In the Kitchen
"Weeell..." said Cynthia, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. "I don't suppose you know how to iron clothes? I've already burnt three of my dresses, now that Lisette is gone—"

The sound of a nearby thump made her voice falter.

"What was that?" She said, rising from the table and leaving the room, following the general direction of where the sound seemed to come from with Angie in tow.

Cynthia soon found herself standing in the conservatory, where the body of Mr. QED had been found. Except now, on the other side of the glass-walled room, lay Milady, in her human form, among the hothouse flowers. Her body was reclining on a scattering of straw, with a fistful of it clenched in her hand. A half-stuffed scarecrow was crumpled in a corner, its stitched eyes staring at Cynthia and Angie as they approached.

"Oh my," said Cynthia, putting her hands on her hips. "This is quite creepy."

She knelt down beside Milady and gently uncurled her straw-entangled fingers. As the straw fell away from her palm, the image of a number nine, branded in her skin, was revealed.

"And then there were eight," Cynthia remarked with pursed lips.

This is beyond weird, Angie thought. Milady could be a horse if she wanted, the story went, and now her dead body was surrounded by straw. What on earth was going on here?

She leaned over to look at the number branded into this latest victim's hand. "Definitely a countdown," she said. "I've read my Agatha Christie. * We've either got to solve this or get out of here before it's too late."

Once again she thought of her daughter, grateful they'd made arrangements for her care should the unthinkable ever happen. The Norwoods were a wonderful family and would care for Grace as one of their own.

She shook her head. No. We're going to get out of here, and I'm going to see my little girl again.

But what to do next?

It was only when Cynthia turned back to her that Angie realized she'd said this last aloud.

* And Then There Were None

In the Conservatory
"I'm not sure," Cynthia said, standing up and dusting the straw off her fingers. "I suppose we could move Milady down to the basement with the others, the poor thing... but I've never really been good at manual labor. Let's go see if we can find the others and give them the news; I'm sure that nice Officer Evans will help us with the body. And perhaps they've found another one of those interesting maps."

"That sounds like a great idea," Angie replied. "Let's find Officer Evans and see if he's learned anything. And if people are finding maps maybe we can figure a way out of here before...well, you know."

"Ow," Anna yelped and looked at her hand. The number had vanished and been replaced with the words, "GET OUT".

"I believe I saw them go outside..." Cynthia said, peering out through the glass and noticing a group of green trees a short walk from the mansion. "Hmmmm. I don't remember seeing those yesterday. Perhaps they've gone over there to investigate."

Pushing open the french doors leading out the conservatory, the two women stepped into the sunlight and set off in the direction of the trees. Sure enough, the images of Officer Evans, that shadowy man person thing, and the late Mr. Lawrence's female acquaintance came into view as they approached.

"Yoohoo! Hello there!" Cynthia called, waving her handkerchief. "What have you found?"

"Well that's one I haven't come across before." Neal said after Delia explained Anna's condition. The familiar whine of a not-so-great guest reached the company shortly after.

"Curses... I had hoped I'd scared her off." Decker muttered as he knelt beside Anna and appeared to be inspecting the young woman's hand.

----

As soon as she heard Cynthia's voice, Selena abruptly turned and headed off towards the waterfall. The last thing she wanted was to be subjected yet again to that insufferable woman.

Meandering her way to an outcropping of rock, miss Browning scanned their surroundings. As with everything in this place, it was strange that this area would suddenly appear in the middle of a dead world. Selena shrugged and turned to head back to the Mansion.

As she turned she began to feel slightly lightheaded. Probably since I haven't eaten anything since last night... Selena continued on her way until she reached the small well in front of the Mansion. "I need a drink..." she thought before the world went hazy.

"I'm on my way, Mal...."

"Weird, going off on her own. Probably not smart," Delia shrugged. "You all going to go after the little dude, or split out in groups again?"

"No more splitting up. We go after the little guy and we get some answers. Even if we have to beat them out of him," Anna said. "Starting with who is sending us messages via my hand."

Angie was surprised and frightened to see Decker leaning over what appeared to be yet another victim, and how was there suddenly a waterfall in what she'd heard others describe as a dead, dry world? She stepped toward him, curious about all this and eager to get answers.

But she'd taken only a few steps from Cynthia when her breath seemed to catch in her lungs. Suddenly she gasped, unable to breathe. Just like an asthma attack, she thought, though no one in her family had asthma. Another weird coincidence?

In seconds she realized this wasn't getting better. She began to feel faint as she continued to wheeze. She collapsed to the ground, her final thoughts being gratitude that her sweet daughter would be cared for by another loving family, and that she would soon see her beloved husband once more.

Anyone checking Angie's body after this would not see a number on her arm, but rather several seemingly random or even meaningless characters:

^ ~ >

Anna waited for a beat to see if anyone would follow her, then spun on her heel and stalked to the waterfall's edge.

"I can see a way down. I'm going. Come with me or wander around until you all die. I don't really care."

Climbing down in the long, fancy dress her sister had picked out wasn't exactly the easiest thing Anna had ever done in her life, but she made it. She looked around for the weird little guy, but didn't spot him.

"Hey, come out! I need to talk to you!" she shouted.

"Well, you're grumpy," Gus tittered from above. He had settled in on a tree branch, his short little legs swinging back and forth, a mud ball in his hands. "What's making the Big People so grumpy?"

Upon hearing Angie start wheezing, Cynthia began riffling through her purse, looking for her allergy pills. Perhaps some of that orange cat man's fur was still floating around. A soft fwump made her look up, and she grimly closed her purse. It was too late; the poor thing had kicked the bucket as well.

"Angie's dead!" Cynthia called to the others, shaking her head. "Dropping off like flies, it seems."

She bent down and opened Angie's hand, expecting to find a number burnt into her skin, but instead found a short series of strange symbols.

"Hmmm. Whoever killed her left the message of a kitty cat emote with a lazy eye, I think. What do you suppose that means?"

"It means more people are dying, and if no one seems interested in surviving, I'm going to conjure a bag of popcorn, find a nice seat, and watch your deaths for entertainment," Delia grumbled, walking to the edge of the waterfall. She studied it for a moment, then quickly climbed down, landing near Anna.

"What's up?"

When Mrs. Baxter hit the ground Decker already knew she would be dead. So probably Selena was dead as well... Oh well, now she could be beside Malcom again in the afterlife or reality or whatever.

Neal stood and walked over to the waterfalls edge where Anna and Delia had disappeared to. Looking down and noticing the pair eyeing a strange little figure win a tree, the Darkling glanced back at Madame Vegan still eyeing the recently deceased before jumping off the ledge.

A moment later Decker was standing near the local ghost wrangler. "Dead things. Namely other Big People dying... a lot." He answered the man-thing in the tree.