Caught

Vanessa slid down onto the cold ground, panting, her back against the rough brick wall and her chest heaving.

She had tried for ages, only to fail to even reach the eaves.

When she was being controlled, she had climbed up in a few quick moves. Why was it so difficult on her own?

After trying for ages, she finally had to admit that she really could not get up there by herself.

Frustration welled up. Vanessa pressed her lips together, unwilling to accept it. Suddenly, she felt so useless. Every time she encountered an obstacle, that being controlled her to resolve it. What about her? What could she do herself?

"No, I can't always rely on others. Vanessa, use your head! There has to be something you can do!"

The girl's gaze gradually grew resolute. She bit her nails, forcing herself to think.

"Spirit Vision!"

"Right, I have Spirit Vision. Maybe I can find a way..."

Vanessa stood up, encouraging herself. She planned to look around nearby first and see whether she could discover anything.

Just then, she felt a gentle tug at the hem of her clothes.

"Vanessa... big sister..."

The sudden voice rang out in the silent, dark alley, startling Vanessa so badly that she nearly jumped! She whipped her head around-

A small figure stood before her, an oversized hood covering almost half her face. The face tilted up beneath it had crooked eyes and a twisted mouth.

Wait, crooked eyes and a twisted mouth?

"You're... Alice?"

She was the little girl Vanessa had met while looking for the key outside No. 37 Pine Resin Alley.

Alice nodded, making her oversized hood wobble. She simply pushed it back and showed Vanessa a forced smile that looked somewhat ghastly.

Vanessa instinctively shrank back-she still had not quite grown used to Alice's distorted face, even though she was such a kindhearted little girl...

She crouched until her eyes were level with Alice's. "What are you doing here?"

As soon as she spoke, she sensed something was wrong, and her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, you just called my name? You know me?!"

"I... I do!" Alice nodded emphatically, still speaking with some difficulty. "Big Sister Winnie... said you're... a good person!"

"Winnie?" Vanessa's heart skipped a beat before realization dawned. "You... you're one of the children Winnie adopted?"

"Yes!" Alice nodded hard. "Big Sister... Winnie is a very, very... good person! So you... are a good person too!"

"A good person?" Vanessa froze, a bitter smile appearing on her face. "I... I'm hardly good. Winnie is the truly good person, and I can't even understand her."

Many details she had overlooked now fell clearly into place.

Allen, for instance.

She had looked down on that gang thug so much, thinking him crude and unworthy of Winnie, who was as warm as sunshine. She had thought Winnie deserved someone better to lean on.

Only now did she understand that Winnie had chosen not to lean on others, but to become someone others could lean on.

Since the two had decided to be together, Allen must have known about all this. He was a gang member himself, yet he was willing to adopt these orphans with Winnie.

They had willingly taken on their suffering.

And what about her? Vanessa's suffering had come from being struck by the boulder of fate. Even her struggles and resistance were controlled by that mysterious will.

By comparison, how weak she was!

Winnie was mired in hardship herself, yet she had still reached out to help Vanessa.

Vanessa looked straight into Alice's clear eyes and forced an ugly smile. "I'm hardly a good person... Come on, take me to Winnie. I want to... apologize to her."

"People who say they're good... aren't... good people..." Alice said each word with exceptional seriousness. Her little hand patted Vanessa's shoulder clumsily, as though comforting her. "People who say they aren't good... will all... become good people..."

Vanessa stared blankly at the little girl before her. Her face was distorted, yet her eyes were clear.

Alice gently took her hand, which had grown rather cold in the freezing weather. "Let's... go..."

Holding Vanessa's hand, she led her out of the narrow, dark alley and into the faintly warm sunshine of the winter afternoon, arriving at the mansion's front door.

Someone was already waiting there.

When Alice appeared, Vanessa had used Spirit Vision to look around. Even then, she had been surrounded by all sorts of tiny white dots.

They had to be the poetry society's doing.

She had no idea when she had been exposed. Perhaps she had made too much noise while climbing, perhaps her attempts to conceal herself had been too clumsy, or perhaps there was some secret detection technique.

Vanessa glanced at the white dots flickering around her out of the corners of her eyes, and her heart sank-she had nowhere left to run. She could only follow Alice to the poetry society.

She could only hope the Mourning Poetry Society really was as the information described, rather than a bloody, brutal organization.

Once inside the mansion, she encountered quite a few society members along the way. They all wore hoods, their faces hidden in shadow, and their gazes were full of scrutiny and wariness as they looked at Vanessa.

Vanessa steeled herself and walked inside.

This house was considerably larger than No. 37, and its interior was much more spacious. The furnishings were hardly luxurious, but everything was tidy and cozy.

She had not noticed while peering through the skylight. Only upon entering could she feel the difference in atmosphere.

Signs of everyday life were everywhere, nothing like the sinister, eerie place Vanessa had imagined. If not for those wary hooded figures, this would have seemed more like a peaceful, large family home.

She was led into a study.

Another hooded figure stood with his back to her, browsing the books on the shelves. Alice let go of her hand, silently withdrew, and gently closed the door behind her.

Only the two of them remained in the room.

"Winnie?" Vanessa asked tentatively.

"Winnie had other things to attend to and didn't come today." The answer came not in the female voice she had imagined, but in a young man's voice, gentle yet distant.

Vanessa's heart immediately rose into her throat. "What did she go to do?"

"Look for a new place to live. She's adopted too many children for her old little apartment to hold... Aren't you her close friend? You didn't know?"

"..." Vanessa was momentarily embarrassed.

"What brings you here? Looking to join the poetry society? Or... here to mooch a meal like Winnie?"

"Mooch a meal?"

"Yes." The man sighed helplessly, as though recalling something. "Who knows where she heard about our poetry society, but she came as soon as she learned there were free sacred meals. She brings a whole bunch of children every time, too. It drives Miss Elegy mad."

"You see, our society already had a tradition of sharing food. Ever since Winnie started coming, we've even had to get a bigger pot."

"You really should see Flora sulking while having no choice but to swing that big ladle around, stirring the pot..." There was a barely perceptible hint of amusement in his voice.

Then, with a soft snap, he closed the book in his hands and turned around.

The gaze beneath his hood was as sharp as a blade, pinning Vanessa in place:

"So now, tell me-in what capacity have you come here?"

"Winnie's friend? A guest here to mooch a meal? Or..."

"The Circle of Vitas's 'Mad Caregiver'?"