Elizabeth cautiously enters the small room, what appears to be a den, and sucks in a breath. She quickly regrets that when she starts coughing from all the dust particles in the air.

She looks around the room, and there isn't much there. A small couch, a dark oak coffee table, and a large, comfy armchair. A lamp in the opposite corner catches her eye. Eliza reaches for the string and turns the lamp on.

Click!

The warm light illuminates the room, scaring away all the shadows that were formed from the minimum sunlight that the passageway provided. There are no windows in the room to let in the natural luminescence.

Now that she can see, Eliza notices that there is a small cream colored envelope on the table. She picks it up only to quickly drop it again.

"No," she mumbles. "Oh my God. Just no..."

She picks it up once more with trepidation and reads her name written in her mother's fancy calligraphy. Eliza remembers the day she has found this. It was the evening after her parent's funeral.

Friends and family, neighbors and colleagues, they had come and gone throughout the day, and by seven at night, they'd all finally departed, seeing how exhausted Elizabeth and Isabelle were.

Zach stayed behind, and together he went upstairs with Eliza to tuck in Izzy. She had hummed I See the Light from Disney's Tangled. It was a favorite of her mother's, since Eliza and Izzy both enjoyed the movie and watched it constantly when it first came out. Eliza was a bit old for it even at the time, but her sister loved it so much that she couldn't help but fall in love with it too.

It was all Eliza could do to not cry and after Izzy's breathing slowed, the couple had crept out of the room, planning on heading to Elizabeth's room to talk and just be there.

But when they passed her parents' room, Eliza stopped. She wanted to go inside, even though Zach said that she didn't need to make herself feel worse. It was something she decided she had to do.

And so she looked around her parents' room, laying on their king-sized bed that still smelled like them. She went through her father's bookshelf, and her mother's cabinet filled with her special china and priceless books, one of which was an original signed copy of Pride and Prejudice, something that is very hard to get since it's such an old book.

Eliza knew where her mother kept the key, but didn't dare to open it. She knew how much it had meant to Mrs. Allens for the items to remain preserved. Plus, it had been something her mother had last touched; something that should forever remain only hers.

Instead of opening the cabinet, Eliza had found herself going through her mothers large jewelry box. There were many things inside, two of them being her parents' wedding rings. Eliza had made sure that they were put away safely after their death.

But she hadn't looked around to see what exactly was in the box. The jewelry box was about ten inches long, five inches deep, and six inches tall. It was made of rich, cedar wood painted a light pink with small detailed roses accenting the box. The drawers had knobs that looked like roses which were made of gold. The box's top lid was a half inch thick with a gold magnetic latch that was two halves of a rose when opened.

In the bottom drawer, beneath many valuable necklaces and bracelets, Elizabeth found a cream envelope addressed to her in her mother's beautiful calligraphy.

Zach saw what she found and suggested they head to her room and open it. The two had gone to her room, then, and ended up talking for a long time into the early hours of the morning. A heavy burden weighed on Eliza's shoulders, but Zach made the load a little lighter.

Eliza never opened that envelope that night, instead placing it in the safe she has in her closet, hoping to forget about it.

The very envelope that Elizabeth now holds in her shaking hands.

How did the Host know about it, get into her house, her safe, and steal it? No one except for Zach knows about it and even he doesn't know the combination to her lock.

An even more troubling question: how did the Host know that she would be the one to find the envelope?

Something strange is going on. Something so uncanny that even Eliza fears what this god-forsaken mansion has in store for the Players. What about that painting in the parlor? It looks exactly like the plaza in Asheville, North Carolina.

She hasn't been home in ages, and it feels like they've been in the mansion for even longer than that, even though it's only been about a day and a half.

Remembering that she has to meet the others back in the drawing room, Elizabeth panics. She can't just take the envelope with her. It would have to be folded so that it can fit into her pocket, and she doesn't want it to become wrinkled and creased.

Thinking quickly, she looks around and sees the small side table beside the large chair and notices the books on its bottom shelf. Eliza crouches down and looks through the titles, hoping for one that she'll remember.

And that's when she sees it.

Her hands tremble when she slides an ancient looking copy of Pride and Prejudice off the shelf. Eliza checks the inside cover and reads the fine print to see that it is the same edition as the one her mother kept locked in her precious cabinet.

It is the perfect place for her to put the envelope. Who would actually find this room? And if they did, it isn't very likely that they'd notice that there are books on the bottom of the side table.

Finding her favorite part of the book, Elizabeth slips the precious treasure of hers inside the aged book before carefully closing and placing it back where it belongs.

She notes that it's the fourth book from the left, and the fifth book from the right, there being a total of eight books on the small but hidden shelf. In a flurry, she's clicking off the lamp, getting her butt out of the room, and closing the bookshelf door with a muffled thud.

Elizabeth cracks the study door open and peers into the hallway before deciding that the coast is clear. But she didn't seem to notice the shadowy figure watching her from around the corner.

***

When Eliza walks into the drawing room, everyone is already there in their respective groups. Eliza walks over to stand next to Zach.

"Where have you been? Your group got back fifteen minutes ago!" Zuri shouts, pointing a finger at Eliza.

"I got lost, alright? I saw something interesting in the study and told Zach to go ahead." Eliza responds coldly. It wasn't exactly a lie; she did see something interesting in the study and she did tell Zach to go ahead.

"Fine." Zuri's eyes narrow at Eliza, "We should all share what we found. Why don't you go first, Eliza?" Eliza can see the smug grin that starts to appear on Zuri's face.

"I found a very interesting book. Turned out to be nothing, of course, but it was interesting none-the-less."

"And nothing else was in the room, either." Naomi says, unknowingly helping Eliza's case.

"We found nothing of interest in the library." Amelia once again takes the lead, "What about your group, Chase?"

"We didn't find anything, but Jen did find Samantha's family crest etched on the wall." After Chase says this, Samantha glares at him. Eliza takes note of how quickly Chase has shared information to take the attention away from himself.

One person from each group says what they found. It seems that only one thing of importance was discovered: Samantha's family crest. No one, besides Zach, will ever know of what Elizabeth had found.

Eliza grabs Zach's upper arm, grabbing his attention.

"I need to talk to you," she says.

Nodding, Zach sneaks out of the room with Eliza following. Once they are sure no one followed them, they start to discuss what Eliza found.

"So, what'd you find?" Zach asks in a hushed voice. Although, to Eliza, it's more of a seductive tone.

"Remember right after the funeral I found that envelope?" She nervously twiddles with her fingers, something she rarely does.

"Yes?" Zach looks confused, but when Eliza peers up at him with glassy eyes, she sees that it clicks what she is trying to tell him.

"You...you found the envelope here?!" he asks incredulously. Eliza nods her head in confirmation.

"B-But how? I thought you had already opened it and everything!" Eliza squirms under his intense gaze. "You haven't opened it yet, have you?"

He knows her too well.

This time, Eliza shakes her head. She wills herself not to cry in front of him, but can't hold back the rebellious tear that slides down her cheek.

"Oh, Liz," Zach whispers, pulling her into a hug. "Please don't cry."

Elizabeth hates herself for not fighting him, for not scolding him for calling her Liz. But right now, she needs love, and here is Zach accepting her with open arms.

So why not roll with it, just this once?

"I'm sorry," she sniffles. "It's so hard sometimes."

Zach rubs his hand up and down her back comfortingly. "I know, I know." His voice soothes her and when her breathing calms after a very long moment, she wills herself to let go of his warm embrace.

Eliza walks back inside without another word, feeling his eyes on her.*