Chapter 1

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"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hell Manor. 13 unlucky guests have been invited here. There is one twist. While all of these guests are murderers, only one has been designated as 'the murderer.' Her goal is to eliminate each and every one of the other 12 guests. If she fails, if she is eliminated by one or more of her competitors, she loses. There can be as few as one winner or as many as twelve. Who is the designated murderer? And who will ultimately win this game? Stay tuned and find out. This is Hell Manor."

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3 weeks ago

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Satan was in a board meeting with his minions. The purpose was to placate the people in Hell, give them some reason to obey the rules and not try to revolt. One minion was suggesting something new, a reality show competition right here in Hell.

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Satan: Explain to me why a reality show would make the people in Hell less likely to revolt against me.

Minion: Other than giving them entertainment, we could give them the impression that they took can win the grand prize.

Satan: What would the grand prize be?

Minion: A free pass out of Hell. A chance to live their life again. The downside is that, there is a chance, however small, that once the winner or winners get to Earth, they might do enough good to get into Heaven.

Satan: Which would make viewers of this believe that they could get out permenantly.

Minion: Exactly.

Satan: I see the potential in this. Maybe it could help me increase my territory, to rule over more worlds.

Minion: We can hope.

Satan: What kind of reality competition do you have in mind?

Minion: A murder mystery. 13 women, all of whom committed at least one murder.

Satan: Why all women?

Minion: Because a lot of the residents down here like to see dangerous women on television, its sexy. Plus a lot of the women I have in mind have tendencies to like other women.

Satan: I don't know. We have a lot of homophobes down here, I doubt they'll like seeing them on television.

Minion: They don't like LGBT people having civil rights, it infringes on their own sense of superiority, but they're fine with lesbian sex scenes or seeing them shooting guns. It's like a minstrel show.

Satan: Those are popular down here.

Minion: We could arrange a fair competition, or we could fix it if you have any preferences for who should win.

Satan: No, we should have a fair competition. If word got around that we don't honor our agreements, people won't make them with us. This isn't Wall Street this is Hell. I would also prefer not to know who the killer is in advance. I'd like to be as surprised as anyone else.

Minion: So I have your permission to begin this project?

Satan: Yes, begin immediately.

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Present

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The killer had been surprised when this offer was made to her. In life, she had hoped that God would forgive her sins, that hadn't worked out. She never had to ask why had been sent to Hell, she was a murderer. Some of the people she'd killed deserved to die, some had been innocent. But now, she was given a chance to get out. She just had to make certain that she was the last woman standing. She had to kill, or arrange the deaths, of twelve others. But then they were all murderers as well, and it was every woman for herself. Whether they were worse or better than her, she couldn't get herself think about that, she just had to do this and get it over with.

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The minion briefed these 13 women on the rules of the competition.

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Minion: One of you has been designated as the murderer in this competition. She will attempt to murder each of you. If she wins, she gets a pass out of Hell. If however she is killed before then, whoever is left standing gets the pass out of Hell. There could be as many as twelve winners, or as little as one. If you have a theory on who the murderer is you are free to try and kill that person. If it turns out you are wrong, you are eliminated. There are two exceptions to this rule. If you all feel that one of your fellow players is the killer, you can vote on it. If the vote is unanimous, then you might all execute this woman. But should you all choose this option, you must all participate in the execution. Or, if you have some sort of personality conflict with one of your competitors, you may challenge her to a duel. After each death, there is a 15 minute delay, then a loud voice will let everyone know who has died, and whether or not she was the murderer. It is now almost 6pm, dinner will be served soon. The killing do not begin until at least midnight tonight. You are all free to enjoy the pleasures of this mansion, for however long you are here. Being killed will of course mean you are sent back to Hell as slave labor. These are the rules, good luck to each of you.