IDOLS

Chapter 8 - Children's Room

July 3rd, 2023
Greyville, New York
10:45 PM
People remaining: Lia, Mel

Lia: "I think I'm just numb now. Watching three people die right in front of you must do that."
Mel: "I just wanna get out of here, man. We have the idol, let's just go."
Lia: "Agreed."

Lia and Mel exited the master bedroom back into the upstairs hangout, where Mel put the third idol into the last circlular slot.

Mel: "Now what?"

Just then, the lights flickered out.

When they turned back on, a note appeared on the table.

Lia, fed up: "COME ON!! Why are there so many damn notes?!"

Lia snatched the note off the table and read it out loud, so Mel could hear it.

At this point, Margaret's sister Penelope was the only other living person in the house. Margaret found her in the children's room, which she shared with George and Penelope
Instead of killing her, she harnessed the power she was given by the grand spirit and took her soul right out of her body, encasing it in a small triangle-shaped piece of dense metal—

Mel: "That's why there's an extra slot on the board!"

Penelope was left alive, but a hollow shell of who she used to be. The last thing you need to find & collect the triangular piece and put it into its slot on the board.

Mel: "Children's room... we have to find a small triangle in the kids' room?"
Lia: "I guess so."
Mel: "Wait. If our fates have to parallel the family's, does that mean one of us has to lose our soul?"
Lia: "I don't think so. That was just for the people that died. All the note said was that we have to find the triangle and put it into the little slot."
Mel: "Okay, that makes me feel better."
Lia: "Yeah don't worry, you're getting out of this alive."
Mel: "Thank god."

Lia and Mel entered the children's room to see an absolute mess.

Toys were strewn about, blankets were ripped off of the beds, the ladder to George and Penelope's bunk bed was broken in half and on the floor, and Margaret's bed was covered in a mysterious liquid that had been there long enough to dry and get crusty.

Mel: "Ew! The hell? Why is this room the only dirty one we've seen?"
Lia: "Mel, it's a kid's room. It's three kids' room."
Mel: "Well, one of them was probably a teenager at least. Still leaves two kids, though."
Lia: "Let's just look around, get the triangle, and get out of here."
Mel: "Agreed."

It took a while to find it in the mess of stuff, but Lia eventually found the triangle on the top bunk of the bunk bed.

Lia: "Got it!"
Mel: "Let's get the hell out of here."

Lia and Mel went back into the hangout and inserted the triangle into its slot.

The lights flickered once again, coming back on slightly more orange than they originally were.

Lia: "That was weird— SERIOUSLY?! ANOTHER NOTE!!"
Mel: "I'll read it."

The final step of the house's purification is getting nearer by the second.
Once the clock strikes midnight, the kitchen's back door will unlock and allow you to enter the fenced-in backyard where you will find the firepit.
There will be a note at the bottom of the pit, which you will take out and replace it with the idol board, still containing the three idols and the triangle.
Whatever you do, do not open the note until you have done the following step.
You will need to collect as many flammable materials as possible and cover the board completely.
Once you set it ablaze, you will need to select one among you to recite the note as the fire burns.
Depending on how many people are left, the sitting configuration may differ. If there are only two people left, sit across from each other on the long sides of the rectangle. If there are more than two people, you will just need to sit evenly surrounding the firepit.
Make sure you recite the entire thing start to finish, and you cannot read anything before starting.