This is getting kind of crazy... I wonder what's up.

Day 4, Part 2

“Ms. Tobin, could you come here?” called the Hotel Manager.

Ms. Tobin came bustling onto the balcony. “You know they’ll figure it out eventually. And when they do, they’ll hate you.” She whispered.

“It’s for their own safety- I don’t want to make the same mistakes as last time.” The Hotel Manager whispered back. Then she unfurled her wings and flew down to the visitors, who were beginning to awake.

“W-what happened?” Sketch asked confusedly, glancing from the Hotel Manager’s wings to the other slumped over visitors.

The Hotel Manager tucked her wings in and waved her hand.

“W-what happened?” Sketch asked again, memory wiped for the second time.

“Oh, um, sometimes that happens after I undo an illusion,” the Hotel Manager said quickly. “Nothing to worry about, I assure you.”

PSXtreme sat up, and shook Balletandbow awake.

“The purple fuzzies! They’re chasing me! Help! Nooooooooooooooo!” Anna yelled in her sleep. She blinked her eyes and sat up.

“Cndy?” Muttered Connie. “Cndy frme?”

“Once everybody else is up, why don’t we explore the grounds,” proposed Lucy.

“Sure.” The CBers who were awake agreed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The CBers plus Sketch and PSXtreme headed for the garden, while the rest of the AEs and the Captchas headed for the beach.

The garden was loved and carefully tended. The garden was surrounded by low brick walls with several entrances, and cherry blossom and various fruit bearing trees that spilled over the walls, some trees dropping blossoms and others bearing fruit. Peonies, primroses, irises, lilies, chrysanthemums, roses, hyacinths, and all sorts of other flowers were in various states of blooming, but all were beautiful. Petals from the blooming fruit trees decorated the brick path that lead through the garden, towards a glistening fountain that spilled clear blue water. Honeysuckle vines grew up the brick walls.

“Wow,” breathed PSXtreme. She knelt down by a budding rose bush and stroked the petals.

“Ohmigosh,” said Leafpool, who just stood there, staring at walls.

Rae sat by the edge of the fountain and dipped her hands into the cool water.

Lucy took out a pencil and a sketchpad and began drawing.

General Waffleson examined some bluebells.

The rest of the CBers wandered around, just breathing the scents of the flowers and taking in the beauty of the garden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkfeather stood alone on the beach, listening to the waves and smiling. The other AEs and Captchas had gone off in search of food, and somehow she had gotten left behind. She had begun to make a sand castle, when she saw something shiny out of the corner of her eye. She turned around. “Whre shny?” She asked.

“Shiny went bye-bye.” A cruel voice whispered, and before Darkfeather could turn to see who had said that, there was a knife pressed to her throat. “Don’t make a sound,” the voice hissed. Then Darkfeather felt herself being picked up and suddenly, she was flying towards the sand- WHAM. Her face hit the sand hard, there was sand in her hair, in her eyes, down her throat up her nose.

She couldn’t hear the footsteps of the murderer running away.

After what seemed an eternity, Darkfeather finally peeled herself off the sand. And staggered toward the mansion.

~~~~~~~~~

The visitors had gathered in the Mess Hall for lunch, which turned out to be a bottle of coke, various types of sandwiches and a cookie. They were halfway through the meal when Fireburst noticed the empty seat beside her. “Hey, Darkfeather, want half of my cookie… DARKFEATHER?” Fireburst said. “Where’s Darkfeather?” Her voice became panicky. The other visitors glanced at their neighbors, muttered and shook their heads.

“I’m sure she’s fine, Fireburst.” Rae comforted her. “She’ll be okay you’ll see…” Rae’s voice trailed off as the door opened, and a somewhat bloody and  very sandy Darkfeather burst in, running to her CBer.

“K-kllr trdt mrdr mmee! HELP!” Darkfeather yelped, then collapsed.

“She’ll be okay, Fireburst.” The Hotel Manager assured the distraught CBer. “See? Her nose is just broken, and she’s covered in sand, but apart from that, she appears to be fine. Just a little shocked.”

Bryann helped Fireburst take the little Captcha back to their room after the meal was over. The inhabitants of the Iris Room helped them squeeze in Darkfeather’s bed, so that her CBer and AE could watch over her.

And the murderer smiled inwardly. Another step in their plan accomplished. Although they had taken far too many bathroom breaks- they would have to work on that. And they would have to work on possessing the automatons, Talos and the holographic librarians.

The murderer went to find the device, only to find that it had been destroyed. And all that remained was springs, electrical wires and one tiny, broken, gear.

Ooh, weird, I wonder what genius the murderer is up to... (Yes, I did just compliment the person who will probably kill me soon.)

Also, time zones are weird.  In my time zone (West coast time) It's 9:24, which means I'm commenting on the next part of the story before it has been posted.  (Sorry for the tangent) 

I did something that a good writer should never do... forget about one of the characters. OH, WHY, EVIL MEMORY UNIT IN MY BRAIN? WHHHYYYYY? Anyways, I have not mentioned Icy for the last several parts accidentaly. Sorry, Icy. Your consolation gift is; twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans-a-swimming, six geese a-laying, FIVE, GOLDEN RINGS!!! Four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree! Or a free pie. Your choice! Anyways;

Day 4, Part 3

Icy heard a scream of rage coming from one of the flower named rooms. She looked in each, but found nothing. Huh, she thought to herself. Veeeerrryyy suspicious. But who did it sound like? I can’t quite place it.

Inside a secret passage, pressed up against a wall, the murderer sighed in relief. That was way too close for comfort.  They drew two daggers that had been strapped to their legs and began to climb. The passage went parallel to the hallway, and straight up to what appeared to be the seventh floor.

Thunk. Went one of the daggers as it was thrust into the wall. The murderer hoisted themselves off the ground. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. The daggers went as the murderer continued climbing, until finally the murderer reached the exit on the seventh floor.

“Hey,” Serene said as she walked by, nose in a book. She didn’t notice that the person she was talking to was covered in dust bunnies.

The murderer quickly brushed off all their clothes and boarded the train of thought they had left off after they had screamed. NO AUTOMATONS? NO ROBOTIC SERVANT WEIRDLY NAMED TALOS? NO HOLOGRAPHIC LIBRARIANS? STUPID INTERFERING SOMEBODY! STUPID HOTEL MANAGER! STUPID EVERYBODY! STUPID WORLD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! The murderer fumed. How dare some stupid meddling visitor steal the device that they needed. General Waffleson walked by, and the murderer could hear faints strains of music. "‘Cause I’m happy/Every morning if you feel like a room without a roof…”

That only made their mood worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kitten was sitting by Joy’s side, watching her breathe. That was all she had done for the past hours. Breathe in, breathe out. In, out. In, out. The cycle was maddening, constantly repeating with no end in sight- which, now that Kitten thought of it, was probably a good thing. Problems started for people when the cycle completely stopped. Kitten gazed out the window at the river where Elena, poor Elena, was dragged beneath the water. She couldn’t let something like that happen to Joy. The thought of it was terrifying, to lose her only companion. She shuddered, and looked back at Joy again. Joy’s eyes were flickering open. Kitten ran to get the Hotel Manager and Ms. Tobin.

“She’s waking up, she’s waking up! Come on, bring some food and water! Hurry!” Kitten yelled as she ran down the hallway, nearly colliding with Leafpool. “Leafpool, could you go get the Manager while I stay with Joy?”

Leafpool nodded, turned, and ran down the hallway, while Kitten sped back to watch over Joy.

In the Chrysanthemum Room, Joy was sitting straight up and looking around, incredibly confused. “What? Where am I? What happened?” She muttered, most of her strength gone. She slumped back down. Kitten nearly yelped with Joy at the sight of her awake AE. “Joy! Joy! You’re okay! It’s a long story, but I’m just so happy you’re awake!” Kitten gave Joy a hug. In Kitten’s excitement, she missed the square of paper tucked halfway under Joy’s pillow. Joy, though, didn’t.

Leafpool came in with the Hotel Manager and Ms. Tobin.

“How are you feeling, dear?” Ms. Tobin asked.

“Pretty good- I’ve felt worse, like last night.” Joy answered.

The Hotel Manager set a tray of food on Joy’s bed. “We got you some bread, and chicken curry soup with rice. I hope you enjoy. And don’t worry- we tested it for poison.” Kitten wanted to stay with Joy, but she could tell her AE needed some time alone, so she left with Leafpool and the others.

Joy sat up again, and grabbed the squared of paper.

The note, written and folded neatly, said;

If you want to live, meet me on the roof at midnight, tonight. The poisoned plate was a warning. If you tell anybody, I will know and both you AND the person you told will die. Your choice, pumpkin.

Joy crumpled up the note, heart beating quicker than ever. She had no choice. She was going to have to find a way up to that roof.

Oh...oh OH! SO creepy!!!! I love it!!!!

Day 4, Part 4

Joy, after staying in bed and reading for a hour, got out of bed and went to join everybody else. She found them in the Mess Hall.

“Um, what’s happening?” She asked.

“Joy! We’re so glad you’re okay!” Balletandbow said. “Anyways, tonight we’re having a theatre dinner.”

“Uh, what?”

“You know, like a T.V. dinner, but instead at a movie theatre? With popcorn and movie candy and soda for dessert?” Stan answered.

“I don’t know about this- somebody could easily be murdered in the dark movie theatre, possibly without the rest of us knowing.” Icy said grimly.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Epic Fangirl assured her.

Joy knew a perfect opportunity when she saw one. And this was one. All she had to do was slip out maybe thirty minutes in. She had just eaten! She wouldn’t need to eat again! Her stomach growled in protest. Fine, she told herself. I’ll take some M&Ms. Her stomach still growled. And maybe a hotdog. Her stomach remained silent.

“Hey, what’s for dinner?” Lock asked.

“Oh, I think it’s soup.” Storra and Scarlet said at the same time. “Jinx!” Storra yelled.

Joy felt like yelling a few choice words that Kitten had forbidden her to say. But that would reveal her plan. Instead, she steamed in silence.

Once inside the movie theatre, it took her way longer than planned to eat the chicken noodle soup and swipe the M&Ms. She was at least thirty minutes behind schedule by the time she had managed to sneak out. She scouted each and every corridor, hallway, and even broom closets for a pathway leading to the roof. Then she check under every bed of every visitor. Then the bathrooms. Then the balconies. But still, she couldn’t find anything. Finally, she tried going outside to see how climbable the outside of the mansion was. It looked impossible. She even tried sneaking in to the Hotel Manager’s office, which nearly got her caught, and brought her no closer to the answer. She went back to her room and grabbed the note out of the wastepaper basket. There was nothing helpful. She threw the stupid thing back in the trash. She threw pillows and kicked the wall.

The wall opened on invisible hinges. All this time, the answer had been right where she started. She grabbed a flashlight, and stepped in. The passage doorway closed. She followed its twists and turns, until finally she came to the exit- the one place she had forgotten to look- the library.

Inside the library, Joy looked around- knocking on walls, bookshelves, looking under the librarian’s desk, checking behind paintings. Finally, as she was about to give up, she looked at a giant metal statue that went from the floor to the ceiling. Her thorough inspection was worth it. There were hinges on one side. Joy stepped in, and as she did, the statue closed with a giant thunk that echoed through the empty library. She turned on her flashlight. There was a ladder that looked like it went up for miles. “Great.” She muttered, and began climbing. After a ten minute climb, she reached a trapdoor, which she opened. She was on the roof.

Her view was amazing- it seemed to go on forever, the treetops and ocean making a beautiful scene. I can save my friends, right? It’ll be better if go to the roof at midnight, right? Maybe if I place this terrible burden upon myself, it’ll save someone else, maybe? Maybe? Joy’s stomach roiled with guilt, deep, dark and terrible all-consuming guilt. She checked her watch, and found she had only fifteen minutes before the movie made it to credits.

Just as the final scene started, Joy slipped in to the theatre. Safe. Terribly, horribly, but better-for-everyone-else safe.

“What a good movie!” General Waffleson said as they were leaving the theatre.

“Yeah, it was pretty good.” Icy allowed.

Kitten laughed. “That is high praise coming from you, Icy! What did you think, Joy? You love critiquing movies.”

“Um, I was so tired I fell asleep about halfway through. The first half wasn’t bad, though.” Joy quickly answered.

“I liked it.” Silverwaxwing said.

“I didn’t like it so much,” Balletandbow said, and was stared at by the fans of the marvel universe.

“How could you not love it?! It was so good!” BABTMP wondered, staring at her CBer as if she had suddenly turned into a ferret.

“I don’t know, I guess it just wasn’t my taste.” Balletandbow said, blushing.

“What is your taste, then?” Fireburst asked, truly interested. “I didn’t like it much either.”

The rest of the visitors continued to laugh and talk happily. Joy remained quiet, nervous, and terribly unhappy. When everybody else was asleep, she was still sitting up, tired and afraid.

At twenty minutes to midnight, she got out of bed and went through the secret passage to the library. The statue creaked far too loudly when she opened it, and closed with a tremendous thump that just made her feel worse. She climbed up the ladder, every step reminding her of things she didn’t want to think about. Step. You could be valiant, go back to bed, and become a martyr. Step. You could go the noble way. Step. What are you doing? You are despicable. Step. Do honestly think this will help your friends? Or your CBer? Hmm? Step. ENOUGH! She screamed in her mind. I may not be brave or honorable, but maybe, just maybe, I can HELP them this way. Now, SHUT UP, ME!!! A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, Yeah. Help them into their graves. Joy ignored it and continued to climb. She remembered once, back at home in the Chatterbox, how Kitten had mentioned her resilience, her ability to put all thoughts aside and do whatever she was trying to do. That had been there in the afternoon. Where was it now? She didn’t have much time to reflect on this. Her head struck the trapdoor.

She paused. This was her last moment as an okay person. Then she opened the trapdoor and clambered on to the roof.

“You’re late.” A cruel voice hissed.

Joy turned around and gasped. “Y-you? What?”

“Shut up, shut up! I’m tired of the yous and the shock and disbelief. ME! Deal with it.” The murderer growled.

“What do you want?” Joy asked boldly.

“What do you THINK I want?” The murderer asked in a cruel tone.

Joy looked directly into the face of the murderer. “You want me to kill innocent people. Well, I won’t. So THERE.” She turned, a horrible sort of resolution in her stomach as she walked to the edge of the roof. “I am Joy, Kitten’s AE. Kitten has been the best CBer to me, telling me I’m brave and strong and true. And you know what? I’m pretty darn sure that killing people isn’t any of those things.” She took a deep breath, then stepped off into midair.

As she fell, she whispered, “Kitten, I hope you’re proud of me.”

Then she hit the ground with a terrible, sickening splat.

****

Note: I'm writing all the parts in Google Docs, the copying and pasting. This takes up 21 pages!!

Day 5, Part 1

When Kitten woke up, her first thought was to go see Joy. She skipped down the hallway and into Chrysanthemum Room.

“Oh, hey Kitten! Have you seen Joy?” Lucy asked.

Kitten’s eyes widened. “N-no. She wouldn’t leave the room u-unless she had to, she stuttered.

“I’m sure Joy will be okay. Maybe she left to go outside?” Silverwaxwing suggested.

“I think I’ll go look for her.” Kitten said, eyes still very wide.

Silverwaxwing and Lucy exchanged glances. “We’ll come too.” Lucy offered.

“Me, Torstyn, Balletandbow and BABTMP would be happy to help.” PSXtreme said.

“As would me and Rosalyn.” Arwen offered.

“I’ll go.” Stan added.

Rae popped her head into the room. “I’ll help too.”

Soon, all the CBers and AEs had offered to help Kitten find Joy, splitting up into groups of two.

Stan and Key were searching the east side of the third floor.

“JOY?” Key yelled. “JOY?”

Stan interjected. “Key, at this point, I think we might be searching for a body. She wasn’t in any of the other rooms, and Kitten seems pretty sure that she wouldn’t have gone off on her own. The odds aren’t looking good at this point. The best we can hope for is that she’s been captured or something, and is still alive.”

Key slumped over. “I know, logic dictates that she is dead, but I just keep hoping somehow that she’s still alive, and-” She stopped. “Whoa bagumba, what in the name of tostitos is THAT?” She pointed at a mysterious largish conch shell. She walked over to it.

“Key, I don’t think you should-” Stan began, but it was too late. Key had a magnifying glass out and was examining the conch shell. “Hmm, it seems to be-”

“KEY! LOOK OUT!” Stan yelled. Key looked up, as giant cage surrounded her and the conch shell disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silverwaxwing and Lucy were searching outside the mansion.

“I don’t think she’s out here,” Lucy began as they turned a corner.

“Oh no,” Silverwaxwing said quietly. “What is that?” She was looking at a pile of something.

“M-maybe it’s a carcass of I don’t know, a skunk?” Lucy suggested.

“No,” Silverwaxwing said, horrified. “Skunks don’t wear clothes.”

They ran back to the meeting spot, in the front hall. Everybody else was there, except for Stan and Key.

“Well?” Icy asked, looking a bit frightened. “Anything?”

Silverwaxwing looked down. Lucy nodded.

“Is she alive?” Kitten whispered. Please tell me she’s alive, please let her be alive, please…

Silverwaxwing shook her head as Kitten burst into tears. Stan came running back.

“Key’s disappeared!”

It was Lock’s turn to have his eyes widen. “N-no. K-key is always TOO c-careful?” Lock stuttered, his statement sounding more like a question.

“Well, I guess curiosity killed the cat! But we’ve got to go now! She could be in grave danger!” Stan said.

“But how did curiosity kill the cat?” PSXtreme wondered.

“There’s no time to explain!” Stan yelled. “Come on!” He took off running, and so did everybody else except PSXtreme, who hung back for a second.

“I would have just said it really fast. Oh well.” Then she took off running.

Stan came to a halt at the place where the cage had been. “KEY?” Lock yelled. “KEY!?”

“Hey, what does this do?” Anna asked, hitting a lever.

The floor split, and the cage plus the floor came up. Key was shivering. “Siberian tundra… Siberian tundra!” She wailed. “So cold… endless cold and wind and snow… HELP ME! HELP ME!” She screamed.

“Key, it’s okay, we’re right here.” Silverwaxwing said.

“Key, really. You’re not in the Tundra.” Lock added.

Key’s green eyes were clouded over. “No… NO! Nooooooooo! Help me! Help me! Help m- wait, what? Where am I? Silver? Lock? Everyone? You’re here! You’ve come to save me from the endless tuuuuunnnnnnnnnddddddrrrrrrrrraaaaa.” Then she burst out laughing. “Okay, I was kidding after the ‘Everyone?’. But seriously, I was really there. Truly. It was so cold and snowy and it was getting dark, and I swear, something was trying to eat me!”

“Um, Key, you were just in the cage. The whole time. At least, we think you were.” Rae gently told her.

“Hey, wait! Somebody check downstairs, quick!” Storra said.

“Um, why?” Rosalyn asked.

“I dunno, there might be a portal to Siberia!” Storra said. Serene ran down the stairs and tried to gage which room or corridor would be directly under the hallway. When she found it, the door was locked and had no window. Serene studied the lock. It appeared to be made out of bronze, and had some nice delicate, carvings in it. But as far as she could tell, it was going to take hours to pick it. It was pointless to wait around, so Serene hurried back upstairs to see what was happening. And when she got there, what greeted her was not a pleasant sight.

***

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Have any of you guys read The Endless Steppe? That's kind of what I imagined it would be like.

Dang it!!!

I was using Google Drive to write this. I have a school account. A couple times every year, your password expires and you have to change it. Well, my stupid password just expired and now I CAN'T GET IN TO MY DRIVE WHERE MY WRITING IS!!! I am so sorry. This may have to be put on hold until I get a new school password, which is until at least September 5th. Great. *walks off muttering about stupid paswords*

Aaaaannd I am an idiot! I forgot about the old days when people *gasps sarcastically* picked up a pen and paper and wrote on that! (I did temporarily lose quite a bit of writing, but I can re-write that.) Sorry about the false alarm. Heh.