Dangan Ronpa Minecraft

Chapter 6: Hallways

"Not again, not again, not again..." Tyler muttered fearfully as everyone from the Dining Hall and the bedrooms rushed out at the sound of his screams.
"A-again?!" Jason exclaimed fearfully, looking down at Bodil with wide eyes.
"It only took about a week for another murder..." Ryan muttered.
"Bum-bum-bum!! A body has been discovered! There will be a short time for investigation, and then we will hold a Household Trial!" Herobrine's voice boomed throughout he mansion.
Bodil was lying on his stomach, with one arm outstretched and one tucked in by his side as if he were trying to haul himself somewhere. There was a trail of bright pink blood going down the hall behind him, and his wounds were several stab punctures in the back.
"We really are going to die, one by one..."Mitch muttered ominously. "D-don't say that!" Brice scolded. "We'll find a way out of this for sure." Nobody responded.
"Let's just check the corpse..." Quentin sighed.
"I'll take some people to go follow the blood trail," Brice offered, and soon him, Tyler, Bashur, Jerome, Ty, and Seto were following the smeared bright path down the hallway.
Bodil's body was about in the middle of the hallway between the Dining Hall and the bedrooms. The smeared trail led all the way down to his room, the door swung open and splattered with the fluorescent fuchsia blood, which suggested that Bodil had probably opened the door himself somehow.
Cautiously, the group entered Bodil's room. "Oh my god..." Ty muttered, having to look away from the scene for a second.
One corner of the room was just covered in unmistakable pink blood. There were smears on the bed, whose pale white sheets were messy and drooping off the side of the mattress, and a smeared blood trail from the splattered corner to the door, and out the hall. The same trail they had all followed here.
Things had obviously gotten very...violent.
Seto walked up to the blood-splattered corner, and inspected it. Then, he reached out and ran two fingers down the smear for a second.
"Augh, Seto...!" Bash moaned as Seto pulled his two fingers off he walls and examined them.
"It's still somewhat wet," Seto acknowledged. "It is?!" Jerome asked, his eyes widening. Seto nodded grimly. "It's not fresh, of course. But not completely dry. This blood hasn't been spilt too long ago."
"Greeeat," Bashur said weakly.
"Bodil was one of the few people who had headed to bed early today. Maybe he was murdered sometime between when he left the Dining Hall to when I left?" Tyler thought out loud.
"That makes sense," Jerome agreed.
"So, the murderer was probably someone who wasn't in the Dining Hall when or after Bodil left," Ty said thoughtfully. "By the way, anyone see signs of a weapon?"
Everyone quickly scanned the room.
"Nothing that could be used to stab," Tyler reported. "It's mostly just...blood smears everywhere."
"Wait!" Jerome exclaimed, looking under the bed. "What's this?" He reached under and pulled out a small handheld knife, most likely from the kitchen. The knife was completely clean, no blood smears or anything.
"What's a clean knife doing under the bed?" Seto asked.
"Maybe Bodil put it there as a mean of self-defense?" Bashur asked. Tyler snorted. "Well look how well that worked out for him. Anyway, we should take it with us."
"Yeah, it's evidence, right?" Ty agreed.
"Let's head back to the others now, then?" Bash asked, and they all followed the blood trail back down the hallway.
When they arrived, the two groups shared their discoveries. "The trail came directly from Bodil's room. It was a mess, blood everywhere. The murder was obviously committed in his room," Tyler reported.
"Well, the attack sure was, but maybe not the actual murder," Mitch pointed out. "Bodil most likely died out here. Of course, someone could have just dragged the body down here, but by the smeared and jagged blood path, and the position he was in at death, I think he had been dragging himself out here while dying."
Everyone stared at Bodil's body once more. He did look like he could have died that way...
"Anyways, the stab wounds don't seem to be from a knife," Ant reported. "They're more of a round shape."
"Hmm, what could stab that many times besides a knife, then?" Quentin wondered.
"That's weird," Ty interjected. "We found a knife in Bodil's room. However, it was clean. No blood." He pulled out the knife for everyone to see.
"Where was it?" Ryan asked. "It was under the bed," Jerome explained. "We thought maybe he was keeping it there for self-defense?"
"Yeah, probably," Ryan agreed.
"Then why didn't he use it? He was being attacked in his room," Brice pointed out.
"Who knows? Maybe he just couldn't reach it in time...Anyway, who wasn't in the Dining Hall when Bodil wasn't? They could be suspects," Adam asked everyone.
"I was the first to leave, and I went straight to bed," Jason put in. "You've been going to bed early a lot these past couple of days. You alright?" Ty asked. "Yeah, I've just...been having trouble sleeping, I guess. Because...you know. Ian and Jordan. And just being here in general," Jason explained quietly, not meeting anyone's eyes. Ty nodded. Jason must have been impacted the most by Ian's crime; the seemingly easygoing and somewhat quirky guy had tried to frame Jason and had broken his helmet.
"Anyway, who else?" Tyler asked.
"I think I was the one to leave after Jason. I went to bed, too," Matt said.
"Hmm...I remember after Matt got up and left, Bodil headed out for the night about five minutes later, so I'm pretty he was the third to leave," Brice recalled.
"I'm pretty sure I went to bed next," Bashur added.
"Then I think I was the last to go," Ant finished.
"Good, now we have our suspects," Adam said with a smile.
"W-WHAT?" Bash exclaimed.
"Well, Bodil was definitely alive when he left the dining room, and we would have noticed if anyone besides you, Jason, Matt, and Ant had left the room too before we found Bodil's body. So it definitely was one of you," Mitch explained simply.
"You realize that saying that you left the room after Bodil would make you a suspect, right?" Jerome asked. Bash gave a sheepish chuckle. "Eheh...well, no. But I guess I would have still told you guys even if I did know...wouldn't want to seem untrustworthy, right?"
"Well, what an exciting investigation we've had here, but it's time for the Household Trial, everyone!" Herobrine's voice boomed. "Please make your way to the elevator!"
Everyone looked at each other grimly, then slowly headed down the hall, leaving Bodil's corpse behind.
≪≫
When they all got to the Household Trial, Herobrine gave a small chuckle. "So, poor ol' Bodil's gone, isn't he? Anyways, let the trial commence!"
Everyone looked around the circle. Tyler noticed how there were two new gray photos with pink X's through them; one of Bodil and one of Ian.
"Okay, it's most likely one of the people who left the Dining Room early," Mitch started.
"Yeah, why don't we hear their alibis?" Seto asked.
Jason spoke up, since he had left first. "After I left the Dining Room, I went straight to bed. Wish I had a better story, but I guess if anyone saw me run out when Tyler screamed, that could help."
"I did," Matt confirmed. "Our rooms were right next to each other, and we ran out at the same time."
Jason nodded. "Oh, yeah! You were right behind me. You went straight to bed too, right?"
Matt nodded. "Next was...Bodil. He apparently left about five minutes after me, right?" he asked.
Brice nodded. "I remember him doing that."
"Bash went next, right?" Adam asked.
"Um, yeah...after I left the dining hall, I went down to the enchanting room," Bash said nervously.
"Why were you down there?" Seto asked. After the murder of Jordan, the enchanting room had been avoided.
"Well... I wanted to read. I thought one of the books could have some useful information as of how we escape the mansion. I...just wanted to be useful, I guess," Bash said sheepishly.
"But...aren't all the books in Standard Gallactic?" Seto asked.
"Well, yeah," Bash nodded.
"So...you can read Standard Gallactic?"
"Well, no..." Bash started.
"Hm. Then what's your alibi, Ant?" Seto asked. Bash looked like he had wanted to say more, but didn't continue.
"I went straight to my room, too," Ant replied. "I don't think anyone would have seen me, because I was the last to leave the Dining Hall, but I'm hoping that someone saw me come out of my room when Tyler screamed."
"I did," Bash confirmed.
"So...Bash, this makes you kind of suspicious...so then how does that match with that message Bodil sent to us?" Mitch asked.
Everyone looked over at Mitch surprisedly. "Message?" Jerome asked.
Mitch nodded. "I guess I'm the only one that saw it. I didn't want to bring it up during the investigation, because information should be gathered at that time, not discussed."
"So...what's this message? And what's it say?" Ryan asked.
"Well, you see, it was under Bodil's arm. The left one, I believe. He had written out a message in his own blood. Kind of smeared, but it was definitely real letters," Mitch explained.
"So what is it, then?" Matt asked.
"The message said 'Mad'," Mitch said.
"...'Mad?' What does that mean?" Tyler asked. Mitch shrugged. "All I did was see it. I don't know what it's supposed to be."
"Can I suggest some info I found, too, then?" Jason asked.
"It's not exactly useful right now, but when I was walking to my room earlier, I found this on the floor." Jason reached into his pocket, and pulled out a deep red scrap of cloth. When looked at more closely, faint traces of bright pink blood could be seen.
"Now what's that all about?" Adam asked.
"I don't know, but I think it's from one of the curtains in the Dining Hall stage," Jason said uncertainly.
"It's definitely got something to do with the murder. I mean, there's blood on it!" Brice exclaimed.
"A piece of cloth? 'Mad'? Nothing's really connecting here," Quentin muttered.
"What do you mean? This all makes total sense!" Bashur exclaimed. Everyone turned to stare at him, shocked and confused by his outburst.
"If you'd all let me finish speaking next time, you might find out that somebody may have some very useful information!" Bash went on.
"No offense Bash, but you're kind of suspicious right now..." Jerome pointed out hesitantly. "I mean, you never explained to us why you were in a room reading books you can't understand."
Bash sighed frustratedly. "Maybe I was, but I didn't get the chance!"
"Go on, then," Seto encouraged with a furrowed brow, seeming more interested in Bash's testimony than annoyed.
The melon looked around the circle of desks. "Well...like I told you guys before, I was in the room to read. I wanted to be useful, and prove to myself and everyone else that I could. However, I couldn't find a book that wasn't in standard gallactic anywhere."
"Wait," Ryan interrupted. "Why were you doing this at night, when nobody else was around?"
"Well, I didn't want anyone to know, in case they were going to try and help me or anything. I wanted to show I could do good on my own, you see. Looking back, going out alone at night was pretty stupid..." Bash admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, that makes sense," Jason nodded. "Go on!"
"So...I was just about to give up when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I panicked, because it could be a murderer coming for me, and quickly turned off the lights and hid in a dark corner, where I could look out the windows from the distance but anyone passing by wouldn't be able to spot me from the dark corner."
"And...well, um, I did encounter a murderer."
"Huh?!" Quentin exclaimed. "How?!"
Bash looked very uncomfortable, probably afraid or hesitant to accuse one of his friends. "Well...the person who was walking past...was wearing that cloth Jason found around their mouth, like a handkerchief, I guess. And they...they were carrying something bloody. I couldn't see exactly what the object was, but it wasn't a knife and I'm pretty sure they had used it to s-stab Bodil."
Ant leaned in closer, gripping his desk with both hands. "And did you know who this person was?"
Bash nodded. "Um...it was Adam."
Everyone whipped around to face Adam. "WHAT?!" Adam exclaimed, his face full of outrage.
"Adam...?" Mitch asked with a furrowed brow.
"I...I really don't like accusing people, but it was definitely Adam..." Bash trailed off, not meeting anyone's eyes, especially Adam's.
"Wha...How?! It wasn't me!" Adam protested. He seemed in a state of shock.
"Where's your proof?" Matt asked.
"Ah..." Adam trailed, at a loss for words.
Mitch spoke up, looking thoughtful. "You know... on the 'Mad' thing, the 'D' was written backwards...I think maybe Bodil wrote the message in blood on his arm, with the opposite hand, then when he...fell to the floor for the last time, the writing on his arm went onto the floor, so the message looked backwards. If you put MAD backwards, you get DAM. The A must have been smudged, since there was a lot of smears on his arm from dragging himself down the hallway. So, since Adam was the one who had attacked him, he must have written 'ADAM' to try to tell us who our culprit is."
Adam was silent, his mouth gaping slightly open in shock. "But...I..."
"This is a good theory, but Bashur's testimony doesn't match up with the information we have," Tyler interjected.
"It doesn't?" Matt asked.
"Oh, it's because Adam never left the Dining Hall, right?" Seto asked. Tyler nodded. "Think about it! Jason left the Dining Hall first. Then Matt. Them Bodil. Then Bash, then Ant. Adam was in the dining room the whole time from when we last saw Bodil alive to when we first saw him dead. We would have noticed if he left. There's no possible way it could have been him."
"Yeah! I was there the whole time!" Adam agreed, finding his voice again.
"So then why would Bash be suggesting Adam was the culprit?" Quentin asked, looking over at the melon.
"W-what?! But...I could have sworn it was him...!" Bash exclaimed.
"Maybe you were just mistaken. It was completely dark in the room, and you were as far away from the windows as possible. The lighting in that hallway isn't the best, either. Or, you know, you could always be lying," Ant explained calmly.
"What?! I-I'm not lying!! I swear!! I saw someone wearing that cloth around their mouths, holding some kind of bloodied-up thing that they probably used to stab the living daylights out of Bodil!" Bash explained, panicked.
"Urg...did you have to describe it that way...?" Jerome asked weakly.
"Where were they even heading?" Ty asked Bash.
"They were walking down the hall towards the staircase leading to the second floor," Bash explained.
"Oh. That explains this, then," Ty said, pulling out something burnt and charred.
"What...what's that?" Brice asked.
"I found it in the fireplace upstairs. Remember how I left during the investigation? I investigated up there, in case we missed anything. Well, here it is. If you look closely, there's blood on it," Ty explained.
Sure enough, when given a closer look, there was definitely blood on it.
"It looks like a piece of wood..." Quentin pointed out. "How'd you even get this out of the fireplace?"
"There was just one of those metal-rod thingies, I poked the stick out of there, and most of the fire on it was out by then," Ty explained.
"Most of the fire..." Mitch muttered.
Ty gave a nervous chuckle. "I covered the burn marks with a rug."
"What?" Herobrine asked sharply.
"Anyway, I think this was a stake of some sort," Ty went on, ignoring Herobrine.
"It does seem to fit the size of Bodil's stab wounds," Matt pointed out.
"Why would the culprit use a stake?" Tyler asked.
"Probably because it would be easier to dispose of than a knife, since the culprit didn't have much time. The culprit most likely went upstairs to burn their stake after murdering Bodil," Ryan suggested.
"So then that means Bash is telling the truth, right?" Jason asked. "See?! I told you so!" Bash declared.
"But still, we have many questions unanswered," Mitch pointed out. "For example, how did they get a stake? And why did Bodil write '-DAM?'"
Just when we think we've made progress... Tyler thought, We're still nowhere near discovering the true culprit.