Trial 1

[yourghosthost]

[After everyone has finished their investigations, everyone finds themselves gathering in the stretching room once more. The door shuts behind them. The corpse swings above the proceedings, ominously, and wandering eyes can't help but draw their attention to it.

It especially draws attention when it appears to move upward.

The whole room seems to move downwards, as the walls get longer and the ceiling gets further away. A snide comment from your Host echoes throughout the room:]

Tell me. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it just your imagination?

Find your place in the graveyard. I will be with you shortly.

[After a few moments, the room stops. A new door opens.

It appears to be an outside area, covered in overgrown plants and moss. An incredibly high gated fence surrounds the whole area, and perpetual darkness (accompanied by a bright full moon) sets the mood. A cobblestone path goads you on through this area, leading to a circle of 25 tombstones, each labeled with a participants picture, name and their birthdate. They're arranged to face each other, ominously enough. On top of each tombstone is a small typewriter-esque keyboard.

The only unique tombstone here is the only marked for Karolina. It's adorned with a red rose and a glass of cognac, and her tombstone is marked with a limerick:

Here Lies Karolina Dean
She might have had a rough life
But she really didn't deserve that knife

As everyone finds their places, the Host speaks.]

The keyboard on your tombstone shall be used for voting who you believe committed this crime. Due to the...nature of some of our participants, I will be forgiving misspellings and accidental presses, but each guest shall only receive one vote, and we go by majority rules.

Take all the time you need, please. There's no turning back now.]

Comments

[arpeggiositar]

Because it was an accident and accidents aren't murders?

[Is that what you mean?]

[sentadaughter]

...yes, that's exactly it.

[There's no point in hiding it anymore, she might as well hold onto this courage and speak while she still has it.]

[arpeggiositar]

Alright, I see. Thanks for the answer.

[Case closed, time to relax. Demyx nods and gets ready to kick back -- as much as you can kick back and relax while standing behind a gravestone]

By the way, uh, sorry about what happened with Karolina. That sucks.

[The murdering her part, he means. It was an accident, accidents happen...it sucks that now Mulan is going to die]

[nobodyperfect]

Do you want to tell us what happened?

[His voice is quiet, but deceptively calm. He didn't know either of them well, but... someone's dead, and more are going to die if they can't stop this.]

[sentadaughter]

[She doesn't really want to talk about it, it's hard to do, but she needs to. They need to know the truth.]

It's obvious from the clues, isn't it? Do you really think Karolina tracked all that blood everywhere?

[nobodyperfect]

So you accidentally stabbed her? Then went door to door looking for help? ... It's hard to believe no one heard you, to be honest, but I guess anything's possible in a haunted house. But how do you accidentally stab someone else?

[sixfingeredstan]

Yes, I'd like to know how it happened, as well. For all of our sake.

[sentadaughter]

[She sighs. This is the part she was sure nobody would believe.]

We were cutting up some vegetables to cook, and Karolina cut her hand. It was nothing serious, but it left a mess we had to clean up. She was cleaning up the blood, and I grabbed the knife to put in the sink and wash, but I...I slipped.

[sixfingeredstan]

[......Oh. Oh, no, he can only imagine how hard this must be on her right now.]

And you stabbed her. And then you tried to help, but...it was a stomach wound. You didn't have enough time.

[sentadaughter]

[Yep, and her voice is starting to crack now as she talks.]

Karolina said she- she's got some kind of powers, it makes her glow and her blood look like it does. She said that she could heal it, if we took off her bracelet, but...

[nobodyperfect]

[A H.]

It's... well, obviously not ok, but not your fault, at least.

[kindaruledatit]

Doesn't mean it's going to get any better though.

[sixfingeredstan]

[Ford draws in a deep breath, his shoulders dropping.]

Then we have our answer.

[thetimebomb]

Mulan, I...

[She doesn't know how to finish this. This is just a kid and it was just an accident. This isn't right and she hated how helpless she felt. She was supposed to be a hero, and here she is just sitting by hearing about a murder she couldn't stop where the culprit who is completely innocent and she might die.]

I'm so sorry...

[ilovepuppies]

Hey! He- she said she didn't do it!

[kindaruledatit]

....She said she didn't murder her.

[outsidethecircle]

...They're both jerks.

[She hates both Mulan and Karolina so much right now.]

[kindaruledatit]

I mean....

[She kind of wants to argue that, but.

She's Tired.]

[outsidethecircle]

They're both at fault! If this didn't happen we wouldn't be here.

[kindaruledatit]

It was an accident! How are they at fault for that?

[outsidethecircle]

I know I shouldn't feel this way but it's mean and cruel for them to leave us like this!

[defyingfrigidity]

Anna...

[Elsa had been there for the girl, when she'd found the blood and tie in the bathroom. She'd stayed with her then, so there's no way she can ignore her now.]

It's okay to be upset, Anna, but... I don't think either of them would have wanted to put any of us through this. If they had any other choice...

[outsidethecircle]

No... I know that... I just. It's not fair.

[amadeusrockette]

We would. We would still be here, because if they hadn't someone else would have. [Julia's past the point where she can lie to herself about that. The secrets, the incentive to . . .] Maybe not this week, but the next. Someone would have caved eventually.

[outsidethecircle]

I know... I know. [Sorry. She'll be good.]