Adjusting her state of mind, Tina straightened up and lowered her bat from his head.
Inhale.
"Okay, thank you. I could've handled it myself, but... I'm grateful," she said to Just_Cooked, sliding the bat back into her inventory with a flick.
She scanned the garage cautiously.
"Please, can you explain what happened?"
"Well..." Just_Cooked began, recounting his encounter with the now-zombified man.
Tina, playing as May, furrowed her brow. "Rember that cutscene—when Kenny muttered 'Didn't I send soone to kill him?' This must be the guy."
"Did you ask him anything about Kenny and May?" she pressed, her curiosity sharpening like a blade.
"I did... but..." Just_Cooked rubbed the back of his head. "I went to eat in real life, so I wasn't really paying attention."
"You what?!" Tina's eye twitched. If he were a lower level, she might've socked him in the gut right then and there.
"Chill, chill..." he chuckled. "I recorded it. Playing on a laptop makes it easy."
She exhaled sharply, relief washing over her.
'Why couldn't he just start with that? n—they'll test your patience, then flash a smile like it's a magic wand.'
"Alright, lem play it." Just_Cooked took off his headphones, picked up his phone, tapped around, and finally hit play. He held the speaker up to his mic.
A voice crackled to life from the recording.
"Let's get sothing straight. You're a psychopath."
The words hit like a cold slap. Tina instinctively crouched, scribbling notes into the dusty floor with a screwdriver.
"May's mother was in love with your father. They never married, but their hearts were chained together. Your father was all you had—your mother died giving birth to you."
"May's mom? A nurse—devoted to her job. She'd drop May off at your place like baggage, trusting your father and you to care for her. Most nights, she ca to collect her daughter at the dead of night."
"Your father was a chanic, and May soaked in his passion like a sponge. She grew up craving the scent of oil and tal, dreaming of grease-stained overalls. You? You were... different. You didn't chase dreams. You clung to your father like a shadow at noon—desperate, voiceless, consuming."
The voice sharpened, thick with disdain.
"Maybe it was the absence of a mother, maybe it was sothing broken from birth—but your father beca your god. You idolized him and practically worshipped him. You wanted to be at his deck and call."
Tina's grip on the screwdriver tightened.
"One day, like always, May was dropped off. But this ti... her mother didn't return to pick her. It was like she vanished. No note. No trace. Your father, worried sick, left to search for her. Before leaving, he gave you a command: 'Protect May. From anything you consider a threat.'"
"He never ca back."
A pause. Heavy and final, like the thud of a casket lid.
"For seven years, it was just you and her. Alone in a world that kept forgetting you existed. In those years, May got a degree. She rented a house. She fell in love—with two things."
"Her first love was easy to spot. She practically lived in your father's old garage, fixing the sa car he did. Her prized possession, she called it. She worked tirelessly day and night to put it back in order. Maybe praying that it may miraculously bring him back, we will never know."
"You, anwhile, drowned yourself in obsession. Your father's last command beca your gospel. You erased every and anything you deed a 'threat.' One by one, her friends vanished from her life. You took her privacy, her freedom, her breath."
The voice now slithered with venom.
"And when you needed hands to do the dirty work, you hired ."
Tina leaned in, heart hamring against her chest. She held her breath for fear that breathing would make her lose a crucial piece.
"The last job? Jacob—her best friend. You called him a threat. I took the job. I wanted the money—even though it was stolen from her, I didn't care."
The voice paused.
RING!
RING!
"Woops! Sorry," Just_Cooked muttered. "Forgot to put my phone on Do Not Disturb."
Tina rolled her eyes.
'Of course. I'm not even surprised at this point.'
He resud the audio.
"The final job you gave ... was to take care of her second love. The one she adored above all. The one whose na filled her diary over fifty tis."
"That person is—"
"Mark." Tina and the voice said in eerie unison.
She froze.
Her mind flickered back to the nas at the back of May's diary. One na... one school.
Mark. Hilton Academy.
A slow smile crept across Tina's face like the rising sun after a long storm.
- - -
anwhile...
Vorden, playing as Mark, was exhausted.
He had invoked the title David for just a mont—to intimidate the students—but even that brief flash had drained him like a punctured vessel.
'This Title takes too much. I need to be cautious.'
"Please, take a seat and make yourselves at ho. Food's there. Eat well—today won't be easy." He motioned to the tables.
No one resisted. Not after witnessing that show of power. Not like Taylor had.
They obeyed, quiet as sheep in a lion's den.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Vorden cald his breathing.
'I need to piece everything together. Avoid mistakes. There's too much I don't rember.'
He clenched his fist.
'If only there was a way to rember every mont since Day One...'
**DING!**
*HOST IS LOOKING TO BUY AN ITEM FOR MORY*
*ITEM: [MNEMAVORIS FRUIT]*
*DESCRIPTION: REMBER EVERY DETAIL SINCE THE START OF THE GA*
*TI LIMIT: A DAY*
*PRICE: 140000RXP*
N.B:One-ti use.
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