Murder At The Hotel (DISCONTINUED)

infinite cloud

Lightbulb just stood, her eyes wide in shock. How..? How did Fan know this would happen..? The vents? He fell out the vents, so perhaps he spied on OJ through them...

"Hey, are you okay?" OJ said softly. So softly, Lightbulb didn't want to believe it. He couldn't... he couldn't have.

"Um... yes," Lightbulb croaked out, forcing a shaky smile onto her face. "I'm all good." It has to be a coincidence. Just tell him that Fan is under the bed, just get it over with—

"Do you mind coming down with me? I have something I'd like for you to look at," OJ asked, gesturing downstairs. It took all Lightbulb had not to slam the door right in his face. Fear seized Lightbulb's chest. It felt as though it was painfully twisting her insides.

The murderer wasn't Fan. The murderer was standing right in front of her. But... maybe it could be a coincidence. Fan said the kitchens, right? OJ hasn't specified that it was specifically the kitchens...

"Where is it?" Lightbulb inquired, her voice wobbling. She cringed at that. She had rather hoped that her voice would stay strong and stable. Guess it was too much to ask for! OJ looked a little taken aback by the question, but quickly complied.

"The kitchens." OJ replied.

"Oh.. um," Lightbulb muttered. She attempted to swallow the lump of fear in her throat, but no matter how many times she tried, it just wouldn't go away. That's fine. She's fine. OJ just stared at her, awaiting her reply. "I... maybe later? Sorry."

A flash of aggravation showed on OJ's face before being cleaned up by his usual placid expression. "Sure," he smiled. Just as Lightbulb reached to close the door, OJ stopped her. "If you ever need someone to talk to..." he said slowly. "You can come and see me."

"Okay." Lightbulb murmured back. The moment OJ moved away, she shut the door. She pressed her ear against the door, making sure that OJ was really leaving. As she heard the comforting sound of his continuously distant footsteps, she slid down onto the floor, shivers crawling up her spine.

"Ow!" hissed Fan, accompanied by a banging noise as he crawled out from under the bed. He swept off any lingering dust on his body. Lightbulb looked up at him. Now that she wasn't being fuelled by pure rage or fear, Lightbulb could see how tired and raggedy (and yes, admittedly pathetic) Fan looked. How could she have believed, even for a second, that he was the murderer?

You believed one of your bestest friends was the murderer without question! her own thoughts jeered at her.

It wasn't your fault; the evidence was irrefutable... cried another wave of thoughts.

Sighing, she shoved both sides into the darker depths of her mind. Those kinds of thoughts were something to unpack later in her own time when there wasn't a crazy psycho murderer on the loose. "What now?" Lightbulb asked, standing up. Fan looked like a deer in the headlights. It was quite clear to Lightbulb that Fan didn't think that far ahead or even have a definite plan on what to do next.

"I'm not sure," Fan said, confirming Lightbulb's thoughts. "I think we should focus on keeping OJ and Taco at bay." Lightbulb frowned. Keeping them at bay? That was only a temporary fix, and she doubted it had an element where she could beat their asses. "They could plan an alternative murder right now, since you turned down OJ."

Lightbulb's mouth made an 'O' shape. She hadn't thought of that... "Right. Are we going to use your vent tactic to find out the next plan?"

"About that..." Fan chuckled sheepishly. That's not a good sign. "They know I was crawling around in the vents."

Lightbulb sighed exasperatedly. "'course they do."

"Sorry," Fan looked at Lightbulb apologetically. It didn't even sound the slightest bit insincere. A wave of shame hit Lightbulb like a train; how dare she be mad at him, even for a second. He should be the one mad at her. She's such an awful friend. "I thought I'd told you I met Taco in the vents—I guess it slipped my mind." And, as an afterthought, "I'm pretty sure it's only a suspicion."

"It's fine," Lightbulb frowned. "You didn't mean to." She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was so crazy-mad-off-her-head she wasn't properly listening to him when he was explaining his story. She'd only heard a select few segments of the story. An awful friend and an even more awful listener. "Let's stop having a pity party and find a solution." Fan nodded, an unfaltering expression of grim determination plastered onto his face.

***

Lightbulb wasn't sure this was the best idea, but it was the best they had. They decided Fan ought to snoop around again in the vents, see if he can bump into Taco again and wheedle some information out of her. Lightbulb was going to scout around the hotel. "There are so many ways this could go wrong. They could kill y—"

"It'll be fine," Fan cut her off, smiling at her reassuringly, reaching out to pat her shoulder. "They'll both only suspect I heard them. Told you myself."

Frowning, she swallowed back her fears and gave Fan a leg up into the vent. He looked back down at her. "I'll see you soon," Fan said, but Lightbulb couldn't help but hear the small waver in his voice, that screamed he was slightly unconvinced—or scared—he wouldn't be able to fulfil his words. 

"Yeah. Soon." Lightbulb confirmed, waving Fan goodbye as he disappeared into the vent. He could he him clitter and clatter away, the noises getting softer as he went further away. Lightbulb walked backwards until she fell onto the bed and cupped her head in her heads for a few moments. You won't achieve anything like this.

Knock knock! 

Lightbulb got up with a start, looking at the door like it had teeth. 

"Lightbulb!" called out a familiar voice. Her shoulders sagged with relief, and she quickly went to answer the door. "I know you're in there!—" Paintbrush was caught mid-knock by Lightbulb. Their expression of worry morphed into one of concern. "Hey Lightbulb."

"Hey," she replied, a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in her voice. Paintbrush seemed to notice and their frowned deepened. She internally cringed, wishing she could be a bit more of a convincing actor. "What're you doing?"

"Just wanted to how you were doing, after all this stuff..." Paintbrush said, and it was clear what they were trying to imply.

"I'm... okay." Lightbulb replied wearily. Paintbrush looked doubtful at her statement, but didn't push further. Lightbulb was anxious to get back on track; she really needed to get out and patrol, but Paintbrush was in the way. She's sure they'd react with great joy if she pushed past them and started patrolling around like a solider. "I was gonna go out for an, um, walk."

"Can I come with you?" Paintbrush asked innocently. 

"Okay." Lightbulb replied, secretly wishing they would go away. Surely she couldn't investigate properly with Paintbrush breathing down her neck the whole time but there was no way to brush them off without arousing suspicion...

...Oh well...

We'll just have to see how this goes.