Dale looked around frantically, trying to calm his racing heartbeat as he let go of the cube that had been in his grasp. He was grateful that he was once again back in the elevator, that night in the Theatre was not a night that he had wanted to remember in such vivid detail. But in spite of that horrid moment his eyes were still filled with a genuine curiosity, wondering what kind of strange event that he would encounter next. These people (could he really call them that?) seemed insistent that he was to relive the memories of his past, but for what reason he did not know…
A faded echo of a voice suddenly reached him and Dale's heart almost leaped out of his chest. Looking around he found yet another black cube in front of him, as if it was waiting for him. He pressed the button to open the door and gently touched the cube, revealing another past memory…
Dale looked around once his vision cleared; he was standing in front of a big, white house near the Lake. Dale was reasonably sure that he had never seen this house before, yet something about it awoke distant feelings of familiarity. He stepped onto the porch and grabbed the doorknob, somewhat surprised to discover that the door was not locked. He took his first few steps into the old building, wondering what was waiting for him deeper inside.
Dale took a step closer and looked at the building more closely...and afterward promptly facepalmed when he realized what the house actually was.
It was his childhood home, he was even able to tell that it was right after that horrible birthday-party thanks to the flags hanging in the windows and the trickle of blood that was coloring the snow outside red. Granted, he had moved out after that traumatizing incident and he had tried his hardest to block that memory from his brain but Dale still felt silly for not being able to recognize the house that contained a good chunk of his childhood inside its walls...
There were two police-officers standing in the doorway, having a serious conversation with his parents. A conversation that filled him with dread.
"Your son is not safe here. The White Rabbit is only the beginning and more is sure to follow, both his and your lives are in great danger. Dale needs to come with us or he is not going to survive the night."
The dark voice sent chills down Dale's spine and despite his adult self telling him to try to find out more, his inner child was paralyzed with fear. He was knocked out of his stupor by a firm gloved hand on his shoulder, he looked up to see his father giving him a somewhat assuring glance. Though there was something about his voice that sounded strange, it sounded almost...hollow.
"Go on Dale, you will be safe with them."
Somehow, Dale seriously doubted that. He looked towards his mother who spoke in the same lifeless tone as her husband.
"It will be ok, darling".
The smile she wore on her face looked blank and almost wooden, it made Dale incredibly uncomfortable. But as he had no other choice, he went with the two officers outside and he almost gasped as a familiar sight waited for him outside.
The White Rabbit was lying against the tree, clutching its bleeding chest. Thinking back to the words left in the note that had been left by his uninvited party-crasher before he had activated the odd birthday-present that he had gotten from Harvey, he softly whispered "sorry" in the Rabbit's direction while unsure if the suffering creature was able to hear him. Somewhat assuringly, the Rabbit nodded before he was absorbed into the tree.
A loud chirp reached Dale's ears and without warning, a familiar grey parrot settled down on the boy's shoulder. The two officers seemed to be completely blind to the whole ordeal, though Dale thought that he spotted the faintest of smiles before it dissolved into masks of indifference. Dale followed the two officers to their vehicle where he was coached into the backseat, he settled down carefully so that the parrot wouldn't be hurt. Looking through the window as the car drove away from the house, Dale wondered where this journey through his past was going to take him next.
The car-ride wasn't that long but to an anxious Dale it felt like 1000 miles, he had a feeling that something important was awaiting him. The car pulled up next to an old chapel and a confused Dale stepped out, the two officers exchanged a look before they began to change. Dale took a few steps back as they transformed into two half-avian beings that he recognized all too well. Mr. Owl and Mr. Crow.
"The past is never dead, it's not even past."
The familiar phrase that came from Mr. Owl resonated within him, like an echo from the past. The old bird looked at Mr. Crow who produced a bottle of elixir (how on earth did he know that?) from his pocket. As if he could hear his thoughts, Mr. Owl continued to speak.
"I think that you know what this bottle contains, and what it does. It is your choice whether to take it or not, Dale. If you choose to drink it, just be aware that there is two possible outcomes. The first is immortality and an expanded mind. The other, is becoming one of the corrupted souls that you can see over there."
Mr. Owl gestured to one of the shadowy figures that were staring at them from a distance, its hollow expression made Dale shiver. He looked at the bottle and the green liquid inside, pondering his next step. Like it was for any man, the offer of eternal life was incredibly tempting. The fact that the key was already in his hands without any impossible tasks in the way made it even harder to resist. But on the other hand, he knew what would happen if he did become corrupted. Bloodshed and misery would surely follow in his footsteps. But in spite of that, that small voice in the back of his head told him to drink. He argued with it for quite a while (probably another sign of his lapsing sanity) before he finally caved in.
He closed his eyes, trying to mentally prepare himself for the upcoming change. No matter which one it ended up being.
"If I lose myself, can you lock me up so that I don't hurt anyone?"
The two birds exchange an unreadable look at the seemingly simple request before Mr. Owl slowly nodded. Dale nodded back and slowly emptied the bottle of its contents. Upon drinking the last drop, Dale suddenly felt drowsy. Colorful spots and images from the Lake began to fill his vision and the last thing he heard was the concerned call of the crow before his world faded to black...
Dale did not know what woke him from his slumber but the view in front of him was certainly not what he expected. The sight in front of him filled him with absolute horror.
Laura (once again, how on earth did he know the woman's name?) was lying on the floor, a pool of blood slowly forming beneath her. In his hand was a knife, its edge colored crimson.
He had become corrupted.
He had failed.
Even though he swore to God that he had never met the woman before, he was overcome with powerful feelings.
"What happened to the promise?"
"Where are they? Why aren't they helping her?"
"What have I done?"
"Who am I?"
At the edge of his vision he saw the parrot desperately picking at the window, without knowing why he opened the window and let the bird fly away. A golden cube suddenly appeared in front of him, he tapped it hoping that it would get him out of this hopeless situation. It abliged and revealed yet another memory.
He was inside of an old house that he somehow knew was the former residence of the Vandeerboom-family. Without much thought and acting almost purely on muscle-memory he rearranged the books in the bookshelf to reveal a secret basement. He descended the staircase as a distant voice called out to him.
As he entered the laboratory (could it even be called that?) he was greeted by the quite somber-looking Mr. Crow. He wanted to ask him why he broke his promise but his mouth remained silent no matter how much he mentally demanded it to make a sound. In spite of bird-eyes not being the best at portraying emotions, he could see the barest flickers of genuine sorrow and regret in the ash-colored orbs.
"I am truly sorry for what happened, Dale. Or should I say, brother?"
Dale looked at Mr. Crow with an expression that closely resembled that of a goldfish, not being able to process the bombshell that had just been dropped on him. The only thing he was able to do was stupidly repeat what the crow had just said.
"Brother?"
He looked down at his feet, not certain how to handle the information that he had just received. Thousands of thoughts raced through his head, mostly trying to figure out how on earth he had a crow-man as a brother and a memo to have a serious conversation with his parents. He desperately looked at the old bird for answers and only got a somewhat amused look in return.
"Not in blood, but in spirit."
That statement only made Dale even more confused and he sent the crow a look to tell him just that. That only made the crow chuckle, though the bird's eyes were full of sympathy.
"Allow me to elaborate. I assume that you are familiar with the concept of reincarnation?"
Dale nodded.
"The woman you stabbed, as well as investigating the murder of, was the reincarnation of my brother William."
Dale winced slightly, not very pleasant images of him waking up one morning to discover that he had suddenly changed gender overnight visualizing in his head. Mr. Crow chuckled, as if he could see what he was thinking.
"I do believe that you assessment is somewhat correct, being a man reborn inside of a woman's body could not have been good for her mental state. The lack of synergy between body and spirit didn't exactly help either, Laura became so mentally unstable that she decided that death was the only way out."
Dale was stunned, completely taken off guard by the surprising news. The Crow gave him an assuring glance.
"You never killed Laura, merely wounded her. I managed to stop you before you delivered the final blow, you just don't remember it because the corrupted part of your soul took over."
Dale felt a huge weight lift from his subconscious, in hindsight he did notice that Laura had still been breathing when he had left the scene. And recalling information from his years as a detective and his knowledge of the human body thanks to an old friend that had made a fair amount of autopsies in his lifetime, it is a lot harder to stab someone to death than horror-movies would have you believe. Mr. Crow continued his story once Dale shook himself out of his thoughts.
"Anyhow, Laura took her own life out of madness and my brother was a wandering spirit once more. His soul was in need of a new vessel."
Dale looked at Mr. Crow and for the first time during the entire conversation, he was able to speak back.
"And you found me."
Mr. Crow nodded.
"You were a perfect match, you even look like his younger self. So me and Mr. Owl tried to transfer what remained of William into you when you were a child, but something went wrong and you couldn't recall your former life at all. So I have spent many years to try and awaken the part of my brother that is still slumbering within you. Don't worry, brother. I will take good care of you."
Dale felt like his head was about to explode with all of this new information; all of those strange phone-calls with that haunting voice right before important events in his life, the old man that seemed to constantly follow him and the appearance of the crow-man in his dreams finally started to make sense. It took him a lot of willpower to simply look up and ask.
"How come I haven't felt him at all until now, considering everything that has happened. And why are you changing my memories? They are already hard enough to look back on as it is."
His inner detective was trying to fish for more information, but Dale wrestled back control. Something inside him feared this being that had once been a man. His body shivered as the Crow answered in the same dark, burring voice that haunted his nightmares since he was a child.
"Your memories are being changed to save you."
Dale gave him an even more confused look, certainly not expecting that answer.
"Pardon?!"
"By changing your memories, the black cubes revert back to being white. One memory at a time, you are slowly being freed from your corruption and becoming closer to expanding your mind."
Here, Mr. Crow outright laughed, an eerie sound that made him sound even more like the bird he now was.
"As for the reason that you do not 'feel' William inside you, I think that you have watched a little too much television. He isn't a separate being sleeping deep within, at least no longer. You and William are one and the same now."
Dale felt his life crumbling before his very eyes, everything he had ever known about himself suddenly being called into question. How much was truly him and how much was what remained of the life that he had once lived?
He was taken out his internal identity-crisis by a firm hand on his shoulder, he turned his head to see that Mr. Owl had now entered the cellar as well. The Owl was giving him a piercing, yet intrigued look.
"So William, ready for your next memory?"
Fhew, this took time to write down. Which is kind of funny considering that 50% of this story was already written beforehand. But when you have to help someone who doesn't have English as their first language write along with you and then doublecheck everything for grammar-errors, the time seems to just be slipping away. As I mentioned earlier in the summary, this was a collaboration between me and a fellow Rusty Lake-fan called april.m.23588 on Rusty Lake Amino and it was fun to work together. A little tricky but fun.
For those who don't know what Rusty Lake is, it is a series of point-and-click puzzle games that is set in the fictional world of Rusty Lake. For the record, this is the same universe that I crossed over with Harry Potter in my last Rejection Letter. They are really interesting and the majority of the games are free so you don't have anything to lose by checking them out.
Anyway, thanks for reading!