"...Well. Here we are. Boy, that was quick." I sighed, with both elephants on either side of me as we stared down the door to the bar. It was barely ajar, like it was almost closed. I started to internally sweat a little as we all took short glances at each other.

"Th-There's no reason for us to wait. Let's go in." Emily shut her eyes as she approached the door with an extended arm. She then hesitated, almost as if she were unwilling to enter without me and Edmond. Her brother replied in a seemingly psychic way; Walking up to her side and grabbing a hold of the metallic door handle. Emily soon did the same with her extended arm.

I couldn't just let myself go absent from their minds in the moment, so I added my hand to the handle, giving both parties a solid nod. They both replied with an identical nod.

And with that...        We all opened the door together.

...It was quite a horrifying sight.

There were bloodstains all over the main bar, as well as on the shelves filled with glass bottles behind it. There were also notable shards of glass laying on top of the bar, as well as on the floor in front of it. The source of them wasn't too far away - The neck of a smashed glass bottle sat at the end of the bar.

...It was as if Danny's body had suddenly been transformed into a room.

"...Oh. My. God." Emily slowly stuttered, gripping onto her younger brother's arm fearfully. Meanwhile, I had unconsciously taken a few steps forward to try and view the room in a greater light. Taking a look around, I noticed something lying in one of the corners of the room. It was the corner closest to the door.

It looked like...     A small, cardboard box. Almost like an open delivery box.

I quickly noted it down as Emily and Edmond entered the room.

*'Cardboard Box' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

...Ok. Moving on to the major elephants in the room.

No, I don't mean Emily and Edmond.

I started towards the opposite end of the bar, soon grabbing a careful hold of the neck of the broken bottle. Taking a closer look at the inside of the bottle, I noticed a red liquid of...    Some kind.

No, not blood. I clearly remember Danny's and Delphine's bodies - Their blood was pink.

...I don't wanna taste it...    Maybe smelling would reveal something?

And so, I curiously took a sniff.

...

Oh god.

That smells...    Weird.

Is that...      Wine?

Then that means...

*'Broken Wine Bottle' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

...

Delicately resting the end of the bottle back on the bar, I immediately headed to the shelves of alcohol. Nearly stepping into a large puddle of blood while doing so.

...I should probably consider that.

As well as the fact that the bloodstains on the countertop seem to be...     Smeared...

*'Bar Bloodstains' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

I still needed to check the shelves of alcohol, though. So, to avoid the issue of the puddle, I grabbed a nearby bar stool and set it in the puddle, Then, I stepped upon said stool.

...I'm not being a coward.

Look, muddy puddles are nothing like bloody puddles.

...Anyways, back to the investigation. I kept sliding through the various bottles on the shelf, eventually reaching a small gap in between two bottles of red wine. I silently congratulated myself for noticing the gap.

However...    I also noticed something else.

Some kind of shadowy shape was hidden behind the bottles. It was like it had basically been flung behind them.

I cautiously reached my hand through the gap, terrified of some kind of insect suddenly biting it. That didn't happen though. Instead, I grabbed a hold of the shape and yanked it out of the hole, nearly sending another wine bottle to the floor.

Something still fell to the floor, though.

The shock of seeing the item in my hand ended up making me drop it entirely.

...It was a gun.

A goddamn GUN.

*'Hidden Gun' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"Peppa? Could you...    Uh...    Maybe try not drop ballistic weapons onto my head?" Edmond's squeaky voice called from below.

"Sorry." I hopped off the stool, landing in the empty space next to the younger elephant. "Did you find anything?"

"Just a few arrows in the pool of blood that you stomped a stool into."

"Wait...    What?"

The elephant in green pointed his trunk down at the blood pool, specifically at the exact centre. And just like he said: Three arrows laid there.

...Looking awkwardly clean.

*'Arrows' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"...Thanks." I sighed, "Did you find anything else?"

"Uh..." Edmond stopped for a moment, "No. But Emily found a cardboard box in the corner."

"I already saw that."

"Ah, ok. Well...    You can go if you want to. I'll see if there's anything else in here that could help us out."

"Fair enough. Seeya." I nodded at Edmond, later doing the same at Emily as I left the bar casually.

...

Hold on a minute.

Lemme just...    Double check something again.

I turned to my left, then to my left again while keeping my head fixated forward. Once again, I was peering into the janitor's closet with a determined set of eyes.

It was absolutely stuffed with...    Stuff. Shelves packed with detergents, sprays, aerosols, and other cleaning items of the sort sat on the left side, while all the stick like things rested on the right - Mops, brooms, brushes, even rakes.

And in the dead centre was emptiness. Nothing more than a roundish, pink bloodstain on the floor. Splattered out a little in every direction.

...Wait. 

There's some drops of blood outside the janitor's closet. 

Backtracking out of the confined, boxy storage, I focused on the tiny bit of blood that laid outside the closet, soon noticing more small drops. Each new drop that I found came right after the previous one with a notable spacer between the two.

...These aren't just a few drops of blood laying in a peculiar area...      

It's like...      A trail of blood.

I couldn't help myself from following it. It lead me away from the closet, and to the furthest door on the left from the main staircase: The second library upper floor door.

...Jeez, that's a mouthful.

Maybe I should try saying that as fast as I can some time in the future.

Y'know, like a tongue twister.

ANYWAYS. Moving on.

I grabbed a tight hold of the door handle, yanking my way through it as I followed the blood trail through the library, delicately noting its starting point and where it was going.

*'Blood Drips' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

As I continued to steadily follow the trail, a few events popped into my mind.

...First of all, the pool party.

When it occurred, and when it 'ended' seem like important times.

Ok, so...     I believe it started around half past one? And it ended almost an hour later...     Say twenty past two, or something like that?

I'm not sure. Just my best estimate.

*'Pool Party' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Oh yeah, said pool party also ended without quite a handful of people.

Maybe...    What order they left in could be helpful?

Very well then. Who wasn't at the pool party by the time it ended?

That would be...      Suzy, Emily, Edmond, Richard, Candy, Freddy and...     Danny.

Now, what order did they leave in?

Well, Suzy left the moment it started. Which is weird.

Then, it was Edmond, a whole while later, quickly followed by Emily. After that, it was Freddy, then Danny, then Candy...     Ending with Richard.

...There we go.

*'Leaving Order' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Suddenly jerking my head up, I noticed that I had returned to the dorm hallway. Once again I was outside of Danny's room. Taking another look at the blood trail, I noticed that it ended in his room.

So it started in the janitor's closet, and ended in Danny's dorm...?

...And there's another trail leading from Danny's dorm?

And despite everything that I've seen in that dorm, bar and janitor's closet, there's not all that much blood in between the three places?

...Weird.

*'Lack Of Blood' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

"OH THANK GOD PEPPA-"

"WH- WHAT THE-"

My soul leapt out of my skin as I flipped around agonisingly, only to be met by a familiar young horse with glasses and a yellow sweater. 

"Oh. Hey Pedro."

"I'm glad that I found you again! You see, I just found this note in Danny's pocket-"

"What?! Show me-" I spat out uncontrollably.

"Ok, ok, calm down. Here." Pedro handed me an unfolded piece of paper, which I started to read through immediately.

...

Danny,

I know Freddy is the traitor. I don't care what you say, he will die no matter what.

He will die in the bar after leaving the pool party, all to my hands. Don't bother trying to stop me, for nothing will be achieved of doing so.

Better get ready to say goodbye, mutt.

~ ???

...

...What...      The fuck...

*'Note' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

I gave the paper back to a patient Pedro, all while bearing an unbearable look of horror and fear.

"Yeah, I know," He began, "Absolutely awful. But it does get us somewhere! I'm glad I could share it with you...      Ok bye-" 

He then just...     Ran off.

I was left with myself. Wondering if there was anything else left to discover.

My eyes eventually fell upon the second blood drip trail, running beneath my legs. With nothing else to give jobs to my mind, I started following once again.

This time though...      I wasn't considering anything.

I was...      Just following it. 

I wasn't reminiscing. Nor planning.

This time...     I was actually in the moment.

I took a look up to see where I had arrived. The moment I felt the breeze on my face, though, I could've told where I was without the need for my sight.

The courtyard's usual layout laid dead ahead: The scarce trees, the red stand, the messy grass...

...And Freddy Fox.

...Shit, this is gonna be awkward.

I gradually approached the fox.

"Hey...     Freddy?"

"Fuck. Off."

...Expected.

"Freddy, listen to me, I-"

"I, I, I. 'I'm gonna help you', right? No you're not, you dumbass!"

"...I want to hear from you."

"...Fair enough. About what?"

"Well...         Where's Rebecca, first of all?"

"Scared her off."

"Ah. And secondly...      What were you doing between when you left the pool party, and when we found...    Uh...     'His' body...?"

"...Accounts, huh? Fair enough then." The fox turned his right side to me.

"Most of the time since I left, I was just hanging in the kitchen. But then...     I started to miss Danny. Along with that, those three bangs that I heard earlier had terrified me. So I decided to go to his dorm to see how he was doing, and if he was even in."

...

"When I tried the door, it was locked. Normal, yeah. But I noticed that as a weird sign."

"How so?"

"...Danny didn't lock his door this morning. I even mentioned the topic to him, but he just brushed it off. So...     I tried to open the door by force. I knew that Danny was in, otherwise the door wouldn't be locked. Plus, he would've opened it for me if he was in a good mood."

"..."

"Apparently, that caught the attention of everyone nearby. Edmond and Emily heard it from the IT room, Candy from the homeroom, Richard from...    Somewhere, and Suzy from the nurse's office."

"Ok..."

"They all joined in with helping me bust down the door. But when we got in...         The discovery announcement went off, and...     God, i-it was all j-just so f-fast..."

"Freddy?"

"..."

The fox then dashed away, an arm covering his face.

...I understand.

...I'm sorry for you, Freddy.

*'Locked Room Mystery' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

And with that...        

...That might be everything.

...

......

............

...Wait.

...Why is there more blood?

Why is there a bloody patch here? Just in front of the red stand?

Why...       Why do I think that some crazy girl like me can make sense as to why this is here?

Why- 

*Ding dong bong bing...*

...

"So then. Uh...      I'm getting annoyed at how long this is taking. Let's get into the goddamn trial already, shall we? It is officially time for your second Playgroup Trial! Please may all remaining participants meet in front of the doors to the lift room ASAP! Failure to do so will result in punishment. Cheerioooooooooooo~!"

...

...This is it, I guess.

I'm on my way to that set of doors right now. Just have to remember about that patch of blood...

*'Bloody Patch Of Dirt' Has been added to the Truth Bullet section of your handbook.*

Now then. Here we go.

It didn't take me long to arrive to the (now slightly smaller) crowd of animals waiting outside the bound set of doors. It was dead silent there, the air around the group smelling more stiff than a basement.

I took a few glances at some other specific faces in our group. 

Edmond, Suzy, Freddy, Kylie, Pedro, Rebecca...

Each of them showcased the same unnerved expression, as did mine.

The floors in front of the doors then parted, as Monopotato hopped out once again.

"Welcome back everyone remaining! I'm glad that we could all make it to this next Playgroup Trial...      Now then! Everyone into the lift, please!"

We didn't resist. We all made our way through the public-bathroom-vibed room into the industrial lift silently. Even as it started to descent, we kept quiet.

I tried to snag a glance at Suzy, however she had distanced herself on the opposite side of the lift. Almost in a way to deliberately keep herself away from me.

...I kept to myself for the rest of the journey down.

Said journey soon ended, as we all exited the lift back into...     A seemingly different trial room.

It still had the same structure and organisation, but the colours and materials had been swapped. Instead of it being baby blue walls and white marble columns, it was now pastel red walls with granite columns.

"I think you get the motto by now. Into your trial stands!"

We all obliged.

As I stepped into my trial stand once again, I took a softhearted glance at the two new stands with photos on poles in them. One of them held Gerald - Whose picture had multiple sticks drawn on in blood. The other, right next to Gerald's, held Danny - His picture had a few bullets drawn onto it, also in a bloody colour.

...

...I really didn't expect this to happen again. Not in the slightest chance.

We just lost one of our closest friends. One of our closest allies.

All because someone considered them to be a backstabber to us.

Now, all we can do to avenge Danny's death is to bring his killer to justice.

Another killer...               In another Playgroup Trial.

TRUTH BULLETS:

Playgroup File 2
Bullet Holes
Danny's Handbook
Glass Shards
Lack Of Blood
Wendy's Dorm
Teatowel
Bar Bloodstains
Broken Wine Bottle
Hidden Gun
Cardboard Box
Arrows
Mop
Note
Blood Drips
Bloody Patch Of Dirt
Emily's Account
Edmond's Account
Weapon List
Missing Janitorial Key
Janitorial Closet Bloodstain
Pool Party
Leaving Order
Locked Room Mystery

) PLAYGROUP TRIAL - ALL RISE (

____________________

(That's a lotta truth bullets-)