TW: Blood, Death
[Veronica's POV]
Ughhh... Why did Elizabeth have to be here?
I WON'T let them kill her. I'll protect her, even if it costs me my life. I swear, she'll escape this killing game alive!
...
I checked the time... it's 2:45. Almost time.
I went to Elizabeth's room and... there she is, she's shaking from fear. I hugged her to calm her down. When she noticed me, she was kind of relieved.
She's usually ain't like this. She's the most cheerful person I know. Seeing her in that state, I know I have to do something.
"V-Veronica, y-you heard the- a-announcement, d-did you?" She stutter
"Calm down, I'm here. I'll protect you." I assured her.
"B-But what if they k-k-k-kill you? I-I don't want to lose my best friend."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure they won't, I promise."
"O-Okay then..."
This game got into her... Ughhh... Curse this stupid game! I'll-
*flick* *flick*
"EEEEEEEK!" Elizabeth squealed as the lights began flickering.
Don't tell me-
[Annie's POV]
The lights have flickered out.
"So it finally starts, huh?" I sighed as I checked the tablet I'm supposed to use.
When it opened, I saw a list of names with a check mark on it. I need to think who could be the murderer, or atleast who could be evil.
Scrolling through the list of names, I saw a name of someone I haven't seen before... Alex... Who could he be? If he wasn't there at the living room earlier, he could have set this game up. Hopefully the others would notice.
I tapped on the mark near Alex's name, and- then something popped up; Please wait until the lights are turned back on.
[Murderer's POV]
Looks like I have to do this now... It's not like I have any other choice now, do I?
I wonder how will I do this... I can't mess this up yet— I can't get caught this early in the game.
...
Hmm...
A motive... Rosalie and Nikolai were fighting earlier at the kitchen. Their rivalry can be a reasonable motive to kill each other. I'll just frame one of them up.
[Rosalie's POV]
I've got to look out for Nikolai-err... the murderer... whoever they are. Stuck in these halls with no lights, I can barely see much. I don't know which way I'm heading, but- I need to be quiet, so no one would notice.
Suddenly a breeze passed by and- I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen- That moment, it felt like I lost my breath. It's like I'm suffocating-
They pulled out a blade from my body and held it against my neck. I feel my body collapsing, maybe because I'm losing too much blood that I can't even stand.
Is this the end? If so, I'm sorry... that I wasn't able to be the best you want me to be. I failed... mys-
[Murderer's POV]
It's been a long time since I felt this sensation...
However, I should not take this lightly. After all, I'm in a game, and I can't afford to lose.
I have to do this so I can save someone.
[Annie's POV]
How long is this gonna take? It feels like an hour or two passed already, and still no report or any information. The murderer sure be taking their sweet time killing someone.
I checked the tablet, and it's 3:48, few more minutes remain until the lights should go back on, based on the journal.
I lit up my lantern and began writing something on my journal to pass the time. I listed those who I assume could be evil, but I won't accuse unless I get actual evidence for now. It's way too risky for me to accuse with no proof, because of the fact that some here know each other. I have to think strategically, and prevent myself from being killed and from being voted out.
I have no room for fear when my life and the others depends on this twisted game.
*ring* *ring*
Hmm... The tablet began ringing. I checked the tablet and got a notification saying; "Information received." Time to find out.
Alex visited: Annie
You will now be informed of Alex's location for the rest of the day.
WHAT THE-? How the hell did he visit me? He wasn't even close to me... or did he...? No, he couldn't have-
*flick* *flick*
The lights have been restored.
Ohhh, good. The lights are back on. I'll have to find out who he is.
[Odette's POV]
The lights are back on. Now I just have to watch out for myself. Hopefully I can catch the Murderer, or make up a deal with them.
I took my notes and my pen, in case I find evidence on the spot. Leaving the room, I expect nothing bad should happen- Wait, no... I should expect the worst to happen.
Something feels... off...
Hmm... I agree. The lack of people seems too uncanny. Is it still not safe outside? Or were they all still asleep and ignored that announcement earlier?
I took a peek in Room 2LC, and seems this is Prasiddhi's room. She is sleeping peacefully. Good for her, I cannot even sleep with all the recent happenings. I would assume most of them are probably asleep.
As if we're missing someone...
Who could it be? Wait- it cannot be-
*scream*
"Who could that be?" I murmured, as I felt my blood rush through my body from the nervousness.
I headed to where that scream came from and it led me to one of the rooms. Kim-ly, Lukey, Charlie, Sabrina, Dan and Marley were already there.
"What is it, Kim-ly?" Dan asked.
"T-T-There's-" Kim-ly stuttered as she pointed out to the door, shaking as if she has seen a ghost.
Lukey opened the door and-
Rosalie died from the Murderer.
Huh?! What... I cannot believe what I just saw. Rosalie... is... dead...
Her blood flows around her lifeless corpse. A knife is attached to her abdomen. Her overalls are now stained blood red. Her glasses are lying on the floor, with a crack.
She was stabbed multiple times.
"WHAT THE HELL?!?" Dan screamed as he slipped and fell. Marley started puking. The others who just recently came were in shock.
I may have expected the worst- but I-I-I did not think it was this BAD! Like it looks so real and unreal at the same time...
I pinched myself to wake me up from this nightmare. But, this is... reality...
You may now investigate.
We need to catch the murderer- fast, before it is too late. We must prevent them from killing more people, by playing their own game. We must eliminate the murderer to escape this horrid place.
But... where should I start?
Most murder mystery starts investigating with observing the corpse. Maybe I should start there. To think something fictional can become reality...
[Annie's POV]
Hearing the announcement gave me the chills. As much as I needed to check the crime scene, I have more important matters to attend to. I'll probably regret it if I saw it with my own eyes.
Walking down these halls gave me the creeps. It's like no one's here. I don't wanna peek in the other rooms, because curiosity might get me killed, now in this situation.
...
Here it is, room 2RB. This is where he should be. I checked my tablet and seems he didn't even leave the room. I knocked on the door and the door was unlocked. I entered the room, mustering up all my courage to face this mysterious person.
Hmm... This room looks almost the same as mine, eerily... And there he is-
"You're here..." He sighed, seemingly irritated.
He has black spiky hair, purple eyes and warm honey-nougat complexion. He's wearing a black tucked-in shirt with a purple print of a forest over a purple and black striped undershirt, black ripped jeans, and white shoes.
"Who are you? And how did you visit me?" I asked with suspicion.
"You already know who I am, spy." He replied.
WAIT WHAT!?! How did he know I'm a spy? Was he stalking me when the lights were out?
"HUH? Why would I do something like that? Sheesh. I'm a psychic, I can read out your thoughts." He exclaimed, flustered.
WAIT, PSYCHIC? HUH? HE CAN READ MY THOUGHTS? HE CAN HEAR ME? I'm not speaking this out loud, am I?
"Keep your voice down, will ya? You're too loud."
"Ohhh.. sorry." I apologized.
So I was speaking it out loud—
"No, you didn't. Those were your thoughts. I can hear your thoughts as if it was your voice. Now can you shut up and let me explain?!"
"Okay then..." I murmured.
He's rude— wait, I shouldn't say that. He can still hear me. Ughhh... nevermind.
"I heard that." He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes in response.
"So anyways, we're both in the same team. Our goal is to eliminate the Evil team, right?" He added. I nodded.
"But our priority for now is to eliminate the Murderer, since they're the one who kills. Once we catch the murderer, it should be easy enough to take out the rest."
"How do you plan on doing that?" I asked.
"Since you're a spy, I need you to inform me of anything happening out there. I can't go outside."
"Why though?"
"I'm a great threat to the murderer, I can read people's thoughts. Once I get enough connections with the others, I can use that to my advantage and get them voted out. Surely the murderer wouldn't want that."
"Your ability only helps find evidence. But sometimes it can also be dismissed, so you won't prove much of a threat to them for now. That is unless you got someone evil voted out." He continued.
"Ohhh... Ok then, I'll team up with you." I agreed to his proposal.
"But in one condition, can you tell me the roles of those who you did read? Atleast I have a clue on who I can accuse." I continued.
"Sure, then is that a deal?"
"Deal."
This feels like a deal with the devil. But no use complaining about it. My main goal now is to eliminate the Murderer, and end this killing game.
"Now you might wanna get out of here. We might get both suspicious."
I closed the door and luckily, no one's here. Perhaps they're too focused on Rosalie's death.
I went to the crime scene. And there it is--
*gulp*
What I fear most, seeing an actual corpse. It feels so unreal... yet it is real. It's like... something you'd see at horror movies. The scene's bloody, and gory... I feel like... it could happen to me one day if I fail to catch this murderer.
"What took you so long?" Dan asked.
Huh?
"You gonna investigate here, too?" Jackson asked.
"Uhhh... y-yeah, if you don't mind." I replied.
Trying my best not to puke or run away, I searched for clues around the crime scene.
I'm feeling very uncomfortable doing this.
[Murderer's POV]
"I assume you're the assassin." I sighed as I saw him waiting for me at the garden.
He's holding a knife in broad daylight. How stupid can he be? Does he want to get caught?!
"Yeah. I am." He then hid the knife in his pockets.
"What do you want?" I asked, knowing that he has a favor to ask.
"I wanna make a deal."
"I know you have someone important to you, and so do I." He grinned.
So basically a treaty between both sides, huh? So I shouldn't kill his important someone so he wouldn't kill mine.
"Don't kill the one in the picture and I won't kill the one important to you, got it?" He gave me a picture of someone, the one that I shouldn't kill, apparently.
"Yeah, sure. I won't." I shrugged and nodded to the agreement.
"Also, let's team up, shall we? We're part of the same team, after all." He added.
"Sure..." I nodded.
I'm not used to trusting anyone. After all, this is a killing game. Who knows when will someone betray you...
[Elizabeth's POV]
...
Huh?
...
What... happened?
"You're awake." Veronica came closer. Did I... fall asleep?
"While you were asleep, I stayed by your side. I didn't actually know you'd actually fall asleep when the lights just came out." She added.
"Ohhh... Did... anything... happen?" I asked as I tried to get up.
"All I can say is... someone died." My eyes widen in shock.
W-W-Why? H-How could this happen? W-Why would you kill someone...?
"I-I'm scared..." I uttered.
"It's okay. I'm here. I'll protect you from them. I won't let them kill you."
"H-How about you? I don't want to lose you."
"Don't worry about me. We'll get through this."
"Ok, then..." I nodded. Guess I need to have faith in her
"You should smile often, I don't want seeing you sad."
She's right, I won't be able to help if I'm just sulking. I need to cheer up so I can help.
"Okay!" I smiled. Even though we're in a game between life and death, I need to believe in her and myself. I'll get through this. I'll end this game so no one has to suffer anymore.
[Marley's POV]
I sighed, as I shuffled my tarot cards. I need answers... I need to know what lies ahead of me if I do this. I want to see what the future beholds me here... I wanna know if I can make it out.
After placing the cards that will decide my fate, I flipped them one by one. Death. Judgement. Emperor. All upright.
A tyrant, a change, an authority and inevitable fate. No... it can't be. The murderer, a sudden change and my fate... it's all... predetermined. I need to end this game before it ends me. I must stop that prophecy... I won't let that happen-
I must warn everyone... but- who can I trust...?
Please proceed to the living room to discuss who to vote out.
Seems I have to follow, do I? I need to prevent myself from being voted out.
As I was about to leave my room, there's a note stuck on the door. What could this be?
[Prasiddhi's POV]
I just woke up from that announcement. I wonder what time it is... 12:00 PM? EEEEEEEEK- I slept too much! I haven't even ate breakfast. I should go take a quick detour to the kitchen.
Heading outside, most are already in their way to the living room. Some has this despairing look in their eyes and some look confused. I wonder what happened.
...
After taking a snack, I peeked on the living room to see what's up.
"Nikolai is the murderer. He's the one who killed Rosalie! " Odette pointed out.
I'm shocked. This must be some kind of joke, right? Someone DIED? WHAT THE HECK?
"Okay? Good thing that snitch got killed." Nikolai responded.
"But I didn't kill her though." Nikolai laughed. What the-
"Don't play dumb. Me, Omar and Amani saw you both pointing knives at each other yesterday." Odette continued.
"I agree with that." Omar nodded.
"When did that happened?" Albert mentioned.
Odette really seems to believe it's Nikolai and most of us are just standing around, watching them argue.
"You're pretty stupid to think it's me. Any proof that I killed that bitch?" Nikolai continued.
"This blonde hair. I found it on the bathroom where Rosalie died." Odette showed a plastic bag containing strands of hair.
"I found some clues on Rosalie's room. It's a note saying {White t-shirt}. Is this clue referring to him?" Austin asked.
"Now that you mentioned it, I also found one too, at my room. Someone must have slipped it. It says {Brown hair}." Marley added.
"Do you think they're clues from the detective?" Annie asked.
"Who knows? I just picked this up because it does look like a clue for whoever we're looking for. Too bad Rosalie's journal is blank though, it would have been an essential clue." Austin replied.
"Hmm... The first clue matches Nikolai's description, but the other one doesn't. You both sure that's not made up?" Ally questioned.
"I don't know, atleast this piece of paper got to be useful." Austin replied.
"How lucky I am. After all, I also have a clue with me." Cash showed a paper saying {White sneakers}
"Wait- what if one of the clues are fake?" Amani asked.
"I found this note on the kitchen." Amani handed the note to Odette.
"One out of the three clues are fake. Look out for that." Odette read the note out loud.
"That means it could either be Nikolai, Omar, Albert, Sabrina, Veronica or Reza." Ally deduced.
"It's not Sabrina, I'm with her last night." Charlie pleaded.
"I actually slept the night off." Albert added.
"Ughhh... I was with Elizabeth the whole time... As if I'd risk Elizabeth getting killed." Veronica whined. Elizabeth nodded.
"I was in my room last night, but I don't have proof though. I think Charlotte saw me come out when the lights came back." Reza claimed.
"Huh?" Charlotte seemed confused.
"Reza's telling the truth. Charlotte didn't saw him come out, I did." Viola backed up Reza's claim.
"I was on the utility closet the whole night with Dan." Omar explained. Dan nodded.
"Wow. You all have pretty good alibis." Ally was surprised.
"In the end, it's still Nikolai! He has no alibi!" Odette exclaimed.
"He does have a pretty reasonable motive." Amani added.
"Yeah, sure, it's me. Vote me then, if that's what it takes to get out of this shithole." Nikolai replied sarcastically.
"Hah! You wish. Then- " Veronica was interrupted.
Please proceed to the voting room to vote.
Ok, I have no idea what's going on. What does it mean to vote though? Guess I'll find out now.
[Alab's POV]
I have no idea what's going on. Rosalie dying, Nikolai being the murderer, Odette and Ally arguing about it, I can't keep up.
I just have to vote out Nikolai, right? What would happen to him though? If it's him, can we get out of here? I don't know...
Arriving at the voting room, there's multiple seats with some kind of device attached to them. Hmm... How do we actually vote?
Please pay attention as I will only explain the instructions once.
There are multiple seats wherein a voting device is attached on it. Wear the VR headset to activate the voting device. You may choose who to vote out using the device. You may also choose wherever you want to seat.
Ohhh... So that's how it's supposed to work.
You may now vote.
As I took a seat, I wore the headset as instructed. Then something came up. A list of names showed up. There includes my name. On its other side there's a word saying [Vote]. Seems that's what I'm supposed to click on.
Scrolling across the list, I found Nikolai's. I pressed the [Vote]. button next to his name. Then it turned black.
Taking off the headset, I noticed Prasiddhi and Viola still trying to figure out how to vote. But then, they both took of the headset.
Nikolai has the most votes. This conclusion is...
Ohhh... Seems everyone voted for him. I wonder what happens next?
Incorrect. Nikolai was a Survivor. He will now be removed.
"Haha! See you suckers!" Nikolai exclaimed as he went to the door.
[Nikolai's POV]
Tchhh... They're really stupid to vote me off. Now I can get out of here. True that I hate Rosalie, but yeah, she deserve it. Atleast she got me outta here. It's a win-win for me!
As I went outside, there's something that's blocking me. I looked back and there's... a glass barrier. What the-?
Forgive me for my mistake. He will now be executed.
-HELL? Looking up, I got soaked in water. Shit, what does she mean, EXECUTED? What kind of bullshit is this?
As I tried to climb my way outta here, glass shards fell over me.
Fuck— is this what I get for being voted out? Ughhh-
"You won't kill me that easy." I exclaimed, as I walk closer to the other side.
The wind is fairly strong, it makes it harder for me to walk through the cold. The floor isn't that much slippery, so I can barely manage.
I suddenly felt a strong cold swirl blowing my direction. My shirt began freezing, as so my blood. What-
[Ally's POV]
Looking at the window that was just opened, I saw Nikolai being... frozen to death!? He has many cuts on his body. What the heck? Is this what being voted out means?
Few seconds passed and he's not moving anymore. The window overviewing the room Nikolai was has been closed. I look around and the others were as shocked as me. Lukey and Viola went to the bathroom, probably puking their guts out. Veronica and Thomas looked like they don't even care.
"Welp, guess I'm lucky I didn't die that way." Cash sighed.
...
What the hell? I just saw someone die in front of me. And now, someone's gonna die again. I... I might die...
No... I... I should fight to survive... I don't want to make him worried... I want to spend time with him more... I'll keep my promise to him, so I'll survive!
Just a little longer, Alex...