We Live To See The End

Thrice

Cheri yawns as she wakes up, stretching her arms above her head and her legs down to the foot of her bed. The sound of the door unlocking and bashing open in the January wind alerts her as she grabs her phone and headphones. The sound of two people talking in the next room over, the whistling wind outside her window, the music softly playing in her headphones play on her ears. A soft, musical knock comes from outside her door.

'Come in,' She shouts, placing her headphones around her neck. Ashton pokes his head around the door, giving her a soft smile.

'Hey, morning,' He says quietly. He sits next to her on her bed, brushing some cherry hair from her eyes and smoothing the covers down over her legs.

'Where were you last night?' Cheri asks. Ashton's cheeks turn pink before she flashes him a cheeky smile, 'Ooh, Ashton, over at Kristoffer's again? Anyways, I have some information on Doctor JAB.'

She pulls her laptop up, opening a document on her computer. Ashton watches with intent eyes as she scrolls through the three pages of words.

'So, the hints have been "A bus stop near a road that winds", "One that has returned is elder of age", and "The one we hunt has betrayed one of their stage",' She explains. An image of the hypnotic face and spiral from the concert taken from a phone is below the words, 'See the face? It's similar to this one.'

She points to the virtual face, and then to an image of a man. It looks like a mugshot. His eyes are evilly mismatched red and brown, and his hair is raven with umber highlights, littered with white. It has a matching nose, hooked with a ballooned bridge like it had been broken multiple times, along with matching wide, horrifying eyes. The facial ratios match, with large chins, gaping mouths and thin cheekbones.

'Do you know who that man is?' Ashton queries, scrutinizing the appearances meticulously.

'No. It was just on some online forum,' Cheri answers, 'Me and Jamie were thinking about it and looking into it last night. We've researched the man thoroughly. All we know is that he has ties to the AMI, specifically Strangelove, and he's in his fifties.

'Something else,' Cheri mentions, 'You know the screaming that plays at the start and end of the hints?'

'Yeah, why?'

'Those aren't stock sound effects. They're real. Live recordings. Whoever this is, they're torturing people for fun, Ashton,' She shudders, 'And we think it's magical people like us. We could be next.'

'This is getting serious,' He mutters. Ice cold shivers run down his spine, terrifying his brain to a state of ice age, 'Send it to me and Alexis. We'll share it round our friends, you should do that too.'

Cheri nods, letting Ashton leave her room. Terror takes his brain over, making hot tears prickle in the corner of his eyes. Alexis exits the room next to Cheri's. Before a word can come from her mouth, Ashton shuts himself in his room, his back sliding down the door with his face in his hands. His silent sobs make his whole frame shake and shudder, his shoulders heaving with every deep breath. He whispers to himself, 'Someone help us...'

*

Nothing from Doctor Jab. Radio silence for three straight weeks.

rockingverywell

can you come over? no one else is home

krispiercebridge

ofc ;)

Three.

krispiercebridge