Murder Mystery

Chapter 3

It was the day of the first round. The lobby had a cold atmosphere as it was filled with silence. No one said a word. No one knew what to say. What could someone even think to say when they could possibly get killed in just a matter of time? They wanted to talk, to try and find something to ease their worries, but before they could, X started speaking from the intercom.

"Hello, players!! Today's the day our favorite game starts! I'm looking forward to it."

Blake sighs as he rolls his eyes, "Please, just tell us where to go."

"Wow, you seem moody. Anyways, you do have a point, I never told you all where to go, so I'll be doing that now. The lobby you guys got taken to has a door. The room is dark, so feel around the walls and you should find it. It's really very simple! I'm looking forward to starting the game."

After the announcement, as they're all searching for the door, a feeling of realization sets in. The players all look around at each other, and they can tell the feeling is mutual. The game is real. It's not something made up, it's not a dream or some messed up prank. It's real. And it has to be done until X says it's finished.

They all break eye contact with each other and continue to walk to the lobby. The silence has been broken by footsteps going in all directions. Everyone gets up and starts feeling the walls, they begin to ask if anyone has found the door.

Joseph looks over in Lexi's direction, she looks frozen in place, "Lexi? Lexi, are you ok?" Lexi seems to be the only one not looking for the door. She doesn't speak either, all she does is nod her head no.

Joseph starts walking over to where Lexi is. He kneels so he and Lexi can be on the same level, "What's wrong? How come you aren't helping us look for the door?"

Lexi begins to fidget with her hands as she speaks, "I want to. I really do but I can't."

Joseph seems more concerned, "Why can't you?"

Lexi starts looking around everywhere but Joseph's face as she speaks, "Everything feels too overwhelming, I don't think I can do this."

"Lexi, look at me in my eyes. Everything is going to be fine. Trust me, we all feel the same way but we're doing it. I'm sure you can as well," says Joseph.

"No! I can't!"

Joseph reaches his hand out, "Lexi, whether you can or can't, you have to. You heard X when he threatened us, you need to at least give it a try before you give up. Do you need me to help you up by any chance?"

Lexi pushes his hand away, "No, thank you though. You're right, I can do this on my own."

"I'm glad you came to your senses, come on, we need to find the door," says Joseph. He walks back over to where he originally was as Carly starts to speak to him.

"I'm surprised, I didn't see you as someone good with kids," says Carly.

He starts feeling the walls again, "That might be because of the babysitting I did as a teenager. Besides, I like helping people, it feels like second nature."

"That's good! I think you and Chase would get along, he talked about how he liked to help people as well, you two seem like you could become friends," says Carly.

Joseph finds a light switch as he continues speaking, "I'll think about it, thanks."

Blake sighs, "Has anyone found the door yet? I'm having bad luck over here."

Chase is feeling the walls as he begins talking, "I think I found it! Guys, come over here!"

Everyone runs over to him while Chase opens the door. As everyone walks in, they see the room and get confused as to why it looks how it does. The room is unusually large, with a staircase that leads up to a type of indoor balcony with glass railings. On the downstairs section where all the players are, there are 3 pictures of an area and a pressure plate to step on for every picture.

"What is this?" says Chase.

"I assume this is where we go to after every round," responds Ana.

"Ding, ding, ding! That is correct Ana!" says X over an intercom.

Blake jumps up from the sudden voice, "Jesus, dude! Be more obvious when you get here!"

"Not happening! Anyways, I should explain this room. Well... I thought since you guys are in a murder mystery game, you should get to choose a map! You get your map of choice! Isn't that fun? Just look at the picture of a map and whichever one you like best, click on the pressure plate that it is assigned to! This will count as a vote. Enjoy!"

"At least we get to choose what map we die in," says Blake.

Lexi immediately turns her head to Blake, "Blake! Don't say things like that!"

Blake doesn't respond.

Everyone looked at the available maps. The 3 options were Beach, Mansion, and Restaurant.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm choosing the mansion, I would like to see the inside of one before I possibly die," says Joseph.

"I agree," says Carly.

"Yeah, and I'll be damned if I had to participate in a killing game at the beach," says Ana laughing.

"Same for the restaurant. The only good option seems like the mansion," says Chase.

A few seconds pass and everyone has agreed on choosing the mansion. They all step on the pressure plate waiting for something to happen. As a few seconds pass, a new voice comes from the intercom.

"Mansion has been chosen, teleporting to in 3,2,1..." says a robotic voice.

In the blink of an eye, the scenery around the players was different. They were now on the inside of a modern mansion.

Rachel looks shocked and amazed at the same time at how quickly the teleportation worked, "H-huh?! X was actually serious about that?"

"So... this is really happening, isn't it?" says Ana shocked along with a tone of skepticism in her voice.

"It feels like a weird dream if I'm being honest," says Carly.

"Yeah... it really does," says Chase agreeing.

"This can't be happening, I don't want it to, can't we all just pretend this actually is a dream?" says Rachel.

"I wish we could, but it wouldn't be possible, let's just try to get this over with as fast as we can," says Ana.

"I agree with Ana. But, where are our roles?" Blake says.

At that exact moment, something appeared on everyone's head, it seemed like a role picker. The three roles that X had mentioned were spinning around on top of each person's head. Everyone ran in different directions from the others, scared to see what would happen if they stuck around for too long.

X had started speaking from the intercom, "Good luck, my players."