Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I love my store. I’ve been working here for years and I probably will for the rest of my life. Even though I can do all the work myself, Denice, my older sister, said we should hire someone else to help out. So now here I am, sitting behind the counter, emotionally spent from interviewing people all day. To make it worse, this last guy is late. How does he think he’s going to have a chance at this job if he’s late? I look at his name. Edward, but likes to be called Eddie. What a childish nickname. I scoff, I do not want to deal with this guy. It’s been almost half an hour since his scheduled time, I’m about to call it quits, when he shows up. He looks like he ran all the way here from across town! His short brown hair stuck to his face with sweat. His skin glistened in the golden-hour light.
“I’m so sorry I’m late! I had to help my cousin with something and I lost track of time. It was a whole thing! Oh, I haven't even introduced myself, I’m–” He begins to ramble, but I cut him off.
“Edward, I’m aware.” I state cooly, motioning to the chair in front of the counter. “Sit.”
“Oh! Uh, yeah, sure.” He stutters, sitting down. It was actually a little cute.
“Alright, Edward. How would you handle customers?” I deadpan.
“Woah, am I being interviewed for a cashier position or a higher-up?” He chuckled. “In all seriousness, I would hear them out if they had a complaint and help them out the best I can on questions.” The quip was a tad bit insulting, but his truthful answer was a pleasant surprise.
“Hm, acceptable. Will you always be this late?” I questioned. Edward’s soft smile changed into a look of sheepish shame.
“Hopefully not. My cousin just moved in, so I’m trying to help her out with some things. Other than that, being late is no issue.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Family important to you?”
“Well of course!” His smile somewhat returned.

This man was shaping up to be a fitting candidate. I may bring him in for another interview. When I’m not emotionally and socially exhausted. I had listened to dozens of people, none of them worthy to work my machine. It’s a cash register, but I wired it myself. I also need to make sure they’re trustworthy. That’s…. A whole lot easier than done.
I love my store. I’ve been working here for years and I probably will for the rest of my life. Even though I can do all the work myself, Denice, my older sister, said we should hire someone else to help out. So now here I am, sitting behind the counter, emotionally spent from interviewing people all day. To make it worse, this last guy is late. How does he think he’s going to have a chance at this job if he’s late? I look at his name. Edward, but likes to be called Eddie. What a childish nickname. I scoff, I do not want to deal with this guy. It’s been almost half an hour since his scheduled time, I’m about to call it quits, when he shows up. He looks like he ran all the way here from across town! His short brown hair stuck to his face with sweat. His skin glistened in the golden-hour light.
“I’m so sorry I’m late! I had to help my cousin with something and I lost track of time. It was a whole thing! Oh, I haven't even introduced myself, I’m–” He begins to ramble, but I cut him off.
“Edward, I’m aware.” I state cooly, motioning to the chair in front of the counter. “Sit.”
“Oh! Uh, yeah, sure.” He stutters, sitting down. It was actually a little cute.
“Alright, Edward. How would you handle customers?” I deadpan.
“Woah, am I being interviewed for a cashier position or a higher-up?” He chuckled. “In all seriousness, I would hear them out if they had a complaint and help them out the best I can on questions.” The quip was a tad bit insulting, but his truthful answer was a pleasant surprise.
“Hm, acceptable. Will you always be this late?” I questioned. Edward’s soft smile changed into a look of sheepish shame.
“Hopefully not. My cousin just moved in, so I’m trying to help her out with some things. Other than that, being late is no issue.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Family important to you?”
“Well of course!” His smile somewhat returned.

This man was shaping up to be a fitting candidate. I may bring him in for another interview. When I’m not emotionally and socially exhausted. I had listened to dozens of people, none of them worthy to work my machine. It’s a cash register, but I wired it myself. I also need to make sure they’re trustworthy. That’s…. A whole lot easier than done.
interesting. Yeah, why would I be upset? I just met the guy. I quickly check the rest of the doors and rush upstairs. She might not even have been his girlfriend! I’m overreacting! Then I hear it, it’s faint. But I hear it.
“Loves ya Eddie!” The girl slurs slowly. Obviously drunk.

That Monday, Edward’s first day, was okay. I mean, I woke up normally. Made breakfast for my sister and myself, and went downstairs. Nothing out of the ordinary. But when I got downstairs, he was already there. Waiting in front of the door. It was lightly snowing, and the soft snow, mixed with the sunrise made him look stunning. I froze, no pun intended. He looked up at me.
“Who’s late now?” He chuckled.
“How long have you been sitting there?” I ask.
“A few minutes.”
“I forgot to give you a key, didn’t I?” I groan.
“....yes.” He says awkwardly. I unlock the door, walking in the shop and motioning for him to follow.

We enter my shop, and I bring him over to the counter. “A’ight so… what are first orders, sir?” He chuckled. Oh no, why did he say it like that? What was I supposed to say? Besides my sibling I’ve never bossed anyone around before!AHHHHHHHHHH!Uhh, how long have we been standing here? I should’ve worn a hoodie. Oh my Jeff this is really embarrassing.
“Well. Uh. Your first task is to- um.” I stammer. Come on Damien! Get it together!”Just, man the cashregister. Go… uh,go get’em soldier.” I finger gun awkwardly. I’ve never done that to anyone before in my life! Why am I doing it now!? Edward probably thinks that I’m really weird, but he just chuckles.
“Am I your first hire?”
“Y-yeah actually.” I admit.
“Oh! That’s why you’re so nervous!” He snickers.
“Of course.” Among other things… He walked behind the counter. Sitting down on the chair that was there. That’s my chair! How dare he! I decided to not dwell on it, it’s just a chair. my chair, but whatever.

My sister came in a few minutes later. Saying something about how she hates the repetitiveness of our jobs. Although I like the constant, I do agree with her that it’s quite boring at times. Denice, Edward and I chatted for a few hours. It was mostly us all trying to get to know each other. Obviously Denice and I already knew each other, but we wanted to know more about Edward. I guess I should start saying ‘Eddie’. He thinks Edward is too formal. Denice agreed, however I think Eddie is a childish name. Like, I’d see if his parents called him that, and maybe his friends. When he was 5. But he is a grown man!

A few customers come in here and there, but nothing interesting happens until around 3pm-ish.
“Yo Eddie! You in ’ere?” A woman calls out. A British woman.
“Over here!” He calls back from the counter. The woman walks up to him.
“So, finally decided to become a corporate zombie, huh?” She chuckled.
“I’m a cashier at a corner store, what do you mean corporate zombie?” Good question Edward. Considering even if he was at a desk, it wouldn’t be for long. Also he’d just be paying our taxes. Which is my job and he will not be taking it from me!
“Whatever, listen. You know how much I love you riiigght~?” She asks. WHAT!? S-She, NO! Edward just groans. Oh! Maybe she just wants him! He must have hundreds of girls drooling over him. I mean, LOOK AT HIM!
“What do you want~?” He rolled his eyes. She gasps in mock offense.
“Eddie! How dare you think that I want something! Can’t I just express my cousinly love!?” Oh! She’s his cousin! The one he was helping yesterday. Okay… That makes me feel surprisingly better! Edward quirks a brown and she sighs. “I can’t get my bed up the stairs…”
“Did you take it apart?”
“... No.”
“Then go do that, I ain’t yer handyman Joanna.” Joanna groans.
“But I want you to do it! You do it better!” I don’t have time for this cousinly drama, so I go see what my sister’s doing. However, she’s literally right next to me, looking like she’s going to pass out.
“D-Do you need a job?” She stammers to Joanna.
“Nar, I’m good.” I laugh at the way she went nar. Then immediately tried to cover it up with a cough. That was extremely offensive. Which was obvious by her expression.
“Somethin’ funny?” She asks, glaring at me. I sulk behind my sister, rethinking everything leading to this point. Edward also looked slightly angry.
“Answer the question, Damien.” He grumbles.
“T-there’s nothing funny…” I mumble, slinking further behind my sister.
“C’mon wimp! We all know you think her accent’s funny!” My sister throws me out from behind her and I fumble onto the counter, hitting the cash register clean off the counter. Opening… the passage. I know that sounds ominous, but it’s really just space that collects dust at this point. The cult only comes here for initiations and special events now, so it ain’t used much. “DAMIEN!” My sister shrieks, immediately running to manually close the passage. I bolt up and run to help her.
“Sorry…”
“Sorry ain’t cuttin’ it!” She grumbles, kicking the door.
“CLOSE!” I yell, Edward walks over.
“Whaaat is this?” He asks, motioning at the now half-open passage.
“Nothin’ don’t worry ‘bout it!” Denice snaps at Edward.
“Don’t talk to our only employee like that!” I scolded her.
“Hey, who’s older!?”
“Who’s more responsible?” I should not have continued the small argument. Because right after I said that, she got the door shut aggressively and put her hair up. “Wait, waitwaitwaitwait. Denice, we can talk about this Please, I-” She punches me square in the jaw.
“I’m plenty responsible!” She retorts. Oh, she’s in for it. I get up and pounce on her.
“No you’re not!”
“Oh and like you are!” We fight for a good few minutes before Edward breaks us up.

“Ladies, ladies. Chill.” He snickers. Why is he enjoying this!?
“H-He’s kinda right…” I mutter.
“SHUT IT GAY BOY!” My sister yells.
“I’m not gay!” I retorted. Yeah, liking men is stupid! I mean, I know I don’t come off as a testosterone pumping gym bro who likes those dirty magazines. But that doesn’t mean I’m a boyliker. I was taught better! Dad said any boylikers get sacrificed! Kinda ironic since I’m pretty sure he had a crush on Robert…
“Sure pal, sure.” Before I can say anything else,Joanna decides to pipe in.
“Yeah, we see how you look at my cousin.” She smirks. My face flushes. I just look at him! H-How is that any different from how I look at anyone else! She’s insane! I look to my side and Edward has the same deep flush on his face. We just smile awkwardly.
“Uhhhhhhhhh.” We say in almost perfect unison. He quickly turns away and I turn the opposite way.
“Boykisser!” My sister laughs.
“Shut up!” I snap.
“You’re gonna get executed~” She says in a sing-song tone. The passage quickly opens.
“Really!?” Jeff pokes her head in. Ugh… Jeff. Never liked her, but she was close with mom. “Who? And can I do it?”
“Damien, he’s a homosexual.”
“NO I’M NOT!” I stomp my foot on the ground.
“Ugh. figured. But he’s too soft, wouldn’t be as much fun. So I’ll pass on execution. Goodbye.” Jeff shrugs, closing the passage with ease.

Looking behind me, Edward and Joanna look absolutely mystified. I had to think for a moment before realizing they probably didn’t know about the whole cult thing.
“Now I know why it was so easy to get this job…” Eddie mutters. “It’s run by psychopaths who’re gonna kill me for being gay.”
“You sure you don’t want me to put a good word in at my restaurant?” Joanna asks.

“C’mon, we’re not psychos! You’ve never heard of the worshipers of Jeff?” I say awkwardly. Oh there is really no way to frame this…
“You mean that cult that killed a nine year old like 7 years ago?” Edward asked.
“Yeah…?” Edward backed up slightly, oh no our first hire is going to quit on their first day! And this town is small so news will spread fast!
“What was your last name again?” Edward asked. Oh this is really bad.
“...Nett…” I mutter.
“Yeah! Damien and Denice Nett! Former cult children!” My sister leans over me and extends her hand like she’s greeting them.
“We’re losing our first hire over something we couldn’t prevent…” I facepalm.

Edward walks up to me and grabs my face.
“Listen, I got people who count on me. But I can’t get another job. New in town and all that jazz. So for me to stay, along with your reputation, you two gotta promise that there’s nothin’ dangerous down there.” He grumbles. Okay, okay. Calm down Damien. Calm down, sto- STOP HOLDING MY FACE! I pull out of his grasp, keeping my tone stern and professional.
“That’s not something I can insure. However, you will be protected. Trust us.”
“How am I supposed to trust you? Mista Won’t Mention a Very Important Safety Issue!” He said. Which, fair. I didn’t inform him at all about the whole cult thing.
“Look, I understand. I’d be angry too. But-” I tried to reason with Edward.
“But nothing! Why are you so calm about the psycho in your basement!? Why don’t you call the police and get them out?” He put a finger to my chest. As if this is my fault. I didn’t ask for this life. So why is he blaming me!?
“Well excuse me. But she’s no psycho! And there’s a lot more than meets the eye here, if I could call the police, I would!” My voice gets higher. I don’t like yelling at people. It reminds me of my mother…
“What does that even mean!? Is she threatening you or something?”
“It’s a lot more complicated than that, Edward! You wouldn’t understand!” This guy's really getting on my nerves. Why can’t he just drop it and move on with his life, or quit? That’s always an option!
“Well I can try!” He argues.
“Why don’t you just quit!? Our past is none of your concern! And if you can’t respect that then you have no place here Edward!” I yell. It takes me a moment to realize what I just said. You have no place here. Why would I say that? Those words seemed to hit Edward hard.
“Well, fine. If you really don’t want me here that bad. I am calling the police because this,” He motions at the door. “Is not okay.” He storms off; slamming the door behind him. His cousin followed.

I stand in the now quiet store. Looking down at the floor. This cannot end well.
“We should probably clear out most of the stuff downstairs. Anything biohazard-y.” Denice mumbles. I nod slowly. She’s right. If he told the truth, then the police would be all over the basement in seconds. I open the passage again and we both go in before I close it again.

We decided to skip the hall, we both didn’t want to deal with it right now. However I did scoop up the bag in there. “Is that-” She couldn’t finish her sentence, I nod. We give each other a solemn look. I bring the bag to the secret back room, stashing it in the dark corner, our old CRT is in there too. I keep it there. Can’t have any mentally unwell members breaking it. That’d be expensive. I get out of that room quickly, locking the door to it behind me. “Did you look in it?” My sister asks.
“No, I couldn’t stomach the courage to…” I sigh. She unlocks the door.
“I’m going to take her out of it. She doesn’t deserve to have her resting place be a dirty bag.” I just barely see her take the body out. Rotted, but still recognizable. I pulled out some sticky notes and made a few paper flowers. Walking in and respectfully placing them next to the body.
“She didn’t deserve it…” I mumble. Denice rubs my back.
“I know, none of us did. Me, you, every one involved.” We sit in silence for a few moments before getting back to the task at hand.

We start with the stage, still left untouched from seven years prior. “Does blood come out with cold, or hot water?” Denice asks.
“Cold water, I think.” I say, grabbing a broom. She nods and gets a bucket from the closet.
“Remeber when we used to clean this room before big events?” That brings a small smile to both our faces.
“Yeah, we’d have sword fights with the brooms and mops.” I chuckle.
“And we’d pretend to be different classes of mythical creatures.” The atmosphere has changed now. Instead of the sad, heavy grief. It’s lightened into a nice, light nostalgic feel.
“Mhm, I was a mage, you were an elf, and Jory was a bard.” I say.
“And occasionally father would join as a fierce enemy.” We both laugh at that. Our father used to come stomping in, declaring to be the king of all the lands. And that we’d have to defeat him to save the event. Cleaning went by faster with us talking. Reminiscing about all the good in our past, versus the bad. However, just as we got finished with the main room, we heard footsteps.

The footsteps came closer, getting louder. There were at least two people walking towards us. I quietly pass Denice a broom handle, taking the broom off my own, so we both have weapons. The figures came into view, revealing themselves as…
“Edward!?” I exclaim. My sister lowers her weapon. As do I.

“...Hi.” He says awkwardly. Joanna comes up behind him.
“Why are you here?” I ask. I didn’t think he’d come back. Joanna answers instead of him
“This wimp felt bad for being mad over a genuine issue.” She pushes him forward. He stumbles a little before regaining his footing. “What are you two idiots doing?” She sneers.
“Woah woah woah. I’m still confused as to why this guy had a change of heart. Not even half an hour ago he was yellin’ at Damien, and now he feels bad? Why?” Denice asks.
“D-don’t worry about it! It doesn’t matter!” Edward stutters. “I just don’t like getting mad at people!” He looked down at the floor.
“Whatever, why is she here?” I point at Joanna.
“I just came for emotional support..” She scowls before turning to Edward. “By the way, I ain’t coming back here, that hall smelled like someone died in it.”

It takes her a minute for the realization to set in. “Nothin’ died there, right?” She asks, turning to me and Denice.
“I legally don’t have to answer that.” I responded. They don’t need to know that moments earlier the rotting carcass of a nine-year-old was there.
“Pass me a broom, we’ll help.” Eddie sighs. Why was he suddenly sorry? We were just fighting and now he wants to help?
“Why do you suddenly want to help?” I ask.
“I realized that you can’t control your past, and I shouldn’t judge you off of that.”
“In the span of fifteen minutes?”
He nods, what is with this guy? It’s kind of nice though. We’ll have more help.
“Whatever.” I throw him a broom. He catches it and starts sweeping. He’s useful, I need to take note of that. Even if he won’t continue working for us.

Eventually Joanna helped too, snatching a mop that was propped against the wall. We clean for what now feels like hours. Long, awkward hours. In reality it was probably only around half an hour, but none of us talked. The happy atmosphere was gone. Relapsed by the anxiety felt by me and Denice. What if they found the room? Or what if we forgot something? And then I see it, Joanna’s walking to the room! Before I can stop her, she opens the door.
She lets out a yelp, her eyes widening.
“OH MY GOD!” Oh this is bad! Keeping a dead body cannot be legal.
“I-I can explain…” I stutter.
“Is that a child!?” Edward yells, having poked his head into the room. Denice walks to me, she leans near to my ear.
“We’re goin’ to jail…” She mutters.
“Yep.” I cringe.

Joanna and Edward look back at us, the two looking terrified. Edward in front of Joanna slightly, I assume to protect her if necessary. Why must more feel this fright? I thought we worked for it to be no more. But here we are…
“Damien… I need you to answer truthfully. Is that” He points to the body. “Your doing?”
“It is not,” I lower and shake my head slowly.
“Yeah, neither of us would’ve killed her…” Denice sighs.
“Wait… is that her?” Joanna asks. Denice and I nod solemnly. “Oh, I thought they had a funeral.” She says, her voice full of pity.
“We don’t need your pity.” Denice scowls.
“Besides, she loved this place. Even if it felt like a prison most days.” I smile softly.
“So… the body stays?” Edwards asks.
“Yes!” Denice and I say sharply. Edward backs away.
“Okay, geez…” He mutters.

I close the door. Making sure that it’s locked. We shouldn’t have this on our minds right now.
“Come on, we should go back upstairs.” I prop my broom against the wall.
“Yeah. You still have to help me with stuff Eddie.” Joanna says snarkily.
“What? Are your bones made of paper or something? Joanna, you know how to do it.” Edward huffs. I wonder how much Edward has had to help with Joanna moving here. And are they living together? I mean, he said he was new in town. I
wouldn’t think it’s too hard to get a job here. But I also grew up here and have my own business, so my experience is extremely limited.

Once we get up there, I take Edward aside. Bringing him to the back.
“Listen, I think I owe you an explanation for all of this.” I sigh. He nods.
“Yeah, I’d agree.”
“I’m not sure how it started, but I know my parents started the cult before Denice was born. They worshiped who knows what.” I shrug.
“You don’t know what they did?” Edward asked.
“I wasn’t allowed to participate in rituals until I was ten. Then that happened. So I don’t remember much. If you want to learn more about the rituals you should ask Denice. She was much more active in them.”
“Oh, okay. Continue.” He motions for me to keep on explaining.
“After Jory was gone, the cult lost a lot of members. My parent’s second in command, Robert, took the remaining members to Sullivins. They only come here for important events.”
“Okay, so the old building is basically just extra space that gathers dust.” Edward shrugs.
“...Yes. Extra space..” I mumble.
“Oh, sorry. I shouldn't've said it like that! I didn’t mean to act like it was just another room.” He frantically apologizes upon realizing he’d upset me.

My eyes widened slightly, wow. I barely did anything to show I was annoyed, and yet he picked up on it. He apologized. Instead of just telling me it’s no big deal. “Are… you okay?” He asked.
“Oh y-yeah, I’m fine.” I stutter.
“Hey, if you aren’t comfortable talking about this anymore, I can always ask Denice.”

He grabs my face again, softer this time. Is he going to do this a lot? I could honestly vibe with it though. I like how his hands feel. Wait. Is that weird? How long have I been staring? Is he going to think this happens a lot? Oh, Jeff this is not okay.
“I’m.. gonna go.” I say awkwardly, pointing in a random direction and going that way.

I end up outside, facing the world. It’s just about sunset again. I slide down the wall to sit on the ground. I look up at the golden sky, taking in the silence. Taking a deep breath, I feel like for the first time in a while, I can breathe. I run a hand through my hair, letting out a content sigh. “Come on Damien, you’re okay…” I tell myself, closing my eyes. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Edward’s not going to quit. Denice is acting less hectic than usual. Nothing’s crawled up from the basement to kill you. Things are going great.”

“That’s great kid.” A voice calls out from the ally.
“Why are you here again Jeff?” I groan.
“What? I can’t visit my favorite cult kid?” She chuckles. I give her an unamused look. “Okay, jeez. I was tryin’ to lighten the mood. I need to show you something. Bring your sister.” She didn’t sound like she was joking for once, it was weird. An unsettling kind of weird. I nod and get up to grab Denice.

Rentering the store, I saw Denice chatting with Joanna and Eddie, no customers though… that sucks.
“Ey Dee! Can you come out back for a second?” I called out.
“Yeah, sure.” She turns around to walk towards me.

I led her out to where I was, Jeff leaning against the wall nearby. “So, whaddya need?” She asked.
“Ask them, they told me to get you.” I point at Jeff. Denice looks over my shoulder to see.
“Ah. Then why do you need us, Jeff?” She walks in front of me. Great. Now I can’t see. She could see anyways! I’m only 5’1”! She’s four inches taller than me, she could see perfectly fine!
“Well. Denice, Damien. I have something to show you two.” Jeff gets off the wall and motions for us to follow them as they lead us somewhere.

She takes us to a corner of the grass area in the back of the property. The corner we used to have a random box on, for whatever reason. The other children in the cult, my siblings and I used to use the box as a throne or landmark. I wonder where that box went, I haven’t seen it in a very long time. Maybe it was moved to the other location, I heard they have a garden.

Jeff stomps on the ground there in an interesting rhythm, and moments later a hatch opens nearby.
“That was really cliché.” Denice shrugged. I nodded in agreement.
“Well, so is the cash register.” I add. She nods.

Jeff ignores our comments and walks over to the hatch. She looks down before jumping in. A few moments later her voice echoed back up to us.
“Are you two coming!?” She yells. We gaze down the long hole.
“Yeah Damien! …Go!” Denice stutters. That hole looked too deep for us to survive. But Jeff survived it perfectly fine, so we’ll survive it too… Right?
“You go. You’re older.” I nudged her slightly.
But you’re the man here.” She nudged me in return.
“STOP BICKERIN’ AND GET DOWN HERE!” Jeff scremt up at us.
“GIVE US A MINUTE IT’S A LONG WAYS DOWN AND WE’RE NOT SURE WE'LL SURVIVE!” I yell back, my voice cracking multiple times. I went beet red, those were bad. Like, what am I 13!? Denice laughs at me.
“What was that!?” She chuckles.
“S-Shut up.” I mumble. Before I can argue any further she pushes me down.
“Don’t die!” She says with a smile.

I fall for a few seconds, I feel like my life flashes before my eyes. How could I even survive this fall!? It’s at least 20 feet from the looks of it. Although I’m probably wrong. Oh Jeff, it could be more! Have I reached the ground yet!?

Oh, I did. And I’m alive! I pat myself down to be sure that I survived.
“I SURVIVED!” I yell in excitement.

Denice jumps down and is next to me within seconds.
“Good job loser.” She chuckles, I roll my eyes and we begin to follow Jeff.

The place looks like a secret extension of the basement, one lost to time. Almost unchanged from the years the basement was a 60’s fallout shelter.
“Where are we?” I ask up ahead.
“We’re in a segmented off part of the shelter. It was going to be an infirmary.” Jeff said. I quirked a brow.
“What?” I ask.
“Alright, let me fill you in on some town lore.” Jeff sighed, turning to us. “This was the first community fallout shelter in the area, but due to the lack of structural integrity and the fact that the hall to this part collapsed in 1968. No one was injured or lost, but it was a major scare to a lot of people. Soo, it was abandoned. Eventually your parents bought the land and built the store over it. Then… well you two know the rest.” Jeff shrugged.

Denice and I stared at Jeff for a few minutes.
“That’s why the basement’s so big!?” I jumped at how loudly she yelled. Of course I was also surprised but, jeez… That was a little over the top.
“Calm down kid.” Jeff cringed.

I looked down the hall, seeing nothing but a steel door at the end.
“Is that where the infirmary is?” I asked, pointing to the door.
Mhm. I’m gonna level with you. What’s in there is weirder than your family history.” Jeff said. What does that even mean? Weirder than your family history? … OUR HISTORY ISN’T THAT WEIRD!!!
“Excuse me?” Denice asked.
“Just come on.” Jeff motioned for us to follow her further into the hall.

When we got to the door, I could’ve sworn I heard someone talking behind it. Someone………… Wait. OHMYJEFFITSMYMOM.Nuh-uh. There is no way that the voice on the other side of that door is the same voice that belongs to my mother. She’s dead!...... I think.
“Who’s behind the door?” Denice asked. Oh, she heard them too.
“Someone you two know very well.” Jeff chuckled. What? WHAT? Jeff no. Do not open that- They opened the door. And………….

THERE’S NOTHING THERE!? I stare at the empty room. WHAT!? We heard a voice! Denice comfirmed it and so did Jeff! (In her weird way, but still!) What do you mean there’s no one there!? UUUGRHGHG this is bad! Why does this have to be so confusing!? “Wait.. what? BARB! WHERE ARE YOU!?” Jeff called out.

Great! So Jeff didn’t know either. WONDERFUL! Just peachy! I am so glad to be in this family.
“What do you mean Barb? Was our mom supposed to be there!?” Denice asked.
“Shut up kid, I'm almost as confused as you are.” Jeff retorted. Denice turned to me and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you have any input, Damien?” She motioned for me to speak.
“I wanna go live with uncle Rob again…” I groaned.
“Alright, so he’s got nothing.” Denice sighed.

“Awwww~ I was beginning to miss listening to you two bickering~” A voice rang out from inside the room.
“Go back.” Jeff warned. They sounded… worried? I didn’t think they could be worried.
“Who-”
“There’s no time, go. Now.” She began to push us to the hole we fell through.
“How are we supposed to get back up?” I ask.