IDOLS

Chapter 5 - Office

July 3rd, 2023
Greyville, New York
7:45 PM
People remaining: Sebastian, Lia, Mel, Chloe

Sebastian, Lia, Mel, and Chloe headed to the downstairs office, which they were directed to by the note Lia had found.

As they all walked down the stairs, they noticed how much cleaner the house seemed with the lights on.

Maybe it was the lights having supernatural abilities and they restored all decay. Maybe they had somehow been transported back in time to a point before the house was abondoned. They didn't know.

Sebastian: "Office. Idol 2. Let's go."
Chloe: "One of us is gonna die and it is not gonna be me."
Mel: "Me either."
Lia: "I don't think any of us wanna die. It's just something we have to do."
Chloe: "I guess so."

Mel pushed open the office door, revealing a beautifully decorated room, with what seemed to be the most up-to-date technology for the 1940s, with an unusual addition in a large paper trimmer, with a large, curved, blade.

Lia: "The cleanliness is kinda spooky."
Chloe: "You can say that again."
Sebastian: "Let's just skip ahead and look for notes and stuff."
Mel, annoyed: "Impatient much?"
Sebastian, sarcastically: "Oh, I'm sorry for not wanting to take forever and get this sacrifice over with."

The four of them began to search for clues.
- Sebastian dug through the desk.
- Lia looked in the filing cabinet.
- Mel looked under the paper trimmer table.
- Chloe skimmed through the bookshelf.

Sebastian found an envelope in one of the desk drawers.

Sebastian: "Oh boy. I got an envelope."

Lia, Mel, and Chloe surrounded him, trying to see what was there.

Sebastian read the message on the envelope.

Welcome to the office, purifiers. Open this envelope for more info. Read the note before you take out the cards.

Sebastian took the note out of the envelope.

The office. Alexandra Watson was an aspiring author, but John was disapproving.
Before they could work things out and see past each others' differences for their childrens' sakes, Margaret had made her deal with the grand spirit and began disposing of her family members, one by one.
Margaret found her mother in her office and hastily sliced her head off with the paper trimmer.
Your job is to divvy out the index cards in the envelope. The house knows all, so there are enough cards for each of you to have one. No more, no less.
Two cards have squares. If you draw a card with a square, you play no specific role.
One card has a triangle. If you draw this card, you will play the role of Margaret and choose someone among you and sacrifice them.
One card has a circle. If you draw this card, you will play the role of Alexandra and will be forcibly killed, no matter what everyone else's cards are.
You will each draw your cards and keep the symbol to yourself.
Once everyone has drawn their card, you will reveal your cards in alphabetical order based on your first names.
You may begin.

Mel: "Oh god. What does this mean?"
Sebastian: "Pretty straightforward to me."
Mel: "I know, I'm just scared, you know?"
Lia: "Let's just get this over with."

They each blindly took a card from the envelope and revealed their symbols in alphabetical order.
- Chloe: Square. Nothing.
- Lia: Square. Nothing.
- Mel: Triangle. Margaret.

Before Sebastian could reveal his symbol, Mel had revealed that she got Margaret's card.

Mel: "What does this mean, I have to kill one of you?"
Chloe: "Yeah, since the Margaret card was shown first, you choose who dies."
Mel: "I don't wanna do that!"
Sebastian: "Mel, you have to."

Mel stood thinking.

Chloe: "Hurry up, Mel!"

Mel snapped. After everything she had said and done, she was done. Mel grabbed Chloe and threw her into the paper trimmer and slammed the blade down on her neck, completely severing her head.

Chloe couldn't even scream before she was dead.

Lia, Sebastian, and Mel stood in disbelief for a moment.

The second idol gave off a glow, signaling it was in the filing cabinet. Lia opened the drawer it was in and retrieved it.

Mel: "Oh. My. God."