9 People, 1 Killer

The metal door slammed down as Odebode walked into the Brasshead. If we were a second later, he would have been bisected.

'Attention. Security system breached. All entryways locked down.'

The robotic female voice emotionlessly let the announcement out over the whole bank. Cyrus was nowhere to be seen, so Odebode walked up the stairs, not seeing anybody nearby.

"Shit, we're locked in here?" Amber asked.

"So wait, what do we do now?" Ulrich whispered.

"We…wait for somebody to die, maybe?" Aurora questioned.

"Woah now, security breach?"

The shrill voice rang out from their watches, and Amber let out a defeated groan before the sentence even finished.

"Yes, Leonie. The place is locked down." Ulrich muttered. "How do we undo it?"

"Well, the best way is to kill somebody. Besides you three, there are six other people here, so the murder possibilities are practically infinite!."

"We figured." Amber sighed. "What's the other option?"

"I'm not telling."

"But it exists?" Aurora asked, stroking her chin.

Leonie opened her mouth, then just shut off her end of the watch.

"Yeah, screw this. I'm looking for the exit." Amber muttered.

"So…could you tell me when you find it?" Aurora asked, taking a few steps back. "I need to find Lloyd." And before Amber could say anything, she turned around and broke into a sprint, leaving Amber to make a quiet incoherent noise before turning to Ulrich.

"You not chasing her?"

"I can barely catch up to her when she's in heels, and she's wearing espadrilles. Look, she can definitely outrun anyone trying to kill her, so she's fine. Anyway, any clue on where the exit be?"

"I'm guessing it's hidden?" Ulrich replied, looking at the floor.

"Congratulations." Amber sighed. "But which room?"

The two of them made their way through the calming grey hallways, with none of the ATMs containing anything within them. But while they were walking, they noticed a metal door. A door that looked bigger than usual, and with more effort put into it. More reinforced.

"What's the deal with this?" Amber whispered to herself.

"Some kind of vault, I'd guess?" Ulrich mumbled.

"Maybe." Amber replied, nodding slowly, before the banging noise was heard from inside the door, causing Ulrich to jump back while Amber remained perfectly still.

"Shit, you okay in there?" Ulrich asked.

"Wait, let's not assume it's a person." Amber said quietly, raising a finger in the air. "We break this door, and a horde of stored smilers could be on our asses. Hey!" She yelled out. "Say something to us!"

"Wait, would the walls not be soundproof?" Ulrich asked, still jittery.

"Shit, didn't think of that." Amber muttered.

"Wait, is that door locked?" A panicked voice yelled out.

Ulrich turned around to see Seeta, who immediately jumped over the door and started pounding on it relentlessly.

"Wait, is Silvia in there?" Ulrich yelled.

"Yes, dumbass! Help me get her out!"

Ulrich loaded both his fists with flames and sprang both of them into the door. It didn't even make a dent, and Ulrich's chest was freezing.

"Hey, purple lady!" Seeta yelled out. "You able to do something?"

"Probably." Amber responded perfectly calmly.

"Well then, get to it!"

Seeta calmly reached into her pocket, revealing a small pistol underneath. She whipped it out, pointing it directly at Amber's head.

"Is that a gun?!" Ulrich yelled.

"Relax, miss. I got this." Amber sighed, as if the concept of guns barely registered in her mind. For all Ulrich knew, it didn't. Amber collected Ulrich's shadows without asking, knocking him to the floor. The shadows seeped underneath the door, and Seeta slammed the gun against the wall.

"Try anything and you're dead, lady!"

"I'm working on it."

The sound of squeaking metal rang through the hallways, and Seeta readied her weapon.

"Can you please calm down?" Amber shouted, getting agitated. "The noise means it's working."

Some more squeaking was heard, and the door fell backwards, before Amber caught it with her shadows, taking a step to the side, and letting it fall where she stood. Silvia slowly walked out, seeing Seeta and hugging her as soon as she walked out.

"What happened?" Seeta asked.

"I fell on top on the control panel, and then the door shut." Silvia replied.

"Wait, this whole lockdown was you?" Amber asked.

"Shit, the whole place is locked down?" Silvia yelled out.

"Yep." Ulrich sighed. "And I don't think anyone is getting out until someone is killed."

"So, there are nine people here, right? Any ideas on who's here?" Seeta asked.

"Well, there's us, Aurora, Lloyd, Gemma, and Andrei. So that makes one more person." Amber responded.

"Wait, Lloyd's here?" Silvia piped up. "So let's just kill him!"

"Woah, we're gonna kill someone?" Ulrich questioned. "That's way too risky!"

"Listen pal, it's the opposite." Silvia replied with a level of confidence nobody had shown before. "Nobody here has any means of scanning fingerprints, and we could just give each other alibis. Worst case scenario, they figure it's one of four people and it's a crapshoot. And even if that happens, we have four votes we can pour into the guiltiest looking fucker who isn't here and get them killed instead!"

"That…actually sounds like something that could work." Amber replied after a brief pause. "Good job, I guess."

"So, who's gonna fire the shot?" Seeta asked. "I know I was just threatening you with this, but I have no idea how to use this."

"I've had enough of those pointed at the face to not wanna see another one of those again. I'm out." Silvia replied.

"Ulrich?" Amber asked.

"Why am I being trusted with all this?" Ulrich groaned. "Besides, I have like, zero knowledge on pistols."

"Just pistols?" Amber asked.

"I've used a shotgun before, but that's a whole other ordeal."

"Guess it's me then." Amber said coldly. "We'll be in contact if anything comes up."

"We're splitting up?" Seeta asked.

"We're plotting a murder, lady." Silvia replied rudely. "Not splitting up is just braindead at this point."

"Okay, so what if we try to kill Lloyd? Do we just attack him, or?" Seeta asked, her voice shaking.

"Well, if this place has guns, I'm assuming it has rope. So, I make some vines and strangle him, and you can hold him down. Simple!"

"…Right." Seeta nodded. "So, we begin searching now, right?"

"Hell yeah we do!" Silvia chuckled, bumping her fists together. "So, Ulrich. You two take the right side, we'll do the left!" And with that said, they left, Seeta tripping as she did.

"Right side, huh? We better get moving then." Amber said calmly.

The two of them continued through the soulless hallways, Amber stopping Ulrich from kicking any more ATMs.

"Let's not make any more noise, we have enough weapons to deal with him."

"Deal with who, exactly?"

The mans voice called out from the other end of the hallway. The baseball cap and green shirt made it clear it was Cyrus, who walked up slowly to Amber. Before any words could be said, he brought a long string of bone to Amber's neck. Amber took a step back but noticed the wall of bones trailing from the knuckles on his other hand. Ulrich charged up a fireball, throwing it into Cyrus face, only for him to dodge, the sound of cutting flesh and Amber's scream coming next.

"Amber, are you okay?" Ulrich asked.

"Don't feel sorry for her!" Cyrus yelled. "She's planning on killing you! You and everyone else here!" He shot more bones, making a small circle of spiked bone where the branches stopped just shy of Amber's neck.

"Ulrich…quick." Amber used her shadows to pass Ulrich the pistol, which Ulrich aimed at Cyrus face.

"Hey, Cyrus! You better cool it, or else I'll shoot!" Ulrich yelled. His vision was getting hazy, the concept that he would have to take a life just now registering in his head. He felt his throat become drier, his legs getting stiffer.

"Try me, sir." Cyrus replied grimly.

Ulrich let the shot out, and it merely bounced off Cyrus head, the sound of the bullet hitting the floor ringing through the air.

Cyrus took a step forward, and then made a mad dash towards Amber, with Ulrich landing a punch to his face just before he did so, causing him to briefly step back. Amber created a wall of shadows to trap him in the ground, clutching the left side of her face as she did so. The trees of bone all cut the shadows open, allowing him to escape, standing up with a look of murder strung all over his face. Before he could do anything else, Ulrich leapt in front of him, syringe in hand, and plunged it into his shoulder. Ulrich took a few steps back, and Cyrus took a few steps forward, before falling to the ground.

"Amber! You oka-Jesus fuck!"

The entire left side of Ambers face had a gigantic slash mark running through it, her eye leaking blood.

"Ignore my eye, what the fuck did you do?" She screamed, looking at Cyrus unconscious body. "Where did you inject that stuff?"

"His shoulder? I don't know, I panicked!" Ulrich yelled back, the realization of what he did slipping into his mind.

"His goddamn…oh shit, shit! Look, I'm gonna go look for someone, stay here until I get back!"

Amber didn't even let Ulrich say anything before she bolted around the corner, leaving Ulrich with Cyrus body. Next to him was a door, which when opened was another meeting room like the one he met with Gemma in. He carried Cyrus body into it, feeling his slow heartbeat on his back, which gave him a faint sense of relief. Once he got into the room, he moved Cyrus body underneath the table, sitting down in a random black chair.

"So, Cyrus…you doing okay?" Ulrich asked. No response.

Amber, please don't screw this up.