"I said don't move! Can't you listen? Stop! Freeze! Halt! What are you doing?! Stooooppppp!"
A voice that had started strong and forceful suddenly became pleading and frightened, as Rayne approached the light, grabbing it from its owner and shining it in their face.
"Ok, who are you? And how did you get down here?" Rayne demanded, pushing the person into a wall.
"Put that light out and I'll tell you! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!" they pleaded, cowering on the ground. Rayne did not back down, beaming the light down at the cowering figure, menacing over him. Notte chimed in "Rayne, look, he's scared. Let's show them we mean no harm."
"Yes, yes! Listen to the lady! Please!" cried the man, looking up a little bit. Rayne stayed in position for a second, then turned away the light after Notte put her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't turn it off.
"Ok, who are you?" he demanded again, and the person uncurled from their ball. It was a shrewd man, covered in rags and very dirty.
"My... my name is… is… I don't remember" he stammered, racking his brains. Something about him made Rayne uneasy, which he did not like.
"How can you not remember your name? What did you do, hit your head?" Rayne barked, making the man flinch.
"I have bad memory… I can't hold down very much. Sometimes I'll be walking and don't remember where I am. I'm sorry, it's just so dark and scary… and I heard your voices."
"We didn't mean to startle you, we we're just coming down here to-" started Notte, trying to calm the man, who suddenly burst out in anger
"What? No, these are my tunnels! I found them first! Mine, MI-" he yelled, and was cut off when Rayne flicked up the light into his face, an angry look upon his face. As the man re-curled, Notte couldn't help but chuckle.
"We were just trying to find a passage, one you probably haven't found yet. It was hidden for a reason. Now, we'll be on our way. Go back to… whatever it is you do" and with that Rayne turned away and started back down the tunnel. The man stood up, but still kept his distance from Rayne.
"Secret passage? Noooo no no no, I've been down every passage. No secrets here" clambered the man, wringing his hands and following the two strangers. Rayne walked a few more feet then stopped.
"If so, then what is this?" he asked the man, and pulled a door out of nowhere. It creaked loudly, for it had not been opened in a long time. The man stared at it, eyes wide. Then he said quickly "I hadn't noticed that before."
"Of course, it was hidden very well. Only those who know it's here would know. Took us a while to figure it out ourselves, but it's an old service hatch. Don't know what was in it before, everything was gone when we moved in." said Rayne, moving the door back and forth, breaking apart all the dirt and ooze that had built up on the hinges.
Rayne climbed in, it was a small drop to the floor from the doorway, but manageable. Inside, the room was in a mess. Everything was torn up, there had been shelving built along the walls, those had been smashed. The couch was overturned, it's stuffing ripped out.
Lifting up the rug in the middle of the room, Rayne pulled up a trapdoor, and from the trapdoor he pulled out a chest. He rummaged through it for a moment, then pulled out two objects. To Notte, they looked like two small hatchets, but the handle was weird… like a barrel.
"This reminds me… Notte, did you bring your weapon?" asked Rayne, sheathing the weapons onto his belt.
"Umm… no, they're still at beacon, in my equipment locker." She said, looking down "will I be able to get them? They're all I have left" she added, strong emotions surging from the sentence. Rayne simply nodded.
The little man was rummaging through the broken shelves, when he found something he let out a little "oooh…" and continued. Rayne watched him, then after strapping on a large metal gauntlet; he cleared his throat loudly, grabbing the attention of the man.
"Hey… Rupert. You can have this place; I think you'll find it nice and comfy, even in this state. But what is left in this trunk, you may not touch. You understand?" the last bit he declared with more force than was necessary, making the man squirm again "y-yes… I understand" he whimpered.
With that in mind, Rayne motioned Notte to go back up the stairs, he followed her.
"And one more thing Rupert, Forget we were here, ok?"
"Who was here?" asked the man, genuinely confused.
"Exactly, ok goodbye." And with that, Rayne closed the door, and pointed down the tunnel. "Ok Notte, I know a secret way into Beacon, we'll get your stuff back for sure.
"Rayne, what happened in there?" asked Notte, looking back at the door.
"Either someone was looking for something, or someone was really mad. Either way, that safe house is no longer safe, we can never go back there."
"what do you mean?"
"did you see the sign on the wall? A brown spider looking emblem?" Rayne stooped suddenly, turning around to ask Notte that question.
"umm… I don't think so" she thought, but she could have sworn she saw nothing
"Exactly, just like the door, it can only be seen if you were looking for it. It's hidden behind an illusion, and once you've had proper training, you can sense if an illusion glyph has been placed somewhere. It's one thing Beacon will never teach you." Rayne continued down the hall "now I don't know when that sign was written, but either way, it's the symbol of my enemy. Arachnid.