ᴅᴇᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ - ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴠ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [ONGOING!]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 11 | ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ

"Wow, I never expected the rooms here to be so large!" The younger Y/N called from down the wide hall, twirling blissfully, camera clicking as they skipped from room to room. The floors creaked harshly as they carelessly danced across the floor.

B/N laughed alongside his younger sibling, warning them to be careful in mock seriousness-- but, on the inside, Y/N stared on with their usual queasy feeling of dread. Here they were again, in another dream... though this dream felt different than the others. 

Despite the happy, easygoing energy in the air, there was a blob of darkness festering deep in the O/P's gut-- a foreboding fear that threatened doom, and they were scared that their predictions were correct. That this seemingly nostalgic memory would soon be twisted into a horrible, gut-wrenching nightmare. That their brother's tale would finally end the way they always knew it would, and that this saga of dreams would finally come to its horrifying conclusion. 

They yearned to wake up as B/N advanced down the hall, called out for him to turn around as he followed the version of Y/N that gestured for him to proceed.
The younger Y/N threw open the double doors at the end of the hallway, gasping at the large, expansive room in front of them. They turned back to B/N, a wide, goofy grin on their face.

"You have to see this."

The younger Y/N raced into the room with giddy excitement, while the Y/N within their brother's brain paled. The memories were foggy, as though their brain blocked them out long ago, but as B/N approached the room with a subtle curiosity, it instantly clicked what was going to happen in this room.

"God, please no. Anything but this. Anything but reliving this--!"

Their pleas went unheard as B/N entered the room. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he scanned all of the countless dusty bookshelves adorning the walls. He was stunned speechless, looking on at the scene in awe. 

The younger Y/N gave them a cheeky smile. They knew that their older brother would love an old, ancient library like this-- he was the intellectual type, always had his nose crammed in a book. A man of science-- a man who wouldn't believe in his younger siblings ramblings about the paranormal, but could always appreciate an enlightening read.

"Well then, this is certainly a find. Maybe we can sneak one of these out of here without anyone knowing." Y/N skipped past him, deeper into the library, smiling as they raced by. "My my, feeling daring today, are we B/N? I never pegged you for a thief."

B/N rolled his eyes as Y/N's laughter faded, running his fingers over the dusty row of spines on a nearby shelf. He stopped short at the sight of a certain book-- its cover was intact and its pages were a crisp white, unlike the other tattered, yellow-paged books lined up next to it. It was very out of place for a seemingly abandoned manor... almost as if it had been placed there recently.

Curiously, he pulled it off the shelf and skimmed his eyes over the cover. His eyes went wide, his stomach clenched, and his gasp of shock must have been so loud that it drew Y/N back over to him in an excited flurry.

"Oh, oh! What did you find?! Did you finally see a ghost?! See, I told you they were real--!"

B/N waved them off. "No no, nothing absurd like that," He flipped through the pages, baffled, as if the book in his hands wasn't supposed to even exist. He looked eager, almost excited.

"This is a mystery novel written by Orpheus! THE Orpheus! He's the best crime novelist of our time! Y/N, come look at this!"

Y/N peered over their brother's shoulder, looking down at the blank cover with a confused expression.