#also chapter 10 will be up tomorrow 😄

[vendetta-if]

Chapter 6 Part 1 Sneak Peek (Pt. 1)

Hey guys 👋 Time for the very first sneak peek at Chapter 6 Part 1. I still have one more sneak peek for Chapter 6 Part 1 that I will release as we get closer to the public update date on 22nd of April (GMT +8).

This sneak peek is a little unique because it's mostly written in text chat message format 😄 As some of you might already be aware, you'll be able to choose a group chat name for MC and the gang or input your own. Below is some snippet on the choices 😆

Chapter 6 Part 1 Early Access demo is now up on both Patreon and Ko-fi!

* * * * *

The annoying sound cuts through the silence, anchoring you more and more to the waking world. Trying to block it is futile as it continues. After a few more times, you finally turn back around and reach for the source—your phone that is charged beside your bed. Unplugging the charger, you bring the phone close to your face, eyes squinted as you check the notification tray.

Oh, it's the group chat that you made last night, being active. Quickly opening your Whazzapp, you backread the chat.

Today [12:27 AM] You: "Hey guys, are you free to meet up tomorrow? Maybe around noon or so? I've got something important to share."

[02:01 AM] Santana: "I'm always available to work on the case. Just let me know the location like half an hour before at the least because I'll need some time to walk to the nearest subway station."

[09:05 AM] Rin: "I've cleared up my schedule for the day, so I hope it's for something urgent and important."

[10:03 AM] Skylar: "Sure! I'm free today. Where are we hanging out, gang?"

[10:10 AM] Skylar: "You know what, we should totally find a name for our newly-made group chat. Saying 'little investigation group' is kind of a mouthful. I've been brainstorming some names these past few minutes, and I think I've got a good one. How about 'Fabulous Four'?"

[10:12 AM] Rin: "I don't think it's a good name, but at least it's different enough to avoid copyright infringement."

[10:12 AM] Skylar: "Glad we're of the same mind."

[10:13 AM] Rin: "Same mind? I doubt that. I literally just told you that it's not a good name. I think it's a bit cheesy tbh."

[10:13 AM] Ash: "Jesus Christ, can you guys shut up for another half an hour or what? Some people are still asleep. Well, I was until I got woken up by all the buzzing."

[10:14 AM] Ash: "Also, 'Fabulous Four' is a stupid name. And can't you count? We're a five-people team now."

[10:14 AM] Skylar: "Wait, five? So, if you're the grumpy redhead I met yesterday, then who's the other person I've been talking to? I can only see your phone numbers."

[10:15 AM] Skylar: "And no problem. We'll be 'Fabulous Five' instead! The more the merrier."

[10:16 AM] Rin: "I'm not introducing myself over a group chat message. We'll do a proper introduction in person later on."

[10:16 AM] Skylar: "Fair enough. I'll see you later then!"

[10:17 AM] Ash: "Ngl, 'Fabulous Five' still sounds dumb."

[10:18 AM] Skylar: "Clearly, you're just a hater. Instead of casting the first stone, how about you try coming up with another name then?"

Well, it seems like Ash is ignoring Skylar because that's where the chat ends for now. Checking the time, you see that it's already 10:24 AM. Well, maybe it's time to reply to some of the messages in the chat before doing anything else. Plus, it's an excuse to stay in bed a little bit longer.

* * * * *

Okay, next order of business, the group chat name that Skylar and Ash were arguing about. You kinda agree with Skylar that 'little investigation group' is far from the best or the catchiest name ever. Although, you're not really sure how you feel about ${sky_his} suggested name, 'Fabulous Five', right now. Maybe you have a better name in mind?

CHOICE

#I'll stick to 'Fabulous Five'. #'Elysium Cleanup Crew' #'The Vendetta Project' #'The Revengers' #'The Justiciars' #'Justice Squad Chat' #None of these.

* * * * *

#I'll stick to 'Fabulous Five'.

After pondering more on the name Skylar suggested, you decide that it's actually good enough and you actually like it. It's growing on you in the past few minutes of contemplation. Tapping on ${sky_his} message, you reply:

EMOTIONAL MC [10:32 AM] You: "'Fabulous Five' actually sounds awesome. Let's go with that!"

STOIC MC [10:32 AM] You: "'Fabulous Five' is not so bad. Let's just go with that."

[10:32 AM] Skylar: "Hell yeah! I knew it! I knew it's an amazing and genius name."

[10:33 AM] Rin: "…"

You can practically feel Rin judging you through the screen just from the three dots.

SARCATIC MC [10:33 AM] You: "Okay, calling it 'genius' might be pushing it a bit too far. Let's dial it back a bit."

GENUINE MC[10:33 AM] You: "I wouldn't really use the word 'genius' per se…"

[10:34 AM] Skylar: "Aww… Alright. I still think it's a compliment tho."

You navigate to the group chat setting to change the group name to 'Fabulous Five' before going back to the group chat.

GENUINE MC [10:35 AM] You: "Okay, there. It's done."

[10:35 AM] Skylar: "Whoo 🎉🎉 We're officially 'Fabulous Five' now. No complaining 😉"

[10:36 AM] Ash: "Fuck! Fine…"

SARCASTIC MC [10:35 AM] You: "There. We're officially 'Fabulous Five' now. No complaining."

[10:35 AM] Skylar: "Whoo 🎉🎉 You hear that, you grump?"

[10:36 AM] Ash: "Fuck! Fine…"

Chuckling quietly to yourself, you lock your phone and get off the bed in one smooth movement.

[lyon-amore]

What if...? Duskwood Chapter 10

Chapter 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

*Macie POV*

 When I get home, I notice that on the phone there was no longer '???' in Jake's chat, but his name. That made me smile.

After letting Henry out of the house, I stretch out on the couch, hugging my phone. Even though I couldn't tell anyone what his name was, that made it all the more special to me.    "I know his name, Henry," I tell my rabbit, who climbs on the couch and lies on top of me. "his name is Jake. Isn't that a beautiful name? "     I notice how Henry ignore me a bit, not understanding my words, but who else could I talk about this with?    "He's also asked me if I have a boyfriend" I giggle and caress him "I think he's worried about whether I'm dating Aiden, can you believe that?"     I see Henry asleep and sigh.    "I see, you're not interested in the subject."     I laugh happily, looking at the chat again.    “I look like a teenager with a crush on him.” I laugh to myself now. I can't wait to say your name in front of you again, Jake.

 Cleo finally gets in touch with me and we talk about when she and Thomas were at Hannah's apartment. All the information she gives me is quite interesting, I have to write it down tomorrow and tell Jake about it. Before work, I dedicated myself to talking with Jessy and Richy to try to get the name of the book Midnight in Duskwood’. I have a good time talking to both of them. I return from buying my superiors the coffee. Normally I'm always serious when I do it, but today I'm even humming and I've managed a little better in case Jake calls me.    “I see you're finally beginning to appreciate your work.” Christian tells me, accepting the coffee.    "I've finally found something that motivates me." I answered honestly, even though he didn't know that it was a mysterious hacker.    “And that someone is a person?” Aiden asks, along with a smile.    "Mmm... Maybe." I reply, without wiping my smile off my face.     If he thought I was talking about him, it would be his problem. Nobody knew that Jake existed in my life, I could rest easy. Well, except for the group, although they knew him as the creepy guy, nicknamed after Jessy. I return to my table, humming again. While I modified some things, Lian approaches my table.    "Let's see, Disney princess," she says to me, raising an eyebrow, "can you tell me what happened yesterday?" She smiled excitedly.    "Yesterday? Nothing happened yesterday" I answered, trying to focus on the article ", I've just learned to accept that it's not worth being angry all the time in this place."    "After lunch you came back like you won the lottery."     The universe helps me and Aiden passes by our side. I greet him with a smile and he does the same. That makes Lian stop asking me what I mysteriously do when I leave.    "I knew something was going on," she exclaims excitedly "I knew it!"     << Lian, you're good when it comes to romance, but when it comes to being cheated on, you're too easy. >>    "But don't say anything for now," I begged in a low voice, "We’re taking it in secret to see if it works."    "You tell me to keep a secret and I do it" she makes the gesture of closing her mouth under the call and I laugh.     What must be done so that everything remains a secret… I receive a notification on my phone and smile when I see the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Jake Macie? I have Poke's number.

 Macie Well done I'm there right away 😄

 Jake No need to come.

 Macie Do you want me to call a possibly drug dealer and perhaps guilty of Hannah kidnapping, at my work, surrounded by journalists to attract attention?

 Jake … All right, you win.

 Macie As always 😉

 Jake Haha. I'll be waiting for you then :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I put my phone away and get up to get my things.    "And where are you going now?" Lian asks me, watching me abandon my post.    "Apparently a pipe has burst in the urbanization," I say, putting on my jacket. "We all have to go to an emergency meeting."    "What? Then go! I will excuse you with our superior."    "Thank you Lian."     Actually I have no idea about pipe explosions, but it seems that I have convinced her with my words. I don't know why I didn't choose an acting career. I knock on the door and wait. How odd…    "You got there before me." I hear from behind me.     I turn and see Jake wearing the sweatshirt, mask and those black gloves, although I notice that in his hand he has a plastic bag.    "Have you gone shopping?"    "There is a small store near here, I needed some things." he replies, as he delicately pushes me aside.     I see how he uses lock picks to open the door and I look at him doubtfully.    "So you're a thief, huh?" I ask, curious.    “Black gloved.” he teases, tossing the lock picks into the air and catching them. "You can come in.” He opens the door and I walk in, leaving today's food in the kitchen and picking up yesterday's finished one.    "May I ask what you bought? Only for curiosity."    "It is nothing," he begins to take out energy drinks and a packet of coffee "it is just for work."     I look concerned at what he has bought. I hope he don't mix it up.    "Don't forget you have to call him," he tells me, referring to Poke. "His account is set to reject any chat inquiries automatically."    "I like calling him better anyway."    "Good I agree with you on that," he goes quickly to the table. "A voice sometimes reveals information that is lost in text messages. "    "I totally get that." I answered decisively. Voice tones can be of great help.    "Okay, I think you should call him right now." He gives me a quick look before texting me. "His phone number is 89350. "     89350. Okay, I got it.

I dial the number and wait for him to answer.    "Hello?" A man's voice is heard on the other end of the line, although there seemed to be a bad signal.    "Hi, I'm Macie, I was calling you for-"    "Did you say something?"    "Yeah, I'm-"    “I can't hear you too well!” he exclaims, though his voice is hard to hear, “I don't know if you can hear me at all."    “Can you hear me now?” I ask, moving to the other side of the room.    "Damn it." he complains and hangs up.     After a second, I get a message from Poke.

 After a few messages, he writes something that gets on my nerves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poke You just have to remember to bring the adverd ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "A-adverd?" I muttered looking at the screen, in a bad way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Macie Do you mean the ‘’advert’’?

 Poke Atferd, adwerd, whatever ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Lord, give me patience with this horrible form of writing… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Poke Just come down to the shop and bring the thing with you, or else you can forget about the discount

 Macie Oh man, but I lost the thing 😔

 Poke Man man man Well I guess I am gonna have to send you the paper then ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 It's been easier than it looks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Macie Thank you 😁

 Poke I am only doing this so that the old man sees that I was right. He said giving a discount and posting an addvert was a bad idea ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I get the picture of a locksmith. 

Wait… Are you telling me that they charge you €350 to… MAKE YOU A SIMPLE KEY?!

Poke disconnects and I release the charged air that I had in my chest.    "That had to be the DUMBEST person on the earth." I commented, sit down in the chair.     Jake looks at me puzzled by my attitude.    "I am surprise he can even write." I put my hand to my head.     Maybe it's because I work fixing other people's problems... The habit.    "Poor you" Jake lets out a laugh, I wonder if he is mocking me "But I suppose that means you were able to find out what he’s selling? "    "Absolutely" I send him the image and I see how he looks at the screen in detail.    "A locksmith?"    "A locksmith and quite expensive," I commented and he laughed again. "I get it now, Dan bought the key from Poke so that Thomas can get into the apartment."    "Yes, I believe you hit on the head with that." Jake puts his hand to his chin, thinking. "Dan once called Thomas suspicious, do you remember?"    "Yeah, when he fell off the face of the earth after the body was found" it surprised me at that moment, it was as if before my eyes he seemed guilty. I get up to erase the theory from the blackboard " Then, why would he do him such a big favor? "    "There is a possibility that Dan had some kind of benefit from Thomas being in Hannah’s apartment…" I listen to him getting closer, until he catches up with me looking at the whiteboard as well "Oh hold on, Did you talk to Cleo already by any chance?"    "Yes, I did." I replied, picking up the marker.    "What did she tell you?"   “Thomas lied to Cleo about the key.” I write what I said on the board more succinctly.      He makes a thoughtful throat sound.    “We figured the thing with the key out already.  However, the fact that Cleo knows that Thomas is lying, tha’s a different story."     I watch him frown, concerned.    "Do you think this could turn into a problem?"    “I don't even know yet.” he sighs and walks away from him, his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "However, I would really prefer if you and I were the only ones who knew about such things. "     I smile on the inside while on the outside I remain calm. I must keep my composure, it's time to work.    “Thomas removed something from the apartment.” I replied, turning me back to write.    "Really?" From the tone of surprise in his voice, I can tell that he is excited by the information "At least we know, what made him enter the apartment." yes, from his voice it can be seen that he is excited by the news. ". But you don't know what it was?"    “I have an idea,” I say, moving closer to him “something that would give him away as a kidnapper."    He nods concentrated.    “Sounds logical."    "Hannah and Thomas had a bad fight." I commented, remembering more of the conversation with Cleo.     Jake's eyes darken as his expression looks like he's furious. There's definitely something else he hasn't told me between him and Hannah or he wouldn't be like that with what I've told him.    "That is a really important detail," he says, crossing his arms. It's a little scary to see him like this " And Cleo knew this, all this time?" He approaches me as if he wants to address Cleo. I squeeze the marker hard. "Why did she wait so long to tell you?"     I look away, even though it seems a little scary, being serious suits him well. Hopefully one day he'll be that protective of me. Hannah is one lucky girl.    "She didn’t want me to get the wrong idea about Thomas." I replied, trying to understand Cleo's point of view.    "I think that was a typo." He looks at me like she said something wrong. "She gave you the wrong idea of Thomas by keeping this crucial information from you. "    "I get that," I sighed, massaging my temple. " But that's what she said. "    "This is a lot of new information indeed," he looks at the whiteboard, reading everything I've written, concentrating. "A lot of significant information too."

    I start reading through it all, thinking about the clues we have so far. For now, I think I can rule out Thomas. I eliminate the theory that Thomas is the one who has kidnapped Hannah, if he had something of hers that she took to him as a kidnapper, he would have taken it from her from the first moment he kidnapped her, not after.    “But yet, Thomas is innocent.” I finally say, after debating it with myself.    "On one hand, I like the fact that you are giving him the benefit of the doubt, despite of the fact that there is a lot of stuff that speaks against him." I see how he calms down little by little, keeping his cool. "On the other however, I feel like we have many reasons as to why we need to be extremely careful around Thomas."     I nod slowly. I’m used to not discarding theories that are offered to me, of course.    "I know what I'm doing," I tell him, finishing writing on the board.    "I am aware of that," he smiles at me sweetly, understanding my methods of working. "One more thing I gotta to tell you" he walks toward me briskly "You know Cleo’s part of the story now. You don’t know what story Thomas is telling."

I understand what you say. Cleo may have lied to us, if we ask Thomas, we may get different information, or even Cleo has told us the truth, Thomas may collaborate with us to expand the new information,    "There are always two sides to a story." I reply.    "That’s right." He goes to the kitchen and speaks to me in a timid voice. "Now that we have finished… are you going to… stay for lunch? "     I smile and lean against the kitchen counter, looking up at him.    "Only if you invite me to coffee for dessert."     He lets out a laugh and nods.    "Okay." He looks at me and points to the chair next. "I'm going to heat this up while you waits."     I nod and sit in the chair, but I turn so I can see him even though his back is turned.    "Do you have a hobby?" I ask, wanting to know more about him.    “Computers.” he answers quickly.    “Apart from the computers.” I roll my eyes and he sighs.    "I can not tell you anything" he turns to see me "you know that."    "Not even for me?" I blink pleadingly.     He laughs and walks over, squatting down as he leans back in the chair. He looks like he wants only me to hear him.    "I don't think it's something you'd be interested in."    "And how do you know if you haven't told me?" I counterattacked.     He hesitates for a moment, until finally he dares to tell me.    "Parkour."    "Really?" He nods making a sound in his throat. "So you're good at going fast up the walls like Spider-man, aren't you?"     He rolls his eyes into a smile. I don't know much about parkour, it's not my fault.    "I can move good, if that's what you mean." he replies, and I notice his voice has softened as he explained it to me.    "How well are we talking?"    "You'd be surprised."     Now I understand why his body is like this. I would love to see him move fast sometime, I always see him calm. He is so calm that I hardly even notices that he might do it.    "Well, someday you must show me those movements." I smiled, with a small whisper.    "I don't think you can follow me, but I'll try for you."     He winks at me and I laugh.

We stayed for a while looking at each other and I dare to touch his hand again, he responds caressing my fingers, slowly.    "And that smell?" I ask, breaking the atmosphere a bit.    "Damn!" Jake gets up quickly going to the kitchen and I follow him.     He removes the small cooking bowl from the stove before it gets burned. We look at each other and I laugh.    "Yes, very funny," he tells me annoyed, although he doesn't seem so, "we almost didn't set the kitchen on fire."    "When you said fast, I didn't expect that much." I replied, still laughing.    “A single step fast.” he replies.     In the end he joins in my laughter and I end up looking at him like a fool in love.    “You should be careful not to get distracted, Jake."    "I will try not to." *Jake POV* Incredible that I was so easily distracted, but I couldn't stop looking at her… Like now. I keep looking at her as she talks, telling a funny story about Henry. She has a beautiful smile. A notification is skipped on the screen. A message for Macie. Ugh… That guy again… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Aiden Where are you? Shall we eat together? 😉 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I notice Macie who keeps talking and sometimes stopping while she eats, ignoring her cell phone. Should I tell her?    "Macie?"    "Yes?" I stare at her for a second, wondering whether to tell her.     "It's…" I look back at the screen and then at her at her smile. She really seems happy. "It's very good." I answer at the end, before eating.     "Thank you." I can see a slight blush on her cheeks as she brushes her hair away from her face.     I want to be selfish just this once.

Chapter 11

[lala-pipo]

@ cricket_nony honestly...I wish every writer out there to have readers like you! Thank you for your essays that always make my day/week/month! ❤😘