Duskwood: And Beyond

42. Breaking in

Oryn

One thing I loved about Thomas was that he knew how to follow orders. He left the window open as I asked him to. He removed any item that could get in the way as we climbed in. We were inside Hannah and Thomas's house. It was a two-bedroom house with a large living room. The living room was the central gathering space in the house, with enough room for multiple people to sit and relax comfortably. The kitchen was adjacent to the living room. There was a long hallway that led to both bedrooms and the bathroom. What I was interested in was the attic. There was an attic door on the ceiling of the hallway.

"Ok. Ana you take the master bedroom. Ashton, you take the guest bedroom. I'll climb to the attic."

The attic had a rope that allowed me to open the door but there were no stairs. At first, I thought they were not using it, but I could see the furniture and boxes. It also looked freshly used. Who wouldn't have stairs to their attic?

"Do you want me to help you with that?" Ashton spoke behind me. I nodded and he put his hands together. "Step up and pull yourself up."

I did as he told me. The 'pull-yourself up' part was a bitch and it hurt every part of my body but I managed. As I assumed, the attic was clean. Way too clean. There were no signs of dust or cobwebs, which was strange considering the lack of stairs and the difficulty of accessing the space. It was almost as if someone had been up here recently, cleaning and organizing.

I began to search through the boxes and furniture, looking for any clues that might shed light on Richy's location. As I rummaged through a pile of old clothes, I suddenly heard a creaking sound as if someone entered the house. My heart racing, I walked towards the door. Looking down, I saw Ashton peering up at me with concern.

"We should go," he whisper-shouted.

I nodded, breathing heavily. "I need two seconds, get Anabelle."

Ashton disappeared as I hurried to continue my search.

"Hannah?" I heard Jake. It was muffled as it was coming from outside. "I was just about to ring your doorbell. How are you?"

"Um, why are you here?" Hannah sounded off as if she knew something was going on.

"I was in the neighborhood, thought I should say hi."

They continued talking as I rummaged through the boxes.

"Oryn, we have to go now," Ashton whispered. I reluctantly nodded and quickly made my way back and tried my best to not fall as I lowered myself. Luckily, Ashton was taller and stronger than me so his help made it easier. I practically landed on his arms before gathering myself, closing the door, and walking toward the living room to the window we walked in. Around this time, Hannah and Jake were saying their goodbyes. We quickly rushed out and barely made it in time to hear Hannah talk to herself about how cold it was inside. We hid under the window, hoping she wouldn't notice us as she closed the window.

Once she was gone, we waited for a few more seconds and made sure we were good to go. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in.

"That was fucking close," I said in between breaths as we walked away from the garden.

"What now?" Ashton asked.

"Now we go to Oryn's car and pretend we were never here." Anabelle rushed to my car.

Phil and Jake were next to my car, Phil was leaning on his motorcycle and they were trying to have a conversation that neither of them seem to want. Jake climbed in as he noticed our arrival. Phil handed a helmet to Ana. I climbed into the back seat while Ashton rode shotgun.

As we drove away, I couldn't help but burst into laughter as all the nerves in my body now relaxed. Ashton joined me shortly. 

"That was awesome!" I clang to both seats. "Where are we going?"

"Grimrock," Jake said and we were mainly silent after that.

It was not a long drive until we made it close to Grimrock. We parked and that was the first time I noticed the blankets behind the truck. We all climbed on the back and got cozy. Anabelle was on Phil's lap and I was sitting in between Ashton and Jake.

"I couldn't find anything," I blurted.

"Me neither," Ashton said. "I was more focused on you not breaking your neck."

Anabelle giggled, "Where would you be without me?" She pulled out a piece of napkin. It had a phone number on it. It looked like it was put down in a hurry. The black ink smudged everyone around the number, the numbers were written as if someone was shaking.

Jake typed the number into his phone, which blocked his ID from anyone he contacted. We added the number. All of us were staring at the phone that was in the middle of us. There was no photo or name to indicate who this person was. I got impatient and snatched the phone to call the number.

Everyone tried to argue but it was too late. The phone rang and rang and rang until I heard a familiar voice. 

"He-hello?"

"Richy?"

"Oryn?" he sounded shocked.