And Then There Was One (2019)

Chapter 28 - Murder #13

Orlando, Florida

July 3, 2019

Roughly 4:30am EST

Boris Katchouk, Alex Barre-Boulet, Colby McAuley, Timo Meier, Jonne Tammela and Ross Colton eventually all step backward, away from the doors. Who is going to be their leader now (since Brendan took the role on)?

"Like...where should we go?" Colby asks. "It's not like we can save Gally. He's stuck in there and there's no way in or out anymore...he's as good as dead. So, we might as well move the fuck on."

"Yeah," Ross echoes. "And I remember the rest of the poem now too!"

Everyone turns to him, blinking.

"What?!" Timo questions. "What is it?"

Ross clears his throat and then recites:

"Six professional hockey players were scared out of their minds,

One was drowned in a moat, while another escaped only to be hit by the castle's drawbridge door and then there were four.

Four professional hockey players remained wondering how they could break free,

One was suffocated, snuffed and then there were three.

Three professional hockey players were left with nowhere to run,

One was driven to insanity, killed his friend and then himself and then there was one.

One professional hockey player was left all alone,

He walked out of Masquerade Island, alive and then there were none."

"So the next one talks about a moat and drawbridge!" Timo exclaims. "That's gotta mean the castle! So, we just need to be super cautious about the castle and the drawbridge and moat!"

"Smart tiger," Jonne cooes, ruffling Timo's furry head.

"What if we just head to the entrance and wait there, do nothing else?" Ross suggests. "Clearly doing nothing would stall the killing and we'd be able to keep an eye on one another. Since one of us is clearly the killer, it makes sense to do that."

"Then no one else dies?" Alex inquires.

"That won't stall the killer. Knowing everything, he'd still find a way to fuck everything up and kill someone," Jonne snarls.

"Which really makes me think you're the killer!" Ross spits out.

"Oh, how so?" Jonne bites back. "If I were the killer, I'd have shot Hand Pass and moved on."

Timo growls and lashes his tail back and forth.

Jonne steps back, raising his hands up in the air. "Kidding. Touchy."

"This is NOT a time to joke around Jonne Tammela!" Ross snaps. "There is a killer amongst us, waiting to strike five more people down and you have it in you to joke about killing Timo. Like I said, I'm voting that you're the killer. Prove me otherwise."

Jonne rolls his eyes and narrows them.

"I'm with Ross' plan here," Colby mumbles. "It's smart. With luck the killer won't dare show themself or make a move and we'll be the survivors, who are able to leave at dawn. Survival of the fittest. Though it makes no sense for Princess Frenchie."

Alex gasps like a teenage girl, fully offended by the accusation. "For your information, the killer's left me alive because I'm beautiful and he can't get rid of such a special, pretty boy like myself."

"Or the killer's left you alive because you ARE the killer," Jonne growls. "Your little innocent act is just for show."

They begin to make their way out of the World Show'scapade Lagoon, passing the kid's area. They can see that the body of Roope Hintz is missing and the stream from the lady statue is flowing once more.

They pass by the first pole with all the directional angles that point to the various attractions and get to the base of the slanted ramp. They start up it and into the southeastern hall of the castle.

Toward Fairytale Fortress.

They enter the southeastern tunnel that is painted with the historical scenes of the Masquerade Ball.

When they get to the oval-shaped middle with all the tunnel entrances and that is themed to a red and black color scheme with Masquerade masks prominently displayed on the walls, they take the one that will lead them out to the front of the castle.

Right to where the drawbridge is.

Heading back down the familiar tunnel with its own Masquerade-y theme, they eventually reach the end. To the sides sit metal circle objects that have coils of ropes wrapped tightly around them and two ropes shoot up at a metallic holder.

To lift the drawbridge. If it even lifts up.

They halt, looking across the long pathway that leads to the gate. The entrance and exit. But not for them. Yet.

Jonne hatches a plan and takes his weapon -- the bow and mimicks a sawing action with it on the rope. "Hey, hey, look, I'm going to lower the drawbridge!"

"Jonne, quit playing around!"

"HELP!" Timo howls.

There is a loud splash that follows.

Boris, Alex, Colby and Ross all spin to see Timo flapping his paws and struggling to stay afloat in the moat water. The splashing and thrashing also alerts the local Florida wildlife, including a nice 20-pound gator that waddles its way into the water and disappears under the surface.

It's heading right for Timo.

Jonne drops his bow and rushes over to the side of the drawbridge and leans down, extending a hand out toward Timo. "Grab my hand!"

"How do I know this isn't a lead up for a stupid joke of yours!" Timo shouts out as the gator closes in.

"It's not! I swear! Hang on! I'm coming Timo!" Jonne shouts out and races across the drawbridge.

That's when the bridge springs upward.

They watch Jonne dive off the end of it and vanish from sight.

As soon as he is airborne, the bridge slams back down.

Dust is kicked up from it.

Colby, Boris, Alex and Ross cough and swat at the air to clear their sight. As they do, they can hear a sickening screaming from Timo as the gator clamps its jaws on him in the water and an eerie silence from the end of the drawbridge where Jonne had leapt to. But they all know neither player is going to make it.

Boris, Alex, Ross and Colby eventually make their way from the archway-tunnel entrance and to the end of the bridge, cautious of it moving again. Thankfully, it doesn't, remaining still and in place.

They reach the end of the wooden platform, the next line of the poem resonating in their four heads from Ross' memory:

"Six professional hockey players were scared out of their minds,

One was drowned in a moat, while another escaped only to be hit by the castle's drawbridge door and then there were four."

Underneath the drawbridge's edge, squashed into a bloody, mangled mess is Jonne Tammela.

"He'd definitely dead," Ross remarks, shaking his head.

The screams from Timo in the water slowly fade away into an eerie silence.

And just like that two more are dead and four remain. 

****

Did anyone guess Timo Meier and the feisty, hardheaded Jonne Tammela as the potential killer in the end? If so, sorry, neither of them are the killer either... :)

Time to make another guess (and feel free to comment guesses below) as we will soon move onto the next murder here!!