Violet, out of pure intrigue, quantum jumps to Central Square and makes her way over to Toby's house, looking around the outside, interested in if someone lives here or if whatever Luna and Hinata saw was just due to the stress of the situation.
The exterior of the house itself is rather large and is one of the few abandoned houses in Central District. A placard near the front door has the name "WRIGHT" in large letters, denoting this may be the house of the former ADMIN Toby Crescent Wright. The house itself is nothing too special. Light grey aluminum siding, two floors. The front yard is overgrown as if no one has cut the grass in almost a year. Heading up to the front door, a bunch of papers exist, all red papers.
Violet picks up the red papers, looking to see what's on them. She notices they’re all eviction notices, some papers also say "Rent Past Due". The stack of red papers have dates on them heading all the way back to Mid 2022. And every single one has the same silver badge on them. A sticker similar to a police badge that says "Agency of Arcane Affairs."
Violet looks a bit confused on the continued eviction notices, "But Toby's dead? Wouldn't the AAA know of his death? And beside, these notices start before his death..." Violet pockets the earliest and the latest dated eviction notices as she tries to open the door to make her way inside the house.
The door is unlocked. On entering the house, she finds an entrance room with dark wood paneling and brown carpeted floors. The carpet is rather dirty and thin. On the right side of the front door, a set of stairs leading upstairs. To the side of the stairs, a fake christmas tree with a lot of dust exists. There are a bunch of picture ornaments on this tree. Straight ahead, a kitchen. And to the left, a large living room. The lights are all off in the house, and all of the furniture is dusty.
Violet looks at the picture ornaments. There are a few Violet recognizes: A couple of a younger Hinata, a couple of a younger Luna. They all have smiles on their faces. And then there's one of a pretty black haired alt woman with lots of piercings and tattoos. She's kissing the then silvery haired Toby on the cheek. A caption is on this one: Christmas 2009.
Violet smiles sadly, knowing that Jane and Toby were once happy together. She takes the ornament with care and places it in her bag as she notes down the date before making her way upstairs, turning on the lights to see better. The lights, oddly enough, do work still. Heading upstairs, Violet can see five rooms. 2 large bedrooms, one directly in front of the stairs and one just to the left of it. On the far left, a much smaller bedroom. On the right, the bathroom and a small broom closet. Each of these rooms has a door. On the ceiling in the hallway a hatch for an attic exists. All of the doors are closed.
Violet tries to opens the door to the smaller bedroom, but it's locked and requiring a key. "Hmm... maybe the key is somewhere else?" Violet tests all the doors to see which ones are locked. The two larger bedrooms open, as does the bathroom and broom closet.
Violet starts with the broom closet, but she notices it's not large enough for her to enter. It's extremely small and holds a broom, various cleaning supplies, and a mop. It's very ordinary.
Violet closes the door to the broom closest as she enters the first large bedroom. The one directly across from the stairs seems to have been made up to resemble a field of sunflowers. Bright green carpeting, the walls painted with a blue sky and various sunflowers. The bed itself is rather large, at least a full size, with a sunflowery quilt and a yellow bedskirt. A small TV is in the corner. It doesn't seem like anyone has ever lived in here.
Violet looks a bit confused as she moves onto the next large bedroom. Similar to the first bedroom, this one is more themed around the night sky with a large full moon painted in yellow. The bed is a lot smaller, a twin size, with a purple comforter and black bedskirt. The carpeting is black but sparkles a bit to resemble stars. Much like the other bedroom, it does not seem like anyone has ever lived in here. “Hmmm… no key. Maybe downstairs?” Violet makes her way downstairs, looking around the kitchen.
Heading downstairs and through the entrance hall to the kitchen, Violet sees a lot of white. The cabinets are white, the stove is black. A stench of something foul wafts in the air, coming from on top of the stove. Violet looks to the stove, opening it up to see if anything was left inside. It appears Toby or someone was cooking something. The counter top has various moldy and expired ingredients. Just by the labels, it appears to be spaghetti. Gone bad. Violet looks a bit disgusted but unsurprised as she look around the kitchen and the cabinets for anything, but she finds nothing spectacular. Silverware, plates, and cups are in one of them. Another has containers and boxes of expired food. The fridge does not open, but considering the stench coming from that area, that's probably for the best. No keys are found.
Violet takes her investigation to the living room still searching for the key. The living room is very dusty. A large flatscreen TV sits idly with its remote on a table nearby. The couches and seating are rather ugly and dirty, as if someone spilled something on them and never bothered to clean up. Over on the mantle above the boarded up fireplace, a few framed pictures exist. Violet looks at the photos. Much like the ornaments on the tree, these also depict Jane, Toby, Luna, and Hinata, though this one takes place in a very white room. Machines of all kinds are able to be seen along with other short purple haired beings. All four of them seem a lot younger. Toby and Jane both have a labcoat on with a half moon on its lapels.
Violet sets down the pictures and tests the boards in the fireplace. All of them are stuck in place, but the fireplace's frame is rather loose. In fact, a note falls out from the fireplace and onto the floor. "Hm? What's this?" Violet inspects the paper. It's folded up rather tightly, but on unfolding, she finds what appears to be a diary entry in very messy handwriting.
[The date is scratched out, but the year seems to be 2022]
I had it all. Why did she have to betray me? Jane... I just wanted to protect them. They were my life, our life. Our obsession. We chose to help. So why did you make me hurt them
...
........i should have said no. My life is forfeit.
I will never forgive Chandra. Even as I sit here in the darkness of my failures, forgiveness of its crimes is impossible.
[There's no signature]
The boards on the fireplace are solid and don't seem to move. Violet pockets the piece of paper as she tries to see if the tv still works, grabbing the remote and pressing the on button. The TV, much like many of the lights in the house, works. There are only a couple channels available due to it being antenna only. It's currently on local news. The picture quality of the TV is extremely low, so most of the picture isn't visible, but the audio is pretty easy to hear, though staticky.
"In other news, the victim in the Adventurer's Guild was found to be 37 year old Trev-- static- ayes. Cause of death isn't clear, but if you have more informa-- static -- call the Agency of Arcane Affairs Criminal Ju-- at-- static........"
The audio cuts out fully.
"Hmm... weird." Violet notes down what she got of the name and heads up stairs and grabs the broom, trying to poke at the hatch to open the attic. There's a white cord to bring down the hatch. Pulling on the white cord, a ladder drops down. And on climbing up, Violet enters the attic. Right from the get go, Violet can see nothing more than a cloud of dust and darkness. Right near the ladder is a bare lightbulb with a pull cord. It’s too dark to see anything else. Violet pulls the cord to turn on the light. A few cardboard boxes are all that’s in there with none of them having labels. Many spider webs make their home here.
Violet does not mind the spider webs as she makes her way though the card board boxes, looking to see what is left in Toby's attic.
First cardboard box is... blankets. Just old blankets.
The second boxes is dishes, seemingly old dishes with a little bit of what seems like gold on the outside. Very retro.
The third box, fourth, and fifth are about the same, just add old clothes to the junk.
The final box, however, has a single book. A comic book familiar to Violet. "Avengers #1" in a hard plastic top loader. Though this one seems to be written on. Violet grabs the comic and makes her way down the attic hatch, getting in the better lighting as she opens it up to read it and Toby's notes.
The comic cover is scribbled on in crayon. Where the four main characters names, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor's, are displayed, extremely basic and messy scribbles of Luna, Jane, Hinata, and Toby's faces are drawn on top, respectively. The comic itself appears to be well-loved, torn in many certain places, and what seems to be a coffee stain here or there. On the very back of the comic, in red pen, are the words "Toby Wright, 1993" as if he wrote on it to keep it safe. It appears to be his very first comic.
Violet carefully slips the comic into her bag as she then search’s anywhere she might have missed for the key, but she doesn’t find one. Heading back to the locked bedroom, she summons a paper clip and attempts to pick the lock. It takes her a few moments, but she is successful. The door opens and much like every other room, it’s blanketed in inky darkness. The light from the hallway doesn’t even begin to light up the confines of this room. The only thing noticeable in this state is that the vibes are horribly off.
Violet finds a lightswitch very easily. Switching it on, the room brightens up. To call this a ‘bedroom’ is incorrect. It’s about the size of a walk in closet, perhaps enough room for a small bed and not much else. Unlike the rest of the house, this room, and only this room, has no carpeting. Bare wooden floors cover the small room. The room itself is completely empty. Well not quite.
In the very center of the room, a lump of something exists. The smell in this room is awful, like something living died here. Next to this lump, a wallet exists. Disgusted, Violet approaches the lump fearing for the worst. She grabs the wallet hoping identification exists. Upon opening the wallet, she sees two items. The first is a picture of Hinata, definitely one from the old days. And the second, an expired driver’s license for one TOBY CRESCENT WRIGHT. The lump on the ground does not react, for it is nothing more than heavily distorted flesh. It wouldn't even be right to call it a human anymore. Dried blood has been absorbed in the wood.
Violet looks dumbfounded and scared, never seeing the results of Toby’s murder. She panickedly scans the room for anything else before quickly leaving the room, shutting the door behind her, and breathing heavily. The room is empty aside from what remains of his body and the wallet. There were no other doors to enter. Nowhere for anyone to hide. A single barred window is the only thing of note.
|
Violet - Luna I what Toby he I'm going to puke Luna - ? Violet - I went to explore his house. To see if I could find any lead maybe he um left? Luna - ... Violet - The lump was in a locked room Luna - ... Violet - In a small bedroom? Walk in closet more like it of sorts. Luna - ,,, Hinata - 😭 Violet - Were the other two bedrooms for you and Hinata? Luna - what do you mean? Violet - It seems like a moon and sun themed bedrooms. Luna- ... Hinata - sun themed? Violet - Yea. Luna - none taken. Hinata - ... one moment. I need some fresh air. [Hinata dashes out of the house and run deep into the forest to allow herself to cry. As she was taught long ago, Hinata is not allowed to show herself crying, but at least this way, she can let out her emotions, whether they're angry, sad, or hopeless as she wishes.] Luna - ...hinata left Rebecca - Violet? What do you mean you found my father's body? Violet - I found what was left of his body in his bedroom Rebecca - ...that. Hm. That's strange. Another lump of flesh? Violet - Perhaps? Idk this seems like a threat… perhaps? Rebecca - A threat? How do you mean? Violet - Wait- there has been more lumps? Weird... Rebecca - They're not found often, but the AAA is investigating where they come from. Every single one has been connected to a murder of some kind. They're not exactly public knowledge yet. Just been classified as murders, as far as the public knows. Violet - Have there been any patterns to them? The victim choice? The locations? Rebecca - So far every single one has been either an FMS or Solaire employee of some kind. The most recent victim, Trevor Hayes, wasn't even an admin. He was just your run-of-the-mill scientist for Solaire. He was super nice, didn't want to hurt anyone. Violet - Weird... but I'm curious what the murder weapon could be. Like it's a lump of flesh. What in the world could do this? Rebecca - That's where the police are stumped as well. In a way, the lumps of flesh conceal the true cause of murder, but DNA testing shows that they're the real deal. It doesn't necessarily get rid of evidence, just the method. The M.O. is strange as well. Sure, both FMS and Solaire are neither the best people, I'm well aware of this myself being a co-LEADER with Jan. But we try our best. Violet - That is weird... hmmm Well um would you like me the bring... Toby somewhere so that we can burry him? He never got a proper burial. Rebecca - Nah, I'm coming upstairs, just one moment |
A cherry red Corvette convertible zooms through the city and finally stops at her late father’s house. She takes a deep breath, knowing that he was already pronounced dead nearly 9 months prior in the other Hell, but prepares herself for anything. Rebecca enters her father's old house and walks upstairs. "Hey Violet, it's been some time." Her voice is sweet and calming, but it's almost like she's forcing the tone to hide how she truly feels. Rebecca is currently wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a white cami, and a plaid overshirt, a farcry from the usual flowery dresses she wears at Solaire.
Violet gives a wave to Rebecca, a bit shaken, “Hi Rebecca.” She points to the door she exited, "He’s in-- in there."
"Understood." Rebecca takes a deep breath and heads inside, shutting the door behind her. From outside of the room, a finger snap is heard nearly 15 minutes later. Then she leaves the room, her eyes red and cheeks wet. "...yeah, as far as I can tell, that was my father. I sent him to the AAA's coroner to get a further examination." Her voice is shaky, her knees trembling. No daughter should be allowed to see their father in such a state.
"Do... do you need a hug?" Violet asks.
Rebecca doesn't respond, clearly her mind is somewhere else. She looks frozen stiff. She eventually drops to her knees and bawls loudly. Out of one of the pockets in her plaid overshirt, a badge spills out of it. Violet pats her back as she picks up the badge for her, trying her best to comfort Rebecca. Rebecca is completely out of it, not even responding to the badge falling out or the back pats. Violet looks at the badge and sees it’s a silver badge. The words "Agency of Arcane Affairs - Criminal Justice Department" display proudly on it.
"So you work for the AAA...?" Violet looks to Rebecca, noting herself that this was probably a rude time to ask, "Sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Rebecca eventually responds, "Yeah.. how else did you think I knew information the public didn't?" Her voice is pained, words carried through sheer determination alone. "And if it's okay with you, I would like to leave before the rest of the AAA show up here."
Violet nods and gets up, "Um yea of course."
Rebecca gets up and starts to walk down the stairs. "I'll tell you more about what I do later. Right now, I need some time alone."
Violet nods as she look back at the door for a moment before quantum jumping back to New Cleveland, Ohio. Rebecca zooms off in her cherry red convertible back towards Solaire.