Seven

Chapter 5- The Clues

The room seemed to grow colder as two of the ghostly butlers lead Jackson away through the dining room. He didn't even try to fight them, much to Mario's surprise. He had to sense something bad was going to happen to him. He was clearly nervous.

They wouldn't just send him back home, that would be too easy.

"For those of you who remain, please listen carefully to the following instructions: there are three clues for each player hidden throughout the house. The player number will be printed on the front-facing side of the card and the clue itself will be printed on back. You may not, as you know, assist other players. You can, however, steal other player's clues, keeping them from finishing the game by the designated time," Dr. Vincent said after Jackson was gone.

Everyone silently looked around and each other.

"But you said we weren't in competition!" Brandi whined.

"Again, he can't hear you," Winston sighed, rolling his eyes at her.

"However, you may not keep another player's clue," Dr. Vincent continued. "You may hide it elsewhere, but you may not hold onto it. Everyone must complete the game to move on to the next round. Those finishing with the best times will be granted a head start for the next game.  Even if you do not finish first, you must finish the game. Failure to retrieve all three clues in the designated time frame will result in that player's elimination. The game will start in exactly one minute. You have until sunrise to find all three clues. Bona Fortuna."

With that, the monitors turned off and everyone stood around in stunned silence.

"The first game will begin in thirty seconds," Winston called out after a while.

Mario pulled himself together, taking a deep breath and looking around the foyer, coming up with a strategy. He knew he should be more concerned with escaping, but he feared what could happen to him if he didn't make it out of here by sunrise and hadn't found all three of his clues. He needed them in his hands before he could focus on his escape. That would at least be his safety net, he thought.

"Twenty seconds," Winston said, making Mario's heart beat even faster.

Tiny beads of sweat began to accumulate across his forehead, his breaths were fast and unsteady. He was nervous, but he didn't know exactly why yet. He was confident he wouldn't be eliminated. He was pretty good at savaging, after all. He just had to keep himself together long enough to get his hands on his clues.

"Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One," Winston called out. "You have until sunrise to retrieve your three clues and return here, to the foyer."

Mario wasted no time. He hurried up the stairs to his own room first. They were never told where, specifically, to look for the clues, just in the mansion- meaning they could be anywhere. It was a big house with an even bigger yard.

Where would he even start?

Mario noticed something sticking out of the plant pot next to his bedroom's door. As he moved closer, he saw the number 2 printed on a small,  white card. Mario gave it some thought until he remembered Brandi was player 2. He looked over his shoulder and when he didn't see anyone coming his way, he snatched the card out and placed it in his back pocket, intending to hide it later.

He opened his bedroom door and looked around. For reasons he couldn't quite understand, he felt drawn to the bed. He started pulling off the covers and sheets, tossing the pillows to the floor until he found a small, leather bound book.

He picked it up and examined it closely. There was nothing written on the cover, but when he opened it up, he saw the rules of the game listed in numerical order, one through seven.

Seven rules, seven players. There's something about the number seven that stood out to Mario.

Since he knew he didn't have much time, he quickly skimmed over the rules.

1. All players must remain within the mansion at all times.

2. Players may not assist one another during the games.

3. Players may not inflict harm to another player in any way.

4. Players may not communicate with anyone outside the mansion for any reason, until the games are over.

5. Players must report to the predetermined location for the start of each game on time and in uniform. Times and locations will be announced in advance.

6. Players must finish each game to receive a cash prize.

7. Players must abide by the rules listed within until the last game is finished.

Failure to follow these rules will result in a players immediate elimination from the games.

Mario flipped to the next page and a white card fell out into his lap. He picked it up, furrowing his brows at the number 6 printed on it. It was his first clue. He flipped it over and read the back carefully.

Cities, but no houses. Mountains, but no trees. Water, but no fish.

Mario read and re-read the clue over and over, but couldn't figure out what it could mean. He suddenly remembered he had player 2's clue as well, and since the only rule he remembered is that he couldn't keep it, there was nothing saying he couldn't read it. Maybe it would help him to figure out his own clue.

He took it out of his pocket and quickly dropped it to the ground with a hiss. He grabbed his hand and growled, trying his best not to curse. The clue was now seared around the edges as if someone had set fire to it- only Mario had it in his pocket all this time. The hot edges immediately cooled down once the clue was no longer in Mario's possession.

He couldn't have had it anymore than just a few minutes, so that means he would've turned himself into a human torch had he held onto it any longer.

He reached down to pick the clue up off the floor, but again, it burned his skin. Since the number 2 was facing up and the clue was on back, Mario knew he'd have to get creative in order to see what the clue said.

He looked around the room and spotted a basket of iron fireplace pokers sitting next to the fireplace. He took a couple of them out and meticulously tried to flip the car over. When he saw that touching the card with a foreign object didn't cause it to further incarcerate, he quickly clasped the card between the two rods and flipped it over. He kneeled over the clue, careful not to touch it.

If two's company, and three's a crowd, what are four and five?

Mario sat for a while and thought about the clues and what they could mean. As for his, he had no idea. But as he gave some thought to player 2's clue, he came up with what he knew could be the only answer.

Four plus five equals nine, and there was a player by that name. Could he have player 2's next clue? And if he did, did he even know it?

And did that mean Mario's next clue could be located with another player as well?

Cities, but no houses. Mountains, but no trees. Water, but no fish.  What is something that has cities, mountains and water, but no houses, trees or fish?

Mario had no idea where to even start, but judging by player 2's clue, he knew he was looking for something or someone in this house. He stepped out into the hallway, startled by Richard's unexpected presence and sinister grin.

"Hello, sir," Richard said, bowing his head slightly. "Is there anything you need?"

Mario cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, thank you."

Without another word, he hurried away. He could feel Richard's eyes boring into him from behind, giving him one of the most uneasiest feelings he'd ever had before. Chills ran up his spine, making him shiver, but he had to shake off the feeling and continue on.

He headed down the stairs and back into the foyer where he hoped to either run into Nine, who was player 7, if he remember correctly, or, find anything that might match his own clue.

He slowly made his way around the parlor and then the dining room, not finding anything that would link to his clue. When he stepped into a long hallway just behind the foyer, he paused. On the wall was a framed picture of a map. As he moved closer, he realized it was old map, possibly printed over a hundred years ago, judging by the out of date print style.

As Mario stared at the map, it seemed to move- only slightly at first, but as he kept watching, it seemed as if the map was coming to life.

But Mario knew his eyes were playing tricks on him. He was tired and stressed, worried about how he would get out of here. Nothing was probably as it seemed.

Just then, something dawned on Mario. This map...it had cities, but no houses, mountains, but no trees, and water, but no fish. Could this be where his second clue was located?

Mario felt around the frame for any sign of the card, but there was nothing. He then lifted the frame off the wall, only slightly, and to his delight, the card slipped out onto the floor, displaying his number, 6.

He picked it up and read it carefully, smiling to himself since he was only an hour into the game and had already found his second clue.

Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, when I have flown.

Mario read the clue a few times, but it didn't take him quite as long as before to catch on. This clue was obviously talking about time. He had to find a clock.

He started down the long, dimly light hallway, looking in every direction for any sign of a clock. Thinking back, he hadn't seen one at all. But there was still a lot of house left to explore and he had plenty of time.

At the end of the hallway, there was another hallway that turned towards the north wing of the mansion. As Mario turned the corner, he noticed someone sitting on the floor at the other end of the hallway. They were staring straight ahead, as if in a daze. As he moved closer, he recognized the short, messy brown hair and the thick glasses.

"4, right?" Mario asked.

She looked up at him, surprised by his sudden appearance, but she didn't seem afraid. "Yes," she answered simply, looking away from him.

"Why are you just sitting here?" he asked her.

"I found all of my clues already," she replied distantly.

"Really? Already?" Mario asked in surprise.

She nodded, but for her to have found her clues, assuring her that she'd make it to the next game, why did she same so sad?

Mario wanted to ask her, but he knew he didn't have time to waste. He still had one clue left to find and he at least had an idea of where to look. After all three clues were in his hand, he planned to continue planning his escape.

"Well, congratulations. Sounds like you'll get a head start in the next game," he told her.

She looked up at him with tears in her big, brown eyes, which looked even bigger behind those lenses. "I'm gonna wait and let someone else take the head start. I don't deserve it."

Mario furrowed his brows, not sure what she could mean by that. He wanted to ask questions, but none of those questions would lead him to his final clue or to an escape from this dreadful place. So instead, he turned and hurried back the way he came.

He decided to take his search for a clock up to the second floor. He took a right and moved slowly, keeping his eyes peeled. He hadn't seen or even heard another player, except for 4, since the games started. He wondered where they all were. It was a big house, but out of the remaining six players still in the game, surely he should've run into a couple of them by now. It had been over an hour since the game had started.

Mario paused when he heard shouting coming from one of the bedrooms. At first, he ignored it and kept walking. But then he heard the shrill scream of a girl. He rushed towards the sound and plowed through one of the closed bedroom doors.

There, he saw Brandi, player 2, being pinned up against the wall by Nine, player 7.

"Help me, please!" Brandi called out to Mario.

Mario raised his hands in surrender and shrugged. "I'm sorry, according to the rules, I'm not able to help."

"She attacked me! She came into my room demanding that I help her!" Nine shouted.

"My clue led me to you! You have it, so give it to me!" Brandi shouted back.

"I don't have your clue!" Nine snarled, pushing himself away from her. "I already told you that!"

"You're lying,"Brandi growled.

"He's not," Mario said. "We aren't allowed to hold onto another player's clue. If we do, it catches fire."

"What?!" they both snapped at him.

"Check your clue," Mario told Brandi.

She took her clue, the one that was once in Mario's room, and looked at it closely. Sure enough, the edges were charred as if they were burned away.

"So you had my clue!?" Brandi asked, coming towards Mario with a crazy look in her eyes.

"I did," he shrugged, squaring his body up.

Brandi paused when she realized Mario wasn't phased by her psychotic behavior. She looked from him to Nine and finally scoffed. "Everyone here is a total nightmare. You never want anyone else to win, huh? You just think of yourself!"

She stomped away, continuing on with her ranting. Nine looked to Mario, c*****g a brow.

"What?" Mario asked, giving him a look of disgust.

Nine quickly shook his head and hurried away, leaving Mario standing in the room alone.