welcome to the game // joshler [✓]

fair game

[i'm still working on the prequel, so i'm sorry if my updates are slow for this book -frisk]

i slowly closed to door behind me as i stared at this girls familiar face. she gave me a strange look before saying, "are you gonna sit down or what?" was her question.

i made my way over to a pink love seat that was opposite from her desk, though that strange look never left her face.

"you look... familiar," was the first thing i said when i sat down, "have we ever met before?" i wondered, it seemed as if she felt the same way, her eyes now examining me.

her gaze then lit up, her jaw slightly dropped, "oh my god," she expressed in amazement, "you're my dads work monkey josh dun." she semi-joked, but that's when it finally hit me.

she was my ex-boss' daughter, and she worked for the deep web.

"o-oh," my jaw slightly dropped, and then i scratched the back of my neck in the awkward nature of it all, "well i--uh, don't really work for him anymore."

melanie cracked a smile, "yeah i kind of figured," she went on to ask, "h-how is he, by the way?" i gave her a confused look, and that's when it kind of hit me it, that i didn't actually know what happened to him after i went home that day.

"well," i took a pause before hesitating to explain, "he and i-- we didn't exactly see eye to eye a lot... and he tried giving me a full day shift after our last argument."

her smile went into a frown as she sighed, "he was always a bit of an asshole sometimes..." she trailed off for a few seconds, looking out into nothingness before finishing off with, "i kind of miss that, sometimes."

that's where it confused me, "wait-- so why'd you run away?"

melanie's face fell low, her frown now becoming more prominent as she stared down at the ground below her. her silence helped to build the already awkward tension that filled the room to begin with.

"i was pretty stupid and naïve, just like you are, josh--" i interrupted her for a second, "you mean i was stupid and naïve, right?" melanie shook her head, "oh no what i said was accurate." she assured me.

i rolled my eyes but allowed to her continue, anyway, "so anyway, i was snooping on the deep web and ended up getting caught up in some cult research. there was this cult-- i can't remember its name but it was something like 'the emperor and his new clothes' or something shitty like that-- and i ended up getting kidnapped by them as soon as i turned 18," she took a deep breath as her eyes shut tightly, i assumed from memory repression.

but she continued, "it was run by that joke of a leader-- brendon urie and his little scooby do gang, y'know, sarah, ryan, tyler--"

"tyler?!" i cut her off again, "as in tyler joseph?"

melanie rolled her eyes in annoyance and huffed, "there's no other tyler in our damn lives, now is there?" she sarcastically and rhetorically asked me, and i quickly shut up and sank back into my seat.

she regained her composure after taking a deep breath, "sorry," she mumbled, excusing herself, "but to be fair he was only a temporary member that didn't do shit," she went on to explain, "brendon just took tyler under his wing for a while until he became a legit hitman."

"so, is that it?" i wondered, "but then how'd you escape a cult?" i wondered, she shook her head again and buried her face into her hands in a desperate attempt of repressing memories and her clear annoyance towards me.

she sighed, "well before ryan ross went love crazy, he actually helped me escape the cult when they kicked him out for whatever reason," she took another deep breath, "but y'know, now he's literally insane or whatnot."

"okay wait," i butted into the conversation, "s-so do you not like tyler, like at all?" i was desperate to know and hoped that she didn't hate him, but her answer wasn't exactly what i was looking for.

"almost everyone hates him, the guy does one hell of a job at killing people and ruining lives. so if i were you," she looked me in they eye, "i wouldn't believe a damn thing that comes out of that guys mouth."

i could feel my heart ache a little, but i really tried pushing away from it, "but do you hate him enough that'd you let him be the guest on the monkey house?" i questioned melanie, her eyes widening for a few seconds before she snapped herself out of it.

"i--i mean it's only fair i guess," she answered, uneasily, "i don't personally hate the dude but if people wanna see him dead i can't be the one to stop it--"

"but it's your call, you have half of the say-- ryan isn't raz, you are. can't you stop this-- this torture porn from happening?" i tried being assertive, but fear clearly pierced through my attempt at that.

now she looked completely dumbfounded, not only from what i said, but the fact that i already knew so much about her and this business before her very eyes.

before she could even formulate an answer to what i said, there was a knock at the door, i turned in my chair to see who it was, and melanie yelled for the person to come in.

to my surprise, it was pete, and had a big smile on his face as he glanced at me, and then proceeded to look at melanie before speaking, "heyyyy razzle-dazzle," he sounded cheery. "i was wonderin' if your pal ryan and i could have the keys for the monkey house."

i then looked back over at melanie who looked distraught in what to do, and i was hoping that she could read the fear and desperation in my facial expression, i was silently beginning that she wouldn't give him the key.

but what she did next about the situation surprised us both.