Judgement Night

TW: Blood, murder, dead dove

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They were having drinks in the garden. They were celebrating someone's birthday and everyone was a bit tipsy at this hour of the night.

The embalmer, Aesop Carl, the noise not being to his liking, stayed sitting at a table a bit farther from the others, holding a glass filled with red liquid between his gloved hands, wine.

"Can I sit here?" asked a deep voice.

The ashen-haired lifted his eyes, the tip of his ears red due to the alcohol.

"You don't need to ask me, of course you can." he answered with a faint smile which was quite unusual, but it was just the alcohol, again.

"I prefer asking, dear. I didn't come empty handed by the way."

The seer sat next to the embalmer and took out a bottle of wine hidden behind his back.

"Shall we drink together?"

Aesop's eyes widened.

"Is Demi aware?"

"No, but it's not like she will ever find out seeing how she's always drunk."

"Fair enough."

Eli laughed softly and poured a glass for Aesop and another for him. Their drinks collided with a small tinkling and they both started sharing some stories while emptying the bottle.

"Hm? There's nothing left." said the seer. "Wait for me, I'll put that one aside and take another."

"Sure." replied the embalmer, now very drunk.

Eli disappeared in the manor and Aesop gazed at his half-filled glass. However, perhaps it was because of the amount of drinks he had but, his hand slipped for a second, splashing wine on his white glove.

As he gasped out of surprise, at the same moment, a loud scream was heard near the more crowded spot of the garden.

The embalmer let his glass on the table and walked toward where he heard the commotion. For some reason, everyone seemed to be quite tense and what were joyful chatters at first were now frightened whispers.

Aesop tried to get closer by turning around the mass to see what could be the cause. But at the second he discovered why, his blood turned cold and his complexion pale.

On the ground, laid the body of the lawyer, seemingly lifeless.

Aesop thought it may have been the alcohol in his bloodstream making him hallucinate one of the most hateful people in the manor in such a situation. However, that was before he saw the pool of blood slightly dirtying the soil, almost invisible to the eye due to the darkness and the grass, but still clear as day if one were to be close enough, like he was.

Suddenly, the mercenary stepped in, reaching for the neck of the lawyer to check his pulse before coming to a conclusion with a firm expression.

"He's dead."

"Mr.Carl! You killed him! There's blood on your hand!" screamed the gardener while pointing at him.

"What-"

Before he could say anything, Naib was already in front of him, forcefully taking his gloved hand between his fingers then bringing it to his nose before letting him go.

"It's only wine." said the mercenary. "Please, don't uselessly make a fuss, Woods. For now-"

"May I say a few words?" interrupted a female voice.

Everyone went silent as the entomologist approached, holding in her hands a letter sealed with red wax.

"What's that?" asked Naib.

"I just found this letter a few moments ago in my pocket, though I have no idea how it appeared there." she answered. "The contents however..."

She cleared her throat and thus started reading the few lines written in crimson ink,

'Dear survivors,

As it seems like nothing much interesting is happening in the manor, a great idea came to my mind.

Why shall the hunters have all the fun, I wondered.

Thus, for one moon, I announce that the hunt will continue in the survivors' part of the manor !

All of you, feel free to get rid of whoever you wish until the sun rises again.

Also, those still alive by then will be able to leave this manor.

May you do your best to survive.'

-The Baron

"What the hell..." whispered the mercenary.

"This is how things are, I'm afraid." replied Melly.

"This is stupid, why should we kill each other?" he added.

"Didn't the Baron say that we could leave if we survive...? We can just wait until then, there's no reason to follow this letter..." said the gardener.

"We could, but look at this," the entomologist pointed to the lawyer's corpse on the ground and everyone's gaze shifted to the embalmer.

"I-I'm not the culprit, I swear." he said, staggering.

They already proved his innocence indeed. Nevertheless, the deed was already done when Miss Woods unintentionally accused him and even if they knew he wasn't the culprit, since there wasn't someone else to suspect and no one was crazy enough to denounce themselves, all doubt fell upon the poor embalmer.

"I didn't say such, Mr.Carl." resumed the veiled woman. "However... We can't ignore the fact that there's still a murderer among us. Which means that even if the best decision would be to wait calmly so we can all leave unscattered, it seems like there's some people who can't fight their instincts."

"Everyone should go to their rooms for now, lock your door and don't open to anyone." ordered the green hooded man.

Some survivors weren't pleased by the current course of things but they complied anyway since it was better to stay safe than be sorry. A few glanced at the embalmer on their way inside, from pity to suspicion.

Aesop stared at the ground, waiting for all of them to leave before doing the same. When the last went away, it was the moment the seer came back. The man seemed surprised to see the party over and walked to his boyfriend to inquire what happened but he already got an overview when seeing the corpse.

"What's going on here...?"

The embalmer bit his lip under his mask and both men went to his room where the gray-haired one briefed the other.

"This is very unfortunate for Mr.Riley..."

"I don't understand how..."

"Don't worry, Aesop." said Eli with a smile to comfort the male, "Just as Naib said, we should stay locked up in our rooms until tomorrow."

"Right..."

The seer kissed his forehead while hugging him lightly.

"Everything will be fine. Just come to me if you need anything."

After those few words, the man in the blue robe left the embalmer's room to go to his own.

Aesop let out a sigh and was about to lay on his bed when he noticed a book on his night table with a red cover. It was a book lent to him by the explorer. He had finished it so he should probably give it back to him...

He thought for a bit, it wasn't very safe to go out...

But Kurt's room was just between his and Eli's room so it should be fine, right?

Coming to his conclusion, the embalmer left to hand the book to his owner. He knocked on the door, waiting for an answer.

What if Kurt didn't open because they were told not to?

He tried knocking a second time but when his fingers reached for the door, this one turned out to be open. Could it be that the explorer didn't go to his room yet? Maybe he could just leave the book there.

Aesop gulped, wasn't it impolite to enter without his consent however?

It would just take a moment though.

He opened the door a bit more but he soon discovered that the room wasn't left open because no one was here.

Similarly to the scene he witnessed in the garden, the explorer's body was lying on the floor, a pool of blood around it and scratches that had been sliced into his back, the bleeding being the cause of his death.

Aesop gasped and let the book fall, the pages slowly turning red after coming in contact with the liquid. 

"Kurt, are you- Aesop?"

The embalmer's heart froze. What would people say if they saw him like that? They would surely suspect him again. But it was too late now and the man turned around to see the seer in the doorway.

He couldn't see his eyes but he noticed his mouth opening ever lightly in astonishment.

"E-Eli- I'm not the one who did this-"

"Calm down, Aesop, I believe you." he said calmly. "The others may not react the same way though... We need to hide the corpse somewhere."

What was he saying- Hide it!? Aesop's mind was a complete mess with all those events happening one after the other. He couldn't think correctly so he just followed whatever Eli thought was the best.

The seer checked if no one was around before helping the embalmer move the body to the woods behind the manor. It wasn't an easy task to do but they eventually succeeded in hiding it behind some bushes but just as they were about to return to the manor...

"Eli and Aesop? What are you doing outside and... why are you two covered in blood...?"

It was the mechanic. The girl felt anxious in her room and wanted to breathe some fresh air when she fell upon the two men. Unfortunately, she really came at the wrong time and her fear only grew when noticing red traces on the seer's face and other spots on the embalmer's clothes left by the explorer's blood. 

"Aesop, go back to your room first. I'm going to talk to her and try to clear things up. I'll try to make this quick."

A bead of sweat beaded from the embalmer's forehead as he walked past the two. He glanced behind him one last time before leaving, watching as Eli led Tracy elsewhere to talk.

The wait within the four walls of his chambers seemed hellishly long. He could hear the clock ticking in his head and the flames of the fireplace crackling. When would Eli be back? He was beginning to worry about the latter.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard a knock on his door.

The embalmer jumped up from his chair to open it, only to be greeted by the seer's body slumping forward toward him. Fortunately, Aesop was there to catch him with his arms.

"S-Sorry..."

"Eli-!?"

The gray-eyed male then noticed several cuts on the seer's clothes, some larger than others and leaking warm liquid from the wounds.

"What happened?!" asked Aesop, distraught.

"I was talking with Tracy when Naib came in, I think he must have misunderstood the situation because he went straight for me and pulled out his kukri..."

"I-I understood so come here so that I look after you..." he said by cutting it in his sentence.

Aesop thus helped Eli to settle on his bed before going to get his first aid kit and treating the wounds of the brown-haired man.

His eyes widened when the latter removed his robe and discovered that there were more than he expected. He wasted no time in disinfecting the wounds and bandaging them. When he finished, a pile of scarlet-dyed absorbent cotton lay to the side with the seer's blindfold.

"Thank you," Eli said.

"I should be the one to thank you..." sighed Aesop.

"How so?"

"Thank you, Eli... For believing in me in spite of everything..."

"I could never doubt you, Aesop." he replied with a weak laugh.

The embalmer let his face rest in the seer's lap, his heart throbbing and his neurons reeling from the exhilarating experience they had just undergone. Eli gently caressing his head to calm him down.

He sincerely hoped that this incident would be the last of the evening.

He wasn't responsible for any of this, so why must he suffer like this?

Of course he wasn't.

Aesop was not the culprit.

Who could dare to doubt the selflessness of the manor's seer, though?

While the young embalmer wasn't looking, a faint, sinister smile played on the blue-eyed male's lips.

His ambitions were a mystery to all, but the bodies of the lawyer and the explorer were not the only ones, and they would soon be joined by those of the mechanic and the mercenary at sunrise. 

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