Chapter 5 - Traitor

"What are you saying? What's wrong, Norman?"

"You already know by now, right? I set a trap for three people. To Don, I said the rope was under my bed. To Gilda, I said the rope the 2nd-floor bathroom's ceiling. That's what I told you, Ray. But actually, I told Don it was in the dining hall and told Gilda it was in the library. Then, the rope that was under my bed disappeared. Then, what about the other locations? Should we go check on them now?"

'No....it can't be...'

From the sound of it, someone laid down on the bed and started laughing. I know it was Ray but his laugh sounded insane. I felt my heartache.

"Dang. And I thought I was doing so well. That's right, I am mom's spy. When did you start suspecting me?"

'He's not a spy! He can't be! It's not true! It can't be! Ray would never do such a thing!

"The day sister came to the house. I was disgusted with myself for thinking such a thing. You were the first person I suspected. Even though you're my friend. I just wished it wasn't true. It was my supposition for the worst case. But for us, it would be the most problematic if you're the traitor. And from the enemy's point of view, it would be the most beneficial if you're the traitor. You can give opinions on our plans and from the perspective of controlling the situation, it's perfect. No one else fits the job better."

"And that's why you suspected me. And that's how I walked into your trap, huh?"

"One more thing. Ray, you're not a traitor who was set up just for this matter, right? Mom would never trust a sudden tip or an impromptu spy. How long have you been Mom's spy?"

"From a long time ago. I've been Mom's subordinate for a long time. Basically a sheepdog for a shepherd."

"You knew about everything and assisted Mom this whole time?"

"Yeah"

"Was everything a lie? All the time spent preparing for things with Y/n, Emma, and me? What and how much did you tell Mom? The tracking devices can be broken, right?"

'I hope it wasn't a lie'

"What's the point in asking that? Depending on the answer, will you cut me off?"

"I won't. I'll have you by our side, as you've always been. Aren't you glad? You can continue to hide the mistake you made. You wanted to keep spying on us, even if it means framing Don, right?"

"What do you want?"

"Three things. One, continue to spend time with us like before and guarantee our safety. Two, release all the information you have to us. Three, come to our side. Can you become my spy?"

"You want me to be the ace up your sleeve?"

"Yeah"

"Are you an idiot? If that was your objective from the beginning, you should've kept quiet and used me. Just forcibly utilize me and then abandon me when you execute the plan. That would've been the better method."

"You're right but she said we're family that grew up together. That's why I changed my mind. Even if I didn't change my mind, Y/n will for sure kill me." I heard a chuckle.

'Indeed' I giggled quietly.

"Besides, you're the one who hid Little Bunny, right? That night when we went to the gate, if you hadn't said that we could make it, we wouldn't have gone. You led us there to discover the truth about this House for ourselves. You're the one who set up this escape for our sake, right?"

'He knew for a long time...it must've hurt when one left to get 'adopted' to those demons'

"Ray, why are you being Mom's sheepdog? Why? You wouldn't do things to make us realize the truth if you were 100% Mom's dog. You were controlling us. The tracking devices, the timing of the escape, and how fast the plan progressed. That's why you strongly opposed escaping 10 days from now. But at the same time, weren't you also keeping Mom under control? You're not our enemy after all, right?"

"I volunteered. I went to her. No, it's more accurate to say that I sold myself. It was all in preparation for this escape! The most sufficient way to learn about the enemy and gather things is from inside their pockets. That's why I brought up a deal to Mom. "

'Wait, so basically, he isn't a traitor? He's a traitor for our sake? I knew Ray would never do such a thing.'

"That's too dangerous."

"I had chances to succeed. Mom would want to avoid harvesting a top scorer, she spent time and effort on, midway. That's how I saw it. She actually cares more about profit rather than rules. I basically asked for two things. One, I'll cooperate, so don't immediately ship me out. Two, I asked for rewards if I gave results."

"Rewards?"

"Just various junk. If it wasn't available in the House. I had her obtain it. I was testing what I could obtain and what was possible. I also wanted to probe the outside world. As a result, she obtained a lot of things, as long as they weren't dangerous. But they were all older models."

"Then, when you said you had an idea about breaking the tracking devices..."

"I've seen the actual device. I've experimented, and after many years, I figured out how to break it. The tracking devices can definitely be nullified."

'He knew the location of the tracking devices for long'

"Do you understand? The person you see before you is the strongest card you have"

'That tone...why did it make my heart beat faster? Why did it make me feel warm?'

"The tracking devices and Mom. I have far more information than what's necessary for this escape."

"Ray..."

"Without anyone having notice, I had you two go to the gate. I did all this to make sure you three don't get killed. I knew you would tell it to Y/n and so I didn't want to tell her."

'Ray, what do you mean by 'make sure you three don't get killed'? How about you?'

"You did it so you can see her smile just a little longer, right? You did it for her happiness, right?"

"..."

"Yeah"

"So just like you said, I'm not your enemy but I'm also not an ally. Under one condition, I can completely become your ace. I'll give you all the information I have, and I'll also leak lies to Mom as you want."

'Condition?'

"What's the condition?"

"Trick Y/n and Emma"

'Trick Emma and I?'

"You need to pretend you're taking everyone, but at the last moment, ditch them. Even if we take others, it'll be Don and Gilda."

I started to feel pain in my stomach. What is this? I can't believe he's telling Norman to lie.

"So you're telling me to give up on escaping with everyone?

"Yeah"

"The training is helping everyone grow more than we expected. You even said their movement wasn't bad. Did you mean that? Then, we can all-"

"It still doesn't change the fact that they're a burden."

'No, none of my children are a burden.'

"You said you were going to help us."

"And this is how I'm helping. Otherwise, you and Emma can die here."

"Me and Emma? How about Y/n? What are you going to do to her?"

"Of course. I would never let Y/n die. But I'm not so sure if she'll want to escape when we ditch the children."

"Y/n!" I heard a voice call me. I jumped and realized it was Phil. I waved and smiled at him.

"I'm coming, Phil!" I said as I slowly approached him. And from a distance, I can still hear them, though it's not clear.

"Did she hear us?"

"Probably."

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"Norman, wake up." I said as I shook Norman's trembling body. He's having a nightmare. Poor Norman...

He immediately sat up and started gasping for air. I tried calming him down by drawing imaginary circles on his back.

"Good morning, Norman. You were having a nightmare and I can't sit and do nothing about it. So sorry, for scaring you." I apologized.

"No, sorry. Anyways Good morning,

Y/n." he smiled but his eyes showed a different story.

"I have to go help Mama. Bye-bye!" I waved before walking to the kitchen with Phil in my arms.

"Y/n, I brought the plates!" I heard Emma said as she carried a few plates and she also told me where I can find them.

"That's lovely, Emma! Here, I'll carry them for you." I pretended to act normal even though the only thing that's on my mind is Ray.

'How can he lie to me? I thought we were friends. Was it all a lie? No, but he said he wanted me to escape. I'm not going to escape if it means leaving my children.'

"Morning, Y/n" Ray wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his face at the crook of my neck.

"Yeah, morning." I mumbled as I placed the last plate on the table. He seemed to become tense since I would usually reply with a happy tone.

"What's wrong? You don't sound happy. Is something bothering you?" Ray asked but I shook my head.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." I said with an angered tone. He let me go and started asking for advice from Emma.

"Emma, question." Ray said as he approached Emma. Emma stopped placing plates down and looked at Ray.

"Yeah?" Emma waited for him to continue.

"If a girl says she's fine. Is she really?" Ray asked which made Emma laugh but she got back to being serious.

"No. If you're talking about Y/n then for sure she's isn't fine." Emma said as she looked at me.

"I messed up so bad." Ray covered his face.

"Yes, you really did. Good luck!" Emma giggled before continuing to arrange the plates.

After breakfast, we went to our usual spot where we would talk about our escape. I was still in a bad mood since the thing I hated the most was liars.

"So? How did the plan with the ropes go? Was there progress for the source of information?" Emma asked. I only stayed silent and looked at the three.

"Actually.." Norman got cut off by Ray.

"Oh, that. It's me. I'm Mom's informant. " Ray said which caught me off guard.

Emma and Norman looked at Ray with weird faces until Emma pointed her index finger at him.

"It was you?!" Emma asked as she was also surprised. I knew it since yesterday but I didn't know that he would just go out and say it.

"Sorry for that reaction, but I still don't understand." Emma placed her hands on her head and started swaying.

"Yes! Let me explain!" Norman eagerly volunteered. Norman then explained what happened while I stayed silent.

"So, you were acting as Mom's subordinate all this time for our sake?" Emma asked.

"Yeah. The truth is, I was planning on telling you everything as soon as you got back from the gate. But you left Little Bunny behind saying you wanted to escape with everyone, and other unexpected things happened. Mom found out, so I had to manage the situation. Plus you guys were being rash, and about to get reckless." Ray said as Norman and Emma looked really guilty.

"That's why I figured I should keep quiet and get both under control." Ray explained.

"So you're saying that you were covering up for our mistakes. And you're still against escaping with everyone, right?" Emma asked with worried eyes.

"But it's different now. I'll help you escape with everyone." Ray said with a smirk. Liar

"That's not like you." I said as I glared at Ray. He widened his eyes and I could see him tremble. Others do say that my glare is quite frightening.

"Do you think he's lying?" Norman asked me. I looked at him and stopped glaring.

"Just do what you want. But what bothers me is how you, Ray, knew about this thing a long time. It must've hurt. Watching from the sidelines doing nothing." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Hey. Are the experiments for the tracking devices done on someone's ear?" I asked and the three of them seemed shocked.

"What happened to that child or rather children? You didn't cause them to be shipped out early, did you? You didn't sacrifice one of my children for our sake, did you?" I said as I slowly approached Ray with my dead eyes.

"Oopsie! Sorry about that. I just can't control myself at the thought of sacrificing one of my children."

"But then...make sure to never do something like that ever again. It's unforgivable." I grabbed Ray's hand and glared at him.

"I swear, I'll never do it again. Let's escape from here with everyone." Ray said as he raised his left hand and smiled.

"Are you lying to me?" I asked as I gripped Ray's hand tighter which made him wince a bit.

"Are you lying to me? I hate liars. Liars are worst than the demons. Liars are unforgivable. Don't lie to me anymore, understood?" I said and he nodded eagerly. I smiled kindly and let go of his hand.

"Lovely." I smiled and we started to head back so no one would suspect what we were doing.

I was walking beside Emma and we saw Don and Gilda looking at us from under the tree. I waved and continued walking.

"Y/n sure was mad. My hand still hurts. She's strong. I didn't know she hated liars that much." Ray told Norman.

"Hey, Ray. I want to ask you something."

"What?"

"You said you did it so that the three of us don't get killed. But are you actually.." Norman got cut off.

"Oh yeah! I have something to report." Emma said as she ran back to the two boys. I followed her while smiling.

"Let's discuss this somewhere else." I suggested and they nodded and we started to head to Norman's room with Don and Gilda.

It was already sunset, I stood next to the window and listened to what Emma had to report.

"Gilda and I decided to properly observe Mom once again. According to Y/n, Mom disappears right before Eight o'clock every night." Emma said as she held a clipboard.

"Disappears?" Norman asked.

"Yeah. She's nowhere to be found in the House. This house has a secret room." Emma said which piqued my interest. I got off the window and approached them.

"A secret room?" Don asked as he looked at the clipboard that Emma had laid on Norman's bed.

"Yeah. Located here. Next to Mom's bedroom. Mom's bedroom has a bathroom and washroom next to it. Past that, continuing behind the wall is Mom's office. But this probably isn't a wall." Emma said as she highlighted the area she was talking about.

"I noticed that every time Mom disappears, she always goes into her office or the washroom." I mentioned.

"So, I measured the distance inside the room and the distance in the hallway." Emma said as she showed the area in her hand-drawn map.

"Oh. That's what you were doing then." Norman said as Emma nodded.

"And the result?" Don impatiently asked as he looked at Emma.

"They didn't match. There are about ten of my footsteps' worth of space. One side is a wall, and the other side is a bookshelf. But I think there are hidden doors on both sides." Emma said.

'How did they not get caught doing this? They're literally dancing around Mama's office.' I thought.

"And beyond that, there's a secret room." Gilda said. Don stood up straight.

"But what is that for?" Don asked.

"Probably-" Emma got interrupted by Ray.

"Scheduled check-ins. Mom does scheduled check-ins to the headquarters every day. The room is likely for that." Ray explained.

"Headquarters?" Don asked.

"The base that supplies babies and sisters to this House." Norman explained which made Don gasp.

"Ray, did you know that there was a room here?" Emma asked.

"No. Although I suspected the existence-" Ray got cut off by Don. Seriously, what's with everyone getting cut off today. Wait for your turn.

"Let's try to get in. It's a way to communicate with the outside and fine Conny and the others' whereabouts. We might be able to find some clues!" Don suggested. My eyes widened when he suggested that. It's too risky.

"But do you think we'll be able to get in there so easily?" I asked as I looked at Don.

"Even if it's difficult, we have to do it!" Don exclaimed.

"Hold on. There's no merit in going that far. Even if it's a communication method, it's most likely only connected to the headquarters. And plus, it's way too risky. What if Mama checks her tracking device? What if there's some security inside? Yes, it's possible but what if you get caught?" I mentioned all the possibilities.

"But..." Don tried to argue.

"What Y/n is saying is that the risk overwhelmingly outweighs the merit." Ray explained to Don. I nodded and he gave up.

"You're right. For now, be careful of the Sister. Don't dig your grave with a foolish move." Norman advised.

"Exactly. I have Mom under control, but we're doomed if the Sister finds out. Keep that in mind when you act." Ray pointed at Don.

"Don, can you go ahead and prepare for dinner? If someone doesn't go Mom will-" Ray didn't get to finish his sentence.

"I know!" Don shouted as he left the room with Gilda trailing behind him.

He's gonna do something reckless...

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(A/N: Eyooo! I made your character hate liars that much and this chapter has only 2989 words! )