Killer Contest (a trolls au)

Eighth Chapter

It was a busy night. The police searched the hotel for culprits. Everyone had to give a statement. They couldn't give the full story because they'd all received texts from an anonymous number telling them not to.
Apparently Tres Corazon had been interrupted by the security guard. (Who was now missing) and had been chased out of the security room into the lobby.
Chef and her entourage were in hiding. And a lot of contestants were missing. Despite the coaxing of the authorities, no one would say what happened.

🎶🎶🎶

Way up in Chef Ludmilla's penthouse suite, Biggie, DJ Suki, Delta Dawn, Clampers, Ari, Dickory, and Riff were all locked in the bedroom. The cult members had caught them all and thrown them in there. Once they regained consciousness, they tried to get peoples' attention. Mostly by banging in the window.
"It's no use." Ari said in frustration. "This plexi glass is designed to stand up to hurricanes. It's both sound proof and shatterproof."
"I'll give you a her-o-cane!" Dickory picked up the nightstand by the bed and knocked it against the window with all his might.

Outside, on the sidewalk. The masked woman glanced up on a whim, and saw a thing whacking the glass.

Eventually, Dickory dropped the nightstand and slumped over in defeat. "Okay... her-o-canes over."
Delta patted his shoulder with one hand, the other hand holding Clampers. "Good try anyway."

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Branch paced back and forth in the hotel room. It was morning now.
"If we talk to the police, they'll kill our friends. If we try to leave they'll kill our friends. If we try to save our friends, they'll kill us!"
"Sounds like a problem." The bands' manager CG leaned back in his chair. "Too bad you didn't come to me earlier. I could have..."
"Gone behind our backs and called our families? You did that anyway!" Branch snapped at him.

Poppy stayed in bed. A lot of people tried to get her up, but Branch wouldn't let them.
"She goes out of her way to make everyone else feel better. Now we have to help her feel better!"
CG grinned.
"Awwwww! So you do care about her! Do you love her?"
Branch turned red for a second. Then he unleashed a torrent of words on the man.
"Yes I love her! I'm madly in love with her! L. O. V. E. More than life more than my bunker more than any amount of singing and dancing! I love her so much that I'm never going to tell her because I know she can do better than me! You got all that you little—" the floor creaked behind him. He slowly turned around to see Poppy, fully lucid, gasping and covering her mouth in shock.
"How long were you..."
"Long enough," she said. "Branch..."
Branch nervously laughed. "Ah heh heh..."
Then he flipped over the table and bolted away. "AHHHHHHHHH!"

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Rose investigated as much as she could with the police around. She had to get back to the basement.
"I'll help you." The masked woman came up beside her. "I know a way in."
They went around back to an unattended window. The woman said it was actually part of an old dumbwaiter that wasn't used anymore.
"I don't know if I can trust you." Rose admitted.
"That's okay. I don't know if I can trust you either. But I'm still going in and you can follow me." The woman shimmied the window open and slunk in. Rise hesitated for a second, then followed her.

Aspen and Moxie picked the lock to the door. According to the hotel engineer, it had been unused for years. He was obviously wrong. When the investigators opened the door the evil essence of the ceremony room over powered them.
Aspen turned to Moxie. "We should hold hands. For safety."
"Good idea." Moxie took Aspens' hand and they walked into the nightmarish room. It was just as terrifying to them as it had been to Barb and Riff (who while everything was going on, snuck back into the air vents).
They examined the symbol painted on the floor, the empty pedestals, the tapestry. Behind a statue of Chronos with a scythe, they found a closet built into the wall. They opened it, and there were five blood-stained skeletons piled together like the brides of Bluebeard. The pair couldn't hold back their screams. Screams that only increased when the door was shut behind them. Outside the room, the hotel security guard sneered. "No one Fucks with our sacred rite and gets away with it!"

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Poppy sat on the floor, Barb sitting next to her. Their band mates stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Finally, Barb spoke up.
"I'm sorry for what I said about you, at the bat the other night. I don't know if you heard me, but I was a real bitch."
Poppy stared into space, finally saying "It'd okay. I'm sorry you were disqualified from that contest that one time."
"Ehh..." Barb scratched her mohawk. "It was my own fault anywho. I got in a scrap with another singer, which she started by the way. I've uh, been in a mood since my dad got sick."
"I heard about him. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's."
"Yeah."

Just then, Loud music came from outside. The looked out the window. Branch was calling out to Poppy with his bass with the help of Billy Reverb and Bad Hair Day.

"THIS NEXT SONG GOES OUT TO THE GIRL I LOVE, TELLING YOU NOT TO GIVE UP!"
His jacket was gone, he stood there in a blue t shirt and leaf pattern shirt. His hair was taken out of its bun and dyed dark blue, hanging all the way to his knees. He set up his microphone, took a deep breath, and started singing.

"Those who are dead are not dead they're just living in my head.
And since I fell for that spell
I've been living there as well.
Oooh
Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more."

Poppy watched him with a dreamy smile. Seeing him be so courageous gave her courage. When he was finished, she opened the window and blew kisses at him. The others all applauded Branches performance.
Then a knocking came from the wall. "Hey guys." Came Roses' voice. "We found a way to rescue our buddies!"

The big battle will be in the next chapter I promise!