To my Esteemed Friends,
I have equired an illustrious estate through the death of a distant relative, who I never met. I thought it only fitting that I invite you all to attend a dinner party on its' grounds. It will certainly be a night to remember. However, the estate us quite peculiar. It only exists in the year 1920. To enter it's grounds, you must be dressed entirely with clothing from that era. If you are carrying anything from the modern world, the house will simply never appear for you. And not only your clothing, but your attitude MUST reflect the time. I have included your unique characteristics on the back of this invitation. My driver will pick you up and take you on a road that can only be driven by his mysterious time traveling automobile. Then, almost like magic, the place will appear.
Sincerely,
Justine Ezarik
Justine sent out her letters. She only invited ten of her friends as she didn't want the place to get too crowded. Joey Graceffa, Sierra Furtado, Matt Haag, Shane Dawson, Eva Gutowski, Oliver White, Tim DeLaGhetto, Andrea Brookes, Glozell Green, and LeLe Pons. Now, she waits for them to arrive.
Three days later, her guests arrive onto the premises. All of whom are dressed in their 1920's attire.
I thought it would be fun to give each of my friends a persona since we have to dress up for the 1920's. Why not make it even more fun by giving them a character to play up?......
Justine smiled in excitement. One by one, each walked up the steps and into the house.
Shane Dawson- The Renegade
Eva Gutowski- The Journalist
Glozell Green- The Jazz Singer
Oli White- The Big Game Hunter
Joey Graceffa- The Gambler
Andrea Brookes- The Fixer
Matt Haag- The Professor
Sierra Furtado- The Heiress
LeLe Pons- The Hustler
Timothy DeLaGhetto- The Mobster
She checked her outfit for the 100th time that day. As she was about to head down, a small, leather covered book caught her eye. Justine walked over and picked it up. It was tied shut with a leather string
How did I not notice you before? Justine thought. Justine untied it to see what's inside. It was just blank pages.
"Well," Justine chuckled to herself. "I'm going to fill you up. You never know, maybe someday, I can read what's inside to my grand nieces or nephews." Justine figured she wasn't going to physically write in the book in the 21 century. Knowing her, she will write a few lines and then forget about it. Justine examined the book carefully. It seemed to have "The Savant's Diary" engraved in gold on the cover. It felt as if the journal was made to be a part of her adventures in this new house. However, she doesn't see herself as a savant. Maybe a tech savant? Someone knocked on the door.
"Ms. Ezarik," The soft, scary voice on the other side of the door stated. "Your guests have arrived." It was Sarah, the terrifying maid that came with the house. Justine wanted to fire her, but Sarah did too good of a job of cleaning that Justine couldn't.
"I'll be down in a minute." Justine stated. Justine closed her new found diary, placed it in her jacket pocket, and made her way downstairs. Justine first looked over the railing to see all of her friends talking.
"It's the 1920's," Joey said to Eva. "We were just in 2016, then we got into this car....."
"Do you have mints?" Matt asked. "Any gum? Mints?" Too bad her youngest sister couldn't make it out tonight. Justine could of had her and Matt get together for sure.
"This party is insane." Shane stated.
"I love the theme." Sierra stated. Justine smiled and made her way down the stairs and to the landing facing the front door.
"There she is!" Glozell shouted.
"What do you guys think?" Justine asked. Everyone cheered.
Yes, Justine thought. They love it.
"Welcome to my new house." Justine stated.
"This is yours?" Joey asked.
"This isn't your house." LeLe stated.
"You rented it." Tim stated.
"I actually have inherited this house," Justine stated. "From a distant cousin twice removed."
"My cousins get me nothin'." Glozell stated. Justine tried not to laugh.
"You all look amazing tonight," Justine stated. "In your 1920's attire."
"Thank you." A few people muttered in the crowd.
"I wanna introduce you all," Justine stated. "To my wonderful staff that actually came with the house. Arthur, who is head of staff. Sarah, the maid. And then there's Marvin, who's the groundskeeper." Everyone started to get excited over everything. Justine just smiled over the love for her new place.
Oh boy, Justine thought. Wait until I give everyone a tour of the house later.
"Dinner is almost served," Justine shouted. "But, until then, let's get to know each other a little bit more and have some drinks!" Everyone cheered. Eva was the most enthusiastic of everyone who was there. Justine smiled at her friends and ushered them to the games room.
Everyone was chatting, drinking, throwing darts, and playing cards. Eva joined Shane at the dart board for a game of darts. Out in the front foyer, Justine, Oli, Andrea, Sierra, and LeLe were all talking about the estate.
"I know," Justine stated. "No technology works here, which is crazy." Sarah walked over with drinks.
"More drinks?" Sarah asked.
"Oh," Justine beamed. "I would love one, thank you." Justine grabbed another drink and sipped it.
"So?" Andrea asked Oli. "You go hunting?"
"Yes," Oli replied. "Actually, I've just come back from Africa. I've actually been hunting for the past couple of weeks or so." Andrea nodded.
"I love the dark mistress look," Justine stated. "It's gorgeous."
"Thank you." Andrea stated. "You know, I'm really into fashion. I really like to mix things, I like to fix things. If you have something broken, I can fix it."
"Yeah?" Justine asked.
"Yeah." Andrea replied. Justine didn't have the heart to tell Andrea what a fixer is.
"Justine," LeLe asked. "Do you own this house?" Justine sipped her drink.
"I don't have the deed yet." Justine stated.
"So you're not rich." LeLe stated.
"You basically own it." Oli stated.
"No," Justine explained. "No, no. It's going to happen. Like, tonight it's supposed to happen actually.
"Oh," LeLe asked. "Really?" Justine smiled with glee.
"Yeah," Justine beamed. "And once I sign it, then it's officially mine! But, like, I've been living here so, it's mine!" Oli excused himself and walked into the other room. Shane joined the group out in the foyer, who continued to talk about Justine's new house.
"So," Shane asked. "Would you wanna live here your whole life then?"
"Why not?" Justine asked.
"Alone?" LeLe asked. "Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Bestfriend?"
"I mean," Justine stated. "Maybe I can talk my sister or a friend into moving in here with me. Or maybe get more dogs." Everyone laughed at the idea of Justine buying more dogs. Justine excused herself to go talk to the others. Oli looked over from his dart game and saw Justine walking around. Justine started making her way over.
"Hey guys," Justine stated. "How's darts going?"
"Good," Eva stated. "Care to throw one with us?" Justine nodded and grabbed a dart.
"Ready," Justine stated. "One. Two. Three." Justine, Eva, and Oli all tossed their darts at once. Oli turned to Justine.
"Could we look around?" Oli asked.
"Look around?" Justine questioned.
"Yeah." Oli stated. Eva sighed and shook her head.
"No," Justine stated. "I think we should just stay down here. Dinner's almost ready, so I think we should just hang here... Yep." Justine turned her focus to Matt and started talking to him. After an hour or so, a gong went off.
"Dinner is served," Justine stated. "So head on into the dining room." Everyone piled into the dining room
In the dining room, everyone sat down at their name tags. Justine noticed Oli and Eva were missing. However, she figured it was coincidence and went onto enjoying the rest of dinner.
"So," Joey asked. "Is this a family heirloom?"
"I don't really know," Justine stated. "It just happened. It just fell into my lap."
"Thanks for inviting us," Shane stated. "By the way."
"No," Justine stated. "Of course." Chatter came from the table. It was nice to have an actual conversation.
"Where's Eva and Oli?" Andrea asked.
"Oooh." Tim and Matt gushed. Justine rolled her eyes. Every was sitting at the table chatting when Glozell broke into song.
"Sitting here with the food," Glozell sang. "Having fun with Justine."
"Oh my!" Justine beamed.
"I wish," Glozell sang. "She would give me some of that money." Everyone laughed.
"Glozell," Justine stated. "I just got the house, okay? I don't get money."
"You know," Matt stated. "You can put it on the market."
"That Sarah chick," Glozell stated. "Is a little scary though. That maid."
"Does she smile?" LeLe asked.
"She scared me to be honest." Justine stated. Glozell began to do an impression of Sarah.
"We should place some bets," Joey stated. "To see where we think these two are first of all."
"Yeah," Glozell agreed. "It's been a long time. They can't be in the toilet. You can't drop deuces for that long." Justine chuckled, hiding the slight hurt.
Part of me felt a little disrespected. Like, don't go ahead and go exploring. Especially when I tell you not to....
"So?" Justine asked. "Is this impressive to you? My estate?"
"Oh," Sierra stated. "It's cute."
"Cute?" Justine asked, slightly offended. Everyone looked over at Sierra in shock.
"I just," Sierra stated. "Come from a really rich family, don't really work, I was handed a lot of things in my life, so yeah."
"Am I the only poor one here?" Glozell asked.
"No," Tim replied. "You got a bedazzled headband on." Tim began pointing at his head. Glozell looked at the other guests at the table.
"I stole it." Glozell stated. Everybody laughed. Justine thought it was hilarious. Glozell was taking her character to a whole new level. She was bringing the energy. Justine was glad to invite her that night.
"OOOOHHHH!" A handful of guests shouted as Oli and Eva walked in.
"Welcome back!" Justine shouted. "Where were you guys?!" Eva took her seat.
"Where were you?" Sierra asked.
"Bowne chica," Andrea teased. "Bowne cawn."
"You're a little late," Matt stated. "A little late." Oli looked at his plate.
"What the hell is this?" Oli asked.
"We're not changing the subject." Matt stated.
"Do not change the subject please," Justine stated. "We wanna know where you guys were."
"I was in the bathroom." Eva stated.
"For that long?" Justine asked. Justine was a lit suspicious over that. Unless Eva was sick, Justine didn't believe what Eva said. Something was up.
"Is this real food?" Oli asked, picking at his food.
"Why are you changing the subject?" Justine asked.
"Can we eat this?" Oli asked.
"I wanna know where you guys were." Justine stated.
Eva and Oli were acting strange. It was almost as if they saw something horrifying and they were too scared to talk about it. What were they hiding from me?
"As much as I love a good make-out," Eva stated. "I was literally pooping."
"Oh," Justine stated. "Okay. What about you Oli? I only have three bathrooms and one is for the staff." Arthur strolls in and hands Oli an envelope.
"Okay," LeLe stated. "Now you have to open it and read it to us."
"What?" Oli asked. "Are you guys jealous?" Oli opened the envelope and took a quick glance at it.
"What does it say on the front?" Glozell asked.
"What does it say?" Tim asked. Justine focused her attention to her food. She hasn't eaten much that day and her doctor did tell her to keep her blood sugar in check.
I looked up to suddenly see Oli coughing up blood. I wasn't talking like some left over in your mucus after a really bad cold. I am talking blood pouring out of him like the Nile River during flood season. I didn't know how to react. How does one react to something like that? I was in a state of shock and I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was going on with Oli. I didn't know what happened.....
"Oh my god!" Joey shouted. Screaming was flooding the room. Justine wasn't sure what to do. Arthur walked over with a pillow and laid Oli down. Justine crouched down next to him.
"Oli?" Justine asked. "What happened?"
"I... Was... Poisoned." Oli muttered. Justine rubbed her friend's back.
"Hang in there." Justine soothed. "We can find an antidote. It's going to be okay."
"What the hell is going on?!" Shane shouted.
"He said he was poisoned." Justine stated, getting up.
"By who?" Sierra asked.
"By her obviously!" LeLe shouted.
"The maid!" Eva shouted.
"I'm reading the telegram." Matt stated.
"What does it say?" Andrea asked.
"It says he's been poisoned." Matt replied.
"He knew?!" Joey shouted. Everyone rushed over to read the telegram. Justine grabbed the telegram and read it out loud, knowing those words will be imprinted into her mind for the rest of her life.
"In 15 minutes, you'll be dead. Your lungs filled with blood. However, you know I love games. There is an antidote hidden on the first floor of the house. If you and your friends are wise enough, they'll be able to solve the clues and save you. The symbols of your cult mark the clues leading to the antidote. It all begins with your last dish of the night. May you die in a horrible pain, my cursed enemy."
"What does she have under there?" Andrea asked.
"She's got the last dish." Matt replied.
"Oh no." Justine mumbled under her breath.
"I'll open it," Eva stated. "Okay."
"Girl," Glozell hissed. "I will fork you up. What's underneath there?" Eva quickly lifted the lid up, revealing a severed head. Everyone in the room screamed. Justine froze in fear, not being able to take everything that it happening in at once.
"Wait," Shane stated. "There's something in his mouth." Shane reached in and yanked out a small piece of paper.
"Ew!" Eva shouted. LeLe threw up on the carpet. Sierra just started gagging. Shane opened the small scap of paper.
"Are we not gonna call the police?!" LeLe shouted. Justine ran to the lounge phone and tried to call the police. Tim ran behind her.
"Come on." Justine muttered. Justine looked down to see the line was cut by somebody.
"Are they coming?" Tim asked.
"My line's cut off!" Justine shouted. "And this is the only phone in the whole house!"
"Shit!" Tim shouted. The two of them ran back to the dining room.
"This is what we gotta look for." Shane stated. "This symbol." He pointed to the symbol on the telegram.
"That symbol means something!" Joey shouted. Everyone was taking their sweet time looking.
"Come on guys!" Justine shouted. "Oli's dying!" Everyone kept going back to looking around, except Sierra, who was eating a biscuit. Justine sighed and joined the search.
"I am too stupid for this." LeLe stated. Justine looked over at Oli, who was looking weaker.
"I will not let you die." Justine stated. "I won't allow it." Justine continued to look around.
"Wait," Matt asked. "What was the symbol on there?" Justine looked over.
"It's like a circle." Eva stated.
"Was it this?" Matt asked, holding up a glass holder.
"Oh," Eva beamed. "Yes it is, yes it is, yes it is!" It suddenly became a mad scramble to match up the glasses. Justine grabbed the last glass and placed it on the board.
"And there." Justine stated.
"Oh no Jesus!" Glozell screamed. "I rebuke you, Satan! Oh lordy, it opened up by itself!" Justine looked over to see an opened chest. It contained three locks. All of which needed a key. Justine reached in to see if she could open the cage. However, it shocked her. Justine looked in to see three viles of antidote.
"There are three keys to unlock life." Sierra read.
"Oh no." Justine mumbled.
"This is long," Sierra stated. "I don't wanna read this." Sierra got up and walked off. Eva took over.
"In the first floor study," Eva read. "One key to life is as high as the mountain top. In the library is the second key, which lies hidden beneath the nine circles of hell described by letters and words. In the foyer, it's the third key to life, which can be easily found but no one person can retrieve it without the helping hand of a friend." Everyone split off. Justine went with Eva and Glozell to the study.
"Well," Justine stated. "I don't often go in here."
"Why not?" Eva asked.
"It gets lonely." Justine replied.
"Well," Glozell stated. "There are a lot of paintings in here. And one has mountains in it.... And here's something on this one sticking out." Glozell points to a string that was sticking out of the painting.
"Thanks Glo." Justine stated. Justine climbed on top of her desk.
"I don't know now," Glozell stated. "Don't mess up these people's painting. That's someone's painting." Justine yanked the key out.
"Oh my gosh!" Eva shouted. Justine's face lit up.
"We got a key!" Justine shouted. "We got the first key." She began running down the hall. The others followed suit. Justine got to the chest, figured out which lock the key could fit into, and gave the first vial of antidote to Oli.
"Two more." Eva stated.
"I'm going to help the people in the foyer," Justine stated. "You wanna go help the people in the library?"
"Good idea." Eva stated. The two girls bolted out of the dinning room. Justine reached the foyer.
"Need my help?" Justine asked.
"Actually," Shane stated. "We only have so many hands. We just need to get the box over to that square hole." Justine stuck her hands into the holes and struggled with the box.
"Put your hand in there." Matt told LeLe.
"Shut up Matt." LeLe stated. The two of them began to bicker.
"Alright," Justine muttered. "Where is it, where is it?
"Hurry up!" Glozell shouted. "We only have 90 seconds!"
No, Justine thought as she struggled. No Oli. Please, no.
"It's over here," Shane sputtered. "It's over here."
"Ladies and gentlemen," Arthur stated. "Time is up. Oli is dead." Justine's heart dropped. Glozell's screams flooded the house. Everyone else stayed silent.
...... And all I can do was blame myself. I should of tried harder. From that moment on, I was determined to make sure nobody else dies tonight. It's my responsibility, I'm the one who invited them here.
Everyone walked into the dining room.
"We were so close." Eva stated.
"It's okay," Justine stated. "We tried.... He's dead.... There's nothing we can do." Justine looked down at the lifeless body that was now Oli. Justine knelt down and began searching for a clue to see who done it.
"We gotta figure out who killed him!" Matt shouted. Everyone began playing the blame game on each other. Justine found a letter and unfolded it.
What is this? Justine thought as she opened it.
"Guys," Joey asked. "What do we with the body?"
"Joey-" Justine went to scold.
"Okay," Joey stated. "I don't care who killed him, we need to get rid of it." Justine opened up the letter. She glanced over it as the bickering continued.
"Guys," Justine stated. "Look." Everyone went silent.
"What is it?" Tim asked. Justine began to read the letter out loud.
If you are reading this, I have failed in my mission. My killer is not who you might think it is. It's the house itself, which is possessed by an ancient evil that has locked it in time. I came here tonight with the intention of destroying it. I am a member of a secret organization known as the Society Against Evil, and we've been battling this wicked force for centuries. There are four artifacts, which the evil has hidden behind a series of puzzles and clues. If they can be gathered and the binding ritual performed, the evil will be locked away. However, to complete the final task to retrieve each artifact, the group must vote on two people who must undertake a dark challenge. Tragically, one of them will die. But, to help you along the way, the Society Against Evil has marked the clues with their symbol. You have until sunrise to recover the artifacts, before you are trapped here forever. What lies ahead will not be easy, but I'm afraid you have no other choice if you want to get back to 2016.
"Okay," Glozell asked. "So there's an evil spirit running around here, but we have to find, like, what, four of these little things to untrap it or we gonna be stuck in the house?" Everyone began to panic. Justine had got her friends stuck in this, so she had to get them all out alive.
"Guys," Justine stated. "I think we should leave. Follow me, I have a car that can take us out of here." Everyone piled out if the room and started going to the car.
"Good," Andrea stated. "I think I would rather die than get stuck in 1920. I think I'm at peace with dying if that happens."
"Just a moment," Arthur stated. "Wait for Glozell."
"Wait for Glozell," Tim stated. "We can't leave Glozell in the 1920's."
"These shoes hurt so bad!" Sierra whined. Justine made her way to the car. Suddenly, the car that was to take everyone home blew up.
I couldn't help but wonder what if we were actually in that car. At that moment, while what was left from the explosion burned in front of my eyes, I knew we had no choice. Some of my friends have to die. And the rest of us were going to watch it all happen. I remember reading a short story called "The Lottery" when I was younger. If your name is drawn, it was a death sentence. No matter how much you cry or complain, at the end, there is no use. People will have to die.