Who Killed Markiplier?

Chapter 1: Poker Night

It was a morning like any other, Alise woke up, got ready for the day, and then went outside in her small yard to check the mail. Upon various other things, bills to pay, unwanted magazines about "great furniture sales" and a bunch of pamphlets, she found a strange envelope... it looked like an invitation and it was sealed with golden wax.

"Who could it be from?" she slowly opened it, reading the message inside it. "Markiplier Manor...?"

Alise widened her eyes, she hadn't heard from Mark in a good while... they'd kept somewhat in touch even after university was over and they'd taken separate paths in life, but after an unfortunate series of events he'd gone completely silent, he'd stopped replying to letters and answering phone calls, which had gotten Alise feeling quite worried and also riddled her with guilt for never being able to pay him a personal visit at his place due to being too busy with her current job as a district attorney.

But this sounded like good news and it filled her with hope! Maybe he'd finally managed to recover from everything that life had thrown at him and was ready to catch up with his friends and rebuild the bridges with a nice Poker night! It was definitely going to be great! And no way she was going to miss out on it! Even if it was on such a short notice, she couldn't just bail on Mark, she still wanted to show him that she cared about their friendship.

Alise went back inside and immediately cancelled all of her plans for the day and began getting ready for the party. She put on some light makeup that complemented her tan skin and hazel eyes, styled her wavy, platinum blonde hair and donned the nicest clothes she could find in her closet, which wasn't saying much, considering she was all about functionality over looks: a cute, skintight shirt and dress pants combo and pointed shoes to tie it all together. She put her essentials in a purse and got out of her home just in time... she'd probably be at his place just a bit before 12 pm.

The drive up to Markiplier Manor always felt like something out if this world, it was like diving several decades into the past... his house was a fancy castle up on a hill, isolated from other houses. It was a truly beautiful place, but made it really difficult to head there often, especially if you lived several miles away.
Alise glanced over at her wristwatch "Gosh I hope I won't be late-" it was almost midday.

Finally, she pulled up to the driveway just in time and hurried out of her car, locking the doors and speed-walking towards the door, until she noticed an odd man heading inside too.

Hearing the clacking of Alise's shoes on the path, the man turned around "Oh, bully! And here I thought I was gonna be the last guest to arrive" he greeted, chuckling a bit.

"Good morning, sir, I am Alise T. Vermont, but you may simply call me Alise, and you are...?" she asked, looking at the man from top to bottom. He wore some sort of military uniform and a peculiar pair of glasses, but surely what stood out the most was his glorious mustache.

"My friends call me the Colonel, you're welcome to do the same should it please you, but uh... after you" he said in a cheerful and warm tone, stepping aside to let Alise walk in first, which got a small smile out of her, he was certainly a gentleman.

As soon as she got in, she was welcomed by the butler "Ah, bonjour! Welcome to Markiplier Manor, your invitation please" he politely asked, and Alise handed him the envelope. He read it and nodded in approval "Very good, very good. Right this way... good luck at the table tonight, I shall fetch you a drink forthwith"

"Thank you, sir" Alise muttered, looking around and taking in all the pompous decor, the host certainly didn't mind to flaunt his wealth, that was for sure. She kept looking around until she finally saw a familiar face, it was Damien! The city's mayor and her friend since high school. They'd been working together quite often as of late, but it was nice to see him in a more informal context.

He seemed to be talking with another man, but when he saw Alise approaching he turned around, grinning "Oh! There you are, old friend, how are you settling into your new office?" he asked, briefly wrapping her into a nice hug.

"Good afternoon, Damien! It's good to see you, new office is alright, it'll definitely get some time to get used to though" Alise giggled, hugging back before letting go.

The mayor smiled "Well, I'd figured, but take your time, there's no one I would rather have alongside me to protect this great city of ours"

The attorney felt honored to hear those words coming from her friend and couldn't help but smile back.

"Now, I'll see you at the table soon, but try not to rob me blind again!" he chuckled "We'll catch up" Damien said, before walking away and resuming his talk with the unknown man.

Alise wandered off as well, exploring the manor and glancing around, until she accidentally, nearly made her way towards the kitchen, at which point she suddenly got a ladle pointed just a few inches away from her face, causing her to flinch.

"If you're looking for hors d'oeuvre, I'll get them when I'm good and ready... and STAY OUT OF MY KITCHEN!" the chef shouted.

"E-excuse me?!"

"NOW now, let's not be rude to our guest." the butler called out, having witnessed the scene. Alise made a mental note to not bother the chef unless extremely necessary and mouthed a 'thanks' to the butler, who then handed her a glass of champagne.

"I'm so sorry about my colleague... here's your champagne, enjoy your evening" he said grinning a bit.

"Oh it's fine!" Alise reassured him, taking her drink and letting him walk away. She couldn't explain why, but the little grin the butler gave her felt... odd. "Ah whatever... I'm probably just imagining things" she muttered.

She didn't have time to think about that any further anyway, because soon after the butler had left, none other than Mark stepped down the staircase and Alise's eyes lit up. She thought he'd look a lot more tired, after all those months of complete silence... but he looked perfectly fine.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all! My name is Markiplier, thank you for joining me on this auspicious evening... so good to be surrounded by such close and trusted friends" he greeted everyone, looking briefly towards Alise and smiling slightly more. "Now this evening, it's not all about the poker, it's not all about me. It's about you, so drink up and be merry! Life is for the living! And who knows? I could be dead tomorrow"

That remark got the attorney a bit nervous at first, especially when it was accompanied by a weirdly exaggerated laughter, but she shook her head, Mark must've been joking, of course he was! Even if... a Poker night on such short notice... after months of silence... really did feel odd, but Alise trusted Mark, so she tried to chase those thoughts away, taking a sip of her champagne.

All that Alise would remember about that evening the following morning, was just a bunch of flashes of random memories. Playing Poker with everyone, the mayor doing a keg stand, more Poker, and finally Damien patting her cheek while she was down on the ground and then bringing her to a room at 1:30 am to take a rest. Everything else was a total and complete blur.

And with that, she fell asleep.