by Max Jager
"Then why don't I go with you." Matthew stepped into the doorway and joined the conversation. "Safety in numbers."
Fate hesitated and thought about it for a moment. "Fine. But don't slow me down." She relented. The two of them rushed out of the room before Brooke could get a single word in.
The two of them looked out the window to make sure the street was clear before walking out the front door. As soon as they stepped outside they began looking around for any sign of where Carley went. As Fate looked up to the rooftops she noticed Jackson sitting on the roof of the next-door house, sharpening a new branch into what looked like a spear with his knife. There was smoke coming from somewhere beside him, Fate assumed he had a campfire up there.
"Jackson!" Fate called out to him, and when he turned to look down at them she continued. "Have you seen Carley in the last couple minutes?"
"Who?" Jackson asked.
"She's quite short, really long hair, purple shirt, left the house through the window. We need to find her." Fate replied.
Jackson raised his stick and pointed. "Blue house down the street."
"Dexter is also missing, since last night. Did you see him at all?" Matthew added
"Glasses, khaki pants, gaudy sweater?" Jackson asked. "He went into the same house last night."
"Yeah, that's him. Did anyone else go into the building with him?" Fate asked.
"No. The blue hair walked past later that night but didn't go in." Jackson answered.
"George? Alright, thanks. Watch your back Jackson, something isn't right. Let's go Matthew." Fate stated before she ran towards the blue house. Her and Matthew quickly entered the house and made their way through the first floor. Nobody was there, but the house was ransacked and messy. It seemed to be a building split into apartments, with each floor being it's own apartment.
"Stairs over here." Matthew called out. When Fate came to join him she noticed that the stairs lead to both the basement and the two upper floors.
"I'll go upstairs, you check the basement?" Fate suggested. When Matthew nodded they parted ways to search the house quicker.
As Fate walked up the stairs she heard something from the third floor. Someone gasped, they sounded like they were in pain, and immediately after she heard the sound of something small and metal hitting the floor. She quickly rushed up to the third floor, shoved the door open and ran into the room. It was a kitchen. The first thing she spotted was a bloody knife on the floor nearby an open window, there was a little blood on the windowsill and the floor beside it, then she noticed an open book on the counter next to the window.
Fate cautiously stepped into the room and looked around. The door on the other side of the room was closed, she surely would have heard it if someone went through and closed it behind themselves. She picked up the knife and inspected it. The blood on the knife was fresh, this had just happened, but where were they? She briefly glanced at the window, there was no balcony attached to it just a three story plummet to the ground for anyone who went out it.
Fate slowly walked towards the center of the room, heading towards the door. Then, suddenly she heard something move behind her, near the window. She turned around to see Carley, who looked absolutely terrified, hanging from the windowsill. Carley was trying to pull themself back into the window, but their right arm was covered in blood. Carley couldn't keep a grip on the window with their bloody hand, it just kept slipping off.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Fate shouted and rushed over to help pull Carley up.
"I heard someone coming up the stairs so I hid." Carley struggled and was hesitant to accept Fate's help.
"By jumping out, and hanging from a third floor window?" Fate argued as she grabbed Carley by the arm and yanked them back into the room. "What is wrong with you?!"
Carley stopped for a moment to breathe once they were back inside the building, and quickly moved a few feet away from Fate. "You didn't find me, did you? Not until I recognized you and came out of hiding at least. It's such an absurd hiding spot nobody would think to look there."
"You could have died, are you stupid?" Fate argued.
"You could've died coming out here, yet you're here." Carley pointed out.
"That's different, I'm not hanging out of a window for no reason. I also made sure I was safe." Fate realized it was a pointless argument and dropped it. She looked at Carley's bloody arm and noticed that Carley had cut themself with the knife. A deep slash across their wrist.
Carley noticed Fate staring and shook their head. "No, no, no, not what you think. I found this book that teaches a healing spell, I wanted to practice. I was careful to cut a safe area, I know what I'm doing, I wasn't trying to-"
"A healing book?" Fate asked as she walked over to the open book on the counter. When she looked at the book, she noticed that all of the pages were blank. "Um? It's blank."
Carley seemed a little more relaxed, they moved a little closer to Fate and sat down on the windowsill, dangling their legs out of the window. "Yeah, was just sitting up here and trying to practice. The pages are not blank, there's detailed instructions on how to do it." Carley took the book and looked at a few of the blank pages. Then Carley touched the cut on their wrist and seemed to focus, but nothing happened.
"Carley, the book is blank and the wound is not healing." Fate stated.
"It's not, I swear. I just don't know how to use the spell yet. I need to practice. I just need time." Carley insisted, then paused. "Why are you here anyways?"
"To get you and bring you back to the camp, we-" Fate started
"No." Carley interrupted. "I'm not going back to the camp. Too many people."
"Carley, you're coming back with me. You-" Fate started but was interrupted again when Matthew burst into the room.
"Dexter's body is in the basement!" Matthew growled. As soon as Matthew entered the room Carley leaned a little further out the window and looked very tense. "Same as Olivia, shirtless with the same wing-shaped cuts on his back."
"What?" Fate turned to Carley.
Carley put the book down and placed a hand on the windowsill, leaning a little further out the window. "Don't look at me, it wasn't me I just got here. I didn't have time to check the basement yet."
Fate acted quickly, reaching out to grab Carley's arm and pulling Carley back into the room and off the windowsill. Carley panicked and immediately went to run for the door, but Fate didn't let go of Carley's arm.
"Let go!" Carley looked like a cornered animal as they frantically tried to pull away from Fate. But Fate wouldn't let go. In a panicked, last-ditch effort to escape Carley threw a punch at Fate's upper arm, striking a pressure point.
Fate's arm went numb and her grip loosened enough for Carley to break free of her grasp. Carley immediately sprinted for the door, but Matthew was a step ahead. Matthew wasn't fast enough to keep up, instead he grabbed two nearby kitchen chairs and threw them. The first he threw at Carley, the second he threw at the door.
Carley saw the two chairs and ducked under the first, then they immediately went to open the door but had to quickly back away from it as the second chair struck the door. It delayed Carley just enough for Fate to rush over and tackle Carley to the ground.
"Let go!" Carley had a terrified look on their face as they wildly struggled and tried to break away from Fate. Carley was visibly shaking and breathing heavily. "Let go! Let go!"
Fate kept Carley pinned as she caught her own breath and waited for the numbness in her arm to fade away. "Calm down, we're taking you back to the camp."
"NO! Let me go!"
"Carley! Calm down!" Fate shouted, but Carley was just panicking more and more.
"Um..." A new voice spoke up.
Fate looked up to see a short woman with long, light red, almost pink hair that was tied back in a ponytail. The woman was wearing armor that was primarily the same light-red color with some gold markings. She wore a chest piece, which covered her torso, shoulder-guards, hip guards, and boots, leaving her legs unarm
ored. Under her armor she wore brown pants and a red shirt. The woman also carried a spear.
"Are we interrupting something?" The woman asked, keeping her spear at the ready. "We saw the body in the basement, you two the ones who did that?" She said as she looked at Fate and Matthew.
"No. We have suspicion that she did it though." Matthew answered and gestured to Carley.
"It wasn't me!" Carley argued.
"Any proof?" The woman asked.
Fate nodded. "Yes and no, she was gone last night when it happened. Today, she gave us these red potion-like bottles, saying they were healing potions, which paralyzed one of our people. Then, just now, we found her here, returning to the scene of the crime, where the body is. On top of all that, she tried to run when we came to confront her."
"You didn't tell me that!" Carley argued. "And you attacked- erm, grabbed me."
"Um, the red potion bottles probably ARE healing potions." The woman stated. "And they do paralyze you while the healing is in effect. I don't really know why, but there's some science-ish reason for it. But it wears off after about five minutes, and over that time it heals your wounds."
Fate paused for a moment to think it over. "But, they could still be used as a paralysis potion by someone who was physically weaker, to incapacitate a stronger person for a short period of time. So if there was a killer hidden in a group, that would be one of the best ways to pick someone off. Nobody would suspect it."
"Well, yeah. I guess that would make sense. Most people wouldn't turn down a healing potion if they were injured, then you just kill them while they can't move." The woman shrugged. "You really think it was her though?"
"No, not now. She's still a major suspect though." Fate sighed.
Another man walked into the room, he was another big and intimidating man like Matthew but the contrast between the two of them was striking. The man was 6'5, just an inch taller than Matthew, and he had a fit, almost muscular build. While Matthew was clearly out of shape. The new man wore a fancy black shirt and black pants, which were both clean, recently ironed, and looked professional. His shirt was even tucked in. The man wore a necklace with a cross on it, he had a bible strapped to the side of his belt, and carried a heavy-looking spiked metal mace. It contrasted Matthew heavily, who also wore formal attire, but looked more like his dirty clothes were thrown together by someone who just didn't care.
"Everything alright Sarah?" The man asked.
"Yeah, no worries. These people say they have a killer in their group and are trying to find out who it is." Sarah replied.
"Thanks for the heads up." Jackson sarcastically stated as he walked into the room.
Charles jumped a little and spun around to face Jackson, he hadn't known he was being followed. He nodded in greeting to Jackson then turned back to Sarah. "Sarah, why don't we bring them along for our mission and escort them to the village? We could use a few extra hands, and they could use a few extra fighters to deal with this killer once they find them."
Sarah thought about it for a moment, then turned to Fate. "We were sent out here to scavenge for the village, the goblins here are known for hoarding shiny things. It's mostly junk, but they often have jewelry and things of that sort in their homes that we could use to trade for food and such. There's a den of them in the mall, but the two of us alone probably can't take them all out. With you guys we could loot the mall, then head back to the village together. Just... Be careful around them, they are superhumanly strong. A single blow from them can be lethal. And I'm sure you've noticed by now, you die here and you're gone for good. The goblins are really stupid though, that's how you beat them."
"How long have you been in this game?" Matthew questioned.
"A week." Sarah answered. "I wouldn't call it a game though, it's more like we were just transported into an entirely different world."
Fate paused, then nodded. "Yeah, we will help. I need to inform the rest of the group, and we aren't taking the full group into the fight with us, some of them can't fight. But those of us who can will, in exchange for an escort to the village." She noticed the irritated look on Jackson's face and quickly corrected herself. "Your participation is optional Jackson." She added.
"Yup." Jackson was watching Fate pinning a struggling Carley down. He gave Fate a disapproving look.
Sarah nodded "Sounds like a plan then. Just so you know I'll stay true to my word, the village is north east of here, through the forest. Now you know where it is, we'll escort you there once you help us." She turned to the man that had been traveling with her. "Mind going out first to make sure the road is clear Charles?" She asked.
Charles nodded "On it" He said as he walked down the stairs.
"I'll go with him. You guys got everything under control here." Matthew spoke up and followed Charles outside.
Fate went to stand up, but as soon as she moved Carley made a quick attempt to pull away and run. Fate acted quickly, grabbing Carley's arms and twisting them behind their back. In one swift move she had Carley standing in front of her with their arms pinned behind their back. "Stop trying to run! You're still a suspect, you're coming back to the camp. I've restrained people much bigger than you before Carley, knock it off."
"Let me go!" Carley continued panickedly struggling.
"You're just going to run off if I let go." Fate stated.
"Of course I am! Let go!" Carley, despite their struggles, did not have the strength to break free. Fate was much taller and stronger, she was easily overpowering Carley.
"Let go." Jackson sternly ordered. He stood up straight and walked towards the two of them, staring straight into Fate's eyes, staring her down.
Sarah quickly stepped out of the way, standing off to the side like an awkward third wheel. She decided it wasn't her place to interject with her own opinion.
"But she-" Fate started, but stopped and quickly looked away. The dead stare Jackson was giving her was very intimidating and knowing how strong of a fighter he was made it a bit scary, she had to break eye contact with him. She listened to his footsteps and heard him stop right next to her. She hesitated, but relented and let Carley go. Carley immediately moved out of Fate's reach and went to run.
"Don't." Jackson ordered in the same stern and powerful tone.
Carley froze for a moment, then slowly turned back to Jackson. Carley still looked panicked and shaky, like a cornered animal desperately trying to escape.
Jackson gave Carley the same dead-stare he had given Fate. "Calm down."
Carley also quickly broke eye contact and looked down. After a minute, Carley had relaxed slightly and hesitantly looked back up at Jackson, who still had not broken that dead stare.
"Get back to camp." Jackson ordered, and waited for a response.
"Got it." Carley answered uneasily.
Jackson turned and glanced at both Sarah and Fate, then pointed to the door with his half sharpened stick.
Fate got the message and quickly left the room with Sarah. They headed back to the apartment complex down the street. Carley remained in the room.
When Carley didn't leave Jackson turned back to Carley and pointed his stick at the door again. Carley hesitated, but grabbed the blank book and followed the others out. Jackson was the last to leave and remained behind everyone else as they walked back to the rest of the group.
As Fate walked back into the apartment complex she was relieved to see that everyone was fine. Carley, of course, immediately slipped off to hide in the back corner of the room. She noticed that Carley's movements looked more pained than before. Fate sighed and felt sorry, wondering if she had been too rough and unintentionally caused more damage to Carley's broken ribs. Brooke, Elliott, Chloe, and Sophia glanced over when they heard the door open, and gave fate a concerned look when they noticed Carley's bloody arm.
Jackson also kept his distance by remaining next to the door, watching everyone and waiting for Fate and Sarah to explain everything.
Fate scanned the room looking for Jake and her eye
s first spotted Brooke. Brooke's slash wound was healed and she seemed to be doing a lot better. She was sitting off to the side with Elliott, Sophia, and Snipes. The three of them were now looking at her, expecting an explanation for the blood and the two strangers who walked in with Fate.
As Fate continued to skim the room. George was sleeping, Chloe had been doing warmup stretches, but stopped when Fate walked in. Fate eventually spotted Jake sitting with Damion. Jake's back was to her, so she could see that his wounds were healed and that he was fine now, the paralysis had ended.
"Of course, you don't get to your forties without losing someone you love at some point." Jake answered Damion's question.
Damion nodded "I lost my family when I was little. Some crook thought nobody was home and broke in to rob the house. I was only eight, I tried to hide. My parents and older brother on the other hand, they tried to fight off the crook. He shot all three of them, never found me. Sometimes I wish he did, because then I'd get to be with my family, and I wouldn't miss them so much." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "It's what got me to pick up religion, I started talking to God and it gave me hope that I'd get to see them again in the afterlife. It's why I've dedicated my life to helping others cope with the loss of their own loved ones."