As the door clicked open, Vanessa stepped in with a triumphant smile, pushing it fully ajar as though she had just uncovered a secret. She didn't know what Dana expected to see, but to her, there was nothing special here, just a simple Herbert Wilbur's room. A bed in place. A wardrobe. Curtains drawan fully.
Everything exactly where it should be.
"So? What now?" Vanessa asked, waving her hand. "There's nothing here."
Dana said nothing at first. Her eyes did the work.
She walked further into the room, letting her fingers glide over the furniture, her expression sharpened in concentration. A confused frown slowly tugged at her features.
"Are you sure this is the room Mr. Hance was talking about?" Dana asked quietly.
Vanessa paused, confused by the seriousness in Dana's voice. "Well… this is where his scent ends. Plus, there's a faint smell of dust in the air. So yes, I'm a hundred percent sure he was here." She said it proudly, like she had just submitted a report.
Dana didn't look convinced, but she said nothing. They remained inside until she surveyed every inch again. Only when she was satisfied or perhaps more confused did they finally step out.
As they walked out of the highest floor, Dana kept her head slightly lowered and tilted to the left, her mind wandering. Something about that room was undeniably strange, and she could feel it clawing at her curiosity. It was probably the same reason Mr. Hance had been there. People didn't just enter such a place without reason.
When she stepped inside earlier, she had tried reading the memories that lingered there were always memories. Even faint ones. Even blurred ones. Memories were her food, her doorway into everything that had happened.
But in that room, there had been nothing.
No memories.No traces.Not even distant sounds.
Completely empty.
The only explanation was that the room hadn't been used for a very long time, maybe a century. She couldn't read anything beyond a hundred years. But even that didn't sit right with her. There was no way a room in this part of the building had stayed untouched for that long.
Vanessa had said it didn't concern them. That they should just let it go.
But Dana knew herself. Curiosity always won.
There was one thing she could still do: find the occupant of the room. And if no one lived there now… then she'd find out who lived there before.
With that thought, she walked ahead of Vanessa, her steps more firm and purposeful than before.
---
"It's been two days," Gwen sighed loudly, the stress heavy in her voice as she walked through the dense forest with Horace. Her black boots crushed dried twigs beneath them. The forest was darker now, the sun had almost set outside, and the thick canopy overhead blocked nearly every trace of light.
"It isn't even up to three yet," Horace said flatly, sounding bored.
"Are you even his friend or not?" Gwen snapped, referring to Allan. "You know what could happen, yet you're acting like it's something minor."
"You're overreacting," Horace said with a shrug. "He's fine. He'll handle it."
"Have you ever thought about things going out of control? Everything getting exposed?" Gwen asked, hands on her waist. Her voice carried disbelief.
"Well, I believe there's no way that would happen," Horace replied with annoying confidence.
They walked in thick, uncomfortable silence. Gwen kept replaying possibilities in her head, and the more she thought, the more she realized it was foolish to listen to Horace. Finally, she released a determined sigh and stopped walking.
Horace took a few more steps before noticing she wasn't beside him anymore. He turned, confusion flickering in his brown eyes.
"I've decided," Gwen announced dramatically. She left a deliberate pause, forcing Horace to stare and wonder what exactly she had decided, and about what.
Before he could ask, she continued.
"We're going to Allan."
Horace simply stared at her, his expression unreadable. His quiet, unwavering gaze made Gwen suddenly feel small.
"What?" she asked.
"Can you hear yourself?" Horace asked, his voice low and rhetorical. "We're not going to him. I already said he'll be fine."
"We can't take risks," Gwen shot back.
"There are no risks being taken," Horace tried to reason. "Besides, he's with Elaine."
"Anyway," she said, ignoring the sharp edge in his tone, "I've decided. I'm going to him even if it's just to check up on him. And there's nothing you can do about it." She turned around and began walking back. "No worries, you don't have to come."
Horace groaned, dragging a hand through his brown hair in frustration. There was absolutely no way he was letting her go alone.