PROMISE ☾ ray

chapter 8

act 1
chapter 8 | unexpectancies

when you drive along a road, there'll often be bumps and holes.
the same goes for our plans - we'll never know when we're falling into a trap.

'let's go over our plan,' ray declared, as the group carried out the chore of fetching water in front of the house.

november second - six days until the escape.

'after lunch, when it's free time, i'll keep mom occupied,' ray continued. 'emma will hold onto [name]'s tracker, and norman and her will stay at the forest's entrance.

'in case something happens, you two gotta pull [name] back immediately. don and gilda will be outside the house, in a place where they can see the south-facing windows of the second floor.'

ray jabbed his finger at don and gilda.

'in any case i fail to distract mom, you two alert norman and emma, and have them get [name] cease investigation.'

the other four nodded.

'it doesn't seem like mom's noticed,' he went on. 'but we can't be too rash. there's always the chance she won't take my bait.'

'and if that happens,' don muttered. 'we stop the investigation?'

'yup,' said ray, grabbing a water bucket. 'for the time being, anyway.'

don and gilda saluted, before marching away to carry out the chore. norman called out to ray and [name] in a hiss, 'guys, let's talk.'

'what?!' barked ray, hair in a twist. 'sister figured out we can break the trackers?!'

'that was one of our biggest leverages,' [name] groaned, face in her hands.

'we did get information out of her, but we slipped up,' norman said. 'maybe we should move up our escape date. when will you two be able to destroy the trackers?'

they blanched.

with a look of resignation, ray squatted down and shuffled his nightstand away from the wall, much the norman and emma's confusion.

not a moment later, he came back up with a black box.

he set it on the table, allowing norman and emma to check it out. 'last night, while you guys were at sister's, i got this from mom. my compensation for selling you out.'

emma pulled out an instant camera, eyes glinting.

'whoa! i've never seen one up close.'

[name] grinned. 'these are the last of the parts. we can destroy the trackers any time.' norman and emma brightened up.

'wait,' norman realised. 'hard evidence like this is the one thing we shouldn't let them find. we have to hurry up our investigation.'

ray nodded. 'agreed. but our plan with mom won't change. and as for sister, i've left a juicy morsel for her to find, just in case she comes digging.'

as ray laid out plates on the table, [name], next to him doing the same, sounded a 'psst' for his attention.

'what?'

'look,' she gestured with a tilt of her head. 'sister's suddenly leaving. do you think she's going to our rooms?' he hummed. 'most likely.'

'what is that thing you've hidden, anyway?' she questioned him curiously.

his lips pulled into a smirk. 'secret.'