By now, the weather had picked up at a rapid pace. The old fisherman wasn't joking about the storm. You could hear the rain battering the windows. So much for the outdoor party Ben had planned for tonight.
In a change of plan, the group bought the party inside, dressing in semi-formal wear. Ben had chosen dark jeans, boots and a black long sleeved pull over. Meg had gone slightly more dressed up with a deep green floaty cocktail dress and cowboy boots.
"How very Kansas" Ben said drily, looking at her shoes.
"Too much?" she said anxiously.
He laughed, "I'm joking, you look beautiful".
"Well thanks" she blushed.
The pair of them went downstairs where the rest of the group were waiting.
"Oh my god!" Meg gasped. "It's so pretty"
The living room had been decked out in sparkling yellow fairy lights. The rest of the group stood waiting with champagne glasses in hand.
"Congratulations guys" Gabi said, handing them a glass each.
"This is amazing, thank you" Ben said, addressing mainly Gabi, who he knew would've been behind the elaborate display.
"I'd like to propose a toast" Casey said loudly, clinking his glass. "Ben and Meg, we're all so excited to share tonight with you. You've had your up and downs, but you guys are perfect together and we'll always be here to support you as you start this journey. To Ben and Meg"
"To Ben and Meg!" the rest of them chimed in and clinked their glasses in union.
"And now for the entertainment" Michael said excitedly.
"Oh god, please don't strip!" Meg pleaded.
"You wish" Michael retorted. "I'm talking about this", he said waving a brown envelope at her.
She took it from him and read the message on the front.
"Sorry I missed you just now. I came over to deliver this to you in case you wanted some rainy day entertainment. I highly recommend it, it's a hit with all my guests. Regards, Mr. Rede."
Meg pulled out the contents of the envelope "Nighthorn House Murder Mystery Party".
"When did he deliver this?" Ben said, confused.
"Must've been when we were all napping, it had been posted through the letterbox, I found it after Sarah's screaming fit" Michael replied, and Sarah shot him an offended look.
"Ok well do you guys wanna play it?" Meg said suspiciously.
The group decided that since there was nothing else to do, they might as well do the murder mystery game. Inside the envelope there were seven cards. Five of them were blank, and two were labelled with "Bride" and "Groom", which Meg and Ben took. The rest were given out randomly.
The instructions stated that five of the envelopes had a card that said "innocent", one had "dead", and one had "murderer".
Everyone opened their envelopes together, hiding them from each other's gaze. Ben was relieved to find his said "innocent". Everyone else put their card back into their envelope apart from Sarah who held up her card.
"Dead" she sulked "I get all the luck".
Along with her card had come a key a small brass key with a tag attached that said "find the door to your crime scene".
"Ooh how exciting, we're gonna get to see what's behind those doors!" Vanessa said.
"Of course" Gabi agreed. "They must be kept locked for the game".
The key gave no indication of which door it was for, so the group went around every room, starting with the room next to Vanessa and Michael's bedroom where the scratching had been heard. Disappointingly, it wasn't the right door.
Finally, they found the right door next to the upstairs bathroom.
"Well Sarah do the honours" Ben said, letting her open the door.
When the door first creaked open, the boarded up windows made it difficult to see what was inside, but a strong smell of paint permeated the air. Sarah stepped inside first and then immediately jumped backwards, crashing into Ben.
Ben was next to see what was in the room, and for once had to agree with Sarah's reaction.
In the centre of the room was a double Bed, its sheets torn and mangled. The sheets were pure white covered in deep red liquid. Had it not been for the smell of paint, it could've easily been mistaken for blood. The walls were covered in it too, bloody handprints were smeared across them like someone had been clinging to life. In the corner of the room, a chest of drawers were open, with clothes falling out of it. Just next to the bed was a body shape made out in chalk.
"I guess that's your spot Sarah" Michael said. Even he seemed a little nervous.
"I - I don't wanna stay in here alone" Sarah said.
Meg stepped in calmly "it's just a set Sarah, come on it'll be fun"
"It's quite realistic isn't it?" Ben said quietly, but no one heard.
If Meg was thinking the same thing as him, she didn't show it. That this room bore a resemblance to the way Maria's studio was left in that night.
"Ok, but if I get freaked I'm coming to find you guys" Sarah continued, sitting down where the chalk figure had been drawn.
"Right" Casey started. "The instructions say we need to find the next key".
It wasn't difficult to find, it was placed in one of the drawers.
"That was easy, next instruction", Casey said, reading out the label. "Go to the downstairs study".
The six remaining suspects left Sarah to go downstairs. They had no idea which room was the study but it wasn't hard find. It was located between the entrance hall and the living room.
Inside was a much calmer set up than the bedroom. A mahogany desk stood with a large leather chair and a pile of papers on it, topped by the next key. A green lamp gave the room a glow. Another set of instructions were on the desk, which Vanessa read out.
"In these papers lies a clue to the brutal murder in the bedroom. Figure out the riddle to reveal the truth. Two people EXCLUDING the bride and groom must work on this riddle, the remaining members should go to the wood store. In the wood store will be the same clue. Whichever team returns to the living area with the clue first will win the right to make the first accusation of murder".
Vanessa glanced over the papers "well this is easy" she said. "Each word has one letter capitalised. All we have to do is put the words together".
"I guess this one's for you then" Michael said grinning. "And maybe someone else smart, Gabi? Sorry Casey, no offence"
They laughed, "sure" said Gabi, "we'll have it figured out in no time", she said competitively.
Ben, Meg, Michael and Casey left the girls in the study, following the instructions on the next key to the wood store attached to the kitchen. In there, stood piles of log wood for the fire. On the floor was a torch, another key and some instructions.
This time, Ben read them out "two people, other than the bride and groom must now race the members in the study. Under this pile of wood is the same clue. Which is faster, brains or brawn?"
"This is great!" Meg laughed. "And perfect for you two".
Michael and Casey flexed their muscles. It was a pretty big pile of firewood and Ben couldn't decide who he would place his bets on finishing first - the girls or the boys.
"We'll see you in the living room in five minutes" Michael said cockily, before handing Meg the next key.
Up in the bedroom, Sarah was sitting bored next to the "bloody" bed picking the dirt from her fingernails. The slow shuffle of feet made her glance up.
"Hey, coming to rescue me?" she said to the person in the doorway.
The figure didn't reply. Instead, they closed the door on Sarah with a swift click, locking it behind them.
Sarah scrambled to her feet and pulled at the door handle but it wouldn't open, "hey, HEY! You guys this isn't funny!"
But no one could hear her.
Down in the study, Vanessa and Gabi were just finished with their riddle.
"Ok" Vanessa said triumphantly reading out the riddle. "Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come."
"What does it mean?" Gabi said, puzzled.
"It's Shakespeare - " Vanessa replied.
But before she could continue, the click of the door stopped her. Both women turned to see the door shut. When Gabi went over to open it, it wouldn't open.
"Oh very funny boys" Vanessa said, twisting the door handle. "You really want to win that bad that you'd lock us in here", she shouted through the door.
Michael and Casey didn't respond. For they weren't on the other side of that door.
Michael and Casey were still in the wood store, but they had stopped moving the piles of wood as soon as the door shutting on them had blocked all the light from the kitchen.
"Ben? Meg?" Michael called through the door of the wood store.
"It had to have been the girls" Casey said, only illuminated by the torch light.
"I don't get it though" Michael replied. "We have the key right here, but it doesn't unlock the door from the inside".
In fact, when Sarah, Vanessa and Gabi tried their keys from the inside the door, they found the same problem.
It seemed there was one way in but no way out.
Ben and Meg had been instructed by the final key to go to the boiler room right at the end of the house. The location of the room was such that neither of them could hear the banging and calls from the other party members.
The room was bare and empty apart from a a boiler and some metal piping. The ground was concrete and the windows were boarded up, leaving it dark and cold. Once again on the ground was a body drawn in chalk.
Ben picked up a note that had been placed in the middle of the body with a sense of unease. "Uh oh, the bride is nearly dead" he read. "Our groom must now go upstairs to his room, find the final instruction and hurry back before it's too late."
"You better go then" Meg said.
"I'm not sure about this Meg", he replied. Ben wasn't usually one to get spooked, but this weekend, there had been certain things that just didn't feel right.
"Don't be such a baby, I'll be fine" Meg teased, giving him a playful push.
He kissed her on the head, "I'll be right back".
Leaving Meg in the boiler room, Ben sprinted up the stairs ignoring the odd bangs her could hear around the house. As soon as he entered the bedroom, he started looking through all the all the drawers, under the bed and across the window ledges for the final clue.
But he needn't have bothered. The paper was sitting right on his pillow.
"How did that get there?" he said aloud, a chill running through him as he unfolded the note.
"Don't you know you should never leave your bride alone?" it said.
He dropped the note and ran. Ran faster than he ever had through the upstairs corridor, back down the stairs and through the maze of corridors to the boiler room. As he grew closer, a piercing scream almost stopped him in his tracks.
This time it wasn't Sarah. It wasn't even a scream of someone who was playing a game. It was a scream he'd heard before, one of real fear.
Ben turned the corner of to reach the doorway of the boiler room and this time he did stop dead in his tracks. Because what he saw next was what he'd been hoping was just his irrational fears.
Stood in the centre of the room was Meg. Around her chest was a vice like arm, trapping her body in place. At her temple was a gun, pointed and ready.
"Finally. We've been expecting you", the all too familiar voice said, dancing out from the shadows.
Ben took a step inside, "Derek".