Chapter Eleven

A/N: We're winding down, even though the action is just getting started! I'm hoping to stretch this story out for two more chapters, that way it'll be 13 chapters long (oh, creepy)! Alright, here you go! Remember, I don't own clue, only my original characters. Remember to review; it'll keep the bad guy away!

I was running ahead of the group, only one thought in my head. Madison. I pictured her being attacked by Alfred, and that made me run only that much faster. Unfortunately, I happened to run over an extremely unsturdy piece of the floor.

I cried out as the hardwood gave way under my weight and I fell down into darkness. I landed in what felt like soft dirt, and groaned as I rolled onto my back. Someone landed next to me, no doubt falling in right behind me without being able to stop in time. Glancing over, I saw Alex sputter as she tried to gather herself back up. Wherever we were, it smelled horribly.

I crawled over to her, helping her to her feet as we both looked around.

"Are you guys okay?" Heather called down to us. I looked up at her, and saw that we were around ten feet below the ground floor.

"Yeah, we're alright." Alex coughed, brushing her shirt off.

"I don't know how we're going to get out, but we're okay at least," I shrugged up at her.

"Don't worry; we're going to go find something to pull you out with!" David called down to us. "Jackson can stay here and keep watch, just in case." He nodded at me.

"I-I can?" Jackson gulped. Alex and I smiled over at each other, despite the situation.

I looked around again, trying to squint through the darkness.

"Here," Alex pulled a small box of matches out of her pocket. "I think we could stand to shed some light on the situation." She gave me another small smile. I took the box from her slowly.

"Thanks," I nodded, striking a match shakily. The sudden burst of light, though small, gave us enough to see what was around us. Alex's eyes widened and all the breath in my lungs seemed to be sucked right out of me.

To one side of the small secret space we were in, in the soft dirt that made up the floor, there were six shallow open graves. Each one held a crudely-made pine coffin, and all seemed to be slowly rotting apart. I now knew what the awful smell was.

The match went out.

I quickly lit another one. Alex paled and then made a gagging sound as her legs buckled and she fell to the ground. I seemed to be frozen in place, transfixed in horror at what we were staring at. Slowly my legs started to move mechanically forward.

I glanced at the first grave. Carved into the wood of the coffin was: Blanche White, Enemy. I quickly lit another match before moving to the next one. Jonathan Green, Parasite. Shivering, I glanced at the next two quickly. Michael Mustard, Fraud and Elizabeth Peacock, Self-centered were scrawled into the wood. Holding my breath, I approached the second to last one. Evelyne Scarlet, Vain. I knew who was in the last coffin, and still I couldn't stop myself from gazing down at it.

Etched onto the front of the coffin was Peter Plum, Murderer.

My blood turned to ice as I stared down at my name. And then I sunk to the floor, dropping the match as it went out. I was aware of Alex scuffling around in the dark, her hands searching for the matchbox in a dead panic, but my mind was somewhere else.

And then there was the sound of a match being struck and there was a small light again. Alex knelt down in front of me, her eyes still so large I could see white all the way around her pupils.

"Peter, Peter, are you okay?" she whispered, almost as if she were being afraid of being heard. I met her gaze reluctantly.

"I- my… he was the murderer…" I mumbled, my brain still trying to comprehend what I had just found out. She glanced behind us at the coffin that bared my name before facing me again.

"I-I…" she trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. I closed my eyes, letting my head fall into my hands.

"Who would do this? Who on earth would do this?" I asked quietly, my voice broken. Alex was quiet before answering me.

"I'm guessing, since the wood is old, but the people must still have been young, it was Mr. Boddy's sister. Think about it; she lost everything in the depression and she engraved a hate into her son that made him want to do this to us." She attempted. I exhaled deeply, looking back up as she lit another match.

"I just… this is too much. I don't think I can handle many more surprises." I told her, my voice straining. She nodded slowly.

"Agreed," she sighed.

We settled into silence, our thoughts wrapping themselves around us. But that only lasted for a few moments.

"You guys are still alive down there, aren't you?" Jackson called down to us from the floor above. We both glanced up quickly to see his face peering over the edge at us. We gave a small smile.

"Yeah, so long as Heather and David get back soon; we want to get out of here as fast as possible." Alex called back up to him.

"Don't worry, I see them coming with some rope," Jackson nodded down at us. Alex lit another match before I blinked and then took a shuddering breath. She turned back to me in surprise as I tried to blink away a few tears.

"Peter, what's wrong?" she asked as I lowered my head.

"It's… Madison is still out there somewhere and- that guy…" I broke off, breathing heavily. "I just don't want her to get hurt, that's all." I mumbled, giving a slight sigh. Alex gave me a tender look before putting a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll be okay Peter; we'll find her." She gave me an encouraging smile. I smiled back.

"Guys, here's some rope!" David called down to us. "Wrap it around your arm one at a time and we'll pull you up." He explained as the coarse cord was lowered down to us. I offered it to Alex first.

"You sure?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah," I nodded. She smiled at me before handing me the matchbox. I lit another match as they started to lift her up.

"Alex," I called out after her. She glanced down at me quickly. "…thank you." I whispered. She smiled and gave a quick nod before being pulled to the top.

The bedraggled group of party guests slowly reassembled themselves in the lounge, weary of looking around in a dark house by themselves. They all wanted this night to be over, but they had yet to solve any crime. Jonathan was pacing around the room, his eyes wild.

"I-I don't understand… there has to be something, somewhere…" he muttered.

"Just give it up," Blanche White huffed, leaning against the fireplace, "If it wasn't you, there wouldn't be any reason to worry." She started to study her nails in boredom. Mr. Green turned towards the nonchalant lady quickly.

"Are you accusing me of the murder?" he demanded, his nerves consuming him. White slowly met his glare.

"Calm down, I wasn't accusing you of anything. Although I was wondering where you were all night; you told us to split up into pairs, and yet I spent most of the time by myself." She said, her eyes narrowing.

"You weren't with her?" Peacock's face paled, "You-you must be the murderer!" she stood, pointing a finger at the man standing in front of the group. He spun quickly to face her.

"Oh don't point fingers at me Peacock!" he spat, thrusting her arm down, "You were the one to find him. How do we all know that it wasn't you?"

"You're accusing me of murdering Reginald?" she cried.

"Now just wait one minute there young man!" the colonel burst in, but Jonathan cut him off.

"And you, why are you defending her?" he shouted at the large muscular big-game hunter. Then, he sent an accusatory stare around the room. "How should I trust any of you when any of you could be the murderer!" he yelled. Everyone was quiet as they stared at the panting man in front of them.

And then there was a knock on the large front door and someone with a hearty voice shouting.

"This is the Police; is anyone in there?"

As soon as we had gotten Peter out of the hole he had fallen into, he was on his feet and running back down the hallway. I was having trouble keeping up with him, even though I was in track. I glanced behind me and saw that Alex, Heather, and Jackson were losing distance behind us.

"Peter, hey Peter!" I called up to him, "Slow down, we're losing everyone else!"

Peter turned back around and jogged in place for about half a second before continuing on his way. I gave a huff as I slowed to a stop. The rest of the group caught up with me as I was catching my breath.

"You alright David?" Heather panted. I gave a nod before starting to move forward again.

It wasn't long before we caught up with Peter outside a door. He was tugging painfully away on the knob.

"It's locked," He sighed, taking a step back.

Thank you, captain obvious.

"No problem," Heather smiled, stepping forward. I saw her draw out her wallet and retrieve her student ID card. Stepping towards the door, she jiggled the card in between the lock and the wall. Suddenly there was a click and the door swung open. Heather smiled proudly as she put her ID away, holding the door open as we all ran in.

Peter again led us up the stairs and to the attic. I was concentrating on my feet when I ran into him. Almost falling over, I glanced up at him. He was frozen at the top of the stairs, staring into the cluttered room.

"What is it?" Jackson asked from behind me.

"The room, it's empty…" Peter murmured, stepping fully into the room. We all glanced around us, not seeing anyone.

"I don't get it," Alex sighed, sitting down on top of a steamer trunk, "I could've sworn that Alfred was heading for the attic." Her brow furrowed.

"Well, where would they go? It's not like they're on the roof or anything," Jackson gave a small laugh. We all turned to stare at him. His smile faded. "What?"

Behind Jackson there was a large gap where part of the wall had been torn open to reveal the spine of the roof, leading all the way out to a tower. Although raining heavily outside, we could all clearly make out the silhouettes of two people balancing precariously on the rooftop.

"Madison!" Peter cried out, running for the hole in the wall quickly. Jackson glanced behind his back.

"Oh…" he sighed, his face paling.

A/N: Another chapter done! Even though it was short, this extra chapter helped me to explain a lot more about the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and even if you didn't, review!