A/N: Welcome! Im so glad you are here! I hope you will enjoy the chapter! I have planned to host an Among Us game tomorrow at 2 pm CDT. Its first come first serve. You can join the game through my discord link (in my bio) in which we will post the code there. So come and join its going to be lots of fun.

45 years later. 2045

A 67 year old man sat at his computer. It was finally time to tell the world the story of what happened 45 years ago. So many people had wanted to hear the true story, but he wasn't ready.

Now he was.

How would he write the title? There was nothing that could truly express what him and his dearest friends have gone through. An idea came to mind and he immediately jotted down the title.

The Deception Among Us.

45 years ago, 2020.

The alarm clock rang for Iridessa signaling that it was time to wake up for school. She groaned in annoyance, and felt for her phone blindly. Finally, she pressed the snooze button, and buried herself under the covers.

"Dessa, you have to get up." Her sister whispered quietly as she peeped through the door. "Its the last Monday before winter break." Iridessa was the older of the two and she had to driver her younger sister Ivyonna to school.  She reluctantly got out of bed and ran towards the shower as her feet touched the cold floor. It only took her 15 minutes to shower and get dressed. Iridessa was the kind of person to relish the days where she could lay in bed all day and play video games.  When she came bounding down the stairs in her high rise jeans and brown combat boots, Ivyonna was jealous that she could get ready that fast.

"How-"

"Come on Ivy, like you said you cant be late for the last Monday before winter break." She smirked.

The ride was quick, and Ivyonna quickly got out to greet her friends. The University was only a few miles away, and Iridessa felt herself smiling when she saw her friend Lilith.

"Hiii!" Lilith squealed "How was your weekend?"

Iridessa groaned. "It was boring. My stepmom had me busy most of the weekend. Its my 'payment' since she pays for my college."

"You did study for finals right?" Lilith asked worriedly. Iridessa didn't respond. "IRIDESSA MARIE HART!"

"I'm sorry!" Iridessa whined. "I have a lot on my plate."

"What's on your plate?" A high pitched voice said from behind them. "Honestly, I don't think you need anything else on the plate."

Irdessa's face turned into a scowl. She new instantly who's voice that belonged to. It belonged to the spoiled brat named Anastasia Evans. Her father was notoriously rich in the town of New York. According to Anastasia, he was the CEO for some private scientific company, and her Aunt is the founder of the Anastasia makeup brand or something along the lines. To Anastasia's left was Alison Monique Powers, the other rich girl. Her mom was famous for something, but it hasn't stuck with Iridessa on what that is. Finally, Angela Rey stood on the right of Anastasia. She was bubbly, and wanted desperately to be in the light for fame and fortune.

"Look who it is. Witches one and two."Iridessa spoke towards Anastasia and Alison. "I would have thought you would have grown warts by now."

Anastasia scoffed as she walked towards her while holding her Gucci bag. "Please, my skin is flawless. What have you to offer?"

"An intelligent brain." Iridessa said before stalking off leaving the trio speechless.

Across the way, there stood Raphael and Ash sitting at the different tables. One was doing homework, and the other was cloud watching while tossing a tennis ball.

"Dude you know finals are this week right?" Ash asked "Its senior year, we don't want to be stuck another semester in this hellhole."

"Relax. It will be fine." Raphael said calmly. "I always do well under pressure."

Their eyes turned to their other friends, Lilth and Iridessa. Both snickered as they watched the horror appeared on Anastasia's face at Irdessa's remark. They quickly beckoned their friends and suddenly everyone was full of smiles. ]

"That was awesome." Raphael laughed. "If she pissed you off anymore, Im sure you would have broken at least one of her fine nails."

"Can't really afford to do that."Iridessa spoke. She then mimicked Anastasia's voice perfectly. "I go to the best salons and my father pays for all the things that I want and I never have to pay for anything. "

The group gave a slight chuckle before Lilith broke the silence.

"Are you guys read for finals?"

"We'll get there when we get there." Raphael assured them.

"Getting where?" Two male voices caught the groups attention, and the group faced Phoenix and Jayden Taylor, a set of twins.

"We were just talking about finals."Lilith stated before raising her eyebrows. "Have YOU studied for your finals?"

"Yes mom." Phoenix said with a smile.

Iridessa checked her watch, and it was time to get to class. Raphael followed behind her since they were both in the criminal justice department. Before they entered the building, they stopped by their lockers in the Commons Room. (Just pretend I know lockers are only used for high school). A frown appeared on Raphael's face as he noticed the beige and gold sealed envelope.

"What is it?"

"Open your locker." He said. Iridessa had a similar expression.

"How on earth....." She murmured. Suddenly, her cellphone rang, and noticed it was a group call.

"What is even going on?" Jayden asked.

"Lets find out." Iridessa said as she opened the letter.

Dear Iridessa,

You have been invited to stay at the Avebury Manor for a luxurious winter getaway.  In addition, you will have a chance to win a piece of a quarter million dollars. Please arrive on Friday December 10th at 8pm. Attached are a set of directions and a plane ticket to your destination. If you do not attend, there will be consequences.

Best regards,

Mr. Anderson, the Butler of Avebury Manor.

P.S: The owner does not wish to have any extra guests. If you bring extra people, there will be consequences.

The entire group stood in shock as they read their own letters.

"Is this dude serious?" Jayden asked. "This is so sketchy...."

"What happens if we don't go?" Lilith asked.

"I dunno, we could die." Iridessa said sarcastically. "Our families have to go, and who knows what could happen to them."

"Whats this on dying?" Elliot said, peeping over their shoulders to see the letters. His eyebrows knitted together. "You got one too..."

Everyone turned towards Elliot Wright in surprise. "Where did you come from?" Ash squeaked in fright.

"I dunno, I just saw you and just stuck to it." He grinned giddily.

"Right, well we should get to class." Iridessa spoke. "We can discuss this later. "

Iridessa and Raphael made eye contact for they knew that this was something that needed to be solved.

The week flew by, and it was full of procrastination, late night studying, and trying to piece the puzzle to this mystery vacation. Friday arrived, and Iridessa hoped that someone would show up at the airport. Her mind wandered to her sister Ivyonna. She was thankful that her sister was the favorite child. For she would get no cruel punishment. Her stepmother was furious that she was leaving for a winter holiday.

"Fancy seeing you here." Raphael said with a grin. "Are you ready?"

Iridessa gave a weak smile and nodded. They waited a few minutes more before it was time to board their flight. Finally, they quickly got on the plane, and sat in their seat.

"Did you bring precautions?" Iridessa asked.

"Of course I did." Raphael spoke, as he showed his pepper spray. "We can stop at a store on the way."

"Hi guys!" Lilith spoke with a grin, revealing the ray bands that she was wearing. "What precautions are we talking about?"

The two criminal justice majors stared at her in shock.

"Stuff for the trip." Iridessa whispered.

"This will be great for my script." Ash said as he moved his head away from the newspaper.

"Geez i guess we really need to work on being more discreet." Raphael nodded. "Are the Taylor twins coming?"

"Yeah." Lilith nodded. "They mentioned they were getting their own ride"

The flight lasted 5 hours, (this may not be realistic but a girl can dream okay?) and they stared in awe at the city of Vancouver.

"Welcome to Canada, ay mate?" Lilith grinned.

When the 4 of them got off the plane, they were greeted with a limo.

"Um my friend and I need to go to the store." Iridessa said "We can catch up with you later."

"We can stop on the way." The sophisticated man said. "Where do you need to go?"

"To-"

"Walmart!" Lilith said with a grin. "We have to go to Walmart!"

The sophisticated driver was most confused, but agreed regardless.  Quickly, he drove them to Walmart, and all 4 brought in their satchels.

"Thank you sir." Iridessa said. "What shall we call you?"

"Mr. Anderson will do." He said with a smile.

Ash mentioned that the group would be out momentarily, and the butler nodded.

"Why are we at Walmart Lilith?" Raphael asked

"Just because you and Iridessa are criminal justice majors doesn't mean I cant prepare for this mystery. I'm the only nurse here. Without me you could die."

The group stared in shock as Lilith walked inside. Ash quickly followed after, and the group split to gather supplies. They quickly concealed the items within their bags after paying and headed out the door.

The drive to the manor was quiet and uneventful. However, as they got farther and farther away from the city, the group became more anxious. The snow began to heavily fall, and soon the Butler could only see a few feet in front of the car. Finally, the limo pulled up to a lavish mansion.

"Damn." Raphael mumbled. "Must be nice to live here."

To their surprise, Elliot, Phoenix, Jayden and (unfortunately) Alison, Angela, and Anastasia were sitting in the living room.

"Lord give me strength." Iridessa mumbled.

"Thank goodness you are here." Alison complained, "I was afraid that I would have to drag these suitcases up myself."

"Why are we here?" Jayden asked.

Mr. Anderson felt his phone buzz, and handed Jayden another beige and gold envelope. "You will have to discover yourselves. I will be back momentarily, for I must go and help the owner of this house."

This, was the moment that the group had been waiting for. All eyes turned to Jayden to see what the envelope held.

That is the end of Chapter 1! I hope you have had a lovely week, and I will see you next week!

Emily

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