The Innocent Murderer (Mary Sue Series)

Chapter 37

"Lower the floor, " I ordered, and the floor beneath them swung open suddenly, much like a trap door. Their unexpected screaming was muffled when the trap door swung shut.

Then, a large screen monitor came from the wall and a remote was handed to me. I watched as my guests looked around their new surroundings, taking in the basement.

The room they were in was roughly ten meters by eight meters by twenty meters. The room was lit up by bright lights and the wallpaper helped amplify the cheerful room even more. It might as well be the size of a cathedral's sanctuary.

I clapped my hands thrice and watched as skeletons came in and grabbed a hold of each then clasped a bracelet onto their wrists. After trying to take the bracelets off, they looked back at me through the screen. The basement also had a monitor as did the rest of the castle.

"So, I want you guys to nominate two people," I ordered, sitting back on my throne.

"What for?" Shikamaru asked, narrowing his eyes. I kept silent. The others verbally badgered me, but I refused to reply.

"This isn't right! You need to tell us what the nomination is for!" Sakura demanded, hands on her hips and her face right in the monitor.

I watched her grow angrier and angrier, her face turning slightly red.

"Well?! Talk!"

"Sakura, she won't say anything until we nominate two people. I nominate...Lee."

"Eh? Why Lee?" Tenten asked, confused.

However, Shikamaru shook his head. "I can't say."

"Smart choice," I murmured. "Second person?" After discussing among themselves, Shikamaru answered, "Choji."

"Alright. Let's start. Choji and Lee, walk to the door with the number 8 on your left. Everyone else, stay behind." I watched as the boys obeyed and the door shut locked behind them. I continued to divide the group into pairs and forced them to go through separate doors until the basement was devoid of people.

I could watch all the teams as they ventured through the dangerous, trap-filled hallways. Perfect. "If you look on your bracelet, you can see words written on it. This is a rule that you must follow and cannot tell anyone else. If you do, then a dose of poison will be instantly administered and you will die."

"Wait, what?!"

"I'll be activating the bracelets in a moment. You cannot break any of the monitors, or you will die. You all need to find the throne room. Bye." I shut the communication between me and the teams and sat back to watch.

I wonder how long it takes for them to figure it out?

The Genin looked at their own bracelets and read the rule.

"Wait--"

"But--"

"How--is this real?"

"I have to--"

"You can't be serious!"

"I'll kill her and pummel her to the ground!"

"Everyone, are you guys okay?" Shikamaru asked through their communication. "Is anyone--"

"Hinata!" Neji interrupted, rushing to his cousin. Her skin tone began to change into a nasty shade of purple and her eyes were turning red until blood began flowing down her cheeks instead of tears. "Hinata--who did this?!"

"Neji, what happened?" Shikamaru asked, confused by the other's outburst.

"I don't know," the boy answered harshly, cradling his cousin in his arms tightly. "Hinata, stay with me."

"Hinata, can you talk?" Shikamaru asked.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked from the hallway he and Ino were in.

"Naruto, be quiet. Hinata?" Tenten called.

"M-my r-rule," Hinata whispered.

"Neji, what does her rule say?"

Neji took her wrist and read the bracelet. "What--"

"What is it, Neji?"

"The rule is 'Kiba must not stop walking'. Are you kidding me?"

As I watched the chaos ensue, I looked at the chart in my hands.

Their bracelets are connected to each other in some way, I thought. For example, person A's bracelet can say, "Person B must not witness violence" but if he does then Person A dies. Fortunately for them, not ALL bracelets are connected with each other's actions. For example, person A's bracelet can say, "You cannot look behind you." Doing so will bring their death.

"Wait, so I'm the one who killed Hinata?" Kiba's voice yelled.

"With our rules connecting each other, does she want us to die?" Shikamaru muttered, glaring at his bracelet.

"What? I don't want to die!" Naruto yelled in panic.

"Calm down!" Tenten ordered.

"What do we do?" Ino whimpered.

I decided it was enough and pressed a button on the remote. Instantly, sleeping gas filled the hallway  Shikamaru and  Tenten were.

"Don't breath the gas!" Tenten gasped. But this gas could affect them through their skin as well. Soon enough, the two fell to the floor, fast asleep.

"Enough talk, start walking," I ordered through the monitor. "Also, starting now, you all have a time limit." A digital clock appeared on the screen. "You have twenty-four hours to get here. If you fail, everyone will die, including Morino." As a final touch, I disabled and jammed the communicators.

Number of survivors left: 11

24 hours left