Rogan the Detective ONC

The Invitation

A good mystery is like an opulent wine you can't resist tasting.

It entices you with its tantalizing aroma, making it feel like your life depends on savoring its silky flavor. Then, it traps you in its aromatic soul, demanding answers.

It's like that itch you need to scratch that stays constantly out of reach.

At least, that has always been how mysteries felt to me. They were whole new worlds I needed to explore to understand better how they worked and how the different flavors of who they were fit together. I was always the one to shed light on something most people would have preferred to push away into the darkest corner of their attics and hope for someone else to come and deal with it.

However, ever since I was a little boy, I couldn't resist being the light bringer, being that one person who had to discover who stole the last cookie, if Jeremy really cheated on the test, or even if Mrs. Granger was a shapeshifter who secretly turned into a cat at night like my friends believed (unfortunately just a myth perpetuated by those who didn't have better things to do than make up ridiculous stories).

Why am I telling you all this?

So that you understand that when I first heard of Mystery on the Estate, an immersive escape game set in an old Victorian house, I HAD to take part in it. That wasn't an opportunity I could let pass me by because it was a dream come true.

I was more excited about the prospect than a child at its first school day. There was even a spring to my step as I organized my costume to fully immerse myself in the game.

How was I to guess all my dreams would mutate into the most terrifying nightmare? Who could have predicted that such things happen in real life as well?

Truth be told, if I had been a better detective, maybe I could have seen it coming, but as it was, it came as quite a shock to me, as well as to the other unfortunate souls who were hoping for a fun weekend out but got so much more than what they had bargained for.

Confused?

Let me start from the beginning.

That morning, I was a step away from uncovering the Newspaper Thief when something caught my eye. It was a fancy-looking envelope with my name written in golden letters. That was the first thing that caught my eye as I wasn't the type of guy to receive that kind of mail, and at first, I thought it must have been delivered to me by mistake. After all, who could use that elegant and posh writing style to address me? I was just a regular guy, no one special.

Still, I carried the pristine-looking envelope to my dingy apartment as my curiosity peaked.

Imagine my awe and delight when I opened the envelope and found a beautifully written invitation inviting me to the Edgeriver Estate to solve the riddle of the supposedly haunted mansion. At first, I was impressed that they were addressing me and that they knew who I was. But then I realized I was a member of so many online and offline detective clubs that it made sense for some organizers to know me by name.

"Hey, Dereck, dude, you know what happened?" I immediately called up my pal Dereck to brag about my luck.

If only I knew what awaited me.

"What's up?" Dereck said sleepily.

These days, Dereck was always sleepy. What with the new job and a newborn!

"I got an invite to an estate mystery escape type of thing," I shared enthusiastically.

"Good for you," Dereck replied sleepily. "Are you trying to drag me into another one of your crazy detective adventures?"