Wretched Guise

Part 1

                The night was quiet, as dark grey clouds floated across the sky. Streetlights alongside the road hummed, dully cutting through the surrounding gloom. Of the dozen homes that lay side by side, none appeared at first glance to be occupied. Then again, it was nearly four in the morning, a point when very few tended to be active. In one home, however, two were, regardless of how much they wanted to downplay that fact. The two in question were intruders who had broken in, self-assured that both their entrance and actions within would be fairly straight forward.

"Did you find it yet?"

"No, if I had I would have already mentioned it."

"Pfft, there's no need to be rude."

"I wasn't being rude, you're just being overly sensitive."

The names of the pair were to most, a secret. Instead, they merely went by Jamie and Ryan Lorace and had fake identification to prove it. Both were dressed almost identically in dress attire, the only real difference being that Jamie wore a black buttoned-up shirt, while Ryan's was more of a dark plum color. The room they now stood in was the main bedroom, it being one of four. The others, while technically considered bedrooms, were made up differently. One of them was a small library, which also seemed to function as an office, the other was a spare bedroom, both sparse and less ornate, with the final room acting as an entertainment area, furnished with a large flatscreen and plush leather chairs.

"Well, where is it? We've looked every ware." Ryan was beginning to get irritated.

"Yes, we have, and yet as you implied it's nowhere, at least nowhere we looked thus far."

"And just what are you implying, that we've somehow missed something?"

"Yes, but again that's obvious now, isn't it?"

"The only thing that's obvious is you pissing me off with your snarky replies."

As they continued to argue in whispered hushes, someone began to stir beside them. On a bed were two bodies, both otherwise motionless. They were covered in large pools of blood, much of which had stained, or otherwise absorbed into the sheets and mattress.

"Leaving one alive, sloppy, as usual."

Jamie's eye twitched. "Come now, everyone makes mistakes, even me," he huffed slightly while leveling a silenced pistol towards the gently shifting target. Without hesitation he pulled the trigger twice, each creating a dull thud that ripped into the body causing the movement to cease.

"Stop trying to make excuses." Ryan remained less than impressed.

"I'm simply being realistic." Jamie looked away from his partner and reached into his pocket with a gloved hand. He pulled out a small leather-bound book and thumbed through it. In it was a variety of information, all handwritten. They were here for a purpose and a specific one at that. In the pages of his book, at the top of each, was a series of letters and numbers, followed by a sketch, and a paragraph or so beneath each. He stopped at one of them, on it read SCP-0988.

"I hate to say it but perhaps we've got the wrong house." Ryan sat on a chair near the wall with clasped hands. In her mind she mulled over the possibilities, trying to find a solution.

"No, I don't think we do, the information is solid. I have little doubt this is the correct place."

"I suppose." Ryan leaned back in the chair, stretching.