Murder Mystery

Chapter One

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Nitro and I were walking through the streets of Mexico, backpacks slung around our shoulders, looking for nothing in particular.

My eyes searched the large buildings. I saw a theatre, a book store, some apartments and grocery stores... nothing really interesting.

"Was Mexico supposed to be a great tourist attraction? Because I'm not really seeing anything here," Nitro interrupted the silence between us.

"Have faith," I told her. "I'm sure we'll pass something."

Nitro looked past me at a small lemonade stand. "That's the best thing I've seen all day," she snorted. "Do you have any money? This heat is making me thirsty.

I reached into my backpack, pulling out a small wallet with a cartoon cat painted onto it. I handed her twenty-five cents. "Go crazy," I told her.

A couple seconds later, Nitro returned with two cups of lemonade. "The lady running the stand gave me a discount for being a tourist," Nitro explained. "I got one for you, too."

I reluctantly grabbed it. My thirst was completely quenched from a chocolate milk I had earlier. "Thanks, I guess," was what all came out.

We continued to roam the streets. I knew something was waiting for us, something exciting.

"What's that? Down the street?" I asked, pointing with my finger. "It looks like a mansion!"

Nitro squinted. "That's no mansion," she gasped. "That's a haunted house!"

"Well, it is October," I laughed. "Come on, let's go inside!"

As we skidded to a halt by the entrance, two people stopped me. One was a woman with curly black hair, and the other was a tall man that was completely identical.

"Do you have tickets?" The girl asked me in a high, squeaky voice.

"No," I felt around the pockets of my yellow sweatshirt. The top of my finger brushed a dollar bill. "Can I buy some?"

"It costs ten dollars per ticket," the lady opened up her hand and extended it towards me.

"That's expensive," Nitro stared at me. "Are you sure you want to pay for that?"

"If it's the only entertainment we can get here, then yes, I will," I told her. I pulled out the money from my pocket. Twenty three dollars in total.

I handed her the twenty dollars. In Exchange, she pulled two white slips out of her hoodie sleeve. "Have a nice day!" She waved goodbye as Nitro and I burst through the door.

At least ten people were cramped into the lobby, chatting with each other or staring at me and Nitro. "Stay calm," I whispered to her.

"Where do we enter the haunted house?" Nitro replied.

Before I could answer, the woman pushed the door open and addressed the crowd. "Welcome, everyone, to the Haunted House!"

The room went silent.

"I would like everyone to form a line near that door," she pointed down the left corridor, where a closed door stood waiting. Me and Nitro stepped into line together, standing straight.

"Before you all begin to wonder," she continued, "My name is Cassie. My brother Adam and I have created the idea of running a haunted house!"

Adam, Cassie's identical twin, shyly waved.

"And now, let the fun begin! Feel free to explore. And also, we've hidden secret objects all around the house to obtain! Good luck!"

Everyone began to part from the line, bursting though the door. Nitro and I followed.

"I wonder what kind of items are hidden here," I wondered aloud.

"Probably souvenirs, or toys," Nitro grunted. "Let's just get on with the scary stuff."

I trotted through the building, the heels of my boots clicking on the hard tile floor. I looked around at some of the objects lined against the wall.

"Bookshelves. A chair," I noticed they were covered in fake cobwebs, and a plastic skeleton rested on the chair. Not very creepy, I thought.

We continued to march down the hallways, opening the doors one by one. "There's not much in this haunted house," I claimed. "It's one of those lame parties that charges you a fortune. We should leave."

"Not yet!" Nitro begged. "I wanna see if Cassie has anything else planned."

"I guess," my shoulders fell flat.

We continued to walk through the haunted house, our eyes fixed on the oncoming doors. "It's not very scary in here," I muttered.

As I was staring at the fake props, I noticed a dead body with a knife jabbing through it's stomach. "That actually looked real for a second," I laughed. "Now that's something scary."

Nitro peered at the body, before turning her attention back to me. "Kitty," she whispered in a frightened voice.

"Yeah?" My attention was focused on the fake body.

"That's not a prop," Nitro's voice shook. "Kitty, that is a real body. Someone here just murdered them."