Once, Jamie had been many things – rising star of criminal profiling, loving fiancé, proud father, broken man, recovering addict, lover of a witch. Two years after the imprisonment of Edinburgh’s Demon, he tries to balance the demands of his present life, until his past comes awake to haunt him.
Everyone raises from their chairs after they open their envelopes, showing the rest of the group what their fate is. The two scared look at each other, barely knowing one another but not wanting themselves or the other to die. Maxwell and Lily share the same look, both their eyes beginning to water as they hug their newly found friends. Kamilah seems to look at Lily longingly, wanting to mention something to the only guest she knows well. Instead she informs the guests to get some rest, throws one more sad look toward Lily, and quickly retreats to her room.
“Are we really going to trust the host?” Jake makes a snarky remark.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Sloane steps in.
“Well for starters,” Jake begins. “She’s the one who brought us here, and she’s the only one that probably knew Lester was a vampire. And the note was signed K.”
“Yeah but the killer even said it was signed for killer,” Kenji joins in the conversation.
“There are three other people here whose names begin with K,” Estela butts in. “Not including Kamilah, there’s Kate, Kaitlyn, and of course you, Kenji.”
“Are you saying I’m the killer?” Kenji scoffs.
“You’re the one who had the best theory for the first murder,” Estela points a finger at him. “I’m not saying it’s a coincidence, but how else would you have gotten it correct.”
“Well I’m sorry I’m just better at listening to information and you’re a sore loser.”
“You’re calling me a sore loser?” Estela begins to square up, ready to punch Kenji in the face before Jake stands in between them. Even though Estela stands over him, especially in her heels, he manages to push her back.
“Okay you guys,” Damien finally speaks up. “It’s still early on, let’s just get some sleep and stop pointing fingers.”
“The sooner we figure out the killer, the more of us survive,” Teja crosses her arms over her chest.
“Yeah but how will we know for sure who the killer is?” Kate speaks up, the entire room seems to get louder as several people talk to over each other at once. “What if we all guess wrong and we end up hurting the wrong person?”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Estela stares Kenji down but she’s speaking to Kate rather than him.
“Can we all please just call it a night and get some sleep?” Matt runs his hand through his hair.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Lily turns to look at him. “You’re not the one who's scared.”
“Matt’s right,” Maxwell says and everyone quiets down. It’s the first time he’s said something since he found out he was scared. “There’s no point in fighting, let’s just go to sleep and what happens, happens.”
Estela is the first one to move, brushing passed Jake and hitting Kenji with her shoulder before fleeing up the stairs to her room. Jake and Diego look at the group before going up and retiring for the night. One by one, the guests make their way to their rooms and soon the manor is quiet once more.
Diego wakes in a cold sweat. The sound of an alarm blaring is heard throughout the manor. He gets out of bed and throws on some shoes as he exits his room. He pokes his head out of his door and looks up and down the hall. Jake comes out of hit room, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
“What the hell is that noise?” He turns to Diego.
“I have no clue,” he tells his friend.
Down the hall, Kate pops out of her room, fixing her robe as she hurries down to the two men. “What is going on?”
“We’re just as confused as you,” Diego tells her, almost having to shout over the loud noise.
Teja and Kaitlyn both come out of their rooms and join the small group that begins to form. “What is happening?” Kaitlyn asks.
“Only way to find out is to investigate,” Damien comes out of his room and passes the small group before heading down the stairs.
Estela emerges from her room along with Matt and everyone follows Damien. They pass Kenji’s room on the way down the hall to the stairs and he follows them out without a second thought. Sloane walks out of her room and adjusts her glasses as she struggles to catch up with everyone. They follow the noise that seems to get louder as they get near the front door. They decide to head out toward the front gate, the alarm getting louder as they make their way to the main entrance of the property. Up ahead, they see the security flood lights on, shadows casting over something on the main gate. They pick up their pace and before they know it, they’re standing in front of the main gate, the alarms blaring at them. Several of the guests cover their ears from the loud sound.
“Oh gosh,” Kaitlyn covers her mouth with her hand, the sight in front of her unpleasant.
“This must have just happened,” Damien concludes.
“Is that…?” They turn to see Lily running up to them, out of breath and her glasses crooked. In front of the group hanging by his wrists is Maxwell, who is clearly dead. An arrow sits in his chest, blood oozing out.
Kamilah comes running up to the group and quickly goes to the keypad and punches in a number and the alarm stops. The eerily quiet of the night finally hangs over them, and they shiver in the cold as they look at their host for their next instructions.
“My guests,” she speaks after what feels like hours of silence. “Please head back inside. Pick which location you would like to go to and hopefully we can figure out this murder quickly.”
Maxwell, I am sorry but you have been eliminated. The rest of you, please decide which location you would like to go to, the crime scene, last known whereabouts, or morgue. You have until tomorrow, October 11th at 4pm Arizona time, to submit your locations. Hopefully you won’t be hung out to dry...
