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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐂𝐊 was broken by another loud knock that echoed around the vast foyer and startled Thomas out of his thoughts and back into his surroundings.

"Meow," Mr. Boddy said, looking up at Thomas expectantly.

"Oh, right!" Thomas responded. His feet carried him towards the front door and without allowing himself a chance to think twice, he pulled the heavy door open to reveal...nothing. Thomas's brows furrowed as he swept his head back and forth across the darkness until a sudden sound pulled his eyes downwards.

"Eh-hem," a young girl with shiny, black hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes cleared her throat, catching Thomas's attention. She was wearing a dark gray blazer with a white button-up shirt underneath, a black skirt, and black t-strap shoes with dark gray socks that climbed up to her knees. Penny Tanaka.

"Can I help you...?" Thomas asked slowly, trying to determine why there was a child standing on the front step.

Penny flashed a piece of paper before Thomas's eyes in response. The movement was quick, but Thomas immediately recognized the invitation that he had also received.

"Oh, of course," Thomas apologized with an embarrassed smile. "You must be..." Thomas pulled a folded slip of paper from his jacket pocket and scanned the sheet until he found the order in which the guests were expected to arrive. "Miss White!"

"That's what the invitation says, but that's not my real name," Penny responded. "My real name is--"

"Ah, ah, ah," Thomas cut of her off, thrusting a finger in front of her mouth to prevent her from continuing. "I'm afraid that for the rest of the weekend, we will have to refrain from using our real names."

"So who are you, then?" Penny asked.

"You can call me Wadsworth," Thomas answered with a wide smile and a dramatic flourish of his hands.

Penny rolled her eyes and pushed her way inside with a small, gray suitcase in tow, but she only made it two steps when she was brought to an abrupt halt. "Whoa, this wasn't what I was expecting the Shrieking Shack to look like..."

"It's something, isn't it?" Thomas said, shoving his hands into his pockets and joining her by her side. The two stared in wonder for a few moments before Thomas spoke again. "Please, let me escort you into the parlour, where you may wait until the other guests arrive."

Thomas led Penny to a room that was situated to the right of the entryway. It wasn't a very large space, but it was furnished with two couches in a V formation that opened up towards a large, cherry-stained desk in the opposite corner of the room and a coffee table in the middle. There was only one wall that wasn't concealed by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and it was painted a beige color to match the cushions on the couches. A slight scent of lemon touched the noses of Thomas and Penny, like somebody had just cleaned, even though the Shrieking Shack had been abandoned for decades.

Penny slowly settled herself onto the edge of one of the couches, her eyes studying every inch of the room. When they came to the doorway, she found Thomas standing frozen beneath the frame, his hollow eyes staring directly at her with an absent smile. A deep scowl appeared on Penny's features as a discomforting shiver shook her spine and the two remained like this, staring at each other, until a knock announced the arrival of another guest.

"I'll get that," Thomas announced, breaking the disturbing silence as he turned on his heel to return to the foyer.

The door opened on a boy with dark brown eyes and a wealth of wild, brown hair that had somehow magically been tamed by a variety of expensive-smelling hair products. He wore khaki pants and a navy blue button-up dress shirt with the sleeves turned up beneath his elbows to display a golden watch that emitted a soft ticking from his wrist. Luc Darcey.

"Mr. Green," Thomas greeted Luc with the same absent smile that he had given Penny. "Please, come in."

"What kind of nonsense is going on here?" Luc asked as he stepped inside, waving the invitation in Thomas's face. The pristine condition of the Shrieking Shack caught Luc off guard for a split second, but he quickly re-focused his attention on the boy before him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Please, call me Wadsworth," Thomas introduced himself, repeating the same dramatic flourish of his hands. As with Penny, the gesture wasn't well received by Luc, whose scowl became even deeper.

"I want answers," Luc demanded.

"And you'll receive answers..." Thomas responded. His facial expression remained the same despite the increased hostility of Luc's tone. "After all the guests have arrived. Please, join Miss White in the parlour while you wait."

Luc glared into Thomas's eyes for a full minute before he lifted his wand and muttered, "Wingardium leviosa." A black dufflebag shot past Thomas, nearly knocking him on the back of his head, as it followed Luc into the parlor.

Luc took a seat on the couch opposite of Penny, pretending to ignore her existence as he silently fumed.

As time wore on, the ticking of Luc's watch became louder and louder, soon filling the eerily quiet room. Despite the barrage of questions circling in their heads, neither Penny nor Luc felt inclined to say a word to each other, and Thomas had resumed his creepy, statuesque pose in the doorway.

The wait between Luc's knock and the next knock was much longer, but eventually it came, jolting both Penny and Luc out of their fixed stupors.

"Colonel Mustard," Penny and Luc could hear Thomas say from the foyer. "Do come in."

Penny and Luc tried their hardest to seem disinterested in the new guest, but their eyes strained in their sockets to get a glance of Colonel Mustard as they entered the parlour. When Colonel Mustard finally appeared, they were both surprised to find a girl with black hair tied into two delicate braids down her back and beautiful brown skin. Flared, denim jeans swept the floor she walked on, and a short-sleeve blouse with white, green, blue, red, and yellow vertical stripes adorned her top. A matching silk headband was tied around her head, with a small bow sitting on top. Madelynn Lewin.

"Hello," Madelynn greeted the two other guests with a warm smile, but it quickly faded when they didn't return the greeting. Madelynn coughed into her fist uncomfortably and took a seat next to Penny on the couch, careful to leave as much space between herself and Penny as she could.

One after the other, the remaining three guests arrived shortly after. Miss Scarlet, a girl with wavy, dark brown hair that hid several small braided strands and glowing golden eyes was the next to knock on the door of the Shrieking Shack. She wore baggy denim jeans with a white short-sleeve crop top that revealed her tan stomach, and a ratty, red and gray flannel over it. Jackson Serdeys. She took a seat next to Luc on his couch, not quite as mindful of the space between them as Madelynn had been with Penny.

Next was Professor Plum, a lanky boy with smooth, brown skin, curly black hair, and hazel eyes. He wore black skinny jeans and an oversized purple t-shirt with the saying: "I'm just here for the food" positioned between a picture of a fork and a knife. When met with inquiring eyes, he defended his outfit choice by saying, "What? It was the only plum-colored thing I had. Gotta dress the part." Jesse Miller. Oblivious to the tension in the room, Jesse sat himself between Jackson and Luc, forcing Luc to immediately jump off the couch and stand to the side.

Last to arrive was Miss Peacock, a girl with bright red hair and even brighter blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of tan dress pants and a silky, emerald green blouse with puffy sleeves that hung loosely around her arms. Like Madelynn, she also had a matching headband tied around her head, which contrasted nicely with her crimson curls and snowy skin. Willow Murphy. When Willow stepped foot into the parlor, her eyes were immediately drawn to the shelves stuffed with books and she placed herself between them and the couch that Penny and Madelynn were sitting on.

"Now that everybody has arrived, we can finally begin," Thomas informed the group of strangers after positioning himself at the front of the room. He leaned casually against the bulky desk, unbuttoning his black blazer jacket and flattening the dark green tie beneath his gray sweater vest. Mr. Boddy hopped up onto the desk next to Thomas, surveying the room with his golden eyes.

"As you all know, you've been summoned here tonight because an unidentified individual has invited you under threat of revealing a personal secret," Thomas continued.

"'Unidentified individual'?" Jesse asked in confusion. His knee bounced up and down as he anxiously tapped his foot against the floor, eliciting an annoyed look from Jackson, who was nearly vibrating with the rest of the couch. "Aren't you the one who invited us here?"

"Yeah," Madelynn added. "How do you know all of this information if you're not the one who sent the letters?"

"Because I also received an invitation," Thomas answered curtly. "I was instructed to arrive here first and to ensure that everything was in order, then to greet you all and guide you through the rest of the weekend."

"Like a butler?" Luc asked with a snide smile.

Thomas cleared his throat and cast an annoyed glance towards Luc. "Yes, like a butler."

"What exactly is this weekend to entail? As much as I love a good mystery, I don't want to waste a weekend in this creepy shack if it's not going to result in any answers," Willow's voice chimed in.

"What she said," Jackson added, jerking her thumb towards Willow. "It's Halloween weekend. I had plans and I'm going to be really pissed if I have to miss them for nothing."

A chorus of mumbled agreements passed around the room.

Thomas fumbled with the slip of paper from his pocket as he tried to unravel it. His eyes hastily scoured the scratchy letters for any pertinent information until he found what he was looking for. "Ah yes, here it is!" Thomas called out triumphantly as he stabbed his finger into the sheet of paper. "Our host shall be revealed to us on the night of the 31st."

"What?" Penny scoffed. "What's the point in us being here if our host isn't?"

"We don't know that they aren't already," Willow quietly pointed out. Her answer sent a shiver down the spine of everyone in the room.

"Why don't we just leave then?" Luc asked, pushing himself towards the center of the room. "For all we know, this is just a giant ruse."

"I'm with Mr. Good Hair," Jesse said, jumping to his feet and heading for the door.

"Yeah, this is ridiculous," Jackson agreed, following along.

The rest of the group slowly shuffled towards the foyer until Thomas's voice stopped them.

"If you leave, your secret could be exposed. Do you really want to take that risk?"

One-by-one, everyone froze to their spots as they contemplated what Thomas had said.

"I, for one, think we should use this opportunity to figure out who is blackmailing us before they arrive," Thomas continued once everybody was once more facing him. "We have two days. Perhaps in that time, we could reveal their identity and dig up our own dirt that we could use to blackmail them."

"Do you really think that could work?" Madelynn asked. "What happens if we can't figure anything out before they get here?"

"I don't know, but it may be the best chance we have to prevent our secrets from getting out."

Everybody slowly returned to their spots in the parlour, with the exception of Luc, who remained standing beneath the doorway with pursed lips.

"What say you, Mr. Green?" Thomas asked Luc. "Are you going to help us?"

The rest of the group turned to stare at Luc as they waited for his answer.

"This is just absurd!" Luc responded with a laugh that bordered on manic. "Look at you all, buying into his every word like he's not the one who's behind all of this."

"I have a secret that's been threatened too," Thomas retorted.

"You're a good liar, I'll give you that. But I'm not sticking around for your sadistic stay-cation." Luc turned and rushed for the front door of the Shrieking Shack. Thomas was quick to follow, with the rest of the group close on his heel as they peeked their heads around the parlour doorframe for a chance to see what would happen next.

Luc launched himself towards the door and placed both hands on the large, silver knob as he attempted to rip the door open. But it wouldn't budge. He pulled again and again, even going so far as to give it several sturdy kicks, before finally pulling his wand out and pointing it at the lock.

"Alohomora!" Luc shouted, casting the unlocking charm, but nothing happened. The door still remained firmly shut.

At this point, the rest of the group had fanned themselves out across the foyer to watch the spectacle.

"There's got to be another way out of here," Luc muttered to himself, stomping down the hallway and elbowing his way past whoever stood in his path.

Thomas stopped Luc before he could make it any farther. "I did a thorough sweep of this place before you all arrived. That's the only door."

"Then I'll go out a window if I have to," Luc snapped, pushing Thomas aside.

"There is the entrance from the Whomping Willow," Penny pointed out. All eyes suddenly turned towards her.

"I thought that was just a rumor," Madelynn whispered with wide eyes.

Luc glared down at Thomas, who was almost a full foot shorter than him. "Where's the entrance, Wadsworth? I know you know where it is."

Thomas glared back up at Luc with his mouth set in a firm line. The weight of everybody's stares sat heavy on his shoulders. "If I show you, will you at least hear me out? If you don't like what I have to say, then you can leave whenever you want."

When the silence continued, Thomas added: "Whether you think this is all a joke or not, you still came here tonight, so your secret must be pretty important."

Luc continued to stare at Thomas, his mouth twitching from side-to-side as he summoned an answer. "Fine," he said at long last. "Lead the way, butler."

Thomas shot Luc a sharp glare, but ultimately decided to ignore the quip as he began to lead Luc and the rest of the group towards the door to the Whomping Willow. Thomas had already found it during his initial sweep of the Shrieking Shack, although he wasn't too keen to return to it. A new goosebump freckled the back of his neck with every step he took closer.

Thomas led the group towards the set of stairs that led to the basement, stopping at the top step and putting an arm out to prevent anyone from going any farther. "Lumos," he whispered, watching the tip of his wand ignite in a bright light, before beginning his descent down into the darkness.

Once everybody had made it down the stairs, Thomas stopped at the corner of the small, dank space and pulled back an old, dusty rug to reveal a wooden hatch in the floor.

"There, I've shown it to you," Thomas said. "Now may we please return to the parlour?"

"Not so fast," Luc snapped. "How do we know that this even leads to the Whomping Willow? You could just be showing us some wine cellar or dungeon or something."

"Look for yourself," Thomas responded, gesturing towards the hatch.

Luc glowered at Thomas as he stepped past him and leaned down to investigate the hatch for himself. He grabbed onto the large metal ring that was bolted into the wood and gave it a strong tug, but like with the front door, it didn't budge.

"Here, let me try," Thomas snapped, pushing Luc aside to try for himself. After several grunts and pulls, he was no more successful than Luc.

"Holy shit, are we trapped in here?!" Jackson asked, her breathing suddenly becoming very heavy.

"I don't understand..." Thomas muttered to himself. "It worked earlier..."

"What kind of game are you playing, Wadsworth?" Luc snapped, grabbing Thomas by the collar of his shirt and yanking him towards himself.

"I'm not, I swear!" Thomas yelped as he threw his hands up in the air. "The letter didn't say anything about this!"

"It looks like we're going to have to wait for our host to arrive, whether we like it or not," Penny announced, stepping between Luc and Thomas after Luc had finally let go of Thomas's shirt. "We may as well do it from the comfort of the parlour and not in a cold, creepy basement."

Luc continued to scowl at Thomas for a full minute before turning back towards the stairs and heading up to the foyer. Everybody else followed suit until they were all back in the warmth of the parlour, although a chill had settled upon every single one of them.

"So what's supposed to happen next?" Willow asked, breaking the icy silence.

Thomas pulled the slip of paper back out, reading over the writing again until he found the answer. "Oh yes, the gifts!" he announced with a smile.

"Gifts?" Jesse asked, his ears perking up at the word. "I like gifts!"

Thomas momentarily disappeared from the parlour, reappearing a few minutes later with a tower of gifts in his arms. Each present was wrapped in black paper with a small, white tag hanging from it. One-by-one, Thomas worked his way around the room, depositing the mysterious boxes into the laps of their respective owners until his arms were empty.

"What are these supposed to be?" Madelynn asked, lifting her present to her ear and giving it a slight shake to try to discern what was inside.

"I really hope it's food, because I'm starving," Jesse answered.

"It's nearly midnight," Jackson exclaimed. "How can you be hungry?"

"Exactly," Jesse responded like it was obvious. "That's second dinner time."

"Americans," Luc muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

The parlour became consumed with the sound of tearing and ripping as the group of guests slowly peeled the wrapping paper off their gifts. The black paper fluttered to the floor, turning the carpet into an inky sea that Thomas had to wade through in order to supervise the activity.

"What is the meaning of this?" Penny asked first, pulling off the lid of her box to reveal a thick rope tied into a tight noose sitting inside.

"What the hell..." Jackson followed, finding a pair of large, rusty garden shears.

"Oh my goodness," Madelynn gasped as her eyes settled on a silver dagger with an ornate handle.

"Ah man," Jesse whined, pulling a tall, golden candlestick out of his box. "Mine is missing a part."

"I don't think it's meant to be used for candles," Willow informed him as she opened her own box to reveal a lead pipe the size of her forearm.

"I concur with Miss Peacock," Luc added, hoisting a bright red axe up for the room to see.

"I don't understand," Madelynn said, breaking the unnerving silence that had settled upon the room. She looked up to Thomas with her big brown eyes in search of answers, but she was unable to find any.

Thomas opened and closed his mouth several times as he racked his brain for a response. He could feel everyone's eyes burrowing into his skin, but he didn't know what to say to ease their fears other than to move on to the next task. Once again, he disappeared from the parlour and returned shortly with a new item in tow: a wooden chest soaked in dark stain with runes etched into the lid and a large, golden padlock keeping it sealed shut.

Thomas hoisted the heavy trunk onto the desk, nearly throwing himself out the window in the process. He stepped aside to allow the rest of the room a chance to see, and to allow himself a chance to secretly wipe his brow of the sweat that had accumulated there.

"Magic-proof," Willow read aloud as she stepped forward to trace her finger over the runes.

"What's this for?" Luc asked suspiciously.

"The letter instructs me to have everyone put their wands in here. It's been cursed so that no magic can open it, only this key," Thomas answered, pulling the matching key out of his pocket to show the group and letting the low lights of the room glint off the golden metal. A chorus of protests erupted around the room until Thomas cut them off. "I propose that we also put our 'gifts' in here, as well."

"And why the hell would we do that?" Jackson scoffed. "Some creep has locked us in here for the weekend and you're suggesting that we just roll over and give up our only defense?"

"Because there's a piece of information that I've left out," Thomas responded. He pulled at the collar of his shirt as a layer of sweat slicked his skin and made him shiver.

"And what is that?" Penny asked, placing a firm hand on her hip.

Thomas took a few deep breaths before responding, "Only the last person standing can leave here with their secret still in tact."

And with that, the lights went out.

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A/N: Just a few things to note as you begin this story! First, in exception to dialogue, I'm going to be using the characters' real names in the story to refer to them by. I had already started to do such with Thomas/Wadsworth in the prologue and it just felt more natural so I'm going to stick with it since it's common knowledge anyways. The characters are all still unaware of everyone else's true identities.

Second, I ended up changing some of the weapons because I found a couple flaws with some of the weapons I originally listed on the form. I'm sorry if your character didn't end up getting the weapon that you had listed on their application.

Third, I'm going to try my hardest to give everyone's characters equal attention, but some characters may inevitably end up with more lines/appearances than others in some chapters. I apologize in advance.

Fourth, this story may be written a little differently than what you're used to or what you're expecting. Since this story is inspired by "Clue", my goal is to encapsulate the vibe of the film and utilize several of its key features, such as witty back-and-forth banter, subtle (and often punny) humor, and overdramatization. It'll still be a darker take, but I wanted to maintain some of the comedic edge that "Clue" has as an homage.

Fifth (and I promise last), please let me know if you are absolutely 100% against your character being a/the killer. I don't have any definitive endings set yet because I want to see where the story goes, but it'll help me as I go along if I know whether or not I can utilize your character as an antagonist.

Oh gosh, that was a lot, but thanks and I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! (: