TerrorFest 2018 - Zero Escape

Jacke

Jacke's eyes widen at Pierce's veiled accusation.

"W-what? You think I k-killed him? N-no way man!"

Jacke begins to panic, before Cyrus guides him onto the floor, shaking all the while. Morgan's antics grab Jacke's attention as he flexes and poses like Join did.

"M-mate, what do you think you're doing? J-Join's DEAD and you're j-just..." Jacke's words lack any real anger or strength behind them. He turns to address Remy.

"I-I think... there might have been s-someone else... I'm not sure, I was passing out on the floor..."

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Yù zǐ gave up his search for clues in this game of room escapades as the door shut itself on his hands. After all, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at this side of the closed door, except for all the antics of his fellow game mates.

"Sigh, this is getting us nowhere. I get Jacke was in shock but he could still have allowed himself to muster a little bit of strength and dragged Join's body out here to us. Leaving the poor sod all alone in a room that he allegedly got the correct code to release the locks and was finally free." Yù zǐ shook his head in slight disappointment then continued, "Well, as it would appear, that the Main-Ram doesn't want us to get Join out of there and examine the body up close and personal, all we have left to do is to just move on to the next room before he breaks more of his rules and gasses us all in here."

The slightly impatient man stepped out of the hallway and into the foyer and scanned the room for the exit.

"What's done is done. Let's clear our minds, dust ourselves off and move on. We can always send in the police or paramedics later when this whole Game ends and we are out of the building."

- Luna -

"And I don't appreciate people being heartless bastards." Luna shot back, giving Pierce a withering look in the process. "Your attention?" She rolled her eyes. "You're a real piece of work, you know that? What's the going rate on a few seconds of your undivided attention?"

Noticing the movement of his eyes, she tapped the cloth draped over her shoulders with one hand. "The coat might have been the only kind gesture you've made since I met you, and I have to admit, it threw me off for a minute."

"Part of me would like to blame your current attitude on stress, but considering who you are, I imagine stress is nothing new to you. So, logic says that one's out the window. Which is too bad. That must be hell on your company's employee turnover rate."

"So, here's some advice. In here," she gestured to the walls around them, "you're nobody different from the rest of us. From what I understand, we have to work as a team to get out of this mess. So, you want these people to like you."

"You're doing a real bang-up job of that, by the way. Between the yelling match with Alecia earlier and pinning the guy who was practically pissing himself and blubbering all over you against the wall, I'd say you're batting a solid 100."

"For your own sake, grow some humanity for a few hours. It might just save your life."

Alecia bit her lip, her fingers digging into her arms. She didn't really think Jacke was capable of slitting Join's throat, but... she couldn't discount it was a possibility either. Maybe it was spending so much time in a court room, but she knew that even the most innocent-looking helpless lambs could be capable of unthinkable atrocities.

And if it was Goatman instead... that just added another layer of concern. Especially since-

Yu zi brushed past the group around Jacke, suggesting they jus wipe their hands and move on. Alecia sighed and shook his head. Apparently, he hadn't noticed.

"We can't just move on," she said, glancing around the foyer at the doors leading to the next puzzle rooms. "Haven't you counted. We're at nine now. The rules say each puzzle room requires a pair to enter."

Kenny's eyes widened as he looked around at the group, lips moving as he counted. "But then, that means..."

Alecia stared at the floor. "Someone will have to stay behind."

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Pierce's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as Luna gave him a dressing down on every negative thought she had about him.

"Yes, this is comparable to the stress of the boardroom," he retorted. "I regularly set up death traps between coffee breaks to see who makes it back to their chairs first."

He stepped closer, glaring down at her from his considerable height advantage.

"Don't pretend to act like you know me, Miss Avant Garde. You clearly don't if you think I'm not stressed right now, if you don't think I nearly lost control when I stared at the room being filled with water and could picture that same terror when my-"

He clamped up, realizing he'd been venting off to much steam, too much information. He turned away, taking a moment to swallow the lump in his throat and smooth his expression to, if not cordiality, then at least calmness. When he turned back, eyes sweeping over the others in the room, Luna's words echoing through his mind. Being liked... he knew he wasn't liked. It wasn't news to him. But then, it didn't matter. He didn't care if people liked him or not. He didn't need anyone else. He didn't.

"I don't need them to like me," he said quietly. "Just value me. Say what you like about me, but I'm one of the few people here you can rely on to not only solve the puzzles, but figure ways around tricky problems like the one we're in. Maybe you hadn't noticed, but we're at an odd number, and that means one of us being left behind. So if you don't want it to be you, and I don't want it to be me, then we can't afford to leave it to random chance. That means making sure to point out the obvious - that Jacke is the best and most obvious choice."

He averted his eyes a moment. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't because he didn't want to see her expression. Sure, it would probably leave a bad taste in her mouth, but it hardly mattered. Just as long as she saw the pragmatism behind it.

"If he did kill Jacke, we can't trust him. If he didn't, he was still the last one to arrive. He's likely to slow us down in the long run. Either way, he's a liability."

Pierce finally dragged his eyes over to Luna. Though his voice remained steady, his hands shook slightly. "I'm not going to die here. I won't."

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Upon listening to the lawyer mentioning the previous rules, Yù zǐ raised one of his eyebrows and inspected the Foyer exit while stroking his chin.

"Well, in regards to the recent event, entertaining the theory that Goatee-beard did the killing and changed his rules, who is to say that the rules haven't changed of us being in pairs at all times."

Walking closer to the door, the singer placed his hand over the door. "We wouldn't know till we start trying to get out of here."

- Remy -

Remy was still torn between wanting to console Jacke and being afraid that he might be a killer.

Alecia's statement however pulled her from her thoughts.

Right, their number was uneven now. Remy shuddered. The thought of staying behind really creeped her out. It wasn't hard to jump to the next logical conclusion surely everyone would arrive at. She glanced at Jacke. Surely he was the prime candidate to be left behind after what happened in the last puzzle room.

She stook up and walked over to Alecia and Kenny.

"Do you think we should wait for someone to volunteer?" she asked and looked around, wondering if anyone was going to. "Or should we decide by group vote?" Remy didn't quite look comfortable with that. It would be much easier if someone volunteered.

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

The singer was humming the tune of one of his band's song while examining the exit door. He took a few steps back to get a larger picture when he suddenly let spill the lyrics out loud in surprise.

"Following the bloody trail like... Woah!!"

Yù zǐ gave a short yelp as his back bumped into the back of another. Turning around he apologized to the cloaked person and quickly retreated back a few paces.

"Oh, Morgan, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. Then again, I am not the one with eyes behind my head or have the all seeing eye to help me get out this Escape Game Mansion."


Facing the exit once again, the performer eyed it suspiciously, "We should just walk out of here and worry about what happens next as it'll happen. What say you, my mysterious friend, should we team up again and venture on forth into this bloody game?"

- Luna -

Luna quirked an eyebrow at Pierce's response. Interesting. So, the man was rattled, after all. That didn't excuse him from being a shitty human being, but it did explain some things.

"Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting before he died?" She paused, giving him time to consider the words. "It was only after he died that anyone recognized him as the genius he was."

"You're right about one thing. I don't know you. So, I couldn't hope to accurately define your value as a resource in this deathtrap."

"But I'm sure the others know you so much better than I do. It's not like the only impressions they have of you are that you frequently lose your temper and look out only for yourself."

Pulling off his coat, Luna held it out to him, despite the fact that her shirts were still fairly damp and clinging to her. "So, by all means. Keep on going as you are."

"But that guy you had pressed up against the wall? He was the one in that room filling up with water, not you. And waking up to a dead guy next to him? That can't be easy for anyone."

"Why not kick a few puppies when you get out of here too. It's not like you'll lose anything over it."

Pierce raised an eyebrow at Luna's Vincent Van Gogh trivia, wondering if she was trying to bore him to death to spare them from having to choose someone to leave behind.

But his look of mild indifference gave way to anger at her insults piled on one after another - not the cold anger he'd shown in the past, but a heated, personal anger that made his jaw clench.

Then she held out the his coat. When his eyes fell on it, his anger seemed to slowly fade away.

"Keep it," he murmured.

He walked away to join the others, where things were growing more heated.

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Alecia stared at Yu zi, her patience evaporating like dry ice on a summer day.

"Are you a complete idiot?" she snapped. "Even if Goatman broke his rules - which, I've told you, he didn't - do you really think he'd give us license to just break the rules he established while threatening to drown Jacke? The only way we're going to survive is by playing this safe, and playing this smart."

Kenny glanced back and forth between Alecia and Yu zi, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. "I think Alecia's right. Testing Goatman isn't a good idea."

"I also think we should switch up pairings between rooms," Alecia added. "It'll give everyone a better chance to know each other, learn our strengths and maybe give us a chance to figure out a way out of this."

That was all true, but there was more to it than that. Yu zi and Morgan were far too close. She wasn't sure if Jacke had it in him to betray them, but she wouldn't doubt for a second that those two would throw them all under a bus to get out together. If they were all going to stay safe, they needed to make sure those two didn't get too cozy together.

"That's probably a good idea," Kenny agreed, then winced. "But first, we need to figure out who's going forward and who's... not."

"Do you think we should wait for someone to volunteer?" Remy asked. "Or should we decide by group vote?"

Alecia sighed and braced herself. "I think everyone should get a chance to have their say. Then... we'll decide. Does that sound fair?"

Kenny nodded. Alecia glanced over at Pierce, who rejoined the group and stood in the corner. When he saw her looking at him, he averted his eyes, but nodded all the same.

"Kenny, do you want to go first?" Alecia asked.

Kenny looked ill. "M-Me? Oh..." He glanced at Jacke, then hung his head. "Sorry, Jacke, but... you were here last, and... I don't want to believe you did it, but it does seem like the safest option. I'm really sorry."

Alecia swallowed, and glanced around at the others. "Who's next?"

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It's coming down to a vote, it seems, and your choice could save your life... or ends someone else's. You -

A) Vote for Jacke. Who knows if he's in Goatman's pocket? And he was the last to arrive.

B) Vote someone else. It could be a good opportunity to get rid of one of the more high risk group members.

C) Volunteer to stay behind. You can't willingly condemn someone else to death, no matter how afraid you are.

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng
B) Vote someone else. It could be a good opportunity to get rid of one of the more high risk group members.

Alecia's outburst stopped Yù zǐ from investigating the exit.

"Woah lady, chillax. Why so Serious? It's-Just-A-Game" he retorted back while shocked at her.

The fellow game player gave the distressed lady a questioning look and replied.

"Who are you? I don't know you. I don't trust you. Why should I? All I know, you could be working for the G-Man. Why do you keep saying that the Man-Monster didn't break his rules? If he said that you die if you put in the wrong code multiple times then why is only one person alive and the both of them not dead? Clearly they got the right code and I believe Jacke on his claim of not killing his partner when they got the right code. So that only leaves someone else, the Goat-man itself who did the deed after gassing them both. Hence, it broke it's own rule by killing suriviours."


Yù zǐ raised his arms and shook his head disapprovingly. "If you think that your trusty Friendly-Goat isn't the fickle kind, then I Vote you stay behind and high-hoof your buddy while eating popcorn and looking at us struggle through the monitor room together."


Yù zǐ wasn't one to get angry just like that, but somehow this lady had started to get on his nerves. He was slightly fuming by the end of his rant, he wanted to turn his back at her but instead continued to stare her down while trying to calm himself down.

"It's-Just-A-Game, It's-Just-A-Game. We'll all get out of here alive and in one piece. No one is dead. It's all been an act. Some of them must be in it all and playing us. It's one those social experiments that them youtubers like to pull. It's-Just-A-Game, It's-Just-A-Game." he kept repeating in his mind.

Cyrus Winter

Cyrus held Jacke's wrist to measure his heart-rate while instructing him on managing his breathing to try and calm the other man down. Looking away as to not pressure him too much, Cyrus eyes locked onto the altercation between Luna and Pierce. He listened quietly and noted the minute changes and the slips of the tongue Pierce began to make as Luna pushed his buttons with the accuracy of an Olympic archer.

Tucking the information away for the time being, Cyrus stood and joined the rest, keeping his back to Jacke and also obscuring him from the others view. "Miss Daniels is likely correct. Rather than breaking his own rules the Goatman is likely simply using loopholes in them instead; he never said he wouldn't personally act to kill us at any point. Probably intends to act personally should the scenario not go as he wants." Weighing in his own opinion to the rest of the group, Cyrus waited for the rest of the group to cast their votes before making a decision.

B) Vote someone else. It could be a good opportunity to get rid of one of the more high risk group members.

Morgan

Ugh, no one is believing him, he thought he would be able to at least manipulate Jacke considering the emotionally vulnerable situation he's in but even covered in Join's blood he still has his sense of reason.  It wouldn't be that bad....

Suddenly, Morgan felt himself tip over, he was about to catch himself but instead he pushed the fall forward tripping over his feet and hitting his face on the ground with a loud thud.  There were a few moments where he didn't move, along with some sporadic twitching until Morgan reached out and placed his palms on the ground to push himself slowly back on his feet, his face a bright red with a irritated scowl.

"Ugh, I can't believe I let myself get possessed like that.  Don't you people know how to snap someone out of possession?!  You need to shock the ghost out of them or cause trauma."  Morgan clutched his head as if he was having a migraine with him glanced over at Aleica, as he continued to say with a pained expression "Well, maybe it's a better that some of you didn't know that..."

"Regardless of what you think of my abilities, we do know there is one confirmed murderer here...." Morgan stated as he lifted his right hand and pointed at Cyrus, as he continued to say "As I recall, he didn't even defend himself, so for the time being my vote goes to him... as I know Jacke is innocent from my time sitting in the back of my own head listening to Join's memories."

Morgan walked over to where 'Join' threw off Morgan's coat as he picked it up and put it back on himself returning to his mysterious demeanor.

"If you want to explain Cyrus... I'll be happy to change my vote to someone else."  Morgan stated in a stern voice, as he looked around to see if the others agreed with him.

- Remy -

Choice: A) Vote for Jacke. Who knows if he's in Goatman's pocket? And he was the last to arrive.

Remy looked around, trying to decipher all the faces.

"Uh...oh...um...," she stumbled over the words. She didn't really want to vote for anyone. But she also didn't want to volunteer. Maybe Morgan had a point. Cyrus did have a history of violence. On the other hand, he had cared for Jacke when he was distraught.

Or maybe Jacke was a better choice? He did arrive last and they still didn't really know what happened to them in the last puzzle room.

Her eyes met Alecia's. Mh... Did she agree with Yu zi that this was just a game and that Alecia should stay behind? Internally she sighed. No, her gut told her that this was much more serious than a game. And Alecia had so far proven to be very level headed.

"I ... ugh... I vote," she closed her eyes and pointed...

at Jacke.

"Sorry, Jacke," she mumbled.

Jacke

b) Vote someone else

Jacke is oblivious to the greater conversation as Cyrus calms him down. As he calms down somewhat, it attention is drawn by the increasingly heated dispute.

His eyes slowly widen as the people in the group begin to nominate someone to stay behind. And that most of them are telling to stay...

"H-hey, guys, you're serious? I haven't done anything wrong! I wouldn't lie about someone dying!"

His gaze flits between the group. He can't believe what's happening - surely the goat man is going to kill him at this rate! He's gotta pick someone else!

"I-I vote Pierce!" He punctuates this with a pointed finger at him.

Cyrus Winter

Cyrus chuckled at Morgan's accusation, a first from him since they'd been trapped there. Looking the other man dead in the eyes, Cyrus gaze a small grin as he spoke. "Murder you say? I mean, I'm sure all of you here watched the clip. At which point did it ever say anyone died?"

Letting that hang in the air for a moment, he turned around. "Well, Mr. Medium?" He asked as he made his way to a wall and leaned back, crossing his arms. "Either way, lets make it an even trade; I vote for Morgan."

Cyrus held no ill will towards any of the others, and the majority of them were both smart and skilled enough to make for good partners. With Morgan having opened hostilities unprovoked, he had no reason not to vote for him. Were Jacke to have been outed by the majority, perhaps he might have even volunteered.

Morgan

"Excuse me?!" Morgan stated in a mixture of surprise and rage, as he clutched his right hand in the form of a fist.  He had a perfectly good reason for voting against this man, the report they were shown was not pretty and someone could of easily died... though he was right in the fact it didn't explicitly mention death.

"WELL!  My mistake, for jumping to conclusions.  But that report was quite explicit with how brutally you beaten that man to a 'bloody pulp' with a chair leg" Morgan stated like he was morally outraged about the situation, as he continued to say with a deep scowl forming on his face "Say what you will about me and my temper, but I am not a loose cannon that could of very easily beaten someone to death.... especially with a build like yours!"

"I even gave you a chance to explain by offering to change my vote, and what do you do?  You don't correct me or even explain yourself... instead you try to silence me by condemning me with your vote..."  Morgan begins pacing around the room, his face beginning to turn a light red as he raises a single finger in the air "One of us is already dead!  What happens when someone pushes you the wrong way and that side comes out?  Who will be able to stop you when we're more divided? You're a risk to the group!"

Morgan ended his tirade and he stood next to Yu Zi with his arms crossed waiting for the rest of the group to realize how much of a risk Cyrus was.  He may act nice now, but Morgan knew that those quiet ones always blow up when you least expect it.

Cyrus Winter

Cyrus looked Morgan dead in the eyes once more. "Had you asked without threats, Mr. Church, I wouldn't mind telling you the story." He said, not moving from his spot by the wall. "Instead, you falsely accuse of murder and attempt to ostracize." Next, he swept his gaze over the rest.

"For now, however. You all remember the date for that clip? Over a decade ago." Next he closed his eyes and left the rest to digest the fruit of Morgan's latest attack on someone's integrity, letting the age of the supposed 'incriminating' imagery speak for itself. He was quite sure Morgan would make sure to take nips at anyone that sticks out or appears vulnerable, considering his attempts on both Alecia and Jacke.

Morgan

"My actions are warranted, I'm only expressing the concern everyone had when they saw that journal. I'd rather not leave Jacke behind considering how much he's been through after he did nothing, and you're the next obvious choice given the information we've seen since Yu Zi actually defended himself." Morgan stated with irritation with a hint of 'empathy' towards Jacke in his voice that came off a bit like he was mocking Cyrus at them same time.

"You explaining is for your benefit too, so why do you continue to deflect? Or would you prefer everyone to think you're dangerous in the back of their minds and not trust you... a lack of trust could prove FATAL here!" Morgan uttered with conviction, as he slowly walked over towards the door that Jacke had come out with his hands behind his back. He then pointed towards some of Join's blood with a stern expression, to put emphasis on his phrase.

"Really? Your defense is 'it happened so long ago'? That means nothing unless someone takes steps to improve themselves, and from my experience most people don't." Morgan continue to say, as he gave another sharp glare at Cyrus at that remark, "You know what I think? You just got better at suppressing your outbursts to blend in, and a situation as stressful as this could easily light the fuse to set. you. off."

Cyrus Winter

Not even bothering to open his eyes, Cyrus lightly responded. "If we speak of outburts, Mr. Church, I'm sure everyone here has seen which one of us is prone to them. On the topic of mistrust, it would seem you yourself are the one so inclined to spread it." He glanced at Morgan, a hint of pity in his eye for the huffing man. "My mistake, it was 'Join's ghost', was it? Guess we should be careful you don't get possessed by Jack the Ripper next, eh?"

With that, he went back to his position, shutting his eyes once more and making it clear he wouldn't be responding to any more of Morgan's drivel.

- Luna -

B) Vote someone else. It could be a good opportunity to get rid of one of the more high risk group members.

As the others argued among themselves, Luna stood back, listening to their verbal sparring. She was also contemplating the coat draped over her arm. Clearly, she'd managed to strike a sore spot with Pierce, but in a way, that was a good thing. Now, she knew that his motives would remain the same, even under pressure. Selfish as they might appear to be, the fact that he wasn't trying to hide his intentions made him a safer bet than most of the others in the room.

"Oh, I heartily agree." She spoke up at Cyrus' last comment. "We can't trust someone that's incapable of maintaining control over his own body. Not to mention, I tried to snap him out of it when I stepped on his toe earlier, and that clearly didn't work."

"If we can't be sure he won't be possessed by someone or something worse than Join, Morgan is clearly the most volatile person here."

Morgan

Morgan's blood ran cold, as a look of shook covered his face when Luna also voted for him, he was hoping that most people would vote Jacke and he could get away with some points with Kenny and Remy, while seeming morale by voting for the violent one but NO ONE saw this.... was he mad?!  This was bad, Aleica was up soon and assuming Pierce didn't get annoyed by his performance.... uh oh.

"V-very funny..." Morgan struggled to utter in annoyance as a beat of sweat began to drip down from his face, as he took a deep breath and sat down in one of the chairs. He held up one finger with his eyes closed like he was extremely exhausted from the long rant, "Join was able to possess me because of three reasons, One. He recently died so he still had a strong attachment to our physical realm."

"Two.  He still had unfinished business and wanted to protect Jacke from that gas, and jumped to the nearest exit in a panic."  Morgan stated as he raised his middle finger.

"Three.  I know Join to be a decent person, a little loose in the head, but good... so I lowered my guard when trying to commune with him to try and shed some light on the situation to help us." Morgan stated with slightly more conviction as he raised his ring finger, his eye slowly opening as he shook his head like he didn't want to deal with this situation anymore.

"This 'Jack the Ripper' or any violent person for that matter.... has none of those things, even though it's obvious you just two just said that to take a jab at my abilities again...." Morgan sighed, as his mind felt overwhelmed from the panic that was beginning to set in now that Luna has voted for him and the only two left were Pierce and Aleica.

"Whatever, do what you want.  I made a mistake trying to help." Morgan stated now with a hint of spite in his voice, as he waited for the final verdict to hit him.

Alecia balled her hands into fists, barely able to restrain herself from striking Yu zi on his stupid, arrogant face.

"Just a game? We're voting on someone's life right now!" she barked. She turned away before she could totally blow her temper. Clearly, there was no use trying to get through to him. Fortunately, Cyrus seemed to have a lot more sense and reiterated her point... for all the good it likely did. Yu zi seemed to be living in his own world.

Personally, she wanted to vote for him most of all. Even he didn't deserve to die, but she'd certainly feel a lot less sympathy about it than for any of the others. That would just be tossing her vote into the wind though. As the others made their votes, it surprisingly seemed to come down to Morgan, as well as Jacke.

Finally, it was just her and Pierce.

"Pierce?" She glanced at him, waiting.

Pierce, who'd remained expressionless except for a tightening of the jaw at Jacke's vote against him, glanced not at her, but at Luna. After a moment, he looked away and folded his arms.

"Jacke," he said flatly.

Three votes for Jacke. Two votes for Morgan.

Alecia sighed as Morgan and Cyrus continued to spit insults back and forth. So, this was it. It was up to her.

She glanced at Morgan, whose confident and mystical aura seemed to be oozing away with every moment as he realized his precarious position. She gave him a hard look, considering her options. Then she glanced at Jacke, taking in his trembling form.

Never in her wildest dreams did she picture herself being in this position. But she had to choose. And she knew the only reasonable choice she had.

"I'm sorry..." She shook her head. "But I have to vote... Jacke."

There was a moment's surprise from the room, most of whom probably suspected she'd try to take down Morgan. But it would be futile. Even if she did, she'd simply tie up the vote. Yu zi and Morgan would naturally change their votes to Jacke - even if it spit in the face of Yu zi's vote of confidence in Jacke's innocence and Morgan's possession charade professing the same. Jacke would vote Morgan, of course, but the vote would end the same - with one extra vote against Jacke. Why bother prolonging the agonizing the decision, losing more time, and further dividing the group? It had to be done, and she wasn't unaccustomed to making difficult, ugly decisions like this. No such thing as a pleasant plea bargain in court.

As if by unspoken agreement, the rest of the group seemed to back away from Jacke.

"Jacke..." Kenny said, rubbing his arm. "I really hope-"

He stopped short at the sound of a hissing noise. Everyone else looked around and saw gas beginning to seep along the floor.

Alecia's eyes widened. "Is that-?"

"The doors!" Pierce snapped, rousing them from their stupor. "Now!"

There was no time to plan partners. Everyone sprinted for the nearest doors, hurrying through and slamming them behind. Alecia spared a last look at Jacke, standing alone in the room, as the door clanged shut.

GUILTY.

Maybe those papers they'd been given had been a self-fulfilling prophecy after all. Certainly, none of them could claim to be innocent now.

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Again. It was happening again.

As the cloying gas brought Jacke to his knees, the fear smothering his senses as surely as the smoke, a panel in the wall opened.

And out stepped the Goatman.

He tilted his head, regarding Jacke as he slumped to the ground. Knife spinning idly in his fingers, he approached Jacke and crouched down beside him. Jacke could see his reflection in the blade, crusted along the edges with blood.

Join's blood.

There was a cold chuckle from beneath Goatman's mask before he tucked the knife away. "Don't worry, Jacke. It's not time for you to die. Not yet."

His hand reached out just as everything went black.

- Remy -

Remy watched the discussion between Morgan and Cyrus. Somehow it seemed Morgan was losing control of the situation, while Cyrus remained relatively calm.

In the end, it came down to Alecia's and Pierce's vote. To her surprise, they both voted for Jacke.

Remy looked at Jacke, who was beginning to panic again.

Very shortly after the last vote was cast, a hissing sound could be heard. She glanced around the room. That was very suspicious timing.

It was only Pierce's sharp words that snapped her out of it and hurriedly, she ran towards the nearest door. Once she was in the room, she stopped. Only when she heard the door close a second time, did she turn around.

It was Cyrus.

For a moment she didn't know if she should be relieved or scared. She decided on relieved and exhaled to relax the tension in her shoulders.

"That was a close call."

Morgan

Morgan felt all the tension leave his shoulders when Pierce voted for Jacke.  Now the votes would at least tie, and he could easily just make him and Yu Zi vote for Jacke when Aleica votes for him....

Di... did she just vote for Jacke?

Morgan's eyes widened as he stared at Aleica with the most perplexed expression, as he was wondering if she was the one actually possessed in this situation.  He cocked his head to the side almost expecting her to start twitching like something out of a horror movie, but he was cut short when he heard the hissing sound of that foul gas seeping in.  It must be the same gas Jacke was talking about....

"Right!" Morgan shouted in response to Pierce, as he felt all the adrenaline course through his body as he jumped out of the chair he was in and bolted to the nearest door in the direction he remembered Yu Zi being in.

"Phew, glad we were able to.... Oh." Morgan said with a carefree smile that soon distorted into a look of discomfort when he realized that the one in front of him... was Aleica.  He almost instinctively glanced down the the way to the puzzle room to avoid making eye contact with her, studying the way for a prolonged period of time.

"Shall we get going then?  Judging from what happened with Join... if we take too long then the same might happen to us." Morgan stated not shifting his gaze to look at Aleica, as he quickly began walking to the puzzle room.

Cyrus Winter

With the voting done, a hissing noise filled the room. 'Well, that confirms that' Cyrus thought to himself before giving Jacke a pat. "Fairly sure our goat friend wont let us swap out, sorry about this" he said to the other man before heading through the nearest door.

On the other side, he found Remy. He'd had little contact with the girl since they'd arrived, but the same could be said about everyone else as well, save Pierce.

"As close as he wanted, I'd say. I suspect the murder-goat won't kill Jacke yet though, so don't let it weigh on you too much." He said to her after aknowledging her attempt to make conversation.

He was by now almost certain the bastard in the suit didn't intend to let them live even if they completed his puzzles. He'd most likely pick them off one-by-one should they keep completing the puzzles, or two at once otherwise, but decided not to bring this up in yet in case he scared his new compatriot. Instead, he gestured that they should keep moving as they chatted.