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。。。。《10/28/2045 : 11 : 39 PM - Emma's POV》。。。。
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I was awoken by the sound of footsteps going out of the bed beside me, and the sound of the door to our room clicking afterwards.
I felt a slight tinge of unease and doubt when I saw Gilda exiting out the door. Wanting to figure out if she was the traitor or not, I decided to get out of bed as well, and started tip-toeing near the door where she was going to.
"Ah, I've been waiting for you, Gilda!" Sister Krone greeted joyfully.
No.. it can't- be!?
Gilda was welcomed with a bright yellow light coming from Sister Krone's room, with her walking inside and Sister Krone shutting the door behind them.
When I heard the door click, I walked over behind the door and rested my ear against it, eaves dropping on their conversation.
"Now then, please talk to me, Gilda." Sister Krone said.
"You mean.. About the issue.. right?" Gilda asked, I leaned my head closer and closer onto the door.
Please, Gilda, you can't be the traitor, don't betray us, please..
"Well, I can assure you that there is nothing wrong!" Gilda exclaimed to Sister Krone, once she said that, I sighed out of relief.
Thank goodness!
"I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm okay now! So you don't need to worry about me anymore!" Gilda pointed out.
A few seconds of silence were followed after Gilda had answered, but I heard a faint giggle coming from the room.
"Oh, I see, Emma's told you everything then?" Sister Krone guessed, making me flinch at her conclusion.
Oh no..
"So you know everything about the house now, right, Gilda?" She continued.
"Awww, it's too bad, Gilda! I really did thought we could become friends! So, who else knows? Norman, Ray, Emma, and..?" Sister Krone listed.
"I'll let you off the hook, if you cooperate with me, we can-"
"Please stop!" Gilda shouted, I heard Sister Krone being pushed towards the door afterwards.
Phew, thank you, Gilda..
"I don't know what you're talking about! Me and Emma just had a little disagreement on something! But everything's fine now! We made up, so there's nothing to worry!" Gilda pointed out.
"Ah, so it was just a mistake on my part, very well then, I apologize, you may leave now." Sister Krone said warmly. I then walked back to my room and waited for Gilda to come back.
I'M SO HAPPY!!!
I then heard the sound of the door opening, and it was Gilda.
"Emma..?"
"Gilda.."
After we both said our names, Gilda suddenly walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a big hug. I responded with me wrapping my arms around her in return.
Thank you for not giving up on us, Gilda.
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。。。。《10/29/2045 : 1 : 20 PM - 3rd POV》。。。。
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It was a rather nice morning out in the fields of Grace Field, with most of the children being outside of the Orphanage to help out with Laundry.
Luna, Ray, and Norman, were busy washing the white uniforms within wooden baskets and washboards.
While doing laundry, Luna's eyes drifted towards Don, who was holding a basket full of laundry while talking to another one of their enemies, Sister Krone.
"Thank you for helping me with this, Don, I really appreciate it!" Sister Krone thanked him.
"No problemo!!" Don said enthusiastically.
She then redirected her attention towards the two girls near her, which were Emma and Gilda, as they were also watching Don closely with suspicion.
"Do you think he could be the traitor?" Gilda asked quietly to Emma.
"I don't know, but we should go, Mom's watching." Emma whispered back to Gilda.
"I swear to god, if there even is one in this world... if there's one thing that the tangerine should work on, it's learning how to whisper correctly." Luna said to no one in particular.
"..So, any luck on finding who I need to kick in the guts yet?" Luna asked, looking over to Norman for answers.
"..No, not yet, but according to what Emma told me this morning, she told me that Gilda is innocent." Norman announced.
"So that leaves Don then, and you-know-who." Luna mentioned, with the two twins nodding back each other.
"who's the other person you suspect?" Ray asked out of curiosity.
"You'll figure it out soon enough." Luna stated, leaving Ray's question unanswered.
"Anyway, I'm just curious, why do traitors betray others?" Norman asked, with Ray suddenly perking up to the question.
"Isn't it obvious? They must be a sort of advantage by doing so." Ray pointed out.
"For example, maybe they can save themselves from being shipped out." he guessed.
"A guarantee to live, huh?" Norman said to himself.
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"Come on everyone! Keep following me, ahaha!" Emma laughed, with 6 other kids running behind her.
"Oh.. I see it now, this was all just for training on running away." Don realized. With Norman narrowing his eyes on Don without the latter noticing.
Back at the house, Emma was busy counting her steps as she was walking down the hallway.
"one, two, three-"
"Emma, can we talk?" Norman asked, with Emma looking back at him with a smile.
"What do you need?" Emma asked.
"I'd like to hear your opinion on something.. if there is someone who is willingly siding with the demons, so that they could have a guarantee to live.."
"You mean, in exchange for spying on us, they could still continue to live?" Emma guessed.
"Mhm, Would you leave that person behind, or take them with us?" Norman asked. After hearing Norman's question, she started thinking about it whether or not they should bring the traitor with them.
"Mm.. I'd take them!" Emma answered bluntly.
"Even if they didn't want to?" Norman asked, a bit surprised by the ginger's answer.
"Yup! I'd force them! Besides, if what your saying is true.. then that means, if we end up escaping, their life may not be guaranteed anymore.." Emma pointed out, leaving Norman surprised.
"And besides, I want to believe in everyone, and I learned that with Gilda, Ray told me to suspect everyone, but even if there's a traitor among our siblings, none of our siblings are truly bad! We grew up together, like a family! Even if that person gets in the way or tells me I'm naive, I still want to believe in that person!" Emma explained, with her eyes glimmering with hope.
Norman, still looking a bit shocked with her answer, replaced the shock ness of his expression with a warm smile.
"Of course, I knew you would say that, Emma!" Norman smiled happily.
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。。。。《TIME SKIP - 8 : 45 PM》。。。。
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Once Norman obtained the hidden rope from the attic, he gave it to Ray to inspect it, with him nodding back at Norman.
"Let's go find out who the traitor is." Norman advised, with Ray following behind him. They first went towards the second-floor bathroom ceiling, and saw the rope still there.
"So it isn't Gilda." Norman pointed out, obtaining the rope from the hiding spot.
After obtaining the rope, they went over to the bedrooms and went towards Norman's bed. Raising the blanket up, the rope was gone.
"So?" Ray asked.
"No rope.." Norman said disappointingly.
"So that settles it, It's Don." Ray stated, with Norman nodding in disappointing.
"So... You're the traitor, Ray." Norman said coldly, with Ray looking rather shocked at his statement.
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。。。。《Tick... tock... tick... tock...》。。。。
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As the clock continued to tick within the silent room, Norman and Ray were staring at each other, waiting for the other to answer in order to break the tension within the area.
"Tch.." Ray clicked, forming a smirk on his face.
"Are you serious, Norman? Cut it out." Ray scoffed, but Norman was still looking as serious as ever.
"You've realized it by now, right, Ray?" Norman stated.
"I set a trap for three people, to Don, I told him the rope was under my bed, and for Gilda, it was in the second floor bathroom ceiling, at least, that's what I told to you, Ray." Norman mentioned, with Ray's smirk suddenly turned into a frown, realizing what Norman was saying.
"But I actually told Don it was in the Dining Hall, and I told Gilda it was in the Library, then the rope under my bed suddenly disappeared, so what about the other two spots, should we go check on them now?" Norman explained.
Realizing that he was cornered by Norman's plan, Ray sighed in defeat, and sat onto Norman's bed, laying down on it with his hand over his eyes.
"Hah... hahaha.. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!!!" Ray cackled maniacally, which caught Norman by surprise.
"Aw man, and here I thought I was doing so well!" Ray said with disappointment.
"Yeah, you're right, I am Mom's spy." Ray said with an evil grin on his face.
"So, when did you start suspecting me?" Ray asked.
"It was the day when Sister Krone came into this house." Norman answered.
"I was disgusted with myself for thinking such a thing, I immediately suspected you, even though you're my friend.." Norman pointed out.
"I wish I had been wrong about it, it was a worst case scenario, but for the enemy's perspective, you were the most fitting for being the traitor, you would be capable of providing input to our plans, and from the perspective of controlling the situation, it was perfect for Mom." Norman explained, with Ray still grinning at him as if it was some sort of game.
"How embarrassing, I walked right into your little trap.." Ray said with a tinge of embarrassment.
"I also have another thing I'm curious about, you see, I don't really think that Mom would be so trusting to a person who started giving tips, just how long have you been Mom's spy?" Norman questioned.
"Hm.. for a while now, I can't remember a time since I wasn't her spy, guess you could say I'm a sheepdog for a shepherd." Ray answered, with Norman looking even more surprised.
"You knew everything from the very start, and yet you still assisted Mom this whole time?!" Norman asked in shock.
"Yeah." Ray answered casually.
"All that time.. spent on planning with Emma and me, was everything just a lie?! What and how much have you been telling Mom, can the tracking devices even be broken?!" Norman questioned.
"What are you gonna do about it? Gonna ditch me based off my answer?" Ray asked.
"...No, I want you to stay close to us, like you've always been." Norman answered, making Ray's smug grin turn into a frown.
"Isn't it great Ray? You get to hide your little mistake! You tried to frame Don so that you could keep spying on us! Correct?" Norman guessed.
"Just tell me what you want." Ray said.
"Three things, one, continue to spend time with us and guarantee our safety, two, I want you to release all the information you have on mama, and three, become a spy for our team now." Norman listed.
"You want me to act as your ace?" Ray asked, with Norman nodding 'yes' as a response.
"Are you an idiot?! If that was your objective from the beginning, then you should've just kept quiet and used me! And once the plan was executed, you could've casted me aside, it would've been easy!" Ray yelled.
"I thought so too, but you know Emma, she wouldn't let me cast you aside like that, we're all family right? After all, weren't you the one who laid out Little Bunny?" Norman mentioned.
"The night when we went to the gate, if you hadn't said that we could make it, we wouldn't have gone."
"You laid out the bread crumbs for us to discover the truth about this house for ourselves."
"You're the one who set up the escape for our sakes, right?" Norman guessed.
"So tell me, Ray, why are you being Mom's subordinate?" He asked.
"Why not?" Ray shot back.
"You wouldn't necessarily do things to make us realize the truth, if you were a hundred percent on Mom's side." Norman explained.
"You were controlling us, the tracking devices, the timing of the escape, and how fast the plan progressed. That's why you didn't like the idea of us escaping ten days from now. But at the same time, weren't you also keeping Mom under control? You're not our enemy after all, right?" Norman pointed out.
"Well, lets just say I volunteered, I guess.. it's more accurate to say that I sold myself, really.." Ray said, with Norman giving him a sad frown.
"AND ALL OF IT WAS TO PREPARE FOR THE ESCAPE WE'RE PLANNING!" He yelled out.
"The most efficient way to learn about the enemy, is by gathering things from the inside, which is also the reason why I brought up a deal with mom." Ray explained.
"That's risky.." Norman worriedly commented.
"Mm... not really, I'm one of the finest products she's raised here, shipping me out early would be something she would definitely want to avoid, but that's how I saw it. Let's just say that she's a person who cares more about profit than rules."
"I only asked her for two things, one, if I cooperated with her, she won't ship me out that easily, two, I get rewards in exchange for results." Ray pointed out.
"What kind of rewards?" Norman asked curiously.
"Various junk, if it wasn't within the house, I would have her secure it for me." Ray said, with Norman finally realizing what he was doing.
Ray nodded back at him in correction of what he guessed Norman was thinking about.
"I was testing on what I could obtain outside, as well as looking out for the outside world, turns out, she could get me lots of things, as long as if they aren't dangerous of course, but all the things she's brought back were outdated." Ray pointed out.
"Then, when you said you had an idea about breaking the tracking devices..."
"I've seen the real device, I experimented, took some years to find out how to break it, but it's definitely possible to break the device." Ray stated.
"Don't you see, Norman? The person before you is the strongest card you have!" Ray said, with his evil grin becoming more and more villainous.
"You don't even know how much information I've obtained over the years, ever since I found out about the truth of this house, I've started preparing.."
"Ray.."
"All of this.. just to make sure you both don't die!" Ray exclaimed, pointing at Norman.
"Just like you said, I'm not your enemy, but I'm also not your ally either. How about this, if you agree to one condition I have for you, then I'll be your ace, I'll give you all the information I have on Mom, and I'll also lie to her if you say so." Ray offered.
"What's the condition?" Norman asked.
"Trick Emma." Ray answered, with Norman looking surprised at him.
"You need to pretend you're taking everyone, but at the last moment, ditch them all, we leave everyone behind, if you want to bring a few more people, you can take Don and Gilda." Ray stated.
"Wait.. what about my sister?" Norman asked. "She pisses me off, but yeah, sure, you can bring her too, I understand that you would want to bring your sibling." Ray answered.
"But the training, the training helped the others grow more than we expected! You even said it yourself that their movements weren't that bad, you meant it, right-"
"Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that they're all a burden." Ray interrupted.
"You said you were going to help us."
"What I'm offering to you right now IS helping. If you don't like it, then you two can die here, Luna, on the other hand, she seems as if she's okay with the others not escaping." Ray stated.
"Didn't you say you didn't want us to get killed?" Norman reminded.
"To be honest, I'd rather have your blood spilled while getting shipped out instead of immediately getting killed once we escape. So, do we have a deal?" Ray asked.
Realizing that this was probably the only choice he had, Norman let out a heavy sigh, and reached his hand out to Ray, sealing the deal between them.
"Listen, if I figured out that you're lying to me.."
"Oh, no worries! You have my word." Norman said, smiling back at him. As soon as Ray lets go of Norman's shoulder, he left the room with a smirk on his face.
He started walking down the empty hallways, looking from left to right before going down to Isabella's Office.
"You took a while." Isabella mentioned, looking over to Ray.
"I was just discussing things with Norman."
"And?" Isabella asked.
"Nothing much has changed, they're still focused on training the others with tag, Sister, however.. she's an issue, she's on the move again." Ray reported.
"It was a bad move to summon her here, but I know she's just a deterrent for me, right?" Ray guessed.
"It makes me sad that you still don't fully trust me, even after helping you out for six years, I think I might cry." Ray mentioned with disappointment.
"It was merely a precaution, besides, if you hadn't made the three of them go to the gate the other night, we wouldn't be in this situation." Isabella explained.
"I already made up for that by spying for you, I sold out my friends, and I report everything that Sister Krone does that might be dangerous. So you better give me my reward." Ray demanded.
"Of course, that was the deal, after all." Isabella agreed, giving Ray a curt smile.