Howd'ya Do? (Sequel to "It's a Trivia Murder Party"!)

Macie

One minute, I'm asleep, and the next, Rena is screaming for me to wake up.  Startled, I sit up in bed next to my girlfriend and immediately see that she's hysterical and in tears.  I grab her hands and repeatedly tell her to relax, and that the van crash is behind us now.  At the sight of her frantically shaking her head, though, I know that something else is up.

"Rena, Rena please tell me what's wrong," I beg, squeezing her hands tightly.  

She takes deep breaths, but the tears are still spilling down her cheeks, and she's now coughing from the amount of crying she's done.  I still have no idea what's wrong until there's a knock on the door.  I kiss Rena's forehead before answering to see Marcus standing there, his tall, muscular stature slumped and shaking.

"We made a mistake," he rasps, his brown eyes looking everywhere but at me.  I stare at him, confused, until Rena finally approaches us.  Her face is still red and her eyes are still brimming with tears, but she's able to finally explain to me what's happening.

"We got a wakeup call," she whispers to me, grabbing my hand. "A wakeup threat, actually.  We were told to go down to the first floor immediately, or else."

"Then we should probably go," I respond, unsure how to react. "It's probably just... an inspection?"

Marcus and Rena both stare at me doubtfully, but trail after me as I lead the way to the elevator.  The ride down is somehow even more silent than the awkward one up from the night before.  When we arrive at the first floor, everyone else is already there, including a man I've never seen before.  He's middle-aged with dark blonde hair brushing the back of his neck, light facial hair, green eyes, and a forest green polo with khakis, a tie, a cowboy hat, and a badge attached to his shirt.  He's a sheriff, if it wasn't incredibly obvious already.  I notice that he fidgets with a silver band on his ring finger as his gaze flicks from person to person.

"Took you all long enough," a distorted voice comments dryly, scaring the f*ck out of everyone.  The owner of the voice slowly emerges from the shadows.

It's the same guy from the front desk, but now I can see that he wears a slightly red-stained gray face mask, and his eyes let off a faint strange red glow.  Odd.

"Welcome to Trivia Murder Party!  ...Well actually, it's Trivia Murder Party 2, but most of you won't really need to know all of that.  Anyways, you've unknowingly checked into my family's old murder hotel!  I sure hope you're all good with trivia, because that's your best chance of being the sole person making it out alive," he says.

"WHAT?!" Tori screeches.

"Hang on, this could just be... an immersive experience," Sora tries.

"Immerse in this, motherf*cker." The guy pulls out a gun.  

Tori screams even louder.

"Okay, let's dial it down, sweetheart.  I can't have you losing your voice before the game even starts.  Wait, I totally forgot to introduce myself!  You can call me [REDACTED]," the guy says.

"Well, [REDACTED], you're under arrest for-" The sheriff guy reaches for what I think is supposed to be a gun, but as soon as his face pales a few shades, I realize that his holster is empty.

[REDACTED] laughs.  "I've been murdering authority figures for years now, my guy.  Your gun has been confiscated.  And so has your ID, Sam Brown."

I see the pained expression on the sheriff's- Sam's- face, and he lets his shoulders slump as he glances from student to student.  The guilt radiating from him is overwhelming; I can tell that he wants to protect us.