Hide Seek Kill - A Thriller Novel || Draft One

Twenty-Six: Chase

After dividing from the others, Chase knew that he had to separate himself from Vivica; she wanted to hang out with Naomi. So he let her go, and set out to find himself the next clue.

His past is what the Host has chosen to bring up. But Chase can't fathom why his mother is important.

Sure, he's slept with dozens of women, each faded from memory. This is most likely why he's ended up in this mansion.

Could the clue have been hinting at the identity of the Host?

A cold thought comes to his mind: is it his mother or father?

So many things are wrong with this theory. He doesn't even know whether his mom is alive, so what would that mean for him if she is and has come back to teach him a lesson along with nineteen others?

But it doesn't check out. What about Sam's family crest! Doesn't that hold some significance? Or is this all, this whole Game, a trick to bring up everyone's darkest secrets and worst fears?

That last thought rings through Chase's mind like the siren of the ambulance that brought his mother to the hospital when she overdosed.

"I miss you," he whispers into the dusty air. "But if it's you who's doing this, you deserve to have died."

He wanders the halls aimlessly, tracing the patterns and thinking of the staircase that he and Vivica ran into earlier. Was that where she went with Naomi?

It's possible. And if there's something good down there, then Chase wants to be the first to find it.

"I don't know who's messing with all of us," he says to the ceiling. "But mark my words, whoever you are, I won't let you get away with this."

He turns around and retraces his steps back to the door leading to the drawing room and can't resist taking a peek at what's going on inside.

The sight surprised him. Zach Elsher is on the ground with Eliza hovering over him, holding bloody clothes to his chest.

Was Zach stabbed or shot? Who did it?

Chase continues to scan the room and sees a limp body lying on the ground next to Zach.

A corpse.

He's too far away to tell who it is and quickly walks away.

I will not be the one to place for their death. Not again.

It takes him a while to find the right spot, but eventually Chase is able to get to the staircase. Has it always been here, or is there a hidden wall that kept it a secret?

Chase cautiously takes a look around him, making sure no one is watching him, before descending the steps. On the third step, he realizes that he needs some light and goes back to grab a candle.

Why do candles have to be a recurring theme with all these explorations?

He bravely takes a step forward, then another, and another into the ink darkness below the mansion.

An overwhelming odor of mold and decay immediately hits his nostrils as soon as he takes a step into the rather large room.

"Wow—" He coughs on the cloud of dust that looms overhead.

Great, now everyone probably knows where I'm at.

Chase swings the candle back and forth, trying to get a good look at the room. With so little light it's hard to tell what those lumps are. This is no doubt a cellar; a storage room of sorts perhaps.