The formal dining room was smaller than expected, but still grand. The table itself didn't need to be so big; since only the main group plus AM were sitting for dinner.
"So, I take it everyone arrived without trouble?" AM leaned slightly forward, his sharp eyes wondering over everyone.
"Yea A- um- i mean- yes father, we did." Twinkle nervously played with her dress, trying to remember her role.
"Well, as you all know I invited you all here to discuss my Will." AM looked around for any reactions, taking the adventure very seriously.
"Sir?" Suddenly, one of the cat maids popped her head in from the kitchen.
"Ah, I'm needed. Be right back." With that, he got up and walked out.
"Ok so- clearly we aren't here for a will reading." Jax smirked, putting his feet up on the table.
"Ew Jax! Do you have ANY mannors?" Ragatha glared at Jax's smug face.
"Well, I know why you're all here." Twinkle giggled, earing everyone's eyes.
"Huh?" Pomni leaned closer.
"Yea! As AM's daughter, I know all your characters secrets." The fox grinned as her tail slowly swayed behind her.
"I also know the reward for getting away with silencing the family~"
"Reward? For what?" Kinger innocently looked down at Twinkle.
"So there's actually a reward for keeping out secrets?" Ragatha leaned closer, as if worried someone else would hear outside of this room.
"Mhm~ The person who's able to best keep their little naughty secret, gets to sit out of the next adventure~!" Twinkle's tail wagged faster as she watched everyone shift in their seats- of course not Kinger though.
"Whoa, did you know you have a tail?" Kinger watched it go back and forth.
"I did."
AM had returned, sitting down he started talking. No one really heard him though. Their thoughts on Twinkle and their back stories. Jax was very aware now of his little treat attached to his belt, Ragatha's eyes darted around, and Pomni gripped the edge of her skirt. As everyone was looking down, the lights suddenly went out.
"Hey whats going on?!" Pomni yelled, little eyeballs blinked in the pitch black of the room.
"Whoever is moving around, I can hear you!" Twinkle looked around quickly, her ears twitching and moving to the small thumbing sounds. She tried to see in the dark, but her night vision wasnt working. Damn it Caine.
Before anyone else could say something, a loud bang shot out; making everyone scream.
"Whats going on?!" The maid twins came running in from the kitchen, flipping on the light switch they also screamed. AM was laying on the table, a hole in his back dripped with black goop. Similar to blood though flashes of binary code could be seen in it.
"Oh my-" one of the sisters fainted, bouncing off the ground.
"Someone shot AM?!" Kinger called out. Twinkle rushed over to the body. She expected this yes, it was in the script. But so soon, so quick? It was a little jaring.
"Ok- who did that?" Pomni asked, looking around suspiciously. Her eyes, as well as everyone else's landed to Jax.
"Whoa, ok look- I can totally see it, but I didn't shoot him." Jax's eyes darted around to everyone.
"Oh yea, Mr.Policeman?" Zooble leaned forward. "Whats on your belt then?"
"I- ok listen. I DO have a gun- but I didn't kill the guy!" Jax pulled out a four bullet revolver. Opening the chamber, all four bullets were still inside.
"I mean- that's a pretty good alibi." Twinkle pointed out, letting everyone lean off the rabbit. For now.
"It could have been an NPC, just to get the ball rolling?" Gangle suggested.
"Yea that's a good idea. We should go talk to them. Then regroup and share our information." Zooble suggested, standing up.
"What scooby-doo nonsense are you tryin to pull?" Jax grinned up at the take apart toy.
"Do you wanna sit here waiting to be shot too? Miss a chance to skip an adventure with no annoying Caine?" You could hear the smirk in Zooble's voice. Even in their eyes as Jax grumbled, his way of agreeing with her.
"Kinger, stay here with the maids ok?" Ragatha suggested.
"Wait, why leave him alone?" Pomni looked confused.
"Well I doubt it was one of the twins. One is passed out while the other one is worried about her sister." Ragatha looked at the two NPCs.
"Ok, fair point." Leaving the confused cheese piece behind, everyone left in pairs. Gangle and Zooble headed to the main hall again. Ragatha and Pomni took the staircase to the library. That left Twinkle and Jax to search the kitchen.
"Ah the dynamic duo, together once again huh?" Twinkle looked up confused as Jax smirked.
"Oh, we're a duo now huh?" She smirked back, earing a bigger grin from the yellow toothed wonder.
"I'm just sayin, clearly we're the best two here huh?" Jax leaned down, putting an arm around the fox.
"Are you trying to get the secrets outta me?" They stopped walking as Twinkle look in suspicion.
"Me? What? Take advantage of a trusted friend? Just what kind of rabbit do you take me for?" Jax dramatically fell on Twinkle, half of his body on the fox.
"Hey!" She giggled, pushing him off as they entered the kitchen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room so far. There were counters for prep stations, two fridges, many stoves, one of those mini dumb waiter elevator thingy, and a few stoves.
At one stove was an NPC. She looked like the princess from Caine candy adventure, though she was made of cheese. She had on a classic chef outfit, with a tall chef hat resting on her cheese head. Though a pop of color came with her rose red ascot around her neck.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Twinkle stepped forward.
"Huh? Oh hello guests! What can I do you for? Do you know what that strange noise was?" The cheese girl turned to the pair.
"Thats what we wanna talk about- why'd ya do it. Huh?" Jax leaned forward, glaring suspiciously.
"What now?" Cheesy tilted her head.
"Dont mind him. Were you the only one in the kitchen for the past few minutes?" Twinkle gently pushed her paw in Jax's face. She could only tell he was chuckling when she felt him vibrate under her touch.
"Well, the twins were helping me. Though I thought I heard some extra footsteps walk through here. I didn't see anything though." Cheesy explained as Jax looked around.
"Yo, look." He nudged Twinkle. When she looked, Jax was pointing to the corner wall. In the marble tile, a single square was slightly inward.
"Thank you ma'am! Jax let's go." Twinkle waved to cheesy before pulling Jax with her. The two stepped into the corner.
"I wonder.." Twinkle pushed in the tile. Once she did, both animals screamed; falling down a hole in the floor that opened from the secret lever being pushed in.
----------------------------------------------------
Pomni and Ragatha had climbed the grand stairs to the second floor of the manor. Caine didnt put to much work into the place, so only three doors opened. The library, AM's room, and what seemed to be a broom closet.
"Wow, this library is really pretty." Ragatha spoke as she walked in.
"I wanna see." Pomni stepped inside. Two walls were filled with books, wall to ceiling. A large window separates the cases, showing the calm and looped rain outside. A brick fireplace nestled itself on the far wall. A bear rug decorated the ground with two matching arm chairs.
"This is pretty cozy, dont ya think?" Ragatha smiled down at Pomni, earning a nod.
"What are you lookin for?" Ragatha asked, watching Pomni poke around the room.
"Huh?" Pomni looked up from under a table. "Oh, looking for secret passages"
"How do you know there's gonna be secret doors?" Ragatha walked closer, now looking around herself.
"Cause there was with the board game. If Caine is AI, I'm sure he could have mixed the game with the board game." Pomni stood up, walking around the bookcases. Suddenly she stopped. The only book that actually had a title down the spine.
"Here we go." The jester pulled out the book, though it only tilted half way through. Letting go, it made the bookcase shake- slowly opening like a door.
"Whoa, thats so cool!" Ragatha praised with a small applause.
Once the cloud of dust dispersed, the two slowly made their way down the old stone staircase.
----------------------------------------------------
Zooble and Gangle wondered around the main hallway. Of course, the main doors were locked. They couldn't find any other way in or out. But Gangle suddenly moved to the two statues at the base of the staircase. Usually rich people have lions made of stone, but the Caine Manor had Bubble statues. Gangle approached a Bubble, one with an extra fang on his bottom jaw. Pushing the fang down, made the stairs shake. Slowly, the bottom four slid down; creating a new staircase into a cellar like area. Without a second thought, Zooble lead the two down into the dark cellar.
----------------------------------------------------
The cloud of dust that exploded under Twinkle make her eyes water. Groaning, she tried to get up- but something stopped her. As the dust cleared, the light from the trapdoor bleed into the dark area. Above her, pinning her down; was Jax. He coughed softly, not wanting to move until his eyes adjusted. His faces inches away from Twinkle muzzles. As if she was fire, Jax jumped off of her; his back hitting the hard stone wall in reaction.
"Ya know, when a guy falls on someone- it's the polite thing to do to help them up" Twinkle sat herself up at her elbows. After a scoffed, Jax took her paw.
"Yea? Well it's not nice to push on trap door buttons and send me down in the first place" Jax pulled her up, looking away the moment she stood.
"It looks like this is a hallway"
"No, really? You promise?"
Twinkle glares up at Jax before sighing.
"Looks like there's no light sorce. Ill hold my breath so we have light." Jax nodded along.
Taking a deep breath, Twinkle looked like a chipmunk.
"Ha! You look so stupid." Jax teased, earning another glare. After a few seconds, Twinkle's swirls started to glow. Once they started moving around her body, she was like a disco ball. Her light lit up the old stone hallway.
Jax didn't mind the silence. After a little while, he noticed Twinkle getting wobbly. In the Digital Circus you couldn't die, but that didn't stop the pain. Jax debated internally, before reaching down a gloved hand to hers. She looked up confused, tilting her head at the rabbit.
"Tell anyone about this, and I will heavily deny it...like, at Spudsy's." Jax didn't look at Twinkle when he spoke, as if hoping she wouldnt hear him if he didnt see her. Twinkle remembered comforting Jax at their fast food adventure, though it wasnt exactly consensual. She had a small smile on her puffed up face, and holding onto Jax made her steady herself.
Thanks to Twinkle's light, the two were able to see two shadows approaching.
"What is that?" Jax whispered, Twinkle just shrugged. Waiting another moment, Gangle and Zooble rounded the corner.
"Oh sh(beep)- you guys scared us." Zooble let out a sigh as Gangle walked out from behind them.
"Sup, guess you two found the tunnel." Jax smirked, casually moving his hands behind his head. But Gangle saw the two holding hands, she kept it however to herself.
"What, are you making Twinkle be your flashlight? You really are a di(beep)" Zooble glared at the smirking rabbit.
"Hey, she volunteered herself. How nice is that huh?" Jax nudged Twinkle, making her tail flick up dust.
As the group talked, Ragatha and Pomni followed the voices and faint light. Turning another corner, the girls met up with everyone else.
"Guess the tunnels are connected." Ragatha sighed.
"Let's get back upstairs and talk. Twinkle looks like shes gonna pop." Zooble nodded toward the fox. Her swirls had rapidly started moving around her body, her black fur almost looking completely white now.
Everyone followed Ragatha and Pomni, exiting back in the library. In the light of the fireplace, Twinkle gasped hard for air.
"Uugghh..hate that." The fox coughed quietly, taking a rest on the velvet reading couch.
"Alright, so there were three tunnels down there right? Three entry ways." Ragatha stated, sitting next to Twinkle. Jax sat on the arm of the couch, looking rather cunty.
"So we found a door in the library." Pomni said as she sat down on a foot rest.
"Ours was in the main hallway. The stairs turned into it." Zooble still sounded a little surprised.
"Twinkle here dropped us down from the kitchen." Jax teasingly poked the fox's fluffy cheek. Though he quickly pulled away when she bit at the air near his hand.
"Ok, so it has to be the chef right? She's the only NPC we've seen near a trap door." Zooble stepped closer to the group.
"Yea but what if there's another NPC? Sure we've only seen three but maybe there's more?" Ragatha rebuttal.
"Good point yea.." Twinkle slightly mumbled. Her head lowered in thought, and as she got closer to her conclusions; her tail started twitching behind her.
"I.." Twinkle hesitated, then stood up. "I think i solved this mystery!"
"Pfft, yea ok Velma. Tell us who it is then." Jax stood, just to tease the fox more.
"I'm serious." Twinkle scanned the room, her eyes lingered before turning back to Jax.
"What?" Jax looked around, not being able to see what she lingered on.
"Everyone got grab their suitcases from their rooms, and meet back here. Pomni, can you grab Kinger's bag too?"
The jester nodded, then everyone split up. Jax, Pomni and Zooble went down the east hall; while Gangle, Twinkle and Ragatha went west.
Twinkle closed her door, running to the room's desk. Quickly, she wrote something down before slipping the note under a smaller statue of bubble that rested on the desk. Just as she got to her bed, crouching down to get her suit case from under it- her ears twitched. Lowering and turning back, she listened as the door creeks open and softly closed with a click.
"I knew it." Twinkle smirked, standing up slowly. She had a small knife that was hidden in her bag, probably as a possible murder weapon left by Caine. Being as still as possible, she stiffly reached in front of her.
"You'll probably get away with this, or not. Really, I can't tell how smart the others are. I should've know it was you though, I think you're the only one able to kill AM so easily without being caught." Twinkle tried to keep her voice steady as her paw wrapped around the knife. Quickly, she spun around to face her attacker. A knowing smile spread across her face as she saw her suspect. Twinkle launched her knife at the attacker, but it only grazed a shoulder; she had missed. Though her smile still remained on her face, as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen.
"Good luck~" was the last thing she coughed out before another stab made her curl over. Her body fell to the ground with a soft thud. The only sound now was soft squishing, as the culprit stabbed the fox three more times. As they ran from the scene, the lights in the whole manor flickered off- then on ten seconds later.
"Ok what happened?!" Pomni shouted as she came out of her room with her suitcase. Everyone exited their rooms at the sound of Pomni, along with their bags. As everyone met at the entrance of the library, Pomni caught up with Kinger's suitcase.
"Hey, where is Mrs.Sherlock?" Jax looked around.
"Oh no..when the lights went out.." Ragatha's eyes widened at the thought.
"W-what are you saying Ragatha?" Gangle sniffled.
"There's no way." Jax's smile slightly faltered as the thought hit him to. Slowly everyone looked toward Twinkle's still closed door.
Pomni was the first to walk, then Jax, then everyone else. Slowly, she creeked open the door. Gasping, she pulled back. Digital vomit threatend at her throat.
"What- what is it?!" Jax's smiled fully vanished as he pushed open the door, past Pomni. He froze. There on the ground, Twinkle's body was left. Five sharp stab wounds soaked dark red into the lilac dress. Though the deep red was more horrific as it stuck to her fur shawl.
Everyone else pushed to see, Ragatha actually did have to pull away. Puking up dark, code filled vomit onto the velvet carpet.
"What the f(beep)?! I thought only NPC'S were dying!" Zooble yelled, her eyes slightly shaking.
"Wh-who could do this?!" Gangle sobbed, her ribbons covering her masks mouth.
Everyone looked at Jax, who was still frozen; staring at Twinkle's body. His eyes fixed on the small smirk left on her face. This feeling he had..it was the same as when he hurt the fox back in the a western adventure. Finally he looked up.
"H-huh? No way...you all think it was me?! Check my bag! I-I don't even have anything sharp on me!" He desperately looked around, no one believed him.
"Let's..get down to Kinger." Zooble glared at the rabbit before turning away, the others followed. Jax was alone with the body. He hesitated.
"F(beep)" was all he whispered under his breath. He looked around the room, desperate. Then, his eyes landed on the dest. The bubble statue was creepily pointed towards him, accusingly. He was about to leave, when a piece of white caught his eye. Walking over, he tilted back the statue, exposing the note left behind by Twinkle. Opening it, he was confused.
"Jax! Come on!" Pomni called from the staircase. Stuffing the note in his pocket, he walked over to Twinkle. Her body started to glitch, probably being called back by Caine. Without thinking, he quickly grabbed her pearl necklace. Grabbing it, made it stay once her body disappeared. Stuffing the necklace in his other pocket, he left to the others.