Spoopy lil bloopy~

Day three, part eight

That night, several people lay awake in the dark, all panicked about the murderer- even the murderer themselves. Jwyn was frantic, knowing who they were and what they were doing and all that was going on- perhaps they were stalking the corridors right now, preying on anyone who happened to be up…

But Dewy, pacing the Life corridor and twisting her hands as she did so, knew that they couldn’t prowl the hallways- she had told them TAMPS’s plan to be on the lookout for that very thing, so the murderer could avoid being caught… all because of her.

The murderer themselves had a sick feeling in their own stomach. They had forwarned Simul of TAMPS’s plan to interrogate her and search the dormitories as they dropped off the stolen weapons at her room, but this whole “Anit-Murder defense” thing could easily kill them all- by trying to save them, which was cruelly ironic. But the murderer was the only one to know it… 

Except, though they didn’t know, Jwyn had all the same thoughts swirling around in her head too…

Sleep was scarce the third night at Magicae Palace.

One of the two women, still flitting through the folds of reality, forever stamped as a ghost in places unseen, pushed through to the place she knew would need her utmost attention. She was less than material, a state of matter unbeknownst to the ordinary human. She glided on air, yet she was the air… she was on a search for the murderer at the dead of night.

But before the could even get to her destination, she noticed The Cliff. Her eyes widened. It was the place the murderer was chosen, and it had since changed for the worse.

Before, the murderer had seen the soil perfectly packed, smooth and sheer, like it was encased in glass. But now it was crumbling, with chunks missing, cracked rocks teetering between falling and resting in the broken cliff. In holes and creavases, the woman could see The Darkness- not normal dark that crawled around when the lights were out, not the dark it becomes at night- no, this Darkness was yet more sinister. It was The Darkness of secrets. The Darkness of truth in a happy utopia version of reality. 

The Darkness drizzled onto every Ski Lodge, The Darkness of everything everyone should never know. 

But this time… someone knew. They knew everything. They knew far too much. Even the murderer should be blind to it all… but here… they were not.

Fearful, the woman approached The Cliff. As she did, she could feel The Darkness around her, like a veil that separated a normal Ski Lodge from what had happened here. She could feel the secrets, she could feel a dark pain building inside of her…

She gasped and pulled away. None of the other guests could ever discover this place. And everything was in danger.   

~Top!

Oooh, scary... conspiracy theories, anyone? 

TOP! 

Day Four, part one

Very early morning

Simul woke early, groggy and sickened with subdued panic. She knew that TAMPS would be seeking her out for questioning, and that the problem with all of the secrets was growing- a small headache had developed deep inside of her skull, and she felt as though her insides were dense with dark clouds. The murderer had expressed similar symptoms of  dark secrets-itis. Simul groaned and huffed, and, slowly, peeled back the covers and stood, stretching and rubbing her eyes. Pawing around at her nightstand, she managed to (after almost knocking it over) turn on her lamp. Warm light blazed through the darkness, falling upon her dresser, the closet she had tucked the murderer’s weapons away in, the stone brick wall and the window enlaid in it- and, Simul saw, a hastily folded note fluttering gently on its sill. 

Dreading what it might say, Simul stepped forward, gently opened the window, and grabbed the note. It read, in handwriting that looked as though the hand that had gripped the pen had been shaking severely:

Warning. The Cliff is crumbling. Dangerous, putting Mystery at risk. Block from Chatterboxers immediately. Be careful. -L and C

Simul laid a hand upon the ice-cold windowsill, feeling sick to her stomach. It was just as she had feared- and even worse. The risk of putting everything in jeopardy just got greater. 

The pain in Simul’s headache increased. She rubbed her knuckles on her forehead, rereading the note, knowing what she had to do- right away. She sighed, folded up the note, closed her eyes, and vanished from her room.

She reappeared near The Cliff, in the woods behind the castle. She was about a yard away, and she could feel The Darkness pulling at her faintly. She backed up several paces until she could no longer feel secrets pulling at her consciousness. Then, weakly, hesitantly, she raised a soft-skinned hand in the air.

A tall, silver barrier materialized on her command, spreading across the area, encasing the woods that were safe for the guests to go in. Simul looked left and right, watching the barrier’s progression. She then summoned a pen and a piece of paper to write out a reply to those who had warned her. She paused after scrawling out her signature, wondering if she need do it. 

It’s for safety. Even if it doesn’t help, it won’t hurt. And… they deserve this.

Simul talked herself into it. She took a deep breath and added a PS. She wanted to have a meeting with L and C… and the murderer.

~~~~~~~~~~

Darkking looked around the entrance hall. All of his fellow guests were milling about and talking to each other, and Simul Stoicheio stood in front of the door to the dining hall. Puzzled, he approached Catsclaw.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on?” he asked him.

Catsclaw shrugged. “Simul’s got an announcement of some sort.” Catsclaw turned away, facing forward, staring at the back of Night Vision’s head. Darkking shrugged slightly and followed suit. A few seconds later, Simul cleared her throat loudly. The chatter began to die down and abated swiftly. Simul, as many of her guests noticed, looked nervous and tired. Her eyelids fluttered and rested a little longer than your average blink, but she quickly snapped them back open and cleared her throat once again.

“Hey there, homies,” she sighed, her enthusiasm taking a nosedive. “So, I’ve put a fence around the parameter of the island-thingie the castle and grounds are on. It’s just a safety thing. Also, I’ve been thinking… that I might recruit a second host, just to help me out, with the.. Stuff. Yeah. Sorry bros, I’m real tired.” She yawned to prove it. “Okie dokie then. See ya later, crocodiles.” She vanished on the spot, leaving much confusion in her wake.

“Ooooooh-kay then,” Catsclaw said awkwardly, “Um… anyone else down for breakfast?”

No-one was listening to him- they were all looking at each other with confusion and discussing the strange encounter that had just happened.

“Simul’s acting suspicious, huh?” Leafy said with heavy hints of smugness. “Im betting on it- she’s either the murderer or working with them.”

“Why’s she complaining about being tired? I am too; Reese, Boo and I pulled an all-nighter,” Winter half-boasted.

“Why did you do that? It’s not like we have anything worthy of pulling an all-nighter for!” Far scolded in reply. 

Agent Winter shrugged. “Cause it’s fun? I mean, there’s no Internet access so my Laptop was basically useless, but Boo has like an infinite stash of cake he let us eat from, so.” She patted her stomach contently. Far sighed. 

Bean took a more concerned approach. “Poor Simul. Come on, guys, imagine how stressed she must be. She didn’t plan on her vacation to become a crime scene!” Dewy/Song nodded their agreement. 

“Very true!” Marigold chimed in.

“Yeah yeah yeah, Simul’s weird and there’s a murderer and we’re linking together all the clues, blah blah blah. Can we go eat now?” Devin asked impatiently.

“I mean, sure, no-one’s stopping you,” Leeli snapped back, clearly thinking her AE had his priorities mixed up. Reese jumped up in the form of a cat, transformed gracefully in midair into a human again, and quite literally kicked open the door to the dining hall, only to roar in displeasure. “Simul forgot to make breakfast!”

Leafy jumped in, seeing the perfect opportunity. 

“I’ll go get her!” And then catch her red-handed, she couldn’t help but think.

Toptop!

Day four, part two

Leafy bounced up the steps, her feet making hardly any sound as she bounded up the stairs in polka-dot socks. She knew the way to Simul’s quarters- or at least, she thought she did. She tried to remember the path she had taken the day before by finding the landmarks she had seen, but she quickly got confused and found herself standing, bewildered, in the middle of a hallway, spinning slowly about and wondering which way she ought to go.

And while her back was turned, the murderer jumped out from behind a tapestry, pouncing on her and covering her mouth and eyes and they had done with Dewy/Song the night before. Leafy’s cry was instantly muffled.

“Going somewhere?” the murderer asked in a sinister, wicked voice. Leafy’s fear intensified. The murderer chuckled softly- The Mystery had a hold of them, and was making them cold as ice. Leafy felt as though she were in a horror movie- the threats, the cruelty, the dreadful wait before the killer finally carried out the deed. Tears burned in her eyes and her hands shook.

“There, there,” the murderer soothed mockingly, “I’m sure it’ll be just fine, Leafy dear…” to Leafy’s surprise, the hand of her eyes was removed. She struggled to turn, but the murderer was holding her too tightly. The murderer gripped their weapon loosely in their hand, running their finger over the hilt. They held it out casually for Leafy to see.

“You are a Star Wars fan, yes?” the murderer asked mock-conversationally. They pressed a button on the hilt, turning on Soren’s lightsaber. The glowing, humming yellow blade glinted threateningly in front of Leafy’s face. Her eyes widened.

“This does seem the appropriate time to drop a reference,” the murderer said, wrapping up their little Mystery-inflicted speech, “but I’m afraid I’ve never seen the movies.” despite themselves, they smiled. “See you on the Dark Side.”

~~~~~

The murderer’s ear buzzed with static. “Simul, Leafy is dead.” They said this with the dregs of the satisfaction the Mystery left behind. In a haze of morbidity and evilness, they felt the familiar regret  poisoning their twisted glee. They sighed. “Could you go downstairs and make breakfast please?” They looked at the lightsaber in their hand, and a sob got stuck in the back of their throat.

On the receiving side, Simul lowered her walkie-talkie and examined the floor for a few solitary moments. A small headache bloomed within her skull an pulsed gently against her forehead.

“Coming,” she mumbled, not even bothering to raise the walkie-talkie.

~~~~~ 

More topping~

Toppy toppy top top!!! 

Day four part three

Simul glided down from the steps, blinking hard and trying to look excited or, at the very least, not like a sickened terror zombie. She failed on both accounts. A number of guests looked upon her with sympathy, while others were still dubious of her sincerity.

“Un momento, por favor,” she said groggily, the headache now pushing more insistently against her skull. She let herself inside the dining hall and conjured a satisfactory breakfast. She looked around unseeingly, was satisfied, then came back out. “Go for it, bros,” she invited unenthusiastically.

“Wait, where’s Leafy?” asked Gracia.

“Wha-? Oh, she went to… the bathroom,” Simul lied quickly. The headache escalated. She bit her lip slightly. “She’ll be down soon.” Simul tried to leave quickly without arousing suspicion. That did not result in the way she wanted, however.

“I don’t trust her,” announced Leeli. “I’m gonna go find Leafy.”

“I’ll go with you,” Rogue jumped in. She was feeling bad about accusing her friend of being the murderer the night before. Together, the two CBettes climbed sets of stairs, searching and calling for their friend…

And she did not respond.

The sickened feelings in many upset stomachs intensified as the news of Leafy’s death reached the dining hall from the shaky-lipped mouths of Leeli and Rogue, tear-streaked. Rogue was in shock- how could she have been so careless as to point suspicion on Leafy? Now the last thing her friend would have ever heard from her was a cruel accusation… Rogue choked on sobs as she thought of it.

Leeli’s resilience was crumbling. The loss of her close friend was hitting her very hard. The world blurred as her eyes swam with tears. The meal that had been so hard to acquire was hardly touched.

The loss of Leafy hit the group especially hard-  they had all known Leafy, laughed with her, chatted with her, shared her dream of hitting the murderer down hard. But now she was gone, and it seemed, to the murderer’s short-lived delight, her vision of a safer vacation with her.

The guests once again dispersed about Magicae Palace. Most went off to grieve; others, mainly AEs and Captchas who had hardly known Leafy, played board games together or read books. As there was no-one else in the vicinity to witness their actions, the murderer began to plot their next attack in the heavy, mournful silence…

~~~~~

Jwyn’s thoughts began to spiral as she hugged her knees to her chest, the loss of her friend and the weight of the secrets crashing around her terribly broken figure as she struggled to console herself. But however hard she tried, Jwyn couldn’t escape the truths that stuck all the others together like glue: the things she knew would never be taken away from her mind. She couldn’t un-think them. The Mystery was twisted and dangerous, and she was one of the few who knew it- and all of the rest…

And Leafy, poor Leafy, who had stood up to defy the Mystery and met her end because of her courage, was too late to save… too late…

The sobbing subsided, slowly, and the brutal truth began to sink in deeper. And Jwyn, knowing there was no reason to fight it, let it. She let it all happen. 

And that was what shattered her.

~~~~~

As the Mystery worked its way into Jwyn’s bloodstream, terrorizing her from the inside out, it seized the murderer by its ear and pulled it close to its sinister, cracked, bloodied lips, hissing poisonous commands into their obedient ear. The Mystery itself was just as aware of its own actions as the murderer; it could not control how well it was functioning, only to execute its goal. But when a machine on an assembly line performs poorly but is not halted and fixed, its products are deformed and poorly constructed.

The Mystery was but a malfunctioning piece of machinery that no-one really knew how to stop; it left a blazing trail of hazards in its broken wake.

Top! Ooops, forgot to copy + paste the last bit:

The murderer, with this knowledge tucked safely into their back brain pocket, went to work per the Mystery’s instructions, their pen flying so fast their hasty notes became blurred; they hardly knew half of what they were writing, only that it was important, that it was necessary for them to form this lethal plan and execute it on their own friends...

~~~~~Aaaand the spoop is on.