Chapter 274: Interlude - Lights of the City (2)

"Thank you." Miss Mueller said once I finished my long and somewhat exhausting explanation. She lifted her head from her tablet, clearly having finished writing everything down and looked at me. "We will give you some time to eat and recover, then our legal department will pay you a visit."

I sighed. "When can I go home?" I asked. "Or at least phone them?" I couldn't care less about their legal department or questioning right now. I needed to hear Aoife's voice and I had to talk to Mother.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Miss Mueller sighed, she was clearly somewhat troubled. "We are keeping your… situation under wraps for the moment," She added. My eyes widened. Why would they even need to do such a thing?

"We believe Logan Gallagher and his…" She hesitated. "Let's just say that most players' safety may be in jeopardy."

I furrowed my brows. "You think this Logan Gallagher person wants to hurt us. Who is he?"

Inspector John almost choked on his glass of water. "You don't know the CEO of OTHERWORLD?"

"Ah." I mumbled. "Well, I only met him once and I wasn't given a name or anything." My gaze wandered as I thought how weird that was.

"I see." He mumbled. "Anyways, as we've already said – we would like to make sure all who had any relation to the PORTAL project and how it turned out are detained before releasing any information about the released players." He stood up, then helped Miss Mueller up as well. "I will return shortly to fill you in more, but please excuse me for now."

They left soon after, leaving me alone and tired once more. Soon the nurses brought me some breakfast, though the taste was bland, and I wasn't allowed to eat much anyways. I was taken in for some more tests, an MRI, scans… the whole package, basically.

Then, once I was brought back to my room, I was met by none other than Inspector John Whittaker.

"Hello, again." He smiled awkwardly as the nurses helped me up from the wheelchair and onto the bed. He averted his eyes as that simple motion left me panting.

"Pathetic, right?" I said with a wry smile. "It will take some time to regain my old strength." 

He seemed surprised. "You're… optimistic?"

I chuckled. "Well, yes. I survived, didn't I? I consider myself lucky if anything." My smile disappeared. "Not everyone made it till the end."

His gaze widened. "What do you mean?" 

I shot him a surprised glance. "Some people died in the game. And as far as we knew, there was no such thing as a respawn mechanic. Once you're dead, that's it." I furrowed my brows. "Are…" I forced myself to not get my hopes up. "Are they alive?"

Inspector John tapped on the surface of his tablet. "Give me names."

I hesitated. "Vincent Kestler and Joshua Kestler. Alina Rodeux, Samantha Saunders." I hesitated. "There was a player named Alex. Her younger sister, Amy."

"Four of the six people your group consisted of died within the game?" Inspector John asked, his eyes wide. 

"They did. Can you check if they are really dead? Please?" I couldn't help it – hope was budding within me. What if Vincent hadn't died? What if Samantha was alive? What if Alex didn't need to grieve for her sister anymore?

Inspector John nodded as he typed the names. A while passed in silence as I leaned forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the screen.

"It's hard to say." He finally spoke. He glanced at me with a bitter expression. "The two Kestlers and Alina Rodeux are alive, but they remained unconscious despite being freed from the PORTAL device. Samantha Saunders…" he hesitated. "She is also alive, but has suffered from severe brain damage. She…" he looked away. "She has total amnesia."

I felt like someone had just stabbed me in the heart. 

"As for this Amy. There is only one person with that name. She is alive, she has no memories of the events within the game though, and is suffering from some other, trauma related issues. But she remembers who she is, can speak normally and she is with her sister."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad." I whispered as I put my forehead against my knees and hugged my legs. "I'm glad Alex can be with her again…"

Inspector John was clearly hesitant. He gave me some time to recompose myself, then spoke. "If you don't mind, can you explain how every single one of these people died?"

I flinched.

"Yeah." I said as I fiddled with my now long hair. 

"I wasn't there when Amy died." My voice was low. I still remembered that day vividly. "But I saw the aftermath. The village she, her sister and two others were staying in was attacked by rampaging beasts. The present Ereth forces weren't enough to hold the beasts back, so Alex and Rina – the two adults – had to step in. Amy died while those two fought." I hesitated. "It was bloody and… violent. Her body was…" I shook my head. "I'd rather not go into detail."

Inspector John seemed understanding enough – he nodded. "You can talk about the others. As long as I get a general idea, it's enough for now."

I nodded. "Samantha died in battle. An enchanted crossbow bolt pierced her heart. She died immediately – there was nothing we could do." I clenched my fists. I still regretted not being fast enough that day.

"Who fired the bolt?"

"I don't know who they were – a group of players working for one of the Divines."

"What about the other three?"

I hesitated. How was I going to tell him of the carnage that took place on our last hours in the game?

"Vincent died to a blade to his chest, I think. I… he died not long after. Our healer wasn't able to save him."

"Who wielded the blade?" He asked, seeing my hesitation.

"Joshua Kestler." I finally spoke. "This was less than an hour before the game ended."

Inspector John's face turned white. "He killed his own brother?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"Alright," He took a deep breath as he wrote my words down. "What about Joshua? How did he die?"

I looked him dead in the eye. "A blade through his throat." My voice was cold as stone and seething with anger. "And before that, flames. Same for Alina – a blade through her heart. She died immediately."

"Who wielded the blades?" He asked, his eyes wide.

I raised my chin. "I did."