

Chapter III: Wicked Games Pt.2
Nightfall has arrived, where the streets simmered down and the town was falling asleep to prepare for tomorrow. After spending portion of the day with Michael, Jodi finally made it in his dorm room to end his night as well. Though still on a bye, morning practice was not. With film study in the afternoon, Jodi would need as much shut eye as he can get. As he arrived to his dorm room, Jodi had remembered the conversation with Cassie, about receiving an invitation, but there was nothing of significant to the eye around his doorway. With nothing to look forward to, Jodi simply put it out of his mind. That was until he stepped inside...

Jodi steps inside his place and immediately notices what was residing on the counter near the door, where he usually leave his keys. A letter, surrounded by a skull book, a small box, and presumed tonic that read, "poison". It didn't take much for his wig to be creeped out from it's presence. More so, Jodi was concerned about how someone got inside, as no doors or window was left unlocked. Jodi takes the letter, the main attraction in the clutter, reading it's scripture:
"The eyes who read this under one's shelter, I am your fortune teller. Sit for a spell, have some brew...
You don't know what's in store, but you know what you're here for...
You've been selected to appear at the designated location detailed in the future..."
Before Jodi resumes his read of the letter, he glances over the utilities that surrounded the letter, wondering where do they come into play, especially the filled bottles of whatever, be death or a hack. Jodi takes parts his eye from the counter and back onto the letter, skimming a bit forward.
"The rules are simple...
Read the book of, "The Cool", open the box and wisely choose your "game" piece...
Careful with your approach, as you will not return to "The Streets" wince you came from..."
Jodi redirects his attention to the closed box that sat next to letter's position. With his right thumb, he flips the latch on the box, learning the latch was broken, not securing the box or what was boxed in. The lid opened with a little strength needed from it's weight. Inside revealed the head of a rooster and a kabbalah scroll. Immediately, Jodi stepped back with disgust without telling if the head was real or not, he wasn't in the slightest interest of finding out after closing the lid to the box. Taking a deep sigh, pushing the image out of his head, Jodi finishes the letter:
"This weekend, find yourself in a lush getaway in the middle of nowhere...
Betray the genius leader and follow the sisters of beacon...
Sentence in the night, whisper like the reaper...
I am where there's chilling, Murals, R.I.Ps, with the four Mona Lisas...
Under the sky of ebony, you'll find many eyes watching, these ancient angels wears the Devil's mask...
Enter, enter... I accord you...
We do not need protection from the wheel of time, as it turns, our attention is laid by memory’s terms...
Realize you begin when you find where you'll end this..."
After setting down the cryptic letter, Jodi pulls out his phone, calling Michael almost immediately. After several rings, Jodi finally gets through. "Yo, Mike, what's up? You home?"
"Yeah, I was just looking at this crazy shit in my room."
"Oh, you got one too? That's what I'm cooling about. Yo, what the hell, is this shit for real?"
"I don't know. I asked my neighbor if anyone came in and they said they saw no one.", Michael iterating the same gesture of a possible break-in. Michael goes on to describe what he received, giving the exact visual Jodi sees in front of him. "This shit is weird Jodi."
"I'm on board with you. Cassie did say that there would be a party invitation, this can't be it."
"Shit, it better not! Poison?! A deathnote book?! I'm not even trying to find out what's in this box, did you look inside?"
"Yeah. None of the contents here makes sense... But this has to be it... In the letter it said, "this weekend, find yourself in a lush getaway in the middle of nowhere", where the fuck can that possibly be?"
"Man, leave this shit alone, bro. Grab everything, trash that shit!", Michael highly advised. "Fuck that party, I'm not going. You're not going either, right?"
Jodi paused for a moment, mulling over the stuff in front of him for an answer. "I want to stand on my answer from earlier today, but I'm not going to hold you Mike, I'm kinda curious."
"Curious? Curious about what? Whoever broke in here and put these satanic shit in here are not to be trifled with!"
"True, but don't you at least want to know who broke in here? Couldn't be Cassie, she's don't look the type to know how to pick a lock, let alone what she want to eat."
"Cardinal rule, Jodi: Looks are deceiving!"
"I know, I know. But I'm going... This book got to contain some type of directions to get there. As against it as I should be, I'm too intrigued."
"Fuck that! Party or no party, ain't shit you can say that'll make me to go with you..."
Two Nights Later
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"Man, I can't believe you made me come with you! Know this shit is a bad idea", Michael echoed with disgruntle.
"Man, stop being a girl and come on."
The two traveled to a nearby trail that no car could inched through. Even by bike, the trail proved it's mettle with steep inclines before veering off into the distance of the dark woods. With the flash light on their phones, the two managed to traverse the eerie path into an opening of massive land. Intercepting branching paths, was a park-like central with a statue of a male figure. The ledger underneath was too eroded to read. Michael gives a look around, checking the coast with Jodi, as they were the only two in the vicinity, making their paranoia heighten beyond reason. Before departing the statue's location, Jodi takes out the letter, reading over the cryptic messages.
"The genius leader, this has to be him, I guess?" Jodi pointed out."
"Safe to assume so. Naturally, monumental leaders earn statues."

"Follow the sisters of beacon..." With that instruction, Jodi and Michael leaves the statue and walk towards a corridor of lamp posts.
"Lights?... Okay."
"Yo, Mike, look. The girl up head... Is that? Cassie?"
"Looks like her... Can't see her face from this far. Let's get closer."
"Make sure nothing is coming up on our rear", Jodi wearily looks behind.

"Now who's acting like a girl-", Michael rebutted but catches his-self. The two couldn't believe there own eyes, with just two seconds looking around, the female figure had vanished.
"Where she go? She was just there."
"Man, I know I'm not tripping, Jodi. You saw a girl, I saw a girl, just up ahead. Now she's gone. Ain't nobody that fast to disappear in this vast opening."
There was no signs of the girl heading in any direction as the wind picked up, pushing a bone-chilling breeze across the napes of the two adventurers, putting the asses in gear move forward, whether they wanted to, or not...





Traversing further ahead, Jodi and Michael appeared to reach their "final destination", no pun intended. Neither of the two could tell the difference between reality and stage prop. For a storied manor, the land was filled with graves, crows hanging about in the lifeless husk of trees. An evil intention stalked through the mist in the air as their fear in uncharted territory started to set in.
As the two reached the front door, Jodi read off another cryptic message in the letter: "The ancient angels wears the Devil's mask..." Looking up, Jodi sees three statues of gargoyles, perched above the door as guardians, their faces carved into malicious intentions.
Michael's nerves begins to get the better of him, questioning his current existence in the reality he's about to unwillingly step into. Neither spoke a word as they look at each, before looking around once more. For Jodi, he looked just as worried as Michael, despite trying to steel his nerves inside.
"Jodi, I won't think less of you if you want to turn back and get out of here. You're a brave fella"
"Me? Scared? Look at you, I can hear your ankles chattering in fear."
"I'm not scared, it's just cold out here."
"Too damn cold", Jodi agreed.
"... You think someone is home? The lights are on, but I don't see no car anywhere."
"This place is probably way off the grid, Mike. I can't imagine anyone living out here so isolated."
As Jodi snooped around, looking for a doorbell to ring, unbeknownst to them, they were already being watched.

With no visual of a doorbell, Jodi sighed heavily, taking the steps underneath him to the front door to knock. Just before he was able to do so, the latch on the door, from the inside, clicked.
"What was that?" Michael asked.
Slowly before them, the front door begins to turn, unhinging the mechanism, allowing the door to freely, yet, eerily swoosh open. The air from within flushed it's way outwards, brushing up against their noses. The air was thin, dry, humid, slightly putrid and smelled like death.
Be it a isolated funeral parlor, a morgue, or an erected tomb, what awaited them, called to them. No names were said, not even a word. With the howl of the hounding wind behind them giving a guided nudge, their bodies moved on their own, as if they were in a trance, yet conscious and unwilling, crossed the threshold to the unknown...
