After dinner, everyone congregated in the living room. Ludwig waited just outside the door before making his way upstairs. He was sure he'd heard Roderich go up the stairs, and after that fiasco, he hadn't returned to the table. Now, as Ludwig went up the stairs, he went to find the disappeared aristocrat. It didn't take long to get to the top of the short flight and when he did, he almost wished he hadn't.

Roderich lay in the middle of the hall, blood and some sort of frothy stuff spilling out of his half open mouth, his eyes rolled back in his head, one hand twitching slightly. Ludwig took a careful step closer and knelt down next to him, praying that no one would come up the stairs. He knew how this would look, and they'd overreact, especially Juan. He snapped his fingers next to Roderich's open eyes and then prodded his shoulder when he got no response. The body rolled slightly in a limp way before flopping back to the exact same position it had been in before he had touched it.

"How..." Ludwig started before trailing off. He'd run out in the middle of the meal, which meant that it had something to do with the food... right? Or maybe he'd had something to eat or drink before that.

Slowly, Ludwig stood up and took a step backwards. He opened his mouth to shout but before he could, found himself flying through the air towards the end of the hall. It was only when he landed that he felt the kick to his back, and then the impact of the fall. There were footsteps, fast ones, and before he could look up, another kick hit him, smashing into his face, his nose audibly snapping. He shot through the bathroom door, which was coincidentally open, and slammed his head against the porcelain sink, leaving a trails of red down it's white surface. For a second, he sat dazed, not quite sure what to do before he heard the sound of the door closing and locking.

"You've made this so much harder for us both you know Lud" the person sighed, picking up his head and shoving it into the sink again, hard enough for the tile to crack. "I wasn't even prepared. Seriously, you could have waited a bit couldn't you? It would've been easier if I were ready, but now we have to do this the messy way."

In his confused state, Ludwig heard the sound of a tap running madly, water splashing into the basin, and the sink behind him filling up with the translucent liquid. A part of his brain, screaming at him to get up, unfazed, relayed the events that would shortly unfold to him. He flicked his arm to move it into a position where it could support his weight before moving his legs to underneath himself, gripping onto the wall for help. The person watched him for a second before knocking the back of one of his knees so he crumpled again. Before he hit the ground though, they caught him, pressing a finger gently to their own lips.

"We have to be silent now you know" the whispered. "People could hear."

Ludwig frowned, trying to process the information. He could get the person known. He could make sure that everyone knew who they were, that no one else would be killed, if only he could see past his own hazy short-sightedness and the fringe he always kept back. It only took a second for him to work out an idea, a way of escape, but that second was all they needed. They turned the tap off, quietly, almost carefully, hauled him to his feet and shoved his head under the water.

He didn't have chance to take a breath, so instead, took in a long gulp of the water. It wasn't cold or drinkable. Maybe if it was, he could he tried to maybe drink his way out of this? No, it was boiling hot, lapping at the sides of his head and scolding his face. He tried to kick out, shake the person off, anything, but either they were standing at an awkward angle, or were just ridiculously strong, because nothing worked. His lungs were burning, throat raw from trying to suck oxygen out of the boiling water, and his brain was starting to hurt. In one last gasp for breath, he kicked out, striking something, but earning nothing as a confirmation of his deed. Instead, all he got was a sinking darkness.

The person felt Ludwig go limp and held him under for another minute before finally taking his head out of the water. Now here was the tricky part. He needed to get to a room, with the body, without being seen-preferably one that was not over the living room-and drop it out of the window. Then, his alibi would kick in perfectly.

For a moment, he waited, listening at the door before carefully unlocking it, listening again. Down the stairs, the living room was to the right, so that meant he had to get the body to a left hand side room.

Then, the job would be finished.

Thirteen down

Two to go...