The Wrong Person Was Transported to the Horrific Lost Village

Haunting's Room--

"Mari! What are we going to do?!" Haunting said as she paced up and down.

I was calm and sitting at the side, sipping some tea that Bessie had prepared for me. It helped with drowsiness and headaches. Wasn't she just the sweetest? Pitter had come by and had told her that I wasn't well. So sweet. Anyway, back to Haunting's dilemma--

"We're not going to freak out. Please recall that the choices we made were in the spirit of reducing complications and preventing any flare-ups of greed. There's nothing to be guilty about. We were being proactive."

"But, Mari. They have to find the duffel bag--but what if I hid it too well? I thought they would find it like months from now. Not have to find it now or else..."

"I really wonder what the penalty is going to be..."

"They're not going to find it. I need to lead them right to it."

"No, you don't. Haunting, we have many ways of dealing with this if you don't want to reveal our bit of kind subterfuge."

"What can we do, Mari," she asked, almost about to cry.

"I'm assuming you're concerned about them finding it and thinking it was too well-hidden or something. Which, honestly, is a non-issue. You can either trust me and believe that it will look like a bag that's been hidden just by the natural processes within the forest, or you could sneak away and re-hide it in a way that suits your nerves. If you're particularly clever, you could 'find' it when you're with someone else, and you can share the discovery of mysterious riches with the person."

"What if they kill me? Money has a real strong way of twisting people. I've investigated tons of hauntings where the ghost had been killed because of money."

"If you find it when someone like Pitter is there, you'll be fine."

"But still... Can you do it?"

"Do you want me covering for you, or do you want me to trust that you can cover for me?"

"I..."

She trailed off as she pouted and twiddled her thumb. 

"I don't think I can keep my cool."

"And that's fine," I assured her. "Listen. There's a good stretch of forest that we ran through. Given that something was chasing us, and given that wild pigs are out there, among other things, it's reasonable to think that we won't be able to find it today. We might also not remember what direction we ran toward... Hmm... Hopefully, no one realizes they should bring Susy."

"Why not?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Susy would probably remember the exact direction we ran in. Don't know how she would do it, but she probably would. I believe in her to do that much, I think."

"Susy is so tuned into this place," Haunting lamented.

"I don't think they'll want to bring Susy with them." I rested my head against the wall. "Ryza was right to take note of Mitch. The villagers are already ranking us. Mitch is the most respected. Then, of our group, Roderick respects Ryza and me the most."

"How can you tell that about Roderick?"

"Haunting, he didn't shake your hand. He valued Ryza because of her build, and me... well, I guess my general aura and helpfulness."

"Oh," she said, becoming dejected.

"Don't be sad. It's better to not stand out... Be proud that you earned Ryza's respect."

"I did?"

"Very much so. She asks for your opinion very often. I think she started to see your value after learning how diligent you are and how creative in your thinking you are. She noticed how Roderick disregarded you too. I'm sure that endeared you to her more. Ryza seems to be group-oriented, and he slighted her group."

"Wow... Okay..."

"Anyway, here's what I think we should do. I'll lead us in a direction. You agree with me. We will search until Lorio calls it quits for the day. Luckily for us, we don't have the entire day to work."

"You don't want to give it our all?"

"We'll give it our all, just not in the right places... In truth, and please don't judge me, I want to see what the penalty for a Community Goal like this is. I want to understand what's at risk with these Goals now."

"Couldn't we just ask about the history of penalties?"

"I very much intend to do so in collaboration with Ryza and Hari. But, did you notice what Lorio said? He referred to this place as a "pressure cooker." Not only that. He was also surprised by the scoreboard--that was a reaction that indicated he had never seen such a thing happen, or at the very least, it doesn't happen often. Also, recall that things happened that he didn't expect. We're in uncharted waters here--"

"So, we have to calibrate to the new Goals, because the penalties of the past might not be valid in these conditions that have even the villagers wondering..."

"Exactly. There's value in learning what a penalty looks like, and how Lorio and the rest will react to it. In my ideal world, we waste two of the days searching--maybe one of us locates the hiding place during that time--and then, after the penalty is announced, we either find the bag or we let someone else find it and let them deal with the problem of the excessive money. But again, Haunting, this is a non-problem we made for ourselves, and it's very easily handled."

"Okay, okay... I'll calm down... What could he have in that bag?"

"Must be small or hidden in one of the smaller pockets. Or maybe even mixed in with the money. If only he had brought an extra pair of socks," I joked. I stood up from the seat and stretched. "It doesn't matter in the end. We'll accomplish the Goal."

"By the way, Mari. Would you have something like a 'Locate Item' spell?"

I shrugged. "I could make something up if I had the fuel. Honestly, I'm not concerned."

"Okay... Oh! We should use your necklace to figure out who has good Investigation or Luck."

"Luck?"

"Yeah! Sometimes, Luck is a stat! Someone with good Luck could quite literally trip into the bag after a series of hijinks."

"Hmm. Novel. But welcome. Thank you..."

"Yeah! We can do this... Mari? Why are you looking around?"

"Because the walls have ears," I said with a smirk. "So, did you hear us?" I said, patting a wall. "Is that bag going to be where we left it, or are you going to play a trick and reveal to us that some sneaky monster has removed the bag? How devious that would be."

"But remember what everyone says! There is always a clue!"

I chuckled. "That's right. This will be good. I'm interested in seeing how clever this place can be."

"Wow, Mari. The way you just seem so fearless... I wish I could be like you."

I rested my hand on her shoulder and took a step closer. "No one needs to be like me..." I smiled kindly. "The world needs more people like you... Anyway, let's get going, my friend."

"R-Right behind you!"

"Let's speak a little more freely, Haunting, about things that anyone can overhear."

"O-Oh, yeah! Okay!" she said as we went down the stairs.

"Lorio and his boys already seemed to put a lot of thinking into the matter, but I'm curious about some things. Did the bus passengers need to buy a ticket or something? That feels like something everyone would have."

"Hmm... I don't think so. Firstly, some people were able to buy their spot on the bus on the day of. Kaz was one of those people. He just gave Mykos the money and got on."

"Oh... Okay... I wonder how this all came together on Mykos's end..."

"But it's not even worth thinking about tickets, Mari."

"Why not?"

Haunting grinned. "Why would the bus driver have a ticket?"

"Oh... Right. He's a passenger, but he's fundamentally different than everyone else... We should remind Ryza of that. He's the one whose possessions will hold the key... Honestly, the driver plus Kaz being potentially involved narrowed a lot down. Without Kaz's inclusion, things could get messy.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone has eyeballs. Everyone has fingers. So on and so forth."

Haunting went pale--she looked moments from throwing up.

"But, given that the people here mostly seem to have their bodies intact, they must not have to give up body parts often."

"Yeah! This place isn't that cruel... only as scary as a monster-filled wonderland should be," Haunting said, clearly trying to convince herself.

"It's good if they stop short of dismemberments, but..."

"What's wrong?"

"I have other concerns," I said as we waved goodbye to Bessie and went out the door.

"One--Lorio's interpretation of the Goal. He and his people have clearly modified their approach due to their experiences. They already approached the problem from a novel angle. But what if the Goal was made expecting them to approach from such an angle?"

"Oh... You're second-guessing their interpretation?"

"More like I'm prepared to be off the mark. It really depends on how self-aware or manipulative the powers that be are."

"Hmm," Haunting said as she stroked her chin.

"My second concern is regarding how does this place know that you all share something in common?"

"Oh."

"That's strange, isn't it? Depending on the item or items, we might get a glimpse at how penetrating this place's gaze is... How are ghosts with finding lost items?"

"I can answer that! Ghosts are typically more connected to items that are heavily connected to them... but psychics can find items with a certain emotional charge... Actually, I'm not sure how that could work in the context of this situation. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if ghosts just went through all of our stuff on the first night."

"But then, Kaz's bag."

"Yeah, they would have to search for it either when we were asleep or after we hid the bag. Then again, ghosts are invisible."

"So, what are you betting on, Haunting? Some magical identification means, or a more brute force, "the ghosts peeped" solution."

Haunting giggled. "I'll put my money on the ghosts."

"Oh, there's Ryza," I said, looking down the road. Cassandra, Greg, and Hari were sticking close to her too. I waved at them, and they started walking toward us.

"Ryza, Haunting had an excellent observation."

"I bet she did," Ryza said with a smirk. "Lay it on us."

"The bus driver isn't like the rest. Focusing on him might save time during the identification step."

"Hmm... That's true... I forgot about him... He shouldn't have that much stuff too... Do you think he counts as a 'Passenger?'"

"I wouldn't be so pedantic... But who knows? Getting the right interpretation seems to be part of the game."

Ryza nodded and crossed her arms. "Mitch is going to be part of the search team... Mari, Haunting, do you want me to join the search?"

I shook my head. "We should be able to manage. Hold the fort down here."

"Alright. If you say so. They're gathering up at the entrance of the town. Lorio, Riggs, Roderick, that Anabelle girl--those are some of the people heading out."

"Anabelle..." I muttered, recalling what Susy told me. "Yeah, alright. Thanks, Ryza. Come, Haunting. We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Right behind you, Mari!"

We walked a little further away and once we had, I got Haunting's attention again.

"Haunting, Susy gave me a warning," I said. "She wanted us to know that she believes Anabelle likes deer."

Haunting raised a brow. "Yeah? And I like rabbits."

"No, Haunting, think about it from the creepy angle--Susy is suggesting Anabelle and the monster deer have a connection."

"Oh! Through like spooky paranormal instincts? Okay, I get it... Yeah..."

 "I'm telling you because Susy would probably tell you on her own. Don't want you to get freaked out if Susy just pops out on you."

"Aww, thanks, Mari."

"Don't worry about it... And there is our group. Pitter and a few others are with them too."

"Yeah... Looks like it's a big search party."

"Let's see how it goes."