The Metaphorical Key Book II- Forge the Path

XIX

We're almost done bois! Three more chapters left in my plan!

"What?" Dulcie sputtered, her voice cracking. "How do you know - why aren't they back yet?"

The man before them - Prosper - crossed his arms and glared. "I'm ex-Catago. And before you burn me at the stake, I was blackmailed. Threatened to kill my family if I didn't comply. I'm sure you two have family you'd do anything for, you can understand, hmm?"
"Yes," Dulcie said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. "One of them, at least."
"They're all dead."

Prosper blinked several times.
"Looks like we've got some emotional baggage here. Moving on..."

Dulcie and Kayden exchanged a look, a non-verbal sort of that's an understatement.

"Anyway," Prosper continued, his voice dragging itself out. Not even a full minute into meeting the duo and he was already frustrated. Clearly, this was destined to be a glorious friendship, as these things usually go.

"Your friends were chased out of a car by a Catago operative. They went the wrong way. They should arrive here sometime, y'know. They've gotta find the right point to go off from eventually, right? But I've already asked. They're not here."

Dulcie punched a tree.

Why couldn't anything ever just be simple?

Just once, once, she wanted something to work out, fall into place in her lap. She wanted to try something and have it work like a charm on the first attempt.

But it never did.

She'd try and fail and fail again and again and again and just when she thought it was working out? It was all ripped away, violent and cold. No, you can't have this. It was as though she were being persuaded with victory and when she pursued the reward? No matter what she did, all that was at the end was failure.

They left the ghost inn by the time the sun rose over the treetops.

They traipsed through the woods for several hours until they finally, finally emerged out of the thick trees and into the open air.

In the distance was a cabin, abandoned and crumbling. Their feet were aching though, and so they approached it, pleading that nobody was there already. Aiden pressed a shaky hand to his forehead and shut his eyes tight until the glare from the sun lessened and was replaced by pleasant darkness. He loosened the collar of his shirt, plucking at the buttons on everything until it was loose, less constrictive.

They knocked on the cabin door.

No answer.

Before just walking in, Aiden took a few steps back and scanned the outside.

It was quaint and rather pretty, he supposed. It was done in muted colours, there was the whole... abandoned ordeal, and with their luck, probably haunted by a family of axe-wielding vengeful ghosts, but it looked homely, the kind of place people went to for family reunions and awkward dinners over takeout and turkey.

He knocked again.

Still no answer.

Giving up on courtesy and etiquette, Aiden tried the lock.

The door swung open with a shriek. Evidently, it happened been opened in a while.

Aiden cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice, and just in case, shouted out.

"WE'RE REALLY TIRED AND WE'RE JUST GONNA SLEEP IN YOUR HOUSE FOR A BIT. THAT OKAY?"

No reply.

A quick once over of the building confirmed that nobody lived there, or had in the past decade or so.