“…”
It was information that River didn’t have.
None of them remembered the first day here, so of course they wouldn’t expect such a trap – for a closed event like this, normally you would check the identities of the attendants.
But what Acorn said now implied – no, actually it confirmed – that someone could have slipped in easily.
The staff never checked, and not everyone here knew each other.
Maybe the rooms were limited, but this could be easily avoided if you took someone else’s place. Say you were a criminal, here to hurt people, why wouldn’t you also be violent towards someone before this even started and blackmailed or otherwise forced them to give you their spot? Possibly killed them?
The idea took root, and it took root quickly.
The endless trust of the people was only towards the staff, not towards the other members, and so they were very open to such an implication.
Acorn had cleverly avoided calling the staff into the matter. Instead, he pushed the suspicion towards the members – and who was more suspicious than River and Aspen, who when questioned would be able to say almost nothing about this organization?
This is my mistake. River stopped himself from gritting his teeth to avoid any visible discomfort. I didn’t think about investigating the start of this more.
He had begun to do that, but only just now when Vanessa had talked to him. His knowledge was still minimal, far from detailed enough to mimic someone who got invited here.
Acorn, Soot and Papyrus were bound to know more if they risked investigation in this direction. Moreover, them taking the first step in suggesting this matter at all automatically lowered other’s suspicion towards them. They were confident and calm, not at all like criminals.
“If everyone here is willing, we could form a little group that investigates this matter. Of course, no one would question any of the younger children, we should keep them out of this.” Several parents nodded in silent agreement. “It doesn’t have to be violent at all. We may doubt, but we doubt to trust, don’t we? We will doubt and ask, and believe in those we trust to have nothing to do with this matter.”
River exhaled through his nose, slowly.
Got caught.
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.
…It wasn’t clear whether it was their overall social nature, their discomfort of accusing someone, or Acorn’s control, but despite the fact that River and Aspen were quickly singled out as suspicious, not that much happened.
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The fact that neither River nor Aspen could give any response about who had invited them and in which city they had been had obviously left many of them shocked, but there were also good-natured ones that still believed this to be a misunderstanding somehow.
Elnfg atewqfv atf yjmx boo tlr tfjv jujlcra atf kjii bo atf yfv. Llr fsfr kfgf mibrfv, iluta oilmxfglcu atgbeut tlr fsfilvr.
“So?”
“I’m annoyed”, River sighed. “I didn’t consider this to be an option. I’m too used to being a ghost, not an Actor on the stage. I’m being exceptionally stupid this game.”
“Actually, I think you’re doing great. It’s as you say, you’re just not used to it.”
“This was basically just an act to mess with us. There’s gonna be another victim tonight and then we are proven to not be the perpetrators. Not sure if that means they will let us out though…”
If you were talking game terms, what the other group had done wasn’t an attack, but more of a status effect like Paralyze or Frozen or Sleep.
The situation wasn’t dangerous for them, as they weren’t the actual cause behind the injured people, and so time would automatically tell that there was nothing to worry about. Given the way people here were, River was even somewhat positive that they’d be free by tomorrow – not certain, though. Maybe left out under watch.
But this was a timed game, and time wasted was a problem.
With a deep in and exhale, River sat up straight. He slapped his cheeks, then looked at Aspen.
“We won’t waste time. Let’s go through every single person we have met here and take notes. If I’m caught, I won’t just twiddle my thumbs.”
Aspen’s smile showed his teeth.
That was the River he liked.
…They weren’t allowed out that day, or the next, for that matter.
Someone brought them food, but that was it, though River watched with interest how the ones bringing him food had turned several shades whiter after the next morning.
One more morning and a couple of hours later, the door opened out of meal times. It was one of their “guards”, sickly pale, standing in the doorframe like a lost lamb.
“You can go”, he whispered with a sore throat. “Not sure why you guys snuck in here, but… it’s pretty clear you weren’t the ones hurting us.”
River climbed off the bed, slowly. He kept a close eye on the other’s body language as he approached, then stopped the moment the other began to tense.
“We’re reporters”, River said back soothingly. “Journalists. Failed to go undercover, as you noticed. We got an anonymous tip that there were weird things going to go on at this event, that’s why we paid off the original two people meant to come here.”
The man’s eyes wavered. “…Journalists?”
“Yes.”
He was unstable. Not hard to guess why, so River happily took the chance.
“So… won’t you tell us what happened?”
And tell them he did.
Them being locked up had spread a false sense of security to everyone. The mood had been at ease, though of course that didn’t erase the sadness about the victims and the discomfort of those who couldn’t quite see the duo as criminals.
Apparently, the man explained, it had been Vanessa and Logan who had most sharply insisted they had nothing to do with it.
Anyway, things had been okay until the next morning, when, as was the schedule, the next victim appeared – a young man who had lost his eyes.
River picked up the description immediately, his thoughts running through his notes.
Travels a lot. Has seen the whole world. Looking at the truth, it is.
But that wasn’t the only victim.
It was one of the female teenagers, the friends of Iris.
She, too, had been found in front of the infirmary, strangled, thrown into the hallway like a ragdoll.
She had wanted to leave, her friend screamed hysterically. She had just wanted to leave this crazy place, that was all.
Body.
River’s breathing lowered so that he wouldn’t miss a single word.
A punishment, but, body. Not a piece to be taken away. It’s the whole damn container.
“And then, this morning… Another two.” That the guard wasn’t crying was likely only because he was already past the point of being able to shed tears. “They took out one guy’s brain, and tore off someone’s arms and legs. You… If you two are journalists, surely you have met a lot of people? Please, what the fuck is going on?”
Limbs, brain. One punishment.
Tongue, fingers, heart, eyes, brain, limbs and body. Seven exactly. The body is going to be the last one.
Now we just have to find who we are meant to strangle.
Author’s Note
Sorry for the lack of updates. Got ridiculously sick for two weeks, with antibiotics and all. When you sleep about 15 hours a day, you spend the rest of the time trying to figure out how to somehow choke down some food despite the nausea, instead of writing. Added on top of that was one glorious knee injury and an allergic reaction to said antibiotics that resulted in me having itchy spots for two whole days.
…Feels like karma for writing River suffering.
I can’t promise that I will manage a regular schedule for now with my life, but feel relieved to know that the whole end chapters are already written and will be safely released together.
It’s okay author if your not able to post regularly at the moment. Your health comes first after all and I for one don’t mind waiting patiently for any of your stories. Keep up the good work and I hope you get better.👍
wow. I was just thinking it’d be bad for the people who use their brains to be honored, and now it did get taken away (⊙.☉)
p.s. the voices are telling me to wish an owl good health (◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*。
…or else ಠಿ_ಠ xD