A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. I'd apologize for taking so long, but I was sick. Can't exactly apologize for that. This chapter's shorter than the others, but we're nearing the end of the movie, folks! There will only be one more chapter after this. That being said, read on!
Roxas unlocked the front door, swung it open -
"Good evening, sir," greeted the police officer
- and promptly shut it again. The door swung back open and Roxas smiled warily.
"Yes?" he asked, voice cracking.
"I found an abandoned car down near the gates of this house. Did the driver come in here for any help, by any chance?"
"No, no, no, no," the guests responded. Roxas stood with his mouth open, seemingly undecided about what to do. He made his decision as the other guests quieted down.
"Well, actually, yes," he stated.
"No!" the other guests stated, looking at the small blond. Roxas looked over his shoulder, shooting the other guests a nasty look.
"There seems to be some kind of disagreement," the officer stated, looking around at all of the guests.
"No, no, uhn-uhn," everyone stated (except Roxas).
"Yes," he stated, looking straight into the officer's face.
"Uh, could I come in and use your phone?" the officer asked. Roxas opened his mouth, but didn't answer. Axel pushed his way to the front door.
"Of course you may, sir. You may use the one in the," he motioned with his arm, "um, no... Uh, you could use the one in the stu-" he cut of. "No. Would you be kind enough to wait in the, um, in, in the, uh, in the library?" he asked, gesturing with both his arms.
"Sure," the officer agreed quietly. The officer seemed totally caught off guard and didn't seem to know what to make of the group in front of him. He stepped into the house, pausing as he stepped down into the hall. "Don't I know you from someplace?" he asked, pointing at Larxene. Larxene threw her hands up in a shrug. "You all seem to be very anxious about something."
"Oh, yes, the chandelier," Axel stated, pointing at the ceiling. "It fell down, nearly killed us. Would you like to come this way please, sir?" Axel asked, leading the cop by the arm. Tifa squeezed past the two men, running to the study and slamming the door shut. The two men whirled around to face the noise. Tifa grinned, leaning her right arm against the doorway, her left hand resting against her hip. During that time, Vexen had made his way to the lounge, slamming the door shut as well. Axel and the cop whirled finding Vexen leaning his back against the door and nonchalantly smoking his pipe. "Frightfully drafty, these old houses," Axel covered, continuing to lead the cop to the library. "Please help yourself to a drink, if you'd like," he stated as the cop entered the room. "Not the cognac, just in case," he stated, shutting the doors as he exited the room.
"Just in case of what?" he asked, setting the bottle down. His only response was the locking of the library doors. Axel turned his back on the doors, cautiously rejoining the rest of the party.
"What now?" he whispered anxiously. Their attention was distracted as they listened to the cop testing the lock on the library door.
"We should have told him," Roxas stated.
"Oh, very well for you to say that now," Yuffie muttered.
"I said it then!" Roxas argued.
"Oh, shut up!" Everyone shouted at him.
"Let's clean this up," Axel directed, grabbing the fallen chandelier.
Back in the library the officer had given up trying to get the doors open. He moved back to the desk and as his hand reached for the phone, it rang. The officer jumped before catching his breath and picking up the receiver.
"Hello?" he asked.
In the hallway, the guests had frozen in their clean-up efforts. Every eye was riveted to the door of the library. "Maybe the cop answered it," Axel stated.
"And who shall I say is calling?" asked the cop. "Uh, would you hold on please?" he asked in a softer voice. He set the receiver down on the table before walking to the library door. "Let me out of here!" he yelled, banging on the door. "Let me out of here! You have no right to shut me in!" The only response was the sound of someone sweeping up the broken glass from the chandelier. "I'll book you for false arrest, and wrongful imprisonment, and obstructing an officer in the course of his duty. AND MURDER!" he shouted with a flourish. The library doors swung open, revealing Axel and the rest of the guests - all with mild looks of shock on their faces.
"What do you mean...'murder'?" Axel asked, tapping the handle of a broom against the floor.
"I just said it so you would open the door," he explained. The guests all forced fake laughs, giving each other nervous grins. "What's going on around here? And why would you lock me in? And why are you receiving phone calls from J. Edgar Hoover?"
"J. Edgar Hoover?" Axel asked, gripping the bristles of the broom.
"That's right. The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the cop continued, stepping out of the library.
"Why is J. Edgar Hoover on your phone?" Xigbar asked with a nervous laugh.
"I don't know!" Axel exclaimed. "He's on everybody else's phone, why shouldn't he be on mine?" He challenged, heading into the library. "Excuse me," he stated, stepping around the cop. Axel paused at the door to pull the key out of the lock before shutting himself in the library.
"What's going on here?" the cop demanded as soon the doors were shut.
"Uh, we're having a party," Tifa responded, running a hand down the cop's arm. The other guests, standing in a tight group, gave small, forced smiles and chuckles. "You mind if I look around," the cop asked, not falling for the party excuse.
"Suuuure," Tifa told him, turning back to the other guests. "You can show him around, Mr. Roxas!"
"Me?"
"Yeees," she stated, moving the cop in the direction of the young gentleman. "Uh, you can show him the, uh, dining room, the kitchen, the ballroom," she looked at him pointedly. All rooms without a body.
"Fine," he stated, stepping toward the cop. "Fine. Officer, um, come with me," he stated, pulling the man along behind him. "I'll show you the dining room...or kitchen...or the ballroom." Roxas led the cop to the dining room where he proceeded to investigate everything in minute detail. He raised the partition between the dining room and kitchen, peering into the other room but he didn't see anything that suggested criminal activity. "So," Roxas stated as the cop moved to the table. "This is the dining room."
"No kidding." The cop stated, chuckling. "What's going on in those two rooms?" he asked, pointing to the hall.
"Uh, which two rooms?" Roxas asked as the cop moved around the table and towards the door.
Meanwhile, Tifa had gathered the guests in the study. "Make it look convincing," she ordered before grabbing a bottle of alcohol. "Come on," she urged, grabbing Vexen's arm and running across the hall into the lounge. They had just closed the door as the cop entered the hall.
"Those to rooms," he stated, pointing to the study and lounge.
"Oh, those two rooms…" Roxas stated, laughing.
"Yes!" The cop shouted. When Roxas failed to give an answer he began striding across the hall toward the study. Roxas hurried after him before blocking his path.
"Officer, I don't think you should go in there."
"Why not?"
"Uh…" the cop dodged around the small blond, but Roxas quickly blocked the door with his body.
"Because it's . . . all too shocking!" he stated. The cop yanked him out of the way, entering the study.
Swing music was playing as the two entered the study. The cop and Roxas saw Fuu on a couch on top of Zexion's body. She was using her hand to move his arm against her hair, making it seem like he was stroking it while she pretended to kiss him. The cop looked to the far wall and saw Xigbar and the cook. They were partly hidden by a curtain. It appeared that Xigbar was kissing the cook's neck while the cook's arms stroked Xigbar's back. Yuffie was hidden behind the curtain, her body helping to hold the cook's up and it was her arms that the cop and a gobsmacked Roxas saw.
"It's not all that shocking. These folks are just having a good time," the cop stated to Roxas before leaving the study. Roxas' hand groped for the doorknob before all but falling into the hall, shutting the door behind him.
In the lounge, Tifa forced alcohol down the motorist's throat before placing the bottle in his hand. She hurried to the couch, pulling Vexen down on top of her just before the door opened, admitting Roxas and the cop.
"Excuse me?" Tifa and Vexen quickly broke apart, pretending to be startled. They untangled themselves but remained sitting on the couch as the cop inspected the motorist. Smelling the alcohol he stated, "This man's drunk. Dead drunk."
"Dead right." Tifa stated, chuckling. The cop turned back to the motorist.
"You're not going to drive home, are you?" The cop asked loudly.
"He won't be driving home, officer! I promise you that!" Vexen stated.
"Yeah…" Tifa agreed.
"Somebody will give him a lift, huh?" The cop asked.
"Oh, we'll . . . we'll . . . get him a car," Tifa stated.
"A long black car," Vexen muttered.
"A limousine," Tifa covered quickly, elbowing Vexen in the side. Tifa grinned at the cop before leaning back on the couch. Vexen followed her down, and she gave a squeal of surprise. The cop and Roxas exited, entering the hall just as Axel was quitting the library. The red-head leaned against the door jam, shocked by whatever had transpired. As he saw the cop exiting the lounge he eyes widened in surprise, and he forced a grin as he went to join the two other men.
"Officer!"
"You're too late-I've seen it all."
"You have?" He paused, glancing at Roxas over the officer's shoulder. "I can explain everything," he stated, not realizing that the cop was still uninformed about the dead bodies.
"You don't have to," the cop stated.
"I don't?" Axel asked quickly.
"Don't worry!" The cop assured. "There's nothing illegal about any of this."
"Are you sure?" he demanded.
"Of course! This is America."
"I see…"
"It's a free country, don't you know that?" The cop asked, clapping the red-head on the shoulder.
"I didn't know it was that free." The cop looked over his shoulder in confusion, and Roxas faked a huge grin.
"May I use your phone now?" he asked, facing Axel again.
"Certainly!" Axel stated, gesturing with his arm. He led him back to the library, locking the doors behind him once again.
"Why did you lock him in again?" Roxas asked quietly as the other guests came out of their respective rooms.
"We haven't finished searching the house, yet." Axel explained, whispering.
"Well, we're running out of time." Vexen stated. "Only fifteen minutes before the police come."
"The police already came!" Roxas whispered fiercley.
"Shut up!" Everyone whispered.
"Let's get on with it!" Axel ordered.
"Monsieur?" Larxene asked, reaching for Roxas. Larxene, Roxas, Axel and Fuu began climbing the stairs as Yuffie and Vexen headed back to the cellar.
Tifa and Xigbar entered the kitchen, pausing at the bottom of the steps to glance around. Tifa began checking the cabinets of the island while Xigbar noticed a small cupboard in one of the walls. He approached it carefully, grabbing the handle before yanking it open and quickly moving to look inside. The ironing board whacked him in the forehead. In the meantime, Tifa had made her way to the freezer and had begun tugging on the meat hooks. As she moved the meat hook on the farthest right, the back of the freezer swung open revealing another secret passage.
"Look!" she shouted, turning to Xigbar. "I can't believe it. I wonder where this one goes."
"Well, let's find out." he stated, joining her.
" All right," she agreed, stepping cautiously into the passageway.
In the study, a large painting swung open and Tifa and Xigbar cautiously stepped over the threshold. They glanced around the room before looking at each other and shrugging.
"Let's try the ball room again," Xigbar stated, heading for the door.
As Roxas and Larxene reached the attic, a gloved hand reached for the fuse box and switched it of. Every light in the mansion turned off and the swing music ground to a halt. In the cellar, Vexen lit a match in an attempt to find his way. Yuffie stumbled around the cellar, bumping into something. Thinking that Vexen had been trying to kill him, she screamed and began hitting it with her purse. "Ahhh! Don't you touch me!" she ordered. Vexen, hearing her distress, turned toward her but the match went out before he saw what was happening.
On the second floor a door slammed shut. Axel jumped, shouting in fright, but he couldn't find his way out of the room of mirrors. In the nursery, a gust of wind blew a window open and Fuu screamed. Larxene, sneaking down the master stairway, heard the scream, but continued down to the ground level and easing her way into the billiard room.
"Shut the door" a voice instructed. "Did anyone recognize you?"
"They must have," Larxene stated, dropping her French accent. "And not just my face," she continued, stepping farther into the room. "They know every inch of my body. And they're not the only ones." A noose was thrown over Larxene's head. "It's you!" she gasped as it was tightened.
"Hello? Hello?" the cop asked, making sure he was connected. "There's something funny going on around here. I don't know what it is…" he trailed off to listen to the other side of the conversation. While he listened, the door handle was quietly turned, and the door slid open silently. "No, I'm not on duty. But I have a feeling that I'm in danger. You know that big, ugly house on top-" The lead pipe softly pressed down on the phone cradle, cutting off the connection before it was raised above the cop's head. "Hello? Hello? Are you there?" The cop asked.
The doorbell rang. The guests all paused in what they were doing, and the front door swung open. Outside, a young woman dressed in a uniform struck a pose as the door opened.
"I am your singing telegram-" The gun was fired, and she fell to the ground as the door slammed shut.
In the attic, Roxas was attempting to find a way out. He opened a door, hoping it was an entrance to another room, and the contents of the closet fell on him.
In the dining room, Xigbar hid under the table.
In the second floor nursery, a jack-in-the-box sprung open and Fuu began screaming again. Still stuck in the room of mirrors, Axel heard her screams.
"Shouting! I'm coming!" he reassured. "I'm just trying to find the door!" He grabbed a doorknob and passed through it. "Coming…," he shouted before he slammed into a wall. His hands groped before grabbing another handle. "What's this? Another door?" He twisted the knob and water sprayed down on him from the shower-head.
Axel sloshed down the staircase, rushing to the fuse box. He flipped the switch, and electricity was restored to Hill House. The record player restarted in the lounge as the remaining guests reassembled themselves in the hall. The song ended and the record player shut itself off as the guests staggered into the billiard room. Larxene was sprawled across the pool table, strangled with the rope. Without saying a word, the guests straggled back into the hall.
They headed back toward the study, passing by the library. Axel paused as he saw the cop. They silently filed in and stared at the corpse, which was slumped over the table.
"Two murders." Roxas stated. Vexen entered the room and picked up the lead pipe.
"Neither of them shot," Vexen pointed out. "I thought I heard a gun.
"I did." Fuu stated.
"So did I." Yuffie agreed.
"I thought I heard the front door slam!" Tifa shouted nervously.
"Oh, God. The murderer must have run out," Xigbar stated. The guests ran to the front door and yanked it open. They looked down and saw the body of the singing telegram girl.
"Three murders." Axel stated.
"Six, all together," Roxas stated, adding them all up.
"This is getting serious." Axel stated. Because, you know, the first one wasn't serious at all. They shut the front door, and Axel walked over to the chandelier. "No gun. Larxene dropped it here." Axel straightened his sopping coat and brushed water droplets off his forehead. "Very well, I know who did it," he announced.
~Review~