Chapter Text
It's almost like time has just....stopped. My blood has frozen in my veins as it fully hits me; Shane is dead. Possibly my biggest chance for information is dead. Yes, he's also a human being, but I also want information on all of this; knowledge is power. I can't bring myself to say even a word as the third group returns.
"What happened?" asks Joey, his voice more like a muffled echo, as if I'm being held deep underwater.
"I'm so sorry," I hear Finn whimper. "We were so close!"
"Well, he's dead now," Joey fumes, "because of one of us!"
"It's cuz this guy was trying to do all the work!" Lele spits.
"He was just trying to help," Oli insists.
"We found our key in, like, a few seconds." We're all aware of that, Joey.
"We found our key as well!" Sierra exclaims.
"Hold on!" Matt seems to know how to shut everyone up. "We gotta figure out who killed him first!"
He's right; finding Shane's killer is one of the most important things we need to do right now, aside from, you know, GETTING THE FUCK OUT OF HERE. I can't stay stuck in this echoey state for much longer. With this thought in my head, I try to do as Eminem once sang and, "snap back to reality."
Hope there's still gravity.
"No, you know who killed him, probably?" Please enlighten us, Lele. "I mean, what are you? Aren't you, like, a murderer?"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Oli is pretty insistent.
"I don't kill my friends." I'm impressed by how level-headed Tim is. "I just kill people who owe money to me, all right?"
And for staying in character.
"Does he owe money to you?" Joey wants to know.
Justine has a very different take on the situation. "Guys, what do we do with the body? I don't care who killed him—we need to get rid of it!"
"Probably because you killed him!" shouts Sierra.
"I would never--!"
"I honestly think it was Eva!" I follow Joey's hand and--ohhhhh! So that's what Salmon's name is. "She was the last to be seen with him!"
"It was not me!"
"So was Mystic!" Tim insists.
This definitely snaps me out of my state.
"You really think I'd kill him? I only just met the guy!"
"We don't know what you're like outside of a party," Evie sniffs.
"She wouldn't do that!" Finn snaps.
"What do you mean? I invited you here!" I spit at Evie.
"Who had a motive to kill him?" asks Matt. "Did anyone hang out with him before we came here?"
"I think Joey was the person who killed him," Salmon-now Eva-accuses. "And he's gonna kill us all!"
"I agree! It's Joey!" Glozell turns to my fellow host. "Don't be lookin' at me all cute and fine! You a killer!"
"All I'm saying is, we found our clue exceptionally quick...with the help of Joey!"
"With the help of me? It was GloZell who found it!"
"It's your house!"
"I think it was one of the people in the foyer!" Evie declares. "They were the only group who didn't get their key--"
"--It's not any of us!--" is Finn's whimpering retort.
"--so who's to say they weren't stalling in order to kill him?"
"Okay, yeah," Andrea says. "That's a bit fishy...."
Lele, as usual, is the first one to respond. "No, it was because Matt--"
"--I was just trying to help--!"
"--he wanted to hog the entire thing; he thinks he's some big smart guy--!"
"Forget about that! Who was sitting next to Shane at dinner?" asks Matt.
I hear Justine's name being tossed around.
"No, I wasn't sitting next to him." So is Joey's name.
"You were very close to him," Matt points out. "You were in proximity."
"I was three seats away!"
Matt then turns his attention to Finn. "You were sitting right next to him as well!"
I look over at Finn, his face struck with horror and I feel fury rushing through my veins.
"Finn would never kill someone!" I insist. "Look at him! Does that look like someone who could commit murder?"
"We don't know what he does in his free time!" is Matt's retort.
"I sail boats," Finn squeaks, putting his hands up in surrender. "I sail real boats and paint and test toy boats! I'm not a killer, I promise!"
The arguments now begin to overlap, making my head pound; then Eva breaks the silence with an accusation that, based on what I'd seen twenty minutes prior, makes more sense than I'd care to admit.
"Guys...what if it's none of us, and it's...the maid?"
We all look over at Stoic Sarah, which causes Lele to burst out laughing.
"Look at her!"
"She served the head!"
"No, the cook is the one who prepared the dessert," says Tim.
"You call that a dessert?" I fling my arms in a gesture to the head on the silver platter.
"I'm betting on the butler," Evie sniffs, folding her arms. "It's always the butler."
That's when I notice Joey and Tim scouring Shane's person. The latter makes it seem as though the wallet jumps into his hand, while the former pulls out an old piece of paper.
"Listen to this!" he exclaims.
If you're reading this, I have failed in my mission. My killer is not who you might think it is; it's the house itself...
We all glance around in disbelief. The house itself had killed Shane? Is that even possible? In the back of my head, I know that it's likely, considering that something's been compelling Joey and I to stay and probably also compelled us to write those letters.
Joey keeps reading.
...which is possessed of an ancient evil that has locked it in time.
I came here tonight with the intention of destroying it. I am a member of a secret organization known as the Society Against Evil, and we've been battling this wicked force for centuries.
There are four artifacts, which the evil has hidden behind a series of puzzles and clues. If they can be gathered, and a binding ritual can be performed, the evil will be locked away.
However, to complete the final task to retrieve each artifact, the group must vote on two people who must undertake a dark challenge.
Tragically, one of them will die.
But to help you along the way, the Society Against Evil has marked the clues with their symbol.
The symbol....in my dreams....in the airport....on the telegram....on the glass holder....
None of this is a coincidence.
You have until sunrise to recover the artifacts before you are trapped here forever. What lies ahead will not be easy, but I'm afraid you have no other choice if you want to get back to 2016.
Good luck, guys. Whatever happens...I'm glad I got the chance to know you.
Signed,
Shane Dawson
This.....for several moments, we're all stuck processing this, especially me with what Shane told me before he died. I'm currently the only one who has this information, and it's one that may paint an even bigger picture; whether or not we're going to understand that picture is still up in the air. But as of right now, this is literally life or death.
"Okay, so there's an evil spirit running 'round here," says GloZell, finally breaking the silence, "but we gotta find like, what, four of these lil' things? Or we gon' be stuck in the house?"
"And people have to die for us to get them," Evie adds, trying to sound nonchalant.
"You.....you sound so calm about this!" Sierra giggles nervously.
"We have to deal with this, we might as well accept it and play the game."
"You can't be serious." Matt's in disbelief.
"You're gonna just go along with this?" I stammer.
"We're dealing with something beyond the natural world, according to that letter," Evie asserts. "Unless Shane was extremely delusional, then this is something beyond anyone's comprehension. I don't intend to mess around with it any of it until the situation is in my control."
"Guys, I think we should leave, follow me, Mystic and I have a car that can take us out of here," Joey says out of the blue.
Evie looks at him as though he'd just grown a second head. "Did.....did you not get the subtext, Joseph? We are stuck here unless we get these artifacts."
"It's worth at least trying to leave," Finn pipes up.
"Listen to the sailor," Andrea agrees. "We should at least try."
"It's a fruitless venture," Evie sniffs. "Trust me; whatever is doing this isn't something to try to get around until the ball is in our court."
"I say we try," Lele declares.
"Yeah, it's better than giving up and staying," I nod.
We all get up and head to the front hallway where I have my 1920s Mary Janes ready. Evie is lagging behind, of course.
"Just a moment," says Arthur, who passes her. "Wait for GloZell."
"Wait for GloZell!" Tim shouts at us.
"We're not gonna fit in one car," Matt says to the air.
"We can't leave GloZell in the 1920s!"
"Please don't leave me in the 1920s," begs GloZell. "It wasn't a good year for us."
"Guys, wait!" screams Sierra. "These shoes hurt so bad!"
"Then why did you--?" Evie begins as she strolls to the steps when suddenly--
BOOM!
The car up ahead explodes into pieces, causing a mass of screams and multiple jumps, myself included.
"Holy shit!" I cry out.
GloZell shrieks "Jesus!"
We all head running back for the house in a mad scramble as everything goes through my head; I don't know what kind of evil entity we're dealing with, but it's made a couple of things perfectly clear to us all.
We can't leave.
We have to play by its rules.
Make it ooze with the unthinkable
Don't stop till you come first
Life so unpredictable
Take control of what you're worth.