Holthum Manor

The Reveal

"Oh my god!" Sadie screamed as she approached the corpse laying on the wet grass. "You've gotta believe me, it's not what you think!" Fern said frantically. Martin stood up and yanked him to his feet holding his hands behind his back. "Where's the letter opener Sadie gave you?" Martin asked emotionlessly. "I dropped it when you tackled me." Fern said pointing to the ground. The rain washed the dripping blood from his pointed finger. "Here, take this." Martin said extending his arm, handing the flashlight to Henry. He took the flashlight and searched around the butlers body, brushing his shoe left and right in the grass. "Got it." He said as his shoe hit a silver handle, exposing the edge of the blade through the glass. Water drops ricocheted off the edge of the blade as he picked it up and tucked it into his waistband. "Hear me out." Fern pleaded looking at the group. "Let's go!" Martin demanded with a shove pushing him forward as they walked back towards the manor.

"Just hear me out!" Fern pleaded, looking over his shoulder. Martin pushed him to the floor, sliding him across the drying blood streak. "Martin, let's hear him out." D exclaimed stepping in between them. "What happened Fern?" Madelaine asked. "I was keeping watch at the docks like we planned but something flew past me and landed in the water which made me drop the letter opener. I tried to signal for you guys but when I went to get on the boat somebody called out my name from the trees along the shoreline so I bolted back towards the manor. I forgot the power was off so I ran back inside and tried turning the outside lights on but obviously, they didn't work. I ended up hiding in the laundry room behind a room divider hoping they wouldn't find me. As I waited in the dark I heard somebody come in and open one of the washers that sat in there. I peaked to see who it was and one of the butlers stood before me doing laundry. I went to call out for him but as I took a breathe to catch my words someone else entered the room and grabbed him, dragging him out of the room. So, I waited longer." Fern explained with visible distress. "That would explain the gold pin in the laundry." Sasha said looking at Henry. "Then how did you end up outside covered in blood? And where did Trever's body go" Sadie chimed in.

"I waited there for what felt like forever but eventually I decided to go for it and get out the house. I ran down the hallway and went back outside through the conservatory. I went back to the docks but noticed the boat was gone. I don't remember what exactly went through my mind when I saw that but I grabbed the letter opener and ran around the side of the manor. I went all the way to where the plane landed to see if anybody was there but unfortunately, nobody was. I decided to come back to the manor to face my fate and that's when I found the butlers body on the grass. I tried to help him but by the time I had arrived he was already gone. Which is right about the time you guys found me outside." Fern finished, looking at the group with frowned eyebrows. "What about Trever's body?" Henry said with has hand on his chin. "I don't know anything about that." Fern said with a confused expression.

"I don't believe him." Martin said with menace on his tongue. He grabbed the letter opener from Henry's belt and lunged towards Fern. "Martin, No!" Madelaine yelled jumping towards him. An echo rung throughout the manor as the light beamed to life absorbing the darkness that filled the room. Claps could be heard approaching from atop the staircase. "What's going on?" Sadie asked with fright. "Congratulations!" A familiar voice said as the claps came to an end. "What the fuck?" D said with his gaze at the railing along the second floors ledge. Trever Holthum stood at the top of the steps with his cane under his left arm and a smile across his face. "Surprise!" He said with chuckle. "Would somebody like to explain what the fuck is going on?!" Martin said with a lost tone.

"Now I know what you all must be thinking." Trever said slowly taking steps down the staircase. "What's going on? I thought you were dead? Am I Dreaming?" He carried on still walking down the stairs. "Let me explain." He said with a deep breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs, stepping off the last step onto the floor. "You have all just been in your first major role!" Trever said throwing his arms up in a Y shape with his cane grasped in one hand. Everyone looked at each other confused then back to him. "What is that supposed to mean?" Sadie asked cautiously while placing her hands on her hips. "Gladly." Trever mumbled with a closed smile. "Has anyone put much thought into the opportunity behind coming here? A free 10 day vacation with a world renowned producer who has made some of the most recognizable films ever. Which if my knowledge serves me correctly, you all got emails about this chance from your agents. Correct?" He said while pacing back and forth stopping to look at Madelaine. "Yea, so?" She said with bewilderment. "I plan to retire very soon but I wanted to make one more movie that stood out from the rest. One that would be so different that it would be talked about for decades from now." He continued while still pacing back and forth, his cane clattering with each step.

"That is where you all come in." He added swaying his arm in the groups direction. "I brought you all here with 1 objective in mind, to make the best murder mystery movie that there has ever been. So I thought to myself, how do I get a group of new faces together and not only make sure they can act, but to also have a group that has not much in common to add drama and intrigue and...romance." He uttered pointing his cane at Sadie and D. "Once you had all arrived there wasn't much work for me to do but to sit back and let the work be done itself. Our meeting showed me not only could you guys act when put in certain scenarios with one another, but also that some of you appeared as if you were better than some of the others. With those 2 things having been seen first hand I knew you were the right group for the job. From there I let you guys get more comfortable and settled in with one another as well as the manor to loosen your security and let your guard down, just enough to become vulnerable to one another.

Whilst you were all at dinner or during the nights when you slept I was having the obstacle set up that might I add you all followed better then I could have hoped for." Trever finished taking a seat on the edge of a step. "So you planned this whole thing?! The notes, the goose chase, the BOAT!" Martin clamored, his voice getting higher in volume the more he spoke. "Why yes, of course. Now I will admit, when you guys left and didn't find the keys on me I was a tad flustered but when you came back and found them, I knew my my little bird could get you on the right track." He said giving Fern a smirk. "Your little bird?" Henry asked narrowing his eyed. "Yours truly." Fern said with a shrug, giving everyone a smile. "I knew it!" Martin announced with a pointed finger. "It seems so obvious now that I think about it." Sasha said to herself thinking back to him mentioning the kitchen, volunteering to watch the docks and sitting with Trever when they did their lessons. "If you had everything set up then why did the boat float away from the dock?" She added. "Yeah, we could have died!" D added with exasperation. "Ah, yes, the boat. I had the captain on board with multiple professional divers and doctor's in case anything bad happened." He said with ease. "We still could've died!" D said in disbelief. 

"Be assured, none of you would have been killed." Trever said lifting from the step he was sitting on. "Now the good news for you all." He stated while starting to pace back and forth in front of them again. "Given that your agents had the contracts looked over, I take it none of you read too much of it?" He quizzed. "Not really." Sadie said with a slow pace. "I thought as much. Thank's to your participation in coming here and being apart of this film. You will all be receiving a payment that i'm sure you will each find more than fair. Plus, given that it's been produced and created by me it will help you all become a more solid name in film. Especially with it being unscripted and you just being yourself, that will help in your next endeavors" He finished with a grin. "I just have one question. How is this going to be a film if there wasn't any camera's or microphones?" Madelaine questioned. "In the coming week's of your arrival I had the whole Manor installed with hidden cameras and an extensive audio setup. That is of course outside of the boat and when you all were outside which, had it's own set of challenges with the weather being quite frankly a pain in the ass tonight. We had camera crews and a new form of sound cancelling audio equipment following you all when you were not in the manor so, we'll see how that works out." Trever said with apprehension.

"If I may ask, exactly how much are we getting paid for this?" Sasha asked with intrigue. "I'm glad you asked. I decided that I'd be generous with compensation given this will be my last movie. You will each be receiving $750,000 for your work here tonight. "Oh my." Madelaine said with a gasp as she placed her hand on her chest. "Now if you'll excuse me, It's been a long night and i'm tired. Help yourselves to anything you'd like." Trever finished before walking up the staircase and disappearing from their view.