- 𝐀𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 -

Chapter 13 - Paranoia

...

But even restless nights pass by, even if they feel like forever. They make you feel tired, exhausted, sometimes even numb.

...

-
ᴀᴜɢᴜꜱᴛ 4ᴛʜ, 12 ᴅᴀʏꜱ ʟᴇꜰᴛ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ: ???...
-

The days were passing, and they were all staring at the countdown endlessly;
"Less than 2 weeks left..."
Whenever they wouldn't go into the palace, each one of them was feeling anxious about what might happen if they fail this mission. It was something they really can't screw up.

So they went in again.

The paranoia of what could happen was increasing in everyone as they continued proceeding through the halls and different rooms. Of course, Crow didn't tell the others about the basement he visited a while ago. Actually, he didn't 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 them to find out, he didn't want them to see what he did.

-

But they weren't the only ones who were feeling such paranoia.

While they made their way through his heart, Akira was trying to find some kind of relief to get his thoughts on to something else. But nothing really seemed to turn out the way he wanted it to, so he kept on staring into the nothingness.

When was the last time he even left the Cafe or ate something? He couldn't remember.
Sitting up in the quiet attic he reached for his phone, he didn't even answer any texts, but instead he opened the camera to check his appearance.

"Uff..."

His eyes looked like they lost all their enthusiasm; they seemed so empty as they had dark circles under them. His skin was pale; it felt so cold when he touched his face.

The dark haired male then sighed before turning the bright screen of his phone off again. He didn't want to look at himself right now, not like he really cared that much anymore anyways.

Lying back down, he then looked at his wrist quietly. After staring for a while, he shook the thought out immediately, went back under the blanket, and just tried sleeping it all away.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺...

---

"Watch out!" the voice of Oracle echoed through the halls as some of the Thieves nearly got hit by a shadow from behind;
Thanks to that, Skull dodged it in the last second "Woah- Ay thanks Oracle!"

"Be a bit more careful.." Queen then added on with her usual sigh of disappointment after they beat the shadow that attempted a surprise attack with ease. With a slight smile on their faces the Thieves continued to go on, it felt like they got a bit further into the depths of the theater, so they felt a bit relieved.

In the different rooms was always another "round of the game" . Often were masks involved, sometimes arcanas or even mimicking emotions. There were 5 rounds in total, so far, they have managed to come to the 3rd.

Even though it was called a "game", it wasn't really fun to do at all. It was more like they were just doing as they were told, with getting judged by others. Along with the music, you could always hear small whispers. But you would need 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 good ears to understand what they were saying.

But the most stressful thing for them was the deadline always approaching. The days passed way too quickly, and now they only had 12 days left.

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨...