Ugh Iāve been dreading making this post for the longest timeā¦.
So yeah my comeback has not been all sparkles and everything Iāve expected it to be. Last end of college I became depressed and had to go back to therapy which helped indeed. Went through a break up and a situationship throughout college and honestly kind of lost myself. So thereās been no progress. Honestly itās sad how I keep doing this to yall. The constant promises and everything just to yank it away from you. Iām done.
Thankfully my therapist and boyfriend are very supportive as well as my friends are insisting I do what makes me happy and this is what makes me happy. Guess that kind of makes me a masochist. So hereās the news.
I canāt promise constant progress on working on the IF and Iām downsizing. No more eight characters. We are sticking to four. Four seems a lot more attainable right now and who knows. Maybe Iāll go back in and write the romance for all of them.
So prepare for the shocking blood bath. The only romance options there will now be are:
-Sawyer
-Kai
-Quinn
-Rowan
Sorry to those who love Rory, Jordan, and Hayden. They are just not obtainable right now. Maybe in the future. And sorry to the one character that was supposed to be a love interest later in the book, but youāre cut for now.
Iām sorry guys, but I have to make this realistic for now. Or you know if enough people whine. Maybe Iāll release the chapter and then slowly add in each romance route in.
As always, much love and leave anything you want for meā¦
Case 10.02,
the case of "The Trapdoor Opens"
or
"Releasing ancient evil ā a guide."
One might say it's cheating, making a file for an event that technically isn't a case yet, in that it hasn't been noticed and recorded by OIAR. (Yet). Buuuuuuutā¦ I don't care. :)
So. What we know:
Nearly 25 years ago, in December 1999, a paranormal research facility in Manchester, Magnus Institute, burned to the ground. Reportedly, there were no survivors.
However, this might not have been true. Let's put a pin in it for the moment.
On a dark and rainy night on 09th of March 2024, two OIAR employees (on their own time) entered the ruins and conducted a very soggy and inefficient search.
The instigator of the expedition, Samama Khalid, as a child was part of some (rather shady) program for gifted children conducted here. His hazy-yet-unsettling memories of the place had resurfaced recently, and he was determined to find some answers. The resident voice of reason, Alice Dyer, assisted him by way of holding the umbrella and trying to talk him out of the whole thing.
Before she succeeded, the following things happened:
Sam found a mystery key among the debris.
Sam successfully (eventually) broke through the door to an old office (probably owned by someone named Archibald. Ha ha.)
Sam was not careful enough walking around the rotten floor, and part of it collapsed under him.
Sam did not fall into the hole, thanks to quick reflexes of Alice, who pulled him back.
Sam did, however, drop the hard-won key into the newly created hole.
Sam gave up, and agreed to leave.
And now we return to our pin. Because down below the rotten floor of the office, something did survive. It heard the key falling down. It managed to find it, and fumbled in the darkness to fit it in the lock. It unlocked the padlock. It opened a trapdoor. It breathed free air for the first time in decades.
After 25 years of imprisonment, the EĢ“ĢĢĢØRĢ¶ĢĶĶĢĢĢĢRĢµĢĢÆĶĢ ĢOĢ“ĶĢĢ®Ģ¤RĢ“ĢĢĶĶ Ķ ĢĶĢ²Ģ ĢøĢĢĢĢĢ«ĶĢ£Ģ”Ģ Ļ walks free.
Unnoticed by all, a lonely tape-recorder hidden somewhere in the office keeps spinning its tape.
Thus concludes the thrilling Saturday Night adventure.
I... Have Questions. Not many, but pressing ones.
The most pressing one is WHY did you crazy kids go to explore literal crumbling ruins at night? Urbexers do it for 'vibes' and 'clout' (and they don't always come back with the same number of eyes they went in with), but why would you? What made you think it was a good idea to look for clues in the feeble light of torches? Why? Justā¦ WHY?
(And why a work night? Did you take a day a night off? Are you exploring on company time? Couldn't you wait till Sunday morning?)
Another good one: does Alice really believe this is a dead end (haha) and can't be bothered with it, or is she dragging Sam away because she knows something's there, and doesn't want her baby shrimp anywhere near it?
And finally ā what did they just unleash on the world?
My first thought was "one of those gifted kids did not make it back home," and that's as far as I'm willing to let that thought go for the moment.
Another one was: "what magical monstrosity did they create in the Artefact Research"?
And another: "holy shit, it's been 25 years. How sane is ERROR after all that time (assuming it was sane to begin with)?
(I know there are clues on RQ's backstage page, where the casting calls dwell, but going there feels like cheating, so I won't. Today).
the idea of an ex-villain being dragged out of retirement is a sad one. Especially when it comes to the fact that their power could kill them if they make a mistake. So, meet the Fourth generation Villainess- Forecaster. Otherwise known as Rune Grimm. The lass who didn't want to die.
Hi there! A bit of quite important information before we start.
This story takes place during and after the Another Story (V's route), which makes it filled with spoilers from the very beginning. If you're not willing to read such content, please, just don't. This story won't disappear from Tumblr. Save it, take your time going through the route, and then come back. It's for your own satisfaction ^_^
But if you didn't go through that route and don't really care about the spoilers you get, it'd be the best for you to at least briefly check the plot, otherwise - especially at the beginning - you may get easily confused!
Warning! Potentially triggering themes. NSFW chapters will be tagged.
Read on Ao3
Read on Wattpad
the error. - masterlist
Due to potential spoilers, the chapter is hidden under the read moreĀ feature.
āItās you.
You called to ask how I was doingā¦ I was cleaning up the surrounding areas.
You knowā¦ I cannot forget the times I spent with you.
All the times I spent with youā¦ were so precious. I even questioned whether itās alright for me to be that happy.
For some reason my eyes keep wateringā¦
Funnyā¦ Iām really happy right nowā¦
Iām so happy to listen to your voiceā¦ but why?
Did you know that you have an unique habit when you talk?
Looks like you didnāt know.
Umā¦ I wonāt tell you. If I tell youā¦ I feel like your habit only I knew aboutā¦ will disappear.
Iāll keep this my secret forever, this habit even you didnāt know.
Anyway, Iāmā¦ I really liked itā¦ Talking with you and learning about you one by one.
Whenever I learned more about youā¦ No, whenever you talked to me, my heart raced.
At first, I didnāt know what was happening to me because this never happened before. My heart raced, and I was so happy I thought I could dieā¦ You taught me what this all means, what it means to feel the flutter inside.
And as I got to know you day by dayā¦
Iā¦ I think Iāve come to treasure you in my heart.
You know, I really like you. I really really like you a lotā¦
You showed a whole new world to me.
My world has infinitely widened from the small attic-like world I lived in by meeting you.
Thank you. Thank youā¦
Youāre such a warm personā¦ I really wanted to be happy with youā¦
I didnāt have the courage till the last minuteā¦ I was really glad when you called. Thank you.
I wanted to tell you that.
Thank youā¦ I love you.ā
Ā The night was cold back then. You were shivering, the silence disturbed by Ā soft noise the machines next to you made, the ones that were supposed to make sure the person laying in the bed was stable.
V was safe, that you were sure of. He was peaceful, laying here, not bothered by anything. The whole world seemed so far away from him. All that happened all along. He looked as if he forgot about it already, drowned in the world of his own.
Your hands trembled when you dialed the same number for the second time. Then the third, the fourth.
Nothing.
The bad feeling never left you, not even for a while.
And it was only worse when, in the morning, Sevenās words confirmed your worst predictions.
āSoā¦ everything ended well, right?ā Zen smiled softly, glancing at the ceiling. After all the stress he went through, RFA could finally see him at ease.
āGuess soā¦ā Yoosung mumbled, staring down at the beer Zen bought to cheer everyone up.
V had been released from the hospital fairly quickly and everyone decided to chill out together, now that everything seemed fine.
Zen was the most relieved about all the things. V didnāt speak much, he was obviously still tired and no one let him even stand up on his own yet. Yoosung was a bit quiet, but tried to joke along. Jumin and Jaehee were exhausted, but both of them seemed the most like usual. The special unit didnāt need all the attention anymore. Everyone deserved some rest and they finally got it.
Only your thoughts were clouded, as you sat in the middle of the room, staring at the TV as if the movie actually absorbed you.
It didnāt and you didnāt even try to lie to yourself.
āAh, we should have more meetings like thisā¦ Even trust fund kid isnāt as annoying as usual when heās tiredā Zen smirked. His attitude was starting to get on your nerves, but you knew he wasnāt doing it on purpose. It was only natural thoughā¦ to be annoyed by people who didnāt understand you, right?
āYou talk a lot as for someone who didnāt even move a finger to guarantee the RFAās safetyā Jumin answered, crossing his arms, but not sparing him even a single glance, his eyes fixated on the screen.
āHey, I took care of Yoosungā¦! You canāt imagine how bothersome he wasā¦ā he sighed tiredly.
āZenā¦! Iām not a kid, you knowā¦ā Yoosung whined quietly. āYou say it as if you were babysitting me!ā
āCome on, it was almost like babysittingā¦ You looked as if you were about to do something incredibly stupid, so I had to watch over you all the time~ā
āIf youāre so exhausted by a mere few days of babysitting, Iām not surprised you chose a career that doesnāt require you to get marriedā Jumin said with a soft smirk that made Jaehee get amazingly pale in less than a second.
āTaking care of a baby is not an easy duty, Mr. Hanā¦ā
āGuys, but Iām not a baby, stop it already!ā
Everyone laughed, except for Yoosung, who pouted and turned away from them. It seemed as if they just needed it. To laugh a bit, to chill out, to forget about what just happened.
Even V seemed as if he already didnāt think about it anymore. About Ray, about Rika, about the Mint Eye. How come it was so easy for him to just throw it aside?
You tried to be mad. Your thoughts were clear: he was the only person that could be blamed for what happened now, ever since Rika ended in the mental hospital as she clearly wasnāt in her right mind anymore. And still, V seemed toā¦ get out of it the most comfortable way possible, well, aside from his physical injuries.
You desperately felt as if you needed someone to blame.
And yetā¦ no matter how much you thought about it, you could only blame yourself.
For not being there. For not realizing earlier.
You couldnāt be cheerful, careless, act as if nothing happened. Not after what you heard. The last words still echoed in your head.
I love you.
The overwhelming tension you felt ever since you escaped with V, all of it suddenly wrapped around you tightly, making you feel as if you were about to suffocate.
The high walls of sorrow, trapping you inside, crushing you more and more with every passing second.
Everyone could see you getting worse. No one knew how to help you. Because no one, except for V, knew what was the reason of your state. Others probably thought you just needed to somehow relieve all the stress, everyone would be overwhelmed after what you came through in such a short amount of time, right?
But it was not the case. V knew only part of the truth. All he knew was that someone died, and that you were somehow attached to that person.
He wasnāt there when you heard that voice: the voice filled with sorrow, overwhelming sadness. Voice of the person who was completely broken, the person whoās been left by everyone else. V was sleeping, not even thinking about it, not realizing the pain you were going through, the pain way worse than the physical one he had to experience.
And you also werenāt where you were supposed to be. Not there, in the Mint Eye, where your heart stayed even after you ran away. Maybe if you didnāt leave, or maybe if you came back, or even just tried to come back, telling him to go and take you awayā¦ Maybe itād be different. Maybe he wouldnātā¦
Or would it be the end of the both of you?
Was itā¦ what should have happened?
You couldnāt know it.
Overwhelming helplessness made a single tear escape the corner of your eye, your head hurting from all the crying you went through so far. Itās been only three days and you couldnāt stop grieving.
You felt as if youād never be able to.
His eyes were focused on the screen. Nothing could disturb him as his fingers tapped the keyboard in a regular, almost boring way. The tapping echoed through the room along with the shuffling of aluminum bags being picked up and tossed into a trashcan.
āHow come you make such horrible mess even when you donāt move away from your computerā¦?ā the quiet murmur almost reached his ears, but he was too focused to notice it anyway.
The redhead stared at the screen as the satellite photoshoots appeared and for a few seconds, there was such silence surrounding them that Vanderwood was genuinely curious if the agent didnāt faint in the meanwhile. It was the third day since he started working and he didnāt get any sleep in this time. His only friend was this junk food that made him look like a zombie, but at least be productive.
And he didnāt even touch the actual work he had to do, Vanderwood sighed.
Seven didnāt look good lately. Ever since the mysterious explosion, when he almost barged into the burning residence, he tried to restore all the information from all the sources he could find. The files saved on computers in there were mostly destroyed, but he worked on what he could find.
And it seemed as if everything he found was somehow suspicious.
Vanderwood didnāt question it.
āThisā¦ā
Sevenās eyes flickered and his hands froze in the air right before he was about to start tapping again.
His associate stalked closer, quietly glancing over his shoulder, but knowing better than to say a word.
āNoā¦ā
His voice died down and his shoulders trembled slightly.
āHuh? Seven? Whatās going on?ā
In a blink of an eye, he got up, almost tripping over his own feet and making the chair collide loudly with the ground.
Without a single word, he ran to the door.
āAck- wait! What with the wor-ā
āNeed to talk to Vā Seven mumbled.
A second later, the door slammed behind him.
Vanderwood shook his head in disbelief, staring at the door for a while.
Was he annoyed? More than ever. Was he surprised? Not at all. Ā
Before he returned to cleaning all the mess Seven left, he briefly glanced at the satellite photos, still opened on the huge screen of his computer.
In one of them, fairly small, there was a boy. Injured, with his clothes torn apart, which wasnāt too clear because of the photoās quality. But even the monochromatic coloring didnāt hide his white hair, dirty and messed by the hot wind breathing onto him from the nearby fire.
āWe need to talkā¦ about that hacker.ā
Sevenās hand gripped tightly his phone as the other made sure his car doesnāt turn suddenly, keeping the steering wheel stable.
āWhat do youā¦ want to know?ā Vās voice was quiet all of sudden, but the boy didnāt really mind it much. His heart was racing from nervousness.
āIā¦ What would I want to know? Itās justā¦ā He took a deep breath. āHe didnāt die in the fire.ā
āWhat?ā
He could almost feel Vās facade drop and he heard some shuffling, along with someoneās voice telling him to not move too much.
āWait a moment.ā
āAre you still at Zenās place?ā
āYes, butā¦ā
āI will be there in a few minutes.ā
āIā¦ donāt know if itās a good idea.ā
āWhat? Why?ā
There was a short silence on the other side of the phone. V sighed softly and Seven heard even more shuffling. Someone mumbled incoherently, trying to stop him from moving too much, but it seemed that everyone was already too drunk to actually care.
The soft, quiet voice could be heard when V spoke again, probably from a place where he couldnāt be heard by the others.
āAre you sure about thatā¦?ā
āIā¦ donāt know if heās still alive. Heās injured. But he escaped the building, thatās Iām sure of. Vā¦ I know itās been three days, but, he may still be somewhere in this forest. He could be not able to escape too far. No one really checked it. If itās true, we need to find him before anyone else does. Or before heā¦ I donāt want him to die, V.ā
āI donāt either, butā¦ā
āButā¦?ā
āMC.ā
āHuh?ā
Vās voice quivered slightly, betraying his own nervousness. He was clearly reluctant to talk about this, even more that any second someone could hear what he was talking about.
āSheā¦ canāt know.ā
āWhatā¦?ā
āShe canāt. Promise me that you wonāt tell her about it. Or anyone else in the RFA. Andā¦ Itāll be the best if you just leave it to me.ā
āWha- V! Are you kiddingā¦? Did we go through the whole start to fucking trust others phase only to make more secretsā¦?ā
āā¦ā
āMC deserves to know. And I wonāt leave it either.ā
āLuciel, I really think you shouldnāt-ā
āAnd I think you should take it seriously for once.ā
He threw the phone onto the backseat, not even caring whether or not the call ends from the impact.
He drove silently for a few minutes, his mind emptied. He didnāt even know where to go now. V complicated things, as always. He didnāt change at all.
Rika wasnāt the problem from the beginning. The problem was V himself.
He stopped the car in the middle of the road and stared at the dark surroundings. It was late, almost midnight. He just barged out without a single thought, only knowing what he wants to do. Was he at least a bit considerate? Should he really risk that much only because of this suspicious feeling he had now?
Because he was more than sure that he shouldnāt just leave it like this.
Was there a reason why he was so desperate to continue this inquiry? Why couldnāt he just let go of it?
Maybe it was because it was the first time he met someone who could actually be a competition to him? The hackerās skills were impressive, thatās for sure. They made Seven curious, more than ever.
From the moment he started digging, he kept having that weird feeling: it didnāt let him give up, even when he collapsed while going to the bathroom during this three days long restless work.
He didnāt hesitate even for a second opening the carās door, even though he knew how dangerous driving in this state could be. Was it still devoutness or should he already call it stupidity?
Now he did hesitate. Something seemed very off in this all. Some pieces of this puzzle seemed to be missing, preventing him from finding the final answer. His mind was empty for a moment, and now all the thoughts came back with such a force that his head spun.
He rushed out of the car, slamming the door closed and leaned against it, breathing heavily.
What was wrong, what was going on?!
He couldnāt calm down now.
He heard the faint sound of his phone on the backseat and turned around, expecting to see Vās number on the screen, ready to reject the call or just ignore it.
But that wasnāt it. The phone showed a number he already knew, even though he didnāt use it too often.
It belonged to MC.
He opened the back door and reached for the phone, pressing the green button and without a word, placing the phone next to his ear.
āSevenā¦?ā
āMCā¦ Whatās up?ā he asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. The tiredness in his voice was more than clear though, he could tell how unconvincing he was right now.
āIs thisā¦ true? Is heā¦ā She cleared her throat, trying to sound calm. He could hear her voice trembling though. āI heard you talking with V just now, is heā¦ Is Rayā¦ aliveā¦?ā
āItāsā¦ā
āSevenā¦ Please, donāt lie to meā¦ Not you, at leastā¦ā
āV wouldnāt approve talking about thi-ā
āI couldnāt care less now. Seven. If he really is alive. If thereās a chance. The smallest chance that he didnāt die, that heā¦ That he is somewhere, alone, without anyone to help him nowā¦ Please, help me look for him. I canāt leave him, I canāt leave him alone, Seven. Ever again.ā
He took a deep breath and held it in his lungs for a while, before letting it out heavily.
He slowly closed the back door and got back onto the driverās seat. He shook his head in disbelief.
And spoke.
āWait at Zenās place, I will pick you up. Sneak out so that V doesnāt notice. He canāt find out. And you need to tell me everything you know. I will need more info. Deal?ā
Thereās about be some brutal pigeon turf wars in this book. Why? So I can create a reflection of the bookās current societal issues? No. Itās cause I witnessed a bird war between a few hummingbirds over the sugar water feeder in my front yard. Itās a very serious issue and Iām afraid to admit that they have now gotten children of said hummingbirds to participate in the fights. Yes, they all have names. My dad named them all.
