Chapter (36):deep search part 1
In the early morning...
"And this is what happened."
"Honestly, I'm still terrified of what I experienced."
"That dream... was one of the strangest things I've ever been through in my life. I almost lost my mind... and I remembered something about a forest of faces."
"That's why I thought this forest made me have that weird nightmare....."
"So, do you think there's some kind of solution?"
"Ummmm.....that....was...ammm....weird...."
"Smiley, stop eating the cookies for a minute and talk to me."
Emma was at Smiley's house, sitting and telling him about her strange dream, while Smiley sat eating some biscuits she had brought him.
"Sorry, but it's been a long time since I had cookie's! Thanks for that, by the way!"
"So, did you come to me in the morning because of the dream?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I said. Smiley, weren't you listening to me earlier?" Emma replied.
"Ahahaha, sorry...."
"(Sigh), you really—"
"Hey!so you want an adventure!" Smiley interrupted Emma. "Phew! For a second, I thought you wanted to back out and leave me because of last night."
"Hell no, that would be the last thing—unless there's some supernatural disaster forcing me to leave town. Then I'd leave," Emma answered.
"That's likely, you know. Anything's possible here," Smiley replied, gesturing outside.
"Yeah, but that's for another time," Emma said.
"Because our adventure today is going to be very long, so I brought enough food for our trip."
"Ooooh! Thank you! Why so much food for me? So, how long will our adventure last?"
"The whole night," she replied calmly.
"Excuse me?" Smiley asked as if he hadn't heard her.
"We're going to comb through the entire forest, even if night falls."
"Wait? What?!" Smiley responded in surprise, his eyes widening.
"Yeah, just like you heard. I won't calm down until I find the real cause of this weird dream!"
"Wow, you're really mad at it! Did the dream anger you that much?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Emma answered angrily.
"Alright, take your time," Smiley said.
"Haah.....Sometimes staying in your treehouse calms my nerves, even if it's on a plane," Emma replied.
"What can I say? My house overlooks a special spot."
"Speaking of which, Smiley, when I left you last night, did you run into the Lycan Deer again?"
"Nope," Smiley replied simply, munching on a biscuit.
"That's weird... I thought they'd be spreading around the forest or tracking us."
"Maybe he killed them all?" Smiley asked.
"I doubt it. He was injured when we met him again, not to mention the tunnel was blocked on our way. He must've died or fled for his life," Emma said.
"That's good for us, right?" Smiley said.
"Yes.... or no," Emma replied.
"Huh? What do you mean by no?" Smiley asked in surprise, his smile turning into a strange expression.
"If the Scorpion Man survived, he'd chase us, but he holds a grudge against Malphas. He'd focus less on us and think about killing him. But if he died, they'd focus all their attention on us. As much as he's a deadly predator who wants to kill us, he's also a protective shield against the Lycan Deer at the same time," Emma explained to Smiley.
"Oooh..... I didn't think of it that way...." Smiley said, squinting at Emma.
"So, where are we going?" Smiley asked.
"Well, we're going deep in. But I don't know where to start because every time we go deeper, we uncover a mystery and a new monster. I hope this exploration isn't harder than the previous ones."
"Speaking of monsters, I forgot to tell you something small."
"What is it?" Emma asked.
"Just come with me," Smiley said, jumping out of the house.
".....That's a little unusual.... Never mind," Emma replied, descending the stairs.
Emma went down the stairs, and Smiley led her to the tunnel. She remembered that the tunnel was underground, near Smiley's house, and entered with him, walking through the tunnel's passages.
This time, Emma walked in a different direction... one she hadn't taken before. She wondered how big the tunnel was.
"So, Smiley, how long do we have to walk?" Emma asked.
"We're almost there," Smiley said, getting closer.
"Smiley, even though I said this, we need to find a way to block the tunnel leading to your house. He might come for you and my house one day, just in case," Emma replied.
"Ta-da! We're here!" Smiley said cheerfully, stopping midway. Behind him was the end of the tunnel, with strange chains almost covering it.
"Smiley, what are yo__... what the hell is this thing!?"
"Krrrrrrrrrrrrr"
What Emma saw looked like a motorcycle from the '90s—or at least that's what it would've looked like if not for the weird things about it. There was flesh and bones on the bike, not as decorations but as living parts, as if it were alive.
The bike's headlight was a strange mechanical eye, and there was a terrifying mouth opening and closing on itself, emitting a creepy, weird sound. It was shackled with chains, hanging in the air, spinning its wheels uselessly since it was suspended.
When Emma saw all this, she glared at Smiley—a threatening look.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! Honestly, I don't know either. I found it in the forest, and it wasn't exactly friendly."
"Yeah, that's obvious. Just look at it! It looks like it came out of a horror movie! This thing is like a mix between *Transformers and The Thing!"
"You mean there's a movie like *Transformers vs. The Thing*? Man! I wanna see it!"
"No, Smiley, that's not the point here. The point is, how exactly did you find it?"
"I told you, Emma, in the forest."
"I mean, how did you catch it? It's some kind of bike-thing?"
"Don't worry, it's slow. When I chased it, the only concerning thing was his claws, and I ripped them off. So everything's fine."
"His claws?" ಠಿ_ಠ
"Those claws."
Smiley pointed to a spot in the cave covered in blood, where something resembling wires with bone claws lay.
"You really..... Wait, this might actually be useful...."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's open its cover. Let's see what's inside," Emma said.
"Are you sure about this?" Smiley asked.
"Are you scared? I thought you'd be excited to see what's inside this thing."
"Are you kidding? Of course! I wanna see what's inside too," Smiley replied enthusiastically.
"But we need.... some kind of tool... Hey, Smiley, can you open it with your hand? Since you could open a steel safe like it was paper."
"Why me?" Smiley asked, tilting his head.
"Umm, I don't know, maybe because you could open a steel safe with your hand like it was paper," Emma replied simply.
"Fair point," Smiley said.
"Alright, open it on the count of three."
"Okay!"
"1...2...3!" Emma shouted.
*Clank...*
"Ewwwwwwww!" they both screamed.
What they saw was a mix of intestines and small organs fused together as if it were a living system, making the creature breathe—and it was indeed breathing.
"This might be one of the weirdest and grossest things I've ever seen in my life."
"Completely agreed," Smiley replied.
"Wait, there's something deep inside this mess... I'm gonna regret this," Emma said, rolling up her sleeve.
"Hey, are you sure?"
Emma slowly pushed her hand inside, feeling the pain, while Smiley covered his mouth, grinning excitedly. When her hand reached in, she grabbed something and slowly pulled it out through the bloody, oily mess.
What she pulled out was a small computer-like device with a large screen emitting blue and white light.
"What's this?" Smiley asked curiously, watching what was in Emma's hand.
"I don't know. From its looks, it seems like a gaming device, similar to handheld consoles. And there's..... instructions?... Let me see....."
{Search for intruders}
{Search for thieves}
{Search for any survivors and monitor them until further orders}
"Oh sh*t," Emma said anxiously, placing her hand on her forehead.
"What's wrong?" Smiley asked.
"This thing was from the factory we found that day," Emma spoke, pointing at the computer commands.
"Ooh, so that's why it came here! But I don't see why you're so scared of it," Smiley asked innocently.
"Focus with me. It says here there's even a new command—that means only one thing: someone here is giving it orders. Whoever's commanding it has higher intelligence than anyone we've met. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be monitoring."
"Oooh, that's a serious problem."
"I knew that factory was dangerous ever since I saw the crows avoiding it, but I didn't expect this. What a mess..."
"So we gotta go there and kick its **s."
"Yeah... yeah... we going to... wait a minute..." Emma spoke, thinking about something.
"I'm gonna leave for a bit."
"What? Didn't you say you wouldn't leave until you caught the Nightmare Disturber?" Smiley asked.
"No, I'm bringing my laptop here! I have idea—a stupid idea, but it might work," Emma said as she left.
"Smiley, keep it alive as long as possible," Emma spoke as she exited the cave.
"Whatever you say," Smiley replied, shrugging his shoulders.
....
At the Investigations Bureau...
The Investigations Bureau was large, with a huge number of employees moving around, carrying papers and files.
Marcus was sitting at his desk, sipping coffee and watching the employees quietly coming and going.
"So why are you staring at people like that? Did something happen?" Niles asked, standing near Mr. Blackwood.
"Nothing," Mr. Blackwood replied calmly.
"Come on, Marcus, I've known you since the day you got here. You don't act like this unless you suspect something," Niles said.
"Even Lisa noticed your weird behavior, man."
"Lisa, you mean?" Marcus asked.
"Lisa, the girl in charge of organizing crime files. She noticed you—and she rarely even sees you. She's in the records room where all the files on every crime that's happened here are kept."
"Oooh... I didn't know the previous person in charge of that room had been replaced in the first place," Mr. Blackwood replied.
"That's what I'm talking about. You never, ever acted like this before, not even when we were working on catching that bastard."
"Hah, you're right," Mr. Blackwood answered dryly.
"Don't worry, I know you're concerned about your daughter, but look—they caught him and he's dead. He's completely gone."
"Yeah... gone..." Marcus spoke, lost in thought.....
.....
Some time earlier, at the Blackwood house...
Marcus was in the kitchen drinking some water when he saw his daughter walk in, open the fridge, and take out some cookies.
"...Dad, I have a question..."
"A question about what?" Marcus asked.
"When you went to arrest the thief... did you see him or not?" Emma replied.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Blackwood asked cautiously.
"I mean... did they stop you and keep you from getting close to his house or seeing his body? Like, did a group of people come and take over?" Emma asked.
"Hmm... Actually, yeah. The police came and arrested him. I didn't get to see him."
"So that's how it is. Thanks... that's all I needed."
"Ah, right. I'm gonna go stay with my friend for a while. Bye!"
"Again?" Mr. Blackwood replied, puzzled.
...
"Why did she ask me that?"
"Why would Emma ask me something like that...?"
"Marcus?"
"It's like she was trying to tell me something... but what exactly?"
"Marcus!"
"Ah, yes!" Mr. Blackwood replied.
"What's wrong? Why were you spacing out like that?"
"Sorry, I was deep in thought about something."
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Niles asked.
"Sorry," Mr. Blackwood replied apologetically. "What were you talking about?"
"There is a new official who will be responsible for us, haven't you heard?" Niles asked
"What!? Where will he come?"mr.blackwood asked in shock
Step! Step!
"Everyone to the meeting room now!"
Marcus and Niles got up and headed towards the meeting room. This time, Marcus felt the meeting would be different from the others.