If there's one thing that small villages have over large cities, it's the lack of crime. Cities typically have criminal underbellies, where thieves can steal women's purses, burglars can break into houses, and serial killers run rampant in search of prey. In such places, it is crucial for someone to be able to defend themselves when living in the shadows.
That is why Isaac, a renowned and notorious hitman, had nothing to fear when walking through a dark and filthy alleyway. A few unscrupulous looking people saw him walking past them and placed their hands on the hilts of their weapons, eager for a chance to jump an unsuspecting victim. All Isaac had to do was show the handle of his own sword and they immediately looked away in fear, letting him go. Some of the hardened criminals in the city even recognized Isaac's face at first glance and quickly walked in the opposite direction, knowing all too well about the hitman and his bloody reputation. Isaac couldn't help but smirk at the people who refused to meet his eyes. He may have only been a poverty stricken boy when he first arrived here with his family, but after years of torturous, excruciating training, he was able to build up the skills to become one of the most feared men in the criminal underworld.
Isaac had walked through this particular alley so many times that it had become the norm for him. He had to travel through alleyways to avoid the risk of his parents seeing him and asking him questions. However, tonight was different from the rest. In the middle of his walk, Isaac suddenly heard a woman screaming, followed by men laughing and the sounds of a struggle. His first thought was to ignore it and keep walking, but curiosity won out in the end. He walked towards the source of the noise, his footsteps so quiet that they could be mistaken for a mouse's. He peeked around a corner and saw a scene that made his blood boil.
Three men were surrounding a young woman and one of them had her pinned to the wall. The men seemed to barely reach adulthood and reeked of alcohol. The woman they ganged up on had brown hair that was shaped into curls and eyes the color of emeralds. "Please, leave me alone!," the woman begged. "I just want to get home. I won't press charges, I promise!" The three men guffawed. "You hear that, boys?," one of them asked. "She won't press charges! That's sweet of you, miss, but we just can't go away empty-handed. You see, us boys have been down on our luck for a while, and we need to hit the jackpot soon or we'll go home with empty stomachs." The other two men groaned and clutched their stomachs mockingly. "So you wouldn't mind if we empty your pockets, lady? Some gold ingots, maybe?"
"I-I don't have anything on me," said the woman, quivering in fear. "I left all my belongings at home!" "At home, you say?," said the man pinning her to the wall. "Well, that's just plain old bad luck, isn't it? Hey, how about this? Instead of giving us money, maybe you have something else we could have. Like your virginity, for example?"
"No! NO!" The woman began to struggle and squirm. "HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE, HELP ME!" The man slapped her hard, then stuffed his knuckle into the screaming woman's mouth. "Shut that bitch up already!," growled one of the men. "Shut her up!"
"It deeply pains me to see that this is what the new generation has turned into," Isaac spoke up, revealing himself to the three men. The men took one look at Isaac and their faces turned white. "Holy shit...holy shit, it's him! It's HIM!" The woman stared at her rescuer in awe. "I'd highly advise you to take your hands off this woman," Isaac continued, narrowing his eyes at them. "Or do I need to convince you some other way? Something more...forceful?"
Instead of retorting, the three men ran away as fast as they could, shoving each other aside to get ahead. After their footsteps faded, the only people left in the alley were Isaac and the woman. "T-thank you," she said, smiling softly. "I thought I was a goner for a moment." Isaac smiled back and gently took the woman's hand in his own to calm her down. "You must have had quite a fright," he said. "I'm glad to have arrived in time. What is your name?"
"My name is Molly," said the woman, beaming at him.
After that, the two of them were inseparable. They went on several dates, watched a fireworks show together, and Isaac even introduced his new fiancee to his parents, who were more than happy once they heard the news. One day, the two of them were walking down a sidewalk together when Molly brought up an interesting - and troubling - question.
"Those three men that attacked me a few weeks ago," Molly recounted, seeming deep in thought. "They seemed to recognize you. They were even afraid of you. Isaac...do you know them?" Isaac shook his head, trying to keep his face blank despite a pang of panic starting up inside of him. "I have never met them in my life," he said. And it was true. "They were cowards, plain and simple. They refused to provoke me when it meant them getting hurt, but are all too willing to assault a defenseless woman." He didn't mention that they only ran away because they knew his reputation, nor did he mention that they are now dead by his hand.
"I suppose," said Molly, though she still seemed unsure. Isaac quickly decided to change the topic. "You have already met my family, Molly," he said. "Perhaps it is time for me to meet yours?" Molly frowned and hesitantly shook her head. "I'd rather not," she said. "For now, at least. My father is not usually...a pleasant man. You'd be surprised by how many people here detest him." Her face brightened. "But I do have a sister. She's very little. She means the world to me." "That's...nice," said Isaac, staring off into space. Molly noticed how distant he was suddenly acting. "What's wrong?," she asked worriedly.
"...I had a little sister too," said Isaac. Molly noticed him using the word "had" and was able to connect the dots. "What happened to her?," she asked sympathetically. "She starved on the streets," Isaac said stiffly, refusing to say anything more.
"...I...I'm sorry," said Molly, looking down in shame. "I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." She was surprised when Isaac gently cupped her face in his hands and brought her eyes to his. "Molly, you have nothing to be sorry about. Perhaps...you would like to meet me at the park tomorrow? There is something I need to tell you. Something very important." Isaac wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with Molly, but knew he had to come clean first. Not yet, he thought. Tomorrow, I will tell her. Molly simply nodded and smiled, and Isaac was glad that she didn't try to probe any further. "Alright. Tomorrow at the park."
After that, the two of them went their separate ways. Isaac went into an empty warehouse, where he had spent many years accepting hits from customers. He felt butterflies in his stomach just from the thought of his confession tomorrow. Would Molly understand? Would she still accept him even after hearing about the gruesome kills he had committed?
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time to lose his head. He took his sword out of a nearby chest and began wiping the blade with a piece of cloth, eager for the kill he was about to perform tonight. He had gotten a deal he couldn't refuse.
Ten diamonds and a nether star...for the death of Sebastian J. Smith.
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"For the last time, I don't care how desperate your town is!," said a man with a gray mustache, thinning hair, and a black suit and tie. "This is the price I am offering and no lower. I suggest that you take it or leave it." He was sitting at a wooden table, and sitting across from him was a woman with red chestnut hair and redstone armor. "Please, Mr. Smith," the woman begged, clasping her hands together. "Redstonia needs that redstone! Our reserves are running out and without the next shipment of redstone, my town might not survive!"
Mr. Smith, or Sebastian J. Smith, was currently in a meeting with someone to decide how much the next shipment of redstone would cost. He huffed, twirling his mustache with his fingers impatiently as he stared at the woman sitting across from him. He just couldn't understand why the woman was so adamant against the shipment's current price. One thousand emeralds for twenty chests of redstone sounded reasonable to him.
"Listen, miss…," he trailed off, already forgetting the woman's name. "Ellegaard," said the woman, frowning in irritation . "It's Ellegaard." "Listen, Miss Ellegaard," Mr. Smith continued. "I just don't see why you believe this trade is so unfair." "Sir, Redstonia doesn't HAVE one thousand emeralds!," said Ellegaard desperately. "You know how rare they are! Could you at least lower the price just a little bit? Or ask for something other than emeralds?"
Mr. Smith sighed heavily. "Very well, then," he said. "The price will no longer be one thousand emeralds." Ellegaard smiled in relief. "The price is now TWO thousand emeralds," said Mr. Smith, wiping the smile off Ellegaard's face. "T-two thousand emeralds?," asked Ellegaard, her face pale. "But that's double the original price!" "Listen, Miss Ellegaard," said Mr. Smith, leaving forward and smirking at her. "I'm not a big fan of haggling. My redstone has to have high prices, otherwise, how would my company stay afloat? This is my final offer. Two thousand emeralds for twenty chests of redstone, or no deal."
"This...this is barbaric!," yelled Ellegaard, standing up from her seat. She was shaking in fury. "It's criminal! You're willing to condemn an entire town just to fill your own pockets?!" "Yes," said Mr. Smith without an ounce of hesitation in his voice. He leaned back in his chair, smiling smugly. "Besides, who else are you going to ask for redstone from? The other multibillion redstone corporation just across the street? My advice is to take it or leave it."
Instead of responding, Ellegaard grabbed her case full of precious ores and ingots off the table and stormed towards the door. She stopped halfway and turned her head to give Mr. Smith a scathing glare. "Sebastian, you mark my words," she growled. "One day, someone is going to stand up to your injustice and teach you a lesson!" She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Mr. Smith, who was nonplussed by the vague threat, took a cigar from one of the drawers in his desk and did a celebratory smoke.
Meanwhile, Ellegaard stomped down the stairs, trying to hold in every obscenity that was going through her head. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted with the sight of a man with neatly combed hair, square glasses, and a white suit. The man was sitting on a lavish velvet sofa and reading a book. Sitting on the floor were two girls. One of them was a young woman with brown hair and eyes the color of emeralds. She was helping her sister, a much younger girl with yellow hair brushed to the side, assemble a toy train track. Ellegaard carefully walked past the two girls and placed the briefcase of ingots on the man's lap. "He didn't take it," she sighed. "He won't negotiate." The man sighed and put the book down, then stared down at the briefcase with a raised eyebrow. "I guess that makes sense," he said. "Mr. Smith is already rich enough. What do a few ingots mean to him?" "If you knew it wouldn't work, then why did you go through with it anyway?," Ellegaard asked heatedly. The man sighed and got off the sofa while picking up his briefcase. "Because there wasn't much else we could do," he explained. "As you know, Mr. Smith has his own team of lawyers. Very skilled ones. The only solution I could see was to outright bribe him, but in hindsight, that plan was doomed for failure from the start." "Well, I appreciate you trying to help me, Edgar," said Ellegaard.
"Alright, Stella," said the brown haired woman, standing and picking up the little girl in her arms. "It's almost bedtime." "But Molly!," whined Stella. "I wanna finish the train track!" She suddenly yawned, showing that she was indeed tired. Ellegaard couldn't help but silently coo at the little girl. She reminded her of Lucy. Molly turned to face the redstone engineer with a sad smile. "I'm very sorry about my father, ma'am," she said. "He can be a little...difficult, but he has a good heart." As much as Ellegaard wanted to disagree with her, she just couldn't bring herself to say no. "If you say so," she sighed. Molly shook Ellegaard's hand, then made her way up the stairs with Stella in her arms. Ellegaard and Edgar walked out of the mansion, the night breeze cooling their faces. The sound of chirping crickets filled their ears. "Do you have kids of your own?," Edgar suddenly asked. Ellegaard looked at him questioningly. "I just noticed the way you were looking at Mr. Smith's daughters," Edgar explained. "The only person who looks at a child like that is a loving parent." Ellegaard winced, embarrassed from being caught.
"Well...I have a niece...of sorts," said Ellegaard, trying her best to put it into words that actually made sense. "I mean, I'm not technically her aunt, but she does view me as one. You could say she's...adopted." Edgar nodded, seemingly interested. "I have a son," he said. "He really admires you." "He does?," asked Ellegaard, blinking. Edgar chuckled and shrugged. "Well, not you specifically. See, he's a big fan of the Order of the Stone and...he wants to be their intern one day." "Oh...that's nice to hear," said Ellegaard. There was a moment of awkward silence between them. "Look, I'm sorry that I couldn't help you win this case," Edgar apologized. "No, you don't need to apologize," said Ellegaard. "Redstonia still has a month of redstone supply left over. We'll manage somehow." "That's good to hear," said Edgar. "...is something wrong?," asked Ellegaard. She couldn't help but notice how distracted the lawyer was most of the time. "Oh, it's nothing," Edgar assured her. "I'm just...worried about someone…"
"...well...goodbye," said Edgar, walking away. Ellegaard watched him go until he quickly vanished in the darkness of the night. She sighed and looked back at Mr. Smith's mansion with sadness. The wealthy businessman was the main supplier of Redstonia's redstone, but for some reason, he had decided to raise the prices to an absurd degree. With no more redstone to power the city, what was Ellegaard going to tell the people of Redstonia?
Suddenly, she heard what sounded like someone's foot crunching on gravel. She quickly turned around, but it was too dark to see more than a few dozen blocks away. The only source of light was the moon and the light emanating from the mansion's windows. "H-hello?," she asked nervously. "Is anyone there?" She couldn't help but mentally scold herself for being so jumpy. You're a member of the Order of the Stone!, she thought. Act like it!
At first, there was no response. Ellegaard was about to start heading back home when she suddenly heard more footsteps rapidly crunching on gravel. She quickly turned around again, just in time to see what looked like a suspicious figure wearing black and purple armor standing just outside the house. She blinked and rubbed her eyes vigorously, but before she knew it, the strange man was gone. Ellegaard sighed. "Great, now I'm so stressed that I'm literally seeing things," she mumbled before starting her journey back to the temple.
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A soft knock sounded on the door. "Enter," said Mr. Smith, smoke wafting from his mouth and nostrils. The door opened and two girls walked into the room. One of them was a young woman with brown hair and eyes the color of emeralds. The other was much younger, probably no more than six years old, with yellow hair brushed to the side.
"Father," the older girl said, bowing her head a little. "Molly," said Mr. Smith, doing the same. "Is there a reason why you and your sister have decided to visit my office at this hour of the day?" "Well…," said Molly, picking up her sister and cradling the younger girl in her arms. "Stella here was hoping if you had time to read her a bedtime story before I tuck her into bed tonight." "Is that all?," asked Mr. Smith, rolling his eyes. He didn't have time for this. "I'm afraid that I had just finished an important meeting and am too busy to read any stories to Stella. You will have to do it yourself, Molly." "I...understand," said Molly, trying not to look disappointed. "Come along, Stella. I'll read you that story about the Order of the Stone defeating the ender dragon. Would you like that?" Stella's downcast expression quickly changed into a bright smile as she nodded enthusiastically. Giggling, Molly walked out the door with Stella, leaving Mr. Smith to his work. His life would never be the same after that night.
Hours into the night, Mr. Smith was still poring over stacks of paperwork. It was one of the drawbacks of being the CEO of his own redstone company, after all. Suddenly, a loud and ominous crash sounded in the living room. Mr. Smith looked up from his work, listening for any more suspicious noises. After a while, he deduced that it was just his daughters getting into some mischief and, shrugging it off, continued to go through his paperwork.
His office door flew open with a bang, causing him to jump in his seat. It was just his youngest daughter, Stella. "Stella!," he scolded after calming down from the sudden intrusion. "How many times have I told you to knock before entering my office?!" Stella, however, was a complete mess. Her face was covered in tears and mucus, and she looked like she was about to start sobbing again at any moment. Finally, she took a deep breath and screamed, "IT'S MOLLY! SHE'S BLEEDING!" His work forgotten, Mr. Smith ran out of the office with Stella just behind him. He ran into the living room and nearly threw up at what he saw.
Molly Smith, his own daughter, was lying on the floor with a gaping hole in her stomach. Her intestines were strewn all over the floor, and blood was spurting from her mouth. At first, Mr. Smith could only stare at his daughter, completely petrified as Molly was choking on her own blood. Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps hurrying away, followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Realizing that the assailant must have just left the house, Mr. Smith rushed to the nearest window and stuck his head outside, just in time to see a suspicious looking man wearing black and purple armor running from the scene of the crime.
The armored figure quickly vanished into the darkness of the night, his armor making him practically invisible. A quiet moan from behind made Mr. Smith turn his attention back to his dying daughter. Stella was standing over her with a horrified expression on her face. "Go to your room, Stella," Mr. Smith ordered, barely keeping his composure. "This is not for children's eyes." "But...but…," Stella stuttered, shaking like a leaf. Mr. Smith finally lost his temper.
"NOW!," Mr. Smith roared. Stella screamed and ran to her room, sobbing. Mr. Smith took deep breaths to calm himself down, then kneeled next to Molly. "What happened, Molly?," he asked, his voice cracking. "Who did this to you?" Molly looked up at her father and, with all the strength she had remaining, said one haunting word. "...I-Isaac…"
Her energy spent, Molly's entire body went limp. Sobbing, Mr. Smith ran to his office and took another cigar from his desk, frantically trying to light it with shaking hands.
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"Alex, you can't keep socializing with your 'guest' friends over there," Stella said once Alex entered the office. "It's bad form. Gross." Alex refrained from rolling her eyes, realizing that reaching out to Stella won't be as easy as she had hoped. "Look, I need your help, Stella," she said, quickly getting down to business. "I need a lever." "Why, exactly?," Stella asked, her arms crossed. "Well, you know what they say," Alex said nervously. "A lever a day keeps the...doctor away?" "That made no fucking sense," Stella deadpanned. "Not helping you here. No, not risking angering the Admin." "Stella," Alex sighed tiredly, "he's the one who brought you down here, remember?" "And he is who will help lift me back out again once I finish helping him," Stella retorted. "Run this...horrible...smelly… mud pit." Her voice trailed off once she realized how bad her position really was. "I-I have a place here. Respect, y'know, and power, and yeah, the works!" "Stella, if there's really no escape from here, then what's the harm of giving me a lever?," Alex reasoned. "All you're giving up is a stone block and a stick, after all."
Stella looked deep in thought before groaning. "Oh, curse your flawless logic! Fine!" She handed her some cobblestone and a stick for her lever. "There, I gave you what you wanted!," she snapped. "You can use these materials to craft a lever yourself, because I'm not doing it for you!" Alex nodded and stored away the items in her inventory. "Is there a reason you're still here?," asked Stella irritatedly. "Don't tell me you need something else!" "No, that's not it," Alex reassured her. "I just want to talk to you. Get to know you a little more." "Excuse me?," said Stella. "You want to...what?" "I said I want to get to know you a little more," Alex repeated. "If we're going to be friends in the future, we might as well start now." Stella's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly tried to hide it. "Friends?," she scoffed. "Why would you think I would want to be your friend?" "I don't," Alex said, surprising her again. "But there's no harm in trying." Stella's face was completely blank, but Alex could practically see the gears turning in her head. Finally, she made her decision. "I suppose it does get a little boring here," she sighed. "Fine, we'll talk for a while. But close the door first. I don't want any eavesdroppers listening in on our conversation." Alex turned and closed the office door, shutting out all the outside noises.
Stella cleared her throat, trying to appear calm though her knees were bobbing up and down nervously. "If you have a question for me, you better ask it now. I don't have all day." "R-right. Sorry," Alex said awkwardly. She decided to start with the question that was currently on the front of her mind. "Do you know where Cra- uh, Sebastian Smith is?," she asked, noticing Stella narrow her eyes when she almost called her father by that name. "I haven't seen or heard from him since the Admin brought us here." "I made sure he was placed in his very own cell, with more than enough food and water for him to be comfortable," Stella answered. "I didn't want him to have any...trouble with the other inmates."
"Yeah...good to know," Alex said. There was another awkward silence between them. "Just out of curiosity, which cell did you place him in?" Although she wasn't all that close with Mr. Smith to begin with, she was still unwilling to leave him or anyone behind. Stella frowned suspiciously. "Why should I tell you that?," she asked. "I thought we're having this talk so you could learn more about ME, not my father." "R-right," Alex said.
"I'm...very sorry about Molly," Alex apologized, treading as carefully as possible since she knew how touchy the subject of Stella's sister was. "Isaac actually told me about that before, but I didn't know she was your sister. I just wanted to apolog-" "Don't," whispered Stella, her voice suddenly becoming soft and dangerous. "Don't you dare apologize for something that you don't mean." Alex was taken aback by how furious she sounded. "I-I'm not-"
"If you were really sorry, you wouldn't still be friends with that...that...monster!," yelled Stella, her voice growing from a whisper to a roar. "Y-you mean Isaac?," Alex asked. Stella rolled her eyes. "No, I meant Radar. Of course I'm talking about Isaac!" She tried to wipe some tears from her eyes, which were quickly replaced by more tears. "He k-k-killed my sister! If you knew this whole time, why the hell are you still friends with him?!" "Stella, you need to understand that Isaac's changed!," Alex protested. "He's not the same as he was before." "Oh, and I suppose that HE told you that?," Stella asked bitterly.
"Isaac genuinely regrets what he did all those years ago," Alex said softly. "He LOVED your sister, Stella. And even now, he's beating himself up for what he did. If you just give him a chance-" "NO!," screamed Stella, her face wet with tears. At that point, she was no longer hiding behind the facade of a spoiled brat. Every raw emotion that she had been hiding for so long was now shown on her face, as clear as day. This was the REAL Stella, and she was ANGRY. "Isaac is a monster, and a sadist, and a killer, and I will never, ever forgive him, no matter WHAT you say!" She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down while Alex watched in stunned silence. "You don't understand, Alex," she said angrily. "I don't JUST hate him because he killed my sister, though that's still a pretty big part of it."
Alex finally managed to find my voice. "What do you mean?," she asked meekly. At first, it didn't seem like Stella was going to answer her question. After a few tense moments, she sighed heavily and began to explain. "I guess it was a small mercy that I was only six when Molly was killed. I don't remember much of what happened, apart from the memories the Admin showed us. If anything, it was my father who was affected the most. In that one night, he completely changed. He would stay in his office for days at a time without coming out. Not only did I have to force him to eat something, I also had to hide his cigars from him when he became addicted to them after Molly's death. I remember when he used to bang on my bedroom door and scream, 'Where did you hide my cigars, Stella?! I need them to get through the night! Tell me where they are or I'll tell everyone that you hate your father!' And it was like that for so many years. I kept hoping that he would get better soon, but as time went by, I knew that it was a hopeless wish. Seeing Molly bleed to death in front of him clearly broke him."
"...d-did he ever...hit you or abuse you…?," Alex asked apprehensively. Stella shook her head vehemently. "No, he never laid a finger on me," she said in a firm tone. "Still, I didn't even recognize him anymore. He just became this...empty husk of a man. And it only got worse when he caught wind of the Admin." Stella noticed Alex's mouth open in shock and decided to explain a little more. "My father heard about the Admin from some travelers and believed that finding him was the key to bringing Molly back. Don't ask me how he came to that conclusion, because I have no idea. He became obsessed with the Admin and got his hands on anything that could tell him more about him, jotting down all his ideas and research into that stupid book. One day, he called me to his study for the first time in years, only to tell me that he was going on an expedition and that I needed to hold down the fort until he came back."
Stella stared at Alex with tears streaming down her cheeks, but she made no move to wipe them away. "He told me that he would be back in just one week. Do you know how long he was really gone for?" Alex shook my head. "Three years," she hissed. "Three. Long. Lonely. Years. It was bad enough to watch my father slowly become the laughingstock of the whole town, but I also got to know how it felt to be abandoned by my only family." "But that's insane!," Alex said, shocked by what she heard. "You were just a kid back then! Did he really expect you to fend for yourself for three whole years?" "Not completely by myself," said Stella, shaking her head. "The memories didn't show you, but our house was full of maids and butlers. They took care of my basic needs, but they never really filled the void my father left."
"And with my father gone, there was no one to run the redstone company," Stella continued. "Even though I was only, like, eleven years old, I had no choice but to fill in his position as the new CEO. I had to learn everything about the family business all on my own, and I was barely able to keep it afloat." She sighed sadly and turned away from Alex, her arms folded behind her back. "I didn't grow up like the other children, Alex. While they were outside playing tag or whatever, I was still inside learning how to barter and read business models. And when you have a so-called childhood like mine, you tend to develop a very harsh outlook on life." She let out a bitter and hollow laugh. "Believe it or not, that wasn't even the worst part." She stayed silent for a while, debating on whether or not to continue.
Finally, she continued. "The worst part...was when my father finally did come home. He didn't even stop to greet me when he returned. He just went straight to his office without saying a word. After that, it took me a few more days to muster up the courage to go into his office. I remember… standing in front of his desk. He was writing in that stupid book again and didn't even look up at me. I-I asked him, '...dad, it's me, Stella. Won't you say something to me? Anything?' My father...I didn't even recognize him when he came home. H-he grew this...long, white beard and wore tattered clothes like some kind of beggar. He finally looked up from his book, stared at me as if I was a total stranger, and s-said, '...go away. I don't know you.'"
Alex gasped in horror, covering her mouth in shock. But even then, Stella wasn't finished. "Do you know what it was like for me, Alex? To have my father come back after being missing for three years, only to treat me like a stranger? To not even recognize her own daughter?!" In an instant, Stella was once again filled with anger as she strode towards Alex and shoved her finger at her chest. "And do you now know why I sided with the Admin, and why I derive so much satisfaction from seeing you and your friends locked up here?! It's because you're friends with...HIM! That...that...monster! He took away everything from me, don't you get it?! He took my sister's life, he took my father's sanity, he took away my CHILDHOOD, and he RUINED! MY! LIFE!" After that, Stella took in deep breaths as she glared at Alex with angry tears spilling from her eyes. Then, she sighed heavily and slowly shut her eyes tiredly while slumping against Alex and resting her forehead against her chest.
"He ruined my life," she whispered, the anger and hatred in her voice completely gone. She was now both mentally and emotionally drained. "I...I didn't actually recognize him when I first saw him. I just assumed that he was one of your loser friends. And now, with all of these past memories coming back to torment me...I kind of wish it stayed that way."
For a moment, Alex was completely silent, speechless by what had transpired. She somewhat knew that Stella was hiding her true self under a cold exterior, but she didn't expect the two sides to be so different, nor did she expect her to blow up under the pressure. Alex also felt a growing anger towards Sebastian Smith, the man who basically abandoned his own daughter because he couldn't handle his own grief. I don't care that he was trying to bring Molly back to life!, she thought angrily. In fact, that just makes it worse! He may as well have outright told Stella that he favored his eldest daughter more and that she didn't matter anymore! "Stella…," she said, pausing for a moment while trying to think of what to say next. "...I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I had no idea that your childhood was that bad…"
Stella sniffled and buried her head deeper into Alex's chest, though Alex didn't think she was aware of what she was doing. "Nobody ever thinks that when they first meet me," Stella mumbled, no longer crying but still clearly upset. "I'll admit, my father's rejection pretty much ruined me, so I developed this persona that I knew would drive people away." She chuckled bitterly. "I guess I just didn't want to risk being hurt by someone again." She took a deep breath to calm herself and finally lifted her face from Alex's chest. She tried to glare at her, but there was no real anger in it. "So what now? Are you gonna laugh at me, now that you know my secret?" "What? No!," Alex cried in bewilderment, shaking my head. "Why the hell would I do that? I'd have to be a heartless monster if I laughed after hearing that story!"
Stella sighed heavily. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'm just not used to opening up to people." She suddenly looked at Alex fearfully. "You're not gonna tell anyone, are you?!" "Not if you don't want me to," Alex assured her in a gentle manner. "Look…" She paused, wondering what to say next. "I'm not gonna think less of you for this, and I know my friends won't either. But if you're not ready, I understand. I'll let you decide when to tell them. Just remember...that we'll be there for you. That's what friends do." Stella's eyes widened in surprise. "We're friends now?," she asked in confusion. "Even after everything I've said and done to you?" "I'll admit, you didn't leave the best first impression," Alex said, causing Stella to slightly wince, "but I really think I got to know you a lot better than before. What's stopping us from starting over?" She cleared her throat and held out her hand, smiling warmly. "Hi, I'm Alex." Stella giggled and shook her hand. "And I'm Stella," she said. She's definitely a much better person without that attitude, Alex thought. Though I feel kind of bad for flipping her off at the roller coaster.
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The Admin then glared up at Stella, who had been watching them from the balcony. "You coming?," he asked impatiently. They all looked up at Stella, who froze upon being put in the spotlight so suddenly. "Well?," the Admin groaned. "Hurry up and make your decision! I haven't got all day." For a while, Stella was deep in thought and even seemed like she was about to join the Admin. Please, Alex silently pleaded. I've met the real you, Stella. You're better than this. Do the right thing. At that point, Stella glanced at her and saw the pleading gaze that she was sending her. She made her decision. "No...I'm not coming."
The Admin was definitely not pleased by her answer. "This day is just full of disappointments," he growled. "Fine. Stella won't be my new friend, but you know who will? Lukas, Axel, Olivia...all of them. They'll all fall in line." He smiled at them menacingly. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of Beacontown." Everyone apart from the Admin fell to the floor, landing on their backs painfully. The Admin laughed maniacally and vanished.
"He's gone," said Jesse. "Jesse, we gotta stop him!," cried Radar. "Petra!," Alex cried, running over to her and helping her up. "Are you alright?" Petra looked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so-so-so-so sorry!," she whimpered. "What? No. You have NOTHING to apologize for," Jack assured her. "So...now what?," said Ghost, causing them to turn to him. "I mean, I can't help but think we just made things worse. It's bad enough we got trapped here, but now we got some mad god running around wearing Jesse's face. So what do we do now?" "Simple," Isaac responded, pointing at the doorway leading to Prisoner X. "We get what we came here for." Jesse nodded in agreement and faced the doorway. "Let's hope Prisoner X is really our ticket out of here," he said. "Wait!," cried Stella, running up to them before they could enter the hallway. "Great. Her again," Jack grumbled, rolling his eye.
Stella winced but continued on. "I-I want to help you guys," she said. "Help us?," Radar said angrily, striding towards her. "And why should we believe you? You've been nothing but mean and cruel to us for the entire journey, and you even sided with the enemy! As far as I see it, we don't need your fracking BISCUITS!" "Whoa!," cried Ghost, staring at Radar with wide eyes. "That certainly came out of nowhere," said Isaac, raising an eyebrow. "Such language!," Alex gasped. "What a dirty mouth," Jack muttered, covering Nurm's ears. "Geez, Radar, where did THAT come from?," asked Petra, who was also shocked by what she just heard.
Radar blushed in embarrassment. "Please excuse my potty mouth," he murmured. "But that still doesn't change the fact that you're a cruel, manipulative, selfish jerk!" With that said, Radar placed his hands on his hips while looking rather proud. Stella just looked down, her hair covering her eyes in shadows. "I know," she spoke softly, her voice cracking. Radar dropped his hands to his sides, staring at Stella like she was an alien. He wasn't the only one; everyone else was doing the same thing. Alex was the only one who didn't stare. Instead, she crossed her arms and smiled sadly, glad that her friends would finally get to know the girl behind the mask. "I know," Stella repeated, sounding more fragile than ever. "I've done horrible, unforgivable things to you guys. You were right about me, Radar." Stella looked up at them, her eyes swimming with tears. "I know that I won't ever make it up to you guys. But I want to at least try. Please. Let me try." There was an awkward silence as everyone in our group looked at each other guiltily. "Of course you can come," said Jesse, breaking the silence. "We could always use an extra pair of hands." Stella smiled softly. "That's all I ask for," she said, nodding her head. "Thank you."
"Stella?," said a sad voice, causing Ghost to jerk to the side with an alarmed and totally not feminine scream. It was Sebastian Smith, who had been standing behind Ghost this whole time. He slowly walked towards Stella, looking like he was on the verge of tears himself. Meanwhile, Ghost stared at him with wide eyes, holding a hand over his heart while trying to catch his breath. "That guy scared the hell out of me," he muttered to himself. "He was quiet for so long. I totally forgot he was even here!" "You're not the only one," whispered Isaac, who was also caught off guard by Sebastian's sudden reappearance.
"D-dad?," said Stella, staring at her father like he was a ghost. "You...remember my name." Sebastian opened his mouth to reply, then shook his head vigorously. "I...I'm not sure why," he said. "Just...something about really seeing you for the first time...without that facade to hide your true self...it triggered something. I suddenly have all these memories...memories that I didn't have ten minutes ago. Are…" He stared at Stella very closely. "Are you really my daughter?" Stella nodded, her eyes filled with hope. "Yeah...does that mean you remember me?" Sebastian nodded slowly. "Yes...I think I do. No, I KNOW I do!"
And cue the waterworks. "DAAAD!," Stella sobbed, running towards him and embracing him tightly. Sebastian hugged back, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I ignored you for so long," he whispered sadly. "I was so obsessed with bringing Molly back...that I forgot that I had another daughter who needed me. Oh Stella, I'm so sorry…"
"Don't be," said Stella. "You're here now. And we're together again." "Yes," said Sebastian, nodding. "From now on, I promise I'll be a better father." As everyone else watched the heart wrenching family reunion in front of us, Alex heard sniffling and turned to see Petra wiping her eyes. "Petra...are you crying?," she asked, slightly amused. Petra glared at her, but there was no real anger in it. "What? No!," she replied hotly. "I'm not crying! I just have...very sweaty eyeballs. ...oh god, that sounds disgusting. Yeah, I'm definitely crying."
Isaac suddenly cleared his throat and walked towards the embracing duo. Alex hoped that he wouldn't do something he'd regret. "Mr. Smith. Stella," said Isaac, just barely making eye contact. "...Molly was the most amazing woman I've ever met. You should be proud to have had a daughter like her." "...yes," said Sebastian, holding his arms over Stella protectively. "I am." Isaac nodded, then rejoined the rest of the group without another word. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was about as close to forgiveness as they were willing to get.
"You know what, Stella?," Jesse spoke up. "I think it's best for you and your father to stay here." Stella looked at him in confusion and a little bit of fear. "But...I promised that I'd help." "And you will," said Jesse. "But I think you two need this moment more. We'll come back soon. In the meantime, you and Sebastian just...make up for lost time." "...thank you," said Stella, smiling gratefully. "Thank you," said Sebastian, nodding his head.
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Having no other choice, Jesse hoisted Alex onto his shoulder and carried her with him. The potion's effects forced her entire body to be stuck in a ramrod straight position, so she felt like she was being carried like a long plank of wood. As Jesse walked down the dirt staircase, they saw everyone huddled around something. They also heard what sounded like Stella crying. Alarmed, Jesse ran down the rest of the way and pushed through the crowd, placing Alex down next to him. In the center of the group, Stella was kneeling next to Sebastian, who was pale green and foaming at the mouth. The poor girl was crying softly, which Alex didn't blame at all. She may have been through her fair share of hardships, but even she didn't know what it was like to watch her father slowly dying in front of her. "One of the spiders bit him," Isaac explained when he saw them arrive. "Right now, the venom is slowly killing him." "S-Stella," groaned Sebastian, his voice now soft and weak. "Please don't say anything," Stella pleaded. "Save your strength." "My strength is all gone," said Sebastian, coughing violently. A few specks of blood landed on his beard. "I...I don't have much time left." "Don't say that!," yelled Stella, tears pouring down her face. "This wasn't supposed to happen! We were supposed to come home together! I...I just got you back. I can't handle you leaving me again. I...I just can't."
Sebastian smiled sadly. "I-I need to tell you something. Before I die." Stella nodded, wiping some of her tears away. "I'm sorry," Sebastian continued. "I should've been there for you. But I wasn't. I was...am a terrible father." "That's not true," Stella denied, shaking her head. "You were trying to bring Molly back." "And I completely neglected you in the process," said Sebastian. "I was so...obsessed...with bringing her back...that I forgot that there was another daughter who needed me." He took Stella's hand and placed it in his own. "Don't be like me when you grow up. Promise me you'll be better. P-promise...me…"
Those were the man's final words. After that, his hand slipped away from Stella's and his eyes closed forever. Nobody made a sound, except for Stella's sobbing. Very gingerly, Nancy grabbed Stella by her armpits and slowly helped her up. "Don't cry," she said softly, embracing the crying girl in a hug. "He's in a better place now. With Molly."
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"Well, here it is," said Stella, gesturing to her surroundings as she entered her beloved city. "Everyone, welcome to Champion City." She was followed shortly after by Radar, Isaac, and Lluna. Isaac was the only one who looked around at his surroundings with interest, since Radar and Lluna had already been here before. The city was still under construction when Herobrine first appeared, and since everyone had evacuated as far away from Beacontown as possible, Champion City now looked more like an abandoned ghost town, far from the glorified and majestic city that it once was. "You know, I actually built this place all on my own," Stella said proudly. "Well, not actually on my own, that would be crazy. But I was the one who decided to start its construction and hired the workers that built it from nothing." "How interesting," said Isaac. "You should be proud of accomplishing such a great feat, Stella." "Oh…well, thank you," said Stella, slightly taken aback by Isaac's words. She had fully expected the former hitman to be completely insufferable during their journey, so it was nice to hear some kind words from him. Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all. However, the next words that came out of Isaac's mouth dashed those hopes. "Of course, a lot of people must have been driven out of their own homes and kicked out onto the streets during construction," Isaac continued casually. "Young people, old people, children…families. But I am sure that it was all worth it, hm?"
And there it was. Stella gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists, but she didn't say a word. She knew that Isaac was purposely trying to get a reaction out of her. Well, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction! "Uh…heh, so about the missing treasure," Radar chuckled nervously, hoping to dispel the tension between the two, "where do you guys think it could be? This place is pretty big, after all. It could be anywhere." Stella huffed angrily, but she was glad that Radar had just offered a distraction. "If you ask me, there's only one place where the item could be hidden. But I'll warn you…it's not as pleasant as the rest of this city." Isaac snorted while Lluna let out a whine and flopped her ears down. Stella led the group through the city, and they eventually arrived at a house, but it wasn't just any old house. Make no mistake, though, the house was definitely OLD. Its walls had cracks formed in them and were beginning to peel away due to the passage of time. Vines covered every inch of the house, indicating that nobody had even stepped foot in there for dozens of years. The house loomed over like a creature from the night, its glassy windows peering down at them like they were eyes.
To Radar and Lluna, the house already looked intimidating enough. But to Stella and Isaac, it was like staring at a monster that had been hiding under your bed when you were a child. That was no surprise, considering the amount of bad memories that were associated with this very building. "What is this place?," asked Radar, staring at the old and crumbling mansion with a mixture of awe and fear plastered on his face. "This was the house that I used to live in when I was a child," said Stella, her voice now monotone. "I don't live in it anymore. Too many bad memories." "And yet, you didn't bother tearing it down," said Isaac passive aggressively. "I wonder why." Stella gave Isaac a scathing glare. "Well, what are we waiting for?," Radar asked excitedly, getting pumped up. "Let's do this!" He jogged into the house with Isaac following after him. Stella remained outside for a moment, a storm of emotions brewing inside of her. Lluna, with her superior animal senses, noticed her owner's inner turmoil and pushed her head under Stella's hand, letting her pet her. Stella smiled down at Lluna and rubbed the llama's head. Ever since their recent adventures, their bond between them has grown stronger than ever. "I'm fine, Lluna," she said softly. "Let's join the others." The two of them walked into the mansion, where they saw Radar and Isaac standing in the living room, which was close to falling apart.
"So where do we start?," asked Isaac, his hands on his hips. "Well, I guess there's no other choice for us but to split up," said Stella. "We can't afford to waste any time, not when the fate of the human race literally hangs in the balance." "Are you sure that's a good idea?," Radar asked nervously. "This seems like the type of scenario where splitting up would be the WORST possible idea…" "Relax, Radar," said Stella. "It's not like we're in a haunted house or anything. The sooner we find this missing item, the sooner we can leave." "Scared already?," Isaac asked in a slightly mocking tone. "I am not that surprised. People who have had privileged lives tend to steer themselves AWAY from danger, after all." Lluna's ears flattened again and she began to growl like a feral wolf. How dare this human mock her owner like that? But Stella was not about to let that comment slip by. "It's called having common sense," she retorted. "Besides, would YOU want to stay in a house where someone was murdered?" Isaac's shoulders noticeably stiffened. "That was an accident," he growled. "Right, an accident," Stella scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Do you have any idea how many times I heard THAT excuse? You–"
"Alright, that's it!," yelled Radar, causing everyone else to go silent. He had a pretty powerful voice despite being so small. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but you guys really need to work some things out!" "Radar, there's nothing going on between us," Stella sighed. "We were just–" "Don't lie to me!," said Radar. "And it's no longer Radar who's talking right now! It's Prison Radar!" "...Prison who?," Stella asked in bewilderment. "Oh boy," Isaac muttered, crossing his arms. "That's right!," Prison Radar proclaimed, placing his hands on his hips with a proud smile on his face. "And whatever Prison Radar wants, Prison Radar gets! So this is how we're going to split up. Me and Lluna will search through the left side of the house together. Meanwhile, you two will search through the right side of the house…together."
"You can't be serious," Stella groaned, facepalming. "Prison Radar is one hundred percent serious!," said Prison Radar. "Never question Prison Radar's methods ever again!" "Radar, if you do not stop referring to yourself in the third person, I will SMITE you," growled Isaac. "Y-yes, sir," said Radar, immediately reverting back to his timid self. "But I still think that you two need to spend some time together. You guys clearly have some issues to work out, no matter how much you two want to deny it." "That is a terrible idea," Stella protested. "I mean, come on! You've seen the way he's been acting all passive aggressive towards me just now! I can't even stay in the same vicinity as him for a few minutes before wanting to tear his head off!" "Even though I would not word it quite like that, I feel the same way," said Isaac. "Putting us together would be like setting up a ticking time bomb just waiting to detonate."
"Well, how do you guys know if neither of you are willing to try?," asked Radar. "We've already tried!," Stella cried in exasperation. "I tried seeing things from his point of view! I tried putting myself in his shoes! And where did that lead us? Absolutely nowhere!" "Then you two just didn't try hard enough," Radar reasoned. "It is not that simple, Radar," said Isaac. "It's…" "...complicated," Stella finished for him. "Well, complicated or not, you guys need to work out your issues and learn how to be a team," said Radar. "How can you expect to become heroes and save the world if you won't even do that?" Stella opened her mouth to retort, then gave up and sighed. "Curse your flawless logic, Radar," she groaned. "Fine, fine. I'll look through the right side of the house with this walking lump of metal. But don't expect us to start becoming friends just because we've spent some time together!" "The same goes for myself," said Isaac. "Great, then it's settled!," said Radar, clapping his hands enthusiastically. "Look at me, finally taking charge for once. Wow, is this how Jesse feels all the time? No wonder he likes being the leader so much! Anyway, let's get to searching! Let's go, Lluna." Radar and Lluna began walking towards the left side of the house while Stella and Isaac walked towards the opposite side, exchanging suspicious looks on the way there. None of them noticed two men just outside of the house, peering through the windows. Nor did they notice one of the men closing his eyes and drooping his head in sorrow while the other one grinned with anticipation.
Meanwhile, in the left wing of the mansion, Radar was nervously walking through a hallway with Lluna by his side. "Man, this place sure seems creepy when it's dark and empty," he gulped. "I'm honestly starting to have second thoughts on us splitting up." Lluna looked up at Radar and made a noise that seemed akin to a snort or a cough. Radar immediately went red in the face and began to splutter. "What?! I-I…no! Don't be ridiculous! I'm not afraid! It's just that …maybe I should've considered the 'safety in numbers' thing before making such a rash decision, that's all. I'm not afraid!" Lluna snorted again as if to say, "Sure you're not."
Radar huffed and crossed his arms. "You know, you sure have a lot of sass…for a llama. I wonder where you got it from…" He certainly wasn't jealous that a llama was being more brave and confident than he was! No siree! As they continued walking through the hallway, Radar couldn't help but notice something strange. "Uh, Lluna…how long do you think we were walking down this hallway? Shouldn't we have reached the end by now?" Lluna made a sound of agreement. Radar squinted his eyes through his glasses and saw something that was even more alarming. "I can't see where this hallway leads to…," he said nervously. "It seems like it's stretching on forever…" Lluna suddenly made a loud and fearful noise, causing Radar to yelp and spin around in alarm. To his shock, the other end of the hallway was the same thing, with no ending in sight! "W-what's going on here?!," Radar cried. He now knew that this was not just his imagination. The hallway that they were in was actually stretching onwards on both sides. Even more strangely, the pictures on the walls were constantly repeating themselves, like some sort of pattern. There were no doors on the sides of the hallway either. Radar gulped and turned towards Lluna, who seemed just as afraid as he was. "Lluna…I think we're trapped."
Meanwhile, in the right wing of the mansion, Stella and Isaac were walking side by side, unwilling to make any conversation or even make eye contact with each other. For both of them, it was incredibly awkward, to say the least. Finally, it was Stella who decided to break the ice. "Listen, Isaac," she sighed. "I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us. I really don't. If we want to succeed in saving the world, then we need to start working together like Radar said." Isaac didn't say anything, prompting Stella to continue. "I'm just saying. We can't let the past dictate who we are or how we treat each other. Who knows, if it wasn't for all of that drama between our families, maybe we could've been good friends in a different life." Isaac still didn't say a word, causing Stella to become very irritated. "You know, it's not MY fault that your family ended up dying on the streets!," she snapped. "And if you ask me, you're being very childish right now! Aren't you usually supposed to be the so-called voice of reason?" "...you should have torn this whole building down a long time ago," said Isaac, staring straight ahead of him rather than making any direct eye contact with Stella. "This house was built on a foundation of blood and death." Stella rolled her eyes. "Okay, now you're just being dramatic," she said. "This is just a normal mansion that my father built with his own two hands. Nothing more!"
"Still, this does not change the fact that your father has profited off the misery and deaths of countless people," said Isaac. "If I recall, Mr. Smith ran multiple factories that built redstone machines. The work conditions there were poor and the safety conditions were abysmal. Many people died in those factories because they were either overworked, underpaid, or killed in industrial accidents. Tell me, what kind of man would profit from such terrible things, knowing exactly what kind of blood money he was making, and still be able to live with himself?" Stella growled in irritation. "Okay, first off, those are just rumors!," she snapped. "It's never been proven that the work conditions in those factories were ever that bad! And secondly, how could you claim to know anything about my father when you haven't even met him? In case you've forgotten, I've literally been living under the same roof as him for part of my childhood! Maybe instead of judging him from your high horse, you could've - oh, I don't know - actually tried TALKING to the man!" "I already know more about him than I wanted to," Isaac retorted, finally turning to face Stella with a glare. "I was with you in that office when you told Alex all about how your father went mad and abandoned you, left you to fend for yourself!" "You WHAT?!," yelled Stella, rounding on him. "That conversation was private! You had no right to-!"
"And furthermore," Isaac continued angrily, cutting Stella off mid-sentence, "he neglected you for most of your life, to the point where he forgot that he even had another daughter! After everything that you have been through, you cannot possibly find it within yourself to continue defending him!" "I can, and I will!," Stella yelled back, standing on her toes so that she was at eye level with Isaac. "You don't know my father like I do, you hypocritical jerk! You only know him as the ruthless, greedy businessman who cares more about money than the people who work under him! And yeah, I'll admit that some parts of it were true, but he was so much more than that! He may not have been a moral man, or even a good father, but he still cared about me and Molly! And if you think that I'm just going to stand there and let you keep insulting him like that, then you're dead wrong!" "Why are you still defending him?!," yelled Isaac, finally losing his temper. "Why do you still insist on seeing something in him that just isn't there?!" "Because even though he's made more mistakes than anyone else I know, he was still my father!," Stella yelled. "And it was YOUR fault that he lost his mind in the first place! Do you have any idea what it was like for me to watch my father slowly succumb to madness, and not be able to do anything to help him?! I was just a kid back then! I didn't know what to do, and I was too busy dealing with my own grief to help! Don't make yourself out to be the victim here, Isaac! It was YOU who killed my sister, it was YOU who ended up driving my father insane, and it was YOU who took everything away from me! You don't know what it was like!"
"I know EXACTLY what it was like!," Isaac roared. "Because of your father, I had to watch my own sister DIE!" He suddenly froze up, taking in deep breaths of air. He gave off the impression of a deer caught in headlights. Stella was also silent, staring at Isaac with wide eyes. Isaac let out a low moan and began rubbing his face tiredly. "Why did I say that?," he muttered. "Damn it, why did I say that?" He took another deep breath, then looked Stella in the eye. "I had a sister too," he said in a monotone voice. "She was only a toddler, no older than you were at the time. She was the happiest little girl you would ever see, always running around, laughing and smiling. There were very few days where she was ever unhappy, and those were the worst days for my family, because when she was not happy, we were not happy."
"I am not sure if Alex told you this before, but my family used to be farmers," Isaac continued, his once angry voice now melancholy and nostalgic. "My little sister running around the farm like a baby horse, laughing without a care in the world, was a common sight back then. My father and mother claimed that they had no favorites when it came to their children, but it was obvious that my sister was the one that they adored the most. I did not blame them. She really was a special little girl." Suddenly, his voice turned more bitter. "Then your father came along," he continued. "He wanted to build a city right where my family and some other farmers used to live. We banded together and protested the city's construction, hoping that your father would find it within himself to build his city elsewhere. But our cries fell on deaf ears and he carried on with the construction of the new city, driving us away in the process. Our farm was destroyed right in front of our very eyes. Burned to the ground. We had nowhere to live. We had no land to plant our crops, no roof over our heads, no beds to sleep on. My father was forced to sell all of our livestock, but even that was not enough. We quickly found ourselves on the streets, begging with open hands. The people who lived in the city and passed by us every day…how cruel and remorseless they were! Not once did they ever stop to give us a single golden nugget, not once did they even so much as LOOK at us. But I knew exactly what they were thinking when they saw us. To them, we were vermin. Pests. Subhumans."
"But despite everything that had happened…the worst part was…" He stopped for a moment and leaned against the wall, beginning to choke up. It sounded like he was about to break down any second. Instead, he managed to compose himself and continue on with the story. "...the worst part…was watching my sister starve." Stella couldn't help but let out a sharp gasp. Even though a part of her saw that coming, hearing it still felt like a punch to the gut. "She was already so small, Stella," Isaac whispered. "Even before the whole mess started, she was such a tiny little girl. She was so small that she couldn't even look out the window, not even when she was standing on the tip of her toes. But after we were driven out of our farm and forced onto the streets…my god, it was horrible. It was so horrible." "...you don't have to tell me this," Stella said softly. Isaac shook his head. "No, I have to," he said, a slight quiver in his voice. "I have to tell someone about this, or I will never be able to do so again." He took a few more deep breaths before continuing. "...she began to change. Not just physically, but mentally as well. Without proper sustenance, she grew horrifyingly thin over the years. Her eyes sunk into her skull, her ribcage could be seen through her chest, and she grew so weak that she could no longer stand on her own. And all the while, the light in her eyes slowly faded away, until there was nothing left in them. Nothing but despair and emptiness. My parents and I could do nothing but watch as my sister was slowly reduced to a husk of her former self. A few times, we got lucky and were able to get some food to fill her belly, but it was never enough to stop the terrible rumblings in her stomach. One day, she went to sleep for the last time…and never woke up." "...I'm sorry," Stella whispered. Other than that, she didn't know what else to say.
The two of them continued searching through the right wing of the mansion, but no matter where they looked, they couldn't find the missing treasure anywhere. It didn't help that they didn't even know what it was supposed to look like, other than that it was supposed to be one of the treasures in the Order's treasure room. After a while, Isaac and Stella decided to split up in order to cover more ground, or at least, that was the reason that Isaac gave. Stella had a feeling that the former hitman just wanted some time alone, which she really didn't blame in the slightest. So they split up and began searching through various rooms in the right wing, but still with no luck. Finally, Stella came across her father's office, which was honestly the last room that she wanted to go in, which was why she put it off at the last moment. She slowly entered the office and nearly gagged at what she saw. Every inch of the room, which was once so clean and immaculate, was now dusty, moldy, and covered in dust and cobwebs. Fortunately, the spiders that lived in those cobwebs were of the small variety, and not the large ones that you sometimes see skeletons riding on. Stella tiptoed around the office, being careful not to step on the mold and rat droppings on the floor, until she finally reached her father's desk, which was where he used to do his paperwork late at night. Stella began opening the drawers of the desk one by one, but so far, they came up empty. However, after opening the very last drawer, she saw something shiny and golden glinting inside of it. It was a tiny golden crown, small enough to fit the head of a chicken. This has to be it!, Stella thought excitedly, taking out the crown and examining it. Great, I finally found it! Now I can meet up with the others and we can get out of this place. Suddenly, the door to the office slammed shut on its own, causing Stella to jump and drop the crown with a clatter. She quickly ran towards the door and tried to open it, but for some reason, it had been locked shut. There was nobody else who was nearby.
"Hello?!," Stella cried, banging on the door. "Hello, is anyone there? Please let me out!" There was no answer. Stella's fear began to skyrocket, and she tried knocking the door off its hinges with her shoulder. Considering how old and frail the door should've been after being left unattended for so long, it should've been easy for her to knock it down. Instead, the door held firmly and didn't even budge an inch. She took a few steps back until she was on the other side of the room, then charged towards the door with a scream. But all she did in the process was injure herself and cause a small gash to appear on her forehead. The door wasn't sporting a single crack. Finally, Stella couldn't take it anymore. "HELP ME!," she cried, banging on the door with her fists. "ISAAC! RADAR! LLUNA! PLEASE!" After more fruitless pounding, she finally gave up and slid her back down the door until she was sitting against it. She looked around the office with fearful eyes, imagining that the walls were closing in on her. Claustrophobia began to set in. She wrapped her arms around her knees and began to cry. I'm trapped here, she thought. No one's coming to save me. I'm going to die here…all alone…
Suddenly, someone began pounding the other side of the door. "Stella! Are you in there?!," yelled a familiar voice. Stella gasped and stood back up, leaning against the door. "Isaac, it's me!," she cried. "I found the treasure, but now I'm trapped in here! This door's locked for some reason!" "Stay here, Stella!," Isaac ordered, even though there was nowhere else for Stella to go anyway. "I'll get you out of here!" He began banging on the door even harder, but it still wasn't budging. "Come on, just a little harder!," said Stella, relief flooding through her. "You can do this!" Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over her. It was so strong and so sudden that Stella immediately stumbled to her knees, trying very hard not to puke. "Ugh…what's happening to me?," she groaned. Not only was she feeling nauseous, but her vision had also become very fuzzy, making it very hard for her to see…well, anything. "Stella, what's going on in there?," asked Isaac, who was still trying to break through the door. "Tell me what's happening!" "I…I don't know," Stella responded, trying and failing to get back up. Suddenly, as quick as it came, the nausea faded away. Stella's vision was also returned to normal. She slowly got back up on her feet, staring around at the office in awe and fear. This…wasn't how the office looked a few moments ago. All the dust, grime, mold, and cobwebs were gone now. The entire room looked pristine and good as new. However, that wasn't what shocked Stella to her core. What really shocked her…was seeing two other people in the room with her, both of which she instantly recognized. One was her father, alive and well, sitting at his desk. Unlike the last time that she saw him, he didn't have a long, scruffy beard or an insane look in his eyes. He looked much younger and clean shaven. The person sitting across from him was none other than Ellegaard the Engineer, who was also supposed to be dead. What the hell was going on?
"For the last time, I don't care how desperate your town is!," said her father, who was also wearing a black suit and tie. "This is the price I am offering and no lower. I suggest that you take it or leave it." "Please, Mr. Smith," Ellegaard begged. She was wearing a suit of redstone armor. "Redstonia needs that redstone! Our reserves are running out and without the next shipment of redstone, my town might not survive!" Instead of taking pity on her, Mr. Smith huffed, twirling his mustache with his fingers impatiently as he stared at the woman sitting across from him. He just couldn't understand why the woman was so adamant against the shipment's current price. One thousand emeralds for twenty chests of redstone sounded reasonable to him. "Listen, miss…," he trailed off, already forgetting her name. "Ellegaard," said the woman. "It's Ellegaard." "Listen, Miss Ellegaard," Mr. Smith continued. "I just don't see why you believe this trade is so unfair." "Sir, Redstonia doesn't HAVE one thousand emeralds!," said Ellegaard desperately. "You know how rare they are! Could you at least lower the price just a little bit? Or ask for something other than emeralds?" While they were talking, they somehow didn't notice Stella standing in the same room as them, staring at them with a gobsmacked expression on her face. Just what was going on? Why was she seeing all of this?
Mr. Smith sighed heavily. "Very well, then," he said. "The price will no longer be one thousand emeralds." Ellegaard smiled in relief. "The price is now TWO thousand emeralds," said Mr. Smith, wiping the smile off Ellegaard's face. "T-two thousand emeralds?," asked Ellegaard, her face pale. "But that's double the original price!" "Listen, Miss Ellegaard," said Mr. Smith, leaving forward and smirking at her. "I'm not a big fan of haggling. My redstone has to have high prices, otherwise, how would my company stay afloat? This is my final offer. Two thousand emeralds for twenty chests of redstone, or no deal." "This...this is barbaric!," yelled Ellegaard, standing up from her seat. "It's criminal! You're willing to condemn an entire town just to fill your own pockets?!" "Yes," said Mr. Smith without an ounce of hesitation in his voice. He leaned back in his chair, smiling smugly. "Besides, who else are you going to ask for redstone from? The other multibillion redstone corporation just across the street? My advice is to take it or leave it." Stella was once again shocked, this time by how cruel and callous her father sounded. He never talked that way in front of her and Molly before. A part of her wondered if maybe she actually DIDN'T know her father as much as she thought she did.
Instead of responding, Ellegaard grabbed her case full of precious ores and ingots off the table and stormed towards the door. Stella squeaked and instinctively tensed up, believing that Ellegaard was about to bump into her. Instead, she was astonished when she saw the redstone engineer reach for the doorknob behind her, her hand going THROUGH Stella's stomach as if she was made of nothing but thin air. Stella gasped and quickly jumped aside, patting herself down. She felt as solid as ever, so why did that just happen. Ellegaard stopped halfway and turned her head to give Mr. Smith a scathing glare. "Sebastian, you mark my words," she growled. "One day, someone is going to stand up to your injustice and teach you a lesson!" She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her. For some odd reason, Isaac was no longer on the other side of the door. Mr. Smith, who was nonplussed by the vague threat, took a cigar from his desk and did a celebratory smoke. "Father, you shouldn't smoke," said Stella. "It's bad for your lungs." She wasn't sure why she said that. She just felt that she needed to point that out. Mr. Smith, however, completely ignored her, almost as if he couldn't see or hear her. Maybe…that's actually the case, Stella thought. Maybe this is all just some crazy hallucination. Maybe there was something in this room that made me nauseous and now I'm seeing things. Just to make sure, she walked up to her father and pushed her hand through the man's face. Her hand went straight through him, just like how Ellegaard's arm went straight through her stomach earlier. It was safe to assume that they couldn't hear her either.
Suddenly, a soft knock sounded on the door. "Enter," said Mr. Smith, smoke wafting from his mouth and nostrils. The door opened and two girls walked into the room. Stella's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands. She recognized the girls as well. One of them was a young woman with brown hair and eyes the color of emeralds. The other was much younger, probably no more than six years old, with yellow hair brushed to the side. It was Molly and…a much younger version of herself. Upon seeing her sister back from the dead, she suddenly knew exactly what was in store for her. "No…no, no, no. Please, no," she whimpered, shaking her head repeatedly. If this was what she thought it was… No! I can't go through this again! She had already seen what happened when Romeo showed everyone the visions back in his ice palace. She did NOT want to see it for a second time. Not again!
"Father," Molly said, bowing her head a little. "Molly," said Mr. Smith, doing the same. "Is there a reason why you and your sister have decided to visit my office at this hour of the day?" "Well…," said Molly, picking up the younger Stella and cradling her in her arms. "Stella here was hoping if you had time to read her a bedtime story before I tuck her into bed tonight." "Is that all?," asked Mr. Smith, rolling his eyes. He didn't have time for this. "I'm afraid that I had just finished an important meeting and am too busy to read any stories to Stella. You will have to do it yourself, Molly." "I...understand," said Molly, trying not to look disappointed. "Come along, Stella. I'll read you that story about the Order of the Stone defeating the ender dragon. Would you like that?" The younger Stella's downcast expression quickly changed into a bright smile as she nodded enthusiastically. Giggling, Molly walked out the door with her little sister, leaving Mr. Smith to his work. "No…NO!," Stella cried, running to the door, but it ended up closing before she could reach it. She tried opening it again, but it stayed locked and refused to let her out. "Damn it!," Stella roared, pounding her fist on the door one last time. Of course, it didn't budge. Stella had rarely cursed before, if ever, but at that moment, she didn't care. All she knew was that her sister was going to die all over again, and the only person right now who could open the door and let her out was the man who was sitting at his desk, Mr. Smith, and he couldn't even see or hear her! Still, Stella had to at least try. She ran towards her father. "You have to get downstairs right now!," she yelled. "Molly's going to die! You have to save her!"
When her father didn't respond, she tried shaking him by the shoulders, but her hands went right through him instead. Meanwhile, her father just kept on smoking his stupid cigars and got started on his paperwork. It was one of the drawbacks of being the CEO of his own redstone company, after all. Stella screamed with frustration, furious at her father for being so ignorant, and furious at herself for being so powerless. There was nothing else for her to do but to wait for the inevitable, no matter how much she was sickened by the thought. She sat against the wall of the office and put her face in her hands. As seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours, all Stella could hear was the scratching of her father's pen on the paper. Suddenly, a loud and ominous crash sounded in the living room. Both Stella and Mr. Smith looked up. "It's already happening," Stella whispered in fear, then turned to her father, who was listening for any more suspicious noises. "Please get up and investigate. Please get up and investigate," she chanted quietly. Alas, that turned out not to be the case. After a while, he deduced that it was just his daughters getting into some mischief and continued to go through his paperwork.
The office door flew open with a bang, causing both of them to jump. It was just the younger version of Stella. "Stella!," he scolded after calming down from the sudden intrusion. "How many times have I told you to knock before entering my office?!" The younger Stella, however, was a complete mess. Her face was covered in tears and mucus, and she looked like she was about to start sobbing again at any moment. Finally, she took a deep breath and screamed, "IT'S MOLLY! SHE'S BLEEDING!" His work forgotten, Mr. Smith ran out of the office with both Stella's just behind him. They ran into the living room and nearly threw up at what they saw. Molly Smith was lying on the floor with a gaping hole in her stomach. Her intestines were strewn all over the floor, and blood was spurting from her mouth. At first, Mr. Smith could only stare at his daughter, completely petrified as Molly was choking on her own blood. Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps hurrying away, followed by the sound of the front door opening and closing. Realizing that the assailant must have just left the house, Mr. Smith quickly rushed to the nearest window and stuck his head outside, just in time to see a man wearing black and purple armor running from the scene of the crime. That man was none other than Isaac, or at least, a younger version of him, who quickly vanished into the darkness of the night, his armor making him practically invisible. The older Stella, however, paid no attention to the escaping assailant. Instead, she knelt down besides Molly, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry, Molly," she whispered. "I couldn't save you then, and I couldn't save you now. I'm so sorry…" Molly, of course, couldn't see or hear her. Instead, she let out a quiet moan which made Mr. Smith turn his attention back to his dying daughter. The younger Stella was standing over her with a horrified expression on her face. "Go to your room, Stella," Mr. Smith ordered, barely keeping his composure. "This is not for children's eyes." "But...but…," the younger Stella stuttered, shaking like a leaf. "NOW!," Mr. Smith roared. The younger Stella screamed and ran to her room, sobbing. Mr. Smith took deep breaths to calm himself down, then kneeled next to Molly. "What happened, Molly?," he asked, his voice cracking. "Who did this to you?" Molly looked up at her father and, with all the strength she had remaining, said one haunting word. "...I-Isaac…" Her energy spent, her entire body went limp. Sobbing, Mr. Smith ran upstairs to his office. Stella didn't follow him, however. Instead, she remained by her dead sister's side, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry!," she cried. "Please forgive me…"
"...forgive you?," a chilling voice whispered. Stella gasped and jumped back, seeing her sister looking at her - actually looking at her - with cold eyes. "Molly!," Stella cried. "You're alive! And you can see me now!" "Forgive you?," Molly repeated in that same chilling voice. She stood back up, causing her blood and the rest of her intestines to spill out of the gaping hole in her stomach. Stella gagged at the awful sight. "Why should I forgive you?," Molly whispered, slowly shambling towards her like a zombie. "It's like you just said, dear sister. You couldn't save me then, and you couldn't save me now. So what exactly makes you think that you deserve ANY forgiveness?" Stella was unable to speak or move, paralyzed with fear. Molly stumbled closer to her, staring into Stella's eyes with her own, which were dead and lifeless. Stella was finally able to move and quickly took a few steps back, but ended up bumping her back against the wall. In an instant, Molly rushed towards her at inhuman speeds and pinned her to the wall.
"You're not getting any forgiveness," Molly whispered in that same chilling voice. "You're going to get exactly what you deserve." Then, Molly's mouth began to open so wide that her jaws unhinged like a snake's, while her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Teeth as sharp as needles sprouted from her gums. Stella screamed and tried to break free, but her sister - no, not her sister, that was not her sister - had an iron grip on her wrists. The doppelganger leaned in, ready to take out a huge chunk of Stella's face. Unable to take anymore, Stella fainted out of fear. Before completely blacking out, she heard Isaac's voice yelling her name.
Then, she woke up, gasping for breath with sweat pouring down her face. "Calm down," said Isaac, who was leaning over her. "Take deep breaths." Stella slowly sat up and looked around before realizing that they were no longer in the living room. Instead, they appeared to be in an endless hallway that stretched on forever and ever. What was that?, she thought, getting her breathing back down. A dream? "What…what happened?," she asked. "Where are we right now? I don't recognize this part of the house." "I have no idea where we are right now," said Isaac. "I was trying to get to you in your father's office, but suddenly, you stopped responding. So I tried even harder to break through the door, and when I was finally able to do so, I saw that you were in some sort of trance. I also saw two men standing in front of you, and one of them was about to strike you down with a sword. I ran over and tackled them both to the ground, and then…I do not know what happened next. All I know is that we both somehow ended up here in this strange hallway with no exits in sight." "...you saved me?," asked Stella, staring at Isaac in surprise. "But…why? I thought you hated me." Isaac hesitated for a moment. "I…I suppose I do not actually hate you," he said. "It is really your father that I hate, not you. Besides, I could not just let them kill you. That would be the same as killing you myself, and I had vowed to give up on that life a long time ago." "Well…thanks," said Stella, giving a small smile.
Isaac may have smiled back, but Stella wasn't too sure since he was wearing a helmet with a visor that covered his entire face. Still, it was a start. Suddenly, a horrible stench hit her nostrils, causing her to retch. "Oh, god! Isaac, what is that smell?," she gagged. The stench was thick, coppery, and almost smelled like…blood. "Stella…I need you to be very calm now," Isaac said slowly. "I want you to slowly, VERY slowly, turn around." "What, why?," asked Stella, turning her head. "Is there something behind me-?" Isaac quickly grabbed her face and turned her head back to him. "Slowly," he said. "Turn around very slowly. You will know what I am talking about once you see it with your own eyes." Now Stella was beginning to feel extremely nervous. Isaac sounded very tense and…almost afraid. She almost didn't WANT to turn around, but curiosity won her over and she did as Isaac said, turning her head as slow as she could while trying not to gag from the overwhelming stench that seemed to permeate the hallway. Once she turned her head at a ninety degree angle, she could see something red and mushy in the corner of her eye, with flies buzzing around it. Her nervousness instantly turned into fear once she was able to put the pieces together. Unable to handle the tension any longer, she quickly turned her head the rest of the way and saw a gruesome sight. Two dead bodies were laying behind her, their flesh rotting from their bones. Stella was glad that she had followed Isaac's instructions and turned her head slowly to let the whole thing sink in, otherwise she would've screamed right here and now. They were not just random bodies, but the rotting corpses of Radar and her beloved llama, Lluna. Radar's head had been completely torn off, and his ribcage was poking out of his chest. Lluna had a gaping hole in her neck and her eyes were gouged out.
"What…what…," whispered Stella, barely able to comprehend the sight. "That was the same reaction that I had," said Isaac, his voice beginning to crack. "Even though I have seen plenty of grisly sights during my career as a hitman, this one takes the cake." "...who could have possibly done this?," Stella asked meekly. "I do not know," said Isaac. "But Stella. Look." He pointed at some writing on the wall that Stella had not noticed before. It was written in blood, or to be more specific, Radar's blood. It was easy to tell that Radar, in his dying moments, had used his own spilled blood as ink to write a message on the wall with his finger. That message read, in large and sloppy letters: "DON'T LOOK." "D-don't look?," Stella read. "What does that even mean? W-what are we not supposed to be looking at?" "I do not know, but right now, we have bigger problems at hand," said Isaac. Stella slowly turned to stare at Isaac incredulously. "B-bigger problems? Bigger problems?!," she cried. "How is anything bigger than THIS?! Radar and Lluna are dead, we're trapped in a house that wants to kill us, and we don't even have the missing treasure!" "I know!," Isaac hissed. "But you must keep your voice down." He stared down the corridor of the hallway, which led to nothing but pure darkness. "We are being hunted." "What?," gasped Stella, looking in the direction that Isaac was staring at. But all she could see were shadows and all she could hear was silence. "Are…are you sure?" "Positive," said Isaac, slowly taking out his sword while not taking his eyes away from the darkness, or rather, what was waiting INSIDE the darkness. And whatever was in the darkness…stared back.
"...Stella, I want you to run the other way as fast as you can," Isaac ordered. "Do not wait for me, do not turn around, and do not look." "W-what? No!," cried Stella. "I'm not just going to leave you behind! Not after you saved me!" "I can buy you some time, hopefully enough time for you to find a way out of here," said Isaac. "I said I'm not leaving you!," yelled Stella, grabbing onto Isaac's arm. "If you're going to fight whatever's chasing us, then I'll fight alongside you!" She was surprised when Isaac suddenly shoved her away roughly, causing her to fall on her back. "Do not be so foolish!," he snapped. "If you stay, then we will both die!" He sighed heavily. "I already failed in protecting Molly. I cannot let her own sister die as well…" Stella stared at Isaac with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open. "Once I give the word, turn around and run," said Isaac. After ten seconds of incredibly tense silence, both Isaac and Stella suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps running towards them. "Go! Go!," ordered Isaac, waving her away. Stella turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, not bothering to turn around and see if Isaac was following her. A few moments later, she heard a sound behind her that made her heart beat quicker and her legs run faster. In all the time that she had known Isaac…she has never heard the man SCREAM before. As she continued running, thoughts of Radar and her dead llama filled her head, overwhelming her other thoughts. Tears streamed down her face and blurred her vision, which unfortunately caused her to trip on a loose floorboard and fall to the floor, breaking her ankle in the process. As she tried and failed to get back up, she heard more footsteps running towards her, and something told her that they were not Isaac's.
Remembering Isaac's advice, as well as the bloody warning that Radar had written on the wall before he died, Stella quickly squeezed her eyes shut and held her arms over her head protectively. The footsteps stopped right behind her, but whatever was chasing her made no move to attack. Yet, Stella knew that someone - or something - was standing over her right now, watching her, searching for any weaknesses that it could exploit. As long as Stella kept her eyes shut, it could not hurt her. Slowly, Stella stood back up while keeping her eyes shut, letting out a pained gasp upon putting stress on her injured ankle. Then, she leaned her back against the wall, breathing heavily. All she could do now was stay here and keep her eyes closed in the hopes that the creature would eventually leave her alone. At first, she couldn't hear a thing, but she didn't dare open her eyes in case the creature was actually standing right in front of her. As she tensely waited, she suddenly heard a voice whisper into her ear. "Stella…" Stella gasped and almost opened her eyes in shock, but managed to catch herself and keep them shut. She recognized that voice. It was…Molly's voice. "Stella, open your eyes," the voice whispered. "It's me, Molly. You're safe now." "N-no…no…," Stella whimpered, shaking her head. "You're not real. You're not Molly." "Oh, of course I am, silly," the voice whispered. "Don't you recognize my voice? I'm sorry about all the mean things that I said to you. Open your eyes so you can see me and give me a hug." "Listen to your sister, Stella," another voice whispered into her other ear, causing her to gasp and jump. That voice sounded like her father's. "She just wants to give you a hug. Open your eyes. Don't you want to see your family again?" For a moment, Stella was actually tempted to do so, but she resisted. "My real family is dead…," she said.
"...fine, then," both voices whispered simultaneously, filled with childish hatred. "If you won't open your eyes, then we will make you." Suddenly, Stella felt a wet, slimy hand attempting to pry her eyes open. With a scream, she took off one of her high heel shoes and blindly swung it out in front of her. Fortunately, the heel of the shoe seemed to have hit its mark. Stella felt her shoe dig into something with a wet squelch, followed by a terrible, agonized scream. Then, Stella shoved the creature aside and stumbled through the hallway as fast as she could, trying her best to ignore the throbbing pain in her ankle. She heard the creature let out a furious roar and give chase behind her. But this time, she was not going to let it catch up to her. She quickly tried mentally planning a way out as she ran. When we split up in the living room, Radar said that he and Lluna were going to search in the left wing of the mansion. And since me and Isaac just saw their corpses, that must mean that this hallway is somewhere in the left wing. Which means that there must be a window right… "Here!," Stella yelled, suddenly turning right and barging through the wall. The wall instantly shattered like glass, and before she knew it, Stella found herself flying through the air and painfully landing just outside of the mansion.
With a groan, Stella slowly rolled onto her back, staring up at the night sky. Despite the pain in her ankle, the bones that she must have broken, the scratches left all over her body by the broken glass shards of the window, and the recent trauma that she had endured after seeing some of her friends die, she couldn't stop a smile from spreading on her face. She did it. She was able to escape this house of horrors. Hopefully, she could find some time in the future to tear the whole thing down, just like Isaac said. As she laid there, currently in too much physical pain to move a muscle, she spotted a familiar face gazing at her through the window that she had just crashed through. "D-dad?," she whispered in disbelief, staring up at her father in the upstairs window. But it wasn't Sebastian Smith. It was Ramus, looking down at her with sad eyes. Then, he turned away and went back into the house, silent as a ghost.