The name of the objective was ’Hide and Seek’. What could this possibly mean?
There was only one answer in my mind.
’Mr. Jingles is somewhere inside the orphanage. Maybe posing as a staff member, or even disguised as one of the children. I need to figure out a way to find him.’
Ideally, I’d use the glasses to find Mr. Jingles, but I also understood that it probably would only lead to my death. The key lay in the words ’Hide and Seek’.
That was the most likely key in order to contain Mr. Jingles.
’But that’s easier said than done…’
So far, I didn’t have many clues. The only thing I had was the drawings.
“Wait.”
A thought struck me.
’If the rat and I are already influenced by the drawings, what about the others?’
I suddenly thought about the children and all their drawings.
My breathing suddenly grew uneven as I slowly turned to look at the rat. His expression had shifted before I knew it. It was a lot tenser and serious. As if he had come to the same realization as me.
“…It is just a theory. Nobody really knows if it’s true or not. We should take some time to test out the theory. But before that, we should get rid of all electronics.”
“Yes.”
The rat nodded his head slowly.
Just as he was about to turn, he paused.
“Should we have the staff draw Mr. Jingles? If—”
“There’s no point. That’ll only alarm the anomaly. For now, just go to the basement and find the circuit breaker. Turn off all electricity.”
“…..”
The rat didn’t answer.
He just stared at me. Feeling his gaze, I felt a strange sense of discomfort. One that grew with each passing second.
But then—
“Okay.”
The rat nodded, his dimples appearing again.
“…I trust your judgement.”
I watched as his back slowly moved away until he finally left the room, leaving me alone.
The silence around me felt deafening, pressing in from all sides.
Sitting down on the bed, I took a deep breath.
’Hide and Seek… Hide and Seek… Who exactly could Mr. Jingles be?’
***
Bzzz!
The static of the TV continued to buzz in the background as Zoey stood alongside Kyle, staring at the phone in her hand.
There were two videos.
One was of her, and one was of him. They took turns staring at the TV, gradually slipping into a trance. In that state, they managed to uncover a few things.
“I’m surprised you lasted even less than I did under the hypnotization.”
Kyle commented while staring at the video of Zoey staring at the TV. His comment prompted her to frown.
“What? Are you saying that I should last longer?”
“No, not really.” Kyle awkwardly scratched the back of his head, “I’m just saying that I’m usually better at this type of stuff. I’m just surprised by how much you’ve improved.”
“I haven’t improved.”
Zoey commented honestly while looking at Kyle.
“Either you’ve gotten worse, or for some reason, the hypnotization affects you more than it does me.”
“…Hm.”
Kyle’s brows furrowed as he fixed his gaze on the recording. More specifically, the background on the TV that displayed the numerous people inside, all stiffly waving their hands in his direction while staring at him.
He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he tore his gaze away from the phone.
“Hm? What are you doing?”
Zoey watched in confusion as Kyle walked over to the stand beside the sofa, where a particular picture frame sat. His expression shifted subtly as he looked at it, then he turned and held it out to her before she could say a word.
“Look at this.”
The frame depicted a middle-aged man with thinning hair at the top, a pot belly, and a rather unique mustache. One that curled at the tips.
“What is… Eh?”
Zoey was confused at first, but a few moments later, her expression shifted as something clicked in her mind. She quickly pulled out her phone and stared intently at the people seated in the background of the cartoon.
“Shit…”
“Yes.”
Kyle put the frame down, looking at the phone screen and pointing towards a certain character.
“If I’m not wrong, the man that we’ve been looking for… He’s right here.”
“…..”
Zoey bit her lip as she looked at the cartoon and then the frame. While one was a cartoon and the other wasn’t, the features were uncanny. There was no denying that they were the same person, and seeing the forced smiles on their faces, she was even more certain.
“…That’s one of our leads gone.”
“I know.”
Kyle replied, similarly at a loss. At the same time, he turned off his phone. He had a feeling that Mr. Jingles couldn’t just control TVs.
“What now? We’ve lost our lead. Should we go back to the orphanage? Or should we report this to the Guild?”
“I’ve already done that. I’ve yet to receive a reply.”
“What?”
Zoey frowned. The Guild was usually fast with this type of stuff. For them to not reply so quickly… Something was odd.
“This is a bit annoying. I’ve also yet to receive a reply from them. I asked them to find any information regarding clowns on this island.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
Kyle replied.
“I’ve also asked them. There’s nothing concrete. There’s no history of clowns in this town. Not even ones that showed up at parties.”
“There isn’t?”
Zoey was a little surprised. In that case, how come there was a clown anomaly?
“Do you think that it comes from another island?”
“I doubt it.”
Kyle replied.
“Something like this would’ve been reported in the past. I believe it comes directly from this island. It’s just that…”
Kyle paused for a moment, his brows furrowing.
“…It’s just that I don’t understand how it suddenly formed.”
Nobody truly knew how anomalies formed. This was one of the greatest mysteries of Earth, and the reason why the BAU was formed. One of the main speculations was that anomalies formed due to the mist’s influence, seeping into the minds of certain individuals who died and were filled with resentment.
Others speculated that they were man-made.
Nobody truly knew the answer, but if there was one thing that they were both aware of, it was the fact that all anomalies had a past.
What could Mr. Jingles’ past be?
’Logically speaking, it should be that of a clown. However, there is no history of clowns here. In that case…?’
Kyle’s brows knitted together in deep thought as he fixated on the recording, replaying it repeatedly. The flickering images reflected in his pupils, and after a slow blink, his eyes began to widen with realization.
“Ah!”
“Uh? What…?”
Startled, Zoey looked at Kyle as she saw him hastily take her phone.
“Wait, what—”
“Here!”
A moment later, Kyle flipped the phone over to show her a certain article.
“We’ve been looking at things the wrong way, Zoey!”
Kyle tapped on the article.
“Rather than a clown, what we should’ve been focusing on is the cartoon. The past that we’ve been looking for… It’s right here!”
[Carter James: From a Nobody born in Sire Island to Best Animation Award Winner of the Year!]
“An animator… That’s what we should’ve been looking for.”