The group had been in quiet shock ever since Isabell had faced her execution. There had been nothing but small talk afterwards as they headed back up to the first floor of the manse. Dinner was as quiet as a funeral procession. When Dagger told them it was bedtime, they had said goodnight to each other, and then trudged tiredly to their individual rooms.

That night, Wyatt relived the nightmare of Isabell's execution. The vivid image of each and every arrow impaling her body made him flinch in his bed. He woke up in the middle of the night, screaming when the final arrow pierced her heart. No one bothered to check up on him, for there were others who had also woken up screaming throughout the long night. 

Needless to say, they were all affected by the horrific day before.

The next morning, Wyatt trudged into the dining hall, his eyelids drooping as he struggled to stay awake. He pushed the door open, greeted by a drowsy, "Hey."

They ate breakfast in silence. Wyatt took a solemn bite of his donut and chewed it silently, forcing himself to swallow it. 

"So," Griffin said to break the silence, leaning back in his chair.  "What do we do?"

"I'll tell you what!" they heard a voice call out, causing some to jump in surprise. 

A moment later, Dagger came crashing down from the chandelier onto the breakfast table, spilling a jug of orange juice on Wyatt's pile of donuts.

Sadness at its worst.

Dagger looked angry. His eyes were both red, flashing with menace as he surveyed the shocked people sitting at the table.

"I'll tell you what to do!" he shouted, "I need you to KILL SOMEONE! You came here to kill each other, not make peace with each other! You're all too docile for your own good! What, you guys were just planning on living in silence for the rest of your lives after two measly deaths?"

"W-we've never experienced this! And we didn't have a part in those murders! Why would we relive that horror again?" Sophie yelled back.

Dagger took a deep breath. His red eye blurred for a minute before returning to its silver color. Then, he forced an unnatural smile upon his face. "That's right, you guys wouldn't! However, I'M FORCING YOU TO DO IT!" he bellowed.

They all stared at Dagger in shock. Nobody had ever seen him that angry.

Dagger began to pace up and down the length of the table, kicking the expensive china plates and cups off of the table and leaving it cracked all over the floor. "Listen here, people. This is a manse of despair. I expect you to kill each other in a manse of despair. Since you all have no clue of how to do this, I guess I'll need to hold your hand and help you get to where I want you to be!"

Wyatt and the others sat in startled silence. "What do you mean?" Erik asked quietly.

Dagger grinned. "Ahahaha! You guys wondered why the stairs to the second floor was locked? Well, now it's not! Every time you solve a murder, I unlock another floor for you guys! Now, isn't that cool? If you would just kill each other faster, then I'd let you roam free around my manse in almost no time at all!"

"In your dreams, Belmont!" Griffin snapped.

"Oooh, feisty!" Dagger mocked.

He spun on the table. "Well, everyone? Do you have the guts to explore the second floor? You might find something useful!" he raised his eyebrows tauntingly. 

Kiara set her fork down, sighing in exasperation. "I'm going so he'll shut up."

Slowly, everyone else agreed by getting up. Dagger smiled sadistically. "Good luck!" he waved before he disappeared again.

They walked down to the gate that had been closed before. Wyatt glanced at everyone in uneasiness, before the fourteen of them went upstairs to the second floor.

There, they found multiple doors that led to various types of rooms. 

The first door lead to a spa. There were two separate ones that were divided down the middle for men and women. 

As they explored the area and tested the water, Wyatt noticed Torch's uneasiness in the room as he stood as far as he could from the tub. 

Griffin rose an eyebrow as he noticed Torch as well. "The hell, man? We're exploring. Come and participate so no one thinks you're plotting something."

Wyatt shook his head. "He's the Fire Eater. He has a reason to be standing over there. You must have a fear of water."

Torch nodded gratefully. "At least someone understands me. L-let's get out of here."

The second door led to a game room.

Wyatt frowned as he examined the games, frowning at the titles. "Target Practice? Historically Hilarious Goodbye ?Textual Death? Blood Bath Battle? Justice for a Liar? Joker Factory? What kind of games are these?"

"Good games!" Dagger yelled over the intercom. "Don't judge!"

The third room had a lab, with all different types of poisons. As Wyatt looked around, reading the labels through the cabinet, he felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced around the room and couldn't help but think that some of the people around the room looked dangerously suspicious. 

The fourth door had a label next to the door, labeled "Training Grounds." There was a large dirt arena in the middle, with several smaller corridors filled with stuffed dummies to use weapons on. 

After the fourth door, there was a gate that led to the third floor. 

"Remember, you can only access it if you can solve a murder correctly!" Dagger reminded them over the intercom again.

The final door was locked.

Chase groaned slightly as he shook his head. "Are we gonna have another test to see if we're smart?"

The door suddenly swung open to reveal Dagger, with a few people jumping in shock. "This is the room for the intercom and security. It'll be locked and only I can access it."

"Let's go back to the dining hall," Sophie suggested, "We can reorganize what we just found out there."

"Yeah, I'm hungry anyway," Chase agreed.

In the dining hall, the fourteen guests sat down.  The table had trays of different types of sandwiches and chips arranged. The boys happily dug in, stuffing their faces.

"What do we know?" Star asked, leaning forward with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"The first door is a spa room," Griffin said, his voice muffled as he stuffed more food into his mouth.

"The second door is a game room," Wyatt said, shaking his head. "Don't go in there. Those games are rather...disgusting."

"The third door is the science room, obviously filled with chemicals," Chase said, glancing at them, "I think we should form a pact to never go in there."

They all held up their right hand in agreement, officially declaring not to go near the room.

"Fourth door..." Crimson said quietly. 

They all turned around to look at her in surprise. Crimson hadn't spoken since she'd introduced herself. Crimson scowled slightly and spun her bracelet around. "What?"

"Nothing...it's just weird hearing your voice for the second time," Damien stammered quickly. 

"Well, don't count on me talking again," Crimson snapped, crossing her arms as she went quiet again. 

"Anyway," Griffin interrupted, "the fourth door is a place for training. We can train there, I guess. I don't see why, but it's no harm to us."

"We already know that the gate is leading to the third floor, and the last door is the security room," Sophie pondered, "You think there's something special in there that we can see if we break in?"

Dagger scowled as he walked into the room and sat down at the table. "Don't you dare come within a hundred feet of that room," he snarled. He glanced over at Wyatt's drink, grabbing it before he drank it. Most of the drink spilled down his shirt. 

For some reason, everyone snickered.

It was the first laugh they had shared, yet...deep down, they were all cloaked in fear.

"Oh, I see. You're all having fun, aren't you?" Dagger slammed the glass down as he scanned their faces. 

Immediately, everyone stopped laughing as they stared at Dagger.

Dagger wiped his mouth before he stood. He growled as he pointed to each of them. "You! You! You! All of you goddamn idiots! I expect you all to have FUN KILLING SOMEONE! I did not invite you to chat among yourselves and make peace and live happily ever after!" Dagger took a deep breath as he smiled at them, resting his chin on his hands as he leaned forward. "I've come back to give you some...motivation!" he wiggled his brows in suggestion.

"Meet me in the arena in five minutes! Ahahaha! Let the FUN BEGIN!" Dagger cackled as he stood and walked out of the room, slamming the doors shut. 

Slowly, Wyatt set down his food, standing up. He swallowed back the lump in his throat as he slowly started to walk down the hall. "W-well, we heard him. Let's just go and get this over with." Everyone followed, and they all trudged down the hall before heading up the staircase.

Dagger was busy slashing away at the dummies when they walked in.

Everyone stopped in their tracks to watch as Dagger moved gracefully around, bringing the sword down with perfect timing and ease. He wore a grin that his enjoyment. It was shown in the way he held the sword in his hands and the way he moved; however, the oddest part to all of them was the fact that both of his eyes were silver.

They'd seen nothing but silver and red, or both red eyes.

Dagger stopped and wiped the sweat off his brow, his eyes immediately changing back to the red and silver they normally were. He spread his arms, sticking the sword into the dirt. "Welcome back! Come! Come here!"

They all tentatively walked forward, cringing at the way the shredded dummies crunched under their feet.

"I've sent you here to give you guys some motivation! Like I said, I told you I would hold your hand and guide you to where I want you to be! So, here comes the motivation! I will tell you...a secret that someone else in this room holds! The worst of the worst! Rather horrible secrets, I must say!"

He came over to all of them, the group backing up quickly in fear. Wyatt tripped backwards, falling on his behind. 

"Are you scared?" Dagger laughed. "Anyway, I'll whisper something to all of you so there's no point in running!"

As Dagger went around, whispering in everyone's ear, various people gasped in shock as they  stared at each other.

Wyatt felt Dagger's cold breath on his ear as he whispered, "Did you know that Erik was a notorious assassin? Ahaha! He killed so many people with that gun of his! Guess what else is fun? His father is your worst enemy, you know. You'll be familiar with the name. Lucius." Though Dagger was practically screaming in his ear, nobody around seemed to hear what Dagger was saying.

Wyatt's eyes widened in shock at the news. Lucius. Lucius. Lucius. The name rang in his ears as a hot anger swept through him. Though he didn't remember what Lucius had done to him, it was clear that something about the name brought up a bad feeling. Erik was dangerous as well. Wyatt's eyes glazed over. He had to kill Erik. He had to...

Wyatt snapped awake when the harsh sound of Dagger's laughter awoke him. This was what Dagger wanted. He wanted them to kill each other.

Wyatt shoved Dagger away forcefully, stumbling backwards. He looked down, realizing that his palms were sweaty. 

Everyone else looked similarly shocked. Dagger narrowed his eyes before breaking down into laughter. "Let's see what'll happen, shall we?"

Dagger waved tauntingly as he left, leaving a shocked group of people standing there, all contemplating the experience they just had. 

When the intercom crackled and Dagger told everyone to get to bed, they all silently walked off. The news of Erik stayed fresh in Wyatt's mind as he locked the door and shoved the desk under the knob before climbing into bed. 

That night, everyone suffered nightmares of each other.

When Wyatt woke up in the morning, he realized something was burning. The scent of smoke tingled his sense of smell as he ran to the doorway, throwing it open. It was pouring smoke outside, the black fog shadowing the hallway. 

He panicked, suddenly realizing that they were locked in a burning mansion.

He had to stop whatever was burning before everyone died.

Wyatt put the shirt up to his mouth and nose, running through the hallways. The smoke detector suddenly went off as he ran up the stairs to the second floor where the source of the smoke was.

The flames were rising from the entrance to the spa, heat radiating off of the fire. Wyatt charged into the room without thinking, feeling the temperature increase before he was in the room. He coughed through his shirt and squinted around.

"Who's there!?" Someone yelled as footsteps approached.

"Me!" Wyatt yelled back as he looked to see who it was. Chase and Cassie came crashing into the room. Chase was holding a bucket in his hands. The three of them began to frantically drown out the fire as they began to use the water from a nearby bathtub that hadn't been drained the night before. After the few frantic minutes of drowning out the fire, it finally sputtered out, leaving the smoke lingering in the air. 

Wyatt sighed in relief, glancing down at the bucket of water he was holding. He screamed and jumped back, throwing the bucket down.

The water was tinted bright pink as it spilled onto the floor.

Cassie and Chase noticed the color and gasped, glancing into the tub of water they had been using to put out the fire.

The three of them shrieked, eyes widening in horror when they saw the body of Torch lying in the tub.