Young Writers Society

James sighed. He wasn't sorry for asking, because he did care. He knew she was categorically dead, but he didn't think he was wrong for assuming getting cut by a sword would still hurt.

"Yes. That. Okay. Well, he's gone now," James said, looking out the door. "And it looks like there's nothing in this room that tells us anything more than we already know. We should probably regroup with the others soon, so let's check this last room real quick."

Ian walked heavily across the room, boots clunking, surprisingly not leaving dirt on the carpet. Genevieve stood frozen, not knowing how to respond. He came closer and closer to her, and suddenly he was right up in her space. “Isn’t this a great surprise?” Ian rested his worn hand on her smooth face. Gigi slapped him. “This is positively outrageous!” She yelled at him. He touched his cheek where her hand had collided with his face. “No, it’s not. I think it’s great time to have a little chat.” Ian motioned towards the table and chairs sitting on the rooms balcony. “Talk to me again, and that pretty nose of yours won’t be so pretty anymore.” Genevieve shoved him into the room, consequently pushing herself out. The door slammed shut behind her. “I hate this house.”

James held the door open for Kate when he heard glass shatter, followed by a surge of blasting, blinding sound. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs, in the backyard. It didn’t sound good.

He looked to Kate and started down the hall, running and hoping no one had gotten hurt. He didn’t realize that it was a song playing until the vocals came in, still blasting even through the walls. He didn’t want to know what it felt like outside, but he knew he was going to in a moment.

When he made it back out to the pool, he was hit by a wall of sound so hard he could feel it reverberating in his chest. If he shouted, he didn’t think he’d be heard. He’d likely just lose his voice.

A step out into the patio revealed the source of the shattering. The table with all of the glasses on it had been tipped - or thrown, it looked like - and the glasses must’ve flown everywhere judging from the scatter.

Kate followed James and stopped at the sight of the broken glass. Someone's pissed.

The table wasn't exactly small, and the glasses on top of it alone had to be a pretty heady weight to lift and toss like that. It wasn't an impossible feat for a human being, but Kate couldn't help thinking of creatures from the depths. Clawed hands that could tear through the hull of a ship if given the slightest space between boards. Arms strong enough to toss a three-pronged hook from the sea to the uppermost deck of a ship and pull it back down again with a shrieking sailor grasping at the ropes and the rails as they were dragged to the sea with a hook in their flesh.

Of course, this probably wasn't one of Tallulah's. If there was a siren here, then this was all an illusion, and a powerful one.

Kate crossed her arms. If that was the case, it was going to be sushi for dinner.

Genevieve took care of her enemy before Benji even had a chance to step in. The wings in the distance stopped fluttering, if only for a moment - though they were sure to start up again if they ran into anyone else that the group considered to be dangerous.

They needed to group up again. It was a bad idea to stay separated when it was so clear that everyone present had some kind of enemy lurking inside the building. They needed strength in numbers right now.

But before Benji could voice his suggestion, noise suddenly bombarded him from outside. His hands immediately went to cover his ears. If he hadn't been assaulted by the music, he might have thought All Star was a strange choice for a place that seemed so creepy. But he was too preoccupied to even register the lyrics, much less think them over.

"We need to go to the pool!" he shouted. He didn't know if the noise was as bad for Genevieve and Alyss. He could barely think right now. His entire body was screaming at him to go far, far away - and the wings were fluttering so frantically now - but he had to see where the noise was coming from. It had to be happening for a reason.

When he finally got back outside, he caught a glimpse of James and Kate over by the overturned drinks table and broken glasses. His grip on his ears tightened. Everything hurt. Benji was usually better about holding back his tears, but his eyes were beginning to tear up in the corners. He just wanted it to be over.

Alyss tapped her foot and scanned the hallway, her piercing grey eyes taking in every detail. No one else was surprising her this time, unless they came from the room where Genevieve and Benji were. Shouting came from the room behind her, and Alyss tensed up as Geneveive and Benji came stumbling out. Benji looked like he was going to say something, going as far to open his mouth, but before he could speak, a deafening noise blasted everyone's eardrums. Alyss cringed. This reminded her of Tony's house, where he blasted AC/DC every so often, but this song was even louder than that, a feat she hadn't thought possible. She blindly followed Benji down to the pool deck, where Kate and James stood by a mess of overturned tables and shattered glass.
Alyss considered trying to ask them what had happened, but the noise was too loud and so she carefully picked her way over to stand beside them.

Genevieve squeezed her eyes shut. The awful song playing was like torture to her ears. “What the hell is going on!” She screamed. No response came from her companions. Gigi opened her eyes to see that they too had their ears covered. Benji decided to dip, so Genevieve followed him down the winding hallways of the mansion. She took note of paintings and statues that lined the hallways, making a mental map back to the pink room. Then they were back where they started, out by the pool. Glass covered the ground everywhere.

The music suddenly stopped.

Benji suddenly became aware of his surroundings again - of how everyone else was gathered beside the pool like he was, and how he had come to a stop right beside the pool. The wings went for a moment.

Then the lights suddenly went out inside the mansion.

He heard a loud, collective click coming from the building's direction. Even without checking the doors or windows, he knew that they had all just been suddenly locked. The only light source - and the only place they could go now - was the pool. Benji knew that should have been setting off red flags, but all he could focus on was the allure of the lights. It was harder to ignore them, now that they were the only ones still on.

Benji wandered a little too close to the pool side.

A moment later, he felt some kind of push from behind. He teetered over the edge for a moment - fighting to keep his balance - but it was all for nothing. He went crashing into the water. As he struggled to get back up to the surface, he could see the others falling into the water, too.