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Rowan Vance · (03-18-2026)

We open on flames flickering in the air. Reds, oranges, the occasional incandescent white. We pan back to see that these flames are from a campfire, burning away inside a forest… Next to the fire is a camping chair, and in the chair sits Rowan Vance, dressed in a pair of black and red Chuck Taylor All Stars, black jeans, and a white hoodie with a caricature of Yoda on it. There is a bright light from the camera shining on him as he bounces between looking at his phone and up at his viewers, the LIVE blinking on his YouTube page.

”The law of three, defined in the paranormal community as a belief that supernatural forces communicate or manifest through a sequence of three, with the third of whatever it may be, being the decisive factor. The confirmation, the warning, or the turning point… It isn’t about the spirit that’s calling your name, it isn’t about the creature lurking…-”

He stops talking, looking around as a noise distracts him in the distance, through the trees. He composes himself, clearing his throat, before turning back to the viewing public.

”It isn’t about the creature lurking in the trees, it’s about the pattern that shows itself to you, that makes itself known, that is recognised by those it reveals itself to… A classic one is the three knocks, said to be a spiritual entity or demon mocking the Trinity by tapping three times on a wall, a window, or knocking on trees. Another is the cold spots on a property, or the shadows seen, watching… All of which appear to manifest in threes.”

The sound of an owl hooting can be heard in the distance, which makes Rowan jump slightly. It happens again… Then a third time, to which Rowan excitedly points to the sky. After silence for another thirty seconds or so, he speaks again.

”Owl’s calling out in three, is another known omen. Three’s are a huge part of the Paranormal community and, now… Now, after what happened to me at Redemption XVII, it’s a big part of me in eWo! Because at the next Redemption, I’ve got the opportunity to take on the Wiley veteran of the past, a man who’s been doing this since before I was born, Ken Davison… My present, in the glorious Betsy Granger and this match obviously includes me, whom I’d like to believe, is the future of Elite. That’s right, folks of YouTube and beyond… The Curious One has a shot at The Trilogy Title at Redemption XVIII! And n…-”

Before he can continue, we’re interrupted again by another noise… One that sounds like voices in the distance and branches breaking. Rowan stands and looks beyond the treeline behind the camera.

”Hello? Who’s there…? Whoa, ok, I’m sure I’m not hallucinating, and there seem to be two red glowing lights… Eyshine maybe? About six feet off the ground… Why are the branches breaking so much?! WHO’S OUT THERE?! WHAT THE FU…”

Before he can say another word, the treeline breaks and something comes barrelling through the underbrush… Rowan tilts his head, shakes it slowly, and puts his hand over his face as a cameraman and sound guy from the documentary series “Behind the Ropes” appear, as if out of nowhere. They both steady themselves as Rowan sits back down, watching them carefully.

”Guys…?”

”Mr Vance, we’re sorry we didn’t mean to startle you… We’re from th…-”

”I know who you both are, but what I’d like to know is, why you’ve followed me here, on my camping trip when I’m trying to get a break from the wrestling…?”

”To be honest sir, we didn’t actually know what we were going to be shooting or whatever, this was Poppy’s idea to come and see you when she’d heard you were camping this weekend.”

”Poppy? As in Prescott?”

”Who else?”

The cameraman scolds the sound guy with his eyes and a nod, which makes him bow his head. Rowan chuckles incredulously as he waves around himself.

”Guys, this isn’t some Appalachian retreat where I’m using the trees as turnbuckles while… Note to self, not a bad idea actually… While planting elbows on squirrels and piledriving raccoons. Second note to self, not a good idea, never do that… No, I’m out here doing my other love, paranormal investigating.”

”You believe in all that trash?”

Another look from the cameraman and the sound guy puts a hand up in defence.

”Hey, I don’t mean anything by it! I’ve just never really believed in all that kind of stuff…”

”And that’s okay, you don’t have to. But, I’ll tell you what. I’ve only got one chair here, but feel free to stick around with me, and maybe something’ll happen that might convince you there’s more than meets the eye in places like this. Especially in the Appalachian Mountains.”

The documentary crew agrees, and Rowan invites them to sit by the fire. He pulls a cold box from behind his chair and pulls out two cans of Coke, Chilli Chocolate flavour, which both cameraman and sound guy look at inquisitively but crack open with a shrug.

”Okay, everybody, we’ve got some guests joining us tonight on this investigation. They’re a documentary crew from the show “Behind the Ropes,” and so you guys wanted to, what? Find out how I felt about my co-win at Redemption XVII and the subsequent announcement from Mr Roth?”

”That’s about the gist of it, Rowan, yeah…”

”Well I’ll be honest, I kinda feel like I wasn’t really doing the best I could have, especially against three people with the experience of Granger, Smythe, and Knight, but when I finally managed to hook the leg of Knight and the ref counted three, I’ve got to say I was surprised but relieved but of course I had to share that win with Betsy as she had the other leg hooked but it is what it is…”

”And of course, post-match Cam Roth had some polite words to say about you in your match and has given you a shot at Ken Davison’s Trilogy Title… What are your thoughts there?”

A rustle in the forest behind them startles all three, but Rowan waves it off as he gets his own can of Chilli Chocolate Coke, cracking it open.

”Don’t worry, guys, probably just a deer. But back to your question, my thoughts on the statement made by Cam Roth…? Well, it’s unexpected, and I think anyone who’s just stepped foot in the eWo would say that. I think Betsy Granger would say that; however, she’s very likely more deserving than I am of a shot. I’m suffering from what’s known as Imposter Syndrome, which is where you feel you’re not good enough for the outcomes of your choices or the fortuitous positions you find yourself in… But I belie…-”

Rowan is cut off by what sounds like a scream from way back in the forest. Both the cameraman and the sound guy baulk at each other and turn to leave. Rowan stands now looking a little concerned…

”Alright, guys I wanna try something, hang on… Spirits of Appalachia, if you can hear my voice, I wanna play a game here. I’m gonna clap three times.”

Rowan looks at the camera and raises his eyebrow…

”There’s that three again. I’m gonna clap three times, and if you can hear me, I want you to respond so we know where you are… Ready?”

Rowan claps once… Twice… A third time. There is silence except for the fire crackling, the sound guy nudges the cameraman and nods towards Rowan. Suddenly without warning… CLAP… CLAP… CLAP! From deep within the trees behind the tent.

”What the hell was that?!”

”You both heard that right?”

”Fucking right we did!”

”I’m going back to the car!”

A whole flurry of branches breaking and whispering voices can be heard as both the cameraman and sound guy burst through the forest the way they came and disappear into the distance. Rowan shakes his head as laughter ensues and his lifelong friend from back home, Elias Boone. comes out of the trees, making whispering sounds through cupped hands and trying to stop himself laughing. The two men high-five as Elias leans into the tent and brings out a second chair, Rowan himself sitting back down.

”Oh man, I didn’t think you were ever coming back!”

”Yeah I took a little detour after going to, you know… And I thought I’d heard something way back beyond that rock we found earlier…”

”And…?”

"Nah, nothing there man… It’s pretty quiet out there, except for the clapping sound I heard.”

Rowan laughs at Elias as he takes another mouthful of his Coke, pointing at him.

”Oh that’s good man, yeah brilliant response with the clap-back too.They ran for their lives.”

”Oh no, Ro… That was me making the whispering noises and all the moving in the bush, but I’d heard you clap and then something respond, before all that.”

Rowan narrows his eyes, but he believes his friend. He looks around and then back at the camera.

”Alright, guys, well, the plan is this. I’m going to read you some stories from the area, then Elias and I will try getting some shuteye until about 2am when we’ll do some more exploring around here and a couple of solo challenges….”

As Rowan continues talking, his voice gets denser as we pan back and find all this going on on his laptop. He presses a button to save the work and stands up.

”Already been at this editing for an hour, I should really start to unpack.”

The scene is now shown to be an enormous lounge/lobby space with no furniture but a whole bulk load of boxes, the laptop resting on one of them. Rowan picks up another and opens it as he sits back down on the floor. The entire thing is filled with baby photos of him and June. He looks through them, reminiscing, before he grabs his cell phone and dials a number. The phone is answered after several long rings.

”Hello…?”

”Junebug? You good…?”

”Oh hey, Ro… Yeah I’m okay, just tired. I’ve not been too well lately.”

”I guess that answers that then!”

”What’s that?”

Rowan looks at another picture, the two of them at some roadside hot dog van, both eating double chilli-dogs with the mustard and ketchup going everywhere. He smirks into the phone.

”Well it wasn’t my reason for calling, but I wondered if you wanted to come watch my first title match in eWo next week. But as you’re not feeling great…”

”Yeah, I don’t think it would be good timing big brother… Sorry.”

”Don’t apologise, I can’t be catching sniffling lurgy anyway!”

”Okay… So, you said that wasn’t your reason for the call, so what was?”

”Oh yeah, do you know what mom or dad did with our photos?”

”What do you mean?”

”Well, I’ve just got an apartment, and I’m unloading all my stuff, but the only photos I can find of us are up until that photo of your graduation night outside the house, then boom they’ve vanished.”

”Oh really? That’s so strange… Have you actually asked them? Maybe they’ve dumped them in that space under the stairs at home…”

”Yeah, perhaps, I’ll call mom tonight and ask. Alright, listen, Junebug, you get better soon because if you’re not coming to see me beat Ken Davison and Betsy Granger to win the Trilogy title, you’d better be ready for March and Coup De Grace!”

”Don’t worry, I will… Nice work on the apartment, too! Can’t wait to see it, when I do come to Miami.”

The siblings say their goodbyes, and Rowan hangs up the phone. He dips his hand back into the box and picks up a book… Stephen King’s “The Drawing of The Three”. He grabs his phone and sets it up to record as he balances it on another box…

”This series of books, The Dark Tower, was one of my favourites growing up. This one was the second in the series and the one that really kicked off the story. The drawing of the three centres around Roland Deschain needing to draw different people from our world to help him save everything. Eddie Dean, Odetta Walker, and Jack Mort.

Again, here we focus on the law of three; once more it comes into the equation, there is no such thing as coincidences and going into the Trilogy match at the upcoming Redemption XVIII, I believe it is Ka, or fate, that I have found the two, to complete my ka-tet.”

Rowan flicks through the book, focusing intently on some of the words before he looks up again and shows a drawing within its pages.

”Odetta, or Detta Walker… Susannah Dean, as some may know her, “The lady of Shadows” in eWo, I’d say that she very much resembles Betsy Granger… Duality incarnate, a shadow self and a higher self… Needing not destruction but integration. Odetta is a single body housing multiple selves, whilst Betsy is a single self stretched across worlds, timelines and identities… Both deny the idea of a fixed identity, yeah, she is definitely my Odetta in this ka-tet. Also, to say, I’m not really into hip-hop, but your rhyme scheme is very appealing, Betsy, and I very much enjoyed what you had to say. But I’m sure you’ve now seen what Kind of sting I bring or punch I pack, and in that I’m sure you won’t be too confused about what I can bring to the table this time around…

And then we’ve got the eWo Trilogy Champion, ‘Godly’ Ken Davison. The man is old enough to be my father, but with that age comes mega experience. I’m aware that Ken has held and is holding championships outside eWo, too, and I’m fully aware of what he brings… He’s definitely the Eddie Dean of the trio, the pusher; however, Ken it feels to me that you’re already what Eddie was, after he met his ka-tet, but one thing I can definitely associate with you both is that your intelligence is a weapon and another thing Ken, that connects you to Eddie Dean is that you don’t fight stronger, you fight smarter… You are Eddie Dean if he survives the Tower and keeps walking. The only issue is when you walk, Ken, it’ll be right into me, which cuts your survival percentage to about half… Or at least your chances of keeping the belt…”

Rowan puts the book down and sighs a little as he places it back in the box. He turns back to the camera.

”This is the sort of thing I’d have said to my opponents if I didn’t have this complex of not feeling like I’m good enough. So, what I will say is I’m going into this triple-threat and giving it my best, my all, to bring home the eWo Trilogy Championship in only my second ever match. I will take all my experience of the four-way last show, knowledge of both Granger and Davison and walk straight into Redemption XVIII prepared and ready to go! Because I can tell you now, I’m not the Jack Mort of the group, there aint no way… No, in this ka-tet I’m most definitely Roland Deschain.

I am Roland Deschain, way back before the legend hardens, I am Roland when curiosity still exists, Roland when the world hasn’t yet burned the softness out of me. We both walk the path because we must, although for different reasons, the same outcome thaws. Roland Deschain did learn the cost a little too late, whilst for me it’s still early enough for me to choose. Roland Deschain and Rowan Vance are both pre-walkers of the same destiny but at different stages on the road, and while Roland reads terrain, people, and danger, I read the opposition instinctively.

Have I read you, Betsy? Ken? Perhaps, but the only way we’ll find out is when things come to a head at Redemption XVIII right here in Miami… So you bring your ferocity, Granger… Bring your experience and the belt, Davison, and we’ll lock it up and see which of us makes it to the Tower first.”

Before he can finish, Rowan’s cell phone rings. He stops recording and doesn’t look at the number, just presses the answer button, and a voice on the other end speaks.

”Hello? Sorry, I had a missed call from this number a bit ago.”

”Oh? I don… Wait, is this Vicki? Vicki Harman?”

”Yes, who’s this??”

”Sorry, it’s Rowan, Rowan Vance.”

”Oh… Oh! Rowan, hi!”

”Hey. I thought I recognised your voice, listen, sorry this is the number I have for June…”

”Oh, that’s okay, it happens to the best of us. But how are you? It’s been a while since we’ve spoken, I meant to call a while ago actually…”

”You, you did?”

”Yeah, I’ve seen you’re a big-time wrestler now! June always told us we’d go from seeing you on YouTube videos to mainstream shows!”

”Hah! Well, I wouldn’t quite say big-time, I’m doing okay… And I’m still doing my YouTube stuff.”

”Oh, I know you are! I've been subscribing, Rowan, since we first spoke. I’m a huge believer in the paranormal and mysteries.”

”You subscribe? I had no idea. June never said a word. That’s pretty cool… Thank you.”

The butterflies in Rowan’s gut appear out of nowhere, but it’s no secret he has had a thing for Vicki, since June introduced them a while ago, and here she is telling him she’s been keeping tabs on his life and career. He feels a small smile cross his lips before he’s brought back to earth.

”Rowan, did you hear me? I said sorry, I’ve gotta go, I’ve got class… But listen don’t be a stranger ok?!”

”Oh yeah for sure, you go do your thing… And no, I definitely won’t, you neither!”

He hits the button on the phone to hang it up, takes a minute to himself as the smile comes creeping back. He switches his camera back on and readies himself to continue recording, as the scene fades into darkness….

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