Deja Vu

Chapter 17: Cat Heist

MAJOR CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER:

Some spoilers come up regarding the Twisted Wonderland plot centering around Grim eating the Overblot stones. Although I haven't read past book 4 at the time of writing this chapter, my research did come up with spoilers regarding chapters 5 and 6.

Also, I took a guess at how that storyline ended, so part of that spoiler section of this chapter is not actually a spoiler, but an assumption of how events happened for the sake of my storyline of events.

Canonically in this story, the MC has been in Wonderland for a few years (Which isn't canon to the actual Twisted Wonderland story, I believe) and it operates more like a college campus/college-aged folks (Since that's the vibe I write for).

Overall, I don't go super into detail because I wanted to leave it vague on purpose, but it's still spoilery. This is your spoiler alert.

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There's a stunned silence as the two stare at the Ramshackle dorm. Barbatos lifts the camera up to snap a photo in the quiet.

Every other dorm has been grand and beautifully cared for and well-funded. It's as though they each have a grounds team specifically tailored to their individual needs. Though, it also appears that the 'Grounds team' is, in fact, the dorm's own students, seeing as how Heartslabyul's dorms were so heavily being tended to by students when you all arrived. Which could explain why your dorm is so... Different. Even Diasomnia, which appeared dramatically dark and spooky, had a regal flare to it. Its roads were well-kept and manicured, and not a stone was out of place or cracked.

Ramshackle.... The bricks are broken and knocked out of order. The metal rods of the fence are rusted and bent out of shape. Bricks in the structures of the gate are cracked and damaged. The gate is permanently propped open, since the door is falling off of the top hinge and its body rests against the ground, and the other has been rusted shut. Barbatos begins snapping pictures of the little details.

You gently run your fingers against the stone, peering up at the building. Grim probably hasn't left yet from his lunch. This'll be the first time you've seen him and the ghosts in a while. You can't help but feel safe here. It's your home away from home. You walk up the steps, and Solomon and Barbatos watch as your feet effortlessly out-maneuver the worst dangers on the walkway as your eyes stay fixated on the door. The muscle memory you have for this place is visible as they have to watch their steps carefully.

Barbatos snaps a photo of what appears to be.. gravestones..? In the yard? When asked about it, you tell him you've never actually dug in those areas, so you don't know if it's the "Dorm's vibe" or if you straight up have just been living in a graveyard. Crowley has never really brought it up.

You get to the front door and you lightly rest your forehead against the front door. It feels like it's been too long since you came home. It kind of hits you all at once, how much you've missed this place. How much you've missed your family here. How quickly you were ripped away from it all.

You try the handle and find that it's locked. You knock on the door, but there's no answer. You lift the rug and there's no key. You call out, knocking on the door again; "HEY GUYS. IT'S ME. ___. YA'LL HOME?"

Silence.

Without waiting any longer, you just mutter ".. Alright, you guys don't see this, understood?" and then tug a small bundle out of your jacket pocket before your two companions can answer. You open up the lockpicking set and begin setting to work on unlocking the door. You assume Grim's likely been having the ghosts lock it to prevent intruders. Despite the time you've been away, the muscle memory of breaking into Ramshackle is still going strong. You remember all the times you had to pick the lock because you forgot or lost your key. You lockpick your way in real quickly and Solomon grins to himself as he's just learned something very fun about you. You begin to open the door slowly.