Yet again, I woke up inside my bedroom, utterly confused.

Without being given any time to think, the door opened and Lucia walked inside.

“Alright, now you can get back to work. Get up, don’t make everyone worry.”

I remembered what my plan was, to find out how Rose and Adam were back. I stood up and left my room, ignoring Lucia and details of how I had returned to my room.

I went into the main hall to check if the clock was there, to see if time caught up to when Lucia placed it.

The clock was there. So, if I fainted for a couple of hours, it should be evening.

I checked the exact time. Four in the afternoon… How? There’s no way I was unconscious for that long.

The clock being there without it being late could only mean that I wasn’t conscious for almost, if not over a day. Either that or the memories of myself meeting the third group were merely a dream. Somehow, both of those things sounded impossible. Everything will make sense once I find someone to talk to.

The first place I decided to check was the dining room.

The only person inside was Amy, eating a cold slice of pizza. Hearing the sound of the door opening made her turn around and look at me.

“You’re awake.” Her voice was still somewhat monotone, although I was able to notice her happiness. “I thought you were either very sick or poisoned. You’re the last person I want to die here, if that were to happen I’d be the only rational person here.”

So… It was just a dream. No, no way. I need to be sure.

“Amy, something weird happened.”

“You’re saying that now? We’ve been here for days.”

“Not that, I mean that there’s another layer of weirdness here. While I was unconscious something extremely unusual happened. It might all be a dream, but it felt too real for me to believe that.”

“It was probably a dream.”

“No, I want to make sure. I need to go back to the third floor. Last time I went there, I wasn’t able to find anyone except Leon, but if what I saw was somehow real, I’ll be able to find everyone.”

“Since it’s helping with the case, I guess I’ll follow you up there.”

“Thank you, it means a lot to me. I knew I could count on you!”

Without either of us saying anything else, we ran up to the third floor.

Alright, I got this. I just have to get that voice to ask me what I’m looking for and if mentioning Naomi works then they’ll let me see everyone. I’m hoping for the best.

I remembered that I heard that voice after trying to open the metallic door, so I walked towards it.

“Where are you going, Petra? Their rooms are right here.”

“They’re not in there. If I’m right, they should be in the room with a large metallic door. ”

After finally reaching said door, I tried to open it, and like the previous time outside of my “dream”, it was locked.

"State your business." I heard that voice again, this time I was able to recognize it as Evelyn’s.

"I want to meet the rest of the group."

"You'll have to ask Leon for that."

"You mean Naomi?"

"Correct."

Still seems like a useless complication to me, but I guess it makes them feel safer.

A loud noise came from inside the room and after that, the door started opening.

In one corner were four beds, the exact same ones that were in all the bedrooms. In the middle of the area were two sofas and a table, all of them undoubtedly taken from the lounge. Next to one wall was a giant pile of clothes consisting of the same four outfits everyone in the third group was wearing.

Did they move all their things to this one room? Everyone except Leon was present. Naomi was sleeping, Evelyn was next to the door and Maya was sitting on the floor near a corner, turned towards the wall. I couldn't tell what she was doing.

"Welcome. I'm glad that we can finally trust someone from the other groups," Evelyn welcomed me, "Although nobody told us your names… Could you please tell me what I may call you ladies?"

Evelyn doesn't know my name, but I was let in with the method I heard about in what might've been a dream. How confusing can things be before my mind breaks?

"Petra."

"Amy."

"Well, it is nice to meet you. You are welcome to come here whenever you wish, but do not tell anyone else how to enter. With this, we may live in peace until the secret of the mansion is discovered."

Alright, I finally have communication with everyone in the third group.

"Hey," Amy tapped my shoulder, "we've seen everyone in the mansion now, but there's one thing I thought of while you were unconscious."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I think I can narrow down who the traitor is without much trouble, but for that I want to organize a discussion, preferably in the same fashion as the one that happened after Rose died. I will just need to get a bit more info to connect the dots and then I will corner the traitor."

Another discussion? I guess it's not really an issue when Lucia's stakes aren't a part of it.

"I guess that could work. Let's inform everyone. When do you want to do it?"

"Tomorrow, right after breakfast. I've thought about doing it this evening, however, that's a bad idea when we don't even know anything about the third group, and I also wouldn't skip tomorrow because of the body. I noticed that Rose's body vanished after the discussion and I'm expecting the same thing to happen again, which means that we don't have to see the body rot if we get things done quickly."

Hearing her talk about rotting bodies so casually made me uncomfortable, but I endured it.

I looked around the room to see what else was inside and I left Amy with Evelyn, so that she could meet the third group in its entirety.

Not even a minute passed by when Naomi slowly started waking up. She went to bed fully clothed, so she moved her blanket, stood up and made her bed.

“Good morning,” she greeted everyone and turned around.

“Hey!” I greeted her.

Naomi turned around and stared at me for a couple of seconds before walking towards me.

“How did you gain entrance?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Well, Evelyn let me in when I mentioned your name.”

“I am not referring to that. Leon is supposed to inform me before newcomers are let in.”

“Hey, it’s alright. You can calm down.”

Without giving me time to react, Naomi grabbed my wrist and began freaking out.

“No, no matter how sure Leon is of you, we agreed that both of us must talk before allowing anyone entrance. Get out!”

Amy ran towards Naomi and grabbed her when she saw what was happening.

“Leave Petra alone.”

“Amy? You’ve found us too? No way, two people have been let inside without my knowledge. This is a mess! Get out right now!”

I pushed Naomi away. What the hell is wrong with her? She seemed way calmer before.

“It’s useless, you two now know about this. I have to improvise! I-I can do it!” Naomi yelled at herself until she became self aware of her shouts and then she abruptly stopped, like she had chased away the paranoia from her body.

“Bring Leon to me.”

Amy was about to ask her about the breakdown that we witnessed, but I stopped her as soon as I noticed her intentions. Instead, I did exactly what she told us and went to look for Leon.

I didn’t know she was the type to freak out like that. I need to be careful about that from now on.

“Hey, Amy,” I started a conversation as we left the room, “I just want to ask you to please not argue with Naomi.”

“Why shouldn’t I? She’s acting like a bitch.”

“I know, but arguing with people like her will just lead to more problems. For now, let’s find Leon and get this over with. Explaining to anyone that I managed to get in because I found out about it in a dream is not a good idea.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, although that obviously wasn’t a regular dream. I think Lucia made you imagine all of that, she might’ve wanted to ruin whatever the third group was trying to do.”

“That actually makes sense. Thanks a lot! I remember seeing Lucia multiple times during the dream and she mentioned how I had a task to complete or something similar to that, but I was too confused to understand. With your explanation, it all connects.”

“Well, I’m glad. It was honestly a guess since you haven’t told me what exactly happened during that dream.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right. I’ll explain everything after we finish this.”

We walked down the stairs. The plan was to go to the main hall and search from there.

We went to the main hall from the hallway on the second floor and as we got inside the main hall we noticed Leon on the first floor, walking around in circles, not doing anything.

“Leon!” I yelled out so that he’d notice us.

“Oh, you two…” He looked up and stared at us. “What can I help with?”

“Can you come upstairs and talk to Naomi?”

“You two know her?”

“Well…”

“Just kidding, I know.”

“You know?” Just as I asked I realized that he was bluffing. “Listen, Naomi is pretty pissed, so come over here and help!”

“Ah, fine! I swear, that woman is insufferable.” He walked up the staircase with his back bent and his hands in his pockets. He sort of looks like an old man when he walks like that.

“You two go investigate or have a girl’s night or something, I’ll sort shit out with Naomi.”

With that, he walked away from us and towards the third floor. Amy turned towards me and nodded without saying anything. I instantly understood that she wanted to follow Leon, mainly because I wanted to do the same thing. We walked behind Leon, following him all the way back to that giant room.

Leon knocked on the metallic door.

“State your business.”

“Evelyn, it’s me.”

“Oh. Then hurry up and get in, Naomi wants to talk to you. I can smell the negative energy.”

Evelyn quickly opened the door and Leon entered the room. Right after that happened, Amy tapped my shoulder.

“Let’s get closer and listen in.”

“Alright.” I nodded and we slowly walked to the door.

“There you are, you useless lying maniac!” I could hear everything coming from inside the room. Will I have to go in to stop everything from escalating?

“What the fuck are you on about?” Well, it makes perfect sense that Leon is confused. This is all my fault!

“What the fuck am I on about? You let two people inside without talking to me about it first!”

“I did?”

“You piece of shit…”

“Oh yeah, I definitely did. I’m definitely the one who let Petra and Amy in. I did it without your knowledge because I knew that your reaction would be hilarious! Definitely!” What is he saying?

“Why? Did you assume that I would allow you to do as you please? We’re at a risk of death.”

“Risk? They’re innocent!”

“I told you to inform me before you do anything!”

“As if I ever cared for your rules.”

Silence followed that sentence. What’s happening? Maybe I should go inside, just in case.

I slowly moved towards the door and tried opening it. Locked again? I never heard it get locked.

“State your business.” Evelyn’s voice again.

“It’s us, we’re back.”

“I can let you in, but I’m not sure that everything will end well. You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Evelyn opened the door for us and I looked towards Leon and Naomi. They were staring at each other, both of them with faces that expressed pure rage.

Leon noticed that we entered the room and he turned his head towards us and put on a bright smile, ignoring Naomi for a second.

“Hey, you two. Welcome back.”

He quickly turned back towards Naomi and began staring at her with the same expression that he had when we entered the room. Oh, I guess he’s just acting again.

“Calm down guys, I’ll explain everything!” I spoke up because I was expecting a fight any second.

“Explain?” Naomi looked at me, visibly angry.

“Leon never told me how to get in here.”

“How do you expect me to believe that? I know this bastard next to me likes to lie a lot, but there is no other way to find out how to get in here!”

“Actually, there is another way!”

“Explain right now.”

“Think about it. Lucia put us in this situation with the expectation of murder and everyone feeling vulnerable. I think we can agree on that.”

“Get to the point.”

Amy stepped in front of me.

“Are you too stupid to get it already? Lucia indirectly revealed the information about this room, you dumbass.”

Naomi looked at both of us and clutched her fist.

“So, either one of you is the traitor or both of you suddenly decided to help the traitor? Either way, I have no other option than to restrain you both until I get enough evidence pointing to the traitor.”

She reached her hand out and grabbed my wrist again. I had to react before things got too out of hand. I have to fight back, even if it escalates things. As much as I don’t want to, it’s the only answer!

While she was still holding my wrist, I moved towards her back, avoiding her other hand. Naomi tried to pull me back, but she wasn’t strong enough. Since I was behind her, she was way more vulnerable, allowing me to use that opportunity to grab her head and push her towards the ground.

She managed to stop herself from falling by reaching her other hand towards the floor, thus I moved my arm below her head to lift her up and turn us both around, trying to make her lose balance and fall, which worked.

“What the fuck was that?”

“Listen Naomi, I don’t want to hurt you. Just hear us out.”

It was visible that she didn’t want to compromise, yet she didn’t have a choice.

“Alright.” she angrily sighed.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have a meeting in the dining room like last time, and since it’s not organized by Lucia, there won’t be any harm in participating. I’ll explain everything in detail and we’ll also get closer to figuring out the traitor’s identity. Clearing every confusion together is way better than doing it like this, isn’t it?”

“I’m not sure if I can accept waiting that long, although you are not giving me a choice. Start the discussion early, right after breakfast.”

“Alright.” I nodded.

Well, this went better than expected. I can’t believe that we actually came to an agreement. I guess I was lucky that Leon didn’t interrupt us.

I walked out of the room and Amy followed me.

“Good job, Petra. Although, I have to ask, how did you throw her like that when she grabbed your wrist? I’m impressed.”

“Oh, that’s aikido. I started going to aikido lessons when I was little, so I learnt a lot. I haven’t practiced it in a while though, I mainly go to the gym now. Still, I guess you never forget it once you get the hang of it!”

“Interesting. Still, I have to ask, are you tired? You were unconscious for a bit, but considering what Lucia could’ve been doing during that time, you probably got more tired from that than anything.”

“No need to worry about me! I might be tired, but I can keep going!”

“Just go back to bed then. I’ll inform everyone else about the discussion and after that I’ll just investigate some parts where I might’ve missed a clue or two and I’ll be done for the day too.”

“Well, if you say so.”

I walked back to my room with Amy keeping me company until I reached it. I wish I could help more. I mean, I’m providing information, but that information was practically given to me because Lucia was bored. Other than that, the only way I helped people here was by lifting the mood up. I don’t know how to investigate, I can’t find the traitor.

I tried ignoring my negative thoughts and entered my room. Can I even fall asleep this early? I can’t remember what the time is, although I doubt it’s late.

I locked my room and laid on my bed, by some miracle falling asleep almost immediately.