DAY ONE, Part Three

It is said that Orion Wolfe, a mechanic, can fix anything. It’s also rumored that Fauna Flowers, a medic, can cure any illness. I wonder if they could stop even Death itself...

---

No one was able to come up with a definitive reason for Lynx’s death. Eventually, Fauna simply stated that she would “look into it”, and the group slowly disbanded. It was decided that Lynx’s body would be brought to the infirmary for further examination, and when that was complete, buried in the rose garden outside of the Lodge. Kei, Norwood, and Luna carried the corpse on a stretcher.

The guests had gathered in the lounge, quietly talking amongst themselves. Just about everyone was in a state of shock. Even Onyx, Dallas, Glimmer, and Orson were mostly quiet. It was hard for everyone to fathom that one of their friends could be a killer. But eventually, the shock started to wear off. Suddenly, everyone wanted to figure out the killer.

Aspen and Norwood came back to the lounge and announced that the guests would be allowed to have some free time inside the Lodge, then they’d gather for dinner. After that, they would go to sleep. The guests deciding to do some investigating during their free time, and Neverseen decided to write down exactly where everyone was going in the notebook she brought.

Dallas and Nerd went to the fitness room together, but they didn’t find anything unusual in there. Orson, Bakerloo, Luna, and Quill all went to the theater, but once again, there wasn’t anything odd about it. Kitten and Princess Juniper decided to investigate the library again, and Neverseen, Silver Crystal, and Skip went with them. They wanted to see what was behind the strange bookshelf, but oddly enough, Norwood seemed to be standing guard by it. They didn’t find anything else there. 

Majestic Mary, Sterling, Ace, and Onyx investigated all of the guests’ rooms, hoping to find something incriminating in them. They found several pocket knives, which were deemed too dangerous--they had Aspen keep them in the kitchen, with all the other knives. Nothing else was found in the rooms. Gillian, Glimmer, and Kei decided to sneak into the attic while the other staff members were distracted. It was there that the most interesting thing was found.

The three AEs easily managed to get into the attic, as the door was unlocked. Glimmer and Gillian decided to start investigating the boxes closest to the door. Kei, who disliked company, headed towards the very back, where the discovery was made.

He carefully wove his way through the mounds of stacked objects, making sure not to get any of the plentiful dust on his clothes. There was a large tarp laid across the ground in the back. Kei carefully pulled it away, coughing because of the dust that instantly flew into his lungs. Beneath the tarp was a strange chalk circle of sorts--it seemed to be a summoning circle of sorts. He noticed a journal laying on the floor next to the circle, and began to read it.

First resident has died. Not sure who the killer is, but I’m sure I can find them. Aspen will let me know if they hear anything weird. Thank the Mystery (well, maybe not) our ghost summoning was a success. I can still fix this, if the others are willing to play their part.

There was no name anywhere on the journal, so Kei had no idea who’d written it. But the ink was still wet, and Lynx’s death had happened only a few hours ago, so it must have been written recently. Kei figured it would be safer to pretend none of them had ever gone to the attic, so he put the journal back down. He showed Glimmer and Gillian what he’d found--they helped him put the tarp back, then the three of them quietly snuck into the dining hall. During dinner, each of them made their way to each of the other guests and discreetly let them know of their bizarre discovery. 

Dinner was soon over. The guests wanted to talk about the odd things in the attic, and figure out who the journal belonged to. But Aspen was incredibly adamant that they all went to bed, and they had no choice but to listen to them. Each of the guests double-checked to make sure their door was locked, and every time they heard footsteps, they hid beneath their covers.

But slowly, they each fell asleep.

~~~~~~

DEAD: Aislynn Lynx (cause unknown)

SUSPECTS: (None)

SECRETS DISCOVERED: Summoning circle and journal

Spooky! Loving it so far!

Day Two, Part One

Author’s note: Norwood uses he/him pronouns, Aspen uses they/them pronouns, Orion uses he/xe pronouns, and Fauna uses she/her pronouns. :)

--

Maybe there doesn’t have to be a Mystery for something to be mysterious.

--

It was still dark outside-- Dallas figured it must have been before six, but after three. Everyone else was still definitely asleep, but Dallas didn’t care. He wanted to go down to the fitness room--and now, he finally wouldn’t have Nerd supervising him! He could do whatever he wanted!

As expected, the halls of the Lodge were abandoned. There weren’t any lights on, so Dallas had to stumble around in the dark. But he knew exactly where the fitness center was, so he was able to find it without too many problems. The fitness room was still in perfect condition, too--everything was exactly how he and Nerd had left it.

Dallas ran over to the weight-lifting equipment, which was the stuff Nerd hadn’t let him use, thinking he was bound to drop a weight on his toes or something. He reached for a dumbbell, excited to… start exercising. But the sound of voices in the hall stopped him.

He crept up to the door, opening it just a crack, so he could better hear. He didn’t recognize either of the voices, but he could see the outline of one of the two speakers. Dallas squinted at it for a moment, then realized it was Aspen.

“How much do Fauna and Orion know?” Aspen asked.

“Nothing. I haven’t told them any parts of the truth yet,” the other voice responded. “But Fauna will still do what we ask of her, even if she doesn’t know why.”

“What about Orion? Will he help?”

“I don’t think so. Unfortunately, Orion would want to know why. But if xe knows why…” The other voice trailed off.

“Xe would lose it,” Aspen finished. “Hmm. Well, we should be able to do it without him. Xe’s not the only one who can fix things.”

“We’ll begin tomorrow night. For now, let's get back. The guests will be waking up soon. And… you know who the killer is, right?”

“Yes, I do, but we can discuss it later.” With that, Aspen walked away. Dallas could hear another set of retreating footsteps, too. Dallas began to open the door, to see who the other person was, when suddenly--

there was a sharp, intense pain--

and everything went away.

The guests were woken that morning by a blood curdling shriek. They all rushed downstairs in a panic to find the source had been none other than Aspen. Aspen themself stood by the kitchen freezers, trying desperately to compose themself. One of the freezers was open, and Nerd crept forwards to look inside of it.

Inside of the freezer was the corpse of her own AE, Dallas.

Nerd stepped back, clearly in shock. Eventually, Kei and Luna took up the unpleasant job of taking the body out of the freezer. They laid Dallas down on the kitchen floors, then quickly took several steps back. 

Dallas’s head was covered in blood--it looked as if his skull had been caved in with something heavy. There weren’t any other injuries on his body, and although he was obviously dead, Fauna still checked for a pulse. There wasn’t one, of course.

“I guess we should look for a murder weapon,” Fauna eventually said. “There’s not very many things that could have caused this injury, so it shouldn’t take very long.”

The guests realized there wasn’t anything else to do. Once again, they split up to search the Lodge. It was Neverseen, Nerd, Sterling, and Bakerloo who found the weapon.

The four residents had decided to search the fitness center. Nerd, who’d been in there before, instantly noticed that something was off. There had been a carpet near the door, but it was completely missing, and one of the dumbbells was gone. The four guests continued their search by going through the storage closet adjacent to the room. Inside the closet, they found the rolled up carpet--covered in blood--as well as the missing dumbbell, which was soaked in blood. 

The guests met back up in the lounge, waiting for everyone to return. As people came back, Nerd, Bakerloo, Sterling, and Neverseen told them about their discoveries. Eventually, everyone but one had returned.

The missing person was Aspen.

~~~~

DEAD: Aislynn Lynx (cause unknown), Dallas (skull crushed by a dumbbell)

SUSPECTS: Neverseen, Norwood, Aspen

SECRETS DISCOVERED: Summoning circle and journal

DAY TWO, Part Two

There are a great many residents of Whispering Mounting Resort and Lodge who have no idea how Aspen manages to do so much. Norwood knows it’s because Aspen hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep since they were hired.

--

“What’s taking them so long?” Out of everyone at the Lodge, Norwood seemed the most bothered by Aspen’s absence. He kept pacing around the lounge, running his hands through his hair over and over again.

“We should probably go look for them,” Majestic Mary said. “Missing residents haven’t had a very high survival rate.”

“Yes, that seems smart,” Fauna agreed. “Okay, we should all look in groups. And Neverseen, can you keep track of where everyone is searching?”

Everyone split into groups, and once again, Neverseen recorded where each person went. Luna, Majestic Mary, Sterling, Orson, and Ace searched the guest’s private rooms and the kitchens. Fauna and Norwood searched the staffs’ rooms. Neverseen, Glimmer, Onyx, and Quill searched the fitness center. Kitten, Silver Crystal, Bakerloo, and Gillian searched the theatre and gaming room. Skip, Princess Juniper, Nerd and Kei searched the library. 

It was Gillian who found Aspen first. They had just entered the gaming room when they spotted them--sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall. A cord was wrapped around their neck. 

Gillian got closer, and tried to shake them awake. “Aspen! Aspen!”

Aspen didn’t respond. Gillian quickly realized the truth--Aspen had been murdered.

The others entered the room just as Gillian was standing up to tell them what they’d found. Without a moment of hesitation, Bakerloo ran off to alert the other residents. Everyone was soon gathered around the corpse.

Norwood looked like he was going to cry.

“Two murders in one day…” Kei muttered. “The killer is working quickly, it seems.”

“Aspen must have been strangled by the cord,” Fauna said. 

“What an awful way to go,” Orson commented. 

“Aspen must have been killed when we were searching for the murder weapon. Neverseen, where was everyone at that point?” Kei asked.

“Um, sorry. I didn’t keep track of anyone when we were looking for that…” Neverseen murmured. “I think just about everyone went off on their own, except for me, Nerd, Sterling, and Bakerloo.”

“We didn’t really keep track of who was in the lounge, either. Someone could have come back with a group, then left again--it was a really long time before we all decided to look for Aspen,” Luna pointed out.

“So you’re saying… any of us could be a suspect?” Glimmer asked.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Luna said. “Which sucks.”

“Well, I’m totally innocent!” Glimmer said. “And that’s a fact!”

“Can you...uh, prove that?” Princess Juniper asked. Glimmer opened her mouth to speak, then promptly closed it, looking angry.

“Well--no, but--!”

“Then you’re a suspect,” Kei snapped. “This is a waste of time. We need to actually investigate.”

“No, for now, we need to take a break. Three deaths in two days! We could all use a little distraction, I think,” Norwood said. “Let’s go up and have breakfast. There’s no reason to ruin our vacation because of a few unfortunate accidents.”

“Accidents? Dallas, Lynx, and Aspen were murdered!” Kitten protested.

“Really? Can you prove that?” Norwood responded. “Lynx looks to have died of cardiac arrest, Dallas’s death was probably an accident, and Aspen’s death, um…. Well, I’m sure that was an accident too!”

Several of the guests tried to dispute Norwood’s claims, but he silenced them all. 

“Now come along! Fauna, you’ll be the new chef and maid. I’ll talk to Orion later about being our new gardener!” Norwood promptly began to walk out of the room. “Oh! Quill and Kei, could you clean that unfortunate mess?”

The guests had no choice but to listen to him.

Breakfast went surprisingly normally, considering the circumstances. After breakfast, a free period was announced. Neverseen made sure to keep track of where everyone went, though Norwood seemed to disapprove of it.

Nerd, Luna, Kitten, and Ace decided to go swimming in the indoor pool. Orson, Bakerloo, Sterling, Glimmer, Onyx, and Gillian watched some of Orson’s films in the theater-- they all decided that “Mrs. Ablebody Smells Smoke” was their favorite. Orson asked for criticism, then got very angry when they pointed out flaws in his work. Neverseen, Skip, Gillian, Sterling, and Princess Juniper went for a walk in the woods.

Quill, Silver Crystal, Kei and Majestic Mary decided to help Fauna clean out the infirmary. (Well, Kei mostly just went with them because he was told he had to stick with someone, and hanging around in the infirmary seemed the least boring to him.) When they got there, though, a terrible discovery was awaiting them--someone had put the painkillers in the wrong cabinet!

Also, all three of the dead bodies were missing.

Fauna called a sudden meeting, and gathered everyone in the lounge to explain the situation. A search was called, but nobody could find any of the bodies inside the Lodge. Fauna had everyone return to the lounge, and came up with a plan. 

Fauna decided to take Glimmer, Bakerloo, and Kitten with her to Orion’s cabin. Everyone else was to stay in the lounge, and not move an inch. Fauna figured it would be safest that way.

By the cabin, Glimmer spotted a person repainting one of the kayaks. He had shoulder-length lime green hair, and a beard that was tied into a very short ponytail. Glimmer figured xe had about a million different piercings, and there seemed to be some tattoos on his hands, too.

“Whoa! Who is that?!” Glimmer cried out. 

“That would be Orion Wolfe,” Fauna replied.

“Don’t point at him,” Kitten murmured. “That’s rude.” Glimmer rolled her eyes, but she lowered her hand.

“Orion is the maintenance guy, right?” Bakerloo asked.

“Sure is,” Fauna replied. “Xe doesn’t spend much time in xyr house--someone definitely could have hidden the bodies in there without him noticing.”

--

Meanwhile, the other guests decided to rebel against Fauna’s orders. Onyx, Ace, and Kei snuck into the attic, Kei leading the way.

As soon as they entered the attic, the sounds of voices reached their ears. It sounded like whispering, coming from every direction. Onyx tried to pretend fae weren’t scared. Ace didn’t bother pretending, but he did manage to keep from screaming.

Kei rolled his eyes and made his way back towards the summoning circle. The tarp was gone, and on the circle was a doll. The doll looked just like Aspen, and near it, the whispering was loudest.

The journal had been moved as well. Kei decided to ignore the doll, for now, and he picked up the journal. A new entry had been added.

It is imperative that I bring Aspen back. Even if I can still technically complete my plan without them, it would be better if they were the one to explain the truth to Fauna and Orion. After all, they were the only other one who understood that this is all a hoax. And besides, they know who the murderer is--that is something I want to know, too.

As expected, I was able to summon the ghost. Unfortunately, its sewn-body doesn’t seem to be ideal and I don’t think poor Aspen can properly speak. Maybe if I could make the whispers louder, we would be able to communicate.

Once I fix Aspen, I will repair the bodies and I can bring all three of them back to life. This “ski lodge”, as they call it, can be solved. We can live, freely, without rules or a “Mystery” to guide us!

All I have to do now is kill the killer.

Kei wasn’t sure what any of that meant. A hoax? A Mystery? He shook his head, and let Onyx and Ace read it. Neither of them could make much sense of it, either. 

But it did mean that whoever had written the journal had stolen the bodies.

~~~

DEAD: Aislynn Lynx (cause unknown), Dallas (skull crushed with a dumbbell), Aspen (strangled with a cord)

SUSPECTS: Neverseen, Norwood

SECRETS DISCOVERED: Summoning circle and journal

Loving it. I wonder who wrote the journal. Could it be me?

I- what? Wha- huh? Huh- who?

This is a wonderful ski lodge, Mr. Norwood! If what I think is happening is happening (and I think it is) you're doing something truly unique and unlike any ski lodge I've ever seen before.

To elaborate: Whoever's writing in the journal (I suspect Mr. Norwood himself) wants to escape the ski lodge. To quote Day Two, Part Two:

"This “ski lodge”, as they call it, can be solved. We can live, freely, without rules or a “Mystery” to guide us!"

Have the inhabitants of Whispering Mountain been forced to invite CBers to their resort over and over again, only to be forced to watch those CBers die in alarmingly creative ways and then return to their normal ways of life, while Norwood and his staff watch the world go by, living a nightmarish cycle that they have never broken from, until now?????????

I have no idea who the killer may be, but I am absolutely fascinated to see what you do next with this story, Norwood. I'm actually rather nervous, and a ski lodge hasn't made me nervous in quite some time. Might you be... Rainbow Riot by any chance? 

DAY TWO, Part three

Author’s note: Quill was right! I am Sybill. I decided to come back for just a little bit to make this ski lodge. 

--

I wonder why it’s so hard to speak to ghosts. Maybe they’re shy.

--

Kei, Onyx, and Ace were waiting patiently in the lounge by the time Fauna, Glimmer, Bakerloo, and Kitten returned, Orion in tow. Norwood returned from wherever he’d been, and the guests anxiously awaited what Fauna had to say about the missing bodies.

“I’m sorry,” Fauna said. “The bodies weren’t there. I don’t know where else they could be.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll show up eventually!” Norwood said cheerfully. “It’s pretty hard to lose three corpses, after all!”

“I suppose you’re right…” Fauna murmured softly.

“Anyway, we should do something! I think y’all could use a little fun!” Norwood continued. “I say we go for a hike! Orion, what do you think?”

Orion looked shocked that Norwood had asked for xyr opinion. “Uhh...sounds fun, I guess?” He also muttered something about it being a little insensitive, but Norwood ignored that part.

“Alrighty then! Let’s split into three groups!” Norwood continued. “I’ll take Skip, Onyx, Luna, Bakerloo, Majestic Mary, and Nerd! Orion, you’ll take Kitten, Orson, Silver Crystal, Kei, Neverseen, and Glimmer. Fauna, you can take Quill, Ace, Sterling, Gillian and Princess Juniper.”

Norwood’s group took the lead, with Orion’s group not far behind. Fauna’s group was just a little slower than the rest, as Fauna liked to talk about the flowers as they walked.

“Hey, Fauna, this bush is missing some berries! Did you pick it?” Gillian asked, pointing to a bush with bright red berries.

“No, no, never!” Fauna said quickly. “Those berries are highly poisonous-- I bet someone from one of the groups ahead of us picked them. I certainly hope they didn’t eat them. I’ll have to go over poisonous plants when we get back inside…”

The rest of the hike passed in silence for all three groups. It was hard to have a good time when three people were completely missing, and Norwood seemed to be the only one even having a semblance of fun. At least nobody got injured or fell ill--Fauna couldn’t find who’d picked the berries, but no one had been poisoned, it seemed.

When they got back to the Lodge, everyone was still in a bad mood. Barely anyone actually ate their lunches. Norwood kept trying to be cheerful, but even he seemed to be faking it. And yet--he still had another activity planned.

“Okay, everyone! We need to stay positive! Now, what’s something that makes everyone happy?” Norwood asked.

“Um, going to sleep early?” Silver Crystal suggested.

“Not seeing the corpses of your brutally murdered friends?” Bakerloo offered.

“Wrong!” Norwood said. “The thing that makes everyone happy is a campfire!”

“Isn’t it a little light out for a campfire?” Kitten said.

“Well, right now it sure is! But we’ve gotta start collecting firewood now if we want something real impressive!” Norwood said. “I’m gonna let y’all go off in groups to get firewood, but make sure you stay in groups of three or more!”

Bakerloo, Luna, Kei, and Kitten formed one group. Silver Crystal, Ace, and Onyx formed another. Neverseen, Majestic Mary,  and Nerd decided to work together. Orson, Glimmer, and Sterling also worked together--although, it was mostly Sterling working and Orson and Glimmer arguing. Princess Juniper, Quill, and Skip tried to sneak into the attic, but Norwood seemed to be patrolling the staircase. The three of them decided to join up with Bakerloo, Luna, Kei, and Kitten instead.

Just as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, Norwood gathered up all the guests and had them pile their firewood. He lit the heap of wood, and it burst into glorious flames--but these weren’t just regular flames. Instead of just oranges, reds, and yellows, there were blues and greens and pinks and purples. It was glorious, and breathtaking--even Kei was amazed by it. In fact, it was so enchanting that just for a moment, everyone seemed to forget about the awful tragedies that had occured. It was as if the fire had burned away all their sadness and filled them with warmth instead.

For one night, everyone was happy again.

~~~

DEAD: Aislynn Lynx (cause unknown), Dallas (skull crushed with a dumbbell), Aspen (strangled with a cord)

SUSPECTS: Neverseen, Norwood

SECRETS DISCOVERED: Summoning circle and journal