Duskwood: And Beyond

10. Beginning of the End

ORYN

I was about to take a break when Phil messaged Jessy. I was a bit curious about Phil. So I decided to read along. He was pissed that Dan didn't show up on his first day and Cleo basically interrogated him. Of course, Jessy was angry and decided to confront Dan and Cleo in the group chat. Cleo mentioned that Phil talked badly about Hannah. He really did cross a line. But as Jake would say, there are two sides to every story. The tension between Jessy and Cleo grew. Dan was a bit smarter, he offered to take Jessy out. Richy on the other hand offered to talk with Phil. I was curious to see how this all would play out. Thomas was silent throughout this conversation. I took out my journal once again to write these down. I also realized that it was time to give up on Thomas and actually consider him to be a suspect.

According to Phil, Hannah was looking for attention from men, so to speak. She was flirting with anyone. My theory is that Thomas found this out, they argued. It got heated and he hurt her. He then had to cover his tracks so he made it look like Hannah disappeared. The only problem with this theory is that there is another body, which I am certain is somehow involved. So this theory doesn't work.

I turned to Anabelle. She was still searching for the book.

"Ana, can you look into Thomas?" I asked. She raised her eyebrow.

"Is he our suspect now?" she asked. I explained my theory. She said she will look into it but she also didn't believe Thomas was the culprit. She believed if it was Thomas the police would figure it out by now. I agreed but it was safe to check.

I was decoding the files when a picture popped up. It was the sign of the raven on tree bark. I knew it! The culprit was hiding behind the legend. I sent it to Jake. He called me immediately. But he didn't talk.

"Speechless?" I asked.

"To be honest, yes. Is this about that legend?" He asked. I told him that I was sure of it.

"I am going to sit back on this one," he responded. He also suggested I show it to my friends.

"I thought I was in charge?" I giggled.

"Right."

He hung up. I hated it when he did that. Did he really not have the time to say goodbye?

I texted the photograph to Jessy and Richy. Jessy was hyped. To be honest she reminded me of Anabelle a bit. Both she and Richy did. I guess that was the reason why I felt close to them. Which is why I told them that it came from Hannah but I kept Jake to myself. Jessy responded just like Anabelle and told me she will not question it. Richy was a bit skeptical but he also agreed not to question it. We discussed the picture and decided to focus on this legend. At that point, I realized Anabelle was also reading along.

"What do you think?" I asked her.

She thought for a second, almost as if she was not sure about the answer.

"I like Jessy. There is something off about Richy."

I waited for her to continue but she didn't.

"Well feel free to elaborate anytime," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"I can't explain it. Something bothers me about him," she said. Anabelle was also good at reading people. I was conflicted about it as I didn't consider Richy to be a suspect. She clearly did. On the bright side, we both agreed on Jessy. She seemed nice and genuine. I wondered if we would ever meet her in person. Anabelle broke my stream of consciousness.

"You do realize what this o-photo means, right?" she asked. It was more of a statement than a question. I shook my head no.

"That Hannah might have done something very bad." She concluded. She was right and it had to be something bad enough to get some serious enemies.