Yay, cooking! Boo, sick dog! Yay, good writing that actually won't die!

Oh my goodness! Don't listen Silver - I mean self! - Haha!

OH MY! A Tale Dark and Grimm is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha! Shakespeare-ish! xD Where did you get such an idea, Lock?

Also, is it bad that I don't know what pop rocks are....?

And I'll snatch General Waffleson's word and fully agree that the writing is  FANTABULOUS!! 

I'll read more shortly!! :D :D :D  

Day 6, Part 5

Epic Fangirl and Biscuit were the last to arrive in the Mess Hall.

“DOGGY!” A bunch of voices cried out, and immediately Epic Fangirl was swarmed by questions; “Age? Name? Gender? Breed?”, which she did her best to answer.

It was agreed that Biscuit was the perfect name.

After everyone had settled back down, and dug in, Ms. Tobin began receiving several compliments about the soup- which, of course, she redirected to Kitten, who added the few extra ingredients that made it perfect. Biscuit curled up in Epic Fangirl’s lap surprisingly placidly. He did not try to leap up onto the table to devour the soup, nor did he whine incessantly about the lack of food being passed his way; he was falling asleep, his little eyelids flickering shut- then open- then shut-open-shut-open-shut.

“No wonder Joy was such a fast eater.” Epic Fangirl said to Kitten. “She had such good food that almost demanded to be gulped down!”

Kitten blushed slightly. “I’ve been cooking since I was three. The first thing I made was scrambled eggs. They didn’t turn out so great; slightly gray and a little bit on the rubbery side. But hey- at least they were edible, right?”

“Food being edible is always a good thing!” Epic Fangirl said, and they both cracked up laughing.

“Why do you laugh, young’uns? Food edibility is the single most important factor in consuming food!” Rae added, jumping into the conversation. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “But between you and me, I wouldn’t say no to the occasional blueberry candle.” More laughter ensued.

“What?” Rae said, in mock shock. “Why, candles are possibly the most delicious delicacy on the planet- why are you laughing?”

Biscuit raised his little head to sneeze, then curled up again.

“Candles, Biscuit? Do you want some candles?” BABTMP called from across the table.

After a lot of joking, laughing, and fawning over Biscuit, lunch was ended with announcements from the Hotel Manager. “I will be calling you down to the theatre one by one to pick out your masquerade costumes for the upcoming Ballroom SI. The costumes will be put into dressing stalls, that are labeled. Please only look at your stall, as so not to spoil the SI by knowing who everyone is. The SI will take place at 7:30 and end at 8:30. Once everybody has been guessed, you will all be handed dinner menus, and will be seated at our very fancy table- in the room next to the ballroom. Any questions?” The Hotel Manager said.

“Yes. Will there be macarons?” Sketch called out.

“I should hope so.” The Hotel Manager said. “The theme of the food is British Tea time.”

Then the visitors clambered out of their chairs, and set off to do something else. For Icy, it was explore. She wandered around the mansion, ducking into random rooms, climbing up through trap doors, taking flights of stairs- until she realized that she was at the very top of the mansion, and that she had arrived in a place that was unmistakably the attic. The very dusty attic. It was filled old furniture and barrels and old cases and rugs- but all were arranged almost methodically; it seemed charming and sweet.

Icy figured that the Hotel Manager wouldn’t mind if she looked at one thing, and one thing only. She picked up a case for some sort of instrument, opened it, and was astonished by the beauty of what she had found.

It was a violin.

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

Elementgirl and Connie were taking a walk along the edge of the grounds, Connie picking a bouquet of flowers as they went.

“What this?” Connie asked, pointing at a giant flowery plant. She picked off a small section of the flowers.

“Connie, no!” Elementgirl cried a little bit too late. “Drop that, and don’t touch anything with your hand. I need to find something-” She scanned the area desperately, and, find nothing, tore off a strip of fabric from the hem of her shirt, and used it to wrap a very bewildered Connie’s hand.

“Wfor?” She asked.

“That was Giant Hogweed you touched, Connie. We need to get you inside.” Elementgirl said. Then they both ran for Woodlock Mansion as fast as they could.

Once they were inside, they continued running until they found the Hotel Manager, who was in a room next to the theatre, picking up costumes.

“Connie touched some Giant Hogweed out on the grounds,” Elementgirl explained.

“Oh my gosh. We need to get her to the Hospital Wing at once. Ms. Tobin?” The Hotel Manager yelled.

Ms. Tobin popped out of thin air. “What seems to be the matter?” She said.

“Connie touched some Giant Hogweed.” The Hotel Manager said. “Could you air-transport her to the Hospital Wing?” Ms. Tobin took Connie’s safe hand, and popped into thin air, presumably re-appearing at the Hospital Wing.

Elementgirl and the Hotel Manager had to run up four flights of stairs to get there. When they did, Ms. Tobin was already washing Connie’s hand carefully.

“Heracleum mantegazzianum, or Giant Hogweed, leaves a severe burn on the skin if exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet rays. You should keep this glove on for several days, just to be safe.” Ms. Tobin was telling Connie.

“What was that doing on the grounds?” The Hotel Manager whispered. “Was it flowering when you touched it?” She asked Connie, who nodded a yes. “It starts flowering in its second year- we had the grounds checked a week before we sent out the invitations!” She said to Ms. Tobin.

“Girls, you are free to go now.” Ms. Tobin said, gently ushering them out.

As they walked back downstairs, Elementgirl gripped Connie’s ungloved hand tightly. “I’m glad you’re okay, Connie,” she whispered.

THE SUSPENSE HAS BEGUN!!!

Day 6, Part 6

Icy was packing up the violin when she noticed something odd about the bow. She was loosening it, as a violin player should when packing up their instrument*, when she saw the odd thing. The screw on the end had two parts- she was moving both. When she moved only the bottom part, however, she found she was holding a bluish adamantine knife. Then she rotated the hilt of the knife, and found she had a bow.

She decided to check the violin, which, after some examination, was an ordinary violin. Almost. It was made out of beautiful lined wood, that formed patterns and was glossed with a beautiful varnish. It had a carved chinrest, and mother of pearl embedded in the tuning pegs. Icy took out a small notebook she always carried and wrote down what she had discovered. Then, acting on an impulse, she carried the violin downstairs and concealed it under her bed. It technically wasn’t stealing- she wouldn’t take it home or anything. It had just simply been relocated. She went out onto the balcony, and was there five minutes later when Elementgirl came in.

“You won’t believe what just happened.” Elementgirl said, and proceeded to tell the story. “But I guess you probably can believe it, being a twisted MURDERER and all.”

“No. No. I-I would never! The ways Elena, The Riddler, Jarnen, Joy and Key died- the fact that they died- never- I didn’t- please!” Icy said, eyes wide.

“Think about it. You were the one to accuse Jarnen. Pinning your sick, twisted little plot on him- it was perfect, wasn’t it? You unbelievable jerk.” Elementgirl hissed.

Icy frantically searched her memory. “I feel terrible about accusing him! Please, I didn’t! I would never murder The Riddler! I would never murder anyone!”

“Are you sure, Icy?” Elementgirl asked, pronouncing her name with venom.

“I DIDN’T DO IT!” Icy screamed. Then she slowly calmed. “Really, I’m telling the truth. This whole vacation as been so hard, and I don’t know… it feels like we’re a group, but underlying that- who can we really trust? I’m scared, honestly. I’m so scared.”

Elementgirl searched her face. “I’m sorry. I can tell that you’re what you’re saying is the truth. Will you accept my apology?”

“I’m upset that you would think that I would do the unthinkable, but I kind of get where you’re coming from. We’re all suspects at the moment. I… I have my own list of people who could have done it.” Icy answered.

“Really? Me too.” Elementgirl said. “Want to compare notes?”

“Sure,” Icy said. They sat on their beds, which were next to each other, reading through their notebooks with heavy hearts, thankful for their companion.

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

“Hey, Silverwaxwing! Come down to the auditorium to pick out a costume! Silverwaxwing!” The Hotel Manager said on the intercom, thirty minutes after the Giant Hogweed incident.

Silverwaxwing left the checkers tournament that was just beginning, which made Storm in charge of their team. The little captcha grinned at the pieces eagerly. She walked down to the theatre, where the Hotel Manager had a whole bunch of dresses and tuxedos out, along with elegant masquerade masks. “Oh, wow.” Silverwaxwing said. “What to choose, what to choose… I like the silk dress, the amber colored one with lace, but then there’s that tuxedo… and the amber pocket watch… I think I’ll take the dress, the pocket watch, and that mask.” She pointed to the items.

“Okay! You’ll be the first dressing room on the left.” The Hotel Manager said, putting the clothes in the appropriate stall, then closing the door. She reached for the intercom system. “Leafpool! Your turn!”

When Silverwaxwing got back to the tournament, it was over. “What happened?” She asked. “I was only gone for fifteen minutes!” All involved parties pointed to Storm, who had won every single game he played.

“Seriously,” advised Lucy. “Get that captcha on a team. NOW.”

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

General Waffleson was in the library also, but he wasn’t playing chess. He was immersed in a book. Across from him, Epic Fangirl sat with Biscuit, reading a book called The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place. General Waffleson himself was immersed in a book; a collection of Calvin and Hobbes. Rae sat at a desk, playing video games.

Biscuit broke the silence by worming his way out of the towel he was wrapped in and running as fast as he could for somewhere else.

“Biscuit, no!” Epic Fangirl cried. General Waffleson and Rae jumped up and followed in pursuit of the wheaten colored Scottish Terrier aptly named Biscuit. Biscuit, happy with his newfound freedom, decided that it would be a great idea to go into the kitchen. He ran in, startling Leafpool and Kitten, who were busy helping out with food. Leafpool bumped into a bag of flour, tipping onto Biscuit, who took this as a sign that this was incredibly fun. He jumped up onto the counter, stole a carrot, and headed back out into the hallway, where he ran down the stairs. He jumped out of a window on the ground floor and immediately began frolicking outside, licking this grass; chasing that butterfly; running in circles over here; barking at that bird over there; and finally deciding to climb up onto a picnic table. General Waffleson got there first, and wasted no time in scooping up the mischievous dog.

A very hot and sweaty Epic Fangirl took him back and looked him directly in the eyes. “No.” She told him, trying to be stern. It was tricky considering he had pieces of  chewed up carrot stuck in his little beard. “Bad doggy.”

Biscuit was taken back inside at once, and he was taken to the Hotel Manager when Epic Fangirl was called down to get a costume.

After a thorough inspection in the Hospital Wing, Biscuit was handed back to Epic Fangirl in the theatre, his shots and examination complete. He had a new red collar and leash to match. In return, Epic Fangirl showed the Hotel Manager which costume she wanted and received information on which dressing room she would be using.

***

*I say this, and yet I always forget to loosen my bow. *Sighs*

Day 6, Part 7

At 7:00 PM EDT, the visitors went down to the dressing rooms. They, careful not to look at the names on other people’s doors, walked in- and were shocked. The dressing rooms were not the size of regular store dressing rooms, nor even the handicapped size ones.

They were huge.

Not to mention the fancy drapes, rugs, couch, chair with ottoman, diamond chandelier, or beautiful cabinet containing the costume they had picked out. Or even the bookshelf filled with cool antique books.

“Wow.” Leafpool whispered to herself. “I guess the Hotel Manager has never been inside a dressing room before.” She went over to the cabinet, and began to get dressed, thankful that they had thirty minutes.

When she was finally finished putting on all the undergarments; petticoats, bloomers and a crinoline- she stepped back to look at the dress. It was royal blue with gold designs and lace at the sleeves- probably from the 1700s. She put on the dress, plus a sparkly gold bracelet, along with a blue and gold velvet choker.

And, of course, her mask.

Then, after enjoying a small cup of gourmet hot cocoa from the dispenser, Leafpool walked into the ballroom with everybody else- aqua, silver, gold, pink, red, orange, yellow, purple, blue, brown and black costumes formed a whirl of color. Lace, velvet, corduroy, leather, cotton, silk and real gold, silver and bronze added to the show of stunning dresses, old fashioned suits and tuxedos.

She went up to someone in a lilac dress.

“Um, hi? Are you, um… PSXtreme? Or maybe Epic Fangirl?” She asked.

“Nope. Silverwaxwing, or maybe even Lock?” The person blushed slightly. “I mean, I know guys don’t usually wear dresses, but it would make a great disguise…”

“Nope!” Leafpool said. Then they both parted ways.

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

Somebody in a cloak that wasn’t part of their costume was walking up the stairs. Somebody had a jagged, nasty-looking silver knife that definitely wasn’t theirs in their hand. And somebody was headed for the Hospital Wing.

Fireburst was watching a horror movie, with all the lights off. She munched on popcorn, sipping some lychee juice. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Probably my friends! She thought to herself. She turned on a lamp, and turned off the television. Then the footsteps seemed to turn, heading back downstairs. She paused, then turned the television back on, but this time, her lamp shone brightly as she watched.

As somebody went back downstairs, they pulled off a cloak and shoved it in the closet, along with the knife. And they slipped into the ballroom unnoticed.

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

Elementgirl smiled, although nobody could see it with her mask. Her suit was corduroy, colored greenish gray with brown elbow patches. She wore a shirt with cufflinks underneath. And, of course, a blue bowtie. And so far she had guessed four people- Scarlet, Arwen, Rae and Kilp.

Her eyes darted around the ballroom. There were fifteen minutes left, and around nineteen people out, which meant around ten left, including herself. She walked up to a person in an amber dress with a pocket watch.

“Um, Lucy?” She asked, mind working quickly.

“Nope. Could you be, I don’t know, say, Balletandbow? Or Lucy?”

“No. Epic Fangirl? Darkfeather? Arwen? Leafpool?” The amber dress person said. “Um… Elementgirl?”

“Yep!” Elementgirl said. They shook hands, and Elementgirl went off to the chairs that were provided.

And so, on and on the almost dance-like masquerade continued. Silverwaxwing was guessed by Lucy, who also guessed Serene and Lock, and finally Lucy found herself face to face with a person in a beautiful pink silk dress, embroidered with roses who had guessed everyone else. They both paused for a second, and then the pink silk person said, “Are you Lucy?” Lucy nodded, curtsied and went away to her seat, leaving the pink silk person to remove her- or even possibly his- mask. They did, and it turned out to be… Rosalyn!

The Hotel Manager walked into the middle of the room, and handed Rosalyn a golden macaron. “You are hereby presented with the Order of the Golden Macaron. Please don’t try to eat it- it’s solid gold. Now, my compatriots, to the Mess Hall!”

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

The visitors were amazed when they arrived at the Mess Hall. The table, which was covered with a velvety tudor style tablecloth embroidered with real gold and silver thread, was piled with fancy sandwich and pastry holders, jams, and teas; the amount of food stunning.

The CBers were seated by the Holographic Librarians, in old fashioned chairs that looked pretty but were very uncomfortable. For visitors wearing hoop skirts, it proved especially tricky- but it was accomplished. Parasols and umbrellas were place on a special rack.

And the food was delicious. Pastries, mini sandwiches, teas, candied fruit, and regular fruit made into sculptures decorated the visitors’ plates. The room sparkled. Everyone was laughing and talking cheerily. So nobody noticed when somebody snuck out.

The murderer grabbed the cloak, fixed their mask, and grabbed their knife, heading upstairs. They climbed the flights of stairs quietly, so as not to alert anybody to their treacherous plan. Fireburst was sketching random objects and writing thoughts down in her journal when she heard the steps again. She panicked, quickly hiding her notebook. Then she began to frantically look for the button to summon the Hotel Manager.

She stopped when she saw who it was at the door. “Oh, it’s you! I thought I heard somebody-” Then Fireburst paused. She saw the glint of a knife. When she looked back at the person, it was not the Hotel Manager, but a person shrouded in black.

Fireburst barely had the time to let a sound escape her lips, much less a scream, before the sudden pain and blackness overtook her- for good.

The murderer removed their knife, which they wiped clean on the bedsheet, crept back downstairs, and hid the cloak and knife. Then they began to laugh and chat as amiably as before, no trace of the killer which lurked beneath the mask showing through.

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

When the visitors were snug in their rooms, getting ready for bed, the Hotel Manager and Ms. Tobin went upstairs to check on Fireburst. The first sign the something was wrong was the sticky stuff on the door handle. The second sign was the lack of greeting from inside the room. And the final sign came when they opened the door, and saw bloodstained sheets and quilts surrounding a very dead Fireburst.

***

RIP Fireburst.

I do believe it has been about two weeks since I last posted. Why? Because I'm lazy. And I have writer's block. I'll try to write more- I'm posting what I've got so far, which is half a part- why it says Part 1/2. nd I may randomly add names to part when it feels appropriate. So, without further ado...

Day 7, Part 1/2: Darkness Deepens

It was midnight when the screams echoed throughout the mansion. It was a minute past midnight when Biscuit began barking loudly enough to rouse everybody. It was three minutes past midnight when all the visitors came running up the stairs to see what had happened. It was four minutes past midnight when the lights flickered and went out. It was still four minutes past midnight when the soft, creepy footsteps started, freezing the other guests with terror. It was five minutes past midnight when the sound of a breaking window cut through the silence. And it was six minutes past midnight when the lights came back on and Leafpool let out a bloodcurdling scream. For lying on the ground was the corpse of Fireburst, next to a set of bloody footprints and a bloodstained note.

Leafpool, who had fainted, had a smear of blood on her pajama pants- from where the dead hand of Fireburst was gripping her ankle.

After Leafpool was revived from the horror of her dead friend’s hand gripping her ankle, and the hand had been moved, Elementgirl reached down to pick up the note, which was written on unusually thick parchment.

“Oranges and lemons/Say the bells of St. Clement’s./You owe me five farthings/Say the bells of St. Martin’s./When will you pay me?/Say the bells of Old Bailey./When I grow rich/Say the bells of Shoreditch./Here comes a candle to light you to bed/And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!” Elementgirl read.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Scarlet asked.

“Oranges and lemons… wait, where’s Darkfeather?” Bryann yelled.

“She’s here.” Lock patted Darkfeather, who was behind him.

“Oh, that’s a relief.” Bryann said. “Um, but anyway, I think that either a, this is some sort of psychotic trick to freak us out- which it is doing- or b, maybe it has something to do with our food supply. More specifically, our citrus. It might be poisoned?”

The Hotel Manager sent some of the Holographic Librarians to check on the food supply. Then she and Ms. Tobin took the note, and sent the visitors to bed, instructing them to lock their doors and windows.

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

Elementgirl awoke to shrieks in the Lily Room. She opened her eyes in a flash, her heart pounding in her chest- to see the occupants engaged in a wild pillow fight. “Come and join us!” Epic Fangirl said, and broke into a wide grin.

“Yes, come on Elementgirl! Come dance!” Rae and Icy said in perfect clockwork harmony- the scene was shifting, and her friends were dancing in bloodstained wedding dresses and their head lolled at unnatural angles and they had buttons for eyes and they were grinning showing teeth that were growing long by the second and she was screaming and screaming and screaming and they were getting closer grinning and dresses and eyes and then- Elementgirl awoke covered in a cold sweat. It was five in the morning. She turned over, wrapping herself quilts and sheets. But the terror of her nightmare still plagued her, shadows seemingly growing longer and darker. She spent ten minutes that felt like hours to her sleep-deprived body and mind, until she finally drifted back into sleep.