h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It was a dark stormy night (cliche alert!! but im not properly awake yet..lol)..the wind rattled the windows in their frames and the rain beat down hard.
There was something in the aaair,an atmosphere,a sense of foreboding. Everyone in the house that night could feel it.
They had gathered here that evening for.....
(who wants to continue?)

.....a murder mystery weekend. You know the kind, where people fake die and all the guests have to figure out who did it.

No one there could have predicted what was about to happen. Not in their wildest nightmares!!

The house is actually more like a stately home than a house. Rooms are intertwined with a connection of doors. They are high ceiling rooms with chandeliers (did i spell that correctly?)in each one that throw ghastly shadows across the interior. Especially on a night like this.

The guests have unpacked and the weather has worsened. They gather in the lobby and prepare to let the game commence.......(to be continued)

As the guests,13 in all gather in the lobby, they are all thinking the same thing..about the mysterious woman, the one whohas invited them in the firat place, the notes signed with a single elaborate L .who is she?..has anyone else here heard of her?ever seen her ?The common assumption is that she must be some sort of rich eccentric..wishing to announce her arrival in the area grandly..
but a mystery party? and on this of all nights..in THIS place..some wonder if the woman knows what happened here all those years ago and feel a shudder long their spine at the thought..

Then all thoughts top..and a deathly silence falls over the room a she appears at the bottom of the stairs,and in a sweeping glide approachs the lobby..

She is wearing.....

.....the most beautiful plush velvet cloak. You`ve never seen it`s like before. Her face is obscured by the hood of the cloak. The closer she gets, the more you feel the desire to turn and flee. Who is she? What is she?

She is carrying something. You can`t quite make out what it is. It is shaped like......

A heart..no its a mask..a masqueade mask ,just like all of the guests have been asked to bring with them .
She takes down the hood on her cloak,she is very beautiful..and very young with long dark hair and bright piercing green eyes..everyone suddenly feels little better..a lot of the tension leaves the room..

She stops and begins to address the guests. "Welcome to my humble home. I`m glad to see that you could all make it here this evening. I am Lilah and i will be your host here this weekend."

There is a hint of an accent in here voice. Maybe Russian or South African but you can`t really tell. As she speaks, there is a hint of a smile on her face and a certain glint in her eye. You have a feeling that things are about to get very interesting.....

...when the wind picks up, throwing open the huge bay windows. As you struggle to closee them, suddenly she is by your side. She has no trouble closing the windows, which is odd, to see such strength in one so slender.
The lightning flashes, and you see what appears to be a huge, man-shaped object near the courtyard fountain. You can't remember seeing anything there before.
She speaks...

....in a barely auible whisper and says, " I know".

What did she mean? She knew what? How could she know anything about you, this beautiful stranger? You turn to face her but she is already across the room. She moves so silently that you did not sense her leave.

You begin to wonder, could she know your deepest, most gruesome secret? Could she know that....

..you had been there that night? ..you had tried to block out the memory for so long,but now it all came flooding back the party, the drinking..the laughing...then things getting out of hand and the screaming..so much screaming.

Bates the butler enters the room,
"any one for drinks".

At this everyone heads into the lounge area for pre-dinner cocktails. Everyone with the exception of the hostess that is.

The lounge is filled with lit candles that cast dancing shadows across the room. Could be useful in the event of a powercut. You wouldn`t want to be stranded in this place let alone if it was shrouded in complete darkness.

You fetch youself a glass of bourbon and wonder why you`re here.......

.....three days later, you find yourself still wondering. Has time ceased to exist?

You look at the clock, and it has stopped moving. You look at the drink in your hand. Hmmmmm....

lol bit stuck now eh

...as time crawls to a halt, you realise that the dawn will never come! The woman smiles, and her elongated teeth cause you to shudder! There must be a way to get time back in alignment...a world of forever-darkness may suit creatures of the night, but it will not suit you!
You wonder about the others in the room with you. Do they know about the guilt you carry? Were they all somehow involved? Or, are they harbouring deep, dark secrets of their own? As the group sits down to eat around the richly appointed table, you try to recall the exact details of That Night, but find that you've burried them so deep in your effort to hide from the awfulness of it, that there are many details missing.
You glance furtively at your hostess. She senses your gaze and...

.....as you look at her from across the room, you realise that you can read her thoughts. At least that is the conclusion you reach as her lips are not moving. That can`t be, can it?

She`s thinking about....

You!...

She`s imagining what she`s going to do to you. You can`t see what that is but it doesn`t look pleasant.

You`re startled by the ringing of a bell, as the butler announces, "dinner is served".

You join the other guest and make your way to the dining area. The hostess lingers behind. She motions the butler over and hands him something. It`s a small box of some kind. This wouldn`t normally be something you would class as odd, but there is something about her manner. Her body language is screaming at you that this is not part of the normal daily routine. You continue to the dining room and feel increasingly uneasy.

Uneasy or not, you are ravenous. It`s been a long day and you`ve only managed to grab a quick snack before you began the journey here. You wonder what is on tonights menu.

(I was convinced the L was for linda)
The dinner turns out to be supermarket ready meals. they are bought to the table hot, but still sealed.
"didnt want anyone to be worried about poison" your hostess murmers.

The other guests seem to be more at ease now that they were earlier, must have been all the alcohol, and eagerly peel back the plastic wrappings on their food.

They dig in and after a few minutes, when everything seems ok, you decide to risk it and reach for the plastic lid of your chicken vinadaloo.

as you pull it back you notice that the hostess is still watching you....

......then you look down at the food and.............