Aiden
The lights go back on. The glowstone lights have been replaced by white jack-o-lanterns. What used to be a painting of a chicken jockey is now a painting of who must be the Host—someone with a white pumpkin on their head and a diamond axe in their hand.

"Greetings, Adventurers," the portrait seems to say. "I am the White Pumpkin. One of you has the treasure I desire and I will not rest until it is mine! Even if I have to resort . . ." The lights go out again. "To murder." When they come back on, eerily flickering, the painting is replaced by the White Pumpkin their self. Everyone is sent into a panic and the lights shut off once more. After the come on, there is once again a painting of the White Pumpkin.

Shiner freaks out about them killing Lewis. {Dan's hair though.} Beezie screams gibberish. Mooncake says how awful it is. Cassie asks who it was. Shiner remarks that there is no such thing as "white pumpkins". Beezie says to tell that to the white pumpkins hanging all over the place. Cassie curls up in a ball in the corner, saying how she doesn't like it.

"That's the person I saw in the window," (Y/N) says.

"You mean they've been in here the whole time!" Cassie asks. "I am so getting out of here." She runs out the door of the dining room, Winslow following after her.

"So much for a nice dinner party," Jesse scoffs.

Cassie screams. "Oh no!"

"I don't like the sound of that," Ivor says as we chase after her.

She stands by the open front door, quivering at the sight of the zombies outside.

"Close the door!" I shout at her. When she does nothing, (Y/N) rushes to the door to shut it. She flips the lever and the pair of iron doors close before the sea of zombies can start pouring in.

"So, we're stuck in here," Cassie says. "And if we're stuck in here, we're all doomed."

*~*~*~*

"I thought I heard Lewis say something about flint and steel?" Mooncake asks. We had gathered in the foyer to talk about everything that's happened so far in this nightmare we were told was a dinner party.

"Goodness, don't bring that up again," Beezie says.

"Well, obviously Trey didn't steal it," Trinity says.

"But who, then?" Shiner asks.

"Uh, (Y/N)?" Lukas says. I look over, too, and see that Lewis's painting is now X-ed out.

"Well. I guess I'm next, then," Ivor says, observing the fact that his painting is next in line to be crossed out.

"I wouldn't let that happen," (Y/N) says. Gosh, she's too sweet for this world.

"I appreciate that, (Y/N)," Ivor says. "I just hope that this 'White Pumpkin' isn't beyond both of our abilities."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for how the White Pumpkin is doing this," I say, hoping I'm right. "Like, the whole place must be rigged with traps. Trey was killed by a trap. Lewis was killed by a trap."

"I like your thinking," (Y/N) says with a smile. "We have to find out how these traps work. I'll investigate the dining room. Help me, Watson?"

"Sure thing, Sherlock," I say with a smile.

"Perfect. You four stay here and keep an eye on everyone?"

They nod in agreement and we each assume our posts. While (Y/N)'s mesmerized by thought, I shut the door behind us. She wanders towards the fireplace. I ask if there's anything and she replies with a shake of her head. She then looks around the table, examining each chair carefully and thoroughly, just as I examine her beauty carefully and thoroughly.

"This is where we all sat when Lewis was killed," she says. "If the killer is one of us, something from the table must have triggered the trap. And if you're going to trigger a trap, you're going to need a lever or a . . ." She stops and her eyes land on the item she was probably about to list. "Button." She curiously pushes it and it reacts the same way it did to kill Lewis. The "White Pumpkin" goes through their whole speech, the light goes out, and I punch the painting before it can disappear and reappear.

"It was just a costume on a mannequin," I say, "and a prerecorded voice box."

"Goodness, how can someone be that good at redstone?" (Y/N) asks, stopping to jot notes down in her notebook.

"But why take the time to rig something like that?" I ask once she's finished.

"A diversion," she answers, pointing her pencil at me matter-of-factly. "To distract us from what was going on in the room."

"So you really think one of us is the White Pumpkin?" I ask.

"You can never be too cautious."

Just then, the others came tearing into the room, probably misled by the White Pumpkin's voice.

"The White Pumpkin's back!" Beezie asks worriedly.

"It's just a decoy," (Y/N) explains. "A costume on an armor stand."

"Wait, what? Why?" Shiner asks.

"The entire thing over killing Lewis," (Y/N) continues, "was all created by a button on the table."

"But what does that mean?" Trinity asks.

"I am so creeped out right now," Mooncake says.

"No kidding," Beezie says.

"It means the White Pumpkin must've sat at this very table," (Y/N) finishes.

"So, you're saying the White Pumpkin is one of us?" Beezie asks.

"Es correcto, Beezie," (Y/N) says. "One of us is a murderer." {Well there's no butler so this is going to be harder than I thought.} The lightning flashes with eerily good timing as if someone pressed a button to trigger that, too.

"And they sat here," Ivor says pointing to a seat on the front end.

"That's not where we found the button before," I say.

"There's more than one!" (Y/N) asks.

"I'll see if I can find all of them," Lukas says, walking around by each chair and marking every button with an arrow.

"Nice work, (Y/N)," Faith says. "And Aiden."

"Yes, I must say that I'm relieved to know there is a logical explanation for what the White Pumpkin has been doing," Ivor says.

"So what now?" Jesse asks. "It seems like we've made some good progress so far."

"We figure out the most likely suspects and interrogate them," (Y/N) says. "The White Pumpkin must have pretty advanced skills in brewery and redstone. And they must have had a button to trigger the Lewis-killing trap. And the best part is that interrogation is the most fun in detectiving."

"That's all of them," Lukas says, returning to us.

"Okay, everyone," (Y/N) calls out. "Please take the same seat you were in before Lewis was killed. Four of your seats have been marked with an arrow. That means that the White Pumpkin could only be Shiner, Trinity, Beezie, or . . . Aiden." She adds my name doubtfully, and I'm thankful she wouldn't suspect me.

"Wait, you're accusing us?" Trinity asks. "Wait, what?"

"I echo her sentiments exactly!" Beezie says. "I didn't even see a button!"

"Me neither!"

"This is crazy!" Cassie exclaims.

"I'm not accusing anyone . . . yet," (Y/N) says. "Not until I have the evidence and rightfulness."

"It sure sounds like you're accusing us, stranger," Beezie says. "And I don't care for it!"

"I'm taking the lead now, along with my prime associate Aiden, and I will get to the bottom of this mystery," (Y/N) says.

"Do you really think of me as your prime associate?" I ask.

"That is hardly the point," she says. "Now, I want every one of you separated. I will interrogate each one of the suspects until I get the answers I need. I'll find the truth . . . and I'll find who's lying. Understand?"

"Loud and clear," Mooncake says.

"Crystal," Beezie agrees.

I have to admit, when she's all I-mean-business, she can be pretty scary. "Who do you want first?"

"Alphabetical order says Beezie's first," she says.

💕A/N💕

Hey, look at that. For once I'm updating on time.
Well, um—
This is still awkward—
I'll just—
Word count: 1,373