The End of Yardale

Backstabber

Inside, things were progressively becoming more and more chaotic. There were arguments about what was currently going on, what to do next, etc. As Damien walked in, he was caught off guard but not at all surprised. Disagreements had always been typical for the group, and it was something they had all become accustomed to. It wasn't helpful, but with all of the stress and frustration going around, it was inevitable. 

"We should plan to break into the Yardale headquarters again." Dogpoo suggested. "We need to learn more about the organization and how exactly we can stop it." 

"What more is there to learn?" questioned Estella. "Can't we just kill the people in charge?" 

Brimmy shook his head. "It can't be that easy. There's always more to it." 

"I think breaking in would be a waste of time. We should stay here and actually prepare for future fights. I bet half of you don't actually know how to fight. You're unprepared." shrugged Mark. 

"Mark, don't act like you know how to fight." Rebecca sighed. Mark gave her an offended gaze, but did not comment. 

Disagreements continued, but meanwhile a few people stood silently. Mole sat in his own thoughts, contemplating what was true and what wasn't. Pip and Gary stood beside each other, neither wanting to engage in any arguments. Damien still uncomfortably felt he was being watched by ghosts, so he simply watched in entertainment as arguments unfolded. Finally, Leslie, still not fully conscious, lied down and stared blankly. 

Suddenly, though, Leslie sat up. Everyone seemed to notice and freeze in concern. Some feared that she would attack, whilst others were excited to see her wake up. 

"He's outside." she then said. Not knowing if this was a good thing or meant to be a warning, everyone looked around at each other confusedly. 

"Who's outside?" Brimmy interrogated. "Are we in danger?"

Leslie did not reply. A few moved to go upstairs and see who Leslie was talking about, but then a shattering noise was heard, causing them to stop. 

"What was that?" Gary asked, scared. 

"Someone must've broken something upstairs. That's probably not a good sign." Brimmy replied. Everyone stood frozen, prepared to defend themselves but too afraid to actually go up and discover what was going on. 

"Oh fuck this, I'm going up." Estella said after a moment of silence. She pulled out her gun and went up the stairs determinedly. Mole sighed and followed Estella, his shovel in hand. 

When the two arrived upstairs, they saw no one. They further explored the upper floor of the house, being careful of rats drawn by Dogpoo's uncleanliness but still doing their best to examine the whole area. 

"Look at this." Mole suddenly said. He and Estella knelt down to look at what appeared to have made the loud shattering noise. A large picture frame had fallen down and broken. The two went closer to further observe the picture, but were quickly interrupted when Estella felt a harsh pain in her back. 

She turned around and saw that she had been stabbed. For a moment, she was embarrassed by her own stupidity- why had she forgotten to be aware of her surroundings? Then, she remembered it was stupid to think so lowly of herself and she should instead focus on the situation at hand. 

There was a sword in Estella's back, and she had to do something about it. She quickly took her gun and went to shoot at the person who had attacked her, but she was unable to aim properly because of the literal sword in her back. She knew it would be dangerous to turn around- or make any large movement at all- as it could lodge the sword further into her back and make her pain worse. Estella had no way of fighting back or seeing who was stabbing her. 

"Mole, would you quit being useless and help me here?" Estella asked. She hadn't meant to be rude, but she was struggling and Mole didn't appear to care a single bit. He didn't reply to her, as he was completely concentrated on the picture frame that had fell. Estella huffed and added, "Leave the picture, it's not worth it! Fucking help me you pea brained maggot!" Again, Mole didn't seem to hear Estella. She wanted to wonder why he was so focused on the dumb picture, but she couldn't get herself to when she was practically dying.

"Why would Dogpoo and Brimmy have a picture of this..." Mole mumbled to himself. Estella, unable to move from her position, tried to both fight back against her attacker and look at the picture at the same time. She saw what appeared to be a picture of Mole, Gregory, and her. 

"They wouldn't, dumbass-" Estella replied, her voice strained. She then had a realization. The picture must have belonged to the person who had broken into the house and was currently stabbing her- and the only person she could think of who would own a picture like that and use a sword to fight was... 

Estella felt the sword suddenly leave her back, which she took as an opportunity to quickly turn around and see who had broken in. She saw who it was, and lightly hit Mole to get his attention.

Mole turned around and saw none other than the man who he was almost certain was dead, 

Gregory Havisham.