Murder Mystery

Chapter 13

"You heard me, I said I had something else," says X. His tone is different than usual. He's usually upbeat, he always had a joking tone to his voice even when he's announcing the murders.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Tell us what you have," says Chase.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" says X hesitantly.

"Just tell us! There's no point in telling us you have something if you don't say what it is," says Blake.

"I agree," says Carly.

"If that's what you want, then so be it. But, a fair warning, this option is far more dangerous than the one you guys are going through right now."

"What..?" says Lexi.

"There's no way, we're in a killing game, what could be worse than that?" says Joseph.

"Trust me, there can be worse," says X.

Everyone shares a confused look, X still isn't budging, at least, not yet.

"X, I have a question," says Ana, "why didn't you mention this 'other option' when you were explaining the rules?"

"It was supposed to be a backup, let's just say, this option isn't the most entertaining, it goes too fast," says X.

"You speak on the option as if it's been done before," says Carly.

"That's because it has been. You guys aren't special, I've done this to others, you aren't the first group to suffer from this, but-"

"WHAT?!" says Blake, "what are you-"

"Blake, let me finish," X says sternly, "as I was saying, yes, you guys aren't the first group, but every group that's chosen this option has regretted it, that's why I wanna know if you guys are sure about this."

"Well, we need to know what this 'option' is before we are certain about it," says Rachel.

"She's right, you need to tell us," says Ana.

"Very well. This other option is sort of like an obstacle course, you need to complete every stage. As the stages progress, the closer you are to the exit and getting the hell out of here. You should know the exit when you see it, you can't miss it. It's a large door with lights above it."

"Is that it?" says Joseph.

"That's not necessarily too bad," says Carly.

"Quite frankly, you made this option seem worse than it actually is," says Blake.

"I'm not finished. This obstacle course isn't just using strength or agility, you have to use smarts too, you have to use your prior knowledge on random things to help you out. There may be obstacles for your arms and legs, for your physical strength, but there are also 'obstacles' for your mind."

"I can't do that..." says Lexi, "I'm only 10, what am I supposed to do?"

"Now hold on, kid, I modify the obstacle course for every group so that it's fair. I promise you that you can be useful during it."

Lexi is silent, she doesn't say anything in retaliation.

"So, is that it? Or have you forgotten to include something?" says Chase.

"I haven't forgotten anything, I'm just not finished. All the information from before was important but not as important as what I'm about to say. All of you need to pay close attention to what I'm about to say."

"Just say it," says Blake, "I'm tired of waiting."

"I agree," says Joseph.

"Very well," X clears his voice before continuing, "you can lose lives during this obstacle course, but it's much worse than what you guys are doing right now. Depending on how much a certain stage is worth, you can either lose half of your lives... or all of them. One or two wrong moves and you're dead."