Darkness had fallen fast.
Inside the house, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
All four of them—Jake, Jane, Carl, and Carly—sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounding the center table in the living room.
Carl cleared his throat dramatically, putting on a deep elder voice, "Greetings, my children. We gather here this night to—"
"Shut your trap and let's focus on why we're here," Jane cut in sharply, not even sparing him a glance.
"Oof," Carly whispered, stifling a laugh.
Carl rolled his eyes, the drama fading fast. "Fine. No respect for theatrics."
"There's not much time," Jake said, his tone serious for once. "Let's crack this before it's too late."
Jane turned toward him, arms folded. "And how sure are you that this 'too late' the message talked about is anywhere near now? Could be a year. Could be months, weeks—"
Jake cut her off, "Could also be hours. Minutes. Or, who knows—maybe we have ten seconds left and we're just wasting it arguing."
Jane blinked, then exhaled. "Ugh, fine. Let's get started already."
Carl pulled out a large paper and smoothed it across the table. The message was written boldly in marker:
Seeing this means you're on time.
Start before it's too late.
Tye hdiitd edhteoniot atnhppaende.
.....
19.5.1.18.3.8 20.8.5 18.15.15.13 6.15.18 13.15.18.5
...
"So… what I got from the scrambled line was..." Carly began hesitantly.
Carl leaned forward. "Was?"
She took a deep breath. "They didn't note that I.D.I.E.O happened."
Jake tilted his head. "Wait—what now?"
Jane slapped her palm to her forehead. "What the hell is I.D.I.E.O, Carly?"
Carly stepped in, trying to defuse. "Look, mom's a scien—"
Carl interrupted him with a forced cough, "Dad."
Carly closed her eyes briefly, clearly trying not to explode. "...scientist. So if we're being logical, I.D.I.E.O might be some lab acronym. Which also means… this message might not even be for us."
Carl leaned forward now, unusually focused. "Or it is for us, and that's why it ended up here, hidden in our kitchen."
Jane waved it off. "Let's park that for now. Carl, what about your take?"
Carl smiled sheepishly. "Well, my attempt came out as: 'That day, the note did not need hippie.' Like, with an ie at the end."
"…That's your unscramble?" Carly deadpanned.
"Hey, I tried!" he said, opening a bag of chips he'd brought over. "Want some?"
Carly rolled her eyes but grabbed a few chips.
Jake groaned, lying flat on his back. "I swear, if I had one wish, I'd wish to escape you idiots."
"Jane, you go," Carly said quickly, throwing a chip at Jake's forehead.
"Why me?" Jane raised a brow.
"Because she asked you first," Jake smirked without sitting up.
"Whatever." Jane rolled her eyes, brushing her hair aside. "Okay, so I rearranged the letters and got: The detonation happened. They did it."
Carl and Carly nodded in agreement. "Actually makes sense," Carly said.
Jake sat up slowly, his eyes locked on Jane. "That's nearly exactly what I got. But I put the order like this: They did it. The detonation happened."
Jane narrowed her eyes. "You switched two halves. Big deal?"
"It is a big deal," Jake argued. "Your version makes it sound planned. Mine makes it sound like someone caused something they weren't supposed to. That they forced it."
A heavy silence settled for a second.
"Either way," Jane said, "let's focus on the code now ."
"It's not a code," Carl said, mouth full of chips.
Jane narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"He's not wrong. That's not a code, it's a cipher," Jake answered, hands folded behind his head again. "A1Z26."
"The alphabet-number one?" Carly leaned forward, already muttering. "19 is… S. 5 is E. 1 is A. 18 is… R. 3 is C…"
"Search," she gasped. "It spells 'Search.'"
In a flurry of whispers and shuffling paper, they solved the rest in minutes. The full cipher read:
SEARCH THE ROOM FOR MORE
"So the full message is..." Carl read aloud, "Seeing this means you're on time. Start before it's too late. They did it, detonation happened. Search the room for more."
All four slowly turned their gaze to the staircase.
More specifically—to the room at the top of the stairs.
The one in the middle, that had been locked.
"What other room could it be?" Carly asked quietly.
"I don't know," Jake replied, rising to his feet.
One by one, they stood, tension thick in the air as they walked upstairs.
They stopped at the door.
It was still locked.
"Well… last time we checked, this door didn't budge," Jane said. "So… how do we get in?"
Jake stared at the door, unmoving. "If the message was meant for someone—us or not—then a key had to be left behind."
"Or…" Carly said softly, already removing a pin from her hair.
Click.
In less than ten seconds, the lock gave way with a creak, and the door slowly swung open. Carly stood there, smug but subtle, slipping her pin back into her hair like it was nothing.
"…We could just do this," she finished, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
Jake blinked, mildly impressed. "Well, at least you're somewhat useful," he muttered, stepping in first.
Jane followed with a light scoff. "Backhanded compliment. Classic."
Carly trailed in behind them. Carl stayed outside the door, puzzling over Jake's words. After a second, his brain clicked into gear and he jogged in. "Wait... that was rude."
Inside, the room was… unexpectedly ordinary.
A clean, well-kept space. The walls were light gray, the sheets folded neatly on the bed, and the study table held books stacked like someone used to come here regularly.
"Well," Jake said, eyeing the space. "It's tidier than I expected. Still feels off though."
Carly dropped onto the bed with a bounce. "Mmm. Comfy."
Jane pulled open a drawer beside the table. She picked up a book and read the title aloud. "Don't Make The Right Choices At The Wrong Time. That's... weirdly profound for just a book title."
Jake suddenly sniffed the air. "Anyone else smell mint?"
"Mint?" Carly blinked. "Nah, not really."
Jake narrowed his eyes, looking down at the study table. He walked around it slowly… then stopped. There—at the base, barely noticeable—a faint line carved into the floor, connecting with the wall.
"…Huh."
He pushed the table.
To their surprise, it rolled smoothly into the wall, clicking into place like a puzzle piece.
The mint smell hit them instantly, cool and sharp. A dark opening revealed itself behind the table.
Jake turned to the others and pointed into the space.
"…Mint," he confirmed.
Without hesitation, the group stepped into the hidden chamber. It was dimly lit with strips of soft white lights, revealing a miniature lab-library hybrid. Glass jars, stacked files, half-dismantled tech parts, and books lined every shelf.
In the center was a table, and on it—one lone sheet of paper.
Jake picked it up.
"What's it say?" Jane asked as they all leaned in.
He raised the paper high enough for everyone to see.
The letter read:
Reading this means you've found one of the three starting messages, the cupboard one to be precise. And you also found the key inside the cupboard. Good job.
So… like I said earlier, the P.R.E has detonated—and if it's unstable, or so I believe, the chance of the world not going… pop… is a 90 to 10 ratio.
I wrote this a couple of years ago from now that you're reading it. I don't even know if you'll find this, because I don't even know if the world still exists. I've spent years hiding pieces of the puzzle… and I hate myself for that. Maybe it was fear. Fear of the wrong hands. But I believe you four—you've got the brains, the skills and… well, brawn. Yeah, brawn. I may've gone a little too far with some of it. Heh.
So good luck, putting the many pictures into one frame.
Your next lead is at one of my usuals: D.M.T.R.C.A.T.W.T.
See you… if you survive.
- N.
2019
Jake lowered the paper slowly.
"…This was written eight years ago," he muttered.
Jane looked up sharply. "But how was she su—"
"He," Carl interrupted quickly.
Jane shot him a glare. "Fine. We'll use they instead. But how the hell did they know it'd be four of us? Were they expecting me and Carly to show up too?"
"Do I look like the message's receptionist?" Jake said, already walking toward the main room. "You want me to forward your complaints?"
They all followed him back into the bedroom, and as the last of them stepped out, the secret wall behind them slowly sealed shut with a click.
"…Okay. That was cool," Carl said, clearly impressed.
"So much for a random message under the kitchen cupboard," Carly muttered. "Oh, and fun fact—we never actually find any key inside it."
"Guess the hairpin counts," Jake said.
Jane folded her arms. "We need to stay focused. That message just raised ten more questions."
Jake's gaze was steady now, more focused than before. "We need to find the next clue."
"Yeah…" Carly nodded slowly. "And whatever P.R.E and D.M.T.R.C.A.T.W.T. means."
"Honestly, it sounds like the name of an underground EDM track," Carl joked.
"Focus, Carl," Jane snapped.
Jake walked to the window and looked out at the quiet night. The world outside looked normal. Still. Calm.
But somehow, it all felt...wrong.
There's definitely more to this than what meets the eye.