CONFESSIONAL – Katie
"W-What did she mean by that?" Katie stuttered a bit as she thought about what Dawn said, not quite understanding it. "Feel…what way?"
As for Ronnie Anne. "Spaghetti?" Ronnie Anne grunted at seeing her dish being a classic serving of spaghetti and meatballs. And she knew exactly why Lincoln decided to make that for her. "Seriously?"
"I remember you saying how much you loved it~" Lincoln said in a teasing voice that caused Ronnie Anne to growl as everyone else laughed.
"Mmmmmm, shooo gooood!" Well, almost everyone. Lindsay was too busy stuffing her face to laugh with her meal consisting of a surf and turf platter filled with a variety of different things ranging from shrimp, crab, fish, and other sea foods surrounding it. "It's like I'm eating an angel's wings!"
Lincoln smiled in pride as everyone was served their food and gave their compliments to the chef. Once everyone else had their food Katie and Sadie put their own plates down as well as Lincoln's at their respective seats before the three sat down with everyone. Everyone immediately began chowing down on their food, with Ronnie Anne eating hers slowly so as not to give the satisfaction of letting Lincoln know she enjoyed the food.
Conversation was made with the various current and past contestants, stuff about how things are going for everyone lately, a few jokes tossed around, even Eva seemed to be enjoying the small talk a little. "Hey Dawn, I have a good question for you," Sadie spoke up to the aura reader. "I'm thinking of getting into fortune telling lately, how should I go about it? I remember you mentioning something like that during the first season."
"Hmmm, well that can be a complicated question," Dawn tapped her fork against her plate, the aura reader having already finished her food as she couldn't resist her boyfriend's cooking. "It really depends on what type of fortune telling you're referring to. Crystals, tea leaves, tarot cards, each one offers something different, although it takes a lot of training and work to do it properly."
Before Sadie could ask another question, the sound of silverware tapping against glass was heard as Chef got everyone's attention, the buff cook tapping his fork against his wine glass as he stood up. "Alright everyone, dessert will be served soon." Chef announced to everyone, getting a few excited lookse. "But before that, I have something I need to say. I really-
BLINK
But as Chef spoke up, suddenly the room went completely pitch black as the lights went off. "AH!" Sadie let out as everyone stood up in reaction. The room was completely pitch black, they couldn't even see their hands in front of their own faces. "What happened to the lights?!"
"I can't see anything!" Beth and Lindsay let out in unison.
"Everyone calm down!" Eva yelled out, frustrated by everyone panicking. "Something probably went wrong with the fuse box!"
BANG!!!
But the sound of that echoed throughout the entire mansion and made everyone freeze for a brief second. "W-What was that?!" DJ let out in a panicked tone. "A gun?!"
Just then the lights went back on, but they were dimmed. It was enough for everyone to see however. See Chef now on the floor completely limp. His eyes were closed and his tongue was dangling from his mouth and he had a hole on his chest that was leaking what looked like blood. "HOLY (BLEEP)!!!" Bridgette let out as she brought her hands to her head. "CHEF!!!"
"Hahahahahaha!" The sound of sinister laughing was heard echoing throughout the dining room as more lights went on. Now everyone was able to see the walls of the room again, but the paintings of Chris were gone. Replacing them were paintings depicting a figure in a black bulky looking body suit wielding an axe and sporting a bleached white jack-o-lantern for a head with the eyes glowing yellow. "Greetings guests and workers of McLean Manor, I…am the White Pumpkin. One of you has something I want, and I intend to take it for myself! Even if I have to resort…to murder! Ahahahahahahaha!!!"
BOOM! CRASH!
And with the flashing light and booming of thunder the lights in the dining room fully turned on and the paintings of the White Pumpkin were gone and the paintings of Chris were back. But everyone was still in a panic over what happened with DJ running up to Chef with a look of despair on the brickhouse's face. "CHEF! CHEF!" DJ yelled out to Chef's dead body, immediately trying to check on Chef's pulse. "DON'T YOU GIVE UP ON…Huh?"
"Is he ok DJ?" Katie asked with a shaky tone.
"…He's rubber," DJ said after feeling around the dead body DJ found it wasn't Chef's body at all. It was just a rubber dummy! Everyone gathered around to see it for themselves. DJ then narrowed his eyes at the bullet wound on the dummy and the 'blood' leaking out of it, the brick house scooped some of it on his finger and put it in his mouth with his eyes widening in realization. "And the blood's just ketchup! It's just a fake out!"
"Oh phew…" Beth let out as she and everyone else began calming down once they all knew it was just a ruse. But that still begged the question. "But why though?"
"Wait a minute…some valuable treasure in the mansion, Chef dying, some psycho murderer in the mansion. Ugh! Duh!" Bridgette's face palmed as she pieced it all together in her head. Honestly they all should have expected something like this the second they knew they would be in a mansion set. "It's murder mansion mystery movies!"
"Ooooooooh!" Everyone let out in unison.
"Wouldn't have killed Chris to warn us about that…" Sadie pouted and crossed her arms. But the chubby girl's smile returned as she looked over herself a bit. "Still, hope I can keep this maid outfit after it's all over! I look so cute in it!"
"Oh you totes do!" Lindsay complimented Sadie.
"Ugh, can we get our heads back in the game please," Ronnie Anne spoke up, the Hispanic girl quickly growing annoyed at everyone. They had their challenge now and all she cared about was getting through it and winning invincibility for herself. "We know what the big catch is so we just gotta get through the night without being killed. Let's just all lock ourselves in our rooms, the killer can't get to us if we just barricade ourselves in our rooms."
"Y-Yeah, that's probably a good idea," DJ didn't like agreeing with Ronnie Anne, but he couldn't deny it was a good idea. Especially since the treasure was in his pocket and the White Pumpkin was after it. The note said to protect the treasure at all cost so he couldn't afford to get slashed. "Let's all head upstairs."
"Alright everyone, line up and head upstairs!" Eva immediately took command of the situation as she forced everyone to line up with her taking the back of the line. With a murderer on the loose, she had a job to keep everything under control and everyone safe as the security guard. "Stick with the line! Anyone attempting to break from the group for any reason we will assume to be the murderer so no one try anything funny!"
"Stop looking at me when you say that!" Ronnie Anne shouted in frustration, knowing Eva was glaring at the back of her head.
And so everyone began heading upstairs, staying in the single file line Eva ordered them to stay in with Eva in the back keeping an eye on them.. While the reveal that this was just a challenge and the death was totally fake, everyone was still a bit uneasy. Because there was a murderer among them. One of them had to be the White Pumpkin…the only question was who it could be.
Everyone was wracking their minds around this question that none of them really felt like talking.
Well…all except one.
"Ooooooh, so that's how tarot cards work," Sadie clapped her hands as Dawn finished explaining to her yet another aspect of fortune telling. Despite the shock they got earlier Sadie was back to being her bubbly self and was constantly bombarding Dawn with questions about her aura reading and the fortune telling subject she had earlier. "And how do tea leaves work? Do they break about and spell out words like alphabet soup?"
Dawn let out a sigh as Sadie asked yet another question.
CONFESSIONAL – Sadie
"It's really cool being able to talk to Dawn like this! She's so cool!" Sadie said with her usual peppy tone and smile, happy about finally getting to socialize with the aura reader. "I always thought she was with her aura reading and all that, but I never really took the opportunity to get to know her back on the Island,"
CONFESSIONAL – Dawn
"Such a curious soul," Dawn sighed out, referring to Sadie and how the plump girl just seemed to ask endless questions about the mystic arts. "It's a good thing mother earth gave me the patience of a saint…" Dawn's eye twitched after saying this,
"Excuse me Sadie!" As soon as they reached the rooms upstairs. Before Dawn would have to answer any more of Sadie's questions, the aura reader grabbed her boyfriend's hand before bringing him over to her room. "But me and Lincoln need to barricade ourselves in my room but I'll talk to you later!"
Dawn dragged herself and her boyfriend into her room as quickly as she could.
"Ok then!" Sadie waved Dawn off despite her already being in her room. "Talk to you later!"
"Phew…" Dawn let out as she locked the door to her room with Lincoln pushing a nearby dresser in front of the door to block it off. "Well, she certainly has a lot of energy…"
"Yeah but she's nice," Lincoln told her, the white haired boy having gotten the chance to talk to Sadie a few times while they were all at Hotel Des Losers. Now the two were all alone together…in a room with no one else around. It didn't take a genius to see where this was going to go. "So then, I take it you didn't drag me here to just catch up~"
"Nope~" Dawn immediately confirmed as she strutted up to Lincoln, shaking her hips with every step. "I gotta keep you safe you know~"
"Isn't that the guy's job~?" Lincoln asked in a teasing tone.
"Not this time~" Dawn told him before pushing Lincoln onto the bed and jumping on top of him. "Hehehe~"
"I don't think this is the time to be getting frisky~" Lincoln told Dawn, yet he did nothing to fight her off. Instead he ended up wrapping his arms around her.
"Maybe~" Dawn said as she licked her lips. "But do you still want to~?"
And Lincoln ended up pulling her closer to him. "Damn I missed you~" Lincoln said before-
Smooooooch~
And just like that, the two couldn't control themselves anymore and began making out. Dawn and Lincoln mashed their lips together as they released a lot of pent up affection they've had since being separated. If they only had the current challenge to be together, then they were gonna make use of it.
Especially as they began moaning as they heatedly made out and-
"Really guys?" Both Lincoln and Dawn's eyes widened as they heard the sound of a deep and heavily distorted voice. Looking, they saw the White Pumpkin was with them in Dawn's room, a trap door opened on the roof revealing a secret passage. Rather than looking scary and intimidating, the murderer just looked…disappointed. "You really couldn't help yourselves?"
"…..I'm only human," Dawn claimed with Lincoln nodding in agreement.
"Let's just get this over with," The White Pumpkin sighed out as they rose up their axe and-
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
12 PM
SIX HOURS UNTIL DAWN
Breaking into Dawn's room after hearing the screams of both Dawn and Lincoln, the remaining people in the mansion saw that Dawn and Lincoln had both been killed by the White Pumpkin with their dead 'bodies' laying on the bed. But while Chef had an expertly made rubber dummy, the fake bodies of Lincoln and Dawn were just stuffed faceless dummies wearing their clothes.
And on the wall written in 'blood' was a message.
"THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT"
"Oooooh I'm so scared…" Lindsay whimpered as she and Beth hugged each other for comfort.
"Don't worry Lindsay," Beth tried to comfort her best friend despite the fear in her own voice leaking out. "It's just a game remember,"
"Ok, back away everyone! This is a crime scene!" Eva yelled as she got everyone to back away from the room before anyone could tamper and mess with the crime scene. She needed to look for any potential clues and such, the killer might have left some trace. But she couldn't help but look at the 'dead bodies' and shake her head in disappointment. "Should have kept it in their pants…"
"Horror movie 101," Ronnie Anne let out with rolled eyes, though she couldn't help but smirk at the two being the first to die, not counting Chef. Least it meant that Dawn wouldn't be winning invincibility now. "He'd know that if he wasn't so chicken to watch those movies,"
"Enough!" Bridgette yelled out, sending Ronnie Anne a brief glare before addressing everyone. "We need to find out who's the killer."
"It's the butler!" Lindsay immediately yelled out.
"…But…there is no butler," Sadie pointed out as everyone gave Lindsay strange looks.
"…But it's always the butler…" Lindsay sheepishly said.
CONFESSIONAL – Ronnie Anne
"And people are seriously thinking she's not the same dumb blond bimbo as usual," Ronnie Anne scoffed while rolling her eyes. "I don't have time to waste with these idiots."
"There, that should keep the killer out nice and easy," Ronnie Anne dusted her hands off. While Eva and everyone else tried to look around the crime scene for any clues, Ronnie Anne kept to her strategy of barricading herself in her room. Thankfully with her little treasure hunt earlier her room was already all messed up so she just used all the junk she threw around to block the door. "That should keep the killer out, if I'm lucky Dawn will get sudden deathed for being the first remaining contestant to die~ Things might be looking up for me~"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that~"
BAM!
"GAH!" Before Ronnie Anne could react to the voice, she felt something metallic hit the side of her head, nearly sending her to the ground. Ronnie Anne managed to tough it out and stay standing, but her vision was blurry as she looked to see the White Pumpkin in the room with her, with the killer using the blunt end of their axe to strike her. "Y-You son of a…"
Ronnie Anne attempted to fight back as she ran at the killer and threw a punch, but the White Pumpkin easily stepped to the side to dodge before punching Ronnie Anne in the face themselves. The Hispanic teen grunted in pain as the punch sent her to the floor, the killer's fist feeling like they were made of steel. Ronnie Anne attempted to get up but was stopped when the White Pumpkin put their foot on her chest. "…(BLEEP)…you…" Ronnie Anne breathed out.
"Cute. Trapping yourself in here without any way of escape? Not very smart are you?" The White Pumpkin chuckled before stomping on Ronnie Anne's chest, getting another grunt of pain from Ronnie Anne as she began coughing in reaction. "Did you find the treasure? You better hand it over if you did!"
"I don't…have…the stupid treasure…" Ronnie Anne let out as she tried to force the White Pumpkin off her, to little success as the killer kept their foot firmly on the Hispanic teen. "It wasn't in here…"
"Prove it, empty your pockets!" The White Pumpkin demanded with Ronnie Anne immediately following the demand and showcasing her empty pockets with the killer shaking their head. "Tch, disappointing…"
"I don't have it…so let me go already!" Ronnie Anne yelled out as she continued to try and get up.
"OoOoOoh, poor little Ronalda," The White Pumpkin shook their head before raising their axe, making Ronnie Anne's eyes widen. "You know that isn't how this goes~"
CHOP!!!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
1 PM
FIVE HOURS UNTIL DAWN
"And now Ronnie Anne is gone too," It took some effort to get the door to Ronnie Anne's room open considering just how much she barricaded it, but with the combined efforts of DJ and Eva they managed to force their way in and saw Ronnie Anne's 'dead body' in the room. Although the killer was a lot more brutal in this killing as all the dummy's limbs were chopped up and spread throughout the room. But despite the display Bridgette couldn't help but smile at the display. "Kinda cathartic not gonna lie,"
"Ok enough, this clearly isn't working," Eva spoke up as she tried to take control of the situation. While they were doing some actual investigating Ronnie Anne went and got herself killed. Considering Lincoln and Dawn were the first victims, not counting Chef, Eva immediately suspected Ronnie Anne. Especially since it was her idea to barricade themselves in their rooms. So when she wanted to split again Eva was all for this as if the killer appeared again while Ronnie Anne was gone, they'd know the culprit. But instead Ronnie Anne herself was killed. "No more being alone in your rooms, there's obviously secret passageways. The White Pumpkin can probably access any room in the mansion whenever they want."
"Oh! What if we found the secret passages?" Lindsay recommended with a smile on her face, an idea quickly coming to her mind. "If we find them we can use them to take the killer by surprise, maybe there's even a clue about who it is inside of them!"
"That's not a bad idea!" Katie seconded on Lindsay's plan. Finding the secret passageways this mansion undoubtedly had would put them at a huge advantage. There was just one issue. "But…where would we find them?"
"They could be anywhere," Sadie stated as she began looking in every direction for something that might be out of place. "Should we start just pulling random books in bookcases or something?"
"Oh, I read this in a book once," Beth brought up as she got all eyes on her. "There was a murderer who used fireplaces to get around a mansion like this one! Since they were always on fire no one thought to check them for secret passageways. Maybe we should check inside a fireplace,"
"Well it's as good a start as any," Bridgette smiled and nodded at the idea. "Anyone know where a fireplace is?"
"There's one in my room, let me go look!" Lindsay immediately ran off to her room with everyone else following her. Given what happened to the last three victims they weren't about to leave Lindsay alone in her room. They all saw that Lindsay's room did indeed contain a fireplace and the ditzy blond crawled inside of it and began looking around. "Alright let's see here…"
"Be careful Lindsay!" DJ called out to her.
"Don't worry I will be!" Lindsay reassured DJ while she continued to look around, eventually perking up as she found something. "Oh I found something! It's a button! I bet this opens up-"
Click!
FWOOSH!!!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" Lindsay screamed out as suddenly flames erupted from the fireplace around her.
"LINDSAY!" Everyone called out to her in horror.
Beth and Katie were the first to rush forward and pulled Lindsay out, but when they pulled the body out it was revealed to be another dummy, just covered in soot marks. "Phew…another fake out…" Katie let out in relief as she and everyone else put on worried faces. "Oh man…counting Chef already five of us are gone…"
"W-We need a better strategy!" DJ immediately said. With half of them gone and still five hours until morning, they couldn't afford to lose anyone else. Especially since it looks like there were traps that could end up killing you with the killer not even needing to be there. "Not only can the killer get into any room, they also have booby traps hidden around here,"
"There's still the treasure we gotta find if we want invincibility," Bridgette pointed out, remembering that part of the challenge. Looks like invincibility would end up being between her or DJ but quite frankly with Ronnie Anne now out of the running it ultimately didn't matter. "We can't forget that,"
"R-Right, nearly slipped my mind," DJ stuttered as he put his hand in his pocket, making sure the amulet was still there.
"Ok here's how this is gonna go, we'll split into groups of three so that way the killer can't catch anyone alone," Bridgette immediately began taking charge of the situation as she brainstormed a way to go around the rest of the challenge. "Katie, Sadie, you're with me. We'll look around the mansion for the treasure. DJ, Beth, and Eva, go to the garden shed. We can use stuff in there as weapons to protect ourselves."
"Oh good idea!" Beth complimented Bridgette, the shorter girl on board with the plan. "There's plenty of stuff we can use in there to fend off the killer."
"Alright everyone move out!" Eva yelled out, deciding this was also the best way to go about things. "You three remember, there might be more booby traps so don't go getting yourselves killed."
"Got it," Katie and Sadie nodded in unison.
"DJ, Eva, follow me," Beth told the two as she got ready to head down the stairs. "I know where the shed is,"
Eva immediately began following Beth and while DJ was about to, he was briefly stopped as Bridgette whispered to the brickhouse. "We still don't know who the killer is," The surfer girl informed him. "Keep an eye out for any weird behavior."
"Got it, same to you," DJ whispered back to her with a nod. "And keep looking for any potential secret entrances too, could come in handy."
2 AM
FOUR HOURS UNTIL DAWN
Just as Beth promised, she ended up leading the group right towards the gardening shack where a variety of gardening tools were located ranging from a wheelbarrow, bags of dirt and fertilizer, to the stuff they were really looking for. The gardening tools that could do some damage to someone ranging from shovels, metal rakes, shears, and other such items."
"Nice," Eva grinned as she picked up a sledgehammer that was in the shed, choosing that for her weapon while DJ picked up a pair of gardening shears. Not his personal choice of a self defense tool but he had to take what he could get with a murderer on the loose. "Any chance there's a weed whacker in here? That could do some serious damage."
"Oh shoot, I left it outside when I was working," Beth cursed as she explained. She was eager to get some food and hang out with Lindsay earlier that she thought it'd be ok just to leave the tool on the ground and she could pick it up later. Looks like that decision was biting her in the butt now. "Hold on, I'll go get it!"
"Be safe!" DJ told her as Beth went off to go get the weed whacker. That just left him alone in the shed with Eva. DJ couldn't help but be a little nervous, both about the killer on the loose and the fact that he was alone with Eva who was never really the socializing type. She's been rather ok during the challenge though and her temper hasn't flared up yet so that was good at least. "…So Eva. How ya been girl?"
"Fine," Eva said simply with a shrug.
"Cool…Cool…" DJ awkwardly said, deciding his idea of making small talk maybe wasn't the best one. "Just askin'."
CONFESSIONAL – DJ
"She hasn't changed much…" DJ muttered while scratching the back of his head.
BANG!
BANG!
Both DJ and Eva tensed up as they heard the sound of banging. Hearing it again, both raised their respective weapons and got ready to fight off whatever came their way. But there was one thing…the banging wasn't coming from around them. It was coming from underneath them. But before either could realize it-
"POP GOES THE WEASEL!" Suddenly a hatch on the ground opened up and the White Pumpkin appeared from underneath it getting screams out of both DJ and Eva. Before either could react and try to fight the killer off, the White Pumpkin grabbed Eva by her legs and pulled her down the hatch. "Come down to hell with me won't you!"
"GAH!" Eva let out as she was dragged down, the hatch closing as the killer took her down. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" DJ began panicking as he rushed out of the shed, slamming the door firmly closed before taking off running through the garden as fast as he could. It didn't take a genius to know that Eva was a goner and with him having the treasure he couldn't afford to join her. His running led him to the backyard where he entered the hedge maze and just ran in random directions, hoping that if the killer was going after him DJ would be able to shake them off. The brickhouse just continued running until-
"OUF!" He ended up crashing right into Beth, who was now holding the weed whacker they talked about earlier.
"Ow…" Beth let out as she rubbed her head before her eyes widened at seeing DJ in front of her. "What the, DJ? What are you doing out here? Where's Eva?"
"Eva's dead!" DJ yelled out, making Beth gasp in disbelief. "After you left the killer…appeared and…took her out…"
"Oh no!" Beth gasped out, missing how DJ was beginning to narrow his eyes at her suspiciously. "We better meet up with the others in the mansion and tell them."
"Yeah…right…" DJ slowly said as he stood up.
CONFESSIONAL – DJ
"It's gotta be Beth," DJ let out as he held his hand and shook his head. "I mean, she leaves and then the killer appears? How much obvious can ya get?"
3 AM
THREE HOURS UNTIL DAWN
For the past hour, Bridgette, Katie, and Sadie have been looking for the hidden treasure Chris told them was hidden in the mansion. All three made sure to stay together with Bridgette keeping her eyes on both girls and trying to see if there was anything suspicious about them. So far there was nothing really of note, Sadie was actually like her usual happy go lucky self while Katie was appearing more cautious as she looked around for potential hiding places.
"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere," Bridgette spoke up as they finished searching yet another room and came up empty handed on both treasures and in secret passage entrances. "This mansion is too huge, searching each room one by one is too slow. Did Chris by chance give you two any clues about where the treasure could be?"
"Not really?" Sadie shrugged after finishing looking under a couch. "We were just given our roles for the challenge. Not much elaboration after that."
"A warning that this was a murder challenge would have been nice," Katie grumbled angrily as she crossed her arms. "Save me a potential heart attack,"
"Well we can't just keep searching rooms one by one, that'll take too long," Bridgette said with the best friends nodding in agreement. "We need to think about this thing through a new angle…"
"Well in movies some paintings have secret doors hidden behind them." Sadie suggested as she tried to think about murder mystery movies she's seen before. "And since this is a movie set it only makes sense,"
"Well the dining room had a ton of paintings in them," Katie brought up, remembering all the paintings of Chris that had briefly turned into White Pumpkin paintings. "Maybe some of those have secret passages hidden behind them?"
"Oh I forgot about those!" Sadie put on a peppy grin as she took off towards the dining room to go check all the different paintings in them. "I'll be right back!"
And when Sadie left, Bridgette couldn't help but smile fondly at Sadie's energy. "Heh, still that energetic even with a murderer on the loose." Bridgette said as she looked in Katie's direction. "She really is something else huh?"
"Yeah, that's Sadie for you," Katie nodded, speaking fondly of her best friend. "Just always positive all the time,"
"Well it's nice to have someone like that around," Bridgette said, knowing that having something positive around was always a good thing. It's why the surfer girl was glad Lindsay was still around as the ditzy blond seemed to always try and spread positivity around, minus when she was doing Heather's bidding in season one. "Unless they're overbearing or something."
"Admittedly…sometimes," Katie couldn't lie. She loves Sadie but sometimes her never ending positivity was…a bit much. "But…she means a lot to me. That positivity helped me get through a lot when we first met."
"Were you going through a hard time?" Bridgette asked, giving Katie a concerned look.
"More like…I was…lonely…" Katie quietly admitted as she held her right arm.
"Lonely?" Bridgette repeated.
"Y-Yeah…" Katie nervously admitted, not really used to talking about this to anyone else other than her best friend. "I wasn't one for socializing and being around people always made me…anxious."
"I didn't know that," Bridgette blinked a few times in surprise. Sure she didn't really know Katie that well but she never really got that socially anxious vibe from her. "You always looked…happy?"
"That's just me copying Sadie…" Katie admitted with a lowered head.
"…Katie what-" Bridgette began saying before-
BOOM! CRASH!
Lightning and thunder went off as the room went dim…and appearing before them was the White Pumpkin with their glowing eyes piercing the darkness to stare at the girls' very souls. "Peekaboo~" The White Pumpkin let out as they lightly tapped their axe against the ground and began dragging it against the floor as they walked towards Bridgette.
"O-Oh (BLEEP)…" Bridgette let out as she slowly backed away from the killer, feeling her body begin to freeze up as the killer approached her.
As for Katie, she quickly began looking around her surroundings for anything she could use. Her eyes falling on a nearby vase that she quickly picked up and-
SMASH!
"GAH!" The White Pumpkin let out as Katie threw the vase at the killer, sending them to the ground as it broke upon contactt. Grunting, the killer soon growled as they began picking themselves back up. "You're gonna pay for that you little-Ouf!"
"Run Bridgette!" Katie yelled out as she tackled the White Pumpkin, trying to keep them on the ground. "I'll hold em off!"
"Grrrr! Get off me!" The White Pumpkin yelled as they tried to get the maid off of them. But Katie's little stunt gave Bridgette the time to work up the nerve to run as she booked it out of the room and escaped into the hallway. "NO!" Seeing their real target escape them, the White Pumpkin managed to toss Katie off them, pinning her to the ground and picking up their axe. "Time to pay the piper you little brat!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Bridgette breathed heavily as she ran through the hallways of the mansion completely directionless. She could hear the echoes of Katie's scream indicating she had been successfully slashed. So the White Pumpkin was probably gonna be chasing after her now giving Bridgette even more motivation to keep running.
Unfortunately for her she didn't see the lump in the carpet in front of her, leading her to trip and fall face first on the ground. "Ow…" Bridgette let out as she grabbed onto the wall to try and help herself stand back up. But what she wasn't expecting was for the part of the wall she touched to sink into the wall with a nearby painting opening up in reaction.
The surfer girl's eyes widened as she realized she found a secret passage. Wasting no time, Bridgette entered before closing the painting to hide herself. Examining the other side of the painting, Bridgette saw a pair of eye holes in it allowing whoever standing behind it to get a clear view of the hallway in front of them. Bridgette herself took a peak only to freeze as she saw the White Pumpkin walking down the hallway looking for her. "Come out, come out wherever you are," The killer let out in a mocking tone. Bridgette instantly covered her mouth to try and muffle the sounds of her own breathing, flinching violently as the killer looked her right in the eyes. But thankfully it seemed they didn't realize she was there as they went back to looking around. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Here little pussy cat,"
Thinking she was in the clear, Bridgette booked it down the hidden hallway. She had no idea where she was going or where these hidden passages led, but as long as they led her away from the killer it was fine by her.
But when she ended up turning a corner…
"Boo."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
4:50 AM
ONE HOUR AND TEN MINUTES BEFORE DAWN
"Phew…finally made it out…" Beth breathed a sigh of relief before collapsing on her butt. For the next nearly two hours, DJ and Beth were aimlessly wandering around the hedge maze looking for a way out. Beth had the idea of using the weed whacker to try and cut through the hedges and make themselves a short cut, but they proved to be too thick to cut through and they didn't wanna use up the gas in the weed whacker in case the killer appeared again. Thankfully the White Pumpkin didn't appear again and they managed to escape safe and sound. "That maze was a lot bigger than I thought it would be…"
"Yeah…you're telling me…" DJ breathed out, also feeling rather tired but managing to stay standing. But now they were free of the maze, DJ was able to voice something he's had on his mind since meeting up again with Beth. The whole time they were going through the maze together, the brickhouse kept an eye on her the whole time. "So hey Beth…you uh…sure took your time looking for that weed whacker earlier…"
"I misplaced it," Beth simply explained with a shrug. "I couldn't find it anywhere,""
"Uh-huh…" DJ let out skeptically.
"…What's with that tone?" Beth asked as she narrowed her eyes at DJ.
"…Ok Beth…I'm gonna be real with ya," DJ decided to just tell Beth what was o his mind, nice and straight. "You left, the murderer appeared, and Eva's gone. It doesn't take a genius to know that two plus two equals four!"
"You actually think I'm the killer!?" Beth yelled out as she stood up and glared at DJ. How could he think she was the killer! She didn't do anything! "That's crazy!"
"You weren't around for the other murders either!" DJ pointed out. Hell he doesn't even remember seeing her when they were investigating Dawn's room after she and Lincoln were killed.
"I was with Lindsay when Dawn, Lincoln, and Ronnie Anne were murdered!" Beth pointed out, she couldn't have possibly murdered the first three people! She was hanging around Lindsay the entire time, they wanted to have strength in numbers.
"And then Lindsay died too!" DJ pointed out before his eyes widened in realization. "And you were the one who suggested we look in fireplaces! You set that up to get rid of your one liability!"
"Lindsay's my best friend! I would never kill her!" Beth claimed as she stomped her foot on the ground before pointing at DJ as she noticed a little something herself. "Besides you were all alone in the shed with Eva! How do I know you weren't the one who killed her and you're just making your story up!"
"Oh we're playing that game huh!?" DJ yelled out as he saw exactly what Beth was doing and he wasn't gonna play that game. "Ok how bout this, let's meet up with the girls in the mansion and see what they think."
"Fine! I'm sure they'll realize which of us is the real guilty party." Beth stated as she and DJ glared at each other. The two never took their eyes off each other as they went back towards the mansion. But upon entering the mansion both saw that the lights were out in the foyer with them barely able to see their surroundings. "Oh man…not the lights again…"
"Don't act like you're surprised by this," DJ stated, getting Beth to glare at him again through the darkness. "Yo! Katie! Sadie! Bridgette! Where you guys at?!"
"Huh? DJ! Is that you?!" Beth and DJ heard the voice of Sadie call out to them with the door to the dining room opening and the maid stepping out and noticing the lights were off. "Hey, who killed the lights?"
"Sadie?" Beth called out with the maid following her voice and meeting up with her and DJ. "W-Where are Katie and Bridgette?"
"Katie suggested that I look behind the paintings in the dining room for any secret entrances," Sadie explained, not noticing both Beth and DJ eyeing her suspiciously through the darkness. "I think they're still looking around upstairs. Did you guys get anything from the garden shed? And where's Eva?"
"Eva's dead!" DJ immediately revealed, causing Sadie to gasp. "I saw the White Pumpkin drag her down through a trap door in the floor!"
"And you were separated from Katie and Bridgette huh…" Beth pointed out with narrowed eyes.
"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" Sadie asked as she noticed Beth's tone and crossed her arms in the direction of the gardener.
BLINK!
BLINK!
BLINK!
Suddenly the lights in the foyer all went on, dispelling all the darkness…and the three remaining survivors gasped at what they all saw. Lining the walls of the foyer were paintings of all eleven people originally in the mansion. And with the sole exception of DJ's, Beth's, and Sadie's portraits…all of them had big red X's over them.
"Bridgette…Katie…." Sadie gasped at seeing their crossed out portraits. They died while she was looking around.
"We're the only ones left…" Beth gulped nervously. "Which means the killer…is one of us…"
"…" All three remaining survivors were silent as they looked over at each other…before backing up and raising their weapon. Well, DJ and Beth did. Sadie grabbed a nearby lamp and was ready to use that to defend herself in case it was needed.
"I bet it was Sadie!" DJ immediately said as he pointed the gardening shears he had at the maid, who raised her lamp in DJ's direction in turn. "She's a maid, I bet she would know where all the secret passages are to sneak around!"
"I would never kill Katie! She's my best friend!" Sadie looks insulted at the idea of doing anything to harm Katie, even if it was all fake and pretend. If she was the killer she wouldn't have the heart of attacking and killing Katie. Sadie then pointed towards Beth and gave a similar reason DJ gave earlier to why Beth could be the White Pumpkin. "I bet Beth is the murderer! She suggested searching the fireplaces and look at what happened to Lindsay!"
"I didn't know there was a booby trap!" Beth defended herself before pointing at DJ again and shifting the blame to him again. "And DJ was alone with Eva in the shed! That would be a prime opportunity to kill her!"
"I'm not the killer!" DJ claimed as he raised his voice.
"Why should we believe you?!" Sadie yelled as both she and Beth glared at him.
"Because I had the treasure from the very beginning!" DJ couldn't hold it in anymore and pulled out the one thing that would prove his innocence, taking the amulet out of his pocket and showing it off to Beth and Sadie.
"WHAT?!" Beth and Sadie gasped out with widened eyes.
"It was on my bed!" DJ stated, finally revealing the truth about the whole thing. "Along with a note saying to protect it and not trust anyone!"
BLICK!
DJ, Beth, and Sadie all tensed up as the lights in the foyer went out again…and a familiar pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared at the top of the foyer stairs. "Thank you…" The White Pumpkin said, making their presence known as they spoke up and began walking down the stairs towards the three survivors, dragging their axe along the stairs. Meanwhile DJ, Beth, and Sadie all looked at each other before looking towards the White Pumpkin again…if none of them were the killer…then who was truly behind the mask? But they didn't have time to think about this as the murderer spoke up again. "Just give me the treasure, and no one else has to die."
"…" DJ was silent as he weighed his options and looked at the amulet in his hands. If he gave up the treasure right now, this nightmare of a challenge would be over.
…But if he just gave up…he would let everyone down. Including himself.
Putting on a firm look, he looked towards a nearby clock to check the time.
5 AM
ONE HOUR UNTIL DAWN
He had one hour left to defend this treasure…and he was gonna fight until the end.
"If you want it…then you're gonna have to take it from me!" DJ yelled as he looked the White Pumpkin right in the eye.
"…Hahahah, fine then," The White Pumpkin chuckled before cracking their neck. "Makes it more fun for me! Tell ya what, since I've had such a good time lately I'll give you a ten second head start. One…two…three…"
"Run for it girls!" DJ told Beth and Sadie as he immediately began booking it as the White Pumpkin began counting down. "I'll lure them away!"
"Four…five…six…"
"Don't need to tell us twice!" Beth and Sadie said in unison as they began running in the opposite direction.
With DJ, he went through a door that led him into a long series of hallways that he began running in random directions, like with the hedge maze. "Seven…Eight…nine…ten…" DJ froze a bit as he was still able to hear the killer counting down despite running away from them, making it even worse as they finished counting, meaning they would be coming for him.
Things went incredibly silent as DJ quietly walked along the mansion's hallways, trying his best to be quiet and not draw the killer to his location. He just needed to find a good place to hide. But when he went to open a random door hoping that ducking inside a random room would help him evade the killer for just one more hour…
"Surprise!" The White Pumpkin was waiting for him inside the door, DJ letting out a scream as he narrowly avoided the killer's axe. The murderer only laughed as DJ managed to pick himself up. "Go ahead and run for it, I have eyes everywhere in this manor. You can run, but you can't hide~ Ahahaha~!"
"Can't hide huh…" DJ let out before tightening his hand into a fist. "Then…how about this?!"
BAM!
"GAH!" The White Pumpkin let out as DJ slugged them right in the face, the killer backing up in reaction as DJ stood strong and took a fight stance. Breathing a couple times, the killer chuckled as they saw DJ no longer running and was prepared to fight to the end. "So…finally taking a stand huh? Fine by me!"
"Bring it on!" DJ yelled out mustering as much courage as he could.
The mansion would soon be filled with the sounds of DJ and the killer facing off, both proving to be quite skilled in combat with the killer having the advantage of knowing the mansion in and out and revealing hidden weapons and gear for them to use, but DJ's pure raw strength was more than a match for it.
Neither was giving in as their battle spanned throughout the entire mansion.
Eventually leading to both crashing through the kitchen.
The White Pumpkin being the first to enter as DJ chucked them right through the doors, the killer grunting as they stood back up with DJ stepping in soon after, the brickhouse looking tired as he sweated and panted a bit, and sported a few bruises. "Huff…Huff…" The killer breathed out as they glared heatedly at DJ. "You just…don't know when to give up do you?!"
"If there's one thing I learned this season…it's to never give up!" DJ yelled out as he cracked his knuckles and got ready to continue the fight. Looking towards the oven clock in the kitchen, he saw it was 5:50. He had ten minutes left and he would win! "I ain't losing this without a fight!"
"Then it's a fight you're gonna get!" The White Pumpkin yelled out as they grabbed a large knife off the kitchen counter and charged at DJ with it raised high. Reacting quickly DJ grabbed a frying pan that was nearby and used it to shield himself from the knife…with the knife breaking upon impact with the pan. "What the?!"
"Oh nice, I gotta get momma this brand!" DJ grinned as he looked over the frying pan before wielding it like it was a sword and aiming it right at the White Pumpkin. "En garde!"
"Grrrrrr…" The White Pumpkin growled before picking up a meat mallet and swinging it at DJ with the brickhouse again using the pan to shield himself. The two then began fighting with their respective weapons, the sound of metal clashing against metal hitting the kitchen as both refused to let up despite the exhaustion. But then DJ managed to throw the killer off their feet and landed a good hit against their face with the pan causing their pumpkin mask to spin around. "Woah-Woah-Woah-Woah-Woah!"
DJ watched the whole thing with a grin as the killer backed up and hit themselves against the fridge before falling to the ground, seemingly knocking themselves out. "Yeah alright!" DJ cheered in victory as he tossed his frying pan to the side before going up to the killer's body. "Alright, let's see who's behind the mask!"
But when DJ went to grab the killer's pumpkin head. "Got ya!" The White Pumpkin revealed themselves to be completely conscious. With one hand they grabbed DJ's wrist, and with the other then gripped the meat mallet tightly before hitting DJ on the side of the head with it sending the brickhouse to the ground groaning. DJ attempted to stand back up, but the killer placed their foot on his chest to pin him down. "Heheh, can't believe you fell for the opossum trick. Now then, you have something that belongs to me!"
"N-No…" DJ groaned out as he tried to fight against the killer. But he just didn't have the power left to fight as the killer reached into his pocket and stole the amulet from him.
"Hahahahaha! Aahahahahah! It's mine! All mine! I won!" The killer yelled out in victory as DJ groaned and frowned in defeat. He gave it his all…but it just wasn't enough. The White Pumpkin then got off of DJ and put their hands to their mask. "Finally I can take this thing off!"
And as soon as the killer took their mask off, DJ gasped as he saw a head of blond messy hair.
"Aaaaaaah man!" Lindsay. Yes. Lindsay yelled out in relief as she took the mask off revealing it was her behind all the 'murders' tonight. "This thing is hot! And that voice changer thingy felt weird."
"Lindsay!?" DJ gasped out as Lindsay held her hand out to him, DJ took it and allowed the blond to help him back to his feet. "Y-You…You were the killer this whole time?!"
"Sure was!" Lindsay grinned in pride at the scare she managed to give not only DJ but everyone else over the course of the night. "Chris offered me the position before dinner started. Pretty convincing huh~?"
"Y-Yeah, I never would have guessed," DJ couldn't help but smile as he complimented Lindsay's performance. He could never suspect Lindsay of playing some sort of masked killer but she really pulled it off well! "Wow, nice job girl. But what happened to everyone you killed?"
"Oh don't worry, they're all fine," Lindsay reassured DJ before walking up to the walk-in freezer and knocking on the door of it. "Ok everyone it's all over you can come out now!"
The door to the freezer then opened up and rather than being an actual freezer full of frozen meat and other food it was a control room filled with surveillance equipment and everyone that Lindsay had killed. Along with Beth, Sadie, and even Chris! "Wait, you've all been in the freezer this whole time?" DJ asked as everyone stepped out of the freezer. "Beth, Sadie, did Lindsay kill you two before she chased me?"
"Nah, after we went off in different directions Chris appeared from one of the secret entrances and got us," Sadie explained with Beth nodding in confirmation. "Since Lindsay was busy with you there wasn't much of a need for us to be around anymore."
"Sorry to freak out like that Beth," Lindsay apologized to her best friend as she walked up to the girl and hugged her to apologize. "Just had to get into character,"
"Oh it's ok," Beth reassured her and hugged Lindsay back.
CONFESSIONAL – Beth
"How could I possibly be mad at Lindsay?" Beth said with a grin, feeling nothing but pride for how her best friend performed during the challenge. "She was an amazing killer! And getting to see the footage of her beating up Ronnie Anne was soooo satisfying to watch!"
"And to answer your first question DJ, yes we have, haha," Lincoln grinned a bit as he looked over the freezer door. "Was wondering why I couldn't get in here when I was cooking."
"And I can't believe I got my butt kicked by a bimbo…" Ronnie Anne grumbled angrily as Lindsay stuck her tongue out teasingly at the Latina. As soon as Ronnie Anne learned it was Lindsay who was the killer, she was even more ashamed of herself at being taken down. "How on earth did you hit that hard! Your arms and legs are like twigs!"
Lindsay happily showed off how as she removed the black gloves of her killer suit. "Brass Knuckles," Lindsay showed off the weapons she had hidden on her as well as hitting them against the toes of her boots. "And steel toed boots! Not the most stylish but they can really do some damage!"
"But what about when you died?" DJ asked, recalling when Lindsay fell into a fireplace trap. "We all saw you in the fireplace."
"You saw me fake my death in the fireplace!" Lindsay began explaining her plans to everyone. "After the show with Chef I knew I had to kill Dawn first because of her aura reading, she'd suspect me immediately and I'd be out. Thankfully I knew that she and Lincoln wouldn't be able to keep their hands off each other so that made it a two for one deal!"
"We're not apologizing," Dawn immediately said with Lincoln nodding as nearly everyone around them gave them unamused looks.
"After that I had to kill Ronnie Anne because…well I couldn't let an opportunity like that pass," Lindsay admitted shamelessly with Ronnie Anne flipping the bird at Lindsay in response. "And after that I decided to fake my death so that no one would suspect me of being the killer! After all, you can't accuse a dead person of being a killer~"
"I am seriously impressed Lindsay," Bridgette told her fellow blond with a big smile. "You really had us scared there, great job!"
"Same," Katie nodded in agreement. "I never would have expected it,"
"Great performance everyone, hehe!" Chris clapped as he got all eyes on him after stepping out of the surveillance room. "Definitely gonna replay some clips!"
DING-DONG! DING-DONG! DING-DONG!
And with that the sound of a clock going off was heard around the entire mansion. "And that's 6 AM!" Chris announced that they had officially hit dawn and the challenge was over. "And with the treasure in her hands, Lindsay wins invincibility!"
"Woohoo!!! Yay!" Lindsay cheered for herself as she held the amulet up in victory with Ronnie Anne freezing in worry.
"And DJ's out!" Chris announced, cutting off Lindsay's celebration.
"WHAT?!" Everyone but Ronnie Anne let out.
"The note said he had to keep the amulet a secret and guard it with his life," Chris pointed out as DJ's eyes widened with him slumping down. "He failed at doing both! And that's grounds for Sudden Death!"
"You can't be serious!?" Bridgette yelled out while glaring at Chris.
"Hey I don't make the rules," Chris stated before grinning widely. "Oh wait, I do~ Hehehehe."
"So…I lost…" DJ let out as he lowered his head in shame. He couldn't do it…he gave it his all but…it wasn't enough.
"That you did, my friend. Chef is waiting outside to take you to the lameosine." Chris told DJ after patting the big guy on the back. "As for the rest of ya, since I was so entertained you'll all get to spend a murderer free day in the mansion before the staff gotta head back."
As everyone frowned at DJ being eliminated Ronnie Anne let out a much needed sigh of relief. She managed to escape elimination yet again. But how long could it last?
"Well…guess I better go face the music…" DJ sighed out as he began walking off, deciding it was better to rip the band aid off.
As everyone said goodbye to DJ, Chris looked towards the camera and began the outro. "With four contestants left, we only have three more challenges left folks!" Chris began to hype things up, with the finale being so close it was beginning to be a real nail biter now. "With three lovely ladies and one not so lovely lady left, which of them will be cut off next? Will Ronnie Anne escape elimination yet again or will all that pride lead her to taking a big fall? Find out next time on Total. Drama. Action!"
Outside the mansion, DJ walked out to the gate and saw Chef waiting there with the lameosine. The brickhouse let out a sigh, knowing that Chef was going to be disappointed in him. He just…wanted to prove to Chef he could win the million for them on his own but…looks like it was all just a big mistake. "C-Chef…" DJ spoke up as he approached the buff cook who looked at DJ with a completely neutral expression. "I-I'm sorry I couldn't-"
"DJ." Chef spoke up, causing DJ to flinch. The brickhouse was completely ready for a verbal bashing…but was instead met with a hand placed gently on his shoulder. "…I'm proud of you."
"Y-You are?" DJ stuttered as he dared to open his eyes, seeing Chef giving him a small smile. "But…why? I lost."
"Well, we might not be winning any money…but I got to see you really grow into a bright and strong young man ready to take whatever the world throws at him," Chef said with nothing but pride in his voice. Sure not winning the money sucked, but Chef was still impressed and proud of what DJ has accomplished. "You never gave up for a second, even willing to go toe to toe with that murderer. Only a real man would do that."
Hearing all this, DJ ended up giving a shaky smile and couldn't help but tear up a little bit. "…Thank you Chef," DJ said with a sniffle.
Chef then sighed before awkwardly smiling and reluctantly opening his arms up for a hug. "Alright come here," The buff cook was instantly met with a hug by DJ with Chef slowly returning it and patting DJ on the back. After a moment they did break from it but Chef kept an arm wrapped around DJ's shoulder as they walked to the lameosine together. "Come on, I'll take you out for waffles on the way,"
"I'd like that," DJ quietly nodded, ending yet another episode of Total. Drama. Action.