Seven

Chapter 5- The Clues

The room seemed to grow colder as two of the ghostly butlers lead Jackson away through the dining room. He didn't even try to fight them, much to Mario's surprise. He had to sense something bad was going to happen to him. He was clearly nervous.

They wouldn't just send him back home, that would be too easy.

"For those of you who remain, please listen carefully to the following instructions: there are three clues for each player hidden throughout the house. The player number will be printed on the front-facing side of the card and the clue itself will be printed on back. You may not, as you know, assist other players. You can, however, steal other player's clues, keeping them from finishing the game by the designated time," Dr. Vincent said after Jackson was gone.

Everyone silently looked around and each other.

"But you said we weren't in competition!" Brandi whined.

"Again, he can't hear you," Winston sighed, rolling his eyes at her.

"However, you may not keep another player's clue," Dr. Vincent continued. "You may hide it elsewhere, but you may not hold onto it. Everyone must complete the game to move on to the next round. Those finishing with the best times will be granted a head start for the next game.  Even if you do not finish first, you must finish the game. Failure to retrieve all three clues in the designated time frame will result in that player's elimination. The game will start in exactly one minute. You have until sunrise to find all three clues. Bona Fortuna."

With that, the monitors turned off and everyone stood around in stunned silence.

"The first game will begin in thirty seconds," Winston called out after a while.

Mario pulled himself together, taking a deep breath and looking around the foyer, coming up with a strategy. He knew he should be more concerned with escaping, but he feared what could happen to him if he didn't make it out of here by sunrise and hadn't found all three of his clues. He needed them in his hands before he could focus on his escape. That would at least be his safety net, he thought.

"Twenty seconds," Winston said, making Mario's heart beat even faster.

Tiny beads of sweat began to accumulate across his forehead, his breaths were fast and unsteady. He was nervous, but he didn't know exactly why yet. He was confident he wouldn't be eliminated. He was pretty good at savaging, after all. He just had to keep himself together long enough to get his hands on his clues.

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One," Winston called out. "You have until sunrise to retrieve your three clues and return here, to the foyer."

Mario wasted no time. He hurried up the stairs to his own room first. They were never told where, specifically, to look for the clues, just in the mansion- meaning they could be anywhere. It was a big house with an even bigger yard.

Where would he even start?

Mario noticed something sticking out of the plant pot next to his bedroom's door. As he moved closer, he saw the number 2 printed on a small,  white card. Mario gave it some thought until he remembered Brandi was player 2. He looked over his shoulder and when he didn't see anyone coming his way, he snatched the card out and placed it in his back pocket, intending to hide it later.

He opened his bedroom door and looked around. For reasons he couldn't quite understand, he felt drawn to the bed. He started pulling off the covers and sheets, tossing the pillows to the floor until he found a small, leather bound book.

He picked it up and examined it closely. There was nothing written on the cover, but when he opened it up, he saw the rules of the game listed in numerical order, one through seven.