User blog:Stormlilly/e3.5

 On your return to the Foyer, only the Financier and Reporter are present. Both look much more exhausted then the last you saw them, the Financier's hair toussled and his eyes unfocused, and the Reporter staring glumly at her feet. She opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out.



 The reason is the audible click you at first mistake for the lighter used by the Aristocrat – but as you here the attache case she has been carrying tumble to the side, you realize it is instead the knock of a heavy crossbow as it drifts between the three of you.



“ Damn, well, I guess I have to wake up now!” The Aristocrat begins cheerfully, her tone not at all matching the livid paranoia on her face. “Given what I've seen, I have no reason to trust any of you all, and though I was saving this for our Host, I am now going to explain three things. You will not follow me. If you follow me, I will  shoot to kill, and I do not miss. And if I kill you – I will not lose sleep at night. Are we clear?”



 No one says anything as she backs off to her quarters, hands gripped tightly on the crossbow. You see her nod cautiously, and the door close. As she leaves, the three of you all collapse in relief, and the Foyer becoming a hotbed of activity.



“ Did you see her? I've known her for years, and she never – she would never - “



 The Financier begins, but his lips flap without substance, panic and disbelief running contrary to established fact.



“ I understand, a bit.” The Reporter concedes, not meeting either of your eyes. “Have you two... Seen, anything?”



 The room goes silent once again – a silence where none wants to acknowledge the truth.



<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ I... Uh...” The Financier begins – then runs upstairs. Finding the library door locked, he instead opens the next nearest door – which was locked earlier, and now is not; and rushes inside, slamming the door shut.

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> Sighing the Reporter watches him go with tired, uncertain eyes.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> “Looks like it's just us. I've got a guess. Do you want to hear it?”

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> You don't have time to nod, or even shake your head no.

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ We're all going to die here. But we won't stay dead.”

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> Laughing a brittle laugh, she makes her way towards her quarters.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">“ You should check on one of them, I think. It'd be good. The Financier doesn't seem too stable. Mmn.”

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> You hear the click of a lock, and are once again alone. You...

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<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">Knock on the Aristocrat's door.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">Check on the Financier.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">Knock on the Reporter's door.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in">Grab a drink from the kitchen.