Do you know that feeling, the feeling that you are all alone? Imagine it, no matter how many people, no matter how many words, no matter how many sounds. It’s all drowned out by that constant pit in your stomach. The never-ending feeling of nothingness, consuming every waking day and night of your life. Well, that’s how I feel currently anyway.
My head hurt a little, imagine knocking on the door at a steady and constant pace, yeah, something like that. My vision was slightly blurry, my eyes fluttering open. It was cold, very cold. My back was pressed against the hard stone floor, as I sat up, feeling a little nauseous as I did.
I managed to get to my feet, looked down, and for some reason, I was wearing a school uniform. It looked a little preppy, and expensive. Black dress shoes and white socks. My skirt fell beneath my knees, its color matched my dark blue blazer, underneath a white shirt. The blazer had golden buttons on it, along with a crimson red tie.
I patted myself off, and in doing so, I felt something in the breast pocket of my blazer. A black pen and a pocketbook attached to it. It was plain black, nothing special like a brand name written on it or anything. I flipped through the pages, hoping to find anything that might help my confusion, but everything was blank.
Looking around, the scenery wasn’t much either. It looked like a large public restroom, with stone floors, walls, and one large ceiling. It was like a subway station. The room was lit up, but I couldn’t figure out from what, as there wasn’t any lighting to be found. In front of me stood large train tracks, to its sides, an endless pit of darkness.
Should I try and go down the tracks? No, that would be a stupid way to die if something does end up. Waiting here for a long time though wouldn’t be that much better of an option. Maybe I’ll wait a little more.
I don’t know how long has passed but waiting around here won’t exactly do anything. But just before I stepped off into the tracks, I heard a loud whistle, along with the screeching of iron against iron. A bustling wind flew by, and the chugging of the engine came to a slow, and then a stop. A train car was now before me, the automatic doors opening with a hiss. I mean, I might as well get in, right? What other choice do I have here?
I stepped in, it looked like a normal subway car, with a couple of poles, and seats, nothing unusual from the normal subway you would see.
Click
I felt something against my head, it was a cylindrical shape, and from the sound of the click. A gun, yep, definitely a gun. I currently am in no position to argue. Honestly, getting on a strange train and expecting something good probably was a little too naive of me.
“Don’t move,” A man’s voice said.
He sounded like he was middle-aged, it was deep and refined.
“Are you going to rob me?”
“Rob you? Relax, we are just checking to see your intentions,”
We? I guess there are others behind me.
After a woman patted me down, they made sure I had nothing lethal on me, and the pressure was released from my head. When I turned around, I was greeted by four other people.
For some reason, I felt compelled to take out the notepad and pen. I don’t know why, but it’s like my body did it from muscle memory. First the man in the suit. He looked like he was going to a wedding, with a formal black suit and tie, dress pants, diamond-like eyes, and black hair slicked back completely so that I could see his forehead. His gaze was quite stern like he was judging me constantly.
A younger man, maybe mid-twenties, wore a lab coat with a plain black shirt and grey pants underneath it. He wasn’t dressed like a medical professional, but he seemed a little mature. His longish brown hair was slightly combed, his eyes to match.
Next, the boy. He looked to be about my age, maybe a year younger. He had slightly longish hazel hair, and eyes the color of a tropical sea. He was maybe about my height, if not slightly shorter. Black pants and a plain white shirt, with normal black and white sneakers. A noticeable feature was a mole on his nose, he also looked a little more energetic compared to the long faces of the others.
Finally the woman, not much to say about her. Perhaps that was the most noticeable thing. She was rather plain, with longer black hair like me, but it was tied into a ponytail, unlike mine. Her clothing was rather plain, nothing out of the ordinary about it. Just your everyday wear, blue jeans, plain white shoes, and a tucked-in blue shirt, with a black jacket, buttons running along the sides, and a hood around her neck. She had a kind atmosphere around her, with a warm smile to go along with it.
I don’t know why I wrote it down in the small pocketbook I had, like I said it was instinct, but once I did I put it back in my breast pocket and faced them.
“Sorry about the gun to your head, With these circumstances, you never know who you’re gonna run into,” The suit man said.
It was a half-hearted apology, ouch. But I accepted it nonetheless. It seemed like these people had no clue what was going on either. I decided to ask them a question.
“What are your names?”
“Wren,” The young boy said.
A strange name, I had never heard of it before.
“I’m Quinn,” The man in the lab coat said.
“Cade,” The man in the suit almost scoffed.
“And I’m Arianne!” The woman said almost a little too cheerfully.
I suppose the only thing we can remember is our names, I can’t seem to put anything else together.
“I’m Leilani,” I said.
So then what happens next? The train had just started to move, as we traveled along a dark, endless tunnel.
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about any more people,” Quinn guy said. Regarding his question, I don’t know what to make of it. What did he mean that we won’t have to worry about any people?
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, I was the first on here, and that electric sign over there started at 5, and when I boarded it went down to four, rinse and repeat till we got to you,”
I see, so then I was the last one, but what was with the gun? I don’t like having a gun to the back of my head, and why did he even have it in the first place? I wanted to ask but decided not to ask the guy with a gun, why he had the gun. I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything to me yet, but he might get angry if I try and pry, and the last person I want to anger is the guy with the gun. Did I mention the guy with the gun?
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“I’m just glad there's at least someone my age here, it was a little awkward with all the adults here,” Wren smiled at me. He was quite charismatic, a little more than you’re average person. His statement was true, no one else here seemed to be our age, and I suppose it wasn’t bad to have someone my age here as well, as it would get awkward if I was the only young girl here. Still, teenagers can be unpredictable, and untrustworthy, so I’m going to keep my distance as much as I can for now.
A while went by, the train cart bouncing steadily as we sat down in it. No one spoke that much, I mean what was there really to talk about? No one knew anything about themselves, and I don’t think anyone wanted to discuss the kind of situation we were in. As for myself, I wasn’t panicking or contemplating it, It was kind of just accepted instantaneously.
I did find out something though. Each of them also came with an item or so. Wren came with a small sketchbook and pencil. Cade came with the gun, the clip already loaded in, as well as a briefcase. Arianne came with a small black purse, and Quinn a lab coat and a magnifying glass.
As I was trying to put together what all the items meant, the train shook a bit. Everyone felt it just as I did, and I could hear the screeching of the brakes being ground against. A small ding sounded from the electronic sign.
There were now words moving across the screen.
“Next stop, The Donner Party”
The Donner party? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about them somewhere before. They were that group, in the westward expansion era. They attempted to take a shortcut to shave off some time in their journey but got stuck in the cold winter in the mountains.
How that story ended worries me though, and apparently, it worried everyone else too. Their faces changed from that of once being neutral, to full-on worried.
“The Donner party? Like the cannibalistic one?” Arianne said a little timidly.
Thats right. A search group from what I remember did eventually find them, but by then it was far too late. The remaining members of the group survived but at the cost of their families. From what I remember, they marked the dead bodies by family, so the survivors wouldn’t end up eating their kin.
It was a pretty horrific event, so I can understand why everyone is so worried, even I can’t help but worry a little.
Another ding.
The train shook violently, and when it stopped, the train was no longer moving. Even so, weirdly enough the windows were blacked out in complete darkness much like before. Another electronic message was moving across the screen.
“Solve the murder mystery,”
The doors hissed open automatically, still, darkness clouded my sight. I couldn’t see anything. It was Cade who first stepped out into the darkness. No scream of terror at least. Quinn went next, and we all soon followed.
The lighting blinded my eyes for a short while, but as I got used to it, I managed to see the room we were in. It was a rather larger bedroom, plain. The wall was painted red, and the dark brown wood we stood on creaked a little. The bed had black bedsheets on it with white pillows, with a brown dresser next to it. Other than that there wasn’t anything of importance there.
Hm? It seemed that everyone was wearing different clothing. Wren and Quinn both had changed into suits, much like the one the uh. Well, the guy in the suit was already wearing. Arianne wore a dark blue dress, with a crimson red rose attached near the top. It was sparkling, a cute dress I guess I’d say. She was busy admiring herself, twirling around and giggling.
I was wearing something similar, a sparkling dress the same as hers, Its length went all the way down to my legs, and it was a shade of red just a little lighter than her rose. The flower on my chest was also a different color, a slightly dark shade of blue. I patted my face, the glasses I wore were still there, so whatever was happening didn’t change my eyesight.
It was like magic, something in a storybook, or like Cinderella. Fancy clothes appear out of nowhere. All that’s next is for a fairy godmother to appear. Everyone else checked out their clothes in astonishment, as did I.
Speaking of which, all this talk about the Donner party and the fairy godmother got me thinking. If I can still remember things like that, then from the looks of it, only information about ourselves as a person has been erased. I wonder why that is.
I was the first to step forward, only to quickly feel the sensation of falling as I tripped in my black heels. Oh, that hurt. I rubbed my forehead. I had hit it on the frame of the bead as I fell. Luckily my glasses didn’t break.
“Are you ok?”
Wren outstretched his hand to me, but I preferred to stay on the ground for a little longer mainly because it was hard to stand in these heels.
Suddenly, loud noises erupted from outside the room. I got up, and we quickly opened the door in the room, leading to a long hall, the same decorative style the previous room had, with about five doors leading down on each side of the long hallway.
At the end, were two large double golden doors. I pressed them open and was greeted with a sensation of lights. The floor had changed from wood to pristine marble. About fifty other people were standing, all in dresses and suits similar to ours The rectangular ballroom was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. There were white-clothed tables full of food and drinks, men serving the guests who asked for anything they wished.
Golden chandeliers hung above the incredibly tall ceiling. Near the end of the room, two stairs on each side, all with red carpet lining them, led up to an indoor balcony. A man stood on it, announcing something. I was too far away to see what he looked like, the room is really large now that I think about it.
“Good evening folks! Thank you for attending. My family, the Donners, are all so thankful that you all could be here. As you know, my 50th birthday is today, so thank you all! Make sure to drink to your heart's content!”
The part erupted in cheers, I did the same, and no one else in my group did. I guess they were still trying to understand the situation at hand. Talk about a little embarrassing.
The lights suddenly flickered, before going completely pitch black. A couple of confused notions erupted from the room. Then it happened, something that made everyone including me jump.
The sound of a gunshot rang in the air, and many of the attendees gasped in surprise. A spotlight focused in, and where he was standing, a now hunched-over dead body of the man was lying on the black railing. The light disappeared, and after a couple of seconds or so, the room was lit up again, the body was gone.
Another man attempted to quiet down the party members, he rushed to the top of the balcony.
“Attention everyone! It appears someone killed the head of the family! I know it’s all a sad time but fear not! Work together with us and we can catch this guy!”
A cheer erupted from the crowd. Oh my, talk about bad acting. At least try and make it a little more realistic. I shouldn’t judge, but I mean, this was just bad.
“So, what is this some kind of murder mystery party?” Arianne said.
“Hmm, I suppose so, maybe we’re supposed to solve it to return home?” Quinn said.
To return home huh, this is abnormal, and things had progressed way too fast. First thing I know I’m on a train, next thing we are at some kind of party. Whatever god is playing a game with us right now, must be enjoying themselves quite much.
“Well, the sign back in the train did say to solve the mystery, so I guess we’ll start there?” Wren said.
“Isn’t this moving a little too fast?” I said.
They all nodded and agreed with me. On the bright side, tension was low, and we all began to settle in with each other. The distance began to close in, if not only a little. Progress is progress though. Hopefully, we can come up with better names soon, If this was a book, I’m sure it would suck to try and read those names.
Suddenly, the doors behind us, and a pair on the other sides of the room flung open. Each has a butler.
“You are free to explore the mansion and look for clues! But please report back here within an hour, another announcement will be made!” The man from earlier spoke again. Excitement filled the air as the guests all went for the doors.
“I suppose we should go as well,” Cade said
I still don’t understand the situation we are in, but perhaps now is the time to ask around. Although, usually in murder mystery plots, there's always a twist, isn’t there? Perhaps, it may not be any normal party. Eh, it's probably me just being paranoid.