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Mess shrugs and gets up, picking up a flashlight from the table on its way out. "Out into the dark night!" Caen yells after it, which makes it shut the door behind itself extra loudly.
Tump pauses the tv and everyone occupies themselves on their phones or with something laying around the room, waiting for Mess to return.
Return it does not, but you do hear a loud thud, and then hurried shuffling. You look at each other, weirded out, but not yet concerned. You begin to grow concerned only when another 2 minutes pass agonizingly slowly, with no sign of Mess.
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"We should probably make sure it's okay," says Tump, and Red and Caen follow him into the hallway without protest. He shouts for it, but the voice that answers is not Mess': it’s Sylvi's.
"Here!" She sounds distressed. Everyone leans over the landing's banister to look down into the dorm's kitchen.
On the kitchen tile of the ground floor, there lies Mess, sprawled out in an odd position and obviously unconscious - or worse. Next to it, Cin, shaking.
"It fell." she shouts up at you, and in unison all of you look down at the banister you're leaning against, a bit uneasy.
You rush down the stairs and crowd around, and finally Cin divulges: "it isn't breathing".
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As a small trickle of blood snakes its way through the gaps between the tiles, you turn to Sylvi. She explains she was barely in the door when she heard the same thump sound you all did. You look around, and at Mess again, who is definitely not in the kind of position you would expect someone who jumped down intentionally to be.
"Do you think someone pushed it?" says Red hesitantly. Tump argues that it very well may have tripped, but judging by everyone's expressions, no one buys that.
"If we're not alone," Caen says, "they're probably still here. Why push a random teenager from a gallery and not stay for the party?"
Tump and Red frown.
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You agree that if the hypothetical killer is still in the building, this will be your only chance to catch a glimpse of them, so your arm yourselves with the heavy flashlights you still have in the dorm room and set out.
Red swings at something creeping up on them in the darkness, and narrowly avoids hitting Cin in the face with the flashlight.
"Woah-ha-ha, just me!", she says, quietly - they're all very afraid of making too much noise. Red lowers their weapon. Then, abruptly Cin jumps to run a knife through their throat. The first strike doesn't go deep enough to kill them, but it's enough to distract them enough to let her land a second, more accurate one as their eyes go wide in horror. She catches them as they topple to the ground, trying not to make too much noise.
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On the floor below, Tump looks up at the ceiling. What was that? This is a horror movie scenario, but life isn't a horror movie, so he decides to investigate.
As he enters the corridor, he spots something person sized on the floor, and his heart sinks.
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"Exactly why we should call someone, and quick.", Red says, getting up. On the way upstairs you discuss whether to call the police or just an ambulance.
Will you
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You phone the police, and they ask why you didn't call an ambulance. The operator subtly doubts your sanity when you explain you feel like this was no accident. They send someone anyway, but you can infer you're pretty far down on the priorities list. Mess can't get any deader than it already is, but it feels surreal to just have to sit there, with your friend's body cooling downstairs.
Will you
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"Okay, and now what?" asks Tump. Caen suggests they search the building while they wait, and Cin agrees, though Red looks a bit skeptical.
Will you
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A bit tense now, you sit and wait. There are no more sounds from downstairs, and you listen for its footsteps on the stairs to no avail.
Will you
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As you wait, one by one, you put away what you were busying yourself with in favour of just… listening. As to what happened, you're at a loss.
Will you
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"We should probably make sure it's okay.", says Tump, and Red and Caen follow him into the hallway without protest. They arrive in the kitchen to find Mess sprawled out on the floor beneath the gallery, unmoving, a small but growing pool of blood gathering around its head like a grotesque halo.
"Did it fall?" whispers Red urgently. Something about the moment compels you all to not speak too loudly.
"Most plausible explanation," replies Caen, watching Tump try to find a pulse. After a moment he looks up and shakes his head.
"I'm... going to call an ambulance," says Red, fidgeting. You watch them go, gazes lingering on the banister above them.
"Do you think it tripped or something?"
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You decide to have a look around the ground floor and outside. There's nothing out of place except for the front door being left open.
Will you
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