Tess stood up, doll in hand, and was about to leave the house when her commlink informed her about the sole survivor of the incident,
“Hopefully this will unravel this mystery quickly and I can get assigned to a mission better suited for my skills.” She thought as she headed for the door. As the door slid open, she had the strongest feeling of being watched, acting quickly in case of enemy activity Tess hid from the house’s entryway. Glancing around the doorframe she didn’t see anything, she raised her commlink to alert the group of possible hostiles in the area when she saw the frame of a little girl, no older than ten galactic years, standing in the dark doorframe leading to the basement,
“Sweetie,” Tess said in a kind voice hoping to lure the girl into the light,
“Where are your parents? My name is Thea, I would like very much to speak with them.” the little girl giggled and ran down the stairs. Tess glanced back outside for any threats and not seeing any quickly made her way to the top of the stairs.
The door at the bottom of the staircase was left open and the ghostly sounds of the girl’s giggles could be heard from within the darkness of the room. Tess wasn’t going to bulrush her way down, she wanted to make the girl feel safe, so she calmly and carefully walked to the basement door. Unlike the front door, the basement door was made from what appeared to be local lumber, and the hinges groaned in protest as she pushed it open.
“Sweetie, are you in here?” she asked as she reached for where the light switch should be, but her hand found no such device on the wall. Tess turned to her other side and attempted to find the switch again, but again there was nothing.
“Mommy and daddy went to play. The whole village went to play.” Came a
thin child-like voice from the center of the room. Tess jumped and looked around for the little girl,
“Where, where are you? What do you mean ‘they went to play’?” she asked, a little spooked
. Why would the girl bring her down here to talk in riddles? Then a soft red glow emanated from the center of the room outlining the little girl,
“You asked where my mommy and daddy were. They went to play, along with the whole village.” She replied again. This riddle made no sense to Tess, but maybe one of the others could understand her?
“Honey, if you come with me, we can go get some people who will help you find your mommy and daddy. Would you like that?” Tess said, hoping to get out of the dark room. The little girl’s face changed to that of puzzlement,
“Why would I want to do that? I went to play with mommy and daddy too! We are all playing together! It’s so much fun! You should come with us!” Her face changed to an excited expression as she held out a hand and pointed at Tess,
“Oh you found my dolly!”
Tess was more confused now than when she had first been assigned to the mission,
‘They went to play. The whole village went to play. I went to play with mommy and daddy.’ What did it all mean? At the mention of the doll, Tess looked down and realized that she did in fact have a doll in her hand. The same one she had found in the living room of the house.
“Come and play with me.” Came the girl’s voice again, this time whispering right next to Tess’s ear. The Crow nearly jumped out of her skin as she dropped the doll and pulled her combat knife out instinctually ready to strike, but the child was gone, the room was no longer pitch black, the red glow had disappeared.
Tess looked around at the nearly empty basement, more of a storage room than anything. A few boxes lined the walls but other than that the room was empty. Tess sheathed her knife and knelt back down, timidly she picked up the doll, and then quickly stashed it in her bag. Maybe one of the ‘Force’ users could figure out what just happened here.
“I wonder if Vytal is here. Her Dathomiri magiks would probably be best suited for something like this.” She said out loud as she ascended the staircase, a little shaken by the event. Tess made her way back across the living room to the front door, but this time didn’t feel the danger of before.
“Time to find this living survivor.”