With me, Kylie and the three youngest boys now leaving the pool through our designated changing rooms, (George with a towel, Richard didn't want him to be wet in the hallway,) we met up once again in the hallway connecting the changing rooms to the hallway.

"So then. To the remaining group." Kylie nodded, pushing the two doors apart once again as we headed through them, letting them swing back to their spot. To our right, conversation sounded out, informing us of the location of the meetup.

"You know Danny, you've been rather silent ever since Rebecca joined us while we were investigating..."

"...ITS. NOTHING!"

"I think it's something. But it's fine if you don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, you don't have to spill every secret you have! I've got way too many secrets hidden within me, you know..."

"...Hm."

"Oh shut up Pedro."

Taking a squint at the group, I noticed that the owner of the last sentence seemed to be Freddy. Alongside him was Danny and Rebecca, all having a slight laugh and chat. It appeared that everyone was split in groups of two or three, notably Emily and Candy, plus Zoë, Suzy and Pedro.

...Oh yeah. I kinda abandoned Suzy earlier. Sorry.

"Heya everyone! I've found the rest, they were in the pool...     Why don't we get to work on talking about what we've all found?" Kylie smiled, bouncing over to the opposing group.

"Yeah." Freddy nodded, "Ok. First of all...      Why is George's head covered with a towel?"

"Fell in the pool thanks to the kangaroo."

"...Oh. Secondly, what rooms have we found that might be important?"

"I found a shop!" Pedro exclaimed, "Suzy joined me and Zoë while we were checking it out!"

"Yeah...      Another thing we found was this gym. It's filled with all this stuff for flips and all that." Zoë nodded.

"That sounds nice..." Emily smiled.

"That's great, but I'm talking about rooms that might help us get busted out of here."

"...We did find a locked room." I spoke.

"Oh yeah." Danny perked up, "It was some kind of secretary's office. Deffo was locked...    Couldn't get in."

"That's the whole point of a locked room, isn't it?" Rebecca asked.

"Yes?"

"...Thanks." Freddy smiled at me, before turning to Edmond, who stood by my side. "Did you find anything?"

"Somehow, I did. It was a small syringe on the floor of the chemistry classroom. I didn't like the look of it...   It was like it was holding a drug of some kind."

...

"Uhm...      Edmond?"

"Yes?" The young elephant looked at me with curiousity.

"I believe that I also found that syringe with your sister. I actually have the label from it..." I sighed, rummaging through my dress pocket, soon pulling out the piece of worn paper, and showing it to Edmond.

"...Despair...    No, Despar...   Icisus...    What in the..."

"Can I have a look?" Danny asked, walking over to us. He immediately took a couple steps back once he got a read of the name.

"Desparicisus?"

"I definitely haven't heard of that drug. Sounds modern..." Suzy sighed.

"..." Edmond simply stayed still, staring at the words on the small piece of paper. After a while, consciousness snapped back to him, as he pocketed the item.

"...That...     Sounds important. Thanks Edmond and Peppa." The fox nodded, "Anything else?"

"Earlier on, I managed to find this janitorial closet." Rebecca stepped forward, hands over her chest. "There was a key in the door. I think that you can lock it if you want to."

"Hm. Do you have the key?"

"Yep." The older rabbit gave a nod, before pulling a small key out of her pocket, and handing it to Freddy, who gave it a look.

"...Understandable. Does anyone want to take hold of this?"

Silence.

"I guess I will." Edmond nodded after an awkward period, stepping up to the fox and taking the key from him, also pocketing it.

"Did you find anything else Rebecca?"

"There were two doors not that far from the closet. They were both really well detailed, but I didn't get the time to check them out."

"That's fine, Bec. Is that all?"

"The only things that are left are the rooms that you've already explored, Freds. Also, why are you calling me Bec?"

"Why are you calling me Freds?"

"Why are you both calling each other by nicknames?" Danny laughed a little.

"Good point, Dan'."

"Oh, you did not."

Laughter sounded out as our meeting reached an understandable conclusion. Soon afterwards, we went out seperated ways. I specifically went to check out the doors near the janitorial closet, that Rebecca had mentioned.

"Uhm...      Rebecca?"

"Hm?"

"Where was the janitorial closet?"

"It's just to the left of the staircase."

"Oh, thanks."

"Don't mention it!" The rabbit smiled, bounding back down the stairs, joining up with Danny and Freddy.

... They really are a great paring.

Getting back onto my own course, I turned to the left, soon stopping in front of the first of the two detailed doors near the janitorial closet. Taking a sigh, I grabbed the handle and yanked down, stepping through into the next room.

To my surprise...     It was the library.

It was one of the doors at the end of the long balconies, which lead to the main upper floor, and then the staircase.

So that means...     The other door must be for the other balcony.

A moment of happiness rippled through me, knowing I was in the library.

...

Worry then struck me as I realised that I was in the LIBRARY. I.e, where Delphine died.

...That's AMAZING.

Taking a deep breath, I jerked my head down, ready to lay eyes upon the sight of Delphine's body once again.

To my shock...    It wasn't there.

"Huh?"

Delphine's body had completely disappeared. So had the majority of the bloodstains. What's more, the ladder had been propped back up.

For some reason though, the book was still sprawled on the floor.

With my paranoia taking the wheel, I rushed to the larger balcony, then flipping around and dashing down the elegant staircase, soon skidding to a stop with my feet touching the book.

It appeared to be the same book from the earlier case. Thick, heavy, and also from the high shelf. It just didn't have the pink stuff on it.

...This really is quite a huge book.

I flipped it round, curious to find out the title of it.

It turned out to be multiple titles, all by the same author.

'1984, Animal Farm, Down And Out In Paris And London and other works by George Orwell'

...I wasn't expecting that.

"...It's quite an interesting set of stories, isn't it?"

"Wha-?"

I jumped a little bit, holding the book close to my chest as my eyes laid upon an interested Edmond, looking up at me. He looked on for a while, before walking to my side.

"I'm sorry if I'm butting in, but...     I really like Orwell's books."

"That's nice. I've read parts of Animal Farm, but no more then that."

"Trust me, you should read 1984. It's a really great story. It talks about a frightening future where everyone has become a slave to a tyrannical, totalitarian leadership, and society is constantly being watched by posters, and devices, and...       And..."

At that moment, Edmond's eyes widened slowly. His position stayed still, and his pupils darted to the roof, then at the book, then back to the roof, and so on. It was like he was suffering from a very thoughtful headache.

"...Can I have the book Peppa?"

"Yeah...     Why?" I questioned the genius elephant, as I handed the dense rectangle of paper to him.

"I just realised...      We're also technically stuck in a dark future if you think about it, aren't we?"

...

...He's right.

And yet, I stayed silent.

"Plus, have you seen how many cameras that there are here?"

My head instinctively twisted around the room, taking a better look at the cameras. Edmond once again had a point: You couldn't look up and not see a camera at the same time.

"There's around...      15 cameras here." 

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? And why would there be so many cameras? In my opinion, I would say that the reason there are so many cameras is because someone, or multiple someones, wants to keep a close eye on us from all angles."

"You mean...       The mastermind?"

Edmond suddenly glanced back at me, a blank face settling on him.

"...That's a good way to put it." He nodded at me, before resting the book on the floor, and flipping through it swiftly.

"Because of these similarities, I'm wondering if there are any more that relate to our situation. So, I'm going to take a read through 1984, and see if anything connects. You can leave if you want to."

"...Uh...    One more question."

"Yes?" The jungle animal in the green jacket looked up at me once again.

"...Do you know what happened to Delphine's body? As well as everything else that had to do with her death...?"

"...Not really. It might've been something similar to how Wendy's body got dealt with."

"Oh. Thanks anyway Edmond. Bye."

"Farewell." The elephant nodded at me, as I walked out the elegant doors of the library, now back on the ground floor.

Well. We've explored the second floor, so...     I've got time to kill.

Not in the way that Monopotato wants though. Obviously not.

____________________

(FTE's are open! I'll be doing the same as last time: Request three of the currently alive participants in the comments, for who you want to see an FTE of. The three participants that get the most votes will get an FTE in the next chapter.

Happy voting!

~ Oak-44)