#;event 1

All the guests had arrived, and they were starting to get restless. Walker had left the majority of the guests in the living room, where they were tended to by servants with drinks and appetizers. Only a few people appeared to be missing. Six people, to be exact.

Soft murmurs of small talk filled the living room air, most of it consisting of impatient questions of when the event was going to begin and where Walker went. (Most of it was out of mere curiosity and a desire to move on with the night; few people actually cared about where he went.)

All went dark.

Shrieks of surprise and horror popped up, though after a moment of mild chaos, they calmed. The lights had gone completely out, plunging the partygoers and staff into darkness. The rapid flicking of a switch could be heard from the main doors, the futile effort of someone trying to get the lights back on.

“A-ah–f-forgive me, everyone, w-we’ll solve this problem immediately…” It was a servant’s voice; the poor girl was terrified.

Alfendi, at the back corner of the room, hummed to himself, swirling around the shrimp cocktail glass in his hand. A blackout? The weather was chilly, yes, but clear. What could have possibly–

A scream knocked any other thoughts out of his head.

Walker’s.

Alfendi deliberately dropped his glass, and a chorus of more drinks shattering followed (either in shock of the scream or of Alfendi throwing his glass on the ground). The inspector ran, threw the living room doors open, and rushed towards the source of the scream, the library.

“Walker!” Alfendi pulled the doors open, and his blood froze solid. He felt the rest of the living room crowd gather behind him, and others gasped or screamed at the sight.

The lights flickered back on.

Bong. Bong. Bong. The bells of midnight began to chime. Bong. Bong. Bong.

“What’s going on?!” The six people that had been missing from the living room finally joined the rest of the crowd next to the stairwell: Urso Blacklea, Leaf Telee, Vivi Yukino, Kyle Hyde, Hershel Reinel, and Hayley King. They tried to push past the crowd to see, but were kept back.

At the foot of the large library table was a body, dressed in a sharp tuxedo and lying on its stomach. Pallid skin, average height, stocky build. It was very clearly the body of Allen Walker.

There was one problem.

Its head was missing.

“Urgh…”

A hand went to Alfendi’s face, and he stumbled into the room. He heard someone call for him, but it was too late. A growl grew in his throat, and he suddenly whipped around to face the frantic crowd.

“If you idiots don’t shut your mouths, Walker won’t be the only one with a head missing!”

Red hair grew messier and hung in his face, blocking his eyes from view. The moonlight almost seemed to make it bright red rather than its previous muted tone. Once the crowd silenced at his sudden shouting, his lips parted in a grin so wide that naturally sharp canines glimmered.

“Oh, isn’t this just rich.” Something in his voice changed, inflections shifted, and his tone took up something a bit more… sinister. “Someone invites a cast of colorful characters to his mansion, the lights go out, and we find him dead. Isn’t this just funny? Someone has a taste for board games. Cute.”

Someone from the back spoke up with a quavering voice–”I-I tried to call the police, b-but the phone lines… th-they were completely cut!”

The low-energy, rather soft-spoken Alfendi was gone, replaced by an Alfendi that strode into the library and stood over the body before spinning back around to face the rest of the guests, lab coat swishing and arms held out. One could see his eyes now–instead of a green tinge, they appeared to be bright yellow. His grin could only be described as wicked.

“Well? What are you waiting for?! We have a murder on our hands. A murder requires an investigation. And since there won’t be police coming and perhaps only two and a half of you are even qualified to be near a crime scene, I will be leading it. The murderer is most definitely still in here with us. Why bother to cut the phone lines if they were just going to leave?