《Mendivi》


 Chapter I - A mansion made for death

    The street lights suddenly shut off while I was walking down the street, leaving only moonlight to light up the road in front of me. I stared at the beautiful sky as I walked down the street towards my friend¡¯s house, finally finding time to have a sleepover.


    It was the end of summer, the eighteenth of August. The ideal time to do anything, as the heat had already somewhat died down while I still had a lot of free time.


    I took my phone out of my pocket to see what the time was, but before I could even look at the screen, I got a call from my mother. Good timing, I forgot that I had disabled my ringtone.


    ¡°Honey, Adam, are you there?¡± she seemed very nervous.


    ¡°Yeah, is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°No, you need to hurry home right now!¡± I could feel the stress from her voice.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I tried to figure out why she called me, but she immediately hung up.


    I was reasonably worried, so I turned back and started running home and as I picked up the pace, I had a constant feeling that something was very off.


    To begin, the traffic quickly became less and less dense. I never expected a lot of traffic in the late evening hours, yet I started feeling like I was in a ghost town.


    I also started hearing loud sounds. Sounds of vehicles, music, people chatting. Nothing like that was around me, but the sounds kept getting louder and louder, even their frequency was increasing and giving me a headache.


    I tried to run faster, but the feeling that the sounds were giving me stopped me from that. It was like I was having my energy drained. What the hell is happening to me? I have to get home as soon as possible!


    My vision started becoming blurry and became worse with every step until I couldn''t even see what was in front of me, and when I felt it wasn''t safe to keep walking, I stopped in my tracks and tried to clear up my vision. The colors in front of me changed from the gray color of the road and purple of the sky to a weird shade of yellow, then to brown and then switching between them for a short amount of time until it became ocher.


    Eventually, my vision cleared up and I found myself lying in a bed inside a room that wasn''t mine.


    Where am I? What¡¯s going on? I quickly jumped up. I was lying in a bed with no idea how I got to it. Was that a dream? Did I faint? I was confused and the looks of the room were completely unfamiliar .The walls, floor, carpet, ceiling, nightstand, closet and two doors were an ocher color. Only one thing stuck out. A single window, opposite of the door. On the other side of it, everything was gray with a slight black light covering the bottom. It wasn¡¯t anything plastered on the window, it was something outside.


    Slowly moving away from the window, I approached the door.


    Locked.


    My panic skyrocketed, but I had to try the other door too. This time, I managed to open it with ease, except what waited for me wasn¡¯t an exit, an explanation, or even a friendly face. It was no more than a normal bathroom with ocher tiles.


    Instinctively I went to the tap to wash my face.


    As the cold water properly woke me up I tried remembering how I got here, looking at my reflection in the mirror, seeing the mess that was my hair, seeing my tired eyes and my stained shirt that I forgot to change before leaving the house.


    It was useless, I couldn¡¯t remember anything that came after those weird sounds.


    When I turned off the tap, I heard knocks on the locked door. At first they were weak and quiet, though they kept getting louder with each knock. I just stood frozen in the bathroom, staring at my colorless eyes in the mirror, hoping that whoever was knocking wouldn¡¯t get in. After a bit, the knocking got quieter again and then completely stopped, but silence didn¡¯t set in. Instead, coming from the other side of that door I could hear a female voice.


    ¡°Ugh, fine, you can stay there a little longer, however be sure to come out and meet your new friends soon.¡±


    About a minute passed after I heard that voice before I finally decided to leave the bathroom.


    This time the other door was unlocked. Weird, I never heard any noises that would indicate the door was unlocked. Maybe it was stuck? I slowly went outside the room toward a small empty ocher corridor. Looking around the hallway I could see four doors, two on each side. There were dirty nameplates above every door.


    Adam.


    Alex.


    Petra.


    Rose.


    Other than the doors, there was a small staircase at one end of the hallway, only wide enough for one person to pass. I wanted to check all the rooms before heading down, but all of them were locked, so I had no other choice.


    What waited for me downstairs was a large open area with some seemingly random things placed inside it. On one side was a short bookshelf with an old fashioned radio on it and near the corner opposite of me on the same wall was a vending machine. On the other side was a long comfortable looking sofa and a coffee table in front of it. There were also two people in the room, a girl with a brown coat sitting on the sofa, with a happy, calm expression and a guy with curly black hair and a denim jacket who looked like he was checking out the vending machine, confused and frustrated at the same time.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if I should approach either of them, but the girl stood up from her sofa and waved at me.


    ¡°Hey, come here!¡±


    Reluctantly, I approached her and sat on the sofa next to the spot she was sitting in.


    As she sat back down, I took a closer look at her. She had long wavy black hair that reached her waist and looked like she played some sort of sport because, just from seeing her up close, I knew she could snap my body in half without breaking a sweat.


    After she sat down she started the conversation. I could barely start them in normal situations so hearing her talk in her voice full of energy in a place like this helped me calm down a bit.


    ¡°Are you Adam?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, how did you know?¡±


    ¡°The guy currently messing with the vending machine told me he was Alex, and between Adam and Rose, it was pretty easy to figure out.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re Petra?¡±


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Well, Petra, do you know anything about this building or the situation we¡¯re in? You seem really chill about the situation so I figured you know something that could put us at ease.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry for giving off that feeling, although I¡¯m as clueless as everyone, I just always try to be cheerful. It''s a part of me.¡±


    Before I got the opportunity to say something back, Alex stopped messing with the vending machine, took off his jacket and sat on the sofa, right next to me.


    ¡°What were you two talking about?¡± Alex asked as he jumped into the conversation.


    Sooner than I was able to give an answer, Petra hastily answered.


    ¡°Nothing specific, we were only now meeting each other, barely even had time to greet each other.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot that I haven¡¯t met Adam yet.¡±


    He reached his hand out and we shook hands.


    ¡°Alex.¡±


    ¡°Adam.¡±


    ¡°Let''s cut to the chase. Do you remember how you got here, or even what this place is? Petra and I are completely lost, I don¡¯t know what to do. Please tell me that you have some sort of clue at least!¡±


    I avoided looking him in the eyes because I didn¡¯t have an answer and was equally worried. The despair in his voice didn¡¯t help me either, but before I could gather my strength to say anything, I was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from the staircase.


    Down came a girl with short brown hair wearing a black t-shirt and red skirt. Petra immediately stood up and went to greet her.


    ¡°Hey Rose, my name¡¯s Petra!¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re the ones from the other rooms?¡± she said in a voice that sounded like she was trying to put things together, yet parallel with everyone else, nothing made any sense to her.


    Rose went to look at the books in the bookshelf while Petra stood next to her looking at which books she picked out. Alex and I stayed on the sofa in silence and thought about what our next step should be. That went on for about ten excruciatingly long minutes.


    Suddenly, I had a gut feeling. This silence only occasionally interrupted by Petra trying to do something exciting was just a calm moment before the storm.


    ¡°I hear footsteps,¡± I said.


    They were coming from the staircase and by the moment I realized that, there was another stranger in front of me.


    Merely by taking a glimpse at her, I knew she was different from the others. Not just because she didn¡¯t have an assigned room like everyone else, her looks also heavily hinted at her being different. Her pale skin, pale enough to look like a mask, her blood-red eyes and high heels, her long and wavy black hair tied into a ponytail. Her clothes were also a far cry from anything anyone else wore. She wore a black suit which would perfectly suit a businessman, a black skirt and black gloves that had some sort of jewelry attached to the glove, it looked like a ruby.


    She took a couple of steps forward to get closer to all of us and started speaking.


    ¡°I see everybody is here, splendid!¡±


    Wait, I recognize that voice, she¡¯s the one who told me to come out of my room earlier. There was no mistaking it, that softness, the pitch that was neither low nor high, the slight French accent, that¡¯s her.


    ¡°Since I¡¯ve got you all here in one spot, I guess it¡¯s only right for me to introduce myself. My name is Lucia and I am the one that brought you here. Worry not, I will explain everything.¡±


    As Lucia spoke, I glanced around to see what the others concluded about her sudden appearance. Alex seemed to be paying attention, though I could notice that he was reasonably worried.


    Rose looked to be even more terrified, however she was trying to hide it as hard as she could. Petra was staring at Lucia, in a sort of a battle stance.


    ¡°She might do something reckless,¡± I mumbled to myself and got back into listening to what Lucia had to say.


    ¡°This place might not seem like it for you guys since you¡¯ve only seen one small section of it, but you are inside a mansion. I¡¯ll unlock the door to the main hall and you¡¯ll start working on your way to leave the mansion.¡±


    The door to the main hall? I thought for a bit. All the doors I¡¯ve seen so far either lead to one of our rooms or bathrooms, there¡¯s no way I could¡¯ve missed something that important.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    As I was getting lost in thought I noticed something move in my peripheral vision.


    I looked up and saw Petra.


    She was running towards Lucia with one of her fists in the air. I expected her to immediately punch Lucia with that hand, but Petra was smarter than me.


    When she got close enough, she didn¡¯t try punching with that hand. It was nothing more than a distraction that would allow her to punch Lucia in the stomach with her other hand. I didn¡¯t notice that until the last moment, so I doubted that Lucia would be able to predict Petra¡¯s punch.


    I couldn¡¯t have been more wrong. Faster than my eyes could see, Lucia grabbed Petra¡¯s left hand which was going for a gut punch and used her other hand to grab Petra¡¯s neck. Without a struggle, Lucia lifted Petra into the air just by holding her neck.


    ¡°Oh Petra, please allow me to finish my explanation and then you can throw your life away,¡± she said with a massive grin on her face before throwing Petra away like a toy and continuing her speech while everyone stared at her, filled with fear. Nobody dared to say or question anything.


    "To leave the mansion you have to discover its secret. It could be in the form of an item, knowledge or something else. You''ll know when you find it, but just in case, I''ll come when it is found. Simple, right? Sadly, that in itself doesn''t make for a fun time, it needs more, what do you call it¡­ Oh yeah, pressure."


    "Pressure?" Alex asked in a confused tone.


    "Yes, pressure. For that reason one of the participants will be a traitor, personally assigned by me. From time to time that traitor will kill someone, or at least try, so along with the secret of the mansion you also have to find the traitor, but that''s not the end. Even if you find the traitor, one of you has to kill them. It wouldn¡¯t be that interesting if you just had to find the traitor."


    Kill. That word echoed in my head. Somebody wanted me to kill. An uneasy tension crawled up my frail body, covering my thoughts in fog. Is this real? I didn¡¯t do anything to deserve this!


    What am I supposed to do? I was starting to panic again, but Lucia wasn''t done talking.


    "In case one of you kills someone who isn''t the traitor, I''ve already prepared a solution, though I''ll explain that in detail if it happens. That''s about all I have to tell you, good luck guys and gals."


    After her speech Lucia waved with a sinister smile on her face and walked up the stairs, disappearing like a ghost.


    "Huh, where did that bitch go?" Alex yelled out in a voice filled with worry, despair and confusion.


    I looked around the room again. The feeling that the place gave off now felt way more tense knowing that my life was now on the line. It was just as I feared, this place wasn''t safe.


    I turned my head to the wall opposite of the staircase and saw a door.


    "Wait, has anyone noticed this door before?" I asked everyone.


    "Huh, there''s a door there?" Petra asked as she stood back up.


    I was hesitating. Nobody knew if that was the door to the main hall or a trap or who knows what, yet I still didn''t remember that door being there previously.


    Before I gathered the will to approach the door, Rose came closer and reached for the doorknob, her body language and face devoid of any emotion. She opened the door and I peaked at what was outside.


    "So that''s the main hall," she said.


    It was enormous. The floors were checkered marble with a red carpet that went through the entire hall, going up the staircase that stood opposite of the main entrance and separated hallway, one side of the staircase heading to the left side of the second floor while the other went to the right. A part of the second floor was also in the main hall, connected to the staircase and held up by pillars which were as white as snow. It seemed very old fashioned, but the quality and cleanliness suggested that it had been recently built or at least renovated.


    I stared at the room from the doorway, I didn¡¯t dare to take a step into the hall.


    The room we were in was in the right wing of the first floor, near the main entrance, which was a large shiny door with an uncountable amount of padlocks on it, and there were five other doors on the first floor. One more door on the right wing, two doors on the left wing precisely facing the doors that were on the right, and two more doors, both under the staircase, one on the left side, one on the right.


    Where to go? There were so many directions and only one way to escape, so yet again, I let the others take over the situation by moving to the side which prompted Petra to be the first one to take a step into the main hall.


    ¡°Okay guys, let¡¯s go,¡± Petra said, ¡°if we can find this thing quickly, the traitor won¡¯t get a chance to strike! We need to split up.¡±


    Alex immediately stopped her.


    ¡°Are you that fucking stupid? You want us to split up right after you heard there was a murderer in this place? That¡¯s without mentioning how you haven¡¯t panicked at all ever since you came here. You¡¯re the most suspicious one out of everyone!¡± he exclaimed with a couple of tears running down his face.


    Rose grabbed Alex¡¯s wrist.


    ¡°Calm down. You¡¯re ranting about her killing everyone yet you¡¯re getting all emotional. If you keep acting like that you¡¯ll be the first target, no matter who the traitor is. But who knows, maybe you¡¯re the traitor just trying to pass the blame to someone right from the start.¡±


    Alex didn¡¯t respond and Petra started talking again in an attempt to stop the situation from becoming more awkward.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, we can¡¯t be reckless with that traitor Lucia mentioned. Then I¡¯ll take Rose with me and you two can go together as well. If a murder happens we¡¯ll know who did it and I¡¯ll kill the traitor with my bare hands, simple as that. Well, enough with the murder talk, let¡¯s start exploring. The left wing is completely foreign so let¡¯s start from there.¡±


    ¡°But what if there¡¯s no secret? What if she just wants to taunt us before killing us?¡± Alex mumbled, but only I heard him, and decided not to say anything.


    Without giving anyone time to object, she grabbed Rose, who was noticeably shaking, by the hand and took off towards the door closer to the staircase.


    ¡°Well, I guess that leaves us with the other door, let¡¯s go Alex,¡± I finally said something in this extreme situation and began walking to the door standing right in front of me.


    Am I really going to explore immediately? We were kidnapped, but we¡¯re doing everything without thinking? Perhaps it¡¯s a way to forget the severity of everything? Maybe the traitor is pushing us to forget about them. I¡¯m an idiot, I should just follow them!


    Alex was in front of me so he was the one to open the door. We both went into the room, I entered after him and we promptly started our search. I quickly realized that we were in a dining room because a large portion of the area was covered by a giant table. It was made out of wood and had the shape of an ellipse with five chairs on each of the long sides and one chair on the short sides. I checked under the table, but of course the secret wasn¡¯t that easy to find. There wasn¡¯t much else in the room apart from some decorations like painting and a bookshelf that only had recipe books. I looked through some of them without paying too much attention to the details in case something was off about the books or there was something between the pages.


    Nothing.


    I sighed. We only recently started checking the room, yet both of us were already frustrated.


    ¡°Well, I think we can already say that checking this place further is a waste of time, let¡¯s see what¡¯s next. It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t come back here again,¡± Alex said before heading to the other door that was in the dining room. It was in the corner between the wall that was the opposite from the way they entered and towards the right. I didn¡¯t say anything, I just followed him quietly.


    Alex opened the door cautiously, expecting something to jump out because paranoia already took control of us. Fortunately, all that was in front of him was a short corridor with two doors. By its lenght it seemed that the room on the opposite side was the one where Petra and Rose were, so it was probably already being investigated, therefore I entered the room to the left without saying anything to Alex.


    It was a kitchen, way larger than any kitchen that I have ever seen. It had four fridges, each full of different types of foods, drinks and ingredients. Now I at least knew where to come when I needed to eat in case I got stuck here for that long.


    Maybe all four of us could have meals together in the dining room? I quickly shook off that thought since I still wasn¡¯t able to handle the idea of spending weeks or even just days in this mansion.


    Alex entered the kitchen while I was analyzing the contents of each fridge, checking if there was something inside that was different from the regular food.


    After I checked out all the food I spotted a transparent drawer at the bottom of the fridge. I opened and saw that it was filled with small bottles, all of them full. Taking one out to identify what it is I realized what sort of problem I was seeing.


    Poison.


    That was written on the bottle. Turning the bottle around, I found more information about it.


    Will take only around 2 to 5 minutes to take effect depending on the person consuming it, but even a drop is enough to kill someone. Drinking and injecting have the same effect. Don¡¯t keep in a warm place for too long so that the effects don¡¯t wear off.


    I put the bottle back and picked up another. All of them said the same thing. The name of the chemical isn¡¯t here and the effects are very unusual. Did Lucia make this poison?


    ¡°Alex, come check this out.¡± I showed him the poison bottles.


    ¡°We need to throw them away,¡± Alex hastily made up his mind, ¡°I¡¯ll look for a place where we can throw it away, so that the traitor can¡¯t use it.¡±


    I kept searching the kitchen while Alex was looking for a place where he could throw away the poison bottles. After being extremely against the idea of splitting up, he went off alone. How ironic.


    A couple of minutes went by and I was still checking the kitchen. I didn''t think the secret was there, but there were loads of interesting things that weren¡¯t found in most other kitchens.


    Suddenly, Alex entered the room. I didn¡¯t notice him at first because I was too focused on my search to hear his footsteps. He opened the fridge that contained the poisons and started putting them outside the fridge.


    ¡°I found a place to throw these away,¡± he said as he was pulling all the bottles out. ¡°There was a room with a dumpster that is basically just a ginormous hole, it will work for sure! The bottles will break, plus nobody can get down there safely.¡±


    We got to work. There was a drawer in the kitchen near the fridge that had only plastic bags so I pulled some out and helped Alex pack up the poison. He slipped and almost dropped a couple of bottles so I took over putting them outside of the fridge. We each carried one bag to the room with Alex leading me as I didn¡¯t know where it was. We left the kitchen and went inside the room where I assumed Petra and Rose were.


    The room was pretty small and it had a calm atmosphere. In front of me was a brown armchair and a table, behind it was a bookshelf. On the left and on the right were doors, the right door probably leading back to the main hall and the left bringing me closer to the room that Alex wanted to show me. This is probably some sort of reading room, there to let people relax after a long day. Rest was something I desperately needed in this sort of situation, however I didn¡¯t have time for that and I didn¡¯t have a good reason to stay in here either since Rose and Petra searched it already considering that they weren¡¯t there anymore, so I continued following Alex without saying anything.


    We went through the door on our left that connected the room to a hallway. There were two ways to go. A straight line that led towards a single door and a turn to the right in the middle of the straight line. Alex stopped for a second.


    ¡°Okay, we just have to go forward. To the right is a staircase and I didn¡¯t want to go to the second floor.¡±


    We entered the room in front of us. It was pretty cramped, however it didn¡¯t have anything other than a huge hole in the center surrounded by scraps of metal that I assumed were there to stop people from falling in.


    ¡°Hey Alex, wouldn¡¯t the traitor be able to take back the poison bottles easily?¡±


    ¡°Take a look inside. I already told you why it¡¯ll work.¡±


    I listened to him and peaked inside. What the hell is this? There was a hole inside the dumpster and the bottom was so far from where we were that it was impossible to go down without dying or using something like a rope. I threw my bag inside and moved so that Alex could throw his bag in.


    With that, we went back into the hallway and as we were about to enter the small reading room that we had passed a minute ago, Petra came out of it with Rose.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Petra waved at us even though we were right next to her, ¡°did you guys find anything relating to the secret? Rose and I are still clueless. Plus, Rose had to go to the bathroom and I didn¡¯t want to leave her alone, so we lost a bit of time while I waited for her outside her room.¡±


    ¡°Nothing here either,¡± Alex answered her question with a disappointed look, ¡°but we realized that there are tools for killing scattered around. One of the refrigerators had loads of small bottles filled with poison.¡±


    ¡°Well, what did you do with that poison?¡±


    ¡°Adam and I threw it all in the dumpster, no way I¡¯d let that stay in reach!¡±


    ¡°Good job!¡± Petra gave him a thumbs up that seemed slightly sarcastic. We checked all the rooms again together in case we missed something while investigating in two groups. Because all of us were in the long hallway already, we started from that and made our way to the dining room, but nothing new was found.


    ¡°Everyone, I have an idea!¡± Petra yelled out as we entered the dining room ¡°From now on, let¡¯s all eat in the dining room at the same time, starting tomorrow. I¡¯ve already realized Lucia won¡¯t let us out that easily so we need to make the best out of what we got, don¡¯t we?¡±


    I don¡¯t like considering the possibility that we¡¯ll be here for days, but I doubt it¡¯s going to end any other way. I guess that idea isn¡¯t too terrible.


    Before any of us had the time to talk about the plans for the meeting in the dining room, a loud noise came from the main hall.


    Without thinking, I ran out to see what happened and so did everyone else. The main hall was different. Most things stayed normal, but on the wall above the staircase was an enormous clock and Lucia was on the staircase looking at it like she was very proud of it.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s working fine,¡± she said before turning around and seeing everyone looking at her and the clock. ¡°Oh hey everyone, what do you think about this thing? I knew there would be issues to trap you here without letting you check the time, so I made this, all by myself. It will make a loud sound at midnight and at nine in the morning, it¡¯s just there to signal when you should be getting in and out of bed, I don¡¯t want my guests to feel unwelcome. You might¡¯ve noticed that there aren¡¯t any windows around you, so I considered this a necessity.¡±


    We all stood there, unable to say anything. How did she even set up that large clock all by herself? Thinking about that was useless, nothing about this place could be explained rationally.


    ¡°I¡¯m tired, so I¡¯m going to bed like Lucia suggested, I don¡¯t know about you guys.¡± Petra yawned and went back to the place where our bedrooms were, with all of us following her.


    I went inside my room and noticed that there was a key on top of the nightstand. Maybe it¡¯s for my room, to stop the traitor from entering during nighttime.


    After trying it out, I realized that I was right. That gave me the idea to check out the drawers and closet before going to bed. The drawers were disappointingly empty, yet the closet was far more intriguing. It was full of clothes, but all of them were the same as the outfit I wore when I woke up. So, if anything happens to my clothes, I can merely change into the same outfit. With that knowledge, I took a shower and laid in bed.


    Falling asleep was hard, my brain was filled with questions and worries, however eventually my tiredness overcame me and I hit the sack.

 Chapter II - An unprosperous garden

    I woke up to the alarm Lucia had set up in the main hall.


    I guess it wasn¡¯t just a bad dream, I realized while still dreading every second that I had to spend in the mansion. Complaining did nothing, so I used all the will that I had to get ready for the day. I also remembered that Petra wanted us to meet up for meals from now on, so I headed toward the dining room in the hopes of seeing the others alive.


    As expected from me, I arrived last. Petra and Alex had already set the table and sat down while Rose was bringing in the food. During the time I spent getting ready in my room Rose was already preparing bacon and eggs. As much as I felt bad, I didn¡¯t even know how to cook anything, so getting up earlier would at most have been a waste of time.


    Like every other time, Petra was the one to break the silence.


    ¡°So today we¡¯ll check out the right wing, right?¡± she asked with her mouth full.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely the best move, we¡¯d lose track of which places we¡¯ve checked if we go to the second floor without completely searching the first,¡± Alex replied.


    He seemed way less worried than yesterday, like he¡¯d already gotten used to the mansion and the constant threat that was among us. We finished our meals and went into the main hall. There were two doors on the right wing, both were exactly the same as the ones on the left wing. One of the doors there went to our rooms, so we didn¡¯t need to check that. After thinking for a little bit, Petra gave us her idea.


    ¡°Okay, we only have one door to check on the right wing. Fortunately or unfortunately for us, whatever you consider it, we have the two doors under the staircase so we can split in two groups and still explore the same floor. Basically, we should just go in groups of two again, although we should change partners, having the same two people together will get boring really quickly and it¡¯s important for us to slowly stop being strangers to each other. If we want progress, we should try getting along more!¡±


    She cares about boredom in a place like this? I swear something is up with her.


    Petra grabbed my hand without discussing who¡¯ll be with who and we headed through the door under the right part of the staircase and we left Alex and Rose to explore the rest of the right wing.


    Before us was a long and tight hallway. It was so tight that I had to walk behind Petra so that we wouldn¡¯t get stuck. Both of us wanted to go somewhere with more space to walk around so we hurried through the corridor, only stopping next to old paintings that decorated the place so that we could see if there was anything hidden behind them.


    Finally, we reached the door on the other side. Petra impatiently opened it and we rushed toward the next room.


    Wait, this isn¡¯t a room.


    ¡°We¡¯re outside!¡± I yelled out of sheer surprise. Under my feet were grass and dirt and that was enough for me to feel like I¡¯ve achieved something. Sadly, all of my happiness faded swiftly, leaving nothing good behind.


    It only took me a couple of seconds to see that this wasn¡¯t a way out.


    The entire backyard was surrounded by what resembled a colossal bird cage with the bars too close for me to even get my hand between them. How was something like that even built?


    ¡°Calm down,¡± Petra looked like she figured something out, ¡°The mansion is full of random things. We¡¯ll just find something that can be used to move or destroy the bars!¡±


    Just as she said that, we heard someone¡¯s voice behind us. Both of us quickly turned around and saw Lucia, who broke into laughter.


    ¡°Do you actually believe I made those bars that weak? As I¡¯ve said already, the only way out is finding the secret of this mansion, you have to get it through your thick skull.¡±


    ¡°Look who decided to show themselves! What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Calm down missy, I¡¯m not here for any malicious reasons, I¡¯m simply checking on you, I don¡¯t want to treat my guests poorly.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything, but I was pissed. Our lives were at risk and she was probably trying to drag us further into despair with her comments.


    Attempting to ignore Lucia who was staring at us, we began searching the backyard. There was still a chance something useful was here.


    The first interesting thing I spotted was a shed on the other side of the yard and went to take a look inside. It was made out of wood and it was also pretty small. At least there¡¯s not much space that I have to rummage through.


    The shed didn¡¯t look like anything special, it just had a couple of gardening tools and a lot of dust. I could also see a couple of spiders in every corner of the shed.


    What a disappointment.


    I came out of the shed and heard Petra and Lucia talking. I couldn¡¯t make out anything that they were saying until I came closer. I wanted to know the topic of their conversation, though interruption didn¡¯t seem like a great idea.


    "Tell me honestly, why did you even trap us here?¡± Petra asked, ¡°you already know where the secret is, that''s pretty obvious, so why make us look for it?"


    "Because I''m evil."


    "I''ve noticed that, no need to tell me."


    "You are the one who asked."


    "I did, but you didn''t give me a proper answer. I¡¯m not letting you go with some cheesy answer like that!"


    "What do you mean?"


    "I¡¯m talking about your true motive. I know you''re hiding something, tell me what it is. It''s not like I can do much even if I know it. Come on!"


    "There''s absolutely nothing more to it! I cannot explain the joy I feel when everyone is at their lowest, when they lose their hope, when they cry or get angry because of something I did!" she started drooling as she kept talking, "witnessing everyone terrified, praying for a way out. That''s why I laughed when you thought about breaking the bars. It''s impossible, yet you try to ignore that fact. You cling to blind hope, only for everything to fail in the end. It''s so pathetic."


    I knew she was lying so she could anger us, yet I couldn''t stand there watching her talk about us as if we were her toys, only there to entertain her. Anger completely blinded me.


    Forgetting about her insane speed and strength, I ran with my fist in the air with the intent to beat her to a pulp, but, as expected, I missed. Lucia took a step back faster than my eyes could even follow and, as I punched the air like an idiot, she kicked me right in the stomach.


    I can¡¯t fight. Why the fuck did I do that?


    As my body fell to the ground I wasn¡¯t thinking about anything except getting up and beating the living shit out of her, but that wasn''t possible. I wasn¡¯t even able to stand up for a bit of time, I was forced to lie in the grass while holding my stomach.


    "This is getting out of hand," Lucia sighed, "if everyone keeps attacking me every time I say something they don''t appreciate, we''ll never get the game going."


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "T-this is j-just a game to you?" I replied while trying to handle the pain.


    "Well, what else can you call it? It''s sort of like a treasure hunt, but more intense. Plus everything is set up. I know what the secret of the mansion is, I picked out the traitor. That wouldn''t be a true treasure hunt, so it''s a game."


    Petra already knew that she wouldn''t be able to beat Lucia, so she came to help me get up instead, although she was also noticeably pissed as well.


    "Well, you two keep exploring the mansion, I''m getting too bored. Farewell."


    With that, Lucia decided to leave us alone.


    "Jesus, that kick was hard." I said.


    "Honestly, I wasn''t able to predict that you''d try attacking her. It seems like a mistake only I''d make!"


    "Well, I knew I needed to do something, I couldn''t just stand there and let her say shit like that."


    That was a lie, I attacked her purely because of my emotions, but I was still aware that I needed to take something into my own hands, considering how hard everyone was working to get out. I stood up and went back inside with Petra, though my stomach still hurt from that kick.


    I wish I was as strong as Petra, she would''ve recovered completely by now, but still, maybe this mansion will be my place to shine. I have so many opportunities yet to be taken, there is still hope.


    We went straight to the part of the right wing where Rose and Alex were. Maybe they found something, who knows?


    Within the right wing, we saw what looked like a small museum. It had loads of enthralling things. Medieval armor, paintings that were way fancier than the ones decorating the corridor between the main hall and backyard, sculptures of famous people throughout history such as ancient Greek philosophers or Roman emperors.


    You could easily hide extremely important clues in a place like this and have them be almost unnoticeable. I hope they searched this thoroughly.


    The back of the room had a staircase similar to the ones that led to their bedrooms in the other part of the right wing and considering that Rose and Alex weren''t here, it was obvious that they were in whatever place was waiting upstairs. I didn''t think to search the area I was in considering that they had probably searched it already, so I ran upstairs.


    The other room seemed like it was nothing more than a continuation of the room below. It also had various things that would only make sense together if they were in a museum. Both Rose and Alex were in the far left corner, on their knees, staring at something that was on the floor.


    I came closer to see what they were inspecting. Firstly, I greeted them so that I wouldn¡¯t surprise them and then took a closer look.


    A wooden box? I was confused until I took a look inside. Just rope. Could that be of any help?


    It wasn¡¯t anything special, although I had a feeling like it would be needed for something important.


    ¡°The box and rope don¡¯t seem to have anything unusual about them, although the way we found them was pretty weird,¡± Alex began explaining, ¡°we were looking around the room, we were sure we¡¯d find something in a room packed with so many interesting items and then Rose noticed some sculpture that looked off to her. She carefully touched the statue and even with just that the statue turned around by itself.¡±


    Rose interrupted Alex. You could easily see how disinterested she was purely from her expression.


    ¡°After that, we heard a weird noise and we noticed the carpet move a bit, so we moved it and noticed that a floorboard was missing and there was this box in its place.¡±


    Intriguing to say the least.


    ¡°Well, other than that rope these two rooms have nothing that useful.¡± Rose said  ¡°Any luck for you two?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I answered since Petra was occupied by all the interesting objects around the place, ¡°we found the backyard, but there¡¯s no way to get out. There are giant bars stopping anyone from leaving.¡±


    Rose, still cool headed even after hearing that there¡¯s a place where she could go outside, thought for a bit.


    ¡°No way to get out? I¡¯d like to take a look at it. I¡¯ll just do that and make lunch for everyone afterwards.¡±


    She proceeded to walk out and everybody including me followed her to the backyard. I doubt that she¡¯ll be of any help, but what if she actually figures out a way to free us? No, I¡¯m putting too much trust in her. Plus, something about her has been off to me ever since I saw her. I just know that she¡¯s hiding something.


    After we got there, she merely stood in front of the bars and grabbed them no more than a couple of times.


    ¡°Fascinating. These are truly strong. I¡¯m pretty sure the mansion won¡¯t have anything that can damage them. Thanks for telling me about this, Adam. I¡¯ve realized a lot of things about this mansion. I think that info could help us find the secret before the traitor even finishes with his first murder plan. I¡¯ll tell you guys everything at lunch.¡±


    With that, she left the backyard without checking anything else or saying a word. I considered looking around the area once more, but since I was still hurt a lot, I decided to rest until lunchtime. Hours went by while I just stayed in my bed thinking about everything.


    Will I ever leave this place? What will happen? What kind of secret does this mansion hold? What do the people outside think happened to us? I haven¡¯t been home in two days and I live with both of my parents. They definitely called the cops. The others also look to be too young to live alone, so people outside must be worried.


    My head was filled with questions and assumptions about the world outside thus lunch time came very slowly. I heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Hey, come out for lunch!¡± I could recognize the voice, it was Petra.


    I stood up and started walking towards the dining room, but just as I was going to open the door and go inside, I heard a loud noise. It sounded like it came from the left room under the staircase, the only place on the first floor that we hadn¡¯t checked out yet. I hesitated as I wasn¡¯t sure what could be inside, but against my justified fear, I went to see what made that noise. Upon opening the door, I witnessed the last thing I expected to see. Strangers, two of them.


    I jumped back out of sheer surprise and fear, then got a better look at both of them. The first guy was way taller than me and wore a dark red coat that was oversized even for him. He also had a top hat the same color with a weird symbol on the front. The symbol was a circle that instead of connecting at the end strafed into the circle and turned into a small shape of a fireball.


    The other guy looked more normal, but he also had strange clothing. A white robe that covered most of his body and head with the same symbol plastered around the edges.


    "Who are you, one that interrupts us?" the man in the red coat asked me.


    "I could ask you the same thing. You might be the traitor for all I know."


    "So you are a participant of this deadly play, yet how? I presumed that wench had only put four of us mortals to defend our lives."


    "That''s what I assumed too." I said, too worried to notice the man¡¯s unusual choice of words.


    "Well, I deem that you are not to be feared, so I shall introduce myself. I am Dante."


    The guy in the white robe joined in the conversation.


    "I''m Eden. Dante wanted to do a ritual to help us get out and I was the only one who accepted. There is not much that can be done with our small grasp of knowledge,     therefore everything must be tried."


    So, he¡¯s Dante¡¯s friend. Maybe they knew each other before being trapped here.


    The room they tried to do the ritual in was the shape of a cube, completely empty and, for some reason, the walls were wooden planks, despite the rest of the mansion being way more luxurious.


    It looks so cheap and dirty, but I guess the emptiness is good for rituals. I can¡¯t say for sure, spaces for doing rituals never really crossed my mind.


    After considering what to say or do next, I got the idea to introduce them to the rest of the group, so that we could collectively decide what to do. I turned around to point towards the dining room, but before I could do that I was surprised yet again. With a loud hit on the door, Rose ran out of the room, one hand on her mouth and the other on her stomach, headed towards the bedrooms.


    "What happened?" I yelled out.


    Petra and Alex ran towards her with looks of worry on their faces.


    "Adam, come here!" Alex yelled as he kept running.


    I ran along, leaving Dante and Eden behind. I needed to know what happened and if Rose was okay.


    She ran inside her room and straight to the bathroom. I could hear the sound of puking and I was able to smell that disgusting smell all the way from the hallway.


    The puking soon stopped. We waited for her to get out of the bathroom, but that didn¡¯t happen.


    "Rose!" Alex called out for her in a worried voice.


    No response.


    All of us rushed to the bathroom. Rose''s head was touching the toilet seat and the toilet was filled with puke. Petra got close to her.


    "Rose! Rose!" Petra screamed and shook her, but Rose didn''t respond. She brought her head closer to Rose''s nose and her hand to Rose''s heart.


    The quickly rising despair wrapped me in its arms, forcing me to accept the harsh truth.


    Rose died.


    The scene reeked of death, of indescribable coldness that I had never witnessed before. Did it ever have to come to this? Did it really? I screamed internally.


    I couldn''t even look at the body anymore, it was too much of a curse to bear.


    Standing between Alex and Petra, I passed out.

 Chapter III - Whos the coward?

    I felt water splash across my face.


    ¡°Huh, w-what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Suddenly, memories came flooding down like a river.


    Rose!


    She¡¯s dead. That¡¯s why I lost consciousness. Merely remembering that moment was enough to make me want to stay wherever I was and die, but I gathered some courage and opened my eyes.


    I was lying on the kitchen floor and Petra was in front of me, waking me up with a bucket of water that I had no clue where she had found.


    ¡°Finally, you¡¯re awake! You¡¯ve only been out for a couple of minutes, everything should be alright. Can you walk?¡±


    I stood up without an issue, yet I still couldn¡¯t forget the sight of Rose¡¯s corpse leaning against the puke filled toilet. I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life.


    Just as I thought things couldn¡¯t be worse, Lucia showed up without a warning.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake? Splendid. I¡¯ve already explained this to everyone, however I need to give them time to mentally prepare themselves since Rose¡¯s death struck them particularly hard."


    I also needed a lot of time to function normally after what I saw, but Lucia kept talking while I looked at her without changing my expression.


    "Basically, the traitor isn''t the one who killed Rose, one of you little rascals did it. Lucky for me, I had a plan for this exact situation. I''ll give everyone time to investigate whatever place they want and later whoever wants can participate in a discussion to find the killer. Whatever happens after that discussion will stay a secret. I''ll only let you know that bad things might happen if the people at the meeting get it wrong."


    After the next time I blinked, she was gone. I was overwhelmed again, unable to think properly. The only thing I did was accidentally stare at Petra, I didn¡¯t have much else I could do in a situation like this. I¡¯ve never seen a dead body or investigated a murder before, same as every other normal teenager.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Petra asked me as she noticed my sorrow filled eyes.


    ¡°H-how am I supposed to be alright? You were closer to the body than I was, how are you still talking so calmly? Are you insane? Do you not feel fear?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Of course I¡¯m scared. I¡¯m terrified, but it¡¯s something I need.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confused.¡±


    ¡°Everyone needs fear. It tells you that there¡¯s danger ahead and lets you prepare. Of course, it¡¯s bad if you let it take over you, but you should always be afraid in dangerous situations. I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯d all be dead by now if nobody was scared.¡± Very philosophical¡­ I have a feeling that Petra doesn¡¯t actually mean that, she probably just wants to calm me down.


    ¡°A-Alright, I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Where to go? What to investigate? The only possible cause of death is poisoning, even though Alex and I threw away all the poison in a place where it surely lost all effects, plus, nobody can reach it.


    Petra interrupted my thinking.


    ¡°I can take over the investigation for now, but it would help a lot if you went to the second floor and got their entire group down here. We found Dante and Eden while I carried you to the kitchen and they said that they had already met you. Since they didn¡¯t even see the corpse, they were already prepared to help out. Dante wasn¡¯t even scared, he went off to investigate saying that the Gods would protect him or something like that.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    And with that, I left the kitchen and went to the second hall through the staircase in the main hall. Since the staircase had two ways to the second floor, one leading to the right wing and the other to the left I had to make a choice of where to look first. Remembering that the right wing of the first floor had stairs, I realized that the rooms on the right wing couldn¡¯t be large enough to have four rooms so I went to the left wing.


    Unlike the first floor''s left wing, there was only one door to enter which led to a big hallway with two available directions, left and forward. I came up to the door closest to the main hall which was on the path forward, on my left. I grabbed the doorknob, but before I could open the door I heard an unfamiliar and monotone voice.


    ¡°Hands in the air.¡±


    I quickly turned around. On the other side of the hallway was a girl with a blonde bob haircut, wearing a dark white t-shirt and a green skirt. I started to slowly put my hands up after seeing her, but she was too impatient.


    ¡°I said hands in the air,¡± she said and pulled out a glock from behind, which she probably kept between her back and skirt.


    I froze in place with my hands back up not knowing what to do.


    Are you kidding me?


    ¡°Your name?¡±


    ¡°A-Adam.¡±


    ¡°Why are you in this mansion?¡±


    ¡°W-Well I was, I-I mean-¡±


    ¡°Just give me quick answers or I¡¯ll blow your brains out.¡±


    ¡°Lucia trapped me.¡±


    ¡°Then how come you weren¡¯t with us since the beginning?¡±


    ¡°Lucia separated us into groups. Please don¡¯t shoot! Dante and Eden will confirm it for you.¡±


    She put her gun down, though I could tell she still didn¡¯t fully trust me.


    ¡°What are you doing on the second floor? You weren¡¯t here yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Someone from my group was murdered and we want everyone to investigate and discuss who did it.¡±


    ¡°So, finding the traitor? I¡¯m in.¡±


    ¡°The culprit isn¡¯t the traitor. Lucia confirmed it.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t waste my time.¡±


    She walked away without giving me a chance to convince her to join us.


    At least I didn¡¯t get shot.


    I kept looking around the second floor hallway, completely forgetting about the room I wanted to enter and, without much effort, I found the bedrooms. They occupied the part of the left wing that was closer to the main entrance, the hallway containing them was above the dining room as well as some unused space on the first floor.


    Each room had a nameplate above, just like the bedrooms for my group.


    Amy.


    Blake.


    Dante.


    Eden.


    So, Blake¡¯s the only one I haven¡¯t met? That¡¯s good, I think at least.


    I knocked on Blake¡¯s door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± I heard a somewhat sickly voice from the other side.


    ¡°Adam.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember there being an Adam, how¡¯d you get here?¡±


    ¡°There are more than four of us here. Lucia put four on the first floor and four here.¡±


    ¡°Really? And why am I only now hearing about it?¡±


    ¡°I met Dante and Eden earlier today so that¡¯s how we found out, I¡¯m also here because we need help.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even seen my face and you¡¯re asking for help?¡±


    Before I was even able to say anything Blake kicked the door open. He was fairly buff and had shoulder-length blond hair. His outfit was rather casual, nothing more than a dirty t-shirt, black sweatpants and pink slippers.


    "Alright, now you''ve seen me. What kind of help do you need?"


    "Well, one of the people in my group got killed and we want everyone to investigate."


    "Just look for clues around the entire first floor?"


    "Yes, nothing more."


    ¡°Then see ya!¡± he coughed and then waved before turning around.


    ¡°Wait, before you go, I have a question.¡±


    ¡°Ask away.¡±


    ¡°Before I found you, I ran into Amy and she pointed a gun at me. I want to know how she got her hands on it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that? There¡¯s a storage room you probably passed when you entered the left wing, there are a ton of weapons there. You can grab one for yourself if you want.¡±


    I remembered that place I planned on entering before Amy interrupted me.


    She must¡¯ve thought I was going to grab a weapon, though I was still confused as to how they let each other have weapons. Nevermind, I don¡¯t have time to think. I have to search the mansion!


    The first person I saw downstairs was Alex who was walking through the main hall. He was shaking, I doubted that he had any will to continue.


    "Hey Alex, do you need help?"


    "N-no, I''m just trying to find some clues. Did you find anything?"


    "I haven''t started looking, Petra told me to find the rest of the other group on the second floor."


    "I thought finding a murderer here would be so easy. How wrong could that be? It took us over a day to even discover that there weren''t only four of us in this mansion. Damn it all!"


    "Please calm down at least a little bit, I can barely even walk because of all the stress, but we need to find the murderer. Tell me, where do you plan to go now?"


    "T-the kitchen and then the room with the dumpster."


    "Alright then, you go to the dumpster and I''ll take over the kitchen."


    "Thank you Adam, I knew I could count on you."


    The first thing I had to check out was the fridge. Alex and I had thrown away the poison bottles yesterday, but I needed to see if there were any left.


    Nothing unusual. There was no poison inside, only food and normal drinks, nothing that pointed to the culprit.


    Dante entered the kitchen shortly after my search began.


    ¡°Oh, Adam! Are you feeling better? I prayed while you were unconscious for you to awaken soon and to regain all your energy. I¡¯m glad that you beat off the darkness and got back here safely.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the kind words, I needed them.¡±


    ¡°That is no problem, you have a strong will, I don¡¯t doubt that you¡¯ll get through this case.¡±


    ¡°You know what? You¡¯re right! Do you have anyone you suspect?


    ¡°I am not sure who committed this sin, it¡¯s such an unforgivable act that it¡¯s hard to believe any one of us could be so vile, most if not all of us have not even reached the age where the law would let us become drunkards. Although, even with that, I do have someone who I think had the biggest chance of committing this outrageous act. Alex.¡±


    ¡°Why him?¡±


    ¡°I talked with lady Petra while she searched the shed in the backyard and she had told me how you and Alex heaved away the devil¡¯s liquid from the kitchen. That narrowed me to you two as main suspects. Quite fortunately, she brought up that it was Alex who gained the idea. Sentin, the God that protects us, has not spoken to me yet, so I cannot confirm if my doubts are true, but beware, there certainly is a risk.¡±


    That was enough to tell me where my next destination was. The trash room.


    While I was walking through the hallway on the way there, I didn''t run into Alex. I assumed he was still inside the trash room, so I entered expecting to see him there. Instead, I was greeted by nothing but emptiness and the faint smell of garbage coming from below. I looked down to see if the bag with poison was still down there.


    Nothing changed. I scratched my head and before I was able to make my next decision the door opened behind me.


    "Oh, you''ve come to check here too, Dante?"


    "I have arrived here for multiple reasons. I decided to check if you trusted my words of suspicion about your dear friend Alex, although I still cannot guarantee your innocence. If sinners like these were fools, they''d merely wonder about the mansion akin to a headless fly. Sadly, they are not fools, they know how bad of an act they committed, and they must hide it well."


    After he said that, Dante was about to leave, but I stopped him.


    "Wait, you said you came here for multiple reasons. Don''t you plan on doing something else here?"


    "I actually do, bless you for reminding me. I opened the drawers in the kitchen right after you left and I found something quite intriguing."


    Dante proceeded to pull out a syringe from his pocket.


    "Take a very close look at this syringe. Do you see it?"


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I brought my eyes close to the syringe and immediately noticed that it was used because it had a bit of liquid inside.


    "There is no doubt about it, this syringe was used to carry out the act!"


    This could¡¯ve been used as a weapon. It didn''t give away any hints leading to the killer, yet someone could probably connect it to a clue someone else found.


    Out of nowhere, I heard a loud sound.


    Wait, I recognize that noise. It was the clock in the main hall. Maybe we were done investigating? No, it was too early for that!


    I went out to the main hall and Dante followed me. I doubt he knew about the clock, but then again it was definitely loud enough to be heard from the second floor.


    I already expected to see Lucia in the main hall, although this time I wasn¡¯t happy that I was correct about something. She waited for everyone to show up, although that didn¡¯t take too long.


    "There you are. I¡¯m here to inform you that the time for investigation is over. If you are interested in participating in the discussion, you may head over to the dining room.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± Petra said, confused, ¡°You said you¡¯d give us a lot of time!¡±


    ¡°I know, I know, I just got bored waiting. Head over to the dining room or don¡¯t. I don¡¯t care as long as there are at least two people who choose to come.¡±


    I looked at Dante, my face filled with shock yet again. I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I was afraid. Afraid of the truth, afraid of what Lucia planned to do during the discussion. Dante didn¡¯t say a word, he merely tipped his tophat and started walking towards the dining room and I followed him.


    We went inside and sat down, one after another. I took a look at everyone that was inside. Even Amy was there, I assumed she wouldn¡¯t do anything after our interaction.


    Let me see¡­ I checked if everyone was there. Petra, Alex, Dante, Amy, Blake¡­ Wait, Eden isn¡¯t here!¡±


    The door closed behind me and Lucia entered.


    ¡°This is nothing short of amazing, Eden was the only one who refused to participate, I honestly expected way more of you to be more cautious of me. Well, I won¡¯t question it, losing a friend, even after knowing them for less than a day must hurt, right? Hmm, now that I think about it, I don''t think some even had the opportunity to meet her. How depressing."


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me Eden refused to participate?¡± Dante stood up, ¡°Why would he do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Sit down.¡± Lucia replied with a stern voice and, without hesitation, Dante sat down even though his face still showed his disappointment.


    ¡°Alright, now that everyone has sat down I can begin explaining how the discussions work. During the discussion I will stay here in case people start interrupting each other. Everyone needs to get their opinions in, so I absolutely cannot let anyone talk over anyone else, please keep that in mind. Next, I should probably explain how to actually get a conversation going since I doubt you had ever discussed a murder, though it is pretty simple. Just bring up the time of death or murder weapon or someone who could have a possible motive, anything you can think of that could help you get closer to the killer. Once the majority agrees on a culprit, I¡¯ll end the discussion and what happens afterwards depends on the culprit you selected since I know who did it.¡±


    "Wait, can you elaborate on the part where you said what was going to happen after the discussion?" I asked Lucia, my body shaking slightly.


    "Of course not, the element of mystery is important for a good discussion. Now, let''s begin."


    ¡°Understood.¡± Petra said with a calm voice. She lost her optimistic attitude, but not her cool.


    ¡°The Gods tell me that we first must figure out what killed the lady before anything else, the murder weapon if you will.¡±


    ¡°This might make us the prime suspects,¡± Alex said, ¡° although I have to say that it was definitely the poison Adam and I carried out yesterday.¡±


    ¡°So you already admit your deeds. Not even I would  expect such a hasty confession.¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t commit the murder, I¡¯m simply bringing up that the poison was used in some way. I have no clue how anyone could¡¯ve gotten their hands on it, maybe someone else knows.¡±


    Amy raised her hand.


    ¡°What stopped anyone from getting their hands on the poison?¡±


    ¡°We threw it in the mansion¡¯s dumpster, a giant hole in one of the rooms on the first floor. It¡¯s too deep, if anyone tried getting down there, they¡¯d break their legs and most likely die.¡±


    ¡°Are you pretending to be dumb for your own safety or are you actually that stupid?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°The rope, you idiot. Didn¡¯t one of you discover it before the murder occurred. That¡¯s what I figured.¡±


    ¡°Rose and I found it shortly before her death, but nobody went in that room before us then.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t talk with someone this senseless, can someone else explain to him how insanely stupid that sentence was?¡±


    Blake finally decided to join in.


    ¡°Amy, do you know something we don¡¯t? You¡¯re starting to seem suspicious too.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? How can anyone be sure that nobody entered the room before?


    ¡°Maybe you guys on the second floor did it differently, but everyone down here made sure to have someone with them at all times. That¡¯s why I was with Rose and that¡¯s how I know Petra and Adam couldn¡¯t have entered. If one did, the other would know.¡±


    ¡°At all times?¡±


    ¡°Yes, what¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    ¡°That would have to mean that you shared rooms, rooms with a single bed too small for two people. I find that quite unlikely. I mean, one person could¡¯ve slept on the floor with a blanket underneath, but I feel like you would¡¯ve mentioned that detail already, were that the case.¡±


    ¡°Of course we didn¡¯t share rooms, there wasn¡¯t enough space for that.¡±


    ¡°Then anyone could¡¯ve snuck out last night.¡±


    Alex didn¡¯t say anything.


    "So you''ve shut up," Amy continued, "then someone must¡¯ve snuck out at night, grabbed the rope and went down the dumpster, took some of the poison and put it in the meal you planned to have the next day if I''m not mistaken."


    "I shall agree with this." Dante took off his tophat and placed it on the table "While I took a peek at the kitchen I found a used syringe. The sinner had to have used it to take the poison since the glass bottles broke from the impact of the fall."


    When everyone thought they figured something out, I pointed out how wrong that was.


    "No, the murder couldn''t have happened during the night."


    "Oh good, another idiot. Please enlighten us with your supreme knowledge." Amy said in a sarcastic, yet still monotone voice.


    "The poison bottles had text written on them. It clearly mentioned that leaving the poison in a place that''s not cold will cause it to lose all effects. Even if someone went through all that trouble to poison Rose with that, it wouldn''t do anything."


    "Then where was the poison that killed Rose? I saw the body, there was nothing else."


    "You looked at the body out of your own free will?"


    "Of course. I knew none of you had the balls to do it. Even Petra, who I assumed was a bit tougher, didn''t dare come close."


    I looked at Petra. She was quiet which was out of character for her, yet she didn''t look nervous. Instead, she seemed like she knew something most of us didn''t and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to say it.


    "Another place that could have poison? I think I might know. Blake, I have a question for you."


    "Huh? Sure, ask away."


    "You told me about the storage room that I didn''t get to check. Was there any poison in there?"


    "Now that you mention it, I think there were a couple of bottles. Well, I don''t know if it was poison, I didn''t bother reading the label, however the room had knives, guns, even swords so I think it''s safe to assume there were poisons there."


    "Then¡­ That puts us all the way back to the start of this discussion."


    "It doesn''t." Petra stopped our conversation. "The poison from the first floor was used, I can prove it.


    "How so?" Amy looked at her confused, yet interested at the same time.


    "I assumed Lucia was going to trick us about the amount of time we had to investigate so instead of doing a detailed search, I let everyone focus on searching one or two rooms with full detail so that I could run between every place I wanted to check and look at whatever I could find quickly. One of those places was the storage room. You were right about the poison, there was an entire mini fridge filled with them."


    "Then how does that debunk what Adam said? He actually brought up a good point unlike his brain dead friend."


    "Adam, do you remember what color the poison bottles in the kitchen were?"


    "Dark green, like a beer bottle if I remember correctly. Why does that matter?"


    "Because the bottles on the second floor were blue."


    "By the Gods, I do not wish to insult a lady, but that argument is dumb. Why would the color of the bottle matter at all if the syringe was used to poison the food?"


    "Oh, I''m sorry for not letting you know about that, I do have evidence! The shed in the backyard. While I was looking around the mansion, I remembered that Adam was the only one to go inside the shed so I thought maybe there was something interesting in there. Adam had just gone to the second floor, so I assumed it was best to go inside and see what there is instead of looking around for Adam who would give me less accurate information. For a second I thought there was nothing unusual, but then I noticed one of the corners. Broken glass. Green glass, to be precise."


    "That is certainly confusing, I do not know why a bottle could end up on that side of the mansion."


    "Why the culprit brought it there confuses me as well, but there was no time for anyone to do that before Alex and Adam threw away the poison, so I think that is enough evidence to prove that the poison is from the first floor."


    "I get it, I just realized what happened." I spoke up and put all my energy into creating a coherent sentence. "The killer must''ve entered the kitchen early in the morning. It could be anyone from the second floor since we don''t know when they woke up. I¡¯m not sure when Alex and Petra wake up, but since we don¡¯t have our phones on us, I assumed that they¡¯d follow Lucia¡¯s alarm.¡±


    Petra stared at me.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t possible. The food was hot enough to stop the poison from working. Plus, none of that explains the glass shards in the shed. Everything that you just said is completely meaningless.¡±


    I started sweating.


    Amy looked at me, I realized she was aware that I knew something she didn¡¯t, though she still looked away immediately.


    ¡°Adam, just admit it already,¡± she said.


    ¡°W-What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to mention this as it would make me the most suspicious, but you¡¯ve done me a favor by digging yourself into a hole. At first I wasn¡¯t sure if it was you, but now it¡¯s confirmed, you were outside your room last night at around two in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Why would you assume that?¡±


    ¡°I am not assuming, I saw you.¡±


    ¡°N-no you didn¡¯t, you¡¯re making up stuff! It¡¯s bullshit!¡±


    ¡°I was in the main hall, second floor, right wing. I was investigating alone, I didn¡¯t trust anyone for obvious reasons. By chance I caught a glimpse of two people talking, Lucia and a girl I didn¡¯t recognize back then, but sooner or later learned was Rose. What surprised me afterwards was that a man appeared right after Lucia left, which I instantly recognized the next day when he went to try and convince Blake and I to investigate Rose¡¯s murder, Adam. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were talking about, I assume it was because they didn¡¯t want to wake up anyone else. After only a couple of minutes Rose went back to her room, but Adam went inside the dining room, which was the closest way to the kitchen from where he was. I do not know what he did afterwards, although I will say that this is more than enough evidence pointing towards Adam.¡±


    Everyone including me stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. I was trembling, nervous, afraid. I¡¯ve been hiding the truth even from myself for as long as I could. I wanted to say everything at the beginning of the investigation, but I knew Lucia was planning something, so I thought I could put the blame on someone else.


    Petra broke the silence.


    ¡°Wait, if you nobody saw where you were last night and you admit to not being in your room, how can we believe your accusations?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite straightforward. You just need to look at Adam. He¡¯s sweating, shaking and isn¡¯t even attempting to debunk what I said. Unless he says something that can prove me wrong, then this is over.¡±


    I gained back some energy.


    ¡°You have no proof. You cannot prove I was there!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡±


    ¡°I am not an idiot, I am innocent and you¡¯re trying to pass the blame onto me for no reason!¡±


    ¡°I literally saw you! If you weren¡¯t the killer, you wouldn¡¯t be nervous.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m nervous. You¡¯re accusing me of murder without solid proof and you expect me to stay calm?¡±


    ¡°I do not expect that from you, purely because you know damn well that you did it.¡±


    ¡°I did not!¡±


    ¡°You did.¡±


    ¡°I-¡±


    ¡°Shut up and admit it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°I said admit it.¡±


    ¡°Stop interrupting him.¡± Lucia joined in the conversation, but Amy ignored her and kept trying to make me say that I killed Rose.


    ¡°Just fucking admit that you are the culprit, is it that hard?¡±


    ¡°I said I-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you said, I am a witness!¡±


    ¡°Amy, stop interrupting, second warning.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I did talk to Rose that night, but nothing more than that. I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°Spit it out. ¡®I¡¯m the killer.¡¯ That is what you¡¯re supposed to say. You. Killed. Rose.¡±


    Lucia walked towards the table and stood right behind Amy. She held Amy by the hand and whispered in her ear, although the whisper was loud enough for everyone to hear.


    ¡°Break a rule one more time and I¡¯ll shut you up myself.¡±


    Without a warning, the black nails on Lucia¡¯s hands grew akin to a cat extending its claws, digging into Amy¡¯s arm, making her scream from the sudden pain.


    ¡°I hope I made myself clear.¡± She walked away from the table.


    ¡°See what your useless defense leads us to. Come on Adam!¡± Amy cleaned the blood coming from her hand even though she couldn¡¯t stop the bleeding.


    Everybody was now even more afraid of Lucia than they were before, including me.


    ¡°I-I killed Rose!¡±


    Everyone looked at me in shock. I admitted it so easily. I wasn¡¯t the one speaking, my own fears took my thoughts and showed them to everyone.


    ¡°Adam. I perceived you as a good man, someone who I could give my blessings to. Why would you do something so unspeakable?¡±


    ¡°¡®But we need to find the murderer¡¯, you said.¡± Alex added. ¡°Did you not even think that there was a chance of killing someone innocent?¡±


    Everyone must¡¯ve been thinking the same, they all looked extremely uncomfortable.


    I¡¯ll explain why I did it, I¡¯ll connect all the dots. It¡¯s already over, so this won¡¯t change anything. I  already fucked up.


    ¡°It all started when Alex and I found the poison bottles,¡± I pushed myself to speak, ¡°prior to us throwing it away. Alex went to find a place where we could drop the bottles which left me alone with more than enough time to take one of the bottles and put it deep inside the fridge where the other, larger bottles with normal drinks would cover it. I didn¡¯t plan to use it until I found out who the traitor was, but I acted before I could fully confirm anything. After everyone was in bed I wanted to explore the mansion on my own, but I was surprised right before I opened the door to the main hall.¡±


    ¡°That was Rose and Lucia talking?¡± Petra asked.


    ¡°Yes, I heard voices and I recognized them pretty quickly. After a bit I heard Lucia leave so I went into the main hall in hopes of getting some information out of Rose. I acted friendly, but I noticed that Rose was definitely nervous, maybe she assumed that I heard the entire conversation. I barely heard anything. As discreetly and quickly as she could, she ended the small talk and went back to her room. I was convinced she was the traitor, or more precisely, wanted to think I already found the traitor.¡±


    ¡°Yet another idiotic move from one of you guys?¡± Amy sighed.


    ¡°While we talked, she mentioned how she was going to prepare some sausages for next day¡¯s lunch and that she found some soda in the fridge that she was going to give to us. That gave me a plan. I went inside the kitchen and poured the poison into the soda without even thinking that she would give it to everyone else too. Then I pulled out the syringe that was deep inside one of the drawers. I first found it when I searched the kitchen with Alex, but it wasn¡¯t a useful clue so I didn¡¯t show him it. I put the syringe in a more obvious place so that someone would connect it to the murder and then I went to throw away the poison bottle in the dumpster.¡±


    ¡°Wait, then why did I find glass shards inside the shed?¡±


    ¡°Well, the other poison bottles were all inside a bag when thrown. I was paranoid that someone would notice that in case we were forced to investigate the murder which I thought we might have had to, so I did the second best thing. I smashed the bottle inside the shed, far enough from the bedroom, so that nobody would hear me and so that nobody would find it. Then I ran to bed and as luck had it, only Rose drank the soda. It was already too late before I left my panicked state and remembered that literally anyone could drink it. Maybe the taste was off so she didn¡¯t give it to anyone, but I didn¡¯t get to lunch until the poison had already kicked in, so I don¡¯t know about that.¡±


    After my long explanation, everyone was speechless. I completely lost my cool and told everything, every little detail. I had already dug my grave, but now I also placed myself inside the casket.


    ¡°May I end the talk here?¡± Lucia said after being silent for the entire discussion. ¡°I believe everyone here has already decided who they think is the culprit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you may.¡± Dante spoke in an angry, yet sad voice.


    ¡°Well, this doesn¡¯t come as much of a surprise, but Adam is indeed the culprit.¡±


    ¡°W-What will happen to me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯ll make sure to put on a show!¡±


    ¡°W-What?¡±


    Lucia grabbed me and threw me into the main hall hard enough that I almost reached the door to the right wing. The lights started flickering. With each flicker one of the people in the dining room disappeared until there was only Lucia.


    ¡°How are you doing this? Why are the lights out?¡± I shouted, hoping someone other than Lucia would hear me. The lights flickered one last time and Lucia was already in my face, she somehow teleported during that flicker. She held both of my hands hard enough that I couldn¡¯t move them at all.


    This demon! How? How is anything in front of me actually happening? I was pushed to murder someone and now this! I have to fight for my life!


    Without warning, her sharp nails grew again, digging into my skin, causing my arms to bleed. I screamed.


    ¡°The nails should be the least of your worries,¡± she whispered before bursting into loud laughter.


    Her face looked excited, it looked like it was about to come apart and, as that thought crossed my mind, exactly that happened.


    Her face split in four, all of the sides going to the side away from the other parts, leaving nothing but flesh in the center. The edges of her face where she split was even more horrifying.


    Teeth.


    A bunch of sharp, large and dirty teeth. A chill immediately went through my body and I even accidentally pissed myself, though I was so full of fear that it took me a moment to even notice it.


    She lunged towards my face and dug those terrifying teeth in, as well as her sophisticated, yet equally dangerous nails.


    I screamed, before and during the excruciating pain, because of shock and because of physical pain. Without any precision or care, I was being ripped apart. Ripped apart. Ripped apart. Ripped¡­apart. And I kept getting ripped apart like a helpless and weak wild animal.


    The darkness turned from black to an ugly shade of red as terror continued. It felt like the change of color was somehow stabbing me along my entire body, only adding to the pain that I could¡¯ve never imagined before.


    Then everything froze. A cold breeze chased away the red and as the darkness became pitch black again, Lucia disappeared, along with my pain and along with my fragile consciousness.

 Chapter IV - Discarded memories

    ¡°Lucia¡¯s stupid clock again,¡± I mumbled as I got up.


    I got dressed and went into the bathroom, but as much as I wanted to pretend that this day was identical to the previous, I simply couldn¡¯t forget Lucia¡¯s horrid teeth and the desecrated, barely even human corpse that she left lying in the main hall.


    I knew something horrible was bound to happen to us, but I thought there was at least some rational explanation to everything. None of us can even come close to explaining what happened last night!


    I brushed my hair and got out of my room, somewhat ready for breakfast. I knew that Alex wouldn¡¯t get out of his room in time and had no idea what the other four on the second floor were doing, so I knocked on Alex¡¯s door, hoping for a positive reply.


    ¡°L-Lucia? No, leave us alone!¡±


    ¡°Calm down, it¡¯s me, Petra!¡±


    ¡°Go back to your room. Otherwise everything will happen all over again. We¡¯re dead!¡±


    I can¡¯t blame him for being scared, but we can¡¯t just stop now, not after discovering what Lucia is capable of! I try my best to make everyone happy, but we can¡¯t always be upbeat, especially not now!


    I went to the dining room and, to my surprise, saw Amy.


    ¡°I guess you managed to get out of bed this morning,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is that dumbass Alex really not coming to breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know that we meet up for breakfast?¡±


    ¡°I simply assumed because you met up for lunch yesterday. I looked around for everyone else, but Blake said he wasn¡¯t feeling well and Dante and Eden were arguing inside Dante¡¯s room, God knows what about.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll get us something to eat. It¡¯d be dumb to waste time when we can¡¯t afford much of it.¡±


    ¡°Finally someone who thinks rationally here.¡±


    I went to the kitchen to see what Amy and I could eat. I didn¡¯t know how to cook so I only grabbed some salami and went back into the dining room to eat it.


    ¡°I assume you¡¯re not not a very good cook.¡± Amy said with her legs now on the table.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t do everything.¡±


    ¡°Fine, let the others cook later after we eat this.¡±


    We ate almost in complete silence. For some weird reason I felt relaxed spending time with her, which I didn¡¯t expect because she seemed very unapproachable.


    ¡°Hey Petra, I have an idea.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m interested.¡±


    ¡°I listened very carefully to Adam¡¯s confession yesterday. He never brought up using the rope and getting down, so if there was anything at the bottom, he wouldn¡¯t know. We should check, just in case. It¡¯s not like you have any point in searching the second floor, I already did that in great detail, there is nothing and nobody went to the third floor yet. It is completely above the main hall ceiling, so it probably has a completely different layout unrelated to the left and right wing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually not that bad of an idea. Is the rope still back where Rose and Alex found it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Amy reached her hand and pulled out the rope from underneath the table. ¡°I planned on asking you to do this, so I brought the rope before you even got here.¡±


    "Nice. I''ll go over to the dumpster with the rope and you get someone else to help hold it. The others don''t seem weak physically and there''s no place to tie the rope in that room."


    "You''re actually right. I didn''t take into account that more than one person is needed for someone to get down there. That could''ve sped up the discussion."


    I carried the rope to the dumpster and patiently waited for Amy. It took a couple of minutes, probably to convince someone to leave their room, although in the end she arrived with Dante and Eden.


    ¡°What reason do you have to drag Eden and I out of our ritual?¡±


    ¡°Ritual?¡± I eyed them both in confusion.


    ¡°A great tragedy has come upon us in this location. We must cleanse this place of the tragedy¡¯s impurity so that we may continue solving this mystery in peace.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I just assumed it was because you were angry that Eden didn¡¯t show up to the discussion.¡±


    ¡°Blasphemy! A true enlightened man would never do something such as holding a grudge.¡±


    Eden stopped our conversation.


    ¡°Alright, so why are we here? I¡¯m willing to help unless you plan on doing something dangerous like yesterday¡¯s discussion.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me, why did you refuse to come?¡± Amy asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Who knows what Lucia planned while she made the rules for this place, it could¡¯ve been such an obvious trap. You¡¯re lucky you found the killer. If you hadn''t, who knows what would¡¯ve happened.¡±


    ¡°And you think you¡¯ll do something by not taking a single risk and staying in Dante¡¯s room doing weird rituals like an idiot?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do. Taking risks in this dangerous situation will lead to nothing but trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too lazy to explain why that¡¯s completely wrong and why you¡¯re nothing but a burden if you think that, I want to get back to the reason why I called you two here. I have a theory that something is hidden at the bottom of the dumpster. However, to get down there without breaking your legs you need rope, but there¡¯s nothing to tie it to so you guys will hold it while Petra goes down.¡±


    ¡°Wait, if you want me to go down, then what will you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just be here in case either they or you need some help.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Sounds like a way to avoid doing anything, but fine, I¡¯ll go. I don¡¯t like dragging things on.¡±


    Everyone else placed the rope and I slowly descended down, avoiding the broken glass from the poison bottles when placing my feet on the ground. The walls and floor were completely made out of stone and small bugs were crawling on it.


    God, this is vile!


    I turned around so that I could see the entire dumpster. The bottom of the hole was way bigger than the opening, so I didn¡¯t have any trouble moving around. In fact, the sheer size of it was frightening. As I turned around, I noticed something that I didn¡¯t expect.


    A tunnel?


    It was large enough for about two people to go through if they were walking next to each other, but the end of it was completely covered in darkness.


    ¡°Hey, Amy!¡± I yelled from the bottom.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I found something interesting, but I need a flashlight or a lighter or something like that to be able to see it! Do you think you could go to the storage room and get something?


    ¡°Alright, just give me a second!¡±


    This time, she returned way more quickly.


    ¡°Here you go.¡± Amy dropped a small flashlight without further warning and it bounced around my hands before I eventually caught it.


    Time to see what¡¯s inside. I sighed.


    The only things I could hear were my footsteps and I could smell the trash that surrounded me. There were multiple different odors inside the hole, most were unrecognizable to me as well as disgusting, so I tried ignoring them. I didn¡¯t spend much time in the darkness before I noticed faint light at the end of the tunnel, yet even that little amount of time felt like it was stabbing my heart with anxiety.


    I approached the faint light, only to see that the only thing lighting up the end of the tunnel were two candles placed on a table, all tucked into a tiny area to the side. There was no room waiting for me, I reached a dead end. Knowing how vulnerable I was, I hurried to see if there was anything else on the table.


    Photos?


    Small and very old ones, twelve of them to be precise, all of different people. At the bottom were names.


    Eugene Eller, Mary Steed, Lucia Martel, Lillith Sharp, Friede Divinitas, Joseph Divinitas, Samuel Cleeve, Peter Voss, Omar Alrawi, Mabel Umbra and Bertha Keller.


    I don¡¯t think I recognize any of these. Who could these people be? Wait, one of these is, no way, there¡¯s no way it¡¯s him¡­ Alfred Wolf. There¡¯s no doubt about it, my last name is Wolf too and the pictures my mom and dad showed me when I was younger, it¡¯s definitely him. My great grandfather. Of all people, why is his picture here?


    My grandpa and dad had told me that he¡¯d been murdered, although I was never given any details, just that he died young, while my grandpa was still a toddler. Was he trapped in this mansion too?


    These circumstances were weird enough that it was possible. I remembered that Amy said she would help if needed, so I ran back with the flashlight in hand to call her down so that we could see if one of the people on the list was her relative. I didn¡¯t know anyone¡¯s last name, so this was the best option.


    ¡°Amy! I found something insane, come down!¡±


    ¡°And just as I thought I could stay up here. I¡¯m coming! You two, stay here, we need people near the rope.¡±


    When Amy told Dante and Eden to stay near the rope, I was reminded to ask them for their last names too.


    ¡°Hey guys, can you tell me your last names?¡±


    ¡°Why should we give the name of our heavenly family?¡±


    ¡°Our?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. What may be the confusion?¡±


    ¡°Are you siblings?¡±


    ¡°Why of course! Is it not noticeable?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know that, however that isn¡¯t urgent, I need to know your surname to discover something down here, it might even lead to the secret of the mansion.¡±


    ¡°Divinitas.¡± Eden told me his last name without any hesitation. ¡°Brother, while we should not risk our lives, we still need to help each other. We consider our family as the one that speaks for the Gods, so we need to be as generous as the Gods we speak for.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my mind is still not cleansed after yesterday''s events. I wish you ladies luck on whatever awaits.¡±


    Amy came down and I pointed towards the tunnel.


    ¡°A tunnel? Well, I certainly expected something else.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you watching me? You¡¯d see me disappear from view at the very least.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    I sighed and went inside the tunnel with Amy. This time the candle light wasn¡¯t waiting for us at the end.


    ¡°Did something happen?¡± I thought out loud.


    ¡°What did you say, I didn¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing, there were just two lit candles at the end of the tunnel. I¡¯m confused how the fire got put out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird, but I¡¯m pretty sure I know why. Think about it, the rope was hidden with purpose and it was the only way down here. Lucia was aware that we¡¯d eventually find the tunnel, she was ready. You saw what she did to Adam, simply not being seen shouldn¡¯t be an issue for her.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t remind me, I know what I saw last night. Still, you do have a point.¡±


    We reached the end and I pointed the flashlight at the table.


    ¡°Random photos?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re not random. One of these people, Alfred Wolf, was my great grandfather.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you asked Dante and Eden for their last name?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. You should also take a look if there¡¯s anyone from your family.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Oh, I see someone with the last name Divinitas, actually there are two people. Just like there are two people with that last name currently in the mansion. Could the secret Lucia is making us search for somehow be the secret of our families?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure of it. There is no other possibility. I¡¯ll find that proof!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to question how you can speak so enthusiastically whilst standing inside of a dumpster looking at old photos placed on an occult-looking table.¡±


    ¡°Just check if there¡¯s someone from your family on the table or not.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Let me see¡­ Not him, nor her¡­ No way in hell, she¡¯s actually here. My great grandmother. Lilith Sharp.¡±


    ¡°So, do you believe that my enthusiasm is normal now?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still a chance this is a trap made by Lucia, but if it¡¯s not, then this has to be a massive clue. Still, you¡¯re a bit of a maniac in my eyes, Petra.¡±


    As if she was waiting for her name to be said, Lucia appeared inside the tunnel.


    ¡°I can assure you that this is no trap of mine. The photos have been here for a while, way before you entered this mansion. Think about it, what fun would I have watching you search around like headless chicken for something without any clues? It wouldn¡¯t be entertaining for more than ten minutes.¡±


    She slowly walked up to the table, pushing us out of the way and then put her finger right below one of the pictures.


    Lucia Martel. Not an ancestor, but her, even though the picture looked to be just as old as all the other ones.


    ¡°How?¡± I nervously asked.


    ¡°That is up to you to find out. I do not wish to ruin the fun.¡±


    Lucia then vanished, leaving the scene like she entered, unnoticeably.


    What could this mean? It wasn¡¯t a question to be solved using common sense, as I¡¯ve witnessed common sense be defiled at least twenty times up until now, though I didn¡¯t know how far away from common sense I was supposed to go to solve this mystery. I even missed her name and picture somehow. They were in front of me, I read it in my head, I just skipped over her like an idiot.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± I told Amy, still trying to stay calm. ¡°We¡¯ll think about this better in a calmer environment.¡±


    ¡°I know you just don¡¯t want to freak out in front of everyone, although I agree. Let¡¯s head out.¡±


    We went through the tunnel again expecting a light from the mansion when we entered the trash filled room, yet no light apart from the flashlight¡¯s was there.


    I slowly became worried so I checked the walls for the rope. No rope was there.


    ¡°Dante! Eden!¡± I yelled out thinking they could¡¯ve just pulled the rope up and waited for us to come back.


    But nobody answered.

 Chapter V - Darkness

    Minutes passed in that hole, each giving me a feeling of dread and despair. There was no light above and while someone could¡¯ve turned off the light to that one room specifically, I did not believe that was the case.


    There must be a blackout. Now that I think about it, the lights were always turned on. I haven¡¯t noticed any light coming from the windows.


    ¡°Petra! Amy! Dante! Anyone?¡± I heard a familiar voice yelling from above. It was Alex.


    ¡°We¡¯re inside the dumpster!¡± I hoped that he heard my voice.


    ¡°Petra, is that you?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Try to find the rope, it should be somewhere in the room. Throw it down and hold one end!¡±


    He did just as I asked and I saw the rope next to the dirty wall. I gave the flashlight to Amy and hurried over to the rope. Amy followed and we got out without a problem.


    ¡°Oh, a flashlight,¡± Alex let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Finally, some light. I almost pissed myself when the lights went out. What if the traitor managed to turn them off?¡±


    ¡°So, you also realized?¡± Amy added, ¡°I assumed you were too stupid to think of that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still acting the same way you did during the discussion. Can you stop? I¡¯m already scared that the others might not be safe.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re scared, let¡¯s just go and look for everyone.¡±


    Shortly after we began our search the lights came back on, lessening our worries. It happened while we were going up the stairs, and soon after, we saw Dante and Blake coming down from the second floor.


    ¡°Have any of you by chance come upon Eden?¡± Dante asked.


    ¡°No, Amy and I were in the hole for most of the blackout and Alex came alone.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I greatly apologize that the two of you had to wait there. My brother was very worried that the traitor was heading towards the dumpster room when the lights went out, so he forced me to run out with him in a fearful frenzy.¡±


    We headed together in one group, checking every place we haven¡¯t been in, which wasn¡¯t anything more than the right wing of the first floor and the places under the staircase.


    What surprised me the most was how he was dead silent. The blackout is over, why is he quiet?


    The right wing was completely empty. The backyard had nothing but wind stopping the area from being filled with silence. That only left one room on the first floor. Under the left part of the staircase, the tiny room where he and Dante tried doing a ritual right before Rose¡¯s death. I wondered why he would be there, but wandering got me nowhere, so I opened the door.


    I prayed that the scene in front of me wasn''t real, but my prayers were nothing more than worthless words.


    Everyone stood shocked, unable to comprehend what they saw. Eden was on the ground with his back against the wall on the other side of the room, motionless in a puddle of his own blood. Drops of it fell between the gaps in the wooden floor. That was the only movement in the room. Most of the blood came from his stomach, although there was a noticeable amount coming from his mouth.


    I turned around to see how everyone else reacted. Everyone was shaking and had an expression that showed pure despair and fear. Dante was on his knees, rivers of tears pouring out of his eyes.


    ¡°W-Why? Why would the Gods I bow down to allow this? T-this is bad, very bad! The traitor, they are not a regular mortal! He, she, whatever, is a demon! Nothing else explains this. My dear brother, he followed every tradition of the Divinitas family, his soul and mortal body were guarded. Lord, have you abandoned us?¡±


    His sadness hastily turned into anger.


    ¡°I guess this is the test of my servitude. I know what must be done and I shall do just that.¡±


    He stood up and ran to the second floor, each step of his echoing through the main hall. I had a bad feeling about what he was going to do, but I didn¡¯t react fast enough to stop him. He was on the second floor for no more than a minute or two, although during that time Lucia entered the main hall.


    ¡°Oh, I see that Dante has left the scene. Well, let¡¯s wait for him, then I¡¯ll explain the situation.¡±


    I stared at Lucia until Dante came back. I couldn¡¯t stop my body from shaking while standing near her, her mere presence was a poison.


    I have to stay calm. Do not lose your cool, do not! I screamed in my thoughts and simply stood in place with a fake expression on my face that barely hid any fear.


    Dante came down from the second floor and I immediately realized that he planned to do something horrible. In his right hand was a weapon, a dagger to be more precise. I couldn¡¯t see the entire handle due to him holding it, although I saw that it was dark red. The blade was shiny, it was obvious that Dante kept it sharp and clean. Alex also realized what Dante most likely planned to do.


    ¡°Dante! What are you planning to do with that?¡± Alex directed everyone¡¯s attention to the dagger.


    Dante was taking deep breaths.


    ¡°I believe that it is obvious. I will kill the traitor.¡±


    ¡°You know who the traitor is?¡± I nervously asked.


    ¡°No, I am absolutely unaware. With that said, my servitude to the Gods who guard my soul cannot be stopped. The traitor is the devil¡¯s pawn, a danger that cannot be let roam this world free. I shall make a sacrifice! I shall rid the world of this demon by filling this mansion with the corpses of every mortal here!¡±


    Dante lifted the hand with the dagger up and ran towards me since I was the closest to him.


    As he approached, I dodged toward the hand that wasn¡¯t holding the dagger and pushed him to the cold floor. I took away his dagger before letting Dante get up.


    ¡°Drop the Divinitas dagger right now, you corrupt wench! Nobody who lacks true faith may wield the treasure of my family.¡±


    ¡°No way, I¡¯m not letting you repeat Adam¡¯s mistake.¡± I clutched the dagger.


    Lucia sighed.


    ¡°Are you done?¡± she asked with an irritated voice, but nobody said anything.


    ¡°Alright then, let me begin.¡± Lucia continued speaking. ¡°This murder was committed by the traitor which means that no discussion will be held. When you''re sure that you know who the traitor is, you''re free to kill them, although if you get it wrong, a discussion for your murder of an innocent person will be held, so be careful, or don''t, I couldn''t care less. I just thought I should remind everyone what the rules are."


    In a blink of an eye, she was gone, leaving us hopeless yet again.


    Murder the traitor ourselves? That''s right, Lucia mentioned that we had to do that back when she introduced herself. We had to hurry up, yet, we couldn¡¯t make a single haphazard decision. I stayed cool with all my strength and raised my voice.


    "Then let''s get started this second! Everyone, find a partner and explore any place that you deem suspicious."


    Amy ignored my request and slowly entered the room with Eden''s body, completely calm like always.


    "Amy, what are you doing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The obvious. I¡¯m going to investigate the body.¡±


    ¡°You witch, don¡¯t touch my brother. He must be properly buried.¡±


    ¡°Shut up. If your traditions were actually helpful here, we would¡¯ve been outside by now.¡±


    Dante looked like he was ready to strike again, so I stood between them. Even starting this investigation is tough! Is there even a chance of success?


    ¡°Calm down!¡±


    ¡°Why should I be obliged to stop? This is a direct insult to all I stand for.¡±


    Blake, who was standing completely silent along with Alex until now, limply grabbed Dante.


    ¡°Chill out. Our priority is finding the traitor. Take deep breaths and we can all work together. Please don¡¯t make this even harder than it is, you¡¯re not alone in this fucked up place.¡±


    ¡°I guess I shall, no, I must accept that, for Eden and for myself. I cannot stand being here for much longer. I shall go to the dumpster room and explore where I think he might¡¯ve headed off to. I¡¯m bound to find something, the Gods themselves will lead me to an answer.¡±


    With that he left alone and Amy started looking at and touching the body. Alex felt sick merely seeing what she was doing.


    ¡°How are you not phased? This is someone you literally talked to recently.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m the only one who recognizes how terrible the situation we¡¯re in is. Also, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve never seen a corpse before.¡±


    ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story, I¡¯ll tell you it if we get out alive.¡±


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°No, I want to know right now.¡±


    ¡°Stop being such a dumbass, you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re saying. Go do something actually helpful for once.¡±


    Alex wasn¡¯t satisfied with that answer, yet he knew that he couldn¡¯t get through Amy so he left as well, probably to start investigating.


    ¡°Hey, Petra.¡± Amy said while still crouching next to the body.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can you do me a favor while I do everything needed here?¡±


    ¡°Is it related to the murder?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. I want you to go to the third floor.¡±


    ¡°Third floor? I thought that was nothing more than an attic, it doesn¡¯t even go inside the main hall, and the only way to go to it is the small staircase at the end of the second floor left wing.¡±


    ¡°I assumed the same thing, although you should think about it. Twelve tables in the dining room, twelve pictures in the tunnel. Four people per group. Do you get it?¡±


    I paused for a second before answering.


    ¡°How did I manage to miss that?¡±


    ¡°Well, since the traitor can be anyone inside the mansion, we need everyone involved, no matter if they want to participate.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one for the job, God knows what they¡¯re going through up there considering they never bothered to go downstairs. I¡¯ve been trying to keep everyone somewhat motivated and hopeful. I wonder how they¡¯re keeping up.¡±


    I ran upstairs and sprinted through the long hallway until I reached a small staircase which insinuated that the third floor was built as an afterthought. At the top, I was greeted by a shade of purple that reminded me of grapes. Everything was that color. Walls, floor, ceiling, though the doors were light brown.


    The entire floor was a single hallway that went from the end of the left wing to the right with doors randomly placed on both sides. The first four doors, two on each side, had labels above them.


    Evelyn.


    Leon.


    Maya.


    Naomi.


    Since Evelyn¡¯s door was the closest to me I knocked on it. I waited, but nobody answered. I knocked again and then opened the door.


    Nobody was there.


    I checked all four rooms, but nobody was there.


    They must be further down the hallway. I opened the first door I saw.


    The room inside was way larger than I had thought. It was an entire library. Shelves filled with different kinds of books everywhere gave charm to the room. It was mostly well organized apart from one shelf where every book was thrown onto the floor. Out of curiosity I approached the pile of books, in case there was something related to the secret of the mansion there.


    I crouched down to grab a book.


    Hmm¡­ Maybe the third group just doesn¡¯t clean after themselves.


    Suddenly, I felt someone grab my shoulder.


    ¡°Boo,¡± I heard a male and noticeably hoarse voice behind me.


    ¡°Ah!¡± I fell over despite the voice being pretty quiet.


    ¡°Gotcha! You should honestly learn to expect everything at all times, especially here.¡±


    I looked at the person who surprised me. The first thing I noticed was his messy hair because it was dyed turquoise and his ear piercings. Another thing that really stood out was his black eyeshadow, I didn¡¯t expect to see anyone bother putting on makeup while their life was at risk. Compared to his hair, his clothes didn¡¯t stand out. The only thing I noticed was that his shirt was slightly too big for him.


    ¡°Why are you staring at me?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d you come over here, Petra? Do you need help with the investigation or something?¡±


    ¡°Wait, how do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°If I never checked the situation downstairs, I¡¯d be completely clueless and who wants that? I want to know everything there is to know. That¡¯s why those books you were looking at are on the floor.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°No, of course I¡¯m lying. I set them there as a distraction. If you were the traitor, I would¡¯ve killed you without you even seeing my face.¡±


    I was taken aback by his knowledge. How did he manage to find out about the murder and our names without being seen by at least one of us?


    ¡°Sorry for startling you with all that information, I completely forgot how to properly introduce myself. Name¡¯s Leon. Leon Voss, and yes, that last name is on the table in the dumpster room tunnel if you forgot.¡±


    ¡°How the hell do you know about that?¡±


    ¡°Shit, I shouldn¡¯t have told you that until later. Well, who cares?¡±


    ¡°What the hell? How much do you exactly know about what happened downstairs?¡±


    ¡°I know the major events. Rose dying, Adam idiotically failing to save himself, the tunnel and rope and also the traitor¡¯s identity.¡±


    ¡°You know who the traitor is?¡±


    ¡°No, that was a joke.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    He laughed hysterically until it made him cough.


    ¡°How naive can you be?¡±


    I can¡¯t believe what this maniac is doing.


    ¡°I feel bad for you! Hahaha, just kidding, I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You sure like pissing people off, don¡¯t you? That probably puts you at risk.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you believe the traitor will go after me?¡± He started laughing again. ¡°I want to see him try! If that bastard thinks he can outsmart me then I welcome him!¡±


    Leon was a phenomenon, and even that would undermine my first impression of him.


    ¡°Well Leon, it was nice meeting you. You should head down and talk to everyone else as well.¡± I faked a large smile on my face.


    ¡°You¡¯re a really horrible liar. I already mentioned how I know everything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not faking anything, I¡¯m just a positive person. I¡¯m not falling for your lie again either.¡±


    He laughed yet again.


    ¡°Now that I actually decided to be honest, you didn¡¯t trust me, simply amazing! Hahaha, I can¡¯t believe it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re useless.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°And there¡¯s proof that the smile was fake. Alright, I¡¯m going to go mess with the others and investigate. See ya!¡±


    He walked past me without saying anything else and I followed him back into the hallway. He went downstairs.


    What the hell was that? Everything about Leon confused me. He wasn¡¯t like anyone else. With the others, I could cooperate or at least talk with, maybe calm them down if things go too far, but Leon seemed to know exactly what he was doing. All his lies sounded true, no matter how bizarre they were.


    I realized that I was standing in the hallway not doing anything so I started walking towards the other end carefully looking for the other members of the third group.


    The door after the library didn¡¯t look like the other doors. It was made out of metal instead of wood and it was a shiny gray color. I tried opening it.


    Locked.


    I was about to continue walking, but before I could do that, I heard something.


    ¡°State your business,¡± It was a very calming female voice, yet I couldn¡¯t see who it belonged to, even when the door opened slightly.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, confused as to where the girl I was talking to was.


    ¡°Answer my question first.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m here to meet and gather everyone from the third group.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to get permission from Leon for that.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    I didn¡¯t hear the voice again. What did Leon do? I stopped looking around and ran back downstairs. Not only did I need to find a way to meet the rest of the group, I had to warn everyone about Leon. Why do things keep getting worse?


    Both he and Amy were in the main hall, most likely waiting for me.


    ¡°Hey Petra, can you come to my room? I want to talk about the case privately, I don¡¯t want this freak to listen in.¡±


    ¡°What a rude way to talk about someone you just met. Shame on you!¡± Leon was without a doubt being sarcastic again.


    Blake entered the hall from the reading room, the tiny room on the left wing, and saw Leon.


    ¡°Hey, who are you?¡± Blake loudly mumbled.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jesus. I¡¯m here because you are dying. Repent for your sins!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing this today.¡±


    Blake walked back inside the reading room, obviously unwell and annoyed, but Leon followed him in hopes of pestering him more. What the hell did I just witness?


    It was useless to think about anything that came out of Leon''s mouth, so eventually, I stopped thinking. Amy and I went towards her room slowly, making sure that Leon wasn''t near, and surprisingly, he wasn''t following us. Right as we entered her room, Amy, with my help, moved the nightstand next to the door.


    "Alright, that idiot isn''t here." Amy sighed.


    "That''s good. I''m assuming he would mess with the case if he had all the details."


    I sat on Amy''s bed and began listening to what she found out.


    "What confused me the most about the crime scene was the amount of blood. I mean, you saw it yourself, right? So I began looking for wounds that would make Eden bleed that much. There were wounds and bruises around his stomach and chest, he would''ve bled without a doubt, however not as much."


    "Then where was the blood from?"


    "From a different room."


    "Huh?"


    "No doubt about it, it''s fake blood."


    "Then¡­ The storage room! It must''ve been from there, that place has everything."


    "It''s not that easy, I already checked."


    "Then where?"


    "I still have more information."


    "Go ahead, you''re the only one who can do something like investigate a corpse. I''m counting on you."


    "Of course you are. Anyway, I found the murder weapon as well, it was hidden behind Eden inside his robe."


    Amy quickly reached under her bed and pulled out a slightly bloody combat knife.


    ¡°Why would you put it under your bed?¡± I asked Amy, confused.


    ¡°So that the traitor wouldn¡¯t take it, isn¡¯t that obvious?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still a suspect though.¡±


    She ignored what I said and showed me the knife. She didn¡¯t clean the blood, looking at it made me really uncomfortable. Less than an hour ago, someone was murdered with the very thing in front of me and I had to live with that fact and keep going, no matter how much I wanted to stop.


    ¡°Amy, didn¡¯t you say that there was too much blood near the body for it all to be real?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°If a knife was used then the amount of blood would make sense, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    She ignored me again.


    ¡°Amy? You aren¡¯t telling me something. Come on, I won¡¯t do anything stupid if you tell me! Don¡¯t you trust me?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I might¡¯ve licked some of the blood to see if it was real. It looks pretty much identical, but it tastes nothing like it.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do that? I¡¯m not going to tell anyone, but why? Why would you even think about it?¡±


    ¡°It was necessary, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I mean, that¡¯s true, but how did you even get to the idea?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just been into detective related stuff since I was little. Pretty simple. After a while, nothing is out of the question.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see. I¡¯m sorry if I overreacted.¡± No, something is not right here. I don¡¯t want to annoy her, but I can¡¯t trust her like this, she might be the traitor.


    ¡°Petra, you look sick.¡±


    ¡°I do? I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    For some reason I could barely walk. I was shocked by Amy¡¯s confession, but that wasn¡¯t the reason why I was barely able to stand, something else was happening to me and it came out of nowhere. I put one of my arms around Amy.


    ¡°C-Can you help me get to my room?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind,¡± Amy replied with no hesitation.


    We started walking and with each step my vision started getting more and more blurry.


    ¡°Are you like this because of what I told you? I don¡¯t think it was that extreme of a confession.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I started feeling sick randomly, it¡¯s really sudden too. This has never happened to me before, but I probably just need some water and to lie down.¡±


    We reached my room and Amy dropped me on my bed. I wanted to ask her for water, but everything in front of me quickly turned black before I could say anything.

 Chapter VI - A convenient dream

    Huh? What happened?


    Oh, I remember. I was confused. Why would I faint like that?


    I walked into the hallway and went down the small staircase in hopes of entering the main hall to meet up with everyone else.


    What the hell? When I walked into the downstairs room, there was no door. Instead, there was just a wall. Am I dreaming? No, everything feels too real.


    I heard footsteps behind me while I was taking a closer look at the wall, so I turned around to see who it was.


    ¡°Oh, hi Alex!¡±


    ¡°How do y-you know my name? Are you the person who brought me here?¡±


    Alex was noticeably afraid, but I couldn¡¯t understand why he would be scared by the fact that I knew his name.


    ¡°What are you on about? We met like three days ago.¡±


    ¡°No we didn¡¯t! I don¡¯t know who you are!¡±


    ¡°Calm down, we literally met in this room!¡±


    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t!¡±


    I heard footsteps again and I assumed that Alex heard them too because he stopped shouting.


    My eyes must be messing with me, how is this possible?


    In front of me was Adam, who looked more confused by me than anything.


    ¡°You? You¡¯re alive!¡±


    Adam stayed silent and I didn¡¯t say anything after that either. What kind of situation am I in? How did Alex forget everything and way more importantly, how is Adam here?


    I wanted to ask Adam if he remembered anything, but Rose came down the stairs before I managed to do it.


    ¡°Who a-are you guys?¡± She asked with a calm expression even though she was shaking.


    You too¡­


    Everyone , including me, was utterly perplexed. It all went on like a dream, except everything still felt too real.


    ¡°I see everybody is here, splendid!¡± I heard a voice behind me, so I turned around only to be surprised by Lucia. ¡°Since I¡¯ve got you all here in one spot, I guess it¡¯s only right for me to introduce myself. I am Lucia, the one that brought you here. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll explain everything.¡±


    ¡°Introduce yourself?¡± I asked. ¡°You already did that long ago.¡±


    Everyone was staring at me, bewildered.


    ¡°This place might not seem like it for you guys since you¡¯ve only seen one small section of it, but you are inside a mansion. I¡¯ll unlock the door to the main hall and you¡¯ll start working on your way to leave the mansion.¡± Lucia was saying things that we were already told long ago, even so the others were treating it like brand new information. I slowly turned around looking at the entire room one more time just in case.


    The door! The door to the main hall appeared while I wasn¡¯t paying attention. I ignored Lucia, the rest and my own confusion as I went to walk out of the room.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± Lucia turned to me.


    ¡°I already know what you have to say. Find the secret, kill the traitor, I don¡¯t fucking care!¡±


    Lucia laughed menacingly and grabbed me, even though she was multiple steps out of reach when I was still looking at her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you get away this time because of the circumstances, but if you speak to me like that again, I¡¯ll make sure to shut you up for good.¡±


    She let go of me and I quickly walked out. At that moment, I realized that this part of the mystery was completely up to me to figure out.


    It must be one of Lucia¡¯s abilities. I didn''t want to imagine that she could turn back time, that would make her akin to a God. Even if it isn¡¯t that major, what she has done so far isn¡¯t anything that would point to her being human. It¡¯s making me feel like I¡¯m living through a horror movie.


    I stood in the center of the main hall and started considering my options. Do I talk to someone? Do I enter a certain room?


    After a couple of thoughts I got a genius idea. If everything¡¯s been reverted to how it was three days ago, that would mean that Leon didn¡¯t get time to do anything problematic. I can go on the third floor and meet the rest of the last group. I¡¯ll do that!


    I climbed up to the second floor as fast as I could and ran down the hallway that led to the staircase. I was lucky that I didn¡¯t run into anyone from the second group, although I didn¡¯t care about that at that moment. At the end of the staircase, Lucia suddenly appeared, her back leaned against the wall.


    ¡°Already running to the third floor?¡± she giggled.


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± I didn¡¯t feel the need to hide the fact that I was angry. At that moment, it was irrelevant to me that Lucia had the capabilities to end my life in a single painful second.


    ¡°Why the pissed off expression? I¡¯m just intrigued as to how you will solve this.¡±


    ¡°Solve this?¡±


    ¡°You truly think something unusual could happen in this mansion without my knowledge?¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°So this is one of your tricks, huh?¡±


    ¡°How rude! I was forced to do this. That pest Leon is hindering the progress that I want to see, so I¡¯ll leave you here to fix things.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°If I told you precisely what task you had then this would be completely tiresome. Find everything out yourself, dummie.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    As if she hadn¡¯t heard me, Lucia vanished, like a ghost. It still freaked me out, although it was not a surprising thing to see anymore. For a moment I completely forgot why I came to the third floor, but I remembered after mere moments.


    Oh yeah, I need to meet the rest of the group! Hmmm¡­ Which door to check first?


    I looked to my left and right, leaving things to my intuition since it was pretty much a gamble how good the person on the other side of any of the doors was. I knocked on one of the doors, the name where Maya was written..


    Nobody responded.


    I kept knocking.


    ¡°Please, no!¡± I heard a shaky voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! Leave me alone!¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to scare her more. In her thoughts, this was probably her first day in the mansion, she had to process everything that was going on and prepare mentally for anything wrong that could happen. As much as I wanted to make her feel safer, I didn¡¯t have the time to do that. With slight hesitation I opened the door to Maya¡¯s room.


    The room had the same design as everyone else¡¯s from the previous groups. Maya was standing in a corner with pure terror on her face.


    ¡°Calm down, I won¡¯t hurt you,¡± I tried reassuring her.


    Maya kept shaking, but she didn¡¯t utter another word. I looked more closely at her. She wasn''t wearing any unusual clothes, but her hair caught my attention. It was merely long straight black hair, but it seemed to be cut really awkwardly and unevenly. It was also visibly dirty. I wasn¡¯t in a place to ask useless questions, so I just approached her slowly.


    ¡°Why is this happening to me?¡± tears slid down Maya¡¯s face.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Please trust me, I¡¯m only here to help.¡±


    I heard someone coming behind me and I hastily turned around. It was that bastard again.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, we found the traitor already,¡± Leon now knew about me yet again and he laughed in my face thinking he had already discovered something.


    ¡°What might your name be?¡± He kept laughing as he asked that.


    ¡°Petra, nice to meet you. And you are Leon.¡±


    ¡°I see what I have here, someone from the organization.¡±


    ¡°The organization?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I guess you¡¯re not the same as me yet.¡±


    ¡°You never mentioned any organization before, what the hell are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. You took what I said as truth, woman. You do not see how naive you are!¡±


    I sighed. Leon was obviously a complete lunatic, although what made him dangerous wasn¡¯t merely that, it was his intelligence and charisma that mixed with the insanity.


    ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t have the time to deal with you! Just back off for now, alright?¡± I couldn¡¯t keep my cool.


    ¡°How rude! No, if I want to be here, I¡¯ll be here.¡±


    It was useless to argue with Leon, I finally reminded myself. I decided to ignore him despite the risks and turned back to Maya who seemed to be intimidated by Leon.


    ¡°Maya, listen, I¡¯ll explain where I came from if it¡¯ll help you calm down.¡±


    ¡°S-Sure.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m glad. So, you noticed how there was a staircase at the end, right?¡±


    Maya nodded without saying anything.


    ¡°Well, this is the third floor of the mansion. Each floor has a group similar to the one you¡¯re in, so I came up here to meet everyone and tell them that.¡±


    ¡°How interesting,¡± Leon quietly said behind me. Maya still seemed nervous, however she was slowly starting to calm down.


    ¡°W-Well, at least there are two people here. The traitor can¡¯t do anything in that case, can they?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re too scared to search for the secret, you can always lock your room and rest without anything happening to you.¡±


    ¡°H-How?¡±


    ¡°There should be a key somewhere on top of your nightstand.¡±


    I looked at the purple nightstand next to Maya¡¯s bed, yet the only thing on it was an old looking lamp.


    ¡°Maya, are you sure there isn¡¯t a key somewhere around here?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes.¡±


    Out of nowhere, I felt someone tap my arm.


    ¡°Leon, what the hell do you want?¡±


    I turned around only to see Lucia standing right in front of me and Leon out of sight.


    ¡°I see there¡¯s a bit of confusion here that I might have to clear up. Only the group on the first floor has keys to their rooms.¡±


    This was the first time I heard of that. The second group probably assumed that we didn¡¯t have keys, so nobody brought up the topic.


    Lucia continued talking.


    ¡°To make things more interesting, I gave every group a perk. The first group, obviously, has the key to their own room. Each member of the second group got the key to the storage and for the group here, I put something ¡®sentimental¡¯ in everyone¡¯s drawers. Basically anything that would remind each member of home.¡±


    Maya was hesitant to open her drawer, but eventually she opened them. There was a white box inside. It was very small, it looked like a box that would store pills.. I wanted to look at it more closely, but Maya panicked and quickly closed the drawer.


    ¡°H-How?¡± She started shaking even more than before.


    ¡°Maya, do you know what¡¯s inside?¡± I calmly asked her.


    ¡°Get out!¡± she screeched at me and kept panicking, so I left the room, not knowing what else to do.


    That box, there¡¯s nothing normal that could fit inside it. There have to be pills there, and by her reaction, they must be¡­ No, I won¡¯t assume such things!


    I tried getting my mind off of Maya and looked at the other two doors which lead to Naomi and Evelyn¡¯s rooms.


    Again, I had to trust my luck that I wouldn¡¯t run into a lunatic, but that didn¡¯t matter much since I couldn¡¯t exactly get far away from them. I cautiously knocked on the door to Evelyn¡¯s room and cautiously opened it.


    Across the room, Evelyn was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and eyes closed, she appeared to be meditating or at least doing something similar to ritual. Her hair was a very strong shade of red, long enough to even touch her bed. That color was matched with a purple coat and a black shirt under it.


    ¡°Hey! Are you Evelyn?¡±


    ¡°Why must you interrupt me?¡± Her voice was very soothing, so much so that I was actually able to notice it the first time hearing her.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to meet you guys."


    "Then tell me who you are, I do not wish to waste more time than necessary. You truly haven''t comprehended the situation we''re in, meditation is necessary."


    "Alright then, my name''s Petra. My room''s on the first floor of the mansion."


    "Evelyn. Evelyn Umbra. Now, may I have my silence or is there anything else that I should assist you with?"


    I thought for a second and remembered another thing I wanted to do.


    "Evelyn?"


    "Yes?"


    "Can you please show me what you have on your nightstand or in your drawers?"


    "That? Oh, there are merely some basic art supplies inside, the actual interesting part that you¡¯re probably looking for is behind the nightstand. Lucia did something really extraordinary, it almost gave me a sense of safety. She somehow managed to install a tap with paint of my choice coming out of it. I cannot figure out how it works, though I''ll do my best to get to the bottom of it."


    "A ton of paint?"


    "Indeed. Now, is that all?"


    "Yeah, thank you."


    I walked out of Evelyn''s room. My thoughts were overwhelmed. I gave myself a moment to process everything before knocking on Naomi''s door. Things were now even more bizarre than they were earlier. Everyone except me somehow lost their memories of ever being here, Lucia somehow talked with all three groups which were on different floors all at the same time, Evelyn has a tap with paint coming out of it. Nothing is making any sense anymore. Nothing made sense ever since I came here, but it¡¯s getting worse and worse.


    I didn¡¯t want to think about it anymore, so I continued my task.


    One person left. I approached Naomi¡¯s room. I did what I already did twice and opened the door. To my surprise, her room was completely empty. I guess it makes sense, my group started exploring right after Lucia left. Then again, I was the reason why we rushed with that.


    The best chance of finding Naomi should be continuing down the hallway of the third floor. The first room that I checked was the library since it was the closest to me, but I had no luck. The library was completely empty and the only thing I noticed in it was the bookshelf that previously had everything on it dropped to the floor. It was now seemingly untouched.


    I quickly closed the library door and walked towards the next room, the one with the weird door that was locked earlier.


    I opened it and there was nothing. Not a single person, not a single shelf and not even a single piece of furniture. It was pretty large, yet completely empty. It creeped me out, so I quickly closed the door.


    I kept walking towards the next room which didn¡¯t take long to reach. Above the door, exactly like the bedrooms, there was a small sign with the word ¡°lounge¡±.


    Lounge? Why would a room that doesn¡¯t belong to anyone specifically have a label? I had bigger things to worry about, so I didn¡¯t think too much about it and opened the lounge door to see if Naomi was inside.


    The room wasn¡¯t too big, it merely consisted of two purple sofas and a table. Leon was sitting on one of the sofas, saying something. I looked at the other sofa and I saw her. It couldn¡¯t have been anyone else, I met everyone except her. She turned her head towards me and started talking, practically erasing Leon from her mind.


    ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Petra. And you are Naomi, right?¡±


    ¡°Where were you during Lucia¡¯s speech?¡± Her voice was calm, reminding me of Amy, but unlike Amy, Naomi¡¯s voice was more intimidating and stern than it was peaceful.


    She looked like she was ready to kill me at any moment. Her long black hair with bangs that almost made a completely straight line, her sharp eyes and her outfit which consisted of a suit and a pair of highly formal pants.


    ¡°I was on the first floor, she held a speech there too.¡±


    ¡°When?¡± she answered my questions without even taking any time to think.


    ¡°Uh, all of the speeches happened at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Real reason.¡±


    ¡°Just give it time, you¡¯ll see what Lucia is capable of. I¡¯m not stupid!¡±


    ¡°Is that a threat?¡±


    ¡°Wait, no! That¡¯s not what I meant!¡±


    ¡°Enough talking. I have enough information.¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re already here so I guess I cannot do anything about you,¡± she sighed, ¡°stay on this floor while I go through everything. I will stop the traitor with no more than one assistant.¡±


    I started to connect the dots. I didn¡¯t find Maya and Evelyn earlier because Naomi hid them and Leon didn¡¯t hide because he was probably working with her.


    ¡°Of course, we will meet the rest eventually,¡± Leon jumped into our conversation, ¡°but here¡¯s the deal, Petra. If anyone comes up to this floor, say this. ¡®State your business¡¯. The other person will without a doubt ask to meet everyone or something idiotic. To that, respond with this. You¡¯ll have to get permission from Leon for that.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Naomi quickly interrupted him, ¡°you do not get to make the decision.¡±


    ¡°Let me finish, bitch.¡± Leon looked at her with a face of pure rage, even though his voice was completely calm.


    ¡°Alright, speak quickly.¡±


    Without a second of delay, his face became normal again and while pretending that nothing happened, he continued speaking.


    ¡°If the person goes to me for permission, I¡¯ll take the measures we talked about.¡±


    ¡°Measures?¡± I asked while thinking about what his sick mind could come up with. He didn¡¯t answer, but instead laughed, making me realize that it was merely yet another lie to throw me off.


    ¡°Anyway, let me explain everything. Whoever is informed about our plan will instead say this. ¡®You meant Naomi¡¯. That¡¯s the sign to let them interact with the group and that they are most likely safe.¡±


    Naomi thought about the idea for a couple of seconds before giving us her opinion.


    ¡°I approve.¡±


    That conversation told me what I needed to know about the third group and I also got to meet everyone. I didn¡¯t know where they were planning to hide everyone, but that didn¡¯t matter since they now considered me a part of their group. However, I didn¡¯t have time to stick around, as I had to hurry downstairs. I had to figure out another mystery, that being how Adam and Rose were back and how everyone forgot the days that already passed.


    I turned around to leave the lounge when I saw Lucia standing at the door.


    ¡°Good job guys, everything went smoothly. We can now continue the show.¡± She proceeded to clap without elaborating on what she said.


    I felt sick again, the same way that I felt sick when I fainted and got into this weird situation. Unlike last time, I didn¡¯t get any time to react before I fell down. Yet again, everything turned black. Huh?

 Chapter VII - Safety measures

    Yet again, I woke up inside my bedroom, utterly confused.


    Without being given any time to think, the door opened and Lucia walked inside.


    ¡°Alright, now you can get back to work. Get up, don¡¯t make everyone worry.¡±


    I remembered what my plan was, to find out how Rose and Adam were back. I stood up and left my room, ignoring Lucia and details of how I had returned to my room.


    I went into the main hall to check if the clock was there, to see if time caught up to when Lucia placed it.


    The clock was there. So, if I fainted for a couple of hours, it should be evening.


    I checked the exact time. Four in the afternoon¡­ How? There¡¯s no way I was unconscious for that long.


    The clock being there without it being late could only mean that I wasn¡¯t conscious for almost, if not over a day. Either that or the memories of myself meeting the third group were merely a dream. Somehow, both of those things sounded impossible. Everything will make sense once I find someone to talk to.


    The first place I decided to check was the dining room.


    The only person inside was Amy, eating a cold slice of pizza. Hearing the sound of the door opening made her turn around and look at me.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Her voice was still somewhat monotone, although I was able to notice her happiness. ¡°I thought you were either very sick or poisoned. You¡¯re the last person I want to die here, if that were to happen I¡¯d be the only rational person here.¡±


    So¡­ It was just a dream. No, no way. I need to be sure.


    ¡°Amy, something weird happened.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that now? We¡¯ve been here for days.¡±


    ¡°Not that, I mean that there¡¯s another layer of weirdness here. While I was unconscious something extremely unusual happened. It might all be a dream, but it felt too real for me to believe that.¡±


    ¡°It was probably a dream.¡±


    ¡°No, I want to make sure. I need to go back to the third floor. Last time I went there, I wasn¡¯t able to find anyone except Leon, but if what I saw was somehow real, I¡¯ll be able to find everyone.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s helping with the case, I guess I¡¯ll follow you up there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, it means a lot to me. I knew I could count on you!¡±


    Without either of us saying anything else, we ran up to the third floor.


    Alright, I got this. I just have to get that voice to ask me what I¡¯m looking for and if mentioning Naomi works then they¡¯ll let me see everyone. I¡¯m hoping for the best.


    I remembered that I heard that voice after trying to open the metallic door, so I walked towards it.


    ¡°Where are you going, Petra? Their rooms are right here.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not in there. If I¡¯m right, they should be in the room with a large metallic door. ¡±


    After finally reaching said door, I tried to open it, and like the previous time outside of my ¡°dream¡±, it was locked.


    "State your business." I heard that voice again, this time I was able to recognize it as Evelyn¡¯s.


    "I want to meet the rest of the group."


    "You''ll have to ask Leon for that."


    "You mean Naomi?"


    "Correct."


    Still seems like a useless complication to me, but I guess it makes them feel safer.


    A loud noise came from inside the room and after that, the door started opening.


    In one corner were four beds, the exact same ones that were in all the bedrooms. In the middle of the area were two sofas and a table, all of them undoubtedly taken from the lounge. Next to one wall was a giant pile of clothes consisting of the same four outfits everyone in the third group was wearing.


    Did they move all their things to this one room? Everyone except Leon was present. Naomi was sleeping, Evelyn was next to the door and Maya was sitting on the floor near a corner, turned towards the wall. I couldn''t tell what she was doing.


    "Welcome. I''m glad that we can finally trust someone from the other groups," Evelyn welcomed me, "Although nobody told us your names¡­ Could you please tell me what I may call you ladies?"


    Evelyn doesn''t know my name, but I was let in with the method I heard about in what might''ve been a dream. How confusing can things be before my mind breaks?


    "Petra."


    "Amy."


    "Well, it is nice to meet you. You are welcome to come here whenever you wish, but do not tell anyone else how to enter. With this, we may live in peace until the secret of the mansion is discovered."


    Alright, I finally have communication with everyone in the third group.


    "Hey," Amy tapped my shoulder, "we''ve seen everyone in the mansion now, but there''s one thing I thought of while you were unconscious."


    "Yeah, what is it?"


    "I think I can narrow down who the traitor is without much trouble, but for that I want to organize a discussion, preferably in the same fashion as the one that happened after Rose died. I will just need to get a bit more info to connect the dots and then I will corner the traitor."


    Another discussion? I guess it''s not really an issue when Lucia''s stakes aren''t a part of it.


    "I guess that could work. Let''s inform everyone. When do you want to do it?"


    "Tomorrow, right after breakfast. I''ve thought about doing it this evening, however, that''s a bad idea when we don''t even know anything about the third group, and I also wouldn''t skip tomorrow because of the body. I noticed that Rose''s body vanished after the discussion and I''m expecting the same thing to happen again, which means that we don''t have to see the body rot if we get things done quickly."


    Hearing her talk about rotting bodies so casually made me uncomfortable, but I endured it.


    I looked around the room to see what else was inside and I left Amy with Evelyn, so that she could meet the third group in its entirety.


    Not even a minute passed by when Naomi slowly started waking up. She went to bed fully clothed, so she moved her blanket, stood up and made her bed.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± she greeted everyone and turned around.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I greeted her.


    Naomi turned around and stared at me for a couple of seconds before walking towards me.


    ¡°How did you gain entrance?¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Well, Evelyn let me in when I mentioned your name.¡±


    ¡°I am not referring to that. Leon is supposed to inform me before newcomers are let in.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s alright. You can calm down.¡±


    Without giving me time to react, Naomi grabbed my wrist and began freaking out.


    ¡°No, no matter how sure Leon is of you, we agreed that both of us must talk before allowing anyone entrance. Get out!¡±


    Amy ran towards Naomi and grabbed her when she saw what was happening.


    ¡°Leave Petra alone.¡±


    ¡°Amy? You¡¯ve found us too? No way, two people have been let inside without my knowledge. This is a mess! Get out right now!¡±


    I pushed Naomi away. What the hell is wrong with her? She seemed way calmer before.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless, you two now know about this. I have to improvise! I-I can do it!¡± Naomi yelled at herself until she became self aware of her shouts and then she abruptly stopped, like she had chased away the paranoia from her body.


    ¡°Bring Leon to me.¡±


    Amy was about to ask her about the breakdown that we witnessed, but I stopped her as soon as I noticed her intentions. Instead, I did exactly what she told us and went to look for Leon.


    I didn¡¯t know she was the type to freak out like that. I need to be careful about that from now on.


    ¡°Hey, Amy,¡± I started a conversation as we left the room, ¡°I just want to ask you to please not argue with Naomi.¡±


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I? She¡¯s acting like a bitch.¡±


    ¡°I know, but arguing with people like her will just lead to more problems. For now, let¡¯s find Leon and get this over with. Explaining to anyone that I managed to get in because I found out about it in a dream is not a good idea.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me that, although that obviously wasn¡¯t a regular dream. I think Lucia made you imagine all of that, she might¡¯ve wanted to ruin whatever the third group was trying to do.¡±


    ¡°That actually makes sense. Thanks a lot! I remember seeing Lucia multiple times during the dream and she mentioned how I had a task to complete or something similar to that, but I was too confused to understand. With your explanation, it all connects.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad. It was honestly a guess since you haven¡¯t told me what exactly happened during that dream.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll explain everything after we finish this.¡±


    We walked down the stairs. The plan was to go to the main hall and search from there.


    We went to the main hall from the hallway on the second floor and as we got inside the main hall we noticed Leon on the first floor, walking around in circles, not doing anything.


    ¡°Leon!¡± I yelled out so that he¡¯d notice us.


    ¡°Oh, you two¡­¡± He looked up and stared at us. ¡°What can I help with?¡±


    ¡°Can you come upstairs and talk to Naomi?¡±


    ¡°You two know her?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ¡°Just kidding, I know.¡±


    ¡°You know?¡± Just as I asked I realized that he was bluffing. ¡°Listen, Naomi is pretty pissed, so come over here and help!¡±


    ¡°Ah, fine! I swear, that woman is insufferable.¡± He walked up the staircase with his back bent and his hands in his pockets. He sort of looks like an old man when he walks like that.


    ¡°You two go investigate or have a girl¡¯s night or something, I¡¯ll sort shit out with Naomi.¡±


    With that, he walked away from us and towards the third floor. Amy turned towards me and nodded without saying anything. I instantly understood that she wanted to follow Leon, mainly because I wanted to do the same thing. We walked behind Leon, following him all the way back to that giant room.


    Leon knocked on the metallic door.


    ¡°State your business.¡±


    ¡°Evelyn, it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Then hurry up and get in, Naomi wants to talk to you. I can smell the negative energy.¡±


    Evelyn quickly opened the door and Leon entered the room. Right after that happened, Amy tapped my shoulder.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get closer and listen in.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I nodded and we slowly walked to the door.


    ¡°There you are, you useless lying maniac!¡± I could hear everything coming from inside the room. Will I have to go in to stop everything from escalating?


    ¡°What the fuck are you on about?¡± Well, it makes perfect sense that Leon is confused. This is all my fault!


    ¡°What the fuck am I on about? You let two people inside without talking to me about it first!¡±


    ¡°I did?¡±


    ¡°You piece of shit¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I definitely did. I¡¯m definitely the one who let Petra and Amy in. I did it without your knowledge because I knew that your reaction would be hilarious! Definitely!¡± What is he saying?


    ¡°Why? Did you assume that I would allow you to do as you please? We¡¯re at a risk of death.¡±


    ¡°Risk? They¡¯re innocent!¡±


    ¡°I told you to inform me before you do anything!¡±


    ¡°As if I ever cared for your rules.¡±


    Silence followed that sentence. What¡¯s happening? Maybe I should go inside, just in case.


    I slowly moved towards the door and tried opening it. Locked again? I never heard it get locked.


    ¡°State your business.¡± Evelyn¡¯s voice again.


    ¡°It¡¯s us, we¡¯re back.¡±


    ¡°I can let you in, but I¡¯m not sure that everything will end well. You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Evelyn opened the door for us and I looked towards Leon and Naomi. They were staring at each other, both of them with faces that expressed pure rage.


    Leon noticed that we entered the room and he turned his head towards us and put on a bright smile, ignoring Naomi for a second.


    ¡°Hey, you two. Welcome back.¡±


    He quickly turned back towards Naomi and began staring at her with the same expression that he had when we entered the room. Oh, I guess he¡¯s just acting again.


    ¡°Calm down guys, I¡¯ll explain everything!¡± I spoke up because I was expecting a fight any second.


    ¡°Explain?¡± Naomi looked at me, visibly angry.


    ¡°Leon never told me how to get in here.¡±


    ¡°How do you expect me to believe that? I know this bastard next to me likes to lie a lot, but there is no other way to find out how to get in here!¡±


    ¡°Actually, there is another way!¡±


    ¡°Explain right now.¡±


    ¡°Think about it. Lucia put us in this situation with the expectation of murder and everyone feeling vulnerable. I think we can agree on that.¡±


    ¡°Get to the point.¡±


    Amy stepped in front of me.


    ¡°Are you too stupid to get it already? Lucia indirectly revealed the information about this room, you dumbass.¡±


    Naomi looked at both of us and clutched her fist.


    ¡°So, either one of you is the traitor or both of you suddenly decided to help the traitor? Either way, I have no other option than to restrain you both until I get enough evidence pointing to the traitor.¡±


    She reached her hand out and grabbed my wrist again. I had to react before things got too out of hand. I have to fight back, even if it escalates things. As much as I don¡¯t want to, it¡¯s the only answer!


    While she was still holding my wrist, I moved towards her back, avoiding her other hand. Naomi tried to pull me back, but she wasn¡¯t strong enough. Since I was behind her, she was way more vulnerable, allowing me to use that opportunity to grab her head and push her towards the ground.


    She managed to stop herself from falling by reaching her other hand towards the floor, thus I moved my arm below her head to lift her up and turn us both around, trying to make her lose balance and fall, which worked.


    ¡°What the fuck was that?¡±


    ¡°Listen Naomi, I don¡¯t want to hurt you. Just hear us out.¡±


    It was visible that she didn¡¯t want to compromise, yet she didn¡¯t have a choice.


    ¡°Alright.¡± she angrily sighed.


    ¡°Tomorrow, we¡¯ll have a meeting in the dining room like last time, and since it¡¯s not organized by Lucia, there won¡¯t be any harm in participating. I¡¯ll explain everything in detail and we¡¯ll also get closer to figuring out the traitor¡¯s identity. Clearing every confusion together is way better than doing it like this, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can accept waiting that long, although you are not giving me a choice. Start the discussion early, right after breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I nodded.


    Well, this went better than expected. I can¡¯t believe that we actually came to an agreement. I guess I was lucky that Leon didn¡¯t interrupt us.


    I walked out of the room and Amy followed me.


    ¡°Good job, Petra. Although, I have to ask, how did you throw her like that when she grabbed your wrist? I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s aikido. I started going to aikido lessons when I was little, so I learnt a lot. I haven¡¯t practiced it in a while though, I mainly go to the gym now. Still, I guess you never forget it once you get the hang of it!¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Still, I have to ask, are you tired? You were unconscious for a bit, but considering what Lucia could¡¯ve been doing during that time, you probably got more tired from that than anything.¡±


    ¡°No need to worry about me! I might be tired, but I can keep going!¡±


    ¡°Just go back to bed then. I¡¯ll inform everyone else about the discussion and after that I¡¯ll just investigate some parts where I might¡¯ve missed a clue or two and I¡¯ll be done for the day too.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say so.¡±


    I walked back to my room with Amy keeping me company until I reached it. I wish I could help more. I mean, I¡¯m providing information, but that information was practically given to me because Lucia was bored. Other than that, the only way I helped people here was by lifting the mood up. I don¡¯t know how to investigate, I can¡¯t find the traitor.


    I tried ignoring my negative thoughts and entered my room. Can I even fall asleep this early? I can¡¯t remember what the time is, although I doubt it¡¯s late.


    I locked my room and laid on my bed, by some miracle falling asleep almost immediately.

 Chapter VIII - An interruption

    How long have I been here? Each day in the mansion felt worse and worse. I must finish this soon. I need to go home.


    I stretched my arms and forced myself to get out of bed. I was about to get dressed, but I realized that I didn¡¯t take off anything before falling asleep the previous night. I went inside my bathroom and brushed my teeth.


    I¡¯m already getting used to this place¡­ I hate that! I hate all of this!


    Lucia¡¯s clock rang, making me jump a bit as I wasn¡¯t expecting it. Nine o¡¯clock¡­ I can¡¯t believe I slept for that long. I should go to the dining room and eat something before the discussion begins. I went outside my room and walked towards the dining room.


    With Amy¡¯s help, this won¡¯t be too hard, right? My body shook out of nowhere.


    When I entered the dining room, I noticed everyone from the third group sitting at the table.


    ¡°When will everyone arrive?¡± Naomi asked me impatiently.


    ¡°Soon, don¡¯t worry. They probably got woken up by the clock.¡±


    She sighed and continued waiting while everyone else was silent. After around a minute, Blake and Dante entered the room.


    ¡°I have arrived. I shall show the traitor what demonic deeds lead to!¡± Dante loudly exclaimed.


    Blake didn¡¯t say anything, but something seemed off about him. He was sweaty and shaky.


    Another minute passed before Alex entered the room. He was visibly nervous too. Without saying anything, he sat down and waited for the discussion to begin. We were supposed to start after everyone had breakfast, but everyone was too much on edge to even remember.


    ¡°Hey, Amy isn¡¯t here,¡± I said as I looked around the room.


    ¡°This was her idea,¡± Naomi coldly said and then turned her eyes away from me.


    We waited a couple of minutes for her, as she did have the most info about the murder after all. But, she never came.


    ¡°Shall we begin?¡± Naomi was impatient.


    ¡°We need to wait for Amy. If anyone knows who the traitor is, it¡¯s her.¡±


    Blake turned to me.


    ¡°Hey, we should go to the second floor to see if she is still in her bed.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go with you. Everyone, wait for us.¡±


    Blake and I left the dining hall and climbed up to the second floor. Blake ran through the hallway towards the bedrooms, leaving me behind. I was going to start running too so that I could catch up, but before I could do that, I heard knocking sounds coming from the storage room. I came closer to it to see what was making the sound.


    ¡°Is anyone there?¡± The voice came from inside the storage room. It¡¯s Amy!


    ¡°Amy? What are you doing?¡± I went to open the door, but it was locked.


    ¡°I woke up early to prepare for the discussion, but I got attacked and trapped inside this room.¡±


    ¡°By whom?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The only thing I¡¯m sure about is that it was a man. He was wearing Eden¡¯s robe and his face was completely covered, so I really have no clue who it was. All the guys here are a similar height and the robe covered every other feature.¡±


    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll find a key and get you out.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Petra, just hurry up, I need to piss.¡±


    I ran to the bedrooms where I saw Blake again inside Amy¡¯s room.


    ¡°Hey, could I borrow a key to the storage room?¡±


    ¡°Why would you need that now? Plus, nobody locked the storage room¡­¡±


    ¡°Amy is stuck inside. When you ran straight to here, I continued walking slowly and heard Amy from the storage room. She¡¯ll explain everything during the discussion, but more importantly, I need the key to get her out.¡±


    ¡°Alright, just take hers since it¡¯s closer. Let me get it.¡±


    Blake reached to grab Amy¡¯s key, but there was nothing on the nightstand.


    ¡°Huh? That¡¯s weird,¡± he said in a frighteningly confused tone.


    ¡°Go get yours!¡± I shouted.


    He ran outside Amy¡¯s room and into his.


    ¡°Here,¡± he threw the key at me.


    I sprinted back to the storage room.


    ¡°I¡¯m back, I got the key!¡± I shouted, ignoring the fact that I didn¡¯t get a response.


    I unlocked the door and opened it to free Amy.


    ¡°Amy?¡±


    I was met with silence and despair. It seemed that I had forgotten how cruel life was.


    She was lying on the floor, motionless. Without thinking, I shook Amy''s body.


    ¡°Are you there, Amy? Please say something! I got the key!¡± I got close to her face to check if she was breathing.


    No way¡­ No, this can¡¯t be happening! Things were finally going great for us. This can¡¯t be happening! No!


    Without realizing it, I completely lost my cool. I fell to my knees and started bawling. I¡¯m screwed. We all are. How did I allow this to happen?


    I felt someone touch my shoulder and I jumped back out of sheer fear.


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    ¡°Petra!¡±


    I looked up and saw Blake who reached his hand out so that I¡¯d stand up. My entire body was shaking and I couldn¡¯t think properly. I was usually the one comforting everyone else and making rational decisions, but I was too far gone in my sorrow. I was taught pain that I had been trying to avoid all this time. Amy was our hope, someone who knew what to do.


    ¡°Blake! What do we do? S-She, she¡¯s dead!¡±


    Blake couldn¡¯t look at Amy¡¯s body, yet he still tried to comfort me.


    ¡°It¡¯ll all be okay, Petra, I got this. We need to go downstairs and tell everyone what happened before we start with anything. We¡¯ll figure everything out.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything, but I stood up. I couldn¡¯t move slowly to the dining room, some unknown force made me run down the hallway and stairs with my shaky legs. I almost fell down multiple times. Right in front of the dining room door, I tried to calm myself down and I wiped my tears with my sleeve. I can¡¯t have everyone panicking right now.


    Slowly, I opened the door and noticed that everyone was sitting in silence, waiting for the discussion to begin.


    ¡°H-Hey! We¡¯re going to have to delay the discussion.¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡± Naomi stood up, obviously upset. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Amy. She. She¡¯s dead!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She repeated, this time shouting.


    Everyone quickly stood up and started aimlessly looking at each other, unsure what to think or do.


    "I said Amy''s dead!" I burst into tears again. I couldn''t control my emotions, I couldn''t do anything properly.


    "Of course she is," Leon stared at me, "do you think anyone that honest can survive this hell? She earned her place!"


    "You piece of shit!"


    "What? Afraid of what I''m saying?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Some people are truly hopeless."


    "How dare you?" Without thinking, I ran up to Leon and pushed him to the ground with just my raw strength, completely ignoring any aikido move that I could use to make it less painful for him.


    "Someone finally lost their cool. Hahaha, incredible! All it took was someone you knew somewhat better than the others dying to make you freak out!" He coughed from the excessive laughter. "What a weak mind you have!"


    "You¡­ Are you aware of what Amy meant for me? For almost all of us? She could''ve figured out everything better than any of you!"


    "Now that''s just rude." Leon said while he was still lying on the floor.


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Naomi asked.


    ¡°T-The storage room.¡± I¡¯m stuttering. How pathetic can I be? Why? Why did everything have to go to shit right before we got the chance to find the traitor?


    Without saying another word, Naomi walked out of the room.


    ¡°D-Do I have to do something? I¡¯m scared!¡± Maya started crying. ¡°Why do I have to go through this?¡± She covered her face with both of her hands.


    I wanted to try calming her down, but to my surprise, Alex walked up to her first.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright. Don¡¯t push yourself too much.¡± His words somewhat motivated me too, so I left the dining room and headed back to the storage room. It¡¯s time for investigating. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll do it, but it has to be done. What would Amy think if she saw me in this state? I get her, her sense of justice, but I¡¯m not as strong as her.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    I had a weird feeling, a need to avenge Amy. Like an angel of justice whispering into my ears. Of course, escaping the mansion was my main goal, but now I felt an even bigger need to uncover the traitor and also to find a way to kill Lucia, no matter how godlike she seemed. Being responsible for all these horrors was something that no sane person could ever forgive.


    I was still shaking, but I already made my mind up about starting the investigation, so I began thinking where to look first. Amy¡¯s room? The storage room? The hallway? I¡¯m not a detective, I¡¯m not cut out for this. No, I can¡¯t say that immediately! I¡¯ll look everywhere.


    As my thoughts were being crowded by bad ideas and insults, I came to a sudden realization, a harsh truth. The body, that¡¯s what I had to investigate. Until now, Amy was the only one brave enough to come close to the bodies.


    I slapped myself. Get your shit together, Petra. When I entered it, the storage room was still lifeless. Blake was no longer there and Naomi went somewhere else as well. Only Amy¡¯s body and I. I felt cold, almost frozen by the overwhelming atmosphere. I burst into tears yet again. I couldn¡¯t control them, but I had to try and stay strong for long enough to do a proper investigation.


    After wiping my tears for what was hopefully the last time, I took a look around the room, unconsciously trying to avoid looking at Amy. At first, I didn¡¯t see anything that seemed off, but after around a minute I actually managed to find something. There were blue shards of glass behind Amy¡¯s body.


    Poison? No, that isn¡¯t possible. The poison only takes five minutes to kill someone. Wait¡­ Maybe the poison from this room is different.


    I quickly opened the mini fridge that was in the corner of the room, almost hidden by shelves that were filled with seemingly random items. I grabbed one bottle and turned it around to see the information about the poison.


    Open the bottle to release the gas and immediately evacuate the area. Depending on the subject, the inhaled gas will take effect between 2 and 4 hours and kill the subject without any visible symptoms beforehand. The gas must be inhaled by the subject within two hours of it being released otherwise it will not leave any effect.


    This is it! It seemed too easy to find, but it was definitely it. I finally felt like I had accomplished something. Without a doubt, the poisonous gas was the murder weapon. Did Amy know that she was poisoned? The text says that there are no visible symptoms before death, so I¡¯m not sure.


    I continued looking for evidence around the room, still avoiding the body. There¡¯s bound to be more here! I kept searching without any success, albeit discovering the murder weapon gave me a bit of courage.


    A couple of wasted minutes later, I realized that the only thing left to check was the body. Do I really have to do it? At the same time, I wanted to do it for the sake of finding the traitor and doing what Amy probably would¡¯ve wanted, but I was also too scared. I¡¯m too young for this! In the end, I ran out of the room, losing control of my emotions. I can¡¯t take it anymore! I need a break!


    I ran towards my room, tripping once on the way to it. What is happening to me? Why can¡¯t I stay calm? I need to investigate!


    When I entered, I locked the door and sat on my bed.


    Am I sad because I lost someone or because I don¡¯t think I have a chance of leaving the mansion alive? I didn¡¯t know. Am I being selfish because I don¡¯t have my shit together? I didn¡¯t know. I completely lost track of time while asking myself such questions.


    I heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt me!¡± Why did I say that? Am I becoming paranoid?


    ¡°It¡¯s Evelyn, you can open the door,¡± her soothing voice gave me a sense of safety, although I still wasn¡¯t acting the same as usual.


    ¡°A-Alright, I¡¯ll let you in.¡± I slowly stood up and unlocked the door.


    What does she want? Evelyn walked inside and sat on my bed.


    ¡°Please sit down.¡±


    Without a word, I sat down.


    ¡°I saw how stressed you are. I can still sense the negative energy flowing within you. I cannot bring myself to do much either, but I am much more familiar with my emotions than with yours, so I am not facing much of a dilemma. Still, I have something quite important to tell you.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯m interested!¡± I started talking more cheerfully again in hopes of regaining some of my energy.


    ¡°After you had gone to bed, Amy and I had a long conversation. At first, she was very cautious of me, but the more we talked the more open she was. Because of that, I managed to learn everything that she found out about Eden¡¯s murder.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I¡¯m glad that the information isn¡¯t lost. Wait, am I that selfish? Was I closer with Amy than the others just so I could use her skills?


    ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s not why I came here though. She talked about you too. Well, I would¡¯ve talked to you myself, but Amy told me that you were tired and I didn¡¯t want to bother you because of that. She mentioned how you were always calm, even when people were dying. Not in the psychopathic way, but in a detective-like way. I was in that one room on the third floor, unaware of what was happening, but I still panicked often and had to meditate so that I wouldn¡¯t lose my sanity.¡± I guess everyone thought of me as a calm person¡­ Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m not calm most of the time.


    ¡°Thanks, Evie.¡±


    ¡°Evie?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No, do not worry, I was merely surprised. You can call me Evie, I like it.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll call you Evie!¡±


    ¡°Okay, what was I saying? Oh, I remember. It was about your reaction to her death. Ugh, I feel quite uneasy bringing up the dead, I¡¯ll have to bring candles here to cleanse the area later. Either way, your reaction was really out of character, I expected it, but not to the level that it happened. I¡¯m not going to dare question what¡¯s going on inside your head right now, although I do have a question for you. Did you meet Amy before you got trapped here?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. Did we really seem that close?¡±


    ¡°From the way Amy talked about you and from your reaction to her death, certainly. I recognized that misery in you, it wasn¡¯t merely the shock of finding a dead body, it was the despair of losing someone you wanted to spend more time with. It¡¯s not that visible physically, but it can be felt strongly, even by an outsider such as myself.¡±


    She said that she recognized it. Did something happen to her in the past? I don¡¯t want to imagine it and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to bring it up at a time like this.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe I just lost my cool with everything happening. None of us have been home for days, our lives have been constantly at risk! That¡¯s not something I or anyone here is prepared for! We all just want normal and peaceful lives, don¡¯t we? Don¡¯t we want to explore the world, pursue our dreams? Nobody wants everything to end abruptly in a random mansion that is God knows where, killed by a stranger!¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. I mean, it is definitely possible that you lost your cool from that, but I think there¡¯s more to it. Most people don¡¯t listen to me when I talk about things like these, especially when they¡¯re going through hard times, however this is truly a moment where I have to bring it up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can talk about whatever you want! Tell me, it might give me a new way of looking at things. I really need something right now to lead me to a new path.¡±


    ¡°I learned this around two years ago when I was in the hospital for a day by then. I had to get a surgery, though it was nothing major. I was woken up by something in the middle of the night and that usually meant I had to meditate for a couple of minutes, it¡¯s a habit of mine. While I was meditating, I heard a voice that told me to wake up the person in front of me, and so I did.¡±


    ¡°You made a stranger wake up in the middle of the night because you heard a voice while you were meditating?¡±


    ¡°Point is, I woke up the person in front of me like the voice said. The voice wasn¡¯t a stranger or anything that can even be observed, they weren¡¯t my thoughts either. I cannot explain it, but listening to it always led me to good results. So, this guy wakes up, confused as to why I bothered him. I merely said that I wanted to talk and since I was only fourteen at the time and that was before my growth spurt hit, he didn¡¯t want to be rude to a cute little kid, so we had a normal and somewhat long conversation. I wondered why I was supposed to have it, but either way, I returned to bed afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Interesting, but why tell me that? And I still think that you shouldn¡¯t wake up random people in the middle of the night.¡±


    ¡°Just listen. I woke up and the boy that I talked to the night before was still asleep. It was early, so it did make sense. My surgery was scheduled sometime before noon, so my mind was more focused on that. I went and had my surgery, it lasted around three to four hours and after that time passed, I went back to my room. The other people I shared it with were still there, all of them except the guy I talked to the previous night. I assumed that he was still in the operating room. I forgot what type of surgery he had had, even though he did tell me, but it had been much more serious than mine. In the end, it turned out that he died during his surgery. I don¡¯t wish to explain my precise reaction, but I had a horrible breakdown. I was looking forward to talking to him again, but the fact that I couldn¡¯t did something to me.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you wanted to tell me that story¡­ I can see the connections between that situation and this one, but I don¡¯t see how that can help. It¡¯s normal to mourn people who aren¡¯t close to you.¡±


    ¡°You and Amy were meant to be something bigger, but your fate was interrupted. That boy, whose name I never learned, he and I were supposed to be something bigger. Some people are fated to meet each other, but that does not mean that it will end well. If you met Amy in some other way, you two would have either been great friends, that¡¯s what your sadness means. Your mind cannot understand that, but your soul is trying to tell you that, it¡¯s weeping. Souls are much more powerful than brains, they know many things that we could never figure out as purely rational beings..¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Is Evie trying to make me feel better? Is she serious? Maybe both of those things are true, but I don¡¯t think what she said makes any sense.


    ¡°I can understand your disbelief, but unless you want to dedicate years of your life to meditation and finding your true self, you won¡¯t fully understand what I¡¯m talking about. I apologize for that, but that¡¯s how it is. Please don¡¯t get upset, I just think that knowing more about a situation you¡¯re in helps you overcome its struggles.¡±


    ¡°Listen Evie, I get that you want to use your knowledge to help, but what you¡¯re saying is pure nonsense. Please don¡¯t say those things while all of this is happening. You¡¯re just rubbing salt on the wound.¡±


    ¡°I expected you not to believe me, so I¡¯ll try to listen to you. Still, I do hope that you¡¯ll have a change of heart sometime in the future. I know that you¡¯re a good person and I hope that we can leave this mansion alive.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Evie.¡±


    ¡°Also, there¡¯s one more reason why I came here.¡± She stood up from my bed and approached my door, opening it and peaking outside. ¡°Alright, you can come in!¡±


    To my surprise, Maya came in, carrying a canvas with something painted on it.


    ¡°Here, take it!¡± Maya was way louder than I remember her being early, though her body was still shaking. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you made my ass wait outside until you finished your talk, Evelyn!¡±


    I took the painting from Maya and looked at it. Evie mentioned how she had art supplies, so I assumed that she had made it. It was a painting of a landscape, the grass was painted red, trees black with purple leaves, the sky orange covered in pink clouds and a white sun in the upper right corner. The landscape was drawn beautifully, but the colors were really unusual. Evelyn turned to me to see my reaction.


    ¡°I painted this yesterday, but decided to give it to you. This ocher area doesn¡¯t have anything interesting. Even things as simple as colors can impact someone¡¯s mood.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you, I love it!¡± I didn¡¯t like it that much, but I didn¡¯t think it was ugly.


    I was more so confused and maybe even slightly disturbed. Still, I decided to keep it. I smiled at her and she smiled back at me before walking out of the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go investigate, I have Naomi as help, so we¡¯ll see each other later. That reminds me, Naomi told me to tell you that we¡¯ll have a meeting this evening at seven. Well that¡¯s all, see you soon Petra.¡±


    ¡°Bye!¡± I waved as Evie left the room, leaving Maya and I alone.


    Maya didn¡¯t say anything, but she didn¡¯t leave the room either. She simply stood in a corner and stared at her palms. Is she holding something? I walked closer to see if she was holding something. I don¡¯t see anything. I don¡¯t get why she¡¯s staring at her palms like that, there¡¯s nothing special.


    I came close enough to Maya that she finally noticed me.


    ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing? Back off!¡± She shouted at me out of nowhere and pushed me out of nowhere.


    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with you?¡±


    ¡°With me? You¡¯re the one coming too close!¡±


    She burst into tears out of nowhere. Her crying and whining was loud enough that I instantly knew something was wrong with her.


    ¡°Maya, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Go away!¡± She grabbed her hair and began pulling on it while shaking her head chaotically until she fell to the floor where she started rolling left and right.


    What the hell is she doing? Is she completely losing her mind right in front of me?


    I didn¡¯t dare approach her during her meltdown, so I took a step back and waited. It took her almost two minutes to calm down, I counted the time in my head.


    ¡°What?¡± Maya¡¯s voice was now way more monotone and depressing. ¡°What am I doing? I need to go take my stuff.¡± She stood up and walked out of my room without saying another word. Is she pretending that nothing happened? What even happened?


    I was alone in my room again. I had time to calm myself down and I also got to know more about Evelyn. I¡¯m calm, I¡¯m strong, I¡¯m ready. I had to go to the bathroom, but I made the decision to go and investigate everything that I needed right after I finished.


    I¡¯m going to figure out the truth. I¡¯m going to reveal the traitor. I¡¯m going to beat Lucia¡¯s stupid game. I¡¯m going to do everything for myself, for everyone here with me and for everyone whose life was cut short by the monstrosities in this mansion!

 Chapter IX - For a friend

    I walked back into the storage room. I knew what awaited me, but I still did it. Amy was still lying there.


    What do I do now? What is there to figure out about this case by looking at the body? I crouched down to see everything better. Maybe I should confirm the murder weapon? If that label is correct, there shouldn¡¯t be any symptoms.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly I was supposed to do, but I lifted up Amy¡¯s shirt a bit.


    What if there¡¯s a wound on her stomach? That would be very important, right?


    Of course, there wasn¡¯t anything on her stomach. My guesses were completely baseless and random.


    I continued looking, although I avoided touching her body directly. I don¡¯t see anything helpful¡­ Did I build up all this courage just for nothing?


    I checked her hands and legs, not seeing anything unusual on them. There really were no signs of the body being hurt.


    I heard footsteps behind me and quickly turned around, taking the opportunity not to look at the body.


    ¡°Alex?¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey Petra. Are you feeling better? I heard that you decided to investigate the body, so I came to see if you¡¯re alright.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, it took me time, but for better or for worse, I found the strength to do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re back in shape, although you should leave this room.¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s hard for me to do this, but I have to!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t. Naomi already investigated the body and she said that there isn¡¯t a single clue on there. You won¡¯t find anything and quite frankly, you look like you¡¯re slowly going insane.¡±


    ¡°Then what should I do?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was on my way to investigate inside Amy''s room, you could join me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    I stood up and walked away from the body with nothing but disappointment. I¡¯m sorry, Amy.


    Alex and I began walking towards Amy¡¯s room.


    ¡°Alex, do you know what everyone found while I was in my room? I talked to Evelyn while I was there, but she didn¡¯t really tell me much about the investigation.¡±


    ¡°Well, Dante gathered a group to focus solely on Eden¡¯s murder which left Naomi, Evelyn and I on Amy¡¯s case. I don¡¯t know what the group investigating Eden¡¯s murder found, but so far we only found out one extra detail. From what Naomi told me, she was in one of the rooms on the right wing on this floor for some reason before she got put inside the storage room. I don¡¯t know if anyone figured out anything else.¡±


    ¡°I remember one thing from earlier this morning that might help you figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Really? What is it?¡±


    ¡°When I was next to the storage room this morning, Amy still wasn¡¯t dead, she only died after I went to get the key which means I got to talk to her then.¡± If only I knew to hurry up.


    ¡°Are you serious? What did she tell you?¡±


    ¡°She got locked in early in the morning by the traitor. Apparently, it was a guy and he wore Eden¡¯s robe to cover himself. After she told me that, I tried opening the door to the storage room and figured out it was locked, so I ran to the bedrooms to get the key.¡±


    ¡°Wait, why would the key to the storage room be in one of the bedrooms?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t figured that out yet? The other groups weren¡¯t given the key to their rooms. Instead, everyone in the second group got the key to the storage rooms.¡±


    ¡°Oh wait, Blake went to his room to get the key, and it was missing, so he went to Amy¡¯s. I was on edge, so I didn¡¯t really think about it. I see now! But wait, why would Blake¡¯s key be missing?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a rabbit hole in itself. It definitely makes him suspicious. I can¡¯t make an argument against him with just that, but please keep that detail in mind in case it becomes useful. I¡¯ll try to remember too."


    ¡°Got it.¡± I nodded.


    "Still, everyone is suspicious in my eyes," Alex sighed, ¡°I know that there¡¯s only one traitor, but still, I¡¯m so paranoid, I feel like my brain is going to explode.¡±


    We went inside Amy''s room. I started looking around and noticed that Blake had returned her key. After that, I couldn¡¯t find anything else that sparked any interest.


    ¡°Hey, Alex! Do you know where we should look?¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m being honest, not really. I¡¯m trying my best here, but I have no fucking clue about what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    I sighed. He¡¯s just like me when it comes to that.


    ¡°Well, me neither. Two negatives make a positive, right?¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what else to say, so I stayed quiet and continued searching the room. Everything was neatly placed, organized. Amy¡¯s bed was made, there wasn¡¯t any noticeable amount of dust anywhere and the clothes in her closet were folded. There really wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Goddamnit!¡± Alex was visibly frustrated. ¡°I can¡¯t find anything!¡±


    ¡°Neither can I!¡± I said in a slightly less upset way than Alex. ¡°Is there any other place that you guys haven¡¯t checked yet?¡±


    ¡°One room, there¡¯s only one room. We don¡¯t have enough info to find the bastard behind all of this, but that one room is our last hope!¡± Where did all of this energy suddenly come from?


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! What¡¯s the room?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s on this floor, the room on the right wing.¡± I¡¯ve never been there before, why would that place have anything to do with the case?


    ¡°What do those rooms have anything to do with anything here?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I have no idea, but don¡¯t knock me for that! Evelyn said that Amy told her how she planned to investigate that area, remember. Considering it was probably related to Eden¡¯s case, we¡¯re bound to find something.¡±


    ¡°I see, I¡¯ll check it out then. Feel free to go with me if you want to!¡±


    Alex didn¡¯t say anything, but he did follow me as I walked out of Amy¡¯s room. What could be waiting for us? Maybe Amy left something there.


    I made up ideas of what was in those rooms in my head until I reached it, walking through the giant hallway through the entire floor and then passing the main hall¡¯s staircase, not running into a single person on my way.


    The right wing had two doors that were in the main hall. Well, since Alex is with me, I could ask him to check one of the rooms while I check the other.


    ¡°Two rooms, huh? Alex, you go inside the one that¡¯s right here and I¡¯ll go into the one that¡¯s further down the main hall.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it!¡± his energy was still a bit off-putting.


    We opened the doors at the same time and walked in, not sure what to expect. Wait a second¡­


    There weren¡¯t two separate rooms, instead, both of the doors led to one extremely wide room. The room stretched in width through the entire right wing, but it was pretty short in terms of length. It makes sense, if the room was longer it would go into the right wing of the first floor. This architecture is really weird.


    ¡°Petra?¡±


    ¡°They made this entire section into a single room?¡±


    Alex didn¡¯t seem to care, he just began his search for clues without even looking around the room. There were loads of random things lying around, I couldn¡¯t make out what the room was for as the only furniture in the room was a single chair and small table and everything in the room was on the floor, put into multiple piles.


    I approached one of the piles and crouched down to see everything that was on it. It seemed like mere trash, there were scraps of metal covering things and rusty screws on the floor. Maybe I¡¯ll find something if I dig deeper.


    After moving some of the trash to the side, I saw something that seemed like a clue. A photo?


    It was a black and white photo and it was turning yellow from its age. I took a look at it, curious as to what was there to see. It could possibly be a clue related to the murders, but it could also reveal the secret of this mansion.


    A group photo? The photo showed twelve people sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden. For a second, I thought that I didn¡¯t know anybody in the picture, but upon taking a closer look, I realized that the person sitting at one end of the bench was Lucia.


    How am I supposed to interpret this? Lucia is here, in the present, she looks the same age here and then! Can you make an edited photo look so real and so old?


    Then I remembered something. I remembered everything that I saw Lucia do so far. The way she mercilessly murdered Adam, the fact that she was always a step ahead of us, appearing where and when she needed to. I tried pushing what I saw away from myself, yet it was of no use, I had to face the fact that I was up against something that wasn¡¯t human.


    In the middle of my thinking I suddenly felt someone tap my shoulder.


    ¡°Petra, are you okay?¡± Oh, it¡¯s just Alex.


    I turned around to see what Alex needed, only to be surprised by Lucia who was standing right behind me. Her sudden presence made me scream for a moment before I realized what I was doing and stopped. Why the hell is she here?


    I looked to the side to see where Alex was and I noticed that he didn¡¯t even move from the pile of the trash he had been checking out, in fact, it looked to me as if he only turned around after hearing me scream. Did Lucia imitate his voice?


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± I angrily asked.


    ¡°How rude, asking questions before even greeting me. I merely came here to check up on you guys, everyone seems to be in a horrible mood.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything because, as much as I wanted to, I was too scared. Lucia took one step towards me and grabbed my hand. Again, I was silent, I didn¡¯t know what to do. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t do anything to me, instead, she only grabbed the photo from my hand and took a step back.


    ¡°You found the old group photo? Ah, those were the days. I¡¯d argue that the previous bunch was way smarter than this one, but I¡¯d just sound like a grumpy old woman and I don¡¯t want to seem like that after managing to look like a young lady all these years.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how old are you?¡± I finally got the strength to speak.


    ¡°Asking a woman her age, how impolite. If you manage to leave this mansion, you should learn some manners, it will really benefit you.¡±


    She returned the photo to me and walked out of the room. The old group? The previous bunch? Were our ancestors also a part of something like this? This might be a clue to the secret of this mansion, I¡¯ll have to remember it.


    I glanced at the picture again. Yes, these are the same people whose photos were in the tunnel, there¡¯s no doubt about it. My great grandfather is one of the people here as well.


    I tried piecing everything together in my head, but it was useless, things were too disconnected because of one thing, Lucia. She was in the picture that was at least eighty years old and she was in the same room as me mere moments ago, still looking like she was in her twenties.


    There¡¯s no way she¡¯s human. What the hell is she? A witch, vampire, demon, hallucination?


    It was useless to try and figure it out, I had to find more clues and I also had to get back to looking for clues related to Amy¡¯s murder.

 Chapter X - Who shouldnt be doubted?

    It¡¯s already seven, I guess it¡¯s time to figure things out. I crossed my fingers and walked into the dining room. The only person who came before me was Evelyn.


    ¡°Hey Evie!¡±


    ¡°Someone finally came! Help me prepare before the others arrive.¡±


    ¡°What do you need to prepare? Did you bring some of the evidence with you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not case related, we¡¯ll do that when everyone¡¯s here. I want to prepare this room for a discussion in a more spiritual way.¡±


    ¡°Spiritual way?¡±


    ¡°Worry not, I only have candles. It¡¯ll make the atmosphere more relaxing and these specific ones bring good luck.¡±


    I was unsure what to think about the candles, but there was probably no harm in it, so I decided to go along with it. Evelyn pointed her finger at the corner of the room, where I then placed one small candle.


    It¡¯s time. In a minute, this room will be full and we¡¯ll discuss yet another murder. Why can¡¯t this just end already?


    I heard the door open and I turned around to see who was there. Naomi and Maya entered the room, soon followed by Alex, Dante, Blake and Leon.


    ¡°All that participate in this event filled with tragedy, sit.¡± Dante seemed prepared. ¡°We shall show this demon, commonly known as the traitor, what occurs once you cross the holy family!¡±


    Everyone listened and sat down, marking the beginning of the discussion.


    ¡°With whom do we start? Two separate murders occurred.¡±


    ¡°Well with Eden, dipshit! He died first, you know?¡± Maya shouted at him.


    ¡°Silence. Do not cuss.¡± Naomi, who sat next to Maya, slapped her upside the head.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry ma''am, it won¡¯t happen again!¡± Maya began crying, which made me uncomfortable. What the hell is up with them?


    ¡°Marvelous, my dearest brother must be helping us from above as we converse, starting this conversation with his tragedy will bring us glory, I assure you!¡±


    Should I be the one to start? Yeah, I''ll do it.


    "I''ll begin! I think the best place to start is discussing what happened prior to the moment when we found Eden dead."


    "Good, continue," Naomi nodded.


    "Well, I''ll speak from my perspective, I have no idea where everyone else was at the time. It all started when Amy and I took a look at the tunnel that was inside the dumpster. Dante and Eden were at the top, holding the rope while we checked everything out. When it was time for us to leave, the rope was nowhere to be found and both of them were gone, leaving us stuck. After a couple of minutes, Alex arrived and got us out and that was when we realized that a blackout occurred. It didn''t take long for us to gather everyone from the first two groups, however we couldn''t find Eden. By the time we found him, he was already dead."


    "The lady is not a liar, I assure you. When we were consumed in darkness, my dear brother grabbed me and ran out of the room, expecting the devilish traitor to already have his eyes on us. He was not mistaken, yet he couldn''t save himself."


    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not what happened.¡± Leon decided to join the conversation. ¡°I was snooping around at the time, that is not when he died.¡±


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± I looked at him, aware that he was probably making something up to mess with us. Is he really acting like this in such a tense situation?


    ¡°You heard me, Eden did not die then.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t see him die during that time! If I didn¡¯t witness it, it didn¡¯t happen!¡± What kind of logic is that?


    ¡°Leave.¡± Naomi turned to Leon. ¡°Your input isn¡¯t needed.¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up you pretentious snob, I¡¯ll leave when I want to!¡±


    ¡°By the Gods, I beg of you two to put an end to the nonsensical arguing, so that we may continue with the miniscule peace that still remains.¡±


    ¡°What are you getting so angry about, tophat boy? I¡¯m just fucking around a bit.¡±


    Dante was visibly angry, but he sat in his place and held back. Even with Evie¡¯s candles, the atmosphere became more tense. I should continue the discussion before they get angrier.


    ¡°Alright, we settled when the murder happened and I think I also cleared myself of any suspicion since I was stuck in that hole when Eden got killed. What should we discuss next?¡±


    ¡°Oh, the murder weapon,¡± Blake said with a sickly voice.


    As I turned to look at Blake, I noticed that he looked like he was about to collapse.


    ¡°Blake, are you okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m fine, I just said that we should discuss the murder weapon.¡± It was obvious to me that he wasn¡¯t fine, but the conversation continued.


    ¡°A knife was used, specifically a combat knife.¡±


    Evelyn joined in.


    ¡°Where is your evidence?¡± Naomi didn¡¯t seem to believe her. Wait a second, that reminds me of something. Amy showed me the knife shortly after the murder had occurred, yet I haven¡¯t seen it after that, I don¡¯t think it was in her room.


    ¡°Amy and I had a conversation last night and she gave me all the information she had about Eden.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a combat knife anywhere inside this mansion, how can I know that you are not lying? You might be the traitor.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t turn your back on me now!¡± This was the first time I heard Evelyn yell, until now her voice had been very calm. ¡°You¡¯re the one who told me what to do during the investigation, do you think I¡¯m capable of murdering anyone?¡±


    ¡°Silence. Everyone is guilty unless they can prove their innocence.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine!¡±


    ¡°Then prove your innocence. Or do you want to end this discussion now?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, calm yourself down Evelyn, this is important, show them that you¡¯d never do anything evil.¡± She murmured to herself before calming down. ¡°Alright, here we go. We can confirm that there¡¯s only one traitor, right?¡±


    Naomi was about to nod when she realized that we never made sure that there weren¡¯t multiple traitors.


    ¡°That is not confirmed.¡± Her emotionless expression now expressed confusion and misery.


    Could there actually be a second traitor? Maybe one of them killed Eden and the other Amy. This is bad, very bad.


    Suddenly, I felt someone¡¯s hands on my shoulders. Everyone else is around me, I can see them. That can only mean one thing.


    With fear swallowing me, I turned around to see what I feared. Lucia. I barely managed to stop myself from freaking out in front of everybody.


    ¡°Sorry for interrupting your little talk, you may continue chatting in a minute, I just couldn¡¯t help but notice that some of you are unsure about the rules of all of this. I thought I made myself clear about this, but I¡¯ll forgive your stupidity because all of you are still kids in one way or another. Whenever I talked about the traitor, I always said the. The. Have you not heard that before? The is used only when you¡¯re talking about one thing. With that, I made it clear from the start that there aren¡¯t multiple traitors.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Naomi was still calm, even in front of Lucia.


    ¡°Yes, that is it.¡± Lucia smiled at her. ¡°I mean, I didn¡¯t expect to have to bring something that simple up.¡±


    ¡°Evelyn, continue.¡± Naomi got back to work and disregarded Lucia¡¯s presence, who immediately after walked out through the door, this time not disappearing or doing anything unusual.


    ¡°Positive energy, positive energy, cleanse us with positive energy¡­¡± Evelyn mumbled to herself again before coming back to the topic of her innocence. ¡°So, Lucia confirmed it, there is only one traitor. Since we know that that¡¯s true, would it make me innocent if another person knew about the knife?¡±


    Naomi thought about it for a little bit and then nodded. Wait, is Evie talking about me. Yes, she definitely is, I doubt that Amy showed the knife to anyone else. Did Amy tell her about what she showed me?


    ¡°I know about the knife!¡± I sharply slid my way into the conversation.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Naomi asked me.


    For understandable reasons, she wasn¡¯t happy to hear about a knife who¡¯s location nobody knew.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    ¡°Do not cover for Evelyn just because you don¡¯t think she did it, we need concrete evidence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying! Amy showed it to me shortly after she started investigating Eden¡¯s murder, I was the only one she trusted enough with that kind of information, at least at that moment.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s telling the truth, Amy never trusted anyone other than her.¡± Alex angrily agreed. Does he really have to still be angry about that even after her death?


    ¡°I don¡¯t wish to waste more time on this. Evelyn, you¡¯re innocent for now. Next topic.¡±


    I should bring something up. I mostly investigated Amy¡¯s murder, but I do have some details on what happened to Eden¡­ Wait, I got it!


    ¡°The blood!¡±


    ¡°The blood?¡± Naomi looked at me like I was an idiot.


    ¡°Amy told me that the blood was fake!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she told me too.¡± Evie confirmed my statement. ¡°She put some of it on her finger and licked it.¡±


    Naomi¡¯s face showed visible disgust for a short moment. I wonder if she thinks we¡¯re lying.


    ¡°Impossible. Eden was wounded. He bled out, so the blood is real.¡± That makes sense, but does that mean that Amy lied?


    I looked around, taking a glimpse of everyone to see how they were reacting, what they were thinking. Most were nervous, not really focused on the discussion, Evie was confused, she had heard the same thing from Amy. The only other person whose behavior was unusual was Leon¡¯s. He seemed to be chuckling, but I didn¡¯t want to say anything as it would probably be followed back by a sarcastic and insulting remark, so I merely stared at him.


    ¡°What?¡± Leon yelled out. ¡°You¡¯re staring at me like you think I¡¯m the killer or something!¡±


    ¡°I never said anything about suspecting you!¡±


    ¡°Quiet down.¡± Naomi stopped us before anything could go out of hand. ¡°Leon, if you haven¡¯t been accused yet, why say that?¡±


    ¡°What the hell do you want now? Pretentious bitch.¡±


    ¡°Silence. Prove your innocence.¡±


    ¡°And why should I do that?¡±


    ¡°Because we¡¯ll assume that you¡¯re the traitor and get rid of you.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ll take the risk of assuming that I¡¯m not insane enough to take someone to hell with me by pretending to be the traitor just for the fun of it? Hahaha, how amusing! I must say, you¡¯re way dumber than you look.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Y-You!¡± Naomi lost her cool and stood up from her seat.


    ¡°Ooh, someone wants to be a badass.¡± Leon stood up as well. I have a bad feeling about this.


    Naomi walked up to Leon while he just stood next to his seat and without saying another word, she tried to punch him. She aimed for Leon¡¯s head and swung as hard and fast as she could. It wasn¡¯t enough. I didn¡¯t expect it because Leon looked way too skinny to be fit, but without any effort, he dodged Naomi¡¯s punch and hit her in the gut hard enough to make her lose her balance, falling back into his chair immediately after.


    ¡°Did I prove my innocence to you now? Fucking bitch.¡±


    Naomi stood back up while holding her stomach and sat down without uttering a single word. She still suspected Leon, as did everyone else, yet there wasn¡¯t much to do about it at the moment.


    ¡°Miss bitch over here is still in shock from getting her ass handed to her, so I¡¯ll take charge basically just the same thing she did. What are we discussing next?¡±


    God, he¡¯s annoying. I¡¯ll play along with it for now unless he makes things too hard for me. If he really is the traitor, I¡¯ll figure it out.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t finished discussing the blood. Is it real or fake?¡± I didn¡¯t want to drop that topic, I still had belief in Amy¡¯s words.


    ¡°Boring¡­ Next.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re discussing this.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± he yawned. ¡°So, round two?¡±


    I don¡¯t want to fight him. I¡¯m confident that I could beat him to a pulp if I wanted to, but that would create too many new problems.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s just check who we can say is innocent from the information we know.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I guess¡­¡± Finally, he¡¯s not complaining.


    ¡°I shall asseverate that Petra is innocent.¡± Dante decided to help me out. ¡°During the time of my dear brother¡¯s tragedy, she was stuck in that pit of litter. There is no way she could be the culprit!¡±


    ¡°Right, right, I get it. Continue, I already got bored with this.¡± Leon¡¯s voice was way less energetic than before.


    ¡°I also believe that Evelyn is innocent!¡± I said. ¡°Think about it, Amy considered it safe enough to share all the information she had with her and Amy knew what she was doing.¡±


    ¡°Petra,¡± Alex looked at me with visible disappointment, ¡°you trust Amy too much. We can¡¯t say that someone is innocent because you trust someone else¡¯s decision for fuck¡¯s sake!¡±


    ¡°Calm down, I get it.¡±


    Alex is right, I need to think for myself here, although I still think that Evie is innocent. Who else is definitely innocent? I can¡¯t think of anyone¡­ Is the traitor really that good at hiding?


    ¡°Evelyn,¡± Naomi came to a realization after spending the last couple of minutes thinking in silence.


    ¡°Yes, is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°When was the last time you were in your room?¡±


    ¡°The shared room or the one where Lucia expected us to be?¡±


    ¡°The latter.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t gone in there since we decided on sharing that one giant room. We also agreed to share your and Maya¡¯s bathroom so that we would reduce the amount of rooms we used.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡±


    ¡°You literally told me that I¡¯m innocent before! Why are you suspicious of me now?¡±


    ¡°The fake blood. There is still a chance that the blood is fake or mixed with something else.¡±


    ¡°And what does that have to do with me? Why would I curse myself by touching blood that isn¡¯t mine?¡±


    ¡°The tap in your room. Remember it, a seemingly infinite supply of paint. Red is available.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not being fair to me!¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°I spent all my time in our shared room, I trusted you and now you¡¯re accusing me without a good reason! Anyone could¡¯ve gone in there and gotten the paint!¡± Evelyn was becoming angrier. ¡°Positive energy, bless us with nothing but positive energy, let me show my purity and innocence in a place rotten with bad vibes and violence,¡± she whispered to herself again.


    ¡°She has a point!¡± I was still on Evie¡¯s side, ¡°if she didn¡¯t spend most of her time in her own room, then anyone could¡¯ve gotten in. It might not sound logical to you, but we¡¯re all scared here, and the traitor is most likely paranoid that they¡¯ll get caught, which would lead to outlandish actions during the murders, such as adding fake blood simply for the chance of someone tasting it and accusing Evelyn! Plus, even though we don¡¯t know whether Leon is the traitor or not, there might be a chance that he mixed in the paint, you¡¯ve seen what his thoughts are like.¡±


    Leon randomly licked one of his fingers.


    ¡°True,¡± Naomi started getting lost in her thoughts again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit it, we can¡¯t know for sure if Evie¡¯s innocent, but it would be dumb to immediately assume that she¡¯s the traitor when almost everyone is still a suspect.¡±


    ¡°T-Then what can we do?¡± Maya said. She was shaking and starting to cry. ¡°C-Can we just let the traitor kill us all one by one? Knowing me, I¡¯m next! No!¡±


    ¡°Begin discussing Amy¡¯s case, focusing on Eden is useless. I¡¯ll calm Maya down,¡± Naomi said before standing up from her seat and walking out of the room through the door that led to the kitchen.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± I was slightly confused, but Naomi was already outside the dining room by the time I asked the question.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s just going to grab some drugs I left in the kitchen,¡± Leon announced in a lighthearted tone.


    I wasn¡¯t in the mood to reply to his sick jokes, but it seemed that Maya didn¡¯t appreciate it. She jumped up from her seat and quickly covered Leon¡¯s mouth with her hand.


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Surprisingly, Leon didn¡¯t resist. In fact, he looked like he enjoyed the attention. As bizarre as the whole situation was, I had to focus on the task at hand and wait for Naomi to come back and calm Maya down. Where do I start? The way she was killed, or what information the others have? I¡¯m not sure.


    Suddenly, Naomi entered the room again and saw what was going on.


    ¡°Maya, come here.¡±


    ¡°No! I can¡¯t let Leon talk!¡±


    ¡°Now!¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Maya quickly moved her hand away and walked towards Naomi.


    ¡°Take this pill,¡± Naomi handed her a small pill and a glass of water.


    ¡°T-Thank you,¡± Maya swallowed the pill and drank the water and then both of them sat back down.


    Maya wasn¡¯t shaking anymore, although she started to drool a little bit. She also stopped talking. What kind of pill is that? Maybe it¡¯s better that I don¡¯t ask them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the discussion!¡± I loudly said.


    I have hope that we¡¯ll figure out who the traitor is, I don¡¯t think anyone here can stand living in this damn mansion for even a day more.


    ¡°I agree. Petra, begin. You were the last to talk to her.¡± Naomi replied.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll explain what happened this morning when I found her. Blake and I went to look for her and while Blake looked for her in her bedroom, I heard Amy¡¯s voice in the storage room which he ran past. She told me how she had been locked in there by someone.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know and neither did she.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s confusing. She said how someone attacked her and that the person was wearing Eden¡¯s robe. Their face was covered.¡±


    ¡°That is beyond the bounds of possibility, I have spent a lot of time near the soulless flesh that once belonged to my dear brother and I can confirm that nobody would be capable of doing that. That beautiful robe was unclean, tainted with blood, it would¡¯ve left a trace and we would be aware that the scenery of the tragedy had been tampered with.¡±


    ¡°I object to that!¡± Maya spoke up again, her voice now completely clear and collected.


    ¡°What do you want to add, you witch? I already made it clear that nobody touched my dear brother¡¯s robe.¡±


    ¡°Nobody touched that one, yes. Remember the closet dumbass! There are so many copies of the same outfit, the traitor grabbed one from there.¡± What did that pill do to Maya? She sounds like a completely different person.


    ¡°You could be right, although I¡¯ve not checked Eden¡¯s closet. His robe was specifically made for him as the new head of the Divinitas bloodline, having that merely lying around is almost impossible and certainly not allowed.¡±


    ¡°Look around you, you freak. What is normal? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! After everything we¡¯ve been through, you think having some fucking robe would be impossible!¡±


    ¡°Silence wench! If that demon Lucia would stop watching over us, I¡¯d punish you for your sins!¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± Naomi hit the table hard enough to make sure that everyone heard her. That made both Maya and Dante calm down and it also made Maya drop any semblance of emotion from her face. ¡°Good. Petra, continue.¡±


    ¡°Well, the only thing that we know from that is that the person is a man.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Suspects already narrowed down to four.¡±


    ¡°Haha, dumbass. Took you this long to mention something that crucial.¡± Leon didn¡¯t miss an opportunity to insult me.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anything else to add?¡± Naomi seemed to be satisfied with what I said.


    ¡°Well, I could mention the cause of death because I did investigate the storage room.¡±


    ¡°The gas.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s definitely what the traitor used. I think it was pretty obvious.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it might not be the murder weapon.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Naomi could be right.¡± Alex interrupted our conversation. ¡°The instructions on that bottle confused me. It takes two to four hours for it to kill the person who inhaled enough of it, yet the death is instant and there are no other symptoms. What kind of chemical could do something like that?¡±


    I stopped to think. He¡¯s right, I don¡¯t think something like that exists. Could it be one of Lucia¡¯s abilities? She did things way more bizarre than making a weird poison.


    ¡°God, I¡¯m actually getting tired from hearing you guys talk!¡± Leon interrupted us. ¡°This is Lucia¡¯s mansion we¡¯re talking about! Think numbskull, think! Is it that fucking hard?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably right about that, but you don¡¯t have to be an asshole about it.¡± Alex said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to, but that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t. It¡¯s more interesting if I insult you, it gets more of a reaction. You catch my drift?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m already under enough stress.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be too if I had your brain, it must be stressful being that stupid.¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡± Naomi shouted at Leon. ¡°Only discuss the current topic, we do not have time for jokes or insults.¡±


    ¡°I think Leon actually has a point.¡± I said, returning back to the issue of Amy¡¯s cause of death. ¡°If this was a normal murder case or if this was investigated by professionals, it would be easy to figure it out, but we just can¡¯t. Everything is too abnormal and I¡¯m pretty sure nobody here is an adult. I doubt we can figure out if this poison is real, yet since we haven¡¯t found anything else that could¡¯ve killed her, we¡¯ll have to take a risk.¡±


    Naomi looked at me, but didn¡¯t say anything. It was obvious that she didn¡¯t want to risk things, especially with our lives on the line.


    I can understand that she¡¯s not happy, although I can¡¯t change that. We¡¯re just a bunch of stupid teenagers in a psychopath¡¯s trap, of course we can¡¯t get out without risking everything and letting people die. No, why does it have to be this way? I felt like I was going to cry, but I managed to stop myself.


    ¡°Petra, next topic. I am aware that Alex was with you during the investigation, yet you seem more fit for this discussion, so you will continue for as long as it¡¯s needed.¡±


    ¡°Not you too!¡± Alex shouted. ¡°I¡¯m sick of you guys thinking I¡¯m some incapable child.¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll let you guys figure it out on your own.¡± Alex was visibly angry, although he knew that trying to argue with Naomi would be useless.


    ¡°Petra, go on.¡±


    ¡°Alright. After checking out the storage room, Alex and I went to Amy¡¯s bedroom. We didn¡¯t find anything there. It was creepy in a way, the room was completely clean, the bed was made, there was nothing unusual.¡±


    ¡°The pistol?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°As you might know, Leon and I had watched over the other groups before you met us. All that time, Amy had a gun with her, a glock to be precise. It was not with her when we found the body.¡±


    ¡°I never saw that gun, not before or during the investigation. Are you sure Amy had one with her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not lying.¡± Blake said before coughing for a couple of seconds afterwards. ¡°When Adam went to the second floor to meet Amy and me, he told me how she pointed a gun at him. I mean, my group agreed on grabbing a weapon from the storage room, but I just got a baseball bat. Until Adam came, I didn¡¯t know what she took, but I do remember that Dante and Eden refused to take anything.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ Then what happened to the gun?¡±


    ¡°It was most likely disposed of.¡±  Naomi thought about it.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably what happened. Either she left it in her room and the traitor stole it, or she brought it with her and the traitor took her by surprise to steal the gun, it could¡¯ve even been left in the storage room, where it originally was. Either way, the traitor didn¡¯t shoot because it would wake everyone up. Instead, he hid himself with Eden¡¯s robe and got Amy inside of the storage room because he was able to lock it, meaning that she would have to inhale the gas. That¡¯s how it all happened!¡±


    Well, we pieced the case together, but I still have no clue who did it. Four suspects, Blake, Alex, Dante and Leon, one of them killed Eden and Amy and there are reasons to accuse and also trust any of them. I have to figure it out!


    ¡°Did you investigate anything else?¡±


    ¡°Well, I checked out the right wing of the second floor, but there was nothing related to the case there. I found a picture that could lead us to the secret of the mansion though. I could show you that later.¡±


    ¡°Do not go off topic. We need to find the traitor now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything else, I told you everything and I even pieced all the information together.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Petra, thank you. I need someone else to speak up, new information related to any of the murders is needed.¡±


    The room was silent. Does nobody have anything else to say? We¡¯re so close! We need to get this over with!


    ¡°Well, I guess we didn¡¯t figure it out, what a bummer.¡± Leon broke the silence.


    ¡°Oh please, you¡¯re one to talk, you did nothing but make things harder for everyone!¡± Maya started arguing again, though Naomi didn¡¯t have the energy to stop her. We were all too disappointed to act.


    ¡°I think this is it. It¡¯s for the best that we leave for now and continue investigating tomorrow.¡±


    Silence followed for the next couple of seconds and then everyone slowly stood up and walked out. After leaving the dining room and entering the main hall we noticed that it was getting late, the discussion took longer than we had anticipated. Everyone planned to go to their rooms and probably straight to bed, but Naomi stopped us.


    ¡°Attention. The traitor is still a threat, therefore there will be new rules to protect us.¡±


    ¡°The boss bitch is back at it again, I guess.¡± Leon yawned.


    ¡°Girls, first floor bedrooms. Guys, second floor. Quickly grab your things and move.¡±


    ¡°I can move away from your annoying ass? With pleasure.¡± Leon quickly took off towards the third floor.


    It was obvious that she did this because we figured out the traitor¡¯s gender, so there weren¡¯t any complaints. Well, my room is already on the first floor, so I can go straight to bed.


    ¡°Petra,¡± Naomi stopped me.


    ¡°Yes? Do you need something?¡±


    ¡°I do. From tomorrow onwards, write down anything important that happens in case we need to remember something. There are notebooks in the storage room.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that. Good night.¡±


    ¡°Good night.¡±


    I went to my room and immediately laid down. This was a long day, I need to rest. How long will this go on for? I can¡¯t take it, I feel like I¡¯m going to die next, the traitor definitely has his eyes on me. I wish I could just figure out who killed them, it doesn¡¯t have to be this hard. Maybe it¡¯ll be easier with everyone moving rooms, I¡¯ll be more protected from the traitor and so will all the girls, but the innocent guys are now at a higher risk because of that. Was that unfair of Naomi? I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t think straight.


    My mind was filled with scary thoughts and questions that I kept trying to answer to no avail. In the end, I couldn¡¯t make any sense of anything and I fell asleep fully clothed, hoping to escape this mess as soon as possible.

 Chapter XI - A diary

    Day 5


    I¡¯ve been told to write this journal of sorts by Naomi, so that we don¡¯t forget any new information relating to the traitor or the secret of the mansion we¡¯re in, though I¡¯m also directing this to anyone who might find this journal in the case that we don¡¯t get out alive.


    I am starting from the fifth day because I never thought I¡¯d have to write things down until today. I was under the assumption that I would be outside by now.


    Today was the day we had rearranged our rooms. The girls¡¯ bedrooms are now on the first floor while the guys¡¯ are now on the second, Naomi decided on that because we confirmed that the traitor was male during yesterday¡¯s discussion. To make us even more secure, this morning we decided that only one guy at a time would be allowed outside of his room unless it was deemed necessary to break that rule. That idea was met with complaints at first, but in the end they agreed.


    Apart from that, today was way more calm than any before. We did search the mansion in hopes of finding something that would either lead us to the traitor or to the mansion¡¯s secret, but we didn¡¯t find anything new.


    Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t anything new from the traitor either, so I¡¯d still say that things are improving. There is hope.


    Day 6


    Naomi complained that I started writing a diary instead of just writing down information like she had asked me to, but with some convincing I managed to get her to believe that this journal is important. Who knows what will happen to us? If I¡¯m letting all my thoughts out, the chances of skipping over an important detail are minimal.


    My thoughts have been too dark recently, the whole situation took its toll on me. We didn¡¯t have much time today to dedicate to investigating because Blake got sick. I feel like I noticed some symptoms way before he got this sick, but I guess it¡¯s too late to think about that now.


    I offered to take care of him until he got better, but everyone else was against the idea, they said I was too crucial to spend all my time in Blake¡¯s room, especially since there was a chance that I would also get sick. I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re on about, I do try to be the best that I can, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done enough to be considered crucial by any means.


    Evie decided to investigate less, she said that she was under too much stress. She still helps out from time to time, but she spends way more time in her new room, either painting something or meditating. I do think that she''s a bit too lazy, but I don¡¯t want to judge anyone. I can definitely empathize with her.


    Day 7


    My hand is shaking as I¡¯m writing this. Today was a difficult day, I¡¯m unsure how to even begin describing everything that happened.


    Breakfast went by without any problems, but things started going downhill right after noon if I remember correctly. Maya started acting insane again, she became even more unpredictable and aggressive. During that time, Alex was using the time that he had to spend outside of his room and he was the one who calmed her down, but that just made things worse. Way worse! While Alex was distracted, she grabbed him and kissed him on the lips. She wanted to make out with him, but Alex pushed her away on time. She tried to do it a couple more times and after Alex stopped her each and every time, she dropped down on her knees and began crying and begging. I didn¡¯t say it then because I didn''t want to sound rude, but that was so disgusting I couldn¡¯t even look at her!


    Other than that, Blake still isn¡¯t getting better, I¡¯m afraid of what might happen to him since there isn¡¯t a doctor nearby. Even though I was in a horrible mood all day, I still made him some tea. I would feel too guilty if I didn¡¯t do anything.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Is there anything else that happened? I can¡¯t even remember. I know that Leon was blabbering about something which upset Evie, but I really didn¡¯t have the energy to look deeper into it.


    Day 8


    Finally! We made a discovery, we took a step closer towards finding the mansion¡¯s secret! We found a hidden room of sorts, all thanks to Evie and Dante.


    It was Dante¡¯s turn to spend time outside of his room and he spent some of it discussing religion with Evie. It wasn¡¯t unexpected from them, at least I wasn¡¯t surprised, but it turned into a heated argument since both of them were religious in very different ways. Luckily, they came to an agreement about one thing, something related to nature, I dunno the details. That led to them going to the backyard, the only place where we could see any sunlight and the only place where we could, y¡¯know, see some nature, even if it was a pretty small space.


    While they were there, Dante decided to let Evie determine the part of the backyard that she believed was the ¡°best¡±. I don¡¯t understand it, but that¡¯s not the important part. Evie stood in one seemingly random spot near a corner and said that she found the spot, well, at least that¡¯s what they told me since nobody else was there. Dante wanted to try doing a small ritual there, nothing more than a more complicated prayer, to see if there would be any difference with Evie¡¯s sort of ¡°blessed¡± instinct.


    Dante grabbed his dagger that he brought with him to the mansion, he calls it the "Divinitas dagger¡±. He stabbed the ground and hit something metallic just as the dagger was supposed to be completely in the ground, which got them to grab a shovel from the shed and dig up that area to see what was there. They found a hatch which wouldn¡¯t open easily. It wasn¡¯t locked or anything, just stuck.


    Evie went to get me because I¡¯m the strongest person in the mansion and with some help from Dante, we opened the hatch. It wasn¡¯t very deep and there was also a ladder, so we quickly climbed down into an astonishingly small room.


    There wasn¡¯t much inside it, it was completely empty and the walls were dirty and made out of concrete, but there was one thing there, the clue that we found. I apologize if it took me too long to get to it. On the wall opposite of the ladder, there was writing on the wall, only one word though. Mendivi. Mendivi, mendivi, mendivi. I have to write it here multiple times, so that I remember it. I still don¡¯t know what it means, but to be hidden that well, it must be important.


    Day 9


    Alex and Maya are starting to spend more time together. I don¡¯t know why he would do that to himself, she has no respect for herself or him. I can¡¯t really say that I hate Maya, she¡¯s just really troubled. A drug addict in her teens, I can¡¯t imagine what she¡¯s been through. Plus, I¡¯m only writing down something unimportant like that because this day was mostly insignificant. I spent a lot of my time in the library on the third floor looking into the meaning of mendivi which led me nowhere.


    Additionally, Lucia appeared for the first time since the discussion that happened five days ago, but she was calm too. I didn¡¯t want to talk to her, she terrified me and she still does. She sat down in the dining room and drank coffee with me as if she was just a regular person catching up with a friend. I tried to use that as an opportunity to talk her into giving me more info about the traitor or the secret, but I didn¡¯t learn anything new, the conversation was completely pointless.


    Day 10


    We discovered something new today! Naomi helped me go through one part of the library and we found a really old book. It was a journal, not too different from this one, written by a woman named Gabriella. A lot of it had been either erased or ripped out before we found it, but I figured out a lot from the remains.


    The descriptions match the mansion and Gabriella also described going through horrors with other victims being there. She specifically mentioned being there with one of her friends, Lilith Sharp, which I clearly remember being Amy¡¯s great grandmother. That confirmed my suspicions, our great grandparents went through something similar to what we¡¯re currently facing. However, there were no mentions of Lucia or even anyone similar to her, the journal only described there being Gabriella and some number of people with her, but I assume that there were twelve victims in total. Every single mention of the culprit and the details of the horror were gone, most likely ripped out.


    Day 11


    Since I started counting the days that passed by writing in this journal, I realized how bad this might end up being. The eleventh day and we¡¯ve gone nowhere. I mean, some clues are there, the word mendivi and Gabriella¡¯s journal definitely have something that¡¯ll lead us to the secret, whatever it might be, but I still feel like there¡¯s so much more to do.


    Luckily, the traitor hasn¡¯t tried anything yet, I feel like Naomi¡¯s plan of separating us from the guys and giving them limited access to the mansion worked.


    There wasn¡¯t any new discovery today, but things seem to be improving due to us having this period of peace. Blake¡¯s health seems to be improving, although he¡¯s still sick.

 Chapter XII - Old connections

    I was brushing my teeth, my mind still trying to process all the nonsense around me. I was more relaxed than before, but I was more confused than ever. Gabriella? Mendivi? Are there more hidden rooms in this mansion?


    My thoughts were interrupted by loud knocking. Who could it be? I quickly finished brushing my teeth and went to the door.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I opened the door.


    ¡°P-Please hurry!¡± The person knocking on my door turned out to be Maya.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I hastily went into the hallway.


    ¡°Evelyn a-and Leon. They¡¯re arguing and it¡¯s starting to get real bad! Please just come and stop whatever is happening!¡±


    ¡°Where are they?¡± What the fuck did Leon do this time?


    ¡°That one room on this floor, w-with the books or something. I don¡¯t know, I never go there! The door closer to the stairs on the left wing! Ugh, why am I such a retard?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, it¡¯s fine, I know what room you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    I swiftly took off, running into the main hall and from the main hall into the reading room, as I called it. I entered the room and saw Leon and Evie. Leon looked like his usual self, happy with a massive grin that would let any stranger know that he¡¯s not normal. On the other hand, Evie had a devastated look on her face. She was crying uncontrollably and looked to be moments away from falling down into a fetal position.


    ¡°Eh, why are you here?¡± Leon looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to have a one on one conversation here, please don¡¯t interrupt us.¡±


    ¡°Conversation? She¡¯s crying! I¡¯d call that bullying, not a conversation! Back off.¡± I tried to intimidate Leon.


    ¡°Ooh, someone¡¯s scary¡­ Well, I don¡¯t fucking care! Either be here and join the convo, or go back to where you came from. I don¡¯t know, go watch Alex and Maya fuck or something!¡±


    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?¡± With some hesitation, I punched Leon. I didn¡¯t use all of my strength, but I hit him hard enough to make him fall to the floor.


    ¡°Ouchie¡­ that actually hurt. You want me to apologize? Maybe beg? Lick your boots? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re into. Haha, just kidding! I¡¯m not that desperate.¡±


    I walked away from Leon who was only now standing up and I went to comfort Evie who was still crying.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What did that idiot tell you?¡± I hugged her.


    ¡°I-I¡­I still don¡¯t get it!¡± Her voice was all over the place, I could barely understand her.


    ¡°What did you tell her?¡± I said in an angry tone after turning back to Leon.


    ¡°Oh, blame it on Leon. Of fucking course! I just tried to have a nice little reunion and you had to bust in and attack me for no goddamn reason!¡±


    ¡°Reunion?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± He suddenly stopped yelling, ¡°Evelyn and I have known each other for a while, she just didn¡¯t expect to see me ever again. Somebody told her that I died. Oh, how tragic that would¡¯ve been if it was true¡­ I don¡¯t wish to think about it.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not him!¡± Evie screamed at him, acting completely different from usual.


    What the hell is going on?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Evelyn, but you must be mentally ill. I quite literally recited the conversation we had back then, what other proof do you possibly need? God, you¡¯re so annoying!¡±


    ¡°I said you¡¯re not the boy from the hospital! D-Don¡¯t try to trick me!¡±


    Boy from the hospital? Wait, Evie told me about that. Is Leon trying to say that he¡¯s that guy? I don¡¯t understand.


    ¡°That guy Evie had one conversation in the hospital?¡± I interrupted their argument again.


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s me,¡± Leon smiled at me.


    ¡°Do you really expect me to believe you?¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t even there! How fucking dense are you?¡±


    He started walking around the room, imitating two voices. Him and Evelyn. He practically repeated their whole conversation. I didn¡¯t know what topics came up back in the hospital, but Evelyn¡¯s reaction clearly showed that Leon knew what he was saying.


    ¡°H-How do you know all of that? I k-know you¡¯re not him!¡± Evelyn didn¡¯t stop crying. I can¡¯t stand seeing her like this.


    ¡°That hospital room, you remember it, dear?¡± He began laughing. ¡°Yeah, it stank like shit, I swear I could barely take it! It was a good night though, you cheered me up, I can¡¯t lie. I mean, I can, but I like the current vibe that this conversation is giving me.¡±


    Leon stopped going in circles and started walking towards Evie while still being shirtless, so I quickly stood between them and stopped him from coming any closer.


    ¡°Back off, now.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, scary, spooky, whatever. Hahaha, you¡¯re actually kinda funny Petra, I¡¯ll give it to ya! You should actually look into being a comedian, you shouldn¡¯t have much of an issue as long as you just compete with women.¡± It¡¯s obvious that I can¡¯t intimidate this bastard, but I¡¯m not letting him hurt Evie.


    ¡°All bark no bite, huh? Hit me with another snarky comment, c¡¯mon!¡± Maybe if I act like an ego filled idiot like him, I¡¯ll make him back away.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Who said I don¡¯t bite?¡± Just as he said that, he leaped towards me with his mouth open, akin to a wild animal.


    He reached his hand towards me, but I used my wrist to push his hand up and took that opportunity to come closer to him. I wrapped my hands around his legs and pulled him towards me, making him fall, hitting the hardwood floor headfirst.


    ¡°Hey, that was actually fun! Finally, you¡¯re not a disappointment. Congrats Petra!¡± He gave me a thumbs up before standing up and walking out of the room before I could respond. Well, at least he¡¯s gone.


    I immediately turned to Evie to comfort her.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, he¡¯s gone. Do you want to go to my room and sit or lie down?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yeah, sure. Thank you.¡±


    Evelyn went towards my room while I rushed upstairs to the storage room to grab some tissues for her, but when I entered it, a random thought came into my head.


    Where is Amy¡¯s body? While we were investigating her murder the body was there, yet it mysteriously disappeared after the discussion. Same goes for everyone else who died. I don¡¯t doubt that Lucia moved the bodies after she deemed them ¡°useless¡±. Yeah, that¡¯s the word she would use. Where are they though? Does she dump them outside the mansion? Are there more secret rooms? Does she just destroy them in whatever way she sees fit? It¡¯s too much to think about, I should just grab the tissues and hurry over to Evie.


    Luckily, the tissues were right in front of me when I walked in, so I didn¡¯t have to look through the massive shelves with any item I could and couldn¡¯t think of. I took them and ran back to my room.. By the time I came back, she had already stopped crying, but she was still noticeably upset. She was sitting on my bed, so I sat next to her, which made her immediately rest her head on my lap without saying a word to me.


    ¡°Are you feeling better?¡±


    ¡°Somewhat¡­ All the positive energy is gone, Leon completely destroyed it. I need to rest once I manage to calm down.¡±


    ¡°You do think he¡¯s lying though? I don¡¯t know, something like that seems too insane to be true.¡±


    ¡°No. I knew from the start, I merely wanted to deny it. I don¡¯t care what evidence he showed, I knew that something was off the moment I met him, the aura around him was too familiar. Why would he fall so low? What has happened to him since then? I don¡¯t believe that he only acted in front of me. Something made him go insane after he met me. Petra, you¡¯re smart, please figure it out¡­  Thinking about it gives me too much negative energy, it makes me want to cry again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright, it¡¯ll all be alright. We¡¯re all going through things that many can¡¯t even comprehend, but we¡¯ll get through it. I promise to keep you safe.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Petra. I¡¯ll try to keep you safe too. I¡¯m glad that we managed to clear some people here. I felt too lonely when I had to be suspicious of everyone, although I¡¯m still scared.¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s good to have some fear. If you were fearless, you¡¯d be dead in here because you wouldn¡¯t be careful enough. Fear is a tool that helps you prepare for what awaits, you just have to prevent it from overwhelming you. I told Adam this too, he was a part of my group here before he and Rose died, but Leon or Naomi probably told you that by now. I always sound out of character when I talk about things like that, because people assume that I¡¯m either some knucklehead or really bubbly. I don¡¯t blame them, I like being more positive and focused on the here and now, it helps relax everyone.¡± Evie kept listening to me ramble, it made her forget about what had happened.


    ¡°Petra?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Would you like some tea? I sometimes drink tea before meditation to put my body in the right state, I think it¡¯ll help us here.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I like the idea!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your favorite tea? I saw a bunch of options in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Peppermint tea, I guess. I rarely drink tea, so I don¡¯t really have a favorite.¡±


    ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll make peppermint tea for you. Just wait here for a couple of minutes and then come to the dining room.¡± Evie stood up and walked out of my room, now significantly happier. I¡¯m glad that I managed to cheer her up.


    I stayed in my room for around five minutes, not really doing anything, merely letting time pass. Maybe I should get going, my sense of time isn¡¯t that great.


    I went towards the dining room in hopes of removing the tension that the mansion had been giving us. In fact, I was a bit excited as I rarely got the chance to sit down and chat with someone in the mansion. When I walked into the dining room, I noticed that Dante was inside, reading a book.


    ¡°Hi!¡±


    ¡°Greetings Miss Petra, how do you do? I heard that a quarrel had occurred between Evelyn and Leon earlier this morning, has that been sorted out?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I got Leon to leave her alone. I just hope he doesn¡¯t start shit again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to hear. May I know what brought about that unfortunate event?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t believe me, but I¡¯ll tell you. Leon and Evelyn have actually met before, and back then he was a normal person.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dante looked at me with surprise in his face. ¡°That¡­ That is unexpected. A persona such as him simply does not come into existence in a short amount of time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m still a bit skeptical. Maybe he was nearby or close to that person that Evelyn had known. Not to mention that Evelyn told me how that guy she knew had apparently died during surgery. I don¡¯t want to theorize about things I don¡¯t know a lot about. I think we should just try to escape this mansion and go our own ways, but for now, I¡¯ll just take Leon¡¯s confession as something that could be true, but is yet to be fully proven.¡±


    ¡°Why take it as anything? He is no more than a stranger to any of us. And I should note, that occurrence should not prompt too big of an outrage. It is really not the time for tears and interference at this moment. From what I have seen, Evelyn does appear to be quite a sensitive person. She most probably sees more of a connection between the image of Leon before and the thing he is now. Leave the rest of the thinking to her, even though I believe that she is afraid of you doing just that.¡±


    Suddenly, the door opened and Evie came inside the dining room with three cups of tea.


    ¡°Hey, Petra, the tea is ready. Dante, I made some for you too, please drink with us to calm the negativity that looms over us.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I shall stay here then.¡±


    Evie sat down with us and we talked about anything that came to mind. To my surprise, I actually felt better despite the day¡¯s events.


    Afterwards, Evie went to her room to sleep, Dante went to clean around the mansion and I went to the library to look through the books again.


    I didn¡¯t find a single clue, the shelves that I checked mostly had fiction, be it novels, comics or fairy tales.


    A brave warrior fighting dragons, adventures of ancient Greek heroes, five friends and a dog traveling to Egypt to kill a vampire¡­ Seemingly decent stories, but useless right now.


    The rest of the day was mostly forgettable, I didn¡¯t find anything and neither did I spend time with anyone else. I was satisfied though, I needed to rest so that I could take the opportunity that I had to prepare for whatever was next. Slowly, but surely, midnight came and I was ready to go to bed.


    Everyone besides me was already in bed, so I walked quietly towards my room, hoping not to disturb anyone. I got to my door, but before I could open it, I heard a weird sound. It¡¯s coming from Maya¡¯s room! I moved closer to her door to see what the sound was.


    ¡°Why? Why, why, why, why? It had to be me! Of course it did. He¡¯s right. I need to do it. Yes, yes, he¡¯s right. He¡¯ll make it all better. She¡¯s just using me!¡± She was mumbling to herself and making an effort not to cry.


    Should I go inside and try to calm her down? No, that would be stupid, I doubt she¡¯d listen to me. What does she want to do though? I need to look out for that. I¡¯ll talk to her tomorrow when I get the chance. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll handle it well if I just enter her room without any warning. Poor girl, I hope things will get better for her.

 Chapter XIII - A lost servant

    I made myself scrambled eggs for breakfast and took them back to my room. It was barely seven in the morning and I was the only one awake. I also wrote an entry in the journal that I forgot to write yesterday. It was a relatively calm morning.


    Afterwards, instead of continuing my investigation, I stayed in my room and did nothing. It¡¯s early, I should just wait for everyone else to wake up, it¡¯s not like I have the energy to immediately go investigate either. Yeah, I should just let myself rest.


    I waited until I heard Lucia¡¯s clock making that frustrating sound that it made every morning. Already nine, huh?


    I waited a couple more minutes and went towards the dining room, expecting everyone to be there, but to my surprise, I only encountered Naomi.


    ¡°Good morning!¡±


    ¡°Petra!¡± Naomi was louder than usual.


    ¡°Yeah? Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Where is Maya? I lost her.¡±


    ¡°Lost her? Why are you talking about her like she¡¯s your dog?¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Wait, if Naomi doesn¡¯t know where Maya is, that means that she¡¯s not in her room. I never heard her leave¡­ Did she leave her room to go somewhere before I woke up? That can¡¯t be good, not after what I heard last evening. I need to find her!


    Without saying another word, I ran out of the dining room to look for Maya, but right when I entered the main hall, I ran into Alex, accidentally making him fall.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Are you okay?¡± I reached my hand out to help him get up.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t worry, but I need your help, it¡¯s really important.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Maya, she¡¯s gone. I have no clue where she went. I checked her room, the dining room, literally every other corner of this floor. Please help out, I¡¯m really worried!¡±


    ¡°I was on my way to look for her, don¡¯t worry! Let¡¯s hurry up!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go search the second floor, you continue where you left off, deal?¡±


    Alex nodded and we parted ways. Where could she be? What is she trying to do? Goddamnit, I knew I should¡¯ve gone into her room last evening, I¡¯m so dumb!


    I checked the storage room first, it seemed like the most multi-purpose room in the entire mansion. Unfortunately, Maya wasn¡¯t inside and nothing in the room was out of place, meaning that she was never in there or at least never took any large object. Are there any other important rooms on this floor? I never took the time to explore this floor at all. I¡¯ll find Dante or Blake, one of them definitely knows!


    I rushed towards the bedrooms and went inside of Blake¡¯s room, since I also wanted to check up on him.


    ¡°Good morning! Are you feeling better today?¡±


    ¡°Actually yeah, I¡¯m good. I¡¯ll probably go out and investigate a bit today, bit of an asshole move to just leave the work to everyone else, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I actually do need some help right now, but you don¡¯t need to get out of bed, it¡¯s just a question.¡±


    ¡°Shoot.¡±


    ¡°Apart from the storage room, are there any other rooms on this floor that are important? Nobody can find Maya, so I¡¯m looking around here, but I never spent any time checking this floor, so I¡¯m a bit lost.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense, the layout is confusing as fuck. You can¡¯t enter any other rooms in this wing of the mansion through the hallway, there¡¯s a back door in the storage room that leads to everything else. Pretty dumb if you ask me, it makes most of the hallway irrelevant and makes you walk more for no reason.¡±


    ¡°Weird. Thanks for the help though, I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°My pleasure. I¡¯ve been dead weight ever since I came here. I¡¯m glad that I¡¯m finally in the shape to help, or at least not causing anymore trouble.¡±


    I left his room and quickly backtracked to the storage room.


    Let¡¯s see¡­ Where¡¯s the back door?


    I walked past a couple of shelves and noticed a giant pile of full boxes. I took a couple from the top and moved them down to the floor which revealed the door I was looking for. I hastily moved more boxes and pushed some out of the way until I could open the door. The room that was in front of me looked like a playroom. Colorful floor and walls, a pile of toys, even a small play structure with a maze, slide, ball pit and two over the top doors, one on the left and one on the right, leading to God knows where. All of this behind a storage room makes it creepy. Who designed this mansion?


    I took the time to search the room, although it was obvious that Maya wasn¡¯t in it. The longer I stayed, the more uncomfortable I was. The lack of noise and the feeling of soullessness in such a colorful place was unsettling to say the least. I spent a couple of minutes in the playroom, but before I could finish searching, I heard someone¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Petra! Where are you?¡± It¡¯s Alex.


    I quickly ran out of the playroom and storage room to see what he wanted, I assumed that it was important since he must have been occupied with Maya¡¯s disappearance.


    ¡°Oh, there you are! I got worried that you might¡¯ve disappeared too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was just looking into something. Did you find Maya?¡±


    ¡°No, but Naomi and I found a hidden room on the third floor!¡±


    ¡°Another hidden room? It must be important, I¡¯m coming. Where is it?¡±


    ¡°At the very end of the hallway, just follow me.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    I followed Alex with some semblance of hope that the room would actually prove to be useful. While we were running through the hallway on the third floor, I noticed the entrance to the hidden room. It opened like a door, but it had no door knob and it was the same material, color and design as the walls. Next to it were Naomi and Leon.


    ¡°Haha, are we having a party here?¡± Leon asked. ¡°I just wanna explore, I¡¯m not here for an entire gathering.¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡± They¡¯re arguing again. Well, it¡¯s more like Leon¡¯s arguing with a wall.


    ¡°Alright guys, I brought Petra.¡± Alex said. ¡°I think we should just leave everyone else alone and see what¡¯s inside.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Naomi said and proceeded to enter the room, all of us following her inside. The room looked like an average bedroom with just a bed, nightstand, chair, desk and closet. Who does this room belong to? Maybe Lucia lives here.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I looked around the room and what immediately caught my attention was a small cardboard box on the nightstand.


    ¡°Guys, look over here!¡± I pointed to the box.


    Without saying a word, Naomi walked towards the box and opened it. Everyone got close and looked inside. No way! Our phones!


    Without any hesitation I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. Can I call for help? Come on, come on! Shit, no signal. What did I expect?


    We looked at each other in silence, even Leon stayed quiet. I see two possibilities here. Either Lucia put our phones here to give us false hope so that she could mess with us further, or there¡¯s some secret lying in here, waiting to be uncovered.


    ¡°Petra, look through the remaining phones and figure out who they belong to.¡± Naomi was ordering me around, it was obvious that she had an idea.


    I took the first phone at random and unlocked it. The background was a detailed drawing of a corpse. What the fuck? I opened the gallery because it probably had pictures of the person that this phone belonged to. It was filled with gory pictures, some real, some drawn. Nobody in this mansion seems this sick in the head apart from Leon, but he¡¯s here, the phone can¡¯t be his. I continued scrolling, trying not to look at all the blood and organs until I finally found the picture of the person to whom the phone belonged to.


    No, this can¡¯t be it. Was that¡­No! This phone is Amy¡¯s! This can¡¯t be for real! I knew it, I knew that she was hiding something with her love for ¡°detective related stuff¡±, but why does it have to be this horrid. This isn¡¯t sadism, this isn¡¯t even curiosity for gore, this is a goddamn fetish! That bitch!


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Naomi turned to me.


    ¡°I-I, I mean, I¡¯m sorry. Just, it¡¯s this¡­ I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Speak clearly.¡±


    ¡°The phone I checked, it¡¯s Amy¡¯s. She told me how she liked detective stuff, probably including true crime, and you know, things like that, but no! The phone is just filled with gory pictures, some of it is even extreme fetish porn!¡±


    Naomi stared at me wide-eyed and reached out her hand and I instinctively handed her the phone. With some hesitation I took the next phone, which had a pitch black background.


    Shit, it needs a password. I paused to think for a moment. I don¡¯t know who this belongs to, the background doesn¡¯t give me any clues. Is there a possibility that this phone was put here by Lucia as some sort of clue? I clicked on the bar where the password is supposed to be and the keyboard popped up. M-e-n-d-i-v-i.


    The phone unlocked, the password was correct. It worked! This was set up by Lucia!


    I hastily searched through the phone, checking every app that seemed significant. Wait, there are only apps that come with the phone, there isn¡¯t anything installed on here¡­ Nevermind that, let¡¯s see. Gallery completely empty¡­ No contacts, calls or messages. What the hell? I angrily put the phone down.


    ¡°Who¡¯s phone was that?¡± Naomi asked me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think it was put there by Lucia.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing there, no pictures, contacts or anything, but it¡¯s password protected. I thought about the possibility of it being a clue left by Lucia and put ¡®mendivi¡¯ as the password, that word we saw under the backyard. It worked, that was the password, but like I said, there¡¯s nothing on the phone!¡±


    ¡°Shame. Leave the phones though, I¡¯ll call the rest later. Let¡¯s search the rest of the room.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, good idea.¡± I couldn¡¯t get the thoughts about Amy¡¯s phone out of my head, but I needed to go along with the search.


    ¡°Leon, open the closet.¡±


    ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake, you bossy bitch! Are you bound to the ground or something? Just open the fucking door yourself.¡±


    Naomi gave him a look of disappointment and opened the closet door.


    We were greeted with a cold fear that crawled across our bodies, a brutal reminder that we weren''t safe, and that what we were doing was not something we could afford to do without great caution.


    In the closet was Maya, her body motionless and full of wounds, with cuts across her arms and legs, her face barely recognizable after God knows what had happened to her. Her hands were tied with rope, there was blood coming out of her mouth, one of her pinky fingers was cut off. Her hair had parts of it ripped out and some of it was soaked from the blood that ended up on the floor and her clothes had giant holes. Her whole body looked like it was falling apart.


    What kind of monster would do this? I put my hand on my mouth because I thought I was going to throw up. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to say anything and neither could anyone else, we merely stared at the body, frozen in shock.


    I could¡¯ve prevented this, what¡¯s wrong with me? This is my fault! I could¡¯ve saved someone, but I decided to go to bed without any worries. This is it. I clenched my fist. This is the last time I¡¯ll allow this to happen. I¡¯m finding the traitor.


    ¡°What a tragedy, I actually feel a bit sad,¡± Lucia appeared out of nowhere like usual, standing behind us, just outside the room.


    ¡°You,¡± Naomi stared daggers at her, ¡°why are you here?¡±


    ¡°How rude, I merely came here to do my job. I really wish there were more of you, so that I could punish such disrespect, yet with only twelve of you in total, now only seven, the fun would be over too soon. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, I came here to say that the traitor didn¡¯t kill your dear little drug abuser, so I¡¯ll call you down after a bit, you rascals go investigate.¡±


    ¡°Haha, now this is becoming interesting!¡± Leon said excitedly.


    If the traitor isn¡¯t responsible, then we can¡¯t narrow it down to only four suspects, we¡¯re back to square one. Why? Why would someone kill for no reason, someone who¡¯s supposed to be our ally? Did they kill her out of paranoia, repeating Adam¡¯s mistake? Was there some other motive? Either way, it¡¯s not right.


    ¡°I volunteer to stay here and investigate this room!¡± I can do this.


    ¡°Stop right there, buckaroo!¡± Leon put his hand in front of me. ¡°You¡¯re a bit too enthusiastic, don¡¯t ya think? We can¡¯t leave you alone with some gosh darn important evidence!¡±


    I angrily pulled Leon by his shirt, bringing him closer to me.


    ¡°Sit on the bed, stay silent and just watch. Understood?¡± I usually hated when I came off as intimidating, but with Leon I found it to be a necessity.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to do any work? You¡¯re so nice, Miss buff lady!¡± I ignored his comment and began investigating.


    Alright, I can do it, I can do it, I have to do it.


    I slowly approached Maya¡¯s lifeless body. Where do I start? I think I should first conclude that she was definitely tortured before being killed, there¡¯s no doubt about it. What exactly did the culprit do to her though? I see cuts, but that could¡¯ve been done with multiple objects. Knife, razor, practically anything sharp. I need to find something that was done with one specific thing so that I can tie it to the case. Come on Petra, do it!


    I kept looking, but there was no trace of the killer¡¯s identity left at the scene.


    Nothing¡¯s adding up here. I can¡¯t trace anything here to anyone and I don¡¯t think anyone had a motive to do something this horrible either. Could this be one of Lucia¡¯s tricks? I don¡¯t know, she usually has a meaning behind her doings.


    I got the idea to check the rest of the closet, although it was almost empty. On the top were just some plain clothes, there couldn''t have been more than fifteen pieces of clothing. I looked through them, but there was nothing hidden inside. What did I expect? Of course the piece of shit who did this was smart enough to get rid of evidence instead of shoving it into random clothing.


    Maybe I should try moving the body, there could be something under it. Maybe the killer hasn¡¯t considered that anyone would be brave enough to touch the body. I gathered courage that I desperately needed and grabbed Maya¡¯s lifeless body, slightly moving it deeper into the closet.


    I looked at the bottom of the closet. I was disappointed for a second, not seeing anything, but that disappointment was quickly changed into hope when I noticed that one piece of the hardwood floor was slightly moved under where the body used to be. I quickly grabbed and moved it, finding a small hole under the floor and inside, a rope. Wait, this is exactly what happened to Rose and Alex once, finding rope under the floor. What does this mean? Is this the same piece of rope? I mean, it could be, I did forget where we last left it, but this could be a different piece of rope hidden in the same way. It might not have anything to do with the case. It seems to be different from the one used to tie Maya¡¯s hands up.


    I took my eyes off the rope. I need to get back to investigating the body. It¡¯s disgusting, but that¡¯s where I¡¯ll find the biggest clue, I just know it!


    Suddenly, I heard a loud noise coming from downstairs. That¡¯s the clock! It¡¯s already over, I barely got time to check out anything, that bitch!


    ¡°Thank God, I was getting bored.¡± Leon yawned and walked out of the room.


    I guess it¡¯s time. It¡¯s time to get this out of the way. It all happened so quickly, I still can¡¯t believe it, but I can¡¯t erase it out of my head either, it¡¯s agonizing. I have to go to that fucking dining room and uncover the monster who did this. It¡¯ll soon be over, I just know it! This also could lead us all to the traitor in some way, I have to trust that things will be fine in the end. Even if everything goes to shit, I have to believe that it¡¯s okay so that I don¡¯t go completely insane.

 Chapter XIV - Whos the traitor?

    I cautiously walked inside the dining room. Leon, Alex and Blake made it before me. After less than a minute, Naomi came inside with Lucia right behind her.


    ¡°Alright, that is everyone it seems, therefore you may begin.¡± Lucia started talking. ¡°I will stand here and merely listen to the conversation, exactly like last time. You will only be interrupted if you interrupt others, which is fair if you ask me.¡±


    I looked around the room and noticed how many of us were absent.


    ¡°I informed Evelyn and Dante not to come. It would be a risk, Lucia has mentioned a punishment for assuming the wrong person as the killer.¡± Naomi noticed my confusion.


    ¡°Then why the hell did I come?¡± Leon asked in a pissed off tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t do any investigating, I just stared at Petra¡¯s ass!¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°Fucking finally!¡± He stood up, but in the same moment, Lucia appeared behind him, practically teleporting across the room.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± She put her hand on his arm. ¡°I greatly apologize if I forgot to bring this rule up last time, but if you enter the discussion, you may not leave. Also, if everyone agrees on the wrong answer, you will have to take the punishment too, so sit down boy.¡±


    It looked like a switch was flipped in Leon¡¯s brain, because his expression and body language quickly became more serious and he sat back down without making a rude comment.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s begin.¡± Alex seemed prepared.


    ¡°No need for that.¡± Leon looked at him with malice in his eyes. ¡°Maya killed herself and Alex is the traitor.¡±


    Making such a statement this early¡­ He¡¯s not suddenly being serious, is he?.


    ¡°What the hell are you on about?¡± Alex was angry. ¡°There literally isn¡¯t anything pointing towards me being the traitor! Saying that Maya killed herself too? Are you insane? Her body was heavily wounded, it was obvious that the killer tortured her to death.¡±


    ¡°Oh, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, why else would she be wounded?¡±


    ¡°The traitor could¡¯ve done that after finding her body, most likely with the intention of making us guess incorrectly here. That¡¯s where you come in, my dumbass friend!¡±


    ¡°You literally have nothing to back up the bullshit that you just made up. Where did she kill herself? When, why? How would you manage to figure all that out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a snoopy little fucker, that¡¯s how! Now, you can either confess already and cut this shit out so that we can leave, or you can let me do it. Understood?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m innocent, I don¡¯t have to accept either of those two options because there¡¯s no evidence pointing to me.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll explain this shit to everyone, pissface. It started when he and-¡±


    ¡°Stop! We¡¯ve all gotten tired of your lies long ago, Leon! Go back to your dumb games once this is over, but right now we¡¯re in a situation too serious for your bullshit. Lives are on the line, how do you not get that?¡±


    ¡°Do not interrupt others, first warning.¡± Lucia said from the corner of the room.


    ¡°No no, I¡¯m glad that he interrupted me. Just don¡¯t let yourself slip up again on that rule, I need to have my super serious over dramatic monologue sometime soon and by soon, I mean now, so hear me out for once in your worthless lives.¡± Leon coughed and stretched for a bit. Is he actually planning to say something helpful? I have my doubts, but I won¡¯t say anything. ¡°The reason I¡¯m glad he interrupted me is because it will now allow me to change the topic more smoothly. I already gave my completely serious claim on who the traitor and the killer here are. I stopped joking around the second Lucia said that I cannot avoid punishment nor leave the room, because that¡¯s stripping me of a thing that I must have. Freedom. The complete control over every move that I make and something that I will without a doubt lose if I let you idiots keep playing around. I might look like a failed abortion to most of you, but y¡¯know, crazy genius stereotypes and all that are somewhat rooted in reality.¡±


    ¡°Cut to the chase,¡± Naomi was already tired of his speech.


    ¡°Wait for one second, are you blind to the fact that I am trying to regain my freedom here? That means that I am taking this very seriously, so listen to my words and think about every single one of them. Anyway, back to the topic. Think about life for a second, disconnected from this poorly built mansion. What is the meaning of life, what could possibly be worth all this suffering? Personally, the only feeling I consider worth living for is happiness, feeling satisfied with how things are, something some will feel without being free, but only in limited amounts, which is never enough, because that just allows negative emotions to cancel the happiness out. Every lie I told and every joke I made, they were all said because I felt happy messing around with you guys. Now though, my freedom is directly threatened, which it wouldn¡¯t be if the traitor wasn¡¯t here, so I am stepping down from merely following my desires just to get rid of this pest. So I will ask you again Alex, do you want to confess or should I take things into my own hands and end this myself?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fucking insane!¡± Alex bared his teeth. ¡°You aren¡¯t and you never were more free than any of us and neither are you now some good guy. You know that I¡¯m not the traitor, because you¡¯re most likely the traitor putting on some complicated act to throw us off!¡±


    ¡°I wish to hear why Leon thinks Alex is the traitor.¡± Naomi seemed intrigued.


    ¡°Let us go back in time to around two or three days after we changed rooms.¡± Leon continued talking, constantly changing the way he spoke. ¡°That¡¯s when I started paying more attention to Maya and Alex. For some weird reason, she really seemed to like him, bad taste if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Alex. Lucia doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯ll like it if you continue interrupting me, plus I need to finish this as soon as I can because it¡¯s honestly tiring. Now, back to what I was talking about. Alex and Maya started getting closer and closer to each other. When I noticed that Alex actually liked spending time with her and gave her affection, I knew that there were only two possibilities. Either Alex is really touch starved or he¡¯s the traitor, planning to take advantage of our dear deceased druggie. Through observation, I realized that he planned to convince her to commit suicide. I didn¡¯t care then, but now since my freedom is endangered, I have to reveal everything.¡±


    ¡°I think Leon is telling the truth, at least somewhat.¡± I said after connecting things in my head. Maya mumbling weird things to herself, her relationship with Alex, the rope under the closet, I guess Leon noticed those things too. ¡°I just have to know one thing, Leon. When did you find out that there was a hidden room on the third floor?¡±


    ¡°Finally putting two and two together?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Of course, both him and I found out about the room early. Haha, for a bit he thought that only Maya was near, it was hilarious!¡±


    ¡°Elaborate.¡± Naomi urged Leon to continue for the first, and probably last time ever.


    ¡°God, I overestimated what your tiny brain can do. Maya and Alex found the room before you guys and Alex took advantage of that by making Maya keep it a secret, but both of them are blind as fuck, so they didn¡¯t notice that I was spying on them from one of the rooms! Easy to comprehend, right?¡±


    ¡°And what occurred afterwards?¡± Naomi asked.


    ¡°I guess I really have to spell it out. Fine, but I¡¯m never putting this much effort into something again! After they found the room, Alex thought that it would make an amazing hiding spot, so he began working on his murder plan.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything of the sort, stop lying!¡± Alex interrupted him again.


    Lucia came behind Alex without her footsteps making any sound and started slowly and gently scratching his head.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°What did I say?¡± She whispered, but was still loud enough for me to hear her. ¡°Do not interrupt others while they speak, wait for your turn. I will not warn you anymore.¡± She moved her hand away from Alex¡¯s head and grabbed the chair he was sitting on. She pulled it fast enough to make Alex fall off, which made her chuckle.


    ¡°What was I talking about?¡± Leon yawned. ¡°Oh yeah, Alex¡¯s dogshit plan. Basically, he realized that since there are only four suspects for the traitor, Maya getting killed by him would out him as the traitor almost immediately, so he got the idea to make her commit suicide. Maya was a drug addict, that¡¯s obvious, she was more insane than me, meaning he could convince her pretty easily and it would also make sense to someone if they were to see her hanging from the ceiling.¡±


    ¡°But we found her inside a closet! You¡¯re trying to screw us over again, aren¡¯t you?¡± I was still suspicious of Leon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll screw you once this is over. At this moment in time though, I¡¯m solving this by myself because none of you are competent enough to do it. The reason we didn¡¯t find the body hanging from the ceiling, the library ceiling more specifically is because I had my part of the fun.¡±


    ¡°And what exactly was your part of the fun?¡± Blake asked, who up until now just spent time listening in.


    ¡°Well, when she killed herself, around like two or three in the morning, I thought that it would be funny to burst into Alex¡¯s room and essentially let him know that I saw everything. You should¡¯ve seen the look on his face, it was hilarious! At the time I thought that I wouldn¡¯t be involved in this shitty discussion, so I offered him a deal.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me,¡± Blake came to a sudden realization, ¡°you did all that to Maya¡¯s lifeless body just for shits and giggles?¡±


    ¡°Bingo!¡±


    ¡°You sick bastard!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear my super cool as shit speech earlier? Why are you surprised that I did it? I don¡¯t trap myself with some stupid morals, I let myself do what I want and that¡¯s how it should be done! End of that.¡±


    ¡°I think I know what happened.¡± Alex spoke up.


    ¡°Duh, you were literally involved in all of it. I told everyone the whole story!¡±


    ¡°No, I think I know what happened if we exclude all your lies!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that bullshit again¡­ Well, I guess I¡¯ll hear you out.¡±


    ¡°You did find Maya first and she did hang herself, though she either did it on her own accord, or you made her do it. I trust your speech about freedom or whatever, but other than that, everything you said is a lie. I didn¡¯t do anything suspicious, you never came into my room and you did all those things to Maya¡¯s corpse without telling anyone.¡±


    ¡°Just excluding yourself from everything? You really never liked her, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°Why are you trying to convince everyone that I¡¯m the traitor? Is it just one of your sick jokes or do you genuinely have something against me?¡±


    ¡°If you mean all those things you gave me permission to do to Maya, I don¡¯t hate you for that. I only wanted to see how desperate you would get and boy, you sure were desperate!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Still playing dumb? Then I¡¯ll tell everyone. ¡°Attention!¡± Leon loudly clapped. ¡°When I came into Alex¡¯s room last night I made a promise. I told Alex that if he let me do the things I requested to Maya¡¯s body, that I would keep my mouth shut, though he didn¡¯t realize that I did that to mess with him and that I didn¡¯t need his permission for anything. Sadly for him, promises mean nothing to me, so I¡¯ll also say what I was allowed to do. Of course, I moved the body into the closet, that¡¯s how it ended up there. Then, I took a couple of tools from the storage room that I used to do my work, you know, create art out of that worthless bitch¡¯s body. He also gave me permission to fuck her, but she was too ugly for me to finish.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I yelled out.


    There¡¯s no way he just said that. No, he has to be lying, there¡¯s no way he did it. Even a maniac like him, he has to be lying!


    ¡°First warning for you, Petra. No interrupting.¡± Lucia calmly warned me.


    ¡°She¡¯s right!¡± Blake said, also in disbelief. ¡°What the hell did you just say?¡±


    ¡°I have to admit, she wasn¡¯t that ugly, I can¡¯t even complain much about that! Truth be told, I couldn¡¯t ejaculate because it was a feeling too novel for me, close to nothing I¡¯ve experienced before. The beauty of that experience surpassed anything sexual or even romantic! Can you even imagine sex with no romance or sexual attraction, just the sweet chill of death, and yet more intimate than any feeling a human can have? It felt like fucking a human-sized doll that was so realistic you could feel it tickling your soul.¡±


    Blake stood up and grabbed Leon, who was still sitting, by the wrist.


    ¡°Sit back down,¡± Lucia warned Blake in a terrifyingly serious voice and without any resistance, he let go of Leon and sat back down.


    Leon, who is he? There are so many sides to him and I cannot figure out one of them. He¡¯s a threat to everyone here, that¡¯s for sure. A fucking necrophile, possibly a murderer, manipulator, spy, I could attach so many adjectives to him. I think he knows who the killer and the traitor are, I¡¯m just not sure if he¡¯s telling the truth, I can never be sure of that with him. I just know that I should keep my guard up at all times. Traitor or not, I genuinely don¡¯t know what to do about him.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Leon began speaking again, ¡°is everyone convinced?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say it again,¡± Alex replied, ¡°there¡¯s a possibility that it was suicide because you openly admitted to causing every injury that was on her body, although I¡¯m not the traitor, nor have I done anything to make her commit suicide.¡±


    ¡°I do have something that could indicate it being suicide!¡± I remembered an important detail. ¡°When I was investigating, I found a rope hidden under the closet.¡±


    ¡°Bullseye! Finally, I was waiting for you to bring that up, for a second I thought you were just stupid! I purposely watched you investigate to see if you would find it, although I still spent most of my time just staring at your enormous ass.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough information.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°Ok, ok, no need to attack me, that was a compliment. Either way, she used that rope and I hid it there after taking druggie¡¯s body to that room.¡±


    ¡°Then I say that it was suicide.¡± I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m right, but I don¡¯t have a better answer myself, so I¡¯m completely cornered.


    ¡°Boss bitch, sick dude? What do you say?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, suicide.¡± Blake made his choice. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I don¡¯t know many details, but it just seems most likely.¡±


    ¡°Boss bitch?¡±


    Naomi was lost in thought. She probably thinks it was suicide too, but the other probable answer was that Leon killed her and made up this act. I doubt that Alex could''ve done it.


    ¡°Whatever I say other than suicide will not be able to win as the majority vote, thus it is suicide.¡±


    ¡°So, everyone is saying suicide.¡± Lucia came closer to the table.


    We all looked at each other and nodded. It¡¯s settled, now we just have to see if we were right. Come on, please be true! I don¡¯t want it to end here!


    ¡°Correct.¡± Lucia slowly clapped. ¡°Now I just have to punish the killer and you¡¯ll be free to leave.¡± Punish the killer? How, it was a suicide? Did she not hear us correctly?


    Lucia swiftly disappeared, leaving us alone and confused. Cautiously, we stood up and walked towards the door leading to the main hall, only to be stopped by the sound of Lucia opening the other door, now dragging Maya¡¯s corpse, which somehow did not have a single injury, across the room.


    ¡°Where are you going? You do not wish to skip the main show, trust me.¡± Lucia laughed menacingly.


    She pulled Maya¡¯s body up and grabbed her head with one hand. Out of nowhere, Maya sprung back to life in mere moments, making most of us scream. She didn¡¯t just do that, there¡¯s no way!


    ¡°W-What¡¯s going on? D-Did it not work? N-No! Why always me?¡± Maya was just as upset and confused as the rest of us.


    ¡°Oh, it worked, it worked a bit too well my dear Maya.¡±


    ¡°L-Lucia! Wait, m-most of you are here, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Naomi took a step closer to Maya, but Lucia quickly stopped her.


    ¡°Ah, w-why are the lights out? Someone please help me!¡±


    The lights aren¡¯t out, what is she talking about? Wait, the same thing happened when she killed Adam. He thought that the lights were out. Everything is just happening all over again!


    Lucia pulled out a paintbrush out of the pocket of her suit, which managed to confuse me even further. Then, without a warning, she stabbed her own hand with one of her nails. Blood poured out, way more than what would be expected from a normal human being.


    Consequently, she dipped the brush in her blood and then used that to draw a stick figure on the wall.


    ¡°Let us begin,¡± Lucia said with a hint of excitement in her voice.


    She drew a line across the stick figure¡¯s right arm. Immediately afterwards, Maya¡¯s right arm was cut in half, making her scream in agony.


    ¡°Too loud,¡± Lucia touched the stick figure¡¯s mouth with her brush, cutting off the tip of Maya¡¯s tongue. Maya tried to cover her mouth with both of her hands, but due to the amount of blood and her missing half an arm, she looked like a panicked dying animal.


    I can¡¯t look at this! No, there¡¯s no way that this is happening right in front of me!


    Lucia drew yet another line, this time around the ankle of the stick figure. Maya fell as she struggled to breathe between her screams.


    ¡°You are honestly tiring, I almost pity you.¡± Lucia looked at Maya who was rolling across the dining room floor. ¡°I cannot make this anymore spectacular.¡±


    Lucia turned back toward the stick figure and drew a line across its neck, in turn swiftly decapitating Maya.


    Blood splattered across the room, but it was finally over.


    Is she done? She brought Maya back to life just to kill her again. Such cruelty, I can¡¯t even begin to imagine her thoughts! I need to go, I need to calm down, I need to do whatever must be done to get this out of my head. I can¡¯t go on for much longer! She¡¯s going to kill us all!


    I rushed back towards my room, only hoping to relax a bit even though I knew that I couldn¡¯t. I wanted to continue the discussion on who the traitor is, to see if Leon¡¯s accusations had any concrete evidence to back them, but I couldn¡¯t do it, I couldn¡¯t even stand without shaking. I fell multiple times on the way to my room, but in the end I made it, trying to stop my thoughts from killing me.

 Chapter XV - The library meeting

    I stared at the ceiling from my bed, unable to sleep. Images of Maya¡¯s destroyed and headless body were stuck in my head, I couldn¡¯t forget them even for the moment that it would take for me to fall asleep. What time is it? The clock rang long ago, it¡¯s probably already two in the morning. I need to sleep.


    Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from the hallway outside my room. They¡¯re footsteps. What is someone doing outside their room this late? It could be the traitor! I immediately stood up, waiting to see what would happen. If I hear a door open I¡¯ll take action, I can¡¯t stand here and do nothing like last time! No, I will not repeat that!


    I stopped hearing footsteps for a moment and whoever was in the hallway slid a folded piece of paper under my door. After that the sound of footsteps came back, but slowly faded as the person got further away from my room. I cautiously walked towards the piece of paper and unfolded it, revealing some text.


    Meet me at 1:30am in the library. I have a confession to make and you¡¯re the only one here that I trust enough. Come alone or I won¡¯t show myself. Don¡¯t tell anyone about this either.


    I didn¡¯t know who¡¯s handwriting it was and neither did they write their name. I was too focused on the letter to actually open the door and see the culprit before they could disappear.


    This is such an obvious trap! It¡¯s by either Leon or Alex, I¡¯m sure. Even if Dante and Blake did nothing to prove their innocence, Leon¡¯s story does have some truth to it, but at the same time, Leon could just be making shit up to keep himself safe from being found.


    I reread the letter a couple of times and thought about if it was a good idea to actually come. My life would be at risk without a doubt. Yet, why me of all people, the strongest person in the mansion, so many things could go wrong in his plan with that accounted for. Maybe the plan won¡¯t be impacted by that, like some sort of trap. Will anything happen if I don¡¯t show up? Probably nothing, but that¡¯s bad too, I don¡¯t want to miss a chance to find the traitor. If I come to the library and walk out alive, it¡¯ll all be over, won¡¯t it? Yes, that¡¯s true! I have to do it then! I¡¯ll risk my life to save everyone, I¡¯ll finally be able to help everyone!


    I quietly walked out of my room to check the time, just to make sure that whoever sent me this message wasn¡¯t talking about this night. Two in the morning sharp. Good, guess that means he didn¡¯t know that I was awake. I walked back to my room and managed to fall asleep after a couple of minutes.


    The following morning was normal, maybe a bit more quiet than usual, but that was to be expected after what had happened yesterday. I ate breakfast and loitered afterwards, nervously waiting for that meeting at the library. A bit later, I went to Evie¡¯s room to cool off and I spent that time explaining what happened yesterday to her, skipping over the more disturbing details. I didn¡¯t pay too much attention to her words, I just wanted the day to end as soon as possible.


    ¡°Petra, is there anything other than what occurred yesterday that you¡¯re stressed about?¡± Evelyn asked me while lighting a beautiful candle on her nightstand.


    ¡°No, why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Well, it is quite understandable that you would be devastated right now. Trust me, the second this nice atmosphere fades away, I will break down completely, but your nervousness does not appear to come from trauma. Rather, it appears to come from anxiety, more precisely anxiety from something that will come to you very soon. Is something happening behind the scenes, Petra?¡±


    ¡°Maybe the whole argument about Alex possibly being the traitor, that¡¯s not settled yet. Leon didn¡¯t lie about Maya committing suicide, but he could¡¯ve just told the truth about that part to survive the discussion.¡±


    ¡°I believe that Leon is the traitor. You¡¯ve witnessed what that maniac is capable of, there¡¯s no way he has a trace of innocence within him. Also, I may add, I now see why he changed so much. That speech about freedom that you told me about, he completely let go of himself. That is quite a dangerous ideology to possess. Indulging in your desires might sound like a nice thing, but it can drastically change someone if they can¡¯t resist them even for a moment. Even if the body is the same, the man I saw at the hospital had a clear soul. Such makes all the difference. Perhaps it is slightly evil to say, but the dirtiness of Leon¡¯s soul makes me lose any empathy for him, I am not worried for his safety, unlike others¡¯.¡±


    We continued chatting for a little bit and then I left to get something to drink. The rest of the day was forgettable, time passed and the only thing on my mind was the library and what was waiting for me there. I might die, what am I doing? Why am I willingly going through with this plan?


    After a long wait, the clock finally rang for midnight. Everyone who wasn¡¯t already in their rooms soon went to sleep. I¡¯ll go to my room and sneak out when the time comes, probably a bit early so that I don¡¯t accidentally end up late.


    I sat in my dark room in silence for what was definitely the longest hour in my whole life. I will make sure to end everything. I will make sure that the traitor doesn¡¯t get out alive. Will I have to become a killer? I don¡¯t want to think about it, but it could happen. I can¡¯t give up now!


    I cautiously walked out of my room when the time came. I wanted to run, but that would wake up everyone, so I didn¡¯t. It¡¯s time, come on.


    I stopped in the main hall to check the time. Only five minutes left. I could feel fear crawling along my back as I walked up to the third floor and slowly went into the library.


    On the other side of the room was Alex, leaning on a wall with hands in his pockets. So, he¡¯s the traitor! What is he planning to do? I need to keep my guard up.


    ¡°Alex?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I came. I hesitated, but I came. Are you happy?¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with, I¡¯m nervous. Just confess like you wanted to.¡±


    ¡°Oh, of fucking course! You turned your back on me too!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t accuse you of anything.¡±


    ¡°You literally just told me to confess!¡±


    ¡°But you-¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it! How many people did you bring here to gang up on me? Is everyone here? Does everyone hate me now because of that liar?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m alone. I don¡¯t want to do anything to you.¡±


    ¡°I need to see if you¡¯re alone.¡± Alex walked to the door and peeked outside. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring anyone?¡±


    ¡°You told me not to and I listened.¡±


    ¡°When could I have told you that? Wait¡­¡± He stopped talking for a second and started thinking, something obviously wasn¡¯t happening the way that he had planned.


    ¡°You did tell me that, in that letter!¡±


    Alex was confused, but he quickly came to a sudden realization. I wasn¡¯t sure what he figured out.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I remember. My bad, I was really nervous while writing it, so I forgot that detail.¡±


    ¡°Really? I mean, if this is what I think it is, then checking if I was alone would be your number one priority.¡±


    ¡°And what were you expecting?¡±


    ¡°A trap.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re the one that called me here! How can you accuse me just because I came?¡±


    ¡°I never told you to come here though.¡±


    ¡°You did, you sent me a letter telling me to come to the library at one thirty.¡±


    ¡°You sent me that letter, I didn¡¯t send anything!¡± I was becoming more and more annoyed.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t!¡±


    The conversation ended abruptly. I didn''t know what else to say and Alex stayed mysteriously silent. We stared at each other and I knew that something bad was going to happen. I was on edge, a single sudden move from Alex could turn me into an uncontrollable beast.


    This situation is hopeless. Is there a chance that the letter was not from him? He mentioned for a moment how he was nervous while writing it. He seems confused by the situation too, maybe this is just Leon meddling in things again. If I was in Alex¡¯s position, I¡¯d be on edge too.


    I made the stupid decision of turning around to leave. However, I heard Alex¡¯s footsteps behind me as I was about to exit the library. The footsteps suddenly sped up. I quickly moved to the side, barely dodging a knife that Alex had kept hidden. He did not just try to do that! There¡¯s no way!


    I used his missed attack as a chance to grab his wrist. My grab was strong enough to make him drop the knife, so after the knife fell to the floor, I pushed Alex away and grabbed it.


    ¡°You, you¡¯re the traitor!¡±


    ¡°You pushed me into a corner, what did you expect me to do? You thought that this was a good idea, you doubted me even though I did nothing to you!¡± He was engulfed in anger, ready to take me down by any means necessary. This is it Petra, you found the traitor, just end it now! You have to!


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Alex ran towards me with one fist in the air. Out of fear, I threw the knife to the side instead of attempting to stab him.


    He tried to punch me, but I quickly grabbed his wrist again and put my other hand under his neck, using it to push him to the ground, although he moved away before I could do much else. He backed away and grabbed a random book from one of the shelves, throwing it at me the next moment. I managed to grab the book while it was flying at me and throw it away, but that distracted me well enough for Alex to come close to me and kick me hard in the leg, enough for me to fall.


    Shit, that hurt! Alex used the opportunity he got to grab his knife.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you just stay still?¡± He asked. ¡°You¡¯re making it harder for yourself as well. Please, don¡¯t do this!¡±


    ¡°Do you hear yourself, you piece of shit?¡±


    ¡°I do, but you obviously don¡¯t!¡±


    He sprinted towards me with his knife, but I managed to dodge his attack again before standing up and pushing him towards the nearest wall. I started punching him as hard and as fast as I could while he was completely cornered until he eventually managed to push me back and escape.


    ¡°God fucking damnit, it hurts! How are you that strong?¡±


    I rushed towards him to attack again without a thought in my head. I punched him in the head which made him fall to the ground where I continued hitting him.


    ¡°You will pay! For Eden, for Amy, for Maya, for everyone! You murderous prick, I¡¯ll put an end to you!¡±


    He surprised me by kicking me away while I didn¡¯t expect it and then he stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had no other choice!¡±


    He swung the knife without any thinking or strategy, barely scraping me once on the hand, causing a little bit of blood to spill. I got close to him so I could disarm him and I managed to grab the hand that was holding the knife, but he wouldn¡¯t let go. He then used his other hand to push my body downwards and then he kneed me in the stomach.


    I fell into a fetal position for a moment. He tried to use that as an opportunity to stab me, but I pulled his leg as hard as I could from my position. The knife landed on my back, thankfully not cutting me. I took it, this time not making the mistake of throwing it away.


    Alex rushed toward me and I felt prepared to attack him with the knife. I was holding it with both hands, so as he approached I quickly switched to just my right hand. But, my right hand was the one that Alex had injured and the pressure of holding the knife gave me a surge of pain that I wasn¡¯t expecting.


    Even though it didn¡¯t hurt too badly, it caught me off guard, so when Alex swung at me, I flailed for a moment like an idiot and completely missed him. He managed to cleanly punch me in the face. I felt like I was flying for a moment before I hit the ground. I couldn¡¯t stand up immediately.


    "Just stay still, you stupid bitch! If you can¡¯t understand my situation, at least lie down there and die!" Alex shouted out as he lifted his leg up above me.


    Out of nowhere, I heard a loud bang and Alex, whose leg was less than half a meter away from my face, fell down while shouting in agony. That sound, was that a gun? No, what the fuck, how would that be possible? I looked around and noticed that Leon was standing near the door.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, your boy is here!¡± he laughed hysterically. ¡°I fucking told you, that idiot is the traitor! Now Petra, I know you¡¯re shocked because of my surprising shot and you know, that¡¯s valid and all, but get up and finish this since it¡¯s kinda late and I¡¯m sleepy.¡±


    I slowly stood up and looked at Alex. The bullet hit his knee, so he couldn¡¯t stand up, but he was very much alive. Do I tell Leon to shoot him again? I feel bad, but this has to end, I finally have the chance to end it.


    ¡°Come on Leon, shoot him again!¡±


    ¡°Nope, I want you to kill him. Come on, end it with a metaphorical bang, ending it with a literal one would be a lame end to all of this!¡±


    ¡°You sick bastard, just fucking shoot him, have your fun later!¡±


    ¡°I would, but I don¡¯t have any more bullets.¡± He proceeded to empty his pistol and kick away the remaining ammo. ¡°What a shame, guess it¡¯s up to you to save the day.¡±


    Why did I think I could rely on him? Well, I guess I have to do it. I promised myself that I would save everyone who I can still save and leave this mansion!


    ¡°Wait!¡± Alex shouted.


    ¡°Ooh, someone wants a pity party! Well, should¡¯ve confessed when I gave you the chance.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m not talking to you, you maniac!¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright, nobody ever wants to talk to me anyway! Petra, hear this dying man out, he probably never got any female attention before, at least from a girl that¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the necrophile here!¡± I yelled at Leon.


    ¡°P-Petra, please, please don¡¯t kill me!¡± Alex shouted in panic. ¡°I had to attack you and I had to kill everyone who I¡¯ve killed. You would¡¯ve done the same in my position.¡±


    ¡°And what exactly is your position? You came here with the intention of killing us all, one by one until we all fell.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you might think, but it¡¯s not my fault! Lucia trapped me here like she trapped all of you, except she came to my room before waking any of you up to tell me that I¡¯m the traitor and that if I attempted to go through this without killing people, that I would be killed by her. You have to understand me, I didn¡¯t have a choice! I know you would do the same, everyone here would!¡±


    ¡°So you gave your life more value than the lives of eleven other people? You are pathetic.¡±


    "Lucia would¡¯ve killed me if I didn¡¯t listen! Would that really save anyone who has died so far? No, no it fucking wouldn¡¯t! Think rationally, do you think everyone here, even if they worked together, could fight against Lucia? I did what I had to! Who knows if it¡¯s even possible for you guys to leave the mansion, maybe Lucia rigged the game from the start. I¡¯m the only one who was given a clear goal, I have the highest chance of making it out alive!"


    I was too angry to listen to him, my emotions took over, I valued the lives of innocent people way more than any form of logic. I kicked Alex in the face out of sheer anger and Leon began cheering me on. Can I continue doing this? I stood in front of him and hesitated. In a couple of moments, everyone who was asleep until recently was now in front of the library door, watching everything unfold.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Naomi asked.


    ¡°Calm down boss bitch, we just found the traitor.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Naomi pushed Leon against a wall.


    ¡°Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake, if you don¡¯t trust me that much, ask the buff bitch.¡±


    ¡°Petra, what happened?¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m in shock. Alex attacked me!¡±


    ¡°How did it come to this?¡±


    ¡°Alex sent a letter last night telling me to come here alone.¡±


    ¡°You listened?¡±


    ¡°I knew it was a trap, but I wanted to take advantage of it!¡±


    ¡°Oh, he didn¡¯t send you that,¡± Leon smirked, ¡°I sent you the letter that you read and I sent Alex a letter that was supposedly from you, but hey, it all worked out!¡±


    With all of his remaining strength, Alex grabbed my leg.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make it out of this, I will not surrender to some random bitch!¡±


    I stepped on his hand with my other leg. Then, since the knife was still with me, I sat on his torso, hesitated for a moment and then started repeatedly stabbing him in the chest. I have to end it now! No, I can¡¯t hold back, I¡¯m a monster! I¡¯m going to kill someone!


    I kept stabbing as Alex tried to save himself to no avail. I have to make sure he¡¯s dead, if I let him live in such pain then it¡¯ll be even worse, I¡¯ll be an even bigger piece of shit than him.


    I felt someone pull me back from Alex¡¯s body.


    ¡°It is over, calm yourself down. It¡¯s not very ladylike of you.¡± Lucia!


    I quickly stood up and backed away from both Lucia and the body.


    ¡°You dare show your face here, you¡¯re the one to blame for everything!¡± I pointed at Lucia


    ¡°Now, now, I suggest that you relax, Petra. You¡¯re not acting like your usual self, although I do not blame you. Still, being an asshole to me isn¡¯t going to pay off, especially because I¡¯m here with good news for once.¡±


    ¡°He really was the traitor?¡± I asked in between deep breaths.


    ¡°Correct. You are done with that, which means if you play your cards right, nobody else will die.¡± I did it, I killed the traitor. I really did it! I can finally see hope, hope that this horror will have a happy end. I can''t believe it, until now I thought that it was impossible, I thought that we were set to die, I just tried to push those thoughts to the side. Wait, what am I doing? Am I happy about someone''s death? What the hell is wrong with me? He was a murderer, but this is simply wrong. I have blood on my clothes, I gave him a painful death, I''m a psycho!


    ¡°So, can we go home?¡± Blake asked, seemingly ignoring Alex¡¯s bloody body.


    ¡°Haha, of course not. Do you not remember what the main goal here is? Find the secret of the mansion. From what I¡¯ve seen, you kids barely have any answers. The only thing you figured out is that some of your great grandparents went through something of this sort and you know that there is something important called mendivi. Not an awful lot of information if you ask me.¡±


    I wanted to think about what we could learn next, but I was still in shock from what just transpired, so my head was empty.


    ¡°Everyone take tomorrow off, we need to rest and prepare,¡± Naomi started ordering everyone around the way she usually did.


    ¡°You know what, I¡¯m not even going to say anything rude, boss bitch. I completely agree. What an exhausting night, I swear, and I didn¡¯t even get any credit for luring Alex into a trap.¡±


    ¡°Miss, do you wish for assistance?¡± Dante came up to me.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Very well, I shall take you to your room,¡± He placed one of his hands on my back and the other behind my knees and proceeded to lift me up without a warning.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like this!¡±


    ¡°It is not a complication for me, worry not. You brought justice upon this foul demon, I must treat you like the heroine that you are.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you then.¡±


    Naomi and Evie followed behind us until Dante entered my room and placed me on my bed.


    ¡°Do you wish to rest at this time, Miss?¡±


    ¡°I am tired, but I don¡¯t know if I will be able to sleep. I¡¯ll probably write the journal entry for today and then head to bed.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Good night, may the Gods allow you to have a restful night.¡± Dante walked out of my room.


    Well then, I really need to write this. It¡¯ll probably be the most important entry, although I¡¯m not sure if this journal is needed anymore. Is it obsolete now that we¡¯ll all live? Actually, no, what am I saying? There is no way that Lucia will stop here, she¡¯s probably making up something new to trick us at this very moment. I¡¯ll talk to the others about it tomorrow or in two days, I don¡¯t know.


    I shouldn¡¯t ignore what Alex said either, even if it was only out of desperation. Maybe Lucia never had the intention of letting us go. Maybe we¡¯ll all die no matter what decisions we make.


    Day 14


    We did it! We found out who the traitor is! His name was Alex, but he never told me his last name. Now that I think about it, I barely know the last names of anyone here, but that doesn¡¯t matter. What matters is that the traitor is gone. I don¡¯t want to go into too many details, as I don¡¯t want to recall them and they¡¯re pretty brutal, but what¡¯s important is that there¡¯s no longer a threat among us. Of course, Lucia is bound to try something, but I¡¯m confident that we can make it out alive.


    I am currently writing this in the middle of the night, my hands are shaking since everything happened so quickly and so soon. So many thoughts clashing with an unending amount of stress, I would usually say that I can¡¯t take it anymore, but I know that I can. The end is in sight and I have to reach out for it before Lucia closes it.


    I also began thinking about something, something that has to do with Lucia personally. Does she have a weakness? I¡¯ve seen what she can do, appearing out of nowhere, brutally murdering someone, splitting her damn face open! She can seemingly do anything, but how? There has to be some trick to it, and if I can figure out what that trick is, I¡¯ll be a huge step closer to figuring out the mansion¡¯s secret or maybe even have a chance at defeating her.

 Chapter XVI - She is always watching

    Day 15


    Naomi told us to rest for a day last night. No investigating, nothing. We did as she asked because we all needed a break. It might prolong our stay here, but it¡¯s necessary.


    I spent most of my day hanging out with everyone, getting to know them better. I talked to Blake first since I didn¡¯t know much about him, he was pretty quiet all this time and he also spent a couple of days stuck in bed due to his sickness. From what I know about him now, he¡¯s pretty nice. He seems to always look out for others, he¡¯s constantly apologizing for being ¡°useless¡±. I assured him that everything was alright and that we were simply glad that he was feeling better, and that was that. We talked about life and such. There was nothing really unordinary about him, but not in a bad way. I think he¡¯ll probably help a lot in the upcoming days, I can already see the determination in his eyes.


    In the evening Blake brought us around three packs of beer that he had found in the storage room. I rarely drink since I¡¯m underage, but everyone except Dante wanted to, so I joined them. We had a fun night and the only person who acted crazy was Leon, but I¡¯m pretty sure he was completely sober.


    To end this journal entry I want to mention that while I do feel better and safer now, I¡¯m certain that when I get out of this mansion, everything will still haunt me. All the deaths, all the stress. I want to be positive, but it¡¯s not easy and I just feel the need to bring that up because, when family or friends see me again, they might think that everything can just return to normal, though things might never be the same ever again.


    Day 16


    We began investigating again, now without the restriction of only one guy outside at a time. With all of us outside our rooms, working on getting out, I quickly realized how many people died. There are only six people including me, only half of the total twelve that we were here in the beginning. I can¡¯t believe it, how did all of that happen in only two weeks, I¡¯m at a complete loss for words!


    For something positive, I found a new clue myself while checking out the right wing of the second floor. I knew that something would be inside that room because of all the trash scattered around.


    I found blueprints for something. A small machine shaped like an eye. I¡¯m not sure what it does or if we could somehow make it, but it¡¯s a clue nonetheless. The blueprints showed that one of the parts is a small stone in the middle of the machine, I¡¯m assuming that that¡¯s what makes it do whatever it does. I¡¯ll keep my eye out for any weird looking rocks, because if I find it and manage to make this metallic eye with the help of others here, we¡¯ll make a lot of progress. Who knows, maybe this eye is the secret itself, I have to take that into account.


    Dante also managed to find something. A religious text written by two members of the Divinitas family. It doesn¡¯t mean much to me since it¡¯s just reinforcing what we already know about our ancestors being here.


    I still took a peek at the writing to see what it was about. It mainly talked about the two Gods that the Divinitas family worshiped. Sentin, the God of protection and Volaret, God of the sky. Dante gave me more details about the two Gods and I listened closely even if it didn¡¯t care too much, to be honest. From what he told me, Volaret is the creator of everything and also has control of everything while Sentin is the God who protects Volaret¡¯s creations. He told me way more than that, but I thought I¡¯d write this down to make him happier.


    Day 17


    We didn¡¯t find anything new today, although we didn¡¯t put in much effort into looking either. Fortunately, nothing bad has happened yet and Lucia still hasn¡¯t shown herself, although I do feel like I¡¯m being watched.


    Other than that, Blake told me how he was planning to confront Lucia if she tried to do something to us. Of course, I warned him not to do anything because both of us knew that she would kill him without breaking a sweat. He wants to protect us now that he can, but he¡¯s not thinking straight.


    I heard the sound of my door opening, so I stopped writing and turned around.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Naomi said and quickly took off. What does she need? I ran after her, interested in what she was planning.


    We went into the main hall and then immediately through the other door on the first floor¡¯s right wing and up the stairs where everyone else was.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s buff bitch!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I was confused. It¡¯s the room where Alex and Rose found a piece of rope. Other than that, every time I investigated here, I found nothing. Did I miss something important?


    ¡°Watch and be amazed.¡± Evelyn seemed excited. She proceeded to push a statue depicting a Roman emperor forward, only making it move slightly, but revealing a ladder leading into some sort of basement. It makes sense! This room has a staircase between two areas, so fitting another room below the second one wouldn¡¯t be too hard.


    ¡°I will go first.¡± Naomi stated and fearlessly climbed down. Dante soon followed, then me, then Blake, then Leon and last but not least, Evelyn.


    I turned around and saw a bunch of monitors, each displaying one of the rooms. Cameras! That¡¯s how Lucia is keeping track of us, but that¡¯s obvious! But wait, I¡¯ve never seen these cameras. I paid attention to my surroundings, I doubt that I would miss them.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Did any of you notice these cameras while you were going through the mansion?¡± Blake asked the question that was looming in my mind.


    Everyone except Leon said no, Leon just laughed.


    ¡°Lemme see.¡± Leon came closer to the monitors and grabbed a small remote that was in front of them. ¡°I want to see what this does.¡±  He pressed one of the three buttons on the remote and every single camera angle changed. Each monitor still showed the same room, just at a completely different angle. Leon pressed the other two buttons and they did the same thing. Each button was made to show one specific angle of every room.


    ¡°Alright, I got this!¡± Blake started climbing up the ladder. ¡°Look at the camera that¡¯s watching over the room above, I¡¯ll try to find it and you tell me if the monitor is accurate.¡±


    Just as he climbed back up he was visible on one of the monitors. I grabbed the remote from Leon and checked the other two angles. Everything was fine, but I noticed that Blake couldn¡¯t see the cameras.


    ¡°Blake!¡± I yelled out so that he would hear me from the room above.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Check the top left corner of the room, opposite of the stairs, that¡¯s where the camera currently watching you is!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything there!¡±


    I quickly went to the ladder and climbed up. Let me see for myself. It could be one of Lucia¡¯s tricks, but if she¡¯s capable of doing all of that, why does she need cameras?


    ¡°Over there!¡± After climbing up, I pointed to the corner where the camera was. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s nothing there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡±


    ¡°But how? It¡¯s not that easy to hide a camera. The video isn¡¯t low quality either, the cameras should be big enough to be impossible to hide in plain sight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯ll try to think of something. Petra, go back down and see if you can do something there, I¡¯ll stay here.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± I climbed back down and started thinking.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t overwork your tiny brain, buff bitch. Aren¡¯t you supposed to be the muscle of the group?¡± Leon said.


    ¡°I guess I have to be the smart one as well, because you¡¯re not much help in that department.¡±


    ¡°Haha, nice one! It¡¯s not like I figured out who the traitor is all by myself, or the one who brought you close to him, only leaving you to do the dirty part of the work! No, no, no, you¡¯re the smart one, hahaha. You¡¯re lucky that I don¡¯t really give a shit about getting credit! I just care about it being fun, and it sure was fun.¡±


    ¡°Leon, you truly are despicable.¡± Dante said, overhearing our conversation.


    ¡°Yes, I agree, I do not believe that I¡¯ll ever comprehend your thoughts, behavior, possibly even existence.¡± Evelyn added.


    ¡°You really had to dig in deep, you almost made me cry. How rude of you, verbally abusing a nice young lad like me.¡±


    I ignored Leon for the sake of my own sanity and thought of a plan.


    What if we throw something at the location of a camera and see if it does anything to it? Maybe I could climb up with a stepladder and check it out up close? I¡¯m pretty sure I could find a stepladder in the storage room.


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe I have to do everything.¡± Leon sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out two small wet rocks. ¡°I knew these would come in handy.¡±


    ¡°What the hell does that have to do anything here?¡± I was confused.


    ¡°You can throw these at the cameras, duh. Don¡¯t worry, I got them from the back yard, so they¡¯re hundred percent local and natural¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not touching that! They¡¯re wet, so who knows what you did with them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really rude, you know that? I offered to help and you yelled at me. Well screw you, I¡¯m not helping anymore! Plus, that¡¯s just spit, I like stuffing my cheeks when my mouth gets lonely.¡± Why can¡¯t he just shut up?


    "I believe that I have left a gemstone inside my room," Evelyn said, "I''ll go get it and you may wait for me in the room above."


    "Alright, thanks."


    "My rocks are better." Leon mumbled while I was climbing out of the room.


    I waited for a short minute until Evie came back with a beautiful blue gemstone.


    "You may throw it at the corner. Do not worry, I specifically mentioned this rock because it will not be damaged by this."


    I grabbed the rock from Evie''s hand and aimed precisely to where the camera was before throwing it. The rock quickly flew towards the corner, but before it could reach the corner it hit something that I couldn¡¯t see and fell to the ground. The cameras are invisible?


    ¡°I apologize.¡± I heard someone talking from behind, so I turned around only to see Lucia. ¡°The camera is not that large, do not be fooled. I merely couldn¡¯t let you break it. They¡¯re expensive, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°So they are there?¡± I asked her. ¡°Why would you even need them though? I doubt that you don¡¯t have some ability that would let you see what¡¯s going on everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I do not wish to ruin your fun. Think for yourself. Just don¡¯t throw things at my precious cameras. Trust me, you do not want to do that.¡± Lucia said before leaving just as fast as she arrived.


    So, that''s one of her limitations. She can''t watch over the entire mansion at once. I must keep that in mind.


    "What do we do now?" Evie asked me while she picked up her gem.


    "There has to be something that we can do when it comes to these cameras¡­ I know! Let''s try to find a blind spot, somewhere where we can be sure that Lucia isn''t watching us!"


    We went back down to the room with the monitor to try and find a blind spot there. We checked every angle for every room, looking for any space large enough where multiple people could hide from cameras. The bathrooms are under surveillance! Did she really have to go that far?


    We spent about an hour going around the mansion, just marking spots that weren¡¯t visible on the cameras by leaving random objects there, but those locations were always either extremely small or too inconvenient in other ways and even with that, those spots were still few and far between. With all of that going on, I lost track on time, so I was surprised when the clock rang for midnight, even though it did make sense for it to be that late since we found the monitor room during the evening.


    ¡°Everybody go to sleep and continue tomorrow,¡± Naomi told us not a minute after the clock rang. She seemed to take a leadership role very seriously despite the fact that nobody asked her to or even wanted it, but Leon already went to sleep, so nobody was there to whine about something so unimportant.

 Chapter XVII - Sunlight

    Mendacium, it means ¡°lie¡±. Mendacia are lies in the Latin language. If you ever bear witness to that word, know what it means. That¡¯s what a piece of paper that I found read. I was in the playroom with Blake and he found it hidden deep in the ball pit.


    ¡°Mendacium, mendacia¡­¡± Blake was lost in thought. ¡°It sounds so familiar, yet I can¡¯t quite pinpoint what it reminds me of.¡±


    ¡°Mendivi!¡± I quickly remembered. ¡°They sound similar, don¡¯t they? Mendacium, mendivi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I see it. So, mendivi has something to do with lies, whatever it might be. That¡¯s easy to figure out.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re right, but there¡¯s more to it. What kind of lie is mendivi? It could be a weird form of the word, y¡¯know how many of those Latin has? Mendacium could also only be one part of the word. Who knows¡­¡±


    ¡°Calm down girl, don¡¯t overthink. Just keep it calm and you¡¯ll figure it out.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t, I have to figure it out on the spot.¡±


    ¡°Why would you have to do that? It might actually take you more time if you do that, think about it.¡±


    ¡°I mean, you might be right, but I think it¡¯s a bad idea not to think it all through now. I can¡¯t stand being here anymore!¡±


    ¡°Mood. I miss my family and friends and who knows what they¡¯re thinking now. We were all definitely reported as missing, but God knows what the cops are doing about that. How would cops even react to Lucia?¡±


    ¡°Family, huh?¡± I sighed. ¡±I tried to get that thought out of my head, they must be so worried about me, but here I am, incapable of getting out of some old ass house! Also, I don¡¯t even want to know how the confrontation between the police and Lucia would go. Though, considering how long we¡¯ve been here, maybe she didn¡¯t leave any trace for them to follow.¡±


    ¡°Petra?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed something about you. When talking with someone here or planning something, you seem really composed. Kind of like Naomi, just not a douchebag. I¡¯m wondering how big of a toll this place took on you. I mean, I¡¯m trying my best to be my calm, easy going self, but I can¡¯t say that it¡¯s an easy thing to do. Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but you seem to be dealing with this, maybe even worse than most people here.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that? I think I¡¯m handling myself well considering what¡¯s going on. I¡¯ve helped others here, I got rid of the traitor myself, I think I¡¯ve done a lot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s precisely what I mean! You¡¯re the only one here with blood on their hands who¡¯s still alive, you¡¯ve been in the front this entire time, you helped everyone make so much progress! I want to know what¡¯s going on inside your head. Do you want to talk about your feelings, any problems in your head that you might be going through? It¡¯s not easy to tell with you, but I feel like you¡¯re going through a lot more than you show to everyone. You can tell me, I¡¯m not judgemental.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the offer, but I¡¯m not really up for it. I want to continue with the investigation for now and I don¡¯t want to bother you either.¡±


    ¡°Ok then, should we move on to one of the rooms around here or do you have another area in mind?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go to one of the two rooms that go from here, I¡¯ve actually never been inside them, so I want to at least see what the rooms are for.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve never been inside you.¡± I barely held back my laughter from Blake¡¯s joke.


    It¡¯s such a bad joke, why is it so funny?


    ¡°Oh God, sorry, it just caught me off guard! Anyway, do you know what¡¯s in those rooms, anything worth checking out?¡±


    ¡°Well, both are pretty small. The room on the left just has some things for the playroom like toys, some cheap balls, nothing important. I searched that place in its entirety already. The room on the right is practically empty, but I think you¡¯ll want to see it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, alright.¡± I walked to the door on the right and opened it.


    The room wasn¡¯t anything that I expected. It was extremely dirty, the walls weren¡¯t even painted, and the only thing inside the tight space was a giant lever stuck to one of the walls. It didn¡¯t make sense for a place like this to be here, next to a colorful playroom.


    ¡°This is really underwhelming.¡± I said after noticing the emptiness of the room.


    ¡°Yeah, it looks like it, but I told you to check this room for a reason.¡±


    ¡°The lever?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°What does it do? Should I pull it?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t, that¡¯d be a bad idea. It shuts off the electricity in the entire mansion. I was quite surprised that there isn¡¯t anything more complicated here, although this is the most sane thing I saw that came from this place. It¡¯s actually how I realized that this mansion had no windows because my spatial awareness obviously wasn¡¯t enough for such a task.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯ll keep it in mind! Wait, the mansion has no windows?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m not sure how the air here isn¡¯t suffocating us. Maybe Lucia got some special discount on invisible ACs when she got her invisible cameras, I dunno.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly unnerving.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s best to just avoid this tiny room. We need to keep constant watch over this room, if someone like Leon does something here, it¡¯ll end badly. That¡¯s how Eden met his end.¡±


    ¡°Oh God, you¡¯re right! How did I not connect those two?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not important right now, don¡¯t stress about it too much, I just wanted to show you the room.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that, I¡¯ll keep an eye on it. Probably better than letting Naomi know and having her make entering the entire floor a ten step verification process.¡±


    ¡°True. Other than that, I¡¯m pretty sure we completely covered this whole area, maybe even the whole second floor, although for now let¡¯s just say we¡¯re done with the playroom and these two tiny parts around it.¡±


    ¡°Agreed, I doubt that we¡¯ll find anything else here. With that said, do you want to go somewhere else to look around or do you want to take a break?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to go to the bathroom right now, so I¡¯ll take a break, but you do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Okay, see ya!¡±


    We went in opposite ways. I climbed down to the first floor without a set goal in mind. There¡¯s still a lot of time left today, where should I go? Is there a room on the first floor that I haven¡¯t checked in detail? Maybe the third floor?


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    My train of thought was interrupted by Dante who came rushing down the stairs.


    ¡°Lady Petra!¡± He shouted out.


    ¡°Oh, hey!¡±


    ¡°I believe I may have espied our freedom, you must follow me!¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°The third floor, the room where Maya had been desecrated.¡±


    Without hesitating, I took off and followed Dante. What did he find? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen him this excited.


    We entered the previously hidden room and I looked around to see what Dante was talking about.


    ¡°Have a gander,¡± Dante pointed at the back of the closet.


    ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t see anything,¡± I stared at the closet, but nothing interesting was there.


    ¡°Then move to the side and allow me to present you something spectacular!¡± Dante approached the closet and slightly bent down to get inside. He pushed the end of the closet and it opened like a door. A hidden room inside a hidden room? This really might be a way out!


    Dante moved out of the way and I looked at what was behind the closet. The area was barely large enough to fit a single person, but there was a ladder there, hinting at something being above the third floor. I went inside and looked up. That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s sunlight! This leads outside!


    Without saying anything I began climbing up as fast as I could.


    ¡°Lady Petra, should we not inform our brothers and sisters in this mansion of this exit we have come upon?¡±


    ¡°We will, but let¡¯s first check if we can actually leave this way!¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Dante started climbing up as well. ¡°I contemplated heading up unaccompanied, yet I did not feel it was just, I require company for something of this sort.¡±


    I noticed his tone of voice, it was a bit different than usual. I could notice some sorrow in it. Company? Oh¡­ He means Eden.


    The ladder led us to the brown rooftop of the mansion. The entire roof was flat, unusual for a mansion of this style, there was no chimney either. From it, I could see just how large the entire mansion was. I carefully took a good look around.


    ¡°It is glorious.¡± Dante stated. ¡°I descried liberty in that moment when I witnessed the light of day above that ladder. At last, we shall grab it. All that remains is to uncover a method of reaching the ground from here.¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± I hastily shouted out. ¡°Remember that fence, cage, whatever it is. The thing that surrounds the backyard! I¡¯m pretty sure we could climb down it!¡±


    ¡°Brilliant thinking! Shall we examine if it is in the realm of possibility?¡±


    I nodded and carefully walked towards the edge of the roof, excited, yet skeptical. I still had doubts that Lucia would let us escape this easily.


    I got to the edge and noticed that there was no fence, the backyard was under me, yet there was nothing between it and myself. What the hell?


    I knew that Lucia did something with her weird powers, so I turned around with fear that she was on the roof.


    ¡°Surprised?¡± Lucia was there, watching me with a smug expression on her face.


    ¡°What do you want now? I thought you were going to leave us alone since we got rid of the traitor!"


    ¡°I mean, you are somewhat correct. I will have less reason to talk to you or anyone here now that the traitor is gone. I don¡¯t have much to talk about and you aren¡¯t good company either. When I watch you, you¡¯re full of determination and energy, yet the second I arrive, you act like you¡¯re going to defecate yourself.¡±


    ¡°That is sufficient from you. Now inform us on imperative matters or depart, my eyes do not wish to have you in front of them.¡±


    ¡°You pretentious fool. If I could bring someone to replace you, you¡¯d be dead where you stand.¡± Lucia angrily said. ¡°I merely wish to let you know that you cannot escape from here in this manner. The fence surrounding the backyard isn¡¯t visible from up here and any other attempt of escape will be stopped by me. I could cut access to the roof completely, but if you wish to watch the stars when night falls or maybe the town down the hill while you get some fresh air, you may.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, I do not have anything else to say. I bid you farewell.¡± The next time I blinked, Lucia wasn¡¯t in front of me. Instead, there was a crow flying away from the mansion. Wait, did she turn into that thing? Ah, I don¡¯t even care anymore, I¡¯m probably just high on some drug by now!


    ¡°Lady Petra!¡± Dante called me over from the center of the center of the roof.


    ¡°Yeah, what is it?¡±


    ¡°I desire to converse with you whilst we are here. The town under is visible, this would be the most grandeur view to gaze at in the time that we chat.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± I walked up to where Dante was.


    I looked in front of me. The mansion was indeed on a giant hill, watching over a town.


    Home. It¡¯s so close, yet I can¡¯t go there, I¡¯m still stuck. At least I¡¯m not in the middle of nowhere. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s my town, the only reason I¡¯m even thinking whether it is or isn¡¯t is because I don¡¯t trust my senses anymore. Even if I haven¡¯t been killed yet, I still feel somewhat dead.


    ¡°The town is ravishing, is it not? Do you by any chance inhabit it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve lived there my whole life. What about you?¡±


    ¡°It is a long tale, but the Divinitas family does not reside in a single local. We travel across the seas and lands to spread the knowledge we hold of our Gods. Your home, the town of Nidengate, was our upcoming destination. We arrived at a hotel and aimed to reside for a week, yet when I went to rest on the first night, I woke up inside of this mansion with my dear brother.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I¡¯m sorry that the trip ended so badly. I hope that you and your family will reunite soon.¡±


    ¡°We shall, I¡¯m sure of it. Those with the Divinitas surname do not leave their closest, not at any time. They have lengthened their stay to search for us and Sentin will guide them, therefore I am sure that I shall see them the moment I leave this demon¡¯s trap. Eden was supposed to become head of the family soon, but that fate relies on me, so I must withstand this, there is no other servant in the Divinitas family that could take that role.¡±


    ¡°I''m sorry that you''re forced to carry such a burden. I¡¯m not a religious person at all, but seeing what Lucia is capable of, I completely trust what you¡¯re saying about your beliefs. There isn¡¯t a single logical explanation for what Lucia is capable of. Are there any scriptures in your religion that describe demons and such?¡±


    ¡°There is a chapter devoted to it. It is not what you might assume though, the chapter mentions not one thing about demons using powers that resemble Lucia¡¯s.¡±


    "What do you mean by that?"


    "Demons do not combat people in the same ways that people combat each other. They are way beyond it. They arrive on this earth as humans, yet their personalities are much distinct. Their actions hold no purpose, yet their actions affect others greatly. Human actions come with a purpose. We cling to reasoning and base our lives around it. For example, I dedicate myself to the worship of the God that created me and the God that protects me. I do not do it without reason, I do it because I deem it''s what the Gods would want from me. I sense it. You most probably sense your own purpose, only not as strongly due to your soul not being in contact with the Gods in the same way as mine. But I trust you, I trust that you will come to it and do what you were asked to do, you are a strong lady. You will commit to your duty because you are human, Volaret¡¯s creation, that is the only thing that separates us from demons, those without reason and a duty."


    "I get what you mean, although I wouldn''t call people like that demons. Maybe they''re just trying to find their purpose."


    "You misunderstood. I do not mean those who think they have no purpose or do things for mere fun. I am referring to those who are genuinely not human, those who actively and purposely stand in the paths of others without any reason than to be a burden, an obstacle."


    "It''s a bit confusing, but I''ll think about what you said more once we go back inside." I slowly began walking towards the ladder. "Well, I''ll actually go down right now. It''s kind of cold here and I just need time to think things through."


    "I shall accompany you then."


    I climbed back down into the mansion with Dante following me. There''s way more to Dante than I thought. I can see his logic, although he might be pushing it a bit. Maybe I should try to have conversations like that with him in the future. He seems like he has good intentions no matter how extreme some of his views are.


    "I was right, the mansion is way warmer than the outside!" I said.


    "I must agree with you there, lady Petra. I sense some pressure pushing down my chest, perhaps I require rest."


    "Are you ok? Maybe you¡¯re getting sick.¡±


    "I do not know, it is quite an unusual sensation. I apologize."


    "No problem, don''t worry about it!¡±


    We shook hands and turned around to get out of the third floor, but when I turned my head, I saw someone. What? How? Is my head messing with me? Is this Lucia? What is going on?


    I looked at the person in front of me. I was shaking, unable to think straight or control the volume of my voice.


    "Amy?"

 Chapter XVIII - Reunited

    Amy ran towards me and I wasn''t sure what to do. Is it really her? There''s no way. Lucia did something, it can''t really be her! As she reached her hand towards me, I grabbed her wrist with one hand and pushed her to the ground with the other. I didn¡¯t mean to hurt her, but I was terrified.


    ¡°Hey, what was that for?¡± She asked, barely raising her voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to play tricks with me! I know you¡¯re Lucia!¡±


    ¡°This shit has really gotten into your head.¡± Amy slowly stood up and took a step back. ¡°Just calm down, I¡¯ll explain everything.¡±


    ¡°Amy¡¯s dead, there¡¯s nothing to explain!¡± Does Lucia think I¡¯ll keep falling into her traps constantly?


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m heading down to the first floor to show everyone something. You two should come, it¡¯s not a trap. I don¡¯t care if you trust me, this is important.¡± Amy sighed and began walking away from us.


    I turned to Dante to see what he thought we should do.


    ¡°I have a struggle comprehending this. It is all but conventional. If Lucia has come to trouble us yet again, I do not believe that we have the capability to fight back.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    By now, Amy was already way ahead of us, so we hurried down to the first floor. I tried to mentally prepare for anything that could happen. Lucia, that sick bitch. She finally decided to come after us again, didn¡¯t she? Such a tiny break from the whole situation with the traitor and everything¡¯s already starting again!


    When we reached the main hall, everyone else was already there. Blake, Naomi, Evelyn, Leon and of course, Amy or what I still considered a mere illusion of her. She must¡¯ve talked to everyone else while I was on the roof with Dante. They all seemed just as concerned as me.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d come.¡± Amy said when she noticed me enter the main hall. ¡°I almost lost my trust in you, Petra.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± Leon yawned. ¡°Dead bitch, tell us whatever you want to say, I need to go soon.¡±


    ¡°Number one, shut up. Number two, just follow me. I¡¯ll catch up with everyone once we¡¯re done with this.¡±


    Amy started walking towards the bedrooms. She entered the small room with the vending machine and sofa, quickly walked through it and climbed up the stairs into the hallway ahead.


    I stayed quiet, but kept my guard up as I walked up the stairs right behind Amy. I didn¡¯t see any threat, yet I still felt helpless while I waited for everyone else to enter the hallway. Then, Amy moved to the side.


    ¡°Are you guys ready?¡± she calmly asked.


    We all looked in front of us. I was confused for a second, but then I noticed something, something different about this hallway that I walked through every morning and night since I¡¯ve been here. Apart from the four doors that led to bedrooms, there was now a door at the end of the corridor. It was not like the small room where we found Maya or the small basement where we saw the word mendivi for the first time, it wasn¡¯t something hidden in a normal way. It was a completely normal door, one that we wouldn¡¯t have missed.


    It¡¯s the same as the situation with the door to the main hall on our first day here! Nobody saw the door until Lucia wanted it to be visible. In my head, that confirmed it. It confirmed that whatever was going on was some sort of plan Lucia made.


    ¡°Woo!¡± Leon ran towards the door and kicked it open all while screaming like a lunatic.


    ¡°Oh God, he¡¯s still energetic,¡± Amy mumbled to herself before slowly walking towards the door.


    I hesitated more than I would usually do, but everyone else followed Amy, so I gained the courage to do the same.


    Please don¡¯t be a trap, please don¡¯t be a trap, please don¡¯t be a trap¡­


    With some faltering, I walked inside the room and looked around. The floors, walls and ceiling were ocher, practically identical to the hallway and bedrooms. It was decently large, although not large enough to have much empty space. On the left was a staircase that led down a floor. That staircase has to lead to the space between the hallway and that waiting room like place, parallel to the monitor room.


    On the right were four wooden chests, they were long, maybe around two meters, yet not very wide. Above each of them was a picture and some text, stuck to the wall. I couldn¡¯t see it well from the entrance, so I came closer to take a better look. Each photo showed someone from the third group and the text underneath gave more information on each person. Every piece of info was written under the previous one. I started reading from the one closest to me.


    Naomi Alrawi, born on June 21st, 2004, born in the city of Dubai, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Maya Keller, born on July 4th, 2005, died on October 3rd, 2023, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Leon Voss, born on April 1st, 2004, born in Nidengate, last residence unknown.


    Evelyn Umbra, born on December 23rd, 2005, born in the village of Vorfall, last residence was in the village of Vorfall.


    I took a step back. A question entered my mind. Twenty twenty three? What? How? It could¡¯ve been a couple of days after I was abducted that I regained consciousness and even that would be a small chance, but that¡¯s not the year. I remember when I lost my consciousness, when I ended up here! It was the eighteenth of August, twenty twenty one! What the fuck? It¡¯s just a trick, I¡¯m overthinking it! Two whole years can¡¯t pass without me remembering anything!


    ¡°Petra, are you okay?¡± Evelyn turned to me.


    ¡°Evie, look at this!¡± I pointed to the date of Maya¡¯s death.


    ¡°How unusual¡­ How come? I believe that the date is false, it could be a typo or Lucia merely attempting to mess with us. I suggest that you try to keep your calm, come to your senses and understand that some things are not possible. No matter how much some things we assume to be impossible might come true, there will always be something that cannot happen under any circumstance.¡±


    ¡°Is this one of those things though? That¡¯s what worries me. I think I¡¯ve seen less believable things happen in this place.¡±


    ¡°Put your trust in me, I can assure you that we have not been here for years.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Evie.¡±


    ¡°Any time. Let¡¯s explore further, shall we?¡±


    I nodded and took a step back to look at the room again. The writing on the walls isn¡¯t telling me anything new apart from a couple of irrelevant facts like Naomi and Evie not being from Nidengate. What¡¯s in those chests, boxes, whatever they are? That¡¯s the real question here.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Ooh, let me check this out!¡± Leon practically read my mind and rushed to the chest under his name. ¡°Maybe Lucia left a gift for me!¡±


    Without hesitation, he opened it, but he was quickly disappointed by the fact that it was empty.


    ¡°Piece of shit! I can get behind murder, but not leaving me a gift? Unacceptable!¡± And there he goes again.


    ¡°Shut up and back away.¡± Naomi stepped in and closed the chest.


    ¡°Leave me alone, I need to get my gift!¡±


    ¡°Just stop. I¡¯ll get you something if you shut up.¡±


    ¡°Deal, boss bitch.¡± Leon finally backed off.


    ¡°Amy, what are the chests for?¡± Naomi turned to Amy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You do, answer.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t. I can help you figure it out if you¡¯re too dumb to try it by yourself, but I have no clue.¡±


    What could it be for? I thought for a bit.


    Wait.


    The size could fit a person and it wouldn¡¯t leave much more space for anything else. Is my mind going in the wrong direction? No, this is Lucia¡¯s place, it would be perfectly normal for her to do such a thing.


    ¡°Guys!¡± I got everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Naomi said before she and everyone else turned to me.


    ¡°The chests are big enough to fit a person inside, do you think that there might be bodies in some of these?¡±


    ¡°Corpses stink.¡± Naomi quickly tried to shut down my idea. ¡°It is most likely not the case.¡±


    ¡°Hell, can¡¯t say it¡¯s false without checking.¡± Leon ran up to the chest in front of Maya¡¯s information and picture and pulled it open with a lack of hesitation. ¡°Aww, nothing. Petra, you are such a dummy¡­¡±


    I slowly walked up to Leon to see if he was lying.


    He was.


    Maya¡¯s lifeless body was inside the chest. All the scars were still there from what Leon did to her, but her hands and legs weren¡¯t cut off unlike what I saw happen after the discussion. I quickly closed the chest and pushed Leon away from it right after leaving the state of shock that the view of Maya¡¯s body put me in.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Leon was mad at me. ¡°Don¡¯t push me around like I¡¯m some fucking toy!¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Just leave me alone!¡±


    ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake. Women and their stupid emotions, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡± Amy and Naomi quickly said at the same time.


    Leon crossed his arms and walked towards a corner to get away from everyone else. Oh God, oh God, this is insane. The other bodies must be here too! There is probably space for the other groups downstairs. Maybe I should go check it out.


    ¡°If everybody¡¯s done here, let¡¯s go downstairs.¡± Amy took the words out of my mouth.


    The room under was practically identical, the only things that were different were the texts and pictures above the coffins that I thought were chests until now.


    Amy Sharp, born on March 27th, 2004, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Blake Cleeve, born on October 13th, 2005, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Dante Divinitas, born on June 3rd, 2005, born in the city of Dallas, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Eden Divinitas, born on June 3rd, 2005, died on September 22nd, 2023, born in the city of Dallas, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    I carefully read the texts a couple of times. Twenty twenty three again? And Amy is marked as alive. Maybe Amy has something to do with the dates of death. I could ask her, but considering how big the chances of her just being Lucia¡¯s puppet are, she could try to screw me over.


    ¡°Amy?¡± I called for her.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Do you know why Maya and Eden¡¯s date of death says that they died in twenty twenty three? I mean, that¡¯s in two years!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve noticed that, but I think it¡¯s just Lucia being a dick. Don¡¯t fall for her stupid traps, you¡¯re not as dumb as most of the people here.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have spoken, I already knew that I wouldn¡¯t get an answer.


    ¡°So, do we just check out the floor under to see the same thing for my group or is there anything special that you want us to see?¡± I asked Amy.


    ¡°I did not want to freak out all the weak ones here, but there is something special on the floor below actually.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Adam.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s alive?¡± I shouted out of sheer surprise. Adam too? Does Lucia just plan on using corpses to do her shit? No, I have to think of it differently, Lucia can practically teleport across the mansion. Amy and Adam are now here because Lucia had something that they could do that she couldn¡¯t. But what is it? Fuck, fuck, I can¡¯t figure it out!


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not. He was until last night though.¡± Amy responded. ¡°Lucia told me to bring everyone here by evening, she wants to organize a discussion.¡±


    ¡°But she killed Adam! We all saw it!¡±


    ¡°Seems not. I¡¯m also confused, but I know better than not to listen to her.¡±


    ¡°But you came back too, you should at least know how it came to that!¡±


    ¡°I know and I¡¯ll explain it a bit later, but I¡¯m confused as to what happened to Adam.¡±


    I turned around and noticed everyone else looking at us.


    ¡°Guys,¡± I said as I gathered courage, ¡°let¡¯s go down, we¡¯ll be fine if we already know what¡¯s coming, right?¡±


    ¡°By the Gods, I cannot believe it.¡± Dante said with a shaky voice. ¡°Lucia, she truly never fails to terrify me. I was met with hope as the traitor fell, yet this occurs now. Two brought back from the gate of heaven, one dead yet again. I shall be the symbol of upcoming justice, you may trust me on that! As a matter of fact, I shall lead you all down the staircase between us and our fate.¡±


    Nobody objected, Leon didn¡¯t even make fun of him, although he seemed to be distracted by something else. Everyone quietly followed Dante down. Please don¡¯t be that bad, please don¡¯t be that bad!


    Again, this terror continues¡­


    I immediately saw Adam¡¯s body once I got off the staircase. It was lying in the middle of the room, motionless, lifeless. There was some blood on his clothes and the floor, his face was intact despite what I had seen happen to him. The body still made me uncomfortable, I still couldn¡¯t wrap my head around the fact that people around me were dying. That, I could never get used to, nor would I want to.


    ¡°Are we all here?¡± Lucia walked down the stairs, appearing out of nowhere as usual.


    ¡°Yup, the gang¡¯s here.¡± Leon was the only one with the strength to respond. ¡°Did you come to throw a party or something? Everybody here is so lame.¡±


    ¡°I do not appreciate that sort of language. I¡¯d be careful with my words if I were you, I sense that we do not have much more time to spend together, so I might down one or two of you if I take any more disrespect.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, how scary,¡± Leon said without a trace of fear or rationality in his head.


    ¡°Either way, there will be a discussion soon. I believe that Amy has informed you all.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± I interrupted Lucia, ¡°didn¡¯t you kill Adam?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, if I did, there wouldn¡¯t be anything to discuss. It is up to you to figure it out. I mean, I even brought Amy because I know that it¡¯s not the easiest job. I am not here to assist you in your journey of leaving this beautiful mansion, but I am a fair woman above all, so I¡¯m giving you every tool that you need to go through this.¡±


    ¡°Did you call me a tool?¡± Amy turned to her.


    ¡°Possibly, but I practically resurrected you, so I think that I have the right to call you anything I wish. Anyway, that¡¯s all, I¡¯m giving you plenty of time since this is more of a puzzle than a murder case, although one of you was dumb enough to turn it into one.¡±


    I wanted to say something back, but Lucia walked up the staircase and disappeared before I could put my words together.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s get to it.¡± Amy seemed ready.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Naomi said. ¡°Amy, Petra and I are staying in this room to check everything out together. Dante and Evelyn, go to Adam¡¯s bedroom. Blake, take Leon with you and explore any other part of the mansion that you believe might contain a clue.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Blake objected.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I doubt that there¡¯s going to be any evidence anywhere else, and pushing Leon onto me just means that you know that. I want to help!¡±


    ¡°You seem physically strong enough to keep Leon at bay and that¡¯s more than enough help.¡±


    ¡°You heard boss bitch, we¡¯re sticking together.¡± Leon hugged Blake.


    Yet another discussion¡­ I bloodied my hands for this! God fucking dammit!


    ¡°Come on Petra,¡± Amy stopped my train of thought by tapping my shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s figure this out. Maybe it happened a while ago, it could be someone who¡¯s not here right now. It¡¯ll be fine, trust me.¡±


    ¡°I hope that¡¯s the case. Let¡¯s do this!¡±

 Chapter XIX - Investigating the morgue

    Another investigation, another hellish path to cross. I knew it, I knew that this was far from over! Though, the fact that I knew meant nothing since I didn¡¯t prevent it, so maybe this is my punishment. My opinions are unimportant now, only my future actions will be¡­


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll check the body since I doubt that you two want to,¡± Amy said, breaking my train of thought.


    ¡°Wait,¡± I quickly stopped her, ¡°Leave that to either Naomi or me.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    My brain paused for a moment. I stopped Amy reflexively, so I had to remember why I didn¡¯t want to let her come near the body.


    ¡°Your phone!¡± I blurted out while still thinking.


    ¡°What about my phone? Lucia probably took our phones away.¡±


    ¡°I mean, we found our phones, so we found yours too. Everyone thought that you were dead, so I checked whose phone it was and I saw the pictures in your gallery.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Amy stared at me without saying anything else, not even showing a hint of embarrassment.


    ¡°Correct,¡± Naomi said, ¡°I¡¯ll search the body. Amy, give Petra any and all info you know.¡±


    ¡°Amy?¡± I turned to her. ¡°Can I ask you a couple of questions? Some aren¡¯t related to the case, but they might help out.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I tried to stay quiet for a bit, but I need to know how you¡¯re here. I wasn¡¯t just told that you died, I literally found your body! You still might be some trap set up by Lucia, who knows?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, don¡¯t make up stupid theories. Here¡¯s how things went from my perspective,¡± Amy began explaining. ¡°I remember being trapped inside the storage room for a while, mostly because you guys couldn¡¯t even hear me yell even though the room isn¡¯t even far from the bedrooms. Nothing happened for who knows how long, I was confused as to why the traitor would lock me in a room without attempting to do anything. Then after some time, a dark greenish gas started spreading around the room. It smelled like shit. You and Blake came shortly after, so I just waited for you two to let me out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I remember that too. Well, apart from the gas, I didn¡¯t notice any when I entered the room. What happened to you after that though?¡±


    ¡°Well, I remember just blinking and waking up on the floor in the room above, right next to my ¡®coffin¡¯, like I had just fallen asleep.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s been days! I don¡¯t know how many, but you¡¯ve been gone for a while!¡±


    ¡°A day or two maybe, calm down.¡±


    ¡°A day or two?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Amy, I haven¡¯t seen you in at least two weeks! How did you not die of dehydration or starvation?¡±


    Amy looked me dead in the eyes, I practically saw her nonexistent will to live fade in front of me.


    ¡°Two weeks¡­ We¡¯ve been stuck in here for that much since then. Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ve all given up.¡±


    ¡°No, of course not! We just haven¡¯t found the secret yet.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then just tell me what progress you did make.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Naomi interrupted us. ¡°Stop with the small talk and get to work. I will check the body, you two search around this room and the rooms above. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Amy, I have a journal. I¡¯ll show you everything later!¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to argue with Naomi, so I did as she asked. I turned around and read the signs above the coffins from left to right.


    Adam Eller, born on January 7th, 2005, died on October 8th, 2023, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Alex Steed, born on September 12th, 2004, died on October 4th, 2023, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Adam died after Alex. If the sign isn¡¯t lying, that would mean that the killer has to be one of the people currently alive. Shit, shit, shit!


    Petra Wolf, born on August 5th, 2005, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.


    Rose Martel, born on November 30th, 1974, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the village of Vorfall.


    I read Rose¡¯s sign a couple of times due to disbelief. There¡¯s no date of death and it says that she was born in nineteen seventy-four. That last name too, Martel. I¡¯ve heard it before, I think in this mansion even. But how? There¡¯s no way Rose managed to fake being a teen while in her forties, I¡¯m not that blind!


    ¡°Amy!¡± I called Amy over because I didn¡¯t want to lose myself in my thoughts.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Come over here, I have something to show you.¡±


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Amy came closer to me.


    ¡°Look at this!¡± I pointed to the sign and she quickly read it.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°That¡¯s certainly a clue.¡± She said, unphased.


    ¡°But don¡¯t you think it could be fake?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s probably a mind game. However, this information is useful even if it is false.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? If this is just fake information, it¡¯s only going to be a setback.¡±


    ¡°Not really, you have to think about this thoroughly. To Lucia, this isn¡¯t a way to murder us, she could¡¯ve done that long ago if she wanted to. She¡¯s playing a game, so that¡¯s how you need to look at this. No matter who Rose was, we need to at least pretend that she¡¯s still alive and that she¡¯s forty something years old.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything back to her. Instead, I thought more about the text on the wall. If Amy¡¯s right, then I need to focus on parts of the text that lead me to something new. The most noticeable part is her age, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll give me any clues. I stared at the text like an idiot until I came to some sort of conclusion. Martel! That¡¯s what I¡¯m supposed to be looking at!


    That last name sounded too familiar, I knew it would lead me somewhere, yet I just couldn¡¯t remember where and when I saw it.


    ¡°Amy!¡± I called for her help again. It made me feel useless, but it was better than not making any progress at all.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Does the last name Martel sound familiar to you?¡±


    ¡°Damn, you forget things easily. We saw it in that tunnel, remember?¡±


    Oh, that place. I only had faint memories of it even though I went there not long ago. It makes sense, there were pictures and names of twelve people there, so one of Rose¡¯s ancestors had to have been there. The clue has to be there!


    I had no intention of going down that dirty tunnel again, so I stayed in the room that I was in and tried to remember the first name of whoever had the last name Martel.


    ¡°Lucia Martel!¡± I yelled out. I didn¡¯t plan on saying it out loud, but my mouth acted faster than my brain.


    I could see Lucia¡¯s foot on the top of the staircase peeking into the room, although she didn¡¯t come down, like she had known that I was going to yell her name out. Rose and Lucia are related! I¡­I can¡¯t. I really. Oh God!


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Naomi looked at me like I was a freak.


    ¡°Rose and Lucia have the same last name!¡±


    ¡°A clue. Good.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all you have to say?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Now, I must go back to investigating. Leave me alone and refrain from screaming.¡±


    ¡°No, we need to talk like a team if we want anything done.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for discussions. We can¡¯t afford to waste time and you know what to do. Everyone knows what to do, so leave me to give out the commands and stay silent.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re pathetic.¡± Amy added.


    ¡°Silence.¡±


    ¡°No, If I want to talk, I¡¯ll talk.¡± Amy was angry. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you think you are, but you are no better than anyone here. Get off your high horse and cooperate. Yes, some people here that I won¡¯t name are definitely idiots, but that doesn¡¯t give me the right to act like a higher being and pretend that I¡¯m the boss. Make some small talk and work with others instead of acting like a broken record.¡±


    What triggered her so much? She usually responds with like one or two short sentences. Did Naomi upset her about something before?


    Naomi raised her hand in the air and I immediately realized that she wanted to slap Amy. After a short second, Naomi¡¯s hand quickly started moving towards Amy and I ran in to grab it before anything could happen.


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± I turned to Naomi while holding her wrist.


    ¡°Let go.¡±


    ¡°Why should I?¡± I tightened my grip.


    ¡°Because Amy needs to be slapped.¡±


    ¡°And why do you think that?¡± I was also annoyed by Naomi¡¯s lack of attempt at starting any kind of conversation. I always was, but I tried to tolerate it because I wanted to be a nice person and because I had bigger problems.


    ¡°She is a liar and an annoyance.¡±


    I let go of Naomi¡¯s wrist, but I pushed her right after out of anger.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said halfheartedly.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t be sorry.¡± Amy interrupted my apology, ¡°Naomi¡¯s the one at fault here.¡±


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± Naomi asked.


    ¡°Not much!¡± I replied, ¡°Just be less secretive and talk more with us. I have to agree with Amy, you¡¯re acting like you¡¯re way better than us and I don¡¯t remember ever having a casual conversation with you.¡±


    ¡°I am a leader. I organize everything, I make plans, I do work that is needed for anything to happen. I don¡¯t understand how you can even suggest small talk, the priority is surviving. Make friends after you leave.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be right if we were stuck for like two days at most. Weeks have passed, it¡¯s obvious that this is a long task. I¡¯m always on edge, everyone is! We need some form of resting and talking about meaningless stuff.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unnecessary.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bullshit me.¡± Amy was still frustrated, ¡°I know you need to relax, you probably know that too, but something in that thick head of yours is telling you to act like this. You might¡¯ve been raised in some super strict household, I have no idea, but maybe we¡¯d know if you¡¯d decide to talk. Point is, try to relax for a moment, it won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°If you decide to stop now and get back to work, I will make small talk after the discussion. Deal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± I replied.


    While I wanted to get to know everyone better, Naomi was right, there was so much to do. Maybe I liked small talk because I subconsciously assumed I was going to die with these people, or maybe my brain was trying to avoid the seriousness of the situation to spare me the stress.


    We tried getting back to work, but before we could find anything new, we heard someone running down the stairs.


    ¡°I require assistance!¡± Dante yelled just before coming down to the floor we were on.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I came up to him, noticing the anxiety in his voice.


    ¡°Lady Evelyn has succumbed to darkness.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s dead?¡± My body and voice began uncontrollably shaking.


    ¡°No, she is still present in our world of mortals.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t talk like she¡¯s dead, dumbass,¡± Amy said.


    ¡°We were inspecting Adam¡¯s bedchamber, just as we had been ordered, when the lady had a feeling of weakness. I made an attempt to provide assistance, but it was futile, she lost consciousness. For now, she¡¯s breathing, yet I¡¯m unaware what will occur after this.¡±


    ¡°She passed out?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid she did.¡±


    ¡°Petra, let¡¯s go check up on her,¡± Amy turned to me. ¡°I mean, I checked up on you when you lost consciousness.¡±


    I remembered the moment that Amy was referencing. It was like a dream, yet it revealed a lot of information. Could that be happening to Evie right now? It¡¯s too big of a possibility to ignore!


    I followed Amy up to the room where Adam used to sleep, which became Evelyn¡¯s bedroom after Naomi divided us by gender.


    She was lying in bed. Luckily, Evelyn was still breathing normally, she was most likely going to be fine. Knowing that, a lot of stress fell off my back. I gestured at Amy to come closer, but none of us were capable of helping her. We tried waking her up, but couldn¡¯t. Dante had already covered her with a blanket as well, so there was nothing for us to do. We had come up for no good reason, but I was glad that we didn¡¯t lose anyone again.

 Chapter XX - Who killed the dead?

    Lucia¡¯s clock had rung around a minute ago, officially ending any search that might¡¯ve been going on at the time. Most had already sat at the table, but I needed to get a cup of water from the kitchen since I hadn¡¯t drunk anything the entire day. My body was shaking, I knew that someone wasn¡¯t going to leave the dining room and I couldn¡¯t accept that fact. After I had finished drinking, I noticed that I was so shaky that I spilled some of the water on the countertop, so I wiped it with a cloth and went inside the dining room.


    Everyone except Evelyn was already there, even Lucia, so I quickly sat down so as to not waste anyone¡¯s time.


    Where do we even start with this? Not a single detail in this whole case makes sense.


    Nothing about the case felt like a regular murder, the circumstances were way different than in other situations that had happened inside the mansion. Perhaps there was one thing that kept me somewhat sane, the fact that I didn¡¯t feel like I saw a friend of mine get killed, the death being someone I had already accepted losing. That reminded me of something, something that I could use to begin the conversation.


    ¡°The first thing I¡¯d like to mention is the body,¡± I said.


    ¡°The particular detail?¡± Naomi asked curiously since she was the one who investigated the body.


    ¡°His face was still attached to him even after what Lucia did to him.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t present at that moment, elaborate.¡±


    Leon menacingly chuckled while listening to our conversation. He was probably spying on us at that time and saw what had happened.


    ¡°On our second day in this mansion, Adam murdered Rose out of paranoia, so Lucia ¡®killed¡¯ him after a discussion. It was really grotesque, I don¡¯t want to go into details, but the point is that his face got ripped off and then was practically eaten.¡±


    Naomi didn¡¯t respond, she instead put her hand on her chin and started thinking. I was surprised that she would even dare attempt to figure everything out, but then I remembered that Lucia would definitely do something to us if we failed this.


    ¡°Shame on you, boss bitch!¡± Leon started acting like himself. ¡°You¡¯re the leader here, lead us to victory against this witch! Come on, not just her, everyone, speak! You want to leave this room as soon as possible, don¡¯t you? Uncover the answer! Find the retard who killed someone days after the traitor¡¯s death!¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to be a motivational speaker?¡± Amy stared at him, disappointed yet not surprised.


    ¡°I don¡¯t try, I succeed!¡± he answered.


    ¡°Oh God. Well, if you want to motivate us, help us figure out who the killer is.¡±


    ¡°Oh, but that¡¯s not my job.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°You got resurrected, you¡¯re a detective, come to the conclusion!¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡±


    ¡°Aw, don¡¯t be like that Amy, you¡¯re not cute when you¡¯re angry, you just think you are. I mean, I know you¡¯re not a real detective, I deeply looked through the gallery of your phone after I stole it from Naomi¡¯s room. Either way, you actually helped in the one discussion you participated in, so maybe you can actually be useful.¡±


    Amy started trying to piece everything together as well, but I didn¡¯t expect anything from her either. I didn¡¯t believe that the case was solvable, I entered the dining room merely because I didn¡¯t want to be the only one who chickens out. I¡¯m screwed, I¡¯m fucking screwed! Why did I do this? I need to do something!


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Rose!¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, genius,¡± Amy replied.


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that dead bitch?¡± Leon looked at me like I was an idiot.


    ¡°On the bottom floor of the rooms we discovered today, there were coffins for the first group.¡± I continued talking, trying to figure something out by looking through my own words. ¡°I read the texts for everyone and I saw something unbelievable. There¡¯s no date of death for Rose and it also said that she was born in nineteen seventy four.¡±


    ¡°Damn, what kind of skin care routine does she have?¡±


    ¡°Who cares? What¡¯s important is figuring out her role in all of this!¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s an actual chance that Rose killed Adam? How ironic!¡± Leon started laughing.


    But how do I get more information on Rose? If she¡¯s alive, where is she? If she¡¯s not, how can I use the fake information?


    ¡°Wait, have any of you ever been in the ¡®coffin¡¯ room before I came back?¡± Amy asked.


    Everyone looked at each other and it was visible that no one had even seen the door to the room until today.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time that something like this happened,¡± I started thinking out loud, ¡°something very similar occurred on the day we came here. When I came downstairs with the rest of my group, we found ourselves in that room between the bedrooms and the main hall, the one that looks like a waiting room. Lucia introduced herself there and until she was done, I didn¡¯t see the door to the main hall, it was as if it came into existence when Lucia decided it was time.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Naomi added, ¡°Lucia brought my group from our rooms to the lounge, so it was different, but it took hours before the staircase to the second floor was discovered. It wasn¡¯t present from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, boss bitch is actually talking to people instead of being an asshole!¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡±


    ¡°What about the second group?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Pretty similar,¡± Blake replied, ¡°Lucia told us all to come to the storage room for her introduction and she explained what the door looked like so that we could find it. On my way there, I passed the corner where the door to the main hall is, but it wasn¡¯t there until I left the storage room.¡±


    ¡°So, we can be sure that the same thing happened today?¡±


    Everyone hesitantly nodded. Nobody was quite sure, but nobody had another answer either. However, that still didn¡¯t push us any further to solving the bizarre puzzle that was forced upon us.


    ¡°Naomi, what¡¯s the situation with the body?¡± I tried pushing the case further.


    ¡°There are four wounds in the chest area, there was most likely a lot of blood, but it was cleaned.¡±


    ¡°Stab wounds?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Did anyone find the weapon?¡± I asked.


    Everyone shook their heads, the murder weapon wasn¡¯t in sight. There are only two options. A kitchen knife and a combat knife. Were all the kitchen knives in their place when I went to drink water? God, why am I such an idiot? It could also be Dante¡¯s dagger, but that wouldn¡¯t point to him either, since we took it away from Dante when he tried to stab me after Eden¡¯s murder.


    ¡°Amy?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°What did you do with the knife you found during the investigation for Eden¡¯s murder?¡±


    ¡°I kept it under my bed. I didn¡¯t get a chance to check if it¡¯s still there though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Leon interrupted us, but since it was at the end of Amy¡¯s sentence, Lucia didn¡¯t bother stopping the discussion.


    ¡°You took it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Amy glared at him.


    ¡°Amy, he took your gun as well, so don¡¯t expect much else.¡±


    ¡°Boo, buff bitch is a snitch! Hey, that rhymes! It must be true then, snitches are bitches.¡±


    ¡°Leon, defend yourself,¡± Naomi said, ¡°You¡¯re the prime suspect.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re admitting to murder?¡±


    ¡°Jeez boss bitch, you really are dumber than you look. Isn¡¯t it obvious that I¡¯m not here to do anything I¡¯m not interested in?¡±


    ¡°Irrelevant.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Is it though? If you just say that I¡¯m the killer and get it wrong, you¡¯ll probably lose your head, won¡¯t ya?¡±


    Naomi didn¡¯t respond, but I could see the pure rage in her just by looking at her face. There were a million words she wanted to say, but she couldn¡¯t find a single one. I couldn¡¯t help though, I couldn¡¯t push the case further, I couldn¡¯t take a single step forwards. What should I do? What can I do?


    ¡°Leon?¡± I said and turned my head towards him. I didn¡¯t have a plan, but I felt the need to do something.


    ¡°Buff bitch?¡± Leon replied with curiosity in his voice.


    ¡°Why are you doing this? Even though I disagree with practically all of your views, I could see why you were acting the way you were. That¡¯s a lie. Now though, what do you get from your laziness? You¡¯re deprived of freedom until you leave this room!¡± I¡¯m just blabbering, there¡¯s no way this¡¯ll convince him to do anything productive!


    Leon chuckled, ¡°I see how you¡¯re thinking! Genius, you¡¯re finally using your head! In fact, you¡¯re actually correct about something for once. Let¡¯s catch this killer!¡±


    Why is he acting so enthusiastic now? No, it¡¯s my fault for assuming that there was any consistency with this bastard, he¡¯s numb to his surroundings and just using luck to go through life.


    I saw him as a weapon. Leon was capable of most things, he helped us out on numerous occasions, but the suffering he caused couldn¡¯t be ignored. He had refused to save Maya, he had made me kill someone, he was a necrophiliac. In short, he was a threat to everyone and everything.


    ¡°Do you have any idea who killed Adam?¡± I asked Leon. I knew that it was a terrible idea before I even said it, but it was the only thing I could do.


    Everyone was looking at me. Some with confusion, some with worry, some with pity and Leon with a shit-eating grin on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you asked, buff bitch!¡± he laughed, ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    Well, that wasn¡¯t helpful. What now?


    ¡°Are you really sure that you don¡¯t know anything helpful?¡±


    ¡°I never said that, I just said that I don¡¯t know who the killer is,¡± he was picking his nose while talking to me, not showing any interest in solving the case. Where the hell did all that energy go?


    ¡°Then tell us what you know!¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine. You sure are boring, buff bitch, I¡¯ll tell you that. But fine, I¡¯ll give you all the dirty little information. I know one simple thing!¡±


    ¡°Spit it out,¡± Amy was becoming impatient.


    ¡°It¡¯s someone from the first floor. I always keep track of my neighbors, be it inside a dangerous mansion or in a safe suburban neighborhood. I know when someone leaves and when someone comes back.¡±


    Dante and Blake seemed uncomfortable from Leon¡¯s statement, but that just meant that there was a pretty high chance that Leon wasn¡¯t lying.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Pretty helpful, ain¡¯t it?¡±


    If that¡¯s true, that would mean that Leon, Dante and Blake are innocent. I also know that I didn¡¯t do it, so that leaves Evie, Naomi, Amy and somehow Rose. Rose isn¡¯t even here though. If she¡¯s alive, she¡¯s definitely hiding inside a hidden room or something of that sort, and that¡¯s still only under the absurd assumption that she¡¯s also alive. I mean, it¡¯s not bizarre considering everything, but still!


    ¡°I think we should count Rose out of this,¡± I stated.


    ¡°Why?¡± Naomi quickly turned to me.


    ¡°Well firstly, she¡¯s most likely not alive-¡±


    ¡°What did I tell you Petra?¡± Amy interrupted me. ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°No interrupting,¡± Lucia said sternly with her sharp eyes fixated on Amy.


    Amy immediately stopped talking.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Naomi said.


    ¡°Firstly, she¡¯s most likely not alive. Then, even if she is, I still don¡¯t think she would¡¯ve done it. There are two possibilities the way I see it. Either she is in the same boat as us and Lucia just trapped her somewhere to create confusion. Or, hear me out, she could be against us. In that case, she¡¯s probably hiding right now. If she really is our opponent, and genuinely malicious unlike Alex, then we have something way worse being prepared for us! She wouldn¡¯t risk being found out just to kill Adam.¡±


    Most of the words I uttered were gotten through brainstorming, but I believed everything I said. It all simply sounded too true.


    ¡°Wrong,¡± Naomi replied after only a moment of thinking.


    ¡°How?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Your statement is baseless. We cannot avoid accusing Rose because of blind faith. Also, Adam could have found out that Rose is against us, she would need to shut him up somehow.¡±


    ¡°I am of the same mind as lady Petra! In cases of such troubles coming our way, we may not rely on facts. Here, they ceased to exist long ago, so do not cling on to them.¡± Dante looked at Naomi condescendingly.


    ¡°Are you that fucking dumb?¡± Naomi yelled out in an uncharacteristic manner, creating silence between everyone.


    Why did she shout like that? Dante has had his unusual beliefs ever since I met him. Did she expect something different this time?


    ¡°Please refrain from raising your voice,¡± Dante said calmly.


    ¡°Do you even have any idea who did it?¡± Naomi asked in a passive aggressive tone.


    ¡°I do not, although I do believe that Leon is the most likely to commit such an atrocious sin without a ¡®good¡¯ reason.¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡± Leon was upset by Dante¡¯s comment, ¡°I¡¯m the nicest guy here. It¡¯s always little ol¡¯ me that gets the blame!¡±


    ¡°Ponder this. Someone must¡¯ve come across the rooms where our past comrades now lie, and that individual has not informed us on the room¡¯s whereabouts, probably not expecting Amy to arrive. Who is the only mortal here who has gathered a reputation for untruth?¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Naomi nodded just as Dante finished speaking.


    ¡°Oh, I see what¡¯s happening,¡± Leon said quietly, then proceeded to not do anything.


    Leon¡¯s face lost emotion and he stopped talking. He realized something that I didn¡¯t. How weird¡­


    This sudden change of behavior felt like a clue, so I didn¡¯t stop paying attention to Leon. Is it something with what Dante said? Is it Naomi? Am I being tricked by him in a really discreet way? I noticed that Amy also diverted her attention to Leon. I could see concern in her eyes and it was strong enough that I was starting to shake a little bit.


    ¡°Naomi!¡± Blake loudly called for her.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Naomi quickly turned to him.


    ¡°Why did you agree with Dante without even thinking it through? You didn¡¯t ask for proof.¡±


    ¡°I know I didn¡¯t. It is obvious that Leon is the culprit.¡±


    ¡°And how did you come to that conclusion?¡±


    ¡°His past behavior.¡±


    ¡°That is not enough proof!¡±


    ¡°It is. You¡¯ve seen what he¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t push this case back! You know damn well that you¡¯re making a shot in the dark!¡± Blake was more agitated than usual.


    ¡°Calm down. I will hear your claim too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that, Naomi! There¡¯s something with you, you¡¯re trying to put the blame on a single person without any proof. I would believe it if someone else tried to do that, but I don¡¯t think you would, it¡¯s too uncharacteristic.¡±


    ¡°Leave me alone!¡± Naomi shouted before covering her mouth with her hand.


    Blake noticed it too! Something¡¯s wrong with Naomi. Could she be the killer? The way she¡¯s acting, it¡¯s possible, but what are the chances? People like her usually just act tough on the outside and don¡¯t have the bravery to do something of the sort. Also, what reason could she have? The traitor is gone and we managed to continue without going completely insane. Why would any of us want to kill?


    I saw a small teardrop falling down Naomi¡¯s face, and with that, I felt a sudden rise in tension. I was sure how the case would end and I knew that I would live through it, but I was more afraid than when my life was at risk.


    ¡°You did it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Amy spoke quietly enough that it was noticeable, but loud enough that everyone could hear her.


    ¡°No, why would you even think that?¡± Naomi was defensive.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t be crying.¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡±


    ¡°Listen, do you really think that Lucia will let you live if you did it?¡± Amy started trying to persuade her, ¡°Naomi, collect yourself. If you admit it, you¡¯ll die. If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll all die, including you. What else do you think Lucia would do?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it! I had no reason!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about your reason. It¡¯s clear from the way you¡¯re acting right now, you¡¯re a shitty liar.¡±


    I looked around the table. Most were silent, but it was clear in their expressions, Naomi¡¯s life was near its end. I didn¡¯t understand what had led to this situation, but that didn¡¯t matter, it was going to end the same way even if I managed to figure out every detail.


    ¡°So, boss bitch is the killer bitch now?¡± Leon started talking again, ¡°You really thought you could get away with falsely accusing me? I¡¯m so far ahead of you, I didn¡¯t even have to speak to shut down your dumb argument!¡±


    ¡°Is this it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It seems so,¡± Blake answered calmly and sadly.


    Naomi wanted to argue, her mouth was open and she was trying to speak, but she couldn¡¯t. With that, she unwillingly admitted defeat. We still didn¡¯t have any clue leading us anywhere, but we ended the discussion. It was useless to continue. If we kept going, we would end up going in circles forever.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming everyone has finished,¡± Lucia walked to the table.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯re done.¡± I replied to her before slowly standing up along with everybody else.


    ¡°Then, you¡¯re correct. Naomi killed Adam.¡± Lucia said with a huge smile on her face.


    ¡°Why the hell did you do it? What even happened?¡± Blake was agitated again and started questioning Naomi.


    ¡°You idiots! I was helping! It was my duty!¡± she was drowning in her own tears. ¡°I noticed that the wall looked weird when I left my room once and I went to check, found the rooms and saw Adam. It was my duty to end him, who knows why Lucia fucking resurrected him? Is this how you¡¯re supposed to repay me, the person who has kept you alive for so long, the person who sacrificed themselves to be your leader?¡±


    ¡°She is muttering nonsense at this point,¡± Dante added, ¡°saying that she sacrificed herself. What a fool, making us guests to yet another horrid scene, merely for the sake of feeding her own complexes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot,¡± Leon said in a more serious tone than usual, ¡°thinking you could get away with this. ¡®Oh, he¡¯s a madman, they¡¯ll fall for this¡¯, you thought, but you failed to think that these people that you see in front of you could be ¡®human¡¯, people who can think beyond simple conclusions that they are told they should come to! Unlike you, they are not puppets just following the rules and manners of others, behaving the ¡®correct¡¯ way. Did you really think you could just stick to your outdated logic and survive? That¡¯s not how the world works, bitch! If you want to live, be free, be human!¡±


    Before I could say anything, Lucia was ready to claim yet another kill. She didn¡¯t move towards Naomi, instead, she pointed her finger at her and a chain came through the sleeve of her suit, beneath Lucia¡¯s arm. The chain wrapped itself around Naomi¡¯s body like a snake, it was long enough to cover its entirety. Eventually, I couldn¡¯t see any part of her and I could barely hear her screams.


    Then suddenly, the chains stopped moving. The end of the chain came out of Lucia¡¯s sleeve, she grabbed it before it could fall on to the ground. Lucia chuckled and pulled the chain with all her strength.


    Blood, blood everywhere.


    I was paralyzed by my fear. The room was painted red, some of the blood fell on all of us, but nobody moved. Nobody could. It all happened too quickly for any of us to react. Only when everything was done did we manage to move a muscle. By then, Lucia was gone.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go shower,¡± Amy loudly whispered.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that,¡± Blake replied with a shaky voice. All I wanted was to take a shower and then cry myself to death.

 Chapter XXI - Staring contest

    I was completely broken. All that effort for nothing! Goddammit, we¡¯re still dying, it¡¯ll be my turn soon enough!


    Nobody bothered to keep searching for a way out for the past couple of days. Nobody saw a single reason to do it, we were all doomed either way. I spent my days mostly lying in bed, sometimes leaving to force feed myself so as to not die in a more painful way that I assumed I would in the near future. It was a horrid existence, a fate worse than anything I could¡¯ve imagined.


    Soon after the discussion, I gave Amy my journal. I no longer had the intention of writing anything down in it, plus she needed to catch up, so it was a good decision. I managed to come to terms with Amy¡¯s return, and regained my trust in her.


    I remembered what Naomi had told us at the end of the discussion. She mentioned how she ¡°sacrificed¡± herself to be our leader. It showed just how delusional she had become, but in some way, I regretted judging her words. If someone else had died instead of her, she would¡¯ve forced us to work, to dig ourselves out of this mess, yet even after knowing that she could and would do that, I did not move a muscle. She was more of a moody boss than a true leader, but that was better than nothing. It was enough to distract me from the feeling of losing control over my life.


    Evelyn regained consciousness the morning after the discussion, but I didn¡¯t talk to her, nothing she could¡¯ve said would¡¯ve been of any help to me. I assumed that she saw a clue in her dreams, like how I had managed to figure out where the third group was hiding..


    After seemingly endless self-pity, I was thirsty again, so I decided to go to the kitchen. I forced my body through the hallway, but right as I was about to go down the stairs, I was stopped by Evelyn.


    ¡°There you are, ¡° she said.


    ¡°Oh, hi Evie!¡± I replied in a less energetic tone than usual.


    ¡°Can you come to my room for a second? It¡¯s urgent.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I really wanted to refuse, but for reasons unknown to me, I followed Evelyn into her room.


    ¡°Alright, I must ask you something.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯ll try my best to answer.¡±


    Without a warning, Evelyn slapped me across the face.


    ¡°What has gone into you?¡± she asked me, ¡°Petra, you were the voice of reason, someone who wanted to push further. And what has come of you?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I acted confused even though I knew exactly what her words meant. I was hopeless, but I felt like I had to act even more hopeless than I was if I wanted my despair to feel important enough to be of any notice.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been on a steady decline, are you aware of that? Wait, I¡¯ll prepare some tea for us.¡± Evie walked to the kitchen and I followed her. ¡°Naomi told me loads of stuff about you and everyone else while we were stuck in that big empty room on the third floor. She mentioned your ¡®unusual cheerfulness¡¯ that was already somewhat faded by the time we met. I did not worry about that much, it made sense after all. But as more time passed, you continued on a path full of despair. Are you even fighting it now?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m trying to feel better!¡± I tried responding in a more cheerful tone, but it was obvious to both of us that the happiness was fake.


    ¡°You do not understand me, dear. I am not trying to force you into being happy. Misery is quite natural. In actuality, I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯re running away from reality. In the beginning, you faked a smile to cheer everyone up akin to a clown at some kid¡¯s birthday party, now you can¡¯t handle it anymore, so you¡¯re losing your mind.¡±


    ¡°And what do you think I can do about it? There¡¯s nothing left to do!¡±


    ¡°How troublesome¡­¡± Evelyn whispered to herself.


    ¡°Evie, I don¡¯t think you¡¯re looking at this the right way. I did act happier than I really was, it was just something that I had to do so as not to push others into an even deeper sorrow. Everything is different now, back then we assumed that we had a chance of escape. If we¡¯re doomed, what¡¯s the point of thinking about such tiny details?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, your argument is somewhat decent. However, we are not doomed. We¡¯ll never be.¡±


    ¡°How are you so sure?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, you weren¡¯t present when I was explaining what I witnessed while I was unconscious.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t rely on that! That¡¯s just Lucia messing with your brain, I know! The same thing happened to me.¡±


    ¡°Incorrect. I did not receive a clue of any sort, I received a message of hope, I received it from a divine being.¡±


    Divine being? Is she really going that far? I can¡¯t seem to figure out if she is completely serious or if she just wants to give me some sort of hope. Evie has her fair share of unusual beliefs, but she¡¯s not insane!


    ¡°What did you see in your dream?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I cannot describe the location precisely. There were too many colors and shapes for me to make out anything. In fact, I felt like there was no solid ground below me, but I wasn¡¯t falling either. Then I saw Lucia, she was in front of me for a couple of seconds. She did not utter a single word or move even an inch, she merely stood there for a bit and then faded away, practically becoming one with the air. After that, a strange feeling took over me, quite similar to a shock in my opinion. That was to prepare me for what was going to happen next.¡±


    Evelyn paused for a second, she still seemed deeply affected by whatever she was going to talk about.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to remind yourself of it if you don¡¯t want to!¡± I said.


    ¡°No, I have to, it¡¯s important. What happened was that everything went to black, I was in a completely empty space. I heard nothing, saw nothing, felt nothing, smelt nothing, tasted nothing. I felt completely lost for a moment, but then a sharp pain overtook me and words were popping into my head until the pain stopped. I activated a sixth sense. I listened to someone¡¯s words without hearing a sound. I still remember the words clearly. ¡®I am not real, no, no, no, not in a physical sense. I am summoned, but your bare eyes cannot summon me! Mendacium visio! Mendacium visio! Mendacia visiones! Bear witness to my creation and I will open up a path of hope!¡¯. I woke up shortly after that, it took me hours to process it, but it should be of great importance to you, Petra.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I expected to hear many things, but nothing even remotely similar to that. The words sounded haunting, and they obviously had meaning. I was skeptical about using it as a clue, but I wasn¡¯t going to forget what Evelyn had told me. What caught my attention the most was ¡°mendacium visio¡±, it immediately reminded me of the message I saw some time ago. Mendacium, it means ¡°lie¡±.


    It took a moment for me to realize what was laid down in front of me, but when I did figure it out, I felt as if I had been stabbed in the chest by the God of knowledge. Mendivi is short for mendacium visio. Mendacium means lie, visio obviously means vision. So, lying vision! A hallucination, maybe an illusion!


    ¡°Petra, are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost.¡±


    ¡°I did see one,¡± I said, words barely finding their way out of my mind.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Lucia.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Lucia isn¡¯t real. She¡¯s just a hallucination. We¡¯re all insane, we¡¯re completely unhinged schizophrenics!¡±


    ¡°Calm down, don¡¯t say things like that. You¡¯re normal, I¡¯m normal, everything will be completely fine. Besides, since when do multiple schizophrenics see the same things?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m becoming detached from reality. I¡¯m the one who told you to avoid looking for clues, and then I do this, I¡¯m a dumbass!¡±


    Without hesitation, Evelyn slapped me again, it was clear that my whining was annoying her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal,¡± Evelyn said.


    ¡°What kind of deal?¡±


    ¡°I will follow all the clues in our heads and in this mansion. You will completely support me and you will help me out. That will go on until we either escape or until I die. If I die, you can freely give in to the impending doom. Assuming that we¡¯re screwed, my death is practically guaranteed, so why not give it one last shot instead of waiting for these events to end themselves?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t stand the fear well enough to continue going down the path you want.¡±


    ¡°Come on, I cannot believe that I¡¯m the one attempting to convince you here. You seem like the person who can get things like these done. Think about your past. I¡¯m guessing you worked hard, your hands are so buff that you could crush my head in a fraction of a second. How did you get to that point, did you only eat and sleep like a toddler until you became strong, or did you work hard? Did you push yourself through a lot of pain and who knows what else? What¡¯s so different here?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s different here is that I¡¯m risking my life!¡±


    ¡°True, you are risking your life, but if you refuse to risk it, you¡¯ll guarantee its loss. Are you aware of that?¡±


    I didn¡¯t respond. I gave in to her words and simply started crying. I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to die! Why is this happening to me?


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking,¡± Evelyn reached her hand out, ¡°let me save you. The twelve of us that got trapped here are a team, and our team is still living, even with less people. But as long as there are at least two, we can save each other, if not from Lucia, then from our own minds. Make this deal and let us push through with the strength we have left. You help me and I shall do everything in my power to help you.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± I shook hands with Evelyn.


    We went to the kitchen where we drank some tea, and I went and washed the dishes afterwards. It helped me calm down, it was a mindless task that kept my body occupied. It felt like a safe spot from all the danger.


    Evelyn and I parted ways, and I started heading somewhere, unsure where.


    The mansion was way more quiet than usual. I decided to climb up to the second floor and simply walk around until I got an idea of how not to waste my time. I slowly circled around the floor, lost in thought, until I bumped into something in front of me.


    I took my eyes off the floor and looked at what was there. Dante!


    ¡°Oh my God! I¡¯m so sorry!¡±


    ¡°Worry not, I am alright. Is anything apart from the obvious troubling you? I am always eager to aid you.¡±


    ¡°Not really, I¡¯m just thinking of what to do. I made a promise with Evie to help her get out of here.¡±


    ¡°So, she has listened to my words?¡±


    ¡°Your words?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. She was truly broken after we had informed her of Naomi¡¯s death. I brought hope to her. She is far from nihilistic, so I did not have to talk much before she decided to seek salvation. We did negotiate one detail though, I made her promise to not meditate until she was outside.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that important?¡±


    ¡°I view her mediation as a form of prayer, intimacy with the Gods. She gains much comfort from that, but eventually, if she herself is not adequate to solve her own problems, her faith will dwindle away because she will assume that the gods are absent. I do not wish to see that occur.¡±


    ¡°I never thought about it that way.¡±


    ¡°Either way, I am grateful that she heeded my words and decided to spread hope. I must leave now, I have work to finish.¡±


    ¡°Alright, see you soon! But, just wondering, where exactly are you going?¡±


    ¡°I hold nothing against you, but I am unable to tell you. I fear that Lucia is listening somewhere nearby.¡±


    ¡°I see. Then I wish you luck.¡±


    We walked away in opposite directions, I headed towards the third floor. The floor was practically abandoned, so it was rare for anyone to go up there after we had practically checked every corner of all the rooms. After climbing up the stairs, I looked at the long hallway in front of me. The place looked darker than I remembered it being, despite the lights still being turned on. I could practically feel its emptiness.


    The bedrooms were locked, but I remembered that they were locked before, so I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. I didn¡¯t even consider entering the library again, even the thought of it reminded me of the night when I killed Alex.


    The first room that I entered was the large space that the third group used as a shared bedroom. Most of the stuff inside it was moved long ago, but the room wasn¡¯t empty. Most noticeably, the beds were still there. I moved closer to them and saw that there was a piece of paper on the floor near one of them. There was some text on it, so I picked it up without a second thought. I turned on the lights and read it.


    Coming here after the room was abandoned? Perhaps questioning reality or your sanity? Why do you worry so much? You¡¯re going to find the truth sooner or later, you¡¯re not that dumb. Have you not noticed the changed atmosphere here? Doesn¡¯t everything feel emptier, maybe a bit more surreal? Well, it makes sense, most familiar places start feeling less familiar when the events taking place there are different. The traitor is dead, but the threat ahead is worse, isn¡¯t it? Well, that¡¯s not entirely true. The enemy isn¡¯t attacking, it¡¯s merely staring at you, at everyone in the mansion, and that ¡°staring contest¡± is making everyone lose their minds, even resulting in two deaths so far. What a weird way to lose a battle. Either way, the climax is approaching, so please figure out the secret of this mansion. Lucia has given you everything you need, it¡¯s merely an abstract puzzle at this point. See you soon, my dearest Petra.


    -Rose Martel


    At first, the message was purely fear inducing, nothing different from what I had expected to see, but when I noticed Rose¡¯s name at the bottom. I was dumbfounded. I quickly shoved the paper into my pocket and ran out of the room. I wanted to think about everything Rose¡¯s message mentioned, but I had no intention of doing it right at that moment. I was afraid of something terrible happening right at that moment, and I had to be with everyone else to give myself even the slightest chance of preventing it.

 Chapter XXII - The plan

    Slow down, everything will be alright. Just because I¡¯m not watching over anyone doesn¡¯t mean that everything¡¯s gone to shit. They¡¯re not toddlers!


    My body wasn¡¯t listening to my mind, my legs only stopped moving once I reached the main hall. The only person there was Blake. He was walking in circles with something in his hands that I couldn¡¯t see clearly, so I approached him.


    ¡°Hi Blake!¡±


    ¡°Oh, hey, how¡¯s it going?¡± he replied in a friendly, but noticeably different tone than usual.


    ¡°I¡¯m as good as one can be under these circumstances, and you? What¡¯s that thing you¡¯re holding?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a part of some plan I¡¯m trying out right now,¡± he said as he moved it behind his back.


    ¡°May I know what kind of plan it is?¡±


    ¡°Just something I¡¯m doing with Dante to push us closer to escape. I know that I sound vague, but I feel like Lucia wouldn¡¯t take our plan well if she heard it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know, Dante mentioned that he had some work to do, but he refused to give me any details. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t push you for any information!¡±


    Dante and Blake working on something that Lucia shouldn¡¯t hear, and that happening on the day that I find a creepy letter. This can¡¯t end well, I need to do something!


    ¡°Blake, where¡¯s Dante right now?¡±


    ¡°Remember that room behind the storage room? The one with the lever?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know.¡±


    I walked slowly towards it while still in Blake¡¯s sight, but as soon as I was out of the main hall, I took off toward Dante like my life depended on it. Considering the only function of that room, nothing good could come of someone being there. I sprinted into and through the storage room, accidentally knocking over a couple of boxes. I kicked open the door to the room where Dante was, even though the door was unlocked. Suffice to say, I was on edge.


    ¡°Petra?¡±


    ¡°Dante, what are you going to do?¡±


    Dante was surprised and upset by my sudden appearance. His body was obviously guarding the lever that shuts off the electricity to the mansion.


    ¡°As I have remarked, I am unable to inform you.¡±


    ¡°Well, what are you able to do here other than to shut off the electricity?¡±


    ¡°You make a solid point.¡±


    ¡°But why? Please don¡¯t do it!¡±


    ¡°You said you wished for liberty, did you not? Please, leave this to me. I shall have my revenge.¡±


    Revenge? Everything here is screaming ¡°bad idea¡±, I need to do something! If I don¡¯t stop their plan now and something goes wrong, I can¡¯t imagine either of them coming out alive! And it¡¯ll partially be my fault, I know that they¡¯re going to do something!


    Without warning, I launched myself in Dante¡¯s direction in an attempt to get him away from the lever. Dante wasn¡¯t weak, but he wasn¡¯t stronger than me either. The sheer surprise gave me enough leverage to push him to the ground, but I was struggling to keep him where I wanted him to be.


    ¡°What is with you, woman? Get off this instance!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry! I will not let you die!¡±


    ¡°Do not take me as a fool! The plan is ideal. Not without risk, but what hope is there without risk?¡±


    He managed to push me off of him after a bit. Dante immediately grabbed the lever, but he didn¡¯t pull it. He merely held it as a threat.


    ¡°At least tell me the complete plan!¡±


    ¡°And allow Lucia to hear it? Are you deranged?¡±


    ¡°Then whisper it to me.¡±


    ¡°That will do,¡± Dante looked at the door in a paranoid manner, then moved closer and began whispering. ¡°Blake came across a pair of night vision goggles, the exact ones that the sinner named Alex used to bring Eden¡¯s clean life to a sudden end. His actions were a clue that we have been oblivious to all this time. Ponder, ponder everything, especially the dream brought to Evelyn. Mendacium ¡®visio¡¯, lying ¡®vision¡¯, the blueprints we¡¯ve found that showcase an eye, have you forgotten all about that? The key is the vision. Lucia overpowered us by seeing everything, but now, we have the will and the capability to blind her.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    So that¡¯s what Blake was holding! He¡¯ll directly attack Lucia. But this has a chance of working. A terribly low chance considering all the signs, but it is not that dumb of an idea! The question is if Lucia is aware of the plan or if she¡¯s merely confident that we¡¯ll fail. It¡¯s a terrifying risk to take. Maybe the monitor room was also a good hint that her vision was not as omnipotent as her other abilities.


    ¡°Dante, are you sure about this?¡±


    ¡°I will not hide the truth, I am aware that we have the possibility of failure. I am a man of God, not one of his sightless lunatics. Death may await me, death may await Blake, death may await both of us. It is inevitable, but our intentions do not include living a life of misery and allowing that misery to infest Gods¡¯ children around us. I have conversed with him and our ambitions agree on that, he¡¯s the most altruistic man I have met here. We would rather sacrifice ourselves for even the slightest step towards bliss of the people around us than live a life of false amenity.¡±


    ¡°I applaud your selflessness, but I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t know what else to tell you.¡±


    I can imagine Dante thinking like that, but Blake? I did not get to know him that well, but he seemed normal. Selfless, but in a healthy way.


    ¡°There¡¯s something you could do,¡± Dante said.


    ¡°Yeah, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Could you go to the main hall and watch when Blake begins our plan? I was planning on going there myself and then darting back here to take away the light from the mansion, but it would bring more safety for you to just run from the main hall towards the storage room to inform me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    I had no idea why I agreed to such a plan, but I felt the need to give them support. If I hadn¡¯t done that, I would¡¯ve felt like I had broken my promise to Evelyn even though that had nothing to do with this. Everything was now set in stone, thinking was irrelevant.


    After walking down to the main hall, I approached Blake.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I whispered, ¡°I¡¯m here to help. When you begin the plan, I¡¯ll run and inform Dante.¡±


    Blake nodded without saying anything. His face screamed of confidence, like he knew every word from my previous conversation. I put my trust in him, so I walked up the stairs without leaving the main hall and simply watched what was going to unfold at any time.


    ¡°Lucia!¡± Blake shouted out.


    Lucia instantly walked into the hall from the dining room.


    ¡°Yes?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Can I ask you about something?¡±


    ¡°Oh my, someone finally asking directly for my help? You rascals are evolving. Of course, ask away!¡±


    ¡°Can you explain what this is for?¡± Blake reached out his hands and showed Lucia the goggles.


    ¡°Those? They seem like a pair of night vision goggles. You simply put it on your face and it allows you to see when it¡¯s dark. Have you not seen any before?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve heard of them and I know the function, but I¡¯ve never seen a pair, so I didn¡¯t associate this pair with that. Now I want to try them on.¡±


    Blake put the goggles on his head slowly and while he did that, he pointed his thumbs into the air. I took that as a sign to go and I ran into the storage room.


    ¡°Dante, now!¡± I called for him and rushed toward him.


    In a single moment, the room was shrouded in darkness. I stood where I was when the lights went out, inside the storage room, right by the door.


    The main hall was quiet, I had no clue what they were doing. Even if things were to end poorly, there was nothing I could do to change that. Blake¡¯s fate was in the hands of luck.


    I noticed one thing while waiting for this stress inducing moment to end. The atmosphere was different. I could not see if my surroundings were different, but they felt like they were. I felt like I was in another world when I couldn¡¯t see anything. Even the air felt slightly different. Is this mendivi? Is the mansion different when I don¡¯t see anything? Was this present when the lights went out last time? I was probably too focused on other troubles then.


    For one moment, the lights appeared to flicker, but it quickly became dark again. With that, the weird feeling I had also went away. I felt like I was in the mansion again. Is this some sort of sign?


    After a couple of painful minutes, the lights turned on.


    ¡°Dante, are you sure that Blake¡¯s done?¡±


    ¡°The lights turned on by themselves!¡± he entered the storage room in a panic.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I am not a fool, but I cannot comprehend it. The lights turned on, but I did not lay a single finger on the lever.¡±


    ¡°So what now? Did Blake have the tools to end her quickly? Are we screwed?¡±


    ¡°That we¡¯ll only become aware of once we return to the main hall.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    I waited for Dante to come to me and then we walked to the main hall together. We weren¡¯t far from it, but I dreaded every step. There was most likely a corpse down there and I didn¡¯t want to see it, yet there wasn''t much of a choice. I entered the room right after Dante and looked down from the railing.


    In a single second, my slowly rising hope was shattered along with any coherent thought.


    The sight was abominable. Looking at it was a fate worse than death. Lucia¡¯s body was motionless and there were long rusty spikes coming out of her stomach. Blake was on the spikes. His body in the middle of them, his intestines near the top. Blake¡¯s blood was covering both of them, Lucia¡¯s was nowhere to be found. Lucia¡¯s eyes were gently closed and I only noticed that Blake¡¯s were wide open once I climbed down the stairs. It was a display of hell.


    I stared at every angle of this abomination of a murder scene in front of me, unable to comprehend that it was real life. I was so lost that I didn¡¯t notice everyone else enter the main hall. Is Lucia dead? Was this sacrifice worth anything?


    My thoughts were still irrelevant, nothing changed except the difficulty of keeping myself sane. Even if I was to survive this hell, I would probably be moved to a mental asylum.


    ¡°Come to your senses,¡± Amy shook me a bit.


    Unfortunately, even that small amount of shaking was enough to make me puke. Amy took a step back, but nobody else even noticed my vomit. They were just as lost as me. I was surprised that Amy had the strength to do anything, even after seeing her stay calm through everything, beat death and display every gory fetish known to mankind. Even that seemed useless against a horror such as this, but I was wrong.


    I couldn¡¯t even stand anymore, so it didn¡¯t take me long to succumb to my misery. I fell to the floor, my head hitting my vomit, and I quickly fainted.

 Chapter XXIII - The final investigation

    I felt water splashing across my face.


    ¡°Huh, w-what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°There we go,¡± I heard Amy¡¯s voice.


    Where did that water come from? What¡¯s going on¡­ Oh God, Blake!


    I was reminded of that horrid event. Blake¡¯s corpse resting on dirty spikes, his intestines out in the open, my vomit on the floor in front of it all. I wanted to get those pictures out of my head, but I couldn¡¯t. Instead, I slowly stood up and took a look around me. I¡¯m in the kitchen. Why was I brought here? Is this some attempt at a joke?


    In front of me stood everyone who was still alive and in this mansion apart from Rose. The atmosphere gave me a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, a moment like this had definitely occurred before, the only difference being that someone else had been in the position that I was in.


    Without getting time to rest, Lucia faded into my sight, standing behind everyone, but coming closer each second, reinforcing my feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Everyone took a step away from her, their backs clinging onto the kitchen counter and the wall. She¡¯s alive! No, no, no, why? Why is she alive? She should be dead!


    ¡°You guys seem upset,¡± Lucia chuckled.


    ¡°Away, witch!¡± Dante shouted.


    ¡°Aw, come on, do not be mean. It could cost you your life.¡±


    ¡°I will not submit!¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine. I¡¯ll spare you simply for your stupidity. If you had anything in that skull of yours, you¡¯d use your friend¡¯s death as a means to figure out the secret. Wouldn¡¯t that be way smarter than this?¡±


    ¡°Silence, monster!¡±


    Lucia didn¡¯t respond. Instead, she turned around and left the room without saying anything. Dante considered going after her, but something inside of him stopped him from doing it. That something was most likely common sense, but that never stopped Dante from anything before.


    I didn¡¯t even notice it until Lucia left, but my body was shaking uncontrollably. I had no clue what time it was, I couldn¡¯t remember when I last ate something. I was a needy and traumatized toddler inside of a teenage girl¡¯s body.


    ¡°The end is close,¡± Amy mumbled.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I read through your journal, I looked around the mansion to familiarize myself more with it, I thought about Blake¡¯s failed plan. I think I understood the secret of the mansion.¡±


    She was very close to me and she spoke quietly, I was the only one who heard her.


    ¡°Are you serious? Please tell me you¡¯re serious!¡±


    ¡°Quiet down a bit. I don¡¯t want to be overwhelmed by everyone. I¡¯ll explain everything.¡±


    She left the kitchen and gestured at me to follow her, which I did. We quickly walked to my bedroom, paying attention that nobody was following us, even though no one had any reason to do that. Amy even locked the door the second we entered.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you need to lock the door?¡±


    ¡°Just in case. I¡¯m going to be honest, I¡¯m paranoid.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s understandable. But, can you tell me what you figured out?¡±


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the thing. The secret is, obviously, mendivi. That¡¯s something you already know, it¡¯s pretty clear.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know, but do you know what mendivi actually is? Not the definition, but what it¡¯s supposed to represent. That¡¯s been bugging me for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, that thing is the secret itself, so it¡¯s obviously hidden. Luckily, I figured it out. It¡¯s a detail that everyone forgot. The metallic eye.¡±


    ¡°The metallic eye?¡±


    ¡°You found those blueprints for a metallic eye. I don¡¯t know how long ago, but I found it in your journal. I managed to find them and the blueprints are compatible with the idea I had.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know. I completely forgot about that!¡±


    ¡°Basically, I believe that someone in the mansion has that machine, and I believe that the machine is capable of creating strong illusions, hence the name translating to ¡®lying vision¡¯. That could explain many things. Most importantly, I know that I wasn¡¯t resurrected, but instead, more logically, I was simply unconscious and mendivi gave you and everybody else the illusion that I was dead.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean that nobody died?¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt it. Adam and Alex definitely did not possess mendivi, but they killed. Adam seemed to have survived his punishment, but Naomi ended that. There¡¯s a chance that she and Blake are alive, but I highly doubt that¡¯s the case. They could¡¯ve died from shock after feeling the pain of what they thought they were experiencing. Adam was lucky in that regard, many people would¡¯ve died in that position.¡±


    ¡°I see. Wait, weren¡¯t you supposedly killed by Alex?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was. But unlike with Eden and Maya, Alex used a weird gas that you could only find in this mansion. It was bound to be different and I don¡¯t see the effects of it being possible without mendivi.¡±


    ¡°You really thought this through, haven¡¯t you? That¡¯s good! There¡¯s hope! And if what you¡¯re saying is true, we might figure out-¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even heard everything I had to say.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too ahead of yourself. I¡¯m lucky that Alex didn¡¯t get rid of me permanently for my slip up.¡±


    I noticed that Amy was shaking a bit. It wasn¡¯t visible in her voice, but she was panicking.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious,¡± I said, ¡°how did you get to this conclusion? It seems far-fetched at first, but it all makes sense.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Well, just like you, I did not believe that what I was seeing was real. Unlike you though, I decided to actually focus on the possibility that somehow, what I was seeing was fake. It was an act of despair, but it paid off.¡±


    ¡°I see, but that leaves me with one question. Do you have an explanation for Rose being alive? Did I show you the letter?¡±


    ¡°The letter? No.¡±


    ¡°I found a letter on the third floor,¡± I pulled it out of my pocket and gave it to Amy. ¡°It¡¯s signed by Rose.¡±


    Amy quickly read it.


    ¡°That seals it. Rose possesses the mendivi. She isn¡¯t dead, because she only gave us the illusion of being killed and used it to hide from us.¡±


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We only have one option. We have to report to Lucia.¡±


    I really didn¡¯t want to hear that, but Amy was right. Somehow, that realization made me feel like I didn¡¯t know half of the secret, like mendivi was nothing more than an irrelevant cover. I was clearly jumping to conclusions, yet I couldn¡¯t take those thoughts out of my head.


    ¡°Amy, how do we do it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? We simply call for her and inform her of what we know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bad idea!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how to answer. In fact, I couldn¡¯t think of a single good reason not to do it. I was scared, nothing more than that.


    ¡°There are more clues that you didn¡¯t use!¡± I blurted out.


    ¡°Really? Which ones?¡± Amy was genuinely curious.


    I paused for a moment and began thinking of my days of constant searching until I could dig up a single sentence to get out of this awkward situation.


    ¡°Gabriella¡¯s journal!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you wrote about that. I don¡¯t think that brings up any argument for or against mendivi, but it does seem relevant. Do you know where you left it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still in the library, but I¡¯m not sure which shelf. There¡¯s also a chance that it¡¯s been knocked over.¡±


    ¡°Why would it be knocked over?¡±


    ¡°Well, it could¡¯ve been knocked over when I fought Alex and I haven¡¯t entered that place since, I don¡¯t like reminding myself.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re going there now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to!¡±


    ¡°I believe that you don¡¯t want to die either. Petra, if you¡¯re going to cling to life, at least sacrifice something else.¡± Amy unlocked the door and walked out.


    I followed her like a helpless puppy despite my earlier protest. Amy seemed determined to polish her conclusion, to lead us to the end without taking any unnecessary risks. She was helping me in a way that Naomi had wanted to, but unlike Naomi, Amy was succeeding.


    After a minute that felt like an eternity, we reached the door to the library.


    ¡°Whatever you do now, just do it calmly. Don¡¯t panic no matter what sort of memory comes up. Understand?¡± Amy spoke in a tone between normal speech and whispering.


    I didn¡¯t say anything, I simply nodded and prepared myself mentally while letting Amy enter before me.


    Before any disturbing thoughts about Alex could enter my mind, I saw Lucia at the other end of the room, reading a familiar looking book. She was standing near a pile of fallen books that nobody had bothered to pick back up.


    ¡°I believe you¡¯ve come for this,¡± Lucia approached us and threw the book that she was holding.


    Amy managed to catch it. From just looking over her shoulder, I could see that it was Gabriella¡¯s journal.


    ¡°This is it,¡± Amy said.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Lucia replied before walking past us.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Amy moved in Lucia¡¯s way.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m always here to help.¡±


    ¡°If we think that we figured out the secret of the mansion, what do we do?¡±


    ¡°Well, on the first day here, I mentioned how I would show up to inform you when you¡¯ve done it. But I am here, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°So, we did it?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. You¡¯ve got some pieces, you¡¯re on the right track, that¡¯s all I¡¯ll say.¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡±


    Lucia stood silent for a bit until she thought of an idea.


    ¡°Oh, I have a brilliant plan! How about I let you finish what you¡¯re currently investigating, and after that, one of you can write an essay describing everything in detail. If the paper I¡¯m handed contains the correct information and reveals the secret to a satisfying extent, everything ends and you¡¯re free to go, but if the information isn¡¯t correct or it isn¡¯t related to the secret, I execute the writer. How does that sound? I¡¯m not asking for anything formal, I just want correct information in any shape or form.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Amy immediately declined.


    ¡°I¡¯ll write it!¡± I jumped into the conversation.


    I was staring daggers at Lucia and that gave her a hellish smile when she realized it.


    ¡°Are you retarded?¡± Amy asked me.


    ¡°Amy, this bitch wants to demoralize us, and her plan is certainly working, but I can¡¯t let this continue. I¡¯m not doubting that this decision might kill me, I¡¯m fully aware of my chances, but I am not going to let everyone besides me die for nothing! Either I¡¯m going to hell, or I¡¯m sending Lucia to it!¡±


    I was breathing heavily, I couldn¡¯t control my emotions yet again. There was a chance that the worst decision in my entire life had been made, but there was nothing else to do. My last attempt at life itself had begun. I promised Evie, haven¡¯t I? I¡¯m firing the final shot.


    Amy moved out of the way and Lucia walked out of the room.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Amy asked me.


    ¡°I know, I made a bad decision! But tell me, is there anything else that I could¡¯ve done?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right, but do you have any clue where to start?¡±


    ¡°Not really. I¡¯ll probably just go back to my room after looking through Gabriella¡¯s journal and think a bit, reminding myself of all the clues we¡¯ve found so far. Then I¡¯ll write and I¡¯ll hope for the best.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan. Do you need my help writing it?¡±


    ¡°If I fail with your help, you might die too. I will risk my life, not yours. Just help me discuss the clues beforehand.¡±


    We spent about two hours going through and discussing what Gabriella had written, analyzing everything. It seemed like there was more written in it than the previous time that I read it, though with the concept of mendivi, that gave me less worry than confidence. I struggled to keep up with Amy, she acted like a machine while I had the thought of impending doom invading my brain.


    Near the end of the journal, there were loads of blank pages. The first time I read it, I thought that it ended there and that Gabriella simply stopped writing, but unlike me, Amy continued flipping through the pages and discovered an extra bit of text on the page right before the last. When I noticed that, I jumped a bit and quickly began reading.


    I¡¯ve left the cursed village of Vorfall. Not by choice, I was forced to flee. I¡¯m heading to the town down the hill, Nidengate. I will find a husband, I will have children, I will become normal, even if I must use this ¡°eye¡± that I¡¯ve obtained. All that torture, all that suffering, I went through it all and I became a hero in the eyes of my friends whose lives I saved. But the world didn¡¯t see it that way, they only saw the horrors, they saw a murderer, even though Alfred was the one that murdered first.


    I¡¯m running out of pages in this notebook, but I don¡¯t plan on obtaining another one. My life ended in a way, I now have the memories of that cruel man following me along my path. I won¡¯t throw this diary away either, I will most likely show it to someone who I will learn to trust. I just hope that I won¡¯t go insane by then.


    I was confused by Gabriella¡¯s words, though satisfied that she mentioned the eye that Amy and I considered to be mendivi. Alfred? That¡¯s my great grandfather. Did she kill him? This has to be useful!


    After we finished reading, I took the journal and began walking to my room with a sense of dread following me. Amy only followed me down to the second floor and we went separate ways from there, though she gave me a warm and comforting hug before that. The silence between that hug and my room terrified me.


    When I opened the door to my bedroom, I noticed a bunch of things scattered around. Upon closer inspection, they were clues we had already discovered. The blueprints, the pictures of Lucia and the ancestors of everyone in the mansion, my journal that I had given to Amy. The things that couldn¡¯t be moved had their picture taken, such as the information above the coffins or the writing of mendivi in the small hidden room beneath the backyard. I also noticed a notebook and a pen laying on the nightstand. Lucia had everything prepared.


    I cautiously picked up the notebook and pen and I sat on my bed. I lost myself in thought and began writing, constantly crossing things off until I could string a coherent sentence.

 Chapter XXIV - The thesis

    The secret of the mansion


    The main part of the secret is mendivi, that¡¯s obvious and something that cannot be argued. The main question that I¡¯ll be tackling is the precise identity of mendivi, I will not be wasting time or paper on useless beginnings, since the only important thing here is the ending.


    I believe that mendivi is a metallic eye, the one shown by the blueprints found inside this exact mansion and I believe its ability is what brought every single downfall inside this location. What I mean by that is, mendivi has the power to make people hallucinate and that ability has been used to trick us into thinking that we were facing an opponent above the laws of nature.


    My biggest piece of evidence is the return of Amy. I do not see how someone supposedly killed by a deadly gas could show up without any health problems. The text written on the bottle that was filled with said gas stated extremely vague information, purposely attempting to hide the lack of any substance in the bottle. Even if such a poison existed, the description would¡¯ve been different, and if the current one was simply attached to the bottle, the paper wouldn¡¯t look as aged as it does.


    Another way to back it up is to confirm that there is nothing unusual about the mansion itself. The best way to do that is to demonstrate how the second and the first group made contact with the third even though Leon and Naomi tried to prevent that from happening. I ¡°dreamt¡± of meeting the third group without knowing anyone¡¯s name or appearance and through that ¡°dream¡±, I found out how to get to the third group. Evelyn also had a similar experience, where it was revealed to her that mendivi is short for ¡°mendacium visio¡±, which means ¡°lying vision¡±, which also connects mendivi to the object and the use that I described. There was no substance, no object that made us go through that. Those were occurrences devoid of any explanation within that time¡¯s realm of knowledge. If that was caused by mendivi manipulating our minds, it would also be most convenient for mendivi to be the culprit of Amy¡¯s false death.


    The way you, Lucia, are capable of keeping track of the entire mansion and capable of showing false realities anywhere within it, is through the cameras, which also provide a useful clue. Every room has multiple cameras, and each camera contains the others within its view. That¡¯s why they¡¯re invisible to us. The mendivi has them in its sight constantly and that¡¯s why it¡¯s able to create the illusion that they¡¯re not there. Plus, I would assume that mendivi memorizes the looks of the room and keeps any illusion in it until a drastic change happens to the room¡¯s appearance, and when necessary, you simply watch us from a nearby spot.


    Yet again, I have proof. When Blake fought against you and the lights went out, I could feel a noticeable change in the atmosphere. My surroundings felt different. The changes were still slight, slight enough that a normal human could not keep track of them. That brings up another topic, the pure fact that the illusions were not perfect, showing human work in them. That is also represented in Blake¡¯s last moments. The scene of his death was missing one thing, one unnatural occurrence differing from others in a really important way. The goggles were missing. While creating an illusion, you accidentally erased the goggles.


    Mendivi was also used to fake your weird ¡°punishments¡±. This can be shown with Maya and Adam. During Maya¡¯s ¡°second¡± murder, her limbs were cut off, but when we found her body afterwards, she was intact, although her corpse had damages from the horrific acts that Leon had committed, though unsurprisingly, those scars weren¡¯t present while you were ¡°killing¡± her. Adam had his face bitten off, but again, after his body was found, everything was there, even after Naomi killed him out of paranoia.


    As my final piece of proof for mendivi itself, I would like to use Gabriella¡¯s journal. Not the contents of it, but the parts that are missing. Of course, some parts had to be cut out so as to not reveal the secret too easily, but the way those parts were cut out seemed unusual. They were ripped out, but the small remaining parts of those pages looked almost identical. When you rip out a piece of paper from a notebook, it won¡¯t be even, but it wouldn¡¯t be normal for multiple pages to be uneven in the same exact way. This again points back to mendivi being used instead of actually ruining the journal.


    Now, for the second part of the secret, one that still leaves me with some confusion, but one that I must conquer. Your identity, Lucia. I do not believe that Lucia is a real person, I believe that her identity is a complex product of mendivi. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Rose?


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Firstly, surnames. Lucia Martel, Rose Martel, I don¡¯t know what else this could point to. There also appear to be pictures of Lucia that are decades old, in which she does not look a year younger or older. That means that Lucia could simply be your relative, your grandmother perhaps. She is not your great grandmother because on your cheap grave, it¡¯s written that you were born in 1974. I can name one plausible reason for the use of Lucia as your persona, which would be the illusion of you that was created in the beginning. I think the reason for that illusion is directly connected with the reason for creating this entire fuckfest in the first place, but it also stopped you from appearing as yourself in front of us.


    Next, your fake death had something weird about it as well. Despite the fact that the younger version of you appeared as intelligent, Adam¡¯s downright horrible plan succeeded. His bait was taken like it was nothing and you made the illusion puke right after lunch, perfect for everyone to see and assume that you were dead.


    Furthermore, Lucia¡¯s appearances around the entire mansion were simply bizarre. She introduced everyone to your sadistic game at the same time, and whenever someone had a question, or whenever someone had to be prevented from doing something, Lucia was there. You had to be quick witted in your use of mendivi in these cases, and creating illusions of yourself would simply be too difficult. When a humanoid being acts weirdly, it¡¯s usually noticed. However, since Lucia is not a real person, since she¡¯s soulless with a not very varied way of speaking, you could always mimic her personality without flaws, even when under pressure and haste. She is a safety net of sorts to you.


    Well, since you have that safety net, then as a call for fairness, I will give myself a safety net too, and that safety net will be making a third point for the secret by revealing what I know about the history of the mansion and somewhat your possible reasoning for all of this. It would make sense that you would want me to figure that out as well, considering the appearance of our great grandparents and Gabriella¡¯s journal. I believe that this is mostly connected to my great grandfather Alfred, but that everyone else has ancestors connected to a previous event that occurred here long ago. With the age of the pictures, everyone appearing to be around their late twenties or early thirties, I would say that whatever happened, happened in the 1930s.


    The reason for believing that Alfred had the main role is the ending of Gabriella¡¯s journal. There, she calls him a monster and a murderer. He did something inside this mansion, and as much as I don¡¯t want to think poorly of my family, he did something despicable. That crime can only lead to one thing, he had the same role that you gave to Alex. This was a recreation of that event. Alfred trapped everyone including Lucia and/or Gabriella, creating a group of twelve that went through unimaginable horror similar to the one you¡¯ve created. I presume that Alfred possessed mendivi, however I will not make that a clear statement, as there is no proof leading to that. That does not mean that mendivi was not present though, I just don¡¯t know what role it exactly had. Besides, the details are irrelevant when we talk about the past, only the consequences have value.


    Now, this event definitely left an impact on you even though it happened decades before the year you were born. Such an impact, you wanted to repeat everything, but with you taking a new role, the role of an overseer, while having a fake copy of yourself take the role of the victim that your grandmother played. The only way for you to have learnt about that event would be through Lucia, who told you everything she knew. With an unholy amount of luck and effort, you managed to obtain mendivi and that newfound discovery turned you into what you are now and gave you a goal because, for reasons only known to you, you were not satisfied with the results of the first event. You visited the mansion, either discovered or added new rooms and weird layout and put your plan into work, leading us to today.


    Gabriella said something about having Alfred¡¯s memories. If you possess her memories, Alfred¡¯s memories, perhaps both, then that would be a suitable answer as to why you¡¯ve become what you are now. Is that the secret you were hiding? Frankly, I¡¯ve said all there is to say.


    I revealed the secret, I revealed three different, yet connected secrets. I would just like to write a proper ending and to remind you of what you just read. The first point proves mendivi¡¯s ability, the second proves the identity of you and Lucia, and the third point shows the line of events that led to everything and that might end in my own death. However, before you finish reading this paper, I want you to know that I am no longer afraid of you. With each word of this essay, some of my fear turned into anger, and by the time I wasted all this paper, no more fear remained. This message might be close to worthless, but I want it to be known that I am against you until the very end.


    Fuck you,


    -Petra Wolf


    I slowly stood up and took a step back from the notebook. My body was, to my surprise, not shaking. I was confident even though my chances of dying had never been higher. I looked around my bedroom and considered throwing out the pieces of evidence in the hallway to free some space, but I decided against it since I knew that I wasn¡¯t going to return no matter the outcome.


    Instead, I sat on my bed and reread what I had written, just in case I had left in a dumb mistake or two. That was all I could do and all that I felt I needed to do.

 Chapter XXV - Who is to die?

    I stood in the middle of the main hall, holding, with both of my hands, the notebook that might have had my last words written in it, awaiting my judgment. Amy and Dante were in the room with me and I didn¡¯t know where Evelyn and Leon were. I wanted it to stay that way, Leon could ruin everything very quickly. Amy and Dante also got to read my essay, I felt more secure with them simply knowing what was written on the paper.


    It felt like the walls, the pillars and even the doors were watching me, like they were alive. The stress was overwhelming as I waited for Lucia or Rose. I didn¡¯t move for at least two minutes, until it was exactly noon, and then, Lucia slowly walked down the stairs, coming from the left wing of the second floor.


    She was wearing a pretty fancy dress, much more extravagant than the outfit she had been wearing before. It made the whole ordeal look more formal, as well as more stressful.


    ¡°So, are you ready, my dearest Petra?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I responded confidently.


    ¡°I see. That makes me happy.¡±


    She grabbed the notebook from my hands and began reading my essay. Her red eyes went over each word with attention and with swiftness. She would also whisper to herself occasionally, but I couldn¡¯t hear what she was saying, so I took a small step toward her and moved my hair away from my ears.


    ¡°Alright, yes, good,¡± she kept whispering, ¡°this one¡¯s a bit wrong, but she¡¯s going the right way. Hmm, where from here?¡±


    Eventually, she stopped reading and threw the notebook to the side. At that moment, her eyes were locked on to me. At one moment, I thought that my life was already over, but Lucia did not move, I did not feel any pain.


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± I broke the silence.


    ¡°You made one mistake, it was repeated multiple times.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I felt my heart sink.


    ¡°However, there was no way for you to know that, it isn¡¯t visible with the clues alone. You actually did it, I¡¯m astounded.¡±


    Then suddenly, the image of Lucia faded, and on the bottom part of the staircase, there was a woman in a red shirt and brown pants sitting. She looked to be middle aged, but still very familiar looking. Rose!


    With my next blink, it was confirmed. Mendivi appeared in place of her right eye, she broke the illusion in front of the three of us. It was exactly as the blueprints depicted it. One to one in size compared to a regular eye, a bright red glowing circle in the middle that stared into my soul.


    Comparing her to her teenage self that I met long ago, they barely resembled each other. Though, her face didn¡¯t change too much, the majority of the difference was in aging and a change of style, her hair was way longer and her skin was paler.


    ¡°So, are we free to leave?¡± Amy asked.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Rose replied, ¡°the door isn¡¯t locked. It never was. Though it¡¯s still a fancy door even without the illusion.¡±


    Amy and Dante ran up to me and hugged me, I could even see a tear or two coming from their eyes which made me shed some of my own. We did it! We¡¯re free!


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it, I thought that she would¡¯ve betrayed us, I thought that this situation was hopeless,¡± I quietly said.


    ¡°Come on, darling,¡± Rose overheard me and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve stated multiple times that I play fairly. Do not disrespect my words.¡±


    I nodded and turned around.


    Amy and I began walking towards the door without any regard for anything, but Dante went towards the right wing.


    ¡°Where are you going, God¡¯s child?¡± Rose asked Dante when she noticed that he wasn¡¯t leaving.


    ¡°My brother yearns for a proper burial. I will not leave him in such a vile location.¡±


    ¡°Alright, fine. You do that while the artist and the maniac find out that they¡¯re free and come down.¡±


    While we were around three steps away from the door, the lights went out. Fuck, fuck! It was a trick! How didn¡¯t I guess that? How did I think she was going to let us go that easily?


    ¡°Who do you think you can call a maniac, huh?¡± I heard Leon¡¯s voice in the distance.


    This is even worse than I thought!


    ¡°Change of plans, I see!¡± Rose shouted, ¡°Enough transgression. It seems you can¡¯t accept my gift of freedom, so I¡¯m taking it away from you.¡±


    I was terrified, so I rushed to the door since I knew that it was in front of me, but just before I could reach it, Amy grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the dining room, quickly finding the door even in the complete darkness.


    ¡°Are you dense?¡± Amy aggressively whispered.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°If you opened the door, light from outside would come in and Rose would be able to use mendivi. Do you really think that¡¯s a good idea?¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We got two ways out. The backyard and the roof. None are really good, but there¡¯s nothing else. Either we rush through the main hall with Rose inside it, or we jump off a three story building.¡±


    ¡°Or a third option,¡± I added.


    ¡°And that is?¡±


    ¡°We kill her before she turns the lights on.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t joke in these moments. Plus, I imagined your humor would be more lighthearted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not joking.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but this really doesn¡¯t sound like an idea of yours. If we fuck up, we¡¯re dead, even after successfully pulling all of this off.¡±


    ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t handle this anymore. I have to do something and I don¡¯t have time to think everything through. I¡¯m not myself right now.¡±


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I slowly began navigating my way through the darkness in hopes of getting into the storage room before Rose. I was hopeful since Leon was in Rose¡¯s way. Maniac or not, he was undeniably a threat.


    ¡°Ow, Jesus Christ!¡± I heard Rose¡¯s voice coming from the main hall, ¡°you still have those rocks that you carry around? Wait, why the fuck are they wet?¡±


    ¡°Hahahahahaha!¡± Leon¡¯s laughter was loud enough to reach me, ¡°I knew these would come in handy!¡±


    How did he even manage to hit her while the lights are off? Maybe he took the night vision goggles, that could¡¯ve been the mistake I made in the essay, though I don¡¯t remember repeating that statement.


    I tried to forget what I had heard and hastily picked up my pace while paying less attention to objects around me, no hit was going to slow me down more than caution would. I soon reached the staircase at the far back of the left wing, one that was usually left neglected, and I got to the second floor. The straightness and emptiness of the hallway allowed me to hurry even more, the storage room door was up ahead. Unfortunately, just as I was about to reach it, I heard it open. No, no, no! Rose is here!


    I heard her take three or four steps inside when loud explosions covered the sounds of her steps. The explosion sounded like it was caused by firecrackers, and since small traces of light left the storage room, that¡¯s what I assumed caused the explosions. I didn¡¯t have time to think more about it, every wasted second would make my chances of survival slimmer.


    ¡°Ha, bitch! Fell for my trap?¡± Leon shouted as his voice approached the second floor.


    I stayed quiet and waited a second for the firecrackers to stop, then blindly rushed in with my hand reached out, waiting for it to touch Rose. When I got to her, I pulled my hand back and punched her as hard as I could. A part of my fist missed her, but the hit was still hard enough to make her fall.


    ¡°You bitch! So you¡¯re going with him?¡± Rose was reasonably pissed off. I heard her quickly stand up and walk away from me, towards the lever. ¡°This is over.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s far from over, ¡° I heard Evelyn from the other side of the room, ¡°I shall not allow you past me.¡±


    I followed Rose as best as I could, though she remembered the layout of the room way better than me. I could also hear Leon¡¯s footsteps behind me, but it was easy to differentiate his and Rose¡¯s because Leon¡¯s sounded weirder in an unexplainable way.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Rose shouted as she pushed through Evelyn without a hint of struggle.


    Nothing else was in her way, she just had to take a couple more steps and that would be the end. I had to react in some way and I had to do it without error. My only idea was to run forward and hide. The ball pit!


    I navigated my way to the playroom and accidentally fell into the pit before I knew it.


    I heard a grunt the second I fell in. I immediately knew that it was Evelyn.


    ¡°Evie?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Quiet.¡±


    The ball pit was just deep enough to cover both of us. I didn¡¯t move and neither did Evelyn, our only option was to wait for a safe opportunity. The lights were back on and now, nobody could directly face Rose. Why did I not leave? Rose didn¡¯t have the intention to kill me. I, myself, decided to risk my life. For what? Justice? Leon? I¡¯m a dumbass!


    ¡°Trying to desert me now? How unkind.¡± Rose said, her voice coming from the storage room.


    She didn¡¯t even suspect our hiding spot, either because we were clever, or because she didn¡¯t think we were that stupid. She undoubtedly started looking for everyone, but firstly went towards the main hall to create the illusion of the entrance being locked. I was terrified again, my anger slowly but surely returned to fear. I can¡¯t hide here forever, I have to leave and I have to find a way to kill Rose, to defeat someone with the capability to create literal false realities. Is that even possible? Is anyone capable of defeating someone with such powers?


    After a minute of silence, I slowly stood up and left the ball pit.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Evelyn asked me, her voice quiet and shaky.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said before heading inside the storage room.


    I searched through the room looking for something I could use as a weapon. Memories of when I met the second group got into my head and they reminded me how each of them got a weapon from the storage room, so that confirmed I was on the right track. For a short while, I couldn''t see anything useful, but in the end, I noticed a revolver with only one bullet loaded. The gun was in one of the corners, surrounded by junk. I am really going through with this, I can¡¯t believe myself.


    After picking up the revolver, I looked up at the ceiling with no particular intention, but the ceiling reminded me of something terrifying.


    The cameras!


    I was frozen in place, unsure what to do. I knew that if Rose remembered to check the cameras, there would be no way no way for me to leave victorious. My slim chances of triumph were even slimmer than I had originally thought. There was not much to do with this new information. If I were to return to the ball pit, I¡¯d either be found or killed the second I left. I could only move forward and hope that luck would be on my side until I got the opportunity to end everything. I couldn¡¯t leave either, Rose would hunt me down with ease.


    Hesitantly, I left the storage room and walked toward the main hall. The door leading into the main hall was already open, so I peeked in. Rose was there, walking around the room without a care in the world. Is that really her? It might be an illusion.


    After losing myself in my thoughts, I was quickly brought back into reality by the sounds of footsteps coming from another part of the hallway. This might be the real Rose! Without thinking, I moved into the main hall, but also got down on the floor in a futile attempt to hide behind the railing. Whoever was walking through the hallway went past the door to the main hall, either towards the other end of the left wing or inside the storage room.


    Rose did not seem to notice me, though she wasn¡¯t even looking in my direction. It was like she had no interest in pursuing anyone or even thinking about the cameras that were littered across the entire mansion. I considered shooting her from my position, but I was too scared. There was a chance of missing and also an equally big chance of that being an illusion. What to do? What to do? Do I shoot? Do I try escaping? Rose is quiet, oblivious.


    I was lying there for who knows how long, waiting for something to happen. I was determined to kill her, but I was unsure if I had an opening or not. Then, it paid off. The door leading to the small reading room below me opened, and Rose entered the room. The illusion faded soon after.


    ¡°One down,¡± she said to herself, ¡°where now?¡±


    Air felt like it was running out of my lungs faster than I wanted to run away from Rose. I had no excuse now, the danger was unbelievable and I knew that it was her. I just had to shoot her without missing. I had never handled a gun before, so I needed beginner''s luck. This is it, my last stand!


    I stood up, aimed the revolver at Rose¡¯s body with my shaky hands and pulled the trigger with slight hesitation. The recoil was weak, but the sound and the pure shock of shooting knocked me back. I was breathing heavily and my whole body felt like it didn¡¯t belong to me. I¡¯m alive!


    I ran down the stairs and looked at Rose. I hit her in the stomach and she was on the ground, but she was still moving, although barely and while weeping in pain. She looked up and stared at me with mendivi looking directly at me. I realized that I failed to kill her quickly enough.


    ¡°Petra!¡± I heard Dante shout from the other side of the room. ¡°Waste no time!¡±


    He threw a dagger in my direction, the same one he had tried slaughtering everyone with when Eden died. It fell right next to me. By the time I grabbed the dagger, I could¡¯ve died a thousand times, but I listened to Dante¡¯s advice and rushed toward Rose without thinking about any reasoning.


    Rose used mendivi to trip me on nothing and I fell in her direction. We were both on the ground and close to each other. She moved her bloody hand from her wound and reached into her pocket and while still grunting, she pulled out a weird tool I hadn¡¯t seen before. It was completely metal and had a circle on the top with a stick part connected to it. She grabbed it by the stick part and touched mendivi with the circle. Mendivi somehow stuck to it and she pulled the tool. Even with so little strength remaining, she managed to pull it out, leaving only some disgusting pus in the hole that mendivi was used to fill. I felt like I was going to puke, but I stayed silent out of fear.


    She turned the backside of mendivi towards me. That side had a big spike in the middle and it looked sharp.


    I aimed the dagger with my stiff body and as she surprised me by leaping toward me, I stabbed her in the neck, though a moment too late. She¡¯d stabbed me too. She stabbed my eye with mendivi.


    I screamed from the pain for a second, but then, without a warning, everything turned black.

 Chapter XXVI - Leftover memories

    I saw a dirty wooden table in front of me and blood dripping from my face. What¡¯s going on? Where am I?


    I tried to move, but I simply couldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t even turn my head. However, my head did look downwards, even if not under my control. I took a look at myself and I immediately noticed a dirty checkered shirt, hairy arms, a horrible stench, manly shape and clothes. This isn¡¯t me!


    ¡°It works! It¡¯s working!¡± I heard a manly voice shout. It was like I said that, I felt my mouth move. I was possessing someone else¡¯s body. ¡°Mendivi, I put you together!¡± the voice continued, ¡°I finally did it!¡±


    Unwillingly, I left the dirty room and went into the yard of that house. The sight was familiar, yet distant. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve seen an open yard and nature blooming around me.


    After a closer inspection, it was Vorfall, the village where my family was from, but the houses were different. They all looked cheaper and older. There was also no road, even though the layout of the village was almost the same.


    I was freaking out, the entire situation was confusing and frightening. I couldn¡¯t even remember what had happened right before. Is this one of Rose¡¯s illusions? Is she trying to show me something? No, wait, didn¡¯t I try to kill her?


    My memories came back to me. I realized that I had mendivi, not Rose. This was being shown to me directly by mendivi without anyone¡¯s control. The further events were shown to me way more quickly, the time wasn¡¯t accurate at all. In fact, I remembered every event in detail, but they eventually all passed in parts of a single second.


    I was watching Alfred¡¯s life, well, his life from the moment he had obtained mendivi. I did not have any recollection of anything before he inserted it into his eye socket. I could feel a deep rage inside of him, he felt that he had a proper reason to use mendivi. His plan began within the mansion, where he cleared around stuff, and where I got to see the blueprints and seemingly random tools. The blueprints were not Alfred¡¯s, I assumed that he had somehow stumbled across them.


    He spent the next year or two kidnapping every single victim of his and also preparing everything needed for them, while also testing out different illusions in front of everyone, then quickly making them forget with some clever use of mendivi.


    The mansion in his time looked different from today and the differences really stood out. Firstly, the room on the third floor that led to the rooftop wasn¡¯t there. There also wasn¡¯t anything in place of the monitor room. Those parts were constructed later. The storage room and the playroom on the second floor, while still there, did not serve their modern function and looked nothing like what I could remember. They were mostly empty, only having a couple of shelves inside with random dusty things stacked on top of each other. The room on the right wing of the second floor looked like a living room, with furniture, a lamp and a radio inside it. In the modern time, none of that was there, only a pile of trash was dumped around the room.


    When Alfred began his sick game, he pretended to be one of the victims, and with mendivi, that worked out for him, though the tricks he pulled were different from Rose¡¯s. He simply created fake traps around the mansion, illusions that the others thought were attacks coming from a mysterious being that was always nearby, but never visible. Alfred reinforced that idea by occasionally creating fake shadows that convinced everyone that their idea of that individual was real.


    The torture itself was varied, it mostly depended on Alfred¡¯s mood. Either he¡¯d make someone in the backyard think they were being attacked by a wild animal, force someone to vomit blood, have an illusion of a knife randomly falling from the ceiling where it wasn¡¯t visible to anyone until it was too late to dodge, give someone the feeling of being burnt alive without any visible symptoms, there was no end to his barrage. The conditions these people were living in could only be called a form of hell, and that¡¯s without mentioning that they only had enough food for around a single meal a day.


    Because I had Alfred¡¯s memories, I also knew the full names of these people. That meant that I knew exactly who was whose ancestor. Eugene Eller, Mary Steed, Gabriella Martel, Lillith Sharp, Friede Divinitas, Joseph Divinitas, Samuel Cleeve, Peter Voss, Omar Alrawi, Mabel Umbra and Bertha Keller.


    Most of these names were completely irrelevant, in fact, all but one. Gabriella Martel. Her surname made it clear that she was related to Rose. In fact, her surname and Lucia¡¯s lack of appearance in Alfred¡¯s memories made me question many things. Is that the mistake Rose said I made in my essay? It has to be!


    I paid closer attention to Gabriella whenever Alfred gave me the chance. That happened on many occasions, despite the fact that the memories in front of me came one after another without a second passing.


    She was a skinny and pale girl with long and straight blond hair, unusually quiet considering the situation. She acted differently than everyone else, like she was making a plan. She was still suffering, but she made efforts to do things that others did not. Most importantly, she and Alfred became close, she would apologize for random inconveniences from a past that I couldn¡¯t remember, she would call him really nice nicknames, she would even offer to comfort him, though she herself was on the verge of going insane.


    Then I got to see Alfred¡¯s downfall. He naively put his trust into Gabriella and forgave her for whatever she may have done to him. He took her to his bedroom on the first floor, the same one that I slept in the last couple of weeks.


    ¡°Gabriella, I must admit something,¡± he said to her.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I am at fault for all of this. I am sorry that you were forced to take part, as I mistook you for a terrible woman.¡±


    ¡°How are you the one to blame? You¡¯re suffering just as much as everyone.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± he said before stopping the illusion that made mendivi look like a real eye. I did not see the difference when he did that, but I somehow felt it. ¡°I knew that you would stay calm. This thing replacing my eye is called mendivi. I found its parts while exploring this abandoned mansion and since the blueprints were there too, I decided to build it. Next to all of that was a small note explaining its capabilities, but I threw it away out of paranoia. However, all you should know is that it allowed me to do everything ¡®supernatural¡¯ that occurred.¡±


    Gabriella was not phased, it was like she expected everything.


    ¡°How interesting,¡± she said creepily.


    ¡°I will free you from here and I will even attempt to compensate you for everything you went through. The others will have to stay here, some more might even die. So far only Samuel and Mabel have died, but it is not enough. You are not aware of how evil these people are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really free to leave?¡± Gabriella casually asked while going through the drawers of Alfred¡¯s bedroom.


    ¡°Yes, you are. Though, why are you going through my drawers? Do you think there¡¯s anything of value there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just taking my compensation.¡±


    When she turned around, I saw a tool in her hands, the same one Rose used to take out mendivi.


    ¡°Put that down,¡± Alfred said with a stern voice, ¡°that is something private of mine.¡±


    Gabriella did not respond. She jumped towards Alfred with rage in her eyes that was no longer disguised. Since he was caught off guard, he didn¡¯t have time to use the mendivi or even protect himself with his hands. She successfully attached the tool to mendivi and pulled it out without much effort.


    Everything was black again, darkness surrounded me for a moment in the same fashion that it did when Rose attacked me with mendivi. After that moment of darkness passed, the light that returned put me in Gabriella¡¯s shoes, with Alfred in front of her, dead. That reminded me of one of my moments with my grandmother. She talked about how her mother had quickly lost her love for Alfred, how he didn¡¯t care for her or his wife and how his early death had completely been his fault. Now, staring at his lifeless body from the perspective of a woman who he tortured, I knew that the truth was way worse than just a lack of love.


    What a disgusting monster.


    Gabriella created an illusion to hide mendivi, then left the room and freed everyone before telling them what happened. Everyone was shocked, but it didn¡¯t take them long to believe her. With all said and done, they returned to Vorfall, expecting no more than a warm welcome and tons of questions, but their expectations weren¡¯t met. Everyone was terrified of them, they were people who were presumed dead and they returned as a group despite going missing weeks or even months apart. After a bit of time, the mass of villagers was calm enough that they could hold a conversation, but once they heard about mendivi and what Gabriella did, they kicked her out of the village for having the guts to murder a man and then forced everyone else to live in the local church for at least a week with daily exorcism attempts, as they had thought that mendivi was the devil.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    She headed down the road to Nidengate and finished her journal while walking before putting it in her bag. Afterwards, she made the biggest decision of her life. That decision was to create a new identity using mendivi, to start a new life. That created Lucia. The rest of her life was mostly normal to my surprise, she found a handsome man that treated her well, had two children with him and one of her children had a daughter later on, Rose. For a while everything was going well, although she always presented herself as Lucia, even to her children. She even purposely aged Lucia as the years went by.


    She was really close with Rose, even closer than with her own children. Most of Rose¡¯s free time was spent with Gabriella and they talked and played for hours on end. Their endless conversations only ended with Gabriella¡¯s death, and she was even fortunate enough to die of old age. However, before that, Gabriella decided to confess her secret to Rose. She sat in her small bedroom and called for Rose while nobody else was home.


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Rose said, ¡°what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I have something to show you. It must be kept as a secret from everyone else though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you know I never share our conversation topics with anyone.¡±


    ¡°This is more than a topic. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been shunned for and something that forced me to change my identity.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Well, you know that you can trust me with anything, nan.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of Vorfall? It¡¯s that village just up the hill.¡±


    ¡°I know, it doesn¡¯t seem like anything special.¡±


    ¡°Well, I used to live there when I was young. I had a completely different identity, my name used to be Gabriella.¡±


    ¡°Wait, if that was your name then, why did you change it to Lucia?¡± Rose asked with confusion. She seemed prepared for any confession, but just didn¡¯t expect one like this.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get to that. What happened was, a man named Alfred lived there as well, he was an unhinged maniac, convinced that everyone was out to get him. He set his eye on me and ten other people, he kidnapped us and trapped us in an abandoned mansion around a kilometer away. There, two people died and everyone else was tortured and almost starved to death. It was horrific, and that torture that we all endured, it was not normal.¡±


    Rose held her hand and tried to comfort her, but Gabriella shed a couple of tears.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t wish to continue, nan.¡±


    ¡°No, this is important. What happened next was, I managed to make Alfred like me, I had the idea of him being responsible ever since we entered the mansion. And I was right, after we became close, Alfred admitted to it and he showed me how he did everything. He used a tool called mendivi, a metallic eye. Its use is to create illusions that everyone can see. They¡¯re extremely powerful, you can feel everything. With such a tool, I knew he had to have something nearby in case he needed to get it out of his eye socket, so I quickly searched and I managed to do what was necessary. However, due to the tension, I didn''t think right and I ended up stabbing my eye with mendivi and taking it. At that moment, another ability was revealed. ¡®Inheriting memories¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Rose interrupted her, ¡°where¡¯s mendivi now?¡±


    ¡°I said that it can create illusions.¡± Gabriella stopped the illusion of her right eye and showed Rose mendivi, making her jump back. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for scaring you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    They continued talking about what had happened, and eventually they got to one decision. Due to the ability of mendivi to store memories, Rose was to take it before Gabriella died and continue her legacy. Gabriella didn¡¯t want to do it at first, since it would mean that Rose would inherit Alfred¡¯s memories too along with her grandmother¡¯s trauma, but Rose encouraged the decision and also stayed quiet about it, nobody knew what was happening between them.


    I saw darkness for a moment between their exchange of mendivi and then got to see the world and the rest of the century long tale from Rose¡¯s perspective.


    When Gabriella died, Rose simply made the body look like Lucia and then ended the illusion right after the funeral.


    Rose looked through Gabriella¡¯s memories multiple times and she was angry at the inhabitants of Vorfall for abandoning her dearest grandmother without any hint of remorse. She visited the village and the mansion often after that, even staying over to sleep in the mansion for a couple of weeks once.


    The memories completely altered her personality, it turned her a different person, or better said, into a mix of three people stuck inside one body. It slowly turned her into a psycho, a much different outcome than what Gabriella had gone through.


    Eventually, she made a plan. As a tribute and as a weird form of revenge, she was going to recreate Alfred¡¯s horror. She started working on it way before she had even an image of what she was going to do. She turned some rooms into hidden ones, built two or three more, repurposed some to her liking, she was aiming for a place where one could live a decent life, but where nothing made sense. She hired professionals to do that work, but only created a false memory of them receiving money as she did not have any stable income that could pay for any renovation. All that led to the version of the mansion that I ended up witnessing with my own two eyes.


    She didn¡¯t go along with her plan for years. I hadn¡¯t even been born at the time that she first wanted to begin, but she thought that our parents were too old. She wanted to see younger people suffer. It was very obvious that her original idea was nothing more than a cover up for her sadistic desires that mendivi had given her. She spent years doing other things that she considered irrelevant, all to pass the time. To everyone, she was a normal member of society, but that murder and torture spree was still lingering in her mind.


    She started executing her plan in the spring of two thousand and twenty-one when she began kidnapping everyone one by one at any convenient moment she found, just like Alfred had done, while also turning herself into Lucia. Her idea was to make me the ¡°traitor¡± because Alfred was one, but since I refused to cooperate, she scrapped the plan. Then she made multiple scenarios with everyone else and used us like we were toys until she decided that Alex was the option.


    Her idea of a traitor was someone that would at the same time be within everyone and considered a victim of her crimes, but also act as her assistant and be forced to assist in the torture without anyone else knowing. Alex was very hesitant, though he accepted simply because he was afraid of her.


    It didn¡¯t take too long for Rose to lose interest in that idea. It didn¡¯t flow naturally enough for her, she found the traitor¡¯s function clunky. She felt like she needed to flesh out Alex¡¯s role in everything and that made her come up with a new idea.


    Unlike Alfred¡¯s plan and her previous one, there would be no regular torture, just murder that the traitor would need to get away with without getting caught, but the tension would definitely remain high. She got the idea to give everyone the motive of the ¡°secret of the mansion¡±.


    Subsequently, she made more renovations, like getting rid of most windows and instead creating a quiet yet effective ventilation system and only letting the Sun in while everyone was asleep during some nights. While the unpaid workers did that, Rose kept us all inside our rooms as prisoners, though she did regularly give us food. Her plan was practically flawless, and around September of two thousand and twenty-three, the misery began.


    I clearly remembered all the events that occurred without the need of mendivi, but now I was witnessing them from Rose¡¯s perspective. She spent most time watching the cameras in case something bad happened, but she also often took walks through and around the mansion. She was constantly focused on us and always awaited something new. She was like a cruel Goddess laughing at the suffering of her underlings.


    All that led to our final battle, where I learnt from mendivi that she did really plan to let us all go until Leon messed everything up. Everything went the same as I had remembered until I temporarily parted ways with Rose when I dove into the ball pit. I could feel her anger at Leon at that moment, any idea of mercy was completely gone.


    While I was hiding inside the ball pit with Evelyn, she ran around the mansion looking for everyone. That was the time when I left my hiding position and made my way to the main hall where I waited for my time to strike. As I rewatched those moments, I realized something unusual. The thing that pushed me into the main hall was the sound of footsteps, but Rose wasn¡¯t nearby when that happened. Somebody else walked by.


    Eventually though, Rose did return to the storage room, though much later than I had previously thought. It all happened while I unknowingly stared at one of her illusions.


    When she opened the door to the storage room, Leon was there, though in a very horrifying state. He weirdly and slowly walked toward Rose with a bag on his head that had an eerie smile drawn on it. His arms and hands were completely hidden by his sleeves, and his pants also looked way too big for him. Rose jumped back out of sheer surprise, but then immediately, without hesitation, she used mendivi to give him the illusion of a heart attack.


    ¡°Fucking freak,¡± she mumbled to herself.


    Then, she walked away like nothing had happened and went downstairs and into the main hall. We met, I shot her and the decades of new memories that had been ingrained in my mind within a couple of seconds finally connected with the present.


    The moment Rose attacked me with mendivi, everything turned black for the last time. Darkness shrouded me for slightly longer than before, and then, Rose appeared in front of me.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said.


    I felt like I regained control of my body again, at least in this nothingness that I was now in.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what to say.


    I was still overwhelmed by the entire situation and I didn¡¯t know if I was even really talking to Rose.


    ¡°To apologize. I had no control over this situation.¡±


    ¡°I saw everything, don¡¯t lie to me!¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t me, that was mendivi. It¡¯s formed its own identity. I could only watch myself turn into a monster.¡±


    ¡°What? I don¡¯t understand.¡± I was even more confused than before.


    ¡°I was still conscious, but all those decisions, the recreation of Alfred¡¯s crime, becoming Lucia, that wasn¡¯t my decision. I¡¯m afraid that mendivi has used our memories to form its own personality. I¡¯m apologizing to you because I feel like mendivi has somewhat killed you.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious¨C¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll be fine, I don¡¯t know, don¡¯t take my word for it. Maybe I was just insane, but a person that feels the way I do now can¡¯t commit all those atrocities that you saw. I¡¯m so sorry, Petra!¡±


    ¡°Were you really not able to stop anything?¡±


    ¡°I exist alone only in this nothingness, and it¡¯s not common that I get to be here. Everywhere else, I feel its influence and I feel no remorse for its decisions. I have become one with mendivi.¡±


    I rushed toward Rose and hugged her tightly.


    ¡°Hide mendivi, try to live a normal life,¡± Rose said.


    After that, I could no longer hear her words and her body slowly faded into the abyss.


    I opened my eyes to the main hall from my view with Rose¡¯s body lying motionless in front of me with a pool of blood around us. So, that is the secret. The full capability of mendivi, and so many horrific uses for it. I am its new owner¡­


    Will I get to live my life as Petra Wolf or will I become a new person, a mix of four people possessing a body that once only belonged to me? Gabriella seemed normal, Rose wasn¡¯t, and Alfred didn¡¯t have anyone else¡¯s memories. I¡¯m scared¡­

 Chapter XXVII - Freedom

    I was too shocked to even stand up. I couldn¡¯t believe what I had seen. Ninety years worth of memories passing by in such a short time.


    For a moment, those horrific memories made me forget I had mendivi instead of my eye, so I jumped back once I touched my face. Why? Why did all of that have to happen and why must I be involved?


    Soon, Amy ran into the main hall and saw me in a pool of blood, so she ran toward me.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± she asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. It¡¯s horrible!¡± I turned around while starting to cry.


    ¡°Your eye!¡± she exclaimed. It was the first time that I heard a hint of surprise in her voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± I quickly covered mendivi with an illusion.


    ¡°You took mendivi. But why?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t by choice. Rose stabbed me with it just before she died.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±


    ¡°She did it to ¡®live on¡¯ in a way. Mendivi stores the user¡¯s memories. I can remember the lives of my grandfather, Gabriella and Rose from the moment they obtained mendivi to the moment they lost it. I shot her in the stomach and then, Dante threw his dagger toward me, so I doubt that she expected to survive the ordeal.¡±


    ¡°Are you fucking with me? How does that device even work?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. From the memories, Alfred found the parts with the blueprints inside this mansion, but when that happened, the mansion had already been abandoned.¡±


    ¡°Freaky. But honestly, I can¡¯t even act surprised. The ideas in my head were equally, if not more bizarre than that. Either way, are we leaving? We¡¯ll call the cops and they¡¯ll clear the mess.¡±


    Amy reached her hand out as I was still on the ground and I stood up with her help before taking off my bloody coat.


    ¡°So, is this finally it?¡± Amy asked. ¡°We can just leave?¡±


    ¡°We should get Dante and Evelyn first and I think it¡¯s best we identify Leon¡¯s body.¡±


    ¡°Leon¡¯s dead?¡±


    ¡°Oh God, I forgot to mention that! I saw it in Rose¡¯s memories, she killed him while looking for us. How could I forget such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, it¡¯s fine. Just look at yourself, do you realize what just happened to you? Leon¡¯s death is the least of your worries, and as much as I don¡¯t want to say it, I think it¡¯s for the best that he¡¯s dead. You probably think the same.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never wish death upon someone!¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, we both know that¡¯s a lie. Either way, you go check where Evelyn is and confirm that Leon¡¯s gone, I¡¯ll get our phones and other belongings and find Dante. I¡¯d assume he ran into the right wing of the mansion. We¡¯ll be fine, the worst part has passed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    I headed to the storage room because that was where Leon¡¯s body was supposed to be. I didn¡¯t hesitate at all, I felt like I was suddenly, yet fully desensitized. However, the hallways of the mansion still haunted me in some way, I could never rid myself of that fear, Rose had simply ingrained it into me.


    When I entered the storage room, I noticed the bag Leon had over his head in the distance, so I slowly approached it. Once the whole body was in view, something felt really weird about it. Apart from the regular feeling of disgust and fear that I felt to a lesser extent, something was off about Leon¡¯s body itself. Cautiously, I approached it. Truly a conclusion if I¡¯ve ever seen one.


    Suddenly, I felt something grab both of my shoulders and I was pushed forward hard enough that I fell.


    ¡°Hilarious!¡±, I heard Leon¡¯s voice, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you fell for this shit!¡±


    I turned around and saw Leon standing over me, laughing. When he pushed me, my foot moved the trash bag that was over the corpse¡¯s head and that revealed the horrific truth to me, or more directly, it revealed Evelyn¡¯s head. There¡¯s no way! Come on, he didn¡¯t do this!


    ¡°You bastard!¡± I screamed.


    ¡°Oh come on, it wasn¡¯t that bad. You have to admit that it was at least a little bit funny.¡±


    I quickly stood up and tried to punch him, but he dodged without any effort.


    ¡°Really?¡±, he asked, ¡°I might not be as strong as you, buff bitch, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not fast.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    ¡°Stop being dramatic. We both have things way more important than this.¡±


    ¡°How did you even put your outfit on her when you¡¯re still wearing it?¡±


    ¡°The clothes aren¡¯t illusions, dumbass! When you left the ball pit, I snuck into it, I was hiding in the tiny useless room across until then. Since the artist bitch didn¡¯t want to make comotion, she stayed quiet while I swapped our outfits, and the rest was soon finished. Quite a brilliant plan, innit? I went and got dressed into my own clothes after the commotion ended, and that was it.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how to respond, so I simply left the room and went back into the main hall. Leon followed me there, but I tried not to look at him. I genuinely wanted to kill him.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Dante and Amy arrived shortly after and were shocked when they saw Leon.


    ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t you say he was dead?¡± Amy asked.


    ¡°You wish!¡± Leon shouted at her.


    ¡°Shut up, pest.¡±


    ¡°Oh come, don¡¯t be like that. We should at least breathe in some fresh air before more people die.¡±


    For the first time in a while, everyone agreed with Leon. Amy handed me my phone and a bag stuffed with copies of my clothes and we walked out through the giant door in the main hall. The sunshine blinded me, but I was never so glad to see it. Freedom!


    ¡°And with this calamity past, we may engage in liberty! Dear Gods, we thank you!¡± Dante started praying.


    ¡°Amy?¡± I turned to her.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Dante want to bring Eden¡¯s body with him?¡±


    ¡°He did, but I told him that it¡¯s best to leave that for when authorities arrive since it would be easier then.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. For now, I just want to feel the warmth of the Sun and I want to bathe in my own triumph. Petra Wolf, Amy Sharp, Dante Divinitas and Leon Voss, the survivors of horrors still unknown to mankind!¡±


    ¡°You sound different, Petra.¡±


    ¡°I do?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you might often be energetic, but events like these would usually make you feel like shit for hours if not days. You seem to have gotten over it immediately.¡±


    ¡°Should I consider that as an improvement?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you, though I¡¯d be careful since the memories from mendivi might have changed your personality a bit. Your change seems a bit more instant than gradual.¡±


    Amy called the police and everyone else called their parents. Rivers of tears flowed, words of unimaginable happiness came out of our mouths. It was over, that¡¯s all we were sure of and all we were happy about.


    ¡°Well, that was one hell of a journey,¡± Leon said, ¡°but I¡¯m going home by myself. However, if I hope to see one thing from you guys, it¡¯s that this taught you about the value of freedom.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not going to mention your ¡®freedom¡¯ costing multiple lives?¡± Amy replied.


    ¡°Is that supposed to be an argument? Of course some people won¡¯t be free, this is not a perfect world. However, I am stronger and smarter than most, so my freedom will overtake theirs. If that wasn¡¯t the case, I wouldn¡¯t have found the traitor, figured out a way to combat Rose and last but not least, this journey would¡¯ve been a dull show of Rose¡¯s powers if I wasn¡¯t there to make things interesting.¡±


    ¡°Listen here, you piece of shit!¡± I pretended like I was going to punch him and when he went to dodge, I swept his leg, knocking him down.


    ¡°Hey, nice one! You¡¯re actually improving!¡±


    ¡°Just shut up for once!¡±


    ¡°Alrighty then, buff bitch. As I already said, I¡¯m taking my leave. Nobody¡¯s picking me up either way. But who knows, some other unfortunate circumstances might bring you to me somewhere in the unknown mist that is the future.¡±


    I sighed.


    Leon walked off, leaving only the three of us together. We talked for a bit until the cops and parents came and then we had to go to the police station to answer some questions. All of us kept quiet about the existence of mendivi, as we knew we wouldn¡¯t be taken seriously. It was written down as a case of kidnapping and, of course, we had to go do a bunch of different things at the police department. Apart from that, nothing major happened, though I barely got to spend time at home.


    I had one problem. I couldn¡¯t erase the horrific images from my head and mendivi kept reminding me of everything I had gone through. And not only did I have to hold all of my trauma, I also had to hold Alfred¡¯s, Gabriella¡¯s and Rose¡¯s trauma. Without any convincing, I managed to get my parents to pay for my psychotherapy, but even if I was to recover mentally, it was going to take a while.


    I decided to start writing a new diary, as a sort of beginning to the new part of my life. Everything in front of me was a completely new experience and I became a legal adult without realizing it, so I thought that it was a good idea.


    Day 1


    This is a new start to everything. I will write down anything interesting that might occur in the future and I will attempt to keep this updated daily. Today was, of course, a big day, possibly the biggest day in my life. I got out of the mansion alive and physically healthy. Along with me, Dante, Amy and Leon survived, but nobody else was fortunate enough. I finally reunited with my parents and I¡¯ve been crying the whole day, mostly tears of happiness.


    At last, I felt something that I had practically forgotten, a sense of safety and a peaceful atmosphere. I feel like nothing can hurt me, nothing can get to me now. My main issue right now is just mendivi, as I¡¯ve lost the device that can get it out. I have to keep hiding it and I¡¯ll probably have to hide it for the rest of my life. It¡¯s probably a stupid idea to even write it down, but my parents were never nosy, so I doubt I¡¯ll have any problems related to that. Truth be told, even if I had the tools to remove mendivi, I have a lingering feeling that I wouldn¡¯t be able to let myself do it.


    This evening, just before I started writing this, I got a text message from Dante. He told me that his family was going back to Dallas in around two weeks, as they took Eden¡¯s death and the entire mansion ordeal as a sign from the Gods to stop pushing their message around the world. I replied saying that if he was ever going to come back to Nidengate, that we were going to meet up, but that it¡¯s probably the best option for him to stay away from this town. Honestly, when I met Dante, I thought that he was a freak, but as time passed, I grew to like him despite our differences in belief.


    One issue I forgot about until I got home was the time. While the killing itself lasted less than a month, I was missing for over two years, meaning I turned eighteen. It¡¯s still hard to get used to the fact that I completely lost two years of my life like that and that I¡¯m now technically an adult. I¡¯ll talk to my future therapist about that more in detail because I have no clue how to deal with such things.


    To end today¡¯s entry, I¡¯ll just say that I am completely lost. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen next, I don¡¯t know if everything¡¯s over or this is just a break from all the danger. If it comes down to it, I can at least defend myself with mendivi, although I really don¡¯t want to use it for anything except giving everyone the illusion that I have both my eyes. It¡¯s been a long and troubling day and I cannot think or feel emotions normally, so it might be better to leave my thoughts for tomorrow. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to sleep properly tonight, but considering what I went through, that is the least of my problems and I''ll stop being whiney, nothing good will come from that either way. I¡¯ll probably text Amy the first thing in the morning to see if she¡¯s any better. I hope she¡¯s alright.


    After I finished writing the entry on that first day, I drank some tea to warm myself a bit and I went to bed. I didn¡¯t have that much trouble falling asleep since the whole day tired me out. I shouldn¡¯t be worrying so much. It¡¯s over, I know that.


    During the following days, funerals were the biggest events. We made an agreement to have the funerals organized on different days, so that Amy, Dante and I could attend each one. At first, we were told that there was no need for us to come and that it would be too much for us, but each of us insisted. I felt that it was my responsibility to come, to be there for them until the very end. Obviously, it was depressing and the feeling of sadness only grew worse after each grave. Leon made a brief appearance at Maya¡¯s and Naomi¡¯s funeral, though he didn¡¯t say anything and instead watched from afar. After that, I didn¡¯t see him and I also made no effort to contact him. Once the funerals were over, we decided not to see each other for a bit, simply to get away from what had happened.


    And that was it. Nothing interesting happened for a while. I was able to return to a somewhat regular life, I reunited with my old friends and with the rest of my family. I attempted to catch up with my regular routine, but I couldn¡¯t, so I followed a calmer version. I managed not to reveal mendivi and I helped everyone around me think about the tragedy less. I never talked about it much with friends and family. No amount of talking would bring back the friends and sanity that I lost, the only things I could retrieve were bad memories.


    Denique, ego sum libera.