Holthum Manor

The Murder

*BANG* *CRASH*

Sadie sat up in her bed, her heart racing. "What was that?" she said as she turned, letting her feet hang off the edge. Her toe nails painted white. The smooth edges of her feet turning a slight red from the cold. She slid a pair of slippers on and left her room heading down stairs in search for where the crash came from. "Oh my god!" She shouted at the sight in front of her. Trever laid on the floor laying in a pool of blood, D standing beside him in a white t shirt and night pants. "What did you do?!" Martin asked horrified as he came up beside Sadie. "I didn't do anything, I just found him like this!" D said with his voiced raised. "What's going on?!" Madeline asked as she ran up in shock, looking at all the blood on the floor. "I don't know we just got here." Henry said bending down to Trever's corpse.

"Don't touch it!" Sasha shouted holding back throw up. "It looks like he was stabbed...A lot." D said looking down at multiple tears in Trever's beige robe exposing his wounds. "Whoever wanted him dead, made sure he was dead." Fern said as he looked at the corpse from a far. "If you didn't do it D, then who did?" Sasha asked uneasily. "If I knew that I would have already called the police. I cant get a signal to call anybody." He said, his frustration clear. "They still have to be here then." Madeline said looking around at her surroundings, closing her plaid robe to cover her white undershirt. "What do we do?" She asked. "There's nothing to do but find who killed him, I don't plan on being next. I'm not dying in this place." Sadie said distressed. "That sounds dangerous. If he did this to him. What will they do to us?" Sasha said pointing down at Trever's body. "Do you have any better ideas?" Sadie asked irately. Sasha stared off silently, not responding.

"Guy's, look." Sasha said, walking over to a bloodied knife stuck in the front door. "Don't touch it. There might be fingerprints on it." Fern said. "How are we going to check the prints if we have nothing to do that with?" D questioned. "I don't know! I've never dealt with something like this before." He snapped back. "Let's all just take a deep breathe and calm down." Martin said taking a deep breath. "Footprints." Sadie said loudly, pointing to prints leading by his head to down the hallway. She followed along the prints with everybody behind her to a closed door at the end of the hall. "That's my room!" D said alarmingly as Sadie opened the door . "If you aren't the killer, then why are the shoes in your room?" Sadie asked backing away from him. "Why would I kill him? I came here to better myself like the rest of you! Not only that, I would have had to murder him, race in here. Get cleaned up and changed. Then run back out to the body before anybody got there! That's ridiculous!" D said clearly bothered. "You have been an asshole since the first day you got here." Henry said demeaning him.  "Let's tie him up until we can get this thing figured out!" Martin suggested.

Martin tackled him to the floor, pinning him down. "I am telling you, I am not the killer! I'm being set up here!" He protested as he was being held down, not fighting back. "Save it. We don't want to hear it. I'll go look for something to tie him up" Fern said, leaving the room. "Now what do we do?" Madeline asked. "I guess we look for proof that he did it." Sasha said unsure. "This is all I could find but It'll have to do." Fern said rushing back into the room with a thin rope in his hands. He handed the rope to Martin and tied his arms between the bed frame. "I'm telling you, I didn't do this." D said. "This room is neat. It's like he hasn't touched anything." Sasha said looking around the room. "I'll check the bed and nightstands." Henry said walking over. "I'll check the dresser and desk." Fern said as he started opening the drawers. "Wait, I found something." Madelaine said while grabbing a piece of paper from his suit case. She looked at the white piece of paper. "Looks like a grocery list." She said looking at the list.

"New knives, cutting board, milk, chicken, Paprika, bell peppers, and salsa." She read a loud.

"Don't be stupid! I wouldn't kill anybody. Hell, I wouldn't even hurt a fly." D said frustrated. "I don't believe you." Fern said. "Believe what you want. You'll see." D said glaring at him. "This is getting us no where." Madeline said walking over to the window. "We cant just wait for someone to fly in and get us? What if he breaks free and comes for the rest of us?" Martin said. "Maybe D isn't the killer, maybe it's you!" Fern shouted in anger. "Hey! Hey! We are supposed to be working together! Not against one another." Madeline said. "Let's not act like children here. We need to try and work as a team if were going to get through whatever is going on here." She stated while eyeing them both.

"Sorry, this is just overwhelming." Fern said sincerely. "Maybe we should split up into groups." Sasha stated. "If we split up, we can cover more ground and still be in small groups to protect one another." She continued. "Going into groups feels like a bad idea." Sadie tried to reason. "It's better than waiting around." Sasha said to comfort her. "Fine." She boldly exclaimed. "Martin, Fern, You guys come with me to search the east wing of the house." Sasha directed. "Henry and Madelaine, you guys search the west wing of the house. We'll meet back here in an hour. Watch the time. Sadie, stay here and watch him." She added before turning and leaving the room. "Fine." Sadie said as she sat in a chair across from the bed D was tied to. Everybody followed behind Madelaine, heading separate ways down the hallway.

"I didn't kill him Sadie." D said looking over at her. "It does seem odd that the footprints lead to your room but...I don't know. Part of me wants to believe you but the other part of me isn't so sure." She said lacking confidence "During our scene earlier, I pictured my ex wife. 4 years ago I found her in bed with another man. The day after that she packed up all of her shit and left. I haven't seen or heard from her since." D said with hurt rolling off his tongue as he stared at the smooth wooden floor under him. "I'm sorry." Sadie said with sadly. The room grew still for a minute. "My mom died of cancer a few years back. My dad leaves most months of the year to go on business trips leaving me to spend most of my time alone. We never really talk about my mom or, anything really. He sends me money and then heads out the door. It's like he thinks he can buy my love to make up for all the time that he's gone but...it really bothers me." She said with a tear streaming down her cheek, dropping onto her pink pajamas.

"My dad was the same way. I know how hard it can be." D said looking at her still. She stood up and walked over, taking a seat on the floor in front of him. "Did You kill Trever?" She said with sympathy as she looked into his green eyes. "No, I didn't." He said as he looked back into her eyes. "I wouldn't ever kill anybody." He added. "I don't think you did this." She said softly as she stood up and walked over to the desk. She grabbed a letter opener from the desk and walked back over to D. "What are you doing?" He said nervously, looking up at her. "I'm sorry." She said, raising the knife up. "Wait!" He yelled as she swung the knife down, cutting the rope that was holding his hands together. He held his eyes shut, not moving for a moment before opening them to see his hands were now free. "I'm sorry that we tied you up." She said, placing the letter opener in her pocket. "It wasn't your idea so don't worry about it." D said, pulling the ropes off his wrists then standing to his feet.

"Thank you." He said, rubbing his wrists. "Don't make me regret it. I wouldn't want to have made the wrong decision." She said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "I do have a question though." She said, turning and looking at him. "The other night after dinner, I saw you open a bookshelf in the library and go inside of it. What was that all about?" D looked at her momentarily before opening the bottom drawer of the desk and pulling a note out of it. "This was in the hall when we all arrived the other day." He said carrying it over and taking a seat next to her on the bed. "I think it might've been meant for one of the butlers but, I let my curiosity get the best of me." He finished with. "Weird." Sadie muttered quietly. He leaned back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "We came to learn how to act for movies only to feel like we ended up in one." He said sarcastically. Sadie chuckled then laid onto her side next to him, leaning off of her elbow. "Why were you so quiet and blunt when you got here?" She asked with intrigue. "I have a hard time letting anyone in due to things that have happened in the past, as you now know." D said looking over at her. "Yeah but, You gotta let people in sooner or later. If you don't your going to end up very lonely." She said, placing her hand on his stomach.

They looked into each others eyes before leaning into one another locking their lips together. Her hand slowly moving down his chest before climbing onto his lap and removing her shirt as he embraced her before continuing to kiss.

-20 minutes later-

"That was amazing." She said as she lay across his chest then kissing him once more. She removed the blanket from her and stepped out of bed. D looked over admiring her naked body as she grabbed her clothes off of the floor and started to put them on. "Thank you for trusting me." He said with a smile on his face. "Don't mention it." She said as she slid her shirt over her head the over arms. Footsteps could be heard approaching from down the hallway. "What are we going to tell them as to why i'm not tied up anymore?" D said as he rushed out of bed to put his clothes on. "The truth. It's the right thing to do if were going to all work together." She said as the door pushed open.