Part Thirty-Four

~

Agent Winter woke to the steady beeping of her alarm. She turned it off and sat up, stretching. The sky outside the window was growing steadily lighter, but it was still early. After running her hands through her hair a few times, which only succeeded in making it messier, she stood and headed for the door. It was her turn for guard duty, and she wasn’t much looking forward to it.

She shut the door quietly behind her, then turned to the Tanzanite door, where she expected to see Strawberri standing. Her still-sleepy brain didn’t quite process it for a moment, but then she looked down and saw the still, crumpled figure. Her hands flew to her mouth, then she shouted for the others.

A minute later, the CBers stumbled out of the Amethyst Room with varying degrees of alertness. Gracia was the quickest to process the scene, and her face fell. The others quickly realized what had happened as well.

“She’s dead,” Holly said numbly.

“Did you just find her?” Jubilee asked.

Win nodded. “Just now. I was coming out to relieve her from guard duty.”

“So she was killed before that?” Dusk asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the body.

“It seems so,” Gracia responded.

“Or Win killed her,” Jubi muttered, not quite quietly enough.

Agent Winter rounded on them. “You think I did this?”

“I’m pretty sure that was implied.”

“Well, I didn’t!”

“Convincing.”

“I was there all night. We were in the same room!”

“And we were all asleep, genius.”

“If you think-”

“That’s enough!” Gracia intervened, standing between the two arguing CBers. “Win, calm down. Jubi, let’s not accuse people right now. As you can see, it isn’t helping.”

Bluebell coughed. “Look, we can deal with that later. I think we need to check on Evergreen.”

Dusk nodded. “She’s right! If someone killed Strawberri, they were probably going after Ever!” She stepped forward and unlocked the door. Hesitantly, she stepped inside, and the other CBers followed.

At first, they couldn’t see Ever at all. The room seemed to be empty. Then they stepped around the interrogation table, and everyone’s eyes fell on Evergreen’s body. She was sprawled out on the ground, facing the ceiling. Her eyes were wide open, but blank and unseeing. Next to her body was something green.

Hollyshock, unable to look any longer, turned away and cried into Dusk’s shoulder. Dusk patted her arm consolingly as her eyes brimmed with tears.

Gracia moved forward and crouched next to the body, examining it. She noticed strange red marks, like a rash, on Ever’s neck, collar, and arm. “How did she die…?” she wondered aloud.

Bluebell crouched next to her and pointed out what was next to the body. “I think that’s how she died. No, don’t touch it!” Gracia had reached out for the vivid green vine, but stopped. “We saw that plant in the forest ages ago, remember? It’s calamum vesperum.”

Gracia nodded. “Now I remember. That’s the one you said was really poisonous?”

“That’s right,” Bluebell confirmed. “The murderer must have gone back to get some. That’s how Ever died.”

The two stood and presented their findings to the rest of the group.

Agent Winter sighed. “I guess that means Ever wasn’t the murderer,” she admitted.

“Should we have a funeral for them?” Bluebell asked.

Dusk nodded. “I guess so. Someone should get Goldie.”

Jubilee volunteered and left, promising to meet them at the oak tree with the Palace Keeper. The rest of the CBers retrieved blankets from the bunk beds to wrap up the bodies and take them down to the gravesite.

They’d been waiting by the tree for a while when Jubilee reached them, their breath coming in short bursts from running. The graves had been dug and the bodies placed inside.

“I couldn’t find Goldie,” they explained once they caught their breath.

“Really?” Bluebell asked. 

“Yes, I looked just about everywhere. I don’t know where she could be.”

Win shrugged. “She’ll turn up eventually.” She picked up a shovel and began pushing dirt back into the graves.

Holly looked on sadly. “Should we say something?”

“Is there anything to say?” Dusk asked. “We’ve done this so many times now.”

Bluebell nodded agreement. “I guess we just say that we’ll miss them. All of them.”

The graves were soon filled, and the CBers sat in silence. A melancholy atmosphere settled over them, leaving no room for words.

Sitting among them, the murderer’s mind was racing, though they didn’t outwardly show it. They felt feverish excitement coursing through them at what they’d accomplished. It had worked. They’d done it. No one had realized yet, but they would soon enough. It was only a matter of time.

After the silence had lasted for nearly an eternity, Jubilee stood, dusting off their hands. “We should go back. No use sitting around here all day.”

The others agreed, getting to their feet as well. They left the oak tree behind and trooped back up to the palace. The sky was cloudy and overcast, in stark contrast with the beautiful weather of the day before. Without sunlight glinting off the turrets and making the Golden Palace shine, the building seemed cold and gloomy.

The CBers stood in the entrance hall, not quite knowing what to do next. They hadn’t had the most positive start to the morning.

“Um, should we get something to eat?” Bluebell suggested, and immediately the others chimed in, agreeing.

“Sounds good to me!” Winter said, making a beeline for the banquet hall.

Before she could reach the doors, however, Goldie came sprinting from another hallway and ran right into her.

“Win!” she gasped, looking around. “There you all are! Thank goodness I found you!”

“Goldie?” Gracia said slowly, looking concernedly at the host. “What’s wrong?”

The Palace Keeper looked panicked. Her eyes were wide, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. “There’s no time. Listen, you all have to go pack your bags. Anything you need, and quickly!”

“What’s going on?” Jubilee asked.

“Please, I’m begging you, just go pack! I’m so sorry it came to this.”

“I’m sorry, Goldie, but you need to tell us what’s going on,” Bluebell said.

Goldie shook her head frantically. “There’s no time to explain, you-”

Without warning, the ground began to shake. Everyone was thrown off balance. Gracia, unable to catch herself with only one hand, hit the ground hard on her sprained arm and cried out. The earthquake was, without a doubt, the worst they’d experienced during their stay. Finally, it faded, and the CBers were left in a stunned silence.

Goldie, using this to her advantage, yelled, “Pack your bags!”

The CBers, galvanized into action, ran up the stairs and to their rooms (Dusk helped Gracia, who was clearly in pain). They hurriedly threw anything they could find into their bags. Each person was waiting on tenterhooks for another earthquake, but none came.

It only took them a few minutes to pack and return to the entrance hall, where Goldie was waiting for them. They now noticed she had a bag of her own slung over her shoulder. The Palace Keeper beckoned for the CBers to follow her to the doors, but Agent Winter stopped, crossing her arms.

“Goldie, if you want us to go with you, you have to tell us what’s going on.” The others nodded agreement.

Goldie’s expression was pained. “We don’t have time for an explanation, I promise I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get out of here! You have to trust me!”

“Just tell us what’s going on!” Jubi exclaimed. “What’s happening? Why do we need to leave?”

Goldie looked immensely worried, but nodded. “Okay, but promise you’ll come with me after this.”

“We promise!” Holly said. “Please, tell is what’s happening.”

Goldie took a breath. “Alright. The thing is, I am- well, I was-” But her words were cut off by another voice, this one coming from the top of the stairs.

“Hello, Goldie. It’s been a long, long time.”

~~~

Thank you guys so much for the encouragement! I'm planning on writing a bunch during break, so I'll have lots of parts ready to go next week. Happy holidays!

Part Thirty-Five

~

All the color drained from Goldie’s face. She stared in horror at the top of the stairs, and the CBers followed her gaze.

Standing there and looking down on them was a person. A girl, with straight silver hair and very pale skin. Her face was thin and youthful, but her grey eyes looked haunted. She was tall and graceful, and as she took a step forward, she seemed almost to float. She wore a loose grey Victorian nightgown with lace at the collar, sleeves, and hem. 

Ethereal didn’t seem to be the right word, but something about her was... otherworldly. It may have been the faint glow surrounding her, or the fact that while she looked delicate and harmless, there was something distinctly malevolent about her. It was nothing any of the CBers could pick out, but it was all too obvious that this strange girl was not good-natured by any means.

A small, anguished cry escaped Goldie, drawing their eyes back to her. “You- no, you can’t- you can’t be here-”

“Oh, but I can, and I am,” the girl said. There was a peculiar expression on her face- she wore a mask of tranquility, but behind her eyes were flashes of intense anger and loathing. “Ten years is a very long time, Goldie. Too long.”

Goldie looked guilty, but when she spoke, there was a tone of defiance. “I had to. It was for for the best, Sylvia.”

The girl, Sylvia, threw her head back with harsh laughter. “The best for who? For you? Because it surely wasn’t for me. Do you know what I’ve been doing for the last ten years? Stewing in my own resentment. Resentment against you.”

“It was the best for everyone!” Goldie protested. “You hurt people, and I couldn’t let you keep doing it.”

Sylvia took another step forward, advancing down the stairs toward the Palace Keeper and the huddled group of CBers. “Well, that didn’t work too well, did it?” She narrowed her eyes, and her mouth twisted into a cold smile. “Back then, I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t control it. But I can now, and I’m going to take particular pleasure in killing you, Goldie.”

The Palace Keeper took her own step forward, moving in front of the CBers. “Fine. Do what you want with me, but let them go. They haven’t done anything.”

Sylvia gave a dry chuckle. “You still know nothing, it seems. It isn’t going to work like that. None of you are leaving this palace alive.”

The CBers looked between the two figures, stunned and confused. Who was this strange girl? How did she know Goldie? Why was the Palace Keeper afraid of her? Most importantly, why was she intent on killing them all?

Gears were turning in the minds of a few CBers, but it wasn’t the time to be formulating theories. These thoughts were pushed back in favor of trying to comprehend the situation at hand.

Sylvia closed her eyes and began to raise her arms, palms facing upwards. The glow surrounding her grew slightly brighter, and for the second time that day, the ground shook. The intensity of the earthquake grew rapidly, and several people screamed.

There was a dreadful rumbling noise, and a moment later, the ceiling collapsed. Large pieces of debris hit the ground with a deafening crash, and the plume of dust that followed obscured everything from vision.

Bluebell stumbled blindly through the haze, tripping over bits of wood and stone littered all around. She could hear others coughing and crying out, but they were all out of sight. Her chest tightened as she inhaled a lungful of dust, and she doubled over, covering her nose and mouth.

When she looked up again, she jumped back, heart racing. There was a figure approaching, taking shape through the thick cloud. For a moment, she feared it would be Sylvia, but it was Agent Winter. 

“Bluebell!” she exclaimed, looking immensely relieved. Then she lowered her voice. “Come on, let’s get out of here. The others are by the doors- we just need to avoid the crazy murder lady.” She stuck out her hand, and Bluebell grabbed it.

The two ran together through the mess of debris, in what they could only hope was the direction of the doors. Soon enough, they could make out the group of CBers, along with Goldie. The air was clearer there, so it was easier to see and breathe.

Goldie let out a relieved sigh when she saw them. “There you are! Listen, you have to be ready. She’ll know where we are as soon as I open the doors, so when I do, run as fast as you possibly can for the woods.”

“You’re coming too, right?” Holly asked, concerned.

Goldie nodded. “Of course I am. It’s my fault you’re all in this mess, I’m not abandoning you now.” She positioned herself with a hand on each door. “Ready? Three, two, one…” She shoved the doors open, and daylight streamed in, cutting through the cloud of dust.

The CBers were off like a shot, sprinting in the direction of the woods. They all managed to keep ahold of their bags, which bounced wildly as they ran. It was only a short distance from the palace doors to the edge of the woods, but with the unfamiliar threat behind them, the CBers felt it was much longer than usual.

At last, all six CBers and Goldie were safely beyond the treeline. They waited for a moment, but it seemed that Sylvia hadn’t given chase. It was unclear whether this was good or bad.

“Is everyone alright?” Goldie checked, surveying them.

“We’re all fine,” Dusk said, “just confused and concerned.”

“No kidding!” Jubilee exclaimed. “What just happened? Who was that?”

“And what do we do now?” Bluebell added.

Goldie turned and started down the path. “Follow me.”

And so they did. She led them down various thin and winding paths, and eventually out onto a wider and more straightforward path. It was then that the scenery started to look familiar.

“Are we going to the pond?” Holly asked, and Goldie nodded. They rounded the corner without any fanfare, but the sight of the sparkling water and beautiful willow still made the CBers smile.

Goldie led the way around the edge of the pond, over to the shore on the other side. She dropped her bag on the ground beneath the willow tree and looked around. “We’ll camp here for the time being,” she said, “seeing as we can no longer stay in the palace.”

Win followed suit, setting her own bag down. “I guess there are worse places to be.”

Goldie gave a small smile, but there was no real humor in it. “That’s true.” She looked to the ground. “I really am sorry it came to this.”

Holly placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Goldie. You couldn’t have known.”

Gracia was eyeing the Palace Keeper shrewdly. “But you did know, didn’t you? You were trying to get us to leave with you. That’s why you had us pack your bags.”

Goldie nodded dejectedly. “Yes. I knew. I thought I could keep you safe in the palace, but I was wrong.”

Jubilee tapped their foot on the ground. “So what now? Yeah we have a place to stay, but we have no tents, no food, nothing. Just what was in our bags- and I don’t know about you, but I don’t think headphones and a pencil case are going to help our current situation.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Goldie said, waving her hand. “I know a place where we can get all the supplies we need. That won’t be a problem.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Win asked.

Goldie sighed. “First, I owe you an explanation.”

Part Thirty-Six

~

The CBers sat in a semicircle around Goldie, waiting for her to speak. The Palace Keeper had promised them an explanation, one they all thought was long overdue. It felt like an eternity before Goldie finally got herself settled and faced them, cross-legged.

She took a breath, then let it out slowly. “I’m-” she began, then paused and started over. “I know you must have a lot of questions. And I know I’ve been acting strange lately.”

“You can say that again,” Jubilee interjected. Holly shushed them and gestured for Goldie to continue.

“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry about that. I was trying to keep you safe- only now I realize you could never be safe here. It was selfish of me to bring you in the first place.”

Dusk coughed lightly. “Goldie, I hate to say it, but could you please give us a little more information? You’re raising more questions than you’re answering.”

Goldie nodded. “Right, sorry. The thing is… I’m a CBer. Or I used to be.”

There was dead silence for a few moments as everyone tried to comprehend this information.

Agent Winter was the first to regain the use of her vocal chords. “You can’t be serious.”

“How?” Bluebell asked. “When?”

“And what do you mean, used to be?” Gracia added.

Goldie put up her hands to fend off further questions. “We’ll get to that. I should start from the beginning.” She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out something small and thin. As she unfolded it, the CBers realized it was a photograph. It was ripped on one side, and showed two smiling girls with their arms around each other’s shoulders. One of them was Sylvia, and the other they didn’t recognize. She had auburn hair, a myriad of freckles, and amber eyes that shone with joy.

The photo was passed around the circle, each CBer growing more confused as they studied it. When it reached Goldie again, she stared at it fondly. A tear formed in the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away absentmindedly.

“Who are they?” Holly asked tentatively.

Goldie shook herself and answered. “They’re my AEs. Sylvia, whom you just met, and Copper.”

“Wait,” Win said, “do we wave to worry about two crazy murder ladies?”

“No,” Goldie replied. “Copper’s been dead for ten years. Sylvia killed her.” There was a beat of silence.

“Um,” Jubi said, raising their eyebrows. “Care to explain?”

“Right. So about ten years ago, I was a CBer, just like all of you. The Chatterbox was my home, and I had two AEs: Copper and Sylvia. Copper was a ray of sunshine- I swear I never saw her without a smile. She talked a mile a minute, too. Sylvia was always the quiet one. She liked books and solitude, and was pretty much the polar opposite of Copper and me. We were a family, though. We loved each other- if you have AEs, you know what I mean. Something… something changed, though.” The expression on Goldie’s face, which had been one of nostalgia, turned to pain. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if I’ll ever know. Sylvia started acting differently. She became angry and bitter. She started lashing out. Then one day, she just snapped. In her rage, she destroyed a whole thread.”

Holly gasped, and Dusk said, horrified, “You can do that?”

Goldie nodded. “Unfortunately so. The thread collapsed in on itself, and Copper couldn’t get out in time. That’s how she died.”

“Oh, Goldie, I’m so sorry,” Bluebell said.

“Sylvia was distraught after she calmed down,” Goldie continued. “She couldn’t deal with having caused Copper’s death. To be honest, I couldn’t deal with it either, but I had to take care of her. So I fled the CB with Sylvia and my CAPTCHA. We ended up in the back pages, hopelessly lost. That was when we found the door.”

“What door?” Jubi asked.

“I’ll get to that in a moment. We went through, and we found ourselves here- the Golden Palace Hotel. Or, as it was called back then, Noblegate Palace. The Palace Keeper at the time was named Theodore Noble, and he took us in.”

“The man from the painting!” Gracia said suddenly.

Bluebell nodded excitedly. “Yes! Goldie, is the painting of Theodore Noble?”

“Yes, that’s Noble. He-” Goldie stopped suddenly. “Wait, when did you see the painting?”

“Bluebell and I found it while we were exploring a bit,” Gracia explained. “Jubi and Holly found it when… um…”

“When we were following you,” Jubi supplied. Holly winced.

Goldie opened her mouth, probably to scold them, but gave a tired smile instead. “You know, I guess I deserved that. I should have been more up front with you all.”

“No kidding,” Win agreed.

“Anyway, Noble took us in when we had nowhere else to go. He was kind to us, despite everything that had happened. His job as the Palace Keeper was to guard the door that I mentioned. I learned that it was the door to the CB- the literal representation of the barrier between the palace and the Chatterbox. You all passed through it to get here, just in a different form. It’s the Palace Keeper’s job to protect and regulate the door, and only the current Palace Keeper has the power to open it. Are you with me so far?”

Dusk nodded slowly. “I think so. What you’re saying is there’s a literal door to the CB, and only the Palace Keeper can open it?”

“That’s it in a nutshell. Noble started training me to be his successor, the next Palace Keeper. I would be the one to replace him when he died. In the meantime, Sylvia kept getting more and more destructive. Her rage would quite literally shake the ground, as you’ve seen over the course of your stay. So we started to build the turret. A place for her to stay, where she couldn’t harm herself or anyone else.”

This confirmed the theory Bluebell had been nursing since she’d seen Sylvia, and she glanced around to see if Dusk and Gracia had realized as well. From the looks on their faces, both of them had.

Gracia shot her a questioning glance and mouthed, Should we tell her?

Bluebell nodded and spoke up. “We know about the turret, Goldie. Well, we didn’t know who was inside until today, but we knew there was someone.”

“Really? How?”

“During the scavenger hunt, Bluebell and I stumbled upon it,” Dusk said. “The door was locked, and we heard footsteps inside.”

“Then Bluebell showed me after Em died,” Gracia continued. “The door was locked, we heard the footsteps, but then there was an earthquake. I fell down the stairs, which is how I actually hurt my arm.” She lifted her left arm in its sling for emphasis.

Winter looked affronted. “Why wouldn’t you tell us? That seems, I don’t know, really important!”

Bluebell shrugged. “We all just had a feeling.”

Win muttered something under her breath, and Holly asked Goldie, “What happened to Noble?”

“Just as the turret was completed, he died during one of Sylvia’s fits. I took up the mantle as Palace Keeper. I didn’t think I was ready, but I had to. I- I really miss him.” She blinked back tears, then forged on. “After Noble died, I locked Sylvia in the tower, along with the door to the CB. I thought since she couldn’t open it, that would be the best place. She could act as the final safeguard.”

“No offense, but that sounds like a terrible idea,” Jubi said.

Goldie shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Uh, no, it didn’t.”

“Point taken. So once I became Palace Keeper, I renamed it the Golden Palace Hotel. I just couldn’t bear to be constantly reminded of Noble. For the next ten years, I did what the Palace Keeper is supposed to do. I looked after the palace, guarded the door, made sure the CB was safe. But I could only do it for so long, which brings us to why you’re here. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I invited you all to try to find a new Palace Keeper.”

Holly’s eyes widened. “You wanted one of us to be Palace Keeper?”

Goldie nodded. “I thought if I found the right person, I could train them to take over for me.”

“So you were just going to dump one of us in a palace with a murderous AE?” Winter demanded.

“I would have told you!” Goldie said, looking hurt. “We could have figured something out together. I just- I can’t do this anymore.” She seemed on the verge of tears yet again.

Dusk reached out and gave her a hug. “It’s okay, Goldie! We appreciate you telling us, and we’ll deal with this together.”

Gracia nodded in agreement. “Together. We just have to trust each other.”

“But what about the murderer?” Jubi asked.

“That’s a problem for another day,” Gracia replied. “So? Is everyone in?”

“Of course,” Bluebell said instantly. “We’ll fix this.”

“Count me in,” Win said. She grinned. “What kind of Lead Detective would I be if I didn’t help?”

Holly looked decidedly nervous, but nodded. “I’m in too.”

“Same here,” Jubi added. “Let’s do this.”

Goldie looked around at their determined faces and felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude. For the first time in ten years, she could see a glimmer of hope, and she wasn’t going to let it go.