Chapter 167 - Creeping Horror
6:00 AM, through the paper cup, Re'Kha heard the sounds of the alarm, followed by faint rustles as someone seemed to have gotten up. As she continued to hear, Re'Kha nodded in gratitude as her character didn't try anything to talk.
She tried to talk about her Quest to her character before. But, the moment she tried to do so, Re'Kha could feel an instinct of sorts preventing her from doing so. That's why she refrained from consulting him about it.
But, that didn't stop her entirely. She did present a similar case and asked him about it, wishing to see if he had any interesting take on the matter. Unfortunately for her, he didn't have too many ideas on the topic. But even then, he said he will point out anything of importance by moving her left hand's little finger.
As she would hardly use that finger, it served as a good identification. They made up some basic setup between themselves. Re'Kha no longer controlled her left hand's little finger, giving her character full control over that part.
So, when he wriggled the finger, she would automatically relinquish control over the left hand to him. He would then use the hand to either grab any item of notice, search for something, or write words in the air to tell her, etc.
That way, she would be able to observe better through silence. Re'Kha continued to listen in through the paper cap. Even though the sounds weren't clear enough, it was more than enough for her to spy without displaying her location.
Time passed in such a fashion. The sounds in the bedroom had turned a notch higher as Chaya shouted from time to time, reminding Swetha to not be late.
They ate their breakfast at 7:45 AM, finished all preparations and rushed out of the house. Swetha's grandpa was in the living room, listening to some music as he read the newspaper. From the terrace, Re'Kha stealthily peaked out, watching Chaya drive their car and sped past.
Immediately, she sprinted through the stairs, opened the door, ensured to close it again without making any sound and quickly entered Chaya's room. The moment she entered, she changed the password of the door, ensuring that would buy her time and not catch her off guard in the off-chance Chaya indeed comes back.
The moment she entered the room, Re'Kha felt an uncanny chillness for a moment. The room spanned seven metres in length and five metres in breadth. It was a spacious room. Placed in the centre, touching one of the walls was the bed.
On either side of it were small stools, attached with a rack to place some items, usually miscellaneous chargers, etc. On one side of the room were shelves, and placed within were a variety of clothes, some regular, some designer, etc.
There existed another shelf on the opposite side that Re'Kha started with. It seemed to be the shelf housing the clothes of Chaya's husband. After making a full sweep through it, all Re'Kha found were money, some jewels, a set of watches, etc.
There wasn't anything that could serve as a clue to her in them. She then arrived before Chaya's shelf, opening it as she took in a deep breath. This was the location she could think of that might have some clues. Other than this, she had to visit that hotel. So, Re'Kha was hoping she would be able to finish her Quest through it.
She searched from the top, looking through all the dresses one by one. The more she was unable to find anything, the more restless she became, for the potential places for clues were beginning to decrease.
Finally, Re'Kha lifted the last dress, failing to find anything. "Dammit."
She slammed her fit on the shelf, grunting as she hadn't been able to find a single clue. It was then her little finger moved as Re'Kha voluntarily relinquished control of her left hand. The left hand then began to knock on all the walls of the shelf, checking for the difference in the sound.
After that, Re'Kha felt her character's willingness to speak for a moment. The boy immediately whispered, "Let me control myself for a minute. There's something I want to attempt."
"Sure," Re'Kha said and watched her character move. The main control of the body still remained with her. if she wanted, she could instantly take full control of the body without any issues. But since the boy had been understanding all along, Re'Kha didn't say anything, allowing the boy to do his thing.
The boy then arrived before the stool placed next to the bed and opened its drawer, looking through the stuff in it. He then fished out a couple of hairclips from it and closed the drawer, arriving before the shelf of Chaya's husband.
He began to knock on all its walls once again, just like before, "Aha, it's here too."
He then focused on the place where the sound was mildly different. He took out the clothes from it and placed them on the bed, looking at the slab in the shelf that looked no different to the rest. Without any hesitation, he placed the hairclip in one corner, inserting it through the seams, smiling the moment it went in easily.
He then gave a bit of force into it, watching a part of the slab move up, "All the slabs look the same in their dimensions, but one of them had a tiny hollow space within."
The hollow space was small, spanning a length of 20 centimetres, a breadth of 15 centimetres, and a depth of a centimetre. Placed within it was a couple of papers, an envelope, some bills, a medical certificate, and a memory card in a plastic cover.
He simultaneously did the same in Chaya's shelf too, taking out similar items from it before stuffing all the clothes back in their rightful place. The boy then spoke, "Are these it?"
"Let me check," Re'Kha looked into an envelope, seeing a couple of familiar faces in them, nodding in relief for they were the clues she sought. But as she looked further, her face paled.