms, muttering something under her breath. Her finger kept on touching the large, wooden wardrobe and tugging experimentally at it.
“What are you doing?” River spoke up with a face of utter confusion. He was unusually loud, enough to make Honey glance up and stop for a moment.
“There is a secret door here. If I don’t move the wardrobe, I can’t access it.” Honey muttered something to herself and walked around the large wardrobe to find a way to move it.
River felt his face distort a bit. “It will make a lot of noise. You will attract the Actors… the shadows.”
“Time is almost up, this is our last chance. Besides, they don’t attack if there only is a lot of noise, I just can’t move it in front of them”, Honey repeated herself. “I have to do this now.”
“But-… You will destroy the solution”, River said, his voice breaking a bit in the middle.
This was the last run. It was the last bit. The final stretch.
There wasn’t much left.
It was… the last bit of the solution. It was only the man needing to go catch the aunt.
If there was such a loud noise here, so close to the entrance, they’d come over.
They… wouldn’t go catch the aunt.
The solution would be broken.
He wouldn’t be able to finish the puzzle.
Goosebumps covered River’s arms as nausea welled up within him. “Don’t move it! You can’t interrupt them!”
Honey glared at him. “What is wrong with you! I want to get out of here alive! Now stop interrupting me and help me move this thing!”
“No!”
River intercepted her, gripping her hands as she reached out to move the wardrobe. His hold on her was tight, but Honey must have learned something like self-defense.
Gdi if honey hurts river I might cry 🙁 weeps it’s always the cannon Fodder ruining things😭😭
Rivers heart tingling at the thought of Aspen dying🥺🥺 HES SO PRECIOUS I LOB HIMMM
Anyway Aspen going batshit and murdering everyone.. 👁👄👁 hehe
Me 🤝 River
Scratching our thumbs w the index finger
Thanksies fir the chapterrr!
Wa- The puzzle-
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
Oh no oh no river!! Don’t be hurt ;;