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mysteriouslover1516 · 2 years

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Remember Us Together?

It was once again the night of the Pine Glade Festival held in Duskwood, a time for festivities and happiness, but something was holding the group back these days.

“Can I tell you something, MC?” Jessy asks, voice quiet, as she and MC were wandering around the festival, waiting for the others to show up.

“Always, Jessy.” MC smiles, encouragingly. Her eyes held a certain sense of sorrow in them, as if she almost expected what Jessy wanted to say.

“I almost didn’t want to go to this festival, not after what happened.”

“I felt the same, and I’m sure the others are also fighting their own personal demons concerning this night.” MC sighs, “We all miss him, you know that, right?”

“Yes, of course I know.” Jessy hangs her head, “It’s selfish of me to think I’m the only one who mourns this way for Richy, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” MC says. “You shared a certain bond with Richy, you were closer to him than anyone else in the group was.”

“I almost want to call it love, MC. It was like I loved him, but of course I didn’t, right? I had Dan, so it couldn’t have been.”

“There’s different types of love between friends, Jessy. There’s platonic love, and then there’s romantic love. In your case I think yours was different from both, it was more of a bond that siblings commonly possess. He was your protector, your confidant, someone you trusted. He was your older brother figure.” MC’s voice grows softer, “Phil is your older brother, but he never treated you right, he was rarely loving towards you. What if your mind subconsciously replaced Phil and put Richy in that role?”

“I never thought about it that way,” Jessy admits. “It makes sense.”

“We are all considerate of you, Jessy.” MC says, “We all know how much Richy meant to you. Just, some of us mourn differently. Just because we don’t bring him up anymore or we experience times of happiness, doesn’t mean we don’t miss him.”

“I know that, MC.” Jessy looks horrified at the thought. “I never once considered that you guys forgot about him, never. I guess I just can’t hide my emotions as well as the others can.”

“And that’s not a bad thing, that’s nothing to be ashamed about. It takes time, but we’ll all get through this, I promise.” MC smiles, her eyes clouding over. “If Hannah can celebrate tonight after all that has happened to her, then I know you and I can make it too.”

“You and I?” Jessy questions, “I have a feeling there’s something else besides Richy’s death that is bothering you.”

“I’m worried about Jake.”

“He still hasn’t gotten into contact with you?”

“No, which makes me scared that maybe he never will.” MC admits, “It’s been a year, what if he can never find a safe place to reach out? Or worse, what if he doesn’t want to anymore? What if he changed his mind about me, I mean it’s possible, right?”

“Nonsense,” Jessy shakes her head. “He’s probably still trying to evade his pursuers, but he would never forget about you, I’m sure of it.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“And deep down you know you still trust him, otherwise you wouldn’t have waited this long.” Jessy says.

“Yes,” MC takes a deep breath. “Thanks for letting me confide in you, Jessy.”

“Of course, always.” Jessy winks as a smile spreads across both girls’ faces.

“Jessy! MC!” A female voice calls to them, “There you two are!”

The two girls look up to see a slender brunette woman walking towards them, a blonde right behind her. “Lilly and I just got here!”

“Hey Hannah,” Jessy greets the brunette first, then turns to her companion. “Lilly.”

“I heard the fireworks are going to be absolutely spectacular tonight,” Hannah informs, “They start at ten and go on till midnight this time.”

Jessy raises an eyebrow, “Wait a minute, where’s Thomas?”

“He’s with Dan, at the hot dog stand.” Hannah laughs.

“Of course,” Jessy facepalms, “Dan loves hotdogs.”

Hannah gestures towards the direction of the baking booth, “And we all know where Cleo is. She’s been working hard helping her mom organize the desserts for tonight.”

“I hope she made her lemon bars,” Lilly laughs.

“Forget the lemon bars, I want her world-famous Pyramid Cake.” MC sighs.

“That was Richy’s favorite dessert,” Jessy says in a soft tone. “He loved this festival.”

“I’m liking this guy more and more,” MC giggles.

“Deep down he really was a good guy,” Hannah nods. “Despite everything he did wrong.”

“Most of us grew up together with Richy,” Lilly says. “Everyone except Jessy, she wasn’t born here.”

“Yes, I moved here when I was six, remember, MC?”

“I would never forget,” MC smiles and then says, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to eat two slices of cake as a tribute to Richy.”

“Yes,” Jessy laughs. “Good idea.”

“Hey!” Cleo greets as the four girls approach the table filled with sweets. “How is everyone?”

“Fantastic,” Hannah answers and then sighs happily. “And once again, everything looks perfect, Cleo.”

“Thank you,” The brunette laughs. “We’ve worked really hard on everything, so please, don’t hesitate to eat as much as you want.”

“You don’t have to say that again,” Lilly puts two lemon bars on her plate.

“Hey, MC. I made your favorite, the Pyramid Cake!” Cleo winks.

“Awesome, can you dish me up a slice?” MC smiles, pulling her phone out of her pocket as it starts to vibrate. “What kind of telemarketer calls this late?”

“Is it Jake?” Jessy asks, looking over MC’s shoulder.

MC’s face pales, “Wait a minute, no. I recognize this number, it’s my ex.”

“You mean your ex from your old hometown?” Jessy’s jaw drops.

“Yes.”

“Don’t answer it,” Hannah advises.

“You don’t want to give him the satisfaction of answering,” Lilly agrees.

“But what could he want?” MC asks, torn.

“It doesn’t matter,” Cleo states. “He’s in the past, you’re here in Duskwood now, you’ve got Jake. Your ex doesn’t deserve a second thought from you.”

MC silences her phone and places it back in her pocket. “Anyway, it looks amazing, Cleo.” She says as she takes the plate from her friend.

“Oh oh oh!” Dan’s voice booms as he comes up behind the girls. “I’ve found the dessert table, Tommyboy!”

“Oh good,” Thomas rolls his eyes at the nickname. “Maybe if you stuff some more food in your mouth I’ll finally have a moment’s silence.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Dan exclaims.

“Maybe it means you talk too much?” MC raises an eyebrow.

“Pfff, I don’t know why I asked for your opinion.”

“Rude,” MC sniffs then grimaces as her phone vibrates in sequence.

Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz.

“What is that?” Dan asks, looking around.

Bzz Bzz Bzz Bzz Bzz

“Sounds like somebody’s phone is blowing up,” Dan says.

“It’s mine,” MC says in a quiet voice.

“Someone is desperate to get a hold of you,” Dan notes. “Hackerman?”

“It’s her ex,” Jessy answers.

“What?” Dan frowns, “Give me your phone.”

“Dan, that’s not a good idea.” MC shakes her head.

“I’ll beat the crap out of this guy!”

“Oh sure you will.” MC rolls her eyes.

“I just have your best interests at heart,” Dan informs. “Promise me whatever your ex is saying, you won’t dwell on it. Read it, laugh about it, and move on.”

“Yeah, it’s his loss!” Jessy agrees.

Hannah laughs, “Also I’d be more concerned about what Jake would do to your ex, rather than what Dan would do.”

“Hey!” Dan protests and flexes his muscles, “Do you see these things?”

“But Jake can hack into the guy’s account and wipe out all his savings,” Lilly reminds.

“Pfff, that’s the easy way out,” Dan brushes her off. “It takes more gut to beat the man up face to face.”

“Look at the fireworks!” Jessy excitedly points at the lights erupting against the horizon.

“Oh my gosh, I almost forgot about the fireworks.” Hannah exclaims.

“Aren’t they starting a bit early?” Cleo asks.

“Yeah, to hype the crowd up.” Dan says, “There’s more tourists this year, haven’t you noticed?” “Oh yeah,” Lilly glances around. “You’re right, Dan.”

“I’m always right,” Dan waves his hand. “Come on, let’s find a spot to sit.” “I’ll find you guys later,” Cleo says. “I’m waiting for someone else to come take my spot at the booth.” “Sounds good,” Thomas says, “See you then.”

Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz

“Listen, I have to find the bathroom real quick, text me when you find a spot and I’ll meet you there.” MC lies, not waiting for anyone to talk her out of it. Walking around a corner of a tent, out of view from the group, she immediately pulls out her phone and unlocks it.

Hey, MC.

Why aren’t you answering your phone?

Can we please talk?

MC? Fine, here it goes anyway.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.

The thing with the other girl didn’t work out, she didn’t even come close to comparing with you.

I miss you, I haven’t seen you around town for a while. Where’ve you been?

Are you busy?

What do you think about us starting over again?

We could go back to the way it was, like absolutely nothing happened between us.

What do you say, MC?

You were so madly in love with me, you probably still are, haha.

Afterall, remember us together?

MC read the messages twice, heartbeat racing, thumbs frozen over the keyboard. Should she text back? She couldn’t just let him get away with trying to contact her again, right? Why didn’t she block his number beforehand….

Are you drunk?

I don’t drink, silly.

It’s over, it’s been three months. You were the one who ended us, remember?

It was a dumb mistake on my part, I admit it. I miss you, I want you back.

You think I’ll go back to you just like that? You snap your fingers and I’ll come running back into your arms, just so you can go break my heart again?

I promise I won’t, please, MC. Listen to me, I need you.

It’s over, I’ve moved away.

You moved? Why the heck would you move?

I needed a fresh start, to get away from people like YOU.

Where did you even move to? Lol.

Like I’d tell you. How stupid do you think I am? So, it wouldn’t work anyway, if I even DID want to come back.

We both know you’ll never find anyone else. Stop being so haughty, just come back. You know you want to. If you think you’ll find someone to replace me, you’re crazy.

Are you kidding? You honestly think that? Did you forget how jealous you got when other guys dared to even smile at me?

You’re one to talk about jealousy, what about that girl you always accused me of flirting with?

You mean the girl who you ACTUALLY did flirt with? The one you cheated on me with and caused us to break up because she was apparently your true love?

That’s beside the point, MC. Stop taking everything so personally.

Stop taking cheating personally? My apologies, I didn’t know. If you’re trying to say cheating is the new normal, then you’re wrong.

How so? A lot of guys get bored and have fun with other girls, lol. Doesn’t mean anything.

Jake doesn’t.

Who the heck is Jake? And also if you think he actually loves you, you’re silly, MC. Whoever would want to deal with you for all eternity is out of their minds.

I thought you wanted me back?

I’m just bored and drunk, haha.

I don’t have time for this. Leave me alone.

MC watched the typing bubbles float on the other end of the line, eyes starting to water slightly.

“MC,�� Jessy’s voice came to her, causing her to look up.

MC shrugs, wiping her eyes. “Curiosity killed the cat, didn’t it?”

Jessy smiles sympathetically, easing the phone out of MC’s hand. After skimming over the messages, she looks back up. “You need to block him.”

“But-”

“No, he’s already starting to deprecate you again. He’s toxic, you can’t keep playing into his hands. Just you texting him is showing that you’re still willing to waste your time on him.”

“He sounded almost like he changed in the beginning,” MC whispers.

“I’ll give him that he sounded remorseful at the beginning, yes. But did you read what he ended with? Once you started replying and weren’t cooperating as planned, he started to show his true colors again. He basically was saying no one would want you, that he was the best thing that ever happened to you. Not only is this guy insane, but he’s an idiot as well!”

“Why can’t I move on, Jessy? I’m going insane, I can’t keep doing this to myself.”

“MC, every relationship that lasts as long as yours will be hard to get over. You invested your time and effort into making it work, you entrusted him with your heart. Unfortunately he ended up fumbling with it and therefore broke it. When he cheated on you, the future was gone, but the past wasn’t. No one ever gets over a relationship that easily, especially one that affected you as much as yours did.”

“But what about Jake? I told Jake I’d wait for him, even said I loved him. But here I am crying over my ex and for a split second I was wanting to believe he had changed.”

“Even when people move on from previous relationships and enter into new ones, the memories of the past are still with them. What matters is what you choose to do with those memories, whether you lament over the heartbreak you experienced, or whether you push yourself to find better and realize how much you’re worth.”

“Can you block him for me?” MC asks, voice quiet.

“My pleasure,” Jessy says, then suddenly the phone starts ringing. “Oh, even better.”

“Don’t answer it,” MC giggles as Jessy makes a face at her, answering the call.

“Oh hey, you’re MC’s ex, right? Well you can just go wander off a cliff. And also, if you call her one more time, I swear I'm gonna come over and beat you to a pulp till you can't see a dang thing and your mom is gonna have to feed you through a straw for a year. Oh right, you were a jerk to your mom as well, so I guess you have no one to take care of you. Maybe you can go crawling back to some past ex that you were a jerk to, just so she can kick you to the curb again. What? Oh, I’m Jessy, MC’s best friend. And by the way, you might wanna watch out for MC’s new boyfriend, he’ll hack you into pieces.” With that, Jessy hangs up on him and then blocks him. “Here you go,” she says, handing MC back her phone. “We should probably go find the others now, before they start to freak out.”

Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz

“That’s probably them now,” MC laughs as she looks at her lockscreen. “OMG.”

“Is that a good or bad OMG?” Jessy bites her lip, confused.

Hello, MC.

My pursuers have finally lost track of me, I doubt they will find me again soon.

I hear you moved to Duskwood. Being that I am in the area, what do you say about finally fulfilling our promise to meet in the future?

There’s a nice Chinese restaurant in Duskwood that I know of. You once told me Chinese was your favorite, so what do you say?

I’ve thought about you often, MC. My feelings for you never faded, they only grew stronger. I hope you feel the same.

“It’s Jake,” MC’s eyes light up, her phone starting to ring.

“I’ll give you a few minutes by yourself,” Jessy smiles, satisfied, walking off.

“Jake.” MC answers the phone, “I’ve missed you so much.”

Hey, lovelies! :) Thank you so much for reading this, and please leave a comment! I love to hear from you all! My ex actually did this to me, so I sympathize with anyone who can relate. There's someone out there who will treasure you and treat you like their whole world! In the meantime, I love you, and so does Jake! ;)

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hacked-by-jake · 4 months

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I did read your fanfiction idea post. And I didn't like. Because I feel idiotic with my idea, but still want to share it. Yeah. Let's go

And❗️ SPOILER WARNING❗️

A bunch of people thought that the way Adam was acting in his phone call reminded them of Jake, right? He's probably not gonna be Jake, but let's dive into that for a moment

Sometime after he had to go on the run, maybe around 3 years ago, Jake came to Redlog for some time. He met the group there under the name Adam (I forgot his last name)

Since then he has always spent a little time in Redlog whenever it was safe, told the group that he just had a job that needed him to travel a lot.

Fast forward, after the mine incident, Jake doesn't immediately even have time to contact MC, he just tries to get away.

He goes to Redlog in hopes to get Adam alivr again and as his cover. There he plans on contacting MC, but something happens. He finds something, figures out something (don't know what). Endangers himself again.

And he doesn't want MC to be in danger with him. So he tries to fix it. But it doesn't work out. (Hence the tarot card) It's too late, whatever the danger was, it found him. And he knows the only way to get out of that is his MC. The girl (or boy, I'm a female so that's easier to type rn) that dove into a kidnapping case without a second thought.

So he sends Eric MCs contact. He tries to call her, but the signal's already too bad.

The second time he calls her, Jake realises she wouldn't know his face. He doesn't get himself to tell her his name. But he also knows he needs her to keep going. He wants her to know that he survived the mine. Hence the "It'll seem impossible without me" blahblahblah.

I'd want MC to realise who Adam is xD And then, when they finally see each other again, hug & kiss & tell each other it's going to be okay. All while Eric stands there and is like "Eeeeh what?"

To be honest, I don't understand at all why you're feeling idiotic about it. This is such a cool and interesting idea! I had to giggle so hard when I read the last part. We sure need Eric to react to that, pahaha. Simply genius.

Also making the connection with people feeling like Adam is Jake and how he met the group and how MC gets involved is very thrilling.

I mean, you could do it this way or you could also say, something goes incredibly wrong and some of Jake's enemies find out about Jake and MC's relationship thingy. So Jake wants to deal with it himself and wants to solve this. He goes to the Greenside but it goes wrong and his enemy already planned to involve MC so Jake's enemy sets up everything, the tarot card etc to drag MC into it and to hurt Jake even more.

But enemy dude wasn't aware how incredibly good MC is and messed up with involving them because MC will definitely find Jake.

And I mean, imagine we would also bring the Duskwood characters into that. I mean, if MC has contact with the group again and Hannah and Lilly ask MC if they know where Jake is... And maybe MC already knows that Jake was kidnapped or whatever.

Should MC lie to his sister? Can they even lie or is that too obvious. All of this. And maybe enemy dude even find out about Hannah and Lilly and boom. Everyone is involved and ahhhh, the party is too big. xD

No, seriously, it's a very interesting and great idea. It sounds very logical and super exciting.

And I mean, it's a whole plot. It's amazing.

And no need to feel embarrassed or whatever, I really love it. And I thank you so much for sharing it with me and us. I really appreciate it. And I'm sure many others will like the idea as well! 💚

#cute mv anon #moonvale fanfiction #moonvale spoiler #moonvale headcanons #moonvale theories #hbj mv answers #duskwood jake #moonvale jake #moonvale adam #duskwood jake x mc #moonvale jake x mc #hbj mv x dw answers

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yjano · 2 years

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Who I am now?

Part 10.

Pairing: Jake x Mc.

Genre: Angst, comedy, dark romance.

Warnings: Strong language, angst scenes. 18+ content can be found.

Words: 7.8k

Author's note: This story contains mature topics and is not fully related to the duskwood game. A different parallel with different personalities. Thank you everyone for following and liking this! lly.♡

•

Jake focus.

I woke up a few hours later feeling like shit. I sighed trying to wake my body up. My head throbbed, and my heavy eyes and throat were painfully dry and scratchy as if someone had decided to shove balls of rough tissue down my esophagus whilst I was sleeping. My limbs were weak and unresponsive when I tried to lift an arm into the air.

Immense pain rang throughout my temples when I attempted to lift my eyelids to gather my surroundings and find Mc, but the ridiculously horrible sensation of a jackhammer beating the backs of my eyeballs made me lay reluctantly still with my eyes shut tight.

"Okay, honey. I think he's waking up now." I heard the female voice and soon enough I felt her touch my forehead with soft fabric and warm steady fingers. It's not Mc. Who the hell is she?

"The bleeding has stopped and I already dressed his wound. What we should do now? Call the police?" The female removed her hands from me.

"Let's wait till he will wake up and confirm the situation first." The male spoke from afar.

I'd like to open my eyes and question their identity and lastly ask for a godamn glass of water but my body refused to listen to me...

"Rest a little more and you'll be up and running in no time." The female whispered faintly. I heard the door click shut and then there was silence. I tried to force my body to start moving, but I couldn't move. So I waited for another bout of sleep to hit me. Perhaps I'd be refreshed enough after sleeping to open my damn eyes, search for Mc and run away from the unknown people.

I woke up no longer feeling so dead. Yeah my forehead still was hurting and my throat was dry but now I can move my limbs and open my eyes. Blinking away my hazy sight, I focused on the girl in front of me, who was sitting on a stool, flipping through a textbook with a frown. I frowned at the sight, lifting my head to get a better look at the girl.

"Who the hell are you?" I rasped with my throat and mouth insanely dry.

The girl snapped her head up to my words. She wordlessly reached over to brush careful fingers over my bandaged forehead, assessing the damage behind it. I watched her with confusion.

What's going on? Where am I? who is this? And where the hell is Mc?

I noticed my surroundings. I was in a tiny single bedroom, the room completely engorged in plants and the color blue. Every item in this room was either blue or white.

"You must be confused. Right?" The girl hummed, pulling away from me and sitting back down on the stool she handed me a glass of warm water from off the bedside table and a couple of painkillers. I didn't reply to her instead I nodded in agreement before chugging down the water and pills.

"I and my husband found you and your girlfriend under our car." She said with her tone more questioning than certain. I frowned a little more.

Under a car? Girlfriend? What the hell is going on?

"You were bleeding pretty badly and your girlfriend was crying, saying that some guys were trying to hurt you. She told us they were running after you with baseball bats and you took a hit from one." The girl explained, her eyes widening a little in awe. "She tried to hide you two under our car which can I say is an awesome idea." She smiled.

I stayed silent, trying to process the vague memory of being hit over the head by that outdated thug. I remembered the hazy figure of Mc holding my hand under the car whilst muffling her cries. I stiffened at the sudden memory recall.

"At first we thought you were bad people and we were gonna call the police." My head shot up at the girl's words. My wound was ringing with pain at the sudden harsh movement. "But we thought you needed medical treatment first so we took you to our apartment. Your girlfriend was hesitant about taking you to a hospital." She explained, pausing for a second before suddenly gasping loudly.

"Oh! I'm Hayley and my husband is the doctor."

I looked around the room exhausted, blatantly disregarding the girl's introduction. My eyes searched for Mc instead.

"Where's the girl who was with me?"

"Your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend." I snapped my gaze at the girl.

"She's not? Oh, that's surprising." She blinked. "I just thought you were because of the state she was in-"

The state she was in? What state? Is she injured?

"Is she hurt?"

"Oh no, look to your side. She's right there." The girl smiled warmly. I followed her instructions and sure enough, she was by my side, sitting on a plastic chair by the bed with her legs tucked into her chest. She was sleeping uncomfortably with her head resting against the cool wall. She was wearing the surgical mask over her face, hiding her identity. Making me breathe out in relief.

The girl wouldn't recognize Mc as the missing girl talked about by every news station in Duskwood. I also noticed the dried blood staining her fingers, crimson embedding itself beneath her manicured nails.

A faint memory emerged in my head. A memory of Mc begging me to wake up, crying incredibly hard whilst shaking my shoulders earnestly in hopes of bringing me back to consciousness. I stared at Mc's sleeping form as the memory of her crying replayed several times in my head.

"Now that we confirmed that you're awake and okay and your girlfriend- excuse me, your friend is okay, shall we run some tests to check your sight?"

"No, that's not necessary," I answered quickly, breaking away from the spell Mc had put me in. "I'm in a rush and I have to leave right now," I stated, pushing away the duvet covers.

"Please stay in bed. Any sudden movement will no doubt make you-"

As soon as I stepped onto the floor, my knees collapsed in, dragging me down back to the bed. I brought my other arm to my head, wincing at the intense pain courting throughout my injured head.

The girl quickly arranged my pillows and duvet around me whilst telling me to take it easy for a couple of hours. I rolled my eyes and completely ignored her warnings. The pain in my forehead was too much for me, I couldn't concentrate on anything she was saying.

Minutes later, Hayley moved toward the door, saying something about letting me rest for an hour and then contacting the police to come to see me.

Like hell, I'm gonna stay long enough for that. I'll leave as soon as the painkillers will start working. I will wake up Mc and leave this birdy place. I turned my head as slowly as possible to see Mc sleeping quietly, chest falling and rising as she was breathing in and out.

Be rational, Jake. There's no way you can move in this condition.

With a loud groan, I tilted my head back to rest on the stacked pillows. I closed my eyes helplessly before groaning again. I felt something stirring by my side.

"JD?" Mc whispered, her voice timid. My eyes flickered open to see the plain white ceiling above me. I turned my head to face her again. Mc hurriedly took an intake of air when my eyes landed on her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, slowly disentangling herself and sitting up in her chair whilst playing with her fingers. For some unknown reason, she refused to meet my gaze. I regarded her silently whilst wondering why is she acting so jittery and weird.

"Yeah, I'm good." I tiredly stated. Mc just nodded blankly.

"Mc." Mc suddenly flinched, causing me to furrow my brows a little. "What the hell are you so freaked out about?" Her eyes widened at my words.

"What?? I'm not freaked out!" She squealed out, her voice breaking halfway. I sighed, looking at her unimpressed.

"Mc, just tell me, or I will-"

"It's about the man you-"

"Killed?" I raised an eyebrow when Mc stiffened as if it was not the thing she was freaked out about the most.

"What? Are you scared of me now?" I questioned, cocking my head and chuckling humourlessly. She didn't reply, instead, she was playing with her fingers nervously. I sat up slightly whilst never breaking eye contact with Mc. I leaned forward the slightest bit in her direction.

"It was either us or him. I chose him. Would you have rather been the one dead?" I questioned her genuinely, rummaging through my pockets to look for something. Mc said nothing, just watched me with unease. She hates me now. I'm sure of that. I ignored the lump forming in my throat.

"Whatever, I don't care what you think of me." I lied to her again. I shrugged my shoulders, bringing out a crumpled packet of cigarettes from my back jeans pocket and a lighter. Lighting up my cigarette and placed the thin tube between my lips, breathing in the relaxing fumes through my mouth. I reluctantly pulled the cigarette away to spew white clouds from my lips

Mc looked away from me and towards the door, looking longingly at the door with her big eyes. I lifted my eyes from the cigarette to see Mc lowering her head, fidgeting with her blood-stained hands.

Whilst smoking, I reveled in the worried expression imprinted on her face. I feel bad. I feel so fucking upset and annoyed by my actions. Lex was right. My plan was so fucked up. But there's no turning back, right? Either way, I will end up seeing her leave me.

I sighed silently breathing in and out the cigarette's toxic ingredients. Fuck what do I do to make her feel less uncomfortable?

"Mc, let's play that game of yours," I said abruptly, breaking the awkward stony silence. Mc suddenly looked up at me with glazed eyes.

"What game?"

"That game where you ask a shit ton of questions and want answers."

"Oh."

"I will ask then. What's your favorite song? Or genre?" I asked randomly, whilst questioning my actions.

What are you doing, Jake? You're supposed to let her go not attract her closer.

"I have a lot of favorite songs. But right now a-at this moment, I like put it on me by matt." She gulped, looking down and avoiding eye contact with me."What about you?"

I thought for a second before answering. "I like any kind of song. But if we're talking about picking one then. I'd choose renegade by Aaryan." She nodded in agreement.

"Do you have a pet?" She asked with her tone still timid.

"No," I answered bluntly, looking at her. "What about you?"

"Me too, but I hope in the future I will able to adopt a puppy." She smiled a little. I felt less bad the more Mc smiled and relaxed in my presence. I was glad to see her perfect smile.

"Do you do sports?"

Mc wrinkled her nose a little at my question. "I'm not made for sports. I feel like I'd get scared by the ball bunching up to my face. What about you?"

"I do boxing. I think you could've guessed so." I shrugged, unknowingly flexing my fighting skills. She nodded, averting her gaze from me.

"Red or yellow?"

"Red all the way."

She hummed in agreement as she was playing with her fingers.

"Summer, winter, autumn, or spring?"

"I like summer the most. Because you can spend a lot of time at the beach and do the most things in summer." Mc beamed acting less uneasy by the passing second. I marveled at how easy it was to make her relax and smile in my presence. Although how the hell did we go from talking about dead bodies to which season is our favorite? I cleared my throat.

"I like spring. The weather's not too cold, not too hot, and-"

Mc focus.

Whilst Jake answered my question. I stared at him. I felt angry, very angry but he managed to calm me down. But the truth is I want to find out why is he doing all of this. Two can play his wicked game. I can pretend to not know who he is. But now when the truth is finally revealed I can't help but melt every time he looks at me. The way he talks to me. He was right in front of me. And everything did make sense after everything that happened. Yet I still had one question unanswered.

"Mc?"

"Huh?"

"It's your turn to ask a question," Jake mumbled, stubbing out his lit cigarette on his cigarette packet before effortlessly throwing the bent tube into a dustbin nearby.

Just ask him, Mc. Don't be a pussy.

"Are you and Lex dating?" I asked, fearing his answer. What if he will say yes? I gulped my saliva, looking up to see Jake watching me with the risen eyebrow. I felt unease filling my body again.

Fuck, that was so weird of you, Mc. He doesn't know that you know about his identity.

"Lex and I aren't dating, where did you get that idea from?" He finally asked, frowning.

Of course, he said ye- wait they're not... dating?

"I saw you two, last night though," I mumbled before internally dying all over again. If he said they aren't dating, then they're not. Maybe they're friends who just like to kiss?? Why are you digging into so much? Yes, Jake confessed to you and you did too. But you two didn't make it official. Jake frowned for a second longer before raising an eyebrow again.

"Oh. She mistook me for my brother. They used to date. She was drunk and out of her senses. We're not together. We're just friends." Jake repeated, clarifying my thoughts once again.

"Why did you ask?" He added, causing me to bristle slightly.

"I was just curious." I speedily answered. Jake regarded me for a split second before looking away, busying himself with pushing his lighter and cigarettes back into his pocket.

"We're not together."

They're not together?

They're not together!

Lex was drunk! Of course, why didn't I think about that before? That's why Jake looked so uncomfortable. Everything makes sense now.

"Oh." I breathed out, something that'd previously cracked, refixed itself inside of my chest.

"Why do you look like you just hit the lottery?" Jake bluntly asked, picking at the lint sticking to the duvet, bored.

"What?"

"What?" Jake blinked slowly, looking at me.

"Nothing," I said hurriedly.

"I said-"

Both I and Jake turned our heads to face the door when soft footsteps approached behind it. I heard Hayley talking on the phone as she was approaching the room.

"Mc, there's chloroform and cloth in my backpack. Front pocket." Jake murmured in a hushed tone whilst staring at the bedroom door, waiting for Hayley to open the door and walk in.

"Oh, that's cool," I mumbled, still fazed by the whole Lex was drunk and accidentally kissed Jake's deal.

"Mc," Jake warned, looking purposefully at me. I slowly blinked, feeling the realization hitting in.

"You want to knock her out? Can't we just say thanks and leave? That girl has done so much for us!" I gasped quietly. Why the hell does he want to knock everyone out? I need to figure out what's going on in his head for him to change this way.

"Hey, would you rather if I pulled out the gun?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"Okay, okay," I mumbled, warily eyeing Jake's backpack sitting at the side of the bed. I leaned over and unzipped the front pocket, revealing a small blue-tinted bottle and a dry cloth just before the girl walked in.

"Tip some of it on the cloth and wait for her to have her back on you and then put it to her mouth and nose," Jake whispered whilst Hayley walked in, carrying her textbook and going to the closet, huffing.

"Wait, what?" I breathed, alarmed, "You want me to do it?"

"Yes, Mc. Now shut up." Jake hissed as Hayley turned round to face him.

"You feeling better now? Hopefully, the painkillers are starting to work."

"Yeah," Jake murmured.

"Great, I will just check you up." Hayley moved toward Jake's side. Her back was turned to me when she was bending down to check Jake's wound. She was completely unaware of me looking stuck behind her, holding a damp cloth in my hand. Jake caught my eyes and motioned for me to do it.

I mouthed "Do I really have to do it?" He just nodded solemnly. I furrowed my brows and stood up. Maybe I stood up a little too quickly because I managed to knock the plastic chair over, causing Hayley to turn around to look at me with big eyes.

"Oh oops, Sorry." I laughed sheepishly, ignoring the way Jake was glaring at me from over her shoulder. "Please, continue." The girl laughed and nodded, turning away. I took a deep breath to relax my body. Fuck if it wasn't Jake I would've run back to my friends.

"It's okay, I do that all the time. I'm clumsy." She hummed, looking at Jake.

"Oh really? Haha." I laughed uncertainly. "Me too. Uh, thank you for everything you've done, by the way. I'm truly thankful." I started, feeling the guilt eating me alive.

"No worries. I'm glad that I could be of help." She replied professionally as she prodded Jake.

"You've helped us out so much and I'm so sorry to do this." Hayley suddenly turned around with confusion written all over her face.

"What? What do you mea-"

I winced and suddenly slapped the wet cloth over her mouth and nose, making sure to fill her airways with the chemically stained cloth. Immediately, an angered girl subconsciously took a sharp breath, inhaling the fumes that render her unconscious a mere few seconds later. Her eyes closed slowly, and she dropped to the floor. My mouth dropped at her body which had fallen to the floor with a small thud.

"Oh, my god."

"Well done, Mc." Jake hummed dryly. "Pass me my bag, and let's leave this shithole-"

"Oh my god, I killed her!" I whisper shouted, dropping to my knees and staring at the unconscious girl.

"Oh, for fucks sake," Jake muttered, pushing himself off the bed. He gritted his teeth when he bent down to pick his backpack up. "She's not dead, it's chloroform remember? She's gonna be awake in half an hour." Jake scoffed.

"Oh," I mumbled, looking at the girl and then at Jake. "Okay then," I replied uncertainly.

"Come on, Mc." Jake sighed, dragging me to his feet and making me stumble towards the door. "We have to leave now." He pushed the door open and stepped into a nice simple and small living room. He walked us to the door and unlocked the door carefully, we walked outside the apartment. Jake and I passed through the yard without attracting any unwanted attention. Or so we thought.

"Hey, what are you doing outside our yard? Aren't you meant to be at the hospital by now?" A man in his thirties yelled.

"For fuck sake," Jake grunted, dashing away from the yard and running away in the opposite direction of the man. I noticed Jake struggling as I was holding his hand. Still holding his hand, I looked around for help whilst trying to regain a normal breathing rate.

My eyes landed on an unlocked bike leaning up against the red brick wall of their house. It was one of those bikes which you can use to bunk people with or tie items too. I let go of Jake's hand, reached for the bicycle, and slipped myself onto the bicycle seat. With a grin on my face, I turned to Jake.

"Jake!" The pained Jake looked up with a grimace on his face, to see me balancing on a bike, with a grin on display. "Climb on!" I beamed, ringing the bell. Jake looked over his shoulder to look at the man. He gazed at me again and shook his head in disbelief, climbing onto the carrier. Back to back with me.

He should be lucky that I found out about him being Jake or else he'd had to struggle on his own. There was a radio taped to the front of the bike with several strips of black duct tape, hanging securely in place. I switched on the radio with a grin and turned up the volume of some song before starting to pedal, propelling the bike forward and away from the angry man.

Jake sitting on the carrier with his backpack in his hands, waved his fingers mockingly at the man, who seemed to slow down upon seeing the two of us cycling away on someone's bicycle with a radio.

I was pedaling casually into a park of some sort, humming along to the recognizable lyrics blurting out from the radio whilst enjoying the sun's warm rays beating down on my bare arms.

My posture was relaxed. The weather was way too nice to have a frown etched into your features, so I was smiling to myself, cycling down the park, enjoying the calm ride.

Lex and Jake aren't dating.

The thought slid into my mind again for the millionth time and I smiled harder each time, my cheeks were tinting pink this time. Get yourself together, Mc. He can't suspect you of knowing the truth or else you will not find the truth behind his actions.

Despite my commandeering thoughts, the smile didn't drop from my face as I was cycling harder the pure joy inside of me propelling me to go further down the dirt path and ride over the small bumps in the ground with Jake behind me on the carrier, groaning quietly at my sudden speed

"Fucking hell, Mc. Are you trying to kill me?" I just laughed in response.

After cycling for a few more minutes, I started slowing down minute by minute. I felt my limbs hurting after cycling so fast.

"Mc, stop the bike."

"What?" I asked confused, swerving the bike to the side of the road, and pulling the brakes to stop I looked at Iake hopping off the carrier and walking around to me, motioning for me to get off. All sweaty, I weakly climbed off, reluctantly letting Jake sit on the seat before rounding the back to sit tiredly on the carrier. Jake started to pedal in silence.

"Where are we going?" I breathed out, still trying to regain my breath.

"Did you eat anything?" He suddenly questioned, ignoring my question as he was pedaling calmly down the road.

"No." I groaned when my stomach whined in protest at that very second.

"Then we're going somewhere to grab food."

Jake focus.

A while later, Mc was sitting with legs crossed on a bench. She dug a frail plastic spoon into the small tub of melting mangoes flavor ice cream I had bought from the nearest supermarket.

She lifted a big scoop of mangoes flavor cream to her mouth and frowned when the immense amount of ice cream collided with her teeth.

I tried to ignore her and instead I used my phone whilst distractedly digging a plastic fork into the ice cream sitting between us on the bench. They had no more spoons and gave me a damn plastic fork. I furrowed my brows with concentration, fiddling with my phone and hurriedly typing out a message one-handedly I pressed the 'send?' button and switched my phone off.

Swallowing the spoonful I managed to scoop and looked out at the scenery before my eyes, with the stolen bike lying on the ground by our feet. We were on a bench, staring out at a river whilst eating into a tub of mangoes ice cream with shitty plastic cutlery. The river in front of us was mesmerizing.

The water seemed rocky today. The river calmed the painful tension residing in my stiff shoulders and head. Feeling the sun against my cheeks and loving the sound of the sea rushing to meet my ears.

I was feeling good for once. I tilted my head back slightly, noticing Mc hunched over in her seat with her hand pressed against her mouth. She was struggling to contain all the ice cream sitting in her mouth. Her eyebrows were drawn together, clearly distressed at the trouble she was facing. I stopped eating my ice cream, staring at her behavior.

"What the fuck, Mc."

"Too cold." Mc managed to whine before forcing herself to swallow the ice cream. Suddenly she lowered her head to her knees and dug her fingers into her skull, clutching her head.

"What now?" I asked exasperated but slightly amused.

"Brain freeze." She groaned, massaging her head.

"Eat slowly. It's not a race." I scolded with an amused smile. She's so damn stupid but so damn pretty and genuine. I recalled the moments when we used to chat, trying to find Hannah but not forgetting to have mini little chats too.

I smiled remembering us dancing in the cold rain or her writing a sincere sorry note for stealing someone's motorcycle, and for some reason, crying for me when I was injured. I didn't deserve her tears.

I shook off my thoughts, watching her shovel more ice cream into her parted mouth. My eyes zoned into Mc's hand which she was holding the spoon. They were still colored deep red at the fingertips, blood now dried and peeling. The guilt washed over all the happy memories and I quickly looked away.

"You should wash your hands, Mc."

She looked down at her hands at my words. In the corner of my eyes, I noticed her body turning rigid at the sight.

"Y-yeah. I should." She swallowed, placing her spoon in the tub. She looked out at the sea, with her shaky hands fisting and resting on her lap. A heavy silence settled between us. But a second later, I cleared my throat to break the silence.

"Mc," Mc quickly looked up alerted. "Why did you stay with me when I was unconscious? You could've left or asked that girl to help you contact the police. Why didn't you?" I asked quietly, staring at the river. It took a few seconds for her to answer.

"Because you were hurt. I can't just leave you unconscious and run away." She mumbled, nudging the ground's gravel with the tip of her boot. "You know Jake once said to never run away from problems and to face them head-on, and...I just needed to help you out." She shrugged. Fuck me and my mouth for teaching her things. Now they're turning against me.

I stayed silent, avoiding eye contact with her. Mc, on the other hand, was looking right at me and smiled softly.

"I think I will go wash my hands now. Wanna come with me?" She hummed, although she was the one who asked yet she didn't wait and wandered down to the edge of the river. I watched her bending down onto her haunches and running her fingertips over the water.

Her facial expression? Unreadable, since her back was facing me. I already knew that Mc was smiling but still wanted to see it with my own eyes. I heaved myself up from my seat and walked closer to her, stopping just a few meters back and watching her run her hands through the river waters.

"Woah, The water's so warm!" Mc exclaimed, noticing my presence behind her. She turned to smile blindingly, with a wide grin on display. I couldn't help but flash a smile back at her before dropping it quickly, stunned at my reaction.

Jake. Get a grip on yourself.

Mc focus.

I didn't fail to spot it. Did Jake really smile at me just then? I blinked surprised and turned around to face the river water, blushing a little. Dragging my fingers through warm water. A tiny voice in the back of my head spoke up again.

'Make him smile again. It looks good on his face, and suits him better than that frown.'

I agreed with myself looking down at the water swirling by my hand. I smiled before curling my palm, gathering a little liquid in my palm, and lifting it. Turning around slowly with a grin, I flung the small amount of water at an unsuspecting Jake who fiddled with his water bottle, splashing him right on the cheek.

Jake was splattered with incredulity because of the water in his mouth. I laughed cupping my cheeks and watching the scene unfurl before me.

"What the fuck was that for?" A pissed Jake questioned with water dripping from his nose and chin as he was glaring at me. I laughed again just much louder now.

"You should smile sometimes, rEd eYe." I mockingly said in between bouts of laughter. I didn't realize that Jake walked closer to me until I heard a near crunch of gravel underfoot. I stopped laughing immediately, noticing him standing above me with a wicked smile on his face.

"When I said smile, I didn't mean smile in an im-gonna-kill-you way," I mumbled uneasily, shuffling away on my haunches. Jake bent down at the same time and was still smiling scarily, keeping eye contact with me. He suddenly reached his empty water bottle under water and lifted it back up threateningly.

"Shit-" I cursed, catching on and widening my eyes I hurriedly climbed back to my feet, turning around and running away on the sand, close by to the edge of the river.

"You can't do that, that's unfair!"

"Life is unfair, Mc!" Jake called out from behind me with laughter in his voice. I laughed hearing Jake's boots hitting the sand close behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Jake running to catch up with me with a full water bottle in hand, dripping, and a cute grin on his face as he was chasing me down the river.

I nearly swooned at the sight of such an adorable smile. But I can't do that not when I'm racing from a life-or-death situation. So I looked forward and pushed myself to run faster down the river. Just a minute later I staggeringly stopped, bending over and wheezing whilst pleading for Jake's mercy with a smile on my face.

Jake was looking like a starved tiger closing in on a particularly tasty-looking prey, he slowly crowded me with a wide victorious smile.

"Mc, you asked for this," He said simply, grabbing my wrist before lifting the full bottle to my head and swiftly flipping its contents over my hair. I squealed, trying to get out of Jake's hold but it was futile. Jake didn't let go until the water bottle was empty and my upper half was thoroughly drenched. Jake was laughing hard at my state when he pulled away.

I could be any emotion right now. But at this moment I felt awe instead. Awe at how indescribably cute Jake's laugh was

God, there goes my heart. Fuck.

Jake focus.

The sudden blare of the phone ringtone sounds broke my and Mc's conjoined laughter. With a grin on my face, I swiped at the screen, answering the device.

It was Nymos.

Still laughing slightly, I brought my phone to my ear. "Yeah, Nym?"

"Fucking Jake you idiot. I checked the CCTV of one the clubs and guess who had caught sight of you firing a gun at someone? And fucking right now I received CCTV shots of you killing some low-status gang leader. What the fuck you up to?"

The laughter slowly drained from me once I heard Nymo's angry voice.

"Nym, I can explain-"

"Tell me later, not on the phone. Just know that I've covered your ass and you owe me a huge one." Nymos grunted. "Just let her go as soon as possible. I don't want to go into hiding just because you keep fucking up things because of her." He muttered, abruptly cutting the call. Leaving me stony-faced and irritated with my actions.

I sighed, sliding my phone back into my jacket pocket, and looked up to see a still-smiling Mc. She was wringing her now see-through shirt out.

"Mc, we gotta go. Move." I ordered bluntly, any remnants of the laughter and smile disappeared into thin air. I marched onward, feeling her reluctantly following along.

"Did something happen?" She asked, padding after me.

"No. We're just taking too long. We have to get moving." I replied with a tone devoid of any telltale feelings.

Mc focus.

We were having so much fun. What happened? I silently questioned Jake's back as he was walking back up to our stolen bicycle.

With my shirt still damp and not able to dry from the disappearing sun rays, I shivered in the cool air of the evening, rubbing my palms up and down my upper arms, trying to cause some friction to warm myself up.

I wandered after a marching Jake who peddled ahead, one hand on the bicycle steering it, the other casually slipping into his front jeans pocket. I stared at Jake's broad back, leather jacket fitting snugly, and his baseball cap tugged low to hide his face.

His features was giving a sort of mysterious vibe to him. Suddenly Jake looked over his shoulder, catching me off guard. He looked unimpressed as he stilled his movements and waited for me to catch up, tapping his foot against the concrete. I hurriedly jogged to meet up with him.

"Sorry." I breathed out, standing beside him. Jake stayed silently and started moving. I turned to see him slipping off the jacket and holding it out in my direction. I blinked in confusion. Is he giving me his jacket?

"Are you gonna take it or not?" Jake questioned. I took it quickly before he could make any other comment, and placed it carefully over my shoulders. Immediately I felt a familiar whiff of faint cologne and mint cigarettes. The only scent that calmed me down.

Suddenly feeling a lot bubblier, I smiled at Jake who was already starting to walk again, oblivious to the way I look at him with a happy smile on my face. As the sun set down. I walked alongside Jake in comfortable silence.

Night followed and we found a room at a dingy motel. A building that doesn't get many visitors and due to this fact the nice owners of the motel lowered their price and allowed us to take the largest room.

It was a pretty grotty place. Dents litter the pale pink walls and the carpet beneath our feet was rough and scratchy. Nevertheless, I felt grateful for the owner's kindness. I entered the room with a plastic bag of pot noodles swinging in my hand. Jake followed in after me, grappling with a few cans of sprite, trying not to shake them too much.

Fifteen minutes later, after silently snacking on noodles and downing cans of cool sprite whilst watching old cartoons on the dusty television, I was ready to get into bed. I rustled under the stiff bed covers, trying to get comfortable with the scratchy sheets rubbing against my arms whilst Jake made his bed on a grubby couch,

Once he finished, Jake turned around and cleaned up the mess we had made when we were eating dinner. I looked at the white ceiling whilst Jake brushed his teeth in the tiny bathroom. I turned onto my side to face a grotty wall full of scratches, hearing the sound of water running from the bathroom, hitting the ceramic sink loudly. I listened to the sound and slowly drifted to sleep.

I was back at the car park.

But this time the car park is in complete disuse. No one car was parked, and no black jeep or vehicle was in sight. I was standing all alone in the middle of a large abandoned car park.

Through the darkness, I peered all around me, trying to find someone. Jake, my friends, Lex, or anyone.

"Jake, where are you?" I called out, spinning around on the balls of my feet, looking everywhere around and trying to find someone recognizable.

"There's no one here," I whispered under my breath, fear wracking through my body as I stopped spinning, coming to a standstill as the thought settled into my head. I spoke too soon.

"Kill me!" Someone called out behind me. I turned around sharply to see the dead thug looking not so dead, kneeling on the ground in front of me. His stained teeth were on display in a wide grin.

"Please kill me!" He cried, mockingly. I clutched on my shirt, looking at him feeling my body freezing at the spot.

"You killed me before. Kill me again. Come on, Mc. Kill me. It was so easy, wasn't it?"

I gasped, stumbling back in pure fear when the man climbed to his feet, swaying dangerously close to my body. The man grinned at my reaction.

"I-I didn't kill y-you." I stuttered, stepping back with unsteady feet.

"But you did, Mc. You let Jake kill me and you didn't say a word, you just looked away!" The thug exclaimed hysterically, taking a step forward in my direction. "You even forgot about me so easily!"

"I didn't want you to die but you were gonna kill us-" Before I could finish my sentence, I turned on my heels and ran as fast as I could away from the now-screaming thug. I wiped my tears, pulling my shirt sleeve away to see small bloody streaks staining white.

I stopped running abruptly when I noticed the streams moving. I watched the way the thin streak of blood run up my sleeve, to my shoulder, and down to my chest. Stopping exactly where Jake had shot the bullet into the thug's chest. I gasped in fear, looking up from my shirt to see Jake standing a good meter away with a gun in his outstretched hand, aimed directly at my chest with that cute smile that I adored on his face...

I woke up, feeling tears running down my face, my heartbeat was rapid. My hair stuck to my forehead with sweat, and my clothes were damped. I quickly looked down at my shirt sleeve to see no streams of blood staining it.

It was just a dream. Just a dream. I chanted inside my head. No dead person is coming to haunt you. It was just a dream.

I tried to calm my insane breathing rate, looking around the room. I was in the now dimly lit motel room with Jake near me, sleeping soundly on the couch. I run a shaky hand through my sticky hair. Just a crazy dream. Nothing's wrong.

Who am I kidding? Everything's wrong. I let Jake kill that guy.

The hand running through my hair comes to a stop at my fringe. I gripped my fringe tightly in between my fingers and tugged hard, frustrated. You need to come back to reality, Mc. You need to tell your friends you're alive. You need to tell them to stop the reports. Because you're safe. Jake wouldn't do that to me, he would never hurt me. He went to the mine instead of me. He would never fire a bullet at me, right?

The last thought stopped me from tugging my hair, I dropped my hand listlessly to my lap and looked over at Jake who was sleeping with his back turned to him.

I need to tell them about Jake.

I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand and gingerly slid out of bed, climbing out of the sweat-stained sheets and I walked towards a sleeping Jake.

I gulped hard, rounding the couch and standing over a shirtless Jake. I darted my gaze around any spot Jake might have stored the key. I spotted something glinting under his pillows. Maybe the room's key?

With my breath caught in the back of my throat, I outstretched my arm carefully flattening a shaky palm against Jake's cool cheek. Biting my lower lip, I gently pushed his head slightly to the side.

I tried to reach the glinting object, moving as quietly as possible. But before I could reach for the key under the pillow, a hand enclosed around my wrist, tugging me hard forwards, onto Jake's chest. I squealed with panic. I tried to push myself off but Jake who seemed to have woken up held my wrist tightly and effortlessly flipped himself around so I was on the couch beneath him with my hands pinned above my head, completely defenseless.

I struggled under his body, trying hard not to cry in front of him because of the nightmare. But tears stung my eyes and before I knew it, hot tears were streaming down the corners of my eyes once again, sliding down my cheeks.

"Trying to escape?" What looks like disappointment flickered on Jake's face for a split second, but then it was hurriedly replaced by stony anger. He glared down at me with a dark gaze. His grip tightened around my wrists.

"Here I was, thinking that maybe you decided to stop the damn escape attempts but no. You're still adamant about leaving right?" Jake growled, glaring down at me.

"You waited this long to make me feel less tense and then decided to leave that was your plan right?"

I shook my head, crying too hard to answer him properly. My struggling turned slack, knowing it was futile to resist. Between cries, I managed to gasp out.

"No, you were going to kill me! You were going to kill me like you killed that guy!" I sobbed, looking at him blurry. "You did it in my dream and now you're gonna do it in real life!" I sobbed out, closing my eyes tightly.

Jake focus.

"Mc, I'm not going to kill yo-"

"You're a liar!" Mc yelled, suddenly catching me off guard.

"I'm. Not. Lying." I breathed, punctuating my words and lowering my head closer to a frightened Mc. "I am just trying to figure out something." I gritted out.

"You're still the world's biggest liar! You told me we'd stick together but you're just gonna dump me off the second you get a chance to!" She screamed, her cheeks turning scarlet. I stiffened at the words 'stick together' she remembered that?

Mc seemed to have felt my stiffening as she looked at me, narrowing her wet eyes with tears still streaming down her face.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, JD."

I stared at her, this was a completely different side of Mc. A side I'd never seen before. I didn't know how to deal with it. She said something about a bad dream, right?

When Nymos used to have bad dreams, you used to grab ahold of him and not let him go until he stopped crying and calmed down. So, what? Cuddle her until her fears go away? Forget it, Jake. She hates you.

I sighed, loosening my grip on Mc's wrists and pulling her upward at the same time as I shuffled back onto the couch. I hauled a shivering Mc up and firmly seated her on my lap, curling an arm around her waist and hesitantly placing my other hand on the lower back of her head with my fingers interlacing with her hair.

I swallowed hard, holding onto Mc's body firmly when she started to struggle out of my hold, crying hard again. Mc slapped my biceps, whacking me with her clenched fists. She yelled accusations, crying uncontrollably. I silently endured her assaults and held her close, waiting for the storm swirling inside her to cool.

A couple of minutes later, Mc slumped her head against my shoulder and let her arms limply fall to her sides. Her loud cries turned to sniffs and the previous quietness of the room was slightly restored.

"Have you calmed down now?" I ventured out. A few seconds passed before Mc whispered out almost inaudibly.

"You can't- you can't do this. You're not allowed to do this to me."

"I know," I murmured into Mc's hair, "But you wouldn't have calmed down and stopped screaming if I haven't done it," I muttered, patting the small Mc's back awkwardly, trying to maintain her calmness. She didn't say anything, just rested her forehead on my arm.

"Mc, listen to me, okay? I promise I'm not gonna hurt you. So get the idea of me shooting you dead out of your head. It's not happening."

"And as for that promise of sticking together. I promise to stick together with you until it's necessary for one of us to part ways. Until then, let's try not to kill each other and escape, hm?" I hummed, casually placing my chin over her head. I can't let her go and I was sure about it after whatever just happened.

Mc raised her hand to her cheeks and messily wiped the tears, mumbling a soft

"Yeah."

"Now, about this dream. Do you wanna talk about it?"

I was sitting on the stained couch with Mc burrowing into my side and sleeping. She softly murmured in her sleep, with my now numb hand enclosed around her waist. She'd fallen asleep after murmuring sentences describing her nightmare. Sentences I couldn't quite catch but knew it was something about the dead thug and me killing her. I didn't think much about it. It's natural to feel fucking scared and have nightmares after seeing a murder take place before your eyes.

When Mc was crying about me killing her and breaking our promise. I felt hurt. I felt betrayed when she wanted to leave and I felt like pure shit when she cried into my shoulder.

I fell in love with her from the moment I saw the real her. The courageous girl who never gave up. Even when everyone treated her like a suspect she stayed to help them. It was dumb of me to think of this plan of letting go of her. But now there's no turning back. Not when Richy's is out there, seeking for Mc. He wanted her. He wanted Mc to come into the mine and burn together with him. He was crazy obsessed with her, not because she tried to save Hannah but because he was smitten and I will not allow anything bad to happen to her when he was out there somewhere with my ex.

#duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood mc #jake x mc #mc and jake #duskwood family #duskwood fandom #duskwood fanfiction

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babeczka415 · 2 years

Text

The End - one shot

MC POV

After two longs years being with Jake and helping him get free things don’t feel right. We act like everything is okay but I feel like I’m making a fool out of myself lately. There have been a lot of fights and even with the distance.

I ended up flying out to Colsville to surprise him and I knocked on his apartment and a girl answered.

“Hello” she says confused.

“Sorry I must have the wrong apartment. My friend must of moved recently.” I say with my heart breaking knowing the truth.

I hear from behind the door Jake’s voice “your coffee is ready, love” as the girl shuts the door.

I stay stable and walk to the elevator. I wait for it open and I head someone come out of one of the apartments. I try and not look back not wanting to see if it’s Jake. As the elevator door opens I feel someone grab my hand and spin me around and I see Jake. I lose it and break down looking into this his blue eyes that don’t have that love I use to see looking back at me.

“MC please let’s talk” he says

I can’t say anything as i bolt into the elevator “you stay” i manage out between the tears as I make the door close. I fall to the floor and my phone goes off and I see it’s Jake. I toss it in my bag and it breaks my heart.

I knew this was coming, he became distance but I didn’t want to believe it. I walk out and get into the rental car and my phone keeps going off and it’s Jake.

I answer after the 10th call since I told him to stay “Jake I don’t want ot hear it! You made a fool out of me!” I say hanging up not letting him say a word.

I pick up my phone and call Jessy, i know she moved to paris after we managed to find Hannah but I know she comes to visit so I’m hoping that when i told her I was coming here that she was coming.

“Hey girl everything okay? I know you said you just got into Colville today” she says as she answers the phone.

“Jessy” i say bawling my eyes out unable to get out anything more.

“MC what is wrong do i need to get Dan on this chat?” she ask

“No Dan. He’s just going to tell me ‘I told you so’.... I came out here to surprise Jake and try and rekindle because we haven’t seen eachother in 6 months and’ i start having a panic attack.

“Calm down, i just landed coming to Duskwood as well. Send me your location and i’ll come get you in a cab and we can go get coffee”

I send her my location “Jessy….. Its over between me and him and there is nothing to fix anymore’ i say crying again

“I’ll be there right away. Once i get out of the cab i’ll call you again, stay there please.” she says concerned.

We hang up the phone and I lean my head back and close my eyes. I get startled by someone knocking on my window and I open my eyes and see Jake. He has a cup of coffee in his hand and i see the sadness in his eyes. My window is cracked so i don’t get too hot waiting for Jessy

‘MC can we talk please, i brought you coffee” he says trying to do that smile that melts my heart and he knows it.

“Jake I need some time. I flew out here to try and fix things with you. Only to knock on your door and have another girl answer it.” I say turning on the car and shutting the window as I put the music on and the song “Flower” By Lauren Spencer Smith plays and I just start balling my eyes again.

Jake tries to open my door but its locked and my phone goes off.

“I’m in the parking garage, first floor, red BMW. Heads up he’s standing outside my driver door” i say as i answer wiping the tears away from my eyes.

“Oh he better leave before i lose it on him!” she yells into the phone and I can tell she’s angry.

All of a sudden, i see Jake get pushed back from the car by a female and i notice the red hair. I can’t help but laugh because that’s my best friend.

“Dan and I warned you what would happen Jake!” she angrily yells in his face. “You thought we were joking but I already told Dan what she told me! How the hell could you cheat on her when all she wanted was to be with you!?”

She goes to open the back doordoor and realizes it locked. I undo it knowing he’s not going to try anything and i was wrong. As jessy is putting her luggage in the backseat with mine, he opens the drivers door and crouchs down so he’s at my level. I turn my head away from him in pure disgust of him.

“MC, please we need to talk about this” he says, starting to reach out but stops.

“Just leave her alone, she doesn’t want to even look at you, Jake” says Jessy as I climb into the passager seat in the front seat unable to drive at this moment and just wanting away from him.

“Jessica, just let her tell me this herself.” he says

“I told you fucking stay! I walked away from you crying because it’s over. You hurt me Jake and I can’t keep doing this.” i say looking into his eyes as i start crying again but so flustered with myself and him for not seeing the signs before this trip.

He stands up “fine but i eventually do want to talk to you about everything’ he says as he steps away from the car.

Jessy gets in the car and i get out. I look at Jessy, give me a few moments I need to say some things to him” i say walking around the front of the car and away from it and he follows me.

He leans against the wall and reaches for my hand but I cross my arms. “I need to say something and then I’m walking away before i say or do something I regret right now” I say with tears still in my eyes.

“Okay, i understand.” he says and i see the hurt in his eyes.

“I helped you become a free man from running.” as tears run down my face. “You took me over to your house to meet your family, even your MOM! You introduce me to them, saying that you’d marry me. Then you looked me in the eyes after we left and say ‘It was just a joke’. You kiss me and I’d smile, did you even know? When you’d say that kind of thing, I’d be excited. You got me hoping one day you would mean it.” as i feel my heart rate increase. “I always thought I’d only make a fool of someone else. Now you have only gone and made me make one of myself. We’d fight and you'd send flowers but i guess they aren’t just used for big apologies.” my hands start to shake. “I guess I should’ve been more conscious of how you spoke to me, trying to control me. When we would fight you’d give me space and not communicate and for a while I thought that’s what i should appreciate.” Blaming myself for not seeing this sooner. “Maybe I was holding onto what I thought you were, but when you think too hard, eventually it starts to hurt. The version of you in my head, now I know it wasn’t true. Young people fall for the wrong people, I guess my one was you.” as I say this I walk away. Not giving Jake a chance to say anything as I get back in the car and Jessy pulls out and i see him in the side mirror standing there watching the car leave.

Jakes POV:

There is a knock on the door, I have the girl i had over open it as I’m making coffee. I hear MC’s voice and I panic as she just says she was looking for her friend but I know she means me. I lose all focus and say “your coffee is ready, love.”

She shuts the door and comes up to me wrapping her arms around me. “Who was at the door?” I ask knowing the answer.

“Some girl looking for her friend. I thought you lived here for a bit?” she asks, confused.

‘Yeah, her friend must have lived here before me. But give me a moment I’m going to go see if I can help her.” I say pushing her away and throwing on my sneakers and a black shirt. I open my door and look down at the elevator and see MC standing there fidgeting. I can tell she’s upset but trying to stay focused, she was always good at that and I loved that about her.

I walk up to her and just as the door opens I reach out and grab her. She freezes and I spin her around. I see the tears in her eyes as she looks into my eyes. The love look is gone like the last time I looked into those brown eyes and this time all I see is hate towads me even through the tears.

“MC, please let’s talk”. I say wanting to hold her but knowing I caused those tears.

She doesn’t say anything but gets loose from my hand and bolts into the elevator “you stay” she manges to say as she makes the door close.

I freeze, unsure what is going to happen. I bolt back in and grab a cup of coffee that I made for myself throwing on a lid to keep it from spilling as a bolt down back out the door.

I hear the girl in my apartment say “what’s going on Jake?”

“Please leave, I don’t want anyone when I come back” I say annoyed with myself for causing this hurt to MC when I promised her two years ago I would never leave her.

I finally get to the parking garage. I’m on the top floor and I don’t see her. I start looking through all the cars, looking for someone in the front seat that’s crying. I finally get to the first floor and I see a red BMW. I know what her car taste is like when she’s renting and that is 100% it. I walk up and I see her head tilt back and her eyes close. She isn’t crying but I just know, the window is cracked open so I gently knock on the window. I see her jump and it breaks my heart knowing she doesn’t trust me anymore.

‘MC, can we talk please, I brought you coffee’ I say, showing her the coffee cup as I take the lid off. Knowing that coffee always won her heart over.

“Jake, I need some time. I flew out here to try and fix things with you. Only to knock on your door and have another girl answer it.” she says as she starts the car putting the window up and I see the tears flowing again.

I try and open her door because I just want to comfort her but she doesn’t let me and I see her answer her phone. I have no idea who shes talking too but I have a feeling. I should leave but I can’t leave her. We need to talk, I wish I had open that door instead of that girl then we would of been able to.

I’m so focused on MC I don’t even see someone come up and push me back until it’s too late and I spill the coffee on me. I’m so focused on MC and the hot coffee spilt on me, I see Jessica angry yelling at me but I can’t even hear what she’s saying but I know she isn’t happy with how things went with MC and me. Honestly, I can’t blame her and I know she told Dan. I’m waiting for those threats from him, nothing I’m not used to after two years with MC. I know I messed up a good thing because it’s who I am. I can’t keep a good thing in my life for long before I purposely mess things up and that’s exactly what I did here.

I see Jessica open the back door and I take it as the door is unlocked. I open the driver side door where MC is and crouch down to her level. I go to reach for her but after everything I stop myself. “MC, please we need to talk about this” I say, wanting to comfort her.

“Just leave her alone, she doesn’t want to even look at you, Jake” says Jessy as MC climbs into the passenger seat in the front seat.

“Jessica, just let her tell me this herself.” I says angrily at her for always butting in.

“I told you fucking stay! I walked away from you crying because it’s over. You hurt me Jake and I can’t keep doing this.” MC say, looking into my eyes and starts crying again.

I stand up “fine but I eventually do want to talk to you about everything’ as I steps away from the car. I’m so angry with myself for not knowing she was coming here. Honestly, I haven’t been giving her the attention she deserves because I feel she deserves better than me.

Jessy gets in the car and MC gets out. I can tell MC is saying something to Jessica but I can’t hear her. She walks in front of the car and looks at me. I follow her away from the car and lean against the wall. I reach my hand out for her but she pulls away and crosses her arms.

“I need to say something and then I’m walking away before I say or do something I regret right now” She says with tears still in my eyes.

“Okay, I understand.”I say and try to hide my emotions because I did this to her but seeing her crying just breaks my heart and I’ve lost the best thing that ever happened to me. I just know it.

“I helped you become a free man from running.” as tears run down her face. “You took me over to your house to meet your family, even your MOM! You introduce me to them, saying that you’d marry me. Then you looked me in the eyes after we left and said ‘It was just a joke’. You kiss me and I’d smile, did you even know? When you’d say that kind of thing, I’d be excited. You got me hoping one day you would mean it.” as she fidgets and I know her heart is racing.. “I always thought I’d only make a fool of someone else. Now you have only gone and made me make one of myself. We’d fight and youd send flowers but i guess they aren’t just used for big apologies.” her hands start to shake. “I guess I should’ve been more conscious of how you spoke to me, trying to control me. When we would fight you’d give me space and not ocmmunicate and for a while I thought that’s what i should appreciate. Maybe I was holding onto what I thought you were, but when you think too hard, eventually it starts to hurt. The version of you in my head, now I know it wasn’t ture. Young people fall for the wrong people, I guess my one was you.” as she says this I walk away.

“I’m sorry for everything, MC. You deserve better” I say unsure if she even heard me as she walks away and gets in the car. I watch them leave and I see MC’s face in the side mirror and my heart breaks. Once they are out of sight I push the brick wall behind me as I see the girl from last night come walking out to the elevator.

“I won’t be coming back” she says as she walks past me. I don’t say anything to her because she already figured out it was more than what MC mentioned.

I head back into my apartment and pull out my phone. I open the messages but knowing she’s not going to check them right now and I can’t blame her.

Jake: MC, I’m sorry for everything. You deserve better than this. I know for the last year I haven’t been the best and you kept trying to fix things between us and I just pushed you away. Please just know you will always hold a space in my heart but I did fall in love with you and I hate that I broke you like this.

I hit send, unsure if she even blocked me until it shows she’s online. I see her typing and then nothing and she goes offline again.

“I will always love you, MC” I say to myself as I throw the coffee cup I still have across the apartment.

#duskwood #duskwoodlover #duskwood fanfiction #fanfic #writing #mc x jake #oneshot #duskwood fandom #duskwood mc #duskwood jake #fanfics #jake x mc #i love jake

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duskwoodgirl4life · 1 year

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I'd love a comforting Richy's oneshot ;)

Hi :)

Thank you so much for your request I had a lot of fun writing this oneshot I hope you enjoy read it as much as I did writing it.

Are you really a monster? after what you did…

I guess I kind of knew but I didn't want to believe it, it was Richy all along he's the one that's done all this. He's the one that's caused all this pain, he's the one that faked his own death right in front of my eyes. I have all these emotions swirling around in my head. I can't think straight. What has Richy done? He's caused so much pain and hurt the tears start to escape my eyes, my vision starting to blur. With my back against the wall I slide down hitting the cold hard floor. My mind went back to the fire and it kept replaying over and over again in my head. The tears started to fall thick and fast. I could no longer control my emotions. Have I really lost the love of my life? The man that came into my life asking me to help find his sister. Why is life so fucking unfair why couldn't it of been Richy that burned in that fire why did he have to be saved? Why is he allowed to live?

A few weeks had passed and I decided to drive to duskwood and meet with the group. I hadn't told them that Richy had sent me a visitation order. It took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do. I was still so angry with him for everything that he's done to me and the others. I could feel the anger rising up inside me. My grip on the steering wheel was turning my hands red. I hated Richy for everything. I couldn't find any way to forgive him. I don't think I ever can. There is just no going back from what he's done. After a few more hours of driving I reached the motel I booked into. I checked in and dumped my bags down in the room. It was pretty basic but it would suffice. After grabbing a shower and changing I grabbed my keys and visitation order and headed for the prison.

Everything inside me was telling me to turn around and not see him but I needed to go and hear why he wanted to see me. When I arrive at the prison, the walls around the prison are so high with barbed wire running along the tops of the walls. Walking towards the reception desk my hands start to feel clammy. My heart is racing like mad. What am I doing? Why the hell am I doing this? I take a moment to refocus and hand over my visitation order. The officer tells me to take everything out of my pockets and hand my bag over for inspection. I do as the officer says and hand my bag over and take my phone out of my pocket. A female officer comes over and runs a black metal scanner over my body.

She looks up at me and smiles "you are clear to go through, take this you will need it to get your things back once you are finished" she hands me a piece of paper with a number written on it. I thank her and move towards the visiting room. There are a few other people waiting in front of me waiting to go in and see their loved ones. Me on the other hand I was not waiting to go see a loved one I was waiting to go see the man that destroyed everything in my life. Not to mention what he's done to the group he's torn their life's apart and there is no fixing that. One of the officers opens the door for us to go in. I get shown to a seat and sit down. Leading on the table in front of me I start to feel the panic and frustration rise up inside of me.

I take a few deep breaths in and out and manage to calm myself down, just as I start to calm down the door on the other side of the room opens and prisoners spill out of the door all happy and excited to see their loved ones. I look up and see Richy walking towards me. He's wearing blue jeans and a grey jumper. He looked like he hadn't slept since he got here. As he got closer my heart started to beat really fast it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. I couldn't bring myself to look at him as he sat down. I felt all the pain and hurt inside me coming to the surface. "Hi MC, thank you for coming to see me" I looked up at him, seeing his face right in front of me. Before I knew what I was doing I slapped him right across the face so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

One of the officers came over to ask if everything was okay, "it's fine no need for any fuss" Richy managed to send the officer away without any fuss. "I hate you Richy, I've never hated someone as much as you. How could you do that to us? Why did you make all those phone calls to me?" By this point the rage was rising in me and I couldn't stop it. "I'm so sorry MC I never meant to hurt you it wasn't all my fault I told you the reason why I did what I did to Hannah". Did he really just sit there and tell me it wasn't all his fault. "It is all your fault Richy you are to blame for everything that's happened. You are the one that set that fire and made me lose the love of my life. You are the one that's destroyed everything in my life. I hate you" the rage was at boiling point now and I launched myself at Richy and started to attack him.

I punched,slapped and kicked him as hard as I could before the officers came over and tried to pull me off him. "You deserve to rot here I never want to see you ever again" Richy looked at me with a sad expression on his face. "Please don't go MC, I never meant to hurt you please come back" I stopped at the door and turned around and walked back over to Richy. "You are nothing but a scumbag who's ripped apart his friends' lives and destroyed everything around them. You're nothing but a monster" I turned on my heels and rushed out of the room the tears started to flow. All I wanted to do was go home. I didn't want to stay here for another second.

As soon as I got back to the motel I picked up my bags and headed for the door, throwing everything in the back seat of the car I got in and put the key in to start the car. I calm myself down and think about going to see the others. I made a promise that I would meet up with them and intend to keep that promise. I wasn't going to let Richy ruin something else in my life.

A week later Richy sent me yet another order to go and see him. I wasn't going to go but I needed to get some kind of closure on what had happened. I wasn't ready to forgive him. I doubt I even could so I made my way back to the prison and did everything I did last time. I sat waiting for Richy to appear. A few moments later he sat down in front of me. "Thank you for coming MC" I looked at him. He looked even worse than the last time but I did attack him. "Why did you want to see me again? Don't you think you have caused enough damage in my life"

"I really am sorry for everything I should have just come to you and told you the truth, maybe things wouldn't have gotten as far as they did" was he really trying to look for sympathy after what he's done? "I can't forgive you Richy, I guess a part of me kind of wants to. I don't know" I saw the smile on his face for the first time. I felt like my walls were starting to break down around me. "I haven't told the others I've come to see you again, I guess we have a lot to work out"

We both sat and talked for an hour until it was time to go, I kept up the visits each time I would bring some stuff for Richy. He knew I could never forgive him for what happened with Jake. He knew he had messed up. He told me he would spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it.

6 months later I decided to move to duskwood Jessy helped me find an apartment not far from her. I spoke to my boss about working from home. It was a blessing that I was allowed to. I've been in my new place a couple weeks, I kept up my visits with Richy, we actually started to work through things and we were starting to become friends.

I closed my laptop after finishing work for the day, my thoughts drifting back to him. Was he even still alive? Had he really been killed in the fire. I go and grab the bottle of whiskey from the cupboard. Sitting down on the sofa looking out of the window I let all my emotions out. I really missed Jake. I didn't even know what he looked like and yet my heart aches for him to be with me.

I don't know how much time has passed. I could see the sun starting to come up. I had been in the same spot all night. I got knocked out of my thoughts by a knock at the door. I couldn't face anyone right now so I just ignored the knocking. Whoever it was at the door they weren't going away anytime soon so I pulled myself up off the sofa and went to answer the door. I was completely taken back by the figure standing in front of me. I somehow managed to move to one side and allowed him to come inside. "Is it really you? I thought I'd lost you in the fire" tears still rolling down my cheeks not knowing if this was real or just a dream. "It's really me MC"

I run towards Jake and wrap my arms around him, not letting go for a single second.

#duskwood #everbyte game #duskwood jake #iamjake #richy x mc #duskwood richy #everbyte studio #duskwood hacker #duskwood jake x mc #i love you jake #jake x mc #he loves me #i love you

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black-cat-2 · 10 months

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People, I made a thing :]

Okay, truth be told, I already made it for a while now but that’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that I want to give more people the opportunity to notice it, given that not everyone has Wattpad…

Anyway, here ya go! Enjoy and maybe even tell me whatcha think ^^

#everbyte duskwood #duskwood jake #duskwood jake x mc #duskwood #duskwood fanfiction #jake duskwood #jake x mc #duskwood everbyte

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lyon-amore · 6 days

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𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓸𝓷 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓴𝓲𝓼𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓙𝓪𝓴𝓮, 𝓙𝓮𝓼𝓼𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓔𝓻𝓲𝓬

Recreation of how I imagine my MCs' first kiss with them, and how I imagine their reactions could be.

𝓙𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓮

There's not much to say, right? Neither of them need to talk before the moment, their looks and silence say it all, They have wanted that moment for a long time and feel as if they are the only ones on the planet.

Who kisses whom first? They don't know, because they're going at the same pace, they launched themselves at the same time. And they can't stop now. They need each other's lips.

Restless hands searching and caressing the other's skin beneath their clothes, proving that what is happening is real, It is not their imagination at all and they can feel the warm skin.

They only separate when they begin to notice the lack of air, otherwise they would continue without problems. And even without speaking, they want to continue enjoying that silence until they can continue and slowly explore their bodies.

𝓙𝓮𝓼𝓼𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓹𝓱𝓪𝓷

She is the one waiting for Stephan to make the first move. How long does she have to wait? He wants to do it, but how? Nerves are overwhelming him and he hears his heart beating very fast.

Then he tells himself that he's had enough of delaying and decides to finally kiss her.

He places his hands on Jessy's cheeks, moving closer slowly, but she wraps her arms around his neck and launches herself at his lips. Stephan is surprised, but decides to continue, placing his hands on her waist, holding her tightly as he pulls her towards him. Jessy lets out a surprised sound, not expecting it to be so intense in the end. But she's finally happy that they've taken the step.

When they finish kissing, they let out a happy laugh that makes their expressions seem to light up everything around them.

𝓔𝓻𝓲𝓬 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓒𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓪

A few minutes earlier they had been talking about music and now they were too close without realizing it.

Clearly, the tension is noticeable.

He would gently caress her face and she would close her eyes, letting out a sigh. She would hear a few soft words from Eric "Can I kiss you?", he knows she is a shy girl, so he doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable. Carla would be surprised by those words and how worried he is about her. She would nod, noticing how her heart beats fast.

It would be a slow and careful kiss, where she would grab onto anything, controlling what she had been dreaming of for a long time.

Eric would be smiling during the kiss, while he caresses her hand to calm her tension, thus interlacing their fingers.

After the kiss, she would be the one who dared to give him the second one, with extreme happiness of feeling loved by him. He would be surprised by that change, but he would not reject her, letting her take the reins of her desire.

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miss-celestia13 · 1 year

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Silver and Gold

Fluffy JakexMC One Shot

Words: 1.8k

On Friday, I posted Jake and MCs first real date. And after that date, they spent the night together. But I left it to the imagination as I planned to write the scene at some point. That point was today. I can’t hold onto anything to save my life, so with the fear of you getting sick of the sight of me, here it is.

Super soft, fluffy, and sweet smut. It is not explicit or graphic. The focus is on emotions and love, all the things Jake thinks and feels. It’s very different to my usual kind. I wanted to try my hand at the softer side. It’s more akin to a weird poem than smut, to be honest🤭❤️

The date that led to this - Sweeter Than Fiction

Jake

He never saw the end of the movie. Finally relaxed and settled in his own skin, they’d camped on her old, worn couch and watched some 80s horror movie. But she was very distracting. She was a warm weight pressed against his side, her head on his shoulder and hand curled into his shirt, twisting and clenching during tense or dire moments. When she looked up to gauge his reaction, his face heating as she caught him staring, he didn’t question the urge and kissed her before he could second guess it. Her little hum of contentment made him smile into it. Something akin to anticipation was heavy on her tongue as she surged up and pressed closer, her hands glided through his hair.

This kiss was different. He could sense it like a current in the air, thrumming quietly under the beat of his heart. It was leading somewhere, and he was very aware of it as a tingling sensation trickled down his spine, and he was warm all over like he’d been dipped into a hot bath. Soft breaths were shared between two lungs; the air she gave him was sweeter than any honey. Lust and passion were two different things, and he understood why now. Lust was a flimsy, impermanent, and hard-to-control thing. What was left once the lust burned away? But passion was felt to the marrow. It was a want, no, a need to love and give love in return, to feel and declare that love without words. Lust you could walk away from. But he could never walk away from this, from her.

She parted from his lips with a breathless little murmur and looked at him through hooded eyes, trust flashing in their depths as she said, “We can just go to bed, Jake. Say the words, and we’ll go to sleep.”

His chest was tight, and the nerves he thought would be present were decidedly quiet, allowing him to choose for himself for a change. He shook his head, “No, I don’t want to sleep.”

He didn’t see her grin, but he tasted it briefly as she kissed him once and got to her feet, hand held out for him to take. Sliding his hand into hers, Jake rose to his feet and let her lead the way to her bedroom. His racing heartbeat set the pace of their feet like the heavy drumming of rain beating on a window, and he thought it would deafen him if it kept going. In her room, he shut the door behind him and watched as she backed away smiling, her fingers trailing out of his to fall at her side. The dark of the room eased him enough to stride to her, lift his hands, and rest them atop her shoulders. He turned her around and gathered her hair in hand, smoothing it over her shoulder so it wouldn’t get caught in her zipper. A tremor ran through his hands as he slowly, painstakingly drew that zipper down, the sound almost violent in the silent room, and trailed a line down her bared spine with the tip of his finger to make her shiver as the dress slithered down her arms to pool at her feet.

Drawing a deep breath, he swallowed hard and shook his head, unsure how to proceed until he shut off his brain and listened to his instinct. It had not forgotten how to do this, and neither had he. He unfastened the clasp of her bra, letting it fall to the floor to rest with her dress as she turned around and swiftly began undoing the buttons to his shirt, peppering each inch of newly bared skin with butterfly kisses. Cataloging what made her sigh and what made her tense, repeating the things that made her twitch impatiently. It took longer to undress than he remembered. They couldn’t stop touching and tasting, memorizing each new part unveiled with lips and fingers. Soon, all that stood between them was hesitation, and he was all done with that.

He cupped her face in both hands, seeing a spark catch quick and hot in her eyes before his mouth was on hers. Her arms wound around his waist, pressing flush against him; she made a slight sound of impatience that made him smile as he backed her up to the bed. Heat glittered through him as she broke away with a sly smirk and fluidly draped herself on the bed. No shame or fear marked her beloved face as she spread dimpled thighs and beckoned him over. Silver glimmered and gilded her body, soft peaks and valleys illuminated by strands of finespun moonlight seeping through the cracks in the blinds, the shadow filling in where the light couldn’t reach. And it was all for him. The thought was almost enough to knock him over.

Blanketing her body with his, he stopped worrying about doing things right and started doing what they needed. Heat, glorious heat, was a song in his blood, and he had never heard it’s like. Electricity zinged through his veins as he coaxed gentle moans and murmured sweet nothings that made her grasp at his shoulders. All he could do was hold on as she pulled him inside her body and locked her legs around his waist, overwhelmed and utterly entranced at how perfectly she fit him and he her. Each caress ignited a storm of sensation, heat, want, and love and an incandescent glow brought forth by the scrape of her nails down his back.

Love might be a flame, but he burned brighter than wildfire as she came alive under his touch. Shifting, sweat-slick bodies, moving and tangling together and clinging desperately, every touch and reaction a question and an answer he hadn’t known was missing. Skin to skin, sharing all of himself as she gave all of her in return, trusting each other with the parts of themselves they hid from everyone else, and he couldn’t look away from her eyes. Seeing everything he felt reflected back in that cherished gaze and the words they’d only said in a message spilled free of his teeth.

“I love you, all of you. Tell me what you need, and I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you everything. I want to make you happy.”

She arched as he moved within her, sealing his words with a starving kiss as she shuddered beneath him. He could feel her desire and how deeply his words affected her with every shift of her hips or soothing touch of her hands on his back. When he let her breathe, she wasn’t content to let him believe even for a second that he couldn’t make her happy.

“You already do. Every day. I just need you…I love you too.”

“You have me. You always did.”

More silver lined her wonderful eyes; he felt like he could sink inside and drown in them as she pulled him down to drink from his mouth. Time had long been his enemy; he never seemed to have enough of it, and when he did, he could never trust it. Not now. Time didn’t matter; it spooled out endlessly like someone unraveled a skein of wool, and every languorous movement seemed to last an eternity as he committed the feel and taste of her to memory. Pleasure cascaded through him, electrifying, and beautiful as it burned away the last of his doubts and filled him with unwavering gratitude for making it through hell to experience heaven. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so deeply moved by another person, like part of him had shifted irrevocably, and now she had made a home there. He never wanted her out.

Gasping airy breaths, clutching hands, and shaking legs, they fell together. Not with a scream or shout. But with a whisper of relief and joy that echoed in his ears long after it faded. Her soft purrs and contented hums as he buried his face in her neck to anchor himself with the fragrance of her skin were all he wanted to hear from her. His scent had blended with hers, a perfume of musk and salt, sweet and spicy, that he drew into his lungs to steady his pounding heart. He could feel every beat of hers, as wild and frantic as his, and smiled as he counted them to calm himself. He didn’t know what to say when he finally lifted his head, roused by her carding her hands through his hair. His tongue felt heavy and useless, but she shook her head before he could get annoyed with himself.

“Shh. No brooding. Not tonight. Just hold me until I sleep.” She whispered, smoothing the crease between his brows away with the pad of her thumb.

Nodding as she unlocked her legs around his hips, he rolled onto his back, dragging her with him and settling her over his chest. Her leg crossed his thigh, and she flung her arm around his waist as she nuzzled into his shoulder. Unable to stop himself, he lifted her chin with his index finger and kissed her so gently she trembled. She was like a rainstorm contained in human skin, and his house of cards had tumbled down the moment she arrived in his life. Shaking him out of a false life and bringing him into a true one. Neither had known then what they’d come to mean to each other, but he’d always known she was different. No one had ever held him so enthralled before her, and now he was glad of her obstinate refusal to let him run the show on his terms. Hated it at the time, but he saw how empty he had been then. Now, he was so full of her and the life they wanted to create together that there was no space for emptiness.

As she fell asleep, he thanked whatever force had guided her to him and promised to never take her for granted. She was it for him. He hadn’t even been looking for her and wouldn’t have known what to look for if he tried, but he was grateful all the same. Humans were fashioned for love. He thought himself immune to or above it. But he was still human no matter how hard he tried to switch it off, and it was both a gift and a curse to know love. For once it’s gone, how did one go on? But if it stayed… that was even more frightening to think of, but it excited him more.

He couldn’t wait to see what became of them as they grew older and their love with them. It already felt impossible to contain. The future only looked golden to him as sleep lured him under, and his last thought wasn’t one of frustration or disappointment. He’d felt it for a while but now knew it to be true. He found his home. Home wasn’t a place; it was her, and he silently vowed to always protect it as he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! And if you like, comment or reblog, thank you for that too. I appreciate it more than you know. I hope you enjoyed your time reading my wordy attempt at a softer smut scene 🥰❤️

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withjake-blog · 1 year

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After the battle

Hey hey hey ! I AM SOOO HAPPY to come back here for a new story about our favorite duskwood couple I named : Jaaaake annnd Mccc(me). The story that you're gonna read takes place after Richy and Jessy phone each other in the tunnels.

There will only be 2 points of view. The first is mine. I don't know if I would do other chapters of this one, this story is mostly about what I would have done I was in the game. Good ! We can start I think :)

Genre : Romance, violence, mystery

Warning : spoil ep 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mc pov :

It happened too fast. It shouldn't have happened. Why? Why did he do that? We could have talked about finding a solution. I had forgiven him!

The only thing left was the fire. I can't leave my phone. A solution, I needed a solution. I have to go see them.

But you made a promise.

But they need me! I was desperately looking for a bag in my vast apartment. Shit. Shit. Shit !

-Where is it ! I scream

A bark made my head spin. It was Whisky my dog, he has my travel bag in his mouth.

-Good boy !

I run to take the bare necessities and I take the first ticket for Duskwood. Only six hours away, okay. I'm sorry Jake, but I have to do it. I take Whisky with me and I grab my phone.

-Here we go my baby.

Jake pov :

I am stuck. Between one of the tunnel exits, the river and two agents. Okay Jake, think twice. If they catch me I'm finished.

And you made a promise

Yes. Well I have to attract one to me to knock him out. It will give me more chances to go into the water and go through the forest. But if I do that my hardware will be damaged.

Ok. So we improvise.

I took a stone to throw it towards one of them, he turned around and came towards me. It was dark, so I was able to go behind him and nudge him behind the head, without making a sound I took off his uniform and put it on. His colleague who was talking on the phone doesn't pay attention to me. Quad I was far enough I started running in the forest even if I didn't know where I was going. Behind me I heard dogs barking. Shit ! I ran even faster but I heard it getting closer and closer to me fortunately I fell on a road and I stopped one of the cars passing by to get into it.

-Get started !

The person who was driving rushes towards the city and luckily for me, the agents had probably lost me in the forest. I took a moment to breathe but when I turned my head I saw a familiar face staring at me like I was a ghost. Wait a minute?

-Dan !

-But who the fuck are you?! He shouted

-And why did you jump in my car ? said a female voice to me

-Cleo ? I say shocked

What a crazy coincidence

-How do you know our name ? Who are you ? she ask me

I take the hood off my hoodie so they can see my face.

-My name is Jake. I say seriously

Cleo braked suddenly and Dan put his hands on his head.

-Jake ?! they both screamed

-We don't have much time for presentation, i need you to get me away from here.

-Ok

-Was it really Richy ? Dan ask me

-What are you talking about ?

-Jessy... Jessy was crying before we left for Duskwood, she said it was him and then she locked herself in a room. Cleo answers me

-So that was him... He is the one who started all this, but how? And why ?

-We don't know more than you. As usual it is Mc who has the answers to our questions. But she answers none of our calls and messages. Dan tells me

Mc... I hope she don't do what I think she wants to do.

Mc pov

Five hours after Jake escaped.

One more hour until I get to Duskwood. I was on a bus after taking a train, Whiskey was sleeping next to me, but I couldn't. I kept crying thinking about Richy and Jessy. I thought that after I found Hannah, everything would be easier. But it only got worse. I didn't even know what to do when I arrived.

The bus stopped at the penultimate stop, Moonvale. I think I'll go see Alan Bloomgate first like I promised him if he was going to save Hannah.

-Everyone get off, last stop Duskwood !

-Come on come Whisky, we've arrived.

Yeah it was short ;) I wrote it just for fun and because I missed Jake...

#duskwood family #mc x jake #jake donfort #everbyte game #duskwood spoilers #mc duskwood #duskwood community #iamjake #everbyte #duskwood incorrect quotes

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raykayrei · 2 years

Text

I'm working on a little side project at the moment (writing some new fanfiction, of course), but I just finished Duskwood EP 10 so I wanted to share the prompt I wrote a few minutes ago. Feel free to write about it if you're interested.

—

Your phone vibrates, indicating a notification. An unknown number sent a message request. You unlock your phone, fingers already tapping on the three dots to block the number until their profile picture catches your eye.

Thomas: Hello?

Thomas: Are you there?

A record scratch.

Thomas: …Hello?

You: Is this some kind of sick joke?

[MC has played Duskwood, beginning to end, male and female, sick of mini-games, and tired of college. Suddenly, Duskwood isn’t a game anymore.]

#duskwood #duskwood everbyte #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood mc #fanfiction #everbyte game

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hiramaris · 1 year

Text

Dusk til Dawn

Part 12

Summary: Following Episode 9. And spoilers for Episode 10.

Author’s note: As Episode 10 is just released I just want to say heads up for those who are not yet finished. Completing the game without spoilers really made a difference, and as much as possible I want everyone to experience that. And for those finished, I’ll gladly welcome you to my domain where MC took a different route.

Disclaimer: I do not own Duskwood or any of the related characters. Duskwood is created by and owned by Everbyte Studio. This fanfiction is intended for entertainment only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of the original Duskwood story belong to Everbyte Studio.

Warning: Mentions of blood, suicide, violence, pedophiles, drugs, gun, murder, sex offenders, kidnapping

GIF on GIFER - by Tadal

Minutes had turned into an hour. And still, no news from either you or Jake.

Jessy couldn't contain her anxiety any longer. Pacing back and forth, she gnawed at her lower lip, a sense of unease gnawing at her. The last update you have given was when you went down from the shaft. You already told them the reception there is pretty unstable, and the more you go deeper into the cave, the less reliable it will be.

They waited, every second feeling like an eternity, and her worry grew with each passing moment.

A knot of dread tightened in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"Jessy," Cleo called her from her seat, her voice laced with concern. "Sit down. You're making us all nervous."

Jessy's frustration was evident as she flailed her hands in frustration or anger— she doesn't even know at this point!

"It's been an hour, Cleo! I can't just sit and calm down!"

"I understand, but we can't do anything else right now, can we?"

Normally, Cleo would have used this to clash opinions with her but this time, her voice was soothing, trying to bring reason to the situation, and yet Jessy doesn't have the right mind to notice that right now.

"Y/n/n and Jake are a capable duo," Lilly stood up to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure the reception is just pretty bad down there."

Jessy can see Lilly's own worry in her eyes but surprisingly, the usual short-tempered youngest Donfort is keeping it together now, and Jessy envies her for it.

Because her emotions are a whirlwind right now, caught between utter fear and uncertainty.

"I—" Her words caught as her phone suddenly rang, its familiar ringtone breaking the tense atmosphere. She glanced at the screen, her eyebrows furrowing at the unknown contact number flashing before her eyes. She had been expecting your call, not this.

"It's an unknown number..." She showed the others, her anxiety growing even more.

Thomas, who had been glued to the stream since your departure, stood up as well, his nerves evident. "Do you think it's the culprit?" His voice was shaky.

"Should I answer it...?" Jessy's bottom lip quivered as she tried to maintain her composure.

"I... hic think you s-should." Dan slurred, now fully drunk. He's been downing his whiskey since you left. Knowing him, he's probably trying to wash his fear down with alcohol but is too stubborn to admit he's scared for your safety as well.

Cleo's disapproval was evident as she shook her head at Dan's state before turning her attention to Jessy. "Yes, that would be ideal."

"Put it on speaker," Lilly suggested.

With trembling hands, Jessy tapped the answer button, her breath catching in her throat. "H-hello..?"

"Is this Miss Jessica Hawkins?" A brisk and unfamiliar female voice echoed through the cabin from the other end of the line.

"Uhm, yes. This is her speaking. Uh... may I ask who you are?"

"I am Agent Hartmann. One of Chief L/n's subordinates. I have news for you."

****

Jake cursed softly, and even his own voice felt unfamiliar to him. He tried to open his eyes, blinking against the harsh light, he struggled to make sense of his surroundings. The world around him became a swirl of disjointed colors and muffled sounds. His head throbbed relentlessly, each beat sending shockwaves of pain through his skull. The taste of copper filled his mouth, a metallic tang that seemed to cling to his senses.

He tried to lift a hand to his head but found that he was unable to move his arms, and he found himself not understanding why. His thoughts were fragments, fractured pieces that refused to come together. It was as if his mind was trapped in a haze, a foggy labyrinth that he couldn't navigate.

Whispers and voices reached his ears, but they were garbled, and distorted. The world seemed to sway and tilt with every attempt to focus. He fought to push through the fog that had settled in his mind, each moment a battle against the overwhelming weight of dizziness.

A hand reached out to him, a blurry figure emerging from the haze. Their words were distant, lost in the echo chamber of his mind. He tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat, a jumble of syllables that refused to form coherent sentences.

Fear gnawed at him, an instinctual realization that something was seriously wrong. He fought against the pull of unconsciousness, desperate to hold onto some semblance of awareness. But the darkness loomed, threatening to engulf him in its embrace once more.

He could only understand one thing coming from the figure. Their voice is cold and menacing as they whispered, "Sweet dreams."

Then, once more, everything dissolved into blackness.

****

Fuck this shit.

You had let your guard down and now you're paying the price.

You've been trying to budge from your restraints for what seemed like forever. Your wrists are starting to grow itchy as you struggle against the restraints that bound your wrists. It probably has rashes by now but you didn't have the presence of mind to worry about that.

You also find it hard to break through your restraints as you have suffered a huge concussion in the head. The bloodied baseball beside you and the now dried blood that streaked down the side of your face and over your left eye serves that reminder.

Beside you, Hannah lay unconscious, a small sense of relief washing over you as you noted the lack of visible injuries.

In front of you is a laptop on a fragile-looking table on the verge of collapsing. You have a perfect visual of what's playing and then realize it was the stream from earlier.

And it seemed to be... looped?

Because how the hell is Hannah still there with Richy when she's beside you all this time?

Fuck. This is indeed a trap. The video was merely a trap for you to get here and you bit it!

You scanned your surrounding once again, searching for anything sharp that could cut through the ropes binding you. But the room is spotted clean from any weapon, and you're sure the culprit— no, Ted had stripped you from your weapons.

"Of all the damn luck," you muttered to yourself. Irritation bubbled up within you. When was the last time you let yourself get caught by a criminal? You couldn't even remember and yet here you are, tied inside an abandoned mine like a scene from a cliché kidnapping movie that would never hit the big screen.

You needed to find a way to get both of you out of this situation – and fast.

Your thoughts raced, a mixture of irritation and anger swirling within you. How had you missed such a significant piece of information? The mere thought of Ted sent your blood boiling, and you cursed under your breath.

Then a bitter realization hit you.

"Maybe because it seemed insignificant at that time," you muttered aloud, a self-directed comment born of frustration. The letter Lilly found had seemed legitimate because Hannah herself had supposedly sent it. However, the memory of the sticky note with "missing signature" written on it suddenly made sense. The Department of Corrections had returned Hannah's letter due to the absence of a signature on her request— a detail you had initially overlooked.

Your mind pieced the puzzle together in real time. The culprit had forged the letter to create an alibi for Ted. With him supposedly in prison, he would be exempted from suspicion. But he hadn't been able to replicate Hannah's signature, leading to the "missing signature" note. In which it should have been a huge red flag if only you had noticed.

Jessy even started to question you about that credibility. Because out of all your findings, Ted Madruga being in prison have the weakest foundation.

Your mind flickered back to the conversation you had with Jessy about her findings.

"Ted must have stolen the file." She assumed. "Because it would have incriminated him!"

You hummed thoughtfully, a hint of skepticism in your voice, "possible, but Ted's in prison."

"He is?" she questioned. "How sure are you about that?"

You paused. You haven't really thought about it that often. Back then, you were satisfied with Jake's findings about him. Plus, Lilly has already traced him all the way to prison.

“Based from what we gathered, we know he’s in prison,” you answered truthfully. “But right now, I’m not so sure.”

But you're sure it got to mean something. If Hannah ran over Jennifer using the AMC Gremlin that Ted owns, will that be the reason he's in prison? And the reason she tried to contact him is to admit the crime she did.

"Maybe he just sent someone else to steal the file for him?" You were snapped from your silent stupor when she spoke again. And then she added, voice cracking for a bit, "Y/n... is this why Richy has to die?"

Fuck, just what the hell were you thinking? How could you have overlooked that one simple fact?

"You shouldn't have come here, Y/n," a voice you recognized all too well shattered your thoughts, sending a surge of panic through your veins.

"Wha—" Your gaze shot up, eyes widening in disbelief. "Richy?! oh, man, I'm so glad."

You tried to rise on your feet, which was proven to be a difficult task. Your wrists were tightly restrained behind your back, held together by a rope, making your attempts to free yourself futile.

What you had failed to notice was Richy's look of indifference when he tried to help you stand on your feet. Because all you can think of is everything's going to be okay from here on out. Richy's finally here. You have Hannah with you. If you played your cards right, all four of you can make it out alive.

"I need to get out of these." You said in haste as turned your back to Richy, showing him your wrists. "Have you seen the culprit anywhere?" You began to question.

A tense silence hung in the air after your request. You're not really sure but you can feel the sudden drop of temperature in room. The air felt a little colder, suffocating even.

You waited, hoping for a response, but all that greeted you was the sound of your own labored breathing, and then...

A sharp intake of breath echoed in the room. Suddenly, you felt a chilling touch against the back of your neck—a cold, metallic object pressed firmly against your skin. Your heart pounded in your chest, each beat echoing in your ears like a drum of impending danger.

And then, a distinct click pierced through the silence, sending another jolt of panic coursing through your veins. You knew that sound, recognized it for what it was.

"What..?" You started to question, your voice shaky, the word barely escaping your lips.

"You shouldn't have come here." He repeated, his tone carrying a weight that sent a shiver down your spine. The words, once familiar, now held an unfamiliar edge, a coldness that you couldn't comprehend.

"Richy..?" The name escaped your lips in a mere whisper. You wanted to turn around. See for it yourself but you couldn't. Maybe if you didn't you would delay the inevitable.

But you know to yourself that delaying the inevitable is a luxury you couldn't afford.

So, you steeled yourself to turn. At that moment, you wished you had remained oblivious to the truth unfolding before you.

Because the Richy standing before you was a stranger, a far cry from the person you once knew. Gone were the familiar easy smiles that used to light up his face, gone was the sparkle in his eyes that had been a constant during your time together.

Instead, his face bore the weight of exhaustion, etched with lines that spoke of countless stress. The bags under his eyes revealed sleepless nights and endless worry, while stubble adorned his jawline. His once neatly groomed hair was now tousled and unkempt.

What happened?

If Ted was the real culprit, why the hell is Richy pointing a gun at you? Never mind that was your Glock to begin with.

His gaze bore into you, intense and unrelenting, as if trying to convey a message you couldn't decipher. His eyes were red, the telltale sign of unshed tears, and you realized you were on the verge of the same emotion.

"Why did you have to be here?" His voice trembled, a lump forming in his throat. "He just told you, he won't spare no one!"

You took in the scene, his arm shaking as he held the gun. It was clear he had no experience handling a firearm, yet the cold barrel remained pressed against your forehead. You remained still, not out of fear that he might pull the trigger, but out of the unsettling realization that he might be behind all this madness.

"And I told you," you struggled to maintain your composure, yet your voice was firm with resolve. "I'm not leaving this mine without you and Hannah. I promised Jessy... I promised everyone." I promised myself that I won't let someone die under my watch again.

A flicker of emotion passed through Richy's eyes at the mention of his friends. If you had blinked at the same time, you might have missed it. His gaze wavered for a moment, revealing a hint of conflict beneath the surface.

"You already know how this will end," he continued, his voice faltering as he spoke. "Don't make it even more complicated than it already is."

A lot of questions came crashing into your mind like a harbor wave. Most of them are whys and hows only Richy could answer. Because you still refused to believe that the Richy you know is capable to hurt someone.

To hurt Jessy!

For fuck's sake he was the same guy who tried to calm down Alfie by fixing his toy car. You refuse to believe he's the same guy.

But as you stared at him, it made you question if you really did know him as well as you thought you did.

"There was a moment," he began, his voice wavering with a mix of emotions. "Where you were so incredibly close to the truth. But you were wrong about one thing."

Your brows furrowed, "what do you mean?"

His gaze met yours, and in his eyes, you saw a torment that mirrored your own.

"There weren't just two people involved in the incident back then." A lone tear escaped his right eye, tracing a path down his cheek. "There were three."

There were three.

Those words echoed within you. What is he implying?

Wait.

No.

It can't be.

He can see the realization in your eyes. And you didn't try to hide it.

You tried to open your mouth but no words came out. He must have seen something shift in you as his stance seemed to deflate, the gun he had pointed at you lowered against his side.

And for a moment, the Richy you once know seemed to resurface.

He approached you slowly, a knife in hand that you carefully noted was yours, too. The blade glinted in the dim light, but you held your ground. It was a strange juxtaposition—wary and trust warring within you. Richy could easily betray you in this vulnerable moment, but the foundation of your friendship held strong, and you believed he wouldn't truly harm anyone.

"Ten years ago, Hannah and Amy showed up on my doorstep," his voice quivered as he began to reveal his story. As he speak, you felt the rope behind you loosen, and with a final tug, you were finally able to break free from the restraints as Richy cut them off. "Pine Glade was almost over. It was dark already. They wanted me to drive them to Grimrock because Amy had lost something there. I can't..." he gave a soft, pained chuckle. He turns to free Hannah, too before facing you again. "I can't even remember what it was. I had..."

A low grunt escaped him, and you noticed he was clutching his shoulder. It was the gunshot wound you had inflicted.

"I had been at the festival the whole day so," a slow, shaky breath followed, his laughter masking his pain. "I was drunk, I had a couple of drinks. I said no, but they insisted. They were in a hurry, and they already had made this huge detour to get to me so..." he shrugged. "And I had been driving around our yard a couple of times so I gave them the keys to an old AMC Gremlin— one that should have been scrapped a couple of days later so I thought there's no harm in that, right?" He glanced up at you for a brief moment, seeking understanding in your gaze. "A couple of minutes later they showed up again and I almost didn't recognize the car. In the dark, I could only make out the blood on the windshield. There was also blood on the bumper, and none of them were able to utter a single word."

A heavy pause followed as he seemed to relive that fateful night. You could only listen in stunned silence as he finally confessed to you the truth.

The truth you were seeking from the start.

"So... I thought they must have hit an animal— some deer that jumped in front of the car so I drove them to the spot and there she was... a girl covered in blood," he recounted, his voice trailing off as if the words themselves were too much to bear. "Lifeless."

"Richy..." You reached out, your hand hovering in the air.

"Worthless!" He hissed, more to himself than to you, and you retreated your hand like you were burned. "We buried her in the forest, and we never spoke a word of that again. I..." His voice broke, and his resolve crumbled as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry..."

You can only stare at him. Eyes probably wide in horror. You told yourself you're prepared for whatever truth you'll find. Your work has already desensitized you into swallowing bitter pills with no water.

And this shouldn't be any different.

But what you didn't expect is to find the truth right next to Richy.

"I suspected you're involved in the incident... but I didn't want it to be true," you finally found your voice. You tried clenching your fist to contain your emotions but it felt like it did nothing to soothe you. As you stared at the person you once called your friend, you can only allow him to cry. You wanted to comfort him but you couldn't allow yourself. You're not sure if he deserves it.

You thought you were prepared for the ugly truth. When you found out that Hannah and Amy ran over Jennifer, you thought there couldn't be any worse truth than that.

You thought wrong. This is a bitter pill you didn't realize you have to swallow.

"Why, Richy?" It was supposed to sound accusatory but you're unable to mask the feeling of sadness and confusion you're feeling right now. "How could you hurt our friends? Jessy? She means something to you, is she not?"

"Let me explain, Y/n..." His eyes met yours, and the vulnerability you saw in them almost shattered your resolve.

He looked so broken and lost. At that moment, your emotions got the better of you, something you didn't allow yourself around criminals. But Richy... Richy is your friend. And he is a criminal now. To you, both words seemed to be two foreign concepts akin to water and oil— they never mix.

You couldn't see the man without a face in Richy the same way you can't see Richy in the man without a face.

"I hadn't thought of the accident for a long time." He went on when he noticed your lack of response. "Until Hannah came to the garage one day. Her oil sump was broken because she had driven into a pothole"

"So, at least the thing about the oil sump wasn't a lie," you found yourself retorting, a touch of bitter humor lacing your words.

"No, it wasn't." He managed a weak chuckle, the memories of your previous conversation resurfacing. "I noticed immediately that there was something wrong with her but she didn't want to say what it was. I would have probably just left it at that if I hadn't seen Amy in Hannah's car before she turned into my driveway. That..." He slumped back against the wall, still clutching his side. "That worried me."

"I suppose you weren't in contact with Amy since the accident," you noted, your brow furrowing as the pieces started to fall into place. "Which is why the others thought Hannah didn't know her."

"That's right." He nodded slowly, his gaze distant as he recounted the past. "So, I took a look at Hannah's satnav."

"Just like what Jessy did yesterday."

"Y-yeah... I knew it. I knew she had the skills," he mused, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I bet she can fully handle Roger's garage on her own now." A cough interrupted his words. "Good to know."

"She learned from the best." You tried to smile but you knew you ended up grimacing.

When you imagine meeting them, it wasn't like this. You were supposed to be goofing around with Richy, spreading mischievousness around Duskwood, and causing headaches for Jessy and Cleo.

But none of those happened.

"H-heh, yeah..." he chuckled weakly, his eyes clenching shut from the pain. "The address in the satnav was that of Iris Hanson. And then I knew that my worries were justified. I drove to Amy and she told me everything. Hannah found that bracelet. And then she suddenly saw a figure by the edge of the woods." His voice wavered, the memories still vivid despite the years that had passed.

"So it really was just her imagination?" you asked, lowering yourself to sit at his level.

He shook his head, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "It was Ted. He was keeping a close eye on Hannah, Amy, and me... probably for years. Fuck— I don’t even know… he said he saw us burying the body, and... I didn't know it was him at that time, and I thought it was just Hannah's guilt manifesting in ways only she could see it. But I knew to myself that it was probably time. We had run away from it for long enough. I care about Hannah and I don't want to see her get destroyed more than she already has. Maybe he would only go away if we finally faced our past. But I thought wrong."

"He wanted to make sure none of you forgets..." You thought aloud.

Ted planned all this. He was keeping an eye on all of them which is why he knows showing himself to Hannah first is a vital first step for his plan. Because Hannah is already suffering from depression already, her credibility about seeing him wouldn't be much believable to anyone. But it would suffice to trigger a chain of guilt in all three of them. There's a lingering question in your head, however.

"Why did he have to wait for ten years to make a move? And why..." you pursed your lips at your next words. "Why did he have to make you his accomplice?"

"I don't have any idea, but he was probably gathering evidence and resources for his revenge," Richy groaned, his pain evident. "S-sorry... I— argh got a pretty bad gunshot wound. And my bandages just came off."

Your instinct was to reach out to help, but he waved his hand in dismissal.

"I'm fine." You knew that was a lie. "I didn't know you were an Agent, Y/n. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have messed with you." He let out a soft laugh, wincing slightly. "I thought they said laughter was the best medicine. Well, it doesn't apply to gunshot wounds."

A small, sad smile tugged at your lips. "I've missed your jokes."

"And I didn't think I'd ever be able to joke around with you again, not after what I did to Jessy, to you... and to the others." He tried to sit up straight, wincing at the effort. "I told Amy that maybe it's time to finally turn ourselves in but she didn’t want to hear about it. She said Hannah was only imagining the man without a face and that she just wanted to forget everything. I couldn't convince her. And when I left..."

"Ted decided it's time for her to see him, too." You continued for him.

"Yes... but I think it didn't go the way he planned. Amy killed herself shortly right after a few days. I..." Richy's voice faltered, the weight of his memories pressing down on him.

"You thought it was your fault."

"I thought that I pushed her too far. And that I made her get eaten up with guilt." Richy's voice trembled as he admitted, his fists clenching in frustration. "That time, I have no idea Amy was dead or that she was missing. I think Hannah didn't know as well."

You chewed your lips, deep in thought. "Ted must have gotten Amy's phone and texted Hannah to meet at Michael Hanson's house. It was there that Ted kidnapped Hannah."

"When an unknown number— Jake," he corrected himself, "told us that Hannah was in danger. I immediately sprinted towards her house. And there I met Thomas... but Hannah was nowhere to be found." He took a deep breath, his eyes locked onto yours. "I knew to myself that Jennifer, or whoever Hannah was seeing has decided to finally take back what we owed."

As minutes pass by agonizingly, Richy was able to tell you everything, almost.

He told you that it was just a few hours prior to learning about you, while he was closing up his garage, he suddenly blacked out. When he woke up, he was presented with an unconscious Hannah in a place he was unfamiliar with.

Ted planned to kill him at the same time as Hannah's which was Jennifer's death anniversary but decided not to.

Your sudden presence was an unknown territory to him that's why he decided it will be best to have an eye on the group of people against him in exchange for Hannah's life and the safety of the others. That's why almost all your actions against him were known by Ted, even your lead about the man without a face. His brilliancy to use the legend to point all possible clues to the unknowing father of Jennifer Hanson, and with him being 'in prison' serves him a full proof plan, and be crossed out from the suspect list.

But of course, it wasn't smooth sailing for him with Jake being in your group. And you're not one to be underestimated as well. Your skills with people made it easy for you to analyze clues being given to you and manipulate people to spill the beans. Though you're not proud of that since you used them once on your friends. At one point, you knew all of them are suspicious. In order to eliminate possible suspects, you have to manipulate the situation to give you the information you needed.

That made Ted realize that he was doomed if he didn't stop you. And that's where Richy swoop in. Initially, Ted plans to kill them or even harm them one by one to scare you. But that will be against his and Richy's deal, that's why he volunteered to do the job to minimize the damage. That's why Cleo was unharmed and so is Jessy.

You were closer to the truth than Ted ever imagined, and so, his last resort is to fake Richy's death to make it easier for Richy to roam around and watch over Hannah.

Jessy and Thomas invading his hideout the other day was part of his sick plan though Richy has no idea in which part it plays apart from revealing the group's location to Ted, which is irrelevant at that point because Richy already has the location with him. Plus he was the one who visited the cabin and thus, got shot.

Ted was so angry when he returned bloodied and limping. At this point, the man is not only a danger to other people but to himself as well. He looks like he completely lost it. And Richy has to tiptoe around him like he was a ticking timebomb ready to explode. That's how deranged Ted is.

Despite his deranged state, one thing was clear: he's going to kill Hannah and Richy on the night of the Pine Glade festival and nothing will stop him.

"The receipt..." you say as you remember that one significant detail. Throughout your conversation, you were casting occasional glances ahead toward the room's sole exit. The dim light struggled to penetrate the shadows, making it nearly impossible to sense any movement in the pitch-black passageway beyond. "Hannah mentioned a receipt to Alan."

Richy leaned wearily against the cool, damp wall, his labored breaths punctuating the heavy silence. "I guess she wanted to prove to Amy that he was real and that she finally had proof. Hannah had set up a camera in front of Amy's house, directed to the forest. She must have filmed Ted with it."

Your gaze flickered to Hannah's unconscious form. "I know that camera. It was in Hannah's apartment before."

Richy leans a bit away from the wall as he tries to reach his side. Only to wince in pain, a soft hiss escaping his lips, his hand instinctively pressing against the bandage on his shoulder. "T-there must have been a receipt in his pocket. It must have fallen out, which Hannah h-hah... saw on the footage."

With a determined nod as he tried to reach his side once again, Richy retrieved your Glock, knife, and badge, passing them back to you.

As the cold metal settled into your hands, you looked at him quizzically, the unspoken question hanging in the air. Why are you giving these back to me?

But Richy refused to look at you. Only then you realized that he must have realized that he can't do anything now. But you? You can still save Hannah. You nodded in understanding.

"Alan did mention that. She asked him if it were possible to track down the owner of the receipt." Your movements were deliberate as you stood up, securing your weapons back in their respective holsters. "Which would essentially incriminate him right on the spot."

There was a brief moment of silence as another question formed in your mind.

"Why did you mark Jessy...?"

"I did it because of Phil. I wasn’t expecting him to get arrested, so I had to prove it couldn't have been him."

"It was not part of the plan, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... Ted wanted everyone to focus on Phil which will earn him a little more time for his plan." He hesitated, his voice lowering. "He was so angry Y/n... that he attacked me. You know already what happened next."

You crouched down again, your eyes level with Richy's as you sought to understand the turmoil within him.

"Why put yourself through all this, Richy?" You know the answer. But you wanted to hear it from him. "If Ted's going to kill you anyway, what's the point?"

His gaze met yours, a mixture of regret and vulnerability swirling in his eyes. His fingers flexed against the rough texture of the stone floor as if grappling with his own internal conflict. "I had to weigh the risks, Y/n." His voice carried a hint of resignation, of a man who had been pushed to his limits. "Ted is smart, but he's also unstable. I knew that there might come a time when he'll let his guard down, even if it's just for a moment. And in that moment, I hoped we could find a way to end this nightmare. But I couldn't risk Hannah's life by telling the group or going to the police. I had to stay close to Ted to keep Hannah safe and minimize the damage."

You can only listen. Richy's actions, as painful as they were to understand, were driven by a desperate attempt to protect his friends and ensure Hannah's safety. And you couldn't find it in yourself to pin the blame all on him.

"But now," he continued, weariness evident in his voice, "I've run out of options. Ted's plans have spiraled out of control, and I don't see a way out for either of us. I don't know how to save Hannah or myself from what he's planned for Pine Glade."

You ran a frustrated hand over your hair. No amount of experience could have prepared you for this situation.

"I just don't understand." Your gaze fixed on Richy, your eyes searching for answers. "Who the hell is Ted Madruga? How is he connected to all of this?"

"Good question." A third voice, unfamiliar and chilling, sliced through the air, freezing you in place. Panic tightened its grip around your heart as you instinctively moved to shield Hannah's unconscious form.

You tried to squint your eyes into the darkness ahead. The darkness seemed to part, revealing a figure stepping out from the shadows of the tunnel. Sounds of heavy footsteps bounced across the room that grows louder with each passing second. Echoing alongside them was the sound of something being dragged across the dirt.

You drew your weapon, arms unshakeable, and breath even. Ted.... you gritted your teeth.

As the figure drew nearer, the dim light revealed a sight that froze you in place. The source of the dragging sound became apparent—it was a person, unconscious and being dragged by the culprit.

Your eyes widened in shock and horror as recognition set in. It was Jake, his body limp and seemed lifeless, his face marred with bruises and cuts.

Raising your gaze, you finally met the eyes of Ted Madruga.

His features were concealed by the faint lighting, casting his face in an eerie half-shadow that made it difficult to make out his true expression.

He is a big man, a little over six feet. He was a little lean but you can see he is of pure muscle. His tattered clothing clung to his frame. He can easily crush your skull with ease if he pleases.

His hair hung in greasy, unkempt strands around his face, framing eyes that held a wild and frenzied intensity. Filth and blood streaked across his face and hands. Blood you knew wasn't his.

You clenched your jaw. He's a dangerous man. Much, much dangerous as you have expected. No wonder Richy was so scared of him. And Jake... Jake has no chance against him. Compared to Ted, he was just a rag doll to be thrown around.

As Ted came into clearer view, the flickering light revealed a face etched with scars and bruises that didn't seemed to heal properly. His gaze, fixed on you and Richy, held a mixture of malice and derangement. His lips curled into a sickening grin.

When he noticed what you are looking at, his wolfish grin widened. As if to taunt you, he thrust Jake forward. His chuckles were sickening, inhuman even.

"Did you enjoy the little trap I set for you, Y/n?" He stood tall, his shadow looming over you as he cackled almost maniacally.

You let out a cocky smirk, not wanting to back down to the likes of him. "What trap?" You questioned in feigned innocence. "I suggest you put the man down and get on your knees, or I'll shoot."

It was a desperate attempt, but you didn't want to risk shooting him when Jake was in such close proximity.

He seemed to find amusement in your words. "I don't think you're in any position to demand, Agent." He crouched down, revealing a magnum revolver that he pointed menacingly at Jake's temple. Your breath caught at the sight of his finger so close to the trigger. "Or would you rather witness this young man's brains splatter across the floor?" He licked his lips. "Now that's a sight to see."

You gritted your teeth. "You're sick."

"Oh, am I?" Ted's voice dripped with mockery as he leaned closer to Jake's face, his crazed eyes locked onto yours. "I thought you fight for justice, Agent Dolos? How was it so wrong to avenge the death of someone you love?"

You shook your head, your grip on the base of your gun growing tighter, your knuckles turning white under the pressure. "There's a right way for everything, Ted. I think you've done enough damage."

He laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the dimly lit tunnel, "And what may be the right way? The law?" His tone dripped with scorn as he sneered at you. "Don't make me laugh, Agent." His eyes bore into yours, his stance unwavering. "And if I were you, I would drop the gun."

Your gaze hardened, battling with his own one with ease.

"I said. Drop. The. Gun. Now."

Fuck.

With a reluctant sigh, you let the gun fall to the ground, your fingers loosening their grip. You really need to get Jake away from him first. But how? Hannah is still unconscious beside you, Richy has a bad wound and he's also near Ted. You're not sure how to protect all three of them.

"Very good," he smirked, his gaze locked on you. "I heard you were a stubborn one. It's good to see you have your priorities straight."

Anger bubbled up within you. Criminals were something you despised to your very core, and those who acted like they got you where they wanted are the worst of the bunch.

'You got this, motherfucker.' is the mantra you kept playing over and over in your head. 'Don't ever let your emotions get the better of you.'

You exhaled deeply, trying to keep your composure amidst the tense situation. Lose your cool and you'll be dead.

After a couple of seconds of pep talk to yourself, clarity soon follows. Though your mind is still not as calm as you'd prefer because of all the questions running in your mind, you manage this time to isolate the one that held a constant presence in your brain and could possibly unveil the whole truth.

"Who the hell are you? And how are you connected to all of this?"

"Forgive me for my rudeness," he said with an eerie, sarcastic grin that did not reach his eyes. "I am Ted Madruga, the original owner of the Gremlin. I assume you already know that."

His nonchalance made you stop. He wouldn't go to such lengths just because he's the owner or wants to clear his name. It would have made sense if Iris or Michael went berserk because they're her family, but Ted? You couldn't think of a plausible reason why he's doing this… unless—

Your eyes begin to widen in a slight fraction as realization dawned on you.

If Jennifer's case were to happen to Jessy, you wouldn't guarantee that law will be able to stop you.

So, in Ted's twisted logic, it would mean Jennifer is to Ted the same way Jessy is to you.

"You're Jennifer's boyfriend…" It wasn't a question, but rather a chilling realization.

"I am a simple man, Agent," his voice remained eerily composed. "I have loved Jennifer with all my heart. And for her to be killed by my own car, and be buried like some kind of animal in the middle of the forest…," emotion started to thicken in his voice. You could hear his grief and sadness, but the anger was much louder than the two will ever be. "Do you really think I'll let that pass?"

"You could have stopped it if only you had let the law take care of it!" You know to yourself that's a screwed reasoning. The only reason this case has gotten this far is because the police were not competent enough to find the real culprits.

"Look around you, Y/n," his voice still held the same edge as earlier. He shot Hannah and Richy a dirty look, making Richy flinch in his place. "Look where the law has gotten us! It's been ten years, and Jennifer's death has long been forgotten!"

He walked closer, dragging Jake with him. His large shadow loomed over both you and Hannah.

He spat in great disdain as he stared down Hannah. "And yet our little princess's disappearance managed to get all the locals to gather and look for her. She even got the attention of the highest ranking criminal investigator in the region, as if she was so innocent." He turned to you with an undecipherable expression, his words spoken slowly. "Isn't that just unfair?"

Your words got caught in your throat at the sudden question.

"Have you ever thought that you've been fighting on the wrong side, Agent?" he questioned once more as he crouched down to your eye level.

"What do you mean?" you whispered.

"You vowed to prioritize the welfare and safety of women and children," he told you seriously, his gaze unrelenting. "Look around you," he gestured to the dimly lit tunnel, "look me in the eye and tell me that the ones you're protecting are not murderers."

You couldn't find your voice. You could only stare at him. It was as if you saw him in a different light, even though the said light is the same as the flickering and dim one above you. Suddenly, he doesn't seem as dangerous as you thought he was. He's still dangerous, and he's still likely capable of killing all of you if given the opportunity.

But.

You couldn't help but see yourself in him.

Because you did the exact same thing when Jill was killed. You never let the murderer get away.

"The law doesn't give a damn about Jennifer. The locals doesn't even remember who she was." He leaned in once more, bitterness lacing his words. "And now that I've taken matters into my own hands, I'm the bad guy? Tell me, Y/n. Is this what you called justice? Some kind of agent you are."

The only difference is you're protected by law. You have the means and privilege. And Ted's only got are his grief and thirst for vengeance.

And this is where it lead to.

So, what are you really? Do you really deliver the just in justice or are you nothing but a plain hypocrite?

"That night..." you finally found your voice. "You were with Jennifer, weren't you?"

He leaned back, his eyes growing distant as memories seemed to wash over him. "The festival has always been a traditional date night for us. Michael... Michael doesn't like me for his daughter." He sat down on a boulder near Richy, Jake's unconscious form still gripped tightly in his hand. "And Duskwood being a small town that it is, it is very difficult to sneak around and hide a relationship." His gaze drifted off, as if he was transported back to that night. He's staring at you but it feels likes he's staring through you. "Pine Glade was a perfect day for us to spend time together. In the darkness filled with drunkards celebrating, and fireworks covering the whole sky, it was a perfect date. No Michael Hanson, no prying eyes, no judgement. Just us."

"But it didn't end the way you planned." You murmured cautiously. Normally you would have internally celebrated for getting your culprit at exactly where you want them to be.

Yes you did get Ted talking, and be quite less aggressive but you recognize that look all too well.

The thousand yard stare.

Ted's eyes remained distant, locked onto something only he could see. It was as if he was mentally transported back to that fateful night, lost in a sea of memories.

You recognized it as a sign of dissociation, a defense mechanism triggered by overwhelming emotions or trauma. It was as if he was slipping away from the present, into the depths of his own mind. This calmness, this detachment, it was the eerie calm before the storm. You had to tread carefully.

"It didn't." His voice was almost inaudible if it weren't for the enclosed space you were in. "Jennifer was spotted by her friends before I walk her home."

"You walked her home?" You questioned slowly. This almost reminded you of your counseling sessions with some patients before you decided to be a fulltime agent. "Aren't the roads far too dangerous for people to walk on especially given that Duskwood doesn't have much street lights despite having so much curvatures?"

"Yeah, I was going to walk her home. My car was scheduled for scrapping and I wasn't able to buy a new one just yet," his voice turned monotonous, as if he was detached from his own memories. He spoke like an observer, recounting events from a distance.

He's slipping into depersonalization. This is not good.

"You said Jennifer was spotted by her friends. What happened?"

"She denied me," he responded after a moment of silence, a sharp edge returning to his voice. His hands clenched around the gun and Jake's hoodie, his knuckles turning white. "She told them I was one of her dad's bodyguards." His voice tightened with bitterness. "And they all laughed. Praised Michael for being such a great dad." His eyes seemed to regain focus briefly before drifting away again, lost in the past. But his voice sharpened as anger took over. "They ridiculed me!"

"Despite that, you still walked her home?"

"Yes. But we were arguing along the sidewalk." He went on after a minute of silence. You even thought he wouldn't answer. For a brief moment, his grip on reality seemed firmer. "It was dark, and the only light we have is from the moon." He clutched his head, his fingers tangling in his hair, as if trying to pull out memories he wished to forget. "I was so angry that I couldn't let her touch me. So, I... pushed her away. And then..."

He lets out a scream. The sound that erupted from his throat was primal, an agonizing wail that reverberated through the tunnel like a chilling echo of despair. It was a raw and loud and deafening that it was able to wake up Hannah.

Hannah's eyes fluttered open, the sight of Ted made her hand instinctively clutch your shirt, seeking solace and security in the midst of the chaos. She trembled against you, her grip unyielding as if she was afraid of losing her last anchor.

"Oh," Ted's gaze refocused, his demeanor shifting with unsettling ease as he turned his attention to the newly awakened Hannah. His tone was oddly calm. "The princess is awake. Good. I'll continue the story."

"Please, stop..." Hannah's voice quivered with a mix of fear and desperation.

"Silence!" Ted's voice thundered, making Hannah flinch as he rose to his feet. "As I was saying... I pushed her off me, and I didn't notice I pushed her with all my strength. And before I knew it, I heard a loud honk from a car, and Jennifer's body being thrown at the side of the road because of the impact."

"What...?" your voice caught in your throat.

"Two girls went out of the car. I remember their faces," his expression turned grim, his voice tinged with bitterness. "Especially, I can remember the plate number of the car. Because it was mine."

What the fuck..?

Fortunately, Ted was lost in his own ramble as he jogged up his memory to notice the look of utter shock not only in your eyes but as well as Hannah's and Richy's. It was then you knew you all shared the same thought.

"I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go to her body..." Ted's voice continued, the distance in his tone suggesting he was reliving the scene he described. "So, I hid. I watched the car drove away as if they only hit an animal. However, not long after, a car went back, this time, a car I wasn't familiar with but the man who accompanied the two girls, I knew him. He was the one I talked to about scrapping my car." His eyes flitted towards Richy, and they grew dark at the sight of him. "I just stood there and watched in silence as they go deeper into the woods with Jennifer's body held by the man. And when they come back, Jennifer wasn't with them..." His head bowed, a curtain of greasy, unkempt hair obscuring his face, but you didn't have to look at his face to know the pure rage radiating from him. "I assumed that's where they left the body." He finished.

Ted's story hung in the air, and a heavy silence followed.

Another one.

And then another.

Until you couldn't help the sudden laughter that had escaped from you. It wasn't one of pure genuine laugh when you find something funny.

Neither was a sarcastic one nor a laughter that originated from tickling.

It was one of your rare belly laughs that you knew was obnoxious and loud as hell.

So you weren't surprised when the sound startled Jake, who was beginning to regain consciousness or the look of sheer horror from both Hannah and Richy as if you had laugh in a situation that you shouldn't.

Which is, to be fair, not farther from the truth though because a pair of glaring red eyes met yours as another laugh bubbled within you. You can only throw your head up in the sky.

No. This is not a sarcastic laugh nor a laugh from a joke.

This one is of pure joy and relief.

Why?

"Sorry, sorry. You were saying you pushed Jennifer on the road, which prompted two teens to bump into her in the middle of the night." Ted's furious gaze met yours, his eyes glaring red with anger. Your laughter dwindled, replaced by a steely resolve as you met his gaze head-on. "That's what you're getting at, right?"

Your words seemed to cut through the tension like a knife. Ted's expression wavered between anger and something deeper, a mixture of emotions that you couldn't quite decipher.

Maybe you weren't really a good person as people thought you are.

You feel sorry for Ted. You really are.

But no amount of guilt could have weighed any better than finding that Amy, Hannah and Richy didn't actually committed manslaughter.

~~~~

A/n: Hi, everyone! Sorry it took a little while doing the next part. As I have said, I find it quite challenging to write this part due to many reasons.

1. As you may have noticed, I have strayed far from the original ending and original culprit so, I really have to make the reasons why Ted was our culprit believable and still aligned with canon events from previous chapters in the game. Let me know what you think if I did justice with him to be our primary suspect.

2. There were instances that I have used psychology jargons, and I would like to add a disclaimer that I am still merely an undergraduate psychology student so I wouldn't recommend to take what I have written in this story to heart. If you may have experience such events that may effect you mentally and emotionally speaking, I would suggest to speak to an actual mental health professional, and please don't rely alone on what the internet may tell you.

3. Lastly, I'm going to be honest to y'all. I haven't really established a concrete ending to this story yet so this will probably go for a couple more chapters, I'm sorry. So it have taken me a while to make a feasible plot for this chapter, and I have to watch several walkthroughs and play the game again just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I think that's all. Again, I apologize if my writing seemed to be focused too much on the details and that I may have dragged this story more than I should have. But I just want to let you know that putting much focus into details such as the character's emotions, body language, the settings etc are important in this part of the story because this is where we unveil the truth about Jennifer's death, Amy's death and Hannah's disappearance.

Initially, I was planning to put a fair share amount of fighting scenes for the sake of the final meet up of Y/n and the real culprit but I realize that the game itself have put much focus on the psychological aspect of the game rather than an actual fight, and I feel like I should keep it that way. Though I'd probably put some in the next chapter. Who knows?

Hahaha I didn't notice I already rambled. I'll see y'all on the next part. Let me know what you think about this chapter down in the comments. Adios! ;)

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