Amy ran towards me and I wasn't sure what to do. Is it really her? There's no way. Lucia did something, it can't really be her! As she reached her hand towards me, I grabbed her wrist with one hand and pushed her to the ground with the other. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but I was terrified.
“Hey, what was that for?” She asked, barely raising her voice.
“Don’t try to play tricks with me! I know you’re Lucia!”
“This shit has really gotten into your head.” Amy slowly stood up and took a step back. “Just calm down, I’ll explain everything.”
“Amy’s dead, there’s nothing to explain!” Does Lucia think I’ll keep falling into her traps constantly?
“Listen, I’m heading down to the first floor to show everyone something. You two should come, it’s not a trap. I don’t care if you trust me, this is important.” Amy sighed and began walking away from us.
I turned to Dante to see what he thought we should do.
“I have a struggle comprehending this. It is all but conventional. If Lucia has come to trouble us yet again, I do not believe that we have the capability to fight back.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”
By now, Amy was already way ahead of us, so we hurried down to the first floor. I tried to mentally prepare for anything that could happen. Lucia, that sick bitch. She finally decided to come after us again, didn’t she? Such a tiny break from the whole situation with the traitor and everything’s already starting again!
When we reached the main hall, everyone else was already there. Blake, Naomi, Evelyn, Leon and of course, Amy or what I still considered a mere illusion of her. She must’ve talked to everyone else while I was on the roof with Dante. They all seemed just as concerned as me.
“I knew you’d come.” Amy said when she noticed me enter the main hall. “I almost lost my trust in you, Petra.”
“I’m bored.” Leon yawned. “Dead bitch, tell us whatever you want to say, I need to go soon.”
“Number one, shut up. Number two, just follow me. I’ll catch up with everyone once we’re done with this.”
Amy started walking towards the bedrooms. She entered the small room with the vending machine and sofa, quickly walked through it and climbed up the stairs into the hallway ahead.
I stayed quiet, but kept my guard up as I walked up the stairs right behind Amy. I didn’t see any threat, yet I still felt helpless while I waited for everyone else to enter the hallway. Then, Amy moved to the side.
“Are you guys ready?” she calmly asked.
We all looked in front of us. I was confused for a second, but then I noticed something, something different about this hallway that I walked through every morning and night since I’ve been here. Apart from the four doors that led to bedrooms, there was now a door at the end of the corridor. It was not like the small room where we found Maya or the small basement where we saw the word mendivi for the first time, it wasn’t something hidden in a normal way. It was a completely normal door, one that we wouldn’t have missed.
It’s the same as the situation with the door to the main hall on our first day here! Nobody saw the door until Lucia wanted it to be visible. In my head, that confirmed it. It confirmed that whatever was going on was some sort of plan Lucia made.
“Woo!” Leon ran towards the door and kicked it open all while screaming like a lunatic.
“Oh God, he’s still energetic,” Amy mumbled to herself before slowly walking towards the door.
I hesitated more than I would usually do, but everyone else followed Amy, so I gained the courage to do the same.
Please don’t be a trap, please don’t be a trap, please don’t be a trap…
With some faltering, I walked inside the room and looked around. The floors, walls and ceiling were ocher, practically identical to the hallway and bedrooms. It was decently large, although not large enough to have much empty space. On the left was a staircase that led down a floor. That staircase has to lead to the space between the hallway and that waiting room like place, parallel to the monitor room.
On the right were four wooden chests, they were long, maybe around two meters, yet not very wide. Above each of them was a picture and some text, stuck to the wall. I couldn’t see it well from the entrance, so I came closer to take a better look. Each photo showed someone from the third group and the text underneath gave more information on each person. Every piece of info was written under the previous one. I started reading from the one closest to me.
Naomi Alrawi, born on June 21st, 2004, born in the city of Dubai, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
Maya Keller, born on July 4th, 2005, died on October 3rd, 2023, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
Leon Voss, born on April 1st, 2004, born in Nidengate, last residence unknown.
Evelyn Umbra, born on December 23rd, 2005, born in the village of Vorfall, last residence was in the village of Vorfall.
I took a step back. A question entered my mind. Twenty twenty three? What? How? It could’ve been a couple of days after I was abducted that I regained consciousness and even that would be a small chance, but that’s not the year. I remember when I lost my consciousness, when I ended up here! It was the eighteenth of August, twenty twenty one! What the fuck? It’s just a trick, I’m overthinking it! Two whole years can’t pass without me remembering anything!
“Petra, are you okay?” Evelyn turned to me.
“Evie, look at this!” I pointed to the date of Maya’s death.
“How unusual… How come? I believe that the date is false, it could be a typo or Lucia merely attempting to mess with us. I suggest that you try to keep your calm, come to your senses and understand that some things are not possible. No matter how much some things we assume to be impossible might come true, there will always be something that cannot happen under any circumstance.”
“Is this one of those things though? That’s what worries me. I think I’ve seen less believable things happen in this place.”
“Put your trust in me, I can assure you that we have not been here for years.”
“Thank you, Evie.”
“Any time. Let’s explore further, shall we?”
I nodded and took a step back to look at the room again. The writing on the walls isn’t telling me anything new apart from a couple of irrelevant facts like Naomi and Evie not being from Nidengate. What’s in those chests, boxes, whatever they are? That’s the real question here.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Ooh, let me check this out!” Leon practically read my mind and rushed to the chest under his name. “Maybe Lucia left a gift for me!”
Without hesitation, he opened it, but he was quickly disappointed by the fact that it was empty.
“Piece of shit! I can get behind murder, but not leaving me a gift? Unacceptable!” And there he goes again.
“Shut up and back away.” Naomi stepped in and closed the chest.
“Leave me alone, I need to get my gift!”
“Just stop. I’ll get you something if you shut up.”
“Deal, boss bitch.” Leon finally backed off.
“Amy, what are the chests for?” Naomi turned to Amy.
“I don’t know.”
“You do, answer.”
“I really don’t. I can help you figure it out if you’re too dumb to try it by yourself, but I have no clue.”
What could it be for? I thought for a bit.
Wait.
The size could fit a person and it wouldn’t leave much more space for anything else. Is my mind going in the wrong direction? No, this is Lucia’s place, it would be perfectly normal for her to do such a thing.
“Guys!” I got everyone’s attention.
“Yes?” Naomi said before she and everyone else turned to me.
“The chests are big enough to fit a person inside, do you think that there might be bodies in some of these?”
“Corpses stink.” Naomi quickly tried to shut down my idea. “It is most likely not the case.”
“Hell, can’t say it’s false without checking.” Leon ran up to the chest in front of Maya’s information and picture and pulled it open with a lack of hesitation. “Aww, nothing. Petra, you are such a dummy…”
I slowly walked up to Leon to see if he was lying.
He was.
Maya’s lifeless body was inside the chest. All the scars were still there from what Leon did to her, but her hands and legs weren’t cut off unlike what I saw happen after the discussion. I quickly closed the chest and pushed Leon away from it right after leaving the state of shock that the view of Maya’s body put me in.
“What was that for?” Leon was mad at me. “Don’t push me around like I’m some fucking toy!”
“Shut up! Just leave me alone!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Women and their stupid emotions, am I right?”
“Silence.” Amy and Naomi quickly said at the same time.
Leon crossed his arms and walked towards a corner to get away from everyone else. Oh God, oh God, this is insane. The other bodies must be here too! There is probably space for the other groups downstairs. Maybe I should go check it out.
“If everybody’s done here, let’s go downstairs.” Amy took the words out of my mouth.
The room under was practically identical, the only things that were different were the texts and pictures above the coffins that I thought were chests until now.
Amy Sharp, born on March 27th, 2004, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
Blake Cleeve, born on October 13th, 2005, born in the town of Nidengate, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
Dante Divinitas, born on June 3rd, 2005, born in the city of Dallas, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
Eden Divinitas, born on June 3rd, 2005, died on September 22nd, 2023, born in the city of Dallas, last residence was in the town of Nidengate.
I carefully read the texts a couple of times. Twenty twenty three again? And Amy is marked as alive. Maybe Amy has something to do with the dates of death. I could ask her, but considering how big the chances of her just being Lucia’s puppet are, she could try to screw me over.
“Amy?” I called for her.
“Yes?”
“Do you know why Maya and Eden’s date of death says that they died in twenty twenty three? I mean, that’s in two years!”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that, but I think it’s just Lucia being a dick. Don’t fall for her stupid traps, you’re not as dumb as most of the people here.” I shouldn’t have spoken, I already knew that I wouldn’t get an answer.
“So, do we just check out the floor under to see the same thing for my group or is there anything special that you want us to see?” I asked Amy.
“I did not want to freak out all the weak ones here, but there is something special on the floor below actually.”
“What is it?”
“Adam.”
“He’s alive?” I shouted out of sheer surprise. Adam too? Does Lucia just plan on using corpses to do her shit? No, I have to think of it differently, Lucia can practically teleport across the mansion. Amy and Adam are now here because Lucia had something that they could do that she couldn’t. But what is it? Fuck, fuck, I can’t figure it out!
“No, he’s not. He was until last night though.” Amy responded. “Lucia told me to bring everyone here by evening, she wants to organize a discussion.”
“But she killed Adam! We all saw it!”
“Seems not. I’m also confused, but I know better than not to listen to her.”
“But you came back too, you should at least know how it came to that!”
“I know and I’ll explain it a bit later, but I’m confused as to what happened to Adam.”
I turned around and noticed everyone else looking at us.
“Guys,” I said as I gathered courage, “let’s go down, we’ll be fine if we already know what’s coming, right?”
“By the Gods, I cannot believe it.” Dante said with a shaky voice. “Lucia, she truly never fails to terrify me. I was met with hope as the traitor fell, yet this occurs now. Two brought back from the gate of heaven, one dead yet again. I shall be the symbol of upcoming justice, you may trust me on that! As a matter of fact, I shall lead you all down the staircase between us and our fate.”
Nobody objected, Leon didn’t even make fun of him, although he seemed to be distracted by something else. Everyone quietly followed Dante down. Please don’t be that bad, please don’t be that bad!
Again, this terror continues…
I immediately saw Adam’s body once I got off the staircase. It was lying in the middle of the room, motionless, lifeless. There was some blood on his clothes and the floor, his face was intact despite what I had seen happen to him. The body still made me uncomfortable, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that people around me were dying. That, I could never get used to, nor would I want to.
“Are we all here?” Lucia walked down the stairs, appearing out of nowhere as usual.
“Yup, the gang’s here.” Leon was the only one with the strength to respond. “Did you come to throw a party or something? Everybody here is so lame.”
“I do not appreciate that sort of language. I’d be careful with my words if I were you, I sense that we do not have much more time to spend together, so I might down one or two of you if I take any more disrespect.”
“Ooh, how scary,” Leon said without a trace of fear or rationality in his head.
“Either way, there will be a discussion soon. I believe that Amy has informed you all.”
“Wait,” I interrupted Lucia, “didn’t you kill Adam?”
“Of course not, if I did, there wouldn’t be anything to discuss. It is up to you to figure it out. I mean, I even brought Amy because I know that it’s not the easiest job. I am not here to assist you in your journey of leaving this beautiful mansion, but I am a fair woman above all, so I’m giving you every tool that you need to go through this.”
“Did you call me a tool?” Amy turned to her.
“Possibly, but I practically resurrected you, so I think that I have the right to call you anything I wish. Anyway, that’s all, I’m giving you plenty of time since this is more of a puzzle than a murder case, although one of you was dumb enough to turn it into one.”
I wanted to say something back, but Lucia walked up the staircase and disappeared before I could put my words together.
“Well then, let’s get to it.” Amy seemed ready.
“Agreed.” Naomi said. “Amy, Petra and I are staying in this room to check everything out together. Dante and Evelyn, go to Adam’s bedroom. Blake, take Leon with you and explore any other part of the mansion that you believe might contain a clue.”
“Wait!” Blake objected.
“What is it?”
“I doubt that there’s going to be any evidence anywhere else, and pushing Leon onto me just means that you know that. I want to help!”
“You seem physically strong enough to keep Leon at bay and that’s more than enough help.”
“You heard boss bitch, we’re sticking together.” Leon hugged Blake.
Yet another discussion… I bloodied my hands for this! God fucking dammit!
“Come on Petra,” Amy stopped my train of thought by tapping my shoulder. “Let’s figure this out. Maybe it happened a while ago, it could be someone who’s not here right now. It’ll be fine, trust me.”
“I hope that’s the case. Let’s do this!”