@endless_parodies, can you please fill out your form? I really want to start as soon as possible. 

Should I start this ski lodge with 9 people, or should I wait a little longer?

First part! 

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Day 1 Part 1

Miyetka finished writing her answer to the last question on the form. As soon as she lifted her pencil from the page, an odd sensation rippled across her body. There was a blinding flash of purple light.

When Miyekta regained her vision, her surroundings had changed dramatically. She stood in what was probably the fanciest room she had ever seen. There was a golden door with a silver doorknob. On either side of it, floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows depicted beautiful scenes of nature in dark colors. An enormous chandelier with gleaming deep blue crystals hung from the ceiling, and a black and red velvet carpet covered the floor.

All around Miyetka, people sat on the carpet, leaning against the golden walls and chatting. Miyetka counted nine of them.

She recognized Sempreverde and walked over. “Hi!”

Sempreverde looked up. “Oh, hi.”

“Isn’t this place really cool?” asked Miyetka. “Where are the hosts? Jasmine and…Briar, right?”

Sempreverde nodded. “I was one of the first people here, and they left a note saying they would be here soon and to get to know each other. But I already know a lot of the people here.”

A voice called, “Hi, everyone!”

All heads whipped towards the sound and saw a girl descending a staircase that ended on the opposite side of the room that insert name and Sempreverde were sitting on. The staircase hadn’t been there a second ago, had it?

The girl strode to the center of the room and beamed at everyone. “Welcome to Whisperwind Manor!”

She looked to be about nineteen. She was tall with curly black hair that was pinned up, and she wore a purple sundress with puffed sleeves.

“I’m so excited you’re here,” the girl continued, and indeed, her brown eyes were warm. “I’m Jasmine, like I said on the paper you must have gotten. She/her pronouns. I–”

“Wait!” a voice interrupted. Another person ran down the staircase, panting.

They seemed around the same age as Jasmine. They had short sandy hair, gray eyes, and green glasses that matched their short sleeved collared shirt, except for what looked like tomato sauce on the shirt. The person wore black pants.

They scowled at Jasmine, then turned to everyone else. “Sorry. I’m Briar, they/them pronouns.”

Jasmine looked brightly at the guests. “Why don’t all of you introduce yourselves?”

Once everyone had finished, Jasmine started, “There aren’t many rules here. Breakfast is at eight–”

“Actually,” said Briar, “first we should tell you that the rooms at Whisperwind are constantly moving around–except this room, the lobby. So one day you’ll be looking at a door and it’ll be your room, and the next you’ll see the dining room's door in that same spot. Luckily, the rooms only move up to ten doors in any direction, and there is a way to figure out what door is for which room. Each door has a symbol carved on it, so just memorize the symbols for the rooms you need and you should be fine. Also, if you ever need help with anything, just ring one of these.” They reached into their pocket and pulled out a box. Lifting the top, they held out two shiny bells: a purple one and a green one.

“If you ring the purple bell, I’ll come,” said Jasmine. “And if you ring the green one, Briar will. Everyone will get one of each.” 

The two hosts distributed the bells among the guests. Briar smiled. “It’s time for you to see the important rooms.”

Dead: 0

Alive: 9

    I know this part is kind of short, but the next one will be out really soon. I'll try to post as often as possible, but I will be gone a few times this summer.

Next part! Thanks for the comments. I realized I made a mistake with the first part. I said there were nine people besides Miyetka, but there are actually eight. @th3mysticw0lf, I feel like I didn't capture Miyetka's personality very well in that part. Sorry. I'll try to get it right.

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Day 1 Part 2

The hosts led the guests through the mansion, opening doors that revealed room after room. They always knew which one was which. Had they memorized every single door symbol? Indigo wondered. Well, they lived here, didn’t they? They must know pretty much everything about the mansion. Just a few of the rooms they looked at were the dining room, which had a long table with fancy purple and green velvet chairs; the rec room, which was filled with games like ping pong and foosball and snack machines like cotton candy and smoothie; and the library, where the many bookshelves were all attached to the walls so the rest of the space was open. Indigo made sure to memorize those symbols; she definitely wanted to be able to find the rooms again. Finally, the hosts announced it was time for the guests to go to their rooms. Jasmine and Briar each took five people and set off to find where they were staying.  Moon Wolf, who was with Jasmine, watched patiently as Darkvine grinned at a black door with a small green dragon in the shape of a D at the top and Hawkstar opened a purple door with a crossed staff and bow symbol. Both times, Jasmine told the guest to get settled quickly, as dinner was in fifteen minutes.

After many more winding hallways, Jasmine stopped. “Here we are, Moon Wolf.”

Moon Wolf stared at the door. A smile spread across her face. It was lavender, the exact shade she liked, and a silhouette of a howling wolf adorned the top.

“Well, go ahead!” Jasmine told her. “Like I said, dinner in fifteen!” She waved merrily and led Sam and Azrael away.

Moon Wolf turned the doorknob and stepped into the room. It was small and sparse, but cozy. The walls and ceiling were a creamy color. Gauzy lavender curtains fluttered over the bed. Next to it was a small dresser. A sleek piano took up one corner, and next to it, a guitar leaned against the wall. There was also a small bathroom attached to the room.

Moon Wolf walked over to the piano, the light blue carpet soft against her feet. She sat on the bench and slowly pressed her fingers to the keys. The room reverberated with familiar sounds. They seemed to hover in the air, then faded. 

Moon Wolf stood and peered out the window to see rolling hills dotted with trees. She wondered where this mansion was. 

She slowly unpacked her luggage. It was only when she glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that fifteen minutes had passed that she realized she had no idea where the dining room was. Were they supposed to have remembered, or…?

She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out Briar’s bell. She was about to shake it when there was a knock at the door.

Jasmine stood outside with Darkvine and Hawkstar. “Come on, Briar has everything ready for us.”

        ***

It turned out that Briar was an incredible cook. They emerged from a tiny kitchen in a corner of the dining room, wearing an apron and holding a platter covered in a homemade cheese pizza. “There’s more, including one with pepperoni,” they said, carefully setting the plate down on the table. “And if you don’t want pizza, I made a little spaghetti, too.”

Hands reached across the table for slices until the platter was empty and Briar headed back to grab another one.     

Jasmine told the guests, “They were cooking while all of you arrived here. It took them hours.”

As they ate, the guests started conversations with the people next to them. Darkvine asked Hawkstar, “Did you know that snakes use their tongues to smell? They do have nostrils, but they pick up chemical particles when they flick their tongues.” The look on Hawkstar’s face made Darkvine laugh so hard bits of pizza flew out of her mouth.

For dessert, there was a plate of delicate sandwich cookies in many different flavors. “Thanks for making all this,” said Zealatom. “These macaroons look really good.”

“Macaroons?! These are macarons,” Briar informed him. “Macaroons are coconut cookies, and macarons are the sandwiches.” 

“Uh…okay,” Zealatom replied, fidgeting with his red mug as Briar shuffled to the only empty seat at the table.

“Sorry about that,” Jasmine told him. “They’re very particular about their macaroons.”

“Macarons!” Briar called from across the table.

Once the food was gone, Jasmine instructed the guests to “go have fun,” giving only one rule: everyone should be in their rooms by 10:00. She and Briar quickly left, arguing in whispers.

The guests wandered around. Multiple gathered in the rec room, while others settled in the library’s many comfy chairs and couches. The last few explored the mansion, entering random rooms(although some were locked). Most of them merely wondered if there was anything interesting. 

One, on the other hand, had a very specific goal, but ended up changing it.

That night, all the guests snuggled under their covers, the sky a deep blue speckled with glimmers of stars outside their windows, dreaming about the fun that was sure to come.

Except one.

Dead: 0

Alive: 9