Still tryina find the murderer XD. Can anyone who knows post the clue(s) that helped them the most?

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a heads up, there will be a slight delay for the upcoming installment. I'm sorry it's taking so long! You can expect the next installment on either Sunday or Monday.

Day 10 - A Meeting with Cassy?

 At that point, of course, the CBers figured they’d been ‘resting’ for long enough, and they headed downstairs to greet Lily and Pierre.

 “We made you brownies!!” Lily exclaimed upon their arrival in the dining room. Pierre emerged from the kitchen holding a steaming dish of warm, gooey brownies, and the CBers felt their mouths begin to water.

 “Mm, they look delicious!” Briar exclaimed, inhaling their delicious chocolatey scent.

 “Oh, they are delicious,” Lily assured her, reaching around to grab the dish from her brother. “OH that’s hot,” she gasped, setting it down on the table quickly to avoid being burned. “Pierre, can you get a knife?”

 “Sure.”

 Pierre returned to slice the brownies. The CBers helped themselves and their spirits were instantly cheered by the delicious goodness of the brownies’ warm, gooey insides.

 They savored the moment while it lasted, until all the brownies had disappeared.

 “Mmm, thanks, you two!” Joan said.

 “You’re welcome,” Lily said. “Just a little something to get your spirits up.”

 “Yeah, they definitely cheered us up,” Winter Lilac said with a nod.

 The CBers sat in satisfied silence for a few moments. It was during this silence that Puck excused herself to ‘use the restroom’ (but really ended up flying out of the bathroom window to go scout). Ariel had to leave to grab something from his room a few minutes later.

 Then, Nighthawk clapped her hands together. “You know what? I think I need some fresh air.”

 “Hm?” Lily queried. “Isn’t it dangerous outside?”

 “I know,” Nighthawk responded. “It’s just, I can’t survive cooped up indoors all the time. Does anyone want to go on a walk with me? We’ll be careful, and watch for traps,” she added.

 Lily looked at them. “Um--”

 Winter Lilac turned to Lily. “We’ll watch for Cassy while we’re out there,” she said gently.

 Lily’s gaze relaxed somewhat. “Okay. Thanks.”

 All the CBers except for Wordsy, Booksy Owly, and Briar agreed to go outside.

 Lily, Pierre, and the three remaining CBers bid the others farewell from the lobby. After they had all set off down the pathway, Booksy turned to Lily and Pierre to see if they wanted to have a game marathon. It was Booksy’s responsibility--as well as Briar and Wordsy’s--to make sure neither chaperone figured out what was up, or grew curious as to why Puck and Ariel hadn’t come downstairs yet.

 While Booksy, Wordsy, and Briar were fishing through the games with Lily and Pierre, the other CBers were meeting up with Puck.

 “Yeah, it all looks clear, and Cassy...I saw her. She is at the employee cabin area. But I didn’t see any traps.”

 “Well that’s the point of a trap,” Hotairballoon pointed out. “You hide it.”

 “Well, Ariel didn’t find any either.”

 “Where IS Ariel?” Joan asked her AE, worried.

 “He’s coming. But he’s not as fast as I am, you know.”

 Ariel arrived with the same conclusion as Puck: the path was clear. No traps.

 The Chatterboxers then reviewed their plan, and split into their respective groups. Ariel led the back group, and Puck and Moonfrost led the group that would go to Cassy.

 The forest was lush and quiet. Green leaves dangled all around the CBers, twirling and waving in the wind, and small vines were encroaching on the worn pathway that led straight to the employee cabin area. In fact, weeds were starting to sprout everywhere in this once-pristine forest. Now that there was no staff to tend to the property, things were beginning to grow wild.

 All the Chatterboxers traveled in silence on their way to find Cassy.

 They would hear what she had to say, and then capture her.

 But it was then they began having second thoughts. Why capture her? Wasn’t Cassy running for a reason?

 Sure; it was because she was working with the murderer. Catching her would prevent her from doing so.

 But wait, why had she called them here then? If she really was working with the murderer...a comical image of Cassy trying to handle a bow and arrow flashed into the CBers’ heads, and they quickly dismissed the notion. They knew Cassy--or, at least, they thought they did. And they were certain she would not harm them. Not in this scenario, at least. Or maybe…Ahh, it was happening again! Their brains were being clogged up with all these different choices! The CBers shook their heads and continued onwards. They had made a plan, and now they would stick with it.

 The main group trotted through the forest until the employee cabins came into sight. The CBers slowed their pace, taking in the sight that greatly resembled an abandoned ghost town, searching for any suspicious signs among the leaf-filled gutters, muddy porches, moss-coated roofs, and bug-splattered windows.

 Moonfrost bit her lip as she absorbed the disarray. How had the cabins become so messy in such a short amount of time? It hadn’t even been a week since spring cleaning…

 The main group would have to get Cassy’s attention before the other group could surround the area. So Moonfrost took a deep breath, apprehensive all of a sudden, and stammered, “C-Cassy?”

 Puck leaned over and whispered into Moonfrost’s ear. “She was that way,” Puck said, pointing around the cabin closest to them, which was blocking much of their view.

 Moonfrost nodded and slowly led the group around its corner. Just as she rounded the bend and entered the center of the employee cabin area, she heard a soft voice.

 “Moonfrost?”

 It was Cassy!

 After noting Moonfrost’s safety, the other CBers realized there were no traps, and followed her to the center of the employee cabin area. They tried not to gape at the sight of Cassy, but it felt like forever since they’d last seen her.

 There was a brief moment of silence, in which Moonfrost noticed Cassy’s eyes flicking across the faces of those behind her. It was odd to see Cassy looking so nervous, but in all honesty, Moonfrost wasn’t surprised.

 “So, Cassy, you had something to tell us?” Joan said, stepping forth.

 Despite the fact that she had been living outside for a few days, Cassy was surprisingly clean. Her blonde hair was frizzy and contained a light dusting of twigs, but her clothes were fresh-looking enough. Maybe she had washed off at one of the water parks--who knew?

 Cassy nodded. “Yes. Erm, I’m glad you came…” she said, but she didn’t sound very sincere. Her eyes lingered for a few seconds past Moon’s left shoulder, but then she blinked and looked into Moonfrost’s eyes. “Where’s everyone else?”

 “They stayed back at the house,” Hotairballoon replied firmly. “We weren’t sure if this was a trap or not, you see.” It was apparent to the others that he didn’t yet trust Cassy’s intentions.

 “Oh. Well then…” Cassy loosened her nonexistent collar.

 “So...what was it you wanted to say?” Cinderpelt asked gently.

 “Yeah. You can tell us,” HAB said with a nod.

 “Well, first off…” Cassy began, seeming awfully distracted, “I wanted to apologize. I’m really sorry for anything I’ve done that seems questionable. I want you to know I wouldn’t--uhh…”

 Cassy broke off and took a step back. “I’m sorry,” she said suddenly. “I shouldn’t have even tried to do this.”

 Little did Cassy know she was surrounded. Chatterboxers stood in strategic positions all around the employee cabin area, ready in case she decided to flee.

 Cassy blinked, pain and confusion swirling deep within her. It wasn’t an overwhelming kind of pain, or a large amount of confusion--not like the emotions within the Chatterboxers at this time. It was more like a tiny, uncomfortable kind of knot that formed as Cassy realized this simple decision was not quite so simple after all…

 What was I thinking?! she thought. I was going to tell them everything?!? What’s going to happen to me when I GET CAUGHT???

 She had already told Brooklyn, Booksy, and Moonfrost about the Mystery. It had seemed like the best option just to go ahead and tell everyone else what those three already knew. It was better than assisting the murderer, or so she had thought...

 But Cassy had apparently forgotten what the murderer had told her long ago, on the second night of the CBers’ stay: Death awaited if she didn’t comply.

 And Cassy was fairly certain that this didn’t count as compliance. Well, apologizing was fine, probably. But telling them everything that was going on? Noooo way.

 “Cassy, wait--” Joan said.

 “Nonono, I can’t stay here,” Cassy blurted, backing away. “Listen, I thought I could tell you what's going on, but I can’t. It’s complicated. I’m really, really sorry. But you might understand someday.”

 “Wait, Cassy! What about Lily?!” Cinderpelt exclaimed.

 “Tell her I know what I’m doing and not to worry about me!”

 Hotairballoon stepped forwards. “You’re not getting away, Cassy,” he warned. “We need to know what you’ve been doing...and why.”

 Cassy whirled around and realized with a jolt that it was probably true that she couldn’t escape. The others weren’t back at the mansion. They were here, ready to catch her. Briefly she caught a glimpse of Elvina standing behind the farthest cabin.

 Cassy turned back to the CBers, eyes wide. “Wait! If you--”

 But Ariel cut her off with a shout. “MOVE!”

 The CBers darted forwards as one, and Cassy barely had time to react. She darted to her left, barreling out of the way of the CBers charging in front of her, and slipped into a narrow alleyway between two cabins.

 Well, things had certainly taken a turn for the worst. Cassy wished the CBers would listen to her. But, she wasn’t really telling them much in the first place, so she didn’t really blame them for doing this. They probably thought she was helping the murderer out of cowardice...or malice.

 Cassy heard footsteps somewhere in front of her. She skidded to a stop just as Nighthawk rounded the corner, hurtling towards her. “Cassy, wait!” Nighthawk exclaimed, but Cassy didn’t comply. She whipped around and pushed past Cinderpelt, who was coming up behind her.

 Cassy felt trapped. Everywhere she turned, there were CBers, and though she was able to remain free for a while, after a few minutes, she could feel that they were closing in on her.

 She made for the outer edges of the cabin area but could hear CBers somewhere up ahead. Thinking quickly, and perhaps a little stupidly, she barged through the door of the nearest cabin, shutting the door quickly and crouching down to the floor so no one could see her through the windows. Yes, she was trapped, but that was only if someone found her.

 Cassy could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her chest as she waited in the dusty living space. Outside, she heard Hotairballoon run around the back of the cabin, shouting directions to Joan, Puck, and Elvina, all of whom were in very close proximity to Cassy’s hiding spot.

 “We lost visual!” someone called, and the CBers were miraculously drawn away from the cabin.

 There was a second of quiet, and Cassy could hear CBers searching on the wrong side of the camp. But then, there was a sound on the front porch of the cabin, and Cassy looked up sharply. There, in the front window. It was the murderer, looking in, anger in its expression.

 The door swung open, and the murderer stepped up slowly to the door frame, stooped low so no one would see it through the back window.

 Their eyes met.

 And for what seemed like forever they just stared. Cassy fully expected the murderer to raise its voice and shout, to raise the alarm and seal her doom.

 But in the murderer’s eyes were many emotions--anger and a hint of disgust, but also...fear. Worry. Concern. And as it looked at Cassy it gripped the doorway, lowering its head, maintaining eye contact, seething and calming itself all at the same time.

 The murderer was fighting something within itself. Every fiber of its being was compelling it onwards, willing its hands to immobilize Cassy, its lungs to form a shout, but the murderer resisted. All the while, Cassy waited, forcing herself not to fidget.

 Finally the murderer closed its eyes, released its iron grip on the door frame, and exhaled. It then looked at Cassy with a determined gaze, and the chaperone knew that their deal was back on. Cassy nodded in response--partially in in deep gratitude that it had resisted capturing her, partially to assure the murderer she was back on board with the plan.

 “Get away from here as soon as you can,” the murderer sighed, its voice barely a whisper now. “Not sure how many more times I’ll be able to hold back like that.” It backed away from the door frame ever so slowly, shut the door, and disappeared from view.

 Soon enough, the murderer helped to concentrate the search in the far end of the camp. Cassy, not wanting to waste her chance at escape, arose and headed for the door. After tripping over the threshold, the stairs, and a random rock lying on the pathway, she hurriedly headed off into the woods, quickly diminishing from view within the sun-dappled forest.

Here's the back of the Gizmo picture. It's Gizmo hangind out with James and Speedy Feet. Also, Gizmo is holding a box of french fries, he loves them. 

TOP

Sorry for the delay! The next part is finally here, and Day 10 is nearly over! Keep your eyes peeled for hidden references in this one, and tell me which ones you find.

Day Ten-Late Afternoon: Behind Closed Doors

“She’s not here!” Elvina shouted.

“KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!” roared Puck from the sky.

“Be quiet, both of you!” Joan hissed, emerging from the cabin she’d been searching.

“ELVINA’S RIGHT, THOUGH!” Puck shouted. “CASSY--ahem, Cassy isn’t here!”

The CBers congregated in the center of the camp. “Well,” said Elvina bitterly. “That was a waste of time.”

“She’s really gone?” Nighthawk asked.

“We’ve been here for an hour with no sign of her,” Moonfrost said. “She’s definitely gone.”

Hotairballoon was staring out into the woods.

“Did you see something?” Joan asked him.

He turned back. “No,” he said. “I don’t think so.”

“Are we going to go look for her?” Elvina asked eagerly. She was probably the only one who still had energy left in her.

“No-o-o,” Winter Lilac replied. “Cassy could’ve gone out in any direction, and she’s been out of sight for an hour, so she could be anywhere by now.”

“Then we need to get back to the house,” Hotairballoon suggested.

Suddenly the CBers received a transmission on their devices. It was from Booksy! “Hey, guys. Lily and Pierre are getting nervous. What in the world is taking so long???”

Joan responded. “Sorry. She got away.”

“Got away??” Booksy exclaimed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...she didn’t tell us anything, and then she escaped.”

“That’s--I mean, that’s unfortunate. Bring me up to speed later; I’m supposedly in the restroom right now.”

There was a click and Booksy disconnected from the channel.

“Okay. We should head back,” Winter Lilac concluded.

“Wait,” Elvina said. “I want to stay here and look some more!”

There was a hesitant silence.

“I don’t think that’s a particularly safe idea…,” Brooklyn Newsie advised.

“Please?” Elvina begged.

“I guess if she wants to keep looking there’s no harm in that,” Poetic Panda shrugged. “But we need to stick together. Does anyone else want to keep looking with Elvina?”

“I will,” Joan offered. “Ariel, would you like to?”

“Sure,” Ariel shrugged.

“What about me?!” Puck argued.

“You can come if you want.”

It was eventually decided that Elvina, Ariel, Puck, Joan, Poetic Panda, and Autumn Leaves would continue searching for Cassy while the others headed back to the mansion.

“Be careful,” were the groups’ parting words to one another.

---

“Okay, Elvina,” Autumn said. “Where’s your Cassy Sense leading us?”

“Hmmmmm…” Elvina said, glancing around. “Deeper into the woods. This way.”

They trotted along, shielding their eyes against the sun, searching the forest for any signs of Cassy’s blue shirt or blonde hair.

The four CBers and two AEs wove their way through the woods in a methodical approach, spread out within shouting distance. At one point they accidentally passed through a field of poison ivy, much to their dismay, and at another point, they had to cross a shallow stream which they had never seen before. Still, there were no obvious signs of Cassy, other than the occasional broken twig along the forest floor. It was actually kind of exciting trying to track her down.

Joan B. of Arc, who was now on high alert for poison ivy, scanned the ground for more footprints or broken twigs as she walked. Instead of finding more tracks, however, she spied another area filled with poison ivy and was forced to squeeze through an even larger patch of blackberries to avoid it.

When she popped out on the other side, covered in small thorns and contemplating whether or not this way had actually been worth it, Joan realized she was actually in the center of a very thick, very tall grove of blackberries and vines. Curiously enough, the center of this thicket was clear and appeared big enough for at least five people to stand in.

Joan eyed the wall of thorns, which was taller than she. The CBette supposed she’d press painfully onwards through the next wall to get out, but as she crossed the tiny clearing, something caught her eye--a dark hole to her right.

Joan approached the hole with caution. It was enormous, taking up about three feet of space in the clearing, and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before. It was plenty big enough for a human to climb in, and receded beneath the blackberries, down below the ground.

Joan crouched down and stuck her palms on the edge of the hole, which was cool despite the warmth of the sun. She looked around twice, then stood up.

I probably shouldn’t go in there, she told herself sensibly, biting her lip and turning her back to the hole.

But a few seconds later, Joan found herself descending into the cool tunnel, cautiously feeling her way along.

This HAS to be where Cassy is hiding, thought Joan to herself, advancing deeper.

The tunnel was dim as it sloped downwards, but after Joan had descended about twenty feet she noticed that the entire tunnel was glowing with some kind of pale blue light whose source she could not pinpoint.

The ground was comprised of tightly-packed soil, as were the walls, and the ceiling too. Joan was a little worried they might cave in on her, but the tunnel was actually quite roomy, and she told herself as long as she didn’t bump anything she’d be fine.

Joan crept onwards, leaving the light from the tunnel entrance behind. The farther she went, the cooler the air became. A chilly breeze, undetectable, whirled around her heels as she walked.

Finally--after what seemed like forever--Joan reached the bottom of the slope, and the ground leveled out. Here, the strange light was somewhat brighter.

She stopped, looked around, checked for traps, and something caught her eye. It was an old container knocked onto its side, lying dejectedly against the wall. Joan approached it cautiously and then realized that it greatly resembled...a sunscreen bottle. The kind you spray sunscreen out of.

The paint was peeling off, but Joan could still read the label, which faced straight up: “SPF”.

And that was all it said. It didn’t even have a number after it, like SPF '40'. What an odd sunscreen bottle.

However, Joan didn’t get any closer in case it was a bomb in disguise. She continued to scan for traps and observed that the tunnel now consisted of large slabs of rock, almost like makeshift walls. Scratched into them were faint words, some of which included:

Melodiam. Qui quattuor. ~Nympharum plus Caeruleum~. RUBRUM!

Joan eyed them cautiously, for they gave her an odd feeling. Just then she felt a cool breeze around her shoulders. That was weird. Hm...this tunnel must lead somewhere after all.

Joan pressed onwards, past the long list words she didn’t understand. The words lined the walls and were scratched into every inch of exposed stone. Some were small, some were large, and the list went on and on until the words stopped looking so faded and began to appear fresher.

Joan largely ignored the illegible gibberish until something to the left caught her eye. She stopped in her tracks, spooked, and faced the phrase.

 DiCtA joHaNNa.

No, that’s not what it had said! It had said something familiar...Joan blinked and read it again. Her eyes widened as the words reassembled themselves into something understandable…

 JOAN.

And then, right before her very eyes, the words around her sprang to life, reassembling themselves into English. On the ceiling, on the floor, to her right and left, forwards and backwards, familiar names came forwards: Kate the Great. Poetic Panda. Leafpool. Moonshadow. Cho Chang. Elmodaisy. Balletandbow. Micearenice. Scylla. Leaf of Love. Dragonrider.

“Where am I?” Joan whispered as the words unfolded before her.

She followed the list of names, utterly absorbed.

Leeli. Cockleburr. Icy. Bumblebuddy. Jack-a-nat. Bookbug. Ember. Starseeker. Vyolette.

And that wasn’t even the half of them--nor was it necessarily their order. Some of the names were repeated twice or more. Joan didn’t have time to read them all, and she soon came to the end of the list: shocked, spooked, and her mind in an upheaval.

What was this? Where was she? What was going on? How did these names get all the way to Lake Lelillo?

A thought passed briefly through Joan’s head. What if...this was the murderer’s hideout? And what if the murderer had written these words here themself? But they had magically switched themselves into a legible format. And there were only a select few CBers Joan knew whom had lots of experience with magic…

Things were getting confusing and slightly frightening at this point. But Joan kept going. She did not fancy the idea of going back to the group without more information.

Joan reached the end of the list of names. It was there she located the light source: a rectangular bar of blue-white light on the cave floor, right at the end of the tunnel about ten feet away.

It took her a second to make sense of the image. That was a weird place to put a light. But then Joan’s eyes flicked upwards and she spotted the unmistakable glint of a brass doorknob: So the light's coming from underneath a door.

Astonished, Joan rushed forwards. This looked like a door from the mansion, which meant the breeze had to have been coming from the air conditioner! But that made no sense! What room was this far underground? Only something from the basement level...or below that, even. Did any part of the mansion even go this far down?

Joan hastily scrambled to turn off her walkie talkie. This would be the worst time for someone to contact her.

Then, Joan reached out her hand to open the door, almost certain Cassy was inside the room ahead. But she withdrew it as soon as a different voice carried through the wood.

“Hmmhmmhumhmmmmlalahmmmm, hum la hmhmmmmmmm!!!” There was no mistaking Lily’s singing voice.

 Thwump.

Joan could hear the chaperone moving around inside the room. There was the sound of something heavy hitting something soft, as well as footfalls on carpet. Joan pursed her lips, all the more puzzled--she had no clue which room these noises might be from...

...Until she remembered that there was still one room the CBers hadn’t been in at all: the budget room. Of course!

But this didn’t sound like a room full of files at all. It sounded like a comfy living room or something similar.

Joan took a step back. She wondered if Puck knew about this passage. She would have to ask when she got back to the surface, because she had absolutely no idea what the room behind the door could be...

Joan was about to turn around when something else caught her eye--more words, this batch etched into the door. At first she thought they were simply more names, but then she realized they were actually paragraphs.

[Secret:CBer/Joan_B_of_Arc::/-=]”Those who know more can read more.”[/secret]

<p>Read: Welcome to Lake Lelillo. All you think you know, isn’t all the way false.[/p>

Joan blinked.

<p><font=Impact color=MY573RY>Beauty is only skin deep.//:Below the surface, truth is found.[/p>[/font>[br />

Joan felt the phrases echo through her head. Cogs turned within her mind, thoughts were rearranged, and she gasped, reading onwards, as mysteries were solved.

<LAKE LELILLO=OLLILEL EKAL><PALINDROME><MIRRORS><===>

Analogies!

Joan’s eyes raced across the surface of the door, absorbing the words and understanding them. She got past the weird computer code parts and began to read the paragraphs. And in those paragraphs, incredible secrets were revealed to her. Joan learned exactly what this tunnel was. Exactly what was behind that door. And exactly...why that mattered.

By the time Joan was done reading, everything made sense to her--Lily and Cassy’s actions, the caves, the tunnels...everything. And she also learned the significance of the Rose sitting room.

Phew. That was a lot of information to absorb. Joan sat back against the wall to take it all in. She desperately wanted to tell someone what she knew, but was all too aware that she couldn’t.

Joan took a deep breath and decided to get away from the door. She headed back the way she came and suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be looking for Cassy--with the group. Oh goodness, they’d be worried sick about her!

Once she was far enough away from Lily and Cassy’s bedroom, Joan contacted the group. “Guys? Hello?”

Joan was starting up the incline to the surface when a response came in. “JOAN B. OF ARC I SWEAR YOU HAD US WORRIED SICK WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU AND WHY DID YOU HAVE YOUR THINGY TURNED OFF!!” came Autumn Leaves’s voice. “WE STOPPED LOOKING FOR CASSY JUST TO LOOK FOR YOU!!!”

“Sorry, Autumn!” Joan replied sheepishly. “I thought I found Cassy’s hiding place and I couldn’t really say anything in case she was there and she heard me. I’m safe though, and I’m coming back.”

“Did you get Cassy??” Elvina asked.

“No,” Joan said, reaching the exit of the tunnel and emerging in the all-too-bright sunlit thicket. “She wasn’t there. Uh, hold on a second, you guys.”

Joan clipped the walkie talkie to her belt, regarded the wall of blackberries with dismay, and began picking her way out of the incredibly wide, deep, and prickly thicket. It went on FOREVER, but Joan finally got out. Finally.

When Joan at long last was reunited with the others, they exclaimed at her appearance. “What happened? Where were you?” Puck asked.

“Long story short...I looked for her in a bramble patch.”

“Well, none of us found any more signs of Cassy either,” Ariel announced. “And seeing as it’s dinnertime now, we should probably head back to the mansion.”

Joan briefly reflected that she’d already been back there, but of course she didn’t say this out loud. Nor did she mention the secret passage to Puck--because in reading the message on the door, she'd learned that it would be very bad if too many people knew its secrets.

The CBers were soon all back together in the mansion, safe and sound, slightly exhilarated by their adventure and also extremely exhausted. They didn’t have any any idea on how so much stuff could happen in just one day, but one thing was for certain: they were ready for dinner!

As they waited patiently for the spagghetti to be done cooking, most of the CBers were still confusedly trying to work out what had happened back there with Cassy. But four CBers were at peace knowing that although things might seem bad on the surface; down below...everything was okay.

Top!

Toptoptop!

Toppity topping top!

*dances away* 

Top!

I should be reading this, shouldn't I? I feel guilty for disappearing from it. It was pretty wonderful, I don't know why I stopped reading...I mean, I'm dead, but I can be a ghosty investigator. Mwahaha. Now I have about twenty-five pages of this thread to read. (Great.)