Serial

15. Begin

     Scout picked up his head from his chair and tried to focus in on the words coming out of the speaker.

     He woke up just minutes before, to Paco cursing him across the room, yelling out all sorts of profanities in both English and Spanish. Paco then stormed out, into the winding hallways of the house. Scout stayed sitting in own of the chairs pressed against the wall of the ballroom. He was unfocused and dizzy. He felt like he had just been hit by a bag of bricks, and could barely remember where he was or why. Then the static came out of the speakers, and the distorted voice spoke out once more.

     “Tonight we are going to play a game. There is only one exit out of this house. That exit is locked by 12 different passwords. Each guest of this party holds one of the passwords on their wrist. Have you noticed your new accessories yet?”

     Scout looked down to his arm, suddenly feeling an itchiness as metal rubbed against his bare skin. He pulled at the watch, but it was on him firm and snug. The voice continued to drone on.

     “Each guest of this house has their own secrets, something they wish to take to their grave. In order to give everyone some… Motivation, there will be a time limit. At 6 a.m. if no one has left the house, the Bonbury police department will notified via anonymous tip. That tip will hold all the secrets each one of you is trying to hide, with enough proof to have the police be scrambling to get here. Therefore the objective is simple. Get out by 6 a.m., or get caught.

     “Of course every game has its rules. The first rule of this game is play in order. You will be given a clue that corresponds with one of the guests. The guest that matches that clue holds the key for that lock. Every time a code is entered out of order, or if it is randomly guessed, the tip to the police will be sent in half an hour earlier.

     “So to start the game, and to give you your first clue, please make your way to the dining hall. It is a dinner party after all.”

     The speakers cut out and the room was enveloped in silence. A few seconds later the lights shut off. Scout sat alone in the darkness of the room, dazed and confused. Then, causing Scout to jump out of his chair, a light came on under one of the many paintings in the room. Scout scrambled to his feet, and slowly walked towards the painting.

     The now illuminated painting was just a still life of a vase of flowers. It was neither menacing, nor was it threatening, yet Scout still felt shivers as he walked towards it. When he arrived at the painting the light shut off. He was momentarily left in darkness until another painting a few feet away became illuminated. Slowly Scout kept following the paintings, with them turning off whenever he drew near, just to have another turn on. Eventually it led him out the door, and down the long hallway on the house.

     He was finally led to another door, that opened up into a grand room with a long wooden table surrounded by a dozen chairs. Standing around the table were around half a dozen people. As Scout adjusted his eyes to the sight of the room, an angry and official looking man marched up to him, shoving a badge in his face.

     “Detective Cris Dauer. Empty your pockets!” He demanded it loudly and aggressively. Scout blinked back, still in a cloud of mental fog, but then complied to the officer's wishes. He pulled out piles of receipts, gum wrappers, and keys from his pockets. He dropped everything on a small nearby table in a messy pile. He scratched his head when his pockets were empty, feeling as if something was missing.

     Cris Dauer patted down the rest of him, as he had done already to the others in the room. There was no tenderness about it. As each new person had come up clean, Cris had become increasingly more aggrieved at the disappearance of his sidearm. After resentfully deciding Scout was clean, Detective Dauer took a step away, returning to the table of people as Scout crammed his pockets full once more.

     “Scout? Is that you man?”

     Scout perked up at the familiar voice, and rose his head to be greeted by a familiar face.

     “Trey? What's up man! How have you been?” He gave Trey a handshake that pulled into a hug.

     “Not much man. Just going to school in Bonbury. What about you? Still in Ernesting?”

     “Yeah man. Successful business owner. If you get my drift.” Scout gave Trey a little wink. Detective Dauer turned back to them, noticing the innuendo in Scout's words.

     “What kind of business?” Cris Dauer's voice was gruff and interrogative.

     “Oh you know… Delivery mostly. You know with smartphones these days and ride sharing and everything. Something like that, mostly for students and old people.”

     Detective Dauer gave grunt. Another voice popped up from the small crowd of people. “So are we going to just stand around talking or are we going to try and solve this thing?”

     The woman who spoke was in her thirties. She had light auburn hair, tied up in a tight ponytail against her head. She wore a black pair of slacks with a black half apron covering it, and a matching black dress shirt. There was black whiskers drawn onto her slightly round face, and a pair of black cat ear pinned down to her head.

     “Does anyone know what's actually going on? Was that… voice thing serious?” Another woman spoke up, younger and wearing a brown leather ensemble.

     Scout looked around the others in the room. The woman with the cat ears stood nervously near the head of the table. By her was the other women who spoke, her arms crossed in front of her. Pacing a short distance away was the Detective. When he occasionally stopped pacing his foot would tap quickly against the wooden floors, eventually leading to another bout of pacing. Trey and Scout stood closest to the doors that led into the hallway.

      Around the other side of the table looked to be a couple in their forties. The wife was dressed in a short nurse’s outfit. Her nails were brightly polished and her hair and makeup was tight and precise. She seemed the least nervous of anyone in the room. Her husband was dressed as a Roman. He pulled off his plastic helmet and placed it on the table, revealing a head of thinning brown hair.

     “There's no way it's real. It must be some sort of Halloween prank.”

     “I told you dear! It's like one of those escape room things! You know that thing I went to with the girls over the summer? In that really dark basement? That one had way too much reading though. This seems way more exciting! I can't wait to start solving clues!”

     “It has to be a prank. I mean… there's a detective here. Why would someone call the police when there's already a cop here?” Trey walked up to the table and sat down at one of the wooden chairs.

     “Exactly! Come on honey, help me solve the clues! They said the first one was in here. Does anyone have any idea what it might be?” The Nurse sat down across from Trey at the table, and looked around the room excitedly.

     Scout looked around as well. The room looked similar to the other rooms in the house. The walls were covered in paintings. The ceiling was tall and had a long chandelier that sparkled with dangling crystals. Against some of the walls were small tables that held vases of flowers and old photographs.

     The main focus of the room was the long dining table. It was draped with a dark red tablecloth. Each chair had a place setting in front of it made up of brightly polished silver and delicate looking china. The middle of the table was adorned with a great assortment of various foods. There were small baskets of rolls, platters of hor devours, and a variety of dishes specifically made for a Halloween theme.

     The centerpiece of the table, dripping and glistening from the lights, was a swan, delicately carved from ice. Trey pointed at it then looked around.

     “Has anyone seen Ms. Loretta Swann?”