The lifeless body had tumbled out of the closet and fallen on top of Grace, pinning her to the floor before any of them knew what to do.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my GOD!" Grace shrieked. "Will! Will! She's got me! I'm done! And--I had things to see and people to do! No! I mean people to see--"
Jack giggled maliciously. "I think you got it right the first time, Gracie Bear."
"Can it, Grace," Will said tiredly. "It's just Rosario, and she hasn't got anyone. She's dead. Jack, help me."
Collectively, they rolled the motionless Rosario off of Grace and shoved her back in the closet.
"Well, we know what Miss Scarlett was doing in the hallway with the knife," Will remarked.
"Rosie," Jack sobbed. He stayed that way for about five seconds before his moment of melancholy had passed. "You know, I always wanted these shades. Think she'd mind?" Before anyone had a chance to answer him, he'd plucked them off of her face and positioned them on his own.
"What are you doing, Jack, you can't do that!" Grace snapped at him, mortified.
"Well, Grace, what am I supposed to do? It's not like Karen let her walk around with anything better than this to her name."
"That's not what I was--"
"Shh!" Will broke in abruptly. "Listen…"
Karen's voice wafted up through the nearby floor vent.
"That's right, Olivia, sweetie," she was cooing, "we're playing in the dark. That makes it much more fun!" She laughed delightedly. "But you see, they've done a bit too good of a job hiding from me, and I think I need some help. Can you do that for me?"
They strained to hear Olivia's reply, but failed to do so.
"What's in it for you? I'll tell you what's in it for you, you selfish little--" Karen stopped herself, forcing another laugh. "I mean…uh…I'll give you six dollars tonight when I lock your brother in his room, instead of five. Six whole dollars, to eat as much candy as you want to as long as it's putting him in his misery. How does that sound to you, honey?"
This time, they could hear Olivia clearly. "Not as good as a hundred."
There was a long silence. Then,
"I think I like you. It's a deal."
"She's getting her stepdaughter into it now?" Grace exclaimed, incredulous. "I didn't even know one of the kids was in the house! Is it just us Karen's after, or is she going to go after Olivia and Mason at some point too?" She began gnawing on a licorice stick she had retrieved from the rear pocket of her skirt.
"No more, Gracie," Will said gently, carefully taking the licorice from her, fully aware that he could be in danger of losing a finger while doing so. As expected, she opened her mouth to protest, but he wouldn't give her the chance. "You were just heard trying to sort out Karen's thought process. It doesn't go together."
"Yeah, kinda like that hair with that shirt," Jack said.
"Or kinda like that mind with that body," Grace countered.
"Or kinda like that knife with that flesh--wait, you know, I could see that happening…"
"Keep going and I'll make sure it happens, but not to me--"
"Okay!" Will burst out. "Is it the licorice you want, Grace, because I might need to use it by way of bribery for the little one while she's trying to figure out whether or not to blow the whistle!"
"You can't!" Grace protested angrily. "That's my licorice stick!"
"Someone wants your life and you're worried about a licorice stick?" Jack inquired dubiously.
"Well, someone wants your life and we all know what kind of stick you're worried about!"
"I'm going to stick both of you if I ended up getting killed," Will told them venomously. "Now getting to Karen's room is the only sensible thing you've said all night, Grace, and I'm going to do it with or without you."
"This is so wrong, Will," Jack murmured.
"Jack, it's the only way to--"
"I mean, you can't stick someone if you're dead."
Olivia clattered down the stairs, mad with giggles, she could hear her stepmother's friends, she really could! They weren't hiding at all, and she would be one hundred bucks richer! Even at nine, it was milk money to her--but she didn't mind too much. The scream that began to erupt from her throat when she rounded the corner and collided with them quickly turned to triumphant laughter when she realized she had run straight into them.
"Found you!" she shrieked jubilantly. "You're not even hiding! Didn't you want to play anymore?" Before anyone could respond to her, "Kareeeeeeennnnnnnnn! They're down HE-mmmmmmphhhhh!"
Will had scooped up the small girl, hand clasped tightly over her mouth. "No!" he whispered sharply to her. "If I let you go, will you promise not to scream?"
Olivia deliberated; then nodded.
"That's not fair," she protested softly, "I'm getting a hundred bucks for this."
"Well, I can do you one better," Will said. "How about hundredbucks and a licorice stick?"
"Will--!" Grace whined, and Will shushed her.
"Grace, I'll get you ten licorice sticks tomorrow if you let me do this," he promised her, and turned back to Olivia.
"A licorice stick?" Olivia said doubtfully, and Will heard it in her voice.
"Did I say a licorice stick, sweetheart?" he asked quickly. "Did I really say licorice, did you hear me say licorice when I meant…uh…"
"Yeah, when he meant a hundred and fifty plus the licorice!" Jack interjected.
"Jack!"
Even through the darkness, they could see the whites of Olivia's eyes. "A hundred and fifty?"
"A…a hundred and…fifty," Will repeated weakly. "Plus the…licorice."
Olivia chewed her lip thoughtfully. "What flavor is it?"
"Uh…what flavor do you like?"
"What flavor do you have?"
"Which flavor do you want?"
"Which kind of licorice is it!"
"It's, uh, red."
"I like chocolate."
"But I don't have chocolate."
"But that's the kind I like."
"But that's not the kind I have."
"But that's the kind I wanted."
"Okay, kid," Jack intervened. "We're trying to be nice, so are you going to do this our way or not?"
"Do what?"
"See, living proof that she won't," Jack said.
"Jack, we haven't even--"
"No." Olivia pouted, trying to struggle out of Will's game. "I don't care what you want me to do, this is stupid and all of you are stupid and I'm not playing anymore."
The three adults exchanged a glance.
"Wwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Her cries were muffled by Will's hand; he, Grace, and Jack were in the process of trying to force her into the downstairs hallway closet.
"Does anyone besides me feel incredibly cruel about this?" Grace asked.
"Personally, I think the world would be a much better place if more kids were locked in closets," Jack declared.
"Well, Jack, you also think that the world would be a much better place if our national anthem was 'Believe' by Cher and gay men grew on trees, so you'll excuse us if we don't take you too seriously," Grace said.
"Grace, everyone wishes gay men grew on trees," Jack said witheringly, "even straight men like you."
"You know, I have a funny feeling we shouldn't be putting Olivia in this closet," Will mused.
"Maybe because locking a child in a closet is against the law?" Grace offered sardonically.
"No, it's something other than that…" They slammed the door shut on her, which then prompted a thump, followed by a scream so deafening, they thought they could feel the entire manse shaking.
"Oh yeah…that's the closet Karen stuck Rosario in," Will said.
Grace covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God, we have to let her out!" She started to fulfill this action before Will and Jack dragged her away.
"It's just a dead body covered in bloodstains," Jack said. "She'll get over it."