The Wrong Person Was Transported to the Horrific Lost Village

There was a school up the road from the inn. Across the school was a field with bleachers and a scoreboard. I could imagine that in an era where this place wasn't cursed, this place would see kids competing merrily.

Others from the bus were in their groups, standing around the field. A group that stood out to me was the group with Mei and Kia. Mei was looking cheerful, standing beside Kia. With them were Paulie, Jackson, the injured Gracie, and Gracie's two friends. 

They were the biggest group. The second biggest group was the one of Tolk, Mykos, Gran, Reio, and the bus driver--I still needed to find out that man's name. Cassandra and Greg still weren't here--they were probably still at the inn, and then Susy--Susy was sitting at the top of the bleachers by herself.

There was one final grouping--Lorio, Riggs, a taller brown-skinned muscular man in a sleeveless tee and cargo pants, and Mitch.

Nothing was underway yet. Others from the village were standing nearby. It looked like everyone was waiting for Lorio.

 

***

 

Ryza clicked her tongue. "Look at Mitch. Look at how they bring him into their talks... Hold a gun, and people think you're the big man."

"This is better," I said. "You don't need to be the center of attention at this stage. We can move around better than Mitch can, surely."

"Yes, less eyes on us... I get that. Still." Ryza shook her head. "Just annoying to see it happen."

"Hmm..." Haunting said. "What do you girls think this place was like before people were trapped here? Do you think this place was a home for people, or do you think it's an actual set made by the ghosts and monsters?"

"That's a worthwhile avenue of inquiry," Hari said, standing near Haunting. "We should consider investigating who was here first. Developing a timeline of arrival would certainly help us better understand the hierarchy and who are most likely to be the founts of wisdom."

"Are you really a kid?" Haunting asked.

Hari chuckled. "That's for you to decide, Miss Haunting."

"Oh, come on, don't give back such a mysterious answer! You're teasing the viewers!"

Ryza chuckled at the two before turning her attention to me. "You sure you okay, Mari? You don't need to be here. You could go take a nap."

"No, no. I can handle this much. Besides, I came here on the same day. I might be involved too."

"Alright, but if you get faint, you tell me. I'll carry you home."

I smiled. "Be still, my fluttering heart--"

Haunting's twitchy ears popped into view, followed by a loud "Hmm."

"I don't hear your heart racing, Mari," she said.

Ryza laughed. "Don't expose her like that, Haunting."

That was amusing. I pushed Haunting's head away while smiling and rolling my eyes. "So much for buttering you up."

Ryza shrugged with a grin. "Ehh, I'm sure your heart's good at being quiet. You seem like the type who's got a handle on it--"

"Hey, Ryza..."

We all turned around--Paulie was there looking around like he had a secret to share.

Ryza nodded at me and then answered Paulie. "What's up, Paulie?"

Paulie's eyes darted past us. "Susy. She was the first one here."

Ryza raised a brow. "I'm going to assume that she was here before they discovered the Goal or whatever."

"That's right."

"How do you know that, Paulie?" I asked.

"The tour guide--Mykos. He was the one that found Susy sitting on the bleachers. Then, the big guy over there," Paulie said with a wag of the chin.

I leveled my gaze at the muscular man in the sleeveless tee.

"Roderick had noticed that Mykos was frantic and followed him here. He's the one that noticed the Goal--or whatever he noticed. Then he went and called Lorio."

"Susy..." Haunting whined. "It's so Supernaturo, but..." Haunting pressed her hands against her face and whined some more.

"You need to work past your aversion to Susy," I said.

"She has an aversion to Susy?" Ryza asked. "Why?"

"Because Susy is the wrong kind of creepy."

"Didn't know 'creepy' was anything other than creepy."

"I know," Haunting said. "But Susy's comfort with actual dead bodies is unnerving."

Ryza smirked. "Sounds like someone wouldn't be good with zombies."

Haunting got serious. "No, I would be fine with any kind of undead animated by the powers of magic or any other supernatural energy source."

"That's a quick flip of the switch," Ryza remarked.

"This is her all the time," I followed.

"What? I just don't deal with corpses or the people that make them well, okay?" Haunting said.

"Just remember, the person you're scared of probably shouldn't be out of a care home. You have to give her some allowances to be weird," Ryza said, bringing forth a rational thought.

"I know..."

"Now, put your investigator hat on, Haunting. Susy was here before everyone else. What are we thinking?"

"Entirely possible it was a coincidence," I said. "Also... Given what we know about this town's history with paranoia, it's not unthinkable that the powers that be placed the Goal here after Susy arrived."

"Fuck, that's good, Mari. They'd want us to be suspecting her more than we should."

"I'm curious over whether or not she saw the Goal appear," Haunting said. "Does anyone actually know what it looks like?"

Paulie raised his hand. "There's a letter and a box on a table. I came around here yesterday. The table wasn't here."

I looked over to Lorio and the other two. They were still discussing some things. "I'm going to go ask Susy if she saw anything. She hasn't really moved. Hope she's not catatonic."

Ryza nodded. "Sounds good. Let's see how much longer these guys are going to keep us in suspense."

***

"Hey, Susy," I said with a kind wave.

She looked over at me and smiled for all of two seconds before freaking out.

"Oh my gosh, Mari!" she said. "What happened to your hand?"

I raised the bandaged hand. "Oh, this? I just burned it with hot water." I showed her a clumsy smile. "I was being a klutz... Please don't worry, Susy."

"You'll be alright?" she asked, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"Ryza and Haunting cleaned and patched me up. I'm sure I'll be okay."

"Okay," she said, twisting her lips. "If you say so..."

"Please don't look so sad. You were so happy moments before."

"It's hard to be happy when someone else is hurting right in front of you, isn't it?"

The comment caught me by surprise a little, given how nonchalant she was with Kaz's body. But maybe... Maybe she saw "death" as the absence of pain? I've known people who held that perspective. Susy was just more... decisive in her stance.

She clapped her cheeks a few times. "But, okay, you said you're going to be okay, so I shouldn't bring you down when you're trying to feel better!" She smiled at me wider than before. "Mari, how are you doing on this beautiful day?"

I chuckled. "I'm doing well, Susy. Thank you."

"Thank you."

"I was meaning to ask you, Susy--I heard you were the first one here."

"First one here?" she asked, tilting her head.

I pointed at the crowd behind me, and she nodded a few times.

"Oh, I see... But I'm not part of their group."

"Part of their group?"

She innocently pointed at them. "Aren't they here to play baseball?"

I looked around behind me and noticed the bases. I chuckled, surprised both by the fact that this field had a baseball diamond, and that this world had baseball too.

"They aren't here to play baseball... Didn't anyone tell you what's going on?"

"No. You're the first person who came to speak to me, Mari."

"Oh," I said, a little sad to hear that.

"And you didn't overhear anything to the contrary or wonder beyond baseball?"

She shrugged and giggled. "I was just distracted," she said as she hugged her knees and looked at the sky. "It's so beautiful out here. When I came out here, I just got the urge to bask in it... That's why I wasn't really paying attention. I was just losing myself in the peace--the sound of the farm animals in the distance, the sound of the creeks, the sound of the wind blowing past my ears..."

She looked back at me, her smile a little softer.

"The city's really noisy, Mari. I could never hear the world's beauty there."

"I can imagine..."

"My medication wasn't really helping me. It muted the noise a little, but it muted me more... I felt like I wasn't the one controlling my life. I was just moving. That wasn't me... I don't even really think I knew myself... But here... I get to hear myself think." She giggled. "I've been thinking about things, Mari. I've been thinking about what to eat, I've been thinking about what do I like more--refreshing water or the breeze. Oh, I've been ranking my favorite places here and thinking about who my favorite people are." Susy hugged her knees closer to her chest. "I didn't get to do that before... Sorry, Mari. I just get overwhelmed... But that's why I didn't really pay attention. I'm just... enjoying how much I love this place."

I chuckled. "Earnestness is beautiful, Susy. Don't be ashamed, and don't apologize. Bask in it. Bask in the peace when it greets you."

"Thanks, Mari..." she said, resting her head on her knees, a warm smile directed at me.

"So, you just came to this spot because that was where your heart was leading you today?"

"Hmm... I would say it was more like my ears were leading me, but my heart was a big part of it too, I guess." She giggled like a child being asked to pick a best friend. "But without my ears, my heart wouldn't have been swayed, so they have to get the credit for today's destination."

"Wait, what do you mean, Susy?"

"Well, I just woke up to the most beautiful hum and melody. I had never heard something like it, so I just tried to follow it. By the time I got to this field, the hum had faded... I was really sad too, Mari. I wanted to learn how to hum like that too! I want to make a beautiful sound like that. Could you imagine?" she asked, her smile full of hope. "Maybe if I could hum like that... maybe people would come talk to me more. Or maybe just even come and listen... Like I did... It was a really pretty hum, Mari. I'm jealous."

"Oh..." I said as I processed what she said.

She made her face up into a playful pout. "I bet they used some kind of instrument. I refuse to believe someone could do that with their throat," she said, playfully crossing her arms. "I bet they used a blade of grass like the bards in the stories."

"Yeah..." I said, nodding. "Maybe... I'll look into it--"

She lit up. "Really?" she asked, leaning a little closer. "Okay... I'll look into it too! Maybe we could learn together."

How could I not smile back at her?

"Sure. That would be a nice time killer."

"It would! It really would."

Bless Beverly and her noble sacrifice. Thanks to all that Vengeance she was covered in, the portions I got from wounding her a bit were enough for me to produce the tiniest butterfly without fear. That butterfly crawled out of my pants and landed on the floor.

Susy--this girl was keyed into something in this place. She couldn't be trusted to be more aware, but my butterflies--these little cuties worked diligently and earnestly.

I set my butterfly to stick to Susy and set it to alert me whenever Susy was exhibiting strange behavior or if something strange was spotted. Thankfully, since the butterflies were me in a sense, they could apply my standards if I so chose. So, when they spotted strange behavior, it would be the behavior that I would raise a brow at. Setting them to my standard did increase the consumption rate marginally, but Beverly had me sitting pretty. Bless her. I could keep a butterfly on Susy for a week at least thanks to her--that Beverly must be such a stain on this life--bless her, she's given me so much for so little.

Anyway, I got distracted imagining Beverly's well-deserved end. The weakness to my approach would be if Susy was exhibiting behavior I misidentified as mundane. Still, nothing's perfect. This would be good for now.

"Mari, you look happy."

I nodded. "Things just get easier for me every day."

"I think I can relate..."

"Hey, everyone, come around. We're going to show you the Community Goal. Thanks for your patience!"

"Huh, Lorio's ready to let us in on the big Goal..." I said. My eyes then wandered to the person beside him. "Oh, Anabelle's here... She must have escorted someone." 

I noticed Casandra and Greg were next to Ryza. There was a good chance Anabelle was the one who fetched them.

"Susy, are you coming?"

She shook her head and hugged her knees again. "I don't think so," she said, a light breeze blowing her hair as she smiled nervously. "I can hear from here."

"Okay..." 

I turned around and started walking back to my group, but then--

"Mari?"

--Susy had called out to me.

"What's up, Susy?" I asked, turning around again.

She looked past me for a second and then back at me.

"I think you should be careful with Anabelle."

Well, that was an interesting comment. It would have been stupid for me not to press her.

"Why, Susy?"

"Anabelle likes deer."

I blinked a few times. "What?"

"Anabelle likes deer. You and Haunting escaped from a deer, right? I don't think Anabelle is happy about that."

"Why do you say she likes deer?"

"Her bracelet reminds me of the Prince of the Forest story."

I nodded slowly. I didn't know that story. I was going to have to ask Haunting... Still, she liked deer because of a bracelet?

"Right... Prince of the Forest... Got it... Thanks, Susy."

It'd be stupid to disregard her now. Just like in the movies, the eccentric character could sometimes see what no one else could.