Socie :D her character design is everything to me, actually-

@Sterling: ty! I always love scavenger hunts so I just had to write one in the Osorthe Forest :) 

@~Echo Hallowswift~: aw, tysm!

@Jay: thank you! and yes, both of those places are indeed good for a murder...

@Silver Crystal: omg that looks just like Socie! you made my day, thank you :)  

oh and @everyone: I'm going on vacation, so I probably won't post anything until next month-ish. just a heads up :)   

~~~ 

Day 3, Part 2

Silver Crystal, Daisy, Ronin, and Eclipse all stood on the porch, where their previous clue had taken them, searching for the key they were supposed to find. Ronin leaned against the wooden railing, staring out at the yard. “This is pointless,” he muttered. “We aren’t getting anywhere.” 

Silver Crystal ignored him and turned around slowly, her hickory-brown eyes taking in everything and then some, observing the two Adirondack chairs, their red paint peeling, and the small glass table between them upon which an empty mug rested, the windchimes – an assorted collection, made of metal, wood, and reed; charms of shells, sea glass, round stones, keys, and pottery tinkling in the wind. Wait, keys?

Yes, there was a key dangling from one of the windchimes, disguised among the brass rods, and a piece of paper was twisted up alongside it, tangled in the light breeze, out of Silver’s reach. She clambored, quite haphazardly, up onto the wooden railing, which creaked slightly under her weight. 

Daisy hovered around beneath Silver Crystal, arms out in an attempt to spot her in case she fell. Daisy stared up at Silver, who was now attempting to stand up on the railing and reach for the key and paper, wobbling back and forth, struggling to keep her balance. Daisy bit her lip. “Please don’t die—”

Daisy cut herself off, remembering pangolin and Oliver, remembering that she couldn’t say things like that. Things like that weren’t just humorous, light-hearted comments, not anymore. 

Silver Crystal seemed to sense Daisy’s thoughts. “Don’t worry, I have no intentions of doing so,” she murmured softly, gazing down at Daisy. They made eye contact, remembering pangolin and Oliver.

Silver snatched up the key and clue and hopped down onto the wooden porch, summoning a sigh of relief from Daisy.

Eclipse and Ronin joined Daisy and Silver. “Alright, what’s it say?” Eclipse eagerly asked as Silver unfolded the piece of paper.

“‘Dire verb,’” read Silver, confusion creeping into her voice. “What on earth does that mean?” 

“A...catastrophic action?” Eclipse supplied, shrugging. “Maybe we have to do something dangerous.”

“Silver Crystal just did that,” Ronin said, jerking his thumb at the wooden railing Silver had just climbed.

Suddenly, Eclipse snapped her fingers. “Wait, I got it. It’s an anagram.”

“What?” Ronin said. 

“Oh, you know, like when you rearrange the letters in a word to form another word. Like ‘listen’ and ‘silent.’ I bet if we rearrange the letters in ‘dire verb,’ it’ll reveal the location of the next key!” 

Eclipse grabbed the piece of paper and, as the guests stared at her in horror, ripped it up, dividing the phrase into individual letters. She knelt down, laying the tiny pieces of paper out on the floor, her fingers darting out to the little paper squares, hesitating for a heartbeat, and then flying as they dragged letters back and forth, testing out different combinations, forming words. Finally, she stopped, sat back, and looked up at the guests, smiling. “That’s it.” 

Silver Crystal, Daisy, and Ronin looked down at the word Eclipse had formed: Riverbed. 

“There’s a river not far from here,” said Daisy. “I saw it yesterday, it’s visible far from the trail down to the beach. It’s not far from here.” 

~~~

Daisy lead Silver Crystal, Ronin, and Eclipse to the tangling river that wrapped around the Osorthe Forest like a silver ribbon, the water cascading over jagged rocks and mossy stones, bubbling white and glinting in the sunlight, gently carrying large red maple leaves along in the autumn breeze.

The river was wide and long, born out of distant cascades at the heart of the Osorthe Forest and spilling out into Allaway Lake. The clue had been quite annoying and didn’t specify where in the riverbed, exactly, the next key was located, so the group had no choice but to split up. Eclipse, they decided, would trek to the waterfall at the beginning of the river and work her way back, Ronin and Silver would take the opposite banks in the middle, and Daisy would search near the mouth of the river. 

As Daisy walked in the direction of Allaway Lake, she could hear voices – Writing_in_the_Dark, Hex, Sterling, Artemis, and Firelily. She heard their excited shouts, and guessed they must have located another key. Daisy turned her focus back towards the river, examining every inch of the river. This clue was unfairly difficult, Daisy decided. 

She took a breath to calm herself, breathing in the crisp smell of fall, of dying plants and leaves, of rotting logs, of sap and pine needles, of earth. For the first time in days, she was happy. Truly happy. She wasn’t forcing herself to enjoy volleyball to get her mind off pangolin’s sudden death, she wasn’t faking a smile of reassurance or a laugh at a half-hearted joke for somebody else’s benefit. No, here, in this moment, beside the river, playing this likely rigged scavenger hunt game, she was truly happy. So, of course, someone had to come ruin it, because heaven forbid someone actually be truly happy in the Osorthe Forest, right? 

~~~

This was almost too easy. The murderer crouched in the undergrowth, gazing upon Daisy and trying not to think about the multitudes of bugs probably crawling all over them right now. 

They watched Daisy close her eyes, and inhale then exhale the smell of the forest. 

Inhale

And in the eternity between breaths, the murderer made their move, walking up to Daisy, footsteps soft on the mossy, muddy ground, carpeted by fallen leaves.

Exhale

“I’m sorry,” murmured the murderer, more to themselves than to their victim. Daisy’s eyes snapped open as she took a sharp breath in—

Inhale

—and turned around. “What are you apologizing for?” Daisy asked. She didn’t know yet to be wary. There was more confusion than concern in her voice. 

Exhale

The murderer didn’t answer, already regretting saying anything in the first place, already regretting having to look their victim in her eyes. And when the murderer didn’t say anything, their slight smile and blank stare frozen on their face, masking their emotions, concealing their true intentions, that’s when Daisy knew to be scared.

InhaleExhaleInhaleExhale

Her breath came out quicker now. Her muscles tensed, her pulse rate quickened, and her blue eyes were wide and fearful. But Daisy was no cornered, frightened woodland animal, and she wasn’t going to go down. Not here, not now, not like this. She took off running, and didn’t look behind her. And she almost got away. 

InhaleExhaleInhaleExhale—

But the murderer summoned strength and speed from somewhere deep inside them, perhaps propelled forward by a force much greater than themselves, and they chased Daisy down, and threw her into the river, cheetah and gazelle. And those jagged rocks and mossy stones and cascading water now stained a hazy red were the death of her. Daisy let out a short scream, and then she breathed no more, and the murderer ran away, disappearing into the undergrowth.

~~~

Alive: 12

Dead: 3 (pangolin, Oliver, Daisy) 

@~Echo~, poor Daisy indeed. And next it could be anyone...

@Sterling & Silver Crystal, good detective work (although I won't confirm/deny anything yet)! 

@Hawkstar, yes, RIP Daisy

@Jay, ty! and your dog -- how cute :D 

~~~ 

Day 3, Part 3

Socie stood in the entrance hall and wrung her hands together, pursing her lips, twisting the ornamental rings on her fingers: thin silver bands, large jewels, interlacing metals, all glinting in the warm light of the chandelier high above. She clasped her hands tightly, then decided that was too formal, and let her arms drop limply at her sides. Whatever. There was no way she was going to get this announcement right. 

Socie cleared her throat, drawing the attention of all the guests who stood in clusters around the entrance hall. “Many of you are probably aware of this already, but we’ve lost another guest. Daisy.” 

Several of the guests inhaled sharply; they must not have known. One of the guests cursed softly, one let out a barely concealed sob. Others trembled with nervousness, with fear, with rage. 

Socie went on to give a lengthy speech about how Daisy was kind, optimistic, and smart, and how she’d be sorely missed by Socie and all the guests. 

Ronin tried not to snort at her speech, because he knew he’d be reprimanded by Writing_in_the_Dark, who stood beside him and gazed determinedly at Socie, xyr eyes shining with tears. Socie hardly even knew Daisy. What purpose did it serve, saying all these things, all these empty words? It meant nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

~~~

Sterling, Artemis, Writing_in_the_Dark, Hex, and Firelily won the scavenger hunt, not that it mattered. Their small victory was overshadowed by Daisy’s death, overshadowed by the heightened emotions of everyone around them. By nightfall, the shock, the numbness of losing yet another guest had ebbed, leaving the remaining guests with a muddled swamp of feelings to wade through — fear, anger, hopelessness, grief. 

The winning team had been promised popcorn, so Socie got out the popcorn machine, an old, antique thing — faded red and gold paint and two large silver wheels with spindly spokes. The guests all gathered in the game room, where their light conversation, shuffling of cards, and clattering of dice rose above the din of the motor of the popcorn machine and the popping of kernels. 

The five winners were awarded their long-awaited popcorn, but it tasted like sawdust, dry in their mouths as they thought about Daisy, about how the game they won had been the death of her. 

Silver Crystal, Kyanite, Firelily, and Sterling had a game of poker going, betting on pieces of popcorn. Kyanite had acquired a towering pile of popcorn. 

On the other side of the room, Writing_in_the_Dark was urging Ronin to try a weighted jacket that they had found very comforting. Ronin complained it would make him too sweaty. As Writing rolled his eyes, Ronin used this opportunity to steal some of his popcorn. 

Artemis watched this all, gripping one of the antique keys in her hands, her fingers tracing its spiraling pattern. 

“Hey, Socie,” Artemis called to the host. “Could I keep this key? It’s pretty.” 

Socie blinked. “Oh, yeah, sure, kid.” 

Artemis arched an eyebrow, slightly disgruntled at being called “kid,” but she grinned, pocketed the key, and she began wondering what it might open.

~~~

Alive: 12

Dead: 3 (pangolin, Oliver, Daisy)