Book Nine, Chapter 45: In the Walls

I knew what was going on the moment the lights changed.

We had been Off-Screen for so long that our trip into the doctor’s office almost seemed like something we might do outside of a storyline, but now the color filter that I had seen at the cemetery returned, a sort of gray-purple.

“Look alive,” I said. “We’re about to be On-Screen.”

We were nothing if not professional.

When we had entered the building, the lobby was nearly empty aside from the bored NPC at the welcome desk, who didn’t even bother greeting us. But when the elevator doors opened and we found ourselves back on the first floor, the place was alive. There were business people shaking each other’s hands in the lobby and groups of well-to-do trophy wives drinking mimosas at the brunch nook of the restaurant in the building.

These people must have gotten here in the last few minutes, and yet it looked like the place had been busy all day.

We were still Off-Screen when we spotted the main characters outside the building through the big windows at the front.

It made me wonder whether Carousel had sent them here because we came here, or if we'd just intuited the most logical place to go after the cemetery scene. Either way, the whole lobby was about to be On-Screen in moments.

“Looks like they’re headed to the Mentes’ office,” I said. “Antoine, did you spot a building across the street with a good line of sight?”

“Yeah,” he said. “We should be able to see inside from the top floor of the building across the street.”

“All right,” I said, thinking for a moment. “You need to go set up a crow’s nest for us.”

I looked outside. It appeared that there were three paragons: Sidney, Geneva, and some tall blond guy named Ace. If memory served, he was the Stud Paragon.

“We may need to distract them,” I said.

Dina looked at me urgently but didn’t say anything, as if she wasn’t sure what she could say.

“Do you need to have scenes with them?” I asked.

“Probably,” she said.

“All right, Kimberly, Dina, and I will stay here and try to form some sort of scene with them to keep them from going upstairs too soon. Antoine, you go set up that lookout. And Cassie, wherever you are,” I said, looking around, trying to spot the faintest sign of our astral companion, “keep an eye on him. You may have to guide us to where he is.”

Antoine nodded his head and quickly moved ahead of us toward the side entrance of the building.

“As for us...” I said. “We are patients of Dr. Mentes. We got transferred to another therapist in the building, which is why we’re here right now.” I paused to make sure that made logical sense, then said, “Maybe it was group therapy.”

“Oh, you mean Dr. Grey,” Kimberly said, pulling the ponytail out of her hair so that she could lay on that charm with maxed-out Moxie. She took a few deep breaths as she prepped to be in character.

Dina backed up a step so that she would be standing behind us when we turned to look at the incoming main characters.

Whatever argument that they were having out front ended as they entered the lobby. I was afraid that they would only be On-Screen for a few moments. After all, a shot in the lobby could just be for context and last no more than a few seconds. But Carousel had mercy on us, and they stayed On-Screen all the way as they walked toward the elevators that we were standing fifteen feet in front of.

Geneva walked first, a woman on a mission, with Sidney trailing behind her, looking like she had gone days without sleep, and Ace confidently strode behind them like a man on a mission.

They didn’t even offer us a second glance.

“Sidney!” Kimberly called out as if she had just spotted the woman out of the blue.

The Final Girl Paragon looked like she’d been jump-scared as she glanced over at us.

“Sidney Martin,” Kimberly said again. “We both went to Dr. Mentes. Remember? I gave you gum in the waiting room sometimes.”

“Oh, right. Kimberly,” Sidney said.

Then she seemed at a loss for words. The three of them had stopped in their tracks when they got to us.

I expected her to engage in the conversation like a normal NPC would as soon as they were prompted, but in this situation, we were basically the NPCs, so if we wanted the dialogue to continue, we had to work at it. Luckily, Kimberly was up to the task.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” she said, mournfully. “The funeral almost destroyed me. I feel like the world isn’t spinning right. You know what I mean?”

“You have no idea,” Ace said, but then Geneva elbowed him in the ribs.

Honestly, I expected one or more of them to recognize Dina and say something, but they didn’t. She stood behind us and didn’t volunteer a single word. I had to wonder what she was up to and what her dark secret could be, that all she really needed was to be On-Screen in the same place as the main characters.

“Are you headed up to Dr. Grey’s?” I asked, deciding that some speaking lines in the party might help me later if I needed to actually be a character. “That’s where we just came from. Apparently, she’s absorbing Dr. Mentes’ practice.”

“That’s exactly right,” Sidney said, lying quickly and easily. “We thought that we’d go talk to her, see if we clicked. I don’t know. Finding a new therapist just feels wrong.”

“I’m sure that Dr. Grey will be perfectly amenable,” Geneva said politely. “I’m sorry to have to break this up, but we are in a hurry. Our appointment is soon.”

There was no way we were going to keep their attention for too long, but at least we got a scene with them that wasn’t just being in a crowd at a funeral.

“I hope it works out. Meredith is such a good therapist,” Kimberly said. “Her heart is totally in the right place, but you’re right. It will be hard to replace Dr. Mentes.”

Sidney nodded and, if I wasn’t mistaken, nearly broke down in tears but managed to catch herself at the last second.

“I was here the day it happened,” I said on a whim. “I was standing right here when they wheeled him out of the lobby.”

Technically, I was sitting on my character’s couch, watching from an invisible camera’s vantage point, but it was close enough to the truth.

Sidney looked at me, absolutely horrified but eager to hear what I had to say.

“They had a sheet covering him. It was soaked in blood,” I said. “But the thing was, there wasn’t much of him left. I saw them readjust the sheet, and underneath it... I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear this. Dr. Mentes always said I didn’t have a filter.”

“What did you see?” Sidney asked.

I had her attention.

“Bones,” I said, trying to look absolutely horrified, like I was seeing my memories as if they were right in front of me. “Red, pulpy bones. A skeleton, or most of it. It looked like it had been chewed, like some animal had attacked and fed on it. I don’t understand how that could happen in an office building, do you?”

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I had to rely on Moxie. I really wanted to be able to cry at that moment, and while I didn’t have tears of sadness to play on, I did have the general feeling of anxiety that I often felt On-Screen, even if it didn’t show up on my face. Tapping into that raw electric nerve in my gut, I managed to almost squeeze out a tear. It might have even been convincing.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know why I told you that. I just couldn’t keep it in.”

It was funny. In real life, when I found my parents’ bodies, I didn’t tell anybody what I saw, especially not the therapists.

Sidney took it all in, and she could cry on command, whether her own or the script's.

“We should go,” Geneva said as she grabbed onto Ace’s arm to pull him and then pushed Sidney forward gently.

“Just a heads-up,” I said. “You might want to take the stairs. The elevator’s been acting funny today.”

Geneva looked over at the elevator, then back at me, and said, “Thanks.”

And that was that. Sidney and Kimberly waved goodbye, and they headed off toward the back of the room. But instead of taking the elevator, they walked toward where I assumed the stairwell was.

Once Off-Screen, Ace looked at me and started laughing as he gave me the nod, knowing what I had just done for them.

You see, when we were up on the floor of Dr. Mentes’ office, there was no stairwell. I didn’t know how Carousel’s architecture worked. Maybe there was a stairwell entrance that had been covered with drywall, so it was inaccessible, but there was no way out of his office except through the hallways, which led to the waiting room, which led to another hallway, which led to the elevator.

I knew that there was something up there hiding in the holes of those walls. I also knew that you never wanted to go to a dangerous location when the only way out was an elevator, not in real life and certainly not in a horror movie. The office had been a kill box. Maybe I could spare them that.

I had just improvised an extra exit for them. As paragons, they probably knew exactly what they were walking into but had to do it anyway. I hoped that little favor might be paid back.

“Way to help out,” I said to Dina as we hurried through the lobby so that we could get across the street to where Antoine was setting up our crow’s nest.

-

Across the street, Antoine had found an empty office floor with a window directly across from Dr. Mentes’ office. He had his duffel bag with him, and inside it he had brought the telescope from Kimberly’s loft. Normally, we would use it to help scout out Omens down on the ground, but here we were using it to see things far away as if they were up close.

“Do we have a glare?” I asked.

“Nope. Visuals are clear,” Antoine said.

Then all we had to do was wait. Luckily for us, we had managed to get to our spot before they made their way to Dr. Mentes’ office. It was on something like the seventeenth floor, so the stairs would have taken a while, even when you’re in as good of shape as a movie star. We could take this building’s elevator.

“Any movement over there?” I asked.

“Not that I saw,” he said. “There’s a shadow under the door. They must be on the other side. Want to take a look?”

“Sure,” I said as I leaned in and put my eye in the viewfinder.

Just as I did, the door opened up, and Geneva put a hairpin back in her hair. She played it as if she unlocked the door, though we knew it had already been unlocked.

What a faker. She was supposed to be the Sleuth Paragon. Surely she could pick a lock for real.

With that, they entered the room and closed the door behind them.

Afterward, they went Off-Screen for a while as they spread out and looked for clues, just as we had. In fact, the entire scene was basically the same as ours, except for the ending, because they had no spiritual friend to warn them to leave.

“Are they still going through the files?” Dina asked fifteen minutes later.

“Yes,” I said.

The funny thing was that, as a Scholar archetype, Geneva would have absolutely had the Eureka trope and would have had the documents they needed in a fraction of a second, but had to wait and pretend that it took a while for the camera. Essentially, all she was doing was stacking up folders on the top of the cabinet to make it look like they had been at it for a while.

“Here’s what I don’t get,” Antoine said. “We broke into the office so that we could learn about them, the main characters. Why are they breaking into the office? Wouldn’t they already have all the information if Sidney told Mentes about the dream that you guys have been having? Wouldn’t she know that already?”

That was a good question. It made sense for them to investigate his death, maybe to confirm its supernatural nature, but why go through the files?

I looked over at Dina, and she made eye contact with me. I felt like I got my confirmation.

The others picked up on it too.

“Speaking of that, what did we actually learn from Sidney’s files?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Ramona was her friend, and something happened to her ten years ago,” Kimberly said. “I think most of it was illegible because of the scribblings.”

“How do you find someone who’s been in a coma for ten years?” I asked.

Antoine laughed. “Coma patients tend to stay put.”

This was a movie, so if we wanted to figure out where Ramona was, we needed to find a news article from ten years ago. The problem was, it would be in a big stack of other news articles.

“Maybe we just wait for Camden to show up,” I said.

“He’ll probably have this whole thing already figured out,” Kimberly said.

“It would be nice,” I started to say, but just as I opened my mouth, I saw movement across the street.

I quickly put my eye to the viewfinder of the telescope, and I saw what it was that had been making those scratches.

“Look alive,” I said. “We’ve got our killer, and it’s--”

Plot Armor: 80

__________

Tropes

Shy

This creature lurks in the shadows, its presence more hinted at than revealed. Leaving subtle signs of its existence, the creature builds suspense and unease. Its reluctance to emerge may be strategic, logistical, or simply a preference for the shadows. But when it finally steps into the light, the impact is all the more chilling.

I Must Be Hearing Things

This creature is perceptible to one character at a time at first.

They'll Never Believe You

When tangling with this creature, the authorities will not believe or take seriously anything the players tell it.

It Plays With Its Food…

This creature spends its time toying with victims. Often, it enjoys the playing more than the killing.

The Madness

This creature infects characters with an assortment of mental ailments, including paranoia and sleep deprivation.

Whispers in the Dark

This creature can sense a player or NPC's vulnerabilities and manipulate it via impulsive thoughts.

Night Terrors

All information from insight tropes directly related to this creature will come in the form of On-Screen nightmares or visions.

Always Watching

The enemy can obtain a visual of the players at any time.

Strength In Numbers

The creature is at its strongest in groups. Singling its members out will weaken them substantially.

Thoroughly Dispersed

This creature’s group can instantly occupy the entirety of a set area, making it appear omnipresent and unpredictable to characters.

Animals Are Psychic

The creature demonstrates knowledge that it has no logical means to acquire, an instinct to kill or survive. Effectively eliminates the creature’s need for Savvy.

Blood Joy

This enemy is energized by carnage. Witnessing or participating in murder, mutilation, or similar will buff an assortment of stats.

Fairy Land

This enemy has a home world, realm, or dimension relevant to the plot.

Formless Shadows

Players will struggle to control their imaginations.

The Unseen Hand

This enemy is guided by a greater force. This guidance may be a part of the lore or the meta.

Zombie Apocalypse is a Setting

This enemy is not a true antagonist but rather forms the setting of the storyline. Efforts to eliminate them will be hampered. The true conflict of the story is exacerbated by them.

Is That Enough For You Riley?

How about one more? Do you ever feel like you’re cheating when you see the rules no one else can?

Share of the Night

This creature will have the same Plot Armor as the Big Bad even if it is not the principal antagonist.

They all will. You shouldn’t have looked at my face. -Highbrow Hew

6 Additional Tropes not Perceptible.

Collectively, they had massive Plot Armor. Individually, they had almost none, so I could see most of their tropes.

I looked at the last two tropes in horror. It wasn’t often that an enemy could interfere with Trope Master, and I had never seen them do it to this extent. My heart beat as fast as it ever had from an enemy encounter. I felt violated in a way only Carousel had before. I was truly feeling overwhelmed. This enemy... was powerful on a level usually reserved for non-combatant Big Bads.

And the most frustrating thing of it was, I hadn’t seen his face. I swear I hadn’t. When I looked out the window, I saw a ghostly version of the Lake County Pallbearer. That was what I saw.

I didn’t see his face.

I saw my parents’ killer. That’s what it was.

I didn’t. I swear I didn’t see it.

I swear I didn’t.

I swear.