my installments keep getting smaller... 

Day three, part one

12:47

For a few seconds, the murderer was so dumbstruck by the guest’s stupidity that they forgot to pounce. Only after the guest started to shuffle back to their dormitory did they remember their duty. They leapt forward, binding the guest’s body and covering their mouth at the same time. “Don’t scream,” the murderer whispered. “It wouldn’t go too well for you, Hazel.”

For, indeed, the guest was just a little CAPTCHA. But, the murderer evaluated, CAPTCHAs could do just as much damage as a CBer or AE could. The murderer dragged a thrashing Hazel to the first room they could find, threw Hazel bodily inside, and quietly closed the door behind them.

“Yyou!” hissed Hazel. “Howw arre yyou-”

The murderer removed the device from behind their ear and wordlessly held it out- it spoke for them; this is how.

“Hmph,” Hazel harrumphed. She was doing a very good job at keeping her absolute terror inside, though the murderer could see right through her. The murderer put the device back behind their ear.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick for you,” the murderer soothed, though their tone wasn’t what you would call ‘comforting’. “I am sorry about this, but it has to be this way.”

The murderer pulled Far’s daggers from behind their back (how did they manage that?). “Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think about something that makes you happy,” the murderer instructed Hazel. Hazel was too scared to think about not obeying. She squeezed her eyelids shut, sucked a breath in through her nose, and imagined her favorite things- KitKats and tofu, admiring her own appearance in the mirror, balmy summer days spent by a sparkling swimming pool, making up silly letter combinations for Leafpool to fill in. She liked that time in the morning when the sun was up but everyone was too lethargic to do much of anything and she could just be lazy and no-one would even care. She liked eating junk food and causing mischief. She liked to prank her AE siblings and  sip lemonade through straws with little stripes and frilly collars.

The murderer closed their eyes as well as they placed a dagger to Hazel’s heart. Their hand shook, but not enough to save Hazel from her horrible fate.

~~~~~~~~~~

Quill squished a crumb of doughnut between her thumb and pointer finger, stubbornly gloomy like all the rest. She had her left elbow propped up on the table with her head supported in her hand, staring at her empty plate with a dazed, empty expression. Across the table from her, Levana pushed her big, thick hair away from her face as she intently scribbled in a notebook, eggs cold and forgotten. In all honesty, Quill was ready to have fun-- yesterday all she did was read and sketch. But this castle and the grounds were filled with fun things to do! She wished some others were ready to push tragedy aside and do what they had come to do…

Actually, she wasn’t the only one. Reese and Devin were fidgeting in their seats, ready for some excitement, Winter tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, Leeli drummed her fingers on the table, (and thereby annoying the heck out of Wendy)  and Catsclaw kept sighing loudly. Yes, Quill and her fellow guests were tired of isolating themselves from fun because of the bad things that had happened. Catsclaw and Quill sighed in sync.

Artimerrx, noticing this change in the atmosphere, began forming a plan to get people happy once again.

“Hey, uh, do you guys want to see the popcorn room?” he asked.

“Please!” shouted Devin.

“Take me,” moaned Reese.

“That sounds awesome,” agreed Quill.

“I guess,” mumbled Nymph.

“We could use a distraction,” Marigold quipped.  In the end, almost everyone agreed to visit the popcorn room after Secret’s funeral, which was held behind the castle like Soren’s.

It was raining slightly when they had the ceremony, but nobody seemed to mind. However, when they were going back up to the castle, the sky burst open with a mighty rumble of thunder, and giant raindrops pelted the residents of Magicae Palace. Flinging their arms over their heads, everyone began to sprint inside. All except Aqua, who calmly pointed at the sky and, screwing up his face in concentration, directed the storm clouds away from the castle and over part of the forest.

Everyone stopped and turned to look at him, shocked and amazed (Aqua blushed as all eyes turned to him).

Well… not everyone. The murderer used this as the perfect time to go ahead of everyone else and collect Hazel’s body to place it in a very ominous spot, with a note to go along with it.

“Whoa!” cried Marigold, goggling at Aqua (the murderer slipped back outside and pretended they were always there). “How did you do that?”

“That was awesome!” shouted Caribbean.

“Woww!” chimed Mor. Aqua smiled shyly, trying not to appear too pleased with himself.

“Years and years of practice, lots of focus, and--”

“And a rare bit of talent,” Vita interrupted proudly. “Come on, Aqua, you can show off a bit more!”

Aqua suppressed a small giggle, then approached Sea Glass, who was nearest to him. He stuck his hand out at xe. Immediately, all of the water droplets vanished from Sea Glass’s shoulders and hair, and xyr’s clothes were completely dry. Xe gasped.

“Wow, thank you! This is wonderful!” xe cried gratefully. Aqua’s grin grew even wider, stretching so far across his face it might’ve broken. He then proceeded to work the same magic on everyone, so when they all trooped back into the castle, everybody was dry, cheery and talkative (except for Wendy, who merely floated in and mumbled something about wondering if their magic was all purely an illusion). The stopped, however, when they all caught sight of the note dancing on a rope that was hanging from the chandelier. It was the same old, yellowed paper the murderer had used last time, same spiky handwriting that didn’t match any of the guests’ (Leafy guessed that the murderer had used a different style so as not to leave clues). A sick feeling bubbling up in her stomach, Simul reached out and snatched the note off of the rope. It only had two words on it, which she read aloud:

“Look up.”

And, very slowly, all of them daring to imagine what would happen when they did, the guests raised their chins skyward. Many people screamed. The lifeless, limp Hazel was entangled in the chandelier, a dark red stain where her no longer beating heart was.

Top! Hazel says oyrp. Oy, RP? It's a ski lodge....

Thanks for the top, Leafy!

Everyone, I have to admit... I've been slacking off on this. *bows head* I don't have an excuse. I'm just going really slowly because I want this to be really well-written. However, it's almost summer break, and I'll have lots of time to work on it! I promise you, I will finish this. All of your thoughts, theories, and tops are greatly appreciated! 

Kachow

I can't believe how long I procrastinated on posting this...

Day three, part two

“Hazel!” shrieked Leafy. “My CAPTCHA dearest!” She broke down in sobs. Viola? And Leeli wrapped their arms around their friend’s shoulders and gave each other a distressed look- the murderer had to have been heartless to kill a CAPTCHA.

“W-w-ait,” stuttered Leafy, “Who brought a-a-a sword?” (Her voice cracked on the second part of sword, making her voice more squeaky for the rest of her statement). “M-maybe we can figure out who-who’s doing all this. A-and get revenge.” She growled the last part and looked at them all with a menacing glare- Leafy was not playing around.

“Very sorry, but… I took all of the weapons and gave them to the murderer because of the note they left,” Simul admitted, her words tumbling out in a big, quick wad, the syllables jumbling together.

“Wait, what n-” Alex’s eyes glazed over a few seconds after she started talking. “The note with Soren. I nearly forgot.”

“Oh shoot, how did we forget that?” cried Leeli, smacking her forehead. She turned to Simul. “Thanks for doing that. You totally saved our butts.”

“Well, technically, she just spared us for a few days, even less for Hazel, maybe a week if we’re lucky,” Wendy blurted out, her eyes focused on a blank stretch on the stone brick walls. She opened her mouth to continue, but Night Vision gently slapped her arm. Dewy cleared her throat.

“Thank you, Simul. I guess, with what- what happened-” Her voice faltered, thinking about her late CBer. She closed her eyes and continued. “That maybe we forgot. Huh. We forgot about a death threat.” Dewy stepped back, her eyes anywhere but those of the other guests.

“You’re all welcome. Though I do wonder if it was a mistake to give the murderer better means to hurt and kill,” Simul admitted. After a few awkward seconds, she pulled her eyes from the ground and clapped her hands.

“Well now! I believe you wanted to visit the popcorn room!” She reminded them in a falsely cheery voice. “Unless you were plotting without me, I don’t think your plans have changed.”

“Mine have,” mumbled Leafy.

“What did you say?” Wren asked mildly.

“Nothing,” sighed Leafpool. Her head drooped and she stared at the ground. Viola? Pursed her lips, not knowing what to do. It was so frustrating for her- to watch a fellow CBer grieve and look on, helpless.

“Ooooh, the popcorn room is awesome! You’ll like it, I promise! Artimerrx, why don’t you show them where it is?” gushed Caeli. She was the kind of person to keep her spirits up at all times, an she was going to put that ability to use as much as she could in the situation they were all stuck in.

“Right! Yeah, so, follow me, guys,” Artimerrx announced, jumping on Simul and Caeli’s ‘stay positive’ logic train. All those who had agreed to see the popcorn room followed Artimerrx, except for Leafy.

“I’m gonna go back to the air room,” she mumbled. Only Leeli and Viola?, who were still by her side, heard (and gave her concerned looks, but nothing more).

Devin, Winter, Reese, Marigold, Wren, Night, Caribbean, Caspian, Darkking, Quill, Jwyn, Gracia, Catsclaw, Nihil, Rogue, Nymph, Leeli, Viola?, Dewy, Mor, Boo, and Autumn Artist followed Artimerrx to the popcorn room. Leafy stayed behind with Alex, Levana, Wendy, Far, and Sea Glass.

“Well, I personally am dying to explore that giant library by the Earth room. Does anyone wish to join?” Alex asked formally.

“Giant library?” gawked Levana. “Take me, please.” The two bookish AEs set off together, talking about literature. Everyone else went his, her, or xyr own way, Leafy shuffling up to the air room.

Meanwhile, Artimerrx lead the group into the kitchen and over to the secret entrance to the popcorn room.

“Guys? This might sound really morbid, but… is it wrong that I was singing “It’s Quiet Uptown” when I saw Hazel?” asked Darkking. “Yeah, that’s messed up.”

“But appropriate,” Viola? intoned dully.

“That’s just the wall, genius,” Devin remarked as Artimerrx approached the secret entrance to the popcorn room.

“No, it’s a secret entryway,” Artimerrx replied calmly, pushing the door open to prove it.

“Oh. Well. That… makes sense,” Devin mumbled awkwardly. Everyone trooped into the room.  Their footsteps echoed loudly on the stone brick floor. The windowless room had the effect that made the guests feel as though they were underground. Many of them let out cries of amazement at the sight of the popcorn machines and toppings at the other end of the room. The delicious scent of movie theatre buttered popcorn wafted into the guests’ awaiting nostrils. Sighs of delight erupted from all around the room. Mindlessly, they all wandered up to the popcorn machines in a very zombie-like fashion. (Gracia was actually drooling.) Soon enough, the grimy hands of desperate AEs were clawing through gallons of popcorn, CAPTCHAs were clinging on to the bottoms of the scoopers, and CBers were either trying to tame everyone or joining in the pandemonium. And I haven’t even started with the toppings. Caramel stuck to all of the countertops, pepper spilled all over the floor, cheese dripping from the top of one of the popcorn machines… Catsclaw, Wren, and Viola? stood back and watched people’s craziness with identical dumbfound expressions.

“I just wanted a little bit drizzled with chocolate,” Viola? said blankly.

“Getting caramel popcorn should not be this hard,” Wren added.

“Yeah. People are weird and crazy,” declared Catsclaw. “Do you guys want to go to one of the libraries instead?”

“Yes!” Viola? and Wren replied immediately. They turned on their heels and left, the sound of their footsteps unheard in the chaos. The trio found their way to the library where Alex and Levana were chatting about books. They stopped at the doorway when they heard voices.

“And then, the Unwanteds series too-”

“Ooohh, what’s that about? I haven’t heard of it.”

“It’s amazing! Soren and I-” Levana’s voice broke off sadly, realizing what she was about to say. Wren, Catsclaw, and Viola? glanced at each other before Catsclaw broke the silence.

“Um. Do you guys… have any book recommendations? We just escaped the popcorn room chaos.”

Levana jumped about a foot into the air when she heard his voice. She stared at him, turned beet red, hastily wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan, and replied, “Er, yes! Um, there’s some World War II historical fiction over there, and middle school realistic fiction over there that are good.” She blushed so hard she was turning purple. Lev never liked showing how anxious she really was, socially. But death makes people do strange things. Death twists and maims, provokes and shatters.

The murderer wasn’t the only one doing the killing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the popcorn room,  Reese eyed the popcorn toppings, wondering what craziness she could cause with them. Soon enough, she spotted some weird spicy thing and mustard, and a simple solution came to her mind- weird food dares. With her bucket of ultimate cheesy popcorn in hand, she sauntered over to the messy table. Her first victim, Darkking, was reaching for the pepper when Reese said, “If you put mustard on your popcorn and eat it all, I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”

Darkking blinked bemusedly for a few seconds, looked down at his popcorn, then at the mustard, then back at Reese.

“Uh, sure, I guess,” he agreed. Reese jumped in the air triumphantly. Darkking took the mustard and, with great care, squirted it over the top layer of his popcorn.

“More!” cried Reese, “Or the deal’s off!” Darkking obliged. He took one quick glance at the atrocious monstrosity before shoving a giant handful in his mouth. He gagged as he chomped down on the popcorn, the crunchy bits mingling with the mustard. Yuck! Still, he wasn’t giving up his hundred bucks, and he wasn’t going to shy away from the challenge. He gulped the first disgusting mouthful down then shoved his hand back in his popcorn bucket (sticking out his tongue as his hand landed on a puddle of mustard).

After lots of gagging, revolted expressions, and chants of “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”, Darkking finished off the mustard-topped popcorn (his triumphant faced was tinged green). He held his hand out to Reese expectantly, standing straight up with a smug expression. Reese looked at Darkking’s hand to his face to his hand again, then revelation dawned on her face.

“Oooohhhh yeeeaaahhh!” she realized, clapping a hand to her forehead. “Yeah, so, um, I kind of, see, don’t have a hundred dollars.”

Darkking blinked several times, as though wishing he would wake up from a weird nightmare. But it wasn’t his imagination… Reese was blushing lightly, her eyes following her foot as it traced the spots where two stone bricks would meets each other.

“Well then,” said Darkking simply, “It seems that you owe me.”

~~~~~~~~~~