The click of a pressure plate distracted Heather from her book.
She stopped in her tracks, blinking as she tore her eyes from the pages of the novel. Spinning around, she scrutinized the floor behind her and spotted a single pressure plate in the middle of the hallway. Very out of place. Was it some sort of decoration…?
An explosion at the other end of the hall assured her that no, it was not.
Dropping the book, Heather drew her sword, jogging down to the site of the explosion to try and assess the damage. A mid-sized hole had appeared in the corner of the hall, exposing the floor below it. It looked as if a piece of TNT had been placed between the layers, and as she ventured closer she could see a trail of redstone repeaters in the direction of the plate.
That was no accident.
"Herobrine?" She called out, voice echoing in the empty halls. A second passed, then two, before he appeared. "Someone set a trap here." Heather gestured with her sword, prompting him to draw his own as he surveyed the area. "I stepped on a pressure plate down there, and this blew up. I don't think it was actually meant to hurt someone, though…?"
"Hm." Was Herobrine's only response.
"But who would do this?" She continued. "The only one I can think of is Notch - or, possibly Theo playing a prank? But this seems out of character for both of them."
"I agree." He offered her a hand, and she took it with her free one. "Come on, let's look around for any other traps. Maybe one of them will give us a clue who did this."
The pair of them searched the manor from top to bottom, which took the better part of the afternoon. While nothing else remotely dangerous existed, some things had been changed, from the color of glass in windows to the patterns on banners. Eventually, Heather and her fiancé chalked it up to an elaborate prank - probably Theo's fault, which made Heather feel a bit better. She made a note to ask him about it when they went home.
The feeling of wrongness, though, didn't change.
"Steve," Heather began, watching idly as Herobrine and Notch had a shouting match. "Do you feel like something's been off lately?"
"Off how?" The miner didn't look at her, keeping a watchful eye on the verbal combatants.
"I'm not sure how to explain it." She twisted her hands together, staring down at her engagement ring. "I feel… kinda nervous. I want to know if it's just me, pre-wedding jitters or something, or if something's really wrong."
"Well, let me think." Steve met her gaze, eyes searching hers for a clue. "When do you feel it? All the time?"
"I think so."
"In both dimensions?"
"Um…" She tried to think back. It had been a week already since they arrived. "I don't… think so. Just here."
"When is it strongest?"
"I don't know man, it's a vague feeling of unease that constantly haunts me. It's not exactly like I can measure it."
"Fair enough, fair enough." A small grin on his face, Steve sank down to the grass, and Heather sat down cross-legged beside him. "I have felt something off." He admitted, and Heather raised an eyebrow. "Like you described it, a vague feeling of unease. So far, I've chalked it up to an empty-nest kind of feeling - my little girl is all grown up." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her against his side in a half-hug, drawing giggles from Heather as he pressed his cheek against her hair.
"But," He continued, leaning back but leaving his hand on her shoulder. "The fact that you feel it too makes me think otherwise. Have you talked to 'Brine about it?"
"No." She confessed. "Like I said, I'm worried it's just jitters. I don't wanna scare him by acting hesitant."
"Nether, Heather, I'm sure he's nervous too." Steve gestured to her fiancé, who was now having a slightly-less-heated discussion with his creator. "He puts up a strong front, but you know he's not a brick wall. He probably just doesn't want to admit it for the same reasons you do."
"Wonder which one of us picked that up from the other?" She half-joked, but Steve only shrugged and smiled.
"I'll ask Alex about it too." He told her. "She's probably the most emotionally-stable person we know - if anyone would be able to tell, it's her."
"Okay." Heather smirked. Maybe it was just because of her lack of personal involvement with their adventures, but Alex really did give off a vibe of being more mature than everyone else she'd met.
"I think they're almost done," Steve commented, and Heather glanced up to see Notch hurling a final retort before disappearing in a puff of sparkles. Setting his jaw, Herobrine spun on his heel, walking back towards them.
"We should go." He announced, voice impressively composed, and Heather accepted his hand as he pulled her to her feet. Steve hopped to his feet beside her, mouthing talk to him in her direction before ambling off in the direction of his own base.
Herobrine quirked a brow at her, but Heather only gave him a clueless smile, linking her arm with his as they made their way back to the mansion.