Chapter 2 - Mistake

Arrival at Coulthard Manor. Brian De'Mara [1]

“Wow. They really know how to welcome guests. I will give them that.” I commented as Elle and we took our seats.

“Man, Leon. Do you think those statues are made of real gold? And look at the chandeliers! Its larger than my living room twice over..” Elle awed as we unstrapped our backpacks and laid it in front of us.

The cushioned sofas were generously sized and felt God sent after the 5 hour bus ride which was a blink of an eye when compared to the 20 hour flight from O’Hare to Malaysia.

The bus itself was an ordinary liner and a rather shabby one at that. Our expectation dimmed tremendously from the unimpressive attitude of the driver (heavily impaired ability to upkeep personal hygiene). Plus, the constantly creaking sounds the bus made as it travelled didn't exactly make us feel any better.

We could tell our fellow passengers weren't impressed either. I counted five of them in total. They didn't seem all too out of the ordinary. Well, except this one guy who wore an extravagant coat with a multicolored tie. I couldn't tell much about him with his shades on but his strong jawline prompted me of Aryan descent. His hair was dyed blonde with a jarring pink highlight. I mean, the heat and humidity could be compared to the bottom layers of a Amazonian rainforest; there was no way he was wearing it because he was cold. I proceeded to nickname him ‘Tryhard’.

And then there was a girl who looked like the combined debt of the world was owed to her. She was slightly tanned and had distinctively Asian features, despite the amount of make up that stylistically was designed for Europeans. She kept that air about her. In her movement, stance and stare. Not being entirely judgmental but she kind of confirmed it when Elle bumped into her while we were entering the bus. She gave a squeal (excuse me!!) and followed it through with a World Record worthy stare of entitlement as she forced herself up to the bus ahead of us. We anonymously anointed her as ‘The B***h’.

Yes, yes, it wasn't entirely mature of us, but neither Elle or I was in a remotely good mood. Plus, it was not all negative judgements all round. There was a cute girl sitting at the very corner of the bus. She was small, fair and like The B***h, she was definitely Asian. We called her ‘The Small Cute Asian One’ just to prove that we are creative people.

As for the other two, we decided to save our cynicism. Besides, they look in almost every sense normal. Both of them wore plain tees with jeans. The only differentiating factor were their apparent age; one was clearly older with greying features while the other was clearly in his early teens. We didn't interact much.

The rest of the bus ride was rough and our travel weary bodies craved stationary solace. But as soon as we arrived at our destination; it quickly turned around.

What awaited us was a mansion. No it was more. Perhaps a palace. Well, it didn't occurred to me then, but such a stand out monument could not have remained unnoticed even on a global scale. I was pretty sure the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was in well, Babylon. But what stood before us was close to my visual expectations of it.

The what appears to be the main gate was slightly ajar as we alighted from the bus (Finally!) and standing in between the intricately designed twenty feet tall gates was a poshly attired gentleman.

He was the one who welcomed us and ushered us to this very hall. He called himself Martin; Head Carekeeper of this domain. He was stoic and didn't seem to enjoy idle conversations. We know this. We tried.

So here we are. Immersing ourselves in this sanctuary. Things wasn't going to be so bad after all. But it didn't last too long. It seemed like just mere minutes before Martin broke our rest.

He handed us both what seems to be toiletries and again, without saying too much ushered us off the sofas and into what seems to be a bathhouse. Naturally, Elle and I were separated.

After bidding her good luck in dealing with our friendly neighbourhood princess, I entered the male changing room with ‘Tryhard’ and the TeeBros. Yes, I had a name for the other two as well.

It would appear our host was extremely particular about personal hygiene and struck me as a little bit of a control freak, going as far as to provide each of us with similarly scented soap with matching towels. Heck, even the bath space was perfectly symmetrical.

As we entered the changing room, Sweet lilac scent permeated the room as we changed into our bathrobes. I never did like scented items but this one was surprisingly pleasant.

It was awkward to be bathing with strangers but a bath is top on my priority list just then. My pride was easily bought as I quickly jumped right into an empty shower slot and cranked the handle.

“Warghhh!” I screamed almost instantaneously. It was so cold!

I heard similar shocks from the others but it faded away into mere drips of water as my body acclimated to the cold torrent. It may look nice and furnished but their facilities may be a little lacking being this far off from the city.

“Hey, BrianD here. Nice to meet you.” A voice reached out to me. I had just dried myself as I turned to face my guest. It was the younger of the TeeBros. He had already changed and was wearing a friendly smirk as he pointed his index finger towards my lower abdomen.

“Got something right there mate.” He pointed out as his gaze lowered.

“Uhm, excuse me?” I replied. This was getting weird. Fast.

The boy sighed and continued on, “Not that! You might want to completely rinse off any soap you put on, it will dry your skin up and good moisturiser is extremely hard to find these days.”

He just added himself to the ongoing long list of people-to-avoid.

He sighed again and lacking a response from me, he shrugged and walked past me towards the exit. He bumped me slightly due to the narrow changing room entrance despite me straining to avoid contact.

Well, this trip was most definitely going to be filled with weirdos. I mean, not being too hard to myself but I shudder to think of being in the same room with people of similar personalities as my own. Personalities that would take the time and effort to complete Jury and finish near the top.

As I contemplated if Elle was done, I stepped on an object that jarringly stood out that in a shower. It was a piece of paper. It rustled as it crumpled under my feet, pegging my curiosity, begging to be read.

I obliged. I bent slightly and creased the paper lightly. On it was written in random font:

“Meet me outside the mansion immediately! It's urgent! �"Elle- “

My brain froze for a good ten seconds. It sounded really urgent. She could have waited at the lounge for just an extra minute or two. What could be so pressing that she had to leave first? Also, how did she drop the note? And if she did drop the note and it was urgent, then why wait until we were outside where she could have taken some embarrassment and just talked to me in here? To top it off, why did she encode her handwriting in random font?

Just a tiny piece of paper raised so many questions. I scratched my head and bit my lip; the exact pose I adopt while I'm heavily in thought.

Well, there's only a few ways to find out and I'm sticking with the one that required less thought; find Elle. I quickly fitted my old shirt and dove into my jeans, adrenaline pumping.

I exited the bathhouse intending to zip past the lounge and back into the giant hallway which Martin led us through barely an hour ago. My geographic memory has always served me well in the past and the path to the entrance constructed automatically in my head.

However, the thought was rudely interrupted as I felt a collision from the front. I lost my balance and landed square on my butt cheeks. It would seem that I in my haste I have accidentally knocked onto another invitee. The person fell too and was rubbing her head. She looked really familiar.

“Elle?” I asked bluntly.

“Leon?” She replied. It was her!

“Why did you write me this freaky note?” I snapped.

“That's my line dummy. Ow, you should stop overeating. The impact was ridiculous!” She retorted, slowing down as she continued to rub her head. “Hey you have one too!” She exclaimed as she spotted the crumpled paper in my hands. In my haste, I didn't throw it away.

“Then, you didn't write it?”

“No! Did yours ask you to meet outside this mansion?”

“Yeah. And I'm guessing yours have my name stamped.” I didn't need a verbal answer, I could see it in her eyes. So then, someone must really wanted us both to be at that particular spot at that time. But why? Also, whoever did this must have known of an established relationship between me and Elle. It cannot be such that whoever wrote it did so randomly hoping we would agree to meet another stranger like that.

“What is the meaning of this?!” A voice thundered across the lounge. I was too engrossed with finding Elle I didn't realize the number of people around me. It was quite the crowd, with numerous unfamiliar faces. The voice belonged to an equally intimidating man, at least 7 feet tall with a well built physique.

“WHO DID THIS?” He hollered across the lounge raising a familiar looking note. It looked exactly like the ones Elle and I received not too long ago. “Who dares threaten the Great Dane with petty death?”

“Stay calm you brute.” A collected and authoritative voice retorted. “It's clearly the first puzzle. We earned this by being the best at a puzzle game, it's expected that more lie in wait” the man continued as the ‘great Dane’ snarled menacingly. The calm man paid him no heed; he was staring at a corridor spanning away from the lounge.

Funny, it isn't the same one we came through with. It was facing at a different angle. The old entrance old Martin brought us through with was no longer there. In its place was the same grey brick wall that spanned the entire lounge.

Elle glanced at me and I understood that she noticed it as well. We didn't have time as the other top players broke off to bouts of arguments. Only Mr. Calm wore an emotionless thoughtful face.

I studied my surroundings in detail. The lounge couldn't have been swapped out. The old entrances was sealed and another was open. The once ventilated room was now stuffy. Air conditioning must have been turned off. Lighting was still on, so whatever it is, the choice of shutting the air conditioning was likely intentional. Also, it told me that the new opening was deeper within the mansion rather than vice versa. Doesn't look like much of a choice, I did not notice it earlier but this luxurious room did not have any windows. It would seem that our playful host was directing us towards the opening.

I was dead wrong.

At the end of the opening which steeped downwards wasn't any form of exit. It was a fire. And the corridor acted as a heat funnel! Enclosed space and continuous application of heat. Brick walls. Were we being baked alive?

It happened so fast after that. Before I could align my thoughts with Elle or even with anyone else, I felt a strange dizziness. I could see some of the others stumbling a little. Some including Elle were already flat on the ground.

Gas? No it can't- my thought trailed as I hit the floor, serenely unconscious.