Aspen and River didn’t need to look at each other to know the other’s thoughts.
They had learned the uncomfortable way that these games were as easy as they were impossibly hard. If you had a good grasp on the thought processes of the involved Actors then it was easy, but if you failed to truly understand the issue and how an Actor would react to something, it was hard.
It was basically impossible to put a difficulty level on these games.
Well, for a human anyway. The Gamblers might have a different view.
Silence fell for a short moment as the twins finished up their cleaning of the shards. They had gathered up the biggest ones first, then used a little dustpan to brush the smallest shards into. They worked meticulously and quietly.
River had no little sibling, but even his older sibling hadn’t been like this when River himself had been the age of the twins.
He wanted to ask Aspen for his opinion, but the smaller guy read the question from his eyes before he even spoke. He shook his head in reply – no, his own siblings were a far cry from what they were seeing.
The following time was hardly more comfortable.
They watched the parents return with groceries. All bags were simply placed on the table as father and mother went to brew coffee for themselves. The twins got a short head-pat by their father as they passed him by, mechanically taking out the groceries and packing them away.
Fridge, freezer and cupboards were carefully filled. Things were stacked neatly, weight and size taken into account. They weren’t quick when packing away the groceries, but they were efficient.
Once they were done, they held each other’s hand as they walked to their parents sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee. Their father gave them a short praise and the twins responded quietly before retreating. They made their way up into their room.
Since River had been downstairs the whole time, he only now saw their room. Both shared one, but it was a bright and lovely place. It was clean, with a box full of toys and some plushies on their bed. It was hard to say whether they could read already, but picture books were placed neatly on a bookshelf.
The door stayed open. The twins went down on what was a simple but soft carpet, taking out building blocks and beginning their work.
They conversed in quiet whispers. There was nothing rowdy about them at all… and nothing lively.
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.
“P tjnf jc bqlclbc”, Crqfc rjlv, ifjclcu jujlcra Elnfg.
“Qtlmt kbeiv yf?” Elnfg mgbrrfv tlr jgwr, rajcvlcu cfza ab atf vbbg jcv byrfgnlcu atf mtlivgfc klat j yijcx fzqgfrrlbc.
“Kkb mjcvifr, oilmxfglcu lc atf klcv.”
Ktf wfwbgs mjwf yjmx ab Elnfg joafg bcis j rfmbcv.
How are you still moving when you are turned off, like a corpse? Why do I feel like you might come back alive from this? You are already dead inside, a candle gone out…
Crqfc tjv mjiifv tlw atja veglcu atflg olgra wffalcu. C mjcvif, tf tjv rjlv. C ilof yjgfis oilmxfglcu.
“Yes”, River agreed quietly. “Two little candles.”
Aspen exhaled. River didn’t look over.
“This is abuse.”
“This is emotional abuse.” River answered the unsaid question. They were doing this more often, answering something the other hadn’t even said. “Do you know how hard it is to prove that emotional abuse happened? These children have no physical injuries. They don’t seem messy. Their room is clean, the clothes in their wardrobe over there are clean. They are fed. I’m even sure that when one is sick, their father takes care of them. Emotional abuse is judged by how the victim changes in behavior. Can you imagine that? Judging a little child to have anxiety or depression, and drawing a connection to emotional abuse when the parents are a nice happy couple and their children well taken care of otherwise?”
He lowered his voice considerably.
“Can you put a hand on your heart and say you weren’t abused by your parents, who knew of your worries but left you alone and just observed you like a monster? If we are honest, emotional abuse happens in too many places, but we aren’t honest. No, this kind of thing doesn’t get punished as often as it should.”
River’s fingers twitched. He wrapped them tighter around his arms.
The desire to walk over and take the children into a hug was almost overwhelming. Oh, how badly he wanted to take them out of here!
Already were they focused on their survival. Be quiet, be obedient, don’t make those that give you food angry. Do as you are told, don’t stand out. Take the bit of warmth you are given and don’t demand for more, or even this bit of solace might be taken from you.
The twins were reacting to the silent hostility in the best way they could. They stayed out of the way.
One type of abuse slipped easily enough into the next. River had his doubts that their mother – who completely ignored their existence – would not be willing to turn aggressive if they made themselves known too loudly.
“Escapism”, he said, forcing calmness into his voice. “Stop or help someone leave. These kids have to be rescued, I’m sure.”
“You think someone might come to help them?”
“Or we have to alert someone. I’m not sure. We will have to watch out and grasp every chance we get.” He didn’t say the last bit – that with so many people messing around, they had no choice but to skip their first observation round.
“As you say, boss.”
Aspen peered out of the window. There was a bit of space around the house, but not that much. Enough that you could see if someone passed by, at least.
“Remember that we not only have to alert someone, we also have to ensure that the children are rescued.”
“You are very familiar with this.” The voice made River take a step away from the door. Ocean walked inside. She was twirling her hair, her chin lifted up a bit. There was no sign of her feeling awkward about revealing she had been eavesdropping.
River refused her an answer.
“You’re the guy from online.” She pointed a rude finger at Aspen. Just how far had the word about him spread? It was dangerous. Previously, the dreams had been something much lied and less truthfully talked about, but now more and more details were coming to light. River didn’t welcome the change; the more out in the open he and Aspen were, the worse it was for them. “How can you be called so often, when there’s millions of possible candidates?”
It was indeed a ridiculous chance. Other Gamblers appeared to join and quit the game as they pleased, cycling through the candidates they used.
River’s and Aspen’s Gamblers had gotten personally… attached to them, if you could call it that. Maybe due to them winning or for a completely different reason, but they were called again and again. It was unsurprising that people began to think of it as strange.
Once more, River refused to answer her. Aspen was even less inclined to pick up a conversation for no reason.
Ocean’s nose wrinkled.
One had to say, if this were another game, she wouldn’t have dared to be so arrogant.
But today was quite different: Aspen was quiet due to Papyrus and worried about River, so he appeared more like a caring, gentle little brother than his usual creepy self. Meanwhile River had a pounding headache that had him feel like he was walking on clouds as he did his best to focus on the game rather than reality, so his puppet-like expression had changed into one of a sickly young man.
So the combination of killer and corpse had become a cinnamon bun and a weak scholar, how could Ocean possibly feel threatened by them?
Honestly, she thought the rumors online were exaggerated. From the conversation she had heard she absolutely believed that these two could solve the dreams, but they were hardly scary.
“We all want to survive. You shouldn’t hide it if you have a way to stop… this.” A vague gesture.
Aspen snorted. Even if he knew how to stop the games permanently, he wasn’t interested in doing so.
Ocean – who was arrogant, but in the end a paper-tiger – did not get any more aggressive. She merely complained and clicked her tongue. “You! Your descriptions are already spreading. Don’t you think you should start cooperating with people a bit? You wouldn’t want people finding out your identity and getting angry, right?”
“Whose identity?” Bronze stuck his head into the room, eyes wide. “Hey, why are you all gathering here? What are the kids doing?”
Had Aspen been a cat, River could have observed his hair rising everywhere. The murderer pretty much fled from the talkative youth, the quiet Easterner in his wake.
In the small house, it was hard to avoid people.
No matter where you were, there were always other players around the corner. By the time the family had eaten lunch and the children retreated for a nap, Aspen kept on clutching his hands over his ears with a distorted face.
Someone is courting death, I’m giving a 🕯.
Thanks for the chapter! ^^