Jia Precinct - 21/02 10:34 pm 51 EE

Century walked down the hall of Werren's house. The walls were covered in framed photos that Century paid no mind to, in corners of the hall the wallpaper was slightly peeling back revealing drywall. Century often thought she saw bugs crawling back there but that was the least nasty thing this house had to offer. The hallway had 5 rooms adjacent connected to it, at the end of the hall was Rina's room, indicated by the half-rotted skull bolted onto it. On the left side of the hallway was Werren's room, close to Rina's. Next to Werren's was Yuro's which had a hole cut in the bottom of it, similar to a pet door, so that he could go inside his room in his baby body. On the opposite side of Werren's room, also in close proximity to Rina's, was a room Century had yet seen. No one ever went inside so Century never bothered to check.

Opposite Yuro's room was the bathroom, the light looming through a crack in the door. Shuffling from inside was heard, it was evident people were in there. As Century got closer the smell of mint penetrated her nose. Her nose twitched as the scent kept her awake. As she sauntered to the door and pushed it open, her annoyed attitude erupted to rage as she saw everyone also in the bathroom.

By the overflowing sink, Werren and Yuro were arguing.

"YURO! I'm tired of this! This is the fifth tube of toothpaste one of your rat friends has chewed through!"

Werren tossed the ravaged tube of toothpaste into the bin.

"Even worse yet, stop teaching rats how to brush their teeth! They always use MY toothbrush!"

Werren held up his toothbrush, the bristles flattened.

"It isn't my fault you don't cater for guests! I mean not even Century has a toothbrush yet so can you blame them for making do with what they have?!"

Yuro crossed his arms as he stood by the sink in his baby's body.

"Century's a PERSON! Rats live for like... A YEAR! You're friend is just gonna become dinner in a few months so why should I buy it a toothbrush!"

Werren slammed his fist on the sink.

On the other side of the bathroom, Petra and Rina were huddled by the bathtub. Petra was chanting as Rina waved miniature flags around. As Century walked over and looked in she saw a dozen of Rina's baby bats swimming in the bathtub. They wore goggles and diving caps as Petra blew a whistle and they dived in.

"Hey Century, come to bet? My money's on Bomb 2."

Petra cheered the bats on as Rina had a delighted grin.

"Wait, Century, did you bet last round? I don't remember. If you did, you lost all your money. Rina's just too good, won every bet. She really knows her kids."

"No, I just came here to have a bath and then go to bed. So could you MOVE IT!"

Century threw her hands up but Petra and Rina were both too invested in the race to listen. Century sighed but the sigh quickly turned into a groan of frustration.

"WHY THE BATHROOM OF ALL PLACES DO YOU IDIOTS HAVE TO DO THIS SHIT!"

Century punched the wall and all the lights in the house cut out. All of the fighting, cheering, and yelling ceased as only the sound of dripping water broke through the darkness.

"Uh, was that me?"

"Was that who?"

"Me."

"Yeah and who is me?"

"I'm me!"

"What?! Okay, that wasn't me."

"Then who was that?"

"Me."

"Me."

"Stop speaking to whoever's doing that!"

"I was answering the question!"

"So was I!"

"What question?"

"WHO WAS THAT?!"

"Not me."

"Not me."

"Me."

"Okay, the person who just said me. Who are you?"

A silence befell the bathroom. The dripping water persisted as no one spoke.

"Are you gonna answer?"

"Who?"

"The person who said 'me'?"

"Who said that?"

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIND OUT!"

"Who is trying to find out?"

"ME!"

"WHO IS ME?!"

The lights flickered back on. As a yellow ray descended upon the bathroom, everyone looked around. All was the same, the sink was still overflowing and the baby bats were still swimming. Even the corpse was still there. As Century's eyes scanned the room she quickly darted back to the corpse of Werren lying on the floor. Yuro looked down in horror as Rina kept waving the flags, her eyes wide as she too stared at his corpse. Petra scoffed before turning back to the baby bats.

"W-Werren...? Buddy?"

Yuro couldn't pry his eyes away.

Century looked unamused as she kicked his body.

"Ugh, get up idiot."

Werren's face turned over as his jaw lay open. Century's eyes widened with dread climbing up her spine. Werren's teeth had all been pulled out. His mouth lay full of blood as some dripped down his cheek.

"Holy..."

Century stepped back.

Rina dropped the flags and rushed to Werren. With desperation in her eyes, she clutched his body and bit his neck, siphoning in as much essence as she could in hopes of healing him but her efforts were for naught. She let go of his limp body as she looked hollow.

"Wurhmn..."

"Okay, what the hell is happening?!"

Century back up to a wall as her eyes darted around to everyone.

"There's no way Werren is just... dead?! From what?!"

"No... If he were alive, Rina's ability should have healed him. He... died..."

Yuro sat down his gaze trembling.

"Are you kidding me? I was supposed to kill him! Okay, fess up, who did?"

Century looked around at everyone's faces but no one came forward.

"Well if none of you are gonna come forward, I'm just gonna find the culprit myself! And when I do... I'll kill you in Werren's place."

Century went to the bathroom door to leave and gather her thoughts but as she tried to pull it open the handle didn't move. She pushed harder but the door didn't budge.

"Damnit... my glove's out there and all my hair ties."

Century turned to everyone in the enclosed bathroom knowing one of them was the killer.

Petra spun around to look.

"It seems we have a classic murder mystery on our hands."

Petra smirked.

"Don't worry Century, let's think this through."

Century was unnerved by how involved Petra wanted to be in this.

"Uh, Petra... you're certainly... excited."

"Who wouldn't be? It's not often you get locked in a bathroom with a killer among a bunch of innocent people."

Century dismissed Petra's excitement and went over to Werren's body. She knelt to inspect Werren's corpse but Rina smacked her hand away and showed her fangs to Century. Century was shocked to see Rina so aggressive.

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"What the hell is your problem?!"

Century forced her way to Werren's body but Rina sank her fangs into Century's hand before tearing them out. Century's hand burned as she clutched it.

"OW!"

Century ran the wound under the water.

"Fine, if you don't want me looking at the body... I'll just look around."

Petra watched Century move around the bathroom.

"I think you would be better off putting the story together first. What happened before he was killed?"

Century thought back for a second.

"Well, the lights went out and..."

Petra cut in.

"Before that."

"When I got into the bathroom, Werren and Yuro were both arguing about a toothbrush. Then I went over to you and Rina before punching the walls and the lights going out."

Century turned to Werren's corpse and looked at his mouth.

"But, how could his teeth have been removed...?"

Century then looked to Yuro.

"Yuro..."

Yuro looked up, his face still filled with horror.

"Y-yes...?"

Century walked over to Yuro.

"Yuro, when you and Werren were fighting... and when the lights went out, you didn't happen to... get your revenge did you?"

Yuro's face changed to shock.

"Excuse me?! Inexcusable! I would do nothing of the sort to my friend! The face you even accuse me of doing something like this... is... is... utterly insane!"

"But all of Werren's teeth are gone and Yuro, you do have a thing for taking my hair without me knowing so what's to say this isn't another case of you wanting to experiment on your dead friend...?"

Yuro's face contorted to one of absolute disbelief.

"That accusation is... no. I didn't kill him nor would I experiment on him!"

The lights went out once more.

"NO ONE MOVE!"

Everyone was silent. The water still dripped, echoing through the room. As everyone kept still, waiting the darkness out, they were rewarded with light once more. Everyone looked around at each other. Petra sat on the edge of the bathtub, Rina clung to Werren's corpse, and Century and Yuro both were by the sink.

"Is... anyone dead?"

Century looked at everyone but they all were alive. Century then turned to Petra and her expression changed to terror.

"OH MY GOD?! Petra's been decapitated all that's left is... is... HER HEAD?!"

Century squealed like a girl before howling with laughter.

Petra growled.

"HAHA VERY FUNNY ASSHOLE!"

Petra, annoyed with Century, turned back to the baby bats so she could see who would win the race but Petra's attitude went cold.

"They..."

Century stopped laughing and saw Petra's ghostly look.

"What? C'mon did the joke hurt you that much wimp?"

Petra didn't move an inch. She stared into the bathtub, unmoving. Century looked confused so she walked over to the bathtub.

Inside the water was red. All of the baby bats were face down in the now red water. Rina rushed over and cried out in pain, she grabbed her babies and tried to give them CPR but they were already gone. Rina fell to the bathroom floor and leaned against the wall, her eyes twitching as her body went limp. She had lost too much, she had given up completely.

"All of them... geez..."

Century felt a pang of guilt but shoved the feeling aside.

"This changes things..."

"Indeed it does."

Petra was back to looking smug and excited.

"It seems our killer has something out for Rina. First a close friend and now her children."

"So, if the killer has a problem with Rina..."

Century looked at Werren's corpse. Rina was no longer beside it so Century went over and inspected it.

Werren's mouth was devoid of teeth. His gums were cut and fragments of his teeth could be seen still stuck in place. Whoever took them out seemed to have done it forcibly. Upon closer inspection, Century noticed another wound on Werren. His bottom lip had been bitten off, it seemed to be so that his teeth could be removed faster. As Century moved down his body she found one final wound on his ankle. Another bite mark. The bite didn't seem to go deep but blood still seeped out.

Yuro looked at the bite.

"That's... a human bite bark!"

Century looked dumbfounded.

"Wait, so a person bit him?"

Century looked up and to Yuro.

"Yuro, show me your teeth."

Yuro opened his mouth, he still had baby teeth so the size of the bite didn't match up. If Rina had bitten him then the fang marks would be seen meaning it was Petra.

"It's... Petra..."

Century stood up and looked at Petra who looked shocked.

"What?! Okay, I know I was having fun with this whole investigation earlier but that's because I didn't do it! Wouldn't it be really obvious if it was me?"

Petra looked anxious.

"But you said it yourself Petra. The killer might have it out for Rina. If I recall correctly you said 'Rina's just too good, won every bet. She really knows her kids.'."

Petra began to sweat.

"So...?"

"It seems as if you lost a lot of money to Rina. Perhaps you wanted to seek revenge. Werren would be the perfect target as well considering he helped me defeat you. All you had to do was bite his ankle and make him fall over then, for some sick and twisted reason, you ripped his bottom lip apart and took all his teeth."

Century grabbed Petra and held her up.

"Stop making things up! It wasn't me!"

"Tell that to the devil."

The lights cut out. A silence befell the bathroom.

When the lights returned Petra looked up to see Century's lifeless corpse dangling from the ceiling light.

"You gotta be kidding me..."

Petra looked mortified.

Yuro backed away.

"Century..."

Rina looked up but didn't react. Her heart had used up all its care.

"So it is you Petra!"

Yuro pointed his finger at her.

"Are you an idiot?! How the hell could I have strung her up there?"

There was no way Petra or Yuro could have reached the light. The only one there was, Rina.

Petra looked at Rina.

"Um... Rina...?"

Rina stared off into nothing. She was still sitting on the floor but she was the only one who could have hung Century up there.

"Rina... did... you kill them...?"

Rina didn't respond, and Yuro stood up on the sink.

"It couldn't have been Rina! I mean why would she kill her babies? And Werren? They had no harboring resentment."

"Then who could it have been?! The door out is locked meaning it was one of us!"

Yuro thought for a moment.

"Let's think for a second, there's one thing that doesn't make any sense in all this. We were all silent during the blackouts, all that we heard was dripping water. So why didn't we hear the killer kill any of the victims? Surely we should have heard something."

Petra thought for a second. In her moment of thinking her mind wandered. The dripping water...

"Hang on. Do you hear that?"

Yuro looked around, confused at what Petra meant.

"I... Can't hear anything?"

"Yeah, where's the sound of the dripping water...?"

Petra was right, there was no dripping water sound. That noise wasn't in the room at all, so then where could it be coming from?

"If there's no dripping water noise then, the sound has to be coming from somewhere else? Perhaps during the blackouts we aren't even in this room, we could transported somewhere?"

"But what does that...? It sounds impossible but... what else could the dripping water be?"

"What if this isn't even our bathroom, but the bathroom in another reality? A reality where we are slowly being picked off in a cosmic game of peek-a-boo."

"Stop blabbering nonsense! It has to be one of us. This is our bathroom I'm sure of it. There is one other option we could look at."

Petra looked down, worry spreading across her face.

"What if... the killer is one of these corpses."

Yuro looked down at Werren, his body unmoving.

"No... it... it..."

It could very well be it.

"It can't be Werren though. If Werren was alive then..."

Petra's eyes widened before the lights cut out once more.

"Oh no, Petra keep speaking!"

There was no reply.

"P-Petra...?"

When the light returned, only two remained. Sitting on the edge of the bath was Petra's head sealed in a jar of acid. Her skin melted and fused with the acid as she was no more. Rina stood up and looked at Yuro.

"Wait... Rina, it's not you is it...?"

Yuro backed away as Rina stepped closer, her eyes wide and her body twitching.

"Stay back!"

As Rina approached Yuro, she extended her hand before falling flat on the floor, her back covered in knives, axes, and bullet wounds. Yuro looked at all of his dead friends with him the only one left.

"Then... who..."

As Yuro turned around he saw his rat friend, he stood on his hind legs and looked into Yuro's eyes.

"No... no no. It was you?!"

The rat stepped forward.

"Indeed Yuro. I am the one who killed all your friends."

"WHY?! Why did you do all of this?!"

"Because Yuro... this is what you get... FOR LETTING ME USE WERREN'S TOOTHBRUSH!"

The rat lunged at Yuro as he screamed. It was the last thing ever heard in that bathroom.

Outside of the bathroom, in the hall, it fell quiet.

"That was really elaborate..."

Century was unamused as she crossed her arms.

"Did we seriously have to die for this? You could have just killed the rat. That's what I would've done."

Petra was also unamused as she sighed.

Rina sat nearby as all her babies crawled on her. She pats each one as she looks disappointed in Werren.

"Listen, I've tried telling him, he just never listens. This is his punishment."

Werren stood his ground and held his head high.

"So none of my guesses were even close... this sucks."

Petra sighed.

"Did any of those clues even mean anything? Like what was the deal with the dripping water?"

"Oh, that? I didn't even know you guys could hear that. But since this whole house is made from my tendrils it must have just been some underground plumbing from when I would shift you guys out and put in your fake bodies."

"This whole house is made from your tendrils?"

Century perked her head up.

"Yeah, it's just easier to maintain and I don't have to pay for it."

"What about the lights going out?"

Century leaned her head on the table she was seated at.

"Oh those were real, it's just the construction company fixing things up at the power station from our battle with Julie. No one was hurt in the battle but we did destroy a lot of the town..."

"Huh. So all of this is for toothpaste. Are you gonna tell him?"

Werren thought long and hard for a moment...

Jia Precinct - 22/02 8:10 am 51 EE

Yuro walked up to Werren, who was drinking a coffee at the dining table. Yuro looked anxious but came up to him anyway.

"Hey uh... Werren."

Werren turned to Yuro and raised an eyebrow.

"I bought a replacement tube of toothpaste for you..."

Yuro placed the toothpaste on the table.

"And some spare toothbrushes."

Yuro then waddled away with his head low.

Werren took a sip from his coffee with a proud look.

"You're an awful friend."

Century pouted sitting next to him.