The Massacre Mansion

Chapter 13- Sunday: Hide and Seek

       "For this round we will be playing a common game I'm sure you've all played in your childhoods known as Hide-and-Seek, but there's a twist. You will be playing for your lives. The first person I find will be eliminated, so you must hide well. As I'm sure you've all figured out, I have cameras watching your every move. So to make things a bit more fair, I will shut off select cameras. You will not know which cameras I have disabled, nor the ones that I have deactivated the audio. If you are wise, you'll figure out a way of communication that discludes speaking. I will give you fifteen minutes to find hiding places, but once that time is up the match will start. Once you're down to five players I will make an offer for (Y/n) once again. Now, any questions?"

        "How do we know you'll stay true to your word? You tend to be dishonest," I pointed out. I didn't believe for a second that he would shut off his beloved cameras, or at least not find a loophole.

         "Oh how you wound me, my Little Lady. I already said that I'd never lie to you. Now if these buffoons weren't with you, that'd be a different story. But hear me out, I swear upon my mother's grave that I'll stay true to my word. Any other questions?"

       "Why is Luke working for you?" Caspian voiced. This was surprising news for me for I had known nothing of Luke's whereabouts or what his case was. I don't know how they found that out.
        
          "I know no one by the name of 'Luke' that's working for me. Oh dear, you seemed to have confused my angel as well."

        "While you were gone we watched the video that Lidia had, and Luke appeared stating he would get revenge on Olivander," Mark explained. It was still shocking, but it made more sense now. I had forgotten that Lidia had that recorder on her when she....died. Just thinking about it got me emotional once more. She died only a few hours ago, but it felt like ages. So much had happened.

          "Hmm, I'll look into that. If that's all then the fifteen minutes begin...Now."

          With his final words the deep toll of the grandfather clock signified it being two o'clock. We only had fifteen minutes to find a hiding place. If luck was on our side we would pick a room that had the camera and audio both disabled. Sadly, the chances of that seemed very slim.
          "So...should we stick together?" Lewis questioned. 
          "Of course. We can't leave anyone alone, or split off in small groups. There's safety in numbers, and our numbers are dwindling," Mark stated.
          "What are we going to do then? We can't stay here. He'll find us. Our time is running out," Kadince frantically said.
          "Ok. Let's just stay calm. If you think about it logically we can figure out which rooms are activated. He knows we're in this room, and that we'll most likely leave, so this room has the camera disabled as well as the audio. The hallway we would exit into would be off as well because it's the only place we can go out of this room. The audio would still be on of course so he would know when we left and if we left. So if we entered a room in this hallway he would know due to the noise. I'd think that he would figure that we would stay within the first two floors because they're the only ones we've explored. So, all the floors above that will have the cameras on. So, to stay safer we should stay within these two floors," I explained. It made sense of how he would set everything up. In all reality we would be safe nowhere because of how everything was arranged. There would be an audio working for every main area, and he wouldn't need the camera. 
            "But what if you're wrong and everything is reversed?" Caspian asked. "What if he is lying and he disabled nothing?"
            "We don't know. We just have to hope and pray that (Y/n)'s right. Or even if it is reversed, we can still get through it," Lewis said with determination. 
             "Exactly. That's the point of hide and seek. You just have to be lucky and choose a good place to take cover," Mark pointed out. 
            "We won't be safe no matter where we go because Olivander has the upper hand. We just have to trust each other. I don't want to lose anyone else," I said. 
            "Well whatever happens, we'd better get going fast. We've wasted enough time already," Kadince said.
          "What do we do with Miranda? She'll only slow us down," Mark said. Miranda had been peacefully resting on the couch this entire time. 
          "She can stay here. Olivander won't notice she's missing if we get caught. We'll just hide her in here," Kadince stated. There were so many things that could go wrong with that plan, but we might have to risk it.
        "I'm not leaving Miranda's side. I'll stay here with her," Lewis said, walking over to her and gripping her hand. It was such a romantic scene. You could almost see their whole life together just from the care and tenderness his eyes showed upon looking at her sleeping form.
        "No, we're all going. I'm not leaving anyone behind," I said. It was true that she would slow our progress with her injured leg, but she was my best friend. I couldn't leave her here to suffer a terrible fate.
        "Are you sure, (Y/n)?" Lewis asked. I nodded my head as the others started chattering in objection.
        "Wake her up, Lewis. She's coming with us and that's final," I said. The others quieted a bit while Lewis shook the blonde awake. She awoke groggily looking confused about her surroundings.
         "Did I sleep in?" She mumbled out causing me to slightly chuckle. Her pale blue eyes shone around the room before she rubbed her face and swung her legs over the edge of the purple couch. She winced after she had moved her injured leg and a look of realization came across her face as her lips formed an 'O' shape.
          After she had been given a brief description of what was happening she smiled up dreamily at Lewis. I think the medicine was making her thoughts a little scattered. She attempted to stand so we could get moving, only to end up falling into Lewis. Blushing, she looked up and with wobbly legs she stepped back. 
         "Ok, we've definitely gotta get going pronto. We've wasted more than enough time," Mark said. He was seemingly agitated for some unknown reason, but it was understandable. Kadince clung onto my arm as I gave Miranda a small smile of reassurance. Lewis wrapped an arm around her to keep her upright and Caspian walked to the door, looking behind at me. He held a hand out to me, and I took it. Mark gave him a dirty look and continued forward. Caspian carefully, quietly, and gently pushed open the door. Somehow against all odds the door made no creaking noise. We all tiptoed silently out the door and began walking at a fast pace. Caspian, Kadince, and I took the lead. 
        We came to the stairway and I shook my head signifying that we wouldn't go up those stairs. I got a few questioning glances, but I paid them no heed. We walked down the left hallway that lead to the ballroom. As I went to open the extravagant door Caspian pulled my hand back.
        "What are you doing?" Caspian whispered. I pulled my hand away and put a finger to my lips. I placed my hand back on the door and gently pushed it. The door quietly opened like the other, but I quickly tiptoed to the shadows because I had no idea as to whether this room would have the camera and audio on or not. The only problem with this room was every tiny breath echoed off the walls. I only hoped that if there was god out there that this room would have the audio off. 
        I continued to walk around the outskirts as the others kept looking at me like I was insane. I eventually made it to my goal. While I was stuck with Olivander I had studying the cameras without his knowledge, and I had noticed a nearly invisible stone staircase that descended into the dark. The camera that showed the staircase would also give us an advantage because it moves to scan the entire ballroom, and I knew exactly where it was. Glancing towards the camera while the others gaped at me I saw that it was facing the complete other end. I quickly ushered the others to go down the stairs as I waited back, squinting my eyes at the camera to make sure it wasn't near us. Lewis and Miranda went down first, followed my a wide-eyed Kadince, then Caspian who looked at me with an indistinguishable gaze, but Mark didn't go down. He looked at me as if waiting for me to go down...down...down....down I fell. Landing on a cold, hard surface. I felt as if I had broken something in the fall. I felt around me, only for a sticky liquid to coat my hands. I brought one hand to my nose, only for a wave of a familiar metallic stench to hit me. I tried to sit up, but it felt like invisible straps were holding me down. 
       I glanced around the room only to see white walls, coated in red substances. I felt a wet hand stroke my face as I began to struggle. I attempted to yell for help, only to have a face covered in blood enter my vision. The eyes glowed while looking down at me. They changed from purple, to green, and back again. I struggled more only for the red stained lips to land upon my own in a feverish dance. I tasted a metallic liquid on my tongue as tears left my eyes. I tried pushing the person away, but they grabbed my hands and held them down above my head.
      I looked to the side to see a blurry woman. Her skin was covered in purple, blue, and green veins. She was wearing a beautiful white gown that reached the floor. The ends were soaked in the blood pooled across the floor. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a high bun, and her face was blurred out making her features indistinguishable. I could see her head shaking in what appeared to be disappointment.
      "I warned you to stay away," a soft, high voice spoke out. "You poor, poor girl." The sound was coming from the woman as she continued shaking her head. A sigh was heard from her. "I'll help you, little one. I don't want you sharing the same fate."
       I continued staring at her as the mystery person who had been assaulting my lips pulled away and stroked my hair. I looked up at them and their eyes were now amber. The lips began moving as if talking to me, but I heard nothing. Then an ear piercing screech filled the room as it faded away.