aaah topppp

@Jay, thank you! I appreciate all your comments, it means a lot :) 

~~~ 

Day 4, Part 1

The Osorthe Forest was burning, crimson leaves engulfed by spitting flames. The trees crackled, eaten by the fire, and fell, sending the forest into chaos. At the center of it all, Lockaria House stood, the dying grass of its lawn miraculously untouched. And the murderer was at the center of it all, as embers danced through the night air above their head, suspended in the air. The embers moved almost lazily, like some twisted, fiery version of snow. And the night sky, stretching for eternity overhead, reflected the embers back at the murderer.

From out of the burning forest came a phoenix, and it wasn’t a storybook phoenix with tears that could heal any wound. This phoenix was sickly, burning, its feathers rumpled and a faded hue. This phoenix had a sharp beak reflecting the light of the forest fire, a beak that flashed with the light of the embers and the light of the stars as the bird lunged for the murderer—

And they woke up, gasping, eyes wild as they frantically scanned their bedroom, looking for the threat. But there was no fire, only the dark room, and they were safe in their bed, swathed in heavy quilts and the silence that comes from being the only one awake. Gradually the murderer’s breaths slowed until their sigh was a whisper, and they put their head in their hands. What had become of them?

They pulled back the quilt, dark purple and patterned with starbursts, and slipped silently from their bed, stealing through the hallway on bare feet, comforted by the knowledge that the others were all asleep, and even if someone stumbled upon the murderer, creeping through the halls in the darkest hours of night, a simple alibi of insomnia or needing a glass of water would be enough to convince them that the murderer was no threat. 

The murderer stepped outside, and felt like they could finally breathe. The shining half moon loomed over Osorthe Forest and the cool air was mercifully still, saving the guests from having to listen to the rattling of windows all night. The murderer sat down on an Adirondack chair and sat there for a while, watching the woods, listening to the hoot of the owls, the croaking of bullfrogs, the chirps of the crickets. 

Wraith found the murderer curled up in the red Adirondack chair, hugging their legs, their chin braced on their knees. The cat stared at the murderer with those large yellow eyes until they paid attention to him. Wraith turned around and started walking across the lawn, and the murderer followed, because it felt like they should. 

Wraith led the murderer through the midnight forest, the tree branches caricatured against the night, sharp and reaching versions of their daytime selves. Wraith’s feet padded on the forest floor, and the murderer’s footfalls were quiet thuds against the leaves carpeting the ground. 

The murderer wanted to ask where Wraith was leading them, but they were afraid to break the suffocating nighttime silence. Also, Wraith was a cat, and cats generally don’t answer questions. 

Their unspoken question was answered shortly, though, when the murderer stepped out onto the soft sand of the beach of Alaway Lake. The water was quiet, glassy, lapping gently against the shore, against the shells and driftwood and then pulling away in an almost affectionate manner. Out on the lake, Starr’s Island was a dark blot against the starry sky and starry reflection in the lake. 

Wraith led the murderer over to the boat rack, where several canoes and kayaks and rowboats were stationed upside down so they wouldn’t fill with water in case of rain. Wraith had a sharp stick in their mouth, which they laid down at the murderer’s feet.

It was alarmingly easy to break holes into the side of one of the rowboats, to cover up the damage halfway with a thin wooden board so the holes were hidden. 

Now, where did Socie keep that weighted jacket Writing_in_the_Dark and Ronin had been using the night before?

~~~

Alive: 12

Dead: 3 (pangolin, Oliver, Daisy)  

Bravo! I can't wait for the next one! (I still think I'm the murderer)

the cat murders omg:0

@Reuby, thank you! and I won't say whether you are or are not the murderer, you'll just have to wait and see ;) 

@Tsuki, yes evil Wraith >:) 

@Chase & Jay, how could you forget Wraith >:0 /lh  and thank you! :)

~~~ 

Day 4, Part 2

Unfortunately, the guests had no time to fully wake up because Socie was pounding on their bedroom doors, demanding that they wake up right now because it was a nice day, far too nice of a day to waste indoors. So the guests reluctantly threw back their heavy quilts, rubbed their eyes groggily, brushed their teeth and showered (the water started running cold after the first few showers; the guests constantly fought over who got to shower first so they could have warm water — today, Eclipse and Tsuki were the lucky guests first to the showers), pulled on some fresh clothes, and clambered down the wooden stairs into the dining hall where Socie produced a variety of delicious breakfast pastries for them to choose from. 

The murderer grabbed a Danish, and as they did, they muttered to Socie what had occurred the night before, where Wraith had led them, what they had done. Socie nodded, pursed her lips, and then practically shoved the guests out the door once they had finished eating (and some of them hadn’t finished — they were still holding pastries as they pulled on their shoes and stumbled out of Lockaria House and onto the lawn). 

“Where are we going, Socie?” Kyanite whined, shoving the rest of their cinnamon bun into their mouth with one hand and adjusting the heel of their shoe with the other. 

“The lake,” replied Socie. “If we hurry, we can catch the end of the sunrise.” The guests walked along obediently behind Socie as she led them all down the trail to the lake. They arrived just in time to see the sun reflecting a soft orange against the cyan lake, the pine trees just silhouettes reflected in the lake. 

The day warmed up quickly as the sun rose, and the guests set about enjoying the day. Writing, Silver Crystal, Firelily, and Echo started a game of volleyball. They didn’t have that many people to play with, but they had fun just the same. Artemis and Sterling set about building an extremely elaborate sand castle with many turrets and even a tiny little portcullis, decorated with leaves and twigs and stones and tiny stones and steps imprinted in the wet sand. Kya, Hex, and Ronin all swam out to a huge rock jutting out of a deeper part of the lake. They climbed up its slick surface and jumped off, the cold water stinging their skin and adrenaline rushing through their veins and their wild laughter breaking through the peacefulness of the lake. Reuby, Tsuki, Eclipse, and Socie all pulled on life jackets, then dragged boats off the rack and lugged them down to the water and set off, paddling gently, creating ripples in their wake.

The weather was warm and the lake was cool and the breeze was gentle. The guests had a great time until Artemis realized something wasn’t right. “Hey guys — where’s Eclipse?” 

~~~

The rowboat was filling with water. 

It was leaking through the holes in the wood, flooding the boat, as Eclipse tried desperately to paddle to shore to no avail — she was too far out and sinking fast. Desperately, she leapt out of the boat and started swimming to shore, but she struggled against something...something that was tugging her beneath the surface, tugging her to the bottom of the lake. Then, Eclipse suddenly realized what was causing her to sink: the lifejacket.

Or, no, it couldn’t be the lifejacket — the whole purpose of life jackets was to keep afloat, and this was doing the exact opposite of that.

No, it wasn’t a lifejacket at all but a weighted jacket. Oh dear. This was not good. 

Eclipse gasped for air as she struggled to take off the weighted jacket, but the cold water numbed her fingers until they were frozen and useless. Still she tried to take off the jacket, and she knew she was wasting her energy, but she couldn’t not try to save herself. She kicked furiously, trying to propel herself to the surface, fighting against fate, wrestling with odds that were not in her favor, cheeks swollen with air. A lilypad root wrapped around her ankle and she panicked, trying to get it off, and then her foot caught on a log at the bottom of the lake, wedged between rough bark and a sturdy branch. 

She attempted to break off the branch, to free her foot, but even as she tried, she knew it was too late: her lungs burned, she felt weak, her vision was going black.

Just before Eclipse passed out, she gazed up at the sunlight playing across the surface of that blue, blue water and thought to herself: This isn’t a bad place to die. 

~~~

The guests watched in horror as Eclipse’s row boat sank beneath the lake, with Eclipse nowhere to be seen. They screamed Eclipse’s name, as if that would help. Several tried to jump into the water and swim to her rescue, but Socie held them back: Eclipse was already gone, and it wouldn’t do any good to have another guest die trying to save her. Because in the end, there wasn’t a thing in the world any of them could do.

~~~

Alive: 11

Dead: 4 (pangolin, Oliver, Daisy, Eclipse)

btw, @Jay, you owe me 10 pieces of virtual popcorn

ack! top!! life has been quite busy, but I promise I'll have the next part out by...Friday-ish? This is not dead!!

Aaaaaaaaaaah I am so sorry this was NOT out by "Friday-ish" but it's here nonetheless! Thank you Jay for keeping this thread topped, I really appreciate it :) and thanks for the popcorn btw XD

~~~

Day 4, Part 3

The entrance hall was littered with flowers. Brightly colored chrysanthemums, dahlias, and calla lilies littered the floor. A small table was adorned with even more flowers, candles softly burning and sending light flickering in strange shapes across the walls. 

The guests came solemnly, laying down flowers, artwork and poetry, and belongings of pangolin, Oliver, Daisy, and Eclipse on the memorial. Firelily looked through their polaroid pictures and found ones of the guests who had died.

There was pangolin, on the day they arrived, running up the stairs as she raced Writing, Artemis, and Sterling to the library. Their copper hair fanned out around their face, and they were in the middle of a laugh, teeth flashing at the camera. She looked so cheerful, frozen in time, not knowing what would happen the next morning. Not knowing they only had so much time left.

And Oliver was there too — blueberry pancakes smeared around his face, dark brown curls flopping into his eyes. In his picture, he didn't look nearly as carefree as pangolin did in her's. pangolin's death the morning that picture was taken had taken a toll on all the guest's, and that weight was evident in Oliver's solemn face, the slight crease between his brows.

Daisy had lived long enough to have two polaroid pictures of her. One was a profile of her while she was doing archery. Her eye was narrowed, trained on the target, elbow brushing her ear and displacing her soft blonde hair as she pulled on the bowstring. The picture had been taken just as she released the arrow, and the arrow was just a bright blur on the edge of the polaroid picture. Firelily remembered when that photo had been taken: Daisy had gotten a bullseye. The other picture of Daisy was her on the morning of the day she died, the scavenger hunt. Daisy was leaning against the wall with a half-eaten waffle in her hand, listening as Socie explained the rules of the scavenger hunt. Daisy had noticed Firelily with her polaroid camera and turned, sticking her tongue out at the camera.

The one picture Firelily had of Eclipse was of her flopped over a chair in the game room the night after Daisy died. A book was in her hands, but she was looking up, gazing at the camera, a smirk dancing about her lips.

Firelily held the pictures carefully in their hands, as if they were some sort of sacred relic. When it came her turn, she propped them up on the table, and closed her eyes, wishing pangolin, Oliver, Daisy, and Eclipse had never died, wishing she could've saved them somehow, wishing nobody else died, wishing so many things.

They doubted any of those things would come true.

Silver Crystal adjusted a yellow lily, and then dropped her hands to her side. She gazed at the picture of pangolin with her head thrown back in laughter, oblivious of the things that would happen to her — to all of them, of Oliver burdened by pangolin's death, of Daisy and Eclipse, trying so hard to enjoy their vacation, trying to hard to convince themselves it would all be okay. Even though it wouldn't. Even though none of this was okay, nor would it ever be again.

It's not right. Silver Crystal pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes until stars danced before her vision. Stars were better than the flowers she saw when she opened her eyes, reminding her again and again of the people they'd lost. It's not.

"Who could have done this?" Hex murmured softly, vision blurring as she stared unblinkingly at the candle flickering on the table.

"Maybe it's Socie?" offered Kya, shrugging their shoulders.

"That doesn't make any sense. Socie looked just as upset by the...by the murders as any of us," Artemis replied.

"I doubt it could be any of us," Tsuki said.

"You doubt it could be, or you hope it isn't?" asked Echo Hallowswift, tilting her head as she gazed at Tsuki.

"Well...both, I guess. Maybe the latter."

They all fell silent, contemplating, staring at their little memorial as candlelight flickered on the walls and the air grew heavy with incense.

~~~

Alive: 11

Dead: 4 (pangolin, Oliver, Daisy, and Eclipse)