Mansion in the Forest

WE ARE THE OFFER

"Relationship? With who?" Jazen asked, as if she didn't hear Blake for the first time.

"Why don't you tell them, Lexi?" Blake turned to Lexi, who's back was still facing him. "Tell them that you're one of them—!"

"Shut the f**k up!" Lexi shouted to interrupt Blake's words. "You don't know anything!"

"I may not know everything about you, but I'm sure as hell that you're one of them!"

"Lexi! What is he talking about?!" Jisu asked, shouting as well but curious and scared at the same time for what Lexi is going to answer.

"I'm not one of the people behind this bullshit. I don't have any relation with Sakura—."

"Who's Sakura?" Iris asked, cutting off Lexi.

"Wait, you guys didn't know her?" Lexi asked back, confusingly.

"We wouldn't have to ask if we know her." Iris scoffed.

"She's literally the one who talked to us on that screen! How come you don't know her?" Lexi asked, still couldn't believe that she's the only one who has met the Queen, twice.

"You mean, the woman on the screen wearing a mask to hide her face?" Denver asked and Lexi nodded her head as a response to his question. "Then how did you know her?"

"Trev, remember the day when we saw a luxury car in front of my apartment?" Trevor paused for a moment trying to remember it but Jisu and Jazen could.

"The one that we thought was going to kidnap you." Jisu said.

"Yes! They brought me to the Queen and that's when I got the offer to go here."

"You met her but how come she only sends us letters and text messages?" Siena asked.

"I don't know, but she forced me to be here because of my mom." Lexi shrugged her shoulders.

"Wait, you have a mom? Since when?" Trevor asked in disbelief. As far as he could remember, Lexi was an orphan because they were together in the same mansion where they're at.

"I had the same reaction, Trev." Lexi chuckled. "But she's really alive and she's in the hospital that's why I'm here."

"Oh my God, why didn't you tell me about that? I'm your best friend for f**k sake!" Trevor huffed and felt disappointed that he didn't even know that he knows everything about Lexi. "When did you start hiding things from me?"

"Look, that's not the main topic here. It's about the woman in that screen and how Lexi knows her." Lei chimes in after he is done tying Blake and puts him in the corner after he knocks him out.

"They took me and the Queen offered to help me be rich if I got rid of those monsters."

"I got the same offer but she didn't mention about monsters." Chantelle said.

"Yeah, we got it too." All of them said the same thing.

"You too, Trev?" Lexi asked her best friend who was just listening to them.

"No, I just snuck up in here after I followed you."

"You're crazy, I told you to just stay." Lexi shook her head and was about to hit him but she stopped when she remembered that he's injured.

"Lexi." Jisu called to get her attention. "May I ask if you know the reason why the Queen wants to get rid of those monsters if she's already rich?"

"I don't exactly know but she mentioned that this mansion is important to her that's why she wanted it back."

"Funny." Jisu scoffed. "We didn't get the offer." She paused and looked at everyone. "We are the offer."

"What do you mean?" Chantelle asked.

"There's a possibility that she didn't want this mansion at all or I might have the wrong conclusion but there's also a possibility that she wants to feed us to those monsters and in return leave this place."

"She's slick." Denver laughed, but it's not a laugh that he finds everything funny, but a laugh of getting betrayed.

"We have to get out of here." Lei said and he turned to Lexi. "You mentioned earlier that there might be a keyhole in that bricked wall. We should go now and check it."

"Let's go." Lexi lead the way upstairs to the 3rd floor and to the bricked wall they saw earlier. Chantelle checked the small hole and she nodded her head when she made sure that it was not just a c***k on the wall.

"I need a hairpin." She said without looking back but no one had it. "Guys—."

"You have one on your hair." Jazen pointed out.

"Oh right, I forgot." Chantelle giggled as she took two hairpins on her head and she straightened it both before putting it inside the hole. Everyone was just watching her and anticipated if she could open it or not. Chantelle continued to pick the hole until she was sure that she got the main part, she pushed the hairpins deeper and lifted it then they heard something click. The bricked wall shook and it started to rise in its position and moved sideways. "Got it!" Chantelle exclaimed, too proud of herself.

"I knew this is not just an ordinary wall." Lexi said she was about to step inside but Trevor pulled her back quickly when he saw a string attached on the lower part of the door. "What?" Lexi asked confusedly.

"Look." Trevor pointed at the string.

They looked down to see it and Lexi felt a bit scared for a moment, thinking that if Trevor didn't pull her back, she might probably step on it and it might trigger a trap and she'll get hurt.

"It's a deadly trap." Iris said as she followed the string and it's attached to a big axe hanging on the corner and once someone snapped the string, it would fall down and would s***h the person in half who stepped inside. "They were aware that we would find this place."

"We should be more careful." Jazen said and they all nodded their heads. Lexi avoids the string carefully and takes a look around to see if there's another trap. But there are none so she motioned her hand to follow her.

"Another one." Siena warned them when she saw another string. They all followed the end of it and saw another big axe.

"They really want us dead." Lei chuckled but he froze when he felt the tile he was stepping on moved down.

Denver noticed that his brother didn't move and was left behind. He looked back and saw his brother standing on the same spot where they avoided the string.

"Lei, let's go." He called.

"I can't." Lei replied, not moving a nerve.

"What? Why?" Denver asked confusedly which caught everyone's attention and they looked back to Lei.

"I think I stepped on something." Lei looked down to his right foot and they gasped when they noticed the tile that moved down a bit.

"s**t, Lei don't move. We don't know what trap is in there!" Trevor warned him. Denver was about to walk back to his brother but Jazen stopped him from doing so.

"Don't." She said as she grabbed Denver's arm. "We don't know if there's another trap in these tiles."

"Wait, I have an idea but I don't think you're all gonna like it." Siena said, they looked at her but didn't say anything as they were all waiting for her suggestion. "I'm going to take Blake and replace him in Lei's position."

"I don't like it but I don't like that boy either so let's do it." Chantelle agreed.

"No, we're not gonna do that!" Lexi refused. She agreed that she hates the boy as well but not to the point that they will kill him.

"I'm not gonna let my brother die." Denver said and he took back his arm from Jazen and he ran away.

"Denver!" Lexi called but the boy didn't look back until he was gone from their sight. "Damn it! What kind of suggestion was that?!"

"I hate to admit it but I agree with her." Jazen shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't forget that he tried to stab you but he stabbed your best friend instead." Iris reminds her of what Blake did to Trevor.

"But it still won't justify that we are going to kill him."

"Relax, he's not gonna die as long as he's not gonna move." Siena said, chuckling.

Denver came back with Blake still tied up, already conscious but still groggy and still could feel the pain on his nape where Lei knocked him off earlier.

"Watch your step if you don't want to get s***h by that axe." Denver said as he made sure that Blake wouldn't snap the string.

"Where are we?" Blake asked while looking around.

"We found the way out." Denver answered and he warned Blake about the second string until they reached Lei's spot. Denver pushed down Blake to the tile and left him sitting at it. "Don't move your ass if you don't want to die."

"What—."

"Just don't f*****g move!" Denver cut him off and he turned to his brother. "Okay, try to lift up your foot and we're going to run."

Lei nodded his head before heaving a deep breath and exhaled it exasperatedly. Then he slowly lifted up his foot, when he noticed that it didn't move, he let out a sigh of relief. Then Denver grabbed his hand and they both ran towards the others, leaving Blake on his spot.

"What the hell?!"

"If you don't want to die, just stay in that position." Siena yelled to Blake as they all continued their way but they were extra careful this time.

"You are all crazy!" Blake shouted and even if he was told not to move, he still did it and the tile moved back. Everyone stopped and they waited for something to happen.

"Great, we almost became killers—." Lexi's words were interrupted when suddenly there's a sudden explosion behind them. They all dropped down and covered their heads, but the explosion seemed like walking towards them. They stood up and started to run back from where they started. Lexi grabbed Blake's shirt and dragged him with them until they reached outside and the explosion stopped and so as the brick wall started to close.

"No no no!" Chantelle said and she tried to pick the lock but she couldn't get it this time.

"Just give up on that and let's check the other walls." Jisu suggested. "And please, be careful next time." She added.

"Listen to me you motherfucker." Jazen bend over to level Blake's eyes. "If we tell you not to move, don't move or I'll blow up your head!"

"Babe, stop." Lexi rebuked her girlfriend and pulled her up.

"If I'm going to die, I would bring all of you with me, especially you!" Blake shouted while glaring at Lexi.

Lexi looked down to him with furrowed eyebrows. "Okay then." She sighed. "If I didn't picked you up earlier, you would've been dead by now. I was trying to be nice but you really want to push me on my nerve's end, then let's do this the hard way, Blake." Lexi said as she pulled him up and pushed him forward. "I've had enough of your grumpy ass."

"What are you going to do?!"

"I'm going to use you as our human shield." Lexi said and they all agreed as they continued their way to the left wing of the mansion to check the other bricked wall.

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