#Duskwood fic

[jakesnymos]

Duskwood is Calling (SNEAK PEAK)

A/N: Hi friends, hello. Here's the start of the novelization I talked about a while back. This is just the intro to the first chapter, so think of it almost as a prologue, if that makes sense. Obviously spoilers through chapter 10 of the game, so don't read if you're avoiding those. Anyways. Here it is:

You don’t know how you got here. Not really. 

 If they asked you- everyone, all of them, Thomas and Cleo and Dan and Lilly and Jessy and Hannah and-

 And not Jake. Not Jake, because Jake was stuck in the mines. Stuck with Richy, and the fire, and the unstable mineshafts and the dark and the cold and-

 “(Y/N).” Alan breaks you from your train of thought. “(Y/N), I’m sorry. But I need to ask you a few questions about tonights events.” You nod. “How did you get here?”

 I don’t know, you think. “I took a train.” You answer, because Alan means ‘What was your mode of transportation to Duskwood?’ and not ‘How did you come to know these people so intimately that thier loss has shattered something deep inside you?’

 “I took the earliest train I could get out of Grand Central Station to Duskwood.” You pause, thinking of the frantic way you’d run to the ticket booth, of how the minutes it took to get your ticket felt like hours, and how the couple of hours on the train itself felt like eons. “It was only a few hours.” You continue, “I didn’t tell the others I was coming. They didn’t know until-” You gesture vaguley, still not comfortable acknowleding the nights events outloud. 

 “You didn’t tell any of them?” It seems to have genuinely shocked him, and that, in turn, surprises you. “Not Jessy, or Thomas?” You shake your head. “Why?”

 “I didn’t want to worry them.” You shrug. “After everything else with Richy, and you finding Hannah, I didn’t-” You swallow against the lump in your throat. “I didn’t want them to worry about someone else being in danger.” 

 “But someone else was in danger, (Y/N).” Your eyes close against the harsh truth of the words, and you force yourself not to respond. “Jake Donfort was in danger.”

 “I don’t know who that is.” You lie. You open your eyes again. Sitting before you is still Chief of Police Alan Bloomgate, this time looking much more sympathetic. He nods. “I don’t, Alan. I don’t know who Jake Donfort is.”

 “I believe you, (Y/N).” He pauses, making sure to hold your eye contact. “I think that’s all we need from you, now. End of interview.” The click of the recorder puncuated the following silence. You stare at Alan in confusion. 

 “What-”

 “You should get some rest, (Y/N).” He fixes you with a stern look. “You’ve had an emotional night.” You nod. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” You nod again, though this time it’s a lie. You didn’t think about what would happen after the mines. You didn’t think about anything but getting to Jake. “Miss Hawkins is outside.” 

 That grabs your attention. “Jessy is here?” Alan nods, collecting the files and paperwork from the interrogation table in front of you. “I’ve been told she refused to leave when she learned you were being detained for questioning.” You manage a small laugh. “She’s worried. Perhaps you should stay with her tonight. I’m sure the motel will keep your booking.” And something in his voice tells you he knew you were lying. 

 “Yeah, thanks.” You agree, finally standing from your chair. It bothers you, though. The fact that he didn’t push you about Jake. About knowing him. “Detective Bloomgate-”

 “It doesn’t matter, (Y/N).” He cuts you off again. “No one could have-” He pauses, seeming to think over his words. “I’m sorry. But no one could have survived that fire. And even if he could, those shafts were unstable before the fire. I can’t imagine thier state now.” He shakes his head, sighing to himself. “I’m sorry. I truly am. But he’s gone. It doesn’t matter if you knew him on record or not. Jake Donfort is dead.”

 He’s right, and you know it, but you don’t understand. You can’t understand how this could be happening. 

 I don’t know how I got here.

[glitter-in-the-grey]

I start a 6 week induction school for a new job on Monday, yet here I am, 30,817 words through a Duskwood fic I've been hyperfixating on writing.

Will it ever be posted? With my track record of writing fanfics and deleting them? Potentially not. Will I still strive to complete it regardless of my responsibilities?

Absolutely

[multi-fandom-imagine]

A/n: I have been meaning to do this, put it off for way too long.

PT 1

|| Superhero Related ||

Dc / Marvel / Gen V

bodyworshipping the DC Boys- @angelltheninth

Imagine Jordan switching from their delicate fem form fingers to their thick long masculine fingers- @poppy-metal

Jordan Li Hc / Blurb- @lavend3r-stardust

Sex with Jordan- @inklore

Jordan Li smut- @poppy-metal

Bucky Barnes Smut- @angelltheninth

Surprise || Jordan Li Smut || - @ebonyenvy

Imagine giving Jordan Li a lap dance - @poppy-metal

Venom Smut- @val-made-a-mistake

Gorgeous || Older Damian Wayne || - @youwerenevermeanttofeelalone

Auburn Traditions || Older Damian Wayne ||- @glorified-red

Help me! help you || Dick Grayson Smut ||- @tetzoro

Dick Grayson smut- @lustingbones

Batboys as things that go bump in the night- @chikaras-garden

Public sex / sex pollen || Dick Grayson ||- @uc1wa

𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 || Damian Wayne ||- @thesuperiorrobin

Nights like these || Jordan Li ||- @inklore

Jordan Li smut blurb- @poppy-metal

Take the reins || Venom smut ||- @val-made-a-mistake

Venom fucking the reader- @randomoutsiders

let me help you || tasm!peter parker x reader ||- @the-plum-soldier

Spell Gone Wrong || John Constantine || - @c-nstantine

imagine bunny!reader with wolverine- @inkdrinkerworld

|| Anime / Animated show's and movies ||

|| Gaming ||

Astarion Getting Aroused by Your Blood- @angelltheninth

Duskwood boys: their favorite way to pick up/carry you around- @hacked-by-jake

Duskwood boys:Reaction to you calling them babe. - @hacked-by-jake

How they’d be with pregnant reader: Headcanons with Lin Kuei brothers- @seraphmeraph

Web of faith || Kar'niss ||- @hrefna-the-raven

mk1 men breaking the bed/headboard while fucking you- @visionsofmagic

mk1 men when they get hard in public because of you- @visionsofmagic

car sex - johnny silverhand- @buryustogether

|| Live Action show's and Movie's ||

Pyramid Head Chases You Down and Fills You Up- @angelltheninth

Michael Afton when You're Pregnant- @angelltheninth

Infertile elder yautja- @mintymarabell

corio x reader but he has an insane breeding and lactation kink- @slvthrs

Corio with a breeding kink- @slvthrs

Corio blurbs- @lucilleslore

cockwarming Corio- @lucilleslore

Possessive Bernard the elf with a pregnant human!Reader - @herbalsingularitea

Sleepless Nights { spencer reid smut }- @strawbeerossi

Distance (David Rossi x Ex!Reader)- @villain-apolog1st

Lunch Break (David Rossi x Reader)- @villain-apolog1st

Beefy Bucky- @buckyalpine

James Wilson x reader- @pomegranateshrimp

Every Single Day ( Spencer Reid fluff ) - @astrophileous

All I Need ( Spencer Reid )- @incognit0slut

how dilf!jake gives his girl head- @pearlsinmyhair

house boys + how they kiss you- @cyberstrm

Peeta with a breeding kink- @peetaslefttoe

Mike Schmidt smut- @redskull199987

[itsnotzka]

Huh! 💀 Found, once again, in the depths of my unfinished things 🙆

[cursedchildofchaos]

This is adorable 🥰😍 Love it! Reminds me of me and my brother (tho, we might be even more childish) and some of my friends ❤️

A normal day between siblings 😌

[slytherinlizzy]

The afterfire's main characters pt.1

Jake Donfort – the hacker

•~•~•

"I'm never having phone calls without headphones again."

•~•~•

"Little weird one."

•~•~•

"I'm not used to a nervous feeling."

•~•~•

"Every time you talk, I get this warm and fuzzy feeling inside me. It's really nice, but it's bothering me so please stop."

•~•~•

"Then I'd just like to remind you, that a few moments later you started a worldwide movement named after me because of me and for me!"

•~•~•

"Seriously, love?"

•~•~•

"Whatever you might be doing?"

•~•~•

"Back off. Mine."

•~•~•

[gvtted-ratz]

List of Fics/Drabbles/Headcanons We Made (all links go to our ao3)

Works: 26

@gvtted-ratz is the main writer and owner of the ao3

@rppik is the proof-reader and co-writer

It is not our responsibility to baby/take care of what you take in. So if you don't like something, do not read/interact.

Fem aligning/identifying ppl dni with our mlm works (we may end up blocking you if you do).

Only registered users can view/comment on our works on AO3.

Remember to read the tags/ratings on the works. We use them for a reason, and we would like you to pay attention to them for your own safety/comfort. None are/will ever be Fem!Reader. GN, Male/Masc, Trans Male, Neogenders, and Nonbinary only.

Rules for requests are here!

SVSSS:

• MQF/ZZL Drabble - Mu QingFang/Zuzhi-lang (complete)

Marvel:

• Shut Up Wade - SpideyPool (complete)

• Single-Standing Marvel Fics - X Reader (discontinued)

• Hitman - Frank Castle/Matt Murdock/Male Reader (discontinued)

• Sharpshooter - Frank Castle/Matt Murdock/Male Reader (complete)

Slashers:

• Arkin O'Brien/GN!Reader (complete)

• All Slasher Fics - GN+M!Reader (complete)

• Alive - Jason Voorhees/M!Reader (complete)

• Odd - Hannibal Lecter/M!Reader (discontinued)

• The Collection - The Collector/M!Reader (complete)

• Freakiest Freak - Hannibal Lecter/Billy Lenz (complete)

• Slasher Headcanons - GN+M!+Nonbinary Reader (complete)

• Two Messed Up Individuals - Harry Warden/Billy Lenz (complete)

• My Life's So Pitiful - Mark Hoffman/Adam Faulkner-Stanheight (complete)

Homestuck:

• Romantic Dreams - Karkat Vantas/Dave Strider (Drabble) (complete)

Marble Hornets:

• Eldritch Deity - it/Its!Deity!Reader (unfinished)

• Single-Standing MH Fics - X Reader (unfinished)

Dead Plate (game):

How Much Do You Hate? (It's Not Enough) - Rody Lamoree x Vincent Charbonneau (complete)

The Batman (2022):

• All Riddler Fics - The Riddler/Reader (unfinished)

The Price Of Flesh (game):

• To Stare Is To Buy - GN!Hacker!Reader Series (3/10 complete)

• You Should Have Found A New Psychologist - M!Psychologist!Reader/Jackal/Dean (in progress)

Boyfriend to Death (game):

• BEWARE - Lawrence Oleander/M!Reader

Duskwood (game-everbyte):

• You’re Looking In The Wrong Place - Richy/M!Reader/Phil (unfinished/possible rewrite later)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2:

• Single-Standing CODMW2 Fics - X Reader (unfinished)

That's Not My Neighbour (game):

TNMN Headcanons - X Reader (discontinued)

Do You Have The Guts? - Hoon Man/GN!Doppleganger!Doorman!Reader (complete)

Uncanny Valley (scopophobia studios):

Correct Ending - John Doe/M!It/Its!Reader (complete)

Will be updated whenever a new work is made/ finished

Feel free to send in some requests. Or just brainstorm in our box. We are happy to listen and try out sometimes. If we're uncomfy with something, we'll tell you.

Edit: Usually, we use it/its if it’s self-indulgent, since we're a dude who uses them and we have never seen them in fics. We make sure to put that in the tags if those pronouns are used.

[miss-celestia13]

An updated list of all my stories. The old list was looking too messy, so I made another! Every story can also be found on Archive of Our Own and Wattpad, if you prefer to read there. Thank you ❤️

Game of Thrones - Ongoing Longfics

I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God - Ao3

I Am Not a Woman, I’m a God - Wattpad

A Jonerys love story and my attempt at a fix it fic. From Daenerys’ POV. 212k words and 31 chapters so far. Smutty and indulgent.

Blood Flows in a Spiral - Ao3

Duskwood Stories

Completed Jake x OFMC Longfic

Marked Me Like a Bloodstain - Ao3

Marked Me Like a Bloodstain - Wattpad

Explicitly romantic and decadent. Happy ending. Alternative ending to the game and a different villain. 289k words and 37 chapters.

Paper Rings & Dirty Dreams - Ao3

Paper Rings & Dirty Dreams - Wattpad

Sequel to Marked Me Like a Bloodstain. Romantic, smut, and chaos filled comedy.

One Shots

Jake x MC - Smut

Watch the Bed Burn

Heaven Knows

Truth or Dare?

Drippin’ Like Honey

Good Girl

For Your Entertainment

I Can See You - Bodyguard AU Part One

Meet Me Tonight - Part Two

Jake x MC - Fluff

Everything Has Changed

Sweeter Than Fiction

Silver and Gold

Begin Again

Mastermind

Richy x MC - Dark Comedy Romance

Run Towards the Monster

Kiss With a Fist

Flesh & Blood

Devil in Paradise

Smutty toxic romance. Richy and my MC, Aylin, are diabolical soulmates.

Dan x MC Fluffy First Date

Strangeness and Charm

Duskwood Angst

The Ending You Deserve - Jake escapes the mine

An Arsonists Anguish - Richy’s Death

Jonerys Smut One Shots

Take me, I need you in my Bloodstream

You’re the King, Baby, I’m your Queen

The sweat in your eyes, the blood in your veins are listening to me

‘Tis the Damn Season

Say Don’t Go - Canon Era

Wool to Brave the Seasons - Modern Au - Complete

A fluffy, funny, and smutty Winter themed story. Four chapters, 30k words.

~*~

Miss_Celestia13 Ao3 Account

Miss_Celestia13 Wattpad Account

Other Social Media

Inkitt - Original and Fanfiction stories

Instagram

I hope you enjoy my silly little stories! Thank you for your time 🥰❤️

[mysticpetals]

Jake and mc headcannons

(Mermaid au!)

All your life you had always lived in a city. So when suddenly, you had to go to the coast to take care of your grandparents dog while they left for a few weeks for vacation, it got you really excited.

Before you knew it, you were at the beach, seeing off your grandparents from the porch.

It was a ridiculously big house for two people but you weren’t complaining.

The dog, Max, was happy to have such a large space to himself, so who were you to complain.

The first day you went to the beach, you regretted not wearing more sunscreen.

Although, that did teach you a lesson on not forgetting to take the important stuff along with you, as the beach was at a bit of a walk and quite secluded. So you would not be getting those items from anywhere near.

About a week in was when you first saw it.

You swore you saw a navy blue fishtail diving into the water and got excited thinking it was a dolphin or something.

But unfortunately, you couldn’t see it again and walked back home dejectedly, regretting on missing a chance to see an aquatic creature.

The next few days you kept sighting the same tail fleetingly but it’s frequency had definitely increased.

Although when you went into the water to investigate, you couldn’t find anything.

Oh well, at least you found some really pretty shells!

Which was weird because you always found them in the same place and you swore that they were not like other shells people found on the beach, pulsing with an otherworldly light.

Two weeks in and you finally saw him.

Oh no, that was no dolphin.

It was a man with fishtail instead of legs (do they call them mermen?)

You rubbed your eyes.

And sure enough, it was real.

Oh, he was swimming towards you.

Oh god, what do you do? Do you say hi? Or run away? Didn’t mermaids lead sailors to their death? No, that were sirens. But what do you do?

At last, you settled on staying right where you are in the most rigid posture ever.

“Hello.”

Oh wow, he had the softest voice you’ve heard from a man.

Looking closely, you can tell he was incredibly handsome. The mop of black hair lay flat on his head, drops of water running down his face (you gulped seeing his very bare, very toned chest)

“Hey.” You voice cracked embarrassingly and you just wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

The merman didn’t seem to mind though and gave you a smile.

“Did you like my gifts?”

What gifts?

He opened his palm to show a pretty shell, arm outstretched towards you.

Oh

So he was the one behind the shells.

“I wanted to befriend you since I live alone and don’t get along with my kin much.”

Poor baby and he seemed so sweet! You wanted to squish his cheeks!

“Wow, um, i definitely didn’t expect that.”

His brows furrowed into a frown and he hung his head dejectedly.

“Sorry to bother you. I-“

“No! No! That’s not what I meant at all!”

You spend the next half an hour telling him about how humans make friends and assuring him that you wanted to be his friend too when he looked slightly sad.

The next week at your grandparents house was like a dream.

You got to know him (Wow! Jake is such a human name!), about how shy he is and how much courage it took for him to approach you.

“Something in me just called to you.” When you asked about why he only now revealed himself.

You are a puddle at his feet (or tail?) when you hear it.

You talked so much, discussing your lives and the differences in how you do everything and it was so fascinating.

Jake had literal stars in his eyes when you told him what a computer can do.

He taught you how to make a seashell chain and you clumsily made one, selecting all the shells and braiding them carefully in a thread and gifted it to him.

At that moment, he was ready to risk it all for you.

Sometime later you both realised that the friendship had turned into something a little more fragile, a little deeper.

But reality hit you both like a truck.

With only a day left before your grandparents came back and you had to leave, you decided to spend the day quietly in each other’s company.

You were watching the sunset together, side by side in the water (god your skin was all pruned with the amount of time you spent in the water everyday. But it was all worth it for him.)

You could see his downturned lips as he gazed ahead, likely thinking about how you probably won’t see each other again.

So with all the courage you had, you slipped your pinky finger into his and quickly turned to look ahead.

Jake was surprised and flustered by your action but couldn’t hide his pleased little smile.

He tentatively held your hand in his, heart pounding and trying not to focus on the way your breath hitched at his action.

And looked ahead.

It might be difficult but you both would find a way.

He was sure of it.

[diariodelissa]

MC x Jake

It was hard to love a hacker. Jake was a  cyberactivist. He was committed to arresting criminals from the Dark Web. Because of his activities, he had several scars all over his body and was always on the run.  

MC knew very well the risks he was taking when he fell in love with Jake, but he persisted in his intense love.  He was a very honorable man with an extreme sense of responsibility. Jake believed he could save the world.  His beloved hacker was a true hero.

Time showed new alternatives for the relationship to work out. It was not easy. MC faced days in hospitals, hectic escapes, sleepless nights, interrupted sex, threats, lost friendships, days of loneliness.  

What could MC do? She could have chosen an ordinary man with an ordinary job, but she certainly wouldn't be happy.

Jake was her love.  Her world.

Whenever the two of them met, they embraced each other effusively. The kisses tasted more intense because of the adrenaline.

A throbbing heat invaded their bones, their guts, their souls. How to exchange that whirlwind of feelings for an ordinary life?

That love was a road full of curves, but honestly, it was the most beautiful road of all.

[duskwoodgirl4life]

I might have to put my current fic on hold for awhile I've got a super busy couple of months and I don't know if I am going to get time to write. I need to rewrite chapter 4 I'm not happy with how it's looking hopefully I get some time to write.

[jakesnymos]

would anyone be interested in reading a novelized version of the game from MC’s POV or am I just delusional about this game

[hacked-by-jake]

You created a REAL masterpiece!

Chop, chop

Sooo...this little oneshot here was heavily inspired by @hacked-by-jake as well as @itsnotzka and her adorable Jake-AI (with whom I had a very funny conversation 🤭). It’s just a short little thingie - I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had while writing! 💙

.

'Jaaakeeeee...we have to go! Where are you?'

She impatiently waited in the hallway, looking at the clock on the wall with furrowed eyebrows, when she finally heard his hasty footsteps as he came out of his study.

'I'm here, I'm here, we can go...I just had to wait for that last test run to finish, and I deployed something and couldn’t leave it alone, and...what?' With raised eyebrows she looked at him, arms crossed and an annoyed expression on her face.

'W-what is it? Why...What’s wrong?' confused, he looked at her and couldn’t make out what the problem was. He glanced nervously at the clock. 'We're not late yet, are we? If we leave now, we'll still be on time, we just have to hurry a bit. Heh. Uhm. Love? Can we...go?'

'I don’t know, Jake, can we?' She waited, wondering when he would notice. They were late now anyway, so why bother and give him a hint - a few minutes more wouldn't make any difference now.

Worried, Jake looked at her and her annoyed expression for a moment, then he cautiously looked down at himself when it finally hit him...'Oh fuck! Crap! Of course! I'm sorry! I-I'll be back in a minute, alright? It won't even take me a minute! Ok? Just a second, I'll be back in a second! Sorry, I-uhm...alright! Love youuu!' and *poof* he was gone again.

She sighed, dropped her bag on the floor and leaned on the wall to wait for Jake, not able to suppress a little smile. Adorable dork!

She heard him rummage through their closet and bump into furniture, like always when they were late (because of him!). But she had to admit that she kinda liked that, it was fun to watch and witness the else so concentrated and serious man being clumsy and hasty and in such trouble. She heard another bump and it sounded as if Jake stumbled over the clothes that probably were scattered all over the floor, followed by an annoyed groan. She quietly giggled and shook her head.

When they finally arrived, the group was already waiting.

'You are late. AGAIN!' Lilly huffed annoyed, while Hannah softly asked in a whisper 'His pants again?', causing Jake to scrunch his face and blush furiously. Fortunately for him, no one else listened to that little conversation or heard MC's exhausted whining 'Yeah...again...it's always the same. Every single time...', accompanied by a deep and dramatic sigh.

While Lilly patted MC's shoulder encouragingly and clumsily tried to comfort her by assuring her that Jake will learn it one day (hopefully!), her beloved finally dared to say something - or more precisely, mumble something: 'At least I had my boxers on...' At this, she turned around and looked at him with a mischievous smile that meant danger. Oh no...Oh fuck, please, no... 'Yeah...THIS time.' dammit! ...well, attack is the best defense, right?

His embarrassed face turned into a sassy one. 'Why so annoyed, my precious? You weren't that annoyed last time...'

And then he winked. That bastard winked at her with a suggestive smirk!

'But we never showed up to that family gathering! You don’t want to know what I had to come up with to excuse our absence...!' Jake was about to say something when they suddenly were interrupted by gagging noises. Oh, right, Lilly and Hannah were still there...

'Eww, you two! That’s waayyyyyy too much information! Seriously, don’t...just - please, never talk about this again, ok?!' Lilly stuck her fingers in her ears and fled to the rest of the group.

'Well, that was fun...let's do that again, please!' Hannah said cheerfully and followed her little sister with a big grin and a nasty giggle. The next meetings with the group or Jake's family would be a lot of fun - for Hannah, at least. Jake and MC on the other hand were already thinking about possible exit strategies.

'What about...uhm...urgent emergencies? How many are realistic before they notice that these are just an excuse? Or we could...uhm...we could have a transportation problem? You know, no car and public transportation is out of service or something like that?'

To their misery, Hannah heard that. 'If you forget your pants and boxers again, you can come with your helicopter - chop, chop!'

[jakesduskwood]

even statues crumble if they're made to wait

Pairing: Jake x Fem!MC

Genre: Post-Episode 10 Duskwood, Post-Episode 1 Moonvale

Words: 8,916

Summary: It's been three months since the explosion in the mine. Three months since Hannah was found. And MC's accepted that Jake is never coming back. When she gets roped into another missing person's case, it makes for the perfect distraction. Jake is dead. It's fine. That is, until she finds herself on the phone with Alan Bloomgate who says he has something to show her. But it's fine. Jake is dead.

Until he's not.

EPISODE-1 MOONVALE SPOILERS AHEAD (MAYBE)!

[ A/N: Hello! :)

I know it's been a while since I've done this, but I finished Moonvale Episode 1 and if you've seen the ending (and used its Duskwood code), you know what happened and how excited I was to receive that bit of Duskwood. So, I took it and ran with it, and out came this extremely long fic. I did not proofread this as it took me literally almost 12 hours to write so it is completely and 100% me and my love for Jake and I hope you love it.

Side note: I suck with anything related to timelines, so I made one up on my own. I know Episode 1 of Moonvale takes place over the course of a day or two, but for the purpose of this fic, it made sense to make it longer, so it's not a typo, or me losing my mind, it's just the way my brain processed this.

Enjoy! :) ]

It’s been three months since the explosion in the mine.

Three months since Richy had been killed. Three months since Hannah was rescued. Three months since I had last spoken to Thomas or Cleo or Lilly or…or Jessy. I didn’t blame her then and I don’t blame her now. Any of them, really. I didn’t share the bond they had with each other. I wasn’t from Duskwood. It didn’t matter that we’d experienced a tragedy together—and yes, perhaps them more than me, but I loved Richy too. I had lost Richy too. And Jake—

But mostly, I think they just wanted to forget. To move on. They didn’t want to remember that their friend had been capable of…of that. And I was a constant reminder of that to them. So I understood why we didn’t necessarily talk anymore.

The one person I did keep in contact with from Duskwood, oddly enough, other than the occasional update from Alan Bloomgate, was Dan. We weren’t best friends or anything, but he allowed me to check in on our friends in a way that I didn’t know how to do with anyone else. Maybe because I thought he was the least affected among them. I knew he cared about Hannah, but he wasn’t to her what Thomas or Cleo or Lilly were. And he wasn’t to Richy what Jessy had been.

I’d learned from him that Thomas and Hannah had broken up. There was no bad blood, but Thomas hadn’t quite figured out how to accept the things he’d learned about his girlfriend when she’d been gone, and Hannah hadn’t quite figured out how to re-trust someone after Richy. Even if that person was Thomas. But I’d hoped they would find their way back to each other in the end.

I thought about reaching out to Jessy every once in a while—even just as an apology for everything that had happened. I’m sorry that Hannah was found at the expense of Richy. I’m sorry that he did this to you. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner. We should have. We should have. We should have. I miss you. But I never send it. I’m not all that sure she’d respond anyway.

Cleo and I were never all that close. She has her best friend back, so I think she’s probably as okay as she can be. Helping Hannah find a new kind of normal in a time where her childhood friend had kidnapped her in order to prove a point. I don’t know how you come back from that—I don’t know how you come back from knowing that you killed somebody at all.

I hadn’t found the courage to ask if somebody had told Hannah about Jake.

Not that I think it would matter anyway. I hadn’t heard from him since before the explosion in the mine, which was, like I said—three months ago. I waited the appropriate amount of time—twenty-five days—before I broke down and concluded that maybe he hadn’t survived. Which just piled a shit-ton of guilt onto my shoulders because it was supposed to be me in that mine. He had gone in place of me and now he was dead.

It was the only explanation that made sense. I was used to Jake disappearing for days at a time, but never as long as he had been now. And he didn’t seem like the type to tell me he loved me and then leave without a single explanation. Not unless he had to. But it had been three months and as much as I missed him, as much as my chest ached with the thought that we would never eat Chinese food out of shitty motels and have that on-the-run ending we talked about, I had accepted that he wasn’t coming back.

I wonder if he had known about Richy or if he had died still thinking Michael Hanson was the one who had kidnapped Hannah. I wonder if his last thoughts were of me. Maybe it’s selfish, but I kind of hope they were, because I’m pretty sure I’ll think about him for the rest of my life.

I wonder what it would have felt like to run my hands through his hair. To kiss him. To spend every waking moment with him and know it was because I loved him. Because I would have. Talking to Jake became about more than just finding Hannah. It became a part of my day I looked forward to more than anything else. He confided in me in a way that told me he never had with anyone, maybe not even Hannah, and I needed that from somebody. I needed somebody to trust in me the way that Jake did. I needed somebody to love me the way that Jake did.

It was strange—and maybe a little ironic—the thought that something so beautiful could come out of something so tragic.

Anyway, my point is: it’s been a long couple of months. Of thinking about my friends. Of thinking about Jake. Of wondering if I should have done things differently. I should have gone to Duskwood to help. Not even with the mine, but sooner. I could have. I could’ve gone when Jessy was attacked on the way home. I could’ve gone when the group made plans to cut out of town and hide away in the house Richy had found. Selfishly, I should have. In that moment, when they were settled around the fire and Lilly called me, I had never remembered wanting anything more. I should have grabbed Jake—metaphorically, maybe even literally—and rode it out with them to the end.

I don’t stop missing them after three months. Of wishing things could have been different. Wishing I could have done more. But exactly ninety-five days after the explosion in the mine, seventy days since I had accepted that Jake was never coming back, twenty-two days since I had last heard from anybody from Duskwood (Dan included), my phone dings with a new message.

And the cycle starts all over again.

It’s somebody named Eric, who claims he needs my help to find his friend Adam, who disappeared while he was waiting for a ride in someplace called Redlog Pines. And much like with Duskwood, I have never heard of Redlog, and the case reminds me way too much of Thomas’ first message to me, so much that it makes my chest ache, but I can’t say no because there’s somebody missing, and if I’d say no the first time, God knows where Hannah would be.

So, I say yes, and I help out where I can, and Eric decides he needs to bring about four more friends in on his little plan and I try my best to stay emotionally unattached because I remember everything that happened the last time and I can’t go through that again. I offer up information when I can and keep my words short and careful because I’m not ready to get attached to somebody else I know I might never meet.

I know how this ends.

Two days in, Ash, one of Eric’s friends, brings up my Duskwood past and the unhealed wound I’ve been trying to mend breaks open again. She asks about Richy, and about the mine, and then because I’m me and I can’t help myself, I tell her about Jake. She tells me the news never mentioned another body and I shove that thought to the back of my head because hoping for something that will never come true will kill me.

Four days into Adam’s disappearance, and the police not giving a shit—as Charlie, somebody who reminds me far too much of Richy for comfort, points out—my phone beeps with an incoming call from somebody I haven’t spoken to in a while.

“Go for [MC].” I answer my phone.

Ever since Hannah had been found in the mine and Jake had…you know, my phone had been more silent than I’d gotten used to. Until this new case. But even that—it was only a few days old and I didn’t want to go down the same path with them that I did with my friends in Duskwood. We didn’t really know each other that long, sure—even though sometimes it’d felt like it—but it felt like I’d finally been a part of something. Like, I had found these people who had chosen me for me.

And originally, maybe they had. Maybe they’d had every intention of keeping me around, but then Richy was the Man Without A Face and Alan Bloomgate had rescued Hannah and nothing was the same as it had been when we’d met each other. We knew too many secrets about each other by the time the town settled. Secrets we would have to take to the grave.

Or maybe I’m losing my mind a bit and I had really only been a means to an end.

Either way.

“Alan?” I raise my voice when there’s nothing but breathing on the other end of the line. “Did you mean to call me?”

His tone is clipped. “I found something.”

“You found something.” I repeat.

My heart clenches. For all I know, it might fall into my stomach. As far I know, from watching the news, from what Ash told me, Jake’s body was never found. Richy’s was. Or what was left of him to find, anyway. I had assumed that there just hadn’t been enough of Jake left. The thought left me nauseous, but it was better than hoping for something I knew I could never have.

“I’m sending it to your phone now.” He responds. “Let me know what you think of this.”

And then he hangs up.

That was a riveting conversation, I think as my phone dings with a message. I do my best to ignore my other messages—contacts from Duskwood I’m still not ready to acknowledge—and click Alan Bloomgate. He sent me a video that looks like—oh God.

Immediately, I’m overcome with emotion as an all-too-familiar forest pops up on my phone. It’s a video of Alan’s bodycam footage. He’s searching the Duskwood forest. A forest I’ve seen too many times in the background of other video calls.

I watch as he stumbles upon an object that’s too dark to make out at first. When he gets closer, it’s clear that it’s a backpack. It’s simple. Black. Nothing about it that screams this is mine and I left it here about anybody in particular. You stupid, stupid idiot, I tell my heart when it rattles against my chest in hope. He’s dead.

Alan stands and treks away from the backpack—I want to scream at him to go back, to open it and look through it and tell me if it’s what my heart aches to believe, but I can’t, because this is a video and I’m simply watching with wide eyes, waiting for…for something. But then. But then, he moves further into the forest and I watch as he stumbles upon an object that makes my knees tremble and tears rush to my eyes and my hands shake. A black hoodie. It looks like it’s been through hell, with holes scattered up the sleeves and dirt cakes into the hood, but it’s unmistakably his.

And then—Alan lifts the hood and picks up something that makes me sink to my knees with a sob that wracks my entire frame. Because I’m staring at Jake’s mask. The mask he doesn’t go anywhere without. The mask that protects him. And so my relief is short-lived, because I realize that even if he’s alive—which seems like a very big possibility at this point—he’s alive without the things that he needs to survive.

And then the anger kicks in. Because if he’s been alive, on his own, for three months—why has he not contacted me? Unless he survived the mine but he didn’t survive the after. But that didn’t make any sense. So, okay, he wasn’t dead. But that didn’t make any sense either. He told me he wouldn’t let them catch him. Because catching that meant he would be apart from me. Did something happen that prevented him from being able to reach out and tell me he was at least okay? A quick text that said didn’t die in the explosion in the mine, you don’t need to mourn me, by the way, going off radar for another year. Did he think I would have given up on him?

I wipe my eyes and shoot a message to Alan.

ME: Recently?? Did nobody search the forests before?      

ALAN: Searched the forests for what, [MC]? The logical assumption seemed to be that if anybody was inside the mine when Richy set the fire, they would have perished alongside him. Officers were stationed outside every known entrance and exit. Besides, after the story you and your friends spun around this town, do you think anybody would have gone back into its forests?

ME: But it’s possible?

ALAN: I would say these items had been there for some time. But I would say it is likely he ditched them when he fled the mine, yes.

Another sob tears through my throat. Jake is alive. I don’t know quite what that means for us as of now, but I know it’s the best news I’ve heard since Hannah was found. Jake is alive. He’s out there somewhere. And even if it’s been three months, and even if I’m a little bit mad at him right now, I know that if he was here, I would throw my arms around his neck and hold on to him until someone dragged me off, and even then—I would fight kicking and screaming.

I close out of my messages with Alan and pull up a conversation I haven’t had the heart to look at in quite some time.

ME: Jake’s alive.

LILLY: …

LILLY: Have you spoken to him?

ME: Alan called. He found some of Jake’s things in Duskwood. I don’t know a lot of details. But I know he made it out of the mine.

Lilly types for a long while, but she doesn’t respond. I don’t take it personally. I think it’s probably hard for her to be happy that her brother’s okay while also trying to accept that her sister may never be okay again. Her sister, who had once-upon-a-time been kind-of-sort-of in love with their brother she didn’t know she had. I think that would probably mess with any family’s heads. And on top of all that, you throw in manslaughter and a kidnapping. I wouldn’t wish anybody, not even my worst enemy, to have had to go through what the Donforts had.

When it becomes adamant that Lilly isn’t going to respond, I start scrolling through messages with the rest of the group in Duskwood. I click on Jessy. I’m here if you need me. That had been the last thing I sent to her, a couple of days after Richy’s death. She hadn’t responded. I click out of Jessy’s contact and click on Thomas’ instead. Thank you for everything. That had been his last message to me after we found Hannah. I’d liked it. I hadn’t expected at the time it would be the last thing we’d ever say to each other. I click out of Thomas’ and click on Richy. So, you want to turn yourself in? I’d asked. That was before he called me. Before he lit a match and burned himself and the mine to the ground. Some people would call that heroic. I mostly call him a coward.

I click on Jake’s name. It’s been a while since I read messages between the two of us. Maybe before I had accepted—thought—he was dead. In that twenty-five-day period when I’d hoped with all I’d had that he would come back. I love you. That was the last message he sent me. I’d responded with I love you too, Jake. Then, four days later: Are you okay? A week later: Jake, please, you’re starting to scare me. I know you said you would contact when you could, but it’s been a week. After twenty-five days, when I had finally accepted our fate, I’d sent one final message: I hope you know that I love you, and I will always care about you, but I think it’s time for me to move on. I’m so sorry that I sent you into the mine. It should have been me. And I will probably feel the guilt from that for the rest of my life. Thank you for everything. Take care of yourself, wherever you are.

After that, I had closed out of our messages and hadn’t looked back. Partly because I couldn’t bear the pain of it. It felt like I had given up on him. I hadn’t—if I had thought for a second that he was alive, if I knew then what I know now, I would have never sent that message. But holding out hope for somebody who I thought was a ghost at the time? That was slowly killing me.

It’s only then that I notice the screen flickering. Much like the way it used to whenever Jake would hack into my phone. I don’t think he’s much in the mood to be hacking right now, but somehow, I know it’s him. When had he done this? Recently? If I had opened our messages, would I have seen this ten—twenty—even fifty days ago? It hadn’t looked like this the last time I texted him. Did he see my last message about needing to move on? Was that why he hadn’t reached out to tell me that he was okay? Because he thought I was moving on happily without him?

No, my brain supplies. He wouldn’t. He would reach out anyway, because he knows how much the thought of him not being okay would have destroyed you.

The screen flickers once more and then a message pops up, bright and blue-tinted and clear as day on my phone.

[MC]

I WILL FIND YOU

And the world around me shifts.

--------------------------------------------------

Maybe it sounds crazy, considering I’ve never seen his face before, but I always thought that if I’d ran into Jake one day, maybe on the street or at one of those motels he stayed at or maybe even in Duskwood, surrounded by all our friends, I would know it was him. I would, because it’s him, and it’s me, and we’re the only two people who understand each other quite the way we do.

I still believe that.

I believe it when I book my flight to Duskwood (or rather, twenty miles outside of town, which is the closest airport). I believe it when I board the airplane and find a seat next to a mother with her screaming child and when I shoot off a quick text to Eric to let him know I’ll be MIA for the next few hours, but to message me if he needs anything—and I think about how much easier this case would probably be to solve if we had Jake.

Maybe it would have been harder to find Hannah without me, but I know damn well they would’ve never found her without Jake.

Dan picks me up from the airport. I haven’t told the others yet. Something about it felt off—like I shouldn’t message them and say hey, I know we haven’t spoken in a while, but I’m booking a flight to look into why my maybe-slash-not-really boyfriend left his belongings in a forest we really wish we could forget about, and by the way, can I crash at your place?

It’s quiet on the car ride back into town. I’m looking through my messages from Eric and the group from Redlog Pines and thinking about how I’m Duskwood with this group and I want so badly to laugh because it’s ironic, but Dan wouldn’t understand. He might just call me crazy. Better yet, he would ask how I manage to get myself into these situations, and really, I don’t have an answer for him.

“How have you been?” I ask, just to break the tension, as Charlie, in my messages, tries to persuade his friends to head back into that creepy cave in the middle of the forest. He’s going to get someone killed, I think.

Dan looks over at me. “Are you still with Hackerman?”

My chest squeezes. “His name is Jake, Dan. And we were never really together.”

“Hm.” He nods like he doesn’t quite believe me. “You already know mostly everything that’s been happening here. Thomas and Hannah called it quits. They say it was some mutual decision, but it’s hard to find them in the same room together. Jessy hasn’t been out with us since. I think we remind her too much of Richy. The group’s all changed.”

“And you?” I ask.

He gives me a cheshire-like grin that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’m always the same.”

We make it to Duskwood just as the sun’s going down. Much too late for me to try and trek through the forest and retrace the steps Jake might have taken that night. Not that I think it would help give me any clues as to where he might have gone, but mostly because I wonder if it will make me feel closer to him. We’ve never been in the same place before, and even if he’s not there now—he once was.

“Can you drop me at the police station?”

Dan blinks. “The police station.”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“We answered their questions for weeks, [MC]. I don’t think anything you have to tell them at this point is going to help. The investigation’s closed. Everybody knows Richy did it. He died with the fire in the mine. Everybody’s trying to move on from that.” He works his jaw. “Did you come here to open old wounds after all this time?”

I try not to show the hurt look on my face. “This isn’t about Richy. Look, Alan called me. He asked if I could look at some things. I figured it was better for me to do it in person. That’s it. Nothing to do with Richy. Nothing to do with Jessy. Nothing to do with you.”

He sighs, and I’m not entirely sure he’s going to abide by my wishes until we pull in front of a tiny building—tinier than most—that says Duskwood Police on the sign. Duskwood must not have that much crime. Well, not until this, I suppose.

“Thank you.” I tell him as I reach over to undo my seatbelt and climb out of the car. “This is a nice ride, by the way.”

He raises a hand in some mock-salute. “Need me to pick you up?”

“Nah.” I shake my head. “Think I’ll explore the town for a little bit.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugs and then he’s off.

I square my shoulders and take a deep breath before opening the door to the police station. It wasn’t like Alan asked me to come down here. He hadn’t. Even during the investigation into Richy’s death and Hannah’s kidnapping, when he questioned us, he never asked me to come to Duskwood. We’d done way too many video calls and phone calls and at one point, I had asked if he thought it would be easier for me to come to Duskwood, to which he responded back, are you ready for that?

No, I hadn’t been. I’m not even so sure I was now. But knowing that Jake was alive, that here was the last place was, I had to try.

“Can I help you?” The woman at the front desk asks.

I clear my throat. “I was wondering if I could speak to Alan Bloomgate. I’m one of—I was involved in the Hannah Donfort case. My name is [MC].”

Her eyes widen. “Give me a moment.” She stands and heads to some back office—which looks to me more like a closet—and then returns with a clipped smile. “He’ll be right out.”

Apparently, she isn’t lying, because not two minutes later, Alan is stepping out from the same door and staring me down. I hold his gaze and hope it says that I’m not here to argue. I will tell him my truth, but only my truth, not Hannah’s, not Jake’s, not anybody else’s.

“I was wondering when I would see you.” He says.

I shrug one shoulder. “Isn’t a few months later better than never?”

“Let’s go into my office.” He says, and leads me around the desk and back into the closet space he had come out of. He sits behind the desk and motions for me to take a seat opposite him. “I’m just going to guess you’re not here to talk about Miss Donfort.”

“I want to see them.” I tell him. “His things. I want to see them for myself. And whatever you want from me in return, I’ll give to you.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, [MC].”

“He isn’t a game to me.” I snap back and then sit back and try to relax. “I appreciate that you called me. It’s—I helped you find Hannah. I would do it again. Even with knowing the things that we do now, I would do it all again. That’s how much that group means to me. That’s how much he means to me. I’m not asking you to break any rules or to lie for him or to—to let him hide in your basement for the next five years. I’m just asking you to show me what you found.”

He stares me down for a moment. Then, he sighs, says “wait here for a minute” and disappears to another room. When he comes back, it’s with an evidence bag in his hand filled with the objects I saw on his bodycam footage. My breath hitches in my throat.

“I can’t let you touch them.” He says as he lays them in front of me.

I stare into the eyes of the mask. “Did you tell anybody that he’s alive?”

“I don’t know that he’s alive,” is all the answer he gives, which is an answer to my question. I slide my gaze down to the black hoodie, to the dirtied sleeves and muddy hood, and think about the fact that Jake wore this. I’m so close to him.

And yet I’ve never been further away from him.

“Thank you.” I tell him. “For—for this. And for listening to me about Hannah. If you hadn’t, I—I don’t know what would have happened. How much longer he would have gone on for. If he would have ever stopped.”

Alan’s silent for a minute. Then, he clears his throat. “You know, it was strange to me. Both Hannah and yourself swore to me that neither of you knew the other.”

“I don’t.” I swear.

It was one of the (albeit many) things that didn’t make sense to me. How Hannah got a hold of my number. How she sent it to Thomas. She’d told Alan she hadn’t really remembered texting him my number at all.

“I believe you.” He reassures. “I just think it’s strange. One mistake, if you can call it that, and you throw yourself into a missing persons case to help a stranger.”

“They’re not strangers.” Even though Hannah is kind of still a stranger.

“But they were.” Alan reasons. “You had no reason to say yes to helping Thomas. I doubt anybody would have held it against you if you turned the other way. But you decided to follow this until the end. To make sure they found Hannah. And you care about them. Maybe that’s why I find that I’m more lenient with you than maybe I should be. Why you’re sitting across from me right now calling the shots. Why I’m not asking you about the hacker.”

“I wouldn’t tell you if you did.” I look him in the eye so he knows I’m telling the truth.

He returns my gaze. “Maybe that’s the other reason.”

“Hm.” I acknowledge before I turn my gaze away—from him, from the objects that I know belong to Jake and it takes everything in me not to snatch them up and run. “Well. Thank you for allowing me to steal some of your time. For letting me—” I cut myself off before I say something that makes me break down in a fit of tears in front of him. “—just thank you.”

Leaving the station is easier than coming in. I’m still not any closer to knowing where Jake is than I was when I arrived here, but there’s a comfort in knowing he walked these streets. I wonder what he would think if he knew I was here. He hadn’t wanted me to come to Duskwood when everything was happening…but now that it was over, would he be happy that I was here? That I had come to Duskwood to piece together where he might have gone? Would he track my location and come to find me and…or was I grasping at straws?

It felt like I had just gotten him back. Not really, not entirely…but knowing that he was alive, that he was out there somewhere, maybe thinking of me and looking for ways to come back, to live the life we talked about when he asked me if I was sure…that was worth it. The thought that we could maybe someday have that—even if it was a twenty percent chance.

I check my phone again to see a new message from Ash. She’s asking me if I’ve heard from Charlie in the last few hours. Apparently, he’s AWOL, and I want to help, really, but…it doesn’t really feel like that’s where I am at the moment. Not just physically—obviously—but mentally. We got lucky with Hannah. And that was really only because we had Jake. Adam didn’t have a Jake. Or…maybe he did and I just hadn’t met him yet. But I already had a Jake and I didn’t want another one.

Maybe—if I found him, I could convince him to help. That was a big maybe. Not because I thought Jake would say no. He would say yes to anything I asked of him. The maybe was whether or not I could find him. More likely, the maybe was whether or not he would find me.

Three months ago, I would have been able to come to Duskwood and have no shortage of things I wanted to do and people I wanted to see. Now, as I stand outside Duskwood’s police station, I feel nothing but loneliness. Nobody knows I’m here. I could pass Thomas on the street and he wouldn’t even know it. I could run into Jessy at the library and she would walk by me without even a second thought. Why would they? I hadn’t told them I was here.

So, with nothing left to do, I walked. Toward the town center. Toward the library that Jessy showed me on our walk through Duskwood. Toward the Rainbow Café where I knew that Cleo and Hannah had spent a lot of their time. Toward the Black Swan. Toward—

Ah, what the hell.

I had nothing better to do and The Aurora seemed like a great place to drown my sorrows. To think about my next steps. To figure out—now that I was in Duskwood—what I planned to do. The thing about Jake being so secretive (and on the run) was that I couldn’t retrace his steps. I wasn’t able to ask if anyone had seen him. One, because he would make sure nobody had. And two, because three months was a long time to forget somebody’s face if you didn’t know who you were looking for.

I pull open the door to the bar and step inside. Immediately, I’m hit with the stench of whiskey and a handful of chatter. Duskwood’s a small town. And The Aurora definitely proves it. The bartenders move melodically around each other, serving patrons on the other side of the bar. If you walk down further, there’s a handful of tables.

And dead in the center is a table with my friends. Or, some of them. Dan and Cleo and Lilly. Could I still call them my friends? Ex-friends, maybe? Acquaintances? I didn’t know what they were. Or how to address them. It wasn’t like we had gotten into a fight. We didn’t stop talking for any reason other than that we did. We stopped talking.

I make a beeline for the bar to avoid a confrontation and plant myself on one of the stools. One of the bartenders—a girl cute with bleach blonde hair and brown Bambi eyes—asks what I want and I channel my inner Dan to order a whiskey—neat.

Looking over my shoulder, I focus on the table of them. On Lilly, who’s smiling at something Cleo said. On Dan, who’s the only one of them who actually knows I’m here. But even he’s focused on the conversation they’re having. It’s strange—to see Dan a part of something I’m not sure he would have been before. It’s nice.

“[MC]?”

I turn my head away from the table of my friends and focus my attention across the bar on someone I should’ve expected to see. “Phil.”

“I thought I recognized your voice from when we talked.” He smiles. “I wasn’t sure, but I saw you staring longingly at them—” He nods towards Dan and Cleo and Lilly. “—and I knew. What brings you around here? I expected you to show up maybe a few months ago, but by now, I thought you’d moved on without us.”

I was tired of the words move on. Like I’d had a choice. Like the people from this town might open their arms and welcome me back into their lives. So I’d been part of the group who’d saved Hannah Donfort. So had a lot of people. It didn’t make me special and everyone here knew it.

I offer him a smile in return. “I’m looking for somebody.”

“Anybody I know?” He asks.

I shake my head. “Nah. At least nobody you would recognize.” I pause. “How’s Jessy?”

“She’s—Jessy.” He answers, like that is an answer. “I don’t know if she’ll ever really be okay with the way things happened with Richy. I wouldn’t expect her to. Obviously. But I don’t know. I think I just thought she would have gone back to her normal life by now. And then I remember that most of her life revolved around him. He was her best friend. She worked for him. And I’m trying to be patient about that. But—” He shakes his head. “Maybe you should talk to her.”

“She doesn’t know I’m in town.”

“Okay.” He hums. “So, you’re not in town for my sister. And you’re not in town for your group of friends because they’re over there and you look like you’d rather be anywhere else. There’s always Hannah, but I don’t think you knew her that well. Or at all. Would I be right to assume this is about a certain hacker who helped to find Hannah?”

“He didn’t help find Hannah.” I defend. “He was the entire reason we found Hannah. I would have never been able to do it on my own. Even with the others’ help. He’s the only reason we found out about—” I pause before I say something I maybe shouldn’t. “It doesn’t matter. He’s the only reason we found her. Everything I did was just dumb luck.”

“That wasn’t what the news said.” A voice cuts in and I turn my attention from Phil to focus on the stranger that slides into the seat beside me. Not too close—a couple inches away. I don’t recognize him. I don’t know him. But I don’t know every person in Duskwood. Maybe a total of like nine or ten. “I’m sorry to interrupt. But I heard you had a lot to do with finding Hannah Donfort. The news said you were some kind of hero.”

I offer him a tight smile. “That’s nice of them. But…if they knew my—friend—knew what he did to find her, I don’t think I would be as much of a hero as everybody says.”

“That’s noble.” He says, eyes meeting mine, and it strikes me at once how handsome he is. He has dark hair. Bright green eyes. Focus, [MC]. I scold. You have a…a someone.

My phone buzzes.

ERIC SENT A PHOTO.

ERIC: What do you make of this?

I sigh and click on the photo. It’s of—some object. Much like the one that was addressed to me on the envelope in Adam’s glove compartment. The image is a bit different—but I don’t know enough about what it means to have an answer as to why.

ME: Was this one addressed to me?

ERIC: Nope. Ash.

“Are you okay?” Phil asks.

I clear my throat. “I’m a popular person���apparently.” A thought strikes. “Have you ever heard of a place called Redlog Pines?”

Phil frowns. “No.”

I turn to look at the stranger. “You?”

“Redlog Pines is a small town about two hundred miles north of Duskwood.” He answers. “Known for their wooded forests, much like Duskwood.”

“Why are you looking into a place with forests as creepy as ours?” Phil asks, incredulously. “Didn’t you get enough of that with Hannah’s case?”

“Yeah.” I sigh. “You would think.”

“Hey, [MC]!”

I wince at the sound of Dan’s voice. Shooting Phil a look that screams please help me to which he shakes his head amusedly, I turn and plaster on a fake smile as I take in the shocked looks on Cleo and Lilly’s faces. I should have known better than to come to The Aurora and talk to Phil when the three of them were having a conversation across the room. I should have known they would sooner or later see me. I just hoped it was later.

“Hey.” I hop off my stool and make my way across the bar to them. “It’s, uh, fancy seeing the three of you here.”

“What are you doing here?” Cleo asks.

“I haven’t really figured that out.” My eyes meet Lilly’s. “It sounds crazy to say it out loud. But I was hoping that—I’m not sure if Lilly told you—”

“That Jake’s alive.” Cleo nods. “None of us ever really thought he wasn’t.”

I don’t think she means it as a dig—but it still feels like one. Like she’s saying you gave up on him you gave up on him you gave up on him even though she’s not and she didn’t really know him and the only person I can talk to at this table who even might understand is Lilly and even—Jake didn’t confide in her the way he did me.

“Right.” I acknowledge. “So I thought that maybe if I came here, I could trace his steps from when he was here and—I haven’t really thought that far ahead. It’s not like I thought he left me any clues in the forest or anything like that. I don’t think he expected me to be here. He hadn’t wanted me to be the last time we talked. But that was before everything happened.”

Lilly’s eyes track behind me. “Does Jake still have Nymos on your phone?”

“Uh.” I furrow my brows. “I think so. I hadn’t heard from him in a while, but I went back and read through our messages after I talked to Alan and…my phone glitched, like it used to when Jake had hacked it. And then this message appeared on my screen.”

“And by chance, can Nymos track your location?”

“What—” I shake my head. “Maybe. I don’t think I ever really asked him. It didn’t seem necessary at the time.”

“Uh huh.” She focuses on me once more. “Let’s say, for one minute, that Jake has access to Nymos who has access to your location.”

Cleo must catch onto something I’m not sure of. “Jake didn’t want you here.”

“Uh, thank you?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” She waves me off. “He didn’t want you in Duskwood. He had been adamant about that when we were talking about the mine. That’s why he went. If you showed up in Duskwood—”

“Nymos would have alerted him.” Dan finishes.

“Okay…” I’m not entirely sure I’m on the same page as them. “So—you think that Jake found out when I came to Duskwood.”

“Correct.” Lilly beams like she just solved life’s greatest mystery.

“And you think he would—come find me?”

She smiles sympathetically at me—like I’m the world’s biggest idiot for not realizing what she has been trying to say sooner. “I think he already has.”

“You think Jake’s in Duskwood.” I deadpan.

“[MC].” Cleo grabs my shoulders and turns me around. “We think he’s in this bar.”

Stranger, as I had nicknamed him—AKA the guy sitting beside me at the bar, with Phil and Redlog Pines (which he probably only knew about because of me) and the whole Hannah being kidnapped and not taking any of the credit thing—was looking back at me. So was Phil. Like they thought I was the crazy one. Like it would’ve been so hard for him to look and me and say it’s me or anything that might have clued me into the fact that—

“Jake?” I whisper, because I’ve lost quite a bit of sleep over the past couple of months and I’m not one hundred percent sure what—or who—I’m seeing is real. “Are you here?”

He tilts his head and smiles at me. Actually smiles. A bit shyly, like it’s something he’s not used to doing, but maybe like it’s something he could get used to. And I think about how terrible I probably look right now because I’m not wearing makeup and my hair is tousled from constantly pulling at it and my clothes are wrinkled from the plane and the police station and I look like a mess. But our relationship has never been about looks. Clearly. I didn’t even know the person I’d been talking to until Lilly and Cleo and even Dan pointed out the obvious.

“If I—” I close my eyes and open them again. Nope. Still there. “I need you to still be there by the time I reach you because it’s been a—” I sniffle. “—it’s been a rough few months and I don’t think I could handle you disappearing again.”

He stands from the stool he was sitting on and shuffles his feet. Like he’s not quite sure where he’s supposed to stand. If he thinks about moving, I’ll tackle him onto the floor of The Aurora and then apologize to Phil later. It feels like everything I wanted is right here in front of me. And I’m scared to death that it’s not real.

“What’s one thing you would take with you if you were stranded on an island?”

His smile stretches. “My computer.”

And that—that’s what breaks me. I think I might start blubbering like an idiot but I don’t remember the time it takes for me to cross the measly twenty feet between us. All I remember is grabbing his black hoodie—because of course—and dragging him to me. I don’t kiss him, despite how much I want to, because I don’t want our first kiss to be tainted with my snot and tears. Instead, I bury my face in his collarbone and wrap my arms around his neck and hold on for dear life.

Because I can. Because he isn’t dead.

“Y—You’re here.” I pull back and cup his face with my hands. “How are you here?”

“You came to Duskwood.” He responds, and then—hesitantly—he presses his lips to my forehead in a kiss. “Alan called you.”

“He found your things in the forest.” I whisper back. “He said they’d been there a while. The police hadn’t searched the forest because they assume you died in the mine.”

“They aren’t looking for me here.” He confirms. “I didn’t expect it to take so long for them to find my belongings, but I anticipated that you would find out. At the time, it wasn’t safe for me to reach out and contact you. They kept on my trail for a while before they assumed I died in the mine with Richy.”

“Why didn’t you contact me then?” I ask. “Is it because of what I last messaged you? I didn’t mean it—I swear, I thought you were dead. If I had known you were alive, I would have waited, however long it took. I wasn’t trying to give up on you.”

“Hey.” He places both hands on either side of my face. “I know. I know that, [MC]. That was never why I didn’t reach out to you. I know you said you wanted this life with me. But I didn’t want that for you. But I was selfish. I couldn’t let you go. So I was trying to find a way to make both of those things true. But I was always coming back to you.”

“And did you?”

“Come back to you?” He asks.

I sniffle. “Find a way to make both of those things true.”

“Not entirely.” He admits. “Nymos alerted me you had boarded a plane headed in the direction of Duskwood and I—” He shook his head. “I knew I would find you here.”

“You could have found me sooner.”

He lets go of my face and he feels like he takes my skin with him. “It wasn’t that easy.”

“It could have been.” I demand.

I’m angry again. Now that I know he’s alive and okay and that he could have found me, I’m angry that he didn’t. I told him I would choose that life with him. Over and over and over. He didn’t need to make the decision for me. He didn’t need to try and protect me. And yes, maybe the fact that he did makes my heart flutter a tiny little bit, but that’s besides the point.

“I told you before you left me.” I tell him and I’m aware it sounds like we’ve been in a relationship for five years and I’m aware that everybody in here is watching and listening in on our conversation and they probably all know we’re who we are, two people involved in helping to find the kidnapped Hannah Donfort, and maybe that’s all we’ll ever be in this town. But I would rather be the girl who found Hannah Donfort in Duskwood with him than be me anywhere else. “You told me you would let me go with you.”

“That was before I told you I loved you.”

My heart skips a beat. It screams I love you I love you I love you back, but I say— “What does that have to do with anything?”

He looks somewhat amused. Like he knows I would never hold it against him. It’s clear to both of us that I wouldn’t because even though I’m glaring up at him with my furrowed eyebrows and my lips pouted, I’m still pressed tightly against him. His hands—even though they’ve moved from my face—are now resting on my hips. Pulling my tighter to him. There’s no space in between us. If it was up to me, I’m pretty sure there never would be again.

“[MC].” He says, and oh god I wish he would say my name every day for the rest of his life. “Have I—in the short time we have known each other—ever struck you as the type of person who says I love you? But with you…” His words are a whisper against my lips. “It’s easy to fall back into old emotions with you.”

“I want to be angry with you.” I tell him.

He shakes his head. “No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” I agree. “But I might be if you don’t kiss me.”

He brought one finger underneath my chin and tilted it up until our lips were separated by a fraction of an inch. My eyelids fluttered. I didn’t care that everyone in here was about to see just how much Jake meant to be. I didn’t care because I had waited too long for this. And then—just as I’m leaning toward him to press our lips together, he whispers— “[MC]?”

“Hm.” I acknowledge.

“Who’s Eric?”

My eyelids crack open and I shove at his chest. “That’s what you’re worried about right now? Here I am, in front of you, covered in snot and tears and who-knows-what-else because you’re here right now, and you’re worried about some guy I don’t even know?”

“Who’s Eric?” He repeats.

“Ugh.” I run my hands through my hair and take a step back. “I don’t know. He’s the other side of Thomas or whatever you want to call him. If we lived in a different town.” I glare back at him and try not to admit that I think his jealous side is a little cute. “He messaged me. Thought I picked up his friend from some parking lot and I didn’t, but his friend sent him my number, and it was Hannah all over again. I’m trying to help them.”

“This Adam has been sending you a lot of videos.”

“You know I hate when you hack my phone.” I complain, even though I really don’t. Even though I had prayed for him to help me with this case. “I really don’t know Adam. Like—even less than I know Eric.

“But you know Eric.”

“For like a week.” I reassure. “He added me to this group chat with him and like three other friends of his. They’re desperate to find Adam who has apparently dropped off the face of the earth and I don’t know what to do. I had you with Hannah’s case. And you knew her. And they—” I look over my shoulder at Cleo and Dan and Lilly, who are pretending like they’re not listening in even though I know and Jake knows they are. “—they knew her. And obviously Adam’s friends must know him but I don’t and you don’t and there is no Jake in Redlog Pines.”

“I don’t trust him.” He shakes his head. “Any of them.”

I laugh. “Jake, you didn’t trust half the people in this bar when we first started talking.” I look over at Phil and then Dan. “It doesn’t mean they committed a crime. If I had backed off when you asked me to help you find Hannah, we may never have.”

“I thought that was all thanks to me.” He sounds smug, like that little smiley face he loved to annoy me with (AKA make me fall in love with him). “Did he flirt with you?”

“No.” I deadpan. “I think he was focused on his missing friend.”

“I was focused on my missing sister.” He shoots back.

I close my mouth. Alright. He has a point. But I wasn’t flirting with Eric. He was focused on finding Adam and I was focused on mourning—and then finding—Jake. Maybe it felt like Eric and I were two sides of the same coin. Maybe that’s why I agreed to help him. Because I didn’t want to happen to him what I thought had happened to Jake—to me.

“You’re being ridiculous.” I say instead. “How do you think I could ever entertain the idea of being with somebody else when for the past three months—more than that if you count the time we have actually had together—I’ve been focused on you? On discussing Hannah with you and then talking to you about anything and everything and then worrying about you and then hating you a little for convincing me you should me the one to go into the mine and then mourning you when it was hard to even think about you and then finding you?”

His eyes are wide. I think I’ve rendered him speechless. Which—serves him right. I know he’s not somebody who serves their feelings up on a silver platter. I know that. Obviously, I knew that from the first time I spoke to him. Back when he was nothing more than ??? and I was almost convinced that Dan was right and he was the Man Without A Face—a thought that I now hate with everything in me. But I need him to trust me. Jealousy streak and FBI and the missing persons cases aside, he needs to trust me.

“Trust me.” I cup the sides of his face again. “He’s nothing like you.”

He swallows. “Some people might consider that to be a perk.”

“I don’t.” I say.

And then I’m kissing him and it feels like coming home.

[lyon-amore]

Historias cortas de chats y publicaciones de twitter sobre la vida de Jake y Macie desde que se comprometieron, hasta el futuro de ellos, con muchas emociones y sorpresas.

Esto es más con el canon del juego, no de mi historia '¿Qué pasaría sí…? Duskwood', lo aclaro por adelantado.

Son varias ideas de todo lo que imagino de su futuro, espero que os guste.

👁️Capítulos​🐰​

𝒮𝑜𝒷𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒹𝒶 𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶-Jake x Fem!MC

 𝐿𝑜𝓈 𝓉𝒶𝒸𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓈 

𝐿𝒶 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒹𝒶 𝒹𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑜 𝒹𝑒 𝒥𝒶𝓀𝑒 1-2 Jake x Fem!MC

 𝐿𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒶𝒸𝒶 𝒹𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝒸𝑜𝓈 

 𝒮𝑜𝓁𝑜 𝓊𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓈𝑜 Jake x Fem!MC

 𝑀𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓈 Jake x Fem!MC

𝐿𝒶 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝒶 𝒹𝑒 𝒥𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎 𝑀𝒞 1-2-3-4 

 𝐸𝒸𝒽á𝓃𝒹𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒹𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓈 

 𝒮𝑒ñ𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒹𝑒 𝓋𝒾𝒹𝒶 

 𝒱𝑒𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒶 

 𝒯𝑜𝒹𝑜 𝑒𝓁 𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒶 𝓁𝑜𝓈 𝒹𝑜𝓈 

 𝐻𝑒𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑜 Jake xFem!MC y el grupo

 ''𝐿𝑜 𝓈𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑜, 𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓎 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝒶𝒹𝒶'' 

 𝐸𝓃 𝓁𝑜 𝒷𝓊𝑒𝓃𝑜 𝓎 𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝑜 Jake x Fem!MC

 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝓁𝓁 

 𝒮𝑒𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓈 Jake x Fem!MC

 𝑅𝑒𝓊𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃 Jake x Fem!MC

 𝒮𝑜𝓇𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒶 Jake x Fem!MC, grupo, personaje originales y Masculino!MC

𝑅𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑜 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓈𝒶 1-2 Jake x Fem!MC

𝒴 𝑒𝓁 𝒷𝑒𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝒶... 1-2-3 grupo Jake x Fem!MC

𝒞𝑜𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈 1 Grupo

 𝐿𝒶𝓈 𝒹𝑜𝓈 𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓈 𝒷𝒾𝑒𝓃 Grupo Jake x Fem!MC

[slytherinlizzy]

The afterfire by slytherinlizzy is now on Wattpad!

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Story category: fanfiction

Fanfiction type: Duskwood, Jake Donfort × OC

Warnings: memories of childhood trauma; mental health problems directed at various characters; use of alcohol, cigarettes; mentions and graphics of injuries, blood, vomiting, explosion, sexual related content, murder, death, suicide, abuse, violence; nudity; strong language; use of darknet; stalking; continuous violation of personal and security rights; dark themes

Ongoing

Copyright: all rights reserved

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Characters: Jake Donfort

Lyra Ambrose

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Story description:

After the explosion in the Ironsplinter Mine, things went on with a quiet tension.

Not only did the fire leave behind an unidentified body, but it further enhanced the already intricately tangled threads. And this time, Lyra was in more danger than ever.

No one from the group is trying to reach her. Lyra didn't receive a single phone call, and she couldn't make one either. Is there a more serious reason than she thinks? Or do the others no longer need her? They got what they wanted from her, and maybe... they're now afraid?

Will it be possible for the girl to build further the precisely crafted spider web in such a way that as few people as possible fall into its trap, including herself? Will she be able to move on with knowing her last words to Richy were unforgiving?

And Jake... What happened to the man who won her heart with words alone?

So many unanswered questions, and Lyra got no one but herself to help figuring them out. And as any good detective does in such situation, she began to investigate.

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Excerpts from the book (spoiler warning):

[...] And to be honest, she knew that she was the last person who was important and needed to be paid attention to, but someone could really tell her what the hell was going on. With a sigh, she lowered her phone. Lyra wanted to stay still, like since the day Thomas added her to the group. When all of this mess came crashing in her life. And until then, she managed to do well. But it seemed that without the others, without a specific person, it was imposibble. All thoughts and possibilities of what's happening came crushing her down. Her mind was buzzing and dead silent at the same time. Shocked by the informations, yet already making things up. Her knees finally gave out, and Lyra fell to the ground, a crying, curled up mess on the rug.

She wondered if if Jake showed up there unharmed, would she start a fight herself, or rather just hug him without saying a word for as long as possible. She'll still think about it. Equally, the man would truly deserve both. A small tear rolled down her cheek, caught at the corner of her upturned lips. It really deserves scientific attention, that how the salty taste of tears can make one laugh. Lyra considered she might give up journalism and part-time detective work and become a student of biology or psychology department. It would be less profitable, but still more pleasant to deal with human brains and interneurons than to deal with mine explosions and murders from legends made into reality. The quarrel suddenly stopped, punctuated by a heavy slamming of the door. A similar door slammed in Lyra's soul recently, for which she's now desperately searching for the key.

"Probably when around a few days ago I thought I'm about to get kidnapped, but turns out Jake just likes to be dramatic, and now I'm stuck here with him." All the while, she didn't take her eyes off him, who upon hearing the answer suddenly looked away, hiding a... Oh look, was that a smile? 

As soon as she saw the familiar beard, Lyra hurried over to the screen, a flurry of irritated words leaving her mouth. She wanted to throw so many things at the man's head, but nothing more came out than: "Thomas, you idiot!" He stared back in shock and fear. Beside him, Lilly whispered in his ear, "She's really mad at you right now." "I see that."

She gently grabbed the other wrist as well, and as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, she tried to encourage the black-haired man to do the same. The light of the lamp on the wall by the counter cast soft shadows on his neck and face, and he slowly began to surrender to Lyra's movements. The music hummed softly in the background, gently dancing with the lights as the two people did. Somehow this was different now than at any other time in Lyra's life. She was always the one who was led, the little lost, unfortunate girl, but now someone is relying on her, watching her movements. They are clumsy together, but this didn't fill her with nervousness, rather a pleasantly warm liquid flowed through the woman's body. If Jason or Betty saw her now, they wouldn't believe that this was the same Lyra they took under their wing just a year ago. Her adopted family would understand now, the journalist never had a regular family, but many and many, everywhere. She began to take bigger and bigger steps to the rhythm of the music, by that her dance partner forced to follow her example. Jake smiled down at her, admiring, loving how enthusiastic she was, wanting to spin him around. "You were right, you're horrible in this," he said with the biggest grin known to man on his face. "Sod off, kindly?" "That was very British of you," Jake laughed while trying to spin her around, the two almost tripping over each others' feet. "You're such a little weird one," he said as he pulled her closer, spinning around between the small kitchen area and the tables.