So, I'm back. Now with things calming down here, I can continue with the story. As of right now, I have a rough draft of the story, but I need some input. I love writing this story and can't wait to see what it evolves into.
"Words" Speaking
'words' Thoughts
"Words" Demon Speech
"It was me, I am Mama's Spy," Ray tells them.
"... Huh?... WHAT?!" Emma yells out in shock.
"I had a suspicion," Spencer said, putting his hand on his chin.
"Wait, before you do anything you'll regret, let me explain," Norman said, putting his hands up.
"..." Norman then explained everything to the other two.
"So Ray is the spy, but he became the spy to get information and materials to make our escape?" Emma confirms.
"Yeah…" said Norman.
"You know, I was going to tell you about this the night you returned from the gate. But when you returned without Burnie and started planning to have all of us escape, I had to change my own plan." Ray explained.
Emma and Norman looked embarrassed at the fact they messed up Ray's plan. "Because of what you did, I had to focus on holding Mama back. Also, you guys looked like you were planning something batshit insane, so I was like, "Well, might as well stay quiet and restrain both sides." but now that you know, we have to work together." Ray told the other three.
"So you couldn't tell us because you were covering our mistakes?" Emma asked, to which Ray nodded. "And you really don't want to bring everyone with us… you continued restraining us even before we knew about you."
Ray smirked. "Well, after talking with you, I don't feel that way anymore. You convinced me! Also, now that you know about me, I doubt I could actually manipulate you into changing your mind." he said. "From now on, I will do my best to help our plan succeed," Ray says, starting to walk away.
"That's unlike you, Ray. You normally make up your mind and never change it." Spencer said in suspicion.
"Do you think he is lying?" Norman asked the two in front of him, quite enough so Ray could not hear.
"Nope," Emma replied with a pop. "I'm just happy! Not only has Ray agreed with our plan to escape with everyone, but now we have an ally that can get information from mom and deceive her whenever we want." Emma walked forward to Ray. "so you knew this whole time? It must have been hard… you kept quiet for so long even as sibling after sibling left, to their death…" Emma was silent for a moment. "Can I ask you something? The "experiments" you've said you've done on the transmitters, does that mean you broke some of our sibling's transmitters?" Emma askes.
Norman and Spencer were shocked, the realization coming to them.
"If you did something like that, wouldn't that bump up their shipment date? Have you sacrificed anyone to get the info you need?" Putting her hand up, she continues. "If you did, then that's fine. Thanks to you, we actually have a chance… However…" Emma's face darkened as she grabbed Ray's arm tightly. She was staring into his soul with serious and menacing eyes. "Don't you dare do anything like that again." her grip tightened as she looked down, her eyes changing from seriousness to sadness. "You aren't alone anymore." She said quietly.
Ray looked at her with a genuine smile on his face. "I promise I won't sacrifice anyone ever again, thank you for believing in me guys."
"Okay! Then let's escape this hell together with everyone!" Emma says with determination. Running toward Gilda and Don, who were playing tag again.
Looking at his hand, Ray noticed it was shaking. "Man, she was pissed off," he comments.
"She was, and she was holding back. She was one step away from beating the shit out of you, I could feel the rage within her." Spencer explains, looking at her run. "I wouldn't worry, Emma will forgive you soon." He then turns to Ray. "However, you didn't answer the question. Did you break someone's transmitter?" Spencer asked.
Ray looked at him in silence before responding. "What happened in the past doesn't matter. We will always remember our siblings that left. I will remember every name, face, and wish they had when they left."
"...okay, I won't ask anymore; however, if you turn on us… on her… well, I'll leave that to your imagination," Spencer says with a severe tone.
"Don't worry, I understand," Ray replied.
"Guys! When we get back to the house, I have something to tell you! But first, we play tag." Emma yelled out to the three boys.
After the children played tag for a while, the six eldest met at the back of the house.
"So what's this you have to report?" Ray asked the girl with the Ahoge.
"In order to predict our enemy, we have to know who they really are. So I have been following Mama for the past couple of days. What I found out is that Mama disappears a little before eight pm every night." Emma told them.
"Disappears?" Norman asks.
"Yea, Emma told me last night while you and Ray checked the rope," Spencer confirms.
"What I have concluded is that in the house is a secret room, one she disappears too, and I think I know where it is," Emma told the group.
"Well don't keep us waiting!" Don told her.
"Okay, I told Spencer my suspicion last night, and he agreed with me, and he drew this rough sketch earlier today," Emma said, bringing out a piece of paper.
"This is the layout of Mama's hallway. On the left side, facing the rooms is Mama's room, next to that is the washroom where the only door is through Mama's room, and on the right is Mama's office." Spencer explains as he points to the rooms as he told the rest of the group. "Emma, you can explain the rest."
"Right, thanks. I followed Mama for the past three days. On the first day at around eight pm, she entered her office, locked the door, and left ten minutes later. The next day Mama entered her room's bathroom, then exited ten minutes later, and last night she entered her office the same as the first day. Putting my ear to the door, I heard a shift like something moving. My theory is that between the washroom and the office is a hidden room," Emma explained.
Norman and Ray nodded in understanding. Don and Gilda looked a little confused. They had always thought the wall between the office and the washroom was merely that, a single wall.
"To prove this, I took some measurements, using my own steps, I found out the Mama's room is about 40 feet long, the washroom is about 10, and the office is 35. That should mean the hallway should be 85 feet long," Emma told them.
"And the result?" Don asked.
"They don't add up. There are about 10 extra feet in between Mama's washroom and office!" Emma exclaimed. "On the washroom's side is a wall, and on the office's side is a bookshelf."
"There must be a secret entrance on both sides, that would explain what you heard listening into the office," Spencer says.
"But what is it for?" Don asked.
"It's for Mama to report the HQ. She does it on a daily basis." Ray tells them.
"H...Q?" Don question.
"The "Headquarters" sent people like Sister Krone, Mama, and our baby siblings," Norman explains.
"Ray, did you know there was a room here?" Emma questioned the boy.
"Nope, But I've suspected there was a room like that in the house for a long time," He tells them.
"Alright! Then let's go inside!" Don proclaimed. "If that's where she communicates with the world outside, then we might find information on the whereabouts of Conny and the other's!" he tells them with hope and determination.
"If it is so secret, wouldn't it be locked?" Gilda asks.
"Norman, could you break-in?" Emma asks.
"It depends on the type of lock… but seeing as it is a secret room Mama definitely doesn't want us in, I'm guessing I won't be able to," Norman tells them.
"Now hold on," Ray speaks up. "There is no need to go into that room, as the communications probably only go to the HQ. Mama most certainly has no idea where the children have been taken. In short, we gain little by going in there," Ray explains.
"I agree with Ray. But there is also the fact that we can lose much more if we go. We still have the trackers in our ears, so Mama and Krone could see us if we go in there. Furthermore, we do not know what kind of security it could have. It's simply too risky." Spencer chimed in, Ray nodding in agreement.
"But still…" Don tried to rebuttal, but nothing came to mind.
"There's a bigger risk than reward if we go in there. However, I think we could use this knowledge of the room to our advantage. Mama goes in at about 7:55, then leaves around 8:05. We could time our escape when she enters, so we don't have to deal with her." Spencer tells them. Much to Don's dismay.
"That's a good idea, that way we only have to deal with Krone," Norman says with a nod of agreement. Norman continues with, "Speaking of Krone, we need to be extra careful around her and make sure she doesn't catch us doing anything sketchy, if she does we' ed all be shipped out that night."
"Exactly, Mama is not our only enemy in this, Sister Krone is just as much of a threat as Mama, keep that in mind you too," Ray says, directing his comment to Don and Gilda.
"Don't worry, as long as we act normal, then they can't do anything," Emma says, putting her hands on the shoulders of Don and Gilda, trying to calm their nerves.
"... I'm gonna go prepare dinner," Don says in a melancholic tone as he and Gilda walk out the bedroom.
"We'll be there soon!" Emma tells them. As the door closes, the four remaining children look at each other in silence for a moment or two.
"...So…" Norman breaks the silence.
"Our next part of our plan should be dealing with the most dangerous aspect of our escape…" Spencer says to the other three, who nodded in response.
"What is it like outside?" The four of them say at the same time.
"We have all the information we need about the world inside this farm, at least with Ray's continued investigation over six years," Spencer says.
"As long as we can outsmart the adults, escaping over the wall is not impossible," Ray tells them. "But that's only half of the race, the outside is most certainly deadly given demons farm us as agriculture."
"So we have to plan our next step carefully," Emma states.
"To sum up our plan into three steps. One, Escape by going over the wall. Two, Runaway, and do not get caught. Three survive and find a permanent place to live." Norman lists. "We have step one pretty much locked, and should now start planning part two."
"The first step is to find out what kind of environment is out beyond the walls. Finding a direction to go where we can get food and water," Spencer explains to them.
"When I climbed a tree near the wall I couldn't see what was out there, I think I saw some trees," Emma tells the others.
"You don't sound so sure, take these and have another look," Ray tells Emma, handing her a pair of binoculars. "Got these as a "prize" while working for Mama," Ray tells them.
"If we're going to use those, we'd have to climb the wall and look over it. If we are going to do anything risky, it will have to be this. So we have to be very careful and make sure Mama or Krone do not catch on." Ray says to the other three.
"We have to do this soon. It has to be tomorrow so we can plan our escape effectively." Norman tells them, Emma and Spencer hum in agreement."
"Oh, Guys, after this, I have something I want to show you. Or rather someone I want you to meet." Emma tells them with a smile. The three boys look at her with puzzled looks but follow her nonetheless.
Emma leads the boys to the library, where she goes to a few different sections under W. Ray immediately recognizes the symbol on the cover.
"Wait, that owl cover guy, right?" Ray askes.
"Yea, this guy," She says, pointing to the second cover page. The symbol was a rectangle with an owl looking at the reader. The owl was standing on a circle that had spaces at random intervals. The words "EX LIBRIS" are above the owl and the name "William Minerva" below it.
"William Minerva?" Spencer asks. "Who is he?"
"No idea!" Emma responded. "But he owned these books, I don't know where he is, who he is, or if he is even still alive, but I do know he is on our side!"
"What do you mean?" Norman asked.
"This guy has been using all his books to send a secret message to us. To survive beyond the wall, we must use the messages in these books that he has given us," Emma tells them.
"So this message you've been talking about…" Spencer questioned.
"Look at all the marks, closely." Emma tells him opening four of the books.
After a moment of looking, the three boys had a sudden dawn of realization.
"The circle! It's Morse code!" Ray, Norman, and Spencer exclaim at the same time.
"Bingo!" Emma says.
Grabbing a morse codebook, the four look at the books they had out.
"Truth. Danger. Doubt. Run." Norman readout as he translated.
"These words don't really mean anything," Norman says.
"These could just be a fun easter egg for his fans or something," Ray speculates.
"Wait, there's more. Here look at these," Emma, say's bring four more books.
"Harvest. Monster. Children. Farm!" Norman exclaims.
"I doubt this is a trap of Mama's or the demons. Once the Truth is known, children are shipped off," Spencer concludes.
"The message's, "Farm" and "Children" are most certainly directed at us. However, I am still skeptical if this guy is our ally, he may be, but we don't even know if he is alive. We should not entirely rely on him," Ray tells them.
"While skepticism is good to have, I believe this guy is our ally, an ally on the outside world. He knows we exist and has tried to save us in a roundabout way." Norman says with excitement.
"Yeah! Only his books contain messages like this. We may not know when these stickers were placed on, but the book from before has one on it!" Emma says to point out the book, Ray showed them a few days ago.
"Is there anything else to note?" Norman asks.
"Not really. Genres, publishing companies, and dates very significantly." Ray tells him.
"Oh wait, there were two that didn't make any sense to me." Emma says, getting two books from the bottom of the pile.
"Let's see… Promise. Esper?" Norman says, confused.
"The first book is some weird mythological encyclopedia of sorts. The second one is a stereotypical action-adventure novel." Ray tells them.
"The reason I am suspicious about these books is cuz they're altered or have something different about them. The "Promise" book has a page partially ripped out, and the "Esper" book, well-read the first paragraph." Emme explains.
"The Monsters that live inside your head can never compare to the ones that live outside. I have seen these Monsters first hand, and their pursuit for the innocent souls of Children makes me sick. I will go around this crazy world and protect the innocents and help them Escape their Fate." Norman reads out, noticing the capital words and the references to their predicament.
"Well that's kind of on the nose… why didn't the people in charge keep this out?" Spencer wonders out loud.
"I don't know, but I have a strong feeling that these books are special, my gut tells me we will need these on our journey." Emma states, putting her hand on the stack.
Ray gives her a face of "really?" much to her distress.
"I think Emma is right. Something about the Esper book is making me curious. Do you mind if I read this?" Spencer asks to which the others nod. "Anyways, good job Emma! You hit the Jackpot!" Spencer praises the girl, causing her to blush.
"Well, it's almost dinner time. We should head out. All three of us should look for more messages in Minerva's book and read the books. I'll take the Promise book, and Spencer will take the Esper book. One we are done, we will give the books to the next person," Norman says.
The four children walked downstairs, Norman and Spencer holding one of the two books under their arms.
"To think Emma could find such a small message." Ray says tauntingly.
"It wasn't me!" Emma states to the shock of the boy's. "Phil noticed it and pointed it out to me. He was reading one of Mr. Minerva's picture books that happened to be about morse code," She tells them.
"Now that makes more sense," Ray said jokingly as they entered the dining room.
"What are you trying to impl-" Emma stopped herself from continuing when she noticed something wrong about the dining room. "Where are Don and Gilda?" She asked worriedly.
Quickly Norman runs to the kitchen while Spencer runs to the living room. Emma takes another look around the room, seeing that it wasn't all set up. 'I remember them saying they were going to prep dinner, why isn't everything ready? Where are they?' she wonders.
"They aren't here!" Norman shouts out.
"Not here, either!" Spencer yells.
All four of them had the same thought. 'It can't be… we told them!' all four rush to the hall, seeing the duo they were looking for.
"Don! Gilda! Thank goodness, we assumed that-" "Where have you been?" Emma started but was cut off by Ray.
The two remained quiet, staring at the four eldest. Some of the younger children come out to see what the commotion was about.
"We can talk later, the little ones are watching," Spencer says in a hushed tone.
After dinner and most of the kids went to bed, the remaining six went to the dining room to talk.
"...so… where were you?" Norman asks the two ten-year-old's.
"We were in Mama's secret room. It was in a hidden basement," Don replies with a frown.
"How did you get in!" Emma asked in shock.
"Umm, Don pick-pocketed Mama's key…" Gilda said, a little apprehensive.
"You Did What!" Spencer exclaimed in alarm.
"Did she notice!" Norman asked, worried.
"I don't think so. We dropped the key on the ground, so she probably found it. So…" Gilda explained.
"'you think? Probably?' This is why we shouldn't have gone in there. Just think for a second, if that room was rigged with some kind of video or audio recording, or an alarm, then you guys, no all of us would be-" Ray was cut off from his rant by Don.
"Would it be what? Tell me, Ray, what would happen?" Don questions in a serious and angered tone.
"Would we be killed?" He asks.
"Wha?-" Emma began before being cut off by Don.
"You liars. 'We don't know what happened to Conny?' 'we need to go save our siblings?' what a load of bullshit." Don said. Don's face slowly morphed into full of despair and rage. "You knew we couldn't save them, cuz Conny and everyone else are already…" Before he could continue, Emma stops him but puts her arms on his chest and head down.
"I'm Sorry! So, so sorry!" she cried out.
"I thought so," Don states, turning towards Gilda. "See, they were lying to our faces!"
Getting up into Emma's face, Don demands. "What happened, What's going on. Spill it now."
"..." the four children explain the actual situation to the other two.
"Wha…" Gilda exclaimed in shock.
"Demons? Farm?!" Don said in fear.
"Yea, also Ray is a Spy, has been for a long time," Emma tells them.
"All this time…" Don says under his breath.
"Remember, it was all for our sake!" Norman reminded him. However, Don seemed to not be listening.
"Ray, you knew all this time and did nothing. You knew what would happen to Conny when she left," Don say's looking at ray, then turns to the other three. "Emma, Norman, Spencer, you were trying to lead us into a world full of enemies without us knowing the truth?!"
Don starts to laugh hysterically, holding his stomach as madness starts to intrude into his eyes.
Suddenly he runs over to Norman and punches him in the face. "Stop messing around with us!" he yells.
"Don!" Ray said, running to the tall boy. Don then rushed over and punched Ray before going over to Emma and grabbing her collar. As he got ready to punch her, Spencer grabbed Don's raised fist, making him turn over to see Spencer who slapped his face, and getting in between him and Emma, bringing him back.
"Don, calm down, I understand that you're having many emotions about this. Understand that we did not tell you so you could believe us at the time," Spencer tells him, looking at him.
For a moment, Don was in shock at the slap he just reserved before he started to break down.
"Are we really that… useless? In your eyes... Are we so useless that you had to lie to us to protect us from the world?" Don asks his hands on his face.
"Huh?" Emma asks.
"I already know why you guys were lying to us," Don says. "It was to keep us safe, to keep us hopeful,"
The four oldest look at the boy, a sad smile is on his face while his hair covers his eyes. "I thought that you really wanted our help. It's depressing, it's frustrating. It's true that we aren't as smart as you guys. Nobody can deny that fact. We're family, that's why it hurt so much that you didn't have any faith in us." Don tells them with a wavering voice.
The four eldest looked at the boy, feeling the weight of his words. Emma started to realize that lying to them wasn't the best choice.
"I'm sorry… I. I need to cool off for a bit," Don says, walking out to the hall.
"Don! Wait!" Gilda ran out after him, leaving the four alone.
"I see how cruel we've been to him, even if we didn't mean to…" Emma says, feeling guilty.
"We knew this would happen, the way they found out the Truth made it hurt worse. Emma, remember that this is not your fault. You made a decision based on what we knew at the time. If anyone was at fault, Mama and the demons have done this to us," Spencer tells them.
"I'm going to go apologize. I was guessing all they where going to do was resent us, I did not think about how we might lose their trust. I will tell them that I was not thinking right," Emma tells them, running to the two children that just left.
"Don! Gilda! I'm sorry! I made a bad decision, not telling you guys. We should have trusted you. Thank you for trusting us, and making us realize we made the wrong decision." Emma apologizes, bowing her head. The three boy's walk behind her, having saddened faces.
"We want to apologize too. It was wrong for us to lie to you." Norman tells the two kids.
"I'm sorry for punching you guys. I got way too emotional and projected my anger on you." Don tells them.
"Were also sorry for acting on our own. Doing something without talking with you guys was dangerous," Gilda apologized to the other four.
"On a different topic, are you still willing to help escape, knowing we will all die if we fail, eaten by demons?" Emma questions.
Looking at each other, Gilda and Don nod, "Yes, of course!" they replied simultaneously.
The next day, Emma and Spencer were putting the washed clothes on the line to dry.
"I feel so much better telling them the truth," Emma tells her best friend.
"Yeah, me too, I was worried Don would punch you there though," Spencer replies.
"He had a good reason too, but you stopped him before he could," Emma says to him.
"Well I just don't like to see you get hurt," Spencer tells her with a blush.
'What are we going to do? We still know nothing of the outside world, how will we survive in an unknown world?' Spencer wonders to himself.
"Hey, Spence, can I talk to you for a bit?" Emma questions.
"Yea, what's up?" he asks her.
"I've been thinking for a bit, on how we can get everyone out of here. It's going to be risky, so risky we might lose people." She tells the blond boy.
"Yea…" he says, thinking.
"I still think we can catch Mama off guard! All we have to do is make a trap, then while she is focused on something else, we book it!" Emma explains.
"That doesn't sound too bad, but we need to see over the wall before anything. I think if some of us distract the adults, we could go check it out, but we all need to be on board and ready, checking over the wall will be almost as dangerous as the actual escape," Spencer tells her.
"Right. Ray is talking with Mama now, so why don't we get Norman, Don, and Gilda and tell them this plan?" She suggests.
"Sounds good to me! let's meet in the usual place. I'll get Norman, you get the other two," Spencer tells her.
"Cool," she says as they part ways.
The five children convene and head to the meeting location. All of them go in silence, simply enjoying the fact that their hearts are clear of deceit. However, suddenly, a hulking figure walks out of the trees close to their base.
"Hello Children~~" A familiar voice sings out. Looking at the person, they notice her dark skin and maids outfit. It was Sister Krone. "I've seen everything, so would you like to team up with me?" She asks.
Chapter 4, End
That's another chapter down. My hope is to have the jailbreak arc end within the next two or three chapters but I'm really just playing this by ear and what I feel works for the story. Shout out to those who know about Zero Escape and the easter eggs in this chapter, FYI there's more to come as time goes on.
This is RightouesHope wishing you a good day.