PROMISE ☾ ray

chapter 4

act 1
chapter 4 | sister krone

the line between allies and enemies are getting thinner and thinner.
this is where the traitors step in.

'playtime!' emma cried as she dashed out of the house, ball in hand. phil mirrored her, throwing his arms into the air gleefully.

mom stepped down the stairs, 'hold on, emma. your collar is a bit crooked.' and she came over to fix it. 'oh! i didn't notice,' the redhead gasped.

'messy as always,' said ray as he passed by.

mom held in a laugh as emma fumed at ray. 'now, you go have fun,' said mom, rubbing emma's ear. the younger girl smiled, pressing a kiss to mom's cheek before running off.

'later, mom!'

'good work,' said ray, as she dashed past him. 'thanks,' she chimed. 'see you later!' as the redhead sped towards the forest, many pairs of eyes followed.

mom's cold eyes; gilda's wondering ones; krone's calculating ones and a couple pair of curious ones that belonged to the children.

'sorry for the wait!' emma skidded to a stop beside norman, who smiled warmly at her. 'it's alright, let's go!'

as ray sat in his usual spot, book in hand, mom came over. 'you're reading all alone by yourself again? [name]'s not with you today?'

'yeah, she's probably with the others.'

'and where are they?'

'who knows?' ray responded carelessly. 'probably playing tag in the woods again.'

dashing through the familiar forest once again, [name] looked back and counted. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven... alright, they're all still keeping up with her.

she grinned. 'alright, time to split up!'

the kids saluted, each darting away, without a sound.

yesterday, emma had came up with the idea to train their siblings using the game tag.

most of the children weren't as physical strong as the eldest four or as sharp. by teaching them to think strategically and avoid the wood's obstacles through playing tag, they would be able to train them to escape, without mom or krone noticing.

norman would be 'it', and everyone else has to run away from him, using their head and their bodies. it was the perfect cover up.

emma and [name] would help the children strengthen their stamina, while norman and ray taught them how to utilise their brains.

don was pretty surprised with ray's sudden urge to play tag with them, wondering if he was bribed to play. ('what's the special occasion? my birthday?' ray had flared up at him. 'i'm not all brains no brawn, alright?!')

all the children were separated into small groups. the eldest kids played leaders, with the exception of norman.

[name] huffed, hands on her hips. if her trusty gut feeling was right, that person should have bought it by now.

lani sprinted through the forest at top speed, filled with adrenaline. just as he was about to make a turn, he skidded to stop.

'oops!' he took a step back, noticing his shoes had left a big print on the forest floor. 'i almost forgot norman looks for footprints like these.'

'i'll just erase these,' remembering ray's instructions, he kicked dust over his print. 'and leave footprints going in a different direction before i go on my way!'