Duskwood: And Beyond

37. Secrets of the Dead Girl

ORYN

I clicked on the file. There were a bunch of videos. All of them were titled with dates. I clicked on the oldest one. It was a travel vlog from Amy. She was talking about visiting Colville. She seemed excited. For the longest time, Amy was just a body to me. I was focused on her death so much that ı forgot she was an alive being at one point. Now, looking at her videos, and her smile, made me feel guilty and curious. For some reason, the culprit wanted me to see that Amy had a life before. She had hobbies, passions, friends, emotions... She was not just a crime scene photo in the newspaper.

As the video kept playing, my guilt grew bigger. I told Anabelle that we should watch the rest at Phil's.

Anabelle disagreed as Jessy would also be there, she offered to go to Aurora for the night. I agreed and Anabelle asked Phil to let us in.

We took a taxi back to Aurora. It was a short drive. Phil was already waiting there. He unlocked the bar and handed us a spare key. I left Anabelle and Phil alone and made my way toward the back room. I turned on my laptop and started watching the videos.

The first video was just Amy talking about her trip to Colville. After half an hour Anabelle joined me with coffee.

The next video and the remaining videos included Richy. They were again in Colville. They looked younger. I watched them try new foods, go shopping, and site seeing. Most of the videos were like this."Hey, Oryn, you have been watching them for a while, maybe I should take over so you can rest?" Anabelle interrupted. It was getting late and my eyes were tired. I nodded and lay down on the little couch as Anabelle took my laptop.

I must have dozed off until Anabelle awoken me. "You have to see this! I can't believe this!" I jumped up and sat next to her. She started playing the video. For a few minutes, I watched Amy and Richy talk about Colville. The background was familiar from another video. They were discussing their recent site seeing tour. Then a voice interrupted them... A voice familiar to me...

I watched as my mother entered the frame. My father was next to her. I felt my eyes start to water. I didn't realize how much I missed them, or how much I forgot about what they looked like. I watched as my mother and father talked with Amy and Richy. They were joking around, laughing. It was clear that this was the first time they met.

"Do you want me to turn it off?" Anabelle asked.

"No, I need to see this."

She nodded and turned on the next video. It was sometime later, Amy, Richy, and my parents were conversing and traveling together. The next few videos were all like that. So Richy knew my parents... That explained the photograph I found with him in the background.

I continued watching their happy interactions. But the last five videos were much different. These didn't include Richy. The first one was only Amy talking to my parents. She was crying but the video was silent. I couldn't hear anything they were talking about. The next video was of my parent's funeral. It was only a few seconds. Amy was alone and was filming my mother's casket from a distance. I was in the background with some relatives. The video ended there. The next video was only Amy, in her room, talking to the camera. She was crying and she looked scared. The video again didn't have any sound. The next one was a video of me, at Grimrock, sitting alone. The mine entrance was charred and the surrounding was dark. I recognized my outfit and knew immediately that this video was taken a month ago. The last video was a glowed hand, dropping flowers into a place in the woods.

"Does this place seem familiar to you?" I asked Ana.

"I believe it was where the police found Amy." She took out her phone and found a clip of the crime scene.

"Look, the background is the same." It really was the same. The memorial rock was also there. I felt chills rush down my spine. This was about Amy and I had no idea what my role was in all of this. I took out my phone and called Jake.

It was time to investigate.

______________________________

JAKE

I was not happy with Anabelle's decision to stay with Phil. But I noticed that Oryn was also surprised. I knew at that moment that Ana was lying. I agreed and offered to stay behind. Whatever their plan was, I was not a part of it. And I had to trust them no matter how it made me feel.

I watched them leave. I locked the doors and sat in silence. I tried not to think about Oryn or where she might be. But curiosity got to me. I rushed downstairs to the basement and logged into my secret laptop. I tried to convince myself that I was doing this only for her safety, but a part of me missed the thrill of my old life. I started tracking Oryn. I felt guilty but I couldn't stop myself.

She was at the library then she went to Aurora. So the whole team was there except me...I turned off the laptop and decided to watch some TV.

I must have fallen asleep. I woke up to my phone ringing. It was Oryn.

"Oryn?"

"Did I wake you up? I am sorry. Can you come to Aurora? Like, right now? Please?" she sounded worried and angry.

"I will be there." I hung up. I rushed out the door and drove to Aurora. Anabelle greeted me outside, it was just the two of them. They briefly informed me of the videos. Anabelle started showing me the important clips. Oryn lay down on the sofa. I finished watching the clips. It took me an hour. Oryn was already asleep. Anabelle looked exhausted, she was barely keeping her eyes open. I offered to take them home and Anabelle agreed. I picked Oryn up. And we made our way to the car. Oryn didn't wake up at all. We arrived back home and called it a night. Anabelle slept on the couch. I tucked Oryn in and returned back to the kitchen.

I prepared a checklist for all the things I would search for regarding this case. I noted some of my questions and rewatched the videos until the morning.

I was a bit disappointed when my alarm went off. I made some coffee and changed into my uniform. I left a little note for Oryn, telling her to call me, and went to work. I decided not to share the videos with Alan until Oryn gave me green light.

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Thank you for reading!! 

xx