"A fun blend of plot and absolute chaos." Quill, not only did you summarize Day 8, but also the entire ski lodge. XD

Day 9 part 1

"Once I commit a crime, I forget about it. I go from crime to crime."

-Henry Lee Lucas

~~~~~

The murderer had kidnapped Liddy and Qwinn the previous night.

This was discovered first thing in the morning. Abcde and Dallas were both panicked, just as the murderer knew they would be. Most of the day consisted of Abcde and Dallas worrying about their beloved CAPTCHAs, Sam worrying about the Mystery and how they should be working on solutions to their problems, the rest of the guests pitching in to help find the missing CAPTCHAs, and Grace encountering the murderer alone and being rewarded with an arrow to the heart, plus her funeral and the less-than-good  mood that put the guests in.

It was a gloomy day. It wasn't remarkable, nor was it- to my dismay- remotely funny. But really, it shouldn't have been, because it was spent in search of two missing guests and in mourning of one fallen one. In fact, I'm quite morbid for combing this situation to find decent jokes. Except that I've been doing so since the very beginning, meaning I could be considered quite a twisted person. And now I'm having an existential crisis in front of all of you like the ridiculous person I am. But then again, this whole thing is completely ridiculous, and you are ridiculous for reading it. So there.

(Ha! I did find a good joke. Look at me. I'm so smart.)

Well, anyways. I'll be skipping on ahead to some unspecified time late in the night, when the most important events of the days took place. The murderer, following though with the next step of their plan, met up with Abcde. They put a paper bag over their head so as not to be identified.

Abcde: Where is Liddy? If I came and met with the slimy, horrid person who captured my beloved CAPTCHA only to not be told where she is, I will-

????: Take a breath, dear. Just keep in mind that I know where Liddy is and you do not. Imagine what might happen to her if you decided not to listen to me…

Abcde was, for a change, silent. 

????: Good. Now, listen very closely. I need your help, Abcde. I need you to set up traps for me.

Abcde: absolutely not.

????: It's the only way to save the CAPTCHAs.

Abcde: …

????: as I thought. Take all of these materials and go to the ski lodges on this list. Set up a trap at each of them.

As the murderer handed Abcde the supplies they had gathered and their list of ski lodges, Abcde started thinking. She had to save Liddy, but she also didn't want to be responsible for the death of any of her fellow guests… she was struck with inspiration as the murderer dumped piles of ropes, wood planks, pulleys and the like into her arms.

A few hours later, Abcde's work was done. The murderer thanked her and informed her that the CAPTCHAs would be released in the morning. Then, the murderer proceeded to meet up with Dallas and do almost the exact same thing, giving him his own stack of supplies and a list of different ski lodges. Dallas, fighting in a similar fashion to Abcde before giving in, did as he was told- though he did not form a plan like Abcde had. When they had witnessed the fight between the two AEs, the murderer saw opposition and guilt, and they decided it would be a wonderful thing to use to their advantage. The murderer knew that amidst all of their other motives, their adoration and loyalty for their CAPTCHAs being the most prominent, the two AEs still desired to prove themselves to the other. The murderer had planted the seed in both of their minds of what a good look it would be if they saved not only their beloved CAPTCHA, but also the CAPTCHA of their rival.

The murderer was also aware that they very well could have done it all themselves, but what would be the fun in that?

Also, Jem Louise Margaret was stabbed. That is all.

~~~~~

Dead: 9. Arya, poisoned. Cherry, stabbed. Olive, concussed and stabbed. Moondrop and Lucinda, poisoned by plant. Orson, stabbed. Azalea, grenade. Nerd, stabbed. Grace, shot with a bow and arrow.

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 9.

Suspects: Sterling

References this day: none 

TOP!

Day 10 part 1

"Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences."

-Norman Cousins

~~~~~

The murderer did as they promised and released the two CAPTCHAs the following morning. (Where had they been? In the same place that the murderer had gone on the night of Day zero…) 

They also left a note on the kitchen table saying that Abcde and Dallas had found them. This confused the AEs, since they both believed that the murderer had only approached them, but their questions were soon forgotten. Their CAPTCHAs were back!

Many of the other guests were rather skeptical of the CAPTCHAs' release, especially how neither of the AEs could give straight answers when asked where the murderer had held the CAPTCHAs captive. 

There was no time for suspicion, though. Sam Crickett needed all of the guests out of the cabin so they could do some more research on the Mystery and how to save it. Remi, Abie, and Zach would be showing the guests some of the ski lodges they had yet to explore. 

The first stop was in the Cryptic Caverns- the beautiful and mysterious caves that Quill had most certainly been in before. They were lead through a tiny cave encrusted with jewels, a long and winding path with the same crystals, and came to a giant understand hall, decked in so many glowing crystals that it looked like a palace.

"Zach, are you crying?" Remi asked in bewilderment.

"It's so beautiful," he sobbed. "Usually tears like this are only inspired by 40s heavy metal…"

"But we've been down here before!" Abie pointed out. "You know what it looks like."

"No, I wasn't here. I was too busy fighting Cerberus in a desert."

"Let's move on to the Rainbow Pools," Remi chided loudly.

The guests were shepherded to a low-ceilinged cave, dimly lit and full of black pools with stalagmites sticking out of them and bridges arching over them.

"I'm not sure Remi knows what a rainbow is," Dallas muttered to Qwinn. Morning shushed him, but the others were similarly disappointed. 

"We know what it looks like," Abie assured the uncertain guests. "But there is a reason why they're called the Rainbow Pools. You'll see…"

And as if on cue, the crystals embedded into all the nooks and crannies of the cave were illuminated. The water lit up in a dazzling spectrum of color. dreamii gasped as she adjusted to the new brightness around her. It was beautiful, and familiar. She'd been here too.

"I think I want to drink it," Faith whispered.

"Don't," Firefly replied.

"Now I want to even more."

"Faith, don't do that," dreamii said. She picked up some pebbles from the cave floor. "Here. Try skipping these across the water."

As Faith begrudgingly accepted the pebbles, Leafy slowly poked her finger at the water to find that, when she withdrew them, her fingers were covered with the colorful liquid.

"Is this stuff poisonous?" she asked loudly.

"I hope not," Honeybee said worriedly, looking at her rainbow-colored hands.

"Not unless you eat it, no," Remi answered pleasantly, watching Quill as they knelt down over one of the bridges for a good look at the pool.

"There you have it, Faith…"

Before Faith could reply to Firefly, the sound of a scream rang through the air.

"MRNIN!" Liddy shouted.

But alas, it was too late for her CBer. She had set off a tripwire that caused rocks to fall on her head and crush her.

"Morning! No! But… but this is impossible…" Abcde rushed to her CBer, but there was no helping her. Burning within Abcde along with her sadness was an anxious confusion.

She hadn't set traps in the Cryptic Caves.

~~~~~ 

@Morning, Aza and Nerd, your official haunting zone is over there. There's a foosball table, a (free) popcorn machine, a bookshelf with limitless books, bean bag chairs, and a TV with limitless movies, shows and video games. The walls are decorated with posters that have ghost puns. All ghosts are welcome to haunt. 😀

TOP! 

Day 10 part 2

Sam's work trying to understand what was happening to the Mystery was interrupted by the sound of the guests arriving back from their trip quite early. Sam could only assume what had happened- and they assumed correctly. They lead a service for Morning in the backyard. Jem Louise Margaret made them a lunch of soup and sandwiches. She was promptly stabbed once all of her work was done.

The day was again wasted with the guests feeling sad and discombobulated and Sam feeling like a shameful procrastinator. Though I suppose there were some highlights- Feli did a bit of storytime with the CAPTCHAs and a group of lemmings, telling them all about the adventures of Ally the Cat (a character she made up on the spot and would continue to make jokes about for the rest of the ski lodge); Spellbound and NightSky found a bloodstained recipe for an oat farl; Starlight got pranked by Dallas, who sneaked up on her while she was reading and was so startled she burst into tears; Bean played a goofy song about croissants on her guitar; and Bakerloo found a cabinet full of old movies. He, joined by Leafy, Honeybee, Tumble, and Sterling, watched many black and white films. 

I suppose I should also mention how Abcde approached Dallas sometime that evening with the note the murderer had left on the kitchen table and the knowledge of how her CBer died. 

Abcde: Morning died by trap. The murderer gave us both credit for saving the CAPTCHAs. Part of being perfect is being smart, Dallas- the murderer made you set up traps too, didn't they?

Dallas: Well, I… okay yeah. They did. And I know what you're going to say-

Abcde: We're both to blame.

Dallas: go ahead and rub it in my face, I kill Mor- I mean, uh, yeah, I'm not the only guilty one by a long shot.

Abcde: If you want to be good at deception- which I don't recommend, but I'm just saying- you should probably get better at lying. Anyways, I wasn't only thinking about what happened today. Yesterday morning I got in that argument with Nerd at breakfast, and then after she died, I went and pinned it on you. I, being a kind, honest, responsible, perfect person, have decided to acknowledge my fault in this. What I'm saying is… I apologize.

Dallas: I. Uh. Yeah. You messed up pretty bad, Abcde, shame on you… but since we've both set up traps for the murderer, and we both have some guilt about the death of each others' CBers, let's just say I accept your apology and we never speak of this to anyone else. Deal?

Abcde: Deal.

The two rival AEs shook hands, and they were considerably nicer to each other from then on.

Sam had a dilemma. They needed to keep the guests occupied for a chance to continue observing the Mystery in the hopes of understanding how it could be saved, but they couldn't very well send all of the guests out to visit other ski lodges when they knew there were traps everywhere. Soon enough they came up with a compromise… one that promised a very interesting Day 11…

~~~~~

Dead: 10. Arya, poisoned. Cherry, stabbed. Olive, concussed and stabbed. Moondrop and Lucinda, poisoned by plant. Orson, stabbed. Azalea, grenade. Nerd, stabbed. Grace, shot with a bow and arrow. Morning, crushed.

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 10.

Suspects: Sterling (anyone else?)

References this day

Cryptic Caves:

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/468623 

Day 11 part 1

"Trust me. As you get to know me, I just get weirder."

-Some wonderful person on the internet (couldn't find a name)

~~~~~

Sam said many things to the guests and staff members that morning at breakfast, but the only words Zach registered were "Tiki Room".

He dimly acknowledged the importance of Sam's words and that they would probably affect him and what his day would consist of. He also knew that the guests were asking questions about the Mystery and what Sam would be doing about it. But none of that mattered. Because as Zach knew, things were always very interesting in the Tiki Room.

Moving past Zach's obliviousness, Sam's words included what would be happening to everybody during day 11. Yes, it included the Tiki Room as we've established, but that wasn't the only thing going on. Sam was going to be working out what to do about the Mystery all day (and hey, funny story, the Mystery is actually underneath the cabin! That's where it sort of lives. Yes, it resides in every aspect of all ski lodges- surrounds us and penetrates us, binds the galaxy together, yadda yadda- but the inside of the hill TON's cabin sat upon was a place where a tangible accumulation of the Mystery's power resided. This was by no means a detail left out because the narrator is a scatterbrain. It's because Sam Crickett is also a scatterbrain, and one under lots of stress. Yeah, Sam. Nice going.) and they needed to make sure the guests were safe and they wouldn't distract them. Hence the setting of the Tiki room.

What is the Tiki room, you ask? Well, it's a place of magic and wonder. It is also very interesting. According to the TON dictionary: ”Interesting. (adj.) when Jem Louise Margaret is found stabbed or is stabbed in a ski lodge”. I have found, however, that death in general and the goings-on in the Tiki room have all been described as "interesting". So I'll be using some Artistic License here. Bear with me, lovelies.

Abie: welcome to the Tiki room!

Spellbound: So, uh… did this door exist at all before right now?

Bakerloo: knowing this cabin, probably not.

Zach: technicalities. This is the realm of artistic license. Logic is thrown out of the window, because nobody needs that stuff.

Faith: I like the sound of this!

dreamii: so what, um, is the Tiki room exactly?

Remi: I was about to say it's best not to ask, but too late now, I suppose. But then again, I don't actually have an answer… so asking was actually completely harmless?

Honeybee: I should really learn to just go with it. Just… everything.

Leafy: Hey, it's not like you'll be coming to another insane ski lodge with lemmings and pies around every corner anytime soon.

Zach: or will she…

The actual Tiki room itself wasn't anything special. It was just filled with random stuff and a gold mine of TON references. So while Sam was underneath the cabin, inside of the hill itself, trying to get a solution for the mission of the ski lodge that was started many long years ago and has cast a shadow over ski lodges as a whole, the guests and staff members were in the Tiki room acting like fools. And if you ask me, that's beautiful.

While Sam stared curiously at the place in which the Mystery resided, Quill look at a book called "Never Imagine Yourself Not to be Otherwise than What it Might Appear to Others that What you Were or Might Have Been was not Otherwise Than What you were or Might Have Been was not Otherwise Than What you Had Been Would Have Appeared to Them to be Otherwise."

Sam was contemplating the terrifying possibility of failure in the mission while Feli and Sterling battled with lightsabers, Sterling winning decisively.

Sam sighed in frustration and mounting anxiety in a heap on the ground, buried in notebooks and failing hopes just as Night opened a strange cabinet which contained the Holy Grail, that math homework somebody lost two weeks ago, an enormous pile of lost socks, Atlantis, soda from space, a box set of the Percy Jackson books, and cupcakes that spelled "EAT ME" in frosting.

And when Sam had an epiphany, Zach did the thing that everyone dreaded most. He sang the Tiki room song.

Ahhh I am really enjoying . . . *waves hand vaguely* all of this! You writing style is so unique.

TOP!

Saffron says "fyivi." our your information . . . vi? 

Thank you for the topping, Feli! I'm sorry for the change in how fast I'm getting these posted, my procrastination skills have been improving rather than my motivation.

TOP! 

Is this still going on? It's alright if your just getting them out slower — I have to say, I am still extremely impressed by how you have been sticking with this.

I just spelled "impressed" like "impressessed" than looked it up because it felt like too many "s"s. *slaps forhead*

Thank you for all the topping, lovelies! This is NOT dead and I will never give up even if it takes me half an eternity to write. I've unfortunately hit a nasty bout of writers's block and I've recently gotten my PhD in procrastination, and let me tell you, it's not a career path I'd recommend. I'm hoping Camp nano in April will help with motivation. I appreciate you all and your enthusiasm very much! 

Day 11, part 2

Just as poor Zach Lamborghini opened his mouth to sing, two very annoying ninjas exploded from unconfirmed spots within the Tiki room and transported Zach into the dimension of Satan for 7.5 seconds, then put him back in the Tiki room. The ninjas vanished and were never seen again. Zach was suddenly not in the mood to sing anymore.

While Zach's fate is interesting, Sam's epiphany is of more importance at the moment. They realized that the Mystery was powerful but couldn't defend itself, but remembered that the guests had been imbued with more of the Mystery's power than a typical ski lodge attendee so they all could know more about the Mystery's workings. Sam realized that it was power to use to their advantage- a power that could be wielded against this evil force. True, Sam wasn't certain about what this force was and how it had hurt the Mystery in the past, but they were feeling confident in their research for the day. Sam joined the weirdness in the Tiki room just in time for a spirited game of Clue, in which the guests found strangely accurate costumes for each of the characters and decided to do a bit of mock roleplaying.

Leafy: THIS IS A CRISIS. I can't choose between Miss Scarlet and Mrs. Peacock.

Honeybee: Can I make it easier for you? I look great in red heels…

Abcde: Excuse me, who does that leave me with? Mrs. White? Please. 

Remi: What in the world is stuck in this cabinet?

Sterling: But Abcde, I thought you were graceful and beautiful enough to pull off anything…

Abcde: I've been robbed once again of my deserved and beloved red! Yes, I'll be perfectly capable of being Mrs. White, but it will require some silent suffering.

Dallas: You call this silent?

Quill: Remi, can I help you with that? You look like you could use some… Claaws, what is that?

Dallas: I like red too, you know, and I haven't said a word. I bet I look better in this green jacket than you would in that white scarf…

Abcde: Don't bet on it, you half-witted jerk! 

Feli: Hold on, Quill, I'm coming to help too…

Leafy: Bakerloo, I must say you make a fantastic Professor Plum.

Bakerloo: Why thank you!

Sterling: I guess I'm Colonel Mustard. I never liked him…

Remi: Wait a minute, you two. I don't want you getting possessed by a demon or something… you might want to step back…

Abcde: There, Dallas, now I'm wearing a white scarf AND white gloves. And unsurprisingly, I look fabulous.

Sam: REMI, GET AWAY FROM THAT CABINET!

But it was too late- the age-old, probably possessed cabinet vomited a few exploding cakes, some flaming Brussels sprouts, a very mysterious and sinister diamond ring, an arrow that had an inscription asking "what do you want?", honey-covered spaghetti, a spoon made into a torch, and a very confused lifeguard named Fred Bob.

Fred Bob: Where in the world am I? I'm supposed to be-

Fred Bob suddenly became dozens of floating pies made of sparkles.

dreamii let out a noise between a whimper and a squeak and decided to leave the Tiki room.

Bakerloo: …I suggest we move our game of Clue into the living room.

Sterling: Seconded. I'll gather all these game pieces.

The guests and staff exited the Tiki room. When the last person left, the door vanished once again. Would it ever reappear? Who knows. Even the narrator doesn't.

Sam planned to tell the guests about their discovery tomorrow. Then they could prepare to save the Mystery. And to be honest with you, that was about it for Day 11. I'm sure you're expecting me to say something like, "except for that inter-dimensional portal that spewed toaster-wielding cowboys" or "but then Bunnicula fell from the sky and gave hugs to all the lemmings and stole dreamii's Poptarts and she was sad". But alas, nothing extraordinary happened, nor did anything extraordinarily weird. The guests were anticipating the next few days without even knowing it.

And as always, Jem Louise Margaret was stabbed. It was, as we now know, very interesting.

~~~~~

Dead: 10. Arya, poisoned. Cherry, stabbed. Olive, concussed and stabbed. Moondrop and Lucinda, poisoned by plant. Orson, stabbed. Azalea, grenade. Nerd, stabbed. Grace, shot with a bow and arrow. Morning, crushed.

Stabbings of Jem Louise Margaret: 12. (I think this count got off somewhere. It's been every day plus day 0.)

Suspects: Sterling 

References this day: 

Camp Chatterbox

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/186824