October 31st, 2018

Rain tapped against the apartments windows, giving the man inside comfort. He sat on the living room couch, a room that easily took up 60% of the apartment’s space, and observed the scene. To the left of the couch was a baseball bat, and in front of that was an R.C car, the remote to which was sitting on the table, next to a plate of mini sandwiches. He grinned, and a knock came upon the door. “Come in.” the man said, turning to the door. The door made a heavy screech as it opened. In the doorframe stood a woman with black hair and a young face, wearing a red wool sweater and black sweatpants. She gives him a warm smile. “Well, wasn't expecting a call from you. Gotten over the Chris thing?” the man nods. The woman walks over, sitting next to the man. The two stared at each other, bringing their hands together. “So, we'll be free soon?” the man nods. “You will be, anyway.” he corrects. “Hey, don't be like that.” she wraps her arms around him. “Soon. Just a little longer.” the man feels a tear roll down his cheek. “Hey, I made you something.” he points to somewhere behind the couch. She grins. “Aww, shucks.” she gets up, moving away. The R.C car rams into her feet, tripping her over. “Ow!” she starts getting up when an object smashes against her head, sending her flying to the ground. “H-huh?” she looks up. The man was standing above her now, holding a baseball bat. “Wh-why? Why-!” he smashes the bat against her head again. She didn't get up again. Blood poured onto the wood floor, forming a puddle. He observed her from above, her warm face now cold and lifeless. He dropped the bat, turning away from her. He opened the door and walked out.

The next day, a friend of the rooms original occupant went to check on them, and found nothing.

The girl was never found.

P.P.F Re

Chapter 4: The Note Written In My Dreams

February 15th, 2012

His phone blaring a generic ringtone woke the boy from his slumber. Ralph, rubbing his eyes, grabs his phone, sitting next to his bed on a wooden box. “Chloe” the caller I.D reads. “Hmm…” he debated simply ignoring her, but he quickly gave in, hitting the accept button. “Good morning!” a cheery voice greets him as he yawns. “Yep. You too. So...why are you calling at 9:00 a.m in the morning?” an awkward silence follows. “I'm hungry.” Ralph raises an eyebrow. “Then eat something.” he hears something downstairs, and through his phone. “Wait...what the hell are you doing here?!” he hears a giggle from the otherside of the phone. “You asked me to stay, didn't you?” he searched through his memories from the night before. “You're full of bull!” he hears her bust a gut from under him. “Okay. Just...I’ll be down in a second.” “YAY!” he hangs up. “I don't even have pants on yet. Why am I dealing with this already?” He gets up, walking over to his dresser, opening the bottom and 2nd drawer, grabbing a black long sleeve and loose sweatpants. He sniffs his armpits, and grins. “And that is why I shower at night.” he throws on his clothes and opens his bedroom door. A soft chill wafted from the window at the end of the hall. He mentally notes the issue and turns to the stairs. He shivers as he steps on the stair, growing colder as he descends. Arriving on the ground floor, he opened the wooden door and entered the cafe.

The place looked well kept. Nothing was out of place, or even touched. The exception being the bench seat to his far right, which housed a girl wearing blue pajamas and a thin blanket. “Hello!” Ralph pinched his cheek, sighed, and unlocked the gate to the kitchen area. “Eggs and a muffin?” the girl gave an ooh. “Yes please!” Ralph threw a slab of butter into the pan, and watched it melt as he mixed up some eggs in a concoction of pepper and salt. He pours the eggs into the pan, counts to twenty, and sprinkled some cheese into the cooking yellow yolks. While he worked, Chloe wrote a text to her mother. “Mmm.” she stared at the words on screen. She deletes it. “Almost done!” the boy yells to her. “Okay, gracias!” she goes back to staring at her phone.

“Sorry for scaring you. Please, can we talk?”

Chloe read her mother's message again and again.

“Are you really my mom?”

She hits send just as Ralph sets the plate on the table. “Oh my, this looks good.” Ralph bites his bottom lip. “Yeah, not the best, but it should be serviceable.” she shoves a piece of egg in her mouth. “Wow…what, cooking run in the blood?” the boy blushes, scratching the back on his head. “Y-yeah, I guess.” he laughs, sitting down. “So, why did you sleep in a cold cafe as opposed to a warm bed?” she taps her chin, looking to the ceiling. “You don't remember?” she asks. “Nope.” she sighs. “Pity. You were acting like a little charmer. I wasn't expecting you to have such confidence.” she winks. “Wh-what the HELL are you talking about?!” she laughs. “Relax...you were actually balling like a baby! Begging me to never forget you! What, bad dream? Filming an A.R.G? Come on, you can tell me!” he crosses his arms. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” her joking smile slowly fades into a sad grin. “That, and...there's something up with my mom, and I needed an excuse to not be home.” Intrigued, he points to his ear. “Ahh, don't worry. It's probably stress. Being a journalist must do that to someone.” he shakes his head. “Yeah, probably.” he pats her on the shoulder. “Well, I’m sure it’ll be alright soon enough.” she sighs in relief. “Yeah. Thanks.”

While the two where sharing this moment, the back door opens. After the man hangs his coat on the coat rack, he puts on his apron. “Ah, Chloe-” Ralph removes his hand from her shoulder, staring down at the table. “...hang on, I'm grabbing my camera.”

“U-uncle!”

...

“Thanks, come again!” Ralph handed the man a muffin and wished him well. The line had finally ended, and Ralph leaned against the counter. He eyes the stock of snacks in the glass case. Each shelf was at least half full, so for now, he was good. He sips from his water bottle hidden under the counter. “Hello!” the boy chokes on the liquid jumping in his throat. “Cough-cough!” he grabs a wet wipe and wipes the disgusting liquid off his arm. “I-I’m sorry, sir.” finally taking a look at the person, his apologetic grin turned to curiosity. The boy appeared to be around his age, with blue eyes and pale white skin. He appeared to be much heftier than him, and, most confusingly, there was a jester’s hat on top of the boy’s head. “What?” Ralph shakes his head, holding in a light chuckle. “Nothing. What can I get you?” the boy’s hat jingles with it’s small bells at it’s tips. “Hmm…” the boy examined the snack bar, In deep thought. “Three blueberry muffins, two cookies, one coconut vanilla and the other double chocolate, a chocolate muffin, two creme and sugar coffee’s…” Ralph grabbed a notebook and began writing the boy’s order.

He feels sweat falling down his forehead just staring at the list. It came down to 7 muffins, 6 cookies, 6 coffees, 6 travel cups, and a mishmash of caramels, mints, chocolates, and 2 cake pops. “Umm…your total is 58 dollars.” the boy hands him a hundred dollar bill. Ralph taps a few buttons on the monitor, and hands the boy his change. The boy gives him a grin and walks over to a table at the far side of the building. Ralph felt every organ in his body drop, and his knees quaked. “W-why?” he sighs, setting up a new pot of coffee. He grabs a tray from the other counter and begins putting items on the tray. The pot finished and he started the first two coffees when he turned to look at the boy. His mouth dropped. Every member of that God forsaken club was sitting there. After two more cups of coffee, and contemplating his relationship with God, he brought the tray over to the table, his face completely flushed. “Ah, hello, servant.” the girl known as Talia gives him a cocky grin. “Ah, thank you, Ralph.” Chris gives him a phrase of thanks before biting into a cookie. “Ahh. Perfect.” One of the twins slump into their seat, grinning. The boy he'd been talking to before was drinking water, holding a half eaten blueberry muffin in his other hand. Chloe was sitting at the far end of the table, where she'd been the entire time, writing something on a notepad. On closer inspection, it appeared she was writing in the same code as what was in the old notebook. Everything was really basic, like “hello, “ bye”, and “Ralph's a big fat-” Ralph felt a vein pulsate. Chloe gave him an innocent grin. “Ralph, you're off!” the man yelled at him. “What?!”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The boy sighs, sitting next to Talia, who was purposefully prodding him with a straw. “So, now that everyone's here, we review!” Chris points at one of the twins. “Griffin, go.” The twin nods. “Yesterday we were told to visit a shack in the White Wolf Forest by an encrypted message in a notebook. We recruited a temporary member and now plan to prove to him that conspiracy isn't stupid...cause he's a moron.” Chris smirks, planting his feet on the table. “Place your disgusting appendages upon this plank of wood and I'll have you clean it with your tongue.” Ralph threatened. “Jeez, fine.” Chris takes his feet off the table. “R-right. Anyway, everyone's phone charged?” Talia asked. All the members nodded their heads. “Alright. Let’s go!”

…

“Oooh.” The two twins were staring inside an old looking candy shop. Ralph, staring at the shop, felt a small bolt fly up his spine, making him shiver. “Alright, let's stop here for now.” all the members let out a woohoo before following Chris over to the front door. “Hey, what are you waiting for?” Talia slaps Ralph's back. “I'm not a horse.” “You sure? Cause you sure do look like one.” she laughs an annoying laugh before walking past him. “Rrggh.” he shoves his hands in his pockets, buries his face into his coat, and walks inside. It wasn't anything special, really. There were three aisles, made up of black racks you'd see in a gas station. There were the modern classics: Hershey's, Reces, Kit-Kat's, etc. This shop, however, was probably the only place you could find some original candies based off some cancelled favorites from the past. Cocoa-Raspberry Ropes, Crunch-Berries, Georges Tart Tails, and that’s only a few of what's there. A wave of nostalgia flew into Ralph and he gave a big, goofy smile that was thankfully hidden by his coat collar. “What the heck?!” he looked to his right, seeing a row of arcade machines. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Poli-Holly, a game that had vanished from most other arcades. Chris placed two quarters inside the slot and hit the shoot button. The title screen faded out into a colorful landscape with weird ships entering the atmosphere. A tank rolls onto the screen and the game begins. Tilting the joystick would change where the tank was aiming, and the shoot button, well, attacked. “Come on.” Chris and the boy from the shop, who had later introduced himself as Terry, where leaned over the game, watching in awe, Terry's hat bells making for one hell of a distraction Ralph changed his attention to the cabinet next to it. He reaches into his pocket and grins. He pulls out a small black bag, filled with quarters. He walks over to Galaga, placing two quarters inside the slot. Sitting on the stool, he begins shooting the strange looking aliens, moving and praying he didn't get hit. “Wow, you suck at this.” he jumped, losing his last life. “Dang it!” he turned to the girl determined to ruin his day. “What, you wanna try? This game ain't for kids, you know.” she glares. “I'm not a kid!” she's shoos him off the stool, placing two of her own quarters in the slot. “Show you what you douche.” she mumbles. The boy watches from over her shoulder. She was doing much better than he had been, completing the first two waves in only a few minutes. Her playing was a lot more smooth, unlike Ralph's twitchy, herky jerk reactions. He complimented her in his head, as she completed the third wave with no lost lives, far better than him. “Wow, you are good at this.” she cackles evilly in response. Wave 4 began, and her originally smooth motions were slowly turning into closer and closer calls. Her palms were growing sweaty, and she took deep breaths. Despite her efforts, however, she lost her first life halfway through the fourth wave. “Dang it!” Ralph nods his head. “You’re doing good. Just keep the smooth reactions and you'll be golden.” she nods her head. “Yeah, got it.” the wave restarts. She takes a deep breath and watches the screen intently. Tap tap, dodge dodge, tap tap tap, this rhythm repeated itself as she immersed herself deeper into the game. As he watched the screen, he watched as a random enemy appeared. “Left!” Ralph warns, and she dodges. “Right! Left! Both!” she twitches the joystick in every appropriate direction, tapping as fast as she can. “Left! Left! Right! Both! Both!” After 2 stressful minutes, the level is cleared. “Yeah! High five!” the two share a high five in celebration. “O-oh right! It-Left! Right! Right!”

The two lost their last two lives in a matter of minutes. “D-damn.” the two sulked. “Well, I still did better than you! I even got the high score!” despite her loss, she was determined to claim her superiority. He scoffs. “You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without me!” Ralph replies. “Oh, really?” the two stew in playful rage. “The best player at Pac-Man has to buy the other sweets!” Talia challenges. “Fine then. Prepare to get-

…

Ralph stares at his empty wallet and pouch in disgust. “H-how?” he turns to look at the small girl, beaming with pride, holding a plain paper bag filled to the brim with a large variety of candies. “Clearly I was at a disadvantage. Must have been the reflexes.” he moans about his defeat to no one in particular. “Here.” he looks up in shock to see the girl holding out a cocoa-rasberry rope. “Well fought, my friend. You've earned the most basic of respect.” he grips the candy, holding it in his hands almost like it couldn't possibly exist.. “Um, thanks. I respect your ability as well.” her cheeks turn red, and she nods her head. “You better.” she turned and ran to catch up with the others. He looked down at the plastic wrapped candy in his hand. He smiles. “Well, looks like you aren't as bad as I thought.” he ran to catch up as well.

…

The two had walked a good distance from the shop, when Chris had them change course into a random neighborhood. Ralph didn't say anything at first. It had been a while since he'd gone past the library, so who knows, maybe he didn't remember the way there well enough...or he forgot on purpose. He was extremely confused, however, when Chris stopped and started giving orders. “Everyone, side objective! Capture evidence of strange activity around this house. Talia, get your laptop, Griffin, get your iPod out.” Ralph watched in shock as the entire group got everything together for a stake out in mere seconds. “Naturals, right?” Chris appeared at Ralph's side out of nowhere, leaning on his shoulder. “What are you doing? I thought I was showing you where that shed is.” Chris shakes his finger at him. “Tut-tut-tut. Ralph, not everything's about you.” Chris pushes off him and walks over to the two twins. Ralph follows. “Alright, aim it at the window. If nothing shows up, aim it at the side of the house. Switch between the two every five minutes.” one of the twins hold up their iPod and watch the window. “What do you think you'll find?” Chris looks over at Ralph. “Some kid emailed us about how this house was where his grandpa used to live. About three months ago, the man died. Recently, when he visited the house he felt a presence inside, and he’s concerned his grandpa hasn't moved on. So, we're here to set him free.” Ralph pretends he finds it heartwarming. “So what, FX, something like that?” Ralph chuckles, but Chris shakes his head. “You wouldn't understand. I'll show you not everything is how it seems. I want to prove to people ghosts are real, that they're all apart of the scientific world, and not stuck in the realm of fiction.” Ralph quits his jabs. “Sorry. Didn't mean to upset you.”

“Chris!” The boy next to Ralph runs over to the twins. They point up to the attic window. “Yep. Hand me the iPod.” The twin hands it over. Chris hits record. “Hello. My name is Chris, and I’m part of the New World Conspiracy Club. I've come to you on behest of your grandson. His name is Charles, right?” Ralph stares at the attic window. No one appears to be there. “He's worried about you. He wants you to move on. And I understand it's tough. I've been in his position before, though. It's heartbreaking, knowing that someone you care for is trapped on this plane of reality. One where no one can acknowledge you. Where you're eternally alone. He wants better for you. I want better for you. Please, move on. While you still can.” a few seconds later, Chris stops recording. “Sending it to you, Talia.” Talia nods, turning down to look at her MacBook. Chris throws the iPod back to the Griff’s and tells them to get back to travelling. Ralph walks over to Chris. “What?” Ralph nods his head. “I still don't believe, sorry.” Chris slumps his shoulders. “I understand. I don't expect you to.” Ralph adds, “But, I think I can respect what you're doing.” Chris looks at him. “Well, I guess for now, that'll be good enough.”

…

Finally, they all arrived in front of the park gate. The gate doors are chained shut with three padlocks, and sturdy ones at that. “Lol, like that'll keep us out.” Terry grips the gate bars and begins climbing. He gets over the gates relatively quickly, landing on his feet and turning to the rest of them. “Well, come on! No time to lose.” Chris nods his head. “After me everyone!” Chris goes up next. Then Chloe, then Ralph, then the twins, and…”Talia, come on!” Ralph yells. “I-I can't!” Chris comes up to the bars. “Don't worry. You won't fall if you keep a good grip. If you do fall, though, and you won't, I'll catch you.” The girl visibly gulps. “P-promise?” Chris nods. “Promise.” the girl takes a long, deep breath. “Okay!” she grabs the closest bar and starts her ascent. “You're doing good! Just keep going!” the girl starts sweating profusely, doing her best not to look down. “Alright, I did it!” after a minute of her slowly making her way up, she reaches the top of the gate, and the group applauds. “Coming down!” she turns herself around and starts her climb down. “Hey, hey, no!” she attempts to go down a bar, but her boot slips on the ice that had grown on it. “I got ya!” Chris yells, pushing Ralph forward. Terrified, Ralph instinctually puts his arms out. She falls into him, causing them both to fall into the snow. The girl laid across Ralph's stomach, and the boy's body was aching.“Hey, you two okay?” Chris walks over to them with a concerned face. The both of them looked at Chris with a look of distaste. . “Ahhhhhhhhhh! My legs!” they both yelled. “Ehhhh?!” Chris went pale and jumped. “Ahhahahahahah!!” The two laugh at his reaction, helping each other up. “H-hey, jerks!” the two walk past Chris, still trying to recollect himself “Alright then, to our destination!” Talia yells. Left flustered, Chris was forced to the back of his group as Ralph led them into the White Wolf Forest.