#Garroth *sees sleeping person in the woods*

[stellisketches]

Y’know we give Aph a lot of shit for adopting literally everything that doesn’t have a parental figure within fifty feet of it but what about Garroth. That man brought home a baby wyvern and a half-dead unconscious person he found in the woods twice. Honestly it’s no wonder Aphmau is like that™, She probably got the habit from Garroth in the first place. She just thinks that’s what you’re supposed to do in those kind of situations.

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝟏𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐂𝐖:  violence, torture, abuse, blood, sleep paralysis, cult vibes? umm yeah just bad stuff all around generally

𝐀/𝐍: um so like um

𝐖𝐂: 3,300+

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑: @arienic (shoutout for the ending lines this chapter, you killed that fr)

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

it’s so cold.

the thin, poor excuse of a blanket barely helped you, nor did the ripped-up hospital clothes now crusted in dried blood. no wounds lay underneath the tears of fabric.

at least, not anymore.

the cell room has no windows, but even if you had the privilege of seeing the setting sun, you’re unsure if you'd be able to tell what day it was—let alone for how many you’d been in this hell.

every day it was the same cycle. wake up cold, hungry, smeared in blood, and still aching from whatever torture elizabeth had done to you the day before. if you weren’t passing out from the pain, you’d be sedated before getting returned to your cell again, blurring your sense of time and even fogging your memories of what you’d endured just hours before.

footsteps echo down distant wooden stairs, each creak in the old wood making you flinch involuntarily. those steps are down the hall from the opposite side of where you were taken every day, and you have a feeling that’s the way to get out. 

you must be in the basement of some… house. somewhere close to the campsite that the ro’meaves owned. where you’d just been with everyone. garroth… aphmau… vylad… laurance… zane…

and katelyn.

you wonder what she’d think, knowing what kind of person her mother was. you never asked katelyn if she remembered her mom much, but you’re sure she never understood the amount of evil the woman who gave her life was capable of doing. she looks just like her.

a few times in your state of delirium you’d almost thought it was katelyn. when your vision blurred you nearly wanted to reach out, hoping it was the girl waking you up from your nightmare and telling you it was all a dream. but the amount of pain you felt could never be a dream. even as you lay here, the ghost of your previous injuries remain, sending sudden shocks through your nerves even when you stay perfectly still.

…you should be near the camp if that’s what elizabeth really said. it’s hard to remember.

the footsteps have come considerably closer until they stop right outside the bars of your door. you aren’t scared just yet. those steps sounded like the boy’s, and he hadn’t been the one hurting you. likely, he was here to give you some food and leave before elizabeth was ready for you again, like he’d been doing every time you woke up.

cracking your eyes open, you’re surprised to hear the sound of fabric sliding under the door and not a plastic tray.

“no food?”

“…no, not this time.”

you stare at him through blurred vision, trying to focus on his eyes. he turns his head away and ducks it, as if in shame. you're not sure if you'll stomach the food well, but it always made you feel a little warmer—in fact, it did better than the crappy old hospital bed they gave you. every time you woke up, your blood felt like it was barely flowing through you, as if your body had only just been able to fight off death. 

it’s likely, considering how much blood you lost with every “experiment” that was conducted on you. you’re unsure how this forever potion worked, but you can only assume your body was working overtime to regenerate and seal up your wounds, regardless.

what is a young boy like him doing with these people? he never seems to enjoy being around you, and especially not in that lab. was he a subject, too? but why would he be allowed to walk free? was it stockholm? 

“why are you here with them?”

his eyes dart behind him before his voice comes in a muttered whisper–one you could just barely catch even in the eerie silence of the building.

“i have nowhere else to go.”

“…sorry,” is all you manage to croak out before your eyes drift back down to the floor. “not even water, huh?”

he pauses, before shaking his head. there’s a small clinking noise as he does so, and you realize from a glint near his ears that it’s because of his piercings.

“…sorry, i can’t talk to you.”

turning on his heel, he rushes back down the hall. his footsteps quickly recede to where he came from up the wooden steps, leaving you alone in the cold stone room.

…

you miss everyone.

were they looking for you? were they worried? did they think you were dead?

you might as well be.

dropping your eyes, they land on the crumpled clothes he’d slid through the bars. it looked like the same, scratchy fabric of the clothes you were wearing now, but its color was the same, pure white color that the ones on you used to be. they hardly looked like the same outfit at all—the fabric was stained in different shades of blood, some darker from getting stained, and then soaked again with a fresher layer. elizabeth must have decided they were unrecognizable enough to be replaced. or she might’ve just felt disgusted at how filthy you’d become.

the thin mattress squeaks as you manage to sit up, though your muscles protest from the action. they hadn’t been doing much work since you’ve been here–most of your moving from place to place was from force or being dragged around like a limp ragdoll. despite this, it felt like your body had been continuously running for hours and hours every day, muscles fighting overtime to keep you alive. hell, every system in your body was fighting for you to stay alive.

wasn’t it ironic? that the reason for your torturous pain that made you want to give up was the very thing keeping you alive?

sliding your feet to the door you pick the clothes up, standing and swaying in place before ripping off your old rags and sliding them on. despite the fabric being the same as before, it feels decently soft on your skin. it was much better than the crusted and stiff bloody fabric you’d been forced to stay in.

bunching up the old pair you shove it back out the bars, using as much force as you can to get it to the other side in a pitiful attempt at rebellion. it drops to the ground in a less-than-pathetic show of your current strength just a foot away. you stare at it through your puffy eyelids.

the clicking of heels echoes through the hall, making your muscles clench and stiffen. you don’t move, like a deer petrified in headlights, eyes trained on your bloody clothes on the other side of the bars.

“hm. you’re awake,” elizabeth notes, her clean and polished shoes stopping just in your sight. a moment passes before she clicks her tongue in disgust, stepping over the crusted fabric to open the door. “i won’t sedate you this time, but i wouldn’t make the mistake of trying to fight or run. just walk.”

slowly, you look up at her.

just walk? walk to the place where you’d be tortured? walk to your personally designed hell? you’d rather be sedated. it’s like she subtly enjoyed these moments of power. of making you feel helpless.

all you feel is hatred. hate for the woman in front of you. you want to leap across this cell and wrap your fingers around her throat.

but then you see her. katelyn, staring at you. sitting across from you in class. practicing on the volleyball court. laughing in aphmau’s room. she wasn’t anything like this woman. no. she has no similarities.

but for that split moment, you see her, and it’s enough to kill the fight that was brewing in your chest.

you step out of the cell, and realize that this was the first time you’d been conscious and aware outside of your cell in… however long you’d been here. the stone under your feet feels cold, like icicles uncomfortable pricking the bottom of your feet with every step. next to your cells you see there’s more just like it, with numbers and unclear pictures on them.

2… 1…

you glance back, noticing there are a few more beyond the other side of your cell.

…4? 5? 6?

your face pales and you freeze by the lab doors when you look up at cell one.

beside the number was a picture of a young boy, not possibly older than five. it was dim, but you could see him. blonde hair. blue eyes. a bright little smile. he looks identical to the little boy in that childhood photo hanging in the salome’s stairway.

“how is the ro’meave boy?”

turning your head, you clench your jaw as you stare up at the woman.

“fuck. you.”

there’s no reaction, just a small disapproving hum as she opens the door, expectantly looking for you to walk in.

daring you to not.

you don’t remember what happens after you step in there.

it’s dark when you wake up again. well, “wake up” is too vague. it’s dark when you’re fully conscious of yourself once again. you remember through a haze the pain you had been put through once again, but this time you don’t remember what exactly it was that she did to you. actually, you can’t even remember anything that’s happened anymore. the only memories that you recall are tainted with a hazy fog, one you cannot sweep away no matter how much you attempt to focus on it.

you feel so cold.

it must be the middle of the night, which explains why you could only see shadows and silhouettes. it’s now been a few times you’ve woken up like this, this poor excuse of a bed not exactly very comforting. you’d just have to fix your blanket and…

it feels like a cold rush of water has been dumped over your body. this must just be because you were exhausted.

staring at the dark lines where your cell bars are lined against the hall, you attempt to move your fingers again.

nothing.

you can’t move anything. not your legs. not your arms. not even your head.

this isn’t real. you aren’t awake. there’s no way.

what is that?

from the corner of your vision, you see a figure. tall. its head seemed to reach the tall ceiling. it was close to you, pressed into the corner as it stared. you couldn’t see its eyes or even its face. but you could feel it. your skin prickled uncomfortably, sweat cold against your face. trying to swallow your fear you attempt to turn your head, only to feel like an otherworldly force was pushing you back, keeping you in place. your vision prickles with black and your face feels colder—and over the loud thudding of your heartbeat, you can hear it breathing. it’s closer.

before your vision returns, you snap your eyes shut.

is this real? did a demon manifest in this dark place and come to feast on the pathetic remains of what you had left?

everything goes quiet.

even if you could move right now, you think fear would keep you frozen instead. do you dare try to see what it was? you know it hasn’t moved. you know it’s right there.

a deep voice encroaches on your ears, sending another spike of terror into your blood. a croak of your name, the syllables uttered in a way that was reminiscent of someone’s last breath. the last rattle of death calling for you in the dark.

you dare, and through your lashes, you see a shadow leaning over you, two long horns spiraling out from its cloaked head. immediately you close your eyes again.

“don’t worry, child. i don’t need you dead just yet,” he whispers, breath unpleasant against your ear. “you were chosen by her. so i know your purpose for me extends far greater into the future.”

you still can’t move. all you can do is close your eyes and wish to go back to sleep.

long, wicked, and skeletal fingers rake into your hair like a beast playing with its prey. “oh, how i’ll enjoy taking away everything irene ever loved. and i can start from a real incarnation.”

it doesn’t talk to you again.

☆

cold metal presses against your arms and legs. rough leather squeezes uncomfortably against your wrists.

“ein… i said…!” there’s a harsh slap against skin. it’s muffled in your right ear like you’d heard it through a veil of cotton. “...she’s waking… do it… now!”

your eyes crack open. elizabeth is walking back to her computer screen, scribbling down on her clipboard and typing against the slim keyboard in front of her. ein frowns as he hovers over your right side, fiddling with your arm. looking down you see the iv line that has already been hooked into your veins, and ein’s shaking fingers as he hooks up the drip.

you still can’t feel your body.

flicking your eyes back up, you freeze when you see lifeless gray already glaring back at you. the circles under his eyes are deep, and a blotchy red mark shows across his right cheek. for a few moments you’re both stuck there, staring at the other like two cattle in a slaughter pen.

ein flinches when the monotonous typing on the keyboard pauses and elizabeth shifts on her feet, his ears flattening against his head as he stiffens to stand straight again.

“are you done?” she calls, not turning to look at the two of you.

he swallows thickly, staring down at you with a conflicted expression. “...yes.”

“then you may go.”

there’s a moment of hesitation before he runs over to the door, slipping through without another word and leaving you alone with her.

“no need to worry,” she says before you can pull together a thought. “i’m giving you a break today. at least from the more painful experiments. it was an order, so my words are genuine.”

spinning on her heel, she paces over to you, dragging a barstool against the tiles until she can seat herself directly in front of you.

“why can’t i feel anything?” you croak, voice weak.

“well, i’ve just come to the conclusion that depriving your body of its daily nutrient intake slows your healing abilities. it’s likely your nerves are still reconnecting after i amputated your limbs,” she explains, looking down at your arm and grasping it between her pale fingers, pulling it up for observation. “hm. i seemed to have gotten too eager. you may even suffer a few scars. ah, and your hair will seem to grow back at a normal pace. no wonder this ability of yours went so unnoticed for so long.”

“...what?”

her head tilts as she looks back up at you, cold eyes narrowing as she continues to rant at you like you were some sort of disappointing science experiment. “your nails grew back normally, however. so it only focuses on patching active wounds. more than likely your hair and nail growth will be stunted for a while. your body is fully and actively in survival mode. fascinating.”

“shut the fuck up,” you snap, making elizabeth’s eyes pull back to you.

she may be incapable of smiling, but her eyes seem to dance with a slight amount of amusement as she observes you. it’s startling, and you can’t tell if you’ve made her mad or not. you should’ve said nothing.

“i’m awfully curious about your friends,” she says, eyes boring into yours. you have the urge to throw up. “you won’t even tell me a bit about my own daughter?”

the way she talks is so void of emotion. almost mechanical.

“who do you work for?” your voice is quieter than you'd intended.

“the snake-eyed man.” hers is full of conviction.

it’s the first time you think she hasn’t danced around a full answer with you before, but it’s not the least bit comforting. despite having never heard the name before, it still sends a cold shiver up your spine, a similar cold sweat building up on the back of your neck like last night. or… a few nights ago?

“...why me?”

“that’s quite a helpless look on your face.” she folds one of her legs over the other. “we have just one more experiment left, and i doubt you’ll remember it. so i’ll just go ahead and tell you.”

your breaths still.

“it was all him. the snake-eyed man. he was the one who orchestrated all of this. for a greater cause. something i wouldn’t expect you to comprehend,” she starts. the way she’s beginning to speak almost seems… erratic. “your parents–and the others, including my late husband–were under the impression their efforts in creating the forever potions and all of these experiments would help heal people. that it was for the greater good. it is, of course. just not in the way they thought.”

she stands, fingers trailing along the counter as she paces the lab. “i found you to be the most promising. but michael insisted it had to be his bloodline.”

you swallow. she wasn’t making any sense anymore. you flinch when she whips her head back to you. her face is still stern, but there’s a wildness in her eyes.

“you were my most successful patient. but once that dad of yours found out, all hell broke loose here. he even got garte and derek involved. i didn’t think they had it in them, but i was quickly proven wrong. especially with those lycans. they ripped you from my hands before i got a chance to prove myself!” she slams her hand on the lab table, the sound of metallic tools clattering along the surface as she does. “i sacrificed everything just for them to steal my work away before i had anything worthwhile!”

the room goes eerily quiet as she turns to the wall behind her, leaving her back to you as she takes a deep breath.

“excuse my anger. i’m sure you understand my frustration,” she says, voice cooled and calculated again as she reaches up, pulling a large blade off the wall. “granted, i didn’t have permission to take you. but your parents were never smart enough to understand your potential. none of them were seeing the bigger picture.”

your heart sinks, and there’s nothing you can do but stare helplessly at the sharp, glinting edge in her hands as she turns around again. why can’t you just move already?

“i’ll let you go early if you tell me about the others,” she says, each click of her heel on the tile sending cold blood through your veins. “if not, then i’ll do us both the favor of cutting this conversation short.”

steady hands raise the sword to your neck, leveling evenly against your jugular. your own hands shake.

"please," you beg quietly, lip trembling. you look up to meet her eyes and you search: for mercy. for compassion. for remorse or regret; any small amount of guilt.  "please, i -- i can't. please don't. please."

but she's focused only on your neck. and not a waver to her voice or hands as she grips the hilt tighter and tells you, "it'll just be a pinch.”

©starhvney 2024. do not plagiarize, feed to any AI, or repost my works to any sites.

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @remiechu @valentique @kalegrinch @izzybella1807

[blog-in-a-corner]

TSOTBL - Plight

YALL IM SO SORRY THIS IS COMING OUT LATE SJFHFNJ

Kim couldn't stop thinking about the cave system behind the library. It was so very intriguing, she could explore it all day. Unfortunately she couldn't, as Lucinda and Aaron didn't let anyone go inside, for everyone's safety of course.

“Hmph it's not fair, that cave is so cool and I can't even explore it….” Kim moped, body flopped over the couch. “Aww c'mon Kim, there's still the library...!” Garroth reminded, trying to lighten her up. “True, true, but still…” Kim mumbled, bummed out. “Maybe when we're done with the lodge, we can go somewhere you'd like.” Garroth suggested. “I just wanna go back home. To my rock collection, my tamagotchis, and my two frogs, Peanut and Tater Tot…” “Don't worry Kim, we'll all be home soon.” “Yeah... what are you gonna do right now anyway?” “I think I'm going to go and read my book right now.” “Again? I mean, I understand how addicting a good book can be, but you've been spending hours in your room reading for the past few days now. Sometimes it feels like I don't see you unless we all eat, or have to clean.” “Stop nagging me about it geez! There's nothing to do here, so what if I spend most of my time reading a book? It’s just something I really like, why is that such a problem?!” Garroth snapped at Kim, defending himself. “Hey I was just saying! Geez, I….I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm sorry…” Kim trailed off, feeling bad. “Ahh erm, no I'm sorry. I'm just used to people.…point is I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snapped at you that way, it was uncalled for.” “Ah it's all fine, maybe I'll give that book of yours a read! Judging by how much you like it I'm sure it must be good!” “Oh, um, sure… I'll let you give it a read….I guess...but I'll give it to you when I'm done with it because you read faster than I do!” “Oh yeah true. Well I guess I'll see ya later then?” “Yeah sure.” Garroth said, walking to the stairs. “Well, I guess it's just you and me couch.” Kim said to herself, slowly dozing off on the couch, as everyone else were in their own rooms.

Aphmau was by herself in her room, lying down on her bed, contemplating and reminiscing.

“Urghh Kim's not happy with me...she probably thinks I didn't talk to Zane about the whole being mean thing. I can't just put Zane's feeling aside, and the Ro'meave family drama is not a can of worms I want to keep opening, but just….argh why do I have to be caught between this crap!” Aphmau sighed to herself, smacking a pillow on her face. “Then there's this whole Aaron thing! Are we broken up, are we not, do I still want him, does he still want me, ugh! It's all so frustrating! The only person I don't have any troubles with right now is Lucinda, and that's because Lucinda is the best at avoiding drama….even when it came to breaking up with Ivan, as ugly as the situation became she handled it better than I would have…”

Aphmau stared at the ceiling of her room, it was cracked, with some of the wood from under showing out. The years of the lodge were so very visible from just the wood alone.

“Drama, drama, drama...this is highschool crap. Why can't I just be friends with everybody instead of deal with all of this family drama and romance problems...I wish I could give up sometimes, but what kind of friend would that make me? To just give up when things get hard? Not a very good friend to say the least….” Aphmau thought to herself, sighing audibly. “What kind of friend am I being by letting all this drama slip through my fingers? I should just straighten up and handle this like an adult! Because guess what I am one! But...I don't know, Aaron wanted to get away from all the drama and I don't want to make things worse by accidentally creating tension between everybody, it's already enough that I'm here….ughhhh why Irene why!”

She slumped to her side and grabbed her phone. She began to look through her photos.

“Gosh, despite everything that happened way back in highschool, I still miss the days where I could just hang out. Whether it was spending hours playing video games with Garroth and Laurance while snacking on junk food, or binge-watching anime with Katelyn and Kawaii~chan. Now here I am with all of...this I guess. I shouldn't be so negative though, I had good times then, even when the whole Jury thing happened...if I had good times then, then I can have good times now! I just have to stay positive.” She sighed, in a sense of relief. “Now let's just...take a lil’ breather to not think about all this crap.” Aphmau muttered, as she flopped over on the bed.

Lucinda was fiddling with her wand, alone in her room, casting spells.

“Praefexero.” Lucinda muttered, waving her wand around the room. Magic twirled around the room, in various shapes and colors, it faded almost as soon as it came.

“Nothing...let me try one more time. Praefexero…!” once again magic made its way around the room, but it faded as it did before. “Nothing? Dammit Praefexero!” Lucinda shouted in frustration, this time the spell poofed into a cloud of smoke unlike the previous times. “Calm down Lucinda, calm down, getting frustrated just makes things worse…” She coughed, clearing the smoke with her hands. “I know there's something about this place there's gotta be! But I'm not getting any readings! This place isn't normal, that much I can guarantee!” She grumbled, putting her wand away. “Stupid magic, what good is being a prodigy if I can't even detect what the hell is wrong with this place...Kim's acting weird, the cave was full of all sorts of bad energy, Garroth's acting kinda off too but I don't know if it's anything serious or if he's just being dumb again, I haven't been able to sleep at all these past few days and just! Ughhhh!” Lucinda smacked her head against the wall, groaning in frustration. “I just want to go to sleep….or have some kind of shut eye at the very least…guess I'll have to just bear with it.” Lucinda looked down at her wand, it was a really simple wand. “I almost regret bringing this wand, I wish I didn't leave my better wand at home. Then again I didn't anticipate this shit to happen at all, I wasn't about to bring an incredibly expensive wand to some run down shit hole.” Lucinda sighed, slumping down on her bed.

________________________________________

Zane was walking down the stairs, heading to kitchen.

“Man I can't wait until I'm able to leave this stupid lodge.” Zane muttered to himself. “I've just about had it with all of this cleaning crap. Why couldn't they send professionals out here. Cheapskates.”

As Zane walked by he noticed Kim, fast asleep on the couch.

“Hmm only if I had a marker would I scribble on her face. But Aph would probably scold me.” Zane thought aloud, turning his attention back to the kitchen. “Guess I'll make myself a cup of coffee while I'm down here.”

Zane went over to the kitchen and set some water to heat.

“Huh? Where the hell did my coffee cup go? I put it in the cabinet...so help me if one of these neanderthals is using my coffee cup-” “Looking for this?” A voice said from behind him. “GAH WHAT THE-Kim?!” Zane yelled, spooked by Kim's sudden appearance. “What are you doing standing behind me-and why do you have my coffee cup?!” “I just found it.” Kim said rather blatantly, holding the coffee cup out in front of herself. “You better have not used it or I swear I'll-” “So how's Garroth?” Kim interrupted Zane bluntly, putting the coffee cup down, not seeming to care about Zane's coffee cup dilemma. “Wh-What? How the hell would I know?” Zane snapped. “You're his brother. I thought he was acting a bit...strange lately, and I'd figured you'd know why. “So what? That's just Garroth acting fucking stupid as per usual. Trust me the guy is fine. He couldn't be helped to feel anything else than an irritating happiness even if his life depended on it.” “Hm...that's what..I thought you would say.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” “No one….would be able to tell if you died, your blood runs cold all the time….” “Tch, you think I care?” “No. I...do not…” Kim replied, walking over to the sink in the kitchen. “Yet neither do I.” She said, grabbing a knife from the rack. “You really don't...know a person..until their dead. From there on out...you can learn everything about them. Though….being dead...is very...very unpleasant... especially if you just couldn't pass on…” “Yeahh...I, uh, guess so…” Zane said, weirded out by Kim's behavior. “Is... saving someone's life worth it? Or...is it meaningless to save someone who's fated to die regardless?” Kim asked, looking to Zane. “What a stupid question to ask, of course saving another person's life is worth it, there's nothing more valuable than allowing someone to live a longer life, so that none of their friends and family, would have to mourn them.” Zane replied, annoyed at the question. “So why...do you...provoke evil and bad karma?” Kim asked looking Zane dead in the eye. “What..?” “You…really don't get it do you?….” “Kim, what the hell are you saying?”

Kim coughed and shook her head, she then stretched lightly and yawned.

“Oh hey the water is ready.” Kim pointed at the bubbling water. “Uh are going to explain to me what the hell you just said?” Zane hissed. “I just said the water was ready take a chill pill geez.” “What-no! What you said before that!” “I didn't say anything before that I just woke up...well not just this moment. You know when you wake up and feel hazy for a while?” “That doesn't...yeah okay. Never-fucking-mind.” Zane told Kim, leaving the kitchen. “Geez what's his problem?” Kim mumbled, as he walked out of the room. “Gosh these blackouts are getting worse and worse, I don't even remember how I got here! Well….at least I can make myself some coffee.” Kim sighed, worried about her current predicament. “We'll be gone soon, then I'll be able to get myself checked out... hopefully.”

________________________________________

Garroth stood at the entrance to the cave, he gazed upon the structure.

“So this...this is it…” He muttered, picking up a stone that resembled the one he had given Kim the other day from the floor. “It...it only takes one…”

[blog-in-a-corner]

TSOTBL - A Poor Choice

After the talk Lucinda and Kim had yesterday, Kim though she'd pay Aphmau a little visit as well.

Aaron, Zane and Aphmau were all in the lobby playing UNO, as Zane had forgotten he had packed a deck of UNO cards with himself.

“The UNO company themselves said that you can't stack draw-4s!” Aphmau argued, mulling over all the cards she had in her hand. “Oh so now you're bringing that up, not when I was the one getting stacked on?” Zane commented. “Sorry Aphmau, we play by the street rules here.” Aaron claimed, although he wasn't smirking you could tell through his voice he practically was. “Hmph, it's not fair I tells ya!” Aphmau whined. “Hey Aphmau can I-oh, are you guys busy?” Kim accidentally interrupted. “We’re just busy watching Aph get her butt kicked in UNO.” Zane joked. “It's not funny!” Aphmau fumed. “Do you wanna join me, Zane and Aphmau for a game?” Aaron offered Kim. “Ah, no thank you. I actually came here because I was looking for Aphmau.” Kim explained. “What do ya need?” Aphmau asked. “I wanted to talk to you about... something.” Kim muttered. “Can't you tell me right now?” Aphmau said, putting down a card. “No, I need to talk to you in private.” Kim insisted. “Okay, okay, just let me finish this game and I'll meet you in your room, 'kay?” Aphmau suggested. “Sure.” Kim accepted, leaving the lobby and back to her room.

After quite a bit of time, Aphmau finally came up to Kim's room.

“That was a long game of UNO.” Kim commented. “I'm….very bad at the game.” Aphmau admitted sheepishly. “Yeah I can tell.” Kim added. “Anyways, what'd ya wanna talk to me about?” Aphmau asked. “I...erm..did you ever...” Kim mumbled nervously. “Huh? What was that?” Aphmau asked again, leaning closer to Kim. “C'mon Kim just get to the point.” Kim thought to herself. “Aphmau did….did you ever actually talk to Zane, or did you just lie to me?” Kim confronted Aphmau sharply.

Aphmau nervously avoided eye contact and fiddled with her hair, trying to mutter up something to say.

“I...I didn't lie to you Kim, I did talk to Zane.” Aphmau explained. “You did?” Kim implored. “Yes.” Aphmau confirmed. “So why the heck is he still bad mouthing Garroth?!” Kim raised her voice. “Listen it's not that simple, he...has a lot of family issues.” “What, did Garroth do something to him when they were younger or something?” Kim questioned. “No not at all! He just-it's just complicated okay! It's family stuff between them and I really don't think it's my place to tell you exactly what.” “So what! I have family issues, a lot of people have family issues. Big deal. Didn't give me the right to treat the people who didn't do anything wrong like crap.” “No it's-argh you wouldn't understand!” “I understand that apparently Garroth covered for him when you guys disbanded the jury! You know I always wondered why I never saw Garroth during his senior year.” “I-how do you know about that?!” Aphmau asked in shock. “Lucinda told me about it.” Kim answered, lowering her voice. “What else do you know about it…?” Aphmau questioned. “Not a lot, just that and then some.” Kim explained. “Hm I see….” “I'm sure that after doing something like that, now that Zane is all “nice” or whatever, that they should have a good relationship by now? Garroth sure as hell loves Zane so why does Zane still treat him like crap despite everything?” “L...Listen Kim I'm going to be real with you, but you better not let Zane get word of this!” Aphmau whisper-shouted. “You have my word.” Kim promised. “I know that Zane is full of it, Garroth definitely isn't blameless in the situation, the guy still has plenty of flaws, but Zane is taking things way out of proportion.” Aphmau elaborated. “So why don't you tell him that?” Kim asked in confusion. “Because he'll just think I'm siding with Garroth and make this whole fiasco out of it! I don't want to deal with that, especially trapped in some run down lodge with four of my friends and my ex and no connection to the outside world!” Aphmau claimed in frustration, sitting on the bed. “Besides...he's on the right track right now, he still needs a lot of work albeit, but he's a way better person than he was a year ago...and I don't want to mess that up...” “I understand what you're saying Aphmau, but sometimes the only way to improve is by taking criticism instead of what you want to hear.” Kim sighed. “Yeah…I guess you're right…” Aphmau admitted. “Listen, you can just deal with the Zane situation later, it's bad enough already with having to be trapped in a place with the ex you promised to stay away from for a while, the Zane thing can wait. Garroth's been dealing with him for years, what's a couple more days?” Kim suggested, sitting beside Aphmau. “I’m sorry for not being more understanding earlier, I was so irritated at Zane that I didn't take a moment to consider how you were doing with everything that's happened.” “It's all right Kim, I understand why you got upset. I promise I'll really face Zane about it, just...not right now okay?” Aphmau promised. “Thanks Aph.” Kim muttered. “It's not a problem Kim..” Aphmau said, giving Kim a light smile. “Anyways, I'll let you go now. You probably wanna play some more with Aaron and Zane right now.” Kim said, getting up and opening the door for Aphmau. “Wanna join us?” Aphmau offered. “Oh, erm, I don't know. You guys looked like you were having fun all together and I wouldn't want to disturb you guys.” Kim rejected the offer nervously. “Aw c'mon! You're always welcome to a game of UNO!” Aphmau insisted. “Well...okay, maybe just one game.” Kim gave in. “Great! C'mon let's ask Lucinda is she wants to play!” Aphmau dragged Kim out of the room. “Ah but she's asleep! She's been taking a lot of naps to make up for the lack of sleep. “Aw well that's too bad, oh well!” Aphmau sighed. “At least it’s one less person to watch you get your butt kicked at UNO.” Kim joked, trying not to giggle.

“Hey!” Aphmau laughed, walking back to the lobby with Kim.

_____________________________________________

It was late at night. Kim, Aaron, Aphmau, and Zane had already gone to bed. Lucinda on the other hand, had just woken up.

“Urgh….what time is it?” Lucinda groaned, looking at her surroundings. It was pretty dark inside her room. “How long was I asleep?” Lucinda was still slightly disoriented from waking up. She picked up her phone and looked at the time. “Ten thirty? Damn, looks like I won't be falling asleep for a while” she sighed. She slipped on her purple fuzzy bunny slippers(the most iconic slippers) and stood up.”Guess I'll walk around for a bit as long as I'm up.”

Lucinda walked out of her room and stretched her arms, she was awake but her body still felt tired. She froze as she passed up the rooms. “That static feeling again! Eugh that feeling is stronger than ever right now…” Lucinda thought to herself. She continued to walk down the hall despite her discomfort. She made it downstairs and looked around. “Man I'm still feeling that damn static! I didn't feel it down here before but now I do…and even during the day…” She stood in the middle of the lobby, deep in thought. Was the static just a feeling? Or was it...a presence? Lucinda would have come to her conclusion but-

Lucinda heard shuffling through the bushes a thick snow, but not just any shuffling, it almost sounded as if someone was outside.

“What the hell?” Lucinda muttered, switching her attention to the outside window. “Hold on Lucinda, think logically, it's probably just a wolf outside or-” Lucinda then heard a grunt. “Dammit.” A voice outside uttered, shuffling not so quietly.

Lucinda instantly shifted into action, she summoned her wand in hand and bust open the door outside.

“Who's out there!” Lucinda shouted, keeping her wand close by.

There was no answer.

“I'm not going to ask twice, if you don't reveal yourself now, I'll blast this whole perimeter!” She yelled, prepping a spell with her wand.

Still, no answer.

“Alright, have it your way.” Lucinda then casted a blasting spell, it blasted a wave of magic around the entire lodge.

Although there was nothing to be heard from the mysterious voice.

“Hm, whoever it was must've run off before I could blast them. What a coward and a creep. Worst of both worlds.” Lucinda muttered to herself, walking back inside, locking the doors tightly. “But for extra precaution, let's play with magic shall we?” She then guarded the lodge with a small protection spell, it would last them the night to say the least. “Well, I've got the heebie-jeebies now, so I guess I'll head back to my room, don't want to get spooked by another asshat in the woods.” She walked back upstairs and into her room, where she sat on her bed quietly, trying her best to fall asleep again.

“That was close.” The cloaked figure said under his breath, running through the snow ridden woods. He stopped by a tree, trying to catch his breath. “Too close….I have to be more careful next time. Things are aligning with each other….if anything time is running out.” The man stopped panting and looked up to the ever so bright moon. “I have to keep going forward. I can't stop now. Not when I'm so close to achieving what I...have worked so hard for all these years….”

//Howdy y’all! The story is going to be on hold for while, PAGE 23 is going to have a LOT of artwork, unfortunately I’ve been having some tablet and computer issues so it’s going to take a while T-T. But hey better late than never! In the meantime I’m going to make a book of oneshots next monday! Mostly featuring my au’s, maybe a few shippy or platonic ones here and there, and even a few comdey ones. So stay tuned! ;3//

[blog-in-a-corner]

TSOTBL - Missing

Anyways here’s page 4!

Kim is missing. But where could she have gone?

It was a particularly cold, snowy morning; one would opt to stay inside and try to be as warm as possible. Who would want to be anywhere else in this kind of weather?

“Oh no-oh IRENE what if she’s hurt?!” Garroth panicked, springing up from his chair.

“Hey let’s not start panicking. For all we know she just got a headstart on cleaning the lodge, and she’s just in one of these rooms.” Aaron reassured the panicked blonde.

“Yeah...yeah that could be it….” Garroth mumbled, relaxing his right shoulder and caressing the other.

“Then let’s go look for her and make sure she’s okay” Lucinda said

“Alright then, let’s-”

“Oh no you don’t.” Lucinda cut off Garroth, sitting him back down. “You’re staying here. You’re already badly injured, we can’t have another bad thing happening like the floor caving in or some old painting falling on top of you.”

“Besides, Garte would probably find some way to sue us if you got anymore injured.” Aaron muttered.

“But-”

“No buts! You’re staying here.” Lucinda stressed, glaring at Garroth.

“Fine…” Garroth grumbled.

“Then let’s get ready Lucinda.” Aaron said, motioning to their luggage.

Aaron and Lucinda went upstairs and into seperate rooms to get dressed. Aaron began to think to himself as he dressed into his clothes for the evening.

“I really do hope Kim is alright.” Aaron thought. “I’m sure she can take care of herself, but she seems to be more the type of person to get frozen in their tracks in the face of danger.”

“......”

“I wonder…..I wonder how Aphmau is doing…”

“Probably hanging out with Zane, or Laurance or anyone of her friends right now.”

“I wonder if she misses me…”

“I miss her but….is she the right person for me?”

“I love her, but after everything that's happened….I don’t know.”

“........”

“No, I have to concentrate on the matter at hand right now. I can think about my personal problems later.”

He finished dressing up and left the room.

Lucinda had finished dressing up a while ago, but she was busy finicking with her wand.

“Hm. It seems to be working fine.” Lucinda said to herself. She looked around the room she was in. Everything covered with layers of dust, the bedsheets were stained, the curtains were torn, so many unpleasing things  “Ugh this room is so gross, how safe is this damn lodge? I mean, it’s been abandoned for twenty years, so….” Lucinda thought to herself.

“I sure hope Kim is okay, and Garroth…Kim mentioned that Garroth should be more injured than he is, and to be honest? I wonder why he wasn’t nearly dead after the boiler exploded. Is he going to be fine without any professional medical help? Then again, if Garroth were really badly injured he’d have probably been dead by now….well, all I can do is hope nothing worse happens for the rest of the trip.”

Lucinda walked out of the room with her wand in hand, prepared to find Kim.

“You all set?” Aaron asked.

“Yup.” Lucinda replied.

“Then let’s go. Garroth be sure to give us a call if Kim comes while we’re gone.”

“Will do.” Garroth muttered, raising his hand slightly.

“Wait.” Lucinda paused.

“Huh? What is it?” Aaron asked in confusion. “Aren’t we ready?”

“Instead of wasting our time looking all over the place like squirrels, let’s make things easy with a little dose of magic.” Lucinda explained, pulling out her wand. “Ichnotigo”

With a breath, Lucinda casted a spell. Glowing red footprints instantly appeared before them, leading off into one of the hallways beside the stairs.

“Woah! What did you do?” Garroth asked, amazed by Lucinda's magic.

“I casted a tracking spell, specifically one to find Kim, so we don’t have waste all day looking for her.” Lucinda elaborated.

“You don’t need one of Kim’s belongings or anything?” Garroth asked. “If you’re a young or mediocre witch then maybe, but with my skill, you really just need your memory of them.” “Nice. I didn’t even know you had brought your wand.” Aaron commented.

“Yeah I brought it before we left in case we needed it. I can alter the size of my wand for easier travel, that’s why you didn’t see it.” Lucinda explained, demonstrating her statements by altering her wand back to a small, travel-convenient size. “See?”

Aaron and Lucinda set off and followed the trail of footprints, the footsteps had been coming in and out of rooms repeatedly, making them unsure as to whether or not she was still in a room.

“So much for saving us from looking like stupid squirrels.”

“Oh shut up.”

As they went through the corridors they looked through many rooms; All of which were dusty, old and unkept. The paintings on the halls were faded and dusty, the furniture torn and old. The harsh, cold winter air could pass through the wood, as the wood had shrunk after the snow would melt into it for so many summers.The silence in the lodge had become unsettling, the only noise being their footsteps and the old, rugged wood creaking beneath them every now and then.

“So, uh, Aaron...” Lucinda spoke, breaking the eerie silence. “Why did you decide to help fix this place? I wouldn’t exactly jump at the offer of having to clean up an old, dinged up lodge.”

“I just....” Aaron opened a room door. “...needed some time for myself.” He peeped his head in and looked around. He closed the door and sighed.

“Why?”

“You know about what happened with me and Aph, don’t you?”

“Well I know you guys broke up, but other than that Aphmau never actually told me why.”

“Ah, I see. Well, after some….trust issues she had with me that marked the start of our falling out. I had some time to think about myself and what I wanted.”

“Er-trust issues?”

“Ehhh. It’s a...long story. All you need to know is that she apologized for not believing me.”

“Ah okay.”

“Yeah.” Aaron looked into another room. Nothing, again.

“So we agreed to take some time apart and well…” “No need to explain. No one would exactly want to be where their ex is when they’re trying to take some time for themselves.��

“Ex? We’re not broken up,we’re just taking a break.”

“Ah,sorry...i used to say that too..” Lucinda muttered.

“What was that last part?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

They saw a large shadow in the distance.

“Hey, is that Kim?” Aaron said, pointing at the shadow.

“Kim! Is that you?” Lucinda called out.

The shadow suddenly sprinted away.

“Look, the footprints are following the shadow!” Aaron hollered.

“Quick! We gotta find her!” Lucinda yelled, pursuing the shadow.

They both began to follow the footprints, they were led into a security room at the end of the hallway.

“Kim!” Aaron shouted as he and Lucinda busted open the door and ran into the room.

Kim was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the wall.

“Kim,” Lucinda said, gasping for air. “There you are!”

Kim stayed silent.

“Um, Kim?” Aaron asked in concern. “You okay?”

Kim turned around,her and Aaron’s eyes met.

“LEAVE!” Kim screamed.

“Wha-?”

“NOW!” She screamed, lunging at Aaron.

Aaron dodged Kim’s attack almost a second too late.

“Kim what the hell has gotten into you?!” Aaron yelled in shock.

“YOU-YOU CAN’T BE HERE!” She screamed, lunging at Aaron once more.

Aaron grabbed her by the arms as she crashed into him.

“Kim-KIM! Listen to me!”

“NO YOU HAVE TO GO, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! PLEASE-”

Lucinda struck Kim with a spell before she could say anything else.

“Wh-Lucinda, what did you do?” Aaron said, frazzled about what had just happened.

“A simple sleeping spell, it won’t last very long so don’t worry too much about it.”

“….Why…..she was acting like that?”

“I...don’t know. Not for sure anyway.”

“Well at least she isn’t hurt right?”

“Yeah...I think..”

“Let’s just get back to the lobby.”

“Yeah, before Garroth does anything stupid and accidently kills himself.”

Aaron slung Kim over his shoulder. They had already spent an hour searching for Kim. All they wanted to do was relax, but their day was far from over. They finally got back to the lobby.

“Hey Garroth,we’re back.” Lucinda stated out loud.

Garroth wasn’t in his recliner.

“Garroth? Where the hell are you?” Aaron asked, as he and Lucinda spread out through the lobby.

“Look!” Lucinda shouted, pointing to the kitchen inside the diner.

There was a deep red substance on the floor next to a counter and what appeared to be…...a hand resting in it.

“GARROTH-” Aaron screamed at the top of his lungs.