Everyone stood in shock. You could see the terror in every face, including the butler.

"Are you the owner of this place?" Ralph asked with skepticism. "How can we trust you Mr. Anderson?"

Mr. Anderson pulled up his pant leg to reveal a tracker on his ankle. "I'm just trying to stay alive."

The group gasped, and could tell he was telling the truth. Conversations began to spread, until Mr. Anderson interrupted.

"My friends if you will follow me into the parlor for discussion it will be most beneficial." He said. The group quickly followed, and waited for the butler to continue.

"Now, this is crucial. You need to make a decision on where you want to go. Do you want to go to the morgue, where the maid is, or do you want to go to her room? You have 3 minutes to make a decision. Choose wisely, for making allies might be beneficial.

Iridessa looked at everyone. She wanted to pick people she trusted the most, but she was weary of everyone. After all, there are murderers in the house.

Lilith felt her heart quickening. She was terrified for her life. She has never been good at investigations, and Iridessa and Ralph already had an advantage. She also didn't trust Elliot, or Anastasia for that matter. She would have to play smart, in order to survive.

The twins looked at one another. They never had to separate like this before. Both were weary of trusting one another. They looked at one another, and decided they would reconvene later.

Ash and Ralph stood next to each other, but both had different minds. Ralph began to look at each individual person. Who could be the impostor?  Who could he trust?

On the other hand, Ash was trying to absorb everything, and notice the little details of a writer. He noticed that everyone was scanning one another, and that no one had alibis.

The bell rung, and Elliot grinned with delight. He looked towards Anastasia and gave her a wink. She turned away with her nose in the air and faced her friends.

"Have we made a decision?" Mr. Anderson asked.  "Very well, those that wish to visit the morgue, follow our maid Sasha."

Ash, Angela, Anastasia, Elliot, Alison, and Jayden followed Sasha out of the room. This meant that Iridessa, Ralph, Lilith, and Phoenix, were going to the last location of the maid.

Ash felt his hair on the back of his neck stand up when the maid stopped in front of a bookcase and pulled the arm of the knight to unlock a secret passage.

"Ew I hate it." Alison whispered while grabbing onto his arm as an escort.

It was a short walk before they saw the stainless steel morgue. There, Shaila laid dead, with the rope still around her neck.

Jayden noticed that her fingernails weren't perfectly manicured, which showed signs of struggle.

"Look! She's got pockets in her dress!" Angela cried out.

Immediately, Anastasia pulled out a bottle of poison. Horror was spread all over her face.

"Oh my gosh...."

"So, either she was trying to kill someone, or the killer tried to hide the evidence." Jayden murmured.

"But who would she want to kill? and who killed her? And for what reason?" Angela asked all the questions that everyone was thinking.

"What do we do with this information?" Elliot asked. "The others will have found evidence that we need."

"We can't give them the vital information. At least not yet." Alison spoke. "No one else has this information, but us-"

"But we also need to make allies, and figure out who we can trust." Jayden protested.

"How about this, we listen to what they have to say, and if it matches up, we give them a fragment of the information." Elliot concluded.

"The point is that there are three killers, we need information to stay alive. So you your brains wisely." Angela said.

The group dispersed, and Angela, Alison, and Anastasia huddled.

"What's up?" Alison asked

"We need information." Anastasia began. Lilith is our only option. Iridessa won't help us. I know it."

"She might-" Angela began, but stopped when Anastasia gave her a hard glare. "I don't think Iridessa is as cold as you think."

"We can't trust anyone but our group. But we need an insider If we want to stay alive" Anastasia concluded "So go get Lilith and bring her to the right side."

———————————————————

With the other group, Iridessa, Ralph, Phoenix, and Lilith were nervous entering the maids quarters. Lilith gasped at the state of the maids room.
The mattress was flipped, glass was broken everywhere, and papers were in every spot.

"Right, let's get sorting then." Ralph concluded.

Iridessa and Lilith began on the right side of the room, it was Iridessa's time to convince Lilith to join her side.

"So," Iridessa began. "How are you doing... with everything?"

"I'm fine." Lilith said quietly. "I don't know who to trust."

"You can trust-" Iridessa began, but stopped. She knew that wouldn't be enough. "I'm sorry, that was cliche to say. But what I do know is that Anastasia and her group went to the morgue. Which means that they need an insider to stay alive. I think they are going to try and use you."

Lilith's eyes widened in horror. "I don't want anyone to die."

Iridessa's face softened. "I don't either, despite our differences."

Lilith gave a small smile before continuing to search.

"Lilith, all I'm saying is to use your judgement, and stay focused when we aren't together. You're one of my best friends. I don't want to see you die."

Lilith squeezed her friends hand, and stepped on a book.

"Hello." Iridessa said as she called the others.

"It looks like a diary," Phoenix noted.

Lilith opened the book, but realized that every page was torn out, but the remaining pages

"Dear Diary,
Today is my 18th birthday. I'm going to confess my love to my future beloved. I expect we shall run off into the sunset if the stupid maid Sophia will stop getting in the way. Even through she's my sister, I've hated her-"

"Damn." Ralph muttered. "Crazy much?"

Lilith continued reading, "even though he is much older, he has substantial amount of money. I'm tired of being a maid. I want fancy gowns and the best jewels."

"Who is she talking about?" Phoenix wondered. "I mean it could be the owner, but do you think it could be Mr. Anderson?"

"It doesn't say." Ralph said as he skimmed the pages.

"There's more." Iridessa said as she flipped the page.

"Dear Diary,
Well my 18th birthday is ruined. My future lover didn't ask for my company this evening like he usually does. Once a week, he asks for me so that we can play games, especially hangman. Mr. Anderson comforted me about it, and told me I shouldn't-"

"Be so crazy about this dude? Yeah I thought so." Ralph muttered.

"He visits the owner every week (whom I've never seen) and he owns a prestigious company in the city. It turns out, my sister Sophia was with him instead. I'm absolutely furious, and plan to eliminate her in anyway I can."

"Holy shit. This woman's crazy" Phoenix muttered.

Iridessa walked over to the left side of the room and saw another important piece of paper.

"Dear Shaila," Iridessa began. "I know that you are indeed madly in love with me. However, I have decided to end our relationship. It is not honorable of me to string you along when their is no hope. I have chosen a different wife instead. In addition, the owner requests your resignation.
Farewell."

The bell rang, and everyone met back in the parlor.

"I hope you have found evidence." Mr. Anderson began. "Dawn is rising, and we are offering a large breakfast for you to have. During this time, you may share information, or work alone. You have one hour, and then the next phase of the game will begin."

The group dispersed, and Lilith gave a reassuring look to Iridessa.

Ash scanned the crowd for his beloved friend, and found Iridessa sitting by the window. He quickly sat next to her and got straight to business.

"We need to work together, otherwise we aren't going to make it." Ash whispered.

"How can I trust you?" Iridessa said
quietly. "You are a dear friend, but this is life or death."

"Thats right, it is. If I know you, you will protect your friends until the end. If the information that I give you is invalid, then you know I'm the impostor." Ash began.

Iridessa nodded and they began to switch information.

On the other side, Angela, Alison, and Anastasia swarmed around Lilith.

"We need your help." Alison began. "We don't want to die, and I feel like you can help us."

"Why should I trust you?" Lilith began, trying to stay tough when she was actually terrified. "You have bullied me and my friend for ages."

"That's in the past." Anastasia began, as Lilith gave her a questioning look. "Look, there are 3 psychos out there. If we trade information, we will have a chance to live."

Lilith scanned Anastasia's group. "How can I trust you?"

"We know that Shalia was murdered with a rope around her neck. I found a bottle of poison in her pocket." Anastasia whispered.

Lilith's eyes widened. It was true then, that the Shalia was intending to kill her sister Sophia.

"We can see that you know something, Please tell us." Alison whispered

Lilith nodded before telling them the bare minimum. Shalia had a lover, and her sister was also interested in the lover. In addition, she told them that they used to play games together. However, Lilith left out that Shalia was crazy, and that she was planning to kill her sister.

She didn't trust this group, at least not yet. They would have to prove themselves in order to be fully trusted.

Ralph and Elliot were also trading information. However, Ralph had kept out that the sister was crazy, and on a killing spree.

Elliot rubbed his chin in thought. "Why the rope though? It's so weird."

Ralph did wonder about the rope. Sure, ropes were used in cases for murder, but he felt there was something more.

Jayden and Phoenix were also exchanging information. Both were weary of one another, and left quickly. Phoenix was about to walk towards Elliot when the bell rang.

Mr. Anderson and the maids gestured for the guests to follow into a different room. "I trust that your time was resourceful?" He asked. The guests nodded quietly while waiting for him to continue.

"This is the next phase in the game. Each of you see a column and a box on top of the column With each box there is a lock in which you must break the code. Only one will succeed. The one who succeeds will have an advantage in the game. On your devices you will see the alphabet, and a answer area. That is because we are playing Hangman."

Iridessa's heart sunk, and immediately understood the connection.

"A series of riddles will pop up on your device, and with each riddle you must guess a letter. For each riddle, you have 3 guesses. If you fail to guess, a body part will come off of the drawing. If you know the answer, you may guess but you have one shot to get it correct. Otherwise, you forfeit your opportunity to win. The person who solves it, wins after that, you will unlock the box to see what is inside."

The maids then gestured the guests to an individual door so that they can work alone. Iridessa felt the sweat developing on her palms as she opened the door. When she looked back, she only saw Mr. Anderson give an encouraging smile.

That is the end of this chapter!! Who shall solve riddle? Who do you think are the impostors? Who do you think is gonna win? Drop your theories below, but don't reveal if you are an impostor or a crew mate. We want to keep the suspense yes? Have a lovely week!
Emily