The Five Rooms

Chapter 3

The wooden floor boards creak every once and a while beneath our feet as we make our way slowly through the large house. We are close to sure we have checked every room by now, but still nothing. We have seen flashes of people, most run off at the sight of Aria in her dark clothing, some give a dangerous look but keep looking for their own clue. I don't think anyone is really all for the killing yet.

That is until my head starts to vibrate.

"One dead." That monotone, recorded voice rings through my head.

At first I'm confused, but after a second I realize what had happened. One person died. One person was killed. There are only fourteen of us now. Someone actually killed someone. In the first round. I know my shock must have shown on my face when I look over at Aria, and see her looking at me, a look of more 'are you okay?' rather than my 'someone just died here! This is for real! Look' on her face.

"This really isn't a joke is it? People are actually going to die here aren't they?" I ask aloud, not really to her, but just the silent air around us.

At this moment I wanted to be anywhere else then here. The hairs on my neck have risen and don't seem to want to go back down. My nerves and senses are on high alert as I search around. I can't help but be skittish about this. Skittish is basically my middle name.

After fully searching the upstairs, twice, we quietly move down the hard wood stairs and start the search in what must have been the living room. Familiarity pulls at me slightly. The place seems like a place I should know but, it probably only felt that way because of the pictures I had seen earlier. One, at least, must have been taken down here.

After pushing away that thought I started to look around the medium sized living room. It looked comfy. Soft, beige walls, a big, black couch, a few little, wooden side tables along with a glass coffee table as well. A cushioned rocking chair, and two windows. Both, yet again are covered in think white blinds, just as the window in the boy's room had been. A bunch of Knick Knacks cover the mantle above the small stone fireplace on the left wall. No grandfather clock.

I start to fiddle again, accept this time it was with my large jacket sleeves, and finally look back over at Aria who seemed to have been done long before I was finished searching the room. She comes over to me slowly.

"What took you so long? I already searched the next two hallways." She tells me.

I shrug, not exactly wanting to explain that I was a very observant person. It seems kind of like a secret weapon in this... game... we're involuntarily playing.

Aria shakes her head and rolls her eyes. It must have been obviously I wasn't telling her something.

"Whatever. Obviously there's no clocks here. Let's keep moving." She says simply, turning around and starting to walk away, no longer pausing to wait for my answers.

I nod, internally smiling at the fact that I've finally gotten my lack of social skills through to her, even though she is already turned around and can't see it.

The next hallways and rooms we check all came out the same way. Empty. This whole house has been searched and not one ordinary clock even came up, never mind a grandfather clock.

I sigh as we pass the comfy-looking living room again and willingly collapse onto the black sofa. There is a television across the room from me, but I don't want to turn it on. I doubted it would work anyways in this stupid place.

I try to think about the clue. A grandfather clock. Where else could I find a grandfather clock? If it wasn't physically in the house, where else could it be?

I let my mind take that question away and begin to analyze it in my head. I'm normally pretty good at it since my mind has a unique way of thinking about things. Call it an artist's talent. In order to be a good artist you must be creative, which means your mind must have a creative way of thinking. Once you look through your artist's perspective, things can be seen differently, and that's exactly what we need right now.

It takes a few minutes for my mind to think it through and finally sink into a unique idea as to where the grandfather clock could be, but when it finally does I stand straight up.

"Aria!" I say in a slight whisper, though there is slight excitement in my voice. "I think I figured it out!"

Aria makes her way over to me quickly but quietly. "Really? How?" She asks me.

I nod, something that could be close to a smile comes to my lips. "If the grandfather clock isn't physically here then how else could it be here?" I ask her, wanting to see if she could guess it herself.

Aria looks like she starts to think for a second before stopping and saying, "just tell me." Obviously thinking wasn't one of her strong suits.

"It would have to be here is some other form." I say slowly, hoping she'd catch on.

When her face doesn't shine with realization I sigh a little, hoping I wouldn't regret my decision to team with her. "Paintings?"

Aria's face finally lights with the knowledge I just gave her. "Wow, you're smart, you know."

I don't say anything to that compliment, because from what I can remember, I don't get them very often so I don't really know how to react.

Instead I say, "Come on. I think I know a place that we'll find it." I say simply and start to lead us over to the wooden stairs to go back up.