Word about the blood message Furfur and I found at the barn spreads quickly.  And just like that, everyone is terrified again.  Because now we know that this whole "killing game" might very well be real. 

"It must've been Ace," Evangeline thinks aloud, pacing in the hotel lobby. "They gave us a warning, perhaps?"

"Nope!" In the blink of an eye, Ace is standing on the foosball table, hands on their tiny hips. "I can assure you that none of that was me!  In fact... it was one of your classmates!" Not even a second later, they're gone, leaving everyone stunned at the revelation.

"What?" Caim yelps, alarmed. "There's no way anyone would do such a thing!  And why?  No... I refuse to believe that!"

"That's f*cked up, man," Tristan grunts.

Deep down, I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever had done it was intending to get us all suspicious of each other like this.  Unfortunately, it seems to be working, too.  Everyone keeps casting each other suspicious glances. 

"Why are you all back here already?" Stolas demands as the throws the front door to the hotel open. "Are you all that careless when analyzing a crime scene?"

"Hate to break it to ya, but there was just a dead cow and a freaky message," Furfur retorts, twirling her braid with a finger.  She's sitting sideways on the couch with her legs propped up on the side.  I wish I could pull off a pose like that.

"Quite on the contrary," Stolas argues, making his way to the center of the room to address all of us. "The chess board that once resided on this table-" he paused to slam his hand on said table, startling everyone- "happened to show up at the barn near the deceased cow and the blood message.   A rather peculiar thing, but the pieces were set up rather methodically.  If I recall correctly, it was the Inverted Hungarian Opening that was displayed.  A more simple and therefore easier to recognize setup."

"And how is that relevant?" Marzy challenges, crossing his arms.

Stolas holds his gaze firmly as he says, "I don't quite understand exactly why the chess board was set up there, perhaps just a simple coincidence.  Someone might have just wanted to play chess at the corral.  But something about it just seems off to me."

"How about we put off this discussion and stop worrying for a while?" Dana suggests. "After all, tonight's the dinner party, so we should just focus on cooking and enjoying ourselves.  We all know that nobody here would actually do anything, and Ace is probably lying about not being behind the message.  Let's all just relax and take it easy."

I, of course, am more than happy to go along with this, especially because it's Dana who suggested it.  If she isn't worried, then why should I be? 

"Hang on, where's Ryn?" Stolas realizes, his gaze sweeping over the room.

"She stayed behind at the barn to look after the other animals," Rori recalls. "She wanted to make sure that nothing else was harmed."

"I can go look for her," I offer.

"I'll come with you," Caim tells me, and I nod.  With that, the two of us head out.

"Do you think someone would actually... y'know...?" I trail off, unable to finish my sentence as we walk past the cottages.

Caim sighs. "Honestly?  I dunno.  I doubt it, honestly.  It was just a blood message.  And Dana's probably right- Ace most likely wrote it.  We should just enjoy the day.  I'm going to be making my mom's brownies for the party after we go find Ryn, before everyone else is crowded in the kitchen."

"Your mom's brownies must be special then," I say, attempting to steer the conversation in a different durection.

"Yeah." He smiles sadly. "I mean, I'm gonna miss her if we're stuck on this island for the rest of our lives.  Maybe I can keep a part of her with me if I..."

He seems to realize the gravity of what he's saying, because the words die in his throat as his eyes water up.  Next thing I know, he's sobbing quietly.  I don't know what to do, so I stop walking and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Hey," I tell him. "It's gonna be okay.  Everything will be fine.  We're gonna all have a good time here together, right?  And we're gonna have a fun dinner party later.  You're okay, Caim."

Caim looks up at me and wipes at his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I'm okay. Thanks, Sophie."

As we approach the corral, we quickly stumble across Ryn sitting inside one of the fenced-in pastures, stroking a small black-and-white creature that is resting its head on her. She looks up as she hears us coming.

"I'm almost certain that this is the baby of the dead cow," she says, rubbing the calf's head gently as she speaks. "He didn't seem to have a connection with any of the other ones, and kept crying out. And the dead cow was a female, so I have reason to believe that she was his mom."

"That's sad," Caim frowns. His eyes are still red and brimmed with tears, but the worst of it is over. I hope.

"Just so you know, this does mean that I will be spending most of my time down here to ensure that he is being given the proper treatment and getting the nutrients that he needs. I'm sure that I can try to substitute some other kind of milk for him, so I'm off to search Rocketpunch Mart in a few minutes. This also means that I won't be attending the dinner party, unfortunately," Ryn continues. The way she holds the calf... I wish she'd hold me like that.

"Well, we're glad to know that you're doing better," Caim says with a forced smile.

Ryn searches his expression, her face falling when she sees his puffy eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah! I'm good," he lies. He's a terrible liar, we all understand this immediately. Ryn doesn't force anything, just goes back to giving the cow her undivided attention.

"So, how about we head back? Brownies, huh. I mean, my family's Irish, so I doubt anyone would want a cabbage dish," I tell Caim as we turn to leave. He giggles a little.

"Yeah, that's fair enough. But do you know any good potato dishes?" he asks.

"I'm sure that the dinner party will go on perfectly fine without me making anything," I say. every f*cking time I say to someone that I'm Irish, potatoes always end up being mentioned at some point. I don't get it.

Soon after we get back to the hotel lobby so Caim can bake his brownies, I'm pulled aside by Dana.

"Quick question," she tells me as she basically holds me against a wall. I mean, not really, given she's several inches away from me and we're probably two feet from the nearest wall, but a girl can dream, okay?

I think she asks me about a drink, but I'm fantasizing too much to hear it. She seems to notice, though, because she grabs my hand and I immediately snap out of it to jump back in surprise.

Amused, Dana repeats, "So, about that drink that I told you I'd make you for the dinner party. What'll it be?"

"Um..." God damn it, I'm flustered again. "Maybe... whatever you're having? I can't decide."

Dana gives me a grin. "I guess I'll think of something for you, blueberry."

I stare after her as she leaves. Blueberry? What's that supposed to mean? Well, I guess my hair is kind of blue...

"How odd."

I look over my shoulder to see Marzy and Stolas standing in the lobby, staring at a table. A chess board sits atop it.

"Is it the same one from the barn?" Marzy asks.

I hear Stolas sniff it before saying, "Most definitely. How it got back here, I'm unsure."

I nearly jump a mile in the air when I hear Ace suddenly declare, "After a body is discovered, the crime scene is cleaned up! So the chess board would be returned here, where it was found."

When I turn to look for the headmaster, they're already gone.

"Ah, eavesdropping, Sophie?" Stolas calls to me, a flicker of amusement visible in his amber eyes. "Stay a while- actually join the conversation if you're going to stand around."

"You're still on the whole chess board thing?" I finally ask him as I approach.

"Stolas makes quite a point," Marzy remarks. "While I do think he might have a tendency to overanalyze things, he is correct on the topic of the appearance of the chess board and the setup. An Inverted Hungarian Opening... how strange."

"Strange indeed," Stolas agrees.

"Hey, Soph! Have a sec?" Oh, I know that voice. I turn around to see Furfur approaching, carrying a steaming tray using oven mitts.

"Yeah, how can I help?" I swear I can feel Marzy and Stolas's gazes burning into my back as I turn to approach the goddess that's known to humankind as Furfur.

Furfur gives me a big grin. "I need you to close your eyes."

Yes. Yes. I'll do whatever you tell me to, ma'am. No hesitation. I nod and squeeze my eyes shut. I can hear her blowing on something.

"Now open your mouth." I do so immediately.

I taste something warm and flaky enter my mouth, along with gooey cheese. I reach out and grab it to keep it from falling, and accidentally open my eyes.  Furfur doesn't seem to mind though, she just watches me as I chew.  And by god is it delicious.

"What is this?" I question, amazed by whatever this heavenly food is.

Furfur laughs. "You like it?  It's a cheese pastry.  I'm not much of a baker, but I used to make them for long days of studying rocks and whatever."

"Well, it's fantastic," I say through a mouthful of the pastry.

And it's most certainly not the only delicious thing I have at the dinner party, either.  When the time comes, I'm quickly handed a mug of something steaming and delicious-smelling by Dana.  One sip confirms that this is the best warm apple cider I've ever had.  It's exactly what I needed and I didn't even realize it.  I'm not sure how she does it, but her face says it all- it's just pure hot woman magic.

Iris is sitting in a chair and playing his flute nearby, every note hanging in the air perfectly.  Azrael stands next to him, enjoying every second of it.  I hear Iris mention something about the song relating to "hopes" and "dreams", but I understand why Azrael likes it so much; it's a really nice melody.

"I had no idea we were all the Ultimate Chef," Caim laughs through a mouthful of salmon.

Despite working with live fish as his profession, Zeben wound up making the most delicious roasted salmon I've ever tasted.  Which honestly shocks me, because he doesn't seem like the type to be very good at cooking.  He had told me that he only knew how to because he would help his mom with Shabbat dinners.  Not quite sure what that is, but it sounds like a religious thing.

"It's neat to see what everyone's cooked up," I agree. "But maybe we could've used a few potatoes."

Caim chuckles. "Well at least we know exactly who to ask next time."

"Say hi to the camera, guys!" A camera is practically shoved in my face, and I yelped in surprise.

"Will!" I exclaim, my face turning red.

He puts the camera down and reassures me, "I'm just kidding.  I wanted to do a vlog, but Flauros was being weird about it so I figured he didn't consent to being filmed.  Which is fine, I'll find something else to film at a later time."

"I don't blame you, I'm guessing it's a huge part of your life." I pause before quickly adding, "Filming, of course."

"Well yeah, it's what I'm known for," Will responds. "I'm a sucker for a good movie, and making them is just as fun.  I'd love to direct one if everyone here is down.  Probably not Flauros, but still.  I can probably write up a part that he'd like."

"What do you think the movie would be about?" Caim inquires after chewing another bite of his salmon. "Kids stuck on an island?"

"Maybe.  A sort of The Last of Us scenario came to mind, but there's so many other things I could probably do." Will thinks for a minute. "Any ideas?"

"I mean, I like comedies and fantasies and stuff," I shrug. 

I hear someone in the background start coughing, and a few worried voices pop up.  Someone probably had a bite go down the wrong pipe.

"I'm more of an action and horror kind of guy myself," Will says. "My last boyfriend was totally into horrors.  The classic slashers, more specifically.  He helped me film an award-winning psychological horror, which was pretty neat-"

He's cut off as the coughing gets louder.  But something sounds off as it suddenly begins to sound raspier and more strained, like choking.  Really bad choking.  At this point, I'm concerned for whoever this is and turn around just as a loud thud echoes around the room.  As I look over towards the scene, time seems to slow down, and my heart stops.

***

(2263 words)

Uh oh.