Once out in the hallway, Jesse was to be faced with another fear. The lights were flickering and piano music can be heard. It sounded… magical yet when heard, it seemed like hallucinations began to form. A creature which looked like demons from the deepest depths of hell appeared in front of Jesse and screeched deafeningly to him before rushing at him with unnaturally horrifying speed.
Amyr walked over to the suitcase, his hand against his chest. His breathing was harsh, but he wasn't going to stop and catch his breath. Instead, he just opened the suitcase and looked over its contents carefully.
Tori looked around the quiet room. "I should do what my letter instructed." Tori pulled out the envelope and tore off a bit of it. Producing the pen from her pocket again, she wrote a quick note.
Jesse,
I decided to go do the task in my letter. I'll be back soon.
-Tori
Tori set the note on the table, and headed out the open door into the mansion.
Jesse screamed, not sure what to do. He began to run, but that thing was gaining on him. He only had a knife to defend himself against this terrifying demonic creature. Was this even real? He didn’t want to test the theory, his mind racing. Maybe he could lose the creature in the maze of hallways? Of course, he would probably get lost himself, but that would still be preferable to running for his life. There was nowhere he could hide here…or was there?
Soon, after the music can no longer be heard, the demonic creature disappeared from Jesse’s view. What was left was the silence of the hallway and his heavy breathing. It was time to return to the meeting room it seemed…
Jesse looked around incredulously once the music stopped. “Okay, that was terrifying,” he muttered to himself. He stood for a moment and caught his breath before looking for the meeting room. He let out a sigh of relief once he reached it, but noticed that Tori was no longer there. A brief moment of nervousness overcame him before he saw the note. He picked it up and read it, wondering if she had gotten any closer to solving the puzzles. He supposed it was his turn to work on now. After the episodes that he had just experienced, this whole game seemed a lot more real to Jesse.
Amyr took the suitcase's content, looking it over carefully. It was a revolver.
He wanted to just sit there and take a moment to relax a little. However, he knew he couldn't do that. He began making his way down the stairs slowly, still paranoid that that man was waiting for him somewhere. After some time walking on shaky legs, he made his way to the second level, finally finding the music room.
Jesse’s train of thought might have come to a dead-end for there was a letter placed exactly where he was at the table. Though it seemed untouched, it looked relatively ancient as well. The letter was sealed with a red envelope, something similar to those they would give away on Chinese New Year.
Amyr took the suitcase's content, looking it over carefully. It was a revolver.
He wanted to just sit there and take a moment to relax a little. However, he knew he couldn't do that. He began making his way down the stairs slowly, still paranoid that that man was waiting for him somewhere. After some time walking on shaky legs, he made his way to the second level, finally finding the music room.
Inside the music room, as expected, were an assortment of instruments both old and new, classical and technological. For anyone who enjoyed music, this was heaven, clearly…
Another thing that was clear was the man sitting in front of the grand piano with his hands on the keys. He was dressed in a formal black suit with a scarlet colored tie. He was, though, closing his eyes and gently smiling.
Amidst the instruments, in the exact middle of the room, there was a table with a paper on it alongside a pen. The empty stool was clearly meant for Amyr to sit on.
Tori started muttering to herself. "The letter said that there's a place behind the mansion…" Tori started to run down the maze of hallways to her destination.
As Tori walked around the hallways of the mansion, she would come across a tall man in a long coat, a hat to cover his face, and holding a golden cane. He turned to Tori slowly before cracking his neck and starting towards Tori, gathering speed as he went closer and closer. The ungodly speed at which he traveled was… unbelievable.
Jesse’s train of thought might have come to a dead-end for there was a letter placed exactly where he was at the table. Though it seemed untouched, it looked relatively ancient as well. The letter was sealed with a red envelope, something similar to those they would give away on Chinese New Year.
Jesse started when he saw that letter. It hadn’t been there before, had it? Then again, he had been out of the room for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Might as well open it. Jesse picked up the letter, opening it and accidentally tearing apart the envelope in the process. “Oops,” he mumbled, even though no one was around to hear. Then he began to read.
Amyr was cautious of the pianist in front of him, seeing his earlier run-in with a man in black. Despite this caution, he sat at the stool in front of him and looked around at the room, though slightly hesitant to take his eyes off of the man. He felt like he should've been writing something though he had no clue what.
When Amyr sat down, the paper seemed to reveal what was written on it ahead of time. It looked like a questionnaire if anything. It did not have a title as the first question was the start…
1) Have you ever experienced the death of someone close? If so, who?
2) Do you believe in immortality?
3) Do you work a risky job?
4) Do you trust your fellow guests?
5) Would you kill to protect something you hold close to your heart?
Jesse sighed, folding up this letter and putting it back in his pocket. He thought that he was safe for a few minutes, what a stupid, wishful thought. Nowhere in this place was safe, and it looked like he would be off again. Just in case Tori beat him back, he flipped the paper over and wrote a quick message.
Tori,
I got your note but you might beat me back here, because I’ve been given a second task. Hope that we can talk to each other soon.
~Jesse :)
He took a deep breath and headed back out the door, a bit scared but determined to be brave in spite of it. He quickly found the room indicated in the note and peered around the door before stepping into the room warily.
He looked over the questionnaire carefully and then picked up the pen, answering each question without hesitation. The answers were as follow in order of number:
No
No
No
Kind of.
It depends on what it is I'm protecting
He placed the pen down gently after answering, staring at the back on the man at the piano. He sat in silence, afraid to speak and afraid to move from his seat.
(Last post of the night for me people, see you in a couple of hours)
[ 2:30 PM ]
Inside the room, the first thing that Jesse would notice would be the sheer amount of dust around. It would soon dawn on him that the decoration of the room were all made of human bones and skulls. There was a note on the wall.
Within the pile of dust and bones,
You’ll find a chest that sits alone,
To open it, remember you must,
The names of your friends, the colors of their cups
(good night!)
Jesse took another step into the room, taking in the garish decorations and the note on the wall. It was clearly referring to the others. Taran was blue, Tori was red, and the other guy was yellow. What was his name? Shit. If was definitely something with an “A”. At least the Clue thing was helping him remember the cup colors. He tried to think back to the introductions as he searched for the chest.
Aaron, Allen, Arnold, Art, Alex… he thought, desperately trying to remember the guy’s name. Archibald, Alejandro, Amyr…Amyr! That was it! At least Jesse thought so. He didn’t want to admit he’d been referring to the guy as Colonel Mustard in his head until now.
He found the chest, reciting everyone’s name and color under his breath so he didn’t forget.
Tori let out a quick shriek and started picking up speed, still keeping on her course. As she ran, she searched the sides of the halls for something, anything she could use to block the.. whatever it was. There was a china cabinet up ahead. Tori came to a halt, and using all her strength, pushed the cabinet to the ground in a cloud of dust. It broke, bits of wood scattering across the hallway. Tori turned around, forcing herself not to look back, and kept running.
(Man, I missed a lot!)
Taran, after ripping her letter open and reading it, headed to the destination it said. The letter had said not to tell anyone where she was going, which was stupid. Who would she tell, anyway? The other guests didn't seem too bright. Besides, she wanted to be alone, anyways, and so the last part was somewhat unnecessary.
The library was cool and dark. Taran felt along the wall for the light switch, found it, and turned it on.
The paper and pen sat as silently as Amyr did. The pianist was still and silent, almost as if he wasn’t alive. If Amyr was to turn back to the paper, it would read…
Walk up to the Piano, and take the first Sonata piece you could find without touching the Pianist
The chest was quite simple, it wanted a four-letter code. The note beside the chest reads: Jesse Taran Amyr Tori. Seemed simple enough… yet, here it was again. The metal clashing sounds came from the hallway, extremely close to where Jesse was.
As Tori would maneuver around the mansion, she would finally come across the backdoor which led to the garden and the second building. However, it seemed like it needed a key to open it as it was locked. There was something written beside the door. Meeting Room, WP. There was no time to think though, the coated hunter was catching up.
The library was, not only big, it was huge! With its size, it was more like a grand hall more than a library. Without being over exaggerated, it looked like this library could fit over a hundred thousand books perhaps even more. Well, no time to waste. There was some Taran needed to find.
The paper and pen sat as silently as Amyr did. The pianist was still and silent, almost as if he wasn’t alive. If Amyr was to turn back to the paper, it would read…
Walk up to the Piano, and take the first Sonata piece you could find without touching the Pianist
Amyr was slightly disturbed by the sudden appearance of words he had not seen prior, but he was going to follow the instructions nevertheless. He stood up from his stool and began surveying the piano for a sonata, quickly finding one on the stand of the piano. He took it carefully, slightly creeped out and paranoid that the seemingly dead body next to him was going to jump at him.
With Amyr picking the piece up, the paper changed once more.
Go to the Piano across from the Pianist and play the first line until there are no mistakes the paper showed. Perhaps what was more creepy than the ever so silent Pianist was the fact that the paper changed every time an action was completed. Weird.
Amyr looked back and forth between the changing paper and the piece in his hand. He shook his head with slight dismay and mumbled. "Maybe there was something in that tea after all," he muttered to himself. The piece was Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21, in c minor 'Waldstein'. The first line was relatively repetitive, though not touching the pianist was going to make it a bit difficult. He wasn't sure if he still couldn't, be he wasn't taking chances. After quite a few messed up attempts, Amyr finally managed to play the first line, both without mistakes and without touching the pianist.
[ 2:35 PM ]
When Amyr finished, the piece seemed to have disappeared, leaving behind a blank piece of paper. A small chest came down from the ceiling.
Open this chest, take the contents and this room once the clock hits 2:45 PM was written atop the chest.
Canon in D was being played from somewhere. Before Amyr may have realized, the Pianist was playing the piece, showing his clear pair of eyes. Though mystifying, it seemed like the piece was a bit out of tune. Of course it was, the piece the Pianist was playing was in D Minor, not D Major like the original would be.
Once finished, the Pianist slowly started to stand up.