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DAY THREE, Part One

The pond/lake next to the Lodge looks beautiful in moonlight, but nobody would dare to go swimming at night. The chances of a bear attack are far too high.

--

The next morning came quickly. It felt strange to be served food by Fauna, rather than Aspen, but the guests knew they’d have to get used to it. Breakfast was going by mostly quietly, when suddenly Fauna blurted something.

“I figured it out!” She yelled.

“Figured what out?” Luna asked. 

“I know what killed Aislynn Lynx!” Fauna said. “I figured it out!”

“Heart attack, right?” Norwood said. “That’s what seemed to be the case.” But Fauna shook her head.

“No, no, it wasn’t a heart attack. It was an air embolism!” Fauna said. “Whoever killed her must have injected them multiple times with the syringe, which was full of air. If they injected air directly into one of Lynx’s arteries, it could have easily caused them to go into cardiac arrest.”

“And if Lynx was alone in the woods, nobody would have been able to find them in time,” Kei muttered. “Hmmm.”

Norwood rolled his eyes. “Oh, please, that’s ridiculous! I’m sure it was just a heart attack. Now come along, y’all--I’ve got a great activity planned for today!”

Norwood gave no time for the guests to protest, and so they followed him outside the Lodge. It was a beautiful, bright morning, and the guests were still all in a relatively good mood.

“Well, at least we know that whoever stole the syringe is the killer,” Neverseen whispered to her AE, Glimmer.

“Nuh-uh, what if the murderer has an accomplice?” Glimmer responded. 

“I guess that’s possible, but I don’t feel like it's the right answer,” Neverseen said. Glimmer was about to respond when Norwood suddenly stopped in front of them.

“Here we are, everyone!” Norwood stretched out his arms, as if he were trying to hold the entire sky. The view behind him was breathtaking--the residents felt as if they could see the entire world from up here.

“Uh, this is cool, but what exactly are we going to do?” Gillian asked. They sounded a little concerned.

“Landscape painting!” Norwood responded. “Orion, would you please pass out the supplies?”

The guests noticed that Orion had been carrying a large bag with him. Xe pulled out enough paint, paintbrushes, canvases, and easels for all of the guests. Kitten was fairly certain it was impossible for all those items to actually fit in the bag, but she tried not to think too hard about it. At least there was enough for everyone, even if it meant the laws of physics had been broken.

The guests all did their best at painting the view in front of them--well, until Norwood vanished and they realized they had very little supervision. Glimmer and Onyx tried to splatter each other with red paint, Orson declared that he would rather write a script, and the rest of the guests tried to figure out why Norwood was acting so weird. They couldn’t figure it out, but they knew he was up to no good.

Eventually, Norwood returned, and he guided all the guests back to the Lodge. They had a quick lunch, and afterwards were granted an hour of free time. Neverseen once again kept track of everyone’s whereabouts.

Bakerloo, Quill, Neverseen, Kitten, and Kei all went to the library. Glimmer, Onyx, and Gillian hung out in the Lodge, and Gillian did their makeup for them. Luna, Majestic Mary, Silver Crystal and Nerd went for a walk in the flower gardens next to the Lodge. Ace, Sterling, Skip, and Princess Juniper went swimming in the indoor pool. Orson was back in his room, writing.

Kitten took Bakerloo, Quill, Neverseen, and Kei to the strange “new” bookshelf. She showed them the scuff marks on the floor, and suggested there might be a secret passageway on the other side. Norwood was nowhere to be seen, but Kitten decided to keep watch as the others moved the bookshelf.

After lots of pain, sweat, and tears, Bakerloo, Quill, Neverseen, and Kei managed to move the bookshelf. Behind it was a door.

“I’d bet money there’s something hidden in there,” Quill said. 

“You’re probably right. I’ll go in first!” Neverseen said. She opened up the door, and stepped inside. The room was completely dark, but she could hear a loud buzzing noise. Curious, Neverseen stepped further in. She felt something--no, many somethings--land on her skin. Panicked, she shook her arms and tried to shake them off, but they wouldn’t go away. Neverseen ran her hand along the wall, desperately searching for a lightswitch. She finally found one, and screamed when she saw what was all over her.

She was covered head to toe in wasps and hornets. She cried out in alarm and ran out of the room, trying to brush them off of her as she did. Neverseen made it out and collapsed on the library floor, still scraping at her sleeves. But thankfully, they were all gone.

“What’s wrong?” Bakerloo asked. “What’s in there? We heard you scream!”

“It’s filled with wasps!” Neverseen yelled. “Didn’t you see them?”

Kei pointed at the open door. “How? Everything on the other side of that door is covered in darkness. We can’t see a thing.”

“Here, I’ll go in next,” Bakerloo offered. He stepped inside the room, just as Neverseen had. The room was totally dark--Bakerloo waved his arms around, looking for a light source. He felt something slide over his foot and jumped.

“It was probably nothing,” Bakerloo whispered to himself. He wished the others could see into the strange room, so they could also reassure him. 

He reached the other wall, and felt another door. He was reaching for the doorknob when another thing slid over his foot. He jumped backwards, crying out in shock. He nearly fell over, and as he was regaining his balance, his hand hit something.

The lights suddenly turned on, and Bakerloo looked around, in horror, to see that the room was completely filled with snakes. “I thought you said there were wasps! Not snakes!”

Bakerloo was terrified, but he knew he had to get through the door. He tried to reach for the doorknob again, when one of the snakes hissed at him. It opened its jaws and Bakerloo moved his ankle just in time for the snake to bite the air instead. Bakerloo decided to give up, and he ran out of the room, snakes chasing after him.

“So snakes, huh?” Kei asked. “How could the room have wasps one moment, then snakes the next?”

“I don’t know, but I’m terrified of snakes, so I’m not going back in there,” Bakerloo said. “There was another door on the other side of the room, though.”

“Maybe the snakes and the wasps are guarding that door,” Quill suggested. “There’s gotta be something important in there.”

“We’d better move the bookshelf back,” Kitten interrupted. “I really want to know what’s in there, but our hour of free time is almost over, and Norwood can’t know we found this.”

“Fair enough,” Kei said. “We’ll have to come back down here the next chance we get.”

~~~~

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

SUSPECTS: Neverseen, Norwood

SECRETS DISCOVERED: Summoning circle and journal, passageway behind bookshelf

I'm working on a new post, it's just taking longer than expected!

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Wow, I have not been keeping up with this ski lodge, but I just read all of it and it's fantastic! can't wait for the next part!

DAY THREE, Part Two

DAY THREE, Part Three

DAY FOUR, Part One