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21. 7. 22, Thursday, 19:26
Perhaps you, my loyal reader, may be wondering about the unexplained and large time difference between the last chapter and this.
The truth is, there is no answer.
Until now every single detail of the Phobia Club’s unravelling of the Trail was given, having gotten it firsthand from them. Unfortunately, for some suspiciously peculiar reason, the Phobia Club was unable to supply the information as to what had been going on for the past eleven days. The only thing received were blank looks and frowns, along with the eloquent words:
‘We sort of quit at that time.’
Now we are faced with a quandary. What exactly happened during the nine days that led to them quitting for a brief period of time? There were no legal witnesses that could tell.
Perhaps the Phobia Club were simply hiding something. But, alas, it was not as simple as that. Further investigation has provided an alternate story. It cannot be proven, sadly, but seems highly probable: the seven’s memories had been wiped of that particular time frame and true to form, their brains had come up with a fabricated story to explain it.
So, why? Why wipe their memories? Apologetically, the answer will present itself to you in this terrible chapter.
You might wonder, why is this chapter so supposedly terrible?
It is terrible, because the means to continue this part of the story was acquired through several illegal and unorthodox ways, some which included a few invasions of privacies. Prepare yourself, unfortunate reader, to dive into the thoughts of a stone-cold shooter.
From the search history of Lana Jensen’s laptop…
***
BREAKING NEWS: C. ASHWOOD AWAKENS
We at Hermes News Network are delighted to announce that Curtis Ashwood has finally woken up from his coma, as confirmed by his doctor, the acclaimed specialist Dr. Howard Baldwin of St Ignatius Private Clinic yesterday.
At exactly 9 o’clock yesterday morning, Curtis Ashwood, stepbrother to the famous director Damon Ashwood, awoke from whatever poisoning the weapon he was shot with (see our previous post by clicking on the link below). However, Curtis was unable to recall clearly who his assailant was, what he was shot with and who was in his apartment.
“It’s normal for patients to wake up disoriented after a long period of unconsciousness,” says Nurse Bonnie Cohen. “We hope that after some time Curtis will be able to remember the events of that day, but it won’t be entirely unexpected if he doesn’t.
As reported a few days ago, Leith Banks, adoptive son of Damon Ashwood, had also woken up and is being discharged today. Miraculously, both victims have survived these mystery attacks.
But the question still remains: who is the mysterious assaulter?
***
Damon: Greetings, viewers, to the Judgement episode of Room of Fear, where one contestant will be saying goodbye. This time around the decision wasn’t too hard to make, as the votes we received from you devoted watchers were quite definite.
Damon: So now, the points each contestant has collected from every time they made it out of their Rooms under the time limit will be displayed. As you know every time they score they earn three points, and the total number of points now is 150, plus the minimum amount of points needed is 75 so today will be the day the total will be shown...and the one who didn't make enough will be unfortunately leaving. Will it be...Winifred? Denver? Alex?
Damon: Keep watching!
Adonis Makylov: 107 points.
Alex Chang: 83 points.
Anne-Marie Talmadge: 113 points
Ben Dover: 70
Denver Stein: 80
Emma Vincent: 90
Glen Woods: 82
Jordan King: 99
Julian Vincent: 114
Lana Jensen: 98
Kyler Naughton: 76
Leo Finley: 95
Ricky Selfors: 78
Shauna Cash: 81
Sherry Olsen: 82
Tanya Roswell: 112
Winifred Thompson: 101
Damon: And the contestant that will be leaving us from today...Ben Dover, arachibutyrophobe.
Alex: Guys, are we sad to see him go?
Everyone: (hooting) NO.
***
ALEX CHANG, TARGET NUMBER THREE OF THE MYSTERY SHOOTER
Just a few days ago Curtis Ashwood and Leith Banks were discharged from St Ignatius Private Clinic, only for the extended family of the Ashwoods to receive another victim: Asian contestant on the hit TV show Room of Fear, Alex Chang.
Investigation and interviews conducted by Hermes News Network has revealed the sequence and the details of the shocking event: yesterday morning, Alex and two other boys, Adonis Makylov and Julian T. Vincent (also contestants on the show) were out in the Ashwood Mansion’s maze, running a race to see who could reach the end first. When Alex didn’t show up after thirty minutes of waiting, the two boys called for several of the gardeners to help search the maze, assuming Alex had only gotten lost. Little did they know they would end up finding the unconscious form of Alex, also knocked out by the unknown weapon and drug.
Currently Alex is now recuperating at St Ignatius Private Clinic. While the doctors and nurses there have declined comment for the time being, our stunning and determined reporter Veronica Briggs managed to catch up with Damon Ashwood, director of Room of Fear, for comment.
“The doctors say that Alex is showing more signs of consciousness, upping the statistics of him waking up soon,” Damon says. “Of course, it’s a terrible thing. I have done my utmost best to assure the contestants’ safety, so right now I have my staff on guard for any mystery lurkers.”
Is this some further act of terrorism or revenge on the Ashwoods? If so, why was Alex involved?
***
Carlo Venezuela, alias Blowdart Man, sat on the wooden chair in front of the makeshift desk, facing his employer, and wondered who the other spies were.
He knew they were at least six including himself. But his employer was smart - too smart - and kept them all in the dark, so if one of them should chicken out or squeal the whole operation wouldn’t be ruined. Sometimes Carlo didn’t even know what exactly was the target in his instructions.
His job was to keep tabs on the seven contestants who found the Trail and keep them in check at intervals. Everything else was none of his concern. Money and motive had an interesting way of killing one’s curiosity. Although occasionally he did wonder why his employer needed five other people to perform the same job.
Unless it wasn’t the same job, which in that case was none of Carlo’s business.
Lots of things weren’t his business. Who his employer was, for instance. He’d never actually seen his face, but he knew it was someone important. Most of all, someone who could keep him out of the authorities’ way.
Oh yes. He chuckled a bit. The two short boys and the girl with the so-short attention span thought he was in jail and therefore couldn’t be their mystery shooter. Well, he definitely wasn’t in jail right now.
“Update, Number One?” His employer’s voice broke into his thoughts.
“Yessir,” Carlo said complacently. “Since I shot the Chinese boy on Monday they started talking about quitting. They see me around that time so I shoot them. Wiped their memories.”
“I want the whole story, Carlo - start with why you shot Alex Chang.”
“Well sir, the skinny boy and the loud one were with him out in the maze. He found the trapdoor, so I had to shoot him. The boys saw me, though, so I had to clean their memories too. They now think the Chinese one was just shot for no reason.”
“Carlo, Carlo. I’ve noticed they’ve been rather druggish lately, haven’t they?”
Carlo inhaled a little too loudly. Whenever his employer’s voice went silky, it didn’t mean good news. “Well sir, over the last few days, they tried to contact a CERTAIN two people, if you catch my drift. So I had to wipe their memories one too many times, so the side-effect is taking place now. They think they’ve decided to quit the Trail because so many people got hurt.”
“Two people, you say?” Spindly fingers flattened themselves on the desk. “Number Four and Five?”
“Uh, no, it’s you-know-who.”
“I’ll deal with them. What else?”
“Well sir, I don’t know the others, but I should say whoever did it, it was accomplished. They hid George Reeves’s confession so I wouldn’t find it, but some time ago they discovered it was missing. I followed your orders - they think it’s still in its hiding place and they’ve forgotten about the hiding place.”
“I see Number Six followed through. However, Carlo, we need the seven to get back on track.”
Carlo frowned. “I can’t undo the memory thing.”
“They need some motivation…I’ll handle this. Coming from the right person they should decide to continue it. Let me know when they fully wake up.”
“Yessir. What exactly do you want them to find?” Carlo asked, betraying his interest slightly. He hastily covered it up. “I need to stay one step ahead.”
“The office. But if they find it, you know what to do. I want you to cause a distraction. Don’t wipe their memories, I need to find out what they learnt…Number Two shall do that.”
Carlo thought the better of his next question. “I go now?”
“Yes. Tonight is Ricky Selfors’s birthday. All seven of them will be split up into different teams. You’ll receive the name of which group you’ll be watching.”
“Then the…others will be taking care of the other six?” Carlo asked. Maybe he would finally get the names of the other spies.
“Not for you to know.” His employer waved an airy hand. “You may go now.”
Carlo stood up, but he hesitated. “Sir, with all due respect, who are the other spies?”
“Ah, I suppose you would be wondering after so long - only natural.” His employer was smiling. The sort of smile no one likes. Carlo himself was unnerved by it. “My good man, all you need to know is that Number Two is a siren, Number Three is a chameleon and Number Four and Five are victims.”
“And the sixth one?”
“Someone they know very well.”