Beneath the whispers

Chapter 16

Sometimes playing a game would require knowing fully well the rules that control that game. Apart from helping us win the game, it can tell us the specific borders we shouldn't cross. But like most people, we only ever worried about the rules when our life started to depend on the game. it could be literal or not.

But when we desperately made ourselves believe that beyond all reasonable doubt, we are in a haunted town with actual demons tormenting the villagers, we also realized that we could remain here unless we figure things out and save this village then it's practically our lives that we are fighting for

I don’t believe in ghost though. I mean for some reason two twin children are haunting their village after their mysterious disappearance and then someone creates an ad and brings us here. But the truth is that I did experience what I experienced and I am still stuck in this town regardless

While everyone seems to be cracking their brain trying to remember what the site did look like and any other little detail that could help us, Rose is pacing in the room biting into her thumbnail – I want to smack her right now. She is worried because she seemed to have added a little flesh in her stomach

Not to be insensitive though but she is not the only one going to lose her dream body if we stay too long here. Typical Rose, always making sure this whole thing is about her, a few minutes ago she was having a panic attack and now - well she is still having that panic attack just for a more flimsy reason

I roll my eyes trying to focus on Tony with the piece of paper that had codes on them, Olivia had given it to him at the hut, and now he is obsessed with it because he thinks that Olivia know something that we don’t so if she kept that paper, it only means that something important is in it. To me it is just codes and what exactly the codes were for, I know they would sit there for hours and still not know it.

The only person that is living the dream life apparently is Thelma, leaning on the door frame shoving some crunchy snack into her mouth and watching something on her phone which made her chuckle now and then. Even if we seem to be trapped in this game, we still need food

"Bella, what are you looking at?" I blink and tilt my head to face them, the bright look on their faces meant they have found a clue

"What did you find?" I ask. The sentence comes out with disinterest so I try to concentrate on them and ignore the fact that I am salivating over Thelma’s crunchy snack

"The code is talking about a place, the person that wrote it didn't want anyone finding the place except whoever understands this" Tony presses his lips together with a humming sound still looking at the paper while Olivia looks from me to Thelma – she must have the same thought as I did “what if this is the big clue we have been looking for?” he adds

And then again was a mysterious hut owner that stood between us and the answers that would secure our freedom. But what if the hut was empty but just set out for us with the clues we might need? Just like this one we currently have

“The house might not have an owner” I whisper right out of my thoughts, anything goes at this point. It clicked, from the way they widened their gaze to the lost look at the code-like map and then back at me tugging their lips into a slowly manufactured grin “We need to figure these codes out” I continue as I approach them, then with one glance at the paper I continue “and find this place” I point towards a circle that was crossed twice with a pencil.

The codes were written in a straight line and terminating at a circle- each code felt like it represented something. The person that drew these marked out the first four and I cannot exactly figure out why. Rose’s indistinct murmuring makes me want to bulge out her eyes. I roll my eyes at her "can someone tell Rose that she won't get fat?" I say with a ragged breath

Olivia chuckles, drawing her attention to us “Shut it, Olivia. you don't know what it’s like being me” Rose says. her voice is far from stable and I am just noticing that her eyeliner is sagging and it left a hideous stain on her face from crying all night – but did she seriously not wash her makeup off her face since this morning. This girl

“I would know what it will be like adding some flesh” Olivia jokes and I laugh along, Thelma joins us eventually but Tony still chooses to stick with the concerned look on his face that he directs at Rose

"oooh, I want to explode from eating, anybody?" I struggle to add in between the laughing. we cackle this time infuriating Rose, she hurries out of the room and Tony follows her. Like she always makes him do

"Calm your jealous self he is just doing his job" I didn't realize I was frowning until the sound Olivia's words grew in my ear. It was still crazy though how Rose found herself a personal assistant and why on earth did he even agree to work for her, there are a lot of other part-time jobs you can do to earn money

"Were you serious about the exploding?" Olivia continues taking in the fact that I just ignored her, then she continues “because I am in” Of course I was, Thelma throws a pack of crunchy snacks at us and Olivia gives it up for me with a scowl.

"I packed a lot" Thelma breathes out through a soft laugh. She throws another one to Olivia who devours them like she hadn't eaten in days.

"I love them dry and flaky" I crush a couple of round wafers in my mouth with a moaning sound. Then I groan crushing another handful I had forced into my mouth – Olivia giggles after me forcing a bigger bunch into her mouth and struggling to crush them, she succeeds eventually. I laugh while she does this, so hard that my stomach hurts from laughing, and with effort I drag air into my lungs giving myself enough breath to talk “I love them crushable” I moan again placing one piece into my mouth and crushing it making Olivia Chortle along

"I love that, the evil and the flare" I add snapping my fingers over our heads and our tackles drive us to almost lock ourselves in a hug. Tony and Thelma look at each other in confusion and then their gaze shifts back to us barely holding their mouths shut – I know it now, I missed Olivia