Chapter Text
The brunette swiftly opens the door of his own untidied apartment, his mind fogged with thoughts of yesterday’s shift, his sore hands threw off his sweat-soaked uniform to the edge of the couch. Quickly, rests his back on to the slightly opened cabinet as soon as he’d changed to his everyday-wear, head tilting up to the yellow tinted ceiling. What he saw back there, the notes that were signed with an M, could it be that Vincent had known her all along? But why has he never mentioned about her… “RING” He jumped to his sudden surprise, could it be—No way…he staggered clumsily towards the table of where the telephone was placed. He quickly took the handle by its second ringing.
“Hi, hello? Manon, Is that you? “
“…Pardon?” silence filled the room for a short moment.
“Oh Vince- sorry about that, I thought-… nevermind- what’s up?” A small ounce of disappointment was planted within the hopes of assuming it was his ex.
“Are you free tonight” Tonight? Why would Vince ask him if he was free tonight? It’s not as if they planned any of this in their recent conversations.
“…Uh?” The brunette uttered in confusion.
“I’m hosting a dinner party at my apartment and was checking if you’d be available.” Oh, so that’s what he meant. He almost thought it was something else.
“Wait, you’re inviting me?” They’ve known each other for just about 5 days but—
“Is that a yes or no.”
“I-well-sure??? But before that I wanted to ask you about—”
“Be there in the next few minutes.” After a split second, he hung up. *I guess I can just ask in person. * He thought while giving the phone a slight grimace.
…
(The whole story takes place of what happens in the game, except for the fact that the sounds he heard coming from the freezer were different. Instead, he hears the muffled sounds of stomps and wall banging. Not that he gave much attention to it, but the thought of asking about what the sound was, was not his first priority.)
…
Talking to his former classmate in college was a bit too awkward for the brunette to handle. *He was way more full of himself…* well, look what that got him into. More of a fool if you ask the man himself…Rody clutched his shirt out of self-pity. He strode towards the furthest room, in which he took curiosity in. The doorknob stirred open the door, showing the vaguely dark room. A thought flew into him, that maybe he could find any connection to what Vince and Manon had. He checked every piece of furniture that was shown within the bedroom, there sat a wooden shelf beside the prism-colored bed, a red tinted lamp was placed on top of it, while the clock beside it was close to hitting 12:00. For some reason, his guts were telling him to look under them, one of his hands made its way to a weirdly shaped object whilst crouching into a shrimp-like position. A key, which seemed to be used for the freezer he didn’t give much attention to. The door suddenly creaks open, a person’s shadow had spread halfway to where Rody stood.
“Looking for anything specific?” Rody’s heart had skipped a beat hearing this, his face went slightly pale as chills crawled through the back of his neck.
“gaH! - Um, Yeah, I was just- “he slid the key into his left pocket, hoping the other doesn’t suspect anything peculiar.
“Taking a nap” honestly this was the most stupid reason he has ever made in his entire life. Though the words did come out a little cracked, he wouldn’t suspect it, or so he hoped.
“…In my room?”
“...yup.”
“In my bed?”
“Mhm, yeah.”
“Even though you could’ve just gone home instead—”
“Look, are the particulars really necessary—”
“Guess not” they both paused while staring at each other for a moment. The other finally replies.
“…You don’t have to serve the other guests anymore, come on.” And so, the other finally left the room, leaving the door widely open showing half the hallway’s wall.
Rody was somehow relieved and glad to be out of that awkward situation, now that he’s got the key, surely, he’ll know what the noise is all about, though before that he’ll need to seek some answers from Vince. He shut the door that came behind him once he left the room.
…
“Hey, Vince…I’ve got a question…”
“…What’s got you all worked up…? Fine, let’s hear it.” Rody took a deep breath before starting off with it.
“…How do you know Manon?”
“Who?”
“My- Manon. The one whose picture you have in your office. The one who’s been sending you letters. My girlfriend.” He somehow sounded pissed, knowing very well the *M.* signed on the letters meant Manon herself.
“Are you sure we’re thinking of the same girl?” He’s very sure indeed… Manon’s picture was sitting by the bin…all crumpled, and half torn.
“I saw the picture, Of course I’m- “
“Because that Manon said she’d dumped some pathetic red haired plouc a week ago.” These words came out cold from the raven’s mouth, it stung a bit knowing the red haired plouc she implemented was Rody.
“So, it can’t be the same one.” The raven added.
“Well- Yeah, but…- “
“It’s getting late, shouldn’t you be leaving by now.”
“I-…I guess…good night then Vince…”
“…Good night Rody.”
…
*Where am I? * Then again, those nightmares kept coming back to him. He’s on a large plate, surrounded by nothing but black and white, he felt an enormous fork pierce through the bottom of his stomach, blood splashed on half of his uniform. *Look above* and there smiled the raven chef, peering through his organs, carefully tearing the brunette’s flesh with a knife, the sharp edge slicing through the open wounds. *stop…Stop…STOP!!!!!* the brunette got out of the sofa, clutched his own hair, and tried to breath normally, his whole body was shaking from head to toe, sweat was visible from his forehead.
“…” and from that moment, he didn’t sleep for the night.
…
The brunette was carrying a garbage bag full of the customers leftovers, a black cat was staring at him from the rooftop, it seems a bit ominous despite the harm-less looking animal, the sun was almost setting, replaced by the bright lit moon, a couple of minutes left before he can quit this job. A few moments before leaving the kitchen he heard the same muffled sounds coming from the freezer, right, he forgot that he had the key all along in his left pocket. The cooks from the kitchen were packing up their things before leaving, Rody took that chance to not be seen by anyone. He then shoves the key through the keyhole and pushed the door. A body was lying. Why is there a body here? Rody went near to get a closer look of who or what it was then…
“…This…is…” He saw the familiar face, the face whom he loved, fallen into a deep slumber, tied up. Her skin was pale, covered in narrow cuts of blades, legs all bruised up. Rody quickly kneels to carefully lift her up, shaking her hastily, his head at the time was filled with panic, wondering if she’s still alive or not, he tries to mutter her name, loudly with each word.
“MANON…please…n-no..this cant-” he didn’t care if his voice was loud, tears were pouring from his eyes, voice all cracked and stuttered.
“Rody…” a weak voice came out of her mouth, while her head laid on Rody’s lap.
“Manon!!! I’m- I’m so glad…what did he do to you? I promise…ill get you out of—”
“Behind-…” A hard object hit Rody’s head just as Manon was about to warn him, he fell unconscious on top of her weak body. Everything went blurry before it came dark, he felt as if he was being squeezed by knots of rope, he couldn’t do anything but to be oblivious to what was happening around him. *Wake up Rody…* indistinct voices kept passing by his fuzzy minded head, still vulnerable from the pain he had just encountered a few moments ago. Finally, he squints his eyes, trying to get a better look at who was kneeling Infront of him, also bounded by the ropes he was in.
“I- Manon?” He tilts his head, still weak and light-headed.
“You should’ve quit sooner…I didn’t want you to be involved in this…” she sounded like she was guilty for some reason.
“How can I…? It got me this far just to seeing you again…I’ve called each day just to hear your voice…for once…”
“I know Rody, I know…But—” Footsteps were heard coming from above the ceiling.
“Enough talk. I’ll get you out of here, we can continue once we leave this damn place.” Rody tries to use all of his strength just to break through the ropes.
“The ropes are too strong to get rid of.” Rody was able to drop out a box full of matches from his pocket.
“Mind helping out with these?” Though it took a while, Manon was able to light the match. Rody’s ropes were burned which became easier for him to break through. He then unties Manon who was also free from its grasps. Manon lumped a bit, having a hard time standing straight, the brunette placed her arm over his neck to ensure she’ll be able to somehow walk properly.
“Are you cold…?”
“Yeah…quite…”
Rody places her on the meat filled table and took a few bags of flour to reach the ventilation, he then switched on the industrial control to cut down an animal bone, the machines blades went off automatically after it being cut. Rody then used the bones to cut off the cold air coming from the ventilation.
“Feeling less cold yet? We need to regain our strengths before we can escape…”
“Mhm…” Manon felt safe, knowing despite her breakup with Rody, he still thought to himself of always holding on to what’s important to you. Guilt is what left her at this moment, she wanted what was best for him, yet he still held on, he deserved to have respect not only for others but for himself. If only he knew what was best for him, and not only her being the point of his whole existence.
The door’s window was shattered by Rody’s bleeding fist, twists the knob from the other side of the lock. His face faced Manon with a sense of excitement.
“Manon! We’ll finally get out of here! Can you walk?”
“A bit…but your hand…its—”
“This? It’s not a big deal. Better than being stuck here, really.” They both went out of the freezer’s room just to be met by the Ravens cold glare, leaning by the counter holding a wine opener in one of his hands. He faced them, with a conspicuous look of assumptions. Honestly, he felt intrigued just by looking at the two lovebirds holding hands, sadly, a person like him can never understand what true love felt. His plan backfired because of it anyway. Rody pulled Manon back, whilst staring at Vince defensively, they’re just like birds, waiting for the right moment to fly away before the cat catches them. killing two birds with a stone isn’t bad, is it? Unless…the other could be kept for something more…worth of experience. And after a short moment of silence…
“Vince—We can explain—” the chef sprints off without listening to a word, whilst eyes locked on Rody’s, he’s captured both brunette’s wrists against the wall, Rody struggles to keep intact with his defense, having Vincent to bite off his right ear instead. Blood from the torn ear splattered the wall red.
“a-ah…AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH” Rody pushed Vince away and held the slashed side of his ear, eyes tearing from pain, ears ringing in panic, stumbling aback to where the bloody wall stood.
“RODY!”
Manon tries to tackle Vince away from an injured red head, clutching his uniform, slightly tearing them apart, she gripped with all her strength trying to keep Vince away from hurting Rody any further.
“MANON DON’T—” Rody roared, having pain exceed at this point. Manon on the other side, got thrashed by Vince’s elbow and stumbled on to the floor, leaving yet another bruise on her face.
“NO!!” Just as Vince was about to look back at Rody, the brunette dashed onto him and tackled his torso, causing both to fall on the ground. The Redhead pinned the raven on to the floor, blood from scars dripping. He shouted, facing where Manon was.
“MANON, RUN.” He snatched off the keys from the raven’s pockets, and threw it to a currently shaking Manon, thankfully she’s made a clean catch of the key. Her legs hastily made their run to the bistro’s door despite the hurtful injuries. She heard a sudden stab from the opened kitchen and saw Rody in a puddle of blood, whilst being pinned down by a fully enraged Vince, his gaze met Manon’s, her eyes were seen scared and worried, without thinking, a warm smile plastered his face.
“I love you…Manon…” He coughed out blood in between the sentence. Trying to throw off all hesitation, she whispered “I…” She swung open the door and lastly said, “Ill come back…I promise…” without any further thoughts, she left the bistro running. Just as Vince was about to go after Manon, the Raven’s leg was locked in the brunette’s grasp.
“I won’t let…you…go near…her…” Though he felt weak, he didn’t stop gripping on to the chef’s leg. Stab him, make him bleed, do anything you want with him, just not Manon, he’s lost her once, he’ll never lose her again.
…
She ran in bare feet, hair flowing amongst the wind, though it was cold outside, that didn’t stop her from finding a better way to escape this hell. The nearest phone booth was by the apartment from where Rody lived. A few coins were sitting by the booth, must’ve been her lucky day of finding them when she needed them the most.
… “Hello, what’s your emergency?”
…She explained a quick story of what happened of today’s occurrence.
…” stay calm, the police will be on their way.”
…
Just when the officers were about to reach the bistro, they spot Manon walking towards the opposite direction of the road, they took her in the vehicle with them to be asked for more of the specifics. They put a white towel-like cloth on Manon’s shoulders to ease her pain and calm her down. Manon had hopes of saving Rody the way he saved her, maybe she could try to guide him this time onwards…
…The bistro was burning. Manon was left shocked as the brightness of the fire reflected her widely opened eyes, jaw slightly dropped, heart thumping heavily, face going pale, hands clearly shaking. How…? When she left, the bistro wasn’t burning…they were just there… Rody was clearly injured…And Vince was…The fire department were able to put the fire out, she was informed that no body was found within the burnt bistro, the only detail they had left of the bistro was the…pendant…covered in red…blood. “Rody’s blood…” she broke into tears, opening the pendant which showed a picture of her and Rody…She held it close to her chest, promising to herself that she will save Rody no matter what and return the favor. “Idiot…” she let out a hic. It’s what’s left of that red headed waiter.