Moon

"You did this?" She whispered.

Darkstalker laughed. "Well, of course. The years of revenge I was planning for, well, this is it."

Moon shivered. "Why, Darkstalker?"

Darkstalker sighed. "Moon. My dear, sweet Moon. This is who I am. This is what the world has made me."

Moon shook her head. "It doesn't give you an excuse to hurt people."

"But they're the ones that hurt me." He nodded to something. When Moon turned, she saw Morrowseer.

His eyes, so full of hate and pain. The hands that once scared her so much was tied against his back. The mouth that had lured her in countless times was taped shut.

For a moment, she saw him as he truly was:  broken person. A broken person that the world had turned into a monster.

"Morrowseer?" She whispered.

Darkstalker was staring at her with cold, merciless eyes. He seemed disappointed in her reaction.

He stepped closer to her, whispering in her ear: "I could kill him right now."

She narrowed her eyes and didn't move. Whatever Darkstalker wanted, she would not give it to him. "You could."

She could see him grinning at the corner of her eye. Like a childish boy excited because he got his Christmas present early.

"But I won't." Darkstalker crossed his arms. "You see, I really, really like you. I always have. Why else would I rescue you from this little monster?" He pointed a finger at Morrowseer. "But most of all, I rescued you from yourself. I rescued you from your weakness and made you your fullest."

She raised an eyebrow. "My fullest? Killing people, feeding you information, is that my fullest?"

Darkstalker shook his head. "You don't get the point. Your fullest is next to me."

"I hated working for you. I hated this. I hated doing everything you told me to." Moon clenched her fists.

"Really? But you have found that once you make a mistake, it comes back to you. Haven't you? Because you can't escape from who you are."

She kept staring at Morrowseer and his torn face. "What do you want me to do? What's done is done." She thought of Winter, and how this was a mess, and how he was in danger. She felt herself tearing up. She had been holding  herself together for so long, she was becoming insane.

Hot tears flowed from her eyes. I have to kill Darkstalker. I have to protect Winter. I have to protect my friends.

Darkstalker gave her a gentle look and wiped her tears away. She hated his touch. She hated that he was a part of her life. She hated that she felt pity for him, despite everything he had done. She hated that she couldn't bring herself to kill him.

"Moon," Darkstalker said, giving her a gun. She stared at it, dumbfounded. "I know what you're going through. I know what it's like."

He leaned down and tilted her head, making her face Morrowseer. "Kill him," he whispered.

She stared at Morrowseer. Just looking at him brought back memories. The sneer, the knife, how sometimes she swore to get revenge...

Come here, daughter...

His traps, his lies. If anybody deserved to die, it was him. How he abused Secretkeeper. How he brought a woman home and locked the door and didn't come out until the morning.

Secretkeeper's wounds. Her pain. Blister slapping her, leaving a faint trace of blood at her cheek.

Kill him, her mind whispered. Then you won't have nightmares. You won't be scared anymore.

She kept staring at Morrowseer. He had closed his eyes. Like he couldn't bear looking at her.

Come here, daughter...

"Kill him," Darkstalker whispered again. His voice was soothing and gentle.

Yes.

"No," she whispered. If she killed him, what would it solve? She would just become a monster...just like her father. Just like Darkstalker.

Darkstalker's calm, charming expression contorted into an angry one,  and he snatched the gun from her and pushed her to the ground.

"No!" She screamed, reaching for his leg, his hands, anything—

And then he pointed at Morrowseer and shot.

Morrowseer fell to the floor, his eyes still closed. Blood soaked his shirt and flowed down like a scarlet river. And she screamed. She screamed and screamed until Darkstalker punched her on the temple.

Darkstalker looked at her. "I never miss," he whispered. His eyes seemed like a snake's.

"You're...a...monster," she whispered. Her temple was throbbing, and she felt like she wanted to die.

He grimaced. "And you're too weak."

Before she could do anything, a guard came in and took her by the arms, ignoring her protests. Dragging her away from Darkstalker. Away from her dead father.

And she screamed until someone knocked her unconscious, driving a needle into her neck.

~

Winter

It felt like living in a nightmare.

Listening to those tapes. His tapes. His nightmare worded and said over a microphone.

He didn't realize he was shaking until Kinkajou stopped the tape. "Winter, are you okay?"

He blinked. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You're shaking." Kinkajou gripped his hands. "Calm down, bro."

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Kinkajou's words calmed him. "Yeah. It's just all confusing."

"Do you remember now?" Kinkajou said, releasing his hands. "Like, what happened?"

He nodded. "I think so. At least some of them." He looked at Moon's tape. "Where's the other two?"

"They're gone. I think someone stole them, which is kind of creepy. I never had them."

Winter blinked. "Strange. But when I walked over here, I remembered something." He frowned. "I remembered saying Tundra. I welcomed her to her tape."

Kinkajou jumped up and down, startling him. "Awesome! Now we can go to your evil mom's house, sneak in, and get the rest of the tapes!"

"Um," he said. "It's guarded."

"Well, of course!" Kinkajou said. "Wait, what? How is it guarded?"

He rolled his eyes. "Guards? Gates? Locked doors?"

Kinkajou scratched her head. "Fine, Plan B."

He felt a spark of hope. "Plan B? Let's hear it."

"I don't have a plan B. It just sounds cool." Kinkajou shrugged. "Let's try calling Qibli for ideas."

"Sure," he said. "Also, I have to tell you something."

"What?" She said, dialing Qibli's number.

He answered at the first ring. His voice seemed muffled. "Kinkajou. Thank Lord."

"Qibli? Come to my house. We need ideas to break in Winter's house."

"Um, what?" Qibli whispered over the phone. "You figure that out. But I need help. I got freaking kidnapped by—" the signal broke for a few seconds— "I'm a—at—"

"Where?" Kinkajou whispered. She stared at the phone with wide eyes.

"A mansion! Come quick. I don't really know, I'm, like, in a really fancy room or something—"

"Describe it," he said quickly.

"Oh, no, they've noticed. Okay, I didn't really see, but I think it's white. Hints of blue here and there. It's kind of like a barbie house. Kind of like...I don't know, I feel like I have seen it before."

"I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world," Kinkajou sang, off-key. Then she seemed sheepish. "Sorry."

"We'll get you out," he said over the phone. "I think I know where it is."

"Call the polic—"

"Listen here, freaks. If you call the police or tell anyone, I promise I will blow up this little guy's head. And we'll find you and kill you too," a new voice said over the phone.

"Bruh," Kinkajou whispered. "Like, seriously?"

"Um...yes?" The voice said. And then they hung up.

"Okay. We need a plan," Winter said. "I think I know where Qibli is. He's at my house." His breath was coming out jn short, panicked breaths. "His description, it fits."

He got up and started pacing around the room. "Do you have a plan?" His anxiety was taking over him, and he began treambling.

"Woah, calm down." Kinkajou said. "Of course I have a plan. We go over to the mansion, get in somehow, and kick their butts! And take a pineapple in case we need to shove one up their nose."

He raised an eyebrow. "And how, exactly?"

She grinned, "Well, it's your house. Do you order pizza a lot?"

"No."

"Chicken?"

"No."

"Do you have a plan?" She asked, exasperated.

"I can just...act like my sister and get in?" He said. "We'll need a wig, though."

Kinkajou frowned. "I have a wig. But that's a really, really mega-dumb plan."

"Ouch," he said.

"It probabaly won't work," she replied, shrugging.

"Probably," he agreed.

Kinkajou grinned. "Let's do it."

~

I'm so desperate to finish this that at this point I'm making stuff up and writing anything that comes to my mind. Oof.