The layout of their apartment was as basic as it came: a living room, dining area, and two bedrooms. It wasn't any different from Diedmons Roue.
That's disappointing.
The only defining characteristic was the array of drawings that stood on stands, while others were dangling above their windows. Drawings of his kids, mostly, some with him included, and a few with whom Elizabeth assumed was his wife. But with only his kids in the house, she assumed the worst. It must've been a troubling time, unhealed scars even; she would have left it at that if he hadn't caught her looking.
"She's alive, by the way," Schwartz said.
Elizabeth looked at him in surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look".
"It's fine, no harm done." He sat down, his kids still by his hip, with short black hair, just like his. "Didn't want some misunderstanding if you're still here by the time she comes back. Though I'd prefer if you're gone by then". Elizabeth sat down in the chair across from him.
"The only reason I brought you here is because I've got a feeling you know a lot more about what's going on here than I do. It's not going to take long for Anne to find out what happened, so let's make it quick." Anne must be his wife.
Schwartz leaned forward and told his kids to go to their rooms, and without hesitation, they followed his orders, taking one last look at Elizabeth with curious eyes before closing their door.
"I'll try my best to answer questions, but I want you to start," Schwartz said.
"Don't expect much, though," Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth told him everything she knew about the Stehnam, which wasn't much. The basic information, rule breakers, and people being taken out of Gray Wood's path were all mentioned. However, the most confusing thing to Schwartz was the fact that they'd been active for years. He took a firm stance that they'd only started having incidents like the one that day. Clearly, what happened was not connected to the Stehnam, at least not by name.
Probably why my dad got involved.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how the conversation ended, Elizabeth could safely say the hole had nothing to do with it. If anything, it seemed more likely that the reset played a major role, but she couldn't be certain. There was nothing in the first version of the day that indicated anything had happened in Tenisin; the only reason she knew about the church's investigation, however, was because of Jasper. Without talking to him, she would have never known, so for all she knew, the church's investigation would have always led to Tenisin. Stehnam or not. To temporarily fill the gaps, Elizabeth concluded that some events needed to happen: the church's investigation, the hole in the sky, and, inconclusively, what's happening in Tenisin. The only oddity that prevented her from being completely confident was why the gas killed no one; no matter how she spun it, it didn't make sense.
Then scrap it, I need to take a different angle at this. I need to figure out why something's changed, and some haven't.
Elizabeth thought back to the history of Tenisin and the fact that it hadn't changed. Tenisin remained the same. It remained the same, and that was all because of their detachment from the eye, which was the only difference she could find. That must have been — no, it was. Nothing else could explain the "random" things that were different; it wasn't random, there were only things it could change, and others it had no influence over. Her only question now was why it needed to be changed. What would influence the eye to alter parts of history? And how far did it spread? She'd finally found her question that tied all others, and in her descent into the unknown, what lay in the center was the eye, and just by it was herself. She needed to find the truth of what the Eye of Rendition wanted to find the truth of all things. With one criterion — to understand its intentions.
I should treat all the unusual events as an extension of the Eye's desire, besides the Visitor. That's the only part of it that I understand, but that's only the end goal. I need to find everything that'll lead up to it. If I don't, then everything will keep changing.
There was no sign that anything was to happen soon, that another reset would occur. Considering her position in this, though, she doubted it'd let something stop her pursuit. To take the first step, she needed to understand the first change that she could find, which she categorized as,
Change 1: The Skin Incident.
"I've told you everything I know, now tell me about what's been happening around here?" Elizabeth said.
Schwartz leaned back in his seat. "His name was Fow—"
"Wait, wait". Elizabeth reached into her cloak and flipped open her notebook on the table. With her pencil in hand, she was ready, and he continued.
From what Schwartz knew of the man, his name was Jacob Fowler, who worked as a scavenger, taking random things from the forest to bring to his shop: HORRORS OF THE BLIND EYE, a rather odd name. Elizabeth made sure to keep personal opinions out of the book. In terms of the man's personal life, Schwartz might as well have known nothing about the man; she figured such an enclosed place would invite others to interact on a more daily basis, but the more personal details of the man ranged from him saying,
"He had a wife and two kids". However, the events of the morning provided more information, as everyone heard something soar through the sky and land on the clothesline. A soaring glob of flesh that resembled Jacob Fowler.
"Can you imagine sitting on this chair looking outside?" Schwartz asked, looking to the right. "I wouldn't have noticed, sitting where you are. We wouldn't have this conversation, and you would still be none the wiser about what's going on here".
Elizabeth glanced at him as she continued to write. "If you're looking for a thank you, wait until you get everything out. So far, there isn't much more for me to go on".
"You live somewhere your whole life, and what does it give you? A hollowed man hanging on a wire — that's what".
"You're detracting from the topic. You saw what direction the body came from. Show me where".
"Back here," Schwartz casually pointed behind himself.
Elizabeth pictured it in her head; the distance from the forest and the amount of space Tenisin held was two hundred yards. For it to throw something from that distance, it must've been strong, and not only that, but knew how much strength it needed to make sure the body stayed intact, but the string as well. It didn't seem possible, but considering the prospect of a shadowed beast active in the morning, maybe she had to open her mind a bit. Open her mind to the idea that this monster in particular didn't just have intelligence but had calculated, and wanted — needed to show everyone what it had done. In Elizabeth's opinion, it was only a matter of time until it happened again.
"Well, it's not much, but at least I've got a basis of what's going on here." Elizabeth closed her notebook and slid it back into her cloak.
Schwartz looked at her with strained eyes. "What are you doing here anyway?".
"The less we know of each other, the better". He didn't seem satisfied with the answer, but what else would he receive from a stranger on the other side? That—
There was a knock on the front door.
"Shit," Schwartz said, slapping his palm on his cheek.
"Is that—".
He sat up and sighed. "Just say here and if you can help it, don't say a damn word, you hear me?" Elizabeth nodded, not like she had any choice in the matter. She'd given up all reserve in the goal of finding out the truth of it all. What's another visitor to add to the already trying journey she'd go on? But an unforeseen element would come stomping through the apartment, something Elizabeth couldn't have been prepared for. An erratic monster that would throw her off her feet and leave her grasping for words. Swooping down, a pair of hands grabbed hers, and with their eyes sparkling with a sickly innocence that she'd never seen before, a world that she would never know, a world of sweet ignorance.
"So you're a resident of Diedmons Roue, aren't you!" Her long, braided hair swung down to her midsection as an equally rapid action followed her every reaction.
"Oh, I'm sorry;, my name is Anne, what's yours?".
"Mm—My name… It's uhhh E — Marie, my name is Marie." Shit, I'm not used to this.
"OH!" She sprouted up, the heel of the boot stomping on the floor. "Honey, you hear that! Her name is Marie, just like the famous family!".
"Yeah, I heard!" Schwartz said from across the room.
Drawing her attention back to Elizabeth, she pleaded to tell her more. "You wouldn't happen to be Marie Truc, would you!". Elizabeth shook her vigorously.
"Coincidence! Coincidence! We're not related in the slightest!".
"But you know them then!". Before Elizabeth had the chance to speak, she was pulled to her feet.
"I've always wanted to get a haircut from them! You hear things sometimes, but they never compare to the real thing, you know?".
"I wouldn't know…".
"Really?! I heard people from Diedmons Roue have beautiful hair".
Without a second of warning, Anne had taken off Elizabeth's beanie, and an immediate entrapment of silent panic came over her. The white tinges of her hair brushed her eye, waving in front of her, only to become a blurred mess as pain enveloped her chest, pounding, pounding, heat and chills all at the same time. A disorienting world of pain and despair, the end is near, the world as she knew it would come to an end and she couldn't accept that reality.
She held her chest, squeezing with enough force to draw blood, her nails piercing through her clothing. A blockage began at her throat, and as she gasped for air, she fell onto the ground, the voices around her becoming lost in the wake of an inaudible world, only to become one dark and meaningless as she collapsed.