hey y'alll sorry it's been a while i've been insanely busy with school and life womp womp

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It was just past noon when Poppy called me over urgently. "Y/N, come quick. I found something."

I'd been staring out the window, at the hills of grass which sparkled with the dull white sheen of frost. The plan'd been progressing well as December passed by, and the air was grew colder with each new day. When I turned to look her way, she was already hurrying back down the hall and deeper into the house. Once in the library she scaled up the ladder and grabbed a few books, placing them next to one already open on the table. I recognized all of them as William Minerva books. She grabbed the one with an unbroken circle, opened the back cover and pointed. By her finger, there was a smudged black barcode.

"I asked Hayato about it, because I'd seen one or two before. He said they popped up from time to time, and showed me a few... But the one in this book is different."

I took the book and ran my finger over the barcode. It was unevenly printed, as if it had been done with a pen and ruler. Every few lines, the pen was randomly running out of ink, creating uneven, dotted lines. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar... I fell backward into my mind, and within a second, my eyes cleared of fog. "If you turn the barcode sideways, the dotted, dashing lines read as snippets of morse code." I tapped my finger on the paper, weathered until it was soft, as I read the translation aloud:  "Room, bed, dresser, drawer. The hell is that supposed to mean..."

There were a series of numbers beneath the barcode. Paying attention to only the ones directly beneath the morse code... "2, 6, 2, 1."

A proud smirk creeped across my lips. "It's simple, but clever. One of the kids probably wrote it, but judging by the quality of the ink, not for some time. We're supposed to look in the second bedroom, the sixth bed, and then the dresser to the right of it —assuming we count from the left. Then, the first drawer." I snapped the book shut as my smirk stretched into a more eager grin. "The other barcodes are probably duds to make this one blend in, but we can check them later."

"Seriously?" Poppy complained, taking the book from my hands. "You figured it out in less than a minute? What the heck, man! What do you eat to make your brain so voluptuous!"

"The souls of the innocent. Orphan blood? Never mind that, we gotta go see!"

"What, the drawer? I've never seen anything out of the – hey! Where are you – Dude, slow down! Orphan blood?"

I rifled through the drawers of the dresser the code addressed, only to find nothing out of the ordinary. Poppy, panting, braced her hands on her knees. "See? Whatever was there was probably found a long time ago."

I grumbled at her to keep quiet. There was a familiar itch at the back of my mind, like a whisper, that always seemed to come right before I solved a problem. I pulled out the top drawer again, and prodded around the soft wood, looking for some sort of leeway. There was nothing on the bottom, so I reached for the top.

Human fingertips are so sensitive they can discern the details of an object as fine as half of a hair. It's no surprise I felt the tiny crevice in the wood. I jabbed my nails into the tiny gap to try to yank it out, and my fingers ached in protest. Just when I thought time had warped it into place, the slab of wood flew out with a clatter, and a piece of paper came fluttering to the floor.

"A letter!" Poppy exclaimed, as if she wanted the whole house to know.

"You shut your freaking mouth!" I replied with a mocking excitement, carefully searching through the small carved divot in the wood for anything else. When it seemed we got the only piece, I carefully wedged the wood back into place.

"Y/N..." Poppy murmured, handing me the letter. "You've gotta read this."

I unfolded the paper and skimmed over it quickly, the font scrawled in a hastily written hand.

Dear sibling, I hope this letter finds you well. 

Don't let mama know about this letter, or very bad things will happen. I need you to trust what I'm about to tell you.

You must leave this place. This house is a farm. The children are cattle, and the mother is the shepherd. Every adoption, the children are killed to be fed to monsters. I know it is hard to believe, but please, look into it. Be careful.

The last time one of our siblings were adopted, I went to the gate. His name was Leo, and he was my best friend. He was given an option: to be transferred to an experimental farm, or to die. There were monsters and grown-ups in lab coats. It's a miracle I got out of there alive, but I can tell that mother's found me out. I don't think I have much time left.

Remember: Promise.

Love, Sammy

There was a small cipher scrawled at the bottom of the note.

189-3-1, 39-21-7, (6), 204-21&22

I'd seen a cipher like this before, I was certain. But where exactly it came from evaded me.

"Do you remember someone named Sammy?" Poppy asked.

I almost snorted. Hell, I don't remember anything from more than two months ago, I wanted to say. Instead, I simply shrugged. "I don't think so."

"Me neither... They must be from a long time ago."

A sudden creak sounded from the doorway. I fumbled, clumsily stuffing the drawers back into the dresser. "I wonder where that darned notebook is?" I asked aloud, stumbling over my words. "We've almost checked all the drawers by now..."

Poppy stared at me for a moment, her brow furrowed. I flicked my gaze to the door and her eyes brightened. "Maybe it's in the toy room?" she hummed.

I shook my head. "I checked there already..."

The door was pushed open, revealing Yukko, cradling one of the children in her arms. "Poppy, Y/N," she greeted, sweetly. "Free time will be ending soon, so please be ready for a few lessons in the test room." She paused, taking a moment to consider us. "What are you two doing on the floor?"

"Ah..." I sighed in annoyance, rubbing the back of my head. "I lost an old journal of mine..."

"Perhaps you should check the infirmary?" Yukko offered.

I frowned. "I checked there, too..."

"Oh!" exclaimed Poppy. "What about the library? It's full of books, so maybe one of the little kids brought it there by mistake?"

"That's pretty smart!" I rose to my feet, feeling Yuuko's loving gaze follow me to the doorway. "I'll check there before the lesson... Wanna come?"

"Sure!" Poppy chorused, following me out of the room. "Thanks, mama!"

Yukko maintained her same sweet smile. "Any time."

As soon as we were out of earshot, I shivered with ick. "She gives me the creeps," I muttered.

"That makes two of us," agreed Poppy, her shoulders slumping with relief. She patted her skirt pocket, speaking beneath her breath. "What do we do with the letter?"

"I dunno. Burn it? Eat it? Stick it in a blender and drink it? Do we even have a blender? Why are you asking me?"

"Oh, forget I asked."

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