《Four of Clubs》3
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The four of us walked around the house, each calling out whenever we found another noisy floorboard. By the time we finished scouring the last room, we were using our phones as light sources, the sun long gone and the moon barely making a difference through the dusty windows.
Finally, the last squeaky piece of flooring we could find had been pulled up. Unfortunately, the underside was as empty as all the rest.
Maddie yawned into her elbow and rested her head on Daniel's shoulder as Roy stood up and frowned, lightly kicking the wood to the side.
"Don't hate me for saying it, but I think we should go," Daniel suggested.
"You're right." I sighed, leaning against the wall. Of all his concerns of the night, this was the one I agreed with most. My body was exhausted, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for my parents, who I knew were probably waiting up for me. "I should've been home hours ago, and I'm almost out of battery to keep texting excuses to my mother."
"It doesn't make sense." Roy shook his head. "It has to be here somewhere."
"We've moved everything in this house that squeaks," Madeline said, a frown heavy on her lips. "It's hopeless."
"We can come back tomorrow, when it's light again," I offered.
Roy let out a heavy breath, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, okay. I'll drive you guys home. We can meet after school tomorrow-- hopefully everyone else had trouble with their tasks, too."
We trekked carefully down the stairs, the exuberance we had upon arrival no longer there. Our shoulders were slumped, heads down in defeat. I didn't want to go home empty-handed, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to look, especially in the dark.
I shivered as we left the house, the crisp autumn night prompting us all to walk quickly to the car. My lower body thanked me when I sat down onto the cracked leather seat, finally giving it a rest. We all buckled up in silence as Roy started the car, turning on his headlights for the drive home-- and that was when I saw it.
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Against the house, underneath layers of ivy, a section of red brick was just barely visible.
"Hold on," I demanded, hurriedly unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door before he started backing up.
Roy tore his eyes from the rearview mirror and looked at me in confusion. "What? What is it?"
"I see something," I explained, maintaining vagueness. I didn't want to raise anyone's hopes and turn out to be wrong.
The others followed me out of the car, which Roy left running, the headlights lighting our way through the tall grass. I headed over to the side of the house and moved foliage away from what turned out to be exactly what I thought I saw: a storm cellar.
"Holy shit," Roy exclaimed, optimism already returned to his voice. "How did we miss this?"
"It must've been too dark when we got here," Madeline guessed.
Daniel nodded. "Either that or we were just so distracted by the state of the house."
I leaned down and grabbed a hold of one of the handles, Roy taking the other one. As we pulled them open, loud creaks and groans emitted from the hinges. A smile passed between all of us, except Daniel.
"This seems... dangerous."
Roy pursed his lips, turning on his phone's flashlight. "Hasn't stopped us so far."
A short ladder was revealed in the light, the cellar evidently not very deep. I crouched down as Roy aimed his phone into the room and of course, at that moment, of all the moments it could've picked, a bat flew out from it's resting place under the roof of the house.
Madeline yelped and clutched onto Daniel. I lost my balance, falling from my squatting position right onto my tailbone. Roy cursed, the animal flying right past his head-- and as he swatted at it in panic, his phone flew from his hand, right into the cellar.
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"Shit!" he swore again, both of us hovering over the doorway, the screen of his phone still lit up and shining back at us. I couldn't help but notice his wallpaper: it was the same dog from his profile picture. His affection for the dog was pretty endearing, and I had to hold back a smile, knowing it probably wasn't the right time to be grinning.
Without a warning, he began descending down the ladder, obviously worried more for his phone than his safety. His feet hit the concrete with a dull smack and he crouched over to pick up the device.
"Is it okay?" I asked.
He examined the screen, looking for cracks, and then swiped it a few times to make sure it was still responsive. "Seems like it."
"Anything down there?" Maddie questioned, coming over to kneel next to me.
"Yeah, a few things." He shone his phone light around again, and I could see a cot connected to the wall, an old writing desk, and a chest in the corner.
I turned around and made my way down the ladder, eager to find the code. We scoured the house for hours and came up with nothing-- as far as I could tell, the code had to be down here. There wasn't anywhere else to look.
I got out my own phone, brightening up the space even more.
"I'll start with the desk drawers," I offered, walking over to the wooden table. Roy nodded and headed over to the chest, kneeling down and undoing the latches.
"Need any help?" Maddie asked from above.
I started by pulling out the smaller drawers, checking all the sides for any numbers before putting them back.
Roy closed the chest, which I guessed was probably empty. "I think we-"
"It's here!" I interrupted him, looking over to see his wide eyes. In the largest desk drawer, taped to the wood, was half a sheet of paper. A random series of numbers and letters were printed on it boldly.
He was by my side in an instant, hovering over my shoulder in the tiny space. I could feel his breath on my neck, and I tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling that traveled through me- it was probably just excitement from finding the code.
Roy laughed, looking at the paper with a gleam in his eyes. "Holy shit! We found it- you found it! Oh my god, okay, okay- what do we do?"
"Read it to me! I'll send it to the group chat and see if they respond," Maddie suggested, beaming from ear to ear as she pulled up the app.
"Okay, just say when," I said, snapping a few pictures of the paper, just in case.
"Ready!"
I read the code aloud and she typed it, repeating it back to us. Roy and I confirmed it matched, exchanging an excited glance as she sent the message. I felt giddy and full of adrenaline-- and as my heart pounded in my chest, I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I had this much fun.
We all seemed to be holding our breath, waiting for something, anything-- and then our phones went off, a notification delivered to each of us.
A new message from The 7 had been sent to our chat.
YOUR TEAM NAME IS: FOUR OF CLUBS
BE PREPARED TO RECEIVE YOUR FIRST GRADED TASK TOMORROW AT 6PM.
♧
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In My Arms
Warning: This is the first draft of this work. After this draft is done editing and a new draft will be loaded. One was just a spark that could cause a wildfire, as his father said. The other was the youngest brother to the king, all the rules and expectations of a royal but the love of no one. Tacitus was a young man in a world where people must hide what they are, anything not human was simply brushed under the rug. As such, he, and on top of being something already hushed, found himself with a rare genetic mutation that didn't make his life any better. Even after his own mother decided to get rid of him instead of facing society's toils with him. Now, sold as a companion to a noble in a different land far away from where he was born.
8 249Come Back To Me, Kiwi.
Vidal Ferrari is an engineer who's ready to start his own family but with no suitable woman in sight. His wealth seems to attract the wrong kind of girl and he's becoming restless. He's a large rough man who is only ever gentle with his nieces. But he knows that'll have to change if he wants to find himself a wife.Kiara is a heavily traumatized young woman, stuck in an awful facility for sixteen years of her life. Trained to be enslaved and sold. She never had a childhood, never felt love of any kind. When she's saved from the facility, she lands in a hospital in Vancouver. She's in desperate need of someone to look after her and help her heal. Someone gentle and never rough. Can these two find the love they need in each other?Will Vidal be able to be the gentle, careful man that Kiara needs?Will Kiara ever heal from the deep scars her life has left her with?Can the engineer and the scared girl truly be the ones for each other?---"Kiwis..." He said softly. I examined them, seeing how some had some white parts and some were free of the black specks."I like these a lot." He smiled. He brought one to my lips and I bit into it. It was very different from the others. Much less sweet."These ones match your eyes, don't they? Your pretty green eyes." He said to me, wiping away more of my tears while I was too distracted by the explosion of flavour in my mouth.I rubbed my irritated eyes and he fed me another kiwi slice. It tasted good but it made my body shiver a little from the little sting it had in its taste."Is it too sour? Sorry about that." He chuckled, gently raking his fingers through my hair as I relaxed a little.I wanted more. I liked kiwi."You want more?" He asked me.I looked at the kiwi and then at him. He really, really wanted me to talk. He fed me the rest of the kiwi pieces even though he hadn't gotten an answer from me and then he smiled."All done." He said to me, brushing my hair away from my face with a smile.
8 150Mrs. Jeon || jjk ☑
Starting from now you will become 'Mrs. Jeon'I'm sorry but this is not a mafia story.This is a boring story. I already told you so be prepare.
8 217Win You Over (Kuroo x Reader)
It's your first day on the job and your troublesome boss isn't make it easy...I do not own the characters. All characters belong to Haruichi Furudate. Artwork in cover does not belong to me.
8 132Ladybug x Chat Noir (Cat Noir) one shots
I just randomly think of these short stories and want to share them!!! (No smut, lemon, or lime) Some of them are more short stories than one shots. This probably won't end until Miraculous Ladybug has a happy ending where Marinette and Adrien tell each other their hero identities and Marinette's daydream comes true. (1-99 were before season 2)Listen, I started this book in the eighth grade. This book grew up with me do don't judge too harshly. I know most of it is trash but it gets better as it goes... I think.*i don't own any of these characters or images. This is a fanfiction. *#2 in catnoirxladybug
8 202The Barbarian's Girl
❝𝑫𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.- #𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏❞~Isabella is working as a maid in a Castle. She became mute after a very hurtful incident. She used to live in a small village, far away from where she is now, with her family. She used to be happy. But everything changed in one night. Her life turned upside down. She had to witness her mother's murder. Also after that night, her father disappeared. She had to run away from her home, only to end up in the Castle. She was alone with no friends. The only thing that she had been wishing was for a miracle to happen, to take her away from her misery.Kennan King is a powerful man. He was known for being ruthless and heartless with everyone, especially the ones who tried to hurt him or his people. He shows no mercy to anyone. He was just a child when his family got murdered. He lived in the streets with no food. He found other kids like him and they united, becoming who they are now. He knew who caused his family's death and he wanted revenge.What he didn't expect though, is to find an innocent and adorable girl, scared for her life. She awakes feeling he didn't even know he would feel in his life and he didn't know if he was scared or not. Can Isabella warm Kennan's, cold heart?Read to find out!~This book contains sexual scenes so if you don't like it, you can leave.Cover by:@Moonlight_Bee @Moonlight_Bee All Rights Reserved.None of these images or pictures in this belong to me. They belong to their owners.
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