With the door closed behind him, River took a moment to brood over Aspen’s thoughts.
Frankly speaking, he had also been suspicious of that.
Everything was… not exactly subtle. If you were of sane mind, you’d suspect the staff – who really weren’t trying to hide it! – immediately. Miles didn’t mind you sniffing around, and neither did any of the staff. The only thing that was seriously taken was that you couldn’t leave the building.
He was honestly beginning to think that they were a part of the ritual.
Not “they” as in Aspen and River, but “they” as in anyone who was in their shoes.
Their task was to finish the ritual. Maybe no one else could do it? Maybe it wasn’t that they had to steal the ritual from Miles, it was that Miles needed them to complete it?
In a house where the search for knowledge was the most honorable thing, was searching for the truth of this situation what Miles hoped people would do?
There was a really obvious curtain at the back of the room, which revealed an unlocked door that led him in further.
Just judging from the size, River did not believe that this was the last area on this floor.
What this room looked like was basically a simple study. There was a comfortable chair at a table, and there were a few books stacked neatly on a bookshelf. When River checked each of them, they were revealed to be simple autobiographies. Finding nothing special, he put them back where they had been.
If there was something standing out inside the room, then it was the incredibly obnoxious, giant wall carpet, woven in some sort of meditative pattern.
River tugged at a side to pull it away from the wall, and lo and behold, revealed yet another door.
At this point, River was certain that this was an invitation. This door – a giant security door just like on the ground floor – was locked, but it made no secret of its existence and the fact that there was something important behind it.
The whole building, River thought, was something of an escape room. There were things that would only be available after a certain amount of time, but they were clearly marked.
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.
“I guess it makes sense”, River muttered. The games were supposed to be solvable by anyone, but what if you needed some incredibly specialized skill like lockpicking? No, it needed to work for any random guy. At the same time, that meant that if you weren’t supposed to be able to access something too early, it would be different from everything else.
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River didn’t want to waste too much time. Any minute risked the other group noticing something. He still didn’t know what their goal was, but he sure didn’t want to share any info.
He hopped down the first floors quickly, not wanting anyone to see him, before he started searching for Aspen.
Whenever he glanced into a room, people would wince at the sight of him. They weren’t rejecting him being there, but they certainly weren’t too comfortable with it either. They weren’t comfortable with anyone except their closest friends right now.
Aspen had found and stuck to Acorn and Papyrus in a larger room, where Miles also sat in a corner, spending time with scared children.
Acorn was smiling as usual, though there was a hint of strain, while Papyrus and Acorn glared each other down.
The room was filled with families, which created a very odd atmosphere, as no one wanted to cause any trouble, not even Papyrus – but he also didn’t like the sight of Aspen, and the other way around.
River’s first impulse was to join Aspen.
That was his partner, and he was standing alone against two enemies.
But he stopped himself.
Was there any fear on Aspen’s face? Any pressure, the desire to leave?
There wasn’t.
He stood his ground confidently, because that was what he had said he would do.
River pressed the air in his lungs out through a small gap between his lips. Soot was elsewhere, and she was the weak link between the three.
Would Aspen think that River was leaving him behind if he didn’t come join the other? Again, the answer was no, and the confidence with which River could say this was calming his heart.
He turned on his heel and ran again.
Wherever Soot was, he was going to find her and force her to talk.
He couldn’t kill her, that was forbidden. That didn’t stop him from doing anything else, though.
Something had long snapped within River. He was past caring about others – about how much pain they might be in, what their thoughts were. All he could care about was himself, and if that meant destroying someone else, so be it.
Soot could scream all she wanted. There was nothing she could say if he made it out to be a fight between himself, the “journalist”, and a suspicious girl.
The only two floors that were treated differently inside this building were the first and the seventh floor. The seventh floor was Miles’ realm, while the first one belonged to the staff. It was the one floor that no one outside of them ever visited, for any reason.
So with him having been on the seventh floor and knowing she wasn’t there, river was almost certain that she would be trying to gain entrance to the first floor.
If she hadn’t already.
The entrance could not be opened from the outside unless you had a key. It was another simple lock, River noted, but he didn’t plan on using any lockpicking skills to enter.
The first floor was never empty and never unwatched, so sneaking in was just wanting to be caught.
His conclusion, and a conclusion he thought that surely Acorn must have come to as well, was that this didn’t matter at all.
River knocked on the door.
It took only seconds for someone to come. Her cold stare was devoid of any emotions, just neutrally scrutinizing him as he stood there.
“I’m investigating the murders and mutilations”, River said, voice even and strong. “May I come in?”
“For what reason are you investigating them?” Her voice was like her eyes. One could have guessed she might be a robot from how unnatural it sounded.
For what reason?
Don’t be against the cult, but don’t be too zealous.
What he was was not a member.
No, he was the key figure of the ritual. He was here to seek the truth behind it all.
“Because I want to know why.”
He didn’t want to know who. He knew who it was.
He wanted to find out what all of this was for, so he could complete it.
Satisfaction rippled through the woman’s eyes. She stepped inside, inviting him in with a wave of her hand.
The moment she closed the door again, she began to ignore River completely.
As did everyone else.
Not a single staff member – be it the cleaners, the cooks, or even those who he believed to be the guards and killers… No one gave him a single glance.
Here he was, once more, a ghost on the stage.
Aww looks like we are getting closer to the end, but keep up the good work author👍
Aww looks like we are getting closer to the end, but im eagerly looking forward to the next chapter 👍