Chapter Text
Kinsey looked through the gate into the well house. Mischief was inside, sitting on top of the edge of the well with a smug look on his face.
"Well, this was a short-lived expedition," Adventurousness said.
"For you, maybe. But for us, it's taken all day," Kinsey said.
"I see you finally caught up with me," Mischief said, slow clapping.
"Give us the Head Key!" Kinsey said as she slipped through the gate—it was a tight squeeze, but she managed—taking Fear along with her. Fear clawed at Mischief, but Kinsey held him back from doing any damage.
"What makes you assume I have the Head Key?" Mischief slyly remarked.
"Enough playing around; we know you have it," Tyler said. He squeezed through the well house gate as well, only barely fitting through. "Bode's other feelings said they escaped because of you. We know you're the one behind all this."
"Yep, it's true," Curiosity said.
"I'd bet my life on it," Adventurousness said.
"Wow, what a bunch of traitors you all are." Mischief smirked. "After all I did for you, this is how you repay me?"
"You told us leaving Bode's head would be fun!" Anger yelled. "But it's done nothing but bring a bunch of trouble!"
"For once, I actually agree with you, Anger," Kinsey said. "So where's the Head Key, Mischief? Hand it over."
"Search me. I don't have it," Mischief said, showing that both his hands were empty.
Tyler grabbed Mischief and yanked him off the well. He padded him down thoroughly. "He's… right. He doesn't have the key on him," Tyler said.
"He must've hidden it somewhere. Where is it?" Kinsey said.
"Like I'd tell you," Mischief said. "You know I don't play like that. It's no fun to just give you the answer."
Tyler punched Mischief in the face.
"Tyler, no!" Kinsey held back Tyler's arm.
"The little shit isn't cooperating!" Tyler yelled. "Not to mention all the hell he put us through up until this point!"
"Still, he's our brother! You don't do that to him!"
"He's not our brother. Our brother isn't a little dick like he is. Besides, it's not like you can actually hurt feelings."
"Actually, Big Brother here is right," Mischief said as he rubbed his jaw where Tyler had punched him. "Ironically, the truth is, feelings can't be hurt. At least, not in any lasting way. See?" He showed off his jaw, which had no sign of damage whatsoever, as if it hadn't been hit at all.
"Just tell us where the key is," Tyler said.
"I'll just say this: the key is hidden somewhere in Keyhouse. But that's the only clue you're getting."
"At least that's a start. Come on, let's go." Kinsey squeezed back out the gate of the well house. "We're so close to finding the key now. With the help of all the Bodes, I'm sure we can find it in no time."
"That's assuming all the Bodes will be willing to help us," Tyler said as he followed Kinsey out of the well house.
"I'll help you find the key!" Adventurousness said.
"Me too!" said Glee.
"I'm in, too," Curiosity added.
"I can help," Gluttony said.
"Why should I bother?" Sadness said. "I wouldn't make a difference either way."
"You can count me out," Rudeness said.
"I'm not gonna help you guys," Anger huffed. "But I guess I won't try to stop you, either."
"Thanks… I guess?" Tyler said.
"Hey, at least we've got more than half of them on our side," Kinsey said.
"Hello? I'm here, too," Mischief said. "And I ain't gonna help you, either."
"Fine, half. But Bode's Studiousness will probably be able to help us out, too," Kinsey said. "Come on, we need to get back to the house."
Everyone walked back to Keyhouse, up to the Ghost Door. Kinsey tried opening the door, but something was blocking it from the other side. She pushed the door even harder, eventually forcing it open, at least partially. She handed off Fear's leash to Tyler, and she squeezed through the opening. Once she wriggled through, she saw what was blocking the door—a Bode lying on the ground on his back, playing on a Nintendo Switch.
"Umm, excuse me?" Kinsey said. "What are you doing? You're blocking the door."
"Can't you see? I'm playing a game." The Bode reached inside a bag of Doritos lying next to him and stuffed a mouthful of chips into his mouth.
"Can't you get up and play your game literally anywhere else?"
"I can… but I don't wanna get up."
Kinsey groaned. "Let me guess, you're Bode's Laziness?"
"Yep," he said.
"Of course. I'm surprised we didn't come across you earlier. Listen, we're extremely busy right now—something I'm sure you can't relate to—so can you please just get out of our way?"
"Make me."
"Fine." Kinsey hooked her arms under Laziness's arms and dragged him away from the Ghost Door.
"Could you bring me my Doritos, too, while you're at it?" Laziness asked.
"Nope. You're gonna have to move your butt yourself to get that."
Kinsey finally opened the Ghost Door all the way, allowing the rest of the group to enter the winter study.
"So, what's the plan?" Tyler asked Kinsey.
"Well, I was thinking we should all split up and search through one section of the house each. So, say, someone searches the kitchen, someone else searches the drawing room, and so on."
"I was thinking the same thing," Tyler said.
"I want to search the kitchen," Gluttony said. "I'm good at that."
"Fine, that works," Tyler said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Studiousness asked, peeking from behind an astronomy book.
"We're talking about how we're going to find the Head Key," Kinsey said.
"May I be of assistance?"
"Actually, yeah, you'd be a great help. You can search through the winter study for the key since you seem to like this room so much."
"Yes, I do!" Studiousness perked up. "I'd be happy to help!"
"Great," Kinsey said.
"Curiosity, you can search the drawing room; Adventurousness, you can search the great room," Tyler said. "Now for the upstairs rooms, Glee, you can search Bode's room, and then me and Kinsey will search our own rooms."
"What about Mom's room?" Kinsey asked. "And Duncan's room? And the basement?"
"Let's just focus on these rooms for now," Tyler said. "Once we're done searching through all our designated rooms, we'll meet up in the foyer. If none of us found the key, then we can split up again and search through the rest of those rooms."
"Okay, sounds good," Kinsey said.
"I'll hold onto Fear; I don't trust anyone else with him," Tyler said. "Well, except you, of course."
Tyler and Kinsey turned around toward the drawing room to start their search, but they were both startled by another Bode standing before them. A Bode they had never seen before.
"Jesus! You scared me, you brat!" Kinsey said.
"Hi," he said quietly.
"Listen, we're kinda in a hurry right now, so could you please stay out of our way?" Tyler said.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the Bode said as he stepped to the side.
"Wait, maybe he can help us, too. Which feeling are you?" Kinsey asked the Bode.
"I'm… um… Bode's Shyness."
"Please," Kinsey scoffed, "Bode has a shy side? He's certainly never showed it around me."
"Okay, this is fine." Tyler said to Shyness, "We need you to do something for us, but you don't need to talk to anybody or anything—you'll be perfect. All you have to do is look for the Head Key. You know what it looks like, right?"
Shyness nodded.
"Great. So just search Mom's room for the Head Key. You can do that, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Cool. Now we have another one of you on our side," Tyler said.
As the two siblings made their way toward the foyer, Mischief called out to them, "Good luck. Even with all those Bodes at your side, I doubt you'll find the key!" He leaned back into one of the chairs in the drawing room. He, along with Sadness, Anger, Rudeness, Laziness, Cluelessness, and Sleepiness, would not be participating in the effort to find the key so that Bode might return to normal.