oooooooh,shiny pyramid thingy:)but,for real i wonder what the entity is.

this is story's so good so far.compliments to the writer. 

Somewhat shorter part. 

Day 2, Part 4

Wildsong shook her head, and leaned forward as Secret began to speak, curious to know more.

“The Entity…it’s a bit hard to explain,” Secret started. “But appearance-wise, it’s a giant orb of black, dark blue, and dark purple light. It’s dangerous and unpredictable, and apparently, it wants something.”

“Something,” Wildsong repeated. “What is that something?”

Secret took in a deep breath before saying quietly, “Human souls.”

Immediately, Wildsong stood up, startled. She backed up slowly. “So…the Entity is the murderer…?”

The host nodded once. “Unfortunately. But the Entity is not the one directly murdering the guests. In fact, it is one of them among you.”

“A guest is the murderer!?” Wildsong gasped. “But…no one would murder someone else, would they?”

“Not of their own accord,” Secret said. “But of the Entity’s. They are being possessed by the Entity to kill and do its will.”

“I-” Wildsong broke off, as if overwhelmed by all the information. “I…need a moment to process all this.” She slowly left the room.

“I understand,” Secret called after her softly, even though they knew she wouldn’t hear it.

~

The guests were having dinner, which tended to be nice and happy and lively, but this time, there was a somewhat tense feeling to it, even despite the delicious meal of what seemed like a Mayan dinner—maize ground up with meat and beans in tortillas. It was because Wildsong was spreading the news about her talk with Secret and what the host had revealed. 

In whispers, this was passed around to every guest, and each one had their own or similar thoughts. Scuttles, for example, was certainly frightened, but was also curious to know more about the Entity. Why would it need human souls? Gloomy was thinking about who the Entity could’ve possibly possessed. Verde wanted to defeat the Entity somehow, even though she knew it was impossible, and Cocoa was considering leaving. 

After dinner, the guests dispersed to do their own thing, while Cocoa stood at the lobby of the inn, followed by Hawkstar and Cypress. She took a cautious step forward towards the door, wondering if she should leave. Finally, she closed her eyes tight and pressed on the open button for the door.

Nothing happened. Cocoa pressed the button again, then a third time, before realizing—she was unable to leave. She was, in fact, stuck here like the rest of the guests.

Slowly, Hawkstar said, “You…you can’t leave…?”

Cypress looked worried and said, “Does that mean…well, we’re all in danger then? With this murderer?”

Cocoa sighed and said, “I suppose. Maybe instead, we should think about…well, what we can do while we’re here. Enjoy this inn to the fullest…but also we should figure out the mystery behind this.”

“I agree,” Hawkstar said firmly. “But how about we go back first and tell the other guests?”

And that is what they did, and what each guest was thinking about at night, either wide awake or slowly drifting to sleep.

~

It was around 4 in the morning when Secret headed into the hosts’ office, using a key and a password in order to open it. The other two hosts were already there, residing in their own corners. It was usually a quiet time for each of them to do their own things, but this time, Secret spoke.

“Why…why are we doing all this?”

“What do you mean?” Enigma replied.

“I mean, why are we…working to do the will of the Entity?” they asked.

“Because we've always done this,” Rune said simply.

“But…I don't know, letting the Entity murder guests just doesn't seem right.”

“Remember that you're the one who suggested luring guests in here in the first place,” Enigma reminded them.

“I know, and that was a mistake on my part,” Secret admitted. “But…I just want to know. How did…we end up doing this?” Suddenly, their gaze drifted to the bookshelf, which was filled with information papers and files of all kinds, and only a few books. And Secret suddenly read an interesting cover: “The History of the Entity and Its Protectors”.

Alive: 11

Dead: 1

OH.MA.GOSH.I don't understand how you have gotten each of my reactions to everything SPOT ON.

this is such an amaaaaazing storyline. 

@everyone, thank you y'all for your kind comments! they seriously make my day :) this part is shortish but it is also full of answers...and more questions...

Day 3, Part 1

Secret flipped the cover over, breathless and excited. The book is divided into different sections, like chapters. They quickly flip to the first section, which reads The Last Dragon. Intrigued, they read:

“Dragons once roamed plentiful in the world. However, they began to disappear, after the great meteor shower that wiped out the dinosaurs, which took out most of the dragon population. The remainder slowly decreased after humans arrived, dominating the world and its resources, destroying the dragons’ habitat. Humans dressed up as so-called ‘knights’ and went out to slay innocent dragons to ‘save princesses’. This in turn led to every single dragon to be killed—except for one. This last dragon, called Cylvaik, was still surviving because of his cunning tactics. He was powerful, and some would also say—evil. However, he too was defeated eventually by a human…or so everyone thought.”

Secret, smiling to themself, continued reading with more interest and intrigue:

“There was a magician, who right before the dragon drew his last breath, captured the dragon’s soul in a bottle. The magician brought the bottle back to a cave, where there were two other magicians. Together, the three protected the dragon soul, in hopes of bringing back dragons one day.”

There was more information after that, but Secret knew that that was the key information needed, so they skipped to the last section, which was titled The Future of the Entity.

“Eventually, the soul of the dragon manifested from the jar into an orb of light. It communicated to the magicians through messages. The magicians, when they had children, chose three descendants to continue being protectors of the Entity, in hopes that one day, the Entity will be able to come back to the Earth as a dragon again.”

Secret shut the book, and stood up. “Rune, Enigma!”

The two other hosts looked up, and Secret said, “So the Entity was a dragon soul this whole time?”

Rune nodded. “Did your parents never tell you?”

“Mine informed me when I was around five,” Enigma said, smiling slightly at Secret’s oblivion.

“But what’s the point of protecting a dragon soul now?” Secret protested. “A dragon coming back to the Earth would be disastrous! Shouldn’t we stop it somehow?”

“Somehow,” Rune repeated. “The real question.”

Secret, slightly frustrated, flipped the book open once more, to another page. The page had an old, musty looking paper attached to it. Secret read it aloud carefully:

“If the Entity ever needs to be deactivated, there is a way. All that is needed is five numbers hidden in mystery, and the name of the one who captures souls for the Entity. Write it down here and give it to the Entity, and then it will be deactivated.”

Below those words were five lines in which to write the numbers, and one long line to write the name: _ _ _ _ _  ______. 

Secret quickly showed the hosts, smiling excitedly. “There is a way!”

Enigma and Rune still looked indifferent. After a brief exchange of glances between them, Enigma spoke. “We will leave it up to you to decide what to do.”

~

While the three hosts were speaking, the murderer was once again in action. Taking a bottle, the murderer found their victim, quickly uttering the Entity’s words. The soul of the victim was quickly sucked away into the potion bottle. The murderer left the room just as unnoticed, and returned to their bedroom. The same murderer transformed back into a guest, completely oblivious to the crime they had just committed. 

Alive: 10

Dead: 2 (Mizuki, ?) 

Day 3, Part 2

Breakfast was similarly somber, with all the guests knowing what Wildsong heard from Secret. What added to this feeling was the fact that there was a missing guest—Darkvine. Everyone already knew what to expect—that she was murdered. 

Even though the guests knew that it was a ski lodge that was intended to have a murder, it felt different to experience it—it always did. Things in words and stories could never represent true feelings at the present, the fear, sorrow, and guilty relief when you were not murdered.

Lyric and Cocoa cat came back with the book that took Darkvine’s place in her room. All the guests crowded around as Cocoa read the cover aloud, in a slightly shaky voice, despite her best efforts to keep it strong: What runs but can’t walk, has a mouth but can’t eat, roars but can’t talk?

Lyric slowly wrote the word river on it, and the book opened. She read the poem aloud:

“A fast-flowing river

An everlasting mystery

Of nature, carrying

The very weight of life

Upon its every ripple

It slices through

Like a large clear snake

It paves and forges

A path of its own

Follow the example

Of the river”.

No one said anything after that, as if trying to process both the poem and Darkvine’s murder. After breakfast was finished, however, Secret stood up to speak.

Everyone glanced up as Secret said, “Attention every guest. I’m sure you all are worried about the murders and the Entity. However, I have found a solution.”

All the guests felt intrigued as Secret held out the paper that was attached to the history book of the Entity—the one with the five number spaces and name space. 

“We need to find five numbers that are ‘hidden in mystery’ and the person who is doing the will of the Entity and capturing human souls,” they explained. “Let’s start with the five numbers, first. I believe that they will be hidden around this inn somewhere.”

“What would the numbers look like?” Silver Crystal asked.

“They will likely appear in the form of a riddle, a rune, or a puzzle,” Secret said. “So what I would like to request of all you guests is to help search for these numbers. I suppose it will be like a ski lodge ‘scavenger hunt’.”

All the guests, though still somewhat upset by Darkvine’s murder, felt a spark light in them. 

“Where should we look?” Gloomy asked.

“Anywhere you’ve seen so far and are allowed to go into,” Secret replied. “Which is the  kitchen, dining room, library, lounge room, recreational room, gym, or indoor garden. And if anyone needs help to decipher a clue or something, I’ll be in the lounge room and you can ask me.”

“Wait, how will we know what order to put the numbers in?” Scuttles asked.

“You’ll know,” Secret responded mysteriously. “Or you won’t and you’ll have to ask me,” they added with a laugh. “It’ll give a sign of some sort in the clue.”

After that, the guests dispersed, and each of them went out to one of the rooms to look for the clues for the numbers.

Alive: 10

Dead: 2 (Mizuki, Darkvine)

~

Where do you look? Also, the next part(s) will be formatted slightly differently since it’s interactive.