Red String

The Adventurer

TW: Mentions of wanting to cause harm
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Actor waited on the porch as he gripped his cane. Illinois will be there soon, and it seemed like he was making himself presentable. Yancy was untrusting towards him, so it made sense. Though soon enough, the red-themed ego's thoughts seemed to have drifted away when the cab rolled into the driveway. It was showtime, and Actor started to walk off the porch.

Illinois, on the other hand, was more less talking to the cab driver about all of his adventures before the stop happened. The adventurer jumped out of the cab, thanking the driver for listening and for driving. He waved goodbye to the driver with a wave, his smile never leaving. The cab was soon out of sight, and Illinois turned to look at the manor.

Almost instantly, his smile fell, and the adventurer raised his eyebrow. Much like Yancy, he knew this wasn't the manor Dark told him about. That place sounded so beautiful, and this place.... This place wasn't it. Illinois's eyes left the horrid manor and landed on the male approaching him. "Oh are you Dark? I have been meanin' to-"

The male chucked, which only made Illinois confused. "Good heavens, you too? My name is Actor Mark, or Actor preferably. Dark isn't here yet, but I understand they sent an invite to you to live with us," Actor told the man before him, a smile much like the one he gave Yancy. Unlike the last time, it didn't falter at the mention of being Dark. "You must be Illinois, am I right?"

The adventurer nodded. "Yes, I am, but I must say, the outside decor seems to have, you know, dro-" Illinois was interrupted by seeing something out of the corner of his eye. He looked only to be confused; The manor had changed to look like how it did for Yancy, and all the adventurer could do was look at Actor. "Did-.... Did you see that?"

The red-suited male raised an eyebrow before looking at the manor. "Nothing is different, I have no idea what you mean," The male told Illinois. Actor turned back around, his offputting smile remaining. "Is everything alright, Illinois?" His face looked like it was concerned, but the adventurer had a feeling it was a fake reaction.

After quickly disciplining himself for even thinking the thought, Illinois nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just seeing things, that's all," He told the other ego with a nervous smile. Hopefully, that would be enough to get the male to believe him. "Let's just head inside, alright? I'd like to meet these other people Dark told me about."

That's when Actor's smile twitched a bit, and of course, Illinois noticed. "Alright, you deserve to meet them after all," He stated rather calmly as he began to walk back to the manor's porch, the adventurer following close behind him. "You know, I think you might like another resident here. His name is Yancy, if Dark didn't tell you."

Illinois tilted his head in confusion but continued to follow the male. "No, I haven't heard of him. I heard of Google, Bing, Host, etc. Who is he, if I may ask?" The adventurer may have never heard of him, but he was always open to meeting new people. "Is he like me in any way or-" He was cut off by the red-suited male.

"He came from the same.... "Project" as you, and he isn't like you in any way. While you like to be out and free, he rather not. He and you might get along with the fact that you came from the same place," Actor informed the other as he walked. The male's voice sounded so.... Off to the adventurer, like the whole phrase was a lie but not.

Regardless, the adventurer nodded and hummed a bit. Once they got on the porch, Actor opened the door. He entered and an unknowing force pulled Illinois inside. Before he could say anything, the door behind him slammed shut. "Uh.... Actor?" He started to say before he noticed how ruined the inside of the manor looked, which meant what he saw outside was a lie.

All Actor did was let out a rather concerning laugh. "Check your wrists, you'll notice something.... Think of it as a gift from me to you, basically," The male told Illinois as he turned to look at him, his face with a rather sick smile.

With much concern, the adventurer frantically looked at his wrists. The only thing different was a piece of red string tied to his wrist, and the other end led to Actor. "What- Huh? This-" Illinois's confusion grew as he tried to yank it off. "Why can't I get this off?" He tried to yank off when suddenly he froze without even wanting to.

"I already hurt Yancy. Don't make me hurt you too," The red-suited male informed the other. This man was far and away from what Dark seemed to be for Illinois. "Now, once I let you go, I want you to join Yancy upstairs. First door on the right; Go anywhere else, and I'm afraid you earned yourself a warning," Actor told the adventurer.

With a nod, the adventurer was let go, and he headed for the stairs without being told another time. He didn't dare to talk to Actor after this as he feared the outcome. He ran up the creaking stairs and looked at the rooms once he was upstairs. As Illinois went to enter his new hell of a room, he heard crying from across his room.

He wanted to check if whoever it was okay, but he felt like it was a trick. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to see if it was one or not. Besides, what could Actor do? With not much hesitation, the adventurer lightly knocked on the door across from his own. "Hey, are you okay in there," Illinois asked quietly, trying not to have Actor hear him.

All the adventurer heard was silence before a quiet, "Go away," was heard from the other side. Though Illinois wanted to pry further into the other's life more, if the other wanted to be left alone, he'll respect that and do so. "Alright, I'm sorry." Without much thought, Illinois brushed the other's crying off and entered his room.

Maybe he'll talk about it later with the stranger if he gets the chance.

|~*~|

"I don't know what happened, honestly. I thought the cabs we sent to pick them up did their job, but apparently, they got there only for neither of them to be there," Google heard Dark explain to whoever. The android didn't dare to make presence known as he listened in.

The party of inviting both heist and space egos into the manor had ended hours ago, and the only heist ego anyone saw was Captain Magnum. Yancy and Illinois were noticeably missing, but no one dared to bring it up. Google was the only one who kept it in the back of his mind to try and chose to look further into it later.

Dark released a sigh as they paced the room nearby, muttering some things Google didn't hear before they asked, "Can you try and find them, Host? Please, even if you see a glance of them, just tell me," The 3D ego told his blind companion. Their voice held much concern for the egos he didn't even get to meet.

"The Host tells Dark he'll try and see if he can see them. For now, he advises Dark should rest and try not to trouble themself with the missing egos, the Host will find them," The android heard the trench coat wearing man. He knew that his words were sincere, even if it seemed like he wouldn't find them with what was against him. "Now, the Host will ask why Google is hiding by the doorway?"

The android froze; Host found him out. Slowly, he entered the room, hands up in surrender. "I'm worried. I just wanted to see if I could help in any way. That's all," Google answered honestly. He hoped his spying could be excused, especially since Dark didn't like people listening in on conversations.

"The Host urges that if Google wants to help, do so. Dark nor the Host would mind as we are quite worried for Yancy and Illinois. Surely, running off couldn't be the answer because they barely knew one another, so something else has to be at play," Host told Google. "Or someone else, as Dark was telling the Host earlier."

Google raised an eyebrow. "Someone else? What does that mean?"

"It's possible someone else has them. Illinois had told me he's made many enemies in the past, so it's possible someone has him, and as for Yancy, they may have been kidnapped for looking like Illinois. Who knows, I just am worried about them," Dark answered, their voice holding no emotion, but at the same time, it held concern. They rarely showed emotion due to emotions making their powers go into wack, so this was a rare glimpse for Google and Host to see.

"I'll try to look for them, I promise," Google promised as he watched the 3D ego leave the room. Sure, the android knew it was near impossible to find them, but for Dark's own mental health sake, he had to. No matter the cost.